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

26way – viz., that Iola, who knew all the faces except one when she was in earth life, was directingthe choice.Other particulars were given concerning my family which cannot be repeated. They werecorrect, and my own Christian name was told to me.Mr. Porter blindfolds his eyes. He gave me some good tests; but some of the people whomhe described were uppermost in my mind that morning, and I fancy that, though blindfolded, hewas able in some way to draw liberally on my own upper consciousness. There was, however, onevery curious announcement towards the end of the interview: “This spirit says he was with you inSt. Louis. Have you been in St. Louis?” I replied: “No; but that was the name of the ship I cameover in.” The spirit promised to make his identity known later. Mr. Porter had no knowledge ofmy name or nationality, but described minutely, my occupation.(13) I returned to New York on 14 th January. On the 17 th I attended a public reading ofsealed letters in the drawing-room of Mrs. Pepper. This time I had some closed letters of my ownon the table addressed to different relatives. For instance, one was to my father asking him howmany children he had in the spirit world; another was to an aunt who died fifty years before,asking what was the cause of her death. The clairvoyance shown by Mrs. Pepper on this occasionwas one of the most remarkable of my experiences. About forty people were present. I shouldthink that the number of sealed letters read that afternoon amounted to twenty or twenty-five. Nota single mistake was made. All the persons who had their letters read, or spirits around themdescribed, admitted the clairvoyant interpretation to be correct. The seer glided about the roomwith absolute confidence, describing the appearances, names and relationships to the audience ofthe entities present, not unfrequently giving an account of a spirit standing by some sitter who hadnot laid any letter on the table.Once I thought Mrs. Pepper had made a mistake. She spoke to a fashionably dressedwoman in the middle of the group: “Lady, I see near you a spirit whose name is R.” “I know noone of that name,” was the frigid response. “Ah! I see it belongs to this gentleman in front of you.It is a little boy who has not long passed over. He was his father’s darling. May I ask, Sir, haveyou lost a child lately called R.?” (The man assents, his wife sitting beside him with compressedlips, looking straight in front of her.) “You have? Let me tell you there is a barrier; your little soncannot show himself to his parents while there is this wall of gloom and despondence in your house.It shuts him out. The father and mother feel no hope; they look around and find nothing to softentheir despair. This should not be so. You Sir, shall see your son. He will make you conscious ofhis presence within two months, as sure as I’m alive. Have you lately changed the position of apicture?”“No we have not moved his picture.”Mrs. P.: “But (listens) he tells me he was with you when you altered the position of apicture. I did not say it was his picture.” The man, who is now weeping quietly with his faceeagerly scanning that of the seer, says: We did make a change in the position of a picture the otherday.” Mrs. P. “Yes, you did. I know it. Your little R. asks me to give you this as a proof that hehas been with you in your home.”Mrs. Pepper then turns to another sealed letter, and says: ”This envelope contains a letterwhich was not written by anyone in this room. Ah! I see. Who claims this envelope? You, lady?Thank you. Will you tell me if I am correct in supposing that in this envelope is a letter from ananonymous person trying to damage your husband in your estimation? (Lady assents). Well, takemy advice and think nothing more about it. It is a slander designed to break up the peace of ahome, and written from evil motives. That is my answer to what you wish to know. If you care towait behind this afternoon, I will tell you more about this matter.After she had dealt with seven or eight letters, she swung round to me and said: “A man, thespirit of your father walked across to you when I took up this envelope. Is it yours?” I answeredin the affirmative. “Well, I will come back to you presently.” Then, turning in the oppositedirection, she took up a closed envelope, but a piece out of it, and mused for a time; then said: “Thisis a question from somebody present who wishes to know if it would be well for her sister to returnto her husband. Who put it there? You, lady? Well, I am told that she had better stop as she is;the separation was not made without good reason, and they had better remain apart. He is a