Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1853-08-04


results. The medium was evidently at fault.
Speculative questions of religious character
were expected, the state of the departed, the
nature Of the spirit world, &c., the truth of
which could rot be decided on-answers TO
which any Connecticut girl Of fourteen could
give from Sunday school knowledge and fire.
quent intercourse with the 'circles,' and from
the promptings such as the bookman tried to
introduce with mine threw up my chance
by abruptly saying, There, old chap, you may
be off, you are about as much a spirit as you
are wise father. am satisfied ] omitted
to mention, that when | first asked who the
spirit was, single tip, followed by three
slight scratches of the nails under the table,
were given. This was told was this spirits
signal-his mark, by which would always
distinguish his presence. All, even the in
itiated, confessed the decided failure, and re-
gretted it exceedingly.
Another, widowed lady, her daughter sit
ting by her, now took it up, and with a tone
of deep and tender anxiety, conversed with
stances of painful uncertainty, and calmed her
fears with assurances of her safety and perfect
happiness, declaring that she was, and had
been, and would always be near her. With
out knowing it, the poor mother had put such
leading questions as love and afflction sug-
gested, and effectually deceived herself BY
common consent the brother of '' little Mary"
our hosts daughter, was now permitted to
speak to his sister. They were sure the child
was present, and impatiently waiting to speak.
Tip, tip, tip, her signal was given with child
ish glee, and quite scene was enacted The
mother and the children were in evident de-
light, eXclaiming, {" Just her words ''-'s yes,
don't you remember" and the like. The ia
ther joined the chorus, and when finally she
was asked about her present position, told us
that all the children were in the charge, and
under the tuition of the Virgin Mary My,
thought | aloud, what a family Only
think, one-fourth of our race have died in
childhood What millions there must be in
that infant school / wonder if the virgin
knows where you are now Yet all this was
swallowed by the circle
On went the colloquy. Our friend, the stew
ard, had sat thoughtful and perfectly silent
| suspected he was arranging set of test
questions, and that when his turn came the
poor spirits would have to undergo scorching
cross-examination. He spoke slowly, calm,
and severely kind. '' Is there any spirit here
who will communicate with metz Tip, tip
no! 1t was all up. He was sent to Coven-
try He raised his head-a stern smile half
lit up his countenance, fading away into calm
contempt He had to hold fire The game
was under cover A failure was not to do
away the triumph of mischievous little Mary,
who had played truant from the virgins school
to chat with Willie and the rest of us.
That empty chair 1t had been filled =
filled with vengence Its occupant well
knew Such a phiz all over quizzical-ev-
cry feature in opposition to the others wide
mouth disdaining to expand itself, save on an
emergency-only opening in the middle the
lips, thick, red, and pulpy in the centre, thin
ming off at the corners, and every now and
then puckering up as if impatient to have
chance in the talk a nose, short, and turned
up, out of the way of his working lip, hang
ing like pendant from broad, fiat, wrin-
killed. forehead, whose bushy black hair kept
working about as though the wrinkles were
all over his head-while at every word. eye-
brows, forehead, wrinkles, hair, and ears, the
in perpetual quiver, finishing every sentence
with a sudden jerk, as though the twitches
were only premonitory of final spasm! But
the eyes were the climax The left one,
snug, compact, and squirting about as if in
search of the rapping, with most comical ex-
preston Of curiosity and doubt-and the right
one, round, full, and pulled out, kept staring
straight onward, lack lustre, and vacant, in
utter indifference to the impatient anxiety Of
its inquistive mate 1t was impossible to
catch any idea of his mental whereabouts from
any or all his features. AS he made some
what questionable application of the command,
Prove allfhings, T" though forgetting the lat
ter part of the injunction, he had been the en-
tire round Of g ologies and isms," in which
soul, body, and estate had been somewhat
worsted. He was now bent on " trying the
spirits,'' and this it seems was his first essay
with the rappers. His turn had come to ques-
tion. To my surprise, he suddenly became as
quiet and fixed in countenance as he had been
restless before. Lacing his fingers together,
and squeezing them between his knees, he
leaned forward and looked me straight in the
face for moment, and then oddly enough di-
rected a seemingly intense gaze on small va
cancy between my position, and the one Occu-
pied by the lady next to the medium, but the
look was utterly blank He spoke, and as all
were struck with the singular state of his fea-
lures, slight start was perceptible, followed
by an lily suppressed litter from some Of the
Younger ones around. A half doubtful yes
was given to his application, and we learned
that his dear wife was there, and ready for a
talk over their still mutual interests A long
string Of questions and answers ensued, and
every moment his interest increased. He
seemed to grow intensely anxious. Iwltch,
twitch, worked his eyebrows and forehead,
and every now and then general jerk would
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