Chapter IX: Seance at the Berry Sisters' in Boston

In looking over my notes, my attention is strongly drawn to the many remarkable things I have witnessed at the Berry Sisters'. As I have given a drawing of Mrs. Fay's cabinet, and its surroundings, which I know to be honest, I give a carefully drawn plan of the seance-room here (see next page). It will be seen that this is one of the most simple and truthful arrangements possible, and the thanks of every investigator are due to the able manager and controls for placing the cabinet in a way that every one can see at a glance that a confederate is out of the question. I have attended several seances at this place since this arrangement has been adopted; and, so far from injuring the manifestations, they are, if anything, improved.

At these seances, when I have been present, Bertha has materialized outside of the cabinet, more than three feet from it, and at least six feet from the entrance, and on one occasion so close to me that she brushed me with her garments as she rose.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, 1885, I attended in company with my wife and little daughter--Mrs. A. E. Newton, of Arlington, also making one of the party. Although the atmosphere was unfavorable, the manifestations were good, there often being two forms out at once, talking with their friends. My seat was on the right, facing the cabinet, and very near to it. Before the seance commenced, by the request of Mr. Albro, the manager, I locked the door at the farther end of the room; and when this was done, he offered me the privilege of sitting beside it. I declined, preferring to take part in the seance.

I will state, however, for the benefit of those who have any doubt about this arrangement, that the seat I occupied commanded a full view of this door, and that I unlocked it after the seance, and can state positively that it was impossible for the door to have been opened without my knowing it. Again, the cabinet is so constructed that if a confederate had entered, he would have been obliged to go around to the front, in full view of the audience, before he could have passed into the cabinet. Those persons whose fertile brains are always leading them into absurd conclusions, will have to seek for some other explanation than that of a confederate here.

In the course of the seance, I had warning of Bertha's presence, and requested Mrs. Newton, who sat beside me, to watch the left-hand corner, near the cabinet. In a few minutes there appeared a soft light on the carpet, near the wall, and almost instantly Bertha came up in full view of all.

Springing forward and taking my little daughter by both hands, she came briskly across the room to where I sat. After our usual greeting, I introduced her to Mrs. Newton, who detained her for some time, my wife coming forward and joining in the conversation. I have described this beautiful spirit so fully in the preceding chapter that it is unnecessary to repeat it here.

Many persons will find it desirable to make themselves familiar with the different phases of materialization as expressed through different mediums; but nowhere else will they find more strength combined with delicacy and refinement, as shown both in the beauty of the forms and their affectionate bearing. Neither in the controls, the forms, nor the surroundings, is there anything here to offend the most fastidious taste. These seances appear to have advanced beyond the mere fact of materialization, offering to those whose magnetic relations are in accord with conditions, a more attractive expression of social and mental character than is frequently met with. As Mrs. Newton seemed quite interested in Bertha, I felt desirous to know what impression was made upon one so well prepared to form a just opinion on such matters. To my expressed wish she kindly responded with the following statement:--

"ARLINGTON, MASS., NOV. 11, 1885.

"MY DEAR MR. BRACKETT,--

"In accordance with your request that I would give you my
observations and impressions in regard to the materialized
apparition claiming to be your spirit-niece, Bertha, I will
state that I think her the most intelligent and sprightly
re-embodiment of a spirit that I ever saw,--and I have seen a
great many within the last ten years. At all events, I am
confident no one who sees her can imagine her to be either a
made-up figure, a lifeless effigy, or the medium in disguise.

"At Mrs. Fay's seance, where I first saw her, she showed, on
meeting you, that spiritual illumination in the face which joy
and gladness give to us when we meet those we love, after an
absence. She had also those fine intonations of the voice that
can spring only from the affections. Can it be, said I to
myself, that this beautiful girl, so charming and graceful, so
full of life and intelligence, is truly a spirit? Just as the
thought had formed itself in my mind, she had turned toward the
cabinet and vanished before the curtain. But hardly a minute had
elapsed before she sprang out again from the cabinet, like a
new-born seraph, and, opening her hands before all the company
present, her arms being entirely bare to the shoulder, she
extended them above her head, began to manipulate something
apparently in the air, and soon handed me a most exquisite
rose, with the moisture oozing from the stem where it had
apparently been twisted off from the stock.

"When at Miss Helen Berry's seance, a few days later, I had the
assurance made doubly sure that she was not a being of earth, by
seeing, about three feet from the cabinet, a small, white,
cloud-like substance expand until it was four or five feet high,
when suddenly from it the full, round, sylph-like form of Bertha
stepped forward. Seeing her little cousin and namesake (Bertha
Brackett, nine years old), she took both the child's hands in
hers, drew her from her chair, and, after greeting her
affectionately, led her playfully across the room to where we
were sitting. There I studied every lineament of her face. Her
hair had all the warmth and glossiness of that of a healthy girl
of eighteen. She said to me, 'Don't you think I am very strong
to-day?' and, putting both hands in mine, allowed me to caress
and converse with her freely. 'Do you remember you materialized
a rose for me last week?' I asked. 'Yes,' she replied, 'and you
have it now at home.' This was true.

"Mrs. Brackett called my attention to the length and beauty of
Bertha's hair, and asked her if she could not make it longer if
she wished to. 'Yes,' she laughingly replied; 'but it will grow
shorter if I don't get to the cabinet soon!' and, with a
graceful adieu, she tripped across the room, leading her little
cousin into the cabinet with her, where she dematerialized in
the child's presence.

"Since witnessing the foregoing, I have re-read your account of
the seance with Miss Berry at Onset, and I feel quite safe in
saying your description of Bertha is not overdrawn. She
certainly exhibits an individuality intensely human, and yet not
of ordinary flesh-and-blood, as shown by her sudden appearance
and disappearance. She proves beyond a doubt that, given the
same conditions and opportunities to other spirits that you have
afforded her, they may come with the same fulness of life and
strength.

"I cannot refrain from expressing the hope that some of the
members of the Seybert Commission will come to Boston and study
Bertha--see her materialize three feet from the cabinet, as we
did--hear her converse intelligently--see the divinely moulded
form--and then witness, as we did, her sudden change to another
sphere of being, doubtless to engage in pleasant duties among
that deathless throng who are ever learning, and who will unfold
to us, if we will become receptive, the laws of entrancement and
of materialization. It seems scarcely possible that these
gentlemen would fail to be convinced that 'there are more things
in heaven and earth than are dreamed of' in materialistic
'philosophy.'
"Very truly yours,
"S. J. NEWTON."