“You take me to task for narrating on insufficient testimony. If the rules of evidence which I have applied in the Mompesson case, in the Wesley case, in the Cideville case, and I will add in that of the Rochester Knockings, are to be rejected as untrustworthy, then not only shall we sink back to scepticism in all history and (as far as historical evidence goes) in all religion, but proof will fail us, in all our courts of justice, alike to acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty.
“I do not allege that all the narratives in my book are equally well authenticated. The Stilling story, for example (p. 317), may be taken as apocryphal. That of the ‘Surgeon’s Assistant’ (p. 325) has not been verified by me. ‘The Rescue’ (p. 333) came to me, thirty years after it happened, at second hand. But in these and in all similar examples throughout the book, where the nature of the case did not admit of evidence at first hand, I have specially called the attention of the reader to that fact. Nor, if one or more of these stories should prove to be without foundation, would it be just, for that cause, to discredit the others. The ‘ex uno disce omnes’ argument is not applicable here. Each narrative ought to be judged independently, by its own evidence. It is a sound maxim in law, that the superfluous does not invalidate the essential.
“I may add that, if in one example I have negligently omitted corroborative inquiries, I am not in the habit of sparing pains to authenticate a narrative. You imagine that I have been satisfied with the reports in Spiritual papers about the ‘Electric girl.’ I spent a week in Paris in procuring the original documents in that case and embodying them in my narrative. A small portion only of these is contained in the ‘Comptes Rendus.’ The authentic details have never yet been given to the American public. They are of great interest in a scientific point of view.
“You assume that such men as Arago regard clairvoyance as mere trickery. Arago, in 1853, expressly said (‘Footfalls,’ p. 23) that ‘somnambulism ought not to be rejected a priori, especially by those who have kept up with the progress of modern science;’ and he admitted (‘Footfalls,’ p. 68) that ‘psychology may one day obtain a place among the exact sciences.’ Cuvier went further. He conceded (‘Footfalls,’ p. 68) the principle lying at the base of Mesmerism.
“Inasmuch as my book treats only of spontaneous phenomena, not of those that are evoked, I have therein said nothing of the Foxes, except in connection with the narrative of what, in the olden time, would have been called the ‘haunted house’ of Hydesville; one of a class of which I have given numerous other older examples. Now, however, having been afforded by the sisters ample opportunity to investigate the rappings and other manifestations alleged to occur in their presence, I am ready, after warning, to go farther, and to say that, whatever the true character of these phenomena, I see no reason whatever for ascribing them to imposture. Nothing came to light in the course of this investigation other than what bore, to my mind, the impress of an honest desire to be freed, by rigid tests of fair dealing, from all blame. I never rest my opinion of character or motive upon report when I can have opportunity of personal verification. Such opportunity, which in this case I believe you have not had, I am enabled now to offer you. I am authorized by Mrs. Underhill (formerly Leah Fox) and by her husband (a gentleman of New York who has been, for seventeen years, secretary of one of the principal insurance offices in Wall Street), to say that, though Mrs. Underhill has not for some years sat as a professional medium, and has resolved not again to do so, she is willing, in the interests of truth, to afford you, during the university vacation, or at other time when your leisure serves, all reasonable facilities for strict investigation.
“I pray it may not be understood that I urge you to accept this offer. I think, indeed, that such an investigation is not unworthy either of your character or of mine. But I am no propagandist; and I have observed that if there be nothing within which moves us to undertake such inquiries, they seldom afford satisfaction or eventuate in useful results.
“You speak of my book as ‘ill-judged and mischievous,’ as ‘furnishing aid to hosts of deceivers,’ and you think it, ‘in the present state of intellectual and moral disorder’ on the subjects of which it treats, ‘peculiarly dangerous.’
“Truth, unless prematurely urged (John xvi. 12), is never ill-judged or mischievous. I did not go in search of this subject. It came up in the course of human events, and doubtless at the proper time and for a good purpose. I found it already controlling the belief of hundreds of thousands, engaging the attention of millions. This, if it presented no other claims, appeared to me to entitle it, before judgment pronounced, to diligent and respectful inquiry. Thus inquiring, I perceived, as you have done, ‘intellectual and moral disorders’ not unfrequently following in the train of its influence; yet, looking at it more closely, I became convinced that it produced good as well as evil.
“Surveying the ground further, I found the arena occupied chiefly by partisans; some of these (shall I include yourself?) delving the good; others, in their hasty enthusiasm, overlooking the evil. The former seemed to me to forget that it is not by despising error that we correct it; the latter, that the new and the untried often run into error and extravagance.
“Desiring, after twenty years of public life, some more tranquil and philosophical field of labor, I discovered none which appeared to promise more useful results than this. If, as you allege, ‘all the phenomena are due to two, and only two sources—delusion and imposture,’ these should be detected and exploded, as by carefully prosecuted researches every delusion and every imposture can be. If, as I believe, there be a foundation of truth underlying them, still there is imperative demand for the exercise of prudence and the precautions of due regulation. Lacking these, a source of good may eventuate in evil. Even if the phenomena, wisely followed up, may elevate morality and fortify religion, yet if these marvels are permitted to spread among us without chart or compass whereby to steer our course through an unexplored ocean of mystery, we may find ourselves at the mercy of very sinister influences.
“As to the general question at issue between yourself and me, you admit the reality of Spiritual influences directly exerted by God upon human intelligence. So far as, from the Creator’s work, we may judge His modes of action, these are mediate and by ministering agencies, not by direct intervention. “Why, then, should we regard the hypothesis of Spiritual interposition (Hebrews i. 14) as a baseless superstition?
