588 The Outline of Science 



there comes a stage at which continual suspicion or discredit of 

 a reputable personality becomes unreasonable, and foolishly in- 

 imical to trade: but there may be differences of opinion as to 

 when that stage is reached. 



It is sometimes said that a professional medium, who gets 

 a fee of half a guinea or thereabouts, has a motive to deceive. 

 But an amateur with no pecuniary temptation may also have a 

 motive to deceive it may have been noticed that money is not 

 everything in this world and the fact that the temptation in his 

 case is of a more subtle and less generally recognised character 

 tends to ease his task by making him more immune from sus- 

 picion. Indeed, if an officer and a gentleman thought it worth 

 while to sacrifice his honour, and to lie with unscrupulous per- 

 sistent cleverness, there is no telling how far his deception could 

 go : he might deceive even the very elect. Few, if any, deceivers, 

 however, have so far shown sufficient cleverness to evade the 

 suspicion and secure the confidence of a hardened and experienced 

 and trained investigator of the S.P.R. It is thought by many 

 that suspicion and lack of confidence have by that Society been 

 pressed unduly far. Suspicion is the safest attitude perhaps 

 the only safe one in the present st.ate of public ignorance and 

 against a background of ingenious plots and conspiracies to way- 

 lay and trap the unwary ; but it must be admitted that an atmos- 

 phere of suspicion and cold aloofness however wise and needful 

 does tend to militate against the production of genuine 

 phenomena, and thus to diminish opportunities for rational in- 

 vestigation. For if nothing is produced, there is nothing to 

 examine ; and the mere inhibition of phenomena, though safe and 

 prudent, does not enlarge our opportunity for observation and 

 for framing improved theories as to the modus operandi. 



The giving of some kind of credit, the faith which is the 

 foundation of business enterprise, seems likely to be fruitful here 

 also, in spite of the risk. "Without faith there is no redemption." 

 Without risking something there is no gain. 



