Gone West. 

Gone West:  

Three Narratives of  After-Death  

Experiences 

Gone West:  

Three Narratives of After-Death  Experiences  

COMMUNICATED THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF  

J. S. M. WARD, B.A.  

LATE SCHOLAR AND FREEMAN  

OF TRINITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE  

THIRD IMPRESSION  

LONDON  

WILLIAM RIDER & SON, LIMITED  

8 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C4  

1920  

This document was prepared and formatted by Geoff Cutler, and the copyright is not reserved.  It may be freely used for any purpose. Sydney, Australia, December 2009.

DEDICATION  

THIS WORK BY ME IS INSCRIBED TO REGINALD  LUCIEN WARD,  

WHO FELL IN THE TIDE OF BATTLE WHERE  FLANDERS MERGES IN FRANCE;  

AND PASSED FROM UNDER TIME’S FINGER WITH  NEVER A BACKWARD GLANCE,  

FOR LOVE OF HIS NATIVE LAND IN BATTLE AGAINST  A HORDE.  

AND UNTO HIS COMRADES IN ARMS OF EVERY RANK  AND CREED,  

WHO GAVE THEIR ALL IN THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE,  HONOUR, AND TRUTH,  

AGAINST THE POWERS OF EVIL THAT KNOW NEITHER  PITY NOR TRUTH.  

TO THE MEN WHO HELD THE BREACH IN THE HOUR  OF BRITAIN’S NEED. 

Gone West i 

FOREWORD 

By Conor Mac Dari, Jr.  

Discussions concerning after-death states usually end by the well known  pronouncement that “Nobody ever came back to tell about them.”  

In “Gone West” we have the answer to this because Mr. J. S. M. Ward, the author, did  just that. He visited the Astral Plane regularly, retained his consciousness while there, and  his book is a fascinating record of his experiences among the so-called dead. He describes  some of the dangers ever existing on the Astral Plane in the form of evil entities who  

endeavor to entice occupants, especially newcomers, to yield to the indulgence of liquor,  sex, and other sensual vices in which they had participated while on earth. These evil  entities, who are as a rule former earth inhabitants, urge all among whom they mingle to  practice the obsession of mortals and thus help to swell the ranks of the forces of evil.  

On the other hand, Mr. Ward tells of the opportunities open for spiritual development  and thus provides the reader with the necessary information to make the correct choice of  companions and the paths to follow for his betterment. (In this regard the undersigned  strongly urges the reader to direct his attention to “The Officer” Part II).  

The following, in Mr. Ward’s own words from the introduction of another work on  the same subject will serve to make his position clear: — “In giving this narrative to the  general public, I have been actuated by the desire to bring comfort to others in a similar  position of loss. I knew that the dead die not long before my brother died, but of the  

manner in which they live I knew only a little. Except for a brief account of the astral  plane by W. A., and another rather specialized account by the Officer, my knowledge  related mainly to the spirit plane. Of the astral plane under war conditions I knew nothing.  

“The interest Gone West aroused has been shown not merely by its sales,  considerable as these have been, but by the large number of letters I have received, which  have been of the greatest encouragement. Those of us who are endeavoring to spread the  true knowledge of life beyond the grave, are doing so in the face of opposition alike from  the ordinary man of the world and from the ministers of established religions. Sometimes  we are laughed at, whilst at other times we are called necromancers. Some of our  opponents even go so far as to hint that we are not quite sane, but this has always been the  way in which new truths are received at first. Nevertheless, it may be of interest to my  readers to know that I am a perfectly normal man – one who is earning his living in  business and who has every day to deal with complex mundane matters. The fluctuations  in the rate of exchange, sources of the raw materials of industry, the German methods of  trade penetration, and trade statistics are a few of the subjects with which I am concerned,  and on all of which I have written articles and issued reports which are readily taken by  the trade journals.  

“I assure my readers that, from the financial point of view, it pays far better for me to  write two or three articles on Openings for British Trade in say, South America, than it  does to write such a book as this. I am not a medium plying for hire, as the daily papers  would call it, and if you met me at dinner, unless I spoke of these things, you would find  me no different from a hundred other busy men of affaires. Why, then, should the critics  suppose that my ordinary clear business mind fails me when I turn to investigate  psychical phenomena, or think I should waste my time practicing a heartless fraud on my  readers? After all, those are the alternatives. If I did not feel that the message these pages  contain was not merely true, but of vital importance to our sorrow-laden world, be  assured that I would not thus publicly reveal much which is absolutely sacred to my  personal life.—” 

Gone West ii 

The later work from which this quote was taken, entitled “A Subaltern In Spirit Land”  describes the passing of his mother and her arrival on the astral plane, this being the  reason for the reference to his personal life.  

The undersigned has been a student of occult subjects for over seventy years and I can  honestly say that “Gone West” offers the best rendition of life on the astral plane that I  have seen expressed in print. Those involved are performing a great public service in  again making available this priceless knowledge so vital to the spiritual progress of  humanity.  

Conor Mac Dari, Jr.  

August 3, 1974 

Gone West iii 

INTRODUCTION  

The manner in which these communications came to be received is plainly set forth in  the book itself. They were due to the desire of H. J. L. to convey to me an account of life  beyond the grave. He discovered that I was mediumistic — a fact of which I was unaware,  although I have for many years been keenly interested in the occult.  

The methods employed in conveying the information contained in this book were  twofold: —  

I. Visions. The first of these was prophetic, and foretold H. J. L.’s death. The first one  after his death was very vivid, though at first I thought it was a dream, but nevertheless  wrote it down. As the visions continued regularly once a week on the day of the week on  which H. J. L. died (Monday), I was compelled to alter my views. In particular I noticed  four chief differences: —  

(a) They were coherent throughout. One of the most unsatisfactory features of dreams  is the incoherency. Scenes shift from place to place without any regular sequence.  People do things they would never do on earth, and the characters change before  our eyes.  

These visions were real through and through, coherent and logical in their  development and, moreover, took up the narrative where it left of the week  before.  

(b) A normal dream fades almost at once, and it is rarely the case that it can be  remembered in its entirety a few hours later.  

The visions remained firmly impressed upon my mind until they were written down,  which sometimes took a couple of days. Once they were written down they would  tend to merge into the general body of remembrances which every mortal carries  in his brain.  

(c) The information was not due to the conscious or subconscious mind, for much of  it was in violent opposition to my preconceived ideas on the subject, and it was  some time before I would accept them, though I do so now completely.  

(d) These visions contained verifiable facts entirely unknown to me, which  nevertheless proved to be true on investigation. Some of these facts were of a  personal and private character, known only to the dead man and one living  person, and the latter admitted their truth.  

Further, there were certain references which, to the writer, were unintelligible, but  were recognized by the living person to whom they were related (as requested).  II. The other communications were obtained by automatic writing. With the exception  of the first two or three, I was in complete trance, and was quite ignorant of what was  written until I became normal again. The possibility of their being the product of my  conscious mind is thus eliminated. With regard to the subconscious self, I would like to  take this opportunity of protesting that while I am prepared to admit that such a thing does  exist, I nevertheless hold that in most cases the word is a bogey set up by scientists to  explain phenomena which they are unable to explain by the ordinary material laws, and  which they are unwilling to ascribe to spirit influences. Yet, accepting the subconscious  self at its highest valuation, it will not explain the presence of information which was  quite unknown to me, and which, on its being investigated by others, proved to be correct.  As an example of this, but not the only example, the following may be noted as given by  J. B. P.: —  

“I am only going to give you the name of a friend I met in this city. He is a Baptist,  not a Congregationalist. His name is Richard Gresham Barker, born Oct. 20th, 1807, was  Sheriff of Nottingham and a colliery manager at Babbington, near Notts. He died June  21st, 1892. His brother John was twice Mayor of Nottingham.”  

It was only after considerable search that Mr. K. was able to prove these facts to be  correct, even to the minutest detail. 

Gone West iv 

But without devoting more space to these problems, for those who desire verifiable  evidence may obtain it from any ordinary spiritualist society, let us turn to consider the  matter given in these pages.  

The original plan of the work as arranged by H. J. L. was as follows: —  The Astral plane —  

(a) As seen by a bad man, viz. The Officer.  

(b) As seen by an average man of the world, viz. W. A.  

The Spirit plane, divided into —  

(1) Hell, or the Realm of Unbelief, related by The Officer.  

(2) The Realm of Half-Belief, related by H. J. L.  

(3) The Realm of Belief lacking in Works, related by J. B.P.  

(4) The Realm of Belief shown forth in Works, related by The Monk.  Owing to the enhanced cost of production due to the war, it was found necessary to  reduce the book to a manageable size. To do this we were reluctantly compelled to  publish only The Astral Plane, Hell, and the Realm of Half-Belief. As these are set forth  in full, it will not be necessary to deal with them here, but a few words may be devoted to  the two higher realms.  

The Realm of Belief lacking in Works, as depicted by J. B. P., is much brighter than  the Realm of Half-Belief, the light being as the light in England at about 8 a.m. on a  summer’s day.  

To this realm go all those whose faith was strong, but narrow and rather bigoted, and  who failed, as many do, to act up fully to their beliefs. In the lowest division of this realm  the spirits are still strong believers in their own particular sect, and there is a marked  tendency for them to remain there segregated into narrow communities. Their principal  failings are self-complacency and an unwillingness to make any effort to progress higher,  being often well satisfied with their surroundings. 

In the next division the smaller differences between the sects tend to disappear, and a  few broad communities take the place of the numerous narrow religions from which the  individual spirits have risen.  

Those who have come up from the Realm of Half-Belief, like J. B. P., do not drift into  the narrow sects of the lowest division. They arrive freed of preconceived prejudices, and  devote considerable attention to the study of the various faiths they find there, and  endeavor to draw from each the vital truths which are enshrined in them.  

Some of the most interesting revelations J. B. P. made were that the Gods exist, or, at  any rate, the forms of the Gods, and condescend to answer the prayers of their  worshippers. In particular, he describes a service in a great Egyptian temple at which  Osiris appeared. Similarly, he has visited a Hindu temple, where Kartikeya, the God of  War, presided.  

He also gave a most striking account of a library in the Realm of Belief. “These  libraries are on so vast a scale that they look almost like cities; there are many of them, of  course, but each is divided into three sections. The first contains the forms of books which  have ceased to exist. I mean by this, the actual volumes themselves. Of course all books  do not come to us, many go to Hell”  

“The second section is very different, for in it the books are not the forms of books  made on earth but those created here. The best way in which I can describe them is to  compare them with picture books. In short, they contain ideas in picture form, and can be  read by us just as the thought-pictures of our friends can be understood by us.... Few  books are written for the first time over here in script....”  

“The third type are difficult to describe as books at all, for the picture idea has been  carried out to its logical conclusion. The nearest thing to it on earth is the modern picture palace. Imagine a large room; at one end is a kind of stage, on which perform what at first  sight appear to be real men and women. These are thought-forms, strongly visualized by 

Gone West v 

the committee of scholars in charge of the room.... Thus an episode in History will be  enacted in all its detail before our eyes.”  

His description should be compared with the account by “The Officer” of a library in  Hell.  

The Realm of Belief shown forth in Works is seldom attained immediately after  death. Thus to reach it a man must have been not only endowed with a strong faith, but  must have risen above any narrowness of spirit, and, moreover, have lived a life full of  

love of his fellow-men. His faith must have been shown forth in good works. Indeed,  those who so attain it may well be considered to have been saints on earth.  To this realm the spirits after death rise, but often by slow degrees, and once there,  must remain a very considerable period. The light there is as the tropical sun at midday,  and less advanced spirits would be unable to bear it.  

The development of the various religious beliefs towards unity is set forth plainly in  the plan contained in this work, but it should be borne in mind that this unity is attained  not by watering down all faiths to one nebulous creed, but by the absorption into one  community of all the facets of truth which each faith held, while what is false is shed.  

The spirits in this plane devote themselves very largely to helping their fellow-men,  especially in Hell, and continuously journey down to that place to save those who are in  bondage.  

The monk Ambrose, who died in the fourteenth century, devoted most of his life to  this work, and at length obtained his desire, and passed through the “Wall of Fire “ and  was lost to us. Animal lovers will be glad to know that his faithful dog followed him  through the “Wall of Fire.” With him passed also the spirit of a woman whom he had  always loved, but being a monk could never marry on earth.  

They passed through the “Wall of Fire,” or light, as it was described, to the mystic  union of soul with soul, which it is understood takes place in the regions which lie beyond  the “Wall of Fire.”  

What is this great “Wall of Fire” which cuts off the Sixth or Spirit Plane from that  which lies beyond?  

I am unable to answer this question. By some of the spirits it is called “The Second  Death,” although this phrase is also employed to describe the transference from the Astral  to the Spirit Plane.  

We are told that some of the spirits fear it as men fear mortal death, but whereas death  comes whether we wish it or not in its due course, this Second Death takes place only  when the spirit is ready and anxious to pass on.  

It appears to affect the form, which seems to pass more completely under the control  of the entity, but the entity itself is not destroyed. This was made clear by an angelic form  who guarded the entrance leading from the Realm of Belief lacking in Works to the  Highest Realm. For when J. B. P. questioned him on this point he informed him that he  had passed through the “ Wall of Fire “ long before, and had now returned to labor on the  Sixth Plane, adding, “... but on this plane forms are needed, and therefore we assume one.  This is not my original form — it is not the form of an earthly man, but that of an angel. I  create it by willing so to do.  

As I think myself, so I assume a form. If I desired I could assume the form of an  animal or of a flame. Behold.”  

J. B. P. “Before my eyes he took the form of a great flame.  

“‘The pillar of fire!’ I cried. As I spoke he seemed to change at once, and became like  a cloud. Then the cloud became all light, and once more I saw him in his angel shape.  “‘Cannot the evil spirits also do this,’ I inquired.”  

“‘The Officer has described something similar. Those spirits whom you call devils  can, but I may allow you to probe no deeper into these mysteries as yet.’ he replied.” 

Gone West vi 

This Angelic Being, while refusing to give any details of what lay beyond the Wall,  yet stated emphatically that the personal entity was not destroyed, though the form was  affected.  

Beyond this I have been unable to obtain any information. The spirits on the Sixth  Plane do not know, and the guardian spirits who come thither from the higher planes  refuse to speak.  

Some people believe that on passing the “Wall of Fire,” the spirit returns to earth in a  fresh incarnation, hut while this is probably the case with some, I am doubtful whether it  covers all. We are informed that there are seven planes in all.  

This work deals with the two lowest only, and since these Higher Planes must be  peopled, it appears more likely that the most exalted spirits rise higher and higher without  the need of reincarnation, whereas more lowly spirits need to return to earth to develop  certain characteristics.  

As to the difficulty of obtaining information from these higher planes, it seems  probable that if received it would be so far above the heads of us mortals that we should  be unable to comprehend it.  

Even the highest realm of the Spirit Plane is so exalted that the monk declared that  much of the information he could give would be beyond us on earth, and therefore  devoted most of his narrative to accounts of his missionary work in Hell.  

I am still continuing my investigations into life beyond the grave, and if this book  should prove acceptable, hope at no distant date to publish a second volume containing an  account of the two remaining realms, and a more detailed description of life on the Astral  Plane.  

Since the death of my brother in the trenches of Flanders, I have devoted most of my  attention to conditions on that plane, and especially to the spirits of those who have died  in battle. Their state is somewhat abnormal, and indeed the whole Astral Plane is greatly  disturbed. My brother is now engaged in making a survey, as it were, of that plane, and is  

being assisted in his task by H. J. L.  

If any reader has a question on life beyond the grave to which he desires an answer, I  would endeavor to obtain it, but wish it to be plainly understood that I do not mean  thereby that  

I will endeavor to trace any particular persons, nor to obtain messages from them. To  do so is not my object.  

As an example of what is required, I was asked to make inquiries as to the fate of  animals after death — and the result is seen in this book.  

As to what opinion the reader will form of the present work I know not, but, for  myself, I have been profoundly impressed with the reality and the reasonableness of what  I have seen and what the spirits have related of Life beyond the Grave.  J. S. M. WARD.  

P.S. — Exception may be taken to the publication of the Officer’s narrative, on the  grounds that it is so gruesome that its appearance will serve no useful purpose; but my  justification is (a) that the communicating entities desired its inclusion; (b) that on the  astral plane there are grave dangers of which it is important that newcomers should be  warned; and (c), that the Officer is now helping those who are passing on to the astral  plane from the Great War. 

Gone West vii CONTENTS  

PART I COMMUNICATIONS FROM H. J. L. ........................................1 Chapter I The Doorway Opens ...........................................................................................................1 Chapter II Introduction of “The Officer”............................................................................................6 Chapter III H. J. L. Outlines His Plan for This Book..........................................................................9 Chapter IV Two Strange Incidents ................................................................................................... 11 Chapter V The Officer ...................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter VI H. J. L. Describes his Death........................................................................................... 15 Chapter VII How the Living Appear to the Departed....................................................................... 17 Chapter VIII A Plan of the Spirit Plane ............................................................................................ 18 Chapter IX The Passing of a Saint.................................................................................................... 22 Chapter X Describes the School to which he went and what he learnt there.................................... 23 Chapter XI He Attends his own Funeral........................................................................................... 28 Chapter XII He Goes to College....................................................................................................... 30 Chapter XIII Animals on the Spirit Plane......................................................................................... 32 Chapter XIV Little Blanche Sees H. J. L.......................................................................................... 35 Chapter XV How H. J. L. Met “The Officer”................................................................................... 36 Chapter XVI Guardian Angels.......................................................................................................... 39 Chapter XVII Blanche Sees H. J. L. and Molly................................................................................ 40 Chapter XVIII Men Are Self-Judged................................................................................................ 41 Chapter XIX The School for the Regenerate in Hell ........................................................................ 43 Chapter XX He Visits the School for the Babes Who Knew Not Faith............................................ 48 Chapter XXI He Visits the Great House of Refuge in Hell .............................................................. 50 Chapter XXII The Author Visits H. J. L. at College......................................................................... 53 Chapter XXIII Of Their Amusements and How the Spirits Inspire Men on Earth........................... 54 Chapter XXIV Art and Architecture on the Spirit Plane .................................................................. 56 Chapter XXV Music and Drama....................................................................................................... 58 Chapter XXVI Introduction to W. A. ............................................................................................... 60 Chapter XXVII How the College Is Organised, and of Other Like Institutions ............................... 62 Chapter XXVIII A Hospital on the Spirit Plane ............................................................................... 64 Chapter XXIX “Neither Will They Be Persuaded Though One Rose From the Dead”................... 68 Chapter XXX The Author’s Adventure in the Park on the Spirit Plane ........................................... 69 Chapter XXXI The Fate of Children ................................................................................................ 70 Chapter XXXII Of Animals, and How They Converse with Men.................................................... 72 Chapter XXXIII The Astral and Spirit Planes Compared................................................................. 75 Chapter XXXIV A Visit with H. J. L. to the Astral Plane. The Dreamers ....................................... 77 Chapter XXXV The Influence of the War Cloud ............................................................................. 82 Chapter XXXVI The War................................................................................................................. 83

Gone West viii 

Chapter XXXVII The Band of Spirit Friends is Dispersed. Conclusion .......................................... 84 PART II “THE OFFICER”...................................................................86 Chapter I The First Letter from “The Officer.” His Passing Over .................................................... 86 Chapter II First Experiences on the Astral Plane. The Drinking Den............................................... 88 Chapter III The Denizens of the Astral Plane ................................................................................... 90 Chapter IV An Incident in the Life of “The Officer” upon Earth ..................................................... 91 Chapter V A Séance......................................................................................................................... 93 Chapter VI He Falls from the Astral Plane into Hell ........................................................................ 96 Chapter VII In Hell. The City of Hate (Rome) ................................................................................. 98 Chapter VLLI The Emperor. A Theater In Hell ............................................................................. 100 Chapter IX A Visit to the Emperor ................................................................................................. 105 Chapter X The Attack on Danton ................................................................................................... 107 Chapter XI A Battle in Hell ............................................................................................................ 110 Chapter XII A Second Visit to the Emperor ................................................................................... 113 Chapter XIII “The Officer” and the Wizard ................................................................................... 115 Chapter XIV The Evil that they Wrought....................................................................................... 117 Chapter XV His Punishment. The Second Division. Real Devils .................................................. 121 Chapter XVI He Undertakes to Recruit for the Devils ................................................................... 123 Chapter XVII He Falls into the Lowest Depth of Hell ................................................................... 125 Chapter XVIII The Bottomless Pit ................................................................................................. 126 Chapter XIX The First Upward Step .............................................................................................. 128 Chapter XX Back in the Second Division ...................................................................................... 130 Chapter XXI In the Third Division. A Library in Hell ................................................................... 132 Chapter XXII A “Hospital” in Hell ................................................................................................ 134 Chapter XXIII Chaka. Athens ........................................................................................................ 137 Chapter XXIV The First Messenger of Light ................................................................................. 139 Chapter XXV The Fourth Division. The Lusts of the Flesh. Corinth............................................. 141 Chapter XXVI He is Helped by Another Messenger...................................................................... 144 Chapter XXVII He has to Return to Corinth and Rescue Another Soul......................................... 147 Chapter XXVIII A Newspaper in Hell. Racing .............................................................................. 149 Chapter XXIX He Meets his Guardian Angel at Last..................................................................... 151 Chapter XXX The Fifth Division. The Blatant Materialists. Churches in Hell .............................. 153 Chapter XXXI The Sleepers ........................................................................................................... 155 Chapter XXXII The Sixth Division. A Church and its Vicar ......................................................... 156 Chapter XXXIII A Debate in Hell as to Whether There is a Life After Death............................... 160 Chapter XXXIV He Reaches the Seventh Division........................................................................ 162 Chapter XXXV He Escapes out of Hell at Last.............................................................................. 163 

PART III W. A.: THE ASTRAL PLANE ................................................164 Chapter I W. A. Passes Over .......................................................................................................... 164

Gone West ix 

Chapter II How Old Friends Behaved on Learning of his Death.................................................... 166 Chapter III Astral Forests. The Hunters and The Hunted ............................................................... 168 Chapter IV He Determines to Help Men on Earth that he May Escape from the Astral Plane....... 171 Chapter V Types of Beings other than Men. Animal Astrals, Fairies, Elementals......................... 173 Chapter VI He Leaves the Astral for the Spirit Plane..................................................................... 176

Gone West 1 PART I  

COMMUNICATIONS FROM H. J. L.  

