1934
May 23 - Aug 28
T. G. H.: "What about the little lady in the corner, and note-taker; could you use her?"
Walter/Dawn: "She may have gifts and powers; but so has Mercedes, but no physical powers. She needs all her physical power to keep her going upon the physical plane. I could use Mercedes, but I try not to. I could use Ewan if he would give himself to me; but he does not, and David has the boy. It is perhaps between him and I that more work has not been accomplished; that it is not completed."
Harold speaks: "I would rather leave than upset your work, Walter."
Walter/Dawn: "What I said was for David. I have the cooperation of David for one part only, you understand; and when that was accomplished, well he knew of it. You have not got sufficient physical power to use in that way; and don't misunderstand me; if there is anyone here that I do not want I will not be long in telling them I do not want them ."
Mercedes: "I think you had better close, friend."
Walter (continues): "David is working with me for one thing and one thing only; that is why you are allowed to remain as you are. I could use you, but I am not permitted to do so. There is other work for you to do, my friend; but you do help; and David and I have one thing that we work together upon. Do you understand now?"
Harold: "Yes."
Walter: "And never let me hear you say that you are afraid of upsetting the work. If you don't want to come, that is different."
Harold: "I do want to come."
Walter: "Then I wish you to come; and if I don't want you, I will soon tell you."
Ewan: "I would give you what I can. They try to give you more than the vehicle can bear. I would give way to Walter if he wished to take this instrument, or to take anyone else."
Dawn: "I have tried to take him. I said that he did not give himself to me. The vocal cords are not sufficient."
Ewan: "I have sometimes wondered if a different kind of technique or approach was necessary to take control of different conveyances."
Dawn: "Yes, it is so in a great many cases. Everyone is not the same."
Ewan: "What comes through one cannot be forced out of another by taking the same course."
Dawn: "The subconscious mind hears what is going on and very often adds to what is being said; and it is not coming through a control."
Ewan: "I do not like to put this question to you ..."
Dawn: "It must be settled now ..."
Ewan: "I think sometimes you have come and complained to them when it was quite clear that they were giving their best ..."
Dawn: "You mean the mediums or the sitters ...?"
Ewan: "The group altogether were doing their best ..."
Dawn: "I know my medium, and when she is giving me her best, and when she is going against me; but that is all I can say to you, friends. If you sit, if you come, I will come."
Ewan: "And I will come. All of these things have got a purpose. It is the faint-hearted who go away."
Dawn: "Make it very clear who this control who is using Ewan, is ...."
Mercedes: "Yes, make him answer and tell his name ..."
Ewan: "Why should I give you my name?"
T. G. H.: "I think we should know."
Mercedes: "I know, friend; but I wish him to give it himself for a special reason. I am not afraid to say that I am Lucy Warnock. There was a gentleman with Mercedes tonight; he cannot be allowed to come until Walter gives him permission."
Ewan: "Yes, you know; do you think that there are those who dare to stand here and talk to Walter."
Mercedes: "It is John King; these two wills have always clashed, friend, from the beginning."
Ewan: "Yes, since you ask me; I am going to give you my name. I am John King."
"I have learned to be a commander of men, and to go through great travail, my friend, to come at some atom of the truth. I have got a great deal further with that boy ... (voice trails off.) Can I give you things of use, practical, in this world? Do you think that you could have got Katie King without me? Katie requested me to come."
T. G. H.: "John, is there power to go on?"
John/Ewan: "There has to be singleness of purpose! I should say, if you want to know what my own feelings are, I would only give offense to that ... I will not call you it ..."
Dawn: "You will not offend me in anything that you say; I know that you are above me in a great many things; and therefore I will take no offense. Say on, my friend."
Ewan: "For the good of the cause. You have not got enough power at present. Not enough to give you these things ..."
T. G. H.: "Is the power due to lack on our side?"
Ewan: "Oh, we can give you lots of things; but I do not care for it. I could have taken this medium and that other girl and torn them asunder with an exhibition of power, if that is what you want to see."
T. G. H.: "We want things that are of value to the world at large. Walter has given you his word that he will not take offense."
Ewan: "I told you this is going to be hard for me. If I could have got this boy before he came, I could have used him in the same way. Yes, he had got a good way with Dawn; but he had not got a good way with Ewan; I could see the the subtleties all coming up. I could have twisted his mind and got him into the right place. Don't think that Walter is not a great man, or a good man. He is a good man, but he has not got that understanding of men that I have got because I have got greater experience. You asked me for truth, and I have given it to you. Walter has been a good worker here with you; and he will be again. As soon as I come here he will come, and as long as I do. There is no dispute, there is only a bit of misunderstanding about the use of our instruments. I could have shown him how to get this boy - but alas, he has gone too far. I told you both to be of good heart. You will get great results yet. (To Dawn). Will you not now talk to them again?"
Dawn: "I cannot say anything further."
Mercedes is calling: "Zimba, Zimba. Father of Naida. What manner of man is it takes my daughter and scorns her. Takes her for his own purposes; knows that her heart beats for him; and he scorns her."
Circle closes.
[Mercedes found sitting in an attitude of prayer. Ewan, also, standing with his hands raised above his head, vertically.]
[After the closing of the circle, everyone out of the room but Ewan; he is lying on the floor on his back.]
T. G. H.(bending over Ewan): "Ewan, you are coming home."
Ewan: "No, I am going to give you a lesson. This is the Great Voice talking to you that could command the King's ships and yet has become as a third echo calling from a long way away; and I cannot even command the frailest bark. I am given up to carry the garments of those who go before. I am become as a servant to those who command. Yet I have great knowledge of the way men go. I have seen them come and I've seen them congregate together, and I've seen them go out to die. I can tell you those things of which your good friend Walter cannot understand. I can tell you why your mediums don't come and why they don't give themselves with that good grace which goes so far to make achievement possible. I could have given him great assistance if he had called me in; but I came here to give you the counterpart of Katie."
T. G. H.: "And you did it well ..."
Ewan: "You can say to one, "Come" and you can bid another "Go" and you can call in the spirit as you can call on the forces of thought. I am giving you that expression because I cannot give any nearer to it in exact phraseology."
T. G. H.: "The forces of thought are very real."
Ewan: "Sometimes I think I came too late; but sometimes, when I get him like this, I think I've come in time. If Walter will give me two or three minutes I will talk to you in the way I have talked to no one - I will tell you of the shadows, and a shynesses, and the exquisite delight of those who go forth, seeking ....
