the facts, the bishop was
undeniably right.

There was published at that time a journal called La Table Parlante,
which contained recitals of phenomena, correspondence, and so forth.
Among the narratives, that of a M. Benezet was typical, and is
curious. In recent years, about 1872-80, the Rev. Mr. Stainton
Moses, a clergyman and scholar of the best moral reputation,
believed himself to be the centre of extraordinary, and practically
incredible, occurrences, a belief shared by observers among his
friends. M. Benezet's narrative is full of precisely parallel
details. M. Benezet lived at Toulouse, in 1853; and his experiences
had for their scene his own house, and that of his relations, M. and
Mme. L. The affair began in table-turning and table-tilting: the
tilts indicated the presence of 'spirits,' which answered questions,
right or wrong: under the hands of the L.'s the table became
vivacious, and chased a butterfly. Then the spirit said it could
appear as an old lady, who was viewed by one of the children. The
L.'s being alarmed, gave up making experiments, but one day, at
dinner, thumps were struck on the table. M. Benezet was called in,
and heard the noises with awe. He went away, but the knocks sounded
under the chair of Mme. L., she threw some holy water under the
chair, when _her thumb was bitten_, and marks of teeth were left on
it. Presently her shoulder was bitten, whether on a place which she
could reach with her teeth or not, we are not informed. Raps went
on, the L.'s fled to M. Benezet's house, which was instantly
disturbed in the same fashion. Objects were spirited away, and
reappeared as oddly as they had vanished. Packets of bonbons turned
up unbeknown, sailed about the room, and suddenly fell on the table
at dinner. The L.'s went back to their own house, where their hats
and boots contracted a habit of floating dreamily about in the air.
Things were hurled at them, practical jokes were played, and in
September these monstrous annoyances gradually ceased. The most
obvious explanation is that Mme. L. demoralised by turning tables,
took, consciously or unconsciously, to imitating the tricks of which
history and legend are full. Her modus, operandi, in some
phenomena, is difficult to conjecture.

While opinion was agitated by these violent events, and contending
hypotheses, while La Table Parlante took a Catholic view, and
Science a negative view, M. Agenor de Gasparin, a Protestant, cho