WCP3008

[1]¹

64 Via Carminello a Chiaja

Naples

3 June 1869

My dear Wallace

I wrote you yesterday & it has struck me since that you might be communicating the Seances [Séances] I gave you account of,² & at the same time, that I had forgot[?] ³ entire[?] rather remarkable Seances — I now give them to you in order that you may make such communication more full —

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4. We took to Florence a letter of Introduction[?] to[?] Baron Kirkup³ from M^rs. Parkes³ — the Baron has been a Celebrated Painter [and] is now 81 y[ea]rs of age — his title was sent him without Solicitation by Victor Emmanuel⁴ on account of his discovery of an original picture of Dante⁵. He is a great Collector of Antiquities — Present at the Seance the Baron. his [sic] Daughter⁶ who is a trance medium. his [sic] servant, an endomiciled[?] Nun. ourselves [sic] of course.} Hands held.⁷ —

Message from the spirit "My dear Son I will bring you something made by Dante & tied with my Hair"— this was by raps.⁸ We wondered what it would be & extinguished the light — by & by the Baron exclaimed repeatedly Bravo Bravo and the light showed him crowned with a wreath of fresh and[?] beautiful Roses — the Wreath tied [2] [p. 8]⁹ with Hair exactly resembling some at the back of a locket where [there] was a Portrait of the Barons [sic] Father. The Hair was different from that of anyone Present — the Baron has been a great Searcher into everything relating to Dante.

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5. The next remarkable Seance was to M^r Adolphus Trollope¹⁰ the well known Author. From circumstances, as M^r Home¹¹ had been on a Visit with him it became understood to be a very short test Seance — M^r T. came with his Wife,¹² Miss Blagden the Authoress[,]¹³ Col[onel]. Harvey.¹⁴ — The Seance would have been held at M^r[?] Trollopes but for the illness & [one word illeg.] state of his Daughter.¹⁵ First the room was Searched by the Gentlemen while Mrs. G.¹⁶ undressed & redressed in presence of Mrs. T. every article of her dress being closely examined[?] We sat at the Table[.] Mrs. G. firmly held[,] both hands by Mr Trollope & also by his Wife[,] while Col. Harvey & Miss Blagden held my Hands & touched M^rs Gs — in fact in his Wish to investigate[,] M^r Trollope's grasp was more than comfortable to M^rs. G. Thus we [one illeg. word deleted] interlaced as I may say — in about 10 minutes all exclaimed "I smell flowers" & a shower of flowers came — on lighting [3] [p. 9]¹⁷ the Candle the whole of M^rs. Gs & M^r Trollopes [sic] hands & arms were covered with and hidden by Jonquil flowers — besides some on the Table — the smell was quite overpowering — the quantity must have been full a Hatful. — The Door had been locked — the Window fast. It would have been impossible for even a bunch of Jonquils to have been in the Room before the seance without being detected by the Smell.

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6. M^rs. Guppy went to a Seance at the Ambassador's[,] Sir Augustus Paget[.]¹⁸Present Lady Paget¹⁹ Count & C[oun]tess Moltke²⁰ & a Daughter of Sir Digby Murray²¹ — they all held her firmly. they [sic] asked for a Noise and & there was a loud concussion on the Wall like the firing of a Gun — they were then touched all of them by flowers which remained[.] As they all knew one another & held M^rs G firmly they were very frightened.

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7. We have been on very intimate terms since we have been here with the celebrated Mary Somerville²² Authoress of works on Astronomy, Magnetism &c. She is very old but in the highest possession of her faculties & is now writing a book on Algebra to be published[,] she told me[,] after her death. She resides here [4] [p.10]²³ with her two Daughters — She is a perfect Sceptic — has heard of Spirit manifestation — but is utterly incapable of believing — At our last Seance with her She [sic] herself held us both — no flowers came, but a china ornament was brought from another table & put on the table we sat at. At another Seance flowers were brought — she holding us. M^rs. S. who has somewhat of a Scotch Accent remarked "its vera [sic] clever" — well but M^rs. S. said I — did we bring these things — "Nay, I am sure ye didn't it's vera clever" — "I can't understand it."

