CHAPTER III.

"The ordinary employment of artifice is the work of a petty mind; and it almost always happens that he who uses it to cover himself in one place uncovers himself in another." LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

ON page 90 of the Seybert Commission Report the reader will find this statement:

"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.'"

Possibly to the unreflecting reader this public advertisement may seem reasonably fair and proper, and to evince a determination on the part of the Commission to use no artifice, but to give the subject of "Modern Spiritualism" an honest, candid, and careful examination; but tested by the logic of the experience of mankind, and viewed from the standpoint of honest observation, it has a very different aspect.

On the first page of the report I find the following:

"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."

You admit, Gentlemen of the Commission, that Spiritualism has become one of the religious creeds of the day. And well you may; for, although as a "denominational faith" it was born during the last third of the present century, yet it has already passed its youth, and arrived at early manhood. No Christian faith ever spread so rapidly as has Spiritualism. It numbers millions as its votaries. It has not, like many new faiths, drawn its converts from the low, ignorant, or uneducated masses of mankind; its earnest and sincere followers are found in the highest walks of social life: educated scientists, prominent jurists, intelligent business men, as well as cultivated and refined women, have bowed down at its altar in earnest prayer, and have received from its doctrines and demonstrations a consolation not to be found in any other of the religions of the day. Where the doctrines of the so-called orthodox churches have left their believers to depend on faith alone, Spiritualism purports to present positive demonstration of its truths. For my own part, my agnosticism leaves me in doubt of its asserted facts, so apparent to many, yet I believe I can reason, fairly and unprejudiced, on its claims, and on the manner in which you have treated them in your report. As a lawyer, but not a theologian, it looks to me as if you closed your eyes at the appearance of truth, and opened them wide at the shadow of error: and really, gentlemen, your decision does not seem to be a fair one, and your court should at least give the Spiritualists a "rule to show cause why your verdict should not be set aside and a new trial granted them.

Your advertisement referred to seems to be a right and proper method of obtaining evidence in the case; but is it so in fact? You admit that Spiritualism is a religion, and as such you propose to apply to its proofs only the rigid forms of scientific investigation, or the common

place rules of business life. That is, when you want a test, you advertise for one, as a merchant would for products in which he deals, and treat it as if it were a mountebank show. Is this fair? Would the Christian world submit to have any such tests applied to the justly revered religions of the day? Let us see.

You know that among the many disputed questions of orthodox faith, one of the most prominent is as to the efficacy of prayer; and I speak of it with all reverence, and will not be misunderstood if I can prevent it; for I do believe in prayer· not that by it the mind of the Creator can be changed, or that he can be persuaded by the petitions of mankind to do what he had not intended to do, or not to do that which he had contemplated doing. The absolute immutability of nature's laws, reinforced by the assertion of James in his general epistle that "Every good gift cometh from the Father, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," proves the unchangeableness of the mind of the Creator. Yet I do believe that from his throne on high he touches with his divine finger the human heart, and that prayer pours forth as spontaneously as did the water from the rock in Horeb when touched by the wand of Moses. No man can bow down in prayer to the Creator and not arise therefrom feeling that he ought to be better, - not because he has in the least changed the mind of the Deity, but by a reflex action on his own inward consciousness.

You know that there is a vast difference in the opinions of thinking men on this subject. Many believe that prayer is directly answered, and that petitions to the Most High are often granted because of their importunity. I do not believe this, and am not alone in my disbelief. For centuries this has been one of the vexed questions of theological disputation, one deemed of vast importance by the Christian world, and upon its truth or falsity

depends many a cherished Christian faith. You also know -you cannot help knowing the fact that skepticism is vastly increasing at this time; that things are said and published to-day of the Christian religion that one hundred years ago would have been punished with the prison, and even death.

Now let us suppose that some ardent and wealthy "believer," in view of the growing infidelity, should bequeath to a university of learning the sum of sixty thousand dollars, that the object of the bequest should be

"To found a chair of philosophy,' and that the university should appoint a Commission to investigate all systems of Morals, Religion or Philosophy which assume to represent the Truth, and particularly as to the EFFICACY of PRAYER." The trustees of the university appoint a Commission of ten able men. They are directed to examine into all the evidence in the issue involved, and to report their opinion as to the truths of "so called ' revealed religion, and "particularly as to its great fundamental doctrine-The Efficacy of Prayer.""

The commissioners meet and commence their investigations. They find on enquiry many reported instances of answered prayer. The Reverend Zöllner, D.D., Professor Crookes, D.D., Robert Hare, D.D., and a host of other learned and truthful men, all report instances that have come under their investigation, where they saw positive evidence that prayers had been answered. On the other hand, they find that a few years ago the president of a great nation was shot by an assassin; and that for long weeks he lay on a bed of most intense suffering, his spirit hovering between life and death; that he was a great and good man, whose life was of inestimable value to his country. The Commission find on investigation that, during his illness, millions of prayers ascended to the "Throne on High" asking that his wounds be healed,

and that he be restored to a nation that loved him so well. Yet, notwithstanding the earnest prayers of a whole Christian world, the good man died. Here the commissioners pause and remark to and among themselves, "With all this conflicting testimony before us we must investigate for ourselves." One of our number by his habits of investigation has been trained to this kind of work: not that he has ever prayed himself; but then he knows how it is done, and can readily detect the spurious from the genuine article. A very short time thereafter there appears in all the religious and many of the secular newspapers of the day the following advertise

ment:

“The 'RELIGIO-PHILOSOPHICAL' Commission appointed by the TRUTH-DISSEMINATING UNIVERSITY of Philadelphia, Pa., for investigating Revealed Religion, and particularly the question of the 'Efficacy of Prayer,' hereby request all persons gifted in addressing petitions to the THRONE OF GRACE (and no others at present), who are willing to submit their powers of persuading and instructing the Creator what to do, to the examination of this Commission, to communicate with the undersigned, stating terms, prices of prayers, etc.

"March, 1885.

Acting Chairman."

At the time appointed the commissioners meet. They are determined not to be cheated, and therefore when a man appears before them who has the reputation of being a genuine Christian and peculiarly gifted in prayer, they look with suspicion upon him, and regard him as a fraud from the start. They insult him with (asides) — see page 54 of your Report, where the insolent by-play remark of one of your Commission is thought worthy of being recorded, and when the unfortunate petitioner is requested to pray at a mark, and fails to hit the center; when, because of the embarrassment of his surroundings, he misses the target-board altogether, you dismiss him in