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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fed867 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64160 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64160) diff --git a/old/64160-0.txt b/old/64160-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9df6e02..0000000 --- a/old/64160-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,25436 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Experimental Investigation of the Spirit -Manifestations, by Robert Hare - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations - -Author: Robert Hare - -Release Date: December 28, 2020 [eBook #64160] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE -SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS *** - - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and -punctuation remains unchanged. - -There is no anchor for footnote 5 on page 35 (containing paras 122,123 -and 124), so the anchor has been placed at the end of para 122. - -Vail has been corrected to veil throughout. - -The footnotes are located at the end of the book. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_, and superscripts thus y^{en}. - - - - - EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION - - OF THE - - SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS, - - DEMONSTRATING - - THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS AND THEIR COMMUNION - WITH MORTALS. - - DOCTRINE OF THE SPIRIT WORLD RESPECTING HEAVEN, HELL, - MORALITY, AND GOD. - - ALSO, - - Influence of Scripture on the Morals of Christians. - - - BY - - ROBERT HARE, M.D. - - EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, - GRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY, - ASSOCIATE OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, AND - MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES. - - _Verba animi proferre_, vitam impendere vero. - - Denounce dark Error and bright Truth proclaim, - Though ghastly Death oppose, with threat’ning aim. - - - NEW YORK: - PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, 342 BROADWAY. - 1855. - - - - - Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1855, by - - MARGARET B. GOURLAY, - - in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, - for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. - - - - -[Illustration: PLATE I.] - -[PLATE I. - -_Engraving and description of the apparatus, which, being contrived -for the purpose of determining whether the manifestations attributed -to spirits could be made without mortal aid, by deciding the question -affirmatively, led to the author’s conversion._ - -(_a_) PLATE I. FIG. 1, is an engraving from a photograph of the -apparatus above alluded to. The disk _A_ is represented as supported -upon a rod of iron forming the axis on which it turns. To the outer -end of this rod, the index _B_ is affixed, so as to be stationary in -a vertical position; the upper termination situated just in front of -the letters. These are placed around the margin of the disk. The cord -_C_ encircles the pulley situated about the centre of the disk, like -a hub to a carriage wheel. The ends of the cord are severally tied to -weights, which, when the table is tilted, react against each other -through the pulley; one being so large as to be immovable, the other so -small as to be lifted. Of course a hook in the floor may be substituted -for the larger weight. - - -PEASE’S APPARATUS. - -(_b_) The relative position of the medium, and that of the screen -intercepting her view of the disk, are too conspicuous to require -particularization. - -FIG. 2, represents Pease’s disk, or dial apparatus, associated with -a vibrating lever and stand contrived by myself. The whole, thus -modified, has been named the Spiritoscope. - -(_c_) The apparatus thus designated consists of a box _F_, which is a -miniature representation of a low, square, four sided house, with a -single sloping roof, but without any floor closing it at the bottom. - -(_d_) On the outside of the part serving as the roof, the alphabetic -dial is depicted. On the inner surface of the roof board, the spring, -pulley, and strings are attached, by which the index is made to -revolve, so as to point out any letter. - -(_e_) _G_ represents the vibrating lever upon which the medium’s hands -are placed. When test conditions are not requisite, her hands should be -situated so as that merely one-half may be on each side of the fulcrum -wire, on which the lever turns. When test conditions are requisite, -the hands should be altogether on the portion of the board which is -between the exterior end of the board and the fulcrum. When thus -placed, it is utterly impossible to move the lever so as to cause it to -select letters, or to control the selection, by any spirit who may be -employing them to make a communication.[1] - -(_f_) Not only are the letters of the alphabet printed equidistant, in -due order, on the margin of the disk or dial-face; there are likewise -words, the digits, and notes of music. - -(_g_) The words are as follows: _Yes_—_Doubtful_—_No_—_Don’t know_—_I -think so_—_A mistake_—_I’ll spell it over_—_A message_—_Done_—_I’ll -come again_—_Good-bye_—_I must leave_. These words are printed on -equidistant radial lines, nearly dividing the area between them. The -digits are printed on radial lines intermediate between those on which -the words appear. - -Five concentric circular lines, dividing the margin into as many -smaller portions, as in music paper, serve for the inditing of musical -notes; respecting which the directions are given by Pease upon a -printed slip of paper pasted inside. - -(_h_) The index in this instrument is secured upon the outer end of -a pivot supporting a pulley of about ¾ of an inch in diameter. The -spring consists of a coil of brass wire, of which one end is fastened -into the inside of the roof-board (_c_) of which the outside forms -the surface for the letters, &c., while the other end of the wire is -prolonged beyond the coil to about 2½ inches, and, by means of -a loop, has a string of catgut tied to it securely. This string is -fastened to a perforation in the pivot. Another piece of the same kind -of string is fastened to the circumference of the pulley. The pivot -being turned so as to wind upon it the string proceeding from the -spring, and thus constraining it so as to make it capable of effectual -recoil from the pulley, the latter may, with a little care, be made, as -the spring recoils, to wind about it another string duly attached to -its circumference. The strings being thus wound, (one to the right, the -other to the left,) when the string attached to the pulley is pulled -from the outside of the box, it is unwound therefrom, and meanwhile -winds that attached to the spring upon the pivot. The reaction of the -spring, when left to itself, reverses this process, producing the -opposite revolution in the pulley. The index attached to the pivot of -course turns in one direction or the other, as the pivot is actuated -by the drawing out or retraction of the string which proceeds from -it. This, at the outer end, is tied to a ring, which prevents it from -receding into the box. - -(_i_) It is surprising with what readiness a spirit, even when unused -to the apparatus, will, by moving the lever, actuate the index, causing -it to point to the letters, words, or figures distributed on the face -of the disk, as above mentioned. - -(_j_) The apparatus of Pease above described, agreeably to the design -of the maker, operates by means of a string extending from the brass -ring, in which the pulley string terminates externally, to a weight -situated upon the floor, so as to be taut when at rest. When this -arrangement is made, tilting of the table, by raising the end at -which the box is situated, causes the weight to pull the string, and -of course to induce the revolution of the pulley, its pivot, and -corresponding index. The restoration of the table to its usual position -reverses the motion. Hence by these means the index may be moved -either way, as requisite for the selection of the letters required for -communicating. - -(_k_) The other figure in the same plate represents Pease’s disk -apparatus, so arranged, as to be affixed to any table of moderate -dimensions. The fulcrum on which the lever vibrates is so made as to be -affixed to one of the table’s edges by clamps, while the disk, situated -in a vertical plane, is supported by a bar which has a clamp to secure -it to the table, while to the disk it is fastened by being introduced -into square staples, made to receive it securely, in a mode resembling -that by which a square bolt is secured. Under the vibrating lever, a -hollow wire is fastened by staples, so as to receive a solid wire, -which can be made to slide farther in or out, and thus adjust itself to -the distance.] - - -[Illustration: PLATE II.] - -PLATE II. - - _Description of the instrument by which spirits were enabled to move - a table under the influence of mediumship, yet in no wise under the - control of the medium employed, even clairvoyance being nullified._ - -(_i_) The table is about six feet in length, and sixteen inches in -width, so contrived as to separate into three parts for conveniency of -carriage. - -(_j_) The pair of legs under the right side are upon castors. Those -on the left side upon an axle, passing through perforations suitably -made for its reception. The axle consists of a rod of about ½ of -an inch in thickness. The axle serves for two wheels of about six -inches diameter, of which one is grooved. A disk, already described as -appertaining to apparatus in a preceding page, is secured upon a pivot -affixed to a strip of wood, which is made to slide between two other -strips attached to the frame of the table just under the top board. By -these means, the band embraces both the hub of the disk and the wheel; -when this turns in consequence of the shoving of the table horizontally -along the floor, the disk turns with the wheel, and as much faster as -the circumference of the groove in the hub, is less than that of the -groove in the wheel. - -(_k_) The index is in this apparatus situated precisely as in that -described in Plate I.; and any mortal having due hold of the table, -may, by shoving it one way or the other, bring any letter under the -index, so as to spell out any desired word. But no person, sitting -as the medium is in the engraving represented to sit, with the plate -on two balls, can actuate the disk so as to spell out words as above -mentioned. Utterly incapacitated from moving the table, it were -manifestly impossible to actuate the disk, or to interfere with the -movements otherwise imparted. - -(_l_) In the employment of the apparatus (Plate I.) it has been -suggested that through clairvoyance the medium might see the letters, -despite of the screen, or might learn them from the mind of the -observer; but in this case the medium sees the letters without the aid -of clairvoyancy; but this power does not account for the regulation of -the manifestations; since, even seeing the letters, they cannot control -the movements so as to give to the intuitive power thus exercised any -efficacy. - -(_m_) On the surface of the table, on the right, may be seen a board -upon castors. This was contrived as a substitute for the plate on -balls. The castors, of course, perform the same office as the balls -in allowing a solid material communication between the hands of the -medium and the table, without giving the power to induce or control -the movement. Evidently, though by any horizontal impulse the medium -might cause the castors to turn and the board to move in consequence, -the force necessary to effect this must fall short of that requisite to -move the table. - -(_n_) In point of fact, the board, when under the plate, balls, and -hands of the medium, was often moved rapidly to and fro, without moving -the table. To move this under such conditions without moving the -board or tray, required a distinct spiritual process, of much greater -difficulty, and which some spirits were either _unwilling_ or _unable_ -to employ successfully. - -See “Mediumship” in this work. See also 164, 166. - - -[Illustration: PLATE III.] - -PLATE III. - -(_o_) On the opposite page is a representation of an experiment, in -which the medium was prevented from having any other communication with -the apparatus, actuated under his mediumship, excepting through water. -Yet under these circumstances the spring balance indicated the exertion -of a force equal to 18 pounds. - -(_p_) A board is supported on a rod so as to make it serve as a -fulcrum, as in a see-saw, excepting that the fulcrum is at the distance -of only a foot from one end, while it is three feet from the other. -This end is supported by a spring-balance which indicates pounds and -ounces by a rotary index. - -(_q_) Upon the board, at about six inches from the fulcrum, there is -a hole into which the knob of an inverted glass vase, nine inches in -diameter, is inserted. - -(_r_) Upon two iron rods proceeding vertically from a board resting -on the floor, so as to have one on each side of the vase, a cage -of wire, such as is used to defend food from flies, of about five -inches diameter, is upheld [inverted] by the rod within the vase -concentrically, so as to leave between it and the sides of the vase an -interstice of an inch nearly, and an interval of an inch and a half -between it and the bottom of the vase. - -(_s_) The vase being filled with water until within an inch of the -brim, the medium’s hands were introduced into the cage and thus secured -from touching the vase. - -(_t_) These arrangements being made, the spirits were invoked to -show their power, when repeatedly the spring-balance indicated an -augmentation of weight equal to three pounds. The relative distances -of the vase and balance from the fulcrum being as 6 to 36, the force -exerted must have been 3 × 6 = 18 pounds; yet the medium did not appear -to be subjected to any reaction, and declared that he experienced none. - -(_u_) It was on stating this result to the Association for the -Advancement of Science, that I met with much the same reception as the -King of Ava gave to the Dutch ambassador, who alleged water to be at -times solidified in his country, by cold, so as to be walked upon. - -(_v_) The belief in spiritual agency was treated as a mental disease, -with which I, of course, had been infected; those who made this charge -being perfectly unconscious that their education has associated morbid -incredulity with bigoted and fanatical credence. - - -[Illustration: PLATE IV.] - -PLATE IV. - -(_x_) The apparatus of which the opposite cuts afford a representation -are spiritoscopes, under modifications to which I resorted subsequently -to the contrivance in which Pease’s dial is employed. For Pease’s -“dial,” disks are substituted, resembling those originally employed by -me, as represented in Plates I. and II. These last mentioned, however, -were made to revolve under the index; while in Pease’s apparatus the -index revolves, the disk remaining at rest. The advantage of having the -disk to revolve is, that the letter is always to be looked for, within -the same space; whereas in operating with the other the eye has to -follow the index through all its rapid movements. - -(_y_) The convenience and economy of casting the disks of iron was -deemed a sufficient motive for resorting to the rotation of the index; -as when made of that metal the disk becomes too heavy to be rotated -with ease, first one way and then another. - -(_z_) In FIG. 1 the vibrating lever is resorted to, and the process is -precisely the same as that already described, in which Pease’s dial is -associated with the same mechanism. - -(_aa_) The words on the dial faces in Figures 1 and 2 are somewhat -abbreviated.[2] - -(_bb_) The rod _R_ slides in staples, so as to be made to extend -farther or nearer from the fulcrum. The legs on which the disk is -supported, which are a part of the casing, terminate below in a socket -which fits upon a plug screwed into the base-board; upon this plug -it may be fastened by the set screw (_s_). By sliding the rod (_r_) -inward, the disk may be turned half round upon the plug, so as to place -the lettered surface out of the sight of the medium, whose power to -influence the communications is thus nullified. This is one mode of -attaining test conditions; in other words, those conditions which make -it impossible that the communications received should be due to any -mortal, (151 to 166,) unless, as gratuitously and erroneously, as I -believe, alleged, the medium by clairvoyancy sees the letters. - -(_cc_) By another method test conditions are obtained which are not -exposed to this evil. - -(_dd_) The method to which I allude has been explained in the -description of Plate I. in reference to the spiritoscope formed with -the aid of a Pease’s disk, paragraph (_e_). The process is the same -in the employment of Fig. 1 Plate IV. under consideration. It may be -better understood in this case, as the illustration of the lever board -_L_ is more conspicuous. In the ordinary mode of operating without test -conditions, the hand of the medium is so situated as to have nearly -half of it beyond the fulcrum, marked by the line _F L_. When test -conditions are imposed, the tips of the fingers only reach to that -line, without going beyond it. Situated as last mentioned, the medium -to whom they appertain cannot move the rod _R_, because it is already -against the lower edge of the disk, which prevents it from moving -upwards. In the opposite direction the medium can create no pressure, -since her efforts could only tend to lift her hand, _per se_, from the -disk. It is important that the reader should pay attention to this -exposition, as the conditions thus made evident are often appealed to -as one proof, among others, that my information and credentials are -from the immortal worthies of the spirit world. - -(_ee_) FIG. 2 is analogous in its mode of operating, to the apparatus -represented in Plate II. It is in the substitution of a small board -for a table that the principal difference consists.[3] The board -requires only to be large enough to allow the hands to rest upon it -in front of the disk. The index is actuated by a horizontal motion to -and fro, which, as in the apparatus, Plate II., causes the rotation -of a supporting wheel, which by means of a band communicates rotation -to a pulley supported behind the disk on the pivot to which the index -is secured in front. The sliding pulley _P_ being fastened at a due -distance from the disk (_o_), is used to keep the band tight. - -(_ff_) This instrument is preferred by the spirits, and is easier for -a feeble medium to employ effectually. I cannot as yet avail myself of -Fig. 1; through Fig. 2 I have had some interesting tests. - -(_gg_) This form, then, is best for incipient mediumship. - -(_hh_) FIG. 2 may be employed under test conditions, by so situating -it as that the dial shall be on the side opposite to that where the -medium sits; under these circumstances she cannot see the index or -the letters, and consequently cannot control the spelling of spirits, -so as to give results from her own mind instead of theirs. This mode -of testing does not preclude the subterfuge, so often resorted to, of -clairvoyant power, enabling the medium to see through the cast-iron, -or read the letters in the minds of the bystanders. This power I have -never witnessed; yet it is absurdly attributed to media who, as well as -all their friends, are ignorant of the existence of any such power. - -(_ii_) Another mode of testing is that illustrated in Plate II., where -a plate upon two balls supports the hands of the medium, and forms -the only means of conducting communication between the medium and -apparatus. It may be easily conceived that instead of the hands being -placed upon the board, the plate and balls being interposed, the hands -of the medium may be supported over the board of Fig. 2. as they are -represented to be supported over the table in Fig. 1, Plate II. - -See 167, 169, 172, 177, 196. - -(_kk_) FIG. 3, Plate IV., is a representation of an association of -serrated strips of iron in a wooden frame, which sliding on the lever -board of Fig. 1, so as to have the saws just above the back of the hand -of the medium, is found to increase the efficacy of the mediumship. It -is only of importance to use it when test conditions are requisite, -as explained already, Fig. 1, (_hh_). The rationale, so far as it can -be suggested, will be stated under the head of mediumship. It will -be perceived that the size of the frame is not in due proportion to -the lever board, being upon a larger scale. But this renders it more -conspicuous, and the reader can easily conceive its size to be such as -to allow the grooves in the wooden sides of the frame to receive the -edges of the lever board _L_, and thus to be secured firmly thereupon. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - PREFACE.—Letter from J. F. Lanning, Esq.—Spiritual communication, - through the mediumship of Mr. Lanning, to the author—Author’s - Reply—Communication from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning, - under test conditions, the credentials transmitted through Mr. - Lanning—Postscript by the author—Supplemental Preface 3 - - INTRODUCTION.—The evidence of the existence of a Deity, by the - author—Theological Axioms 17 - - INTUITIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.—Narrative of the - author’s experimental investigation of Spiritualism—Letter in reply to - an inquiry respecting the Influence of Electricity in Table-Turning—Of - Manifestations founded on Movements without contact, or such contact - as cannot be sufficient to cause the result—Hymn chanted, and reply 35 - - CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.—Evidence afforded - by the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass.—Evidence of Dr. Bell, of - Somerville, near Boston—His errors, arising from ignorance of facts, - (110, 283, 864.) 55 - - FOREIGN CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF - SPIRITS.—Manifestations which occurred in France in 1851—Letter - from T. R. P. Ventura—Letter of Dr. Coze—Letter of M. F. De - Saulcy—Spiritualism in Paris—Spiritual Manifestations in France and - Germany—Spiritualism in Great Britain—Letter of Robert Owen, Esq. 66 - - COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.