“You further admit the occurrence, though only in Christ’s day, of Spiritual intercourse. But a dispassionate survey of the economy of the universe tends to the conviction that no great law of action ever shows itself, for a brief season, thereafter to disappear forever. And Scripture, instead of thus restricting Spiritual phenomena, intimates (Mark xvi. 17, 18) their continuance.
“Guided by such general views, I published ‘Footfalls.’ Its prompt sale and its favorable reception have been my least rewards. Tokens of sympathy and of gratitude contain the greater. A mother, deprived by death of her favorite child, and refusing to be comforted because he was not, confesses that she has been indebted to its pages for healthy and hopeful views of death, renovated spirits, courage to labor and to wait. A sceptic into whose hands the volume fell a few weeks before his decease, requests that, after he is gone, I may be informed that to that volume, and especially to its chapter on the ‘Change at Death,’ he owed the revolution of a life’s opinions, and the first consolatory conviction which had ever reached him that there was a fairer and a better world toward which he was fast hastening.
“‘By their fruits ye shall know them,’ said the great Author of our religion. Do not fruits like these indicate a good tree? And if the chief narratives contained in my book may be trusted, what are their teachings? That not an effort to store our minds or school our hearts, made here in time, but has its result and its reward hereafter in eternity. But what motive to exertion in good can be proposed to man more powerful than such an assurance?
“These are my reasons for still believing, notwithstanding your opinion of my work, that it is of wholesome tendency.
“Time, the great teacher, will decide between us. Ten years—probably less—will see the question determined whether the Spiritual hypothesis is destined to grow in favor and assume station as a reality, or to sink into discredit, as a mere figment of the brain. I am content to bide the event.
“Meanwhile, following my convictions of the useful, I propose next year (unless ere then I pass to another phase of existence where much that is now obscure will doubtless be made plain) to follow up my first work by another; and therein I purpose to examine what I have not yet touched upon; namely, the progress and character of what go by the name of ‘Spiritual manifestations.’ I purpose to investigate first their verity, then their influence; to inquire under what aspects they have proved injurious, and under what beneficial to mankind; how far they may be usefully prosecuted, and at what point they become prejudicial or unsafe.
“This second volume, like the first, shall contain many materials, some suggestions, few opinions. On such a subject as this, dogmatism, whether in affirming or denying, is unpardonable. There is, perhaps, no human inquiry, as to which Bacon’s wise aphorism is more applicable: ‘If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.’
“If even the opinions and suggestions I may offer should fail in accuracy, the materials will remain valuable, if care and industry may avail judiciously to select them. From these each reader can deduce his own conclusions; and thus, perhaps, such incidental puzzles as the seeming investment with clothing of apparitions may be relieved from the imputation of absurdity, if they do not find full solution.
“A word, in conclusion, as to the alleged abandonment of what is called Spiritualism by certain persons named by you. You adduce the reported defection of such seceders as conclusive argument against the cause they desert. But it proves nothing, except, perhaps, that one extreme often results in its opposite. If these men, forsaking common sense, ran off into wild extravagance, little wonder that they repented. And if their case be otherwise, their secession, if secede they did, has still no weight. Weak men adopt opinions, and again discard them, alike on insufficient evidence. We sometimes turn back, confused, in the very path of progress. Du Fay, the discoverer of the fact that there are two kinds or states of electricity, repudiated his own brilliant discovery.
“I am, my dear sir,
“Faithfully yours,
“Robert Dale Owen.
“President C. C. Felton.”[13]
I may add that Mr. Owen, in the summer of 1859, while residing with us, engaged upon his first book (the “Footfalls”), obtained the willing consent of Mr. Underhill and myself, to invite Prof. Felton to come and accept the hospitality of our home at 232 W. 37th Street, for a fortnight or as much shorter or longer a period as he might favor us with his stay; as a means of receiving daily and hourly evidences of all he should like to investigate. Prof. Felton declined the invitation. The invitation proved at least our willingness to submit to such an exhaustive investigation. What disposition its non-acceptance indicated on the other side, in regard to a question which is confessedly one of supremest vital importance to all mankind, it is not for me to say, but rather to leave to the judgment of those who may do me the honor of being my readers.
[13] To this letter Prof. Felton never made any published reply. A letter from him, bearing date seven days after that of Mr. Owen, is before me (or rather a copy of it which Mr. Owen allowed Mr. Underhill to make); but, while perfectly civil and friendly, it bears on its face the evidence of a virtual prohibition of publication, saying that it was so hastily written that it was despatched without reperusal, and that his other duties left him no time for public controversy on this subject. I need only say that it was mainly made up of slashing and sweeping generalities against Spiritualism, which Mr. Owen would have had not the slightest difficulty in confuting—and in confuting so triumphantly that the learned Greek professor of Harvard would not have had a rag left to cover the nakedness of the “absurdum” to which he would have been reduced by Owen’s superior brain and pen. A further appeal against publication was clearly involved in a remark that he contemplated some future publication of a volume on the subject. Mr. Owen therefore could do no more than await the promised volume, but the purpose was never carried into effect; which is much to be regretted, since its non-appearance costs to the literature of Spiritualism a third volume (this time controversial), which would have constituted a precious sequel to Mr. Owen’s two great works, the “Footfalls on the Boundary of another World,” and “The Debatable Land.” The two gentlemen (both of whom I knew) have now passed beyond that Boundary, and beyond all further Debate about that Land, where we shall all soon find them, I doubt not, now excellent friends to the cause of Spiritualism, as well as to each other.—Ed.
