MRS. WRIEDT AT ROTHESAY

By Vice Admiral W. Usborne Moore

[From Light, August 16, 1913.]

Mrs. Wriedt left Cambridge House, Wimbledon, on July 1, and, after giving certain

séances at Glasgow on the ^3rd and following days, arrived at Rothesay on the 8^th.

Owing to the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Coates, I was privileged to attend four circles in their well-ventilated séance-room. Though each séance lasted about two hours, there was no feeling of closeness or oppression, and the conditions were pleasant and harmonious. I sat between Mr. and Mrs. Coates on every occasion.

The first was on July 16, and it lasted two hours. The night was wet, but that did not seem to affect the mediumship of Mrs. Wriedt. I did not count accurately the number of spirits who manifested, but, including those who came to me, I heard at least twenty-five. There were seventeen sitters besides the psychic.

The chief feature of this sitting was the visit of a repentant son in spirit life to his mother, Mrs. M. He had died by his own hand three years ago. When he manifested he briefly told his story, expressing the utmost contrition for the errors of his life and the rash act that terminated it, and which had broken the heart of his father. I understood that this was the first time he had unburdened himself to his widowed mother. In answer to her questions, he said that he was now happier than he had been since he had passed over. Up to this time—so Mrs. M. told me—she had heard of him “in the gray,” but he had not been allowed to speak to her.

There came to me my spirit companion Iola, who has been in the higher life thirty­nine years. I could see her, but not so plainly as Mrs. Coates. Her mother also came, bringing with her my little grand-daughter, who perished in an accident in April, 1911. Two other spirits conversed with me—one, Captain Dunlop, R.N., who expressed in a jocular way his surprise at finding me ”going in for this sort of thing”; the other, Mr. Douglas Murray, who said, among other items: “I have found my arm.” (Douglas Murray was a friend who belonged to the same dining club in London, and died about two years ago. During one of his visits to Egypt his dragoman had desecrated a mummy to obtain a case for his employer. Shortly after this Murray lost his right arm. The mummy case was brought home, and eventually found a home in the British Museum, after various adventures. It is said that all who handled this case suffered death or misadventure.)

Both Dunlop and Murray had lived in England so many years that they spoke without any Scotch accent. Except in the case of my friends, it seemed to me that all the spirits spoke Scotch, some an odd dialect not in present use.

The next séance I attended was on July 20 (2 to 4 p.m.) There were fifteen persons in the circle besides the psychic. I estimated that over twenty spirits manifested. The principal event of this afternoon was the meeting of Mr. David Wright with his Irish niece in spirit life, who had passed over at the age of seventeen. Mr. W. said to her; “can you sing to me any of those songs you used to sing?” A.: “I will try.” She then sang a verse or two of three songs, which I understood were his favourites. Iola spoke to me, and, after a short conversation, she said, loud enough for the circle of friends to hear: “I am always glad to meet the Admiral’s friends.” This spirit never uses the trumpet. Mr. Coates welcomed her to the Rothesay circle. This time I did not see Iola, but Mrs. Coates did. Two other acquaintances spoke to me. The Scotch voices were more remarkable throughout this séance than in that of July 16.

My third general séance was on July 21 (2 to 3.40 p.m.). Sixteen sitters besides the psychic. Iola was the first to manifest. I saw her form standing plainly in front of Mr. Coates and myself. We had a short talk. The principal evidence was afforded by the manifestation of a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P., who had “passed” but six weeks

before, at the age of twenty-five. Her father reminded her that before her death he had taught her what he knew about spirit life. She replied: “Yes, father, but I have learnt far more since I came over; in fact, you know nothing of the glories of this plane.” She expressed herself as very happy; it was an affecting scene. Mr. James Robertson, of Glasgow, was present at this séance. His son-in-law manifested, and spoke most naturally and evidentially, addressing him as he did in life. Andrew Jackson Davis came and spoke to him and to me for some minutes. We had quite a discussion about Professor William James. The Scotch voices again remarkable.

July 22 (8.20 to 10 p.m.). Once more I had the privilege of attending Mr. Coates’s circle. There were sixteen sitters besides the psychic. Among the was a Mr. F., a very tall man, who was quite new to the subject. It was to this gentleman the strongest evidence came.

First there was a good deal of loud singing, in which Dr. Sharp and another spirit joined. While this was going on Iola spoke to me. It was impossible for her to make more than two or three words clear, on account of the noise. I expect this was done as a test, to prove that it was possible to hear two spirits singing and one talking simultaneously.

