I Hi >'4«** *o6 SIR WILLIAM CROOKES, D.Sc.,FR.S. Msbtfc JOHN M. PRYSE Occult and Mystical Books NEW YORK CITY EVENINGS AT HOME IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON EVENINGS AT HOME IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE Welfcefc togetber b£ a Species ot Hutobiosrapbs v JLA^X&sCvkr MISS HOUGHTON IV AUTHOK OF "CHRONICLES OF SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY SECOND SERIES LONDON E. W. ALLEN, AVE M A R I A LANE 1882 [All rights reserved] ^ *%* w GIFT MAURICE DU PONT LEE FE B. 6, 1046 Property of the library of Congress EVENINGS AT HOME IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. CHAPTER I. On the 6th of October 1870, I held my first seance after the return of Mrs. Guppy from her prolonged visit to Italy. It was of course a dark seance, and there were present at it Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. and Mrs. T., Miss S., Mrs. Varley, Mrs. Guppy, accompanied by Miss Neyland (whose mediumship in several phases was rapidly develop- ing), Mrs. Pearson and myself. After beginning as usual with The Lord's Prayer, I was influenced to offer up a brief petition that our re-assembling might enable us to receive a fuller measure of spiritual gifts ; that we might thereby be- come more fitted to do The Lord's work, and to shew forth His great Love to the world. In a short time Miss Neyland exclaimed, " Oh ! there is an angel : — it is Gabriel, — and he will soon make his presence known." We then all heard a sound like the rustling of large wings, not as if flying, but a gentle quiver- ing motion, which ceased after a time ; and I may as well mention here, that later in the evening she again saw Gabriel, and the same sound was then observable. . . . She then saw Mamma, my brother Clarence, and my nephew Charlie dripping with water, all of whom she had seen A 2 EVENINGS AT HOME when I had been at Mrs. Guppy's seance on the 13th of September. After which she described a gentleman stand- ing between Mrs. Guppy and Mrs. Ramsay, whom we recognised as General Ramsay. She also saw " James " in letters of light, which was yet another proof ; and he beat the military call on the table with one of the paper tubes. She next saw a fair young girl, and her name, Motee ; she was holding a harp, and in illuminated letters were the words, " He gathers His lambs into His arms, and carries them in His bosom." She heard Motee sing, accompanying herself on the harp : we none of us shared the privilege, but she repeated to us the words of the hymn as they came : " Happy birds that sing and fly Round thine altars, O most High ; Happier souls that find a rest In a heavenly Father's breast : Like the wandering dove that found No repose on earth around, They can to their Ark repair And enjoy it ever there." After that she described Papa with great accuracy, and then she saw the sentence, " Cast thy burthen upon The Lord, and He will sustain thee : His arm will uphold thee, so that the deep waters shall not cover thee." To several of those in the circle were now brought bunches of white grapes, and to me was brought a very large cluster of purple grapes, and then Miss Neyland read, above my head, this text, in glowing letters, " I am the Vine, ye are the branches, and My Father is the Husband- man ; " — thus shewing us that the grapes were to typify that we must be fruitful branches. Mrs. T. said, " I feel as if an effort were being made to raise me, but you must not speak to me, nor touch me." The darkness being complete, we could not see how much she was raised, but she spoke occasionally, and her voice sounded very much above us, and when she had been gently lowered to her place, Mrs. Guppy said she had seen her feet above the level of the table, and the spirits imme- IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 3 diately rapped in the affirmative, which they reiterated three or four times while we were discussing the subject. She said she had felt herself supported under the arms. Miss Neyland saw the letters M. E. S. T. before this cir- cumstance took place, and thought they were the beginning of a word, but they were Mrs. T.'s initials, with the inter- polation of that of her maiden name. This class of mani- festation is habitually spoken of as levitation, but when we realize that a person is thus lifted up by spirits, by the means of their own spirit-substantial hands, I do not see that the word is more needed than when we see an infant carried by its nurse. It also often amuses me when people say that it is " contrary to the laws of gravitation " when a table is raised in the air without visible contact, but they do not imagine that they break a law when they lift up a light table with their own hands, and yet that is an exercise of a precisely similar power. Mrs. Ramsay's handkerchief was gently withdrawn from her hands ; it was afterwards knotted into the form of a figure, and tucked into the front of her dress. There were several attempts for direct writing : on one sheet of paper Motee wrote (and Miss Neyland not only saw her while doing so, but she read each word aloud as it was written, and as we afterwards read it for ourselves), " Believe on The Lord, and you shall be saved." On another sheet were the words " good daughter," which I believe were written by Papa. We were then desired to have a light for the remainder of the seance, when Mrs. T. and Mrs. Varley saw a figure standing behind me whom they described very clearly, as also that he had on a blue coat with metal buttons, and Mrs. Varley especially noticed the ring on his finger, which she at first thought was only a thin gold one, but she then discovered that there was one small stone. The description was in all respects perfectly accurate of a friend who had passed into spirit life on the 6th of January 1 86 1 • the ring had been his mother's wedding-ring, into which he had had a small diamond set, so as to make it more suitable for a gentleman's wear, so that she saw it in 4 EVENINGS AT HOME both its phases, thus identifying it the more completely. I now brought my photograph albums for them to look at (which I had been forbidden by my spirit friends to do before the seance), and the moment Mrs. Varley came to one of the portraits, she exclaimed, " Why there is the gentleman I saw standing behind you, and that is the very coat, with its metal buttons." While she was speaking, both she and Mrs. T. again saw him. Miss Neyland also recognised the likenesses of several of the spirits she had seen, which gave an additional interest to the latter part of our seance, which we closed with a few words of thanksgiving. On the following Sunday I accompanied my sister to Westminster Abbey, where for the first and only time I heard Dean Stanley preach, and I am induced to speak of it now, as he has been so lately withdrawn from the earth- plane to enter upon the realities of the world beyond, of which I believe him to have had some foregleams, although he may not have had the courage to proclaim the new truths that had come to him. It is a marvel to me what such a man could dread ; for his position in life was un- assailable, and his testimony, however slight, might have been as a tower of strength to those whose worldly prospects would risk being shaken by such an avowal. If all those who lean towards our side would boldly say, "Such and such proofs we have ourselves received," — the voice of scorn would soon be shamed into silence. But the thorns are not to be thus removed from our path; nevertheless, I believe that such reticence will meet with its penalty in the hereafter, and there may come the words, "Whereas ye have not lightened the burthen of My suffering servants, ye cannot yet enter into the joys prepared for the faithful." My next seance was in honour of Mamma's birthday, on the 22nd of October, and the circle was composed of Mrs. Ramsay, Mrs. Guppy, Mrs. Pearson of Harpur Street, Mrs. Beresford Scott, Miss Williamson, Miss Neyland and myself. As we concluded The Lord's Prayer, the table was gently tipped three times, as a sign that our invisible IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 5 friends had united with us, and they have frequently on other occasions given us a token to the same effect. The first spirit Miss Neyland saw was Mamma, looking especially radiant, then with her she saw many others of the family, but she could not separate them sufficiently in her vision to describe them. She then saw a young girl (Motee) by the side of Mrs. Ramsay, and she was accom- panied by a number of Indians, some of whom had white cloths tied round them, but some had not. General Ramsay, dressed in uniform, then became visible to her, taking Motee by the hand; also many more Indians. She saw an angel behind me, and upon my asking the name, saw " Gabriel." We heard rustlings of leaves, and felt that upon the table there was a mass of something, wet with rain, and we also heard the fluttering of a bird's wings : gradually we each felt that a wreath of some kind was placed upon our heads, except upon that of Mrs. Pearson, whose wreath was laid upon her hands, under which she had laid upon the table a pocket-handkerchief I had given her that had been embroidered by Mamma. " Light " was then spelt out, and we found that we had been crowned with garlands of ivy twined into wreath-forms. When again in darkness, Miss Neyland said that Mamma was writing on the wall, and the words were : " We have crowned you all with blessings, that you may do The Lord's work upon earth." . . . She then saw a tall lady standing between Mrs. Guppy and me, but she could not distinguish all the name : — she saw a C and then Mole, and Mrs. Pearson asked her to go round to her (she was her sister, Clara Mole), which she immediately did, and answered a few questions by raps. . . . Miss Neyland saw Mamma write the message, "Dear daughter, I thank you for glorifying the remembrance of this day as much as while I was on the earth." She said Mamma seemed to be very busy indeed, and a message was spelt, "Put six glasses under the table." I did so, and we heard a ringing sound from -them several times, but they did not succeed in producing music, which I think 6 EVENINGS AT HOME was what they had wished. Mrs. Scott saw many lights and stars, some of which were visible to Mrs. Pearson, and we all saw one in the centre, but only rather faintly, while Mrs. Scott was struck with its brilliancy. I had placed a sheet of paper and a pencil under Mrs. Ramsay's chair, which we heard moved away and written upon, and Miss Neyland saw Motee doing it, and we afterwards read the message, "Dear Mother, I am very happy;" and Mrs. Ramsay took it home with her. The alphabet was asked for, and we received the direc- tions to " Eat, and sit again." This was so contrary to the usual custom of our seances here (for it was not quite nine o'clock), that we could not help wondering at it, but when we asked whether they wanted to gain physical power for an especial purpose, they answered in the affirma- tive. Of course we did their bidding, and when I had lighted the candle, we found a white feather on the table, which looked like the wing-feather of a white dove, and must have fallen from the bird whose fluttering we had heard. On our return from supper, Mrs. Ramsay asked, as I came to my place after extinguishing the candles, whether I had touched her, which I had not, but she had felt some- thing like a veil passed across her face. The alphabet having been again requested, they spelt out, "We will bring Sacha Home's pocket-handkerchief," and I immedi- ately felt a handkerchief laid on my hands for a moment, after which it was given to Mrs. Ramsay; w T e were then told we might have a light, and lo ! in front of her there was a small cambric handkerchief with a very broad hem, with the name of Sacha Home written with marking ink in small letters in one of the corners. When again in darkness, Mrs. Ramsay, who w T as much struck by what had taken place, asked if Sacha were present, and she answered " Yes." Miss Neyland saw and described her so accurately that Mrs. Ramsay, who w r as the only one present who had known her, recognised all the details. She then asked Sacha if she remembered something in connexion with this IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 7 manifestation, and she rapped out, "In Regent's Park, I think." Mrs. Ramsay then narrated that at a seance with Mr. Home at the house of Mrs. Crawford Parks, in the Regent's Park, not long after his wife's death (which took place in 1862), Sacha made her presence known, and she told Mrs. Ramsay she would give her one of her pocket-handkerchiefs ; the seance was, however, concluded without its having been brought to her, and Mr. Home expressed his surprise that she should have made a promise and not have fulfilled it ; — and now, after a lapse of upwards of eight years, she had been enabled to perform what she had then promised ! ! ! The tubes had been moved about many times in the course of the evening, and Sacha was now making an effort to use one j at length, in a very gentle voice, she said to Mrs. Ramsay, " I never forget you ; " and they held a little con- versation, but as Sacha had not much power, she soon said, " Good-night ; " but upon being asked if she had any mes- sage for her little boy, she answered, " I love him." Some delicious perfume was sprinkled upon us, and at that moment Ann came to the door to enquire if Miss Leith might be admitted ; to which an immediate consent was given. I had invited her to the seance, which to her mortification she had had to decline, as there was a dinner- party at home, but when she could make her escape, she thought she would come and plead for admission, so as at any rate to enjoy some portion of the seance, and she was much amused to see us all with our ivy crowns. Miss Neyland beheld an elderly lady, not very tall, standing behind her, but she could not see her with sufficient dis- tinctness to describe her, in consequence of Miss Leith's atmosphere not having been harmonised into the circle by sitting with us from the beginning, but my spirit friends told me that it was her grandmother. Mamma had always been very fond of her, and expressed her pleasure at her having managed to come for her birthday fete. Motee, too, who had several times been carrying her Mamma's little silver bell about and ringing it, now rang it again, 5 EVENINGS AT HOME and took it to Miss Leith. They were now very busy with the tubes, especially in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Pearson; they then brought one to me, and laid it across my arms. " Light " was then spelt, and we found that upon the tube was written " Look inside." There was also some writing within it, but too far up for us to do more than see that it was there; so I had to cut the paper and unroll the tube, and withinside were the words, " Dearest Mary," which were meant for Mrs. Pearson, and were written by her mother, my Aunt Sarah. We all felt the touch of hands very distinctly, and once I was allowed just to catch the hand touching me, which was that of Motee, who then fingered for some little time my pearl ring as her own memorial. At length, after many caressing touches to each of us, " Good-night " was spelt, and our interesting seance was terminated in the usual way. I was with Mrs. Guppy on the 3rd of November, when she told me that as they were going home, Miss Neyland mentioned that she had seen an additional crown hovering in the air, which they supposed had been intended for Miss Leith, but that the spirits had probably not been able to bring it to her when she joined the circle, because of her not having been present during the whole seance. But to Mrs. Guppy's great surprise, when she went up to her room, she found the said ivy-wreath on Mr. Guppy's pillow. I generally think it best to leave calumny alone, to die out of itself, but for once I must depart from my own rule, as the publication of this seance may stir the wrong into fresh life, so I will as briefly as possible relate the facts upon which a false accusation was grounded. Mrs. Guppy's grandfather, Mr. Nicholl, was, as I have previously men- tioned, a sculptor, and a model who came to his studio left behind her a pocket-handkerchief on which was the name of Sacha Home. How she had come by it I know not, perhaps she might have been a laundress as well as a model, and the handkerchief may have been forgotten to be sent home. It had, however, remained among Mrs IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 9 Guppy's things, and she had mentioned the fact to several friends. One of those soi-disant friends, who ought to have known Mrs. Guppy better, when she heard what had occurred here, immediately took it into her head that that was the handkerchief that had been produced at this house, and whispered her suspicions of trickery around, until, through my cousin, they reached my ears ; and as I like to clear away all mysteries, I told Mrs. Guppy the next time I went to see her of the rumours afloat, thinking it possible that her powerfully mediumistic element might have enabled Mrs. Home to convey that identical piece of cambric into my room. "Oh dear, no," was her immediate reply, "t/iat handkerchief is still in my possession: we will go up together, and hunt for it at once, for I know I put it into the drawer with Tommy's things." Sure enough, there we found the handkerchief, which was very different from the one that had been brought here, for instead of the delicate marking with indelible ink, the name was embroidered with red cotton in large fancy letters. I must still fight out the question a little farther, for even had it been the self-same handkerchief, that would not have touched the circumstances, for it was given here in fulfilment of a promise made so long before that it had slipped out of Mrs. Ramsay's memory, and no one else had known anything about it at all. November nth, I was present at a seance on the after- noon of yesterday, at Mrs. Guppy's, the circle consisting of ten persons, among whom were Mrs. Ramsay and Mr. Coleman. The spirits, after having requested us to wish for something, brought us a quantity of freshly gathered violets, mignonette, geranium leaves and fern leaves, all wet with rain. There were other manifestations, in which were given decisive tests of Miss Neyland's clairvoyant powers, but those personally interesting to myself referred chiefly to Mamma and Clarence. . . Then there was a certain undu- latory movement of the table, like that of a vessel at sea, which gradually became more vehement, the strangers present finding out the similitudes, and suggesting that IO EVENINGS AT HOME they referred to some one who had been drowned, assent- ing answers being given by the tippings of the table, and at the same time Miss Neyland saw behind me the youth dripping with water whom she had before described. He then traced in letters of light : o " In vain your fancy strives to paint The moment after death ; The glories that surround His saints Beyond the parting breath." She says the writing is difficult to read in such cases, because it seems to appear and then disappear. I have heard in other instances, of the writing coming letter by letter, the first fading as the next shines forth. After the seance was over, while we were chatting, I regretted that I had not fulfilled a previous resolution, which was that when the spirits should desire me to wish for something, to ask them to bring me a stone, for not being a perishable article, I could always keep it, adding that their bringing it to me would make it a precious stone. I am now just returned from another seance at her house, which has been the most extraordinary I have ever attended. Mrs. Chevalier and a lady friend of hers were the only visitors besides myself, and we went down to the sitting-room, with the intention of having tea, but Mrs. Guppy had just heard some powerful raps, desiring that we should not have tea before the seance ; so we walked up again into the room where it was to take place, and Mrs. Chevalier's lady friend, who had never before been at any seance, was requested by Mrs. Guppy to make a strict examination of the room, which she did most thoroughly, finding nothing but the simple furniture of table, chairs, sofa, and piano : the door was then locked and the key given into her possession. On the table were some sheets of paper, a pencil, a tambourine and a bell ; and the circle consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, Miss Neyland, the two ladies I have mentioned, and myself. The gas was turned out, and when we had united in saying The Lord's Prayer, IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. II our invisible friends made an affirmative signal at the con- clusion to imply that they also had joined with us. The alphabet was then asked for, and they spelt out the message : " We will bring you a precious stone," which led to my repeating yesterday's conversation, and after a short time Mrs. Guppy said, " They are trying to move my hand round, so as to turn the palm upwards ; " and then she added, " Here is something small ; am I to give it to Miss Houghton ? " " Yes," was the response. When I had received it, we wished to light the candle, which they negatived, but allowed me to tie the small article into a corner of my handkerchief. We were then desired to hold hands all round. The tambourine was then played rather noisily, being carried to different parts of the room over our heads. Something cold was now placed on my hand, which felt like a saucer, and we gradually heard unmistak- able sounds of crockery, the table being all the time in considerable motion. Mrs. Guppy began to fear that they had brought her best tea-service, Which had been laid out in the lower room in readiness for the repast, but she was left in her anxiety, for our request for a light was again refused. The clatter of cups and saucers became still stronger, and we each felt something thrown into our laps, but we continued to obey the injunction not to unclasp hands, and at length received the welcome permission to strike a light, when we found that