CHAPTER IV.

 

IN ENGLAND.

 

ON the 31st of March, 1855, I sailed from Boston for England in the 'Africa,' the late Captain Harrison being the captain of the ship. On the ninth day of our voyage we neared England, and the signal cannon was fired. I never can forget my feelings as I looked around me, and saw only joy beaming on the faces of my fellow­passengers; some there were who were about to reach their home, and the thought of kind friends waiting to welcome them brought the smile of joy on their countenances. Others were travellers who saw the Old World with all her art treasures spread before them, and the monotony of a sea-voyage so near its termination. I stood there alone, with not one friend to welcome me, broken down in health, and my hopes and fairest dreams of youth, all, as I thought, for ever fled. The only prospect I had was that of a few month's suffering, and then to pass from earth. I had this strange power also, which made a few look with pity on me as a poor deluded being, only devil-sent to lure souls to destruction, while others were not chary in treating me as a base impostor. I stood there on the ship's deck amongst the crowd of passengers,

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and a sense of utter loneliness crept over me, until my very heart seemed too heavy for me to bear up against it. I sought my cabin, and prayed to God to vouchsafe one ray of hope to cheer me. In a few moments I felt a sense of joy come over me and when I rose, I was as happy as the happiest of the throng.

 

I reached Cox's Hotel in Jermyn Street on the evening of the 9th of April; and as soon as Mr. Cox knew who I was, he welcomed me more as a father would welcome a son, than as a stranger whom he had never seen, and from that time to this he has been to me the most sincere and generous friend.

 

It soon became known that I was in England, and in less than a month I had more engagements than I could well fulfil. While at Cox's Hotel, Lord Brougham expressed a desire to see me for the purpose of investigating the phenomena, and as his lordship's evenings were fully occupied, I appointed an early afternoon. Accordingly his Lordship came accompanied by Sir David Brewster, with whom and Mr. Cox I had a seance, which shortly afterwards, in consequence of the misrepresentations and evasions of Sir David Brewster, became of considerable public interest, inasmuch as it was made the means of a general discussion in the newspapers on the subject of the spiritual phenomena. There are few matters in which Sir David Brewster has come before the public which have brought more shame upon him, than his conduct and assertions on this occasion, in which he manifested not only a disregard for truth, but also a disloyalty to scientific observation, and to the use of his own eyesight and natural faculties. In order that Lord Brougham might not be

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compelled to deny Sir David's statements, he found it necessary that he should be silent, and I have some reason to complain that his Lordship preferred sacrificing me to his desire not to immolate his friend, since his silence was by many misconstrued to my disadvantage. The correspondence which ensued was so interesting and characteristic, and is moreover so useful as being the first great occasion on which one of the pretended magnates of science has come forward on the subject of these phenomena, that I have thought it well to give the substance of it, with some pertinent remarks on Sir David Brewster's conduct in an Appendix. It will be a means whereby his character may be the better known, not only for his untruthful dealing with this subject, but also in his own domain of science in which the same unfaithfulness to truth will be seen to be the characteristic of his mind.

 

The immediate effect, however, of this ventilation of the subject was, as I have invariably found it, to excite only, the greater interest in the phenomena, and it was thereby the means of convincing numbers of all classes who visited me. My, time was fully occupied, notwithstanding my delicate health, in giving seances to anxious inquirers of all ranks and classes, from the peer to the artizan, and including men of all the professions high in art, science, and literature, who were both more competent and truthful than I found Sir David Brewster to be to form a correct conclusion.

 

After some time in Jermyn Street, I went to stay with a friend at Ealing, who was deeply interested in the subject, and his house was, during the greater part of my stay, almost besieged by persons wishing to witness

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the phenomena. Hundreds had their wishes gratified, and saw what has proved enough to be the turning point of their lives, and what rendered no longer possible those materialistic and sceptical notions, which are still unhappily so rife amongst the most highly educated classes at this day. Many interesting incidents occurred during my stay at Ealing, and the hands and once or twice the head of the spirit form were repeatedly seen by many, who publicly testified to the fact. But although I was apparently wearing out my life by the fatigue and excitement which these constant seances caused to me, I was not allowed to become proud of my position, for the good clergyman of Ealing found it his duty to publicly preach against me, and to attribute the manifestations to the devil. The position which is taken up by many of the clergy, is to me, in itself, an extraordinary manifestation, for certainly these phenomena, whether from God or from the devil, have in ten years caused more converts to the great truths of immortality and angel communion, with all that flows from these great facts, than all the sects in Christendom have made during the same period. Indeed, whilst the churches are losing their adherents, the belief in spiritual laws caused by these external manifestations, is becoming widely spread through the sceptical masses. It is not at all improbable that in pursuing their new studies, these last may be the means in their turn of converting the clergy to a belief in spiritual laws.

