George Pelham is asked, "Could you not tell us something
which your mother has done?" He replies,[62] "I saw her brush my
clothes and put them away. I was by her side as she did it. I saw her
take my sleeve buttons from a small box and give them to my father. I
saw her put some papers in a tin box." When Mrs Pelham is questioned by
letter, she replies, "George's clothes were brushed and put away, not by
me, but by the man who had valeted him." And the hasty conclusion is,
Mrs Piper on this occasion thought herself among her own class. She
forgot that Mrs Pelham did not brush and put away clothes herself. This
is perhaps a too hasty triumph. The most highly-bred women may
occasionally brush and put away clothing. Now suppose that what I have
said above about the way in which spirits perceive our actions should be
true. George Pelham may have seen the project of the action in his
step-mother's mind, and not its execution by the valet. It may be
objected that he ought to have supposed she would not do it herself.
Why? I do not see it. Perhaps he knew that his step-mother was capable,
occasionally, of putting away clothes herself.

George Pelham is often asked questions which he cannot answer. But he
does not at all pretend to have forgotten nothing. If there is another
world, spirits do not go there to ruminate on what has happened in our
incomplete life. They go there to be carried away in the vortex of a
higher and greater activity. If, therefore, they sometimes forget, it is
not astonishing. Nevertheless, they seem to forget less than we do.

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Those readers who are interested in this question are recommended
to read Dr Hodgson's Report, _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii., _Trans._

[56] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii. p. 300.

[57] _Ibid._, p. 458.

[58] _Proc. of S.P.R._, p. 324.

[59] For reports of these sittings see _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. viii. pp.
413-441.

[60] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiv. p. 46.

[61] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii. p. 329.

[62] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii. p. 303.

CHAPTER XI

George Pelham's philosophy--The nature of the soul--The first moments
after death--Life in the next world--George Pelham contradicts Stainton
Moses--Space and time in the next world--How spirits see us--Means of
communication.

The communicator, George Pelham, did not confine himself to obtaining
recognition from his friends; he talked a great deal of philosophy with
them, especially wit