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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
ern science in pure Materialism. To them, therefore, this Spiritualism
is a portent and a problem. It is a return to superstition ; a survival
of savagery ; a blot on nineteenth century intelligence. Laughed at, it
laughs back ; scorned, it gives back scorn for scorn.
In 1881, Light, a high-class weekly Spiritualist newspaper, was begun, and 1882 saw the formation of the Society for Psychical Research.
Speaking generally, it may be said that the attitude of organized
science during these thirty years was as unreasonable and unscientifi c
as that of Galileo’s cardinals, and that if there had been a Scientifi c
Inquisition, it would have brought its terrors to bear upon the new
knowledge. No serious attempt of any sort, up to the formation of the
S.P.R. was made to understand or explain a matter which was engaging
the attention of millions of minds. Faraday in 1853 put forward the
theory that table-moving was caused by muscular pressure, which may
be true enough in some cases, but bears no relation to the levitation
of tables, and in any case applies only to the one limited class of psychic phenomena. The usual “scientifi c “ objection was that nothing occurred at all, which neglected the testimony of thousands of credible
witnesses. Others argued that what did happen was capable of being
exposed by a conjurer, and any clumsy imitation such as Maskelyne’s
parody of the Davenports was eagerly hailed as an exposure, with no
reference to the fact that the whole mental side of the question with
its overwhelming evidence was untouched thereby.
The “religious” people, furious at being shaken out of their timehonoured ruts, were ready, like savages, to ascribe any new thing to
the devil. Roman Catholics and the Evangelical sects, alike, found
themselves for once united in their opposition. That low spirits may
be reached, and low, lying messages received, is beyond all doubt, since
every class of spirit exists around us, and like attracts like; but the lofty,
sustaining and philosophic teaching which comes to every serious and
humble-minded inquirer shows that it is Angelism and not Diabolism
161
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
which is within our reach. Dr. Carpenter put forward some complex
theory, but seems to have been in a minority of one in its acceptance or
even in its comprehension. The doctors had an explanation founded
upon the cracking of joints, which is ludicrous to anyone who has had
personal experience of those percussive sounds which vary in range
from the tick of a watch to the blow of a sledge-hammer.
Further explanations, either then or later, included the Theosophic doctrine, which admitted the facts but depreciated the spirits, describing them as astral shells with a sort of dreamy half-consciousness,
or possibly an attenuated conscience which made them sub-human in
their intelligence or morality. Certainly the quality of spirit communion does vary greatly, but the highest is so high that we can hardly
imagine that we are in touch with only a fraction of the speaker. As it
is asserted, however, that even in this world our subliminal self is far
superior to our normal workaday individuality, it would seem only fair
that the spirit world should confront us with something less than its
full powers.
Another theory postulates the Anima Mundi, a huge reservoir or
central bank of intelligence, with a clearing-house in which all inquiries are honoured. The sharp detail which we receive from the Other
Side is incompatible with any vague grandiose idea of the sort. Finally,
there is the one really formidable alternative, that man has an etheric body with many unknown gifts, among which a power of external
manifestation in curious forms may be included. It is to this theory of
Cryptesthesia that Richet and others have clung, and up to a point
there is an argument in its favour. The author has satisfi ed himself
that there is a preliminary and elementary stage in all psychic work
which depends upon the innate and possibly unconscious power of
the medium. The reading of concealed script, the production of raps
upon demand, the description of scenes at a distance, the remarkable
effects of psychometry, the fi rst vibrations of the Direct Voice – each
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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
and all of these on different occasions have seemed to emanate from
the medium’s own power. Then in most cases there would appear an
outside intelligence which was able to appropriate that force and use it
for its own ends. An illustration might be given in the experiments of
Bisson and Schrenck Notzing with Eva, where the ectoplasmic forms
were at fi rst undoubtedly refl ections of newspaper illustrations, somewhat muddled by their passage through the medium’s mind. Yet there
came a later and deeper stage where an ectoplasmic form was evolved
which was capable of movement and even of speech. Richet’s great
brain and close power of observation have been largely centred upon
the physical phenomena, and he does not seem to have been brought
much in contact with those personal mental and spiritual experiences
which would probably have modifi ed his views. It is fair to add, however, that those views have continually moved in the direction of the
Spiritualistic explanation.
