Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-27
went to Mr.. is. He was at home.

went to Mr. is. He was at home. 1
returned him the keys, told him that my
curiosity was sufficiently gratif1ed and was
about to relate quickly what had passed,
when he stopped me, and said, though with
much politeness, that he had no longer any
interest in mystery which none had ever
solved.
1 determined at least to tell him of the
two letters l had read, as well as of the
extraordinary manner In which they had
disappeared and 1 then inquired if he
thought they had been addressed to the
woman who had died in the house
early history which could possibly con-
firm the dark suspicious to which the
letters gave rise. Mr.. j seemed star
tied. and after musing a few moments
answered Il am but little acquainted with
the woman's earlier history, except as be-
fore told you. that her family was known
to mine. But you revive some vague rem
iniscences to her prejudice. l will make in
quries and inform you Of their result. Still,
even If we could admit the popular supersti-
ton that person who had been either the
perpetrator or the victim of dark crimes in
life could revisit, as restless spirit the
scene in which those crimes had been com
mttted / should observe that the house was
infested by strange sights and sounds be-
fore the old woman died-you smile-what
would you say?'
II we could get to the bottom of these mys-
teries we should find a living human
agency
What! you believe it is all an lmposture ?
For what object?"
Not an imposture in the ordinary sense
Of the word. If suddenly 1 were to sink
into deep sleep from which you could not
awake me, but in that sleep could answer
questions with an accuracy which could
not pretend to wheE aWake-teIl Won what
money you had in your pocket-nay, de-
scribe your very thoughts-it is not neces-
sarHy an lmposture any more than it is
| necessarily supernatural. I should be. un-
consciously to myself, under a mesmeric
influence. conveyed to me from distance
by human being who had acquired power
over me by previous rapport"
But II mesmerizer could so affect an
other living being, can you suppose a mes
merlzer could SO affect inanimate objects.
move chairs. open and shut doors?"
| Or impress our senses with the belief In
sucn eHectS-We never having been en- rap
port with the person acting on us? No.
| What Is commonly called mesmerism could
not do this; but there may be a power akin
| 10 mesmerism and superior to 1.-THE power
| lnat In the old days was called magic
| That such power may extend to all mani
| mate objects of matter 1 do not say; but
| II so, 1t would not be against nature-it
would be only rare power in nature which
| might be given to constitutions with certain
peculiartties and cultivated by practice to
an extraordinary degree. That such a
power might extend over the dead-that Is,
over certain thoughts and memories that
| the dead may still retain-and compel. not
| that which ought properly be called the
soul, and which Is far beyond human reach.
but rather phantom Of what has been
| most earth-stained on earth. to make itself
| apparent to our senses-is very ancient
though obsolete theory, upon which I will
hazard no opinion. But do not conceive
the power would be supernatural. Let me
! illustrate what mean from an experiment
which Paracelsus describes as not difficult,
and which the author Of the .Curiosities Of
Literature cites as credible: A flower per-
ishes: you burn 1t. Whatever were the
elements OF that flower while 1t lived are
gone, dispersed, you know not whittier;
] you can never discover nor recollect them