to each of us had been given a table-napkin, another having been spread on the table, upon which were seven cups and saucers (not those she calls her spiritual ones, from having been our gift to her), six small plates, a larger one (empty) for bread-and- butter, a jug of milk, a glass sugar-basin containing sugar, with sugar-tongs, and some biscuits. After we had investi- gated all, and remarked that the tea only was wanting, we were desired to extinguish the light, and almost immediately Miss Neyland made a sudden exclamation that something had burned her cheek, so we begged leave to light the candle, which was at once granted, and lo ! there was the teapot, containing some very strong tea, and the no longer 12 EVENINGS AT HOME empty plate had on it a portion of the cake of which we had partaken the evening before, and a knife to cut it with. Of course we had our tea, and enjoyed it. I then examined my gift, which was a beautiful ruby, rather larger than one for which I had given £$ about five years ago, and also more exquisite in colour, so that my stone is lite?'ally pre- cious. When we were again in darkness, Miss Neyland dis- tinguished some of my spirit relatives, also Mrs. Chevalier's little girl, and others belonging to her. We were tenderly touched by the loving fingers of those so dear to us, Mrs. Chevalier feeling her child's hand very distinctly. A Neapolitan tortoise-shell dagger (a gift from Mrs. Guppy) that I wear in my hair, was gently withdrawn, and taken to Mrs. Chevalier, who was allowed to hold it for a time, but it was then brought back and replaced in my hair. Something was heard to fall into the cup near Mrs. Chevalier that sounded like money, — it was a shilling, which she was desired to keep, and Mrs. Guppy afterwards made a hole in it, to enable her to hang it to her watch-chain. Dear Motee felt on my finger for the ring which is her emblem, and gave me a little tap of reproach for not wearing it on this occasion. " No more," was then spelt, but even after the door had been widely opened, so that there was a good deal of light, Mrs. Chevalier again felt the touch of her little girl's hand. I then went to the kitchen to ascertain whether the ser- vant had made the tea that had been brought to us, but she knew nothing whatever about it, and thought I was reproving her for not having made it in readiness for us. Miss Neyland then looked into the caddy, where there had been nearly half a pound of tea, but it had all vanished, so it was no wonder our tea had been so strong. The table- napkins had been brought from a linen press upstairs, and the teapot was also brought from an upper room, being one they were not in the habit of using. In talking afterwards over that marvellous seance, Mrs. Guppy said how glad she would have been if any such manifestations would have come on the previous day, when IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 1 3 there were visitors of importance present, — but it was the very fact of our being such a small circle, composed of strong mediums, with only one single stranger in our midst, that rendered it possible for such evidences of spirit power to be given. The tea itself must have been made in the sitting-room, where our meal was to have been taken, for there was a good fire, and the kettle was on the trivet in readiness for use. The room also was, so to speak, full of Mrs. Guppy, so that there was plenty of her atmosphere to be gathered for their purposes. Such conditions are well understood by Spiritualists, who know that they may therefore reasonably expect more striking seances at the medium's own house than elsewhere, more especially if there is additional power among the members who form the circle. She invited rather a large party for November 25th in honour of Mr. Guppy's birthday, the circle consisting of eighteen persons, of whom (by the direction of the spirits) only four sat at the table, Mr. and Mrs. Guppy opposite each other, Miss Neyland and myself between them ; the others being arranged in two semi-circles beyond. I had heeded the reproach given by Motee on the previous occasion, and had duly put on my oriental pearl, and as we commenced The Lord's Prayer, I felt her take my hand with her warm living fingers, and at each petition she signified her concurrence, either by stroking my hand or patting the ring. At the conclusion, I asked Miss Neyland if she saw any spirit touching me, and she answered, " Oh ! yes, the fair young girl, Motee." Some musical instruments were on the table, and among them one composed of eight metal cups (forming the scale), one above another on a handle, which emit a bell-like sound when struck. Upon this the spirits played "The last rose of summer " : — they then struck one single note, and carried the instrument round and round the room until the sound had faded away, and so on with each note : — after which they produced the most harmonious effect I ever heard ; they struck the deepest note, carrying it once 14 EVENINGS AT HOME round, above our heads, so that the room was rilled with the vibrations, then the second in the same way, until at last we heard the vibrations of the whole eight, softened and blended into one another, forming, if I may so express it, a perfect rainbow of sound. We were all freely sprinkled with perfume. The message was then spelt, " Faithful must wish," (for fruit), and after- wards, " Each must wish." I had asked for a banana, and each of the others requested fruit of some kind ; almost all the wishes being complied with, sometimes instantaneously, and sometimes with a little delay • one friend having a cocoa-nut weighing a pound and a half, and one a water- melon that weighed four pounds. At length we were told to leave off, and return in an hour, so we retired to the adjoining room to have supper. There were present two members of the spiritual press, who took down the depositions of each person's requests and the result, and I must quote one item of the report, as being so characteristic of Mrs Guppy, whose great weak- ness it always was, as she termed it, to " eat the manifesta- tions." . ..." I asked for some barberries, a pear for my little boy Tommy, and a quince, all of which were brought immediately. I began to eat the fruit, so Miss Houghton said, ' It would serve you right if they put a capsicum in your mouth,' and instantly it was done. Elizabeth Guppy." Shortly after our re-assembling, they commenced rocking the table in a very peculiar manner, as if to represent a vessel at sea, gradually increasing the speed as if racing, and the movement became so vehement that we feared the table would be broken, upon which Mr. Guppy said they were quite welcome to break it, when they immediately took advantage of his permission, making a complete wreck it ! We asked Miss Neyland what she saw, and she said it was the young man with the water streaming from him whom she had on other occasions seen near me. She also saw a steamer partly under water, and another in the far distance, and at last, at the final plunge of the table, her dress and petticoat were drenched with water, and remained IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 1 5 quite wet all the rest of the evening : some of the water fell likewise on my skirt, although I was not near her, but I was not soaked as she was : there was no sound of water flowing, but suddenly it was upon us. She afterwards told me that she could not make out the name of the vessel, but she saw first a C and further on a T. — The Carnatic was lost in the Red Sea, through racing with a French steamer, and my nephew, whom she saw, was one of those who were drowned. Miss Neyland (chair and all) was suddenly brought across to my side, and Mrs. Guppy exclaimed that they were tying something round her throat, Miss Neyland said they were doing the same to her, and I felt something being passed over my head round the back of my neck, but when I put my hand up to feel what it was, thus taking hold of it, they brought it in front of me, and then said we might have a light, when we found that we three were united together by a woollen band of drugget. There was then a little discussion about the Davenport manifestations, and one gentleman said he would be very willing to have his hands tied behind him, for the spirits to try to take off his coat under those conditions, but when we asked if they could do so, the answer was doubtful, they however thought they might be able to do it with another member of the circle, and we were informed that Mr. Guppy himself was to be the person ; so his hands were tied behind him, and firmly secured to his chair, but as soon as we were in darkness, we heard him expostulating very strongly as to their proceedings, for they were unbuttoning his waistcoat, and emptying his pockets. After earnest pleadings on his part for a light, he at length obtained the desired permis- sion, when we found that his coat and waistcoat were not quite taken off, but only turned back upon his arms : his watch had been carried to one gentleman, his note-book and cravat to another, and his spectacles to me. He was now very anxious to be loosened, but the knots had been too firmly tied for those who had done to wi<\o them, so we suggested asking the spirits to free him, to which they 1 6 EVENINGS AT HOME agreed, and when the light was extinguished, did so in a few moments. We again lighted the candle, and Mr. Guppy placing his coat on the table, requested them to put it on some one else, and almost as soon as the light was put out, Miss Neyland exclaimed " Oh ! they have dressed me in it ; " which they absolutely had done, having put the coat on her, and then buttoned it. The next time I saw Mrs. Guppy, she told me she had been experimenting with her Turkish bells, but had found it quite impossible to produce the effect of sound that I have striven to describe. It might perhaps be that her footing was on the ground, and thus the vibrating tones would be in a manner entangled with the furniture, instead of being in the untroubled space above our heads. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 1 7 CHAPTER II. Another course was commenced on the 14th of November of those pleasant Monday evenings in Harley Street, which seem to me to have had a value beyond later attempts else- where, from the fact that they were more generally popular, and the gatherings were from more universal quarters. The larger number of such efforts in the present day may, to a certain extent, account for that fact ; some of the Spiritualists going one way and some another, whereas some have retired from any public demonstration of them- selves at all. Is it that they have become lukewarm ? or is it simply that they no longer have the energetic and enthu- siastic Mr. Coleman to summon them together by beat of drum ? It is true that many of the original frequenters of those meetings are gone, like himself, to the other side, but there still remain many of the dear old faces whom I would fain see sometimes at our own rooms in Great Russell Street. It may be that the weekly regularity of the meetings was one cause of the good attendance, by becoming a settled engagement, besides which the subscription to the course was at once paid, and it was a something outside of the usual round of life. I am sorry to say that I kept no notes whatever of any of the details, but I remember that papers on the subject of Spiritualism were prepared and read by some of our friends, leading afterwards to discussion, and I believe it was during that series that we heard a very interesting one from the Rev. Dr. Davies, entitled " Am I a Spiritualist ? " when the evidences he gave made it very easy to answer his question in the affirmative. I know, likewise, that Mrs. Hardinge again returned to England about that time, and she was always a host in herself when she formed one of the circle on the platform. B 1 8 EVENINGS AT HOME Am la Spiritualist '? What a difficult point to decide, even among many who nominally belong to our ranks, of whom it might be well if some would restrict themselves to the term that has taken such a hold upon a large pro- portion of our neighbours on the other side of the Channel, and call themselves Spiritists, thus limiting themselves to the acknowledgment of intercourse with the dwellers in the beyond, whether through the means of physical or mental mediumship, without seeking to rise above the level of earth's puerilities ; whereas, to be a Spiritualist, appears to me to demand the addition of a religious basis, and on that ground most of the clergy must all unwittingly be allied to us, for their faith is founded entirely upon the Spirit intercourse of past ages, and if we can but clearly shew them that the past and the present are a portion of one unbroken chain, evidencing God's loving care in grant- ing each revelation so as to meet the need of its own day, surely they will ultimately receive with joy the new truths that are coming now, although, like Saul of Tarsus, they may in the beginning have rejected them. In the June of that year a lady (doubly connected with the family) came one Wednesday to see me, accompanied by Mr. L , an artist friend, who had thought she spoke of impossible things when she had told him about my spirit drawings, but the sight of a few soon convinced him that they undoubtedly contained a something beyond his pre- vious philosophy, and he was both charmed and interested with all I had to shew him, so that to such an appreciative observer, I had to vary my portfolios far beyond my usual wont, so as to give him a glimpse of their growth and changes. In the course of conversation he said, " Do you ever exchange sketches with other artists ? " " Oh ! never," was my rejoinder, and there the matter dropped, and for the time passed entirely out of my mind, and I scarcely know how long a period may have elapsed when the thought came to me in a sudden flash, and I enquired of my wise counsellors whether I ought to do such a thing. " Yes, in this one case," was the reply I received, but I was not yet IN SPIRITUAL STANCE. 1 9 to take any step in the matter, although they then selected the drawing, entitled " The Eye of The Lord," which was destined for the purpose. At length I was permitted to write to him, alluding to the question he had put to me, and saying that if he had intended it as an expression of his own wish, I should be happy to comply with it. I received an immediate reply from him, dated November 15, in which he said: "I should have been long before this, to renew my acquaintance with you and your wonderful spirit drawings, but that I have been out of town all the summer, and have since been fully occupied in working up my sketches for the winter exhibition. You seemed so unwilling to exchange one of your drawings for that of any other artist, that I had set aside all thought of it, but I shall indeed be delighted to make the exchange, and I shall also be very happy if you can come on Monday to see those I am going to send to the Gallery on that after- noon." I did myself the pleasure of going to see them, and on the following Thursday sent him my promised drawing, accompanied by the written interpretation, and his answer came with speed. " Novei?iber 25//?, 1870. — My dear Miss Houghton, — I cannot tell you how much I value the wonderful and beautiful drawing you sent me yesterday : the subtlety and delicacy of both the colour and the design are to me quite a study : one is constantly seeing something new in its mysterious depths. The little book that you so kindly sent with it will require much thought before it can be under- stood aright. I am afraid I shall not be able in return to send you anything so original as to line and colour, but what I shall send you will be, I hope, characteristic of Yours very sincerely, L." It is only now, while seeking out these dates, and finding harmonies all unsuspected in the past events, that I realize the above circumstances as in any way connected with the letter I received from Mrs. T. on the very evening that I had sent off the picture, which was eventually to lead to what has hitherto been the most important action in my life. 20 EVENINGS AT HOME On the 22nd of November, to which she alludes, I had been to Cambridge Hall, to assist at a public " Welcome " to Mrs. Hardinge. " November 24th. — My dear Miss Houghton, — I hope you reached home safely on Tuesday evening. It is a great comfort to know that you are never alone in a life that outwardly is so lonely. Last night (Wednesday), at about eleven, I had a distinct vision of you sitting at the table in your drawing-room, with a company of your spirit friends about you. One of them kissed you, and you felt the kiss, and you said, 'Yes, my dear, yes, my dear, but I am engaged now.' (You seemed to be writing.) Another passed his hand over your hair and forehead, and looked at you so lovingly ; and then you raised your head, having felt the pressure and in a moment your face looked w T hite and shining, like those of the spirits, and the change in you frightened me so much that I roused myself, and almost immediately the clock struck half-past eleven. Those little babies were on each side of you, pulling your dress and wishing to be noticed, but I do not think you saw them. I have thought of you all the morning with some solicitude, notwithstanding the care I am sure your spirit friends will take of you in any further development of your mediumistic powers, or in any events that may arise. Believe me, very truly yours, M. E. T." At the time thus mentioned, I was engaged, as Mrs. T. correctly states, with papers and writing. Preston had stood talking until nearly eleven, on her way up to bed, and even while she had been with me, I had very strongly felt once or twice the signal of my two dear Baby sisters, which they afterwards repeated, and upon my questioning them, I learned that one object of their being with me was as a preparation for my seance on the 2nd of December, but they feared they might not, their own two little selves, be able to give any manifestation, although they are always anxious to try. Other spirits also gave me their signs, partly for the same purpose, but they all accepted my apology for giving them but a divided attention, as I had IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 2 1 various letters to write, and other things to do. I think it must have been St. John whose touch changed the expression of my countenance, for I felt his signal more strongly than usual (it is the sensation of a tender hand on my brow and head), and. J. had a great feeling of happiness, and as if I scarcely knew how to be sufficiently thankful to God for all His mercies, I seemed as if my soul wanted to burst forth into songs of praise. The above is my entry made at the time, but my occupa- tion was not only letter-writing, one being to Mr. L , but likewise copying the interpretation in the small book, to send to him the next day with the picture, and the unseen ones knew all that was to eventuate from that circumstance, although / did not. I had invited Mr. and Mrs. Everitt to be present at my forthcoming seance, but at the same time I had asked Mrs. Everitt to come on some intervening Wednesday to see my drawings and become harmonized into my room, as that was a necessary condition before I could be allowed to invite any fresh guest into my circle, but she would then have to do double duty, she and her hus- band being so essentially one that her coming would be all-sufficient. This is a rule that the regulators of my seances have made from the very beginning, and there have been other small details upon which they have per- mitted no infringement ; for the sittings in this house have been exceptional, — not at all intended as evidences for the sceptical, but for the purpose of reaching the highest phenomena they could, which can never be attained amidst conflicting atmospheres : therefore under no circumstances could a complete sceptic or a so-called enquirer have been admitted, although the favour has often been solicited, and might perhaps have been difficult to refuse, but that it is not / who have had to give the answer, I have been simply the mouthpiece, and my nay has had to be nay, for the yea is instantaneous, if it is to be granted at all, thus I am always saved from any feeling of doubt as to such matters, which of course must be 2 2 EVENINGS AT HOME under their jurisdiction ; I have sometimes even had to refuse dear friends, but I have known there could be no appeal against the decision. I had the pleasure on the last Wednesday in November of a visit from Mrs. Everitt, accompanied by Miss Nisbet, which I think we all enjoyed. The seance was held on the 2nd of December, dear Papa's birthday and also Charlie's, and the circle consisted of Mrs. Ramsay, Mrs. T., Mrs. Guppy, Mr. and Mrs. Everitt, Mrs. Pearson, Miss Neyland and myself. Before the light was extinguished, the table was quite lifted from the ground, and gently floated backwards and forwards as if in greeting, but was quietly lowered as we commenced The Lord's Prayer, to wmich they, as usual, responded at the conclusion. Miss Neyland saw Mamma, Clarence, and Charlie near me, and when I asked if she saw who had touched my hand, she answered, "The young girl," meaning Motee, who had been patting the ring. She also saw General Ramsay by the side of Mrs. Ramsay, and other spirit friends whom she described, near the different guests. By the alphabet, I was desired to wish for anything I liked, so I enquired whether they could bring me Charlie's turquoise pin, sunk in the Car?iatic, but as that was out of their power, I asked for something from the sea. In a short time Mrs. Guppy said she had been touched by a wet hand, requesting me to feel the back of her hand, which was quite wet, we next heard the fall of something small upon the table, and then a shell (five inches by four) was placed in my hand, and we were permitted to light the candle to examine it. To my surprise it was quite wet, and on tasting, I discovered that it was with j- your little papoose (a baby she had lost before the time for its birth), and she is with you a