The San Francisco call., 1905-06-05
CATHOLICS KNOW BY FAITH.

And he knows We Catholics all know by
faith, that there are other spirits besides our
necessitated by natural laws. And others
though without the light OF religion TO help
them. MIST confess that they cannot prove
the non-existence- OF such spirits. They re-
quire naturally and properly, some proof in
this matter. and especially that spirits without
a bodily organism should be able TO act and
really do act in and on the material world
10 obtain such proof. That spiritual action on
matter is a scientific fact, well proved as
any, end that a~bodly organism in personal
union with the acting spirit is not necessary,
has. become evident. IN these later years 10
scientific men who have investigated the sub
ject They have simply found out what tae
church has known from the beginning. And
revolt in scientific thought from the stupid
and blind materialsm which previously
prevailing has set in.
II is perhaps. due TO one special cause, more
than to any other, at least in the English
speaking world; namely 10 the establishment
sCms twenty-five years ago of the Society for
PSycEicsl Research. At that time number
Of thoughtful and able men. some of them
prominent in physical science determined 10
investieste the alleged phenomena of what is
known as sprituaism, to explode its frauds.
If frauds they were. and to accept its facts, if
facts they should prove to be. They sp
preached the subject in genuine scientific
spirit; without absolute and determined pre-
possession not to accept incontrovertible facts,
but also with firm determinatiop to thor
oughiy sift the evidence, and eliminate all
possible sources of error.
Their results. which have been published In
their proceedings. and which still are being
published. more than enough to convince
thcse VINO read them, they have
spite OF the frauds detected. specially
in professional mediums. a great body OF
science in general is founded, and for which
no rational explanation can De offered except
that Of forces purely physical. acting as our
own do. without regard 70 physical law, that
is 10 say, not uniformly repeated in the same
circumstances and moreover in many cases al
together outside OF any physical organism
in afttro of
tects witnessed The real occurrence of ghosts
spparitons. haunted houses and places as
we'll as the raising and moving of heavy OBJ
jetcs without the possibility of forces. residing
simply in matter, and the deviation so called
raising from the earth of the human body
itself. are among the phenomena demonstrated
as satisfactorily as those or ordinary science.
Eminent scientists, such Sir William
Crookes. Sir Oliver Lodge and Professor
stewart not to mention many others. have
not been able 10 shut their eyes to them.
Their results are mainly collected in two
Myers entitled Human Personality and Its
Survival of Bodily Death. This title shows
the conclusion which has generally been drawn
from the investigation. The spiritual forces,
re are prepared TO deny all science, have been
supposed 10 be due 20 wns5 they have called
formerly incarnate the spirits OF the dead.
scientifically. l. G.. on the principle OF not
account for the facts. perhaps this is the most
legitimate theory. but our faith teaches US
that otner spirits besides these exist, and tina
IL is in the Interference OF evil spirits which
have never had bodily organism that the
great danger Of these experiments and investi-
cations is found; danger great to pro
hihit all Catholics, not only by the positive law
Of the church AID of the scripture itself but
also by the prudence required and obligatory
for our own spiritual welfare. from repeating
these investigations ourselves.
AN INCREASING CONVICTION.
But though we are not allowed and do not
need 70 satisfy ourselves ruiiy and experiment
ally in these matters. we certainly must recog-
nize that good. though not unu1ixed with evil,
hae ccrne frcm the interest OF others in them.
And this IN two ways: first, in the increasing
consicticn among intelligent men OF the i'm
mortality OF the soul; secondly. In the with
drawal Of the objections made 10 the miracu-
lous evidences of religion. Men are more and
more prepared every day to acknowledge that
they are perfectly competent to produce effects
entirely impossible for merely material ones
and that they override and supersede though
Lot necessarily suspend, the operation OF what
are called natural laws.
In short the world is becoming convinced
that miracles are possible. Later we may
hope that IL will recognize the dictinction, long
familiar 10 the church, between those that
come from a good and from evil source.
And 10 aid in the removal OF eo-called scien-
itfic objections 20 religion, we should also rec
ogaize gladly that scientific men being COM
pelied of late 10 confess that they do not
know so much about the material world
and its laws as they thought they did not
are only on the threshold, and have hard ~
yet opened the door to its mysteries. The re-
cent discoveries. particularly in regard to ra-
afresh in theorizing as TO the constitution of
matter. What is known is true as far as II
goes. but IT goes very little way II has
long been evident that all matter. properly
so called. is not subject to the law OF gravita-
ton; that the ether (or whatever 1t bel that
fills space and transmits the waves of light.
IL ~I.f4rr - ~