H. R. Haweis

By Andrew Glendinning.

“Wherever a road opens, and I am moved to examine and experiment, there I shall most surely go.”—Rev. George W. Allen.

Either the discoveries made by Mumler, Stainton Moses, Beattie and others, have now been confirmed, or a very eminent man, specially trained in rigid investigation, and an acknowledged expert in optics and the chemistry and manipulation of photography, has been the victim of a marvellous and inexplicable delusion.

To say that, notwithstanding all the precautions arranged, and carefully carried out by Mr. Taylor, he was time after time deceived, is to make a statement entirely opposed to probability and common sense, yet that is the false refuge to which some fly from whom better things might be expected. It exhibits strongly the credulity of incredulity, and an ability to strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. To print insinuations against the characters of those who investigate new and important facts, and to air the superior wisdom of the critics in what are apparently intended as witticisms, may serve the purpose of a day, but truth remains unsoiled and unassailable.

When George Cruikshank was preparing his pictorial brochure against Spiritualism, he was asked what he knew of the subject; he replied he knew nothing, and did not intend to inform himself till he had finished his book. That is the position of many in regard to spirit photography; the less they know about it, the more they feel qualified to judge; and a man who, for the first time, deigns to consider it, will, with the utmost confidence in his own opinion, condemn as fraudulent a genuine spirit photograph; yea, he will even profess to discover the mark of the scissors and the grain of the paper from which he imagines the photograph has been cut and copied.

Other objectors profess to have looked into the subject, but because they saw nothing they thought worth following up, therefore they practically conclude it is impossible any one else can be more fortunate.

That there are, and will continue to be, honest doubters goes without saying. There are scientific men who cannot believe in the possibility of this new thing—their minds are in old grooves. Others say the consensus of opinion of photographers is against it. Granted; and what of that? Any mere opinion as to whether spirit photography be possible does not in any way affect the question. Opinions do not alter facts. The facts in this matter are entirely in favour of the reality of spirit photography.

There need not now be any question as to whether spirit photography is possible. That was settled thirty years ago. There is nothing in the whole range of psychic phenomena for which the evidence is more conclusive. Had there been no other proof, the sworn evidence of scientific men, bankers, merchants, lawyers, photographers, and others, at the Mumler trial was overwhelmingly abundant. And since that trial there has been an accumulation of evidence from various quarters, yielding proof upon proof that spirit photography is a fact, and must be recognised as such. Contradicted it can be; that is easy to do. Sneered at it may be; that, too, is not difficult. A man may sneer at a fact which he is unable to comprehend, but a sneer proves nothing. Neither does an unsupported contradiction, whether the contradiction be made by a single person, or be made as a formal resolution by a society.

Some of the witnesses who were examined on oath at Mumler’s trial were experts, such as Samuel K. Fanshaw. That gentleman was one of the best miniature painters and facial experts in New York, and was also familiar with photographic manipulations. He said he went to Mumler an entire stranger, sat for a picture, witnessed the whole process, and received a likeness of his mother, which he said was more like her than the one he had painted from memory. Mr. Livermore, banker, had three negatives, in which his wife appeared in three different positions. He was accompanied by Mr. Hitchcock, of the New York Sun, and Mr. Gurney, a leading photographer. When Judge Dowling asked Mr. Livermore if he recognised these pictures as likenesses of his wife, his answer was, “Unmistakably.”

The spirit photograph of Abraham Lincoln has often been referred to. My copy of it is now too faint for reproduction, but it may be stated that when Mrs. Lincoln visited Mr. Mumler, she wore a thick crape veil, so thick that no one could distinguish a feature of her face. She travelled under an assumed name from Springfield (Illinois) to Boston, went direct from the train to Mumler’s house, gave her name as “Mrs. Lindall,” and did not remove her veil till the prepared plate was in the camera ready to be exposed. She obtained an excellent picture of her husband, standing behind her, with his hands resting on her shoulders, and looking down with a pleasant smile.

