The author of the present volume is not an Opponent of spiritualism — on the contrary, he was brought up from childhood in this belief; and though, at the present writing, he does not acknowl edge the truth of its teachings, nevertheless he respects the feelings of those who are honest in their convictions. At the same time he confidently be lieves that all rational persons, Spiritualists as well as others, will heartily indorse this endeavor to explain the methods of those who, under the mask of mediumship, and possessing all the artifices of the charlatan, victimize those seeking knowledge of their loved ones who have passed away. As a great New York lawyer once said, it was not spiritualism he was fighting, but fraud under the guise of spirit ualism.