great deal. There are many spirits round you, and oh ! there are so many here, such bright ones." Then turning to me, she said : " I see that young man whom I have so often seen before, the one who was drowned." [My Charlie.] "Yes, Charlie, and he says he is with you a great deal : he can make the bird whistle — sing, I mean." Her saying that was curious, for Charlie has always claimed my cardinal as his bird, while the Dove belonged to my dear little sisters, and now has her dwelling in their home. Daisy now described Zilla, Papa, Mamma, Katie, Mrs. Osborne (whom she had seen before), and by her side she described a tall handsome lady, with a remark- ably beautiful complexion and auburn hair, whom I recog- 30O EVENINGS AT HOME nised as her eldest daughter. Likewise my small sisters who were strewing quantities of flowers about me. It seemed to her as if my troubles could not continue much longer, but that at any rate my needs will be supplied, by varied little helps. She said there were many bands of spirits succeeding one another (I think she must have meant the ten septs), and that all did something for me. That there were always fresh and fresh people coming to me, each to gather what they could receive, and that in some way they would all contribute towards my require- ments. More was said, but somehow I can less retain what was said to myself, than to the other two ; I suppose because it is unnecessary to record it. At about five o'clock we went into the back room for a little refreshment, after which we resumed our places, and I got out the coat of many colours, and the white one, to shew to Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Gray. Then somehow, our thoughts reverted to the subject of the Sunday com- munication, and a great deal was spoken about it through Mrs. T. After which Mrs. Gray stood up, and with much dignity an address was made to each of us : the Spirit saying, "I am he who seldom gives his name." But it came so unexpectedly that I was not prepared to take it down, so that nothing remains to me, but that a name was given to Mrs. Gordon, referring to her work in India, that of the "Pioneer." Mrs. Gray remained later with me than the others, and when I returned to her (where she was sitting by the window) after seeing Mrs. T. and Mrs. Gordon off, she told me she had seen a lady come out on one of the balconies, who had given her a certain impression, and she said she sometimes saw beautiful lights from houses when she knew nothing about the people, so I asked her what she thought of the shut-up house. " Oh ! that is a very sweet influ- ence : it belongs to one who has a very kind nature. She would like to help every one and to make them all happy ; but somehow her nature has been cramped in her youth, — cramped and warped. But she would wish to make every- IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 301 body happy, only she would like to do it in her own way, for she cannot bear even the slightest interference : she must to a certain extent dominate wherever she is, and is apt to be (shall I say ?) displeased if at all contradicted ; but notwithstanding that, hers is a charming nature, and the house is filled with very bright spirits when she is at home. I had not mentioned whether it was a lady or a gentleman who inhabited the house, nor that I knew the inmate, but the delineation of her character was very accurate. Mrs. T. came to me on the 23rd of October, and as she had been some time absent from home, we had much to talk over, among which we touched upon the prophecy (published in the last Medium) given through Mr. Colville, of the changes which may be expected in 1881, which is similar in many respects to much that has been inbreathed to me, and also in later times given through various mediums. I said something about our quiet talk between ourselves, going into space, perhaps to rest in other minds, all unknown to us. She then seemed to listen, and I asked if she heard anything, while at the same time a sentence came into my thought, to which I did not give utterance, but she spoke it, saying, " Although they have neither speech nor language, yet their voices are gone forth even unto the ends of the earth." In looking back upon this, it seems to me that while she heard the voice, it must equally have gone to my inner senses, although not to my consciousness, and that it may be thus that I receive the inbreathing, only with spirit rapidity, for I appear to gather such a fulness of ideas all at once. On the last day of October Mrs. Gordon called here to say farewell, but as I happened to be out she left word for me to go round to her, as she would be too fully engaged to come in again, which I accordingly did, so as to have a final peep at her before her departure for India ; and it seems that Daisy was right in her prevision, for the three years are nearly expired, and I hear no word of her return, although her name has been prominent as an energetic worker for Spiritualism in that distant land of ours. 302 EVENINGS AT HOME One evening in November, Miss Pery was with me, and was anxious to have some messages about her mother's health, as she had had while with me on the previous even- ing, but she only received a few raps, with nothing decisive, but presently she said, " Oh ! what a very uncomfortable influence I feel ! it makes me quite shiver with intensity of cold : is it F ? " No, it was not. " Or old M ? " Still no, so she placed her hand on the little table for the alphabet. A letter was given, then another, but they made no sense, so she asked for a recommencement, but the same two were given, and we then realized that they were the initials of a double name, and we received communications on the subject of the spirit, who had not very long passed from earth ; but when the messages were over, Miss Pery could not recover from the intense feeling of cold, which seemed to pierce her through and through, although she sat down on the footstool, turning her back to the fire, for the spine appeared especially to suffer. She said she had had the feeling of being surrounded by icebergs, even seeing their cold, jagged, shining points rising up on all sides. It was one who had been utterly and selfishly cold, except to his own personal belongings, and we were told that this is his retribution, also that the ice cannot be melted from the out-side : his heart must warm towards others, and thus only can it be dissolved, but our prayers and kind thoughts may reach him and in some degree kindle an answering glow ; and we are both doing our best in that direction. It was a singular lesson, and one that all may do well to lay to heart. At intervals we have occa- sionally had a few words, and they were each time of an ameliorated nature. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 3C3 CHAPTER XXL On the 18th of November Miss Ingram came to see me, and later on Miss Pery likewise came in, which was their first introduction to one another, and we had a small seance of which I have nothing special to record. Miss Ingram went away about eight o'clock, and after she had left I told Miss Pery that her stone was the diamond. The idea of an appropriate precious stone was new to her, and she asked what mine was ? " The Opal," and she then wondered what hers might be. The answer, however, did not come to me, but to herself, that it was the sapphire (meaning truth), of which the corroboration came to me, and it led to my telling her about Mrs. Ramsay, and that while they were in India, they were robbed of (I think) plate and jewellery to some considerable extent, so they sent for one of the Indian seers (or discoverers of stolen goods, though I am not sure of the name by which they are called), and he noticed on her finger a large sapphire which she usually wears, and said to her : — " You will re- cover your rings, because you still retain that one, which is your own stone." His prediction was fulfilled, for the rings were recovered, all tied together, but none of the other articles. Having discussed that matter, we talked of other things, and presently she complained of feeling a dis- agreeable influence, and wondered who it might be, but we received a negative to all our suggestions ; when suddenly that Indian flashed into my mind, and I was told that it was he, and that he had come to seek for Light. Miss Pery wondered how we could help one who was as it were so far out of our range, so I said we must not only prayer him, but strive to teach him to pray ; so I placed my hand on the table, and asked him to unite with me in what I was going to say. I then commenced The Lord's Prayer, and 304 EVENINGS AT HOME at each petition he tipped the table three times in assent. When I came to, " Give us this day our daily bread," there was a hesitation, until I explained that spiritual food was also typified, when he assented as before ; but when I said, " Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us," I received a positive refusal ; all my talking and persuasions were unavailing, he would not be induced to for- give the injuries he might have received; that Christian grace is at present beyond his grasp, and we then learned that he was gone. Presently Miss Pery was impelled, as she often is, to give me caressing touches on the face and head, asking who it was, and after some mental questioning on my part, I found that it was Jim Ramsay, and that the mission was then given to him to work among those Indian spirits (a multitude of them being in the same radius as the one who had communicated), and that he is to strive to bring them to Christianity, being to some extent prepared for that labour during his earth-life by his sojourn in India (where both his birth and his death took place), and his knowledge of their language, which is a need in dealing with spirits of a low grade • but that he will also be strengthened and helped in the work by prayers from this side, so I wrote to Mrs. Ramsay about it, and to ask her to give her aid, which will of course be all the stronger from so much of her own life having been passed in India. Mrs. T. came to me on the 2nd of December, when I read to her the above account ; and while we were discuss- ing the subject, she passed under influence, so gently that I was scarcely aware of it at first, when she said : " His was the kind of brain suitable for the reception of impres- sions, more so than some that might be looked upon as more intellectual, and he could thus be made available for the higher directing influences, to serve as a medium for them among those Indian minds which had been as yet unprepared for a true knowledge of The Lord Jesus Christ. Through this medium, therefore, those directing influences could come within reach of those who have never heard of the Kingdom of The Lord Jesus, which is now being drawn IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 305 from all the ends of the earth and from the Heavens in which He is to reign. So with this explanation it becomes easy to see why this man has been chosen for this work, and by it one is helped to understand how and why some- times men seemingly unsuitable are chosen for special missions. It is necessary that a man should be suited to, or have some special relation with, that work to which he is to be called, but it is still more important that he have a brain which can be acted upon and through by wiser beings than himself, — indeed, those wiser ones left to do the work by themselves would be like men without hands \ they could not do it. No man, no spirit, is so high as to say to any other, ' I have no need of thee,' so we learn the great lesson of reciprocity, and to include charity as the greatest of all gifts. " There was a purpose in this man's life, nourished by his tender mother : there was a greater purpose in his death. For by his life he was fitted for this great work, and she may continue to greatly aid him. Let her be sure that his death was a needed step in the great plan of his whole life . . I am permitted to say that through and by what he has already done, many even now rise up to say — ' Let the sunlight smile upon her : — let the moonbeams gently touch her : — gentle mother, she is blessed.' " She said these latter words very tenderly, and then awoke. I had a curious book lent to me, entitled "Modern Hieroglyphics," consisting of coloured illustrations, as interpretations of the Apocalypse, combined in a manner with the revelations discovered by Professor Piazzi Smyth in the measurements of the Great Pyramid. Both she and a friend who was then staying there, were much interested, and the prophecies led to considerable discussion. Towards the end, when it came to the 144,000 who were sealed, Mrs. T. heard the numbers frequently repeated to her, and she said to me, Were the 144,000 to be all? I said, No, they were to be the first-fruits^ but all would eventually belong to Christ's Kingdom, for that is to be universal. Then she seemed to be seeing, and gently murmured u 306 EVENINGS AT HOME that many who made sure were not among the sealed ones, and many also there were among them who had not deemed themselves worthy, and she saw their looks of glad surprise coupled with humility. Gradually she passed quite under influence, and said : " Some there are jn this present day who must take heed. Let them take great care in this respect, that they do not repeat history in ignoring the messenger who precedes the Coming New Dispensation : — or else their attitude to this New Dispensation will be pre- cisely that of the Jews to the Christian Dispensation now drawing to its close." [May I ask who it is that gives this message?] "One who sat and listened." By which I well understood that Mary of Bethany was implied, but some- thing disturbed her, and she awoke. She came to me on the evening of December 30th, in the thought of the anniversary of my mediumship, which would take place the next day, but that being Tuesday, she would be engaged at home. After a time she asked for the little table, having an impression to place her hands upon it, and we agreed that it was quite in, accordance with the idea of her visit, as it had been bought for the express purpose of my development, so I put it in front of us, with a supply of paper and pencils. . . . Mrs. T. gradually passed under influence, and said, "Let the living voice testify of Me. Thy works are sufficient for the time, but now, in the fulness of time, let thy voice be heard. Many will hear and believe that thou art taught of The Lord. — It is His work, and good in His sight, so fear not, Comforter." ... (I omit here a portion of what passed.) For a little time she was silent, but then resumed, " When the power returns, give it voice, and it shall tell thee what is true, and direct thee in thy shaded path, and thou shalt avoid every stumbling-block, for thy feet will be guided." Here was again a long pause, and the expression of her countenance lost its solemnity and became smiling, as if in response to friends: then she said, "Who is William? He gives thee greeting." I thanked him cordially. "Many of us greet thee, and would fain have speech, but the power is lacking." IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 307 I greeted them all in return, and it reminded me of another 31st of December that she was with me, when almost in her normal state, she saw so many of my friends, and said it seemed like a family gathering, and that they were all strewing flowers around me, and now, when she awoke, she said she smelled the perfume of flowers. Presently she again passed into trance, and said : " The Lord shall quicken whom He will, and none shall say this is the work of man : behold, all things that are alive shall be made new. Let the dead bury their dead and pass away. Ye who are called to newness of life must in no wise pause to look back. • The Lord's work claims thee, and by it ye shall live and not die, and those who are dear to thee, for thy sake they also shall live, and all will be gathered into the Kingdom of The Lord, Who now speaks by the mouth of His messenger." [May I ask the name of the messenger?] " Even he who announced the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." [Dear Gabriel?] "Even so. Many signs will follow those who believe, and, as of old, it will be for the simple to see and to comprehend : the worldly-wise are shrouded in their own wisdom, and cannot see the Light now dawning in the world. None may speak of these things except by and through The Lord (here she clasped her hands together) : The Lord gives the power, He may also take it away. Let The Lord's name be blessed. (Rising, and spreading her hands outwards), Now to The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, be praises ever- more, world without end, Amen." She here awoke for a time, and we were again in quiet conversation, when a new power came upon her, causing her to speak more rapidly than she is wont, and in a rather plaintive and imploring voice : " Dear Hope is talking, and she says — ' How is it ? and why all this turmoil? Do write and tell me how things are, and tell me how I stand, explaining all these dark things to me. Comfort me, and let me know all there is to be known, and whether all is fraud, so that I may learn to know my own mind. I reach out — I reach out to you 308 EVENINGS AT HOME in spirit, and you will help me, and not turn my hands empty away. What is true? and what is right? Who is truthful ? I seem to be on the sea without rudder or chart, and I know not where I am drifting. I thought I had an anchor, but my rest is gone ; so help me, comfort me ; shew me what is true and what is stable, and do not leave me, for I shall sink without help." Here she awoke, and she saw Mrs. Gordon standing as it were between us, so I read to her what had passed, and we thought that possibly dear Hope might have come to us in her sleep. The circumstance referred to was something that had been published in the Spiritualist journals some time previously which we had thought at the time might be a worry to her, but which had now passed out of our own minds. Mrs. T. had been wish- ing to write to her, but had not her Indian address, which, however, I could give ; so we agreed that I should copy the communication, and also write her a letter, which Mrs. T. would forward with hers. We had another communica- tion referring to the omitted portion, which I likewise with- hold; so I will now give an extract from Mrs. Gordon's letter, dated February igtk, 1879. "It seems rather a strange coincidence that I only heard of the case in ques- tion at the date or thereabout you mention as having been sitting with Mrs. T. It must have been about the 29th of December that I saw the account in the Banner of Light. We only arrived in Calcutta on the 22nd, and my husband after Christmas went and called on Peary-Chand Mittra, and brought home some papers he lent him. I was really distressed, but even more astonished at what I read, but it did not in the least shake my faith : I k7iew there was no fraud in my house, and no exposure can affect me in that way. My distress was for the cause, and a feeling that it weakened one's arguments when a sceptic could bring the very men, who had given the seances by which one admitted one's conviction, forward as accused of imposture. I felt as though I should be unable to fight so well against scoffers and sceptics if they knew this." It seems to me clear that in the very first moment of her distress (which it must have IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 309 been at the time of her appeal to us), she felt it even more keenly than she afterwards remembered, for I know by my own feelings in such matters, how one exaggerates the fear of the mischief to the cause that they may occasion, and how fully one learns to realise that that which is God's own work, cannot permanently be injured, and that it is indeed safe in His Hands. Mr. Joseph returned from Melbourne towards the close of the year, wonderfully renovated in health, although still somewhat of an invalid. He had now most entirely accepted the Divinity of Christ, and was essentially a Christian, but I never urged him to any open acknowledgment, for I think that in such cases a man must act according to his own judgment ; besides which there are such diversities of sects in the Christian Church that he would need to weigh well all the different considerations ere he should decide to which he would unite himself: — to say nothing of the pain he might give to his family, especially to his tender, loving mother. Not that such plea was ever put forth by him, for the question was never in the slightest degree mooted between us. He used to go on the Sunday to different places of Christian worship, and doubtless gathered benefit from each and all. But his inner questionings were all brought to me, and I could always answer so as to give him conviction, help being given to me to make my words simply clear. His visits here were generally on the Saturday, and we often passed over a great variety of ground in our talks. He was a fairly good French scholar as far as understanding the language went, but he was not very secure as to his pronunciation, and he once asked me if I knew any French- man who would be willing to make a mutually advantageous arrangement, by taking an English lesson in reading from him in exchange for a French one. I certainly did not, nor did I quite think such a plan would be practicable, but I offered to do duty as a Frenchman by giving him the reading lessons myself, without the exchanged benefit, and I agreed that he should come every Saturday morning at eleven for about a couple of hours, also suggesting that 3IO EVENINGS AT HOME the best book for his purpose would be the New Testament. He had made himself thoroughly conversant with it in its English form during his long absence in Australia, so that he would have no difficulties as to translation, although I did have a good deal as to the pronunciation of some of the sounds, and we would have a word repeated over and over again until he got it with tolerable accuracy • but it reminded me of the test as to tribe