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manifestation. It attests the eagerness of the human heart for tangible evidence
of survival. With periodical ebb and flow it has persisted to the present day,
when its vogue is hardly less general than at any former time. In the fifties
and sixties the Spiritualistic agitation was in full flush, with many
extraordinary occurrences accredited to its exponents.21
Spiritualism encountered opposition among the clergy and the materialistic
scientists, yet it has hardly ever been wanting in adherents among the members
of both groups. An acquaintance with its supporters would reveal a surprising
list of high civil and government officials, attorneys, clergymen, physicians,
professors, and scientists.22
One of the first Spiritualistic writers of this country was Robert Dale Owen,
whose Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World and The Debatable Land were
notable contributions. Two of the most eminent representatives of the movement
in its earliest days were Prof. Robert Hare, an eminent scientist and the
inventor of the oxyhydrogen blow-pipe, and Judge Edmonds, a leading jurist. Both
these men had approached the subject at first in a skeptical spirit, with the
intention of disclosing its unsound premises; but they were fair enough to study
the evidence impartially, with the result that both were convinced of the
genuineness of the phenomena. Both avowed their convictions courageously in
public, and Judge Edmonds made extensive lecture tours of the country, the
propaganda effect of which was great.23 Before the actual launching of the
Theosophical Society in 1875 at least four prominent later Theosophists had
played more or less important rôles in the drama of Spiritualism. Madame
Blavatsky, as we shall see, had identified herself with its activities; Mr. J.
R. Newton was a vigorous worker; and it was Col. Olcott himself who brought the
manifestations taking place in 1873 at the Eddy farmhouse near Chittenden,
Vermont, to public notice and who put forth one of the first large volumes
covering these and other phenomena in 1874, People From the Other World. The
fourth member was Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, who had served as a medium with
the Bulwer-Lytton group of psychic investigators in England, and who added two
books to Spiritualistic literature-Art Magic and Nineteenth Century Miracles.
Col. Olcott, Madame Blavatsky, and Mrs. Britten made material contributions to
several Spiritualistic magazines, especially The Spiritual Scientist, edited in
Boston.
21
Meantime Spiritualistic investigation got under way and after the sixties a
stream of reports, case histories, accounts of phenomena, and books from
prominent advocates flooded the country. The Seybert Commission on Spiritualism,
composed of leading officers and professors at the University of Pennsylvania,
submitted its report in 1888. In the same year R. B. Davenport undertook to turn
the world away from what he considered a delusion with his book Deathblow to
Spiritualism: The True Story of the Fox Sisters; but he found that Spiritualism
had a strange vitality that enabled it to survive many a "deathblow." As a
result of studies in psychic phenomena in England came F. W. H. Myers'
impressive work, The Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, in
which the foundations for the theory of the subliminal or subconscious mind were
laid.
But the work of the mediums themselves kept public feeling most keenly alert. A
list of some of the most prominent ones includes Mrs. Hayden, Henry Slade,
Pierre L. O. A. Keeler, the slate-writer, Robert Houdin (who bequeathed his name
and exploits to the later Houdini), Ira and William Davenport, Anna Eva Fay,
Charles Slade, Eusapia Paladino, Mrs. Leonara Piper. Robert Dale Owen, already
mentioned as author, was a medium of no mean ability. In the same category was
J. M. Peebles, of California, whose books, Seers of the Ages and Who Are These
Spiritualists? and whose public lecture tours, rendered him one of the most
prominent of all the advocates of the cult. A career of inspirational public
speaking was staged by Cora V. Richmond, who gave lectures on erudite themes
with an uncommon flow of eloquence. W. J. Colville began where she ended, giving
unprepared addresses on topics suggested by the audience.
The three most famous American mediums deserve somewhat more extended treatment.
The first of the trio is Daniel Dunglas Home, who was a poor Scottish boy
adopted in America. While a child, spiritual power manifested itself to him to
his terror and annoyance. Raps came around him on the table or desk, on the
chairs or walls. The furniture moved about and was attracted toward him. His
aunt, with whom he lived was in consternation at these phenomena, and, deeming
him possessed, sent for three clergymen to exorcise the spirit; when they did
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