Who died on the 5th of January, 1914, at 9 a.m.  

on his 80th birthday  

___________  

THE LOWEST DIVISION OF THE SPIRIT PLANE  

___________  

Chapter I  

The Doorway Opens  

I, J. S. M. Ward, had a vision early in December, 1913, in which I learnt of the death  of H. J. L., my, uncle and father-in-law. The vision began with a message that he had died  suddenly, and, went on with the funeral, at which I was present. The sensations of grief,  and the remarks and actions of the other mourners, were vividly impressed on my mind.  When I awoke and later informed, Carrie, my wife, we decided to go down and see him  when up in town, but unfortunately Carrie was not well enough to go on the day we had  selected. On Jan. 5th, H. J. L.’s birthday, we received about 10:15 a telegram to say H. J.  L. had suddenly died. All the sensations of grief that I had felt in my dream were repeated  exactly, as were the incidents of the funeral. Even his face in his coffin looked like the  one I had seen in my dream; it differed considerably from his face when alive. He was  buried on Jan. 8th, 1914.  

FIRST TRANCE VISION  

During the night of Monday, Jan. I2th, i.e. one week after his death on Jan. 5th, at 9 a.m.  

I dreamt I saw Uncle like, and yet unlike, he was before he died; something between  what I remember him as before, and what he looked like after death.  He said: “I have been trying to speak to Carrie, but can’t, so I have come to you. Tell  her I am alive, more alive than before I died; that I am mentally clearer than I was for  some time before I died. But here I have had to set to work to learn, as if I were a child  again, much of what I should have learnt on earth. I am with those who did just believe,  but had not much real belief. Tell Carrie this.  

“It was lucky for me that I did believe to a certain extent, as otherwise I should have  been with the ‘set’ who are below us, i.e. those who did not believe. I used to say it did  not matter much what a man believed, but I am learning I was wrong. It makes a big  difference, at any rate at starting. The set above us are those who believed but did not  fully act up to their beliefs.”  

J. W. “What do you mean by these sets?”  

H. J. L. “After I died I found we join that set of people to which we naturally belong  — that is, those who hold the same sort of belief or unbelief.  

We have a teacher, somewhat like, the angels of the parsons, but they [the teachers.  — ED.] don’t look a bit like the silly pictures you usually see. This teacher instructs us in  what we are lacking, and when that lack has been made good, we move on to the next set,  which includes many more different people than our own. We get very bored with  meeting only those who think exactly like we did. There is much more variety in the next  set.”  

J. W. “What is that set?” 

Gone West 2 

H. J. L. “ Those who believed, but did not fully act up to their beliefs.”  J. W. “Is there Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory?”  

H. J. L. “I do not know whether there is a Hell. You see, I know nothing at all save  about my own set, and the ones above and below. There are plenty of old friends I  expected to see and have not; but, of course, they may be and probably are only in another  set. Those who did not believe are in the set below: after a time they come to us.  

“As to Purgatory, that corresponds roughly to where we all are. Only it’s more a place  of learning than of punishment. Still, we are punished, because I can’t help regretting the  time I wasted on earth which would have got me into a more congenial set.  

We all, strange to say, are rather lonely here. We are too much alike to be  companions, and want to get on, so as to meet our old friends, who, we believe, are in  other sets.  

“I am learning, but it’s slow work. I feel like a schoolboy again. It’s funny — I died  on my birthday and was really born here on it.”  

J. W. “Did you know anything of your funeral?”  

H. J. L. “Yes, I saw myself lying dead, and saw you come and look at me.  “Be sure and tell Carrie what, I said; that it saves a lot of time if you do believe, and  that we do live after death. I am very glad I believed as much as I did, and I wish I had  believed more.”  

J. W. “Would you go back if you could?”  

H. J. L. “No, certainly not. I am much happier here. I am making progress.  “However, I must be off now. It seems a funny thing to say to a schoolmaster, but I  have to begin my schooling all over again.”  

(End of Vision. — J. W.)  

_________  

SECOND VISION  

_________  

Jan. 20th, 1914.  

During the night of Jan. 19th, 1914, I again dreamt in a trance that I saw H. J. L.  

J. W. “How are things going on with you?”  

H. J. L. “Well, but slowly.”  

J. W. “I — we wanted to ask you some questions.”  

H. J. L. “Fire away. I don’t know that I shall be able to answer them.”  J. W. “Where are you? Do you come to me from somewhere else? “  H. J. L. “Not exactly. I am here all the time; our world impinges on yours. I hate  

similes, but I can best explain it by one. You know those “Pepper’s Ghosts?” Well, it is as  if we were thrown on to your stage, our scenery — and our characters walking about you,  but unseen by you. Just as a real man on such a stage would hot see the phantoms which  surrounded him, but the audience sees both him and them. Or like a bank of clouds which  blends into a range of hills, so that it is hard to say which are hills and which clouds.  

“We are in the same world as you, but not subject to the same laws. For example,  time and space don’t exist. This sounds trite, and so it is, for the truth usually is trite,  because it’s true, and therefore always has existed.”  

J. W. “But you are here now. How, then, can there be no space? “  

H. J. L. “Compare us to a thought. We are more than a thought, for we continue to  think; but compare us to a thought; you may then get some idea of what I mean. When on  earth you think Ravenscroft; your mind calls up a picture of Ravenscroft and the people  there. You see them as they were. To that extent we and you are alike; but your finer  senses are controlled by your body and you are unaware of what changes may be taking  place. Now, you know something of telepathy. Do you remember my telling the story of  the only true ghost-story which the Psychical Society got, the one sent by the doctor?” 

Gone West 3 

J. W. “Yes, I do.”  

H. J. L. “Well, after that I said, ‘I think most of that stuff’s rubbish, but there may be  something in telepathy.’ “  

J. W. “I remember perfectly.”  

H. J. L. “Well, Jack, there’s not only something but almost everything in telepathy.  It’s the outer edge of those faculties which we have to develop here. It’s the main link  between our world and yours. You know that some people have learnt of things which are  happening to their friends at a distance. We all can do so here, and that is the way we  communicate with each other; speech does not exist with us. This explains those sayings  in the Bible about nothing shall be hid. You cannot tell lies here or be deceived. But that  is not all, for every separate thought exists of itself and we can see them all.  

“This explains the doctrine of the Catholics (at which I used to laugh) that a really  evil thought, such as murder, is worse than a venial sin.  

“My punishment consists largely of this, that all my evil deeds and thoughts rise up  before me in as real a shape as I myself possess. They are there with all the surrounding  impedimenta.”  

J. W. “What do you mean by that?”  

H. J. L. “Well, Jack, I don’t want you to think worse of me, so instead of quoting a  real offence, I’ll show you what I mean by a fictitious one.  

“Suppose a man committed a murder, or even meditated one — riot merely the actual  murder, but all the surrounding details, such as the furniture and room in which it was, or  was intended to be committed, are here.”  

J. W. “Then do you mean to say that there is no difference between the fault thought  of and one committed? “  

H. J. L. “It all depends on the reason why it was not. Supposing your better nature  gains the upper hand and you refuse to act as your lower nature prompts you; then, after  seeing the evil thought, you will be refreshed by seeing the good one — for all your good  deeds and thoughts come here also.  

“If the sin had not been committed solely because you were prevented by something  else, then there would be no good thought to refresh your weary spirit. Of course a man  may be temporarily prevented from giving way to an evil passion, and afterwards rejoice  that it should have been so. All that he will see here. Thus each one lives in a world of his  own creating, and the more nearly his world approximates to that of others around him,  the more company, the less solitude will he have.  

“Solitude is one of the worst punishments here, and so those who, though having  many faults, yet loved much and had many friends, get their reward.”  J. W. “Does this state remain constant, or do you get to know more people and your  former thoughts haunt you less? “  

H. J. L. “Now I told you we did progress only last time. You should not ask  unnecessary questions, nor try to catch me tripping. I repeat, we do progress as we learn,  and particularly as we learn to believe. As to the second part of your question, I don’t  really know exactly what happens, but as we go on thinking here we create fresh  thoughts, and as these are of a nobler nature than those we thought on earth, they refresh  us and enable us to bear more easily the grief we feel for our former faults.  

“We realize as faults here things that on earth we deceived ourselves into thinking  were not faults.  

“I should add that at first it’s rather like a hideous nightmare: — all one’s dead  thoughts come crowding round; but after a time they seem to fall into a distinct order, but  I can’t explain how. At any rate, things become easier. A lot of what I have been telling  you I have recently learnt from my teacher. I have also learnt a lot from some of the  others. 

Gone West 4 

“To return to how ‘I’ ‘come’ to you. I just think of you, or, rather, concentrate my  thoughts on you to the exclusion of other things. That is getting quite easy, though at first  it was very difficult. But it’s not so easy to get your spirit in ‘tune’ with mine, so that I  can communicate with you.  

“I tried several others first. I tried Carrie and I tried. Then I had a shot at F. At last I  thought I might be able to get into touch with you.”  

J. W. “Then I gather that you are in this world and see it as we do.”  

H. J. L. “We are in this world, but not restricted to it. Moreover, it does not look the  same to us as to you. We see much more. We see the past, and some, I believe, can see  the future, though I cannot. You will understand that, as you dreamt of my death a month  before it happened. But I have taxed you long enough. Is there any point you would like  to ask about?”  

J. W. “Yes. You said something about our lower nature. Do you know whether there  are any devils who inspire men with evil thoughts?” 

H. J. L. “I do not know. When I was alive I did not believe in them, but since I died I  have learnt to believe many things I laughed at then. There may be, for there are good  spirits who were never men, but I cannot say I know.”  

J. W. “Why don’t you ask your teacher?”  

H. J. L. “If you were teaching a boy Euclid, and he suddenly asked you a question  about some event in history, would you not tell him to wait till the history lesson came?  Well, it’s the same here. There is so much to learn that I must wait till I come to each  thing in its proper place.”  

J. W. “I am glad you have come to me like this; but why did you? “  

H. J. L. “Partly because I like you, but mainly because I think in this way I can do a  little good, and it is not easy to do good here. I wish I had done more good when I was on  earth. I particularly want you to tell Carrie. She understood me more than most of them  did. We were always good friends. I wish I could speak to her, but I can’t. You are getting  tired (pause). Your mind fails to keep touch (pause).”  

J. W. “Yes, I am tired, but I want to ask you — something — I can’t quite remember  what”  

H. J. L. “I will come again (pause). I will come again.”  

Note by J. W. — I seemed to fall asleep after this, and can remember no more till I  awoke next morning.  

______  

THIRD VISION  

Jan. 21st, 1914.  

On the night of Jan. 20th, H. J. L. again appeared to me (in a vision).  

H. J. L. “I have come to you again, but only for a short time. I want you to try  automatic writing. A man I came across here, called P., suggested it to me; he says he  used to live at Sheffield, that he’ll show me how to do it, and that it would be a much  

better method of getting into touch with the ‘still-living.’ He’s a decent sort of chap, and I  rather like him.”  

J. W. “I have tried once or twice, but without any real results.”  

H. J. L. “Since I died?”  

J. W. “No, some time before.”  

H. J. L. “Well, try again. I’ve much on hand just-now, but I will not forget you.  Remember me to Carrie.” 

Gone West 5 

_____________  

AUTOMATIC WRITING (1). ALONE  

Jan. 21st, 1914.  

“I have come to you as I promised. Mr. P. is helping me. He says he is interested, as he  used to live at Sheffield. It’s not easy to write this. I hope it is readable. I shan’t write any  more now. —  

H. J. L.” 

Gone West 6 

Chapter II  

Introduction of “The Officer”  

AUTOMATIC LETTER (2)  

Jan. 22nd.  

In preparation for this these questions were written down by me on a piece of paper. I  was in semi-trance during this and last letters.  

Questions  

(1) Do you not miss your chess and other recreations?  

(2) Any class distinctions?  

(3) Do you recognize ancestors or relations or well-known historical personages?  LETTER  

“I don’t miss my chess because I can still play it. Games, entailing bodily skill we  cannot enjoy, since we have no bodies, but those entailing mental skill are not in the same  position. Chess is entirely a mental amusement, so we do play it with our minds or  thoughts.  

“I have just been playing with Lasker.1 He beat me, but it was a good game. He just  managed to get (the) opposition.’  

“We do not, most of us, want bodily pleasures here, but those who do cannot have  them. It’s for the most part the younger men; we older ones, of the genus sapiens homo,  had got tired of most of that sort of thing long before we died. Those who do crave for it  are being punished for liking that sort of thing too much. Luckily for me I was an old  man, and I never cared much for most of that kind of amusement.  

“As to question 2, of course there are no class distinctions as such. There are no  Tories here, perhaps because there’s no plunder,2 but at the same time lack of education in  the widest sense results in something which at first sight rather looks like classes — that  is, men who think and believe alike each fall into sets. The richer classes, who are more  cultured, shall we say, are generally in different groups from the poor.  “Will answer No. 3 at another time. Good-bye. — H. J. L.”  

Jan. 24th , 1914.  

The following was written automatically in the presence of Mr. and Mrs. K., at their  house. I was in complete trance in this and all future letters. — J. W.  

Questions  

(1) What part of the world was Mr. P in when he passed over?  

(2) What do you mean by “believe”? Believe what?  

(3) Can you recognize ancestors, relations, historical characters?  

1I later I discovered Lasker was still alive, and taxed him with incongruity. He said he knew but,  nevertheless, just as I was able to enter the sixth plane and return, so was Lasker. Quite a number did  this, but few were able to retain a clear recollection of what had passed. If they remembered anything at all, they called it a dream. 

2 Note by J. W. — H. J. L., knowing I was a Tory, often used (when alive) to say the Tories out for  Plunder and Blunder.

Gone West 7 

LETTER 1  

“I am here. As to question No. 1, I will find out and answer in a minute. About No. 3:  I have not met any historical characters here, but we can, and as we get on into the higher  group or set we shall do so. Mr. P. says he died in the Far East — Japan.3 I am getting on  quite well now and will come to you on Monday next. I have met a man who has just  

come up to us from the set below. He is a most interesting chap. He was a thorough  scoundrel before he died, and has been telling me some of his experiences since then. He  says he has been through an awful time, and so I’ll ask him more about it. I gather he has  committed about all the offences there are. About question 2: I mean belief generally,  belief in a future life and God, and in fact ‘belief.’ The first thing to do is to believe  something. It does not so much matter what, so long as you believe. A nigger believing in  a fetish is better than a man who believes nothing at all. Believe! I will write again  presently. The conditions are better than any before. You need a rest. Try again in half an  hour. — H. J. L.”  

(Witnessed, in autograph, K.)  

Jan. 24th, 1914. 6:30.  

We waited half an hour. This time no questions were asked.  

LETTER 2  

“I have come. Learn as much as you can on earth and so save delay afterwards. Now  about myself. That man I spoke of is near me. He was a man of good position. Had been  an army officer and was turned out for disgraceful conduct. He married a girl and robbed  her of her money. Left her behind when he went to India. Seduced a girl there and got her  money: murdered a native. They found out about the girl but not about the native. Kicked  out of the Army. Returned to England. There went in for bogus company promoting.  Robbed dozens of poor people of their money. Finally came under the law. Got five  years. While in prison his wife brought an action for divorce and won it.  

“When he came out, set up as a card-sharper. Was discovered and turned out of the  various clubs to which he belonged. Then he got in with a young fellow who had a new  invention. Ran him for a time, “finally murdered him and stole the invention. Got it  accepted, and as he was going to sign the agreement was knocked down by a motor bus in  the Strand and killed. It was one of the first motor buses invented. He wants to take  control. Shall let him for a minute.”  

(Note by Ed. — Here the style of writing quite changed and the writing itself was  done at a great pace. Mr. and Mrs. K. declared that the medium’s whole demeanor  changed and became excited.)  

Stranger. “I am taking control, but can’t manage it properly. I am not doing this for  fun. I’ve been a beast all my life, and if I can do anything to make amends I want to. Shall  sometimes. I cannot do this properly yet. I have been a miserable failure all my life, but if  Mr. L. will help, as he has promised, shall doubtless make progress. He wants to take  control now.”  

H. J. L. again. “I am afraid he rather exhausted you. I am rather a tyro, but of course  he is worse, as he has not had the calming influence of our teacher. He has only just got  out of the worst torments, so is disturbed in spirit. Our calmer atmosphere will doubtless  make his stuff much more readable. But he was so anxious to do some good at last that I  

 3 Correct. This fact was unknown to me. – J.W.

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had to let him try. He shall give you his experiences another time. They will be quite  different from mine. He has been much longer here. He died in 1905.”  (So written in text as if he had paused to enquire — ED.)  

“Says it was one of the first motor omnibuses that ever plied. Just his luck. I have  taken up almost all the time about him, so will now close. — H.J. L.”  (Ended about 7.30.)  

_____________  

The following question had been written down by Mr. K.: —  

Will the officer give his name?  

_____________  

LETTER 3  

“As you have probably gathered, several friends are now helping us, but I have now  sent away the officer. He exhausts you too much; besides, a man helping me here has told  me we must be careful, as he has only just got into our set and so might ‘break loose’ if he  comes in touch with earth too often. He means well, but the spirit is weak. However, we  will see no harm comes of it.  

“I have not met any old friends here, and so am a bit lonely, but am making friends  with several men. One went up to the next set. He has promised to come and visit us  sometimes, and so I hope to be able to report to you something of the set above us. As to  question re officer’s name. I do not know it, but can ask him. Shan’t do so now, though,  or he’d want to take control. I am not sure that he’ll give it; rather think at first he won’t,  but daresay he will in time. He’s a wild sort of person. I can see you all quite well. There  are others with you — lots of them. Of course I do not know who they are, as they do not  come from my set. But power is waning. Thank Mr. and Mrs. K. Good-bye — H. J. L.” 

Gone West 9 

Chapter III  

H. J. L. Outlines His Plan for This Book  

VISION IN A TRANCE ON THE NIGHT OF  

JAN. 26th, 1914  

H. J. L. “I am glad we started that automatic writing, as it has proved so successful. I  propose to give you a series of such letters, in which I shall endeavor to give a connected  account of our life over here. Now I gather that must of the spirit messages which have  been received ignore almost everything which does not come under the writer’s  immediate knowledge. I propose to go further and to give in addition to my own personal  experiences those of members of the sets above and below us. By this means I hope to  cover at least those three; and as my friend who has passed on to the set above has  promised to try and get in touch with a spirit who is passing on to the one above, I may be  able to tell you something of the fourth set. I shall endeavor to give you a description of  the ‘geography’ of this region, if so it may be called. Further, I shall give you my own  experiences, beginning with my death and entrance to this new life. Further, I have been  back to earth since last I saw you, and have seen a mail pass over to us from our side. My  teacher took me. I am therefore able to comprehend several incidents in my own death  which at first appealed vague and uncertain.  

“‘Now it is difficult for you to understand our arrangements here; it is very different  from what you are usually taught. It is not however so much that the original teaching of  the church was wrong, but that it has been misinterpreted by its teachers. At the best,  however, they only show a part of the truth. Not even here do we know all the truth. Truth  is like a diamond with many facets. Each facet contains part, but only part, of the truth.  Some facets are larger than others; so all creeds exist because of the ‘facet’ of truth,  however small, which they possess. No faith which had no element of truth could exist at  all for any space of time on earth. Often, however, the ‘facet’ is very small. The larger the  amount of truth, the stronger that faith will, as a rule, grow. Thus the Roman Catholics are  a numerous body, but neither they nor any Sect possess all the truth. They simply form  one of the communities which exist in the sets where men believed. There are also  Buddhists and ‘heathen’ there, and, indeed, all religions. From this stage we advance until  we have gathered in all truth, and then we shall really know what is meant by God. But  that is far hence.  

“Since, however, it is easier for you to comprehend the new facts with which I am  about to deal if you can attach them to some theory with which you are acquainted, I shall  adopt the general plan of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. Be under no misunderstanding, as  

depicted by many persons these names are wholly misleading. But if accepted as a  convenient and rough classification, they will be helpful. One fact, however, you must  clearly grasp. So far as I can discover there is no evidence of the eternity of Hell. Drop  that idea and the rest will be easy to understand. At the same time spirits may be in what I  will call Hell for countless ages. For example, Nero is there still, and likely to remain for  many an earthly age.  

“The officer has just come up from Hell, and so that proves it is not a place of  perpetual torment. But as most spirits who communicate with the living are fairly spiritual  ones, they have never been in Hell, and so can tell you nothing of it. Many do not know  of its existence. For we do not know everything, only what, is necessary for our own  progress. They need no pains of Hell, and so know not of its existence. Herein lies the  interest of what the officer will relate. I myself could not tell you what he can from his  own experience. Under Hell therefore I group all those who did not believe. Purgatory  begins with our set. Until you have received the first glimmerings of faith you can make  but little progress. When this has once been received the spirit enters our realms. 

Gone West 10 

Hence Christ went down into Hell to teach the spirits belief. So today exalted spirits  sometimes go down thither to teach them to believe. 

