his evil affections were daily and slowly destroying, in the unseen body, every trace of beauty. Come with me, and I will show you some of those who have become so changed from the human form, through evil lives, as to appear more like beasts than men. My companion took me to a valley, before concealed from view by a dense forest, through which led a winding path. In this valley were companies of men and women engaged in various pursuits that seemed to occupy their earnest attention. "Look from this point," said my companion, as we gained a little eminence, "and you will see them in their true forms." I looked for a moment, and then turned away, sick with the sight. "What did you see?" asked my companion. "Men and women so changed, as to appear more like evil and filthy beasts than forms of human intelligence.' "As you see them, so are they.-While in the natural body, many of them had beautiful forms, for which they were loved and admired. But, in their life in the world, they marred the form and features of their spiritual bodies by evil and beastly affections. One had the cunning of the fox; another the cruelty of the wolf; and another the filthy sensuality of the swine. All this was hid from the natural sight-it was the unseen. But the veil of the flesh is removed, and what was unseen has become the seen. They are now before you in the forms that correspond to their true affections." 66 Oh, if men knew this!" I exclaimed. "Return and give utterance to the truth. Publish what your eyes have seen and your ears heard." "But they will not believe," said I. "Tell it, nevertheless." At this moment, I saw approaching, one whom I had loved with a love more intense than that of a brother, and whose loss I had mourned with unavailing sorrow. She had observed me, and was hurrying forward. As she came near, As she came near, I perceived that she was no longer beautiful as before. Every fair feature was distorted, and there was an expression of evil in her countenance, that shocked me like an electric current. Oh, she was hideous! I turned to flee, but she threw her arms around me, and uttered words of endearment; and her voice, instead of being flute-like in its tones, croaked like the voice of the raven. In sorrow I awoke. Long did I lie pondering the strange vision. "Dreams are, for the most part, fantastic," said I; but they often come in similitudes of truth. There is truth veiled here; I feel it, I know it. An evil life must distort the features of our inner man, and change them from beauty to deformity. We know that the mind receives impressions and retains them. Warp the mind in childhood, and it ever after retains the unpleasing form, which is ever manifesting itself by means of the outer body. If we could see, by a spiritual vision, this mind or inner body itself, we should see the distortion as we perceive an unsightly crook in a favourite tree." And if all this be so, and who will make bold to deny it ?— each one of us is, day after day, either marring and deforming the unseen body, or rendering it more beautiful. Every evil and selfish affection, every unholy passion, every indulgence in wrong feelings or actions, deforms the spirit; while every good and generous emotion, and every act that springs from a purified and all-embracing love of our neighbour, is rendering it more and more beautiful, and, if continued to the end of life, the unseen body, when it rises into the light of the spiritual world, will appear as the form of an angel. Reader, lay this up in your heart and ponder well the words of the stranger. They are not idle sounds like the tones of the passing wind.-Arthur's Home Magazine. NOTES AND GLEANINGS. A FACT FOR DR. CARPENTER: DR. THOMSON'S TESTIMONY. MR. G. S. THOMPSON, M.D., of 4, Worcester Lawn, Clifton, Bristol, writes: "I have just read the article in the Quarterly Review entitled "Spiritualism and its Recent Converts," in which, among many other statements which the author discredits, is the account given by Mr. Crookes of his experiments with Mr. Home with the accordion. He seems to express a desire that the experiment be tried in open daylight, and above instead of under a table, and in the presence of trustworthy witnesses. I think I can satisfy him on all of these points (provided I am trustworthy, which I am considered to be by those who know me). At a séance in my own house, the accordion, while suspended by the lower end from one of Mr. Home's hands (while the other hand rested on the table), by which he held it at least two feet above the table, did play, and the whole party, consisting of seven persons, heard it, and, moreover, saw the keys and the bellows move simultaneously, which latter point the writer appears to have great doubt about. I may also add that the room was fully lighted, every part of it being distinctly visible. "I should also state that Mr. Home did not see the accordion till it was given him after we were seated at the table, and that during the time the accordion was playing, I passed my hand all round it, in order that I should be perfectly satisfied that nothing was attached to the keys." EXPERIENCES OF MRS. BASSETT. Mr. Bassett, of Thornton-grove, Stratford, E., writes concerning the experiences of himself and Mrs. Bassett as follows: "We first saw spiritual manifestations about three years ago, at a spirit circle, at which Mrs. Everitt was the medium, and after witnessing the phenomena, had no faith whatever in them, but determined to try for ourselves at home. Sixteen years previously we had heard of table-turning, and on trying found that the table turned for us, but had no idea that spirits produced the movements. After the séance with Mrs. Everitt, we began at home, sitting occasionally, and always in the light. At our first sitting certain table movements rather startled us, which we accounted for on Faraday's theory of unconscious muscular action, but afterwards found that when we removed our hands from the table, the