"The spiritualists are not free from the same reproach. It is safe to assume that as any one who possesses even a slight knowledge of how to make use of the powers of a spiritual sense, will neither require money nor desire fame, all spiritualistic or theosophic exhibitions, which have either of these ends in view, should be regarded with distrust. At the same time they should be interesting as exhibiting a craving on the part of the performer and also of his audience for manifestations of unrevealed yet partially conceived truths. "Trickery is only powerful when it apes reality. The love of the mysterious is after all a craving for felt possibilities. A conjurer, scoffing at the supernatural which he strives to imitate, would lose his occupation if he possessed sufficient eloquence to convince his audience that there was no truth foreshadowed by means of his dexterity. As the girl-child loves to play with her doll because the maternal instinct lies undeveloped in her breast, so do men love to play with magic, foretasting therein a part of the power which some day shall be perfected. They both know better, but for the moment prefer a true illuminating fancy to a false disillusionizing fact. Yet when some motive of self-interest provokes the deception, only harm can come; the parable is then turned into the lie, the prophet into the charlatan. "Not long after my arrival in India I met a man who interested me greatly. Up to this time I had little knowledge of Buddhism, and the outcome which I had seen of this religion had given me so far an unfavourable impression. "Mr. Kanwick was of Scotch descent, though he had been born in Calcutta, and lived in India the greater part of his life. When we met he was a wealthy bachelor of about fifty-five years of age, with no occupation to tie him down. His knowledge of Oriental subjects was well founded, for he had spent most of his life in studying the manners, dialects, and religions of Asia.