Australia
Native Magic. - From birth to death, the native Australian or blackfellow is surrounded by magical influences. In many tribes the power to perform magic, sympathetic" or otherwise, is possessed by only a few people; but among the central tribes it is practised by both men and women-more often, however, by the former, who conserve the knowledge of certain forms of their own. There is also among them a distinct class of medicine-men, whose duty it is to discover whose magic has caused the death of anyone. Among the central tribes, unlike many others, magic is not made a means of profit or emolument. A heavy taboo rests on a great many things that the boy or young man would like to do, and this is for the behoof of the older men of the tribe, who attach to themselves the choicest morsels of food and so forth. Among girls and women the same law applies; and the latter are sternly forbidden to go near the places where the men perform their magical ceremonies. To terrify them away from such spots, the natives have invented an instrument called "bull-roarer "-a thin slip of wood swung round at the end of a string, which makes a screaming, whistling noise, which the women believe is the voice of the Great Spirit. The natives preserve long oval pieces of wood, which they call churingas. In these are supposed to remain the spirits of their ancestors, so that in reality they are of a fetish nature. These are kept concealed in the most secret manner. a
Sympathetic Magic is of course rife amongst such a primitive people. Certain ceremonies are employed to control nature so as to ensure a plentiful supply of food and water, or to injure an enemy. One of the commonest forms of these is the use of the pointed stick or bone, which is used in one form or another by all Australian tribes. The former is a small piece of wood, varying in length from three to eighteen inches, resembling a skewer, and tapering to a point. At the handle end it is topped with a knob of resin, to which is attached a strand of human hair. Magical songs are sung over it, to endow it with occult potency. The man who wishes to use it goes into the bush singly, or with a friend, where he will be free from observation, and planting the stick in the ground, mutters over it what he desires to happen to his enemy. It is then left in the ground for a few days. The evil magic is supposed to proceed from the stick to the man, who often succumbs, unless a medicine-man, chances to discover the implement.
The Australian savage has a special dread of magic connected with places at a distance, and any magical apparatus purchased or obtained from far-away tribes is supposed to possess potency of much greater kind than if it had been made among themselves. Thus certain little stones traded by Northern tribes are supposed to contain a very powerful form of evil magic called mauia. These are wrapped up in many folds of bark and string, According to their traditions this type of magic was first introduced by a Batman, who dropped it to earth where it made a great explosion at a certain spot, whence it can still be procured. Sticks procured from a distance, with which the natives chastise their wives, are sufficient by their very sight to make the women obey their husbands. Much mystery surrounds what are known as "debil-debil" shoes, which consist of a pad of emu feathers, rounded at both ends, in order that no one should be able to trace in which direction the wearer is journeying. These are supposed to be worn by a being called kurdaitcha, to whom deaths are attributed. Like other savages, the Australian native believes that death is always due to evil magic. A man may become a kurdaitcha by submitting to a certain ceremony, in which the little toe of his foot is dislocated. Dressed up and painted grotesquely, he sets out accompanied by a medicine-man and wearing the kurdaitcha shoes, when he desires to slay an enemy. When he spears him, the medicine-man closes up the wound, and the victim returns to consciousness oblivious of the fact that he is full of evil magic; but in a while he sickens and dies; and then it is known that he has been attacked by a kurdaitcha. Many long and elaborate ceremonies are connected with the churinga, and these have been well described by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, Howitt, Fison, and others.
Spiritualism in Australia has both a public and private representation. The latter is far more general than the former in every country except America, but although demonstrations of spirit power are more commonly known in Australia amongst individuals and families, than on the rostrum, or through the columns of the journals, they are less available for the purposes of historical record. It seems that many Australian colonists had heard of the Spiritualist movement before settling in the country, and on their arrival, pursuing the customary methods of unfoldment through the spirit circle, a deep interest was awakened long before public attention was called to the subject. In Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Brisbane, and numerous other towns and mining districts, communion with spirits was successfully practised in circles and families, up to about 1867. After that epoch it seems to have become the subject of various journalistic reports of the usual adverse, eulogistic, or non-committal character. At or about that period, a large number of influential persons became interested in the matter, and not a few whose names were a sufficient guarantee of their good faith, began to detail wonderful experiences in the columns of the public journals. The debate and denial, rejoinder and defence, called forth by these narratives, served as propaganda of the movement, and rendered each freshly recorded manifestation, the centre of an everwidening circle of interest.
