343. “Unfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with theseindispensable conditions. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and Berlin, there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French press observed a uniform inexplicable silence!
344. “We ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold what began to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and hat turning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known when it appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of nature; and that tables never had any other destiny!
345. “Again we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by which we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables, which, nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of avesseland a medium? However, silence becoming impossible, the French press has thought proper to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the Empire,Le Pays, happened to inform us that ‘from the Baltic to the banks of the Danube, all Germany was in a fever.’ It became then plainer and plainer that we were going to be infected, and from that time we hastened to prepare our batteries.
346. “It was high time, for about the end of April, the grand mysterious army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all the large cities of France—Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, &c.—theturningepidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and better to impress the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables, hats, seats, &c., for all these participated in the demonstration.
347. “At Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made a pastime for a soirée. Children were introduced into the circles, without considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with these mysterious amusements.
348. “It is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come near them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an electricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather?
349. “It is true, too, that M. Rouilly,maître de pensionat Orleans, undertook to give an answer. In theMoniteur due Loiret, he informs us that ‘at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young man of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs, and that his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful manner, making as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able, he said, to utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated man; it was necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still felt some nervous trembling.’ M. Rouilly ended in saying ‘that he felt it his duty to report this fact for the benefit of those who may enter into these experiments without knowing their possible serious inconveniences.’ Little attention was paid to this, so much had fashion asserted empire, so much was this pleasure worth its cost.
350. “However, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed to ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the savans say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric appearances? will their philosophy allow them to seek independently of the fluids, which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of such a variety of effects? No; they well know, however, that in the sciences—medicine, for example—every investigation that stops short of phenomena, is of very secondary value; we may be satisfied, for want of better, but still we do not feel ourselves in possession of the truth; we still seek it. Why inthis case should we do otherwise? These suppositions were just, but we say without hesitation our fantastic experimenters committed from the first an unpardonable fault, philosophically speaking; that is, not to have taken the least notice of those facts from America which were beginning to sound in their ears from all sides. When we are visited by the plague, yellow fever, or cholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied in Egypt, Spain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at the place of their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination. Well! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would have seenas clear as daythat theAugsbourg Gazettewas right in telling them that thisanimal magnetizingwas received direct from America. But what shall we do? we take no pleasurein lookingat what we do not wantto see.
351. “However, this affiliation once well established, well understood, by thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have reached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited themselves in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in tables or behindpartitions, we could have seen immediately what might be reserved for us for the future.
352. “But rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is too gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it only sees in this awaggishelectricity, and will never consent to be persuaded that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths, or rather at the side of such enormities in physics.
353. “And then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then what becomes of theindispensableconditions of Dr. André? that is to say: ‘All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.’
354. “This morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a circle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the circle continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for the street, and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins to waltz, as if to bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics, what electricity! Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries disinherited! Behold the city of Valence, who laboured all in her power, who followed with angelic patience all the prescriptions of the new science; nothing could produce the phenomena. Is it that at Valence, perchance, the human species has no electricity? Mon Dieu! it has electricity, but it is not of that accidental and local kind, the real kind for the occasion, and which may be therefore denominatederratic; as the ancients called those gods that moved about from place to place.
355. “No, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with the explanation of thelittle fingers, but soon perceives that these little fingers supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric trough, and the chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also, the chain was saidto be very important; and the trough, magnet, steel, glass pile allnecessaryagents. Very well, what has now become of all these necessities? The magnetic effects exceed all those of that time, and notwithstanding they are not made any use of. Much more! since thepasseshave ceased to be the fashion, the phenomena have doubled. In Germany, where people go to the bottom of things, they have desired to look into the heart of it. Each master of the magnet—and they are pretty plenty there—has constructed his own trough. That of Walford consists of anironbox, furnished with bottles, iron wire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser was made ofbeechwithout bottles, and filled with water, which did not prevent the effects from being precisely the same in the two cases. Thus it was said: It is magnetism alone which gives them this power, and they magnetized their best. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to magnetize, and the trough lost none of its power! ‘Ah! ah!’ they say, ‘the trough is magnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they put a stout man into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in excellent health. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity all the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited themselves so brilliantly.’
