AN EXHIBITION OF THE “HIGHER MANIFESTATIONS” OF SPIRITUALISM.

Evening Star, Issue 3117, 14 February 1873, Page 3

AN EXHIBITION OF THE “HIGHER MANIFESTATIONS” OF SPIRITUALISM.

{From the London Telegraph,) I am about to attempt what I am aware is a difficult task—namely, to describe dispassionately and judicially one of those so-called “higher manifestations” of Spiritualism about which people are apt to write and speak too much, as it appears to me, in the oanacity of advocates for or against. I shall endeavor to describe what I saw here in London a few nights ago, as impartially as a judge might sum up a case from his notes of evidence, It ie literally what I am doing. 1 am transcribing rough note* made at the time, and on the spot where the circumstances which I narrate occurred. I impannel the British public to say whether they think I have seen something very remarkable, or been egregionsly gulled, A few days ago I received an invitation from a Spiritualistic fritnd to attend one of the seances of a lady who I must call Miss Blank, because her name is not public pro perty. She is not a professional medium; she receives no money from those who visit her home, and has no wish to have that residence besieged, as it certainly would be if I gave the least clue to her name and address. She has no desire, so she says, even for notoriety on the score of the manifestations of which she is the unwilling agent or medium The peculiar character of these manifestations is the production of the spirit face or oven partial form, no longer in darkness but under a strong light. Now, I had seen tables dance and seen them rap ; I had witnessed Mr Holmes’s “ Levitation,” and listened to John King’s unspb it-liko voice ; I bad even felt spirit-hands, as they were called, once or twice ; but all these manifestations, except the tilting and the rapping, had taken place in the dark, and I object to darkness. I love light, like an ancient Greek. It was the light element, 1 frankly confess, which mostly attracted me to the stance of Miss B auk. Miss Blank’s papa—for the young lady is but 16—lives on the outskirts of London, as Spiritualists always seem to do, and is a reap ctable man in some small commercial line of life. Resides the medium, who is a pretty Jewish-like. little girl, there were three other children present, all of whom discoursed on spirits in the most off-hand way. Mamma and aunt made up the domestic portion of our circle, and there were besides, the editor of a Spiritualistic journal, another pronounced Spiritualist, a doctor from the country, who had had something to do with developing the medium, and had been converted by her to the doc-rioes of Spiritualism, an old gentleman from Manchester, and myself—eleven in all, irrespective of our little hostess, the pretty medium. After a brief confab in the front parlor we descended to the pother regions, where ‘he spirits were in the habit of making their appearance in a small breakfast-room next to the kitchen. The original method of “ development” was simple in the extreme. Miss Blank went into the room alone. A curtain was stretched across the open doorway, leaving an apert.irp of about a foot deep at the top ; and in this rather Punch-and,-Judy-like opening, portions of the spirit face gradually showed themselves —first a nose, then an ear, &c —to the circle who sat on the stairs. Now, however, that the piWer was more developed, a sort of corner cupboard had been fitted up, with two doors Opening in the usual manner from the centre, and an aperture of some 18 inches square in the fixed portion at the top. At this I was told the face would appear A lamp on a table in the other corner of the room was so arranged as to shed'a bright light on this opening, while it left the rest of the small apartment in subdued but s.tUl in full light. I examined the pupboard or cabinet carefu’ly, put a chair in, and saw little Miss Blank carefully shut up inside, like a pot of jam or a pound of candles. A rope was put in her lap, the object of which will appear anon, and wo all sat round like a party of grown-up children waiting for the magic lantern. We were told to sing, and so we did—at least the rest did, for the sopga were spiritualistic ones for the niogt part, which I did not know. They were pretty cheerful little hymns, such as, “ Hand in hand with Angels,” “ The Beautiful River,” and Longfellow’s “ Footsteps of Angels.” By-and-by raps inside the cupboard-door told us to <l open sesame.” We did so, and there was pretty Miss Blank tied round the neck, arms, and legs to the chair, in a very uncomfortable and apparently secure manner. w e sealed the knots, shut her up in the cupboard, and warbled again. After some delay, a face rose gently to the aperture, rather far back, but presently it came well to the front. It was slightly pale and the head was swathed in white drapery. The eyes were fixfd, and altogether it looked ghostly. It remained for some time, disappeared and reappeared, and the lamp was turned full upon it; but the qyps never lost their fixed stare, showed no symptom of winkipg. After several minutes it went altogether. r i he doors were opened, and little Miss Blank was found still tied, with seals unbroken, and, to all appearance, in a deep sleep. She was “entranced,” I was told. “ Kattie,” the spirit (for she was a familiar in the most literal sense), informed me that she gathered the “material” for embo lying herself from the breaths of the circle, and took the “life” from t'<e medium. Miss Blank was then awakened, uncorded, and taken to walk for a quarter of an hour in the back garden, aa she was much exhausted ; and we went upstairs to recruit as well. We had to make this break thrice during the evening. When we re-assembled, after a good deal more hinging than 1 oared about, another appearanoe took place in obedience to the command of the doctor, who had been in the East, and asked to see a Parsee friend. After some delay, a head appeared, surmounted by a turban, and with a decidedly Eastern expression of countenance and dark complexion. It did not satisfy the doctor who declared that the face bore a resemblance to the one demanded, but that the head-gear was not en regie. That was tableau No. 2, which took a long time and almost interminable singing to bring about. Then there was another adjournment. The children were sent to bed. and the maid-servant—who, it appeared, was great at singing—came m from the kitchen to join the circle. There was one advantage, papa and mamma told me, about these manifestations j they rendered the children quite superior of all ideas of “Bogey,” I could pot help asking myself whether I should have dared to go to bed under such circumstances in my days of immaturity. In scene the third the face was quite different. The head was still sm mounted by white drapery, but a black band was over tbe forehead, like a nun’s hood. The teeth were projecting, and the expression on the face sad. They fancied it was a spirit that was pained at not being recognised. When this face disappeared Katie came again for a little while, and allowed wo to go up to the

cupboard and touch her face and hand, after first putting to me the pertinent question, “Ro you squeeze ? ” On assuring her I did not do anything so improper, the manipulations were permitted. This was the finale, and the circle broke up forthwith. The gentleman from Manchester was delighted, and the Spiritualists, of course, were loud in their commendations. I reserved my judgment, as my custom always is when I see anything that bea s me. I was sufficiently struck by wbat I had witnessed to accept readily an invitation to another seance on a subsequent occasion. In the mean time I should like to submit these few particulars to a dispassionate jury, for them to decide whether I was really tor those three hours in direct contact with supernatural beings, or simply taken in by one of the most satisfactory “physical mediums ” it was ever ray good fortune to meet.