—Remarks introductory to my - spirit father’s communication—My father’s communication—Communication - from a spirit son of the author—Additional communications from spirits - who died while infants—Communication from a very young spirit child to - its parents 85 - - OF SPIRITUAL BIRTH.—Narratives given by spirits of their translation - to the spirit world—Narrative of his spiritual birth, by W. W., a most - benevolent spirit—The spirit Maria’s narrative—My sister’s account - of her translation to the spirit world—My brother’s account of his - spiritual birth, &c. 101 - - CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS.—Sixty-four queries addressed to a convocation - of worthies from the spirit world; also their replies to the same, - (through the mediumship of Mrs. Gourlay,) confirmed under conditions - which no mortal could pervert 113 - - EXPOSITION OF THE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD 119 - - APOLOGY FOR MY CONVERSION.—Reasons for my change of opinion, and - belief in the existence and agency of spirits—On the whereabout of - heaven—Correspondence with Mr. Holcomb, of Southwick, Massachusetts 125 - - MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUALISM 136 - - THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVEN AND - HELL OF SCRIPTURE 141 - - INSTINCTIVE IMPRESSION AS TO HEAVEN BEING OVERHEAD.—Discordance as to - the whereabout of the scriptural heaven 149 - - “THE TRUE DOCTRINE.”—The Rev. H. Harbaugh’s opinion respecting heaven - 151 - - OF MEDIUMSHIP 159 - - OF COUNTER-MEDIUMSHIP.—On the influence of the ill-treatment of media - on spiritual manifestations—The author’s discovery of his powers as a - medium 166 - - ON PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS 168 - - ALPHABETIC CONVERSE WITH SPIRITS.—Modern process for alphabetic - converse with spirits as new as that of electric telegraph 173 - - INFLUENCE OF MUNDANE WEALTH IN THE WORLD TO COME.—According to the - spiritual code, riches elevate or degrade according to the morality - displayed in their acquisition and employment 176 - - MRS. GOURLAY’S NARRATIVE OF HER CONVERSION TO SPIRITUALISM 179 - - PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF SPIRITUALISM.—Illustration of the practical - benefit of Spiritualism, in the happiness imparted by the conversion - of an unbeliever to a belief in immortality—Letter from a spirit - daughter—Correspondence with a spirit brother 192 - - MARRIAGE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.—The hymeneal tie in the spirit world - grows out of the necessity of the connubial union in the mundane - sphere—“Free Love” imputation refuted 204 - - INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE ON THE MORALS OF CHRISTIANS.—The morality of - Christendom being irreconcilable with the New Testament, cannot be its - legitimate offspring—Inspiration can have no higher authority than - the human testimony on which its existence is arrogated—Injurious - influence of unreasonable restriction—No one would believe that a - capable farmer would make such a mistake as to sow garlic instead - of wheat; yet God, while represented as having intended to sow - Protestantism, is considered as having caused throughout Christendom - a crop of Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian form, for more than - a thousand years: those weeds still occupying more than half of the - whole soil—Letter of William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham—Offer of - guidance by a mundane spirit—Improper use of the epithet Infidel—On - Atonement—On the massacre at Sinope—Opinions of God held by Sir Isaac - Newton—On God and his attributes, by Seneca—On the better employment - of the first day of the week—Additional remarks respecting the - observance of the Sabbath, so called—If creatures be not so created - as to love their neighbours as themselves, precepts can no more - alter them in this respect than change the colour of their hair or - the number of cubits in their stature—Attacks upon the authenticity - of Scripture cannot endanger the prevalent morality, which, while - superior to that of the Old Testament, indicates a recklessness - of the precepts of Christ, excepting so far as faith is upheld as - a counterpoise for sin—The doctrine of a peculiar belief being - necessary to salvation, and a counterpoise for sin, a source of - discord originally confined to Judea, expanded with Christianity and - Islamism: verifying Christ’s allegation, that he came “as a sword, not - as a messenger of peace”—Superior morality and far less questionable - certainty of the communications from the spirit world—Quotation from - Mosheim—Quotation from Gibbon—For more than a thousand years, the - Grecian or Roman Catholic clergy were the solo depositaries of the - word of God, so called, and regulators of religious morals; yet, - according to Bishop Hopkins, during that time, the clergy were for - the most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of the - community; whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the wicked - clergy in general were unbelievers in the truth of the gospel—If - the morals of the modern clergy are better, it is neither from the - barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, nor the ultra - precepts of the gospel; being too much enlightened to be governed - by either—Summary made by Bishop Hopkins—Any religion, like that of - Moses, which does not make immortality a primary consideration, must - be chiefly confined to worldly objects, and, of course, unworthy of - consideration. People profess Christianity more from a desire to - do right, than they do right in consequence of their professions—A - calumny against human nature to represent men as _wilfully_ ignorant - of the true religion—To appreciate the Jewish representation of - the Deity, a reader should first form an idea of this planet and - its inhabitants, comparatively with the hundred millions of solar - systems, and the inconceivable extent of the space which encompasses - them, and which falls within the domain of one common Deity—Our - actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, and the - extent to which we are tempted extraneously—On probation—World least - moral when the Christian church had most sway—Honour and mercantile - credit more trusted than religion. Virtue due more to the heart - than to sectarianism. Bigotry acts like an evil spirit—Progress of - literature and science in Arabia, under the Mohammedan pontiffs, - called caliphs 206 - - ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.—The - opinions of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin on Table Turning and - Mediums, (considered in relation to theology and physics,) examined - by the Abbot Almignana, doctor of the common law, theologian, - &c.—Mechanical movements without contact, by Mr. Isaac Rehn, - President of the Harmonial Society, Philadelphia—Communication - from J. M. Kennedy, Esq.—Communication from Wm. West, Esq.—Koons’s - Establishment—Communications from Joseph Hazard, Esq.—A visit to the - Spiritualists of Ohio—Letter from John Gage—The home of the mediums, - and the haunts of the spirits—What they did, said, and wrote—The - house of the Spiritualists—Presence of electricity—The room where - the spirits manifest their power—The furniture and occupants—The - manifestations commence—The spirits play on drums, harps, French - horns, accordeons, and tamborines—The manifestations continue, and - the head spirit writes a communication—The spirit’s letter—Concluding - remarks—An evening at Koons’s spirit room, by Charles Partridge, Esq., - New York—Experience of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge—Letter from Mr. D. H. - Hume—Spiritualism in London—Lord Brougham with the spirits—Evidence - afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson—An exposition of views respecting - the principal facts, causes, and peculiarities involved in spiritual - manifestations; together with interesting phenomenal statements - and communications, by Adin Ballou—Testimony of the Hon. J. W. - Edmonds—Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison.—Testimony of Mr. and - Mrs. Newton—Testimony of members of the New York circle—Testimony - of the Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston—Manifestations at Stratford, - Connecticut, in the house of the Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D.—Remarkable - exhibitions of power—Singular occurrences—Image-making—Destruction - of furniture—Incendiary spirits—The spirits identified—Unhappy - spirits, from the remembrance of wrong done in this world—Wrong - doing revealed—Directions given for restoring ill-gotten - gains—Discontinuance of the manifestations—Idea of the existence - of a spiritual sun, and a vital spiritual oxygen, found to exist, - independently, in the mind of a much-esteemed author 273 - - OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT.—Of matter—Strictures on a speculation by - Farraday respecting the nature of matter—On Whewell’s demonstration - that all matter is heavy—Additional remarks on the speculation of - Farraday and Exley, above noticed—Of mundane, ethereal, and ponderable - matter, in their chemical relations—Suggestions of Massotti, - respecting the nature of matter—On electro-polarity as the cause - of electrical phenomena—Of mind, as existing independently, and as - distinguished from matter—Of spirit independently, or as distinguished - from mind and matter—Of the soul, as distinguished from mind and - matter—On the odic, or odylic force 363 - - RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAHAN.—Proposition of Mr. Mahan—Of the origin - of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, according to the - testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an obscure priest and - a fanatical king—Scriptural account of the finding of the Books of - Moses by Hilkiah, the high-priest—Account of the finding of the Books - of Moses, by Josephus—If the Pentateuch had been previously known - to the Jews, it is incredible that it could have become obsolete - and forgotten prior to the alleged discovery of it in the temple - in the reign of Josiah—Great importance attached to a belief in - immortality by Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, as contrasted with - the recklessness of Moses respecting the same belief—The worship - of a book, idolatry—Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon _vs._ Mr. - Mahan—The worshippers of the golden calf more righteous than their - assassins—Just denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation - of Moses, by noble-minded Israelites—Remarkable observance of the - golden rule by Moses, in his last advice to the Israelites—Straining - at spiritual gnats while swallowing scriptural camels—The evidence - which is insufficient to establish the iniquity of a sinner cannot be - sufficient to establish the divine authority of a book—Word of God, so - called, or the golden rule inverted by God’s alleged commands—Pagan - fearlessness of death—Observations of Mr. Huc, a Christian priest, - that it is their religion which makes Christians more fearful of death - than the Chinese—Mr. Huc’s observations—Conclusion of strictures on - Mr. Mahan’s religious errors 396 - - CONCLUSION.—The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of - a belief in human immortality—Injustice of representing disbelievers - in the Bible as not having as good ground for belief in immortality as - those who rest their belief on a work which, by its silence, tends to - discountenance the hope of a future life—Those who uphold the Bible - against Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the only satisfactory - evidence ever given to man of a future habitation in the spirit world - 423 - - - APPENDIX. - - LETTER TO THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY.—Letter from Dr. Hare to the clergy - of the Protestant Episcopal Church, offering to lay before them the - new evidence of immortality. (Submitted to the late convention, - Philadelphia, May 15, 1855.) 427 - - A LETTER FROM DR. HARE.—Addressed to the Association for the - Advancement of Science, at their meeting, August 18, 1855—Preliminary - remarks 430 - - FARRADAY’S SPECULATION.—Speculation touching electric conduction and - the nature of matter. By Farraday 432 - - MOTIVES FOR REPUBLISHING MY MEMOIR ON ELECTRICAL THEORY 437 - - ELECTRICAL THEORY.—Objections to the theories severally of Franklin, - Dufay, and Ampere, with an effort to explain electrical phenomena - by statical or undulatory polarization—Supposed grounds for a - theory—Proofs of the existence of an enormous quantity of imponderable - matter in metals—Electrical phenomena attributed to stationary - or undulatory polarization—On the perfect similitude between the - polarity communicated to iron filings by a magnetized steel bar - and a galvanized wire—Process by which the ethereo-ponderable - atoms within a galvanic circuit are polarized by the chemical - reaction—Difference between electro-ethereal and ethereo-ponderable - polarization—Competency of a wire to convey a galvanic discharge - is as its sectional area, while statical discharges of frictional - electricity, preferring the surface, are promoted by its extension. - Yet in proportion as such discharges are heavy, the ability of a - wire to convey them and its magnetic energy become more dependent - on its sectional area, and less upon extent of surface—Difference - between frictional electricity and galvanic does not depend on the - one being superior as to quantity, the other as to intensity; but on - the different degrees in which the ethereo-ponderable atoms of the - bodies affected are deranged from their natural state of neutralized - polarity—Of ethereo-ponderable deflagration—Summary. 439 - - -[Illustration: Engraved at J. M. Butlers establishment, 84 Chestnut St. -Philad^a. - -_Rob^t Hare M D._ - -EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, -GRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE OF THE -SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE AND MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES.] - - - - -PREFACE. - - -As prefatory to this volume, it may be expedient here to introduce the -credentials which I have lately received from the spirit world. With -the medium of their communication, Mr. Lanning, of this city, No. 124 -Arch St., I have had but little intercourse, knowing him, however, by -report, as a good man and a zealous spiritualist. The communication -which I owe to his mediumship, was utterly unexpected by me, never -having, in any way, hinted to him, directly or indirectly, that it -would be desirable to receive such an indication of confidence and -approbation. - -The first and only knowledge which I had of this, to me, stirring -appeal, is comprised in the following letter from Lanning. The -difference between the style of his own language, though very good -for its purpose, and that which he ascribes to the spirits, must -corroborate his allegation that this address did not originate in his -brain. - -On submitting the address to my spirit father, he sanctioned the idea -of its proceeding from spirits. - - PHILADELPHIA, June 7, 1855. - - _Dear Sir_: I send you the following communication, and think it to be - an emanation from the spirit life. I feel not a little reluctance in - so doing, for it is seldom I can get any thing for others. How it may - suit your mind, I do not know, nor do I wish to impose it upon you for - any thing worthy your consideration. I would hesitate much to instruct - one so much my senior, and whose name I esteem, were it not that I - love a cause so near your heart; and I feel that my mind is only the - channel through which I have every evidence, the unseen in the spirit - life, at times give their thoughts to mortals. I have no idea from - what spirit it came, but _know it did not originate in my own brain_. - - Very truly, yours, J. F. LANNING. - - TO DR. ROBERT HARE, PHILADELPHIA: - - _Prof. Robert Hare_—Venerable and much-esteemed friend, it is an - unwonted pleasure with us to number you as a leading mind in the ranks - of this new and better gospel which is being given to the dwellers - of earth. We see the many and perplexing difficulties which, to you, - apparently hinder your progress in this path to light and love, and - we sympathize with you in all your efforts to unfold your mind and to - render it useful and happy. - - Could you see the great glory which is to be the issue of your - labours in the new unfoldings of spiritual science, you would not - despair of your mission, nor weary in your devotion to it. Let us - ask you, If there is any earthly fame or consideration that could - induce you to turn back again to the familiar paths in which a - life of patient labour has been spent? If there is any earthly joy - or brilliant attainment which you have ever enjoyed, worthy to be - compared with the little you have realized since you commenced your - investigations in this the most important pursuit of your life? Ask - yourself how much happiness you have found in the contemplation of - that fact which has been demonstrated, not only to your wishes, but - to your senses, that the thinking mind _never dies_; that the grave, - which is but the wardrobe of the cast-off garment of the spirit, has - no power over the soul; that it lives _on_, lives _ever_, and must - throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity continue to unfold its - powers. Ask yourself, what is _earth_, what is _fame_, what is the - endearment to your present life, when contrasted or compared with the - assurance which you now have, that _there is no death_, no loss of - your individuality, no _severing_ of the ties of friendship and love - which shall not be renewed again in that fairer land, the home of the - angels, whither you and all you love on earth are tending? Ponder - then, our venerable friend, and ask your thirsting soul, if this - knowledge is not worth more than the cost of diamonds to you? We, who - have laid aside the crumbling casket which contained the priceless - jewel that is never tarnished, know full well the value of this gem of - knowledge which now sparkles on your vision just opened. - - There are many things which we would like to say to you, but the - conditions and circumstances which control our operations render it - impossible for us to present to your mind the light which it so much - seeks. To answer the demands of your spirit is now impossible to us. - Time and the unfoldings of your mind can only solve the questions you - would propound. You are well aware that the growth of your present - knowledge is but the effect of earnest inquiry, of patient toil, and - deep study, and experiment after experiment in your searchings for - truth. Such was the only way you reached the position which you now - occupy in the science so dear to you. It came in no other way, it - could come in no other. The child is subjected to the necessity of - first learning the alphabet before it is prepared to spell, and must - understand the meaning of words before it can comprehend the sentence - it reads. So in this investigation. That which is apparently of - little meaning must first be learned, the alphabet must be mastered, - hard words pronounced, and all must be understood before there is a - fittedness for progression. The wisest on earth, aye, the wisest in - spirit life, are learners, students: none but God is perfectly wise; - and it is no humiliation to any mind that it contains not all of - wisdom. Let us say to you that if patient in your investigations, you - shall in due time obtain that which you so earnestly seek. Could we - work miracles, (a thing impossible,) they would astound rather than - enlighten your mind. Could we withdraw the veil which separates the - vision from the things you desire to see in our spheres of life, you - have no data by which you could make plain to yourself or to the eyes - of your fellow-man the sights you would behold. - - Go on in your searchings, our good friend: the end is not yet with - you. Brilliant minds with brilliant thoughts are burning to give - utterance to earth through you. You are a selected instrument of our - own choosing, and we are watching and guiding in the path and to - the goal you seek. You may not only “speak trumpet-tongued to the - scientific world,” but in _thunder-tones_ to those savans who think - they are the masters of the keys of knowledge. - - -_Author’s Reply to the preceding Address._ - - PHILADELPHIA, June 15, 1855. - - _To my spirit friends, to whom I owe the preceding address_: - - It is quite unnecessary for my angel friends to urge upon my heart, or - upon my reason the nothingness of this world, in comparison with that - of which a description has lately been given to me. - - So highly do I estimate the prospect thus awakened, that it seems - almost _too_ good, _too_ desirable to be realized. There are so many - painful ideas awakened in my mind respecting the lot of humanity, by - the events of past and present times, that it is difficult to conceive - that, at the short distance of little more than the eightieth part - of the diameter of our globe, there should be such a contrast. But - to _heighten_ my appreciation of the inestimable value of such an - heirship is utterly uncalled for. If there be any drawback, it is - the misery which pervades this mundane sphere. The sympathy which, - on the one hand, ties you to this world, must, on the other, cause a - participation in the sufferings which pervade all animated nature. - While I am aware that sympathy, as above suggested, would prevent me - from flying from a perception or contemplation of the wretchedness - in question, it seems as if the heaven of Spiritualism were, in - this phase, in some degree open to the objection to the heaven of - Scripture, founded on its too great proximity to hell. Is not the - spiritual heaven too near this sphere, and too much associated with it - by its sympathy, not to suffer indirectly a portion of its miseries? - - If there were any thing I should deem to be requisite to render - existence in the spirit world happier, it would be the power of - removing the miseries of this lower world, _and especially those - arising from Error_—the most prolific source of evil. According to - Addison’s allegory, Death admitted the pretensions of Intemperance - to be superior in destructiveness, to those of any of the numerous - diseases which competed for the honour of the premiership in his - cabinet; but might not Error have successfully competed with - Intemperance?