WCP7067

[1] [p. 272]

Professor Tyndall had, through a mutual friend, incontinently [2] [p. 273] asked one of the "men with heavy scientific appendages to their names," to give him two facts on which he relied for his consideration. Mr. Cromwell Fleetwood Varley, who, in addition to his scientific appendages, is quite competent, on the mere ground of having his eyes and ears in a healthy state, to vouch for the facts he narrates, kindly accepted Mr. Tyndall's invitation, and gave him the benefit of the following letter:—

"Fleetwood House, Beckenham

"19th May, 1868.

"My dear Sir, — Mr Wallace has forwarded me your letter to him, dated 7th inst[ant].¹

"In compliance with your desire, I will endeavour to describe briefly some of the 'physical phenomena' I saw on two occasions, in the presence of Mr. Home², together with the precautions I adopted to guard against trickery. To facilitate the explanation, permit me to premise, that the object of the séance was to demonstrate to me that the physical manifestations' were not the result of trickery, and that there was some other intelligence at work besides Mr. Home and the observers. I had repeatedly heard from well-informed people of extraordinary manifestations occurring in the presence of this much-abused gentleman, and became very anxious to ascertain for myself the nature of them.

"Having no introduction, I called one Tuesday morning in the Spring of 1860, at his residence, 134, Sloane Street, and told him that I was [an] Electrician of the Electric and International and the Atlantic Telegraph Companies, that I was well acquainted with electricity, magnetism and other physical forces— that I had heard of extraordinary phenomena occurring in his presence, and was desirous of seeing them and of investigating their cause. I asked him if he would permit me to witness them. His answer, was 'He would be delighted to do so.' At the same time he warned me that he could not promise that any manifestations would take place, that the phenomena were of a delicate character, and that it generally required several sittings before the necessary rapport was established to permit of anything decisive.

"The next day I received a formal invitation for myself and Mrs. Varley³ for Thursday evening, between seven and eight o'clock. Mr. Home was residing in furnished apartments, and the drawing room into which I was introduced on the Tuesday, and in which the phenomena occurred on the Thursday, was over a chemist's shop.

" On each of those occasions I examined the staircase to see if the floor was of unusual thickness or not, so as to permit of the introduction of machinery, and I also went into the shop underneath and examined the ceiling under the drawing room, [3] [p. 274] but there was nothing unusual. The room was rather scantily furnished, there was a couch, about a dozen chairs, and nothing else capable of concealing any quantity of apparatus.

"Eight of us sat down to a large, heavy, circular table. I had previously arranged with Mrs. Varley to observe very closely, to look out keenly for anything resembling trickery, to observe the room, the furniture and those present for anything that might appear suspicious and if anything unusual happened to note it carefully and fix it in her memory, so that we might collate our observations. On a slip accompanying this I give you in confidence the names of those, who were present, all excepting one whose name I do not recollect, and their positions around the table. Finding so many ladies I felt some disappointment, fearing it would prevent a rigid scrutiny.

"The lady, who sat on Mr. Home's left, i.e. between me and him (and whom I will call Mrs A.,) and who had devoted considerable attention to the subject, entreated me, as did Mr. Home, to use my utmost endeavours to satisfy myself with regard to the phenomena, and he again urged me on no account of etiquette or otherwise to hesitate to make a complete scrutiny.

" I availed myself of this. After sitting at the table for 20 minutes the first phenomena occurred. We heard a number of sounds or raps as they are frequently termed. I examined the table underneath while Mrs. Varley observed above. There were four full-sized gas burners in the room burning brightly, all hands were on the table, all feet as previously desired by Mr. Home, were turned back under the chairs.

The following simple telegraphic alphabet was then explained to me:-

1 sound or movement, or action of any kind No.

3 sounds " " Yes.

2 sounds " " Doubtful.

i.e. that neither No nor Yes would answer the question.

5 sounds or movements, &c. of any kind, the Alphabet.

i.e. that the alphabet was to be run over or repeated aloud, and on the right letter being reached the fact was indicated by three sounds. In this manner words could be telegraphed easily, though slowly, by any one capable of producing the signals in question. Mrs A — audibly expressed a wish that I should be touched — immediately five sounds were heard and telegraphing commenced. We were informed by this means that the communicator was afraid to approach me. I made no remark, but simply kept a sharp look-out, and endeavoured to find whence the sounds proceeded. Shortly after, the table tipped up, first on one side and then on the other, remaining sometimes for [4] [p. 275] many seconds in the inclined position, having described an arc of about 30 degrees. I examined under and over the table — all hands were resting gently on it, and I could see no indication whatever, of any exertion of muscular force on the part of any of us. About this time the sounds became louder, and there were two distinct kinds of raps — the one being a lower, but louder note than the other. The lighter and higher sound communicated that it had now lost its dread of me, and would move my coat. It was pulled or jerked three times — about half a second of time elapsing between each pull. As these jerks were given to my coat, low down on the right hand side, between my chair and that of Mrs. A., the thought flashed through my mind, that this could not be accepted as evidence; but that, if my coat were pulled above the table so that I could see it, it would be far more satisfactory. The instant this thought had passed through my mind, the flap of my coat, on the right-hand side, within a foot of my face, was turned up three times. Immediately, and in order to test it carefully, I mentally wished the left hand collar to be moved in a similar manner. Before the thought had been put into words in my own mind, the left-hand flap moved three times, as requested.