A spirit came asking for a “Mrs. Wriedt, Admiral,” evidently known to us two only; but he could not give his name. Dr. Sharp said “Admiral, that was Sam Jones.” Then the spirit returned, and we had a conversation about his friends in London. (Mr. Samuel Jones was Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, U.S., some years ago. Neither Mrs. Wriedt nor myself knew him in life, but we both knew his widow. He had manifested in Detroit to his widow and two of her friends when I was present. These friends landed in England for the first time on July 3, and were at this moment in the Hotel Cecil, Strand, London, where I saw them two days later.)

Presently a tall figure of a woman etherealised in the cabinet, walked in the direction of Mr. F., and bowed. Later he was visited by a son, who called himself “Jimmy.” Not long after Iola came again, and told me all was well at home, and my wife was preparing for her trip to Switzerland. I said: “But she is not going till the end of the month.” Answer: “By the time you get home it will be the inside of a week.” (When I reached home, at 9 p.m. on July 24, I found that on July 22 Mrs. Moore had been engaged in some very necessary preparations for leaving home. She started at 9 a.m. on July 31.) My guide went on to refer to the state of our nephew, who was dying, and then said: “Will you tell that newspaper man [Mr. F.] that it was his sister that came out of the cabinet and bowed to him? She has been taking care of his son.” Mr. F. said, “I had no sister,” but almost at once corrected himself by adding: “I remember now that there was an infant girl in my family who died before I was born.” (I saw Mr. F. for a minute, for the first time, just before entering the séance-room, and did not know his occupation until this incident occurred.) The Scotch language very much in evidence.

It appeared to me that every sitter obtained some personal evidence of spirit return at each of these four séances. The impression made upon me was profound, chiefly on account of the Scotch voices, so natural and yet so entirely different from the English voices to which I was accustomed. There was but one trumpet used, yet I frequently heard two, occasionally three, voices speaking at the same instant.

Mr. Coates was good enough to allow me to sit in private with Mrs. Wriedt three times. The information gained at these séances meant a good deal to me, but would be of no interest to your readers. Iola spoke without the aid of a trumpet, and the psychic did not hear a single word. On one occasion she fell asleep while the conversation was going on.

CONCLUSIONS

In putting forward these few abridged narratives describing the experiences of some forty or fifty persons with one medium for the direct voice phenomena, I have, I am aware, only scratched the surface of a stupendous problem. The writers who have been good enough to send me their notes for publication represent only about one­eighth of the total number who have experienced the pleasure of hearing and seeing these marvels in England and Scotland in 1912-1913; and even they have been restricted from divulging more than a portion of what they have absorbed in their search for truth. The startling revelations made by the voices in the séance-room, unsolicited, and dealing with facts not within the consciousness of the sitter at the time, some of them of the most intimate private character, have not been revealed. It would be impossible for those who received them to surrender such secrets, even if belief in the phenomena themselves were prevalent in the country.

The most striking instance of spirit return which has come under my notice has not been mentioned at all. It was a case of parents who had lost their only child. When I approached them on the subject, and pointed out the good they might do to sorrowing fellow-creatures by allowing me to include their testimony, I was met with a flat refusal, notwithstanding I explained that their names should, if necessary, be withheld. I think it is much to be regretted.

Probably about half the inhabitants of this country do not believe in spirits at all. Certainly but a few realise their proximity. It would be waste of time trying to undeceive them: it is not for this class that the book is written. These narratives are collected for the encouragement of those who feel that some help must be forthcoming in the dire distress which almost paralyses them in its intensity, and yet unwilling to put themselves into a position where they might encounter deceit, which they would naturally regard as sacrilege: but who are desirous of finding consolation in any honest quarter. The churches have told them nothing which affords the slightest alleviation of their pain. In prosperous times, when all is well in the home, they drift on, repeating the Church services and imagining they believe in a Day of Judgment and in the reunion of relatives and friends at that distant period. Presently a shock comes: there is a vacant chair; a loved one has been torn away, and all is blank misery. To whom shall the sufferer turn for relief? He can only speak of the advantages of extinction, and mutter wordy platitudes about the existence of nothing but what your senses can tell us. Shall he go to the parson? The parson assures him that all is well; that God is good: and that, if only he trusts in faith, he shall rejoin the object of his affection at the end of the world. But wait! There is a condition: he shall rejoin his loved one after these millions of years only if he has led a good life. If this is not the case, he will, on that awful day, be again torn from her, unless she, indeed, has also been frail, when the two will accompany one another into hell.