"The mystic path is not trodden by all feet. Some come by the plain highway along which Dawn approaches; and some come seeking those things along the curving paths where they can tread in solitude and commune with other souls. Walter is of that plain open countenance that cares not for these things, but treads freely that broad rolling course. I think I will go now. I have taken too long. I have learned one thing, my friend; take the best that men can give you and thank the giver."
T. G. H.: "You have excellent control over the boy tonight."
Ewan: "I have given you my word as to that. Take him away now. I will come again. Be of good cheer. You will get your reward. Goodbye."
T. G. H. takes Ewan out of the room.
May 25, 1934.
A. C. D.: "Yes, I can see that quite clearly."
T. G. H.: "We do so to face the critics."
A. C. D.: "Yes, I see that. I suppose that I was ever the flag-flier and I liked to flaunt things in peoples' faces - I was a fighting missionary ... I perhaps paved some of the way. I made a lot of mistakes, and if I was right half of the time I was satisfied. But I can see that a scientist cannot be right half the time, he has to be right all the time. I should be glad, I was going to say, if you would send this message to Lady Doyle; but on second thought, I do not think you should. This message is for you personally and not for other than those you choose at your discretion.
T. G. H.: "Are you still occupied in this work?"
A. C. D.: "Oh, yes. I have so much reading ... There is a deplorable lack of interest in this thing here, too.
L. H.: "One would think they'd have had their eyes opened by now."
A. C. D.: "Has not the world had this message for centuries, and accepted it, and yet not accepted it? Death is not a transforming but a transposing or transporting agency. Death cannot do anything for an individual unless the individual do it himself. Volition is the dominant influence in life, and unless we exercise our volition, and exercise it rightly, there can be no progress. There are many who make progress, but purely through their choice. Oh, there are so many ramifications to this business, I could dictate for hours and hours!"
L. H.: "Do those who look to Christ here really get help?"
A. C. D.: "Yes, they really get help; but so many who look to Christ do so when they should look up to Him. To believe is not enough; we must have a working belief. To raise one's eyes to God is fine; but to raise one's hands for God is finer. God demands more workers and less participants. He wants working people."
T. G. H.: "That is to say, we are co-laborers with God?"
A. C. D.: "Yes. God can find an adoring people everywhere, if he so desired. He wants laboring people."
L. H.: "Then the great need is to convince people that there is another life with consciousness."
A. C. D.: "Yes. Inertia is the great evil in the world. But I am talking over much ... it is a good, very good to spend this time with you ... It is difficult to hold him to a height like that. I fear to ply the same vibration too long lest I should snap the string. I thank you for giving me this opportunity. Goodnight."
Sterge returns, closes circle.
May 27, 1934.
W. Barrie; J. A. Hamilton; Harold Turner; L. H.; H. Green; Ethel Muir; Ada Turner; Dawn; Mercedes; G. Snyder, recorder; T. G. H., recorder and operator.
9:01 p.m. Sitting commenced.
Singing. Dawn singing well up, and very much out of tune; she drags behind in the singing at times, some very heavy breathing.
Harold: "Good evening. This is Stead. I realize that it must be hard; I want to thank you - your earth conditions - I hope that it won't be in vain; our friend Walter is doing his utmost that your sittings here won't be in vain.
Florence: "There is something wet dropped on my feet."
Singing stops and Dawn shouts "Go on."
Mercedes: "Good evening friends. (There is a very strong smell of perfume). Let the words that fall from those who are gathered with you; let their words flow into your lips like incense. Treasure these words that come to you as words that would be as precious as jewels; sweeter than the song of birds; sweeter than the perfume of the rose; sweeter than the perfume of the lotus flower. Be thou prepared for the work that lies before thee. Be thou (not?)on their path, the path of the evil doer; be ever on guard from the sting of the serpent; for truly, be it said, that no serpent's sting can be as painful as the sting of the human word spoken in ill temper. Truly be it said that the Brotherhood of Man must be established in your midst and sympathy flow like perfume from the flowers, otherwise your meetings will be in vain. From this moment, dear friends, let your kind and holy thoughts ascend like incense into the heavens. My blessings be upon you. It is good to be here."
9:25 p.m. Dawn: "Brother has given you some good advice; and I would like to add a few more words. Don't speak evil one of the other. Be courteous one to another. Be not anxious of things of tomorrow; sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. God neither slumbers nor sleeps. His ear is ever open to the call - he is always ready and willing; before the thoughts are spoken from your lips he knows and understands. Be kind and loving one of the other; and in doing this you will follow in the footsteps of the Great I AM. Bless you as you sit; and may the things that are desirous of you, may these come to you, not just as you desire them, but as they are best for you. Goodnight, friends; don't forget to seek first the kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you; for he knoweth what you require better than you know what to ask for."
(She Hiccoughs loudly) - makes a queer noise.
Walter/Dawn: "Good evening, this is Walter. Where is Ewan?"
T. G. H.: "He could not come tonight; he was too tired."
Dawn: "It is just as well anyway. Now I want you all to keep quiet. Somebody brought some flowers here tonight and took them away again."
L. H. and Miss Muir say there is a nice bright star on top of the cabinet.
Dawn says John is here and he is going to speak through Hamish. That he is just about the same build. She says he is giving Florence a part to speak.
Florence: "Good evening." (She has great difficulty saying this).
Mercedes: "David is with her."
Mercedes gives Florence assistance but still she cannot speak.
Walter/Dawn: "John should have a time for himself. He has so many followers. Could it be possible, could you have Ewan tell John that he must use him at another time and not when I want to use Ewan? It would help considerably. Try and persuade him at your next sitting. He is very powerful and very persistent. So am I persistent; but I am not so powerful, at least not in the same way. He came, you see, and the journeys that were being taken were discontinued; you did not get what you should have got. But if Ewan would give himself to me; if he would let me have control, then it would handle it differently. I have asked John, and John is very anxious to help you, and also to help me; but he does not understand my work. And I don't understand his work; and I don't understand the forces that he has with him. I get better results when he goes right deep in trance and does not talk: that is, when I can get him. He used to go to sleep; now he wants to go around; he is too difficult to manage. He is not happy: he is not happy with you. Oh, it is not your fault; but he does not come in that frame of mind of happiness, neither does this medium come in a good frame of mind, either. I have repeatedly followed her as she has come here and I have seen just the ugliness of her make-up. That is not good to work with: it brings conditions that are very difficult to overthrow. It would be like yourself trying to get into a lovely garden and the owner had the fence all set up with barbed wire. You might manage to get in; but you would damage yourself. Well, that is what she is like half the time. I cannot speak for Mercedes. I have to leave that to her own controls to speak; but I sometimes see the ugly frown on her face, too. Oh yes, every one of you very nearly, not all, but six out of nine."
