CHAPTER IX.

TRANCE ADDRESSES: (Continued.) STEINWAY HALL.

As

S the engagement of the Cavendish Rooms drew to a close, William Fletcher determined to obtain Steinway Hall, with a view of establishing, if possible, a permanent public service for spiritualists in London. He applied for it and made arrangements for a course of lectures with every apparent satisfaction both to himself and the proprietors, when he suddenly revealed the subject of those lectures,— spiritualism. The effect was magical. On no terms could a hall so aristocratic be desecrated by association with anything so disreputable. Our medium was, for once, amused rather than hurt at the opposition; he foresaw that he should obtain the hall, and that he should lecture there, and he did not lose courage. His impressions, as seemed invariably the case, were verified. "I mean to get it," he publicly announced, sure of the result foretold him. So he did. Major Wallace Carpenter and General Maclean, with some other friends, used their influence to induce the proprietors to alter their decision, and the result was that the hall was engaged for a year, and the Sunday evening of April 6th, 1879, saw our medium quietly standing on the platform, delivering from it his first trance address.

In point of merely numerical attendance the lectures at Cavendish Rooms may be said to have been a greater success, but the important object of vindicating the right of spiritualists to teach their truth under the best and most favourable circumstances possible, was attained. The hall

was far removed from a noisy thoroughfare like Regent Street; it stood in a quiet, thoroughly respectable West, End neighbourhood, and lectures there were calculated to attract a permanent audience of some of the most thoughtful and influential persons in the metropolis.

Opinions naturally differ as to the value of the religious and moral instruction conveyed to his hearers through William Fletcher; so also do the lectures differ from each other. With him the philosophy ranks far above the phenomena, and nothing disappoints him more than to find his clairvoyant power as "mental phenomenalism " attracting a deeper attention than the strong appeals made through him in behalf of a religion which he counts highest and best, and longs to see a practical power in the world. That they were appreciated, however, there is extensive evidence. In the Portrait in Words of our medium in the Whitehall Review, the writer concludes with an expression of "satisfaction at hearing him lecture with singular eloquence on the philosophy of spiritualism," and in an article in St. Luke of November 29th, 1879, entitled Among the London Churches, a similar tribute is rendered. For the sake of those who do not live in the metropolis, I will quote one or two of the descriptive passages, which are written with a sparkling pen :—

"The platform at Steinway Hall is occupied by a grand piano right and left, and a lectern, with old oak chair at its rear, in the centre. Soon after seven o'clock the pianist. (whose name I ascertained to be Mr. L'Estrange) took his place at one of the pianos, and a small, but, as it proved, most efficient choir gathered round him. Mr. Fletcher, a. thin, gentlemanly man, with dreamy eyes, advanced to the

lectern and gave out the hymn. He was attired, by the way, in simple evening dress, and I was pleased with the modest, unaffected way in which he read the first verse of the hymn from the Spiritual Harp, as the Steinway manual of psalmody is called. It is a portentous volume as big as an octavo oratorio, and much thicker; but all the Steinway habitués had shouldered a copy, and warbled tunefully from it. The hymns are, of course, very characteristic, many of them reminding one of the Cantiques Spirituels of Madame Guyon. I was favourably impressed (again I find myself using that spiritualistic term) with this opening; and even still more so, when, in place, as it seemed, of an ordinary Scripture lesson in one of our services, Mr. Fletcher read from the lectern, with real dramatic power, a poem by Lizzie Doten,* who, I am given to understand, claims to write by direct spirit influence. The poem was called He giveth His beloved sleep, and opened thus:

666

'Night drops her mantle from the skies,
And from her home of light above

She watches with her starry eyes,

As with a mother's tender love.

The sounds of strife and toil are stilled,
And in the silence, calm and deep,
The word of promise is fulfilled,
'He giveth His beloved sleep.""

'After this a young solo-singer stepped forth from the choir and sang Mendelssohn's exquisite tenor air, 'Then shall the righteous shine.' I thought I recognised the face,

Author of Poems of the Inner Life and Poems of Progress (Colby and Rich, Boston), many of which are very fine.

L

and was sure I recognised the voice as that of Mr. Tietkins, a member of the Civil Service Choir. I remember him well at the pleasant concerts that society used to give at St. James's Hall, where Mr. Arthur Sullivan was conductor of the band. When the solo was ended, Mr. Fletcher offered an extempore prayer. He was very brief, very earnest, and as the last words fell from his lips, the choir took it up, and sang pianissimo a nice metrical version of the Lord's Prayer, which again comes, I find, from the Spiritual Harp. Scarcely any liberties have been taken with the original, save in so far as was necessary for the rhythmic flow of the chant to which it was set. Then came the address."

The above is an excellent description of the little service, which was simplicity itself. In an article in Spiritual Notes, it was truly, if unwisely, observed that "Mr. Fletcher had perhaps done more than any one man" to lift spiritualism into the recognised position due to its great importance, and some letters published at the time give such a favourable account of some of the subjects. treated that I cannot forbear from quoting from them somewhat at length, as it is my intention in this chapter to give some idea of the nature of those truths taught which are one day destined to become the religion of the world, and which will quietly substitute for sectarianism and creed-worship a belief in harmony with the needs of man. One Who Listened writes:

*The appreciation thus expressed may serve to throw some light on the jealousy with which William Fletcher was regarded by many who are ignorant of the uses made by the spirit-world of certain selected instruments for designed ends, apart from any will or wish of their own.

"His lecture, Are the Manifestations of Modern Spiritualism Anti-Biblical? evidenced a thorough knowledge, not only of Bible history, but the law that seems to have controlled spiritual manifestations in all ages.

"Mr. Fletcher's utterances, while clear cut and forcible, are always characterised by a spirit of toleration and liberality which goes far towards convincing his hearers of the inspiring source from whence these truths

emanate.

"His guides treated especially of the manifestations of spirit-power recorded in the Bible, and claimed that the same law which operated in the age of so-called miracles is now in existence, and operates through the manifestations of modern spiritualism.

"The propositions were many and well sustained, and those who for years have felt that the Bible was rich in precepts and pathos would have found new beauties to admire, and fresh truths held out for their acceptance, while spiritualists who in some instances have utterly discarded the Bible, found that much wheat has been wasted in order to destroy the chaff.

"The lecturer took occasion to impress upon his audience that he made no effort to sustain the Bible, because its occurrences were in many instances counterparted by the spiritual manifestations now being developed; nor did he value modern developments the more because they were paralleled by the manifestations of Bible times. But he sought to prove, if possible, that the spiritual law had existed and demonstrated itself throughout all the uncivilised and bigoted eras of the past, and has