I asked if the Spirits would give me a signal by which I might know when they wanted us to use the alphabet. They then spelled, “We will rap five times, in quick succession; and you will know whenever it is called for.” When this was concluded there was a tremendous rapping all over the room; and then each one gave his own distinctive signal. They have been continued from that day to this.
By this I mean that they gave their several rappings with such differences in sound as to be quite distinct from each other, and almost as clearly recognizable as would be their intonations of voice as speakers, or signatures as writers. On the occasion here mentioned I think there must have been a score of spirits who rapped one after the other, some on the table, some on the door, ceiling, windows, floor, etc. Some were loud, some low, some rapid and some slower, and no two of them seemed quite the same. Many persons who are familiar with these signals frequently identify them by the sounds.
I soon received letters from various places saying that it had been made known through clairvoyants, speaking mediums and seers, that the same signal had been given to all mediums.
Thus we see that God’s Telegraph[5] ante-dated that of Samuel F. B. Morse.
This work progressed too slowly to suit the Spirits. We could not consent to let it be publicly known that we were having such marvellous disturbances. So they sought out a new way to coerce us.
One night there was a great uproar in the other house. Loud rappings were heard, the little man’s pillow was jerked from under his head, his wife nearly fainted, his children screamed, and he was badly frightened. He could stand it no longer. He arose in the middle of the night, and called up a party of his church brethren, who went to his house and witnessed the demonstrations. They then went to the office of my landlord and got his concurrence, and obtained a warrant for our removal from our house. It will be recollected that this was Mr. J. B. Bennett, to whom, when I engaged the house of him, I said I wanted a new house where no crime had been committed, as I believed the house I lived in was haunted; and that he replied, “I think you will have no difficulty on that account.” Yet he at once consented to our expulsion because my little neighbor had heard the sounds in his own house. The warrant was served in the morning. I immediately communicated with my friends, who rallied in large numbers, and before the week was out, we were all settled in a pleasant little cottage on Troup Street. It was about September 1, 1849, when we moved into the house. I cannot let this opportunity pass without paying a tribute to those dear friends.
They too were ridiculed and persecuted at home and abroad; but they stood firm, and defended the right, as they were fully convinced that it only required time to prove it to the world. Many of those precious souls have passed to the world beyond, and I know they rejoice in Heaven to-day over the happy discoveries they made, and which they tell us have greatly widened their capacity for usefulness and enjoyment in a higher sphere.
There was a marked difference in the manifestations during our meals. The rappings seemed more concentrated, and very near us. The Spirits appeared interested in much that we were saying, and often pressed us approvingly with their hands. On one occasion a Spirit child laid its little hands on mine (not in mine), and so long as I remained quiet and permitted the little angel to do as it wished to, without disturbing the conditions requisite to enable it to come so near me, there was no shrinking or withdrawal on the part of the Spirit, who had thus far re-entered this mundane sphere to prove to us, beyond a doubt, that she still lived, and loved us. We could not doubt it. There was no one to deceive us. The Spirit was my darling little sister. She pressed us with both her hands, and kissed them over and over again. We would close our eyes in daylight and they would kiss us naturally as in life. We were truly converted, and as the dear old Methodists used to say, “born again.”
We could then realize that we had something to live for, something to hope for, in that sacred hour when each one in our humble group “lay at the feet of Jesus,” willing to be guided and directed in the paths of truth and duty. The alphabet was called for, and the following message was given and signed by our ever revered grandfather, known to his family and friends as a man of encyclopædic knowledge, as well as of noble character. “You need not wait as I did for that great ‘change of heart;’ but adopt the course at once and live up to your highest light. Go where that leads you.”
“My dear Children:—The time will come when you will understand and appreciate this great dispensation. You must permit your good friends to meet with you and hold communion with their friends in heaven.