WCP3007

[1] [p. 1]¹

Naples

June 2. 1869

My dear Wallace

A letter from you is so great a favour — & so unlooked for & scarce an event — that I answer yours of the 28 ins^t[?]²right away. I am very much obliged by your details of what's going on in the Spiritual World in England —

I am sorry that Marshall³ has taken to drink — Drink makes a man into another man — he is no longer the same man — I think Marshall, sober, a very good fellow — he has his rough edges — but really something of that sort is necessary to repress the insulting ways many people have at seances which they pay for — M^rs Marshall⁴ had not the Voice alone, when I was there — perhaps she might with her mother — I am glad to hear that the Voices are becoming more common —

Muskelyn⁵ [sic] & Cooke[']s⁶ Box & Cask Seances are certainly a step farther than anything Spirit Power has done yet. Taking Fays[?] Coat off was a poser — but getting the whole man out without breaking the Seal is a greater one — Did you ask them what they felt, I often asked Fay & Fra[?]⁷ and they said they felt nothing but a Kind of Electric Shock — the Dialectical Society⁸ will be the means of opening the Eyes of the Public if they have perseverence & courage —[2] [p. 2]

Now about ourselves — from Ostend land fall we went to Paris — staid⁹ there till ab[out] Nov. 1^st. during [sic] our stay gave perhaps 10 Seances to Gledstanes,¹⁰ to[?] Mad^e.[?] [Madame?] Paget[?]¹¹ flowers & messages —

Then to Marseilles, Leghorn, Pisa & Florence where we staid three months [and] gave a great number of Seances as we got into the Italian Spiritual Society. They elected us honorary members. They are about 40 in number — Merchants, Lawyers, Physicians, Men of Letters &c. — but they have no good Medium — there is one good Medium a young Woman who is Ladies Maid to Countess Passerini¹² — she is rather a child of the family — they have had direct writing[?] through her — and direct Music, written purporting to be by the Spirit of a young Man who gave her lessons in music before he died —

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1. Besides heaps of flowers, the most curious of our Seances at the Rooms of the Florence Sp[iritual] Soc[iet]^y — was — one — The Seance opened by a Message "It has been asked in this Society if the Spirits can distinguish Colours, we will show you" —

A noise was heard on the Table and the light showed a heap of Sugar Plums of all colours mixed together — about a handful — light put out again we heard a rattling — lighted[?] the [3] [p. 3] Candle & we found the Sugar Plums all assorted in their Separate Colours¹³ — now — no living man could assort Sugar Plums in the dark.

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2. The next Seance was a regular settler of all doubts — the Weather was very cold — you heard perhaps that the Arno was frozen over — not in all parts but wherever there was Still Water & people sled & skated —

The Seance Room at my request was made very warm as [at] the previous Seance we were shivering — M^rs. G¹⁴ had a Chauffrette [chaufferette]¹⁵ under her feet — there were some of the most eminent florentine [sic] literati there — first came a shower of fresh flowers — & as we had been an hour in the Warm Room was to doubters something — particularly as the flowers were all over and Mrs G. held or[?] locked[?] hands — light put out & in 10 minutes an awful Crash was heard on the table, as tho[ugh] a chandelier had fallen down — for a minute several voices exclaimed Ghiaccio [Italian: ice] "Ice" "Ice" — lighting the Candle we found that the Spirit had brought a large lump of beautiful ice about 1^1/2 in[ches] thick & a foot long say full four pounds and had slapped it [4] [p. 4] on the Table with such force that it broke — the Ice began instantly to melt & a dish was brought[,] about such as you would use for a leg of Mutton[,] which was filled with it.

Professor Pellegrini¹⁶, an eminent writer on Magnetism¹⁷ who had doubted exclaimed — facts are too strong to be opposed — Professor Bulgarini¹⁸ the highly respected librarian of the Riccardo Library¹⁹ said to me — "I am lost — 60 years of thought & reflexion are annihilated by what I see."

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By the Spirits direction I have magnetized M^rs. G. two or three times²⁰ and she (correctly) described the appearance of the diseased part of a noble lady.

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We came on here in March — & have given a few Seances — principally to M^rs. Locke²¹ and the Duchess S^t. Alpino [sic]²² who are now in London — at one of them the Princess Margerite [sic]²³ future queen of Italy was present —

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3. The next curious Seance there was this — some Italian noblemen were present & before putting out the light passed some jokes on "the spirits" — & M^rs Locke said "if we don't take care the spirits will punish us["] — The light put out[,] all began to cry²⁴ [5] [p.5]²⁵ out "I am beaten". Light struck and a large bunch of nettles root & all was standing upright on the Table — the Spirit had given every one except M^rs Locke a good thrashing on the face & hands — with Nettles —

They were then very contrite, begged pardon and asked for flowers — but the only Answer they got was "I will bring you some more nettles" —

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So far for our Seancing — but now for other news — and you must excuse my blushes when I tell you that Mrs G is regularly[?] in fruit and that according to Cocker²⁶, some time directly after Partridge Shooting begins, a little Boy will make his appearance to add to the population of this Planet — if indeed it is only one — & by the trouble he already gives his Mother, he is likely to be a stormer[?] — we have very cool lodgings here, looking north onto a large Orange Garden — we are 5 minutes from the Public Gardens which are lighted up & a band plays till 11 of an Evening — the sea is close to them so that we get a Bath in the sea every day — the Baby linen is all [6] [p. 6] ready — the Cradle bought — the Doctor engaged — in fact these things have been rather hurried as [a] consequence of the restlessness of the young Gentleman (I am sure it is a Boy) no Girl would make such a fuss —

We don't give regular Seances now for the spirit tells M^rs. G. she must not sit[?] long. of [sic] course we have our spirit talks on any thing concerning ourselves —

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By the bye, I forgot to say, that fixed as I am — Naples a place where you must stay at home [in] the heat of the day — & get your Walk at night — I am employing my spare hours in writing a book — it will fill up my hours till Baby is born — but I am afraid my opinions are too free for publication — never mind — it will do to read hereafter — I wish you were here — Lizzie's love to M^rs Wallace & the Babies — you'll do me & her a great favour in writing again as soon as ever you please[.] We shall have her & the baby photo[graphe]^d. as soon as its [sic] born. —

I am | Dear Wallace |Yours very Sincerely | Sam^l Guppy [signature]