“Whether it was or not, it was a most remarkable thing, and deeply impressed upon me that ‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy.’
“William S. Barnes.”
Seven years after the foregoing was written, Mr. Barnes expressed himself as still deeply puzzled. “I cannot think of any experience in life so marvelous,” he said, “so beyond my power to explain.”
JUDGE FERRAL’S TESTIMONY.
Ex-Judge Robert Ferral’s narrative largely corroborates what the others said. He presents the case in his own way.
“Having taken a deep interest from early boyhood in exhibitions of a marvelous nature, such as magic, legerdemain, mesmerism, hypnotism, mind-reading, and spiritualism, it was with pleasure that I accepted the kind invitation to visit Dr. Schlesinger and personally witness his experiments and manifestations.
“I found the Doctor an aged, venerable man, in a large room, surrounded by a company of ladies and gentlemen, bright, cheerful, and intelligent, all apparently bent upon the rational enjoyment of this life, and happy in the belief of companionable intercourse with the realm of spirits.
“Retiring to more quiet quarters, consisting of an ordinary bedroom and parlor, the business began without waste of words or loss of time. Having written the names of half a dozen persons, living and dead, each name on a separate slip, carefully folded and looking precisely alike, which were tossed into a hat and well shaken up, the doctor proceeded to name the contents of each paper as it was drawn out. Occasionally he made a mistake, but in nearly every instance succeeded at the first or second trial. He first separated the living from the dead, without opening the slips, and sometimes not even touching them; then proceeded to give the names. Afterward, upon writing place and cause of death, age, occupation, etc., upon other slips, the same result followed. Some of the names submitted by me were peculiar, and I believe known to no one else in this city, yet they were announced—read off, as it were—with but little hesitation and generally exactly as written. The same thing occurred as to the diseases and places of death.
JUDGE ROBERT FERRAL.