or a species of trance peculiar to disorderly mediumship. His hand moved as if he would write, and a paper and pencil were placed before him, when he dashed off a sentence bottom side up. Mr Peebles stepped forward and read:

"I was killed on the Great Western Railroad, near Hamilton, C. W., a few hours ago. I have a wife and two little children in Buffalo.

"JOHN MORGAN."

Next morning the papers contained news of the accident, and two days later additional details were published in which occurred the name of "John Morgan" as among the killed.

Presently Mr. Dunn became more calm and seemed to be dominated by another influence, which beckoned Mr. Peebles to come forward again, when the influence said with much earnestness through the lips of the medium:

"We want you to invite this young man into your study to-morrow, when we will entrance him; and the object shall be made known to you. Have no fear."

Upon recovering consciousness the young man appeared to be in a half-dreamy state. No significant glances were cast toward his companions. He had been intromitted into a new world of experiences, and he was half bewildered with the strange scenery which confronted him at his sharp, mysterious turn in his path of life. Mr. Peebles grasped his hand cordially, and addressed him kindly: "You have a good head; you can make a man of yourself. Your traits are sympathetic and sensitive, and you are capable of acquiring true nobility of character." Again and again he pressed his hand and tried to make him realize the influence of a disinterested regard for his soul's welfare. This was all new and strange to him, and though the inner chords were touched and vibrating with a sweet and nameless melody, the old companionships and force of habit made him outwardly suspicious. Dr. Peebles publicly invited him to call at his house the next day.

As the morrow came the old accustomed habits and mental states began to reassert themselves in this mediumistic temperament, and Mr. Dunn failed to meet his appointment at Mr.

Peebles's house. Mr. Peebles sought him in a grist mill where he was working, and asked him with great earnestness why he did not come. The young man was embarrassed and stammered out some trivial excuses about work. Finally Mr. Peebles induced Mr. Dunn to go on a walk with him, and improved this occasion to get more into his heart and confidence, making no allusion to his antecedents.

A few days later Mr. Dunn attired himself as best he could with his coarse garments, and knocked at the door of the man he almost dreaded to see. Mr. Peebles met him most cordially, and soon succeeded in making him feel at ease. As he passed the pictures and library in his study he felt the thrill of strange emotions, for it was indeed a new world to him. He had not been seated long when he passed into the trance state.

"So gaze met gaze,

And heart saw heart, translucent through the rays,-
One same harmonious, universal law,

Atom to atom, star to star, can draw:

And mind to mind swift darts, as from the sun,
The strong attraction and the charm is done."

A spirit then addressed Mr. Peebles as follows:

"I am a stranger to you, but not you to me. My name is Aaron Nite. My birthplace was Yorkshire, England. I departed this life when nineteen, and have been in the spiritworld about two hundred and seventy years. No fame attached itself to my career; but my ancestors were in high repute My brother, Rev. James Knight, was a distinguished clergyman of the English Church. Some time hereafter, I will tell you of my present beautiful surroundings, of the River Ouse, St. Mary's Abbey, York Minster, the old rocks, lawns, and hunting-grounds.

"We have at last brought about this meeting of yourself and medium. Organically, he is mediumistic. His tricks and athletic exercises were aided by spirits on his plane. Through the psychological power of Professor Stearns, he was thrown into our sphere; and we have now a partial control. He is

susceptible of great improvement. We place him in your care, Be a father and elder brother to him on the earthly side; educate him; lift him up; he will stand by you in your old age; and many blessings will return to you."

Then a beloved sister of Mr. Dunn, who went to the spirit life when he was an infant, took control and pleaded with Mr. Peebles to be a faithful guardian to her "dear brother," whose feet she had long striven to conduct to some safe haven. In the presence of those ministering spirits, Mr. Peebles solemnly pledged himself to be to the young man a friend, a helper, a father, confident that he possessed redeeming qualities, and that the latent nobility might be evoked and that his life might be made immensely serviceable to mankind.

