THE SEANCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 598, 28 August 1909, Page 7

THE SEANCE.

No. p. " • A-DULL TIME. .V. NO PHENOMENA. : .The third'of the Friday evening seances; given by tho Imodium Bailoy,of -Melbourne,' held .in : the room; at- Woodward Street : last .i . "evening, was a wearisome affair.- It resolved, itself largely into' a. 'debate on the Scriptures between Bailey (or his, control, "Professor . Denton"),-a minister of the Gospel, who attended as a press reporter, and a press reporter, who from his knowledge. of the . / Scnprtures 'mightihave been a minister of the. Gospel. They tried tlhe patience of the gathering sorely.;- As one lady put it: "It ■ isvery-disappointing, when wo oomo hero -. for .phenomena, and got only religious discussion. , Wo can get that at any time." Tho ■■■■■'-. of»the audienoe»was in hearty sym-pathy-with this complaint. ■< .1 It, appears that .tile medium /had- very bads timo'-at last- .Tuesday's seance; '■ Tho : ' : ■ i.. "conditions,!.' .wo were told, :■ had been very ' had on that occasion—scandalously bad. By . • / • , "conditioms"-ia meant tho,mental attitude of .:f , -.the circle towards the medium. A strongly : hostile.sectionseems ,to .havo .been -present .. on.v Tuesday .night,' and. tho effect -on the ; ''controls,' :„ps -,well as ;on- the medium, was . deplorable; . The. Hindu?, ;who are supposed to J produce.' the > "apports,"; which are tho chief attraction to Believers • and sceptics alike, appear- to:havo ,been -mortally offended atvthe 'behaviour. of, the 'gathering, Whfin: an;enthusiast last.night pleaded for "pheiio- -. * roena," ..ho was sternly -told by /Denton," itho: control in - charge ■■ of themedium, at the .moment, that ."Abdul" was ... not,,present,>and it was doubtful whether he • .v would. attend again; .This ■ wa-s , felt ■to bo . rather,--- rough. on tho Friday night ■ circle'* ;1 , which . was being penalised because of the misconduct of the-Tuesday people. How- ', ever, "Professor Denton"' delivered* an ad- • ' ■■. ore®S/.in. which he set out to: explain the 'conditions" required to produoe "phenomena, and .at of- proceedings held ouihopes.of a return of. "Abdul" at the next gathering lift would probably weary our readers t» . tcpnxluoe -.th-G i address of -"Tlifi ProfGssor and the argument and disputation which - .' TOJloyrcu. Ono or.two of the cLscruss^xl /. howevei-j -might provo of interest as ehofrmg ; v sort of raised-at these gather-' ■ ings. and the answers given 'T ll ® Professor" waa boing pressed as to the conditions existing in the spirit world, ~ and as to his .own powers and -knowledge.: He. had admitted an error as to tho birthplace,of.H, and explained it in th" way — •,. .'iVfl®? l ! a .man, dies,; no immediate change takes place m his general knowledge of : thuiga. . Tho change called death : does -not ,:E'T®x a '". ia an.. all knowledge.. .Be carries with him to the spirit world just tho knowledge he«possessed on earth. Honce "Professor Denton" on earth thought Stanley wa's . ... American-bom, and so wh« n- he ' (th« Professor) died, ho * still 'thougkt Stanley .Amencan-born. Since, hw • arrival"in- the ... spirit ,world,,, he had . gained • powers ■of securing oortain knowledge, but not ALL knowledge , "How,," he conv , tinuetf, ."can tno change called death' make a saint out of a sinner?" Those on the : ' "other , side" were just utile spirits of men, : and these spirits haa. to'dovelop' their powers • byvgetting lnto tuno .with' tho' infinite, and becoming pure *■ * , .The audience • was rather'-, staggered to i: r , . 'earn-, that "The Professor" had met spirits who;did not know they were doad—as 'We understand death.-. They. knew .some change' had. taken place, - but they^,did.- not Itnowi then bodies wero what is known oil the earth as Mead. 1 : 'Asked ,to . ."tell us J , about Heaven,". '."The , said that this conld. not bo 4ono The Saviour. .. Himself,- ,when --in •• th«. fle&h, had.■no't done .He - knew that ; He,could not ■be understood.V "We' y can .only toll.you," added. "Tho Professor,"; "what you' are capable., of understanding " 1 "Why." asked, a. lady; ."do'-^yottf ,: bring from Indiaj when, jou are not aDie^to^move^articles'' about iiii -thist.room P'.' " i -: t'Tne. P.rftfessor'.'i.denied .that'Mitjiwas not ; possible but stated fhfit that sort of thing was not sat; isfactory.' Moreover, the -Hindus were in moro . r; ■ , "congenial, surroundings, and the . conditions • were: bettor: in ( their, own country. In Melbourne they,:-had transported articles, from a locked drawer in on 6 house to I another 'house. : • ; A number of questio-na were put concern- . - -ing.the : Deity, to (which' the/replies were that . no 'man, either in the body or the spirit,, had seen God. . '