 

Whilst I was at Ealing, a distinguished novelist, accompanied by his son attended a seance, at which some very remarkable manifestations occurred, and

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which were chiefly directed to him. The rappings on the table suddenly became unusually firm and loud. He asked "what spirit is present?" the alphabet was called over, and the response was, "I am the spirit who influenced you to write Z—— !" Indeed, said he, "I wish you would give me some tangible proof of your presence." "What proof? will you take my hand?" "Yes," and putting his hand beneath the surface of the table, it was immediately seized by a powerful grasp, which made him start to his feet in evident trepidation, exhibiting a momentary suspicion that a trick had been played upon him; seeing, however, that all the persons around him were sitting with their hands quietly reposing on the table, he recovered his composure, and offering an apology for the uncontrollable excitement caused by such an unexpected demonstration, he resumed his seat.

 

The following words were then spelt out, "We wish you to believe in the ——" and then stopped. It was asked of the spirit: "In what am I to believe? in the medium?" "No." "In the manifestations?" "No." At that moment he was gently tapped upon the knee, and putting his hand down, a cross was placed there by the spirit, which thus significantly finished the sentence.

 

The cross was made of card-board, and had been lying on a small table with other ornamental articles in a distant part of the large room in which the party were seated. The investigator, apparently much impressed with the incident, turned to Mrs. Rymer, and asked permission to retain the cross as a souvenir, to which she assented, saying that its only value to her was that it had been made by her boy, then recently

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deceased, but she could have no objection to him keeping it, if he would remember the injunction. He bowed his assent, and placing the souvenir in his breast pocket, carried the cross away with him.

 

On another occasion the children had been playing in the garden with some fresh-gathered flowers, out of which they had formed a wreath. A seance was proposed. It was a calm summer's evening, with the full moon just rising. A large circular-shaped table was selected in the drawing-room, which room was on a level with the garden lawn, the French windows extending to the ground, and the moonlight-twilight shone through them sufficiently to make everything in the room visible.

 

The party seated themselves around the half circle of the table, leaving the other half nearest to the garden window vacant. After several minor incidents had occurred, the table rose slowly from the ground, and ascended to the ceiling of the room, out of the reach of all but Mr. Coleman, who was tall enough to just touch its rim. It then descended steadily and settled on the floor with no more sound than if it had been a feather's weight.

 

Having taken their seats again, a beautifully-formed feminine hand became distinctly visible to all the party present. It came up from the vacant side of the table, and made an unavailing effort, at first, to reach a small hand-bell which had been placed there. In a short time, the fleshy and delicately-formed arm became visible up to the elbow, and was enveloped in what appeared to be a gauze sleeve, through which it was transparently seen. The fingers then took up the bell,

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held it suspended for a moment, rung it, and slowly carried it, ringing, beneath the table. Mr. Coleman finding the bell jingling against his knee put down his hand, received it, and placed it on the table. He then asked if he might feel the hand, which was neither warm nor cold, but of velvety softness, and it was placed with a gentle pressure in his.

 

When the hand first appeared, all in the circle had hold of each other's hand, I having, at Mr. Coleman's request, placed both my hands in Mr. Coleman's grasp.

 

Whilst seated in this position, the wreath of flowers, which had been made by the children, was seen by all to be lifted from my, head, where it had been playfully placed a short time previously. No hand was visible. The wreath then descended to within an inch of the surface of the table. It then slowly traversed round the circle and back again to Mr. Coleman who took it, and retained it at home until the flowers withered.

 

At another sitting, each person in the circle who wore a ring had it gently removed by a spirit hand, the hand being seen afterwards with all the rings on its fingers, and after displaying itself by turning about, shewing the back and palm two or three times, inverted itself, and cast the rings upon the table.

 

One evening at Ealing, Sir David Brewster, Mrs. Trollope the authoress, and her son Mr. Thomas Trollope, and several others were present. The table at which the party sat was a long telescopic dining table, having two legs at each end and none in the centre. One end of it was occupied by Mr. Trollope, Sir David Brewster, and a lady. I sat about the centre of one

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side, having Mrs. Trollope on my left; the others present occupying, the remainder of the table. There was no cloth or drapery of any kind. Sir David was invited to look under the table and make every investigation, and he did most properly avail himself of the opportunity afforded him by carefully looking under the table, both before sounds were heard and during the time they were being made. On this occasion Sir David tried to lift the table, sometimes he could not, at other times he could, or, as Sir David said, "the table was made light and heavy at command."

 

An accordion was called for: hymns and tunes were played, and without any visible agency. After the party broke up, Sir David, in the course of conversation, said, "I should have liked if we had been all standing when the table lifted." Sir David, Mr. Trollope, and Mr. Rymer then sat down to see if it were possible to move the table or to raise it by their feet, but it could not be moved by the united efforts of the feet of all three. Sir David was invited to come the next evening for the purpose of complying with his request of standing at the table, but he could not come, having a pre­engagement.

