Evenings at home in spiritual seance : welded together by a species of autobiography

Chapter I

On the 6th of October 1870, I held my first seance after the return of Mrs. Guppy from her prolonged visit to Italy, It was of course a dark seance, and there were present at it Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. and Mrs. T., Miss S., Mrs. Varley, Mrs. Guppy, accompanied by Miss Neyland (whose mediumship in several phases was rapidly developing), Mrs. Pearson and myself. After beginning as usual with The Lord’s Prayer, I was influenced to offer up a brief petition that our re-assembling might enable u,^ to receive a fuller measure of spiritual gifts ; that we might thereby become more fitted to do The Lord’s work, and to shew forth His great Love to the world.

In a short time Miss Neyland exclaimed, “ Oh ! there is an angel : — it is Gabriel, — and he will soon make his presence known.” We then all heard a sound like the rustling of large wings, not as if flying, but a gentle quivering motion, which ceased after a time ; and I may as well mention here, that later in the evening she again saw Gabriel, and the same sound was then observable. . . . She then saw Mamma, my brother Clarence, and my nephew Charlie dripping with water, all of whom she had seen

A when I had been at Mrs. Guppy’s seance on the T3th of September. After which she described a gentleman standing between Mrs. Guppy and Mrs. Ramsay, whom we recognised as General Ramsay. She also saw “James” in letters of light, which was yet another proof ; and he beat the military call on the table with one of the paper tubes. She next saw a fair young girl, and her name, Motee ; she was holding a harp, and in illuminated letters were the words, “ He gathers His lambs into His arms, and carries them in His bosom.” She heard Motee sing, accompanying herself on the harp : we none of us shared the privilege, but she repeated to us the words of the hymn as they came :

“ Happy birds that sing and fly Round thine altars, O most High ;

Happier souls that find a rest In a heavenly Father’s breast :

Like the wandering dove that found No repose on earth around,

They can to their Ark repair And enjoy it ever there.”

After that she described Papa with great accuracy, and then she saw the sentence, “ Cast thy burthen upon The Lord, and He will sustain thee ; His arm will uphold thee, so that the deep waters shall not cover thee.”

To several of those in the circle were now brought bunches of white grapes, and to me was brought a very large cluster of purple grapes, and then Miss Neyland read, above my head, this text, in glowing letters, “ I am the Vine, ye are the branches, and My Father is the Husbandman ; ” — thus shewing us that the grapes were to typify that we must be fruitful branches.

Mrs. T. said, “ I feel as if an effort were being made to raise me, but you must not speak to me, nor touch me.” The darkness being complete, we could not see how much she was raised, but she spoke occasionally, and her voice sounded very much above us, and when she had been gently lowered to her place, Mrs. Guppy said she had seen her feet above the level of the table, and the spirits imme-

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diately rapped in the affirmative, which they reiterated three or four times while we were discussing the subject. She said she had felt herself supported under the arms. Miss Neyland saw the letters M. E. S. T. before this circumstance took place, and thought they were the beginning of a word, but they were Mrs. T.’s initials, with the interpolation of that of her maiden name. This class of manifestation is habitually spoken of as levitation^ but when we realize that a person is thus lifted up by spirits, by the means of their own spirit-substantial hands, I do not see that the word is more needed than when we see an infant carried by its nurse. It also often amuses me when people say that it is ‘‘ contrary to the laws of gravitation ” when a table is raised in the air without visible contact, but they do not imagine that they break a law when they lift up a light table with their own hands, and yet that is an exercise of a precisely similar power.

Mrs. Ramsay’s handkerchief was gently withdrawn from her hands ; it was afterwards knotted into the form of a figure, and tucked into the front of her dress. There were several attempts for direct writing: on one sheet of paper Motee wrote (and Miss Neyland not only saw her while doing so, but she read each word aloud as it was written, and as we afterwards read it for ourselves), “ Believe on The Lord, and you shall be saved.” On another sheet were the words “ good daughter,” which I believe were written by Papa. We were then desired to have a light for the remainder of the seance, when Mrs. T. and Mrs. Varley saw a figure standing behind me whom they described very clearly, as also that he had on a blue coat with metal buttons, and Mrs. Varley especially noticed the ring on his finger, which she at first thought was only a thin gold one, but she then discovered that there was one small stone. The description was in all respects perfectly accurate of a friend who had passed into spirit life on the 6th of January i86i ; the ring had been his mother’s wedding-ring, into which he had had a small diamond set, so as to make it more suitable for a gentleman’s wear, so that she saw it in both its phases, thus identifying it the more completely. I now brought my photograph albums for them to look at (which I had been forbidden by my spirit friends to do before the seance), and the moment Mrs. Varley came to one of the portraits, she exclaimed, “ Why there is the gentleman I saw standing behind you, and that is the very coat, with its metal buttons.” While she was speaking, both she and Mrs. T. again saw him. Miss Neyland also recognised the likenesses of several of the spirits she had seen, which gave an additional interest to the latter part of our seance, which we closed with a few words of thanksgiving.