CHAPTER XXIV.
EXPERIENCES OF ROBERT DALE OWEN THROUGH
THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE AUTHOR.
Moving a Ledge of Rock on the Sea-shore—Raps on the Water, and in the Living Wood—Seeing the Raps—Moving Ponderable Bodies by Occult Agency—Crucial Test—A Heavy Dinner-table Suspended in the Air by Occult Agency.
I will here introduce some interesting extracts from Robert Dale Owen, relating to some of his personal experiences with me, which will speak for themselves:
I.
MOVING A LEDGE OF ROCK ON THE SEA-SHORE.
“On the twenty-fourth of August, 1861, I accepted an invitation, from Mr. Samuel B. Underhill, of New Rochelle, a sea-side village on the shore of Long Island Sound, to spend the next day with him, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Underhill (their near relatives).
“On the afternoon of August 25, Mr. S. B. Underhill drove us out in his carriage, through the picturesque country adjoining the village; the party consisting of Mr. S. B. Underhill and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. D. Underhill, and myself.[14]
“In the course of the drive, coming near the shore of the Sound, at a point where there were long ledges of rock slanting down into the water, it suddenly suggested itself to me that here was an excellent opportunity for a crucial test. I inquired of Mrs. Underhill if she had ever tried to obtain raps on the sea-shore. ‘No,’ she said; she never had.
“‘Do you think we can get them here?’ I asked. ‘I have never found any place where they could not be had,’ she replied; ‘so I dare say we can.’ Thereupon there were three raps—the conventional sign of assent—from the bottom of the carriage.
“So we drove down to the beach, and got out to test the matter. The portion of rock whither we repaired was not an isolated block, detached from the rest, but part of a large, flat mass of rock, covering at least half an acre, and running back into a bluff bank that rose beyond it; there were also several underlying ledges. We were about thirty feet from the sea and, as there was a moderate breeze, the surf broke on the rocks below us.
“But yet, standing on the ledge beside Mrs. Underhill, and asking for the raps, I heard them quite distinctly above the noise produced by the surf. This was several times repeated, with the same result.
“Then Mrs. Underhill and Mrs. S. B. Underhill sat down, and I, stepping on a lower ledge, laid my ear on the ledge on which the ladies were sitting and repeated my request. In a few seconds the raps were heard by me from within the substance of the rock and immediately beneath my ear.
“I then sought to verify the matter by the sense of touch. Placing my hand on the same ledge, a few feet from Mrs. Underhill, and asking for the raps, when these came audibly, I felt, simultaneously with each rap, a slight but unmistakably distinct vibration or concussion of the rock. It was sufficiently marked to indicate to me a rap, once or twice, when a louder roll of the surf for a moment drowned the sound.
“Without making any remark as to what I felt, I asked Mr. U. to put his hand on the ledge. ‘Why!’ he suddenly exclaimed, ‘the whole rock vibrates!’ During all this time Mrs. Underhill sat, as far as I could judge, in complete repose.”—“Debatable Land,” p. 346.
II.
RAPS ON THE WATER AND IN THE LIVING WOOD.
“On the tenth of July, 1861, I joined a few friends in an excursion from the city of New York, by steamboat, to the Highlands of Neversink; Mr. and Mrs. Underhill being of the party.
“It occurred to me, while sitting on deck by Mrs. Underhill, to ask if we could have the raps there. Instantly they were distinctly heard, first from the deck, and then I heard them, and quite plainly felt them, on the wooden stool on which I sat. In the afternoon our party went out in a sailing boat, fifteen or twenty feet long. There, again at my suggestion, we had them, sounding from under the floor of the boat. It had a centre-board, or sliding keel, and we had raps from within the long, narrow box that inclosed it. At any part of this box where we called for the raps, we obtained them.
“In the evening we ascended a hill, back of the hotel, to the Highland light-house. In returning and passing through a wood on the hill-side, I proposed to try if we could have raps from the ground; and immediately I plainly heard them from beneath the ground on which we trod: it was a dull sound, as of blows struck on the earth. Then I asked Mrs. Underhill to touch one of the trees with the tips of her fingers, and, applying my ear to the tree, I beard the raps from beneath the bark. Other persons of our party verified this as I had done.
“In returning, next morning, on another steamer, we had raps on the hand-rail of the upper promenade deck, and also from within a small metal boat that was turned upside down, on the deck below.
“Notes of these experiments were taken immediately on my return to New York.”—Owen’s “Debatable Land,” p. 345.
III.
SEEING THE RAPS.
“It was during an evening session at Mr. Underhill’s, February 22, 1860. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Underhill, Kate Fox, and myself, there were present Mr. Underhill’s aged father and mother; venerable examples of the plain, primitive Quakers, both of whom took the deepest interest in the proceedings.
“By request, through the raps, the gas was extinguished and we joined hands.
“Very soon lights were seen floating about the room, apparently phosphorescent. At first they were small, just visible, but gradually they became larger, attaining the size and general outline of hands; but I could not distinguish any fingers. These lights usually showed themselves first behind and between Leah and Kate, near the floor. Then they rose; sometimes remaining near Leah’s head, sometimes near her sister’s. One of them was nearly as large as a human head. None of these touched me, though one approached within a few inches. Another made circles in the air just above our heads. After floating about for a brief space, they usually seemed to return either to Leah or Kate.