same movements sometimes took place. At the fourth or fifth of our weekly sittings, we heard raps for the first time; the raps continued for the next two months, and then we began to sit in the dark. We then heard other noises, sometimes as if a bird were flying about the room. All this sime we were not convinced of spirits having anything to do with the manifestations, but ascribed them to an unknown force. "After forming this opinion, we sat one evening by the light of a paraffin lamp. I placed a concertina under the table, and said-If this is spirit-power, strike the notes on the concertina, which I have placed under the table, if that is better for you, and we will accept it as a truth, and if not, we will have nothing further to do with it.' Immediately the notes came out full and powerful, so as to frighten us; the accordion also moved about, hitting against my legs and the legs of the table as if it were alive. I said, 'Well, we must accept it.' This was about six months after we began our sittings. We then invited some friends to come and witness the phenomena. They were startled, and could not account for what they saw. Things went on in this way for another six months, when one night we found at the close of the séance that a sheet of paper had been written on, and the name of a friend who had 'died' some years previously was appended to the communication. It was unmistakably his own signature. Afterwards, three or four other spirits, unknown to us, gave us messages in the same way, but they were known, and their signatures recognised by their friends present. Occasionally we get this direct spirit-writing now. "The next phase consisted in the formation in the dark of spirit-hands, which touched us; they opened and shut doors, and played frequently on the violin and other instruments. Various objects were carried about the room, and sometimes made to gently touch us. Sometimes articles were brought from other rooms in the house, while the doors and windows of the séance room were closed. "About two years after we began, as we were sitting for other manifestations in the light, and while several persons were present, we most unexpectedly heard the spirit-voice for the first time. Since then we have had at different times as many as seven spirit-voices; three of these spirits who speak with audible voices almost invariably attend our séances now. "The name of the spirit who speaks with most ease through Mrs. Bassett's mediumship, is James Lombard; and he has proved his personal identity to the satisfaction of his brother, who lives in Chandos-road, Stratford, and is in the employment of the Great Eastern Railway Company. The names of the other two spirits who frequently talk are Robertson and Dolman. They do not speak with the same voices they had while on earth, as they state that they have to manufacture speaking apparatus out of the emanations from the medium and other members of the circle before they can make their words audible. "Altogether at our house we have given about two hundred séances, besides accepting invitations to all parts of London. We have sat with ministers of religion, writers for the public press, professional men, and men of science, and have given them every opportunity of testing the genuineness of the manifestations. They have been surprised at the length of time the spirits talk; sometimes half an hour has passed without the voice stopping for one moment. James Lombard, in his peculiar style, usually takes up the conversation of the sitters, giving his opinions freely, and sometimes describing other spirits present. Mr. Robinson usually gives a dissertation on the reality of a future state, and the benefits arising from spiritual manifestations. Mr. Dolman usually speaks of the growth and progress of the spirit in the spheres, and of our duty to God and to our neighbours. They say that they take the emanations from the medium and other members of the circle, wherewith they make speaking apparatus which they use to talk with. The emanations from some individuals are no good at all for the manufacture of speaking apparatus, and a medium is simply a person who gives off the right emanations in greater quantity than other people. "In conclusion, we have proved the truth of Spiritualism for ourselves, and have the consolation of knowing that through us it has reached the homes and hearts of many more.' [We may add to the foregoing account that Mrs. Bassett is an unprofessional medium, and that her services as a medium have been given solely to aid inquiries into the facts and laws of spirit-manifestations. It is by mediums accepting in this spirit the responsibilities of their position that they can best serve the interest of the truth of which they are the ministers, and not by making a trade of mediumship.-Ed. S. M.] GERALD MASSEY ON SHAKSPEARE'S SONNETS. This work being out of print the author proposes to issue a second edition limited to one hundred copies for subscribers only, at one guinea each. After setting forth the character and purpose of the work, the advertisement proceeds to say that Mr. Massey avows that the revelations whereby he claims to have cleared up a great mystery were made by means of spirit communications, and he offers his work as one answer to those who ask What is the use of such communication?' He considers the problem to have been insoluble in any other way." THE SPIRITUAL TELEGRAPH. The method of communicating with the invisible beings, who surround us like "a great cloud" continually, is one thing, and the communications themselves quite another. We receive, through the wires that are suspended over the length and breadth of our land, and by means of the small machines at our railway stations and post-offices, all sorts and kinds of messages, characterising the persons who send them, and those to whom they are * Names of Subscribers will be received by our publisher, Mr. J. Burns, 15, Southampton Row, E. C. |