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Mr. Thomas Walker, the Spirit Medium, delivered a lecture on this subject in the Lorne-street Hall, Auckland, on Friday night, the 18th May,—the Rev. Samuel Edger in the chair.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said: Ladies and Gentlemen,—I am here to-night under quite peculiar circumstances—unexpectedly, and at considerable inconvenience to myself—having other engagements, which I have been obliged to defer, which I would not have done, and which it would not have been right for me to do, but for the peculiar circumstances in which we are met here to-night. (Hear, hear.) At the special request of Mr. Walker I shall defer all remarks upon these particular circumstances until the close of his lecture. I have only to appeal to your good feeling and your candour, and, I think, your sense of justice, at least, to give Mr. Walker again to-night, as you have done on former occasions, a fair hearing. (Cheers.) All the feelings of my heart—all the principles of my life, I hope—are on the side of justice towards any and every man. (Cheers.) We are not bound even to form any opinion as to the influence under which Mr. Walker speaks unless we wish. I am not prepared to give any opinion. I have seen Mr. Walker frequently he letter in the Star to-night, to those who have read it, will show what led to my connection with him—what led me to take any part in his public meetings. All I will say here is just this, and which you will accept, perhaps, on my word, as I think there are not many who would be disposed to accuse me of speaking untruthfully. (Cheers.) In all the intercourse I have had with Mr. Walker—having met him three or four times, privately and publicly—I will confess candidly that I have not seen or heard anything that convinces me that there is any supernatural power or influencing his utterances; but only as far as I can see that there is something quite abnormal, and which he could not do in his natural condition. I will candidly acknowledge that, and I am bound to say that the more I have seen the more I have been convinced of Mr. Walker's simplicity, sincerity, and integrity. (Cheers.) The best man on earth, perhaps, is liable to be deceived. I do not set myself up as the keenest of judges on the face of the earth; but I say this—if Mr. Walker has deceived me he is the most accomplished deceiver that I could imagine to exist in the universe. (Cheers.) I have as much confidence in his integrity as I have in the integrity of gentlemen I meet commonly in private life. If he could be proved to be an impostor I feel that I could never trust man more. More will have to be said presently, as I have already indicated, in reference to the subject which I must not touch upon now. Therefore, I have only for the present to ask your candid, fair, and patient hearing for Mr. Walker, as you have given on
Mr. Lambert performed a musical selection upon the harmonium.
Mr. Walker closed his eyes and pronounced the following invocation:—Eternal and Beneficent Parent of Good—Thou Divine Soul of Universal Life—Thou Being Incarnate in all Nature, Living in all Life, we would ask Thee, thou Infinite and Above All, to be near to our heart, that we may receive the kindness and goodness enunciated in Thy divine precepts. We would ask that Thou may be present and ever daily lead us towards Thy virtuous and truth-loving attributes, so that we may become more and more Godlike—godlessness being unprofitable in all ways, not only for the mortal, but for the eternal career. Give progress to humanity for thy glory. Amen.
He then spoke as follows:—Man while he exists will be eternally conceiving, if left to himself, the joys, the happiness, the pain and miseries, not only of this, but of his after career. Once lie becomes convinced that he has such a career—once a man becomes actually persuaded that beyond the mortal veil there is another world, unexplained and unknown to his physical vision, or rather to all his physical senses—once he becomes fully convinced that beyond this mere earthly plane, beyond his merely mortal life, there are scenes and existences, realities as tangible and actual as over he had before become acquainted with while he lived in the enjoyment of these senses—he will for ever be endeavouring to conceive the nature of those realities. While this is so, if he can, he will summon all the resources of his being to aid his vision, the powers of his senses to enlighten him; and if he cannot receive it from them, he will look beyond for those messages which will enable him to conceive and conjecture in the sphere of imagination what these existences and realities may be. He will endeavour to conceive where they are in reality, and of what parts they are composed and, if left to his own unaided action, he will, in all respects, picture to himself such a heaven or such a hell—such an immortal state as his own internal nature will admit of. All nations, in all times, in all ages, in all parts of the world, have made their "immortal homes" just accordingly as they have lived, accordingly as they have been surrounded, just as they have been in themselves delighted or gratified by a certain surrounding exterior—in the circumstances we have stated—so they have pictured, so they have painted, so they have unfolded and described their immortal existence. The Grecian manifested all his delight and gratification in beauty—beauty of form—beauteous scenery. His mind was filled with the forms of the living hills, delightful valleys, the splendors of flowers and foliage, and gushing fountains—and he pictured Heaven as a place containing all these beauteous objects. For the Greek, his Elysian Fields were still earthly, a place where mortals became deified—where men, in his imagination, became gods mid rosined with him through fields of pleasure. He took delight in all that gave pleasure to the sense of beauty; but that sense was part physical and animal, and by this he conceived that men were made perfect. And, so, the Greeks pictured such a Heaven as their own natural state admitted of. If we .go on to the ancient Brahmins, we will find that they had such a Heaven as they could have conceived from the conditions by which they were surrounded. They conceived that probably in this mortal life there were spiritual entities, which, either by reason of some imperfection or unfitness, were not yet prepared to enjoy the immortal state as angels, and they assumed sometimes the mortal shape; that, having degenerated from their higher forms, they had to live again the lives that should make them fitted to enjoy the immortal sphere for which they were created. Hence, the ancient Hindoo held that having fallen it was necessary in the immortal state that man would revive his experience upon earth. The
Ionos zwn. (2.) It must be remembered that while ibis word is often employed to signify the idea of eternal, that is not its strict meaning. The "Ionian" Isles are referred to a like signification. They are not eternal. The same words come in time to denote different things, and we may conclude, from the whole relation of this parable, that its purpose was to show the effects that would remain after a life of evil doing, but which in the end might be removed—that a real, tangible, continuous state of pain and suffering might yet be removed, and still there would eternally remain the remembrance of these transgressions. Now, there are words that are never employed to denote eternal punishment (as Kataleuptw), which denote happiness, but never punishment. So, if we take the Scriptures, it would seem that there are none which mean an eternity of suffering. Those who will not take this view,—who believe in the literal rendering of the Bible,—who cling to every literal expression the Bible contains,—with all due respect for you, with every feeling of charity for you, you will pardon no for using a little reason. We know that man is a responsible being; we know that if he suffers it is not because of any divine influence; that his suffering is caused by the influence of his own neglect or violation of his duty. If torture conies to a man it is not because of some external agency employed by the Omnipotent Being for that purpose, We know, indeed, that God is the author of all things, and therefore that he must, in one sense, be the author of pain and suffering; yet, in another sense, we know that man alone is responsible for every act he does, and that lie is rewarded for every act he does with either joy and pleasure or with pain and suffering. If he acts in unison with law—in accordance with the law which makes him acquainted with every other law of his own nature and the nature surrounding him—then, so long as he shall remain in harmony with this great law, he will be happy and will receive all joy; but if he once set himself in discord with this law and transgress, that moment he sets himself in opposition with powers which because suffering, and until he returns to the domain of harmony with them he will continue to suffer. Be it remembered that all suffering is corrective; that it is intended to better mankind. It must be remembered that all things tend together for good that all things are moving towards good; that all things are growing better each day; that we are becoming ameliorated in respect to every phase and aspect of nature. If we suffer, therefore, it is not in the form of revenge; it is not as a matter of retribution; not because anger is worked upon us; but because we are undergoing a state of correction, or rather that we are endeavouring to return to the position, state, and condition which we have lost. Suffering, if properly understood, does not tend to make man worse; it tends to make him better, while that suffering is the legitimate consequence of his own act. When a man becomes diseased, it is not the disease itself that is the cause of the suffering. Outside and beyond that, there has been some violation of nature's laws. There has been something that caused that state of disease—something of which the disease is effect and consequence. The disease is only the purifier. Just as you would take a solution or amalgam of precious metals with all kinds of grosser metals, and throw them upon the fire; the fire will purify and separate the gross from the pure and good. In like manner, all suffering may be termed "fire," because it
The man whose soul joys in the beauties of external nature will surround himself with all that is in accord with his disposition, glittering streams, the smiles of summer, beautiful flowers, level and nicely ordered walks, gushing fountains, and green fields. But the man who has nothing but discord in his internal nature, the reveller who thirsts for carnal pleasure, will have nothing but weeds in his garden, and disorder everywhere. Life which is true in your mortal career is more true, if possible, in the Spiritual world. It seems to gravitate towards the harmonies of its surrounding. If it loin discord then its suffering is intense. Its associations will then be like those of the man in delirium tremens, who tells you that he perceives devils, snakes, and horrible things. Here it is simply the truth of his own internal thoughts, which are projected before him. His whole stature imagines these objects, and they are actual realities for Isis soul. Although entry into the Spirit world seems to materialise its dwelling-place, it is simply that our thoughts take, character, them the thought of some kind act performed in your mortal life will go to decorate your immortal hams; there your kind deeds may go before you as beautiful and resplendent budding roses. There is smoothing in the feeling that your aspirations to bless and do good to others may be carried by angels to construct and perfect the edifice that shall yet be your home. And now you would ask what kind of homes have you Spirits in the Spirit world? You ask if these homes are like to yours? It has been thought that Heaven is a beautiful city—a golden city; but this thought is now extended. We have seen the beauteous fields and lofty mountains, joyous rolling shining streams, flowers ever budding and flourishing its bloom, luscious fruits delicious to the taste, and every joy and every luxury that you possess on earth, save that it is more Spiritual. Understand this fact, and you can understand the arrangement of the Spirit world—that the Spirit world is counterpart of the physical world, or, more plainly, your physical earth is the shadow, so to speak, of the Spirit world. You may ask then if it be true that the Spiritual world is a shadow of the physical, how you insist enter into immortal life; if death from the physical world constitute birth into the next; you may ask why are we not borne into the Spirit world Why end here in physical death? The fact is that you are placed in this physical tenement during your short career that you may become matured sufficiently to enter into the Spirit world. When you first enter the Spirit world the Spirit is delicate. You must remember that the human ear can only detect certain sounds to a certain pitch or height, having a certain number of vibrations. Beyond that the car cannot go. The eye serves to analyses the rays of light. The human soul can only know according to its capacity. Every physical sense seems, as it were, to be a modifier of the Spirit, arranging the Spirit according to its perception in mortal life. If it were to be plunged into Spirit all at once, useless tenderly protected—unless blessed and assisted by some guardian angel mother,—it would become dwarfed and deformed in the spirit land. Shall we contemplate the suicide who would end his life here because there is no joy but weariness on earth, and would terminate his responsibility and would end his opportunity of doing good by severing his existence, as he thinks, from his identity? Remember this, that the moment you enter the world, in such a condition you go where you are not wanted—where you are not desired—where you are unprepared to go—where you will receive is joyous welcome, and where you would be exposed to existing forces which the human soul can scarcely battle with—where you will have to suffer and repent the wrong you have done. Here let us remind those who imagine that we ought not to pray. Let us say that prayer is one of those blessings which uplift the human soul. Wherever the human heart indulges in this—not merely verbal prayer; not merely addressing souse deity that you may suppose to exist; otherwise, not
Mr. Walker resumed Isis seat amidst general applause.
The Chairman rose, and said: I have a few remarks to make before the meeting separates, which I could have wished to be spared the trouble of making—I was about to say the pain—but I mean more than even that—the pain of having to make. As I mentioned at the outset, I came here for the express purpose of doing what I could to gain justice for one whom I consider a very ill-used young man. (Cheers.) Whether his claims to inspirational teaching stay be right or wrong, he at least has a right to ask from Englishmen common fairness. (Cheers.) He has not received it. One fact has struck me much. There has been heaped upon him denunciation, condemnation, suspicion, ridicule, and abuse of nearly every kind. But I Image not heard from Mr. Walker one solitary, ungenerous, uncharitable, or unkind word towards anyone (Loud cheers.) If I have to judge men by their deeds, Christianity is on his side. (Cheers.) I suppose most of you have read that article in the Star of last night. It is that brought use here to-night. I know the origin of that article, and I know the writer of it. (Cries of "Horsewhip him!" "Bethany!") I would ask you to keep yourselves calm until the close of what I am saying. I think you will consider that I am right in asking you to hear me to the end of what I have to say. I know the writer. (Cries, "Name him.") You will know that soon enough. I know a little about it. I know far more, perhaps, than they wish me to know. I now say that that article—that the allegations in that article—ought to be proved. (Cheers.) It will not be Mr. Walker's fault if they be not proved. (Hear, hear.) It will not be my fault if they are not either proved or withdrawn. Whatever I have to stake upon it, I will not stand by and see a comparatively helpless and unoffending young man trampled to death by those who hold all the power in their hands. (Cheers.) Now it has been asked, "Will Mr. Walker meet any of his opponents?" The answer is, "Yes, as many as like to appear—(loud cheers)—and whenever they like to appear." (Cheers.) Mr. Walker challenges the proof of the allegations in that article in this way: he is prepared to lay down £50, to be distributed amongst the charities of Auckland, if anyone will undertake to prove them.
A Voice: Where?
The Chairman: At my house. I am quite willing that it be here or anywhere else.
A Voice: Make it public.
The Chairman: I do not think that would be wise. It will be all published. I think you can trust to my truthfulness. I undertake to give you the result of that inquiry. I know certain things stated in that article to be deliberately false. There may perhaps be a slight vein of truth in it, as in the history of the "Three Black Crows." (Laughter.) But whatever comes of it there is one thing which I can never forget, and it is, that all on which that article was built up was obtained privately, in violation of private friendship and confidence. (Cries of " Shame, shame!") And even if every word were true, the manner of drawing that article would stamp the man who did with such a name as I would not like to utter. (Hear, and cheers.) I do not know that I need say more. I have already expressed my conviction that be Mr. Walker what he may, he himself is genuine. I may think, and you may think, that it is utterly out of the question to admit spiritual influence. He sincerely believes that he is under that Spiritual influence. He has been again and again asked by persons in private and in the Auckland papers why he did not come out as a lecturer Olson the faith of his own natural powers. The answer is simply that he cannot. He wishes to do it, but he cannot. He at least is sincerely conscious that he speaks under the influence of something beyond his present natural powers. All you have to do, and all I ask you to do, is to give Inca credit for sincerity. Call no man rogue until you have proved him such. (Cheers.) Prove him such if you can, and then let him take the consequences. Now I need say no more but that the usual collection will be made at the door. (Laughter.) I do not know that there is anything in that to cause such laughter. Which of you would like working for nothing and pay his expenses? I am, people say, an enthusiast, and sometimes they say I am fanatical; but I may tell you that the doctrine of my life has been that no man should ever want to be paid for anything. (Oh! Laughter and cheers.) People who are not patient sometimes find that they have made fools of themselves by laughing too soon. I have believed that a man if he went to his work and did it in the best, noblest and most manly way, and appealed to his work done, would be safe to get his recompense. There was once a very great and renowned lecturer,—it was an honour to me to know him and to take tea with him. It was my privilege to propound this fanatical doctrine of mine. What do you think he did? He laughed at it. This was the celebrated George Dawson, who would take 20 guineas or 10 guineas all the way down to 5 guineas. If Mr. Walker lectures here I do not think that any of you can see a reason why you ought to make him pay the expenses of this hall. He has at least the sanction of so great a man as George Dawson, if he were to require to be paid for his lecture. Another thing I have to announce, is that a number of Spiritualists will meet this evening in the ante-room, for what purpose is best known to themselves. I have no doubt it is a wise one according to their idea of wisdom. I wish them well. I wish all men well.
Mr. Wesley Spragg: I would ask you, sir, whether you hold yourself responsible for the payment of the £50 you have spoken of?
The Chairman: I do not quite understand the distinct force of the question. I hold myself responsible for Mr. Walker's sincerity, that he will bring it forward if required.
A Voice: Will Mr. Walker meet any other man to discuss this question Scripturally? (A laugh.)
The Chairman: The answer is, that Mr. Walker will meet any man, whether of the Press, or any other man you like, and will discuss this or any other question connected with the subject.
Mr. Tremaine: did not think that all the citizens of Auckland should be condemned. There was a good number who treated Mr. Walker with the greatest respect, and were willing to contribute to their utmost towards the expense incurred. The blame should be laid on the right shoulders.
The Chairman: I am quite willing to admit that there are a good many who have assisted Mr. Walker to the fullest extent in their power.
Mr. Wesley Spragg: I want to know whether Mr. Walker has been speaking himself, or whether lie has been speaking under the power of some authoritative spirit?
The Chairman: Mr. Walker affirms that he could not give the lecture which he has given to-night, or any other night, in his normal condition, that is, by the exercise of his own unaided powers. That is his conviction, and according to his conviction he speaks under the guidance of another mind.
This concluded the proceedings, and the meeting separated.
Printed by Wilsons & Horton, Wyndham Street, Auckland.
To many it will be unnecessary to preface the two articles of Mr.
The following are the more important works which have been used in the preparation of this article:—Judge Edmond's "Spiritual Tracts," New York, The Spiritual Magazine, The Spiritual Newspaper, The Medium and Daybreak,
It is with great diffidence, but under an imperative sense of duty, that the present writer accepts the opportunity afforded hint of submitting to the readers of the Fortnightly Review' same general account of a widespread movement, which, though for the most part treated with ridicule and contempt, he believes to embody truths of the most vital importance to human progress. The subject to be treated is of such vast extent, the evidence concerning it is so varied and extraordinary, the prejudices that surround it are so inveterate, that it is not possible to do it justice without entering into considerable detail. The reader who ventures on the perusal of the succeeding pages may, therefore, have his patience tried; but if he is able to throw aside his preconceived ideas of what is possible and what is impossible, and in the acceptance or rejection of the evidence submitted to bins will carefully weigh and be solely guided by the nature of the concurrent testimony, the writer ventures to believe that he will not find his time and patience ill-bestowed.
Few men, in this busy age, have leisure to read massive volumes devoted to special subjects. They gain much of their general knowledge, outside the limits of their profession or of any peculiar study, by means of periodical literature; and, as a rule, they are supplied with copious and accurate, though general, information. Some of our best thinkers and workers make known the results of their researches to the readers of magazines and reviews; and it is seldom that a writer whose information is meagre, or obtained at second-hand, is permitted to come before the public in their pages as an authoritative teacher. But as regards the subject we are now about to consider, this rule has not hitherto been followed. Those who Intro devoted many years to an examination of its phenomena have been, in most Case, refused a hearing; while seen who have bestowed on it no adequate attention, and are almost wholly ignorant of the researches of others, have alone supplied the information to which a large proportion of the public had access. In support of this statement it is necessary to refer, with brief comments, to some of the more prominent articles in which the phenomena and pretensions of Spiritualism have been recently discussed.
At the beginning of the present year the readers of this Review were treated to "Experiences of Spiritualism," by a writer of no mean ability, and of thoroughly advanced views. He assures his readers that he " conscientiously endeavoured to qualify himself for speaking on the subject" by attending five séances, the details of several of which he narrates; and he comes to the conclusion that mediums are by he means ingenious deceivers, but "jugglers of the most vulgar order; " that the " spiritualistic mind falls a victim to she most patent frauds," and greedily " accepts jugglery as manifestations of the spirits;" and, lastly, that the mediums are as credulous as their dupes, mid fall straightway into any trap that is laid for them. Now, on the evidence before him, and oil the assumption that no more or better evidence would have been forthcoming, had he devoted fifty instead of the evenings to the inquiry, the conclusions of Lord Amberley are perfectly
London Society for February—the author, a barrister and well-known literary man, says:—
"It was difficult for me to give in to the idea that solid objects could be conveyed, invisibly, through closed doors, or that heavy furniture could be moved without the interposition of hands. Philosophers will say these things are absolutely impossible; nevertheless it is absolutely certain that they do occur. I have met in the houses of private friends, as witnesses of these phenomena, persons whose testimony would go for a good deal in a court of justice. They have included peers, members of parliament, diplomatists of the highest rank, judges, barristers, physicians clergymen, members of learned societies, chemists, engineers, journalists, and thinkers of all sorts and degrees. They have suggested and carried into effect tests of the most rigid and satisfactory character. The media (all non professional) have been searched before and after séances. The precaution has even taken of providing them unexpectedly with other apparel. They have been tied, they have been sealed; they have been secured in every cunning and dexterous manner that ingenuity could devise, but no imposture has been discovered and no imposture brought to light. Neither there any motive for imposture. No fee or reward of any kind depended upon the success or non-success of the manifestations."
Now here we have a nice question of probabilities. We must either believe that Lord Amberley is almost infinitely more acute than Mr. Dunphy and his host of eminent friends—so that after five séances (most of them failures) he has got to the bottom of a mystery in which they, notwithstanding their utmost endeavours, still hopelessly flounder—or, that the noble lord's acuteness does not surpass the combined acuteness of all these persons; in which case their much larger experience, and. Their having witnessed ninny things Lord Amberley has not witnessed, must be held to have the greater weight and to show, at all events, that all mediums are not "jugglers of the most vulgar order."
In October last the New Quarterly Magazine, in its opening number, had an article entitled " A Spiritualistic Séance," but which proved to be an account of certain ingenious contrivances by which some of the phenomena usual at séances were imitated, and both spiritualists and sceptics deceived and confounded. This appears at first sight to bean exposure of Spiritualism, but it is really very favourable to its pretensions; for it goes on the assumption that the marvellous phenomena witnessed do really occur, but are produced by various mechanical contrivances. In this case the rooms above, below, and at the side of that in which the séances was held had to be prepared with specially constructed machinery, with assistants to work it. The apparatus, as described, would cost at least £100, and would then only serve to produce a few fixed phenomena, such as happen frequently inn private houses and at the lodgings of mediums who have not exclusive possession of any of the adjoining rooms, or the means of obtaining expensive machinery and hired assistants. The article bears internal evidence of being altogether a fictitious narrative; but it helps to demonstrate, if any demonstration is required, that the phenomena occur under such protean forms and varied conditions, and in private houses quite as often as at the apartments of the mediums, are in no way produced by machinery.
Perhaps the most prominent recent attack on Spiritualism was that in the "Our position, then, is that the so-called spiritual communications come from Quarterly Review for within, not from without, the individuals who suppose themselves to be the recipients of them; that they belong to the class termed 'subjective' by physiolologists and psychologists, and that the movements by which they are expressed, whether the tilting of tables or the writing of planchettes, are really produced by their own muscular action exerted independently of their own wills and quite unconsciously to themselves."
Several pages are then devoted to accounts of sciences which, like Lord Amberley's, were mostly failures; and to the experiences of a Bath clergyman who believed that the communications came from devils; and, generally, such weak and inconclusive phenomena only are adduced as can be easily explained by the well-worn formulate of unconscious cerebration," "expectant attention," and unconscious muscular action." A few of the more startling physical phenomena are mentioned merely to be discredited and the judgment of the witnesses impugned; but do attempt is made to place before the reader any information as to the amount or the weight of the testimony to such phenomena, or to the long series of diverse phenomena which lead up to and confirm them. Sonic of the experiments of Professor Hare and Mr. Crookes one quoted, and criticised in the spirit of assuming that these experienced physicists were ignorant of the simplest principles of mechanics, and failed to use the most ordinary precautions. Of the numerous and varied eases on record of heavy bodies being moved without direct or indirect contact by any bunion being, no notice is taken, except so far as quoting Mr. F. Varley's statement that Inc had seen, in broad daylight, a small table moved ten feet, with no one near it but himself, and not touched by him—"as an example of the manner in which minds of this limited order are apt to become the dupes of their own imaginings."
This article, like the others here referred to, shows in the writer an utter 'forgetfulness of the maxim, that an argument is not answered till it is answered at its best. Amid the vast mass of recorded facts now accumulated by spiritualists there is, of course, much that is weak and inconclusive, much, that is of no value as evidence, except to those who have independent reasons for faith in them. From this undigested mass it is the easiest thing in the world to pick out arguments that can be refuted, and facts that can be explained away; but what is that to the purpose? It is not these that have convinced any one; but those weightier, oft-repeated and oft-tested facts which the writers referred to invariably ignore.
Professor Tyndall has also given the world (in his "Fragments of Science," published in
The discussion in the Pall Mall Gaztte
From the sketch which has now been given of the recent treatment of the subject by popular and scientific writers, we can summaries pretty accurately their mental attitude in regard to it. They have seen very little of the phenomena themselves, and they cannot believe that others have seen much more. They have encountered people who are easily deceived by a little unexpected trickery, and they conclude that the convictions of spiritualists generally are founded on phenomena produced, either consciously or unconsciously, in a similar way. They are so firmly convinced on a priori grounds that the More remarkable phenomena stud to happen do not really happen, that they will back their conviction against the direct testimony of any body of men; preferring to believe that they are all the victims of some mysterious delusion whenever imposture is out of the question. To influence persons in this frame of mind, it is evident that more personal testimony to isolated facts is utterly useless. They have, to use the admirable expression of Dr. Carpenter, "no place in the existing fabric of their thought into which such facts can be fitted." It is necessary therefore to modify the "fabric of thought" itself; and it appears to the present writer that this can best be done by a general historic sketch of the subject; and by showing, by separate lines of inquiry, how wide and varied is the evidence, and how remarkably these lines converge towards one uniform conclusion. The endeavour will be made to indicate, by typical examples of each class of evidence and without unnecessary detail, the cumulative force of the argument.
Modern Spiritualism dates from It may be as well hero to explain that the word "spirit," which is often considered to be so objectionable by scientific men, is used throughout this article (or at all events in the earlier portion of it) merely to avoid circumlocution, in the sense of the "intelligent cause of the phenomena," and not as implying "the spirits of the dead," uuless so expressly stated.was, the spirit
The Misses Fox now became involuntary mediums, and the family (which had removed to the city of Rochester) were accused of imposture, and offered to submit the children to examination by a committee of townsmen appointed in public meeting. Three committees were successively appointed; the last, composed of violent sceptics, who had accused the pardons committees of stupidity or connivance. But tell three, after unlimited investigation, were forced to declare that the Cause of the phenomena was undiscoverable. The sounds occurred on the wall and floor, while the medium, after being thoroughly searched by ladies, stood on pillows, barefooted, and with their clothes tied round their ankles." The last and most sceptical committee reported that "They had heard sounds, and failed utterly to discover their origin. They had proved that neither machinery nor imposture had been used; and their questions, many of them being mental, were answered correctly." When we consider that the mediums were two children under twelve years of age, and the examiners utterly sceptical American citizens, thoroughly resolved to detect imposture, and urged on by excited public meetings, it may perhaps be considered that even at this early stage the question of imposture or delusion was pretty well settled in the negative.
In a short time persons who sat with the Misses Fox found themselves to hare similar powers, in a greater or less degree; and in two or three years the movement had spread over a large part of the United States, developing into a variety of strange forms, encountering the most violent scepticism and the most rancorous hostility, yet always progressing, and making converts even among the most enlightened and best educated classes. In for four years, and all became spiritualists,
By this time the movement had spread into every part of the Union, and, notwithstanding that its adherents were abused as impostors or dupes, the., they were in several cases expelled from colleges and churches, and were confined as lunatics, and that the whole thing was "explained" over and over again, it has continued to spread up to the present hour. The secret of this appears to have been, that the explanations given never applied to the phenomena continually occurring, and of which there were numerous witnesses. A medium was raised in the air in a crowded room in full daylight. ("Modern American Spiritualism," p. 279.) A scientific sceptic prepared a small portable apparatus by which he could produce an instantaneous illumination; and taking it to a dark of séance at which numerous musical instruments were played, suddenly lighted up the room while a large drum was being violently beaten, in the certain expectation of revealing the impostor to the whole company. But what they all saw was the drumstick itself beating the dram, with no human being near it. It struck a few more blows, then rose into the air and descended gently on the shoulder of a lady. (Same work, p.337). At Toronto, Canada, in a well-lighted room, an accompaniment to a song was played on a closed and locked piano. (Same work, p.463). Communications were given in raised letters on the arm of an ignorant servant girl who often could not read them. They sometimes appeared while she was at her household work, and after being read by her master or mistress would disappear. (Same work, p.196). Letters closed in any number of envelopes, sealed up or even pasted together over the whole of the written surface, were read and answered by certain mediums in whom this power was developed. It mattered not what language the letters were written in and it is upon record that letters in German, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, French, Welsh, and Mexican, have been correctly answered in the corresponding languages by a medium who knew none of them. (Judge Edmunds's "Letters on Spiritualism," pp. 59-103, Appendix). Other mediums drew portraits of deceased persons whom they had never known or heard of. Others healed diseases. But those who helped most to spread the belief were, perhaps, the trance speakers, who, in eloquent and powerful language, developed the principles and the uses of Spiritualism, answered objections, spread abroad a knowledge of the phenomena, and thus induced sceptics to inquire into the facts and inquiry was almost invariably followed by conversion. Having repeatedly listened to three of these speakers who have visited this country, can hear witness that they are fully equal and not unfrequently surpass, our best orators and preachers; whether in finished eloquence, in close and logical argument, or in the readiness with which appropriate and convincing replies are made to all objectors. They are also remarkable for the perfect courtesy and suavity of manner, and for the extreme patience and gentleness with which they meet the most violent opposition and the most unjust accusations.
Men of the highest rank and greatest ability became convinced by these varied phenomena. No amount of education, of legal, medical or scientific training, was proof against the overwhelming force of the acts, whenever these facts were systematically end perseveringly inquired into. The number of Spiritualists in the Union is, according to those who have the best means of judging, from eight to eleven millions. This the estimate of Judge Edmunds, who has had extensive correspondence on the subject with every part of the United States. The Hon. R. D. Owen, who has also had great opportunities of knowing the facts, considers it to be approximately correct; and it is affirmed by the editors of the "Year Book
In other parts of the world the movement has progressed more or less rapidly. Several of the more celebrated American mediums have visited this country, and not only made converts in all classes of society, but led to the formation of private circles and the discovery of mediumistic power in hundreds of families. There is scarcely a city or a considerable town in continental Europe at the present moment where Spiritualists are not reckoned by hundreds, if not by thousands. There are said, on good authority, to be fifty thousand avowed Spiritualists in Paris and ten thousand in Lyons; and the numbers in this country may be roughly estimated by the fact that there are four exclusively Spiritual periodicals, one of which has a circulation of five thousand weekly.
Before proceeding to a statement of the evidence which has convinced the more educated and more sceptical converts, let us briefly consider the bearing of the undoubted fact, that (to keep within bounds) many thousands of well-informed men, belonging to all classes of society and all professors, have, in each of the great civilised nations of the world, acknowledged the objective realty of these phenomena; although, almost without exception, they at first viewed them with dislike or contempt, as impostures or delusions. There is nothing parallel to it in the history of human thought; because there never before existed so strong and apparently so well-founded a conviction that phenomena of this kind never have happened and never can happen. It is often said, that the number of adherents to a belief is no proof of its truth. This remark justly applies to most religions whose arguments appeal to the emotions and the intellect, but not to the evidence of the senses. It is equally just as applied to a great part of modern science. The almost universal belief in gravitation, and in the undulatory theory of light, does not render them in any degree more probable; because very few indeed of the believers have tested the facts which most convincingly demonstrate those theories, or are able to follow out the reasoning by which they are demonstrated. It is for the most part a blind belief accepted upon authority. But with these spiritual phenomena the case is very different. They are to most men so new, so strange, so incredible, so opposed to their whole habit of thought, so apparently opposed to the pervading scientific spirit of the age, that they cannot and do not accept them on second-hand evidence, as they do almost every other kind of knowledge. The thousands or millions of spiritualists, therefore, represent to a very large extent in who have witnessed, examined, and tested the evidence for themselves, over and over and over again, till that which they had at first been unable to admit could be true, they have at last been compelled to acknowledge is true. This accounts for the utter failure of all the attempted "exposures" and "explanations" to convince one solitary believer of his error. The exposers and explainers have never got beyond those first difficulties which constitute the pons asinorum of Spiritualism, which every believer has to get over, but at which early stage of investigation no converts are ever made. By explaining table-turning, or table-
"And is this world of strife to end in dust at last?" Thus it is that there are so few recantations or perverts in Spiritualism; so few that it may be truly said there are none. After much inquiry and reading I can find no example of a man who, having acquired a good personal knowledge of all the chief phases of the phenomena has subsequently come to disbelieve in their reality. If the "explanations" and "exposures" were good for anything, or if it were an imposture to expose or a delusion to explain, this could not be the case, because there are numbers of men who have become convinced of the facts, but who have not accepted the spiritual theory. These are, for the most part, in an uncomfortable and unsettled frame of mind, and would gladly welcome an explanation which really explained anything—but they find it not. As an eminent example of this class, I may mention Dr. J, Lockhart Robertson, long one of the editors of the Journal of Mental Science—a physician who, having made mental disease his special study, would not be easily taken in by any psychological delusions. The phenomena he witnessed fourteen years ago were of a violent character; a very strong table being, at his own request and in his own house, broken to pieces while he held the medium's hands. He afterwards himself tried to break a remaining leg of the table, but failed to do so after exerting all his strength. Another table was tilted over while all the party sat on it. He subsequently had a sitting with Mr. Home, and witnessed the usual phenomena occurring with that extraordinary medium—such as the accordion playing "most wonderful music without any human agency," "a shadow hand, not that of any one present, which lifts a pencil and writes with it," &c., &c.; and he says that he can " no more doubt the physical manifestations of (so called) Spiritualism than he would any other fact—as, for example, the fall of an apple to the ground of which his senses informed him." His record of these phenomena with the confirmation by a friend who was present, is published in the "Dialectical Society's Report on Spiritualism," p. 247; and, at a meeting of Spiritualists in
The subject of the evidences of the objective phenomena of Spiritualism is such a large one that it will be only possible here to give a few typical examples, calculated to show how wide is their range, and how conclusively they reach every objection that the most sceptical have brought against them. This may perhaps be best done by giving, in the first place, an outline of the career of two or three well-known mediums; and, in the second, a sketch of the experiences and investigations of a few of the more remarkable converts to spiritualism.
Career of Remarkable Mediums.—Miss Kate Fox, the little girl of nine years old, who, as already stated, was the first "medium" in the modern sense of the term, has continued to possess the same power for twenty-six years. At the very earliest stages of the movement, sceptic after sceptic committee after committee, endeavoured to discover "the trick;" but if it was a trick this little girl baffled them all, and the proverbial acuteness of the Yankee was of no avail. In
But Miss Fox's powers were most remarkably shown in the séances with Mr. Livermore, a well-known New York banker, and an entire sceptic before commencing these experiments. These sittings were more than three hundred in number, extending over five years. They took place in four different houses (Mr. Livermore's and the medium's being both changed during this period), under tests of the most rigid description. The chief phenomenon was the appearance of a tangible, visible, and audible figure of Mr. Livermore's deceased wife, sometimes accompanied by a male figure, purporting to be Dr. Franklin. The former figure was often most distinct; and absolutely life-like. It moved various objects in the room. It wrote messages on cards. It was sometimes formed out of a luminous cloud, and again vanished before the eyes of the witnesses. It allowed a portion of its dress to be cut off, which though at first of strong and apparently material gauzy texture, yet in a short time melted away and became invisible. Flowers which melted away were also given. These phenomena occurred best when Mr. L. and the medium were alone; but two witnesses were occasionally admitted, who tested everything and confirmed Mr. L.'s testimony. One of these was Mr. Livermore's physician, the other his brother-in-law; the latter previously a sceptic. The details of these wonderful séances were published in the Spiritual Magazine in
Miss Fox recently came to England, and here also her powers have been tested by a competent man of science, and found to be all that has been stated. She is now married to an English barrister, and some of the strange phenomena which have so long accompanied her, attach themselves to her infant child, even when its mother is away, to the great alarm of its nurse. We have here, therefore, a career of twenty-six years of mediumship of the
Mr. Daniel D. Home is perhaps the best known medium in the world; and his powers have been open to examination for at least twenty years. Nineteen years ago Sir David Brewster and Lord Brougham had a sitting with him—sufficiently acute and eminent observers, and both, of courser thorough sceptics. In the "House Life of Sir David Brewster," we have, fortunately, his own record of this sitting made at the time, although six months later, in a letter to the Morning Advertiser, he made the contradictory statement, "I saw enough to satisfy myself they could all be produced by human hands and feet." He says "The table actually rose from the ground when no hand was upon it;" and "a small hand-bell was laid down with its mouth on the carpet, and it actually rang when nothing could have touched it. The bell was then placed on the other side, still upon the carpet, and it came over to use and placed itself in my hand. It did the sense to Lord Brougham." And he adds, speaking for both, "We could give no explanation of them, and could not conjecture how they could be produced by any kind of mechanism." Coming from the author of "Letters on Natural Magic," this is pretty good testimony.
These and far more marvellous phenomena have been repeated from that day to this, many thousands of times, and almost always in private houses at which Mr. Home visits. Everybody testifies to the fact that he offers the most ample facilities for investigation; and to this I can myself bear witness, having been invited by hint to examine as closely as I pleased an accordion, held by his one hand, keys downwards, and in that position playing very sweetly: But, perhaps, the best attested and most extraordinary phenomenon connected with Mr. Home's mediumship is what is called the fire test. In a state of trance he takes a glowing coal from the hottest part of a bright tire, and carries it round the room, so that every one may see and feel that it is a real one. This is testified by Mr. H. D. Jencken, Lord Lindsay, Lord Adare, Miss Douglas, Mr. S. C. Hall, and many others. But, more strange still, when in this state he can detect the game power in other persons, or convey it to them. A lumn of red-hot coal was once placed on Mr. S. C. Hall's head in the presence of Lord Lindsay and four other per. costs. Mrs. Hall, in a communication to the Earl of Dunraven (given in the Mr. Hall was seated nearly opposite to where I sat; and I saw Mr. Home, after standing about half a minute at the back of Mr. Hall's chair, deliberately place the lump of burning cool on his head! I have often wondered that I was not frightened, but I was not; I had perfect finish that he would not be injured. Some one said, "Is it not hot?" Mr. Hall answered, "Warm, hut not hot." Mr. Home had moved a little way, but returned, still in a trance; he smiled, and seemed quite pleased end then proceeded to draw up Mr. Hall's solute hair over the red coal. The white hair had the appearance of silver thread over the red coal. Mr. Home drew the hair into it sort of pyramid, the coal, still red, showing beneath the hair."Spiritual Magazine,
When taken off the head, which it had not in the slightest degree injured or singed the hair, others attempted to touch it and were burnt. Lord Lindsay and Miss Douglas have also had hot coals placed in their hands, and they describe them as feeling rather cold than hot, though at the same time they burn any one else, and even scorch the face of the holder if approached too closely. The same witnesses also testify that Mr. Home has placed red hot coals inside his waist -coat without scorching his clothes, and has put his face into the middle of the fire, his hair falling into the flames, yet not being
Human Nature, Spiritualist,
As to the possibility of these things being produced by trick, if further evidence than their mere statement be required, we have the following by Mr. T. Adolphus Trollope, who says, 'I may also mention that Bosco, one of the greatest professors of legerdemain ever known, in a conversation with me upon the subject, utterly scouted the idea of the possibility of such phenomena as I saw produced by Mr. Home being performed by any of the resources of his art"
The powers of Mr. Home have lately been independently tested by Serjeant Cox and Mr. Crookes, and both these gentlemen emphatically proclaim that he invites tests and courts examination. Serjeant Cox, in his own house, has had a new accordion (purchased by himself that very day) play by itself, in his own hand, while Mr. Home was playing the piano. Mr. Horne then took the accordion in his left hand, holding it with the keys downward while playing the piano with his right hand, " and it played beautifully in accompaniment to the piano for at least a quarter of an hour. (" What Am I?" vol. ii, p. 388.)
Mr. Home's life has been to a great extent a public one. He has spent much of his time as a guest in the houses of people of rank and talent. He numbers among his friends many who are eminent in science, art, and literature—men certainly not inferior in perceptive or reasoning powers to those who, not having witnessed the phenomena, disbelieve in their occurrence. For twenty years he has been exposed to the keen scrutiny and never-ceasing suspicion of innumerable inquirers; yet no proof has ever been given of trickery, no particle of machinery or apparatus has ever been detected. But the phenomena are so stupendous that, if impostures, they could only be performed by machinery of the most elaborate, varied, and cumbrous nature, requiring the aid of several assistants and confederates. The theory that they are delusions are equally untenable, unless it is admitted that there is no possible means of distinguishing delusion from reality.
The last medium to whose career I shall call attention is Mrs. Guppy (formerly, Miss Nichol), and in tins case I can give some personal testimony. I know Miss Nichol before she had ever heard of Spiritualism, table-rapping, or anything of the kind, and we first discovered her powers on asking her to sit for experiment in my house. Tins was in
Another very curious and beautiful phenomenon was the production of delicate musical sounds, without any object calculated to produce them being in the room. On one occasion a German lady, who was a perfect stranger to Miss Nichol, and had never been at a séance before, was present. She sang several German songs, and most delicate music, like a fairy musical box, accompanied her throughout. She sang four or five different songs of her own choice, and all were so accompanied. This was in the dark, but hands were joined all the time.
The most remarkable feature of this lady's mediumship is the production of flowers and fruits in closed rooms. The first time this occurred was at my own house, at a very early stage of her development. All present were my own friends. Miss Nichol had come early to tea, it being midwinter, and she had been with us in a very warm gas-lighted room four hours before the flowers appeared. The essential fact is, that upon a bare table in a small room closed and dark (the adjoining room and passage being well lighted), a quantity of flowers appeared, which were not there when we put on the gas a few minutes before. They consisted of anemones, tulips, chrysanthemums, Chinese primroses, and several ferns. All were absolutely fresh as if just gathered from a conservatory. They were covered with a fine cold dew. Not a petal was crumpled or broken, not the most delicate point or pinnule of the ferns was out of place. I dried and preserved the whole, and have, attached to them, the attestation of all present that they had no share, as far as they knew, in bringing the flowers into the room. I believed at the time, and still believe, that it was absolutely impossible for Miss N. to have concealed them so long, to have kept them so perfect, and, above all, to produce them covered throughout with a most beautiful coat-
Similar phenomena have occurred hundreds of times since, in many houses and under various conditions. Sometimes the flowers have been in vast quantities, heaped upon the table. Often flowers or fruits asked for are brought. A friend of mine asked for a sunflower, and one six feet high fell upon the table, having a large mass of earth about its roots. One of the most striking tests was at Florence, with Mr. T. Adolphus Trollope, Mrs. Trollope, Miss Blagden, and Colonel Harvey. The room was searched by the gentlemen; Mrs. Guppy was undressed and redressed by Mrs. Trollope, every article of her clothing being examined. Mr. and Mrs. Guppy were both firmly held while at the table. In about ten minutes all the party exclaimed that they smelt flowers, and, on lighting a candle, both Mrs. Guppy's and Mrs. Trollope's arms were found covered with jonquils, which filled the room with their odour. Mr. Guppy and Mr. Trollope both relate this in substantially the same terms. ("Dialectical Society's Report on Spiritualism," pp. 277 and 372).
Surely these are phenomena about which there can be no mistake. What theories hare ever beets proposed by our scientific teachers which even attempt to account for them? Delusion it cannot, be, for the flowers are real, and can be preserved, and imposture under the conditions described is even less credible. If the gentlemen who come forward to enlighten the public on the subject of "so-called spiritual manifestations" do not know of the various classes of phenomena that have now been indicated, and the weight of the testimony in support of them, they are palpably unqualified for the task they have undertaken. That they do know of them, but keep back their knowledge, while putting forth trivialities easy to laugh at or expose, is a supposition I cannot for a moment entertain. Before leaving this part of the subject, it is well to note the fact of the marked individuality of each medium. They are no copies of each other, but each one develops is characteristic set of phenomena—a fact highly suggestive of some unconscious occult power in the individual, and wholly opposed to the idea of either imposture or delusion, both of which almost invariably copy pre-existing models.
Investigations by some Notable Sceptics.—In giving some account of how a few of the most important converts to Spiritualism because convinced, we are of course limited to those who have given their experiences to the public. I will first take the case of the eminent American lawyer, the Hon. J. W. Edmunds, commonly called Judge Edmunds; and it may be as well to let English sceptics know what he is thought of by his countrymen. When he first became a Spiritualist he was greatly abused; and it was even declared that be consulted the spirits on his judicial decisions. To defend himself he published an "Appeal to the Public," giving a full account of the inquiries which resulted in his conversion. In noticing this, the New York Evening Mirror said: "John W. Edmunds, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of this District, is an able lawyer, an industrious judge, and a good citizen. For the last eight years occupying without interruption the highest judicial stations, whatever may be his faults, no one can justly accuse him of a lack of ability, industry, honesty, or fearlessness. No one can doubt his general saneness, or can believe for a moment that the ordinary operations of his mind are not as rapid, accurate, and reliable as ever. Both by the practitioners and suitors at his bar, he is recognised as the head, in fact and in merit, of the Supreme Court for this District." A few years later he published a series of letters on Spiritualism in the New York Tribune; and in the first of these he gives a compact summary of his mode of investigation, from which the following passages
It was in
I resorted to every expedient I could devise to detect imposture and to guard against delusion. I felt in myself, and site in others, how exciting was the idea that we were actually communing with the dead; and I labored to prevent any undue bias of at judgment. I was at times critical and captious to an unreasonable extreme; and when my belief was challenged, as it was over and over again, I refused to yield, except to evidence that would leave no possible room for cavil.
I was severely exacting in my demands, and this would frequently happen. I would go to a circle with some doubt on my mind as to the manifestations at the previous circle, and something would happen aimed directly at that doubt, and completely overthrowing it as it then seemed, so that I no longer had any reason to doubt. But I would go home and write out carefully my minutes of the evening, cogitate over them for several days, compare them with previous records, and finally find some loophole—some possibility that it might have been something else than spiritual influence, and I would go to the next circle with a new doubt, and a new set of queries.
I look back sometimes now, with a smile, at the ingenuity I wasted in devising ways and means to avoid the possibility of deception.
It was a remarkable feature of my investigations, that every conceivable objection I could raise, first and last, was met and answered.
The following extracts are front the "Appeal:"—
I have seen a mahogany table, having a centre leg, and with a lamp burning upon it, lifted from the floor at least a foot, in spite of the efforts of those present, and shaken backward and forward as one would shake a goblet in his Land, and the lamp retain it: place, though its glass pendants rang again. I have known it mahogany chair thrown on its side and moved swiftly back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room where there were at least at dozen people sitting, yet no one was touched; and it was repeatedly stopped within it few inches of me, when it was coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken my legs.
Having satisfied himself of the reality of the physical phenomena, he came to the question of whence comes the intelligence that was so remarkable connected with them. He says:—
Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down alone in my room, and carefully prepared a series of questions to be propounded, and I have been surprised to find my questions answered, and in the precise order in which I wrote them, without my even taking my memorandum out of my pocket, and when not a person present knew that I had prepared question; much less what they were. My most secret thoughts, those which I have never uttered to mortal man or woman, hays been freely spoken to as if I had uttered them; and I have been admonished that
Still the question occurred, "May not all this have been, by some mysterious operation, the mere reflex of the mind of sonic one present?" The answer was, that facts were communicated which were unknown then, bat afterwards found to be true; like this for instance when I was absent last winter in Central America, nor friends in town heard of nay whereabouts and of the state of my health several time; and on my return, by comparing their information with the entries in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct. So thoughts have been uttered en subjects not then in any mind, and utterly at variance with any own notions. This often has happened to me anti to others, so as fully to establish the fact that it was not our minds that gave forth or effected the communication.
These few extracts sufficiently show that the writer was aware of the possible sources of error in such an inquiry, and the details given in the letters prove that he was constantly on his guard against them. He himself and his daughters became mediums; so that he afterwards obtained personal confirmation of many of the phenomena by himself alone. But all the phenomena referred to in the letters and "Appeal" occurred to him in the presence of others, who testified to them as well, and thus removed the possibility that the phenomena were subjective.
We have yet to add a notice of what will be perhaps, to many persons, the most startling and convincing of all the Judge's experiences. His own daughter became a medium for speaking foreign languages of which she was totally ignorant. He says: She knows no language but her own, and a little smattering of boarding school French; yet she has spoken in nine or ten different tongues, often for an hour at a time, with the ease and fluency of is native. It is not unfrequent that foreigners converse with their spirit friends through her, in their own language." One of these cases must he given:
One evening, when some twelve or fifteen persons were in my parlor, Mr. E. D. Green, an artist of this city, was shown in, accompanied by in gentleman whom he introduced as Mr. Evangelides, of Greece. Ere long in spirit spoke to him through Laura, in English, and said so many things to him that he identified him as a friend who had died at his house a few years before, but of whom none of us had ever heard. Occasionally, through Laura, the spirit would, speak a word or a sentence in Greek, until Mr. E. inquired if he could be understood if he spoke Greek? The residue of the conversation for more than an hour was, on his part, entirely in Greek, and on hers sometimes is Greek and sometimes in English. At times Laura would not understand what was the idea conveyed either by her or him; at other times she would not understand him, though he spoke in Greek, and herself, while uttering Greek words.
Several other cases are mentioned, and it is stated that this lady has spoken Spanish, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, Hungarian, and Indian, and other languages which were unknown to any person present.
This is by no means an isolated case, but it is given as being on most unexceptionable authority. A man must know whether his own daughter has learned, so as to speak fluently eight languages besides her own, or not. Those who carry on the conversation must know whether the language is spoken or net; and in several cases—as the Latin, Spanish, and Indian—the judge himself understood the language. And the phenomenon is connected with Spiritualism by the speaking being in the name of, and purporting to come from, some deceased person, and the subject matter being characteristic of that person. Such a case as this, which has been published sixteen years, ought to have been noticed and explained by those who profess to enlighten the public on the subject of Spiritualism.
Our next example is one of the most recent, but at the same time one of the most useful, converts to the truths of Spiritualism. Dr. George Sexton, M.D., M.A., L.L.D., was for many years the coadjutor of Mr. Bradlaugh, and one of the most earnest and energetic of the secularist teachers. The celebrated Robert Owen first called his attention to the subject of Spiritualism, about twenty years ago. He read books, he saw a good deal of the ordinary physical manifestations, but he always "suspected that the mediums played tricks, and that the whole affair was nothing but clever conjuring by means of concealed machinery." He gave several lectures against Spiritualism in the usual style of non-believers, dwelling much on the absurdity and triviality of the phenomena, and ridiculing the idea that they were the work of spirits. Then cause another old friend and fellow-secularist, Mr. Turley, who, after investigating the subject for the purpose of exposing it, became a firm believer. Dr. Sexton laughed at this conversion, yet it made a deep impression on his mind. Ten years passed away, and his next important investigation was with the Davenport Brothers; and it will be well for those who sneer at these much-abused young men to take note of the following account of Dr. Sexton's proceedings with them, and especially of the fact that they cheerfully submitted to every test the doctor suggested. He tells us (in his lecture," How I became a "Spiritualist") that he visited them again and again, trying in vain to find out the trick. Then, he says—
My partner—Dr. Barker—and I invited the Brothers to our houses, and, in order to guard against anything like trickery, we requested them not to bring any ropes, instruments, or other apparatus all these we ourselves had determined to supply. Moreover, as there were four of them—viz,. the two Brothers Davenport, Mr. Fay, and Dr. Fergusson—we suspected that the two who were not tied might really do all that was done. We therefore requested only two to come. They unhesitatingly complied with all these requests. We forming a circle, consisting entirely of members of our own families and a few private friends, with the one bare exception of Mrs. Fay. In the circle we all joined hand and as Mrs. Fay sat at one end she had one of her hands free, while I had hold of the other. Thinking that she might be able to assist with the band that was thus free, I asked as a favour that I might be allowed to hold both her hands—a proposition which she at once agreed to. Now, without entering here at all into what took place, suffice it to say that we bound the mediums with our own ropes, placed their feet upon sheets of writing paper and drew lines around their boots, so that if they moved their feet it should be impossible for them to place them again in the some position; we laid pence on their toes, sealed the ropes, and in every way took precautions against their moving. On the occasion to which I now refer, Mr. Bradlaugh and Mr. Charles Watts were present; and when Mr. Fay's coat had been taken off, the ropes still remaining on his hands, Mr. Bradlaugh requested that his coat might be placed on Mr. Fay, which was immediately done, the ropes still remaining fastened. We got on this occasion all the phenomena that usually occurred in the presence of these extraordinary men, particulars of which I shall probably give on another occasion. Dr. Barker became a believer in Spiritualism from the time that the Brothers visited at his house. I did not see that any proof had been given that disembodied spirits had any hand in producing the phenomena; but I was convinced that no tricks had been played, and that therefore these extraordinary physical manifestations were the result of some occult force its nature which I had no means of explaining in the present state of say knowledge. All the physical phenomena that I had seen now became clear to me; they were not accomplished by trickery, as I had formerly supposed, but were the result of some discovered low of nature which it was the business of the man of science to use his utmost endeavours to discover."
While he was maintaining this ground, spiritualists often asked him how he explained the intelligence that was manifested; and he invariably replied that he had not yet seen proofs of any intelligence other than what
"The proofs that I did ultimately receive are, many of them, of a character that I cannot describe minutely to a public audience, nor indeed have I time to do so. Suffice it to say, that I got in my own house, in the absence of all mediums other than the members of my own family and intimate private friends in whom mediumistic powers became developed, evidence of an irresistible character that the communications came from deceased friends and relatives. Intelligence was again and again displayed which could not possibly have had any other origin than that which it professed to have Facts were named known to no one in the circle, and left to be verified afterwards. The identity of the spirits communicating was proved in a hundred different ways. Our dear departed ones made themselves palpable both to feeling and to sight; and the doctrine of spirit communion was proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. I soon found myself in the position of Dr. Fenwick in Lord Lytton's 'Strange story. 'Do you believe,' asked the female attendant of Margrave, 'in that which you seek?' 'I have no belief,' was the answer. 'True science has none; true science questions all things, and takes nothing on credit. It knows but three states of mind—denial, conviction, and the vast interval between the two, which is not belief, but the suspension of judgment.' This describes exactly the phases through which my mind has passed."
Since Dr. Sexton Inns become a spiritualist he has been as energetic an advocate for its truths as he had been before for the negations of secularism. His experience and ability as a lecturer, with his long schooling, in every form of manifestation, render him one of the most valuable promulgators of its teachings. He has also done excellent service in exposing the pretensions of those conjurors who profess to expose Spiritualism. This he does in the most practical way not only by explaining how the professed imitations of spiritual manifestations are performed, but by actually performing them before his audience; and at the same time pointing out the important differences between what these people do and what occurs at good séances. Any one who wishes to comprehend how Dr. Lynn, Messrs. Maskelyne and Cook, and Herr Dobler perform some of their most curious feats have only to read his lecture, entitled "Spirit Mediums and Conjurors," before going to witness their entertainments. We can hardly believe that the man who does this, and who during fifteen years of observation and experiment held out against the spiritual theory, is one of those who, as Lord Amberley tells us, " fall a victim to the most patent frauds, and are imposed upon by jugglery of the most vulgar order;" or who, as viewed from Professor Tyndall's high scientific standpoint, are in a frame of mind before which science is utterly powerless—"dupes beyond the reach of proof who like to believe and do not like to be undeceived." These be brave words; but we leave our readers to judge whether they come with a very good grace from men who have the most slender and inadequate knowledge of the subject they are criticizing, and no knowledge at all of the long-continued and conscientious investigations of many who are included in their wholesale animadversions.
Yet one more witness to these marvellous phenomena we must bring
In Mr. Crookes's latest paper, published in the Quarterly Journal of Science for January last, we are informed that he has pursued the inquiry for four years; and besides attending séances elsewhere, has had the opportunity of making numerous experiments in his own house with the two remarkable mediums already referred to, Mr. D. D. Home and Miss Kate Fox. These experiments were almost exclusively made in the light, under conditions of his own arranging, and with his own friends as witnesses. Such phenomena as percussive sounds; alteration of the weight of bodies; the rising of heavy bodies in the air without contact by any one; the levitation of human beings; luminous appearances of various kinds; the appearance of hands which lift small objects, yet are not the hands of any one present direct writing by a luminous detatched hand or by the pencil alone; phantom forms and faces; and various mental phenomena—have all been tested so variously and so repeatedly that Mr. Crookes is thoroughly satisfied of their objective reality. These phenomena are given in outline in the paper above referred to, and they will be detailed in full in a volume now preparing. I will not, therefore, weary my readers by repeating them here, but will remark, that these experiments have a weight as evidence vastly greater than would be due to them as resting on the testimony of any man of science, however distinguished, because they are in almost every case, confirmations of what precious witnesses in immense numbers have testified to, all various places, and under various conditions, during the last twenty years. In every other experimental inquiry, without exception, confirmation of the facts of an earlier observer is held to add so greatly to their value, that no one treats them with the same incredulity with which he might have received them the first time they were announced. And when the confirmation has been repeated by three or four independent observers under favourable conditions, and there is nothing but theory or negative evidence against them, the facts are admitted—at least provisionally, and until disproved by a greater weight of evidence or by discovering the exact source of the fallacy of preceding observers.
But here, a totally different—a most unreasonable and a most unphilosophical—course is pursued. Each fresh observation, confirming previous evidence, is treated as though it were now put forth for the first time; and
per contra? Neither science nor philosophy, neither scepticism nor religion, has ever yet in this quarter of a century mask one single convert from the ranks of Spiritualism!
This being the case, and fully appreciating the amount of candour and fairness, and knowledge of the subject, that has been exhibited by their opponents, is it to be wondered at that in large proportion of spiritualists are now profoundly indifferent to the opinion or men of science, and would not go one step out of their way to convince them? They say, that the movement is going on quite fast enough. That it is spreading by its own inherent force of truth, and slowly permeating all classes of society. It has thriven in spite of abuse and persecution, ridicule and argument, and continues to thrive whether endorsed by great names or not. Men of science, like all others, are welcome to enter its ranks, but they must satisfy themselves by their own persevering researcher, not expect to have its proofs laid before them. Their rejection of its truths is their own loss but cannot in the slightest degree affect the progress of Spiritualism. The attacks and criticism of the press are borne good-humouredly, and seldom excite other feelings than pity for the wilful ignorance and contempt for the overwhelming presumption of their writers. Such are the sentiments that are continually expressed spiritualists; and it is as well, perhaps, that the outer world, to whom the literature of the movement is as much unknown as the Vedas, should be made acquainted with them.
Investigation by the Dialectical Committee—There are many other investigators who ought to be noticed in any complete sketch of the subject, but we have now only space to allude briefly to the "Report of the Committee of the Dialectical Society." Of this committee, consisting of thirty-three acting members, only eight were, at the commencement, believers in the reality of the phenomena, while not more than four accepted the spiritual, theory. During the course of the inquiry at least twelve of the complete sceptics became convinced of the reality of many of the physical phenomena through attending the experimental sub-committees, and almost wholly by means of the mediumship of members of the committee. At least three members who were previously sceptics pursued their investigations outside the committee meetings, and in consequence have become thorough Spiritualists. My own observation as a member of the committee, and of the largest and most active sub-committee, enables me to state that the degree of conviction produced in the minds of the various members was, allowing for marked differences of character, approximately proportionate to the amount of tune and care bestowed on the investigation. This fact, while is what occurs in all investigation into these phenomena, is characteristic result of the examination into any natural phenomena. The examination into an imposture or delusion has invariably exactly opposite results—those who have slender experience being deceived, being those who perseveringly continue the inquiry inevitably find out the source of the deception or the delusion.
If this were not so, the discovery of truth and the detection or error would be alike impossible. The result if this inquiry on the members of the committee themselves is, therefore, of more importance than the actual phenomena they witnessed, since these were far less striking than many or the facts already mentioned. But they are also of importance as confirming, by a body of intelligent and prejudiced men, the results obtained by previous individual inquirers.
Before leaving this report, I must call attention to the evidence it furnishes of the state of opinion among men of education in France. M. Camille Flammarion, the well-known astronomer, sent a communication to the committee which deserves special consideration. Besides declaring his own acceptance of the objective reality of the phenomena after ten years of investigation, he makes the following statement::—
My learned teacher and friend, M. Babinet, of the Institute, who has endeavored, with M. E. Liais (now Director of the Observatory of Brazil), and several others of my colleagues of the Observatory of Paris, to ascertain their nature and cause, is not fully convinced of the interventions of spirits in their production, though this hypothesis, by which alone certain categories of those phenomena would seem to be explicable, has been adopted by many of our most esteemed savants, among others by Dr. Haeffle, the learned author of the 'History of Chemistry.' and the 'General Encyclopedia,' and by the diligent laborer in the field of astronomic discovery whose death we have had recently to deplore, N. Hermann Goldschmidt, the discoverer of fourteen planets.
It thus appears that in France, as well as in America and in this country, men of science of no mean rank have investigated these phenomena, and have found them to be realities; while some of the most eminent hold the spiritual theory to be the only one that will explain them.
This seems the proper place to notice the astounding assertion of certain writers, that there is not "a particle of evidence" to support the spiritual theory; that those who accept it betray "hopeless inability to discriminate between adequate and inadequate proof of facts;" that the theory is "formed apart from facts;" and that those who accept it are so unable to reason, as to "jump at the conclusion" that it must be spirits that move tables, merely because they do not know how else they can be moved. The preceding account of how converts to Spiritualism have been made is a sufficient answer to all this ignorant assertion. The spiritual theory, as a rule, has only been adopted as a last resource, when all other theories have hopelessly broken down; and when fact after fact, phenomenon after phenomenon, has presented itself, giving direct proof that the so-called dead are still alive. The spiritual theory is the logical outcome of the whole of the facts. There who deny it, in every instance with which I am acquainted, either from ignorance or disbelief, leave half the facts out of view. Take the one case (out of many almost equally conclusive) of Mr. Livermore, who during live years, on hundreds of occasions, saw, felt, and heard the movements of the figure of his dead wife in absolute, unmistakable, living form. A form which could move objects, and which repeatedly wrote to him in her own hand-writing and her own language, on cards which remained after the figure had disappeared. A form which was equally visible and tangible to two friends; which appeared in his own house, in a room absolutely secured, with the presence only of a young girl, the medium. Had these three men "not a particle of evidence" for the spiritual theory? Is it, in fact, possible to conceive or suggest any more complete proof? The facts must be got rid of before you abolish the theory; and simple denial or disbelief does not get rid of facts testified during a space of five years by three witnesses, all men in responsible positions, and carrying on their affairs during the whole
The objection will here be inevitably made: "These wonderful things always happen in America. When they occur in England it will be time enough to enquire into them." Singularly enough, after this article was in the press, the final test was obtained, which demonstrated the occurrence of similar phenomena in London. A short statement may, therefore, be interesting to those who cannot digest American evidence. For some years a young lady, Miss Florence Cook, has exhibited remarkable mediumship, which latterly culminated in the production of an entire female form purporting to be spiritual, and which appeared barefooted and in white flowing robes while she lay entranced, in dark clothing and securely bound, in a cabinet or adjacent room. Notwithstanding that tests of an apparently conclusive character were employed, many visitors, spiritualists as well as sceptics, got the impression that all was not as it should be; owing in part to the resemblance of the supposed spirit to Miss Cook, and also to the fact that the two could not be seen at tile same time. Some supposed that Miss C. was an impostor who massaged to conceal a white robe about her (although she was often searched), and who, although she was securely tied in with tapes and sealed, was able to get out of her bonds, dress end undress herself, and get into them again, all in the dark, and in so complete and skilful a manner as to defy detection. Others thought that the spirit released her, provided her wish a white dress, and sent her forth to personate a ghost. The belief that there was something wrong led one gentleman—an ardent spiritualist—to seize the supposed spirit and hold it, in the hope that some other person would open the cabinet-door and see if Miss Cook was really there. This was, unfortunately, not done; but the great resemblance of the being he seized to Miss Cook, its perfect solidity, and the vigorous struggle it made to escape front him, convinced this gentleman that it was Miss Cook herself, although the rest of the company, a few minutes before, found her bound and sealed just as she had been left an hour before. To determine the question conclusively, experiments have been made within the last few weeks by two scientific men. Mr. C. S. Varley, F.R.S., the eminent electrician, made use of a galvanic battery and cable-'esting, apparatus, and passed a current through Miss Cook's body (by fastening sovereigns soldered to wires to her arms). The apparatus was so delicate that any movement whatever was instantly indicated, while it was impossible for the young lady to dress and act as a ghost without breaking the circuit. Yet under these conditions, the spirit-form did appear, exhibited its arms, spoke, wrote, and touched several persons; and this happened, be it remembered, not in the medium's own house, but in that of a private gentleman in the West End of London. For nearly an hour the circuit was never broken, and at the conclusion Miss Cook was found in a deep trance. Since this remarkable experiment Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S. has obtained, if possible, still wore satisfactory evidence. He contrived a phosphorus lamp, and armed with this was allowed to go into the dark room accompanied by the spirit, and there saw and felt Miss Cook, dressed in black velvet, lying in a trance on the floor, while the spirit-form in white robes, stood close beside her. During the evening this spirits form had been, for nearly an hour, walking and talking wills the company; and Mr. Crookes, by permission, clasped the figure in his arms, and found it to be, apparently, a real living woman, just Or the sceptical gentleman had done. Yet this figure is not that of Miss Cook, nor of any other human being, since it appeared and disappeared in Mr. Crookes's own house as completely as in that of the medium herself. The full statements of Messrs. Varley and Crookes, with a mass of interesting detail on the subject, appeared in the Spiritualist newspaper, in March and April last; and they serve to show that whatever marvels occur in America can be reproduced here, and that men of science are not precluded from investigating these phenomena with scientific instruments and by scientific methods. In the concluding part of this paper we shall be able to show that another class of manifestation which originated in America—that of the so-called spirit-photographs—has been first critically examined and completely demonstrated in our own country.