There only remains the hypothesis of complex personality, which
may well infl uence certain cases, though it seems to the author that
such cases might be explained equally well by obsession. These instances, however, can only touch the fringe of the subject, and ignore
the whole phenomenal aspect, so that the matter need not be taken
very seriously. It cannot be too often repeated, however, that the inquirer should exhaust every possible normal explanation to his own
complete satisfaction before he adopts the Spiritualistic view. If he has
done this his platform is stable – if he has not done it he can never be
conscious of its solidity. The author can say truly, that year after year
he clung on to every line of defence until he was fi nally compelled,
if he were to preserve any claim to mental honesty, to abandon the
materialistic position.
163
CHAPTER IX
THE CAREER OF D. D. HOME
Daniel Dunglas Home was born in 1833 at Currie, a village near
Edinburgh. There was a mystery about his parentage, and it has been
both asserted and denied that he was related in some fashion to the
family of the Earl of Home. Certainly he was a man who inherited
elegance of fi gure, delicacy of feature, sensitiveness of disposition
and luxury in taste, from whatever source he sprang. But for his psychic powers, and for the earnestness which they introduced into his
complex character, he might have been taken as the very type of the
aristocratic younger son who inherits the tendencies, but not the
wealth, of his forbears.
Home went from Scotland to New England, at the age of nine
years, with his aunt who had adopted him, a mystery still surrounding his existence. When he was thirteen he began to show signs of
the psychic faculties he had inherited, for his mother, who was descended from an old Highland family, had the characteristic secondsight of her race. His mystical trend had shown itself in a conversation with his boy friend, Edwin, about a short story where, as the
result of a compact, a lover, after his death, manifested his presence
to his lady-love. The two boys pledged themselves that whoever died
fi rst would come and show himself to the other. Home removed to
another district some hundreds of miles distant, and about a month
164
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
later, just after going to bed one night, he saw a vision of Edwin and
announced to his aunt his death, news of which was received a day
or two after. A second vision in 1850 concerned the death of his
mother, who with her husband had gone to live in America. The boy
was ill in bed at the time, and his mother away on a visit to friends at
a distance. One evening he called loudly for help, and when his aunt
came she found him in great distress. He said that his mother had
died that day at twelve o’clock; that she had appeared to him and
told him so. The vision proved to be only too true. Soon loud raps
began to disturb the quiet household, and furniture to be moved
by invisible agency. His aunt, a woman of a narrow religious type,
declared the boy had brought the Devil into her house, and turned
him out of doors.
He took refuge with friends, and in the next few years moved
among them from town to town. His mediumship had become
strongly developed, and at the houses where he stopped he gave
frequent séances, sometimes as many as six or seven a day, for the
limitations of power and the reactions between physical and psychic
were little understood at that time. These proved a great drain on his
strength, and he was frequently laid up with illness. People fl ocked
from all directions to witness the marvels which occurred in Home’s
presence. Among those who investigated with him at this time was
the American poet Bryant, who was accompanied by Professor Wells,
of Harvard University. In New York he met many distinguished
Americans, and three – Professor Hare, Professor Mapes, and Judge
Edmonds, of the New York Supreme Court – had sittings with him.
All three became, as already stated, convinced Spiritualists.
In these early years the charm of Home’s personality, and the
deep impression created by his powers, led to his receiving many offers. Professor George Bush invited him to stay with him and study
for the Swedenborgian ministry; and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer, a rich and
165
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
childless couple, who had grown to cherish a great affection for him,
offered to adopt him and make him their heir on condition of his
changing his name to Elmer.
