What was remarkable about the matter, however, was that throughout our
walk I had conversed with the man under the impression that he was that
other dead man, and, whether by coincidence or not, his replies had never
once suggested to me my mistake.
As soon as I finished, Jephson, who had been listening very thoughtfully,
asked me if I believed in spiritualism "to its fullest extent."
"That is rather a large question," I answered. "What do you mean by
'spiritualism to its fullest extent'?"
"Well, do you believe that the spirits of the dead have not only the
power of revisiting this earth at their will, but that, when here, they
have the power of action, or rather, of exciting to action? Let me put a
definite case. A spiritualist friend of mine, a sensible and by no means
imaginative man, once told me that a table, through the medium of which
the spirit of a friend had been in the habit of communicating with him,
came slowly across the room towards him, of its own accord, one night as
he sat alone, and pinioned him against the wall. Now can any of you
believe that, or can't you?"
"I could," Brown took it upon himself to reply; "but, before doing so, I
should wish for an introduction to the friend who told you the story.
Speaking generally," he continued, "it seems to me that the difference
between what we call the natural and the supernatural is merely the
difference between frequency and rarity of occurrence.
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