“While the hands of the circle remained joined, I looked under the table[15] and saw lights, as many as ten or twelve times, on or near the floor, and moving about. Once, while I was looking intently at such a light, about as large as a small fist, it rose and fell, as a hammer would with which one was striking against the floor. At each stroke a loud rap was heard in connection. It was exactly as if an invisible hand held an illuminated hammer and pounded with it. Then, desiring conscious proof of what I saw was not by human agency, I asked mentally, ‘Will the Spirit strike with that light three times?’ which was done forthwith; and then, after an interval, repeated.
“When, a second time, the light was seen and I was noticing the corresponding sounds, some one said, ‘Can you make it softer?’
“Almost instantly I saw the light diminish and strike the floor, at intervals, with a soft and muffled sound, just distinguishable.”—“Debatable Land,” p. 348.
IV.
MOVING PONDERABLE BODIES BY OCCULT AGENCY.
“‘When they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried, and said (to Elisha), ‘Alas, master!’ for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, ‘Where fell it?’ And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it thither; and the iron did swim.’ (2 Kings vi. 4-6.)
“The raising from the ground of weighty substances, or the moving of these from place to place, is one of the most common, and most easily verified, of physical manifestations. I have elsewhere given many examples of it. (See ‘Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World.’) Here I shall add but two or three out of the numerous cases that have come under my eye during Spiritual sessions.
“A most satisfactory test of the power, by occult agency, to raise ponderous substances was suggested to me by that practical thinker, the late Robert Chambers, the well-known author and publisher, during his visit to the United States, in the autumn of 1860; and we carried it out on the thirteenth of October of that year.
“On the evening of that day we had a sitting in Mrs. Underhill’s dining-room; there being present Mr. and Mrs. Underhill, Kate Fox, Mr. Chambers, and myself. In this room we found an extension dinner-table of solid mahogany, capable of seating fourteen persons. This we contracted to the form of a centre-table, and, having procured a large steelyard, we found that it weighed in that form a hundred and twenty-one pounds. We suspended this table by the steelyard, in exact equipoise and about eight inches from the floor. Then we sat down by it; and while our experiment proceeded, Mrs. Underhill sat with the points of both feet touching one of mine and Kate in the same relation to Mr. Chambers. This was done at their suggestion, so as to afford us proof that they had no physical agency in the matter. Their hands were over the table, near the top, but not touching it. There was bright gas-light. Thus we were able to obtain a
CRUCIAL TEST,
the table remaining suspended, with the constant weight at the figure of 121. We asked that it might be made lighter. In a few seconds the long arm ascended. We moved the weight to the figure 100: it still ascended; then to 80; then to 60. Even at this last figure the smaller arm of the steelyard was somewhat depressed, showing that the table, for the moment, weighed less than sixty pounds. It had lost more than half its weight, namely, upward of sixty-one pounds. In other words there was a power equal to sixty-one pounds sustaining it. Then we asked that it might be made heavier; and it was so; first, as the figures indicated, to 130, and finally to a hundred and forty-four pounds.
“The change of weight continued, in each instance, from three to eight seconds, as we ascertained by our watches; and during the whole time the ladies maintained the same position of feet and hands; Mr. Underhill not approaching the table.
“We had given Mr. Underhill no notice of our intention to ask for this experiment. The heavy steelyard was bought for the occasion from a hardware-store in the neighborhood. How much a Jewish axe-head commonly weighed, in the days of Elisha, I know not; it could be but a few pounds. Our miracle (dynamics) exceeded that of the prophet, as far as regards the weight of the body that was made lighter. But the Hebrew seer was at a greater distance from the object raised than were our mediums. On the evening just preceding that on which we tried the above experiment I had a sitting at Mr. Underhill’s, with very satisfactory result.”
A HEAVY DINNER-TABLE SUSPENDED IN THE AIR WITHOUT CONTACT.
“Our session was on the evening of October 12, 1860, lasting from half-past nine till eleven.[16] It was held in the same room and at the same table before mentioned, and by gas-light. Present, Mr. and Mrs. Underhill, Kate Fox, Mr. Harrison Gray Dyer, of New York, and myself. We had very loud rappings, from various parts of the room and on the chairs. Then, while our hands were on the table, it began to move, sometimes with a rotary motion, sometimes rising up on one side, until finally it rose from the floor all but one leg. Then we sought to induce it to rise entirely from the floor. After (what seemed) strenuous efforts, almost successful, to rise, we aided it by each putting a single finger under it; and, with this slight assistance, it rose into the air and remained suspended during six or seven seconds.
“After a time we asked whether, if we removed our fingers from the table-top, while it was in the air, it could still remain suspended; and the reply (by rapping) being in the affirmative, after aiding it to rise as before, we withdrew our fingers entirely, raising them above it. The table then remained, nearly level, suspended without any human support whatever, during the space of five or six seconds; and then gradually settled down, without jar or sudden dropping, to the floor.
“Then, anxious to advance a step further, we asked if the table could not be raised from the floor without any aid or contact whatever. The reply being in the affirmative, we stood up and placed all our hands over it, at the distance of three or four inches from the table-top: when it rose of itself, following our hands as we gradually raised them, till it hung in the air about the same distance from the floor as before. There it remained six or seven seconds, preserving its horizontal, and almost as steady as when it rested on the ground; then it slowly descended, still preserving the horizontal, until the feet reached the carpet. As before, there was no jar or sudden dropping.