Prominent Americans, whose names are well known in this country, received through Mumler’s mediumship test spirit photographs of friends whom they recognised. Amongst these may be mentioned the Hon. Henry Wilson, then Vice-President of the United States, Judge Edmonds, and William Lloyd Garrison.

The Hon. Moses A. Dow, of Boston, U.S.A., and the Spirit of Mabel Warren, his Literary Assistant and Adopted Daughter.

As a fair specimen of spirit photographs obtained through Mumler, I submit one (see opposite) got by the Hon. Moses A. Dow, who was editor and proprietor of the Waverley Magazine, Boston. The portrait was fully recognised by Mr. Dow as that of an amiable and accomplished young lady who had been his assistant editor. Before sitting for the portrait Mr. Dow had a sÉance with a lady medium, and received from her a message, which purported to be from his late assistant editor, instructing him when to go to Mumler’s for the picture, stating that she would appear with a wreath of lilies on her head, would stand by his side, would put her hand on his shoulder, and would bring him beautiful flowers. The photograph has lost some of its intensity; but in the original negative the wreath of white lilies is very distinct, and the spirit is holding between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand an opening moss-rosebud, the exact counterpart of one which Mr. Dow placed between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, while her body lay in the coffin just before the funeral.

Similar tests have been obtained in photographs by other mediums. On one occasion Mr. Parkes had a visit from a friend who had promised to spend a forenoon and try experiments, but he was unwilling to sit for a portrait owing to sudden and severe illness, which he said would prevent any success. He was induced by his wife to try. While Mr. Parkes was preparing a plate with collodion his friend sat down to compose himself, and at once he became conscious of the presence of a spirit form by the kindly way passes were made over his head, curing him entirely of his painful illness. On the plate being developed there was a graceful female form standing beside him, with her head bent downwards towards him, and behind her—extending outwards and upwards from her shoulders—there was a patch of light seemingly intended to represent wings. The sitter afterwards solved the enigma by stating that the influence from the spirit was of such a sweet and delightful character, that it led him to hum to himself his favourite hymn:—

“How delightful the thought that the Angels in bliss,

Daily bend their bright wings to a world such as this,

And leave the sweet songs of the mansions above,

To breathe on our bosoms some message of love.”

The imagery of the hymn found an embodiment in the photograph. “I have no wings—nor do I require wings,” subsequently explained the spirit, “but the appearance of wings was assumed to please father.” Her father was the sitter. Little thought he when waiting with a sad heart at the dying bed of a loved daughter, and trying to sing the children’s hymn, that the time would arrive when she would come from her spirit home to cheer him in hours of sorrow and give him her portrait, or that she would be able to render herself visible to normal sight, and with her arms round father and mother, kiss them both and speak to them both. Such are some of the secret blessings which come to those who wait, work, and pray.

“Thank God for this! oh, minist’ring angels, thanks!

My grateful heart

Shall through my lips proclaim the truth. Our dead

Do not depart—

To some far city, never to return.

They often come

To aid, to comfort us, till we too reach

That brighter home!”

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The difficulties and discouragements which arise in trying to photograph unseen forms do not exist to the same extent in photographing what are called “materialised forms.” Some excellent results in the latter have been obtained by various persons. The most notable instances are those by Mr. Wm. Crookes, F.R.S., recorded in the last chapter of his valuable book, Phenomena of Spiritualism, on the photographing of the spirit, Katie King, by the electric light. At these experiments Mr. Crookes had five complete sets of photographic apparatus fitted up, all of which were used at the same time at each sÉance, and some excellent negatives were obtained. “But,” adds Mr. Crookes, “photography is as inadequate to depict the perfect beauty of Katie’s face as words are powerless to describe her charms of manner. Photography may, indeed, give a map of her countenance; but how can it reproduce the brilliant purity of her complexion, or the ever-varying expression of her most mobile features, now overshadowed with sadness when relating some of the bitter experiences of her past life, now smiling with all the innocence of happy girlhood when she had collected my children round her, and was amusing them by recounting anecdotes of her adventures in India?