356. “This is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of which M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect he was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to be caught by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics to be entirely innocent of all the effects they witnessed. But at the same time they thought proper to refer to theimaginationthese same prodigious effects, which no one could understand even after having seen them; and there was their great mistake; they were right as savans, as philosophers inexcusable.
357. “Moreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed under these circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. What prejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered many retreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, not only to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these are about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will be necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real as aneffect, are not in fact real in theircause; that they lie when they wish the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they act by turns with and without a chain in a particular town, and not in some other, &c.
358. “But on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause, is almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent yourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits, hobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate! Not a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will forever be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory which was thought to have been gained centuries before.
359. “Beware, however, of the firstsupernal intelligence! for we shall fall back on our ancient and primitivecriterion, our infallibletouchstone.
360. “All depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this time; an imprudent question might lose all.
361. “And already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article which we find in theCourier du Nord? ‘In another house the table, they say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the direction indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted the hours, and told the age of the assistants,’ &c.
362. “What means that other letter from Bordeaux, in theGuyenne? ‘A hat submitted toanimal magnetismappearedmore intelligenteven than the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols,the ageof persons, the number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it told theamountof ladies and gentlemen together in the room,’ &c.
363. “What follows is better still: see in theJournal le Pays, a letter of M., the Abbé of Moigno, according to which it follows that MM. Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered the tables to rest onthisleg and then onthe other, and made them beat time, &c.
364. “We read in La Patrie—‘Explanation given by the savans.’ Ah! let us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this journal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have arrived: ‘The table and hat turnersact mostly in good faith, (quite a concession,) butthey deceive themselves; they think they cause the motion of an inanimate object by an act of volition, or an effusion of magnetic fluid from their fingers; while it is by muscular action,imperceptibleto themselves, or others.’ Ah! take notice! It is by a vibratory movement coming from thousands of small nervous branches. Add to this, lassitude,humidity of the hands, and you will have an explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, at leastsufficiently plausible, of the phenomena which engage our attention. M. Chevreul (of the Institute) hasanalyzedthis physiological predisposition, and hasillustratedit by the fact familiar to the billiard player, who having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his shoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions,as if to impel it, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c.
365. “It is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase ‘as if to impel it,’ for had he been so unfortunate as to say,and in fact he did impel it, we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced. But that lucky ‘as if,’ saves us from a very bad predicament; it brings back to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say, that in the relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time, has all the muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in the smallest degree, the direction of an object, not under its direct action. To the presenttime all the laws of physics have been based on the grand primordial law, and the player of ten-pins is not more successful from such efforts, than he of the billiard ball just named.
366. “How changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy of Sciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at a distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle—an experiment, too, which couldneverbe renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place of needles, all at once heavy tables are seenwaltzing about the room, and obedient to the will; and all this is easily explained! It isquite plausible! Yes, but this time, gentlemen Savans, we will not allow you to distort the facts. Since the commencement of this volume, we have done nothing but establish, on good evidence, all those which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their fancy, after having absolutely denied them. But now the half of France rises with us to convict them, and to say to you: No, yournervous brancheswill never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would refer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our own questions, nor thesuper-intelligenceof those which probably to-morrow will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves.
367. “Attending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a man of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way to the weakest scholar who,cue in hand, might fairly undertake to answer him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most horribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its principles, loses, in our estimation, much of its authority.
368. “La Revue Medicale, cited byLa Patrieof May 20th, declares in its turn ‘the explanation either byimaginationormuscular vibrations, as represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan,entirely nullifiedby the fact of the simple change in the relations of thelittle fingers.’
369. “As for the Medical, they see in itanimal magnetism, and exclaim: ‘No one is able to foresee the application of which this discovery is susceptible. It is an entire world for explanation. Who knows if there is not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating a whole generation!’
370. “Lucky Magnetism—what a reparation you have a right to demand! what incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday so cruelly tore you to pieces! ButLa PresseandL’Union Medicalemay do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their word.