which was devised by Jephthah ; see Judges xii. 5, 6. " And it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over ; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite ? If he said, Nay ; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth : and he said Sibboleth : for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and they slew him at the passages of Jordan." For it really seemed as if he could not " frame to pronounce " some of the combinations correctly, and the effort in straining every muscle of his face was to me very remarkable, for there seemed to be a kind of physical disability. They were French lessons, but yet more decidedly they were theological ones ; for we began with the Gospel according to St. John, and the elucidation of those divine words, which we seem to have drawn in with our mother's milk, had to be shaped into words that should make clear explanations to one to whom all was novelty, and the one chapter to which we limited our reading would give rise to endless thoughts. First, I would read a verse or two, and he would then read the same until he had mastered its obstacles, when we might perhaps branch off into its theology, so that the two or three hours we might thus spend would be in every way valuable to him. Our talk was interspersed with the narra- tion of some vision that he might have had in the interim, of which he would either receive the interpretation himself, or perhaps I might give it. He used to term me his mother No. 2, because I had originally developed his rnediumship. He was still very much out of health, and resolved upon going down to Hastings for a time for the benefit of the sea-breezes in the hope of thus gaining strength, and on IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 3II his last visit here, we exactly finished St. John's Gospel, when I said we had better wait until his return before deciding upon which Book we would go to next, but I little thought that such return would never be in mortal form, for while at Hastings he was attacked with something of the nature of English cholera, and one of his brothers was summoned down just in time to be with him during the last few hours. That same brother afterwards called upon me to communicate his death and the manner of it : he said he seemed to fall off into a peaceful sleep, with scarcely even a sigh. He had fully realised since the first renewal of his visits here that a great mission was before him ; in fact the visions of his childhood, to which I have already alluded, were pre- monitory in the same direction, and his predominant feel- ing was that it would be among his own nation, to lead them first to Spiritualism and through that to Christianity, in the same course that he had pursued, and he expected that health and strength would be given to him when he was ripe for the work, so that he should therein be an active labourer, although he waited with the utmost patience until the right moment should arrive, when his field of action would be made plain to him. Since his departure I have learned that his mission has indeed a far larger scope than even he had anticipated, for it is to the countless genera- tions of his nation who have passed out of mortality that he is to teach the high truths that have been revealed to him here, so that it is a parallel case to that of Jim Ramsay. To touch the Jewish prejudices, still strong as ever in the beyond, it was needful that there should be the powerful national affinities, and he has been in every way prepared for the work he has to do, even those French lessons being as a type that every muscle and fibre of his being was to be rendered more supple so as to enable him to be in harmony with each tribal division. To me it had been vouchsafed to be the means through whom the first gleam of the true light should be shed upon him ; thus the Christian element was contained within the first small stream that was poured 312 EVENINGS AT HOME in upon him, and rested gently within his soul ready to amalgamate with all that should be in harmony therewith until the mighty Truth flooded his entire being, and then he was prepared to be summoned to his real sphere of action. I wrote to tell Miss Ingram of his, to us, unexpected death on the 12th of July (the 2nd had been his 47th birthday), and I was so much struck with what she said on the subject, that I must transcribe it. "I am much startled to learn that Mr. Joseph is called to the other side. He has been made ready here for a life of important action on the other side, and had he been called thither sooner, however loyal and ardent he might have been, he could not have gained the needed instruction and experience so rapidly and effectively there as he has done here. He goes to swell the hosts of The Most High — which all who pass from this side certainly do not, for they are not ready. But there can be little doubt that Mr. Joseph has been made ready, and what is equally importa.7it, he has made himself ready. They who are to compose the hosts of The Lord are more numerous in the spheres than on the earth — the conflict will be a terrible one — the issues stupendous — and this little Earth the battle-ground. Men, — mortals, will have to decide. They will find no hollow talk about God or the Soul will avail them. But a direct recognition that God is a living God, very near to all of us, that he is lord, that He rules in the affairs of men, and that His govern- ment has reference always to the right-doing and the good actions of men. Hideous greed is not easily abandoned. Most Englishmen have been acting as Lot did. They have been eagerly choosing the good things even when these led them to associate with Sodomites. Though some of them even like Lot, who ' vexed his righteous heart every day,' have grieved much at the evil they have witnessed ; yet they have kept the good things, and not withdrawn from the evil associations. Think of the frailty and con- tradiction of life in a good man, ' vexing his righteous heart daily. 7 Yet the seductiveness of riches — of good things — IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 313 must be great : they must drug the sensibilities. There is not the faintest intimation that Lot ever contemplated changing his place of residence so as to escape from those evils that vexed his righteous heart : Lot was a materialist, and had not a vivid mind to grasp the truth of things in actual life." I have alluded to my difficulties, but they have taught me many lessons as to what those of my own class may have to suffer in mournful silence when external supplies fail them. I had a variety of little trinkets that I loved for remembrances attached to them, but even some of those had to go. One of the earliest, for it had only been my own purchase since we came to this house, was a small gold chain for the throat on which to suspend a locket, and for it I had paid 18s. I do not think I had worn it a dozen times, so that it was as fresh as when new : and for that I could only obtain three shillings ! I tried in two different shops, painful as was the feeling in so doing, but the result was the same, and as even that tiny amount was of importance to me, the sacrifice had to be ! Many many such trials were mine ! Some things there were that I could not part with, so I resolved to try the other expe- dient of which I had heard, and to pledge them. I knew their value was considerable, but all the jeweller would give me upon them was ^3, on which a monthly interest was to be paid that did not sound so very much, but that in the year mounted up to twelve shillings. It was not nearly what I needed for my then purpose, but, thank God ! the remainder came to me from another source. I had hoped to be able soon to redeem them — but I was not. When the month's interest was due, as I should be in the neigh- bourhood (for it was at some distance from here), I sug- gested to my counsellors that I should call and pay it, which they negatived, and still did so on each successive occasion until nearly the expiration of the year, when I went to pay the amount due, and then how thankful I was that he had not given me more upon them, as the drain would have been so much the heavier : but then I learned that even in 314 EVENINGS AT HOME that particular, my unseen teachers were wise beyond my knowledge, for the law permits that at each payment they give afresh pawn-ticket, price one penny: — if therefore I had paid monthly, as had been my original thought, the cost would have been an additional shilling in the year ! When the next twelve months had almost rolled round, I was in a real agony of mind, for I had not the money to spare, and even should the shillings come in, I thought — should I dare to part with them ? had I not better let my treasures go ! — for thus in five years I should have to pay all I had received, and might still be unable to redeem them ! The thought was bitter indeed ! — But then came a commission for a tiny monogram, and the curious sum proffered for it was twelve shillings ! But I was immediately given to understand that^it was so fixed for me to realise that it was expressly intended to meet that especial difficulty, and that therefore I was to have no qualms about thus appro- priating it. The commission came through the interposi- tion of a friend who generally comes up to London once a year, and always calls upon me during the time of her visit. Although these sort of troubles are generally deeply hidden within one's own secrecy, I could not help telling her how great had been the relief she had been the means of bring- ing to me. The next year she was again in London at about the same season, and called upon me with her friend of the monogram, who bought a pair of little socks, and other things that would again help me through the trouble. Then she took me aside, and whisperingly asked me if it would be any comfort if she should lend me £2, to redeem a part. — Oh ! would it not? for my fear always was — suppose when the moment came it should be impossible to meet the emergency ! In a day or two she brought me the money — telling me that I could make the small payments that I should have done as interest, which were to be in gradual liquidation of the debt ! ! ! Her means are narrow, but may I point out to such as are wealthy that that is a class of help they might sometimes give ? She did not need the security of my jewels, and they were to be in my own IN SPIRITUAL STANCE. 315 keeping. She is indeed a true and sterling woman, and will find her path in the hereafter strewed with countless blessings. Of course I immediately redeemed a portion of my belongings, most thankful once more to have them in my possession, and towards the close of the year I was able to pay the other sovereign so as to reclaim the remainder. In the October of the previous year, Mrs. T. had told me of her anxiety about the health of her youngest child, the one who spiritually may be considered as partly mine, according to various messages both before and after her birth, and through me an intimation was then given that it referred to her future development into trance medium- ship, and there were also directions as to treatment. She then heard the words — " Think of Anna the prophetess ; have her much in mind." Now Anna had greeted Our Infant Lord in the temple ; and may have to help this child medium. . . . She presently passed under influence, and said : — " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise (here she pressed her finger on my brow with much force), and to thee I say that the eye of faith may penetrate beyond the veil, that veil which is impenetrable to mortal sight. I likewise enjoin upon thee to let thy thoughts dwell much and often upon this child, for thou art her prototype, and she will know that I Am, and I shall reign throughout all the kingdoms of the earth. Fear not — all will be well." She then awoke, and we had a little more conversation on the subject before she left. I met her the next evening at Langham Hall (for the Reci- tations of Miss Ella Dietz and her brother), and she then told me that the child had that day had the very worst attack she had ever had ; but that she had herself felt quite calm through it all. That was the very last instance, for there has since been no repetition. Mr. Green came to see me on the 29th of October 1879. We began with some little talk, and then I shewed him one of the drawings, but while he was yet examining its beauties and admiring it, I was impressed to mesmerise him, for he 316 EVENINGS AT HOME had been somewhat detained in coming, which had flurried him. It was the heart that was mesmerised, and he almost immediately said how much his head was relieved. Then he asked ; " Who is that tall lady standing behind you ? she is tall and slender, and the name 'Anna' comes to me." I could not at first think of any Anna till he said : " She seems to have been a very long time in the spirit world, and her hands appear to be enveloped in a kind of blue atmosphere." I then at once understood that it was Anna the prophetess. I was telling Mrs. T. about this when she came to see me the next evening, and she related to me that when she had taken the child on her knee on the previous afternoon, she had exclaimed at seeing her sur- rounded with a blue light, and one of those present had thought that perhaps her eyes were dazzled by having just come in from the sunshine, — but it was a soft beautiful blue atmosphere, such as that described by Mr. Green, and it must have been a signal to her of the presence of Anna, which she will understand if she should see it again. It was our first meeting since her return from America, so that naturally our conversation had ranged over many subjects, and something was said about the many changes in the course of life, especially in the long years ago, and she said (although she afterwards wondered how she had ventured to put such a question), " Which part of your life do you think has been the happiest ? " To which I replied, " Oh ! this, beyond all comparison, notwithstanding all the pressure of my pecuniary difficulties. The absolute certainty of realising God's continual Presence is beyond all other happiness, besides that of being always surrounded by those whom I have loved in the past, so that I feel a joy and a peace far beyond all the pleasures of my former life." — Then in a dreamy way she said, " I see a bird," — and I found she was passing under influence, so I got paper and pencil, and she repeated the words, " I see a bird, coming up quite close. It has got a twig in its mouth. It isn't very green, and it means peace." [A twig of olive, is it ?] " It is holding it up for you to see. It has a berry on it : I see IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 3 I 7 the berry, which is a much deeper green than the leaf. It shews the fruit, but it means peace. It says — Peace I bring with Me — My peace I give unto you." [May I ask the meaning of having a fruit in the emblem of peace ?] " It symbolises the daily bread which The Lord promised to those who loved Him if they asked for such sustenance." [Has the form of the symbol any reference to the olive being a tree of my own land? ] " In order to reach you, it has been needful for the Dove to watch the waters lest at any time they might overwhelm you ; and now, — at the moment when these begin to subside, lo ! this bird of promise is able to gather the branch of promise, and it is brought to you at the earliest moment. It is an indication that from a very near point of time the waters have com- menced to subside, and you will be able to feel your feet on The Lord's earth. This tender spirit whose outward symbol has brought you comfort." [May I ask what Spirit ?] " The Holy Spirit — The Comforter, Whose peace passeth under- standing. It is expected that you will see this branch ; it will remain with you, and when you faint,* it will be right to ask that Our Lord in mercy grant you the power to see this token. It will even go before you as the light passed before them of old. — It will go before you to shew you the way, and when it rests you may safely repose. There was one who in the olden time received the blessing, the sweet assurance that the waters had begun to abate ; the same blessed Master sends to you by the same message the same blessed assurance in all its spiritual significance. Receive, dear sister,t this sacred sign, and treasure the symbol now sent for the second time, to signify that the world will be saved." Here she awoke and was much struck with the * The word faint shews me that I may still expect a season of struggle and anxieties. Psalm xxvii. 13, " I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Prayer-book version ; 15, "I should utterly have fainted." + There was a kind of hesitation before the word " sister " was used, which led me, upon thinking over the seance afterwards, to enquire who had been the communicating spirit, and I was informed that it was Anna the prophetess. 318 EVENINGS AT HOME fulness of the promises given. We then talked about my Whit Sunday Dove, which I had received as a symbol of The Comforter, and Mrs. T. wondered whether it might be the spirit of that very bird that had been enabled to bring me the emblem of Peace, and she was answered that it was. In the earlier part of the evening I had spoken of Mr. Harrison Green's visit to me on the previous day, and of his having been like myself an amateur photographer ; also that he had some years ago purchased a large new camera and other apparatus that he had never yet used, and I thought that perhaps at some future time he and I might try for the spirit photography — but we were not thinking of the subject, when she said, "Just at that moment I had a glimpse of that photographic apparatus that I saw here before, long ago. [See First Series, page 340.] It was just behind you, where your easel stands, and it seemed to be pointing towards the door. I saw a man with his head under a black cloth looking through it. I do not know whether that would be the right place for the camera to stand, but perhaps it would have to be placed there at first so as to be filled with power, as that is the most sacred place in your room, being the one you occupy while engaged upon your drawings." IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. Z l 9 CHAPTER XXII. I went to see Mrs. T. on the 6th of November, and was much struck with a beautiful tiny wheatsheaf on a table near the window, when she told me that she had been impressed to unpack it that morning, and to place it on that particular spot. It had been laid on the coffin of a beloved relative, deceased during her late visit to her girl- hood's home. We established ourselves in front of the fire, and talked away to our hearts' content for some considerable time. She suddenly gave a slight start, and began to rub one of the fingers of her right hand, saying that it was like the burn from a spark of fire ; but the fire was burning very gently, moreover the feeling was on the side of the finger nearest to me, and away from the fire, which led us to talk of St. Stephen's signal, and the various occasions upon which we had both felt it, either together or apart. I had with me the two little books into which I copy her visions, and read to her the one she had had the week before, about the Dove and olive-branch ; and also, in connexion with the death of my Arthur's week-old baby, the beautiful vision she had had of children floating, that I had copied, and sent to Arthur in his trouble. I afterwards spoke of an earlier vision that had occurred on the 1 8th of February 1870, which I read to her as follows : — " I have been looking at what I supposed to be little globes of light, but when I look more closely I find that they all enclose a little form, very tiny, like the first beginning of the child ; one part is larger than the other, and it curves and tapers. The air is full of them. These are children of the brain : they are thoughts which can be sent to receptive people from the spirit world. The ball of light which seems to enclose the tiny shape forms the atmosphere by which it can be carried from one place to another." 32 EVENINGS AT HOME I told her that that vision often recurred to my mind, and that I expected the idea would some time be elaborated either to her or to me, and that something of the kind has been represented in one or two of my later symbolical drawings, but of which I have not as yet received the inter- pretations. Even while I was yet speaking, it came (in- breathed) to me that these thoughts must, in the first instance, rest in a brain sufficiently elevated to be in affinity with it ; there it, as it were, germinates and developes, then passes out again, still in a thought- form, but having acquired something of earthliness by which it may be received by a somewhat lower mind, where the process is repeated. It thus continues to descend, becoming more and more material, or it may be called tainted ; but only by such means could it at all reach the lower levels of humanity. It was also symbolised to me as a long-suspended thread, having on it different beads at intervening distances ; the upper one being dazzlingly white and transparent, the descending ones becoming gradually coloured by the thread, or mind, whereby they have travelled, of which the higher ones may still retain glowing rainbow tints which become muddied in their transit, until at length they appear opaque and almost black ; but the downward shading is so gradual, that by carrying the eye upward, it may be seen that all is in harmony, and hope may be felt that the clouding may be cleansed away, and the pure thought, although apparently almost annihilated, may eventually be able again to spring into life. All this came fragmentarily during our conversation, and then Mrs. T. passed into trance, and said : — " They get first into the sphere where it is possible to apprehend naked Truth. Then we shall do well to bear this truth in mind, that sometimes what we take for falsehood or error is be- cause of its clothing, or what is put on to it by passing through various minds, when it gradually gets encrusted, and the form of the essential truth is changed by these encrustations. So we say, it is false ; it is an imposture, and no truth is covered here. But Our Lord, and many IN SPIRITUAL STANCE. 