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MR. WHITE. 1319
knowledge better or beyond his, woe unto you ! The great black
horrid beast of the Swedenborgian is the Spiritualist. In return,
the Spiritualists have no animosity to the Swedenborgians, who occupy
but a corner in their great and growing camp. They rank Sweden
borg among their chief apostles, and question and adopt his testimony
at discretion" (II, p. 6).
Mr. White’s conversion to Spiritism appears to date from the
year 1859, when the American spiritist Harris came to England.
His spiritual manifestations, which differed from the ordinary gross
exhibitions of spiritism by rappings and the like, and which were
due according to Mr. Harris to the opening of his spiritual
sight (as in Swedenborg’s case), combined with his extraordinary
eloquence, exerted a great influence on some of the New Church
people of England, and in the end carried off not only Mr. White,
but also Mr. W. M. Wilkinson, the Secretary, and Mr. W. Fryer,
the Treasurer, of the Swedenborg Society. Soon afterwards
Mr. White began to publish some of Harris’s works, and gradually
made the Swedenborg Society’s publishing house, of which he was
the agent, a depository of spiritistic publications. These publications
he exposed for sale in the windows of the establishment, and advertised
them promiscuously among the works published by the Swedenborg
Society.
The members who formed the Committee of the Swedenborg
Society first expostulated with Mr. White individually, and requested
him to discontinue their publication and their sale. As these private
remonstrances proved unavailing, on July 5, 1860, after re-appointing
Mr. White "to be Manager at a salary of £75 a year, and six months
notice of separation on either side," the Committee passed the
following resolution : Resolved, That the Committee deem it inex
pedient that the writings of the Rev. Thos. L. Harris, or any other
works commonly called spiritualistic, shall be kept in stock or exposed
for sale in the Society’s House; and that the Manager be requested not
to permit his name to appear as publisher or agent upon any such
works, or to be advertised as a seller of them." This resolution
was accompanied with the assurance that Mr. White would be in
demnified for any pecuniary loss that he might sustain in complying
with the wishes of the Committee. Mr. White was asked if he
would comply with the Committee’s request, and not being then
prepared to answer, a month was given him to consider the matter
(see Committee’s Circular, dated January, 10, 1861 , p. 29).
Meanwhile Mr. W. M. Wilkinson, the Secretary, who was
absent from the meeting issued a printed protest against the reso
lution.
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