The Death-Blow to Spiritualism Part 15

"MR. SLADE. He is a 'medium,' a powerful 'medium.' I know him very well indeed. I can a.s.sure you that all he does is done solely by means of his mediumistic powers.

"I now state to the Committee that the Guernillas exhibited in Philadelphia some years ago as exposers of Spiritualism. They did not expose it, but they performed experiments which, prior to that time, were said to have been accomplished by the aid of 'spirits.' Guernilla himself, at my house, in my presence, in broad daylight, performed all the feats and exhibited the phenomena that were produced at the dark and other seances, and he repeated them until I myself became as expert as he in performing them; for which I paid him a consideration. So much for the mediumistic power."

Mr. Sellers explained with reference to Mr. Kellar:

"I pause here for the express purpose of having the fact noted that, being thoroughly familiar with the details of the methods of those experiments, I can positively a.s.sure the Committee that there is no mediumistic power in Mr. Kellar, so far as his methods are concerned, that those methods are as easy of solution as are any other physical problems."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE UNALTERABLE VERDICT.

The "Seybert Commission"[3] examined every known form of spiritualistic manifestation to which they had access, and implicitly under conditions imposed by the "mediums" themselves. These conditions are everything that could be devised and plausibly used to prevent the hoped-for dupe from detecting the fraud that is practised upon him.

The Commission put the indelible stamp of fraud upon all so-called spiritualistic manifestations. Of the "spiritual rappings" they say:

"To the subject of 'spirit-rappings' we have devoted some time and attention, but our investigations have not been sufficiently extensive to warrant us at present in offering any positive conclusions. The difficulty attending the investigation of this mode of spiritualistic manifestation is increased by the fact, familiar to physiologists, that sounds of varying intensity may be produced in almost any portion of the human body by voluntary muscular action. To determine the exact location of this muscular activity is at times a matter of delicacy.

"What we can say thus far, with a.s.surance, is that, in the cases which have come under our observation, the theory of the purely physiological origin of the sounds has been sustained by the fact that the 'mediums'

were invariably, and confessedly, cognizant of the 'rappings' whenever they occurred, and could at once detect any spurious 'rappings,' however exact and indistinguishable to all other ears might be the imitation."

Mrs. Kane has expressed amus.e.m.e.nt over the manner in which she eluded the inquisitions of the grave and conscientious Commission and left them puzzled over the "rappings."

Even then, however, she cared so little for the preservation of the secret, that when she declined to be further examined by the Commission, she admitted to Mr. Furness that the gentlemen had ample ground for looking upon the manifestations which she had given as unsatisfactory. Mr.

Furness says:

"I told her that the Commission had now had two seances with her, and that _the conclusion to which they had come is that the so-called raps are confined wholly to her person_, whether produced by her voluntarily or involuntarily they had not attempted to decide; furthermore, that although thus satisfied in their own minds they were anxious to treat her with all possible deference and consideration, and accordingly had desired me to say to her that if she thought another seance with her would or might modify or reverse their conclusion, they held themselves ready to meet her again this evening and renew the investigation of the manifestations; at the same time I felt it my duty to add that in that case the examination would necessarily be of the most searching description.

"Mrs. Kane replied that the manifestations at both seances had been of an unsatisfactory nature, so unsatisfactory that _she could not really blame the Commission for arriving at their conclusion_. In her present state of health she _really_ doubted whether a third meeting would prove any better than the two already held. It might even be more unsatisfactory, and instead of removing the present belief of the Commission it might add confirmation of it. In view of these considerations, she decided not to hold another seance."

Mrs. Kane declares that with her muscles and the joints of her toes so educated by long practice, and her ability to produce the noise of "raps"

with no perceptible movement, she could have gone on deceiving the world indefinitely without being detected. She explains that the making of the "raps," when she is stationed on gla.s.s tumblers, requires a far greater effort than when her feet are in contact with the carpet or floor. The shock must in that case be conveyed through a comparatively non-conducting substance. For this reason, when the floor was especially hard or thick and lacking in sonorousness, she sometimes failed in the expected effect.

In every instance, it was most difficult to produce the "raps" under those circ.u.mstances.

The verdict, however, is now complete. Spiritualism is guilty.

The court of mankind so declares it.

IV. REPENTANCE.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE HEART PLEADS FOR THE SOUL.

The most interesting feature, after all, of Margaret Fox's career, was perhaps that sad and abortive romance of which Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the gallant Arctic explorer, was the hero. This history should be known to the reader in order that the exact aspect of Spiritualism to her developed conscience in after years may be understood.

Dr. Kane first saw Maggie Fox in the autumn of 1852, when she was staying with her mother at a hotel in Philadelphia, being then engaged in "spiritualistic manifestations." Dr. Kane, whose heart had never before been touched, at once succ.u.mbed to the sweet charm of this erratic child, and conceived the romantic idea of removing her from the life she then was leading, educating her and marrying her. The project, when it became known, awakened the bitter hostility of his friends, and from this hostility, the unfortunate separation between them which it caused, and Dr. Kane's untimely death, all of the sorrow that afterwards engulfed her life and deprived her of the ambition for a n.o.bler career, directly sprang.