On the following Sunday I accompanied my sister to Westminster Abbey, where for the first and only time I heard Dean Stanley preach, and I am induced to speak of it now, as he has been so lately withdrawn from the earthplane to enter upon the realities of the world beyond, of which I believe him to have had some foregleams, although he may not have had the courage to proclaim the new truths that had come to him. It is a marvel to me what -such a man could dread ; for his position in life was unassailable, and his testimony, however slight, might have been as a tower of strength to those whose worldly prospects would risk being shaken by such an avowal. If all those who lean towards our side would boldly say, “Such and such proofs we have ourselves received,” — the voice of scorn would soon be shamed into silence. But the thorns are not to be thus removed from our path; nevertheless, I believe that such reticence will meet with its penalty in the hereafter, and there may come the words, “Whereas ye have not lightened the burthen of My suffering servants, ye cannot yet enter into the joys prepared for the faithful.”

My next seance was in honour of Mamma’s birthday, on the 22nd of October, and the circle was composed of Mrs. Ramsay, IMrs. Guppy, Mrs. Pearson of Harpur Street, Mrs. Beresford Scott, Miss Williamson, IMiss Neyland and myself. As we concluded The Lord’s Prayer, the table was gently tipped three times, as a sign that our invisible

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friends had united with us, and they have frequently on other occasions given us a token to the same effect.

The first spirit Miss Neyland saw was Mamma, looking especially radiant, then with her she saw many others of the family, but she could not separate them sufficiently in her vision to describe them. She then saw a young girl (Motee) by the side of Mrs. Ramsay, and she was accompanied by a number of Indians, some of whom had white cloths tied round them, but some had not. General Ramsay, dressed in uniform, then became visible to her, taking Motee by the hand ; also many more Indians. She saw an angel behind me, and upon my asking the name, saw “ Gabriel.”

We heard rustlings of leaves, and felt that upon the table there was a mass of something, wet with rain, and we also heard the fluttering of a bird’s wings : gradually we each felt that a wreath of some kind was placed upon our heads, except upon that of Mrs. Pearson, whose wreath was laid upon her hands, under which she had laid upon the table a pocket-handkerchief I had given her that had been embroidered by Mamma. “ Light ” was then spelt out, and we found that we had been crowned with garlands of ivy twined into wreath-forms. When again in darkness. Miss' Neyland said that Mamma was writing on the wall, and the words were : “ We have crowned you all with blessings, that you may do The Lord’s work upon earth.” . . . She then saw a tall lady standing between Mrs. Guppy and me, but she could not distinguish all the name : — she saw a C and then Mole, and Mrs. Pearson asked her to go round to her (she was her sister, Clara Mole), which she immediately did, and answered a few questions by raps. . . . Miss Neyland saw Mamma write the message, “Dear daughter, I thank you for glorifying the remembrance of this day as much as while I was on the earth.” She said Mamma seemed to be very busy indeed, and a message was spelt, “Put six glasses under the table.” I did so, and we heard a ringing sound from them several times, but they did not succeed in producing music, which I think was what they had wished. Mrs. Scott saw many lights and stars, some of which were visible to Mrs. Pearson, and we all saw one in the centre, but only rather faintly, while Mrs. Scott was struck with its brilliancy. I had placed a sheet of paper and a pencil under IMrs. Ramsay’s chair, which we heard moved away and written upon, and Miss Neyland saw Motee doing it, and we afterwards read the message, “Dear Mother, I am very happy;” and Mrs. Ramsay took it home with her.

The alphabet was asked for, and we received the directions to “ Eat, and sit again.” This was so contrary to the usual custom of our seances here (for it was not quite nine o’clock), that we could not help wondering at it, but when we asked whether they wanted to gain physical power for an especial purpose, they answered in the affirmative. Of course we did their bidding, and when I had lighted the candle, we found a white feather on the table, which looked like the wing-feather of a white dove, and must have, fallen from the bird whose fluttering we had heard.