—Error, the main cause of intemperance, of intolerant - bigotry, and of war, which destroys both by the sword and by sickness - which it induces? - - It is difficult for us to conceive that good, affectionate spirits - are not unhappy at witnessing the distress which they cannot relieve. - The prisoners at Sing Sing are said to undergo mental torture by the - silence imposed upon them. Yet this is imposed upon spirits, when - often a word would prevent fatal events. - - Nevertheless, Spiritualism, so far as it prevails, will make all - better: in the first place, by removing error and sectarian discord, - and, in the next place, by making nature the object of our study, and, - indirectly, of our worship, as the work of the Being who created all. - - You need not any more strive to stimulate my estimation of the high - office which you bestow on me as promulgator of the knowledge given me - of the spheres, than to excite my appreciation of that knowledge. I - would not relinquish my position for any temporal sovereignty. My love - of truth, my desire for human happiness, would be sufficient for my - pay in causing truth to triumph, as that, of course, would be a heaven - to me in contemplating the misery obviated and the happiness induced. - - Doubtless, not to be fairly appreciated would be painful; while - merited applause would be a high gratification; but, were that my - primary motive, I should not deserve applause. All that I would desire - would be, to have that share of honour to which I might be entitled - in common with other colabourers in the cause of truth: to exist in - the spheres on the same plane with the illustrious Washington and his - coadjutors, and associated with my beloved relatives and friends, - having access to the wise and good men of all ages and nations! That - were a heaven indeed! To be worthy of and enjoy such a heaven, is - the only selfish ambition with which I am actuated, so far as I know - myself. - - Your truly devoted servant and friend, ROBERT HARE. - -Having suggested to my spirit father that it would be expedient that -some names should be attached to the credentials with which the -preceding address from the spirits seemed to endow me by appointment, -he induced several spirits of eminence to accompany him to Mrs. -Gourlay’s this morning, (August 4, 1855.) This gave me an opportunity -to read Lanning’s letter, the address which I received through him as -above represented, and my reply. In return I received the subjoined -communication. - - - _Communication from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning the - credentials transmitted through the mediumship of Mr. Lanning._ - - AUGUST 4, 1855. - - _Respected Friend_: We cheerfully accompany your father to sanction - the communication given through our medium, Mr. Lanning, to yourself. - My friend, we have sought media in various localities through whom - to accredit you as our minister to earth’s inhabitants, but owing - to unfavourable conditions, we have, in most instances, failed. We - perceive with pleasure that your heart is fully imbued with the - importance of your holy mission. It needs no fulsome flattery from - us to incite you to action. A principle of right and truth pervades - all your movements in this spiritual campaign. We truly style it - a campaign, since you are battling fearlessly against Error, that - hydra-headed monster who has slain his millions and tens of millions. - We have looked forward to the publication of facts involved through - your experimental investigations with interest. The communication - above referred to was given by one who stood high in the estimation of - the people of our great republic; but, for personal reasons, he wishes - to withhold his name. - - Be it known to all who may read these credentials, that we sanction - them, and authorize our names to be affixed thereunto. - - GEO. WASHINGTON, - J. Q. ADAMS, - DR. CHALMERS, - OBERLIN, - W. E. CHANNING, and others. - - -_Postscript by the author._ - -It is a well-known saying that there is “but one step between the -sublime and the ridiculous.” This idea was never verified more fully -than in the position I find myself now occupying, accordingly as those -by whom that position is viewed may consider the manifestations which -have given rise to it in the light wherein they are now viewed by me, -_or_ as they _were two years ago viewed_ by _myself_, and are _now -seen_ by the great majority of my estimable contemporaries. - -I sincerely believe that I have communicated with the spirits of my -parents, sister, brother, and dearest friends, and likewise with the -spirits of the illustrious Washington and other worthies of the spirit -world; that I am by them commissioned, under their auspices, to teach -truth and to expose error. This admitted, I may be reasonably inspired -with the sentiment authorized in the preceding credentials, that I hold -my office to be greatly preferable to that of any mundane appointment, -and for the reasons above given in those credentials. But how vast is -the difference between this estimate and that which _must ascribe_ -these _impressions to hallucination!_ my _position being that of a -dupe or fanatic_. Yet there can be no man of real integrity and good -sense, unimpaired by educational bigotry, who will not respect sincere -devotion to the cause of piety, truth, and human welfare, here and -hereafter, however displayed. Hence, although the foregoing prefatory -pages should have no other influence, they may operate to show my -own deep conviction of the righteousness of my course, founded, as I -believe it to have been, on the most precise, laborious, experimental -inquiry, and built up under the guidance of my sainted father, as well -as under the auspices of Washington and other worthy immortals. - -Those who shall give a careful perusal to the following work will find -that there has been some “method in my madness;” and that, if I am -a victim to an intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution did not -yield at once to the miasma. But let not the reader too readily “lay -the flattering unction to his soul” that ’tis my hallucination that is -to be impugned, not his ignorance of facts and his educational errors. - -_The sanction of the spirits, as above given, was obtained under test -conditions; so that it was utterly out of the power of any mortal to -pervert the result from being a pure emanation from the spirits whose -names are above given._ - -It ought to be understood that the sanction given by the spirits whose -names are attached to the preceding certificate, was obtained under -test conditions, as explained in paragraph bb., dd., in the description -of Plate iv. Moreover, I placed my hand on the instrument illustrated -by Fig. 2 in same plate, so as to question the spirits directly as to -the reliability of the affirmation, previously given to me, and the -fidelity of the medium generally. In both cases the index moved so as -to give an affirmative reply. - - -SUPPLEMENTAL PREFACE. - - - The most precise and laborious experiments which I have made in - my investigation of Spiritualism, have been assailed by the most - disparaging suggestions, as respects my capacity to avoid being the - dupe of any medium employed. Had my conclusions been of the opposite - kind, how much fulsome exaggeration had there been, founded on my - experience as an investigator of science for more than half a century! - And now, in a case when my own direct evidence is adduced, the most - ridiculous surmises as to my probable oversight or indiscretion are - suggested, as the means of escape from the only fair conclusion. - - Having despatched a spirit friend from Cape Island, at one o’clock on - the third of July, to request Mrs. Gourlay, in Philadelphia, to send - her husband to the bank to make an inquiry, and to report the result - to me at half-past 3 o’clock, the report was made to me as desired. - The subject was not mentioned until after my return to Philadelphia, - when, being at the residence of Mrs. Gourlay, I inquired of her, - whether she had received any message from me during my absence? In - reply, it was stated that while a communication from her spirit mother - was being made to her brother, who was present, my spirit messenger - interrupted it to request her to send her husband to the bank to - make the desired inquiry: that, in consequence, the application was - made at the bank. The note-clerk recollected the application to him, - but appeared to have considered it as too irregular to merit much - attention. Hence the impression _received_ by the applicants, and - communicated to me, was not correct. But as it did not accord with - that existing in my memory, it could not have been learned from MY - mind. - - Wishing to make this transaction a test, I was particularly careful to - manage so that I might honourably insist upon it as a test; and, until - I learned the fact from Mrs. Gourlay and from the note-clerk that the - inquiry was made, it did not amount to a test manifestation. But, - if I had been ever so indiscreet, would it not be absurd to imagine - a conspiracy between any person at Cape Island with Dr. and Mrs. - Gourlay, her brother, and the note-clerk at the bank, to deceive me on - my return by concurrent falsehoods? - - I submit these facts to the public, as proving that there must have - been an invisible, intelligent being with whom I communicated at Cape - Island, who, bearing my message to this city, communicated it to Mrs. - Gourlay, so as to induce the application at the bank. Otherwise, what - imaginable cause could have produced the result, especially within the - time occupied—of two and a half hours? - - The existence of spirit agency being thus demonstrated, I am justified - in solemnly calling on my contemporaries to give credence to the - important information which I have received from spirits, respecting - the destiny of the human soul after death. They may be assured that - every other object of consideration sinks into insignificance in - comparison with this information and the bearing it must have upon - morals, religion and politics, whenever it can be known and be - believed by society in general, as it is by me. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -As introductory to this work, I shall make a few brief remarks on the -following topics:— - -Objects of religion.—Diversity of opinion as to the means by which they -have been attainable.—Every sect, excepting one, would vote against any -one.—Consequent sentiments of the Author as embodied in verse.—Reasons -for his believing in the existence of a Deity.—American priesthood -eminently honest and pious.—If people who have obtained a belief in -immortality by _one route_ are better and happier therefor, why object -that others, by another route, should attain the same ends.—The table, -no less than our firesides, an object of interest.—Inconsistency -of those who make their Deity pass through all the stages of human -existence, from the embryo to maturity, in objecting to the transient -employment of tables.—Use of the tables soon laid aside in the -manifestations to which the Author has resorted.—Inconsistency of -accusing Spiritualists of undue incredulity as to scriptural miracles, -and of the opposite defect as respects spiritual manifestations.—Of -certain savans who strain at spiritual gnats, yet swallow scriptural -camels.—Miracles of Scripture, if they ever occurred, can never be -repeated; but the manifestations of Spiritualism will be repeated with -an improved and a multifarious efficiency.—Religion and positive or -inductive science having, under the guidance of devotion and atheism, -been made to travel in opposite directions, are by Spiritualism so -associated as to travel together in the same direction.—The atheist -Comte would dissolve the union between theology and science.—According -to Comte, where true science begins, the domain of theology terminates, -being only a creature of the imagination.—According to Spiritualism, it -is the domain of ignorance that is lessened, while theology, _founded_ -on _knowledge_, grows with its growth, and strengthens with its -strength.—An effort to refute the idea of Comte, that the phenomena of -the sidereal creation can be explained by gravitation; which, left to -itself, would consolidate all the matter in the universe into an inert -lump.—Suggestions respecting the devil.—Arguments founded on ignorance. - -1. On all sides I presume that it will be admitted that the great -objects of religion are as follows:— - -2. To furnish the best evidence of the existence of a Supreme Deity, -and of his attributes. - -3. To convey a correct idea of our duty toward that Deity and our -fellow creatures. - -4. To impart that knowledge of a state of existence beyond the grave -which will be _happier_ as we are more _virtuous in this life_, and -more miserable as we are more vicious; this knowledge affording the -best consolation amid temporal sufferings of the righteous, and the -strongest restraint upon the vicious indulgence of passion in the -unrighteous. - -5. Finally, by these means, to promote morality and the happiness of -man in this world, and prepare him for a blissful position in the world -to come. - -6. It must result, from these premises, that whichever is most -competent for the attainment of these all-important ends, will be the -best religion. - -7. The above-mentioned postulates being generally admitted, various -recorded traditions, pretended to have been derived from one or more -deities, have been advanced as best calculated to meet the requisitions -in question. Each of the religious doctrines thus advanced is -tenaciously defended by its appropriate priesthood. If the opinions -of the majority of these advocates of their respective revelations be -taken as respects any creed excepting their own, it will be denounced -as originating in error or fraud. The opinion being taken successively -upon _any one_, by all but those to whom it appertains, each would be -condemned. - -8. It was under these impressions that the following verses were -written, more than forty years ago. They have recently been published -in a pamphlet on the better employment of the first day of the week. - -They serve to show that my skepticism arose from my love of truth, -instead of that aversion from it, ascribed to skeptics by many -well-meaning bigots. - - 9. Oh, Truth! if man thy way could find, - Not doomed to stray with error blind, - How much more kind his fate! - But wayward still, he seeks his bane, - Nor can of foul delusion gain - A knowledge till too late. - - By sad experience slowly shown, - Thy way at times though plainly known, - Too late repays his care; - While in thy garb dark Error leads, - With best intent, to evil deeds - The bigot to ensnare. - - Is there a theme more highly fraught - With matter for our serious thought - Than this reflection sad, - That millions err in different ways, - Yet all their own impressions praise, - Deeming all others bad? - - To man it seems no standard’s given, - No scale of Truth hangs down from Heaven - Opinion to assay; - Yet called upon to act and think, - How are we then to shun the brink - O’er which so many stray? - -10. How far I was a believer in God may be estimated from the following -opinions, which have appeared in the pamphlet wherein the foregoing -verses were published: - - -On the Evidence of the Existence of a Deity. - -BY THE AUTHOR. - -11. THE existence of the universe is not more evident than that of the -reasoning power by which it is controlled. The evidence of profound -and ingenious contrivance is more manifested the more we inquire. Yet -the universe, and the reason by which it has been contrived and is -regulated, are not one. Neither is the reason the universe, nor is the -universe the reason. This governing reason, therefore, wherever, or -however it may exist, is the main attribute of the Deity, whom we can -only know and estimate by his works. And surely they are sufficiently -sublime, beautiful, magnificent, and extensive to give the idea of a -being who may be considered as infinite in comparison with man. Yet -as the existence of evil displays either a deficiency of power, or a -deficiency of goodness, I adopt the idea of a deficiency of power in -preference. - -12. “If,” as Newton rationally infers, “God has no organs,” the -person of man cannot be made after God’s image, since the human image -is mostly made up by the human organs. Man has feet to walk, arms to -work with, eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, a nose for smelling. It -were absurd to attribute such organs to God. - -13. It follows that while we have as much evidence of a Deity as -we have of our own, we are utterly incapable of forming any idea -of his form, mode of existence, or his wondrous power. We are as -sure of the immensity and ubiquity of his power as of the existence -of the universe, with which he must at least be coextensive and in -separatelyassociated. That his power must have always existed, we are -also certain; since if nothing had ever prevailed, there never could -have been any thing: out of nothing, nothing can come. - -14. The universe, no less than the Deity, must be eternal, since if at -any time, however remote, the Deity existed without a universe, there -must have been an infinite antecedent period during which the divine -power must have been nullified for want of objects for its exercise. A -Deity so situated would be as a king without a kingdom to govern. - -15. I am under the impression that mind is at least as essential to -the creation as matter. It seems to me inconceivable that the various -elementary atoms of the chemist could come into existence, with their -adaptation to produce the multiplicity of efficient combinations which -they are capable of forming, without having been modified by one mind. -The existence of adaptation, I think, proves the existence of mind. But -even were these atoms to possess inherently the adaptation which they -manifest, of what possible utility could be the variegated consequences -thereof, were there no minds to perceive, appreciate, or enjoy them. -The beauty of colour, the music of sound, the elegance of curves or -angles, could have no existence were there no perception of them; since -those attributes are in a great measure attached to objects by mind. -Independently of mind, music is mere aerial vibration, colour mere -superficial texture, or intestinal arrangement producing undulatory -waves variously polarized, which are the proximate causes, which -would be sterile, were there no mind to be actuated by them through -appropriate organs. - -16. Could the universe exist without mind, would not its existence be -nugatory? - -17. The following allegations seem to me no less true than the axioms -of Euclid: - -18. No evil can endure which any being has both the power and desire to -remove. - -19. Any result must ensue which any being has both power and desire to -accomplish. - -20. No rational being will strive by trial to ascertain that which he -knows as well before as after trial. - -21. If God be both omnipotent and omniscient, he can, of course, make -his creatures exactly to suit his will and fancy, and foresee how they -will fulfil the end for which they are created. Wherefore then subject -them to probation to discover traits which by the premises he must -thoroughly foreknow. - -22. Is it not more consistent with divine goodness to infer that we are -placed in this life for progressive improvement, and that there is no -evil which can be avoided consistently with his enormous, though not -unlimited, power? - -23. Such an inference coincides with the communications recently -received, from the spirits of departed friends, which it is the object -of this publication to promulgate. - -24. Unfortunately, human opinion is very much influenced by passion and -prejudice. Hence in questions respecting property, we often find honest -men differing as to what is just. So when any creed is associated with -the hope of enjoying by its tenure a _better_, if not _exclusive_, -pretension to eternal happiness and the favour of God, the sectarian -by whom it may be held becomes honestly tenacious of its despotic -supremacy over all others. - -25. I have no doubt that a large portion of our American priesthood are -sincere in the advocacy of the tenets respectively held by them. Among -them I have known some of the best of men, and I have generally found -them more tolerant of skepticism than the majority of their followers. -It has not, however, been unfrequently urged by clergymen as a ground -of adherence to Christianity, that _without it_, there is no authentic -evidence of a future state of existence. I have seen an argument from -an able and respectable Christian writer, urging that there is no -refuge for the mass of mankind to be found in pure deism, unaccompanied -by any specific evidence of a future state. - -26. Under these circumstances should Spiritualism afford such a refuge -to those who are utterly dissatisfied with the evidence of the truth -of scriptural revelation, it will certainly be a _blessing to them_; -and those who have heretofore found this essential comfort in one way, -ought not to object should their neighbours find it in another way. - -27. An effort has been made to throw ridicule on spiritual -manifestations, on account of phenomena being effected by means of -tables and other movable furniture; but it should be recollected that, -when _movements were_ to be _effected_, resort to _movable_ bodies -was inevitable; and as generally the proximity of media, if not the -contact, was necessary to facilitate the movements, there was no body -so accessible as tables. But these violent mechanical manifestations -were always merely to draw attention; just as a person will knock, or -even kick, violently at a front door, until some one looks out of a -window to communicate with him. The more violent manifestations ceased -both at Hydesville, at Rochester, and at Stratford in Connecticut, as -soon as the alphabetic mode of communicating was employed. I never have -had any to take place during my intercourse with my spirit-friends, -unless as tests for unbelievers, when intellectual communications could -not be made. It is more than fifteen months since I have resorted -to instruments which have nothing in common with tables. Of these -instruments, engravings and descriptions will be found in this work. - -28. But is it not a great error to consider our tables as less sacred -than our firesides? Could any appeal more thoroughly vibrate to the -heart of civilized man than that of any invasion of his rights which -should render his fireside liable to intrusion? Hence, in the Latin -motto, “Pro aris et focis,” the inviolability of the fireside is -placed side by side with freedom of conscience. But, with the passing -away of winter, the interest in the fireside declines: ’tis changeable -as the temperature of air. It loses all its force in the tropics; but, -throughout Christendom, the table still draws about it the inmates of -every human dwelling, at all seasons, and in every kind of weather. -Even when not excited by hunger, we value the social meeting which -takes place around it. - -29. At tables, moreover, conferences are held, contracts and deeds -signed, and decrees, statute-laws, and ordinances are written. -Treaties, also, are made at tables, on which not the fate of -individuals merely, but of nations, depends. - -30. Is the renown of the “knights of the round table” tarnished by -their being only known in connection with the word in question? Is any -director or trustee ashamed of being, with his colleagues, designated -as a “board?”