CHAPTER V.
AN UNEXPECTED SEANCE.

 

AT an interview with Mr. W. C. Tallman, Mr. W. A. Hovey, and Rev. M. J. Savage, the question of obtaining private seances, in the interest of the Committee on Psychical Research, was discussed, and it was considered desirable to make arrangements with Mrs. H. B. Fay for that purpose. I was selected to consult with her, and, if possible, obtain her consent.

 

As several gentlemen who intended to join us were not present, Mr. Savage was requested to see and inform them of the conditions agreed upon; the result of his interview to be forwarded to me by letter at Mrs. Fay's, on Thursday, before the seance held on that day. These conditions were very simple, and ought to have been satisfactory to any reasonable person. They were the result of the long experience of Mr. Tallman, Mr. Hovey, and myself, made heartily in the interest of the Committee. There was no difference of opinion. Mr. Savage fully endorsing them.

 

The letter was duly received, and, without stopping to read it, I informed "Mrs. Fay that I was ready to talk with her. She replied that she should leave the matter entirely with her control, and if I would lay the letter on the mantel, near the cabinet, Auntie, the control, would probably speak about it. This letter was a long one,—some four pages, written by a member of the Psychological Society, in reply to Mr. Savage. I placed it under a heavy music-box, within a few inches of my head, where I am certain it remained undisturbed until I took it away. Its contents, which reversed the arrangements agreed upon, were not made known to Mrs. Fay until after the decision of her control. As I did not then know what it contained, and in my subsequent interview with Mrs. F. made no allusion to it, Auntie's knowledge of it seemed very remarkable.

 

As the seance drew near the end, a spirit to whom I am greatly attached called me up to the cabinet; and while I was conversing with her, Auntie's voice broke in, saying, "Mr. Brackett?" I said, "What is it, Auntie?" She replied, "I will see you to-morrow."

 

I called on Mrs. Fay the next day, and, after talking with her on other matters, and finding, that she did not seem disposed to allude to the appointment, I reminded her that I came on business. She asked, "What is it?" I replied that Auntie had requested me to meet her. She rose without a moment's hesitation, saying "We will go to the cabinet." This was a surprise to me, for I fully expected that Auntie would take control of her medium, and talk to me through her, as she had often clone before.

 

As Mrs. Fay stepped behind the curtain, Auntie came out, fully materialized, greeting me cordially, shaking hands with me, and expressing pleasure at meeting me; then, in a clear and forcible manner, discussed the question of the proposed seance, going freely into detail, showing conclusively that she understood both sides, and closed by saying that she did not propose to submit her medium to such conditions as were required by the letter, at the same time expressing a willingness to do all she could for Mr. Savage personally. Bidding me Good-bye, she dematerialized directly in front of me, so near that I could have laid my baud upon her as she went down. The curtains were apart, and I could see Mrs. Fay standing just beside the cabinet; but, in order to make me more certain, if possible, of that fact, she reached out her right hand, which I took in my left, preventing the curtains from closing; and while thus standing, no less than six fully materialized forms came out and greeted me.

 

During all this time Mrs. Fay may have been under partial control, but was not entranced, and talked freely with me about the forms, often describing them before they were visible to me.

 

These forms were substantial, varying in height and shape, and distinct from each other. Most of them conversed freely, showing quite as much individuality and intelligence as some of my acquaintances to whom forms sometimes appear,— persons who think they are wise in treating these forms with coldness and distrust, all of which is reflected back to them.

 

It is easy to understand why such persons are disappointed in what comes to them; but it is not easy to understand how any intelligent investigator, who has given the subject any considerable attention, should come to the conclusion that the forms are automatons, and that our friends from the other side never take possession, or control them, as they would a trance-medium; that they are merely effigies,* or lay figures, built up to mock us, and play with the most sacred feelings

 

* In an essay written by "Shadows," intended to enlighten the public on this subject, he puts forth the theory of effigies. In the same article he relates a seance with the Berry Sisters,

 

in which he says that "a young female spirit came to him." The word spirit must have been a slip of the pen; he should have said, a young female effigy. It was possibly in

 

anticipation of his theory that the young effigy called him "father!"

 

of our natures; and, what is more diabolical, that our spirit-friends are near by, enjoying the base deception. If this view is correct, what a fearful amount of lying there must be in every seance

 

Such a conclusion would be impossible from what passed before me at this sitting.