(She breaks off here and starts talking about brains and bald heads; she says Lucy has no hair.)
Mercedes: "Mercedes likes to come here, friend; and would willingly come twice as often as she comes, if there were not so many material obstacles in her way. I have told you of the disadvantages my medium has to contend with. It is made very difficult for her; and as the years have slipped away she has been very hopeful and hoping against hope that she would, at one time or another, be facing a different atmosphere. I am sorry to say that she is not, friend; she comes here, and she comes with no encouragement from her family, or her so-called friends. She has many times gone away feeling very discouraged. If she were free of entanglements there is no one but herself knows how important this work is to her. Your medium, Dawn, can vouch for that when she is normal. She has been in this ... since she has known anything. The conditions she has to contend with are very difficult. You must tell her that the work is good. Don't tell her that you are disappointed because she is very sensitive and she carries that feeling to the sittings.
Dawn: "Have you heard from the doorman (doormat?) (This is what I thought she said, but it may not have been 'doorman'. - Mary McLean)
T. G. H.: "Not lately."
Dawn: "Well, he is contemplating sending you a little ... They may visit you. When Margery's health is better they will come. Her health has been poor for a long time. (Since about 1930).
T. G. H.: "We will give them a great welcome if they come."
Dawn: "We would give you something here. I see her often; she is not afraid of me. I can understand her. I cannot understand why Dawn has treated me this way. I visited her in her own home at different times and among people; and I don't see why she should be as she is. I have great difficulty in getting her in deep trance now; she fights against me, but I can always use her vocal organs; but I do feel that the other things, the things with Ewan, has a great deal to do with her not giving herself to me. I have her all right now; I can use her now. The link that is attached to the bell is not here and I have to use this link on the right - I can draw only a very small force from Hamish. If I had someone such as Norman - and if you care to make a change I will try ..."
T. G. H.: "I would like to know that it can be rung without Ewan there."
Dawn: "I will try to gather forces here."
Harold: "I want to say to Walter that my medium is his to use whenever he wishes."
Dawn: "Have you any other questions you would like to ask?"
T. G. H.: "If we should break up during the summer, do you want us to continue in the sort of haphazardly way to enable you to keep up the work? Mercedes will come every Wednesday". (Miss Turner)
Dawn: "If you can sit it will help to hold conditions. There is a great deal to be done; and the net work is only started; it just requires finishing, it would not take very much to finish some of the work - of course, the work is never finished ..."
T. G. H.: "It has been going so slowly this last two years."
Dawn: "We don't think as you do about the slow. We cannot measure time. We meet with you when you meet; and when you are not here we are meeting others and doing other work. There is no "time" to us. We are very anxious for you to sit for a longer period and give yourselves to us. We could accomplish things much quicker. But you must not think that conditions are growing fainter, because they are not, friend. They are very strong. Sometimes you are just a little over-anxious. We promise a lot, but we do that to try to brighten you up. You will get a great deal in a very short time. I am sorry to know that Dawn is going away for that period. It would mean quite a long time for you. If the others will be good enough to come I will hold what I have, and will also try to bring something through while she is away. If you can sit, I will be here."
Lucy: "I would not advise you to sit if the nights are like this, (It is a very warm night) because not much work can be done when the mediums are conscious of the heat."
Harold says to sit a shorter time.
10:10 p.m. Mercedes: "Twice in your month would be all right if the mediums would come."
(Dr. J. A. Hamilton goes out to answer a call - does not return.) Norman moves beside Dawn.
Raymond/Mercedes: "Just a little while you can get her. Your Lucy told me I could come and speak for a few minutes. I want to say to you that my father is very hard to convince. No, I am not Katie. She is beside the lady who is speaking. (Mercedes is standing and speaking rather loudly.)
"I am Raymond. I want to say to you that my father has prepared a very elaborate machine to be used after his passing on, so that you who are still on the material plane will be convinced. He is, as you are aware, very, very scientific and will not allow any loophole for the other people to catch him; he is constantly on his guard, and he is very, very hard to convince. Perhaps it would not be surprising to you if I said that he is not yet convinced of survival; and he will not admit that the picture is mine, so any hopes you have along this line will be very (......). There is something that he is seeking that I would like him to get, and I would like him to get it on this side of the pond so that he would be thoroughly convinced; and I will work along these lines if I come to your group."
10:20 p.m. The bell rings lustily.
Raymond/Mercedes: "Raymond and Walter; a good team; a great team. Don't let him go away from your circle. Maybe this medium that he uses will be refreshed after her vacation; and I don't want you to think that the material that you have there is finished, friends - it is not. That woman has possibilities that you don't dream of, and she can be used; but other influences must not be allowed to come in. That is where your trouble has been, friend - outside the circle. If Walter could have her for his own she would be the greatest medium. She will be all right when we meet again."
T. G. H.: "How is Mr. Jackson?"
Mercedes: "Oh, maybe perched on your shoulder; he might just give your ear a little tweak-tweak. Good night."
(She sits down; she has been standing during this talk.)
Lucy/Mercedes: "Oh, I could not refuse to let the boy in."
Dawn: "I want to tell you that until his Father receives a real picture from him he will not be absolutely convinced - I want to tell you that at at very near time we are going to give you a picture of Raymond as he was when he passed away; one that will be undeniable by anyone. We have been working on that for a long time; and we will be able to give it to you very soon. It will be unmistakable - not merely a resemblance; but we will give you the full likeness. It will convince a great many. I am not promising when, or how; but very soon, when your room is about 40 or 50° cooler than it is now. It will not be just a picture like the last; it will be one that will stand out in three dimensions. Yes, Raymond, with my cooperation ... perhaps I should not have told you at this time. There is enough power in your room now to move your house down the street if you could harness it. It is like a great rushing river; it could destroy - until you get your power harnessed, get it set in the right direction - then you can use it - when we get the right channels to draw it into - You can only put one thing there at a time. You can have a lot of things, bu ... (voice trails off.) I would not like you to take too many photographs of it."
"Take the board away altogether. I do not want it."
Sitting closes.
June 1, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; T. G. H.; L. H.; Margaret Hamilton (recorder).
Sterge comes at once, greets us, and teases T. G. H., whom he calls "Tiji": "I was around Tiji before I came up here. I was just looking him over. I was there to talk to someone, to try to help them. I was very sorry for them. They were trying to speak to you, Tiji, and you wouldn't hear them. I think he will come, maybe, later. He had come before."
