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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
