the leprosy of unreality disfigured every human creature in attendance upon monseigneur. in the outermost room were half a dozen exceptional people who had had, for a few years, some vague misgiving in them that things in general were going rather wrong. as a promising way of setting them right, half of the half-dozen had become members of a fantastic sect of convulsionists, and were even then considering within themselves whether they should foam, rage, roar, and turn cataleptic on the spot thereby setting up a highly intelligible finger-post to the future, for monseigneur's guidance. besides these dervishes, were other three who had rushed into another sect, which mended matters with a jargon about "the centre of truth:" holding that man had got out of the centre of truth which did not need much demonstration but had not got out of the circumference, and that he was to be kept from flying out of the circumference, and was even to be shoved back into the centre, by fasting and seeing of spirits. among these, accordingly, much discoursing with spirits went on and it did a world of good which never became manifest.