Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism
by University of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism · English · Gutenberg #11950 · 379,785 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism
Author: University of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism
Release date: April 1, 2004 [eBook #11950]
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Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE COMMISSION APPOINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA TO INVESTIGATE MODERN SPIRITUALISM ***
PRELIMINARY REPORT
OF THE COMMISSION APPOINTED BY
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
TO INVESTIGATE
MODERN SPIRITUALISM
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUEST OF THE LATE HENRY SEYBERT
WITH A FOREWORD BY H.H. FURNESS, JR.
1887, 1920
FOREWORD
Now, at the present time, when the attention of the public is turning
towards questions of Psychology and Psychiatry, it is most appropriate
that a volume such as the present _Report_ be again placed in the hands
of the public. While it cannot be said that the conclusions reached by
the Seybert Commission were final, yet material for future investigation
was furnished and facts so clearly stated that the reader might form his
own conclusions. The purpose and intended scope of the Commission are
plainly set forth in the Preliminary sections, and therefore need not be
entered upon here.
Of the members composing that Commission but one is now surviving, Dr.
Calvin B. Knerr, who contributed an interesting report on the
slate-writing medium, Mrs. Patterson. The sections by the
Acting-Chairman, Dr. Horace Howard Furness, on Mediumistic Development,
Sealed Letters, and Materialization were the occasion of acrimonious and
violent attack on the whole work of the Commission by those periodicals
devoted to spiritualism and its propaganda. Age cannot wither the charm
of the good humoured satire with which the Acting-Chairman treated these
subjects; and it was largely the spirit in which they were thus
approached that inspired the intense hostility on the part of the
spiritual mediums and their many followers.
It has been epigrammatically said that, Superstition is, in many cases,
the cloak that keeps a man's religion from dying of cold; possibly the
same may be said of Spiritualism and Psychology.
H.H. FURNESS, JR.
February, 1920.
PRELIMINARY REPORT
OF
The Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism.
_To the Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania:_
'The Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism'
respectfully present the following Preliminary Report, and request that
the Commission be continued, on the following grounds:
The Commission is composed of men whose days are already filled with
duties which cannot be laid aside, and who are able, therefore, to
devote but a small portion of their time to these investigations. They
are conscious that your honorable body look to them for a due
performance of their task, and the only assurance which they can offer
of their earnestness and zeal is in thus presenting to you, from time to
time, such fragmentary Reports as the following, whereby they trust that
successive steps in their progress may be marked. It is no small matter
to be able to record any progress in a subject of so wide and deep an
interest as the present. It is not too much to say that the farther our
investigations extend the more imperative appears the demand for these
investigations. The belief in so-called Spiritualism is certainly not
decreasing. It has from the first assumed a religious tone, and now
claims to be ranked among the denominational Faiths of the day.
From the outset your Commission have been deeply impressed with the
seriousness of their undertaking, and have fully recognized that men
eminent in intelligence and attainments yield to Spiritualism an entire
credence, and who can fail to stand aside in tender reverence when
crushed and bleeding hearts are seen to seek it for consolation and for
hope? They beg that nothing which they may say may be interpreted as
indicating indifference or levity. Wherever fraud in Spiritualism be
found, that it is, and not whatever of truth there may be therein, which
is denounced, and all Spiritualists who love the truth will join with us
in condemnation of it.
The admission of evidence concerning the so-called Spiritual
manifestations has been duly weighed. There is apparent force in the
argument that our national histories are founded, accepted and trusted
on evidence by no means as direct as that by which, it is claimed, the
proofs of Spiritual miracles are accompanied. But it must be remembered
that the facts of profane history are vouched for by evidence which is
in accord with our present experience; they are in harmony with all that
is now going on in the light of day (that history repeats itself has
grown into a commonplace), and we are justified in accepting them on
testimony, however indirect, which is nevertheless at one with the
ordinary course of events. But the phenomena of Spiritualism have no
such support; they are commonly regarded as in contravention of the
ordinary experience of mankind (in that they are abnormal and
extraordinary lies their very attractiveness to many people), and no
indirect testimony concerning them can be admitted without the most
thorough, the most searching scrutiny. We doubt if any thoughtful
Spiritualist could be found to maintain that we should unquestioningly
accept all the so-called 'facts' with which their annals teem. To sift
the evidence of merely half a dozen would require incalculable labor.
Wherefore we decided that, as we shall be held responsible for our
conclusions, we must form those conclusions solely on our own
observations; without at all imputing untrustworthiness to the testimony
of others we can really vouch only for facts which we have ourselves
observed.
The late Mr. Henry Seybert during his lifetime was known as an
enthusiastic believer in Modern Spiritualism, and shortly before his
death presented to The University of Pennsylvania a sum of money
sufficient to found a chair of Philosophy, and to the gift added a
condition that the University should appoint a Commission to investigate
'all systems of Morals, Religion, or Philosophy which assume to
represent the Truth, and particularly of Modern Spiritualism.'
A Commission was accordingly appointed, composed as follows: Dr. William
Pepper, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Dr. George A. Koenig, Professor Robert Ellis
Thompson, Professor George S. Fullerton and Dr. Horace Howard Furness;
to whom were afterwards added Mr. Coleman Sellers, Dr. James W. White,
Dr. Calvin B. Knerr and Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. Of this Commission Dr.
Pepper, as Provost of The University, was, _ex-officio_, Chairman, Dr.
Furness, Acting Chairman, and Professor Fullerton, Secretary.
As a befitting preliminary, at one of our earliest meetings each member
in turn expressed his entire freedom from all prejudices against the
subject to be investigated, and his readiness to accept any conclusion
warranted by facts; one of our number, the Acting Chairman, so far from
being unprejudiced confessed to a leaning in favor of the substantial
truth of Spiritualism.
We deemed ourselves fortunate at the outset in having as a counselor
the late Mr. Thos. R. Hazard, a personal friend of Mr. Seybert, and
widely known throughout the land as an uncompromising Spiritualist.
By the advice of Mr. Hazard we addressed ourselves first to the
investigation of Independent Slate Writing, and through his aid a séance
for this purpose was arranged with a noted Medium, Mrs. S.E. Patterson.
This mode of manifesting Spiritualistic power, as far as it has come
under our observation, is, concisely stated, the writing on the
concealed surface of a slate which is in contact with a Medium. In the
present instance, between two slates fastened together by a hinge on one
side and a screw on the other, there was placed a small fragment of
slate pencil; when this fragment is bitten off by the Medium, it
receives, so Mr. Hazard assured us, additional Spiritualistic power. As
soon as a Spirit has finished writing its communication with the pencil
on the inner surface of the slates, the completion of the task is made
known by the appearance of the slate pencil on the outside, upon the
slates. The slates are always held in concealment under the table, and
never has this remarkable passage of the pencil through the solid
substance of the slate been witnessed by any one, not even by the Medium
herself, in all the years during which this wonderful phenomenon has
been a matter of daily, almost hourly, experience.
Our first séance was held in the evening at the Medium's own home. The
slates were screwed together with the bit of slate pencil enclosed, and
held by the Medium between her open palms, in her lap, under the table.
After waiting an hour and a half without the least response on the
slates from the Spirits, the attempt was abandoned for that evening much
to the disappointment, not only of us all, but to the chagrin of Mr.
Hazard, who could not understand 'what the deuce was in it, seeing that
the Medium was one of the very best in the world, and on the preceding
evening, when he was all alone with her, the messages from the spirit of
Henry Seybert came thick and fast.'
No better success attended our second séance with this Medium, although
we waited patiently an hour and twenty minutes, while the slates were in
the Medium's lap.
By the advice of the Medium, in order to eliminate any possible
antagonism, we divided our numbers, and only one or two of us at a time
sat with her. On one occasion writing did appear on the slates, after
the slates had been held by both hands of the Medium for a long time in
concealment under the table, but to neither of the two sitters did the
screw appear to be by any means as tightly fastened after the writing as
before; nor did the writing of two or three illegible words seem beyond
the resources of very humble legerdemain; in fact, no legerdemain was
needed, after a surreptitious loosening of the screw which, considering
the state of the frame of the slate, could have been readily effected.
From some cause or other the atmosphere of Philadelphia is not favorable
to this mode of Spiritual manifestation. With the exception of the
Medium just alluded to, not a single Professional Independent Slate
Writing Medium was known to us at that time in this city, nor is there
one resident here even at this present writing, as far as we know.
We were, therefore, obliged to send for one to New York. With this
Medium, Dr. Henry Slade, we had a number of sittings, and, however
wonderful may have been the manifestations of his Mediumship in the
past, or elsewhere, we were forced to the conclusion that the character
of those which passed under our observation was fraudulent throughout.
There was really no need of any elaborate method of investigation; close
observation was all that was required.
At the risk of appearing inconsequent by mentioning that first which in
point of time came last, we must premise that in our investigations
with this Medium we early discovered the character of the writing to be
twofold, and the difference between the two styles to be striking. In
one case the communication written on the slate by the Spirits was
general in its tone, legible in its chirography, and usually covered
much of the surface of the slate, punctuation being attended to, the
_i's_ dotted, and the _t's_ crossed. In the second, when the
communication was in answer to a question addressed to a Spirit the
writing was clumsy, rude, scarcely legible, abrupt in terms, and
sometimes very vague in substance. In short, one bore the marks of
deliberation and the other of haste. This difference we found to be due
to the different conditions under which the communications were written.
The long messages are prepared by the Medium before the séance. The
short ones, answers to questions asked during the séance, are written
under the table with what skill practice can confer.
With this knowledge, it is clear that the investigator has to deal with
a simple question of legerdemain. The slate, with its message already
written, must in some way be substituted for one which the sitter knows
to be clean. The short answers must be written under trying
circumstances, out of sight, under the table, with all motions of the
arm or hand concealed. It is useless to attempt to limit the methods
whereby these two objects may be attained. All that we can do is to
describe the processes which we distinctly saw this Medium adopt.
In its simplest form (and one which any person can try with astonishing
results upon an artless, unsuspicious sitter), a slate, on which, before
the sitter's visit, a message has been written, is lying face downward
on the table when the séance begins. There are other slates on an
adjoining table within easy reach of the Medium. In order that the
Medium may be brought into Spiritual relationship with the sitters,
contact with the Medium is necessary, and the sitters are therefore
requested to place their hands, palms downward, in the middle of the
table; on these hands the Medium places his own and the séance begins.
Before long, the presence of Spiritual power becomes manifest by raps on
the table, or by vibratory movements of the table, more or less violent,
and by spasmodic jerkings or twitching of the Medium's arms or body.
When sufficient Spiritual power has been generated, the Medium takes up
the slate, and, still controlling with his left hand the hands of his
sitters, places on it a minute fragment of slate pencil. No offer is
made to show both sides (the prepared message is on the hidden side),
the side in full view is perfectly clean, and it is on that side that
the Spirits are to write with the slate pencil; there is no need of
showing the other side. With his right hand the Medium holds the slate
under the edge of the table, barely concealing it thereunder, and
drawing it forth every few seconds to see if any writing has appeared.
After waiting in vain for five or ten minutes, the Medium's patience
becomes exhausted, and he reaches for another slate from the table close
behind him, and, ostentatiously washing both sides of it, lays it on the
table in front of him (still controlling with his left hand the hands of
his sitters), and removes the pencil from the first slate to the second,
and on top of the second so places the first slate that the prepared
message is underneath, on the inside and next to the other slate. The
trick is done. All that now remains for the Medium to do is to hold the
two slates under the table for awhile, or rest them on the shoulder
close to the ear of the sitter on the Medium's right, and, by scratching
with the finger nail on the frame of the slate, to imitate the writing
by the Spirits with the enclosed pencil. When there are two or more
sitters it is only the one on the right of the Medium who is privileged
to hear the writing. To apply the slate to the ear of any other would
disclose the way in which the sound of the writing is counterfeited. To
him, therefore, who sits on the Medium's left, so that the Medium's
hand, while holding the slates on the shoulder of the sitter on the
right, is sharply outlined against the light, the motions of the
Medium's fingers while the sound of writing is imitated by him may be
distinctly seen.
By such elementary tricks of legerdemain as these are guileless, honest
folk deceived.
Dr. Slade prefers to have only two sitters at a time, one on his right
and one opposite. The fourth side of the table he prefers to have
unoccupied; his manipulations of the slate can be from that side more
readily observed; moreover, strange Spiritual antics may be there
manifested, such as upsetting chairs which happen to be there, making
slates appear above the edge of the table, etc. These manifestations are
executed by the Medium's foot, which, on one occasion, was distinctly
seen before it had time to get back into its slipper by one of our
number, who stooped very quickly to pick up a slate which had
accidentally fallen to the floor while the Spirits were trying to put it
into the lap of one of the sitters.
At the first two séances an ordinary wooden table was used belonging to
the hotel where Dr. Slade lodged. At the third séance a similar but
larger table was used, somewhat the worse for wear, and the joints of
its leaves were far from fitting close. Every crack, however, and every
chink had been carefully filled up with paper to prevent, so the Medium
said, 'the electricity from flowing through.'
The method of producing the long message which opened the séance has
been described above. Whenever we received other long messages, written
with some care and more or less filling the side of the slate, the
agency employed was adroit substitution, generally effected when the
Medium supposed that the attention of his sitters was engrossed with an
answer just received to a question addressed to the Spirits. Prepared
slates resting against the leg of the table behind him were substituted
for those which but a moment before he had ostentatiously washed on
both sides and laid on the table in front of him. The handwriting of
these long messages bore an unmistakable similarity to the Medium's own.
When a question is written on the slate by a sitter, equal dexterity to
that used in substituting the prepared slate, or even greater, is
demanded of the Medium, in reading the question and in writing the
answer.
The question is written by the sitter out of sight of the Medium, to
whom the slate, face downward, is handed over and a piece of pencil
placed on it.
The task now before the Medium is first to secure the fragment of pencil
and to hold it while the slate is surreptitiously turned over and the
question read, then the slate is turned back again and the answer
written.
Every step in the process we have distinctly seen. In order to seize the
fragment of pencil without awakening suspicion, while holding the slate
under the table, the slate is constantly brought out to see whether or
not the Spirits have written an answer. By this manoeuvre a double end
is attained: First, it creates an atmosphere of expectation, and the
sitters grow accustomed to a good deal of motion in the Medium's arm
that holds the slate; and secondly, by these repeated motions the pencil
(which, having been cut out from a slate pencil enclosed in wood, is
square, and does not roll about awkwardly), is moved by the successive
jerks toward the hand which holds the slate, and is gradually brought up
to within grasping distance. The forefinger is then passed over the
frame of the slate, and it and the thumb seize and hold the pencil, and
under cover of some violent convulsive spasms the slate is turned over
and the question read. At this point it is that the Medium shows his
nerve: it is the critical instant, the only one when his eyes are not
fastened on his visitors. On one occasion, when the question was written
somewhat illegibly in a back hand, with a very light stroke, and close
to the upper edge of the slate, the Medium had to look at it three
several times before he could make it out.
After reading the question, it may be noticed that Dr. Slade winks three
or four times rapidly; this may have been partly to veil from his
visitors the fact that he had been looking intently downward, and partly
through mental abstraction in devising an answer. He evidently breathes
freer when this crisis is past.
Convulsive spasms attend the reversing of the slate, which is then
generally held between his knees; only once did we note that he placed
it _on_ his knees, and once we believed that he supported it by pressing
it against the leg of the table. The answer is written without looking
at the slate, in a coarse, large, sprawling hand, at times scarcely
legible. While writing he keeps his eyes steadily fixed on his visitors,
and generally rests a minute or two after it is finished. Presently the
slate is held near the edge of the table and close up to it, and a
tremulous motion imparted to it suggests that Spiritual power is then at
work and that the writing is in progress.
Dr. Slade performed several little tricks which he imputed to Spiritual
agency, but which were almost puerile in the simplicity of their
legerdemain, and which have been repeated with perfect success by one of
our number; such as tossing a slate pencil on and sometimes over the
table from a slate held apparently under the table, or the playing of an
accordion when held with one hand under the table. This Medium's fingers
are unusually long and strong, and the accordion, being quite small and
with only four bellows folds, can be readily manipulated with but one
hand, and when under the table is held by the keys.
Two compasses, which we placed on the table during one séance, remained
unaffected by Dr. Slade's presence.
At our last séance with him we noticed two slates which were not with
the other slates on the small table behind him, but were on the floor
resting against the leg of that table, and within easy reach of his hand
as he sat at the larger table. As we had previously seen prepared slates
similarly placed we kept a sharp watch on these slates. Unfortunately,
it was too sharp. Dr. Slade caught the look that was directed at them.
That detected glance was sufficient to prevent the Spirits from sending
us the messages which they had so carefully prepared. The slates were
not produced during the séance, but when it was over one of our number
managed to strike them with his foot so as to displace them and reveal
the writing. None of us present that day will be likely to forget the
hurried way in which these slates were seized by the Medium and washed.
We think it worthy to be recorded that, in reply to a question, Dr.
Slade said that Professor Zoellner watched him closely only during the
first three or four sittings, but that afterwards Professor Zoellner let
him do just as he pleased, fully and unreservedly submitting to all the
conditions demanded by the Spirits.
We received from Dr. Slade a written expression of his satisfaction with
our treatment of him, which had been throughout, so he said, entirely
fair and courteous, and of his willingness at any time hereafter to sit
with us again, should we desire it and his engagements permit.
It is a source of regret that, in our investigations, we have received
no aid from unprofessional Mediums; and in dealing with professional
Mediums we have been continually distracted by the conflicting estimates
in which these Mediums are held among the Spiritualists themselves.
There are very, very few professional Mediums, as far as our experience
goes, who are accepted by all Spiritualists as free from the reproach of
fraud. Indeed one Medium with whom, by the advice of Mr. Hazard, we had
a séance, and for whom Mr. Hazard vouched as one of the best of his
class, we have seen denounced as a 'liar and a thief.' In the
earnestness of our zeal we advertised in the local secular press, and in
the leading Spiritualist Journals both East and West, for Independent
Slate Writing Mediums, and to this widespread appeal there came but
three replies, and of these, two were so remote that the promise of
performance held out by the respondents did not, in our opinion, justify
so large an outlay of money for traveling expenses as a journey across
the Continent involved. This noteworthy reluctance on the part of
Mediums to come before us cannot be due to any harsh or antagonistic
treatment received at our hands by any Medium. All Mediums have been
treated by us with uniform courtesy, and with every endeavor to
acquiesce in the 'conditions' imposed or suggested by the Spirits. And
yet a well-known Medium in New York, Mrs. Thayer, to whom the Acting
Chairman was unknown, and with whom he was at the time having a séance,
vehemently asserted that no member of the 'Seybert Commission' should
ever have a séance with her, that the whole Commission, one and all,
were 'old scoundrels and should never darken her doors,' etc., etc., and
confessed that the foundation of her belief was the warning (sent to her
by an eminent Medium whose séances the Commission had attended) that she
should have nothing to do with 'the Seybert men, that they would do her
no good.' Even in instances where Mediums have expressed their
willingness to appear before us, we have been embarrassed by demands for
compensation which we could not but deem extortionate and, practically,
prohibitory; as in the case of Mr. Keeler, the Spiritual Photographer,
whose terms will be found in the Appendix, and in that of Dr. Henry
Rogers, whose terms were five hundred dollars if he should be successful
before us, and the half of that sum if he failed.
Although the number of Mediums whose manifestations we have been able to
examine has been thus restricted, we feel ourselves justified in giving
as a result of our examination of Independent Slate Writing that,
whether the agency be Spiritual or Material, its mode of manifestation
almost wholly precludes any satisfactory investigation.
There are not wanting eminent expounders of the Spiritualistic Faith who
assert that this is as it should be, and that if in the attempt to apply
the laws of the material world to Spiritual manifestations we are
baffled, the fault lies in us, and not in the Mediums. If this be so, we
must accept our fate and enlarge the adage that 'poets are born, not
made,' and include Spiritualists.
Yet, as a rule, Mediums assert that they invite investigation. Our
experience has been, as we have just said, that as soon as an
investigation, worthy of the name, begins, all manifestations of
Spiritualist power cease.
