materialism.can be. seen in the region of the Borderland.. To make the mystery of life less horribly perplexing, tosupply a psychical key to the religions of the world, and to give men once more a sense of the immanence of the - Divine, and the constant presence of invisible, spiritual forces,, these at? among the greatestifhij*^ towsfds ’which* to be attained,..

AFTER TWELVE MONTHS.
T is now ju s t a y ear since th e first n u m b er of B o r d e r l a n d

__ saw .l^ ^ llfc ; Sow far have we succeeded in achieving the object we' had in view 1 To this question we can
:honestly answer^that we have made

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we ventured to hope;for.-'' To b

e

g

i

n

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‘wS. Me saore' thanever convinced it will be by th.e pious-

and intelligent study of psychic phenomena. itself has been a remarkable’success. It is, I believe, almost the first magazine of the kind which has paid its way from the first. This we did not anticipate, and it is
•an unexpected encouragement to persevere in the attempt to familiarize'jibe reading public with the latest results of

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PATIENCE.

Rome was not built in a day, and Borderland is not tobe surveyed and- mapped out in a year. The experiences of the year teach, ug patience. There is a great deal of' edneational work to he done before it would be either safe or desirable to demand more' rapid progress towards new truth. But no ohe can read'even the present-number of this Review,without bring compelled to admit that there is at least a promise of a scientific demonstration of the utter inadequacy of the sceepted.-materialistic theories of the world and the; things that are. therein. On half a dozen converging lines patient observation and unwearied experiment are demonstrating that even the superstitions of our ancestors contain in them germs of truths unknown to the pseudo-scientists.of the nineteenth century, and are supplying aratapnal foundation for the. reconstructed temple ofa. rational spiritual faith, Whatever rise may be dubious it is becoming tolerably clear that the new frith will have the persistence of the indivi4ual:after'jdeath as its chief corner-stone, mid a demonstratwsynfJfcealmost undreamedof potentiality of the eo|^|fi$^Mpg$ri08 of personalities that make up our Ego ..q$Atif’rifef. contribution to human thought. the application of the scientific method to the study a n d ’

observation ofthe so-called supernatural.

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PROGRESS.

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We think it will not.be denied that in the last twelve months something has been done to’compel even the most' • stoutly sceptical, amongst us that, after all, theremay be • “ something in .it" .which it isriot a waste of time to!in- ’ vestigate. .ThesupercUiousness of total ignorance remains, no doubt, but every month, increases the number of those who have been compelled to'admit that a breach has been made in the rampart of their unbelief. The occult wave, as it is called, is making itself universally felt. It is in evidence in books and magazines,' in newspapers and
. picture galleries. It is even influencing the pulpit, amj making its way into the most unexpected quarters. •It brings with it a new hope—born of the rationalizing, of
■ religion, and;an immediate widening'of the horizon;of human destiny. Already, it promises to be one of the great solvents of sectarian prejudices, and is making men of - all churches, and of none, realise with a new charity and a fresh and vivid consciousness that all creeds in all time have been reared upon the one indestructible spiritual foundation, of which some fragments unearthed from

TWELVE MONTHS’ LOSS AND GAIN.

The experiments in automatic handwriting, especially in the auto-telepathic branch, seem to me the most hopeful.

400

b o r d e r l a n d .

THE ANGLO-FRENCH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

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and those which, promise far the richest field of research. Hypnotism is another department in which much promising ^progress has been made. Spirit photography has also made some advance and will make more. The camera promises to be to the psychical world what the telescope was to the starry firmament on high. Trance mediumship has not advanced much in the twelve months, if indeed it has not gone back. The number of tnutWtothy trance-mediums is by no means so great as has been sometimes imagined. The older ones are either laid up, or indisposed to place their services at the disposal of the public. Materializations are still at a discount, owing to the number of frauds that have been detected arid exposed. Psychometry is a wide field as yet almost unexplored, but the few investigations which have taken place reveal immense possibilities when it is properly worked. Palmistry, I think, may be said to have advanced.
. Astrology is in statu qua. Crystal gazing depends at present too exclusively upon the experiments of Miss X., which, however, are excellent.
The new psychological society, of which the Duchesse de Pomaris patroness, andM. Charles Richet,president, sriems, as the Americans would say, to be “ lying low.” :<Fhe adherence of the public, the English public that is, ifas invited about four months ago, and those of us who applied for membership were told we should hear more by-and-by. Lately has come the announcement that the subscription is to be double that originally announced, namely I8s. instead of 8s., but still nothing happens, and we await inforination.