—a humble synonym for table. - -31. It was at a table the Declaration of Independence was signed; and -in Trumbull’s picture of its presentation to Congress a table is made -to occupy a conspicuous position. Our tables should be at least as much -objects of our regard as the vicinity of our fireplace. - -32. The sarcasms founded on the use of the table in spiritual -manifestations proceed, inconsistently, from those persons who would -bring their deity through all the stages of human life. - -33. The human body of Christ must have gone through all the stages -from the embryo to maturity. It was worshipped in a manger, and lived -thirty years in obscurity and inaction. Why all this delay, when the -angel, armed with the power of God, might have addressed Herod, the -Roman emperor, and every other potentate on earth in a single year? The -Almighty softening their hearts, as he hardened that of Pharaoh, the -conversion of mankind had been the inevitable consequence. - -34. Alluding to his second advent, Christ used these words:—“They -shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and -glory.” Mark xiii. 26. Wherefore did not his first coming take place in -this conspicuous, glorious, and unquestionable manner? - -35. It is often inquired, Wherefore were not these efforts to -communicate with mankind at an earlier period of the world’s duration? -but it may be demanded in return, Wherefore did not Christ come until -the earth had been peopled, even according to Scripture, about four -thousand years? - -36. Why was not the use of the compass, of gunpowder, printing, -the steam-engine, steamboat, railway, telegraph, daguerreotyping, -electrotyping, contrived earlier in this terrestrial sphere? Let -orthodoxy take the beam out of its own eye first. - -37. Had Christ taught these arts, they would not only have had a more -general influence during the era of their accomplishment, but have left -a durable and irrefragable proof of a towering mental superiority. As -they would have gone into use, there could have been no question as to -their accomplishment; so that every intelligent being might have become -intuitively cognizant of their wonderful results. - -38. The invention of gunpowder, the telegraph, and the mariner’s -compass might have been the means of preventing the inroads of the -Goths and Vandals, and, subsequently, the success of the Mohammedans; -since the Arabians would hardly have availed themselves of these -inventions at the time the Mohammedan conquests were commenced. - -39. How important would have been the art of printing to the -promulgation of a correct knowledge of the revelation which was the -alleged object of Christ’s mission! - -40. Of those who believe in revelation, it may be inquired, Why the -Hebrews were preferred, as the receivers of divine inspiration, to the -more civilized Greeks, Romans, Hindoos, or Chinese? If revelation was -requisite to one nation, was it not equally necessary to all? - -41. Wherefore, after Christ had undergone crucifixion in order to make -people Christians, should Mohammed have been allowed to massacre or -enslave them for being Christians? - -42. There is even now great difficulty in effecting those -intercommunications with spirits in this country of universal _legal_ -tolerance. I say _legal_, since there is, as Owen alleged, “_too much -Christian despotism of another kind_.” - -43. Almost every editor is, more or less, a censor to the press, and a -peon of popularity. The tendency is not to _repress_, but to _gratify_, -and, of course, _promote_ existing bigotry. This bigotry and its -Siamese brother, intolerance, have, in all countries and ages, been -exercising a _mischievous_, though often a _well-intended_, vigilance, -over any innovation of a nature to emancipate the human mind from -educational error; and, whenever supported by temporal power, has -resorted to persecution—even to the use of the sword, of the rack, or -the fagot; and, in this country of boasted freedom and much-vaunted -liberty of the press, shows its baleful power by defamation, or -alleging disqualification for employment, wherever its influence can be -exerted. - -44. A conspicuous printer in this city refused to print an edition of -my recent pamphlet, as he would allow nothing to go through his press -which was against the Bible. This shows how far fanaticism will go, -even at this advanced era of science and in this country of vaunted -intellectual freedom. - -45. Two hundred years ago, Spiritualism would have been as much -persecuted as witchcraft. - -46. In reprobation of unbelief in the scriptural proofs of immortality, -it has been usual for self-complacent believers to urge that the “wish -was father to the thought;” that a sincere desire to perceive the truth -could not exist without conviction; but the opposite must have been -the prevailing weakness among unbelievers in Scripture who have become -spiritualists, if they are now over-credulous in admitting the evidence -on which Spiritualism is founded. - -47. I declare solemnly, that I always was intensely anxious to know -the truth; that although, theoretically, I doubted the possibility -of changing the course of things by prayer, yet I did often lift my -thoughts up to God, imploring that some light might be given to me. Of -course, as soon as the facts admitted of no other explanation than that -my father, sister, brother, and other spirit friends, had been engaged -in efforts to convince me of their existence, and of that of the spirit -world, the most intense desire arose to verify the facts tending to -settle the all-important question, whether man is immortal. - -48. If the evidence of the truth of revelation were as adequate as -represented by its votaries, my conscientious inability to believe in -it would indicate an undue constitutional skepticism; whence I required -more proof than the great mass of Christians, in order to produce -credence. Yet, now having found the evidence of immortality in the case -of Spiritualism satisfactory, it cannot be urged that my hesitation -respecting the evidence of revelation arose from any unwillingness -to believe in a future state, or unreasonableness as to the evidence -requisite to justify belief. Manifestly, it would be inconsistent to -accuse me of disbelieving in the one case from undue, hard-hearted -incredulity, and yet, in the other, yielding from the opposite -characteristics. - -49. Fundamentally, my reasons for not believing in revelation have -been, that it violates certain axioms above stated, (18,) which have -been as clear to my mind as those collated by Euclid. - -50. It may be shown that the existing system fails to give any -evidence which can be _subjected to the intuition of each generation -successively_. It rests on the alleged intuition of human beings who -existed ages ago, and of whom we know nothing but what they say of -themselves through history or recorded tradition. It reposes entirely -on the testimony of propagandists, who were interested to give it -importance, or on partial human narrators or compilers. It has been -erected on a species of hearsay evidence, inadmissible in courts of -justice. This species of testimony in the case of Spiritualism is -contemptuously set aside. No one will believe in manifestations unless -intuitively observed. Wherefore this _faith_ in _ancient_ witnesses, -this _skepticism of those of our own times_, even when they are known -to be truthful? - -51. On my stating to a distinguished savan a fact which has been -essentially verified since in more than a hundred instances, his -reply was—I would believe you as soon as any man in the world, yet I -cannot believe what you mention. He suggested the idea of its being -an epidemic, with which I was of course infected; nevertheless, -that savan, as a professing Christian, admitted facts vastly more -incredible, depending on the alleged intuition of witnesses who lived -two thousand years ago, nearly. This, doubtless, was the consequence of -educational bigotry, which would have caused a belief in the miracles -of any other religion in which he should have been brought up. - -52. Such persons strain at the gnats of Spiritualism, yet swallow the -camels of Scripture. - -53. In like manner an Eastern sovereign treated a Dutch ambassador as -deranged, because he alleged that bodies of water, in his country, were -capable of solidification, so as to support people on the surface. - -54. But if this skepticism is shown with respect to observers of our -day, how can it be expected that it should not be displayed toward -observers of antiquity? - -55. Spiritualism will in this respect have a great advantage, as it -will always be supported by the intuition of its actual votaries. It -will not rest on bygone miracles, never to be repeated, if they ever -occurred, but will rest upon an intercourse with the spirit world which -will grow and improve with time. - -56. One of the pre-eminent blessings resulting from this new philosophy -will be its bringing religion within the scope of positive science. -This word positive is employed by the learned atheist Comte to -designate science founded on observation and experiment. It will give -the quietus to the cold, cheerless view of our being’s end and aim -presented in his work. - -57. Professor Nichol endeavoured, in the following way, to comfort -his Christian auditors against the apparent incompatibility of the -phenomena of the sidereal creation with the language of Scripture: -Having drawn two lines from the same point, making a right angle, -the learned lecturer said, _Suppose A sets out and pursues one of -these routes, B pursues the other, and both arrive at certain truths; -although these results should not seem to have any thing to do with -each other; yet_, said he, _if they be truths, they must come together -eventually; they cannot always travel away from each other_. But if any -person find that, agreeably to all his experience, the results thus -attained, tend to greater and greater remoteness and inconsistency, -there would be little comfort found in the idea of a possible ultimate -approximation. - -58. It is upon this actual fundamental discordancy between scriptural -impressions, and the truths ascertained by experimental and intuitive -investigation, that Comte builds his inference that theology is to be -entirely abandoned. But very different is the position of Spiritualism -relative to positive science. It starts from the same basis of -intuition and induction from facts. It does not controvert any of the -results of positive science within the ponderable material creation, -to which the results contemplated by Comte belong. It superadds new -facts respecting the spirit world, which had so entirely escaped the -researches of materialists, that they entertain the highest incredulity -merely upon negative grounds,—merely because the facts in question have -not taken place within the experience of those who have investigated -the laws of ponderable matter and one or two imponderable principles -associated therewith. - -59. Such was the ground of my incredulity; which, however, vanished -before intuitive demonstration. - -60. It is admitted by Comte that we know nothing of the sources or -causes of nature’s laws; that their origination is so perfectly -inscrutable, as to make it idle to take up time in any scrutiny for -that purpose. He treats the resort to the Deity as the cause, as a mere -abstraction tending to comfort the human mind before it has become -acquainted with true science, and doomed to be laid aside with the -advance of positive science. - -61. Of course his doctrine makes him avowedly a thorough ignoramus as -to the _causes_ of laws, or the means by which they were established, -and can have no other basis but the negative argument above stated, -in objecting to the facts ascertained in relation to the spiritual -creation. Hence when the spirits allege that by their volition they can -neutralize gravity, or _vis inertiæ_,[4] there is nothing in positive -science to confute this. The inability of material beings to neutralize -gravitation by their powers is no proof that spiritual beings cannot -effect this change. - -62. Thus while allowing the atheist his material dominion, Spiritualism -will erect within and above the same space a dominion of an importance -as much greater as eternity is to the average duration of human life, -and as the boundless regions of the fixed stars are to the habitable -area of this globe. - -63. But although Comte be a man of great learning, his fundamental -opinions appear to be faulty, and his distribution of the operations of -the mind imaginary. - -64. In treating of gravitation as the _primary_ law, does he not commit -a blunder? Is not vis inertiæ above indispensable to gravitation, since -it may be conceived to exist without gravitation, while gravitation -cannot exist without vis inertiæ? - -65. The power of a body A to draw B toward it can never exceed that -which is necessary to put it into motion, which must be directly as its -vis inertiæ; and where the one is null, the other must be null. - -66. I cannot imagine how any philosopher so learned as Comte should not -perceive the reduction of the phenomena of the universe to “different -aspects” of the one faculty of gravitation to be utterly impossible. -In the first place, it has been shown that gravitation could not be -the basis of vis inertiæ, without which it cannot exist; and in the -next place, gravitation has always, at any given point of time, its -possible influence limited to the power of making a body move toward an -appropriate centre of gravity, and afterward remain forever at rest, -unless affected by some extraneous cause. - -67. It is alleged also that the phenomena of the universe are explained -by gravitation. I here quote his own words: - -68. “_Our business is—seeing how vain is any research into what are -called causes, whether first or final—to pursue an accurate discovery -of these laws, with a view to reducing them to the smallest possible -number._” - -69. How is it possible, I demand, to reduce the orbitual motion of -a planet to fewer causes than vis inertiæ, motion, and gravitation? -Vis inertiæ and motion are necessary to momentum; and momentum thus -arising, acting in a tangential direction to that of gravitation, is -indispensable to form, with the force of gravity, the resultant which -constitutes the orbitual curve. - -70. Yet from subsequent language in the same paragraph, the idea is -suggested of reducing planetary motions to one cause, gravitation! This -will be perceived from his language, subjoined as follows: - -71. “_The best illustration of this is in the case of the doctrine -of gravitation. We say that the general phenomena of the universe are -explained by it, because it connects, under one head, the whole immense -variety of astronomical facts, exhibiting the constant tendency of -atoms toward each other in direct proportion to their masses, and in -inverse proportion to the squares of their distance._” - -72. How can the revolution of a single planet about the sun be -explained without the centrifugal or tangential force due to momentum? -Were not gravitation resisted by the projectile velocity constituted by -motion and vis inertiæ, would not all the planets fall into their suns, -respectively? - -73. Are there not three essential elements in such orbitual -movements,—vis inertiæ, motion, and gravitation? Are not these as -necessary to an orbit as three sides are to a triangle? and is it not -as great an error to suppose that such movements can continue by the -agency of _one_ of them, as to make one right line serve to enclose a -superficies? - -74. Between two philosophers, both equally learned with Comte, one may -be, like him, an atheist, the other, like Newton, a believer in God; -and yet, as respects the whole range of positive science, would there -be any clashing? They would attribute every thing to the same _laws_, -whether these should be ascribed to a deity or not. The origin of the -laws recognised by both would, by one, be ascribed to an inscrutable -God; by the other, to inscrutability without a God. - -75. Because the movements of the heavenly bodies are ascribed to the -three elements above mentioned,—an unknown source of projectile force, -vis inertiæ, by which that force is perpetuated, and gravitation, by -which it is modified into elliptical, orbitual revolution, operating as -laws governing planetary movement,—it does not make the astronomer who -adopts this conception less of a theologian; it only makes him a more -enlightened theologian. We ascribe _less_ to the _special_ interference -of the Creator in proportion as our knowledge enables us to perceive -results attained by general laws. This, Comte conceives, causes theists -to be less theological, and to lessen what he seems to view as the -domain which theology is allowed to have. But is it not more correct -to assume that it is only the domain of ignorance which grows less, -while that of theology becomes simpler and more correct, but not -less extensive? It is not that less is ascribed to God, but that the -aggregate is more intelligently ascribed as the laws through which his -agency is recognised are fewer. - -76. Newton assumed inertia, gravitation, and motion as the foundation -of his philosophy; but attributed these fundamental properties, or -states of matter, to the will of that governing mind of which he held -the existence to be as evident as that of the matter governed. Comte -does not consider that there is any positive proof of the existence -of such a ruling mind, and does not, therefore, find it necessary to -admit the existence of a Deity. Thus, the states or properties above -mentioned are, with Newton, proximate, with Comte, ultimate, causes. -Hence, when we arrive at the foundation of the Newtonian doctrine, we -cannot go deeper without admitting the existence of a God. Without this -admission, we involve ourselves in the irremediable darkness of atheism. - -77. In this respect, I have always been a follower of Newton. -Evidently, both the governing reason and the creation which it rules -must have existed from eternity; since, if nothing ever existed -exclusively, it must have forever endured, and there never could have -been any thing. So, if there ever had been no mind, there never could -have been any mind. - -78. The human mind, says Comte, by its nature employs, in its progress, -three methods of philosophizing,—the theological, the metaphysical, and -the positive, differing essentially from each other, and even radically -opposed. Hence, he assumes the _successive_ existence of three modes of -contemplating the aggregate phenomena of the universe, any one of which -excludes the others. The first, “_is the point of departure of the -human understanding; the third, its ultimate, fixed, definite state; -the second, merely a state of transition from the first to the third_.” - -79. It seems to be assumed that the intellectual progress of the -human mind must necessarily be through these three stages. Moreover, -it is suggested that each individual, in reviewing the progression -of his mind from childhood to mature age, will perceive that he was -a theologian in his childhood, a metaphysician in his youth, and a -natural philosopher in his manhood. If this did not come from a -distinguished philosopher, I should pronounce it ridiculous. If allowed -to be so egotistical, I must say that I am not aware that I went -through these stages in the different periods of my life. - -80. Studying metaphysical works as a part of my education, I took great -interest in the theory of moral sentiments, and published essays on -topics of that nature in the “Portfolio;” but previously, I wrote my -“Memoir on the Blowpipe.” In 1810, my “Brief View of the Policy and -Resources of the United States” was published, in which it was first -truly advanced that credit is money. - -81. Subsequently, more than a hundred publications were made by me, for -the most part on chemistry and electricity, yet always intermingled -with political, moral, and financial essays. - -82. I am now, more than ever, a theologian; and my first publications -touching that subject date after the attainment of threescore and ten. - -83. But theology and religion were subjects always near to my heart; -and were accompanied by the pain arising from the discordancy of my -opinions with those entertained by much-loved relatives and friends. - -84. I do not understand how any man of common sense can conceive that -theological, metaphysical, or experimental science can be the separate -object of contemplation; or that the share that either may occupy at -any age, to the exclusion of the