Poor comfort all this! If the bereaved man has a decent education and average natural understanding, he is revolted by this doctrine. He finds, however, that he cannot contradict the parson out of the Prayer Book, and he is, if possible, more miserable than before.

Presently a friend comes to him by stealth and whispers: “There are no dead. She whom you imagine to be dead is alive: there is only a veil between you; you will be reunited. Her corpse lies in the grave; but she herself is in the spirit world. Come with

me and I will prove this to you."” The stricken man follows listlessly, not much impressed. He is taken to a room where ten men and women are sitting in a circle. After some singing a voice is heard, then another and another, each one greeting some member of the party, giving names and identifying themselves as certain personalities. No voice addresses the man of sorrow. He is concentrating all his thoughts on the dead. He has not yet reached that platform of self-elimination which enables him to be actively interested in another’s joy, though he admits to himself that there seems to be something very real in what is going on. Later on, for a whole five minutes, he forgets his trouble, no longer concentrating on the one subject, and leans forward listening. Ah! What is that still small voice? “My name,” he exclaims; “who is speaking?” A.: “I am your wife.” “Is it possible?” he cries; but the voice does not respond, and there is no more that night.

His next step is to pay a visit to the Society for the Prevention of Research, where he relates the strange happenings of the previous evening to the courteous secretary, who looks at him with a pitying glance and says: “Poor man; it is sad. Are you sure that you were not hallucinated?” At this his spirit is up, and he replies: “These may be coincidences; but I was certainly not a victim of hallucination.” “Ah!” says the sapient secretary, “but do you not know that these mediums have detectives all over the place, and know your name, the name of the relative you mourn, and all about you?” The visitor is now thoroughly aroused, and he replies: “But I went on the spur of the moment with my friend Mr. Sertain.” “Yes, yes (with a faint smile) we know him; he believes in what he calls ‘spirit return.’ Only one spirit has ever returned, and we have copyrighted him. Next time take a conjurer with you, and he will tell you how the trick is done. “Yes, yes; good-bye. So glad we can help you in any way.”

But our mourner, oddly enough, is not impressed by the secretary; some instinct tells him that he does not ring true. He goes again to the medium by himself. Again he is addressed by the same voice as before: “Fred, Fred, do you remember when I lost your ring?” He asks: “Where?” “In Sydney,” is the reply. Fred cannot remember anything about the loss of a ring in Sydney. “How long ago?” he asks. A.: “In 1888.” Q.: “Do you mean at a ball?” A.: “Yes, yes, yes”(eagerly). Fred now recollects that a year after his marriage his wife lost a small guard ring that he had given her; but, while he is considering, the opportunity for further conversation is lost. The séance soon after is over. He leaves the house much impressed, and hoping to hear more in the future. Possibly he visits the Society again, and this time is met by the Rejecting Officer, Miss Blight, who, on hearing his story, says: “Yes, yes, very interesting, but you knew about the loss of the ring.” He says: “I had the greatest difficulty in recalling the incident to my mind.” “Quite so, but it was in your subliminal. Read Myers, dear sir, and next time you attend Mrs. Right’s séance-room take a conjurer.” Poor Fred cannot for the life of him see how a conjurer could assist him so far, and goes instead to his original introducer, Mr. Sertain, who advises him to sit with Mrs. Right again; to try and keep his mind a perfect blank, and listen. He obeys, and during the next interview a voice is heard: “Jane, Jane” (this is the name of his wife); “Fred, ask mother for Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” He is puzzled, but remembers having heard of an old book of that name, and writes to Sydney to ask his mother-in-law is she knows if her daughter ever possessed such a book. The reply is that she never heard of it, but that it is possible she might have left more than one book at her school in Shropshire, where she was educated between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. The schoolmistress is appealed to, and, after some delay, ferrets out a copy of Uncle Ton’s Cabin, which she sends. In the flyleaf he finds the name of Jane—(her maiden name)

