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

APPENDIX A206WAKING THE SO-CALLED DEADON January 1, 1909, owing to the courtesy of Mr. E. C. Randall, of Buffalo, N.Y., I made theacquaintance of Mr. Leander Fisher, a professor of music in that city. This gentleman, then overfifty years of age, had participated in some remarkable seances between the years 1875 and 1900,which were arranged for the special purpose of helping the so-called “dead” to realise theirposition, and thus assisting them to pass naturally into spiritual life. The events at these meetings,especially those about the year 1890, were faithfully recorded; and he showed me a pile ofdocuments two feet high, not one of which had been publishe 4 l. I asked permission to take some ofthem to England in order that my countrymen should be informed of this ‘‘ mission work, a phaseof spirit manifestation to which they were strangers, at any rate so far as the “direct voice” wasconcerned. Mr. Fisher and Mr. Randall selected twelve records, and had them copied for me. Theyare now printed in this Appendix to my book.In my opinion, it is undesirable for any investigator to record experiences in the body of hiswork which he has not himself witnessed. But it must not be supposed that I have the smallestdoubt as to the strict fidelity of these documents. The high character of Mr. Leander Fisher issufficient voucher for their authenticity. As will be seen in the records, he was sometimes in trance,but at others normal, and joined in the conversation. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Fisher, hismother, people &f the highest reputation in Buffalo, were normal throughout, as was Mrs.Eggleston, the stenographer, whose affidavit adds value to the manuscript.I made inquiries as to whether any of the spirits thus brought, tactfully, to understand thatthey had entered a new state of consciousness, had been satisfactorily identified. The reply was thatmany had been discovered, but after several had been verified it was considered useless to go onsearching for the relatives and places of abode in earth-life of the remainder. Such inquiriesinvolved much time and labour, and always ended with the same result. Nor were the verificationsof value to any but doubters, to whom the personality of “Eva” was unknown; the records wereonly of use to the circle, and were not expected to see the light. They satisfied the sitters, and thatwas enough.The book Thoughts from the Inner Life, by D. E. Bailey (Colby and Rich, publishers, Boston,1886), still in many libraries, is a good introduction to the narrative of the seances.Mr. E. C. Randall’s experiences with Mrs. French, the Rochester medium, mentionedelsewhere in this book, were similar to those of the Baileys and Fishers with Mrs. Swain; but, ofcourse, the great charm—the presence of the spirit of “Eva “—was not available.W.U.M.————AFFIDAVITS.United States of AmericaState of New YorkCounty of ErieCity of BuffaloSSLEANDER FISHER, being duly sworn, doth depose and say, that he is upwards of fiftyyears of age, and resides at 143 lodge Avenue, in the City of Buffalo.That Marcia M. Swain died in the City of Buffalo in about the year 1900, eighty-one years ofage, and deponent had known said Marcia M. Swain since about the year 1876. She was a woman