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The Certaintyof a FutureLife in Mars
Being the Posthumous Papers of
BRENTANO'S1903
The extraordinary character of the story here published, which somepeculiar circumstances have fortunately, I think, put into my hands,will excite a curiosity as vivid as the incidents of the narratives arethemselves astonishing and unprecedented. To satisfy, as far as I can, afew natural inquiries which must be elicited by its publication, I begto explain how this unusual posthumous paper came into my possession.
It was written by Bradford Torrey Dodd, who died at Christ Church, NewZealand, January, 1895, after a lingering illness in which consumptiondeveloped, which was attributed to the exposure he had experienced inreceiving some of the wireless messages his singular history details. Iwas not acquainted with Mr. Dodd, but some information, acquired sincethe reception of his manuscript, has completely satisfied me, that,however interpreted, Mr. Dodd did not intend in it the perpetration ofa hoax. His scientific ability was undoubtedly remarkable, and the factsthat his father and himself worked in an astronomical station nearChrist Church; that his father died; that his acquaintance with theDodans was a reality; that he did receive messages at a wirelesstelegraphic station; that he himself and his assistants fully accreditedthese messages to extra-terrestrial sources, are, beyond a doubt, easilyverified.
A mutual friend brought me Mr. Dodd's papers, which I looked over withincreasing amazement, culminating in blank incredulity. On rereadingthem and considering the usefulness of giving them to the public, I havebeen influenced by two motives, the desire to satisfy the ferventlyexpressed wish of the writer himself and the reasonable belief that ifthey are preposterously improbable their publication can only furnish anew and temporary and quite harmless diversion, and that if Mr. Dodd'sexperiment shall be in some future day successfully repeated his claimsto distinction as the first to open this marvelous field ofinvestigation will have been honorably and invincibly protected.
Posthumous Papers of Bradford Torrey Dodd
Note by Mr. August Bixby Dodan
Note by the Editor
The Planet Mars—By Giovanni Schiaparelli
In the confusion of thought about a future life, the peculiar factsrelated in the following pages can certainly be regarded as helpful.Spiritualism, with its morbid tendencies, its infatuation and deceit,has not been of any substantial value in this inquiry. It may afford tothose who have experienced any positive visitation from another world avery comforting and indisputable proof. To most sane people it is ahumiliating and ludicrous vagary.
At the conclusion of a