They
might, indeed, perceive the souls within us, but could only be cognizant
of our actions as those of pure spirit; while we, blinded by the
impenetrable screen of the body, would be debarred of even this
recognition.
For through only three of the bodily senses--sight, hearing, and
feeling--have the boldest of so-called spiritualists dared to attempt
the proof of their doctrine. To begin with the latter, the essential
quality of the sense of feeling is _resistance_, without which there can
be no perception. And what is resistance? In one class of cases it is
simply the _vis inertiae_ of matter: in the other and only remaining one,
the opposition of some material matter to the force of gravity. Even the
perception of the lightest zephyr depends upon the resistance of the
atmosphere. Does spirit possess this quality of resistance? The argument
on this head is closed the moment the distinction is made between
material things and spiritual.
If the wave theory of light and sound be correct--and it is so generally
accepted that few writers dare risk their reputations in the defence of
any other--the senses of sight and hearing come, for the purposes of
this argument, in the same category. Nothing can affect the ear which is
not capable of producing vibration in the atmosphere, which may be
considered, in comparison with pure spirit, a material substance. Here
again the argument is clinched by the mere distinction between matter
and spirit, the one being the very antipodes of and incapable of acting
upon the other.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252