 

As I gazed with delight upon this sudden and unexpected manifestation, bathed in a mellow light which made all the surroundings perfectly visible, I could not help feeling a regret that my psychical friends had shut themselves out from such evidence by requiring arrangements to which no intelligent control would submit. Here, under strictly test conditions, which precluded any possible doubt, was crowded into a small space just the information which I am sure that some of them are honestly endeavoring to obtain.

 

These things may be nothing but a mere phantasy of the mind; what is claimed as exact science, a humbug; and life itself only a delusion; but those whose lives are rounded into a full consciousness of an individual existence may prefer to consider them in a different light. The same perception which enables us to recognize one must be conceded to the other.

 

If, in the search after facts relating to the more subtle forms of life, the testimonies of thousands of honest and intelligent persons are to be disregarded, we might as well abolish our courts. Judge, jury, and witness become nothing but ridiculous actors in a farce played in the name of Justice.

CHAPTER VI.
SEANCE WITH MRS. CARRIE M. SAWYER.

 

AMONG the strong points in evidence of the genuineness of these manifestations are the marked individuality and constant variations that appear. The seances with the same medium will be found to differ widely; no two of them are exactly alike. Sometimes they will be exceedingly good, and at other times almost an entire failure. If they were in any way due to confederates, or to personation by the medium, such variations would not be likely to occur.

 

Again, the seances with one medium differ essentially from those with another; so much so that each medium may be said to have a phase of mediumship distinct in itself. The forms may appear quite different in outward shape, when coming through one medium from what they do in coming through another. The mental characteristics will, however, as I have found, be retained in both instances. This has often led to confusion and distrust with those who visit different seances. The tendency is very strong to give precedence to mere outward appearance, without reference to character.

 

In no case is the old adage, "A little learning is a dangerous thing," more applicable than to the study of this subject. The shallow investigators, the touch-and-go people, will, in most cases, find themselves left in bewilderment and doubt. These things are not to be settled by witnessing one or two seances. Nor is the character of the manifestations, as expressed through any medium, to be determined without considerable experience.

 

From statements, and especially from the impression I received on my first interview with Mrs. Sawyer, I was led to expect much from her seance. My first seance with her was a disappointment, there being nothing except the delightful interview with little Maud, one of the "cabinet spirits," * to attract the attention of any one familiar with these things. It is due her to say, in explanation, that it was her first seance in Boston, and held under unfavorable conditions.

 

On the 11th of August, I again visited her seance, in company with Mrs. Fay. The day was very hot, with a close, moist atmosphere, rendering the seance-room very uncomfortable. The only wonder was that, under such conditions, there could have been any manifestations whatever. I was seated on one side of Mrs. Fay, and a friend of hers on the other. This trio, so to speak, drew the fire of the whole seance; the only strong and decided manifestations appearing on that side of the circle.

 

* This term is applied to spirits who appear to be constant attendants or assistants in the cabinets of mediums for materialization.

 

Auntie, Mrs. Fay's control, stood behind us, invisible to all except her medium, occasionally making remarks in her hoarse, unmistakable voice. Coming, as the voice did, out of space, with no organized being in sight to produce it, the effect was at times startling.

 

A very sprightly spirit came briskly up to Mrs. Fay, extending her hands, and leading her up to the cabinet, where they conversed for some time. This was followed by what claimed to be Bertha. She came very lively, greeting me cordially. The form was very like, and the expression of character assuring, but, owing to the unusually poor light and hasty interview, I prefer to withhold conclusions for the present. More decided in its character was another spirit that followed soon after. There was a center­table between me and the cabinet. This spirit, instead of coming into the middle of the room, passed to the left, moving the table out, and coming directly to me. This brought her more in the light, where I had a better opportunity of seeing her. Both of these spirits appeared to be the exact counterparts of those who had come to me so often at Mrs. Fay's, but who at other places exhibited a great deal of variation. Was the close resemblance due to the fact that Mrs. Fay was sitting by my side? The question is an interesting one, suggesting further experience.

 

It may be well to state here that every opportunity was granted for examining the cabinet, which I did to my entire satisfaction.

I also obtained from the builder a certified statement that it was constructed of kiln-dried lumber, tongued and grooved, nailed, screwed, and glued together in such a way as to render it impossible to remove the boards, or for a confederate, to enter it except through the door in the audience-room, in the presence of the visitors. All were permitted to inspect it before the medium took her seat. There could be no question but that the cabinet and its surroundings were above suspicion. This left me free to study the manifestations purely as materializations, or personations by the medium. I know that the forms that came to me were distinct individual beings, and in no instance was I able to discover any indications that would lead me to suppose that the medium personated any of the forms.

