62 Ten Years of my Life. 



had I wished to hear it in a far off corner of the room, when at 

 the desired place a tremendous noise commenced. Still re- 

 maining suspicious, I wished to'transfer the knocks to the ceiling 

 and had scarcely thought it, when the ceiling resounded with 

 such knocks that I was afraid it would come down. That was 

 too much for some of the party ; they shrieked and became 

 faint, and the gas had to be turned up again. 



When their minds had been calmed sufficientJy by persuasion, 

 the gas was turned oft" altogether, and we were sitting all in the 

 dark. At ®nce lights flitted through the room, shining against 

 the wall or ceiling, as if produced by a dark lantern. We felt 

 as if something was blown into our faces, and even some small 

 bodies like fine sand were thrown against them. In the lights, 

 flickering about, we saw spectre-like hands, and the excitement 

 and fear became so great with some if the )artv that the gas 

 had to De relit. 



The mediums declare ^ that their strength was exhausted, 

 and the spiritual entertainment ended. Notwithstanding all 

 1 had seen, I remained a disbeliever , but dear Felix, who was 

 afraid of the impression the whole proceeding would make on 

 me, was quite excited and converted himself 



Mrs. Speirs exulted, and was rather angry that was such a 

 disbeliever. She regretted nothing more than that she was no 

 medium, and that the spirits would have nothing to do with 

 her. I seemed to be more favoured ; the medium at least, de- 

 clared that I was a 'seeing medium.' But notwithstanding their 

 assurances, I could see nothing, though I tried very hard to 

 please them, and even invented visions for this purpose, which 

 they, hov^^ever, soon discovered accordingly, and resented as 

 being only fun. They said that the spirits were offended at 

 disbelief, and unwilling to perform in the presence of scofters. 



We had several of such private spiritual entertainments, 

 which amused me much. Though I did not believe in any- 

 thing; supernatural, I was puzzled as to how the things I had 

 witnessed were produced, for what I had seen and heard was 

 indeed surprising and wonderful, and well calculated to turn 

 weak or imaginative brains. 



Sometimes things would rfot go on in the regular way. The 

 questions were answered all wrong, and the whole spiritual 

 world seemed thrown into confusion. The mediums were not 

 at a loss to explain this state of things. They ascribed it to the 



