thus spelt out the 'medium' knew nothing of, as she kept her closed eyes in her hand. I might add to this, that this form of 'mediumship' is rapidly spreading, and is a settled fact in perhaps ten thousand English homes.

"But I must not trouble you further. My statement, I am aware, is very imperfect and necessarily fragmentary, but I have, perhaps, said sufficient to show how varied are the phenomena and the forms of 'mediumship,' embracing spirit-seeing, trancespeaking, the moving of heavy substances, the production of sounds, writing, &c. I have now left no room for comment; but permit me to add, that they who enter into the investigation of this subject must not expect a perfectly smooth path. They will long to hold communion with those they love, and they may be, for a time, cruelly disappointed. But what if they can be sure they have held communion with some unseen intelligence? They will perhaps be repelled by confusion, contradiction, and folly; but these very things will, in certain circumstances, be in themselves startling proofs that the unseen world interpenetrates the seen, and that there is a law which, when we really understand it, will enable us to know that our old companions are

near.

"When, moreover, we consider how many false, foolish, and confused beings we send into the spirit world every day, it need not surprise us that spirit-communion often yields only false, foolish, and confused results. But the question is-are the proofs of some intelligent communion there? It may be that the inferior grades of spiritual beings can more readily approach and make use of our earthly conditions, and that, until we master the laws which govern such communion, we shall be at the mercy of these inferior grades. But it may also be, that patience on our part, and knowledge and purity, will lead to progress; and that as we approach in our own natures the condition of the higher grades we shall approach their company. In a word, we may now be only groping amid the darkness' at the palace door. Presently, when we are wiser and more fit for it, we shall be able to enter in. Meanwhile, let no man despise him who is seeking for the truth, nor deride him who does anything to prove those blessed words, 'Are they not all ministering spirits ? or those still more ancient words, The angels of the Lord encamp round about them that fear Him.' "Yours respectfully,

"FAIR PLAY.

"P.S.-I wish to intimate that I have now said all I have to say, in discharge of my task to which your courteous invitation called me, and that I shall not enter into controversy on the subject. It is a subject, not for discussion, but for investigation."

THE following story has been recently published for private circulation only I believe, and has been sent to me by a friend to whom Mr. and Mrs. Waterman are known, and who occupy I am assured a highly respectable social position. They were members of the Congregational Church, and, notwithstanding their conversion to Spiritualism, are still reputed to be good church people; and, as Mr. Waterman says, "they do not feel that they have undergone any change that makes them less worthy neighbours, citizens, or members of society; but that the new light they have obtained through their angel child and others in the spirit-world, makes them truer to the principles of the loving Jesus, who taught Peace on earth, good will to men;' and with higher aspirations, ennobling thoughts, loving words, and willing hands, they are the more ready to aid the cause of human progress." To me this little history is extremely interesting: it answers many objections which are made by the opponents of our cherished faith, especially by that class who are misled by the erroneous teachings of the clergy of all denominations; and not doubting but that it will be acceptable to most readers of the Spiritual Magazine, I here present a brief epitome of the leading facts of the story of THE TWIN SISTERS.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis E. Waterman of Cambridge, Massachusetts, had born unto them on the 15th March, 1865, twin sisters; one of whom only survived, and this one they named Rose. They had at that time two children-girls, the one-two, the other-four years of age. Mr. Waterman and his wife were of the orthodox faith; and although they knew of Spiritualism, and had attended an occasional séance and lecture, it was but as a matter of amusement, and Mrs. Waterman, especially, "treated the subject with scorn and derision."

The child, before she could talk, manifested great love for flowers, preferring rose-buds; and to gratify her, artificial roses were occasionally pinned to her breast and replaced as they were soiled.

When Rose began to run about, she avoided her sisters; taking great delight in playing alone, as her parents thought, with an imaginary companion, for whom she always provided by holding out her hand for another apple or another piece of cake. At two years of age she began to talk, and one day

N.S.-IV.

2 B

when playing with her invisible companion she was asked, "Who are you playing with? "My little sister Lily!" she replied." Why do you want two apples ?"

one for little Lily," was her answer.

"I want

"No, my

When visitors asked her her name, she would say "Rosebud." "Is that why you wear a rosebud on your breast?" little Lily wears one." "Who is your little Lily?" "My little sister who is in heaven." "Where is heaven?" "Here, my

sister is here."

Many questions such as these were asked of this interesting child, and her answers always consistently implied the presence of "little Lily," who was not only her playmate by day, but her bed-fellow by night. Stretching out her arms and patting caressingly the pillow, she would say, she was "loving little Lily." She would tell her parents how pretty little Lily is, would describe her light hair, blue eyes, and pretty dresses, and ask her mamma to make her own dresses like Lily's.

One day in the month of January, 1868, the child was found in possession of a fresh and fragrant white rose-bud: where she got it was a mystery to the whole family. There were no roses growing in the house, and no one came to the house who could have given it to her. "Where did you get this pretty flower?" was asked, and the same innocent and consistent reply was given by the child." My Lily gave it to me."

