{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_11950/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_11950","id":"gutenberg_11950","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11950","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Reports & Conference Proceedings","Parapsychology -- Investigation","Spiritualism"],"text":"PRELIMINARY REPORT\n\nOF THE COMMISSION APPOINTED BY\n\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA\n\nTO INVESTIGATE\n\nMODERN SPIRITUALISM\n\n\nIN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUEST OF THE LATE HENRY SEYBERT\n\n\nWITH A FOREWORD BY H.H. FURNESS, JR.\n\n\n1887, 1920\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nNow, at the present time, when the attention of the public is turning\ntowards questions of Psychology and Psychiatry, it is most appropriate\nthat a volume such as the present _Report_ be again placed in the hands\nof the public. While it cannot be said that the conclusions reached by\nthe Seybert Commission were final, yet material for future investigation\nwas furnished and facts so clearly stated that the reader might form his\nown conclusions. The purpose and intended scope of the Commission are\nplainly set forth in the Preliminary sections, and therefore need not be\nentered upon here.\n\nOf the members composing that Commission but one is now surviving, Dr.\nCalvin B. Knerr, who contributed an interesting report on the\nslate-writing medium, Mrs. Patterson. The sections by the\nActing-Chairman, Dr. Horace Howard Furness, on Mediumistic Development,\nSealed Letters, and Materialization were the occasion of acrimonious and\nviolent attack on the whole work of the Commission by those periodicals\ndevoted to spiritualism and its propaganda. Age cannot wither the charm\nof the good humoured satire with which the Acting-Chairman treated these\nsubjects; and it was largely the spirit in which they were thus\napproached that inspired the intense hostility on the part of the\nspiritual mediums and their many followers.\n\nIt has been epigrammatically said that, Superstition is, in many cases,\nthe cloak that keeps a man's religion from dying of cold; possibly the\nsame may be said of Spiritualism and Psychology.\n\nH.H. FURNESS, JR.\n\nFebruary, 1920.\n\n\n\n\nPRELIMINARY REPORT\n\nOF\n\nThe Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism.\n\n\n_To the Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania:_\n\n'The Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism'\nrespectfully present the following Preliminary Report, and request that\nthe Commission be continued, on the following grounds:\n\nThe Commission is composed of men whose days are already filled with\nduties which cannot be laid aside, and who are able, therefore, to\ndevote but a small portion of their time to these investigations. They\nare conscious that your honorable body look to them for a due\nperformance of their task, and the only assurance which they can offer\nof their earnestness and zeal is in thus presenting to you, from time to\ntime, such fragmentary Reports as the following, whereby they trust that\nsuccessive steps in their progress may be marked. It is no small matter\nto be able to record any progress in a subject of so wide and deep an\ninterest as the present. It is not too much to say that the farther our\ninvestigations extend the more imperative appears the demand for these\ninvestigations. The belief in so-called Spiritualism is certainly not\ndecreasing. It has from the first assumed a religious tone, and now\nclaims to be ranked among the denominational Faiths of the day.\n\nFrom the outset your Commission have been deeply impressed with the\nseriousness of their undertaking, and have fully recognized that men\neminent in intelligence and attainments yield to Spiritualism an entire\ncredence, and who can fail to stand aside in tender reverence when\ncrushed and bleeding hearts are seen to seek it for consolation and for\nhope? They beg that nothing which they may say may be interpreted as\nindicating indifference or levity. Wherever fraud in Spiritualism be\nfound, that it is, and not whatever of truth there may be therein, which\nis denounced, and all Spiritualists who love the truth will join with us\nin condemnation of it.\n\nThe admission of evidence concerning the so-called Spiritual\nmanifestations has been duly weighed. There is apparent force in the\nargument that our national histories are founded, accepted and trusted\non evidence by no means as direct as that by which, it is claimed, the\nproofs of Spiritual miracles are accompanied. But it must be remembered\nthat the facts of profane history are vouched for by evidence which is\nin accord with our present experience; they are in harmony with all that\nis now going on in the light of day (that history repeats itself has\ngrown into a commonplace), and we are justified in accepting them on\ntestimony, however indirect, which is nevertheless at one with the\nordinary course of events. But the phenomena of Spiritualism have no\nsuch support; they are commonly regarded as in contravention of the\nordinary experience of mankind (in that they are abnormal and\nextraordinary lies their very attractiveness to many people), and no\nindirect testimony concerning them can be admitted without the most\nthorough, the most searching scrutiny. We doubt if any thoughtful\nSpiritualist could be found to maintain that we should unquestioningly\naccept all the so-called 'facts' with which their annals teem. To sift\nthe evidence of merely half a dozen would require incalculable labor.\nWherefore we decided that, as we shall be held responsible for our\nconclusions, we must form those conclusions solely on our own\nobservations; without at all imputing untrustworthiness to the testimony\nof others we can really vouch only for facts which we have ourselves\nobserved.\n\nThe late Mr. Henry Seybert during his lifetime was known as an\nenthusiastic believer in Modern Spiritualism, and shortly before his\ndeath presented to The University of Pennsylvania a sum of money\nsufficient to found a chair of Philosophy, and to the gift added a\ncondition that the University should appoint a Commission to investigate\n'all systems of Morals, Religion, or Philosophy which assume to\nrepresent the Truth, and particularly of Modern Spiritualism.'\n\nA Commission was accordingly appointed, composed as follows: Dr. William\nPepper, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Dr. George A. Koenig, Professor Robert Ellis\nThompson, Professor George S. Fullerton and Dr. Horace Howard Furness;\nto whom were afterwards added Mr. Coleman Sellers, Dr. James W. White,\nDr. Calvin B. Knerr and Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. Of this Commission Dr.\nPepper, as Provost of The University, was, _ex-officio_, Chairman, Dr.\nFurness, Acting Chairman, and Professor Fullerton, Secretary.\n\nAs a befitting preliminary, at one of our earliest meetings each member\nin turn expressed his entire freedom from all prejudices against the\nsubject to be investigated, and his readiness to accept any conclusion\nwarranted by facts; one of our number, the Acting Chairman, so far from\nbeing unprejudiced confessed to a leaning in favor of the substantial\ntruth of Spiritualism.\n\nWe deemed ourselves fortunate at the outset in having as a counselor\nthe late Mr. Thos. R. Hazard, a personal friend of Mr. Seybert, and\nwidely known throughout the land as an uncompromising Spiritualist.\n\nBy the advice of Mr. Hazard we addressed ourselves first to the\ninvestigation of Independent Slate Writing, and through his aid a s\u00e9ance\nfor this purpose was arranged with a noted Medium, Mrs. S.E. Patterson.\n\nThis mode of manifesting Spiritualistic power, as far as it has come\nunder our observation, is, concisely stated, the writing on the\nconcealed surface of a slate which is in contact with a Medium. In the\npresent instance, between two slates fastened together by a hinge on one\nside and a screw on the other, there was placed a small fragment of\nslate pencil; when this fragment is bitten off by the Medium, it\nreceives, so Mr. Hazard assured us, additional Spiritualistic power. As\nsoon as a Spirit has finished writing its communication with the pencil\non the inner surface of the slates, the completion of the task is made\nknown by the appearance of the slate pencil on the outside, upon the\nslates. The slates are always held in concealment under the table, and\nnever has this remarkable passage of the pencil through the solid\nsubstance of the slate been witnessed by any one, not even by the Medium\nherself, in all the years during which this wonderful phenomenon has\nbeen a matter of daily, almost hourly, experience.\n\nOur first s\u00e9ance was held in the evening at the Medium's own home. The\nslates were screwed together with the bit of slate pencil enclosed, and\nheld by the Medium between her open palms, in her lap, under the table.\nAfter waiting an hour and a half without the least response on the\nslates from the Spirits, the attempt was abandoned for that evening much\nto the disappointment, not only of us all, but to the chagrin of Mr.\nHazard, who could not understand 'what the deuce was in it, seeing that\nthe Medium was one of the very best in the world, and on the preceding\nevening, when he was all alone with her, the messages from the spirit of\nHenry Seybert came thick and fast.'\n\nNo better success attended our second s\u00e9ance with this Medium, although\nwe waited patiently an hour and twenty minutes, while the slates were in\nthe Medium's lap.\n\nBy the advice of the Medium, in order to eliminate any possible\nantagonism, we divided our numbers, and only one or two of us at a time\nsat with her. On one occasion writing did appear on the slates, after\nthe slates had been held by both hands of the Medium for a long time in\nconcealment under the table, but to neither of the two sitters did the\nscrew appear to be by any means as tightly fastened after the writing as\nbefore; nor did the writing of two or three illegible words seem beyond\nthe resources of very humble legerdemain; in fact, no legerdemain was\nneeded, after a surreptitious loosening of the screw which, considering\nthe state of the frame of the slate, could have been readily effected.\n\nFrom some cause or other the atmosphere of Philadelphia is not favorable\nto this mode of Spiritual manifestation. With the exception of the\nMedium just alluded to, not a single Professional Independent Slate\nWriting Medium was known to us at that time in this city, nor is there\none resident here even at this present writing, as far as we know.\n\nWe were, therefore, obliged to send for one to New York. With this\nMedium, Dr. Henry Slade, we had a number of sittings, and, however\nwonderful may have been the manifestations of his Mediumship in the\npast, or elsewhere, we were forced to the conclusion that the character\nof those which passed under our observation was fraudulent throughout.\nThere was really no need of any elaborate method of investigation; close\nobservation was all that was required.\n\nAt the risk of appearing inconsequent by mentioning that first which in\npoint of time came last, we must premise that in our investigations\nwith this Medium we early discovered the character of the writing to be\ntwofold, and the difference between the two styles to be striking. In\none case the communication written on the slate by the Spirits was\ngeneral in its tone, legible in its chirography, and usually covered\nmuch of the surface of the slate, punctuation being attended to, the\n_i's_ dotted, and the _t's_ crossed. In the second, when the\ncommunication was in answer to a question addressed to a Spirit the\nwriting was clumsy, rude, scarcely legible, abrupt in terms, and\nsometimes very vague in substance. In short, one bore the marks of\ndeliberation and the other of haste. This difference we found to be due\nto the different conditions under which the communications were written.\nThe long messages are prepared by the Medium before the s\u00e9ance. The\nshort ones, answers to questions asked during the s\u00e9ance, are written\nunder the table with what skill practice can confer.\n\nWith this knowledge, it is clear that the investigator has to deal with\na simple question of legerdemain. The slate, with its message already\nwritten, must in some way be substituted for one which the sitter knows\nto be clean. The short answers must be written under trying\ncircumstances, out of sight, under the table, with all motions of the\narm or hand concealed. It is useless to attempt to limit the methods\nwhereby these two objects may be attained. All that we can do is to\ndescribe the processes which we distinctly saw this Medium adopt.\n\nIn its simplest form (and one which any person can try with astonishing\nresults upon an artless, unsuspicious sitter), a slate, on which, before\nthe sitter's visit, a message has been written, is lying face downward\non the table when the s\u00e9ance begins. There are other slates on an\nadjoining table within easy reach of the Medium. In order that the\nMedium may be brought into Spiritual relationship with the sitters,\ncontact with the Medium is necessary, and the sitters are therefore\nrequested to place their hands, palms downward, in the middle of the\ntable; on these hands the Medium places his own and the s\u00e9ance begins.\nBefore long, the presence of Spiritual power becomes manifest by raps on\nthe table, or by vibratory movements of the table, more or less violent,\nand by spasmodic jerkings or twitching of the Medium's arms or body.\nWhen sufficient Spiritual power has been generated, the Medium takes up\nthe slate, and, still controlling with his left hand the hands of his\nsitters, places on it a minute fragment of slate pencil. No offer is\nmade to show both sides (the prepared message is on the hidden side),\nthe side in full view is perfectly clean, and it is on that side that\nthe Spirits are to write with the slate pencil; there is no need of\nshowing the other side. With his right hand the Medium holds the slate\nunder the edge of the table, barely concealing it thereunder, and\ndrawing it forth every few seconds to see if any writing has appeared.\nAfter waiting in vain for five or ten minutes, the Medium's patience\nbecomes exhausted, and he reaches for another slate from the table close\nbehind him, and, ostentatiously washing both sides of it, lays it on the\ntable in front of him (still controlling with his left hand the hands of\nhis sitters), and removes the pencil from the first slate to the second,\nand on top of the second so places the first slate that the prepared\nmessage is underneath, on the inside and next to the other slate. The\ntrick is done. All that now remains for the Medium to do is to hold the\ntwo slates under the table for awhile, or rest them on the shoulder\nclose to the ear of the sitter on the Medium's right, and, by scratching\nwith the finger nail on the frame of the slate, to imitate the writing\nby the Spirits with the enclosed pencil. When there are two or more\nsitters it is only the one on the right of the Medium who is privileged\nto hear the writing. To apply the slate to the ear of any other would\ndisclose the way in which the sound of the writing is counterfeited. To\nhim, therefore, who sits on the Medium's left, so that the Medium's\nhand, while holding the slates on the shoulder of the sitter on the\nright, is sharply outlined against the light, the motions of the\nMedium's fingers while the sound of writing is imitated by him may be\ndistinctly seen.\n\nBy such elementary tricks of legerdemain as these are guileless, honest\nfolk deceived.\n\nDr. Slade prefers to have only two sitters at a time, one on his right\nand one opposite. The fourth side of the table he prefers to have\nunoccupied; his manipulations of the slate can be from that side more\nreadily observed; moreover, strange Spiritual antics may be there\nmanifested, such as upsetting chairs which happen to be there, making\nslates appear above the edge of the table, etc. These manifestations are\nexecuted by the Medium's foot, which, on one occasion, was distinctly\nseen before it had time to get back into its slipper by one of our\nnumber, who stooped very quickly to pick up a slate which had\naccidentally fallen to the floor while the Spirits were trying to put it\ninto the lap of one of the sitters.\n\nAt the first two s\u00e9ances an ordinary wooden table was used belonging to\nthe hotel where Dr. Slade lodged. At the third s\u00e9ance a similar but\nlarger table was used, somewhat the worse for wear, and the joints of\nits leaves were far from fitting close. Every crack, however, and every\nchink had been carefully filled up with paper to prevent, so the Medium\nsaid, 'the electricity from flowing through.'\n\nThe method of producing the long message which opened the s\u00e9ance has\nbeen described above. Whenever we received other long messages, written\nwith some care and more or less filling the side of the slate, the\nagency employed was adroit substitution, generally effected when the\nMedium supposed that the attention of his sitters was engrossed with an\nanswer just received to a question addressed to the Spirits. Prepared\nslates resting against the leg of the table behind him were substituted\nfor those which but a moment before he had ostentatiously washed on\nboth sides and laid on the table in front of him. The handwriting of\nthese long messages bore an unmistakable similarity to the Medium's own.\n\nWhen a question is written on the slate by a sitter, equal dexterity to\nthat used in substituting the prepared slate, or even greater, is\ndemanded of the Medium, in reading the question and in writing the\nanswer.\n\nThe question is written by the sitter out of sight of the Medium, to\nwhom the slate, face downward, is handed over and a piece of pencil\nplaced on it.\n\nThe task now before the Medium is first to secure the fragment of pencil\nand to hold it while the slate is surreptitiously turned over and the\nquestion read, then the slate is turned back again and the answer\nwritten.\n\nEvery step in the process we have distinctly seen. In order to seize the\nfragment of pencil without awakening suspicion, while holding the slate\nunder the table, the slate is constantly brought out to see whether or\nnot the Spirits have written an answer. By this manoeuvre a double end\nis attained: First, it creates an atmosphere of expectation, and the\nsitters grow accustomed to a good deal of motion in the Medium's arm\nthat holds the slate; and secondly, by these repeated motions the pencil\n(which, having been cut out from a slate pencil enclosed in wood, is\nsquare, and does not roll about awkwardly), is moved by the successive\njerks toward the hand which holds the slate, and is gradually brought up\nto within grasping distance. The forefinger is then passed over the\nframe of the slate, and it and the thumb seize and hold the pencil, and\nunder cover of some violent convulsive spasms the slate is turned over\nand the question read. At this point it is that the Medium shows his\nnerve: it is the critical instant, the only one when his eyes are not\nfastened on his visitors. On one occasion, when the question was written\nsomewhat illegibly in a back hand, with a very light stroke, and close\nto the upper edge of the slate, the Medium had to look at it three\nseveral times before he could make it out.\n\nAfter reading the question, it may be noticed that Dr. Slade winks three\nor four times rapidly; this may have been partly to veil from his\nvisitors the fact that he had been looking intently downward, and partly\nthrough mental abstraction in devising an answer. He evidently breathes\nfreer when this crisis is past.\n\nConvulsive spasms attend the reversing of the slate, which is then\ngenerally held between his knees; only once did we note that he placed\nit _on_ his knees, and once we believed that he supported it by pressing\nit against the leg of the table. The answer is written without looking\nat the slate, in a coarse, large, sprawling hand, at times scarcely\nlegible. While writing he keeps his eyes steadily fixed on his visitors,\nand generally rests a minute or two after it is finished. Presently the\nslate is held near the edge of the table and close up to it, and a\ntremulous motion imparted to it suggests that Spiritual power is then at\nwork and that the writing is in progress.\n\nDr. Slade performed several little tricks which he imputed to Spiritual\nagency, but which were almost puerile in the simplicity of their\nlegerdemain, and which have been repeated with perfect success by one of\nour number; such as tossing a slate pencil on and sometimes over the\ntable from a slate held apparently under the table, or the playing of an\naccordion when held with one hand under the table. This Medium's fingers\nare unusually long and strong, and the accordion, being quite small and\nwith only four bellows folds, can be readily manipulated with but one\nhand, and when under the table is held by the keys.\n\nTwo compasses, which we placed on the table during one s\u00e9ance, remained\nunaffected by Dr. Slade's presence.\n\nAt our last s\u00e9ance with him we noticed two slates which were not with\nthe other slates on the small table behind him, but were on the floor\nresting against the leg of that table, and within easy reach of his hand\nas he sat at the larger table. As we had previously seen prepared slates\nsimilarly placed we kept a sharp watch on these slates. Unfortunately,\nit was too sharp. Dr. Slade caught the look that was directed at them.\nThat detected glance was sufficient to prevent the Spirits from sending\nus the messages which they had so carefully prepared. The slates were\nnot produced during the s\u00e9ance, but when it was over one of our number\nmanaged to strike them with his foot so as to displace them and reveal\nthe writing. None of us present that day will be likely to forget the\nhurried way in which these slates were seized by the Medium and washed.\n\nWe think it worthy to be recorded that, in reply to a question, Dr.\nSlade said that Professor Zoellner watched him closely only during the\nfirst three or four sittings, but that afterwards Professor Zoellner let\nhim do just as he pleased, fully and unreservedly submitting to all the\nconditions demanded by the Spirits.\n\nWe received from Dr. Slade a written expression of his satisfaction with\nour treatment of him, which had been throughout, so he said, entirely\nfair and courteous, and of his willingness at any time hereafter to sit\nwith us again, should we desire it and his engagements permit.\n\nIt is a source of regret that, in our investigations, we have received\nno aid from unprofessional Mediums; and in dealing with professional\nMediums we have been continually distracted by the conflicting estimates\nin which these Mediums are held among the Spiritualists themselves.\nThere are very, very few professional Mediums, as far as our experience\ngoes, who are accepted by all Spiritualists as free from the reproach of\nfraud. Indeed one Medium with whom, by the advice of Mr. Hazard, we had\na s\u00e9ance, and for whom Mr. Hazard vouched as one of the best of his\nclass, we have seen denounced as a 'liar and a thief.' In the\nearnestness of our zeal we advertised in the local secular press, and in\nthe leading Spiritualist Journals both East and West, for Independent\nSlate Writing Mediums, and to this widespread appeal there came but\nthree replies, and of these, two were so remote that the promise of\nperformance held out by the respondents did not, in our opinion, justify\nso large an outlay of money for traveling expenses as a journey across\nthe Continent involved. This noteworthy reluctance on the part of\nMediums to come before us cannot be due to any harsh or antagonistic\ntreatment received at our hands by any Medium. All Mediums have been\ntreated by us with uniform courtesy, and with every endeavor to\nacquiesce in the 'conditions' imposed or suggested by the Spirits. And\nyet a well-known Medium in New York, Mrs. Thayer, to whom the Acting\nChairman was unknown, and with whom he was at the time having a s\u00e9ance,\nvehemently asserted that no member of the 'Seybert Commission' should\never have a s\u00e9ance with her, that the whole Commission, one and all,\nwere 'old scoundrels and should never darken her doors,' etc., etc., and\nconfessed that the foundation of her belief was the warning (sent to her\nby an eminent Medium whose s\u00e9ances the Commission had attended) that she\nshould have nothing to do with 'the Seybert men, that they would do her\nno good.' Even in instances where Mediums have expressed their\nwillingness to appear before us, we have been embarrassed by demands for\ncompensation which we could not but deem extortionate and, practically,\nprohibitory; as in the case of Mr. Keeler, the Spiritual Photographer,\nwhose terms will be found in the Appendix, and in that of Dr. Henry\nRogers, whose terms were five hundred dollars if he should be successful\nbefore us, and the half of that sum if he failed.\n\nAlthough the number of Mediums whose manifestations we have been able to\nexamine has been thus restricted, we feel ourselves justified in giving\nas a result of our examination of Independent Slate Writing that,\nwhether the agency be Spiritual or Material, its mode of manifestation\nalmost wholly precludes any satisfactory investigation.\n\nThere are not wanting eminent expounders of the Spiritualistic Faith who\nassert that this is as it should be, and that if in the attempt to apply\nthe laws of the material world to Spiritual manifestations we are\nbaffled, the fault lies in us, and not in the Mediums. If this be so, we\nmust accept our fate and enlarge the adage that 'poets are born, not\nmade,' and include Spiritualists.\n\nYet, as a rule, Mediums assert that they invite investigation. Our\nexperience has been, as we have just said, that as soon as an\ninvestigation, worthy of the name, begins, all manifestations of\nSpiritualist power cease.\n\nThe bare statement of the conditions whereunder the Mediums maintain\nthat the manifestations of Independent Slate Writing are alone possible,\ninvolves the extreme difficulty, we might almost say the impossibility,\nof any genuine or rational investigation. Even the very spirit of\ninvestigation, or of incredulity, seems to exercise a chilling effect\nand prevents a successful manifestation. Indeed Mr. Hazard once told us\nthat the true spirit in which to approach the study of Spiritualism is\n'an entire willingness to be deceived.' In Independent Slate Writing, in\nour experience, there is a period, of longer or shorter duration, when\nthe slate is concealed. During this period the investigator's eye must\nnot watch it. When the slate is held under the table, knees and feet\nand clothing exert no deleterious effect, but the gaze of a human eye is\nfatal to all Spiritual manifestation; although to one of our number, on\nthree occasions, a pocket mirror, carefully adjusted, unknown to the\nMedium, gave back the reflection of fingers, which were clearly not\nSpiritual, opening the slates and writing the answer.\n\nThere is really no step in the bare process of producing this writing,\nas we have observed it, which might not be accomplished by trickery or\nby legerdemain. Of course, therefore, we were sincerely anxious to\ndisprove in these experiments the presence of those discreditable\nelements, not only for the credit of human nature, but for the sake of\nthe great scientific interest involved. We are perfectly ready to accept\nany fact of Spiritual power; and so far from flinching from an open\navowal of our belief in this revelation of a novel force in Nature, we\nwould welcome it. But no one, not a Spiritualist, we should suppose, can\ndemand of us that we should accept profound mysteries with our eyes\ntight shut, and our hands fast closed, and with every avenue to our\nreasoning faculties insurmountably barred. Yet this is precisely what is\ndemanded of us by Mediums in regard to Independent Slate Writing. We\nmust sign a dispensation to forego the exercise of common sense, and\naccept as 'fact' what they choose so to term. Few assertions by departed\nSpirits are more hacknied than, 'This is a great truth,' and yet in an\nhonest endeavor to prove that it is a 'great truth;' and not a great\nlie, the sincere and earnest seeker is at every turn baffled and\nthwarted.\n\nTo eliminate from our investigations every element of distrust, or\nhostility, or suspicion, or chilling antagonism, we entrusted to Mr.\nHazard's friend, Mrs. Patterson, vouched for by him as one of the very\nbest Mediums in the country, two carefully closed and sealed slates,\nenclosing, of course, the required piece of slate-pencil, with the\nearnest entreaty that the Spirits should write therein even if it were\nbut the merest mark, sign, or scratch, therewith we would be content,\nand be ready to accept Independent Slate Writing with its train of\nconsequences. The Medium was fully impressed with the importance of the\ntrial, and with the fame which would thereby accrue from such a\nwholesale conversion as that of the united Seybert Commission.\n\nEvery Medium, it would appear, is under the special tutelage of a\ndeparted Spirit; this Spirit is termed the 'Medium's control.' In the\npresent case, when the slates were delivered to Mrs. Patterson, her\n'control,' one 'Thomas Lister,' at once promised that Spirit hands\nshould shortly write within the sealed-up space. But no writing came\nthat day nor the next, nor the next, although the Medium protested that\nevery attention should be bestowed on the refractory slates. In vain was\nthe Medium again and again adjured to put forth every power. At the end\nof six months the slates were received again, without any writing,\naccording to the confession of the Medium.\n\nSo anxious, however, was our Acting Chairman that the experiment should\nprove successful, that, undeterred by this failure, he carefully sealed\nup a second slate, and placed it in the hands of the same Medium, with\nrenewed adjurations to put forth all her Spiritualistic strength. At the\nend of a fortnight or more, after redoubled exertions of Mediumistic\npower, to which was added the combined Spiritualistic power of the\nMedium's entire family circle, the exciting announcement was made to us\nthat the fragment of slate pencil within the slates could no longer be\nheard to rattle, and that presumably the Spirits had written a message\nfor us.\n\nEach Medium, generally, has some peculiar mode of manifesting\nSpiritualistic power; it is a peculiarity of this Medium, as has been\nbefore stated, that the completion of the Spirit message within the\nslates is indicated not by raps, as is frequently the case with other\nMediums, but by the sudden and marvelous appearance on the top of the\nslate of the little fragment of pencil, which had been securely fastened\nup within. The fact, therefore, that the pencil was no longer inside of\nour slates was presumptive evidence that the Medium's control had been\ntrue to his word, and had written us a message. The slates were received\nfrom the Medium most carefully, and a meeting of the Commission hastily\ncalled. It is scarcely worth while to enter here at length on the\ndetails of that session, of the careful scrutiny to which the slates\nwere subjected, of the unmutilated seals, of the untouched screws, etc.,\netc.; but it is worth while to record the feeling of grave\nresponsibility, almost akin to solemnity, with which we all approached\nwhat, for aught we knew, might prove to be a revelation of a power as\nwonderful as any with which, as yet, we had ever been brought into\nacquaintance. Just before we opened the slates it was noticed that at\none corner, owing to the flexibility of the wooden frames, it was quite\npossible to stretch the slates far enough apart to permit the insertion\nof the blade of a knife, and an examination of the edges at this point\nrevealed only too plainly discolored abrasions. When the slates were\nfinally opened, not a stroke of writing nor a scratch was to be found,\nbut at the suspected corner were the discolored marks, visible to this\nday, of the knife which had been inserted to extract the pencil, which,\nin its enforced outward passage, had left behind, in its scratches on\nthe wood, a tell-tale trail of dust which the microscope revealed to be\nof the same substance as the pencil. The Spirits had not taken even the\nprecaution to wipe the broad knife clean from rust or dirt. The slates\nare preserved in our sad museum of specimens of misdirected ingenuity.\n\nWe are continually confronted with statements wherein the narrator\nclaims a Spiritual solution as the only possible one of the enigma\ninvolved in the phenomena, as he observed them.\n\nTo all such statements we have, first, the plain and ready answer, that\nwe do not attempt to pass judgment on manifestations which we ourselves\nhave not observed. All that we can vouch for is the result of our own\nobservation. More cannot be demanded of us.\n\nSecondly, experience has shown us that with every possible desire on the\npart of Spiritualists to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing\nbut the truth, concerning marvelous phenomena, it is extremely difficult\nto do so. Be it distinctly understood that we do not for an instant\nimpute wilful perversion of the truth. All that we mean is that, for two\nreasons, it is likely that the marvels of Spiritualism will be, by\nbelievers in them, incorrectly and insufficiently reported.\n\nThe first reason is to be found in the mental condition of the observer;\nif he be excited or deeply moved his account cannot but be affected, and\nessential details will surely be distorted.\n\nFor a second reason, note how hard it is to give a truthful account of\nany common, everyday occurrence. The difficulty is increased a\nhundred-fold, when what we would tell, partakes of the wonderful. Who\ncan truthfully describe a juggler's trick? Who would hesitate to affirm\nthat a watch, which never left the eye-sight for an instant, was broken\nby the juggler on an anvil; or that a handkerchief was burned before our\neyes? We all know the juggler does not break the watch, and does not\nburn the handkerchief. We watched most closely the juggler's right hand,\nwhile the trick was done with his left. The one minute circumstance has\nbeen omitted that would have converted the trick into no-trick. It is\nlikely to be the same in the accounts of most of the wonderful phenomena\nof Spiritualism.\n\nFor these two reasons, we laid down for ourselves at the start that in\ncases demanding close observation we would endeavor to have as many\nmembers as possible of the Commission present at every s\u00e9ance. In\ndealing with phenomena, where all ordinary methods of investigation are\nexcluded, we perceived clearly that our best resource lay in having the\nlargest possible number of observers.\n\nIn dismissing this subject of Independent Slate Writing, we repeat, what\nwe think Spiritualists will generally grant, that this phenomenon can be\nperformed by legerdemain. The burden of proof that it is not so\nperformed rests with the Mediums. This proof the Mediums will neither\noffer themselves, nor permit others to obtain. Investigators, therefore,\nare forced to bring to bear their own powers of close observation,\nsharpened and educated by experience. Be it remembered that what we have\nhere stated applies solely to the process whereby the communication is\nwritten on the slate; with the substance of the communication, whether\npertinent answers to questions or dreary platitudes, we are not now\ndealing. Whether these answers be ascribed to Spirits, or to what is\ntermed clairvoyance, they would be none the less true or false if\ndelivered orally by the Medium; all that we are sure of is that the\nwriting down of these communications, be their substance what it may, is\nperformed in a manner so closely resembling fraud as to be\nindistinguishable from it. It would be a mere matter of opinion that all\nIndependent Slate Writing is fraudulent; what is not a matter of opinion\nis the conviction, which we have unanimously reached as a Commission, of\nits non-spiritual character in every instance that has come before us.\n\nAn eminent professional juggler performed, in the presence of three of\nour Commission, some Independent Slate Writing far more remarkable than\nany which we have witnessed with Mediums. In broad daylight, a slate\nperfectly clean on both sides was, with a small fragment of slate\npencil, held under a leaf of a small ordinary table around which we were\nseated; the fingers of the juggler's right hand pressed the slate tight\nagainst the underside of the leaf, while the thumb completed the\npressure, and remained in full view while clasping the leaf of the\ntable. Our eyes never for a fraction of a second lost sight of that\nthumb; it never moved; and yet in a few minutes the slate was produced,\ncovered on both sides with writing. Messages were there, and still are\nthere, for we preserved the slate, written in French, Spanish, Dutch,\nChinese, Japanese, Gujerati, and ending with 'Ich bin ein Geist, und\nliebe mein Lagerbier.' We were utterly baffled. For one of our number\nthe juggler subsequently repeated the trick and revealed its every\ndetail.\n\nWe request your honorable body to note that this Report is preliminary\nand that we do not consider our investigations in this department as\nfinally closed, but hold ourselves ready to continue them whenever\nfavorable circumstances arise.\n\nTo the subject of 'Spirit-rappings' we have devoted some time and\nattention, but our investigations have not been sufficiently extensive\nto warrant us at present in offering any positive conclusions. The\ndifficulty attending the investigation of this mode of Spiritualistic\nmanifestation is increased by the fact, familiar to physiologists, that\nsounds of varying intensity may be produced in almost any portion of the\nhuman body by voluntary muscular action. To determine the exact location\nof this muscular activity is at times a matter of delicacy.\n\nWhat we can say, thus far, with assurance is that, in the cases which\nhave come under our observation, the theory of the purely physiological\norigin of the sounds has been sustained by the fact that the Mediums\nwere invariably, and confessedly, cognizant of the rappings whenever\nthey occurred, and could at once detect any spurious rappings, however\nexact and indistinguishable to all other ears might be the imitation.\nFor the details of the investigation which guided us to this conclusion\nwe refer to the Appendix.\n\nThere are among Mediums certain Specialists, whose alleged Spiritual\nmanifestations we have endeavoured to investigate, not always\nsuccessfully, as, for instance, in the case of Mr. W.M. Keeler, through\nwhose Mediumship 'Spiritual Photographs' are produced. The 'conditions'\nwhich this Medium demanded would have made any attempt at investigation\na mere waste of time, and his terms of remuneration were, in addition,\nas we have before mentioned, prohibitory and suggestive of unwillingness\nto come before the Commission. In these days of 'Composite Photography'\nit is worse than childish to claim a Spiritual source for results which\ncan be obtained at any time by any tyro in the art. Mr. Keeler's letter\nwill be found in the Appendix.\n\nWe were more successful in procuring a s\u00e9ance with Mr. Keeler's brother,\nwhose Mediumship manifests itself by the materialization of a right hand\nbehind a low screen, in front of which the Medium sits, with his face\nalone visible, his entire person being concealed by black muslin. The\nscreen is stretched across a corner of a room to about the height of the\nback of the Medium's head, as he sits in front of it. The lights are\nlowered, and in a few minutes various instruments, musical and\notherwise, which had been previously placed on a small table in the\ncorner enclosed by the screen, are heard to sound, a drum is beaten, a\nguitar is played, etc. The music is interspersed with flashes of hand\ndarting and waving above the screen to the right of the Medium. The\nhand, when shaken, was found to be a right one. As a proof that the hand\nis Spiritual and not that of the Medium, the latter requests one of the\nvisitors at the s\u00e9ance to sit beside him on his right, and also to be\ncovered to the chin with the same black muslin under which all the\nMedium, except his head, is concealed. This visitor's bare left forearm\nis grasped by the Medium, as he says, with both his hands, and this\npressure of the Medium's two hands on the visitor's arm is never\nrelaxed, as the visitor readily testifies. The proof seems, therefore,\nconclusive that the hand which plays the instruments behind the screen\nis not the Medium's, and hence must be a materialized Spirit. The trick\nis simple and highly deceptive, as any one can prove for himself by\nrequesting a blindfolded friend to bare the left arm to the elbow, then\nlet the experimenter grasp this bared arm, near the wrist, with the\nthird and fourth fingers of his left hand, closing them around it\ntightly, and as he does so, asking the owner of the arm to note that\nthis is his left hand, then let the experimenter, without relaxing this\nhold, stretch the remaining fingers and thumb up the arm as far as he\ncan, and while clasping it with his thumb and forefinger, remark that\nthis second pressure comes from his other hand. The conviction is\ncomplete in the mind of the blindfolded friend that he feels the grasp\nof two hands, whereas only the left hand of the experimenter has grasped\nhis arm, and the right hand is free to beat a drum or play a zither.\nAfter this test, which is patent to all, we can dismiss the theory of a\nSpiritual origin of the hand behind Mr. Keeler's screen. To forestall\nthe discovery by Mr. Keeler's companion of this trick, and to prevent\nits detection by simply feeling with his free right hand after the\nsuppositious hands of the Medium, which are grasping his left forearm,\na second visitor is requested to share the discomfort of the muslin\nenvelope, and to sit on the right of the first visitor and to hold the\nlatter's truant right hand with his left hand, while his right is\nexposed to view outside the curtain. Again we refer to the Appendix for\nthe minutes of our meeting.\n\nWe had a s\u00e9ance also with Messrs. Rothermel and Powell, of whom the\nformer is the Medium, the latter, acting mainly as a reservoir of\npsychic force, guides and directs the s\u00e9ance. In this case the Medium's\nSpiritual manifestations, as well as his material arrangements, are\nsimilar to those of Mr. Keeler, except that instead of having a visitor\nwhose arm may be grasped, Mr. Rothermel's hands are fastened in his lap\nby bands of tape passed around his legs and sewed to his clothes. After\nthe black curtain had hid the hands from our sight we were not again\nallowed to examine them except in the most hurried and superficial way,\nbut, even in the brief inspection which was permitted, a glance was\nsufficient to show that the tape had been tampered with. The close of\nthe s\u00e9ance was announced by the sound of clipping scissors, and by Mr.\nRothermel's exclamation, while still concealed, that the Spirits were\ncutting him loose. We had no means of knowing whether the tape was cut\nat the beginning of the s\u00e9ance or not. When the muslin envelope was\nremoved, Mr. Rothermel's hands were certainly free. The bands were cut,\nand we had no difficulty in believing that the hands which were\ndexterous enough to play the zither with very remarkable skill, under\nsuch conditions, behind the curtain, were deft enough to sever the\ncords.\n\nOur s\u00e9ances with Mrs. Maud E. Lord were acknowledged by the Medium\nherself to be altogether unsatisfactory. This is much to be regretted.\nMrs. Lord is one of the few professional Mediums whose excellence is\nacknowledged by all Spiritualists alike, and who, in her attitude\ntowards the Commission, displayed every desire to aid a full and\ncomplete investigation into the manifestations peculiar to her\nMediumship, and furthermore, without remuneration.\n\nIn conclusion, we beg to express our regret that thus far we have not\nbeen cheered in our investigations by the discovery of a single novel\nfact; but, undeterred by this discouragement, we trust with your\npermission to continue them with what thoroughness our future\nopportunities may allow, and with minds as sincerely and honestly open,\nas heretofore, to conviction.\n\nWe desire to call especial attention to Professor Fullerton's Report in\nthe Appendix of his interviews with Professors Fechner, Scheibner and\nWeber, the surviving colleagues of Professor Zoellner in his experiments\nwith Dr. Henry Slade.\n\nAnd also to an investigation of the power of Mediums to answer the\nquestions contained in 'Sealed Envelopes.'\n\nWILLIAM PEPPER,\nJOSEPH LEIDY,\nGEORGE A. KOENIG,\nGEORGE S. FULLERTON,\nROBT. ELLIS THOMPSON,\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS,\nCOLEMAN SELLERS,\nJAMES W. WHITE,\nCALVIN B. KNERR,\nS. WEIR MITCHELL.\n\n_University of Pennsylvania_,\nMay, 1887.