Part 7 (1/2)
CHAPTER V.
PUBLIC OPINION.
When Mesmer appeared in Paris, exhibiting his claims to Magnetism, he was ridiculed, and treated as a humbug. The French Academy of Science, after due consideration, p.r.o.nounced Mesmerism a fraud. This was the more remarkable from the fact that many of the experiments in Mesmerism are so simple that a child can demonstrate them to the entire satisfaction of an unprejudiced person. Many years afterward, in 1831, the French Academy of Medicine, through a report of its Committee, reversed this decision.
So far as we know, these are the only efforts that have been made, until within a few years, by any scientific a.s.sociation, to investigate this cla.s.s of phenomena. Both in Europe and this country it has been treated with contempt, and for more than a hundred years condemned by pseudo-Science as nothing more than a hallucination produced by a diseased condition of body or mind.
I was present at the Ma.s.sachusetts Hospital, many years ago, when the elder Warren, knife in hand, made mock pa.s.ses over his patient, ridiculing to his students the idea that any one could be entranced or rendered insensible to pain by what was called Mesmerism; and yet the existence of the Mesmeric force or fluid is one of the most remarkable discoveries ever made. It has been known for thousands of years, by the Hindoo philosophers, as ”the pure Aga.s.sa Fluid” that penetrates and permeates all objects, whether animate or inanimate. It controls the social relations; is the secret of that influence which one person exerts over another; and is the connecting link between the seen and the unseen worlds, enabling spirits, whether in or out of the flesh, to produce all the phenomena known as ”spirit-manifestations.”
If we except the writings of Deleuze, Townshend, Gregory, Dr. Elliotson, and a few lesser lights, Mesmerism has been kept before the public mainly by a cla.s.s of itinerant lecturers who, despairing of a more considerate hearing, have, in order to retain their hold on their audience, degraded it to a mere burlesque.
The history of Mesmerism forms no exception to all discoveries that have marked the progress of man from a state of barbarism to the present time. The old stubble chokes and prevents the new crop of grain, unless it has been turned under. The acceptance of anything with which we are not familiar depends more upon the mental condition produced by pre-conceived ideas than upon any evidence necessary to sustain it. The progress of public opinion is like the march of a great army; it camps at night upon ground occupied by its videttes in the morning. When Spiritualism began to attract attention, the opponents of Mesmerism, not understanding its true character, abandoned their hostility to it, and accepted it as an explanation of the new phenomena. Mind-reading, Telepathy, everything possible, was brought forward to explain away this supposed evidence of another life. And, in a somewhat different form, the same thing is taking place in regard to Materialization.
If we eliminate from it the idea of spirits, and attribute to man alone this wonderful power, we disarm scientific as well as sectarian opposition, and the possibilities of man, the influence of mind over matter, become a legitimate subject for study. But no matter how exhaustive your investigations of Materialization may have been, the moment you suggest that spirits may have something to do with it, it becomes unscientific, and, in the judgment of certain persons who have a.s.sumed the right to control public opinion, you are instantly transformed from an honest student into a ”crank”!
In view of the obstacles that Conservatism is always throwing in the way of Progress, one may be pardoned for a certain kind of admiration for cranks. They have, at least, the courage of their convictions, and in this respect, if for nothing more, may become popular, for the crowd always throw up their hats, whether right or wrong, to the plucky man.
Is courage, then, so rare a thing that we are forced to applaud it even in the bulldog?
Public opinion is the despotism of a republic. It is astonis.h.i.+ng what cowards it makes of decent men; the fear of being laughed at is the terror of society; the a.s.sertion of manhood, the expression of an honest opinion, the love of truth,--everything goes down before it.
My ministerial neighbor throws theological brickbats at me because I choose to study a subject which he has not the courage to face, and which, if not a reality, he lied about in his last funeral sermon, when he told the mourners that their ”dear friend is not dead, but still living and hovering around them.”
Shall we allow these attacks, and not remind him that, if he knows anything, he must know that the Christian religion is an outgrowth of paganism; that there is not a cardinal point in his theology that is not as old as the Hindoo PaG.o.das; that the idea of another life, imperfectly outlined in the Bible, was taken from a religion founded upon occult manifestations; that He whom he calls Lord and Master not only taught healing by laying on of hands, but exemplified Materialization in the transfiguration on the Mount, and in his bodily appearance to his disciples, after his death, in a room with closed doors?
At every seance there are more or less clandestine visitors, who shrink from letting their best friends know anything about it. At one, I met an old acquaintance, who was surprised to find me there, and begged me not to give him away. He had obtained a seat under an a.s.sumed name, partially as a test, he said, but mainly on account of his position in society; he did not care to be known to visit such places. In the course of the seance, a beautiful female form came briskly out into the middle of the room, and, stretching her arms toward him, said, ”Father!” As he did not respond, the controlling spirit, calling him by name, said, ”that lady is for you!” He stepped forward, and, to his astonishment, found that it was his daughter. He said afterward that the recognition was perfect. This was his first seance, and, unless Materialization becomes popular, it may be his last. That he told his wife about it there seems to be no doubt, as she has been a frequent visitor ever since. I fancy him in his dressing-gown and slippers, reclining in his armchair, smoking his cigarette, anxiously awaiting her return, that she may relate to him the touching manifestations of affection she has received.
Traces of these phenomena have always, in one form or another, been present in the world. In India, for thousands of years, they have furnished the foundation of a religious belief, which, like all other religions, has been perverted and used as a means to blind and control the common people.
The danger of its being accepted as authority through a blind reverence for what is supposed to be supernatural, instead of affectionate and intelligent companions.h.i.+p, is sufficient reason why its true import should be thoroughly understood. Whether it be a power in man, the laws of which are unknown, or a direct emanation from another life, it requires the most serious consideration. Shall it receive the attention it deserves, or shall we turn our backs on it, till, like a rising tide, it overwhelms us with a flood of ignorance and superst.i.tion? It will not do to ignore it; already its influence is sweeping far and wide.
Scientists may sit supinely on the summit of their intellectual conceit, insisting that it ”will not be much of a shower;” still it swells and rolls on, sapping and undermining the whole system of social and religious thought. Sects and creeds crumble in its pathway. All hopes of a scientific evidence of a life after death are centred in these manifestations.
The issue is a plain one; there can be no middle ground. Either Spiritualism or Materialism triumphs. Deal with it as you may; if it is from the other side of life, it cannot be overthrown. In some form or other it must be met.
Shall we not, in the interest of humanity and of what purports to be an important truth, lay aside our pre-conceived notions and prejudices, and treat this subject as we would any of the common things of life, earnestly endeavoring to get at its true meaning?
Millions of honest people have witnessed these things in their own homes, by their own firesides. Against what they have seen and know there is no argument.
Time will show whether the public have sufficiently advanced to grapple healthily with Materialization and its spiritual surroundings.
CHAPTER VI.
CONCLUSION.
It has been heretofore stated that everything known as Spiritualism is due to pure Magnetism.