rise of the instrument; so the action of Spirit influence causes a fall or rise of the bodily sensations of the living instrument. In the several developments visible to the observer, sometimes the atmosphere is quiet for a few days or weeks—the instrument appears weak, or out of order; so is it with Mediums; those wishing for rapid risings and fallings, are surprised at the feebleness or complete stoppage of spirit manifestations through mediums; and the human instrument, being endowed with consciousness, feels at times surprised at the inertnessbut suddenly, when both are apparently useless, a sudden action takes place. Up or down goes the indicator, the unseen elements are in vigorous play, and those conversant with the powers of the instrument, are aware of the approach of great results; sometimes, as in nature, uprooting the giant oak of the forest, yet descending to acts so trivial as the overturning of some window-sill flower-pot-so with spirit power; it comes so powerfully as to uproot the giant prejudices of great intellects, but possibly upsets the equilibrium of some little mind: and oh! what wailing over the broken pot-" Look at the mischief the wind has done;" Look at the mischief Spirit power has done; UP, whimperer, look around, stand on the hill top, and feel a purified atmosphere-see a clearer sky— inhale the life air given by the tempest; why the very birds are singing for joy-pestilence has been swept from the land. Reader, as the one instrument indicates the presence of unseen physical power, so the other indicates the presence of unseen Spiritual power.

SECTION XI.

FORTUNE-TELLERS.

THE spae-wives of Scotland, the witches of England, and fortune-tellers in general, have been a noted class of beings; laughed at by materialists, and dreaded by the superstitious. By the one branded as "charlatans," and by the other as “of the devil;" while an intermediate class, standing between the extremes, hearing both sides, have been puzzled what to believe. The past sections will have unfolded the possibility of both extremes being wrong, and yet the principle of "Predictions" true. The Gipsies have been famous throughout Europe for their talent in telling fortunes, and their sylvan mode of life. A life in the wilds of nature, whether the moor, the parish common, or the hedge lanes of the country, renders them peculiarly open to natural influences,—and for the moment looking at "West-end civilization" with its education and gloss; at the East-end with all its gruffness; and at Gipsy life with all its roaming and pilfering; we cannot be surprised that those beings, if they live after death, will be in that other state with the same inclinations. "He that is filthy will be filthy still; he that is holy will be holy still," and, if permitted to continue near earth, will mingle with their like in the flesh, moral or immoral. I see no reason why predictions may not come to all classes, vile and pure, with all their intermediate moral strata. Numerous incidents in confirmation of the clear seeing or vision powers of fortune-tellers have come under my observation, and at the same time much that is false. The reader will perceive that many persons, for the sake of "the fee," will call themselves fortune-tellers, get the formula without the power of mediumship; and so lead astray those who repose confidence in their power. In the light of spirit action on man, all is clear; whether by the Devil, or by the angel, or by man's natural power.

Anxious to obtain practical knowledge, I, about twelve months ago, with some difficulty found out an old fortuneteller in Maidstone, Kent; an old woman of about eighty, who had practised fortune-telling for sixty years; and who during that time had become noted for her cleverness. I found the old woman in a little room about ten feet by nine, no carpet on the floor, two chairs, a little round table, and a bedstead in the middle of the room. I took a young lady with me as a subject for her skill, she occupied one chair, the old woman the other, and I sat on the bedside. The old woman paid two shillings per week for the room; her bosom was open and tawny; she had the habit of poking her hand into her armpit. I stated I was "curious" about all things mysterious in nature, and wished to know how she found out the fortunes or misfortunes of persons-did she see visions? "O no, (said the old lady) it comes, do ye see, by the cards." She then desired that the door be locked, produced a pack of dirty cards, and requested me to "shuffle them." Ignorant of what shuffling cards meant, I was shown how it was managed. I then did as I was requested, and was then again requested to cut them, which I did on being told what that also was; I was about doing so, when a thought flashed on my mind"not there;" so I cut them higher up. The old woman then laid the cards in rows, reading off my fortune, which was wondrously good, by perceiving that the King, and Queen, and other high personages were on the top rows; and I found that if those personages had been on the bottom rows, all would have been very bad with me. She stated that was the only way she read the fate of persons. Having narrowly watched the old woman, and my own mental movements while "shuffling," I at once solved the enigma of that class of fortune telling-granting that any of the "clients" of the old lady were sensitives or mediums, subject to spirit controulwhich most young girls about twenty are ;-the flash thought "not there" during shuffling, as well as an inclination or disinclination to continue shuffling, would produce a result

