The herald., 1898-01-16
IOlNVEST|GATE PSYCHIC Phenomena
INORDER TO SECURE PROOF
FOR SKEPTICS
Has Received Written Instructions
From Ju1ia, a Spirit Widely
Known Through Stead's
Belief IN Her

II is because am more anxious to ge
forward in the ascertainment Oh TN
facts governing the Invisible "ori'
around us that 1 have very reluctant!
decided to make temporary postpone
ment of the publication of journal de
voted to the borderland. think 1t NOR
important to devote what time nav
10 spare to original investigation rathe'
than to the issue of a quarterly surVe.
of the field. In the most hostile quar-
ters II has been most reluctantly ad
mitted that, however eccentric 1 Nigh
he. nevertheless it was impossible, IL
view of the publication of my journal
to maintain seriously that no one put
lunatic, or an imbecile, or knave
could believe in reality of occult phe
nomena.
have suspended the journal be-
cause I believe in it more than ever
and because have a confident expecta
tion that after the period of Suspension
we shall be able to come back bearing
nroofs that will confound the most OBJ
stinate skeptic in the materialisti'
ranks.
The time is coming when all The
churches will recognize that In this OBJ
.oure and much ridiculed field of in
vestieatiorB lies their best hope OF re-
establishing on scientific foundation the
faith which materialistic science has
succeeded, not in shattering, but IN
shaking. The old faith will be built ur
more strongly than ever, but some oi
the old foundations have mouldered
away under the corroding influences OF
modern science.
I hope shall in the future be able to
make more progress in spiritual lnvestl-
CATION than 1 have been able to record
in the past. Those who are sufficiently
psychic to conduct such an inquiry are
numerous, no doubt but the sixth sense
seems to be possessed by everybody
although in infinitely varying degrees
of DEVELOPMENT. But those who are de-
yeloped sufficiently to observe phenom-
ena for themselves, without extraneous
help. are seldom possessed of the scien-
tific instinct.
NV chief disappointment has been the
discovery Of the difficulty of harmonious
co-operation between the few who do
possess the necessary intellectual and
psychic qualities. 1 thought that the
transcendant Importance of the sub
1ect. and the fact that so few are both
IN q
would have been sufficient to have over
ridden minor considerations OF person
ality or of conventionality, but as 1t
has been in the beginning, so it is now
and the personal equation, with all Its
prejudices and antipathies remains to-
day as yesterday, an insuperable OBJ
stacle in the way of union in the most
important cause.
The more we know Of the mysteriou:
realm that surrounds us the less ready
are we to dogmatize. So marvellous are
the things which we know to be true, sc
utterly at variance are they with every
thing that is ordinarily accepted as
true by the ordinary world, that there
is hardly anything that can be regarded
as antecedently impossible. Hence
to hold the judgment in suspense, and
while admitting all things to be possible
recognize that very few things are GER
tain, and that even those which seem tC
be most certainly true may be proved
to be mistaken by little more light an6
a little more experience. OF one thing
only ! am more absolutely convinced
than ever, and that is that the ordinary
limited materialistic view Of man anG
of the world on which he lives, are alb
solutely inadequate to account for what
we know to be happening all the time
Whatever else may be true, the faith ir
which the majority of people live an6
die, which is based upon the assumption
that there is nothing but matter is alb
solutely and demonstrably false.
cannot say that my sense of the dan
gers of physic study has been deep
ened by my experience. So far as I car
speak personally 1 may say that it ha:
absolutely no prejudicial effect on my
health, nor have 1 experienced any in.
convenience from any of my communi.
cations with residents of the spiritua
world. A single sleepless night, or one
indigestible DISH would cause me more
inconvenience than all the spooks 1 have
ever met. At the same time am keenlN
sensitive to the immense dangers thai
may result from needless or irrationa
Investigation. No one who has witness.
"a the phenomena of demoniacal pos.
r-~~~ion can ever feel other than caution!
nvs" this method of investigation A
80 same time such cases are rare, ant
!, ut more frequent than those of relig
inrs mania, which follows in the wax,
rf every revival.
These conclusions having been arrive,
at l come to the subject of the letter
from Julia, which were written auto
matically by my hand. If these com
munications emanate, as the skeptic
suggest, from my own sub-consciou
self, / can only say that the sub-con
scious self is so distinct from it's con
scious counterpart that to me it is
distinct individuality, and one which
am afraid I must admit is upon a mucl
higher moral and spiritual plane.
I suspend my journal because Juli;
has so decreed. That it gives her a