“The same experiment was repeated next evening in the presence of Robert Chambers, after we had completed our tests with the steelyard; and with exactly the same results. At first, as before, we raised it on our fingers; then, withdrawing them, it remained in the air six or seven seconds. On the second trial it rose entirely without contact, remaining suspended for about the same space. It should here be remarked that we were in the habit, during these experiments, of moving the table to different parts of the room, and of looking under it from time to time.
“Upon the whole I consider this moving of physical objects to be as conclusively established, in its ultramundane aspect, as the Spirit rap. A hundred and twenty pound dinner-table is no trifle to lift. The conditions exclude the possibility of concealed machinery. And by what conceivable bodily effort, undetectable by watchful bystanders, can two or three assistants heave from the ground, maintain in the air, and then drop slowly to the floor, so ponderous a weight, with their hands the while in full view, under broad gas-light? No one in his senses, and believing in his senses, can witness what I have witnessed, and yet remain a sceptic in this matter.”—“Debatable Land,” p. 361.
[14] Mrs. S. B. Underhill was a sister of my husband, and a full believer in Spiritualism. There was no relationship between Mr. S. B. and Mr. D. Underhill. It had simply happened that his sister had married a gentleman of her own name with whom she had no tie of kin.
[15] This is literally exact that Mr. Owen “looked under the table,” but it omits to say how; and I the more readily supply that omission, because he himself, after his book was published, expressed regret that, in his cultivation of brevity, he had not explained himself more fully. To speak of having looked under a table rather suggests the idea of having stooped down for that purpose. The following was exactly the way in which it passed. Mr. Owen desired to look under it and thought of so doing, when the table, which was an extension-table, opened itself, its two halves being drawn apart, so as to enable him to see through as well as under it, through the wide opening thus made—evidently by the Spirits who had seen his thought. As this was a distinct phenomenal fact (and one not without its interest) Mr. Owen regretted afterward that he had not stated it precisely as it had occurred.
[16] We found, by repeated trials, that our experiments succeeded better when we sat at a late hour, after the servants had gone to bed, when the house and the streets were quiet.
CHAPTER XXV.
EXPERIENCES OF THE AUTHOR WITH ROBERT DALE
OWEN (Continued).
V.
AN EVENTFUL HOUR WITH LEAH FOX UNDERHILL—A GHOST SPEAKS.
“It was on the evening of Sunday, the twenty-first of October, 1860. The sitting was held in Mr. Underhill’s dining-room, lasting from ten till eleven o’clock P.M.
“The room was lighted by gas. There were two windows fronting the street; three doors: one opening on a corridor whence a staircase ascended to the next floor, another opening on a short passage leading to the kitchen, the third, the door of a pantry in which were crockery and various other articles, including a barrel of loaf-sugar in one corner.
“Before we had any demonstrations the raps requested us to wait until the domestics had retired. There were two servant girls in the kitchen, whom Mrs. Underhill sent up stairs to bed, so that everything was profoundly still on that floor of the house. Then we fastened the inside blinds of both windows, so as to exclude all light from the street.
“Before commencing the session, at Mr. Underhill’s request, I shut and locked the three doors above referred to, leaving the keys in the doors, so that no one, even if furnished with keys, could open them from without. I satisfied myself by careful personal inspection of the furniture, and otherwise, that there was no one in the pantry, nor any one in the dining-room except the three persons who, along with myself, assisted at the sitting. These persons were Mr. Daniel Underhill, Mrs. Underhill (Leah Fox), and her nephew, Charles, twelve years old. We sat down to a centre-table, three feet eleven inches in diameter, of black walnut, and without table-cover. (I had previously looked under it; nothing to be seen there.) The gas-burner was immediately over it. I sat on the east side of the table, Mr. Underhill opposite to me, Mrs. Underhill on my left hand, and Charles on the right. There was no fire in the room.
“The rappings commenced, gradually increasing in number and force. After a short interval they spelled, ‘Put out the gas.’ It was accordingly extinguished and the room remained in total darkness. Then ‘Join hands.’ Shortly after doing so I felt, several times, a cool breeze blowing on my cheek. Then was spelled, ‘Do not break the circle.’ We obeyed; and, except for a second or two at a time, it remained, on my part, unbroken throughout the rest of the sitting.
“After a few minutes I perceived a light, apparently of a phosphorescent character, on my left, near the floor. It was, at first, of a rectangular form, with the edges rounded. I judged it to be about four inches long and two and a half inches wide. It seemed like an open palm illuminated, but the light which emanated from it showed quite distinctly its entire surface; I could distinguish no fingers. For a time it moved about near the floor, then it rose into the air and floated about the room, sometimes over our heads. After a time it changed its appearance and increased in brightness. It then resembled an opaque oval substance, about the size of a child’s head, muffled up in the folds of some very white and shining material, like fine linen, only brighter. As it moved about, I began to hear, at first imperfectly, afterward somewhat more distinctly, the rustling as of a silk dress, or of other light article of female apparel, giving the impression that one or more persons were moving silently about the room. Then the light passed behind Mrs. Underhill; then I saw it close to Mr. Underhill, and just opposite to me. Mr. Underhill said, ‘Can you not go down to Mr. Owen? do try.’ Thereupon it moved slowly around to my left side. This time the folds appeared to have dropped, and what seemed a face (still covered, however, with a luminous veil) came bending down within five or six inches of my own face, as I turned toward it. As it approached, I plainly distinguished the semi-luminous outline of an entire figure of the usual female stature. I saw, very distinctly, the arms moving. At the lower extremity of its right arm, as if on the palm of the hand, the figure bore what seemed a rectangular substance, about four inches by two, as nearly as I could estimate. This substance was more brightly illuminated than the rest of the figure. It may have been only the illuminated palm, but I do not think it was; it seemed more like a transparent box with phosphorescent light within it. Whatever it was, the figure raised it above its head, and then passed it slowly down close to what seemed the face, and then over the upper part of the body, as one might pass a lantern over any object, with intent to make it visible. This action it repeated several times.
