Famous Author Arrives. Conan Doyle in Brisbane
Famous Author Arrives is an article published in The Daily Mail (Brisbane) on 10 january 1921.
Famous Author Arrives
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A recent portrait of the distinguished Author and Lecturer.
Conan Doyle in Brisbane
His Mission in Australia
"How much he is like Mr. Ryan!" This was a remark made with reference to Sir A. Conan Doyle, when the distinguished author and Lady Doyle strolled along the railway station at Ipswich on Saturday. It was a natural observation, for Sir Arthur has a good deal of resemblance to the ex Premier of Queensland in personal appearance, though possibly he is not quite so stout.
As the mail train sped along to Brisbane the impression started at Ipswich gained strength. For Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a bluff, good-natured man, and the fact that he was tired by the long journey did not render him less approachable, "You will find him an excellent fellow" whispered a fellow passenger, as he made way for a representative of "The Daily Mail"; and the "tip" proved to be quite a sound one. The famous novelist chatted easily and shrewdly about his experiences in Australia, the outlook of the country through which he had passed, his literary work, and his present mission.
It was interesting to learn, in passing, that the famed Sherlock Holmes, greatest detective in fiction, is not "dead," but merely sleeping, as it were, Sir Arthur smiled when he was asked if his famous creation had passed from this sphere.
"No,"
he said, "Sherlock Holmes is not dead; you can say he in resting."
"He was revived after being supposed to be killed in a fall over a cliff,"
the author was reminded. "Is there any possibility that he will be heard of again?"
"A very remote possibility,"
the novelist replied. "This mission I am, engaged upon now will probably keep me busy until the end of my days."
There is no doubt of Sir Conan Doyle's earnestness and enthusiasm on this subject — he is a man with a great mind, and if not a successful finder of the truth he is beyond all doubt a diligent and honest seeker after it.
Lady Doyle's Enthusiasm.
This point applies also in the case of Lady Doyle. A bright, vivacious conversationalist, she is filled with enthusiasm for the mission upon which her husband is engaged. Apparently, the only regret she has in the matter is that she did not take an active interest in spiritualism much sooner — Sir Arthur has been studying the subject, or over 30 years.
"It is all so bright," she said last night. "Spiritualists are such happy people — their faith is so much happier than other religions."
It was suggested to Lady Doyle that most religious people regarded their respective beliefs as happy ones. "But," she said, "they are so vague."
Lady Doyle and also Sir Arthur himself, take pride in the fact that it practically every centre at which he has lectured, both in Australia and Nes Zealand, the audiences have been record ones for the halls. From this they deduce that Australia is on the eve of marked advancement in matters spiritualistic. To them it seems that people generally have been waiting for such a message as Sir Arthur is able to give.
Appreciation of a warm nature is expressed by both distinguished visitors in their references to Australia. At present they are marvelling over the possibilities of Queensland. Sir Arthur had evidently gained an impression of this state as being very sparsely settled, and when coming along in the train lest evening he remarked on the fact that the unoccupied stretches adjacent the main line are not of any great extent.
A warm welcome was accorded Sir Arthur and Lady Doyle at the Central railway station. Various prominent citizens were present, and also a considerable number of members of spiritualistic bodies, who presented Lady Doyle with handsome bouquets. Her ladyship was also the recipient of floral tributes at stations en route.
When the subject of spiritism was mentioned, Sir Arthur was asked regarding the process by which he become convinced of the mystic powers, he opened his mind.
"In the course of my reading,"
he said, "I examined spiritualism. I approached the subject as a sceptic. I was a strong materialist — in fact, my book, "The Stark Munro Letters," published in 1888, was written from the materialist's point of view. I became deeply interested in spiritualism, but it was easy after many years of study that I was converted to it."
Continuing to explain the subject, he referred to the charlatanism and trickery which has been associated with spiritualism, which not unnaturally created prejudices against it in the popular mind. He mentioned such men of powerful intellect and scientific training as Lodge and Crookes, and asked if these men would have accepted such a creed unless they had made the investigations of which they were capable, and fully equipped, and had satisfied themselves as to whether it was trickery not "One positive result in science will outweigh 50 negative ones."
he said, with emphasis.
