D. D. HOME, THE SPIRITUALIST.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2230, 23 October 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

D. D. HOME, THE SPIRITUALIST.

BY CELIA LOfJAN.

Danif.l Dou«jhs Home who died in London recently, was either the most remarkable medium that the world has evor seen, and really capable of performing miracles, or one of the most infamous im posters that ever successfully played upon human credulity. An orphan boy, Home was brought from Scotland to the United States by an aunt, who in v.iin tried to make a farmer of him. One day, when he was about 14 years of age, he was sharply reprimanded by his auut for not going to work in the fields as directed. He excused himself on the ground that he had seen and beon in communication with the spirit of a playmate whoso death had strongly affected him. Strongly imbued, as the dsotch mo-tly are, with a high respect for second sight andjeverythiug pertaining to the supernatural, the aunt unhesitatingly credited his statement, and from his desire to shirk work may be dated his c,a*eer as a spiritualistic medium. I have heard him tell the story of how ho lay lounging on his bed one hot afternoon, thinking what he could say to his aunt to excuse his absence, when suddenly the spirit of his departedjfriend rose before him and made plain and clear his future life work. It was a timely interposition in his favour, coming 1 , as it did, wht;n almost all the civilised world were more or less interested in supposed revelations from the spirit land, when the ' manifestations' of the Fox Sister-* were still recent enough to agitate thoughtful, truthful people, and divide socities into the three classes — telievers, disbelievers and inquirers. Early manhood found the whilom penniless boy a full-fledged medium, with money enough to try hivS fate in foreign lands. He nimed high, his mark being naturally Louis Napoleon, who was known to be almost as superstitions and as confirmed a fatalist as was his illustrious uncle. It is not to be doubted that Home had two sittings with Napoleon 111. Marvellous were the events said to have occurred on thoso occasion. Home himself told me that Louis, Eugenie, and several dignitaries of the court were present each time. The first sitting accorded him was not long enough fur him fo do more than to materialise a few spirit flowers — one of which struck the Empress full in the face and groatly alarnvd her. A few bhadowy forms appeared, which the Emperor said he recognised as relatives of his. At the next sitting Home said he waa in full power, and materialised, or pretended ro materialise, a number of disembodied spirit?. They formed a circle around the Emperor, to his evident amazement and torror. Ho recognised and called his mother by natnn. Suddenly they all vanished, and one solitary figure appeared to the Emperor. He was dressed as the pictures of the Little Corporal, and was easily recognisablo as Napoleon I. Louis turned white, but with tremblinjr lips, managed to utter the words — ' My fate ?' In the same tone in which a person in life would speak the rpply was given, only low and impressive : 'Like mine— discrowned and death it) exile.' As the ghost spoke he placed both hands on his nephew's shoulders Louis fell buck in his chair as if about to faint. With a moan the Empress swooned, tho spirit form vanished, and in the alarm and confusion of resuscitating Engenie, Home was hurried from the Tnileries, nor could any entreaty of the medium ever induce their Majesties t'* admit him to their presence again This is the account given bj' Homo iv 1802 of tho sittings that had taken place a short time previously. However strange Home's powers may have been before 1862, at this date almost the whole fashionable world of London was sitting at tho medium's feet wai*. pfor his/power" to return, it having left him, according to his own confession, as suddenly and strangely is it had come to him. He had unbounded fame by this time, having hid seances with almost every person of distinction in Europe from royalty down. Queen Victoria had not long been widowed, and, reluctant to entirely lose her loved one, was eagerly stretching out to Spiritualism, hoping that it might bridge over the terrible'chasm that separates life from death. Home was privately sent for, but, whether bound to cecrecy or whether his powers failed to summon spirits then could not be learned, for the medium, usually so eloquent upon his own spiritual performances, could never be induced to reveal a word of what took place at the seance with the Queen. He allowed it to be inferred that what took place in the presence of royalty was of too sacred a character to bo imparted to ordinary mortal". But that her Majesty had received a medium was sufficient to make blind, unquestioning believers of more than, half the greatest and highest people iv the realm, conspicuous among them being Sir El ward Lytton Bulwer, who about this period wrote that blood curdling tale, A Strange Story. Among the firmest believers o? the doctrine of .spiritualism and warmest friends and partisans of Mr Home were a Mr W. Wilkinson and his wife. Mr Wilkinson was a distinguished lawyer, and resided near Hampstead Heath. Mrs Wilkinson used to draw spirit flowers. They wore exquisitely beautiful, but bore little resemblance to flowors of the earth. From them was taken the description of spirit flowors which will be found in A Sr.rango Story. At the vVilkiusons' the very pick and flower of London society of that day and tho li'jns of other countries frequently met. I have said that about this time Home owned that ho had lost temporarily his mediumistic power. I should have added for the purpose of general .sittings. The reason he gave for it was that tho spirits had directed him to reserve his influence entirely for the cuic of Mrs Jane Lyon, a rich English widow of mature age. Sho had boen a greit beauty in her day, and was still when "Homo met her a well preserved and dashing sociotv woman, la some, way,

