FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



and, in some cases, twisting round in the operator's 

 hand. 



I collected evidence from many different 

 sources, from landowners of position, keen of 

 intellect and accustomed to sift evidence, from 

 hard-headed practical farmers, with a natural 

 distrust of what* they could not fathom, and 

 from Parliamentarians of repute. The evidence 

 in favour of the existence of the power in question 

 was overwhelming. Some of the strongest testi- 

 mony I received was from the late Earl of Jersey, 

 the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, afterwards 

 Governor-General of New South Wales, a nobleman 

 of no ordinary business capacity as all who knew 

 him could testify ; from the late Earl of Win- 

 chelsea ; and from many others equally reliable. 

 I was surprised to find how widespread was the 

 belief in divining among agents of large properties, 

 who had tried the diviners by the severest of tests. 



I regret that limitations of space do not permit 

 of my giving examples of the evidence which con- 

 verted me from a doubter into a believer, as it 

 is so convincing. I certainly approached the in- 

 vestigation with but the one desire of ascer- 

 taining the truth. Of course, I do not go so far 

 as to assert that there are no failures or no pre- 

 tenders in this as in other mundane matters. 



The one illustration of the power I shall quote 

 is so remarkable in several respects that I feel 

 justified in finding room for it here. It was 

 furnished by Mr. Vaughan Jenkins, of Chelten- 

 ham, who, until he had this experience of the 

 power, doubted its existence. He required water 

 on an estate whereon he was about to erect a 



136 