 

This table, which was twelve feet long, has been sometimes completely turned over, replaced, and again turned over, all our hands being on the surface. Occasionally it has been moved while we were all standing, without any one touching it, even with their hands.

 

Mr. Trollope came on the following evening, we sat round the same table as on the previous evening; the alpha, bet was called for, and three of us were told to go into another room, to get a smaller table,

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and stand. We were not to sit, but to stand. We did so—and a heavy card table, on pillar and claws, and which was brought from another room, and at which we had never sat before, was repeatedly lifted off the ground at least twenty inches.

One evening a gentleman was present when it was intimated to him through the alphabet by knocks on the table that his aunt Dorothy was present; he was surprised, and assured us that could not be so, for he never had an aunt; he afterwards wrote to his sister, who was residing in the north of England, and this was her reply:

"I never heard of our father having a sister, there were four sons, and their father died when they were all very young; but I expect to see my elder sister who knows more of our family, and I will ask, her.

"P.S.—She has just come, and I find our father had a sister— our grandfather was twice married; by his first wife he had one daughter whose name was Dorothy, and who died an infant, and who, of course, was our aunt."

One evening as Mr. Rymer was passing through the room he stood for a few moments at the end of the table. His attention was arrested by the sounds, and it was stated to be his little boy, who had passed away some years before. He asked if he recollected how pleased he was when on earth to place him a chair on his return home, the chair was immediately moved round the corner of the table, by no visible agency. It was placed behind him, and he sat down upon it.

This was in the presence of five persons, one of

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whom was the editor of a well-known work on the" Occult Sciences." All at the table saw the chair moved to where the father was standing. Tile hands of all were on the table; no one knew that he intended to ask for a chair, and until that instant, he said, that he did not know it himself.

 

Another evening we were told through the alphabet that the same little boy was present in spirit. It was asked if he could write as on earth, and he answered that he would try. A sheet of note paper, clean, and without any writing on it of any description was taken, and placed on the cloth. The brass fastenings of the table were then displaced one by one, and fell to the ground; the table was opened or pulled out by no human agency; every one in the room was seated at the table and had their hands on its surface. It was then asked if the paper and pencil should be placed on the table near the opening under the cloth; three sounds, "Yes." Immediately the form of a small hard was seen under the cloth. It was felt by some who placed their hands upon it. The paper and pencil were then removed, the form of the hand disappearing at the same time. In a few minutes the same form of hand was again seen replacing the paper and the pencil, the alphabet was called for: "Dear papa, I have really done my best." The father removed the paper and pencil, and on that paper was written," Dear papa, dear mamma," and signed "Wat." Watty was the name of the child. No one was previously aware that it was intended to ask for this to be done.

 

At Sandgate in Kent, where I stayed for some time,

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at a seance, we numbered thirteen. The table was elevated at least two feet, and the accordion was played. The tune was not known to any of us. We asked the name, and were told that it was the "Song of the Sea." A hand and arm in white drapery appeared, it was seen by all at the table on several occasions during the evening, and they had every opportunity of carefully examining it.

 

A few evenings afterwards the table was near the window. It was twilight. Sounds were heard on the accordion. The tune was new to us, and we were told that it was the "Song of the Angels to the Mourners." It was followed by a hymn which had been frequently played before. It war, spelt out by sounds on the table, some will shew you their hands to-night. The table was gently, raised and lifted up several times, a hand appeared above the table and took from the dress of one of the party a miniature brooch, and handed it to several at the table. Hands and arms were then distinctly seen by all at the table of different forms and sizes: sometimes crossed as in prayer, and at other times pointing upwards: on another occasion sounds were heard, communications were made, and hands and arms in white drapery were again seen. A spirit hand took up a Bible which was on the table, and opened it. This was seen by all, and a leaf was folded down, the hand took a pencil and marked the two verses sixteen and seventeen of the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew: "But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see things which

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ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear these things which ye hear, and have not heard them."

At this time hands and arms were frequently seen, and they were repeatedly felt by all at the table as distinctly as though they were the hands and arms of living mortals, and frequently they shook hands with them as really and substantially as one man shakes hands with another.

Of all the accounts which have been given of the phenomena there has been none so good as that of Dr. J. J. G Wilkinson, who towards the close of the Brewster controversy, wrote a letter to the "Morning Advertiser," under the signature of Verax. He had been frequently present at seances, and was eminently qualified not only for the investigation, but for a philosophical expression of their results and consequences, and I need offer no apology for giving at length his eloquent narration which was entitled "Evenings with Mr. Home and the Spirits."

"The 'Great Wizard of the North' has roused attention to the subject of spiritual manifestations in such a manner, that everybody is talking about them; and, moreover, the country papers are the battle-ground of letters pro and con., which debate the subject with some warmth; and, wherever a name can be got at, with a little personality. But, hitherto, I have seen no statement of the experience of any of the writers in regard to these manifestations. This is to be regretted, perhaps, because by bringing forward experiences and explanations, the subject might have been divested of some of that heat which is so bad a scientific medium. I will now endeavour, with your permission, to tell what

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I saw and felt on three separate evenings, stating them in their order.

