Part 10

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.

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, 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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