If Mr. Gilfillan was at all acquainted with the sentiments on this subject of the late worthy pastor of the church whose pulpit he on this occasion occupied, it was scarcely decent to thus cast insult on his memory. In any case "the information was not very novel" which he communicated; and if "the grand Genesis" of the Christian faith leads him to speak in "the house of God" with this unqualified contempt of his "professing fellow Christians," the more ignorant they are of it the better. Some of these professing Christians in their ignorance might perhaps ask him if there is not somewhere a text which says, "First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

We remember that some twenty years since he described in his own picturesque way, the advancing tide of unbelief, strong in learning, and crested with genius, which was rolling over the world. The new assailants of the Christian faith from every quarter combined their motley forces with those of the old desperadoes of infidelity, and all agreed that historical Christianity must go down before advancing civilization.

Bearing this passage in mind, Mr. Gilfillan's late querulous attack on Spiritualism seems to us like the case of a physician of the orthodox school of medicine, many of whose patients, finding that they daily grew worse under his treatment, had recourse to an unauthorised healer, who effected a complete cure, whereupon the physician becomes indignant at their allowing themselves to be cured by the "quackery" of an unlicensed practitioner instead of being killed in a proper and respectable fashion by a man holding a regular diploma. Mr. Gilfillan stands on the beach and preaches to the angry waves of unbelief and scepticism, as though experience had not long shown how futile were sermons to stem the advancing tide. Raving and wringing his hands in vain lamentation, he can but rail at the only effective barrier yet raised against it.

Mr. Gilfillan expects a fuller revelation to be at hand, unaware that already its light is streaming all around him, and that he is fighting blindly against it. For what is all revelation but an unveiling? And thousands can testify that to them. Spiritualism has been a series of successive unveilings-of themselves their true nature; the future that lies before them; their relations to the spirit-world; and of God's ways and dealings with man. But for the reception of this or any revelation one condition is needful-an open mind. To those who feel no need of further revelation, or are unwilling to receive it in the way God is pleased to send it, it is still and ever true that "The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."

T. S.

NOTES AND GLEANING S.

ROBERT DALE OWEN ON THE SPREAD OF SPIRITUALISM.

IN a speech at Terra Haute, Indiana, March 31st, on the Twenty-fourth Anniversary of Modern Spiritualism, Mr. Owen remarked:

"The general view I take of the matter may be thus summed up: What may properly be called Spiritual Epiphanism is spreading as fast as its wisest friends desire; but it is spreading not as a sect-nor ever, I trust, to become such-not as a separate church, with its prescribed creed and its ordainedministers and its formal professors. It spreads silently, through the agency of daily intercourse, in the privacy of the domestic circle. It pervades, in one or another of its phases, the best literature of the day. It invades the churches already established, not as an opponent, but as an ally. Its tendency is to modify the creed and soften the asperities of Protestant and Romanist, of Presbyterian and Episcopalian, of Baptist and Methodist, of Unitarian and Universalist. Its tendency is to leaven, with invigorating and spiritualizing effect, the religious sentiment of the age, increasing its vitality, enlivening its convictions."

MATTER PASSING THROUGH MATTER UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRICITY.

At a meeting of the Meteorological Society some years ago, I think in 1858, a paper was read by Mr. Andres Poey, the director of the observatory of Havanna, on the photographic effects of lightning, particularly on the curious phenomena of the photographing of objects that are near other objects struck by lightning. Mr. Poey stated the fact of lightning passing down a chimney and into a trunk where without making any hole, it left an inch depth of soot, which must have passed through the wood. In his paper on lightning storms in Cuba and the United States, Mr. Poey mentioned a poplar tree in a coffee plantation being struck with lightning on the 24th of July, 1852, and on one of its dried leaves being found an exact representation of some pine trees standing at a distance of 367 yards 9 inches. This is as wonderful as the fact mentioned by Franklin in 1786, of a man who stood opposite to a tree struck by a thunderbolt, having on his breast an exact representation of that tree. These are now well-known phenomena, but this of the soot, under the influence of the electric fluid,

passing in large quantities through the substance of wood, is so much allied to matter passing through matter under the influence of spirit, as to make it very interesting. Matter passing through matter under spirit influence is now one of the most frequent and well-attested facts of modern Spiritualism. The well-known circumstance of the steel collar of much less diameter than that of the head of the medium Hughes, in the United States, being put on and taken off almost daily in the presence of Mr. Danskin and hundreds of others; the coat and other manifestations of the Davenports and Mr. Fay, exhibited by them all over Europe and America, and the more recent and kindred phenomena occuring to Mr. Home, Mrs. Guppy, Messrs. Herne and Williams, &c., are now too familiar to need remark, yet are still sneered at by the scientific world. It is curious, therefore, that fourteen years ago this phenomenon of the lightning and the soot was stated by a scientific man before a scientific body, and received without any comment or disrespect. If the member of the Meterological Society had suddenly called to mind the correlative action of Spiritualism, would they not have taken the alarm, and instead of so ready an acceptance, have denounced the soot in the trunk as a very black and suspicious affair? The statement here given is found in a volume entitled The Stars and the Angels, or the Natural History of the Universe and its Inhabitants, published by Hamilton and Adams, in 1858, p. 363, Appendix.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., has addressed a letter to the President and Council of the Royal Society respecting the publication, on two recent occasions, of certain proceedings of the Council, contrary to the established usage of the society. One ground of complaint is that, in an article in the Quarterly Review, understood to be written by Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., the following statement occurred: "For this discovery, he (ie., Mr. Crookes) was rewarded by the Fellowship of the Royal Society; but we speak advisedly when we say that this distinction was conferred on him with considerable hesitation, the ability he displayed in the investigation being purely technical." Again, in a lecture delivered at Chelsea, Dr. Carpenter said: "Mr. Crookes' second Paper came before the Council a month ago, and a committee of two was appointed to examine it. They gave in their report yesterday (Jan. 18, 1872), and it was unanimously resolved that the Paper be returned to him, as in the opinion of the Royal Society, it was good for nothing." Mr. Crookes points out that Dr. Carpenter,

