Gossip About Books and Authors (7/1/1919)

Introduction

This week, we end our recent survey of Arthur Machen’s review column, “Gossip About Books and Authors.” In terms of his employment at the Evening News, this was a rather late series for the reporter. However, between October of 1917 and December of 1919, Machen produced 46 installments – in addition to his other reporting duties. The following example is one of the most entertaining and bears the feel of his future column for The Observer, produced in the late 1920s. (See What Do We Know?)

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Gossips About Books and Authors
by
Arthur Machen
July 1, 1919

There is an old axiom: falus in uno, falus in omnibus – once a liar, always a liar. Like some other old axioms, it is questionable. A man may lie once – or, if you like, make a mistake once – and tell the full and accurate truth on many subsequent occasions. It is sometimes convenient to lie; or, again to use the more polite formula: we are all of us liable to make mistakes.

And so, it seems to me, if we twist the axiom a little, we scarcely dare to say: “foolish in one thing, foolish in all.” You may meet a man who believes that the exact date of peace was foretold by the prophet Daniel; but it will not be safe to conclude that you will, therefore, get the better of this gentleman in a business deal. And the man who knows as a matter of fact from his reading of the Apocalypse that the world will end at ten minutes to twelve – Greenwich time – next Tuesday, may let you a flat on Monday on terms very disadvantageous to yourself.

So, Mr. Sidney A. Moseley, author of “An Amazing Séance and an Exposure” (Sampson Low, 3s. net.) may be a careful observer and a clear and rational thinker – in spite of the affair of the White Eagle.

This is the affair. Mr. Moseley is a journalist. He was asked by his editor to investigate the psychic phenomena alleged to by the brothers Thomas of South Wales. The séances given by the brothers had been made notorious by the testimony of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who is sometimes, I think, confused with his admirable creation, Sherlock Holmes. Mr. Moseley went down to South Wales in an absolutely impartial frame of mind.

So impartial was he that he was clearly inclined to attribute the noise made by a man knocking out his pipe in a railway carriage to “the spirits.” The Spiritualist who was with Mr. Moseley told him that the sound was made by a man knocking out his pipe. And Mr. Moseley notes that this remark was to the Spiritualist gentleman’s credit. This is odd: if you are speaking of a man of presumed humour and honesty, you do not praise him for not cheating at cards.

But, to be brief, Mr. Moseley “sat” with the brothers Thomas.

We sang “Lead, Kindly Light,” and by the time the third verse had been reached, Thomas clutched my hand convulsively, grasped, and shook.

“D-evening, Massa Deb,” he said, in the heavy, unmistakeable accents of the negro.

“Good evening, friend,” replied Mr. Davies.

“Glad to see yo’.” said the voice, which I was told was that of White Eagle, the Red Indian Chief.

A Red Indian who speaks negro dialect! But, at the next séance White Eagle observed – of a previous gathering – “They nearly kill my poor mi-de (medium). Verra bad.” That is in that language which Blackie Daw, the great companion of the greater Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, described as the genuine “Buyu-da-banan Dago” dialect.

On a third occasion, White Eagle discarded both the negro manner and the Dago manner. He said: “Future achievements I know not of; we can only run in concert with the truth and the demonstration of the truth.” This is fine; but it does not go with “Massa” or “Verra bad.”

Then, Mr. Moseley says: “I securely bound the medium . . . (although, to be sure, I am no scientist in these matters),” which must mean, if it means anything: “I securely bound the medium, although, to be sure, I know nothing about the technical and difficult art of binding.”

And again; a spirit named Cheesebrow attends at the Thomas séances. He is an American spirit. He talks like this:–

“Waal, Tom, where’s your little girl – what’s her name – Margarine?”

“Margarine! What d’you mean, Jack? You know her name right enough!” says Tom.

“I know her right enough, Tom. But you know you have none but-ter!” The girl is indeed Tom’s only child.

This is the kind of thing which Mr. Moseley speaks of as “the repartee and brilliant wit of Jack Cheesebrow, the American spirit”!

Still, as I say, Mr. Moseley may be a keen and acute and impartial observer; and, at all events, he is able to summon in his favour the testimony of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who says in his preface to the book that “Mr. Moseley’s conclusions deserve the most careful attention.”

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The Weekly Machen

Previous: Gossip About Books and Authors (5/19/1919)

Next: Patsy – The Bad Boy

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Introduction and supplementary material – Copyright 2025 by Christopher Tompkins. All rights reserved.