—1883. Feeling somewhat elated by this discovery, Fred interviews Miss Blight once more. She receives him with her usual urbanity, and takes note of what he tells her. To his inquiry, “How do you account for this madam?” she answers “But, of course, you knew of your wife having read this book?” “I can swear that I never heard of it” is his instant reply. Miss B.: “Very well, but her mother knew of it?” Fred: “She declares she never heard her daughter mention it.” Miss B.: “But the school-mistress knew of it?” Fred: “It was another lady who was mistress when my wife was there, and she died ten years ago.” Miss B.: “Surely somebody living knew of it; one of your wife’s Schoolfellow perhaps?” Fred: “Possibly, there may be some alive.” Miss B.: “Oh, then, the explanation is easy. Are you aware that a medium in trance can tap any source of earthly information?” Fred: “Really! No I did not know that; but you see Mrs. Right is never in trance. I never saw anyone more alert in my life. She was chattering while the voice that I believe emanated from the spirit of my wife was speaking in very low tones to me.” Here there is a very long pause, while Miss Blight looks out of the window. Slowly Fred comes to the unhappy conclusion that he is not believed, and rises to depart. But Miss Blight says: “We can put you on the right path for learning something about spirit communication. Have you read any of our Cross Purposes?” “No madam, I have not.” “Well come to the meeting to-morrow night. Mr. Kington is going to address us on A hitherto unsuspected meaning on Mrs. Dream’s automatic script on How Johnnie got home from the fair. Here is a card. The Right Hon. Mr. Gerard will follow with Notes on a bit of bonnie blue ribbon.” Our Fred is, by this time, moving towards the door. With a hasty “Good-bye,” and an expression very like the name of the smallest piece of European money, he disappears, never to enter these rooms again.

But, although Fred does not again trouble the Society for the Prevention of Research, he pays three or four more visits to Mrs. Right, and has long conversations with Jane, who gives him, bit by bit, absolute certainty of her identity and continued existence.

The above is a fictitious narrative; but I defy any old investigator to say that it does not fairly represent, in the form of a parable, the vicissitudes of many bereaved people to-day in their search for some help in their terrible trouble.

It is not part of my scheme to decry any religion. Every faith not accompanied by barbarity is of use to those who believe in it and act up to it. There are many roads to New York; we all get there in time. I am a believer specially in the beneficent effects of the Roman Catholic doctrine as a social factor of vast importance. There are hundreds of thousands of feeble men and women trembling over the precipice of reason who are buffeted about by the caprices of fortune. One evil happens to them after another until they know not which way to turn, nor whence to look for relief, from their torturing doubts and fears. The Roman Catholic Priest steps in and says with a confident, impressive air: “Come to us, and we will guide your steps; all we require is that you shall surrender your will and obey all our behest’s, and you shall be safe.” “They follow the priest, and feel no longer responsible for their own salvation. I am sure if it were not for Roman Catholicism there would be countless suicides, and the madhouses would be full.

But this is not meat for the strong man who jealously guards his own individuality, who is true to himself, and is temporarily stunned by some crushing sorrow. He wants assurance that his dead are alive; he is determined not to be lulled into a false security.

If he searches diligently for it, he will find that there is a way of communing with those he has lost; and in spiritism he finds peace.

I do not deny that communication with the spirit world is full of perplexities. Answers to questions put to spirits are often contradictory and apparently misleading. Generally, this is owing to the difficulty experienced in describing to beings who are functioning in three dimensions what is taking place in a region inhabited by those who are functioning in four or more. But the essential points are gained quickly by the earnest investigator; he soon learns that he is destined to live again; that immortality is a fact; that he can commune without much difficulty with those whom the world calls dead. For the rest, he is content to wait till he passes into the new life.

I am not a philosopher, and do not pretend to be able to give any satisfactory solution of all the difficulties which arise almost daily in this interesting study. Moreover, during the last two years, since I published Glimpses of the Next State, I have learned only a little more than I had then acquired. I am merely a collector of facts, and have no theories to offer, though I may now and then interpolate my personal views upon what has taken place. The difficulty of our spirit visitors in communicating at all must be enormous. We ply them with questions, the majority of which they are not able to answer because they have not yet reached the higher spheres; they make the attempt by stating what they have heard from others, and are, doubtless, often incorrect. If you ask a spirit who is in the third sphere to describe to you what is a “Realm,” you may get some answer, but it is sure to be wrong, as he is in too low a stage of advancement to know anything at all about it.

Then, again, the higher spirits are hampered by the personality of the medium. To us it is highly important that the medium should be an ignorant person, unable to form any theories for herself, so that we shall receive the undiluted message. But there is another side to the question. When the psychic is densely ignorant it appears to be impossible, at times, for the spirit to get through any lofty ideas; I have watched this often.

