on one hand, given
by the Czar, and on the other hand another, the present of the Emperor of
France. His speaking eye and melodramatic manner made him in society a
really charming man; literary ladies were enthusiastic in his favour. A
spiritual Athenaeum was opened in Sloane Street, Chelsea, at which a very
eminent man gave the inaugural discourse, and at which there were spirit
drawings displayed, and spirit poems read--all suggestive of the fact
that the spirits were very ordinary people, after all. But it was not so
much there as at the houses of his friends that Mr. Home tried best to
display his powers. At such times there was a wonderful parade of
religion. Previous to his attending a _seance_, a friend of the author
was asked whether he believed in the doctrine of the Trinity; "because,"
said the fair questioner, "we find that the spirits do not like to appear
before sceptics;" and the Bible was read, and prayer offered up in
apparently the most reverent, and earnest, and occasionally the most
tiresome manner. Then came a few childish tricks, such as a handkerchief
conveyed by spirits _under_ the table, the accordion played by spirits
_under_ the table, and other intimations of what was said to be spiritual
agency, but all equally out of sight. A few marvellous things were said
by Home--secrets occasionally--which the hearer thought no one knew but
himself, but secrets of the most uninteresting and unimportant character.
And then the unbeliever passed out, scarcely knowing whether to laugh or
weep; whether he had assisted at a religious meeting or a farce; whether
he had been in the company of a mortal fitted for a solemn mission to an
idle and adulterous generation seeking after a sign, or whether all he
had seen and heard was but the clever manoeuvring of a clever professor
of legerhave to take his stand with the Brothers Davenport and other
doubtful mediums who have had their day.

The Spiritualists in this country set great store by Home. They have
never been able in our cold climate to raise mediums worth talking about.
The latter have been chiefly American importations. Mr. Harris came as a
preacher of Spiritualism, and, after a few Sundays at Store Street,
vanished like a spirit, and was heard of no more. A _Spiritual Magazine_
was started. Mrs. Marshall and her niece, of 22, Red Lion Street,
Holborn, were declared by that--we presume official authority--to be
"Media." Then came the solid test