32 I who are less wise, could find in these malformations spiritual truths disguised; and we who can be wise enough to examine what is meant by each presentation, may gain much wealth. In Our Lord's plan of the universe all is conserved, and nothing is common or unclean. In all humility, from highest to lowest, we may take this lesson into our hearts; thus The Lord's name will be praised." She sat silent for a few minutes, then pointing to the miniature wheatsheaf of which I have spoken, she said : — " She is here.''' [Who ?] " She who was gathered in the fulness of time, and whose work is fitly represented by fruit- ful corn." [You mean your beloved relative; but has her presence anything to do with what has been said ?] " No. But it means that she could not see that some things were true that were not according to her own perception of truth. She is listening, and what we have been talking about has been szx&for her, for since her change of state she has not been happy ; she could only see things in her own way. " It has also something to do with this burning (pointing her fingers towards one another). You must be pricked on the right hand and on the left to open the body to a per- ception of The Lord, and if one had not .been pricked in body and in spirit one cannot see ; and in some way it has now been given to her to feel the importance of what has been here said, and in God's mercy it has been her first help in understanding her place in the plan of life. She is stroking my hand. It is the first time I have had the apprehension of her presence, but I have had with respect to her a feeling of sadness, as if there had been disappoint- ment to her, but without any detailed causes. Her life was outwardly full of good work — of good and useful work — but so. full that she, as it were, suffered interiorly by being drawn surfaceward, and by the external life being too active and made of such paramount importance. There must, for a time, be for her a period of repose ; she must wait upon The Lord, and be content to see others take up her accustomed routine. She dwelt too much in one groove of thought and action, and was unable to see that on x 322 EVENINGS AT HOME either hand might be branching side-walks as efficient, and enlightened by as much truth as the path whereon she her- self trod. Things more necessary to her happiness will gradually be unfolded to her as the equilibrium between the inner and the external bodily life is adjusted, but that will not be for many days. For the present this interview will help to comfort her, and will aid her in the way of attain- ment." Here she awoke into her normal condition, but she still felt her relative's presence while I read it to her, and we continued talking. I went to see her again in about a month, and after dinner I read the communication to her, for she scarcely realises the fulness of them in the first instance, as she may be only partially roused. I offered if she liked, to copy it out for her sister, who was anxious to know anything that might come in reference to their relative. She made some scruples as to giving me so much trouble, but those I over- ruled. Then she said, but more as if enunciating what came to her from some other mind : " Do you not think it ought to be published ? I think it is meant not only for her, but for a number of others : (passing more under in- fluence) : it could be called — A Lesson — A needed Lesson." [Do you mean the whole ? from the beginning ?] " About the thought ? Yes — but it will be more instructive without personality — no — not more, it will be as instructive." [I could write it for the Psychological Review* and perhaps you would send.it.] "Yes, I can send it, and say that I think it should be read by more than first listened to it. It is a thought, and that is all ; and we intended it to be circulated." Just then I was startled by a flash passing at about a yard's distance before my eyes towards her, and although I could not have defined the shape, the feeling was so strong that I exclaimed, [The Dove flashed before me!] "Yes, I felt its head here, (touching her right cheek), and it is the harbinger of peace and plenty. Peace — this is peace (raising her left hand and placing it as if covering her right, which she held very much cupped), and the * It was published in the last number of that series. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 323 other, plenty^ and there must be much room to hold it. Peace and Plenty (here she held her hands as if rilled to the uttermost). It cannot yet rest, because the water still covers the earth : it will come again and often. But when the waters subside, and the earth is left dry, then the Dove will take its flight, and go perchance to give comfort to the one who works in the West." I put some questions, the answers to which were to " rest in my own heart." Then was said : " When your feet take firm stand, such other change will be. . . . When you rest in strength" [Ah! that I think may be a long time.] " And it may be only a short day." [Any way, a little bit of firm ground would serve me.] " The Lord who knows your need will give you support." After a minute she shook my hand with her left one, and in a changed voice, said briskly — " Good-bye, Georgiana," and immediately awoke, feeling a pressure as of great weight in her right hand, which was the sensation of my promised " Plenty " that she still retained, and she remembered having felt the Dove's head against her cheek. We afterwards learned that the spirit who uttered the last three words was my cousin Mary, and indeed if the change had not come so unexpectedly, I should have recognised her immediately, for the manner and the fare- well intonation were essentially characteristic, and it is those kind of small evidences that people are so apt to over- look, and yet they are truer tests than any that can be planned beforehand as what ought to be required. On the 31st of December Mrs. T. came to spend the day with me in honour of the twentieth anniversary of my mediumship, and in the afternoon she told me about a special circle she was attending at Mrs. Billing's, for the enunciation of some spiritual theories by the direct voice ; but she did not know much of what was said, as she was usually in a kind of quiet semi-trance. After tea we had a seance, when she took up the pencil, and some curious writing upside-down was done, so that it was in the right position for me to read it : also, under influence, messages were given from several of those dearest to me, one of which 324 EVENINGS AT HOME was spoken in a sort of poetical strain, and although I cannot say much for its value as poetry, yet that, too, was a test, as the speaker was one who had once filled a page of my scrap- book with original verses, and was the only person who had ever done such a thing for me, also it was his only effort. She had been occasionally suffering from acute pain about four inches below the collar-bone on the left side, for which she had consulted a physician, who had attributed it in some way to diet, and had recommended care; and while we were still amusedly talking over what had passed, she said, while placing her hand on the spot; "They are shewing me about that pain. It is power taken for helping those voices, and last night I had it again, only not so severely." Even as she spoke, she passed into trance, so I enquired, [Ought she to go?] "There is something the matter with the left lung ; hence the pain, which is caused by obstruc- tion, otherwise no pain would attend the abstraction of such power." [In that case is it right for her to go to the meet- ings?] "No." [Can she in some way retire from these seances without any worry as to the cause?] "Perhaps — But she probably may not be able to go again, but if she goes, she can be taken care of, for it is not a necessity that she suffer." [Could I help her in any way? for instance, by prayer on the Thursday evenings, on which the circle is for the future to be held?] "Yes, — by centering your thought he?'e " (pointing to the spot). Here she awoke, and I explained to her what had passed, and how desirable it was that she should if possible give up attending the circle, which she then told me she had only joined for the sake of making up the number (in a pecuniary sense, I think, so that that was settled), and that the unexpected change in the evening of the week upon which they were to be held, might compel her absence, because of other engagements. There was something more given upon the subject, but this has been sufficient to shew that it is necessary to be extremely cautious as to the especial state of health of the sitters when forming a circle for a series of seances, and that any one who suffers in consequence should with- IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 325 draw immediately, at any rate until the ailment shall have been subdued. She again passed into trance, and said : — " Be not forget- ful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. — The Angel of The Lord encampeth here- about, and on this spot will be fixed His tent (pointing upwards with much solemnity). When He fixes His tent, it will be on the rock, and it will stand, and no flood will overtake it ; and in the tent some will be succoured, some will be strengthened, ere they go forth to the battle of the forces ; and these can return and be again strengthened for the work's sake. — Now, Faithful, what wilt thou ask in the name of The Lord % " [I know not what to ask — whatso- ever The Lord wills to send.] " But The Lord wills to be enquired of, concerning the gifts thou wouldst receive." [1 fain would receive my sight. — That mine eyes may be opened to see the spiritual beings around me, as was vouch- safed to the prophet's servant] " .... If thou hadst asked for thine hands to be filled, and the way of thy life lightened, even this would have been given thee. Thou shalt receive thy sight, and all these other things will be added thereunto. But the time waits. — The sun will surely shine on thy pathway, and its light will brighten all thy way, and so, God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There was a long pause, then she resumed, with strong emphasis. "The earth is The Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they who dwell therein. Shall He not do as He will with His own ? Is there any to bind or to loose save The Lord Only ? " There be those who say — A stone was my father, a stock was my mother. I came from the earth, to the earth I return : — there is no will save mine, there is no power. — "The Lord is about to lift His right arm (here she raised hers with a powerfully threatening attitude), and when it falls (she here brought her hand down on the table with a vehement blow), these children of stocks and stones will be crushed to powder : it were better for them that a millstone were put around their necks and they were drowned in the 326 EVENINGS AT HOME sea." Further denunciations were given with yet more vigour, and when she finally awoke, she was troubled and awe-stricken with the prophecies of woe that I had to read to her. She then asked for the Bible, and in the same forcible manner that is usual with her, it was opened, and the fingers of each hand pressed on opposite pages. The first she read was still denunciatory, Isaiah xix. 1 to 10. But the second ends more tenderly : Isaiah xvi. 1 to 5, which says — "And in mercy shall the throne be established : and He shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judg- ing, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness." She was again impressed to take up the Bible, which was turned several times in her hand ; and as it was opened, she said, "This is for you." The words were towards me : the first was, Isaiah xxx. 20, 21. "And though The Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers : and thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." The second text was from Isaiah xxviii. 29. " This also cometh forth from The Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." Thus the year ended for myself with words of comforting promise. I accompanied Mrs. T. on the afternoon of the 16th of January 1880, for a seance with Mrs. Billing, and after- wards went home with her, and in the course of the evening I mentioned that on the previous Sunday afternoon, I had been sitting in deep thought, and when I looked up I saw, just above my worked chair, a spirit light in the form of a small hovering bird, which rested quietly for about the time that I might have counted three. " At the moment you spoke to me," said she, " I was seeing the Dove." So we had no doubt that it was my impression of the Dove's presence that induced me to mention the vision I had had. I have already told of the first glimpse I had of her, so that this was the second, and I have had none since, but on both those occasions the fruitful branch was coming across IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 327 the waters to me, in the shape of a remittance from my two dear boys in succession. I will endeavour to give the substance of our seance with Mrs. Hollis-Billing, for I may only now and then remember the exact words. It was a densely heavy, rainy day, coming after the previous evening's snow, so that it was neither wholesome nor pleasant for any one. We found that Mrs. Billing was not very well, for she had been out to give se'ances on the two previous evenings, so that she was fatigued and otherwise poorly. I asked whether she would like me to mesmerise her (for mediums do sometimes object), and she said she should be glad, if I felt the " impression " to do so, and that had necessarily preceded my offer. At first the mesmerism was entirely to the throat ; the lungs were next worked upon between the shoulders, and finally the spine, especially the lower part, and in each case my " Friends " had of course found the seat of mischief. We all three then went into ' the completely darkened back drawing-room, where we sat for some little time in quiet conversation, when suddenly a brisk clear voice exclaimed, " How are you, Squaw T ?— glad to see you, Soh ! " — It was the Indian, Skiwaukie, usually greeted and spoken of as " Ski," who then said a few cordial words to me, expressive of pleasure at my visit, which would make us mutually acquainted. He talked to Mrs. T. about "Chief" T , and his present improved state of health, and various family matters. He then spoke to her about another person, saying that there was nothing spiritual there, for that the groove in which he dwelt had money only as its end and aim. The phrase he then used had reference to something in the earlier part of the conversation, when we had been talking of the narrowness of scientific men and such-like, who will receive nothing out of their own channels, and as Ski said, " would wish to cut a narrow path for other people to walk in." He spoke of some one she had had to do with, who was not of a very warm-hearted nature, and Ski said she was like a sponge, wiping up everything and keep- 328 EVENINGS AT HOME ing it. All at once he said, " Well, Squaw Houghton, what about the photographs ? " [Oh ! I have one in my pocket, done some little time since by Mr. Hudson, of Dr. Friese.] " Yes — of Paulina, I told Dr. Friese to go to him, and that he would get Paulina, and he did" [I have one of you ;] said I — " Oh ! I know you have, you have had it a big, long time." Which was true enough, for it was the one done stereoscopically in 1873 : and I spoke to him of its close resemblance to the photograph lately given in the Medium. We then had some considerable discussion as to the proba- bility of the photographic work being resumed, and Ski said, " One special person was appointed from the first for that work, and you are the one selected." How or when it was to be resumed was not clearly told, and perhaps Ski does not know, but we did not question, for I do not think it well to seek any information beyond what is volunteered. " I have been to your house, and seen your pictures," said he, so I asked what he liked best. " Oh ! those beautiful lines and colours." [Did you see the one I was shewing to Mr. Hudson on Wednesday ?] " No : what was it ? " I then explained to him that it was the monogram of the Queen of Wirtemburg, which I had shown to him because a Russian gentleman had been about London a good deal with Dr. Friese, and perhaps on some future visit to England they might come to see me. Ski expressed a great desire to see the picture, so I made an appointment with him to come to-morrow (Sunday, January 18), at two o'clock, when I will establish it on the easel, and I have no doubt I shall have some intimation of his presence. . . . Presently he said, "Squaw T , St. John is by you: he always comes when you are here." This led to our talking of St. John in conjunction with us both, and also to a great deal about Spiritualism in a religious point of view, and Ski said that his chief aim was to lead people into higher thoughts on such matters, and out of the frivolous excitement seeking which resulted in such painful affairs as one that had lately taken place. " I see a spirit by your side who is always with you ; do you see him ? " IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 329 No, I told Ski that I had not yet the happiness of the gift of sight, but looked to its coming to me somewhen. Mrs. T. asked about the health of a friend she was anxious about, and Ski said she was better, but must not tire her- self with too much talking ; and some observations were made about her "Chief," when Ski told of a lady who said that the worst she wished for her Chief was that he would go to Heaven. He then said he would retire for a little while and try to help some one else to come. Shortly I heard a very faint whisper of — " Mary — Mary — I am so glad, Georgiana, to speak to you here." Mrs. Billing asked if I recognised the spirit, and I told her it was my cousin, the wife of Mr. Pearson, who has been once or twice at her public circle, and she knew him very well, but had no idea of our relationship. Mary spoke a little more, but nothing of special import. She finished with a warm " Good-bye, Georgiana ; God bless you." After a short interval came another whispered voice, yet closer to me. "My dear, I am here." [Who are you?] said I, not at all realising it as a test. — "Waiting, waiting, waiting." Still I did not catch the idea, till Mrs. Billing said, "Is there any spirit who might use that phrase to you as a test ? " When the rhymes spoken through Mrs. T. on the last day of the year, of which those had been the opening words, were brought to my recollection, so I recited them all, and he repeated them after me, but being the first time of his exercising a voice, he could only add a final " God bless you." Then a spirit friend of Mrs. T.'s spoke with her for some little time, and after he had taken leave, Ski again conversed with us upon the expected changes. . . . He told me with much pride, that he had a portrait of St. John, a photograph in a frame that had been presented to him by a lady, on his birthday fete, December 29th. Mrs. Billing shewed it to me after the seance, and it is from a beautiful piece of sculpture, and I do not wonder at his pleasure in its possession. At last he said he had done all he could for us, and was glad we had been able to have 3$0 EVENINGS AT HOME so good a seance, which could not have been expected. [Because of Mrs. Billing not being well ?] " Ah ! no, my medium being poorly makes no difference, but because the weather is so bad that with some sitters they might scarcely have been able to get a word." [Did we bring the bright- ness with us ?] " Yes, you brought the sunshine in your pockets. Good-bye, Squaw T : good-bye, Squaw Hough- ton. I am very glad to have seen you both." And thus ended our very pleasant seance. The voice of Ski was clear and bright, and I was much amused by his continual use of the interjectional Soh ! either beginning or ending a phrase, and sometimes both, with wonderfully varying intonation. Mrs. T, afterwards said that she thought my having mesmerised Mrs. Billing made one chief element of success in the seance. January 19. — Skiwaukie kept his appointment yesterday, and at first he interested himself in reading a letter I had just written to Mr. Hudson, after which he noticed many things about the room \ he then accompanied me to the portfolio stand, whereon I had already placed the portfolio containing Queen Olga's monogram, which was to be looked at there instead of upon the easel as I had expected ; and thus Ski had a steadfast look at each drawing as we passed through it. Some I had to take out, and hold up for more perfect inspection, and the O. R. was thus held for him for a considerable time. When the contents of the portfolio had been thoroughly examined, I had to close it up, and he seemed much interested in the careful arrangements to protect the drawings from any possible injury. I then ful- filled a promise I had made on the previous day, when I sent to Mrs. Billing, as a gift for Ski, a photograph of " The Eye of The Lord " (No. 2), of which I said I would shew him the original on his intended visit to me. He contemplated it a long time in steadfast stillness, and afterwards inbreathed to me that he had learned from it many spiritual truths that were new to him. He took his leave at ten minutes before three, having to keep another engagement, but he was sorry to go away. While I was copying the foregoing into my book, IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 33 1 I received a note from Mrs. Billing. "January igf/i. — Dear Miss Houghton, — Ski is much obliged for the Photo you so kindly sent. I think it most wonderful, and feel that I shall often look at it with pleasure. He has paid his visit to you as he promised, and was much pleased with what he saw. Hoping you are quite well ; with kind regards, I am sincerely yours, Mary J. Billing." I went on the 23rd of June to Mr. Burns's soiree at the Cavendish Rooms, and while talking to Mr. Hudson, Mr. Towns tapped me on the shoulder, and said that he had been wanting to get at me, for that he had seen a very ancient individual standing by me, with his breast all written over with Hebrew characters — a great deal of writing. I asked if he could give me the name, and he said it was one of the sons of Jacob. "Is it Ephraim?" said I, feeling that son and grandson would be synonymous, especially the one from whom a tribe was named. "Yes, you are right." So I told him my belief that the English are the descendants of Ephraim, also some of my specific feelings with respect to him. He went on to say that in the coming changes in this new dispensation, those ancient ones would be promi- nent workers, as they had not been able to be in the former one, and that they were peculiarly linked with me. Much more he told me of my approaching work, when I shall be one of three who will have to bless the other workers. He said he had been obliged to tell me all that, and was very glad of the opportunity of my moving down to that part of the hall. Mrs. T. came to me on the evening of December 13th, when there were many things of different kinds to discuss, more especially the next evening's Council meeting at the B. N. A. S., when the secretaryship question would be finally concluded, although it was already virtually so, for the financial gain would be a certainty, and that was a necessary consideration with us ; but we feared there might be some present who might raise obstacles. During our talk she passed under influence, and some fresh light was thrown on an important point. There was also a prophecy, 33 2 EVENINGS AT HOME ending with these words . . . "and a great support may drop from you." [We can only trust in The Lord's help.