936. I might, of course, save myself from this dilemma by repudiating Swedenborg's seership altogether. The evidential matter which he has left behind him is singularly scanty in comparison with his pretensions to a communion of many years with so many spirits of the departed. I do not, however, accept this means of escape from the difficulty. I think that the half-dozen "evidential cases" scattered through the memoirs of Swedenborg are stamped with the impress of truth, - and I think, also, that without some true experience of the spiritual world Swedenborg could not have entered into that atmosphere of truth in which even his worst errors are held in solution. Swedenborg's writings on the world of spirits fall in the main into two classes, - albeit classes not easily divided. There are experiential writings and there are dogmatic writings. The first of these classes contains accounts of what he saw and felt in that world, and of such inferences with regard to its laws as his actual experience suggested. Now, speaking broadly, all this mass of matter, covering some hundreds of propositions, is in substantial accord with what has been given through the most trustworthy sensitives since Swedenborg's time.

It is indeed usual to suppose that they have all been influenced by Swedenborg; and although I feel sure that this was not so in any direct manner in the case of the sensitives best known to myself, it is probable that Swedenborg's alleged experiences have affected modern thought more deeply than most modern thinkers know.

On the other hand, the second or purely dogmatic class of Swedenborg's writings, - the records of instruction alleged to have been given to him by spirits on the inner meaning of the Scriptures, etc., - these have more and more appeared to be mere arbitrary fancies; - mere projections and repercussions of his own preconceived ideas.

On the whole, then, - with some stretching, yet no contravention, of conclusions independently reached, - I may say that Swedenborg's story, - one of the strangest lives yet lived by mortal men, - is corroborative rather than destructive of the slowly rising fabric of knowledge of which he was the uniquely gifted, but uniquely dangerous, precursor.

It seemed desirable here to refer thus briefly to the doctrinal teachings of Swedenborg, but I shall deal later with the general question how much or how little of the statements of "sensitives" about the spiritual world - whether based on their own visions or on the allegations of their "controlling spirits" - are worthy of credence. In the case of Swedenborg there was at least some evidence, of the kind to which we can here appeal, of his actual communication with discamate spirits (see 936 A); but in most other cases of alleged ecstacy there is little or nothing to show that the supposed revelations are not purely subjective. (See, e.g., the revelations of Alphonse Cahagnet's sensitives, described in his Arcanes de la vie future devoilees and those of the "Seeress of Prevorst," mentioned in 936 B.) At most, these visions must be regarded as a kind of symbolical representation of the unseen world. (See, e.g., 936 C).

937. Among Cahagnet's subjects, however, there was one young woman, Adele Maginot, who not only saw heavenly visions of the usual post-Swedenborgian kind, but also obtained evidential communications - not unlike those of Mrs. Piper - purporting to come from discarnate spirits. Fortunately these were recorded with unusual care and thoroughness by Cahagnet, and the case thus becomes one of considerable importance for our inquiries. A general account of Cahagnet's work has recently been given in the Proceedings S.P.R. by Mr. Podmore (see 937 A) who, though finding it "almost impossible to doubt that Adele's success was due to some kind of supernormal faculty," thinks it might be accounted for by telepathy from living persons. It appears that in all her trances Adele - like Mr. Sanders - was controlled by her own subliminal self - that is to say, her supraliminal self became dormant, under "magnetism" by Cahagnet, while her subliminal self in trance-utterance manifested a knowledge which was, as I incline to think from its analogies with more developed cases, obtained from the spiritual world.

That this knowledge should be mixed with much that was erroneous or unverifiable is not surprising.

It is also interesting to note the occurrence in this case of circumstances which in their general character have become so habitual in trances of "mediumistic" type that they are not only found in genuine subjects, but are continually being simulated by the fraudulent. I refer to the so-called "taking on of the death conditions" of a communicating spirit, who, as Adele stated, died of suffocation. "Adele chokes as this man choked, and coughed as he did. ... I was obliged to release her by passes; she suffered terribly".

I need scarcely say that this suggests incipient possession. There were occasional analogous instances in the early trances of Mrs. Piper, when Phinuit was the controlling influence (see Proceedings S.P.R., vol. viii. p. 98, Professor Barrett Wendell's account; and vol. xiii. p. 384). Other points of similarity between the accounts of the entranced Adele and the utterances of Phinuit will be apparent to the student of the records.

938. The next case to be considered, and so far one of the most important, is that of D. D. Home. It may seem a strange descent from the celestial visions of Swedenborg to the table-tiltings and fragmentary trance-utterances of modern mediums, but for our present purpose of finding an empirical basis upon which to establish the existence of a spiritual world, these later humble manifestations are more potent than all the pages of the Arcana Coelestia.

But, although I attribute much value to what evidence exists in the case of Home, it cannot but be deplored that the inestimable chance for experiment and record which this case afforded was almost entirely thrown away by the scientific world. Unfortunately the record is especially inadequate in reference to Home's trances and the evidence for the personal identity of the communicating spirits. His name is known to the world chiefly in connection with the telekinetic phenomena which are said to have occurred in his presence, and the best accounts of which we owe to Sir William Crookes. It is not my intention, as I have already explained, to deal with these, but it must be understood that they form an integral part of the manifestations in this case, as in the case of Stainton Moses. For detailed accounts of them the reader should consult the history of Home's life and experiences, as given in the works enumerated in 938 A.

In Home's case it is especially important to consider the question of fraud, since various charges of fraud have been brought against him - some, however, without any evidence at all, and others on secondhand statements only, while the most serious one - that connected with the famous Lyon case - related rather to his character than to the real nature of his powers. A detailed discussion, by Professor Barrett and myself, of the question of fraud, was printed in the Journal S.P.R. This article also includes references to the telekinetic phenomena, and a brief summary (with, in some cases, additional evidence) of the most important cases suggesting personal communications from deceased friends of the sitters with Home, and I give an abridgment of it in 938 B. Such cases as received even the share of scattered and scanty record which Madame Home's books indicate, are probably but a small portion of the evidential communications actually given through Home.