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teachings of the church in which they were reared! All their ideas and views, when not in trance state, differed
radically from their statements made when under control. The main statements made by mediums entirely
unknown to one another, and scattered over the whole earth, are curiously consistent regarding the realms
attained by the soul after death.
It is true, however, that there are as many orders of minds in the Beyond as there are here. There are
infinite degrees of beings climbing the ladder that leads from earth to the higher heavens. The noble and the
vulgar are to be encountered there as here. Yet sometimes the vulgar souls, in describing their moral situation
and their impressions of the Beyond, furnish us with precious material for determining the conditions, which
exist in that world. The prudent experimenter learns how to separate the gold from the dross in studying
psychical phenomena. Truth does not always reach us nude, and the invisible helpers leave to our reason and
perseverance the work of developing fully that which they give us in part. Meanwhile the utmost precaution
should be taken, and continual control exercised. Fraud, conscious and unconscious, is to be encountered in
these realms of research, and we must demand absolute proofs of identity, and never depart from righteous
methods in our dealings with mediums and psychics.
When the authenticity of the communication is assured, we should again analyze them, with severe
judgment applying the principle of scientific philosophy, and accept only those, which can be convincingly
established as incontrovertible. Besides the possibility of fraud employed by mediums, there are occult dangers
to be encountered in this study. All those who experiment in these realms know there are two orders of
spiritualism. One, practiced at haphazard without method and without devotion of thought, attracting from
space light and mocking spirits, which are numerous in the earth vicinity. The other, serious and reverent,
practiced with caution and given respectful attention, which puts the student en rapport with advanced spirits
who are desirous of comforting and enlightening those who call them with a fervent heart. That is known as
the ‘Communion of Saints’ by the religious.
Again we are asked, ‘How can the communications which come from superior spirits be distinguished
from others? To this question there is but one answer. How can we distinguish between the good and bad
books of authors long deceased? How distinguish a noble, elevating language from that which is banal and
vulgar? We have only one law by which to measure the quality of thoughts, whether they come from our world
or the other. We can judge mediumistic messages, above all, by their moral force and effect. If they purify and
uplift the character and conscience, it is the surest criterion of their source; in our communications with the
Invisibles, there were signs of recognition to distinguish the good from the bad spirits.
Sensitive psychics recognize quickly the approach of good spirits by the agreeable fragrance, which
precedes the approach; while an odor difficult to endure surrounds evil visitors from the unseen realms.
There are spirits, which employ a certain musical note to distinguish their arrival. (That eminent
author, Stainton M. Moses, mentions this in his book Annals of Psychic Science.). One of our mediums
announced the coming of her control as a ‘blue spirit’; brilliant radiations and harmonious vibrations
accompanied this spirit. That which persuades and convinces us in our search for spiritual truths, more than all
else, are the conversations established between friends and relatives who have preceded us into the world of
space. When incontestable proofs of their identity assure us of their presence, when the old-time intimacy and
confidence is newly established between us, the revelations obtained under these conditions take on a most
suggestive character. Before them the last hesitations of skepticism vanish, to give place to ecstatic emotions
of the heart. Can we resist, when the companions of our youth and our virility, who one by one have departed,
leaving us solitary and desolate, return with a thousand proofs of their identity; incidents meaningless to
strangers, but moving to us? When they advise, counsel, and console us, the coldest and most skeptical cannot
resist their influence. We have proof of this in the conversations of Professor Hyslop, the American professor,
with his father, brother, and uncle. Then add to these the pages written feverishly in half obscurity by mediums
incapable of comprehending their beauty or value, but where splendor of style is allied to profundity of ideas.
And again add impassioned discourses, such as we have heard in our study group, discourses pronounced by
the organs of a simple and modest medium of honest character, who discussed the eternal enigma of the world
and the laws which regulate the spiritual life. Those who had the privilege of attending these reunions know
well what a penetrating influence they exerted upon all. In spite of the skeptical tendency of our generation,
there are accents and forms of language and heights of eloquence, which cannot be resisted. The most
prejudiced are obliged to recognize the incontestable mark of moral superiority. Before those spirits who
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