T

sufficiently near, when duly read off by the old woman, to indicate the future, in general terms. The young lady then had her fortune told the same way, but said she had no flash thought or inclination. Her fortune was absurd and incorrect. As soon as the practical part was over, an incident occurred, which, confirming my view of card fortunes, at the same time amused me. My hands were resting on the table; my left hand came off, passed round by my spine, passed on, laid hold of the inner part of the elbow of the right hand on the table, and pulled it off. There was no volition of my own mind while doing it; but it was done somehow; it was as if laid hold of by some one. So, I smiling thought it meant, "you have gained the knowledge you sought for,—be off.” I acted on the idea, silvered the old woman's hand, which drew down blessings on me by wholesale; and so ended my interview with a fortune-teller with a sixty years' character.

Many fortune-tellers by palmistry are spirit Mediums; and perceive the future in a scenic tableau when gazing on the hand or chest. I will select two instances out of scores. A painter's wife I know, standing at her husband's door in a small country village, mending her husband's stockings, was accosted by a gipsy-woman. On looking at the wife, she said, "Ah, that is about the last pair you will mend for him-you are going soon to a large town-your husband will soon die, and you will remain there unmarried for twenty years. The person laughed, as she saw no probability of their moving from the village; but in three months the family removed to a large town of about thirty thousand inhabitants; the painter went to paint a house which had just been left by a family who had the small-pox, though he was not aware of it; he took the disease, died, and the widow tells me that last year made the twenty years of her living in the town, and she is still a widow. (Note.-Is now dead.)

The other instance I have from a clergyman, who had it from the person interested. Having lost several articles, and being unable to find out the thief, he went to a person some

twenty miles off, reputed for his thief-discovery powers; he was ushered into a room, a circle was made on the floor, he and the wizard remained kneeling in the circle--the wizard offered up a prayer as follows:-"Oh! Satan, a friend of mine, and a servant of thine, enquires as to who has stolen and desires to know where they are"-he, the visitor, trembled at the thought of being called a servant of Satan, and wished himself out of the premises; while in that state, a scene appeared, he saw a sawpit, and where the things were hid in it; and then the figure of the thief appeared-the man returned home, and verified the accuracy of all by finding the articles, and obtaining the confession of the thief.

Negroes are first class fortune-tellers, their bodies are more impressible than the whites, and they are less under the tutoring of civilized materialism; an interesting incident of this the reader will find under the section Predictions, with reference to "Josephine, Empress of France"-Josephine was a Creole, and grandmother to Napoleon III., who is considered a man of "Destiny."

Various methods are adopted, but they are all on the same principle; and are only the human act of externally showing a wish to communicate with unseen beings. Some, like heathens, invoke the devil ;-some the Great Turtle; some invoke evil intelligences-some act without any invocation, they try the cards. In all these means, God, and his divine intelligent agents for good, are not appealed to, not thought of; but still effects, extraordinary results, are most assuredly produced, whether done by devil or angel; in either case, it is done by unseen powers, possessed with mental energies and personal knowledge as to human matters superior to the applicant. Denying facts, and thus giving "the lie" to credible witnesses, does not extinguish those facts-such judgment merely confirms the old saying, "He who is convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."

DIVINATION is a favourite method where the mediumship of