Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1853-04-09

1 iiiuu 10 WudI Will turn OUT TO DC Inc answer.
You assure me solemnly that you do not tell the
+ Medium anything; declare unequvocally that
you do. 1t is the same in cases of Clairveyanee:
you tell all, and fancy you are told. You do not
tell it in so many words, but unconsciously you
are made to communicate the very thing you be
lieve is communicated to you.'
This reasoning, it is needless to say, had very
little acceptance; it is stated here an introduce
ton to- and an explanation of the experiments
made. had formed an hypothesis, and accord
ing to that hypothesis framed certain traps in
to which the Medium would infallibly fall if my
supposition were correct; the hypothesis and the
trapsI explained to certain friends before the ex.
pertinent was made, and the result not only full
| ly confirmed expectation, but showed what was
certainly not anticipated that the trick was
a miserably poor one-I thought it would be
good trick, such as the ttMagic chair ''Magic
wand mysterious lady, or any of the clever
conjuring tricks, whereas it really is dependent
Tor its success on nothing but the amazing and
active credulity of the audience. This is the con-
| cusion of the writer in the Househozd Words,
whose account is accurate, except perhaps i'll the
explanation given of the craps which is said to
be made by the toes The writer, however laid
no traps for Mrs. Hayden {the Medium), he did
not select 'crucial instances" | did; and you
shall presently learn what they were.
Our party comprised Mr.. and Mrs. Masters,
Sir William, Mr.. Purcell, and myself flor obvious
reasons the names given are fictitious, except my
our cigars, when the footman announced that
Mrs. Hayden was in the drawing-room. We soon
joined her there, and found her talking to Mrs
Masters about the ''spirits,' in the most easy,
familiar way-indeed, she always spoke of them
without awe, but with implicit confidence as if
they had been pet monkeys. The conversation
soon became general, formed circle round
the table. 1t of course turned upon the .sMani-
festatons," and Mrs. Hayden was copious in
anecdotes (adroitly mingled with aristocratic and
well-known names) of the surprising success
which had attended her. At last, the rappings
having announced that the ghosts were impatient
to do something for the money paid, we took our
cards, on which the letters of the alphabet, and
the numerals from one to ten were printed, and
the scene began.
Sir William was the first. He thought of one
dead. On asking whether the person he was then
thinking OF was present, alacrty in rapping
assured him of the fact. He took bis card; the
raps were distinct; but the letters were all wrong.
lie tried third, but third time nothing came
right. l was beginning to get anxious lest
peated failures should alarm the Medium and
make her give some evasive excuse; SO l sugges-
ted that Mr.. Masters should try. lie tried but
with the same desperate ill success. 1t was now
my turn. Let me pause here to remark that
both Sir William and Mr.. Masters were deter
mined to give no clue whatever-they remained
purely passive awaiting a result; they passed
their pencils along the alphabet with such terri
wage guessing, and of course in each guess it
was thirty-hve to one against her. This was
what l had anticipated; but it was only ne
gative evidence. and l was to elicit something
positive.
thought of relative of mine, and said aloud,
81 should like to know if she is present. Rap
ping answered Eyes" Observe the person [
thought of was real person. was planning no
trap this time, because the experiment was to be
every way conclusive. passed my pencil equal
~ along the alphabet without once lingering, un-
til after had passed the letter j with which her
name began. Finding that was not to have the
real name, thought would try if I could not
make the raps answer where pleased. l chose
N. Raps came; N was written down. What
name, thought l, shall it be? Naomi Or Nancy
Before had finally settled, my pencil had pass
ed A, and as saw E., determined E should be
the letter, and was indicated. N K, of course,
would do for Nelly, and Nelly was spelled =
Then came the surname, which ought to have be-
gun with ii; but, as my pencil did not linger at
II. on we passed until came to S, which was
indicated without any intention on my part. l
had then to invent some name beginning with
S, which was not done at once, from the very en-
barras de rachesses; however l thought o would
do, and 0 was indicated; then R; and after that
resolved the name should be Sorel IL is I'M
necessary to follow further thus in detail my first
trial; enough if l add that Nelly Sorel informed .
me she died in 1855, leaving children, of
whom were boys, the eldest l4-every answer
being ludicrously wrong, but declared by me to
be astonishing" which declaration was accep-
ted in perfect faith by the Medium, who thought
she had got one good, credulous listener at all |
events. That was my object-to make her fall
into my trap it was necessary she should believe
I was her dupe.
AS far as my hypothesis went it was confirmed
by this conversation. I knew that it was the
questioner who supplied the answer, and made
the answer turn out whatever pleased-not, be
it remembered, having that answer originally in
my mind, so as to admit of any pretended
&c thought Ieading"-but framing the answer
cordng to the caprice of the moment, and nva
riably receiving the answer l had resolved on.
Now you have only to replace acted credulity by
real credulity, and the trick is explained. What
did consciously, the credulous do unconscious
ly. spelled the words, so do they. The Medi-
UNI knows nothing she guesses according to the
indications you give, and only guesses right when
you give right Indications therefore if you ask
what you and you alone can answer, she will
answer it only on the superstition that you midi
cate by your manner what the answer is. But
if any doubt fingers in your mind, let this my
second trial suffice. had called upon the spirit
of one who did exist it was time to call up
one who never did exist. | asked for one of the
Eumentdes /; the ready answer assured me of her
presence So then | was at last in actual com
munication with of the awful troupe
thaumastOs lochos-who ''snore" so feariully in
Eschylus-one In whose nostrils the scent O
human blood laughed, as we are told
o0un f3PoTsay aInaTaoy ns ~po Tsha.
| What " emendatons'' might not get from her
A bshoprlc was evidently within my grasp
The result of my interview was that she ded
| six years ago, aged 25 leaving seven children
the facts for the first time placed at the dispose
of some future Bloomfield | called her back
subsequently, to ask her what sect she Belongs
| IT aclYa I'D blN