My wife's mother is the principal
communicant; she expresses strong affection, and rejoices at the
opportunity of conversing with her daughter. She often says very pretty
things; for instance, in a dissertation upon heavenly music; but there is
a lack of substance in her talk, a want of gripe, a delusive show, a
sentimental surface, with no bottom beneath it. The same sort of thing
has struck me in all the poetry and prose that I have read from spiritual
sources. I should judge that these effusions emanated from earthly
minds, but had undergone some process that had deprived them of solidity
and warmth. In the communications between my wife and her mother, I
cannot help thinking that (Miss ------ being unconsciously in a mesmeric
state) all the responses are conveyed to her fingers from my wife's
mind. . . . .
We have tried the spirits by various test questions, on every one of
which they have failed egregiously. Here, however, the aforesaid Mary
Runnel comes into play. The other spirits have told us that the veracity
of this spirit is not to be depended upon; and so, whenever it is
possible, poor Mary Runnel is thrust forward to bear the odium of every
mistake or falsehood.
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