days are lengthened
beyond the ultimate, as they are shortened by neglect, but such cases are
of course too few to allow of their being dwelt upon at length.

Where death is not sudden as in the case of accidents, but occurs at home
after an illness, quietly and peacefully, dying persons usually experience
a falling upon them as of a pall of great darkness shortly before
termination of life. Many pass out from the body under that condition, and
do not see the light again until they have entered the super-physical
realms. There are many other cases however, where the darkness lifts
before the final release from the body. Then the dying person views both
worlds at once, and is cognizant of the presence of both dead and living
friends. Under such circumstances it very often happens that a mother sees
some of her children who have gone before, and she will exclaim joyously:
Oh, there is Johnny standing at the foot of my bed; my but hasn't he
grown! The living relatives may feel shocked and uneasy, thinking the
mother suffering from hallucinations, while in reality she is more
clear-sighted than they; she perceives those who have passed beyond the
veil who have come to greet and help her to make herself at home in the
new world she is entering.

Each human being is an individual, separate and apart from all others, and
as experiences in the life of each differ from those of all others in the
interval from the cradle to the grave, so we may also reasonably infer
that the experiences of each spirit vary from those of every other spirit
when it passes through the gates of birth and death. We print what
purports to be a _spirit message_ communicated by the late Professor James
of Harvard at the Boston spirit temple, and in which he describes
sensations which he felt when passing through the gate of death. We do not
vouch for its authenticity as we have not investigated the matter
personally.

Professor James had promised to communicate after death with his friends
in this life, and the whole world of psychic research was and still is on
watch for a word from him. Several mediums have claimed that Professor
James has communicated through them, but the most remarkable are those
given through the Boston spirit temple as follows:

"And this is death, only to fall asleep, only to awaken in the
morning and to know that all is well. I am not dead, only arisen.

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