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The publication of this report gave an immense stride to Spiritualism. It was noticed by
nearly every paper throughout the world, the news agencies in Great Britain sending it out as
stereotype matter. Of course Mr. Gladstone was deluged with letters of inquiry. The Daily
News of November 6th contained the following "diplomatic" answer, probably lithographed on a
post card: "10, Downing-street, Whitehall, November 4th, 1884. Sir, I am directed by Mr.
Gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday, and to say that while he cannot
undertake to enter into details, he has expressed no conclusion upon the subject to which you
refer. I am, sir, your obedient servant, HORACE SEYMOUR." It is to be hoped that this "soft
answer" turned away the wrath which raged against the open-minded statesman, who had,
according to some pious people, engaged in sorcery, and according to others become the victim of
imposture or delusion.
No further details of Mr. Gladstone's experiences have been made public, but I have good
reason for thinking that the Right Honourable gentleman has not altogether ceased his
130 'Twixt Two Worlds.
investigations. At any rate he has since become a member of the Society for Psychical Research,
a half-way house at which many find it pleasant to rest prior to taking the filial plunge into
Spiritualism. Of course Punch could not pass by such a golden opportunity, and forthwith began
to qualify for admission into the schools of the prophets by a temperate deliverance of the
burden of its own experiences. Let this effusion be compared with former utterances and my
readers will readily admit the change of tone. Thanks! Mr. Punch.
Equally satisfactory, but more serious, was the attitude of Figaro. In that journal for
December 6th appeared a letter from the well-known musician and critic, Mr. J. S. Shedlock,
introduced by the following editorial:
"Mr. Shedlock is by no means in impressionable man, and the evening before he attended the
seance he was a scornful sceptic. His present feelings may be judged by the plain statement of
facts in the letter hereunder. I will only add a few words of comment upon the extraordinary tale
Mr. Shedlock now has to tell. It will be noticed that a double slate, on which the message written
is not seen by the medium, is securely locked and held close to the table. Immediately a
scratching is heard from a crumb of slate pencil, and the reply is found written on the slate,
Granting the possibility of a trick (for in this case there could be no collusion), the evasive reply
concerning Mozart can be considered at worst a very extraordinary guess. About the Schubert
symphony the reply was even more astounding. Had the answer been six, or a dozen, or so forth,
Mr. Eglinton or the ghost might reasonably have been suspected of imposture. But the
discussion whether the symphony in C is the No. 9 or No. 10 has been in progress for some
time. As musicians are aware, Sir George Grove is of opinion that the Gastein symphony, which
he calls No. 9, is still missing, and that the symphony in C is No. 10. The alleged spirit of
Schubert, asked how many symphonies be wrote after that in B minor No. 8, replied two. The
reply is certainly extraordinary, for it is in the highest degree improbable that Mr. Eglinton (who
did not know even that his visitor was musical) should have been so well posted as to the
Schubert symphonies, even if he could by any possibility of means have seen what Mr. Shedlock
had written. Sir George Grove is now the proper man to follow up this inquiry. Peradventure, so
great a Schubert-lover, who also believes in Spiritualism, may be able to wheedle out of the
deceased a description of the work, and of the place where the Gastein symphony lies hidden.
The spirit of Mozart, doubtless for reasons of its own, ignored the question how much of the
Requiem was written by Mozart, and how much by Sussmayr. Schubert was more
communicative, and perhaps Sir George Grove may be able to coax it even into jotting down the
principal subjects of the Gastein symphony on the slate. 'Dear Cherubino, Last Wednesday I
went to see the psychographist, Mr. Eglinton. Mr. Gladstone's interview with the celebrated
medium was recently spoken of in all the papers; and so, I am quite sure, the name will be
familiar to all your readers. If a believer in Spiritualism, you would perhaps advise me to send
any communication on the subject to Light; if a disbeliever, you would perhaps suggest the
Freethinker or the War Cry. But I am writing to you for a special reason. If Mr. Eglinton, I
thought, will allow me to call for any spirit, and allow me to put any question to it, I will see if I
can obtain any information which will be of interest to musicians. A happy thought! What could
I do better than try and learn something about the state in which Mozart left his Requiem, and
about Schubert's missing symphony, or rather the one which Sir George Grove
General Testimony to Psychography. 131
says is missing? I have always laughed at mediums, apparitions, etc., and so I could scarcely
hope that the spirits of the mighty dead would come at my beck and bidding, and allow me to
question them. But nothing venture, nothing have. My wife went with me, and it was arranged
between us that she should parley with Mozart, and I with Schubert. We all three sat round the
table, my wife and self, and Mr. Eglinton. I said, "Is Schubert here?" Mr. Eglinton held a slate for
a moment under the table; a scratching noise was heard, and on producing the slate the word
"No" was clearly written on it. As I am only writing about musical matters, and also am afraid of
trespassing on your valuable space, I must not describe minutely the movements of Mr.
Eglinton. I will, however, say that the whole affair is most extraordinary, and does not seem at all
like a farce or a conjuring trick. Mr. Eglinton then said, "Will the spirits answer questions?" The
message came, "You have Power." My wife then took the celebrated Bramah-locked slate. She
wrote on it, "Mozart, can you tell me how much you wrote of your Requiem?" Mr. Eglinton
certainly did not see what was written. The slate was locked and placed on the table. An
ordinary slate was placed under the table, and an answer at once came, "Mozart is one of your
guides and inspires your husband to play." I make no comment on this. "Now, will you write
down a question?" said Mr. Eglinton to me. I took a slate, held it so as to be sure no one could
see what I was writing, and although I had at first been told Schubert was not present, I thought I
would still try and hold communion with him. At first I was going to ask, "How many
symphonies did you write?" but I decided on a more crucial test. This is what I wrote, "Schubert,
can you tell me how many symphonies you wrote after the unfinished one in B minor?" I put the
slate on the table empty side upwards. Mr. Eglinton put a crumb of pencil on it, held it under the
table, but so that we could see part of the slate, and could also see his hand holding it, In about
five seconds a scratching was heard the slate was lifted, and on it the figure 2. Some further
experiments were made, with which I shall not trouble you, but, like Mr. Gladstone, I can say
that I was much impressed by what occurred. Were I now to discuss the question of
psychography, you would probably not read, Still less print, my remarks. I have related my
interview in as plain and truthful a manner as I possibly could; and, indeed, I felt bound to let
you know what took place. If Sir G. Grove is a believer in Spiritualism, he will perhaps now visit [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]