VENTRILOQUISM OF M. BRABANT, ETC. 173 



Academy of Sciences at Paris, attended by several 

 persons of the highest rank, met at St. Germain- 

 en-Laye to witness the performances of M. St. 

 Gille. The real object of their meeting was pur- 

 posely withheld from a lady of the party, who 

 was informed that an aerial spirit had lately 

 established itself in the neighbourhood, and that 

 the object of the assembly was to investigate the 

 matter. When the party had sat down to dinner 

 in the open air, the spirit addressed the lady in a 

 voice which seemed to come from above their 

 heads, from the surface of the ground at a great 

 distance, or from a considerable depth under her 

 feet. Having been thus addressed at intervals 

 during two hours, the lady was firmly convinced 

 of the existence of the spirit, and could with 

 difficulty be undeceived. 



Another ventriloquist, Louis Brabant, who had 

 been valet-de-chambre to Francis I., turned his 

 powers to a more profitable account. Having 

 fallen in love with a rich and beautiful heiress, 

 he was rejected by her parents as an unsuitable 

 match for their daughter. On the death of her 

 father, Louis paid a visit to the widow, and he 

 had no sooner entered the house than she heard 

 the voice of her deceased husband addressing her 

 from above, " Give my daughter in marriage to 

 Louis Brabant, who is a man of large fortune and 

 excellent character. I endure the inexpressible 

 torments of purgatory for having refused her to 

 him. Obey this admonition, and give everlasting 

 repose to the soul of your poor husband." This 

 awful command could not be resisted, and the 

 widow announced her compliance with it. 



As our conjuror, however, required money for 

 the completion of his marriage, he resolved to 



