Mysterious Psychic Forces: An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants
John Stuart Mill · en
Your readers, sir, know me, and will, I hope, believe that I will not
come hastily to an opinion, or ask them to agree with me on
insufficient evidence. It is perhaps expecting too much to think that
the little incident I have mentioned will have the same weight with
them that it had with me. But this I do beg of them--Let those who are
inclined to judge Miss Cook harshly suspend their judgment until I
bring forward positive evidence which I think will be sufficient to
settle the question.
Miss Cook is now devoting herself exclusively to a series of private
seances with me and one or two friends. The seances will probably
extend over some months, and I am promised that every desirable test
shall be given to me. These seances have not been going on many weeks,
but enough has taken place to thoroughly convince me of the perfect
truth and honesty of Miss Cook, and to give me every reason to expect
that the promises so freely made to me by Katie will be kept.
WILLIAM CROOKES.
Here is the second letter from the cautious investigator:
In a letter which I wrote to this journal early in February last,
speaking of the phenomena of spirit-forms which have appeared through
Miss Cook's mediumship, I said, "Let those who are inclined to judge
Miss Cook harshly suspend their judgment until I bring forward
positive evidence which I think will be sufficient to settle the
question."
In that letter I described an incident which, to my mind, went very
far towards convincing me that Katie and Miss Cook were two separate
material beings. When Katie was outside the cabinet, standing before
me, I heard a moaning noise from Miss Cook in the cabinet. I am happy
to say that I have at last obtained the "absolute proof" to which I
referred in the above-quoted letter.