"It was late in the spring of this year that I was invited by a friend, well known in the literary world, to pay a visit to the lodgings of Mr. Daniel Dunglas Home, then recently arrived from America, for the purpose of witnessing certain remarkable phenomena alleged to be from supernatural causes. Many feelings prompted me to accept the invitation; as, also, did the knowledge that Mr. Home was familiarly known, as a plain honest man, to Dr. Gray, the first homoeopathic physician in New York, and for whose character I have the highest esteem.

I went to his house in Jermyn Street, and introduced myself on the appointed evening to Mr. Home, who, I found, was a modest, intelligent youth of about twenty, in ill-health; and, indeed, as he himself informed me, and as, on inspection, I found to be the case, with the marks of consumption legible upon his frame. My wife accompanied me, and I met in Mr. H's rooms three friends, all of them men of talent and integrity. Bent upon narrative, and not upon defence or hostility, I will omit nothing; and so I here observe that we were, all of us, believers, beforehand, in the possibility of spiritual manifestations.

"Before sitting down in 'the circle,' I asked Mr. Home for some account of his antecedents. To the best of my recollection he gave the following particulars. He was born in Scotland, and was taken to America when a child. Very early in life he used to surprise those with whom he was, by spontaneously narrating, as scenes passing before his eyes, distant events, such

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as the death of friends and relatives; and these instances of second sight were found to be true telegraphy. It was not his fault—he could not help seeing them. Later on in his career, various noises were heard in the room beside him. This was about the time when the spiritual 'rapping' became known in America.

 

"He lived with an aunt, who was greatly scandalised at these circumstances. A member of the Presbyterian Church, these knockings even accompanied him to Divine worship; and, coming to the knowledge of his ecclesiastical overmen, he was adjudged to be the victim of satanic influences, and either excommunicated, or otherwise banished from the congregation. Afterwards he became a medical student; but ill-health forced him to abandon the idea of pursuing medicine as a calling such were the heads of what he told us, in answer to our enquiries, about himself.

 

"We were in a large upper room, rather bare of furniture; a sofa, a large round table, and a little buffet, together with a few chairs, were the fittings up. One of the party had brought with him a hand­bell and an accordion. We sat around the table, with the hands resting upon it. In a few minutes the table vibrated, or shuddered, as though actuated from within; it then became still, and instantly every one of us shook in his chair, not violently, but intimately, and like a jelly, so that objects 'dothered' before us. This effect ceased; and now the heavy table, with all our hands upon it, raised itself high up on its side, and rocked up and down; the raising proceeding from all different quarters, Mr. Home and all the rest of us (excepting our hands and arms, which were necessarily moved,) sitting death-still. The lamp on

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the table seemed as if it must tumble off; but he assured us there was no danger of that—that it was held safely in its place. The hand-bell had been placed upon the wooden rim round the pedestal of the table, and it now began to ring, apparently under different parts of the circle. Mr. Home said that the spirits were carrying it to one of the party, and suggested myself. I was sitting nearly opposite to him, at about three feet distance. I put my hand down under the margin of the table, and in perhaps a minute's time, I felt the lip of the bell poked up gently against the tips of my fingers, as if to say, 'I am here, take me.' This palpitation of the bell continued until I moved my fingers up its side to grasp it. When I came to the handle, I slid my lingers on rapidly, and now, every hand but my own being on the table, I distinctly felt the fingers, up to the palm, of a hand holding One bell. It was a soft, warm, fleshy, substantial hand, such as I should be glad to feel at the extremity of the friendship of my best friends. But I had no sooner grasped it momentarily, than it melted away, leaving my hand void, with the bell only in it. I now held the bell lightly, with the clapper downwards, and while it remained perfectly still, I could plainly feel fingers ringing it by the clapper. As a point of observation I will remark that I should feel no more difficulty in swearing that the member I felt was a human hand of extraordinary life, and not Mr. Home's foot, than that the nose of the Apollo Belvidere is not a horse's ear. I dwell chiefly, because I can speak surely, on what happened to myself, though every one round the table had somewhat similar experiences. The bell was carried under

