Light V1 May 1881 - Iapsop.com

., 7, 1881.] LIGHT. 148
report.a that Mn. Fletcher waa returning to England to proeecute
Mn. Hart-Davies and myself. I introduced Mn. ~Davies
to a eolicitor in London, Mr. Abrahams, whom she mstructed
without my consent or advice. The reat of the story is familiar
to you."
I trust that a careful consideration of these facts will be
sullicient to prove that Dr. Mack's motives from beginning to
end of the aft'ai.r have been disintereated and straightforward;
and that it baa not been hia fault that the whole matter haa not
been arranged amicably, and with due regard to the right.a of
property. Dr. Mack concluded:-
" Hr. Fletcher's att.acks on myself and friends are utterly
barmleu ; aa my memory of the convel'8&tion with him, when
he gave up the property enumerated in !Schedule 1 is decisive of
the whole matter, and shews that at one time, at least, he was
willing to give up the property."-Your obedient senant,
A FluBND.
KR. IRVING BISHOP.
To the Editor of " LIGHT."
Sm,-1 have received a letter from Mr. Irving Bishop,
Yherein he tells me that he thinks I wrote my letter to "LIGHT "
a week ago whilst labouring under a wrong impreuion i"egard·
ing his visit to Glaagow, in 1879. He encloses me 11eveBI
eulogistic testimonials from various people, extractod from tlie
Glutr>w papen at the time. I should be sorry to do Mr. Bishop
any mjUBtice, but I had seen these all before, and naturally my
imprelliona were not taken from tlieee conventional testimonials,
11 much alike as the notes of so many cuckoos, and absolutely
ftl.ueleu, eo far aa tlie investigation of Spiritualism is concerned ;
but rather from some articles given m the Glaagow Herald
~_r, ~ of which a sort of rhume was published in the
~ for March 16th, 1879, to which Mr. Bishop can
refer if he likea to do ao .
It ia not very likely you oan find apace in your valuable
columns to publieh these extracts ; but I would refer such of
your readen aa are at all interested in these so called u.po8'• of
Spiritualism, to :Mr. Algernon Joy's ~phlet containing hiacorrelpOlldenco
with 118181'11. .id.askelyne and Cooke, on the occasion
of their being obliged to acknowledge their inability to accept
bia ofer of £1,000 to give their e;cpoah in any private house and
ader- tAe .-wi cm&ditiom as any spiritualiatic medium, instead
of on their own premises, and surrounded by the tons we4tht of
machinery necelM1'Y for tlieir uae whilst giving their conJuring
ahibiiiom.
It eeems to me that Mr. Irving Bishop and M6811rs.
~e and Oooke are co-partners in the same metier, and
that Spuitualiam ia pa.rt of their joint stock-in-trade. Mr. Joy's
pamphlet can be had at the B. N. A. S., 38, Great RUBBellatreet,
Bloomsbury. Price2d.-Yours, &c.,
F. J. TmwBALD.
KABllALISTIO TBAOBINGS.
To the Editor of " LioHT."
Sm,-Having read "An Explanation by a Kabbalist '' in your
lMt ilaue, will you permit me to point out a statement made by
"F.K. "which is not, I believe, in accordance with the Kabbalistic
-~ya : " Souls in the comme11cement of their volitional
oueer are not cast out, but by self-will tear themselves away
from the Divine Being."
As8uming that he means by the Divine Being the En Soph
md not 1 he first Sephira, I would remark that, according to
Uie Kabbala, the En Soph, in order to become manifest, sent
forth the Sephiroth. All was done in the greatest harmony and
~ aouls existent in the Sephiroth, and one with the En
Soph, had no self·will by which they could tear themselves away
and enter on their career in matter.
They are entirely obedient to Him as being part of Him, and
by His will alone existent individually.-Yours faithfully,
Aabfteld, Bridgwater, Somerset.
KETIUl.B.
- - - --------
The judgment in the Fletcher caae will take no one by
IU1prise ; and •he probability ia that it will do a great deal of
good. Spirituali.a.ni may be perfectly true, and the time may
oome when it will be right to take the advice of " Spirit.a"
about such delicate and dangerous matters as the relationship
of individuala and the transfer of property ; but the time has
not yet come ; and if Spiritualists learn to be more sober·
minded, discreet, and self-reliant, Mrs. Fletcher will not suffer
in vai.n.-'.L'n.c.t.Mteker.
Ordinary readers of the newapapers, even of auch newspapers
as the lJaily New, know Spiritualism only through the
poor buket of garbage which ia allowed to appear. It is aa
though the world were informed about the Church only through
the law courts, and by means of clerical libels, larceny, anJ
divorce. "The offence is rank." A little while ago, everyone
noted the little record of the death of Mrs. S. C. Hall ; and
~tful things were said of her. But what newspaper told
the truth about her-that Spiritualism was the most cherished
thing in her life 1-T~.
on OONTBKPOJU.BIBS.