‘Round her she made an atmosphere of life;

The very air seemed lighter from her eyes,

They were so soft and beautiful, and rife

With all we can imagine of the skies;

Her overpowering presence made you feel

It would not be idolatry to kneel.’”

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Amongst the important papers contributed to the Psychical Congress at Chicago, one was sent, at the request of the Committee, by Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S. In it he says:—

“What are termed spirit photographs, the appearance on a photographic plate of other figures besides those of the sitters, often those of deceased friends of the sitters, have now been known for more than twenty years. Many competent observers have tried experiments successfully; but the facts seemed too extraordinary to carry conviction to any but the experimenters themselves, and any allusion to the subject has usually been met with a smile of incredulity or a confident assertion of imposture. It mattered not that most of the witnesses were experienced photographers who took precautions which rendered it absolutely impossible that they were imposed upon. The most incredible suppositions were put forth, by those who only had ignorance and incredulity to qualify them as judges, in order to show that deception was possible. And now we have another competent witness, Mr. Traill Taylor, for many years editor of the British Journal of Photography, who, taking every precaution that his life-long experience could suggest, yet obtained on his plates figures which, so far as normal photography is concerned, ought not to have been there.”

Dr. Wallace has given a great deal of thoughtful consideration to this subject, and has a large collection of genuine spirit photographs. In his book, Miracles and Modern Spiritualism,[14] he devotes sixteen pages specially to the topic. These pages—like everything else from Dr. Wallace’s pen—are worthy of careful study, the following sentences particularly so:—

“It may be as well to clear away a popular misconception. Mr. G. H. Lewes advised the Dialectical Committee to distinguish carefully between ‘facts and inferences from facts.’ This is especially necessary in the case of what are called spirit photographs. The figures which occur in these, when not produced by any human agency, may be of ‘spiritual’ origin, without being figures ‘of spirits.’ There is much evidence to show that they are, in some cases, forms produced by invisible intelligences, but distinct from them. In other cases the intelligence appears to clothe itself with matter capable of being perceived by us; but even then it does not follow that the form produced is the actual image of the spiritual form. It may be but a reproduction of the former mortal form with its terrestrial accompaniments, for purposes of recognition. Most persons have heard of these ‘ghost pictures,’ and how easily they can be made to order by any photographer, and are therefore disposed to think they can be of no use as evidence. But a little consideration will show that the means by which sham ghosts can be manufactured being so well known to all photographers, it becomes easy to apply tests or arrange conditions so as to prevent imposition.

“The following are some of the more obvious:—1. If a person with a knowledge of photography takes his own glass plates, examines the camera used and all the accessories, and watches the whole process of taking a picture, then, if any definite form appears on the negative besides the sitter, it is a proof that some object was present capable of reflecting or emitting the actinic rays, although invisible to those present. 2. If an unmistakable likeness appears of a deceased person totally unknown to the photographer. 3. If figures appear on the negative having a definite relation to the figure of the sitter, who chooses his own position, attitude, and accompaniments, it is a proof that invisible figures were really there. 4. If a figure appears draped in white, and partly behind the dark body of the sitter without in the least showing through, it is a proof that the white figure was there at the same time, because the dark parts of the negative are transparent, and any white picture in any way superposed would show through. 5. Even should none of these tests be applied, yet if a medium, quite independent of the photographer, sees and describes a figure during the sitting, and an exactly corresponding figure appears on the plate, it is a proof that such a figure was there.

“Every one of these tests have now been successfully applied in our own country.”

Dr. Wallace gives minute details of some experiments which resulted in his obtaining photographs which he recognised as unmistakable likenesses of his mother.

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When Mr. Duguid was first asked to come to London to give test sÉances to Mr. Taylor, it was hoped that Mr. Stainton Moses would have so far recovered strength as to be present at the experiments. He took great interest in the subject, and many of his photographs have been reproduced by Mr. Arthur Maltby and Mr. Acton. On March 19th and 26th Mr. Maltby gave lectures in the AthenÆum Hall, and exhibited on the lantern screen a number of spirit-photograph transparencies. Here are a few notes made at the meeting on March 19th, by Mr. Burns, jun. Mr. Maltby said:—

“This lecture is given in memory of the late Mr. Stainton Moses, better known as ‘M.A., Oxon,’ editor of Light, writer of many valuable books on Spiritualism, and one of the best friends the cause ever had. Most of you have either read or heard of his marvellous book called Spirit Teachings, one of the grandest series of spirit controls ever published. It teaches a higher Spiritualism than is generally understood.

