, 1863-07-28

An AstroEoger sa1td IIIk Crystal 8all
4:efUrc tho Courts,

An AstroEoger and HI. Crystal Nall
Eefurc tho Courts.
A AwondeEful crystal ball, formerly belong
ing to Lady Blessington and now to the pro-
prietor Of zadkiel's Almanac, has been the
occasion Of very amusing Law suit in Eng
land. Sir Edward Be!eher spoke Of the pro
prietor Of the Crystal Ball, in the columns Of
the Daily Telegraph, as man who was In
effect rogue, and stock money" for the
Visions which boy pretended TO see in this
crystal. Zsekie1, or Lieutenant B. Morrison,
late Of the Royal Navy, and a profound be-
lever In The ball himself, brought M action
for libel against Sir E Belcher far this letter.
It appeared that he had never taken money
for exhibiting the crystal, that number OF
fashionable people had eagerly applied to be
allowed to inspect 1t, but that only one or two
favored persons had ever seen anything. The
visions In the ball we're of q Tery miscellaneous
character, the most antique being Eve {atter
the ta1l,) the most Infamous Judas 1scarlot.
One lady ofripe years was examined, who had
been discouraged from looking into the ball,
as not being young enough for visionary pur-
poses, but her lnfantine simplicity Of soul ap-
pears to have answered rs well, since she
turned out the Plaintiffs best witness after
NIL, depoting with much pathos and courage
to visions Of q *'uan In armour" and o.her
lersons which she had seen In it, but declined
10 look again, in the profane region Of a court
Of justice. The great people who had seen
the ball but nothing in It, were Of use to
Zadklel or1y to show TINT other people Tere
as credulous as himself The evidence is
somewhat interesting. In the course of his
examination Mr. Morrison sald:-
was frequently at evening parties at Col.
Merton's, and took the crystal ball with the,
That was the first aud only rilnc saw the
defendant. He Introduced Lord and Lady
1ondesboIough, and some other persons Of
distinction. He did not seem disgusted with
what he saw. did not vonch for anything
thtn beyond the yeraclty Of the young per.
late Baron Bunsen, Lord Fltzclarence, Lady
Enrol ard her sister, the Marchloness Of
Aylesbury, applied to me to test it, and I had
eight ladies Of distinction at ore time in my
house to lotk through it. The Bishop Of
Liclf1eld. Archdeaeon Rohiasou, several c!er.
eymen, Col. Pl1ipps, Mr Cowper, II. P; Sir
George and Lady Ccckburn, and several II.
ball.
Mr. se,iesnt shee handed In lithogeaph
drawings lnate.hy the lad U.her, Of what b.
saw In The cryrtal ball, and 1'!aiatiff said, ~
believe lie must have seen wslst he SO minute
II described"
One drawing represents Eve She called her
self Eve.
Mr. Se,ieant Ballaptlne: Did she tell you 50
aujib1y: hope yonr spirits did not appear
under fa1se pretences. uaughter.)
Plaintiff: This Is the description Of the
character Usher drew for her, and when she
was asked her name che said EVE" (Laugh
te1) She WAS asked If che WIS the mother O.
al,, and she replied t1No.n {Laughter.)
The Lord Chief Justice-1 thought it was
only visions, Did the spirits communicate
By y lord Of month"; Plaintiff: Oh yes, fre
q1ieutly By word Of mouth. {Laughter.} Il
appeared to emanate from their mouths rs or
scrolls.
Mr: Sergeant Ballantine- suppose as il
they were taken suddenly III. {Loud laugh
teri Did they always appear properly dress.
ed. aE Eve is here described. Plaintiff They
never came Indecent. cloud 1anghter.)
her drapery on. (Laugltter) Plaintif-1 did
not sec her; she Is rs she Was described b.
Usher.
Nj. SERGEANT Ba1lautine-No donbt a. she
appeared ii the hitter period Of her existence
Who is this comfortable looking lady. Plain
siH-That is what Usher described as Queer
Mall and her attendants: I-au.hter.)
MIR. seriean; Ballantine: And the gentle
Ian sitting after the eastern fashion. Plain
tiff: That Is the Snltan Of Turkey us he ap
peared smoking. (Laughter.} There is 1
REPRESENTATION Of st. Luke as he appeared OF
those occasions. can't eay what Language
they spoke IN. Some English, some French
Enen=h. Titania did not speak I only know
they spoke from tho words written down b.
Usher.
Mir. SERGEANT Ba1lautfne: As there Is I
great question about our original Language
should Ike to know In what language st
Luke expressed himself: (LaughteE:) !
hare secrs who have seen some wonderful
Supper, and some OF our Lords MIRACLES
His Walking on the sea feeding the multitude
but without his presence, as statedato me
The Apostles were seen breaking bread nni
giving 1t to the multitude [ never prophecy
but predict Laughter None can prophe
which have not. did not predict Lord
Falmcrston's dea1l Last year. but that be VII:
In danger.
Air. SERGEANT Ba1lan inc-What, from AMI
political combination? Plaintiff Il don't pre-
dict dea,h 10 any one. predicted some dan
ger 10 Lord B:ougham and Louis Napoleon.
On enc occasion there was vision aud con
reTsotion With Jrdas 1scariot. Laughter.
He wiehed TO be let 60 from the crystal, aud
said he would be happier next Sunday, when
Ae got back to hell
Mr s.jeant BAZlantIEe-I hope you had a
cool room tor him. (Laughter1
The learned sergeant was about to cross.
txa1nine him further about his predictions
relative to Pharaoh and the American war;
hut the Lord Chief Justice said he thought
there had been enough.
Ihe 1ny dld not think lln that M sir EdWars ,'Ia;
1ug himself 10 u fraud, because he was tu'
tlave Of er3s:al. Mr.. Morrison gained BIT
verdict; but considering, probably, that hi
a1naanack trade is, at least, piece Of cAarsata
nbrie, the Jury gave only twenty shii}ings dau,
ages, and the Chief Justice refused the plain
tiff costs