New control (firm, loud voice):
"Good evening. I sought to have speech with you. I am afraid I was not able to make contact, due perhaps to some deficiency in my method which I must soon discover, and I will talk to you then, I think. I do want to speak, and have wanted to speak to you for some time. I believe it is quite almost a year since I have spoken to you. I told you, however, I would be back about this time to speak. I think I'm going to fulfill my promise to you. I am now much better than I was, I believe. I can at last see myself away from that point which marks the position I was in last year at this time.
My position was strangely reversed, and is now suffering another reverse. My position formerly had been that of attacker, and more latterly, since passing over, defendant. Now it is defender.
I am Harry Houdini. I'm sorry! - you see, I sort of forgot that you couldn't see me. It was stupid of me.
"I do think my position, as I was saying, Doctor, and your friend here, has undergone at least three metamorphoses - of attacker, defendant, and now I do defend her. I commit myself absolutely to this, that beyond all question of doubt, Walter Stinson is a surviving personality, to his sister known as 'Margery', wife of Dr. Crandon. Of that I am convinced. Moreover, I do not believe that either Dr. Crandon, nor his wife Margery, in any shape, form or manner, mitigated or abetted any fraud whatsoever, at any time, nor do I believe would they tolerate fraud in others of their group should it come to their knowledge. Now that's a positive statement. I don't retract a word, and I would make it stronger if I could. At least I am convinced of that much. Crandon's position is ultimately secure, since his investigations are based upon truth. That much I feel certain of. I cannot say that everything he does is beyond criticism. No, I won't say that. I won't believe that. What I do say, is, that he does and can withstand criticism. I believe his statements are true, his work fairly complete. I intend this as a confession of faith.
Moreover, I do say I did believe in After-life. I really did, in spite of everything I did, that was one real belief. I did not believe it was possible to secure evidence of it. I know that I was at fault, and should I come through, as Walter does, I shall undoubtedly find myself in the position of a challenged personality. But I can't stay. I've done my best to talk. I don't desire to withhold anything from you. You may question me, it will serve to draw me out."
T. G. H.: "You have met Walter?"
H. H.: "I am not quite prepared to, not from any physical fear, but from a certain amount of something within me which withholds me from meeting him. It is a fundamental law here, it is a psychological factor, yet it is a thing - I am not at one with them."
L. H.: "Have you seen any other of our controls?"
H. H.: "Yes, I have met Sterge, and I know Doyle. There is not that wall between us, since I have not that in my mind toward Doyle which I had toward Walter. There is not that in my heart, but it is still in my mind. I do try to meet him but I am withheld by this something within me. I know he has changed toward me, for he understands that I have come to realize that things are as he said they were. I am waiting and working to get to him. So goodnight to you all."
Sterge returns, teases T. G. H., inquires about his health. Relative to the relationship between Doyle and Houdini, Sterge says:
"You remember our friend Doyle was a forerunner of Houdini to prepare the way for him since they have quite considerable sympathy. They were friends before, and friends even when they were enemies."
Robert speaks:
"I'm here now. I'm glad the family's having music (we hum a hymn very softly). We have much pleasure in listening to you. We feel like you would sing."
L. H.: "Did you know Glen was a Highlander now?"
M. H.: "You should see him in the kilts."
Robert: "The English say you should always say 'kilt' because they're always singular ...!!"
"I think perhaps I wouldna' hae liked very much to be a real slaying soldier. I would have liked the adventure of it, but I couldna' hae been a fighting man. It wasna within me to be thirsty for blood. I was fairly bloodthirsty, but that was the thirst for the life-blood of the drama. There, I'm getting better as I talk along ..."
Ye're still waiting on Dimmitt, I suppose. Do ye ken what happened to him in his old age?"
"He lived by himself, ye ken. Did I no' tell ye about the house he lived in? He really had a very very queer house: everything in Dimmitt's life all fitted in, although nothing seemed to fit in with him; everything was consistently incongruous with Dimmitt.
"But what I'd rather do than dictate tonight is to chat wi' ye, not that I'm forgetting my dictation; but I'm going more to the dictates of my heart. I do feel I could gain a certain fluency in chatting on what could be useful to me in my dictation. I do say this as though I were chatting objectively, but I do say it..."
"I want to talk to you because I like you ... but anyone reading this would never feel it was a literary man expressing himself. He must say it in a high-fallutin' way! If a literary man expresses himself in simple words they would seem like unclad urchins, not to be seen in public. But if a scientific man, like the doctor here, where to adorn his words, he would be pounced upon! It's a strange thing, to be a literary lion you're expected to roar all the time, whether you want to or not. I suppose it's the same with the scientist, - and even the scientist's wife! ... but you've just got to keep on being the good wife, eh? ... I like talking - I so seldom find respectful listeners like you are ..."
L. H.: "Don't you get any listeners on your side?"
Robert: "Oh, not so many. They've seen the literary lion so close up that they find his roar a hiccup of conceit."
L. H.: "I suppose it's quite true that life to you appears to be 'objective' - the life of conditions - and not merely abstract?"
Robert: "Oh, they appear quite real; they are quite real to me, and they are real because they are."
T. G. H.: "Are the heavenly bodies real?"
Robert: "They are real in a sense. I am aware of them, aware of what would appear to be a translucency of them which makes me see them in a different manner than you see them, but they are nonetheless real. But our illumination (if that is what you are getting at) does not come from them particularly. It seems to me the illumination we receive is not light falling on the eye. It seems to be instead of coming at me, going from me. I suppose that is dealing with the state of consciousness."
L. H. suggests that low development gives darkness, and higher spiritual evolution, brightness.
Robert: "Probably that accounts for the fact that this light seems to come from us, and things are real to us because they are real with us. It is very difficult to explain what I mean."
L. H.: "When you leave here, to what do you return; what are you conscious of?"
Robert: "Well, I am conscious of a spiritual swing-away which is comparable to a change of thought and mood within yourself from one subject to another; and I have after-sensations in leaving him, such as mental fatigue and mental nervousness; and probably at times I may be a trifle stupid. But that must be due to the concentration I am forced to go through for this. Moreover, I pick up thoughts from him, and his thoughts sometimes impress themselves on my mind. His condition is my condition, and mine his."
L. H.: "Are you conscious of going back to a home?"
Robert: "Yes, I am conscious of going to a home which is prepared here for me. I am conscious of going. Just as you go to your home so I go to mine. I go from him slowly and I take a short rest, and go away as soon as my mind is able to function clearly; then I return to that part of the sphere which is my fullest consciousness. Normally I belong to that part of the sphere at which my consciousness is at its maximum. That is where I return, where there is a homogenization of the mental and spiritual, working at their highest and finest pitch. That is home ... I must go ... I'm sorry my chat is not very long, but you can ask me questions when my work is done ..."
