The T. G. Hamilton Files: Addenda

Addenda

Paragraph from Aug 25, 1933 - taken out for reasons of space and formatting that could not be controlled. Part of the preceding paragraph and succeeding paragraph have been included for easy replacement in the original if needed.

... "You choose your material, your method of presentation; your readers, if they like it, choose you from among other writers.

"There always were, there always will be appointments for the man who can tell a good story. By a good story I do not mean a true story, or a story that is a wild stretch of imagination, but a story that is gay, that has romance in it and adventure, but that is written so as to identify the reader with the adventurer. The truly successful author is the one who can make the reader the hero of his every story; that is, the reader does not read of the adventures, does not look down in the lap of Romance. He has the adventures, and the lap of romance is his foot stool. He is a glorious adventurous god, laughing, leaping, wooing, fighting, playing, emancipated from the world, the spirit of adventure incarnate.

"Most of our lives are spent in jail: we are shackled down to duty or duties, barred in with convention, and sentenced by necessity to live and strive and die towards an extremely practical, useful and very often monotonous end ...

Residual from Oct 6, 1933 and all of Oct 11, 1933

"You will find a little surprise in one of your back sittings. Ye'll have to brush up on your Latin. That's one clue. I'd advise you to look up the Latin word for emperor. It's no' something I put through, and that's another clue. If you'd take everything that happened and read what you said, I'd say you'll no' be very long in finding it. We'll say it happened one time when the good man was here. That makes it very easy, too easy! Oh, I'm surprised at myself! The prize is a poem to the lady who presents definite proof to Robert Louis Stevenson first."

Robert now dictates further work on his letter:

"One of the most common faults among writers is the embellishing of the unimportant. Detail is fine in its place but only give it the honor due to its place in the story. Two things are important - the character and the action (that is, I'm no' referring to the style of writing). The story must be given first place if you're going to have people read it; the story must move where its events and adventures are things written in the mind. Some writing I have seen is like a sponge: it's picked up everything. And I would plead with the young author to suggest things which may be embellished by the mind of the reader. But pray, or pray, the young writer, the young fledgling in the fields of art, not to set every detail down in permanent black and white. It is by far the greater art to suggest constructively to the reader's mind the thing, than to construct the surroundings minutely for the reader. That is why those whose prose sings lead all writers in storytelling, for they have the magic of transforming their readers and bringing them into a glorious world where their imagination is a glorious rover ..."

"I canna go on ... I'm stopping now ... I just got stuck. I guess we came to the swamp and our feet left the narrow pathway and we fell into the slough. Do ye ken John?"

M. L. H.: "Oh, yes, we were brought up on him."

Robert: "Then ye ken the Slough of Despond. Of course I got my Bunyan parenthetically and that's a joke ... I have to go on now. Goodnight."

Medium is silent, then grasps the pencil and indicates he wishes to write. I guide his hand over the page.
Sterge: "That was just a visitor, a friend of mine - my musical godfather."

Medium says: "No ... no ... no ... ah, ah ... I come ... brother Arthur... back, I come back! ... I'm fine! ..."

L. H.: "How do you like it Arthur?"

Medium: "Yes, great! ... Yes! (pats L. H.'s hand). Better than I believed ..."

L. H.: "Have you seen mother and dad?"

Control: "Oh, yes, much. Mother is younger, she's fine. It's good over here! ..."

L. H.: "Do you follow our work?"

Control: "Yes! I have come often to you and to them. I come often. I can't stay now, but I'm coming again. We have to learn and I'm learning. It is through your Arthur's help that I was able to come. He said that one should talk when one has the opportunity. I am going but my love goes to my family and to all my relatives. My sister, goodnight."

Medium coughs a little. Sterge returns: "There, I am back just like Peter Pan!"

L. H.: " Thanks him for letting Arthur come.

Sterge: "I must go, the sands in the hourglass of good conditions are running low. I am very happy. I hope you are, too, despite war clouds. Au revoir."

October 11, 1933.

Sitters same as last time.

The Priest gives thanks.

Ewan (speaking as the High Priest): "What are you, my brothers, but a thought? There is no power like thought; but so little of that power know you, that none of you can visibly affect the matter around you by your thought; at least, not so far as to be noticed by your associates and friends.

"Think what tremendous power of thought is brought to bear on this material condition; that it can wind and unwind itself, in and out of these forms, these material bodies; and when it has unwound itself, still take on other likenesses and semblances; that power of thought that commands this thing to stay, and it stays; this matter that is only movable before great forces!

"Oh, how little you are, my brothers, whose thoughts can act on nothing in the world of matter!"

