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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 13

Second Session

Second Session.

The Convention again assembled at 2 o'clock p.m., "Wednesday, July 26—Mr Hodge in the chair, who at once called upon Dr M'Leod to deliver his prepared address.

Dr M'Leod rose and said—Mr Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to make one of this company, and thankful to Almighty God, that he has been pleased to open my eyes to the great truths which Spiritualism teaches, and that I am called upon to bear my testimony to their cheering and redeeming influences this day.

From the time when my father and mother first taught me to say" my prayers, and I listened in rapture and fear to the ghost stories that were poured into my youthful ear, I have been an ardent student in the literature of the divine mysteries—anxious, wistful, trustful, doubtful, scorning betimes in regard to the stories that were told me, and the books I had read, from "Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp" to those more pretentious and gigantic tomes that fill the shelves of our British Museum. I have no desire to impose upon your patience my personal history in any detail; on the contrary, I only desire to do something practical for the diffusion of Spiritualism as it is understood by us here present, and as, I hope, it page 14 will soon be understood by all men, peoples, nations, kindreds, and tongues.

First, then, men ask us what we mean by spirits and Spiritualism—at least; whenever I broach the subject at home, I am requested to say what I mean—what I am—what my faith, belief, opinions, and principles. Am I orthodox or heterodox? Is the "Church in danger" from my belief? and so forth. As the minutes of this Convention will be given to the public, I wish to give every one who shall read them "a reason for the faith that is in me." And as other members of this Convention will express themselves more or less to the same end, the public will have a good line to go by in forming a judgment upon us and our novel and interesting movement. If it is desirable to get at the details of the process whereby we have become Spiritualists, we beg to refer inquirers to the published literature of Spiritualism. Let them honestly investigate its phenomena, in the presence of an acknowledged medium of character, and the work is done at once. Let them go, as I did, to a Foster or the Marshalls. Let them do as I did. Go to, for example, Mrs Marshall, incog.; tell no one your errand; and when, at your entrance, a piece of furniture, without the aid of a human hand, rises to meet you and greets you by name, as it did me, then laugh at such manifestations if you can. In Mrs Marshall's presence I conversed for hours with my father, mother, and other relatives, and matters were told me that I knew not of previously, so that there could not have been "cerebral sympathy" or "brain-reading" in my case. It was told mo then that I would, at no very distant date, become a great medium and spiritual teacher; and I have already had indications of a fulfilment of this assurance. The chamber in which I sleep has been illuminated by a peculiar kind of light; a bell was rung close to my head in the dead of the night, and loud enough to have been heard in the adjoining house, no material bell being near at the time; knockings are common all over the house; spirits are seen by my wife, in form and shape as palpable as anything in the flesh. "When all is still and a-bed, blows, as if by a sledge hammer, fall upon the wall or floor. Mediums have told me that I am constantly surrounded by spirits, who aver that they are my guides and protectors.

