Raymond, Or Life and Death Modern Problems
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E AND DEATH r- SIR OLIVER LODG Kf^y^p B9ST9N A€bieflL LIBRARY PURCHflSCb FR9/A TH€ me9/A€ 9F TH€ OLIV€R F. CD^DSCDPRTH F'JNb <fr RAYMOND OR LIFE AND DEATH BY SIR OLIVER J. LODGE Raymond, or Life and Death Modern Problems The Substance of Faith, Allied with Science Man and the Universe The Survival of Man Reason and Belief The War and After Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2010 witii funding from Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School http://www.archive.org/details/raymondorlifedeaOOIodg R AY M O N D OR LIFE AND DEATH WITH EXAMPLES OF THE EVIDENCE FOR SURVIVAL OF MEMORY AND AFFECTION AFTER DEATH BY Sir OLIVER J. LODGE WITH EIGHTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY mak;^^ 191/ >/.-^ '&-^.rC ri^ /^^ COPYRIGHT, 19 16, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PEINT^D IN THS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO HIS MOTHER AND FAMILY WITH GRATITUDE FOR PERMISSION TO USE PRIVATE MATERIAL FOR PUBLIC ENDS "Divine must be That triumph, when the very worst, the pain, And even the prospect of our brethren slain, Hath something in it which the heart enjoys." Wordsworth, Sonnet xxvi. PREFACE THIS book is named after my son who was killed in the War. It is divided into three parts. In the first part some idea of the kind of life lived and the spirit shown by any number of youths, fully engaged in civil occupations, who joined for service when war broke out and went to the Front, is illustrated by extracts from his letters. The object of this portion is to engender a friendly feeling towards the writer of the letters, so that whatever more has to be said in the sequel may not have the inevitable dulness of details concerning an entire stranger. This is the sole object of this portion. The letters are not sup- posed to be remarkable; though as a picture of part of the life at the Front during the 191 5 phase of the war they are interesting, as many other such letters must have been. The second part gives specimens of what at present are considered by most people unusual communications; though these again are in many respects of an ordinary type, and will be recognised as such by other bereaved persons who have had similar messages. In a few par- ticulars, indeed, those here quoted have rather special features, by reason of the assistance given by the group of my friends "on the other side" who had closely studied the subject. It is partly owing to the urgency therein indicated that I have thought it my duty to speak out, though it may well be believed that it is not without hesi- tation that I have ventured thus to obtrude family affairs. I should not have done so were it not that the amount of premature and unnatural bereavement at the present time viu PREFACE is so appalling that the pain caused by exposing one's own sorrow and its alleviation, to possible scoffers, becomes almost negligible in view of the service which it is legitimate to hope may thus be rendered to mourners, if they can derive comfort by learning that communication across the gulf is possible. Incidentally I have to thank those friends, some of them previously unknown, who have in the same spirit allowed the names of loved ones to appear in this book, and I am grateful for the help which one or two of those friends have accorded. Some few more per- haps may be thus led to pay critical attention to any assur- ance of continued and happy and useful existence which may reach them from the other side. The third part of the book is of a more expository character, and is designed to help people in general to realise that this subject is not the bugbear which ignorance and prejudice have made it, that it belongs to a coherent system of thought full of new facts of which continued study is necessary, that it is subject to a law and order of its own, and that though comparatively in its infancy it is a genuine branch of psychological science. This third part is called "Life and Death," because these are the two great undeniable facts which concern everybody, and in which it is natural for every one to feel a keen interest, if they once begin to realise that such interest is not futile, and that it is possible to learn something real about them. It may be willingly admitted that these chapters are in- adequate to the magnitude of the subject, but it is hoped that they are of a usefully introductory character. The "In Memoriam" chapter of Part I is no doubt chiefly of interest to family and friends; but everybody is very friendly, and under the circumstances it will be excused. CONTENTS PAGE Preface vii PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION CHAPTER I. In Memoriam 3 II. Letters from the Front . ' . 