'Yes.

tomb meant.

That is it. Now I see what the cross and the In the lane again. Coming back. Now it is all gone!'

Here it will be seen that the words presented to the seer were not precisely those of our Lord. They seem to be a compound of the two sentences, I am the Resurrection and the Life: He that believeth on Me shall never die.' 'I am the light of the world,' &c. I presume that the manner in which the words were collocated and shown to Miss L- were those best adapted to convey to her mind, imperfectly impressed with the Scripture phraseology, the beautiful teaching of the vision.

Within a month from this time, the departure of a near and dear friend was witnessed by the seeress and myself.

Cases of vision might be multiplied to a very great extent, and I shall hereafter have to recur to several modifications. But enough have been here given for specimens of the different kinds of spiritual sight. It will soon, I think, be found that the different varieties in each mode of manifestation are produced by different degrees rather than by dissimilarity in kind of influence. These varieties, too, seem in a great measure to depend on the varying susceptibility of the human frame to the reception of the unseen power.

77

CHAPTER VII,

MEDIUMSHIP (continued)—THE VOICE AND HEARING.

HE first conjectures as to the cause of writing,

THE

drawing, hearing, &c., are, naturally enough, that the medium is the subject of some irregular action of the nerves and muscles, perhaps also of the brain, which may be traced by physiologists, but whose cause lies quite beyond the penetration of the uninitiated: a process like that which goes on in dreams, which, though held by the ignorant to have something awful and mysterious in their natures, are easily enough placed by the scientific to the score of late suppers, sour wines, and other similar causes. In mentioning our first experiences of writing, drawing, and vision, I have tried to choose those instances which are best calculated to place the phenomenon beyond the region of subjectivity. Perhaps the following instance of hearing will have the effect of producing similar conclusions as to that mode of manifestation. A sick person, who was in the habit of receiving visits from a kind friend whose mesmerism had sometimes been useful, having means of com

munication with the unseen influences through mediums, received some instructions through the last-named channel on the nature and beneficial action of mesmerism. At one time, when a slight increase of illness had taken place, a writing-medium, who may be called Mary, wrote one day, giving the name of a spirit—

'I have been just now to Mrs. R— to tell her to come and see you. She will come to-day or to-morrow evening.'

The time at which the spirit said she had been to Mrs. R-- was noted down. Neither Mrs. N the sick person, nor the medium, expected a verification of the spirit's writing, but the note of time was kept, because some coincidences had occurred before of impressions given to Mrs. R exactly at the time when her presence was desired. On that evening the

invalid was sufficiently better to sit in a room on a ground floor from which everything that passed in the entrance-hall could be heard. Only the medium knew of the communication. That day passed, and no Mrs. R- came. Next day, when the idea of the visit had been given up, the medium's hand again wrote, 'She could not come last night, but will this evening.' Mrs. N— begged another friend to make a note of the communication, namely, that the spirit had spoken audibly to Mrs. Rat nine o'clock the day before, to desire her to go to Street. The note was made.

R

Mrs.

lived at a distance of three miles from the house.

That evening Mrs. N-, hearing the bell and the entrance of some visitor into the hall, went directly out of her sitting-room and found that Mrs. R— had just entered. The only words that had passed between her and the servant contained an enquiry as to Mrs. N's health, to which the servant replied, 'She is down-stairs.' Mrs. R looked relieved on seeing Mrs. N, saying, 'I feared you were ill, for I was sent here by naming the spirit.' Then,' said Mrs. N. -, 'you must come up-stairs and tell as well as myself how the direction was given.'

6

Mrs. R had no idea why this request was made of her, but complied, and when the three were together, said

'I was sitting at table yesterday with my family, when whispered to me, "Go to Street to Mrs. N." I said, "Is she ill? It is inconvenient for me to visit her to-day or to-morrow, as I am going into the country the day after." He said again: "She is not very ill, but you could do her good." So,' said Mrs. R—, as I could not come to see you yesterday, I came this evening, though it was inconvenient, as all our preparations are made for going into the country early to-morrow."

'What time did this happen?'

asked.

'At five minutes before nine in the morning.'

This agreed to within a minute or two with the time of the medium's writing.

The young servant (mentioned p. 71), who sometimes heard whispers, was one night called up on account of the sudden illness of one of the family. She had asserted from the first that the spirit speaking to her gave the name of a departed medical friend of her master's whom she had never seen in life, though she described his voice and appearance correctly, and the expressions she used were very like his. I attributed this resemblance and her power of conveying his forms of thought and expression to a similarity in the two characters, and to this probably the completeness of the mediumship was due.

When the young girl saw the sick person in great pain, she listened for a minute, then said :—

'Mr.

says you must have two medicines' (naming them), in turn, every five minutes.' She procured and mixed the medicines.

five minutes she said:

'Now, Mr.

At the end of about

says the first medicine has done its

work, I am to give you the second.' She gave it, and in less than ten minutes from the time when she entered the room the sufferer was quite relieved.

No communications are more interesting than those which, coming in one form through one medium, are confirmed through another by a different mode of mediumship.

Of this kind was the following instance of the writing of one medium, the vision of another, and the hearing of