And what to mo has been the consequence of all this? Why, I now have what I may say I had never before, viz., a full and certain faith in God Almighty, the Author and Giver of life, the Origin and Source, the Pater and Mater of all things, visible and invisible, conceivable and inconceivable. I worship him in my soul and body which are his; and the love I bear to him I can no more express, than I can describe his attributes or dimensions. I also believe in page 15 Jesus Christ (remember, I am not speaking for other* Spiritualists, I am but declaring myself) the Great Teacher, that he died in defence of God's truth; and in this sense only can I understand that he shed his blood for me and all men. I have established him, in my affections, as the greatest of all mankind; and I look upon him as, par excellence, the Great Medium between God and man, and entitled, next to God, to my highest love and admiration. I believe in eternal motion, continual change, human progress in truth, love, faith, happiness, and glory; and in the life everlasting. I believe in and desire my life always to be characterised by charity, in its widest sense, temperance, chastity, benevolence, mercy, and honesty of purpose. My motto shall ever be—Progress in every good thing, progress in all but sin, which is death; and I know that all men, of only moderate intelligence, are constantly impressed with the right, though they may be tempted to do wrong. Thus, then, I give my sole allegiance to God my Maker, praying him and Jesus and all good spirits to deliver and keep me from all evil. And as a Spiritualist, I here proclaim my firm belief in spirits. I not only believe that the spirits of the so-called dead do hold communication with the so-called living, but I believe that we are constantly surrounded by them, in various degrees of progression, who witness and can influence our conduct, according to our disposition; and that we should be constantly on our guard against the evil communications of spirits, as of men. In contradistinction to this belief, which is not to halt here remember, I may also tell you that I do not believe in the so-called Christian Churches as at present constituted, nor in the doctrines, for the most part, which they teach; and though it may appear unkind to express myself in such a manner, I protest that it is most unaccountable to me how an educated mind can be reconciled to the monstrosities which these Churches preach and teach. I do not believe (because I cannot understand how) that Jesus Christ is God, or that his blood was shed to appease the anger of a god, or as a sacrifice for sin, as preached. I do not believe in a personal or any other kind of devil, who, we are told, "goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." Neither do I believe in a "bottomless pit filled with fire and brimstone," more commonly called "hell," where the souls of the erring are sent to weep and wail and gnash their teeth for ever and ever. Nor do I believe that the good Jesus ever preached or taught such horrible doctrine. And as I do not believe in this Bible hell, neither do I believe in a Bible heaven, with a golden floor and gates of crystal, where the blessed are inconvenienced with the sole occupation of song-singing, sans intermission, to all eternity. Finally, my friends, * page 16 I do not believe in the "King of Terrors," called Death. I believe that when my heart and flesh shall fail, and my mortality shall be laid in the tomb, that I shall only "die"—

"As sets the morning star, which goes
Not down behind the darken'd west, nor hides
Obscured among the tempests of the sky,
But melts away into the light of heaven!"

Well, knowing and being quite certain about these good things, this religion of life eternal, I am anxious in my heart that the whole world should not only share in my belief, but in the blessings which it brings, and to that end I am here to-day to take a part in this great work. Our opponents, or rather the opponents of Spiritualism, treat our mediums as conjurors, and proclaim to the world that we are students of a "black art." Can that art be black, which cheers the human soul with incontestable manifestations and proofs of its immortality? Can that profession be black, which teaches me that my happiness and progression in the summer-land hereafter, depends entirely upon my usefulness, truthfulness, and purity here?—that in proportion as I am less sensual, less envious, less gluttonous, less earthly here, I shall be more spiritual, more lovely and loving, more divine and heavenly there? Is it to be called a black business which aims at the formation of a great spiritual association of practical philanthropists? Let our opponents answer, for such are the motives for our assembling here to-day. Let the world know unmistakably what Spiritualism teaches. It teaches that man should fear none but God—and perfect love casteth out fear—that we should, bravely and sincerely, bear our testimony to the glorious truths that have been revealed to us, even at the risk of our personal safety. Fear not them who can kill the body, but flee from what would soil or endanger the happiness of your soul's future; and let our constant prayer to God Almighty be that he, in his great goodness, may be pleased to guide our immortal spirits in the way of all truth. Amen.

Finally, brethren, I would entreat you all to go to work with a will, and to have great hope for the future. Remember it is but some four or five years ago, only, that Spiritualism began to receive a share of the public attention. Now we have a monthly magazine, which, however, to my astonishment, has no representative here to-day; and a weekly paper called the Spiritual Times, in the same situation, I am sorry to say. Five or six years ago the press of England treated Spiritualism with silent contemptuousness; now, they have condescended, for the most part, to censure us, but also to discuss our principles, and this is a great gain. We can now rank, on our side the names of such men as Professor De Morgan, William Howitt, and a phalanx of talent beside; and who can tell page 17 the great progress we shall have made when we assemble our second Convention in 1860? Remember, "Truth is mighty and will prevail," and Spiritualism is but the persistence of God's providence in immemorial ways, and the greatest step yet taken in the education and salvation of the human race.

Mr Gardner spoke in appreciation of Dr M'Leod's address, and remarked on some of the doctor's wonderful experiences as a medium.

Dr M'Leod favoured the Convention with a few examples of spirit intercourse of a very remarkable and incontestable nature, proving to a demonstration that they came from loving and intelligent beings, the spirits of the individuals whom they represented themselves to be; if the limits of this report admitted of it, nothing could be more interesting than these experiences.

* There were members of various churches (one Roman Catholic) present.