We now approach a subject which cannot be omitted in any impartial sketch of the evidences of Spiritualism, since it is that which furnishes perhaps the most unassailable demonstration it is possible to obtain, of the objective reality of spiritual foams, and also of the truthful nature of the evidence furnished by seers when they describe figures visible to themselves alone. It has been already indicated—and it is a fact, of which the records of, Spiritualism furnish ample proof—that different individuals possess the power of seeing such forms and figures in very variable degrees. Thus it often happens at a séance, that some will see distinct lights of which they will describe the form, appearance, and position, while others will see nothing at all. If only two persons see the lights, the rest will naturally impute it to their imagination but there are cases in which only one or two of those present are unable to see them. There are also cases in which they all see them, but in very different degrees of distinctness; yet that they sea the same objects is proved by their all agreeing as to the position and the movement of the lights. Again, what some see as merely luminous clouds, others will see as distinct human forms, either, partial or entire. In other cases all present see the form—whether hand, face, or entire figure—with equal distinctness. Again, the objective reality of these appearances is sometimes proved by their being touched, or by their being seen to remove objects,—in some cases heard to speak, in others seen to write, by several persons at one and the same time; the figure seen or the writing produced being sometimes unmistakably recognisable as that of a deceased friend. A volume could easily be filled with records of this class of appearances, authenticated by place, date, and names of witnesses; and a considerable selection is to be found in the works of Mr. Robert Dale Owen.
Now, at this point, an inquirer, who had not prejudged the question, and who did not believe his own knowledge of the universe to be so complete as to justify him in rejecting all evidence for facts which he had hitherto considered in the highest degree to be improbable, might fairly say, "Your evidence for the appearance of visible, tangible, spiritual forms, is very strong but I should like to have them submitted to a crucial test, which would quite settle the question of the possibility of their being due to a coincident delusion of several senses of several persons at the same time; and, if satisfactory, would demonstrate their objective reality in a way nothing else can do. If they really reflect or emit light which makes them visible to human eyes, they can be photographed. Photograph them, and you will have an unanswerable proof that your human witnesses are trustworthy." Two year ago we could only have replied to this very proper suggestion, that we factory evidence to offer. Now, however, we are in a position to state, not only that it has been frequently done, but that the evidence is of such a, nature as to satisfy any one who will take the trouble carefully to examine it. This evidence we will now lay before our readers, and we Ventura to think they will acknowledge it to be most remarkable.
Before doing so it may be as well to clear away a popular misconception. Mr. Lewes advised the Dialectical Committee to distinguish carefully between "facts and inferences from fact". This is especially necessary in the case of what are called spirit-photographs. The figures which occur in these when not produced by any human agency, may be of "spiritual" origin, without being figures "of spirits." There is much evidence to show that they are, in some cases, forms produced by invisible intelligences, but distinct from them. In other cases the intelligence appears to clothe itself
for purposes of recognition.
Most persons have heard of these "ghost-pictures," and how easily they can be made to order by any photographer, and are therefore disposed to think they can be of no use as evidence. But a little consideration will show them that the means by which sham ghosts can be manufactured being so well known to all photographers, it becomes easy to apply tests or arrange conditions so as to prevent imposition. The following are some of the more obvious:—
1. If a person with a knowledge of photography takes his own glass plates, examines the camera used and all the accessories, and watches the whole process of taking a picture, then, if any definite form appears on the negative beside the sitter, it is proof that some object was present capable of reflecting or emitting the actinic rays, although invisible to those present. 2. If an unmistakable likeness appears of a deceased person totally unknown to the photographer. 3. If the figures appear on the negative having a definite relation to the figure of the sitter, who chooses his own position, attitude, and accompaniments, it is a proof that invisible figures were really there. 4. If a figure appears draped in white, and partly behind the dark body of the sitter without in the least showing through, it is a proof that the white figure was there at the same time, because the dark parts of the negative are transparent, and any white picture in any way superposed would show through. 5. Even should none of these tests be applied, yet if a medium, quite independent of the photographer, sees and describes a figure during the sitting, and an exactly corresponding figure appears on the plate, it is a proof that such a figure was there.
Every one of these tests have been now successfully applied in our own country, as the following outline of the facts will show.
The accounts of spirit-photography in several parts of the United States caused several Spiritualists in this country to make experiments, but for a long time without success. Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, who are both amateur photographers, tried at their house, and failed. In cartes de visite of Mrs. Guppy. After the sitting, an idea suddenly struck Mr. Guppy that he would try for a spirit-photograph. He sat down, told Mrs. G. to go behind the background, and had a picture taken. There come out behind him a large, indefinite, oval, white patch, somewhat resembling the outline of a draped figure. Mrs. Guppy, behind the background, was dressed in black. This is the first spirit-photograph taken in England, and it is perhaps more satisfactory on account of the suddenness of the impulse under which it was taken, and the great white patch which no impostor would have attempted to produce, and which, taken by itself, utterly spoils the picture. A few days afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Guppy and their little boy went without any notice. Mrs. Guppy sat on the ground, holding the boy on a stool. Her husband stood behind looking on The Picture thus produced is most remarkable. A tall female figure, finely draped in white, gauzy robes, stands directly behind and above the sitters, looking down on them, and holding its open hands over their heads, as if giving a benediction. The face is somewhat Eastern, and, with the hands, is beautifully defined. The white robes pass behind the sitters' dark figures without in the least showing through. A second picture was then taken as soon as a plate could be prepared; and it was fortunate it was so, as it resulted in a most remarkable test. Mrs. Guppy again knelt with the boy, but she did not stoop so much, and her head was higher. The same white figure
it has changed its position in a manner exactly corresponding to the slight change of Mrs. Guppy's position. The hands were before on a level; now one is raised considerably higher than the other, so as to keep it about the same distance from Mrs. Guppy's head as it was before. The folds of the drapery all correspondingly differ, and the head is slightly turned. Here, then, one of two things is absolutely certain. Either there was a living, intelligent, but invisible being present, or Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, the photographer, and some fourth person, planned a wicked imposture, and, have maintained it ever since. Knowing Mr. and Mrs. Guppy as well as I do, I feel an absolute conviction that they are as incapable of an imposture of this kind as any earnest inquirer after truth in the department of natural science.
The report of these pictures soon spread. Spiritualists in great numbers came to try for similar results, with varying degrees of success, till after a time rumor of imposture arose, and it is now firmly believed by many, from suspicious appearances on the pictures and from other circumstances, that a large number of shams have been produced. It is certainly not to be wondered at if it be so. The photographer, remember, was not a Spiritualist, and was utterly puzzled at the pictures above described. Scores of persons came to him, and he saw that they were satisfied if they got a second figure with themselves, and dissatisfied if they did not. He may have made arrangements by which to satisfy everybody. One thing is clear, that if there has been imposture, it was at once detected by Spiritualists themselves; if not, then Spiritualists have been quick in noticing what appeared to indicate it. Those, however, who most strongly assert imposture allow that a large number of genuine pictures have been taken. But, true or not, the cry of imposture did good, since it showed the necessity for tests and for independent confirmation of the facts.
The test of clearly recognisable likenesses of deceased friends has often been obtained. Mr. William Hewitt, who went without previous notice, obtained likenesses of two sons, many years dead, and of the very existence of one of whom even the friend who accompanied Mr. Howitt was ignorant. The likenesses were instantly recognised by Mrs. Hewitt; and Mr. Howitt declares them to be "perfect and unmistakable." (Spiritual Magazine, Spiritual Magazine
Mr. Thomas Slater, an old-established optician in the Euston road, and an amateur photographer, took with him to Mr. Hudson's, a new camera of his own manufacture and his own glasses, saw everything done, and obtained a portrait with a second figure on it. He then began experimenting in his own private house, and during last summer obtained some remarkable results. The first of his successes contains two heads by the side of a portrait of his sister. One of these heads is unmistakably the late Lord Brougbam's; the other, much less distinct, is recognised by Mr. Slater as that of Hobert Owen, whom he knew intimately up to the time of his death. He has since obtained several excellent pictures of the same class. One in
any figures, so clear and unmistakably human in appearance as these, should appear on plates taken in his own private studio by an experienced optician and amateur photographer, who makes all his apparatus himself, and with no one present but the members of his own family,—is the real marvel. In one case a second figure appeared on a plate with himself, taken by Mr. Slater when he was absolutely alone—by the simple process of occupying the sitter's chair after uncapping the camera. He and his family being themselves mediums, they require no extraneous assistance; and this may, perhaps, be the reason why he has succeeded so well. One of the most extraordinary pictures obtained by Mr. Slater is a full-length portrait of his sister, in which there is no second figure, but the sitter appears covered all over with a kind of transparent lace drapery, which on examination is seen to be wholly made up of shaded circles of different sizes, quite unlike any material fabric I have seen or heard of Mr. Slater has himself shown me all these pictures and explained the conditions under which they were produced. That they are not impostures is certain; and as the first independent confirmations of what had been previously obtained only through professional photographers, their value is inestimable. A less successful, but not perhaps on that account less satisfactory confirmation has been obtained by another amateur, who, after eighteen months of experiment, obtained a partial success. Mr. R. Williams, MA. Ph. D., of Hayward's Heath, succeeded last summer in obtaining three photographs, each with part of a human form besides the sitter, one having the features distinctly marked. Subsequently another was obtained, with a well-formed figure of a man standing at the side of the sitter. But while being developed, this figure faded away entirely. Mr. Williams assures me (in a letter) that in these experiments there was "no room for trick or for the production of these figures by any known means."
The editor of the British Journal of Photography has made experiments at Mr. Hudson's studio, taking his own collodion and new plates, and doing everything himself, yet there were "abnormal appearances" on the pictures although no distinct figures.
We now come to the valuable and conclusive experiments of Mr. John Beattie of Clifton, a retired photographer of twenty years experience, and of whom the above-mentioned editor says:—"Everyone who knows Mr. Beattie will give him credit for being a thoughtful, skilful, and intelligent photographer, one of the last men in the world to be easily deceived, at least in matters relating to photography, and one quite incapable of deceiving others."
Mr. Beattie has been assisted in his researches by Dr. Thomson of Edinburgh, M.D., who has practised photography as an amateur, for twenty-five years. They experimented at the studio of a friend, who was not a spiritualist (but who became a medium during the experiments,) and had the services of a tradesman, with whom they were well acquainted, as a medium. The whole of the photographic work was done by Messrs. Beattie and Thomson, the other two sitting at a small table. The pictures were taken in series of three, within a few seconds of each other, and several of these series were taken at each sitting. The figures produced are for the most
in every case, minutely and correctly described the appearances which afterwards came out on the plate. In one there is a luminous rayed star of large size, with a human face faintly visible in the centre. This is the last of three in which the star developed, and the whole were accurately described by the medium. In another set of three, the medium first described,—"a light rising over another person's arms, coming from his own boot." The third,—"there is the same light, but now a column comes up through the table, and it is so hot to my hands." Then he suddenly exclaimed,—"What a bright light up there! Can you not see it pointing to it with his hand. All this most accurately describes the three pictures, and in the last, the medium's hand is seen pointing to a white patch which appears overhead. There are other curious developments, the nature of which is already sufficiently indicated; but one very startling single picture must be mentioned. During the exposure one medium said he saw on the background a black figure, the other medium saw a light figure by the side of the black one. In the picture both these figures appear, the light one very faintly, the black one much more distinctly, of a gigantic size, with a massive, coarse-featured face and long hair. (Spiritual Magazine, Photographic News,
Mr. Beattie has been so good as to send me for examination a complete set of these most extraordinary photographs, thirty-two in number, and has furnished me with any particulars I desired. I have described them as correctly as I am able; and Dr. Thomson has authorised me to use his name as confirming Mr. Beattie's account of the conditions under which they appeared. These experiments were not made without labor and perseverance. Sometimes twenty consecutive pictures produced absolutely nothing unusual. Hundreds have been taken, and more than half have been complete failures. But the successes have been well worth the labor. They demonstrate the fact that what a medium or sensitive sees (even where no one else sees anything) may often have an objective existence. They teach us that perhaps the bookseller, Nicolai of Berlin,—whose case has been quoted ad nauseam as the type of a "spectral illusion"—saw real beings after all; and that,
We find, then, that three amateur photographers working independently in different parts of England; separately confirm the fact of sprit-photography,—already demonstrated the satisfaction of many who had tested it through professional photographers. The experiments of Mr. Beattie and Dr. Thomson are alone absolutely conclusive; and, taken in connection with those of Mr. Slater and Dr. Williams, and the test photographs, like those of Mrs. Guppy, establish as a scientific fact the objective existence or invisible human forms, and definite invisible actinic images. Before leaving the photographic phenomena we have to notice two curious points in connection with them. The actinic action of the spirit-forms is peculiar, and much more rapid than that of the light reflected from ordinary material forms; for the first figures start out the moment the developing fluid touches them, while the figures of the sitters appear much later. Mr. Beattie noticed this throughout his experiments, and I was myself much struck with it when watching the development of three pictures recently taken at Mr. Hudson's. The second figure, though by no means bright, always came out long before any other part of the picture. The other singular thing is, the copious drapery in which these forms are almost always enveloped, so as to show only just what is necessary for recognition, of the face and figure. The explanation given of this is, that the human form is more difficult to materialise than drapery. The conventional "white-sheeted ghost" was not then all fancy, but had a foundation in fact,—a fact, too, of great significance, dependent on the laws of a yet unknown chemistry.
As we have not been able to give an account of many facts which occur with the various classes of mediums, the following catalogue of the most important and well-characterised phenomena may be useful. They may be grouped provisionally, as, Physical, or those in which material objects are acted on, or apparently material bodies produced; and Mental, or those which consist in the exhibition by the medium of powers or faculties not possessed in the normal slate.
The principal physical phenomena are the following:—
1. Simple Physical Phenomena.—--Producing sound of all kinds, from a delicate tick to blows like those of a sledge-hammer. Altering the weight of bodies. Moving bodies without human agency. Raising bodies into the air. Conveying bodies to a distance out of and into closed rooms. Releasing mediums from every description of bonds, even from welded iron rings, as has happened in America.
2. Chemical.—--Preserver from the effects of fire, as already detailed.
3. Direct Writing Drawing.—Producing writing or drawing on marked papers, placed n such positions that no human hand (or foot) can touch. Sometimes, visibly to the spectators, a pencil rising up and writing or drawing apparently by itself. Some of the drawings in many colors have been produced on marked paper in from ten to twenty seconds, and the colors found wet. (See Mr. Coleman's evidence, in "Dialectical Report," p. 143, confirmed by Lord Borthwick, p. 150). Mr. Thomas Slater of 136 Euston Road, is now obtaining communications in the following manner:—--A
4. Musical Phenomena.—Musical instruments, of various kinds, played without human agency, from a hand-bell to a closed piano. With some mediums, and where the conditions are favorable, original musical compositions of a very high character are produced. This occurs with Mr. Home.
5. Spiritual Forms.—These are either luminous appearances, sparks, stars, globes of light, luminous clouds, &c.; or, hands, faces, or entire human figures, generally covered with flowing drapery, except a portion of the face and hands. The human forms are often capable of moving solid objects, and are both visible and tangible to all present. In other cases they are only visible to seers, but when this is the case it sometimes happens that the seer describes the figure as lifting a flower or a pen, and others present see the flower or the pen apparently move by itself. In some cases they speak distinctly; in others the voice is heard by all, the form only seen by the medium. The flowing robes of these forms have in some cases been examined, and pieces cut, which have in a short time melted away. Flowers are also brought, some of which fade away and vanish; others are real, and can be kept indefinitely. It most not be concluded that any of these forms are actual spirits, they are probably only temporary fronts produced by spirits for purposes of test, or of recognition by their friends. This is the account invariably given of them by communications obtained in various ways; so that the objection once thought to be so crushing—that there can be no "ghosts" of clothes, armour, or walking-sticks—ceases to have any weight.
6. Spiritual Photographs.—These, as just detailed, demonstrate by a purely physical experiment the trustworthiness of the preceding class of observations.
We now come to the mental phenomena, of which the following are the chief.
1. Automatic Writing.—The medium writes involuntarily; often matter which he is not thinking about, does not expect, and does not like. Occasionally definite and correct information is given of facts of which the medium has not, nor ever had, any knowledge. Sometimes future events are accurately predicted. The writing takes place either by the hand or through a planchette. Often the hand-writing changes. Sometimes it is written backwards; sometimes in languages the medium does not understand.
2. Seeing, or Clairvoyance and Clairaudience.—This is of various kinds. Some mediums see the forms of deceased persons unknown to them, and describe their peculiarities so minutely that their friends at once recognise them. They often hear voices, through which they obtain names, date, place, connected with the individuals so described. Others read sealed letters in any language, and write appropriate answers.
3. Trance Speaking.—The medium goes into a more or less unconscious state, and then speaks, often on matters and in a style far beyond his own capacities. Thus, Serjeant Cox—no mean judge on a matter of literary style—says, "I have heard an uneducated barman, when in a state of trance, maintain a dialogue with a party of philosophers on Reason and Foreknowledge, Will and Fate,' and bold his own against them. I have put to bins the most difficult questions in psychology, and received answers, always
4. Impersonation.—This occurs during trance. The Medium seems taken possession of by another being; speaks, looks, and acts the character in a most marvellous manner; in some cases speaks foreign languages never even heard in the normal state; as in the case of Miss Edmonds, already given. When the influence is violent or painful, the effects are such as have been in all ages imputed to possession by evil spirits.
5. Healing.—There are various forms of this. Sometimes by mere laying on of hands, an exalted form of simple mesmeric healing. Sometimes, in the trance state, the medium at once discovers the hidden malady, and prescribes for it, often describing very exactly the morbid appearance of internal organs.
The purely mental phenomena are generally of no use as evidence to non-spiritualists, except in those few cases where rigid tests can be applied; but they are so intimately connected with the physical series, and often so interwoven with them, that no one who has sufficient experience to satisfy him of the reality of the former, fails to see that the latter form part of the general system, and are dependent on the same agencies.
With the physical series the case is very different. They form a connected body' of evidence, from the simplest to the most complex and astounding, every single component fact of which can be, and has been, repeatedly demonstrated by itself; while earls gives weight and confirmation to all the rest. They have all, or nearly all, been before the world for twenty years"; the theories and explanations of reviewers and critics do not touch them, or in any way satisfy any sane man who has repeatedly witnessed them they have been tested and examined by sceptics of every grade of incredulity, men in every way qualified to detect imposture or to discover natural cause—trained physicists, medical men, lawyers and men of business—but in every case the investigators have either retired battled, or become converts.
There have, it is true, been some impostors who have attempted to imitate the phenomena; but such cases are few in number, and have been discovered by tests far less severe than those to which the genuine phenomena have been submitted over and over again; and a large proportion of these phenomena have never been imitated, because they are beyond successful imitation.
Now what do our leaders of public opinion say, when a scientific man of proved ability again observes a large portion of the more extraordinary phenomena, in Ids own house, under test conditions, and affirms their objective reality; and this not after a hasty examination, but after four years of research? Men, "with heavy scientific appendages to their names" refuse to examine them when invited; the eminent society of which he is a fellow refuses to record them; and the press cries out that it wants better witnesses than Mr. Crooke, and that such facts want "confirmation" before they can be believed. But why more confirmation? And when again "confirmed," who is to confirm the confirmer? After the whole range of the phenomena had been before the world for ten years, and had convinced sceptics by tens of thousands—sceptics, be it remembered, of common sense and more than
confirmed by the first chemist in America, Professor Robert Hare. Two years later they were again confirmed by the elaborate and persevering inquiries of one of the first American lawyers, Judge Edmonds. Then by another good chemist, Professor Mapes. In France the truth of the simpler physical phenomena was confirmed by Count A. de Gasparin in confirmed firmed them. Professor Thury of Geneva again confirmed them, in confirmed large portions of them; and lastly comes Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., with four years of research and unrestricted experiment with the two oldest and most remarkable mediums in the world, and again confirmed the whole series! But even this is not all. Through an independent set of most competent observers we have the crucial test of photography; a witness which cannot be deceived, which has no preconceived opinions, which cannot register "subjective impressions;" a thoroughly scientific witness, who is admitted into our law courts, and whose testimony is good as against any number of recollections of what did happen or opinions as to what ought to and must have happened. And what has the other side brought against this overwhelming array of consistent and unimpeachable evidence? They have merely made absurd and inadequate suppositions, but have not disproved or explained away one weighty fact!
My position, therefore, is, that the phenomena of Spiritualism in their entirety do not require further confirmation. They are proved quite as well as any facts are proved in ether sciences; and it is not denial or quibbling that can disprove any of them, but only fresh facts and accurate deductions from those facts. W hen the opponents of Spiritualism can give a record of their researches approaching in duration and completeness to those of its advocates; and when they can discover and show in detail, either how the phenomena are produced or how the many sane and able men here referred to have been deluded into a coincident belief that they have witnessed them; and when they can prove the correctness of their theory by producing a like belief in a body of equally sane and able unbelievers,—then, and not till then, will it be necessary for spiritualists to produce fresh confirmation of facts which are, and always have been, sufficiently real and indisputable to satisfy any honest and persevering inquirer.
This being the state of the case as regards evidence and proof, we are fully justified in taking the fact the modern Spiritualism (and with them the spiritual theory as the only tenable one) as being fully established, It only remains to give a brief account of the more important uses and teachings of Spiritualism.
The lessons which modern Spiritualism teaches may be classed under two heads. In the first place, we had that it gives a rational account of various phenomena in human history which physical science has been unable to explain, and has therefore rejected or ignored; and, in the second, we derive from it some definite information as to man's nature and destiny, and, founded on this, an ethical system of great practical efficacy. The following are some of the more important phenomena of history and of human nature which science cannot deal with, but which Spiritualism explains:—
1. It is no small thing that the spiritualist finds himself able to rehabilitate Socrates as a sane man, and his "demon" as an intelligent spiritual being who accompanied him through life,—in other words, a guardian spirit.
2. Spiritualism allows us to believe that the oracles of antiquity were not all impostors; that a whole people, perhaps the most intellectually acute who ever existed, were not all dupes. In discussing the question, "Why the Prophetess Pythia giveth no Answers now from the Oracle in Verse," Plutarch tells us that when kings and states consulted the oracle on weighty matters that might do harm if made public, the replies were couched in enigmatical language; but when private persons are asked about their own affairs they get direct answers in the plainest terms, so that cone people even complained of their simplicity and directness, as being unworthy of a divine origin. And he adds this positive testimony: "Her answers, though submitted to the severest scrutiny, have never proved false or incorrect. On the contrary, the verification of them has filled the temple with gifts front all parts of Greece and foreign countries." And again, "The answer of Pythoness proceeds to the very truth, without any diversion, circuit, fraud, or ambiguity. It has never yet, in a single instance, been convicted of falsehood." Would such statements be made by such a writer, if these oracles were all the mere guesses of impostors? The fact that they declined and ultimately failed, is wholly in their favour; for why should imposture cease as the world became less enlightened and more superstitious? Neither does the fact that the priests could sometimes be bribed to give out false oracles prove anything, against such statements as that of Plutarch and the belief during many generations, supported by ever-recurring experiences, of the greatest men of antiquity. That belief could only have been formed by demonstrative facts; and modern Spiritualism enables us to understand the nature of those facts.
3. Both the Old and New Testaments are full of Spiritualism, and spiritualists alone can read the record with an enlightened belief. The hand that wrote upon the wall at Belshassar's feast, and the three men unhurt in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace, are for them actual facts which they need not explain away. St. Paul's language about "spiritual gifts," and "trying the spirits," is to them intelligible language, and the "gift of tongues" a simple fact. When Christ east out "devils" or evil spirits, he really did so—not merely startle a madman into momentary quiescence; and the water changed into wine, as well as the bread and fishes continually renewed till five thousand men were fed, are credible as extreme manifestations of a power which is still daily at work among us.
4. The miracles of the saints, when well attested, come into the same category. Those of St. Bernard, for instance, were often performed in broad day before thousands of spectators, and were recorded by eye-witnesses he was himself greatly troubled by them, wondering why this power was bestowed upon him, and fearing lest it should make him less humble. This was not the frame of mind, nor was St. Bernard's the character, of a deluded enthusiast. The spiritualist need not believe that all this never happened or that St. Francis d'Assisi and St. Theresa were not raised into the air, as eye-witnesses declared they were.
5. Witchcraft and withcraft trials have a new interest for the spiritualist. He is able to detect hundreds of curious and minute coincidences with phenomena he has himself witnessed; he is able to separate the facts from the absurd inferences, which people imbued with the frightful superstition of diabolism drew from them, and from which false inferences all the horrors of the witchcraft mania arose. Spiritualism, and Spiritualism alone, gives a rational explanation of witchcraft, and determines how much of it was objective fact, how much subjective illusion.
6. Modern Roman Catholic miracles become intelligible facts. Spirits whose affections and passions are strongly excited in favour of Catholicism, produce those appearances of the Virgin and of saints which they know will tend to increase religious fervour. The appearance itself may be an objective reality; while it is only an inference that it is the Virgin Mary,—an inference which every intelligent spiritualist would repudiate as in the highest degree improbable.
7. Second-sight, and many of the so-called superstitions of savages may be realities. It is well known that mediumistic power is more frequent and more energetic in mountainous countries; and as these are generally inhabited by the less civilised races, the beliefs that are more prevalent there may be due to the facts which are more prevalent, and be wrongly imputed to the coincident ignorance. It is known to spiritualists that the pure dry air of California led to more powerful and more startling manifestations than in any other part of the United States.
8. The recently discussed question of the efficacy of prayer receives a perfect solution by Spiritualism. Prayer may be often answered, though not directly by the Deity. Nor does the answer depend wholly on the morality or the religion of the petitioner; but as men who are both moral and religious, and are firm believers in a divine response to prayer, will pray more frequently, more earnestly, and more disinterestedly, they will attract towards them a number of spiritual beings who sympathise with them, and who, when the necessary mediumistic power is present, will be able, as they are often willing, to answer the prayer. A striking case is that of George Muller, of Bristol, who has now for forty-four years depended wholly for his own support, and that of his wonderful charities, on answer to prayer. His Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings with George Muller (6th Ed. for which no provision us advance was ever made (for that Muller considered would show want of trust in God), no such explanation can cover the facts.
9. Spiritualism enables us to comprehend and find a place for, that long series of disturbances and occult phenomena of various kinds, which occurred previous to what are termed the modern Spiritual manifestations. Robert Dale Owen's works give a rather full account of this class of phenomena, which arc most accurately recorded and philosophically treated by him. This is not the place to refer to them in detail; but one of them may be mentioned as showing how large an amount of unexplained mystery there was, even in our own country, before the world heard anything of modern Spiritualism. In nine years, and he was able to trace back their existence in the same house for sixty years. Another case had lasted twenty years, and could be traced back for a century. Some of the details of these eases are most instructive. Trick is absolutely the most incredible of all explanations. Spiritualism furnishes the explanation by means of analogous facts occurring every day, and forming part of the great system of phenomena which demonstrates the spiritual theory. Major Moor's book is very rare; but a good abstract of it is given in Owen's "Debatable Land," pp. 239-258.
We have now to explain the Theory of Human Nature, which is the outcome of the phenomena taken in their entirety, and is also more or less explicitly taught by the communications which purport to come from spirits. It may be briefly outlined as follows:—
1. Man is a duality, consisting of' an organised spiritual form, evolved coincidently and permeating the physical body, and having corresponding organs and development.
2. Death is the separation of this duality, and effects no change in the spirit, morally or intellectually.
3. Progressive evolution of the intellectual and moral nature is the destiny of individuals; the knowledge, attainments, and experience of earth-life forming the basis of spirit-life.
4. Spirits can communicate through properly-endowed mediums. They are attracted to those they love or sympathise with, and strive to warn, protect, and influence them for good, by mental impression when they cannot effect any more direct communication; but, as follows from clause (2), their communications will be fallible, and must be judged and tested just as we do those of our fellow-men.
The foregoing outline propositions will suggest a number of questions and difficulties, for the answers to which readers are referred to the works of R. D. Owen, Hudson Tuttle, Professor Hare, and the records of Spiritualism passim. Here I must pass on to explain, with some amount of detail, how the theory leads to a pure system of morality with sanctions for more powerful and effective than any which either religious systems or philosophy have put forth.
This part of the subject cannot, perhaps, be better introduced than by referring to some remarks by Professor Huxley in a letter to the Committee of the Dialectical Society. He says:—"But supposing the phenomena to be genuine—they do not interest me. If anybody would endow me with the faculty of listening to the chatter of old women and curates at the nearest cathedral town, I should decline the privilege, having better things to do. And if the, folk in the spiritual world do not talk more wisely and sensibly than their friends report them to do, I put them in the same category." This passage, written with the caustic satire in which the kind-hearted Professor occasionally indulges, can hardly mean, that if it were proved that men really continued to have after the death of the body, that fact would not interest him, merely because some of them talked twaddle? Many scientific men deny the spiritual source of the manifestations, on the ground that real, genuine spirits might reasonably be expected not to indulge in the common place trivialities which do undoubtedly form the staple of ordinary spiritual communications. But surely Professor Huxley, as a naturalist and philosopher, would not admit this to be a reasonable expectation. Does he not hold the doctrine that there can be no effect, mental or physical, without an adequate cause; and that mental states, faculties, and idiosyncrasies, that are the result of gradual development and life-long—and even ancestral—habit, cannot be suddenly changed by any known or imaginable cause? And if (as the Professor would probably admit) a very large majority of those who daily depart this life are persons addicted to twaddle, persons who spend much of their time in low or trivial pursuits, persons whose pleasures are sensual rather than intellectual—whence is to come the transforming power which is suddenly, at the mere throwing off the physical body, to change these into beings able to appreciate and delight in high and intellectual pursuits? The thing would be a miracle, the greatest of miracles, and surely Professor Huxley is the last man to contemplate innumerable miracles as part of the order of nature; and all for what? Merely to save these people from the necessary consequences of their misspent lives. For the essential teaching of Spiritualism is, that we are, all of us, in every act and thought, helping to build up a "mental fabric" which will be and constitute ourselves more completely after the death of the body than it does now. Just as this fabric is well or ill built, so will our progress and happiness be aided or retarded. Just in proportion as we have developed our higher intellectual and moral nature, or starved it by disuse and by giving undue prominence to those faculties which secure us mere physical or selfish enjoyment, shall we be well or ill fitted for the new life we enter on. The noble teaching of Herbert Spencer, that men are best educated by being left to suffer the natural consequences of their actions, is the teaching of Spiritualism as regards the transition to another phase of life. There will be no imposed rewards or punishments; but every one will suffer the natural and inevitable
Although, therefore, the twaddle and triviality of so many of the communications is not one whit more interesting to sensible spiritualists than it is to Professor Huxley, and is never voluntarily listened to, yet the fact that such poor stuff is talked (supposing it to come from spirits) is both a fact that might have been anticipated and a lesson of deep import. We must remember, too, the character of the séances at which these common-place, communications are received. A miscellaneous semblance of believers of various grades and tastes, but mostly in search of an evening's amusement, and of sceptics who look upon all the others as either fools or knaves, is not likely to attract to itself the more elevated and refined denizens of the higher spheres, who may well be supposed to feel too much interest in their own new and grand intellectual existence to waste their energies on either class, if the fact is proved, that people continue to talk after they are dead, with just as little sense as ashen alive, but that, being in a state in which sense, both common and uncommon, is of far greater importance to happiness than it is here (where fools pass very comfortable lives), they suffer the penalty of having neglected to cultivate their minds; and being so much out of their element in a world where all pleasures are mental, they endeavour to recall old times by gossiping with their former associates whenever they can find the means—Professor Huxley will not fail to see its vast importance as an incentive to that higher education which he is never weary of advocating. He would assuredly be interested in anything having a really practical bearing on the present and on the future condition of men; and it is evident that even these low and despised phenomena of Spiritualism, "if true," have this bearing, and, combined with its higher teachings, constitute a great moral agency which may yet regenerate the world.
For the spiritualist who, by daily experience, gets absolute knowledge of these facts regarding the nature state—who knows that, just in proportion as he indulges in passion, or selfishness, or the exclusive pursuit of wealth, and neglects to cultivate the affections and the varied powers of his mind, so does he inevitably prepare for himself misery in a world in which there are no physical wants to be provided for, no sensual enjoyments except those directly associated with the affections and sympathies, no occupations but those having for their object social and intellectual progress—is impelled towards a pure, a sympathetic, and an intellectual life by motives far stronger than any which either religion or philosophy can supply. He dreads to give way to passion or to falsehood, to selfishness or to a life of luxurious physical enjoyment, because he knows that the natural and inevitable consequences of such habits are future misery, necessitating a long and arduous struggle in order to develop anew the faculties, whose exercise long disuse has rendered painful to him. He will be deterred from crime by the knowledge that its unforeseen consequences may cause him ages of remorse while the bad passions which it encourages will be a perpetual torment to himself in a state of being in which mental emotions cannot be laid aside or forgotten amid the fierce struggles and sensual pleasures of a physical existence. It must be remembered that these beliefs (unlike those of theology) will have a living efficacy, because they depend on facts occurring again and
Contrast this system of natural and inevitable reward and retribution, dependent wholly on the proportionate development of our higher mental and moral nature, with the arbitrary system a rewards and punishments dependent on stated facts and beliefs only, as set forth by all dogmatic religions; and who can fail to see that the former is in harmony with the whole order of nature—the latter opposed to it. Yet it is actually said that Spiritualism is altogether either imposture or delusion, and all its teachings but the product of "expectant attention" and "unconscious cerebration!" If none of the long series of demonstrative facts which have been here sketched out, existed, and its only product were this theory of a future state, that alone would negative such a supposition. And when it is considered that mediums of all grades, whether intelligent or ignorant, and having communications given through them in various direct and indirect ways, are absolutely in accord as to the main features of this theory, what becomes of the gross misstatement that nothing is given through mediums but what they know and believe themselves? The mediums have, almost all, been brought up in some of the usual orthodox beliefs. How is it, then, that the usual orthodox notions of heaven are never confirmed through them? In the scores of volumes and pamphlets of spiritual literature I have read, I have found no statement of a spirit describing "winged angels," or "golden harps," or the "throne of God"—to which the humblest orthodox Christian thinks he will be introduced if he goes to heaven at all. There is no more startling and radical opposition to be found between the most diverse religious creeds, than that between the beliefs in which the majority of mediums have been brought up and the doctrines as to a future life that are delivered through them; there is nothing more marvellous in the history of the human mind than the fact that, whether in the back-woods of America or in country towns in England, ignorant men and women having almost all been brought up in the usual sectarian notions of heaven and hell, should, the moment they become seized by the strange power of mediumship, give forth teachings on this subject which are philosophical rather than religious, and which differ wholly from what had been so deeply ingrained into their minds. And this statement is not affected by the fact that communications purport to come from Catholic or Protestant, Mahonmedan or Hindoo spirits. Because, while such communications maintain special dogmas and doctrines, yet they confirm the very facts which really constitute the spiritual theory, and which in themselves contradict the theory of the sectarian spirits. The Roman Catholic spirit, for instance, does not describe himself as being in either the orthodox purgatory, heaven, or hell the Evangelicnl Dissenter who died in the firm conviction that he should certainly "go to Jesus," never describes himself as being with Christ, or as ever having seen Him, and so on Throughout. Nothing is more common than for religious people at séances to ask questions about God and Christ. In reply they never get more than opinions, or more frequently, the statement that they, the spirits, have no more actual knowledge of those subjects than they had while on earth. So that the facts are all harmonious; and the very circumstance of there being sectarian spirits bears witness in two ways to the truth of the spiritual theory—it shows that the mind, with its ingrained beliefs, is not suddenly changed at death; and it shows that the communications are not the reflection of the mind of the medium, who is often of the same religion as the communicating spirit, and, because
The doctrine of a future state and of the proper preparation for it as here developed, is to be found in the works of all spiritualists, in the utterances of all trance-speakers, in the communications through all mediums; and this could be proved, did space permit, by copious quotations. But it varies in form and detail in each; and just as the historian arrives at the opinions or beliefs of any age or nation, by collating the individual opinions of its best and most popular writers, so do spiritualists collate the various statements on this subject. They know well that absolute dependence is to be placed on no individual communications. They know that these are received by a complex physical and mental process, both communicator and recipient influencing the result; and they accept the teachings as to the future slate of man only so far as they are repeatedly confirmed in substance (though they may differ in detail) by communications obtained under the most varied circumstances, through mediums of the most different characters and acquirements, at different times, and in different places. Fresh converts are apt to think, that, once satisfied the communications come from their deceased friends, they may implicitly trust to them, and apply them universally; as if the vast spiritual world was all moulded to one pattern, instead of being, as it almost certainly is, a thousand times more varied than human society on the earth is, or ever has been. The fact that the communications do not agree as to the condition, occupations, pleasures, and capacities of individual spirits, so far from being a difficulty, as has been absurdly supposed, is what ought to have been expected; while the agreement on the essential features of what we have stated to be the spiritual theory of a future state of existence, is all the more striking, and tends to establish that theory as a fundamental truth.
The assertion, so often made, that Spiritualism is the survival or revival of old superstitions, is so utterly: unfounded as to be hardly worth notice. A science of human nature which is founded on observed facts; which appeals only to facts and experiment; which takes no beliefs on trust; which inculcates investigation and self-reliance as the first duties of intelligent beings; which teaches that happiness in a future life can be secured by cultivating and developing to the utmost the higher faculties of our intellectual and moral nature, and by no other method,—is and must be the natural enemy of all superstition. Spiritualism is an experimental science, and affords the only sure foundation for a true philosophy and pure religion. It abolishes the terms "supernatural" and "miracle" by an extension of the sphere of law and the realm of nature; and in doing so it takes up and explains whatever is true in the superstitions and so-called miracles of all ages. It, and it alone, is able to harmonies conflicting creeds; and it must ultimately lead to concord among mankind in the matter of religion, which has for so many ages been the source of unceasing discord and incalculable evil;—and it will be able to do this because it appeals to evidence instead of faith, and substitutes facts for opinions; and is thus able to demonstrate the source of much of the teaching that men have so often held to be divine.
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 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,
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 sceptics 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 given them up as false. I would ask them, finally, to dwell upon the long series offsets 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.
In the number of this periodical for February last, I ventured to give some experiences in reference to a subject which, for more than a decade, has puzzled the researches of the curious, evoked the ridicule of the ignorant, and opened a new field of inquiry for the thoughtful.
When I undertook to introduce the subject of apparitions, in a hard matter-of-fact age like the present, I was not wholly unmindful of the consequences. I was prepared for incredulity (as a matter of course), and I was equally ready for flat contradiction and the shafts of ridicule. I own, however, that I have been agreeably disappointed. Professional conjurors and showmen have certainly continued to palm off their mechanical contrivances and sleight-of-hand for the genuine phenomena; but the tide of public opinion is at length beginning to turn, and many now condescend to listen and even examine, who a year or two ago were too prejudiced or too apathetic to discuss.
The able and logical articles of Mr. Alfred Wallace, in the May and June numbers of the 'Fortnightly Review, are admirable contributions to the literature of the most astounding series of researches of which we have any record in modern times. In these papers the writer brings down his experiences to the period when Mr. Crookes, the well-known chemist, and editor of the 'Quarterly Journal of Science,' was enabled, in common with Mr. Varley, the equally famous electrician, to prove, beyond all possibility of doubt, that the apparitions now seen are distinct entities, or real beings; and are not phantoms of the imagination, or the creations of an abnormal condition of the brain.
I have already described, at some length, the apparition and some of the attendant phenomena produced through the mediumship of Miss Florence Cook.
Before again referring to more recent experiences acquired at séances when this young lady was present, I propose to narrate equally wonderful but, in some respects, different phenomena, brought about when another medium was the passive agent.
In an isolated house in a western county, the attention of the inmates has for the last twelve months or more been attracted to noises for which they could not account. Articles of furniture were moved without any one approaching them; objects were carried from one room to another without hands; bells were violently rung when nobody was near them, and many other incidents were noted, of a character to warrant the belief that the house was what is conventionally called 'haunted.' The occupants of the house are Mrs. and Miss Showers, the wife and daughter of Col. Showers, late of the Indian service. Col. Showers is now in India, on business, and the family are known, both in India and in England, to be persons unlikely to be the victims of delusion, and wholly incapable of lending themselves to anything savoring of imposition.
The unaccountable circumstances to which I refer became, in course of time, more surprising and mysterious. Messages were written on pieces of paper and flung down in the rooms in which the ladies were sitting, and in the garden where they were walking; and at length voices were heard, and notably one of a man who gave his name as 'Peter,' and told them that he had endeavoured to communicate with them in the first instance by writing. He gave them to understand that he and others would use the throat of the medium occasionally, and this it seems they do, although Miss Showers is unconscious that her voice organs are thus utilised. I ought to state that this young lady is about the same age as Miss Cook (between seventeen and eighteen), that her appearance and manner are pleasing, that she sings and prays as most young girls of her age do, and that she is perfectly candid, truthful, and unsophisticated. She knows no more about the wonderful faculty she possesses than do her family and friends, and she can have no possible motive or object in attempting to practise anything so foreign to her nature as wilful deception. Her state of health in childhood caused, at one time, some anxiety to her faintly; but she is now perfectly well.
With regard to Mrs. Showers, I ought, I think, to state that she possesses, in a marked degree, many of those qualities which the parents of eminent men and women hare so frequently been endowed with. To it highly cultivated mind she adds unusual powers of discernment, individuality of character, and more than the average of that indispensable commodity—common sense. Such a woman naturally endeavoured to solve, by all the means in her power, the phenomena which took place in her presence. One of the servants of the family is also, I understand, what is termed a medium,' a circumstance which may account for the physical diameter of the manifestations to which I have referred,
Failing, however, to arrive at any intelligible clue to the mystery, Mrs. Showers and her daughter came to town early in the present year, and because acquainted with several persons who, like themselves, were interested in the elucidation of the phenomena. They took apartments in a northern suburb, in order to be near some friends, and here I had the pleasure of being introduced to them. They had heard, of course, of Mr. Home and Miss Kate Fox (now Mrs. Jenckin), and they had read with amazement the accounts that had been published of séances with Miss Florence Cook. It is right, however, I should state that they had heaver met that young lady, and in point of fact, did not meet her until they had been some weeks in
Before describing what occurred on the first occasion when I met Miss Showers, it may be desirable that I should state that the apartment in which the séance was held was a small front drawing-room, with a bow window just large enough to admit a table and a couple of chairs: that there were no shutters or anything to exclude, light or observation, save ordinary Venetian blinds. The curtains were of the usual damask, attached to a brass pole; but as the latter was fixed about a foot or more below the cornice of the ceiling, there was a considerable aperture through which light could be admitted into the space formed by the bow window when the curtains were drawn. I am particular in thus describing the situation of the window and of the blinds, for reasons which will be obvious here after. The back room was used as a bedroom, a heavy curtain being drawn across the opening usually closed by folding doors. This back room was locked before the séance commenced. The only persons present on this occasion were Mrs. and Miss Showers, the friend who introduced me, and myself. The fire was burning very low, and the lamp was extinguished. We sat quiescently for perhaps ten minutes, when slight knockings were heard on the pillar of the table, and subsequently on the top. The table shortly afterwards gave a sort of lurch, and, then rose in the air and came down with a somewhat heavy thud. Then came a loud, clear voice, with a cheerful tone, saying 'Good evening.'
'Oh, you are come, Peter, are you!' said Mrs. Showers.
'Yes, replied Peter,' 'I am here;' and he added, 'how are you?' mentioning the name of the gentleman who accompanied me.
Presently, 'Peter' said he would sing, if Miss Showers would play the pianoforte; and he was as good as his word, for he not only sang himself, but brought three or four other voices, who also contributed to the concert thus marvellously improvised.
'Clever ventriloquism, of course,' is the natural reply; but Miss Showers has no ventriloquism gift of any kind, and I have never heard of a well-authenticated case of a young girl singing in a baritone voice, such as we heard on this occasion.
As, however, the argument of ventriloquism is one which it is useless to discuss in an article like this, I shall dismiss it, merely adding that no one who has heard the eight or nine voices speaking in the presence of Miss Showers believes that they are those of the young lady herself, more especially as they sometimes speak in a language utterly unknown to her. But of all the voices, that which attracted me most emanated from an entity professing to be 'Florence Maple.' The accents were clear and distinct, but, to my mind, ineffably sad. I do not think that any one who has heard that voice can readily forget it. I asked her where she lived, and she replied, in a town in Scotland, the name of which she gave. She said she had passed out of this life about six years ago, after a lingering illness, and that she would be glad to communicate with her family, but was unable to do so. She answered every question put to her readily; but on pressing her to tell me why her voice was so triste in tone, she begged me not to press her on the subject. She promised, however, to show us, if possible, the face and form from which the voice was emanating.
Miss Showers subsequently went behind the curtain; and the table being removed, she seated herself in a chair, while a lighted candle, a roll of
'Peter' talked away, and told us that he was sending 'Rosie' to sleep; but that she was tied so tight that he had some difficulty in doing so. He then sang; and after an interval of some minutes we heard the clear, sad voice of Florence joining in his song.
'Oh, you are there, Florence!' we said, and she answered 'Yes, I am here; would you not like to see me?' Of course we replied in the affirmative. Mrs. Showers then made an opening in the curtains where they met, by pinning back the folds, and a face appeared. It was that of a female, older, I. think, than the medium, and equally good-looking. The complexion was pallid, but not unpleasantly so, and the eyes were large, and seemed to look straight out, without turning to the right or left. The head was enveloped in white, and no hair was visible. We could, however, see her hands. She was unquestionably very like the medium, save in one important feature—the nose was straighter. The eyes, too, were larger. She spoke to us; and occasionally the head disappeared, as if in the direction of the medium. She said she had not materialised her body, but would endeavour to do so on a future occasion.
On subsequently drawing aside the curtains, we found Miss Showers in a trance. The tapes were tied precisely as we left them, and the seals were unbroken.
A few nights afterwards, I again had an opportunity of witnessing, the phenomena. In this case I was accompanied by a friend, who certainly did not at that time (whatever he may do now) believe in the possibility of apparitions. Miss Showers was told to go into the bedroom; and, having seated herself on the bed, she was subsequently found tied to the metal-work at the foot of it, and sealed with tape and wax provided by myself for the purpose. We then withdrew to the front room; and shortly afterwards the curtain was pushed aside, and out stepped Florence Maple, literally and figuratively 'as large as life.' She had a head-dress similar to that worn the preceding night, as also a long life robe, fastened up to the throat and sweeping the carpet. I advanced to her; and she took my hand, and sat beside me on the sofa. The lamp was on the mantel-shelf, and she said the light was too strong for her. I offered to reduce it, but she got up and did it herself. She went to the piano and played and sang. My friend asked whether he might approach her, and she at once acquiesced, without making any condition whatever. He came up and scrutinised her features,
'I am not, I assure you, the medium,' said Florence, in her softest accents; and she added, 'I know I am very like her.'
I pointed out to my friend that the figure was taller than Miss Showers, and she said, 'Yes, I am taller.'
On this occasion the apparition returned only twice or thrice, and then for a moment or two only to the medium. She was, I should think, about three-quarters of an hour in the room with us. On eventually entering the back room to release the medium, we found her tied and sealed precisely as we had left her. How she got back again into her ligatures was a puzzle to my friend, who no doubt found a solution (as nearly everybody else would have done under similar circumstances) for the rest of the manifestations in ventriloquism, and in the dexterity with which the young lady had slipped out of the tapes and dressed herself up to play the part of a ghost!
On another occasion, when Miss Showers was securely fastened behind the curtain, and when 'Peter' was singing, and when the apparition was out in the room talking to us, the servants of a friend who accompanied me were standing outside with the carriage, so that no person could (as has been hinted) have got access to the room from the street, to help in an imposture.
But, happily for Miss Showers, as also for Miss Cook, who may have been unjustly suspected, the period was approaching for their vindication. The attempt had been made to seize and detain the figure of Katie King' at Mr. Cook's and had caused much concern to Miss Cook and her family. The former felt all the pain with which a generous and sensitive mind is penetrated at being the object of unworthy suspicion, and the latter were equally anxious to vindicate their honesty and fair fame; for it is idle to deny that, if Miss Cook had been guilty of deception, every member of her family must have been equally compromised with her. It was under these circumstances that Florence Maple' was asked, if possible, to allow the medium to be seen with her at one and the same moment. This, it was hoped, would be sufficient to disarm the most sceptical, and to silence the ridicule of the ignorant. I need scarcely say that this test was not considered by any means necessary by those who had traced the phenomena through all their stages, who had adopted, without the detection of imposture, every test and contrivance that ingenuity could devise, and who knew the character of the media. They felt, however, that as the bona-fides of Miss Cook had been doubted (chiefly on account of the similarity of the apparition to the medium), and as a gross outrage had been committed upon her, and might be perpetrated on other mediums in similar positions, it was all-important that the apparition and the medium should not only be seen simultaneously, but should actually be touched and felt. Those who are acquainted with the phenomena have reason to believe that any seizure of the apparition may have an injurious effect upon the medium, so subtle and sympathetic is the chain of communication between them. Seeing both and touching both was the crucial test, so to speak, because the phenomena are so astounding that even well-intentioned and candid persons, anxious to ascertain the truth, but, still prejudiced in favour of ignorance, and the accepted traditions of science, could never be brought to believe in their genuine character unless the senses of vision as well as of touch were both satisfied. Representations on this subject were, I believe, made both to 'Katie King' and 'Florence Maple,' and both promised that, if possible, the test should be given.
It was, consequently, with no ordinary sense of satisfaction that I
We subsequently returned to the front drawing-room and Miss Showers having taken a seat in an easy-chair immediately behind the sliding door in the back room, the curtain was drawn over the opening, the lamp was turned down, and we waited the result. Peter' spoke, as usual, and sang; and in a short time we recognised the voice of Florence,' and 'Florence' herself came out and advanced to the farther end of the room, where we were seated. She spoke to us in a less sedate manner than usual, moved about the room from place to place, and seemed immensely pleased with a fan that I bad brought her, and which was eventually found in the lap of the medium when the séance was over. As Mrs. and Miss Showers were to leave town the following day, and knowing the importance of getting the crucial test on that occasion, I said to Florence." I want you particularly to give me a test that must satisfy everybody.' She replied, 'I will if I can.' I then said, I want to see you and the medium together, as you know it is said that you are so like the medium that you must become and the same person.' Her answer was, 'I will try.' No condition of any kind was imposed. 'Florence' then went behind the curtain, and a minute or two afterwards reappeared, and, beckoning me forward, said, Come and see her.' I responded immediately, and crossing the room, stood beside the figure. She was then, I should add, taller than the medium, and, to my view, had a certain angularity of form which I had never observed in Miss Showers. She then drew aside the curtain with her left hand, and, pointing with her right, said, Look!" There, seated in the chair as we had left her, but with her head down over her left shoulder, and the right side of her face visible, was unquestionably the immobile and unconscious form of Miss Showers I There could be no mistake about it. It was no delusion. She was there beyond all possibility of doubt. Having satisfied myself on this point, I returned to my seat; but on the reappearance of Florence' immediately afterwards, I said, 'will you give me one more test to satisfy me?' The answer was, as before, 'I will if can; but what is it?' I replied, I want this crowning test: I want to follow you instantly behind the curtain; and I wish to place the light so that I can see well into the room.'
I returned to my seat perfectly satisfied—firstly, that the apparition was a thoroughly materialised form, instinct with intelligence; and secondly, that it could disappear at will, by making itself instantaneously invisible. This latter phase of the phenomena I look upon as even more marvellous than the materialisation.
In connection with materialisation and immaterialisation, this may be a convenient place to refer to an objection taken by many persons but partially acquainted with the phenomena, and which, I admit, is not capable of satisfactory explanation off-hand. I have, for instance, heard people say, why should a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes elapse between the hearing of the second voice and the appearance of the form from which it proceeds? and why should the interval be occupied with music, singing, conversation, &c.?' The question is reasonable enough, it must be owned, although it may not be answered in such a manner as to banish suspicion from a prejudiced mind. The question has been put to the form when visible and invisible, and the answer invariably is that music promotes harmony (an essential element of success), and, that when the sitters are singing and in conversation it becomes easier to draw power from them. Whatever be the measure of belief that such answers are calculated to inspire, the necessity no longer exists for either raising the objection or supplying the rejoinder. As a matter of indisputable fact, the apparition now appears without that suspicious interval to which I have referred, and which many persons thought was devoted to the undressing of the medium preparatory to playing the part of a 'ghost.' On several recent occasions, and in the presence of persons of undoubted credit and veracity, the apparition known as 'Katie King' or 'Annie Morgan' has appeared within two or three minutes after the medium has become entranced. She has come arrayed in white, with a veil, and head-dress, and naked feet, while the medium has at the some time been seen costumed in her ordinary attire, and with her usual shoes and stockings. Moreover, the medium, when entering the room, had been observed to wear ear-rings, while the ears of 'Katie King' were undecorated, and had never even been pierced! This is certainly hard to get over; but harder still remains behind.
The apparition in question having repeatedly informed Miss Cook and
littérateur, and editor of the 'Art Journal,' having asked a variety of questions, was favored with a special test. Just before the conclusion of the sitting, 'Katie' threw back the curtain, and said to Mr. Crookes, 'Turn up the gas as high as you can, and let Mr. Hall come in.' Mr. Hall rushed behind the curtain, but declared that he could see nothing but the impassive form on the carpet 'Katie' had instantaneously disappeared.
On Saturday, the 16th of May, a séance very similar in character was held in the same house; and 'Katie' again assured us that, as the three years within which alone she should show herself would expire on the following Thursday, (the 21st of May), she wished certain persons who had witnessed the development of the phenomena to be present. It was also arranged that some further photographic experiments should be made by Mr. Crookes under a magnesium light. These were made on the following Wednesday (20th May). On this occasion I was the only stranger present, the rest of the sitters consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Cook and the members of Mr. Crookes' own family. The cabinet was improvised in this manner. The swab of a sofa and a pillow were laid on the floor of the library. One of the folding doors was then shut, and a curtain was loosely hung over the aperture thus caused. Miss Cook lay down on the cushion, and we sat in the adjoining room, used by our host as his laboratory. In a very few minutes, without any preludes for music or singing, we heard the voice of 'Katie,' and immediately afterwards she drew aside the curtain and stood before us. She was, beyond all question, taller, stouter, and more developed than the medium; while her hair was much longer, and seemed to be of a light chestnut 'colour. She spoke to me, and expired her regret that I could not be present at her final séance the following evening. She allowed me to feel her arm and hand, and touch her ringlets, an that I might be assured that they were real for all present purposes. She subsequently bore a stronger light, and then we distinctly saw the form of Miss Cook, but with a shawl thrown over her head. She requested Mrs. Crookes to bring her chair behind the curtain, that she might chat with her unreservedly, as she added that she would never see her again. Mrs. Crooks went accordingly. 'Katie' afterwards broke up a bouquet of flowers, provided for her by Mrs. Crookes; and made up smaller bouquets, presenting one to each person present. Mr. Crookes and others then asked her for some of her hair. Calling for a pair of scissors, she cut a ringlet for Mrs. Crookes, and gave me one about five inches long. It was then discovered to be of that colour which used to be popular with the great Italian painters, and which we see so often in the works of Francis, Raffael, Domination, and others. Mr. Crookes subsequently asked for a ringlet, but stipulated that he should be allowed to cut it himself from the roots; and this was permitted, without the slightest remonstrance or condition of any kind. I ought to add hero that the hair of the medium is short for a female, and nearly black.
The camera was then prepared for photographing the figure, and the process was substantially similar to that adopted at the house of Miss Cook's father, a twelve-month ago. 'Katie' bore the intense glare without shrinking, and I can only compare her figure to an illuminated statue in Parian
The figure was as I myself saw it photographed at Hackney, with the agency of magnesium light. The operator in this case was Mr. W. H. Harrison, a gentleman well known in connection with scientific and daily newspaper literature in the metropolis. Mr. Harrison is a very matter-of-fact person, and is not at all disposed to take anything for granted when scientific truth is the object of investigation.
As absolute exactitude is necessary in describing the process by which so astounding a result as the photographing of a materialised apparition was accomplished, I have asked Mr. Harrison to relate in his own words the modus operandi:—
'Many conditions had to be complied with to secure successful results. A harmonious circle was necessary, that the medium might be at ease, free from all care and anxiety, in order that the manifestations should be given with the greater power. It was necessary that the medium should not sit too frequently, and have little to do at other times, so as to reserve power and vital energy for the séances. In short all the conditions which Spiritualists know to favour good manifestations were supplied as nearly as possible on this occasion.
'The cabinet being in one of the corners of a room in the basement of the house, the light was too weak, and not in the best direction for photographic purposes. For the same reason that spirits can always handle old musical instruments better than new ones, and that the manifestations are usually stronger after a medium has lived for some time in the house, it was not desirable to make a new cabinet, the old one being well charged with imponderable emanations from the medium, of which science at present knows nothing, It was, therefore thought desirable to use the old cabinet, and to do the photographing by the magnesium light.
'Magnesium ribbon will not ignite readily at a desired moment; and sometimes goes out unexpectedly, so would be liable to cause many failures. As both materialised spirit forms and photographic plates deteriorate rapidly after they are prepared in perfection, it was necessary to have a light which should not fail at a critical moment.
'Accordingly, magnesium powder mixed with sand was used, on the principle devised by Mr. Henry Larkins. A narrow deal board, three feet long, was nailed to a base-board, and firmly held in a vertical position. A Bunsen's burner, to consume gas mixed with common air, was fixed horizontally through the vertical board, and an indiarubber tube supplied the burner with common gas. The end of a funnel was then brought close to the gas-flame. When some magnesium powder and sand were poured into the latter the stream caught fire, and produced a flame of dazzling brilliancy. The larger the proportion of magnesium in the powder, the larger was the flame; and the best results were obtained with a flame averaging two feet in length, and lasting for five or six seconds.
'As might be expected, there was more success in obtaining positives than negatives, as a shorter exposure would do for the former. The ordinary processes were used—namely, a thirty-five grain nitrate of silver bath, and proto-sulphate of iron development. Mawson's collodion. A half-plate camera and lens were used, with a stop rather less than an inch in diameter, between the front and back combinations of the lens.'
As already stated, I was prevented by another engagement from witnessing the final departure of 'Katie King,' on the 21st of May; but I am
'On the 21st inst., the occasion of Katie's' last appearance amongst us, she was good enough to give me what I consider a still more infallible proof (if one could be needed) of the distinction of her ideality from that of her medium. When she summoned use in my turn to say a few words to her behind the curtain, I again saw and touched the warns breathing body of Florence Cook lying on the floor, and then stood upright by the side of Katie,' who desired me to place my hand inside the loose single garment which she wore, and feel her body. I did so thoroughly. I felt her heart beating rapidly beneath my hand; and passed my fingers through her long hair, to satisfy myself that it grew from her head, and can testify that, if she be of 'psychic force,' psychic force is very like a woman.
"Katie' was very busy that evening. To each of her friends assembled to say good-bye she gave a bouquet of flowers tied up with ribbon, apiece of her dress veil, a lock of her hair, and a note which she wrote with her pencil before us. Mine was as follows: 'From Annie Owen de Morgan (alias Katie King) to her friend—with love Pensez à moi. souvenirs for her friends, there was not a hole to be seen in it, examine it which way you would. It was the same with her veil, and I have seen her do the same thing several times.'
I may add that I have seen the pieces of cloth cut from the tunic. Another eye-witness tells use that fifteen or sixteen pieces were cut in his presence, and that the front of the skirt 'looked like a cullender,' but all that 'Katie' did to restore it to its original shape was to bring the folds together with her hands, and then shake them out, when the skirt was found to be whole and entire as before! I do not presume to supply a solution for this or any other phase of the phenomena.
In drawing attention to the subject, it is not my desire to speculate, much less to dogmatise. All I care to do is to invite candid inquiry. But to secure this I find to be a matter of enormous difficulty. Here is an illustration. Wishing to attract a friend—a man of great ability in the scientific world, and an admitted authority on those subjects, which may be regarded as his specialities—I addressed him thus: 'You are an F.S.R., a deep thinker, and widely known for your scientific attainments; therefore, what you say will carry weight. Will you accompany me to a private house, and see a non-professional medium? Satisfy yourself by every possible expedient that your ingenuity can devise that imposture is impossible, and tell me what you think of it.' The answer was, 'I don't believe in it, and I don't care to take up any new things; but I will meet any man you like on my own ground!'
This response might be reasonable enough when all that was known of the phenomena was limited to table-turning, rappings, bell-ringing, and the other elementary, and possibly frivolous, indications of a physical power exterior to the body. But the phenomena have passed out of the realm of conjecture, and have entered the region of fact. Science may still fold its arms and stand aloof. It did the same in all the earlier developments of those great discoveries which will make the Victorian age the grandest epoch of
I admit, with the utmost frankness, that what I have related as perfectly true is, at the same time, as diametrically opposed to all the researches of science as to all the traditions of probability. When I assert that two ladies and three gentlemen sit down in a room, and that room in their own house, and lock the door, and that they are shortly after joined by another individual (making the party six, instead of five), and that the sixth, in the form of a woman, talks with them for an hour, sings, plays, walks about, and does many things that they do, and that she then throws back the curtain by which she entered and shows you the living form of the fifth, and permits you at one and the same time to feel her, and also feel the insensible figure to which she points, and which you recognise as the fifth—then I say that an astounding and inexplicable fact has been established, which challenges the attention of the thoughtful, and demands all the scrutiny that science can bring to bear upon it.
I advance no theories of my own to explain or account for what I have seen. All I lay claim to is critical accuracy for my description of experiences, acquired in many cases under circumstances which would have given in especial facilities for the detection and exposure of fraud. I found none. My story, and those of others far more competent to deal with the subject, may be discredited. We care not. We can afford to wait. Time is on our side. Pacts which to-day are contemptuously denied will to-morrow be admitted and vindicated. Out of the mists of ignorance and prejudice a light will be evolved. Through the gifts in the clouds that obscure the future I think I can discern a form that, in the fulness of time, will assume the majestic image of Truth.