Margaret was but thirteen years old when Dr. Kane first saw her. A friendly hand[4] has thus traced her portrait:

"Her beauty was of that delicate kind which grows on the heart, rather than captivates the sense at a glance; she possessed in a high degree that retiring modesty which shuns rather than seeks admiration. The position in which she was placed imposed on her unusual reserve and self-control, and an ordinary observer might not have seen in her aught to make a sudden impression. But there was more than beauty in the charm about her discerned by the penetrating eyes of her new acquaintance. The winning grace of her modest demeanor, and the native refinement apparent in every look and movement, word and tone, were evidences of a nature enriched with all the qualities that dignify and adorn womanhood; of a soul far above her present calling, and those who surrounded her. To appreciate her real superiority, her age and the circ.u.mstances must be considered. She was yet a little child--untutored, except in the elements of instruction to be gained in country district schools, when it was discovered that she possessed a mysterious power,[5] for which no science or theory could account. This brought her at once into notoriety and gathered around her those who had a fancy for the supernatural, and who loved to excite the wonder of strangers. Most little girls would have been spoiled by that kind of attention. The endurance of it without having her head turned, argued rare delicacy, simplicity and firmness of character. After exhibitions given in different cities, to find herself an object of public attention, and of flattering notice from persons of distinction, would naturally please the vanity of a beautiful young girl; and it would not be surprising if a degree of self-conceit were engendered. But Margaret was not vain, and could not be made self-conceited. If she had any consciousness of her exquisite loveliness,--if it pleased her to possess pretty dresses and ornaments--her delight was that of a happy child taking pleasure in beautiful things, without reference to any effect they might enable her to produce. Perhaps no young girl ever lived more free from the least idea of coquetry or conquest. She heeded not the expressions of admiration that reached her ear so frequently. She had seen enough of the world at this time to be aware of the advantages of a superior education, and it was the most ardent wish of her heart to make herself a well-educated woman."

Margaret showed a disposition to devote herself with great industry to the acquirement of knowledge. In fact, at her first meeting with Dr. Kane, he found her conning over a French exercise in an interval of the public receptions which were given by herself and her mother. Dr. Kane easily enlisted her thoughts in a better and higher career. The deception which was required of her already appeared in something of its true light to her young mind, and she was restless under its abhorrent shackles. Dr. Kane's interest in her was certainly pure and elevated, and it led him to gloomy apprehensions of the fate of so fair, yet so misguided, a creature. He wrote in verse a prophecy that she would "live and die forlorn." There have been many times when the latter part of this warning seemed most likely to come true; and that, doubtless, would have been her fate had she not found in a final renunciation of her past, a solace to her heart for the lack of that falsely won prosperity which had been hers during but brief intervals.

Dr. Kane was but an indifferent versifier; but some of the trifles in rhyme which he addressed to Margaret may well ill.u.s.trate certain facts that I shall state at length hereafter. One day, he sent her "Thoughts that Ought to Be Those of Maggie Fox," the first refrain of which is as follows:

"Dreary, dreary, dreary, Pa.s.ses life away, Dreary, dreary, dreary, The day Glides on, and _weary Is my hypocrisy_."

At the close of the second stanza were these lines:

"Happy as the hopes Which filled my trusting heart, Before I knew a sinful wish Or learned a _sinful art_."

Again:

"So long this secret have I kept I can't forswear it now.

It festers in my bosom, It cankers in my heart, _Thrice cursed is the slave fast chained To a deceitful art_!"

And last:

"Then the maiden knelt and prayed: 'Father, my anguish see; Oh, give me but one trusting hope Whose heart will shelter me; One trusting love to share my griefs, To s.n.a.t.c.h me from a life forlorn; That I may never, never, never, Thus endlessly from night to morn, Say that _my life is dreary With its hypocrisy_!'"

Among the first words that Dr. Kane spoke to Margaret were these: "This is no life for you, my child." As their reciprocal attraction grew stronger, he bent all of his deep influence over her in one direction, to effect once and for all her release from the fatal snare of deceit that fate had cast about her. Only a few weeks later we find him writing her a note from New York, in which he says:

"Look at the _Herald_ of this morning. There is an account of a suicide which causes some excitement. Your sister's[6] name is mentioned in the inquest of the coroner. Oh, how much I wish that you would quit _this life of dreary sameness and unsuspected deceit_. We live in this world only for the good and n.o.ble. How crushing it must be to occupy with them a position of ambiguous respect!"

Dr. Kane, a short time afterwards, described Maggie as follows:

"But it is that strange mixture of child and woman, of simplicity and cunning, of pa.s.sionate impulse and extreme self-control, that has made you a curious study. Maggie, you are very pretty, very childlike, very deceitful, but to me as readable as my grandmother's Bible."

"And again he said: 'When I think of you, dear darling, _wasting your time and youth and conscience for a few paltry dollars_, and think of the crowds who come nightly to hear of the wild stories of the frigid North, I sometimes feel that we are not so far removed after all. My brain and your body are each the sources of attraction, and I confess that there is not so much difference.'"

Never for an instant did the manly and robust intellect of Dr. Kane stoop to the level of even a partial belief in the pretended wonders of "Spiritualism." The allusions made to it in his letters, when not grave or indignant, are full of a certain contemptuous playfulness, well calculated to reprove the conscious deceitfulness practised by the childish Maggie, while not offending the natural pride which was yet apart of her imperfectly formed character. When the doctor was in Boston, he wrote to her sister Katie:

"Well, now for talk. Boston is a funny place, and 'the spirits' have friends here. You would be surprised if I told you what I have heard. * * *