“Of Heaven we know little here; it is to be with God, and that is enough for us. We  are on the lowest edge of Purgatory, and have far to travel before we reach there.  “Don’t misunderstand me when I speak of Hell; I mean simply the ‘Realm of  Unbelief,’ hardest hill the spirit has to climb. When that is surmounted the slope is easier.  When speaking of Purgatory you must not think we are unhappy. True, we suffer, but so  long as we are progressing we are happy. Our sufferings merely purge away the earthy  dross which would drag us down.  

“Another fact that may come as a surprise to you is that we can still fall into sin, or at  any rate slip back instead of making steady progress. It is no case of rest and fall asleep.  We are, very, busy striving to mount higher. But for us there is little temptation to carnal  sin; of that we are free.  

“But the unfortunate beings in Hell are still subject to their temptations, and to their  own harm can sometimes gratify them. Of that more anon.  

“Now a word to yourself. If at times you weary of this and think it fails in interest, I  ask you not to give it up. It is entailing much labor on me, but I do it gladly, for thereby I  am making amends for my own slackness on earth. Believe me, you too will benefit; but  above all. I hope the world may deign to learn something from what I am trying to  communicate.  

“I think I have made plain to you the general plan of what I propose. In reading the  ‘news’ I send, don’t jump to any hasty conclusions, but wait and compare the various  items. Above all, remember that because I fail to state that a thing or person is there, it  does not follow that they do not exist. These realms are so vast that no spirit knows more  than a part of them. “Before we part, are there any questions you wish to ask me?”  J. W. “Do you have light and darkness here?”  

H. J. L. “Not as you understand the words, for this is not a material world, therefore  material light has no place here. But there is a kind of spiritual darkness. In Hell it is utter  darkness, for there is no belief. As to what is here, look, open your eyes— see. “  

(Suddenly I perceived we were in a kind of twilight or soft evening light.)  “Here we do not perceive so clearly as those who do believe, therefore we are in this  twilight. But as we progress the light becomes stronger. The light, if so you can call it, is  within ourselves. We must part now.” (He began to fade and grow indistinct, then I was  alone.)

Gone West 11 

Chapter IV  

Two Strange Incidents  

I was not sure whether the following “dream” really formed a continuation of my  trance vision of Uncle, or whether it was just an ordinary dream. It was, however, so vivid  and peculiar that I entered it.  

____________  

THE DUEL  

I dreamt I was clad in a light blue costume of the time of Charles I., and was standing  in the hall of a large Jacobean house. The furniture was of that period.  Suddenly there was a fierce hammering at the hall door. A man-servant opened it, and  I saw a man on horseback. He was clad in black, and his beard was black and cut rather  short and square round his face in a peculiar manner. His face was very white, and on his  head was a tall fur cap.  

He rushed into the hall and challenged me to a duel. I drew my rapier, which had a  jeweled handle, as he drew his. He then snatched up a short sword or long dagger, broad  towards the hilt, but with a fine point, and with this parried the thrust from my rapier.  

My servant cried, “The Italian method,” and slipped into my left hand a similar  dagger. I can distinctly remember the jar each time our swords were caught on the broad  part of the daggers.4 

At length my blade slipped over his and ran him through the shoulder. He then  declared that he would go, but suddenly slipped into the house again and snatched up  some papers which were on an oak chest near by. With these he turned and ran into the  garden.  

Furious at this treachery, I sprang after him and ran him through the body. My blade  entered his back between the shoulder-blades and came out a little lower down in his  chest. He fell and gasped out his life in a few minutes among the flower-beds.  

I fell on the path sobbing and lamenting. As I lay there, I saw the villagers looking  through the gates and the servants picking up the body of the dead man. I have a very  clear recollection of the intense grief I felt.  

Then I dreamt that I awoke from this dream and saw a picture of a sword, the very  one I had used in the fight. I thereupon sprang from bed (the one in our room), and going  to the chest of drawers found there a piece of paper. I thereon jotted down in pencil the  chief points in my dream lest I should forget it.  

As a matter of fact I had not really awakened, and in due course awoke in bed. There  was no pencil or paper on the chest of drawers.  

I did not see how this dream could have any connection with Uncle, but determined to  ask him. — J. W.  

On Jan. 30th, at 2:50 p.m., Blanche sees H. J. L.  

Blanche was leaning out of the dining-room window and looking into the garden,  when she got very excited and declared that she saw the “Big Granddad.” He was wearing  his (black skull) cap on his head, and said, “Hello, Chickabiddy.” He came floating down  

from a blue patch hi the sky and took hold of her right wrist and tried to pull her up to  Heaven. She pulled, and he let go and went to various parts of the garden, and looked  over the whole place by going up to a big rock on the hill behind the house.  

4Nov. 7th, 1916. — Have just seen, in the Tower of London, the exact counterpart of the dagger with  which I parried his rapier. They are quite different from any dagger I had ever seen before, and were  doubtless intended so to be used.

Gone West 12 

She described all this, as it happened, to her mother, who was in the room, pointing in  the various directions as the figure changed its position. Mrs. Ward says she seemed  perfectly genuine at the time. She repeated it very accurately to me the same evening. She  said, “Hello, Granddad,” in answer to his greeting. He looked at her “with a smiling  laugh!” and he appeared to be moving round the house and garden. — J. W.  

This is an accurate summary of what took place at about 2:50 p.m. — C. W. Blanche  is four-years, three months old. 

Gone West 13 

Chapter V  

The Officer  

Jan. 31st. At Sheffield  

LETTER 6, AT 7:00 P.M., BY H. J. L.  

Questions written down  

(1) Officer’s name?  

(2) Had duel dream anything to do with you?  

(3) Did you come to Blanche on Friday?  

“I am here, and will begin by answering the questions first. No. 3: I did see Blanche. I  thought I should like to see where you lived, never having been there.  “It was my natural attraction, not any deliberate intention of mine that caused the  ‘pull.’ I am trying to write more closely, as Mr. K. asks, but it is not easy yet. No. 2: The  dream is curious, as it has nothing to do with me, but is the theme which haunts a friend  of mine here. He killed a Pole who had saved his life during the Thirty Years War on the  Continent. Afterwards the man entered the secret service of the Parliamentarians. His  grief was because he killed his benefactor; but he had to, as the man was stealing papers  which would have implicated many in a plot to place Charles II on the throne. Why you  saw it I can’t say, but you evidently did, and since it was his mind picture, identified  yourself with him.  

“As to question 1: the officer absolutely refuses to give you his name, and I think his  reasons are good. He shall give you them in his own words. I am standing by, so there is  no danger.”  

 (At this point, Mr. K. informs me, my whole manner changed; I became excited; also  the way in which I held the pencil changed.)  

The Officer. (The writing is quite different here.)  

“Give my name? No! No! I will give you the reason, though. I have a daughter: isn’t  it bad enough that she should have my blood in her veins, poor devil? But that she should  become known as the daughter of a murderer! No one knows that I murdered those men.  If it was once known, what chance would she have in life? Who would marry her? And  what of my poor wife? No, if what I write isn’t worth your while, do without it; but you’ll  be unwise. I want to do some good — not harm — to my wife and child. They say I must  stop. Mr. L. is going to take control now.”  

(Mr. K. saw the change take place in my manner, etc. — ED.)  

H. J. L. “I am sorry he would not give his name, but I think he was right. But as I  knew he would not, I have persuaded the spirit who has gone to the set above to give his  as evidence. He has no reason to fear that it will do harm. He shall introduce himself.”  

(Here my manner and way of. holding the pencil changed so markedly that Mr. K.  placed a cross against the line thus, X.)  

“This is the first time I have taken control, and so will introduce myself and will give  you details so that you can prove me. Mr. L. has asked me to help in this important plan  of his, and I am to describe, so far as I can, what this set is like, i.e. the one above that in  which they who only half believed are. I was Dr J. B. P., Principal Emeritus, ---------- Congregationalist Coll. I founded the B — L— B —, was joint editor of the ————— —, and wrote the ——. I was born Dec. 17th, 1830, and died Jan. 26th, 1911.5 

 5 Mr. K. investigated these facts and found every statement made was correct. We none of us knew  what Emeritus meant, but looked it up, and found it meant “retired” or “ pensioned.” As relations of

Gone West 14 

Is this enough evidence? My friends would probably never believe that I only half  believed, and I hardly realized that this was the case myself. But it was due to over-much  study of theology. I lost, or nearly lost, the substance for the shadow. Now good-bye.  

Mr. L. is in charge of us, and I shall write as he instructs, giving you, I hope, much  useful information which I pray may guide your steps to the realms of light.  God bless you all four.”  

(Mr. K. marked the following with X to show the change of control.)  “I take control again to close this letter (H. J. L.) In the next I shall start giving you the  detailed account of my death and first experiences here. The officer and Mr. P. will not  appear in the next. Rest half an hour. —H, J. L.”  

this man are still alive, and would resent the use of his name, I have been reluctantly compelled to  suppress these details, which were absolutely convincing to us.

Gone West 15 

Chapter VI  

H. J. L. Describes his Death  

LETTER 7. SAME NIGHT, 8 P.M.  

“I BECAME unconscious and after a time recovered, or so it seemed. Indeed, my  mind suddenly became clear, but I began to feel a heavy weight. Gradually I realized that  this weight was slipping away from me, or rather, I was sliding out from it, as if someone  were drawing his hand out from a wet glove. Then I began to feel tree at – one end, so to  speak, and then I began to see again.  

“I saw once more the room and the people in it. Then I was free! free! I saw myself  lying stretched out on the bed, and from my mouth came, as it were, a cord of light. It  vibrated for a moment, then snapped, and from my mouth came away. At that moment  someone said, ‘I think he has gone’ Or if they did not say it, they thought it. Then I  realized what I looked like for the first time. How different from what I had always seen  in my looking-glass! But was it I? It looked so strange.  

“But even as I looked I was aware of an awful feeling of cold.”  

(Mr. K. and the others say that while the next few lines were being written, I exhibited  all the signs of suffering intense cold. I shivered and moaned, “Cold, cold,” most  piteously.)  

“Cold! cold! Piercing feeling of cold. It pierced me through and through. Nothing I  can write can give you any idea of that cold. The icy blast pierced me as no earthly wind  ever did or can. I was a naked soul, no body, nothing to give me warmth. I shuddered and  shivered like this for many a seeming age.  

“Suddenly it seemed to grow a little less. I was aware of a presence. How can I  describe him, this glorious being? Then I could hardly grasp any clear idea, but having  since been in his company constantly, I can describe him a little better. Even now he  seemed to change every moment. At one instant I seem to know him well, at another he  changes and I can get no clear idea of his face or form. He shimmers and shines and  flashes, and seems as if he were made of fire. His robes, his face, his whole form is as it  were fire. Yet that word gives but a faint idea, nor would the word light be any nearer. All  color, too, is there. This glorious one is my teacher.  

“Hardly had I perceived him, when the whole room in which I stood and the people  who were there seemed to dissolve and fade away. Lo! I was in the most exquisite  scenery imaginable. Every lovely spot I had Over visited was there, and countless others  which I had never seen — beautiful rolling hills clothed with grass and trees; real trees,  yes, and animals and even butterflies; flowers, too, of every description, not only English  wild and garden flowers, but all manner of foreign plants, orchids and so forth, the like of  which I never saw on earth. Nor did they seem strange or out of place, nor yet the sight of  tropical palms and English oaks growing side by side. On earth it would certainly have  seemed so, but here it appeared quite natural.  

“‘Where am I?’ I thought, and no sooner had the idea entered my mind, if indeed one  can use the word, than the ‘Shining One’ seemed to answer.  

“‘You are in the land of After-Death. Are you surprised that there are trees and  animals here, and even grass? Know that here comes every thought which you have ever  thought; soon also you shall know that is so, to your sorrow; and, further, here come also  the spiritual forms of all that ever lived. Thus is our Spirit World built up and thus it  constantly increases. All that lives, no matter how humble it be, comes here of itself. All  thoughts come here. Hence you recognize many beauty spots you knew on earth. Hence  also the palm and the oak, and the orchid which you never saw. You have much to learn.’ 

Gone West 16 

“‘Do all thoughts live’ I cried (or thought). Even as the idea formed, the whole scene  was blotted out from my perception.  

“A horror seemed to grip me.  

(Mr. K., etc., declare that here I again began to exhibit signs of acute anguish. — Ed.)  

“Like a hideous nightmare, on every side visions seemed to press me round. They  weighed me down. I, who but a moment before had seemed so light, now seemed to be  crushed under an intolerable weight. I saw them not with mortal eyes; I perceived them  with my whole being.  

“I call them visions, but they were in real bodily form, like tableaux, moving and  acting again before me all my past.  

“My past deeds crowded before me, not in any order, but like a dream, all at once.  Oh! the anguish as once more rose up deeds long since forgotten. Little or great, nothing  was now forgotten. At last, after what seemed countless ages, an inspiration seemed to  seize me, and I prayed. I had not done so for years and years, but now I prayed, ‘O God,  help me’ and as I prayed, really prayed, slowly the wild chaos began as it were to sort  itself out. It, as it were, took a kind of chronological order, and the scenes took the form,  as it were, of a street which stretched far away, far beyond my ken; and they will go on  increasing as I progress till they reach to the judgment seat of God. And among them I  saw many visions which came as a relief to my tired soul — little acts of kindness which I  had long forgotten, times when I had resisted temptation. So I found, as it were, my  location. — H. J. L.”  

Witness, K.

Gone West 17 

Chapter VII  

How the Living Appear to the Departed  

VISION IN TRANCE ON THE NIGHT OF FEB. 2ND,1914  

H. J. L. “Ask your friends to keep a watchful eye on you from the time that the officer  takes control till the time when I resume it, particularly during the periods of rest.  “Pay careful herd to these points, as there are certain risks which must be faced in this  kind of work. You are quite safe so long as you obey my instructions to the letter.  “You will receive a letter6 from Mr. K. tomorrow (Tuesday) confirming the details  regarding Dr. K., so I trust you are now quite satisfied.  

“With regard to what the officer writes, I can promise you every word is true: but he,  too, only speaks of what he knows. There may be depths below that to which he sank, and  doubtless other spirits have not all had the same experience, though in Hell.  

“What he will tell you explains much of the common forms of occult phenomena; i.e.  death portents, haunted houses ‘plaguing,’ and so forth.  

“Don’t be afraid, we will stand by you, and so long as you obey my instructions you  will be all right. Have you any questions?”  

J. W. “When you are doing the automatic writing, can you see those who are  present?”  

H.J.L._ “Yes, but they look rather different to what they do to you. We see them as  they are, not as they seem to be. Thus it often happens to us that those whom earth folk  consider beautiful seem ugly, while those who look homely to you, to us seem beautiful.”  

“As a rule, we see the souls rather than the bodies. The bodies are there like a grey  mass, as in the Rontgen ray photos the bones show through the flesh. If we greatly wish  we can sometimes see the bodies, but even still the people cannot deceive us into thinking  them beautiful when they are not. Their spiritual ugliness shows through their physical  beauty.”  

“We see, too, all the spirits who have been attracted round, whether they are good  spirits or evil, for some people and places have the power of attracting spirits, sometimes  good and sometimes evil. Now I must return to my task here. — H. J. L.”  

6This I did receive.

Gone West 18 

Chapter VIII  

A Plan of the Spirit Plane  

SIXTH TRANCE VISION OF H. J. L., BY J. W.  

ON MONDAY, FEB. 9TH, 1914  

H. J. L. “For your general convenience let me tell you that this realm is divided as  follows: —  

“1. Belief with works.  

“2. Belief without works.  

“3. Half-Belief.  

“4. Unbelief. — Hell.  

“When the soul has reached the highest plane of the first division, it goes through  something that is akin to a second death, for there it leaves behind its spiritual body. But  the soul who attains to that state rejoices in its coming relief — it does not fear it as the  mortals do death, for those souls who are not yet ready do not cross the barrier.  

“Once they have passed into the next realm, they cannot return. There are, including  earth, seven such realms, of which the highest is to be with God.  

“We who are here know only of the realm we are in, which we will call the sixth, the  seventh being earth, which includes the astral plane.  

“We cannot go to the fifth until our time has come, and then we cannot return.  “Still, to this rule are certain exceptions. Very rarely messengers are sent down to us  from the realms above, but this only happens for some good reason, and is comparable to  the visible and audible return of one who is dead to earth.  

“The other and more usual method is through a medium. Just as we communicate  through you, so those in the fifth realm use a spirit in the higher planes of the sixth  through whom to communicate. Any message from the fifth realm would thus have to  pass through two mediums to reach earth.  

“Each plane in the sixth realm is divided into various divisions, and sometimes these  divisions are divided into spheres. I will show you a kind of diagram, so that you can  grasp it better.”  

Then a huge sheet seemed to appear before me, with the preceding diagram written in  lines of fire. The sheet appeared grey. 

Gone West 19 Diagram of Spirit Plane.  

H. J. L. continued: “Of course this is only a diagram, and, further, I have made it as  simple as I can. Thus I have, of course, not attempted to show every small sect, but only  the chief ones; yet you must remember that every religion is there.  

“The diagram refers to our state or condition, not to place, which does not exist with  us. Further there are many fluctuations and cross-currents which I cannot show easily.  Thus, Sufism has obvious similarities to Pantheism, and Mormonism to  Mohammedanism.  

“So, too, souls fluctuate within their plane. Thus the officer sometimes reaches  division 2, but he is usually very decidedly in division No. 1.  

“I am in division 2. As you reckon time, I was but a few days in division I, but to me  it seemed many years.  

“Here what I call soul-study is the chief business; our relaxation is what was our work  on earth. This brings us into touch with men of similar occupations and tastes, though  differing in religious matters. 

Gone West 20 

“Thus we may compare this side to a series of circles.”  

Again on the screen of grey I saw this diagram of fire.  

Spheres of Interest.  

“Thus I get to know a man who is keen on archaeology because we are both interested  in architecture, though from somewhat different points of view.  

“I need not labor the point, as I see you grasp it. Here, you will see, the man who is  interested in absolutely only one thing here, as on earth, will get to know far fewer  people. These circles keep men in touch who otherwise would be quite separated owing to  different religious outlook. Thus the modern Roman Catholic and the ancient Greek  philosopher may meet in the Greek spheres, as these circles are often called, both being  interested in Greek culture from a different standpoint.  

“While we are in the region of half belief, the religious divisions are only faintly  visible, but when one gets into the set above one finds them very clear. You must first  grasp a few truths firmly before you are ready to absorb others.  

“Each sect grows towards the others as men progress, because while they retain the  vital truth which has called them into existence, all religions lose their errors as the  believer mounts higher towards God, who is Himself Truth.  

“A point that may not be quite clear is that in division 3 of our set the first messengers  start. These go, down for the most part, as far as ’the schools’ They are not the glorious  ones of fire who go down into Hell itself. They come from far above. The risk for our  people would be too great. Even in the schools the earth pull is so strong that the  messengers cast back their own progress for many earthly years.  

“The Babes’ Schools are for those children who died too young to learn anything.  They learn to believe, and as recreations they learn what you call work, only it is, of  course, on a higher plane. No need to learn to read or write, for example.” 

Gone West 21 

J. W. “Who teaches them?”  

H. J. L. “From division 3 go down many women who for some reason were never  mothers on earth.  

Thus they satisfy the primal instinct of women. Also schoolmasters and parsons go  there. Often they go down for what you would call a space of time, and then return to  their work in division 3; for teaching is not work here, but recreation.  

“Now do not turn my diagrams into a cast-iron system. Remember there is far more  flux here than on earth.  

“Now I have told you enough for the time being. Is there anything you wished to  say?”  

J. W. “What is the purpose of the ‘school for those who have progressed,’ and why is  it that this school is separate from that for the babes?”  

H. J. L. “They must get some vague ideas before they can even half believe. As yet  they simply have a vague longing to believe. They must also learn to realize the evilness  of the scenes which rise up before them from their former life.  

“They are like babes in knowledge, and must learn; but you would not have them mix  with the innocent babes, would you? Now good-bye.” 

Gone West 22 

Chapter IX  

The Passing of a Saint  

LETTER FROM H. J. L.  

Feb. 14th.  

“I HAVE taken control. I have been to see a death from this side. My guide took me.  We entered a room, I cannot explain exactly how, but we simply found ourselves there. It  was a large, airy room, nicely but not very expensively furnished. Outside there was a  garden, but, being winter, of course there was not much life in it.  

“On the bed was an old man about seventy years, a parson. My guide spoke:  “‘This was a faithful minister of the truth as far as he knew it, one of those souls who  come straight to the realm of belief, in the land where men believed and acted up to their  beliefs. He is the Roman Catholic priest of this parish.’  

“Over his bed hung a Sister of Mercy, and beside him knelt a priest, who was giving  him extreme unction.  

“Suddenly the room became full of beautiful spirits. They filled the room and  stretched far out into space.  

“‘Who are these’ I asked.  

“‘All the fair souls he has helped to save. See this woman, she was a poor fallen sister  whose feet he turned to the paths of truth. That was a foolish boy who, but for him, would  be in the set below yours. That father would have driven that girl, his daughter, on to the  streets, but he [the priest. — ED.] took her to a nunnery, and by degrees softened the  father’s heart. Now both of them are in the realm of belief, of those who acted up to those  beliefs. All these have come to welcome their pastor and friend.’  

 “Then I was aware of a still more glorious being.  

“‘Kneel . . . ,’ whispered my guide.  

“All that glorious company sank on their knees, I humbly with them.  “‘Who is he?’ I whispered.  

