MESMERISM TO SPIRITUALISM 307 



(as I know from private information), the reader may feel 

 satisfied that these letters are given as they were written. 



But the chief reason why I have introduced the matter 

 here is, that we possess, fortunately, another account of Sir 

 David Brewster's seance at Cox's Hotel, written by himself 

 very shortly afterwards, while the facts were fresh in his 

 memory, in a letter to some member of his own family, and 

 published in the " Home Life of Sir David Brewster " by his 

 daughter, in 1869. At my request my friend Mr. Benjamin 

 Coleman sent me a copy of this contemporary account, dated 

 London, June 1855. It is as follows : — 



" Last of all, I went with Lord Brougham to a seance of 

 the new spirit-rapper, Mr. Home, a lad of twenty, the son of a 

 brother of the late Earl of Home. He went to America at the 

 age of seven, and, though a naturalized American, is actually a 

 Scotchman. Mr. Home lives in Cox's Hotel, in Jermyn 

 Street, and Mr. Cox, who knows Lord Brougham, wished 

 him to have a seance, and his lordship invited me to accom- 

 pany him, in order to assist in finding out the trick. We 

 four sat down at a moderately-sized table, the structure of 

 which we were invited to examine. In a short time the table 

 shuddered, and a tremulous motion ran up all our arms; at 

 our bidding these motions ceased and returned. 



" The most unaccountable rappings were produced in various 

 parts of the table, and the table actually rose from the ground 

 when no hand was upon it. A larger table was produced 

 and exhibited similar movements. An accordion was held 

 in Lord Brougham's hand and gave out a single note, but the 

 experiment was a failure; it would not play either in his 

 hand or mine. 



" A small hand-bell was then laid down with its mouth 

 on the carpet, and after lying for some time it actually rang 

 when nothing could have touched it. The bell was then 

 placed on the other side, still upon the carpet, and it came over 

 to me and placed itself in my hand. It did the same to Lord 

 Brougham. 



" These were the principal experiments ; we could give no 

 explanation of them, and could not conjecture hozv they could 