others, will not depend on exterior -contingencies. - -85. I became a believer in God solely from my intuitive perception of -the existence of a governing reason. Of course, all things were to be -ascribed to that reason ultimately, but proximately to the very laws -which this author considers as the object or basis of positive science. - -86. He holds that our inquiries should be bounded by the inscrutability -of the well-ascertained physical properties and laws of matter. -Coinciding, _practically_, with Comte until lately, I held that inquiry -should be bounded by the inscrutability of the Divine Lawgiver, to -whom these laws owed existence. But Spiritualism has opened an avenue -to inquiry beyond the boundary thus practically admitted no less by -myself than by Comte. Other inscrutable laws and phenomena have to be -recognised within a region for the existence of which Comte, in denying -spiritual agency, allows no room. - -87. Though, practically, this field of inquiry was shut out from me -as well as from Comte, _theoretically_, it was not excluded by my -philosophy. Although in ascribing the universe to mind, the unity of -its design and harmony of its phenomena led to the inference that -it must be due to one supreme mind, there was still room for the -coexistence of any number of degrees of subordinate mental agency, -between that supreme mind and man. - -88. Beside those antagonists to Spiritualism, who would set aside the -evidence of persons living at the present time and who are known to -be truthful, by the evidence of others who lived some thousand years -since, spiritualists are assailed by such as admit their facts, but -explain them differently. Thus the Roman Catholic Church has admitted -the manifestations to indicate an invisible physical and rational power -which cannot be attributed to human agency. But instead of ascribing -them to spirits, good or bad, of mortals who have passed the portal of -death, they consider them the work of Old Nick. - -89. If this personage ever did influence the acts of any sect, -manifestly it must have been in those instances in which alleged -religious error has been made the ground for persecution, from the time -of the extirpation and spoliation of the Midianites, Canaanites, and -others, down to that of the extirpation of the Albigenses, the auto -da fé, inquisition, massacre of St. Bartholomew, fires of Smithfield, -roasting of Servetus, and the persecution of the Quakers and witches. - -90. So far as the devil is only an imaginary embodiment of the evil -passions of men, as conceived by many enlightened Christians, no doubt -those and many other analagous acts were due to the devil; but when the -benevolent language of the spirits respecting sinners is contrasted -with the cruel doctrine of the church in question, as well as by -others, it can hardly be conceived that this language comes from Satan, -and that of the churches from the “benevolent” Jesus Christ. - -91. The following verses, which have already appeared in my letter to -the Episcopal clergy, express the sentiments of the spirits—every soul -having the privilege of reforming, and rising proportionally to the -improvement thus obtained: - -92. However late, as holy angels teach, - Souls now in Hades, bliss in Heaven may reach. - All whose conduct has been mainly right, - With lightning speed may gain that blissful height; - While those who selfish, sensual ends pursue, - For ages may their vicious conduct rue, - Doom’d in some low and loathsome plane to dwell, - Made through remorse and shame the sinner’s hell; - Yet through contrition and a change of mind, - The means of rising may each sinner find. - The higher spirits their assistance give, - Teaching the contrite how for heaven to live. - -93. Let these lines be contrasted with those which are given in the -work on Heaven of the Rev. Dr. Harbaugh—a most excellent orthodox -clergyman of the German Reformed Church—which are as follows: - -94. “But the wicked? alas! for him at that awful moment! Oh! my soul, -come not thou into the secret of his sorrows. - - “How shocking must thy summons be, O death! - To him.— - In that dread moment, how the frantic soul - Raves round the walls of her clay tenement; - Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help; - But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks - On all she’s leaving, now no longer hers! - A little longer; yet a little longer; - Oh! might she stay to wash away her stains; - And fit her for her passage! Mournful sight! - Her very eyes weep blood, and every groan - She heaves is big with horror. But the foe, - Like a stanch murderer, steady to his purpose, - Pursues her close, through every lane of life, - Nor misses once the track; but presses on, - Till forced at last to the tremendous verge, - At once she sinks to everlasting ruin.” - -95. But I conceive that the existence of a devil is irreconcilable -with all goodness and omnipotency; and that, were a devil created by -God, the Creator would be answerable for all the acts of the being -so created. Evidently, the devil could be nothing else but what -omnipotence should make him, and could do nothing but what prescience -would foresee. The acts of the devil would therefore be indirectly -those of his maker. - -96. I would inquire of those who rely on the Bible as the source of -their opinions, how it happens that Moses makes no allusion to Satan as -an agent in the events of which he is the narrator? - -97. Though Milton represents that malevolent being as taking the form -of the serpent, Moses, far from sanctioning that idea, makes not only -the individual snake, but the whole genus forever amenable for the part -performed. - -98. In his description of hell, Josephus represents an archangel as the -janitor, which is quite inconsistent with Satan’s being the jailor. Is -it conceivable that an archangel should be doorkeeper to the devil? - -99. Moreover, in stating the reasons why the doom of the rich man -(broiling to eternity) was irremediable, no allusion is made to the -satanic despot whose inexorable malevolence would have had to be -counteracted. - -100. It would seem to be an axiom, that whenever any event does not -take place, it must be because there is no being who has at once the -_power_ and the _wish_ to cause it to happen; and when any event does -ensue, there can exist no being having at once the _power_ and _wish_ -to prevent it from happening. Moreover, consistently, no agent can -exist whose destruction is desired by another being, who, having the -right, is competent by mere volition to destroy that agent. - -101. It follows, that if there actually does exist any being, such as -is designated by the words _Devil_, _Satan_, _Beelzebub_, to treat -him as the _creature_ of God, would be inconsistent _either_ with the -attribute of all goodness or of omnipotence. - -102. Can any act be more devilish than that of creating a devil? Would -it not be blasphemous to ascribe to a beneficent Deity a measure so -truly diabolical? It has been said that the devil is a necessary agent -in God’s providence. How necessary, if God be omnipotent? - -103. Does not the necessity of employing a bad agent involve inability -to create a good agent? - -104. The evils which exist in the creation may, to a great extent, be -explained by an inevitable limitation of power. Thus, probably, there -could be no virtue were there no vice; no pleasure, were there no pain. -Ecstasy might become painful by unlimited endurance. - -105. Without appetites and passions, an animal would be reduced to the -state of a vegetable, which lives without perception. - -106. The language held by certain sectarians on such subjects, -seems to me often contradictory of the idea they strive to enforce. -Thus they represent that our sorrows and our pangs are intended for -our amendment, or designed to prevent some greater evil _here_ or -_hereafter_; but what can justify a painful remedy, if there be power -to adopt one which, while equally efficacious, would be painless? - -107. God is, on one side, represented as the cause of all the -circumstances under which we exist; yet, on the other, is under the -necessity of afflicting us in order to remove or to remedy them! If -possessing both ability and disposition to reform us without causing us -to suffer, could suffering be inflicted consistently with all goodness? - -108. Of a most excellent Roman Catholic I inquired whether it was not -held by their church that a belief in their tenets was necessary to -salvation? The reply was in the affirmative. And yet, said I, of all -who do believe, only those can be saved who do their Master’s will,—who -add good works to an orthodox creed? The reply was again affirmative. -Of all mankind, then, there is but a very small number, comparatively, -who are not, according to the creed in question, to go to hell? Again -I received an affirmative reply. I would then (I rejoined) when I die, -rather go into an eternal sleep, than awake in heaven to find so many -of my fellow-creatures in endless misery, the mere knowledge of which -would make heaven itself a hell to a good-hearted angel. - -109. Another species of objection to the existence of spirits is, that -although movements of bodies are admitted to take place without any -perceptible or conceivable mortal agency, the existence of spirits as -the cause is to be disbelieved, because the observers have not been -successful in getting replies such as they think would have been given -were spirits the source. - -110. Thus a very distinguished physician, Dr. Bell, has alleged that -nothing has in his investigations been communicated which was not -previously in the mind of one or more mortals present. This is one -of the instances in which the assailant of Spiritualism founds his -argument in his error. It is an argument which has no other basis than -inaccurate information, because I am enabled to disprove the truth of -the conclusion on which the inference is founded. - -111. Nevertheless, I am not surprised that an inference should have -been made, which holds good as respects certain spirits or media, -though not others. If a pack of cards be so cut that the card exposed -cannot be seen by any mortal present, it may be found that although -certain spirits cannot describe the card, unless seen by some -person present, yet other spirits can describe the card under these -circumstances. Among my guardian spirits, there are two who have -repeatedly described the card exposed fortuitously by cutting a pack, -as in the process for determining trumps in a game of whist. - -112. Since reading Dr. Bell’s remarks, cards, taken indiscriminately -from a pack, and laid down behind the medium and myself, the -denomination unseen by any mortal, have been named correctly by one of -the spirits alluded to, although, about the same time, another eminent -spirit could not name cards when similarly employed. - -113. Agreeably to my experience in a multitude of cases, spirits have -reported themselves who were wholly unexpected, and when others were -expected. When I was expecting my sister in Boston, my brother reported -himself. Lately, when expecting her, Cadwalader was spelt out, being -the name of an old friend, who forthwith gave me a test, proving his -identity. As this spirit had never visited my disk before, I had not -the smallest expectation of his coming. - -114. My spirit brother referred to a confidential conversation had with -my brother Powel, in which the former was alluded to, when nothing was -farther from my mind than that he had been present as an invisible -listener. - -115. I will now mention a fact of recent occurrence, which completely -refutes Dr. Bell’s inference: Being at Cape May, one of my guardian -spirits was with me frequently. - -116. On the 3d instant, at one o’clock A. M., I requested the faithful -being in question to go to my friend Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth -street, Philadelphia, and request her to induce Dr. Gourlay to go to -the Philadelphia Bank to ascertain at what time a note would be due, -and that I would sit at the instrument at half-past three o’clock -to receive the answer. Accordingly, at that time, my spirit friend -manifested herself, and gave me the result of the inquiry. - -117. On my return to the city, I learned from Mrs. Gourlay that my -angelic messenger had interrupted a communication, which was taking -place through the spiritoscope, in order to communicate my message, -and, in consequence, her husband and brother went to the bank, and -made the inquiry, of which the result was that communicated to me at -half-past three o’clock by my spirit friend. - -118. This differed from the impression which I had from memory, and -was not, of course, obtained from my mind. And it is evident that the -medium could not have known of my message until she was made to receive -it. - -119. But independently of the inability to communicate ideas, not -pre-existing in the minds of mortals present, which has been so -erroneously inferred to exist by Dr. Bell, let this eminent physician -suggest any conceivable explanation of the phenomena attested by him, -excepting that founded on the agency of spirits. - -120. And, independently of any other proof, the fact that one of my -guardian spirits bore a message from me at Cape May to Mrs. Gourlay -at Philadelphia, so as to induce her to do what was requested, is -evidently, of itself, inexplicable under any other view than that of a -spirit having officiated. - -121. To conclude, I hope that while Spiritualism will give a quietus -to atheism, it will be found, agreeably to the facts and reasoning -presented in this book, better sustained by evidence, and to answer -the great objects of religion, as above stated, vastly better than any -other religious doctrine. - - -THEOLOGICAL AXIOMS. - -Is not the affirmative of any of these queries, as evidently true as -any of the axioms of Euclid? - - Did not that thought from heaven proceed, - According God’s mercy to every creed, - Which however pagan, howe’er untrue, - Is meant to give our Creator his due? - May not devotion to God be shown, - Whether through Christ or Mohammed known? - Whether men die in holy war, - Or kneel to be crushed by Juggernaut’s car? - Mankind would God in error leave, - Yet penally for that error aggrieve. - Did God a special creed require, - Each soul would he not with that creed inspire? - - Can a glaring evil endure - Despite of the power and will to cure? - Must not any event arrive - For which both will and power strive? - Will not any result obtain - Which power unites with will to gain? - - If God can creatures make to suit his will, - Foresee, if they can, his design fulfil; - Wherefore to trial, those creatures expose, - Traits to discover, which he thus foreknows? - - -[Illustration: _M. B. Gourlay_] - - - - - INTUITIVE EVIDENCE - - OF THE - - EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS. - - -NARRATIVE OF THE AUTHOR’S EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SPIRITUALISM. - -122. THE first fruit of my attention to the phenomena of table -turning, was the following letter. I trust I shall not be considered -as self-complacent, when I allege it to be an exemplification of _wise -ignorance_, which is about equivalent to folly. The wisest man who -speaks in ignorance, speaks foolishly to the ears of those who perceive -his ignorance. The great mass of men of science appear in this light to -spiritualists when they argue against Spiritualism. Men who are only -_nominally_ Know Nothings have proved a formidable party in politics; -unfortunately, Spiritualism has, in its most active opponents, _real_ -Know Nothings, who will not admit any fact of a spiritual origin, -unless such as they have been educated to believe. In that case, many -have powers of intellectual deglutition rivalling those of the anaconda -in the physical way.[5] - - -_Letter in reply to an Inquiry respecting the influence of Electricity -in Table Turning._ - - PHILADELPHIA, July 27, 1853. - - 123. “_Dear Sir_: I am of opinion that it is utterly impossible for - six or eight, or any number of persons, seated around a table, to - produce an electric current. Moreover, I am confident that if by any - adequate means an electrical current were created, however forcible, - it could not be productive of table turning. A dry wooden table is - almost a non-conductor, but if forming a link necessary to complete a - circuit between the sky and earth, it might possibly be shattered by - a stroke of lightning; but if the power of all the galvanic apparatus - ever made was to be collected in one current, there would be no power - to _move_ or otherwise affect such a table. - - 124. “Frictional electricity, such as produced by electric machines, - must first be accumulated and then discharged, in order to produce any - striking effect. It is in _transitu_ that its power is seen and felt. - - 125. “Insulated conductors, whether inanimate, or in the form of - animals, may be electrified by the most powerful means, without being - injured or seriously incommoded. Before a spark of lightning passes, - every object on the terrestrial surface, for a great distance around, - is subjected to a portion of the requisite previous accumulation. Yet - it is only those objects which are made the medium of discharge that - are sensibly affected. - - 126. “Powerful galvanic accumulation can only be produced by those - appropriate arrangements which concentrate upon a comparatively small - filament of particles their peculiar polarizing power; but nothing - seems to me more inconsistent with experience than to suppose a table - moved by any possible form or mode of galvanic reaction. It was - ascertained by Gaziot that one of the most powerful galvanic batteries - ever made could not give a spark _before_ contact to a conductor - presented to it, at the smallest distance which could be made by a - delicate micrometer. If there is any law which is pre-eminent for its - invariability, it is, that _inanimate_ matter cannot, _per se_, change - its state as respects motion or rest. Were this law liable to any - variation, we should be proportionably liable to perish; since in that - case the revolutions and rotations of our planet and its satellite - might undergo perturbations by which the ocean might inundate the - land, or the too great proximity or remoteness of the sun cause us to - be scorched or frozen. If the globe did not carry the Pacific more - steadily than the most competent person could carry a basin of water, - we should be drowned by the overflow of the land. I recommend to - your attention, and that of others interested in this hallucination, - Faraday’s observations and experiments, recently published in some of - our respectable newspapers. I entirely concur in the conclusions of - that distinguished experimental expounder of Nature’s riddles. - - ROBERT HARE.” - -127. This publication drew forth the following remonstrance in the -subjoined letter, which does great credit to the correctness of the -author’s observation and sagacity. It contributed, together with a -personal invitation from Dr. Comstock to attend a circle, to induce the -investigation upon which I entered immediately afterward. - - SOUTHWICK, MASS., Nov. 17, 1853. - - 128. “_Dear Sir_: I had the pleasure of a slight acquaintance with - you, something less than twenty years ago, when I exhibited telescopes - in Philadelphia. You will, I trust, excuse the liberty I take in - writing to you now. I have seen your letter to the Philadelphia - Inquirer upon table moving. I never believed it was caused by - electricity or galvanism, but is it not as likely to be these, as - muscular force? You agree with Professor Faraday that the table is - moved by the hands that are on it. Now I know, as certainly as I - can know any thing, that this is not true in general, if it is in - any instance. There is as much evidence that tables sometimes move - without any person near them, as that they sometimes move with hands - on them. I cannot in this case doubt the evidence of my senses. I - have seen tables move, and heard tunes beat on them, when no person - was within several feet of them. This fact is proof positive that the - force or power is not muscular. - - 129. “If any further evidence was necessary to set aside Professor - Faraday’s explanation, it is found in abundance in the great variety - of other facts taking place through the country, such as musical - instruments being played upon without any hands touching them, and a - great variety of other heavy articles being moved without any visible - cause. If tables never moved except when hands were on them, the case - would be different; but as they do move, both with and without hands, - it is plain that the true cause remains yet to be discovered. - - 130. “I wish, sir, that you had leisure and opportunity to witness - some other phases of this matter, which seem not yet to have fallen - under your notice, and I think you would be satisfied that there is - less ‘hallucination’ and ‘self-deception’ about it, than you have - imagined. The intelligence connected with these movements has not been - accounted for. - - 131. “If these things can be accounted for on scientific principles, - would it not be a great acquisition to science, to discover what those - principles are? If, however, science cannot discover them, the public - are deeply interested in knowing the fact. It is certainly of great - importance that these strange things that are taking place everywhere - should be explained. It is affecting the churches seriously; whether - for good or for evil is uncertain until the truth is known. No cause - has yet been assigned that does not imply a greater absurdity than - even to believe, as many do, that it is caused by spirits either good - or bad, or both. - - 132. “I have examined this matter for the last three years with as - much carefulness as possible, and am not satisfied. If the force is - not muscular, as it is certain that it is not, I wish science to try - again. - - “Yours, respectfully, AMASA HOLCOMBE.” - - -133. It will be perceived that the letter alluded to by Mr. Holcombe, -written in reply to some inquiries respecting my opinion of the cause -of table turning, was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, in July, -1853. This letter will show that I was at that time utterly incredulous -of any cause of the phenomena excepting unconscious muscular action on -the part of the persons with whom the phenomena were associated. The -inferences of Faraday, tending to the same conclusion, I thoroughly -sanctioned. - -134. As no allusion to spirits as the cause had been made by this -Herculean investigator in the letter which drew forth mine, they were -not contemplated in my view of the subject. Had I ever heard spiritual -agency assigned as a cause, so great was my disbelief of any such -agency, that it would have made no impression on my memory. - -135. Though present on several occasions when table turning was the -subject of discussion, it was not, within my hearing, attributed to -spiritual agency. In common with almost all educated persons of the -nineteenth century, I had been brought up deaf to any testimony which -claimed assistance from supernatural causes, such as ghosts, magic, or -witchcraft. - -136. Subsequently to my publication corroborating the inferences of -Faraday, having, in obedience to solicitations already cited, consented -to visit circles in which spiritual manifestations were alleged to -be made, I was conducted to a private house at which meetings for -spiritual inquiry were occasionally held. - -137. Seated at a table with half a dozen persons, a hymn was sung with -religious zeal and solemnity. Soon afterward tappings were distinctly -heard as if made beneath and against the table, which, from the perfect -stillness of every one of the party, could not be attributed to any one -among them. Apparently, the sounds were such as could only be made with -some hard instrument, or with the ends of fingers aided by the nails. - -138. I learned that simple queries were answered by means of these -manifestations; one tap being considered as equivalent to a negative; -two, to doubtful; and three, to an affirmative. With the greatest -_apparent sincerity_, questions were put and answers taken and -recorded, as if all concerned considered them as coming from a rational -though invisible agent. - -139. Subsequently, two media sat down at a small table, (drawer -removed,) which, upon careful examination, I found to present to my -inspection nothing but the surface of a bare board, on the under side -as well as upon the upper. Yet the taps were heard as before, seemingly -against the table. Even assuming the people by whom I was surrounded, -to be capable of deception, and the feat to be due to jugglery, it was -still inexplicable. But manifestly I was in a company of worthy people, -who were themselves under a deception if these sounds did not proceed -from spiritual agency. - -140. On a subsequent occasion, at the same house, I heard similar -tapping on a partition between two parlours. I opened the door between -the parlours, and passed to that adjoining the one in which I had been -sitting. Nothing could be seen which could account for the sounds. - -141. The medium to whose presence these manifestations were due, then -held a flute against the panel of the door, and invited me to listen. -On putting my ear near to the flute, tapping was quite audible. On the -ensuing evening, I carried with me a sealed glass tube, a hollow tube -of the same material, and a brass rod. These being successively held -against the door panel, similarly to the holding of the flute, the -rapping was again heard.