“ ‘Nemo mortalium, omnibus horis sapit,’
so meaningly quoted to myself by Ravalette. Little did she then dream, in the plenitude of intellect, that not many days would elapse ere she admitted all she now so mockingly and scornfully derided and laughed at, and that ere long she would cower in the very extremity of terror and mental dread, before these very mysteries she now so dogmatically denied.
“Her husband took upon himself the task of answering her, thus relieving us guests of the always unpleasant office of holding a wordy contest with a woman. He said:
“ ‘You are, my dear, permit me to say, in behalf of myself and these gentlemen, a little too hasty in your conclusions, too sweeping in your remarks, and in the characterization of the wonderful phenomena of these latter days. I know, my love, that you will give me credit for rather more than the usual share of suspicion, scepticism, and doubt, regarding certain marvellous things said to have recently taken place in England, America, and even here in Paris. You know that it is my nature to admit nothing as proved—especially of such an implied nature—without absolute demonstrative evidence. The proof must be irrefragible—the testimony unbroken and indubitable, else I accept nothing. I certainly do not believe in spirits, much less that such things come to this world and flit and move around us, taking interest in all our affairs, and meddling with our business in a thousand ways, as it is alleged they do by those who believe in them. And yet, with all this, I confess that I have seen things that stagger me—indeed, that demonstrate beyond dispute the existence of a power, mighty, secret, occult, and working out its marvellous designs without the slightest human aid or influence whatever. Mind me, I do not attribute any or all of these results to spiritual agency, but I do say that the force at bottom is marvellously intelligent, and for all the world like that of man’s. For instance, you will remember F——, who came from America to astonish the French. Well, actuated by curiosity, I resolved to form one of a circle of six who had made arrangements to test his powers at his own rooms. Accordingly we met him by appointment at the Café Jououy near the Palaise Royal, and together we seven started for his hotel. Now, as I walked along, the idea suggested itself, that perhaps the fellow had made arrangements in his rooms to surprise us by a resort to some mountebankish performance, and therefore, in order to try his sincerity, and at the same time guard against any mere trickery or legerdemain, I suggested that we repair to apartments elsewhere than at his hotel. To my surprise he assented to this arrangement without a murmur, and we repaired to a room at the house of one of the company, Monsieur Benjamin, in the Rue de Clichy. When there, we all sat around a small table with our fourteen hands laid flat upon its top. For a while nothing occurred, save a few knocks or thumps upon the table, which F—— attributed to spirits, but which I suspected his knees produced. While thus we sat (it was broad daylight, and the sun shone brightly through the windows), we distinctly saw, and I actually, palpably felt of, a fifteenth hand. This hand was apparently solid flesh and blood. It appeared to be that of a mulatto girl of fifteen or sixteen summers, and one of the party subsequently told me in confidence that it was the very fac-simile of the right hand of a girl whom he once knew in the Isle de Bourbon, and who had destroyed herself by poison for love of the very man who told me the story! This hand came from beneath the table and extended itself eight or ten inches over the edge at first. Then it gradually rose in the air, displaying a magnificent set of fingers, upon the middle joint of one of which appeared the semblance of a large and peculiarly-shaped brown mole, surrounded by three smaller ones, and it was by these marks that my friend pretended to recognize it. The hand was attached to about two-fifths of a fore-arm, completely covered with the semblance of a lace sleeve, terminating at the wrist in a jewelled band, and at the other extremity by a flaring and projecting ruffle. The hand, after a while, rose into the air, where it floated for two minutes. It then descended, seized hold of a small silver bell upon the mantel and rung it sharply all over the room; after which it replaced it, took hold of a pencil and wrote forty-seven words upon the ceiling of the lofty-vaulted apartment; threw down the pencil, patted each of our hands, and then gradually faded away in the air, just over the centre of the table. We rose after it had gone, placed a stand upon the table, a chair upon that, so as to reach the writing on the wall (which yet remained there), and found a short message to the company in general, and signed by the very name of Mr. ——’s inamorata of the Isle de Bourbon! Now, my dear, was all this hum-bug?’
“To this, the lady, whose scepticism would not abate one jot, even in the face of such an—to all but a Rosicrucian—overwhelming demonstration as this, replied:
“ ‘Why, I presume you had all taken a little too much wine, fell asleep, got up, wrote on the wall, and—Bah! It’s all humbug! and that settles the question at once!’
“The lady was silent, and the literary lion—I will call him Mr. A——, for whom the party was gotten up, entered the arena of conversation, and observed that: ’Spectral or Spiritual science—he preferred the former term—was yet but in its infancy in Christendom, provided what a casual acquaintance of his, a man of extraordinary research in all things occult, and whom he had met under peculiar circumstances but a little while before—affirmed to be true with regard to the faith, philosophy, and practices of a certain branch or rather family of the Hindoos or other Eastern tribes.
“ ‘This individual,’ pursued Mr. A——, ‘is a firm and devout believer in Spiritualism, and yet contends that not over two-tenths of what passes current under that term, is really that which it is claimed to be. Nay, further: he declares, and gives his reasons why, which latter are very just and tenable, that not more than once in fifty times are the actions and speeches delivered under trance the result of Spiritual action; but that when not the absolute offspring of imposture, which is rarely the case, other, and very often purely physical causes are at work, which are frequently far more potent than what is known as “spiritual influence,” inasmuch as the results are productive of better, greater, and more satisfactory phenomena, and of far more interest and value to mankind, and which have been entirety overlooked in the haste and zeal with which people seek to gratify their thirst for the marvellous, by attributing whatever baffles their powers of analysis to a supermundane origin.
“ ‘This person,’ continued Mr. A., ‘asserted also that he could himself produce similar and even far more wonderful and startling effects, by means entirely material, than many which are claimed to originate beyond the earth. “This,” said he, “I can do under circumstances that will forever put the quietus on one portion of the spiritual theory. There is a science in existence that may very properly be called Spectreology or Phantomism, whose wonders vie with the best of those emanating really from the spirit world!” During his travels in the Orient, he said, the modus operandi of several startling effects had been imparted to him by a person named Ramo Djava, and that, were it not for his greatly impaired health, which rendered the experiments alluded to highly dangerous, he would give public displays of his power. As to the means used, that must remain a secret, for he had promised to initiate only one person, and that not till his dying hour. But, at all events, he was willing to demonstrate, before a select few, that there really is more between earth and heaven than even the loftiest savants dream of.
“ ‘Having my curiosity thus excited, I, with great difficulty, prevailed on this person to consent to give a display of his ability, before a select circle of eighteen. I have invited five persons, and the present company will exactly complete the requisite number, and I cheerfully extend you all an invitation to be present at half-past six o’clock precisely, at the mansion of our mutual friend, the Baron de Marc, this day week!’