On our return from supper, Mrs. Ramsay asked, as I came to my place after extinguishing the candles, whether I had touched her, which I had not, but she had felt something like a veil passed across her face. The alphabet having been again requested, they spelt out, “We will bring Sacha Home’s pocket-handkerchief,” and I immediately felt a handkerchief laid on my hands for a moment, after which it was given to Mrs. Ramsay ; we were then told we might have a light, and lo ! in front of her there was a small cambric handkerchief with a very broad hem, with the name of Sacha Home written with marking ink in small letters in one of the corners. When again in darkness, Mrs. Ramsay, who was much struck by what had taken place, asked if Sacha were present, and she answered “Yes.” Miss Neyland saw and described her so accurately that Mrs. Ramsay, who was the only one present who had known her, recognised all the details. She then asked Sacha if she remembered something in connexion with this

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manifestation, and she rapped out, “ In Regent’s Park, I think.”

Mrs. Ramsay then narrated that at a seance with Mr. Home at the house of Mrs. Crawford Parks,. in the Regent’s Park, not long after his wife’s death (which took place in 1862), Sacha made her presence known, and she told Mrs. Ramsay she would give her one of her pocket-handkerchiefs; the seance was, however, concluded without its having been brought to her, and Mr. Home expressed his surprise that she should have made a promise and not have fulfilled it ; — and now, after a lapse of upwards of eight years, she had been enabled to perform what she had then promised! !! The tubes had been moved about many times in the course of the evening, and Sacha was now making an effort to use one ; at length, in a very gentle voice, she said to Mrs. Ramsay, “ I never forget you ; ” and they held a little conversation, but as Sacha had not much power, she soon said, “ Good-night ; ” but upon being asked if she had any message for her little boy, she answered, I love him.”

Some delicious perfume was sprinkled upon us, and at that moment Ann came to the door to enquire if Miss Leith might be admitted ; to which an immediate consent was given. I had invited her to the seance, which to her mortification she had had to decline, as there was a dinnerparty at home, but when she could make her escape, she thought she would come and plead for admission, so as at any rate to enjoy some portion of the seance, and she was much amused to see us all with our ivy crowns. Miss Neyland beheld an elderly lady, not very tall, standing behind her, but she could not see her with sufficient distinctness to describe her, in consequence of Miss Leith’s atmosphere not having been harmonised into the circle by sitting with us from the beginning, but my spirit friends told me that it was her grandmother. Mamma had always been very fond of her, and expressed her pleasure at her having managed to come for her birthday fete. Motee, too, who had several times been carrying her Mamma’s little silver bell about and ringing it, now rang it again.

and took it to Miss Leith. They were now very busy with the tubes, especially in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Pearson ; they then brought one to me, and laid it across my arms. “ Light ” was then spelt, and we found that upon the tube was written “ Look inside.” There was also some writing within it, but too far up for us to do more than see that it was there; so I had to cut the paper and unroll the tube, and withinside were the words, Dearest Mary,” which were meant for Mrs. Pearson, and were written by her mother, my Aunt Sarah. We all felt the touch of hands very distinctly, and once I was allowed just to catch the hand touching me, which was that of Motee, who then fingered for some little time my pearl ring as her own memorial. At length, after many caressing touches to each of us, “ Good-night ” was spelt, and our interesting seance was terminated in the usual way.

I was with Mrs. Guppy on the 3rd of November, when she told me that as they were going home. Miss Neyland mentioned that she had seen an additional crown hovering in the air, which they supposed had been intended for •Miss Leith, but that the spirits had probably not been able to bring it to her when she joined the circle, because of her not having been present during the whole seance. But to Mrs. Guppy’s great surprise, when she went up to her room, she found the said ivy-wreath on Mr. Guppy’s pillow.

I generally think it best to leave calumny alone, to die out of itself, but for once I must depart from my own rule, as the publication of this seance may stir the wrong into fresh life, so I will as briefly as possible relate the facts upon which a false accusation was grounded. Mrs. Guppy’s grandfather, Mr. Nicholl, was, as I have previously mentioned, a sculptor, and a model who came to his studio left behind her a pocket-handkerchief on which was the name of Sacha Home. How she had come by it I know not, perhaps she might have been a laundress as well as a model, and the handkerchief may have been forgotten to be sent home. It had, however, remained among Mrs