The bare statement of the conditions whereunder the Mediums maintain
that the manifestations of Independent Slate Writing are alone possible,
involves the extreme difficulty, we might almost say the impossibility,
of any genuine or rational investigation. Even the very spirit of
investigation, or of incredulity, seems to exercise a chilling effect
and prevents a successful manifestation. Indeed Mr. Hazard once told us
that the true spirit in which to approach the study of Spiritualism is
'an entire willingness to be deceived.' In Independent Slate Writing, in
our experience, there is a period, of longer or shorter duration, when
the slate is concealed. During this period the investigator's eye must
not watch it. When the slate is held under the table, knees and feet
and clothing exert no deleterious effect, but the gaze of a human eye is
fatal to all Spiritual manifestation; although to one of our number, on
three occasions, a pocket mirror, carefully adjusted, unknown to the
Medium, gave back the reflection of fingers, which were clearly not
Spiritual, opening the slates and writing the answer.
There is really no step in the bare process of producing this writing,
as we have observed it, which might not be accomplished by trickery or
by legerdemain. Of course, therefore, we were sincerely anxious to
disprove in these experiments the presence of those discreditable
elements, not only for the credit of human nature, but for the sake of
the great scientific interest involved. We are perfectly ready to accept
any fact of Spiritual power; and so far from flinching from an open
avowal of our belief in this revelation of a novel force in Nature, we
would welcome it. But no one, not a Spiritualist, we should suppose, can
demand of us that we should accept profound mysteries with our eyes
tight shut, and our hands fast closed, and with every avenue to our
reasoning faculties insurmountably barred. Yet this is precisely what is
demanded of us by Mediums in regard to Independent Slate Writing. We
must sign a dispensation to forego the exercise of common sense, and
accept as 'fact' what they choose so to term. Few assertions by departed
Spirits are more hacknied than, 'This is a great truth,' and yet in an
honest endeavor to prove that it is a 'great truth;' and not a great
lie, the sincere and earnest seeker is at every turn baffled and
thwarted.
To eliminate from our investigations every element of distrust, or
hostility, or suspicion, or chilling antagonism, we entrusted to Mr.
Hazard's friend, Mrs. Patterson, vouched for by him as one of the very
best Mediums in the country, two carefully closed and sealed slates,
enclosing, of course, the required piece of slate-pencil, with the
earnest entreaty that the Spirits should write therein even if it were
but the merest mark, sign, or scratch, therewith we would be content,
and be ready to accept Independent Slate Writing with its train of
consequences. The Medium was fully impressed with the importance of the
trial, and with the fame which would thereby accrue from such a
wholesale conversion as that of the united Seybert Commission.
Every Medium, it would appear, is under the special tutelage of a
departed Spirit; this Spirit is termed the 'Medium's control.' In the
present case, when the slates were delivered to Mrs. Patterson, her
'control,' one 'Thomas Lister,' at once promised that Spirit hands
should shortly write within the sealed-up space. But no writing came
that day nor the next, nor the next, although the Medium protested that
every attention should be bestowed on the refractory slates. In vain was
the Medium again and again adjured to put forth every power. At the end
of six months the slates were received again, without any writing,
according to the confession of the Medium.
So anxious, however, was our Acting Chairman that the experiment should
prove successful, that, undeterred by this failure, he carefully sealed
up a second slate, and placed it in the hands of the same Medium, with
renewed adjurations to put forth all her Spiritualistic strength. At the
end of a fortnight or more, after redoubled exertions of Mediumistic
power, to which was added the combined Spiritualistic power of the
Medium's entire family circle, the exciting announcement was made to us
that the fragment of slate pencil within the slates could no longer be
heard to rattle, and that presumably the Spirits had written a message
for us.
Each Medium, generally, has some peculiar mode of manifesting
Spiritualistic power; it is a peculiarity of this Medium, as has been
before stated, that the completion of the Spirit message within the
slates is indicated not by raps, as is frequently the case with other
Mediums, but by the sudden and marvelous appearance on the top of the
slate of the little fragment of pencil, which had been securely fastened
up within. The fact, therefore, that the pencil was no longer inside of
our slates was presumptive evidence that the Medium's control had been
true to his word, and had written us a message. The slates were received
from the Medium most carefully, and a meeting of the Commission hastily
called. It is scarcely worth while to enter here at length on the
details of that session, of the careful scrutiny to which the slates
were subjected, of the unmutilated seals, of the untouched screws, etc.,
etc.; but it is worth while to record the feeling of grave
responsibility, almost akin to solemnity, with which we all approached
what, for aught we knew, might prove to be a revelation of a power as
wonderful as any with which, as yet, we had ever been brought into
acquaintance. Just before we opened the slates it was noticed that at
one corner, owing to the flexibility of the wooden frames, it was quite
possible to stretch the slates far enough apart to permit the insertion
of the blade of a knife, and an examination of the edges at this point
revealed only too plainly discolored abrasions. When the slates were
finally opened, not a stroke of writing nor a scratch was to be found,
but at the suspected corner were the discolored marks, visible to this
day, of the knife which had been inserted to extract the pencil, which,
in its enforced outward passage, had left behind, in its scratches on
the wood, a tell-tale trail of dust which the microscope revealed to be
of the same substance as the pencil. The Spirits had not taken even the
precaution to wipe the broad knife clean from rust or dirt. The slates
are preserved in our sad museum of specimens of misdirected ingenuity.
We are continually confronted with statements wherein the narrator
claims a Spiritual solution as the only possible one of the enigma
involved in the phenomena, as he observed them.
To all such statements we have, first, the plain and ready answer, that
we do not attempt to pass judgment on manifestations which we ourselves
have not observed. All that we can vouch for is the result of our own
observation. More cannot be demanded of us.
Secondly, experience has shown us that with every possible desire on the
part of Spiritualists to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, concerning marvelous phenomena, it is extremely difficult
to do so. Be it distinctly understood that we do not for an instant
impute wilful perversion of the truth. All that we mean is that, for two
reasons, it is likely that the marvels of Spiritualism will be, by
believers in them, incorrectly and insufficiently reported.
The first reason is to be found in the mental condition of the observer;
if he be excited or deeply moved his account cannot but be affected, and
essential details will surely be distorted.
For a second reason, note how hard it is to give a truthful account of
any common, everyday occurrence. The difficulty is increased a
hundred-fold, when what we would tell, partakes of the wonderful. Who
can truthfully describe a juggler's trick? Who would hesitate to affirm
that a watch, which never left the eye-sight for an instant, was broken
by the juggler on an anvil; or that a handkerchief was burned before our
eyes? We all know the juggler does not break the watch, and does not
burn the handkerchief. We watched most closely the juggler's right hand,
while the trick was done with his left. The one minute circumstance has
been omitted that would have converted the trick into no-trick. It is
likely to be the same in the accounts of most of the wonderful phenomena
of Spiritualism.
For these two reasons, we laid down for ourselves at the start that in
cases demanding close observation we would endeavor to have as many
members as possible of the Commission present at every séance. In
dealing with phenomena, where all ordinary methods of investigation are
excluded, we perceived clearly that our best resource lay in having the
largest possible number of observers.
In dismissing this subject of Independent Slate Writing, we repeat, what
we think Spiritualists will generally grant, that this phenomenon can be
performed by legerdemain. The burden of proof that it is not so
performed rests with the Mediums. This proof the Mediums will neither
offer themselves, nor permit others to obtain. Investigators, therefore,
are forced to bring to bear their own powers of close observation,
sharpened and educated by experience. Be it remembered that what we have
here stated applies solely to the process whereby the communication is
written on the slate; with the substance of the communication, whether
pertinent answers to questions or dreary platitudes, we are not now
dealing. Whether these answers be ascribed to Spirits, or to what is
termed clairvoyance, they would be none the less true or false if
delivered orally by the Medium; all that we are sure of is that the
writing down of these communications, be their substance what it may, is
performed in a manner so closely resembling fraud as to be
indistinguishable from it. It would be a mere matter of opinion that all
Independent Slate Writing is fraudulent; what is not a matter of opinion
is the conviction, which we have unanimously reached as a Commission, of
its non-spiritual character in every instance that has come before us.
An eminent professional juggler performed, in the presence of three of
our Commission, some Independent Slate Writing far more remarkable than
any which we have witnessed with Mediums. In broad daylight, a slate
perfectly clean on both sides was, with a small fragment of slate
pencil, held under a leaf of a small ordinary table around which we were
seated; the fingers of the juggler's right hand pressed the slate tight
against the underside of the leaf, while the thumb completed the
pressure, and remained in full view while clasping the leaf of the
table. Our eyes never for a fraction of a second lost sight of that
thumb; it never moved; and yet in a few minutes the slate was produced,
covered on both sides with writing. Messages were there, and still are
there, for we preserved the slate, written in French, Spanish, Dutch,
Chinese, Japanese, Gujerati, and ending with 'Ich bin ein Geist, und
liebe mein Lagerbier.' We were utterly baffled. For one of our number
the juggler subsequently repeated the trick and revealed its every
detail.
We request your honorable body to note that this Report is preliminary
and that we do not consider our investigations in this department as
finally closed, but hold ourselves ready to continue them whenever
favorable circumstances arise.
To the subject of 'Spirit-rappings' we have devoted some time and
attention, but our investigations have not been sufficiently extensive
to warrant us at present in offering any positive conclusions. The
difficulty attending the investigation of this mode of Spiritualistic
manifestation is increased by the fact, familiar to physiologists, that
sounds of varying intensity may be produced in almost any portion of the
human body by voluntary muscular action. To determine the exact location
of this muscular activity is at times a matter of delicacy.
What we can say, thus far, with assurance is that, in the cases which
have come under our observation, the theory of the purely physiological
origin of the sounds has been sustained by the fact that the Mediums
were invariably, and confessedly, cognizant of the rappings whenever
they occurred, and could at once detect any spurious rappings, however
exact and indistinguishable to all other ears might be the imitation.
For the details of the investigation which guided us to this conclusion
we refer to the Appendix.
There are among Mediums certain Specialists, whose alleged Spiritual
manifestations we have endeavoured to investigate, not always
successfully, as, for instance, in the case of Mr. W.M. Keeler, through
whose Mediumship 'Spiritual Photographs' are produced. The 'conditions'
which this Medium demanded would have made any attempt at investigation
a mere waste of time, and his terms of remuneration were, in addition,
as we have before mentioned, prohibitory and suggestive of unwillingness
to come before the Commission. In these days of 'Composite Photography'
it is worse than childish to claim a Spiritual source for results which
can be obtained at any time by any tyro in the art. Mr. Keeler's letter
will be found in the Appendix.
We were more successful in procuring a séance with Mr. Keeler's brother,
whose Mediumship manifests itself by the materialization of a right hand
behind a low screen, in front of which the Medium sits, with his face
alone visible, his entire person being concealed by black muslin. The
screen is stretched across a corner of a room to about the height of the
back of the Medium's head, as he sits in front of it. The lights are
lowered, and in a few minutes various instruments, musical and
otherwise, which had been previously placed on a small table in the
corner enclosed by the screen, are heard to sound, a drum is beaten, a
guitar is played, etc. The music is interspersed with flashes of hand
darting and waving above the screen to the right of the Medium. The
hand, when shaken, was found to be a right one. As a proof that the hand
is Spiritual and not that of the Medium, the latter requests one of the
visitors at the séance to sit beside him on his right, and also to be
covered to the chin with the same black muslin under which all the
Medium, except his head, is concealed. This visitor's bare left forearm
is grasped by the Medium, as he says, with both his hands, and this
pressure of the Medium's two hands on the visitor's arm is never
relaxed, as the visitor readily testifies. The proof seems, therefore,
conclusive that the hand which plays the instruments behind the screen
is not the Medium's, and hence must be a materialized Spirit. The trick
is simple and highly deceptive, as any one can prove for himself by
requesting a blindfolded friend to bare the left arm to the elbow, then
let the experimenter grasp this bared arm, near the wrist, with the
third and fourth fingers of his left hand, closing them around it
tightly, and as he does so, asking the owner of the arm to note that
this is his left hand, then let the experimenter, without relaxing this
hold, stretch the remaining fingers and thumb up the arm as far as he
can, and while clasping it with his thumb and forefinger, remark that
this second pressure comes from his other hand. The conviction is
complete in the mind of the blindfolded friend that he feels the grasp
of two hands, whereas only the left hand of the experimenter has grasped
his arm, and the right hand is free to beat a drum or play a zither.
After this test, which is patent to all, we can dismiss the theory of a
Spiritual origin of the hand behind Mr. Keeler's screen. To forestall
the discovery by Mr. Keeler's companion of this trick, and to prevent
its detection by simply feeling with his free right hand after the
suppositious hands of the Medium, which are grasping his left forearm,
a second visitor is requested to share the discomfort of the muslin
envelope, and to sit on the right of the first visitor and to hold the
latter's truant right hand with his left hand, while his right is
exposed to view outside the curtain. Again we refer to the Appendix for
the minutes of our meeting.
We had a séance also with Messrs. Rothermel and Powell, of whom the
former is the Medium, the latter, acting mainly as a reservoir of
psychic force, guides and directs the séance. In this case the Medium's
Spiritual manifestations, as well as his material arrangements, are
similar to those of Mr. Keeler, except that instead of having a visitor
whose arm may be grasped, Mr. Rothermel's hands are fastened in his lap
by bands of tape passed around his legs and sewed to his clothes. After
the black curtain had hid the hands from our sight we were not again
allowed to examine them except in the most hurried and superficial way,
but, even in the brief inspection which was permitted, a glance was
sufficient to show that the tape had been tampered with. The close of
the séance was announced by the sound of clipping scissors, and by Mr.
Rothermel's exclamation, while still concealed, that the Spirits were
cutting him loose. We had no means of knowing whether the tape was cut
at the beginning of the séance or not. When the muslin envelope was
removed, Mr. Rothermel's hands were certainly free. The bands were cut,
and we had no difficulty in believing that the hands which were
dexterous enough to play the zither with very remarkable skill, under
such conditions, behind the curtain, were deft enough to sever the
cords.
Our séances with Mrs. Maud E. Lord were acknowledged by the Medium
herself to be altogether unsatisfactory. This is much to be regretted.
Mrs. Lord is one of the few professional Mediums whose excellence is
acknowledged by all Spiritualists alike, and who, in her attitude
towards the Commission, displayed every desire to aid a full and
complete investigation into the manifestations peculiar to her
Mediumship, and furthermore, without remuneration.
In conclusion, we beg to express our regret that thus far we have not
been cheered in our investigations by the discovery of a single novel
fact; but, undeterred by this discouragement, we trust with your
permission to continue them with what thoroughness our future
opportunities may allow, and with minds as sincerely and honestly open,
as heretofore, to conviction.
We desire to call especial attention to Professor Fullerton's Report in
the Appendix of his interviews with Professors Fechner, Scheibner and
Weber, the surviving colleagues of Professor Zoellner in his experiments
with Dr. Henry Slade.
And also to an investigation of the power of Mediums to answer the
questions contained in 'Sealed Envelopes.'
WILLIAM PEPPER,
JOSEPH LEIDY,
GEORGE A. KOENIG,
GEORGE S. FULLERTON,
ROBT. ELLIS THOMPSON,
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
COLEMAN SELLERS,
JAMES W. WHITE,
CALVIN B. KNERR,
S. WEIR MITCHELL.
_University of Pennsylvania_,
May, 1887.
APPENDIX.
Soon after the appointment of the Seybert Commission, I as Secretary,
was asked to make a collection of the best representative literature of
Spiritualism, and to prepare for the use of the Commission a sketch of
the rise, progress, present condition, doctrines and alleged phenomena
of this belief, as well as an account of previous investigations,
similar to the one contemplated by ourselves. For a number of months I
busied myself diligently with this work, and finally read my sketch
before the Commission, at a meeting at which Mr. Thomas R. Hazard, the
well-known Spiritualist, was present as our guest. I had at this time
seen scarcely anything of Spiritualism, but was much impressed with what
I had read, and certainly in a fully receptive attitude towards
phenomena supported by so much apparently strong testimony. Mr. Hazard
declared himself quite satisfied with the tone of the paper, saying that
he had come expecting to hear something very different, but that it was
fair and unbiased. I mention these facts to show that my present opinion
on the subject was not assumed at the outset, but has been arrived at
gradually, and is based upon my own observations.
I have been forced to the conclusion that Spiritualism, as far at least
as it has shown itself before me (and I give no opinion upon what has
not fallen within my observation), presents the melancholy spectacle of
gross fraud, perpetrated upon an uncritical portion of the community;
that the testimony of such persons as to what they see is almost
valueless, if they are habitually as inaccurate as they have been at the
séances at which I have been present with them; and that there is an
unwillingness on the part of Mediums to have their powers freely and
thoroughly investigated--a fact which makes any investigation of
Spiritualism difficult and expensive. My opinions are not based
exclusively upon what I have seen and recorded in my work with my
colleagues, but also upon observations made at various times in a
private capacity; and there is but one conclusion to be appended to them
all. I subjoin notes of séances, recorded by myself as Secretary of the
Commission. Their somewhat disjointed form arises from the fact that I
have not thought it desirable to make changes in my notes, except such
as were necessary in taking the Records, which are of value as evidence,
out of their contextual connection with records of business meetings and
matters of no interest to the public. Nothing which could be looked upon
as evidence has been purposely suppressed. I have intentionally left out
a description of several things which we have been unable to use, and
which would have merely swelled our Records; as, for example, the
account of our sealing slates for the experiments with Dr. Slade, he
afterwards having refused to have anything to do with slates sealed by
us. My notes were made during the séances, or as soon as possible after
them. They were arranged and copied in no case later than two days
after. Explanations and additions, which do not belong to the original
Records, but have been inserted later, are put in brackets.
For a justification of the opinion of Spiritualism expressed above, I
refer to the Records which follow.
GEO. S. FULLERTON.
* * * * *
March 13th, 1884.
On Thursday, March 13th, 1884, the Commission met at 508 S. 16th Street,
at 8 P.M., for the examination of Mrs. S.E. Patterson, Spiritualistic
Medium.
For the first test, a small piece of slate pencil was placed within a
double slate, and the leaves fastened together with a screw, which
passed through one wooden rim into the other. The Spirit-writing upon
the slate should be indicated by the pencil appearing upon the outside
of the slate. The slate was laid upon the Medium's lap for one hour and
a-half without results.
Meanwhile the Medium wrote what purported to be messages from several
Spirits upon slips of paper, the handwriting varying with each message.
One message was signed Elias Hicks, another Lucretia Mott, another
signed H.S. was compared with a message from Mr. Henry Seybert to Mr.
T.R. Hazard the day before. The initials were somewhat different.
The Commission sat in a circle, the Medium at a small table with folding
leaves.
One communication, signed E.H., declared that the person sitting
opposite Mr. Hazard (Mr. Furness) was endowed with great Mediumistic
powers.
The writing failing to appear on the slate it was opened, and Dr. Leidy,
having written upon a slip of paper a question, enclosed it in the
slate, which was again fastened.
After half an hour's waiting, no results being obtained, the Commission
addressed some questions to the Medium and then adjourned.
The Medium described her sensations during the automatic writing as a
constriction at the wrist.
She declared that she had no knowledge of what she wrote, was not
distracted by noises, etc.
(Mr. Furness and Mr. Fullerton, however, noticed that she, when
interrupted, glanced back over what she had previously written before
continuing.)
She could not go into the trance state. Just before adjournment the
Medium laid her hands upon the table and tried to produce "raps," but
did not succeed.
Has been a Spiritualist for nine or ten years, but has always been
possessed of unusual powers. As a child saw visions, etc.
Declares that she is most successful as a Slate Writer.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
Wednesday, March 19th, 1884.
The Commission met at 508 S. 16th Street, at 8 P.M.
Present: Dr. Leidy, Professor Koenig, Mr. Furness, Mr. Fullerton and Mr.
Hazard. The Medium was Mrs. S.E. Patterson.
Mr. Furness brought two new double slates, which could be fastened by a
screw.
The Medium cut a small piece of slate pencil and enclosed it in a double
slate (one of those brought by Mr. Furness), into which was also put a
paper upon which Dr. Leidy had written a question. The slate was then
fastened with a screw.
Dr. Koenig also wrote a question, which was enclosed in the other slate,
the slate being screwed up by Mr. Furness.
The Medium then placed both slates upon her lap, and partially under the
table. A portion of the time the upper slate was between the palms of
her hands, the back of the lower hand resting on the lower slate. Then
one hand was placed upon each slate, the two being placed together.
No results having been obtained after waiting twenty minutes, one of the
new slates was laid aside, and the Medium's old slate, with a piece of
pencil in it, laid upon the remaining new slate in the Medium's lap.
