Mr. Fullerton here remarked that at the séance reported by him, soon after the members were seated, the Medium reached behind his (the Medium's) position to get one of the slates placed near him, and accidentally turned up one, the back of which was covered with writing, whereupon he coolly remarked, 'That is the wrong slate.' Mr. Fullerton added that he did not at the time think of connecting this accidental exposure with what the Medium was then doing, and suggested that possibly this exposure prevented Dr. Slade's use of this method at the séance reported by him, as it would seem that none of the communications produced on that occasion were of the sort produced by substitution of slates.
Mr. Sellers: The methods of this Medium's operations appear to me to be perfectly transparent, and I wish to say emphatically that I am astonished beyond expression at the confidence of this man in his ability to deceive, and at the recklessness of the risks which he assumes in his deceptions, which are practiced in the most barefaced manner. The only reason of our having any so-called 'manifestations' under the circumstances was because of the fact that the Committee had agreed in advance to be entirely passive, and to acquiesce in every condition imposed. At the meeting here spoken of, I said to Dr. Slade, 'You see that we do not attempt to exercise any deleterious influence; what we want is the truth, the simple truth, and we try to exert no influence which would tend to impair the success of your operations.' The reply of the Medium was, 'No, I know that you do not; but sometimes the Spirits will work and sometimes they will not work.' We had no writings in any part of that sitting—everything failed.
Mr. Furness: We did not have even raps.
Mr. Sellers: We did not have even raps. There was no sound of any character; the day was absolutely fruitless of any result. Disgusted with this evident failure, the Medium decided to close the séance. He was asked, among other things, if he would write on double closed-up slates. He replied that he would not write upon them for the reason that the Spirits had forbidden him to do so; that they had said they would not write on sealed slates, because many tricks had been played on them, one of which was the writing in advance of foolish and obscene matter, which, when the slates were opened, was attributed to the Spirits. I said to him, 'Would there be any objection by the Spirits to the use of the slates if these are brought here, opened and exhibited before you prior to their being used?' He replied, 'I have been forbidden to write upon sealed slates; the Spirits tell me that if I disobey them they will not write for me any more.'
Professor Thompson: Yes, I heard that statement, that it was forbidden to bring them or to offer the sealed slates to the Spirits.
Mr. Sellers (resuming from notes): As I have stated, the result of the meeting of the 26th inst. was entirely negative. That on the 27th was the last sitting. There were then present: Dr. Pepper, Mr. Furness and Mr. Sellers—Dr. Pepper occupying the seat originally occupied by Professor Thompson, to the right of the Medium. All the manifestations that were made on that day were so similar, as far as writings and questions were concerned, to those that preceded them that it is scarcely necessary to make notes of them. Two or three rather remarkable things occurred. For instance, almost at the beginning of the sitting, Dr. Slade exhibited both sides of two slates to show that neither side contained any writing, and then placed a piece of pencil on one slate, and, covering it with the other one, held the two together between the thumb and finger of his right hand, and placed them upon Dr. Pepper's shoulder near the back of that gentleman's head. The covering of slate answered the same purpose which a table would have answered, and prevented those present from observing the operation. He frequently repeated the words, 'The Spirits will write upon the slate.' He held the slate in this position for some time, but there was no writing upon it. He then placed both slates upon the table before him, side by side. Taking in his right hand the slate which was towards his left hand, he placed a bit of pencil upon it, held it under the table, and said, 'Will the Spirits write upon this slate?' He then added, 'I feel a sort of drawing, a something which seems to pull the slate down underneath the table. That often occurs.'
I may here remark that, at the other sittings, the same expression was made use of at times, accompanied by the thrusting of the slate some distance under the table. The statement was that the slate seemed to be drawn some distance over to the person opposite the Medium.
A sound was heard, and upon the Medium bringing the slate out from under the table, a zig-zag line appeared upon the slate with the pencil at the end of the line. The Medium remarked, 'That is something.' Then laying the slate upon the slate to his right hand, with a sponge wiped off the top of it, but did not show what was on the underside of it. He then placed his thumb beneath the slates, and turned them in such a way that the left hand, or top slate, came to be the one furthest from him as it was held behind Dr. Pepper's head. When holding it in that position for a moment, a scratching sound was heard in answer to the question, 'Will the Spirits endeavor to write on the slate thus held?' A rap followed the sound of the writing. The slates were then taken down, and the top slate taken off. Upon what had previously been the top slate was written the words, 'Yes, we will try.'
Mr. Furness (interposing): That was one of the neatest things he did.
Mr. Sellers: My habits of observation have been trained in this kind of work, and I watched the slates intently during the process.