Mariposa Democrat., 1857-07-02
Wariposa 9emotrat,
HORNITOS.
From the Paris Court journal.
WONDERFUL SPIRIT AFFAIR.

Ahbs n ~" hibhto uSV a SAdhu ocUftcc hhh
been prepared for him at the house of one Of
the principal officials about the court, who had
witnessed the divers experiments made at the
Tuileries, and which, although failing to con-
vince him entirely had not yet left him wholly
incredulous. The company was limited, and
Of the first water The names had all been
submitted to the practitioner-those of Eugene
Guinot General paraguay d Hilliers, and
Nadaud, the composer, all of them atrocous
unbelievers, and wholly devoid of sensibity
or imagination-were excluded
Numerous were the experiments tried and
all, as usual, eminently successful. The accor-
deon glided from knee to knee, all around the
circle and played the tunes most loved by the
inquirers; the bell wandered round the ceiling
and rang its merry peal or tolled its doleful
note, according to the will Of any member of
the company who chose to command it. But
the wizard had promised that night to evoke
the spirits and render them visible to the sight,
and every preliminary experiment was attend
ed to with impatience, so great was the hurry
to witness the crownng masterpiece Of the
performance. At length the lights were all ex-
tinguished but one solitary wax-taper on the
mantel-piece, behind the figure of the pract-
toner, which cast its long, gigantic shadows
on the walls and ceiling of the room.
The silence was complete; some of the ladies
erouched behind their neighbors, and resisted
the temptation to faint only by reason of their
curiosity; others stared around, hoping, yet
dreading to see something awful and terrific
The voice of the wizard was heard, amid the
silence, demanding whose spirit should be sum
moned to appear. faint Whisper, from dis
tant corner thrilled through the room" Let
it be Socrates, the greatest Of philosophers )"
A pause ensued; no objection or opposition
being manifested, the wizard raised his arm and
waving it toward the door solemnly bade the
spirit Of Socrates appear and stand before him.
Again the silence was resumed and the wiz
ard remained, with extended arm and mutter-
ing lips, gazing toward the door, 1t slowly
opened, and amid the utmost terror, the COM
pany behed figure, enveloped in kind of
floating drapery, something like winding
sheet which advanced with noiseless tread over
the carpet and stood before the conjuror. The
white and flowing beard, the bald head and
crushed nose were unmistakable. Socrates
stood, as in life, in the very midst of that gay,
frivolous circle, evoked from his sumber of
centuries, to furnish sport for Partisan salonl
The awe and terror of the company was at
its highest, and the figure glided back in 81
lence while yet the effects produced was at its
eliminating point. When it had disappeared,
compliments, of course, poured in upon the
operator, who, shaken to the very finger ends,
could not help expressing his surprise at the
unusual promptitude with which the summons
had been answered, and, full of the excitement
Of unlocked for success, yielded to the cntrea-
ties of the same voice which had spoken before,
and which now implored the evocation of Fred
srick the Great. The wizard again stretched
forth his hand toward the door, although doubt
full if his electric current would be strong
enough to accomplish two evocations so rapid
y one after the other. lie was observed, how
ever, even in the dim light of the apartment,
to grow deadly pale, as the door again opened
at his summons, when he called aloud for Fred.
erick the Great, King of Prussia, to appear
before him. The moments pause was truly
awful.
By degrees, amid the shadows of the room,
could be seen gliding through the doorway
short figure, wrapped, like the one which pre-
eeded it, in kind Of winding sheet clinging to
its limbs, and held around the waist by the
grasp of the hands. The face, however, was
undeniably that of the great hero, and the
head surmounted by the little traditional cock
ed hat which makes every Prussian heart beat
with gratitude and loyalty even to this day
The figure advanced, as that of Socrates had
done before, close up to the magician, and
there stood still and motionless.
The perspiraton rolled in huge drops from
the excited magcians forehead Enough,
enough-begone, depart said he, in hoarse
whisper, as the eyes of the figure glared men
acingly upon him. "Begone, say !" repeated
he, in hollow tone, as the figure still stood
motionless. In a moment, however, the spell
was broken. Rousing himself, by an effort
which, considering the circumstances, may be
regarded as sublime, he suddenly exclaimed,
II have been made the dupe of some mystif-
GATOR" and stepped close to the figure, which
had still retained its menacing expression until
that moment, when loud and uncomfortable
laugh burst from its lips and it exclaimed,
"What don't you know meS am Nadaud,
and here is my friend Socrates, otherwise Mar
shal paraguay d Hiliers, ready to appear again
whenever you may choose; and close at hand
is my comrade, Eugene Guilnot in life, and Al
cibiades in death, waiting to be summoned af.
ter me, as he would most assuredly have been
had | been able to follow up the joke"
Imagine the effect produced by the discove-
ry of the mystifcation. Mr.. Hume was per-
fectly confunded when he recovered himself
he asserted that the shirt sumnond wonld