Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

164 MODERN SPIRITISM
The First
Sensation
At this stage the first dramatic sensation of the afternoon
occurred, and to this I beg close attention. The
husband (in the footman's suit) suddenly rose from
among the audience, and said, with a strong American
twang, "Before our stance begins, ladies and gentlemen,
I should like you all to understand that we
are NOT mediums, we are professional entertainers.
We make no claim whatever to powers from the
spirit world, of which we know nothing. But we
shall produce such phenomena here this afternoon
that I hereby offer the sum of one hundred pounds
to any London hospital to any one who can produce
the same phenomena under the same conditions."
One would have thought that the dropping of
such a bombshell in such an audience would have
broken up the stance in confusion and indignation.
Not a bit of it. The hymns, the close and darkened
room, the tightly clasped hands, had already done
their work and produced a certain amount of
collective hypnotic apathy and credulity in an
audience that was rapidly losing, for a time, its power
of independent thought.
Mr. Stead's Explanation
Mr. Stead rose at once and explained what had
occurred at his house, and said that "he knew the
speaker and his wife, and that, quite unknown to
themselves, they really were most remarkable mediums.
No notice need therefore be taken of the man's
words. Not only so, but he had only that day
received an important communication from Mr.
F. W. H. Myers (who has 'passed over') to the