which I have now forgotten, she had lot her loft hand, and always wore a false hand covered with a kid glove. On the death of her husband she became an inquirer into spiritualism, and met the Scotch-American medium, who informed himself of het enormous wealth. His instincts as a professional medium scenting a fat goose to pick, he declined to receive his usual two guinea sitters, and devoted himself entirely to her. He began in the usual way of obtaining (?) communications from her dead husband. The loss of her hand had been more of a mortification than a deprivation to the vain old woman, who must have been over 60 when abe fir.st met Homo. It did not take long for the shrewd Daniel to find out the weak spot in the old widow's armour. Adroitly taking advantage of this, he actually was able to make her believe that by his mediumistic power he could create, not a new hand, but life in the false one ! But to do this he must have time— he must renounce the sitters through whose visits he lived, and devote himself entirely to hor. He undertook to join the false hand at the wrist to the living arm, (which, when accomplished, he said, would enable her to use the false hand exactly as if it were real. That Mm Lyon was falling into her dotage would seem the only reason why a highly educated and well-bred Englishwoman could be made believe in Home's pretended power to endow a wooden hand with life. Home was the more eager to devote himself exclusively to the service of the rich widow from the fact that his star was beginning to pale, in consequence of several attempts to perpetrate impositions so stupidly transparent and heartless that the credulous British public turned from him. Home had married a young Russian girl of the honoured family of Kirchleff. Her father was a count. It is the custom in Russia for all the children to bear the title of the father, 80 that all the sons were counts and Home's wife a countess. She was a very delicate girl, and the family knew she could not live long. On this account the opposition of the family was soon overcome. In a very few years the fenrs of the family were verified. Alre.uly f,ir gone in a consumption, Mrs Home was not a long time dying. After her death Home exhibited a sketch which he said the spirits had made, and brought frame and all and laid upon his bed the night of her death. It was a fair likeness of his wife, representing her lying on her side on a sofa, wings springing'from'hor shoulders and radiating from her baclc and head in fantastic feathered form. He said she had slowly turned into an angel as day after day she died. The genuineness of the sketch was not doubted by true believer-* until it was shown to a certain artist, who, being deaf, had not heard Home's version of its being a spirit picture. He thought they were complimenting him on the excellence of the likeness, and said with much feeliug: — 'Yes; poor, dear little woman ! It was my own idea to make her turning into an an angel while yet alive, and she particularly enjoined upon me to make a good likeness of her as it was tho last that would ever be taken of her ' Home was not present when this explanation was given of its origin, but when told what had occurred, he became very indignant th?»t an artist should be ' t-o greedy of fame as actually to claim the celestial work of the spirits as his own.' On another occasion Home announced that he would produce balls of fire and illuminated hands. Thit evening the elite of London crowded every nook and corner of a nobleman's house were the exhibition was to take pl.ice. The evening was pretty far advanced, and people was getting impatient before Home made his appearance with the oM widow Lyon leaning on his arm. He had persuaded her that it was indispensable to her ' cure ' that he should be continually with her, so that he was seldom seen abroad without the widow's false hand upon his arm. Generous as she was silly, she had fitted up a suit of apartments in her own residence, where he lived like a prince. After his arrival another half hour elapsed, during which he was occupied giving directions as to the darkening of t>lio rooms and atroking of the 'widow's false hand. At length lie made several attempts to produce balls of lire, but fail ing, declared that ' the spirits were not strong enough for that tonight, ami so he would have to confine himself to showing the luminous hands.' The house was darkened, and Home groped his way alone to the head of the broad staircase, where every few minutes a pair of luminous hands were thrown up. The audience was satisfied generally. One lady, however, was not, and whispered to me — she was a halfhearted Spiritualist — that it looked to her as if he had ' rubbed his own hands over with lucifer matches." The host stood near the mantlepiece, anil had seen Home ahstraeedly place a small bottle upon it when he left the room for the staircase. That bott'e the host quietly slipped into his pocket. Upon examination the next day it was found to contain phosphorettid olive oil, or some similar prepiration. The host had declared himself to have seen Home float through the air from one side of the room to the other, lift a piano several feet in the air by simply placing a tiger upon it, and had seen him materialise ciisem bodied spirits; but after the discovery of the phosphorus trick he dropped Home at oii3e. This was a severe blow to the medium, but worse was to follow. Home had at this time been trading on the superstitious credulity of Mrs Lyon for at least a year, in which time he had obtained from her the enormous sum of 60,000d015. She began to be impatient, and demanded either a live hand or the return of her money. Home sought to pacify her by proposing marriage, but relatives stepped in and stopped that. The widow was induced to sue for the money. She obtained a verdict, and Home w,b ordered to return the money If I k member rightly he repaid her but V, ),()00dols, having squandered ordispo; dof all the rest. Personally, Home vf.h under the medium height, of slight build, and with sandy haiv and complexion. He was very graceful and pleading in his bearing, though he never, notwithstanding the brilliant society in which he moved for so many y«\ir*, was able to overcome the lack of early education. He could write, but would Tint when he could avoid it, yet at one time he was ambitious of the honour* of authorship. He therefore furnished nm tore his leminusccnees to his fiiend, Mr William Wilkinson, who put them in the book shape in which they appeartd autnbiographioally, entitled ' Incidents of My Lifo.' In the metropolis, where he h.ul achieved his most splendid triumphs Home was loudly and publicly proclaimed an imposter and a hwindler. Fonnei friends parsed him without recognition. and tho<o who were oneo credulous believers in his power stigmatised him as the C.igilo»tro of tho nmt'teenth century. Never "robust, for years aftei wards he languished in obscurity, nnd has at last expired at a comparatively farly a .re, almost unkuown to the present g- no ation.—New York World.

A \ir>K'*ii 'At Home ' is now called a 'Sing Song.' 1\ Germany the hours of labour awr.i£;e per week, in textile- factories, 7- : in nnehine factories, GO. In Franco, in textile factories, 7- ; in mnehine fa 'tones 60. In Austria, 66 in each. In IJus-i i, in textile factories from 72 to 84 ; in maohino factories, 72, In Swit^'rhn^, 66 hovers in each.