At another time she had some pansies brought to her under similar circumstances. These and many other incidents occurred before the child was three years of age, and still the parents attached no special importance or significance to them, until one day hearing some one talking of Spiritualism, Mr. Waterman was induced to call upon a medium, and then, among other things, he was told that little Rose's companion was her twin sister, whom she had named Lily, and Mr. Waterman says:

"This was the first thought or intimation I ever had that Rose's little Lily was a reality. Lily and others of my spiritfriends were there, and through the medium, told me many things; some of which I then knew were true, and others I afterwards learned to be so.

"On my way home reflecting upon Rose's many sayings and doings, I could recall nothing that was inconsistent with the explanation that Lily is her twin sister, and a spiritual companion. Considering Rose too young, and without ability or opportunity, to be either a principal or accessory to a plot or delusion, I was constrained to accept her as an innocent and unimpeachable witness, unintentionally testifying to the truth of communion between the inhabitants of this and the spirit-world.'

Upon his return home Rose, who had been crying, clapped

her hands and said, "I am so glad papa has come and brought my little Lily." The mother then told her husband that the child had been fretting and all the cause she could find was that she said "Lily has gone to papa, I wish he would come home." Shortly after this, Mr. Waterman called upon Mr. William White, of Boston, one of the proprietors of the Banner of Light, the principal organ of Spiritualism in the United States, to consult with him. Mr. Waterman told him of these things and said that his wife was a very nervous woman, and subject to severe attacks of headache. Mr. White came to the conclusion that Mrs. Waterman was herself a medium, and he thought if she could be brought to a knowledge of Spiritualism she would probably be relieved of her fears and her headaches. Waterman accordingly began to talk with her in an easy way about Spiritualism, and gave her to understand that he was becoming interested in the subject and would like to know more about

Mr.

"In a few days," he says, "she found courage to tell me that something, which she suspected was what they called spirits, had been troubling her for some time, but that she had continually resisted the influence. Several times at night when she knew she was awake, she heard a voice speak to her which sounded like the voice of her mother who had been dead ten years. She repeated the sayings of the voice, some of which were prophecies that afterwards proved true." From this time Mrs. Waterman became a writing medium, but believing that if they were spirits who impelled her to write, they must be evil spirits, she determined to resist the influence.

To please her husband, however, she one day took a pencil and immediately wrote out several messages which were signed by the names of different spirits who gave evidence of their identity. One was from his aunt Abby with whom he spent his boyhood and to whom he was much attached.

This testimony and the sayings and doings of Rose and her little Lily, established a mutual interest in the subject, and every day, Mr. and Mrs. Waterman had fresh evidence of the reality of spirit intercourse.

Next morning Rose brought her mother a lock of brown hair and said, "Mamma, my little Lily told me to give you this," and she pointed to the spot upon the carpet where she had found it. The mother became much excited, and her hand was immediately controlled to write this message addressed to Mr. Waterman:-"Lewis, it is my hair, you will have Sunbeam's* soon; hers is almost white, ABBY." In the evening of the same

* Sunbeam, it appears, was Lily's spirit name.

day when the children had gone to bed, Mrs. Waterman's hand was again influenced to write, "Go to Rose now, both of you. ABBY." They accordingly went, and about a foot from Rose's head, there lay a curl of golden hair, unlike any in the house, or that they knew of anywhere.

Mr. Waterman placed it folded in a piece of paper in his pocket book, and on the following morning before leaving home, he showed it to Rose and asked her what it was. The child exclaimed, "My little Lily's hair," and running into the sitting room to her mother in great glee, she said, "Mamma! papa has got some of my little Lily's hair." Mr. Waterman's office is in Boston, eight miles from his residence, and on several occasions the child has told her mother of incidents transpiring there, and of persons who were coming to dine with them. When asked how she knew, she always said, "Little Lily says so."

Rose has among her playthings a set of blocks painted and lettered, which she piles up in various forms, and then calls upon her invisible playmate to knock them down; and away they fly, dispersed by her "little Lily."

There resides in New York a spirit artist, Mr. W. P. Anderson. To him Mr. Waterman sent a portion of the lock of hair found on Rose's pillow, and he requested Anderson to take a likeness of the spirit if he could. Not a word had been said to Rose upon the subject, yet she knew the fact. Five days after the letter had been sent to Mr. Anderson, Rose came clapping her hands in great glee to her mother, and said, “I'm so glad, papa is going to get a picture of my little Lily." "What makes you say so," asked her mother. "Little Lily said so, and she is going for it now;" she replied.

In a few days the picture portraying a beautiful child was received. It is a pencil drawing, 44 by 28 inches. After hanging it in his study, Mr. Waterman called Rose into the room and asked her-"Who is that?" "My little Lily," she replied. Mrs. Waterman has become a very reliable medium; she could not now be persuaded that evil spirits control her; and, as Mr. White predicted, her nervous fears, and her constitutional headaches have passed away. "Every day," Mr. Waterman says, "we have evidence of the reality of spirit communion freighted with loving words and cheering counsel." He adds:-"The spirits have warned us of danger, healed us when sick, cheered and comforted us in times of trial and trouble, and in spite of our doubts, fears, prejudices, and unbelief, we have by the personal presence and testimony of our departed friends been convinced of the truth of man's immortality, and of the actuality of communication between the inhabitants of this and the spirit-world."