15 III. Letters from Officers 73 PART TWO: SUPERNORMAL PORTION Introduction 83 I. Elementary Explanation 86 II. The 'Faunus' Message 90 III. Sequel to the 'Faunus' Message .... 96 IV. The Group Photograph 105 V. Beginning of Historical Record 117 VI. First Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Leonard . 125 VII. First Peters Sitting (Anonymous) .... 129 VIII. A Table Sitting 137 IX. Attempts at Stricter Evidence 151 X. Record Continued 158 XI. First Sitting of Alec 162 XII. General Remarks on Conversational Reports and on Cross-Correspondences 171 XIII. An O. J. L. Sitting with Peters 174 XIV. First Sitting of Lionel (Anonymous) . .180 XV. M. P. A. L. Sitting of November 26 . .188 XVI. O. J. L. Sitting of December 3 191 X CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVII. K. K. Automatic Writing 205 XVIII. First Sitting of Alec with Mrs. Leonard . 208 XIX. Private Sittings at Mariemont 217 i XX. A Few more Records, with some Unverifiable Mat- ter 226 XXI. Two Evidential Sittings of March 3 ... 237 XXII. More Unverifiable Matter 262 XXIII. A Few Isolated Incidents 271 PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH Introduction . 283 I. The Meaning of the Term Life 289 II. The Meaning of the Term Death .... 296 III. Death and Decay 302 IV. Continued Existence 308 V. Past, Present, and Future 312 VI. Interaction of Mind and Matter . .317 VII. 'Resurrection of the Body' 322 VIII. Mind and Brain 326 IX. Life and Consciousness 332 X. On Means of Communication 338 XI. On the Fact of Supernormal Communication . 345 XII. On the Contention that all Psychic Communica- tions are of a Trivial Nature and Deal with Insignificant Topics 349 XIII. On the Manner of Communication .... 355 XIV. Various Psycho-Physical Methods .... 362 XV. Attitude of the Wise and Prudent .... 367 XVI. Outlook on the Universe 374 XVII. The Christian Idea of God 378 Index 397 ILLUSTRATIONS Raymond Frontispiece PAGE Raymond when Two Years Old 8 Raymond, 1915 78 Group of Officers, as Sent Us by Mrs. Cheves on December 7, 1915, Showing an Arm Resting on Raymond's Shoulder i 10 Another Edition of the Group-Photograph, with Leg Touch- ing Shoulder Instead of Hand 112 Group Subsequently Obtained, Evidently Taken at the Same Time, BUT Pressure ON Shoulder Removed . .114 Mariemont 224 Raymond and Brodie with the Pigeons at Mariemont . 224 Large Double-Compartment Tent in Its First Form (1905) (Built at Mariemont and Taken to Woolacombe) . 250 The Tent in Its Second Form (1906) Made out of the Re- mains OF the First . 250 First Edition of the Sandboat (1906) at Woolacombe, with Alec on Board 252 Rising Ground Behind Older Tents on Woolacombe Beach 252 "Grandfather W. " 258 "Mr. Jackson" with M. F. A. L. at Mariemont . 258 Second Edition of Sandboat, at Mariemont, Before Being Unshipped and Taken to Woolacombe, 1907 . 260 Raymond Working at the Sandboat in the Boys' Laboratory AT Mariemont 260 "Curly" and" Vix. " Curly being the Shaggy One. [Vix was THE Mother of Raymond's Dog "Larry" . 278 Raymond in His " Nagant " Motor, 1913. Outside a Friend's House in Somersetshire 278 s PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION "And this to fill us with regard for man, With apprehension of his passing worth." Browning, Paracelsus. — CHAPTER I IN MEMORIAM HE bare facts are much as reported in The — T Times: Second Lieutenant Raymond Lodge was the youngest son of Sir Oliver and Lady Lodge, and was by taste and training an engineer. He volunteered for service in September 1914 and was at once given a commission in the 3rd South Lancashires. After training near Liverpool and Edinburgh, he went to the Front in the early spring of 1915, attached to the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment of the Regular Army, and was soon in the trenches near Ypres or Hooge. His engineering skill was of service in details of trench construction, and he later was attached to a Machine-Gun Section for a time, and had various escapes from shell fire and shrapnel. His Captain having sprained an ankle, he was called back to Company work, and at the time of his death was in command of a Company engaged in some early episode of an attack or attempted advance which was then beginning. He was struck by a fragment of shell in the attack on Hooge Hill on the 14th September 1915, and died in a few hours. Raymond Lodge had been educated at Bedales School and Birmingham University. He had a great aptitude and love for mechanical engineering, and was soon to have become a partner with his elder brothers, who highly valued his services, and desired his return to assist in the Government work which now occupies their firm.