"I do not believe that anyone set out in cold blood to secure spiritualistic results by trickery,"
he proceeded. "It often happens that a person finds himself possessed of possible power, and begins to practice as a medium. This psychic power is liable in disappear — sometimes for long periods. One can imagine that a person in such circumstances, if not too scrupulous, will resort to trickery, so that in the case of one medium we may often get a mixture of truth and falsehood. We spiritualists have met such care, and have been puzzled by them; but the public, learning only of the trickery, will, of course, regard the whole science with suspicion. We are not 'taken in,' and wherever we find evidence of trickery we expose it remorselessly. There have been two such cases recently in England, and to each we gave the fullest publicity. We know the truth, and do not need to have our cause buttressed by falsehoods in any shape of form."
MISSION TO AUSTRALIA.
Regarding his mission to Australia, Sir Arthur said: "I am simply here for the purpose of trying to enlighten the people regarding spiritualism. I am here to talk about what I have seen myself and handled. This is a matter of tremendous importance to the human race, but the difficulties with which it bristles are being gradually cleared away. When one has had positive experiences, such as I have had, these difficulties vanish. One has to find explanations for such experiences.
"One critic asks how it is that accounts we have received of 'life on the other side' vary so much. These accounts vary according to the persona who give them. Would an Oxford graduate and an Indian peasant, giving their impressions of life in this world, describe it in the same way? Where there are essential differences in the descriptions from the other side they are due to messages being sent from different spheres. We may talk with a person almost earth-bound, as it were, or with a person who has worked up to a different sphere. On the other side they do not know their own future — no more than we do. They have room for disagreement just as wo have."
BEYOND THE GRAVE.
When discussing the fascinating problem of life after death, Sir Arthur brightened up with enthusiasm and earnestness, "I know what I am going to say is true,"
he said, preparing the way for definite information. "The soul, which is the spiritual body, emerges from it at death an absolute likeness down to the smallest hair and dimple on the cheek, and passes on to the other world. There, minus the lime — the age-forming property of earthly existence — man resumes his normal strength and woman her normal beauty. That information we have received in most incontrovertible form from the departed. I have spoken repeatedly with eleven of my own relatives, and have received messages whose intimate personal character, conveyed in the characteristic voices of the speakers, left no room whatever for doubt as to identity. The materialisation of my son, Kingsley, was in the presence of witnesses whom I could trust. I felt the pressure of my son's hand on my head, his kiss upon my brow, and heard his voice in a tone of great intensity, 'I am so happy, father.' The departed are trying by every conceivable means — automatic writing, direct voices, photography, and absolute materialisation to convey to us the knowledge of the conditions of the other life. That we are half blind, half deaf, and very stupid is the complaint of some of those spirits against us. But without doubt a great force — the greatest force known to science, since it has knowledge behind it — is flowing out upon the world, possessing boundless possibilities to religion and to mankind. There is only anything that a any good, and that is knowledge. Through knowledge of spiritualism we shall give up the foolish habit of always looking back 2000 years for religious guidance, and have communion with the saints, which churchmen talk about and spiritualists practise. Spiritualism, with its proof of immortality, is the very breath of religion — the road to the great and wonderful knowledge that here and now God is with me.
"Spiritualism does not conflict with the Bible. It really explains the Bible. Men have been reading that work for centuries without understanding it. The early Christians understood it perfectly. It was with complete understanding that they asked: 'Grave, where is thy victory; death, where is thy sting?' The materialisation of Elias by Christ represents exactly the same law as we use, only in a higher degree. The power of Christ, His virtue, His goodness were transcendent."
MESSAGE FOR THE BEREAVED.
Dealing with the war and the sadness resulting from the appalling mortality, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spoke with emotion. He said that at a seance he heard the voice of a young man who had been killed at the war, and who complained to him in a most melancholy voice. "Mother won't believe!"
He wrote to the mother, telling her of this message from her son but her reply was that it was a demon who had spoken to him at the seance. Two days afterwards, at another seance, he again heard the voice of this young man, and heard that which he never wished to hear again the sobbing of a spirit. The mother was so wrought guided by high ??? ??? but when she and her son ??? she would surely have something very hard to explain.