[6] - -142. I have much reason to confide in the disinterestedness of the -medium through whose assistance these facts were observed. She would -not allow me even to make a present to her child; and her sitting -for me was deemed prejudicial to her comfort and health, so that by -the advice of her physician it was finally discontinued. Her parents -believed the manifestations obtained through her influence to be caused -by spirits. - -143. Sitting at another mansion, in company with an able lawyer, (an -unbeliever in Spiritualism,) as well as an accomplished female medium -and two other persons, sounds were heard like those above mentioned. -The lawyer alluded to, though from his profession accustomed to -distrust and to scrutinize evidence, admitted that he found it utterly -impossible to account for these sounds by any visible agency. - -144. In order to make my narrative of the evidence upon the subject -of rapping continuous, I would state that during the evening of my -first visit to the circle of spiritualists, as above mentioned, while -grasping with my utmost energy a table at which I was seated, two -female media, by merely placing their hands upon the surface of the -table on the opposite side, caused it to move to and fro, in despite of -my utmost exertions. - -145. Visiting another circle under the influence of another medium, -I found that _tilting_ a table was substituted for the sounds as a -means of manifestation. As one rap signifies no, two, doubtful, and -three, affirmative, so is it with the motions, or tippings, as they are -usually called. - -146. Passing the fingers over the letters upon an alphabetic -pasteboard, like those to assist children in learning their letters, -when it comes over the required letter, its selection is indicated -either by a tapping or tilting. By this process, when the medium’s eyes -were directed to the ceiling, as independently observed by the legal -friend above mentioned, as well as myself, the following communication -was given: - -147. “_Light is dawning on the mind of your friend; soon he will speak -trumpet-tongued to the scientific world, and add a new link to that -chain of evidence on which our hope of man’s salvation is founded._” - -148. The lawyer declared that he was utterly unable to conceive how, -by the human means apparently employed, such sentences could be -elaborated. Legerdemain on the part of the person who took down the -manifestation was the only way to get rid of this evidence without -resorting to the agency of some invisible intelligent being, who, by -operating upon the tables, at once exercised physical force and mental -power. - -149. But assigning the result to legerdemain was altogether opposed -to my knowledge of his character. This gentleman, and the circle to -which he belonged, spent about three hours, twice or thrice a week, in -getting communications through the alphabet, by the process to which -the lines above mentioned were due. This would not have taken place, -had _they_ not had implicit confidence, that the information thus -obtained proceeded from spirits. - -150. Subsequently, I contrived an apparatus which, if spirits were -actually concerned in the phenomena, would enable them to manifest -their physical and intellectual power independently of control by any -medium. (See Engraving and description, Plate I.) - -151. Upon a pasteboard disk, more than a foot in diameter, the letters -cut out from an alphabet card were nailed around the circumference, as -much as possible deranged from the usual alphabetic order. About the -centre a small pulley was secured of two and a half inches diameter, -fitting on an axletree, which passed through the legs of the table, -about six inches from the top. Two weights were provided—one of about -eight pounds, the other about two pounds. These were attached one -to each end of a cord wound about the pulley, and placed upon the -floor immediately under it. Upon the table a screen of sheet zinc was -fastened, behind which the medium was to be seated, so that she could -not see the letters on the disk. A stationary vertical wire, attached -to the axle, served for an index. - -152. On tilting the table, the cord would be unwound from the pulley -on the side of the larger weight, being wound up simultaneously to an -equivalent extent on the side of the small weight, causing the pulley -and disk to rotate about the axle. Restoring the table to its normal -position, the smaller weight being allowed to act unresisted upon the -cord and pulley, the rotation would be reversed. Of course, any person -actuating the table and seeing the letters, could cause the disk so to -rotate as to bring any letter under the index; but should _the letters -be concealed from the operator_, no letter required could be brought -under the index at will. - -153. Hence it was so contrived that neither the medium seated at the -table behind the screen, nor any other person so seated, could, by -tilting the table, bring any letter of the alphabet under the index, -nor spell out any word requested. - -154. These arrangements being made, an accomplished lady, capable of -serving in the required capacity, was so kind as to assist me by taking -her seat behind the screen, while I took my seat in front of the disk. - -155. I then said, “If there be any spirit present, please to indicate -the affirmative by causing the letter Y to come under the index.” -Forthwith this letter was brought under the index. - -156. “Will the spirit do us the favour to give the initials of his -name?” The letters R H were successively brought under the index. “My -honoured father?” said I. The letter Y was again brought under the -index. - -157. “Will my father do me the favour to bring the letters under the -index successively in alphabetical order?” Immediately the disk began -to revolve so as to produce the desired result. After it had proceeded -as far as the middle of the alphabet, I requested that “the name of -Washington should be spelt out by the same process.” This feat was -accordingly performed, as well as others of a like nature. - -158. The company consisted of but few persons besides the medium, who -now urged that I could no longer refuse to come over to their belief. -Under these circumstances the following communication was made by the -revolving of the disk: “_Oh, my son, listen to reason!_” - -159. I urged that the experiment was of immense importance, if -considered as proving a spirit to be present, and to have actuated the -apparatus; affording thus precise experimental proof of the immortality -of the soul: that a matter of such moment should not be considered -as conclusively decided until every possible additional means of -verification should be employed. - -160. This led my companions to accuse me of extreme incredulity. The -medium said she “should not deem it worth while to sit for me again,” -and one of the gentlemen sat himself down by the fireside, declaring me -“to be insusceptible of conviction, and that he would now give me up.” - -161. Nevertheless, the medium, relenting, gave me another sitting -at her own dwelling a few days afterward; when I had improved the -apparatus by employing two stationary weights by which the cord -actuating the pulley, as in the drill-bow process, was made to pull it -round by a horizontal motion of the table supported on castors, instead -of the tilting motion. - -162. The results confirmed those previously received, my father -reporting himself again. He said that my mother and sister were with -him, but not my brother. I inquired “if they were happy.” The disk -revolved so as to bring the letter Y under the index, signifying the -affirmation. - -163. On the following week, I took my apparatus to the house of a -spiritualist, where a circle was to meet. The apparatus being duly -arranged, a lady whom I had never before noticed, and by whom my -apparatus was seen for the first time, sat down at my table behind the -screen. The spirit of an uncle who had left this life was invoked by -this medium. Her invocation being successful, the spirit spelt his name -out in full; other names were spelt out at request. - -164. Although the requisite letters were ultimately found, there was -evidently some difficulty, as if there was some groping for them with -an imperfect light. This has been explained since by my father’s -spirit. He alleges that preferably the eyes of the medium would be -employed, but that, although with difficulty, he used mine as a -substitute. - -165. But although, with a view to convince the skeptical, spirits will -occasionally give manifestations when the vision or muscular control -of the medium is nullified, it is more difficult for them to operate -in this way; moreover, it is more difficult for some spirits than for -others. - -166. Those spirits by whom I obtained my test manifestations were -interested in my success. Others have refused to aid me in like manner. -One who has assisted me with much zeal, has communicated that he would -work my apparatus when arranged for a test; but, that as it caused much -more exertion, and, of course, retardation, he advised that the test -arrangement should not be interposed when it could be avoided. - -167.[7]The table, at this stage of my inquiry, was not more than thirty -inches in length. I had improved the construction in the following way: - -168. Two of the legs were furnished with castors, through holes duly -bored. Through perforations in the other two legs a rod was introduced, -serving as an axle to two wheels of about five inches diameter. One -of these wheels was grooved, so as to carry a band which extended -around the pulley of the disk. Hence, pushing the table nine inches -horizontally by the necessary rotation of the supporting wheels, caused -the disk to make a complete revolution. It was while the table was of -the size above mentioned, that I first saw the violent action to which -they might be subjected without any corresponding or commensurate -visible cause. The hand of the medium being laid on the table at about -half-way between the centre and the nearest edge, it moved as if it -were animated, jumping like a restive horse. - -169. Having my apparatus thus prepared, a medium sat at my table, the -screen intercepting her view of the disk. No manifestation took place -through the disk, though other indications of the presence of spirits -were given. Hence, inducing the medium to sit at an ordinary table, -I inquired if any change could be made which would enable them to -communicate through my apparatus? The reply through the alphabetic card -was, “Let the medium see the letters.” At first it struck me that this -would make the experiment abortive, as it would remove the condition -by which alone independency of interference by the medium was secured. -However, it soon occurred that by means of a metallic plate, made quite -true, and some brass balls, like billiard balls, with which I was -provided, I could neutralize the power of the medium to move the table, -so that she could not influence the selection of the letters, though -permitted to see them. - -170. Accordingly, as soon almost as the medium placed her hands on the -plate resting on the ball, and without any other communication with -the table, the disk began to revolve in such a way as to bring the -letters under the index in due alphabetic order. Afterward various -names were spelled, and communications were made. At subsequent -sittings, the grandfather and brother of the medium manifested their -presence successively by spelling their names on the disk. My father, -by means of this apparatus, gave me the name of an uncle who was -killed by the Arabs nearly seventy years ago. In order that, without -any possibility of contact with the legs, the medium might sit at the -table, the length was subsequently extended to six feet, being so made -as to separate into three parts, for convenience in carrying from one -place to another. It is under this modification that it is represented -in Plate 2 accompanied by a description, with the medium sitting as -when employed in obtaining some of the manifestations herein mentioned. -On the left may be seen the wheels and axle. The front wheel may be -distinguished, with its groove securing the band which embraces it, -together with the pulley on the disk. - -171. The disk represented in this figure differs from the one -represented above, (employed in my first investigations,) in having the -alphabet in the usual order. But they are so made as that one can be -made to replace the other, when requisite. - -172. On one side of the long table, Plate 2, a board or tray on castors -is represented. This was used sometimes as a support for the hands of -the medium, by its being interposed between them and the table. On one -occasion, where the hands of the medium were supported by the plate and -ball upon this tray, it was moved briskly to and fro upon the table, -the hands of the medium and the ball and plate accompanying the motion. - -173. On various subsequent occasions I have had this experiment of -putting the hands of the medium on a plate and balls repeated, and -with the same result. The interposition of the plate and balls makes -it much more difficult for spirits to move a table than when the hands -are directly applied. In the latter case, the spirits actuate the -hands primarily, and the table or apparatus secondarily; but when the -hands are incapacitated from influencing the motion, the spirit has to -assail the inanimate matter directly, assisted only by an emanation -from the medium. In this attack upon ponderable matter, the spirits of -the second sphere are the most capable; but even with their assistance, -the condition of the medium must be very favourable to render success -possible. - -174. I next resorted to an apparatus like the plaything called a -see-saw, excepting that the fulcrum, instead of being under the middle -of the board, was situated at one-fourth of the whole length from one -end. There was one foot on one side of the fulcrum, and three feet on -the other. The disk and its axle was transferred from the table, Plate -I, near to the longer end of this seesaw-like apparatus. The cord -attached to two weights was employed as above described, so that as -the disk was made to rise or fall with the vibration of the board by -the action of the cord, a revolution took place, bringing the letters -successively under the index, as already explained to have resulted -from the movements of the table. - -175. The disk being situated edgewise to the medium, the letters could -not be seen. Under these circumstances, the hands of the medium were -placed upon the surface of the smaller portion of the board outside of -the fulcrum. The disk revolved to and fro, so as to bring the letters -under the index in due alphabetic order. Moreover, while this process -was under way, to render the result more unquestionable, I interposed -a screen between the disk, and the eyes of the medium, without causing -any arrestation of the process.[8] - -176. Afterward upon the table supported on wheels or castors, and -moving the disk by a band, I used a tray on castors to support the hand -of the medium. - -177. When the hands of the medium, or those of any other operator, were -placed upon this tray, it was impossible to move the table by means -of it, because much less force would make it move on its castors than -would move the table. Sometimes the tray would be moved backward and -forward with rapidity, the table remaining quite still. Yet, on urging -that the table should be moved, this desideratum would be conceded, -and the tray would become stationary, relatively, to the table. On one -occasion, when an intelligent spirit was manifesting, I interposed a -brass ball (Plate I.) and plate between the tray and the hands of the -medium, and then requested that the tray might be moved. My request was -obeyed; the tray moved repeatedly about a foot to and fro, accompanied -by the hand of the medium, the ball remaining at rest, relatively, to -the tray. - -178. Having my apparatus at the residence of the lady by whom it had -been actuated in the third trial above mentioned, (172) this lady -sitting at the table as a medium, my sister reported herself. As a test -question, I inquired “What was the name of a partner in business, of -my father, who, when he had left the city with the Americans during -the Revolutionary war, came out with the British, and took care of the -joint property?” The disk revolved successively to letters correctly -indicating the name to be Warren. I then inquired the name of the -partner of my English grandfather, who died in London more than seventy -years ago. The true name was given by the same process. - -179. The medium and all present were strangers to my family, and I had -never heard either name mentioned, except by my father. Even my younger -brother did not remember that of my father’s partner. - -180. Subsequently, in the presence of a medium utterly unacquainted -with my family, to whom I was first introduced in December, 1853, and -who had only within two years previously removed to our city from -Maine, I inquired of my father the name of an English cousin who had -married an admiral. The name was spelled out. In like manner the maiden -name of an English brother’s wife was given—an unusual name, Clargess. - -181. The principle of my apparatus for spiritual manifestations -has been employed on a smaller scale by Mr. Isaac T. Pease, of -Thompsonville, Connecticut, substituting the reaction of a spring for -that of a weight, and making the index revolve instead of the disk. -(Plate I.) - -182. By the modification which I made for the employment of this -smaller instrument communication was greatly facilitated. I had -subsequently a copious interchange of ideas with my father, brother, -and sister, and other friendly spirits. (See engraving and description, -Plate I, Fig. 2.) - -183. At the house of a spiritualist who had been holding circles for -more than a year, I had confirmatory evidence of the intelligence by -which spirit rapping is regulated. I was allowed to subject the table -employed to a strict scrutiny, removing the drawer to obtain a more -thorough inspection. This table was nevertheless repeatedly agitated -with an energy which could not be ascribed to the hands placed quietly -upon its surface by a circle of persons perfectly quiescent. Often at -this circle, and at others during the chanting of hymns, have I seen -a table thus situated keeping time by its vibratory movements with a -sympathetic tremour. - -184. The spirit friend of a medium present, who called herself Amanda -Ford, used on request to make a sound like that of the hammering by -blacksmiths, designated as “ten-pounds-ten.” This sound would be -shifted to that of sawing or sweeping. Doubtless, these manifestations -might be imitated by certain ventriloquists; but I had not the smallest -reason to suspect ventriloquism, and Amanda gave me the following -unquestionable proofs of her spiritual existence: - -185. Taking