Emma Hardinge Britten: Famous Spiritual Medium, 19th Century

By Linda Pendleton

Emma Hardinge Britten was a leading figure in the development of 19th century Spiritualism, with her writing, mediumship, lectures in the United States, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere in the world.

Emma Hardinge was born in 1823 in London, England. As a child, Emma could predict coming events and often saw the spirits of dead relatives and family friends. Her mediumship developed and she became a leading figure in the Spiritualist movement by the early 1850s. Emma traveled throughout America and to many parts of the world giving lectures and inspired addresses on the subject of Modern Spiritualism. By public speaking and prolific writings she encouraged the formation of many Spiritualist groups, societies and churches throughout the world. She was one of the six founding members of the Theosophy Society. The concepts and original wording of the Seven Principles of Spiritualism came from Emma's mediumship.

She supported Abraham Lincoln’s reelection in 1864. She was fam... (Read more) Emma Hardinge Britten was a leading figure in the development of 19th century Spiritualism, with her writing, mediumship, lectures in the United States, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere in the world.

Emma Hardinge was born in 1823 in London, England. As a child, Emma could predict coming events and often saw the spirits of dead relatives and family friends. Her mediumship developed and she became a leading figure in the Spiritualist movement by the early 1850s. Emma traveled throughout America and to many parts of the world giving lectures and inspired addresses on the subject of Modern Spiritualism. By public speaking and prolific writings she encouraged the formation of many Spiritualist groups, societies and churches throughout the world. She was one of the six founding members of the Theosophy Society. The concepts and original wording of the Seven Principles of Spiritualism came from Emma's mediumship.

She supported Abraham Lincoln’s reelection in 1864. She was famous for giving the “Great Funeral Oration on Abraham Lincoln” on April 16, 1865, at Cooper Institute in New York two days following his assassination. It was at the Cooper Institute where Lincoln gave his famous February 27, 1860 speech on slavery prior to his pick as Republican presidential nominee in May.

She died in England in 1899. Her 1869 book, Modern American Spiritualism is a classic in Spiritualist literature. In 1900, her autobiography was published.

Linda Pendleton has written a new Introduction to this collection of Emma Hardinge Britten’s channeled materials.

Linda Pendleton writes fiction and nonfiction, including the nonfiction books, Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom; Angelic Messages of Love; A Walk Through Grief; and with her husband, Don Pendleton, To Dance With Angels, and Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness. Her latest fiction includes Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator; and Corn Silk Days, Iowa, 1862.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Pendleton
• Release date: Feb 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458005380

Linda Pendleton

Linda Pendleton has written in a variety of genres: nonfiction, mystery novels, nonfiction ecourses, comic book scripting, and screenplays. She coauthored nonfiction and fiction with her late husband, renowned author, Don Pendleton, including the popular nonfiction books, To Dance With Angels, and Whispers From the Soul. A few of her other nonfiction books are A Walk Through Grief; Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom; A Small Drop of Ink. Her fiction work includes her novels, The Unknown; Sound of Silence; Deadly Flare-Up; Roulette, The Search for the Sunrise Killer by Don and Linda Pendleton; her Catherine Winter Mystery series, Shattered Lens; Fractured Image; Shifting Focus; Corn Silk Days, Iowa, 1862; The Bold Trail, A Samuel Garrison Western. She has won awards for her ebooks. Linda is a former member of The Authors Guild, and EPIC Authors. SAhe is currently a member of Sisters in Crime and Western Fictioneers. Four of her early ebooks won Epic Awards. Although most of her time is devoted to her love of writing, she also enjoys the exploration of her family's genealogical roots. Linda's book covers are designed with Judy Bullard. They have worked together for nearly two decades. Check out Judy's book cover gallery at http://www.customebookcovers.com. Judy is listed as one of Smashwords suggested cover designers.

Book preview

EMMA HARDINGE BRITTEN

Famous Spiritualist Medium

Introduction

by

Linda Pendleton

MISS EMMA HARDINGE AT THE WINTER SOIREES, 1866. Public Domain.