*] " But at the proper time The Lord can again engraft this useful member, and the work will be no more hindered. You will be led to say, ' All can now be made right.' . . ." On the 14th the attendance of members of Council was large, but notwithstanding the universal expectation, all went off amicably, and I think spiritual power had been at work to still the troubled elements. Curiously enough, after the members had dispersed, I had a conversation with two gentlemen, one of whom did not belong to the Council, when every bit of her revelation was corroborated in all its details, and alas ! early in the following year the prophecy was fulfilled, although not by the will of the "great sup- port ! " but I trust the time may come when he will again be engrafted upon us. Mrs. T. came to me on the closing day of the year 1880, and I will make one or two short extracts from my records. Very denunciatory texts had been given from the Bible, and after we had discussed the sad prophecies we sat silent for some little time, when she said to me, "What is the name of the prophetess?" I saw she was passing under influence. [Do you mean Anna?] "Yes, I hear some one calling you Anna the prophetess." [I wonder why.] "Be- cause thou speakest by power that is given thee." Again there was silence. . . . Her hands were resting on the little table, but presently she raised her right hand pointing up- wards, placing the elbow on the table, the fingers slightly bent forwards as if to attract mine, but I found I had to raise both hands in conjunction with hers, forming a kind of tent, and it came to me to say, " The hand of The Trinity as a tent enfolding the faithful." ... A great deal passed, but her final persojial words for me were — "There is more, but I cannot catch the rest. It is going to be a very fid I time for you. — I think for a good while." * Even at that very moment the feeling came to me that it was M. A. (Oxon) who was alluded to. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 333 CHAPTER XXIII. I had for some time past seen in Spiritual Notes occasional observations as to an association of some kind that was in contemplation or formation, under the title of the Guild of the Holy Spirit, but it had not struck me to enquire into it, as there -had been other combinations of Spiritualists with which I certainly would not have connected myself. But on the 1st of November I attended the Discussion meeting at our rooms in Great Russell Street, arriving there very early, as I like in such cases to see the most I can of my friends. Very soon after I got there the Rev. Dr. Davies came down from the little upper room (which I of course knew that he was renting from us), and was very glad to find me there, as he wanted to tell me all about it. He then explained that he was the Founder of the said Guild, and had had his first small gathering that afternoon (All Saints' Day) at four o'clock. He entered into full particulars of his views and wishes, being well assured that they would be in accordance with mine. His plan was to hold sittings there twice a week (or more often, if the numbers grew), commencing with a short service for the administration of the Sacrament, and that then the circle should sit in a sort of stillness, wait- ing for what might come. There was to be singing, and whatever else might be deemed expedient, either in the dark or the light according to directions received at the time, but his desire was thus to give them a religious character and to prevent them from degenerating in any way into frivolity and trifling. He wished them to resemble as closely as might be the assemblage in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. The thought had been for some time in pre- paration, and he had had a number of letters from deep thinkers in many parts of the kingdom who had already enrolled themselves as members of the Guild, and who, 334 EVENINGS AT HOME wherever they might be, would unite in prayer at the hour appointed for the meetings, thus to be joined in spirit with those who were present. The hours fixed were to be, four o'clock on the Monday afternoons, and eight on the Thursday evenings : the latter I could manage, and pro- mised to be punctual and constant unless anything urgent should supervene to prevent my going. I then accompanied him upstairs to see his arrangements, and found that he had fitted his room up quite as a little oratory, and it already had the feeling of a place appropriated to praise and prayer. They were very happy little meetings, rarely exceeding a dozen, but the elements were harmonious, and the fact of Dr. Davies donning his surplice tended to give sacredness to their character. The manifestations were never very powerful, and were chiefly mental, but it was not excitement that was sought, so that what came sufficed for the few who formed the steadfast nucleus, while there were some who perhaps only came once, and some who were irregular, but that might be in a degree from the force of circumstances. After a time, contributions were made for the purchase of a harmonium for use during our services of prayer before and after the sittings, one of our members being kindly the instrumentalist. On my second occasion Mrs. T. had come here towards the close of the day, and received a strong impres- sion to accompany me, which she did : (and oh ! what a pouring night it was, so that I was fortunately sheltered with her in a cab, instead of walking the weary length of Gower Street from the station). She was influenced to place the various sitters, and those who were then present were as far as possible always to retain the same seats ; and other directions were likewise given through her. I also was spoken through, which indeed was frequently the case, especially when our circle numbered the fewest. Around the walls and on the mantelpiece were photographs of friends who had passed away, as well as memorial cards ; all of which would be likely to serve as links to draw them towards us, thus to swell our small congregation into a large IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 335 one on the invisible side. There was also on the little altar-table a good-sized cross, I should think about a foot and a half high, which had been prepared with the lumin- ous paint, so that it had a sort of moonlighted look when we sat in the darkness. On the 6th of January a gentleman came, whom I had first met at the rooms in Sloane Street, and occasionally since, and we were great friends in that sense, but he knows nothing of me in my home : he was accompanied by his wife, to whom I had been introduced at Langham Hall, after a public meet- ing held there by Mr. Enmore Jones. She is a trance medium, but passes a life fully occupied in family affairs and such- like, so that it was very long since she had been in any way influenced. But very soon after our seance commenced, in the harmonious stillness she began to see the spirits around her, and gave a communication referring to some friend of Dr. Davies who was not present, and afterwards had a few words from a relative of the lady who was seated next to her. She then said, "There is a spirit belonging to Miss — Miss — oh ! help me to the name, — I mean the lady who paints." Her husband said : "You mean Miss Houghton." "Oh! yes — Miss Houghton. It is her mother." Of course I made some little response. Mamma spoke through her of the extreme beauty of the spirit world, details of which it used to be her great desire to learn, and she was always disappointed that no descriptions of it were ever given to her through me. The medium then came close to me from the opposite side of the room (we were in total darkness), and began caressing my arms and exclaim- ing, while she seemed to be searching and feeling about me — "The token — the token!" — to which I could give no kind of help, for I did not know of anything she could consider in that light, but she seized my left hand very strongly (she appears always to be controlled with great vehemence), moved the one ring away so as to take a firm hold of her own slender wedding-ring, then lifted my hand to her lips, kissing the wedding-ring with great warmth and fervour. Of course I gave the interesting explanation that 336 EVENINGS AT HOME it was the ring that had been placed on her finger fully 76 years ago (in 1804), which I had worn ever since its removal from her hand in 1868. She spoke some loving words of blessing and tenderness ; but this is just the bald statement of the circumstance as I noted it down the next day. When the candles were afterwards lighted I shewed the ring to those who were present, none of whom had ever noticed that I wore it, for the thicker ring almost hides it, besides which in those meetings we were none of us likely to trouble ourselves as to what the others might have On ; but this incident was of value to them all as a test of such an unex- pected character. On another evening, in the dark stillness my hands were uplifted to make mesmeric passes, and always with a kind of feeling as if I were gathering something into the- room : then gradually arose a sensation as of a dense multitude flocking towards that upper chamber — a host as it were, and yet not of bright ones : — it gave me almost a sense of oppression, as if they were an imploring host — but all that then came to me was that they were Assyrians, and I explained something of what I was experiencing to the other members of the circle. As I afterwards walked quietly along Gower Street, it was revealed to me that they were the hosts of Sennacherib, slain in one night by the angel of The Lord (2 Kings xix. 35,) who had ever since then lain in a kind of torpor, from which they had only now been roused by the mesmeric fluid poured through my hands and afterwards converted into a species of magnet to attract them to that small church, whose chief duty was to help the ignorant and suffering ones in the beyond. On the following Thursday I was powerfully spoken through, to urge all those who were present to give their aid to these " Assyrians wander- ing Home ; " entreating them, at any time of day when the thought should arise, to utter a prayer for an Assyrian wandering Home. From that prayer would issue a beam of light, which would be as a beacon to one poor soul, inducing him to look upwards, until by degrees he should gain more and more light, to enable him to apprehend IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 337 truths, to which in his long ago life he could not have attained, but which in these wondrous days of 1881 will be bestowed upon countless myriads who have been lying supine — therefore not mischievous — until the fulness of time, when there is as it were to be a literal fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel (xxxvii.),- when the dry bones shall become living beings (through the aid of the sons of men), and shall be brought to sing their rejoicing praises unto The Lord. — Oh ! ye who may read these pages, and who believe in the inspired word of old, may I beseechingly implore you thus to contribute your quota to aid in The Lord's work, and to breathe an occasional prayer for the benighted ones of ages, thereby bestowing upon them the help they need. It may give a first light to one soul, or it may be as another beam to one who is already soaring, but be assured that it will not come back unto you empty. I have learned that this was the especial purpose for which that Guild was instituted (all unknowingly perhaps by its Founder), and although its meetings are now at an end, the Spiritual Church simultaneously established still flourishes, and the work then commenced continues its course with vigour, and I know that this assurance (only 7W7V given to me) will be a comfort to that Founder, should these words ever meet his eye in his distant home. After the first few meetings Miss Godfrey joined us, and was constant in her attendance except when professional engagements prevented her from coming ; and her presence was a great acquisition, especially to those for whom the whole subject was a novelty, for she often had very beauti- ful visions which she would describe as they gradually unfolded themselves, but I do not remember any of the details, and I had by that time become too fully occupied to make even the slightest record ; but I know that in one instance a sadly unhappy spirit came seeking aid, and Miss Godfrey's guardian spirit permitted her to take pos- session of her because our little tent was to be a haven of refuge for such. She began very scornfully, but by dint of questioning I elicited that she had murdered her new-born Y 338 EVENINGS AT HOME illegitimate child — and the dire trouble that appeared to render her callous, was the belief instilled into her here upon earth that that innocent one was condemned to eternal perdition because of its death in an unbaptized state, and I had to argue long with her before I could shake that deeply rooted conviction. She had searched in the depths for that poor infant, but hitherto without success, but I uged upon her that she had sought in the wrong direction, and that she must strive itpwards to have any chance of meeting with it. My Zilla was there, and told me she would keep, the poor wanderer in view, and would give help from time to time, when such assistance could be administered. I was in hopes that at a future sitting we might have learned something of her progress, but there was generally some fresh thought touched upon, which probably would be the best suited to meet the needs of the circle in the flesh. On the 17th of February Miss Cook came, having been invited by Dr. Davies. She was quite alone, and our circle was an unusually small one. I do not think we numbered more than ten. My usual place was on the left hand of Dr. Davies, and as we sat round the room, Miss Cook might perhaps have been about facing me. When our service was over, and the lights were extinguished, raps were almost immediately heard, and the first question Dr. Davies put, was whether we were seated properly for those manifestations, to which a very decisive No was the answer, and by dint of further enquiry it was found that I was to change places with the sitter on Miss Cook's right, so I seated myself by her side, and held her hand during the whole of the seance, for the chief part of which she was completely entranced, placidly leaning back in her chair in a gently breathing slumber. Almost from the moment that I had sat down by her side, I had felt the spirit-touches in more material character than they come to myself; and gradually first one and then another of the circle exclaimed that they felt the touch of spirit hands, which to most of them was an utterly new experience. The IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 339 gentleman on her left felt busy fingers undoing his necktie, which I think was then laid on his wife's lap. Then the hands that touched became more and more substantial, and they all felt them as palpably as human hands : one was quite a baby's hand, which allowed itself to be tenderly clasped by more than one of the party. I felt dear Motee's, giving me the various familiar tokens, and placing itself, according to my old request, to my lips to be kissed. We also heard the voice of the spirit Lillie, and I think we saw her light, but in that respect I may be confusing in my own mind with a later seance when she was with us ; but at any rate it was most interesting, and I can bear the strongest pos- sible testimony as to the genuineness of the whole, for, as I said before, I held her hand firmly during the whole time, and Dr. Davies and I were the only persons in the circle whom she had ever seen before. I must also own that the tales I had heard circulated made me doubly watchful, and therefore I am the more solicitous to make my evidence in her favour unmistakably clear. On the next Thursday she was again with us, but the rumour of the successful mani- festations we had had, brought us such an accession of visitors that our little room was quite crowded, some of the new-comers being quite strangers, and the result was — almost a failure — there was scarcely anything ! Our little church was not for the curiosity-seekers, so they went away at the close with disappointment instead of wonders to tell of. About three months later she was with us for another seance, but we were chiefly the habitues, and then again the manifestations were very good, and the spirit Lillie came amongst us in bodily form, shewing her delicate little face by the aid of her spirit lamp, from which emanates a light white as alabaster : also she stood on the platform behind Dr. Davies, and we saw the substance of her arm as she held it up in front of the luminous cross. That 5th of May was the last sitting of our little band of Christian worshippers, who had gone along in our quiet way for six months, but it had not grown into the strength that Dr. Davies had contemplated, and another step had 34° EVENINGS AT HOME been urged upon him which would give him promotion in his own profession, besides which an offer was at the same time made (in conjunction with the other) for a class of work for which he is most especially fitted, where there would also be openings for his very large family. So, after many prayers for guidance, he resolved upon making the change, but — as he told me — he would never have withdrawn from this especial effort if it had grown according to his own sanguine expectations. But clearly, that very stagna- tion was the evidence that another field of labour was to be opened to him, and that the establishment of this for Spiri- tual purposes was all that was needed : its fulness of work will be carried on on the other side, and I, for one, do not feel that the Guild is dissolved because we no longer hold our terrestrial meetings — I believe that we are still all linked together, going on in our several departments with the duties then entrusted to us. A farewell soiree to bid him God speed was held by our Association on the 20th of May, and at the close of the evening the members of the Guild, accompanied by many of the other friends, adjourned once more to that upper room for a final service of prayer and sacred song : and thus I concluded my ten years anniversary of the Private View day of my Exhibition. A few days since, I was reading in Light the report of the discussion by the Church Congress at Newcastle. It would be out of all chronological order if I were now to touch upon that meeting, about which I have nothing to say, but I find therein a charge which I most unmitigatedly repudiate. " But further, we cannot accept that degrading view of the body which seems to be an element in the highest Spiritualist teaching. It is represented, not as an instrument for the acquisition of knowledge, and as being, no less than the Spirit, the work of God, and consecrated to His service, but as a foul obstructive. Vegetarianism, and of course teetotallism, are essential to every one who would reach the higher knowledge ; his very residence must be a place where no blood is or has been shed." IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 341 Among Spiritualists there are as many varieties of opinion upon the question of diet as among all the rest of the world, and I have come to the conclusion that there is no sort of general rule, and that the old adage of " what is one man's meat is another man's poison " is most essentially true. The one great law is that each person shall find out the system that shall keep his body in the state of highest health ; not coarse, bloated, apparent health, but real vigour, so that every faculty of body, soul, and spirit should be in fullest power to work harmoniously, and to make the very utmost of the years granted to us here below, so as to carry all the completion possible into the beyond. My aim has always been to attain the very highest that I can, and, having ever found my advisers invariably correct on all points, I have very frequently taken counsel on that matter of diet. When Mrs. Hardinge came to England many years ago, she rather inveighed against the Spiritu- alists in our land for their consumption of pork in its varieties of ham, bacon, &c, saying that no American Spiritualists would thus contaminate