“‘He is the teacher and ruler of that realm. He comes to take him home. Look! ‘  “Slowly from the body a light seemed to rise, strongest at the head. It was almost  golden, but had a touch of blue in it. Gradually it seemed to take the form of a head and  shoulders, and slowly I saw this figure of light draw out from its fleshy covering. Soon it  was clear, and at once a glad cry broke from the lips of the hundreds who were present.  “‘Father, your children greet you with joy and gladness,’ they seemed to say.  “And the good priest smiled on them, and, as he did, I noticed the body too seemed to  smile. The spirit turned and blessed those earthly ones who were watching by the bed.  “Then the cord of flame, which had been growing longer and longer, snapped, and I  heard a wild cry of sorrow from the mourners below; but it was quite drowned in the song  of rejoicing which burst from the lips of the spirit throng. The Great Spirit took him by  the hand and seemed to say: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been  faithful in a little, now thou shalt rule over many. I make thee the pastor of all these  whom on earth thou didst save’ and the wild song of joy which burst from the assembled  crowd still rings in my ears.  

“Then we were alone, I and my guide, and the humble mourners, but I knew it was  well, and I too went away rejoicing.  

“I shall write no more. Thank all five who have helped to-night. I hope the two  newcomers are now satisfied as to the necessity for the officer’s work, and also realize the  full aim of this book. Again thanking you. — Yours, H. J. L.”  

(Those present were Mr. and Mrs. K., Mrs. S., Mr. and Mrs. J. — Feb. 10th, 1914.) 

Gone West 23 

Chapter X  

Describes the School to which he went and what he learnt there  

SEVENTH TRANCE DREAM  

Feb. 16th.  

H. J. L. “Well, Jack, do you wish to ask me any questions? “ 

J. W. “What has happened to that beautiful tract of country you spoke of when you  had just died?”  

H. J. L. “Open your eyes.”  

Then it seemed as if my eyes were opened and behold! I was in the most lovely  country! The light was of the kind one sees on a summer evening. Over the distant  horizon the red glow of sunset was just visible, tingeing the hill-tops and reflected in the  water of many streams and lake lets. We were standing side by side in an avenue of trees,  tall and splendid. I saw H. J. L. quite plainly. He was not dressed in the clothes I had seen  him in when he had appeared clairvoyantly, i.e. earthly, but in long flowing robes of  white which seemed as if they were really part of his body in some mysterious way. A  soft faint light seemed to come out from his body, impossible to describe. Looking again  at the landscape, it seemed to me to contain everything beautiful of natural scenery. The  view grows wider; I perceive lakes and snow-capped mountains, rushing rivers, and lo!  Beyond all, the sea. But over all was a soft evening light.  

“Do you have day and night here?” I asked him.  

“No. The light conies from ourselves, though, indeed, there is that mysterious red  glow. It is the light of God, of Faith, of Truth, which reaches us but goes no further. The  higher we go the brighter it becomes, till at length it is all in all. In Hell there is no light  either from Faith or the individuals there.  

“The real light by which we perceive things is within ourselves. The light you see I  hardly realize; it is more comparable to the other effects of the landscape than light by  which we can perceive.”  

We seated ourselves on the soft grass under an oak tree, and below us I could see  palms and tropical birds mingling with the ordinary English scenery.  “Tell me what happened,” I asked, “after the visions had sorted themselves out as you  told me they did in your letter.”  

H. J. L. “On either side the ‘street’ of visions stretched as far as I could see, impinging  on the landscape, which nevertheless I began to perceive again. Suddenly my teacher and  guide stood beside me.  

“‘Come with me,’ he said, and led me clean through one of my ‘visions’ into the  country beyond. How to explain exactly what happened to my visions, I know not; but  though they always haunt me, are with me even at the present moment, though unseen by  you, yet they gradually fell into the background as it were. .  

“We walked across the fields and down the slope of a hill, and as we did so, I saw the  roof of a splendid building.  

“‘What is that?’ I asked.  

“‘The school to which you are going.’  

‘“School! I’m not a child!’ I cried.  

“‘Indeed you are, an absolute child in matters of Faith. Look how small you are!’  “As he spoke I realized that he had become tall, but could not realize that I was small.  “We now stood before the portals of the building, surely the most magnificent and  beautiful school which was ever conceived.  

“Soon I was taken into a classroom, for so I must needs call it; for lack of a better  name, and saw a number of boys. Boys! No, they were men, but strangely immature,  though they looked like little miniature adults. 

Gone West 24 

“Then I saw their master or instructor. What a difference! Not merely was he a well grown man, but he seemed to be made of light — light which filled the whole classroom  with a bright, soft glow. The bodies of the other boys looked grey, though some were  brighter than the others, and mine, I discovered, was the darkest of them all.  

“Next moment I looked round for my guide, but he was gone. But the master took me  quietly by the hand and set me in a seat. Then began the most wonderful lesson I have  ever witnessed. His methods were entirely different to those of the ordinary schoolmaster.  

He seemed to draw the knowledge out of the boys rather than attempt to tell them  anything. Most of the questions were quite unintelligible to me, though the others seemed  to understand them quite well. His method consisted in asking cleverly arranged  questions, and the answer to each led on to the next question.  

“After a while he turned to me and said, ‘Would you like to ask me any questions?’  “‘How is it,’ I asked, ‘that everything looks so solid here, and, above all, how is it I  have a body? I thought I was a spirit.’  

“He. ‘What do all human beings consist of?’  

“H. J. L. Body and soul.  

“He. ‘How would a scientist define these?’  

“H. J. L. Matter and force.  

“He. ‘Good. What happens to the matter when you die? Is it destroyed?’  “H. J. L. Matter can’t be destroyed. It merely changes its form. My body will rot and  become earth, and plants will grow out of it.  

“He. ‘What of the force which made that body act?’  

“H.J. L. It has come here. It is the spirit. It, too, cannot perish.  

“He. ‘Neither the matter nor the force perish. Yet is the body on the earth the same as  when you lived?’  

“H.J.L. No.  

“He. ‘What makes it different? If you were to look at it now, wherein would it chiefly  differ?’  

“H. J. L. Well, it would be losing its old shape. Its form would be different.  “He. ‘The form would have gone. If neither the matter nor the force perish, what  happens to the form? Can that perish?’  

“H.J.L. I do not see why not.  

“He. ‘What of the form of the thoughts which haunt you? Their form has not  perished. Why, then, should your form perish if theirs remains?’  

“H. J. L. Yes; but I still exist who thought those forms, so someone must have  thought of me before I existed if I am like my thoughts. For I thought of them, and so they  came into existence.  

“He. ‘Precisely. Someone must have thought of you. That person is God. He created  you by thought, and so, too, you create things by thought What lessons have you learnt?’  “H. J. L. That form, like matter and force, does not perish. Secondly, that, as God  created me by thinking of me, so I create forms by thinking of them.  “He. ‘And what answer can you deduce to your questions from these facts?’  “H. J. L. I suppose all that I see are forms, and being a form myself, they seem as  solid as myself. But why do I seem solid?  

“He. ‘How could you seem otherwise? There is no matter here.’  

“H. J. L. If I went back to the earth as I am, should I then appear to myself less  substantial?  

“He. ‘Would you thereby become matter?’  

“H. J. L. No. You mean unless one becomes matter one’s self, one would only seem  form and force, not matter.  

“He. ’If a light is placed in the midst of a cloud of smoke, what would you see?’  “H. J. L. Why, of course, a light shining, through perhaps dimly, through smoke. 

Gone West 25 

“He. ‘What is a flame?’  

“H.J.L. Force.  

“He. ‘Nothing more?’  

“H. J. L. It of course has a form.  

“He. ‘What is the smoke?’  

“H. J. L. Matter and form.  

“He. Does this not answer your question?  

“H. J. L. You mean I should see the spirit form shining through the material form as a  candle does through smoke or fog?  

“He. ‘Yes.’  

“H. J. L. Having left matter behind, shall I ultimately also leave behind form?  “As I spoke these words, a terrible stillness seemed to fill the room. All the other boys  leant forward expectantly.  

“He. ‘You have asked a question which I at any rate cannot fully answer. But this I  can tell you —that we do leave behind the present form on rising to the next realm. What  happens none of us here knows. We cannot see beyond the wall of fire any more than  mortal eyes can penetrate the veil of death. The Great Messengers may know, but we who  do but come from the highest divisions of this realm know not. You still wish to ask a  question?’  

“H. J. L. We who are created by God look to Him for help and consider Him  responsible for our well-being. Are we also responsible for the forms we create?  “Again the silence that could be felt brooded over the room.  

“He. ‘You ask wise questions, though so young. What happened to you after you had  spoken awhile with your guide?’  

“H. J. L. I told him of the hideous nightmare which had seized me, and how, it sorted  itself into order when I prayed.  

“He. ‘Does this not answer your question in part? Did not your thoughts claim you?’  “H. J. L. I bowed my head in shame and sat silent.  

“He. ‘But your question means more than that. Speak on.‘ 

“H. J. L. But my thoughts cannot create fresh thoughts, as I can.  

“He. ‘Directly no, but what of indirectly?’  

“H. J. L. How can they even indirectly?  

“He. ‘In the material world an evil act is done.  

Are there none who copy that evil act?’  

“H. J. L. That is so, of course. But surely things are different here?  

“He. ‘Tell him the answer to that.’  

“One of the boys then spoke as follows: —  

“Nothing exists on earth which has not its counter-part here. We see this in the trees  and birds and buildings, as also in many other things. But all things here lack crude  matter.” 

“H. J. L. ‘But do their evil thoughts here influence others to evil?’  

“He. ‘When on earth did you never notice that two men, or even more, each working  independently, even separated from each other by thousands of miles, at the same  moment make the same discovery?’  

“H. J. L. ‘Yes, often, but put it down to coincidence.  

“He. ‘There is no such thing as coincidence. That word is merely a cloak employed  by men to disguise the fact that they are ignorant of some of the fundamental laws of  God.’  

“‘Again, have you never seen how an idea win continue for ages to influence  mankind, though all who knew its origin have passed away?’  

“‘Have you never seen how such an idea, though forgotten in its original home, will  yet reappear somewhere else without any known connection having taken place?’ 

Gone West 26 

“H. J. L. Then, once created, a thought may go on creating fresh thoughts?  “He. ‘Yes; but only such as relate to it. It could not create a fresh thought on an  entirely different subject.’  

“H. J. L. But a man can. Why, then, is it different? He may at one time create a cruel  thought which will go on influencing others to do cruel deeds, yet at the next moment he  may create a thought of kindness which others will develop into much that is good. Why  this difference?  

“He. ‘Of what does a man consist?’  

“H. J. L. Matter, form, force.  

“He. ‘Of what does a thought, once created, consist?’  

“H. J. L. I suppose form only.  

“He. ‘You are answered.’  

“H. J. L. Ah, then it is the presence of what you call force. What is force?  “He. ‘Some say force is God, and some that force and matter are God, and some that  force and matter are the same, and it is this that is God. Can man create either?’  “H. J. L. I suppose he creates only forms.  

“He. ‘Are you not, then, answered?’  

“H. J. L. I don’t see quite how it answers my original question, namely, why we can  create variant thoughts when our own thoughts cannot.’  

“He. ‘God creates you; you create your thought: your thought influences others.’  “Your thought’s action is bounded by the thought that created it; your actions are  bounded by the force which actuates you. God is bounded by nothing.  “H.J.L. I see it all. I cannot think about that of which I have no knowledge. But God  is knowledge.  

“He. ‘God is all in all. You have learnt your first lessons. Now go for recreation, all  of you.’  

“Next moment we were outside like boys running out from school, and we amused  ourselves in many various ways. But our pleasures here are mental. What was our work  on earth is our amusement here.  

“I very naturally drifted into the set who were interested in architecture. They varied  in size, or, really, in spiritual development. Many were in the upper forms of the school,  and one of these suggested we should go off to see some of the famous buildings which  had at one time existed.  

“‘I don’t want to see any of the hideous villas which disfigure most of our suburbs’ I  remarked.  

“‘such as one of those you built, eh? ‘remarked a boy whom I recognized as a man I  knew slightly on earth.  

“I should have felt annoyed on earth, but here I only chuckled.  

 “The big boy who had suggested the expedition answered, ‘Oh, you need not fear  that. All that is hideous goes to Hell. We don’t get the finest work here, of course — that  goes to the people in. the sets above us. Still, all our stuff is good. There are some very  fine Assyrian buildings we might go and see!  

“‘Do all the buildings come here, or only those which have perished? ‘I asked.  “‘If a building is practically untouched it does not come here, but if it is partly  destroyed and rebuilt, the whole of the original form comes here. You see, the alterations  have given it a new form which may in due course also come here. That’s part of the  interest of it. You can see how the Tower of London has changed from century to century.  Of course we don’t have its exact present form.’  

“So we went off to see the Assyrian buildings, and I enjoyed it immensely;”  J. W. “As you are in with architects, do you ever come across a man called A?”  H. J. L. “ It’s funny you should inquire about him, for he was the man who made that  remark about the houses.” 

Gone West 27 

J. W. “About those you built?”  

H.J.L. “Yes.”  

J. W. “How is he getting on?”  

H. J. L. “He’s in our set. He told me he was fearfully annoyed when he found he was  with those who only, half-believed. He said to his teacher, ‘But I did believe’  “His guide replied, ‘Had you really believed, you would not be here. Like many  others, you thought you believed, but belief does not consist of merely saying “I believe.”  You must truly grasp it. Had you really believed, you could not have lived the life you  did. Plenty of people who thought they believed find themselves in Hell. A man’s belief  must be shown forth in his life, or it is not real. This does not mean that a man who  believes may not commit many grievous sins. He may. Nor yet does it mean that he will  not suffer for them. We are responsible for every thought and act; but still, belief must be  real before it counts.’”  

“‘There is no deceiving anyone, not even one’s own self, here. You half-believed, and  are, therefore, in this part. Had you not believed at all, you would be in Hell. Now go and  make progress.’”  

J.W. “Is he?”  

H. J. L. “Not very fast. You see, he was younger, and almost all his interests were  physical-sports, good wine, women, and business. He died in the midst of them, and the  earth pull is very strong. He is not earth-bound — no one here is — but still he does  hanker after the earth. Why, he often plays truant and goes back to his old haunts and  friends on earth. It’s not with the same desires as the earth-bound go, hoping to be able to  enjoy their old lusts, but with a kind of affection for old friends and places. I am really  very sorry, for it throws him back terribly, and he’s a very nice fellow. However, as he  himself says, he died thirty years at least before his time, and I suppose he’s got to spend  that time before he’ll be in the same position as those who died after their seventieth  birthday.  

“He told that to the master one day when he reprimanded him for playing truant.  “He’s fearfully slow in class, can’t grasp quite simple things; although he died so  much earlier than I did, I’ve passed him already. But he’s a jolly fellow, very popular out  of school. He misses his games, though, terribly. He’s got a vein of humor. He explained  

the other day that he prayed fervently that his wife might not die for many years, as he  was afraid she would rout him out here.  

“Now you have heard quite enough, or you’ll want to stick here altogether.” We then began to walk back towards the avenue.  

Reaching there, we sat down, and I seemed to fall asleep. — J. W. 

Gone West 28 

Chapter XI  

He Attends his own Funeral  

NINTH LETTER OF H. J. L.  

At home (Glen House),  

Feb. 21st, 7 p.m.  

“After I had apparently been attending the school for a long time, my guide carne to  me one day and said, ‘It is time for you to go to your funeral!’  

“‘My funeral!’ I cried; ‘I thought that had taken place ages ago.’  

“‘Oh no! he replied; ‘you have, according to our reckoning, been here quite a long  time, but, according to earth time, you have only been here three days’  “This was the first time I realized the huge difference between our method of  reckoning time, or rather, our escape from time, and your subservience to it. In those three  earthly days I had made apparently many months’ progress, had learnt much about  spiritual things, and had seen numerous fine buildings of ancient days. At this point I  should add that here there is nothing comparable to night and day, nor is there any sleep.  This is, of course, evident if you think for a moment, for the spirit never sleeps even upon  earth; it, unlike the body, needs no rest.  

“Well, my guide told my master where I was going, and I was excused lessons. We  were just going to begin work. I expect this sounds rather funny to you.  “Next moment we were at L.D. There was no long journey through the ether, as I  imagined would be the case. Simply I found myself in my old bedroom. Of course it is  now plainer to me.  

“Our world and yours are not separated by anything akin to space.  

“One might almost say they are both in the same space. But there, it is impossible to  make this point quite plain to you, I fear.  

“I, of course, noticed that the room was changed and the furniture out of its proper  place, and then I noticed the coffin. It was covered by a large white sheet, but I could see  through this, and perceived my body lying there.  

“Strangely enough, it did not seem to have the attraction for me which I expected it  would. I looked at it more as one might look at a marble sculpture than as at an old friend.  “‘You have finished your work and your day is done, old friend,’ I murmured. Even  as I thought this, another thought welled up. ‘Were you really a friend or only a  taskmaster? ‘Now at any rate I was free, and I rejoiced.  

“After a while I felt I should like to see what the others were doing.  

“Next moment I was in the dining-room. It was so full that, to avoid touching the  others, I stood in, or, rather, through the middle of the table. Of course it did not interfere  with me in any way, nor, indeed, would their bodies, but yet some instinct, probably  inherited from my earthly state, compelled me to avoid running into them. I saw them all  — you, G., D., M., and Miss P.  

“There did not seem to be much to learn there, so I drifted into the drawing-room,  where my wife was, but soon drifted out.  

“To tell the truth, I rather felt as if I was in the way, and wondered vaguely why I had  been taken from school, where I was every day learning something new and interesting,  to see these vacuities.  

“My guide answered, ‘At the moment of burial the spirit always feels an inarticulate  yearning to see its earthly shell and bid it farewell. There is a good reason for this, indeed,  several. Besides the mere earthly attachment which all men feel for their bodies, akin to  that usually felt by a dog for its master, even when that master was often cruel to it, there  are the following: — At burials there are usually certain evil beings who hang round the  corpse, hoping against hope, they know not always how, to draw some carnal satisfaction  from the corpse, some touch of earthly lusts which still haunt it.’ 

Gone West 29 

“‘Occasionally, under exceptional circumstances, they may try, and even succeed, in  drawing a kind of material body from the dead corpse by means of which to clothe their  naked souls. This can only happen in the case of men who have lived evil lives. From this  shame you are free; nevertheless, you and I go to see that nothing of evil shall approach  what once held you.’  

“‘Further, it is right that you should follow to its last resting-place a friend with whom  you have been associated for so long.’  

“‘Finally, by showing you the pettiness of the life you have left, to make you the more  rejoice in that in which you now are.’  

“After this I again returned and sat by my corpse; and presently you entered. I saw  you remove the napkin and look at my face, but all the time I was standing opposite to  you. I saw, rather to my surprise, how distressed you were, and tried to attract your  attention, saying, ‘I am all right. Don’t you see me?’  

“‘Once I thought you heard me, for you looked straight in my face for a moment; but  you did not. Then, replacing the napkin and sheet, you turned and left the room.’  “Soon after, the undertaker’s men entered, and, having screwed down the lid, took the  coffin downstairs. I went with the procession to the church.  

“After the coffin had been lowered into the grave and you had all gone, I did not  follow you, but waited by the grave till it was filled in. This completed, I looked at the  marble statue which had once held me — I could, of course, see through the earth  perfectly well — and then, turning to my guide, said, ‘Shall we now be going?‘  

“The thought had hardly been formed when, lo! I was back in the school again, and  oh! with what a sigh of relief! I looked round for my guide, but he had gone; but by now I  had become accustomed to his strange comings and goings.  

“‘Take your place,’ said my master kindly. ‘We have only had one round of  questions.’  

“‘Only one round,’ I thought, ‘yet I was on earth for hours. Indeed, there is no relation  between time there and here.’  

“My master seemed to divine my thoughts, for he answered at once’ You ought to  know by now that here there is no such thing as time’  

“I suppose it was having been back to earth that now made me feel just the least  surprised at his answering a thought of mine.  

“I again looked at the boys, and now realized for the first time how small and  immature were the mortals whom I had just seen. These, at any rate, were boys, but they,  for the most part, were the merest babes, some hardly born. I realized in particular, with  mild surprise how infantile was the spirit in ——— and in———. Yet though both were  babes, there was some indescribable difference between them. When I saw you all, I saw  your spiritual bodies through a grey sort of shadow — your earthly bodies — and often  the largest and finest shadow bodies had the smallest and most misshapen and infantile  spirit bodies. 

“How glad I was to be back at school, back in the realities of life, away from all  pettiness and futilities of what you call life on earth; but at the same time a new desire had  come upon me, and that was to let you and others know this fact.  

“Rest half an hour. — H. J. L.” 

Gone West 30 

Chapter XII  

He Goes to College  

H. J. L.’s TENTH LETTER.  

GLEN HOUSE,  

8:50 p.m., Feb. 21st , 1914.  

“To resume my narrative.  

“After returning to school I felt strongly that I wanted to tell those I had seen what the  real conditions over here were like, partly because I saw one or two were grieving rather,  but more because they all either did not believe in a future life at all, or else had evidently  wrong ideas as to what it was like over here. I have already told you of my fruitless  endeavors to reach other members of the family, and how at length I got in touch with  you. Now I will explain how I learnt that one could tell those still living. No sooner had  the idea, come to me, than my guide entered the classroom.  

“‘Your pupil has learnt his lesson so well,’ he said to our master, ‘that he can now  leave school. He will go to a university instead.’  

“‘He has made splendid progress,’ said my master.  

‘Good; go forward, my lad.’  

“Class was then dismissed, and all the other boys crowded round me.  “‘You have shot up, ’they said. ’Why, you are nearly a man!’  

“Several others, I noticed, were also speaking to their guides, and it was quite a batch  of us who said farewell to the building which had now become so familiar to us all.  “My guide then began to speak. ‘You wish to communicate with those still living?  Why?’  

