ALTHOUGH Kelly's Post-Office London Directory is scornfully silent on the subject, there is such a place in this metropolis as the Spiritual Institution. To those who are outside the magic circle wherein the materialisation of visitants from the other world periodically supply awe-stricken sitters with ghostly entertainment, the edifice off Holborn, which calls itself an institution, bears a remarkable resemblance to an ordinary shop. That it is a shop the North British proprietor would no doubt cheerfully admit: a shop with a difference.' As a seller of sealing-wax, or a vendor of envelopes and similar stationery, Obscurity might have marked him for its own had he not posed some years since as a pioneer of the spirits, and, in virtue of his mission, laid the foundationstone of the Spiritual Institution. Now this genial Scotchman, who, it has been stated by his unfriends, is himself the Spiritual Institution, is a many-sided individual, possessed of a fund of queer knowledge of a variety of 'isms' and 'ologies; but if I wanted to describe him in a single brief sentence I should write him down 'a martyr to mediums.' Those uncanny folk are always with' him, and being, as one readily conceives, a rather miscellaneous assortment of unworldly agents, the anxiety they give him is unceasing. Hamlet (who was rude for a prince, and greatly given to boasting) is reported to have declared to Ophelia that he could interpret between her and her love if he could see the puppets dallying. The martyr

to mediums is not seldom called upon to interpret' between those persons and an incredulous public when the 'properties' of the puppets have fallen into the hands of the police. When Mrs. Guppy, who in point of weight was no chicken, and, normally, scarcely the stamp of lady an enterprising theatrical manager would engage for the role of Ariel, made that marvellous descent through an unaccustomed keyhole miles distant from the locks, bolts, and bars of her own tranquil abode, it was the obliging martyr who came forward and improved the occasion for the enlightenment of unbelievers in the lady's flight. When Dr. Monck fled in upper air during the silent watches of the night from Bath to Bristol (or from Bristol to Bath, which was it?) it was the conductor of the English organ of spiritualism who came forward, assisted, as it were, by a water-bottle and a black board, and showed us how it was done. The Spiritual Institution would appear to be an establishment devoted to the dissemination of ghostly literature (by means of sales and circulation), the nurture of spiritualistic art and the development of 'creepy' photography, the determination of doubts as to the respective edible value of a bunch of carrots, a pound of groats, and a chump chop, the frequent exploration of the interior of the sun, moon, and stars, the holding of séances, the personal conduct of lectures, the sale of pure solidified cacao, the phrenological measurement of the living skull, and the promotion of an elastic annual appeal, based

on the principle of a Hospital Sunday, called Institution Week. Judging from the piteous supplications with which rather less than a year of the weekly journal devoted to the history, phenomena, philosophy, and teachings of spiritualism is (as one might say) moistened, the trade in ghosts brings comparatively little golden grist to the mill of the martyr to mediums. He must have worn out quite a House of Commons full of hats since he was compelled by an ungrateful community to send his 'bonnet' round. That covering for a throbbing brain might boast, in common with a journal of which the reader has heard, of having the largest circulation in the world.' 'I think it best, under the circumstances, to say right out that I am in a state of poverty almost verging on utter destitution.' (This was in September 1879.) The whole history of my work these ten years has been an unbroken struggle, which, during these last three years, has been progressively intensified. The upset caused by the prosecution of the mediums has been followed by hard times generally, which... have gradually reduced my resources, till now my credit is entirely gone, and I "have not a feather to fly with."" There is reason to know that if feathers enow to enable the martyr to fly were not immediately forthcoming he was eventually supplied with a sufficient amount of plumage to enable him to levitate over the winter. The trade in ghosts, like most other callings, is not just now in a flourishing condition. The amateurs are swamping the professionals. Healers by the laying on of hands, and the transmission through the post of magnetised flannel and brown paper, seem to make a good living; but the medium of the Home and Williams

class acquires by the exercise of his abnormal gifts no more of the circulating medium than is requisite to provide him with the necessaries of a West-end existence. Before Mr. Home quitted the scenes of his most brilliant successes-I refer, of course, to what the late Mr. Compton used to call 'the great metrolopos'-he made an anything but inglorious attempt to achieve honourable distinction as a public elocutionist. His antecedents were not in favour of his success in that line, otherwise there was no reason why he should not have succeeded. His reading was peculiarly charming in manner, and betrayed remarkable dramatic force and sense of humour. His reciting of Walter Thornbury's stirring poem, 'The Death of the Old Squire,' and of a poem written specially for him by Mr. Spicer, was something to remember. The theme of the latter finely-declaimed lyric, and the burden thereof, was St. Helene.' However, there are to be found even now mediums who aim as high as Mr. Home did, albeit few of them reach the altitude which Robert Bell believed that accomplished levitationist had touched when, reporting his experience of an uncanny séance, he wrote that memorable article in the Cornhill. The worst of it is they are numerous, and extensive competition was ever fatal to high prices. Mediums nowadays make the exercise of their gifts and graces pay by personally conducting their own tours over the continents of Europe and America, and through certain of the colonies.

Occasionally a professor of the art of calling and producing spirits from the vasty deep-Dr. Slade, for example is compelled by legal tyranny (Mr. George Lewis is an unbeliever, recollect) to seek sanctuary on the other side of the North Sea or the Channel; but

that is not often. We are singularly indulgent to the sensationmonger who is tolerably original, and who conducts his business with respectability. Not that the first-class artist in ghosts need care very much about the verdict of London on his efforts to 'materialise.' There are wide arms of welcome waiting for him in Sweden and Holland, in Italy and France, and in default of those let him try with confidence the United States or the civilised portions of the Dark Continent. Mediumship was never so miraculous as it is now. I make no account of the distinguished ghosts who act as 'guides' to the mediums, and speak -as they spoke in the fleshthrough their lips. 'That's of course.' Mary Queen of Scots and Oliver Cromwell are as well known to the spiritualistic circle as Mr. J. L. Toole is to the dress circle of the Folly

Theatre.

