New-York tribune., 1903-03-29

sensitives apparently controlled by those spirits
is esta bshed beyond serious attack"
He places implicit reliance the phenomena
presented by such well llroTn "sensitives"
Stanton Moses, D. D. Home and Mrs Piper.
Page after page of the records Of the Society for
Psychical Research is re"7oluccd TO illustrate
and emphasize the wonderful utteranccs Of these
mediums while under the control Of the spirits
OF the mediums good faith he has not mo-
ment's doubt. Similarly he holds impeach
able the probty Of Helene Smith, Professor
FIournoy's sensitive, who claimed to be con-
trolled by a spirit from Mars and gave descrip-
tions of the life customs and language Of the
inhabitants of that planet Other investigators
have, it might be remarked in passing come to
very different opinion so far these particular
mediums concerned Summing up, Mr..
Myers finds that these the facts which our
| recorded apparitons intimations, messages Of
the departing and departed have, to my mind
actually proved:
Ca) IN the first place they prove survival pure
and simple; the persistence of the spirits life
a structural law of the universe the undIlen-
able heritage of each several soul
(b) In the second place they prove that be-
tween the spiritual and material worlds an
avenue of commUnica tiOn does in fact exist; that
which we call the dispatch and receipt of tele-.
pa thic messages or the utterance and answer Of
prayer and supplicaton.
(c1 In the third place they prove that the sur
viving spirit retains, at least in some measure
the memories and the loves Of earth. Without
this persistence Of love and memory should we
be in truth the same? To what extent has any
philosophy or any religion assured US hereof
till now?
With the remarkable, sometimes weird. specu-
lations into which Mr.. Myers enters cam
| not here deal Suffice it to say that they are
the logical outcome of the conclusions to which
| he has already arrived, and they, like these
| conclusions, rest upon the validity Of the evil
| dence he has adduced. There's the rub!' De-
| spite the human interest that pervades the
| book, despite the graphic often poetic, phrase
ology with which it is invested, the fact re-
mains that it is futile unless the bases upon
which it rests sound. On this point the So
ciety for Psychical Research formed to investi-
gate the very problems treated in these volumes,
| is divided into two camps. Mr Myers may be
cited as spokesman for the one faction; Mr.
| Frank Podmore spokesman for the other
| This is the rejoinder which Mr.. Podmore has
made to Mr.. Myers:
1t is important to note that the theory is not
a mere philosophical speculation founded on as
sumptions which incapable Of Verlfication,
but a scientific hypothesis, based on the in
depreciation of certain alleged facts. AS suchs
We have to consider not merely the validity Of
the Inference but the authenticity of the facts.
1t is from this quarter that Mr.. Myerss posi-
ton is most assAilable. That, If provision,
retrOcOgnition, ClairvOyanCe and other transcen-
dent faculties can be proved to inhere IN the
soul. the souls independence of the body IS
made manifest need not, perhaps be disputed.
But the evidence at present far from
sufficient to establish, hardly sufficient perhaps,
to Justify the speculation.
Taken altogether the evidence for clairvoy-
ance, provision and the other supramundane
faculties postuIated by the theory falls far
short, alike in bulk and quality, OF the evidence
for telepathy And that evidence We know,
is in common estimation held insufficient.
. Moreover, the case is weakened by the
observation that the psychological facts, upon
which the belief is based, have been accom-
panied, spora Ideally at first, but of late years
with increasing frequency, by facts OF another
kind. obviously explicabe due to triCkery or
other familiar causes; and that both sets OF
facts have for the most part met with equal
credence from contemporary witnesses.
Mr.. Myers died nearly two years before his
book was in print; died, indeed, leaving it un-
finished SO far back 1896 however, he had
arranged that in the event Of his death the
completion of the work should be in the hands
Of Dr. Richard HodgsOn, with whom was also
associated Miss Alice johnson, OF Newnham
College, Cambridge To these Co-editOrs much
credit should be given for the way in which
they have acquitted themselves of the charge
intrusted to them. The volumes are enriched by
appendices wherein the argument is supported
by illustrative narratives, and possess CLOS
sary especially needed in view of the fact that
Mr. Myers d"eIleA. it necessary to coin some
new words. Il Will be found very helpful
to a better VI. crS '.. ng of the book. which,
however one may disagree with its authors