“I said, ‘to tell them of this life, so that they may try and prepare themselves for it, so  that they need not go through the elementary lessons which I had to learn. Many, too, who  believe in a future life have no real idea as to what it is like’  

“‘But why should you wish to speak to them?  

They will all come to us some day, and then they will have to learn.’  “‘Yes, but on earth I neglected these things, and now would make some little amends’  “‘This is a good reason, and truly they do need much light, and by helping them you  

will help yourself. Lo! You are now in the second instead of the first stage of this realm or  set.’  

“‘How can I do it? ’I said.  

“‘That you must find out for yourself. We tell nothing here. Each soul must strive to  answer his own questions, and if he really strives he will succeed.’  

“Soon I found myself without my guide among a crowd of young men. We seemed to  be in some university town. Several of the men drifted towards me, and, without the usual  hesitation which I should have felt on earth, I asked what I could do to tell those on earth  of this life.  

“One of them replied, ‘We, too, are trying to find out how to do that very thing. Come  with us.’  

“We now searched throughout that large town, and at last found what we sought. Let  me say here that the dominant note of the place was the desire to help others who were  already dead. At length we found a lecturer, as he would have been called on earth. But  he did not lecture, but asked us questions, as the master had done.  

“When we said, ‘How can we tell those still living?’  

“He replied, ’How do you do anything here?’  

“‘By thinking about it.’  

“‘You are answered.’  

“‘We think then,’ I said, ‘that we wish to communicate with the living.’

Gone West 31 

“‘Naturally; how otherwise?’  

“‘And do we think of one person or many?’  

“‘Which you please, but which is easier — to think of one person or many persons’  “‘One’ we all cried together.  

“‘Are there any other questions’ he asked?  

“We had none then, so we went together to a sort of private study and there all  concentrated our thoughts on this great matter. It sounds very simple to say ‘think of  something,’ but in practice we found it terribly hard to concentrate on one sole thought.  

Other ideas would come floating in. We seemed to try this for weeks and weeks, but  at length one man did get through.  

“This encouraged us. Another who had been trying for some time said, ‘I wonder if  the man I am thinking about is not receptive.’  

“This started a long discussion, and we all agreed that probably it would be easier to  get in touch with those who were not too materialistic. So, as we could not always tell  who were the most materialistic, we decided to make such a list, and work through them  by degrees. You know the rest. At length I got you. That night I seemed specially drawn  towards earth, I think now because it was just a week since I had died.  

“I gradually became aware of the fact that I was drawing closer to you than I had yet  done to the others, but it was not till you went to bed that I really got in touch with you.  This taught me how to work, and, once started, things went easier. Finally, I met P., who  told me how to try automatic writing. —  

Yours, “H. J. L.” 

Gone West 32 

Chapter XIII  

Animals on the Spirit Plane  

TRANCE VISION OR CONVERSATION DURING NIGHT OF FEB. 23rd  

I (J. W.) found myself seated by the edge of a beautiful lake. It reminded me at one  time of Coniston, but next moment it seemed more like Lake Lucerne. H. J. L. was by me.  “Do you,” I said,” have houses to live in? “  

“Yes,” he replied. “I at present am living in college. “  

“Is it like any college which still exists?”  

“I think,” he replied, “that it is old Queen’s College, Oxford, which was pulled down  to make way for the present classical building.”  

J. W. “Did you know of the Requiem Mass which my father held for you on the day  of the funeral? “  

H. J. L. “Yes, but I did not know that it was on the same day. I knew of it what  appeared to be some time before. That service was of far more use to me than the funeral  service. It is strange that so many Christians devote all their attention to the body, which  knows and cares nothing about what is going on, and entirely neglect the spirit, which is  often in great need of help.  

“I was going through one of those terrible days (of course they are not days, but I  know no other name to give them for you) when my former deeds crowded upon me on  every side. These ‘days’ come on me even still; they are part of my punishment, and are  sent to enable me to repent. I, of course, could not go to school, and was there  overwhelmed with misery, when, lo! a bright flame seemed to force its way through my  nightmare visions and dissolve them. Slowly in their place there came a vision of a  church with an altar on which were candles and a cross, and before it was a priest. I  recognized him as your father and, further, saw you kneeling there. But though you two  were the only mortals, you were not alone. Who they were who knelt beside you I cannot  say, but certainly the whole church, not merely the side chapel, was full of worshippers  who had come from our side.  

“No words of mine can express the joy that this sight filled me with. Firstly, I rejoiced  that there were at least some on earth who really cared and believed enough to pray for  me, and the thought and the words of the service filled me with a wonderful peace.  

“But even beyond this came the inspiring thought that hundreds of others who had  come here before, had possibly trodden the same hard road as I was treading, were  interested in my progress and prayed for me. O Jack, I never knew how much good might  be hidden in that wonderful contradictory old national church of ours! Tennyson must  have received some inspiration from this side when he retained in his Morte d’Arthur  those closing lines of Malory, clean contradictory as they must have been to the ideas of  the Mid-Victorians  

’Pray for my soul.’ You know the rest, don’t you?”  

J. W. “Yes, well. By-the-bye, as animals come here, have you seen anything of old  Molly?”  

(Carrie’s dog.)  

H. J. L. “Oh yes. She often comes to me, as there is no one else here she knows, I  think. There she is.”  

J. W. “Where? I can’t see her.”  

H. J. L. “Here she comes.”  

As he spoke. Molly came rushing out of a small wood close by. She looked somewhat  younger than when she died and had quite lost her hump, but otherwise there seemed no 

Gone West 33 

change. She jumped and capered about, first round H. J. L. and then round me, wagging  her tail and barking with excitement. I made her walk on her hind legs as she used to do.  Presently she curled up beside H. J. L.  

“If animals survive in this state,” I asked, “what becomes of them when the frontier of  this plane is reached? Do they, too, go on to the fifth plane? “  

H. J. L. “That is one of the points we are investigating. I have particularly asked P. to  inquire in his division.  

“This leads me to try and fix the terms I use for our divisions here. I am afraid they  have been a little incoherent. I will therefore use henceforth: —  

“Plane = the whole of this realm of the spiritual body.  

“Realm = the divisions of this plane, e.g. the realm of half-belief.  

“Division = the divisions of each realm, e.g. the schools or the divisions of Hell.  “Subdivisions = the splitting up of the divisions as among the sects in the realm of  belief without acts, e.g. the Roman Catholics or Baptists.  

“Spheres = the groups into which we drift during the times we are having recreation.  They bring together men in different divisions of the same realm, but not those who are in  different realms. Moreover, a man will sometimes be in one sphere and sometimes in  another, e.g. the sphere of architecture or music.  

“Now, as to next Saturday’s work, P. is very anxious to start writing, so I shall let  him. He will give an account of his passing on to the realm above. Strictly, I ought to  write first an account of the entrance of the officer into our realm as seen by me — it  occurred first — and also what I know of P.’s passing, but I will do so after he has  written. I will, however, tell you how I met P.  

“I had been inquiring about the realm below and that above, and suddenly a man  came to me and said: ‘I have been down to Hell on a little missionary work, so perhaps I  can give you some information.’  

“I was delighted.  

“He told me about the divisions of Hell, and that he had been sent to teach the souls in  the schools. He was not allowed to go any lower, but even that had retarded his progress.  He hoped, however, soon to be allowed to pass on to the realm above us. He said, further,  that the souls in Hell were terribly hard to teach, far harder than the worst types of people  on earth, and this in spite of the fact that none had reached the seventh division unless  they desired to progress.  

“‘If you really wish to know about the depths of Hell, I know the man who can tell  you,’ P. added. ‘He was an army officer, and I have been teaching him for some time. He  will soon be admitted into this realm, and I will introduce him to you and ask him to help  you. I was privileged to help him and feel sure he will do what I wish in the matter. He is  a man with a tremendous personality, and made good progress. You may still think him a  fairly unregenerate blackguard, but I assure you he is enormously improved. When he  first came to me, he was by far the worst in the whole school, and I often wondered why  he had been admitted, but he rapidly passed all the others’  

“‘Are there schools like ours in Hell?’ I said (H. J. L.).  

“‘They are almost impossible to compare,’ P. replied. ‘The nearest simile which  occurs to me is, as a school for mentally afflicted children is to a first-class secondary  school on earth. Even that does not show the full difference.’  

“‘The schools for the babies, which I never entered, correspond fairly closely to the  kindergartens on earth, though of course different subjects are taught.’  “Many other things P. described to me, and I have given you them from time to time.  But I was not long to have the advantage of his company, for soon after the passing up to  us of the officer, P.’s guide took him away for his final preparations for his own passing  on. 

Gone West 34 

“Before going, he obtained from his guide a promise that he might on occasion return  to us, as he had gone down into Hell, to bring us the news we desired.  “Now I have given you enough. Consider me at the university with other students  working at this subject which I have chosen, the subject being to discover all I can about  the conditions of life here in all the realms, and to transmit this knowledge to you.  Consider me surrounded by many fellow-students all working at the same problem,  further, as having recreations and amusements approximating to those which are the  highest on earth. All these mental amusements are carried on a far higher plane. There are  also recreations of which you know nothing on earth.  

“Now good-bye for the time being, Jack. Think of me and pray for help for me.  “See, I can fly now.”  

He rose in the air and floated away across the lake, and I stood watching the rosy light  of the over-setting sun tingeing the waters of the lake. Then I knew no more.  — J. W. 

Gone West 35 

Chapter XIV  

Little Blanche Sees H. J. L.  

BLANCHE SEES H. J. L.  

Feb. 26th.  

C. W. and Blanche were in the drawing-room at 7 p.m., and B. wandered up to the  window and looked out at the sky from the darkened room. The sky was covered with  stars.  

She exclaimed, “I see the big granddad crossing the sky! He’s got a candle or torch in  his hand with a star for the light. He keeps moving backwards and forwards. Now he has  gone into a room and is learning something. He has a book.”  

Immediately after she said, “I can see him coming along again. A little girl is  following him — like Betty (a six-year-old cousin), only she has reddish hair.7 She has a  doll in her hand. Now he’s talking to her and holding her hand.”  

Earlier she said, “He pulled me; I felt him.”  

Some time later, about 7:45, C. W. and she went out in the garden to see the stars.  She then said, “There is the big granddad; he has picked a bunch of stars. They are  flowers to him; he’s putting them in a vase.”  

7(A correct summary. — C. W.)

Gone West 36 

Chapter XV  

How H. J. L. Met “The Officer”  

TRANCE VISION AND CONVERSATION  

March 2nd, 1914.  

During these I seem to be transferred to another  

country or plane of existence.  

I FOUND myself seated by the side of a river, and beside me was H. J. L.  “Carrie wants to know,” I began,” whether you can take off the clothes and, laying  them aside, get into others? Do you understand my meaning? “  

“Of course I perceive the idea in your mind. The clothes are made into their present  form by my will. When I wish them to assume another shape, e.g. when I am on the earth  plane and wish them to resemble my former earth clothes, they do so. I don’t take them  off and change them as you do on earth. Our clothes do not wear out, of course. They  remain as we think them, and if we want to change them we think the change — and there  are the new clothes.”  

J. W. “Blanche said she saw you picking stars, which were flowers to you. Was this  so? “  

H. J. L. “I often pick flowers, and I suppose they looked as bright as stars to her, and  she mixed them up with the stars, which she saw with her mortal sight, as distinct from  her spiritual sight, with which she sees me.”  

J. W. “Do you know who the little red-beaded girl is?”  

H. J. L. “She has just come here, and I happened to see her looking rather lonely, and  so began to interest myself in her. She’s gone up to the girls’ schools here.”  J. W. “Oh, then they don’t have co-education?”  

H. J. L. “Not exclusively, though they have it for some children. You see, here like  attracts like.”  

J. W. “Have you seen many women?”  

H. J. L. “Not many as yet. Later we see more of them. Now I’ll go on with my  narrative.”  

J. W. “Before you do so, tell me, don’t the flowers die when you pick them? “  H. J. L. “Oh no. Why should they? They are forms, and still retain those forms even if  picked. They are simply transferred from the plant to my vase. But they do not die in the  vase any more then when they are on the plant.”  

J. W. “If you pulled them to pieces, would they perish?”  

H. J. L. “We should never do such a thing; we realize that even the flowers have their  rights. Nevertheless the separate pieces would still exist, and would reunite.  “Now for my narrative. A few days after I had met P., my guide took me to see the  passing up to us of a soul from Hell, and his guide went with me, and we found it was the  officer.  

“I find it hard to make you understand how we got there, but suddenly we were at the  edge of Hell. We seemed to be on a dry, barren, rocky edge. Behind us were black rocks  and hard, stony ground. The ground, which sloped up towards us from behind, in front of  us broke off abruptly.  

“Now this terrible precipice was made far more awful by the fact that at its edge all  light ceased. The light seemed to become tiny particles of mist, and at the very edge these  seemed to pile themselves up into a great wall against the darkness. There was no  intermingling of light and dark, as on earth, simply this awful darkness, which seemed as  if it were a solid curtain, or even a wall against which the light piled itself up but could  not penetrate.  

“My guide spoke ‘Go to the uttermost edge of that rocky cliff and stretch out your  hand into the darkness’ 

Gone West 37 

“I went to the edge, and as I did so I felt the hand of my guide resting on my shoulder  from behind to steady me.  

“My hand went into the darkness and was immediately lost to sight. I could see my  arm as far as the part where it entered the darkness, but beyond I could see nothing. Nor  could I feel any sensation in the hand, save only at the place where it entered the  darkness. It was more than the darkness which can be felt; it was the darkness which  destroys feeling.  

“At the part where my arm entered the darkness I felt a narrow band of intense cold,  numbing and yet burning.  

“‘May I withdraw my arm?’ I asked my guide.  

“‘Yes’  

“I promptly withdrew it, and was really thankful to find it was undamaged.  “‘Why this darkness and cold?’ I inquired.  

“My guide replied, ‘The light of faith does not exist here, and there is also no love of  God.  

“‘As you are now a spirit, you need the spiritual light and warmth, just as on earth you  needed physical warmth and light.’  

“Slowly the wall of darkness began to sway to and fro. As it advanced towards the  light in one place it receded in another, and the light pressed in and out. There was no  interpenetration, simply an undulating line instead of a straight one. As this movement  grew more and more violent I sprang back from the cliff, fearing that a fold of darkness  might engulf me.  

“But my guide said, ‘stand firm. That darkness cannot reach us; there is too much  faith here’ And so it was, for though the folds of darkness several times swept up on to  the land on either side of the spot where we were standing, it never engulfed us, and we  were able to realize the awful depth of the precipice, which seemed almost unscaleable.  But the light gave comparatively little illumination.  

“Suddenly out of the darkness beneath us a ball of light began to emerge, and, rapidly  mounting, we saw it was a glorious spirit of light. As he rose from the depths the darkness  seemed to fall from off him, to use a homely simile, like water from a duck’s back.  

“Having, climbed over the edge of the cliff on to its top, he lay down and stretched his  arm down into the darkness. It vanished up to the shoulder; but gradually he withdrew it,  and soon we saw his hand grasped that of another. The newcomer’s hand was not bright  and shining like his, but dark and dirty, with a pallid, unhealthy tinge.  

“Soon there struggled up beside him, slowly and painfully, a most miserable object.  His eyes were covered with a kind of bandage. He fell to the ground beside his guide,  who rose to his feet and gently helped him to rise. 

“The newcomer wore a dark grey ragged garment, which was covered with stains, and  seemed to have, as it were, patches of darkness still clinging to it. His hands and face  were also stained and dirty.  

“‘Oh, this terrible light,’ he moaned. ‘I can see it even through this bandage’  (To us it was a very murky light, most like that seen in a London fog.)  “‘How foul his clothes are!’ I said to P. 

“‘To us, yes; but if he could see them they would to him appear unwontedly clean,’  said P. ‘I expect to you your clothes appear quite clean?’  

“‘Yes’ I replied.  

“‘Well, I can see many stains on them, and I have no doubt to my guide mine also  appear foul.’  

“I felt very humbled by this remark and remained silent.  

“P. stepped forward and, taking the newcomer by the hand, said, ‘Welcome. I am  happy indeed in being allowed to greet you on your entrance into this new realm.’ 

Gone West 38 

“‘Is that you, my master?’ said the other. ‘It is indeed good of you to come and  welcome me.  

But this light is terrible. I long for the darkness again!  

“‘Oh, that will soon affect you less. This is a friend at mine who has come to welcome  and help you and he signed to me.  

“I took the other hand of the man, whom henceforth I shall call by the name of The  Officer, by which you already know him.  

“We led him slowly down the slope and then seated ourselves on the ground. Here he told  me who he was on earth (which I have repeated to you briefly) and something of his life  in Hell. The latter I shall not give you now, as he will give it himself in due course. We  stayed like this for a long time; it seemed equal to several days, but at length, when he  had told us much about himself, his guide spoke.  

“‘By telling your evil life and something of what you have suffered, you have made it  possible for your eyes to bear the light without the bandage’  

“He then removed it, and the officer sank to the ground and covered his eyes with his  hand.  

“My guide then spoke ‘We must now return.’  

“‘What of the officer?’ I inquired.  

“‘He will follow us, but more slowly. He cannot fly yet, but will have to climb painfully  up to us.’  

“We then rose in the air. P. and I, in what seemed no time, were back in these now  familiar surroundings. I gather from the officer, who arrived a short time later (it seemed  like a few days), that he had had to cross a kind of stony desert which mounted up to a  range of hills. When he had climbed to the crest of these, he found they sloped down but  slightly towards a plain, and that plain was where we dwell.  

“While crossing this plain, he was haunted by the most awful visions of his former evil  life, similar to, but far more intense and terrible than, those I saw and suffered from. His  guide came to him but rarely, and though to us we seemed to have parted from him but a  few days, as it were, to him it seemed years. The visions haunt him even as they do me,  but far more fiercely, and as yet they are still in the nightmare state which I described as  assailing me at first. They have not yet sorted themselves out, as they did for me. He has,  therefore, of course not yet started going to school. In short, he is only just in our realm.  “This now enables you to understand the spiritual condition of the three persons who are  trying to communicate with you from here. I feel that you cannot realize how intense all  these experiences are. For example, the awful horror of that darkness I cannot convey to  you, and even if I did, you could not convey it to others on earth. It was a horror which  seemed to choke and freeze me. It was awful beyond measure.” 

Gone West 39 

Chapter XVI  

Guardian Angels  

H. J. L. (continued). “Now, is there any point you wish to raise? “  

J. W. “This is the third time I have seen this landscape, but I have never seen your  guide. Is he never with you when I am here? “  

H. J. L. ‘Not always, but he is here at times. He is now. — Oh, my guide and friend,  open his eyes still wider.” Then something was placed over my eyes for a moment, and I  could see nothing. The “something” was removed, and, behold, I could see more clearly.  Behind H. J. L. stood a great spirit form made of light. His robes kept changing color and  seemed to run through all the colors of the rainbow. He was far taller than H. J. L, and  large in proportion, being perfectly made. He was at least three times as large as H. J. L.,  and his face was more beautiful than any Greek sculpture — strong, noble, well-cut  features — there was nothing feminine about it. Yet it was a kind, as well as a strong face.  It was a face that was neither old nor young. Nor did it seem to have color (e.g. brown  hair) as we understand it, but rather to be a figure of golden light. Yet there was both hair  on the head and beard, majestic and flowing. No words can describe the majesty and  beauty of this being. I can quite understand whence the ancients drew their inspirations  for their gods. Then I thought, “This is doubtless an angel,” and I looked instinctively for  his wings, but he had none.  

“Have I not a guide?” I inquired.  

Like the tones of a great bell rang out the word “Behold!” Then I saw that behind me  was another great spirit of light. Now, though in general aspect he resembled the guardian  angel of H. J. L., I perceived that I knew this spirit. His face seemed hauntingly familiar.  Yet it was an extraordinarily mobile face, the same, yet ever-changing, never for an  instant exactly the same, and yet always retaining certain characteristics. It was different  too, markedly, from the guide of H. J. L. I knew this being of light. I felt almost as if I had  seen him in my dreams, but that the dreams had been forgotten. He, too, had a beard, but  not so long as that of H. J. L.’s guide, and, like him, was of far more than human size.  Light seemed to emanate from his whole body. He raised his hand, and that same glorious  bell like voice spoke.  

“Enough! It is not well that you should see more!”  

Again the hand (for so I now perceived it to be) was placed over my eyes, and when it  was removed I could see only H. J. L. and the landscape.  

“We must part now,” he said, and, rising, floated away from me. I stood looking at the  beautiful landscape, lost in contemplation. Gradually I became aware of a sensation of  something pulling me. In spite of strong resistance on my part, I felt myself drawn  backwards as if by an invisible cord. Step by step I seemed to move uphill and away from  the stream, then there was darkness. When I next became conscious, I was back in my  house. 

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Chapter XVII  

Blanche Sees H. J. L. and Molly  

CLAIRVOYANT APPEARANCE OF H. J. L. TO BLANCHE  

AND J. W. AT 6 P.M., MARCH 3RD 

While at tea Blanche suddenly said, “ Why, there’s Granddad! “  

“Show him to me,” I said. “I can’t see him.”  

She went to the dining-room window, the one looking east, and said, “I shan’t show him  to you, or he’ll go away.”  

While we were talking I began to perceive something some distance away, and soon saw  H. J. L. I asked Blanche what she saw, as I saw him. She said he was in a room typing,  that Rosy Dawn (the little girl) was playing on the floor.  

“Now she’s going out at the door carrying her doll. Why, there’s a brown poodle with  her! “  

“Yes,” I said, “it’s Molly. Don’t you recognize her?”  

