_The Case Against Spiritualism_ BY JANE T. STODDART HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MCMXIX _Contents_ CHAPTER I NEW VOTARIES OF SPIRITUALISM 17 CHAPTER II DISTURBERS OF THE DEAD 31 CHAPTER III THE MEDIUM 43 CHAPTER IV THE MEDIUM’S “CONTROL” 57 CHAPTER V TABLE PHENOMENA 71 CHAPTER VI AUTOMATIC WRITING 85 CHAPTER VII IS THERE DANGER FROM THE OTHER SIDE? 99 CHAPTER VIII SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY 111 CHAPTER IX QUALITY OF THE ALLEGED MESSAGES 133 CHAPTER X THE CHURCHES AND THE SÉANCE 147 CHAPTER XI THE APPEAL TO SCIENCE 159 _Preface_ Rudyard Kipling, with his robust common sense, has warned intruders who seek to establish a traffic with discarnate beings that they are entering on a dangerous path. “Oh the road to En-dor is the oldest road And the craziest road of all. Straight it runs to the Witch’s abode, As it did in the days of Saul. And nothing has changed of the sorrow in store For such as go down on the road to En-dor!” That old road has never been more crowded than it is to-day. The merchants who travel on it appear to ignorant onlookers laden with balm and spicery and myrrh. Owing to the propagandist activities of honoured men like Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir W. F. Barrett and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the cult of Spiritualism has received a new advertisement, and is proving itself, in certain quarters, a rival to Christianity. Its literature is growing rapidly, and the wish has often been expressed for a brief, comprehensive, up-to-date exposition of the arguments on the other side. This book is designed to supply that need. While the writer is well acquainted with the older historical works, both of Britain and America, the publications of the Society for Psychical Research, and the standard Continental treatises, these chapters deal mainly with Spiritualism in the war-period and after. The strongest arguments against “dabbling” are to be found, as will be seen, in the writings of Spiritualists themselves. Warnings are heard from many pulpits, though with the exception of Dr. Barnes in his admirable short pamphlet, “Spiritualism and the Christian Faith,” none of our leading preachers seems to have grappled with the subject in detail. The writer may therefore claim to have broken new ground. “The Case Against Spiritualism” is set forth under many aspects, and it is hoped that the book may prove acceptable to Christian teachers, as well as to inquirers in general. _Chapter I_ NEW VOTARIES OF SPIRITUALISM