should occupy more than twenty minutes, except the audience should
desire, that after the expiration of twenty minutes he should continue
to speak.

Mr. Davis was called, to open the Convention with his speech. It was
read from a manuscript and contained a very imposing and deceiving view
of the past and the present in the history of mankind. Since his reading
lasted more than one hour, I asked after its close, that it should be
decided, whether those who open the meeting, should be bound by the
adopted rule of twenty minutes, or be permitted to speak or read as long
as they would be pleased also when they misrepresent the history in such
an absurd manner as the speaker did. No regard was taken of what I said,
and they proceeded in singing and speaking.

The afternoon session was opened with as long a reading as the forenoon
session. After the reading they debated, whether it should be directly
printed in a newspaper of the place and in extra copies, or not. It was
unanimously decided that it should be printed, except that I disturbed
the unanimous vote with a powerful "no." But when I desired to give my
reasons, that its publication would not serve "to overcome evil with
good," but to increase the evil, I was stopped, as being not in order in
opposition to a resolution which had been unanimously carried out.

For a better understanding of the spectacles which will be mentioned
afterwards, we must remark the following incident, which happened on
that day, to wit, somebody mentioned, that there came many female
mediums from a great distance in the expectation to be moved in the
Convention by spirits to speak, that therefore all these mediums should
come on the platform, and speak, whenever any of them should be moved by
a spirit to do so. I think that others felt the absurdity of that