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the table to each, and rung in the hand of each. The accordion was now placed beneath the table, and presently we heard it moving along. Mr. Home put down his hand to the margin, and the instrument was given to him. With one hand upon the table, and with the other grasping the white wood at the bottom of the accordion, he held it bottom upwards, the keys hanging down over, and the instrument resting for support on his right knee. It played 'Home, sweet home,' and 'God save the Queen,' with a delicacy of tone which struck every one present: I never heard silence threaded with such silver lines. Afterwards, in the same way, we were favoured with 'The Last Rose of Summer.' The accordion was then taken to each member of the party in succession; we could hear it rustling on its way between our knees and the pedestal of the table; and in the hand of each person, a few notes, but no whole tunes, were played. When in my own hand, I particularly noticed the great amount of force which was exerted by the player. It was difficult to hold the instrument from the strong downward pull, and had I not been somewhat prepared for this, the accordion would have fallen upon the floor. In the course of the evening we all felt either a finger, fingers, or a whole hand, placed upon our knees, always with a pleasant impression at the time. A white cambric handkerchief was drawn slowly under the table, and in the course of a few minutes handed to another person, tied in two knots, and put as a bouquet into the bell. And this experiment also was repeated for nearly all present. While these things were going on, rappings were heard in all parts of the room, in the

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table, in the floor, and the ceiling; and sometimes they were so loud, that the medium requested the spirits to remember that he was only a lodger, and that these noises might disturb the people in the rooms above and below. They were very unlike the 'Great Wizard's' raps, and occurred indifferently, as I said before, in all places and corners of the chamber. Towards the end of the seance, five distinct raps were heard under the table, which number, Mr. Home said, was a call for the alphabet. Accordingly, an alphabet was made; and on Mr. Home asking if any spirit was present who wished to speak to one of the party, the following sentence was given by the alphabetic telegraph:—'My dear E——, Imortality is a great truth. Oh! how I wish my dear wife could have been present.—D.C.' It purported to be a near relation of one of those present, who died last year. The spelling 'imortality,' surprised me at first; but I recollected that the deceased, whom I knew well, was constantly versed in black letter writing,—which makes elisions in that way. This ended, the medium fell into an apparently mesmeric trance, from which he addressed some good words of exhortation to each of us; and told one of the party in particular, several details about deceased members of the family, which were not known in the circle at the time, but verified to the letter afterwards. These, I forbear to mention, because they were of a strictly private nature. In his address, Mr. Home spoke, not as from himself, but as from the spirit assembly which was present; and he ended with a courteous 'Good night,' from them.

 

"Considering that it requires a large apparatus of

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preparation for the greatest of wizards to effect the smallest part of what we saw on this evening, namely, a few raps, one might have expected that Mr. Home would have had rather bulging pockets, to do what I have related, but I can assure your readers, that he was as meagre and unencumbered as the scantiest dresser need be: he had no assistants, and no screens. When, during the evening, I asked if the jugglers did their tricks by means similar to the agencies there present, the raps said 'No:' but in a pronounced manner they said 'Yes,' when the same question was put with regard to the 'Indian Jugglers.' We also asked Mr. Home why the effects generally took place under the table, and not upon it. He said that in habituated circles the results were easily obtained above board, visibly to all, but that at a first sitting it was not so. That scepticism was almost universal in men's intellects, and marred the forces at work; that the spirits accomplish what they do through our life-sphere, or atmosphere, which was permeated by our wills; and if the will was contrary, the sphere was unfit for being operated upon.

 

"It was perhaps a fortnight after this that Mr. Home came by invitation, to my own house, to sit in the circle of my family. He was brought to the door in a carriage by some friends, with whom he was staying, without any paraphernalia which would characterize a wizard's art. I watched him walk up the garden, and can aver that he had no magic wand up his trouser leg, nor any hunch in his dress that could betoken machinery or apparatus of any kind whatever. Arrived in the drawing-room, the 'raps' immediately commenced

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in all parts of it, and were also heard in the back drawing-room, which opens into the front by folding doors. The party assembled to constitute the 'circle' consisted of Mr. Home, my wife, my four children, and myself, and two domestics. We sat round a large and heavy loo table, which occupied the centre of the room. In a minute or two the same inward thrill went through the table as I have described in the first seance; and the chairs also, as before, thrilled under us so vividly, that my youngest daughter jumped up from hers, exclaiming, 'Oh! Papa, there's a heart in my chair,' which we all felt to be a correct expression of the sensation conveyed. From time to time the table manifested considerable movements, and after cracking, and apparently undulating in its place, with all our hands upon it, it suddenly rose from its place bodily, some eight inches into the air, and floated wavering in the atmosphere, maintaining its position above the ground for half a minute, or while we slowly counted twenty-nine. Its oscillations during this time were very beautiful, reminding us all of a flat disc of deal on an agitated surface of water. It then descended as rapidly as it rose, and so nicely was the descent managed, that it met the floor with no noise, and as though it would scarcely have broken an egg in its contact. Three times did it leave the floor of the room, and poise itself in mid air, always in the same manner During these intervals the medium was in a state of the completest muscular repose; nor, indeed, had he had the toe of Hercules for a lever could he have managed this effect, for he and all of us stood up each time, to follow the mounting table, and he stood with a

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complete absence of strain as the rest of us. It requires two strong men to lift the table to that height; one person might throw it over, but could by no means raise it from the floor.