up the alphabetic card, and holding it up near my face, -in a feeble light, with the back toward the medium, so as not to be -inspected by any one else, I asked Amanda, as I should pass my fingers -over the letters, to indicate those necessary for spelling out her -name, by the usual manifestation. The name was in this way correctly -spelt out. - -186. In the next place, at the same time and under the same -circumstances, I asked her then to spell the name of Washington. -Passing my fingers over the letters of the alphabet, not regularly but -zigzag, and stopping a short time at the letters adjoining the right -ones, that much-revered name was correctly spelt out, with one single -error, the omission of the G. - -187. Suspicion that the rapping or tapping could arise from any -mechanism concealed in the table, was precluded when they were made -under my own tables, fitted up with my own hands. - - -_Of manifestations founded on table movements without contact, or such - contact, as cannot be sufficient to cause the result._ - -188. It was at the same mansion, where the above-mentioned -manifestations were observed, that I first saw a table continue in -motion when every person had withdrawn to about the distance of a foot; -so that no one touched it; and while thus agitated on our host saying, -“Move the table toward Dr. Hare,” it moved toward me and back again. -At the same premises, when between the hands of each of two media and -a small table a plate upon a brass ball was interposed, without any -other communication with it, the table was violently overset, so as to -have its legs uppermost. Yet while thus upside down, it continued to -vibrate, a single finger of a medium girl, about twelve years of age, -being the sole means of human contact therewith. This I ascertained, -with the greatest care, by kneeling on the floor and causing the finger -of the medium, by the tip of which alone her touch was effected, to be -situated between me and the light of a lamp. - -189. In the observations above stated, respecting the movements of -the table _when untouched_, I was aided by the presence of my friend -Joseph Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, Rhode Island, who occupied a seat -opposite to mine on the other side of the table; so that while he saw -all clear on one side, I saw all clear on the other. In my narrative -I have adverted to two recent instances in which severally, in the -presence only of the medium and myself, the table moved, as I could -judge, about eight inches, being at the same time untouched by either -of us. - -190. Next in importance to the movements of tables which take place -without any contact, are those in which the table rises under the -hands of the medium laid gently upon it. On one occasion I saw a large -circular table, supported by three massive claws on castors, overset -several times by the influence of three ladies, who were media. In -order to have this experiment performed with as much precision as -circumstances would permit, I seated myself on one side of the table, -so as to be equidistant from two of the three claws by which it was -supported. The intermediate medium, was directly opposite the third -claw, while the others stood one on each side of her. My relative -position was such, that as they were standing upright before me, I -could look at their persons partially below as well as above the table. -These arrangements having been made, the three media laid their hands -on the table a little beyond the margin, so that they could not apply -their thumbs below the edge and thus assist the table to raise. Under -these circumstances I was enabled to watch the media above as well as -below the table, by casting my eyes upward and downward alternately, -they being all on their feet, and standing upright. It was under these -conditions, that the table, in three successive trials, came over -toward me and went back to its normal position. - -191. It did not slam down quickly, when on arriving at such a position, -as to make it impossible for the ladies to resist its farther descent; -but descended gently, rising slowly in recovering its usual upright -position. - -192. I called one morning at the dwelling of a medium to whom allusion -has been made more than once in my narrative. I sat down at a table -with the medium, her father, and a gentleman who accompanied me. I -inquired if any of my spirit friends were present; the table tilted -negatively. “Will the spirit give its initials through the alphabetic -card?” In reply the letters M C were indicated. My companion, whose -attention had been withdrawn, on hearing the result, said: “They are -the initials of my daughter’s name;” exclaiming, “_Maria, are you -here?_” - -193. The table tilted in the affirmative, vivaciously, as if the -daughter’s heart were in the movement. - -194. Maria proving to be a sprightly spirit, a lively conversation -ensued. I inquired if she could not work my apparatus; she answered -through the card, “_It is impossible for a spirit to work your -apparatus; I am very sorry._” I replied that evidently it was not -impossible, since it had been actuated by spirits successfully several -times. “You mean to say,” I added, “that it is difficult.” To this -she replied affirmatively by three tilts of the table. - -195. As through the influence of the medium, who sat at the table with -us, communications had been received through my apparatus several -times, the alphabet arranged from a state of disarrangement, and names -spelt out by the revolution of the disk, it cannot be imagined that -the medium could have influenced the alphabetical communications in -this instance, since the medium, even if prone to deception, would have -perceived it ridiculous to allege it impossible to work an apparatus -which had on several occasions under her influence, proved the opposite -to be true, in the presence of her father as well as myself. - -196. It has been already mentioned in the narrative (164.) that my -spirit father, and spirit friend W. W., had alleged that they worked my -apparatus with great difficulty when under test conditions, from their -great desire to make me a convert to Spiritualism. It was, therefore, -quite consistent that a spirit, who had no such powerful motive, should -have preferred to find an apology for not actuating my apparatus, -rather than to have studied, or sought for the means of surmounting the -obstacles. - -197. As all the manifestations, observed on this occasion, were by the -tilting or partial lifting of the table, I urged the spirit to aid me -in obtaining a test that these manifestations came not from the medium, -but from herself, a spirit. I immediately procured from a basket -which I had previously brought to the premises, a brass ball, turned -truly spherical, like a billiard ball, and a plate of zinc which had -been ground quite true. I placed the ball on the table, the plate on -the ball, and the hands of the medium on the plate. She had no other -communication with the table than that which was thus established. -Pressing on the ball when situated between perpendicular lines falling -inside of all the legs of the table, would of course only press it -downward more firmly on its feet. - -198. Things being thus arranged, I solicited Maria to repeat the upward -jerks which she had employed in the communication which she had been -making. Her father joined his solicitation to mine, pointing out that -my object was to obtain evidence, which would satisfy the scientific -world that such manifestations were due to the agency of spirits. - -199. After a little delay the table rose under the ball, the plate, and -the hands of the medium, with greater force than had been displayed in -any of the foregoing movements. - -200. Subsequently, being in company with Maria’s father, at the -dwelling of a spiritualist, and sitting with a medium at the table -supporting an apparatus for alphabetical communications, the spirit -of Maria, who seems to follow her worthy father with much filial -affection, reported herself. I inquired whether she remembered our -previous meeting, and what means I resorted to as a test. She replied, -“You used a plate and ball to support the hands of the medium, which I -knocked away.” - -201. While receiving communications from my spirit sister, the table -tilting toward the medium, so as to cause the cord actuating the index, -by being through a string tied to a weight on the floor, alternately to -be withdrawn and returned, consequently, winding off and on the pulley -which turned the index, I suggested that the relative position of the -medium should be reversed, so that she should be on the same side with -the apparatus. By this change the table would have to rise under the -hands of the medium. The proposed modification was successfully carried -out. - -202. I asked my sister how a spirit could work an apparatus with the -medium’s hands on the upper surface of the table; the reply was, that -the presence of the hands of the medium enabled the spirit to act in -opposition to them. - -203. Under this head comes the experiment in which a board was -supported so as to turn on a fulcrum, one foot of the board being on -one side of the fulcrum, and three feet on the other, the longer end -suspended on a spring balance. When a medium, eleven years old, placed -his hands on the short end, that end rose while the other, of course, -went down; in some instances, showing an increase of downward pressure -on the balance, equivalent to seven pounds. - -204. This experiment was subsequently repeated at my laboratory, in the -presence of John M. Kennedy, Esq. Having a basin of water on the board, -the boy’s hands being merely immersed in the water, and not touching -the parietes of the containing vessel; the balance was affected as in -the experiment above described, although not to so great an extent. - -205. In one case, Mr. Kennedy satisfied himself, that the medium did -not touch the vessel, by placing his own hands below those of the -medium. - -206. My much-esteemed friend, Prof. Henry, having treated this result -as incredible, I was induced to repeat it with the greatest precision -and precaution, as represented in Plate 3. The board, as already -described, being about four feet in length, is supported by a rod as -a fulcrum at about one foot from one end, and, of course, three feet -from the other; a glass vase, about nine inches in diameter and five -inches in height, having a knob to hold it by when inverted, had this -knob inserted in a hole made in the board, six inches nearly from -the fulcrum. Thus, the vase rested on the board, the mouth upward. -A wire-gauze cage, such as is used to keep flies from sugar, was so -arranged by well-known means, as to slide up or down on two iron rods, -one on each side of the trestle supporting the fulcrum. By these -arrangements it was so adjusted as to descend into the vase until -within an inch and a half of the bottom, while the inferiority of its -dimensions prevented it from coming elsewhere within an inch of the -parietes of the vase. Water was poured into the vase so as to rise into -the cage till within about an inch and a half of the brim. - -207. A well-known medium (Gordon) was induced to plunge his hands, -clasped together, to the bottom of the cage, holding them perfectly -still. As soon as these conditions were attained, the apparatus being -untouched by any one excepting the medium as described, I invoked the -aid of my spirit friends. A downward force was repeatedly exerted upon -the end of the board appended to the balance equal to three pounds’ -weight nearly. - -208. It will be perceived that in this manifestation, the medium -had no means of communication with the board, beside the water. It -was not until he became quite still, that the invocation was made. -Nevertheless, he did not appear to be subjected to any reacting force. -Yet, the distance of the hook of the balance from the fulcrum on which -the board turned, was six times as great as the cage in which the hands -were situated. Consequently, a force of 3 × 6 = 18 pounds must have -been exerted. The board would probably have been depressed much more, -but that the water had been spilled by any farther inclination of the -vase. - -209. This experiment has since been repeated again and again, but on a -smaller scale, when, not only the downward force was exercised, _but -the spelling of words was_ accomplished. - -210. On one occasion, when no result ensued, it appeared to arise from -the water being so cold as to chill the medium, because, on warming -it up to a comfortable temperature, the desired manifestations were -obtained. - -211. At the same time and place, after the manifestation by means -of the spring balances above described (207) had been accomplished, -I requested my spirit friends to repeat that which has been above -mentioned, as performed by putting the hands of a medium upon a plate -and ball supported by a tea-table. (199.) - -212. Accordingly, the attending medium being placed under exactly the -same circumstances and conditions, a similar violent tilting ensued. - -213. Dr. Child, together with the same medium and myself, placed our -finger ends all reciprocally in contact, and about a quarter of an inch -above a tea-table. After an interval of about two minutes, the table -rose, and was tossed from the legs on one side to those on the other -forcibly. - -214. During a visit to New York, I entered the apartment where one of -the Misses Fox was sitting. There were more than half a dozen persons -present. On my entrance, I inquired, “Does any one here recognise -me, so as to know my name?” No person answered that I was known. As -soon, however, as I inquired, my spirit sister announced herself, and -indicated my name. - -215. During a visit made to Boston last autumn, on sitting with a -medium, my sister addressed me in the following way, by spelling the -words out upon the disk apparatus just described: - - Brother beloved, of ardent soul, - Striving to reach a heavenly goal; - Wouldst thou attain the blissful height - Where wisdom purifies the sight; - Where God reveals to humblest gaze, - The bliss and beauty of his ways - Incline thine ear to angels bright, - Who radiant from the realms of light, - For ever hover near, - To offer thee, sweet words of cheer. - -216. Only the first couplet in these verses differs at all from -those which were given in the impromptu, the words having been too -flattering for me, to have mentioned. Soon after being at the residence -of a highly-esteemed friend, who is a medium, my spirit sister, who -manifests much love for this lady, reporting herself, I told her of -the change which I thus desired to have made. The reply was, “I give -you full liberty to alter my verses; you know I never wrote two lines -of poetry while in the flesh.” Miss Ellis is no poetess, still less is -Mrs. P., the medium. - -217. After my lecture at the Melodeon, being at the residence of -Mrs. Hayden, an accomplished medium, I requested a repetition of the -experiment, of which I had given an account on that occasion, in which -the view of the disk was cut off from the medium, by the interposition -of a screen; and Mrs. Hayden consenting, an arrangement was made so -as to satisfy the bystanders, as well as myself, that the letters on -the disk could not be seen by her. Under these conditions the name of -Washington was spelt out. - -218. I have had this test repeated under Gordon’s mediumship, as well -as that of others, several times. Afterward, Mrs. Hayden sitting aloof, -on making the index move successively to each letter, those required -for the name of Jefferson were selected in due order, by rapping at -the one in demand, as it came under the index. - -219. Through the influence of Mrs. Hayden, an uncommon test was -afforded by my faithful spirit sister. - -220. My charming, intelligent friend, Mrs. Eustis, daughter of the -late Rev. Dr. W. E. Channing, though not a believer in Spiritualism, -became desirous of seeing the manifestations so much relied upon by me. -Having accompanied me to the residence of Mrs. Hayden, Mrs. Eustis was -sitting beside her, while through her influence my sister was making -a communication by means of the apparatus described. (Plate I, Fig. -2.) When the process commenced, the hand of Mrs. Hayden was resting -on the lever in the usual position, but was subsequently lifted, so -as to allow Mrs. Eustis, as well as myself, to see between it and the -wooden surface, without creating any apparent abatement of the power of -indicating the requisite letters. (Description of Plate I, par. _e_.) - -221. While the process still proceeded under these conditions, Mrs. -Eustis, having placed her hand upon the surface of the board lever, -alleged that she felt it imparting motion to her hand. - -222. Dr. W. F. Channing has since informed me that Mrs. Eustis’s -account of these manifestations, as given to him, coincide with those -given to him by me. - -223. Sometime after this feat was performed through Mrs. Hayden, I -inquired of my sister if she could not perform it through an excellent -medium under whose influence communications were making at the time of -this inquiry. It was replied that Mrs. Eustis being unconsciously to a -certain extent a medium herself, the power of Mrs. Hayden was augmented -by her presence. - -224. But as respects the selection of letters without the assistance -of the eyes of the medium, I have had many instances of this being -done, although the facility of its performance is various, not only -with different media and with different spirits, but likewise when -the spirit and medium are the same: it varies with the state of the -medium. I sat more than an hour with an accomplished medium, during -an excessively hot evening, without receiving any communication; in -consequence, as I supposed, of the effect of the heat upon her organism. - -225. The interposition of water contained in a glass vase, upon the -broad part of the lever actuating the index, so that the hands of the -medium can touch nothing but the water, has an effect analogous to -the lifting of the hand as above described, since the only difference -in the conditions is, that in the one case there is air, in the other -water, interposed. - -226. It has been stated that, by the interposition of water, the power -of actuating the index was paralyzed; yet merely warming the water -enabled the manifestation to proceed, so as to empower the spirit to -spell such names as were called for. (210.) - -227. In one instance, I took a book from my pocket which the medium had -never seen, and opened it at a page where the heading “Publisher’s -Preface” was conspicuous, without allowing the medium to see any thing -more than the back of the book. Holding the page exposed to the disk, -the spirit spelt out “_Publish_—,” and then seemed unable to proceed. -Meanwhile, the medium called to her little son to be quiet; forthwith -the deficient letters, _ers_, were supplied, so as to finish the word -“_Publisher’s_.” - -228. The medium alleged that her mind was imbued with the idea that the -word “publishing” was coming forth, and with a view to aid the spirit, -lent some muscular aid to the letters necessary to complete that word; -but attention to her child causing her mind to be withdrawn, the spirit -immediately selected the letters above indited. On the same occasion I -opened the same book, keeping the back toward the medium, opposite to -an engraving of Jefferson: immediately, Jefferson was spelt out. - -229. On my way to Boston, I visited Mrs. Ann Leah Brown, formerly Miss -Fox. At about eight in the morning, I found her under very unfavourable -circumstances: Mrs. Brown had been watching the previous night with a -sick child. Nevertheless, considering me as an advocate of the cause of -truth, a short sitting was given to me, during which my faithful spirit -sister manifested herself by comparatively loud knockings. - -230. Through this I learned that Mrs. Brown was not in condition -to make it expedient to resort to her mediumship then, had not the -necessity of attending to her sick child formed a sufficient impediment. - -231. On my return from Boston, I called again on this interesting -medium, and then saw a table, situated at the distance of more than a -foot from her person, which was quiescent, make a movement to and fro -of at least eight inches. Moreover, as I sat on the opposite side of an -intervening table, I felt unexpectedly a slight touch against my leg as -if by a human finger. - -232. During this visit, Mrs. Brown created much interest by giving a -brief account of the trials which herself and her sister had undergone, -being on the one hand urged to give their services to the community, -as the means of promoting truth, while on the other they were treated -as impostors or jugglers. The impression left on my mind was extremely -favourable as respects Mrs. Brown’s sincerity in her Spiritualism and -in her goodness of heart. - -233. In consequence of her invitation, I attended a circle at her -house a few days subsequently, when I saw, in addition to all the -usual manifestations, the following for the first time: Under a table -around which the party was seated, a sheet of paper was deposited on -the carpeted floor. A pencil was placed upon the paper; soon after, on -examination, I found my name scrawled thereon. - -234. Two small bells situated upon the floor beneath the table were -rung, and subsequently it was found that one of them had been lifted -and seated on the other. - -235. My spirit sister has since informed me that my name was written -upon the paper by my spirit friend William Blodget. - -236. While at Boston, having read to a friend a communication from my -father through a writing medium, I placed it in one of my pockets, -and proceeded to the Fountain Inn. When there, I felt for it without -success. Unexpectedly, I went to Salem by the cars, and returned the -same evening. On undressing myself the scroll was missing, and I -inferred that it had been lost between the place where it had been read -and the inn above named, where I felt for it unsuccessfully. On going -next morning to Mrs. Hayden’s, and my spirit father reporting himself, -I inquired whether he knew what had become of the scroll. It was -answered, that it had been left upon the seat in the car on my quitting -it at Salem. - -237. Inquiring