“My object in giving this lecture is to try to convince you that it is possible to obtain photographs of friends who have passed away. I shall also endeavour to explain the conditions necessary, how they are attained, and for what reason. This lecture was suggested by Mr. Stainton Moses, and the pictures I am about to show you were his. I knew him for over fifteen years, and have been favoured with particulars of the most remarkable events ever experienced.

“One morning last spring I called on Mr. Moses, and found him busy reading proof-sheets of Mr. Stead’s Real Ghost Stories. Whilst discussing these, the subject of spirit photographs was introduced, and he informed me that he had a collection of nearly 400, which he offered to lend me if I thought they could be suitably converted into lantern slides. After examining the photographs, I found it impossible in so short a time to select out of so many sufficient for a lecture. I therefore begged the loan of them all, and we are indebted to my friend and co-worker, Mr. Acton (who is now manipulating the lantern), for his patient efforts in converting so many photographs into lantern transparencies. It was a most laborious task.

“Three months later, when I returned the photographs, Mr. Moses kindly offered to take the chair at this lecture, but that was not to be. The day I was to submit my notes for his approval, with the promise of a further and more complete description of the spirit photographs, he had passed to the higher life.

“Many present to-night, who are aware of the reality of life after death—a life ever progressive, and as real as life on earth—can feel with me that this noble worker is not dead, but lives, continuing his efforts for the good of humanity as when on earth; ever with us in our efforts to spread this glorious truth, which is like the sunshine, dispersing the fog and mist of orthodoxy and ignorance.

“All the sittings he attended were under strict test conditions, so there could be no possibility of fraud or deception. These conditions were, that he purchased his own plates, marked each with his initials, put them in and took them out of the dark slide, not allowing them out of his sight until they were fully developed.”

Mr. Maltby then showed on the lantern screen about forty spirit photographs, and other pictures connected with the subject, all of which he explained. Many of the photographs of spirits had been recognised by the sitters and other relatives. He then spoke of the spiritual advantages to be derived from spirit communion, and after an invocation he thus concluded:—

“Should this lecture induce any present to seek communion with their departed friends, let me beg of them to seek only for spiritual aid in an earnest and prayerful manner, in their own homes, amongst friends who desire to know the truth and will investigate with unbiassed minds. To such success must come, sooner or later; but those who try to use God’s spiritual gifts for worldly and selfish ends will bring disaster on themselves and discredit on the cause.”

At a sÉance held twenty-nine years ago, the following question was put as to spirit photographs: “We do not comprehend how these are produced. Can you give us any information as to the process gone through?” The answer given through the medium, Mr. Peter A. Chesser, marine engineer, may be of interest to some. It was this: “Spirits impress their image on the plate by depositing thereon repeated layers of magnetism. According to their respective powers of affording this, so is the impression more or less distinct. The magnetism must be of the same texture or affinity as that possessed by the operator; it is accomplished by a rapid vibration of the spirits’ magnetic emanation in depositing layer after layer, and the process is this: The operator by frequent manipulation saturates his materials with his aura—I do not mean the animal aura of mesmerism, but his spiritual aura; this, by repeated impression on his part from repeated manipulations (which require considerable time, since he is still in the body and has, therefore, more difficulty in, as it were, filtering this spirit-aura through the pores of his body than have the spirits, who are not trammelled in like manner), at last leaves a positive viscidity on his materials which serves to retain the first impressions thrown by the spirits upon it. When they from affinity cohere, the image is rapidly built up on this superstructure. Any person through the pores of whose body-material this spirit-aura can readily pass is in a condition to take photographs of the kind to which you refer. Much passiveness, however, is requisite.”