not being a member of the Council of the Society, must have founded his allegations on hearsay, and he complains that, though the worth of each paper treating of new and exciting topics must inevitably be the subject of minute and even personal discussion, yet, if what occurs is to be made public, it will have a detrimental effect on the deliberations of the Council. Mr. Crookes' letter having been laid before the Council on the 18th April, the following resolutions were passed: First, "That the President and Council regret that the statements in question should have been published, both because they are incorrect in point of fact, and because the unauthorised publication of the deliberations of the Council is contrary to the usage of the society." Second, "That the above resolution be communicated to Mr. Crookes."-Daily Telegraph, May 2nd.

TESTIMONIAL TO MR. AND MRS. EVERITT.

On Monday, April 29th, about fifty friends of Mr. and Mrs. Everitt took tea together at Cannon Street Hotel, to present them with a testimonial as set forth in the following Address. The chair was taken by S. C. Hall, Esq., F.S.A., who delivered a very suitable address. Messrs. Leighton, Shorter, Varley, Coleman, Jones, and Theobald spoke briefly to the object of the meeting, and Mr. Everitt acknowledged the kindness of his friends in feeling and appropriate terms. The following is the address presented:

"To MR. AND MRS. THOMAS EVERITT.

"Dear and valued Friends,—It has pleased the Giver of every good and perfect gift to endow you with a power which brings the spiritual world into visible communion with our own.

'By the faithful discharge of your stewardship you have been instrumental in proclaiming 'liberty to the captives,' and in opening the prison to many that were bound;' and many who doubted whether there were a life hereafter, have, by the incontrovertible evidence received through the mediumship of Mrs. Everitt, not only been assured of the continued existence of those dear to them who have departed this life, but also of the loving and active interest they still manifest in all that concerns their present and future welfare.

"We whose names are appended, being a few only of your many friends, desire to express our high esteem and regard for you both, by offering for the acceptance of Mrs. Everitt, a cabinet sewing machine and an Alexandra model pianoforte.

"The intrinsic value of these gifts does not represent the measure of our regard for you; but they symbolize the uses and ends of your united lives, which are most happily expressed by one dear to all who have been privileged to be present at your séances-John Watt, the controlling spirit of your circle, in these words :-'Industry and harmony combined promote lives of usefulness.'

"May the loving Father of All increase your usefulness here, and when He calls you higher may your works follow you.

"Signed on behalf of the contributors whose names are appended.

HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY AT BOSTON.

During the extraordinary clear cold weather which prevailed in February and March the electrical phenomena observed in some houses excited much interest. In our own dwelling, for many days, no member of the family could walk across a room and come in contact with a metallic substance without receiving an electrical shock, accompanied with a spark and report. The door knobs, stop cocks, connected with steam radiators, gas cocks, registers, &c., were so electrically spiteful that they were handled with caution. Our children amused themselves in the evening by lighting the gas with their fingers, and altogether the electrical condition of the atmosphere was quite unusual. In order that this exhibition of household electricity may be witnessed in perfection, it is necessary that the weather be clear and cold, and that the rooms be carpeted with heavy carpets, and these should be insulated by paper mattings beneath. Under these favourable conditions a person scuffling or even walking across a room becomes so charged with electricity that he can ignite a gas-jet readily, by applying to it the tip of his finger.

Observing this play of one of the mysterious forces of nature, we could not help reflecting upon the fact, that with all our knowledge we to-day know no more of what electricity is, than the ancient Romans, Grecians, or Egyptians. It is an agency or force which has never been seen, measured or weighed, and in itself is as illusory, intangible, incomprehensible, as the "stuff that dreams are made of." All we know of it relates to its effects, and it is not probable that human knowledge will ever reach beyond this boundary.

It is a force that we have been able to put in harness, and by complying with the conditions under which it acts, we can compel it to serve important ends in benefitting the race. It is probable that at present we understand most of the laws or conditions which govern it, and that we have utilized the agency so far as it is capable of being utilized. Its relations to matter, and to the phenomena of life, are also quite well understood. This being conceded, it is evident that as yet we are utterly unacquainted with a sufficient number of forces to do the work of the universe. Every day the student and experimenter is brought face to face with phenomena which he is wholly incompetent to explain, and although electricity is a convenient agency to which to refer everything inexplicable, yet it is a very unsatisfactory pack-horse upon which to crowd our difficulties.

There are many things yet to be learned, and proud as we are and have reason to be of our philosophy, as the ages roll on, what we know to-day will stand comparatively as the science