The L. Fanaticism
THE
L. FANATICISM
pressed by the teaching of this Mr. L., to whom they had been introduced by Miss ——., a religious teacher of a great deal of spirituality, living in Boston.
They both became greatly influenced by Mr. L's teaching, and gradually he had unfolded to them that it had been revealed to him that he was to be the father of a race of children that were to be born into the world as Christ was, and that the Lord had shown him that they themselves were to be the favoured mothers of these children.
Whether he was a bad man or simply a wild fanatic I have never been able to decide, but at all events he succeeded in completely deluding these ladies, and in carrying out his purposes, and this poor thing was now expecting to be the mother of one of these children.
The agonies of mind that she had gone through could not be described.
She dared not admit the idea that it was a delusion, for her whole spiritual life seemed to depend upon believing that she had been rightly guided ; for if she could think that in the most solemn moments of consecration the Lord could allow her to be so deceived, she would feel that she could never trust Him again.
She clung with a deathlike grip to the belief that it was Divine guidance, and that she was greatly favoured to be allowed to be the mother of one of these wonderful children.
How to get through the earthly part of it, however, was the great difficulty.
But her doctor friend stepped in to the rescue ; she took a house out of the city, brought her friend there, took care of her until the time came, carried her safely through her confinement and kept the facts hidden from everybody.
Ig!
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
OF FANATICISM
The lady had told her mother, who had been anxious about her health, that she was broken down by so much teaching, and was going to the country for a complete rest, and there was no exposure.
Mr. L. was a constant visitor at the house, as the doctor had not the heart to.plunge her friend into the abyss of despair which would have been her portion if she had lost faith in him.
The doctor did not like his ways at all, and herself believed that it was pure human lust.
However, the thing was carried through ; the doctor adopted the baby, and her friend went back to her usual avocations.
She never lost her delusion during my knowledge of her.
Mr. L. married the other lady, the companion who had shared in her delusion, and, soon after the birth of the baby the mother went to live with him and his wife, and for many years they formed one household.
The dear sister who had lent Mr. L. the house and who was considered by us the greatest saint of all, came so much under his influence in the end that I began to feel afraid she would give up everything and go and live with him.
She was a wealthy widow, and I began to feel sure that he wanted to get her money.
I made her promise, therefore, that if he came to see her and she was tempted to go away with him, that she would send for me and my husband to come out and consult.
And one night we received a telegram:
'Mr. L. 1s here ; come out'.
We dropped everything and went, and sure enough L, was there, and had almost succeeded in persuading
THE
L. FANATICISM
her to put all her private property into his hands, and go and live with him.
We at once, in his presence, told her the whole story as we had heard it, and while he acknowledged the facts, he stuck to his position that he was commissioned of the Lord to bring forth these children, and that they were not begotten according to any natural process.
We succeeded, however, in frightening him so much as to revelations that might be made, that he himself told our friend he did not believe she was called to go with him ; and Mrs, —— never ceased to thank us for her deliverance.
How many poor souls were beguiled during that strange summer I do not know.
Of course, from that time my intercourse with these dear misguided Christians ceased, but about a year after I received a very impressive and solemn note from one of them saying that the way was still open for me to return to the Lord if I would give up my self-will and consent to be guided as the Lord led.
I had, however, by this time been enlightened as to the fact that all these fancied revelations were really delusions, and that while these dear people might be honestly trying to serve the Lord, they were certainly being led into very disastrous fanaticism, and I replied to this effect.
Since then, I have neither seen nor heard about them.
I had appealed to Miss W. if ever she saw the error of her ways to let me know, and as I have never received any word, I presume she still continues in her delusions.
CHAPT ERs V.
TT The BiACP lS Whee Oe oo tale Ors to the fact of my being so tremendously in earnest in my search after the deep things of God, I-think rumours of my willingness to listen and to learn must have got spread abroad, for it really seemed to me that everybody with any sort of a ' remarkable experience' came to pour it into my ears, and | often wonder whether there can be any phase of religious experience of which I have not heard.
During the time of my search I think all the fanatics in the United States must have found their way to my presence to try and draw me into their especial net, and as I was always ready to listen sympathetically, hoping that among them all I might at last find the truth, they were often led on to reveal to me their inmost secrets.
I confess I was at that time a very easily gulled person, and was inclined to believe everything that was told me, and to accept the most absurd experiences as being of Divine origin and worthy of consideration, if only the narrator would assert it strongly enough.
Especially could I be completely taken in by anyone who professed to be 'guided by the Lord'.
This was owing, I expect, to my early Quaker teaching about Divine Guidance.
People had only to say to me that the Lord had led them into such or such a course,
Ee Abel heVielO Peels rH hs PLR ir for me to bow down before them in profound reverence.
I confess my common sense often received a severe shock, but this was always attributed to my lack of spirituality, and I was made to believe that when I arrived at a deeper insight I should be able to understand the Divine reasons for what at the time seemed to me violations of good sense and even of simple morality.
To a soul as hungry after God as mine, anything that seemed to promise a revelation from Him was welcomed, in spite of past disappointments, with an ever freshly springing hope and enthusiasm.
No one who has not been within the charmed circle of mysticism can possibly know the fascination of exploring these unseen spiritual realities where you feel that at any moment some unexpected glory may be revealed to you.
Nor can any outsider understand how easy it is to abandon one's common sense and right reason and yield to the plausible enticements of one's emotional nature, which is always in these circumstances unduly active and fervent.
Having known something of the fascination I speak of, I cannot but wonder that anyone who enters upon this mystic pathway escapes unscathed, and I can never be thankful enough for the bottom stratum of practical common sense in my nature that always seemed to drag me back when I was in danger of wandering too far.
But because I sympathized, a great deal more was poured out to me, I am convinced, than would generally be the case.
On this account, after I had found out for myself the danger of it all, I was able to help some of