Chapter 6 SéANCE WITH MRS. CARRIE M. SAWYER.

Among the strong points in evidence of the genuineness of these manifestations are the marked individuality and constant variations that appear. The séances with the same medium will be found to differ widely; no two of them are exactly alike. Sometimes they will be exceedingly good, and at other times almost an entire failure. If they were in any way due to confederates, or to personation by the medium, such variations would not be likely to occur.

Again, the séances with one medium differ essentially from those with another; so much so that each medium may be said to have a phase of mediumship distinct in itself. The forms may appear quite different in outward shape, when coming through one medium from what they do in coming through another. The mental characteristics will, however, as I have found, be retained in both instances. This has often led to confusion and distrust with those who visit different séances. The tendency is very strong to give precedence to mere outward appearance, without reference to character.

In no case is the old adage, "A little learning is a dangerous thing," more applicable than to the study of this subject. The shallow investigators, the touch-and-go people, will, in most cases, find themselves left in bewilderment and doubt. These things are not to be settled by witnessing one or two séances. Nor is the character of the manifestations, as expressed through any medium, to be determined without considerable experience.

From statements, and especially from the impression I received on my first interview with Mrs. Sawyer, I was led to expect much from her séance. My first séance with her was a disappointment, there being nothing except the delightful interview with little Maud, one of the "cabinet spirits,"[C] to attract the attention of any one familiar with these things. It is due her to say, in explanation, that it was her first séance in Boston, and held under unfavorable conditions.

On the 11th of August, I again visited her séance, in company with Mrs. Fay. The day was very hot, with a close, moist atmosphere, rendering the séance-room very uncomfortable. The only wonder was that, under such conditions, there could have been any manifestations whatever. I was seated on one side of Mrs. Fay, and a friend of hers on the other. This trio, so to speak, drew the fire of the whole séance; the only strong and decided manifestations appearing on that side of the circle.

Auntie, Mrs. Fay's control, stood behind us, invisible to all except her medium, occasionally making remarks in her hoarse, unmistakable voice. Coming, as the voice did, out of space, with no organized being in sight to produce it, the effect was at times startling.

A very sprightly spirit came briskly up to Mrs. Fay, extending her hands, and leading her up to the cabinet, where they conversed for some time. This was followed by what claimed to be Bertha. She came very lively, greeting me cordially. The form was very like, and the expression of character assuring, but, owing to the unusually poor light and hasty interview, I prefer to withhold conclusions for the present. More decided in its character was another spirit that followed soon after. There was a centre-table between me and the cabinet. This spirit, instead of coming into the middle of the room, passed to the left, moving the table out, and coming directly to me. This brought her more in the light, where I had a better opportunity of seeing her. Both of these spirits appeared to be the exact counterparts of those who had come to me so often at Mrs. Fay's, but who at other places exhibited a great deal of variation. Was the close resemblance due to the fact that Mrs. Fay was sitting by my side? The question is an interesting one, suggesting further experience.

It may be well to state here that every opportunity was granted for examining the cabinet, which I did to my entire satisfaction. I also obtained from the builder a certified statement that it was constructed of kiln-dried lumber, tongued and grooved, nailed, screwed, and glued together in such a way as to render it impossible to remove the boards, or for a confederate to enter it except through the door in the audience-room, in the presence of the visitors. All were permitted to inspect it before the medium took her seat. There could be no question but that the cabinet and its surroundings were above suspicion. This left me free to study the manifestations purely as materializations, or personations by the medium. I know that the forms that came to me were distinct individual beings, and in no instance was I able to discover any indications that would lead me to suppose that the medium personated any of the forms.

At the next séance which I visited, on Sept. 15, the weather was again oppressive, so much so that the séance would have been abandoned had it not been that some of the visitors, who had come from another State, were unwilling to give it up. Notwithstanding the excessive heat, the séance proved a very interesting one.

While little Maud was standing at the curtain talking, there was a remarkable show of hands and arms above her head. Sometimes six of them would be moving back and forth outside the curtain at once. About eight feet from the cabinet, and directly in front of me, so near that I could have touched it without moving from my seat, appeared a very delicate little hand and arm. Like a bird that hovers around some object that it dare not approach too closely, this hand and arm dallied and played before me for several minutes, visible to all present. On the left side of the room, more than six feet from the cabinet door, a form materialized in full view, and came forward and shook hands with a lady on my right.

While engrossed in these things, I had almost forgotten that my principal object in being there was to study the form of Bertha as compared with her appearance at other places. I was aroused from my meditations by an involuntary shock that almost always warns me of what is coming. Turning quickly around, I saw what appeared to be Bertha, gliding from the cabinet. She passed rapidly to the left side of the room, moving the centre-table and coming directly to me. Throwing her arms around my neck, she greeted me with, "I love you," and then, with a frightened expression and half hysterical laugh, she retreated to the cabinet. This was totally unlike Bertha, who, in her perfectly confiding and childlike bearing toward me, never felt it necessary to express her feelings in any such bold declaration. Knowing that there are phantoms that can take on almost any form they choose, the outward resemblance of these beings has no weight with me, in the absence of mental characteristics.

At a séance held by Mrs. Sawyer, Sept. 29, there were present twenty-five persons, most of whom received more or less attention from the spirits. Little Maud was very lively and full of witty, playful remarks. Near the close of the séance, she asked me to come into the cabinet and try to quiet the medium, who was exhausted in consequence of having watched with a sick friend the previous night. On entering the cabinet, I found that Mrs. Sawyer was not entranced, and took hold of both her hands, endeavoring to give her all the mesmeric strength I could.

While thus situated, conversing freely with the medium and little Maud (who was evidently pleased to have me there), a spirit materialized and went out among the audience. After it returned, another materialized, and taking my left hand while Mrs. Sawyer held my right, we all three walked out into the room, some distance from the cabinet, in full view of all present. This was a new experience for me. To suppose that the twenty-five honest, intelligent persons who witnessed this were deceived, or that the appearance of the form was due to a confederate, is simply absurd. I know it materialized in the cabinet, within reach of where I sat.

What was claimed by the manager to be Bertha came out, and I gave her a test to be used by her at another séance.

In following the r?le of strict investigation, and in honestly relating what has come to me at these séances, I am forced to state that the form that appeared on this occasion was not Bertha, and that there was, as subsequent events proved, an attempt to deceive me. Mrs. Sawyer is a gentlewoman and a strong medium, but she is surrounded by a coarse magnetism, the baleful influence of which she seems powerless to resist.

[C] This term is applied to spirits who appear to be constant attendants or assistants in the cabinets of mediums for materialization.

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