The Medium held from time to time a lead pencil in one hand, but was not
moved to write.
The Medium declared that when writing appears upon the slate in her lap
she feels a shock, but no other sensation.
Two Spirit Photographs were exhibited by the Medium. In one the Spirit
was her own mother. The Spirit in each appeared as a white apparition
behind a person seated in the foreground.
The slates remained in the lap of the Medium one hour and twenty
minutes. No manifestations were produced during the evening.
The Commission adjourned to a room at the Social Art Club for
conference.
The above notes of the evening's session were read by the Secretary and
approved.
It was resolved to meet again on the evening of Wednesday, March 26th,
for the next session.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
March 26th, 1884.
The Commission met on Wednesday, March 26th, at 7.30 P.M., at 1117
Callowhill Street.
Present: Dr. Leidy, Mr. Furness, Mr. Fullerton and Mr. T.R. Hazard. The
Medium was Mr. Fred. Briggs.
The Medium gave the following answers to Dr. Leidy's questions:
1. Has been a Medium since seven years of age. Now 22 years old.
2. Before seven years of age could see visions, etc., but did not
communicate with Spirits.
3. Was born in Boston. Lived there when not on journeys.
4. His parents had no such powers.
5. His grandfather was a West India importer, his father had no
business.
6. Educated in Middleboro and Bridgewater, Mass.
7. His family, Baptists.
8. He can communicate with Spirits best
_a._ At night, or in the evening.
_b._ In cold or snowy weather.
_c._ In dry weather.
_d._ When in a healthy condition.
9. When in communication with Spirits feels _nervous_, but cannot
describe the feeling.
The Medium had on the table two single slates which could be laid upon
each other. The table was about three and a-half feet square, and
covered with a cloth.
The light was kept rather dim.
(The Medium explained later in the evening that writing is best produced
in the dark, because dark is _negative_, light _positive_, and negative
conditions are most favorable to communication.)
Mr. Furness had brought two folding slates, which could be fastened with
a screw.
Dr. Leidy and Mr. Furness and the Medium each held a double slate under
the table.
Mr. Fullerton asked a question as requested, but received no answer from
the Spirits.
Some scratching was now heard under the table.
The Medium took the slate held by Mr. Furness (one not screwed or
fastened by hinges), and it was held under the table by Mr. Furness, Mr.
Hazard and Mr. Briggs.
The Medium seemed much excited, spoke rapidly, etc., and was so much
overcome that he dropped the slate (one brought by Mr. Furness) which he
was holding under the table with his left hand, and left it lying on the
floor under the table.
At 8 o'clock Dr. Koenig came in. The slate held by the Medium, Mr.
Furness and Mr. Hazard, was held in Mr. Hazard's lap, and some taps were
heard. (Mr. Furness afterwards produced taps precisely similar by
rubbing the side of his finger slowly along the side of the slate.)
No writing having been obtained, the Medium declared that he alone would
hold the slate, as the magnetism of Mr. Furness was injurious.
Again we were invited to ask questions. Dr. Leidy asked: 'When and where
did you die?' No answer.
The Medium asked Mr. Furness if his name were not Furness. (Mr. Hazard
had seen the Medium before, and informed him that the Commission was
coming.)
Mr. Furness now put his hand under the table on the hand of the Medium,
which was pressing the double slate (not the screwed one) up against the
table.
Mr. Furness declared that he heard a certain buzzing noise. The slate
being taken out, there was found written on the inside of the under
slate:
I will help
you all
R. Dale Owen
and something that looked like "Henry Furness is here."
The slate on the floor being examined, there was found on the _outside_
(it was a screw-slate)
I am here with you
I will help you
R. Dale Owen.
Some other illegible marks were found on the slate.
Nothing was obtained on the inside of either screw-slate.
The handwriting on the two slates, purporting to be from R. Dale Owen,
was much alike.
The Medium now took hold of Mr. Hazard's hand, and went into trance,
personating Esther Hazard, a deceased daughter of Mr. Hazard. He (the
Medium) made convulsive motions, trembled, etc., and while in this state
predicted that Mr. Fullerton would receive a very pleasing letter on
Saturday next--said that he should come to the Medium for advice. [No
such letter was received on that date by Mr. Fullerton.]
He also declared that Dr. Koenig had brought with him a Spirit named
August.
He declared Ponto, White-feather, Red Jacket and Thomas Paine to be
present.
(The Medium called "White-feather" _he_, Mr. Hazard objecting that
White-feather was a woman.)
The light was then turned out, and all hands laid upon the table. Mr.
Furness laid one of his hands upon one of the Medium's and upon one of
Mr. Hazard's. (The Medium afterwards asserted that Mr. Furness had held
both his hands. But Mr. Furness was positive that he held only one.) Mr.
Hazard was touched several times about the face. Mr. Furness was touched
on the cheek and on his ear-trumpet and Mr. Fullerton was struck on the
head by a paper thrown from the other side of the table, and touched
once on the back of his left hand by what felt like human fingers.
There were no more manifestations.
The Committee adjourned to Dr. Leidy's house for conference. The above
notes were read and approved.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
April 8th, 1884.
On Tuesday evening, April 8th, Dr. Leidy and Mr. Furness held another
séance with the Medium formerly examined, Mrs. Patterson. The slates
used belonged to the Medium, and were, as she told them, in daily,
almost hourly use; the frame of one of them was far from sound, and the
hole which admitted the screw was more than well worn. Within these
slates, after being held for a long while by both hands of the Medium
under the table, two or three barely legible words appeared. The screw
was, by no means, as tight after the writing as before. This fact,
together with the prolonged concealment, rendered it impossible to
attach any real importance to the attempt to write, as far as could be
made out, the name of Henry Seybert.
Under the same conditions our colleague, Mr. Sellers, produced writing
for us very satisfactorily.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
April 17th, 1884.
On Thursday evening, April 17th, 1884, a sitting was held by Mrs.
Patterson with Dr. Koenig, Mr. Fullerton and Mr. Hazard. The Medium
declared herself unwell. No results were obtained. The session was in
Mrs. Patterson's room at No. 508 S. 16th Street.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
May 31st, 1884.
On Saturday, May 31st, 1884, at 8 P.M., the Commission met at the house
of the Provost, 1811 Spruce Street, for the purpose of sealing a slate
to be left with the Medium, Mrs. Patterson, who was to try to procure
independent writing upon the inside surfaces. There were present Dr.
Pepper, Mr. Furness, Professor Thompson and Mr. Fullerton. Mr. Furness
brought the slate and seals. The slate was the double one used in our
former tests, hinged, and fastening with a screw. A small piece of
pencil was enclosed in the slate, which was perfectly clean, and the
slate was screwed up by Dr. Pepper. The direction of the cut in the
screw-head was marked by a scratch on the wood at the end of the slate.
It was nearly parallel with the long diameter of the slate. Mr. Furness
then tied the slate with red tape, passing the tape longitudinally and
transversely around the middle of the slates.
The first seal (red wax) was on the knot, which was over the under end
of the screw. The end of the screw projected a little through the wood,
but was covered by the seal. The second seal was over the ends of the
tape. The head of the screw was also covered by a seal, and three (3)
additional seals were affixed on the outside edges of the slates, where
they were crossed by the tape.
One of the three impressions at the edges of the slates was made by
Professor Thompson's right thumb. [A test was then proposed by Professor
Thompson, which the Commission does not feel at liberty to make public,
as it has not yet been carried out, and publicity may interfere with its
success.]
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
November 5th, 1884.
The Commission met at the house of Mr. Furness, 222 West Washington
Square, on November 5th, 1884, at 8 P.M. There were present Dr. Wm.
Pepper and Mrs. Pepper, Dr. Leidy, Dr. Koenig, Prof. Thompson, Mr.
Furness, Mr. George S. Pepper, Miss Logan, Mr. Fullerton, Mr. Coleman
Sellers, and the Medium, Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, who was the guest of
Mr. Furness at the time.
Those present seated themselves around an oak dining table, some eight
feet by four and a-half feet and the usual height. Mrs. Kane was at one
end of the table and Mr. Sellers at the other. The Medium sat with her
feet partly under the table, and consequently concealed from most of
those present--her feet were hidden also by her dress.
Dr. Leidy asked the question: "Is any Spirit present?"
Ans. Three raps.
Dr. Leidy: "Will you confer with the man to left of the Medium?"
Ans. Two raps. (No.)
Dr. Leidy: "To the right?"
Ans. Three raps.
Professor Thompson (who was the person indicated): "Is the Spirit male?"
Ans. Three raps.
"Will it answer to the alphabet?"
Three raps. The alphabet was called and "Henry Seybert" spelled out.
Mr. Sellers: "Will Henry Seybert make the raps at this end of the
table?"
Ans. No.
"Is he satisfied with the Commission?"
Five raps were given for the alphabet; Professor Thompson called it;
raps spelled out:
"I will be satisfied before the investigation is through."
Mr. Sellers: "Does Mr. Seybert know the names of the Commission?"
Ans. Three raps.
"Does he know who is now speaking?"
Three raps.
Mr. Sellers then pointed to the letters of the alphabet, which he had
written in order on a sheet of paper, and raps spelled out:
CHARLES CERI.
Mrs. Kane then tried standing at some distance from the table, with her
hands on the back of a chair; there were some raps seemingly near or
under the Medium.
Raps were produced as members of the Committee stood with the Medium
around the desk in the library, and close to a book-case. Raps were
produced according to the Medium on the glass door of a book-case, upon
which Mr. Sellers placed his hand. Mr. Sellers felt no vibration on the
glass, but raps were heard somewhere in the vicinity.
The Committee then returned to the dining-room and the Medium wrote upon
a sheet of paper the following:
"Friend Pepper: I am happy to meet you here to-night. I have not
forgotten my promise to you, Henry Seybert."
The paper had to be held to the light and read from the obverse side, as
the message was written from right to left.
Mr. Geo. Pepper: "Do you remember the year in which you made the
promise?"
The answer given in same way was: "It was in the year in which my Spirit
left the body. H.S. Call the alphabet, H.S."
Dr. Pepper called the alphabet--the sentence "Let Friend Pepper call the
alphabet" was rapped out. Mr. Geo. Pepper called the alphabet: the
letters HAND were rapped out, and the communication ceased.
The Medium wrote then as before: "Friend Pepper, meet me again."
It was asked whether Mr. Seybert would meet us on the next evening?
Ans. Three raps.
The Committee adjourned at 9.30 o'clock to meet again at 8 o'clock on
the next evening at the same place.
GEO. S. FULLERTON.
_Secretary_.
The following stenographic report of the meeting of November 6th, 1884,
has been read and approved by the Commission before being entered upon
this book.
The few additions which were made when it was read, appear as foot
notes. The report was approved as excellent.
(A Record from the notes of the Stenographer--Mr. J.I. Gilbert.)
PHILADA., November 6th, 1884.
The Committee reconvened this day, at 8 o'clock P.M., at the residence
of Mr. H.H. Furness, when the investigation of the Spirit Rappings, in
the presence of Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane as Medium, was resumed.
The persons present were the following:
Of the Committee--Dr. Leidy, Mr. Furness, Dr. Koenig, Mr. Fullerton, Mr.
Coleman Sellers, and by invitation of the Committee, Mr. Geo. S. Pepper.
The Medium--Mrs. Kane.
The Stenographer--Mr. Gilbert.
The company promptly repaired to the dining-room, and there gathered
around a common pine-wood table, consisting solely of its supports and
top, which had been specially provided, in compliance with the direction
of the Medium. The dimensions of the table, approximately stated, are as
follows: height, three feet; length, four feet; width, two and a-half
feet.
The 'Spirit Rappings' during the evening, aside from those heard during
the test with the glass tumblers, were apparently confined to the
floor-space in the immediate vicinity of, and directly beneath the table
described--around which the company were seated in the order here
stated. Mr. Sellers (to whom had been deputed the duty of eliciting the
responses) occupied the chair at the end of the table more remote from
the Stenographer. Next, upon Mr. Sellers' right and at the side of the
table, sat Mr. Pepper, and Mr. Furness in the adjoining seat. The first
chair on the side of the table to the left of Mr. Sellers was occupied
by the Medium, and the remaining chair on the same side by Mr.
Fullerton. At the near end of the table, Dr. Leidy and Dr. Koenig were
seated. The Committee, with one exception, in accordance with a
requirement imposed by the Medium, rested their hands upon the table and
fixed their minds upon the subject of the rappings. The exception was
Dr. Koenig, who, being seated at a distance of three feet from the
table, could not conveniently comply with the requirement. After the
expiration of some twenty minutes, the Medium requested Dr. Koenig to
place his hands upon the table, and he promptly complied with the
request and moved his chair closer to that of Dr. Leidy, thus depriving
himself of any facilities of observation of the space beneath the table.
The Stenographer was at a table about four feet from the circle of the
Committee.
The lengths of the intervals between the questions addressed to the
Spirits and the responses thereto, were computed by the audible
second-strokes of a clock in an adjoining apartment; the periods of
waiting being necessarily brief in view of the assurance of the Medium
(as set forth in its proper place in the Report) that "When the raps
come, they come right away."
The "Spirit Rappings" varied materially in quality and character, being
at times faintly, and at other times distinctly audible.
The record of the Investigation is as follows:
Mr. Sellers: Is any Spirit present now?
Three raps--faint and partly indistinct--are almost instantly audible.
The raps apparently emanate from the floor-space directly beneath, or in
the immediate vicinity of the table. This remark is applicable to all
the rappings during the séance at the pine table.
The Medium (interpreting the sounds): That was "Yes."
Mr. Sellers (aside): They sounded like three.
The raps are immediately repeated with more distinctness.
Mr. Sellers (aside): There are three, and they are quite distinct.
(Resuming): Is the Spirit the same one that was present last night?
Three raps, apparently identical with those last heard, are again
audible.
Mr. Sellers (aside): It says it is the same Spirit.
(Resuming): I presume then it is Henry Seybert?
(No response.) Is it Henry Seybert?
Three raps--distinct and positive.
Mr. Sellers: You promised last evening to give a communication to Mr.
Pepper. Are you able to communicate with him now?
Two raps--comparatively feeble.
The Medium (interpreting): One, two: that means "not now."
Mr. Sellers (repeating): "Not now."
The Medium (reflectively): But probably before he leaves.
Three raps--quickly, distinctly and instantly given.
The Medium: He said "Yes," "before he leaves." (To Mr. Sellers): You
asked that question, I think?
Mr. Sellers: Yes. (Resuming): Will you communicate with him before Mr.
Pepper leaves to-night?
Three raps--instantaneous, quick and vigorous. The sounds in this
instance are four times repeated, the repetitions being in quick
succession and apparently without variation in quality or character.
Mr. Sellers (addressing his associates): It has been very clearly shown
to-night that certain sounds of greater or less volume have been
produced. We have heard the sounds. We are conscious that they are raps.
It is exceedingly important, in deference to the Medium herself, that we
should prove that she has nothing to do with the production of the
sounds other than in a Spiritualistic capacity. I would like to ask her
if there is any test that she herself can propose which would be capable
of satisfying us that she does not produce the sounds.
The Medium: I could name a great many tests, but they might not be
satisfactory to you; for instance, the one of standing on glass
tumblers, where the raps are produced on the floor.
Mr. Sellers: Will the raps be produced under such circumstances?
The Medium: I cannot say that they will be, any more than I can say that
they will be produced through the use of the table. In fact, they are
not so readily produced sometimes.
Mr. Sellers: I understand your position. But you say that there are
cases in which, when the Medium is standing upon glass, the sounds are
produced.
The Medium: Oh, yes. I mention that--the producing through glass--as one
of the most difficult of tests.
Mr. Sellers: Then the sounds will be just beneath your feet, will they?
The Medium: Well, they will seem to be. They may be on the side.
After a brief interval, during which Mr. Furness absented himself to
procure glass tumblers, the colloquy with the Medium was resumed.
Mr. Sellers: While we are waiting for those tumblers, will you repeat
the experiment of last night, that of standing near the table and not
touching it, to see if the same character of sounds then produced can be
again heard? Last evening we had a very satisfactory exhibition of that.
The Medium: Yes. But we have to keep to a certain condition; that is,
you are not to break. For instance, if you will all stand up and stand
touching the table--all of us--until we get started, it will be some
assistance.
All of the gentlemen and the Medium rise and remain standing with their
hands in contact with the table.
The Medium (continuing): This is a test, something that I have not gone
through with since I was a little child almost.
Mr. Sellers (after an interval of waiting): There seem to be no raps.
(Another short interval.) Now, Mr. Seybert, cannot you produce some
raps?
Eighty seconds here elapsed with no response, when the Medium made an
observation which was partly inaudible at the Reporter's seat, the
purport of which was that the Spirit communications are sometimes
retarded or facilitated by a compliance by the listeners with certain
conditions. Another interval of probably two minutes elapsed, when the
Medium suggested to Dr. Leidy to place his hands upon the table. The
suggestion was complied with.
Mr. Sellers inquires of the Medium whether a change in her position,
with regard to the table, would do any good.
The Medium: I will change positions with you.
The change was made accordingly, but without result, and another period
of waiting followed.
The Medium (to Dr. Leidy): Suppose you ask some questions. You may have
some friend who will respond.
Dr. Leidy: Is any Spirit present whom I know, or who knows me?
After a pause of ten seconds, three light raps are heard.
Dr. Leidy: Who am I?
The Medium explains that the responses by rappings are mainly indicative
only of affirmation or negation.
Dr. Leidy: Will you repeat your taps to indicate that you are present
yet?
Three taps are heard.
Mr. Sellers: Those are very clearly heard.
The Medium (to Dr. Leidy): Ask if that is Mr. Seybert?
Dr. Leidy: Is Mr. Seybert present?
Three raps--very feeble.
Dr. Leidy (to Mr. Sellers): Was there an answer to that?
Mr. Sellers: There was. The answer was three raps. (After an interval,
in which no response is received): There seem to be no further
communications. I suggest that the test with the glass tumblers be now
tried.
Upon the suggestion of the Medium, the test referred to was momentarily
deferred, and Mr. Sellers made this inquiry:
It is proposed that the Medium shall stand upon tumblers. Are we likely
to have any demonstration?
Three raps--promptly given, though feeble in delivery and but faintly
audible.
The Medium: There were three--a kind of tardy assent.
Mr. Sellers (to the Medium): As if the Spirits might or might not
communicate?
The Medium: Well, that a trial might be made.
Three raps are here again instantly heard--the characteristics of the
sounds in this instance being rapidity and energy, or positiveness.
The Medium: That is a quick answer.
At this point attention is directed to the first of a series of
experiments with four glass tumblers, which are placed together, with
the bottoms upward, on the carpeted floor, in the centre of a vacant
space. The Medium stands directly upon these, the heels of her shoes
resting upon the rear tumblers and the soles upon the front tumblers.
The Committee co-operate with the Medium, and, in conformity with her
suggestions, all the men clasp hands and form a semi-circle in front of
the Medium, the hands of the latter being grasped by the gentlemen
nearest to her on either side.
Mr. Sellers (after a notification from the Medium to proceed): Is Mr.
Seybert still present?
No response.
The Medium: It may be a few minutes before you will hear any rapping
through these glasses.
Ten seconds elapse.
The Medium: This test is a very satisfactory one, if they do it. And
they have done it a hundred times.
Five seconds elapse.
The Medium (to Mr. Furness): The glasses are not placed over marble, are
they?
Mr. Furness: No; the floor is of wood.
Mr. Sellers (after another interval of waiting) informally remarked to
Mr. Furness: We will wait probably for another minute to see if anything
comes. As you know, the Medium claims it is impossible for her to
control these things--that she is merely one who is operated through.
Another interval expires.
The Medium: That was a very faint rap. Suppose we change the position of
the glasses.
Note by the Stenographer.--No intimation is given that the rap here
spoken of was heard by any one other than the Medium herself. Pursuant
to the request just stated, the carpet is removed and the glass tumblers
are located on the bare floor at a point about five feet distant from
the place at which the first test was tried. The new location is in the
centre of a passage way, about three feet in width, between a side-board
on one side and a wall projection on the other. Its selection is
apparently, though not specifically, dictated by the position and
movements of the Medium. The Medium and the Committee resume their
positions, the former standing on the glasses and the gentlemen facing
her in a group.
The Medium: Now, Spirits, will you rap on the floor?
Thirty seconds here elapsed with no response, when one glass was heard
to click against another, and the Medium exclaimed, "Oh."
