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If faith is one of the conditions； those without faith have a
most healthy right to laugh。 But they have no right to judge。
Being a believer may be； if you like； as bad as being drunk；
still if we were extracting psychological facts from drunkards；
it would be absurd to be always taunting them with having been drunk。
Suppose we were investigating whether angry men really saw a red
mist before their eyes。 Suppose sixty excellent householders swore
that when angry they had seen this crimson cloud： surely it would
be absurd to answer 〃Oh； but you admit you were angry at the time。〃
They might reasonably rejoin （in a stentorian chorus）； 〃How the blazes
could we discover； without being angry； whether angry people see red？〃
So the saints and ascetics might rationally reply； 〃Suppose that the
question is whether believers can see visionseven then； if you
are interested in visions it is no point to object to believers。〃
You are still arguing in a circlein that old mad circle with which this
book began。
The question of whether miracles ever occur is a question of
common sense and of ordinary historical imagination： not of any final
physical experiment。 One may here surely dismiss that quite brainless
piece of pedantry which talks about the need for 〃scientific conditions〃
in connection with alleged spiritual phenomena。 If we are asking
whether a dead soul can communicate with a living it is ludicrous
to insist that it shall be under conditions in which no two living
souls in their senses would seriously communicate with each other。
The fact that ghosts prefer darkness no more disproves the existence
of ghosts than the fact that lovers prefer darkness disproves the
existence of love。 If you choose to say； 〃I will believe that Miss
Brown called her fiance a periwinkle or； any other endearing term；
if she will repeat the word before seventeen psychologists；〃
then I shall reply； 〃Very well； if those are your conditions；
you will never get the truth； for she certainly will not say it。〃
It is just as unscientific as it is unphilosophical to be surprised
that in an unsympathetic atmosphere certain extraordinary sympathies
do not arise。 It is as if I said that I could not tell if there
was a fog because the air was not clear enough； or as if I insisted
on perfect sunlight in order to see a solar eclipse。
As a common…sense conclusion； such as those to which we come
about sex or about midnight （well knowing that many details must
in their own nature be concealed） I conclude that miracles do happen。
I am forced to it by a conspiracy of facts： the fact that the men who
encounter elves or angels are not the mystics and the morbid dreamers；
but fishermen； farmers； and all men at once coarse and cautious；
the fact that we all know men who testify to spiritualistic incidents
but are not spiritualists； the fact that science itself admits
such things more and more every day。 Science will even admit
the Ascension if you call it Levitation； and will very likely admit
the Resurrection when it has thought of another word for it。
I suggest the Regalvanisation。 But the strongest of all is
the dilemma above mentioned； that these supernatural things are
never denied except on the basis either of anti…democracy or of
materialist dogmatismI may say materialist mysticism。 The sceptic
always takes one of the two positions； either an ordinary man need
not be believed； or an extraordinary event must not be believed。
For I hope we may dismiss the argument against wonders attempted
in the mere recapitulation of frauds； of swindling mediums or
trick miracles。 That is not an argument at all； good or bad。
A false ghost disproves the reality of ghosts exactly as much as
a forged banknote disproves the existence of the Bank of England
if anything； it proves its existence。
Given this conviction that the spiritual phenomena do occur
（my evidence for which is complex but rational）； we then collide
with one of the worst mental evils of the age。 The greatest
disaster of the nineteenth century was this： that men began
to use the word 〃spiritual〃 as the same as the word 〃good。〃
They thought that to grow in refinement and uncorporeality was
to grow in virtue。 When scientific evolution was announced；
some feared that it would encourage mere animality。 It did worse：
it encouraged mere spirituality。 It taught men to think that so long
as they were passing from the ape they were going to the angel。
But you can pass from the ape and go to the devil。 A man of genius；
very typical of that time of bewilderment； expressed it perfectly。
Benjamin Disraeli was right when he said he was on the side of
the angels。 He was indeed； he was on the side of the fallen angels。
He was not on the side of any mere appetite or animal brutality；
but he was on the side of all the imperialism of the princes
of the abyss； he was on the side of arrogance and mystery；
and contempt of all obvious good。 Between this sunken pride
and the towering humilities of heaven there are； one must suppose；
spirits of shapes and sizes。 Man； in encountering them；
must make much the same mistakes that he makes in encountering
any other varied types in any other distant continent。 It must
be hard at first to know who is supreme and who is subordinate。
If a shade arose from the under world； and stared at Piccadilly；
that shade would not quite understand the idea of an ordinary
closed carriage。 He would suppose that the coachman on the box
was a triumphant conqueror； dragging behind him a kicking and
imprisoned captive。 So； if we see spiritual facts for the first time；
we may mistake who is uppermost。 It is not enough to find the gods；
they are obvious； we must find God； the real chief of the gods。
We must have a long historic experience in supernatural phenomena
in order to discover which are really natural。 In this light I
find the history of Christianity； and even of its Hebrew origins；
quite practical and clear。 It does not trouble me to be told
that the Hebrew god was one among many。 I know he was； without any
research to tell me so。 Jehovah and Baal looked equally important；
just as the sun and the moon looked the same size。 It is only
slowly that we learn that the sun is immeasurably our master；
and the small moon only our satellite。 Believing that there
is a world of spirits； I shall walk in it as I do in the world
of men； looking for the thing that I like and think good。
Just as I should seek in a desert for clean water； or toil at
the North