TWO INQUIRERS INTO SPIRITUALISM 319 



prised, because of all 1 had heard from you and others; but 

 the phenomenon was to me convincing. One such fact is as 

 good as a hundred. 



" At the third seance (last night) I preferred to ask ques- 

 tions to having a repetition of the flowers. The value of the 

 answers received time may show. I have received a wrong 

 answer (as to a person being tall), also as to there being a 

 letter awaiting me at my hotel. Altogether the conclusions I 

 have arrived at are as follows : — 



" I. I have encountered a power capable of removing sensible 

 objects in a way altogether new to me. 



" II. I have encountered an intelligence other than that of 

 the visible assistants. 



" III. In my seances this intelligence has shown itself capable 

 of reading my thought, but yet either liable to fall into error 

 or else not strictly truthful. 



" IV. It has been sometimes capricious, saying it will not do 

 what it has afterwards done, and that it will do what, neverthe- 

 less, it has failed to perform. 



• • • • • 



" I am precluded from saying how much I like your friends, 

 because I think this letter is to be read by them ; but I am not 

 precluded from thanking you, my dear Wallace, for the intro- 

 duction, which I do very heartily, remaining always, 



" Yours very truly, 



" St. George Mivart." 



I was somewhat surprised at Mivart's appreciation of the 

 Guppys, because of the great contrast between them : he ex- 

 tremely refined in speech and manners, and somewhat fastidious 

 in his acquaintances ; they both rather brusque and utterly 

 unconventional ; yet he evidently recognized in them a straight- 

 forwardness of character, kindness of heart, love of truth, and 

 earnestness of purpose, which are vastly more important than 

 any amount of superficial polish. I may here note that he 

 would probably have had more satisfactory results if he had 

 allowed the powers at work to take their own course, instead 

 of attempting to limit the phenomena to answering questions — 