Amongst the departed ones who are speaking in 'the direct voice' their own or who borrow for the occasion the untutored lips of the medium of Great Britain or the United States of America are the following: Caius Julius Cæsar, the bright and angelic being Irene,' George Washington, Constantine the Great, Dr. Abernethy, Jan Steen, Lord Byron, the Scotchman, Plotinus, Turner, Nadir Shah, William Hogarth, Mahomet, the founder of the Mahometan religion,' Henry More, M.A., Daisy, John Milton; quite an army of Minnies, Cissies, and Lillies, Lucius Junius Brutus, Samoset, Mother Shipton our irrepressible friend,' Pocka, Samuel Guppy, Armand Jean le Boulhillier de Rance, the restorer of the Order of the Monks of La Trappe, Sir Humphrey Davy, Dr. Forbes, Emanuel Swedenborg, Samuel, Thomas (and likewise Tom) Paine,

James Nolan, Charles Dickens, Tien, Thomasi, Campanella, Lily Gordon, the Strolling Player, Skiwaukie, and Henry Kirke White. Samoset and the bright and angelic being Irene are 'the controls' of the mighty healer by the laying on of hands, Dr. Mack.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to explain that Dr. Mack has as much right to the title of doctor as the French count who removes your corns for a consideration, or the gentleman from Shoreditch who teaches you the noble art of selfdefence for a fee, has to the title of professor. His complete name, he informs us, is McSweeny; but years ago, when his wife, who is now in the summerland, was upon the earth-plane-in the United States of America-she objected to his forsaking the leather interest, in which he was concerned, for the art of healing. Consequently he dropped the Sweeny and retained the Mack. Since her departure (as aforesaid) he has not deemed it desirable to restore the Sweeny to its original place in his patronymic, and he is therefore known wherever the American and English languages are spoken with propriety as Dr. Mack. He is a great believer in the prophylactic efficacy of Sanitas. The painters Jan Steen, Turner, Hogarth, and company control Mr. Duguid of Glasgow and Mrs. Esperance of London, in their efforts to paint landscapes and portraits under Maskelyne and Cooke conditions, in the dark. It is matter for regret that none of those triumphs of design have been placed on-or above the line at the Royal above-the Academy or the Grosvenor. Harvey is one of the controls of Mrs. Olive the healer. There are several low comedians amongst the ghosts, notably Mrs. Shipton (our irrepressible friend!') and the Strolling Player. The latter is

Dr.

in partnership with Mr. Morse, who is a trance-speaker. (There are three grades of mediumship, an authority informs us, 'the physical, the test, and the oratorical.') Mr. Morse is also controlled, chiefly upon public platforms, by an ancient Chinese philosopher called Tien. Tien is not the entire appellation of the sage. He has a right to another syllable of the same appearance in English, and similar dimensions, but I forget it. Provided with the key, which is contained in the word which I have given, the reader ought to experience no difficulty in finding the concluding half of Tien inscribed upon the nearest tea-chest.

When Mr. Morse is released by Tien, he gives himself up to the Strolling Player, who invariably convulses the audience with laughter. Pocka is a north-country female ghost of youthful appearance, whose performances are so well known on Tyneside. Samuel (it may be that the other half of him is Weller) is the ghost which Dr. Monck holds by.'

It has never been made quite clear whether Mary Hollis Billing, who may be termed the champion female medium, or Mrs. Lowe, has the most right to James Nolan. Hear Mrs. Billing on the subject: 'I may remark that the spirit James Nolan, whose identity has been repeatedly established by those that knew him in earth life, has communicated through my mediumship for the last fifteen years. Whereas a spirit, purporting to be James Nolan, has only manifested through the mediumship of Mrs. Lowe for two years. My friends are, therefore, at a loss to know what Mrs. Lowe can mean when she says that the only genuine Nolan comes through her mediumship. It is absurd to insinuate that the spirit known by me has been in any way derived from her,

seeing that he was my control for many years before Mrs. Lowe knew anything of myself or of the spirit. These spirits are free agents, and at liberty, as far as I am concerned, to manifest where they see fit; and when it has been proved that they have done so through another medium, I have acknowledged the fact with pleasure. The burden of proof remains with Mrs. Lowe.' The generosity of Mrs. Billing in giving the ghost full permission to select his own medium will not escape recognition. Skiwaukie is another of Mrs. Billing's controls. 'Ski,' as his friends and admirers term him, is the spirit of a chief of the Hatchee tribe, long since extinct; and his huntinggrounds were in the Southern States, where Mrs. Billing was brought up, and where she resided when the Hatchee medicine-man first made her acquaintance. At first he was unable to ‘manifest' in English, but he gradually mastered the rudiments of the medium's tongue. During the time he has controlled in Mrs. Billing's circle, "Ski" has made many friends. One of these, Mr. J. R. Meeker, was an eminent landscape-painter of St. Louis, who, without informing the medium of his intention, was impressed to paint "Ski's" portrait. He had no means of seeing the spirit, not being clairvoyant; but he was so impressible that his mind could be inspired with the idea to be expressed, and the spirit could influence his hand somewhat even to produce the curved lip, indicative of the loss of teeth which "Ski" sustained before he quitted the earth-form.' A photograph from this remarkable portrait was pasted upon every copy of the most recent Christmas number of the organ of English spiritualists. Persons who have seen the noble red man of the forest, clairvoyantly, pronounce the