_Secretary_.
* * * * *
February 19th, 1885.
The Commission met on Thursday, February 19th, 1885, at 8 P.M., at the
house of Mr. Furness, to attend a séance in the presence of Mrs. Maud E.
Lord.
All of the Commission were present, and there were present also, at the
request of the Medium, several friends of members of the Commission,
both men and women.
There were in all eighteen persons present beside the Medium; these
seated themselves, as directed by the Medium, in a circle, which was
about six or seven feet in diameter; the Medium took her seat in the
centre.
The lights having been put out, the Medium drew her chair to one side of
the circle, placing her feet in contact with those of one of the persons
in the circle. Those composing the circle linked hands, while the Medium
had her hands free.
The Medium described a number of Spirit forms as coming to those
present--to one a little child, to another an old man with white hair,
etc. The descriptions were in general vague and indefinite, and might
have applied to many persons. Nevertheless, they were in very many cases
wide of the mark. Sometimes a father, a mother, or other relation was
described as present. In some cases the death of such relations was
acknowledged by the person to whom the Medium addressed herself, but in
other cases the relation in question had not died, or, as in the case of
a child or brother--had not existed. To give an instance of the Medium's
inaccuracy: Mr. Fullerton's grandfather was described as coming to him,
and the Medium, describing the form, added that Mr. Fullerton was not
familiar with it, as his grandfather had died while he was a young man,
and had had but little intercourse with him. Both Mr. Fullerton's
grandfathers died some years before he was born. Many other descriptions
were quite as erroneous.
Sometimes a form was described as coming to one person in the circle
and not being recognized by that one, was referred to the next;
described as standing between them, etc. The number of successes,
compared with the number of failures, was not striking.
Whispers were heard--_one at a time_--always at a point in the circle at
a distance from that at which the Medium was just after the whisper
heard to speak to some one in her natural voice. The whispers _were
never simultaneous_ with the remark afterward made by the Medium.
In the short interval between the whisper and the succeeding remark by
the Medium, I distinctly heard, on many occasions, a rustle of clothing,
and once or twice a slight creak of the chair, as though the Medium had
moved her body from one side to the other, which she could easily have
done without taking her feet away from those of the person she faced.
Upon one of those present inquiring why the whisper always sounded as if
made by the same voice, the Medium stated that the whisper did always
sound the same, and that she was sorry to have to add, that it always
sounded as if made by the voice of the Medium.
Upon one occasion a light appeared and reappeared two or three times in
front of the Medium, passing from near her knee up for a foot or two.
The light was indistinct, apparently phosphorescent, and passed so
quickly that it could not be examined. It was described by the Medium,
however, as a form of a child from the Spirit world.
Those present changed their seats during the séance, as suggested, but
without producing more satisfactory results. The séance lasted about two
hours.
At Mrs. Lord's own suggestion before the séance, two women present took
the Medium into another room, and searched her clothes.