 

At the next seance which I visited, on Sept. 15, the weather was again oppressive, so much so that the seance would have been abandoned had it not been that some of the visitors, who had come from another State, were unwilling to give it up. Notwithstanding the excessive heat, the seance proved a very interesting one.

 

While little Maud was standing at the curtain talking, there was a remarkable show of hands and arms above her head. Sometimes six of them would be moving back and forth outside the curtain at once. About eight feet from the cabinet, and directly in front of me, so near that I could have touched it without moving from my seat, appeared a very delicate little hand and arm. Like a bird that hovers around some object that it dare not approach too closely, this hand and arm dallied and played before me for several minutes, visible to all present.

 

On the left side of the room, more than six feet from the cabinet door, a form materialized in full view, and came forward and shook hands with a lady on my right.

 

While engrossed in these things, I had almost forgotten that my principal object in being there was to study the form of Bertha as compared with her appearance at other places. I was aroused from my meditations by an involuntary shock that almost always warns me of what is coming. Turning quickly around, I saw what appeared to be Bertha, gliding from the cabinet. She passed rapidly to the left side of the room, moving the centre-table and coming directly to me. Throwing her arms around my neck, she greeted me with, "I love you," and then, with a frightened expression and half hysterical laugh, she retreated to the cabinet. This was totally unlike Bertha, who, in her perfectly confiding and childlike bearing toward me, never felt it necessary to express her feelings in any such bold declaration. Knowing that there are phantoms, that can take on almost any form they choose, the outward resemblance of these beings has no weight with me, in the absence of mental characteristics.

 

At a seance held by Mrs. Sawyer, Sept. 29, there were present twenty-five persons, most of whom received more or less attention from the spirits. Little Maud was very lively and full of witty, playful remarks. Near the close of the seance, she asked me to come into the cabinet and try to quiet the medium, who was exhausted in consequence of having watched with a sick friend the previous night. On entering the cabinet, I found that Mrs. Sawyer was not entranced, and took hold of both her hands, endeavoring to give her all the mesmeric strength I could.

 

While thus situated, conversing freely with the medium and little Maud (who was evidently pleased to have me there), a spirit materialized and went out among the audience. After it returned, another materialized, and taking my left hand while Mrs. Sawyer held my right, we all three walked out into the room, some distance from the cabinet, in full view of all present. This was a new experience for me. To suppose that the twenty-five honest, intelligent persons who witnessed this were deceived, or that the appearance of the form was due to a confederate, is simply absurd. I know it materialized in the cabinet, within reach of where I sat.

 

What was claimed by the manager to be Bertha came out, and I gave her a test to be used by her at another seance.

 

In following the role of strict investigation, and in honestly relating what has come to me at these seances, I am forced to state that the form that appeared on this occasion was not Bertha, and that there was, as subsequent events proved, an attempt to deceive me. Mrs. Sawyer is a gentlewoman and a strong medium but she is surrounded by a coarse magnetism, the baleful influence of which she seems powerless to resist.

CHAPTER VII.
SEANCES WITH MRS. FAIRCHILD.

 

THE mediumship of Mrs. Fairchild differs from that of others inasmuch as she stands outside of the cabinet, under the influence of one of her controls, managing the seance with great skill and judgment, thus eliminating from her seances all chance of transfiguration or personation by the medium, forcing the skeptic or investigator to the conclusion that the forms are either genuine materializations or confederates.

 

The position of her cabinet, placed as it is between two rooms, is certainly open to criticism. A thorough examination of it, however, revealed no possible chance for the concealment of draperies or the entrance of a confederate.

 

In order to meet the objections which have been made to this arrangement she has drawn a light curtain across the corner of the room. Backed as it is by solid walls, the forms that come from this temporary cabinet cannot be confederates, and the skeptic may answer as best he can the question, What are they?

 

This cabinet, however, is only used occasionally, and the average visitor sees only what comes from the main cabinet. If this temporary arrangement is so successful, and I know it is, there is some force in the objection made against using the other. Every medium is in justice bound to give to visitors the best conditions possible. Mr. Whitlock thus describes seances held with Mrs. Fairchild, Sept. 12 and 19:—

 

“The medium was controlled in a few moments by ‘Cadaleene,' a very interesting spirit, who managed the seance with perfect nonchalance, selecting, with ease and correctness the persons whom the spirits desired to come to the cabinet, thereby fulfilling the double office, with Mrs. Fairchild, of medium and manager.

