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    114 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. Jf^...

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    FIELD-MARSWAL THE DUKE^F WELLINGTON.* A ...

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    « Tho Ztfb of Mold-fajrshal Arthur D,tho...

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    The Spiritualists. I T Is A Remarkable P...

    Spiritualism r it is talked of every where , from the highest to the lowest * and in every tone of opinion , from the deepest reverence to theniost flippant scoffing . Attention was first called to spiritualism , we believe , iii Amei-ica , and the stories which came tons from that land of Brobdignagian fictions were certainly not calculated to inspire the cautious with respect . To the phenomena ( now seemingly common enough ) of rapping , pinching , furniturer lifting , and writing by unseen hands , was added the apparition of the irits of great men deadwhich comported themselves after the

    sp , most extraordinary fashion . The spirit of Drr Johnson expressed itself in the most ungrammatical language . ¦; that of Shelley communicated as an original composition an ode which was recognised as a plagiarism from Colekidge ; the wraith of Shakespeare appeared to be wofully ignorant ' of'his works when in the flesh ; and about all the spirits of great Europeans one great , marking , family characteristic was apparent—that they were imbued with American vulgarisms and peculiarities , which certainly accounted for , if it did not excuse , the scepticism of which they became the

    objects . It was not long , however , before spiritualism found its way over to this country ; nor were the American media slow in presenting themselves u , pon a field so prolific both in converts and in cash . Thanks to these visitants , merry England itself became a region of marvel and of mystery . The spirits were as active here as they had been < m the other side of the Atlantic . In our turn , we have had rappings , and pinehings , and animated furniture , and strange communications from the spirits of Shakespeaee and Johnson . The converts to spiritualism among us are to be numbered by tens of •¦ th ousands , arid include among them some of the most active and

    intelligent , minds in the country . Referring , to what we said before about the unwillingness of the scientific to admit a belief in marvels , we know that there are men who have spent their whole lives in scientific investigations , in familiarity with the strictest aad severest formulae for ascertaining thevtruth—men whose faculties have become so sharpened by their thental training , that we should j > nmounee it to be almost impossible that they should be deceivedwe have known such men testify with bated breath , arid with an evident fear lest their testimony should be quoted to their shame , to fWcts for which not only they have no means of accounting , but which are actually irreconcilable with any known law . ¦

    What then are wei-to say ¦? , The matter is full of contradictionsfull , if you will , of manifest absurdities—yet it is testified to by witnesses whose evidence cannot properly be contemned , and whose testimony would be deemed sufficient for any other purpose of life . Are we to believe that i . mmoi-tal souls have no better nor worse fate than haunting the drawing-rooms of their friends ? Persons of unimpeached veracity affirm that it is so . Is it credible that the souls of the departed amuse themselves with tilting tables , lifting chairs , pinching" knees , and conveying bells and handkerchiefs ? Men of sense and of honour bear witness to the fact . Is it possible

    that by the mere will of a medium , a ponderous body may be raised into the air , contrary to the law of gravity P More and better witnesses will come forward and swear to it , than would be sufficient to bring conviction to the most incredulous jury as to such an unnatural action as the murder of a child . Whilst admitting that we ourselves have never yet witnessed anything that we could not account for by perfectly simple and natural causes , we must declare our belief that the evidence in favour of preternatural spiritual phenomenu'is top powerful to be treated otherwise than with respect —~ that ridicule , when applied to it , is entirely misplaced , and that the best frame of mind , for those who are unconvinced is somewhat

    analogous to the Scotch verdict of " Not proven , which , far from negativing tlio case , holds it , as it were , in suspense until tho evidence be perfected and conviction secured . A sort of fillip luas been given to the interest excited by spiritualism in literary circles by a dispute which has arisen between Mr . Chae & es Dickens and Mr . William Howitt , a gentleman who , to liis hifjh reputation as an author , adds that of being one of the most urdunt upholders of spiritualism . The " machinery " ( as it-is called ) of " The Haunted House "—the Christmas number of AH the Year Jiound— was constructed from the story of a " haunted house" at Chefihunt , lately pecupied by some relatives of Mr . and Mis . Charles Kean . The evidence of the haunting was straightforward enough ; but , after hearing it , Mr ; Dickens and his stuff sat down with the deliberate intention of burlesquing it . The result was that , all the phenomena which had succeeded in expelling an intelligent family from their domicile , was referred to the agency of

    ruts , cuts , creaking weathercocks , and the knavery of a roguish ostler . Indignant at thin treatment of his testimony , Mr . Howitt ? Iihb retorted upon Mr , Dickens , averring that ho is a scoffer not only of spiritualism , but of Christianity , and that he is incapable of dealing with myntories , which form , as'it were , " the fringe " of the Infinite . Thorns mny be something in this ; for really tho scope of Mr . Djlckenb ' s argument seems to be that there is no power in Nature superior to that of rats , cuts , creaking weathercocks , aiid roguinh ostlers . To those who can find no deeper causes for mysteries thnn these vulgar facts , the . angels that appeared to Abraham must be but common travellers through the pluixis of Muniro , Jacob's Dream only the result of supper too freely partaken of at ii \ xz , the glories of Sinai the mere invention of a skilful pyrotcohnjtot , and the wonders worked at Endor—a lesson how tho tricks of tricksters way turn into roalitien , to their own dismay- — nothing but a proof that tho magic-lantern was understood in Ciiiumu . For no , wo prefer to hold our opinion upon these matters in Buspojiso , until we are further informed by evidences , Abjuring 1