Mercedes: (speaking as Naida, servant of the High Priest): "The time for these people is gone, friend. Your people are here for you; and they are anxiously swinging their lamps to light you back whence you came. You must release this medium. (To the group). "I am Naida, and I am his servant. Bow your heads before him, as if in the rays of a too strong sun! If he could show the radiance that surrounds him, your eyes would never be able to stand the light of another day! He is the highest of the High Priests."

The Priest: "I give you all greetings once more. I will not come again. Think what has been giving you. I wish you to realize the greatness of those spirits who control this work. Do not always think of the mechanical side of these things. Give thought to the great ones who have advanced far since they left your earth. Give thought to them; for they are great servants! (Ewan falls to his knees.) Give praise!"

The meeting closes with a benediction.

Residual from December 29, 1933 and Undated

"Fairies are real beings, true live beings as you and I. They have many of the characteristics given to them in fairy tales, but they are really not human beings. I feel I would like to demonstrate you that they are real ..."

"I want to know if you checked up on the word 'Rex'. (We signify that we have). You know, I was nearly discovered but I neatly sidestepped ... It is planned that the individual should come again. He is here now and gives the name McDougal. There is someone else with him, with rather highly colored hair. He looks like a Scotsman. He looks like a picture of your Mr. Shaw ..."

Medium becomes silent, then stamps, sighs and coughs.

Robert now makes his appearance, greeting Miss Lawrence, and chatting with us of his work. After two or three minutes of this he dictates the following:

"'As ye sow, so also shall ye reap.' The old biblical text still runs true in this working life, and particularly does it apply, I feel, to the art of writing. In previous paragraphs of this rather lengthy and far-flung epistle I had made mention of the fact that as the writer who succeeds must be the writer who writes and writes, and learns as he writes. Practice in writing does not improve the writer greatly unless he profits by the errors and sins of omission and commission he finds in his work upon examining his writing critically after it has been set down for the first or second or third time. Then I think it follows, as it does in nature, that the writer who puts his ideas, sentences and words through various critical sieves, segregating the malformed, the uneven and the alien seeds from the grains which he is about to sow ... (Robert loses control of what he wishes to say and sits chatting for a moment) (he then makes another attempt) ... From this step of constant criticism and revision, separating the noxious from the good seed, as a nature, make the resulting ..."

No date:

[Letter from Dr. Hamilton to Mrs. Fisher 2:]

"... I know that through our work very many agnostics, materialists and atheists have been rescued from an otherwise hopeless attitude of mind and anything which can do that is worthwhile. On the other hand if, as in your case, your faith is sufficient, then stand by religion on the strength of faith, but under no circumstances endeavor to deprive others, for whom faith is insufficient, of the means science gives for establishing a sure foundation of faith in further knowledge.

"... In psychical research this is what is being done. In this line of research, as in other branches of science, man's advancement in his knowledge of the world about him and of the meaning of life, its purpose and its objective, is dependent upon earnest effort for progress made. The advantages of modern life in the multitude of improvements which we enjoy is the result of research, and we must not be exclusive to prevent light, which gives us that knowledge to add to our faith, from being shed upon others who may be living in a condition of more pronounced darkness than ourselves.

"... I hope I have made myself clear. At any rate, you may rest assured I am not drifting into Spiritualism, - but I am more deeply interested than ever in Christianity and the importance it bears to the welfare of this world."

The following photographs are undated and have been inserted here for completeness because they could not be entered into the body of the text for lack of confidence in their chronological position.

Below are some examples of automatic writing of Elizabeth Poole with normal handwriting for comparison.

[ Photo ]

[ Photo example of normal writing by Elizabeth Poole ]

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[ Photo of automatic writing of July 16, 1947. There is no page for the year 1947 in the text and so these two photos are entered here. ]

[ Photo ]

[ Photo - Walter's boat drawing of October 12, 1947 ]

[ Photo - Walter's voice-box of 1948. There is no page for the year 1948 in the text and so these photos are entered here. ]

[ Photo ]

[ Photo of Walter materialization - this has been dated to Apr 25, 1950 and Apr 25, 1951 - so is included here as undated ]

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[ Photo of Dr. Hamilton with thumb on electrical switch controlling the flash light circuitry - extreme lower right ]

[ Photo ]

[ Photo of Dr. Richardson and his voice cut-out machine ]

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[ Photo - when air is not sealed into the mouthpiece the pressure in the glass jar will change and the rubber cork will float at a different height - this may be seen even in the dark if the cork is painted with fluorescent paint. ]