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

55genuine. There are certain features in it which point to its fidelity, and the spirit form has beenrecognised by members of the family. Moreover, the circumstances under which it was obtainedrender the theory of imposture incredible.There is a phenomenon in connection with photographs that has not yet attracted sufficientattention. I allude to the “precipitation’s” of faces and forms on old photos which have been in thepossession of one person many years. I have in my possession a carte-de-visite of a girl relative,taken at fifteen years of age, at Brighton, in the year 1865. About four years ago the backgroundof this picture began to show signs of what I thought was deterioration in the varnish ; the defect, asit appeared to be, became lighter and lighter in colour ; six or eight months later the faintimpression of a face was discernible. It is now clear that the face is that of the young lady’s father.The eyes are closed as if in sleep, but the features resemble those in an existing portrait. He wasalive at the time the portrait was taken, and did not pass over till three years later. Why he shouldappear in this way I am unable to explain ; but I am satisfied that the image is no fanciedcoincidence suggested by the decay of chemicals.(43) I have in my possession a photograph of Iola taken at the age of fifteen. There is oneface faintly precipitated in the background over her head, and five on the dress. The initials ofone sister and the name of another are impressed on the dress. It is a curiosity. I have seenprecipitation’s on other photos in my collection.This phenomenon is a mild introduction to the coloured precipitation’s done by spiritagency in the presence of the Bangs sisters at Chicago, which I will describe in a later chapter.I had interviews with several other clairvoyants in England than those I have mentioned.Most of the information conveyed was of a private character. Good tests came through RonaldBrailey, J. Vango, Otto Von Bourg, and others. The relation of what occurred at these séanceswould only weary my readers, without adding appreciably to the evidence already adduced insupport of my belief that those whom I once, in my ignorance, thought dead are very much alive.It became more and more plain to me that the presentation of all the delicate phenomena ofspiritism depended for its success, in a large measure, on the mental condition of the sitter. If hebelieved through personal investigation, or by studying the records of the experiences of others,that communication with the unseen was possible, he got some test—hardly ever the one heexpected, but an answer, maybe, to some inquiry made weeks before, or, at any rate, an item ofinformation, crisp and clear, that could not be accounted for by any knowledge in the possession ofthe psychic nor by what was in his conscious mind.By 1908 I had read everything worth reading on the subject of spiritism, and a great dealthat was not ; and, it was impossible to make any progress in the subject in this damp climate, Idetermined to visit America again.