and ceremonies are not; and they say that ALL the spirits, and even the highest Angels in Paradise, do pray to God, who is always pleased with earnest prayer."

It is this sort of blasphemy which, unhappily, makes the most dupes, for weak-minded people mistake it for religion. The mode in which this delusion was "worked," we learn from a friend who accidentally became acquainted with the imposture. He says:

"The first intimation that we received of the revival of this notable practice of divination was about six months ago, when we were casually informed that the son of a distinguished officer of the Royal Navy was, at that time, frequently engaged in developing before a few privileged friends, the extraordinary faculty of being able to hold intercourse with the world of spirits. It was added that the revelations made through the medium of this youth were of so wonderful a nature, and carried such conviction to the minds of those who listened, that they were declared to be the result of more than human power.

"We made inquiry as to the nature of these revelations, and found-as we expected-that they were precisely what might be expected, not from a supernatural intelligence, but from a naval young gentleman who carried to the ceremony a fair proportion of that readiness of belief in supernatural agency which is, more or less, characteristic of all sailors. On the subject in general these gallant officers were imaginative enough, but their specific yearnings-we are forced to admit-did not display any very lofty range Their questions, instead of turning on

"Fate, foreknowledge, and free-will,'

were limited to inquiries as to the personal appearance of some of our distinguished naval Commanders, and the spirit

who communicated his replies, through the interposition of the son of a Captain in the Royal Navy, must have been somewhat of the chillest capacity if he could not have satisfied the ingenuous interlocutor. One specimen of this sort may serve for a dozen.

"Ask him,' said Lord

for such was the rank of the querist,' ask him to describe Lord Nelson !'

"And, accordingly, the spirit, with an accuracy which was quite astonishing-considering that no portrait, bust, or statue of Nelson is known to exist-gave a full, true, and particular account of England's hero, describing him as a very thin man, in a cocked-hat, with only one eye, one arm, &c.; and the truth of this description was declared to be something truly marvellous.

"What the spirit of Lord Nelson said we were not informed, but we have no great difficulty in believing that it was to the effect that 'England expects every man to do his duty,' if, indeed, those memorable words were not actually used. Something more he might have added of an equally astonishing nature, for we have since discovered that there is a formula in these matters. Whatever it was, his hearers were perfectly satisfied, and the fame of this apparition soon got bruited abroad amongst the relations and friends of the noble and gallant lord already adverted

to.

"Another boy, also the son of a naval officer, about thirteen years of age, was a skilful interpreter; and even if he had not been an agent between two worlds, must still have shone forth as something remarkable, for one young lady, the daughter of a dignitary in the Church, declared that in her conversation with him, upon metaphysical subjects, she had been particularly struck by the depth and clearness of his reasoning! The youthful agent had, cer

tainly, the advantage over his principals in this respect, their answers being mostly delivered in the hazy manner which usually characterizes communications of an oracular

nature.

"There was, however, on the occasion of a matinée at the retired naval officer's, who was and is, the ArchPriest of this mystery, one Spirit who spoke plainly enough, but whose attributes and revelations were at once so comic and appalling, that we are almost afraid to transcribe them; still, for the benefit of our readers, we will venture :

"A demand was made that the spirit of a deceased brother of one of the querists should be summoned to appear.

"The lieutenant's son averted his face, and bent over the crystal.

"Presently he said, 'I see him-he has red, curly hair, and stoops a good deal. I can't exactly see his features, but I think he squints.'

"This account of her late brother's personal appearance, though not very flattering, satisfied the lady as far as it went; but being, like Macbeth

By the worst means, the worst,'

she required further proof of her relative's identity.

"There was a pause for a minute or two, and then the Spirit-seer spoke again :

"He has got a scroll in his hand, which he unfolds; there is this inscription on it, in letters of fire:

"I AM TOM!!!'

We e are assured that this sublime revelation was received with a degree of solemn awe, which caused our

informant to shake with suppressed throes of well-bred laughter.

"Besides the particular cases of 'Tom' and 'Lord Nelson,' others, not a wit less marvellous, have been described, and with perfect good faith on the part of the narrators, who could not be reasoned out of their absurdity, and who insisted, moreover, that there could be no deception in the matter, on account of the means employed, and the evident sincerity of the employés! These means, they said, required that the person who looked into the crystal should be perfectly pure; that is to say, a child free from sin (and by no means given to lying, as sometimes happens with the best of children), and that the form of adjuration used was, In nomine Domini,' &c.; Latin being, as is well known, the language which spirits of all denominations, 'red, black, and gray,' are most accustomed to. When interrogated after this fashion, the spirit, if evil, fled away, howling (inaudibly); if good, it came, when called, unless particularly engaged in the Sun; for it appears that it is to that planet almost all spirits go when their term of purgatory is over."

Thus far we are lighted on our amusing way by private information; but for more evidence of the balderdash by which educated persons are capable of being deluded, we must revert to the Almanac. According to this veracious record, the first spirit who favored Zadkiel with a visit (it was on the 29th of January last) was Orion, of whom such frequent mention is made in the fathers. He is described as a TALL man, with a helmet on, and in armor; a bear on its hind legs near him! He is fierce-looking, but has a pleasant smile."

66

Zadkiel indulges the readers of his Almanac with woodcuts of the various spirits as they are said to have appeared

66

66

in the Crystal. They were drawn by one of the seers- -a young gentleman having a knack with the pencil. The bear on his hind legs" does not appear; but Orion himself is, in the guise of a knight, precisely like those theatrical heroes dear to the eyes of youth, and sold at a penny plain, and twopence colored." What renders this portrait quite authentic, is a sentence in a letter which our friend showed us, from the author of the Almanac to an old retired officer, in which he speaks of the young seer and draughtsman as a recreant, and denounces him for having owned that what he had seen in the glass was-nothing. That the portraits he took, the visions he declared he saw, the answers he pretended he heard from the glass, were simply of his own invention. That in short he had perpetrated an egregious hoax. After the date of the letter in which this is dolorously communicated, the young artist's drawings are published in the Almanac as authentic likenesses of what appeared in the extraordinary glass of spirits.

The substance of Orion's communication is as follows, commencing with the caution that what he tells is not to be published "for the first half of this year," that is to say, till the Almanac is ready. All his communications are evidently copyright.

He says that the Crystal in which he appears was made in the year 657 B. C.; that any questions may be asked, "except wicked ones;" that the querist "cannot always be told ;" and that he comes" from the atmosphere." Being out of breath with talking-though he says little besides the above-Orion has recourse to the expedient of "letters of fire," which, observes Zadkiel, in a note, " appear written in various ways in the Crystal; sometimes on flags, which the Spirits hold up; but sometimes they are in print." In