A Brief for the Defence Or the Unequivocal Divinity of the Founder of Christianity As the Son of Jehovah

New York, NY: Palmetto Press. Very Good in Very Good- dust jacket. 1924. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. This book is in Very Good condition and has a Very Good- dust jacket. The b The book and its contents are in generally clean, bright condition. The spine ends and corners of the book covers have some rubbing, bumping and beginning fraying . The bottom spine end of the book cover has fading. The text pages are clean and bright. This book is both about religion and spiritualism, but also goes through his defenses during his trial to be legally labeled sane, after his family had him committed due to insanity. "During the course of his frequent trips abroad and his many business ventures, Chaloner became increasingly interested in the occult and eventually devoted much of his time and money to the study and practice of spiritualism. Convinced that he was possessed of an "X-faculty," he boasted of having an inner voice instructing him in ways in which he could exercise his power of mind over matter. He went into self-induced trances and claimed that he had changed the color of his eyes. His family had him committed in 1897 to Bloomingdale, a psychiatric hospital for people with mental illnesses in New York. During his commitment, he wrote poetry and was allowed to study the insanity laws under which he had been incarcerated. Consistently proclaiming his sanity, he escaped in November 1900 and was concealed for six months by Dr. J. Madison Taylor, a prominent physician in Philadelphia. Several leading psychologists, including William James, examined him and agreed unanimously that he was sane. Moving to Lynchburg, Va. , under the assumed name of John Childe, Chaloner went to court to have his sanity legally restored. Successful in Virginia, where James testified in his behalf, he turned to the North Carolina courts, so that he could regain control of his business interests there. Though the courts of North Carolina agreed he was sane, he was still considered legally with a mental illness in New York and his fortune was controlled by his "former brothers and sisters," as he referred to his family. He fought for eighteen years to have the lunacy laws changed and his own sanity recognized." (from NCPedia website) .