Robert bids us good night, and in the space of a few seconds a new control speaks. We remark that the last few words of Robert's speech took on a different character from his usual rather quiet delivery, and a new control says:
"Yes, of course, it changed perceptibly; I was sustaining him. That was I who was speaking for him, not wholly I, but he and I, but it was my vital power being utilized for the speech. I am glad to be back again. Yes, it is Arthur Doyle again. Yes, I am glad to speak to you again, friends. My voice is strong, I can hear it myself, but I trust, my good hostess, that you won't mind my speaking like this. It is rather loud; but it is my method, and I do better this way. I am glad to speak to you again, and I trust that what I said, if not of merit, was of interest."
L. H.: "There was a much better atmosphere." (Referring to meeting of other group). "Perfume was brought."
A. C. D.: "I am glad ... I only hope that we can perfume the atmosphere of each and every one of your sitters so that they can give out that ultimate perfume."
L. H.: "We all need it."
A. C. D.: "Yes, not you in particular, but many of us need it. But I do feel that your thoughts and your prayers did help, and to those who have prayed in secret I give my strength. And my word was added to yours and entoned with you. I will be as fervent in my amen and my hopes will be high and my eyes toward the stars. You can secure that ultimate desire in your sitting, but fundamentally they must be as I suggest, I feel. I am not a hymn singing Puritan; it's not by hymn singing, it's not prayer-muttering that reaches to God; nor is it either one that changes peoples' minds or alters their actions - it's the kindly word, the gentle hand, one the moving, one the motivating force of that will which is within you.
Your atmosphere will clear, I feel sure. I am working for you and with you; even should I help each of you individually, or one of you individually, my work would be well worth while. I know I am helping, therefore I come and I will, as long as I can help you. We who are men of science must remember that before we are men of science we are first men, men who are children of God; who, when we assemble together will labor in His service, and so will the expression of His will be manifest to us and through us."
L. H.: "I was wondering what you had learned concerning Christ."
A. C. D.: "He is the center. That is what you wanted to know. He is a greater force than ever I thought. And I believe we must keep Christ in our religion, since to take Him out makes it but another belief. I will talk to you again about Him when I come again, and I will go into your question fully. But I affirm that I believe in Him. He is the Christ, Jesus is the Christ, through whose message all men might be saved and may yet be saved. His message is the one great fundamental spiritual doctrine. Good-night."
Sterge returns and closes the circle.
June 7, 1934.
Jack MacDonald (medium); Lillian Hamilton; Margaret Hamilton (recorder); Guest: Reverend W. R. Wood, Austin, Manitoba.
Music supplied by gramophone. While it is still playing, L. H. reports touches on her ear and face. Medium slaps his knees violently, several times.
About four minutes after taking our places, Sterge speaks. He greets us, is presented to Mr. Wood. He talks to us for about three minutes, then gives way to a new control.
New control:
"Good evening. I see your friend the doctor is not present. However, I will still go on without him. I am sure, since last speaking to you, I have been able to formulate a few new thoughts along the line I spoke to you. It is Houdini again. I once again affirm the stand I am now taking which is in many respects contrary to the stand I maintained while in the physical. Some of the features of my stand remain the same but in the vital points I am changed. There are certain functions which I performed during my life in the physical which were, I believe, useful functions. In my mad search to pull aside the mask from the faces of what I believed to be fraudulent mediums imposing themselves upon a gullible and sentimental public; I believe in many cases I performed a useful duty. But - and here I make full pause - in striving madly to identify every medium with fraud and charlatanry, I took a popular but a false position. There are genuine mediums, I now know, working toward the personal end, not only unselfishly, but making genuine sacrifices to continue; and it is both from a scientific and a spiritual viewpoint a terrible sin on anyone's part to malign or maltreat either the medium, or his work, or his co-workers.
"And this is now the position I take with respect to Margery, Mrs. Crandon, her husband, and their control. I affirm my belief that Margery is a genuine instrument, and a great instrument in the hands of her so-called deceased brother, Walter; and that any charges that may be brought against them, whatever they may be, have, so far as I can see, no real basis, and can only find root and flourish in the mind of one without a full and reasonable knowledge of the work.
"Now that sounds rather stilted; but the reason is I have thought all this out, and what I have told you now has been in my mind and quite well gone over, so it is not at all the words of a minute of thought or an emotional outburst, but cool, calculated, dictation. And that is that. And I say that you can send any material I am giving you to the Crandons, if you so desire. It is up to you; whether that will help them or not I don't know; but certainly, to state it, helps me. I am not doing it from a selfish point of view, but from a genuine desire for truth. But I admit that on that basis of truth it does help me. Good-night."
Medium becomes silent, then head is bowed forward, and Robert speaks, using his customary slight Scotch accent. He too greets us, and gives Mr. Wood a very warm welcome. He teases us about our Scotch and French blood, and after a few minutes enjoyable conversation, he dictates the following:
"Suddenly David pointed. 'There!, he said, 'look!' I saw the dust marked on the floor, where it had lain undisturbed for a long time since; and in those dust marks there were fresh prints, prints of human hands. David knelt down carefully. The hands focused around one point in the floor. He knelt over it.' Look!', he cried, 'a door!'"
"I rushed to his side with the eagerness of a falcon. Together we bent over at. Pitted into the floor were boards cut in such a manner as to contrive a small door, tight-fitting, and so contrived as to be quite secure from the glance of the most curious eye. We dug our nails into the wood. With a quick lift, like the lifting of a hat, the door opened, revealing a black hole, silent and somber, while a faint odor, as one gets from a cupboard where food has lain, came to our nostrils. David looked at me. 'Gie us the candles', he said, 'we're going down!'
"I turned quickly to my greatcoat and drew out the candles I had kept there, and lit them. I gave one to David. He thrust it down into the hole. A few rounds of a ladder showed. We could see the bottom below: the hole was only a few feet deep, just high enough for a man to stand in. A tall man could thrust his arms and raise the door. Swinging a leg over, David descended. I could hear his shoes strike the floor with a muffled sound which told me it was hard-packed earth. In a few seconds I was descending the ladder, and then we stood together with our feet on hard-packed earth as I had suspected. With our candles aloft we stood in the subterranean room beneath the old house.
"The room was not large; we could tell that from the thud which deadened or voices as we spoke. It seemed as though a quick hush was put up on our words as they left our lips. The room was almost bare. In one corner, a few feet away, a dark object lay on some boards. David advanced toward it, I more hesitantly behind him. With an ejaculation David flung himself forward. 'It's a man!', he cried,' a man, dead!' I bent down over him while the candle sputtered and guttered. David turned, put one hand on the shoulder of the man who was face down. He turned it over. It was he!"