Editing by Linda Pendleton, Pendleton Artists.

Introduction by Linda Pendleton. Copyright © 2011 by Linda Pendleton. All Rights Reserved.

February 2011.

Cover Design by Judy Bullard

For Smashwords by Linda Pendleton

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This edition is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work and rights of the author.

Books by Linda Pendleton

Nonfiction

Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom

A Walk Through Grief

A Small Drop of Ink

To Dance With Angels by Don and Linda Pendleton

Whispers From the Soul by Don and Linda Pendleton

It’s Not Too Late! by Linda Pendleton and Fred Bader, PhD.

Metaphysics of the Novel by Don Pendleton, Linda Pendleton

A Meeting of the Minds, 19th Century Poet-Philosophers Explore Spirituality

UFO Odyssey: Off-Earth Beings to the Rescue?

How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism

Fiction:

Corn Silk Days, Iowa, 1862

The Unknown

Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator

Fractured Image: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator

Shifting Focus: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator

Deadly Flare-Up. A Richard McCord Novel

The Bold Trail, A Samuel Garrison Western

The Masquerading Cowboy, A Novella

Roulette, the Search for the Sunrise Killer by Don and Linda Pendleton

Comic Adaptations:

The Executioner: War Against the Mafia, Don and Linda Pendleton

The Executioner: Death Squad, Linda Pendleton

Introduction by Linda Pendleton

My own interest in the Spiritualists of the 19th Century began after my husband, Don Pendleton and I wrote our well-known book, To Dance With Angels, published more than twenty years ago. Our book is based on several interviews with Dr. James Martin Peebles who died in Los Angeles in 1922, just days short of his one hundredth birthday. Our interviews with the dead man, who was a leading Spiritualist, clergyman, physician, medium, and prolific author, was enabled by the trance mediumship of Thomas Jacobson. It so happens Dr. Peebles has been in contact with those on Earth since he left the physical body and made his home on the other side.

My research in writing To Dance With Angels and our next book, Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness led to more personal interest in the history of Spiritualism, and in turn, I’ve written more on the subject of life after death, and spirit communication.

Emma Hardinge played such a large role in the development of Spiritualism with her writing, mediumship, lectures, and as a leading spokesperson in the 19th century Spiritualist movement that took hold in the United States, in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere in the world.

Emma Hardinge was born in 1823 in London, England. As a child, Emma could predict coming events and often saw the spirits of dead relatives and family friends. Her mediumship developed and she became a leading figure in the Spiritualist Movement by the early 1850s. Emma traveled throughout America and to many parts of the world giving lectures and inspired addresses on the subject of Modern Spiritualism. By public speaking and prolific writings she encouraged the formation of many Spiritualist groups, societies, and churches, throughout the world.

In 1869, she met William Britten, an avid Spiritualist from Boston and they married the following year. In 1872, Emma and William founded a magazine, The Western Star, but due to unexpected circumstances of devastating fires in Boston, the magazine lost subscribers and folded after six issues.

Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York, and in 1875, was one of the six founding members of the Theosophy Society. But not long after, she had a falling out with Madam Blavatsky and that ended their relationship.

The concepts and original wording of the Seven Principles came through Emma's mediumship. The philosophy of Spiritualism in these principles have since become known as the Seven Principles of Spiritualism.

Emma Hardinge Britten, clairvoyant, medium, author, and advocate for the Spiritualist Movement, writes in her 1869 book, Modern American Spiritualism. From the year of 1853 the Spiritualist of New York succeeded in establishing regular Sunday meetings, which were held at first in the Stuyvesant Institute, afterwards in the Hope Chapel, and finally in Dodworth Hall, with but little or no interruption, they have continued for above fourteen years.

The Stuyvesant Institute was located at 659 Broadway in New York City, and during those years was used for exhibitions, Natural History meetings of Columbia College, lectures, and New York University School of Medicine.

