Bibliographic record
Arthur Westcott, Life and Letters of Brooke Foss Westcott, vol. 2 (London: Macmillan, 1903).
Use on this site
Later remarks and interpretive context
Key topics
Command of ghosts; Hermes Trismegistus
Why it matters
It extends the occult-claims evidence beyond the first memoir volume.
p. 59 — command of ghosts
This line is frequently quoted because it shows ghost language surviving late in Westcott’s life and not merely in youthful society culture. The remark belongs to 1888, when Westcott was about 63 years old, not to his undergraduate years.
If I had the command of ghosts just at present, I think that Bismarck’s sleep would be a good deal disturbed. Perhaps it is well that I haven’t.
p. 79 — Hermes Trismegistus
The direct mention of Hermes Trismegistus matters because Hermes is often treated as a patron figure of esoteric wisdom. In later European occult history the name is repeatedly associated with Hermetic writing, Rosicrucian literature, ceremonial magic, occult revival movements, and some Masonic / esoteric streams. For a Bible-following Christian, the issue is that such traditions claim hidden wisdom and spiritual authority outside the plain authority of Scripture.
I do not think that I should be inclined to accept the estimate of the writings of the so-called ‘Hermes Trismegistus’ given in the review.