What might be called Home’s American apprenticeship began in 1850 and in spite of his youth and inexperience he succeeded in convincing many prominent persons of the genuineness of his phenomena, among them being such men as Judge Edmonds,[38] William Cullen Bryant, and Bishop Clarke of Rhode Island. In the spring of 1855 a committee of admirers collected a sum of money sufficient to send him to England and establish himself comfortably. He carried with him a letter of introduction to a man of scientific tastes by the name of Cox who was proprietor of Cox’s Hotel, in Jermyn Street, and through whose influence he was able to arrange sittings with Lord Brougham, Sir David Brewster, Robert Owen, T. A. Trollope, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, and others equally prominent. After only a few months’ stay in England Home went to Italy, ostensibly for his health, and for the next four years he lived on the Continent, travelling from place to place, living in luxury, being almost continually entertained in the homes of “friends,” which in almost every case were people of rank and wealth. He seems to have had little difficulty in meeting royalty and nobility on terms of intimacy even numbering among his patrons the Emperor and Empress of France as well as the Czar of Russia. From this clientele he received many and valuable gifts. At the Russian Court, with its leaning toward the occult, he was especially welcomed and lived for weeks at a time in the palace of the Czar, like the similar careers of Washington Irving Bishop, Mons. Phillipi, and Rasputin. During his stay in Russia he met a beautiful young lady of rank and with the approval of the Czar married her.[39] Home at this time had already begun to show that fondness for precious stones which finally became so pronounced that a few years later an English writer in describing him said: “But the salient feature of the man after all was his jewels. On the third finger of the left hand he wore an immense solitaire, which flashed imperial splendors with every movement; above that a sapphire of enormous size; on the other hand was a large yellow diamond and a superb ruby set in brilliants.” But these were not all for the writer adds a list of others in Home’s possession which would easily arouse the envy of any multi-millionaire’s wife. In view of this fondness for jewels an incident which occurred just prior to Home’s leaving the Russian Court is interesting. The story was told me by Stuart Cumberland. I have heard him repeat it to others and he also tells it in his book, “That Other World,” from which I quote. “Whilst in Petrograd--so at least, a famous diplomat assured me when I was there--Home did a feat of dematerialization before the Court which, had it not been for the favor in which he was held in high places, might have curtailed his liberty for a period.