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upon his absolute fearlessness, generous large-heartedness, and wholly sympathetic friendship. But to
what avail? He has crossed the bar, and gone from out mortal vision for ever. And whatever I could say
in his praise would not heighten the affection and esteem of those who knew him; and those who did not
would gain but a poor idea of his worth and talents from any paltry efforts of mine. So let us gain what
benefit we can from the words of those inspirational teachings which he has left behind, and to which this
short memoir is intended to serve as a humble introduction, and then, for a time at any rate, let us re-
echo the old formula, Requiescat in Pace.
CHARLTON TEMPLEMAN SPEER.
17
Introduction
The communications which form the bulk of this volume were received by the process known as
Automatic or Passive Writing. This is to be distinguished from Psychography. In the former case, the
Psychic holds the pen or pencil, or places his hand upon the Planchette, and the message is written
without the conscious intervention of his mind. In the latter case, the writing is direct, or is obtained
without the use of the hand of the psychic, and sometimes without the aid of pen or pencil.
Automatic Writing is a well-known method of communication with the invisible world of what we loosely
call Spirit. I use that word as the most intelligible to my readers, though I am well aware that I shall be
told that I ought not to apply any such term to many of the unseen beings who communicate with earth,
of whom we hear much and often as being the reliquice of humanity, the shells of what once were men.
It is no part of my business to enter into this moot question. My interlocutors call themselves Spirits,
perhaps because I so called them, and Spirits they are to me for my present purposes.
These messages began to be written through my hand just ten years since, 30th March 1873, about a
year after my first introduction to Spiritualism. I had had many communications before, and this method
was adopted for the purpose of convenience, and also to preserve what was intended to be a
connected body of teaching. The laborious method of rapping out messages was manifestly unfitted for
communications such as those which I here print. If spoken through the lips of the medium in trance, they
were partially lost, and it was, moreover, impossible at first to rely upon such a measure of mental
passivity as would preserve them from admixture with his ideas.
I procured a pocket-book, which I habitually carried about with me. I soon found that writing flowed
more easily when I used a book that was permeated with the psychic aura, just as raps come more
easily on a table that has been frequently used for the purpose, and as phenomena occur most readily in
the medium s own room. When Slade could not get messages on a new slate, he rarely failed to get one
on his own seasoned one. I am not responsible for the fact, the reason for which is sufficiently intelligible.
At first the writing was very small and irregular, and it was necessary for me to write slowly and
cautiously, and to watch the hand, following the lines with my eye, otherwise the message soon became
incoherent, and the result was mere scribble.
In a short time, however, I found that I could dispense with these precautions. The writing, while
becoming more and more minute, became at the same time very regular and beautifully formed. As a
specimen of calligraphy, some of the pages are exceedingly beautiful. The answers to my questions
(written at the top of the page) were paragraphed, and arranged as if for the press: and the name of God
was always written in capitals, and slowly, and, as it seemed, reverentially. The subject-matter was
always of a pure and elevated character, much of it being of personal application, intended for my own
guidance and direction. I may say that throughout the whole of these written communications, extending
in unbroken continuity to the year 1880, there is no flippant message, no attempt at jest, no vulgarity or
incongruity, no false or misleading statement, so far as I know or could discover; nothing incompatible
with the avowed object, again and again repeated, of instruction, enlightenment, and guidance by Spirits
fitted for the task. Judged as I should wish to be judged myself, they were what they pretended to be.
Their words were words of sincerity, and of sober, serious purpose.
18
Introduction
The earliest communications were all written in the minute characters that I have described, and were
uniform in style, and in the signature, Doctor, the Teacher : nor have his messages ever varied during all
the years that he has written. Whenever and wherever he wrote, his handwriting was unchanged,
showing indeed, less change that my own does during the last decade. The tricks of style remained the
same, and there was, in short, a sustained individuality throughout his messages. He is to me an entity, a
personality, a being with his own idiosyncrasies and characteristics, quite as clearly defined as the human
beings with whom I come in contact, if, indeed, I do not do him injustice by the broad comparison.
After a time, communications came from other sources, and these were distinguished, each by its own
handwriting, and by its own peculiarities of style and expression. These, once assumed, were equally
invariable. I could tell at once who was writing by the mere characteristics of the calligraphy. By degrees
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