Dunedin: Mills, Dick & Co., General Printers, Stafford Street.
Mr. Denovan held his promised Religious Service at the Rifle's Orderly Room last, evening, the subject of his discourse, or lecture, being, "The Evidences of Spiritualism." The hall, shortly after the hour announced for the service, was quite filled with an audience including a large number of the principal citizens of Sandhurst, notably of all the religious denominations, whilst the front seats, especially, were thronged with ladies. The service was commenced by Mr. Denovan giving out, Byron's hymn, "The Prayer of Nature"—"Father of Light! on Thee I call." We may mention the psalmody was accompanied throughout by Mr. Hallas, on his cornet, and by Mr. Collins on a fine and very powerful harmonium, which swelled the voices with all the grandeur of tone of an organ. The opening hymn being closed, Mr. Denovan read portions of Scripture from the 3rd Chapter of Proverbs, and the 5th 6th and 7th Chapters of Matthew. He then, lifting up his hands, repeated the words of Jesus, "After this manner pray ye," and said the Lord's Prayer. The second hymn was then sung, being also selected from the works of Byron, of which the first verse was as follows:—
"The Home of the Soul":—
was sung at a subsequent part of the service.
Before commencing his lecture, Mr. Denovan announced that shortly after the commencement of the new year, he would deliver a companion lecture to his present one, the subject of which would be "Objections to Spiritualism Considered." During the interval, he added, he would be happy to reply Many ladies or gentlemen who more desirous of satisfying their doubts on the subject, or of seeking further information upon any topics connected with it,—and for this purpose he would, for the next three weeks, hold himself in readiness to be addressed by letter, by any lady or gentleman, the address of his office in town being well-known.
Mr. Denovan then said:—
Friends,—In all ages of the world of which we have any record, there has existed, in one shape or other, a belief in a Supreme Being and a life beyond the grave. This belief has assumed as many phases no there are races on the earth. Amongst savage nations it has, like themselves, been low and groveling, their gods being gifted with the earthly and devilish attributes of their " medicine men," and the people the slaves of their own credulity and superstitions; whilst among civilised and cultured nations it has, from the force of circumstances, been more exalted and spiritual. That this belief had its origin in our natures and has not been acquired, is proved to our senses by its universality. It is no argument against its truth that it has been turned from its legitimate purposes, for thousands of years by portions of the clerical order and tine selfish classes; for the supreme influence which it has always exercised over the destinies of all nations whether for good or for evil, is rather a proof thee Other wise of its being inherent in us. This belief has survived all the changes incidental to the rudimentary condition of man. It has nerved the arm of the Patriot to deeds of prowess in defence of his home country; it has fired with in spirit of lofty ardour sad holy zeal the breast of the missionary, making him leave all that he held dear to him in this life no that he might carry to the dark places of the earth the glad news of his faith (see the life of Dr. Livingstone); and it has brought consolation in trial and affliction to millions. But, on the other hand, it mast be acknowledged it has excited feelings of hatred and
The same power too which conferred upon men and women the intuitive and perceptive faculties, enabling them to know of the existence of a Supreme Being and an afterlife, and to provide for their own sustenance, also gave them the desire and ability to hold daily converse with the spirit inhabitants of the higher spheres. We have no record of how or when this delightful spiritual intercourse commenced; but we have ample written testimony to prove that it was begun and continued for thousands of years, both in India and Egypt, prior to the Christian era. Writing of these countries, Sir William Jones says:—
"I am persuaded that a connection existed between the old nations of India, Egypt, Greece and Italy, before the time of Moses."
"I am indebted to J. M. Peebles's "Seers of the 'Ages," for the following quotation from Emmanuel Rebold, wzo, writing of the occult practices of these nations and their intercourse with the spirit world says:—
"That occult science designated by the ancient priests, under the name of regenerating fire, is that which, at the present day, is known as animal magnetism—a science that, for more than three thousand years, was the peculiar possession of the in Indian and Egyptian priesthood, into the knowledge of which Moses was initiated at Heliopolis, where he was educated; and Jesus, anteing the Essenian priests of Egypt or Judea; and by which these two great reformers particularly the latter, wrought many of the miracles mentioned in the scriptures.'
Indeed, it has been proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, that what is now brown amongst us as Spiritualism, was far more familiar to the ancient nations of India, Greece and Egypt, and by and through them to the Jews—especially the Essenians, and of whose sect Jesus of Nazareth was a member—then it has ever been to modern Spiritualists. Not only was this the case as regards the priesthood of India and Egypt, but it may, with equal justice, be said of that of Greece and Persia Pythagoras, who, like Jesus was burn in Syria, but lived some 600 years before him, and who also had been initiated into the same mysteries as the latter, was if great spiritual teacher. Having spent many years of his life both in India and Egypt, he was thoroughly versed in all the occult sciences of the priesthood of those countries, and lived in accordance with their divine teachings. So pure and holy was the life of this sage, that he enjoyed the reputation of being divinely inspired. His birth was foretold by the Pythian oracle; and Godfrey Higgins writing of him says:—"Pythagoras was known by the same identical title as Jesus, namely, the Son of God." This good and great man, like the seer Swedenborg, of later times, held daily spiritual intercourse with the departed sages, his spirit being much "The gods and demons of the mythologies ages, were the good and heroic of earth's inmortalized, yet giving oracles to the living."en rapport with theirs as to be permitted to leave the body and visit them. He was also conversant with the Spiritualism of the Persian Magi. The seers, indeed, of all these ancient races professed to hold communion with the spirits of the departed
Educated in such schools, it was not surprising that the pure; old holy religions of Moses and Jesus should rest upon a common foundation; or that these two great spiritual teachers should make use of their knowledge of those occult mysteries into which they had been initiated, to impress their followers with their divine mission, and by which, no doubt, they were enabled to perform the many mighty works so intimately associated with their names.
Within the compass of a single lecture I cannot be supposed to dwell at any length on the evidences of spiritualism, as it prevailed amongst the ancient nations, as it would interfere with tine object I have in view, namely, to lay before you a few of the primary evidences of Modern Spiritualism as it has appeared in our own age. Yet, having due regard to the importance of such evidence in the discussion of this subject, I cannot pass it over without considerable notice. You will pardons me, therefore, before proceeding with the more immediate subject of the lecture, for asking your attention a little longer, to another epoch in the history of this wonderful spiritual movement—the Mosaic and Christian dispensations, the incidents of which you are, no doubt more conversant with than with then of earlier times. As most of you are aware, the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are little more than the records of the sayings and doings of men, angels and spirits with each other, in days when the Jewish Jehovah was said to hold converse with men. When, finding that wan fell from his first estate and became wicked, God destroyed the world, only saving Noah and his family; when Moses, by command, led forth the children of Israel from the house of bondage, and the waters of the Red Sea were cleft in twain so that they might pass over on dry land; when amid the thunders of Sinai the law was delivered and Israel became "the chosen of the Lord." Showing how after sojournings and sufferings in the wilderness for forty years, they were, after being Ike recipients of God's favors, finally: brought in safety to the promised land; how kings and princes of the earth were made to do homage to ''the anointed of the Lord" how the Temple was built in which sacrifices were offered up, and a magnificent priesthood celibate in accordance with Jewish ritual, the worship of "the Most High." And how in the fulness of time, when Israel had, notwithstanding their deliverances and blessings, rebelled against Him, and had become subject to the power of the Roman Empire, there appeared—heralded by omens, stars, dream, and other wonderful occurrences—a long promised deliverer in the shape of a child how "wise men of the east" Came to worship him; how be was said to be conceived by the power of "the Holy Ghost" and born of a virgin; how he excelled in wisdom and purity all his predecessors; how he, notwithstanding his being "the son of God" and working such, miracles as raising the dead, opening the eyes of the blind, cleansing the lepers, walking on the water, and many other miracles, was rejected by his nation, and crucified by them. How after three days he was raised to life again, appeared among men, and afterwards ascended to Heaven as the Prince of Peace, and in processor with his Father for all the world; and how be appointed Apostles to preach his Gospel to all nation, promising to be with them; and, as a token of their divine mission, they were to be endorsed with power to work similar miracles to him. And how these scriptures have been received by millions of the human family as the veritable "word of God," which "holy men wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost."
It is not any purpose to-night to enter into a discussion of the question as to the truth of the claims set up for these scriptures, but rather to deal with them as the source from whence these millions draw their consolations and beliefs. The Bible being "the infallible word of God" to all such, it becomes necessary on their part
And Low friends, having traced the progress of what is known to us as spiritualist from the earliest ages down to the closing scenes of the lives of the apostles, I must refer you to William Howitt's "History of the Supernatural," and Robert Dale Owen's "Footfalls on the Boundaries of another World," for full accounts of its progress from then till its revival in
Dr. Adam Clarke, writing of them, says:—"The accounts given of them are so circumstantial and authentic as to entitle them to the most implicit credit." Similar cases have constantly occurred in to parts of England, and indeed in all lands trod by human pilgrims. Friends, many of you, if not in your own experience, have heard your parents or grandparents speak of strange occurrences in their families, unaccountable to them; but still links in the chain of evidence of the presence of spirits amongst us, and of the deep interest our dear departed ones continue to take in our welfare. "Ministering spirits sent forth by God to minister to the heirs of salvation." A perusal of the books I have already named would well repay the earnest inquirer. Sense objection has been taken for your reading this class of books; but with all dire respect to the objectors, I soy to you, improve your minds by reading and free thought. Learn the merits of a question before venturing to condemn it. This is eminently an age or progress and investigation, when men will no longer be content with the beliefs of their great grandparents without free enquiry; an age in which old dogmas are being "weighed in the balance and found want hg and in which the churches of Christendom must either drive bank the education of the masses to the dark ages or remain content to lose their influence over them. Already, friends, this is, to a large extend, the case. What theologians call infidelity" is rampant everywhere. Can you wonder at it? Is it not the natured erect of shutting up the human intellect within "infallible" churches, bibles and creeds,—saying to it thus far but no farther shah thou go? Within the churches themselves, how many of the more educated of their attendants believe in the do, trines preached to film? How many, for instance, believe in eternal punishment for finite offences? How many believe in a personal devil? I venture to assert that out of every hundred persons who attend church, not twenty believe in either: for if they did, society would either become a vast prayer meeting, or our lunatic asylums would be too small to hold those who sought admission to them. And if I am right, what then becomes of the other cardinal points of faith built upon these other? Friends, you cannot shut your eyes to these things. You know that every-where our men of science and intellect are turning away front the churches, and ore striving God out of the world, having—many of them, at least—ceased to believe in a life beyond the present. And with millions of nominal christians, what more than this does their belief amount to? Do they know themselves? Is their daily walk and conversation evidence of their belief? How much of their time do they give to the pursuit of wealth, and how much to the Berries) of their fellow creatures (for this latter service is really the service of God)? For as hat do they continue to attend public worship; and what do they know in these slays of the spiritual life so nobly exemplified in the life of Jesus, and of whom they profess to be followers? Can it be wondered at that in the presence of n dead faith and so many mammon worshipping professors, tins revelation of the divine love to man, which, in the present day, is manifesting itself anew to all nations, and known to us as spiritualism should be received by most of us with scorn and derision? Why this alarm of the Christian church at the re-appearance of those spirit and angelic manifestations which, it is admitted, prevailed, in that church in its early days; which, according to the Script ores, were in all ages to accompany the preaching of the gospel? Has a secret disbelief is a
The clergy have arrayed themselves against modern spiritualism, because they perceive in it danger to their own pretentious, but as I have already shown you by quotations from the Bible itself, they cannot consistently do so without condemning their own religion; for the evidences by which it is sustained, are precisely the same as those advanced by spiritualists is support of theirs. Writing on this very subject, the author of a very able little book, called "Hints for the Evidences of Spiritualism," after speaking of the scripture spiritual manifestations says:—
"Now, in the minds of those who believe in the trust of the occurrences just mentioned, there cannot be even a sense of feeling of general improbability as attaching to spiritual manifestations. There can only be a sense of its being Improbable that they should occur at the present day or in the future; since it is not open to them to dispute the past generations, and indeed, whole nations have had experience of them."
Permit me now, friends, to draw your attention to some of the evidence in support of Modern Spiritualist. Many of you are aware that the spiritual manifest-
"From the first, the family was disturbed by noises in the house: but these they attributed for a time to rats and mice. In
These extraordinary occurrences increased in intensity, disturbing the rest of the family, and at length attracting the attention of the neighbours, who crowded from all parts of the country for miles round, to witness them. Mrs. Fox and her daughter Kate began to rap in response to the raps, and time was commenced the popular method of communicating with the spirits by rapping. The alphabet was called, so many raps to constitute yes or no. By this means the number of the family, their ages, the death of one of them, her name and age were all correctly given, until conviction was forced upon them that their strange visitors were the spirits of the departed. The clergy took alarm as the interest increased. The press held it up to ridicule, and separate committees of ladies and gentlemen were formed for the express purpose of investigating the phenomena, as they were supposed to be the result of some trickery on part of the family; but these committees were compelled, after the most searching investigation, to report: "That they were unable to trace the phenomena, to any known mundane agency." Thus was commenced the most wonderful movement of modern times. It spread like wildfire to all the principal cities and towns of America, becoming more startling as the mediums became better developed, exciting the wonder of all, the hostility of many, and the support of hundreds. Circles were formed for investigation, and so great was the interest in it, that at one time it was computed that there were no fewer than 1500 circles assembled weekly in the city of Boston alone. The manifestations by means of many of the mediums were truly astonishing; mediums increased in number too, and some of them such as Mire Kate Fox, D. D. Home, and the Davenport brothers, were of such susceptible temperaments and organisations, as to allow of the spirits not only making themselves visible to mortals through them, but likewise speaking in their presence to friends, still in the flesh, writing messages in different languages, shaking hands with them, joining audibly in vocal and instrumental concerts, and producing such marvellous phenomena as to attract the notice and rivet the attention of many of the first minds in the country. In addition to these mediums for physical manifestations, there were other phases of mediumship, such as trance speaking, motive, test mediums, healing mediums, drawing and writing mediums, and many other kinds, all more or less of an extraordinary character, and all serving to bring home the fact to the witnesses, of the existence of a spirit world not far away, in which our loved and lost ones still lived and preserved their identity; through means not generally known, were able, under certain conditions, to communicate with us. When, after repeated tests with these mediums, the conviction was forced upon investigators that the phenomena were caused by the disembodied spirits of the departed, their joy and gratitude to God, our Heavenly Father, was intense. Hundreds and thousands of all classes—especially the educated, became Spiritualists, renounced Materialism, joined with others in spreading the good news everywhere, and in devoting their time and means to works of benevolence and mercy. So great has been the great on the public mind in America, and so wonderful the progress made, that, in the short space of twenty-five years, the spiritualists hare increased until they number eleven millions. This is the estimate given of them by the Catholic clergy of that country. Robert Dale Owen's estimate is 7,500,000; but for the sake of being within the truth let us accept the lower one, and still the fact remains, that no religion was ever known to have spread so rapidly in any country before. Our
"Many persons that we know draw, paint, or write under spiritual agency, and without any effort or action of their own minds whatever, some of them never having learned to draw. Several of my family drew and wrote. I wrote a whole volume without any action of my own mind, the process being purely mechanical on my part. A Series of drawings in circles, filled up with patterns, every one different from the other, were given through my hand one evening the circles were struck off as correctly as Giotto or a pair of compasses could have done them; yet they were made simply with a pencil. Artists who saw them were astonished, and, as is generally the case in such matters, suggested that some new faculty was developed in me; when, lo, the power was entirely token away, to show that it did out belong to me. The drawings, however, remain; but I could not copy one of them in the same way if my life depended on it"
Mr. Hewitt further says:—"I may add that I have never visited paid mediums, but I have seen most of the phenomena exhibited through Mr. Home, Mr. Squire, and others. I have seen spirit's hands moving about; I have felt them again and again. I have seen writing done by spirits, by laying a paper and pelted in the middle of the floor, and very good sense written too. I heard things announced as about to come to pass, and they have come to pass, although appearing very improbable at the moment. I have seen persons very often, in clairvoyant trances, en-
I have quoted from William Howitt's testimony at considerable length, as he being an Englishman and a man of high standing, as an author, such evidence will probably have some weight with a British audience, though in Australia. Dr Ashburner, of London, in his work "Animal Magnetism and Spiritualism," writing of these spiritual phenomena and what took place in his own house in the presence of himself and friends says:—
"There were but three of us at the dinner table (Ashburner, Sir William Top-ham and Foster, the medium). The servant placed the soup-tureen on the table, and no sooner had I helped my friends to soup, than Sir William, who had preferred the seat with his back to the fire, requested permission to alter his mind, as the fire was too much for him. He went to the opposite side of the table forgetting to take his napkin. Immediately a hand, apparently as real as the hand of any one of us, appeared, and lilted the napkin into the air, gently and gracefully, and then dropped it carefully on the table. The appearance of hands was by no means an unusual phenomenon. One evening I witnessed the presence of nine hands floating over, the dining table."
Dr Ashburner adds:—"One evening in my drawing room a hand, as palpable as my own hand, appeared a little above the table, and soon rested upon the thumb and four fingers on the surface of it. Several persons were seated round the table. Mr. Foster, addressing me, said, 'The person to whom that hand belongs is a friend of yours. He is a handsome man, with a portly presence, and is very much gratified to see you; and to renew his acquaintance with you. Before he mentions his name, he would like to know if you remember his calling your father his old friend, and yourself his young friend.' I had forgotten it; but I remembered it the moment the name was mentioned. 'He calls himself Sir A stley Cooper," said Mr. Foster, and wishes me to tell you that certain spirits have the power, by the force of will, of cresting front elements of or matter in the atmosphere fuc-similes of the hands they possessed on earth.' Shortly the hand melted into air."
Dr Ashburner further says:—"I have myself so often witnessed spiritual manifestations, that I could not, if I were inclined, put inside the evidences which have come before me."
Mr. Livermore, the well-known and wealthy New York banker, gives the following account of extraordinary manifestations which he witnessed, through the mediumunship of Miss Kate Fox:—
"The lights being extinguished, footsteps were heard as of persons walking in their stocking feet, accompanied by the rustling sound of a silk dress. It was then rapped out by the alphabet, 'My dear, I am here in form; do not speak'—(meaning the spirit of Mr. Livermore's late wife). A globular light rose up from the floor behind me; and, as it became brighter, a face surmounted by a crown, was distinctly seen by the medium and myself. Next the head appeared, as if covered with a white veil. This was withdrawn after the figure had risen some feet higher; "I have known Latin, French, and Spanish words spelled out through the rappings, and I have heard mediums who knew no language but their own speak in those languages, and in Italian, German, and Greek, and in other languages unknown to me, but which were represented to be Arabic, Chinese, and Indian, and all done with the ease and rapidity of a native."and I recognised unmistakably the full lead and face of my wife, surrounded by a semicircle of light about eighteen inches in diameter. The recognition was complete, derived alike from the features and her natural expression. The globe of light was
stood before the mirror, and was reflected therein." The spirit form of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin also appeared at the some circle, and was folly recognised by the sitters. Mr. Livermore says:—"I now aver, that same circle, a of the identity of this spirit longer remains upon my mind. * * His presence was a wonderful and startling reality, seated in the chair opposite me at the table, vividly visible, and even to each article of dress, there could be no mistake." The mediate, Miss Kate Fox, Dr Gray, a gentleman of unimpeachable integrity and high social position in New York, writes:—"She has been intimately known to my wife and myself from the time she was a very young girl. * * Miss Fox is a young lady of good education, and of on entirely blameless life and character. At the spirit rooms of Jona-than Koons, Ohio, spirits manifested themselves to thousands who flocked from all parts of America to see then. A band of spirits, under the leadership of a spirit named King, attended at these rooms, and through the mediumship of Mr. Koons and his eldest son, audibly joined in vocal and instrumental concerts, carrying the instruments through the and abuse the beads of the sitters, exhibiting their spirit hands as they did so, meriting messages to friends present and at a distance, and shaking hands with hundreds. Fir proofs of this see Emma Harding's "History of Modern Spiritualism in America." Judge Edmonds and Dr Dexter, both gentlemen of high attainments, and who are esteemed and loved wherever they are known, in their able work, entitled "Spiritualism," have testified in the strongest manner to the facts which have come under their own obviation in connection with the progress of this great spiritualist movement. Judge Edmonds writes in his introduction:—
Dr Dexter writes—"During the time I abstained from sitting in any circle, I was twice lifted bodily from my bed, moved off its edge, and thus suspended in the air. * * During the whole time, from their earliest endeavour to write, they have used my hands on the instrument to convey their own thoughts, without any appreciation on my part of either ideas or subject. I know nothing of what is written until idler it is rend to me; and frequently, when asked to read what has bent communicated, I have found it utterly impossible to decipher it.
At the circle attended by Judge Edmonds, the following beautiful teachings came from the spirits, through the medium:—"The spirits see and rejoice at every deed of kindness to humanity that you perform. Wouldst thou know more of heaven—know more of the spirit world? Wouldst thou be happy in the performance of thy duty? Be guided by the spirit of love, and justice and equity, and angels will follow thy footsteps, and good spirits surround thee. To see the friends we love on earth happy, adds greatly to our happiness here. These manifestations are given to mankind to prove their immortality, and teach them to look forward to the change from one sphere to another with pleasure. There are great changes now being made. The spirits of just men made more perfect are knocking at the door of your understanding, and the work which God has commenced will bear its way gloriously. No human power can hinder its progress."
The gift of healing has been bestowed upon many mediums in England, America, Australia, and elsewhere, wherever the spiritual gospel is being preached. Dr New-
Did time permit, I could relate many equally convincing proofs of spirit power; but let these suffice at present. And now friends, those of you who are orthodox Christians have hitherto denied the truth of these things, and set them down as either "imposture, delusion, mesmerism, or the devil." Those, like myself, who have investigated the phenomena, and have, as the result of their investigations, been compelled to believe in their spiritual origin, have been laughed at, sneered down, pitied and prayed for, and this too by persons who have never investigated the subject for themselves, have never studied it, but because it chanced to be something out of
"Can These Things be True," from the facile pen of " W. I. R," of Melbourne:—"It is not to be denied that we are at the present time in the midst of is great religious crisis The educated classes, it is said, are renouncing Christianity; scepticism is widely spread in the universities; the highest intellects are no longer at the service of religion, and even the clergy themselves are making shipwreck of faith. During the last ten years we have been compelled to give up positions which we once thought were the strongholds of Christianity. We have entered upon us now era, and all men are musing in their hearts what the end is going to be."You believe that. Upon what evidence do you believe it? Is the dead evidence stronger than the living? And if such a thing was done in the days of the Apostles, is there not a strong probability of its being done now? I apply the same reasoning to the speaking in strange tongues, to the healing of the sick, the appearance of spirits, the spirit writing, &c., &c. You cannot place your finger on a single passage of the Old or New Testaments which forbids this spirit intercourse, or that says when it was to come to an end; and, as I have shown, that intercourse which has been renewed in a very prominent manner in our clay, was not only begun thousands of years before the days of Jesus, but has been continued uninterruptedly from then till now. I am aware that oftentimes the power was weak and capricious through the wickedness of nations; but in one shape or other it has always existed, and has in various ways—both inside the church and outside of it—made itself seen and felt. It is scarcely two hundred years since—in those two enlightened nations, England and America—Judges and Juries were engaged trying and condemning innocent men and women, and even children, for "witchcraft," the very crime of which thousands of the mediums of the present day are guilty. Barrington says that" 30,000 people were burned for witchcraft within 150 years." And yet to-day the truths attempted to be taught by these poor persecuted ones of former days, are now forcing themselves upon the notice of everyone in fill lands, and are yet destined to pervade the world. Nor will it long carry weight with the majority of thinking persons, for a portion of the press to continue holding such a movement, supported by such disinterested evidence, up to ridicule and obloquy. It is not difficult to divine the cause of such opposition, seeing that so large a number of the gentlemen connected with the press are—were their real opinions known—either sceptical of the truths of revelation, or materialists. On the other hand, these of us who, by reading and investigation, have become believers in Spiritualism must not forget, in judging others, that when our attention was first called to the subject, we acted towards it just in the same way that others who have not honestly investigated it, are now doing, laughing at its advocates as "crazy and wondering how so many sensible persons could possibly believe in such a delusion." Let a knowledge of this, therefore, teach as to be charitable in our condemnation of others, and let us quietly continue to sow the seed, leaving it to time and freedom of thought amongst our fellow citizens, to open the eyes of their understanding as our own were opened. Many people, no doubt, will laugh at us, the clergy will rail at as in the pulpits and call us backsliders and infidels; the press will misrepresent us; but spiritualism carries its own motive power, and will make its way into the hearts and heads of the people its the face of all such opposition. There is always a large class of reflecting, honest minded persons in every community, and the truth cannot long be withheld from them. They will not willingly believe that so many thousands and millions of all classes in all countries in the world, can be misled in such a matter; and after they have first laughed at it and perhaps cursed it, they begin to think after all that "there must be something in it," will become interested, read up on the subject, and finally end in honestly investigating it in their own home circles. The result in all such cases spiritualists can foretell. It has been asked by numbers: "What good is it oven were it true?" Our reply to that is simple enough: It is to teach the men and women of the present day that their departed friends live in another state of existence, can communicate with them under certain conditions hitherto but im-
The Rev. J. Hunt, Contemporary Review,
Pray, pardon flue friends, for bring somewhat plain spoken with you on this subject. You do not know, in your hasty condemnation of spiritualism, the happiness you are denying yourselves, To know for a certainty that your friends live, and that when you shall have "shunted off this mortal coil." you will also live, is joy unspeakable. You wonder at the spread of spiritualism ants the general interest excited by it, but knowing as you must know the uncertainty which prevails in the public mind concerning a future life, and the contradictory doctrines taught by it, is a surprising that intelligent responsible hull/art beings (despairing of ever obtaining, reliable information or repose for their souls in the decaying churches) should seek after that which brings home to the senses the rely evidence they are in search of? Twelve months ago, or little more, whilst agreeing with the other religious teachings of spiritualism, I laughed at the idea of spirits demeaning themselves to communicate with mortals at all, far loss at their doing it at tables; but I listened to what its pronounced advocates had to say, and, being naturally of an enquiring tern of mind, became impressed with their sincerity and good sense, thought I ought to know snore of it before misusing to believe it, and that I would read and investigate for myself. Having come to this resolution, I resolved honestly to abide by it, to learn all that could be learned on the subject irrespective of trouble or expense (for I at once saw if it really were true its importance to my fellow creatures could not be over estimated), and to decide after an impartial investigation according to the evidence. I am hem to-night to pronounce judgment. And that judgment is now unreservedly in favor
London Spiritualist, which, on opening, I discovered, to my amazement, was my own copy, with my name written on it, and which I had sent to a friend on Saturday afternoon, who resides at Quarry Hill, with a request that he would return it on Monday. On his calling on that day—the circle having all agreed not to tell him what had occurred—he said that he had called to inform me that he had lost or mislaid are Spiritualist. He missed it on Saturday night, when he went to change his coat. On putting his hand in his inside pocket, expecting to
"the Melbourne Harbinger of Light"—the account which he gave us of himself to the London Medium, with a view of having him traced, because you will see if his statements, on enquiry, are found to be correct, it would indeed be a powerful test. Just such a test was given to our excellent friend Mr. Peebles. Some years ago, a strange spirit controlled Dr. Dunn in America, and addressed Mr. Peebles as follows:—"I am a stranger to you, but not you to me. My name is Aaron Nite. My birth-place is Yorkshire, England. I departed this life when nineteen, and have been in the spirit world about 170 years."
The spirit further added that his surroundings was at the River Ouse, St. Mary's Abbey, York Minister. Mr. Peebles nor no one in America, could give any information concerning this spirit; but on Mr. Peebles visiting England a few years afterwards, he related the particulars to some friends in London, expressed his anxiety in the cause of truth to verify the statement, and set off, accompanied by an antiquarian for St. Mary's Abbey, Yorkshire. There they looked up the old regis-
Of course these two cases are not so decisive no the one of Mr. Peebles, nevertheless they are at least somewhat interesting, and will serve to show you that, in conjunction with a mass of evidence from all quarters of the globe and from all sorts and Conditions of men and women, spiritualism is not a thing to be laughed at; and that so far from being a delusion, the arguments and evidences in its favour are so powerful and convicting as to be conclusive. At all events the most learned men of our opponents such as Dr. Carpenter, Professor Thompson, and the great body of the clergy, have not been able to account for the phenomena occurring at thousands of circles in England and America, upon any other reasonable or rational hypothesis than that claimed for them by the Spiritualists. Friends those fellow citizens who rise in the morning and do nothing else all day but devote their energies to money making, and to "what they shall eat and drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed," cannot understand spiritualism, and think it would be time lost to investigate it; but the time will come for them as well as for us all when they shall be stripped of all they possess, and just as they hare sown so shall they reap. God is not mocked. That spiritual life which we have not led here to prepare us for the company of the noble and good in our Father's house of many mansions, will have to be begun there. This law, the spirits tell us is unalterable, and is as inexorably applied to the king who has worn a crown as to the meanest of his subjects. With God there is no respect of persons. If We live here for our own selfishness alone, shutting out front us those nobler duties incumbent upon us, of ministering to the wants of our fellow creature; if we live but to gratify the lusts of the eye and the pride of life, and neglect the weightier matters of the law—justice and mercy—we shall inevitably reap the whirlwind of our own sowing. Paul, addressing the Corinthians, said:—
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Now there are diversities of gifts but the some spirit. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom—to another, the word of knowledge by the sate spirit—to another, faith by the same spirit—to another, the gifts of healing by the same spirit—to another, the working of miracles—to another, prophecy—to another, discerning of spirits—to another, divers kind of tongues—to another the interpretation of tongues."
It you would desire to possess these gifts, which the Apostle desired that the Corinthians should not be ignorant of (and they are just those of which spiritualists are possessed at the present day) keep your bodies in subjection, lead spiritual lives; be honest and just in your business transactions; trains up your children in the way they should go; be virtuous in your public and private lives; he a law to yourselves in everything; make your word as good as your bond; and thus will the spirit-world be brought near to you, and heaven begun on earth. One of old has wisely said:—
"A good name is better than riches."
Let at all strive them to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things will be added unto us." There is reason for hope and congratulation that people of all nations and creeds—as the result of increased inter-communication with each other, and the more general spread of education—are beginning loser that such teachings are full of wisdom, and that the more nearly they are followed up, the greater the mutual confidence, esteem and happiness between all classes in their several relationships with each other, will prevail. Thus we see in many cases differences between employers and employees amicably settled by the employer's setting the example of concession, and showing by his actions in shorten-
A very numerous and a very attentive and apparently deeply-interested audience assembled at the Orderly Room last evening, to listen to a discourse by Mr. Denovan on the above subject. Many, doubtless, wore kept away in consequence of the heat of the weather. Fully a third of those present were ladies. The singing was very good, some fine female voices adding to the effect. Me Denovan intimated that he would deliver the third of the series of lectures, on "The Christian Objections to Spiritualism Examined," in a month or six weeks from now, if possible.
The lecturer read a chapter truss the Acts of the Apostles, and the hymns sung during the evening were Addison's noble composition, " The spacious firmament on High," "From North and South, from East and West, advance the myriads of the blest," "Death is the fading of a cloud," and the Doxology. Mr. Denovan then proceeded:—
Friends,—In my former lecture on " The Evidences of Spiritualism," I endeavored to prove that the extraordinary phenomena occurring at circles, in all nations, were genuine, and were produced by the spirits of our departed friends and relatives, who, by means of a great natural law of God, of which we are ignorant, were, though absent its the body, still able to communicate with us. I pointed out to you that in former ages, by means of this law, spirits held daily converse with men; and, that if it were denied that they could do so in the present age, it would be incumbent on our opponents to prove when this law became inoperative, by whom it was rendered so, and for what wise purpose so beneficent a provision of nature was set aside. I also drew your attention to the present state of Christianity—to the wide-spread unbelief in the truth of divine revelation which prevails amongst the educated classes, and the necessity which exists for a now revelation, with a view of converting materialists and sceptics to a belief in God and a life to come. Spiritualism, as I showed you, had already been instrumental, to a very great extent, in bringing about the conversion of many thousands of "infidels" its all those countries where it had obtained a footing, and was understood by the people; and that as its truth was established by the most incontestable evidence from all quarters, and by all ranks and conditions of men, it was only fair, before being condemned by you, that it should be subjected to the crucial test of an honest and impartial investigation.
To-night, iu accordance with my promise, I proceed to consider "The Leading Scientific Objections to Spiritualism." And in the discharge of this duty, permit me to assure you of my desire to act honestly and impartially in the matter. I would most respectfully remind you that if spiritualism be not f you, and the objections urged against it are capable of proof, then before the arguments of the materialists, believers in the immortality of the soul will have to bow their heads because, if the living evidence in favor of this all-important doctrine is to be rejected (for such evidence is, from the very nature of things, the most convincing), the dead evidence must also fail. Hence the vital importance to all believers in God, and a life beyond the present, of the truth of spiritualism.
The first objection I will deal with is as follows:—"The phenomena produced at circles, if genuine, are the result of brain force." Now, let us examine this objection carefully, and see if it is correct. Before this opinion can be rewired in elucidation of the phenomena, its advocates will require to prove to the satisfaction of the public what brain force is, how it can raise and suspend heavy bodies in the air without human contact, how loud raps on the tables, chairs, doors, and walls of rooms are produced by it, and how things are related at circles, through mediums, of which none present have any knowledge, but which are afterwards found to be strictly correct; and how it conjures up the spirits to risibly show themselves to mortals. That these phenomena are not the result of brain force I shall now endeavor to show. Robert Dale Owen, in his "Footfalls on the Boundary of another World," gives an account of a lady who resided in a beautiful country residence, at no great distance from London, who had lost by death an aged friend, to whom
backward; completing the first line near the left-hand edge of the sheet, then commencing a second line, and finally a third, both on the right, and completing the writing near to where she had first put down her pencil. Not only was the last letter in the sentence written first, and so on until the commencing letter was written last, but each separate letter was written backward or inversely the pencil going over the lines which composed each letter from right the left." Mr. Owen adds:—"Mrs. W. stated to me that (as may well be conceived) she had not the slightest perception of what her hand was writing; no idea passing through her mind at the time." * * The sentence read thus: "Ye are sorrowing as one without hope. Cast thy burden upon God, and He will help thee" The lady, after recovering from her surprise, pondered over in her mind who caused her to write the sentence, and she very naturally concluded that it was the spirit of her aged friend who had thus been permitted to comfort her. She silently prayed that if it were her old friend he would write his name. Mr. Owen says "The event, however, wholly belied her expectation. The pencil, again drawn nearly to the right-hand edge of the paper, wrote, backward as before, not the expected name, but the initials R. G. D. Mrs. W., as she read them, felt herself shudder and turn pale. The grave seemed giving forth its dead. The initials were those of a young man who, eighteen years before, had sought her in marriage, but whom, though she had long known and highly esteemed him, she had rejected." I regret that time will not permit of are giving the narrative in full; but sufficient has been given to convince you that "brain-force" had nothing whatever to do with this spirit manifestation. In this case the lady was used as a there mechanical agent by another, and that other an entirely different spirit to the one she was thinking of, one too who had been in the spirit world for a number of years. And in addition to the startling fast of the initials given being those of a person she was not even thinking of instead of those of her old friend, there was the writing itself; a letter of which she did not know when writing it until she had laid aside the pencil and read it. Friends, such facts as these will carry conviction to all whose minds are open to the reception of truth. I may add, too, that the lady in question was not a spiritualist. There was in this ease strong evidence of the presence of an independent intelligence, which not only impressed the lady in question to write, but directed her hand in a totally different manner from her usual style of writing, making her write the last letter of the last word of the sentence backward, and so on to the end of the first letter of the first word of it; and though the sentence is a very beautiful one, she was no purely a mechanical agent in the writing of it, that she know not what she had written until she read it. Then, her brains force came into action, and supplied her with the necessary intelligence to know and understand what she had written. I presume most persons will agree with me that this is the natural and legitimate purpose for which brain force is given to all of us. But it will be a hard task indeed for anyone to prove that the brain can of itself upset all the normal faculties of an individual, and so control him as to make him write in any manner it may choose, and to at the same time no deaden all his perceptions as to make trios perfectly unconscious of what he in writing; and above all to supply him with intelligence which was not within his brain at the time he was made to write. It appears to me, in such a case, it would be much easier to believe in the spiritual theory than in that of brain force. But in all cases where men or women are used as mere mechanical mediums, it is a well-known fact that during the process of their organisations being so used, the brain is either made inactive or "deadened." This is frankly admitted now by the more learned of our opponents, who have been driven by the logic of facts to seek for other and more tenable objections to spiritualism. William Crashes, of the Royal Society, has proved by his experiments with Mr. Home, that "an accordion was floated and played without human contact, and a tune performed without a key being touched by Mr. Home or anybody else." Now
The next objection of any weight is that urgent by that eminent scientist, Dr Carpenter, namely, "Unconscious Cerebration." This idea means, as plainly as I can express it, the revival or reproduction of impressions or thoughts which, at one time or other, were in the brain, and which, unknown to us, remained dormant there, irrespective of the lapse of time. That is, if you mid I were to-night to receive en impression that the world was flat instead of round like a globe, the impression might be altogether forgotten by us, as though it had never been made; yet it would remain latent in the brain unconsciously to us, and might be by a corresponding action of the brain reproduced, and appearing to an as a new impression. Now, friends, Dr Carpenter in the 'Quarterly Review' and in his lectures against Spiritualism, has argued in favor of this theory being one of the principal causes of the extraordinary phenomena produced at circles, with all the eloquence and learning of which he is capable; but it has only had the effect of creating a little attention and excitement one both sides, without weakening the spiritualist hypothesis in the least. Because it only proves this much, and nothing more, namely, that where latent thought or impressions have at one time or other been made on the brain, they may without the knowledge of anyone present be revived. Now, I are quite prepared to admit that in not a few cases where mediums hare met in circles for a few weeks only, what is spoken or written by them in the abnormal state may be nothing more than the abnormal action of their own brains, causing them to reproduce words and sentences which may appear new to them, hut which in reality arc nothing more than old disjointed scraps of what they have heard or learned at church, or the Sunday school, and with which no spirit out of the body has had anything to do. But to suppose for one moment that such a theory would account for the lending phenomena of spiritualism, is preposterous and absurd, and only goes to prove how very little knowledge such learned men as Dr Carpenter possess on the subject, or how little of their time and thought they have given to a proper investigation of it. It may be that statements have been and through mediums at circles which all present at the time thought were incorrect, but which afterwards were proved to be true, and thus recalled to the mind of some present; bet it is likewise equally true that information has been given, which no one present had ever known or heard of, and which has afterwards been verified to the letter. In the latter case it could not be by the aid of "unconscious cerebration," as it had never been impressed on the brain. And this theory most certainly does not "I know of one such fact, which I can relate to you. A friend of mine was very anxious to find the will of his grandmother, who had been dead forty years, but could not even find the certificate of her death. I went with him to the Marshalls, and we had a séance; we sat at a table, and soon the raps came; my friend then asked his questions mentally; he went over the alphabet himself, or sometimes I did so, not knowing the question. We were told the will had been drawn by a man nettled Wm. Walker, who lived in Whitechapel. The name of the street and the number of the house were given. We went to Whitechapel, found the man, and subsequently, thought his aid, obtained a copy of the draft; he was quite unknown to us, and had not always lived in that locality, for he had once seen better days. The medium could not possibly have known anything about the matter, and about if she had, her knowledge would have been of no avail, as all the questions were menial ones."create, whatever else it may do. But even in the former case, Dr Carpenter would have some trouble to prove to the satisfaction of an intelligent audience that his theory accounted for the information given. If not in the mind of the medium, but in that of one of the circle, by what means was the unconscious thought conveyed to the brain of the medium, and by him re-conveyed to the original possessor of it? With ha brain deadened, unit is acknowledged to be in the abnormal state, what power enabled him to do such a thing? Let us examine Dr Carpenter's theory further. I frankly acknowledge its important bearing on the question at issue, and would, therefore, most respectfully ask your close attention while I endeavor to prove to you its utter fallacy as an antidote to the spiritualist hypothesis. Signor Damiani, in his evidence before the Committee of the Dialectical Society, of London, stated that at a séance he attended, a spirit came and announced itself to be his sister Marietta. He had
seen the hands." In reply to a question by the chairman (Dr Edmunds), "Have you ever obtained any information which could not have been known to the medium, or to any one present?" Lord Lindsay, another witness, said:—
Mr. Manuel Eyre gives the following extraordinary evidence:—
"I will now relate a fact which, I think, shows an intelligence foreign to that of the persons present at the circle where it occurred. One object of my visit to this country was to obtain if possible the register of the baptism of a person born in England, and who died in America a century ago. Front information given me, I was led to believe I would get this in Yorkshire or Cambridgeshire. I spent over three mouths, and took a great deal of trouble, but all to no purpose. I had received from America's spirit communication that I would be able to get the information of where this baptismal register was to be found through a medium in this country. I tried through several mediums, but got nothing satisfactory but the assurance I would get it. I at last received a communication from a spirit, directing me to go Mrs. Marshall. Being mistrustful of public mediums, I determined to use extreme caution in pursuing my investigation. I scent to Mrs. Marshall in the winter of And now, friends, I think that you will at once see that the theory of "unconscious cerebration" does not nor cannot account for such cases as these I have just rend to you; and these are only a few out of hundreds of such. Take those of Professor Hare and Mr. Peebles, which I related to you in my previous lecture, both being remarkable cases of spirit manifestation, and showing as plainly as evidence could show it, that the mediums nor no one connected with them in the body, had anything to do with their production. If, then, this theory of Dr Carpenter's does not cover all of the more important phenomena occurring at spirit circles, it must be given up as untenable, and he and his supporters will either have to accept the spiritual origin claimed for them by upwards of twenty millions of people, or find out some other more rational cause for them than the one which he so persistently but so hopelessly advocates. And that it fails to do this, let me hope that the evidence which I have thus placed before you has abundantly demonstrated. The next lending objections to the spiritualist theory are these:—"The phenomena are genuine, but are to be accounted for in laws must forces connected with the human organism curls as mesmerism, odic-force, muscular action," &c., &c. In this class of objectors the spiritualist perceives honesty of conviction, a belief in the integrity of most of those who testify to what they witness at the circles, and the wish to learn more. I desire, therefore, to return the gentlemanly courtesy of such opponents, by a respectful consideration of their theories. It is a step gained for the new philosophy when we find those opposed to it forced to admit the genuine character of the phenomena. If they would only apply themselves to a diligent and impartial investigation of them, they might find that instead of the spiritualist being wrong in attributing them to the action of disembodied spirits, they themselves were at fault in hastily adopting the opinion that they were only the result of some Physical law connected with the human system, and hitherto unknown to science. Let us now see if there is anything in these objections. I have already endeavored In show you that brain force and unconscious cerebration had had nothing whatever to do with the production of the principal manifestations at spirit circles, and that the agents of them were independent in many of their actions of the circles altogether whilst at the some time, in consequence of the peculiar nature of certain organisms, these agents had the power of using them mechanically for such purposes as they deemed necessary in their efforts to impress its with the truth of their being able to communicate with as; and that these intelligences uniformly asserted they were the spirits of departed friends and relatives who had at one time or other dwelt amongst us. Now, before spiritualists can consistently be asked to distrust the evidence of their scones and disbelieve in the spiritual theory, our opponents most first be able to show us that these agents are laws and forces within us, instead of actual spirits. How could laws and forces within or carry a letter through the air, from Florence to Leghorn, wait for an answer, and take it back to its destination, a distance of 120 miles, as testified to by Barons Kirkup of Italy, an having been done last year by a spirit, to his knowledge, in little more than an hour of time? Would the laws and forces within us convey a message from Bendigo to Melbourne by electric telegraph and back, unless there were an operator at each end of the line? Or supposing, for the solo of argument, that we have laws and forces within us capable of doing such astounding things, contrary to all the known laws of our physical being, would not this go a great way towards establishing the truth of spiritualism? For would it not prove an in-dwelling God—if I may so express it—who could create as well as execute, and whose power would reach beyond the finite understanding to conceive? It is on record, and supported by evidence which would be received in any court of justice in the world, that natural flowers him been brought into circles, formed into wreaths and crowns and placed on the heads of some of those present by invisible agents. Whether, let me ask, in it more consistent with common believe that
That would be a miracle with a vengeance, and makes that of Jonah and the whale look very small. But were such a thing possible, the creation thus brought into being would be, from its nature, a mere automaton of the thoughts, opinions, and peculiar characteristics of those present; But what are the facts? It is acknowledged that the spirits who visibly appear in bodily form at circles express opinions directly contrary to those held by the insensate, and act and think as independent beings, distinct nine separate from us. William Howitt, writing of this odic force, says:—"Search through Reichenbach's essay on this force, and you will find no trace of a reasoning power is, it. It cannot enable people to draw and write and play exquisite music, who have no such power or knowledge in their brains; it can not come from other brains, for there are often no other brains present. If it could do such things it would be spirit, endowed wills volition, skill, and knowledge; and there would be an end to the dispute. The condition, therefore, of those who ascribe these powers to odic force, is that of one ascribing the telegraphic message to the wire, and not to the man at the end of it. Odic force may be the some; for spiritual communications are, and ever have been, made through and under certain laws, as all God's works always are; but it certainly is not the intelligence at the end of it. Whilst the odists and automatists speculate about an action on the brain, we cut the matter short, and say—'There stand the spirits themselves, seen, heard, felt and conversed with.'"
This idea, then, must also be given up as totally at variance with facts, as utterly repugnant to all the laws governing our physical organism, and as installing to our common sense. Neither the laws and forces as Glean us, not the chemical emanations proceeding from our bodies, could possibly endow on with power to create an adult human being, perfect in every part, and able to shake hands with us, sing, write, and speak. Our opponents who advocate such a theory must indeed be hard pressed for an argument, which is about as near the truth as the one ascribing the table phenomena to the "knee-joints" or some one present, or to that of Mr. Wizard Anderson, to "secret springs being placed under the rooms" where they occur. The Mesmeric theory is the most sensible, in my opinion, of any yet propounded by our opponents it is stated that the medium is involuntarily mesmerised either by some one in the circle or by the circle. I do not say that in the case of some sensitives this is not the case; indeed, I think it highly probable that it lose and that in such cases spirits out of the body have nothing to do with what they say or do. It would be a fatal mistake, friends, to attribute to spirits a great deal of the twaddle that is spoken and written at souse oh the circles by entranced mediums, who are but partially developed. Such mediums only give expression to their own thoughts, or those of smile present, and are clearly under the delusive and visionary operations of mesmerism. And if their mediumistic qualifications are not of a
spirit. And he may not require to go inside the body, or even to be present in the circle, to effect his object. His will-power is brought to bear upon the medium whether he is absent or present. But in a very large number of cases those mediums controlled or mesmerised by the spirits, are persons who never could be mesmerised by any mesmerist in the body, a fact which I beg to commend to the special notice of such a learned gentleman as Dr Carpenter, and to ask him to explain it if he can. Again, there are many mediums, such as Kate Fox, D. D. Home, and Dr Slade, through whom some of the best and most convincing of the phenomena come in their normal state (see Owen's 'Debatable Land,' 'The Banner of Light,' and Home's Incidents in my Life and some without either circle or medium. In the circle of which I am a member, a mesmerist who joined it a year ago, and who was not then a spiritualist, thought he could prove the phenomena neither More nor less than the result of ordinary mesmerism, and without letting any of us know, quietly, whilst sitting in the dark, proceeded to try his experiments on the mediums while they were under control; but ho soon found, to his utter astonishment, that he could exercise no power over them whatever, and that instead of his being able to mesmerise them, he was likely to get mesmerised himself. And so ho did, the spirits completely controlling him and throwing him on the floor in a deep trance. Nor could any exercise the smallest control over them any more than our friend until the spirits would tell us to "wake them." Spiritualists, therefore, frankly admit the mesmeric theory an accounting for some of the phenomena; but they differ from their opponents as to the operators. With the ordinary mesmerist, the sensitive is under his control; but when the spirit-mesmerists control ordinary operators have to give place to them. This has been proved in our own circle over and over again when the usual mesmeric passes have failed to wake the mediums, and the spirits have chosen to wake them by other menus. These are facts, and facts are stubborn things. Mr. Peebles, when in Bendigo, related a case in point. You will remember it, it was in reference to a young man Atkin, whom he had under his control, but after a time lost it, a spirit haring controlled him. It was the same with Dr Dunn. This gentleman, when a lad, one night went on the platform to be mesmerised by a mesmerist lecturer. He went to sham, but was really mesmerised, not by the lecturer—who found he had no control over him—but by a spirit. Friends, from all these facts which I have thus endeavored to plainly bring before you, you must admit that there are good and substantial reasons for the spiritual theory; in fact, that "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy." It is all very well for the Materialist to sneer at, and deride the idea of our living after the physical body has been laid in the grave; but sneering will not make the fact any less, nor will it prevent the spread of the truth on this momentous question. Every day is teaching us how little we really know concerning ourselves and the wonders of creation. It is, no doubt, a hard matter for many highly educated minds to believe in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; but they have had before now to unlearn many things which they supposed were as true as mathematical truth, and will have again. We are not to blindly follow the lead of the scientist who clings to his darling idea of matter being the first and only cause of all things, as a child does to his rocking horse; because God has bestowed upon us reasoning faculties which enable us to think and know differently. Plato and Pythagoras, as well as the so-called inspired penmen of the Bible, taught that the world was flat instead of round, and that the sun moved round it; instead of it—as the brave Galileo demonstrated—moving round the sun. Some highly respectable journals in England, supported by men of science, laughed at and ridiculed the idea of people travelling by rail, or crossing the ocean in a steamboat; yet all these things have been accomplished, and millions travel by both these means. And now, to meet the commercial requirements of the old and new worlds, a telegraphic girdle encircles the globe. Who, in the presence of such facts as these, will have the hardihood to assert that God's omnipotence
And now, friends, in drawing this lecture to a close, let me ask you to dismiss from your minds all the silly things yen have heard spoken and written against spiritualism the new science of the nineteenth century—and resolve calmly and deliberately to give it a fair and patient investigation, either in your families or in private circles. Do not, as reasonable and responsible beings, allow prejudice to interfere with this duty. I would most respectfully remind you that those who have already done so belong to all ranks and conditions of men, whose judgment and discernment are as good as your own; whose purpose is noble and disinterested, and who would not knowingly give their countenance to this cause did they not firmly believe it to be righteous one. Of course the clergy will call its pioneers 'blasphemers and infidels." What of that did not the priests of the old religions of the time say the same of Jesus? Have they not said the same of the advocates of every new truth which
"The beloved ones, the true hearted, Come to visit in ones more,"
to tell us of the life beyond the grave, and of the glories that await us in our new homes in the higher spheres. These, divine messengers givens good counsels; telling on to live noble lives if we would be happy here and here after. The clergy say that it is all the work of the Devil. Well, all I hare to say in reply to this is if it be his Satanic Majesty, he must have got converted, for most assuredly he is doing the work of the other side. What a curious old fellow this Devil must be. Would Darwin or Buckle tell us if he has got a tail, and whether—as he appears to be ubiquitous—he ever appears in the pulpit with a surplice? Then, it is said to be all a delusion, the thousands who testify to what they hare seen and heard having been deceived. Now, let me reply to this in the words of the late Dr Robert Chambers, who was a devoted spiritualist. He says:—
"A little modesty would evidently go a great way to solve the difficulty which the incredulous profess to feel on this point. If they would no tar yield to the behests of their favorite philosophy as to inquire before pronouncing, it might chance that the position of a believer in these phenomena would become more intelligible to them. So at least, it has already happened with a vast number of personas, equally positive at starting, that the whole was a delusion, and we are entitled to assume that what has been may be no again."
Friends, I beg to thank you for the undivided attention you have given me throughout the lecture, and commend what I have said to your favorable consideration. "I speak as unto wise men; judge ye what I say."
Mills, Dick & Co., Printers Stafford Street, Dunedin.
When one stands on an eminence viewing a landscape there are generally one or two things that particularly attract him. His neighbour or friend, who is viewing the same sight, is busy noticing some other thing. Is it a scene with land and sea in view? It may be that it is the ship in the distant offing that attracts the one, while the attention of the other is arrested by watching the play of the clouds. This shows our bias. Indeed there is nothing in which it is not shown. Let two photographers take photographs of the same scene or person, and see what a difference there is. The pose, the light, the shade, all are different. And this happens where the medium is the product of the art of the optician; but where the medium is a man's senses or feelings, the distortion, or rather difference in view, is more marked. Even in astronomy the observer has to allow for personal error; that is, every one making an observation has to allow in his calculation for the error necessarily made by him in observing; and this error varies. And if this bias is manifested in ordinary things where only the senses are involved, what does it not become when love of country, early training, habits, feelings, are all factors? This bias, the patriotic bias, the theologic bias, the scientific bias, the political bias, are ever present with us. I have mentioned this tendency to partialness in view to guard myself and you from assuming that the way we examine and report on anything is necessarily accurate, or can be even approximately so. And in to-night taking a glance at the future, this must be especially kept in view. Here hope comes in, and with it a rose-colouring of the ever-distant. To-night I shall attempt to point out the tendencies of the age, so that what our future may be and may not be, and what the goal is, we may the more accurately determine. In doing this, I do not intend to deal with the wide subject of the immortality of man's soul, nor with the existence of a life beyond the present. I would rather confine our attention to the probable future of our world and race. There are many marked tendencies in the present age, and I shall deal with a few in different departments of knowledge, and show how these different departments are becoming as it were interwoven.
There are at least two marked schools of philosophers. In these two schools there are minor differences, but there are two marked doctrines—the intuitionalists and the Experientalists. It would take up too much time to deal with the doctrine of perception, and of an external universe, and might not be interesting. I shall therefore only give one brief distinction or difference between these two. The intuitionalists assert that every person has certain ideas implanted in him by his very existence, and from the Great First Cause. It is true that these ideas are admittedly for one the idea of a God, or a first cause—the idea of space, the idea of time. The other opposing school assert that these ideas are not innate—not born with a man—that is, not in his mind ready to be developed when his body develops, but that they are the product of experience: that the idea of cause or a first cause is obtained by an observing or nature, and by seeing that everything that exists has an antecedent, or as we often term it a cause, and that we therefore infer a cause to exist for all things—a God. There are others, like Kant, who assign a different origin to the ideas of time and space, vie., that they are the forms of all phenomena of external sense, that the forms pre-exist in the mind, and that we cannot conceive or observe without observing and perceiving in these forms. The experientalists denied both the Kantian and the intuitional view, as I have said, and I have mentioned these two philosophic schools to show how, by a higher law, so to speak, the two have been brought nearer than before. It is true that the experientalists had always against them the appeal to consciousness, and they therefore with this appeal were weakened. Evolution, which is simply extended experientalism, has, however, been introduced, and with it a bridge has been constructed across the chasm that separated the two schools. Evolution and hereditary trans-
The doctrine of evolution is not, as I have said before, confined to philosophy. Indeed, it is from science it has been borrowed. Now, by science I understand knowledge obtained through observation and experiment. Of the workings of evolution, of Darwin's and Wallace's researches, of Smidt's, indeed of all naturalists' soul geologists', &c., I need not speak. I might point out only what has happened in geology. The "Neptunists, the Plutonists, the Catastrophists—all have vanished. To understand geology we must be prepared to speak of gradual risings and fallings, the washing down of hills through ages, and not of vast cataclysms in nature. It is true earthquakes and volcanoes have been and left their records behind them, but they have been the exceptions. The evolving process has been the means by which, from a nebulous mass, this planet has risen to its present position. This evolution doctrine has, as it has been the bridge between the opposing schools of philosophy, also become the means of bringing the scientists face to face with the problems of existence. Nothing is so surprising as the rise, within, I might my, the last ten years, of the study of psychology, or of philosophy. This study loss assumed varied phases. With Tyndall it has gone to the question of the first atoms; with others, as to the origin of life—Huxley's Protoplasm—the protein of German chemists and physicists. With others, the union of body and mind has formed the basis of their lectures, articles, and speeches. Almost all admit an evolation. The difficulty lies ha fixing its limits and scope. Had the highest products of genius once a place in the nebulous centre of gas from which the earth arose, or is there a Divine afflatus that influenced every snail distinct, from himself? Has there been an endless progress from is monad to our present state, or what? This is science's problem—the origin of matter and of life. In the discussion of this problem a most marked change has come over the definition of matter. A dead inert substance was once its definition; but on close scrutiny the distinction between organic and inorganic is found as difficult to determine as the origin of either. Possibly the position of Spencer may be after all found the only tenable one, and it is that there is a region unknowable which, with our present faculties, we earl never hope to explore. And thus evolution brings philosophy and science face to face, and shows that to each the same problem is open for solution.
In the future, therefore, we shall find that the ostracised metaphysics will assert their sway, and that the problem of salience and whither will be as interesting as in the Academia where Socrates taught. I have, however, set before you, and very briefly, this doctrine of evolution and its bearing on the present and future of philosophy and science, in order to lead up to more practical matters.
And first as to morality; the duties—if there be such—we owe to each other and to ourselves. Now, you see here again exemplified the interdependence of all knowledge. For this doctrine has created, as it were, new duties and new engagements. Take one thing—the necessity of cleanliness, that the search for the origin of life has shown. You
Evangelist of this month a statement that from one morally-depraved woman 200 criminals can trace their descent. And in the same paper is a sermon by the Rev. D. Sidey; he at once confesses that hereditary gifts must be recognised. This doctrine has everything to do will moral reform, and forms the strongest argument for the existence of State education and industrial schools. It does not assert that no educated men belong to the criminal class. On the contrary, it asserts that, except men's moral, sentimental nature be trained, the training of the intellect will not alone make them good citizens. But, while this is admitted, the fact that the surrounding's go to form a man's character makes it imperatively necessary that the surroundings should be improved before you can look for healthy moral action. The germ theory of disease teaches us that, if we desire health and the absence of epidemics, we must have cleanliness. So, if we are to expect good deeds, all immoral associations must be removed. If vice and sensuality are the associations of youth, it would be a most improbable thing were our youth not vicious and sensual. And this, I repeat, is one of the strongest possible arguments for State education, and Industrial or Reformatory Schools. There is also another thing that this evolution doctrine as applied to morals has shown, and that is, no man can neglect the training and culture of to moral nature without injury to himself. If a man be wholly given up to the world, the flesh, or the devil, he is so much the less a man, and the evil may not end with himself. And so, if a community or nation gives itself up to the search after one thing, makes Mammon its Goal, e.g., the result will be an injury inflicted on the nation. Habit is everything. The nation Oust has, as its citizens, people whose habits are reverential, prudent, careful, sympathetic, and truthful, is a great nation. It may be poor, have no resources, and be comparatively barren, but if its people are great the nation is great. But, if its people are unreliable, are selfish, are extravagant, no matter what faith they express, or what wealth their country abounds in, the nation is poor. "It is righteousness that exalteth a nation."
But in politics, in the practical relatdions of life in a State, these doctrines have a still more marked effect First. Evolution shows that the elevating of the people in the State cannot be accomplished by a quick process. To many the winning of the five points of the Charter was the confining of an immense boon on the nation—would do good to the people—make them better in their actions one to another, and also raise their standard of well-being. But the extension of the suffrage has come, and the elector can vote in secret, but no great change has come with
Justice is not settled by legislators and laws—it is in the soul.
It cannot he varied by statutes, any more than love, pride, the attraction of gravity, ran, and, therefore, the New Yorkers did not begin and frame a new State Constitution, or abolish State Governments. They did the contrary; they elected the State party, or what we would term the Provincial party; saw that their salvation lay not in a change of the format their government, nor in the repeal of a statute, but in each person insisting no honesty and economy. Nor can we expect that this reform will come all at once. The circumstances, the conditions must change. The people are always properly represented. When we have such a representative, who is to blame? The representative? Not he! It is the people who sent him there. If he is defective, the senders were defective; if he is extravagant, the people were extravagant; if he changed his political creed, the people changed theirs; if he was careless of how the public money may be squandered, did he not have a constituency whose continual cry was progress, and spending money in the place? The constituency in a double sense makes the members; but then it may be asked, what of great men? Is it not a fact that they create, and are not themselves the created? A Carlyle, a Cromwell, a Napoleon, a Pope Pius, a Gladstone, a Dr. Newman, a Cardinal Manning, a Bismarck, an Emerson—are they made by the age? Are they not a power within the age, moulding it to themselves, shedding their influence all round? As a pebble cannot he cast into a pool without disturbing the whole water in the pool, the circles widen to the extremities, so a great man cannot arise without influencing his fellows. Here, comes evolution into play. The great man is a product as much as a producer. As the great novelist of this century says—
Our deeds still travel with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are.
The great man gives an impetus to his age. He pushes it ahead, makes it press onward; but the force he uses, it has been stored up for ages perhaps. Carlyle can trace in himself his grandfather's traits. You cannot expect a man of culture to arise where there has been no education. We do not get our philosophers from Spain, but from Germany. Before a Fichte or a Goethe can arise there must be prior conditions. Scotland is famed for its study of mental science, and hence, considering its population, it has produced re greater number of psychologist and philosophers than any other country. The youth of America, as pointed out by Burke, turned their attention to law more than to theology and medicine, and the American lawyers' works are now text-books in England. The bent of the best students was towards law. Where do we expect to find the highest literary criticism? Why, in Germany. Where in the United Kingdom the best classical scholars? In Oxford and Dublin; and the best mathematicians in Cambridge. These things came not in a day. We sec varieties of plants where there is a great number of the same
But are there diverse social forces working in our midst? And whither tend they? I do not think anyone can overlook the forces that are at the surface, so to speak, of all questions—Individualism and Socialism. Here are the opposing systems. The one founded on rivalry, on competition—the other wishing society to be bound together by mutual affection—by love. The one asserts that the fittest should survive, and that this can best be obtained by a rude freedom and a kind of social warfare. Competition is Individualism's Alpha and Omega. Each must strive for himself—strive to get wealth, to get luxuries, to fulfil greater desires. Socialism, again, wishes to see competition abolished, and war—social and commercial war—at an end. These two questions are at the root of our education questions, our land questions, our poor-rate questions. If Individualism were carried to its legitimate end, as Spencer carries it in his 'Social Statics,' there would be no State education and no State aid to the poor. His reasoning is, that it is the duty of the State to allow Individualism its fullest play, to protect rights, and that by educating a child at the expense of the State a wrong is being done to certain individuals in the State, for something is taken from them not necessary for the protection of their rights.