In Victoria a gentleman of considerable wealth and learning, writing under the nom de plume of "Schamlyn," entered into a warm controversy with the editor of the Collingwood Advertiser, in defence of Spiritualism. Another influential supporter of the Spiritual cause who was an early convert, and for a time became a pillar of strength in its maintenance, was a gentleman connected with the editorial department of the Melbourne Argus, one of the leading journals of Victoria, and an organ well calculated to exert a powerful sway over the minds of its readers. Australia As the tides of public opinion moved on, doctors, lawyers, merchants, and men of eminence began to joins the ranks. Tidings of phenomena of the most astounding character poured in from distant towns and districts. Members of the press began to share the general infection, and though some would not, and others could not avow their convictions, their private prepossessions induced them to open their columns for debate and correspondence on the subject. To add to the stimulus thus imparted, many of the leading colonial journals indulged in tirades of abuse and misrepresentation, which only served to increase the contagion without in the least diminishing its force. At length the clergy began to arouse themselves and manifest their interest by furious abuse. Denunciation provoked retort; discussion compelled investigation. In Sydney, many converts of rank and influence suddenly appeared. The late Hon. John Bowie Wilson, Land Minister, and a champion of temperance, became an open convert to Spiritualism, and by his personal influence no less than his public defence of the cause made converts unnumbered. Amongst the many others whose names have also been recorded in the ranks of Spiritualism in Sydney may be mentioned Mr. Henry Gale, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Gale, Mrs. Woolley and Mrs. Greville, besides a number of other ladies; Mr. Greville, M.P., and several other members of the New South Wales Parliament and Cabinet; Hon. J. Windeyer, Attorney-General of the Colony, subsequently one of the judges; Mr. Alfred De Lissa, an eminent barrister : Mr. Cyril Haviland, a literary man; Mr. Macdonald; Captain Barron; Mr. Milner Stephen a barrister of eminence, his wife and family, and many others. Another who did more to advance the cause of Spiritualism, and crystallize its scattered fragments into concrete strength than any other individual in the ranks was Mr. Wm. Terry, the well-known and enterprising editor of the Melbourne Harbinger of Light Spiritual organ, "About 1869" says Mr. H. Tuttle, " the necessity for a Spiritualistic journal was impressed deeply on the mind of Mr. Terry. He could not cast it off, but pondered over the enterprise. At this time, an exceedingly sensitive patient described a spirit holding a scroll on which was written Harbinger of Light" and the motto, Dawn approaches, error is passing away; men arising shall hail the day." This influenced him, and in August 1870, he set to work to prepare the first number, which appeared on the 1st of September of that year. 66 66 "There was no organisation in Australian Spiritualism, and Mr. Terry saw the advantage and necessity of associative movement. He consulted a few friends, and in November, 1870, he organised the first Victorian Association of Spiritualists. A hall was rented, and Sunday services, consisting of essays and reading by members, enlivened by appropriate hymns, were held. In October, 1872, impressed with the desirability of forming a Lyceum, he called together a few willing workers, and held the first session on October 20th, 1872. It is, and has been from the first in a flourishing condition, numbering one hundred and fifty members, with a very handsome and complete outfit, and excellent library. He has remained an officer ever since, and conductor four sessions. He assisted in the establishment of the Spiritualist and Free-thought Association, which succeeded the original one, and was its first president. He has lectured occasionally to appreciative audiences, and his lectures have been widely circulated. His mediumship, which gave such fair promise, both in regard to writing and speaking, became controlled, especially for the relief of the sick. Without the assistance of advertising he has acquired a fine practice. With this he combines a trade in Reform and Spiritualistic publications, as extensive as the colony, and the publication of the Harbinger of Light, a Spiritual journal that is an honour to the cause, and well sustains the grand philosophy of immortality. No man is doing more for the cause or has done more efficient work."