Robert stops dictation and says he would like to talk with us and talk particularly to our visitor. He asks Mr. Wood to ask any questions he would care to.
W. R. W. (Rev. W.R. Wood): "Am I speaking to Robert Louis Stevenson?"
Robert: "Yes."
W. R. W.: "Where are you now?"
Robert: "Now, just what do you mean? Do you mean, what is my present condition?"
W. R. W.: "Yes."
Robert: "Well, that is a fair enough question. I passed through the bit of transformation that is known as death. I left my physical body, which was very weak, behind me; and I am now in a state of mental existence; yet I retain, so far as I am concerned, various characteristics which were true of me, and they still are. I have a body, but it is not a physical body; and I am living in a spiritual existence."
W. R. W.: "Is it possible for you to come into contact with us?"
Robert: "Yes, I am able by the force of my thoughts, to utilize certain sensitive individuals, like this boy here ... I can impress his mind so strongly that his lips are made to utter these words more or less accurately."
W. R. W.: "Have you been able to discover any such power in me?"
Robert: "I think you have it, but it does not lie open ... You are seeking personal proof ... It is certainly a sword in the strong arm of faith ... Sometime in the near future it is being planned that you will meet individuals with whom you will receive the proof you desire.
"I believe the best way to secure personal proof is to develop your own medium. You know them as an individual before you know them as a medium. To anyone searching, as you are, that is the one great way of satisfying one's self - to have one's own medium whom one knows first as an individual and then as a medium. In that way you can have faith strengthened by knowledge. There are individuals here attempting to prepare the way for you to have a medium, and you may discover this individual very near at hand ... they are attempting to provide an individual near at hand. You will probably note a little opportunity coming your way and when you notice it you can seize it; and when you do you will see to it that you will not be molested until you have received the proof you have desired."
W. R. W.: "Your purpose in coming, then, is to give proof of continued existence."
Robert: "Yes. And I do believe that if I can add anything to personal knowledge I am doing something worthwhile. It is my avowed purpose to do that. To contact with a worthy individual helps me. Contact with you helps me, - it enlarges my vision, and in as much as I am part of all I meet up with, I gain from you, and you from me. My avowed work here, in this particular group, is to give such proof as may be not only indisputable, but also worthy of consideration outside the fact that it is proof ..."
"... I'll be very glad if you come any time that our circle is meeting. You have an open invitation as far as I am concerned ... Good night to ye all."
A new control speaks, in a very loud, very firm voice:
"Good evening. I am here again to talk to you."
L. H.: "Is this Arthur Conan Doyle?"
Control: "Yes. Pardon my certain lack of control, but he has been used a lot tonight. I can't exactly control my voice. I will get it in a minute ... There. I am better now. I can speak now, conditions can't upset me! Conditions like this are sort of, as Holmes said, elementary. It is easy controlling this instrument ... I am grateful indeed that you have been able to take down my dictations. It has been splendid to have had your secretary, who has been able to get my words on paper and get them down so satisfactorily to myself, and I trust that is mutual.
"I am more pleased with the work in your circle than I was. As I had indicated to you, I had felt that science was superseding to some extent the spiritual; and as I had also stated, that was a matter of opinion. And I'm glad, nay, grateful that it is swinging toward the spiritual. The imports of science are tremendous, I realize that; but the realities of religion are the things, and it is my desire to establish these. Science can establish the phenomena, I know, but we've got to have our eyes on the stars, not on the scale.
"There is no doubt in my mind that with the out-and-out spiritualist the brake-lever of science, the scientific knowledge, would prevent him from running amok and laying himself open to lampooning from individuals more clever than himself. Certainly scientific training would sharpen his judgment and to some extent circumscribe his application of the truths he knows. While I do preach to you the essentials of a spiritual attitude, yet I am sympathetic, wholly, towards science in this subject; but I suggest that the science must be deleted.
I cannot use him any further. I could, but he will not respond beyond a certain point. I believe he has been used more than sufficiently.
"But before I go let me shake hands with your visitor. (Medium shakes hands with Mr. Wood).
"I know of your work; I have spoken here with friends who are working to contact with you. I admire such courage, and I am grateful for this privilege, and I trust that when you come to a further knowledge of the subject you may make your way more openly. I am glad indeed to come to you. Good night."
Sterge returns to close of the sitting.
June 8, 1934
[Letter from Dr. Hamilton to Mr. R. Sproull - London - England:]
Thanking for clippings - valuable as sidelights - helpful with the Livingstone material.
"... About the 4th of July there are three of our group, Miss Turner, her adopted son Harold, and a Mrs. Muir, who purpose leaving for England. They expect to be in London July 14 to 21; and, although that season of the year is one during which it is rather difficult to make contact with the more important mediums, I thought you might be able to advise them, and am consequently giving them a letter to you. Miss Turner and Mrs. Muir both hold University degrees and are instructors in one of our High Schools. Miss Turner has been with us as a member of our group for many years. We value her very highly, for her constancy and sympathy to our work. Mrs. Muir has been with us for about one year and Harold Turner for a somewhat longer period. You will find them all very interesting...
June 22, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; Lillian Hamilton; Margaret L. Hamilton (recorder).
Sterge speaks first, then Arthur. Sterge and Arthur tease me about new clothes, and gifts.
Arthur: "If they do this for the departure of a daughter, what more will they do for the return of a son?"
L. H. and Arthur plan a magnificent spectacle, Arthur seeing himself clad in armor, like King Arthur. We chat together, and Arthur leaves very quietly, with no apparent effect on the medium. Robert slips in just as quietly, within 10 to 15 seconds. We greet him, L. H. saying that he comes in like a ghost.
Robert: "Well, I suppose I am largely mind-substance ... I fear me I'm very much undressed ... And so your wee lad was going to come as a knight in shining armor ...?"
"I used to think myself a knight when I was writing; and I worked out a little play all my own. I was the Knight Errant, sent from the world of Thought to rescue the pure damsel Romance; and strangest of all, the man who kept her prisoner was a twin brother to my squire. His name was Ideas. I tilted with a pen for a lance, and the tilt-ground was the white virgin sheets of paper. Battle after battle was fought with them, retiring now and then to our pavilions, the ink-pots, where we renewed our lances; and then came back; I mounted on my Ambition, to tilt again and again with that opponent who was part of me - Ideas - so that I might rescue for a time that maiden Romance. Alas, the maiden was elusive! And even as I, the Knight Errant, captured her and kept her for a time, fickle she was, and she would disappear. And presto! She would appear again within the iron walls of the castle, clothed in fresh robes and singing from the turret towers her sad song that some wandering knight errant might come again and achieve her rescue. The same operation would be repeated again and again by countless knights, until it was seen that the more she was rescued, the more she had to be rescued.