Socialism again asserts it to be the duty of men to aid the weak and that a man should, out of his substance, give help to the poor and wretched. I have not time to discuss Socialism and Individualism. They are the two moving forces at present of politics. The latter is shaping the political economy of Germany, while the battle is still raging as to which shall conquer in England. Greg is perhaps the type in England of the Individualist political economists and now that S. Mill is dead, few, if any, English political economists speak well of Socialism. And here tames that other doctrine I mentioned—that of expediency in politics. What should the aim of a politician he? Every man who thinks has theories. He has ideas of what is best. Ought he at once to carry his ideas into practice? Or should he recognise that his ideas will be only useful and good when the conditions arise for them? May not a thing he good, but not expedient? Politics is a practical thing, and, being practical, we may not be able to carry out our ideas in practice. This is what is termed the doctrine of expediency. It may in the abstract in our opinion be right to do so and so, but is it expedient? This is just saying we must look at all the surroundings before we attempt to carry out our ideal. We must allow for growth, for evolution. Free unrestricted commerce is good for a people, but ought Custom-houses at once to be swept away? May there not be other and more evils attendant on direct taxation than those attendant on a custom-tax and a restricted trade? This is how political questions must be approached; and yet we need not sacrifice our ideal. For example, we may hold a firm conviction that all unrestricted monopoly of land is bad, and yet be not surrendering our ideal when we attempt to palliate the evil by making the monopolists numerous instead of few; or we may imagine that the training of the feudal system to the belief in the sacredness of the soil, has been so long, has borne such fruits, that the State-leasing system may be impossible for ages to Come. Take yet another example—direct versus indirect taxation. When we look at the question from one point of view, we shall find that, in theory, a man ought to pay taxes in accordance: first, with the safety guaranteed to his person, and then: to his property, by the State—a sort of poll-tax and property tax. But the property men, under the indirect system, pay little or nothing; if absentees, almost nothing. This is not fair, not equitable, unjust; but can we change it? "Of all debts," says Emerson, "men are least willing to pay the taxes. . . Everywhere they think they get their money's worth except for these." And until you get the people to understand taxation and the theory of government, your may be doing less injustice by indirect taxation than you would by direct taxation. This is the expediency doctrine, and with it, "What are the duties of the State?" comes up. Is the duty of the State limited, as Spencer limits it—to the giving of the like liberty to everyone—each to enjoy the most perfect liberty so long as he does not infringe on his neighbour? The answer is given. This is the Utopia for which we should strive; but in the meantime the goal is distant—evolution is recognised—and we must hare benevolent institutions and hospitals supported by the State, and State schools, and universities, and museums, and rates, and taxes, and Custom-houses. A policeocracy is not yet the highest form of Government. As there was a time when a State Church did good, but that time has passed, so in the future the time will come when the State school is as unknown as the State Church. Here, again, a recognition of this ever-present Protean-like doctrine—evolution. In every shape it comes up.
I have briefly sketched what effect it has had, and is having, on philosophy. I have shown what science must now meet, and how moral doctrines are being shaped by it; and in polities I have hinted how the questions that call for the thoughts and votes of the electors must now be dealt with. In this I
if true, it would prevent all investigation, all thought, all science, were we to assert that it could possibly be hurtful. It may not be expedient to preach it as a gospel; but there is little danger of that kind of preaching spreading. Men most have something more emotional, more stirring. Still this evolution doctrine is not without its goodness. First it states that where there are wants there will be supplies. Are people subject to accidents, the strong to sickness, the young to death? What are our Oddfollows' lodges but an organism to meet these? To meet then by independence, not by surrendering a man's manliness, by application for State alms, but by exercising prudence and care to provide for the future. And indeed Spencer contends that social evolution or growth is so strong that had our growth been negatively regulative—that is, if the Government had not interfered, had allowed each to do as he liked, no long as he did not interfere with another's like right—we should have had better railways, better post-offices, better education than the State affords. Whether that be so or not, at any rate it teaches us to look to the future with hope, with a belief that progress is the law of existence, and that, though reforms come slowly, they come surely. And it also impresses on us this fact, that no reform can come per saltem, by a leap, but that the conditions must change. And though it may appear to some to impair a man's individuality and freedom by urging the expediency doctrine, it has really no such aim. What is, as I have already said, the doctrine of expediency, but looking all round a subject? But the duty to battle for the ideally true is not one whit restrained; on the contrary, each one is to fearlessly utter what he believes to be true, and fearlessly strive for what lie believes to be best. He may be wrong, he is not infallible, but it is only by thus uttering and thus striving that his ideas can get sifted, and, if true, carried into execution. I do not believe with those who see only woe and desolation in the future. Bad times may come, reactions will intervene, but our civilisation is not at its meridian. It is rather, as has been said, only at its sunrise—at its dawn. Row popular is education now! Schools everywhere, British associations, science lectures, magazines, newspapers. And will these not have a result? Are we to believe that all this force is wasted, and that its aim—simply because it deals with one or more departments of knowledge, and neglects the region of religion, of faith—is brutal and Godless? It would be strange indeed if this were so—nay, it would be a libel on Nature and on the race. This scientific investigations is a product; and it abs will produce and is producing, changes in our thought and in our manner of looking at things such as we have not yet imagined. And this cost—of what comes of it?—is, perhaps, the only one we have. If we find that education lessens crime; if we discover that the Government of the country where education is most diffused is the most stable; if we find that the finer feelings of mankind are found to have the most scope where you have good schools, good museums, good music, good picture-galleries, plenty of newspapers, and thoughtful magazines,—depend on it these things are good, and not brutal and Godless. For, after all, our test is: By their fruits ye shall know them.
And though we are products, we also are producers. Science may be abroad, culture may be abroad; our duty is to disseminate both. Do not let us do what Buckle (Vol. II., 53) says the Spaniards did "They were satisfied with themselves. They were sure of the accuracy of their own opinions; they were proud of the notions which they inherited, and which they did not wish either to increase or diminish. Being unable to doubt, they were therefore unwilling to inquire. New and beautiful truths, conveyed in the clearest and most attractive language, could produce no effect upon men whose minds were than hardened and enslaved. An unhappy combination of events, working without interruption since the fifth century, had predetermined the national character in a particular direction, and neither statesmen, nor kings, nor legislators could effect aught against it. The seventeenth century was, however, the climax of all. In that age, the Spanish nation fell into a sleep, from which, as a nation, it has never awakened. It was a sleep not of repose, but of death. It was a sleep in
And so we should discuss the present question. Don't let us be afraid to doubt. Let us get facts. Theories are useful. The hypothesis is a necessary adjunct to the investigation. If we remain blind to the present, if we neglect culture, we may retard the evolution of our colony. The country that pays attention to thought is the country that progresses. Germany, not Spain, lends Europe. It was with this ideal brought this subject forward. New truths I had none to tell. I could only draw attention to what was passing around us, in the hope that we might all see that not one thing that comes up in our newspapers, and in our everyday life, but has involved in it something deeper than what appears on the surface; and also in the hope that, seeing this, we might sins to make the world better than we found it, and strive for a future time more glorious than the golden past. This I conceived I could best do by exalting evolution. It is this which gives the fullest play to a man's faculties. It is this which clothes as wills dignity a man. Not one man's life is in vain; not one action but has its result; not one evil seed sown but springs, and with it its crop; and not one good action done but also has its aim.
And I believe that were we all to shape our actions by this belief we should be more safe in our philosophy, more careful in our scientific examinations and hypotheses, more correct in our morals, and the change in our social life and political acts I do not believe we can adequately comprehend. There are some ardent, enthusiastic spirits who are damped by the coolness of opposition and the slowness and apparent uselessness of reform. Here is a doctrine to rekindle their fires; and with this rekindling may we not hope, when it spreads and begins to be acted on, that oar future will be better than our present, and that Walt Whitman's announcement may not be extravagant:
* * * * * *
I announce splendours and majesties to make all the previous politics of the earth insignificant.
Note.—The writer confesses his indebtedness to the works of the following writers:—Mr. Herbert Spencer, Mr. J. S. Mill, Mr. Thornton, Mr. W. R. Greg, and Professor Beesly.
"There was no bed in the room; no table. It was bare of furniture, comfortless, and freezing cold; but, with the exception of the plaster dropping from the roof, and the broken windows patched with rags and paper, there was a scrupulous neatness about the whole which contrasted strangely with the filth and slovenliness outside. On a broken chair by the chimney sat a miserable old woman, fancying that she was warming her hands over embers that had long been cold, and muttering to herself, with palsied lips, about the Guardians and the Workhouse. While upon a few rags on the floor lay a girl, ugly, marked with the small-pox, hollow-eyed, emaciated her only bedclothes the skirt of a large handsome new riding habit, at which the other girls, wan and tawdry, were stitching busily as they sat right and left of her on the floor. The old woman took no notice of us as we entered; but one of the girls looked up, and, with a pleasing gesture of recognition, put her fingers on her lips, and whispered, 'Ellen's asleep.' "In attempting to sketch the social future of labourers, I desire to state that I do not pretend to expound prophecy—which in these days often means prophesying afresh. All I can hope to do is to point out the present position of labourers, the various utopias presented for their amelioration, and what the tendencies of the ago are in regard to them. My desire is to take you as it were to an eminence from which we may both the more clearly scan the place from which we have made our ascent; and, if glimpse can be caught, perhaps discern the dim outlines of that Promised Land which our philosophers, our statesmen, and our poets have in all ages longed for and pictured. In scaning even cursorily the present social state, we have two things to do. We shall have to see the many anomalies, the many perplexing enigmas of the age, and also to try if we can get at the laws which guide us as human beings, one to another. That there is an inter-dependence amongst men, who can deny? And if an inter-dependence, what are the ligaments that bind us together. Let us then ascend Pisgah. Before we glance at the future, we must, as I have stated, first examine all those things that shed a light as it were on our future path. We must needs have some nation, however imperfect, of what the present condition of labourers is. Of course, you understand what I mean by the terns "labourers;" I confine it at present to the toilers of the race—to those who have, by manual labour, to support themselves. What then is their present condition I Let us glance at the hives of manufacturing industry, and examine their condition in the United Kingdom. Canon Kingsley in one of his novels has given us a touching scene of the human wretchedness one meets with in England. Speaking of a family in London, he says:—
Another master hand has given the following description of an artisan's dwelling in London:—
"I shall be as particular," he says, "as a valuer, and describe what I have seen. The family sleeping-room measured 13 feet 6 inches by 14 feet. Opening out of this, and again on the landing of the third door, was their kitchen and sitting-room; it was not quite so large as the other. Not to be described are the clinginess of the walls, the smokiness of the ceilings the grimy windows, the heavy, ever murky atmosphere of these rooms. The other side of the street was 14 feet distant. Behind, the backs of similar tenements came up black and cowering over the little yard of number Five. As rare in the well thus formed was the circulation of air, as that of cash in the pockets of the inhabitants. I have seen the yard let me warn you if you are fastidious not to enter it. They poor people knew nothing of sanitary reform, sanitary precautions, endemics, epidemics, deodorisers or disinfectants; they regarded disease with the fatalism of despair."
Nor can these descriptions be considered as exaggerated, when the following facts are remembered. In Edinburgh, for example, it is said one common stair alone has 260 souls dwelling there; sometimes actually two families in one room. The pauperism in England is reckoned to be about one in every twenty. More than a million paupers in England! And these are relieved by the state; but what of those who are always on the confines of poverty? who are labourers earning small wages, oft out of work, often hungry, having emphatically no place in this earth of ours that they can call by hallowed name of home. Who, when in work, have hours of drudgery, enlivened by no here but the preservation until an old for of their life, and who look to the Workhouse as their final asylum. Who, after their dull hours of weary toil are over, go to homes where there are nothing but squalor and wretchedness; afflicted with diseases; their natural affections blunted; their children dying around them, by all kinds of diseases. For them, how joyless is life I Not a gleam of sunshine; no sweetness, no light to cheer them in their earthly career. Even the words of Scripture might be applied to them—"They wait for death, but it cometh not; they rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave." How hard is their lot. Tell us not of "honest poverty;" chant not its praises. It seems to me one of the greatest of curses. This is not, however, the condition of all "labourers." The ranks of the poor are filled up from other sources; but, as a class, compared with the wealth and luxury which some enjoy, the dukes, and lords, and millionaires, with thousands a day, it is a terrible anomaly. Just think of one class having all that the most luxurious can desire; and of the other, children of the same father, toiling and moiling, and in their efforts to save their lives losing them. But some say this poverty and wretchedness are only known in old countries, surely we in the colonies have got rid of this want. Is there then no pauperism here? And is it not fact that what is, is on the increase? I fear we often overlook the fact that even in the colonies there is much real poverty and misery. It is a great mistake to suppose that we here have not this question of "pauperism" to face. We have not, alas, solved this problem of the age; nay, we have not come
There is then here as in European countries a question to solve; and can we wonder when we think of the wretchedness, and even of the crimes which are often caused by poverty, that philanthropists should get impatient and be ready with utopias to set before us to cure our social defects. It is not surprising that benevolent men should, after surveying our social state, get dissatisfied with our present social laws, and demand their abrogation. They and all wise men who have looked at our present state, and also thought on our probable future, have asked—Can it be, that this world of ours is ever to remain a Pandemonium? Is there no future time fast hastening in which we can imagine that the labourers' families, fortified by their own wisdom against all the chances of fortune, would not have any more need, under any circumstances, of imploring the compassion of either the state or of their fellow—citizens? Can it be, that the sad scene pictured by Carlyle in burning words, of "a white European man, standing on his two legs, with his five-fingered hands at his shackle-bones, and miraculous head on his shoulders," should be worth nothing, should never be false. "If," says Mr. Mill, "the bulk of the human race are always to remain as at present, slaves to toil in which they have no interest, and therefore feel no interest, drudging from early morning till late at night for bare necessaries, and with all the intellectual and moral deficiencies which this implies. Without interests or sentiments as members of society, and with a sense of injustice rankling in their minds—equally for what they have not and for what others have, I know not what there is which should make a person with any capacity of reason concern himself about the destinies of the human race. There would be no wisdom for any one, but in extracting from life, with Epicurean indifference, as much personal satisfaction for himself and those with whom he sympathises as it can yield without injury to any one, and let the unmeaning bustle of so-called civilised existence roll by unheeded.'
There is then a problem, and that a vital one, to solve; all are agreed about that. It is only in the mode of solution that differences of opinion arise. Let us glance at the contending utopias. Of course we shall only have time to take the main ones. They are—1st, Socialism; 2nd, Co-operation; 3rd, Positivism; 4th, Liberty. Regarding the solution offered to us in the colonies, namely "Protection," or as it is grandiloquently termed "Protection of Native Industry," allusion will be made under the head of Liberty.
I shall take Socialism first, because Socialism in one shape or another has been the remedy of most of the philantrophists of all ages. Traces of it are discerned amongst the ancient Hebrews, amongst the early Christians, amongst the Chinese, &c. But there is no agreement amongst the Socialists. "Some systems have been based on purely material principles, like Owen's; some have been profoundly religious, like the Moravians; some maintain the family arrangements, some altogether merge them; some recommend celibacy, some enforce it, like the Shakers;" some relax the marriage tie, some control it; some hold it sacred, and some even advocate doctrines regarding it which would destroy that pivot of English life—the family. Some would divide the property equally. But all have this maxim, that labour should be for the common good. Competition is to be unknown; the right to work and just wages is always asserted. The main agreement in the various socialistic utopias consists in maintaining the equality of men, at least so far as right to support from each other is concerned. Another of the doctrines of most of the socialists is that external circumstances alone constitute the difference between man and man—circumstances are the basis of their morality. Their position may be asserted as this:—Society, they say, is out of joint; its anomalies, its inequalities, the sufferings of the mass, are monstrous and indefensible. Palliatives won't do, nor slow methods of evolution; we must remedy the evil at once. The society system that can permit such a state of things must be overthrown. Private property must be unknown, and grinding competition banished. The nexus that is to join man to his fellow is not competition, nor money, but "love"—hence we must labaur for the common good. Such is very briefly the statement of the socialists. It would be a grave mistake to suppose that these opinions are held by only the revolutionary or the turbulent. Many able men, many philantrophical men, in all countries, are socialists. It would also be erroneous to suppose that they desire their system inaugurated by force. What we have recently witnessed in France of the Communist rebellion has little to do with socialists; of course many of the communists were and are socialists. But the name "communist" is not from communion, or community of goods, but from the divisions of the city—the "commune" and their fight is for republicanism, and right of cities to certain functions without the control of the Government. So much for socialistic theories; let us glance at their defects. To me they seem to
Closely connected with socialism, in fact springing out of it, came Co-operation as a system. Many of its founders were tinged with socialism. Holding, however, theoretical views, they determined to become practical. Many of the socialists' utopias had miserably failed, and they had not the means, if they had the inclination, to enter into any socialistic arrangements. The Rochdale Society, which is the pioneer society of co-operations, sprang from very small beginnings. The founders thought they were paying too dear for their groceries, and, besides, they said they did not get them of very excellent quality. They therefore met, and without any extraneous aid resolved to form a store for the supply of their necessaries. It was a very small beginning; 28 operatives of Rochdale started what is now a great movement. Most of them were flannel weavers, and provident men, who though having small wages had managed to keep out of debt. By payments of two pence or three pence per week they managed to obtain £28, and this was all their capital. With this sum they bought some sacks of flour, some oatmeal, sugar, and butter. They rented a shop at £10 per year. The opening of the shop was anxiously looked forward to by the Rochdale community, and when the weavers
Positivism aims to get rid of the evils of both these systems. It asserts with loud tongue that all men are not equal, that all are diverse; and that, as there are different functions to be fulfilled in the social organism, so there are amongst mankind individuals fitted to undertake them. But above this assertion there is a wider one, and one far more beautiful and as captivating as that of you're-as-good-as-another theory of the socialists, and it is that the highest worship is to worship humanity—the good of the mass is the highest duty of man,—and its divinity is man in the aggregate. With its religious views we have nothing to do, nor with its founders classification of the sciences, etc. That these, and its principles of social reform, are believed in by some of the brightest intellects in England, should make us weigh carefully the solution offered by it. Its sanction is a religious one. It points to socialism, and says to the socialist:—"You have condemned the competition system because it was a disorganised mob, each of which was clambering and jostling his neighbor to obtain a living; but what are you are enthusiasts, who have presupposed what has never yet existed, and by a fatal sort of sleepwalking have proceeded to put into operation your system of unselfishness and love, while all the while men were selfish and at enmity. You have imagined men had reached a high standard of morality, when, alas they had never approached to a low standard; and what are you but an organised mob waiting the auction of that which could alone unite you—an organised religion The basis of positivism is therefore religious,"—but a religion of an ideal though earthly kind. It would organise society as an army over all there would be a supreme pontiff, tinged with infallibility Under him there would be high priests and guilds—(I speak of it as modified and shadowed forth by some of its English disciples)—and under them labourers would be appointed and ruled. These rulers would be the wisest and best, and there would and could be no appeal from their decisions, should the less wise appeal against the decision of those more just than they. There must be no
I now come to the last utopia, to that of Liberty. I have fixed on the name liberty for its brevity and comprehension. I might have termed it political economy, properly understood and, what is rarer, acted up to; or I might have termed it the system of justice. I have taken the term liberty as comprehending these. Unfortunately it has few disciples, for though there are men who pretend that they as citizens are guided by the dictates of political economy, their action belies their words. Few indeed will allow the liberty system to guide them in everything. Every now and then you find them taking their eye from it and casting about for expedients to rid them of some dilemma. Its followers, ignoring expediency, look to what is right, not to what is expedient. It is never expedient, say they, to do wrong. As a consequence of their action they are looked upon as vain theorists, not at all as practical men. But what is a practical man, and what a theorist? Is not the true difference between what is popularly termed a theorist and a practical man this? The theorist is not guided by his own experience, nor by the doings of the citizens of his own nation; be looks at the past, and scans carefully the present, and he, relying on his survey, gives utterance to his opinions. The practical man, again, takes a narrow range for his vision. He confines himself to his own experience, which is necessarily limited to his own people and customs, necessarily contracted; and, glancing like the wayfarers of old at one side of the shield and presumes
But what then will our future be, I fancy you say. May we not state that all the states, though so diverse, may be blended? that the time may come when the "love" of socialism, the "self-help and union" of co-operation, a broad religious sanction like that of positivism, with the justice and liberty of the liberty system, may be united. Signs are not wanting of the tendency to equality in all political rights, and will not social rights soon follow? Before in our literary world how few were the stars; now how covered is the firmament with their radiance. A wealthy man was before a rare man, and even he had how few of the things we possess. A Plantagenet king had no glass in the windows of his house, no paper for its walls, no railways, no newspapers, nor could he were he ever so anxious have borrowed immense sums of money to expend as he or his advisers thought fit. The past and present are not the same. We have made a great and a glorious advance, though, alas, the Promised Land is still far distant; and why should we despair, why should we say that a labour utopia is impossible. Impossible, says Carlyle in writing of this question, Impossible, brothers. I answer, "Through all the season of the golden year."if for you it be impossible, What is to Become of you? An ingenious calculator has shown that if ever one in a community did two hours' work every day, that would be sufficient to maintain the race in comfort and happiness, and the rest of our time might be spent in recreation and study. A labour utopia is not then impossible, and I think I may assert that the future will show us this, for it is daily becoming more patent that the condition of labourers will be materially improved. Of course the classes above them will also share in that improvement; indeed it reaches them first, but we should not complain of this. From history we learn that material improvement has always begun, and it always will begin, not with those who need it most, but with those who need it least. And hence we see the higher classes of workmen making experiments, by trade unions, co-operative societies, mechanics' institutes, and clubs, which the lower will by and by repeat. Such is the law of progress. In the future, besides material improvement there will also be vast intellectual advance. It will then be no unusual sight to see the labourer, as he homeward wends his way when his allotted task is over, scanning the sky and the earth with appreciative looks. The beauty of the forest, or the play of light and shade in the western sky, will not bring to the artist alone a notion of the sublime and beautiful, nor will the herbs or minerals and their uses be only known to the scientific. The hours of labour will be lessened, and men become more like men,
Do not imagine that this advance can be at once. Poverty will exist, nay, I may say must exist for a long time to come. As long as we find people selfish and ignorant, imprudent and waste-
Who are the Blasphemers? The "Orthodox" Christians, or "Spiritualists?"
Webster defines blasphemy: "1, An indignity offered to God by words or writing; 2, That which, derogates from the prerogatives of God." John the Divine says that "God is love." Admitting both Webster's and John's definition to be correct, it is difficult to conceive how a greater indignity can be offered to God than in charging him with being addicted to "eternal hate," "wrath," "vindictiveness," "revenge," or any degrading vices or propensities that fallible men are liable to.
Now, Spiritualists are often accused of blasphemy, and especially by the Orthodox clericals: let us examine the subject a little, and learn, if we can, who are the blasphemers—Spiritualists, or their accusers.
In general, Spiritualists hold that John's definition of God is true and that the great incomprehensible Power that sustains and controls the universes is altogether lovely in his attributes, and has done all things well, and after the exact pattern intended; and that, in spite of man's inability to discern the wisdom and goodness of his plans, every thing of will eventually work together for the good of his creatures, and insure to all a never-ending progress and development toward a better and a higher state of being. Holding the fall of Adam, as accepted by the Churches, to be a mere allegory, or myth, they have no belief either in the necessity or the fact of a vicarious atonement, but regard Jesus of Nazareth as a most eminent reformer and enlightener, such as seems intended in the Divine economy shall be raised up, from time to time, to meet the progressive knowledge and wants of humanity. That Jesus received power and inspiration through divinely appointed messengers from higher spheres, to say and do many wonderful things, Spiritualists believe; but they hold that these spiritual gifts afford no proof that the physical instrument through which they were exercised was necessarily of especial Divine origin; much less that he should be endowed with the infinite attributes of the Godhead, as is claimed by the Orthodox Churches. This, if admitted to be conclusive testimony, would seem to prove too much for their argument; for it would then follow that all the instruments who have done or now do the seemingly miraculous work that Jesus did, must likewise be endowed with personal attributes of Deity. Moreover, Spiritualists hold that Jesus of Nazareth, so far from claiming any especial Divine origin, repeatedly took occasion to hero-worship-inclined followers, to whom he mostly
miraculous works that he himself did, but even greater works. And it is a remarkable fact, that church contemnors of what is called "modern Spiritualism", might do well to note, that, when the risen Jesus, whom they have Deified, sent forth his despised disciples of that day "into all the world, he instructed them with his latest words how they might distinguish those who believed aright in the gospel he commissioned them to preach, enumerating certain signs that should "follow them that believe," which, by singularly enough, are substantially the same that very generally attend upon the ministry of the despised "spirit medium" of this day, but very seldom on that of the ordained ministers of the popular churches. The Orthodox ministers of that day charged Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples with being blasphemers, and workers of miracles through the power of the devil, precisely as those of the Orthodox churches in our day charge against the "spirit mediums" who do the works that Jesus declared all should do who believed in (or rightly received) him and his gospel. Who, then, are the blasphemers—the "Spiritualists,' or the "Orthodox?"
If infinite love is the all-pervading attribute of the God of Jesus Christ and his apostle John, then I again say that nothing more blasphemous can be uttered, than to charm him with being a God of hate and malignancy, after the manner of Calvinistic Orthodoxy—as may be abundantly proved from the written testimony of its very highest authorities. John Calvin, the chief corner-stone and founder of the Presbyterian sect, says,—"Children bring their condemnation with them from their mother's womb, being liable to punishment, not for the sin of another, but for their own; for, although they have not produced us the fruits of their iniquity, they have the seed in closed in themselves. Nay, their whole nature is, as it were, a seed of sin; therefore, it cannot but be odious to and abominable to God."
I submit that this one dogma of Calvin, alone entitles the church he founded to lay claim to one of the seven heads of the murderous beast seen by the Revelator, that was destined to pervert and trample upon the gospel of Jesus, all of which were inscribed with the name of "Blasphemy."
Now, hear what the Rev. Jonathan Edwards (the American Calvin,) has to say: "Reprobate infants are vipers of vengence, which Jehovah will hold over hell in the tongs of his wrath, until they turn and spit venom in his face." And Emmons, an other reverend Calvinist, in his sixteenth published sermon: "The happiness of the elect in heaven will in part consist in witnessing the torments of the damned in hell; and among, these, it may be their own children, parents, husbands, wives, and friends on earth. One part of the business of the blessed is to celebrate the doctrine of reprobation. While the decree of reprobation A men! Halleluiah! Praise the Lord!"
Up to the present time, the priest and the parson, as they ever have been, are the most deadly foes of human progress; and while with braggart lies they claim that the advance of civilization among the superior Caucasian race, over that of all others, has resulted from their labors they stand as they have ever stood, a barrier against all attempts to ameliorate our laws or benefit the condition of the poor. It is they who erect and sustain the gallows—it is they who shut the people from libraries on Sunday! Go, say they, as you see fit, to the "church" of the grog shop for your recreation on the "Lord's Day," but to the free library you shall not resort, for that of all institutions is the deadlies foe of ignorance, priestcraft and the church. A thousand criminals may die in prisons, in cellars, or in garrets, unheeded by priests and parsons but let one of these be brought to his end on the gallows, and like spectacle themselves before the world, and make the real or coined confession of the culprit minister to their own or the church's glory. But tame indeed, oh, how infinitely tame are all the millions of horrors that the priest has inflicted in secret and in public on mankind, when compared with the ghastly system of everlasting punishment that Edwards and his creedists found (and logically so in some measure) upon that dark and bloody code of johoval and the Jews, that Constantine and his council of priests bound in the same volume with its opposite, the Gospel of Jesus, some fifteen centuries ago, and in the plentitude of imperial and priestly power dubbed and forced upon the acceptance of mankind as being in every line and letter the "Word of God." As in that day, the system of theology then founded upon the Bible, originated through and in the interests of imperial and priestly despotism—so it has continued ever since. And I again repeat that there never has been a code of morals or a system of worship invented or practiced on earth that inculcates precepts, doctrines, and dogmas more debasing and imbruting to humanity (when carried out in full,) or blasphemously derogatory to the Divine Being and his attributes of love, mercy, justice, and truth, than is embodied in the creeds of most of the churches of to-day, and forced upon the acceptance of infantile minds in our Sunday and other Orthodox schools.
How sickening to the heart of enlightened humanity to know that through the teachings and discipline of that blasphemous order of me (who have ever "garnished the sepulchers of the prophets, whom the fathers killed" in other days, and murdered those of their own day begun with the child at the poor bigoted priest-ridden mother's Jesus of Nazareth as well as by
incomprehensible necessity, consent to partake—in some little degree—of their torment that they might be relieved, would the act be of a quality to demand excessive praise, think ye? On the contrary, if such a Father was endued with any of the nobler traits of humanity, would not the bestowal of excessive praise, much less Divine honors, upon him because of his having made so small a personal sacrifice for the attainment of so great a good for his children, carry with it under the circumstances, an implied censure galling to his better nature? And might not the eternal sing-song laudation at length acquire a mocking tone in his ear, as if the clinging sycophants would say, "We, your poor helpless slaves and children, always supposed you to be a horribly cruel demon, only acting out your nature when you condemned your poor children to such unspeakable torments; but now that you have relieved them, at the cost of some inconvenience to yourself; we think somewhat better of you, but still fear that you may relapse into your former vindictive nature and serve us all as you did them; and for this, rather than from any sentiment of love, we offer you unceasing homage!" And yet, Orthodox divines would fain have us believe that the bestowal of Divine honors is acceptable to Jesus in heaven because he consented to suffer a few days' agony from eternal torments infinitely more terrible than any earthly potentate on the cross that countless myriads of human beings might be saved or even priestly inquisitor ever had the ingenuity to invent, or the power to inflict!
From the bottom of my heart and inmost soul, I thank my God tersest that, with all my imperfections, weaknesses and sins, I feel that without an entire change of nature, I could never "enter on my list of friends" the man who, whilst removed from all fear of suffering himself, could look down unmoved, even from the highest heaven, upon the meanest reptile of earth, writhing in Edward's ghastly hell Nay, more; when it came to be fully apprehended, as is taught by Calvinistic and other Orthodox divines, that the whole of God's great universes of suns and planets might pass away at the rate of only a particle of microscopic dust in cycles of myriads of centuries, multiplied by myriads, and the ineffable torments of the poor creature not have been appreciably diminished in duration—as Edwards, Emmons, and others teach—is the lot of the nearest and dearest earth-relations of the blessed in heaven. When, I say, this horrifying thought should be fully realized, I feel that my better nature would not only reject as a friend, but revolt almost to loathing front any man, angel, God, or devil, who would not gladly undergo greater mortal agonies for the redemption of the poor unreasoning creature, than we are taught in churches and Sunday schools to believe mankind must eternally offer divine honors to Jesus of Nazareth, for undergoing to Save countless myriads of the human race. To me the thought seems too horrible to entertain without upsetting the citadel of
But it may be said that men are always growing better than their religious creed, and that there are no such horribly awful doctrines taught in our day, as those I have inveighed against. I grant the rule may fairly apply to the majority of "the hearers of the Word"; but I hold that the real "Godly priest" affords an exception to it. "Once a parson always a parson," is not only a trite, but true saying.
Through testimony from the Spirits, I learn that the lowest strata of the lowest spirit sphere, instead of being "paved with infants' skulls," is the place assigned for the early probation of the most wicked men and that its mosaic is thickly studded with the dark spirits of cruel and bloody tyrants and other murderers, and with those of multitudes of persecuting popes, bishops, inquisitors, and priests; some of whom, tormented by blood-stained consciences, have been gnashing their teeth, in chains of spiritual darkness, for hundreds and even thousands of years, without having yet discovered a way, (in the words of Jesus) to "escape the damnation of hell." There, all Spiritualist and Infidels would protect him) the Orthodox "children of those Orthodox priests that killed the prophets" and Jesus of Nazareth of seamless-coated vagabond, and stake, a holocaust to the heathen Moloch they have installed in their temples of idol and snake is not killed, but
With such awful conceptions of the Deity taught in their shame and reproach even to the heathers
I trust there are no readers of the a foregoing remarks who will accuse me of manifesting an unchristian spirit in the discussion; but that on the contrary, they will credit me with having striven, as fit as I have ability, to imitate Jesus of Nazareth in his considerate tenderness of spirit, when speaking of ordinary criminals and sinners. And, further, should they notice that I have in anywise failed in extending a proper Christ-like severity towards those "serpents and vipers" and other Orthodox "hypocrites, white sepulchers," and "blind leaders of the blind," &c., that Jesus so often and eloquently thus characterizes, that it will not be attributed to any intention on my part of avoiding imitating the pattern and example that was set by the gentle Nazarene for his followers, in these as well as in all other respects; but because I am not gifted with his power of language to give my sentiments the full force of expression, that he possessed and applied so infinitely more pungently and effectively than any other denouncers of the ungodly, persecuting, murderous crew of priests and Pharisees, have ever been. Divinely, or otherwise inspired to do.
In closing, I flatter myself that I have succeeded in proving, in the Judgment of all unorthodox and unprejudiced readers, that, by the mere assertion, maintenance, and propagandism of their atrocious dogmas and doctrines, the Orthodox Christians commit more heinous and intense blasphemy against the great God of the universes, (in whose loving embrace—as Spiritualists hold—all His creatures repose in unquestionable safety, secure in the consciousness that, in their progress, all things, however dark may be their surroundings, will be made to work for the eternal good of all,) than any man or men, by mere exertion of their organs of speech, though their lives were devoted to profanity, have the power to commit. Addressing his childlike disciples, the spirit through the organism of Jesus said, "It Were better that a millstone were hanged about a ma's neck, and he drowned in the depths of the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." And how, in the name of all that is holy, let me repeat, can a greater offence be committed against "little children" than to entice or force them into a Sabbath school, and, whilst their minds are plastic; and as easily crooked and twisted to any shape as a young and growing vine, train and teach them to regard their loving Heavenly Father in the light of a brutal monster, who made the first man and woman after so bungling a pattern that they committed, within a few days of their creation, and before they had acquired knowledge or experience sufficient even to know that they were naked, a sin so unpardonable in the eyes of their malignant creator, by the mere eating of some tempting fruit that he had seemingly placed in their way for the express purpose of enticing them to disobey him, as to subject not only themselves, but countless myriads of their progeny, to eternal torment in such awful hells as Calvin, Edwards, Faber, and other reverend fathers of the Orthodox churches describe? How blasphemously insulting too, to the benign attributes of the God that Jesus and the Spiritualists trust in, and so lovingly revere, to distort and poison the minds and souls of these little unreasoning children, by teaching them to believe that with the exception drowning experiment, the great Creator (although, as Barnes says, ho could, at any time, save the world if he wished to) neglected for centuries even to propose his latest and final method of salvation, to come in the far-off future, through the vicarious atonement of His only (to be) begotten son—a raw head and bloody-bones experiment that the aforesaid Rev. Dr Barnes asserts, (and is evident to all) has proven as fallacious and fruitless as all previous ones; and, above all, to instill into the minds of these helpless infants the murderous, malignant, and truly infernal doctrine that, whilst, at the most, a small number of each loving earth-family only are to be saved and go to glory in that dreadful Calvinistic and Orthodox Kingdom of Heaven, the joy of these few is to be enhanced by witnessing the eternal torments of a majority of those who sucked the same doting mother's breast, and were dandled on the same loving father's knee as themselves.
In some respects, the quality of vegetables and mental growth seems to be the same. Begin with a vine or even a tree, when it is young, and its stem and branches may be trained in any direction and made to grow in any form. But when it has attained to maturity, it is even less difficult to bend, in almost any direction, the full-grown natural tree or vine, than it is to straighten out that which had been artificially crooked; and the more intricate and unnatural the folds, so much the more difficult to reclaim them. If skillfully intertwined, they will "break" rather than "re-bend" to the position Nature designed them to occupy. So with the human mind. Give it over, in infancy, to the manipulation of the priest—that traditional enemy of God and his prophets, that, John saw was to usurp the dominion over the great-hearted Divine truths taught by Jesus of Nazareth, throughout all the nations of the earth, and cover. It all over in their countless idolatrous temples, with "names of blasphemy"—I say, give this fungus of humanity,—the priest—exclusive dominion over the mind of the child, and he can readily, by his manipulations, train it to assume any form of thought or worship that best suits his interests, tastes, or superstitious belief; and the more inconsistent, unreasonable, monstrous, past comprehending, mysterious, and intricate are the doctrines and dogmas he foists upon the impressible material, the more difficult (if not impossible,) will it be for truth to enter and reassert its authority. In view of this acknowledged and self-evident truism, does it not become the duty of "Spiritualists," and of all liberals and honest-hearted 'skeptics and "Infidels," to exert themselves to the utmost to save as many of these little "infant brands" from the burning and soul-destroying influence of Orthodox teachings in Sabbath schools, even at the risk of these being subjected to other degrading earth vices and influences more repulsive externally, but not half so injurious to their eternal welfare, as are the blasphemous conceptions of the Deity and other malignant dogmas they imbibe and suck in, as it were, with their mother's milk, in Orthodox Sabbath schools.
Thefollowing appeared in the 'Dunfermline Press,' on the4th of July, 1868 :—"A correspondence, who found fault with our animadversions on 'Spiritualism,' as contained in an article, entitled 'Imposture and Credulity,' which appeared in the 'Press' of June 13th, sends us the following letter on the subject, from William Howitt, of London. As some of our readers will no doubt like to hear what so eminent a
litterateurhas to say on so keenly contested a subject, we make no apology for occupying so much valuable space with his communication. The letter, it will be observed, is addressed to our Alva correspondent, who is himself an enthusiast on the subject":—
Sir,—I am much obliged to you for a copy of the 'Dunfermline Saturday Press,' containing the 'letter of "A Working Man," and the Editor's remarks upon it. The "Working Man" is perfectly right, both in his facts and arguments. It is true that Spiritualism, since its revival in America about twenty years ago—for it is only a revival, having existed in every age and country before, and numbered intellects of all those ages and countries—has made more rapid, and at the same time steady progress, than any other cause hat ever—Christianity not excepted. In at short space of time it has attracted twenty millions of adherents. And by hat means? Not by violent and fanatic agitation; not by vehement preaching and partizan canvassing; but simply by a calm and sensible examination of its facts. The editor of the 'Dunfermline Press' says that a cause is not to be decided by numbers. True, but numbers and intellect and character combined must determine the value of any cause. And who are the men who have in every country embraced" Spiritualism? The rabble? The ignorant? The fanatic? By no means; but the most intelligent and able of all classes. When such is the case, surely it becomes the "majority of reflecting men"—to use the words of your editor—to reflect on these facts. Let numbers go for nothing; but when the numbers add also first-rate position, pre-eminent abilities, largest experience of men and their doings, weight of moral, religious, scientific, and political character,—then the man who does not look into what these declare to be truth, is not a reflecting, but a very foolish and prejudiced man. Now, it is very remarkable that, when we proceed to enumerate the leading men who have embraced Spiritualism, we begin also to enumerate the pre-eminent intellects and characters. In America, you justly say that the shrewd and honest Abraham Lincoln was a Spiritualist. He was a devoted one. So also
seances, put their hands on them. But not only moved, but rose into the air, out of the reach of any hands. I, and thousands, have seen the do so often. Such things are more common than the rising of balloons? Nor was the moving of tattles the only phenomena Knocks were heard on floors, on wall, on ceilings, quite out of reach. Everyone who has seen the Davenports—and all Europe has now seen them—knows that instruments fly about visibly in the air, quite beyond touch of hands. In the seances, in London, attended by men and women of the highest intelligence and tact, flowers, fruit, birds even came through locked doors and barred shutter; spirit hands are felt; spirit voices are heard, music is played on instruments that no hand can touch, drawings, writings and sing in own are done by no visible persons.' And who witness all these things from day to day ? Scientific men, eminent lawyers, and literary men. It was the knowledge
would but examine these things." In the first place, I have always asserted that scientific men are not the men to decide such questions. They have their prejudices and their theories, which disqualify them. They have no instruments to lay hold of spirits; they mock at all their retorts, their chemical and electrical batteries, and their chemical tests. In all ages the learned have been the opponents of new ideas. They poisoned Socrates, they crucified Christ, they declared him and St Paul mad. When Newton promulgated the doctrine of specific gravity, they jeered at it; and his biographer says, that at the time of his death not forty persons out of England believed in it. When Solomon De Caus, in France, discovered the power of steam they shut him up in the Bicetre as a madman. Columbus was declared a madman by the learned men of Spain, for asserting that there was a great continent westward. When Franklin sent the account of the densification of lightning with electricity to the Royal Society of Londan, it refused to print it; and it was not till Dr Fother-gill published the paper that it reached the community at large. In his turn, Franklin treated Messer as an impostor; and, in fact, we might run over a whole volume of proofs of the total unfitness of scientific men as a class, to judge of new facts and ideas. And yet numbers of scientific men have embraced Spiritualism. Dr Hare, mentioned by you was a great electrician, rated by the Americans little, if any inferior to Faraday. He did exactly what people now want scientific men to do. He thought Spiritualism a humbug, and went regularly into an; enquiry to oppose it. But it did as it has done in every case that I have heard of, where scientific men have gone candidly and fairly into the examination, after two years of testing and proving, it convinced him of its truth. Dr Elliotson, a very scientific man, and for years violently opposed to Spiritualism, so soon as lie was willing to enquire, became convinced, and blesses God for the knowledge of it. De Ashburner, his fellow editor of the 'Zoist,' has also long been an avowed Spiritualist. Mr. Alfred Wallace, a scientific man, and excellent naturalist who was on the Amazon with Mr. Bates, has published his conviction of its truth. Sir Charles Weather stone, some time ago, on seeing some remarkable phenomena in his own house, declared them real. And just now, on the Home and Lyon trial, the public have seen Mr. Varley a man of first-rate science, the electrician to the Electric and International anti the Atlantic Telegraph Companies, come forward and make affidavit of his having investigated the facts of Spiritualism and found them real. Now, after such cases, why this continual cry out for examination by scientific men? Scientific men of the first stamp have examined and reported that it is a great act. Scientific men by the hundred and the thousand have done it, and yet the crowd go on crying for a scientific man. Why? Simply because it is much easier to open their mouths and bleat as sheep do in a flock, than exert their minds and their senses. It is time that all this folly had an end. There are now more Spiritualists than would populate Scotland seven times over at its present scale of population, and surely the testimony of such a multitude, including statesmen, philosophers, historians, and scientific men too, is as absolutely decisive as any mortal matter can be. And pray, my good friend, don't trouble yourself that your neighbors call you mad. You are mad in most excellent company. All the great men of all ages who have introduced or accepted new ideas were mad in the eyes of their contemporaries. As I have said, Socrates and Christ and St. Paul were mad; De Cans was mad; Thomas Gray, who first advocated Rail-
P.S.—I do not enter into the Home an Lyon question; whatever may be the re merits of the case, Mr. Home, as you say is but one small atom in the great system of Spiritualism. Its truth in no degree depends on the individuals who profess any more than does christianity on it individual professors.
Printed at the "Bruce Herald" Office, Tokomairiro.
"Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock."—Ezekiel xxxvi. 37.
In reading the chapter we have seen the great and exceeding precious promises which God had made to the favoured nation of Israel. God in this verse declares, that though the promise was made, and though he would fulfil it, yet he would not fulfil it until his people asked him so to do. He would give them a spirit of prayer, by which they should cry earnestly for the blessing, and then when they should have cried aloud unto the living God, he would be pleased to answer them from heaven, his dwelling-place. The word used here to express the idea of prayer is a suggestive one. "I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel." Prayer, then, is an enquiry. No man can pray aright, unless he views prayer in that light. First, I enquire what the promise is. I turn to my Bible, and I seek to find the promise whereby the thing which I desire to seek is certified to me as being a thing which God is willing to give. Having enquired so far as that, I take that promise, and on my bended knees I enquire of God whether he will fulfil his own promise. I take to him his own word of covenant, and I say to him, "O Lord, wilt thou not fulfil it, and wilt thou not fulfil it now?" So that there, again, prayer is enquiry. After prayer I look out for the answer; I expect to be heard; and if I am not answered I pray again, and my repeated prayers are but fresh enquiries. I expect the blessing to arrive; I go and enquire whether there is any tidings of its coining. I ask; and thus I say, "Wilt thou answer me, O Lord? Wilt thou keep thy promise? Or wilt thou shut up thine ear, because I misunderstand my own wants and mistake thy promise." Brethren, we must use enquiry in prayer, and regard prayer as being, first, an enquiry for the promise, and then on the strength of that promise an enquiry for the filfilment. We expect something to come as a present from a friend: we first have the note, whereby we are informed it is upon the road. We enquire as to what the present is by the reading of the note; and then, if it arrive not, we call at the accustomed place where the parcel ought to have been left, and we ask or enquire for such and such a thing. We have enquired about the promise, and then we go and enquire again, until we get an answer that the promised gift has arrived and is ours. So with prayer. 'We get the promise by enquiry, and we get the fulfilment of it by again enquiring at God's hands.
Now, this morning I shall try, as God shall help me, first to speak of prayer as the prelude of blessing: next I shall try to show why prayer is thus constituted by God the forerunner of his mercies; and then I shall close by an exhortation, as earnest as I can make it, exhorting you to pray, if you would obtain blessings.
I. Prayer is the Forerunner of Mercies. Many despise prayer: they despise it, because they do not understand it. He who knoweth how to use that sacred art of prayer will obtain so much thereby, that from its very profitableness he will be led to speak of it with the highest reverence.
Prayer, we assert, is the prelude of all mercies. We bid you turn back to sacred history, and you will find that never did a great mercy come to this world,
Ay, and mark you, as it has been in Sacred Writ, so it shall be with regard to greater things that are yet to happen in the fulfilment of promise. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day come in the clouds of heaven. It is my firm belief, in common with all who read the Sacred Scriptures aright, that the day is approaching when the Lord Jesus shall stand a second time upon the earth, when he shall reign with illimitable sway over all the habitable parts of the globe, when kings shall bow before him, and queens shall be nursing mothers of his Church. But when shall that time come? We shall know its coining by its prelude: when prayer shall become more loud and strong, when supplication shall become more universal and more incessant, then even as when the tree putteth forth her first green leaves we expect that the spring approacheth, even so when prayer shall become more hearty and earnest, we may open our eyes, for the day of our redemption draweth nigh. Great prayer is the preface of great mercy, and in proportion to our prayer is the blessing that we may expect.
It has been so in the history of the modern Church. Whenever she has been roused to pray, it is then that God has awaked to her help. Jerusalem, when thou hast shaken thyself from the dust, thy Lord bath taken his sword from the scabbard. When thou hast suffered thy hands to hang down, and thy knees to become feeble, he has left thee to become scattered by thine enemies; thou hast become barren and thy children have been cut off; but when thou hast learned to cry, when thou hast begun to pray, God hath restored unto thee the joy of his salvation, he bath gladdened thine heart, and multiplied thy children. The history of the Church up to this age has been a series of waves a succession of ebbs and flows. A strong wave of religious prosperity has washed over the sands of sin, again it has receded' and immorality has reigned. Ye shall read in English history: it has been the same. Did the righteous prosper in the days of Edward VI.? They shall again be tormented under a bloody Mary. Did Puritanism become omnipotent over
And now, again, to come nearer home: this truth is true of each of you my dearly beloved in the Lord in your own personal experience. God has given you many an unsolicited favour, but still great prayer has always been the great prelude of great mercy with you. When you first found peace through the blood of the cross you had been praying much beforehand, and earnestly interceding with God that he would remove, your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the result of prayer. And when at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers; when you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, "I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my fears." Prayer, we say, in your case, as well as in the case of the Church at large, is always the preface to blessing.
And now some will say to me, "In what way do you regard prayer, then, as affecting the blessing? God, the Holy Ghost vouchsafes prayer before the blessing; but in what way is prayer connected with the blessing?" I reply, prayer goes before the blessing in several senses.
It goes before the blessing, as the blessing's shadow. When the sunlight of God's mercy rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain; or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, he himself shines behind them, and he casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are in prayer, our prayers are the shadows of mercy Prayer is the rustling of the wings of the angels that are on their way bringing us the boons of heaven. Have you heard prayer in your heart? You shall see the angel in your house. When the chariots that bring us blessings do rumble, their wheels do sound with prayer. We hear the prayer in our own spirits, and that prayer becomes the token of the coming blessings. Even as the cloud foreshadoweth rain, so prayer foreshadoweth the blessing; even as the green blade is the beginning of the harvest, so is prayer the prophecy of the blessing that is about to come.
Again: prayer goes before mercy, as the representative of it. Oftentimes the king, in his progress through his realms, sends one before him, who blows a trumpet; and when the people see him they know that the king cometh, because the trumpeter is there. But, perhaps, there is before him a more important personage, who says, "I am sent before the king to prepare for his reception, and I am this day to receive aught that you have to send the king, for I am his representative." So prayer is the representative of the blessing before the blessing comes. The prayer comes, and when I see the prayer, I say, "Prayer, thou art the vice-
But I do think also that sometimes, and generally, prayer goes before the blessing, even as the cause goes before the effect. Some people say, when they get anything, that they get it because they prayed for it; but if they are people who are not spiritually minded, and who have no faith, let them know, that whatever they may get it is not in answer to prayer; for we know that God heareth not sinners, and "the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." "Well," says one, "I asked God for such-and-such a thing the other day; I know I am no Christian, but I got it. Don't you consider that I had it through my prayers?" No, sir, no more than I believe the reasoning of the old man who affirmed that the Goodwin Sands had been caused by the building of Tenterden steeple, for the sands had not been there before, and the sea did not come up till it was built, and therefore, said he, the steeple must have caused the flood. Now, your prayers have no more connexion with your blessing than the sea with the steeple; in the Christian's ease it is far different. Oft-times the blessing is actually brought down from heaven by the prayer. An objector may reply, "I believe that prayer may have much influence on yourself, sir, but I do not believe that it has any effect on the Divine Being." Well, sir, I shall not try to convince you; because it is useless for me to try to convince you of that unless you believe the testimonies I bring, as it would be to convince you of any historical fact by simply reasoning about it. I could bring out of this congregation not one, nor twenty, but many hundreds, who are rational, intelligent persons, and who would, each of them, most positively declare, that some hundreds of times in their lives they have been led to seek most earnestly deliverance out of trouble, or help in adversity, and they have received the answers to their prayers in so marvellous a manner that they themselves did no more doubt their being answers to their cries than they could doubt the existence of a God. They felt sure that he heard them; the); were certain of it. Oh! the testimonies to the power of prayer are so numberless, that the man who rejects them flies in the face of good testimonies. We are not all enthusiasts; some of us are cold blooded enough; we are not all fanatics; we are not all quite wild in our piety; some of us in other things, we reckon, act in a tolerably common sense way. But yet we all agree in this, that our prayers have been heard; and we could tell many stories of our prayers, still fresh upon our memories, where we have cried unto God, and he has heard us. But the man, who says he does not believe God hears prayer, knows he does. I have no respect to his scepticism, any more than I have any respect to a man's doubt about the existence of a God. The man does not doubt it; he has to choke his own conscience before he dares to say he does. It is complimenting him too much to argue with him. Will you argue with a liar? He affirms a lie, and knows it is so. Will you condescend to argue with him, to prove that he is untrue! The man is incapable of reasoning; he is beyond the pale of those who ought to be treated as respectable persons. If a man rejects the existence of a God, he does it desperately against his own conscience; and if he is bad enough to stifle his own conscience so much as to believe that, or pretend that he believes it, we think we shall demean ourselves if we argue with so loose a character. He must be solemnly warned, for reason is thrown away upon deliberate liars. But you know, sir, God hears prayer; because if you do not either way you must be a fool. You are a fool for not believing so, and a worse fool for praying yourself, when you do not believe he hears you. "But I do not pray, sir." Do not pray? Did I not hear a whisper from your nurse when you were sick? She said you were a wonderful saint when you had the fever. You do not pray! No, but when things do not go quite well in business you would to God that they would go better, and you do sometimes cry out to him a kind of prayer which he cannot accept, but which is still enough to show that there is an instinct in man that teaches him to pray. I believe that even as birds build their nests without any teaching, so men use prayer in the form of it (I do not mean spiritual prayer): I say, men use prayer from the very instinct of nature. There is something in man which makes him a praying animal. He cannot help it; he is obliged to do it. He laughs at himself when he is on the dry land; but he prays when he is on the sea and in a storm; he scoffs at prayer when he is well, but when he is sick he prays as fast as anybody. He—he would not pray when he is rich; but when he is poor, he prays then strongly
Prayer, then, is the prelude of mercy, for very often it is the cause of the blessing; that is to say, it is a part cause; the mercy of God being the great first cause, prayer is often the secondary agency where by the blessing is brought down.
II. And now I am going to try to show you, in the second place, Why it is that God is Pleased to Make Prayer the Trumpeter of Mercy, or the Forerunner of it.
1. I think it is, in the first place, because God loves that man should have some reason for having a connexion with him. Saith God, "My creatures will shun me, even my own people will too little seek me—they will flee from me, instead of coming to me. What shall I do? I intend to bless them: shall I lay the blessings at their doors, so that when they open them in the morning they may find them there, unasked and unsought?" "Yes," saith God, "many mercies I will so do with; I will give them much that they need, without their seeking for it; but in order that they may not wholly forget me, there are some mercies that I will not put at their doors, but I will make them come to my house after them. I love my children to visit me," says the heavenly Father; "I love to see them in my courts, I delight to hear their voices and to see their faces; they will not come to see me if I give them all they want; I will keep them sometimes without, and then they will come to me and ask, and I shall have the pleasure of seeing them, and they will have the profit of entering into fellowship with me." It is as if some father should say to his son, who is entirely dependent upon him, "I might give you a fortune at once, so that you might never have to come upon me again; but, my son, it delights me, it affords me pleasure to supply your wants; I like to know what it is you require, that I may oftentimes have to give you, and so may frequently see your face. Now I shall give you only enough to serve you for such a time, and if you want to have anything you must come to my house for it. O, my son, I do this because I desire to see thee often; I desire often to have opportunities of showing how much I love thee." So doth God say to his children, "I do not give you all at once; I give all to you in the promise, but if you want to have it in the detail, you must come to me to ask me for it: so shall you see my face, and so shall you have a reason for often coming to my feet."
2. But there is another reason. God would make prayer the preface to mercy, because often prayer itself gives the mercy. You are full of fear and sorrow; you want comfort, God says, pray, and you shall get it; and the reason is because prayer is of itself a comforting exercise. We are all aware, that when we have any heavy news upon our minds, it often relieves us if we can tell a friend about it. Now there are some troubles we would not tell to others, for perhaps many minds could not sympathize with us: God has therefore provided prayer, as a channel for the flow of grief. "Come," saith he, "thy troubles may find vent here; come, put them into my ear; pour out thine heart before me, and so wilt thou prevent its bursting. If thou must weep, come and weep at my mercy-seat; if thou must cry, come and cry in the closet, and I will hear thee. And how often have you and I tried that! We have been on our knees overwhelmed with sorrow, and we have risen up, and said, "Ah! I can meet it all now!"
Prayer itself sometimes gives the mercy.
Take another case. You are in difficulty; you don't know which way to go, nor
direct people. You go forth in prayer, and pray to God to direct you. Are you aware that your very prayer will frequently of itself furnish you with the answer? For while the mind is absorbed in thinking over the matter, and in praying concerning the matter, it is just in the likeliest state to suggest to itself the course which is proper; for whilst in prayer I am spreading all the circumstances before God, I am like a warrior surveying the battle-field, and when I rise I know the state of affairs, and know how to act. Often, thus, you see, prayer gives the very thing we ask for in itself. Often when I have had a passage of Scripture that I cannot understand, am I in the habit of spreading the Bible before me; and if I have looked at all the commentators, and they do not seem to agree, I have spread the Bible on my chair, kneeled down, put my finger upon the passage, and sought of God instruction. I have thought that when I have risen from my knees I understood it far better than before; I believe that the very exercise of prayer did of itself bring the answer, to a great degree; for the mind being occupied upon it, and the heart being exercised with it, the whole man was in the most excellent position for truly understanding it. John Bunyan says, "The truths that I know best I have learned on my knees;" and says he again, "I never know a thing well till it is burned into my heart by prayer." Now that is in a great measure through the ageny of God's Holy Spirit; but I think that it may in some measure also be accounted for by the fact that prayer exercises the mind upon the thing, and then the mind is led by an insensible process to lay hold upon the right result. Prayer, then is a suitable prelude to the blessing, because often it carrieth the blessing in itself.
3. But again it seemeth but right, and just, and appropriate, that prayer should go before the blessing, because in prayer there is a sense of need. I cannot as a man distribute assistance to those who do not represent their case to me as being destitute and sick. I cannot suppose that the physician will trouble himself to leave his own house to go into the house of one that is ill, unless the need has been specified to him, and unless he has been informed that the case requires his assistance; nor can we expect of God, that he will wait upon his own people, unless his own people should first state their need to him, shall feel their need, and come before him crying for a blessing. A sense of need is a divine gift; prayer fosters it, and is therefore highly beneficial.
4. And yet again, prayer before the blessing serves to show us the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes the common pebbles of God's temporal bounties more precious than diamonds; and in spiritual prayer, cuts the diamond, and makes it glisten more. The thing was precious, but I did not know its preciousness till I had sought for it, and sought it long. After a long chase the hunter prizes the animal because he has set his heart upon it and is determined to have it; and yet more truly, after a long hunger he that eateth findeth more relish in his food. So prayer doth sweeten the mercy. Prayer teaches us its preciousness. It is the reading over of the bill, the schedule, the account, before the estate and the properties are themselves transferred. We know the value of the purchase by reading over the will of it in prayer, and when we have groaned out our own expression of its peerless price, then it is that God bestows the benediction upon us. Prayer, therefore, goes before the blessing, because it shows us the value of it.
But doubtless even reason itself suggests that it is but natural that God, the all-good, should give his favors to those that ask. It seemeth but right that he should expect of us, that we should first ask at his hands, and then he will bestow. It is goodness great enough that his hand is ready to open: surely it is but little that he should say to his people, "For this thing will I be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them."
III. Let me close By Stirring you up to Use the Holy Art of Prayer as a Means of Obtaining the Blessing. Do you demand of me, and for what shall we pray? The answer is upon my tongue. Pray for yourselves, pray for your families, pray for the Churches, pray for the one great kingdom of our Lord on earth.
Pray for yourselves. Sure you will never lack some subject for intercession. So broad are your wants, so deep are your necessities, that until you are in heaven you will always find room for prayer. Bost thou need nothing? Then I fear thou dost not know thyself. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then I fear thou hast
In the next place, pray for your families; for your children. If they be pious, you can still pray for them that their piety may be real, that they may be upheld in their profession. And if they be ungodly, you have a whole fountain of arguments for prayer. So long as thou hast a child unpardoned, pray for it; so long as thou hast a child alive that is saved, pray for him, that he may be kept. Thou host enough reason to pray for those that have proceeded from thine own loins. But if thou hast no cause to do that, pray for thy servants. Wilt thou not stoop to that? Then surely thou hast not stooped to be saved; for he that is saved knoweth how to pray for all. Pray for thy servants, that they may serve God, that their life in thine house may be of use to them. That is an ill house where the servants are unprayed for. I should not like to be waited upon by one for whom I could not pray. Perhaps the day when this world shall perish will be the day unbrightened by a prayer; and perhaps the day when a great misdeed was done by some man, was the day when his friends left off praying for him. Pray for your households.
And then pray for the Church. Let the minister have a place in your heart, Mention his name at your family altar, and in your closet. You expect him to come before you day after day, to teach you the things of the kingdom, and exhort and stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. If he be a true minister, there will be work to be done in this matter. He cannot write his sermon and read it to you; he does not believe Christ said, "Go and read the gospel to every creature." Dost thou know the cares of a minister? Dose thou know the trouble he has with his own church—how the erring ones do grieve him, how even the right ones do vex his spirit by their infirmities—how, when the church is large, there will always be some great trouble in the hearts of some of his people? And he is the reservoir of all they come to lam with all their grief; he is to" weep with them that weep." And in the pulpit what is his work? God is my witness, I scarcely ever prepare for any pulpit with pleasure: study for the pulpit is to me the most irksome work in the world. I have never come into this house that I know of with a smile upon mine heart; I may have sometimes gone out with one; but never have I had one when I entered. Preach, preach, twice a day I can and will do; but still there is a travailing in preparation for it, and even the utterance is not always accompanied with joy anti gladness; and God knoweth that if it were not for the good that we trust is to he accomplished by the preaching of Cite Word, it is no happiness to a man's life to be well known. It robs hint of all comfort to be from morning, to night hunted for labor, to have no rest for the sole' of his foot or for his brain—to be a great religious hack—to bear every burden—to have people asking, as they do in the country, when they want to get into a cart, "Will it hold it?"—never thinking whether the horse can drag it; to have them asking, "Will you preach at such a place? you are preaching twice, could'nt you manage to get to such a place, and preach again?" Every one else has a constitution; the minister has none, until he kills himself and is condemned as imprudent. If you are determined to do your duty in that place to which God has called you, you need the prayers of your people, that you may be able to do the work; and you will need their abundant prayers that you may be sustained in it. I bless God that I have a valiant corps of men, who day without night besiege God's throne on my behalf. I would speak to you, my brethren and sisters, again, and beseech you, by our loving days that are past, by all the hard fighting that Ave have hash side by side with each other, not to cease to pray now. The time was when in hours of trouble, you and I have beaded our knees together in God's house, and we have prayed to God that he would give us a blessing. You remember how great and sore troubles did roll over our head—how teen did ride over us. We went through fire and through water, and now God has brought us into a large place, and so multiplied us, let as not cease to pray. Let us still cry out unto the living God, that he may give us a blesssing. Oh! may God help me, if you cease
And lastly, let me bid you pray for the church at large. This is a happy time we live in. A certain race of croaking souls, who are never pleased with anything, are always crying out about the badness of the times. They cry, "Oh! for the good old times!" Why, these are the good old times; time never was so old as it is now. These are the best times. I do think that many an old puritan would jump out of his grave if he knew what was doing now. If they could have been told of the great movement at Exeter Hall, there is many a man among them who once fought against the Church of England, who would lift his hand to heaven, and cry, "My God, I bless thee that I see such a day as this!" In these times there is a breaking down of many of the barriers. The bigots are afraid; they are crying out most desperately, because they think God's people will soon love each other too well. They are afraid that the trade of persecution will soon be done with, if we begin to be more and more united. So they are making an outcry, and saying, "These are not good times." But true lovers of God will say they have not lived in better days than these; and they all hopefully look for greater things still. Unless you professors of religion are eminently in earnest in prayer, you will disgrace yourselves by neglecting the finest opportunity that ever men had. I do think that your fathers who lived in days when great men were upon earth, who preached with much power—I do think, if they had not prayed, they would have been as unfaithful as you will be. For now the good ship floats upon a flood tide: sleep now, and you will not cross the bar at the harbour's mouth. Never did the sun of prosperity seem to shine much more fully on the church during the last hundred years than now. Now is your time; neglect now to sow your seed in this good time of seed-sowing; neglect now to reap your harvest in these good days when it is ripe, and darker days may come, and those of peril, when God shall say, "Because they would not cry to me, when I stretched out my hands to bless them, therefore will I. put away my hand, and will no more bless them, until again they shall seek me.
And now to close. I have a young man here who has been lately converted. His parents cannot bear him they entertain the strongest opposition to him, and they threaten him that if he does not leave off praying they will turn him out of doors. Young man! I have a little story to tell you. There was once a young man in your position: he had begun to pray, and his father knew it. He said to him, "John, you know I am an enemy to religion, and prayer is a thing that never shall be offered in my house." Still the young man continued earnest in supplication. "Well," said the father one day, in a hot passion, "you must give up either God or me; I solemnly swear that you shall never darken the threshold of my door again, unless you decide that you will give up praying. I give you till to-morrow morning to choose. The night was spent in prayer by the young disciple. He rose in the morning, sad to be cast away by his friends, but resolute in spirit, that come what might he would serve his God. The father abruptly accosted him—"Well, what is the answer?" "Father," he said, "I cannot violate my conscience, I cannot forsake my God." "Leave immediately," said he. And the mother stood there; the father's hard spirit had made her's hard too, and though she might have wept she concealed her tears. "Leave immediately," said he. Stepping outside the threshold the young man said. "I wish you would grant me one request before I go; and if you grant me that, I will never trouble you again." "Well," said the father, "you shall have anything you like; but mark the, you go after you have had that; you shall never have anything again." "It is," said the son, "that you and my mother would kneel down, and let me pray for you before I go." Well, they could hardly object to it; the young man was on his knees in a moment, and began to pray with such unction and power, with such evident love to their souls, with such true and divine earnestness, that they both fell flat on the ground, and when the son rose there they were; and the father said, "You need not go, John; come and stop, come and stop;" and it was not long before not only he, but the whole of them began to pray, and they were united to a Christian Church. So do not give way. Persevere kindly, but firmly. It may be that God shall enable you not only to have your own souls saved, but to be the means of bringing your persecuting parents to the foot of the cross. That such may be the case is our earnest prayer.
When honoured with a request to deliver a lecture in this series on the vexed question of Evolution, I expressed a strong reluctance to meddle with a subject upon which public sentiment in Dunedin was so divided, and upon which so much blood, or at least so much ink, had already been shed. I intimated my preference for some neutral tonic, literary or social. When, however, the request was pressed, I did not feel at liberty to decline. The choice of the general subject, then, has not been mine, but that of the Committee.
The particular aspect of the question which I purpose to discuss is the incidence of the Doctrine of Evolution upon Theology, and, through Theology, upon Ethics or Practical Morals. I have felt some hesitation in introducing, in connection with a purely literary institution, a topic of a theological, or semi-theological, character. But I have reflected that it must have been this department of the, question which the Committee wished me to treat. Had they desired a scientific exposition of Evolution, they would scarcely have applied to a member of my profession. Moreover, it is in the ethical bearings of Evolution that the Dunedin public has recently displayed so unmistakeable an interest. It is an honourable characteristic of the colonists of Otago that they are readily and warmly interested in topics metaphysical and theological. The controversy which has occupied the attention of this community for several weeks past would, in any other part of the Colony, have died a natural death within a week. We may flatter ourselves that intellectual life is more active here than in other colonial towns.
It may be taken for granted that every one here has a general notion of what is meant by the scientific doctrine of Evolution. But probably not every one has learned how comprehensive and far reaching, as a theory of the universe, that doctrine is. Evolution undertakes to account for the origin not merely of man, but of all animal
"The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism," by Oscar Schmidt, p. 26. English evolutionists are sceptical as to the vital qualities of this albuminous slime. Professor Huxley is said to have surrendered the point. See "Popular Science Review" for April; Review of Haeckel.Urschleim of German evolutionists—an albuminous substance existing in deep sea bottoms, which is said to be alive. "This living slime, "says a German writer,
That is bow the lady professor lectures her "sweet girl-graduates," and there are few professors of the other sex who could put the matter more neatly or concisely. Think what we will of the truth or falsehood of Evolution, it cannot be denied that it is a magnificent generalization. The law it affirms is as comprehensive as the law of gravitation—equally with gravitation includes in its grasp the animalcule and the star—but is more wonderful, in proportion as its effects are more various and more intrinsically marvellous.
"But what is the proof?" people are asking. And many persons, who during the last few weeks have heard of Evolution for the first time, are angry and incredulous because the proof cannot be given in a breath.
This impatience is unreasonable. There are many important and indubitable truths the certainty of which cannot be demonstrated out of hand. If I tell a man who has no acquaintance with elementary mathematics that the three angles of a triangle are always
the proof what am I to say I am reduced to a condition of helplessness. I am obliged to tell him that I cannot give him the proof—that no living man can give him the proof. To be able to see the proof he must go through a certain course of reading and of reasoning. It was Euclid himself, who, when as ked by a royal pupil whether geometry could not be made easier, replied "that there was no royal road." And the man who shrinks from the toil or tedium of investigating the evidence upon which mathematical truth rests is scarcely entitled to complain of its want of proof.
I am very far from intending to suggest by these illustrations that Evolution has been, or can be, mathematically proved. There is, at most, only a probability of proof, but that probability is enormously strong. When two converging straight lines in the same plane have been traced almost to their point of intersection, and when their meeting in that point is necessary to complete some symmetrical figure—as a square or a triangle—the rest of which we can see, the mind naturally assumes the meeting of the lines, even though the point of intersection itself should lie beyond our range of vision. This is something like the state of the argument for Evolution. The converging lines do not yet meet, but most men of science assume that their meeting is certain enough for all practical purposes, and proclaim Evolution proved. An objector may allege that the proof is incomplete, and, technically, he is correct; but it scents to me a madcap and perilous thing to stake the existence of Christianity, as some are disposed to do, on the chance that the converging lines will never meet. Such a chance may be liberally estimated at one in a million.
It is not my purpose, then, to attempt to prove Evolution. Yet it is necessary for the end I have in view that I should indicate some of the leading features in the body of evidence upon which the doctrine rest; so far, at least, as it relates to the origin of animal forms. The summary which follows is compressed from an article in the Quarterly Review' for
(1.) There is first what may be called the invariable tendency to vary, which is constant in all organisms. No two individuals of a family are absolutely alike.
(2.) Next, variations may be accumulated by the selection of the parents. It is upon this principle that the art of the stock breeder is based, and its results may be exemplified by the widely diversified forms, within the same species, of the race-horse and the London dray-horse.
(3.) All living things have a capacity for increasing in a geometrical ratio. If a pair produce ten young once during their lives, and these again are reproductive at a year old, twenty millions will be produced in ten years. Many animals, and most plants, increase faster than this. Even the elephant, which has the slowest rate of increase, would in five hundred years multiply from a single pair to fifteen millions.
(4.) But notwithstanding this enormous rate of increase, the number of animals and plants in any country once stocked never permanently increases. It may fluctuate slightly from year to year, but the average remains the same. It follows that the deaths must equal the oinks. If the number of sparrows, say in England, is on the average half a million, and if a million of young ones are hatched every year, then before the next year a million sparrows must die. When a million sparrows die annually, what determines which individuals die and which survive? We know that wild animals die of diseases, of hunger, of cold, by the attacks of enemies, &c. Will it Le the healthy or the sick that die of diseases, the strong or the weak that die of hunger, the well feathered or the poorly feathered that die of told, the active and wary or the slow and careless that will be killed by enemies?
(5.) In the answer to these questions is involved the law of the survival of the fittest, or natural selection. Any minute variation giving an animal an advantage in the struggle for life would tend to be inherited. The law of "survival of the fittest," by simply determining which out of the immense surplus born annually shall be the parents of the next generation, must lead to the modification of every part of an animal's organisation that affects its welfare sooner or later, of its whole organisation.
By the operation through enormous lengths of time of these principles stamped by the Author of Nature upon all organisms, have been evolved, from one parent form, or even from the "primordial slime," all living types of animals and plants. Such is the startling doctrine of Evolution.
Respecting, in particular, our own origin, the accepted theory is, that our ancestry may be traced back, not indeed, as is com-
Upon this especially interesting point I read an extract from Darwin's "Descent of Man":—
"Man is descended [at an interval, say, of a million years] from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and pointed ears, probably arboreal in its habits, and an inhabitant of the Old World. All the higher mammals are probably derived from an ancient marsupial animal, and this, through a long line of diversified forms, either from some reptile-like or amphibian-like creature, and this again, from swine fish-like animal. In the dim obscurity of the past, we can see that the early progenitor of the vertebrata must have been an aquatic animal, provided with branchiate [gills], with the two sexes united in the same individual, and with the most important organs of the body, such as the brain and the heart, imperfectly developed. This animal seems to have been more like the larvae of the existing marine Ascidians than any other known form."
A small, blunt point in the upper part of the in folding margin of the human ear is a relic of the " pointed ears " worn by our progenitor who swung himself from tree to tree in the forests of the Old World; the prolongation of the spinal column is a reminiscence of his tail; whilst the covering of the chin in males, and of the upper part of the head in both sexes, is a remnant of his shaggy coat, lengthened and improved, as well as limited in area, by the operation of what Darwin calls "sexual selection."
After reading the extract just given, we can understand the vehement opposition which the doctrine of Evolution has provoked. First, there is a natural sentiment of revulsion from the idea that man is to be linked in family relationship with the brutes. It is a "degrading" doctrine; it assigns to man a "bestial origin;" so we have been hearing again and again during the controversy of the last few weeks.
Well, that may be: Evolution may be "degrading," and the origin it suggests may be "bestial," but we must not rely upon these epithets to rid us of the facts. "Facts are chiels that winua ding," and the doctrine of Evolution is supposed to rest upon hard facts.
But consider a little whether we are entitled to insist so much on the indigaity which this doctrine puts upon us. Look at a class of facts which are patent to us all, and which remain the same, whatever be true about the doctrine of descent. Is there not an actual structural affinity between man and brutes? He and they have the same bony structure, the same limbs for the same general
Further, every mental faculty of ours is traceable back through the brutes. Even a rudimentary See a suggestive array of facts in a recent number of the Quarterly Journal of Science.' Article on "Conscience in Animals."conscience is to be discerned in them.
"The gradations of the moral faculty among the higher animals and man are so imperceptible, that to deny to the first a certain sense of responsibility and consciousness, would certainly be an exaggeration of the differences which distinguish man and animals. This argues strongly in favour of the existence in every animal of an immaterial principle similar to that which, by its excellence and superior endowments, places man so much above animals."—"Essay on Classification."
However repugnant, then, the idea may be to us, we cannot deny the fact of our actual affinity with the brutes in type and structure; we cannot deny a community of bodily instincts, appetites, pains, pleasures, a common dependence upon fit al and sleep, a common liability to accidents, diseases, and death. We cannot even refuse their claim to participation in our nobler qualities. Mother-love, sagacity, affection, fidelity, courage, all have their exemplifications in the brute world. We may imagine, indeed, one of our despised cousins expostulating with us much after the fashion of the Jew in the " Merchant of Venice:"—"I am an ape! Hath not an ape eyes? Hath not an ape bands, organs, dimensions, set see, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in all else, we will be like you also in that."
The mention of revenge may remind us that in one respect our remote has an advantage over our later ancestry. The nature of the lower creatures is at any rate uncontaminated by moral pollution, and I confess to a feeling of sympathy with the remark of an American writer:—"For my part I had rather descend from apes
shoemaker?" "Quite incorrect," was the sturdy reply, "it was merely that of a cobbler." We sympathise with that reply, and our sympathy means that it matters little from whim or from what a man has sprung, provided only he is a man. With respect to Evolution, we must accept the inevitable, and, for my part, if it should be proved, as seems likely, that one of our remote progenitors rejoiced in "a tail and pointed ears," I should be disposed still to say with Burns, "A man's a man for a' that."
We advance, however, to the more serious difficulties of the subject. Is the theory of Evolution atheistic? We have been told again and again of late that it is. Many of its advocates, we are reminded, are avowed atheists. It dispenses with a Creator, makes him unnecessary, excludes him ham the universe. So we hear; and the substance of the objection is, that Evolution is necessarily inconsistent with Theism. We will look at this carefully.
It may be allowed at once that many of the German expositors of Evolution are atheistic—as Büchner, Haeckel, Oscar Schmidt, and others. This reproach, however, does not lie against Darwin, Wallace, and their principal English followers. In explanation of the endeavour made in some quarters to press Evolution into antagonism to Theism, we should remember that there may be an anti-religious as well as a religious fanaticism, and that the former sometimes finds it convenient to assume a scientific dress. When we find, as in the Germans just named, undoubted attainments in science associated with hostility to religion, we must not forget the earlier hostility of religion, or, at least, of theology and theologians, to science. These men do not forget it. They remember how the doctors of divinity gathered at Salamanca to demonstrate Columbus a heretic for proposing to seek the shores of India by sailing west; how Galileo was imprisoned, tortured, and died in a dungeon for asserting the motion of the earth; and how Bruno was burnt at the
We may extenuate thus, but not the less do we condemn, their infatuation, for infatuation it is. In their endeavour to make Evolution atheistic they are guilty of a flagrant departure from the true scientific spirit. They refer the origin of man, as we have seen, to the marine Ascidians, and that of the marine Ascidians to the "primordial slime." When we enquire concerning the genesis of their" primordial slime, "we arc further referred to the nebular hypothesis, and the condensation of sun and planets out of matter in a condition of "diffused nebulosity." And, when finally we ask, "Whence came your 'matter in a condition of diffused nebulosity?'" they answer, "Well, all we know is, that it was not created! Neither at that, nor at any other point in the evolutionary series, can we admit the intervention of a personal Power or Will." This seems to me Hindoo science. The Hindoo cosmogony represents the earth as resting on the back of an elephant, which stands on the back of a tortoise, which stands upon nothing. It is apparently a relief to the Hindoo mind to think that so ponderous a mass as the earth has something to rest on. Even an elephant is too big to be left absolutely without footing. But so insignificant a creature as a tortoise may contrive to shift without any material support. After much the same manner, German evolutionists seem to have concluded that such thin and unsubstantial stuff as matter in "a condition of diffused nebulosity," may come into existence without the aid of a Creator.
Evolution has been discredited by these attempts to push it into the service of Atheism, but it is not for that reason to be summarily rejected. There have been undevout astronomers, and it was a saying of Comte that the heavens declare the glory, not of God, but of Kepler and Newton. But that would be a poor reason for repudiating astronomy, or for doubting the calculations of the Nautical Almanac, through which that science lends its aid to navigation. To reject Evolution merely because some evolutionists are Atheists, would be like refusing to use imported goods because some captains of vessels are addicted to profane swearing. We may allow the scientists who say that Evolution cannot tolerate Christianity to pair off with the theologians who affirm that Christianity cannot accept Evolution, and so leave the field free to impartial investigators, who are not under bondage to invincible prejudice.
In truth the evolutionist conception of the universe is more strictly anti-Atheist than any other.
Evolution is the bringing of much out of little, the little out of less, the less out of nothing, and, as the 'Spectator' well says, requires a creative energy at every step.
Evolution is continuous creation. It is not merely the preservation of the status quo; not the maintenance of dead level; still less is it the winding of a watch which runs on with less and less energy till it runs down. On the theory of Evolution creation is still progressive. The universe is growing ever richer in organic forms, and, existing organisms are ever travelling upward towards higher perfection.
From this point of view Evolution may even be described as continuous miracle. It is the miracle of the stream rising above its source, of the effect transcending the cause.
Still, popular sentiment craves for a creation by fiat, something scenic, dramatic, a method of creation that will stand out to the senses. A creation which progresses from the zoophyte to man in a million centuries is as good as no creation at all. To locate the creative force so far away as the nebulae is to push it out of the universe.
But this sentiment is inconsistent. To say that the universe is the product of Evolution is to dispense with the Creator, we are told. What Creator, then, has the existing generation of plants and animals? The organisms we now see were not created by fiat. They are the product of causes set in motion, at any rate, six thousand years ago. Has the world then been God-forsaken for six thousand years?
It is a truer theology and a more reasonable science to say that progressive development needs a creative force as strictly as the summoning a new existence out of nothing. "Forces of nature are God's energies; "laws" are the modes in which they work. "It is but reasonable," says Herschel, in his "Outlines of Astronomy," "to regard the force of gravitation as the direct or indirect result of a Consciousness or Will existing somewhere." Much more reasonably may this be supposed of the evolutionary forces, whatever they are, which are for ever throwing up new phases of life. It is through them that—
The objector who, in his zeal for the honour of the Creator, refuses to recognize His plastic hand in Evolution, is shut up to the absurdity of excluding creative force from the world since the Bible-date of Adam, for manifestly, since then, creation has been by Evolution. The whole relation of Evolution to Theism is well expressed by the Duke of Argyll in a single sentence:—"Creation by Law, Evolution
But even if shown to be consistent with Theism, can Evolution be harmonised with the Bible? We have been told, with much emphasis, that it cannot. And I sympathise with the logic of the heart which instantly responds, "Then it cannot be true!" For there are thousands of men and women who know that the Bible is true, as surely as they know any fact of experience and consciousness, more surely than they can know any fact of abstract science. Whatever is noblest in them has its spring in Bible teaching; every better impulse, every movement of their nature towards good, every sacred feeling that lifts them above the material and the sensual, derives its origin thence. From the Bible has come to them the breath of spiritual life. Take away the Bible and they gasp in a vacuum. And when the Bible is gone, and with it the provision for their spiritual nurture, they will care little what you make out about their relationship to the brute. They will feel that they have already ceased to be men. Life will not be worth living, nor science worth knowing, if they are to be merely mechanism pulled by strings; and discussions about man's origin will seem to them utter futilities whilst they are left in the dark about his destiny. It will be an evil day for the world when this instinct perishes, when what seems to invalidate the Bible is heard of without alarm, or allowed to establish itself without challenge.
But, with respect to Evolution, there is no real cause for alarm. What I foresee is the smashing of much ecclesiastical chinaware, the levelling of many a scholastic house-of-cards, the ruthless brushing away of cobwebberies spun out of theological brains,—all that I foresee. But the Bible will emerge from the ordeal unscathed—nay, if I mistake not, having a firmer hold on the intelligent veneration and trust of mankind than before.
Genesis contains a cosmogony—a history of the origin of the universe and of man.
But for whom was that history written? "In every work regard the author's end" is a sound canon of criticism; let us apply it here. The history was written for a community of suddenly emancipated slaves—a people degraded, mentally and morally, by centuries of bondage amongst idolaters. The story of the Exodus and of the forty years subsequent desert life is filled with the proofs of their ignorance, petulance, levity, and general incapacity for re-
What is the method of a child's first lesson book? Take an illustration. My little child is curious about the origin of the loaf on the breakfast table—wants to know where the bread came from. If I am a wise man, and not a pedant, what I tell him is something like this:—"There is a man called a fanner, and he has a field. He scratches up the field with a great iron hook, and when he has made a nice soft bed, he puts in it the seed, which is called the corn. The seed sleeps there for a little while, and then the sun and the rain come and waken it. Then the seed sends up a tiny point like the grass. 'Come up,' says the sun, 'higher—higher' still.' So it grows and grows, till at last the corn comes out of the top of it. Then the farmer takes a great knife and cuts it down. Next he carries it to the miller. Now the miller has a great wheel fixed by a river, and he says to the river, River, turn my wheel.' So the river turns his w heel, and the wheel turns two great stones, and the great stones grind the corn into flour. Then the flour is taken to the baker, and the baker bakes it into bread, and brings it round in his cart for breakfast."
Now, would this account be true? Nay, would it not be in reality the very truest I could give? Would not such an account be a thousand times more rational and intelligible than if I assumed the style of a University Professor—talked learnedly about agricultural chemistry, gave the botanic name of the corn plant, described its dependence on the ammonia of the soil and the carbon of the atmosphere, stated the exact date of its sowing and the months of its growth, exhibited a diagram of a plough, explained the mechanism of a mill, and expounded the principles of hydraulics upon which the motion of the wheel depends? And would there be any sacrifice of dignity in thus talking to a child within the range of a child's ideas and capacity?
But what sad havoc is made with my little history if it is treated in what may be called the theologic spirit—the spirit in which we are accustomed to construe the first chapters of Genesis ! The "hook," then, is a literal hook, such, doubtless, as we see sticking in walls or in butchers' shops. Then the seed "sleeps," and in "a bed," and is "wakened,"—all to be taken au pied de la lettre, as the French say—with literal exactitude. Moreover, the sun and the rain talk, it seems,—mysterious, but true, or the
Equally disastrous is the effect if the story comes under the handling of the scientific critic. To him, of course, it is false at every point. The "hook" was not a hook at all, but a plough. Moreover, a plough is dragged by horses, of which agency the history said nothing, but even suggested that the farmer dragged it himself. The talk of the sun and the rain is plainly mythical. Then nothing was said about the thrashing—a most momentous omission. In short, my history is proved "unhistorical" from first to last.
And yet, after all, I am right, whilst both the commentator and the critic are wrong.
In the light of this little parable you will see what is the nature of the reading which I would give to Genesis.
The purpose of the writer was to convey to a community of children, with a bias towards idolatry, a notion of certain great truths,—that God made the world, that He made man, that not the less did lie make woman, and of the same flesh and blood—an assertion of woman's equality which has been wanted in the East in every age,—that man sinned and needed a Saviour. And the lesson is given much after the manner in which I described the origin of the loaf of bread.
When I open the first chapters of Genesis, everything warns me that I have entered a region which, whatever it is, is not the region of matter-of-fact prose. There is a serpent who talks; the trees have magical qualities; the animals come to be named; there is a woman who is made from the rib of a living man. I find the most startling anthropomorphisms. The Creator works his week and rests his Sabbath; He deliberates, consults, considers His work and finds it good, talks familiarly with man, and "the voice of the Lord" is heard walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Is there any other example in literature of an apparatus of figure like this to which we would venture to give a literal use? Or if this stood anywhere else in the Bible should we venture so to use it? If we try to constrne literally, we are stopped by impossibilities. The serpent is a literal serpent, we are told, yet no one would contend that he literally eats dust. The serpent's head is to be bruised, and theologians agree that this is figure. So that we have a literal serpent with a figurative head, which is to be figuratively bruised by a figurative heel, which is figuratively to he bruised in its turn. In other words, our thoughtless attempt to dispense with common sense, and treat figures as though they were realities, is rebuked by the starting up in our path of absurdities and impossibilities.
* "There is no kind of evidence that is so convincing, or is received with so great satisfaction, as that which, after long and doubtful search, is suddenly discovered to have all the while been on hand, incorporated, though unobserved, in the very subject-matter of inquiry. Thus, for example, a suit upon a note at hand had long been pending in one of the courts of our commonwealth, payment of which was resisted on the ground that it was and must be a forgery, no such note having ever been given. But the difficulty was in the trial to make out any conclusive evidence of what the defending party knew to be the truth. His counsel was, in fact, despairing utterly of success; but it happened that, just as he was about closing his plea, having the note in his hand, and bringing it up, in the motion of his hand, so that the light struck through, his eye caught the glimpse of a mark in the paper. He stopped, held it up deliberately to the light, and behold the name, in water-mark, of a company that had begun the manufacture of paper after the date of the instrument! Here was evidence, without going far to seek it—evidence enough to turn the plaintiff forthwith into a felon, and consign him, as it did, to a felon's punishment."—Nature and the Supernatural.
I would make, then, no attempt to reconcile Genesis with science on the supposition that in Genesis we have a matter-of-fact history. Such an attempt will succeed only by doing violence both to the writer and our common sense. The story is not a history, like the later portions of the Pentateuch; it is not a poem, like Paradise Lost; nor a collection of myths, like the Arthuriad; nor an allegory, like the Pilgrim's Progress. It is an idealised history, written within the intellectual range of a community of children.
Yet, because it is a history in any sense, the truth is there, and it is possible to indicate a remarkable series of coincidences between the Mosaic story and the results of science. This has already been partially done in an article by Mr. Fitzgerald in the 'New Zealand Magazine.' The egotism may perhaps be pardoned which leads me to say that in my teaching I had pointed out these correspondences before that article appeared. They are (1.) that creation was progressive; (2) that the last product was man; and (3) that man's early history was a progress involving the following changes (a) the birth of language—the first use of language being to give names to things; (b) the birth of conscience, or the attainment of the " knowledge of good and evil;" (c) the adoption of clothes; (d) the consciousness of wants which the earth did not spontaneously supply—the first step towards civilization; and (e) the increase of the pains of parturition, for which I believe there would be excellent physiological reason when the partial or occasional erect attitude was exchanged for the erect attitude constant and complete.
Now, these coincidences are remarkable upon any theory. Here is our oldest human document—forty centuries old, and inwrought in its very texture, like the water-marks we sometimes see woven into paper, are these main lines of correspondence with the
It will occur to some to ask why, supposing the account of Creation given in Genesis to be adapted to an infantile condition of the human intellect, Scripture does not provide for more advanced ages an accurate and scientific account. Why did not later writers correct and amplify? I give the answer to these questions in an extract from one of De Quincey's Essays. It is a passage which will repay attentive examination:—
"It is no business of the Bible, we are told, to teach science. Certainly not; but that is far too little. It is an obligation resting upon the Bible, if it is to be consistent with itself, that it should "But an objection even deadlier would have followed. It is as clear as is the purpose of daylight, that the whole body of the arts and sciences composes one vast machinery for the irritation and development of the human intellect. For this end they exist. To see God, therefore, descending into the arena of science, and contending as it were for his own prizes by teaching science in the Bible, would be to see Him intercepting from their self-evident destination (viz, mart's intellectual benefit), his own problems by solving them himself. No spectacle could more dishonour the Divine idea—could more injure man under the mask of aiding him. * * In whatever case God has qualified man to do a thing for himself, He has in that very qualification silently laic' an injunction upon man to do it. "But it is fancied that a Divine teacher, without descending to the unworthy office of teaching science, might yet have kept His own language free from all collusion with human error. Hence it has been argued that any language in the Bible implying the earth to be stationary, and central to our system, could not express a mere compliance with the popular errors of the time, but must be taken to indicate the absolute truth. But if a man sets himself steadily to contemplate the consequences which must inevitably have fol-
refuse to teach science; and, if the Bible ever had taught any one art, science, or process of life, capital doubts would have clouded our confidence in the authority of the Book. By what caprice, it would have been asked, is a divine mission abandoned suddenly for a human mission? By what caprice is this one science taught, and others not? Or these two, suppose, and not all?
But it is said that Evolution necessarily contradicts the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. If we accept Evolution we must surrender, to begin with, the Doctrine of the Fall. To ascertain whether the objection is sound, let us discriminate carefully between what the Scripture does and does not say about the Fall.
(1.) Without attaching too much importance to the presence or absence of a word, it may be pointed out that the Scriptures do not speak of a "Fall" or "Fall of Man." These terms are the creation of theology.
(2.) The Bible does not tell us that man was created in the possession of high moral or intellectual qualities. (I may say here, in a parenthesis, that the popular notion of the "Fall and of the primitive state of man is derived, not from the Bible, but from the "Paradise Lost" of Milton, and, through Milton, from the schoolmen of the Middle Ages). We read that man was
See Gen. v. 3., where the terms "image" and "likeness" are used of the correspondence between child and parent.will grow into these powers, and that is sufficient to make it in the parents' image and likeness.
(3.) We read expressly that the first state of man was one in which he had not "the knowledge of good and evil." And as if to define the phrase, and to show us that it is exactly equivalent to moral capacity, we have (after the "Fall") this remarkable statement: 'And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.' I ask the especial attention of Bible students to this passage. How was man advanced to "become as one of Us?" By what we call "the Fall!" And in what did his new likeness to the Deity consist? In the fact that he had attained "to know good and evil!" Getting "to know good and evil," then, by means of a fall made man in some sense more like God than he was before:—"Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." He will be a bold expositor who will find for the 'knowledge of good and evil,' in this passage—(Gen. iii. 22.)—any other meaning than' moral capacity.
(4.) And yet the Scripture tells us that, in becoming more correspondent to the Deity than he had been, man also became a sinner. It is only on the theory of Evolution that this riddle can be solved. On the theory of man's perfect moral capacity before "the Fall" it is completely insoluble. If Evolution is true, moral capacity was attained by growth. By its attainment man became, in a sense never possible before, like the Deity. And yet the very act which marked the entrance to this higher level of being, may have been, as the Scripture says it was, a wrong act—the ransgression of a law—and so the rise would be a fall. The first consciousness of the newly-born moral nature would be the consciousness of sin, and from that fact would flow all that the Bible has to tell us about the need either of punishment or atonement. Precisely the same progression and the same results are to be observed in the development of every child. So far then from Evolution concradicting the Bible doctrine of what is called "the Fall," it is only on the theory of Evolution that the Bible doctrine becomes intelligible and consistent.
The matter may be summed up thus: Evolution teaches that moral capacits was attained by development. The Bible admits that it was not an original endowment, and adds that, having attained it, man fell. Contradiction there is none.
Another fundamental of Christianity which Evolution is said to contradict is the doctrine of the Incarnation. The doctrine of the Incarnation is, as you are aware, that once in the ages a divine nature was united with a human nature. When I hear that on the theory of Evolution this is impossible, I confess myself lost in astonishment The supposition of those who urge this objection must be that Evolution claims to be the parent of all that is or ever has been. But on that supposition Evolution contradicts much more than the doctrine of the Incarnation. It contradicts, amongst there things, the doctrine that there is such a town as Dunedin. On the supposition of this objection it can be shown that the existence of Dunedin is a philosophical impossibility. Evolution never quarried stone, nor moulded bricks, nor hewed timber, nor built houses. And yet somehow the city of Dunedin has come into being. Evolution did not write Macbeth or the Tempest. Evolution never chiselled a statue, nor painted a picture, nor built a bridge or a railway, nor preached a sermon, nor delivered a lecture. These are the products of living human will coming down upon the stream of natural causes and effects, and varying them in ten thousand different ways. And it the human will may thus enter as a factor, varying indefinitely the natural evolutionary series, a fortiori may the dwine. The doctrine of the Incarnation must stand or fall upon its own merits. It will neither be harmed nor helped by the doctrine of Evolution.
A third fundamental of Christianity that is endangered is, we hear, the doctrine of Immortality. Why immortality should be less credible on the evolutionist theory of Creation than on any other I confess myself quite unable to see. This objection, like the one last considered, is good only as against the Atheist, and should be addressed to him in his quality of Atheist. It is good only against those who believe that if Evolution does not make man immortal there is no other Power that will or can. For my part, I believe in such a Power, and hence, whatever man's origin, can believe in Immortality. I said on a recent public occasion that the doctrine of Evolution helps our belief in immortality, and to that statement I adhere. Looking at the depths from which God has brought man, no height to which he may propose to raise him seems incredible.
My task is near its close. I have briefly sketched the doctrine of Evolution, have shown you that it does not degrade man, that it
One of the darkest problems of nature, on any scheme of theology, is the prevalence of pain and death amongst the lower creatures. For incalculable ages past there has not been a moment in which the atmosphere of this planet has not vibrated to the death cry of sonic creature of God's in the clutch of its destroyer. From the dawn of life upon its surface till now, the earth has been a vast slaughter-house. Theology has been able to give no satisfactory explanation of these facts. Paley, who has treated them at some length, has nothing better to say than this; that it is an advantage to an animal to be devoured in its prime, as it saves it from the misery of dying of disease or old age. We feel that this explantation leaves the difficulty just where it was, and that still one of the hardest demands upon our faith is—
You have seen probably—and have wondered to see—a cat torturing a mouse. In one instance, which recently came within my own knowledge, a cat protracted for four hours the luxury of torturing a captured rat, before giving the death-stroke In view of these and similar tragedies of brute-life we do not wonder at the question of the half-mad poet and painter Blake—a man mad by excess rather than deficiency of wit—in his "Apostrophe to the Tiger,"—
A most pertinent question! the type of a thousand which will spring in the heart of a man who has eyes to see what is going on in the world of creatures below him. The only ray of light which, so far as I know, has ever been thrown on this dark subject comes from the Evolutionary doctrine of Natural Selection. That doctrine shows us how, by making the conditions of life
why the Creator has chosen this means to his end, but at least it shows us that He has an end and what that end is; and so we are helped to believe "that nothing walks with aimless feet;"—
Similar considerations will help us to understand the liability to accident and disease which is laid upon us all. This happens under the general law which is meant to secure the suppression of weaker and maintenance of stronger forms. The tendency of theology has been to refer the incidence of this law in each particular case to a special Divine intention, to assume that the burning of the "Cospatrick," for instance, was due to a Divine volition, or when a careless nurse lets fall a child, and the fall results in hip-disease and life-long misery—as I saw in the case of a young woman the other day—that that accident, again, was due to a Divine volition. We have all felt the strain which is put upon our faith in the Divine wisdom and benevolence by these representations. It is better to sac in such cases the examples of a general law under which the conditions of life are made hard—first, in the interest of the physical type itself, and next, for " the irritation and development of the human intellect"—as De Qaincey puts it—in avoiding the causes of these ills and devising the remedies for them. I do not insist here upon the moral ends in view. Christianity can turn even these physical evils to account in carrying on a spiritual discipline, and in true harmony with Evolution insists, "that life is not as idle ore,"—
And when Evolution reminds man of his lowly origin, of his affinity with the creatures beneath him, of his liability, under the
Mills, Dick, and Co., Printers, Dunedin.
"The old order changeth; yielding Owe to new,"
Having been absent for two years from New Zealand, during which period I have travelled through a considerable part of Europe and the United States, I am concerned to find, on my return, that none of my reading friends have hitherto had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the opinions of Professor Huxley in support of the doctrine of Evolution, uttered in New York after his discovery of some of the missing links in the chain of the Evolution of the modern horse, of which the Professor thus speaks in his Buffalo address:—"It is commonly said there are no antiquities in America, and you have to come to the Old World to see the past, That may be, so far as regards the trumpery 3000 or 4000 years of human history. But in the larger sense, referring to the times before man made his momentary appearance on the Globe, America is the country to study antiquity. I confess that the reality has somewhat exceeded my expectations, It was my great good fortune to study in New Haven the excellent collection of my good friend Professor Marsh. There does not exist in Europe anything approaching it as regards extent, and the geological time it covers, and the wonderful light it throws on the problem of Evolution, which has been so ably discussed before you by Professor Morse, and which has occupied so much attention since Darwin's great work on species. Before the gathering of such materials as those to which I have referred, Evolution was more a matter of speculation and argument, though we who adhered to the doctrine had good grounds for our belief, Now things are changed, and it has become a matter of fact and history as much as the monuments of Egypt. In that collection are the facts of the succession of forms and the history of their evolution. All that now remains to be asked is, how the development was effected? and that is a subordinate question."
Nearly all the great naturalists, comparative anatomists., and men of science in England, Europe, and America, have yielded to the overwhelming weight of evidence in favour of the doctrine of Evolution, and it is therefore painful for me on my return to the Colony to find a worthy Clergyman in Dunedin in process of being ostracised by a number of well-meaning, but very imperfectly informed people, because he held, or was the exponent of, the truth of a doctrine which is now held to be proved to demonstration by such men as Helmholtz and Büchner, in Europe; Darwin, Wallace, Huxley, Tyndall, and a host of others, in England; and such men as Professors Morse, Marsh, Grote, and Wyman, in America.
The opposition to the doctrine of Evolution proceeds principally from uninformed people of strong prejudice, or from the Clergy of different sects who fear (in some instances no doubt) that their craft is in danger. At one time it was rank heresy to talk of the antiquity of man in any other than the old theological sense;" but now
"But the question of the mere 'antiquity of man' almost sank into insignificance at a very early period of the inquiry, in comparison with the far more momentous and more exciting problem of the development of man from some lower animal form, which the theories of Mr. Darwin and of Mr. Herbert Spencer soon showed to be inseparably bound up with it. This has been, and to sonic extent still is, the subject of fierce conflict; but the controversy as to the fact of such development is now almost at an end, since one of the most talented representatives of Catholic theology, and an anatomist of high standing—Professor St. George Mivart—fully adopts it as regards physical structure, reserving his opposition for those parts of the theory which would deduce man's whole intellectual and moral nature from the same source, and by a similar mode of development." (Sec Mr. Alfred R. Wallace's opening address as President of the Biological Section of the British Association for the advancement of science, delivered in Glasgow last year.)
Notwithstanding the general acceptance of the theory of the antiquity of man, and of other theories differing from old theological dogmas once considered vital to the faith, we find as much need for clergymen as ever. The necessity for teachers of religion and morals will be practically eternal. The world cannot get on without them, so long as there are weak souls requiring enlightenment and consolation. The teacher of Christ's morality will have a mission co-extensive with the duration of truth and time, so that whatever may happen to supernatural theories and beliefs, in their contact with scientific discovery, the teacher of moral truth is likely to have a long tenure of his office.
I heard a minister of the true blue persuasion the other day denouncing Darwinism in unmeasured and preposterous terms. I could see he was ignorant of the first principles enunciated by the Great Master, so I asked him if he had read any of Darwin's works. He had to confess that he had not; but he added, in a forcible manner, "I have seen his photograph, and that was enough for me! The moment I saw his photograph I could read the man through and through. He is as like a monkey as possible. I don't require to read the works of a man like that." It makes one miserable to meet with teachers of this description, and in the hope that their number rosy be speedily lessened, I commend the following utterances of Professor Huxley to their earnest attention.
The stay of Professor Thomas H. Huxley in this country has been necessarily brief. His engagement for a course of lectures before the Royal School of Mines requires his return to England by Oct. 1. But short as has been his stay with us, it has afforded several opportunities for hearing him—more, in fact, than were hoped for when the visit was first projected. It has also been of marked service to science in this country, by calling public attention to the value of our geological treasures. Soon after his arrival, Professor Huxley went to New Haven, and there spent several days in a careful examination and study of the fossils from the West, which have been obtained by Professor Marsh in expeditions already familiar to Tribune readers. These fossils have a peculiar value. They show that in past periods animals existed whose forms were intermediate between those already known. Not only are the gaps between species thus filled, but the new forms are found in the rocks in a regular order of progression. To Professor Huxley, a firm believer in and advocate of the theory of Evolution, these discoveries of Professor Marsh were of the highest interest. Nothing short of his own personal examination of the specimens would probably have satisfied so careful an observer as Professor Huxley. Having made that examination, he declares that "the reality very far exceeded his anticipation." He regards this new series of facts as establishing the theory of Evolution upon an impregnable basis. To make these facts public, and to display their importance as affording data for earth's history, were among the chief objects of his lectures in New York.
In person Professor Huxley is rather above the medium height; of large frame, but spare. He sloops slightly, as if habitually engaged in thought. His features are prominent, and bear an expression of energy in repose. His hair and whiskers are iron gray. He speaks without manuscript or notes of any kind, and never prepares the phraseology of his addresses in advance of their delivery. His manner of speaking Is quite simple and straightforward, with none of the gestures or arts of oratory. His delivery is slow and distinct, being the result of a hard and successful effort in the early part of his career to break off a previous habit of rapid speaking.
The Problem of the World's Origin—Three Hypotheses to Account for it—the Hypothesis of its Eternal Existence, the Miltonic Hypothesis; and the Hypothesis of Evolution—Testimonial Evidence Impossible; Circumstantial Evidence of the Highest Value—Geological Proof that the First and Second Hypotheses are Untenable.
To say that a crowded audience greeted Professor Thomas H. Huxley at Chickering Hall on the night of September 18, is to do injustice to the fact. The entrance was thronged at an early hour, and the only consolation of the people who were jammed together in front of the ticket office was that it was a highly respectable crush. Large numbers had evidently deferred the purchase of tickets until the last moment. The trouble was not ended when, after undergoing the last extremity of squeezing, the ticket office was reached and the purchase made. It was quite as difficult to get out from the crowd below as it was to get into it. Not a few agile gentlemen took the alternative of climbing up the sides of the stairs to join the happier throng that they had been long envying—the people that had bought their tickets in advance and had nothing to do but to ascend to the hall.
Within, every seat seemed to be taken before the lecture began, the few vacancies were filled during the first ten minutes afterward, and "wall-flowers" were packed standing behind the seats. The hall was full of familiar faces; of men eminent in the learned professions; of New York's best society. Punctual to the very minute Professor Huxley Came forward upon the platform, and was of course treated with abundant applause. He laid a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost upon the reading desk; nothing else, neither manuscript nor notes. He leaned forward slightly over the desk and began speaking in measured words and with a low tone of voice. Except sometimes to grasp the desk with both hands and lean over it more intently, he did not vary his position or make use of gestures during the lecture.
At first, Professor Huxley was not distinctly heard by the entire audience, but after the noise made by people entering had subsided, there was less difficulty in this respect. He was listened to with the closest attention throughout, and the perfect silence of the audience, except at rare intervals when applause was called forth, gave striking evidence of the interest that was taken, notwithstanding the closeness of the argument and the absence of popular features in the discourse.
Ladies and Gentlemen—We live in and form a part of a system of things of immense diversity and perplexity which we call Nature, and it is a matter of the deepest interest to all of us that we should form just conceptions of the constitution of that system and of its past history. With relation to this Universe, man is in extent little more than a mathematical point, in duration but a fleeting shadow. He is arced shaken in the winds of force; but, as Pascal long ago remarked, although a reed, he is a thinking reed, and, in virtue of that wonderful capacity of thought, he has a power of framing to himself a symbolic conception of the Universe, which, although doubtless highly imperfect, and although wholly inadequate as a picture of that great Whole, yet is sufficient to serve him as a guide-book in his practical affairs. It has taken long, indeed, and accumulations of often fruitless labour, to enable man to look steadly at the glaring phantasmagoria of Nature, to notice her fluctuations, and what is regular among her apparent irregularities; and it is only comparatively lately, within the last few centuries, that t here has emerged the conception of a pervading order and a definite force of things, which we term the course of Nature.
But out of this contemplation of Nature, and out of man's thoughts concerning her, there has in these later times arisen that conception of the constancy of Nature to which I have referred, and that at length has become the guiding conception of modern thought. It has ceased to be almost conceivable to any person who has paid attention to modern thought, that chance should have any place in the Universe, or that events should follow anything but the not twat order of cause and effect. We have come to look upon the present as the child of the past and as the parent of the future; and as we have excluded chance from any share or part in the order of things, so in the present order of Nature men have come to neglect, even as a possibility, the notion of any interference with that order; and whatever may be men's speculative notions upon these points, it is quite certain t hat every intelligent person guides his life and risks his fortune upon the belief that the order of Nature is constant, and the relation of cause to effect unchanged.
In fact, there is no belief which we entertain which has so complete a logical basin as that to which I have just referred. It underlies tacitly every process of reasoning; it is the foundation of every act of the will. It is based upon the broadest induction, and h is verified by the most constant, regular, and universal of inductive processes. We must recollect that any human belief, however broad its basis, however defensible it may seem, is, after all, only a probable belief, and that our broadest generalizations are simply the highest degrees of probability. Though we
I will, if you please, in the first place, state to you what are the views which have been entertained respecting the order of Nature in the past, and then I will consider what evidence is in our possession bearing upon the question, and by what light of criticism that evidence is to be interpreted. So far as I know, there are only three views—three hypotheses—which ever have been entertained, or which well can be entertained, respecting the past history of Nature.
Upon the first of these the assumption is that the order of Nature which now obtains has always obtained; in other words, that the present course of Nature, the present order of things, has existed from all eternity. The second hypothesis is that the present state of things, the present order of Nature, has had only a limited duration, and that at some period in the past the state of things which we now know—substantially, though not of course in all its details the state of things which we now know—arose and came into existence without any precedent similar condition from which it could have proceeded. The third hypothesis also assumes that the present order of Nature has had but a limited duration, but it supposes that the present order of things proceeded by a natural process from an antecedent order, and that from another antecedent order, and so on; and that on this hypothesis the attempt to fix any limit at which we could assign the commencement of this series of changes is given up. I am very anxious that you shall realize what these three hypotheses actually mean; that is to say, what they involve, if you can imagine a spectator to have been present during the period to which they refer. On the first hypothesis, however far back in time you place that spectator, he would have seen a world, essentially similar, though not perhaps in all its details, to that which now exists. The animals which existed would be the ancestors of those which now exist, and like them; the plants in like manner would be such as we have now, and like them; and the supposition is that at however distant a period of time you place your observer, he would still find mountains, lands, and waters, with animal and vegetable products flourishing upon them and sporting in them just as he finds now. That view has been held. It was a favourite fancy of antiquity, and has survived along down towards the present day, and it is worthy of remark that it is a hypothesis which is not inconsistent with what geologists are familiar with as the doctrine of Uniformitarianism. That doctrine was held by Hutton, and in his earlier days by Lyell. For Hutton was struck by the demonstration of astronomers that the perturbations of the planetary bodies, however great they may be, yet sooner or later righted themselves, and that the solar system contained within itself a self-adjusting power by which these aberrations were cured and it brought back to an equilibrium
Hutton imagined that something of the same kind may go on in the earth, although no one recognised more clearly than he the fact that the dry land is being constantly washed down by rain and rivers and deposited in the sea, and that thus in a certain length of time, greater or shorter, the inequalities of the earth's surface must be levelled and its high lands brought down to the sea. Then, taking in account the internal forces of Nature, by which upheavals become seated and give
The second hypothesis is that to which I have referred as the hypothesis which supposes that this order of things had at some no very remote time a sudden origin making it such as it now is. That is the doctrine which you will find stated most fully and clearly in the immortal poem of John Milton, the English Divina Commedia, "Paradise Lost." I believe it is alone through the influence of that remarkable work, combined with daily teachings to which we have all listened in our childhood, that this hypothesis owes its general wide diffusion as one of the current beliefs of English-speaking people. If you turn to the VIIth book of "Paradise Lost," you will find there stated the theory, the hypothesis to which I refer, which is this: That this visible Universe of ours made its appearance at no great distance of time from the present day, and that the parts of which it is composed made their appearance in a certain definite order in the space of six natural days, in such a manner that in the first of these days light appeared; in the second, the firmament or sky separated the water above from the water beneath it; on the third day the waters drew away from the dry land, and from it the vast vegetable life which now exists made its appearance; that the fourth day was devoted to the apparition of the sun, the stars, the moon, and the planets; that on the fifth day aquatic animals originated within the waters; and then on the sixth day the earth gave rise to our four-footed terrestrial creatures and to all varieties of terrestrial animals except birds, which had appeared on the preceding day; and finally, man appeared upon the earth, and the work of fashioning the Universe was finished. John Milton, as I have said, leaves no doubt whatever as to how, in his judgment, these marvellous processes occurred. I doubt not that his immortal poem is familiar to all of you, but I should like to recall one passage to your minds, in order that I may be justified in what I shall have to say. Regarding the perfectly concrete, definite conception which Milton had of what he thought had been the mode of origin of the animal world, he says:—
There is no doubt as to the meaning of that hypothesis, or as to what a man of Milton's genius expected would have been actually visible to one who could know and witness the process, the origination of living things as he describes it.
And then comes the third hypothesis, which is the hypothesis of Evolution, and that supposes that at any given period in the past we should meet with a state of things more or less similar to the present, but less similar in proportion as we go back in time; that the physical form of the earth could be traced back in this way to a condition in which its parts were separated, as little more than & nebulous cloud making part of a whole in which we find the sun and the other planetary bodies also resolved; and that if we traced back the animal world and the vegetable world, we should find preceding what now exist animals and plants not identical with them, but like them, only increasing their differences as we go back in time, and at the same time becoming simpler and simpler, until finally we should arrive at that gelatinous mass which, so far as our present knowledge goes, is the common foundation of all life. The tendency of science is to justify the speculation that that also could be traced further back, perhaps to the general nebulous origin of matter.
The hypothesis of Evolution supposes that in all this vast progression there would be no breach of continuity, no point at which we could say "this is a natural process," and "this is not a natural process," but that the whole might be strictly compared to that wonderful series of changes which may be seen going on every day under our eye, in virtue of which there arises out of that semi-fluid, homogeneous substance which we call an egg, the complicated organisation of one of the higher animals. That, in a few words, is what is meant by the hypothesis of Evolution.
I have already suggested that in dealing with these three hypotheses, endeavouring to form a judgment as to which of them is the more worthy of belief, or whether none is worthy of belief, our condition of mind should be that suspension of judgment which is so difficult to all but trained minds—I have suggested that in dealing with these questions we should be indifferent to all a priori considerations. The question is a question of fact, historical fact. The Universe has come into existence somehow or other, and the question is whether it came into existence in one fashion, or whether it came into existence in another; and as the essential preliminary to this consideration, permit me to say two or three words as to the nature of' historical evidence, and the kinds of historical evidence. The evidence as to the occurrence of any fact in past time is of one or two kinds, which for convenience sake, I will speak of on the one hand as testimonial evidence, and on the other as circumstantial evidence. By testimonial evidence, I mean human testimony; and by circumstantial evidence, I mean evidence which is not human testimony. Let me illustrate by a familiar figure what I mean by these two kinds of evidence, and what is to be said respecting their value.
Suppose that a man tells you that he saw a person strike another and kill him; that is testimonial evidence of the fact of murder. But it is possible to have circumstantial evidence of the fact of murder. That is to say, you may find a man dying with a wound upon his head having exactly the form and character of the wound which is made by an axe, and with due precaution you may conclude with the utmost certainty that the man has been murdered—is dying in consequence of the violence inflicted by that implement. We are very much in the habit of considering circumstantial evidence as of less value than testimonial evidence, and it may be in many eases where the circumstances are not perfectly clear and perfectly intelligible that it is a dangerous and uncertain kind of evidence; but it must not be forgotten that in many cases it is quite as good as testimonial evidence, and that in many eases it is a great deal better than testimonial evidence. For example, take the case to which I referred just now. The circumstantial evidence is better and more convincing than the testimonial evidence, foe it is impossible under the circumstances that I have mentioned to suppose that
Now we must turn to our three hypotheses. Let me first direct your attention to what is to be said about the hypothesis of the eternity of this state of thins in which we now are. What will first strike you is that that is a hypothesis which, whether true or false, is not capable of verification by evidence; for in order to secure testimony to an eternity of duration you must have a eternity of witnesses or an infinity of circumstances, and neither of these are attainable, It is utterly impossible that such evidence should be carried beyond a certain point of time, and all that could be said at most would be that there was nothing to contradict the hypothesis. But when you look, not to the testimonial evidence—which might not be good for much in this case—but to the circumstantial evidence, then you find that this hypothesis is absolutely incompatible with that circumstantial evidence, and the latter is of so plain and so simple a character that it is impossible in any way to escape from the conclusions which it forces upon us.
You are, in fact, all aware that the crust of the earth, the superficial part of the earth, is not of a homogeneous character, but that it is made up of a number of beds of strata, the titles of the principal groups of which are placed upon that diagram—beds of sand, beds of stone, beds of clay, of slate, of granite, and various other materials.
On further examination it is found that these beds of solid material are of exactly the same nature as those which are at present being formed under known conditions of the surface of the earth: that that chalk, for example, which forms a great part of the cretaceous formation in some parts of the world, that that chalk is identical in its physical and chemical characters, or practically so, with a substance which is now being formed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and covers an enormous area; that other bodies of rock are comparable with the sands which are being formed upon sea-shores, packed together, and so on. Thus it comes to be certain that each of these bodies of rock, of which a total of not less than 70,000 feet is known, that all these have been deposited and formed by natural agencies, either out of the waste and washing of the dry land, or else as the product of plants and animals. Now, these rocks or strata are full of the remains of animals and plants. Countless thousands of species of animals and plants as perfectly recognizable as those which you meet with in herbaria of the present day, as the shells and remains which you pick up upon the beach—countless thousands of species of these creatures have been imbedded in the sand or mud or limestone, just as they arc being imbedded now. They furnish us with a record which cannot be subject to any misinterpretation, looking at it broadly, as to the kinds of things that have lived upon the surface of the earth during the time that is registered by this great thickness of stratified rock. The most superficial study of these remains shows us that the animals and plants which live at the present time have had only a temporary duration; that you will find them and such as they are for the most part only in that upper most strata here called post-tertiary. As you go back in time they become scantier, their places are taken by other forms more diversified, and in the Jurassic and triassic you find yet others, different from the cretaceous or tertiary, and from those of the present day, and so on as you go further and further back. Why, then, the circumstantial evidence absolutely negatives the conception of the eternity of the present condition of things. We Cat say with certainty that such has not been the course of Nature. We can say with certainty that the present condition of things has been for a comparatively short period, and that so far as animal and vegetable nature are concerned, that that has been preceded by a different condition of things. We can pursue this fact until we come to the lowest of stratified rocks, in which we lose the indications of life totally. The hypothesis of the eternity of the present condition of things may therefore be put out of court altogether.
We now come to what I would call Milton's Hypothesis—the hypothesis that the present condition of things has endured for a comparatively moderate time, and at the commencement of that time came into existence within the course of six days. I doubt not that it may have excited some surprise in your mind that I should have spoken of this as Milton's hypothesis, rather than that I should choose the terms which are much more familiar to you, such as "the doctrine of creation," or "the Biblical doctrine," or "the doctrine of Moses," all of which terms as applied to the hypothesis to which I have just referred, are certainly much more familiar to you than the title of the Miltonic hypothesis. But I have had, what I cannot but think are very weighty reasons for taking the course which I have pursued. For example, I have discarded the title of the hypothesis of creation, because my present business is not with the question as to how Nature has originated, as to the causes which have lead to her origination, but as to the manner and order of her origination. Our present inquiry is not why the objects which constitute Nature came into existence, but when they came into existence, aud in what order. This is a strictly historical
In the second place, I have not spoken of it as the Biblical hypothesis. It is quite true that persons as diverse in their general views as Milton the Protestant, and the Jesuit Father Suarez, agree in giving the 1st chapter of Genesis the interpretation as adopted by Milton. It is quite true that that interpretation, unless I mistake, is that which has been instilled into every one of us in our childhood; but I do not for one moment venture to say that it could properly be called the Biblical doctrine. In the first place, it is not my business to say what the Hebrew text contains, and what it does not; and in the second place, were I to say that this was the Biblical hypothesis, I should be met by the authority of many eminent scholars, to say nothing of men of science, who in recent times have absolutely denied that this doctrine is to be found in Genesis at all. If we are to listen to them, we must believe that what seem so clearly defined as days of creation—as if very great pains had been taken that there should be no mistake—that these are not days at all, but periods that we may make just as long as convenience requires. We are also to understand that it is consistent with that phraseology to believe that plants and animals may have been evolved by natural processes, lasting for millions of years, out of similar rudiments. A person who is not a Hebrew scholar can only stand by and admire the marvellous flexibility of a language which admits of such diverse interpretations. (Applause and laughter.)
Assuredly in the face of such contradictory authority upon matters upon which one is competent to form no judgment, he will abstain from giving any opinion, as I do; and in the third place, I have carefully abstained from speaking of this as a Mosaic doctrine, became we are now assured upon the authority of the highest critics, and even of dignitaries in the church, that there is no evidence whatever that Moses ever wrote this chapter, or knew anything about it. I don't say—I give no opinion—it would be an impertinence on my part to volunteer an opinion upon such subject. But that being the state of opinion among the scholars and clergy, it is well for us the laity, who stand outside, to avoid entangling ourselves in such a vexed question. So, as there is a doubt, and as happily Milton leaves us no conceivable ambiguity as to what he means, I will continue to speak of it as the Miltonian hypothesis. (Applause.)
Now then we have to test that hypothesis. For my part I have no prejudice one way or the other. If there is evidence in favour of this view, I have no sort of theoretical difficulties in the way of accepting it, but there must be evidence. We men of science get an awkward habit—no I won't call it that, for it is a valuable habit—of reasoning, so that we believe nothing unless there is evidence for it, and we have a way of looking upon belief which is not based upon evidence not only as illogical, but as immoral. We will, if you phase, test this view in the light of facts, for by what. I have said you will understand that I don't propose to discuss the question of what testimonial evidence is to be adduced in favour of this view. If those, whose business it is to judge, are not united as to the authenticity of the document or the fact as to who it is bears witness, the discussion of testimonial evidence is superfluous. But one regards this less because the circumstantial evidence, if carefully considered, brings him to the conclusion that the theory is inadequate altogether, and cannot be adduced. And the considerations upon which I base that conclusion are of the simplest possible character. Whatever the liability of interpretation of Milton's views, it is quite impossible to deny that the kernel of the whole matter is a
If there were any parallel between the Miltonic account and the circumstantial evidence, we ought to have abundant evidence in the devonian, the silurian, and the carboniferous rocks. I need not tell you that this is not the ease, and that not a trace of birds makes its appearance until the far later period which I have mentioned.
And again, if it be true that all varieties of fishes and the great whales and the like, made their appearance on the fifth day, then we ought to find the remains of these things in the older rocks—in those which preceded the carboniferous epoch. Fishes, it is true, we find, and numerous ones; but the great whales are absent, and the fishes are not such as now live. Not one solitary species of fish now in existence is to be found there, and hence you are introduced again to the difficulty, to the dilemma, that either the creatures which were created then, which came into existence the sixth day, were not those which are found at present, or are not the direct and immediate predecessors of those which now exist; but in that ease you must either have had a fresh species of which nothing has been said, or else the whole story must be given up as absolutely devoid of any circumstantial evidence.
I have grouped before you in a few words, some little time ago, a statement of the sum and substance of Milton's hypothesis. Let me try now to put before you, in a few words, the sum and substance of the circumstantial evidence as to the past history of the earth, which is written without the possibility of mistake, with no chance of error in the stratified rocks. What we find is, that that great series of formations represents a period of time of which our human chronologies hardly afford use unit of measure. I will not pretend to say how we ought to measure this time, in millions or in billions of years. Happily for my purpose and my argument that is wholly unessential. But that the time was enormous, was vast, there is no sort of question.
We find written upon this record, and as resulting from the simplest methods of interpretation, the conviction that all that is now dry land has once been at the bottom of the waters. If I leave out of view certain patches of metamorphosed rocks, certain volcanic products, it is perfectly certain that at a comparatively recent period of the world's history, that epoch which is written. On the chart as the cretaceous epoch—it is perfectly certain that at that time, none of the great physical features which at present mark the surface of the Globe existed. It is certain Unit the Rocky Mountains were not. It is certain t hat the Himalaya Mountains were not. It is certain that the Alps and the Pyrenees had no existence. The evidence of the simplest possible character is simply this:—We find raised up on the crags of these mountains, elevated by the forces of upheaval which have given rise to them, masses of cretaceous rock which formed the bottom of the sea before those mountains existed. It is, therefore, perfectly clear, that the elementary forces which gave rise to those mountains are subsequent to the cretaceous epoch; that the mountains themselves are largely made up of the materials deposited in the sea, which once occupied their place. We meet as we go back in time with constant alternations of sea and land, of estuary and open ocean, and in correspondence with these alterations, we meet with changes in the fauna and flora of the kind I have stated.
But none of these gives us any right to believe, no inspection of these changes gives us the slightest right to believe, that there has been any discontinuity in natural processes. There is no trace of cataclysm, of great sweeping deluge, of sudden destruction of organic life. The appearances which were formerly interpreted in that way have all been shown to be delusive as our knowledge has increased and as the blanks between the different formations have been filled up. It can now be shown that there is no absolute break between formation and formation, that there has been no sudden disappearance of all the forms of life at one time and replacement by another, but that everything has gone on slowly and gradually, that one form has died out and another has taken its place, and that thus by slow degrees one fauna has been replaced by another. So that within the whole of the immense period indicated by these stratified rocks, there is assuredly—leaving Evolution out of the question altogether—not the slightest trace of any break in the uniformity of Nature's operations, not a shadow of indication that events have followed in other than their natural and orderly sequence.
That, I say, is the most natural teaching of the circumstantial evidence contained in the stratified rock. I leave you to consider how far by any ingenuity of interpretation, by any stretching of the meaning of language, this evidence can be brought into the smallest similarity with that view which I have put before yon as the Miltonic doctrine.
There remains the third hypothesis—what I have spoken of as the hypothesis of Evolution; and I propose that in lectures to come we shall consider that as carefully as we have considered the other two hypothesis. I need not tray that it is quite hopeless to look for testimonial evidence of Evolution. The very nature of the case precludes the possibility of such evidence. Our important inquiry is, what foundation circumstantial evidence lends to that hypothesis, or whether it lends any, or whether it controverts it; and I shall deal with the matter entirely as a question of history. I shall not indulge in the discussion of any speculative probabilities. I shall not attempt to show that Nature is unintelligible unless we adopt some such hypothesis—for anything I know about it it is the nature of Nature. She has often been puzzling, and I have no reason to suppose she is bound to fit herself to our notions: hut I shall deal with the matter entirely from the point of view of history, and I shall place before you three kinds of evidence entirely based upon what we know of the forms of animal life which are contained in the series of stratified rock. I shall endeavour to show you that there is one kind of evidence which is neutral, which neither helps Evolution nor is inconsistent with it, I shall then endeavour to show you that there is a second kind of evidence which indicates a strong probability in favour of Evolution but does not prove it; and, lastly, I shall endeavour to show that there is a third kind of evidence which, being as complete as any evidence which we can hope to obtain upon such a subject, and being wholly and entirely in favor of Evolution, may be fairly called demonstrative evidence of its having occurred.
But these matters, ladies and gentlemen, I propose to deal with in the next two lectures.
Three Classes of Evidence Bearing on the Point—Meaning of the Fact that Certain Very Ancient Species have not Changed—Probability of Gafs in the History as Shown by Fossils—Certain Gaps Filled by the Discoveries of Prof. Marsh—Birds that have Teeth—Animals Half Way Between Birds and Reptiles.
Prof. Huxley's experience in his first lecture, at Chickering Hall of the difficulty of making himself heard while the people were entering and finding their seats, was doubtless the occasion of his delay of ten minutes on the evening of Sept. 20 in coming on the stage. When he entered, nearly every seat was occupied.
Behind the speaker a large frame had been provided, on which were hung diagrams illustrative of the subjects to be treated in the lecture. These diagrams had been prepared with great care and accuracy under the supervision of Prof. Marsh, and they were so plainly lettered that there could be no possibility of mistaking their titles. Several of these diagrams illustrate Prof. Marsh's most recent discoveries, and will be quite new to the general public. The engravings will give a fair notion of the drawings.
Ladies and Gentlemen—In my lecture on Monday night I pointed out to you that there are three hypotheses which may be entertained, and which have been entertained, respecting the past history of life upon the Globe. According to the first of these hypothesis, life, such as we now know it, has existed from all eternity upon this earth. We tested that hypothesis by the circumstantial evidence, as I called it, which is furnished by the fossil remains contained in the earth's crust, and we found that it was obviously untenable. I then proceeded to consider the second hypothesis, which I termed the Miltonic hypothesis, not because it is of any particular consequence to me whether John Milton seriously entertained it or not, but because it is stated in a clear and unmistakable manner in his great poem. I pointed out to you that the evidence at our command as completely and fully negatives that hypothesis as it did the preceding one. And I confess that I had too much respect for your intelligence to think it necessary to add that that negation was equally strong and equally valid whatever the source front which that hypothesis might be derived, or whatever the authority it might be supported by.
I further stated, that according to the hypothesis of Evolution the existing state of things was at the last term of a long series of antecedent states, which, when traced back, would be found to show no interruption and no breach of continuity. I propose in this and a following lecture to show that, no less rigorously, by the evidence at command, and to inquire how far that evidence could be said to be indifferent to it, how far it could be said to be favourable to it, and finally, how far it could be said to be demonstrative. From almost the origin of these discussions upon the existing condition—and the causes which have led to it—of the animal and vegetable world, an argument has been put forward as an objection to Evolution, which we shall have to consider very seriously. I think that that argument was first clearly stated by Curier in his opposition to the doctrines propounded by his great contemporary, Lamarck. At that time the French expedition to Egypt had called the attention of learned men to the wonderful stores of antiquities in that country, and there had been brought back to France numerous mummified corpses of animals which the ancient Egyptians revered and preserved, the date of which at a reasonable computation—a computation, I may say, which has been verified by all subsequent researches—cannot be placed at less than 3,000 or 9,000 years before the time at which they were thus brought to light. Cuvier endeavoured to ascertain by a very just and proper method what foundation there was for the belief in a gradual and progressive change of animals, by comparing the skeletons and all accessible parts of these animals, such as crocodiles, birds, dogs, cats, and the like, with those which are now found living in Egypt, and he came to the conclusion—a conclusion which has been verified by all subsequent research—that no appreciable change had taken place in the animals which inhabited Egypt. And he drew thence the conclusion, and a hasty one, that the evidence of such fact was altogether against the doctrine of Evolution.
The progress of research since Curler's time has furnished far stronger cases than those which he drew from the mummified bodies of Egyptian animals. A remarkable case is to be found in your own country, in the neighborhood of the magnificent Falls of Niagara. In the immediate vicinity of the whirlpool, and again upon Goat Island, in the superficial deposits which cover the surface of the soil of the rook in those regions, there are found remains of animals in perfect preservation—shells belonging to exactly the same forms as at present inhabit the still waters of Lake Erie.
More than that. At the very bottom of the Silurian series, in what is by some authorities termed the Cambrian formation, where all signs appear to be dying out—even there, among the few and scanty animal remains which exist, we find species of molluscous animals which are so closely allied to existing forms that at one time they were grouped under the same generic name. I refer to the well-known Lingula of the Lingula flags. It was subsequently, in consequence of some slight differences, placed in the new genus Lingulella. Practically it belongs to the same great generic group as the Lingula, which you will find at the present day upon the shores of Australia. And the same thing is exemplified if we turn to certain great periods of the earth's
Ichthyosauria and the Plesiosauria, and they abound in vast numbers. They disappear with the chalk, and throughout the whole of that great series of rock they present no important modification. Facts of this kind are undoubtedly fatal to any form of the doctrine of Evolution which necessitates the supposition that there is an intrinsic necessity on the part of animal forms which once come into existence to undergo modification; and they arc still more distinctly opposed to any view which should lead to the belief that the modification in different types of animal or vegetable life goes on equally and evenly. The facts, as I have placed them before you, would obviously contradict directly any such form of the hypothesis of Evolution as laid down in these two postulates.