Emma Hardinge Britten was also a supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and supported his reelection in 1864. She was famous for giving the Great Funeral Oration on Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1865, at Cooper Institute in New York two days following his assassination. It was at the Cooper Institute where Lincoln gave his famous February 27, 1860 speech on slavery prior to his pick as Republican presidential nominee in May.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper printed an article shortly after Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1861 which some hoped would greatly prejudice the cause of the popular presidential leader by associating his name with Spiritualism.

According to the written words of Emma Hardinge Britten, with the expectation that Lincoln would give a public denial to what some interested parties were pleased to consider a most injurious statement, the article in question was submitted to the President, who quietly glanced over it, and in answer to the earnest request that he would furnish a contradiction to the papers, replied: The only falsehood in the statement is that the half of it has not been told. This article does not begin to tell the wonderful things I have witnessed.

The anti-spiritual friends of President Lincoln were henceforth silent on such subjects; but rumor was less obliging and constantly circulated reports of the séances in which the noble and greatly harassed martyr communed with the spirits of wise, and perfected men, through whose prescient power and far-seeing judgment, counsels were poured into his ear, which bore mighty and fateful fruit.

A recent resident of Washington D.C., known only by his intimate friends to be a strong physical medium, was said to become familiarly acquainted with the contents of many an eventful state paper before it saw official light, and even as it was being issued from the spiritual press over the telegraphic wires which run between the mortal and immortal worlds."

I am not surprised to have read those words, as many have often said that Abraham Lincoln’s speeches, including his Emancipation Proclamation, appeared to have been inspired and that he had been guided.

From The Cleveland Plain Dealer :

THE PRESIDENT ELECT A SPIRITUALIST

It so happened that Conklin, the test medium from New York, was in Cleveland on the day when President Lincoln arrived on his way to Washington. Being a Republican himself, and not wishing to run an opposition to the distinguished visitant, he broke up his own levees at the Johnson to attend that of President Lincoln at the Weddell. The moment he set eyes on Mr. Lincoln, he recognized in him a very peculiar individual who had formerly been a frequent visitor at his room in New York, but whose name he had never been made acquainted with. He used to come alone, sit silently, question mentally, and depart as he came, unnoticed. On one occasion he got a remarkable test, which was published in the Spiritualist at the time, in New York. On referring to a file of that paper, Mr. Conklin furnished us with the narrative, which ran as follows:

A Good Test

A gentleman who has often visited Mr. Conklin, called upon him on the evening of March 23, for the usual purpose of communicating with his spirit friends.

After asking some twenty or more mental questions, which he briefly stated were answered correctly, he put the following question: Can you inform me of Mr. K’s condition? The answer, written through Conklin’s hand, was: Yes; he is present now. Q. When did he die? A. Yesterday morning; he is happy, but cannot communicate. The gentleman departed from his generally taciturn conduct to say this was a very remarkable case, for the friend he had inquired for and whom that communication stated to be present, he had left three days previously in Wisconsin, twelve hundred miles distant, alive, and though indisposed, pronounced by his physician to be fast recovering from a long illness. At Mr. Conklin’s solicitation he promised to inform him if the communication should prove correct. In accordance with his word, the stranger did call on Conklin the next morning and informed him that he had just received a telegraphic dispatch from a brother-in-law of Mr. K’s, announcing his death on the previous morning, and at the hour stated by the spirit. Mr. Conklin says that Mr. Lincoln is the identical gentleman referred to in the Spiritualist; that he remembers him from the peculiarity of his appearance, from his frequent calls, and as the recipient of this particular test.

It was also reported that Mr. Conklin went to the White House with a spirit message for the President and had a half hour meeting with Mr. Lincoln.