"I am sure, if we are ever able to turn back the pages of time until we find out who was responsible for the quotation "La Donna E Mobile", we would find it was no musician, nor was it a lyricist, writing thrilling words to music. In all probability, it was poor writers, knight errants such as I, rescuing and re-rescuing poor Romance, the fickle Jade!
"...That's no' a prepared one. I thought I'd just crack one off the bat! I scored a boundary at least ... No man should attempt to rekindle an old fire to his first beauty; and no wise man, once having achieved something worthwhile in his work, and having come to a place in it - granted that he has any sense of the truly dramatic - will continue in that vein to raise his sword and word pictures to the same height of power and beauty to which he raised it formerly. So I retire from our little field of combat gracefully, with my plume at the helm, the plume from my pen ... Goodness! What's that coming after me? Why it's my last page! Ha ha! How's that?"
June 29, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; Margaret Hamilton; Lillian Hamilton.
Robert: "I've been feeling rather learned the last wee while. I've been more than comfortably satisfied with my own knowledge, and I'm afraid I felt almost wise, perhaps uncomfortably wise, in my overstuffed condition. But I do believe now, at this date, that I'm beginning to find a few faint ideas or conceptions of what wisdom really is; and my first conclusion, which I think is sound, and which I believe will thus be a permanent one, is that my former condition was at most a primary, or secondary one, and not at all as I had imagined it to be, well within the bounds of wisdom. And I had at last discovered that knowledge is a sort of small smoky fireplace, that you spread your hands over and feel its warmth, while your spine is freezing at the cold. While wisdom is greater than that: it's more like the general, all-pervading warmth of the sunlight, warming and lighting up everything around it far beyond the sooty circle that we see beyond the firelight. Knowledge seemed to me circumscribed, - as we see the fire on the hearth, so must it be confined to that condition where we found it. But wisdom will go with us wherever we are, both before and behind us, in the past and the future, neither being circumscribed by the time, place, nor conditions. There are no half-lights in the sunlight of wisdom..."
He then mutters something about "the fear of death ... I feel the fog in my throat..." A beautiful poem on death is next recited, but it comes much too fast to be taken down in longhand.
Arthur: "That's the two Roberts, you know; I'm speaking for someone else, too. I'm trying to get someone else to speak. The first words were she and I. It's Elizabeth herself trying to speak, but I guess you can't hide King Arthur and his knights of the séance table. I suppose if Jimmy were here he would say his knights (nights) with the séance table."
New control: "Your forebears are exceedingly blessed in you, and you are exceedingly blessed in yours; and we who come here, one to another, and one with another, we are blessed beyond measure in the essence that is doubly distilled to us. It is glorious company; and a tangible loveliness (?) from you reaches to me. I only hope I may send foot-passengers of light over the bridge of your thoughts. We will come again, with less difficulty, I think. Good night, both of you."
Arthur: "I'm back now. That wasn't so much of me. She said 'E. B. B' as she went away. (Reference to Elizabeth Barrett Browning?)
L. H.: "She must be very lovely."
Arthur: "She is, Mother; she is lovely."
Arthur talks a little, and then goes. Sterge returns to say that "both she and her husband were here. I think it was something with Robert. Apparently they are celebrating some important date in their lives." (The reference to two Roberts probably refers to Robert Browning as the second Robert.)
More personal conversation, and Sterge closes the sitting.
July 7, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; Margaret Hamilton; Lillian Hamilton.
Sterge comes as usual, first, jokes, says something about "Entertainment keeps your chin up and weighs your shoulders down."
Robert: "I'm here now. I'm just streaming through, and presently the sun will go around the corner and a light through the chink widen, and I'll be through. That finger of light coming around the corner, that's me ... a very unsubstantial light ... (L. H. shudders). That's the light streaming on you. We are webbing you within and without ...
"I think of all of the establishments we have in this conventional world, the one conventional establishment that is small and yet tremendous, glorious and yet subdued, whose influence is boundless, and yet whose circle is small, is that place of peace, that harbor of restoration, that inn of restorative inspiration, the home, the family home. Being a place of peace a home may be, but not necessarily so, a place of quiet; but it is a quietness filled with things, soft singing things that hum with a silent tune that strikes that inner ear, a tune one never feels in solitude. In solitude, one is alone; in the home one is alone with things, those very silent singing things which to all outward purposes are beyond the reach of sight, beyond all range of normal sound. They belong alone to the realm of spiritual atmosphere.
"Every home must have a heart, and it seems to me the real heart of every home, especially to those who will react to its influence, is the heart of music. Music is, I think, a prime necessity, coming second only to food and clothing and shelter. It is both the vanguard and the rearguard of all great things, great spiritual things. It flows around individuals, binding them subtly; yet, by binding them, making them more free - the master which is your slave, and which in mastering you, serves you. Music is something which goes out from the individual and returns always to find a resting place, soothing the sensitive, and raising and creating greater and finer and more glorious impulses within all who are within its range of contacts.
"A place of peace is a place of quiet, a place of quiet inspiration, something that is daily lived in, yet which never has that "lived-out" atmosphere. It stands solidly on the rock, withstanding storms which batter it, dark storm figures that rattle at the latch and push and stab at the window panes with steely fingers; whose footsteps circle the spot with low rumbles and sharp metallic tread and the hard hiss of metal garments. Home, the place of peace, whose heart is the heart of music; strong, withstanding all buffeting; a place of sustenance, strength, poised strength amid tranquility ..."
[Medium's head falls into Lillian's lap.]
Sterge: "That little present from Robert comes as a gift from all the gang - a little address presented to the departed one - to those about to change their state. A Sterge, Stevensonian, Arthurian document compiled after endless research and great expense.
L. H.: "That was lovely, Robert, especially coming from you."
Robert: "Well, it was just what I could do for you. These sentiments are there, and it's such a place I'm wishing for you (M. H.) and your husband-that-is-to-be, and it's joy that I'm wishing you, and everything that you merit, may it be yours; and may all good and great things for both of you be made all good and all great things for the one of you. And I'm hoping, lass, that in your house, if ever there blows a draft from a window or a door, it will serve to blow the blaze on the hearth a wee bit higher, for that's what drafts are for ... And I'll be saying goodbye and a grand long life before ye in one-ness, lass..."
