'Twixt two worlds : a narrative of the life and work of William Eglinton

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Tivixt Two Worlds.
the Church of England. The Greek was very plainly and beautifully written, and the accents
were given. Mr. Eglinton is not, I believe, a Greek scholar, but no mortal hand could have
written the communication in the time occupied, let alone the Greek. He has allowed me
to retain the slate, which I have now. On a second visit, a few days after, I brought a
lady, whose presence had been asked for—a very dear friend of a relation, with whom
communication had been established. When by two or three questions (of no general
interest) she satisfied herself of the reality of the communication with her departed friend,
she was deeply affected, having never known of these possibilities. She is not a young or
excitable person, but deeply religious, and the effect of this short half-hour has been a new
revelation and an intense satisfaction to her."
Major F. G. Irwin, of Burlington Crescent, Bristol, had an experience in October, 1884,
which adds a valuable fact to our stock of knowledge. It refers to the production of
psychography under lock and key:— "Two slates were fastened together by a lock and
key, and then placed in a case which was locked by myself and the key put in my pocket.
The box lay on the table in full view, the hands of Messrs. Eglinton and Hockley and my
own resting on the top of the box. While in this position writing was distinctly heard,
and upon opening the box and taking out the slates the words Will ' this do, Mr. Tommy
were discovered on the inside of one of the slates."
I should state that Mr. G. Tommy, a well-known Spiritualist in Bristol, had sent
the locked box for this experiment, under the care of Major Irwin, who concludes his
testimony as follows :— " I went to London strongly inclined to think that Spiritualists were
made up of fools, knaves, and those having an ill-balanced mind—leaving out a few that
I knew could not possibly be included in any of the three classes. I left London fully
convinced that all that is claimed for Spiritualism is supported by facts, which, as Mr. Stainton
Moses once wrote to me, could
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be proved beyond a doubt.'
Another careful record is that of Mr. H. A. Kersey, of 4, Eslington Terrace, Newcastleon-Tyne:—
"On Friday, September 26th, 1884, three lady friends and I attended a seance
at 2.30 p.m. with Mr. Eglinton, at his residence. We all seated ourselves round a
table (technically known as a 'Pembroke') in the centre of the room, Mr. Eglinton
sitting with his back to the window. He asked for the greatest sceptic to sit near him on
his right hand, and Mrs. X. was placed there ;
opposite to her and on Mr. Eglinton's left hand,
sat Mrs. Z., while I and my sister occupied the remaining side of the table, and consequently
sat opposite the medium. There was full daylight, the window not being darkened, but
simply draped with a pair of thin muslin curtains. I produced a slate which I had purchased
about half an hour previously at a shop in the Strand. Mr. Eglinton with a wet sponge
proceeded to clean the slates belonging to him on both sides, whilst I took a dry sponge and
rubbed the slates, taking special care to press heavily so that if any marks had been
previously made upon the slates they should no longer remain there. These slates were left
on the table before us and never passed out of our sight previous to the experiments taking
place. Mr. Eglinton next produced some small pieces of slate pencil and various coloured
French chalks, and taking the slate which I had brought with me asked us to select a piece
of pencil or chalk and put it on the slate. We selected slate pencil ; it is an advantage to
hear the writing, that not being possible with the softer chalk. We then joined hands all
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