"I agreed with Mannering and Henry yesterday, as you know, Mary," he said, "and at my desire Mr.May desisted from his wish.We see how mistaken I was, how right he must have been.I have thought it out this afternoon, calmly and logically.These unfortunate young men have died without a reason, for be sure no explanation of Peter Hardcastle's death will be forthcoming though the whole College of Surgeons examines his corpse.Then we must admit that life has been snatched out of these bodies by some force of which we have no conception.Were it natural, science would have discovered a reason for death; but it could not, because their lives flowed away as water out of a bottle, leaving the bottle unchanged in every particular.But life does not desert its physical habitation on these terms.It cannot quit a healthy, human body neither ruined nor rent.You must be honest with yourself, my child, as well as with your father-in-law and me.A physical cause being absolutely ruledout, what remains? To-night I emphatically support Mr.May, and my conscience, long in terrible concern, is now at rest again.And because it is at rest, I know that I have done well.I believe that what dear Tom's father desires to do - namely, to spend this night in the Grey Room - is now within his province and entirely proper to his profession, and I share his perfect faith and confidence.""It is you who lack faith, Mary," continued Septimus May."You lack faith, otherwise you would appreciate the unquestionable truth of what your father tells you.Listen," he continued, "and understand something of what this means from a larger outlook than our own selfish and immediate interests.Much may come of my action for the Faith at large.I may find an answer to those grave questions concerning the life beyond and the whole problem of spiritualism now convulsing the Church and casting us into opposing sections.It is untrodden and mysterious ground; but I am called upon to tread it.For my part, I am never prepared to flout inquirers if they approach these subjects in a reverent spirit.We must not revile good men because they think differently from ourselves.We must examine the assertions of such inquirers as Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir Conan Doyle in a mood of reverence and sympathy.Some men drift away from the truth in vital particulars; but not so far that they cannot return if the road is made clear to them.
"We must remember that our conviction of a double existence rests on the revelation of God through His Son, not on a mere, vague desire toward a future life common to all sorts and conditions of men.They suspected and hoped; we know.Science may explain that general desire if it pleases; it cannot explain, or destroy, the triumphant certainty born of faith.Spiritualism has succeeded to the biblical record of 'possession,' and I, for my part, of course prefer what my Bible teaches.I do not myself find that the 'mediums' of modern spiritualism speak with tongues worthy of much respect up to the present, and it is certain that rogues abound; but the quesion is clamant.It demands to be discussed by our spiritual guides and the fathers of the Church.Already they recognize this fact and are beginning to approach it - some priests in a right spirit, some - as at the Church Congress last month - in a wrong spirit."A wrong spirit, May?" asked Sir Walter.
"In my opinion, a wrong spirit," answered the other."There is much, even in a meeting of the Church Congress, that makes truly religious men mourn.They laughed when they should have learned.I refer to incidents and criticisms of last October.There the Dean of Manchester, who shows how those, who have apparently spoken to us from Beyond through the mouths of living persons, describe their different states and conditions.Stainton Moses gave us a vision of heaven such as an Oxford don and myself might be supposed to appreciate.
"Raymond describes a heaven wherein the average second lieutenant could find all that, for the moment, he needs.But why laugh at these things? If we make our own hells, shall we not make our own heavens? We must go into the next world more or less cloyed and clogged with the emotions and interests of this one.It is inevitable.We cannot instantly throw off a life - time of interests, affections, and desires.We are still human and pass onward as human beings, not as angels of light.
"Therefore, we may reasonably suppose that the Almighty will temper the wind to the shorn lamb, nor impose too harsh and terrible a transformation upon the souls of the righteous departed, but lead one and all, by gradual stages and through not unfamiliar conditions, to the heaven of ultimate and absolute perfection that He has designed for His conscious creatures.""Well spoken" said Sir Walter.
But Mr.May had not finished.He proceeded to the immediate point."Shall it be denied that devils have been cast out in the name of God?"he asked."And if from human tenements, then why not from dwellings made with human hands also? May not a house be similarly cleansed as well as a soul? This unknown spirit - angel or fiend, or other sentient being - is permitted to challenge mankind and draw attention to its existence.A mystery, I grant, but its Maker has now willed that some measure of this mystery shall be revealed to us.We are called to play our part in this spirit's existence.
"It would seem that it has endured a sort of imprisonment in this particular room for more years than we know, and it may actually be thespirit of some departed human being condemned, for causes that humanity has forgotten, to remain within these walls.The nameless and unknown thing cries passionately to be liberated, and is permitted by its Maker to draw our terrified attention upon itself by the exercise of destructive functions transcending our reason.