Memories of Lincoln

Emma Hardinge (Britten) speaks about Abraham Lincoln at the Winter Soirees, Harley Street, London, January 15th, 1866:

I believe that the largest and grandest interests that can affect the old world and the new will be subserved when the Atlantic telegraph of kindness is laid between these lands. I profess no politics, nor ever laboured for aught but principles. I shall disappoint both North and South alike if they expect to find in me the mouthpiece of a party. I loved Abraham Lincoln because he was an honest man, because the spiritual philosophy was deeply engraven in his heart and so worked in his life that it ultimated a broader line of action than mere politics, and inspired in him a grander view of human destiny than was to be found in mere obedience to the diction of a party. I loved him because I believed the country’s welfare was bound up in his integrity and was safe in his wise guidance. Therefore it is that I have been constantly identified with the party of his supporters. Those who will follow me through these addresses, whether public or private, will find that the largest good to the largest number is my Spiritualism, my politics, and my religion too. And whether those who listen to me believe that spirits communicate or not with man, it matters little. All will some day themselves be spirits, and then, if not before, will realise that all good is comprehended in the spiritual welfare of mankind, and it is in this sense I urge upon my spiritualistic friends, that lectures uttered on America, or any other subject, whether of natural, scientific, moral, or intellectual interest, are all to me true Spiritualism, provided they can make one human being think more kindly of his fellow creatures, or quit my presence with a more exalted idea of their humanity, or kindlier interest in each other’s welfare.

Emma Hardinge Britten left behind a wealth of spiritual information including her classic books, Modern American Spiritualism (1870) and Nineteenth Century Miracles (1884). She died in England in 1899. Following her death, in 1900, her sister, Mrs. Margaret Wilkinson published Emma’s autobiography.

Following are several of Emma Hardinge’s channeled events that took place in London in 1866 where she answered audience questions through her trance-mediumship.

I hope you find the channeled material to be interesting and even inspirational.

~Linda Pendleton

Northern California, February 2011

MISS EMMA HARDINGE AT THE WINTER SOIREES, HARLEY STREET, LONDON January 8th, 1866

MR COLEMAN, in introducing Miss Hardinge, said that the evening would be occupied, as previously intimated, in answering Questions proposed by various Ladies and Gentlemen. These were numerous, and the Committee had endeavoured to blend those which were related to each other, but they were still too numerous to be answered on one evening. None of them had been seen by Miss Hardinge, whose Answers would therefore be wholly unpremeditated. For the satisfaction of all, he would ask some of the Ladies present to draw promiscuously four or five Questions.

The following Questions were then drawn in the manner suggested by Mr Coleman, and were answered in the order in which we present them:

Question 1

ANIMALS have brains and nervous systems, and exhibit phenomena, mental, moral, and emotional, which seem to differ only in degree from those of human life: they think, they reason, and invent novel and ingenious methods of attaining their objects, of overcoming their difficulties and remedying evils; they also manifest, love, hatred, gratitude, revenge, joy, grief, jealousy, etc., and have also methods of communication with each other. In our superior human nature we regard these as manifestations of the spirit within us, acting through the machinery of the brain and nervous system, and we know that spirit to survive the death of our mortal part. What is it that produces these analogous, though inferior manifestations in the brute creation, and what becomes of it after their death?

Answer

THE first Question presented requires us to define the difference between instinct and reason. It has been claimed, and justly, that the higher order of animals have a nervous system, whilst even the lower orders, in some form or other, are provided with an apparatus for the diffusion of nervous sensibility, correspondential to a system, excepting such forms of life as the mollusca, or other rudimental creatures, up to the humble worm, which exhibits a chain of ganglions, terminating in the larger one called the brain. Ranging up from the lower order of animals to the highest, we find a gradual improvement in the complexity of the nervous system, which is the apparatus which thought traverses: it is the telegraphic wire upon which the life-lightnings play, and without it the most magnificent and boundless scope of thought can never exhibit itself in matter. Consequently it is with especial reference to the nervous system, as a physical cause, that we must first attempt to answer your Question