“Yes, its Molly, mother,” she cried. The vision grew faint and faded away. I saw exactly  the same as she did, but H. J. L. had his back towards me, and was certainly doing  something with his hands, but I don’t think it was typewriting. The child had seen her  other grandfather typing, and not knowing what H. J. L. was doing, interpreted his action  by that of my father’s. This vision was different from other appearances to me of H. J. L.  It was at a distance, and appeared, as she said, to be in the sky. All others have been near  to me. Only on Monday I had said to C. W., “I wish I could be present next time B. says  she sees anything.” I think this was the answer. 

Gone West 41 

Chapter XVIII  

Men Are Self-Judged  

TRANCE CONVERSATION WITH H. J. L. DURING  

NIGHT OF MARCH 9th 

I found myself in a forest glade, and seated beside me was H.J.L. He said:  “I think it would be as well at this point to clear up once and for all the exact  relationship of Faith and works.  

“Faith must be shown forth in works. If a man really believes the teaching of Christ,  for example, he will strive to follow it out in his life.  

“A man who says with his lips that he believes that teaching and then goes on day by  day breaking all the moral laws that Christianity teaches is simply a humbug.  “I do not mean by this the man who, though he strives, often gives way to temptation.  For that man there is the realm which I call the realm of belief without acts; but I do mean  the hundreds of professing Christians who make no attempt to carry out Christ’s teaching,  the men who go to church regularly on Sunday and spend the week in cheating and lying  and so forth.  

“These go to Hell. They have not believed, and their evil life proves it.”  J. W. “Wherein, then, does this differ from being judged solely by our acts?”  H. J. L. “Firstly, the word judged is misused. It implies that someone outside  

ourselves judges us. This is not so; we stand self-condemned. Our spirit cannot rise to  higher realms than those for which it has fitted itself. There is no necessity to enforce any  law, for the law is self-acting. I shall make this point plain if I answer your question. The  difference lies in this. Suppose a complete materialist, one who neither believes in God  nor in a future life, and one who does his best to dissuade others from believing in these  essentials. This man may be a real philanthropist, actuated by a noble desire to promote  the material well-being of his fellow-men. This man dies. How can he come even to the  realm of half-belief? His spiritual body has never been developed. He could not bear the  light. He must develop this spiritual body and lose the materialistic ideas before he can  possibly come to us. No hard judge dooms him to Hell. He goes there naturally of his own  accord. Like attracts like. His lack of faith bars him out from all realms in which faith is  an essential element of existence.  

“He goes therefore to division five of Hell; but, though there was no love of God,  there was of his fellow-men, and this will save him from sinking lower and help him to  desire to rise.  

“Once the desire to progress in spiritual matters does appear, that progress will  probably be sure and continuous; but unfortunately the materialistic mind remains  materialistic after death. Often it denies that it is dead, and considers its psychic or its  spiritual body to be a physical body, so that it is still alive on earth. Even when it realizes  it has passed through death, it may still deny there is a God and refuse to listen to any  who could teach it. Thus it will remain in Hell.  

“Nevertheless the number of good materialists is far smaller than most people would  suppose. Even on earth many a man who outwardly poses as a materialist in his heart of  hearts really believes and comes to our realm.  

“Further, after death such a man usually remains for a considerable time in his  psychic body, and the conditions of life on that plane (i.e. the astral) soon convinces most  men of some at east of the most elementary spiritual truths.  

“While on the subject of the psychic body, let me draw your attention to the fact that  you have misunderstood the seventh plane in my chart. You have understood it as the  earth on which you are now living.” 

Gone West 42 

“It is really the earth plane, and can be separated broadly into the division of the  incarnate and of the discarnate spirits.  

“The former are of course yourselves, the latter the earth-bound, and also a crowd of  other organisms, such as elementals, empty psychic bodies, and so forth. The dead man  first passes through this stage, and only when he has dropped his psychic body can his  spiritual body enter the sixth plane, even Hell.  

“I was but a brief space in it, and must have dropped my psychic body almost before I  realized I had one. I believe it took place as soon as the bedroom gave way to this  beautiful scenery.  

“The officer, however, spent a long time in the psychic body, and has a very clear  recollection of dropping it.  

“I hope I have now made plain the relation between faith and conduct.  “Now go to sleep,” and, standing in front of me (J. W.), he made a number of passes,  and I sank into oblivion.

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Chapter XIX  

The School for the Regenerate in Hell  

TRANCE VISION  

Monday, March 16th, 1914.  

I seemed to be rushing through space at a tremendous speed, and then I found myself  standing beside H. J. L. We were standing on a hillside, and below me, among the trees; I  saw the towers and roof of a large building. It had quads and open grounds round it like a  college.  

“What is that building?” I asked.  

“That is the college in which I at present live. It is the form of the building which was  Queen’s, Oxford, before the present classical building was put up.”  

J. W. “Can I go and look over it?”  

H. J. L. “Perhaps at another time, but not now. I wish to tell you about my  experiences in the schools of Hell.  

“I was first taken to the schools of those who have progressed from the lower depths  of Hell. You remember my chart?”  

J. W. “Yes, I remember there were two divisions of the topmost division, the one you  mention and the babes’ school. I have seen a vision of the latter.”  

H. J. L. “Well, I went first to the other schools, but have since been to the babes’  school.  

“My guide said, ’It is well that you should go to see the work in the schools’  “Next moment we were standing on the bare rocky ground, as real to us as the earth world is to you. Again before us rose that terrible wall of darkness; but there was this  difference — that at one place a rough track seemed to be worn away which led into the  darkness.  

“‘How was it,’ I inquired, ‘that the officer did not come out by this route? It is far  easier than the way by which he emerged.’  

“‘The road into Hell is always easy,’ my guide replied, ‘the road out of Hell is always  hard. This you should surely know.’  

“‘Shall we have to climb up that awful precipice?’  

“‘No, we go down into Hell, but do not become part of Hell. Hell is a state, not a  place, and thus, though we perceive others in that state, and perceive also the evil  atmosphere they draw around them, we do not ourselves partake of that state. In this  world, where thoughts and forms are as real as the physical is on the earth, we can only  feel the evil effects of Hell by becoming part of it. That, unfortunately, is possible. Many  a soul who has come here with the desire to do good has fallen and become a part of Hell,  just as on earth men who go to work among the fallen, alas! may be led astray by those  whom they come to save. If that should happen to you, then you would be unable to  return by this road, and would have to climb up the precipice!  

“I became afraid and cried, ‘Don’t go. Let me not risk it. I am safe where I am.’  “But he answered, ‘Here there is no standing still. You must progress either upwards  or downwards, and this journey must be taken. But fear not, am I not with you?  Moreover, spirits do not fall in this division of Hell. Here the worst is past. It is when  they go down to the lower divisions of Hell that the danger arises’  

“Thus encouraged, we began to descend the path, and the dread darkness closed over  us.  

“For a moment I felt appalled, but the firm grip of my guide’s hand gave me strength  and encouragement. Then I began to perceive that from him, and to a lesser extent from 

Gone West 44 

me, there flowed out a kind of light which enabled us to proceed along the path, though  we were unable to see much on either side at any distance.  

“Suddenly we were aware of a great building set right across our path, and we found  that the road we were walking upon ran under a doorway into it. There was no way round  it, for on either side I found the walls of rock towered up and were absolutely unscaleable.  “‘What is this place’ I inquired.  

“‘Enter and see’ replied my guide.  

“We entered the archway, and it seemed as if our presence was already known, for at  once a door opened and we passed into a covered courtyard.  

“What a dazzling light! After the awful darkness through which we had passed, I felt  dazed for a moment, but soon I was able to realize everything.  

“Around me were tall buildings on four sides, rather like a great college quad, except  that it was much higher and there was a roof instead of open sky.  

“There appeared to be several stories, for there were several rows of windows, and  from every one of these a soft light shone. Some light, too, seemed to come from the  building itself: I mean from its very walls.  

“Then I noticed a spirit standing by the door. I knew at once that he was of the same  nature as I myself, though more advanced: I mean he was not like my guide who is far  above me.  

“I therefore inquired of him, ‘What is this building?’  

“He replied, ‘It is a house of refuge, a school and a guard-house combined. One might  call it “a missionary clearing house.” To us come down from the realms above spirits who  desire to help the unfortunate beings in Hell. Back to us come those messengers of Hope  who have been down to Hell. To us come all those who, having begun to progress, need  helping upwards; and, finally, hither come those who need only to be taught, that they  may leave Hell altogether for the realm above.  

“‘Besides these duties, we also bar the way, so that none of the inhabitants of Hell  may attempt to reach the realm above save by the hard path which is ordained for them.  The road you have trod is for those beings in that realm who desire to do good in. Hell, or  such as you, who are brought here by their guides to enable them to learn about Hell.  There are other rest-houses scattered along the paths which lead out of Hell, to which  those who desire to progress may go, but this is the great clearing house, or perhaps I  might call it the base of supplies for a large number of these houses of refuge.  Have I made myself dear?’  

“‘Perfectly,’ I (H. J. L.) replied. ‘This house sends out men to relieve those in charge  of these “houses of rest,” and also those missionaries who try to persuade men to come to  these houses. You further act as the final “house of rest” for those who are about to  attempt the climb up the precipice. But where do the schools come in?’  

“He. ‘Your first remarks are quite correct, but the latter are not so plain.’  “‘All in this part have to pass through the school before they can climb the precipice,  as otherwise they would be hopelessly lost on reaching the top. But before they can attend  the school, they have to be received into the part of the building which is the “house of  rest.” Here they gain spiritual strength as distinct from spiritual knowledge.’  “‘Just as on earth you often have to nourish the children’s bodies before you can teach  them, so here we have to build up their spiritual strength — one might almost say their  spiritual bodies — before attempting to instruct them.’  

“‘Compare our work with that of some of the societies on earth who rescue waifs and  educate them.  

If you add to that the fact that the children are mostly  

crippled, and also mentally afflicted, you will get a  

very fair parallel.’ 

Gone West 45 

“‘At times it is almost heart-breaking, far worse than slumming on earth. Oh, how  bitterly we blame those who should have done this kind of work on earth! A man is much  harder to convert here.’  

“‘Often after a man’s spiritual strength has been developed, we find he is not yet  ready to acquire spiritual knowledge in the school. He sometimes runs away, and is only  brought back after much search and labor. Often, alas! he sinks back for a time into his  old ways, and returns to one of the lower divisions of Hell. Others we have to send out on  journeys, and employ them in various ways till they are ready to learn.’  

“H. J. L. ‘May I go into the House of Rest and see what it is like for myself? ‘I  inquired.  

“My guide replied, instead of the man at the door, ‘Not yet, but you shall at another  time. We will now enter the school. You will find it more in consonance with your  previous knowledge, as you went to the secondary school in the realm above. The House  of Rest would be so unlike anything of which you are as yet aware that you would miss  many things which would be of value.  

“‘After seeing these schools, and also those for the babes, you will be able to  appreciate things more when you come to visit the House of Rest.’  

“We passed through a Late Perpendicular archway, and, as we did so, I realized that  the place was a castle as much as a college. Indeed, I found that there were no external  windows at all, for these would have admitted only darkness, which is here more than the  absence of light, being in itself a tangible thing. 

“The only window was one which served as a light to guide the wanderers outside to  this harbor of refuge. The way this ’light’ was ’trimmed’ will astonish you. The room into  which it opened was the private chapel of the men and women (for there were women  here) who ministered in this place. It was distinct from the chapel for the school or the  one for the House of Rest.  

“This window was behind the altar, and on earth would have been called the east  window. It had, however, no stained, but merely white transparent glass.  “Before this altar the service of the Holy Communion was always being offered up.  No sooner was one service ended than a new priest began a new service, and a fresh body  of worshippers took up the responses. Thus ever, there goes up prayer for the salvation of  those in Hell. Out of the east window, no big one, streams out the light of faith generated  by this ceaseless service of prayer, and intercession.  

“How it is in the other frontier houses, I cannot say for certain, but I gather that some  are in the hands of men who — on earth held other religious views, and in these service of  intercession takes other forms than that I witnessed. Like attracts like, you see, and my  guide naturally took me to the house in which I should find the system most in  consonance with that to which I more or less belonged on earth.  

“Similarly, some souls in Hell are drawn towards salvation by the men who belong to  this house, while others go to those in which Mohammedanism or Non-conformity is  dominant.  

 “But there is no bitterness here. Each house does its work, and helps other houses  when it can. Thus, if a Mohammedan or Nonconformist missionary were to find a man  and help him, if he saw that that man’s spiritual development would be quicker if he went  to the house belonging to the church people, he would take him there. So, too, with the  church missionaries. Moreover, this transference of rescued is constantly taking place.  

“We do not worry about our religious — save the word — differences here. They still  exist to a limited degree, but we know that as we mount higher all that is false will fade,  while only the truth will remain. So we go quietly on our way.  

“This light shining from this solitary window at the top of the building is a beacon of  hope far down into Hell. All the Houses of Rest, even the little ones scattered lower down  in Hell, each has its beacon thus kept ever burning. 

Gone West 46 

“Having entered the building, we passed down a passage and through a door into a  classroom. This was filled with light from the teacher; but what shall I say of the pupils?  Picture the lowest and most degraded men reduced to the size of tiny children.  

Imagine them misshapen and idiots for the most part, with a low, cunning expression  on their wizened faces. This will give you but a faint idea of what I saw. They were ever  trying to play some stupid trick or other either on their neighbors or on the master. In  addition to him, there were two other spirits who stood behind the form while he taught  from the front.  

“These three were needed, firstly, to keep the room sufficiently light, for from each of  the ‘children’ there seemed to exude a kind of darkness which appeared to be burnt up by  the light. Further, they were needed to keep the pupils under control. They did this solely  by a kind of hypnotic power, by the exercise of their will and of their mentality. If for a  moment they relaxed their concentration, at once several of the boys broke out into  disorder.  

“‘This work must be very wearying’ I said to my guide.  

“‘It is,’ he replied. ‘The teachers have to be relieved after a very short spell. That is  why so large a number of spirits are needed even in this single institution.’  “‘Are the girls taught separately?’ I inquired.  

“‘Yes, nearly always. They need women, and these need men. Further, we do not find  it wise to let the sexes mix much here. These are not innocent babes, you must remember.  Though they have the spiritual development of children, they have the memories of  vicious men and women. In the school for the real babes, women almost always teach and  tend them, and we make practically no distinction between the two sexes.’  

“Just then three fresh teachers came in and took the place of those who were in the  room when we entered.  

“We waited for the new lesson to begin. At once a perfect pandemonium broke out,  due to the withdrawal of one group of mental influences, but almost at once the  newcomers by the simple power of their will had reduced the rebels to submission.  “‘There is no room for weak disciplinarians here,’ I remarked.  

“‘You mean for men of weak will. No, and there is very little room for them  anywhere over here. If a soul is weak-willed when it comes, it has to develop its will  power at once; it will make no real progress till it does. That is one of our most difficult  problems in these schools. Most of these fallen ones are pitiably weak-willed, though  passionate enough.’  

“Then the lesson began. It was similar in its methods to that under which I learnt at  my school, but what a difference in the subject matter! The truths their instructor tried to  teach them were the simple, elementary, and obvious truths which we learn when we are  children on earth. To these unfortunate creatures, however, they seemed terribly hard.  Patiently he went over the same things again and again, but many seemed quite unable to  grasp any ideas at all.  

“‘It must take an endless age to teach some of these,’ I said to my guide.  “‘Almost endless’ he replied. ‘There are some who have been here for thousands of  years as you reckon time. They have even lost their memories’  

“‘But what good does it do if they are so hopeless as that?’  

“‘All the time’ he replied, ‘they are learning discipline, and that is much. Sooner or  later they will learn other things. There is always hope; and time — what is it? It is an  invention of men on earth which, fortunately, has never reached here. This is some of the  finest work done in this Land of the Undying, but it is very exacting work.’  

“‘We will now visit the girls’ class: really, of course, they are degraded women who  are striving to make progress, but they are harder to control than the boys.’  “As he spoke we left the room, and, passing along several long passages, came to  another classroom. 

Gone West 47 

“On entering this, I found it was a class of girls, with three women teachers; but I had  hardly time to take it all in before a tremendous uproar broke out, and several little girls  rushed up to me. Now, although I usually like children, I felt an instinctive shrinking from  these vicious women in their immature Bodies. I felt there was nothing really childlike in  them. 

“I tried to shake them off, but they clung so close that I thought I should never be able  to get away from them. But the school-mistresses, having by now reduced the others to  order, at length fetched away those who were clinging to me.  

“‘You see how strong still their old vicious habits are, and how weak their wills. Your  entrance has completely upset them merely because you are a man.’  “‘It is terrible,’ I replied. ‘But how do you manage to keep them here at all? Do you  do it by force? For their wills are so weak that they cannot possibly keep even to the idea  of progressing for long.’  

“He replied, ‘No force, as you understand the word, is employed, but, at the same  time, we exert all our influence to keep them on the right path. Their very weakness helps  us once we have got them here. They find it very difficult to make up their minds to go  away, and so remain and learn. Still, of course, some do go back to wallow in the mire.’  

“I noticed that the mistress was unable to make much progress owing to our presence,  which distracted the little girls’ attention. I was therefore not surprised when my guide  said:  

“‘We will be going. You have seen enough now.’  

“After leaving this classroom, we went up many flights of stairs till we at length  reached the top story. Here we entered the chapel, and the light of faith was so intense  that I could only bear it for a very short time. As I have already described to you what  happens there, I shall not do so again.  

“Soon after we left the House of Rest and toiled, slowly up the road by which we had  entered Hell.  

“Once back on the ground above and out of that horrible darkness, we rested for but a  short time, and then seemed to be wafted through the air in an instant back to this part of  our realm.  

 “Now,” said H. J. L., “I must be leaving you.” He rose and floated away, and  gradually the landscape became dark and indistinct. Then I sank into oblivion. 

Gone West 48 

Chapter XX  

He Visits the School for the Babes Who Knew Not Faith  

LETTER FROM H. J. L.  

March 21st, 1914.  

“A short time after the visit to the school of those who are progressing, I was taken to  the school of the babes.  

“Again I went down a kind of road with my guide into the darkness, and as before  found a building right across it. On entering this I found a courtyard, not so high as the  other one, but much larger. In it were all manner of trees and flowers, and a pretty  sparkling fountain. Here numbers of children were playing about.  

“These were far different from those I had seen before. Their young baby faces  corresponded to their immature bodies. They were like earth children for the most part,  and — not like those men in the form of children whom I had seen on my last visit to  Hell. These were they who had never sinned —, but not having any knowledge of God or  Faith, have to learn of these, and as they learn their little spiritual bodies develop until it is  time for them to pass on to the realm of half-belief, when they go to the secondary  schools. Rosy Dawn is an example, and well known to you.  

“Now this school was under the control of Sister Maria, who has often spoken  through you, and as she has given you many details, I shall not repeat them, only adding  what I consider necessary to complete the picture.  

“I should add that I had particularly asked to be taken to this school rather than any  other, as Rosy Dawn had come from it, and also Sister Maria.  

“On entering one of several doors which opened into the quad, I found we were in a  kind of crèche, where all the immature and premature children went. “‘How soon may it be said that a soul comes into existence when a child is  conceived?’ I inquired. ‘It is evidently not at birth.’  

My guide replied, ‘Even I cannot tell you the precise moment when the soul enters the  fleshy home which clothes it, but it is extraordinarily early. As soon as the germ has  definitely ceased to be a germ and has begun to grow into a human body, a soul enters it.  But we do not know how God performs this wonder. That is hid, even from us to whom  much is plain. Of this at least you can be sure – that long before the child “quickens,” a  soul has become enshrined in it.’  

“I now directed my attention to the scene around me, and saw that the creche was full  of gentle, sweet-faced women who watched over the little immature atoms. We passed to  other rooms, and found that in each new one the babes were more advanced than in the  last. At length we reached a long room with a table down the middle. This was the one  you saw in the mirror, and I gathered it was the ‘top form’ of the school.  

“Here I met Sister Maria, whom I greatly liked, but found she was so much more  spiritual than I that it was difficult to keep in touch with her. ‘Do you have a chapel with  continuous service?’ I asked.  

“‘Oh yes’” she replied... ‘“Work and pray.” You know the old monastic proverb.’  “My guide spoke: ‘There is no arrangement here for the light from the chapel being  sent out like a beacon, as in the other house. This is not a House of Refuge, and no lost  souls from Hell come here to pollute this happy spot. The children are borne here by their  guides or guardian angels, who, though they have no work to do on earth, yet have the  same sort of work as any of us here. Generally, if possible, a relative of the “dead” child  is brought, if suitable, to mother it; but, alas, many have no such relatives here. They (the  relatives) are often too evil to be permitted to help. No evil thing is admitted within these  walls, although it stands in Hell. 

Gone West 49 

“‘Here, you see, there is no need to have separate religious houses. These children  carry no pre-conceived ideas of religion with them, and have nothing to unlearn. This is  but one of the many points in which they differ from the others. Hence here we find  Roman Catholics, Churchmen, and Nonconformists all joining in the good work.’  “I. ‘And who are the women who do this work?’  

“He. ‘Except those who are related to the children, they are those who, loving  children much, yet for some reason had none, or lost them in early childhood.’  “I perceived that even these children had their little naughty ways as on earth, though  to a less degree.  

“My guide said: ‘this must be so. If they were incapable of evil, where would free will  be? But it will never develop to any considerable extent here, and soon will vanish as they  progress. You, too, can sin after death, but whereas theirs is the seed of evil, yours — is  the fruit, and now difficult to destroy. Now let us away.’  

“So again I scaled the path which leads out of Hell.  

“Good-bye! — H. J. L.” 