 

"The travelling of the hand-bell under the table was also repeated for every one present, and this time they all felt the hand, or hands, either upon their knees, or other portions of their limbs. I put my hand down as previously, and was regularly stroked on the back of it by a soft palpable hand as before. Nay, I distinctly felt the whole arm against mine, and once grasped the hand, but it melted as on the first occasion and immediately a call was made for the alphabet, there being something to communicate. The 'spirits' now spelt out through Mr. Home who had known nothing of what I had done under the table, 'Do not grasp our hands.' I asked why, and Mr. Home said that they had great difficulty in presenting, and thus rapidly incarnating these hands out of the vital atmospheres of hose present, and that their work was spoilt, and had to be recommenced, when they were interfered with, perhaps as a thought is sometimes broken in twain, and cannot easily be resumed on the irruption of a stranger. During the seance I had the border of a white cambric handkerchief just appearing out of the side pocket of my paletot, which was open; and though I could see no agency, I felt something twitching at, the handkerchief, and very gradually drawing it from my pocket. Simultaneously with this, my eldest daughter, who sat opposite to me, exclaimed, 'Oh! I see phosphoric fingers at papa's pocket!' and, now visibly to all, the handkerchief was

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slowly pulled out, and drawn under the table; whilst, at the same time, I felt an arm that was doing it, but which was invisible to me. At this time I was at least three feet from Mr. Home, with a person between us, and he was absolutely passive. The feeling I had was of nudges, as distinct as ever I felt from a mortal limb, and that on my breast and arm, which were above the table; and yet, though the operation of abstracting my handkerchief was going on visibly to all, the rest of the circle, as well as myself (all except my eldest daughter), could see nothing. I can swear that there was no machinery, unless the skin, bone, muscle, and tendons of an unseen hand, forearm and elbow deserve the name.

 

"While this was going on, and for about ten minutes, more or less, my wife felt the sleeve of her dress pulled frequently, and as she was sitting with her finger ends clasped and hands open, with palms semi-prone upon the table, she suddenly laughed involuntarily, and said, 'Oh! see, there is a little hand lying between mine; and, now, a larger hand has come beside it. The little hand is smaller than any baby's, and exquisitely perfect.' Our domestics, and two of the children, as well as my wife, all saw these hands, and watched them for between one and two minutes, when they disappeared. I now held my watch at the table side, the key in my hand, the chain and watch dangling from it, and I felt the weight of the watch gradually taken off, the chain being raised horizontally to my hand, and then the key, which I retained, was pulled laterally, and I let it go. It was taken under the table to my youngest daughter, and put on her

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knee. Whenever objects were thus removed from the hand, they were taken with a degree of physical power sufficient to suggest that the agent was capable of holding the object without letting it fall. An hour and three-quarters were occupied in these and similar manifestations, of which I have mentioned only the most striking, or those personal to myself; and now Mr. Home passed into the trance state, spoke of the spirit life, and the coming knowledge of it on earth, and said a few words apposite to each person present; dwelling also upon the spiritual attendants who were standing beside each. When he came to my wife he lifted up his hands in an ecstacy, and described a spirit with her, most tiny, but beautiful. He said it was a little sister who had gone away a long time. 'But,' she said, 'I never had such a sister.' 'Yes, you had, though she had no name on earth.' On inquiry in the family, an event, such as he alluded to, had happened. This is the chief part of what struck me in Seance No. 2.

 

"At 10 p.m., Mr. Home went away on his own legs, so limber that I never so much as thought of any explanation of pasteboard arms or electric batteries concealed about his person.

 

"The next seance which I shall describe took place about the third week in July, at the house of a valued friend in Ealing, who had become convinced of the genuineness of the phenomena which accompanied Mr. Home, and with whom that gentleman was now staying. The party sat down to the table with Mr. Home, in the dusk of a fine evening, and were nine or ten in number. Here again I am forced to chronicle

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chiefly what befel myself, in order that I may be no second hand witness. The first thing I remarked was a gentle tremulous flash of light through the room, but what was the cause of it I am unable to determine. When we had sat a few minutes I felt a decided but gentle grasp of a large man's hand upon my right knee, and I said to Mr. H., 'There is a man's hand upon my knee.' 'Who is it?' he said. 'How should I know?' was my reply. 'Ask,' said be. 'But how shall I ask?' 'Think of somebody,' was his answer. I thought involuntarily of an intimate friend, once a Member of Parliament, and as much before the public as any man in his generation, and who died on the 30th of June last. And I said aloud, 'Is it ——?' Hearty affirmative slaps on the knee from the same hand, which had remained fixed till then, were the reply to my question. 'I am glad to be again in the same room with you,' said I. Again the same hearty greeting was repeated. 'Are you better?' I inquired. A still more joyous succession of slaps, or rather, if I may coin a word, of accussions; for the hand was cupped to fit my bent knee, and gently struck me in that form. 'Have you any message to your wife, whom I shall probably see in a few days?' Again, affirmative touches, five in number, therefore calling for the alphabet. Mr. Home now called over the alphabet. A B C D, and when he called T, my knee was struck; again when he said "and E, and so on, until

this was spelled out: 'THE IMMORTAL LOVES.' I remember at the

time thinking that this was rather a thin message; but the next time I saw Mrs. —— I told her the circumstances, and gave her the words. Her son was sitting with her, and

