The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1857-04-24

s The chamberlain have alluded to did b,
his variations 50 excite the i'm perial ,curiosi
ty, that the Emperor 6xcd to receive Mr.
Hume as soon Us might be. Mr.. Hume
) came. but before he had begun to displa,
hls science, little scene, not very creditabl'
certainly to the domestic etiquette Of tht
Tuileries, took place, ending in tho expul
J sion from the saloon Of one Of the Emperor,
oldest flyorites, general, not famous fol
morals or manners, and who conceiycs hs
may allow himself any extent Of liberty even
in his masters presence. However, after
General F. had disappeared, Mr..
Hume said he was unused to accidents Of
this kind that 1t had disturbed him that
his magnetic force was nt IN end and that
he must retire. Ho did SO, but tho Empe-
Tor insisted upon his naming some other
evening, and tho persons of the court whom
hc wished to have aa spectators. This was
settled. and few evenings back Mr.. llume
camc again to the Tuileries and aimee then
what happened is IN every ones mouth.
The FIRST person who informed INC was q
general officer who was present; but my
next two infornants were far more curious
and more direct, for both had received the
account of the seance from the lips Of tho
Emperor himself. Ono is general. like
my frst informant; the other q professor OF
the Sorbonnc, and man famous In the
scientific world, and looked upon as one Of
the glories of his country. This gentleman,
with whom l spoke all last evening, Is cx-
cecdnsly impressed by what the Emperor
told him, and is busy seeking on oil sides for
rational and scientific solution Of the prob
lem. The EmperIr, he says, speaks OF the
whole as Of something very grave and i'm.
portant, and adds that II there bc 'some
phenomena in all this for which he can con-
ceive cause, there are Others for which he
cannot by any possibility account The
Emperor told this gentleman, before 70
people, at tho Tuilerics, that Mr.. Hume
had caused hand.bell to cross table, rise
up several inches from tho table, and ring in
the air. lie added that he had, standing
alone with Mr.. Hume beside largo heavy
table, sscen the table rise from the floor. -
The Emperor, and Empress also, added to
these many facts OF the same order, oil
equally strange; and above oil, said the
Professor, 'they both seem to speak with
some rcpugnance Of hand which they both
admit to having touched, and which was
hat Of u corpse'
When talking this over, the man Of sci.
ence have mentioned used the following
arguments, which strike me as worth re-
pcatinS:
at is perfectly impossible to doubt the
Emperor's word upon tho facts no believes
he has seen; besides which, those facts have
several other witnesses; neither Is II posi-
bic to cxplainby the supposision of any co.,
jurins trick.
"The Emperor is not the sort Of q man to
have these practised upon him; but there
then remains hypothesis which Is to me
tho most admissible at once, and yet per-
haps the stransest Of all-thc purely sym
pathetic or electro. magnetic hypothesis-
Tho supposi,ion that, by very extraordi.
nary influence upon tho5sRyol391 them, the
medium forces his publfcst6eec and hold Tor
certain that which he intends they shall be-
lievc." The professor have alluded to in
tends to provoke N inquiry upon all this,
and is to assist ut the next seance given by
Mr.. Hume ut the Tuilerics. Lie is himself
orc of those liberal. minded men to whom an
immense amount Of acquired knowledge has
only brought the conviction that oil human
science is vain and limited and he is ready
to seek more knowledge wherever It can be
found. Whatever really is. has its reason,
was his argument while talking to me last
evening; 'and what man in his senses be.
lievcs he has seen, and what ten or twelve
people around him believe they haye seen
has equally reason somewhere, supposiuc
even that you arc only to search for tie
reason Of their purely subjective belief
Ills notion is that the power Of electricity
rs individually possessed and applied, Is rs
yet un,ucssed at, aud that worlds Of sci
enco are, perhaps, turning perpctually
around US. whereof the most learned has n.
more suspicion than the most Ignorant man
was much struck with the concluding
word, OF the gentleman have mentioned
we do not.' said he, 'attempt to deny th,
power Of attraction Of the pole, because w
cannot do 80, seeing that with the compass
we have turned 1t to practical use, but w
do not explain it, we accept the fact Well
the COMPASS and the electric telegraph arr
hut the keys to u door We have never yc
seriously tried to OPEN