371. “A just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would not believe and you are not believed now! We read afresh inLa Patrieof May 21st, the recital of ‘tables promenading and upsettingwithout contact by pure efforts of volition, or even by a simple magneticpass—a verysuperfluousprecaution of the experimenter.’ Very superfluous, indeed! It could not have been better expressed.
372. “In the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still maintain that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture ofthe two nervous atmospheres? The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to use the language of Reichenbach, must be verysensitive; and in this new dancewithout contact—what becomes of the explanation by muscular vibration, and especially bythe humidity of the hands?
373. “We have some very important communications, on the 23d of May, from M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chambéry, respecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and establishing theperfect intelligenceof the agent in question. M. Bonjean, however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform process. ‘These responses,’ he says, ‘are not, andcannot be but the reflection of the thoughtsof the person who causes the phenomena, and the movablesare only able to satisfythose questions whose answers are known, without ever being able to supply an answer that is not known.’
374. “The idea that the furniture is unable togive satisfactionis charming! but up to this point it was not understood to besuper-intelligence. Patience, however, for it is bound to happen!
375. “Besides, M. Bonjean does full justice to themuscular movementsof M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of Strasbourg turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons moved withoutimmediate contact. Next, he passes from the physical to the moral question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very encouraging. ‘Fathers and mothers,’ he exclaims, ‘if you do not desire to develope premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard the peace of your wives,be mistrustful of the magnetic chainin general, and of the dancing of tables in particular.’
376. “It will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly on mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under all this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented sin.
377. “In a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most distinguished engineers, to the Abbé Moigno, who had very ably opposed these experiments inLe Pays, M. Seguin says, ‘When I reason dispassionately on thereal and very positiveresults which I have obtained, and seen obtained by others before my eyes, I think myself under the control of an hallucination which causes me to see things differently to what they are, so much does my reason refuse to admit them; but when I repeat my experiments, I find it impossible any longer to resist the force of evidence, when indeed it confounds and upsets all my opinions.
378. “‘How can youexpect me to accept your explanation, when a table touched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, pressesagainstmy hand andagainstmy legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost break itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could impart to it a force equal to such efforts, andespecially when that personis myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts asTHEY ARE,the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself, in whom you have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The explanation will come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in these phenomena ofturning tablesthere is something more than you see—aphysical realityoutside of the imagination and of the faith of those who appear to make them move.’
379. “It is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to defend thephysicalevidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a thousand times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us see if M., the Abbé Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his revenge on another.
380. “Referring to a communication made to the academy by one M. Vauquelin, about one of theseenchanted tables, which in his hands was able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the most secret thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims inLe Cosmos Revue Encyclopédique des Sciences: ‘This timeit is too strong; we find ourselves definitively at the mercy of magic, and the moment has come to proclaim it at Rome. Then there is neither magnetism nor electricity; not even the influence of human volition on matter; but supposing the fact to be certain—WHICH IS HARD TO SWALLOW—there must be in itthe intervention of spirits, ormagic. Intelligence that can refuse these deductions of common sense, would beDISORDEREDintelligence, as useless to dispute with aswith fools. If you have not been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you affirm are true, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits and of magic became the sorrowful but great realities.’
381. “M. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers, writes what follows inLa Gazette de France:—‘I will not insist on this point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to me entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician, and, I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical impulsion might be communicated. But the rotation only serves topresentother phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to refer to any kind of muscular action.
382. “‘Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it promptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to you the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an exactness, with a solemnity that fairlyfrightened us. “Strike three blows; strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right foot; with your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one foot; remain up; prevent those on the side raised from returning the table to the floor.” After each command the table obeyed. It produced movements that no complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have induced;for we should have afterward tried in vain to place it on one foot, and keep it there by the pressure of the hands, resisting incontestably the efforts to press it down.
383. “‘Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were obeyed as well as grown persons.
384. “‘Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be audible, but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the table obeyed!There was in no instance the least error.
