“John, I am perfectly
happy only for one thing;
that is on your account.
and
He answered,
“0 Mary,
do not allow my affairs to mar your bliss! I am com-
paratively happy for an old man and comparatively
comfortable.”
But the answer came,
“0 no, John,
I know better. I know that yon arelonely, very lone-
ly, that yon miss me very much, and are suffering from
lack of many little attentions; and that your home Is
comparatively dreary.
Mr. N. had full confidence in
Mary’s judgment, and the message carried great weight;
and his home and its affafrs gradually grew less happi-
fying, and he gradually grew dissatidied; and so at a
subsequent “seance” he inquired of Mary what he
could do that would relieve her burden and make her
bliss camplete. She replied that he should find a suit-
able companion and re-marry. But the old gentleman
(seventy years old) objected that even if he could find
a suitable companion, such a one would not have him.
But at frequent interviews the supposed spirit of his
wife insisted, and as he thought further wer the matter
he grew more lonely, and finally asked Mary to choose
for him, as she had so much better judgment than any
earthly being could have on the subject. The medium
affected great indignation at the answer, and would
not commnnicate it at first.
The more she objected to
giving the answer, the more anxious Mr. N. became
to have it, and finally the medium explained that the
spirit of his wife had said that Mr. N. should marry
her (the medium); but that she was indignant that the
spirit should think that she would marry an old man ‘
like him.
But the more Mr. N. thought the matter over the
more he was inclined to be, as he supposed, led by the
good spirit of his wife into ways of pleasantness and
into paths of peace; and he urged tipon the medium
that it was the duty of humanity to obey the behests
of their best friends inthe “spirit world.”
Finally the
mediumconsented that if he would deed wer to her what
property he possessed she would agree to follow the
direrections of the spirit and marry him. The matter was
consummated in legal form, and Mr. N. with his medium
wife and her daughter proposed to make the formerly
cold and cheerless home of Mr. N. all that his spirit-
wife had wished for him. It was a very -short time,
however, before the poor old gentleman was very glad
to abandon home and all, to get free from the two
“she-devils,” as he afterward knew them.
But did not this shake the confidence of Mr. N.
in Spiritism? By no means. He merely communi-
cated with his wife again through another medium and
was informed that a lying spirit had misrepresented
her entirely and that she had given no such bad advie.
Knowing these f& concerning his history when we
met hlm shortly after, and he tried to urge upon the
writer the rlnims of Spiritism, we said to him, “Mr.
N., we will admit that Spiritism is backed by some
super-human phenomena, but we deny that the pow-
ers which communicate represent themselves truthful-
ly.
They claim to be friends and relatives who once
lived in this world, but the Scriptures assure tu to the
contrary of this that there is no work or knowledge or
ddvice in the grave, and that the dead know not any-
thing. (Eccl. 9: 5, 10 ) They declare that the only
hope of a future life is by a resurrection from the dead.
You know, Mr. N., that whatever these powers may
be which claim to be the spirits of your friends, their