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

51(Correct. A sub-lieutenant, J. Frederick B., long passed over, was under my command at a timewhen I contracted a bad dose of East African fever up a river near Zanzibar.) The second formwas identified at once; for a close approximation to his surname was given, and the medium took onthe conditions of his death, which was by drowning. He added, which was true, that on the day ofhis death abroad this officer was seen clairvoyantly in LondonOn September 27, 1905, I strewed twenty cartes-de-visite on a table at Southsea, and, turningmy back on them, asked Mrs. Arnold, a clairvoyante, to select the picture of Iola, who, she hadpreviously declared, was present. There were two in the collection ; within two minutes thepsychic gave me one of the two, and then took up another picture, saying, saying : “She says this isher sister.” (Correct.) It was a little girl in a short frock.(40) On May 20, 1906, I called upon Miss MacCreadie, to whom I was a perfect stranger.She gave me a good reading, and, among other things, described Iola with fair accuracy. Shortlyafter she said ; “Somebody passed out of your life six years ago.” I denied it ; but the psychic got aclairaudient message ; “Somebody did pass out of his life six years ago.” On reconsideration, Iremembered the death of a relative by marriage in whom I did not take particular interest, andwho had passed over in the year 1900. This relative was a particular friend of Iola. The psychicwas controlled ten minutes later by her guide “Sunshine,” who gave a more accurate description ofmy guide. After some talk I handed my closed packet of forty cartes-de-visite into the hands of themedium, and went into the corner of the room, turning my back, and asked “Sunshine” to pick outthe photo of anybody who was present in spirit. I waited in the corner, perhaps, five minutes,when the control called me back to the table and presented me with a portrait of Iola taken not longbefore she passed over. There were three photos of the spirit in the pack.I am at a loss to see how the selection of photographs under the circumstances I havementioned, when I was not in a position to know which one the psychic or her control was handling,and therefore wholly unable to assist them by impression, can be attributed to any mundaneintelligence whatever. It might be argued with some plausibility that the phenomenon was due tothe agency of some earth-bound spirit, who had accompanied me about for two years with theexpress intention of deceiving me at every séance that I attended. Such a being, having oncediscovered the photos of Iola, might impress the medium time after time to put one or two of themforward ; but no person on earth could do it without some assistance, beneficent or malevolent. IfI had tried this test once, the success might be put down to coincidence, for the chances are only tento one or twenty to one against the right choice being made ; but the fact is I have scarcely everfailed to obtain this test from psychics of acknowledged powers. It had come off four times inAmerica, two with faces downwards, and ten times in England ; and the selection of the picture wasgenerally preceded by a good description of the person and face of Iola. I do not myself believe inthe malevolent-spirit theory. What motive would such a devil have in giving me a proof ofimmortality ? For assuredly, if this test was not engineered by a devil, it was given by my guideherself, whose appearances and manifestations have been consistent throughout, leading megradually to a belief that she is alive, and, therefore, that existence beyond the grave is a fact. Ihave long ago come to the conclusion that, on each of the occasions I have related, Iola was presentin the room, and affected the selection of her own and her sister’s pictures.I have two other incidents to record in which photographs played a part. On September30, 1905, I gave Mrs. Davies, a clairvoyante, then in Portsmouth, my packet of forty, and asked herto pick out the portraits of any people who impressed her as being near to me. As was arrangedon all other occasions when photographs were used, some were near relatives, some distant ; somestrangers, some friends. About half the pack were portraits of people alive. I turned my back toher. Presently she handed over my shoulder the photo of a lady taken at the age of sixty orthereabouts, saying : “I see a bright light upon this picture ; I am confident that this lady is aboutto pass over shortly, if she has not already done so.” The portrait was that of a very near and dearrelative, who died ten weeks later in her ninety-first year. She then gave out another relative forwhom she prophesied an early death (which I fear will come true). Finally, she was told