Sterge returns, speaks briefly, and then Walter bursts in "Hello! What's this? Think you could put something over on me, eh? Just like Ham ... I guess if we'd had more sittings we'd have had a picture for your wedding and a little sparrow chirping. And there'd be no mistake in directions when that voice spoke, because it would be someone else's voice. Walter won't be the first to speak, but when he does, he'll speak plenty."
Walter teases me about being nervous on the Great Day. He says he'll make me an ectoplasmic pad to keep my knees from shaking, and calls it the Stinson Silencer ..."
Arthur speaks: "Hello. You're know, I'm one of the invited guests, I'm leading the choir."
"... We over here have little in the way of gifts to offer beyond our help, which you know will be to the uttermost of our ability. And we'll be there when you need us. Our gifts are empty hands and full hearts. And I'll be standing by when you come up; that will be fairly easy, because the atmosphere will be fairly conducive to my being there; and I'll follow you with your party. So, ever so much happiness."
Sterge: "Tch! Here's a bad fairy again! ... If perhaps, when the angelic choir is singing, you should hear some sharp notes on the piano, improvising a little march, it might be the bad fairy ... Au revoir."
July 20, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; Lillian Hamilton; T. G. H..
Presently Sterge: "I am through just a little better but I have to be deliberate. Now I am through better. I have had a busy time putting him into better condition. (To T. G. H.) . Being in the dark so long you have an extension of your senses. You hear and see to some extent also. T. G. H. would be very happy if he lived in the old days and they condemned him to a dark cell."
Walter: "How did you know there was some good news? There is going to be a surprise, I can tell you. Something outside of T. G. H.'s sphere is going to come on him, something within old Ham's universe but not within his own circle. I am giving riddles. I'll riddle Ham. That gives you a smell of the stew and not a taste. I have a surprise for him, some surprise to Ham within his universe but not withing his circle. How much more will I tell him? It hath not skirts but it hath a gown. It does not whinny like Ham but it hath the milk of human kindness within it; yet you cannot milk it. I am serious. (Referring to remark by L. H.). The Queen is on the track. It does not wear skirts but a gown. You are getting hot, uncomfortably hot."
The control changes and Sterge again appears: "I have just come to relieve one minute and then I go."
R. L. Stevenson: "I am all right now. I hope I will be able to keep up that strength, to make it smooth and get continuous results. I remember when the minister and I had a conversation about what I was doing. I think I put it fair and concisely (this referred to a conversation with a minister sometime past). If you have questions, I might be able to answer."
T. G. H.: "Many have described entry into the second life. Could you tell us somewhat of its uniformity?"
Robert: "The exit from your world into death is not at all uniform. Once bodily death has taken place there is much more uniformity in the processes which follow. The variations are in themselves uniform variations; that is, they are according to clearly defined law; and what transpires at the instant of bodily death, and the periods succeeding it is generally possible to predict, within reasonable bounds, granted that the individual making such a forecast possesses a reasonable knowledge of the individual immediately preceding his so-called demise. I believe there is a law, or something such, which functions almost invariably so that the necessities (mental) of the individual are looked after by people knowing these necessities ... Frequently we find the incoming individual is awaited by friends and such of his relatives as are capable of understanding. But if none of these be normally naturally forthcoming, then those who are commissioned as guards may function in the above capacity for others whose keen perception and instructive insight into individual needs has made their function peculiarity valuable in this very line. The cry of individual needs, coming however, actually unuttered from the soul in the process of separation from the body, draws a corresponding positive reaction from those sensitives capable of fulfilling to some degree that need. You may ask, and others may be asked these questions, and receive a different answer, as different points of view are present; just as I ask a physician, a preacher or a laborer and their answers are quite varied. They may see from quite different viewpoints. This was my experience and the experience of those around me. That is the condition that did exist for us and will hold for you and for your good lady, but in general the basic laws hold."
The sitting closed.
August 14, 1934
[Letter from Fred J. Wilson - Los Angeles - mentions 'Katie King' photo and an experiment with photography that is quite interesting - a Crookes photo used by a psychic photographer gave strange results.]
"At one time I was Managing Editor of the Winnipeg Tribune with R. L. Richardson"
August 17, 1934.
Jack MacDonald; Lillian Hamilton; T. G. Hamilton; J. D. Hamilton.
Sterge comes: "We visit her and will continue to visit her. Sterge and Stevenson are often there, and if she sits down and relaxes she will have us. I will speak to her and she may answer me through her piano ... M. le Docteur has been reducing. I saw you were different, from your outline ... you have lost some, I know so ... I am sorry the prediction of Walter a short time ago was not materialized. He cancels the prediction since a time limit has elapsed ... You will have a psychic, or one interested in psychics, visiting you soon from without this city. That is Sterge's prediction, with a month's limit."
Robert: "I'm all right ... You are my friends. These friends are of supreme value above all other things. It is one of the few greater things in life. I think that friendship is one of the highest forms of love, since it is not selfish as certain types of love, which may mean demanding things of people they neither care nor are able to give. Love often is selfish, but true friendship transcends what we often express as love and goes deeper. It probes deeper into the depths of understanding. We are gifted indeed who have the gift for friendship. I think there is no greater legacy with which we can endow those round about us, but the making of every effort through speech, action, and the written word, to instill within them the essence and the ideals of friendship. In a world of friends there is nothing unnecessary - each individual has his use, be it an anchor for the weak or an exercising weight for the stronger to lift. We grow not so much by ourselves, but of ourselves through our contacts. Nothing that comes within us is really ours, or is truly great, until this impression, which we have, is expressed.
"Once an impression is expressed to others it is, and becomes valuable to us. Only do our thoughts and actions have value when they are related to other people. The only wholly useless individual is he who is one with himself. I think real friendship is that which gives naturally of those four things within oneself without hope of applause, and asks and expects nothing. To ask or expect nothing means that you prefer the other to give more than you would expect; I mean, in the true friendship, normal anticipation, not weighed expectancy.
"I may say that was composed on the spur of the moment. This boy has been thinking of it today. To show that everything is not prepared, I can do things without preparation. It shows what I want to prove: I am a mind and not a recessive memory. My thoughts are contemporary with yours, a mind conversing with you. I am a contemporary mind, a living, thinking, being, expressing my thoughts by the vibration of your matter through this instrument's voice. Goodnight."
Sterge: "Try and see if you can express your thoughts as well orally as his were expressed."
August 28, 1934 (Friday)
[Letter from Lillian Hamilton to Margaret:]
[Margaret must be just married and moved to Ontario - W. D. F.]
Mentions household goods in transit and furniture.