Gone West 50 

Chapter XXI  

He Visits the Great House of Refuge in Hell  

TRANCE VISION AND CONVERSATION DURING NIGHT 

OF 23RD MARCH 1914  

I found myself standing beside H. J. L. on an expanse of open down. He said: _  “I have recently been to see the House of Refuge. You will remember that I was not  allowed to see over that at first? “  

J. W. “Yes, I remember perfectly.”  

H. J. L. “Well, having come down through the darkness by a road such as those I have  previously described, but not the same as either, I entered the roofed — in courtyard as  before. There was a school here also, but this time I crossed the quad at an angle, and  passing under a Classical or Renaissance doorway, entered a passage. I should say that  this building was in the Renaissance, not the Perpendicular, style.  

“From the passage we passed through a door into a large room which was empty save  for a few couches and a table in the centre.  

“My guide spoke:  

“‘This room forms the anteroom for the school. Those spirits who are ready to be  taken in are admitted here. They are often very weak, and at first are placed under the  guidance and control of a special teacher. He or she watches over them for the whole  time, and only after awhile are they deemed sufficiently strong to attend the proper  

classes. They need individual attention at first.’  

“‘Are they kept here for the whole time?’  

“‘No. This is the room which connects up school and refuge home. It’s a sort of  isolation ward. After a time, as soon as they are strong enough to get about properly, they  are taken to a sort of study, one for each pupil and his teacher. See!’  

“He led me out of the room into the corridor and through a doorway opposite. Here I  found a much smaller room, and in it was a bright male spirit and on a couch a small  misshapen child. The bright spirit was playing on a harp a beautiful soothing hymn.  

“‘Music soothes pain, and that unfortunate one is suffering terrible mental pain,’ said  my guide.  

“We entered another ‘study,’ and here another exhausted spirit was being treated.  “‘What is he doing?’ I asked, indicating the bright spirit who was making signs over  the body of the patient.  

“My guide replied, ‘He is lending him some of his magnetic fluid. The patient is weak  in will-power, and this spirit is treating him. The method is analogous to that of the  magnetic-healer on earth.’  

“We then returned to the ‘anteroom’ and passed through a door at the opposite end.  This led into the House of Refuge proper.  

“We found ourselves in a kind of hospital ward. There were no bedclothes on the  beds, if so I can call them, and on these lay tiny children. Now the most extraordinary  thing about it was that the children who were nearest the door through which we had  entered were by far the most active and strong; yet they were the smallest. As we moved  towards the opposite end of the dormitory, where there was another door, I noticed that  the children grew larger and larger, but at the same time they seemed more flabby, dark,  and indistinct.  

“My guide said, ‘I will explain this difficulty to you. These spirits when in Hell  appeared tall — fixed and strong. The more evil they were the stronger they were. Their  spiritual bodies were made of evil and darkness, just as ours are of goodness and light. 

Gone West 51 

When, however, they begin to repent and come here, the evil principle within them  grows weaker and weaker, and as it does so the real spiritual body develops slowly.  “‘Thus at first these rescued spirits grow weaker and weaker, and then they become  “as little children” in very truth. Once this has happened, they are able to go on to the  school where they begin to grow again, though often very slowly.’  

“I asked, ‘But where do they get this element of light from which the spiritual body  develops’  

“He replied, ‘Even in Hell men retain some little spark of spiritual truth. They cannot  help it, for it is implanted by God. It is the Divine element in all, which, however much it  may be submerged, can never be quite extinguished. Even in Hell men learn in spite of  their evil will. Thus they learn that death does not end life; often they wish it did.  

“‘Once they begin to grow better, they grow weaker, and so Hell becomes more and  more hateful to them. For in Hell the strongest is he who is most wicked and the strongest  oppresses and cruelly ill-treats those who are weaker than he, and there is no death to  intervene’  

“‘Is there pain, then, in Hell?’ I inquired.  

“‘Yes; only it is mental and spiritual suffering, but to the souls there it is as real as  physical suffering is on earth, just as here the earth on which we stand, though immaterial  to the physical world, seems real and material to us. Yes, they suffer, but no friendly  death comes to end the anguish of the wretched victims.  

“‘The old descriptions of Hell, though to the modern world they seem gross and  materialistic, in reality were not so very inaccurate. They were rough-hewn and couched  in materialistic language, but much of the apparent materialistic detail is due to two facts:  firstly, that to the spirit these experiences seem as materialistic as men’s do to them;  secondly, many of the finer distinctions made by the spirits have failed to penetrate the  medium’s brain, whereas the more materialistic obtained a ready reception.’  

“I. ‘Then there were mediums long ago through whom spirits in Hell could send  messages’  

“‘Certainly. And, further, at times men who were still alive have been able to visit  these realms when their bodies were in a trance and carry back some recollection of what  goes on here. Dante is perhaps the finest exponent of this kind of revelation.’  

“‘Then Dante’s great work is not the mere figment of his poetic brain based on his  own religious views.’  

“‘No, it is a real revelation seen in the trance state, but molded into its present shape  by the poetic imagination and slightly colored by the preconceived religious views of the  medium. These changes took place when he set to work to put it into literary form. He  had no misunderstanding of the facts immediately after he returned to the normal state.’  “He ceased, and we passed out of the room into another.  

“Here we found the spirits just as they came in from Hell. Rescuers were constantly  arriving, bringing some poor unfortunate being with them. These they handed over to  others, who received them kindly, reasoned with them, and urged them to undergo  ‘medical treatment.’  

“It was not always easy to persuade them to do this, and even while I was there,  several went out of the House of Refuge back to Hell. Perfect freedom is the law here,  and if a man Wishes to be foul, foul he will be.  

“I noticed that the magnetic healing seemed to be very largely employed in this stage,  and the whole air seemed filled with particles of darkness given off by the lost spirits  undergoing treatment. We passed through another door into a comparatively small  anteroom in which various newcomers were waiting, attended by their rescuers, and at the  further end was a great door.  

“As I approached it I was aware of a living terror, awful, intangible; but real, and  knew that it lay beyond that door. As we drew nearer and nearer to it the nameless terror 

Gone West 52 

seemed to grip my soul and numb it. I would have turned and fled, but my guide urged  me to go forward.  

“Now we stood in front of it, and suddenly it was flung open and a rescuer and his  charge sprang in.  

“The terror seemed to flow in with the darkness, and I cowered back against my  guide. Quickly the door closed to; yet in that brief instant I saw quite plainly that the  fugitives had been pursued up to the very door itself, and I heard the wild yell of baffled  fury and hate as the pursuers found themselves kept back by the wall of Good Thoughts,  which they could not penetrate.  

“‘How was it,’ I asked my guide ‘that the pursuers were not able to prevent this man  reaching safety?’  

“‘Each rescuer carries around him a wall of faith and good thoughts, which these evil  spirits cannot penetrate unless he himself makes a breach in it by giving way to any of the  temptations with which they will attempt to lure him back. The poor lost soul, if he really  desires to progress, can, with the permission of the rescuer, pass within this wall and so be  safe. But if the rescuer refuses, he cannot, and if while protected with it he ceases to  desire to progress, he will be at once driven out and so fall a victim to his pursuers.  

“‘Often and often this does happen, and that is why those who take up this work must  be gifted with the greatest patience. After one has striven so hard and risked so much, it is  indeed hard to see the fruits of victory torn from our very grasp.’  

“We turned, and very thankful was I to escape from the proximity of that nameless  terror.  

“‘Are there any hospitals similar to this in the realm of half-belief?’ I inquired.  “‘Yes’ my guide answered, ‘but for a different kind of case. Many people who  suffered from mind troubles on earth come to that realm. They fall into two divisions:  

those whose minds were unable to work, owing to some physical defect, and those whose  minds themselves were affected.’  

“‘The first group also may be subdivided into those whose physical defects, being  present from birth, prevented all development, and those whose minds, having developed,  were suddenly unhinged by some physical accident. These latter need but little treatment;  but the other groups need treatment which, in some cases, measured by earth time, seems  very long.  

“‘You shall see these hospitals at another time’  

“We then quickly passed out of the House of Refuge into the school and on into the  courtyard, thence out of the gateway, and through the darkness out of Hell. Thus ended  this strange lesson.”  

 (J. W.). “It was a very extraordinary experience. Do you think that the smaller  Houses of Refuge scattered through Hell have such elaborate arrangements?”  H. J. L. “No; they are just temporary receiving rooms where the rescued are ‘patched  up’ till they can get to one of these great institutions.  

“Now we must part.”  

He rose and made a sign over me, and I seemed to fall asleep. — J. W. 

Gone West 53 

Chapter XXII  

The Author Visits H. J. L. at College  

TRANCE CONVERSATION, ETC.  

March 30th, 1914.  

I found myself standing on an eminence, and beneath me I could see the towers and  roofs of the college where I knew H. J. L. dwelt. H. J. L. was standing beside me, and  began:  

“Well, Jack, would you like to see over that college?”  

“Yes,” I replied.  

He began to descend the slope, and as we went I said: “Carrie asked me to ask you  whether you could not give her any information concerning the ‘lighter side of life’ on  this plane — your recreations and so forth — for I presume you are not always learning  lessons.”  

H. J. L. “Well, this meeting shall be devoted to that subject. I will show you  something, though, of course, only a glimpse of that side of life here.”  We had now reached the college, and paused in front of the gate. This gate was not in  the centre, as I expected, but towards the south-east corner. I call it by this name, for I  saw the east window of the chapel in the Decorated style over the great gateway and  behind the roof of the first line of buildings. This great gate, instead of a tower, had a  gable roof with the end of the gable towards the quad and the side where we entered. The  roof of the chapel was similarly high-pitched. The east window of the chapel was  apparently in the Decorated style, and over the great gateway were three long windows,  the centre one having a little tracery and one mullion. The entrance to the hall, instead of  being hi the middle of the line of buildings, was at the north-west comer. For the rest, I  need not go into much detail, as in the main it followed the lines of the usual college  building. Having passed through the gate, we crossed the quad at an angle and entered the  hall. 

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Chapter XXIII  

Of Their Amusements and How the  

Spirits Inspire Men on Earth  

“This is a sort of club to which I belong,” H. J. L. explained. Here I found a large  number of men congregated; some were playing chess, and I sat and watched several  most brilliant games played by a man whom H. J. L. stated was Lasker.  

“I doubt if I shall remember these games,” I said; “they are extraordinarily brilliant,  but almost beyond me — even here — and I am sure they would be quite beyond my  comprehension on earth.”  

“Don’t worry about that,” he replied. “You are not intended to remember the actual  games, but only the fact that we do play.”  

After a time we went out and passed through the great gate.  

“I am going to show you another amusement I enjoy,” H. J. L. said.  He took me along a regular street into a square which was built in the style of the  early Renaissance. Passing through a door, I found we were in — what I can only  designate by the name of — an architect’s office. It, however, lacked the general air of  untidiness usually prevalent in such places, and I noticed that models seemed to play a  more important part in the production of designs here than they do on earth. There were,  however, a certain number of drawings to be seen.  

“My partner is away learning a new spiritual truth, so I can’t introduce him to you;  but he was a Frenchman who lived during the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of  the seventeenth centuries. He studied, too, in Italy, so you see he knows a fair amount  about Renaissance architecture. Still, he’s not quite up to date as to modern requirements,  such as drainage arrangements, and that is where I come in. Of course he knows all about  design and ornament, but I help with the more practical work.  

“Here all the arts have reached a far higher stage of excellence than anything of which  you are aware on earth.”  

J. W. “But what good are these designs? Do you build houses here?”  H. J. L. “We can and sometimes do, but most often we endeavor to impress our ideas  upon living men and get them to build them on the material plane. Let me tell you that all  inspiration comes from this side. The works of genius are really the inspirations of the  spirits acting through that man who is really mediumistic. This partly explains why so  many men of genius are of an erratic temperament, and often of an unsatisfactory moral  attitude. Being mediumistic they are liable to fall a victim to undesirable influences —  evil spirits, in fact.”  

J. W. “Do you mean, then, that no great inventions originate on the earth, or does this  statement refer only to artistic inspiration? “  

H. J. L. “ Art, literature, music, even mechanical inventions, are almost always  inspired from this side. Slight improvements and adjustment to enable the great idea to fit  the conditions of earth life are the kind of advances which men make on earth. I hesitate  to say that no great idea was ever invented on the earth, but I know of none, and am sure  that they are very few and far between.  

“This explains in part why it is that progress is so slow in the early centuries of life on  this planet and of late has proceeded at such a rate.  

“Men come over to us with some knowledge and a keen interest in various subjects,  and in these more advanced surroundings they discover new laws, and in the light of this  new knowledge inspire those who are following in their footsteps.  

“All the same, men are often very stupid. We send out a brilliant idea, and the best  parts are often misunderstood by, or fail to penetrate, the denser minds of those still on  earth. Again and again we see our finest ideas reduced to a miserable travesty of their real 

Gone West 55 

selves. As a man gets older, too, he often seems to grow more material, especially if he  has become prosperous. This leads to poorer, or, at any rate, more commonplace work,  for the finer ideas are no longer able to penetrate.  

“Look at this idea for a church — splendid, isn’t it? Renaissance style, but far finer  than anything they’ve got on earth. But my partner had not realized how important  heating and lighting are — I’m correcting that. Still, I don’t suppose even a feeble  imitation of it will ever be built on earth. It’s such a materialistic age that we simply  cannot get our ideas through, and even when we do get a man to produce a colourable  imitation of some really fine inspiration, that man seldom gets the opportunity of carrying  it out, the people who pay being of course far more materialistic — in art matters — than  the artists. That is why the earlier periods, for example, the Middle Ages, were so much  finer — they were less materialistic, and so responded more to our inspirations.”  

J. W. “Then no man on earth deserves the credit of any great idea? The credit is due to  the ‘mighty dead.’”  

H. J. L. “On the contrary, they deserve all the credit they can get, for it means that  they have preserved and developed their higher and spiritual faculties, at any rate on the  artistic or engineering side. This at any rate is something. Even a blackguardly, immoral  man, who seems materialistic on most matters, must have developed his spiritual faculties  to some extent if he is able to receive and carry out fine inspirations sent from this side.”  

J. W. “But you spirits deserve the credit for the ideas themselves. Don’t you feel it a  little unjust that you should get no credit for them?”  

H. J. L. “Not the slightest. Jealousy, like other mortal sins, is left on the threshold of  Hell. We work as an amusement simply for the love of our work. We seek neither fortune  nor fame; the joy of producing good work is the only aim — that and the desire to help  those still on earth.” 

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Chapter XXIV  

Art and Architecture on the Spirit Plane  

“I will now show you some further interests we have here. All the arts flourish here,  and most of the sciences, but, of course, on a far more exalted plane. Let us take painting  first.”  

We stopped in front of a truly splendid building in the Renaissance style; but it would  be impossible for me to describe it, it was so different from anything I have ever seen on  earth.  

H. J. L. “This was designed by my partner. He knew that it would be impossible to get  such a brilliant idea carried out on earth, and so raised it here. It is ’built without hands.’  It is an ‘idea,’ and constructed out of his own ‘mind stuff.’ I’ll explain that a little more  fully later.”  

We entered, and I found that it corresponded to a picture gallery, only much better  arranged than anything we have on earth.  

J. W. “If you have picture galleries, I presume you have museums?”  H. J. L. “We have them, but not so many as you would expect. You see, so far as is  possible, we put ancient art objects to their original use in their original homes —  Egyptian chairs in an Egyptian palace, and Egyptian jewels on their original owners or  makers, for example.  

“New objects of art, created over here, usually remain attached to their creator. But  some spirits invent them for the purpose of being put on exhibition to delight others. For  these there are museums. Similarly, ancient art objects are put in a few museums when on  earth they have been destroyed, while the building to which they belonged still remains.  This only affects objects entirely separate from the building itself: for example, if a  fireplace and paneling were removed from their original building, even though the  structure of the building and the paneling each continued to survive apart, the original  form of the building would have been destroyed on earth and would come here.  

“Now look at the pictures. These are ideas which were too exalted to be impressed  upon any artist upon earth and are therefore here. The majority of the artists here,  however, try to get their ideas — impressed on earthly artists.”  

I then began to look at the pictures. I perceived that not only were they far more  beautiful than anything I had ever seen on earth, but they differed in many ways difficult  to describe. The colors were both more brilliant and yet more harmonious — further,  from them issued a kind of light. Then the pictures seemed to be more in the round,  figures and features seemed to stand put, distance appeared to be really there, and  atmospheric conditions were more truly rendered. There were all kinds of subjects —  landscapes, portraits, dramatic pieces, etc. — but the most interesting and best works  were those dealing with what, for lack of a better word, I will call the highest emotions.  

Thus there was one entitled “The Divine Love.” It depicted a marvelous spirit form,  strong, yet gentle, just, yet merciful. It seemed to be watching over a multitude of human  beings. Now these human beings were divisible into two main divisions — those still in  the flesh, and those who had left their bodies. The difference was clear and unmistakable.  Further, every single figure differed in looks. No two were alike, just as no two persons  on earth are just alike. But though these things were beautiful, the truly marvelous thing  about the whole picture was the expression on the face of the great spirit, and an  atmosphere of “Divine love” which it is impossible to describe.  

After spending some time looking at these marvelous productions we left the gallery,  and passing through a kind of park, entered another gallery.  

H. J. L. “This is a sculpture gallery. Just as in architecture and painting, most artists  try to get their ideas carried out on earth, but some prefer to produce them here.” 

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J. W. “Are those figures made of real marble, or whence do you obtain the stone? “  H. J. L. “We mould and make them out of our own ‘mind stuff’ which takes the form  of marble or bronze, according as we conceive it. We may be said to build them up like a  man does a clay model, but the clay is our own ‘mind stuff.’ I can give you no better  word.  

“Look at this group. The artist thought it would look best in silver, and so you see it is  in that metal.”  

We wandered through these galleries filled with the most sublime conceptions, and  which, like the pictures, defy description, and ultimately passed into a park which was  likewise devoted to the display of sculpture.  

Here were placed monumental works into which architecture often entered. Fountains  and sculptured arches, besides groups of every description, were placed among the most,  ideal surroundings of trees, lawns, and scenery. Water, I particularly noticed, played a  large part in producing most beautiful effects. 

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Chapter XXV  

Music and Drama  

“Now I will take you to the schools of music,” said H.J.L. In these I saw men  composing and playing magnificent symphonies, and one room I entered resembled a  concert-hall, on the stage of which a man was singing.  

“If you have concert-halls, I suppose you have other places of entertainment?” I  inquired.  

H.J.L. “Certainly. We have theaters and so forth, only nothing pertaining to evil is  acted here—that type of play goes to Hell. Our plays here include all that was best and  noblest on earth, together with the production of works composed here. Only good work  comes here; the feeble stuff, even when not actively evil, sinks down to the upper  divisions of Hell.  

“Of course we do not get the most superb spirit productions; these, being too  advanced for us, are restricted to the divisions above us, in which, for the most part, they  are produced.”  

J.W. “But what of works like the plays of Shakespeare?  

These are fine and exalted in many ways, but there are parts which are distinctly  coarse and even immoral.”  

H.J.L. “That difficulty is met by recasting the offending parts. The author himself in  this case, Shakespeare, has recast these parts. In place of the evil parts, passages of far  finer poetry and sentiment have been substituted. Indeed, most are agreed that the new  parts not only fit into the old most perfectly, but often give a meaning to parts that before  were crude or hard to understand.”  

J. W. “Then Shakespeare did write the plays?  

It was not Bacon.”  

H. J. L. “Of course not; but Shakespeare wrote them under inspiration from a band of  spirits, who have since passed on still higher. The very passages of an undesirable nature  were those which Shakespeare himself put in to fill blanks where he had failed to grasp  the higher inspirations sent him.  

“You must understand, however, that it is the portrayal of evil in an attractive light  which is impossible here, but when enacted to show its terrible consequences it becomes  right, proper, and beneficial. Thus we constantly act Othello, and it is only a few coarse  phrases which have been deleted. The plot, terrible as it is, yet is a good one, for it teaches  a valuable lesson. We do not, however, go to the theater to learn such simple spiritual  lessons as that (we have learnt these before we reach this realm), but to see one of the  finest plays ever given to the world enacted before our eyes. It also does good in that it  reminds us of the temptations which beset our fellow-men on earth, and the terrors of Hell  for those who fall.  

This latter prepares us for a sense of pity for those unfortunates who languish in Hell.  These latter considerations, however, are subsidiary. They are, first and foremost,  recreations.”  

J. W. “How do you act the women’s parts, for I haw seen none here?”  H. J. L. “Oh, there are plenty of women here. Look!”  

He led me into a room in which several women were practicing singing in chorus.  Very beautifully they sang, but he hurried me away quickly, and we were soon in a kind  of park, walking beside a river. He resumed the conversation.  

“Yes, there are plenty of women here, but the sexes do not mix much in these realms.  At first they are separated almost completely. It is desirable, as far as possible, to  eliminate the old ideas of sex, ideas right and necessary on earth, but no longer needed  here, otherwise spiritual progress would be rendered almost impossible by the old carnal 

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feelings. Thus it is, of course, true that here there is no marrying and giving in marriage;  but, on the other hand, as the last grains of earthly passion are eliminated, the male and  female spirits begin to draw together again, for each is the complement of the other  spiritually, just as they are on earth physically. The further we progress, the nearer  together the two sexes draw, so that we understand ultimately there comes about a mystic  union in spirit between one man and woman. This is the real spiritual union of which  marriage on earth is a true symbol or sacrament. This consummation, this blending of two  spirit entities, so that each becomes part of the other and yet retains its own individuality,  cannot be fully understood even by us, much less by you. The earth marriage at its highest  and best does give you some faint idea of what we really mean.  