themselves. Of course I at once enquired of my dear friends whether I should renounce it, and I was told that, on the contrary, for me it was especially beneficial, — and I am led to wonder where- fore there should be the prejudice against what she termed swine's flesh : some say that it is because pigs will eat all manner of food, but in that they only resemble poultry, and who, among the most fastidious, will reject chicken, unless they are total vegetarians, whose numbers I find are much on the increase ? and wheresoever that system agrees best in invigorating the individual, it ought undoubtedly to be pursued; but in many cases I look upon it as a reaction from, and a protest against, the very high living which I consider a sin, both towards their own bodies and the poverty-stricken ones of our land, who suffer in conse- quence of the waste elsewhere. And under the head of over-feeding I class the unnecessary number of meals, each as it were a kind of dinner, in which so many people indulge, until they fancy they are absolutely indispensable — 34 2 EVENINGS AT HOME whereas I find that two are quite sufficient (and no driblets in between), breakfast — without meat — and then dinner. Formerly I used to take an intermediate slice of bread-and- butter, but for the last year or two I have dispensed even with that. I do not mean to say that I make myself a slave to any rules, so that if I chance to be out, I just take what other people are having, and at their hours, and my health is so perfect that any change one way or another would not affect it. The question to me always the most anxious one has been whether by any method of diet, or abstaining from special things, I should the better fit myself for the gifts of clairvoyance and clairaudience, but the sense of the unfail- ing answer has been that our mortal bodies during our earthly sojourn should be looked upon as the temples of God, therefore they must be kept in pure health, thus to become the more worthy recipients of His varied blessings whensoever He may deign to bestow them. I have heard much upon the food question as to the experience of others : — one gentleman can only eat plain boiled rice, without any addition whatever, even a pinch of salt causing nausea : another has lived for many years upon only bread-and-butter : others, who are vegetarians, include eggs and fish among the permissible articles. Through Mr. Spear directions used often to be given as to the best diet for individuals, and that is the real thing to be learned. For me, he prescribed any amount of refined sugar, and I also feel that I must take my tea fully sweetened. I am a teetotaller, but, as I have already said, I did not become so on Spiritualist grounds, but on economical ones ; and I had really thought that a small amount of stimulant was a necessity for the system, especially when growing into years, but it has been even then that I have made the change, and have found no ill effects from it ; and I would warmly advise all my readers to do the same, and to set aside the sum they would have spent therein to the purpose of helping their fellow-creatures, which will give a glow to their hearts far surpassing the previous warmth to any other portion of their being. Besides which, I have instanced IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 3 ±3 the effect produced upon Mrs. Marshall by the smell of my breath after having taken but a half-glass of wine, so I feel that by our own self-denial we may give strengthening help to the struggling ones beyond. A soiree was held in the Cavendish Rooms on the 5th of January 1881, for the benefit of Mr. Burns, and at it I met Mr. Towns, who, as is always the case, had some communication he was required to make to me ; and as I had been advised to take my slate-tablets with me, I was able to write it all down. He said, " I see a very ancient spirit standing by you, of the time of Joshua, and he says you are to read the first five verses of the 4th chapter of Joshua, and afterwards you are to go to the 17th chapter, and read from the 16th to 18th verses. I think you are to have a vision about them, or something that will come to you at a future time. . . Those who live in this coming time will not only see, but understand ; and there is a new spiritual unfoldment coming to you. This is the beginning of the first year of the new pentecostal season. Seven years of the outpouring of the Spirit to all who will prepare themselves for its influx, so that they can go in and out of the two worlds. You are going to have a change of condition — to pass into a new condition. During this pentecostal season, all must prepare themselves as vessels for the out-pouring and in-pouring of the Spirit, and it will rest with you." There was some interruption from those around, after which he resumed, " They term you a sister of mercy, because you survey things in a merciful way. You will hear birds chirping and singing ; you will hear them about you, and it will be a preparation for hear- ing voices. — You are to go on as you commenced, and as you are going on : you are not to let the old part of religion be pressed out, — you are to hold fast to it all. As you sow, so shall the harvest be apportioned." There had been some bits of intervening talk, and now a great deal was said as to the late changes in the arrange- ments of our Association, which he was' strongly impressed would be beneficial. He gave me a long message for a 344 EVENINGS AT HOME friend, referring to circumstances which I alone could know to be true. Then he added that I had had some home trouble that had given me a great deal of anxiety and annoyance, and that it had caused much discord and in- harmony at times. I answered that it was very true, and that it was from an old cook who had lived with us for up- wards of six and thirty years, and who I found had always been robbing us in every way she could. But I had freed myself from her, and that she was since dead. — " Oh ! but she is here now : — I cannot see her distinctly, for she is so very dark, — but she is not very tall and stoops her head a little. She has a great deal to do in your home, and you will have to help her. There is still something to be found out. — She has to clear and scrape away all the bad influences and dirt of one kind or another that she has left there — oh ! she has indeed a great deal to do." I told him it was very curious that he should give me this communication now, for that that same afternoon, while Elizabeth was dressing me, she had told me of a dream she had had the last night. She had dreamt that Preston was come back, and that in her dream she could not make up her mind whether she was glad or sorry. (She had made the girl's life miserable by her temper.) She did not see her face, for she had her back turned to her, and she was doing a thing that sur- prised her, for she was scrubbing the kitchen floor, and was down on her knees for the purpose ; she had on the old black gown she was accustomed to wear. The kitchen was all as it is now, but she did not know whether Preston saw or noticed any alteration, she was just busy with her cleaning. Another theft was afterwards " found out." On the 14th of January I had a visit from Mrs. Dr. Fuller-Baldwin, with an introduction from Mrs. Cooper, with whom she had been staying while at Brighton. She was a pleasant genial woman of Welsh birth, but whose parents had emigrated to America when she was only five years old, and now she had come back to this country about some business for her brother, and had been stranded here from want of means to take her home, and IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 345 she had gone through considerable difficulties during the last few months. She was a powerful healer with a magni- ficent physique, but was unknown to English fame and therefore had no patients, and she gave me many of the details with the frank openness of a true nature. After a time she spoke in a half-dreamy sort of tone, but still in her normal condition, of a something concerning me and the character of my work, which she felt she could not at all understand although she said it. I did, however, compre- hend it, for to a certain extent it represented the working and intention of my drawings, and was given with great depth of insight but with peculiarity of language. I did not attempt to write down any of it, from a sense of deli- cacy, because it was quite out of my power to offer her any- thing in the shape of even the smallest fee, and she was well aware, too, that such was the case. She then gave a description of a bright, active, energetic little elderly gentleman near me, whom it was some little time before I recognised. He was my grandfather, Alexander Warrand, who has never before been described to me by any medium, but as a child I was very fond of him and he of me, and it is only now while writing this out (for my only record was, "described Grandpapa"), that the full force of the circum- stance comes to me, for he is alluded to in the beginning of these memoirs, which I then had no idea of being able to compile for many long years. A special council meeting was held in Great Russell Street on the 25th of January, for necessary regulations consequent upon the changes that had taken place, and I found Mrs. Dr. Fuller there when I arrived, and she was still in the reading-room when the meeting was over, having remained for the purpose of being introduced to some of the members, to whom Mr. Blyton had spoken about her at the board. Finally, when all had left except Mr. Pearson, Mr. Blyton, and myself, she settled for a small seance with us, and after a good bit to the other two, she took hold of my hand, and said : — " I do not know what it is — but there will be a something in you, or of you this year, that will bring L. 346 EVENINGS AT HOME crowds to you. They will come rushing to your home, and it will be quite unexpected to you : — some great change that you now know nothing about. . . . (Slowly and impressively) The wheel goes round — and then the changes come — it has been very low down indeed with you, and now you are rising to the very top. . . . Oh ! you are going to have Joseph with you : — Joseph and his coat of many colours — those colours all mean character — or qualities : — and you will see them. But what has gone forth from you, will come back into the coat — to make it. " Oh ! there is something so funny that I scarcely like telling you about it. There are quantities of horns — horns and baskets. Horns of plenty, and baskets full of every- thing you can want : and everybody seems to be crowding to bring you things." When she had finished speaking, I told them about the seance when the materials for the coat of many colours really had been brought to me, which interested them all very much, for even my cousin Mr. Pearson did not know anything of it, for these home sittings have been very little known beyond the immediate circle who composed them, besides which it was only the pieces that were brought, and the after-formation of the coat, with the interpreted signi- fication of the colours, had been only between Mrs. T. and myself; and just a nine days' wonder and nothing more, to any one who may afterwards have heard of it ; so that the parallelism between the two explanations was to me very striking and a strong evidence as to Mrs. Fuller's medium- ship (see page 45). I promised to take the coat with me the next time I went to Great Russell Street, so that they might see it. The latter part of her vision reminds me of Job, when all his many trials were at an end. May it be God's will that mine, too, may be drawing to a close, but I also pray that I may never forget the lessons taught me in adversity. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 347 CHAPTER XXIV. How drearily commenced this year 1881, — There was frost so severe that most of the upper-service water pipes in the houses were broken, and I shared the fate of my neighbours, for it had taken us by sudden surprise : in some houses there was no water at all, and one lady at the " Guild " told me that for her baby's bath she had been obliged to use melted snow, — for there was early snow, — then darkness and fog — and on the 18th of January such a snow as London has never known within my memory — it was a fine, drifting snow that blocked up everyplace, rising fully two feet against these drawing-room windows, and yet allowing a glimpse in parts of the balcony itself. Thus in the open roads there were high drifts, even smothering up carts, so that horses and men were frozen to death, not exactly in London itself, but within easy distance of it : traffic to it was necessarily suspended from all parts of the kingdom ; — the milk-supply was utterly stopped, and but for modern inventions matters in that respect would have been bad indeed, but fortunately the condensed milk was to be had, and as the disaster was not of many days' duration, the stock in the grocers' shops did not become utterly exhausted. Even the underground trains were compelled to stop running on that Tuesday night in consequence of the snow. A circumstance hap- pened in my very kitchen on that self-same day that never even in the far-back years has been known in my experience, for, absolutely, the supply-pipe from the cistern to the boiler got frozen, so that the boiler had to be carefully attended to by its upper lid, or that would have burst. I was with- out professional work of any kind or description, and my prospects appeared as much closed up from all external hope as London herself. " The hour that is darkest is the hour before dawn" 348 EVENINGS AT HOME On Wednesday the 19th, a friend came to see me, and as it were completely overwhelmed me with the subject of his conversation, saying that it was a matter that he had for some little time had in consideration. He knew that at some distant period I hoped to formulate my records into book shape, but the thought was too far away for me to have fixed a when, even at the lapse of ten or twenty years, for it would be an impossibility without surplus funds, and I had not even the indispensable ones. What was my astonishment when he suggested that I should begin at once ! and that he would provide the needful means and undertake all risks. It was like a thunderstroke of joy ! But yet fuller and fuller became that joy from the intense delicacy with which he made the proposition, saying that he wanted a history of this new development of spiritual life as it had risen in our land, and that he felt it could best be understood by individual experiences, and that as I had taken part in most of the external movements of importance during the last twenty years, the outside history would naturally be interblended with my own, and would thus be carried on upon one continuous thread. He questioned as to whether I had any special ideas or plans. Oh ! yes, the names of the books had long ago been given to me (and he liked them both), also that my thought had been to illustrate the photographic work, and he acceded to all my wishes : — then went at once into the consideration of type and such-like details, which were all a novelty for me to think upon, for although one naturally finds some books nicer to read than others, one scarcely realises the why. He suggested a book, the type of which he thought I should like, and that I could examine it at the Great Russell Street rooms and decide. What I wished was to make my work as full of substance as possible without rendering it too heavy to hold comfortably, and yet I wanted to pour my whole soul into it, and after counting lines in a page, and words in a line, I found that the model thus suggested would give me free scope for all. He had intended speaking to. me on his previous visit, IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 349 but some one else had come in, which had deprived him of the opportunity, but I said that even that had been in order, for that I always feel that the 20th of each month belongs to me, and the 19th as leading into it — "the even- ing and the morning were the first day" — that I should begin at once that very night the grijfonage, and the fair copy the next morning : and at that very time I set my heart upon the dates when each and all of the MSS. should be finished. No amount of close work would daunt me, and I wrote on with my entire being, singing one continuous pcean of rejoicing, and what it was to me few can conceive. How little could I have anticipated that the prophecy given through Mrs. T. on the closing day of 1880, with which my 22nd chapter concludes, should within three weeks be in intense realisation — " It is going to be a very full time for you — I think for a good while." — Full to the brim it has indeed been, — what with writing, proof- correcting, photograph- preparing, &c, &c. It has literally been "rising early and late taking rest," but it has been to tell of God's Love in its greatness and in its minuteness, and to chant my hymn of praise all the way through. The year continued dark and foggy, so that, notwithstanding the cold, I had to sit close to the window to be able at all to see to write, but the sunshine in my soul made the outward obscurity of little account. There have been three great epochs in my annals, divided into decades. In 186 1, came the drawing medium- ship, to open into all the rest. — In 187 1, the exhibition of those ten years of work. — And now, in 1881, this most comprehensive labour of all ! — I cannot but speculate — what will the next decade evolve? what shall I do in 1891 ? My friend gradually smoothed all the details for me, con- sulting with me as to each separate item. It was he who suggested the monogram of Christ to grace the back of my book, as being the most consonant with my feelings, and at once expressive to all the world of my standpoint, and I owe him another bit of gratitude for the thought. The outside garb of a volume is likewise an important considera- 35 O EVENINGS AT HOME tion : it should not only be a suitable cover for what it is to contain, but should have a kind of personal distinctive- ness, not only as to ornament but colour, and I feared that the one I wanted might be difficult to meet with in these days of muddled tones, for I wished for a living tint, in the freshness of God's creation — that of the orange-leaf green, and three leaves were gathered from my own tree for the purpose of being matched — and I have been happily satisfied. In one particular on which I have not been consulted, it is clear that there has been the supervision of the invisibles, for now that my first book is out, I see that the cover is lined with a delicate jessamine pattern, and I have in this volume mentioned that the jessamine is my flower of flowers. Spiritualists are not bound to be Greek scholars, and some of my lady friends have enquired of me the real signi- fication of a symbol they know well by sight, but have always hesitated to ask of learned men the meaning, while the unlearned do not know it, but just pass it by as a mystery. My own exact knowledge, too, was incomplete, so I wrote to a relative, a very erudite clergyman, asking him to give it me in clear, concise form, and what he kindly sent me has the .charm of combining Christianity with a Spiritual manifestation, making it doubly appropriate as the Standard under which I fight ; I will therefore transcribe it in its entirety, and I am sure that others will be grateful to him as well as myself. The monogram \9- is made up of the two letters X and P which are the two first letters of the sacred name. XPI^TO^ Christos = Christ X Chi pronounced like ch hard P Rho „ j) r 1 Iota „ j> i short, as \nfist ^ Sigma „ » s T Tau „ >j t O Omicron >j o short ^ Sigma „ j> s IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 35 1 This monogram is sometimes called the labarum, — a name which properly signifies the military standard adopted by the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, just before he defeated his rival Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian Bridge, a.d. 312. The military standard (to- gether with the reason of its adoption) is fully described by Eusebius in his Life of Constantine. Eusebius was Bishop of Caesarea and a friend of Constantine for many years, so that the story rests on contemporary authority. The following is Eusebius's account. {Life of Constantine, Book 1, chap. 28) Chap. 28 : " Accordingly he (Constantine) called upon God with earnest prayer and supplication that He would reveal to him who He was, and stretch forth His right hand to help him in his present difficulties. And while he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvellous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of which it might have been difficult to receive with credit, had it been related by any other person. But since the victorious emperor long afterwards declared it to the writer of this history, when he was honoured with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could hesitate to credit his relation, especially since the testimony of aftertime has established its truth ? He said that about mid-day, when the sun was beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription Conquer by this. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which happened to be following him on some expedition, and witnessed the miracle." Chap. 29. " He said moreover that he doubted within himself what the import of this apparition could be. And while he continued to ponder and reason on its meaning, night imperceptibly drew on ; and in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to procure a standard made in the likeness of that sign, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies." 35 2 EVENINGS AT HOME Chap. 30. " At dawn of day he arose, and communicated the secret to his friends : and then calling together the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat in the midst of them and described to them the figure of the sign he had seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones. And this representation I myself have had an opportunity of seeing." Chap 31. " Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a piece transversely laid over it On the top of the whole was fixed a crown, formed by the intertexture of gold and precious stones, and on this two LETTERS INDICATING THE NAME OF CHRIST SYMBOLISED THE Saviour's title by means of its first characters — the X (Rho) being intersected by P (Chi) exactly in its centre : and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on his helmet at a later period. From the transverse piece which crossed the spear was suspended a kind of streamer of purple cloth, covered with profuse embroidery of most brilliant precious stones, and which, being also in- terlaced with gold, presented an indescribable degree of beauty to the beholder. This banner was of a square form, and the upright staff, which in its full extent was of great length, bore a golden half-length portrait of the pious em- peror and his children on its upper part beneath the trophy of the cross and immediately above the embroidered streamer. The emperor constantly made use of this salu- tary sign as a safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it should be carried at the head of all his armies." * I have in some instances heard another term applied to the symbol, so, as I like to obtain certitude on all points that I can, from the very best authority, I again applied to my clerical relative, and here subjoin his answer. " I have never heard the monogram ^ called the Pax, and I can see no * The translation followed in this extract is that published by Messrs. Baxter in 1845. IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 353 reason or sense in such a name for it. At the same time, as the two letters of the monogram look like the Latin or English letters X and P, it is possible that workmen (sculptors or painters) may (in the slang of their craft) call it the Pax — but I never heard of it." It reminds me of having once heard a respectable woman explaining the Christmas decorations in church to a com- panion, to whom she pointed out the letters I.H.S. on a cross, interpreting them as " I have suffered." I had often had a feeling that I should like to have Mr. Towns for a seance here in my own home, and Mrs. T. kindly smoothed the matter for me to be able to do so. The appointment was made for the 28th of February, and she was to come as early beforehand as she could; so we had a bit of talk, and she remained in the drawing-room while I went down to dinner, as I make arrangements for her more in accordance with her usual hour. When I returned here, she said she had had such a very strong impression during my absence, that crowds would becoming up my stairs. It was quite a new feeling to her, for that she generally has the sense of such a calm stillness here, and she wondered what it might portend. I then reminded her of Mrs. Dr. Fuller's similar prophecy about a month previously, that there would be something that would bring crowds rushing to my house. Little Mr. Towns duly made his appearance punctually at the hour I had fixed, and while we were taking tea he told us some very curious interviews he had had with people, whom he had as it were turned inside out. When we had settled at the table after tea, he asked as to our usual course of proceedings, and I said that I was on the point of telling him that I should wish to begin with The Lord's Prayer, and that then we would wait for whatever might come, and that was quite in accordance with his own feelings. I had no idea that the raps came to him, but I was glad to hear the three strong raps after each clause of the prayer, shewing that the invisibles were uniting with us. He then said, " How very curiously you two seem to z 354 EVENINGS AT HOME belong to each other : knit completely together as it were. I can scarcely explain the entire one-ness that there appears to be, — it is so wholly harmonious and perfect, but my words are weak to express the full unitedness." He now suggested that mental questions should be asked, to which the responses should be given by blows on the table with his right hand, and that sometimes explanations are given, with his left hand. He thus answered a good many of Mrs. T.'s silent enquiries; I did not ask any questions. He then passed into trance, and said, in rather a shrill female voice — " Good evening, ladies, — I am glad to make your acquaintance, I like to come into the society of true people ; allow me to shake hands with you : " which was accordingly complied with. She then spoke warmly to Mrs. T. about some charitable action she had performed (of which I had never heard), giving many of the details, which were all true. Then turning to me she said, " We would speak to you upon a momentous question, for we know that you have been thinking a great deal about this year 1881." I pleaded for slower speech, so that I might write it all down ; but although I did so, the prophecies were not clear enough to be shaped into form, so I will only extract a few bits here and there. . . There will be earthquakes and great heavings of the sea, and there are days coming in which there will be great darkness for the time being ; and we see before us more troubles, such as warfare, political dis- turbances ; and there will be great floods between now and May 1882, and after then you will see the old condition of the earth will be on a new basis : there will be a re-awakening of the intellect of the great human family. There will be also mighty changes — mighty reforms. . . There will also be in this coming year a great increase of the death-rate, because of the influences of the passing planets ; but we can congratulate you both that you will see the end of 188 1, when many around you will be called away ; you will be left to rejoice in the new year. . . . This is a great purifying time, and in 1888 will again appear the Star of Bethlehem. Another influence now spoke through him : — " Here is a IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 355 very old gentleman — with a long white beard. He wears a robe all dotted with gold and silver stars : he has got a girdle round him — he is evidently one of the old patriarchs. You must have had a message at some time from Elijah, for it is he who now comes again to you. There is a new unfoldment going to be given to you, and a new interpre- tation." To Mrs. T. — "There's such a pretty little girl coming here, with curls : she is presenting you with some flowers." Turning again to me—" Who's Bertie ? " [Oh ! Bertie ! ! (my Arthur's baby) bless him!] "He says, Bless you. He is floating about here with a wreath of flowers, and he is trying to fix it on your head : — oh ! he is trying to tickle your ear, and he is trying to shew himself to you — he is trying again at your ear, so that you may feel him." [Then I am feeling him, and have been doing so for the last three or four days, and I have wondered about it, for I thought it was the signal of a baby friend, only it was so much stronger than she gives, spreading over all the upper part of the ear, as if coaxing and caressing it, while she only touches just the tip.] " He came floating about in a nice white light, and he has his teacher with him. He is so bright and merry. I think his eyes are blue." [Can you tell me the flowers that are in the wreath ?] " It is bound round with forget- me-nots, and there are moss-roses, and a lot of flowers, primroses, violets, and two such fine lilies at the top, and some blue-bells, and lilies of the valley. It is a pity you can't see them ! He is pushing them into a bunch in his hand, and he says — ' Good-bye, Auntie.' " Who's Aunt Sarah ? " [She is my very dear aunt.] " She is only come to give you a blessing : she says she is often with you. — Now I see a lady who looks like some- body the medium has seen. She is holding a letter that she wrote to her husband, and she tells him not to be so depressed in his spirits, she is always near him." [Mary?] " Yes— Mary."— " Who is Uncle Ben ?" [My dear Uncle Ben! he is Papa's brother, as well as my Aunt Sarah's.] " He is very pleased to be here : he is a very nice-looking 356 EVENINGS AT HOME old gentleman, and he always likes to come to you. He was very glad to give me his name." All those things were curious tests. Mary was my Aunt Sarah's daughter, and before her death she did write a letter to her husband, be- cause she thought it would be a comfort to him if she told him her wishes upon a variety of small details. As for my uncle, it was his literal name, for he had been christened Ben Oakes, after his mother's brother, but he did not ex- actly approve of it while a dweller upon earth, and always signed himself Benj. Houghton. "Now shall I tell you something about your home in the spheres?" [I shall be very glad if you can do so.] "I will tell you anything you like, and will say it as slowly as you please, so that you can write it down, for I could go into a thousand houses and not be able to hold my medium in the way I can here. — I can hold him as long as ever you please. " As soon as you pass over the river of life — when the spirit leaves the body, then it begins to live. — I see a magni- ficent terrace with several steps all ascending to a beautiful porch with many pillars, and between each pillar there are such gorgeous flowers, and wonderful plants and evergreens, all representing everything that is most beautiful in a tropical land. As you ascend this porch it widens and widens with a lot of arches like a long vista of these magnificent porches, till we come into a splendid place like a temple. It is known as the sphere of love and mercy — oh ! and within it are such sparkling fountains and lovely borders of flowers, such as no eye could conceive, and there are gold and silver fish which leap and play and rejoice the moment the angelic eyes are upon them. Those beautiful borders and flowers and fountains go up in such order, and the porches on each side are so splendid. They are all set as it were in golden crystal : then each seems to project a reflecting light, each representing the seven rays of colour according to their order, and as you look up this grand and magni- ficent building, no tongue can describe, its beauty, its gran- deur : no hand could paint it ! the decorations so perfect IN SPIRITUAL STANCE. 357 that it must lift up a spirit almost to the highest degree to be permitted to enter into that beautiful sphere. — And as we pass on we see the multitude of those beautiful angels as they walk with such exactness that it seems but one movement — their dresses all in order, though there are thousands of them all seen at once. Everything is order as if the eye were the moving feature and all obedient to its rule : — all is harmony — all for one united happiness and joy. — Then I see flying between the pillars birds of the most gorgeous plumage : they also fly all in harmony, and all sing together. All is harmony, all joy, all beauty, all love, all sunshine. — My dear loving sister, I have only given you a very faint description of your future home, for it is far beyond the power of my words : — therefore work and have faith, for thy crown is what thou hast formed for thyself, and thy Father to Whom thou hast lifted up thy soul so many times will claim thee as one of His own — God bless you. — " Do not fear about the medium, but he will take some time coming out ; but do not be alarmed, for he will come out. He has been far deeper than he has ever been." [Do you mean higher ?] " Higher in spirit, but deeper in sleep : — we have numbed the conditions to raise up the spirit." There was a pause of some considerable duration, and then it was clearly Mr. Towns's own inner self that was speaking : — " I don't know where I am :— oh ! where have I been? — I seem lost : — I can't get across that river — oh ! they are bringing a boat : oh ! what a funny river, and they are such pleasant people, all smiling : (Then in a tone of dismay) Oh ! I don't want to go on that bank, — I don't want to go up that dark road : (imploringly) oh ! let me go back with you. (Plaintively) They have gone away and left me here in the dark : — I don't know where I've got to now : — oh ! I've lost my head : I've been away somewhere, and I've lost my way. Oh ! I don't know where I've been to, I'm sure, — oh ! dear, I hope you'll excuse me (yawning very much) — it seems very rude. — Dear me! I shall never get awake again, I think. — Oh 1 dear me ! . . . I feel better 358 EVENINGS AT HOME now — at last." By this time he had come to himself, and I proposed his moving round to sit by the fireside, where we had more talk, and he presently exclaimed, " Who is Charlie ? for he is here now ! " My Charlie — of course he was : so I pointed to Arthur's photograph, and told him he was his brother and the uncle of the dear little baby Bertie whom he had seen in his trance, which he remembered nothing about. It was singular that Charlie should thus be the last to come, instead of the first, according to his usual preference, for I had been telling Mrs. T. that I thought my first series of Evenings at Home would end with all the long account of Charlie as crowning the work. That has been the only occasion of my witnessing the unwillingness of a spirit to return from the ecstatic state to the earthly condition, although I have heard and read of such being the case. It certainly was a very curious experi- ence, and his miserable tones when left on this dark side of the river of life were very lamentable ; when, however, he was really with us again, he became quite comfortable, and said that he had never felt more brisk nor in a pleasanter atmosphere, and he was really sorry when the time for departure had absolutely arrived. I seldom write out any of my own little conversations, but the following one amused me so much that I did, and I give it as a kind of sample. I had had a letter on the Satur- day evening (May 7th) that had given me much happiness, for it referred to the publication of this work ; and while writing two or three letters on the subject the next day, I had several times felt dear little Bertie's signal, to which I only paid the heed of a few loving words. When I after- wards established myself to read, he came again, going on very persistently with his small sign. I asked if he had any message for me. " No." [Are you crowning me with flowers?] "No." [Anything for me?] "Yes." [Not flowers?] "No." [Fruit?] "No." [Feathers?] "No." [Birds ?] " No." [Drapery ?] " No." [Something in the way of dress?] "No." [Jewels?] "No." [Are you sure you have anything ? for I cannot think of more.] " Yes." IN SPIRITUAL STANCE. 359 [An ornament?] "Yes." [A ring?] " No." [A neck- lace?] "No." [A chain?] "No." [A crown?] "Yes." [Such as are described in my drawings ?] " No." [A golden crown ?] " No." [Gold with gems set in it ?] " No." [Any gold ?] " No." [What is it then ? must I go on trying ?] " Yes." [Opal ?] " Yes." [Is that all ?] "No." [Something bedded in the opal?] "Yes." [Precious stones ?] " No." [Flowers ?] " No." [Fruit ?] "Yes." [Like our earthly fruit?] "No." [Fruit of my life?] "Yes. 1 * Then the description was fully inbreathed to me of an opal crown, exquisitely and delicately carved, like ivory carvings, as of beautiful clusters of fruit, with changing tints, brilliant and glowing, formed of the opal only, about eight inches in height. There seems to me now, while I write it out, a something that is difficult to catch — oh ! it refers somehow to the radiant gleams which shoot from it, and seem to fly to distant spots, piercing into hearts, sometimes with a soft glow, and sometimes like sharp needle-points, wounding to heal; and there seems to be no limit — as to the distance where they may make themselves felt. . . . They are trying to make me conceive some notion of its wondrously delicate tracery, almost as if the touch even of infantine spirit fingers must crush it, yet really having a strength that Samson would have been powerless to fracture. ... I have written out all the questions as I put them, for I had had no idea of any- thing special, and went on because Bertie was so persistent. He says his little fingers retain all the varying tints, and sparkle beautifully. That which was a mystery to me as I wrote it, is now to be explained in this, my closing chapter. " Those fiery gleams have at this time work to do in the world, going forth as it were in search of hearts that may be touched, whether to the strengthening of a pure life or to the awakening unto repentance where the life may have been sullied. We would fain write strongly on this most important point. — Conjugal life is God's ordin- ance, — twain beings are born to form an ultimate one-ness j 360 I" EVENINGS AT HOME and blessed are they who here below are conjoined with the partner for eternity. But let each man and woman examine deeply into their own souls ere linking themselves in matrimony, for that tie should be indissoluble, and all mis- takes must be borne with. Through this hand we may not give the fulness of our meaning, but we make no distinc- I 2 I Z il0n Detween woman and man, — God's law for the one is even • • • the same as for the other, and that law is absolute -purity — from childhood until the dissolution of the mortal form : -"T- 9 . and the human race will not rise to full perfection until such law is universal. Fathers and mothers ! look to it how ye train your babes ! remember that the earliest impressions are the most permanent, especially when day by day the same sweet reticence is inculcated. Our language is necessarily vague, but none the less it may strike home to the innermost soul, and wheresoe'er it strikes, there will be sheltered a ray from the opal crown. Some there are who take refuge in The Lord's words, utterly misconstruing their import. S. Matthew xxi. 31, 32: " Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the Publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not : but the Publicans and the harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." — What is belief? — A leading into repentance. What is repentance ? A turning from sin.- — The ground of hope for sinners is the henceforward walking in the path of righteousness ; not a mere belief but a newness of life evincing that belief. But sin, however much repented of, has still tarnished, and it is long ere the foul spots can be cleansed away : repentance is but the first step thereunto. ' Oh ! ye preachers of the Word ! see ye to your flocks, whether they be the sheep or the lambs. Ye must understand also how pure was the tiny hand commissioned to place that crown on its destined brow. The baby Bertie inherited perfect purity from three genera- tions, parents, grand-parents, and great-grand-parents, and IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. 36 1 we, who know, could carry the spotless thread yet higher and higher. It has already been explained in the earlier pages that the opal gem symbolises purity." My work went steadily on, and even as I proceeded, fresh evidence of watchful care seemed to come to me almost daily, so that at the exact moment that I was writing on any special subject, a fragment that would dovetail into the thought and give it fulness of completion would be appa- rently casually spoken while I was in Great Russell Street or elsewhere, perhaps reviving some byegone memory, or teach- ing me an argument or a point that I had overlooked. My first manuscript I finished on Maundy Thursday, and wrote the preface on Good Friday — and to this final volume of the three I shall be able to affix the date (not yet arrived) that I originally planned. Mrs. T. came to me on the ioth of June, and after much conversation on all that I was doing, we spoke somewhat about my full portfolios of drawings, and in the midst of our talk she passed gradually into trance, and after a few opening words on the same subject, she added: — "You won't have time to draw any more, not that you could not. . . . You have been so diligent. — You have done what your hand found to do with your might, and so you compress much work in a small measure of time." (Compressing her hands together.) After that, some prophecies were given respect- ing the books, of which I must patiently await the future fulfilment. The last proofs of my intermediate work, the photographic chronicles, came to me for correction on the 24th of Sep- tember, and the publication has been delayed for the illustrations, which are not yet ready, somewhat to my disappointment ; but now I can see how providential has been the hindrance, for by this morning's post I received a letter from His Most Serene Highness, the Prince of Solms, (in answer to one I wrote to him some time since), giving the highest testimony to Mr. Hudson's integrity, with a most gracious permission to make whatever use of it in my book that I may wish ; therefore I can insert it in the as-yet 362 EVENINGS AT HOME IN SPIRITUAL SEANCE. unwritten preface. If my own impatient desire had been fulfilled (and at this very moment the necessary illustrations have been brought to me by post), the weight of this addi- tional evidence would have been lost. Another fact also the preface will contain, which is that on Thursday, October 13th, Mr. Hudson came here for a photographic experiment, under rather unfavourable circumstances, for our dark closet can only be contrived in the underground department, so that our journeys up and down stairs are very lengthy, but on the seventh plate we did obtain a something. It is a manifestation that the outsiders would scorn, but we hailed it with joy as containing' a future promise to be in some way worked out according to The Higher Will. Thursdays were the original photographing days. On Thursdays I attended the Guild of the Holy Spirit. — On a Thursday I was born, and on a Thursday I believe that this manuscript will be delivered, with that date appended to it, into my friend's hands may God grant His Blessing upon it to work to His Glory. Thursday, October 20th, 188 r. END OF SECOND SERIES. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON. 6 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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