The Medium (repeating): Will you rap on the floor?
Thirty seconds now elapse without any demonstration.
The Medium (aside): It seems to be a failure. They have done it.
Another click of the glasses, which passes without comment.
Mr. Sellers: We will have to set down the result of the experiment on
glass tumblers as negative. It may be well to try it later.
The Medium (evidently reluctant to abandon the test): Suppose now, as we
have gone so far, we kind of form a chain.
The company retained their positions with hands joined, and the Spirits
were repeatedly requested to make their presence known--Mr. Pepper, at
the suggestion of the Medium, asking the Spirit of his friend, Henry
Seybert, to manifest its presence by one rap--but all efforts to elicit
such response proved ineffectual. The glasses were then removed and the
requests were again reiterated, but with a like negative result. The
Medium finally remarked that she had rarely known of failures with the
glass tumblers, but it had been a long time since she had tried them.
She suggested that this branch of the investigation might be deferred
until later.
The Committee acquiesced in the suggestion and returned to the pine
table, where, with the Medium, they resume their original positions. The
Stenographer is seated at the table in the rear of the company.
Mr. Sellers: Now we have returned to the table. Can you indicate on the
table your presence, Mr. Seybert?
An interval of sixty-four seconds here followed.
The Medium: Ask some questions that would interest him in life.
As Mr. Sellers was repeating to Mr. Pepper the suggestion made by the
Medium, three raps were heard.
Mr. Sellers: There is now a communication that he is present.
Mr. Pepper: Harry, would you like to know something about this
investigation of Spiritual manifestations, which you had so much at
heart while living?
Three raps--prompt and decided.
Mr. Sellers: Do you, Mr. Seybert, at the present time, see the persons
present? Are they visible before you?
Two raps--noticeably slow.
Mr. Sellers (aside): He says "No, they are not."
The Medium (interpreting): Well, that would be too--'partially.'
Dr. Koenig: What would that mean--that he only sees some of us, or that
he sees none of us entirely, but only partially?
The Medium: That he sees us, but not clearly.
Mr. Sellers: Will you please rap the number of the members of the
Committee who are present at this time?
Three raps.
Mr. Sellers: Now, say how many.
Three raps.
Mr. Sellers: Are there only three?
The Medium (to Mr. Sellers): That answer was 'Yes,' I think.
Mr. Sellers: Well, you say you can do it. Please count the number of the
members of the Committee who are present.
[A]Seven raps--very slow, deliberate and distinct.
[Footnote A: When, in answer to Mr. Sellers' question, the raps counted
the number of the Committee present, the number seven was indicated.
_This counted in Mr. George S. Pepper and the Stenographer._--G.S.F.]
Mr. Sellers: Are there seven members of the Committee present?
Three raps.
Mr. Sellers: Are they all seated around one table?
No response. About forty seconds elapse.
Mr. Sellers: Are they seated at two tables?
[B]Three raps--quite feeble.
[Footnote B: When the raps indicated that the members of the Commission
sat at _two_ tables, this expressly included in the number of the
Commission the Stenographer, who sat at a different table from that at
which the members of the Commission were seated at the time of asking
the question.--G.S.F.]
Mr. Sellers (to his associates): We still must go back to the one thing.
The information we receive through these responses is of little
importance to us compared with the information which we must obtain as
to whether these sounds are produced by a disembodied Spirit or by some
living person; that is, in deference to the Medium. (To Mr. Furness): Do
you not think so?
Mr. Furness is understood to assent.
Mr. Sellers (continuing): We have tried the glass tumblers. We have the
sounds here. I would ask Mrs. Kane if it is proper for us to look below
the top of the table at the time the sounds are being produced, and in
such a way as to see her feet.
The Medium: Yes, of course, you could do that, but it is not well to
break, when you are standing, suddenly. As you know, you have to conform
to the rules, else you will get no rappings.
Mr. Sellers: What are the rules?
The Medium (disconnectedly): The rules are--every test condition, that I
am perfectly willing to go through, and have gone through a thousand
times--at the same time, there are times when you can break the rules.
So slight a thing as the disjoining of hands may break the rules. I do
not think the standing on the glass has been fully tried.
Mr. Sellers: We will try that later.
Mr. Furness (to the Medium--informally): This investigation is one of
great importance to us. There is no question about it--we have heard
these curious sounds. Now, as to whether they come from Spirits or
not--that would seem to be the very next logical step in our inquiry. I
think you are entirely at one with us in every possible desire to have
this phenomenon investigated.
The Medium: Oh, certainly. But I pledge myself to conform to nothing,
for--as I said in Europe--I do not even say the sounds are from Spirits;
and, what is more, it is utterly beyond human power to detect them. I do
not say they are the Spirits of our departed friends, but I leave others
to judge for themselves.
Mr. Furness: Then you have come to the conclusion that they are entirely
independent of yourself.
The Medium: No, I do not know that they are entirely independent of
myself.
Mr. Furness: Under what conditions can you influence them?
The response, which was partly inaudible at the Reporter's seat, was
understood to be: "I cannot tell."
Mr. Furness: You say that, in the generality of cases, they are beyond
your control?
The Medium: Yes.
Mr. Furness: How in the world shall we test that?
The Medium: Well, by--
Mr. Furness: By--what? Isolating you from the table?
The Medium: Yes.
Mr. Furness (applying his right hand, by her permission, to the Medium's
head): Are you ever conscious of any vibration in your bones?
The Medium: No; but sometimes it causes an exhaustion, that is, under
circumstances when the raps do not come freely.
Mr. Furness: The freer the raps come, the better for you?
The Medium: Yes; the freer the better--the less exhaustion.
Mr. Sellers: But do you feel now, to-night, any untoward influence
operating against you?
The Medium: No, not to-night, for it takes quite a little while before
we feel those things.
Mr. Furness: Do these raps always have that vibratory
sound--tr-rut--tr-rut--tr-rut?
The Medium: Sometimes they vary.
Mr. Furness: As a general rule I have heard them sound so.
The Medium: Every rap has a different sound. For instance, when the
Spirit of Mr. Seybert rapped, if the sound was a good one, you would
have noticed that his rap was different from that of another. Every one
is entirely different from another.
Mr. Furness: Do you suppose that the present conditions are such that
you can throw the raps to a part of the room other than that in which
you are?
The Medium: I do not pretend to do that, but I will try to do it.
Mr. Furness and Dr. Leidy station themselves in the corner of the room,
diagonally, and most remote from the pine table, at which their
associates remain seated, with their hands upon the table, and 'their
minds intent on having the raps produced at the corner indicated,' as
requested by the Medium, who also remains at the table. The Medium asks,
'Will the Spirit rap at the other side of the room,' and, after twelve
seconds, and again after forty-three seconds, repeats the inquiry. No
response is received. The experiment is repeated with Mr. Furness and
Dr. Koenig at the corner, but with a like negative result.
At this point the attention of the Committee was again directed to the
attempted production of the rappings with the Medium standing upon the
glass tumblers. The lady proceeded to the space between the side-board
and the wall where the last preceding test had been made, and there the
tumblers were again arranged. The Medium resumed her position upon them,
with Doctors Leidy and Koenig, and Messrs. Sellers and Furness facing
her.
The Medium: Will the Spirit rap here?
Twenty-three seconds elapse.
Dr. Leidy: Is any Spirit present?
An interval of thirty-nine seconds here followed, when the attention of
the Committee was momentarily diverted by an inquiry addressed to Mr.
Furness by Mr. Sellers, viz.: Whether a glass plate of sufficient
strength to bear the weight of the Medium was procurable. At this moment
the Medium suddenly exclaimed: 'I heard a rap. You said, "Get a glass,"
and there was a rap.'[A]
[Footnote A: No one but the Medium heard this rap.--G.S.F.]
The Medium (repeating for the information of Mr. Furness): Somebody
proposed a glass and there were three raps.
Dr. Koenig inquires of the Medium whether the meaning intended to be
conveyed by the sounds is that the Spirits desire to have the glass
plate procured.
The Medium: I do not know. I know there were raps. (Turning to Mr.
Sellers, the Medium adds): They may have been made by your heel on the
floor but certainly there were sounds.
Mr. Fullerton: Then it was not the regular triple rap?
The Medium: I could not tell.
Just before calling attention to the alleged rap or raps the Medium
grasped with her right hand the woodwork of the side-board as if for
support. It was then that she stated she heard the sounds. They were
apparently not heard by any one but the Medium.
Mr. Sellers (addressing the Spirit): Will you repeat the raps we heard
just now, assuming that there were some?
Ten minutes elapse without a response.
The Medium: There is no use of my standing longer, for when they come at
all they come right away.
Mr. Sellers (after scrutinizing the position of one of the feet of the
Medium, remarks): The edge of the heel of the shoe rests on the back
tumbler. (Assuming a stooping posture for a more prolonged scrutiny, he
adds): We will see whether the raps will be produced now.
The Medium now proposes that all members of the Committee shall stand up
and join hands.
Mr. Sellers and his associates accordingly stand, facing the Medium,
with hands joined. Changes in their positions were made by some of the
gentlemen from time to time, as suggested by the Medium, Mr. Pepper and
Dr. Koenig being the first to exchange places. This occurred after a
silence of thirty seconds without any response.
The Medium: Now, Mr. Seybert, if your Spirit is here, will you have the
kindness--I knew Mr. Seybert well in life--to rap?
Fifteen seconds elapse.
The Medium: No, he does not seem to respond.
At the suggestion of Mr. Sellers, all the gentlemen approach the Medium
for the purpose of inducing some acknowledgment by the Spirit, and
inquiries similar to those already stated are repeated without result.
The Committee then temporarily abandon this test.
All present (except the Stenographer) having been seated at the large
circular table in the centre of the room, Mr. Pepper addressed the
Spirit of Mr. Seybert, as follows: 'Harry, will you communicate with me
as you promised to do?'
(Three raps--given slowly and deliberately--are heard.)
Mr. Sellers: Will you communicate with Mr. Pepper by raps or by
writing? (No response.) Will you communicate by raps?
The Medium (to Mr. Sellers): Well, my hand does feel like writing. Will
you give me a piece of paper?--and maybe they will give me some
directions.
Mr. Fullerton (to the Medium): How does your hand feel when affected in
that way?
The Medium: It is a peculiar feeling, like that from taking hold of
electrical instruments. I do not know but that you might possibly feel
it in my hand.
The lady here extended her right hand upon the table toward Mr.
Fullerton. The latter placed his left hand upon the extended hand of the
Medium, and subsequently remarked that the pulsation of her wrist was a
little above the ordinary rate.
The Medium, ostensibly under Spirit influence, with lead pencil in hand
proceeded to write two communications from the Spirit of the late Henry
Seybert. The first of these covered two pages of paper of the size of
ordinary foolscap. The Medium wrote in large characters, with remarkable
rapidity, and in a direction from the right to the left, or the reverse
of ordinary handwriting. The writing, consequently, could be read only
from the reverse side of the paper and by being held up so as to permit
the gas-light to pass through it.
The communications, as deciphered by Mr. Sellers, with the aid of Mr.
Fullerton and the Medium, were as follows: "You must not expect that I
can satisfy you beyond all doubt in so short a time as you have yet had.
I want to give you all in my power, and will do so if you will give me a
chance. You must commence right in the first place or you shall all be
disappointed for a much longer time. _Princiipis Obsta Sero Medicina
Paratum._
Henry Seybert.
"Mend the fault in time or we will all be puzzled.
Henry Seybert."
The foregoing were understood to be directed to Mr. Pepper, in
accordance with the assurance given by the Spirit that it would
communicate with him.
Subsequently, when the trance condition had apparently disappeared, the
Medium complied with a request to write, as it would be read to her, the
Latin phrase at the end of the first communication. Using the pencil in
her right hand, she transcribed slowly and in the usual direction from
left to right. The style of her handwriting was small and comparatively
neat. Apparently in every particular her writing in this instance was
the exact opposite of that made by her while in the alleged trance
condition. She here stated that, ordinarily, she wrote in the same
manner in which people generally write, with her right hand and from
left to right. With respect to her inability to transcribe the Latin
words until these had been spelled for her, she explained that she was
not at all familiar with Latin.[A]
[Footnote A: Mr. George S. Pepper, who was present, said that Mr.
Seybert knew no Latin.--G.S.F.]
A member of the Committee, commenting upon a defect in the spelling of
the first of the Latin words in the Spirit communication, suggested that
the error might be accounted for on the hypothesis that Mr. Seybert, in
life, was accustomed to the use of poor Latin.
The Medium farther explained that her understanding of the second
communication was that it was a translation of the Latin contained in
the first.
The glass tumblers are here again produced and the Medium takes her
position upon them, with Mr. Fullerton standing next to her upon the
right and Mr. Furness to the left. Mr. Sellers remains for some moments
kneeling on the floor to enable himself better to hear any sounds that
may be but faintly audible. The Spirits are repeatedly importuned by the
Medium to produce the rappings, but no response is heard until the
company is about to abandon the experiment. Three raps are then audible.
The raps are very light but very distinct.
Mr. Fullerton states that he heard the raps.
Mr. Sellers: I heard a sound then, but it seemed as if it was around
there. (Indicating along the wall immediately in the rear of the
Medium.)
The tumblers are here moved further away from the wall and the Medium
resumes her position upon them.
Mr. Sellers: Will the Spirit rap again? (No response.)
The Medium: Were any of you gentlemen acquainted with Mr. Seybert in his
lifetime?
Mr. Fullerton: I saw him several times before his death. If he can give
an intimation now of anything he said at that time, it will indicate
that he remembers it.
A very faint rap is heard.
The Medium: There is a rap. It seems to be there again. (Indicating the
spot to which attention was previously called by Mr. Sellers.)
The Medium again importunes, first, 'Mr. Seybert' and next 'the Spirits'
'to rap;' and the importunities are repeated. Three raps are distinctly
but faintly heard.
Mr. Sellers: I heard them. They sounded somewhat like the others, not
exactly.
The Medium: I heard one rap, but it is nothing for me to hear them; I
want you gentlemen to hear them.
Mr. Sellers: Probably we will hear them again.
While Mr. Sellers and Mr. Furness are conversing, several raps are
heard, though less distinct than the preceding ones.
The Medium: There they are as though right under the glass. (After a
silence of forty seconds): Now I hear them again very light--oh, very
light.
Mr. Furness, with the permission of the Medium, places his hand upon one
of her feet.
The Medium: There are raps now, strong--yes, I hear them.
Mr. Furness (to the Medium): This is the most wonderful thing of all,
Mrs. Kane, I distinctly feel them in your foot. There is not a particle
of motion in your foot, but there is an unusual pulsation.
Mr. Sellers here made some inquiries of the Medium, concerning the shoes
now worn by her. The replies, which were not direct, are here given.
Mr. Sellers: Are those the shoes which you usually wear?
The Medium: I wear all kinds of shoes.
Mr. Sellers: Are the sounds sometimes produced in your room when you
have no shoes on.
The Medium: More or less. They are produced under all circumstances.
Following the suggestion of the Medium, all present proceed through an
intervening apartment to the library where the Medium selects various
positions--standing upon a lounge, then upon a cushioned chair, next
upon a step-ladder and finally upon the side of a book-case--but all
with a like unsuccessful result, no response by rappings being heard.
Upon an intimation being given by a member of the Committee that the
Medium may be wearied, the further prosecution of the Investigation is
temporarily deferred.
* * * * *
After the examination of Mrs. Kane, and after the Stenographer had left,
the Commission held a conference, and commissioned Mr. Furness to lay
before Mrs. Kane the question of continuing or closing the
investigation, so far as she was concerned. If she were sanguine of more
satisfactory results at another séance, the Commission was willing to
prolong the investigation.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
Below is given the letter from Mr. Furness, explaining why the
investigation of Mrs. Kane was not continued. The decision to
discontinue it came from her.
My Dear Fullerton:
You remember that the members of The Seybert Commission separated last
evening with the understanding that we should meet Mrs. Kane again this
evening, if Mrs. Kane desired it, and that they requested me to lay the
question before her for her decision.
Accordingly, I had an interview with her this morning, of which the
following is as accurate an account as I can remember.
I told her that the Commission had now had two séances with her, and
that the conclusion to which they had come is that the so-called raps
are confined wholly to her person, whether produced by her voluntarily
or involuntarily they had not attempted to decide; furthermore, that
although thus satisfied in their own minds they were anxious to treat
her with all possible deference and consideration, and accordingly had
desired me to say to her that if she thought another séance with her
would or might modify or reverse their conclusion, they held themselves
ready to meet her again this evening and renew the investigation of the
manifestations; at the same time I felt it my duty to add that in that
case the examination would necessarily be of the most searching
description.
Mrs. Kane replied that the manifestations at both séances had been of an
unsatisfactory nature, so unsatisfactory that she really could not blame
the Commission for arriving at their conclusion. In her present state of
health she doubted whether a third meeting would prove any better than
the two already held. It might be even more unsatisfactory, and instead
of removing the present belief of the Commission it might add
confirmation of it. In view of these considerations, she decided not to
hold another séance.
Afterward, during the forenoon (you know she has been and still is my
guest), she recurred to the subject, and added that if hereafter her
health improved it would give her pleasure to make a free-will offering
to the Commission of a number of séances for further investigations.
I forgot to tell you, when we last met, that yesterday morning, the 6th
of November, I brought away from Mrs. Patterson our sealed slate. It
contains no writing, so Mrs. Patterson says. During the many months that
it has been in this Medium's possession I have made to her the most
urgent appeals, both in person and by letter, to fulfill her promise of
causing the writing to appear in it. Her invariable excuse has been her
lack of time.
I Remain Yours,
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
_Acting Chairman_.
7th November, 1884.
It will be seen from the last paragraph of the preceding letter that the
attempt to produce 'independent writing' on the inside of the slate
sealed by the Commission was without result.
The slate was sealed on May 31st, 1884 (as described in the records of
the meeting of that date), was placed in the hands of the Medium, Mrs.
Patterson, the next day, where it remained until November 6th.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
January 16th, 1885.
The Commission met on Friday evening, January 16th, 1885, for the
purpose of examining a second slate which had been sealed by Mr. Furness
and left with Mrs. Patterson, and was now returned to the Commission.
The slate was screwed and sealed by Mr. Furness, just before Christmas,
and was in the hands of the Medium until January 12th.
[So importunate was the Acting Chairman in his entreaties to Mrs.
Patterson to bring to bear on these slates all her Spiritual power, that
at last he induced her to name a certain afternoon that should be
devoted to the task. He went to her house on the day named, and sat
with her while she held the slates in her lap. To increase to the
utmost all available Spiritual force, Mrs. Patterson's two daughters and
her brother-in-law, Mr. Winner, were called in and shared the session.
After sitting for nearly two hours, the little pencil had not made its
appearance on the outside, but could still be heard rattling inside, and
the obdurate Spirits were abandoned for the day.--H.H.F.]
The slate was secured as follows:
[Illustration]
The two leaves of the slate were fastened by four screws at 1, 2, 3 and
4; one side of the slate was already secured by the hinges 8, 8; the
slate had then been wrapped by the tape 9, 9, as indicated, the knot
being at 4; seals had then been set over the heads of the screws, upon
the tape, at 1, 2, 3 and 4, and also over the ends of the screws, upon
the tape, on the other side of the slate; a seal was also placed upon
the ends of the tape at 5; and two seals at one corner, at the places
indicated by 6 and 7. The corner marked by the arrow (<--) was protected
only by the screws and seals at 3 and 4.
When the slate was shaken no sound of the rattling of the pencil was
heard--a pencil-scrap having been enclosed as usual in the slate when it
was sealed. The Medium had declared that the pencil was gone, but said
she did not know whether there was writing on the slate or not.
The seals were first examined and declared intact.
Then Dr. Leidy pushed a thin knife-blade between the slates at the
unprotected corner, marked by the arrow on the sketch.
Then Mr. Sellers pushed in a thick knife-blade a little to one side of
Dr. Leidy's. (The exact place is marked on the rim of the slate
itself.) Both the blades were thrust straight in--Dr. Leidy's exactly at
the corner, and Mr. Sellers's at the point marked, and neither of them
was worked about between the slates.
The slates were thus separated by the thick knife-blade about one-tenth
of an inch.
The seals were not broken by this.
While the slates were thus separated, it was noticed that the wood was
discolored and rubbed glossy on the sides of the crack.
Mr. Sellers then removed the tape, seals and screws.
