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

27miserly creature. He would skin a flint, this husband of hers, and when they lived together hegrudged her the food she was obliged to eat to keep body and soul together. (The writer assents tothis cheerful delineation of character.) Tell your sister it is better for her to remain independent,even if she has to work for her living. Perhaps I can tell you more if you remain behind thisafternoon.(14) Then to me: “Your father is laughing and saying ‘They are wondering at home why youare going back earlier than you intended.’ (Correct). He also says ‘Does my son think I do notknow how many children I have got?’ (Then followed a correct answer to my question). Who is E?Your aunt? But I don’t understand. The E. who is here speaking to me (listens) says that youmarried into her family. (Correct. Eighteen years after my aunt’s death I married her daughter(my cousin). She was ill for a long time before she passed over; her family did not know how badshe really was, and when the end came it was a great shock.” (This was correct).I have quoted her a few of the utterances of Mrs. Pepper. All of them were equallyinteresting and truthful, and there was not doubt in my mind at the time that this remarkablewoman did clairvoyantly see spirit entities who had accompanied their friends into the house, andthat through their agency she was able to read the contents of these sealed letters almost as well asif she had opened them and read them with her eyes.(15) Once again, the evening before I sailed for England, I had an interview with her, thistime alone. She had a few minutes before she returned from Philadelphia, where had addressedthirteen hundred people, and given readings of seventy-five letters (I understood that five hundredpeople were turned away from the door), and at that time she was much troubled by some domesticdifficulties, so I hardly expected to benefit much by her clairvoyante faculty. In this I was quitemistaken. She gave me all sorts of information of a private and complicated nature, described thecharacter and the manner of death of a distinguished officer (which was perfectly correct) andappeared generally as if she had had no fatigue and no worries. I can only relate one portion ofour conversation. One letter I had written, closed, and addressed outside, was to the spirit of avery amiable man who had died in the year 1868, and whom we will call here Major Jones. I knewhim well when I was a boy, and had reasons for supposing that he would be present, and he was.His only Christian name was Major; he was not a military man, and had never seen anything moreformidable than a squib fired off during his life. He had passed over at the age of fifty-nine. Likemany other people in the last century, before statistics had been collected on the subject, heentertained a rooted objection to consanguineous marriages, and believed that they were the workof the devil. Nine years after his death his youngest daughter married a cousin. Three otherchildren had also married. His grandchildren totalled up to the number of eighteen, and the mostsuccessful of his children’s marriages from the physical and mental standpoint was that of hisyoungest daughter. The seer was instructed to ask him: “How many children have you in spiritlife, and how many in earth life? The answer was quite correct: “Two daughters in earth-life, twoin spirit-life, two sons in spirit-life, and there was a little boy who died shortly after he was born.”(This latter detail was not in my consciousness, but I daresay I had heard of it at sometime oranother.) He further went on to specify which of his daughters, both of whom he named, died first.Both of his wives were mentioned by name. He said; “I have a grandson in earth-life who is ill. Hewill have to be taken great care of.”“Do you approve of the marriage of your youngest daughter?”A.: “No. That grandson I spoke to you about is her son. (Correct, the man in questionhaving been attacked by enteric fever in the previous August; at this time he was nearly well.)Now observe this reply. The illness of the grandson had nothing to do with the popularnotion of consanguineous marriages; but Mr. Jones who had ample opportunity, we must suppose,of knowing this fact, still adhered to his original fixed idea. This view, I hinted to the clairvoyante,who was instructed to ask again; but she said: “I can’t help it sir ; but she shakes his head.”Other details were given which proved the identity of the spirit communicating and that of four orfive other spirits who were present.I said to Mrs. Pepper: “I certainly thought you would be confused by supposing Major Jonesto be a military man.” The reply was: “No, he didn’t look like one.”