clergyman came to his village ; the Universalists are a reli gious sect in the United States, who teach the universal sal vation of all men through Jesus Christ. He was a tall solemn, dark-haired man ; in his sermons he preached that God loves all, and that His tender mercies are over all His works; he referred to the love displayed in the works of nature, and he showed that there is harmony between the works of God and the Bible. This loving teaching was very attractive to him (Mr. Peebles), so he prepared himself to become a minister of this church, and for twelve years from that time he was a Universalist clergyman. One afternoon, about sixteen years ago, he was walking with a member of the New York Legislative, the Honourable V. Kenyon, who told him that hc had been to witness some of the “spirit-rappings,” which had then only just begun to attract public attention. He replied that he was astonished that his friend should go to witness such tricks. Mr. Kenyon said that he was very much surprised at the communications and the manifestations, and asked him to come and witness them also. He (Mr. Peebles) consented, but requested that the appoiutment should be fixed for some evening, as he should not like to be seen going by daylight to a rapping medium. (Laughter). When he got there he saw the lady her husband, and child, put their nands upon the table ; he heard raps, and, of course, thought that they made them He asked to be permitted to examine the table, and he did so, but found nothing. Then he said, “If you are spirits, please rap somewhere else ;” then he heard the noises upon the wall, and all round the room. Next the raps and tremu lous movements came upon his coat-collar, and as he knew that no machinery was concealed there, he was startled ; but he thought it due to some unknown force playing round the room, and making noises. Then the raps told him the name of a cousin of his who had died, together with her age, and the text chosen for her funeral sermon. He ascribed this to thought-reading. The name and address of the medium was Mrs. Tomlin, ot Auburn, New York. The second time he attended a séance he saw furniture moving about with nobody touching it. Soon afterwards a trance medium, a lad about fourteen or fifteen years of age came to Elmira, New York, with a gentleman, and they asked for the use of his church for the public exhibition of the spirit power. He made no objection ; in fact, he had an itching curiosity about the subject, and he wished to expose the delusion. The beardless vouth took his seat upon the rostrum, and the gentleman, who accompanied him, asked the audience to appoint a committee to select a subject for the medium to speak upon while in the trance state. He (Mr. Peebles) was made chairman of the committee, and was allowed to choose the subject, so he thought “That’s good ! l’ve got him now!”. The subject given was, “ What is the philosophical influence of the nations of antiquity upon the civilisation and science of modern Europe and America?" The boy at once stepped forward and commenced, and, for one hour and three-quarters, one continual stream of history and philosophy fell from his lips ; the beauty of the language was astonishing, and the names of well-known and little known sages of antiquity fell glibly from his lips. He began by speaking of the old Aryan race, and he spoke as if he had the whole history of India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome at his fingers' ends. He (Mr. Peebles) knew the work necessary to get up sermons before they are preached, and he was perfectly astonished at the address given by the boy, and he went home thinking that there must be some power at the root of Spiritualism. About six months later Dr. Redman, a very celebrated American test-medium, visited the city. He (Mr. Peebles) called upon him, like Nicodemus, by night, and saw a table moving about with much force whilst nobody was near it ; he also heard rappings. Then Dr. Redman took a pencil and wrote swiftly, backwards and bottom upwards. The message was from James Kenyon, a good old Quaker preacher in earth life, and it told things which nobody but their two selves knew. Yet he (Mr. Peebles) could not say that even then he was quite a believer. Soon after two of the members of his church became Spiritualists. Others of his church became media, and gave him test upon test, yet he could hardly say that he was a believer. About twelve years ago he chanced to pay a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Odell, in Cleveland, Ohio, at a time that the Daven port brothers were stopping in the house. A public séance was held in the afternoon, and the manifestations were ver powerful ; he thought that some years ago the manifestations through the Davonport boys, were more powerful than they have been since. Whilst the audience were holding hands and the Davenports were tied, with flour in their hands, and chalk-marks round their feet, there was just light enough to see the musical instruments flying about the room, and they could be heard playing tunes. The spirits requested the witnesses to keep passive, and said that they would try and materialise themselves sufficiently to be seen. A faintly luminous cloud was then seen to form near the ceiling; it gradually shaped itself into a human figure with hands upraised, and then it vanished. Everybody in the room saw it. He (Mr. Peebles), at the close of the séance, said, “We read that spirits once rolled away a stone from Christ’s sepul chre, and unlocked prison doors ; if you be spirits, I defy you to do the same.” That evening, at the house of Mr. Odell while the room was brilliantly lighted with gas, and the Davenports were tied, he and all the company saw peacocks plumes floating about the room, and a book walked across the floor with nobody touching it. Some unseen power then laid hold of his ankles, and jerked him out of his chair, so that he came to the ground in a very undignified way, and hurt his arm. That night the two Davenports slept in a bed at one end of a very large room, and he and Mr. J. K. Brown. of Buffalo, New York, slept in the other. The light of the moon made objects in the room pretty clearly visible. Three loud raps came upon the door, so he said, “ Come in,” as he thought it was Mr. Odell. The door opened and shut, but nobody came in. Next he felt one great blow on his fore head, and a second on the pit of his stomach. “The spirits : said the media, and immediately there was a tremor of the whole house ! His bed was then upraised, and began to rock in the air with such vigour, that some of the castors dropped off the bedposts. Brown said, “ For God’s sake, Peebles, get a light ;” he jumped out of bed to do so ; just as he reached the door a great big hand hit him on the back, and he jumped back into bed again, being frightened. Afterwards the spirits told him that they manifested so violently not to do him any harm, but because he had dared them to do their worst or their best. At last he became a medium himself, he knew these pheno mena to be the work of spirits, and then came the greatest ordeal of his life. He knew that departed loved ones could still converse with their friends, and the question was “ Shall