The slate being opened, no pencil was found and no pencil-marks appeared
on the slate.
The rims were worn smooth and blackened at the corner where the slates
could be separated; this was very distinct.
Some soap-stone dust, which Dr. Koenig identified under a microscope as
the same with a remaining fragment of the pencil inserted (which Mr.
Furness had preserved), was found rubbed into the same corner, showing
that _the slates had been separated and the piece of pencil worked out_.
Mr. Furness then produced three slates of the same sort (with hinges,
and about 8 in. by 6.) to be used in the presence of Dr. Slade.
They were screwed up with a bit of pencil inside, in the presence of the
Commission. Each was marked on the inside by Mr. Sellers, with a scratch
from a diamond. To Mr. Furness was delegated the work of sealing them.
[As Dr. Slade, however, refused to use any of our sealed slates, our
labor was wasted.]
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
The following is a stenographic report of a meeting of the Commission,
to consider the reports offered by several members of séances with Dr.
Henry Slade, who came to Philadelphia to meet the Commission. As he
refused to sit with more than three of the Commission at a time, it was
necessary to visit him in sections. Arrangements had been made to have
all the members sit with him in turn, but it was soon decided that
continuity of observation was valuable, and certain members were
appointed to do the whole work.
(A record from the notes of the Stenographer, Mr. J.I. Gilbert.)
PHILADA., February 7th, 1885.
A formal session of the Seybert Committee was held to-day at 8 o'clock
P.M., at the residence of Mr. Furness, No. 222 West Washington Square.
The session was devoted to consideration of the séances held with Dr.
Henry Slade, from January 21st to January 28th inclusive.
The following is a compilation of written notes and verbal comments upon
the séances by members of the Committee:
Mr. Coleman Sellers (referring to notes):
The Committee met on January 21st, 1885, at the Girard House,
Philadelphia, in Room 24.
There were present: Messrs. Thompson, Sellers and Furness, of the
Committee, and the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade.
The séance was conducted at a pine table prepared by the Medium, which
was supplied with two falling leaves and stationed at a point remote
from the centre of the room, and contiguous to a wall of the apartment.
Upon the table were two ordinary writing slates and fragments of slate
pencils.
The relative positions of the Medium and the Committee were as follows:
the Medium was seated in the space between the table and the wall.
Professor Thompson occupied a chair at the side of the table to the
right, and Mr. Furness one at the side to the left of the Medium. Mr.
Sellers was seated at the side directly opposite to the Medium.
After calling attention to the slates and the pencil pieces, the Medium
remarked that, as his baggage had not come to hand, he was apprehensive
that the sitting would not be a very good one. A brief, general
conversation followed, and then, complying with a direction of the
Medium, all present joined hands upon the table. Thereupon the Medium
abruptly started back, and, remarking that he had received a very severe
shock of some kind, inquired whether the gentlemen present had not
experienced a like sensation. The responses were in the negative.
The Medium next proposed to give an exhibition of "Spiritism" through
the agency of communications invisibly written upon the apparently blank
surface of one of the slates. At this point Mr. Sellers asked that the
table be examined, and, with the assent of the Medium, an examination
was accordingly made by the Committee; the only noteworthy result of
which was the discovery immediately beneath the table-top of openings
or slots into which the bars supporting the table leaves entered when
turned to permit the lowering of the leaves.
(Mr. Sellers here continued, without reference to notes):
These slots and the use to which I ascertained they might be applied are
worthy of special comment, as they played a very important part in all
the expositions that were made of the Medium Slade's manifestations. The
slot under the table into which the vibrating bar passed when the leaf
was lowered was an inch and a-quarter in depth. At a later period of the
meeting, when the opportunity was afforded, I took the slate in my hand,
and, from the table side at which I was seated (the one directly
opposite the Medium's position) passed it into the slot, allowing it to
rest there diagonally. Upon removing my hand the slate remained
suspended in its place, and in a position in which it could conveniently
be written upon. I may add that this arrangement of the slate is said to
be an essential feature of Slade's favorite method of writing. The
Medium did not fail to notice my experiment of passing the slate into
the slot, and, upon the occasion of my second attendance at the
"manifestations" (which was at the third meeting of the Committee),
having dispensed with the table I have described and prepared another,
he somewhat ostentatiously called attention to the fact that the table
then produced contained no slots such as those of which I have spoken. I
have a memorandum of the size of the slots. The dimensions of the table
last referred to are given in Mr. Fullerton's report.
(Mr. Sellers, referring again to his notes):
Taking a slate in his hand Slade held it beneath the table leaf to his
right, when almost immediately there was a succession of faintly audible
sounds such as would have been made by writing on the slate under the
table. A knock indicated that the writing had ceased. The Medium then
attempted to withdraw the slate, but in this encountered a seeming
resistance, and only succeeded by a jerk, as if wrenching the slate from
the grasp of a strong person who was below the table. Upon the slate,
which was at once inspected, appeared in a fair, running handwriting,
and as if written with a pencil held firmly in hand, the following:
"My friends,
Look well to the truth and learn wisdom, I am truly
James Clark."
(Continuing, without reference to notes):
This writing differed entirely, in general appearance, from the
subsequent writings upon the slate, having apparently been made with the
rounded point of a pencil held in an easy and natural position for
writing. In other instances the writings had a strained and artificial
appearance, and had evidently been made with a pencil point which had
been flattened before being used.
Professor Thompson (to Mr. Sellers): Do you remember that at the session
of which you now speak the Medium denied having any knowledge of James
Clark, and afterwards said that he did know of him?
Mr. Sellers: I remember distinctly that he said he knew nothing of James
Clark's affairs, and that, on another day, he presented a communication
from a William Clark.
(Mr. Sellers here resumed his reading from notes, as follows):
The writing was obliterated from it and the slate again held under the
table, when the question was asked, "Will you do more." An interval of
perhaps one or two minutes elapsed when the slate was exhibited, and
upon it appeared the word "Yes." The word had been written with a
broad-ended pencil, and neither in style nor character resembled the
first writing.
Mr. Sellers, complying with the Medium's request to write a question on
the back of the slate, wrote "Do you know the persons present?" The
response which was made to this was "Yes, we do."
No additional manifestations by writings were made at the first meeting.
During the sitting many raps were produced on the table through some
invisible agency, and as these sounds, in some instances, were such as
could be made by simple means and at the command of a person sitting at
the table, a member of the Committee reproduced the sounds. It was the
conviction of the members of the Committee present that the sounds thus
produced were similar to the sounds said to have been made by Spirits.
The Medium, however, professed his ability to distinguish between the
two classes of sounds, and remarked that some of the sounds heard by him
were such as would be made by a person touching the table and causing it
to make the raps; that such sounds were not from the Spirits; that when
the raps were genuine they caused a peculiar sensation, a sort of
tremor, in his breast, and, therefore, he could tell when the raps were
spurious.
(Mr. Sellers, aside): In other words, that none were genuine but those
made by himself.
(Resuming, from notes): The Medium, in answer to inquiries, gave a
detailed description of the remarkable phenomena said to have been
produced in the presence of Professor Zoellner--which, he said, were as
unexpected to himself (Slade) as they were to any one; that they were
beyond his control, and evidently the work of Spirits under very
favorable conditions.
Mr. Sellers here read the minutes of the meeting of January 22d, 1885,
as prepared by Professor Fullerton.
(The minutes are as follows):
The Committee met on Thursday, January 22d, 1885, at 12 M., in the
Girard House, Philadelphia.
Present: Messrs. Thompson, Furness, Fullerton and the Medium, Henry
Slade.
A table measuring five or four and a-half by three feet, was used by the
Medium. It was an oval table with two leaves. The Medium sat at one
side, with Mr. Furness at the end of the table to his left, Professor
Thompson at the end to his right, and Mr. Fullerton opposite. A circle
was first formed by joining hands upon the table.
A slate was passed to Mr. Fullerton by the Medium, with the request that
it be held by him under the table leaf to his (Mr. Fullerton's) left.
The slate was held by Mr. Fullerton as requested, but at no time during
the sitting was any writing produced on the slate. Toward the close of
the séance the slate was held for some time under the opposite table
leaf by Messrs. Furness and Fullerton.
Dr. Slade, after cleaning a slate, held it under the table-leaf to his
right, in the space between himself and Professor Thompson. The slate
was not held close to the table, but in a slanting position, so that a
space of perhaps four or five inches was left between the edge of the
slate farthest removed from the table and the table itself. A piece of
pencil, broken from a small pencil--about 1-16th to 1-12th in. cross
section, was laid on the slate.
A series of questions were here propounded, in each instance the inquiry
being followed by a scratching sound, and the slate being then withdrawn
from under the table and showing writing upon it. These writings were
construed as responses.
The questions and answers were as follows:--
1. It was asked: Will the Spirits answer questions?
Ans. (as above). 'We will try,'
2. Is the gentleman opposite a Medium? (Mr. Fullerton.)
Ans. He has some power.
3. Are there more Spirits than one present?
Ans. Yes, there is.
4. Another communication which appeared on the slate was 'we will do
more soon.'
5. Ques. Do you move this pencil?
Ans. We do, of course.
6. Tell us if you will play the accordion, or try to to-day?
Ans. Yes.
The accordion (a small one) was then held partly under the leaf of the
table, where the slates had been. It played a little. The members of the
Commission could not see it when in that position, or at least could not
see the whole of it. Mr. Fullerton, by looking under Professor
Thompson's arm, over the table, could occasionally catch a glimpse of it
as Dr. Slade moved it to and fro, but saw only one corner.
Dr. Slade then marked a slate with a line, and laid one of the bits of
pencil upon the line. A large slate pencil was then laid along the edge
of the slate. The slate was placed below the edge of the table beside
Dr. Slade (to his right, as usual) when the large pencil was thrown up
into the air two and a-half or three feet above the table.
When the slate was brought up into view again the small bit of pencil
was still in its place. This would, of course, be nothing remarkable if
the Medium's finger were upon the small bit of pencil at the time of the
jerk.
Another slate was held by Dr. Slade on the same side of and below the
table (as far as I could judge from his arm it was nearly as low as Dr.
Slade's knee), and it was suddenly broken into many pieces, the frame
being at once held up for inspection by Dr. Slade. It did not seem to
have been broken against the table, as there was no shock felt in the
table, nor did the sound indicate it. It might have been broken by a
sudden blow upon the knee, as Dr. Slade's knees were in close proximity
to the place where the slate was held.
[The following are Notes of points which Mr. Sellers asked me
particularly to observe.--G.S.F.]
NOTE 1.--The bits of pencil placed upon the slates seemed to be used in
writing, for pieces with sharp edges were broken and put on the slates
and afterwards were found somewhat worn.
NOTE 2.--They were apparently the same pieces, as the size was the same.
NOTE 3.--The writing did not seem to have been done by drawing the slate
over a pencil at the time that the scratching was heard, for the slate
was partly in view, and though it moved somewhat, it did not then move
enough to make, for example, a line the whole length of the slate, as
was done in one instance.
NOTE 4.--The pencil was found where the writing ended, and in the case
of the line cited just above, the mark on the slate was just about as
wide as the rubbed part of the pencil. The pencil was rubbed and the end
had been flat.
NOTE 5.--I did not notice any difference in the fineness of the earlier
and later writings. The first communication began and ended with a
strong broad line.
NOTE 6.--The accordion was a small one, and I cannot say whether it
might not have been played upon with one hand if grasped in the right
way.
NOTE 7.--In every case, what was done was done out of our sight, Dr.
Slade declaring that the object in concealing the slates, etc., was to
prevent our wills from having a negative effect upon the phenomena. My
own position opposite the Medium was a very bad one for observing what
was going on on his side of the table.
(Mr. Sellers here read, from notes taken by himself, the minutes of the
third of the series of Slade séances, as follows):
The Committee met on January 23d, 1885, at the Girard House,
Philadelphia, in Room 24.
There were present: Messrs. Thompson, Sellers and Furness, of the
Committee, and the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade.
The Medium was seated in the space between the table and the wall.
Professor Thompson occupied a chair at the side of the table to the
right, and Mr. Furness one at the side to the left of the Medium. Mr.
Sellers was seated at the side directly opposite to the Medium.
The table made use of on this occasion was much larger than the one used
at the first meeting. Attention was called to the fact that there were
no slots under the middle leaf of the table as there were in the other
table.
Between the leaf and the centre of the table paper had been introduced
for the purpose of stuffing the crack, a rather large one, and the
explanation of the Medium was, 'This is to stop a sort of draft that
comes up through the crack and breaks the connection.' The members of
the Committee were inclined to think that the purpose was to prevent
them from observing through the crack any manipulations of the slate or
motions by the Medium under the table.
The first writing on the slate was, 'We will do all we can.'
By request of the Medium, a slate with a bit of pencil was then held by
Mr. Sellers under the table leaf next to him on his left, when the
question was put, 'Will you try to write on the slate held by the
gentleman opposite.' The response, 'We will try,' was written on the
Medium's slate. After taking the slate in his hand and cleanly wiping
it, the Medium passed it under the table leaf, when almost instantly
sounds indicating writing, such as were audible at the first session,
were repeated. Upon being exhibited the slate contained the following:
My friends,--
Paul's injunction was "add to your faith knowledge." this knowledge, has
encouraged the desponding, and given comfort to the mourner, and gives
hope to the Hopeless. I am truly
William Clark.
The appearance of this writing was much the same as that of the first
day, when another long written communication was produced, but it bore
no resemblance to the scrawls which were exhibited in answer to
questions.
A special minute is here made of observations by members of the
Committee upon certain features of the Medium's operations, which tended
to discredit the assumption of a supernatural agency in the production
of the slate writings. In the above instance a slate which had been
noted as standing against a leg of the table and behind the chair of the
Medium, but conveniently within his reach, was dexterously substituted
by the Medium for the slate taken from the table and the one upon which
ostensibly writing was to appear. This was observed by one member. In
another instance a member (Mr. Sellers) observed the same substitution,
so far as the motion of the Medium's hand and arm was concerned. By
certain private marks, adroitly applied, the same member noted the fact
that the slate on which the writing was exhibited was not, as the Medium
represented it to be, the same slate which had been taken from the
table.
[The foregoing note by the Stenographer is somewhat incoherent, owing to
his unfamiliarity with Slade's séances; yet we prefer to let it remain
as it is.--G.S.F.]
(Mr. Sellers adds, parenthetically): That is, I watched the Medium's
operations specially with a view of informing myself whether the slate
used in both instances was the same.
(Resuming, from notes): The Medium proposed that the Committee should
retain the slate upon which the long message appeared. The slate was
accordingly retained by the Committee.
Professor Thompson (addressing Mr. Sellers): Was not that slate the one
that I held at the time referred to?
Mr. Sellers: It was. The slate was held by you at the same time that it
was held by the Medium.
Professor Thompson: Then there is an additional fact to be noted in
regard to it. That fact is this. When the sounds indicating the writing
process had ceased, I endeavored to pull the slate away from under the
table, but the Medium resisted my effort, and by powerful exertion
jerked the slate out toward himself. The substitution of one slate for
the other was probably made at this time, and the slate so substituted
was then placed on the table.
Mr. Sellers: That is true, most assuredly I saw the substitution, and
Mr. Furness also saw it very plainly. From his position Mr. Furness saw
the Medium take up the other slate.
NOTE.--An explanation was here made by Mr. Furness to the effect that
his knowledge of the substitution here spoken of was inferential, but
that at another period of the séance he did distinctly see the Medium
grasp an unused slate.
Mr. Sellers here resumed, from his notes:
The Medium then proposed to attempt the experiment of causing the chair
upon which Professor Thompson sat, to rise from the floor, without
external agency other than that of the hand of the Medium on the back of
the chair. In answer to the question, 'Will you try to lift the chair?'
the response was 'Yes.' Mr. Sellers, being requested to write a question
on the back of the slate near him, wrote the following, 'What is the
time?' After some little time, during which the Medium furtively glanced
at the slate, the answer was given, 'A little after twelve.'
Upon being requested to open his left hand and hold it thus extended in
a position beneath the top of the table to his left, Mr. Sellers
complied with the request, when a slate, which had been held by the
Medium under the opposite leaf, was passed across, and, after touching
Mr. Sellers's hand, fell to the floor. After several repetitions, the
slate was passed into Mr. Sellers's hand, but the experiment was
accompanied by a motion of the Medium which was evidently such as would
have been made if the Medium had passed the slate across by his foot.
[At his séances Dr. Slade wears slippers, into and out of which he can
readily slip his feet.--G.S.F.]
In answer to the question, 'Are you ready to lift the gentleman?' the
response, in writing, was given, 'Yes.' Clasping the back of the chair
firmly with his right hand, and approaching it close enough to enable
him to place his knee under the seat of the chair, the Medium, after
very considerable effort, caused the chair to rise from the floor an
inch or two. The physical strain on the part of the Medium was evident.
Professor Thompson, having obtained the permission of the Medium, wrote
the following upon the slate, 'Can a Spirit, still in the body, write
with a slate pencil without touching the pencil?' After some delay, and
frequent surreptitious glances at the slate by the Medium, the answer
was, 'Yes, we can tell.' This trial not being satisfactory, the same
question was repeated. The answer, which was longer delayed than the one
preceding it, was, 'We can do so, if the conditions are favorable.'
Professor Thompson (interposing): Do you remember the Medium's remarks
about the resistance of the Spirits?
Mr. Sellers: I do.
Professor Thompson: When he was pushing and pulling the slate, and
meanwhile looking at it--while moving it backward and forward--the
Medium remarked, 'There seems to be some kind of resistance; they don't
seem to know what to make of it'--meaning that the Spirits were making
some resistance to his moving the slate.
Mr. Sellers here resumed and completed the reading of his minutes, as
follows:
The experiment attempted on the second day, of causing a slate pencil to
jump from a slate without any disturbance of the slate, was here
repeated. A line was drawn upon the slate, and upon this line a small
bit of pencil was placed, the success of the experiment depending upon
this small piece remaining immovable upon the line. After several trials
this was accomplished. The experiment of playing an accordion beneath
the table was next made, and in one instance the top of the instrument
was thrown upon the table.
Mr. Sellers verbally made the following addition to his minutes:
The response to the question propounded by Professor Thompson was
attended with more than ordinary delay. Upon hearing the response, viz.:
'We can do so if the conditions are favorable,' Professor Thompson
remarked that this did not answer the question at all.
Professor Thompson: I made that statement in regard to both of the
responses.
Mr. Sellers: The statement, then, was, that neither of the responses
answered the question. Whereupon the Medium at once obliterated the
question from the slate, and remarked, 'Well, that is the best they can
do,' or something of that kind, or, 'They cannot understand that.' The
fact was that the Medium did not understand the question himself, as it
was purposely a somewhat involved question.
Professor Thompson: The fact appears to have been demonstrated that the
Medium seemed to have no difficulty in catching the purport of questions
of simple construction at a glance, and that a question of more than
average length, which he could not perceive the sense of, or which was
somewhat misleading in its terms, was not answered intelligently.
Professor Thompson here further explained that, when writing the
question spoken of, he concealed his hand from the observation of the
Medium. Mr. Sellers here imitated the motions of the body of the Medium
and the position of his hands at the time--the left resting on the
table, and the right hand beneath the table, near the slate--after which
the writing was displayed.
Mr. Sellers next presented the minutes of the meeting of January 24th,
as follows:
The Committee met on January 24th, 1885, at the Girard House,
Philadelphia, in Room 24.
There were present: Dr. Leidy, Mr. H.H. Furness and Mr. Coleman Sellers,
with the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade. Dr. Leidy occupied the position
previously held by Professor Thompson, to the right of the Medium;
Messrs. Sellers and Furness were seated as at the former sittings.
Slates were produced and held as at the previous séances. Upon one slate
the following interrogatories and responses were recorded:
'Spirits, are you ready to work?' Answer: 'Soon,'
'Will you write for the gentlemen?' Answer: 'We are trying to do so.'
At this point the Medium substituted another slate for the one which he
had held in his hand, and almost immediately thereafter, upon the new
slate being placed under the table, the sound of writing began and was
carried on with little interruption. The writing continued for a very
long time, during which the Medium, removing his hand from the hands of
the other gentlemen, said, 'You see that if I take my hand away from the
circle and thus break the circle, the sound of the writing ceases; if I
place my hand back again, the writing is repeated.' The sound of the
writing, which had been temporarily suspended, recommenced when the hand
of the Medium returned to its former position. The Medium further
stated, by way of qualifying his statement on this point, 'If I do not
jerk it away I can raise my hand a little.' He illustrated his meaning
by slightly elevating his hand and withdrawing it from the other hands,
at the same time calling attention to the fact that the sounds of the
writing on the slate were continued.