Every spirit comes into the circle with a set speech. It is plain to any close observer that they have to prepare themselves for the ordeal, and protect themselves from the effects of entering our sense atmosphere of low vibrations. “I am so glad to see you this morning,” or “I thank you for giving me the opportunity of talking this morning,” is rather commonplace when it goes on for six days running; but these, or some other equally tedious speech, is usually the commencement of your sitting. One started, the conversation may go on for half an hour with scarcely a break. Even Dr. Sharp, or John King, often begin with a stereotyped greeting, apparently got up beforehand.

However, if we have to choose, it is better to employ the uneducated psychic, for, if a strong spirit bursts through with lofty ideas and delicate sentiments, you feel at once assured that the psychic has no part or parcel in the communication. Who is there that has read Stainton Moses’s automatic script, and does not suspect that there is much of the personality of the scribe in the text?

We hear much that is far beyond the faculties of the medium, and that is because the strength to manifest is drawn from the sitters. Undoubtedly, the spirits, or the controls, draw from our throats. For weeks after Mrs. Wriedt came to England in 1912 I went about with a slight cough, an irritation in the throat. I have heard sitters say to me, “That last spirit which came spoke in your voice.” The ingredient supplied by the

medium which makes this phenomenon possible is a complete mystery, and I doubt if it will be discovered, at any rate in our generation.

The direct voice is the highest spiritualistic phenomenon yet discovered, and when it can be obtained without the use of the trumpet, and without the medium hearing what is said, we have reached the most advanced stage of manifestation. Nothing that I have investigated is equal in delicacy, or conviction, to the still small voice which I, alone, can hear. It is objective; there is no clairaudience about it, but it is rare. In the narratives, it will be noticed that M.E., Mrs. Findlay Smith, Mrs. Richards, and a few others have attained this plane of investigation besides myself. On at least fifty occasions I have enjoyed this privilege. I have been spoken to for long periods—from twenty to forty minutes—without Mrs. Wriedt hearing a single word

A subject which is little understood is the importance of the mental attitude of the sitters. If they are hostile to the psychic, it is needless to say that nothing occurs. But this is not usually the case; people do not pay to sit with a medium in whom they do not believe. Suppose they thoroughly trust the psychic, there may yet be failure. Their minds may be upset by some circumstance that has nothing to do with the séance; they may be angry with someone they have met two hours before; they may be ill, or think they are. Any jar will upset them. The only chance of success is when medium and sitters are in pleasant humour and have emptied their minds of everything, even of those whom they desire to see or to hear.

Why, I hear some ask, is the direct voice of so much importance; why does it rank so high in spiritualistic phenomena? The answer is: Because the possibility of fraud is removed one stage further off than it is in any other phase of manifestation; and, in the case of the independent voice without the trumpet and only just audible to the person for whom it is intended, is entirely eliminated. Above all the direct voice gives you information, some of which may be in your consciousness, some in your subliminal mind, but much which you have never heard and have to confirm at a distance from the séance-room. In any case the medium is excluded as a factor in the knowledge acquired. In some mysterious way which we do not know anything about, she must aid in the production of the voices, because we cannot hear them when she is out of the house. But the facts given have no reference whatever to her personality.

This has been proved in a number of ways. Two voices have been frequently heard by me and others talking simultaneously to two sitters in the circle about matters entirely unknown to the psychic or to each other; occasionally three; and at very rare intervals, four—one using the trumpet and two or three without. The medium, when talking, is often interrupted by a voice, and for a second or two both have been heard to speak together. A voice has been heard to sing and another speak simultaneously. Certain privileged sitters have heard the voice in full light with the medium eight feet from them; I have heard it when she was eighteen feet from me, in full electric light. Some of us have heard it when the French windows were open; and one gentleman has heard it in the dark when the woman was downstairs in the drawing-room. I do not deny that experienced spirits like Dr. Sharp and John King can read the minds of the sitters, but I do deny that casual spirit visitors can do so, or that a medium not in trance can know anything about the supraliminal, or subliminal, minds of her clients. This American woman is never in trance. She is ignorant of the significance of the messages given under her nose, even if she hears them, which is not always the case when the trumpet is used; never, when it is not.

Then we have the coarser physical phenomena: trumpets thrown about, chairs are turned upside down, tables are moved many feet, vases of flowers are transported from place to place, flowers are taken out of bowls and given to sitters. Often, these things happen in dead silence, and frequently while they are performed the hands of the medium are held by a sitter. There is no bungling, no article is injured, no one is hurt. All this appears to a superficial investigator to be senseless. But is it so? Are these phenomena as meaningless as they seem? Personally I do not like them, as they generally indicate that sufficient power is not available for spirit communication; but they have a purpose. They show intelligence and exercise of force by beings who are not mortal; they do not help to the identification of our spirit friends, but they show what can be done by the denizens of another state of consciousness.

