FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



individuals of education and position, whose 

 general intelligence and shrewdness are not likely 

 to be called in question. 



Secondly. That none of it is anonymous in 

 character, but is capable of being verified by a 

 reference to the individual who gives it. 



Thirdly. That it has not been gathered from 

 a band of enthusiasts in communication with 

 each other, and bent upon pushing some theory 

 or hobby to the front, but has been collected 

 from independent and isolated witnesses, who 

 could have no object to serve by misrepresentation. 



Fourthly. That the bulk of it is derived, not 

 from the professional diviner, who has an interest 

 in a belief in it, but from those who lay no claim 

 to the possession of the power they concede to 

 others. 



Fifthly. That much of it is of a corroborative 

 character, as illustrated, especially, by those 

 instances where an amateur has followed the 

 professional diviner, and, without any knowledge 

 of what the latter has indicated, has been corre- 

 spondingly affected. 



This evidence, so far as a plain statement of 

 facts is concerned, can only be impugned on the 

 ground either that the witnesses were accessories 

 to a fraud, or victims of it ; and the knowledge 

 one has of them, whether as regards their probity 

 or their acuteness, does not lend itself to either 

 supposition. 



But there are some who, while admitting that 

 diviners frequently fulfil what they undertake, 

 deny the existence of any special power confined 

 to certain individuals. They have several ways 



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