The mediumship of this lady is so well known, and has been so
universally attested, that nothing I can write of could possibly add to
her fame; and as I made her acquaintance but a short time before she
relinquished sitting for manifestations, I have had but little
experience of her powers, but such as I enjoyed were very remarkable. I
have alluded to them in the story of "The Green Lady," whose apparition
was due solely to Mrs. Guppy Volckman's presence, and on that occasion
she gave us another wonderful proof of her mediumship. A sheet was
procured and held up at either end by Mr. Charles Williams and herself.
It was held in the light, in the centre of the room, forming a white
wall of about five feet high, _i.e._, as high as their arms could
conveniently reach. _Both_ the hands of Mrs. Volckman and Mr. Williams
were placed _outside_ the sheet, so that no trickery might be suspected
through their being concealed. In a short time the head of a woman
appeared above the sheet, followed by that of a man, and various pairs
of hands, both large and small, which bobbed up and down, and seized the
hands of the spectators, whilst the faces went close to the media, as if
with the intention of kissing them. This frightened Mrs. Volckman, so
that she frequently screamed and dropped her end of the sheet, which,
had there been any deception, must inevitably have exposed it. It seemed
to make no difference to the spirits, however, who reappeared directly
they had the opportunity, and made her at last so nervous that she threw
the sheet down and refused to hold it any more. The faces were
life-size, and could move their eyes and lips; the hands were some as
large as a man's, and covered with hair, and others like those of a
woman or child. They had all the capability of working the fingers and
grasping objects presented to them; whilst the four hands belonging to
the media were kept in sight of the audience, and could not have worked
machinery even if they could have concealed it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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