Royalty and Spiritualism.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 84, 10 January 1885, Page 5

Royalty and Spiritualism.

A new spiritualistic " medium " has arisen, and numerous members of the Royal Family have honoured him with their visits. The late Duke of Albany was so much impressed with what he saw at one stance, that he went to the trouble of having a special double slate made, framed in oak, with elaborate brass mountings, and fitted with a patent Bramah lock. Armed with this, he presented himself one morning at the medium apartments, and a small piece of pencil having been dropped between the slates, they were duly locked (the key being attached to the duke's watch chain), and under these conditions—conditions which would appear to preclude all possibility of fraud— the pencil was soon heard grating over the surface of the slates, and when the key was applied to the lock, and the sides opened, there was a long message. The late Duke always considered this a crucial test, and from that day was a firm believer in the truth of " direct spirit writing." His Royal Highness always i maintained that the majority of the written messages he received came from his lamented and favourite sister Princess Alice of Hesse, and a man of the late Duke's abilities and attainments was not at all a likely subject to be easily imposed upon by a " clever conjuror," as suggested in some quarters. So convinced indeed was the Duke of Albany of the pessibility of departed spirits communicating in this way with those on earth, that before his departure on that fatal journey to Cannes — with, perhaps, some foreboding of what was to happen— he deposited the slate he had had made with the medium, promising, if anything happened, to communicate a written message on this particular slate, and thus establish direct proof of the correctness of the phenomena. For many days after his decease attempts were made to obtain the promised message, but, up to the present date, none has been received ; and the believers in spiritualism, for a reason well known amongst themselves, confidently assert that none will be received until some long period has elapsed.