385. “‘Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of his age, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind,endeavouring in the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large. I must own, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally diminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two,becausemy wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct number.
386. “‘Finally, having continued these experiments more than an hour, at which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, I felt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise again,and turn over on my side, which it did.
“‘Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration,
A. De Gasparin.’
387. “We stop our citations here; for those who are not content with the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from philosophers, or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing, too,in all parts of the world, will not be better satisfied by any thing we could add. A day is coming, however, that will open every mouth. Then from all those parlours so reserved before—from all those cabinets in which experiments had been conducted withclosed doors, the truth will burst forth in its full power. Then it will be known that some of the most esteemed men of Paris, of the bench, pulpit, and men of letters, have both desired to see and have seen it; have desired to know and have known it. It will be known that the evilsuper-intelligencehas been revealed to them, and that if they have been silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, it was only an act of prudence to restrain public opinion.
388. “But on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly predict: the facts of to-daywhich it does admit, proving to amount to nothing, and theinadmissiblefacts being admitted, its faith will change, and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs, two savants will not be able to look at each other any more without smiling, and often enough to exclaim: ‘It has been well said, my dear colleague; it has always been foretold, that “He, who is outside of pure mathematics, pronounces the wordIMPOSSIBLE,WANTS PRUDENCE.’”
Arago.””
389. “While in doubt upon this subject, I heard of the media in this country, and was casually introduced to Mrs. Hayden, an American medium, without having any intention to ask a question respecting the spirits; my object being to purchase a book which Mrs. Hayden had for sale, written by a valued and most truthful friend of mine in America, Adin Ballou, who has written a plain, practical, common-sense history of this new revelation to the human race.
390. “While conversing with Mrs. Hayden, and while we were both standing before the fire, and talking of our mutual friends, suddenly raps were heard on a table at some distance from us, no one being near to it. I was surprised, and as the raps continued and appeared to indicate a strong desire to attract attention, I asked what was the meaning of the sounds? Mrs. Hayden said they were spirits anxious to communicate with some one, and she would inquire who they were. They replied to her, by the alphabet. that they were friends of mine who were desirous to communicate with me. Mrs. Hayden then gave me the alphabet and pencil, and I found, according totheir ownstatements, that the spirits were those of my mother and father. I tested their truth by various questions, and their answers, all correct, surprised me exceedingly. I have since had twelve séances, some of long continuance, and during which, with one exception, I have had prompt and true answers so far as the past and present, and very rational replies as to the future; but these last have to be tested by time. The exception was my own afterward-discovered error.”
391. From the following quotation, it seems that Mr. Owen has not had any reason to diminish his faith in spiritualism. The manifestations, of which his account is subjoined, are eminently wonderful; yet they are not more so than those which are recorded as having been realized under the influence of the same medium, in this country, or at Koons’s Establishment in Ohio:—
Seven Oaks, April 23, 1855.
392. “Dear Sir:—Just now, on my return from London, where, last night, I had been giving a lecture to Mr. Ronge’s party of foreigners and others on Education, I had the pleasure to receive your 2d Number of ‘The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.’ I have hastily glanced over it, and I feel much interest in your proceedings, and wish you all success in the good cause. I say good cause, for it is sure to lead to great ultimate good, and especially will it destroy the many evils arising from sectarianism, and other causes of hatred and ruin between man and nations. I must tellyou of what occurred to me last night, after my return from the lecture, about nine o’clock.