This reply refers, of course, to the photographs in class No. I., mentioned in the Preface, not to pictures which are produced by spirit precipitation.

In experiments made with Mr. Chesser at that time (1864), we used the wet-collodion process, on new glass plates which were cut for us by a glass merchant. The plates were carefully cleansed and finally washed and rubbed by myself with spirits of wine. We never used a plate twice in such experiments. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well and carefully. We obtained some pictures which would have been of interest had we possessed more knowledge of the subject, but we aimed too high and were not satisfied with slow progress. In fact we wanted a clear and good likeness of one of our relatives, so several plates were broken and put in the dust-bin which, in the light thrown on the subject by later experience, we should have prized. One plate of that period was kept because it had a shadowy image of the medium, although he was not within the field of view when the plate was exposed. Unfortunately, the photograph was not intensified; for when I was washing it at the tap, the water got between the plate and the collodion, and away went the film, but, although torn, I managed to spread part of it on the glass again. The following statement was made by one of our unseen friends with respect to that picture. Our questions were put through the medium, and the answers were given by automatic writing.

Question: We have here a photograph upon which there exists so much diversity of opinion that we want to know what it is?

Answer: It is yourself, distinctly enough, but as we see your next question we will proceed to explain how it came about that such impression was produced on the plate.

The Medium: Stop a moment—do you mean that it is my body or my spirit?

Answer: We mean your spirit-aura. Your body could not be taken without your being either directly in front of the camera or reflected into its focus. Perhaps it will be better to explain some of the peculiarities attending this phase, as it involves many points of interest. You were standing in front of the camera for about a quarter of an hour before the picture was taken or the plate prepared. In obedience to a suggestion, you were awaiting the approach of the spirit who told you he could be photographed, and, in order to retain your passivity, you remained standing where you were. When you saw him seated you went to prepare the plate, but not without leaving your emanation behind, which, on the plate being exposed, was duly photographed. The proof is easy. Again stand in the same position for, say, ten minutes, then leave the room, and let a good clairvoyant be introduced and questioned as to what he sees, when he will immediately describe you as supplying the place you have vacated, with all the accessories pertaining thereto. But although he could at all times see this, your emanation could not at all times be impressed on the plate. Returning to another matter: Man does not enjoy only one image of himself, but six, embracing three individualities, viz., body, soul, and spirit; and three emanations proceeding therefrom, respectively, body-odyle, spirit-aura, and soul-essence. These must on no account be confounded with each other, as is too often the case. Respecting the last—soul and soul-essence—as it is more remote, being seldom brought into play outside the human tenement (unless under peculiar circumstances), we do not intend speaking of it in connexion with the present topic; so direct your attention more particularly to the remaining four, partly in explanation of their attributes, and partly in reference to photography. First, then, the body is most easily impressed upon the plate, requiring fewer vibrations than its odylic form, after which, in order, come spirit, spirit-aura, soul and soul-essence, the last requiring millions of vibrations, which, although costing more effort, takes no more time, in many cases. It depends on the sphere of the spirit. You may form an idea of this by taking into account the incredible power of motion which spirits possess. Now, the odylic emanation may be projected by the will from the material body, but the spirit cannot itself be so projected; it must be, as it were, allowed to flow forth of its own accord. Similarly, the spirit, when thus free to move, can project its aura in like manner. In both these cases the emanation, by its velocity, becomes from necessary friction respectively electrified, or magnetic and spiritualised; that is to say, the emanations become endowed with a certain amount of vital energy, life-force, or, in fact, of existence. The mere life-force does not imply intelligence also, but it does when the emanation is spiritualised. Man’s will is from his spirit; hence, the will can project the odyle, but not the spirit, for when the spirit is absent the will is absent, dormant in reality (as the soul never interferes with the will), and the trance state results. It is quite possible for the spirit, under favourable conditions, to project its aura at the same time as the projection of the odyle. The two emanations coming into contact would form a union of the life-element with the thinking principle. We do not mean with thought, but with thought-material—thought being supplied only by the spirit, the ideas or germs of thought being suggested by the soul and elaborated by the spirit. Without this constant emanation, or fluid impulse (viz., the soul-essence) to urge it, the spirit would not think; it would be inactive, the soul-essence being its vivifying impulse to activity. Now, when the odyle and aura have coalesced, a new body, complete in all its functions, is not therefore the result, but merely a body-elementary, i.e., imbued with life-force, and furnished with thought-material, minus thought. This, then, is the eidolon, image, you occasionally hear of. Still, you must not suppose it to be severed from the parent body; by no means: it is linked to it by attraction, gravitation, and affinity, or that element of which you can form ideas for practical purposes, but of which you do not understand the nature. But, you may say, there are instances of eidolons speaking; now, if it has not thought, how can it speak rationally? Let us explain: thoughts are produced by vibrations of their materials, and vibration is produced by the soul-essence through the spirit, the soul being the prime reservoir of motion (intellectually). Now, suppose the eidolon to be questioned by the person to whom it appeared, this question being the result of thought, vibration would communicate the motion to the intellectual materials of the eidolon, and this vibration would be instantly felt by the parent body, and an answer returned accordingly.