My work would be incomplete if I did not say something about the personality of Mrs. Wriedt. In Glimpses of the Next State I have not shirked the question of evils attending the daily exercise of mediumship. Mrs. Wriedt is no exception to the general rule. I have had opportunities of watching her narrowly, and find her a most interesting psychological problem. It is unfair to judge professional psychics by rules that we are in the habit of applying to ordinary members of the human family. They are entirely abnormal. In the séance-room they hear spirits talking, sitters conversing together; outside of it, in the house and elsewhere, they hear all sorts of talk, good, bad, and indifferent. Partly dazed by what is taken from them during the exercise of their gift, they mix everything up together in their brains, and become guilty of many terminological inexactitudes. In the case of educated, cultured psychics, the disastrous consequence of the exercise of occult powers is kept in check by common sense, environment, and temperance in the exercise of their gift; but with professionals it is not so, and they gradually slip into habits of gross inaccuracy; they are subject (and the more powerful are the worst) to grave hallucinations.

If Mrs. Wriedt were an ordinary woman, I should be obliged to describe her as untruthful. As she is not, I prefer to say that she is irresponsible in the ordinary affairs of life. Vacillating to a most remarkable degree, she alters her plans twenty times in a week, and only one thing is certain about her—that if she says, say, on Monday, that she intends to do something on the following Friday, that particular project will not be accomplished on that day. All powerful professional psychics are subject to the same peculiarity.

In essential she is as true as steel. Those who know her are aware that she is warm­hearted, sympathetic, and would do anything for a fellow mortal in distress. It is a passion with her to be the means of giving consolation to those who require it. I have noticed that those who have lost children are they who most quickly benefit by her passive ministrations. I am not speaking of credulous people who give themselves away, and take the initiative in conversation with spirits, but sane men and women who know the elementary rules of psychic investigation, and who regard personation as sacrilege and fraud on this side with the utmost horror, and who are on their guard to detect dishonesty on either this plane or the next.

I know of one man past middle life, high up in his profession, and a stranger to me and Mrs. Wriedt, whom I took to Cambridge House in May. He had recently lost his only child. Before we entered the house I warned him to be as passive as he could, and to try and empty his mind of every thought when the door of the séance-room closed upon him. He returned to me in the drawing-room in an hour, having arrived at

a stage of psychic understanding which had taken me four years to reach. The explanation is simple: he was in urgent need of consolation; I required none. He told me all he had experienced. His narrative is not in this book, but I hope he will publish it before a year is out.

Mrs. Wriedt does not permit herself to be investigated by merely curious people, or those who are known to be out simply in search of fraud; who, in short, have no constructive purpose in view. She says she went through all this a quarter of a century ago, and that it is not reasonable to expect her to start her mission in every town by being gagged, tied up, and physically tested by strangers, some of whom may be entirely ignorant of the business in hand. If the evidence of identity which come out in such profusion during her séances do not appeal to those who hear them, she is content to let the sitters think what they like. She has no objection whatever to the really open-minded sceptic.

I wish to say here and now that with this attitude I entirely agree, and I desire to add that there is no conceivable circumstance which could now shake my conviction of the genuineness of her gift. Her control Dr. Sharp, has so arranged matters that I have received a hundred proofs, at least, without his medium being aware of what was going on.

As I have said elsewhere, a woman who has been the means of conferring so much consolation upon hundreds of people here and in the United States is apt to be spoilt, and come to regard herself as the “Gift,” and not merely the highly privileged instrument of the higher powers who control her destiny. It requires a very strong head to remain balanced when so many are overwhelming her with praises and gifts. I earnestly hope that she may so control her mental equipoise as to render possible the maintenance of her powers. Though not the only direct-voice medium in America, she is the most highly developed, and I do not hesitate to say that if she tempted Dr. Sharp to withdraw his guidance, and she was blotted out, it would be a serious misfortune to the western world.

When all are so good, it is difficult to say in this collection of narratives which is the most important. If I had to chose, I can think of nothing more convincing than those in Scotland, and more especially in Rothesay. Mr. Coates welcomed to his séance-room Englishmen as well as Scotchmen. No English spoke in Scotch, and no Scotch spirit spoke in English, unless—as in some cases I know—he had lost his accent by long residence in England before he died. Some of the Scotch spoken was that of early Victorian days, and one or two spirits used Gaelic. There were a number of languages spoken in Mrs. Wriedt’s séances, but to me, who am unacquainted with any language except my own, the Rothesay circles were of the highest significance.