This modification by the Medium of his original statement was regarded
as intended to cover instances in which the circle had been
surreptitiously broken by members of the Committee without any of the
results which, had been predicted. Several such breaks had been made by
the writer (Mr. Sellers) unknown to any one but himself; and the Medium,
finally becoming aware of this fact, observed that the circle might
frequently be broken a little without any effect being apparent.
Professor Thompson: But did not the Medium make that statement at the
very first séance?
Mr. Sellers: He stated that at the first séance.
(Resuming, from notes): The communication inscribed upon the slate when
beneath the table was in the same handwriting as the other long
communications, and was evidently written with a sharpened pencil under
favorable conditions. It was as follows:
'My friends:
I have been made happy by the advent of my dear wife into this land of
souls. The name of my dear wife is Ann Louisa Tiers, of Germantown. Now
we shall part no more by death, as there is no death in this life.
My friends, never grieve because your friends meet the change called
death, as death is but the blooming of the soul.
I am
John Tiers.'
Mr. Sellers, in reply to an inquiry by Dr. Leidy concerning the identity
of the alleged author of the communication, here explained that a
newspaper advertisement of even date set forth that Ann Louisa Tiers,
widow of John Tiers, died on the day preceding the day of the meeting.
The advertisement had been noticed by Mr. Furness, and it appeared to
furnish the foundation for what had been imposed upon the Committee.
The slate used at the meeting here referred to was one which Mr. Furness
saw substituted, and which the writer (Mr. Sellers) is confident was
substituted.
Dr. Leidy here stated that the communication now referred to, unlike all
the other communications of the Medium, which were miserable little
scrawls of a few words, was a lengthy one, which covered the entire
slate. He felt convinced that the slate upon which it was contained was
substituted for the other one which the Medium ostensibly continued to
use.
Mr. Sellers (resuming the reading of his minutes): Dr. Leidy then wrote
on the slate the following question, 'Dr. Le Conte--are you engaged now
in the study of Coleoptera?' The slate was then placed below the table,
and, after the Medium had been observed to glance at it repeatedly, as
in the case of former exhibitions of this kind, the slate was finally
reproduced with this answer written upon it, 'Dr. L.C. is not present.'
Then the experiment was repeated of drawing a line, laying a bit of
pencil on the line and then a pencil on the edge of the slate.
The pencil on the edge of the slate was tossed violently over the table,
passed over and fell on the other side of the table, while the piece of
pencil on the mark was not disturbed.
Dr. Leidy: It should be borne in mind that that throw was not from under
the table, because when the pencil went over, the slate appeared on the
outside of the table. I sat near the Medium and saw that slate brought
out as the pencil went up.
Professor Thompson: The Medium claimed that sometimes the pencil
appeared on the side of the table opposite to that at which he was
sitting, but no such thing occurred in our presence. Would not it be
advisable, when you say it was thrown up, to add that it was thrown from
the side at which the Medium was sitting?
Mr. Sellers: In each and every case.
Dr. Leidy (to Mr. Sellers): When the Medium gave you and me a slate to
hold, he said the Spirits would make a communication. We held the slate
away from him and there was not at any time a communication.
(Mr. Sellers here resumed, from his notes): The same experiment of
jerking the pencil over the table was repeated with another pencil.
Then, at the suggestion of one of the gentlemen present, the Medium
repeated the experiment made at a former session, in which a long line
was drawn on the slate while the slate was apparently held without any
motion. The Medium then took one of the slates in his hand and placed it
below the table, when it was suddenly broken. As he produced it, he
called attention to the fact that the slate seemed as if broken from the
top downwards. As he brought it out, the Medium turned the slate over
and knocked it on his knee, and in that way crushed it to pieces. He
then turned it over to show on which side the crushing took place. I saw
that as plainly as I saw anything. He then used a pencil and drew a
zig-zag line across the slate. The pencil was worn at one end. The same
experiment, which was made when Professor Fullerton was present, was
repeated, and it was noticed that the pencil used in drawing the line
was the identical one found on the slate.
Dr. Leidy: In that part of the exhibition which purported to show how,
through Spiritual influence, a slate pencil might remain in contact with
a slate, the Medium took care not to elevate the slate to an angle of
forty-five degrees. He merely raised it to the elevation which I now
indicate. If he had elevated it a little more the pencil would have
fallen off.
Mr. Sellers (resuming): An accordion was then played under the
manipulations of the Medium, after which that gentleman told the writer
that he might look under the table and witness the performance of the
instrument. The writer availed himself of this permission, but, upon his
looking below the table, the musical sound ceased, and no such sounds
were heard during the period in which these observations were continued.
The Medium remarked, "That is unaccountable; there is no reason why you
should not see it." Nevertheless, the accordion did not produce any
sound while the writer was looking at it.
Professor Thompson: There is one point which was suggested at an earlier
stage of the minutes, and which is, perhaps, worthy of being recorded.
It is this. At the time at which the slate was passed to the hand of Mr.
Sellers, under the table, the Medium compelled me to sit around in a
position different from that which I had occupied, in order that, in his
operations, he could move his arms and lower extremities as freely as he
pleased.
Dr. Leidy: My own supposition is that, when he played the accordion
freely, the Medium made use of a little wire attached to a hook or
something of that kind, which he could hold by fastening it to his
clothing.
Mr. Sellers: His method of manipulating the instrument was readily
observable upon close attention. The accordion was a small one of the
kind which is easily procurable in the market.
(Resuming, from notes): The next meeting of the Committee, which was
held on January 26th, at the Girard House, was an exceedingly important
one, because its result was absolutely negative. There were present,
with the Medium, Professor Thompson, Mr. Furness and Mr. Sellers. Two
slates were lying on the table behind him. The Medium brought forward
one of these, wiped it, laid a pencil on it, and placed it under the
table, but without any result. He said, "We must make a circle--that
will have better effect." He laid the slate back upon the table. We then
joined hands, and, after a time, thinking that there was magnetic
influence enough at work, the Medium reached back and took the second
slate--not the first one--brought that forward and put it under the
table. Mr. Sellers asked the Medium, "Dr. Slade, will you allow me to
see that slate?" The reply was, "No, not now; the conditions are not
favorable." The Medium seemed rather embarrassed, and apparently
regretted his reply. He laid the second slate back upon the table, in
its former position, but further back. We then again formed a circle,
when he seemed to hesitate a moment as to the better course for him to
pursue. He then reached back, grasped the first slate, and with a sponge
washed off both of its sides, though there had been no writing upon
either; and then he brought forward the second slate, with the top side
upward, and washed that side, though there was no occasion for the
washing, as there was no writing upon that side. Turning the slate over,
he began washing the back of it without showing the face of the slate,
and finally laid it down.
Mr. Furness here stated that he observed, at the time, that the face of
the slate contained writing.
Professor Thompson here remarked that the Medium had evidently
appreciated the fact that he had been caught.
Mr. Sellers: That fact was plainly apparent.
Mr. Fullerton here remarked that at the séance reported by him, soon
after the members were seated, the Medium reached behind his (the
Medium's) position to get one of the slates placed near him, and
accidentally turned up one, the back of which was covered with writing,
whereupon he coolly remarked, 'That is the wrong slate.' Mr. Fullerton
added that he did not at the time think of connecting this accidental
exposure with what the Medium was then doing, and suggested that
possibly this exposure prevented Dr. Slade's use of this method at the
séance reported by him, as it would seem that none of the communications
produced on that occasion were of the sort produced by substitution of
slates.
Mr. Sellers: The methods of this Medium's operations appear to me to be
perfectly transparent, and I wish to say emphatically that I am
astonished beyond expression at the confidence of this man in his
ability to deceive, and at the recklessness of the risks which he
assumes in his deceptions, which are practiced in the most barefaced
manner. The only reason of our having any so-called 'manifestations'
under the circumstances was because of the fact that the Committee had
agreed in advance to be entirely passive, and to acquiesce in every
condition imposed. At the meeting here spoken of, I said to Dr. Slade,
'You see that we do not attempt to exercise any deleterious influence;
what we want is the truth, the simple truth, and we try to exert no
influence which would tend to impair the success of your operations.'
The reply of the Medium was, 'No, I know that you do not; but sometimes
the Spirits will work and sometimes they will not work.' We had no
writings in any part of that sitting--everything failed.
Mr. Furness: We did not have even raps.
Mr. Sellers: We did not have even raps. There was no sound of any
character; the day was absolutely fruitless of any result. Disgusted
with this evident failure, the Medium decided to close the séance. He
was asked, among other things, if he would write on double closed-up
slates. He replied that he would not write upon them for the reason that
the Spirits had forbidden him to do so; that they had said they would
not write on sealed slates, because many tricks had been played on them,
one of which was the writing in advance of foolish and obscene matter,
which, when the slates were opened, was attributed to the Spirits. I
said to him, 'Would there be any objection by the Spirits to the use of
the slates if these are brought here, opened and exhibited before you
prior to their being used?' He replied, 'I have been forbidden to write
upon sealed slates; the Spirits tell me that if I disobey them they will
not write for me any more.'
Professor Thompson: Yes, I heard that statement, that it was forbidden
to bring them or to offer the sealed slates to the Spirits.
Mr. Sellers (resuming from notes): As I have stated, the result of the
meeting of the 26th inst. was entirely negative. That on the 27th was
the last sitting. There were then present: Dr. Pepper, Mr. Furness and
Mr. Sellers--Dr. Pepper occupying the seat originally occupied by
Professor Thompson, to the right of the Medium. All the manifestations
that were made on that day were so similar, as far as writings and
questions were concerned, to those that preceded them that it is
scarcely necessary to make notes of them. Two or three rather remarkable
things occurred. For instance, almost at the beginning of the sitting,
Dr. Slade exhibited both sides of two slates to show that neither side
contained any writing, and then placed a piece of pencil on one slate,
and, covering it with the other one, held the two together between the
thumb and finger of his right hand, and placed them upon Dr. Pepper's
shoulder near the back of that gentleman's head. The covering of slate
answered the same purpose which a table would have answered, and
prevented those present from observing the operation. He frequently
repeated the words, 'The Spirits will write upon the slate.' He held the
slate in this position for some time, but there was no writing upon it.
He then placed both slates upon the table before him, side by side.
Taking in his right hand the slate which was towards his left hand, he
placed a bit of pencil upon it, held it under the table, and said, 'Will
the Spirits write upon this slate?' He then added, 'I feel a sort of
drawing, a something which seems to pull the slate down underneath the
table. That often occurs.'
I may here remark that, at the other sittings, the same expression was
made use of at times, accompanied by the thrusting of the slate some
distance under the table. The statement was that the slate seemed to be
drawn some distance over to the person opposite the Medium.
A sound was heard, and upon the Medium bringing the slate out from under
the table, a zig-zag line appeared upon the slate with the pencil at the
end of the line. The Medium remarked, 'That is something.' Then laying
the slate upon the slate to his right hand, with a sponge wiped off the
top of it, but did not show what was on the underside of it. He then
placed his thumb beneath the slates, and turned them in such a way that
the left hand, or top slate, came to be the one furthest from him as it
was held behind Dr. Pepper's head. When holding it in that position for
a moment, a scratching sound was heard in answer to the question, 'Will
the Spirits endeavor to write on the slate thus held?' A rap followed
the sound of the writing. The slates were then taken down, and the top
slate taken off. Upon what had previously been the top slate was written
the words, 'Yes, we will try.'
Mr. Furness (interposing): That was one of the neatest things he did.
Mr. Sellers: My habits of observation have been trained in this kind of
work, and I watched the slates intently during the process.
Subsequently certain raps were audible, when the Medium called the
attention of Dr. Pepper to the fact that some of the raps were made upon
the chair on which the Doctor was seated. It was very evident that the
raps were, in fact, made on that chair; there was no doubt about that at
all.
Throughout this entire sitting the Medium complained sadly of his
physical disability. He said that he was afraid that he was going to
lose the power of his right side, that he was becoming numb all over.
The peculiar symptoms which he described will be reported upon in the
observations of Dr. Pepper, by whom they were noted.
(Mr. Furness here stated that the notes of Dr. Pepper would be read
later in the evening.)
Mr. Sellers (continuing): The Medium did very little more in the way of
writing. He repeated some few of the experiments previously made, such
as the throwing off of the pencil. He declined to play upon the
accordion, as the instrument had been broken.
At this meeting two pocket compasses, one brought by Mr. Furness and the
other by Mr. Sellers, were placed at a point near the circle of the
hands in order to observe whether any deflection from the magnetic
course occurred. No such result was noted. No change whatsoever in the
needles was observed other than that which was caused by a vibration due
to shakings of the table. From time to time the Medium would call
attention to one of the needles with the remark, 'There, one of those
needles is moving now.' In point of fact, the needle at the time would
show no motion other than that caused by the jarring of the table. The
Medium went on to say that frequently, under like circumstances, when
placed close together, he had seen two needles point around in opposite
directions. This might have been true, in the present instance, if the
Medium had placed a magnet attached to his foot at a point at which it
would have been between the two needles. Its effect would have been just
the one which he has described. No such result was noticeable during our
observations.
A large part of the sitting was devoted to the discussion of the
Zoellner experiments, the Medium narrating some of the phenomena that
had been witnessed in the presence of Dr. Zoellner. He said, however,
that Zoellner was a peculiarly impressible person, and one who had
entire confidence in his (the Medium's) ability.
Before the conclusion of the séance, the writer (Mr. Sellers) asked the
Medium if he was acquainted with the methods of operation of any
conjurors. The Medium replied that he did not know many of them, but he
always liked to have conjurors at his sittings, as they produced a very
good influence upon him. At this point the following colloquy ensued:
Mr. Sellers: Do you know a man named Kellar, who is exhibiting in this
city?
Dr. Slade: I do not. I never knew him.
Mr. Sellers: You may, however, be able to explain to me a very
remarkable slate-writing experiment which Kellar has performed. I will
state the details of it. [Mr. Sellers here described at length Mr.
Kellar's trick with the fastened slates, and in concluding, asked:] How
did Mr. Kellar do that?
Dr. Slade: He is a Medium. He does that work precisely as I do it.
Mr. Sellers: But can he not do it by trickery?
Dr. Slade: No it is impossible. He is a Medium, and a powerful Medium.
(Mr. Sellers continued the reading of his transcript, as follows):
Then I described to the Medium an experiment by Kellar in lifting a
table ostensibly merely by laying his hands upon it, and I detailed his
explanation of how deceptions might occur, his custom of pulling up his
sleeves and exhibiting his hands to the audience. I added, that he had
done the same thing with a chair.
Dr. Slade: I do that thing, too. I will show you how I do it the next
time. He does it as I do it. He is a Medium.
(Mr. Sellers here paused to make the following verbal explanation):
I pause here for the express purpose of having the fact noted that,
being thoroughly familiar with the details of the methods of these
experiments, I can positively assure the Committee that there is no
Mediumistic power in Mr. Kellar, so far as his methods are concerned,
that those methods are as easy of solution as are any other physical
problems.
(Resuming, from notes):
The inquiry was then addressed to Dr. Slade, 'Do you know a man named
Guernella who, with his wife, gave séances?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I know
him very well.' 'Well, how does he perform his wonderful exploits in
rappings, etc.?' 'He is a Medium, a powerful Medium. I know him very
well indeed. I can assure you that all that he does is done solely by
means of his Mediumistic powers.'
I now state to the Committee that the Guernellas exhibited in
Philadelphia some years ago as exposers of Spiritualism. They did not
expose it, but they performed experiments which, prior to that time,
were said to have been accomplished by the aid of Spirits. Guernella
himself, at my house, in my presence, in broad daylight, performed all
the feats and exhibited the phenomena that were produced at the dark and
other séances, and he repeated them until I myself became as expert as
he in performing them; for which I paid him a consideration. So much for
the Mediumistic power.
(Resuming, from notes):
Before the close of this last séance, a letter was read to Dr. Slade by
Mr. Furness, to which the Medium was requested to make reply at his
convenience; the object was to preserve evidence of the fact that the
Medium had stated that all the séances must be held under his
conditions--that if the Committee deviated in the slightest
degree from the conditions imposed by him (Dr. Slade) he would 'pack up
his traps and clear out.' [The letter and reply will be found annexed to
this Record.]
At the end of this séance, the sum agreed upon, three hundred dollars,
was paid to the Medium in three one-hundred-dollar bills. He was asked
to sign a receipt for that amount, but his nervousness was such as to
make this a task of some difficulty. He made many attempts to grasp the
pen presented to him, but his hand shrank from it. At last, by a violent
effort, and conquering the emotions that overcame him, the Medium
grasped the pen and wrote the receipt. The extreme trepidation of Dr.
Slade was possibly due to the unexpected displacement of two covered
slates which he had left standing on the floor, resting against the leg
of the small table at his back, and which Mr. Furness had overturned
with his foot, the result being that at least two of the members of the
Committee were apprised, by the quantity of writing on one of the
slates, that it was ready for immediate use.
Mr. Sellers (aside): I saw the writing on the slates. It had manifestly
been prepared for use by the Medium, and up to the moment of its
discovery had been carefully kept completely covered.
Mr. Furness here read to the Committee the following:
Before Dr. Slade came to Philadelphia to meet this Commission, I was
told by a valued Correspondent, an eminent Spiritualist, that much of
Dr. Slade's success in Spiritual manifestations would depend on the way
in which he was treated, and that he should be met in a cordial,
friendly spirit. As this was but natural, and as Dr. Slade's life has
been passed among extraordinary scenes the world over, which makes him
an entertaining companion, it gave me pleasure to extend to him what
little courtesies lay in my power, asking him to dine with me during his
visit, and to spend the evenings at my house, if the time hung heavy on
his hands at his hotel. He dined with me several times, and I
consequently saw more of him than did the other Commissioners. I told
him more than once that, as a Commissioner, I should watch him with lynx
eyes, and he always gave a laughing assent. I furthermore never
concealed from him that he had, by no means, converted me to
Spiritualism. [I last saw him in Boston, when, as I was passing along
Shawmut Avenue, I caught sight of him at a window; he eagerly beckoned
me to come in, and, as I settled myself in a chair, I said to him,
'Well, and how are the old Spirits coming on?' Whereupon he laughed and
replied, 'Oh, pshaw! you never believed in them, did you?'--April,
1887.]
I had several séances with him in afternoons after the séances with the
Commission, when I was accompanied by my mother, my sister, and by
several friends; of course, only by one or two others at a time.
It would be superfluous to rehearse here at length what Mr. Sellers has
set before you much better than I can, the steps to the conclusion to
which we all arrived: that the long messages were written beforehand.
The difference between them and the short answers to questions asked at
the séance, in the character of the handwriting, is too manifest and too
obtrusively patent to be disregarded. In the long message from 'William
Clark' on the slate which we have preserved and had photographed,
'Paul's injunction' is carefully included within quotation marks. The
short answers to questions were scarcely legible, and at times could be
deciphered only by help of the Medium himself. (This illegible
handwriting is not without its use; it engrosses the attention of the
sitters.)
It follows, therefore, that, if prepared slates are to be used, they
must be adroitly substituted for others, which the sitters know to be
clean. The question is thus narrowed to one of pure legerdemain, and the
Medium must necessarily have several slates at hand.
When two slates only are used, the prepared slate is usually lying on
the table when the sitters take their seats. No attention is called to
it, and some little time is taken in conversation, and in the spasmodic
jerking caused by 'electric currents'; in a few minutes the slate pencil
is placed on the slate; no offer is made of showing both sides, which
would be quite needless, since the side which is exposed is perfectly
clean, and it is on that side which the Spirits are expected to write;
the slate is kept almost constantly and wholly in full view and but very
slightly inserted beneath the table. After an interval of waiting,
during which, by constantly looking at the slate as though impatient for
the writing to begin, whereby his sitters become accustomed to the
appearance and disappearance of the slate, the Medium reaches for a
second slate, ostentatiously washes both sides, lays it on the table,
removes the pencil from the first slate to the second, and places over
it the first slate with its prepared message, face downward, and the
trick is done. The two slates are held for a minute under the table, and
are then held to the ear or on the shoulder of the sitter on the
Medium's right hand--never to any other sitter, since to do so would
reveal the scratching of the Medium's finger-nail on the rim of the
slate, whereby the writing of the pencil within the slates is
counterfeited. I have distinctly, three or four times, watched the
motion of the Medium's finger while thus scratching; as I sat facing the
window the fingers which held the slate and made the fictitious writing
were sharply outlined against the light. And here let me say that he who
sits on the Medium's left hand, the side to which he turns almost his
full back, has the best position for observation. He told me many times
that he did not like to have three sitters, but much preferred only two;
at the third side, when unoccupied, wonderful manifestations occur,
such as a chair's elevation, or being thrown down, or the appearance of
the unsupported slate, etc. These manifestations are executed by the
Medium's foot, and lest its motions under the table should be detected,
the longitudinal cracks where the two table-leaves join, were carefully
stuffed with paper, although, to be sure, he once explained to me the
presence of this paper as necessary to keep 'the electricity from
flowing through.'