In reference to the suggestion that spirit manifestations may be the work of eidolons, the reply was: “As departed spirits do exist, and can communicate with mortals—of which there is abundant proof—there is no need to suppose a state of things which does not exist in order to account for what does.”

An explanation was also given as to how eidolons are formed, but that does not concern our present subject.

Some investigators seem to think that the same spirit forms ought not to appear on plates with different people, and that if they do so the circumstance warrants suspicion, if it is not even a proof of fraud. This is an entire mistake, and a mistake which can only be made by those who have not investigated the matter in a practical manner for any considerable length of time. Apply the same reasoning to materialisation, or to direct spirit writing, and see what it will lead to. Mr. E. A. D. Opie, of Adelaide, in a lecture on “Spirit Photography,” delivered on July 1st, 1891, before the Adelaide Spiritualistic Association, made this remark: “It is necessary to accept all second-hand reports of this phase of Spiritualism with more than usual reserve, as, in one instance at least, I have discovered, on comparing reports of the obtaining of the same picture by different people.” Mr. Opie in these words probably expresses an opinion held by many others, held in London as well as in Adelaide. And what are we to infer from it? That if two sitters get on their plates a picture of the same spirit form, it will be a proof of fraud? Not at all. Of course, if the pictures have been produced by a dishonest operator, they may be fraudulent. That is not a thing to dispute. But the fact is that there are in existence a number of genuine spirit photographs in which the same abnormal images are found with various sitters. Most of these have differences in size, in attitude, and in spirit drapery on the forms, but the likenesses are identical. Some of them have been taken in different places, with different cameras, with plates purchased in different cities and used by careful investigators.

Mr. Opie’s lecture was published in Adelaide as a pamphlet of twenty-two pages; it is the result of much reading, and it is but fair to Mr. Opie to note that he had no practical acquaintance with the subject.

Mr. Parkes gave some sÉances in 1875 in Mr. Burns’s rooms, 15 Southampton Row. On one occasion three sitters got spirit forms on three plates. At the same meeting I requested that I might be photographed. A clairvoyante sitting near me said I ought to get something good, for she could see a number of spirits near me. When the plate was developed there were eleven spirit forms on it.

Several spirit photographs of children have been obtained. One of these is the interesting one of “Edina’s” little boy, a full account of which is in Mr. Robertson’s paper in this volume. Another child’s portrait was got unexpectedly at a test sÉance in April, 1892. The arrangements and operations were under my superintendence. I invited a lady (Mrs. J. N. Anderson) to take a place near the sitter in order to try whether her mediumistic power would aid the experiment. I was vexed at not getting the special result I wanted, but soon I had cause for gladness in the joy which the portrait obtained brought to the hearts of the child’s father and mother. To the notes of the sÉance, which were signed by all present, I added the following words as a postscript: “The child’s dress exhibits what was not known to any person outside of Mr. Anderson’s family.” That test is of a kind to impress a mother’s mind. Previous to the child’s departure he was lying cold in bed, when his mother took from a drawer a night-dress of one of her older boys, and put it on the ailing child. This night-dress had a certain kind of frill round the neck-band; and that night-dress, with its frill and long sleeves, is represented in the photograph. There was no picture in existence from which the photograph could have been copied; and the likeness is not only attested by the parents, but by friends of the family, and by Mr. James Robertson, president of the Glasgow Society, who had often seen the boy.