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\nSoon after the appointment of the Seybert Commission, I as Secretary,\nwas asked to make a collection of the best representative literature of\nSpiritualism, and to prepare for the use of the Commission a sketch of\nthe rise, progress, present condition, doctrines and alleged phenomena\nof this belief, as well as an account of previous investigations,\nsimilar to the one contemplated by ourselves. For a number of months I\nbusied myself diligently with this work, and finally read my sketch\nbefore the Commission, at a meeting at which Mr. Thomas R. Hazard, the\nwell-known Spiritualist, was present as our guest. I had at this time\nseen scarcely anything of Spiritualism, but was much impressed with what\nI had read, and certainly in a fully receptive attitude towards\nphenomena supported by so much apparently strong testimony. Mr. Hazard\ndeclared himself quite satisfied with the tone of the paper, saying that\nhe had come expecting to hear something very different, but that it was\nfair and unbiased. I mention these facts to show that my present opinion\non the subject was not assumed at the outset, but has been arrived at\ngradually, and is based upon my own observations.\n\nI have been forced to the conclusion that Spiritualism, as far at least\nas it has shown itself before me (and I give no opinion upon what has\nnot fallen within my observation), presents the melancholy spectacle of\ngross fraud, perpetrated upon an uncritical portion of the community;\nthat the testimony of such persons as to what they see is almost\nvalueless, if they are habitually as inaccurate as they have been at the\ns\u00e9ances at which I have been present with them; and that there is an\nunwillingness on the part of Mediums to have their powers freely and\nthoroughly investigated--a fact which makes any investigation of\nSpiritualism difficult and expensive. My opinions are not based\nexclusively upon what I have seen and recorded in my work with my\ncolleagues, but also upon observations made at various times in a\nprivate capacity; and there is but one conclusion to be appended to them\nall. I subjoin notes of s\u00e9ances, recorded by myself as Secretary of the\nCommission. Their somewhat disjointed form arises from the fact that I\nhave not thought it desirable to make changes in my notes, except such\nas were necessary in taking the Records, which are of value as evidence,\nout of their contextual connection with records of business meetings and\nmatters of no interest to the public. Nothing which could be looked upon\nas evidence has been purposely suppressed. I have intentionally left out\na description of several things which we have been unable to use, and\nwhich would have merely swelled our Records; as, for example, the\naccount of our sealing slates for the experiments with Dr. Slade, he\nafterwards having refused to have anything to do with slates sealed by\nus. My notes were made during the s\u00e9ances, or as soon as possible after\nthem. They were arranged and copied in no case later than two days\nafter. Explanations and additions, which do not belong to the original\nRecords, but have been inserted later, are put in brackets.\n\nFor a justification of the opinion of Spiritualism expressed above, I\nrefer to the Records which follow.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMarch 13th, 1884.\n\nOn Thursday, March 13th, 1884, the Commission met at 508 S. 16th Street,\nat 8 P.M., for the examination of Mrs. S.E. Patterson, Spiritualistic\nMedium.\n\nFor the first test, a small piece of slate pencil was placed within a\ndouble slate, and the leaves fastened together with a screw, which\npassed through one wooden rim into the other. The Spirit-writing upon\nthe slate should be indicated by the pencil appearing upon the outside\nof the slate. The slate was laid upon the Medium's lap for one hour and\na-half without results.\n\nMeanwhile the Medium wrote what purported to be messages from several\nSpirits upon slips of paper, the handwriting varying with each message.\nOne message was signed Elias Hicks, another Lucretia Mott, another\nsigned H.S. was compared with a message from Mr. Henry Seybert to Mr.\nT.R. Hazard the day before. The initials were somewhat different.\n\nThe Commission sat in a circle, the Medium at a small table with folding\nleaves.\n\nOne communication, signed E.H., declared that the person sitting\nopposite Mr. Hazard (Mr. Furness) was endowed with great Mediumistic\npowers.\n\nThe writing failing to appear on the slate it was opened, and Dr. Leidy,\nhaving written upon a slip of paper a question, enclosed it in the\nslate, which was again fastened.\n\nAfter half an hour's waiting, no results being obtained, the Commission\naddressed some questions to the Medium and then adjourned.\n\nThe Medium described her sensations during the automatic writing as a\nconstriction at the wrist.\n\nShe declared that she had no knowledge of what she wrote, was not\ndistracted by noises, etc.\n\n(Mr. Furness and Mr. Fullerton, however, noticed that she, when\ninterrupted, glanced back over what she had previously written before\ncontinuing.)\n\nShe could not go into the trance state. Just before adjournment the\nMedium laid her hands upon the table and tried to produce \"raps,\" but\ndid not succeed.\n\nHas been a Spiritualist for nine or ten years, but has always been\npossessed of unusual powers. As a child saw visions, etc.\n\nDeclares that she is most successful as a Slate Writer.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWednesday, March 19th, 1884.\n\nThe Commission met at 508 S. 16th Street, at 8 P.M.\n\nPresent: Dr. Leidy, Professor Koenig, Mr. Furness, Mr. Fullerton and Mr.\nHazard. The Medium was Mrs. S.E. Patterson.\n\nMr. Furness brought two new double slates, which could be fastened by a\nscrew.\n\nThe Medium cut a small piece of slate pencil and enclosed it in a double\nslate (one of those brought by Mr. Furness), into which was also put a\npaper upon which Dr. Leidy had written a question. The slate was then\nfastened with a screw.\n\nDr. Koenig also wrote a question, which was enclosed in the other slate,\nthe slate being screwed up by Mr. Furness.\n\nThe Medium then placed both slates upon her lap, and partially under the\ntable. A portion of the time the upper slate was between the palms of\nher hands, the back of the lower hand resting on the lower slate. Then\none hand was placed upon each slate, the two being placed together.\n\nNo results having been obtained after waiting twenty minutes, one of the\nnew slates was laid aside, and the Medium's old slate, with a piece of\npencil in it, laid upon the remaining new slate in the Medium's lap.\n\nThe Medium held from time to time a lead pencil in one hand, but was not\nmoved to write.\n\nThe Medium declared that when writing appears upon the slate in her lap\nshe feels a shock, but no other sensation.\n\nTwo Spirit Photographs were exhibited by the Medium. In one the Spirit\nwas her own mother. The Spirit in each appeared as a white apparition\nbehind a person seated in the foreground.\n\nThe slates remained in the lap of the Medium one hour and twenty\nminutes. No manifestations were produced during the evening.\n\nThe Commission adjourned to a room at the Social Art Club for\nconference.\n\nThe above notes of the evening's session were read by the Secretary and\napproved.\n\nIt was resolved to meet again on the evening of Wednesday, March 26th,\nfor the next session.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMarch 26th, 1884.\n\nThe Commission met on Wednesday, March 26th, at 7.30 P.M., at 1117\nCallowhill Street.\n\nPresent: Dr. Leidy, Mr. Furness, Mr. Fullerton and Mr. T.R. Hazard. The\nMedium was Mr. Fred. Briggs.\n\nThe Medium gave the following answers to Dr. Leidy's questions:\n\n1. Has been a Medium since seven years of age. Now 22 years old.\n\n2. Before seven years of age could see visions, etc., but did not\ncommunicate with Spirits.\n\n3. Was born in Boston. Lived there when not on journeys.\n\n4. His parents had no such powers.\n\n5. His grandfather was a West India importer, his father had no\nbusiness.\n\n6. Educated in Middleboro and Bridgewater, Mass.\n\n7. His family, Baptists.\n\n8. He can communicate with Spirits best\n\n_a._ At night, or in the evening.\n\n_b._ In cold or snowy weather.\n\n_c._ In dry weather.\n\n_d._ When in a healthy condition.\n\n9. When in communication with Spirits feels _nervous_, but cannot\ndescribe the feeling.\n\nThe Medium had on the table two single slates which could be laid upon\neach other. The table was about three and a-half feet square, and\ncovered with a cloth.\n\nThe light was kept rather dim.\n\n(The Medium explained later in the evening that writing is best produced\nin the dark, because dark is _negative_, light _positive_, and negative\nconditions are most favorable to communication.)\n\nMr. Furness had brought two folding slates, which could be fastened with\na screw.\n\nDr. Leidy and Mr. Furness and the Medium each held a double slate under\nthe table.\n\nMr. Fullerton asked a question as requested, but received no answer from\nthe Spirits.\n\nSome scratching was now heard under the table.\n\nThe Medium took the slate held by Mr. Furness (one not screwed or\nfastened by hinges), and it was held under the table by Mr. Furness, Mr.\nHazard and Mr. Briggs.\n\nThe Medium seemed much excited, spoke rapidly, etc., and was so much\novercome that he dropped the slate (one brought by Mr. Furness) which he\nwas holding under the table with his left hand, and left it lying on the\nfloor under the table.\n\nAt 8 o'clock Dr. Koenig came in. The slate held by the Medium, Mr.\nFurness and Mr. Hazard, was held in Mr. Hazard's lap, and some taps were\nheard. (Mr. Furness afterwards produced taps precisely similar by\nrubbing the side of his finger slowly along the side of the slate.)\n\nNo writing having been obtained, the Medium declared that he alone would\nhold the slate, as the magnetism of Mr. Furness was injurious.\n\nAgain we were invited to ask questions. Dr. Leidy asked: 'When and where\ndid you die?' No answer.\n\nThe Medium asked Mr. Furness if his name were not Furness. (Mr. Hazard\nhad seen the Medium before, and informed him that the Commission was\ncoming.)\n\nMr. Furness now put his hand under the table on the hand of the Medium,\nwhich was pressing the double slate (not the screwed one) up against the\ntable.\n\nMr. Furness declared that he heard a certain buzzing noise. The slate\nbeing taken out, there was found written on the inside of the under\nslate:\n\nI will help\n        you all\n                R. Dale Owen\n\nand something that looked like \"Henry Furness is here.\"\n\nThe slate on the floor being examined, there was found on the _outside_\n(it was a screw-slate)\n\nI am here with you\n        I will help you\n             R. Dale Owen.\n\nSome other illegible marks were found on the slate.\n\nNothing was obtained on the inside of either screw-slate.\n\nThe handwriting on the two slates, purporting to be from R. Dale Owen,\nwas much alike.\n\nThe Medium now took hold of Mr. Hazard's hand, and went into trance,\npersonating Esther Hazard, a deceased daughter of Mr. Hazard. He (the\nMedium) made convulsive motions, trembled, etc., and while in this state\npredicted that Mr. Fullerton would receive a very pleasing letter on\nSaturday next--said that he should come to the Medium for advice. [No\nsuch letter was received on that date by Mr. Fullerton.]\n\nHe also declared that Dr. Koenig had brought with him a Spirit named\nAugust.\n\nHe declared Ponto, White-feather, Red Jacket and Thomas Paine to be\npresent.\n\n(The Medium called \"White-feather\" _he_, Mr. Hazard objecting that\nWhite-feather was a woman.)\n\nThe light was then turned out, and all hands laid upon the table. Mr.\nFurness laid one of his hands upon one of the Medium's and upon one of\nMr. Hazard's. (The Medium afterwards asserted that Mr. Furness had held\nboth his hands. But Mr. Furness was positive that he held only one.) Mr.\nHazard was touched several times about the face. Mr. Furness was touched\non the cheek and on his ear-trumpet and Mr. Fullerton was struck on the\nhead by a paper thrown from the other side of the table, and touched\nonce on the back of his left hand by what felt like human fingers.\n\nThere were no more manifestations.\n\nThe Committee adjourned to Dr. Leidy's house for conference. The above\nnotes were read and approved.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nApril 8th, 1884.\n\nOn Tuesday evening, April 8th, Dr. Leidy and Mr. Furness held another\ns\u00e9ance with the Medium formerly examined, Mrs. Patterson. The slates\nused belonged to the Medium, and were, as she told them, in daily,\nalmost hourly use; the frame of one of them was far from sound, and the\nhole which admitted the screw was more than well worn. Within these\nslates, after being held for a long while by both hands of the Medium\nunder the table, two or three barely legible words appeared. The screw\nwas, by no means, as tight after the writing as before. This fact,\ntogether with the prolonged concealment, rendered it impossible to\nattach any real importance to the attempt to write, as far as could be\nmade out, the name of Henry Seybert.\n\nUnder the same conditions our colleague, Mr. Sellers, produced writing\nfor us very satisfactorily.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n      *       *       *       *       *\n\nApril 17th, 1884.\n\nOn Thursday evening, April 17th, 1884, a sitting was held by Mrs.\nPatterson with Dr. Koenig, Mr. Fullerton and Mr. Hazard. The Medium\ndeclared herself unwell. No results were obtained. The session was in\nMrs. Patterson's room at No. 508 S. 16th Street.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *        *\n\nMay 31st, 1884.\n\nOn Saturday, May 31st, 1884, at 8 P.M., the Commission met at the house\nof the Provost, 1811 Spruce Street, for the purpose of sealing a slate\nto be left with the Medium, Mrs. Patterson, who was to try to procure\nindependent writing upon the inside surfaces. There were present Dr.\nPepper, Mr. Furness, Professor Thompson and Mr. Fullerton. Mr. Furness\nbrought the slate and seals. The slate was the double one used in our\nformer tests, hinged, and fastening with a screw. A small piece of\npencil was enclosed in the slate, which was perfectly clean, and the\nslate was screwed up by Dr. Pepper. The direction of the cut in the\nscrew-head was marked by a scratch on the wood at the end of the slate.\nIt was nearly parallel with the long diameter of the slate. Mr. Furness\nthen tied the slate with red tape, passing the tape longitudinally and\ntransversely around the middle of the slates.\n\nThe first seal (red wax) was on the knot, which was over the under end\nof the screw. The end of the screw projected a little through the wood,\nbut was covered by the seal. The second seal was over the ends of the\ntape. The head of the screw was also covered by a seal, and three (3)\nadditional seals were affixed on the outside edges of the slates, where\nthey were crossed by the tape.\n\nOne of the three impressions at the edges of the slates was made by\nProfessor Thompson's right thumb. [A test was then proposed by Professor\nThompson, which the Commission does not feel at liberty to make public,\nas it has not yet been carried out, and publicity may interfere with its\nsuccess.]\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNovember 5th, 1884.\n\nThe Commission met at the house of Mr. Furness, 222 West Washington\nSquare, on November 5th, 1884, at 8 P.M. There were present Dr. Wm.\nPepper and Mrs. Pepper, Dr. Leidy, Dr. Koenig, Prof. Thompson, Mr.\nFurness, Mr. George S. Pepper, Miss Logan, Mr. Fullerton, Mr. Coleman\nSellers, and the Medium, Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, who was the guest of\nMr. Furness at the time.\n\nThose present seated themselves around an oak dining table, some eight\nfeet by four and a-half feet and the usual height. Mrs. Kane was at one\nend of the table and Mr. Sellers at the other. The Medium sat with her\nfeet partly under the table, and consequently concealed from most of\nthose present--her feet were hidden also by her dress.\n\nDr. Leidy asked the question: \"Is any Spirit present?\"\n\nAns. Three raps.\n\nDr. Leidy: \"Will you confer with the man to left of the Medium?\"\n\nAns. Two raps. (No.)\n\nDr. Leidy: \"To the right?\"\n\nAns. Three raps.\n\nProfessor Thompson (who was the person indicated): \"Is the Spirit male?\"\n\nAns. Three raps.\n\n\"Will it answer to the alphabet?\"\n\nThree raps. The alphabet was called and \"Henry Seybert\" spelled out.\n\nMr. Sellers: \"Will Henry Seybert make the raps at this end of the\ntable?\"\n\nAns. No.\n\n\"Is he satisfied with the Commission?\"\n\nFive raps were given for the alphabet; Professor Thompson called it;\nraps spelled out:\n\n\"I will be satisfied before the investigation is through.\"\n\nMr. Sellers: \"Does Mr. Seybert know the names of the Commission?\"\n\nAns. Three raps.\n\n\"Does he know who is now speaking?\"\n\nThree raps.\n\nMr. Sellers then pointed to the letters of the alphabet, which he had\nwritten in order on a sheet of paper, and raps spelled out:\n\nCHARLES CERI.\n\nMrs. Kane then tried standing at some distance from the table, with her\nhands on the back of a chair; there were some raps seemingly near or\nunder the Medium.\n\nRaps were produced as members of the Committee stood with the Medium\naround the desk in the library, and close to a book-case. Raps were\nproduced according to the Medium on the glass door of a book-case, upon\nwhich Mr. Sellers placed his hand. Mr. Sellers felt no vibration on the\nglass, but raps were heard somewhere in the vicinity.\n\nThe Committee then returned to the dining-room and the Medium wrote upon\na sheet of paper the following:\n\n\"Friend Pepper: I am happy to meet you here to-night. I have not\nforgotten my promise to you, Henry Seybert.\"\n\nThe paper had to be held to the light and read from the obverse side, as\nthe message was written from right to left.\n\nMr. Geo. Pepper: \"Do you remember the year in which you made the\npromise?\"\n\nThe answer given in same way was: \"It was in the year in which my Spirit\nleft the body. H.S. Call the alphabet, H.S.\"\n\nDr. Pepper called the alphabet--the sentence \"Let Friend Pepper call the\nalphabet\" was rapped out. Mr. Geo. Pepper called the alphabet: the\nletters HAND were rapped out, and the communication ceased.\n\nThe Medium wrote then as before: \"Friend Pepper, meet me again.\"\n\nIt was asked whether Mr. Seybert would meet us on the next evening?\n\nAns. Three raps.\n\nThe Committee adjourned at 9.30 o'clock to meet again at 8 o'clock on\nthe next evening at the same place.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON.\n\n_Secretary_.\n\nThe following stenographic report of the meeting of November 6th, 1884,\nhas been read and approved by the Commission before being entered upon\nthis book.\n\nThe few additions which were made when it was read, appear as foot\nnotes. The report was approved as excellent.\n\n(A Record from the notes of the Stenographer--Mr. J.I. Gilbert.)\n\nPHILADA., November 6th, 1884.\n\nThe Committee reconvened this day, at 8 o'clock P.M., at the residence\nof Mr. H.H. Furness, when the investigation of the Spirit Rappings, in\nthe presence of Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane as Medium, was resumed.\n\nThe persons present were the following:\n\nOf the Committee--Dr. Leidy, Mr. Furness, Dr. Koenig, Mr. Fullerton, Mr.\nColeman Sellers, and by invitation of the Committee, Mr. Geo. S. Pepper.\n\nThe Medium--Mrs. Kane.\n\nThe Stenographer--Mr. Gilbert.\n\nThe company promptly repaired to the dining-room, and there gathered\naround a common pine-wood table, consisting solely of its supports and\ntop, which had been specially provided, in compliance with the direction\nof the Medium. The dimensions of the table, approximately stated, are as\nfollows: height, three feet; length, four feet; width, two and a-half\nfeet.\n\nThe 'Spirit Rappings' during the evening, aside from those heard during\nthe test with the glass tumblers, were apparently confined to the\nfloor-space in the immediate vicinity of, and directly beneath the table\ndescribed--around which the company were seated in the order here\nstated. Mr. Sellers (to whom had been deputed the duty of eliciting the\nresponses) occupied the chair at the end of the table more remote from\nthe Stenographer. Next, upon Mr. Sellers' right and at the side of the\ntable, sat Mr. Pepper, and Mr. Furness in the adjoining seat. The first\nchair on the side of the table to the left of Mr. Sellers was occupied\nby the Medium, and the remaining chair on the same side by Mr.\nFullerton. At the near end of the table, Dr. Leidy and Dr. Koenig were\nseated. The Committee, with one exception, in accordance with a\nrequirement imposed by the Medium, rested their hands upon the table and\nfixed their minds upon the subject of the rappings. The exception was\nDr. Koenig, who, being seated at a distance of three feet from the\ntable, could not conveniently comply with the requirement. After the\nexpiration of some twenty minutes, the Medium requested Dr. Koenig to\nplace his hands upon the table, and he promptly complied with the\nrequest and moved his chair closer to that of Dr. Leidy, thus depriving\nhimself of any facilities of observation of the space beneath the table.\n\nThe Stenographer was at a table about four feet from the circle of the\nCommittee.\n\nThe lengths of the intervals between the questions addressed to the\nSpirits and the responses thereto, were computed by the audible\nsecond-strokes of a clock in an adjoining apartment; the periods of\nwaiting being necessarily brief in view of the assurance of the Medium\n(as set forth in its proper place in the Report) that \"When the raps\ncome, they come right away.\"\n\nThe \"Spirit Rappings\" varied materially in quality and character, being\nat times faintly, and at other times distinctly audible.\n\nThe record of the Investigation is as follows:\n\nMr. Sellers: Is any Spirit present now?\n\nThree raps--faint and partly indistinct--are almost instantly audible.\nThe raps apparently emanate from the floor-space directly beneath, or in\nthe immediate vicinity of the table. This remark is applicable to all\nthe rappings during the s\u00e9ance at the pine table.\n\nThe Medium (interpreting the sounds): That was \"Yes.\"\n\nMr. Sellers (aside): They sounded like three.\n\nThe raps are immediately repeated with more distinctness.\n\nMr. Sellers (aside): There are three, and they are quite distinct.\n\n(Resuming): Is the Spirit the same one that was present last night?\n\nThree raps, apparently identical with those last heard, are again\naudible.\n\nMr. Sellers (aside): It says it is the same Spirit.\n\n(Resuming): I presume then it is Henry Seybert?\n\n(No response.) Is it Henry Seybert?\n\nThree raps--distinct and positive.\n\nMr. Sellers: You promised last evening to give a communication to Mr.\nPepper. Are you able to communicate with him now?\n\nTwo raps--comparatively feeble.\n\nThe Medium (interpreting): One, two: that means \"not now.\"\n\nMr. Sellers (repeating): \"Not now.\"\n\nThe Medium (reflectively): But probably before he leaves.\n\nThree raps--quickly, distinctly and instantly given.\n\nThe Medium: He said \"Yes,\" \"before he leaves.\" (To Mr. Sellers): You\nasked that question, I think?\n\nMr. Sellers: Yes. (Resuming): Will you communicate with him before Mr.\nPepper leaves to-night?\n\nThree raps--instantaneous, quick and vigorous. The sounds in this\ninstance are four times repeated, the repetitions being in quick\nsuccession and apparently without variation in quality or character.\n\nMr. Sellers (addressing his associates): It has been very clearly shown\nto-night that certain sounds of greater or less volume have been\nproduced. We have heard the sounds. We are conscious that they are raps.\nIt is exceedingly important, in deference to the Medium herself, that we\nshould prove that she has nothing to do with the production of the\nsounds other than in a Spiritualistic capacity. I would like to ask her\nif there is any test that she herself can propose which would be capable\nof satisfying us that she does not produce the sounds.\n\nThe Medium: I could name a great many tests, but they might not be\nsatisfactory to you; for instance, the one of standing on glass\ntumblers, where the raps are produced on the floor.\n\nMr. Sellers: Will the raps be produced under such circumstances?\n\nThe Medium: I cannot say that they will be, any more than I can say that\nthey will be produced through the use of the table. In fact, they are\nnot so readily produced sometimes.\n\nMr. Sellers: I understand your position. But you say that there are\ncases in which, when the Medium is standing upon glass, the sounds are\nproduced.\n\nThe Medium: Oh, yes. I mention that--the producing through glass--as one\nof the most difficult of tests.\n\nMr. Sellers: Then the sounds will be just beneath your feet, will they?\n\nThe Medium: Well, they will seem to be. They may be on the side.\n\nAfter a brief interval, during which Mr. Furness absented himself to\nprocure glass tumblers, the colloquy with the Medium was resumed.\n\nMr. Sellers: While we are waiting for those tumblers, will you repeat\nthe experiment of last night, that of standing near the table and not\ntouching it, to see if the same character of sounds then produced can be\nagain heard? Last evening we had a very satisfactory exhibition of that.\n\nThe Medium: Yes. But we have to keep to a certain condition; that is,\nyou are not to break. For instance, if you will all stand up and stand\ntouching the table--all of us--until we get started, it will be some\nassistance.\n\nAll of the gentlemen and the Medium rise and remain standing with their\nhands in contact with the table.\n\nThe Medium (continuing): This is a test, something that I have not gone\nthrough with since I was a little child almost.\n\nMr. Sellers (after an interval of waiting): There seem to be no raps.\n(Another short interval.) Now, Mr. Seybert, cannot you produce some\nraps?\n\nEighty seconds here elapsed with no response, when the Medium made an\nobservation which was partly inaudible at the Reporter's seat, the\npurport of which was that the Spirit communications are sometimes\nretarded or facilitated by a compliance by the listeners with certain\nconditions. Another interval of probably two minutes elapsed, when the\nMedium suggested to Dr. Leidy to place his hands upon the table. The\nsuggestion was complied with.\n\nMr. Sellers inquires of the Medium whether a change in her position,\nwith regard to the table, would do any good.\n\nThe Medium: I will change positions with you.\n\nThe change was made accordingly, but without result, and another period\nof waiting followed.\n\nThe Medium (to Dr. Leidy): Suppose you ask some questions. You may have\nsome friend who will respond.\n\nDr. Leidy: Is any Spirit present whom I know, or who knows me?\n\nAfter a pause of ten seconds, three light raps are heard.\n\nDr. Leidy: Who am I?\n\nThe Medium explains that the responses by rappings are mainly indicative\nonly of affirmation or negation.\n\nDr. Leidy: Will you repeat your taps to indicate that you are present\nyet?\n\nThree taps are heard.\n\nMr. Sellers: Those are very clearly heard.\n\nThe Medium (to Dr. Leidy): Ask if that is Mr. Seybert?\n\nDr. Leidy: Is Mr. Seybert present?\n\nThree raps--very feeble.\n\nDr. Leidy (to Mr. Sellers): Was there an answer to that?\n\nMr. Sellers: There was. The answer was three raps. (After an interval,\nin which no response is received): There seem to be no further\ncommunications. I suggest that the test with the glass tumblers be now\ntried.\n\nUpon the suggestion of the Medium, the test referred to was momentarily\ndeferred, and Mr. Sellers made this inquiry:\n\nIt is proposed that the Medium shall stand upon tumblers. Are we likely\nto have any demonstration?\n\nThree raps--promptly given, though feeble in delivery and but faintly\naudible.\n\nThe Medium: There were three--a kind of tardy assent.\n\nMr. Sellers (to the Medium): As if the Spirits might or might not\ncommunicate?\n\nThe Medium: Well, that a trial might be made.\n\nThree raps are here again instantly heard--the characteristics of the\nsounds in this instance being rapidity and energy, or positiveness.\n\nThe Medium: That is a quick answer.\n\nAt this point attention is directed to the first of a series of\nexperiments with four glass tumblers, which are placed together, with\nthe bottoms upward, on the carpeted floor, in the centre of a vacant\nspace. The Medium stands directly upon these, the heels of her shoes\nresting upon the rear tumblers and the soles upon the front tumblers.\nThe Committee co-operate with the Medium, and, in conformity with her\nsuggestions, all the men clasp hands and form a semi-circle in front of\nthe Medium, the hands of the latter being grasped by the gentlemen\nnearest to her on either side.\n\nMr. Sellers (after a notification from the Medium to proceed): Is Mr.\nSeybert still present?\n\nNo response.\n\nThe Medium: It may be a few minutes before you will hear any rapping\nthrough these glasses.\n\nTen seconds elapse.\n\nThe Medium: This test is a very satisfactory one, if they do it. And\nthey have done it a hundred times.\n\nFive seconds elapse.\n\nThe Medium (to Mr. Furness): The glasses are not placed over marble, are\nthey?\n\nMr. Furness: No; the floor is of wood.\n\nMr. Sellers (after another interval of waiting) informally remarked to\nMr. Furness: We will wait probably for another minute to see if anything\ncomes. As you know, the Medium claims it is impossible for her to\ncontrol these things--that she is merely one who is operated through.\n\nAnother interval expires.\n\nThe Medium: That was a very faint rap. Suppose we change the position of\nthe glasses.\n\nNote by the Stenographer.--No intimation is given that the rap here\nspoken of was heard by any one other than the Medium herself. Pursuant\nto the request just stated, the carpet is removed and the glass tumblers\nare located on the bare floor at a point about five feet distant from\nthe place at which the first test was tried. The new location is in the\ncentre of a passage way, about three feet in width, between a side-board\non one side and a wall projection on the other. Its selection is\napparently, though not specifically, dictated by the position and\nmovements of the Medium. The Medium and the Committee resume their\npositions, the former standing on the glasses and the gentlemen facing\nher in a group.\n\nThe Medium: Now, Spirits, will you rap on the floor?\n\nThirty seconds here elapsed with no response, when one glass was heard\nto click against another, and the Medium exclaimed, \"Oh.\"\n\nThe Medium (repeating): Will you rap on the floor?\n\nThirty seconds now elapse without any demonstration.\n\nThe Medium (aside): It seems to be a failure. They have done it.\n\nAnother click of the glasses, which passes without comment.\n\nMr. Sellers: We will have to set down the result of the experiment on\nglass tumblers as negative. It may be well to try it later.\n\nThe Medium (evidently reluctant to abandon the test): Suppose now, as we\nhave gone so far, we kind of form a chain.\n\nThe company retained their positions with hands joined, and the Spirits\nwere repeatedly requested to make their presence known--Mr. Pepper, at\nthe suggestion of the Medium, asking the Spirit of his friend, Henry\nSeybert, to manifest its presence by one rap--but all efforts to elicit\nsuch response proved ineffectual. The glasses were then removed and the\nrequests were again reiterated, but with a like negative result. The\nMedium finally remarked that she had rarely known of failures with the\nglass tumblers, but it had been a long time since she had tried them.\nShe suggested that this branch of the investigation might be deferred\nuntil later.\n\nThe Committee acquiesced in the suggestion and returned to the pine\ntable, where, with the Medium, they resume their original positions. The\nStenographer is seated at the table in the rear of the company.\n\nMr. Sellers: Now we have returned to the table. Can you indicate on the\ntable your presence, Mr. Seybert?\n\nAn interval of sixty-four seconds here followed.\n\nThe Medium: Ask some questions that would interest him in life.\n\nAs Mr. Sellers was repeating to Mr. Pepper the suggestion made by the\nMedium, three raps were heard.\n\nMr. Sellers: There is now a communication that he is present.\n\nMr. Pepper: Harry, would you like to know something about this\ninvestigation of Spiritual manifestations, which you had so much at\nheart while living?\n\nThree raps--prompt and decided.\n\nMr. Sellers: Do you, Mr. Seybert, at the present time, see the persons\npresent? Are they visible before you?\n\nTwo raps--noticeably slow.\n\nMr. Sellers (aside): He says \"No, they are not.\"\n\nThe Medium (interpreting): Well, that would be too--'partially.'\n\nDr. Koenig: What would that mean--that he only sees some of us, or that\nhe sees none of us entirely, but only partially?\n\nThe Medium: That he sees us, but not clearly.\n\nMr. Sellers: Will you please rap the number of the members of the\nCommittee who are present at this time?\n\nThree raps.\n\nMr. Sellers: Now, say how many.\n\nThree raps.\n\nMr. Sellers: Are there only three?\n\nThe Medium (to Mr. Sellers): That answer was 'Yes,' I think.\n\nMr. Sellers: Well, you say you can do it. Please count the number of the\nmembers of the Committee who are present.\n\n[A]Seven raps--very slow, deliberate and distinct.\n\n[Footnote A: When, in answer to Mr. Sellers' question, the raps counted\nthe number of the Committee present, the number seven was indicated.\n_This counted in Mr. George S. Pepper and the Stenographer._--G.S.F.]\n\nMr. Sellers: Are there seven members of the Committee present?\n\nThree raps.\n\nMr. Sellers: Are they all seated around one table?\n\nNo response. About forty seconds elapse.\n\nMr. Sellers: Are they seated at two tables?\n\n[B]Three raps--quite feeble.\n\n[Footnote B: When the raps indicated that the members of the Commission\nsat at _two_ tables, this expressly included in the number of the\nCommission the Stenographer, who sat at a different table from that at\nwhich the members of the Commission were seated at the time of asking\nthe question.--G.S.F.]\n\nMr. Sellers (to his associates): We still must go back to the one thing.\nThe information we receive through these responses is of little\nimportance to us compared with the information which we must obtain as\nto whether these sounds are produced by a disembodied Spirit or by some\nliving person; that is, in deference to the Medium. (To Mr. Furness): Do\nyou not think so?\n\nMr. Furness is understood to assent.\n\nMr. Sellers (continuing): We have tried the glass tumblers. We have the\nsounds here. I would ask Mrs. Kane if it is proper for us to look below\nthe top of the table at the time the sounds are being produced, and in\nsuch a way as to see her feet.\n\nThe Medium: Yes, of course, you could do that, but it is not well to\nbreak, when you are standing, suddenly. As you know, you have to conform\nto the rules, else you will get no rappings.\n\nMr. Sellers: What are the rules?\n\nThe Medium (disconnectedly): The rules are--every test condition, that I\nam perfectly willing to go through, and have gone through a thousand\ntimes--at the same time, there are times when you can break the rules.\nSo slight a thing as the disjoining of hands may break the rules. I do\nnot think the standing on the glass has been fully tried.\n\nMr. Sellers: We will try that later.\n\nMr. Furness (to the Medium--informally): This investigation is one of\ngreat importance to us. There is no question about it--we have heard\nthese curious sounds. Now, as to whether they come from Spirits or\nnot--that would seem to be the very next logical step in our inquiry. I\nthink you are entirely at one with us in every possible desire to have\nthis phenomenon investigated.\n\nThe Medium: Oh, certainly. But I pledge myself to conform to nothing,\nfor--as I said in Europe--I do not even say the sounds are from Spirits;\nand, what is more, it is utterly beyond human power to detect them. I do\nnot say they are the Spirits of our departed friends, but I leave others\nto judge for themselves.\n\nMr. Furness: Then you have come to the conclusion that they are entirely\nindependent of yourself.\n\nThe Medium: No, I do not know that they are entirely independent of\nmyself.\n\nMr. Furness: Under what conditions can you influence them?\n\nThe response, which was partly inaudible at the Reporter's seat, was\nunderstood to be: \"I cannot tell.\"\n\nMr. Furness: You say that, in the generality of cases, they are beyond\nyour control?\n\nThe Medium: Yes.\n\nMr. Furness: How in the world shall we test that?\n\nThe Medium: Well, by--\n\nMr. Furness: By--what? Isolating you from the table?\n\nThe Medium: Yes.\n\nMr. Furness (applying his right hand, by her permission, to the Medium's\nhead): Are you ever conscious of any vibration in your bones?\n\nThe Medium: No; but sometimes it causes an exhaustion, that is, under\ncircumstances when the raps do not come freely.\n\nMr. Furness: The freer the raps come, the better for you?\n\nThe Medium: Yes; the freer the better--the less exhaustion.\n\nMr. Sellers: But do you feel now, to-night, any untoward influence\noperating against you?\n\nThe Medium: No, not to-night, for it takes quite a little while before\nwe feel those things.\n\nMr. Furness: Do these raps always have that vibratory\nsound--tr-rut--tr-rut--tr-rut?\n\nThe Medium: Sometimes they vary.\n\nMr. Furness: As a general rule I have heard them sound so.\n\nThe Medium: Every rap has a different sound. For instance, when the\nSpirit of Mr. Seybert rapped, if the sound was a good one, you would\nhave noticed that his rap was different from that of another. Every one\nis entirely different from another.\n\nMr. Furness: Do you suppose that the present conditions are such that\nyou can throw the raps to a part of the room other than that in which\nyou are?\n\nThe Medium: I do not pretend to do that, but I will try to do it.\n\nMr. Furness and Dr. Leidy station themselves in the corner of the room,\ndiagonally, and most remote from the pine table, at which their\nassociates remain seated, with their hands upon the table, and 'their\nminds intent on having the raps produced at the corner indicated,' as\nrequested by the Medium, who also remains at the table. The Medium asks,\n'Will the Spirit rap at the other side of the room,' and, after twelve\nseconds, and again after forty-three seconds, repeats the inquiry. No\nresponse is received. The experiment is repeated with Mr. Furness and\nDr. Koenig at the corner, but with a like negative result.\n\nAt this point the attention of the Committee was again directed to the\nattempted production of the rappings with the Medium standing upon the\nglass tumblers. The lady proceeded to the space between the side-board\nand the wall where the last preceding test had been made, and there the\ntumblers were again arranged. The Medium resumed her position upon them,\nwith Doctors Leidy and Koenig, and Messrs. Sellers and Furness facing\nher.\n\nThe Medium: Will the Spirit rap here?\n\nTwenty-three seconds elapse.\n\nDr. Leidy: Is any Spirit present?\n\nAn interval of thirty-nine seconds here followed, when the attention of\nthe Committee was momentarily diverted by an inquiry addressed to Mr.\nFurness by Mr. Sellers, viz.: Whether a glass plate of sufficient\nstrength to bear the weight of the Medium was procurable. At this moment\nthe Medium suddenly exclaimed: 'I heard a rap. You said, \"Get a glass,\"\nand there was a rap.'[A]\n\n[Footnote A: No one but the Medium heard this rap.--G.S.F.]\n\nThe Medium (repeating for the information of Mr. Furness): Somebody\nproposed a glass and there were three raps.\n\nDr. Koenig inquires of the Medium whether the meaning intended to be\nconveyed by the sounds is that the Spirits desire to have the glass\nplate procured.\n\nThe Medium: I do not know. I know there were raps. (Turning to Mr.\nSellers, the Medium adds): They may have been made by your heel on the\nfloor but certainly there were sounds.\n\nMr. Fullerton: Then it was not the regular triple rap?\n\nThe Medium: I could not tell.\n\nJust before calling attention to the alleged rap or raps the Medium\ngrasped with her right hand the woodwork of the side-board as if for\nsupport. It was then that she stated she heard the sounds. They were\napparently not heard by any one but the Medium.\n\nMr. Sellers (addressing the Spirit): Will you repeat the raps we heard\njust now, assuming that there were some?\n\nTen minutes elapse without a response.\n\nThe Medium: There is no use of my standing longer, for when they come at\nall they come right away.\n\nMr. Sellers (after scrutinizing the position of one of the feet of the\nMedium, remarks): The edge of the heel of the shoe rests on the back\ntumbler. (Assuming a stooping posture for a more prolonged scrutiny, he\nadds): We will see whether the raps will be produced now.\n\nThe Medium now proposes that all members of the Committee shall stand up\nand join hands.\n\nMr. Sellers and his associates accordingly stand, facing the Medium,\nwith hands joined. Changes in their positions were made by some of the\ngentlemen from time to time, as suggested by the Medium, Mr. Pepper and\nDr. Koenig being the first to exchange places. This occurred after a\nsilence of thirty seconds without any response.\n\nThe Medium: Now, Mr. Seybert, if your Spirit is here, will you have the\nkindness--I knew Mr. Seybert well in life--to rap?\n\nFifteen seconds elapse.\n\nThe Medium: No, he does not seem to respond.\n\nAt the suggestion of Mr. Sellers, all the gentlemen approach the Medium\nfor the purpose of inducing some acknowledgment by the Spirit, and\ninquiries similar to those already stated are repeated without result.\nThe Committee then temporarily abandon this test.\n\nAll present (except the Stenographer) having been seated at the large\ncircular table in the centre of the room, Mr. Pepper addressed the\nSpirit of Mr. Seybert, as follows: 'Harry, will you communicate with me\nas you promised to do?'\n\n(Three raps--given slowly and deliberately--are heard.)\n\nMr. Sellers: Will you communicate with Mr. Pepper by raps or by\nwriting? (No response.) Will you communicate by raps?\n\nThe Medium (to Mr. Sellers): Well, my hand does feel like writing. Will\nyou give me a piece of paper?--and maybe they will give me some\ndirections.\n\nMr. Fullerton (to the Medium): How does your hand feel when affected in\nthat way?\n\nThe Medium: It is a peculiar feeling, like that from taking hold of\nelectrical instruments. I do not know but that you might possibly feel\nit in my hand.\n\nThe lady here extended her right hand upon the table toward Mr.\nFullerton. The latter placed his left hand upon the extended hand of the\nMedium, and subsequently remarked that the pulsation of her wrist was a\nlittle above the ordinary rate.\n\nThe Medium, ostensibly under Spirit influence, with lead pencil in hand\nproceeded to write two communications from the Spirit of the late Henry\nSeybert. The first of these covered two pages of paper of the size of\nordinary foolscap. The Medium wrote in large characters, with remarkable\nrapidity, and in a direction from the right to the left, or the reverse\nof ordinary handwriting. The writing, consequently, could be read only\nfrom the reverse side of the paper and by being held up so as to permit\nthe gas-light to pass through it.\n\nThe communications, as deciphered by Mr. Sellers, with the aid of Mr.\nFullerton and the Medium, were as follows: \"You must not expect that I\ncan satisfy you beyond all doubt in so short a time as you have yet had.\nI want to give you all in my power, and will do so if you will give me a\nchance. You must commence right in the first place or you shall all be\ndisappointed for a much longer time. _Princiipis Obsta Sero Medicina\nParatum._\n\nHenry Seybert.\n\n\"Mend the fault in time or we will all be puzzled.\n\nHenry Seybert.\"\n\nThe foregoing were understood to be directed to Mr. Pepper, in\naccordance with the assurance given by the Spirit that it would\ncommunicate with him.\n\nSubsequently, when the trance condition had apparently disappeared, the\nMedium complied with a request to write, as it would be read to her, the\nLatin phrase at the end of the first communication. Using the pencil in\nher right hand, she transcribed slowly and in the usual direction from\nleft to right. The style of her handwriting was small and comparatively\nneat. Apparently in every particular her writing in this instance was\nthe exact opposite of that made by her while in the alleged trance\ncondition. She here stated that, ordinarily, she wrote in the same\nmanner in which people generally write, with her right hand and from\nleft to right. With respect to her inability to transcribe the Latin\nwords until these had been spelled for her, she explained that she was\nnot at all familiar with Latin.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: Mr. George S. Pepper, who was present, said that Mr.\nSeybert knew no Latin.--G.S.F.]\n\nA member of the Committee, commenting upon a defect in the spelling of\nthe first of the Latin words in the Spirit communication, suggested that\nthe error might be accounted for on the hypothesis that Mr. Seybert, in\nlife, was accustomed to the use of poor Latin.\n\nThe Medium farther explained that her understanding of the second\ncommunication was that it was a translation of the Latin contained in\nthe first.\n\nThe glass tumblers are here again produced and the Medium takes her\nposition upon them, with Mr. Fullerton standing next to her upon the\nright and Mr. Furness to the left. Mr. Sellers remains for some moments\nkneeling on the floor to enable himself better to hear any sounds that\nmay be but faintly audible. The Spirits are repeatedly importuned by the\nMedium to produce the rappings, but no response is heard until the\ncompany is about to abandon the experiment. Three raps are then audible.\nThe raps are very light but very distinct.\n\nMr. Fullerton states that he heard the raps.\n\nMr. Sellers: I heard a sound then, but it seemed as if it was around\nthere. (Indicating along the wall immediately in the rear of the\nMedium.)\n\nThe tumblers are here moved further away from the wall and the Medium\nresumes her position upon them.\n\nMr. Sellers: Will the Spirit rap again? (No response.)\n\nThe Medium: Were any of you gentlemen acquainted with Mr. Seybert in his\nlifetime?\n\nMr. Fullerton: I saw him several times before his death. If he can give\nan intimation now of anything he said at that time, it will indicate\nthat he remembers it.\n\nA very faint rap is heard.\n\nThe Medium: There is a rap. It seems to be there again. (Indicating the\nspot to which attention was previously called by Mr. Sellers.)\n\nThe Medium again importunes, first, 'Mr. Seybert' and next 'the Spirits'\n'to rap;' and the importunities are repeated. Three raps are distinctly\nbut faintly heard.\n\nMr. Sellers: I heard them. They sounded somewhat like the others, not\nexactly.\n\nThe Medium: I heard one rap, but it is nothing for me to hear them; I\nwant you gentlemen to hear them.\n\nMr. Sellers: Probably we will hear them again.\n\nWhile Mr. Sellers and Mr. Furness are conversing, several raps are\nheard, though less distinct than the preceding ones.\n\nThe Medium: There they are as though right under the glass. (After a\nsilence of forty seconds): Now I hear them again very light--oh, very\nlight.\n\nMr. Furness, with the permission of the Medium, places his hand upon one\nof her feet.\n\nThe Medium: There are raps now, strong--yes, I hear them.\n\nMr. Furness (to the Medium): This is the most wonderful thing of all,\nMrs. Kane, I distinctly feel them in your foot. There is not a particle\nof motion in your foot, but there is an unusual pulsation.\n\nMr. Sellers here made some inquiries of the Medium, concerning the shoes\nnow worn by her. The replies, which were not direct, are here given.\n\nMr. Sellers: Are those the shoes which you usually wear?\n\nThe Medium: I wear all kinds of shoes.\n\nMr. Sellers: Are the sounds sometimes produced in your room when you\nhave no shoes on.\n\nThe Medium: More or less. They are produced under all circumstances.\n\nFollowing the suggestion of the Medium, all present proceed through an\nintervening apartment to the library where the Medium selects various\npositions--standing upon a lounge, then upon a cushioned chair, next\nupon a step-ladder and finally upon the side of a book-case--but all\nwith a like unsuccessful result, no response by rappings being heard.\n\nUpon an intimation being given by a member of the Committee that the\nMedium may be wearied, the further prosecution of the Investigation is\ntemporarily deferred.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAfter the examination of Mrs. Kane, and after the Stenographer had left,\nthe Commission held a conference, and commissioned Mr. Furness to lay\nbefore Mrs. Kane the question of continuing or closing the\ninvestigation, so far as she was concerned. If she were sanguine of more\nsatisfactory results at another s\u00e9ance, the Commission was willing to\nprolong the investigation.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\nBelow is given the letter from Mr. Furness, explaining why the\ninvestigation of Mrs. Kane was not continued. The decision to\ndiscontinue it came from her.\n\nMy Dear Fullerton:\n\nYou remember that the members of The Seybert Commission separated last\nevening with the understanding that we should meet Mrs. Kane again this\nevening, if Mrs. Kane desired it, and that they requested me to lay the\nquestion before her for her decision.\n\nAccordingly, I had an interview with her this morning, of which the\nfollowing is as accurate an account as I can remember.\n\nI told her that the Commission had now had two s\u00e9ances with her, and\nthat the conclusion to which they had come is that the so-called raps\nare confined wholly to her person, whether produced by her voluntarily\nor involuntarily they had not attempted to decide; furthermore, that\nalthough thus satisfied in their own minds they were anxious to treat\nher with all possible deference and consideration, and accordingly had\ndesired me to say to her that if she thought another s\u00e9ance with her\nwould or might modify or reverse their conclusion, they held themselves\nready to meet her again this evening and renew the investigation of the\nmanifestations; at the same time I felt it my duty to add that in that\ncase the examination would necessarily be of the most searching\ndescription.\n\nMrs. Kane replied that the manifestations at both s\u00e9ances had been of an\nunsatisfactory nature, so unsatisfactory that she really could not blame\nthe Commission for arriving at their conclusion. In her present state of\nhealth she doubted whether a third meeting would prove any better than\nthe two already held. It might be even more unsatisfactory, and instead\nof removing the present belief of the Commission it might add\nconfirmation of it. In view of these considerations, she decided not to\nhold another s\u00e9ance.\n\nAfterward, during the forenoon (you know she has been and still is my\nguest), she recurred to the subject, and added that if hereafter her\nhealth improved it would give her pleasure to make a free-will offering\nto the Commission of a number of s\u00e9ances for further investigations.\n\nI forgot to tell you, when we last met, that yesterday morning, the 6th\nof November, I brought away from Mrs. Patterson our sealed slate. It\ncontains no writing, so Mrs. Patterson says. During the many months that\nit has been in this Medium's possession I have made to her the most\nurgent appeals, both in person and by letter, to fulfill her promise of\ncausing the writing to appear in it. Her invariable excuse has been her\nlack of time.\n\nI Remain Yours,\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS,\n\n_Acting Chairman_.\n\n7th November, 1884.\n\nIt will be seen from the last paragraph of the preceding letter that the\nattempt to produce 'independent writing' on the inside of the slate\nsealed by the Commission was without result.\n\nThe slate was sealed on May 31st, 1884 (as described in the records of\nthe meeting of that date), was placed in the hands of the Medium, Mrs.\nPatterson, the next day, where it remained until November 6th.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nJanuary 16th, 1885.\n\nThe Commission met on Friday evening, January 16th, 1885, for the\npurpose of examining a second slate which had been sealed by Mr. Furness\nand left with Mrs. Patterson, and was now returned to the Commission.\n\nThe slate was screwed and sealed by Mr. Furness, just before Christmas,\nand was in the hands of the Medium until January 12th.\n\n[So importunate was the Acting Chairman in his entreaties to Mrs.\nPatterson to bring to bear on these slates all her Spiritual power, that\nat last he induced her to name a certain afternoon that should be\ndevoted to the task. He went to her house on the day named, and sat\nwith her while she held the slates in her lap. To increase to the\nutmost all available Spiritual force, Mrs. Patterson's two daughters and\nher brother-in-law, Mr. Winner, were called in and shared the session.\nAfter sitting for nearly two hours, the little pencil had not made its\nappearance on the outside, but could still be heard rattling inside, and\nthe obdurate Spirits were abandoned for the day.--H.H.F.]\n\nThe slate was secured as follows:\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe two leaves of the slate were fastened by four screws at 1, 2, 3 and\n4; one side of the slate was already secured by the hinges 8, 8; the\nslate had then been wrapped by the tape 9, 9, as indicated, the knot\nbeing at 4; seals had then been set over the heads of the screws, upon\nthe tape, at 1, 2, 3 and 4, and also over the ends of the screws, upon\nthe tape, on the other side of the slate; a seal was also placed upon\nthe ends of the tape at 5; and two seals at one corner, at the places\nindicated by 6 and 7. The corner marked by the arrow (<--) was protected\nonly by the screws and seals at 3 and 4.\n\nWhen the slate was shaken no sound of the rattling of the pencil was\nheard--a pencil-scrap having been enclosed as usual in the slate when it\nwas sealed. The Medium had declared that the pencil was gone, but said\nshe did not know whether there was writing on the slate or not.\n\nThe seals were first examined and declared intact.\n\nThen Dr. Leidy pushed a thin knife-blade between the slates at the\nunprotected corner, marked by the arrow on the sketch.\n\nThen Mr. Sellers pushed in a thick knife-blade a little to one side of\nDr. Leidy's. (The exact place is marked on the rim of the slate\nitself.) Both the blades were thrust straight in--Dr. Leidy's exactly at\nthe corner, and Mr. Sellers's at the point marked, and neither of them\nwas worked about between the slates.\n\nThe slates were thus separated by the thick knife-blade about one-tenth\nof an inch.\n\nThe seals were not broken by this.\n\nWhile the slates were thus separated, it was noticed that the wood was\ndiscolored and rubbed glossy on the sides of the crack.\n\nMr. Sellers then removed the tape, seals and screws.\n\nThe slate being opened, no pencil was found and no pencil-marks appeared\non the slate.\n\nThe rims were worn smooth and blackened at the corner where the slates\ncould be separated; this was very distinct.\n\nSome soap-stone dust, which Dr. Koenig identified under a microscope as\nthe same with a remaining fragment of the pencil inserted (which Mr.\nFurness had preserved), was found rubbed into the same corner, showing\nthat _the slates had been separated and the piece of pencil worked out_.\n\nMr. Furness then produced three slates of the same sort (with hinges,\nand about 8 in. by 6.) to be used in the presence of Dr. Slade.\n\nThey were screwed up with a bit of pencil inside, in the presence of the\nCommission. Each was marked on the inside by Mr. Sellers, with a scratch\nfrom a diamond. To Mr. Furness was delegated the work of sealing them.\n[As Dr. Slade, however, refused to use any of our sealed slates, our\nlabor was wasted.]\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following is a stenographic report of a meeting of the Commission,\nto consider the reports offered by several members of s\u00e9ances with Dr.\nHenry Slade, who came to Philadelphia to meet the Commission. As he\nrefused to sit with more than three of the Commission at a time, it was\nnecessary to visit him in sections. Arrangements had been made to have\nall the members sit with him in turn, but it was soon decided that\ncontinuity of observation was valuable, and certain members were\nappointed to do the whole work.\n\n(A record from the notes of the Stenographer, Mr. J.I. Gilbert.)\n\nPHILADA., February 7th, 1885.\n\nA formal session of the Seybert Committee was held to-day at 8 o'clock\nP.M., at the residence of Mr. Furness, No. 222 West Washington Square.\n\nThe session was devoted to consideration of the s\u00e9ances held with Dr.\nHenry Slade, from January 21st to January 28th inclusive.\n\nThe following is a compilation of written notes and verbal comments upon\nthe s\u00e9ances by members of the Committee:\n\nMr. Coleman Sellers (referring to notes):\n\nThe Committee met on January 21st, 1885, at the Girard House,\nPhiladelphia, in Room 24.\n\nThere were present: Messrs. Thompson, Sellers and Furness, of the\nCommittee, and the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was conducted at a pine table prepared by the Medium, which\nwas supplied with two falling leaves and stationed at a point remote\nfrom the centre of the room, and contiguous to a wall of the apartment.\nUpon the table were two ordinary writing slates and fragments of slate\npencils.\n\nThe relative positions of the Medium and the Committee were as follows:\nthe Medium was seated in the space between the table and the wall.\nProfessor Thompson occupied a chair at the side of the table to the\nright, and Mr. Furness one at the side to the left of the Medium. Mr.\nSellers was seated at the side directly opposite to the Medium.\n\nAfter calling attention to the slates and the pencil pieces, the Medium\nremarked that, as his baggage had not come to hand, he was apprehensive\nthat the sitting would not be a very good one. A brief, general\nconversation followed, and then, complying with a direction of the\nMedium, all present joined hands upon the table. Thereupon the Medium\nabruptly started back, and, remarking that he had received a very severe\nshock of some kind, inquired whether the gentlemen present had not\nexperienced a like sensation. The responses were in the negative.\n\nThe Medium next proposed to give an exhibition of \"Spiritism\" through\nthe agency of communications invisibly written upon the apparently blank\nsurface of one of the slates. At this point Mr. Sellers asked that the\ntable be examined, and, with the assent of the Medium, an examination\nwas accordingly made by the Committee; the only noteworthy result of\nwhich was the discovery immediately beneath the table-top of openings\nor slots into which the bars supporting the table leaves entered when\nturned to permit the lowering of the leaves.\n\n(Mr. Sellers here continued, without reference to notes):\n\nThese slots and the use to which I ascertained they might be applied are\nworthy of special comment, as they played a very important part in all\nthe expositions that were made of the Medium Slade's manifestations. The\nslot under the table into which the vibrating bar passed when the leaf\nwas lowered was an inch and a-quarter in depth. At a later period of the\nmeeting, when the opportunity was afforded, I took the slate in my hand,\nand, from the table side at which I was seated (the one directly\nopposite the Medium's position) passed it into the slot, allowing it to\nrest there diagonally. Upon removing my hand the slate remained\nsuspended in its place, and in a position in which it could conveniently\nbe written upon. I may add that this arrangement of the slate is said to\nbe an essential feature of Slade's favorite method of writing. The\nMedium did not fail to notice my experiment of passing the slate into\nthe slot, and, upon the occasion of my second attendance at the\n\"manifestations\" (which was at the third meeting of the Committee),\nhaving dispensed with the table I have described and prepared another,\nhe somewhat ostentatiously called attention to the fact that the table\nthen produced contained no slots such as those of which I have spoken. I\nhave a memorandum of the size of the slots. The dimensions of the table\nlast referred to are given in Mr. Fullerton's report.\n\n(Mr. Sellers, referring again to his notes):\n\nTaking a slate in his hand Slade held it beneath the table leaf to his\nright, when almost immediately there was a succession of faintly audible\nsounds such as would have been made by writing on the slate under the\ntable. A knock indicated that the writing had ceased. The Medium then\nattempted to withdraw the slate, but in this encountered a seeming\nresistance, and only succeeded by a jerk, as if wrenching the slate from\nthe grasp of a strong person who was below the table. Upon the slate,\nwhich was at once inspected, appeared in a fair, running handwriting,\nand as if written with a pencil held firmly in hand, the following:\n\n\"My friends,\n\nLook well to the truth and learn wisdom, I am truly\n\nJames Clark.\"\n\n(Continuing, without reference to notes):\n\nThis writing differed entirely, in general appearance, from the\nsubsequent writings upon the slate, having apparently been made with the\nrounded point of a pencil held in an easy and natural position for\nwriting. In other instances the writings had a strained and artificial\nappearance, and had evidently been made with a pencil point which had\nbeen flattened before being used.\n\nProfessor Thompson (to Mr. Sellers): Do you remember that at the session\nof which you now speak the Medium denied having any knowledge of James\nClark, and afterwards said that he did know of him?\n\nMr. Sellers: I remember distinctly that he said he knew nothing of James\nClark's affairs, and that, on another day, he presented a communication\nfrom a William Clark.\n\n(Mr. Sellers here resumed his reading from notes, as follows):\n\nThe writing was obliterated from it and the slate again held under the\ntable, when the question was asked, \"Will you do more.\" An interval of\nperhaps one or two minutes elapsed when the slate was exhibited, and\nupon it appeared the word \"Yes.\" The word had been written with a\nbroad-ended pencil, and neither in style nor character resembled the\nfirst writing.\n\nMr. Sellers, complying with the Medium's request to write a question on\nthe back of the slate, wrote \"Do you know the persons present?\" The\nresponse which was made to this was \"Yes, we do.\"\n\nNo additional manifestations by writings were made at the first meeting.\nDuring the sitting many raps were produced on the table through some\ninvisible agency, and as these sounds, in some instances, were such as\ncould be made by simple means and at the command of a person sitting at\nthe table, a member of the Committee reproduced the sounds. It was the\nconviction of the members of the Committee present that the sounds thus\nproduced were similar to the sounds said to have been made by Spirits.\nThe Medium, however, professed his ability to distinguish between the\ntwo classes of sounds, and remarked that some of the sounds heard by him\nwere such as would be made by a person touching the table and causing it\nto make the raps; that such sounds were not from the Spirits; that when\nthe raps were genuine they caused a peculiar sensation, a sort of\ntremor, in his breast, and, therefore, he could tell when the raps were\nspurious.\n\n(Mr. Sellers, aside): In other words, that none were genuine but those\nmade by himself.\n\n(Resuming, from notes): The Medium, in answer to inquiries, gave a\ndetailed description of the remarkable phenomena said to have been\nproduced in the presence of Professor Zoellner--which, he said, were as\nunexpected to himself (Slade) as they were to any one; that they were\nbeyond his control, and evidently the work of Spirits under very\nfavorable conditions.\n\nMr. Sellers here read the minutes of the meeting of January 22d, 1885,\nas prepared by Professor Fullerton.\n\n(The minutes are as follows):\n\nThe Committee met on Thursday, January 22d, 1885, at 12 M., in the\nGirard House, Philadelphia.\n\nPresent: Messrs. Thompson, Furness, Fullerton and the Medium, Henry\nSlade.\n\nA table measuring five or four and a-half by three feet, was used by the\nMedium. It was an oval table with two leaves. The Medium sat at one\nside, with Mr. Furness at the end of the table to his left, Professor\nThompson at the end to his right, and Mr. Fullerton opposite. A circle\nwas first formed by joining hands upon the table.\n\nA slate was passed to Mr. Fullerton by the Medium, with the request that\nit be held by him under the table leaf to his (Mr. Fullerton's) left.\nThe slate was held by Mr. Fullerton as requested, but at no time during\nthe sitting was any writing produced on the slate. Toward the close of\nthe s\u00e9ance the slate was held for some time under the opposite table\nleaf by Messrs. Furness and Fullerton.\n\nDr. Slade, after cleaning a slate, held it under the table-leaf to his\nright, in the space between himself and Professor Thompson. The slate\nwas not held close to the table, but in a slanting position, so that a\nspace of perhaps four or five inches was left between the edge of the\nslate farthest removed from the table and the table itself. A piece of\npencil, broken from a small pencil--about 1-16th to 1-12th in. cross\nsection, was laid on the slate.\n\nA series of questions were here propounded, in each instance the inquiry\nbeing followed by a scratching sound, and the slate being then withdrawn\nfrom under the table and showing writing upon it. These writings were\nconstrued as responses.\n\nThe questions and answers were as follows:--\n\n1. It was asked: Will the Spirits answer questions?\n\nAns. (as above). 'We will try,'\n\n2. Is the gentleman opposite a Medium? (Mr. Fullerton.)\n\nAns. He has some power.\n\n3. Are there more Spirits than one present?\n\nAns. Yes, there is.\n\n4. Another communication which appeared on the slate was 'we will do\nmore soon.'\n\n5. Ques. Do you move this pencil?\n\nAns. We do, of course.\n\n6. Tell us if you will play the accordion, or try to to-day?\n\nAns. Yes.\n\nThe accordion (a small one) was then held partly under the leaf of the\ntable, where the slates had been. It played a little. The members of the\nCommission could not see it when in that position, or at least could not\nsee the whole of it. Mr. Fullerton, by looking under Professor\nThompson's arm, over the table, could occasionally catch a glimpse of it\nas Dr. Slade moved it to and fro, but saw only one corner.\n\nDr. Slade then marked a slate with a line, and laid one of the bits of\npencil upon the line. A large slate pencil was then laid along the edge\nof the slate. The slate was placed below the edge of the table beside\nDr. Slade (to his right, as usual) when the large pencil was thrown up\ninto the air two and a-half or three feet above the table.\n\nWhen the slate was brought up into view again the small bit of pencil\nwas still in its place. This would, of course, be nothing remarkable if\nthe Medium's finger were upon the small bit of pencil at the time of the\njerk.\n\nAnother slate was held by Dr. Slade on the same side of and below the\ntable (as far as I could judge from his arm it was nearly as low as Dr.\nSlade's knee), and it was suddenly broken into many pieces, the frame\nbeing at once held up for inspection by Dr. Slade. It did not seem to\nhave been broken against the table, as there was no shock felt in the\ntable, nor did the sound indicate it. It might have been broken by a\nsudden blow upon the knee, as Dr. Slade's knees were in close proximity\nto the place where the slate was held.\n\n[The following are Notes of points which Mr. Sellers asked me\nparticularly to observe.--G.S.F.]\n\nNOTE 1.--The bits of pencil placed upon the slates seemed to be used in\nwriting, for pieces with sharp edges were broken and put on the slates\nand afterwards were found somewhat worn.\n\nNOTE 2.--They were apparently the same pieces, as the size was the same.\n\nNOTE 3.--The writing did not seem to have been done by drawing the slate\nover a pencil at the time that the scratching was heard, for the slate\nwas partly in view, and though it moved somewhat, it did not then move\nenough to make, for example, a line the whole length of the slate, as\nwas done in one instance.\n\nNOTE 4.--The pencil was found where the writing ended, and in the case\nof the line cited just above, the mark on the slate was just about as\nwide as the rubbed part of the pencil. The pencil was rubbed and the end\nhad been flat.\n\nNOTE 5.--I did not notice any difference in the fineness of the earlier\nand later writings. The first communication began and ended with a\nstrong broad line.\n\nNOTE 6.--The accordion was a small one, and I cannot say whether it\nmight not have been played upon with one hand if grasped in the right\nway.\n\nNOTE 7.--In every case, what was done was done out of our sight, Dr.\nSlade declaring that the object in concealing the slates, etc., was to\nprevent our wills from having a negative effect upon the phenomena. My\nown position opposite the Medium was a very bad one for observing what\nwas going on on his side of the table.\n\n(Mr. Sellers here read, from notes taken by himself, the minutes of the\nthird of the series of Slade s\u00e9ances, as follows):\n\nThe Committee met on January 23d, 1885, at the Girard House,\nPhiladelphia, in Room 24.\n\nThere were present: Messrs. Thompson, Sellers and Furness, of the\nCommittee, and the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade.\n\nThe Medium was seated in the space between the table and the wall.\nProfessor Thompson occupied a chair at the side of the table to the\nright, and Mr. Furness one at the side to the left of the Medium. Mr.\nSellers was seated at the side directly opposite to the Medium.\n\nThe table made use of on this occasion was much larger than the one used\nat the first meeting. Attention was called to the fact that there were\nno slots under the middle leaf of the table as there were in the other\ntable.\n\nBetween the leaf and the centre of the table paper had been introduced\nfor the purpose of stuffing the crack, a rather large one, and the\nexplanation of the Medium was, 'This is to stop a sort of draft that\ncomes up through the crack and breaks the connection.' The members of\nthe Committee were inclined to think that the purpose was to prevent\nthem from observing through the crack any manipulations of the slate or\nmotions by the Medium under the table.\n\nThe first writing on the slate was, 'We will do all we can.'\n\nBy request of the Medium, a slate with a bit of pencil was then held by\nMr. Sellers under the table leaf next to him on his left, when the\nquestion was put, 'Will you try to write on the slate held by the\ngentleman opposite.' The response, 'We will try,' was written on the\nMedium's slate. After taking the slate in his hand and cleanly wiping\nit, the Medium passed it under the table leaf, when almost instantly\nsounds indicating writing, such as were audible at the first session,\nwere repeated. Upon being exhibited the slate contained the following:\n\nMy friends,--\n\nPaul's injunction was \"add to your faith knowledge.\" this knowledge, has\nencouraged the desponding, and given comfort to the mourner, and gives\nhope to the Hopeless. I am truly\n\nWilliam Clark.\n\nThe appearance of this writing was much the same as that of the first\nday, when another long written communication was produced, but it bore\nno resemblance to the scrawls which were exhibited in answer to\nquestions.\n\nA special minute is here made of observations by members of the\nCommittee upon certain features of the Medium's operations, which tended\nto discredit the assumption of a supernatural agency in the production\nof the slate writings. In the above instance a slate which had been\nnoted as standing against a leg of the table and behind the chair of the\nMedium, but conveniently within his reach, was dexterously substituted\nby the Medium for the slate taken from the table and the one upon which\nostensibly writing was to appear. This was observed by one member. In\nanother instance a member (Mr. Sellers) observed the same substitution,\nso far as the motion of the Medium's hand and arm was concerned. By\ncertain private marks, adroitly applied, the same member noted the fact\nthat the slate on which the writing was exhibited was not, as the Medium\nrepresented it to be, the same slate which had been taken from the\ntable.\n\n[The foregoing note by the Stenographer is somewhat incoherent, owing to\nhis unfamiliarity with Slade's s\u00e9ances; yet we prefer to let it remain\nas it is.--G.S.F.]\n\n(Mr. Sellers adds, parenthetically): That is, I watched the Medium's\noperations specially with a view of informing myself whether the slate\nused in both instances was the same.\n\n(Resuming, from notes): The Medium proposed that the Committee should\nretain the slate upon which the long message appeared. The slate was\naccordingly retained by the Committee.\n\nProfessor Thompson (addressing Mr. Sellers): Was not that slate the one\nthat I held at the time referred to?\n\nMr. Sellers: It was. The slate was held by you at the same time that it\nwas held by the Medium.\n\nProfessor Thompson: Then there is an additional fact to be noted in\nregard to it. That fact is this. When the sounds indicating the writing\nprocess had ceased, I endeavored to pull the slate away from under the\ntable, but the Medium resisted my effort, and by powerful exertion\njerked the slate out toward himself. The substitution of one slate for\nthe other was probably made at this time, and the slate so substituted\nwas then placed on the table.\n\nMr. Sellers: That is true, most assuredly I saw the substitution, and\nMr. Furness also saw it very plainly. From his position Mr. Furness saw\nthe Medium take up the other slate.\n\nNOTE.--An explanation was here made by Mr. Furness to the effect that\nhis knowledge of the substitution here spoken of was inferential, but\nthat at another period of the s\u00e9ance he did distinctly see the Medium\ngrasp an unused slate.\n\nMr. Sellers here resumed, from his notes:\n\nThe Medium then proposed to attempt the experiment of causing the chair\nupon which Professor Thompson sat, to rise from the floor, without\nexternal agency other than that of the hand of the Medium on the back of\nthe chair. In answer to the question, 'Will you try to lift the chair?'\nthe response was 'Yes.' Mr. Sellers, being requested to write a question\non the back of the slate near him, wrote the following, 'What is the\ntime?' After some little time, during which the Medium furtively glanced\nat the slate, the answer was given, 'A little after twelve.'\n\nUpon being requested to open his left hand and hold it thus extended in\na position beneath the top of the table to his left, Mr. Sellers\ncomplied with the request, when a slate, which had been held by the\nMedium under the opposite leaf, was passed across, and, after touching\nMr. Sellers's hand, fell to the floor. After several repetitions, the\nslate was passed into Mr. Sellers's hand, but the experiment was\naccompanied by a motion of the Medium which was evidently such as would\nhave been made if the Medium had passed the slate across by his foot.\n[At his s\u00e9ances Dr. Slade wears slippers, into and out of which he can\nreadily slip his feet.--G.S.F.]\n\nIn answer to the question, 'Are you ready to lift the gentleman?' the\nresponse, in writing, was given, 'Yes.' Clasping the back of the chair\nfirmly with his right hand, and approaching it close enough to enable\nhim to place his knee under the seat of the chair, the Medium, after\nvery considerable effort, caused the chair to rise from the floor an\ninch or two. The physical strain on the part of the Medium was evident.\n\nProfessor Thompson, having obtained the permission of the Medium, wrote\nthe following upon the slate, 'Can a Spirit, still in the body, write\nwith a slate pencil without touching the pencil?' After some delay, and\nfrequent surreptitious glances at the slate by the Medium, the answer\nwas, 'Yes, we can tell.' This trial not being satisfactory, the same\nquestion was repeated. The answer, which was longer delayed than the one\npreceding it, was, 'We can do so, if the conditions are favorable.'\n\nProfessor Thompson (interposing): Do you remember the Medium's remarks\nabout the resistance of the Spirits?\n\nMr. Sellers: I do.\n\nProfessor Thompson: When he was pushing and pulling the slate, and\nmeanwhile looking at it--while moving it backward and forward--the\nMedium remarked, 'There seems to be some kind of resistance; they don't\nseem to know what to make of it'--meaning that the Spirits were making\nsome resistance to his moving the slate.\n\nMr. Sellers here resumed and completed the reading of his minutes, as\nfollows:\n\nThe experiment attempted on the second day, of causing a slate pencil to\njump from a slate without any disturbance of the slate, was here\nrepeated. A line was drawn upon the slate, and upon this line a small\nbit of pencil was placed, the success of the experiment depending upon\nthis small piece remaining immovable upon the line. After several trials\nthis was accomplished. The experiment of playing an accordion beneath\nthe table was next made, and in one instance the top of the instrument\nwas thrown upon the table.\n\nMr. Sellers verbally made the following addition to his minutes:\n\nThe response to the question propounded by Professor Thompson was\nattended with more than ordinary delay. Upon hearing the response, viz.:\n'We can do so if the conditions are favorable,' Professor Thompson\nremarked that this did not answer the question at all.\n\nProfessor Thompson: I made that statement in regard to both of the\nresponses.\n\nMr. Sellers: The statement, then, was, that neither of the responses\nanswered the question. Whereupon the Medium at once obliterated the\nquestion from the slate, and remarked, 'Well, that is the best they can\ndo,' or something of that kind, or, 'They cannot understand that.' The\nfact was that the Medium did not understand the question himself, as it\nwas purposely a somewhat involved question.\n\nProfessor Thompson: The fact appears to have been demonstrated that the\nMedium seemed to have no difficulty in catching the purport of questions\nof simple construction at a glance, and that a question of more than\naverage length, which he could not perceive the sense of, or which was\nsomewhat misleading in its terms, was not answered intelligently.\n\nProfessor Thompson here further explained that, when writing the\nquestion spoken of, he concealed his hand from the observation of the\nMedium. Mr. Sellers here imitated the motions of the body of the Medium\nand the position of his hands at the time--the left resting on the\ntable, and the right hand beneath the table, near the slate--after which\nthe writing was displayed.\n\nMr. Sellers next presented the minutes of the meeting of January 24th,\nas follows:\n\nThe Committee met on January 24th, 1885, at the Girard House,\nPhiladelphia, in Room 24.\n\nThere were present: Dr. Leidy, Mr. H.H. Furness and Mr. Coleman Sellers,\nwith the Medium, Dr. Henry Slade. Dr. Leidy occupied the position\npreviously held by Professor Thompson, to the right of the Medium;\nMessrs. Sellers and Furness were seated as at the former sittings.\n\nSlates were produced and held as at the previous s\u00e9ances. Upon one slate\nthe following interrogatories and responses were recorded:\n\n'Spirits, are you ready to work?' Answer: 'Soon,'\n\n'Will you write for the gentlemen?' Answer: 'We are trying to do so.'\n\nAt this point the Medium substituted another slate for the one which he\nhad held in his hand, and almost immediately thereafter, upon the new\nslate being placed under the table, the sound of writing began and was\ncarried on with little interruption. The writing continued for a very\nlong time, during which the Medium, removing his hand from the hands of\nthe other gentlemen, said, 'You see that if I take my hand away from the\ncircle and thus break the circle, the sound of the writing ceases; if I\nplace my hand back again, the writing is repeated.' The sound of the\nwriting, which had been temporarily suspended, recommenced when the hand\nof the Medium returned to its former position. The Medium further\nstated, by way of qualifying his statement on this point, 'If I do not\njerk it away I can raise my hand a little.' He illustrated his meaning\nby slightly elevating his hand and withdrawing it from the other hands,\nat the same time calling attention to the fact that the sounds of the\nwriting on the slate were continued.\n\nThis modification by the Medium of his original statement was regarded\nas intended to cover instances in which the circle had been\nsurreptitiously broken by members of the Committee without any of the\nresults which, had been predicted. Several such breaks had been made by\nthe writer (Mr. Sellers) unknown to any one but himself; and the Medium,\nfinally becoming aware of this fact, observed that the circle might\nfrequently be broken a little without any effect being apparent.\n\nProfessor Thompson: But did not the Medium make that statement at the\nvery first s\u00e9ance?\n\nMr. Sellers: He stated that at the first s\u00e9ance.\n\n(Resuming, from notes): The communication inscribed upon the slate when\nbeneath the table was in the same handwriting as the other long\ncommunications, and was evidently written with a sharpened pencil under\nfavorable conditions. It was as follows:\n\n'My friends:\n\nI have been made happy by the advent of my dear wife into this land of\nsouls. The name of my dear wife is Ann Louisa Tiers, of Germantown. Now\nwe shall part no more by death, as there is no death in this life.\n\nMy friends, never grieve because your friends meet the change called\ndeath, as death is but the blooming of the soul.\n\nI am\n\nJohn Tiers.'\n\nMr. Sellers, in reply to an inquiry by Dr. Leidy concerning the identity\nof the alleged author of the communication, here explained that a\nnewspaper advertisement of even date set forth that Ann Louisa Tiers,\nwidow of John Tiers, died on the day preceding the day of the meeting.\nThe advertisement had been noticed by Mr. Furness, and it appeared to\nfurnish the foundation for what had been imposed upon the Committee.\n\nThe slate used at the meeting here referred to was one which Mr. Furness\nsaw substituted, and which the writer (Mr. Sellers) is confident was\nsubstituted.\n\nDr. Leidy here stated that the communication now referred to, unlike all\nthe other communications of the Medium, which were miserable little\nscrawls of a few words, was a lengthy one, which covered the entire\nslate. He felt convinced that the slate upon which it was contained was\nsubstituted for the other one which the Medium ostensibly continued to\nuse.\n\nMr. Sellers (resuming the reading of his minutes): Dr. Leidy then wrote\non the slate the following question, 'Dr. Le Conte--are you engaged now\nin the study of Coleoptera?' The slate was then placed below the table,\nand, after the Medium had been observed to glance at it repeatedly, as\nin the case of former exhibitions of this kind, the slate was finally\nreproduced with this answer written upon it, 'Dr. L.C. is not present.'\n\nThen the experiment was repeated of drawing a line, laying a bit of\npencil on the line and then a pencil on the edge of the slate.\n\nThe pencil on the edge of the slate was tossed violently over the table,\npassed over and fell on the other side of the table, while the piece of\npencil on the mark was not disturbed.\n\nDr. Leidy: It should be borne in mind that that throw was not from under\nthe table, because when the pencil went over, the slate appeared on the\noutside of the table. I sat near the Medium and saw that slate brought\nout as the pencil went up.\n\nProfessor Thompson: The Medium claimed that sometimes the pencil\nappeared on the side of the table opposite to that at which he was\nsitting, but no such thing occurred in our presence. Would not it be\nadvisable, when you say it was thrown up, to add that it was thrown from\nthe side at which the Medium was sitting?\n\nMr. Sellers: In each and every case.\n\nDr. Leidy (to Mr. Sellers): When the Medium gave you and me a slate to\nhold, he said the Spirits would make a communication. We held the slate\naway from him and there was not at any time a communication.\n\n(Mr. Sellers here resumed, from his notes): The same experiment of\njerking the pencil over the table was repeated with another pencil.\nThen, at the suggestion of one of the gentlemen present, the Medium\nrepeated the experiment made at a former session, in which a long line\nwas drawn on the slate while the slate was apparently held without any\nmotion. The Medium then took one of the slates in his hand and placed it\nbelow the table, when it was suddenly broken. As he produced it, he\ncalled attention to the fact that the slate seemed as if broken from the\ntop downwards. As he brought it out, the Medium turned the slate over\nand knocked it on his knee, and in that way crushed it to pieces. He\nthen turned it over to show on which side the crushing took place. I saw\nthat as plainly as I saw anything. He then used a pencil and drew a\nzig-zag line across the slate. The pencil was worn at one end. The same\nexperiment, which was made when Professor Fullerton was present, was\nrepeated, and it was noticed that the pencil used in drawing the line\nwas the identical one found on the slate.\n\nDr. Leidy: In that part of the exhibition which purported to show how,\nthrough Spiritual influence, a slate pencil might remain in contact with\na slate, the Medium took care not to elevate the slate to an angle of\nforty-five degrees. He merely raised it to the elevation which I now\nindicate. If he had elevated it a little more the pencil would have\nfallen off.\n\nMr. Sellers (resuming): An accordion was then played under the\nmanipulations of the Medium, after which that gentleman told the writer\nthat he might look under the table and witness the performance of the\ninstrument. The writer availed himself of this permission, but, upon his\nlooking below the table, the musical sound ceased, and no such sounds\nwere heard during the period in which these observations were continued.\nThe Medium remarked, \"That is unaccountable; there is no reason why you\nshould not see it.\" Nevertheless, the accordion did not produce any\nsound while the writer was looking at it.\n\nProfessor Thompson: There is one point which was suggested at an earlier\nstage of the minutes, and which is, perhaps, worthy of being recorded.\nIt is this. At the time at which the slate was passed to the hand of Mr.\nSellers, under the table, the Medium compelled me to sit around in a\nposition different from that which I had occupied, in order that, in his\noperations, he could move his arms and lower extremities as freely as he\npleased.\n\nDr. Leidy: My own supposition is that, when he played the accordion\nfreely, the Medium made use of a little wire attached to a hook or\nsomething of that kind, which he could hold by fastening it to his\nclothing.\n\nMr. Sellers: His method of manipulating the instrument was readily\nobservable upon close attention. The accordion was a small one of the\nkind which is easily procurable in the market.\n\n(Resuming, from notes): The next meeting of the Committee, which was\nheld on January 26th, at the Girard House, was an exceedingly important\none, because its result was absolutely negative. There were present,\nwith the Medium, Professor Thompson, Mr. Furness and Mr. Sellers. Two\nslates were lying on the table behind him. The Medium brought forward\none of these, wiped it, laid a pencil on it, and placed it under the\ntable, but without any result. He said, \"We must make a circle--that\nwill have better effect.\" He laid the slate back upon the table. We then\njoined hands, and, after a time, thinking that there was magnetic\ninfluence enough at work, the Medium reached back and took the second\nslate--not the first one--brought that forward and put it under the\ntable. Mr. Sellers asked the Medium, \"Dr. Slade, will you allow me to\nsee that slate?\" The reply was, \"No, not now; the conditions are not\nfavorable.\" The Medium seemed rather embarrassed, and apparently\nregretted his reply. He laid the second slate back upon the table, in\nits former position, but further back. We then again formed a circle,\nwhen he seemed to hesitate a moment as to the better course for him to\npursue. He then reached back, grasped the first slate, and with a sponge\nwashed off both of its sides, though there had been no writing upon\neither; and then he brought forward the second slate, with the top side\nupward, and washed that side, though there was no occasion for the\nwashing, as there was no writing upon that side. Turning the slate over,\nhe began washing the back of it without showing the face of the slate,\nand finally laid it down.\n\nMr. Furness here stated that he observed, at the time, that the face of\nthe slate contained writing.\n\nProfessor Thompson here remarked that the Medium had evidently\nappreciated the fact that he had been caught.\n\nMr. Sellers: That fact was plainly apparent.\n\nMr. Fullerton here remarked that at the s\u00e9ance reported by him, soon\nafter the members were seated, the Medium reached behind his (the\nMedium's) position to get one of the slates placed near him, and\naccidentally turned up one, the back of which was covered with writing,\nwhereupon he coolly remarked, 'That is the wrong slate.' Mr. Fullerton\nadded that he did not at the time think of connecting this accidental\nexposure with what the Medium was then doing, and suggested that\npossibly this exposure prevented Dr. Slade's use of this method at the\ns\u00e9ance reported by him, as it would seem that none of the communications\nproduced on that occasion were of the sort produced by substitution of\nslates.\n\nMr. Sellers: The methods of this Medium's operations appear to me to be\nperfectly transparent, and I wish to say emphatically that I am\nastonished beyond expression at the confidence of this man in his\nability to deceive, and at the recklessness of the risks which he\nassumes in his deceptions, which are practiced in the most barefaced\nmanner. The only reason of our having any so-called 'manifestations'\nunder the circumstances was because of the fact that the Committee had\nagreed in advance to be entirely passive, and to acquiesce in every\ncondition imposed. At the meeting here spoken of, I said to Dr. Slade,\n'You see that we do not attempt to exercise any deleterious influence;\nwhat we want is the truth, the simple truth, and we try to exert no\ninfluence which would tend to impair the success of your operations.'\nThe reply of the Medium was, 'No, I know that you do not; but sometimes\nthe Spirits will work and sometimes they will not work.' We had no\nwritings in any part of that sitting--everything failed.\n\nMr. Furness: We did not have even raps.