A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-Called Dead Part 2

"Good morning, my friend. I bring you some flowers. Let them convey to you the dearest essence of the high power to produce. They are the handiwork of G.o.d. In them we see His ever living presence.

"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG."

Afterwards the following communication appeared:

"Good morning, my beloved. I am again with you, weighty with rich blessings for you and yours, and I come also with a heart overflowing with love, tenderness and grat.i.tude, that I am permitted, through the goodness and wisdom of the most High Power, to return, and through you, my trustworthy a.s.sistant, give my thoughts and ideas to the people. We love our mediums, our channels and our doorway, through which we come to love and bless. Take no heed of any unkind remarks, it is only an evidence of ignorance. Keep straight on, turn neither to the right nor to the left, continue to scatter seeds by the way-sides, which will furnish food for thought, and thought will lead to investigation. Investigation must necessarily lead in the acknowledgment of the truth. You can not expect to convince at once--it must be the work of time--and bear in mind, no one ever yet sought to benefit mankind who was not placed under the dark ban of suspicion. As you say, nothing can be gained by denunciation. Keep on.

My blessing with you.

"SWEDENBORG."

CHAPTER VI.

MRS. M'KEE Pa.s.sES AWAY AND HER SPIRIT ARRANGES HER OWN FUNERAL.

When the seance was over, I at once took the flowers to Mrs. Minor's to have them arranged according to her art for preservation and now have them in all their original beauty. The 17th of November, 1881, I went to Mrs.

McKee for a slate-writing seance, as for some time I have been used to do every Thursday morning at 9 o'clock, where I met at the door her step-father, R. J. William, who informed me that his daughter Jennie had, half an hour before, pa.s.sed away to the spiritual world, and invited me up on the floor above to see her body. In the death-room I found my friend, the wonderful clairvoyant and trance medium, Mrs. Anna Rall, and Jennie's mother, who found that her head was not quite cold. From the house of mourning I went to Mrs. Minor's for the five flowers I had received from my dear spirit friend, Mrs. Fredrika Ehrenborg, through the medial power of Mrs. McKee, the 3d of November, and which now were preserved under gla.s.s, and afterwards went to have a seance at Mrs. Green's, where I placed those beautiful flowers on the small stand between us. Soon we heard writing on the slate and a tap, when we found on it the following communication:

"Good morning, dear papa. How sad for you to look upon the face this morning, not yet cold, that had afforded you so much real happiness, and pure as the flowers before you that came through her medial powers. She entered the spirit world to meet the loved ones gone before. Her suffering is no more. She saw you, and I shook hands with her. She knew me, and she was all smiles. She was glad she pa.s.sed away on the morning she had an engagement with you; so your heavenly influences were there to aid her spirit. She hoped for it. She will be able to communicate to you soon and tell you how she found the new life. She will write immediately, she understands it. Dear papa, try to make a house not of mourning; she wants joy, she is free from suffering and able to communicate. Will see her own funeral and wishes to have a real spiritualist's funeral, becoming one who has pa.s.sed away in its full faith. She wants Mrs. Green to repeat that beautiful poem that she so much admired: 'I _Still_ Live' (herself). _I would like Mr. Green, with others, to make some consoling remarks. The song 'There is no death,' sung._ She says that every thing so far has turned out all right, and she wants every thing done according to her desire. They all know what a devotee she was in spiritualism." (Here I mentioned to Mrs. Green that I would go back to the house of mourning and tell them of this as soon as possible, and now came.) "That is just it.

She told me all and requested me to write it. She wants them to cast away the thoughts of her old body from their minds, and to think her free spirit moving through the house as of old. She wants her dear old parents not to mourn. She wants all the mediums next to her immediate family, and spiritualists, to strengthen her so she can manifest, if possible. She says these are her wishes; they can do as they please. Dear papa, I have done my duty this morning for her beautiful free spirit, and happy for the honor conferred upon me as her amanuensis. We have nothing more to communicate this morning, only she wants Mrs. Rall, her near and dear friend, to control affairs as far as she can, as she knows her wishes and desires, and knows she will please her and do what is right. Love to dear mamma; kiss her for me.

"EMIL."

"Mrs. McKee says many thanks for your kindness She will be with you often.

Much love to all.

"EMIL."

We were present at her beautiful funeral, where Jennie herself spoke through Mrs. Rall over her own body, and it was in truth remarked from the people that this was the most soul-uplifting funeral services they ever had witnessed. The spirit communicates with me often.

CHAPTER VII.

INVESTIGATIONS WITH MRS. GREEN--REMARKABLE DARK TRUMPET SEANCE AT WHICH I RECEIVED A MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER FROM MY SON EMIL AND MISS MARY MUTH.

"My investigations through the excellent medium, Mrs. Green, commenced the 2d of September, 1881, and I received many interesting communications from my dear and near relatives, which I value very highly, but naturally would not have the same value for the general reader, and therefore I deem it best to exclude most of them and take in only writings from exalted spirits who are more generally known.

The 19th of September came:

"From the higher sphere of light I come To teach you the beauties of our home, And to impart to you the golden truth And make you feel its real worth.

"And to my dear old friend, your wife, I wish to prove a future life, And to a.s.sist her while she remains here, And help to guide her to our heavenly sphere.

"Oh, the beautiful birds that sing their lay, Come to bless me every day, The flowers of fragrance, sweet and rare, And heavenly music fills the air.

"From your friend, "FREDRIKA EHRENBORG."

