TO MISS BUCKLEY
Holly House. Barking, E. June 1, 1871.
Dear Miss Buckley,— ... I have lately had a stance with the celebrated Mr. Home, and saw that most wonderful phenomenon an accordion playing beautiful music by itself, the bottom only being held in Mr. Home's hand. I was invited to watch it as closely as I pleased under the table in a well-lighted room. I am sure nothing touched it but Mr. Home's one hand, yet at one time I saw a shadowy yet defined hand on the keys. This is too vast a phenomenon for any sceptic to assimilate, and I can well understand the impossibility of their accepting the evidence of their own senses. Mr. Crookes, F.R.S., the chemist, was present and suspended the table with a spring balance, when [pg 190] it was at request made heavy or light, the indicator moving accordingly, and to prevent any mistake it was made light when the hands of all present were resting on the table and heavy when our hands were all underneath it. The difference, if I remember, was about 40 lb. I was also asked to place a candle on the floor and look under the table while it was lifted completely off the floor, Mr. Home's feet being 2 ft. distant from any part of it. This was in a lady's house in the West End. Mr. Home courts examination if people come to him in a fair and candid spirit of inquiry....—Yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
TO MISS BUCKLEY
The Dell, Grays, Essex. January 11, 1874.
My dear Miss Buckley,—I am delighted to hear of your success so far, and hope you are progressing satisfactorily. Pray keep accurate notes of all that takes place.... Allow me ... to warn you not to take it for granted till you get proof upon proof that it is really your sister that is communicating with you. I hope and think it is, but still, the conditions that render communication possible are so subtle and complex that she may not be able; and some other being, reading your mind, may be acting through you and making you think it is your sister, to induce you to go on. Be therefore on the look out for characteristic traits of your sister's mind and manner which are different from your own. These will be tests, especially if they come when and how you are not expecting them. Even if it is your sister, she may be obliged to use the intermediation of some other being, and in that case her peculiar idiosyncrasy may be at first disguised, but it will soon make itself distinctly visible. Of course you will preserve every scrap you write, and date them, and they will, I have no doubt, explain each other as you go on. [pg 191]
If you can get to see the last number of the Quarterly Journal of Science, you will find a most important article by Mr. Crookes, giving an outline of the results of his investigations, which he is going to give in full in a volume. His facts are most marvellous and convincing, and appear to me to answer every one of the objections that have usually been made to the evidence adduced....—Yours very faithfully,