Now the service that has been rendered by Mr. Darwin to the doctrine of Evolution in general is this: that he has shown that there are two great factors in the process of Evolution, and one of them is the tendency to vary, the existence of which may be proved by observation in all living forms; the other is the influence of surrounding conditions upon what I may call the parent form, and the variations which are thus evolved from it. The cause of that production of variations is a matter not at all properly understood at present. Whether it depends upon some intricate machinery—if I may use the phrase—of the animal form itself, or whether it arises through the influence of conditions upon that form, is not certain, and the question may for the present be left open. But the important point is the tendency to the production of variations; then whether those variations shall survive and supplant the parent, or whether the parent form shall survive and supplant the variations, is a matter which depends entirely on surrounding conditions. If the surrounding conditions are such that the parent form is more competent to deal with them and flourish in them than the derived forms, then in the struggle for existence the parent form will maintain itself and the derived forms will be exterminated. But if, on the contrary, the conditions are such as to be better for the derived than for the parent form, the parent form will be extirpated and the derived form will take its place.
In the first case there will be no progression, no advance of type, through any imaginable series of ages; in the second place, there will be modification and change of form, and thus we see that the immense amount of evidence brought to show that things do in this way take place in Nature, puts us in such a place that the existence of these persistent types of life is no obstacle in the way of the theory of Evolution at all. Take the case of these scorpions to which I have just referred. No doubt since the carboniferous epoch conditions have existed such as existed then when scorpions flourished, in which they find themselves better off, more competent to deal with the difficulties in their way than any kind of variation from the scorpion type and for that reason the scorpion has persisted and has not been supplanted by any other form. And there is no reason in the nature of things why, as long as this world exists, if there be conditions more favourable to scorpions than any variation which may arise from them, these forms of life should not persist.
Therefore, this objection is no objection at all. The facts of this character—and they are numerous—belong to that class of evidence which I have called indifferent. That is to say, they may be no direct support to the doctrine of Evolution, but they are perfectly capable of being interpreted in consistency with it. There is another order of facts of the same kind, and susceptible of the same interpretation. The great group of Lizards, which abound so much at the present day, extends through the whole series of formations as far back as what is called the Permian epoch, which is represented by the strata lying just above the coal. These Permian lizards differ astonishingly little—in some respects—from the lizards which exist at the present day. Comparing the amount of difference between these Permian lizards and the lizards of the present day, with the prodigious lapse of time between the Per-
But the moment you carry the researches further back in time you find no trace whatever of lizards nor of any true reptile whatever in the whole mass of formations beneath the Permian. Now it is perfectly clear that if our existing palaeontological collections, our existing specimens from stratified rock, exhaust the whole series of events which have ever taken place upon the surface of the Globe, such a fact as this directly contravenes the whole theory of Evolution, because that postulates that the existence of every form must have been preceded by that of some form comparatively little different from it. Here, however, we have taken in consideration that important fact so well insisted upon by Lyell and Darwin—the imperfection of the geological record. It can be demonstrated as a matter of fact that the geological record must be incomplete, that it can only preserve remains found in certain favorable localities and under particular conditions; that it must be destroyed by processes of denudation, and obliterated by processes of metamorphosis—by which I mean that beds of rock of any thickness crammed full of organic remains may yet, either by the percolation of water through them or the influence of subterranean beat (if they descend far enough toward the centre of the earth), lose all trace of these remains and present the appearance of beds of rock Conned under conditions in which there was no trace of living forms. Such metamorphic rocks occur in formations of all ages, and we know with perfect certainty when they do appear that they have contained organic remains, and that those remains have been absolutely obliterated.
One of the most striking proofs with which I am acquainted of the defects of the geological record—and I insist upon it the more because those who have not attended to these matters are apt to say to themselves, "It is all very well, but when you get into difficulty with your theory of Evolution you appeal to the incompleteness and the imperfection of the geological record," and I want to make it perfectly clear to you that that imperfection is a vast fact, which must be taken into account with all our speculations or we shall constantly be going wrong.
You will all see that singular series of tracks which is copied to its natural size in the large diagram hanging up here, which I owe to the kindness of my friend Professor Marsh, with whom I had the opportunity recently of visiting the precise locality in Massachusetts in which these tracks occur. I am, therefore, able to give you my own testimony, if needed, that they accurately represent the state of things which we saw. The valley of the Connecticut is classical ground for the geologist. It contains great beds of sandstone, covering many square miles, and which present this peculiarity, that they have evidently formed a part of an ancient sea shore, or, it may be, lake shore, and that they have been sufficiently soft for a certain period of time to receive the impressions of whatever animals walked over them, and to preserve them afterward in exactly the same way as such impressions are at this very moment preserved on the shores of the Bay of Fundy and elsewhere. We have there the tracks of some gigantic animal (pointing to the diagram) which walked on its hind legs. You see the series of marks made alternately by the right foot and by the left foot; so that from one impression to the other of the three-toed feet on the same side is one stride, and that stride, as we measured it, is six feet nine inches. I leave you, therefore, to
Now, of such impressions there are untold thousands upon these shores. Fifty or sixty different kinds have been discovered, and they cover vast areas. But up to this present time not a bone, not a fragment, of any one of the great creatures which certainly made these impressions has been found; and the only skeleton which has been met with in all these deposits to the present day, though they have been carefully hunted over, is one fragmentary skeleton of one of the smaller forms. What has become of all these bones? You see we are not dealing with little creatures, but animals that make a step of six feet nine inches; and their remains must have been left somewhere. The probability is that they have been dissolved away, and absolutely lost.
I have had occasion to work at series' of fossil remains of which there was nothing whatever except the casts of the bones, the solid material of the bone having been dissolved out by percolating water. It was a chance in this case that the sandstone happened to be of such a constitution as to set, and to allow the bones to be afterward dissolved out.
Had that constitution been other than what it was, the bones would have been dissolved, the beds or sandstone would have fallen together, become one mass, and not the slightest indication that the animal had existed would have been discovered.
I know of no more striking evidence than this fact affords from which it may be concluded, in the absence of organic remains, that such animals did exist. I believe that having the right understanding of the doctrine of Evolution on the one hand, and having a just estimation of the importance of the imperfection of the geological record on the other, would remove all difficulty front the kind of evidence to which I have thus adverted, and this appreciation allows us to believe that all such cases are examples of what I may here call, and have hitherto designated, negative or indifferent evidence—that is to say, they in no way directly advance the theory of Evolution, but they are no obstacle in the way of our belief in the doctrine.
I now pass on to the consideration of those eases which are not—for the reason which I will point out to you by-and-by—demonstrative of the truth of Evolution, but which are such as must exist if Evolution be true, and which therefore are upon the whole strongly in favor of the doctrine. If the doctrine of Evolution be true, it follows that animals and plants, however diverse they may be—however diverse the different groups of animals, however diverse the different groups of plants—must have all been connected together by gradational forms; so that, from the highest animals, whatever they may be, down to the lowest speck of gelatinous matter in which life can be manifested, there must be a sure and progressive body of evidence—a series of gradations by which you could pass front one end of the series to the other. Undoubtedly that is a necessary postulate of the doctrine of Evolution. But when we look upon animated nature as it at present exists, we find something totally different from this. We find that animals and plants fall into groups, the different members of which are pretty closely allied together, but which are separated by great breaks at intervals from other groups. And I cannot at present find any intermediate forma which bridge over these gaps or intervals. To illustrate what I mean: Let me call your attention to those vertebrate animals which are more familiar to you—such as mammals, and birds, and reptiles. At the present day these groups of animals are perfectly well defined from one another. We know of no animal now living which in any sense is intermediate between the mammal and the bird, or between the bird and reptile. But, on the contrary, there are actually some very distinct and anotomical peculiarities, well defined marks, by which the mammal is separated from the bird, and the bird from the reptile. The distinctions are apparent and striking if' you compare together the different divisions of these great groups. At the present day there are numerous forms of what we may call broadly the pig tribe, and many varieties of ruminants. These latter have their definite characteristics, and the former have their distinguishing peculiarities. But there is nothing that comes between these ruminants and the other tribe, the pig tribe. The two are distinct. So also is this
It is a very remarkable fact that, from the first commencement of the serious study of palaeontology, from the time in fact when envier made his brilliant researches in respect to animals found in the quarries of Montmartre—from that time palaeontology has shown what she was going to do in this matter, and what kind of evidence it lay in her power to produce. I said just now that at the present day the group of pig—like animals and the group of ruminants are entirely distinct; but one of the first of Cuvier's discoveries was an animal which he called the Anoplotherium, and which he showed to be, in a great many important respects, intermediate in its character between the pigs on the one hand and the ruminants on the other; that in fact research into the history of the past did so far—and to the extent which Cuvier indicated—tend to fill up the breach between the group of ruminants and the group of pigs.
All subsequent research has also tended in this direction; and at the present day the investigations of such men as Riitemeyer and Gaudry have tended to fill up and connect, more and more, the gaps in our existing series of mammals. But I think it may have an especial interest if—instead of dealing with these cases, which would require a great deal of tedious osteological detail to explain—if I take the ease of birds and reptiles—which groups, at the present day, are so clearly distinguished from one another that there are perhaps no classes of animals which in popular apprehension are more completely separated. Birds, as you are aware, are covered with feathers; they arc provided with wings; they are specially and peculiarly modified as to their anterior extremities; and they walk perpendicularly upon two legs; and those limbs, when they are considered anotomically, present a great number of exceedingly remarkable peculiarities, to which I may have occasion to advert incidentally as I go on, but which are not met with even approximately in the existing form of reptiles. On the other hand, reptiles, if they have a covering at all, have a covering of scales of bony plates. They possess no wings; they are not volatile, and they have no such modification of the limbs as we find in birds. It is impossible to imagine any two groups apparently more definitely and distinctly separated. As we trace the history of birds back in time, we find their remains abundant in the tertiary rocks throughout their whole extent; but, so far as anything is known, birds of the tertiary rocks, though retaining the same essential character as the birds of the present day—that is to say, the tertiary bird coming within the definition of our existing birds—are as much separated from reptiles as our existing birds are. A few years ago no remains of birds had been found below the tertiary rocks, and I am not sure but that some persons were prepared to demonstrate that they could not have existed at an earlier period. But in the last few years such remains have been discovered in England, though unfortunately in a very imperfect condition. In your country the development of cretaceous rocks is enormous, and the conditions under which the later cretaceous strata have been deposited are favorable for the preservation of organic remains in a perfect condition, and the researches full of labour and toil which have been carried on by Professor Marsh in these Western cretaceous rocks have rewarded him with the discovery of forms of birds of which we have hitherto no conception. By his kindness, I am enabled to place before you a restoration of one of
A bird about six feet high, a large bird, existed during the later cretaceous epoch, and which in a great many respects is astonishingly like an existing diver or grebe, so like it indeed, that had this skeleton been found in a museum, I suppose—if the head had not been known—it would have been placed in the same general group as the divers and grebes of the present day. But this bird differs from all existing birds, and so far resembles reptiles in the one important particular that it is provided with teeth. These long jaws (referring to the picture behind him) are beset with teeth, as in this diagram. Here is one of the teeth, and in this particular it differs entirely from any existing bird, and it is in view of the characteristics of this Hesperornis that we are obliged to modify the definition of the classes of birds and reptiles. Before the production of a creature such as this, it might have been said that a bird had such and such characteristics, among which were an absence of teeth, but the discovery of a bird that had teeth shows at once that there were ancient birds that in that particular respect approached reptiles more nearly than any existing bird does.
The same rocks have yielded another bird (Ichthyornis) which also has teeth in its jaws, the teeth in this case being situated in distinct sockets, while those of the swimming bird (Hesperornis) differ essentially, being in grooves. The latter also had
Like a bird, this creature has a largish breast-bone, with a crest upon it and a shoulder-girdle much like a bird; but from that point onward, so far as I can see, special, particular resemblances end, and a careful examination of the fore-limbs shows you that they are not bird's wings; they are something totally different from a bird's wings. And then, again (pointing to chart), those are not a bird's posterior extremities, but are rather what is termed reptilian. You will observe that the fore-arm presents nothing that I need dwell upon, but the bones of the hand are very wonderful. There are four fingers represented. These four fingers are large, and three of them, these, which answer to these three in my hands, are terminated by claws, while the fourth is enormously prolonged into a great jointed style. Nothing could be more unlike a bird's claw than this is. You see at once from what I have stated about a bird's wing that there could be nothing more unlike a bird's wing than this is. It was concluded by general reasoning that this finger was made to support a great web like a bat's wing. Specimens now exist showing that this was really the case, that this creature was devoid of feathers, but the fingers supported a vast web like a bat's wing. We see this ancient reptile floated by a similar method, so that the Pterodactyl, although it is a flying reptile, although it presents some points of similarity to birds, yet is so different from them that I do not think that we have any right to regard it as one of the forms intermediate between the reptile and the bird.
Such intermediate forms are to be found, however, by looking in a different direction. Through the whole series of Mesozoic rocks there occur reptiles, some of which are of gigantic dimensions; in fact, they are reckoned among the largest of terrestrial animals. Sonic of them are forty and fifty, possibly more, feet long. Such are the iguanodon, the megalosaurus, and a number of others, with the names of which I will not trouble you. There are great diversities of structure among these great reptiles. Some of them resemble lizards in the proportions of their limbs, and have evidently walked on all fours, in such respect resembling the existing crocodile; but in others you can trace a series of modifications. The haunch-bone and what we call the appendages, the hind limbs, underwent a series of modifications, until at length they completely assumed the character of a bird's hind-limbs.
I here indicate (pointing to diagram) the hind-limb of a crocodile, showing the bones of the hind-limbs and of the pelvis. These are the haunch-bones; these are the other pelvic bones. Then comes the division of the foot which we call the tarsus, the bones of which are separate and distinct. Then come the four toes, which exist only in the hind-feet of the crocodile, and all of which are separate and distinct. The foot is flat on the ground, so that the legs spread out and the weight of the body hangs clumsily between them.
Contrast this with what we find in the bird. The haunch-bone here is immensely elongated and the joints of the back-bone between the two haunch-bones are united
The diagram is a faithful and accurate representation of an existing fossil; except for this, that whereas in the existing fossil the bones are twisted about and out of place, I have put them here in the position that they must have had in Nature, and now you see a creature with a long neck and bird-like head, with very small anterior extremities, with a slender termination, which is in almost all respects like that of a bird, and that animal must assuredly have walked about upon its hind legs, bird fashion. Add to this creature feathers, and the transition would be complete fur the other characters. The possession of teeth would, as we see, not separate the creature from the class of birds we have had. We have had to stretch the class of birds to birds having teeth, and so far as the character of the skeleton goes we may fairly say that there needs here little more than the addition of feathers—and whether this creature had them we don't know—to convert it into a bird.
I have said that there can be no question, from their anatomical structure, that these animals walked upon their hind legs, and in fact there are to be found in the
Brontozoun, and which there can be no doubt were made by the Dinosaur, the remains of which were found in the same rock. And knowing that these reptiles that walked upon their hind legs and had the character generally of birds, did exist, it becomes a very important question whether those tracks in the Connecticut Valley, to which I referred just now, and which formerly used to be unhesitatingly referred to a class of birds, may not all have been made either by true reptiles of the Dinosaurian type, or whether, if we could get hold of the skeleton which made these tracks, some of which are marvellously like bird's tracks, we should not come upon exactly that series of transtitional forms by which in former days the reptile was connected with the bird.
I don't think, ladies and gentlemen, that I need insist upon the value of evidence of this kind. You will observe, that although it does not prove that birds have originated from reptiles by the gradual modification of the ordinary reptile into a Dinosaurian form, and so into a bird, yet it does show that that process may possibly have taken place, and it does show that there existed in former times creatures which filled up one of the largest gaps in existing animate Nature; and that was exactly the kind of evidence which I stated to you in starting we are bound to meet with in the rocks if the hypothesis of Evolution be correct.
In my next lecture, I will take up what I venture to call the demonstrative evidence of Evolution.
[By way of comparison, a figure of the cassowary, a bird of the present era, was exhibited.
What is Required for a Demonstration—the Horse Considfred from an Anatomical Point of View—Gradual Development of Hoofs and Teeth Traced Back in Past Ages—Chain of Proof of Derivation—Three-Tord and Four-Toed Horses—Evolution as Thoroughly Proved as the Copernican Theory.
Notwithstanding a threatening sky, Chickering Hall was crowded on the evening of September 22nd, to hear the final lecture of Professor Huxley's brief series. Although strictly argumentative in form, the lecturer kept the close attention of the audience throughout. Only two new diagrams were used, but Professor Huxley made a few drawings on a black board. More frequent applause was elicited than at the previous lectures. The final sentences, in which he referred to his pleasant experiences during his visit, and his preparation for departure at an early hour this morning, were delivered with much feeling, and were received with sympathy by the audience.
Ladies and Gentlemen—In my last lecture I had occasion to place before you evidence derived from fossil remains, which, as I stated, was perfectly consistent with the doctrine of Evolution, was favourable to it, but could not be regarded as the highest kind of evidence before that sort of evidence that we call demonstrative.
I pointed out, in fact, that as we go back in time, the great intervals which at present separate the larger divisions of animals become more or less completely obliterated by the appearance of intermediate forms, so that if we take the particular case of reptiles and birds, upon which I dwelt at length, we find in the mesozoic rocks animals which, if ranged in series, would so completely bridge over the interval between the reptile and the bird that it would be very hard to say where the reptile ends and where the bird begins. Evidence so distinctly favourable as this of Evolution, is far weightier than that upon which men undertake to say that they believe many important propositions; but it is not the highest kind of evidence attained, for this reason, that, as it happens the intermediate forms to which I have referred do not occur in the exact order in which they ought to occur, if they really had formed steps in the progression from the reptile to the bird: that is to say, we find these forms in contemporaneous deposits, whereas the requirements of the demonstrative evidence of Evolution demand, that we should find the series of gradations between one group of animals and another in such order as they must have followed if dui had constituted a succession of stages in time, of the development of the form at which they ultimately arrive. That is to say, the complete evidence of the
The proof of Evolution cannot be complete until we have obtained evidence of this character, and that evidence has of late years been forthcoming in considerable and continually increasing quantity. Indeed, it is somewhat surprising how large is the quantity of that evidence, and how satisfactory is its nature, if we consider that our obtaining such evidence depends upon the occurrence in that particular locality of an undisturbed series deposited through along period of time, which requires the further condition that each of these deposits should be such that the animal remains imbedded in them arc not much disturbed, and are imbedded in a state of great and perfect preservation. Evidence of this kind, as I have said, has of late years been accumulating largely, and in respect to all divisions of the animal kingdom. But I will select for my present purpose only one particular case, which is more adapted to the object I have in view, as it relates to the origin, to what we may call the pedigree, of one of our most familiar domestic animals—the horse. But I may say that in speaking of the origin of the horse, I shall use that term in a general sense as equivalent to the technical term Equus, and meaning not what you ordinarily understand as such, but also asses, and their modifications, zebras, &c. The horse is in many ways a most remarkable animal, inasmuch as it presents us with an example of one of the most perfect pieces of machinery in the animal kingdom. In fact, among mammals it cannot be said that there is any locomotive so perfectly adapted to its purposes, doing so much work with so small a quantity of fuel as this animal—the horse. And as a necessary consequence of any sort of perfection, of mechanical perfection as of others, you find that the horse is a beautiful creature, one of the most beautiful of all land animals. Look at the perfect balance of its form, and the rhythm and perfection of its action. The locomotive apparatus is, as you are aware, resident in its slender fore and hind-limbs; they are flexible and elastic levers, capable of being moved by very powerful muscles; and in order to supply the engines which work these levers with the force which they expend, the horse is provided with a very perfect feeding apparatus, a very perfect digestive apparatus.
Without attempting to take you very far into the region of osteological detail, I must nevertheless—for this question depends upon the comparison of such details—trouble you with some points respecting the anatomical structure, of the horse, and more especially with those which refer to the structure of its fore and hind limbs. But I shall only touch upon those points which are absolutely essential to the inquiry that at we have at present put. Here (taking a leg-bone of a horse in his hand) is the fore-leg of a horse. The bone which is cut across at this point is that which answers to the upper-arm bone in my arm, what you would call the humerus. This (referring to the bone) corresponds with my fore-arm. What we commonly term the knee of the horse, is the wrist; it answers to the wrist in man. This part of the horse's leg answers to one of the human fingers, and the hoof which covers this extended joint answers to one of my nails.
Now there are certain peculiarities about this structure, bearing relation to further details of the different portions of the human arm to which I have referred. You observe that to all appearance (referring to the horse's leg) there is only one bone in the fore-arm. Nevertheless, at this end r can trace two separate portions; this part of the limb and the one I am now touching. But as I go further down, it runs at the back part into the general bone, and I cease to be able to trace it beyond a certain point. This large bone is what is termed the radius, and answers to the bone I am touching in my arm, and this other portion of bone corresponds to what is called the
It looks thus, as if the ulna, running off below, came to an end, and it very often happens in works on the anatomy of the horse that you find these facts are referred to, and a horse is said to have an imperfect ulna. But a careful examination shows you that the lower extremity of the ulna is not wanting in the horse. If yon examine a very young horse's limb, you will find that this portion of the bone I am now showing you is separated from the rest, and only unites as the animal becomes older, and this is, in point of fact, the lower extremity of the ulna; so that we may Bay, that in the horse the ulna in the middle part becomes rudimentary, and becomes united with the radius, and se early united with the lower extremity that every trace of separation has vanished.
I need not trouble you with the structure of this portion that answers to the wrist, nor with a more full description of the singular peculiarities of the part, because we can do without them for the present, but I will go on to a consideration of the remarkable series of bones which terminates the fore-limb. We have one continuous series in the middle line which terminates in the coffin bone of the horse upon which the weight of the fore-part of the body is supported, The series answers to a finger of my hand, and there are good reasons—perfectly valid and convincing reasons, which I need not stay to trouble you with—which are demonstrative that this answers to the third finger of my hand enormously enlarged,
And it looks at first as if there was only this one finger in the horse's foot. But if I turn the skeleton round, I find on each side a bone shaped like a splint, broad at the upper and narrow at the lower end, one on each side. And those bones arc obviously and plainly and can be readily shown to be the rudiments of the bone which I am now touching in my own hand—the metacarpal bones of the second and of the fourth finger—so that we may say that in the horse's fore-limb the radius and ulna are fused together, that the middle part of the ulna is excessively narrow, and that the foot is reduced to the single middle finger, with rudiments of the two other fingers, one on each side of it Those facts are represented in the diagram I now show you of the recent horse. Here is the fore-limb (pointing to the diagram) with the metacarpal bones and the little splint bones, one on each side. It sometimes happens that by way of a monstrosity you may have an existing horse with one or other of these toes—that is, provided with its terminal joints.
Let me now point out to you what are the characteristics of the bind-limb. This (pointing to the diagram) is the shin-bone of the horse, and it appears at first to constitute the whole of the leg, But there is a little splint at this point (illustrating) which is the rudiment of the small bone of the leg—what is called the fibula—and then there is connected with this great bone a little nodule which represents the lower end of the fibula, in just the same way as that little nodule in the fore-limb represents the lower end of the ulna. So that in the leg we have a modification of the same character as that which exists in the fore-limb—the suppression of the greater part of the small part of the leg and the union of its lower end with the tibra. So, again, we find the same thing if we turn to the remainder of the leg. This (showing) is the heel of the horse, and here is the great median toe, answering to the third toe in our own foot, and here we have upon each side two little splint bones, just as in the fore-limb, which represent the rudiments of the second and fourth toes—rudiments, that is to say, of the metatarsal bones, the remaining bones having altogether vanished. Let me beg your attention to these peculiarities, because I shall have to refer to them by-and-by. The result of this modification is that the fore and hind-limbs are converted into long, solid, springy, elastic levers, which are the great instruments of locomotion of the horse.
As might be expected, and as I have already said, the apparatus for providing this
I think that will suffice as a brief indication of some of the most important peculiarities and characteristics of the horse. If the hypothesis of Evolution is true, what ought to happen when we investigate the history of this animal? We know that the mammalian type, as a whole—that mammalian animals—are characterized by the possession of a perfectly distinct radius and ulna, two separate and distinct moveable bones. We know further that mammals in general possess five toes, often unequal, but still as completely developed as the five digits of my hand. We know further that the general type of mammal possesses in the leg not only a complete tibia, but a complete fibula. The small bone of the leg is almost always smaller than the tibia. The small bone of the leg is as a general rule a perfectly complete, distinct, moveable bone. Moreover, in the hind-foot we find in animals in general five distinct toes, just as we do in the fore-foot. Hence it follows that we have a differentiated animal like the horse, which has proceeded by way of evolution or gradual modification from a similar form possessing all the characteristics we find in mammals in general. If that be true, it follows that if there be anywhere preserved in the series of rocks a complete history of the horse, that is to say of the various stages through which he has passed, those stages ought gradually to lead us back to some sort of animal which possessed a radius and an ulna, and distinct complete tibia and fibula, and in
In what is called here the pliocene formation, that which constitutes almost the uppermost division of the tertiary series, we find the remains of horses. We also find in Europe abundant remains of horses in the most superficial of all these formations—that is, the post-tertiary, which immediately lies above the pliocene. But these horses, which are abundant in the cave deposits and in the gravels of England and Europe—these horses, of which we know the anatomical structure to perfection, are in all essential respects like existing horses. And that is true of all the horses of the latter part of the pliocene epoch. But in the middle and earlier parts of the pliocene epoch, in deposits which belong to that age, and which occur in Germany and in Greece, to some extent in Britain and in France, there we find animals which are like horses in all the essential particulars which I have just described, and the general character of which is so entirely like that of the horse that you may follow descriptions given in works upon the anatomy of the horse upon the skeletons of these animals. But they differ in some important particulars. There is a difference in the structure of the fore and hind-limb, and that difference consists in
But nevertheless we have here a horse in which the lateral toes, almost abortive in the existing horse, are fully developed. On careful investigation you find in these animals that also in the fore-limb the ulna is very thin, yet is traceable down to the extremity. In the hind-limb you find that the fibula is pretty much as in the horse itself. That is the kind of equine animal which you meet with in these older Pliocene formations, in which the modern horse is already or becomes entirely absent. So you see that the Hipparion is the form that immediately preceded the horse. Now let its go a step further back (illustrating) to these which are called the Miocene formations, and which constitute the middle part of the deposits of the tertiary epoch. There you find in some parts of Europe—in Germany, Central Germany, in France, and in Greece—there you find equine animals which differ essentially from the modern horse all that they resemble the horse is in the broad feat tires of their organization. They differ still further in the characters of their fore and hind-limbs, and present important features of difference in the teeth. The forms to which I now refer are what are known to constitute the genus Anchitherium (illustrating). We have these three toes, and the middle toe is smaller in proportion, the lower toes are larger, and in fact large enough to rest upon the ground, and to have functional importance—not an animal with two dew claws, but an animal with three functional toes. And in the fore-arm you find the ulna a very distinct bone, quite readily distinguishable in its whole length from the pradius, but still pretty closely united with it. In the hind-limb you also meet with three functional toes. There is the same structure in the Hipparion's hind limb that there was in the ease of the Anchitherium, and in the hind-leg the fibula is longer. In some cases I have reason to think that it is complete; at any rate this lower end of it (illustrating) is quite distinctly recognizable as a separable though not exactly separated piece of bone. But the most curious change is that which is to be found in the character of the teeth. The teeth of the Anchitherium have in the first place, so far as the incisors are concerned, a more rudimentary pit—the pit is vastly smaller than in the horse. The canine teeth are present in both sexes. The molars are short; there is no cement, and the pattern is somewhat like this (drawing on the blackboard). There are two crescents and two oblique ridges; while in the lower jaw you have the double crescent and a very slight complication at the extremity. It is quite obvious that this (illustrating from drawing) is a simpler form than that. By increasing the complexity of those teeth there we have the horse's teeth. These are all the forms with which we are acquainted respecting the past history of the horse in Europe. When I happened to occupy myself with this subject there was some difficulty in tracing them, but they left no doubt whatever in my mind that we had here a genuine record of the history of the evolution of the horse. You must understand that every one of these forms in time has undoubtedly become modified into various species and the like, and we cannot be absolutely certain that we have the exact line of modification, but it was perfectly obvious that we had here in succession, in time, three forms, fundamentally modified, in the horse type, of which the oldest came nearer to the general mammal—was far less modified than the Hipparion and what has taken place afterward. We saw that the animals which had existed after and had undergone a reduction of their limbs and toes, a reduction of the lower bones of the hind-leg, a more complete coalescence of the fibula with the tibia. The pattern of the molar teeth has become more complicated, and the entire space has become filled with cement.
Consider what other alternative hypothesis lies open to you unless you admit this. In this succession of forms you have exactly that which the hypothesis of evolution demands. The history corresponds exactly with that you would construct a priori from the principles of Evolution. An alternative hypothesis is hardly conceivable,
That knowledge has recently come to us, and assuredly from a most unexpected quarter. You are all aware that when this country was first discovered by Europeans there were found no traces of the existence of the horse in any part of the American Continent. And, as is well known, the accounts of the earlier discoverers dwell upon the astonishment of the natives when they first became acquainted with the astounding phenomenon—a man seated upon a horse. Nevertheless, as soon as geology began to be pursued in this country, it was found that remains of horses—horses like our European horses—like the horses which exist at the present day—are to be found in abundance in the most superficial deposits in this country, just as they are in Europe. For some reason or other—no feasible suggestion on that subject, so far as I know, has been made—but for some reason or other the horse must have died out on this Continent at some period preceding—how long we cannot say—the discovery of America by the Europeans. Of late years there have been discovered on this Continent—in your Western territories—that marvelous thickness of tertiary deposits to which I referred the other evening, which gives us a thickness and a consecutive order of tertiary rocks admirably calculated for the preservation of organic remains, such as we had hitherto no conception of in Europe. They have yielded fossils in a state of preservation and in number perfectly unexampled. And with respect to the horse, the researches of Leidy and others have shown that numerous forms of the fossil horse have existed among these remains. But it is only recently that the very admirably contrived and most thoroughly and patiently worked-out investigations of Professor Marsh have given us a just idea of the enormous wealth and scientific importance of these deposits. I have had the advantage of glancing over his collections at New Haven, and I can truly and emphatically say that, so far as my knowledge extends, there is nothing in any way comparable to them for extent, or for the care with which the remains have been got together, or for their scientific importance, to the series of fossils which he has brought together (Applause). That enormous collection has yielded evidence of the most striking character in regard to this question of the pedigree of the horse. And, indeed, the evidence which Professor Marsh has collected tends to show that you have in America the t rue original seat of the equine type—the country in which the evidence of the primitive lite and modification of the horse is far better preserved than in Europe; and Professor Marsh's kindness has enabled me to put before you this diagram, every figure in which is an actual representation of a specimen which is preserved in New Haven at this present time. The succession of forms which he has brought together shows, in the first place, the great care and patience to which I have referred. Secondly, there is this pliocene form of the horse (Pliohippus), the conformation of its limbs presents some very slight deviations from the ordinary horse, and with shorter crown of the grinding teeth. Then comes the form which represents the European Hipparion, which is the Protohippus, having three toes and the fore-arm and leg and teeth to which I have referred, and which is more valuable than the European Hipparion for this reason; it is devoid of some of the peculiarities of that form, peculiarities which tend to show that the European Hipparion is rather a side branch than one in the direct line of design. But next comes the form of Miohippus, which corresponds pretty nearly with what I mentioned as the Anchitherium of Europe, but which has some interesting peculiarities. It presents three toes—one large one and two lateral ones—and the fourth toe, which answers to the little finger of the human hand, but there is only a rudi-
Mesohippus has three toes in front and a large splint for the rudiment representing the little finger, and three toes behind. The radius and ulna are entire and the tibia and fibula distinct, and there are simply anchitheroid short-crowned teeth.
But this is probably the most important discovery of all—the Orohippus—which comes from the oldest part of the eocene formation, and is the oldest one known. Here we have the four toes on the front-limb complete, three toes on the hind limb complete, a well-developed ulna, a well-developed fibula, and the teeth of simple pattern. So you are able, thanks to these great researches, to show that, so far as present knowledge extends, the history of the horse type is exactly and precisely that which could have been predicted from a knowledge of the principles of Evolution. And the knowledge we now possess justifies its completely in the anticipation that when the still lower eocene deposits and those which belong to the cretaceous epoch have yielded up their remains of equine animals, we shall find first an equine creature with four toes in front and a rudiment of the thumb. Then probably a rudiment of the fifth toe will be gradually supplied, until we come to the five-toed animals, in which most assuredly the whole series took its origin.
That is what I mean ladies and gentlemen, by demonstrative evidence of Evolution. An inductive hypothesis is said to be demonstrated when the facts are shown to be in entire accordance with it. If that is not scientific proof, there are no inductive conclusions which can be said to be scientific. And the doctrine of Evolution at the present time rests upon exactly as secure a foundation as the Copernican theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies. Its basis is precisely of the same character—the coincidence of the observed facts with theoretical requirements. As I mentioned just now, the only way of escape, if it be a way of escape, from the conclusions which I have just indicated, is the supposition that all these different forms have been created separately at separate epochs of time, and I repeat, as I said before, that of such a hypothesis as this there neither is nor can be any scientific evidence, and assuredly, so far as I know, there is none which is supported or pretends to be supported by evidence or authority of any other kind. I can but think that the time wilt come when such suggestions a-these, such obvious attempts to escape the force of demonstration, will be put upon the same footing as the supposition by some writers, who are, I believe, not completely extinct at present, that fossils are not real existences, are no indications of the existence of the animals to which they seem to belong; but that they are either sports of nature or special creations, intended—as I heard suggested the other day—to test our faith. In fact, the whole evidence is in favour of Evolution, and there is none against it. And I say that, although perfectly well aware of the seeming difficulties which have been adduced from what appears to the uninformed to be a scientific foundation. I meet constantly wit h the argument that thus doctrine of Evolution cannot be correct, because it requires the lapse of a period of time in which duration of life upon the earth is inconsistent with the conclusions arrived at by the astronomer and the physicist. I may venture to say that I am familiar with those conclusions, inasmuch as some years ago, when President of the Geological Society of London, I took the liberty of criticising them, and of showing in what respects, as it appeared to me, they lacked complete and thorough demonstration. But putting that point aside altogether, suppose that, as the astronomers, or some of them, and some physical philosophers tell us, it is impossible that life could have endured upon the earth for as long a period as is required by the doctrine of Evolution—supposing that to be proved. What I want to know is, what is the foundation for the statement that evolution does require so great a time? The biologist knows nothing whatever of the amount of time which may be required for the process of Evolution. It is a matter of fact that those forms which I have described to you occur in the order which I have described to you in the tertiary formation. But I have not the slightest means of guessing whether it took a million of years, or ten millions, or a hundred million of years, or a
I think, ladies and gentlemen, that I have now arrived at the conclusion of the task which I set before myself when I undertook to deliver these lectures before you. My purpose and object has been, not to enable those of you who have not paid attention to these subjects before to leave this room in a condition qualified to decide upon the validity or the invalidity of the hypothesis of Evolution, but to put before you the principles by which all such hypotheses must be judged; and furthermore, to make apparent to you the nature of the evidence and the sort of cogency which is to be expected and may be obtained from it. To this end I have not hesitated in regarding you as genuine students and persons desirous of knowing the truth. I have not hesitated to take you through arguments, and long chains of arguments, that I fear may have sometimes tried your patience, or to have inflicted upon you details which could not possibly be escaped, but winch may well have been wearisome. But I shall rejoice—I shall consider I have done you the greatest service which it was in my power in such a way to do—if I have thus convinced you that this great question which we are discussing is not one to be discussed, dealt with—by rhetorical flourishes or by loose and superficial talk, but that it requires the keenest attention of the trained intellect and the patience of the most accurate observer (Applause).
I did not, when I commenced this series of lectures, think it necessary to preface them with a prologue, such as might be expected from a stranger and a foreigner for during my brief stay in your country I have found it very hard to believe that a stranger could be possessed of so many friends, and almost harder to imagine that the foreigner could express himself in your language in such a way as to be so readily intelligible to all appearance; for, so far as I can judge, that most intelligent and perhaps 1 may add most singularly active and enterprising body of the press, your press reporters, do not scent to have been deterred by my accent from giving the fullest account of everything that I happen to have said (Great applause.) But the vessel in which I take my departure to-morrow morning is even now ready to slip her moorings; I awake from my delusion that I am other than a stranger and a foreigner. I am ready to go back to my place and country, but before doing so, let me by way of epilogue, tender to you my most hearty thanks for your most kind and cordial reception which you have accorded to me; and let me thank you still more for that which is the greatest compliment which can be afforded to any person in my position—the continuous and undisturbed attention which you have continued to bestow upon the long argument which I have had the honor to lay before you. (Cheers and applause.)
Sir,—The Rev A R Fitchett, in a letter in the Otago Witness, states, "That there is no collision between the theory of evolution, that man attained moral capacity by development, and the statement of Scripture that, having attained it, he fell." To every rational being it conveys the meaning that Scripture states, "That man by the process of evolution, or development, attained his moral capacity." Is not this comment with a vengeance? Seeing that we read in said Scriptures, and God saw everything that he had oak and behold it was very good." But this, according to Mr. Fitchett's definition, means: Man became very good by the process of evolution, by which he attained his moral capacity. And by this moral capacity, every orthodox theologian understands a man's immortal soul; the moral mind by which man is placed above, and distinguished from, the lower animal creation, in that indeed with a moral sense of right and wrong, by reason of which he becomes accountable to his Maker for his actions. But how can any man, if he has attained his moral capacity by evolution, be made accountable to any one for his actions, except it be to the law of evolution? All men's imperfections, according to this law, cannot be taken account of by the God of heaven, seeing that they are but the short comings of an imperfect moral nature, mere dregs still adhering to him from his former beastly nature, and which in course of time evolution will yet perfect in him. Such a being has no need, and cannot reasonably expect to be subject to any other law, but such as he makes for himself for his protection against the propensities of an adhering animal nature. And when by transgression of his own law, he has to suffer the infliction of the punishment there-of, he thus expiates his sins by it, and
In Professor Salmond's letter of protest against evolution, I discern the same unscriptural and confused notions by his mixing up and confounding pagan fables with the doctrines of the Bible. When be says, "The doctrine of evolution must come into contradiction with the Christian doctrine of immortality," because, "the Creator has summoned every human soul into an existence out of which it never more can pass; that death is neither sleep nor annihilation, but a transference to another mode of life; and can it be doubted that this awful view of the import of any separate man's life is the very nerve of Christianity as a moral power?" Surely the learned Professor must have been reading Plato's Phcedo, and fallen asleep over it, and dreamt that he had read it in the Bible, and thus confounding Plato's figment, the immortal soul, with the prospective immortality of the Bible. Every Bible reader must be aware that the Professor's fancied inalienable immortality cannot be found in it, God being the only being who in the Bible is called immortal; while the greatest saint is under the sentence of death, and to immortality he can attain only by his faith, and that not till after the resurrection. According to Bible doctrine, man's immortality is not a thing already possessed, but to the believer it is a prospective fact, not yet seen and possessed, but promised. Nowhere do we read in the Bible, that at the last judgment there are immortal saints descending down from heaven, or that there are any living ones marched up out of hell for judgment; no, instead of that we read everywhere that they are the dead who come forth out of their graves, from hades, the sea, &c., Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, informs us, that David had not yet ascended into heaven, but was still in his grave, and his soul in hades. We wish Professor Salmond would inform us, how these dead of which Holy Writ speaks became alive, and how they got to heaven or hell? He next asks, "If there is no generic difference between man and the creatures beneath him: lithe ape perishes with death, why not man?" I answer upon the authority of the Bible, "What pre-eminence has man above the beasts? For that which be-falls the sons of man, befalls the beasts, even one thing befalls them, as the one dies, so dies the other, yea they have all one breath." And this breath they have in common with man, and is synonymous with the spirit of the Lord. And as to death, be it of men or beasts, we find it everywhere described as an end of all conscious existence. As, "In death there is no remembrance. Who shall praise thee in the grave. The dead see nothing, they hear nothing." Accordingly, death is annihilation, a perishing of the conscious being called man, for the time I being, until he has been raised again from death, and made alive. So that man in his physical nature has no pre-eminence above the beasts. But his pre-eminence exists in his moral nature provided he has attained it, he shall then be raised up, and live again.
And it is concerning this momentous subject that I ask Mr. Fitchett the solemn question, If man has attained his moral capacity by evolution, an fell, sinned, and died, can evolution raise him from the dead, and give him immortality? The learned Professor says, "At what point in the upward movement from the beastial form did man begin to have a spirit surviving the shock of death?" In Holy Writ
Now as soon as this pagan myth of a ghost or immortal soul was by Tertullian, Augustine, and others smuggled into the Christian doctrine of a prospective immortality, it could not fail to turn the whole contents of the doctrine of the Bible topsy turvey, and be the cause even to this day of an unintelligible theological jargon, of which the lowest barbarians would be ashamed. For instance, a heaven and hell for these ghost-men had to be provided, for which Plato's Black Tartarus had to serve them as a model. And the loving, merciful, and just God of the Bible had of necessity to be metamorphosed into a most cruel and unjust monster, such as the pagans could not even imagine. And next they had to defend this pagan fable, by fits, or no fits, upon no other principles than the foulest sophistry. And where this failed them they had to lie, and have to do so to this day, asserting that certain texts of the Bible mean that white is black, and black is white. And then the preachers of these fables stand aghast and wonder how it is that their preaching has made 90 per cent of sceptics. Here is a sample taken at random, neither the best nor the worst. "The soul in fellowship with God, grows from glory to glory, and that for ever and ever, it grows even in the midst of decay." "Let every one ask himself, Is my soul growing?" Then we are told again, "That when man sins he is executing the behests of the devil." In fact he is in fellowship with him, and as the greater number of men are thus actually in fellowship with the devil, they must needs grow also, from sin and wickedness more and more abominable for ever and ever, until they become themselves huge and abominable devils. All this would be in harmony with the theory of evolution; at least in its aspect of retrogression, not only as to man's organic and physical development, and retrogression of the body; but also in his moral retrogression.
Sir,—In an article in your issue of the 10th instant, I have been astonished to find that the Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul is described as a pagan fable. Not only so, but those who defend it are charged with doing so, "upon no other principles than the foulest sophistry. And where this failed, then they had to lie, and have to do so to this day, asserting that certain texts of the Bible mean that white is black, and black is white."
Mr. Richter seems to think that there is no immortality even to the righteous, until the resurrection, and that soul and body alike perish in the grave, even as the brute does. He says, "Accordingly, death is an annihilation, a perishing of the conscious being called man, for the time being,
Again, Matt. x. 28, we have the exhortation: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." This passage would have no force on any view but that of the soul's immortality. See also, Luke xii. 4,5. In the 16th of Luke we have the rich man dead and buried, and yet in hell, and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, and all this, long before there is any resurrection of their bodies, for the richman in hell is concerned for the welfare of his five brethren who are still living Revel. vi. 9: "John saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." Heb. xii. 22-24, the Christian's fellowship is described as coming to "Mount Zion . . . to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," &c.
In Matt. xxii. 32, the Lord confutes the Sadducees in their denial of the doctrine of the resurrection upon a principle which derives all its force from the continued life or conscious existence of believers, that is, of those in covenant with God, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." If, notwithstanding what our Lord here says, Abraham and Isaac, had been really dead, both body and soul for hundreds of years, when God spake these words to Moses, and were to remain so for thousands of years yet to come, it is really hard to see what should prevent the Sadducees from replying, that if " God could still continue the God of men dead body and soul for thousands of years, why should he not also, although they should remain equally dead for millions of ages?" When on this subject of the Sadducees I may remark that when Paul, Acts xxiii. 6, in a council composed of the two contending sects of Pharisees and Sadducees, cried out, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee," &c., it is no unfair inference, that he sought to be identified with the Pharisees in those characteristic doctrines which distinguished them from the Sadducees, and which are mentioned in the 8th verse, "For Use Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both," It is difficult to know what
Besides these and similar passages, there is a large class of texts which seem necessarily to imply the same thing, viz., those which speak of eternal life as a present possession of the believer, or which conversely threaten eternal condemnation to the unbeliever. Take as a specimen John iii. 36, "He that believeth on the son bath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." How a man can be said to have everlasting life, when until the resurrection, or for some thousands of years, he is to be body and soul dead, I must confess I cannot understand. But enough of this, let us see what Scriptures Mr. Richter trusts to to establish his position. He says, referring to Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, Acts, ii. 84, "Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, informs us that David had not yet ascended into heaven, but was still in his grave, and his soul in hades." If his body was in the grave, and his soul in hades, (that is the unseen world, or place of departed spirits, whether in a state of happiness or misery), then Mr. Richter has sufficiently demolished his own doctrine, for hades in the New Testament never denotes the grave merely. The truth is that the Apostle is quoting the 16th Psalm, and showing from it that David is speaking in it of the resurrection of Christ, and not of himself. Verse 31, "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (hades), neither his flesh did see corruption." Verse 34 shows that this was not true of David, for his body was still in the grave. Now I think that this passage clearly demonstrates the opposite doctrine from that of Mr. Richter. Why should Christ's soul be in hades, and not dead with the body in the grave, if death be at once the death of the body and the soul. That his soul was not dead in the grave, we know not only from the use of the word 'lades, but from the fact that he said to the thief on the cross, "To-day shall thou be with me in Paradise. "Paradise we thus see was one department of that hades, or unseen world, in which the soul of the thief was with the soul of the Saviour. It is quite clear that the soul of the thief was there in a state of conscious happiness, whilst his body was probably still hanging on the cross; and this one fact is enough to break the back of all the Christadelphian rubbish in the world. I don't think that Mr. Richter gains anything by his reference to Eccles. iii. 19, 20. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: As the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity," &c. Now, I wonder why Mr. Richter, who accuses some other people of having to lie, &c., did not go on, and give us also the 21st verse of the same passage," Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth." Why did not he also give us from the same author, Eccles. xii. 7 "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Surely a writer knows what he means, and does not say yea and no both in the compass of a few sentences. Had I quoted Eccles. xii. 7, "Then proof of the immor-
With respect to the passage, 2nd Tim. vi. 16, "Who only hath immortality dwelling in the light," &c., it is clear that God alone hath immortality in the absolute sense, uncommunicated and incapable of being destroyed. He hath an immortality which no creature has, just as he has a holiness and goodness which no creature has, Matt. xix. 17, and this just because he alone is infinite and self-existent.
Mr. Richter thinks that we have derived our doctrine from Plato. It is Scriptural, that is enough, but if it is also the doctrine of Plato, few thinking men will have any objection to it on that account. The truth is that in some form or other it is found among almost all nations, civilised and savage, from the metempsychosis of the East, to the hunters' paradise of the North American Indian, and from Homer's Iliad 23, 103, down to our own day. It is surely probable on natural grounds that a belief so universal and inveterate has some foundation in fact. Mr. Richter speaks of the ordinary doctrine regarding bell in the following terms:—"For which Plato's Black Tartarus had to serve them, as a model. And the loving, merciful, and just God of the Bible had of necessity to be metamorphosed into a most cruel and unjust monster, such as the pagans could not even imagine." Now, sir, there is a hell, just as plainly as there a is a Bible, and its untold horrors and miseries, though described in language which is highly figurative, are yet as real as is the happiness of that heaven whose glories are also described in language that is figurative. We are told that their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, see also Matt xxv. 46. I don't exactly gather from Mr. Richter what be would provide in his wisdom for this Gehenna, the hell of scripture. He speaks of the wicked being raised up at the resurrection, but he does not tell us what punishment they receive. As far as I understand Christadelphian doctrine, they are then to be annihilated, so that at death they lose conscious existence, and again receive it but for a short time in order to this annihilation. I don't speak of the contradiction to scripture here, but surely this is a most lame and impotent conclusion of the judgment. Why, sir, I believe in a God whose judgments are real, just because I believe in a God whose love is real. I believe in jails and hangmen, and the lash, and would think little of the love that did not provide them for criminals in such a world as this; I believe in the infinite love of God. I see his yearning heart in a redemption pressed upon the acceptance of a fallen world, but all the more can I see that that love is genuine, pure, and holy, when I see that it has provided a hell, in which its threatening against transgressors and rebels are to be executed. Mr. Richter and others like him might be better employed than in seeking to relax the bonds of eterns
I mean co-religionists—of the same persuasion.—J. A. R.
Sir,—Mr. Stobo seems to be offended my statement, "that when foul so—history failed our traditional theologians in their assertion to make the again fable of the immortal soul good, hey had to lie, and have to do so to his day. "What does Mr. Stobo call his? Scripture says, "If you live after he fleshes you shall die." But Angusne says, "The soul of the wicked cannot die." The Bible says, "Broad is way that leads to destruction." But Tertullian says, "The soul of the ticked is lost, but not in the sense of destruction." Scripture says, "Who shall be punished with eternal destruction," J. Grant says, "The eternal destruction of human life, at, or after death, is a theological error of the day." God says to Adam, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return." J. Wesley says, "Their bodies are incorruptible. I am now an immortal spirit." I could quote a thousand instances of the same purport. And I appeal to the reader to judge whether the Bible tells these lies, or the traditional theologians? It is with reluctance that I have to analyze Mr. Stobo's theological jugglery, but as he will not accept the teaching of the Bible as conclusive, I am forced to do so. He adduces the following texts, by which he endeavors to prop up Plato's fabled immortality of the soul, in a state of conscious existence after death. 2nd Corinth. v. 8, he lays down his modus operandi how Paul is to be with Christ, and then crams it into Paul's mouth. I ask him, does Paul anywhere express a desire to be with Christ as a naked ghost? Does he not in the 2—4 verse inform us how he groans and longs for his house, the glorified immortal body which is from heaven: and does not desire to be unclothed, i.e., become a naked ghost-man of Mr. Stobo's. And in the 8th he informs us again that, "as long as he is in his mortal body he is absent from the Lord." It is not wonder that Mr. Stobo through Plato's spectacles cannot see, "What the house with the Lord "in the 8th verse means, which with Paul meant the glorified body which he was to have from the Lord. And when Paul everywhere informs us, that it is at the resurrection when he is also to receive his crown of righteousness, and when his mortal body shall be swallowed up in immortality. And so in Phillip. i. 23,
John iii. 36—" He that believes on the on has eternal life; and he that believes not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him." Mr. Stobo cannot understand "how a man can be said to have everlasting
Times newspaper, and I will with great pleasure give him some more lessons gratis.
Sir,—All the idol Images of the Hindoos show at the most superficial glance, that all living creatures are in progress, under the law of evolution, from the mollusc upward to the perfection which is attained in their god, Juggernaut. These images represent the cockle floating on the water with a head resembling that of the human in its features. The frog, the lizard, the serpent, the dog and the cat, all show a gradual evelopment verging more or less into the human form: either from the head downwards, or from the extremities upwards. We find Moluch, the idol of the Canaanites, fully developed as man; except his head, which is that of an ox, the only relique left of his former nature from which he descended. The Egyptian hieroglyphics as we find them presented by the priests of Zoan and Memphis, these all show the continual migration of souls as they passed through the various species of the animal creation, till they at last became perfect in their god, the ox. And later among the Greeks we find the same process of evolution indicated by Cicero and Plato in the Tusculan Questions, "whether by the immortality of the soul, man would eventually become a god." Concerning this, however, they attained to no greater certainty,
By the same process of traditional theology, volens or nolens, the metamorphosis of certain localities of our globe has been brought about. As for instance Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom, or Tophet (the fire oven) of the Jews, a locality near Jerusalem, which had been made a place of abomination, the receptacle for dead beasts and the offal of the city, was by evolution changed into hell and the bottomless pit. 2000 years ago we find this valley situated about 2000 feet above the level of the sea. 500 years later we find it orthodoxically described by the name of hell, somewhere in the midst of the earth. And 1000 years later the most in orthodox divines of England asserted with that it had become a bottomless pit. 2600 years ago Esaias describes this locality, and men then behold it, and could see all the abominations what was going on in it, how men of it in the rotting and consuming by fire of the evildoers who had sinned against the law, calling it a loathsome sight to all men. But now it has become the orthodox hell, or bottomless pit of theology, full of living ghost-men, with myriads of infuriated orthodox devils who tournament them with fire and brimstone. And evolution has also provided these devils with ruling princes over them, viz., Beelzebub, the chief idol of the Philistines, and the great Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, these have in their turn also been metamorphosed by a traditional theology into princes of the devil, and located in this new hell or bottomless pit. There is nothing new under the sun. Darwin's theory of evolution and retrogression is as old as we have any record by pagan mythology or Christian tradition. Let all men be warned in the investigation of the question of evolution, be it pro or con, and not take the views on human nature of a pagan mythology, or of a traditional theology, as if such expressed the teachings of Scripture. Ere men can by their researches and discoveries overthrow any position supposed to be taken by Scripture, let them well see to it and examine whether it is really taken by Scripture, or only fathered upon it by men who have learned their theology only from Zoroaster, Minos, Plato, and Aristotle. All such mythologic and traditional figments have to be wholly discarded iii the investigation of the evolution question, and Holy Writ has to be made the sole criterion, as to the clashing with it, or how far it can be made to harmonize it. Witchcraft was at a time held not only an indisputable fact, but was actually considered as an essential part of orthodoxy inseparable from religion, so much so, that laws were enacted to put witches to death, and thousands of orthodox priests every Sunday offered up public prayers to God, "to deliver them from witches and being be—witched," while now-a-days, the idea of it is thought too absurd even for a nursery tale. The enforcement of the traditional dogmas was held formerly as the most necessary safeguard of the church and state, and it was held that without it men would become barbarians. Experience has, however, proved that the concession of liberty of conscience has brought the civilization
A short controversy has lately been carried on in our columns upon the relationship of the doctrine of Evolution to Christianity. We must confess that we fail to see that hitherto very much light has been thrown upon the subject by either of the disputants, Mr. Richter and the Rev. A. H. Stobo. Indeed neither the traditional teaching of the church upon which Mr. Stobo relies, nor that strange mixture of' materialism and magic which apparently form the basis of Mr. Richter's creed, are capable of explaining what thoughtful persons want to have made clear, if that is possible. A. pelting of texts of Scripture to and fro, divorced from their context, and sometimes badly translated, is obviously little likely to settle one of the profoundest questions in philosophical theology. Mr. Richter, after concentrating his attention on a few isolated passages of the old Testament Scriptures, and after failing very considerably to concentrate his attention on the secular Greek writers prior to Plato, and on the literature of ancient Egypt and India, has arrived at a conclusion Which will startle most literary men, that the doctrine of immortality was unknown to the Hebrew writers of the Bible, and was a mere invention, a sort of poetical fiction of Plato's! that here fore it cannot be true, and consequently that a miracle was required to make it true, and that as evolution does not pretend to miracles, evolution must be a falsehood ! This is really one of the strangest jumbles of quasi-reasoning, one of the most curious instances of erroneous premises being followed up by bad logic that we can call to mind as having been ventilated recently. And yet we are not wilfully misstating what Mr. Richter says, though perhaps he means something which he has not clearly expressed. The argument which seems to him so decisive against the consistency of evolution with Christianity, namely, that man if we consider him as lineally descended from the lower animals "cannot attain his moral capacity or the immortality of his soul by evolu-
We fail therefore altogether to see the force of Mr. Richter's objections to the Evolutionist doctrine.
Sir,—You complain in your leader of the 26th, that "no light has been thrown on the evolution theory, either by the traditional teachings of the church, or by that strange mixture of materialism and magic which seems to be Mr. Richter's creed." Well, Sir, you cannot deny that all animal creatures, man included, are material in their physical organization, and the life they, possess, you may please to call magic, but I. maintain that they have it by the spirit or breath of God, which gives them their life (souls) but that does not constitute them immortal. A. traditional dogma holds that men's souls are immortal; you go farther and think it no absurdity that the lower animals should be incapable of the same immortality. And you refer us for an authority to Bishop Butler's "Analogy." But I do not accept the learned Bishop of Durham as infallible; no more than you do the Pope. More than half a dozen as learned theologians as Butler himself have proved to satisfaction that his "Analogy" is not infallible; for instance, "his flaws and inconsistencies on the miracles," "his eternal hell fire punishment, as the natural effect and consequences of sin," and "his eternal duration of hell fire," a
Your analogy, by which you endeavor to answer my proposition, namely, "that man, if we consider him lineally descended from the lower animals, cannot attain his moral capacity or immortality by evolution," becomes in fact an anomaly, when you adduce the "tadpole becoming a frog, and the unsightly chrysalis a beautiful butterfly." Does that give them moral capacity or immortality? No, indeed, they only become the beings of the day, week, or the year, and then perish for ever. They are like the blossom of the bean, and the pod, which are both required for the production of the kernel. If the Creator works in the production of the animal creation by fixed laws of evolution, how then is it that these laws, like the rest of the immutable laws of the universe, are not normal P If the law by which evolution is said to work was like the others, it would show its results by the uniform progress in the reasoning faculties, (and as you assert in the moral capacity) progressing from the lower to the higher animal, to man. But experience shows just the contrary. The dog, the cow, the horse, &c., all exhibit to a certain extent reasoning faculties, but the ape, the last connecting link between them and man, is totally devoid of reason. Concerning your assumption that the lower animals might be, for all we know, possessed with immortality, you have to settle that with Messrs Stobo and Co., Bishop Butler, &c. I would beforehand only give you a little advice, to take care not to buy a baulky ghost horse when you get to ghost land, else you might break your ghost limbs, and would have to send for a ghost doctor to get them set.
Sir,—In my former letter I have already shown how Mr. Stobo's defence
Sir,—The fire that is not quenched, and the unquenchable fire upon which our Augustinian hell-fire dogmatics have built their everlasting torments of hell, has in reality no existence. It is a Hebrew idiom, signifying a fire that will burn and not go out until it has consumed the substance on which it feeds, after which it goes out of itself. In proof of this I could cite a great many instances, but here for the present a few will suffice. Jesus when speaking of the fire of Gehenna, that it shall not be quenched, says nothing new, for he quotes Esaias lxvi. 24, "They shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched." We see by this, that it was the dead bodies of men that were burning, and at which the worm was gnawing; and not living ghost men. Esaias says again, when he announces God's judgment upon the land of Idumea, "The land thereof shall become burning pitch: it shall not be quenched, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever." Jude speaks of Sodom and Gomorrah "as suffering the vengeance of eternal fire," though no fire was burning there at the time. Neither in Idumea nor in the valley of Hinnom has there been any fire burning these two thousand years. Again, he (God), will kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched" Titus burnt the gates of Jerusalem eighteen hundred years ago, since then the fire has been quenched. Homer informs us, "how the Trojans hurled unquenchable fire upon the Grecian ships." Will Messrs Stobo and Co. be bold enough to assert that in all these cited cases the fire that shall not be quenched is burning yet? Mr. Stobo says, "I do not exactly gather from Mr. Richter what he would provide in his wisdom for this Gehenna, the hell of scripture." Mr. Richter has already shown that there is no hell of the scriptures, but only the hell of the traditional creeds. And he does not presume to prescribe to the God of the Bible his judgment as the traditional theologians have ascribed to their god their own fabled hell, as
Why does not Mr. Stobo cite along with his pagan Paradises in support of his hobby the immortal soul, the Paradise of the Mussel men, who as disembodied ghosts keep harem in their Paradise, where some ghost Musselman has a thousand ghost wives attended to by ghost eunuchs, and riding in ghost carriages drawn by ghost horses, and the happy ghost Mussel—man sleeping with a thousand ghost wives all at once.? This, and the ghost dogs, with the ghost deer of the Red American Indians, are no doubt a little too disgusting scenes to Messrs Stobo and Co. But he will find superlatively disgusting scenes in his traditional Paradise, viz., the screechings, and whinings of babe ghosts, making their eternal cat—music, and the vain endeavours of their ghost mothers by their lullabies, lulling and cradling them to sleep. And what with the yelling and shoutings, ravings, &c. of the ghosts of raving madmen, will not Mr. Stobo find it more disgusting than the ghost dogs of the Indians, or the Musselmen's Paradise of' a thousand wives? I do not envy him his joy among such a crowd, but I should think, that he will have to sing his hallelujahs pretty high—voiced if he want s it to be beard. But may be that in his wisdom he will give orders to his god to provide a separate department in hades for this noisy crowd. Or shut them up in a lunatic ghost asylum. Or may be, that he expects that death will change the souls of furious madmen into rational ghosts; just like death makes two men out of one. Well, Mr. Stobo may believe "in a hell" of eternal butchery, and in the devils who perform this butchery; well, he may "believe in a god" of the creed, "whose judgments are real" eternal butcheries. He may believe in jails and hangmen, and the lash. And be may "believe in the infinite love of his god," because his butchering is everlasting. He may believe in Minerva also if he likes. But Mr. Richter believes that no such faith is at all necessary for the salvation of his soul from death. To believe, in the only true God, and in his only true Son Jesus Christ, who as man came to save men from death, is all the scriptures require men to believe, for the saving of their souls from death. And further, Mr. Richter has not the least faith in the god the son of the traditional creeds, who by his little earth dying saves man from Augustine's hell fire, but does not save him from death. Thanks to Mr. Stobo for his gratuitous advice, "That I arid others might be better employed, than to persuade people that there is no hell," &c. Well, let me give him and Co. a little gratuitous advice also, viz., that for his pay his time might be better employed, to teach men how
Mr. Stobo will please to answer me these few questions on the authority of the Bible. How, and when are his disembodied ghosts judged, before they are allowed to pop into his heaven, or be cast into hell? How can Christ's twenty hours' suffering and death, by the scriptures called vicarious, be vicarious in regard to an everlasting hell-fire butchery? If man by reason of his inherent immortality has endless life in himself, for what purpose did Jesus come and die, in order to give eternal life to those who believe in him? And if man has that eternal life in himself, how can the wages of sin become the cause of death to him? And how dare he call men's souls immortal, seeing that God says, Every soul that sins it shall die? How can he account for, that the Bible persists in calling his fancied living ghost men, the dead? Having answered all Mr. Stobo's questions, I expect him in like courtesy to answer mine.
