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Communicating with the Dead RICHARD HODGSON of Boston was a warm hearted anil open minded num. and Ins early leath was a most lamentable event. 1 tnly a few days before his departure trom this life we had had a good talk >n hypnotism, wherein we agreed en tirely; but we both carefully avoided my switching of the discussion to spiritualism — he knew thai I did not believe in his spirit theories and in his communica tion with tin- dead through the famous Mrs. Piper. At first he had been a skeptical critic of mystical happenings; but slowly he had turned round, and finally he lived entirely in devotion to his super natural studies. To unveil the mystery of death, •i ->• by philosophy or religion, but by experiment md observation, thai was his passion, and as a mat ter of course he arranged with his nearest friends that, if one of them died, he should do his utmost to ;*ive unmistakable proof of his spiritual existence in mother world. It was hardly surprising that his death gave the signal for spiritual performances in all parts of the ■ountry. Wherever mediums eke a living irons the ally credulity of superstitious believers, it became tor awhile the fashion to get messages from Hodgson. Vet the fraud was so evident that serious minded iccultists hardly gave any attention to these cheap tricks. Hut soon the situation changed. It became known that Hodgson's friend Professor Hyslop, the founder of the new American Society for Psychical Research, had attained to contact with the deceased, ind again through the agency of Mrs. Piper. Mr. Hyslop is a conscientious, scrupulous scholar, and. is to Mrs. Piper, it seems unreasonable to be sus picious of conscious fraud. The careful reports of these experiences have now been published, and, in addition to the automatic writings of Mrs. Piper, A - receive full specimens of Dr. Hyslop's experi ments with some other "lights" working with the planchette. Dr. Hyslop's Conclusion r\R. HYSLOP assures us that these facts must be *~* recognized as supernatural, and that the ex planation through spirits is the most rational hy pothesis The suggestible reader who longs for a lense demonstration of human immortality starts with the acceptance of such mystical theory, and is satisfied when he heirs facts which can be inter preted in the terms of such belief. He doe i not bring to such material the skepticism with which he might Study the evidence in a murder trial , he does i\< >t ask himself whether another hypothesis might not be simpler The skeptical reader, on the other hand, has hardly the patience to wade through such swamp ■ of trivial gossip, he throws it aside and hardly cares to ask whether it i> a fraud or merely the babbling >f a disturbed mind Yet, both attitude-, are wrong. Credulous acceptance leaves matters where they stood before; nothing is lined for real knowledge And the impatient attitude is unscientific, as we ,iere have to deal with reports for which the idea if fraud seems preposterous. I for one feel the less right to decline .1 careful scrutiny, as my mail (as probably thai of mum a psychological colleague in the land) is overburdened with inquiries as to whether the ■■ •• >i f< »r life after death is not now com plete And .: the questions have poured in from ill sides, I give my answer the widest publicity. Mr Hyslop .--poke in questions to Mrs. Piper, who note the answers; in a similar way he worked with Mrs. Quenttn, who did not write but gave re plies through the planchette or ouija board The replies presumably came from the departed Hodgson. 1 should be willing to accept that, at le. ! as an irgument, if it were shown that the replies were xmvinemgly characteristic of the man. or could lave come onlj from his personal knowledge, or ould have been under no circumstances the >r.nn product; of Mi ■ Piper herself. In my opinion ■hire is nothing in all the material which forei on i< such a concession; ■■: the contrary, every so '.:■•■ reduces itself to a conversation which 1 .!■ k - those esseni ial>. And the few bits of . ■ >r re» I ■ oin< idence which can be ■ ■!■ ;erved at all are - 1 exi remely meager thai no ime « ill be ready t> > give up for them the scientific view of an orderly uni verse; everyone who •.. noi > ■ >nvince<l befi >rehand will prefer to group th «se "supernatural " chance coincidences among the By HUGO MUNSTERBERG Processor of Psychology of Harvard University Drjw.ni;. by Charles A. Winter fortuitous happenings which must be expeci such a chaos <>f queer queries and replies. I have said thai there is nothing characteristic of the man who purports to sj*\ik from heaven. I might add at once, Everything is characteristic oj the woman whose hand is scribbling the answers. We iiHi^: noi forget thai it is the same woman with whom Hodgson worked through many years, and who had become thus most familiar and intimate with the whole (ink- in which Hodgson moved. His idiom and his methods Mended with her memory of the man. The only I h perhaps could not be her- was hi* scientific interest and further facts which he kept secret iri~:n her. In both these directions the experiments have tailed entirely. Fancy a scholar, through m uij years of his earthly Hfe absorbed by the one passion, -to understand the conditions of existence after de.tth. — devoting his whole scholarly career to this one group of prob lems, and md times with his mo t intimate friends. And now he enters into the land of the eternal mystery; al] the secrets which no living being has ever grasped are unveiled to him, and. with full conscious™ I persona] identity, hi ttains the power of direct com friends: he <an be the first t i convince mankii the millii •:• tatnl y, — and ii ■ ■ ■ r j ips. about " He ered anytl heese in hi^ room." reports Dr. Hyslop as i >n» ... ... adds, ' 1 re illed the intcrestm] tance thai once, r>nd only i I tad had a midnight lunch with I>:-. 