His remarkable healing powers had excited wonder and, yielding to the persuasion of friends, he began to study for the medical
profession. But his general delicate health, coupled with actual lung
trouble, forced him to abandon this project and, acting under medical advice, he left New York for England.
He arrived in Liverpool on April 9, 1855, and has been described
as a tall, slim youth with a marked elegance of bearing and a fastidious neatness of dress, but with a worn, hectic look upon his very
expressive face which told of the ravages of disease. He was blueeyed and auburn-haired, of a type which is peculiarly liable to the
attack of tubercle, and the extreme emaciation of his frame showed
how little power remained with him by which he might resist it. An
acute physician watching him closely would probably have gauged
his life by months rather than years in our humid climate, and of
all the marvels which Home wrought, the prolongation of his own
life was perhaps not the least. His character had already taken on
those emotional and religious traits which distinguished it, and he
has recorded how, before landing, he rushed down to his cabin and
fell upon his knees in prayer. When one considers the astonishing
career which lay before him, and the large part which he played
in establishing those physical foundations which differentiate this
religious development from any other, it may well be claimed that
this visitor was among the most notable missionaries who has ever
visited our shores.
His position at that moment was a very singular one. He had
hardly a relation in the world. His left lung was partly gone. His income was modest, though suffi cient. He had no trade or profession,
his education having been interrupted by his illness. In character
166
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
he was shy, gentle, sentimental, artistic, affectionate, and deeply religious. He had a strong tendency both to Art and the Drama, so
that his powers of sculpture were considerable, and as a reciter he
proved in later life that he had few living equals. But on the top
of all this, and of an unfl inching honesty which was so uncompromising that he often offended his own allies, there was one gift so
remarkable that it threw everything else into insignifi cance. This
lay in those powers, quite independent of his own volition, coming
and going with disconcerting suddenness, but proving to all who
would examine the proof, that there was something in this man’s
atmosphere which enabled forces outside himself and outside our
ordinary apprehension to manifest themselves upon this plane of
matter. In other words, he was a medium – the greatest in a physical
sense that the modern world has ever seen.
From a painting in the possession of the London Spiritualist
Alliance
A lesser man might have used his extraordinary powers to found
some special sect of which he would have been the undisputed high
priest, or to surround himself with a glamour of power and mystery.
Certainly most people in his position would have been tempted to
use it for the making of money. As to this latter point, let it be said at
once that never in the course of the thirty years of his strange ministry did he touch one shilling as payment for his gifts. It is on sure
record that as much as two thousand pounds was offered to him by
the Union Club in Paris in the year 1857 for a single séance, and that
he, a poor man and an invalid, utterly refused it. “I have been sent
on a mission,” he said. “That mission is to demonstrate immortality.
I have never taken money for it and I never will.” There were certain
presents from Royalty which cannot be refused without boorishness:
rings, scarf-pins, and the like – tokens of friendship rather than recompense; for before his premature death there were few monarchs in
167
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Europe with whom this shy youth from the Liverpool landing-stage
was not upon terms of affectionate intimacy. Napoleon the Third
provided for his only sister. The Emperor of Russia sponsored his
marriage. What novelist would dare to invent such a career ?
But there are more subtle temptations than those of wealth.
Home’s uncompromising honesty was the best safeguard against
those. Never for a moment did he lose his humility and his sense of
proportion. “I have these powers,” he would say ; “I shall be happy,
up to the limit of my strength, to demonstrate them to you, if you
approach me as one gentleman should approach another. I shall be
glad if you can throw any further light upon them. I will lend myself
to any reasonable experiment. I have no control over them. They
use me, but I do not use them. They desert me for months and then
come back in redoubled force. I am a passive instrument – no more.”
Such was his unvarying attitude. He was always the easy, amiable
man of the world, with nothing either of the mantle of the prophet
or of the skull-cap of the magician. Like most truly great men, there
was no touch of pose in his nature. An index of his fi ne feeling is
that when confi rmation was needed for his results he would never
quote any names unless he was perfectly certain that the owners
would not suffer in any way through being associated with an unpopular cult. Sometimes even after they had freely given leave he
still withheld the names, lest he should unwittingly injure a friend.
