Parkstone, Dorset
March 28th 1893
My dear Sir
I have been sometime unwell, and I have been much occupied & should have answered your letters before. I quite forget what was in my former letter, but if there is any thing in it you think interesting you may quote it in your book.
I know of no medium for materialisation in England, public or private. There are however, I believe, plenty in America. No doubt real materialisation is rare, but I do not think it is fair to call a medium an imposter of he is brought out transfigured to represent a spirit. I think this is often done, quite unknown to the medium, and it is a phenomenon [2] about as wonderful as true materialisation.
In the journal of the Soc. for Psychical Research June 1886 a letter of [1 word illeg.] Colley is quoted from "The mediums" of vol. 1 and vol. 15 1878 stating that at a private house where Egeliton had been visiting and giving seances , he ([1 word illeg.] [1 word illeg.]) took muslin and a false beard from Eglingtons' pontification. Also, that some days before, he had cut a piece of muslin from [1 word illeg.] drapery, and clipped hair from his beard, & that the muslin found in E. [1 word illeg.] had a hole in it corresponding to the piece he had cut out, & to the false beard matched the hair he had cut off. - These are the factsgiven. They seem absolutely conclusive of fraud by [1 word illeg.]. Yet [2 words illeg.] does not feel satisfied that there was such [3] fraud! Neither do I!!f
I know that the spirit "Abdullah" does appear without any such fraud. Once only I saw him, in a house of a private person, where [1 word illeg.] gave a seance to about 20 spiritualists. E. sat in a corner of the room behind a curtain. "Abdullah" came out in white robes, sandals on bare feet, large turban, with jewels. He came within a foot of me under a low gas-light. As soon as he retired behind the curtain where [1 word illeg.] was the light was turned up and E. found in evening dress in a trance. As soon as he woke, it was suggested that he should submit to be searched, as a test & for thebenefit of outsiders. He did did not like it, but agreed.I & two friends were appointed searchers. We examined walls carpets &. in little triangle behind curtain, then took E. into a bedroom where he took off every single of clothing to stockings, drawers, [1 word illeg.] & under vest! Each article passing through our hands [4] and being carefully examined.Nothing whatever was found! The white robes, turban, and sandals had disappeared.! Yet "Abdullah" might have been E. transfigured, - and if he had been seized & found to be himself he would have been accused of imposture!
We have much evidence to show that there are many ways of producing materialisation or what looks like it, - that the conditions being unsuitable in the best kind, the next best is produced. The drapery used is sometimes spiritually produced drapery , which disappears - sometimes real drapery which remains, - but as it must be got rid of it is [1 word illeg.] by the spirits into the [1 word illeg.] available place, perhaps the medium's [1 word illeg.]! But this is the mediums misfortune, not his fault! [1 word illeg.] gave so many test seances. This power was so [1 word illeg.] great, - that I cannot believe in his being so foolish & mad as to buy false beard & drapery [5] which was sure to be discovered! The samething occurred with Dr. [1 word illeg.], - one of the most wonderful mediums who ever lived. I saw a figure, come as a white patch out of his side and form into a female draped figure, which moved away from him and clapped its hands audibly & visually (in good light!) and then melted away again into his body! This was seen (& much more) scores of times, under test conditions, by a small party of whom [1 word illeg.] [1 word illeg.] and Mr Hesleigh Wedgewood were two. All this "exposure" is the result of the bad conditions under which poor mediums are obliged to live. Mediums [1 word illeg.] has never been studied or we should know more about [6] the appearance of imposture. No doubt there have been some actual impostures, but I firmly believe that nine out of ten of the alleged exposures of fraud, good mediums , are only exposers of the ignorance of the exposers!
I saw materialisation with Miss Cook many times; but I know nothing about them now. I feel sure however that there never was any imposture with either of them!
I am not going to Chicago, & should you come to England in the summer shall be very glad to see you, & talk over [7] these matters.
Believe me | yours very faithfully
[signature] Alfred R. Wallace
P. S. I can read French easily but cannot write or speak it intelligently.
ARW.
Mns. Alfred [1 word illeg.]
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP7201.8365)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 160]
... Un autre témoignage encore plus important est celui d'A. RUSSEL WALLACE, le naturaliste émule de Darwin, dont j'ai déjà parlé. Voici ce qu'il dit dans une des lettres particulières qu'il m'a fait l'honneur de m'écrire et qu'il m'a permis de publier:
[2] [p. 161] "Je sais que l'esprit prenant le nom d'Abdulah [sic] paraît sans qu'on puisse supposer qu'il y ait fraude. Je l'ai vu dans une maison particulière, où Eglington donna une séance devant vingt personnes. On suspendit un rideau dans un coin de la pièce où se tenaient les assistants, et Eglington s'assit derrière ce rideau. (Il ne pouvait donc bouger sans être vu de tout le monde.) Abdulah [sic] parut, vêtu d'un habillement blanc, ayant les pieds nus dans des sandales et un large turban; il vint à un pied de moi, et je pus l'examiner car le gaz n'était qu'à moitié baissé. Aussitôt après, la form e disparut derrière le rideau où se trouvait Eglington en habit noir et entrancé (en léthargie) sur un fauteuil. Dès qu'Eglington fut réveillé, on décida qu'il serait fouillé, afin de savoir s'il n'avait pas sur lui de quoi se déguiser. Cela ne sembla pas faire plaisir à Eglington, mais il accepta. Deux de mes amis et moi furent choisis pour cette recherche. Nous examinâmes d'abord les murs, le tapis, etc., dans l'endroit où était Eglington, puis nous le conduisîmes dans une chambre à coucher où il se déshabilla complètement. Chaque objet de toilette passa par nos mains et fut fouillé et examiné avec soin. On ne trouva absolument rien. Le turban, les sandales, la tunique blanche avaient disparu avec la forme d'Abdulah [sic]. Pourtant, il peut se faire qu'Abdulah [sic] soit le corps spirituel (psychique) du médium transfiguré, et si quelqu'un avait saisi brusquement la forme, il aurait peut-être trouvé que c'était Eglington (revenant à sa forme naturelle) et on l'aurait accusé d'imposture.
[3] [p. 162] Nous avons beaucoup de preuves que la matérialisation peut se produire de différentes façons, mais je trouve qu'il n'est pas juste d'appeler le médium un imposteur, s'il est transfiguré dans une matérialisation. Je crois que cela arrive souvent sans que le médium en ait conscience, et c'est un phénomène presque aussi étonnant que la matérialisation qui est assez rare.
Eglington a donné tant de séances dans des conditions indiscutables, et son pouvoir comme médium était si grand, que je ne le crois pas assez bête pour s'être servi de fausses barbes et de draperies en gaze, qui auraient été découvertes bien vite.
Sans doute il y a de faux médiums, mais ceux qui ont la prétention de démasquer les vrais médiums n'aboutissent qu'à un résultat, prouver leur ignorance.
Signé: Alfred RUSSEL WALLACE.
28 mars 1893."
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
[1] [p. 160]
Another, even more important testimony is that of A. RUSSEL WALLACE,1 the equal of Darwin,2 of whom I have already spoken. Here is what he said in one of the personal letters he did me the honour of writing to me and which he has given me permission to publish:[2] [p. 161] "I know that the spirit which goes by the name of Abdulah [sic]3 appears without there being any possiblilty that fraud is involved. I have seen him in a private house where Eglington4 gave a seance in front of twenty people. A curtain was hung in the corner of the room where the assistants were, and Eglington sat down behind this curtain. (He therefore could not move without being seen by everyone.) Abdulah [sic] appeared, dressed in white, with his bare feet in sandals and with a wide turban; he came to within one foot of me, and I was able to examine him as the gaslight was only half dimmed. Immediately afterwards the form disappeared behind the curtain where Eglington, dressed in black, lay in a trance (in a state of lethargy) in an armchair. As soon as Eglington woke up we decided that he should be searched, in order to find out if he had anything on him with which to disguise himself. Eglington did not appear to like this, but he agreed to it. Two of my friends and myself were chosen for this search. First of all we examined the walls, the carpet, etc., the place where Eglington was, then we took him to a bedroom where he completely undressed. Every object of clothing passed through our hands and was searched and examined with care. We found absolutely nothing. The turban, the sandals and the white tunic had disappeared with Abdulah [sic]. However, it is possible that Abdulah [sic] is the spiritual body (psychic) of the transfigured medium, and if someone had brusquely siezed the form he might perhaps have found that it was Eglington (returned to his natural form) and he could have been accused of imposture.[3] [p. 162] We have a lot of proof that materialisation can happen in different ways, but I do not think it is fair to call the medium an imposter, if he is transfigured through materialisation. I think this often happens without the medium being aware of it, and this is almost as astonishing a phenomenon as materialisation, which is somewhat rare.Eglington has given so many seances in indisputable conditions, and his power as a medium is so great, that I do not think he would be stupid enough to use false beards and gauze curtains which would have been rapidly found out.No doubt there are false mediums, but people who claim to unmask real mediums only end upproving their own ignorance."
Signed: Alfed RUSSEL WALLACE.
28 March 1893."
Abdullah was the name given to Eglington's phantom.
Anon. n.d. William Eglinton. Wikipedia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Eglinton> [accessed 29 October 2020].
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP7201.8388)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP7201,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP7201