A short but interesting summary of the rise and progress of Spiritualism in Australia is given in the American Banner of Light, 1880, in which Mr. Terry's good service is again alluded to, and placed in line with that of several other pioneers of the movement, of whom mention has not yet been made. It is as follows :- 66
The Harbinger of Light, published at Melbourne, Australia, furnishes a review of the origin of its publication and the work it has accomplished during the ten years just closed. At its advent in 1870, considerable interest had been awakened in the subject of Spiritualism, by the lectures of Mr. Nayler, in Melbourne, and Mr. Leech, at Castlemaine. The leaders of the church became disturbed, and seeing their gods in danger, sought to stay the progress of what would eventually lessen their influence and possibly their income. But Mr. Nayler spoke and wrote with more vigour; the addresses of Mr. Leech were published from week to week in pamphlet form, and widely distributed. At the same time, Mr. Charles Bright, who had published letters on Spiritualism in the Argus, over an assumed name, openly identified himself with the movement, and spoke publicly on the subject. Shortly after, eleven persons met and formed an association, which soon increased to eighty members. A hymn-book was compiled, and Sunday services began. As elsewhere, the press ridiculed, and the pulpit denounced Spiritualism as a delusion. A number of articles in the Argus brought some of the facts prominently before the public, and the growing interest was advanced by a public discussion between Messrs. Tyerman and Blair. In 1872, a Sunday school, on harmonial principles, was established, Mr. W. H. Terry, the proprietor of the Harbinger, being its first conductor. Almost simultaneously with this was the visit of Dr. J. M. Peebles, whose public lectures and work in the Lyceum served to consolidate the movement. A controversy in the Age, between Rev. Mr. Potter, Mr. Tyerman and Mr. Terry, brought the facts and teachings of Spiritualism into further notice. "Soon came Dr. Peebles, Thomas Walker, Mrs. Britten and others, who widened the influence of the spiritualistic philosophy, and aided the Harbinger in its efforts to establish Spiritualism on a broad rational basis. Mr. W. H. Terry is deserving of all praise for his unselfish and faithful exertions in carrying the Harbinger through the years of as hard labour as ever befell any similar enterprise, and we bespeak for him, in his continued efforts to make known the evidences of a future existence, and the illuminating truths of Spiritualism, the hearty co-operation and sympathy of all friends of the cause." Writing to the Banner of Light on the subject of Mr. Tyerman's accession to the Spiritual ranks, an esteemed American correspondent says:- "The Rev. J. Tyerman, of the Church of England, resident in one of the country districts, boldly declared his full reception of Spiritualism as a great fact, and his change of religious faith consequent upon the teachings of spirits. Of course, he was welcomed with open arms by the whole body of Spiritualists in Melbourne, the only city where there was any considerable number enrolled in one association. He soon became the principal lecturer, though not the only one employed by the Association, and well has he wielded the sword of the new faith. He is decidedly of the pioneer stamp, a skilful debater, a fluent speaker, ready at any moment to engage with any one, either by word of mouth or as a writer. So widely, indeed, did he make his influence felt, and so individual was it, that a Australia new society grew up around him, called the Free-Thought and Spiritualist Propaganda Society, which remained in existence till Mr. Tyerman removed to Sydney, when it coalesced with the older association, under the combined name of Melbourne Spiritualist and Free-Thought Association." Another valuable convert to the cause of Spiritualism, at a time when it most needed good service, was Mrs. Florence Williams, the daughter of the celebrated English novelist, G. P. R. James, and the inheritor of his talent, originality of thought, and high culture. This lady for a long time officiated at the first Spiritual meetings convened for Sabbath Day exercises, as an acceptable and eloquent lecturer, and her essays would have formed an admirable epitome of spiritual revelations at the time in which they were delivered.
The visits of several zealous propagandists have been alluded to in previous quotations, Amongst the first to break ground as a public exponent of Spiritualism, was the Rev. J. M. Peebles, formerly a minister of Battle Creek, Michigan. Mr. Peebles was well known in America as a fine writer and lecturer, and as such was justified in expecting courteous, if not eulogistic mention from the press of a foreign country, with whom his own was on terms of amicable intercourse. How widely different was the journalistic treatment he experienced may be gathered from his own remarks addressed to the Banner of Light some five years after his first visit, and describing in graphic terms the changed spirit which marked alike the progress of the movement and the alteration in the tone of public opinion. Mr. Peebles says an
Relative to Spiritualism and its divine principles, public sentiment has changed rapidly, and for the better, during the past five years. Upon my late public appearance in Melbourne, the Hon. John McIlwraith ex-Mayor of the city, and Commissioner to our Centennial Exhibition, took the chair, introducing me to the audience. On my previous visit some of the Spiritualists seemed a little timid. They preferred being called investigators, remaining a good distance from the front. Then my travelling companion, Dr. Dunn, was misrepresented, and meanly vilified in the city journals; while I was hissed in the market, caricatured in Punch, burlesqued in a theatre, and published in the daily press as an 'ignorant Yankee,'
American trickster,' a 'long-haired apostate,' and a most unblushing blasphemer.' But how changed!