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said, 'That is very characteristic of my father, for it was a favourite subject of speculation with him, whether or not the affections survive the body; of the immortality of the soul itself he never doubted; but the words, the immortal loves, show that he has settled the problem of his life.' Such was the import which the family, of the deceased quite unexpectedly to me conferred upon the phrase. To return to Ealing, and that evening, after the last stroke of the hand had indicated the end of the sentence, I said, 'If it is really you, will you shake hands with me?' and I put my, hand under the table, and now the same soft and capacious hand was placed in mine, and gave it a cordial shaking. I could not help exclaiming, 'This hand is a portrait. I know it from five years' constant intercourse, and from the daily grasp and holding of the last several months!' After this it left my knee; and when I asked if there was anything more, there was no response, and the agent appeared to be gone. But in two or three minutes more another hand, evidently also a man's but small, thin, firm, and lively, was placed in the same position which the former had occupied, and after some preliminary questioning with Mr. Home, I said, 'Is it Mr. ——?' naming another valued friend, who, after twenty years of suffering, had departed this life almost on the same day as Mr. ——. With liveliest finger tips, the affirming hand danced up and down my leg, and upon my knee. I said, 'I am glad to find you are so much better.' The playful hand beat 'yes' again. And this, in reply to renewed questions, for two or three minutes. Their I said, 'Have you any communication for your wife when I see her?' There was no response, and that

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agent there ceased to manifest himself. After another short pause, a totally different hand, a lady's, came to me, rested in my hand under the table, rubbed my hand, and allowed me at leisure to examine the delicate, beautiful, and warmth-raying fingers. It was signified that it was Mrs. ——, whom I had known in life, and who wished to greet me. Between and during what happened to myself, many of the rest of the circle were touched; and described their impressions much as I have described mine. Some had merely a single finger put upon their knees. Mr. Home said that the presenting spirits could often make one finger where they could not make two and two, where they could not form an entire hand; just as they could form a hand where they could not realize a whole human figure; and he also said that this was one reason why they did not show themselves aboveboard, because they did not like imperfect members to be seen. "These phenomena occupied less than an hour; and now the circle was broken up, and reconstituted, nine persons, to the best of my recollection, being arranged at the table. The table was placed opposite a window, and the bright moonbeams streamed down upon its side. There was no candle in the apartment. The space of table which fronted the window was not occupied by sitters; but the company sat round about three-fourths of it, leaving the rest vacant. The right wing of the party was terminated by Mr. Home; the left by the son of the host. In a few minutes' time, close beside the latter gentleman, there emerged into sight above the rim of the table, in the vacant space, a delicately beautiful female hand and part of the forearm,

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apparently of ghostly tenuity. As I was sitting exactly opposite the vacant space, I had a fair opportunity of watching this hand as it projected against the moonlight; it was a filmy-looking woman's hand, with the fingers drooping forwards from left to right as I sat. The hand curved up over the table margin, deliberately grasped a hand-bell placed near, and carrying it partly down, let it drop upon the floor. It then rose to sight again, and took away a cambric handkerchief also placed near, which was tied in two knots under the table, and presented to one of the company, who had been strongly moved from the time that this hand was first seen. I forbear to give the further details of this hand, because they seemed to be of a private nature; suffice it to say, that it caused no little emotion to a gentleman who seemed concerned. On its disappearance, another hand, large, strong, and with the fingers extended, and pushed bolt up in the moonlight, rose above the table near to Mr. Home. He cried out. 'Oh! keep me from that hand! it is so cold! Do not let it touch me!' Shortly it also vanished, and a third hand was seen at the other side of the vacant table edge: this hand was in a glove. Then presently a fourth hand ascended on the extreme left—a lady's hand, of beautiful proportions—and traversed the entire vacant space from left to right, rising, and displaying the forearm; and then, as it neared Mr. Home, the entire arm. When it reached him, the hand was level with his forehead, upon which it laid its palm, and with its fingers put his hair back, and played upon his brow for perhaps half a minute. I was sitting next but one to him, and leant forward

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past my intermediate neighbour, at the same time requesting that if the hand belonged to my friend Mrs. ——, it might also be laid on my forehead. This was deliberately done; and I felt its thrilling impression as the palm was laid flat upon my brow, where it remained for several seconds. It was warm and human, and made of no material but softest flesh. During the interval in which I felt it, I had abundant opportunity of examining most closely the arm and forearm. The forearm sleeve appeared to be of white cambric, plain and neat, and it shone like biscuit-porcelain in the moonlight. The sleeve of the dress up the arm was darker, but I do not remember the colour. And bending over, as I did, to the vacant rim of the table, I saw how the arm terminated—apparently in a graceful cascade of drapery; much as though an arm were put out through the peak of a snowy tent, the apex of which thus fell around the shoulder on every side. On leaving my forehead, the arm at once disappeared, and I watched it go. It was drawn into the same drapery; but so naturally that I can only liken it to a fountain falling down again, and ceasing into the bosom of the water from which it rose. And I also saw the drapery itself vanish, apparently by the same dissipative process. And now the spirits spelt out 'Good night.'

