The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-30 00:00:00

The Brothers Davenport.

The following is Capt. Burton's (the African traveller)
observations of phenomena connected with the Brothers
Davenport :

" London, Nov. 10.

" Dr J. B. Ferguson,—Doar Sir,—You spoke yesterday
about my writing in a few words my opinion of what I
have seen done on various occasions by your friends the
Messrs Davenport; you kindly overlooked my confusion of
side views, and you permitted me to call the thing odic
force,' or od force.' The usual terms, 'spirit,' manifes-
tation,' and so forth, will now, with your permisi3ion, be used
—begging you, however, to understand that wh let I believe
everything and anything equally, and nothing more than
another thing, my faith and unfaith in od force' and
'spirit' remain exactly as before. In case of my becoming a
'spirit,' I hopo not to bo summoned for the small sum of
£1 los into anybody's drawing-room, there to play the
guitar and rap people's heath. The latter state is worse
than the first,

"As you are aware, I have now witnessed, under advan.
tageous circumstances, four of the so-called dark seances.
These were all in private houses--one of them in my own
lodgings. Wo sedulously rejected all believers, and chose
the most sceptical and hard-headed of our friends and ac-
quaintances, some of whom had prepared the severest tests.
We provided carefully against all possibility of ' confede-
rates,' bolting the doors, &c., and brought our own cords,
sealing wax, tape, diacbylon, musical instruments (guitar,
harmonicon, bird whistle, tambourine, bells) and so forth.
" The results of the seances were almost invariably the
same. After Mr Ira Davenport and Mr William Fay, the
two strongest mediums,' had been tied up hands and feet
by us, you suddenly extinguished the light ; we then, the
darkness being complete, sat in a semicircle fronting the
mediums, each holding his neighbour's arm or hand, and
each warned not to break the chain. On one occasion I
placed my feet on Mr Fay's, while Mr B—, the waster of
the house, did the same to Mr Davenport, and we measured
their distance from the semicircle-10 feet.

" Within two seconds—l speak advisedly—after the candle
was put out, the musical instruments placed on the table be-
tween the two mediums began to shudder and tremble. Pre-
sently the guitar strings commenced twanging as if badly
played with a single finger and the instruments went round
the semicircle with the velocity of a bird, fanning our cheeks
as it passed. The prettiest effect was to hear it buzzing in
the distance as a humming bee would sound when flying
away, If the guitar happened to be in good humour the in-
strument patted our heads softly, or lay on our laps, or
thrust itself into our hands. If the ' spirits were dis-
pleased, the manifestations were decidedly rough. I re-
ceived once a rather severe contusion with the tip of the
guitar, when the heavy bells and the tambourine struck
the ground and the table with a noise and force that sug-
gested the kick of a horse on a splashboard. Presently the
sounds cease, the candle is relit, we run up to the mediums,
we find them in our own cords, taped with our own tape,
sealed with our own seals, and perhaps plastered with
diachylon strip. Every one inquires how it was done, and
no one answers, and not a few are clearly and palpably
frightened. The honest declare themselves puzzled.
"The most remarkable manifestations that occurred in my
presence were the following :—A tumbler of water placed on
the table, with a bird whistle in it, was thrown on the carpet
at my feet without noise or breakage ; a dry, hot, and rough
hand on one occasion felt my hands, fell on my face, and
then pulled my moustachios, and, finally, thrust between
my lips a cigar, taken from the reantleplece; my logs have
also been twitched, and my head patted. My neighbour in
the same Bdance felt a cold, clammy, and feminine hand,
screwed up at times like a bird's claw, running over her
face, and evidently with a large portion of the arm resting
on her head. Sparks of red and pale fire have fallen from
the ceiling, sometimes perpendicularly, at other times cross-
ing the room, and coming from a part apparently higher
than the ceiling. Mr William Fay's coat was removed whilst
he was securely fastened hand and foot, and a lucifer match
was struck at the same instant, showing us the two gentle-
men, fast bound, and the coat in the air on its way to the
other side of the room. Under precisely similar circum-
stances the coat of another gentleman present was placed
upon him. A gruff voice has repeatedly addressed me and
others. There are many others, for which you have not
space, of my own ' experience.' A lady, whose voracity I
have no reason to doubt, and who is supposed to have
strong mesmeric powers, assured me that she perceived the
musical instruments floating high in the the air or wriggl-
ing along the floor. Being able to sco them in a dark room
she imagined that we had applied to thorn phosphorised oil,
which we had not. On the same occasion she distinguished
tho outline of a figure which stopped slightly, and not, as
she thought, that of any one in the room.
" I have spent a great part of my life in Oriental lands,
and have seen there many magicians. Lately I have been
permitted to see and be present at the performances of
Messrs Anderson and Tolmaque. The latter showed, as
they profess, clover conjuring, but they do not even attempt
what the Messrs. Davenport and Fay succeed in doing; for
instance, the beautiful management of the musical instru-
ments. Finally, I have read and listened to every explana-
tion of the Davenport tricks' hitherto placed before the
English public, and, believe me, if anything would make
me take that tremendous jump ' from matter to spirit,' it is
utter and complete unreason of the reasons by which the
manifestations ' aro explained.---Believe me-ever yours
truly, &c., "RICHARD F. BURTON."

"Dear Sir,—The 'above is an accurate copy of Captain
Burton's letter to me, and I have his permission to place it
before the public.—Very truly yours,
"To H. D. Palmer, Esq. "J. B. FERGUSON."