in the room, I enquired of the
matron if she was alone. On receiving an affirmative answer, I handed her
the letter, requesting her to read it. But, feeling a consciousness that
some other mind was present--a strange mind, with which I had no
sympathy--I walked round to the other end of the table and placed my hand
on a lady's shoulder, remarking to the matron that I felt sure there was
some one in the room beside herself, and asked that the letter might be
returned to me unopened.

From the long experience of this perception, or intuition, has grown the
old adage, "The devil is always near at hand when you are talking about
him." I am not sure that this magnetic condition is more largely developed
in us than in those who see, but I am led to think it is for this reason,
eyes are of paramount importance to those who have them, and we who have
them not search for other media of communication. Mental presence is
either inspiring and assuring, or depressing and embarrassing. I have
observed that when in the presence of some people I have felt comfortable
and assured, while in the presence of others I have felt diffident and
uneasy, I allude here to persons with whom I had no previous acquaintance.
Minds are felt in a ratio proportionate to their will-power. Shallow,
conceited minds are not magnetic. I have been told by blind preachers,
public lecturers and concert singers, that they always feel the difference
between an intelligent and appreciative audience and one made up of coarse
and uncultured people, and this consciousness they have felt before any
demonstrations of applause or disapprobation were made. I have had many
opportunities to experiment on my own feelings in relation to this
magnetic influence or mental recognition. I was a concert singer in my
younger days and could always tell whether I was singing to a large or
small house, and whether my audience was in sympathy with me or not.

If it is argued that I gained this knowledge through the ear, and not
through the magnetic medium that I suppose to exist, I will add other
experiences that will be more convincing to the reader.

In pursuing my business as itinerant book-seller for many years, I have
frequently called at offices when their occupants were out, and on
entering have often said to my guide, "Oh, there is no one here, let us
go, and call again." On the other hand I have often been conscious when
entering a room that there was not only one mind but