\n\nMr. Sellers: We did not have even raps. There was no sound of any\ncharacter; the day was absolutely fruitless of any result. Disgusted\nwith this evident failure, the Medium decided to close the s\u00e9ance. He\nwas asked, among other things, if he would write on double closed-up\nslates. He replied that he would not write upon them for the reason that\nthe Spirits had forbidden him to do so; that they had said they would\nnot write on sealed slates, because many tricks had been played on them,\none of which was the writing in advance of foolish and obscene matter,\nwhich, when the slates were opened, was attributed to the Spirits. I\nsaid to him, 'Would there be any objection by the Spirits to the use of\nthe slates if these are brought here, opened and exhibited before you\nprior to their being used?' He replied, 'I have been forbidden to write\nupon sealed slates; the Spirits tell me that if I disobey them they will\nnot write for me any more.'\n\nProfessor Thompson: Yes, I heard that statement, that it was forbidden\nto bring them or to offer the sealed slates to the Spirits.\n\nMr. Sellers (resuming from notes): As I have stated, the result of the\nmeeting of the 26th inst. was entirely negative. That on the 27th was\nthe last sitting. There were then present: Dr. Pepper, Mr. Furness and\nMr. Sellers--Dr. Pepper occupying the seat originally occupied by\nProfessor Thompson, to the right of the Medium. All the manifestations\nthat were made on that day were so similar, as far as writings and\nquestions were concerned, to those that preceded them that it is\nscarcely necessary to make notes of them. Two or three rather remarkable\nthings occurred. For instance, almost at the beginning of the sitting,\nDr. Slade exhibited both sides of two slates to show that neither side\ncontained any writing, and then placed a piece of pencil on one slate,\nand, covering it with the other one, held the two together between the\nthumb and finger of his right hand, and placed them upon Dr. Pepper's\nshoulder near the back of that gentleman's head. The covering of slate\nanswered the same purpose which a table would have answered, and\nprevented those present from observing the operation. He frequently\nrepeated the words, 'The Spirits will write upon the slate.' He held the\nslate in this position for some time, but there was no writing upon it.\nHe then placed both slates upon the table before him, side by side.\nTaking in his right hand the slate which was towards his left hand, he\nplaced a bit of pencil upon it, held it under the table, and said, 'Will\nthe Spirits write upon this slate?' He then added, 'I feel a sort of\ndrawing, a something which seems to pull the slate down underneath the\ntable. That often occurs.'\n\nI may here remark that, at the other sittings, the same expression was\nmade use of at times, accompanied by the thrusting of the slate some\ndistance under the table. The statement was that the slate seemed to be\ndrawn some distance over to the person opposite the Medium.\n\nA sound was heard, and upon the Medium bringing the slate out from under\nthe table, a zig-zag line appeared upon the slate with the pencil at the\nend of the line. The Medium remarked, 'That is something.' Then laying\nthe slate upon the slate to his right hand, with a sponge wiped off the\ntop of it, but did not show what was on the underside of it. He then\nplaced his thumb beneath the slates, and turned them in such a way that\nthe left hand, or top slate, came to be the one furthest from him as it\nwas held behind Dr. Pepper's head. When holding it in that position for\na moment, a scratching sound was heard in answer to the question, 'Will\nthe Spirits endeavor to write on the slate thus held?' A rap followed\nthe sound of the writing. The slates were then taken down, and the top\nslate taken off. Upon what had previously been the top slate was written\nthe words, 'Yes, we will try.'\n\nMr. Furness (interposing): That was one of the neatest things he did.\n\nMr. Sellers: My habits of observation have been trained in this kind of\nwork, and I watched the slates intently during the process.\n\nSubsequently certain raps were audible, when the Medium called the\nattention of Dr. Pepper to the fact that some of the raps were made upon\nthe chair on which the Doctor was seated. It was very evident that the\nraps were, in fact, made on that chair; there was no doubt about that at\nall.\n\nThroughout this entire sitting the Medium complained sadly of his\nphysical disability. He said that he was afraid that he was going to\nlose the power of his right side, that he was becoming numb all over.\nThe peculiar symptoms which he described will be reported upon in the\nobservations of Dr. Pepper, by whom they were noted.\n\n(Mr. Furness here stated that the notes of Dr. Pepper would be read\nlater in the evening.)\n\nMr. Sellers (continuing): The Medium did very little more in the way of\nwriting. He repeated some few of the experiments previously made, such\nas the throwing off of the pencil. He declined to play upon the\naccordion, as the instrument had been broken.\n\nAt this meeting two pocket compasses, one brought by Mr. Furness and the\nother by Mr. Sellers, were placed at a point near the circle of the\nhands in order to observe whether any deflection from the magnetic\ncourse occurred. No such result was noted. No change whatsoever in the\nneedles was observed other than that which was caused by a vibration due\nto shakings of the table. From time to time the Medium would call\nattention to one of the needles with the remark, 'There, one of those\nneedles is moving now.' In point of fact, the needle at the time would\nshow no motion other than that caused by the jarring of the table. The\nMedium went on to say that frequently, under like circumstances, when\nplaced close together, he had seen two needles point around in opposite\ndirections. This might have been true, in the present instance, if the\nMedium had placed a magnet attached to his foot at a point at which it\nwould have been between the two needles. Its effect would have been just\nthe one which he has described. No such result was noticeable during our\nobservations.\n\nA large part of the sitting was devoted to the discussion of the\nZoellner experiments, the Medium narrating some of the phenomena that\nhad been witnessed in the presence of Dr. Zoellner. He said, however,\nthat Zoellner was a peculiarly impressible person, and one who had\nentire confidence in his (the Medium's) ability.\n\nBefore the conclusion of the s\u00e9ance, the writer (Mr. Sellers) asked the\nMedium if he was acquainted with the methods of operation of any\nconjurors. The Medium replied that he did not know many of them, but he\nalways liked to have conjurors at his sittings, as they produced a very\ngood influence upon him. At this point the following colloquy ensued:\n\nMr. Sellers: Do you know a man named Kellar, who is exhibiting in this\ncity?\n\nDr. Slade: I do not. I never knew him.\n\nMr. Sellers: You may, however, be able to explain to me a very\nremarkable slate-writing experiment which Kellar has performed. I will\nstate the details of it. [Mr. Sellers here described at length Mr.\nKellar's trick with the fastened slates, and in concluding, asked:] How\ndid Mr. Kellar do that?\n\nDr. Slade: He is a Medium. He does that work precisely as I do it.\n\nMr. Sellers: But can he not do it by trickery?\n\nDr. Slade: No it is impossible. He is a Medium, and a powerful Medium.\n\n(Mr. Sellers continued the reading of his transcript, as follows):\n\nThen I described to the Medium an experiment by Kellar in lifting a\ntable ostensibly merely by laying his hands upon it, and I detailed his\nexplanation of how deceptions might occur, his custom of pulling up his\nsleeves and exhibiting his hands to the audience. I added, that he had\ndone the same thing with a chair.\n\nDr. Slade: I do that thing, too. I will show you how I do it the next\ntime. He does it as I do it. He is a Medium.\n\n(Mr. Sellers here paused to make the following verbal explanation):\n\nI pause here for the express purpose of having the fact noted that,\nbeing thoroughly familiar with the details of the methods of these\nexperiments, I can positively assure the Committee that there is no\nMediumistic power in Mr. Kellar, so far as his methods are concerned,\nthat those methods are as easy of solution as are any other physical\nproblems.\n\n(Resuming, from notes):\n\nThe inquiry was then addressed to Dr. Slade, 'Do you know a man named\nGuernella who, with his wife, gave s\u00e9ances?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I know\nhim very well.' 'Well, how does he perform his wonderful exploits in\nrappings, etc.?' 'He is a Medium, a powerful Medium. I know him very\nwell indeed. I can assure you that all that he does is done solely by\nmeans of his Mediumistic powers.'\n\nI now state to the Committee that the Guernellas exhibited in\nPhiladelphia some years ago as exposers of Spiritualism. They did not\nexpose it, but they performed experiments which, prior to that time,\nwere said to have been accomplished by the aid of Spirits. Guernella\nhimself, at my house, in my presence, in broad daylight, performed all\nthe feats and exhibited the phenomena that were produced at the dark and\nother s\u00e9ances, and he repeated them until I myself became as expert as\nhe in performing them; for which I paid him a consideration. So much for\nthe Mediumistic power.\n\n(Resuming, from notes):\n\nBefore the close of this last s\u00e9ance, a letter was read to Dr. Slade by\nMr. Furness, to which the Medium was requested to make reply at his\nconvenience; the object was to preserve evidence of the fact that the\nMedium had stated that all the s\u00e9ances must be held under his\nconditions--that if the Committee deviated in the slightest\ndegree from the conditions imposed by him (Dr. Slade) he would 'pack up\nhis traps and clear out.' [The letter and reply will be found annexed to\nthis Record.]\n\nAt the end of this s\u00e9ance, the sum agreed upon, three hundred dollars,\nwas paid to the Medium in three one-hundred-dollar bills. He was asked\nto sign a receipt for that amount, but his nervousness was such as to\nmake this a task of some difficulty. He made many attempts to grasp the\npen presented to him, but his hand shrank from it. At last, by a violent\neffort, and conquering the emotions that overcame him, the Medium\ngrasped the pen and wrote the receipt. The extreme trepidation of Dr.\nSlade was possibly due to the unexpected displacement of two covered\nslates which he had left standing on the floor, resting against the leg\nof the small table at his back, and which Mr. Furness had overturned\nwith his foot, the result being that at least two of the members of the\nCommittee were apprised, by the quantity of writing on one of the\nslates, that it was ready for immediate use.\n\nMr. Sellers (aside): I saw the writing on the slates. It had manifestly\nbeen prepared for use by the Medium, and up to the moment of its\ndiscovery had been carefully kept completely covered.\n\nMr. Furness here read to the Committee the following:\n\nBefore Dr. Slade came to Philadelphia to meet this Commission, I was\ntold by a valued Correspondent, an eminent Spiritualist, that much of\nDr. Slade's success in Spiritual manifestations would depend on the way\nin which he was treated, and that he should be met in a cordial,\nfriendly spirit. As this was but natural, and as Dr. Slade's life has\nbeen passed among extraordinary scenes the world over, which makes him\nan entertaining companion, it gave me pleasure to extend to him what\nlittle courtesies lay in my power, asking him to dine with me during his\nvisit, and to spend the evenings at my house, if the time hung heavy on\nhis hands at his hotel. He dined with me several times, and I\nconsequently saw more of him than did the other Commissioners. I told\nhim more than once that, as a Commissioner, I should watch him with lynx\neyes, and he always gave a laughing assent. I furthermore never\nconcealed from him that he had, by no means, converted me to\nSpiritualism. [I last saw him in Boston, when, as I was passing along\nShawmut Avenue, I caught sight of him at a window; he eagerly beckoned\nme to come in, and, as I settled myself in a chair, I said to him,\n'Well, and how are the old Spirits coming on?' Whereupon he laughed and\nreplied, 'Oh, pshaw! you never believed in them, did you?'--April,\n1887.]\n\nI had several s\u00e9ances with him in afternoons after the s\u00e9ances with the\nCommission, when I was accompanied by my mother, my sister, and by\nseveral friends; of course, only by one or two others at a time.\n\nIt would be superfluous to rehearse here at length what Mr. Sellers has\nset before you much better than I can, the steps to the conclusion to\nwhich we all arrived: that the long messages were written beforehand.\nThe difference between them and the short answers to questions asked at\nthe s\u00e9ance, in the character of the handwriting, is too manifest and too\nobtrusively patent to be disregarded. In the long message from 'William\nClark' on the slate which we have preserved and had photographed,\n'Paul's injunction' is carefully included within quotation marks. The\nshort answers to questions were scarcely legible, and at times could be\ndeciphered only by help of the Medium himself. (This illegible\nhandwriting is not without its use; it engrosses the attention of the\nsitters.)\n\nIt follows, therefore, that, if prepared slates are to be used, they\nmust be adroitly substituted for others, which the sitters know to be\nclean. The question is thus narrowed to one of pure legerdemain, and the\nMedium must necessarily have several slates at hand.\n\nWhen two slates only are used, the prepared slate is usually lying on\nthe table when the sitters take their seats. No attention is called to\nit, and some little time is taken in conversation, and in the spasmodic\njerking caused by 'electric currents'; in a few minutes the slate pencil\nis placed on the slate; no offer is made of showing both sides, which\nwould be quite needless, since the side which is exposed is perfectly\nclean, and it is on that side which the Spirits are expected to write;\nthe slate is kept almost constantly and wholly in full view and but very\nslightly inserted beneath the table. After an interval of waiting,\nduring which, by constantly looking at the slate as though impatient for\nthe writing to begin, whereby his sitters become accustomed to the\nappearance and disappearance of the slate, the Medium reaches for a\nsecond slate, ostentatiously washes both sides, lays it on the table,\nremoves the pencil from the first slate to the second, and places over\nit the first slate with its prepared message, face downward, and the\ntrick is done. The two slates are held for a minute under the table, and\nare then held to the ear or on the shoulder of the sitter on the\nMedium's right hand--never to any other sitter, since to do so would\nreveal the scratching of the Medium's finger-nail on the rim of the\nslate, whereby the writing of the pencil within the slates is\ncounterfeited. I have distinctly, three or four times, watched the\nmotion of the Medium's finger while thus scratching; as I sat facing the\nwindow the fingers which held the slate and made the fictitious writing\nwere sharply outlined against the light. And here let me say that he who\nsits on the Medium's left hand, the side to which he turns almost his\nfull back, has the best position for observation. He told me many times\nthat he did not like to have three sitters, but much preferred only two;\nat the third side, when unoccupied, wonderful manifestations occur,\nsuch as a chair's elevation, or being thrown down, or the appearance of\nthe unsupported slate, etc. These manifestations are executed by the\nMedium's foot, and lest its motions under the table should be detected,\nthe longitudinal cracks where the two table-leaves join, were carefully\nstuffed with paper, although, to be sure, he once explained to me the\npresence of this paper as necessary to keep 'the electricity from\nflowing through.'\n\nAlthough Dr. Slade had agreed verbally in New York that the last s\u00e9ance\nof the series should be in the presence of all the Commission, he flatly\nrefused, when in Philadelphia, to hold any in the presence of more than\nthree at a time.\n\nOn one occasion, when the Medium was very sure of his sitters, he placed\nthe prepared slate, face downwards, on the table, with his fingers\nresting on the upper surface, then in a few minutes the slate was lifted\nup and the writing displayed, as though just made by Spiritual agency.\nGenerally, however, when the writing is thus exhibited, it is in answer\nto a spoken question, and the reply is written by the Medium in his lap\nand the slate turned over before it is placed on the table. Manifestly\nit cannot occur as an answer to a written question, unless the written\nquestion is exposed on the upper side of the slate.\n\nHow the scratching of the slate pencil is produced when the slate is\nlying on the table (I have been told that the sound is heard then) I\ncannot possibly explain, for the plain reason that I am too deaf to hear\nit, and I was, therefore, never on the watch for anything unusual. (Nor\ndid I ever hear the sound of writing when the slate was held on the\nshoulder of my opposite neighbor, but I could see, and I knew what was\ngoing on, for the slate had once been placed on my own shoulder.)\n\nWhen three slates are used, the third, and prepared, slate, is either on\nthe little table behind him or on the floor resting against the supports\nof this little table. In either case he seizes the opportunity when his\nsitters are engrossed with an answer just given to a question, to\nsubstitute one of the slates which he has been using, and which he has\njust before ostentatiously washed on both sides, for the prepared slate.\nThis I have distinctly seen him do twice, and once when I had arisen\nfrom my seat to read an answer on the slate, held by Mr. Sellers, I\nnoticed when I resumed my seat that a certain slate which I had been\nwatching was gone from where it had been resting against the leg of the\nlittle table, and we then immediately had the long message between\nclosed slates. [This was the 'inferential' substitution referred to on\npage 59 of this Appendix.] The slate which we have preserved and had\nphotographed I saw him take from the table at his back.\n\nNext, as to his answers to questions. I became so familiar with his\nmethods in this department that I could have told at almost any instant\nwhat he was doing.\n\nAfter the question has been written the slate is handed to him face\ndownward. A piece of pencil is then placed on the slate near the edge of\nthe slate farthest from the Medium's hand as it holds the slate; of\ncourse, as the writing is to be done under cover of the table, and as\nthe Medium's hand or wrist is supposed to be always visible, the pencil\nmust be far under the table. The awkwardness, therefore, must be\novercome of having to reach or grope after it before the slate can be\nturned over, which it must be in order to enable the Medium to read the\nquestion on the under side. This difficulty is surmounted by constantly\nbringing out the slate and looking at it to see if any answer has\nappeared. By this manoeuvre a double end is attained; first, it creates\nan atmosphere of expectation, and the sitters grow accustomed to a good\ndeal of motion in the arm that holds the slate; and secondly, by\nconstantly moving the slate the fragment of pencil (which, be it noted,\nhaving been extracted from those slate pencils which are enclosed in\nwood, like lead pencils, is square in shape and remains stationary on\nthe spot to which it is moved), this pencil, I repeat, is moved up to\nthe side of the slate within reach of a thumb and finger; when this is\ndone, it is dexterously seized by the Medium, who is in turn at that\ninstant seized by violent 'electric shocks,' under cover of which the\nslate is turned and generally placed between his knees, only once I\nthink did he rest it _on_ his knee, and once I think he pressed it\nagainst the table; then he reads the question. And here he shows his\nnerve. It is the critical instant of the sitting, it is the only instant\nwhen his eyes are not fastened on his sitters, and I confess that his\ncoolness won my admiration. On one occasion, when the question was\nwritten in a back-hand with a very light stroke and close to the upper\nedge of the slate, he looked at it three several times before he could\nread it. Moreover, it was a question out of the common, relating to the\nspecies of a hawk and not to a Spirit, and required an intelligent and\ndefinite answer. The hastiness of his reading may be inferred by the\nfrequency with which merely the initials of the Spirit friend are given\nin the answer. After reading the question, I noticed that Dr. Slade\nwinks rapidly three or four times in a sort of mental abstraction, I\nsuppose, while thinking out an answer, but he always breathes freer when\nthis crisis is passed, and the violent convulsions are over, which\nattend his hurried writing and the re-turning of the slate. His eyes can\nnow be fixed in turn on each of his sitters, and he can rest a minute or\ntwo. (One one occasion I saw the slate as he held it between his index\nand second finger, his index-finger and thumb held the slate pencil.)\nPresently, the slate is held near to the edge of the table, and a\ntremulous motion is given to it as though the writing were then going\non.\n\nOn one occasion, when I knew he was about to use the prepared slate\n(Professor Thompson will remember what I am about to relate), I\nsuggested that we should use a perfectly fresh pencil, so that we could\nbe sure that that very pencil had done the writing. I was very curious\nto know how he would evade the test. The slate was held close to the\nunder side of the table (the new pencil debarred him from using the\ndouble slate); when the writing was finished the slate was slapped\nviolently against the table, and was drawn from underneath\nit--apparently with very great difficulty, and almost\nperpendicularly--and the little pencil, of course, slipped off, and in\nthe excitement of reading the message from the 'Summer-land,' who would\nthink of looking for the pencil? It was so clever I wanted to applaud\nhim on the spot.\n\nThe other tricks, such as tossing the pencil from the slate and playing\nthe accordion, can be perfectly explained and repeated by Mr. Sellers.\nDr. Slade's fingers are unusually long and strong, and the accordion,\nwhich has but four bellows-folds, can be readily manipulated with one\nhand.\n\nAt our last s\u00e9ance I noticed what were evidently two prepared slates\nresting against the support of the table behind him, where his prepared\nslates usually stood. I inferred that he would like to have some\nextraordinary slate writing on this occasion, and, therefore, kept a\nsharp watch on these slates. Unfortunately it was too sharp, for one\nsecond the Medium saw me looking at them. It was enough. That detected\nlook prevented the revelation of those elaborate Spirit messages. But\nwhen the s\u00e9ance was over and he was signing the receipt for his money, I\npassed round behind his chair and pushed these slates with my foot so as\nto make them fall over, whereupon the writing on one of them was\ndistinctly revealed.\n\nI think Dr. Pepper and Mr. Sellers will recall how the Medium instantly\npushed his chair back until it was fairly over the slates and then\nsnatched them up, and in the most hurried manner washed them both while\nturning his back to us.\n\nTwo compasses, which we placed on the table during our s\u00e9ance, remained\nunaffected by the Medium's presence.\n\nDuring one sitting, when the Spirits conveyed the slates from the\nMedium's hand under the table to the hand of the opposite sitter, the\nlatter failed twice to grasp the slate in time, and it fell to the\nfloor with a crash. Each time it behoved me to pick up the slate (both\nthe other sitters were women), but the second time I stooped with the\ngreatest alacrity and looked not at the slate but at the Medium's foot,\nwhich I saw just entering his slipper, into which it most hastily\nsettled.\n\nI think Dr. Slade's personal appearance noteworthy, and shall endeavor\nto obtain a photograph of him for preservation in our Records. He is\nprobably six feet in height, with a figure of unusual symmetry, his\nhands are large but shapely, the nail of the second finger of his right\nhand is rather longer than the others, and appeared in the centre to be\nslightly split and worn. His face would, I think, attract notice\nanywhere for its uncommon beauty. He has a small, curling, dark\nmoustache, and short, crisp, iron-grey hair, of a texture exceeding in\nfineness any that I have ever seen on a man's head. His eyes are dark,\nand the circles around them very dark, but their expression is painful.\nI could not divest myself of the feeling that it was that of a hunted\nanimal or of a haunted man. The color on his cheeks is very bright, but\nit is said to be artificial. He complained bitterly of ill-health and of\nwater around his heart, which he said at times he could hear and feel\n\"swashing about.\"\n\nA noteworthy man in every aspect.\n\nMr. Furness then read to the Committee the following:\n\nMemorandum by Dr. Wm. Pepper of an interview with Dr. Slade on the\nmorning of the 27th January, with Mr. Furness and Mr. Sellers.\n\n1811 Spruce Street, Philadelphia.\n\nHe complained immediately and very frequently of his right side, saying\nit felt weak and numb, and he was sure he was going to be paralyzed.\nCareful observation showed that the right side was fully developed, the\ncolor of the right hand normal and the same as that of the left, and\nthat the right arm, foot and leg were unusually supple and moveable.\nDuring the sitting I saw him deliberately kick my chair three (3) times\nwith the side of his right foot, while attracting my attention to the\nscraping noises of the slate he was holding to my left ear; and again,\nwhen soft raps were heard and felt under the table, just beneath one of\nmy hands, and at about the distance from him to which his leg would\nreach, I saw distinct movements of rotation of his thigh, as though he\nwere producing these sounds by the ball of the toe striking under the\ntable at that point.\n\n_February 6th_, 1885.\n\nMr. Sellers offered the following resolution, which was adopted\nunanimously:\n\n_Resolved_, That the reports of the Slade s\u00e9ances held in Philadelphia,\nas described by Messrs. Fullerton, Furness, Pepper and Sellers, are in\naccordance with the observations of each of the members of the\nCommission who were present.\n\nAfter a short Business Meeting the Commission adjourned.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following correspondence explains itself:\n\nPHILADELPHIA, January 26th, 1885.\n\nDEAR DR. SLADE:--I think you need no assurance that the Seybert\nInvestigating Committee have been anxious to deal with you in the\nfairest spirit of impartial, unbiased, scientific investigation, and I\nthink you will bear witness to their uniformly considerate courtesy\nthroughout our intercourse.\n\nYou know how very deaf I am, and do not therefore need to be reminded\nthat one should trust scarcely more to what a deaf man hears than to\nwhat a blind man sees.\n\nWherefore, I want you, for my sake, and that the Committee may feel sure\nof their ground, to confirm in writing what you have more than once said\nto me, namely, that the Committee must conform to the conditions which\nthe Spirits impose; that you cannot consent to submit to any tests, and\nthat rather than do so you will return at once to New York; that we must\naccept the manifestations as given by the Spirits; and that, since these\nmanifestations are the result of a gradual growth, it is impossible, in\nthe space of six s\u00e9ances, to repeat or to verify Professor Zoellner's\nexperiments; and, lastly, that, if on your return to New York, the\nSpirits so authorize it, you will be willing, if desired, to make\narrangements for another series of s\u00e9ances with us of a higher order of\nmanifestations.\n\nI remain respectfully,\n\nYour obedient servant,\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS,\n\n_Acting Chairman Seybert Commission_.\n\nNo. 11 E. 13th Street, N.Y., February 4th, 1885.\n\nDEAR MR. FURNESS:--I take this opportunity to express to you, and\nthrough you to the other members of the Seybert Commission, my hearty\napproval of the course pursued by them in their investigation of\nphenomena occurring in my presence. Fully realizing that I am only the\ninstrument or channel through which these manifestations are produced,\nit would be presumption on my part to undertake to lay down a line to be\nfollowed by the unseen intelligences, whose servant I am. Hence, I did\nsay their conditions must be acceded to or I would return to New York.\nThat they did so, is evident to my mind from the results obtained, which\nI regard as a necessary preliminary to a continuation, when other\nexperiments may be introduced with better prospects of success. It may\nbe well not to insist on following the exact course pursued by Professor\nZoellner, but leave it open to original or impromptu suggestions that\nmay be adopted without previous consideration, which, if successful,\nwould be of equal value as evidence of its genuineness, at the same time\ngive greater breadth to the experiments. In conclusion, allow me to say\nthat in the event of the Committee desiring to continue these\nexperiments through another series of sittings with me, it will give me\npleasure to enter into arrangements for that purpose.\n\nVery truly yours,\n\nHENRY SLADE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFebruary 13th, 1885.\n\nOn February 13th, 1885, Mr. Furness, Professor Thompson and Mr.\nFullerton, on the part of the Commission, met Mr. Harry Kellar, a\nprofessional conjurer, at Egyptian Hall.\n\nThe men seated themselves at a common pine table, 5 ft. x 3 ft., with\nleaves.\n\nMr. Kellar sat at one side of the table, Mr. Furness at one end to his\nleft, Professor Thompson at one corner to Mr. Furness's left, and Mr.\nFullerton opposite Mr. Kellar. The end of the table to Mr. Kellar's\nright was unoccupied.\n\nNine slates were found lying on a small stand about six feet from the\ntable.\n\nThese slates were washed one by one on the stand, and laid in a pile on\nthe table at Mr. Kellar's right.\n\nA slate was taken from the pile, both sides washed, another slate\nplaced upon it, and both held together under the edge of the table. A\nlong communication appeared upon one of them (or what seemed to be one\nof them), purporting to come from the Spirits.\n\nTwo more slates were taken and apparently both sides washed. One was\nplaced on the other and both laid upon the table in front of Professor\nThompson, one end of the slates being held by him and the other by Mr.\nKellar. When the upper slate was removed the under side of it was\ncovered with writing.\n\nProfessor Thompson then changed his position to that which he held when\nwith Dr. Slade--to the end of the table opposite Mr. Furness, and to Mr.\nKellar's right.\n\nWriting was produced in similar manner on two other slates without the\nCommittee detecting the manner in which it was produced.\n\nOne of these slates was covered on both sides with the following\nmessages: On voyage tout \u00e9veill\u00e9 dans le royaume des r\u00eaves et des\nillusions; l'esprit se refuse \u00e0 admettre les merveilles execut\u00e9es dans\nune salle \u00e9clair\u00e9 devant un public incr\u00e9dule qui cherche \u00e0 s'expliquer\nles trucs employ\u00e9s \u00e0 deviner les--\n\nKellar huye del espiritismo porque ya pas\u00f3 la \u00e9poca de ella, y solo d\u00e1\nel ejercicio car\u00e1cter de prestidigitacion.\n\nHet blyfft onbegrypelyk hoe de heer Kellar die door twee personen uit\nhet publiek stevigwordt vast gebonden, zich in een oogwenk wist los te\nmaken\n\n[Here follow, in eight lines, sentences for which we have no types, in\nChinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Gujerati. This remarkable feat closes\nwith the following in German script:] Ich bin ein Geist und ich liebe\nmein Lagerbier--Hans Schneider.\n\nVon Moltke.\n\nOne slate was broken in a similar way to that broken by Dr. Slade.\n\nProfessor Thompson was asked to write a question, which he did while the\nside of the slate on which he wrote was turned away from Mr. Kellar. The\nslate was not turned over, the written question remaining on the under\nside, and it was held at the usual place under the table, Mr. Kellar's\nthumb remaining above the table in full view, while the fingers held the\nslate up under the table.\n\nA moment after the placing of the slate under the table, it was\nwithdrawn to admit of a small pencil being placed upon it, Mr. Furness\nhaving remarked the absence of the pencil.\n\nThe slate was not otherwise withdrawn from under the table above two\ninches until its final withdrawal, and the question was always,\nseemingly, on the under side.\n\nWhen the slate was brought out a communication was found upon it in\nanswer to Professor Thompson's question.\n\nThe answer was on the upper side of the slate. [April, 1887: Mr. Kellar\nafterwards revealed his methods to our colleague, Mr. Furness.]\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFebruary 19th, 1885.\n\nThe Commission met on Thursday, February 19th, 1885, at 8 P.M., at the\nhouse of Mr. Furness, to attend a s\u00e9ance in the presence of Mrs. Maud E.\nLord.\n\nAll of the Commission were present, and there were present also, at the\nrequest of the Medium, several friends of members of the Commission,\nboth men and women.\n\nThere were in all eighteen persons present beside the Medium; these\nseated themselves, as directed by the Medium, in a circle, which was\nabout six or seven feet in diameter; the Medium took her seat in the\ncentre.\n\nThe lights having been put out, the Medium drew her chair to one side of\nthe circle, placing her feet in contact with those of one of the persons\nin the circle. Those composing the circle linked hands, while the Medium\nhad her hands free.\n\nThe Medium described a number of Spirit forms as coming to those\npresent--to one a little child, to another an old man with white hair,\netc. The descriptions were in general vague and indefinite, and might\nhave applied to many persons. Nevertheless, they were in very many cases\nwide of the mark. Sometimes a father, a mother, or other relation was\ndescribed as present. In some cases the death of such relations was\nacknowledged by the person to whom the Medium addressed herself, but in\nother cases the relation in question had not died, or, as in the case of\na child or brother--had not existed. To give an instance of the Medium's\ninaccuracy: Mr. Fullerton's grandfather was described as coming to him,\nand the Medium, describing the form, added that Mr. Fullerton was not\nfamiliar with it, as his grandfather had died while he was a young man,\nand had had but little intercourse with him. Both Mr. Fullerton's\ngrandfathers died some years before he was born. Many other descriptions\nwere quite as erroneous.\n\nSometimes a form was described as coming to one person in the circle\nand not being recognized by that one, was referred to the next;\ndescribed as standing between them, etc. The number of successes,\ncompared with the number of failures, was not striking.\n\nWhispers were heard--_one at a time_--always at a point in the circle at\na distance from that at which the Medium was just after the whisper\nheard to speak to some one in her natural voice. The whispers _were\nnever simultaneous_ with the remark afterward made by the Medium.\n\nIn the short interval between the whisper and the succeeding remark by\nthe Medium, I distinctly heard, on many occasions, a rustle of clothing,\nand once or twice a slight creak of the chair, as though the Medium had\nmoved her body from one side to the other, which she could easily have\ndone without taking her feet away from those of the person she faced.\n\nUpon one of those present inquiring why the whisper always sounded as if\nmade by the same voice, the Medium stated that the whisper did always\nsound the same, and that she was sorry to have to add, that it always\nsounded as if made by the voice of the Medium.\n\nUpon one occasion a light appeared and reappeared two or three times in\nfront of the Medium, passing from near her knee up for a foot or two.\nThe light was indistinct, apparently phosphorescent, and passed so\nquickly that it could not be examined. It was described by the Medium,\nhowever, as a form of a child from the Spirit world.\n\nThose present changed their seats during the s\u00e9ance, as suggested, but\nwithout producing more satisfactory results. The s\u00e9ance lasted about two\nhours.\n\nAt Mrs. Lord's own suggestion before the s\u00e9ance, two women present took\nthe Medium into another room, and searched her clothes.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFebruary 20th, 1885.\n\nThe Commission met on Friday, February 20th, 1885, at 8 P.M., again at\nthe house of Mr. Furness, to attend a second s\u00e9ance in the presence of\nMrs. Lord.\n\nOn the part of the Commission were present Mr. Furness, Mr. Sellers and\nMr. Fullerton. There were also present several women and men, some of\nwhom had been present at the previous sitting. The circle, when formed,\nwas about six feet in diameter.\n\nA ring was given by the Medium to Mr. Sellers and another to Miss Logan\nto wear during the evening, with the expectation that they might be\ntaken by the Spirits and passed to another person in the circle, in\naccordance with the unexpressed wish of the one holding the ring. This\nwas not done during the evening.\n\nA small musical-box was also given to one of the women to hold, and a\nzither placed upon the lap of a man. The former was, during the s\u00e9ance,\ntaken from the woman holding it, and passed to another person in the\ncircle. The Medium sat as before, with her hands free, while those in\nthe circle clasped hands, as was done on the former evening, each one\nhaving his left wrist grasped by the right hand of his neighbor, or\n_vice versa_.\n\nThe zither was undisturbed during the evening.\n\nTouches were felt here and there on the knees of those in the circle,\nand whispers were again heard from time to time.\n\nThe whispers were, as before, _never simultaneous_ with the speeches of\nthe Medium, which were heard just after in another part of the circle.\n\nI distinctly noticed, on several occasions, the same rustle, as of a\nchange of position on the part of the Medium, between the whisper and\nthe remark by the Medium.\n\nMany Spirit forms were described by the Medium as coming to those\npresent, with about the same proportion of success as on the former\nevening.\n\nAt various times during the sitting, lights were seen, which appeared\nand disappeared rapidly. They were indistinct and phosphorescent--such\nas can be produced in a dark room by rubbing a match-head, or by\nexhibiting an object rubbed with a match.\n\nThe lights--at least all that were clearly seen by several persons--were\nwithin the circle and about the Medium.\n\nOccasionally the Medium spoke of lights as without the circle, and one\nor two of those present (not members of the Commission) assented. But,\nas on two such occasions, when those opposite myself described the light\nas above and behind me, I saw it above and in front of me, or between me\nand the Medium; there is no reason to believe that they were not\ndeceived by the difficulty of judging of the distance of an indistinct\nand evanescent appearance in a quite dark place. The direction, but not\nthe distance, can in such a case be readily known.\n\nAfter a sitting of about two hours, the attempt to produce more striking\nphenomena was abandoned.\n\nDuring both s\u00e9ances Mrs. Lord kept up an almost continuous clapping of\nhands--the noise was not loud, but sufficient to aid in hiding any\nrustle of the Medium's dress, or creaking of a chair. The Medium also\ntalked constantly.\n\nAt the suggestion of the Medium those present joined in singing on two\noccasions.\n\nThe whisper heard in the circle was uniformly hoarse.\n\nA list of those present at these s\u00e9ances and the names of the ladies who\nsearched the Medium, are appended:\n\nThose present at Mrs. Lord's s\u00e9ance on Thursday were: Dr. and Mrs.\nPepper, Professor and Mrs. Fullerton, Mr. and Mrs. Sellers, Professor\nand Mrs. Thompson, Geo. S. Pepper, Mr. Leonard, Miss M.M. Logan, Dr.\nLeidy, Mrs. A.L. Wister, Miss Agnes Irwin, Walter R. Furness, Dr. C.B.\nKnerr, Dr. Koenig, Dr. H.H. Furness.\n\nThose present at Friday's s\u00e9ance were: Professor Fullerton, Miss Smith,\nMr. and Mrs. Sellers, Dr. Leidy, Mr. Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. F. Furness,\nMrs. A.L. Wister, Miss Irwin and Miss Sophie Irwin, Miss Logan, Mr. and\nMrs. F.M. Dick, Mrs. J.E. Carpenter, H.H. Furness. Mrs. A.L. Wister,\nMrs. Dr. Pepper, Women Searchers.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMay 27th, 1885.\n\nOn May 27th, The Seybert Commission held a meeting at the house of Mr.\nFurness, at 8 P.M., to examine the phenomena occurring in the presence\nof Mr. Pierre L.O.A. Keeler, a professional Medium.\n\nThere were present on the part of the Commission, Dr. Pepper, Mr.\nFurness, Dr. Koenig, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Sellers and Mr.\nFullerton. The following friends of the Commission were also present:\n\nMr. F. Furness, Mr. W.R. Furness, Mr. J. Foster Kirk, Mr. Yost, Mrs.\nE.D. Gillespie, Miss Gillespie, Mrs. Dr. Mitchell, Mrs. C.B. Rossell,\nMrs. Dr. Pepper, Mrs. Sellers, Mrs. A.L. Wister, Mrs. Dr. Knerr, Miss\nAgnes Irwin, Miss M.M. Logan.\n\nThere were also present, as introduced by the Medium, the Medium's wife,\nMrs. Keeler; Col. S.P. Kase and Mrs. Kase, and Dr. Annie D. Ramburger.\n\nThe Medium, Mr. Keeler, is a young man, apparently about thirty years of\nage, with well cut features, curly, brown hair, a small, sandy\nmoustache, and rather worn and anxious expression; he is strongly\nbuilt, about five feet eight inches high, and with rather short, quite\nbroad, and very muscular hands and strong wrists. The hands were\nexamined by Dr. Pepper and Mr. Fullerton after the s\u00e9ance.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was held in Mr. Furness's drawing-room, and a space was\ncurtained off by the Medium in the north-east corner, thus:\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe curtain is represented by _a_, _b_; _c_, _d_ and _e_ are three\nchairs placed in front of the curtain by the Medium, in one of which\n(_e_) he afterwards sat; _g_ denotes the position of Mrs. Keeler; _f_ is\na small table, placed within the curtain, and upon which were a\ntambourine, a guitar, two bells, a hammer, a metallic ring; the\nasterisks show the positions of the spectators, who sat in a double\nrow--the two marked (1) and (2) indicate the positions taken by Mrs.\nKase and Col. Kase, according to the directions of the Medium.\n\nThe curtain, or rather curtains, were of black muslin, and arranged as\nfollows: There was a plain black curtain, which was stretched across the\ncorner, falling to the floor. Its height, when in position, was 53\ninches; it was made thus:\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe cord which held the curtain was 1, 2, and the flaps which are\nrepresented as standing above it (_a_, _b_, _c_, etc.), fell down over\n_a'_, _b'_, _c'_, etc., and could be made to cover the shoulders of one\nsitting with his back against the curtain. A black curtain was also\npinned against the wall, in the space curtained off, partly covering it.\nAnother curtain was added to the one pictured, as will be described\nlater.\n\nThe Medium then asked Col. Kase to say a few words as to the necessity\nof observing the conditions, need of harmony, etc. And then the Medium\nhimself spoke a few words of similar import. He then drew the curtain\n(shown on the preceding page) along the cord (1, 2) and fastened it;\nplaced three wooden chairs in front of the curtain, as indicated in the\ncut, and saying he needed to form a battery, asked Miss Agnes Irwin to\nsit in chair (_d_), and Mr. Yost in chair (_c_), the Medium himself\nsitting in chair (_e_). A black curtain was then passed by Mrs. Keeler\nover Mr. Keeler, Miss Irwin and Mr. Yost, being fastened at _g_, between\n_e_ and _d_, between _d_ and _c_, and beyond _a_: thus entirely covering\nthe three sitting in front of the stretched curtain up to their necks;\nand when the flaps before mentioned were pulled down over their\nshoulders, nothing could be seen but the head of each.\n\nBefore this last curtain was fastened over them, the Medium placed both\nhis hands upon the forearm and wrist of Miss Irwin, the sleeve being\npulled up for the purpose, and Miss Irwin grasped with her right hand\nthe left wrist of Mr. Yost; his right hand being in sight to the right\nof the curtain.\n\nAfter some piano-music, the Medium said he felt no power from this\n'battery,' and asked Mrs. E.D. Gillespie to take Miss Irwin's place.\nHands and curtain were arranged as before.\n\nThe lights were turned down until the room was quite dim. Those present\nsang.\n\nDuring the singing, the Medium turned to speak to Mr. Yost, and his\nbody, which had before faced rather away from the two other persons of\nthe 'battery' (which position would have brought his right arm out in\nfront of the stretched curtain)--his body was now turned the other way,\nso that, had he released his grasp upon Mrs. Gillespie's arm, his own\nright arm could have had free play in the curtained space behind him.\nHis left knee also no longer stood out under the curtain in front, but\nshowed a change of position.