Notes.—The following items illustrate a condition widely prevalent:—
“ ‘A lawyer with a national reputation, well known to me,’ said J. L. Hall, of New York, ‘never begins the preparation of a difficult case without getting “advice from the other side,” as he describes the search.... Another distinguished man of New York City once asserted to me that he had his familiar spirit with which he talked as freely as with a human companion,’ ”—Washington Herald, May 8, 1911.
A noted Brooklyn divine some years ago, not realizing that he was voicing Spiritualistic views, gave expression to the following: “What are our departed Christian friends, who in this world had their joy in the healing [pg 537] art, doing now?—Busy at their old business. No sickness in heaven, but plenty of sickness on earth.”—Christian Herald, July 8, 1882.
Writing concerning “Communion With the Departed,” General Booth, of the Salvation Army, said: “Through all my history, my personal intercourse with the spirit world has been but limited. I have not been favored with many visions, and it is but seldom that I dream dreams that impart either pleasure or profit; and yet I have a spiritual communion with the departed saints that is not without both satisfaction and service. And especially of late the memories of those with whom my heart has had the choicest communion in the past, if not the very beings themselves, have come in upon me as I have sat at my desk or lain wakeful on my bed in the night-season. Amongst these, one form, true to her mission, comes more frequently than all besides, assuring me of her continued partnership in my struggle for the temporal and eternal salvation of the multitudes—and that is my blessed, my beautiful wife!”—War Cry, Nov. 27, 1897.
“Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, London, has openly declared that he prayed to his departed wife every day. He said that he never came to the City Temple to preach without asking her to come with him. He further says: I encourage my friend to pray to his wife, and to pray God to ask her to come to his help. She will be more to him than twelve legions of unknown angels.”—The Living Church, Nov. 14, 1899.
“The emperor Nicholas ... has fallen under the influence of a Spiritualist named Philipp, who rules the emperor to such an extent that His Majesty makes no important decision, even in relation to family life, without consulting his Spiritualistic guide.”—Melbourne Age, Nov. 15, 1902.
In a statement given put Dec. 20, 1910, soon after the death of Mrs. Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, Mrs. Amelia Stetson, one of the leaders of the Christian Science Church of New York City, said: “Mrs. Eddy, who was the female Christ, will return to earth. I am watching and waiting for the manifestation of Mrs. Eddy in the semblance of human form. It may come today, it may come next week, it may not come for ten years, but it will surely come.... The millennium is at hand. Mrs. Eddy is not dead. She is still alive, and when she appears again on earth, it will be as herself—as Mary Baker Eddy.”
“A message purporting to come from Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, through Mr. William T. Stead, the noted English journalist, shortly after the former's death, says, ‘There is no death; all is life; all is freedom,’ ”—Signs of the Times, Feb. 28, 1911.
And soon after Mr. Stead himself went down on the “Titanic,” April 15, 1912, Spiritualists in different parts of the world received numerous messages purporting to have come from him.
17. How does Satan deceive the people?