J. C. Y.: Should I succeed?
A.: No.
J. C. Y.: Who would?
A.: Joseph Ries. (A gentleman whom my uncle much respected.)
J. C. Y.: Have I lost any friend lately?
A.: Yes.
J. C. Y.: Who is it? (I thinking of a Miss Young, a distant cousin.)
A.: Christiana Lane.
J. C. Y.: Can you tell me where I sleep to-night?
A.: James B.'s, Esq., 9 Clarges Street.
J. C. Y.: Where do I sleep to-morrow?
A.: Colonel Weymouth's, Upper Grosvenor Street.
I was so astounded by the correctness of the answers I received to my inquiries that I told the gentleman who was with me that I wanted particularly to ask a question to the nature of which I did not wish him to be privy, and that I should be obliged to him if he would go into the adjoining room for a few minutes. On his doing so I resumed my dialogue with Mrs. Hayden.
J. C. Y.: I have induced my friend to withdraw because I did not wish him to know the question I want to put, but I am equally anxious that you should not know it either, and yet, if I understand rightly, no answer can be transmitted to me except through you. What is to be done under these circumstances?
Mrs. H.: Ask your question in such a form that the answer returned shall represent by one word the salient idea in your mind.
J. C. Y.: I will try. Will what I am threatened with take place?
A.: No.
J. C. Y.: That is unsatisfactory. It is easy to say Yes or No, but the value of the affirmation or negation will depend on the conviction I have that you know what I am thinking of. Give me one word which shall show that you have the clue to my thoughts.
A.: Will.
Now, a will by which I had benefited was threatened to be disputed. I wished to know whether the threat would be carried out. The answer I received was correct.
It may be added that Mr. Young had no belief, before or after this seance, in spirit agency, which surely, after such an experience, is no credit to his intelligence or capacity for assimilating fresh knowledge.
The following letter in THE SPIRITUALIST from Mr. John Malcom, of Clifton, Bristol, mentions some well-known sitters. Discussing the question that had been raised as to where the first seance in England was held and who were the witnesses present at it, he says:
I do not remember the date; but calling on my friend Mrs. Crowe, authoress of "The Night Side of Nature," she invited me to accompany her to a spiritual seance at the house of Mrs. Hayden in Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square. She informed me that Mrs. Hayden had just arrived from America to exhibit the phenomena of Spiritualism to people in England who might feel interested in the subject. There were present Mrs. Crowe, Mrs. Milner Gibson, Mr. Colley Grattan (author of "High Ways and Bye Ways"), Mr. Robert Chambers, Dr. Daniels, Dr. Samuel Dickson, and several others whose names I did not hear. Some very remarkable manifestations occurred on that occasion. I afterwards had frequent opportunities of visiting Mrs. Hayden, and, though at first disposed to doubt the genuineness of the phenomena, such convincing evidence was given me of spirit communion that I became a firm believer in the truth of it.
The battle in the British Press raged furiously. In the columns of the London CRITIC, Mr. Henry Spicer (author of "Sights and Sounds") replied to the critics in HOUSEHOLD WORDS, the LEADER, and the ZOIST. There followed in the same newspaper a lengthy contribution from a Cambridge clergyman, signing himself "M.A.," considered to be the Rev. A. W. Hobson, of St. John's College, Cambridge.
This gentleman's description is graphic and powerful, but too long for complete transcription. The matter is of some importance, as the writer is, so far as is known, the first English clergyman who had gone into the matter. It is strange, and perhaps characteristic of the age, how little the religious implications appear to have struck the various sitters, and how entirely occupied they were by inquiries as to their grandmother's second name or the number of their uncles.