\n\nAt this time Mrs. Gillespie declared she felt a touch, and soon after so\ndid Mr. Yost. The Medium's body was distinctly inclined toward Mr. Yost\nat the time. Mrs. Gillespie said she felt taps, but declared that, to\nthe best of her knowledge, she still felt the Medium's two hands upon\nher arm.\n\nRaps indicated that the Spirit, George Christy, was present. As one of\nthose present played on the piano, the tambourine was played in the\ncurtained space and thrown over the curtain; bells were rung; the guitar\nwas thrummed a little. At this time the Medium's face was toward Mrs.\nGillespie, and his right side toward the curtain. His body was further\nin against the curtain than either of the others. Upon being asked, Mrs.\nGillespie again said she thought she still felt two hands upon her arm.\n\nThe guitar was then thrust out, at least the end of it was, at the\nbottom of the curtain, between Mrs. Gillespie and the Medium. Mrs.\nKeeler drew away the curtain from over the toes of the Medium's boots,\nto show where his feet were; the guitar was thrummed a little. Had the\nMedium's right arm been free, the thrumming could have been done quite\neasily with one hand.\n\nAfterwards the guitar was elevated above the curtain; the tambourine,\nwhich was by Mrs. Keeler placed upon a stick held up within the\nenclosure, was made to whirl by the motion of the stick. The phenomena\noccurred successively, not simultaneously.\n\nWhen the guitar was held up, and when the tambourine was made to whirl,\nboth of these were to the right of the Medium, chiefly behind Mrs.\nGillespie; they were just where they might have been produced by the\nright arm of the Medium, had it been free.\n\nTwo clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain, and they were used\nin drumming to piano-music. They could easily be used in drumming by one\nhand alone, the fingers being thrust into them.\n\nThe pins were afterwards thrown out over the curtain. Mr. Sellers picked\none up as soon as it fell, and found it warm in the split, as though it\nhad been worn. The drumming was probably upon the tambourine.\n\nA hand was seen moving rapidly with a trembling motion--which prevented\nit from being clearly observed--above the back curtain between Mr. Yost\nand Mrs. Gillespie. Paper was passed over the curtain into the Cabinet\nand notes were soon thrown out. The notes could have been written upon\nthe small table within the enclosure by the right hand of the Medium,\nhad it been free. Mrs. Keeler then passed a coat over the curtain, and\nan arm was passed through the sleeve, fingers, with the cuff around\nthem, being shown over the curtain. They were kept moving, and a close\nscrutiny was not possible.\n\nMr. Furness was then invited to hold a writing-tablet in front of the\ncurtain, when the hand, almost concealed by the coat-sleeve and the\nflaps mentioned as attached to the curtain, wrote with a pencil on the\ntablet. The writing was rapid, and the hand, when not writing, was kept\nin constant tremulous motion. The hand was put forth in this case not\nover the top curtain, but came from under the flap, and could easily\nhave been the Medium's right hand were it disengaged, for it was about\non a level with his shoulder and to his right, between him and Mrs.\nGillespie. Mr. Furness was allowed to pass his hand close to the curtain\nand grasp the hand for a moment. It was a _right_ hand.\n\nSoon after the Medium complained of fatigue, and the sitting was\ndiscontinued. It was declared by the Spiritualists present to be a\nfairly successful s\u00e9ance. When the curtains were removed, the small\ntable in the enclosure was found to be overturned, and the bells,\nhammer, etc., on the floor.\n\nIt is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations\noccurred. They were, without exception, where they would have been had\nthey been produced by the Medium's right arm. Nothing happened to the\nleft of the Medium, nor very far over to the right. The sphere of\nactivity was between the Medium and Mr. Yost, and most of the phenomena\noccurred, as, for example, the whirling of the tambourine, behind Mrs.\nGillespie.\n\nThe front curtain--_i.e._, the main curtain which hung across the\ncorner--was 85 inches in length, and the cord which supported it, 53\ninches from the floor. The three chairs which were placed in front of it\nwere side by side, and it would not have been difficult for the Medium\nto reach across and touch Mr. Yost. When Mrs. Keeler passed objects over\nthe curtain, she invariably passed them to the right of the Medium,\nalthough her position was on his left; and the clothes-pins, paper,\npencil, etc., were all passed over at a point where the Medium's right\nhand could easily have reached them.\n\nTo have produced the phenomena by using his right hand, the Medium would\nhave to have passed it under the curtain at his back. This curtain was\nnot quite hidden by the front one at the end near the Medium, and this\nend both Mr. Sellers and Dr. Pepper saw rise at the beginning of the\ns\u00e9ance.\n\nThe only thing worthy of consideration, as opposed to a natural\nexplanation of the phenomena, was the grasp of the Medium's hands on\nMrs. Gillespie's arm.\n\nThe grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist, for the arm was\nbruised for about four inches. There was no evidence of a similar\npressure above that, as the marks on the arm extended in all about five\nor six inches only. The pressure was sufficient to destroy the\nsensibility of the forearm, and it is doubtful whether Mrs. Gillespie\nwith her arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of\none hand, with a divided pressure (applied by the two last fingers and\nthe thumb and index) and a double grip by two hands. Three of our\nnumber, Mr. Sellers, Mr. Furness and Dr. White, can, with one hand,\nperfectly simulate the double grip.\n\nIt is specially worthy of note that Mrs. Gillespie declared that, when\nthe Medium first laid hold of her arm with his right hand before the\ncurtain was put over them, it was with an under grip, and she _felt his\nright arm under her left_. But when the Medium asked her if she felt\nboth his hands upon her arm, and she said yes, she could feel the grasp,\nbut no arm under hers, though she moved her elbow around to find it--she\nfelt a hand, but not an arm, and at no time during the s\u00e9ance did she\nfind that arm.\n\n(Taken from notes made during the s\u00e9ance and immediately after it.)\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\nN.B.--It should be noted that both the Medium and Mr. Yost took off\ntheir coats before being covered with the curtain. It was suggested by\nDr. Pepper that this might have been required by the Medium as a\nprecaution against movements on the part of Mr. Yost. The white\nshirt-sleeves would have shown against the black background.\n\nG.S.F.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDecember 29th, 1885.\n\nThere was a meeting of The Seybert Commission this evening, at the house\nof Mr. Furness, on Washington Square, to investigate some\nMaterializations promised by the Mediums, Dr. Rothermel and Mr. Powell.\n\nThere were present Mr. Furness, Dr. Leidy, Professor Thompson, Dr. S.\nWeir Mitchell, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton, Colonel Kase, Mr.\nFrank Furness, Mrs. J. Dundas Lippincott, Mrs. Dr. Pepper, Mrs. A.L.\nWister, and a number of others.\n\nThe Mediums arrived with quite a bundle of apparatus, and stretched\ntheir curtain where Mr. Keeler had his, across the corner of the parlor,\nfrom the door leading into the hall to the edge of the window. The\ncurtain was similar to that of Mr. Keeler in its general character, and,\nas in that case, the whole corner was draped in black. The shape of the\nCabinet was triangular.\n\nThe Mediums said it was impossible to produce materialized forms as they\nhad expected, and proceeded to give much the same sort of a s\u00e9ance as\nMr. Keeler's--in this case, however, the hands of the Medium covered by\nthe curtain being fastened with tape, instead of being held.\n\nThe arrangement of the curtain, positions of the Mediums, and the\npositions of the spectators were as indicated.\n\n[Illustration:\n\nX Dr. Rothermel--a curtain at his back and one in front of him, his head\nthrough a hole in the upper part of the outer flap of the double\ncurtain.\n\nY Mr. Powell.\n\n* * * Spectators.\n\nOn table (2) was a music-box, and on table (1), within the Cabinet,\nbells, a zither, etc.]\n\nThe lights were all extinguished but one, and that one was prevented\nfrom throwing light on the Medium by a shade placed upon one side of\nit--it was turned low. The light was not so good as during Mr. Keeler's\ns\u00e9ance.\n\nBefore the lights were put out, Dr. White was asked to tie the Medium,\nand Mrs. Lippincott to sew the ends of the ribbon and tape with which he\nwas tied.\n\nA ribbon was tied around each leg above the knee, and the ends sewed to\nhis trowsers. A bit of black tape was then passed under the ribbon and\ntied around the wrist, the ends being knotted and sewed together by Mrs.\nLippincott. His right hand was thus fastened to his right leg, and his\nleft hand to his left leg; though he still had some freedom of motion,\nand could easily reach one hand with the other.\n\nDr. Rothermel was then placed as indicated, behind the outer curtain,\nand the lights extinguished as described.\n\nHe asked for a drink of water, which was given him by Mr. Powell, who\nstood directly in front of him while he drank it, and hid him from the\naudience.\n\nThen the zither played, a cap was thrown out over the curtain, a hand\n(to the right of the Medium) was shown over the curtain.\n\nBells were rung, papers thrown out, a drum accompaniment to the piano\nplayed, as by Mr. Keeler, and the drumsticks thrown out.\n\nMr. Powell wet in a glass some handkerchiefs with water, and passed them\nover the curtain, they were passed out with a message written on them in\nindelible ink. This could easily have been done with an indelible\npencil. (The small table within the curtain was within easy reach of the\nright hand of the Medium, had it been free, and could have been used for\nsuch work.)\n\nThe music-box on table (2) was set off--was rattled several times. (It\ncould have been done by the Medium's left hand if it were free.)\n\nThe person, to whom each of the above-mentioned handkerchiefs was to be\nreturned, was indicated by raps from the Spirit. (The Spirit was in\nerror in returning handkerchiefs to Dr. Mitchell and Mr. Fullerton.)\n\nThe zither was put out at the right and left hand lower corners of the\ncurtain. (It could have been done by the Medium, were his hands free.)\n\nThe Medium professed to be then controlled by the Spirit of a young\ngirl--Emma Hirsch. He spoke in an unnatural and squeaky voice, but\noccasionally lapsed into his natural voice. The Spirit declared the\nMedium unconscious, but refused to allow any medical examination of his\ncondition.\n\nThe Mediums were then asked to allow Dr. Rothermel's hands to be\nexamined. After a little delay, the curtain was folded back and the\nhands exposed.\n\nMr. Fullerton was permitted to examine them by the light of a match\nonly, and very hastily. They did not allow a candle, which had been\nlighted, to be brought near. As Mr. Fullerton approached to examine the\nknots, Mr. Powell came close and seemed very much afraid they would be\ntouched. He kept reiterating, \"Don't touch them!\" \"Don't touch them!\"\n\"It would be very dangerous!\" The examination was hasty and\nunsatisfactory, as Mr. Powell and Dr. Rothermel both said that he (the\nlatter) could endure it only a moment. Hasty as it was, it showed that\nthe knots, which had been on top of the wrists, were now underneath; the\ntapes, as is mentioned later, were, at the end of the s\u00e9ance, found cut\nclose to the knots.\n\nWhether the tapes were really in their former state, and not already\ncut, could only be known by examining them all around, and such an\nexamination was not allowed.\n\nIt should be stated that before this, and after some of the\nmanifestations, the Medium, with some convulsive movement, as if pulled\nand pushed by Spirits, came out from under the curtain, and stood with\nhis hands on his legs, as if tied there, but it was too dark to see\nwhether he was really tied, or merely held his hands there, and no\nexamination was made.\n\nSoon after, the Medium declared that the Spirits were cutting him loose,\nand when the curtain was removed and lights brought, the tapes which had\nbound his wrists were found to be cut through close to the knots.\nWhether this was done at the beginning of the s\u00e9ance, leaving the\nMedium's hands free from the beginning, or at the time indicated by the\nMedium, there was no means of proving. The cutting of the tapes made the\ntying and sewing tests quite valueless.\n\n(Taken from notes made during the s\u00e9ance and immediately after.)\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following advertisement was, in March, 1885, inserted in _The\nReligio-Philosophical Journal_, of Chicago, _The Banner of Light_, in\nBoston, and _The Public Ledger_, in Philadelphia:\n\n\"THE SEYBERT COMMISSION FOR INVESTIGATING MODERN SPIRITUALISM,\" of the\nUniversity of Pennsylvania, hereby requests all Mediums for Independent\nSlate Writing, and no other at present, who are willing to submit their\nmanifestations to the examination of this Commission, to communicate\nwith the undersigned, stating terms, etc.\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS,\n\n_Acting Chairman_,\n\nPhiladelphia, Pa.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSPIRITUAL PHOTOGRAPHY.\n\nWhen Mr. Keeler, a well-known \"Spiritual Photographer,\" was in the city,\nthe Acting Chairman called on him, and requested from him in writing a\nstatement of his terms and the conditions under which an investigation\nby this Commission could be held. The following reply was received from\nhim:\n\n1614 Green Street,\n\n_Philadelphia_, November 6th, 1885.\n\nMR. FURNESS.\n\nDear Sir:--In regard to giving the Photographic S\u00e9ances I feel that I am\nobliged to ask an observance of the following conditions: That there be\nthree S\u00e9ances, for which I shall expect the sum of $300. I desire only\nthe regularly appointed members of the Commission on your side to be\npresent, I to have the privilege to invite an equal number of persons,\nif necessary, to harmonize the antagonistic element which might be\nproduced by those persons not in perfect sympathy with the cause.\n\nI must have the right to demand, if conditions make it necessary, the\nexclusive use of the dark room and my own instrument.\n\nThe S\u00e9ances to be given at your own residence.\n\nAs I cannot guard against the influences which others may bring, I shall\nexpect to be paid the afore-named sum whether my efforts prove\nsatisfactory or not, although I hope for the most favorable results, and\nto this end I would urge the members of the Commission to surround me\nwith the most congenial and harmonious conditions possible.\n\nThese S\u00e9ances to begin on the 12th inst.\n\nIf this meets with your approval an early answer is solicited.\n\nVery respectfully,\n\nW.M. KEELER.\n\n\nMEMORANDUM FOR THE SEYBERT COMMISSION.\n\nI called this morning (Saturday, 14th November, 1885), on Mr. W. M.\nKeeler, and told him, in effect, in the very words as well as I can\nremember, as follows: that I had received his letter of the 6th inst.,\ncontaining his terms, and had consulted the Commission in regard to\nthem; and that our conclusion had been quickly reached. He must know how\nvery simple a process this 'composite photography' is, and that among\nphotographers there is no mystery whatever in it. For his own process he\nclaimed a Spiritual Agency--this agency we were willing to accept (in\nmy own case I was anxious to accept it) if, after a thorough\ninvestigation, his process could not be explained by well-known physical\nlaws. The conditions he demanded were such as to render any\ninvestigation simply silly. His exclusive use of the dark room, which\ncould have nothing to do with Spiritual forces, for the Spirits had\nalready done their work in the Camera, utterly precluded us from\ndiscovering whether his processes were in anywise different from\nordinary photography. He wished to know in what way this prevented us\nfrom detecting fraud if the operations took place in a private house\nwhere he was a stranger. I replied that without for a moment impugning\nhis honesty, he must know that unless we were present with him in the\ndark room, we could not affirm that our marks had not been duplicated on\nsubstituted plates.\n\nFurthermore, that we had regarded his terms as intentionally\nprohibitory. The demand for three hundred dollars was so extraordinary\nthat we could regard it in no other light than as a desire to avoid an\ninvestigation altogether. I asked him what his ordinary charge was, and\nhe replied two dollars for each sitting, and that he made from twenty to\nforty dollars a day, when he settled down to work.\n\nThat there might be no misunderstanding, I repeated my reply to his\nwife: that we were ready to investigate, if we could be allowed to watch\nthe very points where material agency ceases and spiritual begins, but\nthese very points Mr. Keeler forbade us to examine, and that the failure\nrested with him.\n\nAt one time his vexation (which was manifest) a little ran away with his\ndiscretion. He asked, with somewhat of a sneer, 'How did you expect to\ninvestigate it?' I replied that 'I could not answer for others, but for\nmyself I should have liked to have him say, when we of the Commission\nmet him, The Spirits are present, through my Mediumship, here is my\nCamera in which the Spirits will manifest themselves on the sensitized\nplates, take it, and so long as I am present with my influence, do what\nyou please.' He laughed outright and said 'That would be a good thing.'\n\nI endeavored throughout the interview to impress him with our utter\nincredulity in the spiritual nature of his photographs, and yet to give\nhim no loop to hang a charge of discourteous or illiberal treatment on.\nI asked him to give me, in my private capacity, a sitting at his\nearliest convenience, and that I should not be satisfied with less than\na cherub on my head, one on each shoulder, and a full-blown angel on my\nbreast. He laughingly assented.\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS,\n\n_Acting Chairman Seybert Commission_.\n\nI ought, perhaps, to add that I showed to Mr. Keeler a composite\nphotograph taken by one of my sons, wherein a Spirit quite as ethereal\nas any of Mr. Keeler's, appears in the background. He looked at it, and\nreturned it to me without remark.\n\nH.H.F.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMarch 30th, 1886.\n\nThe Seybert Commission met this evening at the house of Dr. Pepper, to\ninvestigate Spiritistic phenomena produced through the Mediumship of Mr.\nBriggs (for an account of Mr. Briggs see a previous report).\n\nThere were present, Dr. Pepper, Dr. Leidy, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell,\nProfessor Koenig, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton and two friends of\nDr. Pepper, Mr. Charles G. Smith and Mr. Robert S. Davis; also the\nMedium, Mr. Fred. Briggs.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was in Dr. Pepper's office; a square table (about 3-1/2 feet\nsquare) was placed in the room near the centre, and was supplemented by\nan oblong table (about 4 feet by 3) placed with one end touching the\nside of the former, upon the Medium's declaring the former too small.\nSeats were taken around the tables.\n\nA banjo, a musical box, a zither, a couple of slates and a fan were on\nthe tables.\n\nThe Medium insisted that there should be total darkness, and a shawl was\nhung over the window to exclude all light.\n\nAt first hands were joined around the table. Then the Medium suggested\nbreaking the circle. His hands were then quite free. Draughts of air\nwere felt (possibly the fan); the Medium kept making noises, blowing and\nbreathing hard, talking, etc.; the slates on the table were moved, the\nguitar was twanged, the music-box played. During all this the Medium\nasked that the hands of all present be kept on the table.\n\nThe Medium stated that Mr. Seybert was present. He declared that Mr.\nSeybert expressed himself as satisfied with the efforts of the\nCommission to make a fair investigation.\n\nWhen the Medium stated that some message had been written on one of the\nslates by Mr. Seybert, the gas was lit, and we found on one slate \"I am\nhere.\" No one present was able to declare it Mr. Seybert's handwriting,\nas none were familiar with his writing.\n\nThe light was then turned low. Mr. Smith was asked to sit in the place\nof Dr. Mitchell. He held, as directed, one slate up under the table,\nand the Medium held the other under the table over his own knee. After\nsome conversation the Medium drew out his slate, and the light being\nturned up we found on it:\n\n\"I am with you.\n\nJohn Pepper.\"\n\nIt was too dark to watch the Medium during this last occurrence. The\nconversation, which was general, would have prevented writing from being\nheard.\n\nLight turned up--both slates held by the Medium under the table--no\nresult.\n\nThe light was then turned low. Dr. Leidy was asked to sit next the\nMedium. Some noise and confusion resulted from making the change. Then\nthe Medium asked Dr. Leidy to put his hand also upon a slate which the\nMedium was holding up under the table. Attention was then called to a\nscratching sound, which might have been writing. The slate was taken out\nby Dr. Leidy, and the light turned up. The following was written on it:\n\n\"John Smith is with you like a young son.\n\nJohn Lydy.\"\n\nIt was, of course, possible that the writing was done before Dr. Leidy\nput his hand on it, as the slate was not then examined.\n\nThe Medium suggested that we ask mental questions; several did so,\nwithout result.\n\nThe light was then turned up. Hands were joined. Some feeble raps were\nheard; they apparently issued from under the table.\n\nSlates were held under the table, but without result.\n\nThe light was then turned low. A slate was held under the table by the\nMedium. He breathed hard, and made no little noise for some time. Then\nDr. Koenig was asked to put his hand on the slate. A scratching was\nheard. When the light was turned up the slate contained the message:\n\n\"I will help you all.\n\nDr. Benj. Rush.\"\n\nWith this the s\u00e9ance ended.\n\n(Copied from notes taken during the s\u00e9ance. Written out the day after.)\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nApril 11th, 1886.\n\nI attended a s\u00e9ance at the house of Colonel Kase, 1601 North 15th\nStreet, Philadelphia, on April 11th, at 8.10 P.M. The Medium was Mrs.\nBest.\n\nThere were about a dozen persons present; at least two of them, besides\nMrs. Best, claimed to be Mediums.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was in Colonel Kase's sitting-room. The \"Cabinet\" was made by\nstretching a curtain, suspended to a curved rod, across one corner. It\ncould hold a chair, and was perhaps four feet across, or more. The\nMedium, Mrs. Best, took her seat in the chair and drew the curtain. The\nroom was made _totally_ dark--a cloth being used to cover the crack of\nthe door. The spectators, who were arranged in a deep curve facing the\ncabinet, were asked to sing a hymn.\n\nAs we sang, a voice from the Cabinet, a deep contralto, joined in,\nloudly. Soon something resembling in outline a human form covered with\ndrapery appeared at the Cabinet. It was indistinctly luminous. No face\nwas visible; nor could the face of any other Spirit, which appeared\nduring the evening, be discerned even in faintest outline. The light\nseemed to belong entirely to the drapery. The Spirit was declared to be\nApollonius, and made a speech in a loud, harsh voice. Other similar\nforms appeared one after the other, and spoke in different tones--all\nthe voices, however, with the exception of Apollonius's and that of\nanother speaker, were more or less like hoarse whispers. When the Spirit\nof Mr. T.R. Hazard appeared, his voice was by no means natural, and\nsounded like a bad imitation.\n\nA form calling itself \"Lottie\" appeared, kissed a Medium present, and at\nmy request passed its hands over my head and face. Its hands were\ncovered with luminous drapery which hung down perhaps a foot. I was\nallowed to touch it. It felt like soft tulle. A very strong odor of\nsandal-wood prevailed, and the smell of phosphorus, even if it had been\nused, could not easily, at a little distance, have been discerned. The\nluminous appearance of the drapery did not seem to be due to\nphosphorus--it did not fume. It seemed rather such as might have been\nproduced by luminous paint--a mixture luminous in the dark after\nexposure to the light. I noticed on the hand, or what, from position, I\ninferred to be the hand, of the form, a distinctly phosphorescent\nappearance; it was on this account I asked it to touch me. As it passed\nits hand over my face I distinctly smelt phosphorus.\n\nAt one time two forms appeared near each other and near the Cabinet.\nThey might easily have been produced by holding up luminous drapery.\nTall and then short forms then appeared one at a time. If the drapery\nwere raised or lowered the appearance could readily have been produced,\nand the person holding it would have been quite invisible.\n\nThe different voices that spoke _never_ spoke simultaneously. A large\nrug on the floor in front of the Cabinet would have prevented steps from\nbeing heard, had the form been the Medium. On two occasions, when I\nsuggested that I recognized the form by asking, \"Is it ----?\" the Spirit\nassented, and assumed the character. Both the persons I mentioned are\nstill alive.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance began at 8.10 P.M., and lasted two hours and a-half. There\nwas much singing.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was regarded by several Spiritualists who were present as a\nvery satisfactory one. I expressly asked for their opinion.\n\n(Written out on April 13th, from notes made in the car, on my way home\nfrom the s\u00e9ance.)\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nJanuary 30th, 1887.\n\nYesterday I visited Mrs. M.B. Thayer, an Independent Slate Writing\nMedium, at 1601 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, in hopes of arranging\nfor a s\u00e9ance at that time. I had a conversation of about half an hour\nwith Mrs. Thayer, who asked what I had seen before, and with what\nMediums I had sat; but I was not able to get a sitting at once, Mrs.\nThayer declaring \"the conditions\" unsatisfactory. She made an\nappointment, however, for to-day at 4 P.M. In the hall I met, on my\ndeparture, Mrs. Kase, the hostess of the Medium, to whom I am personally\nknown, and who told me in an 'aside' that she would not reveal my\nidentity to the Medium. This might readily have been overheard by the\nMedium, who was standing close by. [I visited Mrs. Thayer alone, because\nshe had expressed an unwillingness to appear before the Commission, and\nwe found it necessary to visit her as private persons.]\n\nUpon calling to-day, I was ushered into Mrs. Thayer's room, in which\nstood a small wooden table covered with a red cloth (which hung down,\nperhaps a foot, on all sides from the edges of the table), ready for the\ns\u00e9ance. Ten or twelve plain single slates lay in a pile on a piece of\nfurniture near the table.\n\nMrs. Thayer handed me two of these slates, which I cleaned and examined.\nI then marked them on the inside, or what became, when I laid them\ntogether, the inside, and held them while she tied them together with a\npiece of white tape. After they were tied they could be separated an\neighth of an inch without difficulty. Holding the slates in my hand, I\nexamined the table and the furniture near it, and then took my seat at\nthe table, Mrs. Thayer sitting opposite me. The table was about 2-1/2 x\n1-1/2 feet. At the suggestion of Mrs. Thayer, I placed the tied slates\nupon the table under the cloth, and we both placed our hands upon the\ncloth above them. After waiting for some time for indications of\nwriting, I withdrew the slates from under the cloth, and, as directed,\nheld them, with my right hand up against the under surface of the table,\nMrs. Thayer placing her left hand upon my right as I held the slates.\nAfter holding them thus for some time I was told to withdraw them, and\nhold them against my forehead. Then I was told to open them and to\nscrape some pencil-dust over the inner surfaces. This I did, again\nclosing the slates, which Mrs. Thayer tied as before. I was again\ndirected to hold them up against the under surface of the table, and the\nMedium again placed her hand upon the hand with which I held them. Her\nhand was not wholly upon mine, but projected beyond it upon my wrist and\ntowards my edge of the slates. After my holding the slates in this\nposition, seemingly without result, until I was very wearied, the Medium\nsuggested my laying them upon my lap and covering them with the table\ncover, which hung down more on my side than on hers. She said it was\nnecessary that the slates should be concealed. When they were in this\nposition we joined hands upon the table, and she placed her feet upon\nmine under the table, thus making, as she said, a strong \"battery.\" This\nseeming to be inefficacious, I was directed to wrap the slates in a\ncloth given me for the purpose (apparently a small table cover) and to\nlay them on the floor under the table, placing my left foot upon them.\nThis I did, and the Medium placed one of her feet upon my left foot,\ntaking my hands upon the table, and again forming the \"battery.\" After\nsome waiting, much calling upon the Spirit of Foster to write (this she\ndid at intervals during the s\u00e9ance) and several requests for raps (which\ndid not come), the Medium decided that we should get nothing during the\nsitting, and it was discontinued. I took up the slates from the floor,\ntook off the cloth and untied the tape; no mark had been made upon them.\nThere had been much conversation during the sitting, the Medium telling\nme not to keep my mind on the slates, but to put myself into a condition\nof \"passivity.\" She declared me mediumistic, and said that she doubted\nwhether she would ever be able to get results with me. She stated two or\nthree times that she saw three forms behind me, but dimly, and could\nnot describe them. One was a \"mild and gentle lady, with a beautiful\nhand.\" To the only person whom I can remember with a markedly beautiful\nhand, no one would have applied these adjectives. The sitting was about\nan hour long.\n\n(Copied and arranged the same evening from notes made in the car on the\nway home from the s\u00e9ance.)\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON.\n\n[I arranged for another s\u00e9ance with Mrs. Thayer, to be held some days\nlater, but at the time appointed she refused to see me, giving as excuse\nindisposition.\n\nG.S.F.--April, 1887.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn the evening of January 29th, 1887, in company with Dr. J.W. White, I\ncalled on Mrs. Thayer, at No. 1601 North 15th Street.\n\nThe lady seemed not to be pleased with our visit, and declared that we\nwere no Spiritualists. She reluctantly agreed to give us a s\u00e9ance on the\nfollowing Sunday, and on parting the gentleman of the house politely\ninvited us to attend a flower s\u00e9ance to be held by the same lady on the\nfollowing Thursday.\n\nCalling on Sunday, Mrs. Thayer excused herself on account of\nindisposition.\n\nThe next Thursday we attended the flower s\u00e9ance, in which I felt much\ncuriosity from the wonderful story that had been told to me by a\nSpiritualist friend, who had seen one by the same Medium several years\nbefore.\n\nThe s\u00e9ance was held in the second story of the back building, in a room\nwhich the proprietor of the house informed me he had devoted to the\npurpose of Spiritualist s\u00e9ances. About thirty persons were assembled,\nand, without any examination of the premises, they were seated around a\nlong dining-table. In the company Dr. Koenig was the only other member\nof the Seybert Commission present. The s\u00e9ance was opened with an\n'invocation' by a lady, and during the 'manifestations' the company sang\npopular airs, such as 'Sweet by-and-bye,' etc. The doors and windows\nwere all securely closed and the lights extinguished. Sounds were heard\nof objects dropping on the table, and from time to time matches were lit\nand exposed, strewed before the company, cut plants and flowers. There\nwere all of the kind sold at this season by the florists, consisting of\na pine bough, fronds of ferns, roses, pinks, tulips, lilies, callas\n(Richardia) and smilax (Myrsiphyllum). At one time there fell on the\ntable a heavy body, which proved to be a living terrapin; at another\ntime there appeared a pigeon which flew about the room. The flower\nmanifestation ceased, and the gas was re-lit. A lady then made some\nremarks on the wonderful phenomena exhibited in evidence of the truth of\nSpiritualism, and another followed with some sentimentalities on the\nsubject. The proprietor of the house declared that the flowers and other\nobjects brought to view in the s\u00e9ance were not previously in the room,\nand their appearance could not be explained unless through Spiritual\nagency. He said that in former years, at similar s\u00e9ances, flowers had\nappeared in much greater quantities. The Medium, Mrs. Thayer, said she\nhad not before served in a flower s\u00e9ance for several years.\n\nAt the next act of the s\u00e9ance, as I understood it, a 'test' was called\nfor. A young man, whose name I did not distinctly hear, now took the\nchair of the former Medium. He promptly announced the appearance of the\nSpirit of an Indian girl, and then personified her by assuming a silly\naddress in broken English. In this manner he expressed himself as seeing\nvarious Spirits of friends and relatives of the company hovering among\nthem. They were announced by the first name in a rather uncertain and\nexpectant manner, and in a few instances they were supposed to be\nrecognized by some of the company, but mostly did not accord with their\nknowledge. As an example, the Medium informed Dr. Koenig that a tall man\nnamed Charley was holding something over his head and encouraging him in\nsome great enterprise. Dr. Koenig did not recognize the man, nor could\nhe be made to comprehend anything of the subjects of which he was\ninformed by the materialized Indian girl. During this second act of the\ns\u00e9ance, I could detect nothing that could be attributed to other than\nordinary human agency. The Indian girl retired, and the s\u00e9ance closed.\n\nJOSEPH LEIDY.\n\n      *       *       *       *       *\n\nFebruary 10th, 1887.\n\nI enter Col. Kase's house, 1601 North 15th Street, in company of Drs.\nLeidy, White and Mr. Sommerville, a friend of the first. We are received\nby the Colonel and pass scrutiny. The s\u00e9ance takes place in the second\nstory sitting-room. This is furnished with a large oak table, a square\npiano, and one corner is made into an alcove, the curtains of which are\nthrown back and reveal several drawings in black and white--one of the\nyoung Raphael. Over the mantlepiece a painting representing the\napparition of a Spirit-form, to a young lady sitting in front of a\nfire-place. On entering this room find the Medium, Mrs. Thayer, engaged\nin seating the audience. She is a middle-aged lady of good proportions,\nhair black, color flushed, the light eyes look weary, the lower face\nrather square, deep lines around the mouth. She is evidently not in very\ngood humor. After a while the company, between twenty and thirty\npersons, mostly women, get seated.\n\nOwing to the many people present I could not see what preparations had\nbeen made. Medium requests that the piano be moved against the door (to\nkeep off illicit Spirits?). Chair placed against the door. Light turned\nout completely. Singing of \"Sweet by-and-bye.\" Medium requests a lady to\ninvoke Divine blessing. Disgusting cant. More singing. Darkness\nimpenetrable. Sudden bumping noise on the table. Match struck by the\nColonel just as something crawls over my hand and falls to the floor. It\nis a red-bellied terrapin. Some ferns appear neatly arranged on the\ntable in front and to the left of the Medium. Expressions of\ngratification. Dark. Singing. A pine-bough is thrown against me.\nScreaming on account of terrapin. Match. Several parties have large\nlilies in front of them. My neighbor a lily of the valley (he states\nthat his wife said before he left: \"I wish you would get a lily of the\nvalley\"). Dark. Singing. Match. Dr. Leidy has some red lilies; some\nsmilax and a wreath are on the table. Great astonishment. Colonel Kase\nsays it is wonderful, but during the Centennial year they got tables\nloaded with flowers (the Medium has not given a flower s\u00e9ance for some\nyears, she says, hence the rather meagre supply.) A lady points out the\nfact that the flowers are quite cold and have a sort of dew on them. But\nI found those before me quite dry, as if they had been in the room for\nsome time. The Medium is tired and retires. Mrs. X. is requested to come\nunder the influence of her Spirit-guides, and she does. She puts herself\nin an oratorical posture, eyes closed, and reels off the common-places\nof the _Banner of Light_: the Spirits are eager for investigation, but\nbenighted men in the flesh cannot make the conditions, and thus continue\nto wallow in darkness. The Spirits are kind. They do not damn those poor\nbenighted ones, but still hold out, in beautiful optimism, the hope that\nall those who do want to know the truth will find it!\n\nAnother lady, Mrs. Y., is now called upon to put herself under\nSpirit-guidance, and she thereupon proceeds to enlighten the sheep-fold\nhow it is possible that these flowers and branches and turtles can come\nthrough solid walls and closed windows. \"It is all awfully simple; it is\nnothing but PROJECTION! The Spirits understand the laws of electric\nprojection; even the electric forces themselves understand the laws of\nnature and the currents. The electric force snatches the flower, or\nplant, and propels it along invisible wires. There is no such thing as\nsolid substance, matter is permeable to these forces, and, therefore, it\nis easy to see how a terrapin can come quick as lightning through a\nwall.\" (Verbatim.)\n\nMr. Copeland is now called upon to give the audience some tests, a\nrather inoffensive looking young man with hair standing up. The light is\nturned down; he jerks his head and body, passes his hand over his eyes\nand begins to talk in broken, childish sentences. A little Indian maid\nnow controls him. The maid describes a tall, bony, black-haired\ngentleman standing near _me_, with a fatherly look; he is Charley, and\nholds something, as if I were undertaking some grand enterprise. But as\nI do not know Charley, Charley disappears, and the spirit of a Quaker\ngentleman comes to a lady not far from me--all right. Soon, however, the\nmaid is at me again. This time it is William. He has something chemical,\nlike a discovery. Have I not been across the water where people had the\ncholera and turned black and died? Did I not very much disappoint a\nyoung lady over there? Did I give her a ring? Margaret, or some name\nlike that, now comes around. Have I never seen the Medium before? No.\nThen I should pay him a visit. Wants to talk with me about my past and\nfuture. Has much to say; and so on. Do I not go often into a building\nwhere many persons work at chemistry? Am I not sceptical?--rather. Wants\nto cure my scepticism, and so on, _ad nauseam_. Me is tired, me wants\ngo. Again the jerks, the rubbing of the eyes, and the Indian maid is\nonce more Mr. Copeland.\n\nS\u00e9ance terminates with the payment of one dollar, cash, at 9.30 P.M.\n\nStifling atmosphere breathed for 1-1/2 hours, for what? _Quelle b\u00eatise!_\n\nGEO. A. KOENIG.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSaturday, March 26th, 1887.\n\nI attended a s\u00e9ance at the house of Col. Kase, 1601 North 15th Street,\non Thursday evening, March 24th, Mrs. Wells acting as Medium. There were\nabout thirty persons present, of whom several seemed to be Mediums. The\ns\u00e9ance was held in the sitting-room in the second story--a room\nseparated by double doors from a smaller room behind. The back room,\nused as a Cabinet, was shut off by porti\u00e8res, and the persons were\narranged in front of the curtains, in the form of a deep curve, Dr.\nLeidy, Dr. Knerr and myself being put in the second row. Mrs. Thayer\ndirected us where to sit. The room in which we sat was lighted by a\nsingle gas-jet, situated some distance behind the spectators; a piece of\nmusic was placed before this to prevent any direct light from falling on\nthe curtains, and the gas was turned very low. Mrs. Wells entered the\nroom used as a Cabinet, and took her seat in a chair opposite the\ncurtains. Mrs. Thayer closed the curtains.\n\nAfter some time Spirits began to show themselves one by one between the\ncurtains, and to whisper. Mrs. Thayer stepped forward and interpreted\nfor them, calling up persons in the circle to receive communications.\nThe forms were very indistinct from the circle, and apparently not very\ndistinct to those called up, as they expressed some dissatisfaction. One\nman called up to speak with his daughter (one of the better forms)\nremarked that he \"saw her putty good, but not very.\" One or two of the\nforms stepped out in front of the curtains (one was dressed as a man,\none purported to be Mary, Queen of Scots), but they did not advance to\nthe circle, and the light was so dim that they could not be seen at all\nclearly. Only on one or two occasions two forms appeared at once, and\nthen not in front of the curtains, but one on each side of one of the\ncurtains--this curtain being pulled together, as though some one were\nreaching around behind it. The appearance could very readily have been\nmade by the Medium's appearing between the two curtains, and holding up\na bit of drapery at the side of one of them. The audience was evidently\nan uncritical one. When a Spirit called for her husband, Mrs. Thayer,\nthe interpreter, asked, \"Has anyone here a wife on the other side?\" An\nold man present stated that his had died two years before. He asked if\nthe Spirit's name were _May_. When he came back to his seat, I heard him\nremark to his neighbor that that \"must have been her, but she had more\nflesh on than when I knew her.\" No examination was made before or after\nthe s\u00e9ance of either room or Medium, and no tests of any sort were\napplied. The s\u00e9ance lasted about an hour and a-half.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON,\n\n_Secretary_.\n\n(Copied and arranged from notes made in the car on the way home from\nthis s\u00e9ance--Saturday evening, March 26th, 1887.)\n\nN.B.--I have neglected to state (though it is mentioned in my notes)\nthat the s\u00e9ance was commenced by an \"invocation\" from Mrs. Coleman, who\nsat near the curtains. It was in no wise remarkable.\n\nG.S.F.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDR. LEIDY.\n\nThe undersigned, a member of The Seybert Commission, appointed by the\nUniversity, in company with one or more of the other members, at\ndifferent times, from March, 1884, to April, 1887, attended twelve\ns\u00e9ances with reputed Spiritualist Mediums. Led to view Spiritualism with\nthe respect due to its importance, based on the reflection that many of\nthe most intelligent and honorable of the community had become convinced\nof its truth, I undertook the investigation of the subject free from\nconscious prejudice, and with a desire to observe with unbiased judgment\nthe phenomena which might be presented to me in the s\u00e9ances of\nSpiritualist Mediums. Of the dozen s\u00e9ances attended in company with\nother members of the Commission, five were held with three Slate-writing\nMediums, two with as many Rapping Mediums, and five with four\nMaterializing Mediums. All the Mediums possessed more or less celebrity\nas such among the advocates of Spiritualism. I further attended,\nunaccompanied by members of the Commission, three s\u00e9ances, of which one\nwas held with one of the former Materializing Mediums, and two with\nother Rapping Mediums.\n\nThe reputed phenomena or manifestations were carefully observed, as far\nas circumstances would permit, _i.e._, under the conditions ordinarily\nexacted by Mediums.\n\nI have kept a record of my observations of the Spiritualist s\u00e9ances, but\nit is unnecessary to relate them here. As the result of my experience\nthus far, I must confess that I have witnessed no extraordinary\nmanifestation, such as we ordinarily hear described as evidence of\ncommunication between this and the Spirit world. On the contrary, all\nthe exhibitions I have seen have been complete failures in what was\nattempted or expected, or they have proved to be deceptions and tricks\nof jugglery. Sometimes accompanied by buffoonery, I never saw in them\nanything solemn or impressive, and never did they give the slightest\npositive information of interest. Having thus far failed to discover\nanything in evidence of the truth of Spiritualism, I yet remain ready to\nreceive such evidence from an honest Medium.