Thomas Sherratt to Faraday   3 November 1864

9, Westmoreland Place, | Westbourne Grove North, Bayswater, | 3rd November, 1864.

Sir,—I have just had your letter¹, and trust you will pardon me for saying a few words in reply. I believe, Sir, that the power, spiritual or magnetic, or whatever it may be ultimately found to be (although from my experience of it, I believe it to be spiritual), would manifest itself to you, if you could be induced to sit at a séance with your mind prepared to do justice to any manifestations which might occur; it may be that you have sat, and possibly nothing occurred—as such things often happen to us—all I can say is, try again, and again, and you are sure to obtain them ultimately. Respecting my name not being in full to the papers in the Magazine, I beg to say that it is not customary in those publications to put the name in full. The editor, of course, knows me; and that particular Magazine has somewhat of a local status, it being undertaken by the clerks of the Great-Western Railway Company. I am consequently well known to the majority of its readers. But besides that, I have inserted communications in the Spiritual Magazine and Spiritual Times, in several instances with my name and address in full. I am also a member of the Spirit Power Institute, and can assure you that in my own mind there are no doubts whatever of the nature of these manifestations. At the latter part of your letter you say if you could move the spirits to manifest, you would do so. I hope you will not be offended with me by again asking you to sit, depend upon it they would manifest themselves if you did so. Nay, more, you might possibly become a medium, as we term it, in which case all doubts would vanish from you as to the truth of these things; the grand point would then only be for a mind like yours to lead them into a proper channel. In conclusion, I must again ask your indulgence for thus intruding on your valuable time, but I also know the - or think I know the - importance of the subject on which I write, and that induces me to do so.

With my respects, I remain, Sir, | Your most obedient Servant, | Thos. Sherratt

Professor Faraday, F.R.S., &c.