Glimpses Of The Next State.Pdf - Spiritualists' National Union

104back of the picture, and it was forming on the further side of that one of the two canvasesnearer to me ; consequently, had it gone on as it was and been finished, it would now (whenframed) be profile left. When the portrait was nearly finished the two canvases were loweredtowards me on to the table (the mediums being impressed, apparently, to do this). A telegraphicmessage came by taps to May Bangs, who said : “She wants this picture for your wife specially, aswell as for you. She thinks that your wife would prefer to see her in the pose to which she isaccustomed.” Up went the canvases again to the window, and I found that the whole picture waschanged round, so that the profile looked to the left instead of to the right. In a few minutes theportrait was completed, May Bangs remarking : “She says she cannot put in the hand.”From the time the face and bust first appeared to the time the canvases were separated andthe finished picture put on a sofa in the next room, twenty-five minutes elapsed. Neither of thepsychics had ever seen the carte-de-visite in my pocket. How did they know normally that thereought to be any hand in the picture ? As a matter of fact, in this photo there is a hand (the left)supporting the cheek on its left side. This was omitted in the colour picture.When the portrait was finished, it bore a very close resemblance to the photograph. It waslooking in the same direction—to the right. As to likeness, it is impossible for anyone whocompares the photograph with the picture to deny that they are one and the same individual. Atthe same time the picture is by no means a slavish copy of the photograph. Its pose is moreupright, the face spirituelle, and the dress not exactly the same. There is a firmness, a decision,and an appearance of calm and contented happiness in the face which is absent in the carte-devisite.It is a work of art. I can only say this of one other picture in my collection. They are allinteresting, and each has its peculiar test value : but some of the dresses are stiff, and there aremany anatomical deficiencies. This one, however, is without a flaw, and there is just sufficientdifference between it and the photograph to show distinctly to the most casual observer that one isnot a professional copy of the other.By this time the Bangs Sisters and I were, more or less, on the terms of fellow students, andthey offered to give me any test I desired. It was arranged that in future I should bring my ownslated, rubber bands, and ink.It was on this evening that Dr. Hudson took the message from me that he carried toRochester and wrote through Mrs. Georgia a week later (see Chapter V.).January 21, 1909. Atmospheric conditions good. With May Bangs from 10.45 to 12.30.I took with me two slates a little larger than those of the Bangs sisters. The edges werecovered with woollen stuff, as were theirs (to exclude the faintest ray of light). I also took sixindia-rubber bands, a five-cent bottle of ink mixed with citrate of lithia, and a letter to an oldfriend, Sir A. G., who had been in spirit life some years.I have already referred to a discussion which took place in London before my departureregarding the desirability of finding out if the ink used in the reply letters was the same as that inthe vessel on top of the slates ; it was obvious that, if this could be satisfactorily established, weshould have got more than halfway to proving the supernormal character of the writing. On thatoccasion Sir William Crookes happened to be present, and suggested that I should mix lithium withthe ink ; spectroscopic investigation would enable him to say if the two inks were, or were not,identical. Needless to remark, I adopted his kind advise, and, before starting for America, Ibought a small quantity of citrate of lithium from Messrs. Cruse and Co., Dispensing Chemists, 63Palmerston Road, Southsea. A five cent bottle of ink was bought at “The Fair,” in Chicago ;about one third of it was poured out, the whole of the citrate was poured into the bottle, and wellshaken up. From this mixture a little cup was filled by myself and put on the slates ; the bottlewas then corked and put into my coat pocket.The letter that I wrote to Sir A. G. was as follows :—Dear Sir A——,I had the pleasure of hearing you at Detroit on the 9 th , when we had a chat about the Mainedisaster. The ideas you then expressed did not coincide with your opinion while in earth life.