\n\nOne of the Slate-writing Mediums, with whom we held several s\u00e9ances,\nrelieved the tedium of waiting for a slate-communication by writing in\npencil on slips of paper, under Spirit control, as we were assured,\ncommunications from a succession of Spirits. The hand of these\ncommunications was good, and in each one different as it would appear\nfrom different individuals. There was, however, in all a similarity of\nexpression and grammatical construction, which indicated a want of\nentire Spirit control. One of these communications, in my possession,\nreads literally thus:\n\n\"People have thought my manner and habit very strange indeed regarding\nthe Truth of Spirit control There has been many things practiced which I\nsee now was wrong and foolish yet the Truth stills exist that we can\ncome back and make ourselves felt you ask if I am pleased with what\nThomas [probably Thomas R. Hazard, who was with us at the time] is doing\nI am in many respects though there are things best left undone and\nunsaid You are perfectly aware of my past feelings also of my desire to\nhave the truth properly investigated which I feel it will be and the\nTruth and Truth only sought after by the Committee I am more concious\nnow than a time back Henry Seybert\"\n\nAnother communication in my possession, obtained by a friend from the\nsame Medium, at another s\u00e9ance, is in an equally good and strikingly\ndifferent hand from the former, and reads thus: \"Yes both of those\nSpirits were there and were plainly seen There was others there that\nwere imperceptable Alice Cary\"\n\nAs examples of communications, in irregular scrawls on slips of paper,\nin my possession, thrown from behind a screen by a Materialized Spirit,\nat a s\u00e9ance of Mr. Keeler, are the following: \"Hello folks\" \"Oh I am a\nbig slugger\" \"How is your nose Doc\" \"I am seeing the sad result of my\nwork. H. Seibert\" [_sic_]. The punctuation and spelling are carefully\ncopied.\n\nJOSEPH LEIDY.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE SLADE-ZOELLNER INVESTIGATION.\n\nPerhaps no other investigation of Spiritistic phenomena has exercised so\nstrong an influence upon the public mind in America, at least, as that\nconducted by Professor J.C.F. Zoellner and his colleagues in Leipsic in\n1877 and 1878. In November and December of the year 1877 and in May of\n1878, Professor Zoellner had a number of s\u00e9ances with Dr. Henry Slade,\nthe American Medium, in Leipsic, the results of which he has narrated in\nhis \"Scientific Treatises,\" and which he finds of special interest in\nconnection with certain physical speculations with which he was before\nthis time occupied. He declares himself specially authorized to mention\nby name as present at some of his investigations his colleagues,\nProfessors Fechner and Scheibner, of the University of Leipsic, and\nProfessor Weber of Goettingen. These three, he states, were perfectly\nconvinced of the reality of the observed facts, and that they were not\nto be attributed to imposture or prestidigitation. He also mentions the\npresence of Professor Wundt at at least one of the sittings.\n\nThe phenomena narrated by Zoellner--the bursting of the wooden screen,\nthe passages of coins out of closed boxes, the abnormal actions of the\nsolid wooden rings, the tying of knots in the endless cord, the prints\nmade upon smoked paper by the feet of four-dimentional beings--all these\nhave become classic in Spiritistic literature, and the accounts may be\nobtained in convenient form collected, arranged and translated into\nEnglish by Mr. C.C. Massey, of Lincoln's Inn, London.\n\nOf these phenomena themselves, verification is, at this late date,\nmanifestly out of the question. The only published accounts are those\nmade by Zoellner, and in the absence of notes made at the time, all\ndescriptions of phenomena given now by the other persons present would\nbe valueless, except as indicating the impression made upon them at the\ntime by the occurrences.\n\nBut, though the phenomena themselves cannot be satisfactorily sifted,\nthe men who were engaged in the investigation are, with the exception of\nZoellner himself, still living, and it occurred to me when in Germany\nduring the past summer, that a conference with each of these men, and an\ninquiry into their qualifications for making such an investigation into\nthe phenomena of Spiritism, might be of no small value. These men are:\n_William Wundt_, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Leipsic;\n_Gustav Theodore Fechner_, now Professor Emeritus of Physics in the\nUniversity of Leipsic; _W. Scheibner_, Professor of Mathematics in the\nUniversity of Leipsic; and _Wilhelm Weber_, Professor Emeritus of\nPhysics in the University of Goettingen--all of them men of eminence in\ntheir respective lines of scholarship.\n\nOn Saturday, June 19th, I called upon Professor Wundt at his home in\nLeipsic; with respect to the investigation of 1877-78 he gave me the\nfollowing information, which I noted down during my conversation with\nhim, asking him to repeat the points mentioned as I noted them, so as to\navoid any error or misunderstanding, and which I copied out, with merely\nverbal changes, two days later.\n\nProfessor Wundt said:\n\n1. That at the s\u00e9ances at which he himself was present (and he was\npresent at two or three of them) the conditions of observation were very\nunsatisfactory. All hands had to be kept on the table, and no one was\nallowed to look under it.\n\n2. That all that he saw done looked as if it might have been done by\njugglery.\n\n3. That the writing on slates was very suspicious--the German was bad,\njust such German as Slade spoke.\n\n4. That Professor Weber, who was present at the sittings, was a very old\nman at the time, and presumably not an acute observer.\n\n5. That Professor Fechner, another of those present, was afflicted with\nan incipient cataract, and could see very little.\n\n6. That Professor Zoellner himself was at the time decidedly not in his\nright mind; his abnormal mental condition being clearly indicated in his\nletters and in his intercourse with his family.\n\n7. That he (Professor Wundt) had not a high respect for the scientific\njudgment of Professor Ulrici, of Halle, who had been so much impressed\nby the report made by Professor Zoellner; Professor Ulrici he thought\nliterary and poetical, but not scientific.\n\nIt will be seen that some of the points mentioned by Professor Wundt are\nsuggestive; but I will postpone an examination of his statements, as of\nthose of each of the others, until they have all been given and can be\ncompared.\n\nOn the same day (June 19th) I called upon Professor Fechner, also at his\nhome in Leipsic. Professor Fechner, who no longer lectures, being old\nand feeble, and suffering from cataract of the eyes, made the following\nstatements, each of which I translated to him for his approval, after I\nhad set it down:\n\n1. That he himself was present at but two sittings, and that these were\nnot very decisive.\n\n2. That he did not look upon Slade as a juggler, but accepted the\nobjective reality of the facts; that he did this, however, not on the\nstrength of his own observations, for these were unsatisfactory, but\nbecause he had faith in Professor Zoellner's powers of observation.\n\n3. That what he saw might have been produced by juggling.\n\n4. That the sittings at which he was present were held at night, and\nthat he could not remember what sort of a light they had.\n\n5. That Zoellner's mental derangement came on very gradually, so that it\nwould be difficult to say when it began; but that from the time of his\nexperiments with Slade it was more pronounced. He (Fechner) did not\nthink, however, that it incapacitated Zoellner as an observer, the\nderangement being emotional; but, such as it was, it was clearly shown\nin his family and in his intercourse with friends.\n\n6. Professor Fechner referred me to Professors Scheibner and Weber for\ninformation, saying that these two were present at most of the sittings.\n\nI failed at this time to meet Professor Scheibner, who, though resident\nin Leipsic, happened to be away from home on a visit; but, having made\nan appointment with him by letter, I returned to Leipsic on July 3d, and\ncalled upon him at his home; upon this occasion he gave me more full and\nsatisfactory details concerning Professor Zoellner's investigation than\nI succeeded in obtaining from any of the others. The notes which I made\nduring my conversation with him I translated to him, and corrected in\naccordance with his suggestions before leaving his house. After my\nreturn to Halle I copied my notes out in full, and sent them by mail to\nProfessor Scheibner, with the request that he correct them and return\nthem to me at Berlin, signing his name to them if they correctly\nrepresented his opinions. In answer he enclosed me the copy which I had\nsent him, corrected where he thought the notes inexact, and an\naccompanying letter, stating that he did not forbid me to use the\nmaterial which he had given me, but that he did not wish to set his name\nto any publication, if only for the reason that he was not sufficiently\nfamiliar with the English to judge accurately as to the shades of\nmeaning, and thus could not say whether he accurately agreed with the\nnotes as they stand, or not.\n\nThe copy which he corrected and returned to me I place at length in this\nReport, merely translating his corrections (very literally), and\ninserting them at the points indicated by himself. They are enclosed in\nquotation marks. In some instances, my desire for exactitude in the\ntranslations has resulted in very bad English; the shape of my own\nparagraphs is due to the time and manner of their framing, and to a\nreluctance to making any changes in their form afterwards.\n\nThe copy reads as follows:\n\nOn July 3d, 1886, I visited Professor W. Scheibner, at his rooms, in\nLeipsic, and obtained from him the following information concerning\nProfessor Zoellner's Spiritistic experiments with Dr. Henry Slade, the\nAmerican Medium:\n\n1. Professor Scheibner thinks that he was present at three or four of\nthe regular s\u00e9ances with Slade. Slade came to Professor Zoellner's\nrooms; they sat around a table for perhaps half an hour, and then, after\nthe s\u00e9ance was over, they spent an hour or two sitting informally in the\nsame room, or in the next room, and talking. During these informal\nconversations surprising things would occur. Raps would now and then be\nheard, and objects would unexpectedly be thrown about the room. In these\nconversations Professor Scheibner was present perhaps five or six times.\nSome of these took place during the day, and some in the evening.\n\n2. Professor Scheibner said that each single thing that he saw might\npossibly have been jugglery, \"although he perceived nothing that raised\na direct suspicion.\"\n\nThe whole number of incidents taken together, however, surprised him,\nand seemed scarcely explicable as jugglery, for there did not seem to be\nthe necessary time or means for preparing so many tricks, \"which often\nconnected themselves surprisingly with desires casually expressed in\nmomentary conversations.\"\n\nProfessor Scheibner said, however, that he did not regard himself as\ncompetent to form an opinion which should have scientific weight,\nbecause:\n\n(_a_) He knows nothing about jugglery;\n\n(_b_) He was merely a passive spectator, and could not, properly\nspeaking, make observations--could not suggest conditions, \"or gain the\ncontrol which seemed necessary;\" and\n\n(_c_) He is short-sighted, \"and might easily have left unnoticed\nsomething essential.\"\n\nHe says merely, that to him, _subjectively_, jugglery did not seem a\ngood \"or sufficient\" explanation of the phenomena.\n\n3. Professor Scheibner said that he had never seen anything of the kind\nbefore. He had never even, since his childhood, seen any exhibitions of\njugglery; he does not go to see such things, because he is so\nshort-sighted that if he went he would see nothing. In this connection\nhe repeated his statement that from this, among other causes, he did not\nregard himself as competent to give an opinion. He said that many\npersons in Germany had demanded his opinion, but that he had refused it\nbecause he regarded his subjective impression, without objective proofs,\nas scientifically valueless.\n\n4. Professor Scheibner said that he did not believe in these things\nbefore. He came to the s\u00e9ances because Professor Zoellner was a personal\nfriend. He has seen very little of the sort since.\n\nThat little has been in the presence of a lady in Leipsic through whom\nraps occurred, and psychography. This last phenomenon consisted in\ncommunication through a little contrivance, furnished with an index or\npointer, which answered questions by pointing to letters laid out before\nit. This it did when the lady placed her hand on the machine. The\nquestions were \"usually\" not asked mentally, but spoken out. There were\nno tests applied to these phenomena, no conditions of exact\ninvestigation. Professor Scheibner \"holds suspicion of conscious\ndeception to be out of the question.\"\n\n5. Professor Zoellner was, said Professor Scheibner, a man of keen\nmind, but in his investigations apt to see \"by preference\" what lay in\nthe path of his theory. He could \"less easily\" see what was against his\ntheory. He was childlike and trustful in character, and might easily\nhave been deceived by an impostor. He expected everyone to be honest and\nfrank as he was. He started with the assumption that Slade meant to be\nhonest with him. He would have thought it wrong to doubt Slade's\nhonesty. Professor Zoellner, said Professor Scheibner, set out to find\nproof for four-dimentional space, in which he was already inclined to\nbelieve. His whole thought was directed to that point.\n\n6. Professor Scheibner thinks that the mental disturbance under which\nZoellner suffered later, might be regarded as, at this time, incipient.\nHe became more and more given to fixing his attention on a few ideas,\nand incapable of seeing what was against them. Towards the last he was\npassionate when criticized. Professor Scheibner would not say that\nProfessor Zoellner's mental disturbance was pronounced and full-formed,\nso to speak, but that it was incipient, and, if Zoellner had lived\nlonger, would have fully developed. Zoellner himself, \"whose brothers\nand sisters frequently[A] suffered from mental disease, often feared\nlest a similar fate should come upon him.\"\n\n[Footnote A: \"Dessen Geschwister mehrfach\" etc.--the words may be taken\nin two senses.]\n\n7. Professor Scheibner gives no opinion on Spiritism. He can only say\nthat he cannot explain the phenomena that he saw.\n\n8. Professor Weber, said Professor Scheibner, \"attended the\nZoellner-Slade experiments under the same circumstances as he\n(Scheibner) himself.\"\n\n9. Professor Zoellner's book, said Professor Scheibner, would create the\nimpression that Weber and Fechner and he agreed with Zoellner throughout\nin his opinion of the phenomena \"and their interpretation;\" but this, he\nsaid, is not the case.\n\nHALLE a.S., _July 5th_, 1886.\n\nSo much for the information given by Professor Scheibner. It now\nremained to see Professor Wilhelm Weber, and on the evening of July 12th\nI called upon him at his house in Goettingen. Of his statements I took\nnotes during my conversation with him, as in the former instances, and\ncopied and arranged them the same evening at my hotel. Professor Weber\nis now eighty-three years old, and does not lecture. He is extremely\nexcitable and somewhat incoherent when excited. I found it difficult to\ninduce him to talk slowly enough, and systematically enough, for me to\nmake my notes. Professor Weber said:\n\n1. That he thought the things he saw in the s\u00e9ances with Slade were\ndifferent from jugglery.\n\n2. That he did not think there was time or opportunity for Slade to\nprepare deceptions.\n\n3. That he himself knew nothing of jugglery, nor did Professor Zoellner.\n\n4. That he can testify to the _facts_ as described by Zoellner, and that\nhe could not himself have described the occurrences better than they are\ndescribed in Zoellner's book:--to the _facts_ he is willing to testify,\nthe _means_ he declares unknown to him, but does not regard jugglery as\na sufficient explanation. If another can understand, he said, how\njugglery can explain the facts, well and good--he can not.\n\n5. That he had never seen anything of the kind before, and has not\nsince; it being his only experience of Spiritualism.\n\n6. That he had the greatest freedom to experiment and set conditions,\nand that the conditions were favorable to observation.\n\n7. That he regarded Professor Fechner as one of the best observers in\nthe world, and Professor Scheibner as an excellent observer.\n\n8. That Professor Zoellner _was not_ at that time, in any sense, in an\nabnormal mental condition.\n\nProfessor Weber seemed unwilling to speak decidedly on the subject, but\nshowed that he leaned to the Spiritistic interpretation of the facts. He\nsaid that the things done indicated intelligence on the part of the\ndoer.\n\nHaving now before us the testimony given by these survivors of the\nfamous investigation, I will collect briefly the facts relating to each\nof those concerned--adding in one or two cases from other sources--and\npoint out the nature and value of their testimony to the occurrences\nrecorded by Professor Zoellner.\n\n1. As to Professor Wundt, who is by profession an experimental\npsychologist, and an observer. Professor Wundt did not regard the\ninvestigation, so far as he participated, as in any respect thorough or\nsatisfactory. The conditions of observation were not present. When\ncalled upon by Professor Ulrici to describe the occurrences as he saw\nthem, he said he would not willingly describe what he had not had\nopportunity to observe.\n\n2. As to Professor Zoellner, the chief witness and author of the book\npublished, a number of points are worthy of note.\n\n(1.) The question of his mental condition at the time of the\ninvestigation. It is asserted by Baron Hellenbach (see _Geburt und Tod_\netc., Wien, 1885, S. 96) that Zoellner was of sound mind up to his\ndeath. The statement should have due weight, but the author's general\nattitude towards Spiritism should not be overlooked. I do not consider\nhis testimony for Zoellner's sanity as good as that of Fechner or\nScheibner against. Of the four men mentioned as connected with him,\nWundt, Weber, Fechner and Scheibner, three (all except Weber) are\ndecidedly of the opinion that his mental condition was not normal. The\nopinion of Wundt, as of a man whose profession would not permit him to\nspeak hastily upon this topic, I would regard as of special value; but\nif we rule that out upon the ground that Wundt was not impressed by the\ninvestigation, and might naturally be inclined to underrate Zoellner,\nwho was, we have left the opinions of Fechner and Scheibner, both\nZoellner's colleagues at Leipsic, both particular friends of Zoellner,\nand both inclined to agree with him as to the reality of the facts he\ndescribes. Both of them regarded Zoellner at the time as of more or less\nunsound mind. His disease, as described by them, seems to have been\nchiefly emotional, showing itself in a passionate dislike of\ncontradiction, and a tendency to overlook any evidence contrary to a\ncherished theory.\n\nTo the general change in his nature due to his disease Professor\nScheibner testifies; and Professor Fechner's belief as to his mental\ncondition is specially worthy of note from the fact that, although\nrecognizing it to be abnormal, he still holds his powers of observation\nto be sound, and upon this ground is inclined to assent to the facts\ndescribed. If anyone could be tempted to make Zoellner as sane as\npossible, it would be one in the position of Professor Fechner.\nProfessor Weber's testimony I will examine later. Upon the question\nwhether the peculiar form of Zoellner's disease would be likely to\naffect his powers of observation, the following points may throw some\nlight.\n\n(2.) It is evident, both from what Zoellner has himself printed and from\nwhat Professor Scheibner has said, that Zoellner's interest in the\ninvestigation centered in his attempt to prove experimentally what he\nalready held to be speculatively true as to a fourth dimension of space.\nIn a paper published in the _Quarterly Journal of Science_, for April,\n1878, he says:\n\n\"At the end of my first treatise, already finished in manuscript in the\ncourse of August, 1877, I called attention to the circumstance that a\ncertain number of physical phenomena, which, by 'synthetical conclusions\n_\u00e0 priori_' might be explained through the generalized conception of\nspace and the platonic hypothesis of projection, coincided with\nso-called Spiritualistic phenomena. Cautiously, however, I said:--'To\nthose of my readers who are inclined to see in Spiritualistic phenomena\nan _empirical_ confirmation of those phenomena above deduced in regard\nto their _theoretical_ possibility, I beg to observe that from the point\nof view of idealism there must first be given a precise definition and\ncriticism of _objective reality_'\" etc. Now this reference to\nSpiritualistic phenomena was made before Zoellner had seen anything of\nthe kind, and his attitude was evidently a receptive one. Moreover, we\nhave Professor Scheibner's testimony to the fact that during the whole\ninvestigation his attention was entirely directed towards the subject of\nthe fourth dimension, and an experimental demonstration of its\nexistence. Bearing in mind, therefore, the mental attitude in which, and\nthe object with which, Zoellner approached this investigation, we cannot\nlook upon any subjective, or emotional, mental disturbance, which\nresults, as described, in making him narrow his attention more and more\nupon a few ideas, and disregard or find it difficult to observe what\nseems contrary to them, as without objective significance, particularly\nwhere we know the man to be a total stranger to investigations of such a\nnature as this one, and not only quite ignorant as to possible methods\nof deception, but unwilling to doubt the integrity of the Medium.\n\n(3.) There are things in Zoellner's own accounts which indicate a\ncertain lack of caution and accuracy on his part, and tend to lessen\none's confidence in his statements. As an instance of inaccuracy, I may\nmention the statement he makes in his article in the _Quarterly Journal\nof Science_ as to the opinions of his colleagues. Professor Zoellner\nsays:\n\n\"I reserve to later publication, in my own treatises, the description of\nfurther experiments obtained by me in twelve s\u00e9ances with Mr. Slade,\nand, as I am expressly authorized to mention, in the presence of my\nfriends and colleagues, Professor Fechner, Professor Wilhelm Weber, the\ncelebrated electrician from Goettingen, and Herr Scheibner, Professor of\nMathematics in the University of Leipsic, who are _perfectly_ convinced\nof the reality of the observed facts, altogether excluding imposture or\nprestidigitation.\"\n\nHere the attitude of the four men is not correctly described, and\nProfessor Zoellner's statement does them injustice, as Professor\nScheibner remarked. At least two of the men were merely _inclined_ to\naccept the facts, and to these two the words \"_perfectly_ convinced\"\nwill not apply.\n\nAs one out of numerous instances of lack of caution, I may refer to\nZoellner's statements, that at certain times writing was heard upon the\nslates, giving no proof whatever to show that the writing was really\ndone at the time of hearing the sounds, and apparently quite ignorant\nof the fact that deception may readily be practiced on this point.\n\n3. As to Professor Fechner. The fact is admitted that he was, at the\ntime of the investigation, suffering from cataract, which made all\nobservation extremely defective. Moreover, he was present at but two of\nthe sittings, and has stated that he did not regard these as very\ndecisive. His attitude towards the phenomena described is based on his\nfaith in Professor Zoellner's powers of observation, and not on what he\nsaw himself. He does not, therefore, as an independent witness would,\nadd anything to the force of Professor Zoellner's testimony.\n\n4. As to Professor Scheibner. His position is simply that he cannot see\nhow the whole series of phenomena can reasonably be attributed to\njugglery, though he admits that each single thing he saw, alone\nconsidered, might possibly be. He does not regard himself, however, as\nable to give an opinion which should have objective value; because he\nwas merely a passive spectator, and could not, properly speaking, make\nobservations--could not suggest conditions,--because he knows absolutely\nnothing about jugglery, and the possibilities of deception, and because\nhe is so short-sighted that he may easily have overlooked something of\nimportance--so short-sighted that he never goes to see a juggler,\nbecause he sees nothing.\n\n5. As to the last witness, Professor Weber, his testimony agrees more\ndecidedly with that of Professor Zoellner. He was present at eight\ns\u00e9ances, declares the occurrences to have been as represented by\nProfessor Zoellner, and denies that Zoellner was in any sense insane.\nBut Professor Weber is from Goettingen, and was at the time of the\ninvestigation in Leipsic on a visit; it is not improbable that those of\nProfessor Zoellner's colleagues, who lived and worked at the same\nUniversity with him, may have had better opportunities for judging as to\nhis mental condition than one who only saw him occasionally. Moreover,\nProfessor Weber's opinion as to the qualifications of the men with whom\nhe was associated does not seem to have been always sound. One who could\nlook upon Professor Fechner as one of the best observers in the world,\nand Professor Scheibner, as for the purpose in hand, an excellent\nobserver, neglecting entirely to note that one was partly blind and that\nthe other could not see well, might readily overlook the fact of a not\nvery pronounced mental aberration on the part of a third person. And as\nto Professor Weber's opinion of the phenomena, it is well to note that\nProfessor Weber was seventy-four years old at the time, had had no\nprevious experience in investigations of this kind and was quite\nignorant of the arts of the juggler. Whatever may be a man's powers of\nreflection at seventy-four, it is natural to suppose that his powers of\nperception, especially when exercised in a quite new field, are not at\nthat age what they were some years previously.\n\nSUMMARY.\n\nThus it would appear that of the four eminent men whose names have made\nfamous the investigation, there is reason to believe one, _Zoellner_,\nwas of unsound mind at the time, and anxious for experimental\nverification of an already accepted hypothesis; another, _Fechner_, was\npartly blind, and believed because of Zoellner's observations; a third,\n_Scheibner_, was also afflicted with defective vision, and not entirely\nsatisfied in his own mind as to the phenomena; and a fourth, _Weber_,\nwas advanced in age, and did not even recognize the disabilities of his\nassociates. No one of these men had ever had experiences of this sort\nbefore, nor was any one of them acquainted with the ordinary\npossibilities of deception. The experience of our Commission with Dr.\nSlade would suggest, that the lack of such knowledge on their part was\nunfortunate.\n\nA consideration of all these circumstances places, it seems to me, this\nfamous investigation in a somewhat new light, and any estimate of\nZoellner's testimony, based merely upon the eminence in science of his\nname and those of his collaborateurs, neglecting to give attention to\ntheir disqualifications for this kind of work, cannot be a fair or a\ntrue estimate.\n\nIn concluding this Report, I give sincere thanks to all of these\ngentlemen for their courtesy and frankness--a frankness which has alone\nmade it possible for me to collect this evidence; and which, considering\nthe nature of the evidence, must be regarded as most generous. To\nProfessor Scheibner, especially, my thanks are due for the trouble he\nhas taken in helping me to make my notes exact and truthful.\n\nGEO. S. FULLERTON.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDR. KNERR.\n\nIn 1884 rumors reached me of remarkable Spiritual communications from a\nrevered friend and relative, Dr. Hering. These communications had come\nthrough a slate-writing Medium by the name of Patterson, and were\nreceived by two gentlemen whose names I am not at liberty to mention,\nbut whom I will call A. and B. Both were prominent men, and both had\nbecome thorough believers in Spiritualism after several sittings with\nMrs. Patterson. A. claimed to have received personal benefit from\nmedicines thus prescribed, and learned the circumstances of his son's\ndeath which had occurred in some mysterious manner far away from home.\nB. has since died, and communications under his signature have come\nthrough this same Medium.\n\nThe manifestations in this province of Spiritualism, Independent\nSlate-Writing, would seem to be of a nature more tangible and direct\nthan those of so-called Materializing or Trance Mediums, and, therefore,\nin this instance I determined to test to the utmost what had been\nreported to me concerning communications from one who stood so near in\nlife.\n\nAlthough I received a number of messages at my first visit, written in\npencil, in many different handwritings, which the Medium alleged were\nwritten by Spirit-control of her hand, I received but one or two in the\nslate. The slate was a small double slate, joined together with hinges,\nabout 10 inches by 12 inches in dimension. Inside of the slates, written\non a slip of paper, carefully folded, I placed the question \"Can I\nobtain a communication from Dr. Hering which will be characteristic of\nhimself?\" A small piece of slate pencil chipped from an ordinary pencil,\nperhaps an eighth of an inch long, was placed within the slates,\ntogether with the written question. The slates were then tightly screwed\ntogether at the open end, by myself, with the blade of an old knife\nwhich was at hand to serve the purpose of a screwdriver. It was then\nplaced by the Medium in her lap, under the table, one hand, the left,\nresting upon the slate, the other hand remaining on top of the table,\nwriting, with a lead pencil, messages in different handwritings, on\npaper.\n\nThese messages came in characters bold as John Hancock's, and in\nchirography as small and neat as the writing of Charlotte Bront\u00e9, whose\nmanuscript the compositor is said to have deciphered with the aid of a\nmagnifying glass; and between these extremes were a dozen or more styles\nas varied and marked as one could wish. The purport of these messages,\nwhich were written rather quickly, and without perceptible thought or\nhesitation, changing from one handwriting to another without the least\napparent difficulty, was in some instances the veriest twaddle, while\nothers contained tolerably good sense, even in language rather above the\nMedium, unless appearances were misleading, for she looked the\nembodiment of ignorant simplicity, and spoke far from grammatically.\n\nThe table at which we sat was a very ordinary little sewing-table,\nwithout any drawer or compartment, and before sitting down I examined it\ntop and bottom, a privilege freely accorded. We had sat about ten\nminutes when the Medium brought up the slate with the little piece of\npencil, which I had scratched with a knife for identification, lying on\ntop of the slate. The screw was in its place, seemingly as I had put it.\nI was requested to remove the screw, which I did, and found written\nacross the inside surface of one of the slates the words \"I will try to\naccede to your wish,\" signed with the initials of my departed friend, to\nwhose handwriting it was not dissimilar. I was much puzzled by this\nanswer, I confess, and immediately placed within the slates another\nquestion, this time addressed to the name of another deceased friend.\nAgain I screwed up the slates with my own hand, and kept my eyes riveted\non the hands of the Medium as well as my position would permit, without\ngetting up and bending over the table. I did not have long to wait\nbefore an answer came as before, again signed with the initials of the\nperson addressed. How the writing came in the slate I could not surmise.\n\nThe following are specimens of the communications which were written by\nthe Medium's controlled, possibly self-controlled, free, right hand, at\nmy first visit:--\n\n(In a fine, light, legible hand.)\n\nCannot say wether we can control the slate or no. will do our utmost to\ndo so there are times when we cannot get the proper influences nor find\nthe right conditions. C HERING\n\n(In a close, heavy hand.)\n\nwe have quite as much power over you as over any other medium,\nmediumistic forces are not confined to a few, but exist to some extent\nin all. be patient we will do what we can. H\n\n(In a sprawling back hand, the same as a subsequent one, signed Thomas\nLister.)\n\nThe friend you have asked for is here and will do what he can to comply\nwith your wish it is not necessary that you should sit with any medium\nto convince yourself of this truth you have enough of this power to get\nalmost any sort of manifestations you should ask for they will develope\nwithout any effort on your part but you can materially assist them\n\nTL\n\n(In a neat and precise feminine hand.)\n\nThere stands by thy chair a venerable man who had passed through many\nyears of work in his profession on the earth plane he is one that doth\ninfluence and impress thee to do many things when in the body was a\nphisician of the homeopathic school he sayeth that he doth feel the same\ninterest in the progruss of the medical fraternity as when in the body.\nappeareth to be one of strict integrity and ranked high as a thinker\nthou hast many years to stay in the form and through thee a work will be\ncompleted that none other can do\n\nL MOTT\n\n(In a small, rather indistinct feminine hand.)\n\nI dont think the doctors knew what my trouble was. I know if doctor\nHering or Raue had treated my case I would still be in my body but its\nno difference as far as I am concerned I have found this life far the\nbest leaving my mother was hard, but now I know how to get back to her I\nam content\n\nCS\n\nClara Swencke\n\n(In a plain masculine hand.)\n\nif you prepare a slate the doctor will give you a message on it in his\nown handwrite and one characteristic of him\n\nESW\n\n(In a small, rather illegible hand.)\n\nMy friend Tiedemann made a mistake in the medicine he prepared for me he\nnever for a moment thought it would prove anything but a help but it had\nthe effect of sending me to the higher life\n\nW MORWITZER\n\n(In a large, generous, open hand.)\n\nYea if thee dost fix a slate so as to satisfy thyself thy friend will\nwrite on it and give thee a description of his birth into everlasting\nlife\n\nELIAS HICKS\n\n(In a very indistinct feminine hand.)\n\ncannot say wether we can procure the presence of any one just now that\ncan write music were it possible to have any one conversant with it they\ncould not only write one but many notes for you\n\n(Signature indistinct.)\n\n(In a small, cramped hand of almost microscopic fineness supposed to be\nCharlotte Bront\u00e9, and occupying but very little more space than on this\nprinted page.)\n\nThe future holds much for you of success, the later portion of this and\nthe whole of the next will be filled with prosperity you have a band of\nthe more advanced spirits about you and were you to follow your first\nimpressions you would never fail in your judgment\n\nCB\n\n(In a clear scholarly hand.)\n\na man of few words when in the body I still have the same peculiarities\nwill with your permission become one of your guiding band\n\nABERNETHY\n\n(In a bold masculine hand).\n\nSit for ten or fifteen minuets two evenings in the week and thus help\nperfect the powerful gifts you have, through them you can do much good\nboth for others and yourself\n\nTN\n\n(In the same hand as a preceding communication signed TL)\n\nBe patient; the party that wrote on the slate before is trying to do it\nover we sometimes have a difficulty in doing this\n\nT LISTER\n\n(In a slow, labored, uncouth hand.)\n\nI know one thing and that is that they didn't make any headway in\nkilling me when they hung me nor even when they scooped my brains out\nafterward--damn the doctors--damn the preachers--I hate them all they\nlied to me preachers priests and all they told me it was all right but I\nhave found out its all wrong. I havent seen Mrs Reed nor do I want to I\nnever was sorry that I killed her, it don't make a saint out of a man to\nsend him out the way I had to go--its only killing--they were as bad as\nI was--I cant see--its dark\n\nMC GINNIS.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: McGinnis was a murderer recently hung for the brutal\nkilling of his mother-in-law. Particulars of the murder, execution and\nautopsy were in all the local papers.]\n\n(In an ordinary feminine hand.)\n\nPut a piece of paper on a stand place a pencil on it and I will try to\nmake the scale for you at home there is a power that is growing on you\nthat will enable me to do this in a few times of trying I could write my\nown hand this is my first time of coming here so that makes it harder\nfor me to get control\n\nB\n\n(This doggerel came in answer to a question whether the Spirits could\nwrite poetry, and is in a hand not dissimilar to the preceding\ncommunication, although the signatures differ.)\n\n    When the clear bright sun was shining\n      Then they took my cherished form\n    And they bore it to the church yard\n      To consign it to the worm\n\n    Well no matter that was only\n      The clay dress your loved one wore\n    God had robed her for an angel\n      She had need of this no more\n\n    Though the tears fell fast and faster\n      Yet you would not call me back\n    Nay be glad her feet no longer\n      Tread life's rough and thorny track\n\n    Yes be glad the father took her\n      Took her whilst her heart was pure\n    Oh be glad he did not leave her\n      All life's trials to endure\n\nAC\n\n(In a sprawling hand.)\n\nYour friend has lost the Control I cannot say wether it will be possible\nto regain it now or no I find it hard work to get any hold at all.\n\nAM\n\n(Each letter distinct, as a child would print the alphabet.)\n\nChief there cant come any answer the magnetic current is broken for want\nof power we go now but will come in your own wigwam\n\nHOWONDO\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt the following s\u00e9ances I received slate writings repeatedly. Sometimes\nthe slate would scarcely be in the Medium's hands before a message\nappeared, each time with the little pencil on top. I was told that I was\nan excellent Medium, that, if I cultivated the faculty, would soon\nmyself be able to obtain these slate writings. I was also asked to\nprepare a slate secured in any way I wished, and had the promise that a\nmessage would be written within it. I acceded to the request and took a\nslate of my own, tied it up in every direction with twine, and put my\nprivate seal upon it in several places where I had knotted the string.\nThis slate the Spirits could not overcome. I never received the promised\nmessage. I never even had the slate returned to me. After remaining in\nthe Medium's possession for several months, she having changed her\nresidence in the meantime, she told me the slate had disappeared and\nsomehow must have gotten lost in moving. At any rate the slate had been\nspirited away somehow. I will here mention that at about the third or\nfourth sitting I asked permission to watch the slate while it was under\nthe table, which was freely granted, but on this occasion, and whenever\nI did so, there were no results.\n\nOn one occasion we took the trouble to bring Mrs. Patterson to a room in\nthe house of our departed friend. She was here among a small circle of\nintimate friends and members of the family, some inclined to belief and\nothers skeptics. She failed utterly to obtain as much as even a scratch\ninside of the slates, although communications on paper came thick and\nfast. I may mention that on this occasion several persons sat with the\nslate continually in full view.\n\nI had almost decided to drop Mrs. Patterson and her slate writing,\nalthough reluctant to do so, because I had no certain and positive\nevidence of fraud with which to confront my friend, who was getting\nimpatient at my slowness in accepting all I had seen, when I resolved to\npush my investigations to a point of certainty, one way or another, and\nhit upon the little scheme of going prepared, at my next visit to Mrs.\nPatterson, with a mirror in my pocket which I could hold under the table\nat an angle that would reflect whatever occurred on the other side of\nthe table, in the Medium's lap, the accustomed position of the\nmysterious slate. The sitting was held in broad daylight, and the table\nwas so placed that the Medium was seated with her back to a window,\naffording sufficient light for the experiment. I purposely avoided\nremoving my overcoat on this day, because I wished to hide my movements\nas much as possible, and sat down at my side of the table with\nconsiderable misgiving as to the result of taking liberties with the\nSpirits. The Medium this time had on her table a new slate, a larger\none, one which she said had belonged to the celebrated Slade who had\nhimself received messages on it. She said her old slate was broken,\nwhich was probably true; when I had last seen it it was in a battered\ncondition. She asked if it would make any difference to me if she used\nthe new slate. The only apparent difference between the slates was that\nthis one was larger and did not close with a screw, therefore, thought\nI, more easily manipulated; consequently I did not withhold my consent.\nI wrote upon a slip of paper my question, \"Will Dr. H. advise me what\nto do for Juliet (an old colored patient)?\" I folded over the slip of\npaper five times, put it in the slate with a small stub of pencil, and\ndown the slates went into the lap of the Medium where I could see them,\nlying plainly reflected in my little mirror which I had slipped out of\nmy pocket and laid across my knees at the proper angle of reflection.\n\nMrs. Patterson first wrote a letter-sheet full of alleged Spirit\ncommunications, and handed them to me across the table for perusal. I\ntook the sheet with one hand and while ostensibly scanning the written\npage, with the other hand I carefully adjusted my little mirror, on\nwhich my downcast and watchful eyes were fixed, when lo! in the mirror\n_I beheld a hand_, closely resembling that of the Medium, _stealthily\ninsert its fingers between the leaves of the slate, take out the little\nslip, unfold and again fold it, grasp the little pencil_, which had\nrolled to the front while the slate was tilted that way, _and with rapid\nbut noiseless motion_ (had there been the least noise from the pencil,\nit would have been drowned by the fit of coughing, which, at that\ninstant, seized the Medium) _write across the slate from left to right,\na few lines; then the leaves of the slate were closed, the little pencil\nlaid on the top_, and, over all, two hands were folded as if in\nbenediction. The woman opposite me, to whom the hands belonged (unless\nthey were Spirit hands) sat with uplifted eyes, a calm expression of\ninnocence upon her face. After holding the slates so for a moment or\ntwo, and after calling to the Spirit friends \"to come and _please_ write\nin the slate,\" she produced them, saying, \"It has come!\"\n\nOf course, I did all I could to master my indignation, which, at that\nmoment, was extreme, and quietly opening the slates, I read the message\npretending to have come from high authority, \"The channels are\nobstructed, give Arsenic, Bryonia and Pulsatilla in succeeding doses, an\nhour apart!\" The last words were somewhat illegible, and Mrs. Patterson\nsuggested another trial; she thought the Spirits would write it plainer.\nAgain the slates went down; _again I saw the hand at work as before_.\nThis second time the hurriedly written message was not much plainer than\nthe first. Mrs. Patterson, who was better versed in deciphering Spirit\ndispatches than I, offered to read it for me, but remembering that \"all\ngood things are three,\" I requested a third trial. After this last\nexperiment, in which again, _for the third time, in my little mirror, I\nsaw the stealthy fingers write on the slate_, I told the Medium I was\nsatisfied, smothered my indignant anger, and left the house as quickly\nas I could. For the larger part of a year I had investigated in good\nfaith this department of Spiritualism, which, in this Medium's case, had\nturned out a downright fraud.\n\nNot long after my last interview with Mrs. Patterson it was my good\nfortune to meet with an _unprofessional_ Medium, a young gentleman of\nreputed honor and veracity, to whom I was introduced by a friend who had\nknown him from childhood, and vouched for his honesty. This young man's\nMediumistic abilities had begun to develop with the planchette, and had\nreached the stage in which a drum and sundry musical instruments were\nplayed behind a curtain where he sat entranced, with his hands tightly\nbound together by a handkerchief or cord. These s\u00e9ances were continued\nwith regularity on certain nights in the week, and were confined\nstrictly to the family circle and to a few privileged friends. There\nwas, therefore, no temptation to deceive for gain. I came into the\ncircle as an observer, not as believer, but was impressed by the\nphenomena witnessed at the first s\u00e9ance in which the Medium was under\nIndian control. There were strange sounds, guttural tones and whoops\nwhich really might have emanated from a wild son of the forest. A drum,\nan accordion, a zither, a mouth-organ were all played upon. The\ndrumsticks kept time to music, rapped on the wall, appeared above the\nedge of the curtain several times, brightly illuminated, as if dipped in\nelectric light or some phosphorescent substance. As I have said, I was\nimpressed, and might have ended in complete conversion, by\nmanifestations from so trustworthy a source, and vouched for in such\nperfect sincerity, had it not, in an unlucky moment, occurred to me to\napply a little harmless test.