"Very shortly afterwards information was signalled that I should be touched on the knee; without moving I again inaudibly desired that my right knee should be touched three times, and instantly I felt three distinct pressures. I mentally said, 'Left knee,' and it was touched three times without waiting a second. I mentally said, 'Right shoulder,' and it was instantly touched, but I could see nothing. I then mentally said, 'Left shoulder,' and finally, 'Top of my head,' and was touched accordingly three times at each place. The whole occupying not more than 10 seconds. As I did not speak or move, or many any gesture, no one was aware of what had taken place until I described it to them. The table was tilted about a great many times, and by means of the signals we were instructed to stand up, which we did, resting our hands lightly on the table, the latter after rocking about for a little while suddenly rose up bodily off the floor 14 or 15 inches, moved about, and then descended. I examined underneath during this phenomenon, but there was nothing visible. The hands were well over the table and it certainly was not supported by them. It then occurred to me, as my unuttered thoughts had been responded to in the early phenomena, that if the table rose off the floor again I would wish it to be moved in various directions; after waiting three or four minutes the table rose again into the air about 12 or 15 inches and remained up fully half a minute, I think more nearly a minute. I mentally wished it to move [5] [p. 276] in various directions, and it did so, before those thoughts had assumed the shape of words in my own mind.

"During a portion of the séance, as many as four distinct kinds of raps were heard at the same time, and as many people were putting questions and receiving answers at the same moment. When requested, the raps were produced on the walls, on the ceiling, on our chairs, which latter were distinctly shaken by them; and on several occasions, the whole vibrated sufficiently to simultaneously attract the attention of every one.

"Several of us, while seated in our chairs, were suddenly twisted round; and subsequent experiment showed that it required a good vigorous effort to perform a like operation by the hands. These twistings occurred to those who were far from, as well as those who were near to Mr. Home. The séance continued till about 11 o'clock; Mr. and Mrs. Home, as well as Mrs. A., pronounced it unusually successfully, and expressed surprise at such a display of force at my first investigation.

"On returning home Mrs. Varley and I compared notes, I found that she had put a great many questions mentally and received answers as rapidly as I had.

"It was between 12 and 1 o'clock when we reached our dwelling at the other end of London, five or six miles from Sloane Street. Before retiring I requested Mrs. Varley to sit down with me in the drawing room, and once more think over carefully what we had seen together with the tests we had employed to guard against delusions; while so engaged, although five miles away from the medium, the sounds or raps commenced upon the walls of our own house.

"The next evening I received a letter from Mr. Home, in which he informed us of the fact that we had heard these sounds in our own house.

"I saw him shortly afterwards and asked him how he knew this, and he said that the same power which had produced the phenomena at his house, had produced sounds in my own room, and had informed him of the fact and instructed him to write to me as an additional evidence.

"Second séance at my own house, at Beckenham, Kent.

"Present:— D[aniel]. D[unglas]. Home, a lady, a city accountant, a merchant, a gentleman, the first officer of a ship, Mrs. Varley, and myself.

"I purchased this house in the latter part of 1863 while it was in course of erection, and before any of the flooring was laid; I am therefore well acquainted with its internal structure.

"In the summer of 1864, I requested Mr. Home to keep his [6] [p. 277] promise of giving me a séance at my own house, and I invited the people mentioned to meet him. He had never been in the house before.

"We had a great many phenomena similar to those already described; there were some, however, different from those I had seen in his house. During the course of the evening he became apparently nervous, and requested me to hold his hands, and said 'Oh! look behind you' — and became somewhat alarmed.

"He then put both his legs over my left knee, and at his request I held both his legs between my legs, and grasped both of his hands in my own. We all of us looked in the direction which he indicated — there was a small side table close to the conservatory window, seven feet behind Mr. Home's back, Mr. Home and I being nearest to it. We were seated thus:—

[a diagram appears here showing the seating arrangment of Varley and Home, a large table, a small side table and the conservatory window.]

"Shortly afterwards the side-table began to move. This table is mounted on casters, and it was driven up to me by some invisible means, no one being near it, and while I had hold of both Mr. Home's hands and legs. A large ottoman, capable of seating eight persons, was moved all over the room, and we were all drive by it up to the pianoforte.

"Imposture was impossible. Phenomena of this kind were abundant this evening. As many of them occurred in the dusk of the evening they hardly come within the scope of your demand, viz. under a "bright light." I have witnessed the "physical phenomena" more than twenty times; but the higher psychical phenomena, which convey better proof to those who actually witness them than do the physical, have been witnessed by me more than a hundred times both in England and America.

"You may ask why I have not published this before. The answer is simple — you yourself know how all new things are received in this world of contention. [7] [p. 278] "I have endeavoured, whenever opportunity, health, and buisness would permit, to ascertain the nature of the force by which these phenomena are produced, but I have not progressed much farther at present than to find out the source whence the physical power is abstracted, viz., from the vital systems of those who are present, and especially from the medium. The part of the subject under discussion, therefore, is not yet ripe for publication.

"As to the phenomena themselves, there are numerous accounts on record — some excellently authenticated, both in this and the previous century. We are only now re-studying what has been investigated by the philosophers who lived 2,000 years ago; and when some good Greek or Latin scholar, who has made himself acquainted with the character of the phenomena which have been presenting themselves so numerously since the year 1848 will properly translate the writings of those great men, the world will found out that what is happening at the present time is only a new edition of an old page of history, studied by keen intelligences to an extent that will redound greatly to the credit of those good and clear-headed old sages, who seem to have risen far above the narrow-minded prejudices of their age, and to have investigated the matter under discussion to an extent in some respects transcending our present knowledge.

"I am, my dear Sir, very truly yours,

"(Signed) Cromwell F. Varley.

"J. Tyndall, Esq., F.R.S.,

&c., &c., &c."