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Page 53
Septimus May had acted like a dangerous drug on Sir Walter; he
appeared to be intoxicated in some degree. But only in mind, not
in manner. He argued for his new attitude, and he was not as
excited as the priest, but maintained his usual level tones.
"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 ruled out, 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 question 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 lifetime of
interests, affections, and desires. We are still human and pass
onward as human beings, not as angels of light.
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