for his overpowering curiosity, and his intense
and unfailing ardor to get at the truth of all things, natural or
supernatural, he merits respect as a forerunner of the scientific spirit
which in his day was but feebly striving to loose itself from the
bondage of bigotry and intolerance.

XI

GHOST HUNTERS OF YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY

Psychical research, of which so much mention has been made in the
preceding pages, may be roughly yet sufficiently described as an effort
to determine by strictly scientific methods the nature and significance
of apparitions, hauntings, spiritistic phenomena, and those other weird
occurrences that would seem to confirm the idea that the spirits of the
dead can and do communicate with the living. It is something
comparatively new--and like all scientific endeavor is the outgrowth of
many minds. But so far as its origin may be attributed to any one man,
credit must chiefly be given to a Cambridge University professor named
Henry Sidgwick.

At the time, Sidgwick was merely a lecturer in the university, a post
given him as a reward for his brilliant career as an undergraduate. He
was a born student and investigator, a restless seeker after knowledge.
Philosophy, sociology, ethics, economics, mathematics, the classics,--he
made almost the whole wide field of thought his sphere of inquiry. And
after awhile, as is so often the case, his learning became too profound
for his peace of mind. He had been born and brought up in the faith of
the English Church, and had unhesitatingly made the religious
declaration required of all members of the university faculty. But
little by little he felt himself drifting from the moorings of his
youth, and doubting the truth of the ancient doctrines and traditions.
Honestly skeptical, but still unwilling to lose his hold on religion, he
turned feverishly to the study of oriental languages, of ancient
philosophies, of history, of science, in the hope of finding evidence
that would remove his doubts. But the more he read the greater grew his
uncertainty, especially with respect to the vital question of the
existence of a spiritual world and its relation to mankind.

While he was still laboring in this valley of indecision, Sidgwick was
visited by a young man, Frederic W. H. Myers, who had studied under him
a few years earlier and for whom he had formed a warm friendship.
Myers, it seemed, was tormented by the same scruples that were harassing
him. It was hi