_Ans._--Soon enough you will know. Hope and trust. To a question given mentally by a bystander it answered: "Letters awaiting you. Hope and trust." _Ques._--Letters from whom? _Ans._--Your home and family. _Ques._--From what place? _Ans._--Soon enough you will know. _Ques._--Are they all well at home? _Ans._--With God all things are well. Not being able to decipher this clearly, it repeated: "With God all things are well. Trust Him." I confess to having been impressed with these words, so solemn were they, so oracular, and, as it then appeared, so fitly spoken. At the time of making these experiments I was on board one of the Pacific Mail steamships, on my way to San Francisco; and I had reason to be particularly solicitous in regard to my future. But my companion, in these my first experiments, just entering a new and untried field, had far more cause of anxiety than myself in regard to the future. To her these warnings seemed singularly applicable. Satisfied that my cooperator exercised no voluntary control over the board, absolutely certain the words were not emanations of my own mind, and impelled by curiosity, I determined to try the effect of a few test questions, and, ridiculous as it may appear, ascertain from the instrument itself something of its nature. Is there any power in Planchette, or is it merely a vehicle? I asked. _Ans._--Inactive bodies have no active agency. _Ques._--Whence come the words of Planchette--whence her intelligence? _Ans._--From the seat of intelligence in the one who commands me. _Ques._--Can you foretell coming events? _Ans._--The future is not made known to man. _Ques._--Can you give information not in the minds of the operators? _Ans._--No, or in the mind of some one who works me. _Ques._--What distinction do you make between the operator and the worker? _Ans._--The worker may be removed from the board. _Ques._--Are you influenced by animal magnetism? _Ans._--Entirely. _Ques._--Are you influenced by electricity? _Ans._--One and the same. _Ques._--Do the minds of the present operators influence the answers? _Ans._--Undoubtedly. _Ques._--Is it the result of magnetism? _Ans._--The power of giving out. _Ques._--Giving out what? _Ans._--Yielding magnetism. _Ques._--Which of the operators influences you most? _Ans._--Neither is worth without the other. _Ques._--Have you communications with the spirit world? _Ans._--Disembodied spirits--no. _Ques._--Can you be put to any practical use? _Ans._--Man will be introduced to the world of science. _Ques._--Is your information concerning the ordinary affairs of life of any practical value? _Ans._--Not much, unless the worker is reliable as an informant. _Ques._--What is magnetism? _Ans._--Magnetism is the force of the universe. _Ques._--What is electricity? _Ans._--Electricity is the outward expression of the hidden force. _Ques._--Has magnetism or electricity anything to do with the polarity of the needle?