Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05

for his time almost altogether devoted to the
practice of spirtualism and he was never known to
accept fee for a seance AS it was, he lived very
well, the guest of one now OF another and the
frequent recipient of costly presents. From England
by leisurely stages Thus nearly decade passed
before the of the first of the several phe
nomena that have won Home an enduring place
among the greatest lights of spiritualisir
The Triumph of Levitatioa
A T that time his English patrons included the
Viscount Adare and the Master of Lindsay, who
have since become respectively the Earl of Dun
raven and the Earl of Crawford. They were sitting
one evening December 16. 1869 in upper room
of house in London with Home and Captain
Wynne, when Home suddenly left the room and
entered the adjoining chamber. The opening OF a
window then heard and the next moment, to
the amazement of all three, they perceived Homes
form floating in the dim moonlight outside the win
dow of the in which they seated For
an instant it lowered there, at height of fully
seventy feet above the pavement, and then smiling
and debonair, Home with them again. An
other marvel Immediately followed. At Homes
request Lord Dunraven closed the window out OF
which the medium was supposed to have been car,
red by the Spirits and on returning observed
that the window had not been raised foot, and he
did not how a man could have managed to
squeeze through it.
gether they went into the next room
He told me- Lord Dunraven reported, to
open the window as it was before. did so. He
told to stand little distance off. He then went
through the open space, head first, quite rapidly,
his body being nearly horizontal and apparently
rigid. He came in again feet foremost, and we re-
turned to the other 1t dark l could
not see clearly how he was supported outside. He
did not appear to grasp rest upon the baustrade
but rather to be swung out and in
To Lord Dunraven and Lord Crawford again
given the boon of witnessing another of Homes
most sensational performances, and on more than
occasion. This may best be described in Lord
Crawford's own words as related in his testimony,
the London DialeCtiCal Societys committee which
in 1860 undertook an inquiry into the claims OF
spiritualism.
Il saw Mr. Home" declared Lord Crawford ~ lon-
gated eleven inches in a trance. l measured him
standing up against the wall. and marked the place
Not being satisfied with that [ put him in the
him, as to throw shadow the wall, which
also marked. When he awoke l measured him
again in his natural size, both directly and by the
shadow and the results were equal. l can swear
that he not off the ground or standing tiptoe
l had full view of his feet, and moreover
gentleman present had one of his feet placed over
horizontally on the ground. Lord Adare was
present. Home seemed to grow at both ends
and pushed Adare and myself away"
A Famous Scientists Tests
THE publication of this evidence and of the de-
tails of the mid air excursion provoked as may
be imagined, heated discussion, and doubtless had
considerable influence in inducing the famous sci
enlist Sir William Crookes to engage in the series
of experiments that he carried out with Home
two years later. This at once the most search
ing investigation to which Home sub
jected, and the most signal triumph of his
Sir Williams proposal was hailed with the greatest
satisfaction by the critics of spritualism in general
and of Home in particular. Here, it said,
man fully qualified to expose the archimpostor who
had been so justly piored in Brownings Mr.
Sludge the Medium; here was scientist, trained
to exact knowledge and close observation, who
would not be deceived by the artfu tricks of con-
jurer 1t pleasant too to learn that in order to
circumvent any attempts at seight of hand, Sir