Old -World Trials. her to die in order to meet her husband again, and that if she would only become a Spiritualist, the communion, which death had interrupted, might be at once renewed. Mrs. Lyon was attracted by this specious promise; and Mrs. Sims, pursuing her ad vantage, lent the plaintiff some books upon the subject, spoke to her of " The Head Spiritualist," the defendant Home, who had recently opened an Athaucum at 22 Sloane Street, and suggested that she should write to him for a prospectus and particulars. Mrs. Lyon accordingly made some inquiries in Sloane Street, but without success. On the 28th of September she wrote to a Mrs. Burns, a librarian at Camberwell, and a ven dor of books upon Spiritualism, asking for Mr. Home's address, and stating that she was a firm believer in everything contained in his book, " Incidents of My Life." Havingobtained Home's address from Mrs. Burns, the plaintiff wrote to him, stating her wish to become a subscriber to the Spiritual Athenaeum. As no answer came from the medium, Mrs. Lyon called at his lodgings in Sloane Street, and there met him for the first time. After a little preliminary conver sation, Home undertook the task of recall ing the departed Mr. Lyon. The modus operandi is thus described in the official re port of the case : " They sat down at the table in the sitting-room, and raps came al most immediately. The defendant said: ' That is a call for the alphabet,' and then repeated the letters of the alphabet, from time to time a rap being given as he arrived each time at the letter intended to be indi cated, and so on until a complete word or sentence was spelled out." In this way the supposed spirit was made to say: " My own beloved Jane, I am Charles, your own be loved husband; I live to bless you, my own precious darling; I am with you always; I love, love, love you as I always did." Mrs. Lyon, being much gratified with the result of her first visit from the spiritual world, invited Home to call upon her at her
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lodgings, and promised a Subscription of £10 to the Athenaum. On the following day the defendant duly appeared to secure the redemption of this promise. He had hardly entered the apartments of the plain tiff when a chorus of raps were heard, indi cating, as Home induced the plaintiff to believe, the presence and the pleasure of the dear departed. Mrs. Lyon at once tripled her proposed donation to the Athenceum. Of course Home called again, and on his second visit the late Mr. Lyon was even more demonstrative than before. The following message was spelt out: " My own darling Jane, I love Daniel" (meaning the defendant); " he is to be our son; he is my son, therefore yours. Do you remem ber before I passed, I said a change would take place in seven years? That change has taken place; I am happy, happy, happy!" The spirit also declared that he wished Daniel to be independent, but undertook to indicate the manner at another time. Mrs. Lyon at once wrote a cheque in Home's favor for £50. At an interview on the fol lowing day the spirit of the deceased directed the plaintiff to adopt the defendant, and to hand over stock worth £700 a year. Mrs. Lyon and Home accordingly drove in a cab from Bayswater to the city, constant sharp raps being heard in and about the cab all the way in testification of the spirit's ap proval, and on her arrival at the Bank of England she executed a transfer to the defendant of stock representing in value £24,000. On the same or the following day, Home left London for Brighton, and afterwards went to Malvern, being absent from town for a few weeks, during which the plaintiff sent him a cheque for £20, and was in constant correspondence with him, addressing him as " My dear Dan iel," " My dear son," " My darling boy," signing herself, " Your affectionate mother." In one letter she spoke of her late husband as " the best of men, your spiritual father, Charles Lyon." In his replies to these effu-
