Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

1 66 MODERN SPIRITISM
gloom, on the floor just where the curtains met, I saw
what looked like a pool of quicksilver. This slowly
climbed up as the curtains parted, until at last I
realised that what I saw was a silvery foot and leg
(evidently luminous paint). There was no mist or
indistinctness; all had a hard, sharp outline, though
dimly seen. Slowly the curtains kept on dividing, and
a female form gradually emerged, clad in a thin gauze
wrap; and eventually the curtains dropped behind
her, and the supposed materialised spirit stood
within six feet of me, a gleaming, shining white
figure.
The silence was intense; even the "jubilee
song" had died down in the solemn hush, and then
the voice of Mr. Stead was heard explaining, in low,
quiet tones, that he recognised the figure as that of a
dear deceased relative I think it was his aunt
and explained the wonders of materialisation we were
privileged to witness. "There was the figure,"
he said, pointing to the apparition, "and all the
time the medium was sitting on her kitchen chair in
the 'cabinet."
The Second Sensation
But the "Society Entertainer" would not stand
this, and then occurred the second great sensation
of the afternoon. "No, I AIN'T," said the figure
in a loud voice with a strong American accent,
"I'M HERE."
It was awful, and I mus tsay I now awaited a
tremendous explosion of wrath. But by this time
the power of "collective hypnotism," aided perhaps
{
by the old maxim 'populus vult decipi," maintained