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Guppy’s things, and she had mentioned the fact to several friends. One of those soi-disant friends, who ought to have known Mrs. Guppy better, when she heard what had occurred here, immediately took it into her head that that was the handkerchief that had been produced at this house, and whispered her suspicions of trickery around, until, through my cousin, they reached my ears ; and as I like to clear away all mysteries, I told Mrs. Guppy the next time I went to see her of the rumours afloat, thinking it possible that her powerfully mediumistic element might have enabled Mrs. Home to convey that identical piece of cambric into my room. “ Oh dear, no,” was her immediate reply, ^'■that handkerchief is still in my possession : we will go up together, and hunt for it at once, for I know I put it into the drawer with Tommy’s things.” Sure enough, there we found the handkerchief, which was very different from the one that had been brought here, for instead of the delicate marking with indelible ink, the name was embroidered with red cotton in large fancy letters. I must still fight out the question a little farther, for even had it been the self-same handkerchief, that would not have touched the circumstances, for it was given here in fulfilment of a promise made so long before that it had slipped out of Mrs. Ramsay’s memory, and no one else had known anything about it at all.

November nth, I was present at a seance on the afternoon of yesterday, at Mrs. Guppy’s, the circle consisting of ten persons, among whom were Mrs. Ramsay and Mr. Coleman. The spirits, after having requested us to wish for something, brought us a quantity of freshly gathered violets, mignonette, geranium leaves and fern leaves, all wet with, rain. There were other manifestations, in which were given decisive tests of Miss Neyland’s clairvoyant powers, but those personally interesting to myself referred chiefly to Mamma and Clarence. . . Then there was a certain undulatory movement of the table, like that of a vessel at sea, which gradually became more vehement, the strangers present finding out the similitudes, and suggesting that lO they referred to some one who had been drowned, assenting answers being given by the tippings of the table, and at the same time Miss Neyland saw behind me the youth dripping with water whom she had before described. He then traced in letters of light :

“ In vain your fancy strives to paint The moment after death ;

The glories that surround His saints Beyond the parting breath.”

She says the writing is difficult to read in such cases, because it seems to appear and then disappear. I have heard in other instances, of the writing coming letter by letter, the first fading as the next shines forth.

After the seance was over, while we were chatting, I regretted that I had not fulfilled a previous resolution, which w'as that when the spirits should desire me to wish for something, to ask them to bring me a stone, for not being a perishable article, I could always keep it, adding that their bringing it to me would make it a precious stone.

. I am now just returned from another seance at her house, which has been the most extraordinary I have ever attended. Mrs. Chevalier and a lady friend of hers were the only visitors besides myself, and w^e went down to the sitting-room, with the intention of having tea, but Mrs. Guppy had just heard some powerful raps, desiring that we should not have tea befoir the se'ance ; so we \valked up again into the room where it was to take place, and Mrs. Chevalier’s lady friend, who had never before been at any seance, was requested by ISIrs. Guppy to make a strict examination of the room, which she did most thoroughly, finding nothing but the simple furniture of table, chairs, sofa, and piano : the door was then locked and the key given into her possession. On the table were some sheets of paper, a pencil, a tambourine and a bell ; and the circle consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, Miss Neyland, the two ladies I have mentioned, and myself. The gas was turned out, and when we had united in saying The Lord’s Prayer,

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II our invisible friends made an affirmative signal at the conclusion to imply that they also had joined with us. The alphabet was then asked for, and they spelt out the message : “We will bring you a precious stone,” which led to my repeating yesterday's conversation, and after a short time Mrs. Guppy said, “ They are trying to move my hand round, so as to turn the palm upwards ; ” and then she added, “ Here is something small ; am I to give it to Miss Houghton?” “Yes,” was the response. When I had received it, we wished to light the candle, which they negatived, but allowed me to tie the small article into a corner of my handkerchief. We were then desired to hold hands all round. The tambourine was then played rather noisily, being carried to different parts of the room over our heads. Something cold was now placed on my hand, which felt like a saucer, and we gradually heard unmistakable sounds of crockery, the table being all the time in considerable motion. Mrs. Guppy began to fear that they had brought her best tea-service, which had been laid out in the lower room in readiness for the repast, but she was left in her anxiety, for our request for a light was again refused. The clatter of cups and saucers became still stronger, and we each felt something thrown into our laps, but we continued to obey the injunction not to unclasp hands, and at length received the welcome permission to strike a light, when we found that to each of us had been given a table-napkin, another having been spread on the table, upon which were seven cups and saucers {iioi those she calls her spiritual ones, from having been our gift to her), six small plates, a larger one (empty) for bread-andbutter, a jug of milk, a glass sugar-basin containing sugar, with sugar-tongs, and some biscuits.