I will now add a few more plain facts, and unsophisticated reasons in refutation of Messrs Stobo and Co's sophistical theology. He says, in regard to the thief on the cross, "It is quite clear that the soul of the thief was there (in Paradise) in a state of conscious happiness whilst his body was probably still hanging on the cross; and this one fact is enough to break the back of all the Christadelphian rubbish in the world." I have shown already that what Jesus and the thief said concerning themselves, the "I, me, and thou," Mr. Stobo had to metamorphose into et souls," in order to prop up his hobby of separate conscious souls apart from the body, but this is only another jugglery of his, the weapon of sophistry used by a traditional theology: which when exposed to light dashes to pieces all their air castles. I will now show what the words "death" and "to die" signify in the Bible; and what Platonian dreamers have made people to understand by it. The first time we find death mentioned in the Bible is by God himself, when he said to Adam, "The day thou eatest there of, thou shall surely die." And what did Adam understand by death? for we have to bear in mind that a penalty with which a law giver threatens any one has to be understood by the party against whom the said law was made; or else the law-giver cannot in justice exact the threatened punishment, as in the case of babes and idiots. Now Adam could not possibly in the absence of any other definition of death, have any other conception of it, but that it signified acessation of the existence of life, such as he saw when he killed a beast
Mr. Stobo speaks of the love of God as genuine, pure, and holy." But why does he not add just? no doubt, because his eternal hell-fire butchery would contradict it. But it is "pure and holy when he sees that it has provided a hell, in which its threatenings against transgressors and rebels are to be executed," and this " hell with its untold horrors and miseries, is as real as the happiness of heaven," &c. Well, sir, I quite agree with you, that "the horrors and miseries will be real," that there will be real weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, but not of ghost men, but of real men in their material bodies, and that not in Augustine's hell, but in the lake of' fire, and not till the last and awful day of judgment. And as Tertullian has it, "it will be a real butchery," a day of slaughter. "The day of wrath and indignation which will consume all God's adversaries." But God's judgment is mixed with love and mercy, for not one shall suffer one instant longer than what his deeds deserve,
These considerations bring us to the resurrection. Every believer in God's promises, who looks for the salvation and redemption from the power of death to Jesus as the cause of his future life, has the lull assurance by his faith and hope, that he who has the keys of death and hades will bring them forth body and soul, and change their mortal bodies of Adam's sin's flesh into immortal spirit bodies to become like his own glorified body. And then we shall be for ever with Christ. But quite different must be the procectura with our friends the saints of the traditional creeds, who are not found sleeping in the graves; but have merely lett the little earth therein, whilst they themselves, the real ghost men, have enjoyed their own heaven with their own traditional Jesus for different lengths of time. These ghost men cannot possibly rise from true dead, they will needs have to come down from their heaven; just contrary to what we read concerning the resurrection of the dead scripture
Sir,—Though evolution during the
The last act of the omnipotent Creator was to create man, and with him was finished all this globe required
Evolutionists all rant about an innate immortality which man is said to possess, and some even dream that the beasts possess it alike with man. And yet they have not advanced one step into the light, nor given us any better and convincing information on this subject from whence they obtained this immortality, than the Hindoos, Egyptians, Greeks, the Pantheists, and the Atheists. All the one-sided and isolated hints and suggestions of analogy, all the declamations against the Bible narrative of the creation, only serve to bewilder man, instead of convincing hint one whit. But let us return to the narrative of the Pentateuch of the creation, and let us examine whether man was made immortal? The ophilus of Antioch put the question, "Was Adam created with a mortal or immortal nature?" and his reply is," Neither the one nor the other, but he was fitted for either, in order that he might receive immortality as a reward." The same as I said, that man was created a probatory being. Had he stood his trial of probation, immortality would no doubt have been his reward. Now when "God saw that every thing he had made was very good," man must have been a creature "very good," for the state of his probation, to attain immortality, yet was he not immortal, as I will show further on. Man was very good just so far as his position as husband, father, and provider required it; he was put in a capacity by his maker to fulfil all duties in his position required of him, just like a young man who has finished his education and has been instructed in all the requisites for his future career, and is put in possession of an estate, by the management of which his moral culture is put to the test. If he acts rationally obeying the dictates of his moral nature, and making good use of the attainments he has acquired by education, thirty years hence he will be a proved, and wise, and as people call it, a perfect man. But if he lets his animal nature unrestrained predominate, his estate will soon be squandered, and he himself a wreck in health, cut down by death many years before his time. Such was
But let us return to the Bible, the only book from which we can learn whether man was made a being to possess innate immortality or not? We have shown already that when God made the lower creatures, they are called "living souls." But when God made man, he did not call him a living soul, but called him man, even when he was yet a dead man. But after he had breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the dead man then became a living soul, just such a living soul as the other creatures had been made by him at once. So that the breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, did not make man immortal any more than the other creatures, who were made living souls direct, who lived as living souls by the same breath and spirit of God. Again, God did not form man of any other substance than be formed the animals, i.e., out of the ground of the earth. No, he did not form man out of soul, or spirit; but out of the same sort of ground as the other animals, and man became a living soul by the same breath or spirit by which all the other creatures have their life (souls). And after man's transgression, when God pronounced the sentence of death on him, he still calls man "dust from which he was taken, and to which he would return." And why did God after his transgression drive man out of the garden of Eden? for no other purpose, "lest man should put forth his hand, and take also of the fruit of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever," to prevent man from becoming immortal. For we have shown that the breath of life and the spirit of God are not the man, but only the cause of his life, his soul the same as in every other creature. From whence, then, and at what time of his life, did man receive his immortality which a fool's theology asserts that he possesses? Though God in-tended man to become immortal, it was only on his part to be obtained on condition of obedience. And though man by disobedience brought death upon himself and on his race, God in his mercy has not foreclosed the offered immortality from man, in that he devised the means by which he accepted the death of the mediator, Christ, to die vicariously for man, and thus the prospective immortality is still as available to man, through faith in Christ, as it was to Adam. Christ was foreshadowed to our first parents under
And how can the incarnation of the angel of the covenant, afterward called the. Son of God, be reconciled with evolution? By it Jesus must have needs received his human nature. The only begotten Son of God must then at a time have existed in the sperma or slime of the sea, have been a mollusc, fish, reptile, monkey, till he at last became man, and that a perfect man, without sin. If evolution was at fault in regard to Adam and his race, it must have made a tremendously sudden leap toward perfection in the man Jesus. What dependence can man have in such a law? But the idea becomes too absurd, and further investigation is not necessary. The lie is too patent, and therefore requires no refutation. Allowing that God by his command, the fiat, brought forth from the waters aquatic, and from the earth terrestial creatures, and that these he formed or moulded after into their respective forms and species, if you call that evolution,. I do not object to it, but do not apply it to man, which the Pentateuch contradicts; for, remember the earth did not bring forth man, but God formed man directly out of it. The idol images of the Hindoos, as they represent the
We are taxed by Messrs Stobo and Co. "that we endeavor to relax the bonds of eternal justice." Do you mean, sir, that you represent your god as dealing justly, in that ho cannot be even satisfied with the eternal agonies of the transgressor, and that irrespectively of whether a man has sinned a penny's worth, or a million of pounds worth, he has to suffer in each case alike eternal agonies? But such is not the God of the Bible, in whom we believe, because our God "will judge the world in righteousness," and every one shall have to bear the evil that he has done in his lifetime in his own body; and not in his soul or ghost man. And then when you see the righteous judgments of God, you who have preached the cruel traditional gods of a fool's theology, will, according to the prophet, "have to hide your cruel idols in the mole holes," and that for shame, when you shall see all your air castles of the creeds', swept for ever away. No, reader, we do not relax God's law of justice. No, we defend it, we uphold it, by allying it according to Holy Writ with equity, mercy, and justice. Do we imperil man's faith in our God and in his Christ? What attributes of his do we attack? We have shown that his justice is not attacked. Is it his love? Is it that part of love to inflict eternal pain, if his justice cause be satisfied otherwise? Or is it his mercy? Is that the mercy of God that can never be satisfied with the misery of others? Is it his holiness? Would that be holiness to keep evil, sin, and moral pollution for ever in existence by the innumerable millions cursing and blaspheming his holy name to all eternity? No, reader, such is not our God, the God of the Bible whom we worship, though Augustine's God, the Papal god, Calvin's god, and Messrs Stobo and Co's gods are such, all beings of boundless injustice, caprice, and cruelty. The reader will see by this, that I and others of the same faith are not "the raving infidels" that Mr. Stobo seems to brand us. No, we believe with all our hearts in the God and in the Christ of the Bible, and all t he doctrines contained in it concerning our salvation from death. But we do not believe in the gods (idols) of the traditional creeds, the cobwebs spun out by some hair-brained theologians. In regard to these, we confess we arc thorough infidels: so that in this respect Mr. Stobo has said the truth for the first time. Do we then propagate scepticism? No, but we en-
The doctrine of an inherent immortality in man, is, as I have shown, not a doctrine of the Bible. Neither was it a doctrine contained in any creeds of the churches up to
These mountebanks, when they describe their Platonic theory, use a jargon contrary to the plainest logic, contrary to reason, and in evident contradiction to the dicta of the Bible. They make of death a mere harlequin's jest. So that a dead Jesus can burst asunder the bars of the grave; dead God can govern and up hold the universe; and dead men are in a position to sleep in their graves, and at the same time be alive, and enjoy their bliss in heaven, or suffer torment in hell,—while death in Holy Writ is everywhere described as a penalty, a curse the sentence put in execution which God pronounced upon man's transgression—from which the believer hopes to be redeemed by means of his faith in Jesus. A fool's theology teaches "that death is their angel of redemption." As Calvin says, "Who—saviour believes in Christ ought to be so minded, that at the mention of death, he should lift up his bead rejoicing at the news of his redemption." Jesus on the contrary informs us "that it is at his coming we are to lift up our heads, because then our redemption from the power of death draws near. And Paul informs us that believers groan, waiting for their redemption at the day of the resurrection, while Calvin wants to persuade us, that we "have to regard the day of our death as our redemption." According to Holy Writ, death in our enemy; Calvin tells us, it is our best friend. In short to such men as Calvin J. Wesley and Co., there is no death; it is a mere transition from a bad country to a better one. Death to them is only birth to a perfected life. As the Wesleyans sing, "Mortals cry a man is dead! Angels sing a child is born," which, according to the Scriptures means just as much. When Scripture says, A man is dead, fools assert a child is born. These mountebanks have in fact turned the awful sentence of death which God pronounced upon men because of transgression into a mere burlesque, a joke, seeing that they have made of death a saviour and a blessing, the door to eternal life. Such is the language of our modern mocker; who by the study of Plato's Phcedo, have become wiser than the God of the Bible: by asserting that black is white, and white is black. Such is the language of our modern saints. But bow different is the language of the saints of the Bible! Of them we read how they shuddered at the terror of death, when they exclaim," Return, O Lord! deliver my soul (life); oh, save me for thy mercy's sake: for in death there is no remembrance of Thee. In hades who will give Thee thanks? Like sheep (they say), they are laid in hades." But animated by the assurance of the promise that "through faith they should live again," they exclaim hopefully," He has not given me over unto death, for thou
Thus Mr. Stobo in public print designates those who, for a few Sundays, left his church in order to hear a popular preacher.
This Pamphlet is open for republishing and translation, as no copyright has been reserved.
Printed at the Times Office, Esk street, Invercargill.
The object of this institution is to impart to girls a thoroughly useful and liberal education.
The ordinary course of instruction will comprise a thorough English education, viz.:—Reading, Grammar, Composition, Geography, History, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Natural Science, Writing; also French, German, Class Singing, Drawing, and Needlework.
Competent Visiting Teachers are engaged for Music; Singing (private lessons), Dancing, Gymnastics, Dressmaking, and Ornamental Work.
The Classes are all conducted by teachers thoroughly efficient in their several departments, while the Lady Principal in addition to her own special classes exercises a general supervision over the whole school.
The School is divided into an Upper and a Lower Department, each comprising two classes; these classes are again sub-divided when necessary.
No examination is required for admission to the Lower School but it is expected that those entering shall be able to read and spell fairly, and know the four simple rules of arithmetic.
The aim in the Lower School is to lay the foundation of a sound English education—the studies being Reading, Spelling, Grammar, Composition, Arithmetic, Geography, Object Lessons, Writing, and Class Singing. Very simple lessons in History are also given. When the pupils reach the Upper Division of the Lowest or D Class they begin French unless the parents desire otherwise.
The studies become gradually more difficult as the pupils are ready to be moved upward. When the C class is reached, the study of Botany takes the place of Object Lessons; that branch of Natural Science along with Physical Geography forming the Science Course for the Lower Divisions of the Upper School. In the A, or Highest Class, Heat or Geology is the Science Course in alternate years. Lessons on the Laws of Health and on Social Economy are given as time and opportunity can be found for them. In the Upper School Mathematics forms an important part of the school work as a means of training the girls to habits of steady and accurate thought. The pupils of the A class are also introduced to the study of English Classics, a book of Paradise Lost and one of Shakespear's Plays being read critically each session.
The aim of the Educational Course given in the Girls' High School is to make of the girls thoughtful young women, who will, when they leave school continue to add to the knowledge acquired during their attendance there, and thus fit themselves for being useful members of society. Needlework is taught in all classes in the school except the highest. The girls who reach it are supposed to be able to sew well, and the studies in that class are so numerous that the school time does not admit of instruction in that branch.
The appointment of a Sewing Teacher will naturally benefit the industrial department, as the elder girls will be taught to cut and place garments as well as sew them. Fancy work is only permitted after pupils have satisfactorily made some piece of clothing. The lady Principal has been able to secure the services of an experienced dressmaker, who will conduct an extra class after school hours to teach any girls who may choose to attend it, to cut, fit, and make
The girls are drilled twice a week by Sergeant-Major Stevens. Gymnastic classes are conducted during the winter six months of the year by Mr. W. B. Long. Attendance at this class is also urged as a means of physical education.
The School possesses an excellent Library containing upwards of 400 volumes of useful and entertaining books, which may be taken advantage of on payment of an annual subscription of 4s. or a quarterly one of Is. 6d.
Examinations are held monthly, and also quarterly, in all the classes, and prizes are awarded at the end of the session by the results-of these.
Reports are sent quarterly to the parents, containing the average percentage of marks obtained by the pupils. These reports are intended to assist parents in judging the average progress that has been made by their children during the quarter.
Prizes,—The ordinary class prizes arc awarded at the end of the season for proficiency in all the subjects of study; and, in addition, special prizes are granted to those in the Upper and lower Schools who have obtained the highest marks in each section into which the school work is divided.
Certificates of Merit are given to all who obtain 75 per cent, of marks in any one section.
When any pupil has been absent, she must, on her return, produce a note signed by her parents or guardian explaining the cause of her absence; and no pupil is allowed to leave during school hours without a similar note.
Besides the usual Public Holidays, a fortnight's recess is given at midwinter, and six weeks at Christmas.
The Lady Principal is always glad to see parents or guardians if they have any communication to make to her concerning their children.
The Boarding Department is under the superintendence of Mrs. M. H. Martin who is assisted in her duties by a well-qualified resident governess.
The domestic arrangements approach as nearly as possible those of a well-regulated family, and every effort is made to secure the happiness and comfort of the pupils. Constant supervision is exercised, and habits of neatness and order are inculcated. The
Each boarder will have a separate bed, except in case of sisters, and must bring with her 4 table-napkins, 4 single sheets', 4 pillowslips, 6 towels.
The following articles of Clothing, for each boarder are requisite:
A full supply of collars, cuffs, handkerchiefs, and stockings: the usual supply of combs and brushes; bags for soiled clothes and for hair brushes.
It is particularly requested that each article of clothing be distinctly marked.
A quarter's notice, or half a quarter's fee, is required before the removal of a boarder.
"I have the honor to submit my sixth annual report of the Girls' High School of Otago. The attendance during the session just ended has been the largest since the opening of the school six years ago, having during the second quarter reached as high as 195. Two-fifths of that number were new pupils. During the third and fourth quarters the attendance was diminished in consequence of sickness in several families to which pupils belonged, though in only one case has a pupil of the school been attacked by fever. In all cases of fever at their homes pupils have been removed from school at once, and in no case has anyone returned till the medical attendant gave satisfaction as to the safety or her doing so. To these precautions, in which all the parents of pupils concerned have most kindly aided me, I attribute the general good health of the school. There has not been a case of serious illness in the boarding department during the year.
"The work of the school in all the classes has gone on very much as heretofore. From the fact of so many new pupils having joined the school this year the lower classes have been more numerously attended than the upper, as no girl can pass to the upper classes unless she reaches the standard I have fixed for admission to them. The general progress of all the classes as tested by the examination just over, as well as by frequent examinations in the course of the year, has been satisfactory. The school sustained a
"In the Science Department astronomy formed the work of the A class. During the first six months these lessons were made thoroughly interesting by actual observations with Mr. Pope's excellent telescopes. Before he left he held an examination on his half-year's work, the results of which have been added to those of the Christmas examination. "Proctor's Manual of Astronomy" has been the textbook during the last half-year. In mathematics the upper division of the A class has reached the sixth book of euclid, and as far as surds and indices in algebra. The higher rules of arithmetie have also been carefully gone over. The science lessons in the B and C classes were confined to botany. A very fair acquaintance with the subject has been made by the B class. The instruction in the C class was necessarily somewhat elementary. The instruction in the upper branches of the school course has been carried on much as usual, and does not call for any special notice.
"At the beginning of the session the Education Board sanctioned the addition of German to the "ordinary course" of instruction. Miss Huie has had the charge of the French and the German classes. Comparatively few girls have entered on the study of German, as I do not permit them to begin that language until they have acquired a certain knowledge of French, and are old enough to undertake the additional labour necessary for its acquisition. I am hopeful that year by year the students of German will increase in number. The drawing classes, under the care of Mr. Hutton and assistants, have made even more satisfactory progress than in any former year. This is greatly owing to the additional school-room accommodation, which enables us to carry on separate classes much more satisfactorily. As a matter of course the elder pupils are beginning to show the results of Mr. Hutton's valuable training; and are now drawing from models, and in a few cases from nature: The other visiting teachers have carried on their classes very much as in past years. An additional branch of fancy work has been introduced by Mrs. W. W, Brown, the success of which was seen in the fretwork ornaments and fern-spray tables exhibited last Wednesday along with the plain and fancy needlework.
"I now tender my cordial thanks to all my fellow-teachers, most of whom have now worked with me for several sessions, and who one and all have seconded use in all my plans for securing the efficiency and well-being of the school.
"In the early part of the year I felt that I could no longer take charge of both day school and boarding establishment, the burden and anxiety being quite beyond, not my will, but my strength. The Education Board, on my representation, was kind enough to relieve me of the care of the boarders at mid-winter, and appointed Mrs. M. H. Martin lady superintendent of the boarding department. I have every reason to believe that this division of labour will result in the more efficient and successful working of both departments. The highest number of boarders this year was 36.
"In conclusion I desire to thank very heartily the many kind friends who have so liberally provided prizes for the school. They are: Mrs. M. Holmes, Mrs. Norrie, Mrs. Henry Campbell, Miss Dalrymple, the Hon. Sir John Richardson, his Worship the Mayor, Messrs. A. C. Strode, E: C. Chapman, W. I). Stewart, W. Joel, Reith and Wilkie, T. Matheson, Hanoi) and Neill, and friends who do not wish their names to be mentioned. Some of the teachers have also presented special prizes, for which I tender my thanks. They are as follows:—Miss Huie, eight prizes for French and German Miss E. Huie, three prizes for neatness in home exercises; Miss Smith, prize for industry; Miss M'Gregor, prize for composition Mr. J. H. Pope, mathematical dux prize; Mr. G. M. Thomson, science prize; Mrs. Brown, prize for fretwork; and Mrs. Burn, silver medal and 'prizes for kindly helpfulness and improvement. The music teachers' prizes are given in the prize list."
Dux of School—Gold Medal, Miss I. L. Gillies.
A Class—2nd prize, Misses M. Montgomery and E. Little, equal. Certificates for 75 per cent. mark: Section A, 1000 marks—Grammar, Milton, Composition, French, and German—Misses Gillies, Little, Montgomery, Banks, Begg, F. Ross, J. Cairns. Section 8oo marks—Mathematics and Astronomy—Misses Gillies, Little, Montgomery, and Banks. Section C, 600 marks—History and Geography.—Misses Gillies, Little, Montgomery, Banks, Begg, and Hay. Writing—Miss Sidey. Drawing—1st, Miss E. Grant; and, Misses Ross and Warren (equal).
B Class.—Dux—Silver medal, Miss Sophia Gifford; and prize, Miss Jane Couper. Certificates for 75 per cent. marks: Section A,
C Class—Dux—Silver medal, Miss Flora Allan; 2nd prize, Miss C. Little. Certificates for 75 per cent. marks: Section A, 500 marks—Grammar, Etymology, Composition, and French—Misses F. Allan, C. Little, K. Ogilvie, E. Purdie, J McNeill, M. Mackerras, H. Levi, K. Oliver, A. Stephenson, E. Alexander, and E. Leary. Section B, 600 marks—History, Geography, Botany, and Arithmetic—Miss F. Allan. Writing—1st prize, Miss Grace Joel; 2nd, Miss E. Leary.
D Class.—Dux—Silver medal, Miss A. Hutton; and prize, Miss F. Roberts. Certificates for 75 per cent, marks in all subjects Misses A. Hutton, Roberts, M'Donald, Goldie, E. Marsden. Writing—Miss J. Gow.
E Class.—1st prize, Miss M. Hutton. Certificate, Miss L. Watson.
Special Prizes.—A Class: Mathematical dux, Miss E. Little. Science prize, Miss M. Montgomery. Essay, Miss E. Grant. Mapping, Miss E. Little. French class work, Miss A. Davies. improvement, Miss F. Ross. French and German, A 1, Miss M. Montgomery. German, A 2, Miss J. Smeaton. B Class—Science, Miss S. Gifford. Essay—1st prize, Miss F. Isaccs; and prize, Miss B. Nicholls and Miss E. Jones (equal). Mapping : 1st prize, Miss K. Sperrey; and prize, Miss A. Branigan. French improvement, Miss B. Nicholls. C Class—French class-work, Miss Barr. Neatness in home exercises, Miss S. Jamieson. D Class—Trench improvement, Misses B. Reith and E Marsden. Neatness in home exercises Misses M. Kempthorne and Crawshaw. Industry, Miss Edith Reid. E Class (French)—French improvement, Miss M. Mackerras.
Moral Education Prize.—Miss Dalrymple's Victoria prizes for diligence, punctuality, and attention—Miss R. Woolfe, Upper School; Miss M. M'Neill, Lower School. Fanny prizes for gentleness, kindness, and courtesy (adjudged by votes of the pupils)—Miss F. Ross, tipper School; Miss C. Little, Lower School, Given by Mrs. Burn for constant kindly help to her companions and steady attention to school duties, Miss Meta Ross. Improvement prize, Miss H. Levi. For diligence and general improvement, by Sir J. L. C. Richardson—A class: Miss J. Hay; B class: Miss A. Campbell.
Music Prizes.—Mrs. White's: Misses Hay, Warren Bowler, Orbell, Nicholls, E. Marsden. Mrs. Wilmott's: Misses I. and A. Gillies, Branigan, and Nixon. Miss Bell's: Misses H. Mackerras A. Kempthorn e and A. Campbell: Miss Browne's: Miss Reith. Mr. Towsey's: Misses Ethel Jones and K. Harris (equal). Special prize for fretwork (given by Mrs. Browne): Miss Annie M. Burn.
Gentlemen,—
At the close of another session it is gratifying to be able to report the continued prosperity of the School. The number of pupils now on the roll is 194, as against 159 at the close of last year.
We have much cause for thankfulness that though an epidemic has prevailed in the city for some time our average attendance has not been seriously affected thereby. A few isolated cases have occurred, and one of our number has been removed by death, hut no material interruption of our work has taken place.
I have to thank the Board of Education for assenting to the application I made at an early part of the session to provide additional class-rooms, so as to enable us to carry on the work more satisfactorily. It was late before the building was commenced, and thus we could not avail ourselves of the increased accommodation this year. Next year, however, we hope to be in a position of greater comfort. We have now three new class-rooms, one of them a completely equipped laboratory. This will enable us to commence the study of chemistry, which in future will form part of the scientific course for the Upper School.
From many causes—and chiefly because the circumstances of the School for the last two years have been very different from previous years—the work of classification has been one of difficulty. Mistakes may have been made at first in placing boys in classes engaged in work beyond their ability. We have been this year endeavouring to remedy this as much as possible, to consolidate the classes, and to ascertain the individual capacities of the pupils in order to give each his true position in the School. It is only by the exercise of caution and firmness in this way that we can hope to benefit the pupils themselves, and prevent any one boy from retarding the advancement of the others. If it should appear to any that our classes, or divisions of classes, are unduly multiplied, they should remember that it has now become an accepted fact in education, especially in the higher education, that it is impossible to teach
Two new features in our system are deserving of notice this year. We have succeeded in introducing class-singing into the School, and we have at the same time fairly inaugurated the study of German. The former has been confined to the two junior classes, and the latter to the boys of the modern side in the Upper School. It is hardly possible, in my opinion, to over-estimate the value of the German language as a means of education. It is scarcely inferior to Latin as an instrument for grammatical training. It has a rich and extensive literature; and to those who view the question in the light of its utility alone it must seem to be of great and increasing importance in a commercial community like this. Let no one fear that the number of subjects is inordinately increased. While the course is a varied one we seek to confine the boys only to those branches which they are able to overtake.
The other departments have been conducted as before, and I take this opportunity of thanking my colleagues for co-operating with me in endeavouring to make the School as efficient as possible.
In the department of physical training we have confined our attention chiefly to athletics and drill. The want of a sufficient playground for cricket and other sports is a great misfortune, which I suppose must be borne until the Government see the propriety of removing the Boys' High School to a site more suitable than the one it at present occupies. Our annual sports were held at the Caledonian grounds three weeks ago, and were quite successful. The Artillery and Rifle Cadet Corps have had frequent opportunities of showing their efficiency in drill. Medals have been awarded from Sir J. Richardson's fund to the five boys in each Company who have been most active and attentive to drill throughout the year, and these will be presented to the successful competitors to-day.
On occasions like this it is usual to refer to the honours gained by former pupils in the different spheres of life on which they may have entered. Few of the boys front this school choose a university career, and consequently it is not easy to trace the future course of those who leave us; but I have to mention the fact that this year an old pupil—Mr. Solomon—has been the first in the colony to gain the New Zealand University degree of B.A.
I now beg to tender thanks to those gentlemen, friends of the School, who have shown a special interest in our work by presenting prizes to the pupils. This year we have been quite overwhelmed with gifts, and the difficulty has been to find special subjects to which to attach them.
Captain Hutton and Mr. Robert Gillies, President of the Otago Institute, offered valuable prizes at the beginning of the session—the
The following is a list of former Duxes of the School:—
These prizes are awarded for excellence in all the subjects taught in the class. They are decided by the marks obtained during the whole session, along with the monthly and quarterly examination marks.
Dux of whole school—H. Halliwell, Chamber of Commerce, gold medal.
Dux of Classical side—W. D. Milne, gold medal.
Dux of Lower School—F. W. Bayley, silver medal.
Richardson Medals.—High School Artillery Cadets—1st, Sergeant E. H. Burn (medal); and, Sergeant, J. C. Nichols; 3rd, Lieutenant Shand; 4th, Sergeant-Major Finch; 5th, Lieutenant Reid. Rifle Cadets: 1st, G. M'Dermid; and, H. B. Todd; 3rd, J. Wain; 4th, C. Rainton; 5th, A. Smith.
Gymnastic Prizes.—First Form: 1st, R. Wheeler, Maltese cross; and, G. Maitland, silver pencil; 3rd, J. Anderson, silver pencil. Second Form: 1st, Job Wain, silver pencil; and, R. Austin and C. Brent, silver pencil, equal.
Certificates for 75 per cent. Marks in any Subject.—English Peter Barr, William Reynolds, Thomas Marshall, James Cargill, Henry Hay, Henry Butterworth, O. Kempthorne, Walter Barker, C. Black, Percival Campbell Barker. Latin: Gerald Baldwin, Godfrey Baldwin, Albert Park, Charles Nichols, James Cow, William Brown. Writing: John Norman, Alfred Joel, William Sievwright, Herbert Park, Richard Lees, Frank Kettle, Alexander Simpson, Robert Austin, C. Martin, William M`Gill, Andrew Secular, Fred. Smith, Adlert Weldon, Herbert Fulton, James Reid. Mathematics: Robert Rutherford, E. Joel, Albert Stohr, Peter Lindsay, James Allan. French: W. Blyth, Fred. Smith, W. Stronach, Alfred Brown, P. Bur, Alexander Bagley, James Bathgate, C. Butterworth, P. Wales. English and Latin: J. W. Salmond, Frank Clapperton. English, French, and Science: Alexander Purdie. English, Classics, Mathematics, and French: Alexander Todd. English, Classics, and Science: Alexander Montgomery. English, Classics, and Mathematics William Milne. English, Mathematics, French, and Science Herbert Halliwell. Mathematics and French : A. Joel. English and Mathematics : Walter Palmer, James Norman, C. Alridge. English, Mathematics, French, and Latin: W. Bannatyne. Latin, Science, and French: William Allan. French and Arithmetic Louis Joel. Arithmetic: John Borrie. Latin and Fiends: James Wales, H. Harvey. Mathematics, French, and Science: Alexander Simpson.
The High School was established in the year
The classes are conducted by gentlemen thoroughly efficient in their several departments, both as regards scholarship and skill in the art of teaching.
The School is divided into a Lower and an Upper Department, each comprising three forms, and named the Lower and Upper Schools.
The Lower School is intended to be preparatory to the Upper. Boys are admitted about the-age of eight or nine years. No examination is required for admission into the Lower School, but it is expected that those who enter will be able to read an easy passage of English, and to know the four simple rules of arithmetic.
The Upper School is divided into two sides—the Classical and the Modern. The Classical side is intended to prepare pupils for a University curriculum and the learned professions. The Modern side, on the other hand, while also preparatory for the University, is chiefly intended to impart is first-class commercial and general education, suitable for those who desire to avail themselves of the benefits of a liberal training without going through a University curriculum. Pupils desirous of entering the Upper School must pass a preliminary examination as to scholarship. A syllabus showing the subjects of examination and the standard required in each is appended hereto.
The curriculum of study in the Lower School embraces those subjects which form limo basis of a sound English education. In the
In the Upper School boys who enter the Classical side receive a thorough training in Latin and in Greek, along with instruction in the English Language and Literature, History, Geography, and Mathematics, and have also an opportunity, if they desire it, of attending classes in Natural History or Modern Languages, so as to enable them to enter upon the study of these subjects afterwards with greater facility. In the Modern side French and German take the place of Greek, while more time is devoted to Mathematics; Natural Science, and those branches which better fit boys for entering on commercial pursuits.
Drawing forms a part of the regular School course, and instruction is given in Freehand Drawing from copies and solid models, in practical Geometry, and in Mechanical Drawing and Perspective.
Singing.—Class Singing is taught in the junior department, and those who wish it may have instruction in the pianoforte in school.
Phonography.—Those pupils who wish to acquire the art of Shorthand Writing will have the opportunity of doing so on payment of an additional fee.
Physical Education.—There is a well-equipped Gymnasium attached to the School, and the pupils are under the tuition of Mr. Long, who gives instruction in Gymnastics, Fencing, &c. All the pupils are drilled weekly by Sergeant-Major Stevens. Cricket and other athletic sports are sufficiently encouraged by prizes and otherwise, and the Tennis Court at the School and the Recreation Grounds in the neighbourhood of the city give ample opportunity for engaging in these healthy exercises. A class will be formed for those boys who wish to learn swimming under Lieutenant Sims.
Lierary.—The School is provided with a library of useful and entertaining works, and boys may take advantage of it on payment of a small annual fee.
While each department is under the charge of a thoroughly qualified master, the Rector exercises a general control over the School, and endeavours to bring all the pupils under his special instruction at least once weekly.
The School is opened every morning with the reading of a portion of the Scriptures and with prayer. To this the first ten minutes is devoted, and all boys are required to be present at this time except those who have obtained permission to be absent at the special request of their parents.
Examinations are held monthly and also quarterly in all the classes, and prizes are awarded at the end of the session by the results of these, combined with the daily class marks. Special examiners are appointed by the Education Board to examine the whole School annually.
Reports containing the average percentage of marks obtained by the pupils are sent quarterly to the parents. These reports are intended to assist parents in judging the average progress that has been made by their children during the quarter.
Prizes.—The ordinary class prizes are awarded at the end of the session for proficiency in all the subjects of study; and, in addition, special prizes are granted to those in the Lower and in the Upper School who have obtained the highest marks in every branch taught.
Certificates of Merit are given to all who obtain 75 per cent, of marks in any one subject.
Absence of Puplls.—When any pupil has been absent he must, on his return, produce a note signed by his parent or guardian explaining the cause of absence, and no pupil is allowed to leave during the School hours without a similar note. Intimation is sent to parents if any pupil has been absent for more than two days.
The session begins on the 5th of February, and ends about the 16th of December.
The Quarter Days are—5th February, 23rd April, 23rd July, and 8th October.
Holidays.—Besides the usual Provincial Holidays a fortnight is given in midwinter and six weeks at Christmas.
Visitors.—Parents and others interested in the School are invited to visit the classes at any hour. The Rector will set apart an hour for those who wish to consult hint about their children, and it is hoped that parents will make it convenient to call then, and at no other hour.
The Rectory has been specially fitted up for the accommodation of boarders. It is situated about ten minutes' walk from the High School, and occupies one of the finest positions in Dunedin, adjoining the Town Belt, and surrounded by extensive recreation grounds. The rooms arc lofty, light, and well ventilated. Each boy occupies a separate bed, and everything has been arranged with a view to the health and comfort of the pupils.
The boarders are under the direct control of the Rector, and are superintended during the preparation of lessons and at other times by a well-qualified Resident Master.
The domestic arrangements are under the management of Mrs. Norrie.
The following is a list of articles required by each boarder. It is particularly requested that every article be distinctly marked, and that a list be attached to each boy's trunk:—
A List of Articles.
Stationery (including pens, ink, blotting and examination paper) 2s. 6d. per quarter.
Gymnastics 7s. 6d. per quarter for junior pupils, 10s, 6d. for senior pupils.
The terms for Board include instruction in all the subjects of the regular School course, superintendence of studies, and washing.
A quarter's notice, or half-a-quarter's fee, is required before the removal of a boarder.
White and Riddle's, or Dr. Smith's Latin Dictionary (school edition); Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon (school edition); Dr. Smith's Smaller Classical Dictionary; Dr. Smith's Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities; Collins' Globe Dictionary, or Stormonth's, or Chambers' English Dictionary; Collins' or Keith Johnston's Atlases of Classical and General Geography.
I beg respectfully to offer myself as a Candidate for the Chair of Anatomy and Physiology in your University, and I have the honour to submit for your consideration the following evidence of my fitness for the office to which 1 aspire:—
I am a Graduate with honours in Medicine and Surgery, of the University of Edinburgh, at which school I received my medical education.
Prior to and subsequent to graduation my attention has been devoted almost entirely to the study of Anatomy and Physiology.
I received a careful training in the various methods of pursuing anatomical research under the superintendence of the Professor of Anatomy in Edinburgh, for whom I did much work in Comparative and Human Anatomy, both in relation to Physiology and Pathology.
I have bad considerable experience in public and private teaching of the above subjects, both in Edinburgh University and in the Liverpool Schools of Medicine and Science.
Should I have the honour of being elected to the Professorship, it shall be my sole aim to forward the interests of the University and its Students to the best of my ability.
Junior Demonstrator of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh. Session (On my resigning the above office, the Students presented me with a Testimonial, which I have at the present time in New Zealand.)A.—The following is a list of the chief appointments I have held:—
B.—The following is a list of the chief papers I am author of:—
Edinburgh Medical Monthly journal for British Medical Journal, Transactions of Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool. Winter Trans. Lit. and Philos. Soc. Liverpool. Winter
Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,
These Testimonials were not collected for the present candidatures; but I sent home, by last mail, letters requesting special Testimonials as to my fitness for the Chair.C. Copies of Testimonials
Dr. Millen Coughtrey was well known to me during his studies at this University, as an able and enthusiastic student. He devoted special attention to Anatomy, and he attained excellence in this department. His conduct was such as to command the respect and esteem of all the Professors. Since he left Edinburgh, he has been lecturing on Anatomy. T have much pleasure in certifying that he is an able medical man, and that he passed his examination in this University with honours.
This is to certify that Mr. Millen Coughtrey, M.B. was a pupil of my class of Anatomy in the University o
I have much pleasure in recommending Dr. Millen Coughtrey to a Medical School or University, as an intelligent and zealous student, who, since leaving this University, in
I have known Dr. M. Coughtery intimately for a considerable period, and have formed a very high opinion of him as an Anatomist and original thinker. Dr. Coughtrey does great credit to the University of Edinburgh, and I have no hesitation in saying, would make a most admirable Demonstrator of Anatomy for the Liverpool School of
Mr. Coughtrey is possessed of natural abilities of a high order. He is animated by an enthusiastic delight in Anatomical pursuits, and has obtained an acquaintance not only with Human Anatomy, but with Comparative Anatomy, and, I should add, with Pathological Anatomy, which abundantly qualifies him to be a teacher of the subject. He has had the best possible opportunity of acquiring the art of imparting instruction in the dissecting rooms of the Edinburgh University; and front my knowledge of some of his students, I can testify to his being a successful and acceptable Demonstrator. Altogether, I think the Liverpool School of Medicine will be fortunate in securing the services of such a man.
I beg to state the very high opinion I entertain of the abilities and acquirements of Mr. Millen Coughtrey, M.B. Mr. Coughtrey has devoted himself specially to Anatomical pursuits, for which his natural tastes and his artistic gifts give him special advantages. The earliest flees and energy of character which Mr. Coughtrey brings to bear upon his work, his experience in teaching, and his knowledge of Anatomical Science, appear to me to qualify him specially for the post of Demonstrator of Anatomy.
Dr. Millen Coughtrey was one Of our most distinguished graduates. He devoted himself specially to the study of Anatomy, and showed a rare facility in its tuition. Indeed, my only regret in Dr. Coughtrey leaving this country is, that our Medical Schools are thus deprived of the services of one who is destined, I believe, to take a high place among our lecturers. Dr. Coughtrey's diameter is that of a gentleman, and lie carries with him the best wishes of all who knew him.
Mr. Millen Coughtrey, M.B. and C.M., Ed., was well known to me during the whole of his University career,
I have much pleasure in stating, that I have known Dr. Millen Coughtrey during the past year, and having had occasion to see him frequently during the performance of his ditties, I can with confidence say that he has shown himself to be an excellent teacher of Anatomy, and an enthusiastic Comparative Anatomist. I hope that he will have an opportunity of doing good service to science in his favourite
It is with sincere pleasure that I offer my testimony, in addition to that of others more competent to speak, to the pre-eminent ability of Mr. Coughtrey to fill the post of Demonstrator of Anatomy, in the Liverpool School of Medicine. I consider Mr. Coughtrey an accomplished Anatomist, and a man who will reflect credit on any School with which he may become connected. In wishing Mr.
It is hardly possible to express in high enough terms the opinion I have been led to form of the Anatomical knowledge and teaching power possessed by Mr. Millen Cougetrey. He is a most zealous, hardworking, and earnest Student of Anatomy and its cognate sciences, and has proved by his papers, and still more by his actual success in teaching, that he has great power in communicating information. Any School of Medicine will be fortunate in securing such a man for Demonstrator.
I have great pleasure in testifying as to the ability and various qualifications of my friend Mr. Millen Coughtrey. While a student attending the University of tins city I had frequent opportunities of coming into close contact with him, and of judging of his powers, which are of a high standard. He was a most diligent and distinguished student, and paid particular attention to the studies of Anatomy and Zoology, so much so that the Professor of Anatomy paid him the high honour of electing him to the office of Demonstrator in the University, where as a teacher he gave great satisfaction to the numerous students studying under him. He, has already done good
I became acquainted with Dr. Mitlen Coughtrey some years age when he was Assistant in the Pathological Department of the Royal Infirmary, and I subsequently saw much of bins when he was one of the Demonstrators of Anatomy under Professor Turner. He impressed me as a man of much ability, who had a great enthusiasm for the subjects to which he specially devoted himself. He is a good Anatomist and Pathologist. He is also an excellent draughtsman, and he showed himself to be very obliging by the kind way in which he on many occasions placed this talent at the service of his friends. Ire has had much experience in teaching, having been Demonstrator of Anatomy for a considerable time both in Edinburgh, and subsequently in Liverpool. I believe from his training and natural ability that he would be a valuable teacher in a School of Medicine. I have no doubt also, from his distinguished career as a student, that he would prove himself an excellent practitioner, should he choose to devote himself to medical practice rather than to science. I wish him every success in the new sphere to which he is about to betake himself.
I have known Dr. Millen Coughtrey for several years,
Mr. Millen Coughtrey has been known to me for several years as a diligent and enthusiastic Student of Medicine. He has always shown a particular leaning towards Anatomical and Pathological studies, and was, understand, an able and most painstaking assistant to Professor Turner in some of his recent investigations regarding the Anatomy of the Cetaceae. Mr. Coughtrey's anatomical knowledge is extensive and accurate, and he possesses, T believes, considerable powers of original observation and research. For six months Mr. Coughtrey acted as Clerk to the Ophthalmic Wards of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and discharged the duties of the office most efficiently, displaying great interest in the study of Ophthalmology. I found him at all times most willing to oblige, and to employ his skill as draughtsman for the more accurate recording of rare or interesting Cases. In my opinion Mr. Coughtrey will, if appointed, prove a very efficient Demonstrator of Anatomy to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary School of Medicine.
Dr. Coughtrey has been well known to me for several years, as a most diligent student, sound practitioner, and successful teacher. He has devoted special attention to the study of Anatomy, and has already proved himself all excellent practical teacher of this subject in the dissecting room of the University. Dr. Coughtrey's qualifications will, I feel sure, make him an acquisition to any School of Medicine.
Dear Coughtrey,—You ask my opinion of your qualifications as an Anatomist and as a teacher. To any of us in Edinburgh here—I speak but the universal opinion of any one capable of forming an opinion—you would require no testimonial you are too well and, too favourably known as one of the most accomplished of the rising school of scientific teachers. For my own part, I am quite sorry that England is likely to lose you, for your success here was simply a question of time. I know no one better qualified for the duties of a teacher of Anatomy than yourself. You have my every good wish, you may be sure, and if ever, either directly or indirectly, I can in any way advance your views, you have only to command me.
I have much pleasure in testifying to the pre-eminent abilities and attainments of Millen Coughtrey, Esq.,
I hereby certify, that Dr. Coughtrey was well known to me during Ins student days in Edinburgh, and that I entertain the highest respect for his acuteness in observation and judgment, as well as for his assiduity and perseverance. He is a man who, with such qualities, is sure to do good work; who has, indeed, already done work which deserves high esteem.
Dear Mr. Coughtrey,—It gives me great pleasure to afford any testimony to your ability and acquirements as a medical man. I have no doubt that, from those under whom you held the responsible and important situations in various capacities connected with the School of Medicine in Edinburgh, yon will command abundant testimony of your qualifications. But if I may add to these, I should say that, in the teaching of Anatomy, as well as in the more everyday work of general practice, I should be much disappointed were you not ultimately to take a high position. Wishing you every success, I tune, yours very truly,
I left Liverpool on account of my health, and I came to New Zealand partly for the voyage, and partly to prosecute zoological dredging, also with a contingent prospect of settling in the colony.My Dear Sir,—Your letter resigning the office of Demonstrator of Anatomy was read at the Lecturers' meeting last evening. In accepting your resignation, I am desired to express the regret felt by the Lecturers at your inability
The Education Committee of the General Assembly of I the Church of Scotland hereby certify, that Miss
Signed in name and by appointment of the Committee at Glasgow, the
First Division of the Second Degree of Merit was the highest possible position at the examination. The First Division was a classification by promotion, attainable only after five years teaching favourably reported of by Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools.
The Committee of the Privy Council on Education Hereby Certify that
On a subsequent occasion, viz: in the month of Miss Elizabeth Kerr Hay in personally well fitted for the office of a Teacher—she maintains excellent order, is acquainted with the usually approved methods of imparting instruction, and is diligent and successful in applying them; altogether, she appears to exercise a very good moral influence on the young.
The Certificate thus far is limited to the proof of attainments and skill by examination. The Committee of Council are aware that there are other qualifications not less necessary to the success of a Teacher in the management of an Elementary School.
Their Lordships have therefore provided, as a means of encouragement to deserving Schoolmistresses, that Her Majesty's Inspector shall, at the visits which be will annually make to the School conducted by the possessor of this Certificate, enter at its foot a brief account of the condition of the School during each of five succeeding rears; a Schoolmistress of merit is this enabled to accumulate evidence of her practical success.
First Years' Inspection (since the last recorded date)—"The discipline is very good, and the instruction, so far as it goes, is imparted with skill and energy." Renton, G. A. S.,
Second Years' Inspection—"The Mistress evinces much skill and zeal in teaching the elementary steps to which she is confined, by the early removal of the children to the work:—Renton, G. A. S.
Third Years' Inspection—"While the School continues to be efficiently conducted as a whole, there is since last year more appearance of an advanced class, though the average age appears the same."—Kenton, G. A. S.,
The Bearer, Miss Elizabeth Kerr Hay, has attended this Institution as a Student since
She is thoroughly qualified to teach Religious Knowledge., English Reading, English Grammar, (including Analyses of Sentences) History of Great Britain, Complete Course of Arithmetic, Book-keeping by Single Entry, and Writing.
She has made considerable progress in Drawing, having received regular instruction in the Art for nearly two years.
She is also well aquatinted with the Theory and Practice of Vocal Music,
The Matron of the Institution, in the most confident terms, assures me that Miss Hay is eminently fitted to undertake the instruction of girls in all kinds of needlework, and that she is a person likely to exercise a most beneficial influence over the manners and habits of Such girls as attend ordinary Elementary Schools.
Miss Hay has already enjoyed considerable experience in teaching.
She assisted her Brother for one year in the important and admirably conducted School of Spring burn, and during the whole term of her attendance here she has taught daily in the School, and always with much acceptance.
There are few young women whom I can recommend as so well qualified to discharge all the duties of a Female Industrial School as I know Miss Bay to be, both from her natural ability and her acquired skill.
I can speak with assurance of Miss Hay's qualifications as a Teacher. During her two years attendance at the Glasgow Established Church Normal School, I had ample opportunity, as Master of the Initiatory Department, of observing the results of her Teaching; and these in all their details were of the most satisfactory kind.
On entering the Institution, Miss Hay was well recommended, and her work there more than confirmed all that had previously been said in her favour.
It is perhaps not too much to say that, in the general management of the classes in trusted to her care, she excelled every female student then in training.
She was commended for four things in teaching—her constant application, her excellent tact, her judicious arrangement, and her ability to command attention and in the ordinary reports made on the Student's progress in the art, she was always favourably noticed.
It may be further stated that Miss Hay, not only acquitted herself well in the Practising Schools, but was also well spoken of in connection with all the subjects prescribed in the Government course of Training.
From these and other considerations, I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to Miss Hay's high professional qualifications, and can, with much candour, recommend her to those who may be able to advance her interests.
Miss E. Hay has had charge of the Renton G. A. Female School, since
The School has always flourished under her charge, and I regard her in all respects as a first-rate Teacher.
It gives me much pleasure to express the very high opinion I entertain of Miss Hay's character and professional qualifications. As a Teacher, she has been eminently successful—zealously devoting the whole of her energies to her School duties. In her School, she maintains perfect order, and from the lively manner in which she imparts instruction, carries the attention of the children wholly along with her, while the general kindliness of her manner endears her to all.
From personal acquaintance, I can testify that she brings to her work a mind unusually well informed, and is thoroughly skilled in all the most approved methods of imparting Instruction, usually followed in the best conducted schools. Miss Hay has given very great satisfaction as a Teacher while in the Vale of Leven, and I am confident that to whatever School she may hereafter be appointed, she will be equally successful.
I have known Miss Hay, presently teacher at Renton, for the past two or three years and do willingly certify her to be extremely well qualified for the duties of her office.
She is painstaking mid industrious, keeps a firm and gentle hold on her pupils, is very well informed, and knows the art of communicating her knowledge to the young.
I believe her to be a most excellent teacher, and well worthy of any good School.
That Miss Hay superintended the Renton Female School for several years with great diligence and success, that she has a thorough knowledge of the various branches of Education generally taught in Schools; and that she is, in my opinion, a teacher of first-class attainments, is certified by
Miss Elizabeth K. Ray was appointed by the Oamaru School Committee to be Female Teacher in the District School in January last, having been preferred before a number of other applicants. She continued to act for 10 ½ months when, to the regret of the Committee, she sent in her resignation. The Committee now certify that Miss Hay discharged her duties most efficiently, and to their entire satisfaction, and that of the parents of the pupils, who have expressed great regret at her leaving.
It gives me much pleasure to testify to the excellent character of Miss Elizabeth K. Hay. While teacher the District School here, she was beloved by the children, greatly respected by the parents, gave the utmost satisfaction to the School Committee; and all interested in the School felt that they had lost a valuable teacher to the District, and one every way qualified for the position she held.
she is kind and affable in her manners, prudent and circumspect in co-operating with, and in carrying forward the views of her employers.
If she is successful in procuring the situation for which she now applies, I am confident she will efficiently, energetically and conscientiously discharge the duties devolving in her, and give the Teacher and Committee no reason to regret their choice of her as an instructor and trainer of youth.
I have much pleasure in view of your applying for the North Dunedin District School to say, for the information of whom it may concern, that I entertain very high opinions of your ability and skill as a Teacher—as well as of the soundness of your own education,—and I can bear high testimony to the worth of your character in every other respect.
In consequence of the very satisfactory testimonials you brought with you, and of your having served under the Otago Education Board for upwards of five years, with acceptance and success, you have been placed on our Register as a Certificated Schoolmistress of the First (Highest) Class, under the Boards regulations of
I mention the date of the Regulations, for the Beard Regulations of
I take this opportunity to express my sense of the very able and successful manner in which you have performed your duties as a. Schoolmistress under the Board, and my esteem for your personal Character.
I have much pleasure in certifying that I examined, in
Having been requested to express my opinion of Miss Elizabeth Hay's talents, acquirements, and qualifications as a Teacher, I shall with much pleasure state the result of my observations and experience of her for the last nine years—the period during which she has discharged the duties of Matron in this School.
She is possessed of active, vigorous talents which have been cultivated with much assiduity and success Gifted with an accurate ear, and a fine taste, her reading is given with good expression, with correct pronunciation, and with considerable elocutionary grace. Endowed with the power to teach, and naturally affectionate but firm, she uniformly
Miss hay's exemplary conduct, good judgment, prompt and cheerful performance of duty, and the warm interest she has always taken in all matters connected with this School, have laid strong and lasting claims on my gratitude and esteem, and I have therefore much pleasure in trying to promote her professional advancement.
I shall be happy to hear of Miss Hay's success in her present application, although her removal from this will be a great loss to our School.
Having known Miss Hay for several years as a neighbour, and the Mistress of North Dunedin District School. I have confidence in bearing testimony to her personal worth and professional ability. She is a woman of staid and reliable character, without being dull or formal in the slightest degree; and therefore in my judgment, well qualified to direct and instruct children.
In the North District School she had charge of the youngest classes, that is, the classes most difficult to handle and instruct wisely; and I had frequent opportunities of seeing her handle her classes. I can see that she can secure attention with her eye, and a wonderful small expenditure of voice.
Miss Hay had also under her care the Industrial Department, which she managed most creditably. She received her professional training in one of the best Normal Schools in Scotland, and has high testimonials of ability and attainments.
Judging from her work here, I would without hesitation give her the direction of any of our Schools.
I have much pleasure in complying with your request that I should write a few lines on your behalf. I have known you for some years, and have a high opinion of your character and ability as a Teacher, I know you have been successful, and that children under your charge have become much attached to you. I shall be glad to hear that you have succeeded in obtaining the appointment for which you are a candidate.
I have known Miss E. K. Hay, the present Schoolmistress of the North Dunedin District School, for about nine years. When she joined the School I was Second Master, and during the time I held that Office—some twelve months I had almost daily opportunities of seeing Miss Hay's method and manner of tuition. Since then, I have as a Citizen and a Member of the School Committee, had further opportunities of verifying and testing the high opinion of her abilities, which 1 had formed. She is an excellent Teacher, a good organiser, and a favourite with her pupils. The Industrial Department, which was wholly under her charge, was not only well arranged, but the girls in my Class were always anxious to be allowed to attend Miss Hay's Industrial Class. Indeed, in this as in other work, Miss Hay so trained her pupils that they became interested in their School work. If any Teacher can only achieve this, in my opinion she has more than half succeeded in her work.
It is unnecessary for me to write of Miss Hay's Scholarship, her Certificates from the United Kingdom sufficiently establish it. I may, however, add that Miss Hay has, by constant study and reading, not only kept up the standard of her previous Scholarship, but would now pass a far more severe examination than that to which she was subjected when examined by Dr. Woodford.
While I should regret, for the sake of the School, her success in her present application, I should at the same time be pleased to see one so deserving of promotion at tanning the advancement she seeks.
I hereby certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay during the course of this session attended the Junior Humanity Class with perfect regularity; that his conduct was in every respect correct; that he acquitted himself very satisfactorily and creditably in the public examinations; and, in the different exercises prescribed to be written, gave proofs of diligence, ability, and correct scholarship.
Mr. Wm. B. Mackay was a member of the Junior Greek Class in this University during Session
I have much pleasure in certifying that I have known Mr. Wm. B. Mackay for the last five years. I have had the gratification of being present at some of the annual examinations of his pupils, and can testify to his abilities as a teacher, the excellence of his system, the regard and esteem entertained for him by the young, and his general excellence of character and modesty of deportment.
To be a successful teacher of youth is an eminence to which few arrive but the simple fact of the highest Greek and Laths prizes being frequently carried by Mr. Mackay's pupils at the competitions of the Edinburgh Caithness Association (annually
Mr. Mackay's gentle and winning manner has encouraged the timid, and subdued the turbulent; and his excellent character has endeared him to the right-thinking portion of society, while he is respected by all.
Feeling deep regret that this district should be deprived of the services of Mr. Mackay, I cannot do otherwise than recommend him to a similar situation where a wider sphere would be opened to his usefulness, and where such services would meet a suitable reward, confident that, by the Divine blessing, Mr. Mackay will be appreciated in any community where his lot may be cast.
I hereby certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay attended a course of instruction in Plane Trigonometry, also in Algebra, given by use in the New College during the session
I certify that Mr. Wm. 13. Mackay attended the Class of Logic and Metaphysics during the session
I certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay attended the Class of Natural Philosophy during the session
I hereby certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay attended the Class of Moral Philosophy during the session
We, the undersigned, beg to certify that the bearer, Mr. Wm. B. Mackay taught for nearly four years preceding October last; that the school B. Mackay taught the Free Church Congregational School, Lyster under Government inspection during the whole of that time; and that the reports of H.M. Inspector were always most favorable. The school was most numerously attended, and all the ordinary branches of a sound commercial and classical education were taught with diligence and success.
Mr. Mackay conducted himself in all respects so as to secure the progress and the affection of his pupils, and the respect and gratitude of the parents, and of all others interested in the prosperity of the school.
These certify that I have known Mr. Wm. B. Mackay for upwards of thirteen years, during which he taught the two principal schools connected with my congregation—one for nine years, the other for four. I have thus had many opportunities of know-
I certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay has long been intimately known to me; that he is a young man of excellent moral character, and highly exemplary conduct; that his abilities and acquirements as a scholar are most respectable, and his activity and energy as a teacher most commendable and successful.
As a teacher he has had much experience, and his mode of communicating instruction is such as to secure the attention and affections of his scholars, and at the same time maintain in all respects his own authority.
I therefore have no hesitation in strongly recommending him for public or private teaching, not doubting that he will give ample satisfaction wherever his services may be required.
My Dear Sir,—Understanding that it is your intention to make application for a new situation as teacher, I beg to express to you the very high opinion I formed of your qualifications for such an office; and, as I have had ample means of ascertaining the great satisfaction given by you in the discharge of the duties attendant upon the teacher of so large and important a school as the one you last taught, I have the fullest confidence in your proving yourself as successful and zealous for the future as you have done for the past. It affords me, therefore, much pleasure in having this opportunity of testifying to the very high opinion I
With sincere wishes for your success in whatever situation in life your lot may be cast,
I hereby certify that having been on several occasions appointed one of the examinators of a school taught by Mr. Wm. B. Mackay, at two different stations, together with other examinators present, I not only felt the greatest freedom, but considered myself in duty bound, then, as I do now, to express my highest approbation of the experience, qualifications, and efficiency of Mr. Mackay as a teacher, and of the very creditable progress of his scholars, both in the initiatory branches of education and also in scripture history and doctrine, as well as in classical and scientific knowledge. The very mild and prudently managed discipline adopted by Mr. Mackay had evidently a tendency both to gain the affections of his pupils and to stimulate their diligence in the pursuit of useful knowledge.
I hereby certify that Mr. Wm. B. Mackay has been known to me for a number of years—first as a teacher of a school at Achow, afterwards as teacher at Lybster, and as a private tutor.
Both schools he left in a highly prosperous and flourishing condition, and I have every mason to know, from fluxing constantly with all classes of the inhabitants, that they were highly satisfied with the progress their children made when under his care, as well as with his attention, diligence, and zeal in the discharge of every duty.
I have very great pleasure in expressing the high sense I entertain of his ability and success as a teacher, and of his general
The bearer, Mr. Wm. B. Mackay, taught the F. C. Congregational School in the parish of Killean during the two years immediately preceding this date, with distinguished ability, skill, and success. His qualifications as a teacher of youth are of a very high order. He is alike conversant with literary, scientific, and religious knowledge, which he communicates with admirable tact, taste, and effect. Mr. Mackay maintained the most perfect discipline by the gentlest means, and be is equally and universally beloved by both pupils and parents belonging to different denominations throughout the parish.
To the managers, and all parties interested in the prosperity of the school under his charge, Mr. Mackay uniformly afforded the very highest satisfaction. His moral character, while residing here, has been most unexceptionable and exemplary. His removal is deeply and universally regretted. He will long hold a high place in the affectionate remembrance of many parents and pupils in this place, while he will be followed in future life by the best wishes of the whole community.
I have very much pleasure in bearing testimony to Mr. Mackay's efficiency as a public teacher of youth. His manner in communicating instruction is particularly calculated to facilitate the development of the youthful mind. His discipline is both firm and mild. Suffice it to say that he taught successively for thirteen years two of the most numerously attended schools in this county, and that during that time he maintained the highest character as a faithful, conscientious, and efficient teacher. In every department of school exercise he appears to be at home, and the progress made by his pupils in the knowledge of English,
I hereby certify that the bearer, Mr. Wm. B. Mackay, has taught the Congregational School of the Free Church here for nearly two years, with diligence, efficiency, and acceptance; that he has during that time maintained an unexceptionable and consistent moral and religious character; and that I regret exceedingly that owing to delicate health he is under the necessity of resigning his charge and proceeding to a warmer climate. I have much pleasure in recommending him as one capable of being a useful, intelligent, and agreeable member of society wherever his lot may be cast.
The bearer, Mr. Wm. B. Mackay, has taught the Free Church Congregational School here for the period of one year and eleven months, during which time he conducted the school with great ability. His qualifications as a teacher are of no in ordinary kind, his information is very extensive, and he possesses an aptness for communicating knowledge to his pupils with very great clearness. His amiable manner cannot fail to gain the affections of his scholars. In short, he possesses the qualifications necessary for an efficient and successful teacher, while his prudence and exemplary character have secured for him the respect and esteem of the community.
My Dear Sir,—I am sorry to understand that you are obliged to leave this place, owing to your health having failed in
I sincerely trust that the contemplated voyage to New Zealand, and the effects of the mild climate of that country, with the blessing of God on the undertaking, will restore you to health and usefulness in that country. I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the ability, energy, and zeal with which you have discharged your official duties as teacher, and to your courtesy and judiciousness of conduct in your intercourse with the school managers and other parties concerned.
I heartily commend your services as a teacher of youth to all to whom they are available, and am sanguine of hearing of your high educational success, by the blessing of Providence, in a foreign loud.
That Mr. William B. Mackay has been known to me for several years, and I have much pleasure in stating—which I can do with confidence—that I consider him a young man of excellence and worth; that lie taught the F.O. School, Killean, for two years, and that during that time I witnessed the examination of his school several times, and I have to state that I have been highly satisfied and greatly delighted with the appearance which his scholars made in all the branches taught—namely, mathematics, geography, Latin, Greek, tire. I have therefore no hesitation in stating that I consider him a teacher of the first order; and wherever he may be employed, I heartily say that that place will be highly favoured. Is attested by
As one of the Committee of the Free Presbytery of Kintyre appointed to examine schools, I two years successively examined the school at Killean taught by Mr. Wm, B. Mackay, and had
"Which day the Free Presbytery of Kintyre met and was constituted. Inter alia, a minute of a congregational meeting held at Killean, for the purpose of electing a teacher for the school there, was produced, bearing that Mr. William Bruce Mackay was elected to that office on the 20th day of October last.
"Mr. Mackay being introduced, was examined on his knowledge of English, English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, Latin, and Greek, with which examination the Presbytery was highly satisfied, and the Presbytery did and hereby do admit the said Mr. Mackay, in terms of the Act of Assembly, to the office of master of the school at Killean, and to all the privileges and emoluments belonging to that office."
Extracted from the Record of the Free Presbytery of Kintyre by
"The discipline and order are very satisfactory, and the instruction is very sound and well advanced."
I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the admirable qualities of Mr. William Bruce Mackay, both as a man and as a teacher.
During the period—now nearly six years—that he has been teacher here, I have had many opportunities of witnessing the result of his labours, and, from what I have seen, I have no hesitation in saying that he has been most successful. He is beloved by the children, and much esteemed by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.
Were he to leave tins neighbourhood, I would regard it as a great loss to myself personally, and to the community at large. But, satisfied as I am that he is well qualified, both from his talents and scholarship, to occupy a much higher position, I do not wonder at him seeking after it.
I wish him every success in his present application, and can with confidence recommend him as a tit and proper person for the Office of Rector of the Grammar School at Oamaru.
Mr. Wm, B. Mackay has filled the office of Head Master of the Anderson's Bay Main District School since the year
Although Mr. Mackay has not laid much opportunity at Anderson's Bay of exhibiting his ability as a teacher of the higher branches of education, yet it is due to hint to state that the Rev. Mr. Simmons, in his report for
Mr. Mackay's testimonials amply prove that he possesses a competent knowledge of the Classics and Mathematics, as well as other branches of education.
As a School Committee we have much pleasure in bearing our testimony to Mr. W. B. Mackay's qualifications as a teacher of youth.
For the last six years he has held the office of Head Master of the Anderson's Bay School, the onerous duties of which he has uniformly discharged with the greatest credit to himself; and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. As to his ability for teacher, the higher branches of education, we have only to refer you to the excellent testimonials he holds, proving that in other spheres in the home country he has undergone examinations in, and taught successfully, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Am. He has been successful here in imparting instruction in Latin, Geometry, Arithmetic, History, Geography, and Grammar.
We need scarcely add that, either as a teacher or a useful member of the community, we would part with him with sincere regret.
Mr. W. B. Mackay has been intimately known to me for the last two or three years, more especially during the last twenty months, for which period I have been a member of the Port Chal users Grammar School Committee. In this capacity I have had ample opportunity of forming a correct opinion as to Mr. Mackay's scholarship and abilities generally, and it gives me pleasure to state that I consider him an etcellent and efficient teacher, as well as a his of considerable erudition. The success of the school during his rector ship, and the highly creditable exhibition made by the
It affords me much pleasure to testify that I have been acquainted with Mr. W. B. Mackay for a very considerable time, both in this Colony and in the north of Scotland, where he conducted several very important schools with marked success. Having been a member of our Grammar School Committee for the last four years, during which period Mr. Mackay has filled the position of Rector to that institution, I have had ample opportunities afforded me of becoming mole intimately acquainted with him in his professional character, and have no hesitation in saying that he is possessed of very considerable classical attainments. In my opinion he is admirably suited to till any position where experience in teaching, and educational abilities are required.
It is with great readiness that I here express my views of Mr. W. B. Mackay's qualifications as a first class teacher.
I am in a position to give an opinion, for I have known Mr. Mackay very intimately since his appointment as Rector of our Grammar School. I have been present at the various inspections of the school by Mr. Hislop. I have been present at, and taken part in, all the annual examinations, and I have occasionally visited the school to see it in its everyday work and discipline; and I am bound to say, from all I have seen, that I consider Mr. Mackay a most able and efficient teacher.
I think he has first into qualifications for the difficult office of Rector of a Grammar School.
