Phenomena Without Darkness
"Home always refused to sit in the dark. He said that, with firmness and
perseverance, the phenomena could be got just as well in the light, and
even if some of the things were not so strong, the evidence of one's
eyesight was worth making same sacrifices for. In almost all the seances
I had with Home there was plenty of light to see all that occurred, and
not only to enable me to write down notes of what was taking place, but
to read my notes without difficulty. Home was very anxious to let
everyone present be satisfied that he was not doing any of the things
himself--too anxious, I sometimes thought, for frequently he would
interfere with the progress and development of what was going on by
insisting that some sceptic or other should come around and take hold of
his hands and feet to be sure he was not doing anything himself. At
times, he would push his chair back and move right away from the table
when things were moving on it, and ask those furthest from him to come
round and satisfy themselves that he had nothing to do with the
movements. I used frequently to beg him to be quiet, knowing that, if he
would not move about in his eagerness to convince us of his genuineness,
the strength of the phenomena would probably increase to such a degree
that no further evidence would be needed that their production was
beyond the powers of the medium.