Although Dr. Slade had agreed verbally in New York that the last séance
of the series should be in the presence of all the Commission, he flatly
refused, when in Philadelphia, to hold any in the presence of more than
three at a time.
On one occasion, when the Medium was very sure of his sitters, he placed
the prepared slate, face downwards, on the table, with his fingers
resting on the upper surface, then in a few minutes the slate was lifted
up and the writing displayed, as though just made by Spiritual agency.
Generally, however, when the writing is thus exhibited, it is in answer
to a spoken question, and the reply is written by the Medium in his lap
and the slate turned over before it is placed on the table. Manifestly
it cannot occur as an answer to a written question, unless the written
question is exposed on the upper side of the slate.
How the scratching of the slate pencil is produced when the slate is
lying on the table (I have been told that the sound is heard then) I
cannot possibly explain, for the plain reason that I am too deaf to hear
it, and I was, therefore, never on the watch for anything unusual. (Nor
did I ever hear the sound of writing when the slate was held on the
shoulder of my opposite neighbor, but I could see, and I knew what was
going on, for the slate had once been placed on my own shoulder.)
When three slates are used, the third, and prepared, slate, is either on
the little table behind him or on the floor resting against the supports
of this little table. In either case he seizes the opportunity when his
sitters are engrossed with an answer just given to a question, to
substitute one of the slates which he has been using, and which he has
just before ostentatiously washed on both sides, for the prepared slate.
This I have distinctly seen him do twice, and once when I had arisen
from my seat to read an answer on the slate, held by Mr. Sellers, I
noticed when I resumed my seat that a certain slate which I had been
watching was gone from where it had been resting against the leg of the
little table, and we then immediately had the long message between
closed slates. [This was the 'inferential' substitution referred to on
page 59 of this Appendix.] The slate which we have preserved and had
photographed I saw him take from the table at his back.
Next, as to his answers to questions. I became so familiar with his
methods in this department that I could have told at almost any instant
what he was doing.
After the question has been written the slate is handed to him face
downward. A piece of pencil is then placed on the slate near the edge of
the slate farthest from the Medium's hand as it holds the slate; of
course, as the writing is to be done under cover of the table, and as
the Medium's hand or wrist is supposed to be always visible, the pencil
must be far under the table. The awkwardness, therefore, must be
overcome of having to reach or grope after it before the slate can be
turned over, which it must be in order to enable the Medium to read the
question on the under side. This difficulty is surmounted by constantly
bringing out the slate and looking at it to see if any answer has
appeared. By this manoeuvre a double end is attained; first, it creates
an atmosphere of expectation, and the sitters grow accustomed to a good
deal of motion in the arm that holds the slate; and secondly, by
constantly moving the slate the fragment of pencil (which, be it noted,
having been extracted from those slate pencils which are enclosed in
wood, like lead pencils, is square in shape and remains stationary on
the spot to which it is moved), this pencil, I repeat, is moved up to
the side of the slate within reach of a thumb and finger; when this is
done, it is dexterously seized by the Medium, who is in turn at that
instant seized by violent 'electric shocks,' under cover of which the
slate is turned and generally placed between his knees, only once I
think did he rest it _on_ his knee, and once I think he pressed it
against the table; then he reads the question. And here he shows his
nerve. It is the critical instant of the sitting, it is the only instant
when his eyes are not fastened on his sitters, and I confess that his
coolness won my admiration. On one occasion, when the question was
written in a back-hand with a very light stroke and close to the upper
edge of the slate, he looked at it three several times before he could
read it. Moreover, it was a question out of the common, relating to the
species of a hawk and not to a Spirit, and required an intelligent and
definite answer. The hastiness of his reading may be inferred by the
frequency with which merely the initials of the Spirit friend are given
in the answer. After reading the question, I noticed that Dr. Slade
winks rapidly three or four times in a sort of mental abstraction, I
suppose, while thinking out an answer, but he always breathes freer when
this crisis is passed, and the violent convulsions are over, which
attend his hurried writing and the re-turning of the slate. His eyes can
now be fixed in turn on each of his sitters, and he can rest a minute or
two. (One one occasion I saw the slate as he held it between his index
and second finger, his index-finger and thumb held the slate pencil.)
Presently, the slate is held near to the edge of the table, and a
tremulous motion is given to it as though the writing were then going
on.
On one occasion, when I knew he was about to use the prepared slate
(Professor Thompson will remember what I am about to relate), I
suggested that we should use a perfectly fresh pencil, so that we could
be sure that that very pencil had done the writing. I was very curious
to know how he would evade the test. The slate was held close to the
under side of the table (the new pencil debarred him from using the
double slate); when the writing was finished the slate was slapped
violently against the table, and was drawn from underneath
it--apparently with very great difficulty, and almost
perpendicularly--and the little pencil, of course, slipped off, and in
the excitement of reading the message from the 'Summer-land,' who would
think of looking for the pencil? It was so clever I wanted to applaud
him on the spot.
The other tricks, such as tossing the pencil from the slate and playing
the accordion, can be perfectly explained and repeated by Mr. Sellers.
Dr. Slade's fingers are unusually long and strong, and the accordion,
which has but four bellows-folds, can be readily manipulated with one
hand.
At our last séance I noticed what were evidently two prepared slates
resting against the support of the table behind him, where his prepared
slates usually stood. I inferred that he would like to have some
extraordinary slate writing on this occasion, and, therefore, kept a
sharp watch on these slates. Unfortunately it was too sharp, for one
second the Medium saw me looking at them. It was enough. That detected
look prevented the revelation of those elaborate Spirit messages. But
when the séance was over and he was signing the receipt for his money, I
passed round behind his chair and pushed these slates with my foot so as
to make them fall over, whereupon the writing on one of them was
distinctly revealed.
I think Dr. Pepper and Mr. Sellers will recall how the Medium instantly
pushed his chair back until it was fairly over the slates and then
snatched them up, and in the most hurried manner washed them both while
turning his back to us.
Two compasses, which we placed on the table during our séance, remained
unaffected by the Medium's presence.
During one sitting, when the Spirits conveyed the slates from the
Medium's hand under the table to the hand of the opposite sitter, the
latter failed twice to grasp the slate in time, and it fell to the
floor with a crash. Each time it behoved me to pick up the slate (both
the other sitters were women), but the second time I stooped with the
greatest alacrity and looked not at the slate but at the Medium's foot,
which I saw just entering his slipper, into which it most hastily
settled.
I think Dr. Slade's personal appearance noteworthy, and shall endeavor
to obtain a photograph of him for preservation in our Records. He is
probably six feet in height, with a figure of unusual symmetry, his
hands are large but shapely, the nail of the second finger of his right
hand is rather longer than the others, and appeared in the centre to be
slightly split and worn. His face would, I think, attract notice
anywhere for its uncommon beauty. He has a small, curling, dark
moustache, and short, crisp, iron-grey hair, of a texture exceeding in
fineness any that I have ever seen on a man's head. His eyes are dark,
and the circles around them very dark, but their expression is painful.
I could not divest myself of the feeling that it was that of a hunted
animal or of a haunted man. The color on his cheeks is very bright, but
it is said to be artificial. He complained bitterly of ill-health and of
water around his heart, which he said at times he could hear and feel
"swashing about."
A noteworthy man in every aspect.
Mr. Furness then read to the Committee the following:
Memorandum by Dr. Wm. Pepper of an interview with Dr. Slade on the
morning of the 27th January, with Mr. Furness and Mr. Sellers.
1811 Spruce Street, Philadelphia.
He complained immediately and very frequently of his right side, saying
it felt weak and numb, and he was sure he was going to be paralyzed.
Careful observation showed that the right side was fully developed, the
color of the right hand normal and the same as that of the left, and
that the right arm, foot and leg were unusually supple and moveable.
During the sitting I saw him deliberately kick my chair three (3) times
with the side of his right foot, while attracting my attention to the
scraping noises of the slate he was holding to my left ear; and again,
when soft raps were heard and felt under the table, just beneath one of
my hands, and at about the distance from him to which his leg would
reach, I saw distinct movements of rotation of his thigh, as though he
were producing these sounds by the ball of the toe striking under the
table at that point.
_February 6th_, 1885.
Mr. Sellers offered the following resolution, which was adopted
unanimously:
_Resolved_, That the reports of the Slade séances held in Philadelphia,
as described by Messrs. Fullerton, Furness, Pepper and Sellers, are in
accordance with the observations of each of the members of the
Commission who were present.
After a short Business Meeting the Commission adjourned.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
The following correspondence explains itself:
PHILADELPHIA, January 26th, 1885.
DEAR DR. SLADE:--I think you need no assurance that the Seybert
Investigating Committee have been anxious to deal with you in the
fairest spirit of impartial, unbiased, scientific investigation, and I
think you will bear witness to their uniformly considerate courtesy
throughout our intercourse.
You know how very deaf I am, and do not therefore need to be reminded
that one should trust scarcely more to what a deaf man hears than to
what a blind man sees.
Wherefore, I want you, for my sake, and that the Committee may feel sure
of their ground, to confirm in writing what you have more than once said
to me, namely, that the Committee must conform to the conditions which
the Spirits impose; that you cannot consent to submit to any tests, and
that rather than do so you will return at once to New York; that we must
accept the manifestations as given by the Spirits; and that, since these
manifestations are the result of a gradual growth, it is impossible, in
the space of six séances, to repeat or to verify Professor Zoellner's
experiments; and, lastly, that, if on your return to New York, the
Spirits so authorize it, you will be willing, if desired, to make
arrangements for another series of séances with us of a higher order of
manifestations.
I remain respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
_Acting Chairman Seybert Commission_.
No. 11 E. 13th Street, N.Y., February 4th, 1885.
DEAR MR. FURNESS:--I take this opportunity to express to you, and
through you to the other members of the Seybert Commission, my hearty
approval of the course pursued by them in their investigation of
phenomena occurring in my presence. Fully realizing that I am only the
instrument or channel through which these manifestations are produced,
it would be presumption on my part to undertake to lay down a line to be
followed by the unseen intelligences, whose servant I am. Hence, I did
say their conditions must be acceded to or I would return to New York.
That they did so, is evident to my mind from the results obtained, which
I regard as a necessary preliminary to a continuation, when other
experiments may be introduced with better prospects of success. It may
be well not to insist on following the exact course pursued by Professor
Zoellner, but leave it open to original or impromptu suggestions that
may be adopted without previous consideration, which, if successful,
would be of equal value as evidence of its genuineness, at the same time
give greater breadth to the experiments. In conclusion, allow me to say
that in the event of the Committee desiring to continue these
experiments through another series of sittings with me, it will give me
pleasure to enter into arrangements for that purpose.
Very truly yours,
HENRY SLADE.
* * * * *
February 13th, 1885.
On February 13th, 1885, Mr. Furness, Professor Thompson and Mr.
Fullerton, on the part of the Commission, met Mr. Harry Kellar, a
professional conjurer, at Egyptian Hall.
The men seated themselves at a common pine table, 5 ft. x 3 ft., with
leaves.
Mr. Kellar sat at one side of the table, Mr. Furness at one end to his
left, Professor Thompson at one corner to Mr. Furness's left, and Mr.
Fullerton opposite Mr. Kellar. The end of the table to Mr. Kellar's
right was unoccupied.
Nine slates were found lying on a small stand about six feet from the
table.
These slates were washed one by one on the stand, and laid in a pile on
the table at Mr. Kellar's right.
A slate was taken from the pile, both sides washed, another slate
placed upon it, and both held together under the edge of the table. A
long communication appeared upon one of them (or what seemed to be one
of them), purporting to come from the Spirits.
Two more slates were taken and apparently both sides washed. One was
placed on the other and both laid upon the table in front of Professor
Thompson, one end of the slates being held by him and the other by Mr.
Kellar. When the upper slate was removed the under side of it was
covered with writing.
Professor Thompson then changed his position to that which he held when
with Dr. Slade--to the end of the table opposite Mr. Furness, and to Mr.
Kellar's right.
Writing was produced in similar manner on two other slates without the
Committee detecting the manner in which it was produced.
One of these slates was covered on both sides with the following
messages: On voyage tout éveillé dans le royaume des rêves et des
illusions; l'esprit se refuse à admettre les merveilles executées dans
une salle éclairé devant un public incrédule qui cherche à s'expliquer
les trucs employés à deviner les--
Kellar huye del espiritismo porque ya pasó la época de ella, y solo dá
el ejercicio carácter de prestidigitacion.
Het blyfft onbegrypelyk hoe de heer Kellar die door twee personen uit
het publiek stevigwordt vast gebonden, zich in een oogwenk wist los te
maken
[Here follow, in eight lines, sentences for which we have no types, in
Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Gujerati. This remarkable feat closes
with the following in German script:] Ich bin ein Geist und ich liebe
mein Lagerbier--Hans Schneider.
Von Moltke.
One slate was broken in a similar way to that broken by Dr. Slade.
Professor Thompson was asked to write a question, which he did while the
side of the slate on which he wrote was turned away from Mr. Kellar. The
slate was not turned over, the written question remaining on the under
side, and it was held at the usual place under the table, Mr. Kellar's
thumb remaining above the table in full view, while the fingers held the
slate up under the table.
A moment after the placing of the slate under the table, it was
withdrawn to admit of a small pencil being placed upon it, Mr. Furness
having remarked the absence of the pencil.
The slate was not otherwise withdrawn from under the table above two
inches until its final withdrawal, and the question was always,
seemingly, on the under side.
When the slate was brought out a communication was found upon it in
answer to Professor Thompson's question.
The answer was on the upper side of the slate. [April, 1887: Mr. Kellar
afterwards revealed his methods to our colleague, Mr. Furness.]
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
February 19th, 1885.
The Commission met on Thursday, February 19th, 1885, at 8 P.M., at the
house of Mr. Furness, to attend a séance in the presence of Mrs. Maud E.
Lord.
All of the Commission were present, and there were present also, at the
request of the Medium, several friends of members of the Commission,
both men and women.
There were in all eighteen persons present beside the Medium; these
seated themselves, as directed by the Medium, in a circle, which was
about six or seven feet in diameter; the Medium took her seat in the
centre.
The lights having been put out, the Medium drew her chair to one side of
the circle, placing her feet in contact with those of one of the persons
in the circle. Those composing the circle linked hands, while the Medium
had her hands free.
The Medium described a number of Spirit forms as coming to those
present--to one a little child, to another an old man with white hair,
etc. The descriptions were in general vague and indefinite, and might
have applied to many persons. Nevertheless, they were in very many cases
wide of the mark. Sometimes a father, a mother, or other relation was
described as present. In some cases the death of such relations was
acknowledged by the person to whom the Medium addressed herself, but in
other cases the relation in question had not died, or, as in the case of
a child or brother--had not existed. To give an instance of the Medium's
inaccuracy: Mr. Fullerton's grandfather was described as coming to him,
and the Medium, describing the form, added that Mr. Fullerton was not
familiar with it, as his grandfather had died while he was a young man,
and had had but little intercourse with him. Both Mr. Fullerton's
grandfathers died some years before he was born. Many other descriptions
were quite as erroneous.
Sometimes a form was described as coming to one person in the circle
and not being recognized by that one, was referred to the next;
described as standing between them, etc. The number of successes,
compared with the number of failures, was not striking.
Whispers were heard--_one at a time_--always at a point in the circle at
a distance from that at which the Medium was just after the whisper
heard to speak to some one in her natural voice. The whispers _were
never simultaneous_ with the remark afterward made by the Medium.
In the short interval between the whisper and the succeeding remark by
the Medium, I distinctly heard, on many occasions, a rustle of clothing,
and once or twice a slight creak of the chair, as though the Medium had
moved her body from one side to the other, which she could easily have
done without taking her feet away from those of the person she faced.
Upon one of those present inquiring why the whisper always sounded as if
made by the same voice, the Medium stated that the whisper did always
sound the same, and that she was sorry to have to add, that it always
sounded as if made by the voice of the Medium.
Upon one occasion a light appeared and reappeared two or three times in
front of the Medium, passing from near her knee up for a foot or two.
The light was indistinct, apparently phosphorescent, and passed so
quickly that it could not be examined. It was described by the Medium,
however, as a form of a child from the Spirit world.
Those present changed their seats during the séance, as suggested, but
without producing more satisfactory results. The séance lasted about two
hours.
At Mrs. Lord's own suggestion before the séance, two women present took
the Medium into another room, and searched her clothes.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
February 20th, 1885.
The Commission met on Friday, February 20th, 1885, at 8 P.M., again at
the house of Mr. Furness, to attend a second séance in the presence of
Mrs. Lord.
On the part of the Commission were present Mr. Furness, Mr. Sellers and
Mr. Fullerton. There were also present several women and men, some of
whom had been present at the previous sitting. The circle, when formed,
was about six feet in diameter.
A ring was given by the Medium to Mr. Sellers and another to Miss Logan
to wear during the evening, with the expectation that they might be
taken by the Spirits and passed to another person in the circle, in
accordance with the unexpressed wish of the one holding the ring. This
was not done during the evening.
A small musical-box was also given to one of the women to hold, and a
zither placed upon the lap of a man. The former was, during the séance,
taken from the woman holding it, and passed to another person in the
circle. The Medium sat as before, with her hands free, while those in
the circle clasped hands, as was done on the former evening, each one
having his left wrist grasped by the right hand of his neighbor, or
_vice versa_.
The zither was undisturbed during the evening.
Touches were felt here and there on the knees of those in the circle,
and whispers were again heard from time to time.
The whispers were, as before, _never simultaneous_ with the speeches of
the Medium, which were heard just after in another part of the circle.
I distinctly noticed, on several occasions, the same rustle, as of a
change of position on the part of the Medium, between the whisper and
the remark by the Medium.
Many Spirit forms were described by the Medium as coming to those
present, with about the same proportion of success as on the former
evening.
At various times during the sitting, lights were seen, which appeared
and disappeared rapidly. They were indistinct and phosphorescent--such
as can be produced in a dark room by rubbing a match-head, or by
exhibiting an object rubbed with a match.
The lights--at least all that were clearly seen by several persons--were
within the circle and about the Medium.
Occasionally the Medium spoke of lights as without the circle, and one
or two of those present (not members of the Commission) assented. But,
as on two such occasions, when those opposite myself described the light
as above and behind me, I saw it above and in front of me, or between me
and the Medium; there is no reason to believe that they were not
deceived by the difficulty of judging of the distance of an indistinct
and evanescent appearance in a quite dark place. The direction, but not
the distance, can in such a case be readily known.
After a sitting of about two hours, the attempt to produce more striking
phenomena was abandoned.
During both séances Mrs. Lord kept up an almost continuous clapping of
hands--the noise was not loud, but sufficient to aid in hiding any
rustle of the Medium's dress, or creaking of a chair. The Medium also
talked constantly.
At the suggestion of the Medium those present joined in singing on two
occasions.
The whisper heard in the circle was uniformly hoarse.
A list of those present at these séances and the names of the ladies who
searched the Medium, are appended:
Those present at Mrs. Lord's séance on Thursday were: Dr. and Mrs.
Pepper, Professor and Mrs. Fullerton, Mr. and Mrs. Sellers, Professor
and Mrs. Thompson, Geo. S. Pepper, Mr. Leonard, Miss M.M. Logan, Dr.
Leidy, Mrs. A.L. Wister, Miss Agnes Irwin, Walter R. Furness, Dr. C.B.
Knerr, Dr. Koenig, Dr. H.H. Furness.
