324 HUMANISM X vn 



afforded by the history of a friend of mine, who, having 

 lost his wife, long derived much consolation from the 

 belief that he was, by automatic writing, receiving 

 communications from her spirit. His spiritist enthusiasm 

 was, however, seriously checked when he discovered 

 that his spirit guide did not take at all kindly to 

 his growing interest in a young lady in the flesh. 

 He has now married again, and is quite convinced 

 that the automatic messages, which once seemed so 

 expressive of his first wife s personality, were merely the 

 productions of his own subconsciousness. In time he 

 will doubtless chime in with the current doctrine that there 

 is something intrinsically degrading in the notion that our 

 departed dear ones can still communicate with us, continue 

 to be interested in us, and are watching us all the time. 



It is the notion of this espionnage which is intolerable 

 and constitutes the unpardonable offence of Spiritism, in 

 the self-centred eyes of those who have never stopped to 

 reflect what intolerably dreary and irritating functions 

 they would assign to the departed. 



It seems pretty clear then that the anomalous case 

 of Spiritism does not upset the results we have already 

 arrived at : it forms a temporary anodyne for over 

 wrought feelings ; it cannot give permanent satisfaction, 

 because it arouses the opposition of feelings which in the 

 long run are more powerful. And in any case its interest 

 in the future life is emotional and not scientific. 



The other religions are more artful. They advocate 

 the belief in immortality indeed, but with a significant 

 distinction. The future life is a vision that floats before the 

 eye of faith, not a brutal fact to be thrust upon a reluctant 

 attention. The world can stomach a future life so dis 

 creetly formulated. Indeed, it rather likes the notion. 

 There are times when we are out of sorts and the spectre 

 of death will not down, and blank annihilation stares us 

 in the face, and then it is a great comfort to turn to some 

 religious tradition of another and a better life. We may 

 even go so far as to consider heavens and hells agreeable 

 topics for an occasional sermon, or like to use them. 



