On another occasion, I inquired whether I had any spirit

friends present.

"Frank and grandma, glad, as usual, to speak to you. I think you should feel that you are happier than you were one year ago. We have all come to you since then, and much has been given. We delight to see you receiving communication from high spirits; they are capable of instructing you and leading your mind on to higher and nobler objects. Be guided by them when the judgment which God has implanted in you tells you they are guiding you aright.

"When we see you harassed with the cares of life, our sympathies are fully awakened in your behalf, and we would fain impart to you that knowledge which we in these higher spheres possess. If we fail to guide you as we wish, and see you involved in trouble, we impart that solace which you need, and thus shield you from much sorrow. My son, be not cast down. We know all your trials, for we are ever hovering over you with watchful eyes and loving hearts; and the time is not far distant when the care which has so long distressed you will be removed. The darkness which has hung like a funeral pall will be dispelled: bigotry and prejudice destroyed, reason assume its sway, and love and light abound. Then will your happiness be complete. YOUR MOTHER.”

Francis, do you wish to recognize your friend, L— —. I have been with you, my dear brother, and have been grieved in spirit to see my dear sister so bigoted. I will pray that the shackles of bigotry may fall and let her loose." "And yet," said I, no one is now more opposed to this New Dispensation than you would have been when on earth."

66

“Yes, but it was early education.”

“Will you send a message to your family ?”

"I will, dear Francis, when I see them prepared to receive it. I cannot cast my pearls where they would not be appreciated. What a sensation it will make when I have an opportunity to manifest to our family circle and friends. So soon as I see an evidence that I shall not be rejected, I will come to them. I have hope to see all peace and happiness at your dear home once more. I would send messages to many of my friends, but what would it avail? They would not believe. No-the hour is not yet come when the dark curtain may be lifted, and the light within be seen in all its glory."

In what sphere are you?

"The fifth."

I supposed that you would have been even still higher. What prevented?

Bigotry! Oh, how many of my old views came around me, and for a long time I would not be convinced. If I, in this world, could not believe, I wonder not that on earth will not receive this new revelation.

my sisters

L

I have had many communications from this dear one. On another occasion I had been quoting the words, "If a man die shall he live again ?" She replied:

"Yes, my dear brother, we shall live again; live in that bright land where nothing shall mar or disturb our happiness. I feel sometimes that I have nothing to bring me to earth but yourself. My spirit will never leave you while yours remains in the form. I shall stand by you even in the hour of death, as you call it, but no death to you, my brother; for you will meet it with joy. You will pass through the valley and shadow like a dream. I cannot explain to you now what joy you will experience when you meet with us all in that bright land, where parting is no more."

In March, 1857, the dial gave the name of an intimate friend of my family, who had recently passed away. I said, "I shall be happy to hear from you.”

"More happy to hear from me now than you could ever have been when on earth. So near, and yet so far, from all of you. You may well imagine my astonishment at learning the truth of what I deemed to be imposture or diabolism. I must tell you how grieved I felt at the remarks I made about you, that you were led away and tempted by the evil one; whereas, now I find how mistaken I was. Would that I could have one of my family interested in it; but this deprivation is but a just retribution for my waywardness in resisting all advances from my spirit friends. I am comparatively happy, though I feel sad sometimes to think of my earth friends, and of what I am deprived, in not being able to hold communion with them. I must learn, however, to wait patiently, and in time I hope to be gratified.

"I was not so much surprised at what I saw, because I had heard of such things, but I always treated them as vagaries. My friends met me when I came on high. I have cast off some of my prejudices, but I am told that many still hang about me, and that I cannot expect to progress until they are all removed."

Who first greeted you?

"My children. J is happy." Have you seen my wife?

"Yes, I have gone to her where she was seated sewing— spoken to her; touched her, but she knew it not. However, I have great hopes that time will soften her prejudices, that she may not enter this world without a knowledge of the truth."

Will you send a message to your family?

"I had thought to send a message, but I know that it would be received with a smile of pity at your delusion. I will wait till a fitting opportunity, and when I find that I

can do so with effect I will, for there shall be no mistake in what I say.

'I am very happy. I have received much instruction since my entrance here. When I now look down upon the earth I wonder to think that the veil of bigotry should be so thick as to obscure the bright light shining behind it: but my friends have torn it aside for me; and now I can gaze without wonder."

Frequently after this I was visited by this spirit through different mediums and at various Circles, often expressing her great desire to commune with her family.

She came again March 10, 1859, and gave the following-another dear friend having just passed away:

"My dear friend, I am here with Mrs. G-. I watched over her during her sickness. She is not, I think, able to communicate this morning. Oh, what a glorious thing it would be if her family, as well as yours and mine, could know how they are watched over by the beloved ones they mourn as dead: O- is changed and will not be so bigoted now as formerly. She was with me at your house this morning. At one time there was joy with us, for we thought we were about to make a manifestation. We shall accomplish`

it yet. 66 O ought not to have died. I do not mean that she was neglected by her friends or the physician-it was from causes known more particularly to herself. She had a disease of the heart, and could have been cured in this last illness if she had been properly managed years ago. But the change is a bright one to her and she is rejoiced that it has come."

What has become of the babe?

To my surprise the spirit herself answered.

"It is with me nestling in my bosom, as natural as if we were living in the flesh.

0."

I am delighted to hear from you, give me your experience since you left us?

"MY DEAR FRIEND,-I have not been long enough in the spirit world to give you anything of much value. I am happy. It would seem strange to the world to know that I am here communicating. When you were at the funeral, yesterday, how clearly I viewed your mind. I read every thought that passed through it. While others were mourning for the lost one, you were consoled, for you felt that I was present, and what a consolation it would have been to them, could they have had the scales removed from their eyes; but how can I murmur? My husband will believe that I am one of his guardian angels, but he will not permit me to communicate with him. Some time hence I may be able to give that which will reach him. 0."

March 11, Mrs. Danskin was entranced by Mrs. Gwho spoke in a soft, weak voice.

"I have followed thee through the day, but more closely as night grew onward, to see where thou wouldst place thyself to have a message from one whose name is written upon thy heart, as though next to thine own flesh and blood.

"Oh for ten thousand tongues to sing my dear Redeemer's praise. Beautiful reality! No fiction, no imagination's flight. Spirits, after the clay form is laid aside, do come and bear messages and glad-tidings of the life beyond. Oh, give me more voice to speak, for I feel the sun-light of the Divine Father, passing through every fibre of my system. God is everywhere. He is with thee. He is with thee. He is thy Father as well as my Father. He made thee

and in thy nostrils breathed the breath of life, which is the essence of himself. Doth He then, the loving and wise God, tell us to pass from His sight? Oh, no. He takes us as His own sweet lambs and lays us down to rest, and watches our feeble system until it becomes strong enough to take in all the beauties and all the glories of this golden home. Oh friend of my heart, He is indeed a kind and loving Father.