The first reason is to be found in the mental condition of the observer;
if he be excited or deeply moved his account cannot but be affected, and
essential details will surely be distorted.

For a second reason, note how hard it is to give a truthful account of
any common, everyday occurrence. The difficulty is increased a
hundred-fold, when what we would tell, partakes of the wonderful. Who
can truthfully describe a juggler's trick? Who would hesitate to affirm
that a watch, which never left the eye-sight for an instant, was broken
by the juggler on an anvil; or that a handkerchief was burned before our
eyes? We all know the juggler does not break the watch, and does not
burn the handkerchief. We watched most closely the juggler's right hand,
while the trick was done with his left. The one minute circumstance has
been omitted that would have converted the trick into no-trick. It is
likely to be the same in the accounts of most of the wonderful phenomena
of Spiritualism.

For these two reasons, we laid down for ourselves at the start that in
cases demanding close observation we would endeavor to have as many
members as possible of the Commission present at every séance. In
dealing with phenomena, where all ordinary methods of investigation are
excluded, we perceived clearly that our best resource lay in having the
largest possible number of observers.

In dismissing this subject of Independent Slate Writing, we repeat, what
we think Spiritualists will generally grant, that this phenomenon can be
performed by legerdemain. The burden of proof that it is not so
performed rests with the Mediums. This proof the Mediums will neither
offer themselves, nor permit others to obtain. Investigators, therefore,