Marryat, There is no Death

Florence Marryat, from There is No Death. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trubner 1891.

[Florence Marryat (1838-1899) was an acting associate of George Grossmith’s in his early days. In her later years she became a spiritualist, and once persuaded the sceptical actor to take part in a séance.[1] There is No Death had a huge sale, and Mrs James was not exaggerating much when she claimed, to Pooter’s disgust, that “all the world is going mad over the book.” Marryat’s biographer wrote: “The book has done more to convince many people of the truth of Spiritualism than any yet written. … Whether her readers sympathise with her or not, or whether they believe that she really saw and heard all the marvels related in There is No Death, the book must remain as a remarkable record of the experiences of a woman whose friends know her to be incapable of telling a lie and especially on a subject which she holds to be sacred.”[2]]

[From Chapter XV “The Mediumship of Mrs Guppy Volckman”]

As soon as Mrs Guppy[3] had rejoined us, the order was given to put out the light and to wish for something. We unanimously asked for flowers, it being the middle of December, and a hard frost. Simultaneously we smelt the smell of fresh earth, and were told to light the gas again, when the following extraordinary sight met our view. In the middle of the sitters, still holding hands, was piled up on the carpet an immense quantity of mould, which had been torn up apparently with the roots that accompanied it. There were laurustinus, and laurels, and holly, and several others, just as they had been pulled out of the earth and thrown down in the midst of us. Mrs. Guppy looked anything but pleased at the state of her carpet, and begged the spirits would bring something cleaner next time …

[From Chapter XVI “The Mediumship of Florence Cook”]

My readers, therefore, will find no description here of marvels which—whether true or false—can be accounted for upon natural grounds. Miss Florence Cook, now Mrs. Elgie Corner, is one of the media who have been most talked of and written about. Mr. Alfred Crookes[4] took an immense interest in her, and published a long account of his investigation of Spiritualism under her mediumship. Mr. Henry Dunphy, of the Morning Post, wrote a series of papers for London Society (of which magazine I was then the editor), describing her powers, and the proof she gave of them. The first time I ever met Florence Cook was in his private house, when my little daughter appeared through her (vide The Story of my Spirit Child). On that occasion, as we were sitting at supper after the séances—a party of perhaps thirty people—the whole dinner table, with everything upon it, rose bodily in the air to a level with our knees, and the dishes and glasses swayed about in a perilous manner, without, however, coming to any permanent harm. I was so much astonished at, and interested by, what I saw that evening, that I became most anxious to make the personal acquaintance of Miss Cook. …

On another very warm evening [Katie King] sat on my lap amongst the audience, and I felt perspiration on her arm.[5] This surprised me; and I asked her if, for the time being, she had the veins, nerves, and secretions of a human being; if blood ran through her body, and she had a heart and lungs. Her answer was, “I have everything that Florrie has.” On that occasion also she called me after her into the back room, and dropping her white garment, stood perfectly naked before me. “Now,” she said, “you can see that I am a woman.” Which indeed she was, and a most beautifully-made woman too; and I examined her well, whilst Miss Cook lay beside us on the floor. (139-45)

[From Chapter XVII “The Mediumship of Katie Cook”]

One more example of Katie Cook’s[6] powers and I have done. We were assembled one evening by the invitation of Mr. Charles Blackburn at his house, Elgin Crescent.[7] We sat in a small breakfast room on the basement floor, so small indeed, for the size of the party, that as we encircled a large round table, the sitters’ backs touched the wall on either side, thus entirely preventing any one crossing the room whilst we were established there. The only piece of furniture of any consequence in the room, beside the chairs and table, was a trichord cabinet piano, belonging to Mrs Cook (who was keeping house at the time for Mr Blackburn), and which she much valued.

Katie Cook sat amongst us as usual. In the middle of the séance her control Lily, who was materialised, called out, “Keep hands fast. Don’t let go, whatever you do!” And at the same time, without seeing anything (for we were sitting in complete darkness), we became conscious that something large and heavy was passing or being carried over our heads. One of the ladies of the party became nervous, and dropped her neighbour’s hand with a cry of alarm, and, at the same moment, a weighty body fell with a fearful crash on the other side of the room. Lily exclaimed, “Some one has let go hands,” and Mrs Cook called out, “Oh! it’s my piano.” Lights were struck, when we found the cabinet piano had actually been carried from its original position right over our heads to the opposite side of the room, where it had fallen on the floor and been seriously damaged. The two carved legs were broken off, and the sounding board smashed in. Any one who had heard poor Mrs Cook’s lamentations over the ruin of her favourite instrument, and the expense it would entail to get it restored, would have felt little doubt as to whether she had been a willing victim to this unwelcome proof of her daughter’s physical mediumship. (153-4)

[1] He mentions this dismissively in A Society Clown, 85-6.

[2] Black (1906), 89-90.

[3] The medium in whose house this séance was being held.

[4] Marryat inexplicably calls the eminent physicist William Crookes by this name throughout. Hall (1962) made a strong case that Crookes’ promotion of the pretty teenager Florence Cook was far from entirely scientific.

[5] The materialised spirit “Katie King” was supposedly produced by the entranced medium Florence Cook.

[6] Florence Cook’s sister.

[7] A rich, elderly businessman and the dupe of the Cook family, which benefited greatly from his patronage.