The 20th of October, 1881, I was present at Mrs. Green's trumpet seance in the evening in company with the following persons: Mr. Green, the medium's husband; Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, a reporter from the "Enquirer," who gave his name as Johnson, and Mr. Walker. On the stand was placed three slates, one of which was my own, three trumpets, one gla.s.s of water, and my spring music-box. On the floor stood the big tin trumpet and by it laid my guitar, and not far from Mr. Stebbins was his fiddle. After the light was put out and the doors locked I wound up my music-box and put it on the right hand corner of the stand before me. Soon after it was taken away while playing and carried around all over our heads, and some of us were touched with it. Finally it came back to me and was placed in my left hand with the spirit, whose hand I touched with both my hands. I wound it up again and the spirit took it away and carried it around the same as before, but when it came back it was placed on the left hand corner of the stand, and I laid the key close by it. Afterwards I played my orgamina when the spirit voices of both s.e.xes joined in with their songs, and so they did when we sang.

I intended to wind up the music-box again and felt for it on the corner, when I discovered that both the box and key were gone. Soon after we heard the box playing and going over our heads as before, and the box was replaced on the corner of the stand with the key on top. All the trumpets and the guitar were moving around in the air high above our heads, the guitar was played on in time with the music, and we all were touched and stroked on different parts of our bodies with these implements. The guitar was laid in my lap, and I sang a Swedish song, accompanied by the guitar, when we heard a spirit voice singing with me, and I and the others heard the words p.r.o.nounced by the spirit, which I declare were the same Swedish words which I sung. Mrs. Stebbens was clasped around her neck by her spirit daughter Ida, who whispered to and patted both her and Mr.

Stebbins. Mrs. Green and Mrs. Stebbens saw several spirit lights, and Mr.

Walker was informed by striking and tolling on the big tin trumpet that his father in Kansas would soon pa.s.s away. I felt for my music-box again, intending to wind it up, when I, to my great surprise, found a fresh, beautiful flower on top of it, and my slate was placed in my hand. Soon after the seance was closed and when the room was lighted up, we found written on one slate the name of the reporter, and on my slate the following:

"Dear papa, we present you the flower we promised you some time ago. The pa.s.sion flower.

"EMIL AND MARY."

It was a large, very beautiful, quite fresh flower, which I now have preserved in a gla.s.s jar with deodorized alcohol. On seeing this flower my wife's idea was that the flower had been brought from some garden, and I thought the spirits made it, which caused me, at a slate-writing seance the 24th of October, to ask which of us was right. On the slate was this answer:

"Mary and I, with the a.s.sistance of the medium's band, _created it_ for you and dear mamma, and you will find a dove in the center."

On a close examination we found to our astonishment a small dove there.

CHAPTER VIII.

SURE IDENt.i.tY OF MY FATHER-IN-LAW--MADAM EHRENBORG WRITES TO ME IN SWEDISH.

On the 8th of December, 1881, I and my wife had a slate-writing seance in the forenoon, and were present in the evening at a trumpet seance with Mrs. Green, and as my wife received a strong convincing test through the name of her father, it is necessary before relating the facts to make a short sketch of a part of his life. He was a Swedish n.o.bleman, named Otto Jacob Natt och Dag, who, by the favor of the dethroned King Gustaf Adolf the Fourth, was educated in the military academy, and afterwards served as officer in a rank regiment in Stockholm, which the new King Charles the Fourteenth, Johan, the former Napoleon's General Bernadott, looked upon with great favor. This young n.o.bleman wrote an anonymous book about reorganizing the Swedish army, in which many good and necessary reforms were proposed. This book was not intended for sale, but a few copies had been printed for his intimate friends. Some of his so-called friends reported this, and mentioned his name to the King, who became enraged that a young officer should dare to have the impertinence to interfere with his business, and want to teach him, who had such a vast experience in military affairs, the consequence of which was that he was transported to serve in a common infantry regiment, far up in the northern part of the country, a long distance from his near and dear relatives. Such treatment naturally made him feel bad, and he asked permission to travel in foreign countries, which he got, and went straight to Baden, in Germany, where he called on his former King, Gustaf Adolf, and was kindly received. There he republished his book in the German language, with some additions, which the Swedish minister reported to the King, who then considered him a traitor, and ordered his arrest, but his Swedish friends informed him of this in time, and he went to America under the name of Frederick Franks, which was the name of a German student, who gave him his pa.s.sport, and which he afterwards adopted and used until his death. The King, Charles the Fourteenth, had him adjudged, unheard and absent, by a court for high treason, for daring to pay a visit to the dethroned King, and the judgment was that he should lose his place and rank in the army. Many years afterwards the King regretted his harsh and unjust treatment of his faithful, patriotic and skillful officer, and pardoned him, and ordered his Swedish minister at Was.h.i.+ngton to inform him of it, so he could go back and enjoy all his privileges; but his former guard officer had now been for many years a republican citizen, who, with his artistic and many other talents and business capacity, had made himself independent, and he never went back. n.o.body here but the family knew any thing of his Swedish name, and my wife said to me that she would be more fully convinced of her father's ident.i.ty if he would sign himself with that name.

In the slate-writing seance in the forenoon I had put my own slate, which Mrs. Green never touched, under the side of the stand nearest me, and on Mrs. Green's slate the following appeared:

"Put out the slate and see if any thing is on it?"

I did so, and on my slate the following sentence appeared:

"G.o.d bless you both is the wish of your exalted friend,

"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG."

Among other things was the following:

"Now, dear papa and mamma, we have done all we can this morning. Much love to you both. Grandpa will be with you to-night; Grandpa h.e.l.leberg, Mary and Julia, too, Emil, Gustaf and Charley. You will have many bright and beautiful spirits with you this evening to cheer you on your road to the beautiful spirit world. There all are in peace and happiness--Emil, Frances, Emma, Mary, Julia.

"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG."