In 1913 Bergson visited the United States of America at the invitation of Columbia University, New York, and lectured in several American cities, where very large audiences welcomed him. In February, at Columbia University, he lectured both in French and English, taking as his subjects: "Spirituality and Freedom" and "The Method of Philosophy". Being again in England in May of the same year, he accepted the Presidency of the British Society for Psychical Research, and delivered to the Society an address on "Phantoms of Life and Psychic Research" (Fantômes des vivants et recherche psychique).