When he published his fi rst series of “Incidents in my Life,” the Sat-
urday Review waxed very sarcastic over the anonymous “ evidence
of Countess O— , Count B— , Count de K— , Princess de B— and
Mrs. S— ,” who were quoted as having witnessed manifestations. In
his second volume, Home, having assured himself of the concurrence of his friends, fi lled the blanks with the names of the Countess Orsini, Count de Beaumont, Count de Komar, Princess de Beauveau, and the well-known American hostess, Mrs. Henry Senior.
168
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
His Royal friends he never quoted at all, and yet it is notorious that
the Emperor Napoleon, the Empress Eugenie, the Tsar Alexander,
the Emperor William the First of Germany, and the Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg were all equally convinced by his extraordinary
powers. Never once was Home convicted of any deception, either in
word or in deed.
On fi rst landing in England he took up his quarters at Cox’s Hotel in Jermyn Street, and it is probable that he chose that hostelry
because he had learned that through Mrs. Hayden’s ministry the
proprietor was already sympathetic to the cause. However that may
be, Mr. Cox quickly discovered that his young guest was a most remarkable medium, and at his invitation some of the leading minds
of the day were asked to consider those phenomena which Home
could lay before them. Among others, Lord Brougham came to a séance and brought with him his scientifi c friend, Sir David Brewster.
In full daylight they investigated the phenomena, and in his amazement at what happened Brewster is reported to have said: “This upsets the philosophy of fi fty years.” If he had said “ fi fteen hundred “
he would have been within the mark. He described what took place
in a letter written to his sister at the time, but published long af-
23]
ter.
Those present were Lord Brougham, Sir David Brewster, Mr.
Cox and the medium.
“We four,” said Brewster, “sat down at a moderately-sized table,
the structure of which we were invited to examine. In a short time
the table struggled, and a tremulous motion ran up all our arms;
at our bidding these motions ceased and returned. The most unaccountable rappings were produced in various parts of the table, and
the table actually rose from the ground when no hand was upon it.
A larger table was produced, and exhibited similar movements...
“A small hand-bell was laid down with its mouth upon the carpet, and after lying for some time, it actually rang when nothing
169
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
could have touched it.” He adds that the bell came over to him and
placed itself in his hand, and it did the same to Lord Brougham ; and
concludes : “These were the principal experiments. We could give
no explanation of them, and could not conjecture how they could
be produced by any kind of mechanism.”
The Earl of Dunraven states that he was induced to investigate
the phenomena by what Brewster had told him. He describes meeting the latter, who said that the manifestations were quite inexplicable by fraud, or by any physical laws with which we were acquainted. Home sent an account of this sitting in a letter to a friend in
America, where it was published with comments. When these were
reproduced in the English Press, Brewster became greatly alarmed.
It was one thing to hold certain views privately, it was quite another
to face the inevitable loss of prestige that would occur in the scientifi c circles in which he moved. Sir David was not the stuff of which
martyrs or pioneers are made. He wrote to the Morning Advertiser,
stating that though he had seen several mechanical effects which
he could not explain, yet he was satisfi ed that they could all be produced by human hands and feet. At the time it had, of course, never
occurred to him that his letter to his sister, just quoted, would ever
see the light.
When the whole correspondence came to be published, the Spec-
tator remarked of Sir David Brewster :
It seems established by the clearest evidence that he felt and expressed, at and immediately after his séances with Mr. Home, a wonder and almost awe, which he afterwards wished to explain away. The
hero of science does not acquit himself as one could wish or expect.
We have dwelt a little on this Brewster incident because it was
typical of the scientifi c attitude of the day, and because its effect was
to excite a wider public interest in Home and his phenomena, and
to bring hundreds of fresh investigators. One may say that scientifi c
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