 

"During this seance the medium was outside, and in view of the audience, except on one or two occasions,—when she went into the cabinet for a moment; and at the last, when her control, Cadaleene, who had promised to materialize, came out so perfect in action and voice that I shall never forget her grateful attentions as she knelt at my side. Time after time more than one form was out of the cabinet at the same moment, and in one case five persons, including a child.

 

One of the most convincing proofs of materialization was the following: A lady, whom we understood to be a relative of Col. Bailey, called him up to the cabinet and kissed him; and while he was standing with both arms around her, talking, she dematerialized. This occurred fully three feet from the cabinet, in sight of the audience, a dozen of whom must have been within six feet of the form, and some of them as near the cabinet.

 

The following Saturday, Sept. 19, we again attended her afternoon seance. At this seance we found Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, of Hartford, Conn.; Mr. Thomas Hazard, of Providence, R. I.; Mr. John Wetherbee, of Boston, and many other well known persons, were present.

 

"What we have already written in reference to Cadaleene and her control of the medium, is equally applicable to this seance; also the expressions of confidence in reference to the cabinet. I had expressed to a friend, whom I met in the office of the Banner of Light, that while, to the best of my knowledge, after an examination, I believed Mrs. Fairchild's cabinet to be all right, still I would like to see the same results in a cabinet made by hanging a curtain across the corner of the room. Judge of my surprise when, after the seance had commenced, Cadaleene said, 'Mr. Facts-man, I heard what you told the brave, and you see we have the curtain across the corner, to show you what we can do.'

 

"The seance continued in the regular cabinet, as usual, for about an hour and a half. The light was good, and many spirits manifested their presence, among which the following interesting experience occurred: A gentleman, who does not choose to have his name mentioned, had a communication the day before from a spirit-friend, in writing, through his own hand, promising to materialize at this seance. He told me that this spirit had not only fulfilled this promise, but had told him things that no other person knew but himself, and that he recognized her fully.

 

"Then came the crowning glory of the seance. The control, Cadaleene, still holding the medium, directed that the gas be lit and the hall door opened. She then closed the sliding door in front of the cabinet, and fastened back the curtains which hung over it to form the front of the regular cabinet when in use, so that all might know if it was opened.

 

"The audience was then seated facing the corner where the curtains had been hung for a temporary cabinet, some near and in front of the door just mentioned, which could be seen by all present. The medium, still under control, passed behind the curtain, but came out in a moment, followed almost immediately by a form dressed entirely in white. After this form returned to the cabinet, two others came out,—one a lady, the other a gentleman,—and it was said a third was seen in the cabinet.

 

"All this time the medium was controlled by Cadaleene, who was finding the friends of the spirits with remarkable dexterity. Several others followed, and we might give names and personal experiences, but feel that our readers will appreciate most these special points of interest."

 

Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, Mr. Thomas Hazard, and Mr. John Wetherbee have given graphic descriptions of these seances.

 

On Tuesday, Oct. 13, in company with William D. Brewer, I attended a private seance with Mrs. Fairchild. I examined the cabinet without being able to discover anything that would lead me to suppose that there was any chance for a confederate to be used. The seance lasted about two hours, during which time scarcely a minute passed that there were not forms out in the room, either to Mr. Brewer or myself; sometimes three or four at once. More than half the time the extemporized cabinet in the corner of the room was used. There appeared to be no difference between the workings of the two— the manifestations came as freely from one as from the other.

 

As I examined the walls and everything connected with the temporary cabinet, I have no hesitation in saying that the forms that came from or appeared in it were materialized beings. I was in this cabinet several times during the seance often with two forms at the same time. Once I sat between them, an arm around each, satisfying myself of their objective reality as well as if I had been walking with them outside in the room. While thus holding them, the one encircled by my left and whose right arm was around my neck, instantly disappeared, without the slightest indication of any movement;—she was there, and she was not there. Still holding the one encircled by my right arm, I rose and with my left hand drew the curtain aside, so that I could see everything behind it. There was not the faintest trace of the beautiful being that a moment before, I had so firmly held, and with whom I had been talking.

 

Similar things have occurred to me in various ways, so often that they produce no surprise, only an earnest desire to discover how or where the forms go, or possibly gain some knowledge of the laws governing these strange phenomena.

 

The force at Mrs. Fairchild's seances is mainly expended in materialization, and for that reason they are valuable to skeptics; but to the experienced investigator they offer nothing new. Many of the forms come heavily veiled, and there is an absence of that social and mental character which is ever the surest evidence of recognition.