\n\nThe test consisted simply in putting a dab of printer's ink on one of\nthe drumsticks at the very last moment before the s\u00e9ance began. The\nresult could not prove physically injurious to the Medium, who had\nchallenged investigation, nor to any one in the circle. The result was\nstartling. Being accorded the privilege of tying the Medium's hands, I\nproceeded to do so with a stout cord, using a certain knot which I\nbelieve has never been known to slip or come undone. This accomplished,\nand while some one else fastened the Medium securely to his chair, with\nhis back to the instruments on the table, the ink, concealed in a\npocket-handkerchief, was applied. In this position we left the Medium,\nthe lights were lowered and the music began. Soon were heard the deep\nbreathings preceding the trance, then the 'Indian' began to manifest, at\nfirst somewhat sullenly, as if not pleased with the conditions, some of\nthe instruments sounded, and at last the drumsticks began their tattoo.\nAt the close of the s\u00e9ance, when the curtains were drawn and the lights\nturned up, the Medium was found in his chair with his hands still tied,\nbut great was the astonishment of everyone present at the marvelous\ncondition of the Medium's hands. How in the world printer's ink could\nhave gotten smeared over them while under control of 'Deerfoot, the\nIndian,' no one, not even the Medium, could fathom.\n\nI believe there is an explanation for these or similar phenomena, but I\nmust leave it to the ingenious and adroit expounders of Spiritualist\nphilosophy.\n\nCALVIN B. KNERR.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMEDIUMISTIC DEVELOPMENT.\n\nAt my very first s\u00e9ance, as a member of this Commission, I was told by\nthe Spirit of Elias Hicks, through Mrs. Patterson, that I was gifted by\nnature with great Mediumistic power. Another Medium, with whom I had a\nsession shortly afterwards (I cannot remember his name, but he\nadvertised himself as a great 'Australian Medium'), professed himself\nquite unable to exert any power in the presence of a Medium so much more\npowerful than himself. 'Father Holland,' the control of Mrs. Williams,\nin New York, assured me that I merely needed development to have\nSpiritual manifestations at my own home; and Joseph Caffray was so\nemphatic in his assertions of my extraordinary Spiritual capabilities,\nthat I began to think that it was my duty to quicken these dormant\npowers and not to let them 'fust in me unused,' and if successful, when\nI had become fully 'developed,' I could offer myself to my fellow\nCommissioners as a _corpus vile_ on which every experiment could be\nmade, and at a great saving of expense.\n\nSpiritualists constantly reproach investigators of Spiritualism with\nfaint-heartedness and lack of patience; they allege that at the very\nfirst rebuff all investigating ardor cools, and that one failure is\ndeemed sufficient to condemn a whole system.\n\nIf the case be really thus, the Spiritualists have a show of reason for\nthis objection, and it behooves the Seybert Commission to give no ground\nfor it.\n\nAfter much deliberation I decided to put myself in the hands of Caffray\nfor 'development.' I preferred this Medium, first, because he was the\nmost emphatic of all in his assertion of my almost unrivaled Mediumistic\npowers, and in his confidence that indications of Spiritual growth would\nbe manifest in three or four weeks, and at the end of six weeks or of\ntwo months I might celebrate my Spiritual majority by slatefuls of\nmessages; and, secondly, Mr. Hazard assured me again and again that\nCaffray was the 'greatest Medium in the country;' and did not Mr.\nHazard, by way of proof, show me a stoppered vial containing a card, on\nwhich, through Caffray's Mediumship, a message had been written while\nthe closed vial was fast held in his closed hand?\n\nThe first step was the purchase of two slates from Caffray, for which I\ngave him several dollars. They were common enough to look at, but ah!\nthey had been for months in his Materializing Cabinet and had absorbed\nSpiritual power to the point of saturation, and fairly exuded it. I\nbrought them carefully from New York, and folded them in black muslin,\nand laid them away in a dark drawer.\n\nCaffray told me that with a beginner the Spirits found it somewhat\neasier to write with French chalk than with slate pencil. So I bought a\nbox of a dozen pieces, such as tailors use.\n\nThe instructions which I received from Caffray were to keep these slates\ncarefully in the dark, and every evening at about the same hour to sit\nin total darkness, with my hands resting on them for about a half or\nthree-quarters of an hour; to maintain a calm, equable, passive state of\nmind, even to think of any indifferent subject rather than to\nconcentrate my thoughts too intently on the slate-writing. There could\nbe no question of the result. A Medium of my unusual and excessive power\nwould find, at the end of three weeks, faint zig-zag scratches within\nthe closed slates, and these scratches would gradually assume shape,\nuntil at last messages would be legible, probably at the end of six\nweeks, or of three months at the very farthest.\n\nIn addition to this, I must wear, night and day, a piece of magnetized\npaper, about six inches square, a fresh piece every night and morning;\nits magnetism was exhausted in about twelve hours. When I mentioned to\nMr. Hazard the proposed use of this magnetized paper, he assured me that\nit was a capital idea--that he had himself used it for a headache, and\nwhen he put it on the top of his head 'it turned all his hair backward.'\nI confess to dismay when I heard this; Caffray had told me that I must\nwear this paper on the top of my head under my hat! But did it not\nbehoove the Acting Chairman of the Seybert Commission to yield himself a\nwilling victim to the cause of Psychical Research? Was to be, or not to\nbe, a Medium so evenly balanced that the turning of a hair, or of a\nwhole head of hair was to repel me? Perish the thought! That paper\nshould be worn on the top of my head, under my hat, and that hat should\nbe worn all day long. I would eat my breakfast with that hat on, eat my\ndinner with that hat on, and sleep with that hat on, and that magnetized\npaper should remain on the top of my head, let it turn my hair to all\nthe points of the compass, if it would!\n\nWhen I received the slates from Caffray he had no paper that was\nsufficiently magnetized just then; he had some sheets that were about\nhalf done, and promised to send them to me as soon as the process was\ncomplete.\n\nIn the meantime I began with the slates, sitting with them in total\ndarkness from about a quarter past eight to nine o'clock every evening,\nwith my hands resting on them lightly.\n\nIn three or four days the paper arrived. I explained to my family that\nhereafter they must not infer, from the wearing of my hat indoors and at\nmeals, either that my wits had slipped, or that I had become converted\nto Judaism, but that my conduct was to be viewed by the light of the\npure flame of research. In my secret soul I resolved that I would go at\nonce, that very morning, to New York and plead with Caffray for some\nslight easing of my ordeal. The 'Spectre of the Threshold' appeared to\nwear a silk hat, and I was afraid I never, never should pass him.\n\nThe magnetized paper I handled with awe. It was, in outward semblance,\nordinary white blotting paper, and, from some faint indications of ink\nhere and there, looked as though it might on occasion have served its\noriginal use; but had I not paid a dollar a sheet for it? It must be\ngood.\n\nAs I started for the train I put a piece on the top of my head, gave a\nfond, farewell look at my hair, and planted my hat firmly on my brows. I\nreached the train, and while looking for a seat caught sight of my\nfriend, Miss W----. Of course, I instantly bowed, and instantly there\ncame fluttering down before her astonished and bewildered eyes a piece\nof blotting paper. I snatched it hastily, and in terror lest I had\nalready broken the charm and forfeited all chance of Mediumship, retired\nto the rear of the car and furtively replaced the precious pad.\nDecidedly I must see Caffray at once.\n\nLuckily, when I reached New York I found that eminent Medium at home,\nand, 'bonneted,' rehearsed to him my dread anticipations. He could not\nrepress a grim laugh, and to my inexpressible relief gave me permission\nto wear the paper suspended round my neck next the skin.\n\nWith those precious slates I sat every night, at the same hour, in\ndarkness. I allowed nothing to interfere with this duty; no call of\nfamily, of friends, of society, was heeded. At the end of three weeks I\nsearched every molecule of the slate for the indication of a zig-zag\nline, but the surface was unsullied, and its black monotony returned\nstare for stare.\n\nStill hopeful and trustful I continued, day by day and week by week. The\nsix weeks expired. Not a zig, nor a zag. Caffray was kept busy\nmagnetizing paper. I renewed my stock and determined to push on to two\nmonths. I moved to the country and carried my slates thither, wrapped in\ndouble folds of black muslin. The days and weeks rolled on. Two months\npassed. The slates were as clean as when they came into my possession. I\nwould go on to three months. Does not a hen sit for three weeks? Where\na hen gives a week, shall not I give a month? Is not a Medium worth more\nthan a chicken?\n\n'Courage!' cried Caffray, with each batch of paper. I went to the\nseashore and my slates went with me. Not a single evening did I break my\nrule.\n\nAnd so it went on. The three months became four; became five; became\nsix!\n\nAnd there an end, with absolutely virgin slates.\n\nI had used enough blotting paper, it seemed to me, to absorb a spot on\nthe sun. I dare not calculate the number of hours I had spent in\ndarkness.\n\nLet Spiritualistic reproaches of investigators for lack of zeal and\npatience be heaped up hereafter till 'Ossa becomes a wart;' I care not;\nmy withers are unwrung.\n\n_Punch_ gives a receipt for making 'Gooseberry Fool:' 'Carefully skin\nyour gooseberries, extract the seeds and wash the pulp in three waters\nfor six hours each. Having done this with the gooseberries, the Fool is\nperfect.'\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSEALED LETTERS.\n\nReaders of the Spiritualistic literature of the present day cannot fail\nto have their attention frequently called to the remarkable power\nattributed to certain Mediums, not only of reading the contents of\nenvelopes which are securely gummed and sealed, but of returning to the\nquestions therein contained pertinent answers from friends in the other\nworld. It is far from uncommon to hear of conversions to faith in\nSpiritualism wrought by these remarkable proofs of Spiritual power. At\nthis hour, in many a loving home, responses to letters, thus sealed and\nanswered through these Mediums, are treasured as tenderest, completest\nproofs that love survives the grave and still encircles the living and\nthe dead.\n\nRecognizing in this phase of Mediumship a department of Spiritualism\ncapable of plain, matter-of-fact investigation, which could be conducted\nin writing and demanding no special powers of observation, the duty of\ninvestigation devolved mainly upon the Acting Chairman.\n\nThere are only four of these special Mediums whose advertisements I have\nseen in Spiritual papers. He who has probably the widest reputation is\nDr. James V. Mansfield, Boston. A second is Mr. R.W. Flint, New York\nCity. A third is Mrs. Dr. Eleanor Martin, Columbus, Ohio; and lastly,\nalso of the same name, Mrs. Eliza A. Martin, of Oxford, Massachusetts.\n\nThrough the Mediumship of the first, I have seen it stated that upward\nof a hundred thousand securely sealed letters have been answered; and\nthe names of men high in our business and financial world have been\ncited to me as of those who had received proofs of his power which could\nnot be questioned, nor explained on any other ground than that of\nclairvoyance, or of Spirit communication. To him, therefore, I concluded\nto apply first.\n\nThe choice of a subject whereon to communicate with a denizen of the\nother world is not easy. To follow in the well-trodden path and ask\nafter the welfare of departed friends would only end, I well knew, in\nturning on that stream of generalities, not glittering, but very dull,\nin which a large experience had taught me that disembodied Spirits\nchiefly delight when expatiating on the conditions of their changed\nexistence. Furthermore, it was desirable that from the investigation\nshould be eliminated all elements of thought-transference or of\nmind-reading. I must select a subject on which my own mind was a blank,\nand where the responses would have to be definite and unambiguous, and\nwithal quite within the scope of Spiritual knowledge.\n\nAt last, as fulfilling, in all honesty and sincerity, the requisite\nconditions, a skull in my possession was fixed on.\n\nThis skull is a relic, interesting from its dramatic associations. It\nhas been used for fifty or sixty years as a 'property' at the Walnut\nStreet Theatre, whenever 'Hamlet' has been performed, and as 'Yorick's\nskull' has been handled in that play, from Edmund Kean down to Henry\nIrving and Edwin Booth. It is preserved with care, and mounted on a\npiece of polished black marble. Surely here is a skull whose experiences\nare singular above all ordinary skulls, and in whose career its original\nowner might be not unreasonably expected to cherish some interest or to\nhave followed its fortunes with some little attention. Untold\npossibilities for the vindication of Spiritualistic truth and power hang\naround it, should there be an unwavering agreement by all Spiritual\nauthorities, as to the circumstances, when alive, of its original owner.\nSurely, I concluded, the translated inhabitants of the 'summer-land'\ncannot have doffed the homespun honesty of mortal life; all will either\nconfess ignorance with regard to this skull, or display their\ntruthfulness by a substantial harmony in their reports, and thereby\nfurnish an indisputable, irrefragable proof of the truth of\nSpiritualism.\n\nSincere in this trust, I wrote on a small sheet of paper this question:\n\"What was the name, age, sex, color or condition in life of the owner,\nwhen alive, of the skull here in my library? 28 February, 1885.\" This\npaper was put in an envelope, whereof the flap was then gummed to within\na small distance of the point, under this point some sealing-wax was\ndropped, and enough was added above it to form a large, heavy,\nsubstantial impression. At the four corners additional seals, with\ndifferent impressions, were placed. Thus gummed, and sealed with five\nseals, the envelope was enclosed to Dr. J.V. Mansfield, with a request\nthat it be subjected to his Mediumistic power.\n\nIn a few days the following was received:\n\n'Boston, March 2d, 1885.\n\nDear Furness.--Your package came duly to hand most respectfully say I\nhave given the package two sittings and re'd from two different spirits\n(purported) answer one coroberating [_sic_] the other statement One from\nRobt Hair [_sic_] the other from Dr B. Rush for the two communicates my\ncharge is 5.00 which if you will send me per registered mail I will\nremit you per return mail Respfy J.V. Mansfield I judge from the com. it\nrelates to a skeleton.'\n\nWith this letter the sealed envelope was returned, apparently in exactly\nthe same state in which it had been sent; the seals were intact, with\nthe exception perhaps of a few trifling fractures, for which the transit\nto and from Boston, through the mail, would readily account. Upon closer\ninspection, however, and upon turning the envelope so as to catch the\nlight, I thought that a slight glazing of gum was discernible around the\ncentral seal, and from beneath its edge a minute bubble of mucilage\nprotruded. The fee demanded was at once forwarded, and by return of mail\nthe following 'communicates' were received, written in pencil on long\nstrips of common paper, and in two different hands:\n\nDear Furness.--Yours of 28 Feby before me--as to this matter under\nconsideration I have looked it over and over again Called my old friend\nGeo Combe and we are of the mind it is the skull of a female--Combe says\nhe thinks it was that of a Colored woman--the age--about 40 to 44 the\nname of the one who inhabited it--it would not be possible for any\nspirit but the one who the skull belonged to If it was colored--Cornelia\nWinnie might know. Respfy ROBT HARE Mch 2 '85.'\n\nIn a larger, bolder hand on the second slip was the following:\n\n'My dear Townsman--pardon what may seem an intrusion--but seeing your\nanxiety to get the Aage [_sic_] sex--col and name of a skull in your\noffice and seeing the conclusion that Dr. Hare and Proffr Combe have\narrived at--I will say that I have looked the same over and fully concur\nin their conclusion save in the color of the one who once annimated\n[_sic_] that skull. Fowler Spurzeheim [_sic_] and Gall agree in saying\nthat Hare and Combe have nothing to base an opinion upon, as to the\ncolor--yet in sex they agree Yours with Respect\n\nBENJA RUSH M.D.\n\nExact age could not be determined. Mch 2 '85'\n\nThese answers are certainly remarkable. The very words of the question\ninside the sealed envelope are here openly repeated, and although the\nsix eminent, scientific ghosts, Hare, Combe, Fowler, Spurzheim, Gall,\nand Rush do not agree with each other on all points, yet a slight\ndivergence, or contrariety, in opinion is at times observable to the\ngrosser eyes of flesh among doctors upon earth; and then they were all\nin accord over the sex of the skull, in which problem, having one\nchance out of only two, they could not go very far afield. Moreover, the\nvery framing of the question as to sex might suggest female, and as to\ncolor might suggest black.\n\nBut had not the envelope been opened?\n\nIt occurred to me to cut the edges of the sealed envelope carefully,\nwhereby I could examine the flap, on the inside. It was done. The paper\nof the envelope under three of the seals was torn, and deception stood\nrevealed. The seals had been cut out, and restored to their position\nwith mucilage.\n\nAlthough, in legal phrase, I might rest my case here, yet I was anxious\nso to seal an envelope that while its contents could not be extracted\nwithout the destruction of the envelope and a betrayal of any attempted\nfraud, yet that an answer to the question enclosed should be quite\nwithin the clairvoyant power, so called, of the Medium, if he really\npossessed any, and as to the existence whereof I was sincerely anxious\nto obtain some satisfactory proof. Animated with this desire, I\nproceeded as follows:\n\nIn the 'communicate' from the Spirit of Dr. Hare, reference is made to\nCornelia Winnie's possible knowledge of the information which I was\nseeking in regard to the skull. Could this have been a lure to tempt me\nto knock again at the Spiritual door of which Dr. Mansfield is the\nporter?\n\nAt any rate I accepted the suggestion. On a sheet of note-paper I wrote:\n\n'Can Cornelia Winnie, or any other Spirit (Dr. Hare refers me to the\nformer), give me any particulars of the life or death of the colored\nwoman who once animated this skull here in my Library. I am entirely\nignorant myself on the subject.'\n\nThis was folded, placed in an envelope, gummed and sealed precisely as I\nhad folded, gummed and sealed the previous letter. This I marked with\nink on the outside 'No. 1.'\n\nOn another sheet of similar note-paper I repeated word for word, and\nline for line, and dot for dot, the very same question. This paper was\nalso folded and put into an envelope, BUT two or three stitches of red\nsilk were then passed through the flap of the envelope and the enclosed\npaper, sewing the two securely together; these stitches were made at the\npoint of the flap, and again at each of the four corners. Over these\nstitches, and concealing them, seals of red sealing wax were affixed.\nExteriorly the two envelopes were precisely alike. The stitched envelope\nwas marked on the outside 'No. 2.' As the contents of both were\nidentical, a clairvoyant Spirit that could answer No. 1 could answer No.\n2, but nothing less than superhuman power could extract the paper from\nNo. 2 without so tearing the envelope as to betray an un-Spiritual\norigin. These two envelopes were enclosed to our Medium with the\nfollowing note:\n\n'Dear Doctor Mansfield. The answers to my sealed letter were so\nsatisfactory and so very curious that I should like to follow up the\ninteresting subject, if I am not taxing your powers too heavily. I\ntherefore enclose two more sealed envelopes, marked No. 1 and No. 2. If\nit be possible, I should like to have you sit with No. 1 first. If the\nSpirits respond, pray send me word and let me know how much I am\nindebted to you.'\n\nMy object in asking the Medium to sit first with No. 1 was that, if he\nwere fraudulent, finding the ease with which No. 1 could be opened, he\nwould undertake the opening of No. 2 with such freedom and assurance\nthat the envelope would be torn beyond the healing power of mucilage,\nand a confession of failure would have to follow.\n\nIn a few days the envelopes were returned with the following brief note:\n\n'Dear Furness: Send you what came to your P K the 2d gave no response my\nterms are $3 for each trial--warrant nothing.\n\nRespectfully,\n\nJ.V.M.'\n\nThe Spiritual communication enclosed reads as follows:\n\n'I Bress de Lord for deh one mor to talk to de people of my ole home I\nbeen thar lots o tim since I com here--but o Lord de Massy--they no see\n_Winne_ cos she be ded and she jus no ded at tall--now--as to dot Col\ngal--_Hed_ I could not say--sure--but I think it Dinah Melish--she who\nlov de Lord too. I think it seem Dina top not. Will see Dina som time\nand then i ask her--do you no Minister Du Cachet well he here--and want\nthe [there here follows in the original a rude drawing of a decanter and\nwine glass. In this scandalous allusion there is no trace, it will be\nobserved, of phonetic spelling in the proper name] just de same. I Bress\nde Lor I don't want it.\n\nMarch 13, '85.\n\nCornelia Winnie.'\n\nAn examination of the envelope marked No. 1, by cutting it open at the\nedges, revealed the same story of fraud: three of the seals had been cut\nout, and replaced.\n\nAn examination of No. 2, in the same way, readily disclosed the reason\nwhy the Spirits had failed to answer, although the question assuredly\npresented no greater difficulties than in No. 1. An attempt had been\nmade to start two of the seals, but meeting with unexpected resistance\nin the silk stitches, and finding that further effort would end in\ntearing the envelope in a very palpable and mundane fashion, the Spirits\nhad grown disheartened and taciturn.\n\nWe shall meet this Medium again, but for the present we will leave him,\nafter pausing for a minute over his business card, which, after stating\nhis terms in prosaic dollars and cents, thus apostrophizes his\nclientele:\n\n    \"From the bright stars,\n    And viewless air\n    Sweet Spirit, if thy home be there,\n    Answer me.--Answer me.\"\n\nHappily my experience enables me to remove all doubt as to the locality\nof the Spirit's 'home,' and to state with positiveness its exact\nlocation. But like the German philologist's example of the remarkable\nincongruity in English between spelling and pronunciation, that what was\nwritten 'Boz' was pronounced 'Charles Dickens,' so I cheerfully add to\nthis list of incongruities that what is written 'bright stars' is\npronounced 'Boston,' and 'viewless air' is pronounced 'Dartmouth\nStreet.'\n\nI next turned my attention to Mr. R.W. Flint in New York. From him I\nreceived the following circular in answer to my inquiries:\n\n     \"DEAR\n\n     I am controlled by one spirit, purporting to be my guide who is the\n     scribe for the spirits, delivering (in his own hand-writing) what\n     is dictated to him by the spirit of communicating.\n\n     I am in a normal (not trance) state, but unconscious of the\n     composition.\n\n     My hand is moved to write from right to left (backwards),\n     independent of my will.\n\n     By holding the written side up to the light, the answer can be\n     read.\n\n     The spirit-letters should be SECURELY sealed, addressed to the\n     spirit, giving his or her name in full, and signed by the writer's\n     name in full; but no address on the envelope.\n\n     When left open they cannot be answered, my agency being efficient\n     only when my mind is passive, and blank to both questions and\n     answers.\n\n     Put your questions clearly, directly, briefly. The mixed and many\n     kinds defeat the object of the investigator.\n\n     I have my photograph for sale, exhibiting my Spirit Guide's hand\n     and arm, or form of control; taken while answering a sealed\n     letter.\"\n\n[The terms here follow, with honorable notification that the money is\nreturned in all cases when the letters are not answered.]\n\nIt will be noted that this Medium's 'Spirit-guide' requires the names in\nfull of both Spirit and writer; I was, therefore, forced to select a\nSpirit who knew not only me and my ways, but also the high value that is\nplaced on that skull. Mindful that eminent Spiritual authority had\npronounced this skull to be that of a colored woman, I decided, after\ndeliberation, to address the Spirit of W---- H----, a colored servant,\nwho had lived over forty years in one family a faithful, blameless life,\nand who, when he died, carried with him the respect and regards of the\nentire household, and whose widow and daughters still survive in honest,\nhumble life, and to whose ears this apparent freedom with their\nhusband's and father's name will never reach. Accordingly, the following\nnote was addressed to the Spirit world:\n\n'Dear W---- H----. Can you tell me anything about the owner, when alive,\nof the skull here in the Library? You remember how anxious I have always\nbeen to have my ignorance on this score enlightened. Have you any\nmessage to send to your wife, M---- F----? Are you happy now? Your old\nfriend, Horace Howard Furness.'\n\nThis letter was put in an envelope, which was gummed and sealed with\nfive simple seals, without the impenetrable stitches of silk, and\nenclosed with the fee to Mr. Flint. It was received again in a few days\nwith this note:--'Dear Sir--I gave your sealed Spirit-letter three\nsittings and regret to state that I have been unable to get an answer.\nMy Guide at each sitting wrote and said, the Spirit called upon is not\npresent to dictate an answer.' The fee was also returned.\n\nAn examination of the envelope by cutting at the edges, as in the\nprevious experiment, showed that the 'Spirit arm' of the Guide of Mr.\nFlint had not the nerve of Dr. Mansfield. I was at a loss to know why it\nstopped; it was going along in the removal of the seals very nicely; to\nbe sure the paper was tearing perilously near where the rent could be\ndetected from the outside, but with only a little more of Dr.\nMansfield's pluck, and the Spirit of W---- H---- would have been\npresent, and the fee pocketed. However, from whatever cause, whether\nfright or repentance, the 'flighty purpose was o'ertook,' and the Medium\nsupposed that a little mucilage would 'clear him of the deed.'\n\nNext I turned to Mrs. Eleanor Martin, in Columbus, Ohio. Without writing\na fresh letter, I sent her the same letter to W---- H----, which had\nbeen returned to me from Mr. Flint, and the envelope was sealed in the\nsimple easy way with five seals, but no silk stitches.\n\nTo this came the following response:\n\n'Columbus, Ohio, March 25th, '85.\n\n... Please find enclosed your sealed letter, also the messages, and my\nterms. I learn from the messages, your letter was written upon the\nSpiritual topic. My terms being $1.00. But in your case I find the\nmessages are at a greater length than many and according to request of\nthe Spirit \"Belle\" I paint the little white rose as her nature. Most\ntruly, Eleanor Martin.\n\nFirst message, written by one of my Guides in Spirit for the following\npersons:\n\n    MESSAGE.\n\n    In earth life I was tall and fair\n      With jet black eyes and golden hair\n    Eyes that sparkled with mirth and song\n      And whose hair in curls one yard long.\n\n    Ah but many sad years ago\n      My life was burdened with woe\n    But the seens [_sic_] through which I passed\n      Are now with gladness overcast.\n\n    I was born in your earth to await\n      The coming of a cruel fate\n    Yes, I a true and loving wife\n      But mine was a sad darkened life.\n\n    Oh a life which seemed to last\n      To me the future, as the past,\n    And as the lone hours drifted by\n      My only prayer, Oh could I die.\n\n    Cruel is the assassins hand\n      Yet so many are in your land\n    Day by day as a fearful flood\n      Hearts have flowed in tears of blood.\n\n    My own the pain, I could not tell\n      But I can say I know full well\n    My soul ne'er found sweet peace one day\n      And with earth I could no longer stay.\n\n    My form was sold to doctors three\n      So you have all that's left of me\n    I come to greet you in white mull\n      You that prizes my lonely skull.\n\n    I can cause you many bright hours\n      Strew your path in purest flowers\n    For your kindness tendered me\n      I will _always_ guard and guide thee.\n\n    You may call me your Sister Belle\n      My other name I ne'er can tell\n    They tell me it is for the best\n      To let earth's troubles be at rest.\n\n    Tis _I_ who have often raped [_sic_]\n      In your quiet room have taped [_sic_]\n    And have impressed on your mind\n      Many inquiries of me so kind.\n\n     By Blind Harry for a beautiful lady who gives the name Belle.\n\n    SECOND MESSAGE.\n\n    To my Dear friend Horace\n\n    Horace you wonder if all is well\n      Yes, I'm more happy than I can tell\n    For sorrow and trouble does not last\n      But like a sweet dream goes gliding past\n    In a smooth path of eternal day\n      Where dawns for each a perpetual May.\n\n    Dear M---- tell her, and family too\n      That I am ever to them most true\n    And I daily guide her tender feet\n      Where'er she goes upon the street\n    That she has my love forever more\n      I understand her more than before.\n\n    Oh! yes this bright and eternal space\n      Fills each true soul with love and grace\n    There is nothing like earth's crimes so vile\n      No frown wreathes the face but a sweet smile\n    And which glides along, to one and all\n      Greeting old, and young, gay, and small.\n\n    The bright spirit world is everywhere\n      And to each is appointed some care\n    To guide earth's children on their way\n      Amid the poor, as well as the gay\n    We dwell in fields of labor and love\n      Guiding thousands in true relms [_sic_] above.\n\n    Many things I would love to rehearse\n      Which would be written for me in verse\n    But so many are here to await\n      Their joyous messages to relate\n    Many friends with me are ever near\n      To guide our brother Horace dear.--\n\n    By Blind Harry.\n\n     For a gentleman who gives his name W---- H----.'\n\nThe sealed envelope scarcely needed to be opened at the back for\ninterior inspection; its exterior bore ample and all-sufficing evidence\nthat the seals had been broken, and the gum softened; the fingers which\nhad again pressed down the gummed edge were not as unsullied as 'Sister\nBelle's' white rose.\n\nThis communication from the Spirit world gave me pause. Here was food\nfor reflection. It settled many points in dispute among the scientific\nGhosts. First: they were all right on the question of sex; but Hare,\nCombe and Cornelia Winnie were wrong as to color. Sister Belle is not a\nnegress, her hair is not black and in kinks, it is golden, and its curls\nare three feet in length, moreover, a _white_ rose is her emblem. And\nwhat a sad domestic tragedy have I not here unearthed. In reading\nbetween the lines of these verses we learn that what darkened the life\nof this true and loving woman was a mercenary husband, and that this\nhusband survived her, and in his unhallowed greed sold her body, and\nthis, too, at so exorbitant a price, that it required the united purses\nof three doctors to induce him to close the bargain.\n\nSecondly: by the message from W---- H----, that most sedate and\nrespectful of all respectful colored servants, the moralist may learn\nanew the truth that Death is a leveller of all distinctions. Not even\nwhen the Emperor Charlemagne appeared at a Materializing S\u00e9ance in a\ndress-coat and standing collar, and apologetically remarked that 'Kings\nleave their ermine, sir, at the door of the tomb,' not even then was\nthis great truth driven so profoundly home as when W---- H---- greeted me\nby my Christian name, and hailed me 'brother.'\n\nNeed it be added that I gratefully remitted to Medium Number Three a\ndouble fee, and do yet consider myself many times her debtor? Her\ngratitude to me found expression in another outburst of song.\n\nHad the identity of the original owner of the skull been my sole object,\nI might well have rested content. I had found the owner, and she had\nclaimed her own. She was 'Sister Belle,' and confessed to that rare\ncombination of golden hair with black eyes, like Lady Penelope Rich, Sir\nPhilip Sydney's first love. But my duty as a member of this Commission\ncompelled me to complete my investigations, and make application to the\nfourth and last Medium for answering Sealed Letters.\n\nAs I have stated, this Medium is also a woman, and resides in\nMassachusetts. Her circular directs the sealed letters to be 'well\nsealed or stitched, so that they may not be opened until returned.'\n\nTo this Medium, Mrs. Eliza A. Martin, Oxford, Mass., was sent the same\nletter to W---- H---- that had been sent to her predecessor, of the same\nname, in Columbus, and it was put in an envelope, merely gummed and\nsealed, without the silk stitches.\n\nWithin a few days I received the following note, enclosing my sealed\nenvelope: 'A message awaits your order from W---- H----. Please state if\nyou recognize Mrs. M.F.H.--Several friends came and that name was\nmentioned.... There are some words in an unknown tongue.'\n\nThe minute that I looked at the returned envelope, I felt like standing\nuncovered, as in the presence of genius, a genius before which Mediums\nOne, Two and Three paled. Nothing could excel the unsullied virginity of\nthe seals, or of the gummed spaces between them. I felt that I must\nproceed with the utmost caution. With a very sharp penknife I then began\nto cut the edge of the envelope at one end. Scarcely had the knife been\ndrawn very slowly more than the half of an inch before it became\nmanifest that the edge of the envelope presented more resistance than\nthe simple fold of paper would make. I stopped and examined the severed\nedges. Very delicate but very distinct traces were visible of a thin\nmucilage, perhaps of rice-water or of diluted gum-tragacanth. How\nexquisite and how light are the touches of ethereal, Spiritual fingers!\nAfter all the trouble with my seals, when, emulating Dr. Watt's _Busy\nBee_, so neat I spread my wax,' it was beginning to dawn upon me that\nclairvoyant eyes, quite as much as our own, require Heaven's broad\nsunshine on black ink and white paper.\n\nThe transmission of the fee brought in a few days the following:\n\n'Dictated by the Spirit of W---- H----.\n\nTo H.H. Furness. I found things very different here from what I\nexpected. I think that is almost the universal experience. The half has\nnot been told, nor can it ever be, for no language known to humanity can\nconvey any definite knowledge of the mysteries of the Spiritual Life.\n\nI remain the same toward you and all my earthly friends. Am with you\nfrequently. Was present in your Library with you one day recently. I\nsend my love to M---- F---- and to all others who knew me in earth-life.\n\nA friend whom we both know and respect will pass over to this side\nbefore long.\n\nWill come to you again.'\n\nI cannot but think that all will agree in estimating this communication,\nwith its adroit generalization, and in its general tone as superior to\nany thus far received. On another sheet of paper was written:\n\n'There is a Spirit Friend present, who gives the name of Marie St.\nClair. Earth-life had not much pleasure for her, and a course of\ndissapation [_sic_] and sin resulted in an untimely death. Born of\nFrench parentage, and inheriting some of the peculiar characteristics of\nthat people might perhaps furnish some excuse. This Spirit says\nfurthermore, you have something which once belonged to her in your\npossession.\n\n      \"Behold this ruin, 'tis a skull\n       Once of etherial spirit full--\"\n    \"Par quel ordre du Ciel, que je ne puis compendre\n       Vous dis-je plus que je ne dois?\"\n\nHere is evidently 'a spirit of no common rate,' of whom we might well\ndesire further acquaintance, albeit at the cost of losing golden-haired,\nblack-eyed Sister Belle. But why should we talk of 'loss?' If, as Banquo\nsays, 'there's husbandry in Heaven,' why should we not in the\n'Summer-land' find one and the same skull, with frugal economy, given to\ntwo owners?\n\nDesirous of submitting the mother-wit of this Medium to the test of\nstitched envelopes, I wrote the following:--'Is Marie St. Clair pleased\nin having her skull carefully treasured here in my Library? Does it\ngratify her, as a Spirit, that it is mounted on black marble? Does she\never hover over it?'\n\nThis was placed in an envelope, gummed, and sealed with five seals in\nthe ordinary, easy-going way, and marked No. 1.\n\nThe very same questions were repeated on another piece of paper and put\nin an envelope, which was stitched securely with silk, the stitches\npassing through both the envelope and the paper, and carefully concealed\nunder the sealing wax. This was marked No. 2, and in the note\naccompanying these two envelopes, the Medium was requested to sit with\nNo. 1 first. The Test was the same as that to which Dr. Mansfield had\nbeen subjected, and to which he had succumbed.\n\nThe mail soon returned both envelopes, with this note:--'The reply comes\nto us in the affirmative to both envelopes. There is quite a\ncommunication for you from same Spirit Friend.'\n\nA close examination of the edges of the envelopes soon revealed the edge\nat which they had been opened and closed again. That edge has been\npreserved intact for future verification, if required, and the envelopes\nwere opened by cutting the other edges. The seals had not been removed;\nas, in fact, there was no need of removing them. The paper containing\nthe questions had not been extracted from No. 2; it still remained\nfirmly stitched to the front of the envelope. Yet the Medium had\nevidently read it. Her words are 'the reply comes in the affirmative to\nboth envelopes,' which is a good, fair answer. I was puzzled, it must be\nconfessed. Suddenly it occurred to me to try how far one could look into\nthe contents of the paper, supposing the end of the envelope to be open.\nI tried it, and lo! enough can be easily read to make out that No. 2 is\na repetition of No. 1. The needle had missed taking up all the folds of\nthe paper!\n\nThe communication from Marie St. Clair, which accompanied these\nenvelopes, runs thus:--'To H.H. Furness. Your kindly nature has often\ndrawn the Spirit of Marie to your side. I consider myself indebted to\nyou for certain acts which you will understand. Not that the poor\ninanimate thing which you have so kindly treated, is of itself of much\naccount, but your kindness has often drawn me to your side in moments\nwhen you little dreamed I were near. Had I met in material existence one\nlike yourself my past might have been far different. In this beautiful\nlife, the sources and courses of all earthly misfortunes and sins appear\nto us like a figure seen in a dream. The lowest plane of Spiritual life\nis as much superior to earthly existence as sunlight is superior to\nstarlight. From Marie St. Clair. Please inform Mrs. Martin why you so\ncarefully preserved the skull, and where you obtained it, and all you\nknow about it, and oblige yours truly, E.A. Martin. There is an acrostic\nupon your name waiting for you here from Marie.'\n\nIf the fair and frail Marie appears somewhat cautious in direct\nallusions to her skull, and to her 'earth-life,' it is certainly to her\ncredit that she seems to have retained no taint of mercenary greed. She\nmade no demand or reference to a fee, and a second letter had to be sent\nto her Medium to learn the amount of my debt. This is her reply:--'Your\nkind favour came duly to me, and as your message to your Spirit Friend\nwas delivered previously, that is, as soon as it was written, I had no\nfurther effort to make than to convey the following to you:\n\n'Amants, heureux amants, voulez-vous voyager! Que ce soit aux rives\nprochaines.\n\nPatience, je n'en ai pas quand je suis si pr\u00e8s et si loin de vous.\n\nAh! tout ce qu'il y a dans le coeur de crainte, de douleur, de\ndesespoir, j'ai tout devin\u00e9; tout souffert, je puis tout exprimer\nmaintenant surtout la joie. Adieu! Marie St. Clair.'\n\nHere end my investigations into the power of Spirits to answer sealed\nquestions.\n\nIn every instance the envelopes had been opened and reclosed; it is\ntherefore scarcely necessary to add that every instance has borne the\nstamp of Fraud.\n\nThere is yet one other dark chapter, perhaps the darkest of all, which\nmy duty compelled me to read.\n\nI began with Dr. Mansfield, in Boston; let me end with him there.\n\nIn addition to the answering of sealed letters sent to him by mail, this\nMedium exercises his Mediumistic powers on questions propounded to him,\nor rather to the Spirits through him, at his own home.\n\nHis method of work, as described by several highly intelligent\nobservers, is somewhat as follows:--There are two tables in the room of\ns\u00e9ance, at one of which sits the Medium, at the other the visitor. The\nvisitor at his table writes his question in pencil at the top of a long\nslip of paper, and, after folding over several times the portion of the\nslip on which his question is written, gums it down with mucilage and\nhands it to the Medium, who thereupon places on the folded and gummed\nportion his left hand, and in a few minutes with his right hand writes\ndown answers to the concealed questions; these answers are marvels of\npertinency, and prove beyond a cavil the Clairvoyant or Spiritual powers\nof the Medium. So remarkable are the results of this phase of\nMediumship, that through them and through the high standing and\nintelligence of those who believe in him, this particular Medium is a\ntower of Spiritualistic strength. Examine my informants as narrowly as\npossible, there appeared to be no possibility of fraud. The impression\nhad gradually deepened in my mind that here is an instance of genuine\nSpiritual power. But the fraudulent character of his dealings with the\nsealed letters made me fear that _falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus_.\n\nOn the 14th of May, 1885, I called on Dr. Mansfield at his house, No. 28\nDartmouth Street, and was ushered into the second story front room--a\nbedroom. There were, I think, three front windows looking on the street;\nat the farthest was the Medium's table, so placed sideways to the\nwindow, and close to it, that the full light fell on the Medium's left\nhand, as he sat at it, and faced the middle of the room. In front of the\nMedium, as he sat at the table with his back to the wall, were the usual\nwriting materials, lead pencils and mucilage bottle, and beyond them, on\nthe edge of the table farthest from the Medium, and between him and the\nrest of the room, was a row of books, octavos, etc., extending the whole\nlength of the table and terminating in a tin box, like a deed box, with\npamphlets on it. When the Medium sits at his table, this row of books is\nbetween him and his visitor. The table for the visitor is a small one,\nnear one of the other windows and six or seven feet from the Medium. On\nthis table were a number of strips of paper and a pencil.\n\nThe Medium, who did not ask my name, bade me take a seat at the small\ntable and write my question on one of the strips of paper, and then to\nfold down the paper two or three times.\n\nI sat down and wrote, \"Has Marie St. Clair met Sister Belle in the other\nworld?