Those present at Friday's séance were: Professor Fullerton, Miss Smith,
Mr. and Mrs. Sellers, Dr. Leidy, Mr. Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. F. Furness,
Mrs. A.L. Wister, Miss Irwin and Miss Sophie Irwin, Miss Logan, Mr. and
Mrs. F.M. Dick, Mrs. J.E. Carpenter, H.H. Furness. Mrs. A.L. Wister,
Mrs. Dr. Pepper, Women Searchers.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
May 27th, 1885.
On May 27th, The Seybert Commission held a meeting at the house of Mr.
Furness, at 8 P.M., to examine the phenomena occurring in the presence
of Mr. Pierre L.O.A. Keeler, a professional Medium.
There were present on the part of the Commission, Dr. Pepper, Mr.
Furness, Dr. Koenig, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Sellers and Mr.
Fullerton. The following friends of the Commission were also present:
Mr. F. Furness, Mr. W.R. Furness, Mr. J. Foster Kirk, Mr. Yost, Mrs.
E.D. Gillespie, Miss Gillespie, Mrs. Dr. Mitchell, Mrs. C.B. Rossell,
Mrs. Dr. Pepper, Mrs. Sellers, Mrs. A.L. Wister, Mrs. Dr. Knerr, Miss
Agnes Irwin, Miss M.M. Logan.
There were also present, as introduced by the Medium, the Medium's wife,
Mrs. Keeler; Col. S.P. Kase and Mrs. Kase, and Dr. Annie D. Ramburger.
The Medium, Mr. Keeler, is a young man, apparently about thirty years of
age, with well cut features, curly, brown hair, a small, sandy
moustache, and rather worn and anxious expression; he is strongly
built, about five feet eight inches high, and with rather short, quite
broad, and very muscular hands and strong wrists. The hands were
examined by Dr. Pepper and Mr. Fullerton after the séance.
The séance was held in Mr. Furness's drawing-room, and a space was
curtained off by the Medium in the north-east corner, thus:
[Illustration]
The curtain is represented by _a_, _b_; _c_, _d_ and _e_ are three
chairs placed in front of the curtain by the Medium, in one of which
(_e_) he afterwards sat; _g_ denotes the position of Mrs. Keeler; _f_ is
a small table, placed within the curtain, and upon which were a
tambourine, a guitar, two bells, a hammer, a metallic ring; the
asterisks show the positions of the spectators, who sat in a double
row--the two marked (1) and (2) indicate the positions taken by Mrs.
Kase and Col. Kase, according to the directions of the Medium.
The curtain, or rather curtains, were of black muslin, and arranged as
follows: There was a plain black curtain, which was stretched across the
corner, falling to the floor. Its height, when in position, was 53
inches; it was made thus:
[Illustration]
The cord which held the curtain was 1, 2, and the flaps which are
represented as standing above it (_a_, _b_, _c_, etc.), fell down over
_a'_, _b'_, _c'_, etc., and could be made to cover the shoulders of one
sitting with his back against the curtain. A black curtain was also
pinned against the wall, in the space curtained off, partly covering it.
Another curtain was added to the one pictured, as will be described
later.
The Medium then asked Col. Kase to say a few words as to the necessity
of observing the conditions, need of harmony, etc. And then the Medium
himself spoke a few words of similar import. He then drew the curtain
(shown on the preceding page) along the cord (1, 2) and fastened it;
placed three wooden chairs in front of the curtain, as indicated in the
cut, and saying he needed to form a battery, asked Miss Agnes Irwin to
sit in chair (_d_), and Mr. Yost in chair (_c_), the Medium himself
sitting in chair (_e_). A black curtain was then passed by Mrs. Keeler
over Mr. Keeler, Miss Irwin and Mr. Yost, being fastened at _g_, between
_e_ and _d_, between _d_ and _c_, and beyond _a_: thus entirely covering
the three sitting in front of the stretched curtain up to their necks;
and when the flaps before mentioned were pulled down over their
shoulders, nothing could be seen but the head of each.
Before this last curtain was fastened over them, the Medium placed both
his hands upon the forearm and wrist of Miss Irwin, the sleeve being
pulled up for the purpose, and Miss Irwin grasped with her right hand
the left wrist of Mr. Yost; his right hand being in sight to the right
of the curtain.
After some piano-music, the Medium said he felt no power from this
'battery,' and asked Mrs. E.D. Gillespie to take Miss Irwin's place.
Hands and curtain were arranged as before.
The lights were turned down until the room was quite dim. Those present
sang.
During the singing, the Medium turned to speak to Mr. Yost, and his
body, which had before faced rather away from the two other persons of
the 'battery' (which position would have brought his right arm out in
front of the stretched curtain)--his body was now turned the other way,
so that, had he released his grasp upon Mrs. Gillespie's arm, his own
right arm could have had free play in the curtained space behind him.
His left knee also no longer stood out under the curtain in front, but
showed a change of position.
At this time Mrs. Gillespie declared she felt a touch, and soon after so
did Mr. Yost. The Medium's body was distinctly inclined toward Mr. Yost
at the time. Mrs. Gillespie said she felt taps, but declared that, to
the best of her knowledge, she still felt the Medium's two hands upon
her arm.
Raps indicated that the Spirit, George Christy, was present. As one of
those present played on the piano, the tambourine was played in the
curtained space and thrown over the curtain; bells were rung; the guitar
was thrummed a little. At this time the Medium's face was toward Mrs.
Gillespie, and his right side toward the curtain. His body was further
in against the curtain than either of the others. Upon being asked, Mrs.
Gillespie again said she thought she still felt two hands upon her arm.
The guitar was then thrust out, at least the end of it was, at the
bottom of the curtain, between Mrs. Gillespie and the Medium. Mrs.
Keeler drew away the curtain from over the toes of the Medium's boots,
to show where his feet were; the guitar was thrummed a little. Had the
Medium's right arm been free, the thrumming could have been done quite
easily with one hand.
Afterwards the guitar was elevated above the curtain; the tambourine,
which was by Mrs. Keeler placed upon a stick held up within the
enclosure, was made to whirl by the motion of the stick. The phenomena
occurred successively, not simultaneously.
When the guitar was held up, and when the tambourine was made to whirl,
both of these were to the right of the Medium, chiefly behind Mrs.
Gillespie; they were just where they might have been produced by the
right arm of the Medium, had it been free.
Two clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain, and they were used
in drumming to piano-music. They could easily be used in drumming by one
hand alone, the fingers being thrust into them.
The pins were afterwards thrown out over the curtain. Mr. Sellers picked
one up as soon as it fell, and found it warm in the split, as though it
had been worn. The drumming was probably upon the tambourine.
A hand was seen moving rapidly with a trembling motion--which prevented
it from being clearly observed--above the back curtain between Mr. Yost
and Mrs. Gillespie. Paper was passed over the curtain into the Cabinet
and notes were soon thrown out. The notes could have been written upon
the small table within the enclosure by the right hand of the Medium,
had it been free. Mrs. Keeler then passed a coat over the curtain, and
an arm was passed through the sleeve, fingers, with the cuff around
them, being shown over the curtain. They were kept moving, and a close
scrutiny was not possible.
Mr. Furness was then invited to hold a writing-tablet in front of the
curtain, when the hand, almost concealed by the coat-sleeve and the
flaps mentioned as attached to the curtain, wrote with a pencil on the
tablet. The writing was rapid, and the hand, when not writing, was kept
in constant tremulous motion. The hand was put forth in this case not
over the top curtain, but came from under the flap, and could easily
have been the Medium's right hand were it disengaged, for it was about
on a level with his shoulder and to his right, between him and Mrs.
Gillespie. Mr. Furness was allowed to pass his hand close to the curtain
and grasp the hand for a moment. It was a _right_ hand.
Soon after the Medium complained of fatigue, and the sitting was
discontinued. It was declared by the Spiritualists present to be a
fairly successful séance. When the curtains were removed, the small
table in the enclosure was found to be overturned, and the bells,
hammer, etc., on the floor.
It is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations
occurred. They were, without exception, where they would have been had
they been produced by the Medium's right arm. Nothing happened to the
left of the Medium, nor very far over to the right. The sphere of
activity was between the Medium and Mr. Yost, and most of the phenomena
occurred, as, for example, the whirling of the tambourine, behind Mrs.
Gillespie.
The front curtain--_i.e._, the main curtain which hung across the
corner--was 85 inches in length, and the cord which supported it, 53
inches from the floor. The three chairs which were placed in front of it
were side by side, and it would not have been difficult for the Medium
to reach across and touch Mr. Yost. When Mrs. Keeler passed objects over
the curtain, she invariably passed them to the right of the Medium,
although her position was on his left; and the clothes-pins, paper,
pencil, etc., were all passed over at a point where the Medium's right
hand could easily have reached them.
To have produced the phenomena by using his right hand, the Medium would
have to have passed it under the curtain at his back. This curtain was
not quite hidden by the front one at the end near the Medium, and this
end both Mr. Sellers and Dr. Pepper saw rise at the beginning of the
séance.
The only thing worthy of consideration, as opposed to a natural
explanation of the phenomena, was the grasp of the Medium's hands on
Mrs. Gillespie's arm.
The grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist, for the arm was
bruised for about four inches. There was no evidence of a similar
pressure above that, as the marks on the arm extended in all about five
or six inches only. The pressure was sufficient to destroy the
sensibility of the forearm, and it is doubtful whether Mrs. Gillespie
with her arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of
one hand, with a divided pressure (applied by the two last fingers and
the thumb and index) and a double grip by two hands. Three of our
number, Mr. Sellers, Mr. Furness and Dr. White, can, with one hand,
perfectly simulate the double grip.
It is specially worthy of note that Mrs. Gillespie declared that, when
the Medium first laid hold of her arm with his right hand before the
curtain was put over them, it was with an under grip, and she _felt his
right arm under her left_. But when the Medium asked her if she felt
both his hands upon her arm, and she said yes, she could feel the grasp,
but no arm under hers, though she moved her elbow around to find it--she
felt a hand, but not an arm, and at no time during the séance did she
find that arm.
(Taken from notes made during the séance and immediately after it.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
N.B.--It should be noted that both the Medium and Mr. Yost took off
their coats before being covered with the curtain. It was suggested by
Dr. Pepper that this might have been required by the Medium as a
precaution against movements on the part of Mr. Yost. The white
shirt-sleeves would have shown against the black background.
G.S.F.
* * * * *
December 29th, 1885.
There was a meeting of The Seybert Commission this evening, at the house
of Mr. Furness, on Washington Square, to investigate some
Materializations promised by the Mediums, Dr. Rothermel and Mr. Powell.
There were present Mr. Furness, Dr. Leidy, Professor Thompson, Dr. S.
Weir Mitchell, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton, Colonel Kase, Mr.
Frank Furness, Mrs. J. Dundas Lippincott, Mrs. Dr. Pepper, Mrs. A.L.
Wister, and a number of others.
The Mediums arrived with quite a bundle of apparatus, and stretched
their curtain where Mr. Keeler had his, across the corner of the parlor,
from the door leading into the hall to the edge of the window. The
curtain was similar to that of Mr. Keeler in its general character, and,
as in that case, the whole corner was draped in black. The shape of the
Cabinet was triangular.
The Mediums said it was impossible to produce materialized forms as they
had expected, and proceeded to give much the same sort of a séance as
Mr. Keeler's--in this case, however, the hands of the Medium covered by
the curtain being fastened with tape, instead of being held.
The arrangement of the curtain, positions of the Mediums, and the
positions of the spectators were as indicated.
[Illustration:
X Dr. Rothermel--a curtain at his back and one in front of him, his head
through a hole in the upper part of the outer flap of the double
curtain.
Y Mr. Powell.
* * * Spectators.
On table (2) was a music-box, and on table (1), within the Cabinet,
bells, a zither, etc.]
The lights were all extinguished but one, and that one was prevented
from throwing light on the Medium by a shade placed upon one side of
it--it was turned low. The light was not so good as during Mr. Keeler's
séance.
Before the lights were put out, Dr. White was asked to tie the Medium,
and Mrs. Lippincott to sew the ends of the ribbon and tape with which he
was tied.
A ribbon was tied around each leg above the knee, and the ends sewed to
his trowsers. A bit of black tape was then passed under the ribbon and
tied around the wrist, the ends being knotted and sewed together by Mrs.
Lippincott. His right hand was thus fastened to his right leg, and his
left hand to his left leg; though he still had some freedom of motion,
and could easily reach one hand with the other.
Dr. Rothermel was then placed as indicated, behind the outer curtain,
and the lights extinguished as described.
He asked for a drink of water, which was given him by Mr. Powell, who
stood directly in front of him while he drank it, and hid him from the
audience.
Then the zither played, a cap was thrown out over the curtain, a hand
(to the right of the Medium) was shown over the curtain.
Bells were rung, papers thrown out, a drum accompaniment to the piano
played, as by Mr. Keeler, and the drumsticks thrown out.
Mr. Powell wet in a glass some handkerchiefs with water, and passed them
over the curtain, they were passed out with a message written on them in
indelible ink. This could easily have been done with an indelible
pencil. (The small table within the curtain was within easy reach of the
right hand of the Medium, had it been free, and could have been used for
such work.)
The music-box on table (2) was set off--was rattled several times. (It
could have been done by the Medium's left hand if it were free.)
The person, to whom each of the above-mentioned handkerchiefs was to be
returned, was indicated by raps from the Spirit. (The Spirit was in
error in returning handkerchiefs to Dr. Mitchell and Mr. Fullerton.)
The zither was put out at the right and left hand lower corners of the
curtain. (It could have been done by the Medium, were his hands free.)
The Medium professed to be then controlled by the Spirit of a young
girl--Emma Hirsch. He spoke in an unnatural and squeaky voice, but
occasionally lapsed into his natural voice. The Spirit declared the
Medium unconscious, but refused to allow any medical examination of his
condition.
The Mediums were then asked to allow Dr. Rothermel's hands to be
examined. After a little delay, the curtain was folded back and the
hands exposed.
Mr. Fullerton was permitted to examine them by the light of a match
only, and very hastily. They did not allow a candle, which had been
lighted, to be brought near. As Mr. Fullerton approached to examine the
knots, Mr. Powell came close and seemed very much afraid they would be
touched. He kept reiterating, "Don't touch them!" "Don't touch them!"
"It would be very dangerous!" The examination was hasty and
unsatisfactory, as Mr. Powell and Dr. Rothermel both said that he (the
latter) could endure it only a moment. Hasty as it was, it showed that
the knots, which had been on top of the wrists, were now underneath; the
tapes, as is mentioned later, were, at the end of the séance, found cut
close to the knots.
Whether the tapes were really in their former state, and not already
cut, could only be known by examining them all around, and such an
examination was not allowed.
It should be stated that before this, and after some of the
manifestations, the Medium, with some convulsive movement, as if pulled
and pushed by Spirits, came out from under the curtain, and stood with
his hands on his legs, as if tied there, but it was too dark to see
whether he was really tied, or merely held his hands there, and no
examination was made.
Soon after, the Medium declared that the Spirits were cutting him loose,
and when the curtain was removed and lights brought, the tapes which had
bound his wrists were found to be cut through close to the knots.
Whether this was done at the beginning of the séance, leaving the
Medium's hands free from the beginning, or at the time indicated by the
Medium, there was no means of proving. The cutting of the tapes made the
tying and sewing tests quite valueless.
(Taken from notes made during the séance and immediately after.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
_Secretary_.
* * * * *
The following advertisement was, in March, 1885, inserted in _The
Religio-Philosophical Journal_, of Chicago, _The Banner of Light_, in
Boston, and _The Public Ledger_, in Philadelphia:
"THE SEYBERT COMMISSION FOR INVESTIGATING MODERN SPIRITUALISM," of the
University of Pennsylvania, hereby requests all Mediums for Independent
Slate Writing, and no other at present, who are willing to submit their
manifestations to the examination of this Commission, to communicate
with the undersigned, stating terms, etc.
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
_Acting Chairman_,
Philadelphia, Pa.
* * * * *
SPIRITUAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
When Mr. Keeler, a well-known "Spiritual Photographer," was in the city,
the Acting Chairman called on him, and requested from him in writing a
statement of his terms and the conditions under which an investigation
by this Commission could be held. The following reply was received from
him:
1614 Green Street,
_Philadelphia_, November 6th, 1885.
MR. FURNESS.
Dear Sir:--In regard to giving the Photographic Séances I feel that I am
obliged to ask an observance of the following conditions: That there be
three Séances, for which I shall expect the sum of $300. I desire only
the regularly appointed members of the Commission on your side to be
present, I to have the privilege to invite an equal number of persons,
if necessary, to harmonize the antagonistic element which might be
produced by those persons not in perfect sympathy with the cause.
I must have the right to demand, if conditions make it necessary, the
exclusive use of the dark room and my own instrument.
The Séances to be given at your own residence.
As I cannot guard against the influences which others may bring, I shall
expect to be paid the afore-named sum whether my efforts prove
satisfactory or not, although I hope for the most favorable results, and
to this end I would urge the members of the Commission to surround me
with the most congenial and harmonious conditions possible.
These Séances to begin on the 12th inst.
If this meets with your approval an early answer is solicited.
Very respectfully,
W.M. KEELER.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SEYBERT COMMISSION.
I called this morning (Saturday, 14th November, 1885), on Mr. W. M.
Keeler, and told him, in effect, in the very words as well as I can
remember, as follows: that I had received his letter of the 6th inst.,
containing his terms, and had consulted the Commission in regard to
them; and that our conclusion had been quickly reached. He must know how
very simple a process this 'composite photography' is, and that among
photographers there is no mystery whatever in it. For his own process he
claimed a Spiritual Agency--this agency we were willing to accept (in
my own case I was anxious to accept it) if, after a thorough
investigation, his process could not be explained by well-known physical
laws. The conditions he demanded were such as to render any
investigation simply silly. His exclusive use of the dark room, which
could have nothing to do with Spiritual forces, for the Spirits had
already done their work in the Camera, utterly precluded us from
discovering whether his processes were in anywise different from
ordinary photography. He wished to know in what way this prevented us
from detecting fraud if the operations took place in a private house
where he was a stranger. I replied that without for a moment impugning
his honesty, he must know that unless we were present with him in the
dark room, we could not affirm that our marks had not been duplicated on
substituted plates.
Furthermore, that we had regarded his terms as intentionally
prohibitory. The demand for three hundred dollars was so extraordinary
that we could regard it in no other light than as a desire to avoid an
investigation altogether. I asked him what his ordinary charge was, and
he replied two dollars for each sitting, and that he made from twenty to
forty dollars a day, when he settled down to work.
That there might be no misunderstanding, I repeated my reply to his
wife: that we were ready to investigate, if we could be allowed to watch
the very points where material agency ceases and spiritual begins, but
these very points Mr. Keeler forbade us to examine, and that the failure
rested with him.
At one time his vexation (which was manifest) a little ran away with his
discretion. He asked, with somewhat of a sneer, 'How did you expect to
investigate it?' I replied that 'I could not answer for others, but for
myself I should have liked to have him say, when we of the Commission
met him, The Spirits are present, through my Mediumship, here is my
Camera in which the Spirits will manifest themselves on the sensitized
plates, take it, and so long as I am present with my influence, do what
you please.' He laughed outright and said 'That would be a good thing.'
I endeavored throughout the interview to impress him with our utter
incredulity in the spiritual nature of his photographs, and yet to give
him no loop to hang a charge of discourteous or illiberal treatment on.
I asked him to give me, in my private capacity, a sitting at his
earliest convenience, and that I should not be satisfied with less than
a cherub on my head, one on each shoulder, and a full-blown angel on my
breast. He laughingly assented.
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
_Acting Chairman Seybert Commission_.
I ought, perhaps, to add that I showed to Mr. Keeler a composite
photograph taken by one of my sons, wherein a Spirit quite as ethereal
as any of Mr. Keeler's, appears in the background. He looked at it, and
returned it to me without remark.
H.H.F.
* * * * *
March 30th, 1886.
The Seybert Commission met this evening at the house of Dr. Pepper, to
investigate Spiritistic phenomena produced through the Mediumship of Mr.
Briggs (for an account of Mr. Briggs see a previous report).
There were present, Dr. Pepper, Dr. Leidy, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell,
Professor Koenig, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton and two friends of
Dr. Pepper, Mr. Charles G. Smith and Mr. Robert S. Davis; also the
Medium, Mr. Fred. Briggs.
The séance was in Dr. Pepper's office; a square table (about 3-1/2 f
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