What is a medium? Answer: “Nobody knows.” I am sure that I can hazard a guess as well as anyone living, for I have enjoyed the leisure to investigate, and have psychics in my family. My theory is as follows: All human beings have a dual personality—a physical body and a spiritual body. In the case of nine people out of ten, the two are inextricably mixed, and the psychic or spiritual body never separates from the natural or physical body, except under harmonious conditions in the séance-room, when, I am of opinion, most of us function chiefly with our spirit bodies. Now, in the case of the tenth person—the psychic—I believe there is a constant separation, and that he or she as the case may be, is unconsciously living in both this state and the next all the time.

In the séance-room this spirit body is made use of by the controls to interpret the messages which come through from the selected spirit visitors. The controls gather from the sitters the necessary strength to form the voices. Should the medium be entranced, as is the case with Susannah Harris, she is assisted by her subliminal mind being able to communicate with the subliminal minds of the sitters; but in the case of Mrs. Wriedt, who is always alert, her spirit body alone is able to be used to attain success. Hence I say that Mrs. Wriedt'’ gift is of an unique kind, and affords us a satisfaction which we do not derive from any other form of mediumship.

It is not wise for young people, hysterical people, or those engaged in arduous brain­work, to attend these séances. The conviction of identity comes so suddenly, it is enough to upset the mental balance of any but seasoned, level-headed men and women. And I think everybody who attends such circles ought to be carefully prepared by reading the works of those who have made earnest investigation into such phenomena. Dr. G. F. Oldham wrote to me after his first séance in May 1913 :—

It was all so astounding and convincing; yet half an hour later, when I was mixing with the London democracy in the underground, I could hardly believe it true. After twenty-five years of scientific education and thought it is exceedingly hard not to feel that perhaps there is some other explanation. The only plausible one I can suggest is that Mrs. Wriedt can project some kind of a secondary personality into the room endowed with marvellous powers of imitating deceased persons, and reading their and the sitter’s minds; but this seems very far-fetched and as wonderful as the normal explanation. Of one thing I am sure—that the whole occurrences are strong meat, and very unfitted for any but those who have strongly balanced minds. I can well believe it is not desirable for the ordinary run of person, and will not be for many a long year……

I do not go quite so far as Dr. Oldham, but I am positive that preparation is necessary. The absence of it led to serious difficulties in Christiania in 1912, and those were not lessened by the fact that the gentleman who took charge of the circles was nearly stone deaf. As to a “Secondary personality” marching around with omnipotent faculties, I think we may leave that to my Society for the Prevention of Research.

I will close with a brief reflection on the problem ever before us: “What are these voices?” Remember, there is only one rational alternative to the assumption that they are what they profess to be—the utterances of the minds of personalities that once lived on the earth-plane, and who gather strength to be heard by drawing from the physical bodies of the sitters. It is this: that they are prompted by personators—beings from a society of cunning, depraved spirits whose delight and diabolical purpose it is to deceive mankind. This hypothesis is held by a very large body of people, and cannot be ignored, though it is, in the highest degree, unsavoury. All Roman Catholics believe it, and many estimable members of the Anglican Church. But is it reasonable? Is not the bible full of psychic phenomena from cover to cover? Is it not the standard work on spiritism?

“But,” urges the priest, “our spirits—those mentioned in Holy Writ—are all good spirits; yours are all bad.” We ask: “What is your authority for that statement?” and we get no answer. The fact is, the statement itself is gross presumption, and cannot bear scrutiny. For what object would the Supreme Intelligence allow such purposeless wickedness? Are any level-headed men or women the worse for listening and holding

communion with these voices? Does it alter their character, make them less charitable or less worthy of respect than they were before? Do the voices counsel wrong or prompt any evil actions? Do they condemn anyone? Assuredly not. Do they not ever speak of loving kindness, sympathy, forgiveness of wrong, hope for the wrong-doer who repents for his sins? Assuredly yes” In the main they appear to have one object in view—to teach objectively the immortality of the soul, and to confirm the precepts, though not the literal text, of the Bible.

It is my conviction that spiritism is a Divine institution permitted by the Almighty to meet the growing materialism of the age, and that sooner or later the Church will have to come into line with it. If it does not, so much the worse for the church.

