Light – June 2012
SPIRITUALISM IN EDINBURGH,
BY JAMES LAWRENCE.
It was good to be at Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, on Sunday night, the 9th inst. I was sitting in the ante-room awaiting the chairman’s cheery, ‘Now we’ll be going’, when in walked a gentleman whom I at once recognised as Mr. James Macbeth-Bain, from having had him-pointed out to me in Princes street the day before.
Introduction and greetings followed, and the hand touch experienced was alone evidence enough of the mystical depth and charm of the man from whose penned messages have received so much comfort and insight. I was delighted to learn that the chairman had invited him to the platform, and doubly so when I realised the wonderful tone his presence infused into the service.
Before the close, he spoke a few words – living words, ‘throbbing,’ as he put it, ‘right from the heart of God.’ Ay, it was good to be there! But everyone, and everything there, radiates goodness. Possibly, like all humans, the members have their differences; but they are a keen, intelligent body, while the officials seem earnest and capable above the average. The president, Mr James Hall, is a big-hearted, breezy gentleman, and runs a close race for popularity with the genial secretary, Mr. John Morrison. I spent two hours in the latter’s shop – a chemist’s – and a veil was lifted there which revealed a nature calm, philosophic, and very, very human. The treasurer, Mr. Rankin, has had a long spell in office, auguring well for the confidence reposed in him; while the librarian, Mr. Nevins, is wrapped up in his books, pamphlets, and the general literature of the movement. A sweet, contagious sympathy swelled outwards from the audience, and I left the platform quite equal to another hour’s work. It is well that in the capital of the ‘dour land ‘ such interest is manifested in our glorious movement.
Note – As we have established that James Hall was the President of the Edinburgh Association of Spiritualists in 1912 we can conclude that the other gentleman mentioned are the rest of the church committee office bearers.
- President – Mr James Hall.
- Secretary – Mr John Morrison.
- Treasurer – Mr Rankin.
- Librarian – Mr Nevins.
