"May 26th--Evening. Our trio was reinforced by Mr. B., a clever young lawyer, who regarded Planchette with no favorable eye--had no faith whatever in 'Spiritualism,' and maintained that for his part he thought it quite as sensible, if not more so, to attribute unknown phenomena to white rabbits as to spirits.... Planchette addressed herself to Mr. B. thus:
'You do not think that I am a spirit. I tell you that I am. If I am not an intelligence, in the name of common sense what am I? If you fancy I am white rabbits, then all I have to say is, that white rabbits are a deal cleverer than they have the credit of being among natural historians.'
Later, doubt was thrown upon the possibility of getting mental questions answered, and Planchette retorted:
'Do you fancy for one moment that I don't know the workings of your brain? That is not the difficulty. It is the impossibility--almost--of making two diametrically opposed magnetisms unite.'
After this rebuke, Mr. B. asked a mental question, and received the following answer:
'I am impelled to say that if you will persevere in these investigations, you may be placed _en rapport_ with your wife, who would undoubtedly communicate with you. If you have any faith in the immortality of the soul, you can have no doubt of the possibility of spiritual influences being brought to bear upon mortals. It is no new thing. Ever since the world began, this power has been exerted in one way or another; and if you pretend to put any faith in the Bible, you surely must credit the possibility of establishing this subtile connection between man and so-called angels.'
This communication was glibly written until within eleven words of the conclusion, when Planchette stopped, and I asked if she had finished.
'Then why don't you go on?' I continued. '_I_ can write faster than this.'
Planchette grew exceeding wroth at this, and dashed off an answer:
'Because, my good gracious! you are not obliged to express yourself through another's brain.'
I took it for granted that Planchette had shot very wide of the mark in the supposed response to Mr. B.'s mental query, and hence was not prepared to be told that it was satisfactory, in proof of which Mr. B. wrote beneath it: