Mrs. Piper & the Society for Psychical ResearchSage, Michael
Religion
Mrs. Piper & the Society for Psychical Research
Sage, Michael
Mediums -- Practice -- Great Britain; Parapsychology -- Investigation -- Great Britain; Piper, Leonora, 1859-1950; Spiritualism
Praise and warm gratitude are due to the men who have studied the case
of Mrs Piper. But we owe no less to Mrs Piper, who has lent herself to
the investigations with perfect good faith and pliability. None of those
who have had any continued intercourse with her have a shadow of doubt
of her sincerity. She has not taken the view that she was exercising a
new kind of priesthood; she has understood that she was an interesting
anomaly for science, and she has allowed science to study her. A vulgar
soul would not have done this. Her example, and also that of Mlle.
Smith, of whom Professor Flournoy has lately written,[3] deserve to be
followed. If the strange phenomena of mediumship have not yet been
sufficiently studied by as many persons as could be wished, scientific
men are chiefly to blame for the fact. Many of them regard with
disfavour facts which upset painfully-erected systems on which they have
relied for years. But the mediums are also to blame, for their vanity is
sometimes great, and their sincerity frequently doubtful.
Mrs Piper is American. Her husband is employed in a large shop in
Boston. Although of a home-loving disposition, Mrs Piper has travelled;
she has several times consented to leave her ordinary surroundings in
order to prevent all suspicion of fraud; she has given sittings in New
York and other places, and has paid a three months' visit to England.
Her education does not appear to have been carried very far. She has
doubtless read much, like all American women, but without method, and
probably very superficially. Her language is commonplace, sometimes even
trivial, but the records do not give me the impression that she is
really trivial-minded; language may be trivial when ideas are not. On
the whole, Mrs Piper's personality is attractive.
The point which naturally interests the man of science, and particularly
the doctor, is the state of health and the morbid heredity of Mrs Piper.
We have very insufficient information about these. I can find no
circumstantial report on this important matter anywhere. Mrs Piper was
rather seriously ill in 1890; a doctor attended her for several
consecutive months; this gentleman was also present at a sitting she
gave on the 4th December of this same year, 1890. It is evident that he
was in a position to study Mrs Piper closely. Dr Hodgson asked him for a
report, which would have been appended to the other documents. But this
doctor had the wisdom of the serpent. He promised, but changed his mind,
and absolutely refused to furnish any report whatever. Dr Hodgson asked
the subject a series of questions with the object of ascertaining the
state of health of her immediate ancestors, particularly from the
neuropathic point of view. She belongs to a family which appears to have
been very healthy and not in any way subject to nervous maladies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account