" The Bplr1'11allft."
Our contemporary suggest.a that the religious aspect.a of
Spiritualism pre-eminently deaene attention, and aaks : " Why
hav~ we no organ;isa~on devoted to works of. charity and selfsacrifice
1 How ia it that more of the devotional aspect is not
presented publicly in Spiritualism 1 Why are not more good
feeling and personal self -sacrifice brought to bear in the softening
down of internal dissensions 1"
The second part of Mr. Podmore'sr.per, "A Sixth Sense"
ia given in the current number, an , as waa suggested in' a
notice of the first part which we gave in "LIGHT" for April
16th, the " tii.xth !Sense" referred to ia clairvoyance. Mr.
Podmore'a paper is largely a criticism on the late Serjeant Cox,
who, it is stated, " Aaaumea the existence of a Sixth Sensei"
while the writer of this paper remarks that, " The on y
apparently analogous indications of an unrecopised sense
which ISerjeant. Cox can find among the lower animals, appear
in the light of recent discoveries to be susceptible of an inter·
pretation which will do nothing towards advancing his theory."
An attempt is suggested towards solving the nature of " soul
perception," or clairvoyance, by auigning to "the semi-circular
canals in the internal ear," which are filled with a ftuid in which
ftoata a membranous lining, the function of receiving and
registering the whereabouts, the "where is it 1" of sensations
received by the body ; but Mr. Podmore remarks : " It is
obvious that no impressions derived from the semi-circular
canala will explain the facts of clairvoyance. • . . • But
after all., the real difficulty ia not to find organs for one new sense
-the semi-circular canals were well-known to physiologists long
before their functions were suspected-nor yet to find a medium
for conveying impressions from external object.a to our 11enae
organ, when found. The real crux ia to account for tlie fact
that the perceptions of this hypothetically new and untried
sense are, to all appearance, just aa intuitive and as independent
of any conscious process of inference and comparison 1 as are the
peroeptions of vision and touch. It is no doubt this seeming
immeiliateneaa of the percep•ion that has led Spiritualists to
adopt the view that the perception ia spiritual."
"The New Heaven and tlie New Earth" forms a topic for a
pleasant and poetical article, from the pen of Catherine
Woodforde.
"Th• Jledlum."
Clairvoyance forma the subject of an article described as by
" Humnur Stalford," which, if the enigmatical utterance of the
editor means anything, promises, in it.a continuation in future
numbers, to prove of much interest. The editor says :-
" The paper on ' Clairvoyance,' by 'Humnur Staftord,' is
full of instruction, and the gema are chiefly in the portions to be
published in future issues. Many of our readers need not be
told the source of these able papers, and their appearance in
the.se columns may be regarded, by kind and solicitous friend•,
as an indication of good news reepecting a most valuable instrument
in the cause of Spiritualism."
In the first instalment we are only treated to an historical
review, which, no doubt, will prove of interest to those who
know but little of clairvoyance, either ancient or modem.
A correspondent, over the signature '' A. Mooi:_e.z" describes the
cure of a tumour, through the mediumahip of .M1'll. Olive; and
"C.L. W." writes that a clairvoyant tells him :-
"That on her opening the door of a cupboard, where sundry
comestibles are usually stored, she saw a black figure like an
animal about the size of a large cat ; it was on the shelf and
appeared to be enveloped in some kind of drapery, all black.
'l'hia creature has been seen in other parts of the house by the
same person, on the stairs, in the dining room and the kitchen
in broad daylight. It always seems about the same size and
vanishes on approach."
An examination of some butter in the cupboard, after a
subsequent visit " of this interesting visitor," ahewed the
presence of teeth marks upon it similar to those that might
be produced by child's teeth, and "C. T. W." says: "I
should like to know if the theory of ' elementary' Spirits can
assist in the elucidation of this domestic mystery. The cupboard
has been carefully examined, and no aperture apparent for the
escape or ingreas of any mt or other animal ia visible."
"The Herald of Procreu."
" The Cornish Exile" concludes his oontributiona from the
letters of Pliny the Younger, quoting a letter of the Emperor
Antoninus, A.D. 152, as apropo• of a lately expressed opinion
that Spiritualism is a vice needing to be suppressed by the strong
arm of the law. Antoninus, writing upon complaints made to
him against the early Christians, says:-
" Many persona have likewise consulted me, and I have
returned the aame answer to them all ; namely, tliat if any one
acctiau a Chriltian, :nerely on account of hia religion, the acc1Ued
pu/IQlt ahaU be acquitted, and the acctuer hirmelf puniahed."
On this declaration the " Comish Exile" thus enthuaiAstically
comments :- ·
"Bravo I Antoninua. You are, dear sir, more worthy of
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