“This spiritual marriage, if so I can call it, takes place at a stage far above us — it may  be in the fifth plane, or even higher. At least this is certain — it does not take place on our  plane. Nevertheless, as we progress, we mingle more and more, first, with members of  our own sex, and then with members of the other sex. It does not necessarily follow that  we always marry spiritually the same woman as we did on earth, but we do marry  someone who is our complement.”  

J. W. “Life here seems to be very much like life on earth.”  

H. J. L. “Like, yet different; very like earth life at its noblest and best. But here there  is no sickness or sin, neither evil nor pain enter here. These are left behind on the  threshold of Hell. There is still some sorrow and repentance for sins now past, but sin, as  on earth you understand the word, can come to us no more.  

“Lack of knowledge there is, and therefore complete satisfaction and rest are — not to  be found here, for one must progress. But deliberate opposition to the will of God is a  thing of the past.  

 “Nothing that is ugly or evil; low or false, can survive here. Therefore, if any  amusement is founded on evil, be it ever so intellectual, it is not found here. So, too,  purely physical amusements cannot be indulged in, since we no longer have physical  bodies.” 

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Chapter XXVI  

Introduction to W. A.  

“Where are you taking me now? “ I inquired.  

H. J. L. “To see my private study and to introduce you to A., who wishes to send a  message by you to M., and, after that, to the officer who wishes to go on with his  description of what he went through in Hell.”  

J. W. “But I have already been here a great while. Surely I ought to be getting back to  my body, otherwise Carrie may wake up and find me unable to move.”  H. J. L. “It is perfectly all right. Though you appear to have been here a long time,  you must realize that there is no real connection between time on earth and here. I don’t  suppose you have been absent from your body for half an hour as you reckon time on  earth. I will see that you are sent back in plenty of time.”  

We passed beneath the great gate of the college, and, turning to the right, passed  through an arch and up a flight of stairs. We entered a room, which I at once recognized  as the one in which I had seen H. J. L. when Blanche also saw him. It was very similar to  a room in a college. There was no fire, and a strange thought occurred to me.  

“Do you have to clean out rooms and dust them here, and, if so, do you have servants  to do that sort of work?”  

H. J. L. “There is no dirt here, nor do we have any means of producing artificial  warmth. The latter would be impossible to produce if we needed it, for heat and cold are  of course spiritual, not physical, things here. It follows that there is no need for servants,  since there is neither dirt to clear away nor food to prepare, neither do we sleep. All the  drudgery of work has vanished with our physical bodies.  

“Now let me introduce you to Mr. A.”  

I saw what appeared to be a very small boy, but on his shoulders was the head of a  grown-up man. It was not that it was large, as on the cartoons one sees, but that it had a  moustache and the expression of a man. His face was ruddy, nose rather fleshy at the end,  hair ordinary brown. The face was inclined to be broad, and the body was distinctly stout,  though not to an inordinate extent.  

I had never met A., but we greeted each other with much cordiality, and he said:  “I asked Mr. L. to let me see you next time you came to visit us, as I wished to send a  message to M.”  

I replied, “I shall be delighted to do my best to give her any message you choose to  send. But first tell me how you are getting on here.”  

He answered, “Well, I’m making progress, but it’s very slow work. You see, I never  developed my spiritual side. I devoted all my attention to my physical and material well being. Then, too, my friendships with women did not do me any real good, as you can  guess.”  

He then proceeded to give me certain private messages. (These I have not published.)  After giving them, he left us.  

When he had gone, I said to H. J. L.:  

“He looks just like a child, except for his face. I suppose that is because he did so  little to develop his spiritual side.”  

H. J. L. “Yes, as I have already explained to you, our spirit bodies grow like our earth  bodies, and if we have not developed our spirit bodies on earth we have to do so after we  arrive here.”  

With some hesitation I inquired, “Is it in my spirit body that I come here?”  “Yes.”  

I continued, “Of what size is my body? Is it very small?” 

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H. J. L. “No, it is very fairly developed. In fact, it appears full grown, about the size  of a man of twenty-one, but not matured beyond that age. That is what you ought to be,  for the spirit body usually develops more slowly than the physical, and of course often it  simply does not develop at all.  

“Ah, here comes the officer.” 

Gone West 62 

Chapter XXVII  

How the College Is Organised, and of Other Like Institutions  

TRANCE VISION ON NIGHT OF APRIL 27th, 1914  

I found myself in H. J. L.’s study. He began, “I think I’ll tell you a little more about  myself.”  

“Yes, I hope you will; it’s quite a long time since you did,” I replied.  “Well, it was necessary to get on with the narratives of the others, and, further, I  wanted to collect and sift further experiences. It would be no use giving you almost the  same experiences over and over again.  

“I propose now to tell you something about this college.  

“There are all manner of institutions here, and societies of almost every description.  Some are devoted to develop one’s spiritual nature, others to helping those less fortunate  than ourselves. Some, again, are composed of kindred spirits bent on making new  discoveries in the same subjects as interested them when on earth, while a fourth group  devote their attention to inspiring men with new facts they have discovered or developed  here.  

“Indeed, I could devote the whole of this meeting to merely mentioning the various  types of societies that exist here, but instead I will give you a few details of the four types  just mentioned and a fuller description of an actual society, this college, which belongs to  one of these types.  

“Omitting No. 1 for the moment, as the college and the secondary schools belong to  it, I will take Nos. 2, 3, and 4.  

“No. 2 includes various societies devoted to rescuing souls in Hell, and also others  which endeavor to help men still on earth to keep on the right path.  

“The bands of spirits who organize the Houses of Refuge in Hell are a good example  of this type.  

“No. 3 includes many societies bent on working out scientific laws and principles of  art, architecture, medicine, music, and so forth.  

“I belong to a society of Renaissance architects who are bent on evolving new ideas  without departing too far from the underlying principles of the Renaissance architecture.  “No.4 is the corollary of No.3, as No. 2 is of No. 1; but many of the spirits who are in  No. 3 do not care about inspiring mortals with their discoveries. Sometimes this is  because they are simply no longer interested in the earth, but often it is because they have  discovered by painful experience that either their ideas become but the merest travesty of  the original when impressed upon the minds of men, or, far worse, they are taken and  devoted to evil instead of to useful purposes. Thus good ideas of art are extremely liable  to suffer the former fate, while scientific or engineering ideas, being in some measure  more mundane, are often properly grasped, but at the same time turned to evil uses by the  perverse nature of men.  

“Thus it is that a large body of spirits refuse absolutely to pass on their discoveries to  men. The result is that many societies belonging to group three impose the rule that no  discovery made by any member of the society while a member may be communicated  either to a mortal or to any spirit who is a member of any society in group four.  

“Not all societies, however, impose this rule, but leave it to the choice of the member  whether or not he shall belong to a society in group four. All, however, abstain, as  societies, from inspiring men. This work is left in the hands of group four.  

“I may as well add that medical societies are particularly numerous in group four.”  J. W. “Do you always belong to a society if you wish to inspire? Can’t individuals do  this work quite as well by themselves?” 

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H. J. L. “It could be done, but not as well. In practice we find that it is better to have a  society, though often quite a small one.  

“Now about this college. It is under the control of a ‘Master’ who has a second in  command. Then, to assist them, there is a committee with a chairman.”  J. W. “Like a Freemasons’ lodge — a master, senior and junior warden.”  H. J. L. I don’t know much about Freemasons, but that’s rather the idea. The members  of this college consist of three divisions, and we are promoted from the first to the second,  and from the second to the third, according as we learn the great spiritual truths.  “From the third or highest division the committee is elected. The various officers are  chosen by the head of the college from this committee.”  

J. W. “It’s really rather like a Freemasons’ lodge with its three degrees, and so on.”  H. J. L. “Very likely. Probably the idea was inspired from this side. Still, it’s a very  natural arrangement, and somewhat similar to college on earth with its first-, second-, and  third-year men and its fellows.”  

J. W. “Have you anything corresponding to an examination?”  

H. J. L. “Not really. What happens is that our teachers, when they consider we have  learnt all that is to be learnt in that degree, if so you like to call it, send us on to the next  set of teachers.  

 “On entering this new degree we are received with a certain amount of ceremony.  These divisions, you quite understand, have nothing to do with the divisions of this plane.  We are still in the division of half-belief even when in the third degree in our college.  That’s why I rather jumped at the word degree to avoid confusion.”  J. W. “Which degree are you in?”  

H. J. L. “Still in the lowest, but I hope soon to be promoted to the next. Now it is time  you returned.”  

J. W. “Why, I have only been here quite a short time!”  

H. J. L. “Nevertheless, you’ve been here long enough.”  

I seemed to be caught up by a whirlwind and to be swept out into space. Everything  became black. I appeared to be whirling round in great circles which steadily grew less  and less. Then I lost consciousness.  

— J. W. 

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Chapter XXVIII  

A Hospital on the Spirit Plane  

TRANCE VISION, ETC., MAY 4th, 1914  

I found myself in H. J. L.’s room. He began, “I went to see one of our mental  hospitals recently.”  

J. W. “Hospitals! I thought you said there was no pain here. You said it was left on the  threshold of Hell.”  

H. J. L. “Nor is there any pain. Still, some spirits come here whose minds have for  long been clouded, and these need treatment.  

“Mental cases may be roughly divided on earth as follows: —  

“I. Idiots.  

“II. Lunatics. 

The latter fall into at least three divisions: —  

“1. Lunacy caused by physical defects,  

(a) early,  

(b) late in life.  

“2. Lunacy caused by evil life, or at least evil passions.  

“3. Lunacy caused by religious mania and such kindred mental disturbances and lack  of balance, e.g. excessive sorrow.  

“With regard to idiots (No. I). The cause is some kind of physical defect, and its result  is that the individual to a greater or less extent comes here ignorant and in need of  teaching. The less knowledge they possess, the lower they will start. If they have no  knowledge even of God and a future life, they will go to the topmost division of Hell.  You remember, however, there is no real suffering there. There they will be taught in  special schools, not with either the babes or the evil souls who are progressing.  

“Some idiots, however, have been able to acquire some knowledge of God and a  future life, and may come to us. Contrariwise, they may have sufficient intelligence to be  responsible for turning their back on faith, but these are rare.  

“The whole of this group, however, owe their mental difficulty to some physical, not  spiritual defect, and therefore, once clear of the physical, need teaching, but not medical  treatment in any form.  

“Group II, the lunatic, includes (a) and (b). In the case of the former, it all depends  what stage of spiritual development they had attained before the physical defect occurred  which rendered them insane. In the case of those thus afflicted in early life, it is probable  that they will have to go to the ‘elementary’ schools in the seventh division of Hell,  though; of course, they may know enough to enter our realm and go to the secondary  schools. In all probability, however, they will not have had time to commit many sins for  which they will have to undergo penance.  

“Those afflicted later will have had time alike to acquire knowledge and therefore  faith, and some time to do evil for which they will have to suffer. Their spiritual  development, in short, will be that which they had reached when the insanity came upon  them.  

“Of course many so-called lunatics, even when lunacy is due solely to a physical  defect or injuries, are not completely lacking in responsibility for their deeds. Often only  part of the brain is affected, and in that case they may appear normal except on one or two  points. These shades of insanity are settled automatically. The spirit feels no need of  remorse for offences it had no intention of committing, and for which it cannot be  responsible. It, of course, regrets any evil that may have been caused by its being unable  to control its body, just as a motorist would grieve if his motor ran away and hurt 

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someone, but that would not be the sense of moral guilt which would attach to him if the  accident was due to his racing.  

“Of course there is no possibility of pretence here.  

“This type of lunatic takes up his education at the point at which the accident occurred  which deprived him of his reason. He will suffer for his misdeeds also up to that point,  and after, so far as he was responsible.  

“Mental treatment will not be necessary generally in these cases, merely education.  “Before passing to the next group, let me remind you that many so-called maniacs are  really unfortunate beings who are obsessed by other spirits. For the crimes committed by  these through the maniac’s physical organism the unfortunate man is, of course, not  responsible directly. He may, however, have to suffer here for them indirectly, in so far as  it was his evil life that allowed an evil spirit to take control.  

“When the responsibility goes so far as invoking evil spirits to aid him in his  nefarious purposes, as did the ancient wizards, the moral guilt is tremendous. This is  indeed one of the worst crimes possible, for which mental derangement is but the  commencement of retribution. — This type of obsession naturally leads us to consider the  cases 2 and 3.  

“2. Lunacy caused by evil life or at least passion. This group very largely goes to  Hell, but of course not all. It is these latter who chiefly need treatment in our hospitals as  well as ordinary education. Spiritual pride and even commonplace conceit are potent  factors for rendering people insane as well as the more obvious vices, such as drink and  lust.  

“These sufferers must not be confused with the cases of obsession just mentioned.   “No. 3 are often very difficult cases with which to deal. Of course the simpler forms  soon right themselves. Thus sorrow soon loses its sting here, and any physical defects  caused by it are left behind with the body. Very little treatment would be necessary in  such a case. On the other hand, religious mania is often very difficult to eliminate. It is  none the easier because such persons are often strong believers, and would ordinarily go  to that realm. They have, however, to come to the hospital in our realm and there remain  till cured. It would be useless for them to go to the realm of belief without acts, for they  would be utterly incapable of seeing any good in any other religion until the religious  mania and its attendant evils have been eradicated. Then, of course, they go to their  natural realm of existence.  

“Without spending any more of your time discussing these matters, I will now  proceed to describe one of these hospitals.  

“I was taken thither by a man who during life had been a great mental specialist.  “The building was placed amid the most beautiful surroundings, which seemed to  breathe an atmosphere of peace and rest.  

“I mentioned this impression to my friend the doctor, who replied:  

“‘Quite so; quiet, soothing surroundings are the first essentials for dealing with any  kind of mental disorder.’  

“The gardens surrounding the hospital contained broad stretches of lawn interspersed  with beautiful woods, and everywhere the soft notes of rippling or falling water were  faintly audible. Ever and anon through the trees I caught the glint of water tinged with the  evening glow which is ever present here. Amid these woods, walking about the lawns and  boating on the lakes, I saw many of the patients.  

 “Passing along a handsome avenue, we at length came in sight of the hospital. It was  a splendid building in the Renaissance style, with verandahs along the front, and was  surrounded upon all sides by velvety lawns and flower-beds. Numerous basins with  fountains playing and statues of various kinds decorated the lawns.  

“A woman, seated on a low stool, was playing a harp, while reclining on couches  round her were many patients of both sexes. 

Gone West 66 

“We passed into the building itself, and I found that in some ways the institution was  arranged on similar lines to those of the Houses of Refuge in Hell. Thus there was a  secondary school attached, and most of the patients attended the school as part of their  course of treatment. Further, there were concert-halls and a theater, chapels for several  different religious bodies, an art gallery, and so forth.  

“My medical friend explained. ‘One of our chief objects is to divert the mind of the  patients from too much concentration upon themselves. Many were very selfish or at any  rate self-centered folk. Religious mania or excessive grief is likewise the cause of many  of these cases being here. Wholesome, soothing amusements, which will dispel the  morbid trait in their characters, are therefore of the greatest value.’  

“‘As to direct treatment, we very largely employ suggestion, hypnotism, and  magnetism. See!’  

“We entered what on earth would have been called an operating theater. Here, two  doctors were busy magnetizing a woman patient. She was stretched on a bed, clad in a  plain grayish-white robe drawn in at the waist by a girdle, and similar to the costume they  all wear here. One doctor was standing behind her with his hand gently resting on her  forehead, while the other stood at her feet, but without touching her. Both men seemed to  be concentrating their wills on her and gazing into her face. They made no movement or  any sign that they were aware of our presence.  

“I was able to perceive that from each there appeared to flow out a kind of faint light,  and that this light was being focused, as it were, on her head.  

“We passed into another room where a violin was being played to soothe the man  who was tossing in mental distress upon the bed.  

“I said to the doctor, ‘I notice that here the sexes mix much more than they do round  where I dwell.’  

“‘Not really so. There is very little companionship here between the men and the  women. Both, however, are necessary to aid in the work; especially is it found that better  results from magnetism are obtained when the operator is of the opposite sex to the  patient.’  

“We entered a third room and found a hypnotist at work. He was making passes over  someone.  

“As soon as he saw us he bowed and explained that this patient could not eliminate  from his mind the remembrances of a terrible accident for which he was to a certain  extent responsible. The remembrance of this had turned his brain on earth, and the ill  effects were not yet entirely removed from his mind.  

“‘I am hypnotizing him for a time, so as to compel him to forget this terrible  experience, and so by degrees we shall restore peace to his troubled mind.’  “Leaving him, we passed into a comparatively small room in which was a patient  lying on a couch. My medical friend said: ‘This is a strange case, and shows how strong is  the power of the mind and even the remembrance of the body after death.  “‘This woman’s mental affliction in life took the form of a belief that she was a  cripple unable to walk. There was nothing organically wrong, yet by degrees, as this  hallucination grew upon her, she became crippled and misshapen even as she is now. Had  the disease been a physical one she would have left it behind her at death, but it is purely  a mental one, due to a morbid nature which in life seemed to take a perverted joy in  gazing at the misshapen and crippled. This she did not from any motive of sorrow or wish  to help the sufferers, but out of a morbid curiosity. For the rest, however, she was neither  a total unbeliever nor yet evil by nature, few cases such as this come to us here: they are, I  understand, more common in Hell.’  

“I (H. J. L.) inquired, ‘How do you treat her?’  

“He. ‘Mainly by magnetism and mental suggestion. We are striving to prove to her  that her spiritual body need not reproduce the defects of the physical one. Most spirits 

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readily grasp that fact, but her mind has become so overclouded that she cannot as yet  grasp it. However, even the most obstinate cases soon yield to treatment here. What does  seem to take a long time is the education which is afterwards necessary.’  

“We passed through other rooms, through long wards and into lecture-rooms where  doctors were giving lectures on medical subjects.  

“I (H. J. L.) inquired of my friend whether there was not an operating theater as in an  earthly hospital.  

“‘Oh dear, no!’ he replied. ‘We have got long past those clumsy methods here. Of  course, some operations are required on earth owing to the material nature of a physical  body, although there are far more operations than are really necessary. Here, however, the  spirit body yields to and needs much subtler methods. The only place you find anything  approaching an operating theater is in Hell.’  

“I shuddered at the horror of the idea underlying those simple words.  “It would take me too long to give you any further details of this wonderful hospital,  ‘but perhaps I should say that I was surprised to find how large a part religious services  played in the treatment.  

“We don’t attend religious services to any large extent in this realm — that is our  principal duty in the next realm, — but services formed quite a marked feature of the  treatment, I perceived, and in this it approximated to the House of Refuge in Hell and to  the ordinary course of life in the realm of belief without acts.  

“Many of the services, I noticed, had quite an elaborate ritual, and evidently were  designed expressly with the object of helping forward the mental healing of the patients  who attended. A shadowy prototype on earth was that funny old service of touching and  healing in the Prayer Book in the days of Queen Anne.  

“Outside in the grounds we separated, and after thanking my medical friend, I  returned here.” 

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Chapter XXIX  

“Neither Will They Be Persuaded Though  

One Rose From the Dead”  

J. W. “May we publish the names and details for identification given by P. re himself  and Barber.”  

H. J. L. “With regard to P. and Barber, I think there is no harm in giving the details  about the latter; it was meant as a piece of conclusive evidence, and I think most would  agree it is. With regard to P., matters are a little different. He feels it rather a hindrance  already to keep sufficiently in touch with earth matters to send you his experiences, and  

does not want to do anything which might draw him back still further into earth  conditions.  

“If the details he has given were published, being a well-known man, you would have  a number of carping, or at any rate inquisitive, persons constantly sending tests and  expecting them to be answered. If P. agreed to answer those tests, he would at once be  assailed by further ones. He would be constantly worried by them, and, therefore, dragged  back into earth conditions. He wishes to be rid of earth trammels, and, instead, would find  he had rebound himself with them. If he refused to answer further tests, people would at  once say it was fraud. They would say, ‘Here are communications coining through which  purport to be from Mr. P., and yet the entity either will not or cannot answer these simple  questions as to his earth life’  

“They would refuse to see that it is quite one thing to send a message through dealing  with life here and another to put ourselves again in touch with our former earth life.  “You yourself believe us and do not bother us with unnecessary questions. You have  not only had dates and other details of the lives of men quite unknown to you, but have  also from W. A. received details of his private life not merely unknown to you, but in a  large measure unintelligible even when given. These details have, however, been  perfectly plain to M., and have convinced her of his identity, as she herself told you. It is,  therefore, not with any wish to avoid giving evidence when the demand is reasonable that  I hesitate to request P. to allow the details about him to be published. Talk the matter over  with Mr. K. and then consult me again. With regard to Barber, the same objections do not  arise. He is not communicating through you, nor do we propose to let him. Neither is he  interested in doing so, being otherwise engaged.  

“If, therefore, anyone wanted to cross-question them, he would fail to get any reply;  but this could hardly be taken as disproving the reality of our group of spirits.  “Is the matter now quite plain?”  

J. W. “Yes. Still, I am sorry. If P. would agree it would once and for all decide the  question which still vexes people — whether the1 identity does survive after death or not.  I mean agree to be thoroughly ‘cross-questioned,’ as you call it.”  

H. J. L. “Not a bit of it. Plenty of evidence has been sent through to prove that to any  reasonable man. Even what we have given should be sufficient, and there have been still  more striking examples where spirits have deliberately thrown back their own progress so  as to prove even to the most obstinate unbeliever that there is a personal survival after  death. But it is selfish and unreasonable to expect us continually to be doing that sort of  thing, I mean delaying our own progress.  

“No, Jack, many people do believe, but it is still true of many men, ‘Neither will they  be persuaded though one rose from the dead.’  

“Now it’s time you were off.”  

Next instant I sank into oblivion. — J. W.