Some one may ask, how was the photograph of the child obtained, seeing he was too young to come unaided to stand before the camera, or to impress his image on the prepared plate without the camera? An interesting question, no doubt. To it I reply, “I do not know: I am stating facts, not trying to explain them.”

In the Review of Reviews for April, 1893, Mr. Stead suggested that additional experiments should be tried to obtain psychic pictures without the agency of light or the camera. An opportunity occurred in July to try the experiment with a lady who is not known to Spiritualistic or occult circles—albeit she is a good medium and clairvoyant. A dry plate from my packet of unused plates was placed in a mahogany slide. The lady then held the slide between the palms of her hands. She was under continuous and close observation in a well-lighted room, and one end of the slide was held by myself. On putting the plate in the developer, the picture of a child appeared on it. The plate was not tampered with by any one, nor was there any opportunity given to do so, nor was it exposed to light until after it was developed and fixed. A reproduction of the picture is given herewith (see page 145).

Mr. Stainton Moses, at a meeting of the London Spiritualist Alliance, advised those who intended to experiment in photography to employ a stereoscopic camera. He considered that the genuineness of spirit photographs so obtained could not be called in question. This opinion has also been held by other investigators. In June, 1892, some spirit photographs were submitted to an eminent scientific gentleman, together with copies of the notes, detailing fully the conditions under which the pictures were obtained, and giving the names and addresses of all those who were present at the experiments. The opinion of the gentleman was expressed in writing as follows, viz.:—“You have adopted all the precautions I can think of as being necessary. The only one thing else I can think of is the employment of a binocular camera. That is the final Court of Appeal, and a spirit photograph taken by it can leave no room for cavil.” To those who endorse this opinion I may state I have eight photographs taken with binocular cameras, all obtained under test conditions, and all having abnormal figures which are perfectly stereoscopic per se, as well as in relation to the sitters. Halves of two of these photographs accompany these miscellanea.[15] They were obtained on the 21st October, 1893, on dry plates purchased from Mr. Doublet, and the whole of the manipulations, so far as not done by myself, were under my close and continuous observation.

The results of Mr. Taylor’s investigations are a prophecy and a lesson. A prophecy of the coming time when photographs of our friends, who have passed from earth-life, may be obtainable by the co-operation with us of spirits who desire to help us, and who will find opportunities and conditions to enable them to do so. When Mr. Stead’s proposal for a spiritual bureau becomes an accomplished fact, we may hope, and may reasonably expect, that spirit photography will be a department of it. Many strange events, which, fifty years ago, seemed as unlikely, are now of frequent occurrence. Mr. Taylor’s experiments are a lesson, as well as a prophecy. A lesson to the materialistic spirit of the age, to guide by new paths to old truths. The materialism of to-day is dogmatic and active; it claims science as its handmaid, it boasts that it has sounded the universe and found in it nothing but the material husks of existence, that all spiritual beings are nonentities—the product of diseased brains—of superstitious minds; its scholars have explored space from star to star and have learned that there is no God; that man passes at death into cold oblivion, into blank nothingness. To use the language of its leading teachers:—“Unprejudiced philosophy is compelled to reject the idea of an individual immortality, and of a personal continuance after death. With the decay and dissolution of its material substratum, through which alone it has acquired a conscious existence and become a person, and upon which it was dependent, the spirit must cease to exist!”

Again:—“Experience and daily observation teach us that the spirit perishes with its material substratum; that man dies.”