After we had investigated all, and remarked that the tea only was wanting, we were desired to extinguish the light, and almost immediately Miss Neyland made a sudden exclamation that something had burned her cheek, so we begged leave to light the candle, which was at once granted, and lo ! there was the teapot, containing some very strong tea, and the no longer empty plate had on it a portion of the cake of which we had partaken the evening before, and a knife to cut it with. Of course we had our tea, and enjoyed it. I then examined , my gift, which was a beautiful ruby, rather larger than one for which I had given about five years ago, and also more exquisite in colour, so that my stone is liter-ally precious. When w'e were again in darkness. Miss Neyland distinguished some of my spirit relatives, also Mrs. Chevalier’s little girl, and others belonging to her. We were tenderly touched by the loving fingers of those so dear to us, Mrs. Chevalier feeling her child’s hand very distinctly. A Neapolitan tortoise-shell dagger (a gift from Mrs. Guppy), that I wear in my hair, vvas gently withdrawn, and taken to Mrs. Chevalier, who was allowed to hold it for a time, but it was then brought back and replaced in my hair. Something was heard to fall into the cup near Mrs. Chevalier that sounded like money, — it was a shilling, which she was desired to keep, and Mrs. Guppy afterwards made a hole in it, to enable her to hang it to her watch-chain. Dear Motee felt on my finger for the ring which is her emblem, and gave me a little tap of reproach for not wearing it on this occasion. “No more,” was then spelt, but even after the door had been widely opened, so that there was a good deal of light, Mrs. Chevalier again felt the touch of her little girl’s hand.

I then went to the kitchen to ascertain w^hether the servant had made the tea that had been brought to us, but she knew nothing whatever about it, and thought I was reproving her for not having made it in readiness for us. Miss Neyland then looked into the caddy, where there had been nearly half a pound of tea, but it had all vanished, so it was no wonder our tea had been so strong. The tablenapkins had been brought from a linen press upstairs, and the teapot was also brought from an upper room, being one they were not in the habit of using.

In talking afterwards over that marvellous seance, Mrs. Guppy said how glad she would have been if any such manifestations would have come on the previous day, when

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there were visitors of importance present, — but it was the very fact of our being such a small circle, composed of strong mediums, with only one single stranger in our midst, that rendered it possible for such evidences of spirit power to be given. The tea itself must have been made in the sitting-room, where our meal was to have been taken, for there was a good fire, and the kettle was on the trivet in readiness for use. The room also was, so to speak, full of Mrs. Guppy, so that there was plenty of her atmosphere to be gathered for their purposes. Such conditions are well understood by Spiritualists, who know that they may therefore reasonably expect more striking seances at the medium’s own house than elsewhere, more especially if there is additional power among the members who form the circle.

She invited rather a large party for November 25th in honour of Mr. Guppy’s birthday, the circle consisting of eighteen persons, of whom (by the direction of the spirits) only four sat at the table, Mr. and Mrs. Guppy opposite each other. Miss Neyland and myself between them ; the others being arranged in two semi-circles beyond. I had heeded the reproach given by Motee on the previous occasion, and had duly put on my oriental pearl, and as we commenced The Lord’s Prayer, I felt her take my hand with her warm living fingers, and at each petition she signified her concurrence, either by stroking my hand or patting the ring. At the conclusion, I asked Miss Neyland if she saw any spirit touching me, and she answered, “ Oh ! yes, the fair young girl, Motee.”

Some musical instruments w^ere on the table, and among them one composed of eight metal cups (forming the scale), one above another on a handle, wLich emit a bell-like sound when struck. Upon this the spirits played “ The last rose of summer ” : — they then struck one single note, and carried the instrument round and round the room until the sound had faded away, and so on with each note : — after wLich they produced the most harmonious effect I ever heard \ they struck the deepest note, carrying it once round, above our heads, so that the room was filled with the vibrations, then the second in the same way, until at last we heard the vibrations of the whole eight, softened and blended into one another, forming, if I may so express it, a perfect rainbow of sound.

We were all freely sprinkled with perfume. The message was then spelt, “ Faithful must wish,” (for fruit), and afterwards, “ Each must wish.” I had asked for a banana, and each of the others requested fruit of some kind ; almost all the wishes being complied with, sometimes instantaneously, and sometimes with a little delay ; one friend having a cocoa-nut weighing a pound and a half, and one a watermelon that weighed four pounds. At length we were told to leave off, and return in an hour, so we retired to the adjoining room to have supper.

There were present two members of the spiritual press, who took down the depositions of each person’s requests and the result, and I must quote one item of the report, as being so characteristic of Mrs Guppy, whose great weakness it always was, as she termed it, to “ eat the manifestations.” I asked for some barberries, a pear for my