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again we found the slate covered with writing, the last part of the message being carried all round
the slate next to the frame. The first slate, as I have stated, was on the top of the table, under my
own hands and eyes, and although the second slate was close below the flap of the table, it was
yet held in its position by the fingers and thumb of Mr. Eglinton's right hand only, which were
visible to me the whole time. I therefore assert that these slates were written on by an occult
process, and of this I am as certain as I am of my own existence. If further evidence were
required, it could be found in the fact that the writing on the two slates was completed in about
two minutes, more or less, and that on experiment I find it takes about twenty minutes to copy it
in quick writing."
The symposium is closed by the testimony of the lion. Percy Wyndham, M.P., of 44,
Belgrave Square, S.W. He writes: "On the 23rd May, 1884, I had a sitting with Mr. Eglinton
for slate-writing. My son accompanied me. We sat at a deal table, in full daylight, Mr. Eglinton
opposite to myself, my son between us, to my left and to Mr. Eglinton's right. The slate was at
first held under the corner of the table between my son and Mr. Eglinton, by the pressure of the
fingers of Mr. Eglinton's right and of my son's left hand, both their thumbs being on the upper
surface of the table, and the wrist and greater part of Mr. Eglinton's hand being visible to my son.
Mr. Eglinton's left hand and my son's right were joined above the table, and my two hands on
theirs. To the usual question, 'Is anyone present?' the reply 'Yes' was written. At Mr. Eglinton's
suggestion, my son took a clean slate, and going into the adjoining room, wrote a question on it,
and left this slate in the adjoining room. The purport of this question was unknown to myself or
to Mr. Eglinton. A slate was held as before. We soon heard the sound of writing, and on looking
at the slate, found the piece of pencil at the end of the last letter, and the writing was in this and
in each other instance reversed from Mr. Eglinton, the tops of the letters being towards him, and
the writing as if written by a person facing, as I myself was. The answer to my son's question
was as follows: 'We cannot tell as ' (giving the initial and surname of a deceased friend of
my son) 'is not here.' We then put two slates together, Mr. Eglinton and my son pressing them
on the upper surface of the table in full view, when the following message was written very
audibly and with great rapidity: 'MY DEAR SON, I am very glad to be able to accept the
opportunity afforded me of dictating a Message through the guides of Mr. Eglinton, but you will
believe me when I say I am nevertheless present in spirit. There is much I would like to say to
you, but I must defer it all until I get stronger to communicate through this (sic) means. Your
father sends you much love, as does your affectionate mother, M. F. WYNDHAM.' Stops and
commas are placed as in the original. Being uncertain as to the initials, and as to who the writer
"Brought to Book." 147
purported to be, two other slates were put together on the table, and on my asking for the name
in full, 'Mary Fanny Wyndham' was written immediately. I then asked what was the nature of her
death, and the reply was immediately written, 'sudden' (correct). I then asked if they could tell
me the name of a relative of mine who had recently come to London. The reply was immediately
written, 'Blunt.' This closed the seance."
One would have thought that this testimony was good enough, fair enough, and so obviously
impartial, as to satisfy everybody. It did not, however, satisfy Mr. R. A, Proctor, of Knowledge.
In that weekly he delivered himself of a choice specimen of scientific bigotry and intolerance,
worthy of that "woe" denounced of old on the hypocrites who shut up the Kingdom of Heaven
(of knowledge) against men: "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye neither go
in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." He said: "Bringing it to Book is
an advertisement of a Mr. Eglinton, a (so-called) 'Medium,' which we decline to forward or
further by taking any more notice of it. Professor Ray Lankester and Dr. Carpenter would be the
fittest people to deal with this person in the outset, as Mr. Flowers, at Bow Street, would be at a
subsequent stage of the proceedings." Now I have quoted a block of evidence of the first order, as
"plainly worded, exactly described," as even Mr. Proctor's Knowledge boasts to be,
unimpeachably authenticated, too, by the names of the gentlemen who observed what they have
recorded. This evidence establishes as a scientific fact what Mr. Proctor thus dismisses with the
air of an Inquisitor dealing with heresy. He is more dogmatic than a mediaeval priest. But the
priest was at least in harmony with his age: the method adopted by Mr. Proctor, on the contrary,
is one singularly and even ludicrously unadapted to the tone of modern thought. In this matter
Mr. Proctor is as foolish as he is careless and slovenly in his statements respecting other matters,
and even when his errors are pointed out he has not the straightforward honesty or grace to make
any apology.
Perhaps I may be permitted to add here a report of some peculiarly satisfactory experiences
of my own. I had occasion in August, 1884, to arrange a series of special seances for a friend
(Mr. Quintin H ), with Mr. W. Eglinton. Besides Mr. H and myself, Mr. E. Dawson
Rogers (already frequently mentioned in these pages) was present at four of the six seances I am
about to describe, and I am very pleased to be permitted to present his added testimony.
We met on each occasion at ten o'clock in the morning, and invariably occupied the same
positions (for the diagram I must refer the reader to p. 103). Mr. Eglinton sat at c, Mr. H at
f, myself at g, and Mr. Dawson Rogers (or whoever took his place on the two occasions when
that gentleman was absent) at h. It will be noticed that Mr. H sat facing the mirror, and so
placed himself that while he could, in the usual manner, observe everything in front of the
medium, he had also, thanks to the mirror, a considerably extended range of vision.
The surroundings and conditions observed at these seances I have already fully described
(chap. xiii. pp. 103-9), and in reading the minutes of these experiments, I must ask that these
details be borne in mind.
Experiment 1. We seated ourselves as shown in Fig. 13, p. 103. Two slates were cleaned,
carefully examined, and securely tied together with twine, a crumb of slate-pencil
148 'Twixt Two Worlds.
being placed between them. They were left lying on the top of the table, and never once passed
from our sight. While they were thus in full view of three witnesses, there was heard the sound
of writing on them in response to a request made by Mr. H . The sound was a rapid tick,
tick, and was distinctly audible to all of us. It was not, however, continuous, the "ticking,"
though very rapid, being disconnected just like the sound heard when a telegraph instrument is
working. Fig. 28 is a full-sized facsimile of what we found written on the under-surface of the
top slate. We then observed that the character of the writing explained the peculiar, disconnected
sound accompanying its production. The time occupied was twenty-five seconds. The message
contains one hundred and twenty words.
Experiment 2. On another occasion, after every precaution had again been taken, and it
must be understood that this was invariably done, the two slates were placed by Mr. Eglinton on
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