393. “A Mr. Hume, a young Scotchman, who went to America to pursue his studies as a medical student, four or five years ago, became a medium, (he is now about twenty years of age,) and soon became a very superior one. He had engaged to accompany the Haydens and Miss Jay. He took his passage and came, but the others, for some cause, postponed their voyage, but may now be daily expected. They arrived on the 22d. I had heard on my arrival in London, from friends on whom I could depend, of the extraordinary results by his mediumship. I made arrangements to visit those friends and Mr. Hume when I finished my lecture, which I did, and found my two friends and Mr. Hume waiting my arrival. On being seated around a regular full-sized card table, there were raps immediately, and because I do not hear very well, the raps increased until they became very loud, but I heard the first raps distinctly. Many spirits were present; some, relatives of my friends, and others, my own relations. My wife and daughters, my son and brother, and also my father and mother, with all of whom I have had frequent delightful intercourse through various mediums. My two friends present are husband and wife; and the first new occurrence to me was, seeing the lady’s silk apron untied by invisible means—a somewhat complicated operation—and taken from her and given to Mr. Hume, opposite to her. It was then conveyed backward and forward, from one to another, and it soon came to me. I held it with much force, but it was drawn from me with greater force, for I was afraid damage would be done to it. Next a flower was taken from the table, conveyed away by invisible means, and brought to me. The flower I kept for being so presented to me. Next I had my handkerchief out; it was taken from my hands, and in an instant thrown from the opposite side of the table, not as it was taken, but made into a large hat, which I also have as a curiosity. Then the spirits came and touched each of us. I was occasionally touched on one knee, then on the other, and afterward on both at once; and then one of them shook hands with me, and I most distinctly felt the fingers of them separately. An accordeon was then placed under the table, and soon the spirit of the daughter of the family played most beautifully several tunes and pieces of music. I asked for one of my favourite Scotch tunes, and it was immediately played. The instrument was then raised by invisible power, and given first to one, then to another; it was thus brought to me. The table was then lifted from the floor; at first, about a foot, and immediately afterward, about three feet.
394. “After this the medium was put into a trance, during which he saw beautiful visions of spirits, and one of them spake through him while in that state sentiments that went to the heart of each of us, giving us advice, invaluable in its import, and in language beautifully and eloquently expressed, and calculated to make the deepest impression on our memories. While reason remains I shall never forget it; and it was given with many encouraging words, to pursue my course in the measures in which I am engaged; to endeavour to introduce the millennium, but also stating the obstacles I should meet, and the great difficulties which were to be overcome.
395. “Much more occurred, very interesting; but the post time expires, and I wish you to have this communication by this mail.
“Yours sincerely,Robert Owen.”
396. I subjoin the following narrative of Mr. Rufus Elmer, of Springfield, Massachusetts, concerning manifestations through Mr. Hume, as corroborating those described by Mr. Owen. Thus, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have evidence of analogous striking results by the same medium:—
397. “Rufus Elmer, Esq., of Springfield, informs us that Mr. Hume spent the nights of March 17th and 18th at his house. On the evening of the 17th, thirteen persons were present, when a series of most extraordinary demonstrations took place. First, two large tables standing together, around which the company were sitting, were lifted from the floor, while all hands were resting upon their tops. Then an accordeon, held under the table in one of Mr. Hume’s hands, (the other being on the table,) with the keys downward, was played in strong tones, three parts being maintained, and any tune performed that was called for—even foreign music. The instrument was also played upon while held in the same manner by each person present,—all hands except the one holding the accordeon being upon the tables in sight. (These manifestations were all made in a room well lighted by gas.) A bell, weighing over a pound, was passed about under the tables, put in the hands of each person, taken away again, passed rapidly from one end of the tables to the other, a distance of eight feet, knocking loudly on the under side as it went; and, finally, the tables having been separated a few inches, and a cloth spread over the aperture, the bell was held up under the cloth, while the company were allowed to feel the hand which held it. Next, the bell was slid out on to one of the tables from beneath the covering, and the hand which grasped it was exposed to the view of all the company—the hands of each being at the same time in full view. To gratify one who sat at so great a distance as not to have a clear view, it was communicated that if all others would for a moment avert their eyes, so as not to concentrate their magnetism so powerfully upon the object, it could be more plainly manifested to this one alone. Acting upon this hint, each person was allowed to look singly at the hand—to the full satisfaction of all. One of those present, mentally requested, unknown to all others, that the hand of herspirit-child might be exhibited to her; and, behold! a child’s hand was presented, while no child in the body was in the room. One of the company was a coloured domestic in the family of Mr. E-—-, and she mentally requested that her mother, who had before purported to communicate to her, if present, would show her hand; when, lo! a black hand appeared! These are but specimens of what occurred during the evening.”