\" I then folded that portion of the strip of paper down three\ntimes, and told the Medium that it was ready for the mucilage; he came\nover from his table at once with a brush of mucilage, and spread it\nabundantly under the last fold. Then, taking the strip between his thumb\nand forefinger, he walked with it back to his table, keeping it in my\nsight all the time. As soon as he took his seat and laid the strip on\nhis table before him, I rose and approached his table, so as to keep my\npaper still in sight; _the row of books entirely intercepted my view of\nit_. The Medium instantly motioned to me to return to my seat, and, I\nthink, told me to do so. I obeyed, and as I did so could not repress a\nprofound sigh. Why had no one ever told me of that row of books? The\nMedium did not sit in statue-like repose, but moved his body much, and\nhis arms frequently; his hands I could not see, hidden as they were,\nbehind the row of books. After a minute or two the Medium looked up and\nsaid, 'I don't know whether I can get any communication from this\nSpirit,' a remark which a long experience with Slate-Writing Mediums has\ntaught me to regard as a highly favorable omen, and as an indication\nthat they have read the question and are now about to begin the little\ngame, in which I always take much interest, of experiencing great\ndifficulty in obtaining the 'rapport,' as they term it. Dr. Mansfield\nfrowned, shook his head and assumed an air of great doubt and\nperplexity. I was certain that there would be now an ostentatious\ndisplay of the strip of paper, and sure enough, in a minute more the\nMedium, strip in hand, came over to my table, and shook his head\nominously. He placed his left hand on the portion of the strip\ncontaining my question, and began tapping on it with his forefinger.\n'Pray, tell me,' I said, 'is that motion of your forefinger voluntary or\ninvoluntary?' 'It's my telegraph to 'em,' he replied, 'getting 'em to\ncome.' 'I don't want to weary you,' I rejoined, 'but if that tapping\nwill bring them, _do_ keep it up! I cannot tell you how anxious I am to\nhear from this Spirit.' He paused, and then made some marks, like\ncabalistic signs, which are still to be seen on the paper. Then the\ntapping was resumed. Then more cabalistic signs were made. At last he\nsaid, 'Put your left foot against mine, and your left knee against mine,\nand hook your forefinger into mine, and pull hard.' I did so. 'Stop,' he\ncried, 'is it Maria?' 'Yes,' I replied, 'that's it, she is called\n\"Marie.\" It's Marie!' 'I have to go by the sound,' he rejoined. We then\npulled forefingers again. 'Stop,' he cried, 'is there a \"Saint\" about\nit?' 'Yes,' I answered, 'St. is the first part of the next name! I have\nso longed to have her come to me.' Dr. Mansfield arose, gathered up the\nstrip and returned to his table. I could go now unopposed and stand by\nhim while he wrote the following: 'I am with you my dear Bro but too\nxcited to speak for a moment have patience brother and I will do the\nbest I can do to control. Your sister\n\nMarie St. Clair.'\n\nThe change in kinship, and its novelty, staggered me somewhat; clearly\nthey manage things differently in the 'Summer-land.' However, I mastered\nmy emotion. 'And now,' I said, 'for the great question,' and was going\nhastily to my table to write it. 'Stop,' said the Medium, 'you're too\nexcited to ask that question now. Put some other questions first. Then\nwhen you are calmer put the important question.' (A clever stroke! He\ndid not know enough of me or of Marie to answer _anything_ definitely--a\nfew intermediate questions might furnish him with many a clue.) 'But, my\ndear sir,' I cried, 'what _can_ I ask about? I have but one thought in\nmy mind; _that_ engulfs all others. If I don't ask that, I shall have to\nask Marie if she minds this pouring rain, or some twaddle about the\nweather.' 'Well, well, you'd better ask it then, and get it off your\nmind, and we'll see how far Marie can answer it.' (Here let me recall\nthat stanza in Sister Belle's communication wherein she says:\n\n    \"My form was sold to doctors three\n    And you have all that's left of me,\" etc.)\n\n\nI sat down at my table and wrote: 'Is it really true that Sister Belle's\nbody was sold to three doctors?' I folded it down, carried it to the\nMedium's table, watched him gum it, and still remained standing at his\ntable, but he immediately and peremptorily waved me to my seat. Again\nwere his hands and my strip of paper, with its _freshly gummed_ fold,\ncompletely hidden from sight, behind the row of books. Again the\nMedium's arms moved. He turned to the window and hastily pulled down the\nshade. This puzzled me. There was no sunshine to be excluded, it was\nraining fast outside, the day was unusually dark, and he needed all the\nlight he could get. I turned and looked out of my window, and there in\nthe house just across the narrow street, at a window on a level with\nours, and commanding a full view of the Medium's table, sat a woman\nsewing, with another, I think, standing by her. 'Bravo!' I thought, 'are\nnot the four Cardinal virtues, Temperance, Justice, _Prudence_ and\nFortitude?' and then resumed my watch inside. Dr. Mansfield finished\nwriting, and then held up the slip as though for a final revision before\nhanding it to me. A toothpick which he had in his mouth worked\nenergetically from side to side, and he gravely shook his head as in\nperplexity. 'I don't like this,' he ejaculated at last, 'I don't want to\ngive it to you. There'll be trouble here. It's very serious. Better let\nme tear it up.' 'Let me see it,' I cried, 'I promise you I'll be calm,'\nand I took the strip from his fingers and read:\n\n'Dear Brother--I fear such was the case--but--I could not say who--I\nhave consulted Dr. Hare--and the far famed Benja Rush, and they agree\nthat the body is not in the earth--I fear darling Belle's body--is in\nprocess of being--wired. Marie St. Clair.'\n\nThe last word was not, I thought, quite legible, so I appealed to the\nMedium, and when he solemnly said 'wired,' the utterance with which I\ngreeted it he probably thought was a groan, and, indeed, from the\nborderland of laughter, I did try to push it over into the land of\ntears, as hard as I could.\n\nMy third question immediately followed: \"Can you give me any information\nas to where even a portion of the body is?\" Again I was waved to my\nseat, again my strip of paper and the hands were concealed, again the\narms were nervously moved. This answer I awaited with not a little\nanxiety. Surely, surely, Marie St. Clair and Sister Belle would remember\nthat their joint skull was in my library. They had told me so, only a\nfew weeks before, and as that skull was known to be fifty or sixty years\nold, and their united memory of it had lasted throughout those long\nyears, surely that memory would not desert them now. And Dr. 'Benja'\nRush, who had recently greeted me as 'townsman,' he was present and\nsurely he would come to the rescue of Spiritualism, and gladly seize the\nchance to settle the question which he had once discussed with Combe,\nand Gall, and Spurzheim by bringing forward the frail Marie and the\ngolden-haired, black-eyed Belle as tenants in common (and uncommon) of\nthe same skull. Moreover, I thought, are there not to be found in\nAnatomical Museums skeletons of infants with one body and two heads? Why\nmay not this have been an instance of one head and two bodies? To be\nsure, one of the bodies lived in Ohio and the other in Massachusetts,\nbut then when we have once started on a journey through the marvels of\nSpiritualism, as portrayed by these four Mediums, what does such a\ntrifle as this amount to? I had, I reflected, in all seriousness, taken\nno single step in the investigation of these Mediums that was not fully\nauthorized by the explicit statements received from the Mediums\nthemselves. I had accepted as truth what they told me was truth. If\nSpiritualism is hereby wounded, it is wounded in the house of its own\ndisciples.\n\nAt last my answer came: 'I am not allowed to divulge what _I_\nthink--much less what I know--it would be productive of more harm than\ngood--let them have it--it is but earth at best--they have not got _our_\nprecious Belle--she is safe in the Haven of Eternal repose--_I_ would\nnot make any noise about it--but let it pass--as a discovery of it would\ngive you pain rather than otherwise--Belle says let it pass--the\n_triune_ that have it bought it without knowing whose it was, and such\ncare as little as they know.\n\nMarie St. Clair.'\n\nI felt that it was time that a conclusion should be put to this farce,\nso humiliating in the thought that honest, unsuspicious, gentle men and\ngentle women are daily deceived by it. Nevertheless, I wished to bring\nthe 'wheel full circle' to this Medium's Spiritual communications of\naforetime. I recalled that Cornelia Winnie's spirit had said that she\nthought the skull was Dina Melish's 'top not.' My fourth, and last,\nquestion therefore ran: 'Do you think that by any chance Dina Melish\nwould know?' To which the answer came: 'Well Brother, as to that She may\nknow more than She may be willing to divulge--you see, Brother, it\nplaces Dinah in a very unpleasant position, _i.e._, should it be noised\nabroad that she was in the secret. I do not by any means censure Dinah\nfor what she may know, if _know_ she does. You could xamine Dinah on\nthat point--carefully, not allowing her to suspect your object in so\ndoing. You might and might not elicit some light on the matter.\n\nMarie St. Clair.'\n\n14 May, '85.\n\nAfter I had handed this last question to Dr. Mansfield a slight incident\nenabled me, to my own satisfaction, to note the exact instant when he\nread my question (he would say, 'clairvoyantly') behind his row of\nbooks. He once lifted his eyes to mine, and met them full for an instant\nin a piercing look. I do not think he suspected that I was his former\ncorrespondent (I would have told him willingly who I was if he had ever\nasked me), but the name 'Dina Melish' seemed to come back to his memory,\nas one that he had heard but could not localize. Of course I knew that\nhe had just read my question.\n\nI told him that these were all the questions I desired to ask him. He\nexhorted me to be calm, and told me a cheerful story of a young girl's\nhaving been recently buried alive, of which, I infer, the moral was,\nthat she would have found it more comfortable all round to have been\nsold to the doctors. I paid him his fee and left.\n\nIn conclusion, let me add that we have by no means exhausted the lessons\nwhich Spiritualism, in the hands of some of its votaries, can teach us.\nTo our purblind vision the joint ownership of one skull by two different\npersons presents a physiological problem more or less difficult of\nsolution. But all difficulty vanishes as soon as 'the river is crossed.'\nI derived no little comfort and much light from a Materializing S\u00e9ance\nwhich I attended shortly afterwards in Boston, where both Marie St.\nClair and Sister Belle appeared together, at the same time, and greeted\nme with affectionate warmth. To my inexpressible relief they were each\nwell provided with skulls. They were more mature and matronly, I\nconfess, than my ardent fancy had painted them, and Sister Belle's\n'golden curls one yard long' were changed to very straight black hair;\nthe golden hue which Sister Belle had herself ascribed to them must have\nbeen due to the light in which she saw them, 'the light that never was\non sea or land.'\n\nI was pleased to find that Marie's English was excellent, without a\ntrace of foreign accent. But this, and the matronly appearance, I\nlearned subsequently were presumably due to the age, shape and nativity\nof the Medium through whom she materialized. For when Marie afterwards\nappeared to me, as she did many times at another Medium's s\u00e9ances, her\nappearance was quite youthful, with clustering brown curls low down on\nher forehead, which when I once attempted to stroke I found to be full\nof sharp pins; and to my expressions of gratitude that she should so\nkindly appear to me, she lisped in broken English: 'I am viz you\nolvays.' The present of an amber necklace, with the name 'Marie'\nengraved on the silver clasp, obtained for me from her the written\nexpression of her pleasure that I had carefully preserved what I assured\nher was 'the last thing on her neck before she passed over.' Need I say\nthat this document, in Marie's own handwriting, invests the skull with\neven added interest?\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMATERIALIZATION.\n\nI think it would be difficult to find a psychological study more\ninteresting than that which is afforded by a Materializing s\u00e9ance. I\nhave never attended one that did not yield abundant food for reflection,\nand present one problem, at least, too deep for any solution I can\ndevise. Although, perhaps, our first experience in such s\u00e9ances makes\nthe deepest impression, yet the novelty never wears off, nor can custom\nstale its variety. The audiences are never wholly the same, and every\nMedium has her own peculiar method.\n\nIn the cities where the Mediums reside, and where they hold their\ns\u00e9ances on regular days throughout the winter, the audiences are by no\nmeans composed only of those who go out of idle curiosity; these form\nbut a small segment of the 'circle,' the majority are regular\nattendants, mostly those whose lives have been clouded by sorrow, and\nwho go thither as to a church or sanctuary, and so serious and earnest\nis their deportment that I cannot imagine any temptation to open levity.\nThis unaffectedly religious character of these s\u00e9ances cannot fail, I\nthink, to strike even the most indifferent. The careful arrangement of\nthe visitors who are to compose what is termed the 'circle;' the nice\nbalancing of positive natures with negative natures, wherein the Medium\nis guided by her delicate spiritual insight; the quiet hush; the\nwhispered conversation; the darkened room; the darker drapery of the\nmysterious Cabinet, with its untold possibilities; the subdued chords of\nthe dim melodeon; the soothing tones of familiar hymns, in which all\nvoices join; the words full of assurance of a deathless life, of\nimmortal love, of reunion with earthly idols, not lost, but gone before\nonly a very little distance, and now present and impatient for the\nMedium's trance to enable them to return radiant with love and joy--all\nthese conspire to kindle emotions deeply religious in hearts that are\nbreaking under blows of bereavement, and of such, as I have said, the\nmajority of the audiences are composed. Every effort is made by the\nMediums to heighten the effect. Before entering the Cabinet to undergo\nher mysterious trance, the Medium generally makes a short address,\nreminding the circle that this is a solemn hour, that here is the\nforecourt of the world beyond, thronged with living Spirits, eager to\nreturn, bearing visible, tangible assurance of immortality and of\nenduring love, and that the mysterious agency, whereby they return, is\ngreatly aided by a sympathetic harmony in the circle, and so forth. The\nMedium then enters the Cabinet; the curtains close; the light is\nlowered; the organ sounds some solemn chords, gliding into the hymn,\n'Nearer, my God, to Thee,' which all join in singing. At its close there\nis a hush of anticipation; and that nature must be unimpressionable\nindeed, that is not stirred when the dark, heavy folds of the curtains\nof the Cabinet are discerned to be tremulously moving; and, as they\ngently part, disclose a figure veiled from head to foot in robes of\nwhite.\n\nIf the return of the heavenly visitant would but end here, I think the\nimpression would be deeper and more abiding. The filmy, vague outline of\nthe white figure thoroughly harmonizes with all established, orthodox\nnotions of ghosts, and if this were all of the apparition vouchsafed to\nus, we might, perhaps, have a harder problem to deal with than when the\nSpirit actually emerges from the Cabinet with outstretched arms of\ngreeting. A substantial, warm, breathing, flesh and blood ghost, whose\nfoot-falls jar the floor, is slightly heterodox and taxes our credulity;\nif hereunto be added an unmistakable likeness to the Medium in form and\nfeature, many traces, I am afraid, of the supernatural and spiritual\nvanish.\n\nMindful of our endeavour as a Commission, to have as many observers as\npossible in cases demanding close observation, I never attended a\nMaterializing s\u00e9ance as a member of this Commission. Whenever I happened\nto be personally known (and my ear-trumpet soon makes me a marked man),\nthat official capacity was unavoidably imputed to me, but I never\nannounced it nor claimed it. I was present merely as an observer on my\nown account, with the intention of making arrangements, if practicable,\nfor s\u00e9ances with the rest of the Commission, if what I saw seemed to me\nsufficiently remarkable to justify the expense, which experience, with\nother Mediums in other lines, had taught me would be very considerable.\nI therefore took no notes, and could at this late day only after much\ndifficulty furnish dates. Wherefore all that I propose in this\nMemorandum is to give my own private conclusion, which is worth no more\nthan the conclusion of any other private individual, and to mention the\ntest to which I subjected all the Spirits whom I had the pleasure of\nspecially 'interviewing'; as this test can be applied by any one, at any\ntime, at any s\u00e9ance, it partakes of the nature of a general truth, which\ndoes not need the support of dates, or names, or places to uphold it. I\nsuppose I have attended between twenty and thirty Materializing s\u00e9ances.\n\nI do not hesitate to acknowledge that I have been throughout sincerely\nand extremely anxious to become converted to Spiritualism. In whatever\ndirection my judgment is warped, it is warped in favor of that belief. I\ncannot conceive of the texture of that mind which would not welcome such\nan indisputable proof of immortality as Spiritualism professes to hold\nout.\n\nIn general, then, let me say at once and emphatically that I have never\nseen anything which, in the smallest degree, has led me to suppose that\na Spirit can be, as it is termed, materialized. It is superfluous to add\nthat I never recognized a materialized Spirit; in only two instances\nhave any Spirits professed to be members of my family, and in one of\nthose two instances, as it happened, that member was alive and in robust\nhealth, and in the other a Spirit claimed a fictitious relationship,\nthat of niece.\n\nOf course this assertion applies only to those Spirits who materialized\nespecially for me. I do not pretend to answer for Spirits who came to\nother people. All that I am quite sure of is that all the Spirits who\nsingled me out from the circle, and emerged from the Cabinet for my\nbenefit, were not only abundantly 'padded round with flesh and fat,' but\nalso failed utterly in any attempt to establish their individuality; and\nmoreover, in the instances where I had seen the Medium before she\nentered the Cabinet, so closely resembled the Medium as, in my eyes, to\nbe indistinguishable from her.\n\nIt is, I confess, a very puzzling problem (it is, in fact, the problem\nto which I alluded above) to account for the faith, undoubtedly genuine,\nwhich Spiritualists have in the personal reappearance of their departed\nfriends. Again and again have I asked those who have returned, from an\ninterview with a Spirit at the Cabinet, to their seats beside me,\nwhether or not they had recognized their friends beyond a peradventure,\nand have always received an affirmative reply, sometimes strongly\naffirmative. I was once taken to the Cabinet by a woman and introduced\nto the Shade of her dead husband. When we resumed our seats, I could not\nhelp asking her: 'Are you _sure_ you recognized him?' Whereupon she\ninstantly retorted, with much indignation, 'Do you mean to imply that I\ndon't _know_ my _husband_?' Again, at another s\u00e9ance, a woman, a\nvisitor, led from the Cabinet to me a Materialized Spirit, whom she\nintroduced to me as 'her daughter, her dear, darling daughter,' while\nnothing could be clearer to me than the features of the Medium in every\nline and lineament. Again and again, men have led round the circles the\nMaterialized Spirits of their wives, and introduced them to each visitor\nin turn; fathers have taken round their daughters, and I have seen\nwidows sob in the arms of their dead husbands. Testimony, such as this,\nstaggers me. Have I been smitten with color-blindness? Before me, as far\nas I can detect, stands the very Medium herself, in shape, size, form,\nand feature true to a line, and yet, one after another, honest men and\nwomen at my side, within ten minutes of each other, assert that she is\nthe absolute counterpart of their nearest and dearest friends, nay, that\nshe _is_ that friend. It is as incomprehensible to me as the assertion\nthat the heavens are green, and the leaves of the trees deep blue. Can\nit be that the faculty of observation and comparison is rare, and that\nour features are really vague and misty to our best friends? Is it that\nthe Medium exercises some mesmeric influence on her visitors, who are\nthus made to accept the faces which she wills them to see? Or is it,\nafter all, only the dim light and a fresh illustration of _la nuit tous\nles chats sont gris_? The light, be it remembered, is always dim at\nthese s\u00e9ances, and it is often made especially dim when a Spirit leaves\nthe Cabinet. I think I have never been able at such times to read the\nArabic numerals on my watch, which happen to be unusually large and\npronounced. Unquestionably Spiritualists will be at no loss to explain\nthis puzzle; possibly they would say that I have here unconsciously\ngiven one of the very best of proofs of the reality and genuineness of\nMaterialization, and that my unbelief acts on the sensitive, evanescent\nfeatures of the Spirit like a chemical reagent, and that--but it is not\nworth while to weaken by anticipation their solacing arguments.\n\nIn any statement of this problem we should bear in mind all the\nattending circumstances: the darkened room; the music; the singing; the\npervading hush of expectation; the intensely concentrated attention; the\nstrained gaze at the dark Cabinet and at its white robed apparitions;\nand finally, the presence of a number of sympathizing believers.\n\nThere is another fact about these s\u00e9ances which I think cannot fail to\nimpress even the most casual observer, and this is the attractive charms\nwhich the Cabinet seems to possess for the aboriginal Indian. This child\nof nature appears to materialize with remarkable facility, and, having\napparently doffed his characteristic phlegm in the happy hunting\ngrounds, enters with extreme zest on the lighter gambols which sometimes\nenliven the sombre monotony of a s\u00e9ance. Almost every Medium keeps an\nIndian 'brave' in her cohort of Spirits; in fact, there is no Cabinet,\nhowe'er so ill attended, but has some Indian there. It is strange, too,\nthat, as far as I know, departed black men, who might be supposed to be\nquite as unsophisticated as departed red men, have hitherto developed\nno such materializing proclivities. It is, perhaps, even more strange\nthat while, in my experience, Italian Spirits neither understand nor\nspeak Italian, and French Spirits can neither comprehend nor talk\nFrench, and German Spirits remain invincibly dumb in German, it is\nreserved to Indian 'braves' to be glibly and fluently voluble in the\nexplosive gutturals of their own well-known tongue.\n\nBefore a s\u00e9ance begins, a thorough examination of the Cabinet is always\ntendered, a privilege of which I very seldom avail myself, and hold to\nbe always superfluous, on the following grounds: First, if the Spirits\nwhich come out of the Cabinet be genuine, it is of very small moment how\nthey got in, and no possible scrutiny of the material structure of the\nCabinet will disclose the process. Secondly, if the Spirits be\nfraudulent, the Mediums are too quick-witted and ingenious in their\nmethods of introducing confederates into the Cabinet not to conceal all\ntraces of mechanical contrivance far too effectually to be detected in\nany cursory examination. It is also to be borne in mind that much can be\ndone under cover of the darkness, which is sometimes total for a few\nminutes before the s\u00e9ance begins, and also that the notes of the\nmelodeon are sufficiently deep and loud to drown not a little rustling.\nIf the Mediums are deceitful I have always felt that in any endeavor to\nunmask them the odds are heavily in their favor. The methods are\nmanifold whereby confederates may be introduced into the Cabinet: from\nabove, from below, and, enveloped in black stuff, from back parlors,\nrooms and closets. It is not what goes into the Cabinet which, in my\nopinion, demands our scrutiny but what comes out of it; it is to the\nSpirits to which all our tests should be applied, the Cabinet and the\nMedium are quite secondary. Furthermore, it should be remembered that\nthose who sit nearest to the Cabinet are always staunch friends of the\nMedium, or known by her to be perfectly safe and harmless.\n\nNot infrequently a Materialized Spirit is seen to subside into the floor\nbetween the folds of the curtains at the opening of the Cabinet, This is\ntermed 'de-materialization,' and not a little mystery is ascribed to it.\nThe mystery vanishes when we reflect how easy it is for a lithe and\nactive young woman so to bow down quickly, even to the very ground, as\nto convey the impression, when her white garments are alone visible\nagainst a black background, that she has sunk into the floor. I have at\ntimes distinctly felt the faint jar caused by the Medium's falling\nbackward within the dark curtains a little too hastily. At times, when\nthe Spirit is wholly within the Cabinet, and visible only through the\nparted folds of the curtain, the semblance of a gradual sinking is\nobtained by simply uniting slowly the two folds of the black curtain,\nbeginning at the head and gradually closing them down to the feet; the\nroom is generally so dark that the dark curtain is indistinguishable at\na little distance, and the effect of slowly falling is admirably\nconveyed. In one instance, where the Spiritual garments were not white,\nbut particolored (the Spirit was a Scotch girl and wore the tartan), the\neffect of de-materializing was capitally given by the Spirit's standing\njust inside the slightly parted curtains, and then allowing the whole\nouter costume, even to the head-dress, to fall swiftly to the floor.\nPerhaps the best effect in this line, that I have seen, was on one\noccasion when a Spirit had retired within the folds of the curtain, but\napparently immediately reappeared again at the opening; she had been\nhabited somewhat like a nun with white bands and fillets around the head\nand face; thus, too, was she clad at her reappearance, but, as I sat\nquite close to the Cabinet, I perceived that the figure was composed\nmerely of the garments of the former Spirit, and that there was no face\nat all within the head-gear. I am sure the omission could not have been\ndetected at the distance at which the rest of the circle sat. This\nsnow-white figure was allowed to sink very, very slowly, the dark\ncurtains uniting above it as it gradually sank, until only the oval\nwhite head-dress around what should have been a face rested for a few\nseconds on the very floor, and then suddenly collapsed. It was in the\nhighest degree ingeniously devised and artistically executed.\n\nThere are also various styles of appearing as well as of disappearing. I\nthink the very best and most effective of them all is where a Spirit\ngradually materializes before our very eyes, outside of the Cabinet, far\nenough, indeed, outside to give the appearance to a visitor directly in\nfront of rising up from the very centre of the room. A minute spot of\nwhite, no larger than a dollar, is first noticed on the floor; this\ngradually increases in size, until there is a filmy, gauzy mass which\nrises fold on fold like a fountain, and then, when it is about a foot\nand a-half high, out of it rises a Spirit to her full height, and either\nswiftly glides to greet a loved one in the circle, or as swiftly retires\nto the Cabinet. It is really beautiful, and its charm is not diminished\nby a knowledge of the simplicity of the process, which, as I have sat\nmore than once when the Cabinet was almost in profile, I soon detected.\nThe room is very dark, the outline of the black muslin Cabinet can only\nwith difficulty be distinguished even to one sitting within six feet of\nit; a fold of black cloth, perhaps five feet long and four feet wide, is\nthrown from the Cabinet forward into the room, one end is held within\nthe Cabinet at about two or three feet above the floor, and from under\nthe extreme opposite edge, where it rests on the floor, some white tulle\nis slowly protruded, a very little at first, but gradually more and more\nis thrust out, until there is enough there to permit the Spirit, who has\ncrept out from the Cabinet under the black cloth and has been busy\npushing out the white tulle, to get her head and shoulders well within\nthe mass, when she rises swiftly and gracefully, and the dark cloth is\ndrawn back into the Cabinet. I always want to applaud it; it is\ncharming.\n\nOn one occasion, a Spirit tried this pretty mode of materialization, not\ndirectly in front of the Cabinet, but at the side quite close to where I\nsat. The Cabinet was merely a frame to which were attached black muslin\nor cloth curtains, and a Spirit can emerge at the side quite as\nconveniently as in front. Unfortunately this time, through some\nheedlessness, the Spirit did not creep out of the frame-work with\nsufficient care, and some portion of her garments must have caught when\nshe was only on her knees. I never shall forget the half-comic,\nhalf-appealing, feminine glance as her eyes looked up into mine, when\nshe was only partially materialized and some plaguey nail had caught her\nangel robe. It was very hard not to spring to her assistance; but such\ngallantry would have been excessively ill-timed, so I was forced to sit\nstill while the poor _animula, vagula, blandula_, worked herself free\nand arose unfettered by my side.\n\nPerhaps this is as fitting a place as any to mention the test whereby I\nhave tried the Spirits who have come to me.\n\nAs this same lovely Spirit arose and looked graciously down on me and\nheld out her hands in welcome, I arose also to my feet, and peering\nanxiously into her face, asked, 'Is this Olivia?' 'Yes,' she softly\nmurmured in reply. Then ensued the following conversation which I\nreproduce as faithfully as I can. It was broken off once by the Spirit's\nretiring into the Cabinet, but resumed when she again appeared to me.\n\n'Ah, Olive dear, how lovely of you to materialize! Did you really want\nto come back?' 'Very much, of course,' she answered. 'And do you\nremember the sweet years of old?' 'All of them,' she whispered. 'Do you\nremember,' I continued, 'the old oak near Sumner-place?' [A happy hit,\nin the longitude of Boston!] 'Yes, indeed, I do,' was the low reply, as\nher head fell gently on my shoulder. 'And do you remember, Olive dear,\nwhose names were carved on it?' 'Yes; ah, yes!' 'Oh, Olive, there's one\nthing I want so much to ask you about. Tell me, dear, if I speak of\nanything you don't remember. What was the matter with you that\nafternoon, one summer, when your father rode his hunter to the town, and\nAlbert followed after upon his; and then your mother trundled to the\ngate behind the dappled grays. Do you remember it, dear?' 'Perfectly.'\n'Well, don't you remember, nothing seemed to please you that afternoon,\nyou left the novel all uncut upon the rosewood shelf, you left your new\npiano shut, something seemed to worry you. Do you remember it, dear\none?' 'All of it, yes, yes.' 'Then you came singing down to that old\noak, and kissed the place where I had carved our names with many vows.\nTell me, you little witch, who were you thinking of all that time?' 'All\nthe while of you,' she sighed. 'And do you, oh, do you remember that you\nfell asleep under the oak, and that a little acorn fell into your bosom\nand you tossed it out in a pet? Ah, Olive dear, I found that acorn, and\nkissed it twice, and kissed it thrice for thee! And do you know that it\nhas grown into a fine young oak?' 'I know it,' she answered softly and\nsadly, 'I often go to it!' This was almost too much for me, and as my\nmemory, on the spur of the moment, of Tennyson's _Talking Oak_ was\ngrowing misty, I was afraid the interview might become embarrassing for\nlack of reminiscences, so I said, 'Dearest Olivia, that is so lovely of\nyou. There, be a good girl, good-bye now. You'll surely come and see me\nagain the next time I come here, won't you?' 'Yes, indeed, I will.' I\nreleased my arm from encircling a very human waist, and Olive lifted her\nhead from my shoulder, where she had been speaking close to my ear, and\nde-materialized.\n\nMarie St. Clair, who, on Spiritual authority as I have shown above,\nshares the ownership with Sister Belle of 'Yorick's' skull in my\npossession, has never failed to assent whenever I ask a Spirit if it be\nshe. To be sure, she varies with every different Medium, but that is\nonly one of her piquant little ways, which I early learned to overlook\nand at last grew to like. She is both short and tall, lean and plump,\nwith straight hair and with curls, young and middle-aged, so that now it\naffords me real pleasure to meet a new variety of her; but in all her\nvarieties she never fails to express her delight over my guarding with\ncare that which was 'the last thing on her neck before she passed over.'\nI was extremely anxious to obtain a written acknowledgment of this\npleasure from Marie, and accordingly I took with me to one of the\ns\u00e9ances a little trinket, and told the Spirit that I would give it to\nher if she would just write down for me a few words expressive of this\npleasure, and, as she was disappearing into the Cabinet, I thrust a\nwriting-tablet and a pencil into her hand. Before the s\u00e9ance closed, she\nreappeared to me, and handing me a paper claimed my promise. In full\nfaith I gave her the little breast-pin, and after the s\u00e9ance, to my\nchagrin, I found the writing on the paper was not from her, but a\nmessage from my 'father,' announcing that he had 'found the next life a\ngreat truth,' which was, certainly, cheering, in view of the fact that\nhe was enjoying the present in so remarkably hearty and healthy a\nmanner.\n\nFor the next s\u00e9ance I provided an amber necklace, on whose clasp I had\n'Marie' engraved, and when the Spirit of the fair French girl appeared,\nI taxed her with her naughty, deceitful ways, and told her that I would\nnot give her the necklace, which I had brought for her, until she gave\nme what I asked for, in her own writing. In a very few minutes she\nreappeared and handed me a paper, whereon she had written: 'I am so glad\nyou have kept them so nicely, Your Marie.' (As her skull was shared by\nSister Belle, I suppose Marie was strictly logical, if ungrammatical, in\nreferring to it as 'them.') It was enough; in a few minutes after, Marie\nreappeared wearing the amber beads glistening round her neck.\n\nNo sooner had I given the necklace than occurred another illustration of\nthe remarkable and amiable pliancy with which Materialized Spirits will\nanswer to any name with which they are addressed. The Medium who\nconducted the s\u00e9ance came to me and said, 'There's a Spirit in the\nCabinet who says she's your niece.' Very thoughtlessly I replied, 'But I\nhaven't any niece in the Spirit world.' The instant after I had spoken,\nI felt my mistake. You must never repel any Spirit that comes to you. It\nthrows a coolness over your whole intercourse with that particular\nSpirit-band; no Spirit from it will be likely to come to you again. No\nsurface of madrepores is more sensitive to a touch than a Cabinet full\nof Spirits to a chilling syllable of failure. To regain my lost\nposition, therefore, I said hastily, 'But can it be Effie?' (It was a\nmere hap-hazard name; I know no 'Effie.') The Medium went to the Cabinet\nand returned with the answer, 'She says she's Effie, and she wants to\nsee you.' Of course, I went with alacrity to where the curtains of the\nCabinet stood open, and there, just within it, saw a Spirit whom I\nrecognized as having appeared once before during the evening with Marie,\nwhen the latter had materialized as a sailor-boy, and the two had danced\na Spiritualist horn-pipe to the tune of 'A Life on the Ocean Wave.' 'Oh,\nEffie dear,' I said, 'is that you?' 'Yes, dear Uncle, I wanted so much\nto see you.' 'Forgive me, dear,' I pleaded, 'for having forgotten you.'\n'Certainly I will, dear Uncle, and won't you bring me a necklace, too?'\n'Certainly, dear,' I replied, 'when I come here again.' I have never\nbeen there since.\n\nThus is illustrated what will be, I think, the experience of every one\nwho cares to apply this test to Materialized Spirits. When the\ninvestigator is unknown to the Medium, a Spirit materialized through\nthat Medium will confess to any name in the heavens above or the earth\nbeneath, in the world of fiction or the world of reality. Of course, it\nwould not do to ask a Spirit whether or not it were some well-known\npublic, or equally well-known fictitious, character. You would be\nrepelled if you should ask a Spirit if it were 'Yankee Doodle,' but I am\nby no means sure that it would not confess to being 'Cap'en Good'in,'\nwho accompanied Yankee Doodle and his father on their trip to town, and\nwhose name is less familiar in men's mouths. All the good, earnest,\nsimple-hearted folk who attend these s\u00e9ances ask the Spirits, when they\nappear to them for the first time, if they are father, mother, brother,\nhusband, wife, or sister, and the Spirit will in every case confess the\nkinship asked for. But, as I have just said, the investigator need not\nrestrict himself to his family, his friends, or his acquaintances. Let\nhim enter the world of fiction, or of poetry, or of history, he has but\nto call for whomsoever he will, and the Materialized Spirit will answer:\n'Lo! here am I!'\n\nLet me strengthen this with the following additional illustration: Not\nlong ago at a Materializing s\u00e9ance where I was, I think, unknown to\neveryone, certainly to the Medium, a Spirit emerged from the Cabinet,\nclad in flowing white robes, and advanced towards me with a wavering\ngait, which could be readily converted into a tottering walk, if I\nshould perchance ask if it were my great-grandmother, or could be\ninterpreted as the feeble incertitude of a first materialization, if I\nshould perchance descend the family tree and ask for a more youthful\nscion. I arose as it approached and asked: 'Is this Rosamund?' 'Yes!'\nreplied the Spirit, still wobbling a little, and in doubt whether to\nassume the role of youth or of old age. 'What! Fair Rosamund!' I\nexclaimed, throwing into my voice all the joy and buoyancy I could\nmaster. The hint to the Spirit was enough. All trace of senility\nvanished, and with equal joyousness she responded 'Yes, it's indeed\nRosamund!' Then I went on, 'Dearest Rosamund, there's something I want\nso much to ask you. Do you remember who gave you that bowl just before\nyou died?' Here Fair Rosamund nodded her head gaily and pointed her\nfinger at me. 'Oh, no, no, no,' I said, 'you forget, Fair Rosamund, I\nwasn't there then. It was at Woodstock.' 'Oh, yes, yes,' she hastily\nrejoined, 'so it was; it was at Woodstock.' 'And it was Eleanor who\noffered you that bowl.' 'To be sure, I remember it now perfectly. It was\nEleanor.' 'But Rosamund, Fair Rosamund, what made you drink that bowl?\nHad you no suspicions?' 'No, I had no suspicions.' And here she shook\nher head very sadly. 'Didn't you see what Eleanor had in her other\nhand?' 'No.' 'Ah, Fair Rosamund, I'm afraid she was a bad lot.' 'Indeed\nshe was!' (with great emphasis). 'What cruel eyes she had!' 'Hadn't she,\nthough!' 'How did she find you out?' 'I haven't an idea.' 'Ah, Fair\nRosamund, do you remember how beautiful you were [here the Spirit\nsimpered a little] after you were dead, and how the people came from far\nand near to look at you?' 'Yes,' said Fair Rosamund, 'I looked down on\nthem all the while.' And here she glided back into the Cabinet.\n\nIt is not impossible that a Spiritualist might urge that the test which\nI apply is not a fair one--that guile will beget guile, that the Spirits\nmeet me as I meet them.\n\nBut what other possible way have I of finding out who the Spirits are,\nwhen they do not tell me in advance, but by asking them? Whenever they\nhave been announced to me as this or that Spirit, I invariably treat\nthem as the Spirits of those whom they assert themselves to be, and, in\nmy conclusions, am guided only by the pertinency of their answers to my\nquestions. Whenever William Shakespeare appears to me (and, by the way,\nlet me here parenthetically note, as throwing light on a vexed question,\nthat Shakespeare in the Spirit-world 'favors' the Chandos Portrait, even\nto the two little white collar strings hanging down in front; his Spirit\nhas visited me several times, and such was his garb when I saw him most\ndistinctly); when, I repeat, Shakespeare materializes in the Cabinet for\nme, do I not always most reverently salute him, and does he not\ngraciously nod to me--until I venture most humbly to ask him what the\nmisprint, 'Vllorxa' in _Timon of Athens_ stands for, when he always\nslams the curtains in my face? (I meekly own that perhaps he is\njustified.) Have I ever failed in respectful homage to General\nWashington? Did I ever evince the slightest mistrust of Indian 'braves?'\n\nWhen a Spirit comes out of the Cabinet especially to me, how am I to\nknow, or to find out, who it is but by asking? If it be not the Spirit\nthat I name, will it not, if it has a shred of honesty, set me right?\nWhat hinders it from telling me just who it is? If it be the Spirit of\nmy great-grandmother, it can be surely no satisfaction to her, after all\nthe bother of materialization, to hold converse with me as the Spirit of\nSally in our Alley; and if she be, in every sense of the word, a\n'spirity' old lady, she will instantly undeceive me, and 'let me know\nwho I am talking to.' But why should I anticipate deceit at Spiritual\nhands? If William Shakespeare can appear to me, why not Fair Rosamund?\nHereupon a Spiritualist may maintain that if the Spirit said she was\nFair Rosamund, and displayed a familiarity with the incidents of that\nfrail woman's life and death, she probably was Fair Rosamund. So be it.\nI yield, and will go farther, and hereafter find no more difficulty,\nthan in her case, in Tennyson's Olivia, Marie St. Clair, and in the\nheroes and heroines of Scheherezade's Thousand and One Nights.\n\nAlthough I have been thus thwarted at every turn in my investigations of\nSpiritualism, and found fraud where I had looked for honesty, and\nemptiness where I had hoped for fulness, I cannot think it right to pass\na verdict, universal in its application, where far less than the\nuniverse of Spiritualism has been observed. My field of examination has\nbeen limited. There is an outlying region claimed by Spiritualists which\nI have not touched, and into which I would gladly enter, were there any\nprospect that I should meet with more success. I am too deeply imbued\nwith the belief that we are such stuff as dreams are made on, to be\nunwilling to accept a few more shadows in my sleep. Unfortunately, in my\nexperience, Dante's motto must be inscribed over an investigation of\nSpiritualism, and all hope must be abandoned by those who enter on it.\n\nIf the performances which I have witnessed are, after all, in their\nessence Spiritual, their mode of manifestation certainly places them\nonly on the margin, the very outskirts of that realm of mystery which\nSpiritualism claims as its own. Spiritualism, pure and undefiled, if it\nmean anything at all, must be something far better than Slate Writing\nand Raps. These grosser physical manifestations can be but the mere ooze\nand scum cast up by the waves on the idle pebble, the waters of a\nheaven-lit sea, if it exist, must lie far out beyond.\n\nThe time is not far distant, I cannot but think, when the more elevated\nclass of Spiritualists will cast loose from all these physical\nmanifestations, which, even if they be proved genuine, are but little\nremoved from Materialism, and eventually Materializing S\u00e9ances, held on\nrecurrent days, and at fixed hours, will become unknown.\n\nHORACE HOWARD FURNESS.\n\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\nAdvertisement calling for mediums\nAppendix\n\nBriggs, Mr. Fred., medium\n\nCaffray, Mr. Joseph, medium\n\nFlint, Mr. R.W., medium\nFullerton, Prof. G.S., on the Slade-Zoellner investigation\nFurness, H.H., on materialization\n  On mediumistic development\n  On Slade\n\nIndependent slate writing\n\nKane, Mrs. Margaret Fox\nKeeler, Mr. P.L.O.A., medium\nKeeler, Mr. W.M., medium\nKellar, Mr. Harry\nKnerr, Dr., on slate writing\nKoenig, Prof. Geo. A., about Mrs. Thayer\n\nLeidy, Prof. Joseph, about Mrs. Thayer\n  On mediums\nLetter from Mrs. Kane\nLetters, sealed\nLord, Mrs. Maud E., medium\n\nMansfield, Dr. James\nMartin, Mrs. Eliza A., medium\nMartin, Mrs. Dr. Eleanor\nMaterialization\nMediumistic development\n\nNames of commissioners\n\nPatterson, Mrs. S.E., medium\nPhotographs, spiritual\nPowell, Mr., medium\nPreface to the Appendix\n\nRappings, spirit\nReport of commission\nRothermel, Dr.\n\nScreen, use of by Keeler\nSealed letters\nSlade, Dr. Henry, examined by Dr. Pepper\n  letter from\n  personal appearance\n  examination of\n  resolution of commission in regard to\nSlate writing\nSpirit rappings\nSpiritual photographs\n\nThayer, Mrs. M.B., medium\nTricks of jugglers\n  of Slade\n\nWells, Mrs., medium\n\nZoellner, Slade-, report on\n  calling attention to in report","title":"Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism: In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":62835}