APPENDIX A - INSTANCES OF THE DIRECT VOICE IN THE BIBLE

 

It is extremely difficult in the Bible to distinguish between the direct voices, voices in visions, and clairaudience; but I am inclined to think that most readers will consider that the following cases should be included in the list of instances of the direct voice:——

 

Genesis iii, 9; iv, 9; vi, 13; xii, 1-8; xvi, 8; xvii, l; xviii, 5; xviii,17; xix 2; xxi, 17; xxii, 11; xxvi, 2; xxvi, 24; xxxii, 26; xxxv, 1; xxxv, 9.

 

Exodus iii, 4; iv, 2;; iv, 27;chs. Vi-xii frequent; ch. Xix; xxxiii, 9. Numbers xii, 4; xvi, 20; xx, 7; xxii, 28.

 

Duteronomy xxxi, 14; xxxiv, 4.

 

Joshua v, 14.

 

Judges vi, 12; xiii, 3.

 

1 Samuel iii, 4; xv, 10; xvi, 7.

 

2 Samuel ii, 1.

 

1 Kings ix, 3; xvii, 3; xix, 9-12.

 

Ezekiel I, 28; ii, 3.

 

St. Matthew iii, 17; xvii, 5; xxviii, 5; xxviii, 18. St. Mark ix, 7;xvi, 14, 15.

 

St. Luke I, 13; I, 28; ii, 10; iii, 22; xxii, 43; xxiv, 5; xxiv, 17; xxiv, 36-50 St. John xx, 13; xx, 19; xxi, 5-23.

 

Acts I, 11; viii, 26; ix, 4; xii, 7; xxvii, 24.

 

1 Corinthians xii, 10.

 

2 Corinthians xii, 4.

APPENDIX B - A SPIRIT’S PROPHESY FULFILLED

On p. 203 it will be seen that Iola told me that she would speak to me again. At that time there was not the smallest probability of another opportunity of sitting with Mrs. Wriedt, as she had refused an invitation from some of her friends in Southsea to go to them, and I had no intention of coming to London for more than a month, by which time I had good reason to suppose she would be back in America.

However, on Saturday, September 13, I was reading the proofs of the description of the séance related on p. 243 and had just got to the bottom of that page, when the telephone-bell rang, and a friend in the town told me that Mrs. Wriedt had arrived at his house. Mrs. Wriedt then spoke, and we arranged a private séance for 11 o’clock the following morning. It appeared she had returned suddenly from the Continent, and, in her spasmodic way, had rushed down with an American friend for the week­end.

The private sitting which I had with her on the Sunday morning was remarkable. The room was not wholly dark; I could see chairs and other objects in the room. I had conversations with four spirit friends, among them Iola, who talked for over twenty minutes without the medium hearing a single word. John King controlled, and amused me very much by his first remark: “What about Oliver Lodge?” (Four days before the president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science had delivered his famous pronouncement at Birmingham.)

On this morning I learnt some entirely new facts about the psychic properties of the trumpet, which are interesting; but I must wait for further experiments before publishing results. Dr. Sharp did not manifest.

APPENDIX C - ADVICE TO THOSE WHO SIT WITH TRUMPET MEDIUMS

When a voice is heard addressing you ask the name once, and if you do not hear it given clearly do not repeat the question, but go on talking about other subjects, thus: “Are you a friend or a relative?” “Where did we last meet?” “How old were you when you passed over?” “Have we any mutual friends?” “Did you pass over by an accident?” “Did you pass over by disease?” “How long is it since you passed over?” “Were you married?” “Is your widow on this plane?” and so forth. Say anything, but go on talking to the spirit. In a little time you will find that the voice will become louder and clearer. You will gain nothing by repeating the same question.

Enter the séance-room with your mind as far as possible a blank. If you concentrate on a particular personality, you will fail.

When sitting in company with others never ask questions of the control which involve a discussion. Avoid all argument about Reincarnation, Vivisection, Vaccination, or any other subject which might be expected to be a matter of different opinions among the sitters. Remember that your companions have come with the hope of hearing the voices of their relatives and friends in spirit life, and not to argue about anything.

Do not cross your legs, nor fold your arms, nor close your mouth. Sing if you are invited to do so.

Do not take any professional medium to a séance as a guest. It leads to want of harmony, as the control of such medium wishes to exhibit his or her special gift, and this interferes with the manifestations.

Do not talk while a spirit voice is addressing another sitter.

Address your spirit friends precisely as you would if they had not passed over, with just that degree of respect or familiarity which you accorded to them during their lives.

W. U. M.