876. I now give a case which in one respect stands alone. It narrates the success of a direct experiment, - a test-message planned before death, and communicated after death, by a man who held that the hope of an assurance of continued presence was worth at least a resolute effort, whatever its result might be. His tests, indeed, were two, and both were successful. One was the revealing of the place where, before death, he hid a piece of brick marked and broken for special recognition, and the other was the communication of the contents of a short letter which he wrote and sealed before death. We may say that the information was certainly not possessed supraliminally by any living person. I give two other cases in 876 A and B where information given through automatists may hypothetically be explicable by telepathy from the living, although, indeed, in my own view it probably emanated from the deceased as alleged. In one of these cases the place where a missing will had been hidden was revealed to the automatist, but it is not clear whether the will was actually discovered or not before the automatic writing was obtained (although the automatist was unaware of its discovery), and in any case, apparently, its whereabouts was known to some living person who had hidden it, and may not have been known to the deceased before death.

In the other case the whereabouts of a missing note of hand was revealed to the automatists, and even if this could be regarded as absolutely unknown supraliminally to any living person, it is not by any means certain that the fact was known before death to the deceased person from whom the message purported to come.

These cases, therefore, are not such strong evidence for personal identity as the one to which I have referred above, and which I now give, as recording what purports to be the successful accomplishment of an experiment which every one may make; - which every one ought to make; - for, small as may be the chances of success, a few score of distinct successes would establish a presumption of man's survival which the common sense of mankind would refuse to explain away. If accepted, the incident shows a continued perception on the part of the deceased of the efforts made by friends to communicate with him.

(From Proceedings S.P.R., vol. viii. pp. 248-51.)1

1 An account of this case appeared in an article by Herman Snow in the Religio-Philosophical Journal for January 31st, 1891, and Mr. Snow also sent us an earlier article on the subject which he had written in 1881, and of which his second account was a mere repetition. The facts were related to him by the Unitarian minister of the place where Mrs. Finney lived; and this third-hand account recorded by Mr. Snow fifteen years after the event closely coincides with Mrs. Finney's first-hand one, recorded twenty-five years after the event.

The following letters were received from the principal witness, Mrs. Finney:-

Rockland, Mass., April 19th, 1891.

Mr. Hodgson, - Dear Sir, - Some weeks ago I received from you a few lines asking me to give you an account of the communication received from Cousin Benja in spirit-life, some twenty-five years ago.

For weeks and months before my brother left the form we conversed freely on the subject of spirit communion and such matters, and one morning he requested me to bring him a small piece of brick, also pen and ink; he then made two marks on one side, and one on the other with the ink, then breaking the brick in two, gave me one piece, telling me at the time to take care of it, and some day he would hide the other piece away where no one but himself would know, and after leaving the form, if possible, would return in some way and tell me where it was. I could then compare them together, and it would be a test that he could return and communicate, and my mind could not have any influence over it, as I did not know where he put it.

After he left the form our anxiety was very great to hear and learn all we could of communicating with spirits, and for months we got nothing satisfactory.

We then commenced sitting at the table at home (mother and myself), which we did for some little time; at last it commenced tipping, and by calling the alphabet spelled out where we could find the piece of brick that he put away, - that was the way we got the test. To us that was truth that spirits can and do communicate with us, and nothing but the influence and power of Benja could tell us that test. - Truly yours, Mrs. Wm. A. Finney.

Rockland, May 3rd, 1891.

Mr. R. Hodgson, - Dear Sir, - Yours of April 21st received, and I will add a few more lines as to statement of brother Benja's communication.

By calling the alphabet we spelled out:-

"You will find that piece of brick in the cabinet under the tomahawk. - Benja".

I went to that room and took the key, unlocked the cabinet, which had not been touched by any one after he locked it and put away the key. There I found that piece of brick just as it had spelled out, and it corresponded with the piece I had retained, fitting on exactly where he broke it off the piece I had. It was wrapped in a bit of paper and tucked into a shell, and placed in the bottom of the cabinet exactly under the tomahawk, as was spelled out by the alphabet.

This is truth, and no power but Benja's could tell that.

Mother is not living; I am the only one of the family that is living. - Yours respectfully, Mrs. Wm. A. Finney.

Rockland, May 11th, 1891. Mr. R. Hodgson, - Dear Sir, - Yours of 6th received. I will continue to say, in answer to your questions, that the piece of brick was entirely concealed in the shell, so that it could not be seen from outside of cabinet. It was wrapped in a piece of paper stuck together with mucilage and tucked into the end of the shell, then a piece of paper gummed over that, so that nothing was visible from the shell. The shell was on the lower shelf of the cabinet, and only the top of the shell was visible outside the cabinet.

One more little incident I will mention, for to me it is as valuable as the other. He wrote me a letter (about the time he gave me the piece of brick) and sealed it, saying at the time it was not to be answered, but the contents of the letter to be told. I got that in the same way I did the other, by calling the alphabet and the table tipping. It was these words:-

"Julia! do right and be happy. - Benja".

That was correct. Just the contents of my letter. I have no particular objection as to giving my name, for I have stated nothing but the truth.

At my home in Kingston I have that little shell with the piece of brick, and if you would like them I will send them to you. Will place the brick into the shell as it was when I found it. Of course, the paper that was around it then is worn out years ago. The cabinet is disposed of. Julia A. Finney.

Mrs. Finney further writes:-

Rockland, June 26th, 1891.

I send you by express a box containing the letter and shell with the piece of brick. I have placed one piece in the shell just as it was when I found it, so you can see how nicely it was concealed in the shell. The papers that were around it then are worn out. You can retain them if you like, as I do not care for them now.

To me it is a positive truth that he did communicate to us, and our minds could have nothing to do with it. J. A. Finney.

Rockland, July 19th, 1891.

. . . The shell was placed on the same shelf with the tomahawk, and no other shells on that shelf. It was placed with the open side down, and the tomahawk stood directly over it. I cannot say why he did not tell us to look inside of the shell. We started to look as soon as he told us. It was in the cabinet under the tomahawk. We did not wait for any more to be said.

I am not intimately acquainted with many public people. As to my integrity, will refer you to Rev. C. Y. de Normandie, of Kingston.

J. A. Finney.

Dr. Hodgson writes:-

The shell is a large Triton, about ten inches long. The piece of brick was wrapped in folds of soft paper and tucked deeply into the recess. Another piece of paper was then gummed around the sides of the shell in the interior, so as absolutely to prevent the piece of brick from falling out. When I received the shell from Mrs. Finney and looked into the interior and shook the shell violently, there was nothing to indicate that the shell contained anything but the piece of gummed paper.

The piece of brick in the shell weighs one and a half ounces, and the piece of brick retained by Mrs. Finney weighs about two and a quarter ounces. The shell with the piece of brick and paper wrapping weighs about eleven and a half ounces.

Mrs. Finney also forwarded me the letter written by her brother. The shell and the pieces of brick and the letter are now all in my possession.

R. Hodgson.

We have a letter (in original) from the Rev. C. Y. de Normandie, of Kingston, Canada, to Mrs. Finney. "I expressed then," he says, speaking of a former note to Dr. Hodgson, which accidentally went astray, "that to the best knowledge I had of you and to my firm belief your word could be implicitly relied on. I felt confident that you would state a matter as you understood it, as you regarded it, without reference to the consequences; and that you would not be any more likely to be misled and deceived about a matter of that kind than others similarly situated".