Recently the secular press treated me fairly. Even the usually abusive Telegraph published Mr. Stevenson's article assuring the Rev. Mr. Green that I was willing to meet him at once in a public discussion. The Melbourne Argus, one of the best daily papers in the world, the Australasian, the Herald, and the Age, all dealt honourably by me, reporting my lectures, if briefly, with admirable impartiality. The press is a reflector; and those audiences of 2,000 and 2,500 in the great Opera House on each Sunday for several successive months, were not without a most striking moral significance. It seemed to be the general opinion that Spiritualism had never before occupied so prominent yet so favourable a position in the eyes of the public. دو Efficient service was rendered to the cause of Spiritualism by Mr. Thomas Walker, a young Englishman, first introduced in the Colonies by the Rev. J. M. Peebles. Alleging himself to be a "trance speaker under the control of certain spirits, whom he named, Mr. Walker lectured acceptably in Sydney, Melbourne, and other places in the Colonies on the Spiritual rostrum. In March, 1878, Mr. Walker maintained a public debate with a Mr. M. W.
Green, a minister of a denomination termed "the Church of Christ." This gentleman had acquired some reputation in the Colonies as a preacher, and as one who had bitterly opposed, and taken every possible opportunity, to misrepresent Spiritualism. The debate, which was held in the Temperance Hall, Melbourne, attracted large audiences, and been extended for several nights beyond the period originally agreed upon.
The following extracts are taken from the Melbourne Age, one of the leading daily journals of the city. They are dated August 20th, 1878, and read thus : 66 I see
Spiritualism is just now very much to the front in Melbourne. The lectures of Mrs. Emma Hardinge-Britten, delivered to crowded audiences at the Opera House every Sunday evening, have naturally attracted a sort of wondering curiosity to the subject, and the interest has probably been intensified by the strenuous efforts that are being made in some of the orthodox pulpits to prove that the whole thing is an emanation from the devil. The announcement that the famous Dr. Slade had arrived to strengthen the ranks of the Spiritualists, has therefore been made at a very critical juncture, and I should not be surprised to find that the consequence will be to infuse a galvanic activity into the forces on both sides. Though I do not profess to be a Spiritualist, I own to having been infected with the fashionable itch for witnessing 'physical manifestations,' as they are called, and accordingly I have attended several circles with more or less gratification. But Dr. Slade is not an ordinary medium even among professionals. The literature of the Spiritualists is full of his extraordinary achievements, attested to all appearance by credible witnesses, who have not been ashamed to append their names to their statements. that on one occasion, writing in six different languages was obtained on a single slate, and one day, accompanied by two learned professors, Dr. Slade had a sitting with the Grand Duke Constantine, who obtained writing on a new slate held by himself alone. From St. Petersburg, Dr. Slade went to Berlin, where he is said to have obtained some marvellous manifestations in the house of Professor Zöllner, and where he was visited by the court conjurer to the Emperor, Samuel Bellachini.
My object in visiting Dr. Slade can be understood when I was introduced to him with my friend, whom I shall call Omega, and who was bent on the same errand. Dr. Slade and Mr. Terry constituted the circle of four who sat around the table in the centre of the room almost as immediately as we entered it. There was nothing in the room to attract attention. No signs of confederacy, human or mechanical. The hour was eleven in the morning. The window was unshuttered, and the sun was shining brightly. The table at which we sat was a new one, made especially by Wallach Brothers, of Elizabeth Street, of polished cedar, having four slight legs, one flap, and no ledges of any kind underneath. As soon as we examined it Dr. Slade took his seat on one side, facing the window, and the rest of us occupied the other three seats. He was particularly anxious that we should see he had nothing about him. It has been said that he wrote on the slate by means of a crumb of pencil stuck in his finger-nails, but his nails were cut to the quick, while his legs and feet were ostentatiously placed away from the table in a side position, exposed to view the whole time. He first produced a slate of the ordinary school size, with a wet sponge, which I used to it. A chip of pencil about the size of a grain of wheat was placed upon it on the table; we joined hands, and immediately taps were heard about the table, and in answer to a question- Will you write ? 'from Dr. Slade, three raps were given, and he forthwith took up the slate with the pencil lying on it, and held half of it under the table by his finger and thumb, which clasped the corner of the half that was outside the table, and was therefore easily seen by all present. His left hand re- ..