11 Tavern Chi W bit ai . i 1 a dehghtful • The Mysterious Conversation TPHI" typ 1 Mrs. Piper writes, I am Hodgson." — Hvs 1• ;> replies, "Good! Hod] y< u?'*— tal II ■■••. I Hys !"p. 'Fine. 1 G : glad 1 '' . •: :• ' Did } n and I • ' ! i . • • ; D. " !l ■.';.". ■ ■ .■ • ■ ■ "Ti ■•>!■.! A , • • ■ : I ■ : I • • : ■ mar It "No." ! V'an."— : ■ • rei ..1! • . t 1 think 1 kn i xh .■. as. ' And a continuous attempt to say ■it being definite, and where\ suggested in a tent itive way it pi • wrung, and, in the be cases. . ,!igfj t approximation to the facts, jus | p.. one who was familiar with 1! gsoai interests might guess them. V. 'ever the talk becomes specific an.i • COr reet, it lies entirely within the Mrs. Piper's probable know] " I will DO« refer to the n; m i fgoposed having before I came r' — lyslop, When wa the met" gto Lc?"- -"I suggested having a meeting ; e^[ York." — Hyslop, "Yes, that is right."—- ,ne could know about these plans better th . , ur sell. ■■—Hyslop, •'Th.it is right."— " D j en ber my desire to publish my report nexi m Yes. extracts." — Hyslop. "About whom • t ' ae extracts?" — "I wished to publish extract •.:♦ our telepathic experiments." — Hysl "A. Best £■< ahead." — " 1 also wished to publish • c ts about the spirit side of test experiments :n theory m answer to some criticism I recall ir Mrs Sidgwick." Here at last we have indeed concrete lad bed Mr Hyslop acknowledges himself that Mr per probably knew of Hodgson's desire to rej.lv irs Sidgwick, and, while he doubts whether she ': vo r his intention to go to the New York met* / it seems certainly not improbable that he had .ed to her about that too If Hodgson had approached the problem | in vince Mr. Hyslop <ii his spiritual existence ■ his old intellectual keenness, he would certain': a-e avoided talking constantly about cheap trn .es which everyone can guess or about tuts .v;.. tf^ transmitting medium could know. He wool : ve <~hosen convincing and evident topics. < ItaCC I .:<j through Mrs Piper. "I saw you recentlv ur:* m all I have said to you." — Hyslop, "Thai : ht Hodgson." — " it pleased me verv :..■-. — Hyslop, "I am going to print it m The Journal '— "Amen! You have my consent. I Irish the "Id to know that I was not an idiot." I am sot it nobody believed Hodgson to be an fefiol as I a as he lived; but all the messages winch claim I he sent by him as proofs of his identity are so ly chosen and so ineffectively brought iumaid it we should be indeed obliged to believe that hJS I J power has been lost in the other world And even if he were unskilful in provir_ .13 existence, he would have furnished his friend 11 . p at least with some new insight into the won<l--- >t the overwork] which they discu.-sed SO often. 1 :' 4 son has shown that he has in h:s new sphere si a loyal interest in the success of I>r Hys] "J r nal." He wrote, for instance, through Mrs IV • "Have you been to Washington lately?" — Hjsl " Not specially." — "Is there any psychologjrafw x there? I see people who are interested and will he c you in V'>ur w>>rk. May not be able all at once, bu* will lln it in time." Now. if Hodgson remains eag» : for Others to help i : ■ top in his work, which, indee I badlv needs support, would it escape Hodgs. ■• '- notice that if he were to dictate a few original ■ ■■ ! > rials v .ncerning the new life, the success of "' ". , r Journal" would be secured L>r all me? Nothing but Silliness INSTEAD 1 4 that . we d 1 n >t hear ah >ut the el •■ life anything else than the same k-.r.ti oj ■. : ; silliness with which the ghosts of the spuitu -:t: t seances .it one dollar and titty < ■t3 the i-. .• • -t in the habit of enter*. ii:.i:.g their customer- I have found things better than I hoped — hot tes have tlie professionals said t'::.it to then : •!* audiences And when one spirit is asked w lei he sees another spirit, the answer comes, ' V< ut lives run in parallels" — typical <■! that >l mystical slang which we have heard th: . nj years The familiar exjlan.it:. m >■! the itn] the utterance is also not lacking 'I>■ :. • .; lam asleep. .-'.- «p! Notnrach! In iyi r stand all that g"e> on; but I heal en ire tl \ plain here*. Therefore, you mnst get • n give here, and trv V > andctstand « .■ • s« fragmentary . 1 do not feel you lack 1 •:• I do feel great diffi culty in expressing myself thr< 'uuh meditn - Hodgson kr.e-v the I ter ature of mysticism jH.-r fectly .. lonj . he live 1 ;■.: Boylston Race, Boston I: .;• the other place he ts really »tiD the son >.■ ::. m, he cann. «t possibly doubt that this kind • i phraseology vronld be the last th'ng in the • r! i • ■ 1 1