“By aid of the illuminations thus afforded I saw, more distinctly than before, the general form of the face and figure; but both appeared covered with a half-transparent veil, and I could distinguish no features; nor were the outlines of the body, nor of the limbs, sharply defined. The motion of the right arm with the light was the most marked and frequent.
“While this was taking place I held Mrs. Underhill’s hand and Charles’s. As the various phases of the phenomena succeeded each other, I remarked on what I saw; and Mr. Underhill, from the opposite side of the table, responded to my remarks; so that I am quite certain he was seated there. I expressed a wish that the Spirit would touch me, and Mr. Underhill said, from his place, ‘We are very anxious that the Spirit should touch Mr. Owen, if it can.’
“Thereupon I felt what seemed a human hand laid on my head. And, as I looked steadily at the figure, which stood on my left side, I saw its head bend toward my left shoulder. A moment afterward I felt, and simultaneously heard, just behind the point of that shoulder, a kiss imprinted. I could not, for any physical fact, obtain the evidence of three senses—sight, touch, and hearing—more distinctly than in this case I did.
“Immediately afterward I saw this luminous body pass behind me; what seemed, by the touch, to be hands gently laid hold of both my shoulders and turned me round to the right. I looked on that side and the figure now stood by my right shoulder.
“After pausing there for a few seconds, it moved toward the window furthest from me, and we heard the sounds as if some one were attempting to open the window-blind.
“Mr. Underhill, from his place, remarked that it would probably be able to effect this; for it had done so on a previous occasion. The blind was in four compartments, each of which could be opened or closed by raising or lowering a wire attached to movable slats. The figure opened the upper left-hand quarter of the blind, so that a faint light shone in from the street lamps. I was looking at the window when this occurred.
“Up to this time the appearance, gradually becoming more luminous, had been in sight, moving about the room fully five minutes. There was not the slightest footfall when it moved. My hearing is very acute; I listened for every sound; and as, in the intervals of conversation, the silence was unbroken, I could have detected the fall of the lightest footstep.
“From this time the light which illuminated the figure gradually faded, and soon I could no longer distinguish any form. The slight rustling sound, unaccompanied by footsteps, still, however, continued.
“Suddenly we heard a noise as of the door opposite to me being unlocked; then of its being hastily opened and shut; then the rustling sound approached me on the left, and a key was laid on my left hand. Then a second door was heard to be unlocked in the same way, and I heard another key laid on the table just before me. Then a third door (that of the cup-board, by the sound) was heard to be unlocked and opened, and a key, as if pitched over our heads, was heard to drop with a clatter on the table.
“While this was going on I commented, from time to time, on each occurrence, and received answers from Mr. Underhill, from his place at the table opposite to me.
“While we were conversing, there was a rattling of the crockery in the cup-board. Mrs. Underhill expressed her apprehensions as to some favorite china, but Mr. Underhill replied, ‘I will trust the Spirits;’ and then added, ‘Cannot the Spirit bring something to Mr. Owen?’ Almost immediately there was set down on the table, close to my left hand, some object which I touched, and it proved to be a cut-glass goblet. In setting it down, what seemed a human hand touched mine, and immediately afterward was laid several times on my shoulder. I expressed a desire that it would distinctly grasp my hand, to which Mr. Underhill responded. Instantly a small hand, or what in touch resembled one, took hold of my hand and grasped it. Then it clasped my bare wrist, gently but with a firm grasp; then my lower arm, then my upper arm; each time with a distinct grasp. I could not have distinguished the touch from that of a human hand. It was a little cooler than mine, but not disagreeably so. There was nothing chilly or clammy or otherwise unpleasant about it. There was after this, throughout the sitting, no sound whatever of opening or closing doors.
“While it was touching me thus, Mr. Underhill said, ‘Can you fill the goblet you brought to Mr. Owen with water?’ There was a rustling but no footstep, a slight noise in the pantry, and then the sound of something dropped into the goblet; but, putting my hand in, I felt no water. In doing so I broke the circle only for a moment. Then, just behind me, I heard a sound as if the glass of the clock on the mantel-piece were touched and shaken.
“All this time there was no word spoken except by those at the table; but, once or twice, there was a whistling sound in the air.
“When, soon after, we were bidden by the raps to relight the gas, I found three door-keys on the table, the goblet also, and within it a lump of loaf-sugar. Both the room doors were closed, but on trying them I found that neither was locked. Two of the keys on the table fitted them. The door of the pantry, which the third key fitted, stood open, and the cover of the barrel of sugar was pushed partly off. The left-hand upper portion of the blind, at which we had seen and heard the figure, was open.
“These are facts, all briefly noted down the same evening on which they happened, and written out in full the next morning.
“The allegations, by the raps, were that the Spirit present was that of a daughter of Mrs. Fox, who had died young, and that other Spirits were present (among them an Indian Spirit), aiding her to show herself to our circle. Emily—that was the girl’s name—had been Mrs. Underhill’s favorite sister, long mourned over, and had lain, during the last hour of her life and at the moment of death, in Mrs. Underhill’s arms. Mr. Underhill stated to me that he had seen the same Spirit, as distinctly, several times before; and that he had been able to distinguish the features. He appeared also, on this occasion, to have perceived the whole figure, and especially the features, more distinctly than I did, though my natural sight has always been keen, and, except within ordinary reading distance, is still nearly as strong as it was thirty years ago. With these exceptions, all present, so far as I could judge by comparing notes with them during and after the sitting, seemed to have seen and heard the succession of phenomena here described just as I myself had done.