A NEW “ OCCULT ” PERIODICAL.

On the same day as our present [issue a new venture in the “ occult” is to be made by Mr. A. Waite in the shape of a monthly magazine devoted to the occult—mystic, and ’ theosophic for the moatpart—another boat put off to explore the shores of the Borderland. We heartily wish orw aew coadjutor all success.

THEOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY.

Professor Max Muller’s Gifford Lectures are now published under the title of “ Theosophy or_ Psychological Religion,” with the following suggestive explanation

BORDERLAND IN ART.

Considering the assistance which a crystal often gives to the eye in visualizing ,a picture, it is somewhat sur-
I ought, perhaps, to explain why, to the title of “ Psycho-

prising that artists pay so little attention to crystal-gazing. logical Religion,” originally chosen for this my final course of
Gifford Lectures, I have added that of “ Theosophy.” It seemed to me that this venerable name, so well knowa among early Christian thinkers, as expressing the highest knowledge of God within the'reaeh of the human mind, has of late been so greatly misappropriated that it was high time to restore it to its proper function. It should be known, once for all, that, one may call oneself a Theosophist, without being suspeoted Of believingin spirit-rappings, table-turnings, or any other occult sciences and blade arts.
Mr. Dicksee exhibits this year a picture that is supposed to -represent a crystal-gazing scene. It is a pretty picture enough, and I ’reproduce it as a frontispiece. But it proves -that neither Mr. Dicksee nor his models ever saw a picture in a-crystal. Any one holding a crystal as it is held in Mr. Dicksee’s pictures, would see nothing but shadows and lights, which would be utterly destructive of all visualization.; The mystical picture of “ Invocation” in th e ,ParisSalon is very conventional, and appears to have been -painted by one-who has never seen a disembodied spirit. A ll artists cannot be psychists, but they might, at least, learn the A B C of psychical research before putting their crude conceptions on canvas.

. MEETINOS Qy. T^CE. SOCUKTY FO R PSYCHICAL RESEARCH.

Two general meetings of the Society for Psychical Research have been held during the past quarter.
- On April 27th Mr. Myers read a paper on Retrocognition—on the power alleged to be possessed by some persons of reviving the associations of organic or inorganic matter by means of trance—or what is somewhat' inaccurately called “ psychometry.” A discussion followed. On. June 8th a paper was read by Miss X. on “ The

ENDOWING PSYCHICAL RESEARCH.

On June-8th, at the General Meeting of the Society, the Chairman, in opening the proceedings, communicated the fact that a legacy of £3,000 had been left by the late Dr. Myers to the President of the Society for Psychical Research for the time being, intrust for the purposes of the Society.' The money—amounting after payment of legacy duty to £2,700—was now invested, and the income

apparent Sources of Super-normal Messages.”

Some

account of the paper will be found elsewhere. The late President of the Society, Professor Sidgwick, who was in the chair, in expressing the thanks of the meeting to Miss X., remarked that it was rare to find the capacity for superwould be used in defraying the expenses of the Society’s normal perception combined-with the power of self-obserinvestigations. He said that this news would not come as vation and analysis, the Carefulness and promptitude in recording experiences, and the appreciation of the importance of different kinds of evidence, which “ Miss X.’s ” paper showed. A compliment from Professor Sidgwick is a compliment indeed, and those-who read the “ Notes ” in our present issue will see how thoroughly it was deserved by my able and gifted assistant. a surprise to those wTio knew the unfailing interest which Dr. Myers had always taken in their work, and the extent to which he had spent not only his time and thought, but
- "also when occasion arose, his private means, for the furtherance of that work; and it would be a source of
! satisfaction to them that the increase in stability which the' Society thus gained, and the enlargement of its means for carrying on its researches, should be associated with
Mr, F. W . H. Myers then spoke on “The Evidence fbr Continued Identity contained in Mr. W. S. Moses’ Auto-

matic Script.”