He is a university man, and an admirable scholar. He is a person of good presence, and manly bearing. He has the rare
I have seen him handle a large class of some fifty scholars, with the greatest skill and ease; this he accomplished apparently by his peculiar knack of putting them into sympathy with him. He is an enthusiast as a teacher, and that awakens enthusiasm.
Altogether, of consider him well qualified to occupy the very important office of Rector in any of our largest Grammar Schools.
My Dear Sir,—Having heard that it is your intention to apply for the Rectorship of the Invercargill Grammar School, I have much pleasure in testifying to your thorough fitness for such a position. I have known you for many years, and have visited your school at Anderson's Bay, and more frequently the Grammar School at Port Chalmers, whilst under your charge. On the last occasion, now some months ago, I examined your senior Latin class, and I must state that the boys showed their thorough grounding in Latin, and their ability to translate Virgil, and that in a remarkable way for boys at a colonial school. I also examined your class in English Grammar, and that class was also well up to its work. The discipline of the school was excellent.
In therefore bearing testimony to your fitness for the Rectorship, I am not grounding my remarks on mere hearsay, nor on the many conversations and discussions we have had on scholastic matters. I have seen the results of your teaching. While I shall regret your removal from the Port, I shall at the same time be only too glad to hear of your advancement and continued success and prosperity.
Printed by Mackay, Fenwick and Co., Princes Street, Dunedin.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year N. F. De Zaba,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Locke, the eminent English philosopher, said, "Memory is, as it were, the store-house of our ideas; for the narrow mind of man, not being capable of having many ideas under view and contemplation at once, it was necessary to have a repository to lay up those ideas, which at another time it might make use of. A methodical arrangement of the contents of such a repository enables its owner to find any article that he may require, with the utmost readiness!' Precisely, my method is calculated to arrange that very store-house in such an orderly manner as to enable its owner to find, with the utmost readiness and quickness, the required article. Such an advantage, surely, is worth possessing, even at the cost of extra trouble and application
As no one can be admitted within the precincts of the philosophy of History without having his mind well stored with facts, which constitute the links of a chain of ideas, therefore, the knowledge of facts and of chronology becomes an absolute necessity. On that very account, the study of Universal History taxes the mind severely. Few indeed are successful, and even they, after long and unabated perseverance, feel the want of some guide to lead them on from point to paint.
Many an attempt was made to supply this want. The ingenuity of man did not remain inactive in devising plans for so important a purpose. Each small contribution to the common stock of human knowledge should receive its due attention; and I claim no other favor for any Method. It is simple—practical in its application, and admirably adapted to the study of Universal History in particular. It offers many advantages to the student of History. He is enabled ho examine, year by year, or century by century, without the least deviation from the order in which the events occurred. Order in the arrangement of thoughts, and in the classification of ideas, would give him an easy command over the whole subject, however voluminous. As the object of this book is simply to teach the Method, I will not unnecessarily swell its proportions. Let us, therefore, at once proceed to the explanation of it, and the manner in which the learner is to acquire it.
The following Diagram forms the basis of the Method:
It is a square or, to make my explanation more familiar let us suppose that it is a bookcase, containing, ten shelves. Each shelf is divided into ten equal partitions, which run from left to right, as the Diagram shows. We have therefore, one hundred partitions enclosed within the square. In the application to the study of History, each partition represents one year. Consequently, on each shelf there are ten years and the whole forms One Century. Each year is subdivided into nine compartments, which arc also read from left to right. And these compartments convey to us each a distinct notion of tine character of the event which took place in that year. The meaning of the Symbols located in the compartments is as follows:
Besides the above nine compartments, there is one Symbol more—which is placed within the year like a border, to represent remarkable events having no specific reference to the nine compartments.
After the explanation of the shelves, their partitions, and the Symbols of each compartment, the attention is drawn, first, to the horizontal line, which divides the Diagram into two equal parts, and is called the Middle Line. In the flight of our observations, that line will be a resting point, from which our survey o the localities on each side of it will be easier and quicker. Secondly, the perpendicular line, which divides the shelves into two equal parts, leaving five years on each side, is of the utmost importance, Indeed, the eye should be always kept on that line, which is called the Central line, as it will give us the fullest command over the whole Diagram, and enable us to convert rapidly each locality into the number it represents.
The following Diagram demonstrates the utility of that rule:
As we cast our eye upon the fifth partition of the first shelf, which is on the left side of the central line, and look down to the bottom of the line, we see that each partition of each shelf, occupying the some position, represents the number 5. Thus, on the first shelf will be simply 5; on the second, 5 also; but we must add to it the whole first shelf, namely, 10—it will be 15; on the third, 25, etc. Hence, if a symbol is placed in any of those partitions, we perceive at a glance that it is 5, to which it is necessary to add the number of complete shelves above it. On the other side of the central line are all the sixes. Then, on the left side of the central line, as we recede from it, are 4, 3, 2, 1; and after the sixes, going forward, 7, 8, 9, 10. The plainness of this arrangement speaks for itself. In order that the learner should not loose sight of the Central line, which will aid him principally in being able to call at will the Diagram before his mind's eye, the rules of the exercise are framed to suit the object in view—and the beginners should literally adhere to them. Thus, though History will be the subject of our study, let it be looked upon, not as the end, but the means for the acquisition of the knowledge of the method. Consequently, no anxiety should be felt to retain in memory, by its ordinary grasp, either the names of events or the dates in connection with them. Instead of that, concentrate your attention upon the localities, the symbols, their color and form. In the course of lessons, localities should never be mentioned by the number they happen to represent, but in reference to the position they occupy relatively to the central line. By these means the arrangement of the Diagram will in is short time become familiar; and the mind, assuming its form, will keep the store-house of thoughts and ideas in perfect order.
Now, let us give a practical illustration of the manner in which the study is pursued. The learner is provided with a board, containing a sufficient number of plain diagrams to form out of them a Historical Chart of the nineteen centuries of the Christian era; also, with a box of large and small crystals of various colors. In the first
one beyond the central line. Now, in which compartment ? Second compartment. Its meaning? Conquest: black color? Roman history; read; a conquest was made by the Romans. We require now to know, what conquest? The key supplies the name: Judea. That name is attached to the symbol, and its reading will be complete: a conquest was made by the Romans of Judea. The number of locality G, in the year G. What do we see next? a small black. On what shelf on the same shelf; what partition, and its relative position to the central line The position is indicated by the number of partitions distant from the central line. It will be therefore said: four beyond the central line. In which compartment I first. Its meaning? war; but, as the form of the symbol occupies half only of that compartment, it is a battle; therefore, it is a battle fought by the Romans. With whom? The name is added from the key: with Herman, a German prince; year? 9. Again, a small black: on the second shelf, in which partition It being on the left side of the central line, counting from right to left, it will be said: two before the central line. Consequently, all distances on the left side of the central line will be called before; and on the right side, beyond the central line.
Let us return to our last symbol. We have said, two
Thus we acquire a habit of order in the arrangement of our thoughts. In that manner we pursue our study to the end of the first century. Then the crystals are removed, and the same process repeated twice or three times. After half a dozen lessons the learner should examine himself, not in the dates and names of the events, but whether he can see mentally the organization of the diagram and the color and form of the symbols, also their relative position to the Central line. No sooner can his mind realize all this, than his memory will become quick and ready, and the progress in the acquisition of knowledge will be rapid, easy, and free from any mist or confusion. As soon as the eye is sufficiently familiar with the first century, extend the practice to the second: and so on, until you embrace the whole range of the chart. Beginners generally feel some doubt
As to the history before the Christian Era, the computation of time will depend upon the point from which it will be started. For example, if we wish to know how many years before the Christian Era the triumvir of Julius Caesar existed? in that case the century in which we find Caesar is the first century before Christ—and the last year of the said century will be the first year before Christ—consequently, We reverse the order of things, counting from right to left, and climb up to the point required. But when we wish to ascertain how many years after the foundation of Rome? then, we start from the foundation of Rome, and our course will be a continuous descent until we arrive at Julius Caesar—that is to say, our counting will be like in the Christian Era from left to right.
In conclusion, I consider it my sacred duty to do justice to the memory of my deceased friend and companion of arms, General Bern, who together with me, devoted his literary talents to this subject—But from
E Tama ma, kei hoha koutou ki te whakahua i nga reta e mau nei. Ahakoa roa noa te ako, me tohe tonu kite whakahua. Ma konei ano hoki e tika ai te arero ki nga kupu Pakeha.
The teacher will observe, that, in the foregoing lessons, in the first place the English Vowel sounds are given alone:
Then, those sounds are joined to the consonants with which the Natives are already familiar:
And, lastly, they are joined to our harsh English consonants. The syllables in which c has the sound of k, are separated from those in which the same letter has the sound of s.
It will be found necessary that the children be well exercised in these lessons before they attempt to learn anything of the Grammar, or to read English words. The teacher can enliven this part of the work by writing On a large slate one or two words which begin or end with the double consonants given; as, after a lesson on atch, etch, &c. he may give catch, fetch, &c. and the boys may then copy these words on their slates, or write them in copy books, as the writing lesson for the day. It will, of course, take a long time to perfect the children in the harder sounds, but the teacher will be repaid in the end for his trouble by the ease with which they will read any common book.
The pronunciation of English words will often be rendered easier to the native pupil, by breaking them up into several syllables, each syllable consisting of a consonant and a vowel or vowels following it.
For example the words bend, branch, ground, may be taught thus
The following rules will enable the pupils to ascertain which sound to give to th whenever they meet with it; whether to sound it (1) as in this, or (2) as in thing.
1. The first sound must be given to it in the beginning of all the following words:—
2. The second sound must be given to it in all other cases.
S is pronounced as sh in the following and similar cases:—
The following groups of words are given as examples of the various sounds of the vowels. The business of the teacher will be to secure the accurate pronunciation of the English words. The Maori rendering of each word is given merely to make the lessons more interesting to the pupils.—
Ki te reo Maori, i te mea e whakahuatia ana te ingoa o tetahi mea mo te mea kotahi, mo nga mea maha ranei, e tuturu tonu ana nga reta; kahore he reta e whaka-
English ia, e rere ke ana te whakahuatanga mo te mea kotahi, e rere ke ana ano mo nga mea e maha atu ana i te kotahi. Te kupu mo te mea kotahi, e kiia ana he singular; te kupu mo nga mea e maha atu ana ite kotahi, e kiia ana he plural.
1. Te tikanga mo te tini o te kupu, he apiti mai i te s, kia mohiotia he maha nga mea e korerotia ana; ma hoki enei;
2. I te mea ko tetahi o end i reta, s, x, sh, ch, o, te reta, whakamutunga ka aintitia mai he es, ma hoki enei;
3. I te mea he y te reta whakamutunga, ka whakarerea te y, ka whakanohoia, ketia heies, a hoki enei;
Otira ki te mea he ay, he ey, he oy, he my, nga reta
4. I te mea he f, he fe ranei, te whakamutunga, ka whakarerea aua reta, ka whakanohai ketia ves, ina hoki enei:
Ko etahi ia e apititia kautia ana ki te s;
5. Tenei hoki etahi, i poka ke noa atu te tikanga:
Nouns for exercise in the formation of plurals:
Chair, cage, ass, flash, berry, loaf, bay, hedge, floor, dress, sty, dish, cargo, wedge, table, cross, dray, match, loaf, wall, judge, bush, gully, watch, sheaf, perch, hill, voice, folly, half, key, fence, ditch, field, wolf, horse, fox, river, dunce.
Ka korerotia tetahi wahi o tetahi mea, tetahi mea ranei a tatahi tangata, tenei nga tou ki te reo Maori he a, he o, he ta, he to: tena, ki te reo English, he s te
comma (kama) ki runga, ki te taha ki maui o te s.
Ki te mea he s te reta whakamutunga c kore e tuhi tuhia tetahi s, engari ko to comma anake; e whaka huatia ana ano ia te s.
Tenei ano tetahi kupu, ko te of he rite tonu ki te a; ki te o; mauria ko tenei, ka whakarerea te s me tona comma.
Tetahi kupu e peneitia ana me te of, ko te for; ki te re Maori, he mo, he ma.
Tenei ano tetahi kupu a te Pakeha it; kahore a te tangata Maori kupu hei rite. Ko ta te tangata Maori kupu ko to ia; mo te tane tena—mo te wahine—mo nga, mea manawa ora.
Na ko nga mea e kore nei e whai manawa ora, ko te Whare—ko te rakau—kowhatu—ko te aha, kahore e tika mo era te ia. Erangi ko ta to Pakeha ko te it; te kupu tika mo nga mea katoa e kore nei C kiia he tane, he wahine.
Engari kei nga tamariki ririki e kore nei e whaka-arohia he tane ranei he wahine ranei, ka tika; kei nga
it.
Te tikanga o etahi kupu, he whakaatu i te tu o tenth mea, o tera men. Ka whakahuatia ko to ingoa kau o to tangata, o te rakau, o to whare, o te pouaka, e kore e mohiotia, he mea pewhea ranei, he mea, pewhca ranei; tena, ka kiia, he tangata pal, he rakau roa, be wham nui, he pouaka tailnaha, kit matauria to tu o te mea e
korerotia ana.
Te tekau ma rua o nga ra o ilanuere.—The twelfth day of January.
Te ono o nga ra a Aperira.—The sixth day of April.
Te tekau ma iwa o nga ra o Hune.—The nineteenth day of June.
Te rua tekau o nga ra o llepetema.—The twentieth day of September.
Te ma tekau ma waru o nga ra o Nowema.—The twenty-eighth day of November.
Te toru tekau ma tahi o nga ra o Tihema.—The thirty-first day of December.
Tenei etahi kupu, am, is, are; me enei, was, were.
He whare pal tenei, this is a good house.
He pai tenei whare, this house is good.
Ko toku whare tenei, this is my house.
Mo Hemi tera whare, that house is for James.
No ratou to whare, the house is theirs.
Kei Tauranga a Hoani, John is at Tauranga.
Kei roto i to whore to pukapuka, the book is in the house.
E ora ana a Pita, Peter is well.
Ko ena kupu, mo to mea kotahi, ara mo to whare kotahi, mo to pukapuka kotahi, mo to tangata kotahi, na reira i tika ai te is; ki te maaha, ia nga men c korerotia ana, heoi ano to kupu tika ko te are.
He whare pai enei, these are good houses.
He pai enei whare, these houses are good.
Ko o matou whare euei, these are our houses.
Mo Hemi raua ko Mani anal whore e rua, these two houses are for James and John.
No ratou nga whare, the houses are theirs.
Kei Taurauga a ilemi ratou ho Hoani, ko Ropata, James, John, and Robert are at Tauranga.
Kai roto i te whare nga pukapuka, the books are in the house.
E ora ana maua ko Pita, Peter and I are well.
Ko te are ano hoki te kupu tika hei hoa mo te you, ahakoa i whakahuatia me to taugata kotahi, ahakoa mo to tokorua, mo to tokomaha rauci, ara, mo, enei kupu Maori, koe, korua, kouton.
He tangata roa koe, you are a tall man.
E hiakai ana koe, you are hungry.
No Waikato korua ko Tamati, you and Thomas are from Waikato.
E ora ana koutou, you are well.
I te mea e korerotia ana to kupu penai, He tangata rOa ahau, e kora a tika to is, to are ranei, engari te am.
He tangata roa ahau, I am a tall man.
E mate-kai ana ahau, I am hungry.
No Akarana ahau, I am from Auckland.
Ko ena kupn i runga ake na, ko to am, ko to is, ko to are, mo naianei, am, mo te wa i te tangata e korero ana; ina hoki tenei, I am hungry, ma toku matenga i te kai i a an e korero atu nei, ehara i te mea mo te matenga i to kai inanahi, i tetahi atu takiwa ranei. Me tenei kupu hold, The books are in the house, ehara i te mea mo te takotoranga o nga pukapuka ki rota ki te whare inanahi, inawhea ranei, engari mo naianei tonu. Tana ka korerotia nga mea o mua, ka whakarerea te am, te is, te are, ka mauria ketia ko te was, mo te mea kotahi, ko te were mo nga mea maha.
He whare pai tenei i tera tau, this was a good house last year.
Noku tera whare inanahi, that house was mine yesterday.
I Tauranga a Hoani, John was at Tauranga.
I runga i te pouaka te pukapuka, the book was on the box.
He whore pai enei i tera tau, these were good houses last year.
No maua era whare inanahi, those houses were ours yesterday.
I Taupo a Hoani ratou ko Hemi, ko Tamati, John, James and Thomas were at Taupo.
I runga, i te topu a maua pukapuka, our books were on the table.
Te tino kupu whakakore, ko te not.
Mara tenei i to pukapuka pai, this is not a good book.
Ehara korua i te tangata kaha, you are not strong men.
Mara tenei i te whare o Tamati, this is not Thomas's house.
Mara i a ia era hoiho e rua, those two horses are not his.
Ehara i to mea mo Hoani raua ko Hohepa nga koti malign, the black coats are not for John and Joseph.
Kahore a Hoani i Tauranga, john is not at Tavranga.
Kahore a Pita i te ora, Peter is not well.
Ko ena korero katoa, he korero noa, ehana i te korero patai. Ke waiho nga kupu pena hei kupu patai ka rem Ice te takoto, ka, awhitia ketia, te am, te is, to are, te was, te were, ki te timatanga tonu o to korero.
He whare pai rand tenei? Is this a good house?
E ora ana ranei a Rapata? Is Robert well?
Kei Tauranga rand a Hoani? Is John at Tauranga?
E maeke ana ranei koe? Are you cold?
Kei roto ranei i te whare nga pukapuka? Are the books in the house?
Mo korua ranei enei whare a rua? Are these two houses for you?
I maeke ranei ia inanahi? Was he cold yesterday?
I Whanganui ranei a Rapata, ratou ko Hemi, ko Pita?
Were Robert and Tames and Peter at Whanganui? Ehara oti tena i te pukapuka nui? Is not that a large book?
Ehara oti i a koe ena kakahu? Are not those clothes yours?
Kahore oti a Hoani i roto i te whare inapo? Was not john in the house last night?
Kahore kouton i mate i te wai inanahi? Were not you thirsty yesterday?
Ko wai tena? Who is that?
Ko wai tena tangata? Who is that man?
Ko wai era wahine? Who are those women?
Na, wai nga hoiho e rima? Whose are the five horses?
Ma wai ena pukapuka ataahua? For whom are those beautifiel books?
Ko to wai whare tenei? Whose house is this?
He aha tenei? What is this?
He aka tera? What is that?
Ko tehea whare to raua? Which house is theirs
Ko wai ton ingoa? What is your name?
Ko wai nga ingon o era wahine tokotoru? What are the names of those three women?
Ka titiro to tangata ki nga, men e rua, ka kitea, a rite ana ranei tetabi ki tetahi, i neke ake ranei tetahi i tetahi. Ki te kitea, he rite, ko te kupu as; kia rua nga as.
Me te haka ano te reka.—As sweet as sugar.
Me te kowhatu ano to pakeke.—As hard as a stone.
Me te uira ano to hohoro.—As quick as lightning.
Rite tonu tenei papa ki tern te roa. This plank is as long as that.
Ka kitea, ko tetahi i neke ake, ko tetahi i hoki iho, to nui ranei, to pai ranei, te aha ranei; ko te tohu, ko te er hei to mutunga o te kupu mo te nui, mo te pai mo te aha ranei, me tetahi atu kupu e apititia mai ana, ara me te than.
Nui atu te reka o tend i to te hula.—This is sweeter than sugar.
He roa ke tena ara i tenei.—That road is longer than this.
Erangi a Hoani i a Hemi, e kaha ana.—John is stronger than James.
Nui atu tern rakau I tenei.—That tree is larger than this.
Ka kite ko tetabi i tino neke ake o nga mea katoa e tirohia ana, ko to est te tohu, hei to mutunga mai o te kupu.
Ko te nui tenei o nga rakau katoa.—This is the largest of all the trees.
Ko Hoani to tino tamaiti roa o te kura.—John is the tallest boy in the school.
Apopo te tino ra roa o te tau.—T0morrow is the longest day in the year.
Tokorima matou nei, he kaha kau matou, ko te thio kaha rawa ko Hoani.—There are five of us, and we are all strong, but John is the strongest of all.
Tenei etahi kupn e rere ke ana.
Tetahi kupu mo te rawa, ko to very, mo nga whakahuatanga penei me enei i raro iho nei.
He tino pouri rawa to po nei.—This night is very dark.
He taimaha rawa tenei peeke.—This bag is very heavy.
He nui rawa toku hiakai.—I am very hungry.
He nui rawa tone ngenge.—He is very tired.
George Didsbury,Kai-ta o te Kawanatanga, Poneke, Niu Tireni.
A short Statement in regard to the Instructions recently issued by the Otago Education Board.
The Education Board has recently issued to the School Committees and Teachers of Public Schools a set of regulations in connection with school reading books and Bible reading, which demands most serious consideration. The regulations are of such a nature that it is imperative that School Committees and parents throughout the Province take immediate and determined action, unless they wish to see our present system of education gradually but surely undermined and destroyed.
In these regulations it is assumed that the Board has power to supersede School Committees in the management of educational matters in the various public schools of the Province; and it is further assumed that, in respect to the 40th clause of the Ordinance, which enjoins the reading of the Bible in public schools, the Board has power to step in and hedge about this clause with restrictions not contemplated by the Ordinance, and of such a nature as to make it practically impossible to carry out the object aimed at in an effectual manner.
With regard to the first of these assumptions the Ordinance is quite explicit. It says (clause 17): "The School Committee shall be entitled to select the teacher or teachers of such school or schools and generally to have the entire management of educational matters within the district." In the face of this, and in direct de-
may obtain permission to do so on satisfying the Board that the use of such book or books in the school is desirable and proper." That is to say, that the parents 'of the children attending the schools and the Committees elected 'by them are to have no voice whatever in the selection of the books to be taught to their own children.
With regard to the second assumption, viz, that the Board has power to make regulations repugnant to the spirit of the Ordinance in connection with the reading of the Bible in schools, it is only necessary to quote the regulations to show the attempt which is being made to render inoperative this provision of the Ordinance. The regulations say—"Schoolmasters shall take care that both parents and children be informed that attendance at such reading, is optional, and they shall avoid in the course of the ordinary school instructions, the use of any words or expressions calculated to give reasonable ground of offence to the members of any religious denomination. The time for the reading of the Bible shall be positively fixed to take place at the opening or closing of the schools; the time no fixed shall be rigidly adhered to, and notice of the time of such reading shall be conspicuously put up in every class-room." Not to notice the absurdity of supposing that every teacher shall understand what the tenets of every "religious denomination" are, which would of itself necessitate the study of a life-time, who is to be the judge of what constitutes "reasonable ground of offence?" Is the Secretary of the Education Board to judge between all "religious denominations?" or is Bishop Moran to be the judge? or how is it to be done? We should soon be having disputes such as that which lately took place in England, where an Inspector referred to the Privy Council the question whether the children being asked to sing "God save the Queen," was to be considered as introducing it denominational topic, and other absurdities of a similar kind.
Then again the teacher is to tell the children that attendance at Bible reading is optional; that is to say, the alternative is to be given to the children of an hour's reading, or an hour's play!! Who ever heard of children who did not wish as little school and as much play as possible? The result will be, if this is carried out, that the
If we compare these regulations with the Ordinance, we at once see the difference. The Ordinance says (Clause 40), "In every school established under the provisions of this Ordinance, the Holy Scripture shall be read daily, and such reading shall be either at the opening or close of the school as may be fined by the teacher; and no child whose parent or guardian shall object to such instruction shall be bound to attend at such times."
The object of this is clearly to assert the necessity of Bible reading, and to leave the onus of objecting to the Bible on the parent. But these new regulations seek to upset the intention of the Ordinance, and to compel the teacher to warn both parents and children that the Bible is to be read at a certain hour, and that if the parents wish they can keep away their children, and if the children prefer it, they can get an hour's play instead of an hour's schooling.
The fact is, that these regulations are intended as the insertion of is lever by which it is intended to subvert our whole system of education.
The principal features of our system of education are:—
The enemies of our system have been endeavoring for years past to accomplish its destruction, but have as yet always been foiled by the circumstance that local management only was permitted, and that by no secret wire-pulling could they effect their object. This last attempt, however, is made in a more covert and underhand way. The Education Board is to usurp power over School Committees not given it by the Ordinance, end is gradually to establish its right to dictate what shall and what shall not be taught to our children. The enemies of our system, despairing of effecting their ends through the School Committee, now seek to accomplish them through the instrumentality of the Education Board. They know that political influence, which is powerless as regards the School Committees, in all-powerful with the Board; and they know further, that if they can get the Committees to submit to the directions of the Board in one case, they will establish a
It is to be hoped that the parents and School Committees throughout the Province will take this matter up, and will by all means in their power endeavor to maintain intact our present Ordinance, and to insist that it shall be carried out in its integrity. There are many ways by which this object can be forwarded. The following are some of these means—1st. To take care that no one is elected a member of a School Committee unless he pledges himself to jealously guard the rights of local Committees against dictation from any other source whatever. 2nd. To take care that every member of the Provincial Council and Central Assembly shall go pledged to maintain our pima Ordinance. 3rd. If necessary, to hold public meetings to denounce any attempts made to coerce School Committees in any way and from any quarter. 4th. To see that the people know what their privileges are under the Ordinance, so that they can insist on those privileges not being infringed.
We may rest assured of this, that if the Committees once allow the management of their schools to be taken from them, and vested in an irresponsible Board sitting at Dunedin or Wellington, from that moment they are at the mercy of political influences over which they have no control, and instead of the work of the schools going on steadily and satisfactorily, and the school teachers working in harmony with the parents of the children, the divided authority under which the teachers will be placed will he most detrimental to the efficiency of the schools, and will lead to constant conflict between the authority of the Committees and that of the Education Board. The system, moreover, will be constantly changing with the political changes of the day, and the real object of education, viz., the bringing up of good and law-abiding citizens, will run great risk of being entirely frustrated.
Mills, Dick and Co., Printers, Stafford street, Dunedin.
Mr. President,—When, four weeks ago, I consented to introduce for discussion at this meeting, the subject of Free and Compulsory Education, I stated that I had not prepared any paper on the subject, and that my other engagements would preclude me, from giving it that time, and consideration, which it deserved. I have found, the more I studied the subject, that I had underrated the difficulties I laboured under, in making remarks on a topic of such magnitude and importance. It appeared to me, however, that there lay at the root of Free and Compulsory Education, the broad question of the duty of the State to educate; and that until this question had been disposed of, there could be little hope of any debate, of much usefulness, for there would be a perpetual recurrence and reference to this question of State Education. I have, therefore, preferred to ask you to discuss this question of State Education, or the duty of the State to educate, before the details of the amount of the State Grout, or the right of compulsion he considered. I may grant at once, what cannot, I think, be denied, namely, if it be the duty of the State to educate gratuitously, the youth in its domains, it is bound to compel attendance at its schools. It is, I know, urged, that it is the duty of the State to compel attendance at school, or as it has been put by Mr. Mill, to require a certain proficiency in knowledge from the citizens, notwithstanding that the State does not educate; to this question, however, I shall allude ' towards the close of my paper.
Before I begin, let me once, and for all, state I that I am greatly indebted to the writings of Mr. Herbert Spencer for many of my arguments, and that I hays consulted several works on Political Economy, History, &c. I make this statement, so that I may not be s accused of borrowing other people's ideas without due recognition.
In determining whether it is the duty of I the State to educate, the question arises—What is the duty of the State? What limits f ought to be set to Governmental interference? Humboldt, in his 'Sphere and Duties of Government,' has answered "security and protection;" while Spencer, echoing his ideas in his work 'Social Statics,' has carried this statement to its legitimate issue. I thoroughly believe in this definition of a State's function, and indeed, in theory, it is one that is generally granted to be right. In practice, however, the philosophers of expediency set right and justice aside, following Burke in his statement, that "politico ought to be adjusted, not to human reasoning, but to human nature; of which the reason is but a part, and by
But to come to the question to he discussed, and not forgetting the definition of a State's lay I have adopted, I ask what is education for the on us of proving that state education is proper—is right—lies not on the opponents of State education, but on its supporters. Suppose, as an opponent of State education ask—What is it? Where is the line to be drawn—in age, in learning? How old should a person be before being relieved from the watchful eye of the State educator? How large should he his acquirements? Where between a dame school, and the most comprehensive University curriculum, is the line to be drawn? At the three R's, answer you? Spencer, using the Socratic method, at once says—"What peculiar quality is there in reading, writing, and arithmetic which gives the embryo citizen a right to have them imparted to him, but which quality is not shared in geography, and history, and drawing, and the natural sciences? Must calculation be taught because it is useful? Why, he is geometry, as the carpenter and mason will tell you; se is chemistry, as we may gather from, dyers and bleachers; so is physiology, as is abundantly proved by the ill-health written on no many faces. . . Where is the unit of measure, by which we may determine the, respective values of different kinds of know, ledge?" The three R's are not education; may, the sciences I have enumerated do not constitute a sound education. If the State were simply to teach even what is termed a sound English education (whatever that signifies) is its work accomplished? States—"You know how to read. What avails thin knowledge, if yon are unfit to judge between the books containing error, and those containing truth? You have learned to communicate your thoughts to your follow men in writing. What avails this knowledge if your thoughts are the mere reflex of your own egotism?" So far, then, it see on there is a difficulty, I had almost said an impossibility, in determining what is this education the State ought to provide. And the question of age will just be as difficult. At what age ought the State schoolmaster to give tip his charge? Suppose a man ignorant of political economy, and called upon, not only to exercise the franchise, but to fulfil the honorable duties of a legislator for this State, ought he not, at the expense of the State, to be made acquainted with his duties? may, to be compelled to study what are the elements of his profession—what are the three It's of a political education? Where are you, I ask, to draw the hire? Then again, we witness often in a community agitations arising, do mending laws founded on theories long ago exploded, is it not the duty of the State to step in here, and with judicious instruction, train its citizen in the way they should walk?
But granting that we have determined what this education is, which the State should furnish, and the class to whom it should be given, we may be met by this query, You State educators, who are carefully tending the minds of the embryonic citizens, what about their bodies? Is physical health of such small importance that you pass it by as unworthy of notice? Here are citizens poorly clad, poorly fed; citizens who pay no attention to regimen, who, careless of the change of the seasons, lay themselves open to attacks of many diseases, iii spits of your physiological tuition. For instance, I read in a report by Dr Simon, the following:—"Let any person devote an hour to visiting seine very poor neighborhood in the metropolis, or in almost any of our large towns. Let him breathe its air, taste its water, eat its bread. Let him think of human life struggling there for years. Let him fancy what it would be to himself to live there in that beastly degradation of stink, fed with such bread, drinking such water. Let him enter some house there at hazard, and, heeding where he treads, follow the guidance of his outraged nose to the yard of there be one) or the cellar. Let him talk to the inmates; let him hear what is thought of the bone boiler next door, or the slaughterhouse behind; what of the sewer grating
But here I may be met by the assertion, education will right all these things. Knowledge is power, say some. It will fit all of us, for our duties to the State, and this is the proper sphere of State Education. Its aim is to make no fit for our social duties, and thus greater security will be given to liberty, and hence the State, by educating, is fulfilling its duty as protector of life and property. Well, what pray is a "good citizen," what is your ideal person fit for social duties and liberties? And who, pray, is to decide what a "good citizen" is? The State, say you. What? The Government to decide on a good citizen, and train all the embryos after this " golden calf"—using its own discretion first as to what a good citizen is, and also as to its method of training. This mouldding must, I suppose, admit of no tampering. Ruthlessly must the State wield its power. Liberty of thought, or of action must he silenced. Private schools, except duly licensed, and inspected, will be unknown, as in Holland. Every teacher will be watched, and quis custodiet custodias? Books, except up to the regulation standard, will be banished, and who the Commission are to be, who are to frame the "index expurgatorius," I know not. Nay, we will have, as in China, the most minute regulations. The rules of propriety will be rigidly enforced. The "good citizen" will be guided by rules of sitting, talking, walking, bowing, reading, eating, dressing, etc., as in the Celestial Empire. And what amusements will be permitted, will also have to be decided. I may, however, be charged with exaggeration. Some may still say, dare you deny that education does not fit us for our social duties? I reply not necessarily. Lieber, whom none can accuse of being an anti-State educationalist, says, in his work on Civil Liberty, "Education is not liberty itself, nor does it necessarily lead to it. Prussia is one of the best educated countries (written in but is the State's taking upon itself to direct that education—mark that—which is totally different thing. That the whole, or any large part, of the education of the people should be in the State's hands, I go as far as any one in deprecating. All that has been said of the importance of individuality of character, and diversity of opinions and modes of conduct, involves, as of the same unspeakable importance, diversity of education. A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another; and, as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the Government, whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the existing generation; in proportion as ills efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by a natural tendency to one over the body." So much for the good model citizen, trained to his social ditties, such moulding being necessary for liberty.
It may, however, be said by some, as it has been said by Mill, "In the matter of education, the intervention of government is justifiable, because the case is sine in which the interest mid judgment of the consumer, are not sufficient security for the goodness of the commodity." Now, why should education be alone singled out as a subject in which the interest amid judgment of the consumer, independent of the State's interference, shall not be the proper test." If this assertion be sufficient to insure the State's interference, clearly the State will be bound in other matters to see that" the interest and judgment of the consumer" are sufficient guides to the citizen. What we eat, do our interest and judgment always lead us to a sound decision? Do we always drink what is good for our health? Are there none m a community
e.g. There is a great amount of bad farming in this Province, would the government be justified in superintending all the forms and dictating to the tillers of the soil, what crops to sow, and when can we not see we are gradually learning experience, and no forcing process will do us good. No pupil will ever learn to write if the teacher always holds his pen. No, the best teacher u ill allow the pupil to make mistakes, and blots innumerable, lie well knowing that though at first the writing is not good, yet that Isis pupil will grow in knowledge. And so ought we to allow the masses, if they be incompetent to judge what is good education and what is not, to grow out of their imperfections and incompetency. But, 2nd. It us assumed that the government is a sufficient judge of the "goodness of the commodity." it is asserted that the interest and judgment of the government are sufficient security. Is this so? To whose judgment must we bow? To an intellectual pristhood, the dream of the Positivists? Not so in a democracy, for there the mass govern. And who is the mass? Is it not for its guidance that this interference is deemed necessary? Some one may say, but when a Government is what it should be, them—True; but this is just the reason why interference is demanded, it is because people are not what they should be. No, as I said before, the world cannot be reformed in a day. We must allow for its growth—for the gradual evolution that often, despite our efforts to delay progress, is gradually raising humanity. Spencer has illustrated this idea very happily. "Did the reader ever watch a boy in the first heat of a gardening fit? The sight is an amusing, and not uninstructive one. Probably a slice of border—some couple of square yards or so—has been made over to him for his exclusive use. No small accession of dignity, and not a little pride of proprietorship, does he exhibit. So long as the enthusiasm lasts, he never tires of contemplating his territory; and every companion, and every visitor with whom the liberty can be taken, is pretty sure to be met with the request, 'Come and see my garden.' Note chiefly, however, with what anxiety the growth of a few scrubby plants is regarded. Three or four times a day will the little urchin rush out to look at them. How provokingly slow their progress seems to him. Each morning, on getting up, lie hopes to find some marked change; and lo, every thing appears just as it did before. When will the blossoms some out for nearly a week has some forward bud been flourishing with the triumph of a first flower, and still is remains closed. Surely there must be something arose! Perhaps the leaves leave stuck fast. Ah! that is the reason, no doubt. And so ten to one you shall some day catch our young florist very busily engaged in pulling open the calyx, and, it may be, trying to unfold a few of the petals." Somewhat like this childish impatience is the feeling exhibited by not a few State educationists.
The convenient assumption, that the Government, in education, as was once believed to be the ease in religion, is an infallible judge, is the basis of their interference. But one quotation, and I am done on this head; it is to show that this interference does not lead to the results anticipated,—and from Buckle: He says, speaking of the influence of religion, literature, and government:—
"The German intellect, stimulated by the French into a sudden growth, has been irregularly developed, and thus hurried into an activity greater than the average civilisation of the country requires. The consequence is, that there is no nation in Europe in which we find so wide an interval between the highest and the lowest minds. The German philosophers possess a learning, and a reach of thought, which places them at the head of the civilised world. The German people are more superstitious, more prejudiced, and, notwithstanding the care which the Government takes of their education, more really ignorant, and mere unfit to guide themselves, than are the inhabitants of either France or England." And, in a note, he adds—two points I will refer to "1st. The notorious fact, that the German people, notwithstanding their so-called education, are unfit to take any share in political matters, and have no aptitude for the practical and administrative parts of Government. End. The fact, equally notorious to those who have studied the subject, that there ere more popular superstitions in Prussia, the most educated part of Germany, than there are in England; and that the tenacity with whirls men cling to them is greater in Prussia than in England. For illustration of the practical working in individual eases of compulsory education, and of the hardship it causes, see a scandalous occurrence related in Laing's Notes of a Taveller; and as to the physical evils produced by German education, see Phillips on Scrofula." So much for State efforts and the results.
One of the greatest—indeed, it lion been termed the greatest—argument for State education is, that it prevents crime. Now, I hold this has not been proved. Remember I am keeping to the basis of what is termed" a sound English education." If we were to confine our attention solely to the statistics of the number of ignorant criminals to be found in the gaols, in comparison with the number of educated, and to this alone, it could not be proved; but even granting, Which need not be granted, that the number of ignorant prisoners exceeds that of educated ones, does that prone that education prevents, and ignorance causes crime? It is, surely, quite possible for ignorance and crime to coexist, and yet the one not be the cause of the other. There is no need that ignorance be the cause and crime the effect. Burke asks, in one of his speeches, "May not a man have enjoyed better health during the time that he walked with an oaken stick, than afterwards, when he changed it for a cane, without supposing, like the Druids, that there are occult virtues in oak, and that the stick and health were cause and effect." I fear there has been a too great tendency to overlook the difference between co-existence and cause and effect. Spencer, on this point, states, "Before any inference can be drawn, it must be shown that these instructed and uninstructed convicts come from the equal sections of society—alike in all other respects but that of knowledge; similar or in rank, occupation, having similar advantages, laboring under similar temptations. * * * The many ignorant criminals belong to a class most unfavorably circumstanced; whilst the few educated once are from a class comparatively favored." To attribute crime to ignorance is about as wise, and as near the truth, as to blame, as some doctors have done, had ventilation and want of cleanliness as the cause of theft, I do not intend to quote statistics. I may refer to Mr. Somerville's Physical Geography, in which it in stated that education prevents crime, and statistics are given to prove such an assertion; but they' utterly fail to do so. I may mention, how ever, the testimony of the author of London Labor and London Poor, and that of Mr. Fletcher, an Inspector of Schools. The latter Bums up his experience thus t—" Down to this period, therefore, the comparison of the criminal and educational returns of this, any more than of any other country of Europe, has afforded do sound statistical evidence in favor, and as little against, the moral effects associated with instruction as actually disseminated among the people." To which may be added the evidence of Messrs Guirea and Dupin, who have shown that the most highly educated districts in Franco are the most criminal.
Coleridge has termed a knave, a fool with a circumbendibus. Well, education only may assume a different phase—though forgery may take the place of robbery, yet it will exist.
But I shall now turn to some objections which may be urged against education by the State. And 1st. I hold that the State to violating its functions by becoming the educator. I have stated that the sphere and duty of a State are security and protection. And, keeping to this definition, I shall again make a quotation from Spencer, to prove my contention, because he has illustrated the subject in a more forcible manner than I can dot:—
"'Your taxes are heavier this year than last,' complains a citizen to the Government. 'How is it? ' 'The sums for these new school-houses, and for the salaries of the masters and mistresses, have increased the draught upon our Exchequer,' replies the Government. 'School-houses, masters, and mistresses—what have I to do with these? You are not charging me with the cost of them, are you?' 'Yes.' 'Why I never authorised you to do so.' 'True; but Parliament, or in other words, he majority of the nation, has decided that the education of the young shall be entrusted to us, and has authorised us to raise such funds as may be necessary for fulfilling this trust.' 'But suppose I wish to superintend the education of my children myself?' 'You may do as you please [but tide would not be granted by Mill, etc.,]; but you must pay for the privilege we offer, whether you avail yourself of it or not. Even it you have no children you must still pay.' 'And what if I refuse?' 'Why, were we to act up to old precedents, we should punish you; but as things now stand, we shall content ourselves with giving notice that you hare outlawed yourself.' 'Now, I have no wish to do that. I can not at present dispense with your protection.' 'Very well, then, you must agree to our terms, and pay your share of the new tax.' 'See, now, what a dilemma you place me in. As I dare not relinquish the protection I entered into political combination to obtain, I most either give you a part of my property for nothing, or, should I make a point of having some equivalent, I most cease to do that which my natural affections prompt. Will you answer me a few questions.' 'Certainly.' 'What tell that you, as a natural executive, have been appointed for? Is it not to maintain the rights of those who employ you or, in other words, to guarantee to each "It has been so decided.' 'And it has been also decided that you are justified in diminishing this freedom, only to such extent, as may be needful for preserving the remainder, has it not?' 'That is evidently a corollary.' 'Exactly. And now let me ask, what is this property, thus money, of which, in the shape of taxes, you are demanding from me, an additional amount? Is it not that which enables me to get food clothing, and better recreation; or, to repeat the original expression, that on which I depend for the exercise of most of my faculties 'It is.' 'Therefore to decrease my property, is to decrease my freedom to exercise my faculties, is it not?' 'Clearly.' 'Then this new impost of yours will practically decrease my freedom to exercise my faculties?' 'Yes.' 'Well, do you not now perceive the contradiction? Instead of acting the part of a protector, you are acting the part of an aggressor. What you were appointed to guarantee me and others, you are now taking away. To see that the liberty of earls mate to pursue the objects of his desires unrestricted, save of the like liberty of all, is your special function. To diminish this liberty by means of taxes, or civil restraint, more than is absolutely needful for performing such function, is wrong, because adverse to the function itself. Now your new impost does so diminish this liberty more than is absolutely needful, and it is, consequently, unjustifiable.'the fullest freedom for the exercise of his faculties, compatible with the equal freedom of all others?'
I do not think I need say any more on this head.
The next objection I urge against State education is, that it tends to destroy parental influence and responsibility, and, therefore, uneducated as much, if not more, than it educates. Before, however, I other arguments in proof of this assertion, it will be necessary to
up to a certain standard [the model citizen which he himself condemns] of every human being who inborn its citizen? Yet who is there that is not afraid to recognise and assert this truth? Hardly anyone, indeed, will deny that it is one of the most sacred duties of the parents (or, as law and usage now stand, the father,) after summoning a human being into the world, to give to that being an education fitting him to perform his part well in life towards others and towards himself. But while this is unanimously declared to be the father's duty, scarcely anybody, in this country, will bear to hear of obliging tuna to perform it. Instead of his being required to make any exertion or sacrifice for securing this education to his child, it is left to his choice to accept it or not, when it is provided gratis! It still remains unrecognised, that to bring a child into existence, without is fair prospect of being able, not only to provide food for its body, but instruction and training for its mind, is a moral crime, both against the unfortunate offspring and against society; and that, if the parent does not fulfil the obligation, the State ought to see it fulfilled at the charge, as far as possible, of the parent." Now, most heartily as I agree with the spirit of benevolence in this argument of Mill's, I believe, that had he his idea carried out, it would ho productive of far more evil than good. The doctrine at the root of Mill's argument is, that the rights of children are involved as well as the rights of the State. Now I deny that the rights of the child are violated by a denial of education. Education does not prevent the fullest exorcise of faculties, it does not diminish liberty. The child is at liberty to do whatsoever it wills in the best way it can, and this is all that can be demanded. "Every aggression, be it remembered," to again quote, "every infraction of rights is necessarily active; whilst every neglect, carelessness, omission, is as necessarily passive. Consequently, however wrong the non-performance of a parental duty may be—however much it is condemned by the morality of beneficence—it does not amount to a breach of the law of equal freedom, and cannot, therefore, be taken cognizance of by the State." And Mill's argument, if at all pushed, would lead the State into interference as absurd as that of States in days gone by, to guard the citizens is all their dealings.
But I go farther and say, that even were it the duty of the State to interfere on behalf of children, Mill's theory would work more evil than good. It tends to destroy parental infiltrate and responsibility, and hence uneducated. If any person is trained up in the belief, that the State is to have a fostering care of himself and offspring, he will lose that stimulus to self-restraint and self-denial, which he would otherwise acquire. And to this want of self-restraint is nine-tenths of the evil, that afflicts this world to be attributed. If there were no improvidence, there would be little poverty and less crime. And how is this self-restraint to be encouraged? Must not experience and pain alone work a cure. Nothing but knowing, and feeling, that a wrong done brings punishment—aye, and without State interference—will improve the man of improvident habits and desires. Why to some men to this day, notwithstanding the knowledge diffused abroad by Combe's Constitution of Man, and kindred works, pain seems an evil instead of a good. Some are so philanthropic that to save an improvident man from punishment, they will place him in artificial and false circumstances. What, I ask, is a greater incentive to self-restraint than parental responsibility,—and if we diminish the one, we will assuredly diminish the other. If we train up men in the belief that a Government will feed and educate their children, and will, in old ago, when they are unable to work, and, through their improvidence, they have no resources, give them a place of refuge—a workhouse for an asylum—Can we wonder at the carelessness and providence we see in the world? Is it not a fact that the more the State undertakes for the fussily, the greater becomes the temptation to marry? And hence the greater becomes the number of those moral crimes Mr. Mill so much deplores.
Therefore, I hold State Education is educating one class at the expense of another. It confers knowledge at the expense of character. "It retards the development of a quality universally needed—one, in the absence of which, poverty, and restlessness, and crime, must ever continue; and all that it may give a smattering of information." Nay, it makes men forget their duties; it deadens that parental feeling for progeny, which nature has implanted in the bosons. What are we? What is the State that we should improve on nature? Throughout the universe offspring is cared for and tended. How rarely do
But I must not detain you longer. There is only one argument to which I shall yet allude. It is one that I know is sure to be I used, and it is this—All nations find it expedient to aid education, or have some sort of a I national system, and if this has been found necessary in the past, and in the present state of intellectual enlightenment, surely we are justified in following on many precedents. I do not think such a statement of much value were I to apply it in discussing "State Churches," it would, I presume, be equally valid; and I hardly know of any nation that, fifty years ago, held other than the most strong protectionist ideas. But who dare say that Turgot and Adam Smith were wrong? In like manner we may say of State Education that, granting that it may, as State Churches and protectionist theories are said to have done, aided progress in the state of society which has been in the past, it is no argument for its future continuance.
In conclusion, and to sum up my arguments, I started with showing the proper function of a State "security and protection" to life and property. I then showed that before the State could be called on to educate, it was the duty of those in favour of State Education to tell me what it is, and when it is to begin and when to cease. This difficulty, nay impossibility, I have pointed out. I have asserted that once admit this doctrine of State care of minds, and State care of bodies must been forced, and other absurdities will follow in their train. I stated that the argument that it was for the interest of the State to educate, so as to get good citizens, was utterly untenable. I have proved also that the State cannot interfere on the pretext that the people are not judges of what education is or ought to be, nor, on the other assumption that it makes crime cease. I have, I think, proved that State Education is a violation of the social compact, and unjust. I then showed that the State could not interfere on the plea of doing justice to the young. I have pointed out the evils of State Education by destroying parental responsibility, and uneducating those who need education most. Lastly, I have alluded to the fact, that the universality of a doctrine was no proof of its soundness. So far, my task is accomplished. Let me only beseech you not to found your opposition to sue au such a shallow ground as that of expediency. It 15 never expedient to be "unjust;" and the assertion that it is no has caused many of the evils under which this world of ours has laboured and still labours. Might I also express a hope that, independent of the results that may follow our ideas, we will fearlessly discuses this subject, and that that bogie which sometimes affects some amongst us "the fear of meddling with politics," will for once be kept out of sight. May we conceive it to be our duty to fearlessly utter the highest truths conceivable by us, and endeavour to get embodied in fact our purest idealisms, knowing that by these means, and by these only, are we playing our appointed part in this world.
Dunedin: Mills, Dick & Co., General Printers, Stafford Street, November 7, 1870
Title.
Preamble.
Short title.
Schedule A, Form of Assessment.
Schedule B, Form of Notice of Assessment,
4. The Superintendent and the members of his Executive Council for the time being together with the Speaker of the Provincial Council shall constitute a Board for carrying into effect the provisions of this Ordinance which Board shall be called the " Otago Education Board " and wherever in this Ordinance the term " The Board" is used it shall be construed to mean The Board constituted by this Ordinance sinless the context shows that such construction would be inapplicable : Provided always that should the office of Speaker be at any time vacant it shall notwithstanding be lawful for the Board to act in execution of tins Ordinance.
5. In order to carry out the provisions of this Ordinance The Board shall appoint a Secretary and an Inspector of Schools who shall respectively hold office during the pleasure of The Board and shall receive such salaries as shall from time to time be voted by the said Provincial Council and in addition thereto the Secretary and tine Inspector shall receive over and above such salary a reasonable allowance for travelling expenses: Provided nevertheless that the office of Secretary to the Board and Inspector of Schools may be held by one and the same person if the Board shall so determine.
6. The Board shall hold two General Meetings one ins the month of January and the other in the month of July inn every year and such meeting shall be convened by fourteen days' previous notice to be published in the Provincial Government Gazette and otherwise as the Board shall direct and it shall be competent for the Secretary whenever lie shall see occasion or shall be requested by tine Superintendent or any two members of The Board to call a special meeting of The Board and every such meeting shall be convened by sevens days' previous notice to be published in the
Provincial Government Gazette and otherwise as The Board shall direct and The Board having duly met may from time to time adjourn to meet at such other time and place as they shall appoint Provided that all meetings of The Board and all adjournments there of shall be open to the public.
7. All the powers hereby given to The Board shall be exercised at meetings duly convened as aforesaid at which meetings not less than three members shall be present and the Superintendent when present shall be ex officio Chairman of such meetings and in his absence the members present shall elect one of their number to be Chairman and on every question before The Board the decision of the majority shall be final and conclusive but in case the votes shall be equal the Chairman having a deliberative vote shall also have a casting vote end no resolution or decision come to at any meeting of The Board shall he revoked or altered at any subsequent meeting of The Board unless notice of the intention to propose such revocation or alteration shall have been given to the Secretary at a previous meeting of The Board and shall have been made known by a circular sent to each member of The Board by the Secretary Provided also that The Board may delegate their power to a Committee of not less than three members.
8. Minutes of the proceedings of The Board shall be regularly entered in a book to be kept for that purpose and at every meeting of The Board the minutes of the preceding meeting shall be read over and signed by the Chairman of the meeting at which the same shall be read and he minutes when so signed shall for all purposes be held to be a true statement and record of the proceedings of The Board.
9. The Board shall exercise a general superintendence over all the Public Schools which have already been established under the Education Ordinance Provincial Government Gazette containing a list of all the Educational Districts established previously to the passing of this Ordinance with a description of the boundaries thereof respectively And whenever any new School District shall be formed pursuant to the provisions of this Ordinance The Board shall direct a notice of the formation of such new district and of the boundaries thereof to be published in the Provincial Government Gazette and every School District shall be held to be bounded as described in any such notice published as aforesaid and as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Ordinance the Board shall fix and determine the minimum rates of fees to be paid by pupils for attendance at the different schools receiving from The Board and whenever any new school shall he established in pursuance of the provisions of this Ordinance The Board shall fix and determine the minimum rates of fees to be paid by pupils for attendance thereat: Provided that it shall be lawful for The Board whenever they shall see fit to alter the minimum rates of fees so fixed and determined in regard to any of such school.
10. The secretary shall attend all meetings of The Board and of their Committees and enter the proceedings of The Board in the minute book to be provided for the purpose and conduct the correspondence of The Board and shall also prepare the reports of Committees and take charge of and preserve all letters papers and documents relating to the business of The Board and perform all such duties as may be required by The Board for carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance.
11. It shall be the duty of the Inspector to visit and inspect all the Schools established under the Education Ordinance
12. Upon the memorial of any considerable portion of the inhabitants of any locality or district within the Province not yet provided or inadequately provided with the means of Public School Education praying for the erection of such locality into a separate Educational District the Board shall forthwith ascertain fully all the circumstances of the case and ii it shall appear to The Board that there exists in such locality or district a necessity for provision being made for public education therein The Board shall call by advertisement a public meeting of the owners and occupiers of land and householders in such district being male persons above the age
Provincial Government Gazette such district (giving the boundaries thereof) to be an Educational District under this Ordinance and all Educational Districts established under the " Education Ordinance
13. At any such meetings of owners and occupiers of land and householders as aforesaid in any locality or district at which the majority shall have declared their willingness that the said locality or district shall be formed into an Educational District under the provisions of this Ordinance and shall have also declared their willingness to provide the due proportion of the annual expenses of an Educational District as hereinafter provided the persons then present (being such owners and occupiers and householders as aforesaid) shall thereupon elect by a majority of votes taken either by a show of hands or by ballot as shall be determined upon by the said meeting not less than five nor more than nine such owners and occupiers of land and householders as aforesaid in the District of whom a majority shall be parents of families and the persons so elected shall be called the District School Committee and shall hold office until the election of their successors in manner hereinafter mentioned.
14. On the second Monday in the month of October neat and thereafter on the second Monday in the month of January in each year except in the ninth of
15. If any dispute shall arise respecting the validity of the proceedings at the annual or other election of ally School Committee or respecting the validity of the election of any member or members of any School Committee the matter in dispute shall be submitted to the judgment of the Superintendent whose decision thereon shall be final and conclusive and if in any case the electors in ally School District shall from ally cause whatever fail to elect a School Committee upon the annual day of meeting as herein before provided it shall be lawful for the Superintendent if he shall see fit to fix another day for the election of a School Committee for such district mid the same notice of such meeting shall be given and the same proceedings taken thereat as are prescribed by the 14th clause of this Ordinance.
16. The proceedings of every School Committee shall be transacted it meetings to be conversed at the request of two or more of the members thereof at which meetings three members shall form a quorum and the Chairman shall have a deliberative as well as a casting vote at every such meeting and the decision of the majority shall be final and conclusive: And every School Committee shall be at liberty to appoint one us their own members or other qualified person to be their Clerk and Treasurer who shall converse all meetings of the Committee by causing three days previous notice to be given to each member thereof and shall attend such meetings of the said Committee and take minutes of their proceedings and do whatever may be required of him in the execution of this Ordinance and such Clerk and Treasurer shall receive
17. In every Educational District it shall be lawful for the School Committee wills the express sanction of The Board previously obtained to establish one or more Main Schools and also such number of smaller schools to be denominated Side Schools as the extent population and other circumstances of the District may render necessary and subject to the general superintendence and control of The Board :aid such inspection as aforesaid the School Committee of every Educational District shall have full power to fix and determine the salary of the Teacher or Teachers and the rates of School Fees: Provided always that the rates of fees to be charged for attendance at any School under the charge of the School Committee shall not be less than the minimum is rates fixed and determined by The Board for such School except in those cases hereinafter specified: And the School Committee shall also be entitled to select the Teacher or Teachers of such School or Schools and generally to have the entire management of educational matters within the District And in no case shall any reduction be made in a Teacher's salary once fixed without the sanction of The Board previously obtained.
18. In connection with every Main School there shall be provided by The Board a suitable School-house and a Teacher's residence and not snore than ten acres of land contiguous thereto or as near as circumstances will admit fir the use and occupation of the Teacher of such Main School of which land such a portion as the Committee shall think necessary shall be laid off as a play-ground and in any case where increased School accommodation shall become necessary after school buildings have been once provided two-thirds of the cost of providing such increased accommodation shall be defrayed by The Board and the remaining one-third by the School Committee of the District in which the building shall be situated Provided always that in any case where The Board shall deem it inexpedient to provide a residence for a Main School Teacher it shall be lawful for The Board to pay such Teacher a yearly allowance in lieu thereof: And in any case where a Side School shall be established under the provisions of this Ordinance it shall be lawful for The Board to contribute towards the payment of the Teacher's salary and the rent of a school-house such sums respectively as to them shall seem fit.
19. The School Committee of every Educational District shall be entitled to select a Teacher or Teachers for every Main and Side
20. And whereas it is expedient that the position and rights of School Teachers should be accurately defined and whereas great public inconvenience might ensue if School Teachers could not be dismissed without fixing upon them the stigma of crime or moral delinquency: All engagements and contracts entered into on the part of the Provincial Government with School Teachers in Great Britain shall be punctually fulfilled in the Colony and subject thereto the engagement of every School Teacher under this Ordinance shall be and be deemed to be a yearly engagement and no School Teacher shall be at liberty to relinquish his said engagement without giving to the Secretary of the School Committee of the Educational District in which he holds his appointment three months' notice in writing of his intention so to do and such engagement shall not be determined by any School Committee except on giving a like notice signed by their Secretary with the express sanction of The Board and the Teacher's occupation of the school-house teacher's house and land attached thereto is hereby declared to be an occupancy by sufferance only: Provided always that after the termination of the first year's employment under any contract such notices as aforesaid may be given to expire at any time.
21. It shall be lawful for any School Committee with the express sanction of The Board previously obtained to appoint a second Master or Female Teacher hi any Main School where the number of pupils in ordinary attendance is such as to render such appointment necessary and whenever an Assistant Teacher shall be required in any Main or Side School the selection of such Assistant Teacher shall be entrusted to the Teacher of the said School subject only to the approval of the School Committee of the District.
22. The Board may authorise the Master of any well attended and efficiently conducted Main School to engage and employ in his School any number of Apprentice Pupil Teachers The Board may deem expedient and may make and from time to time alter and amend rules and regulations for the examination training and employment of such Pupil Teachers and may out of any funds from thee to time appropriated by the Superintendent and Provincial Council grant any moderate sum or stuns of money in aid of the maintenance and relocation of such Pupil Teachers upon such con-
23. It shall be lawful for every School Teacher or the Treasurer appointed by the Committee to ask demand receive sue for and recover from the parents or guardians of the children attending the School such School Fees or charges as shall be authorised by the School Committees to be charged and the School Fees if collected by the Teacher shall be paid over to the Treasurer quarterly Provided always that it shall I e lawful for the School Committee of every district by a warrant or warrants under the hand of their Clerk to authorise the remission of the whole or ally portion of the ordinary School Fee in the case of any child or children whose parents or guardians are in the opinion of the School Committee in such circumstances as to warrant such remission.
Sections 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 and 32 are repealed by "Education Ordinance
33. If the qualified electors in any Educational District shall refuse or neglect to elect a School Committee or if the School Committee elected shall fail or refuse to perform any of the duties by this Ordinance imposed upon them it shall be lawful for The Board upon such failure or refusal occurring to nominate and appoint a Commissioner or Commissioners to exercise all the powers and to perform all the duties by this Ordinance committed to or imposed upon such School Committee and it shall be lawful for the Commissioner or Commissioners so appointed to exercise the powers of Assessment and all other powers and duties by this Ordinance imposed and conferred on Committees of Educational Districts at any time after its or they shall have assumed the place and duties of the School Committee as aforesaid and a salary to be paid to the Commissioner or Commissioners shall be fixed by The Board and shall be paid out of the rates levied in the Educational District for or to which such Commissioner or Commissioners are appointed.
34. It shall be lawful for The Board at its discretion to grant any moderate sum or sums of money in aid of the efforts made by private individuals or associations for the promotion of Education ill the Goldfields Districts or in localities or districts in which from the smallness or scattered position of the population or from other causes no Educational District shall have been proclaimed.
35. And whereas it is expedient that encouragement should be given to the formation of Public Libraries in the various Educational Districts The Board may out of Funds specially appropriate) d for the purpose by the Superintendent and Provincial Council from time to time expend in the purchase of Books to be placed in any such Library any sum or sums of money equal to any sum or sums of money which shall have been raised by public subscription or
36. The Board may at its discretion out of any funds specially appropriated for the purpose by the Superintendent and Provincial Council from time to time grant any moderate sum or sums in aid of Reading Clubs or Libraries connected with any Teachers' Association or Associations that may be formed by the Public School Teachers in the Province such sum or sums not exceeding in amount the sum or sums contributed by the members of any such Association.
37. There shall be maintained in Dunedin a High School to be called "The High School of Otago" under a Rector or Head Master and such number of duly qualified masters and assistants as The Board shall from time to time consider necessary in which shall be taught all the branches of a liberal Education the French and other modern languages the Latin and Greek Classics Mathematics and such other branches of science as the advancement of the colony and the increase of the population may from time to time require and the said High School shall be entirely under the superintendence and control of The Board and shall be maintained and supported and all salaries and expenses connected therewith paid out of school fees and monies appropriated by the Superintendent and the Provincial Council for that purpose and any other available funds.
38. It shall be lawful for The Board from time to time to establish Exhibitions or Scholarships to be held in the High School of Otago or in any University in Great Britain Ireland Australia or New Zealand b, students of any Public School of the Province of Otago: Provided that such Exhibitions and Scholarships shall be submitted to public competition in such manner and under such regulations as The Board shall determine : And provided also that while every encouragement shall be given to associations and private persons to found and endow such Exhibitions and Scholarships no public money shall be expended in the permanent endowment of
39. The salary of the Teacher of every Main District School shall not be less than one hundred pounds a year.
40. In every School established under the provisions of this Ordinance the Holy Scriptures shall be read daily and such reading shall be either at the opening or close of the School as may be fixed by the Teacher and no child whose parent or guardian shall object to such instructions shall be bound to attend at such times.
41. The Parent or Guardian of any child attending School or any ratepayer subscriber or donor shall be entitled to visit the School at any time on obtaining an order for that purpose from any member of the School Committee.
2. The 24th Section of the "Education Ordinance
3. It shall be lawful for the Otago Education Board out of any funds which may from time to time be at their disposal to pay to the School Committee of ally Educational District the suns of Ten Shillings per annum for every orphan or destitute
2. The Otago Education Board shall on receiving an application in writing from any of the respective District School Committees of the Educational Districts of Tokomairiro Lawrence Port Chalmers and Oamaru or from the District School Committee of any other Educational District which may from time to time be authorised by a resolution of the Provincial Council to make such application convert any Main School in any of the said Educational Districts into and establish the same as a Grammar School.
3. Every such Grammar School shall be under the charge of a Head Master, whose duty in addition to a general supervision over the whole establishment shall be to teach such of the pupils belonging to his School as are qualified to received such instruction in the higher branches of education and such Head Master shall be appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the District School Committee.
4. There shall be appointed to every such Grammar School by the Committee a Second Master a School Mistress and such number of Assistant or Pupil Teachers as may be from time to time expressly sanctioned by the Board.
7. Not less than the following rates of salary shall be paid by the Board from funds to be voted by the Superintendent and Council (that is to say):—Head Master two hundred pounds per annum Second Master one hundred pounds per annum Schoolmistress seventy-five pounds per annum and the Committee from school fees and other moneys at their disposal shall make up the salaries to the following rates (that is to say):—Head Master two hundred and seventy-five pounds per annum Second Master one hundred and fifty pounds per annum School Mistress one hundred pounds per annum inclusive of the amount paid in each case by the Board.
8. The Board shall have power to provide additional school accommodation for any Grammar School established under this Ordinance and a residence for the Head Master thereof out of funds to be appropriated by the Superintendent and Provincial Council for those purposes.
3. The several Ordinances of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of the Province of Otago specified in the Second Schedule hereto shall be and the same are hereby extended to that part of the Province of Otago which before the coining into operation of the Otago and Southland Union Act
4. The management and administration of the lands specified in the respective Schedules annexed to the several Ordinances of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of the late Province of Southland specified in the third Schedule hereto shall be carried on and conducted by the "Otago Education Board" established under and by the Education Ordinance
Note.—Every application or Memorial to the Education Board for aid Cowards the Establishment and Maintenance of a School should be signed by Householders within a reasonable distance of the proposed School according to the following form:—
Mills, Dick & Co. Printers, Stafford Street, Dunedin.