Australia mained near the centre of the table, resting on those of the two sitters on either side of him. Several convulsive jerks of his arm were now given, then a pause, and immediately the sound of writing was audible to every one, a scratching sound interrupted by the tap of the pencil, which indicated, as we afterwards found, that the t's were being crossed and the i's dotted. The slate was then exposed, and the words written were in answer to the question which had been put by Omega as to whether he had psychic power or not. I pass over the conversation that ensued on the subject, and go on to the next phenomenon. To satisfy myself that the 'trick' was not done by means of sympathetic writing on the slate, I had ten minutes previously purchased a slate from a shop in Bourke Street, containing three leaves, and shutting up book fashion. This I produced, and Dr. Slade readily repeated his performance with it. It was necessary to break the pencil down to a mere crumb, in order to insert it between the leaves of the slate. This done, the phenomenon at once recurred with this rather perplexing difference, that the slate, instead of being put half under the table, forced itself by a series of jerks on to my neck, and reposed quietly under my ear, in the eyes of everyone present. The scratching then commenced; I heard the t's crossed and the i's dotted by the moving pencil, and at the usual signal I opened the slate, and found an intelligible reply to the question put.
The next manifestation was the levitation of one of the sitters in his chair about a clear foot from the ground, and the levitation of the table about two feet. I ought to have mentioned that during the whole of the séance there was a good deal of by-play going on. Everyone felt the touch of hands more or less, and the sitters' chairs were twice wrenched from under them, or nearly so, but the psychic could not possibly have done it. ..
Says Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, in her Nineteenth Century Miracles:-" As personal details are more graphic than the cold narrations of passing events, we deem it expedient in this place to give our readers an inside view of Spiritualism in Australia, by republishing one of the many articles sent by the author to the American Spiritual journals during her sojourn in the Colonies. The following excerpt was written as the result of personal experience, and at a time when Spiritualism, in the usual inflated style of journalistic literature, was ' in the zenith of its triumphs.' It is addressed to the Editor of the Banner of Light, and reads as follows :- 66 6
Spiritualism in these colonies finds little or no public representation outside of Melbourne or Sydney, nevertheless warm friends of the cause are scattered all over the land, and endeavours are being made to enlarge the numerous circles into public meetings, and the fugitive efforts of whole-hearted individuals into associations as powerful as that which exists in Melbourne. At present, the attempt to effect missionary work in any portions of Australia outside Sydney or Melbourne, becomes too great a burden to the luckless individual, who has not only to do the work, but to bear the entire cost of the undertaking, as I have had to do in my visits to various towns in Victoria. Expenses which are cheerfully divided amongst the many in the United States, become all too heavy for endurance when shouldered upon the isolated workers; hence the paucity of public representation, and the impossibility of those who visit the Colonies, as I have done, effecting any important pioneer work beyond the two great centres I have named. Mr. Walker at Sydney, and I at Melbourne, have been favoured with the largest gatherings ever assembled at Colonial Sunday meetings.
Having, by desire of my spirit guides, exchanged rostrums, he filling my place at Melbourne, and I his at Sydney, we find simultaneously at the same time, and on the same Sundays, the lessees of the two theatres we occupied raising their rent upon us one hundred and fifty per cent. The freethinkers and Spiritualists had occupied the theatre in Sydney four years at the rate of four pounds per Sunday. For my benefit the landlord raised the rent to ten pounds, whilst the same wonderful spirit of accordance caused the Melbourne manager to increase upon Mr. Walker from eight pounds to a demand of twenty.