“Up to this time, never having witnessed any such phenomena as these, I had often doubted within myself how I should be affected by witnessing an apparition, or what I had reason to consider such.
“It seemed to me that I should experience no alarm; but of this in advance of actual experience, I could not be assured. Now I know just how far I can trust my self-possession. Awe I undoubtedly felt—awe and intense interest; but, in looking back on my feelings throughout that wonder-bringing hour, I feel certain that a physician might have placed his finger on my wrist, even at the moment when that dimly illuminated Presence first bent over me, with scarcely six inches intervening between its veiled face and mine—its hands placed on my head, its lips touching my shoulder—and not have found the beatings of my pulse unduly accelerated; or if he had detected acceleration, it could not, I am very sure, have been justly ascribed to any tremor or fear, but solely to the natural effect of solemn and riveted expectation. If a man, under such circumstances, may trust to his own recollections not twenty-four hours old, I can aver, on my honor, that I was not, at any time while these events were in progress, under other excitement (though it may be greater in degree) than a chemist might be supposed to experience while watching the issue of a long-projected and decisive experiment, or an astronomer when the culminating point of some important observation is about to be reached.
“I beg it may not be supposed that I mention this as boasting or courage. There was, in truth, nothing of which to boast. The preceding and attendant circumstances were such as to preclude alarm. I was not alone, nor taken by surprise. I was expecting some phenomena and hoping that they would be of a phosphorescent nature. And though I had not any expectation of seeing an actual form, yet, as the allegation was that a deceased sister, beloved by one of the assistants, was present, and as all the demonstrations were gentle and seemingly arranged by friendly agencies to satisfy my desire for the strongest evidence in proof of Spiritual appearance, I was under very different circumstances to those which have often shaken the nerves even of the boldest, while encountering for the first time what is usually called a ghost.
“I state the fact of my equanimity, then, merely as one of the attendant circumstances which may be fairly taken into account in judging the testimony here supplied in proof of the appearance, in visible and tangible form, of an alleged Spirit of a deceased person. It is often assumed that a man who believes he sees an apparition is (to use a common expression) frightened out of his senses, and so, is not entitled to credit as a witness.
“If it be objected that, before the sitting closed, the doors were unlocked, I reply first, that all the remarkable and interesting portion of the phenomena occurred before this happened; and secondly, that, as the keys of the locked doors were left in them, they could only be opened from the inside. If, in reply to this last, it still be urged that Mr. Underhill, deserting his post for a few seconds, might have opened one of the doors, I reply that I happened to be conversing with him at the moment we first heard the key turned. I add that during the next sitting, when still more wonderful phenomena occurred, I took a precaution (as will be seen) which made it impossible that either Mr. Underhill or any of the company should leave their seats, even for a moment, without my knowledge.”
A GHOST SPEAKS.
“Five days after this I had the session here referred to, in the same room, with the same assistants, during which similar phenomena were repeated, but with one highly noteworthy addition.
“The date was the twenty-sixth of October, 1860, and it was an evening session, from half-past ten till midnight. The same precautions which I had taken before the commencement of the former sitting, as to locking all the doors, looking under the table, examining the room and furniture, etc., I carefully adopted on this occasion also. As before, we waited until the servants had retired and all was still.
“After a time there was spelled ‘Darken;’ then ‘Join hands.’ We obeyed; but on this occasion I took an additional precaution. Grasping Mrs. Underhill’s right hand and Charles’s left, I brought my own hands to the centre of the table, and Mr. Underhill, across the table, laid his hands on mine. This we continued throughout the entire sitting. I am able, therefore, to assert that, from the beginning of this sitting till the end, the circle remained unbroken.
“After a few minutes, there appeared a luminous body of an irregularly circular form, about four inches in diameter, floating between us and the door, which was back of Mrs. Underhill. It was somewhat brighter than when it first appeared on the previous occasion, that is, on the twenty-first of October.
“Then, after an interval, the light, rustling sound seemed to indicate the approach of some one. The figure was not so distinct as on the previous occasion, the lower portion losing itself in a grayish cloud. The highest light seemed to be on the spot corresponding to the forehead. But I saw no features; nor did I see the arms moving. Very soon I was gently touched on the head, then on the shoulders, then laid hold of, as with both hands of some one standing behind me. Then the figure seemed, by the sound, to move away toward Mr. Underhill. He stated that the figure was approaching him. He asked it if, as a test, it could take something out of his pocket; but there was no reply, by raps or otherwise. Immediately I heard a sound as if some one were moving the key about in the door opposite to me.
“Soon after Mr. Underhill said the figure had again approached him. I saw the illuminated circular substance close to his head, but could not distinguish any figure. Mr. Underhill said that he could dimly discern the figure.
“After a time it moved round to the lad Charles, who exhibited much alarm, crying out, ‘Oh, go away! pray don’t!’ when it approached, as I saw it do, close to his head, which he had bent down on the table. It was now very bright, so that, by the light, I could see the outline of the boy’s head. Charles afterward stated that he saw it distinctly, and that a hand touched him repeatedly. While it was close to Charles, it appeared to me as if a white handkerchief or some article of the like texture were thrown over a hand or some similar support. I saw no figure. When it rose behind Charles, as if to leave him when he cried out, I could perceive what resembled a hand grasping some illuminated substance, the outline of the hand appearing as a shadow across the illuminated ground.
