_January_ 16, 1860.
MY DEAR HUSBAND,--Your letter received to-day has raised quite a
weight from my mind, for it shows that at last you have received all
mine, and that thus the chain of communication between us is unbroken.
What you said about your spiritual experiences in feeling the presence
of dear Henry with you, and, above all, the vibration of that
mysterious guitar, was very pleasant to me. Since I have been in
Florence, I have been distressed by inexpressible yearnings after
him,--such sighings and outreachings, with a sense of utter darkness
and separation, not only from him but from all spiritual communion
with my God. But I have become acquainted with a friend through whom I
receive consoling impressions of these things,--a Mrs. E., of Boston,
a very pious, accomplished, and interesting woman, who has had a
history much like yours in relation to spiritual manifestations.
Without doubt she is what the spiritualists would regard as a very
powerful medium, but being a very earnest Christian, and afraid of
getting led astray, she has kept carefully aloof from all circles and
things of that nature. She came and opened her mind to me in the first
place, to ask my advice as to what she had better do; relating
experiences very similar to many of yours.
My advice was substantially to try the spirits whether they were of
God,--to keep close to the Bible and prayer, and then accept whatever
came.
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