Rev. Charles Maurice Davies became a devoted spiritualist after the death of his son in 1865. He saw spiritualism as alternate religion and argued here that it did not pose a threat to traditional Christianity and that the two could peacefully co-exist.

His book Mystic London: or, Phases of Occult Life in the Metropolis includes descriptions of London mesmerists, mediums, seances, a discussion of Darwinism on the Devil, secularism, etc. Among the forty-six short chapters are "A Lady Mesmerist," "A Phrenological Evening," "A Seance for Skeptics," "An Evening with Higher Spirits" and a "A Ghostly Conference."