We find that even the lowest orders of being exhibit a degree of instinct which is admirably appropriate to their condition. All the creatures of the dry land or of the water possess instincts adapted to their state: the reptile and the amphibious creature, fish and cold-blooded animals, generally are, if not fully provided with the same complex system of nerves as the mammalia, still organised with special arrangements for the generation of just the amount of vitality adapted to their state, and subservient to the instincts peculiar to that state. Yet the amount of instinct thus exhibited has never yet been classed as reason. It is, then, between the mammalia, as the highest order of animals, and man, that we must endeavour to draw the chief distinction between instinct and reason, and the question assumes a still more subtle form when we remember that the highest order of mammalia possesses a nervous system almost equal to that of man. In them, too, we find the heart, with its arterial and venous apparatus for the distribution of the circulating fluids, as elaborately developed as in the human form. We find that the brain, although it differs in quantity in different creatures, is almost as complex in its structure and convolutions as that of man: but we also find that the great column of the nervous system – the spine – with its ganglionic termination of the brain, is disposed differently in the animal to that of the man. In the animal it runs laterally with the ground, and the brain receives the galvanic power of the solar ray at an angle which varies considerably from the direct or perpendicular. Man, on the contrary, in his erect position, receives the first direct impetus from the solar ray in the action of a horizontal beam; hence, whatever force the power of light and heat can exercise upon receptive forms, have in this attitude full scope for their exhibition, and must form a line of demarcation between the play of nervous force in the human and in the mammalia thus differently stimulated. And the next evidence of difference in degree of nervous force exhibited in form, is found in the fact that no single form in creation is capable of exhibiting the same amount of intellectual power as man. Whilst the eagle’s wing can bear him upward to the sun, the power of man can transcend the eagle’s flight in the mechanical powers of mind displayed in the balloon. The mole can mine; the beaver build; the ant and bee manifest the united power of the geometrician and mathematician; the wasp’s and the tarantula’s nests are models of self-taught architecture: in short, throughout the whole range of natural history, every creature manifests a peculiarity of instinct which antedates human inventions, and emulates, in every form, the genius of man. But let it be remembered that these evidences of mental power are only exhibited in the lower creatures in one or two directions at a time. The animals which seem capable by training of enlarging the sphere of their faculties are very rare, and it is only in creatures which become the companions of, and are subject to, the intellect of man, that we realise the qualities set forth in your statement.

The instincts necessary to the preservation and perpetuation of species are manifest in all living creatures alike, for instance; the love that protects their young and associates gregariously in species and tribes. The manifestations of love, hatred, jealousy,revenge, prevision, and caution; all these are displayed in every species; but their exercise is limited within its species, and comprehends nothing outside of its own nature. All species realise others antagonistic to them; comprehend that which forms appropriate aliment, confine themselves within their own element, yet seem to comprehend the creatures on whom they can prey or consociate with; but none of the lower kingdom manifest evidence of an intellect outside of their own limited and defined form. Thus the building beaver, the geometrical ant, the weaving spider, and the hunting buffalo, are wonderfully instructive only in the direction of that one peculiar attribute which their form implies. The keen scent of the hound, the wonderful instincts of the migrating bird and of the hybernating animal, and even the prophetic power which teaches these creatures to lay up stores against the approaching seasons of scarcity -all this which looks so very like the action of calculating reason, when analytically considered, resolves itself at last into a necessity which grows out of the anatomy of all these creatures, and without now entering into detail, I affirm that each one is not only peculiarly adapted for the manifestation of the instinct it displays, but is as much compelled to exercise that instinct as the necessity of its form, as the flower must needs give off peculiar fragrance, and fruits or roots their quality or essence. It is far otherwise in the organism of man: this is mobile in every conceivable direction. Could the span of human life and strength, extend to the physical exertion, the foot of man is capable of compassing the earth; while the power of intellect enables him to traverse it by mechanical means without the waste of time and strength either on land or air or ocean. The wild beast of the forest is unfitted for the habitations of rock. The savage tenants of the cave subsist not in the field or pasture in the meadow. Each creature is fitted only for the soil and scene in which it is found, nor has any individual of a species, instincts which direct it to enter upon any other element, scene, or sphere of action than its own. But how various and infinitely