Strange Visitors   By: Henry J. Horn

A SERIES OF ORIGINAL PAPERS, EMBRACING PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, POETRY, ART, FICTION, SATIRE, HUMOR, NARRATIVE, AND PROPHECY.

BY THE SPIRITS OF IRVING, WILLIS, THACKERAY, BRONTE, RICHTER, BYRON, HUMBOLDT, HAWTHORNE, WESLEY, BROWNING , AND OTHERS NOW DWELLING IN THE SPIRIT WORLD

DICTATED THROUGH A CLAIRVOYANT, WHILE IN AN ABNORMAL OR TRANCE STATE.

1871

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

HENRY J. RAYMOND To the New York Public MARGARET FULLER Literature in Spirit Life LORD BYRON To His Accusers NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Apparitions WASHINGTON IRVING Visit to Henry Clay NAPOLEON BONAPARTE To The French Nation W. M. THACKERAY His Post Mortem Experience ARCHBISHOP HUGHES Two Natural Religions EDGAR A. POE The Lost Soul JEAN PAUL RICHTER Invisible Influences CHARLOTTE BRONTE Agnes Reef. A Tale ELIZABETH B. BROWNING To Her Husband ARTEMUS WARD In and Out of Purgatory LADY BLESSINGTON Distinguished Women PROFESSOR OLMSTEAD Locality of the Spirit World ADAH ISAACS MENKEN Hold Me Not N.P. WILLIS Off Hand Sketches MARGARET FULLER City of Spring Garden GILBERT STUART Art Conversation EDWARD EVERETT Government FREDERIKA BREMER Flight to my Starry Home REV. LYMAN BEECHER The Sabbath Its Uses PROF. GEORGE BUSH Life and Marriage in Spirit Life JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH Acting by Spirit Influence REV. JOHN WESLEY Church of Christ N. P. WILLIS A Spirit Revisiting Earth ALLAN CUNNINGHAM Alone BARON VON HUMBOLDT The Earthquake SIR DAVID BREWSTER Naturalness of Spirit Life H.T. BUCKLE Mormons W.E. BURTON Drama in Spirit Life CHAS. L. ELLIOTT Painting in Spirit Life COMEDIAN'S POETRY Rollicking Song LADY HESTER STANHOPE Prophecy PROFESSOR MITCHELL The Planets DR. JOHN W. FRANCIS Causes of Disease and Insanity ADELAIDE PROCTER The Spirit Bride

INTRODUCTION.

BY THE EDITOR .

In placing before the public a work with such novel and extraordinary demands upon its consideration, a few explanatory words seem appropriate.

Its title and contents will doubtless at first sight cause a smile of incredulity, and will be regarded by many as one of the devices which are sometimes put forward to entrap an unsuspecting public into the perusal of a sensational hoax.

For a number of years past the community has been surprised with accounts of most incredible marvels; and from time to time the press has reported various phenomena in connection with an unrecognized force and intelligence, as occurring in almost every locality throughout the habitable globe.

These phenomena are thought by many to be mere illusions, and by some attributed to peculiar electrical conditions; while others seek their solution in an abnormal state of the brain; and others still believe them dependent on an actual intercourse between mortals and those who have passed beyond the grave.

Having become interested in this mysterious and exciting subject, and finding the means at hand for testing the various phenomena, I resolved to undertake a series of experiments, with the hope of exposing a delusion, if such it were, or perchance, of clearing up a mystery which, by the magnitude and importance it has already assumed, is disturbing the foundations of old beliefs and steadily diffusing it's theories and doctrines into the very heart of society.