Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-07
MIR. KENT on PSYCHIC MATTERS.
The Pastor of the Peoples Church
COrrects Statements Attributed to Hin

SOrrects statements Attributed to Him
Rev. Alex. Kent, pastor of the Peoples
Church. has written to The Star in refer
ence to statements attributed to him in an
article in The Star of the 2Sth ult., contri-
buted by writer not regularly attached to
The Star. in reference to physic matters.
You will permit me. 1 hope, to say"
writes Mr.. Kent, that while | had very
pleasant conversation some six or more
weeks ago covering some of the points
in the article referred to with a gentleman
who represented himself as a journalist
from Boston. 1 was in the main a listener.
The gentleman was altogether too gener-
Gus in crediting me. as he has DONE with
matter which he contributed himself. A
good portion of it. indeed formed no part
of our conversation at the time, but the
interviewer showed great familiarity with
the theme and, l doubt not in writing up
the subject drew largely on unused mater
ial. But. to be little more specific let
me say that my chief contribution to the
interview was the story touching the
young lady whose hand involuntarily wrote
letters of great literary excellence purport-
ing to come from her departed sister. The
family Is one of high repute and moves in
the best circles. 1t was a mistake, how-
ever, to say that 1 witnessed the writing
"
the hand doing the writing. All that fol-
lNws touching the work of the Society for
Psychical Research does me too much
honor. The writer drew that entirely from
his own 'sublimneal consciousness. This
perhaps is pardonable, but when he repre-
sents me as saying that the society has
made a great many exposures of mediums
he makes a statement for which he had not
shadow of foundation, and does the So
ciety and myself great wrong. This is evil
dent enough from the first specification
adduced, viz, Madame Blavatsky. This
lady passed from earth long before the So
ciety came into being. l am made to say
further that investigation of the psychical
phenomenon of mediumship tslate writing
furniture moving, and so FORTH has been
destructive of the claims of all the medi-
ums examined statement utterly with
out warrant from me, and directly opposed
to my own conviction. l am also made TO
cite MI Davey as one of our most active
investigators. who himself produced
fraudulent slate writing of the highest or
der, which all the sitters, except one in his
confidence, regarded genuine. l have to
confess my entire ignorance of Mr.. Davey's
existence prior to the reading Of this ar
tlcle. The writer had a right to assume
that the president of the Psychic Society
was familiar with a matter of such mo-
ment to the psychic world but he went en-
tirely too far when he quoted me as in
dorstng Mr.. Daveys conclusions And now
word as to my real position on psychic
phenomena. l quite agree with Mr.. Thom-
son Jay Hudson of this city that many
of the most wonderful phenomena attribute
ed to spirits who have left the body are
genuine phenomena: that is, they are not
traudulently produced. Mr.. Hudson at
tributes them to spirits subjective minds
see his Law OF Psychic Phenomena) still
in the body. My conviction is that this ex-
PLANTATION does not cover all the known
facts. / incline rather to that which spirlt-
ualists offer as the more satisfactory. But
frankly confess that l do not know. and
am trying as honestly as / know how to
find OUT