    equally a blind faith on the ;' one side , arid an empty scoff on the other , we profess our belief that human intelligence has not yet exhausted the wonders of God , nor has mundane knavery discovered the bounds of human credulity . The difficulties against which investigators into these phenomena have to struggle are enormous . When the experiment is unsuccessful , you are told that the spirits are not always favourably disposed , that the laws which regulate them are not understood even by the medium . If your curiosity in probino-the truth be too keen , you are rebuked by the information that the spirits will not act in the presence of a confirmed sceptic . To any objection against second-hand testimony , there is the stereotyped answer , that it is upon the faith of witnesses whose veracity ought to be beyond dispute . ¦ .. ... .. . , . that is in ment

    But it is not so much veracity question , as judg . How few are they whose mental training enables them to conduct au investigation into those problems of physics and metaphysics , which usually occupy the attention of philosophers . The severest ¦ lo « -ic , unusual powers of observation , the utmost coolness and presence of mind , the most unconquerable determination to be neither baffled nor conquered—all these are necessary to the perfect examination into the simplest phenomena of physical science . But when a new order of things arises , and the investigators are required to take cognizance of elements which are confessedly uncertain and not ascertained , how much is the matter complicated At the same breath with which spiritualists confess that they know nothing about the real nature of spirits , they will venture to assert that the success of failure of an experiment depends upon this Or

    that condition of the spirits . Then , again , there is the uncertainty of human evidence , and the almost Universal proneness to take a part for the whole . Something extraordinary happens—such as the whirling round of a table ; it impresses the majority of witnesses , and they . cannot account for it ; presently some one cries out that the table has risen bodily into the air without support , and , confused with the supposed marvel which they have seen , the rest believe in that which they leave not ; and what is more , they will afterwards believe and assert that they really did see it . Again , a nervous , sensitive person wi } l cry out that he has felt the pressure of hands , and the expectation of every one is strung up to the highest pitch of tension ; by and by another feels the samp , and says so—but perhaps it is nothing but the pressure of the clothes caused by some involuntary movement of . limb . We thro \ v out these observations , not with a view of discrediting really sound testimony , but of showing how people may deceive themselves # nd others in the most innocent manner possible . ¦

    ^ We know not whether spiritualism is or is not ( as Mr .. William Howitt in a letter to a contemporary lately expressed himself ) , " but the lowest fringe in the sublime mantle of mystery which wraps the universe , ' * but we are sufficiently conscious of the gravity of the testimony which supports it , to assert that it merits calm , patient , philosophical investigation . It may be . that there are forces in nature yet unknown to science , and that the demonstrations ok them may have been mistaken for the work of spirits . All this is dark and uncertain . That there is much charlatanry abroad with regard to the matter there can also be no doubt ; but so _ there has been in connection with every branch of science at its birth . We

    have little respect for those wl » 5 say , " Let us see ; we will only believe our eyes / ' those who believe only their eyes must have faith in Herr Doblek and Mr . Andeuson , and their wonderful works . Evidence must be taken for whab it is worth , but for no more ; and it must , not be accepted for a conclusion that people are not likely to be deceived , or even to deceive others unknowingly , because they are respectable and virtuous .

    114 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. Jf^...

    114 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . Jf ^ - * , I 860 .

    Field-Marswal The Duke^F Wellington.* A ...

    FIELD-MARSWAL THE DUKE ^ F WELLINGTON . * A NY man who should attempt to form a collection of works that have the deeds of Wellington for thwir theme , would speedily find that the shelves of his library must bo considerably extended . English , French , and Prussian writers innumerable have combined to perpetuate the memory of his career ; oven at this moment we have the publications of Brialmont and Gleig , and now comes Mr . Duke Yongo with two huge volumes of regular and dignified biography , gravely starting with the observation that Arthur Wellesley was the third surviving son of the first Ejiu'l of Mornington , and steadily pursuing his way through all the well-known details of battles , military ai >< i parliamentary , as if his task were one which no man before him had attempted to fulfil . " We are far from making a complaint . Book buyers and book readers will probably many a good yqar hence continue to testify that their interest in all that relates to the great Duke is not extinct . Mr . Yonge's Life of Wellington is only the

    last till a new one shall succeed it . As the tide of time carries those who took a part in those events , or their representatives , further from the domain of personal feeling , new materials must come to light . Motives will be explained , judgments modified ; ond ,, as a consequence , biographies rewritten . Mr . Yonge , though dealing almost entirely with the public life of his hero , and drawing his facts chiefly from printed sources open to all , has not set out upon his task without some special advantages . The present Duke <> t Wellington furnished him with some particulars , and with an important memorandum drawn , up by tho Diiko on the battle of Waterloo as a commentary on the narrative of the Prussian Marshal Clausewitz ; the Duke ' s , ' . private secretary contributed " valuable information concerning Ins private habits , " and Mr . Yonge has also had the use in preparing his work of a copious politieul diary kept

    « Tho Ztfb Of Mold-Fajrshal Arthur D,Tho...

    « Tho Ztfb of Mold-fajrshal Arthur D , tho of WoUinfjton , By Charles Duke Yongo . 2 vola . Ohnnmfvn and Hull ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 4, 1860, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04021860/page/14/