But in making these benevolent and worthy resolves, Mr. Peebles did not sufficiently measure the persistence of hereditary bias, nor the tremendous force of acquired habit and early associations. His moral fortitude was early put to test. Obsessing influences occasionally gained access to this poorly defended organic citadel, and made high carnival therein a good portion of the time. The new resolutions to reform the life were backed by a feeble will. The natural gravitating tendency was toward evil, and the resolutions to live a clean and upright life were shattered on the first temptation. Those good resolutions could no more be kept than those of the confirmed drunkard, who oft renews the promise to quit his cups. Moral stamina was lacking. He was like a weather-vane, swayed by every passing breeze,- a finely-strung instrument, thrummed upon by any passer-by, having no self-determining purpose to order his own life. He was often reckless. Many a time did this "spiritual father" sigh and weep over those unfulfilled promises; till, at length, he entered serious complaints against the spirits having the medium in charge, declaring, that, "were I a spirit, I would compel this young man to desist from such practices!" Then, in one of those deep trances, Mr. Peebles would get a lecture that always made him half ashamed of his own littleness and want of charity and of faith in God. Those wise, calm angels would say to him:

"Remember, Friend Peebles, how much better were your early associations in life than those of this young man. Had your lot been cast in the same channel as his, over which you could have had no control, consider what might now be your character. He has his failings in one direction, and you yours in another direction. Who shall judge between you, as to moral worth? Measure his early advantages: measure yours. Are your garments all clean and white? Were your eyes open, you would discover as great distinction between an angel's robe and yours, as between yours and the medium's. Though you should sink into pollution, we will never forsake you. If you would have an angel lead you, be an angel to this young man."

Such lectures, breathing a divine charity, melted the proud man to a meditative silence, awakening the holier emotions of the soul; when he would rise from such communion a wiser and broader-minded man.

One night, being at Hastings, Mich., in the beautiful home of Dr. Russell, the medium became clairvoyant. Far in the distance, he saw a star of intense brilliancy, magnifying and approaching him. When nearer, it widened out in the form of a cross with golden and silvery colors, held in the hands of an Italian spirit, who gave his name as Perasee Lendanta, and threw a magnetic, flowering wreath around his neck, saying:

"In this, we emblemize the soul sympathy, uniting spiritual father and son in a lifelong fellowship. Walk hand in hand, thus encircled, and nothing shall separate you."

When a mortal, or immortal, is quickened for a higher life, the consciousness of defect is most painful. The holiest angels have a soul agony inexpressible, when they discover in their affections the least stain; and rest not till it is bleached out by reform. Light only reveals darkness. So with our "chosen vessel." Heavenly inspirations burned down into his soul, awakening a moral torture, followed by weeping.

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"O Mr. Peebles!" he would say, "I am a poor, miserable fellow, not fit to be associated with you: your loftiness of character shames me." Then a warm hand grasped his, and

another rested in benediction upon his head, with words so like the man, "No, my Charlie boy, you are not a bad fellow at heart, not a devil; you are my brother. Your tears are tests of virtue, capacity, and promise."

"There are poems unwritten, and songs unsung,

Sweeter than any that ever were heard,—

Poems that wait for an angel tongue,

Songs that but long for a paradise bird.

Poems that ripple through lowliest lives,
Poems unnoted, and hidden away
Down in souls, where the beautiful thrives
Sweetly as flowers in the airs of May.

Poems that only the angels above us,

Looking down deep in our hearts may behold;
Felt, though unseen, by the beings who love us,
Written on lives all in letters of gold."

The following private letter to young Dunn, written about this period of his spiritual growth, is an index of paternal care and affection, breathing sentiments most encouraging to us all:

"My Dear Brother,— For some reason, unknown to myself, I feel inspired to write you this morning. Nothing else can I think of. This thought comes to my mind: the certainty of success if coupled with effort, and directed by wisdom. You or I may choose any honorable calling in life, and we are certain of success, though that success may be reached only through poverty and thorny paths. Rogers, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, reached their success through a martyr's fire; Jesus, through the tears of Gethsemane to the crown of thorns; Howard, and Payne, the author of the song, 'Home, Sweet Home,' through persecution and poverty. ishness, call success, is defeat. flattery, are all guideboards on times disgrace added thereto. there would be no skillful sailors. Jesus uttered to his discouraged

Often what we, in our childEase, wealth, luxury, praise, the road of defeat, and someWere there no ocean storms, One of the grandest truths disciples is this: He that