HPB-SB-1-54: Difference between revisions

I must add a few paragraphs from my note-book before closing, and at the same time express regret that the circumscription of space forces the exclusion of many facts of equal interest.

On the evening of July 7th a select party of ladies and gentlemen sat with Mrs. Thayer around the table in Mr. Houghton’s dining-room. There were rappings and poundings for a while, and then there came a sharp crash upon the mahogany, which induced us to light the chandelier at once. We found before us two stones half as large as one’s fist, and a common iron-bladed table-knife of a most quaint shape. The point of the blade was half as wide again as the rest, a semi-circular protuberance being made at the back, as though it were intended for a person to eat his food, peas and all, mostly with the knife. My benign and distinguished spirit friend, Sir Henry Morgan, alias John King, whose wonderful performances for me in Philadelphia are detailed at length in my book, “People from the Other World,” informed us that he had brought this curious implement from No Man’s Land, and the next morning it as mysteriously disappeared from the place where I had laid it before retiring.

At the séance of July 21st there were brought to me, (as alleged by some Oriental spirits who claim to be interested in my recent readings of the Occultist authors,) a bud of the Egyptian Lotos and a branch of that most curious of plants, the ''Coccolobus Platyclada'', or flat-branched lobe berry, which was discovered by Milne, at Wanderer Bay, Solomon’s Island, during the voyage of H. M. S. Herald.

My last evening with Mrs. Thayer was a test-séance, specially arranged for me by the courtesy of Mrs. Brigham, who feels a deep interest in her ''protégé'', and was determined that I should not leave Boston with a single doubt as to the genuineness of Mrs. Thayer’s mediumship. The séance was in Mrs. Thayer’s parlor, and there were present Mrs. Brigham, Mr. G. P. Reed, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Houghton, Mr. W. G. Train, Mr. Mitchell (the best clairvoyant I have ever met), Mrs. Thayer, and myself — eight in all. Every person present allowed himself and herself to be searched for concealed flowers or birds, and I put Mrs. Thayer into a bag, made for me, of mosquito netting, with a single seam, and a draw-string at the mouth. It had not been in Mrs. Thayer’s hands, and the seam was carefully examined just before she stepped into the bag. I drew the string tightly about her neck, and tied and fastened it behind in such a way that it was impossible for her to tamper with the knots; in fact, I had to cut them, after the séance, to release the medium from duress. I took the additional precaution of searching Mrs. Thayer’s dress before bagging her, as a stupid lie was in circulation to the effect that she wore a rubber bag in which to carry flowers and keep them moist. The light was put out at 8:25. We sat ten minutes, re-lighted the candle, found nothing, although the medium had given the usual signs of the passage of the force through her system, in groans, shudders, and involuntary muscular movements.

The light was extinguished again, and after the lapse of another ten minutes re-lighted. This time there were flowers. There were four beautiful rosebuds; one Bonne Céline for Mrs. Brigham, whose favorite it is; two ferns (''Pteris flabellata'' of Africa, and ''Adiantum amentum'' of Brazil), and one wax plant with a flower upon it. As the match was struck a little bird, of the size of the common English sparrow flew off the table and was caught and secured. Encouraged by this success, we darkened the room again, and almost instantly the medium exclaimed that “they” had put a pebble in her mouth. We lit up, and found her, sure enough, holding a small, flat, smooth, white pebble in her mouth, which she could not have put there herself. We extinguished the candle again, and sat for some time without any results. Mrs. Thayer had been quite ill that day, and said early in the evening that she wished the spirits would bring her some peaches. Suddenly we heard some hard substances drop on the table, and then there came a great flutter of wings, a rush as of something through the air, and, a light being had instantly, there lay before Mrs. Thayer eight ripe peaches, and near the ceiling of the room flew a milky-white fan-tailed pigeon. This was enough for one evening — we had had flowers, fruit, birds, and a mineral brought, so with expressions of mutual satisfaction we congratulated the medium and took our leave.

{{Style P-Signature in capitals|Henry S. Olcott}}

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  | title = A Most Astonishing Test

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  | notes = From The New York Sun, August 27

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