drawing-room tables which would be generally acceptable if not too
expensive. And Mr. Spicer is bringing me more? How kind of you. And when
is he coming? Scarcely could anyone come as a stranger whom I desire
more to see, and I do hope he will bring me facts and fantasies too on
the great subject which is interesting me so deeply. His book of 'Sights
and Sounds' we have read, but the new book has not penetrated to us.
'Sights and Sounds' is very curious, and the authenticity of its facts
has been confirmed to me by various testimonies, but the author is too
clever for his position; I mean too full of flash and wit. There's an
air of levity, and of effective writing, without which the book would
have been more impressive and convincing; don't you think so? And here
we get to the heart of most of the difficulties of the subject. Why do
we make no quicker advances, do you say? Why are our communications
chiefly trivial? Why, but because we ourselves are trivial, and don't
bring serious souls and concentrated attentions and holy aspirations to
the spirits who are waiting for these things? Spirit comes to spirit by
affinity, says Swedenborg; but our cousinship is not with the high and
noble. We try experiments from curiosity, just as children play with the
loadstone; our ducks swim, but they don't get beyond that, and _won't_,
unless we do better. _To_ prove what I say, consider what you say
yourself, that you couldn't manage to draw the same persons together
again (these very persons being persuaded of the verity of the spiritual
communications they were in reach of) on account of the difficulties of
the London season. Difficulties of the London season! The inconsequence
of human nature is more wonderful to me than the ingress of any spirits
could be. This instance is scarcely credible....

I had a letter the other day from Mr. Chorley, and he was chivalrous
enough (I call it real chivalry in his state of opinion) to deliver to
me a message from Mr. Westland Marston, whom he met at Folkestone, and