'What,"; asked the minister. "is tho un- •: derstandmg of God in the;spirit' world?'' ■ ■ "The-Professor's'! vrcply .waA to the effect . that the understanding-'of' God'in tho spirit ■ world/was omnipotence, Orrtnipresence.Th«y not ,: .6elievo tiiat- God was a personal God. • Some rather interesting questions ;were put , to tho, Creation -which culminated in 1 a , desire, on the part of one* of 'the audience to know .whether "Th,e was in a" «••. position; to,, state, whothek the account 'in Genesis,of the Creation was correct. "Tho Professor"-said ho cwas able to say,- but he' _ : could .not.iproduce. proof. - Tho' story of "tho '. Creation' ,was :,.mcorrect—it' ; was; -merely founded on myths and legends; : • • : questioner; .'.-'Your. Bpij'it guides /should 1 - bo,ablo,.to tell you ths ■ exact', truth "'of, the I Creatun." ' - 'I "Tite -Professor',': "I' have told'youi ,they have done so." ' ' ' 1 "Mars,'' answered' "The Professor" in' ro-1 plyjto .another question,.-Vis 'inhabited; but .;. not -by human i beings .like vtfiose ■ on the i earth. , _ * , (~ 'A questioner:, "Do. you ■ think: we will' over | be able to,communicate with them?'-' v : ' - v: 1 .. i \!'Tho .Professor?'"No. I- don't." Another questioner:: "Tesla- says■ we shall." • r f 'The,Professor"-: "I don't'.think you-will:" • And •so the/thing- goes - oh., •><There* are -i many people - amongst ~those; present who ask eagerly;, for news orrthe>. spirit, wo'rld.' plainly anxious to be convinced. v/It'is -pathctic to i witness .their anxiety ..to turn ? to~ favourable aceount/ ther answers:,'received !:to their in- . quiries. . Vague_generalities, .confirmatory ,of i their hopos,: which-produce/only.. smiles from the: sceptics, hre graspedat and treasured.by , ■ them. - Whether they are wholly convinced is uncertain. Some probably are,', others not, for the same wistful plea gooi up each time: Vlf. you could only give „us sotno ■ idea, 'Professor,' of what we have to look fonVard to— something to hope fori' 1 < And-"Tho Professor'' can only talk vague generalities.,,, 1 - '■ '/-' ' '' '' ■ ■ ;-/;

/ :J, (,/ i ; /.:■ THAT CHALLENGE. | EDirOB. . .. Sir,—ln .'response to 'my acceptanc'e of challenge v thoro appeared;: in ; last' Monday's issue-of the "Now Zealand Times" a letter containing <a.column, and a half from that gentleman,,. wherein jhe sets out what he ls pleased to call his conditions, one of which provides, that' Mr. Bailey shall be -"placod in a hermetically-sealed cabinet.'? Needless; to • say, no -person', be ho medium or, not, could live under -sueh conditions. , v The whole . letter is beside the ; question at 'stake. /Mr. .Dnvpr,vin his letter to: the "Times" of the 13th. instant, stated that ho', would .wager - £100 that "I; can fully, ' satisfactorily-- perform any manifestations'.of --the so-called spirit power, which I am permitted to witness three times "

-I ' again accept his challenge.' 1 I invite Mr. Driver to: attend/ the . three: seances to bo held 'at Woodward Street on the' following dates.' at 7.45 p.m.'.—September 7, 14, and 21/ 1900. - Ifj after, witnessing the manifestations that stall take place at those seances; Mr. Driver can 'produce similar apports .to, those produced through the medium, and under the hko conditions he shall be entitled'to .the £100 which, has ■ already been deposited; with 'you by me. Tho only conditions X must insist upon are: ... ,: . ...■ 1, That before attending the meetings. Mr, Driver shall deposit his £100 with the /'New Zealand Times.' (Mr. Driver shall have.the utmost liberty to thoroughly inspect tho room prior to the seance commencing.) v 2,.'That Mr. Drivel shall be allowed Cjto. examine the medium only under the supervision of a duly /qualified- medical practi-tioner,-who 'shall be mutually -agreed upon. • 3; That Mr. Driver, during the course of the seance, shall not in any way interfere

with'the medium or obstruct tho meetings, which shall be under tho solo control of the chairman. . r '< 4.; That the representatives of. the three daily papers, and one medical practitioner, shall bo tho judges as to whether the medium has been properly searched. • 5. In the event of Mr. driver's succced-i infj: in producing apports, my £100 shall be .paid to-him. 'In the event of . Mn Driver failing, his £100 shalj/be paid' over to me, should Mr. Bailey-have produced apports. , 6. The production of apports by Mr. Bailey and tho non-production therccrf ;by Mr. Driver shall be' conclusive of the rights of myself to .my own and Mr. Driver's, .money. Tho production of apportsby Mr. Bailey, and a production of similar apports by Mr. Driver shall entitle tho latter to both aams of; money.—l am, etc<, • WILLIAM M'LEAN." 21 Home Street. v August 20, 1009.