 

"These events occurred in the house of one of my oldest friends, whose superior in integrity I have never known, and of whose talent and sagacity I never heard a doubt entertained, until he endorsed these unpopular manifestations.

 

"Such is my experience. One hope I have in putting it forward is, that others who have seen Mr. Home

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may do the like, and thus make their contribution to the facts of the case.

 

"In conclusion, I will observe, that Sir David Brewster, and others almost as eminent, appear to me to make a scientific error in one respect—viz., in their estimate of the value of a man's character. They seem to think that charging a man of good antecedents, and with every appearance of a blameless life, with lying and imposture of the most systematic kind, is positively the easiest account that can be given of any rare phenomenon out of the pale of their own previous philosophy. I submit that this is not, for their own credit, the very first hypothesis of the case that ought to rush into their minds. Neither, parallel with this, is the other hypothesis that men of ability in all other things, and till then, known to be shrewd and searching, are infatuated dupes, to be commended as a proper valuation of what is rare and valuable in the human species. The rule of law, that" a man must be supposed innocent till proved guilty," is also the rule in such scientific explorations. This rule loves facts, and hates slander. I differ, therefore, with Sir David Brewster in his mode of exploration, and also in his valuation of presumptive honesty and human testimony, which always hitherto has been the most substantial word in the world, and a pillar which Divine Providence has not disdained to use in supporting the canopy of His Revelations.

 

"This rule I would especially press upon the great Sir David Brewster, a man of position, wealth, worldly repute, great talents, a name no one dare assail, and withal, responsibility to Heaven and his generation,

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when he is dealing with the orphan, Home, a man apparently as blameless as himself, but with neither riches, nor health, nor station, nor any possession if not honesty, and a ruinous peculiarity of gift. It is not, I say, the easiest way out of a difficulty, to call this youth a cheat. There are cheats of our own household, cheats in our own heads, sometimes called prejudices, which might be suspected first, without violating any rule of scientific inquest, or humane valuation.

 

"The experience of others in these matters has, perhaps, differed very widely from my own, and I desire to see this experience also brought forward. At other seances I have seen only a part of the phenomena which I have described as taking place on the three evenings which I have selected as being the fullest and best. And once or twice, when persons were present whom it was most desirable to convince, almost nothing occurred. This, I submit, is one of the strongest arguments in Mr. Home's favour. Were the phenomena a trick, they might always be produced to order without variation. 'The Great Wizard' never fails. But as he himself says, the spiritualists always fail in his company. Let this suggest that there is a total difference between him and them. It does not surprise me that spirits and their gifts should retire to a great gulf distance from where 'the Great Wizard' is.

 

"It seems probable from experience as well as reason that, granting the phenomena to be spiritual, the presence of determined scoffers at, and disbelievers in them, should in case the said persons be preponderant in their influence in the circle, render the manifestations imperfect or perhaps null. The known laws of

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human sympathy, and the operations of our own spirits when antipathetic persons are near us, may also be cited in proof of this. I conclude, then, that to the scoffer and the strongly prejudiced, who want no evidence, and to whom evidence has no appeal, evidence is, for the most part, not forthcoming. This simplifies the position; but what still remains is the peculiar Christian politesse of this century, viz., the necessity of good manners and the agreeing to differ. On the part of those who believe, this may be best secured by letting the other party be. Providence can convince them, too, as easily as ourselves, when the time and their function comes, but by snatching at them prematurely before they are ripe, we may evoke, on a great scale, two of the most formidable spirits of this world—WRATH and FEAR.

 

"As a final remark, let me caution the public against being led by Sir David Brewster, Mr. Faraday, and other men of great names in their own departments, in this matter which is obviously not within their field. We hear much of not choosing Crimean generals on old Peninsular qualifications. But to select a Faraday or a Brewster for opinion on this case, is a far worse error; for all generals, past, present, and to come, are in the military line; but these great men are not and never were in the line upon which they have professed to decide. They are so alien to the subject, that they do not know the first condition of prosecuting it, namely, a gift of sympathy, and openness to conviction. Their very specialty of excellence in physical explorations, is against them in this new walk, which is combined spiritual and physical. The common observer