With our heavy expenses and small admission fees this was tantamount to driving us out altogether. Both of us have succeeded after much difficulty, and fighting Christian warriors with the Christian arms of subtlety and vigilance, in securing other places to lecture in; and despite the fact that the press insult us, the pulpit curse us, and Christians generally devote us to as complete a prophecy of what they would wish us to enjoy everlastingly as their piety can devise, we are each attracting our thousands every Sunday night, and making such unmistakable marks on public opinion as will not easily be effaced again. "
Dr. Slade's advent in Melbourne since last September has been productive of an immense amount of good. How far his labours here will prove remunerative I am not prepared to say. Frankly speaking, I do not advise Spirit Mediums or speakers to visit these colonies on financial advancement intent. There is an abundant crop of Medium power existing, interest enough in the cause, and many of the kindest hearts and clearest brains in the world to be found here; but the lack of organisation, to which I have before alluded, and the imperative necessity for the workers who come here to make their labours remunerative, paralyses all attempts at advancement, except in the sensation line. Still I feel confident that with united action throughout the scattered force of Spiritualistic thought in these Colonies, Spiritualism might and would supersede every other phase of religious thought in an incredibly short space of time. I must not omit to mention that the friends in every place I have visited have been more than kind, hospitable and appreciative. The public have defied both press and pulpit in their unstinted support of my lectures. The press have been equally servile, and the Christian world equally stirred, and equally active in desperate attempts to crush out the obvious proofs of immortality Spiritualism brings. ""In Melbourne, I had to fight my way to comply with an invitation to lecture for the benefit of the City Hospital. I fought and conquered; and the hospital committee revenged itself for a crowded attendance at the Town Hall by taking my money without the grace of thanks, either in public or private, and the simply formal acknowledgment of my services by an official receipt. In Sydney, where I now am, I was equally privileged in lecturing for the benefit of the Temperance Alliance, and equally honoured, after an enthusiastic and successful meeting, by the daily press of the city in their utter silence concerning such an important meeting, and their careful record of all sorts of such trash as they disgrace their columns with. So mote it be. The wheel will turn some day!
During the years 1881 and '82 the Australian colonists were favoured with visits from three more well-known American Spiritualists. The first of these was Professor Denton, an able and eloquent lecturer on geology, and one who never failed to combine with his scientific addresses, one or more stirring lectures on Spiritualism. The second propagandist was Mrs. Ada Foye, one of the best test-writing, rapping, and seeing Mediums, who has ever appeared in the ranks of Spiritualism; whilst the third was Mrs. E. L. Watson, a trance-speaker.
Professor Denton's lectures created a wide-spread interest amongst all classes of listeners. It now becomes necessary to speak of one of the most Austria arbitrary acts of tyranny on the part of the Victorian Government towards Spiritualism which the records of the movement can show. This was the interdict promulgated by "the Chief Secretary" against the proprietor of the Melbourne Opera House, forbidding him to allow Spiritualists to take money at the door for admission to their services, and in effect, forbidding them to hold services there at all. A similar interdict was issued in the case of Mr. Proctor, the celebrated English lecturer on astronomy. The excuse for this tyrannical procedure in Mr. Proctor's case, might have been justified on the ground, that the Chief Secretary was entirely ignorant of the fact, that astronomy had anything to do with religion, or that it was not orthodox to talk about the celestial bodies on a Sunday, except in quotations from Genesis, or Revelations; but in the case of "the Victorian Association of Spiritualists it was quite another point. Spiritualism was their religion, and Spiritual lectures their Sabbath Day exercises. Messrs. Walker, Peebles, and Mrs. Britten, had occupied the Opera House for months together, and admission fees had been charged at each of their Sunday services, without let or hindrance. The result of many gatherings for the purpose of denouncing their policy may be judged by a perusal of the following paragraph published in the Harbinger of Light of March, 1882 :- 66 دو
On Friday last a letter was received from the Government by the Executive of the Victorian Association of Spiritualists, intimating that the former had no desire to suppress the lectures, but endorsed the permit of May 1879. The directors of the Opera House Company were interviewed, and on the understanding that no money be taken at the doors, consented to the opening of the House. The fact being announced in Saturday's papers drew a large audience to hear Mr. Walker's lecture on Sunday, 'Lord Macaulay on Roman Catholicism.' The services will be continued as heretofore. Seats in dress circle or stalls may be hired by month or quarter, at W. H. Terry's 84, Russel Street."
During Dr. Slade's visit to Sydney, a very able and energetic worker in Spiritualism became convinced of its truth, in the person of Mr. E. Cyril Haviland, the author of two excellent pamphlets and many articles, tracts, and good literary contributions on this subject. Mr. Haviland, Mr. Harold Stephen, and several other gentlemen of literary repute in Sydney, combined during the author's last visit to form a "Psychological Society," the members of which like the persons above named, represented some of the most accomplished writers and advanced thinkers of the city.
Mr. L. E. Harcus, an able and fluent writer, furnished a report of the origin and growth of this society for the Banner of Light of March 1880.