to know what numbers they should buy in a lottery, to be successful; others would wish to be advised in their stock speculations.

To all such questions ready responses were given, but invariably ended in failures.

This order of investigation brought us in rapport with an entirely different class of Spirits. They had no particular motive in tormenting us, but they seemed delighted to lead us on, and deceive the visitors who sought them in such a spirit. But, when people sought for communications of a more elevated character, answers were given accordingly.

Frequently our friends would become so deeply interested in their manifestations that they would forget we were mortal and needed time to recuperate our physical strength. They did not know that every echo, as it came through our medium forces, consumed a portion of our vitality. The Spirit knew this, and would close the séances by spelling "done." This, our friends would sometimes. take exception to, and complain that they should break off so abruptly. We could not explain, to their satisfaction, that we were exhausted under the constant pressure of mind and body. The Spirits, knowing this, would give the signal "done." After this word done was spelled, we never obtained anything of an elevated character. We could get physical manifestations, of an independent character, such as throwing things, and moving furniture in different parts of the house. Those manifestations seldom seemed to weaken us, but intellectual communications given through our immediate brain forces had a weakening effect upon us when continued too long.

A gentleman (Dr. C. D. Griswold) living in Batavia had induced his minister (an Episcopal clergyman) to visit

us.

They arrived late; and, after a few questions had been answered, the word "done" was spelled. They did not understand the meaning of this, and continued their questions. Suddenly a loud rapping, in a distant part of the room, spelled out, "Why the devil do you ask questions after you have been told done?"

This was a terrible damper to us all. The minister stood aghast, looking first at one and then at the other with astonishment, as if wondering what kind of creatures we were. The friend who had brought him was mortified in the extreme. They remained in town, and called on us again the next morning. All things were quiet, and we sat down with these two gentlemen alone. The doctor asked this question, "Will the spirit of my dear father come and answer my questions?"

Immediately the alphabet was called for, and spelled out this sentence, "When good Spirits say 'done,' you should not seek for further communications. Order is heaven's first law, and you should not overtax mediums; for no good Spirit will answer, after their guardians say 'done.""

The doctor received the explanation favorably, and felt greatly relieved when he saw his friend, the minister, was disposed to investigate further. With us all was turmoil and confusion. When manifestations and communications were consistent, we believed them to come from good Spirits; but when they were to the contrary, we condemned all as evil. We had no religious prejudices, no motive whatever in establishing theories. We could make no satisfactory explanations to the various interrogatories, made by promiscuous parties who were constantly in attendance.

Let me here emphasize the fact that the general feeling of our family, of all of us, including Calvin Brown,

who was virtually one of us, was strongly adverse to all this strange and uncanny thing. We regarded it as a great misfortune, as it was an affliction, which had fallen upon us; how, whence or why, we knew not. The influence of the surrounding opinion of neighbors, and the country round about, reacted upon us in conformation of our own natural and educational impressions, that the whole thing was of evil origin, unnatural, perplexing, and tormenting; while its unpopularity tended to cast a painful shadow upon us. We resisted it, struggled against it, and constantly and earnestly prayed for deliverance from it, even while a strange fascination attached to these marvellous. manifestations thus forced upon us, against our will, by invisible agencies and agents whom we could neither resist, control, nor understand. If our will, earnest desires and prayers could have prevailed or availed, the whole thing would have ended then and there, and the world outside of our little neighborhood would never have heard more of the Rochester Rappings, or of the unfortunate Fox family.

But the movement was not in our hands nor under our control. It had an object, and we, as reluctant and humble instruments, were in the hands of other and higher wills. and forces, from whom it had proceeded, by whom it was directed, and, so to speak, engineered. We have since come to understand that all these events and incidents, perplexing and distressful as they were to us, were but the birth-throes of a new truth, which was destined to revolutionize this world, and establish a communication between the here and the hereafter; of the Earth and of the Spirit.

And I may here say that, inasmuch as Electricity and Magnetism seem to play some part in the machinery of this intercommunication, it is not surprising that the Spirit

on the other side who seems to have been the principal initiator, not to say the inventor of this new development in the evolution of Humanity, was the great man known to earthly fame as the father of electrical science, as he was one of the great fathers of American liberty; he of whom it has been grandly written that he snatched the lightning from the sky, and the sceptre from the hand of the tyrant: the immortal BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

CHAPTER V.

ROCHESTER (Continued), NOVEMBER, 1848.

LIGHT ARTICLES MADE IMMOVABLE-THE COFFINS-ADIEU OF THE SPIRITS THEIR RETURN-FIRST STEPS TOWARD PUBLIC INVESTIGATION "HIRE CORINTHIAN HALL"-FIRST COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION-SECOND-THIRD OR "INFIDEL" COMMITTEEBEHAVIOR OF A GREAT DINING-TABLE-THE TAR AND TORPEDO Мов.

ALL this could not have gone on very long in a western city (as it then was) like Rochester, with its 70,000 inhabitants, without leading to a state of feeling and opinion which made it impossible to keep the matter confined to the limited number of persons who, from time to time, got access to séances (at our house) held under the auspices of the committee of five persons previously named.

Mr. E. W. Capron, of Auburn, had been introduced to us by friends of long standing. He was at that time a sceptic in almost everything relating to immortality, but he was an honest man, and soon became thoroughly convinced of the truth of Spiritualism. We still hoped to suppress the manifestations, and mother consented to let Cathie go home with Mr. and Mrs. Capron, imagining by that means to put a stop to further disturbances. For a few days there seemed to be a change for the better, and again mother thought she had accomplished her object; but all this while the Spirits had been actively employed, as they soon convinced us by more powerful demonstrations than ever. They had redoubled their forces and paraded themselves through every part of the