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his memory.

...

THE CHRQNIQUE OF THE QUARTER.

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of Her Majesty's subjeots was to be deemed a rogue and a vagabond, and be subject on conviction to imprinpngtent. The mere practiceof palmistry was not, as faras he was&W&re, illegal. The essence of the offence created by the statute was the intention to impose, and the object was to protect the youngand the ignorant. The police had instructions to watch . oases of suspicion,'and whenever there was good ground for believing that fraud or imposition was being practised, they

ail

ailJ’xfoiWSTICAI, MUSICIANS.

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ithe article in our last issue on Mr, Shepard,

o.,jv|ho;by,.the. way protests-against the title of “ Musical s,Mediuni,.’;J have probably already learned that he is in where he gives two or three concerts a week,
.jfteiys at private houses, and only under very strict conniptions as to the audience, the “ atmosphere,” and the ,upholstery. The:account of his most recent performance Will be found in our pages. Whether he is to be regarded as a remarkable improvisatore, a highly-trained musician, a “ medium,” or a prodigy of the calculating boy variety, is a problem which all must settle for themselves. Jil. Another, no we must not say “ another,” musical medium has been under observation for about a yeau-at Charleroi in l’Belgium, a little boy of eleven, .who, says the Revue Spirite, ' fevokes the spirit of a master drummer, a veritable artiste 7W the drum, besides various skilled performers on the piano and the tambourine ; phenomena so elaborate'and various, that a child of his age must be regarded as innocent ,pf,their production. History tells nothing of other possi-
,(bflities, exeept.that the boy has a father.

would be directed to prosecute.

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MRS. HARDINGE BRITTEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Mrs. Britten has decided to bequeath her book to the future, to “ a more Spiritual age ”—an age of Spiritualists who will not find it impossible to subscribe up to the number of five hundred for. a book which represents two years’labour on the part of one whom, in spite of their indifference, they yet regard as a prophet,

A RIDDLE OF THE “ SPHINX.”

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Sphinx has reached its hundredth number. It deserves to reach a hundred more. A sermon might well he preached on the fact that, at the end of its first century,, it propounds to its readers the following pregnant question:—

THE COLOUR COKE FOR SMALL-POX.

“ What is your belief as to the persistence of consciousness after the death of the body, and what are your reasons ?”
■;tfWe have more than once had occasion to refer to Dr.
*‘jB&bbitt’s “ colour cure,” as well as to other unsuspected .Jp^lities of colours. The latest news of the utilisation of -colour, corner as have many other welcome psychical dis^tyeyies; from Scandinavia. It is said that under the direcof Dr. Finsen,- a distinguished, specialist.ia. jajfa.
•diseases, some experiments have been made at the City 1'Hospital in Bergen in the treatment of small-pox patients in a red light. i },Dr. Lindholm, hospital physician, fitted up a ward with red-curtains, QU the theory of excluding the ultra violet
’’riiys oflight, which I)r. Finsen declares to be injurious to the skin when in a morbid state,... Twenty pajigpts were •hlhced in the ward, ten of them being non-vaccinated chil;1dren, some of them cases of extreme severity.

ANOTHER RIDDLE.

It is pleasant and encouraging for the so-called

writer in Lticifer the question, “ W hdl s ort o f Karinas may reasonablyJbe supposed to result in mediumship or idiocy in the next,

incarnation?” This is not a case of “ Did this man sin or his parents ?” because the condition of the hypothesis is that we are our own ancestors. Probably some writer, say in the Saturday Review, may be prepared to simplify the question by combining the alternatives, and substitute ing “ and ” for ? or.”

THE VALUE OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

‘•'“ ’All of them recovered and none were pitted. The experi'■fiihnt is now being tried in New York under Dr. Edson, with the sanction of the Board of Health.
;,a "The principle is obviously the same, by which we exclude 3I$l|e’same rays of light from a photographic negative.
There is a very excellent little society called “ The Bond of Union,” many prominent members of which take a deep interest in Borderland subjects. In its report for the year 1893-4 we note that as long ago as last October its members debated at the Pioneer Club on Borderland. The announcement has this note :—