“Then it moved, as I could see, to Mr. Underhill, and after a time crossed over to me, and touched me gently on the shoulder. Of a sudden it occurred to me that one other evidence was lacking. I expressed a desire that, if it could, it would speak. It seemed to make several efforts to do so, as indicated by a slight, guttural sound; then I heard a sound resembling the syllable es, twice repeated.
“Then, by the raps, was spelled out, ‘Sing.’ Mrs. Underhill complied. The figure which had seemed to move away and return, again touched me from behind, drawing me slightly toward it. Then, in a brief interval of the singing, I heard, in a low voice, just behind me, ‘God bless you.’ As additional assurance that it was no momentary illusion, I asked that it would speak again; and again, in an interval of the music, I heard, in distinct tones, the same words, ‘God bless you.’ They seemed to be pronounced close to my ear. The voice was low—apparently a woman’s voice—just louder than a whisper, and the words seemed to be pronounced with an effort, in subdued tones, as a person faint from sickness might speak. I particularly noticed, also, that each word was pronounced separately, with a perceptible interval between, and there was not the usual accent on bless, followed by the shortened you; but each word was equally accented. In other respects the sound resembled the human voice, when low and gentle.
“Mrs. Underhill afterward stated to me that she distinguished the word you, but not the others. Mr. Underhill said he had heard articulate sounds, but could not make out any of the words; he only knew that something had been said to me.
“After a time I saw the figure pass behind Mrs. Underhill and remain, for a few minutes, near her husband; then it returned to me, appearing on my left side. I saw the outline of a head and face, but still, as before, covered with a veil which concealed the features. I perceived, however, what I had not observed before, what seemed tresses of dark hair dropping over the face, and the dim outline of an arm raised one of these tresses, and then dropped it again, several times, as if to attract my attention. Behind was the vague outline of a figure, but less distinct than during the previous sitting. Then the figure passed behind me. I was leaning over the table, so that Mr. Underhill might not have so far to stretch in order to reach my hands. I felt a kiss on my shoulders, then there was the feeling of two hands laid each on one shoulder, and I was drawn very gently back till my shoulders, above the chair back, were pressed against what seemed a material form. Almost at the same moment my hand was kissed.
“Mr. Underhill cried out, ‘Ah, you were drawn back;’ and Mrs. Underhill said, a little impatiently, ‘Every one is touched but me. Can’t you come to me?’ The words were hardly pronounced when she screamed out, as in alarm; she had been suddenly and unexpectedly kissed on the forehead.
“From that very moment the manifestations entirely ceased. No luminous object to be seen, not another touch, not a rustle, not a sound of any kind in the room. I listened attentively, and am certain that no door opened or shut, and scarcely a minute or two elapsed ere it was spelled out, ‘Light the gas.’
“When we had done so we found everything as before, with a single exception. I ascertained by looking under the table and in the pantry that there was no one in the room but ourselves; I found all the three doors locked, but the key belonging to the door opposite to me was missing. We asked where it was; the raps replied, ‘Look.’ We could not see it anywhere. Then we examined our pockets, and, from one of his coat-pockets Mr. Underhill produced a key which was found to fit the door. Mrs. Underhill asked if her alarmed exclamation had injured the Spirit?
“Answer by the raps: ‘Not much.’
“Mrs. U.: ‘I’m so much afraid I hurt her!’
“Answer: ‘It frightened her.’
“Question (by me): ‘Did Mrs. Underhill’s cry of alarm cause the manifestations to cease?’
“Answer: ‘Yes.’
“As to the door-key, I remark:
“That Mr. Underhill asked, as a test, to have something taken from his pocket; but it was a better test, since he could not move from his place to take the key from the door and deposit it in his pocket. Who but a Spirit could take it, our circle remaining unbroken? Is the taking by Spirit agency incredible? But the hands that pressed my shoulders, that grasped my hand, that clasped my wrist, were surely material enough to extract a key from a door-lock and drop it into a pocket.
“Then all the doors, this time, were left locked, so that no one could enter from without; to say nothing of the absurd supposition that a Spirit should open a door in order to admit human assistants.”—“Debatable Land,” p. 467.
CHAPTER XXVI.
SPIRIT CURES—MR. CAPRON’S WIFE.
Statement by E. W. Capron—Wife of General Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina—Wife of Mr. Davis of Providence, R. I.
I might fill many pages with my reminiscences under this head, but I now confine myself to three instances, the first in order being also the first in my experience. I take it partly for that reason, and partly because it contains the features of the temporary transfer to myself of the affection removed from the sufferer, and also of the cure having been performed at a distance.
I.
STATEMENT BY E. W. CAPRON.
“On the occasion of my first visit at the house of the Fox sisters, then living in Prospect Street, Rochester, I mentioned casually that my wife was afflicted with a very severe and troublesome cough. Nothing more was said about it at the time, but as we sat quietly conversing with and about the ‘Spirits,’ Leah seemed suddenly entranced and said, ‘I’m going to cure Rebecca’s cough.’ It was no sooner said than done. She visited her mentally and described her accurately, and pronounced her cured. I returned to my home (Auburn) and found her entirely well. I expressed surprise, and asked her how she became so suddenly cured? She said she did not herself understand it, as her cough had left her since ‘night before last.’ Her cough was cured and never returned.