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I don't know if I related to you yesterday about Lieut. Marzano²⁴ here — It is one of the most curious spirit[uali]st man[i]f[estations][?] I have known —

We had a letter (from Florence) from a Gent who attended Seances there to his friend M^r Capt Barrat²⁵ of the War Office here — Barrat had a friend Marzano[;] we gave them & their Wives a Seance at our House — but unfortunately M^rs. G. had been very Sick & indisposed in the Morning & but for its being of[f]ered[?] them[?] would have put it off — for a long time we got no manifestations & then only "go to Bed" — Now I noticed that tho' the others were tired Lieut Marzano kept his hands on the Table & was rivetted I may say — he said I feel the Raps, & I see the way it is to be conducted — About a Week after[,] he called & related as follows — "I have been sitting with my Wife & Cousin, we have [5] [p. 11]²⁶ had communications from a Spirit by Raps — the spirit said that his name was Alphonse, that he had been a Soldier & had been Killed two years ago by the brigands — Asked if he could bring us any thing — replied not yet but by & bye [sic] — Asked whether I Knew him replied no — Asked how he came to attach himself to me — replied by Sympathy — with other things —

I asked Marzano whether he had any recollections of the Man — no — whether he had been in Hospitals where Soldiers dying — yes — one time Marzano had made an appointment with the spirit for a Seance at his House at 11 o'clock — but could not keep it being out somewhere and at 11 o'cl[oc]k felt three raps on the rump of his chair — you will[?] draw your inference, from these things —

M^rs. Guppy desires to tell M^rs. Wallace²⁷ some Housekeepers Items here — leg of small mutton with loin [one or two words illeg.] weight 8^ld [sic] 3/6^1/2. Leg of lamb 1/8. — Beef from 10^d pr[?] ld Cherries fine ripe 1^d pr[?] ld. Potatoes red 3/4^d pr[?] ld. Vegetable Marrow for nothing say a hatful for 1^d. Good red Wine better than Claret, bought for us by a Professor of[?] [one word illeg.] 10^d[?] for a Bottle holding 4 quarts full[,] well hopped Beer 4^d pr[?] Imperial[?] Quart Bottle — lemons 3 a penny — [6] Oranges 3 or 4 a penny — Cigars (all tobacco) Italian 1/2^d ea[ch] Russian[?] 1^d each[,] a Servant to come all day & do the Work (without eating[?]) 25 f[o]r £1. p[er] Month.

Our lodgings. Three handsome rooms. 18 feet high — furnished — Verandah on front 12 feet by 30. & neat Kitchen and[?] loos[?] W[?] [which?] have no smell — looking into a large Acre of Garden 100 ft. long. Orange Trees 40 feet high covered with[?] 16 ft[?] 160 frames.²⁸ £6.8. p[er]. Month — close to the chiesa [Italian: church] & the Sea — no Sun, no Dust; Bath in the Sea in enclosed Bath House 8^d. Cab 6^d fare [one or two words illeg.] of Naples.

I am dear Wallace | yours truly | Saml Guppy [signature]

Now, I wish to remark²⁹ to you that I dont [sic] profess any disinterestedness & that I have given you all these details because you wrote me a very interesting letter³⁰ —

The Dialectical Society³¹ will do a greater Service to Mankind if they take up Spiritualism perseveringly than they have any Idea of. — when the Spirit wants to talk to me it generally puts M^rs. G in [a] trance by touching her with a Spirit Hand. one night the first[?] of the Message was "Shut the Shutters"[,] the Moon was shining in brightly — I believe light acts electrically on Spirit Power just as it does on Salt of Silver³² —

yours truly | Saml Guppy [signature]