And:—“There never has been, and never will be, a real apparition, which could make us believe or assume that the soul of a deceased individual continues to exist: it is dead, never to return.”

And once more:—“Spirits and ghosts are only seen by diseased or superstitious individuals.”

Undoubtedly these views are quite honestly arrived at and held by many. By some through early training. By some in the rebound from bigoted and God-dishonouring creeds. By others again in painful perplexity of mind, while trying to solve the problem of existence. But a universe without a Deity, and man without a soul, present little to boast of in the shape of the consolation they can bring to suffering humanity.

Every opinion a man holds must to some extent influence his life, and the knowledge that a man will live after death ought very considerably to affect his entire character.

We know there is no such thing as death, that what we call by that name is really a birth into a higher sphere—or state of existence—an entrance into a holier and happier region, in whose precincts “we will be enabled through untold ages to cultivate our intellects, perfect our moral characters, and enjoy to the full extent of our capabilities all that is pure, good, true, and godly.

Some persons admit the reality of supermundane photography, but say it is the work of the Devil. How long is this old myth—this theological superstition—to be flaunted in the face of investigators? how long to be set as a bugbear—a “bogey-man”—not merely to frighten naughty children, but to scare grown men and women, to bar mental progress, and to stereotype from age to age distorted views of God, and of spiritual law and truth?

Some thoughts expressed by “Imperator” to Mr. Stainton Moses, relating to this imaginary prince of evil, are so excellent that no apology is required for appending a few of them: “Cease to be perplexed by thoughts of an imagined Devil. For the honest, pure, and truthful soul there is no Devil nor Prince of Evil such as theology has feigned. Evil comes not nigh him, the adversaries flee from his presence, and the powers of evil are powerless before him. He is guarded around by angel guards, ministered to by bright spirits, who watch over him and direct his footsteps. For him there waits a career of progressive increase in knowledge, and in all that elevates and ennobles the intelligence. He need fear no Devil, unless he creates one for himself. His affinity for good draws around him influences for good. He is fenced around by guardians; nor can he, save by voluntary surrender, fall a victim to the foe.”[16]

In narrating his experiments, Mr. Taylor confined himself to a statement of facts; he did not set forth the spiritualistic hypothesis, nor did he say that any other would account for the results. Some members of the Association before whom he read his paper were angry because Spiritualists claimed the results as an argument in support of Spiritualism. But why be angry? Any explanation must cover the whole ground. And the explanation offered by Spiritualists is the only one which covers the whole ground. After all, the facts are only one department of the wonders of modern Spiritualism. What is the good of the latter? is asked by those who have not come within the range of its beneficent teachings. The good of it? It has freed the mind from the bondage of dogma, it has swept away the fear of death and the gloom of the grave, it has purified the affections, it has brought much-needed consolation in some of the hours of earth’s bitterest sorrows, it has brought us into communion with those we love and whom we are wont to call dead—given us the knowledge that they live, and given us a reason which appeals to our personal experience that as they live in a higher state of existence, we also shall live after the change we call death.

Our grandest triumphs of science are but trifles compared with what is before us to be realised in the higher life. Yet men and women of education and refinement can content themselves with referring the most mysterious spirit phenomena to conjuring and delusion, and can descend to the inanity of trying to shelve the whole matter by attacking the characters of those whom they ought rather to thank—to bless as the instruments through whom the death-blow must be given to the doctrine which denies the existence of the spirit world, and of our after-life.

At the Photographic Congress held at the World’s Fair, Judge Bradwell, of Chicago, was chairman of the opening meeting. In his introductory remarks, after summarising the work done by photographers, he said: “I have no doubt there are those within the sound of my voice who will live to see the time when photographic reproductions will be sent from country to country as quickly as are telegraphic messages to-day. In conclusion, may I not ask, who shall say that the camera, adjusted by the hand that feels, and focussed by the sensitive eye that sees beyond, with the aid of the intensely sensitive dry plates, shall not bring to light and view the forms of our departed friends, and solve the problem of immortality and life?”

Judge Bradwell is answered. The veil is lifted.