of the conductor, who was on duty in the car where it -had been left, he said that it had been found on the seat, was safe -at Portland, and should be returned to me next day. This promise was -realized. - -238. On one occasion, sitting at the disk with Mrs. Hayden, a spirit -gave his initials as C. H. Hare. Not recollecting any one of our -relations of that name precisely, I inquired if he were one of them. -The reply was affirmative. “Are you a son of my cousin Charles Hare, -of St. Johns, New Brunswick?” “Yes,” was spelled out. This spirit then -gave me the profession of his grandfather, also that of his father, and -the fact of the former having been blown into the water at Toulon, and -of the latter having made a miraculous escape from Verdun, where he had -been confined until his knowledge of French enabled him to escape by -personating in disguise an officer of the customs. Only one mistake was -made in referring to my English relatives, respecting an uncle’s name. -Other inquiries were correctly answered. - -239. Subsequently, the brother of this spirit made us a visit in -Philadelphia, and informed us that the mundane career of his brother -Charles Henry, had been terminated by shipwreck some few years anterior -to the visit made, as mentioned, to me. - -240. No one being present beside myself, and the medium ignorant of -Latin, my father spelt out upon the disk the words he had pointed -out to me in Virgil more than fifty-five years ago, as expressive of -the beating Entellus gave Dares, as described by Virgil—“_pulsatque -versatque_;” also the word which so much resembles the sound of -horses’ hoofs trampling on the ground, “_Quadrupedante_.” - -241. A spirit of the name of Powel tendered his services, and undertook -to spell Cato, but instead of that name, Blodget, my friend, occupied -the disk, and spelt his own name, and afterward Cato. On the same -occasion Blodget spelt out and designated words without the medium -seeing the alphabet. - -242. The employment of letters to express ideas neither existing in the -mind of the medium nor in mine, cannot evidently be explained by any -psychological subterfuge. The name Blodget being indicated by reference -to the alphabet, instead of Cato, which was promised, precludes the -idea that it was learned from the mind of any mortal present. - -243. It must be manifest that the greatest difficulty which I had to -overcome during the investigation of which the preceding pages give a -history, arose from the necessity of making every observation under -such circumstances as to show that I was not deceived by the media. - -244. But having latterly acquired the powers of a medium in a -sufficient degree to interchange ideas with my spirit friends, I am -no longer under the necessity of defending media from the charge of -falsehood and deception. It is now my own character only that can be in -question. - -245. Upon this the occurrence of the manifestation to which I am about -to allude rests. (Reference to this has been made in the Introduction -to this work, 115.) - -246. The fact that my spirit sister undertook at one o’clock, on the -3rd of July, 1855, to convey from the Atlantic Hotel, Cape May Island, -a message to Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth street, Philadelphia, -requesting that she would induce Dr. Gourlay to go to the Philadelphia -Bank to ascertain the time when a note would be due, and report to me -at half-past three o’clock; that she did report at the appointed time; -and that on my return to Philadelphia, Mrs. Gourlay alleged herself to -have received the message, and that her husband and brother went to the -bank in consequence. With the idea received by the latter, my sister’s -report coincided agreeably to his statement to me. All this proves -that a spirit must have officiated, as nothing else can explain the -transaction. - -247. The note clerk recollects the application, but does not appear to -have felt himself called upon to take the trouble to get the register, -which was not in his hands at the time. Hence the impression received -by the applicants was not correct, but corresponded with the report -made to me by my sister, which differed from the impression on my -memory, and of course, was not obtained from my mind. - - - HYMN CHANTED TO MY SISTER, AND HER REPLY. - -248. My sister having mentioned her name in the spheres, to be Queen of -Flowers. I substituted this name translated into Latin in the Sicilian -Mariners’ Hymn, replacing virgo by soror, the Latin for sister; seraph -for mater; bonissima for piissima; carissima for purissima; and cura -for ora. It then read as follows:— - -248. Oh! bonissima, oh! carissima - Dulcis soror, amata - Florum regina - In cœlo cognita - Cura, Cura, pro nobis - Cura, cura, pro nobis - Seraph amata intemerata - Cura, cura, pro nobis. - -249. As soon as this was chanted, the following reply was given through -the spiritoscope, at which I was sitting with Mrs. Gourlay as medium: - -250. “DEAR BROTHER:—I answer your prayer by saying I do watch over -you, and pray for your welfare. I am grateful for your remembrance, and -shall strive to deserve it. O! brother, our cause is a common one, and -we feel the same interest in its promulgation. I am daily striving to -disseminate its truths, but can make little progress, having so much -ignorance to contend against. I know that the truths of progression, -with the help of a good and wise God, will ultimately prevail over all -the land; but when that happy time comes to earth, your freed spirit -will rove the endless fields of immortality with those loved friends -who have gone a little while before. Then will we revel in delights -which, in comparison with earth’s joys, are far more beautiful and -sublime. I wish you could look with the eye of prescience, and see that -glorious time, when all nations shall become as a band of brothers.” - - - CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS. - - -251. The evidence of the manifestations adduced in the foregoing -narrative does not rest upon myself only, since there have been persons -present when they were observed, and they have in my presence been -repeated essentially under various modifications, in many instances, -not specially alluded to. - -252. The evidence may be contemplated under various phases: First, -those in which rappings or other noises have been made, which could -not be traced to any mortal agency; secondly, those in which sounds -were so made as to indicate letters forming grammatical, well-spelt -sentences, affording proof that they were under the guidance of some -rational being; thirdly, those in which the nature of the communication -has been such as to prove that the being causing them must, agreeably -to accompanying allegations, be some known acquaintance, friend, or -relative of the inquirer. - -253. Again, cases in which movements have been made of ponderable -bodies, either without any human contact, or with such contact as could -not be productive of the resulting motion. - -254. Cases in which such movements of bodies have been of a nature to -produce intellectual communications, resembling those obtained as above -mentioned by sounds. - -255. Although the apparatus by which these various proofs were -attained, _with the greatest possible precaution and precision_, -modified them as to the manner; essentially all the evidence which I -have obtained, tending to the conclusions above mentioned, has likewise -been substantially obtained by a great number of observers. Many who -never sought any spiritual communication, and have not been induced -to enroll themselves as spiritualists, will nevertheless not only -affirm the existence of the sounds and movements, but also admit their -inscrutability. - -256. But we have now, in a matter-of-fact, business-like publication, -by E. W. Capron, a record of the original manifestations at Hydesville -and Rochester, in New York; where, as it is well known, they produced -intense interest, excitement, and controversy; which gave rise to -successive town-meetings, and the appointment of committees by these -meetings for the purpose of ascertaining whether any other cause could -be discovered for the manifestations, except the spiritual beings who -assumed them to be their doings. Some of the persons appointed to make -the investigation, were prepossessed with the belief that the phenomena -were due to some juggling contrivance. One alleged that he would -throw himself over the Genesee Falls, or prove the knockings due to -humbuggery. Another alleged that the media, aware of his prepossession, -would not for one hundred dollars have him on the committee; yet both -these persons being put on the committee, the latter came out in favour -of the inscrutability of the noise; while the former neither accounted -for it, “_nor threw himself over the falls_,” as Mr. Capron pointedly -alleges. - -257. Subsequently, in the city of New York, the mystery was subjected -to the ordeal of a public investigation by a number of distinguished -citizens, whose reports confirmed those of the Rochester committees. -Fennimore Cooper was among those appointed on the New York committee, -and was the means himself of obtaining an unequivocal test. His -sister’s death, which had resulted from being thrown from a horse, was -correctly stated by her spirit in every particular, in reply to mental -inquiries by him made. - -258. Again at Stratford, Connecticut, at a house of a minister of the -gospel, manifestations were made fully as striking as those which had -occurred at Hydesville and Rochester, so as to establish in the mind of -this estimable clergyman, and in those of many others acquainted with -the facts, a belief in spiritual agency. (1667) - - - _Corroborative evidence by the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass._ - -259. As affording support to the testimony which I have given, I -deem it expedient to cite that of the Rev. Allen Putnam, formerly a -Unitarian clergyman and preacher in Augusta, Maine, having been in the -legislature of that State, and for some time editor of the New England -Farmer. Mr. Putnam had the advantage of a theological and collegiate -education at Harvard. I heard an able and erudite lecture from this -worthy spiritualist, at Boston last October. - -260. Mr. Putnam entered upon the investigation of the manifestations in -July, 1852, nearly eighteen months before my investigation commenced. -Like me, he began as an unbeliever, and was converted by communications -received from the spirits of his wife and relatives, who had left this -life. In a company ignorant of the fact that he had married twice, his -first wife had made herself known to him, so as to create a conviction -of her identity. - -261. In the next place, his ancestors communicated with Mr. Putnam, so -as to satisfy his mind that they were the beings they professed to be. -I do not enter into the detail of the facts which created conviction in -the mind of this respectable observer; my object is to show that other -minds have gone through the process which has influenced mine, in order -that sceptics may not “lay the flattering unction to their souls” -that ’tis my _madness_ speaks in _favour_, not their _prejudices_ -that speak _against_, the conclusions in which investigators of sound -understanding have concurred. - -262. Mr. Putnam alleges: “Some uncommon movements have occurred in my -presence. I have seen a table moved without any visible power applied -to it.” - -263. The following narrative is taken from the pamphlet published by -the author in question. It is quite characteristic of the variety of -character found in the spheres. This juvenile spirit owed his education -entirely to his schooling in the spirit world. It will be perceived -that he died while yet an infant. (Page 34, Paragraph 3.) - -264. “Entering a medium’s room one morning, I saw a gentlemanly, -intelligent man, apparently about thirty, sitting at the table and -putting questions. Soon a tiny rap was heard, and the name Natty was -spelled out. ‘Who are you?’ said the man. ‘I am your brother;’ was the -answer. ‘No,’ said the man, ‘I had no such brother.’ ‘You had,’ said -the rapper. ‘No,’ said the man. ‘Yes,’ said the other. ‘Well, let us -see,’ added the man. ‘How old were you, Natty, when you died?’ ‘Five -days,’ was the answer. ‘How long since you died?’ ‘Thirty-five years.’ -The gentleman here bit his lip in thought, and said—‘I believe there -was an infant brother who died before I was born, but I thought they -called him Oliver.’ ‘No,’ was the response, ‘they called him Natty, -and I am he.’ ‘Natty,’ said the man, ‘how do you know that I am your -brother?’ ‘By love,’ he answered. ‘By love?’ said the questioner; ‘but -don’t you love others as well as relatives?’ Ans. ‘We like others, and -love relatives!’ ‘What,’ it was then asked—‘what is the difference -between love and like?’ The word LOVE was immediately written in large -letters, two or three inches long, and _like_ was traced under it in -_very small_ letters. ‘Natty,’ continued the man, ‘you are not my -brother, but are some one else, attempting to impose upon me.’ ‘I am -your brother,’ was the earnest rejoinder. ‘Then, will you tell me what -sphere you are in?’ ‘The fourth,’ he said. ‘The fourth, ah? Now I’ve -caught you—for as you died in infancy, you was fitted for the seventh -sphere when you left the earth.’ ‘I have been there;’ was the response. -‘Have been there, and yet are now in the fourth! how is that? are you -moving backward? coming down?’ ‘No, I am an adviser in the fourth.’ -‘Adviser! what is that? a sort of superintendent?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Oh! you are -in office, then?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you get any pay? We pay well for such -things here.’ ‘Yes, I get pay.’ ‘What pay?’ ‘The pleasure of seeing -those under me progress.’ - -265. “I then said to the gentleman stranger, ‘Sir, you have found your -_match_, if not your brother. I think I would own the relationship;’ -and in continuance I remarked, that this seemed to be a very bright, -cheerful spirit; when there was written—‘I am always laughing.’ - -266. “My next remark was—‘Natty, I should like to make your -acquaintance.’ ‘Hand out your card;’ was the instant response. Finding -no card in my pocket, I wrote, secretly, on a slip of paper—‘Mr. Allen -Putnam, Eustis St., Roxbury’—turned the paper over, placing the writing -down upon the table, kept my hand over the paper, and asked Natty to -make a copy. Instantly the medium’s hand wrote—Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox. -The writing on my paper had been seen by me alone, and I was looking -for a copy in full, but received only abbreviations, and those of -every word, Eustis being reduced to the letter U. This closed my first -interview with him. - -267. “Some weeks afterward, when he was forgotten, the medium’s hand -wrote, ‘Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox.—I have used your card.’ ‘Natty,’ said -I, ‘as you left the earth when very young, I would like to know how -you learned the English language.’ He answered, ‘My mother knew it, -I think;’ and asked, ‘Will you let my mamma come?’ ‘Certainly, with -pleasure.’ And the following was written: - -268. “‘My friend, you must not be angry with my darling boy. It -ofttimes grieves me to have him, so pure, use such wild phrases. I am -your friend, as a soldier in the cause. ELIZABETH Y-—-.’ - -269. “Very often this little bright spark comes out with something -unexpected, amusing, or witty; but at all times he manifests a -very marked disposition to be obliging and kind. Once, when his -communication seemed to be closed, I said, ‘You are not going, Natty?’ -‘Yes—gone—don’t you see the dust fly?’ ‘Where,’ I asked, ‘do you pick -up such phrases?’ ‘Hear ‘um.’ - -270. “On another occasion he said, ‘My friend, you must not put on a -long face when you come to talk with supposed ghosts. You must not -believe all they tell you to. You must not go to the end of the world -and jump off, because they tell you to.’ - -271. “When once I said to him, ‘How do you go to work, Natty, to use a -medium’s hand?’ He said, ‘Why, you see, we just passes a chain of light -around the wrist, and that sets it to shaking. The next operation is -to make it write, of course. Sometimes the words are allowed to pass -through the brains. We now have such a power over this medium, that we -can make her shake awfully.’ ‘Try my wrist, Natty,’ said a lady who -was present. ‘Dear, beloved aunty, I’ve got a peck of love for you, but -I can’t make you trace my purified thoughts on the clean paper.’” - -For those who endeavour to get rid of the evidence of respectable -witnesses, such as Mr. Putnam, by representing them as dupes, and the -media as impostors, it may be well to quote the following passage from -the same publication: (Page 44.) - -272. “Within the last fourteen months I have seen twenty-two or three -different mediums—all but four of them private ones—taking no pecuniary -compensation; and more than half of them are our own citizens, several -of whom are now present in this assembly. I have spent very many hours -in their presence. Have seen them at their homes—at my own home—and in -the parlours of neighbours and friends. I have met and watched them -in the broadest sunlight and at evening. Every desirable opportunity -has been furnished me for detecting machinery, jugglery, or imposture, -and I have faithfully, but in vain, strove to find something mundane -a sufficient cause for all these wonders. That trick or humbug is -sometimes attempted by pretenders to uncommon susceptibilities, no one -will have a wish to deny. But very many of the mediums, private ones, -are as much above these things as are the very best persons among the -witnesses. - -273. “One medium, an active, energetic business man, of more than sixty -years, has submitted himself to be used by me at any time, however -suddenly called upon, whether in his counting-room or in mine,—whether -called in his shirt sleeves from the woodpile, or coalbin, or dressed -up and ready for company; and I have used him and watched him daily -almost, and that through several successive months. Many mediums have -been watched for long periods, and under quite varied circumstances; -and, though the power exerted through any of them is very far from -being uniform, and though the mode of manifestation is in no two alike, -yet I have seen no sign of its being anywhere applied by machinery; or -of its being varied by any preparation or act of the mediums themselves. - -274. “They deny, one and all, young and old, educated and ignorant -alike—they all deny, and that, too, in the most private and friendly -circles, where all the thoughts flow out,—they all deny that they -exercise their wills at all in the production of these wonders. And I -cannot rate that fairness very high which, in the face of such a fact, -will persist in saying that all of it is trick, imposture, humbug. More -than one hundred thousand witnesses have looked on, and yet are unable -to prove to any extent the cheats alleged. More than five thousand -mediums in this country unitedly and persistedly declare that they use -no machinery and practice no trick.” - -275. This charge is utterly futile when we see persons in affluence -converted by their own mediumship, as in the case of two of my most -esteemed friends. - -276. My conversion was effected before I attended any public medium. To -the ladies by whom it was effected my requisitions could only have been -onerous, had not the desire for truth to oblige me been a strong motive -for the pains which they were made to take. - -277. It does not seem sufficiently understood by those who object to -Spiritualism, upon the ground of the inconsistency of the opinions -given by spirits, that our next state of existence is one of -progression, and that we go there with all our imperfections, which are -removed more or less slowly. - -278. “Many men, many minds,” is an old adage: it is equally true as -respects the inhabitants of the spirit world, excepting that as their -elevation in that world is higher, accordance in opinion is more -prevalent. In the spirits of the fifth sphere, and those above that -sphere, I find little diversity in important facts or doctrines. - -279. Allusion is made to this diversity in some communications from -Franklin, to Mr. Putnam, which are as follows: - -280. “The mortals of earth expect truth from the spirit land; they -think that it is perfect, and that the angels are omnipotent. Oh, how -far do they wander in the darkness of their own minds! The spirit home -is _progressive_, like unto this: the canting hypocrite passes into the -heavens with the same thoughts; the simple babe too passes into this -new-born life with all its childlike innocence. Each one has to mount -the ladder of progression.” - -281. “There are millions in the spirit world that know not of the -existence of this planet, even as the children of this earth know not -of the starry world above. But on beholding angels descend to this -hidden planet, they follow, and in wonderment behold a new world, and -that world inhabited. Then do they find whence they originated. - -282. “Allusion has been made to the one-sided support given to -Spiritualism on the part of those who admit many of the most important -facts, yet do not ascribe them to the spirits of the departed. These -opponents were alleged to be of different features; one ascribing -them to Satan, the other disputing their spiritual origination, -because agreeably to their _imperfect_ information, certain traits -were found to be deficient which should exist, were the intellectual -communications due to the spirits of our departed fellow-creatures. -The idea of these spiritual manifestations owing their existence to -Satan has already been noticed, (88,) but from the communications which -will be given in this work must appear still more untenable than they -have, as I trust, been proved to be. As one of the most respectable of -these, who deny the existence of spirits, the distinguished Dr. Bell, -of Somerville, Massachusetts, has been noticed. (110.) - -283. “It is conceived that Dr. Bell’s positive evidence in favour of -phenomena which he has seen, gives so much more weight in favour of -the existence of spirits than his arguments on negative grounds, as to -what he happens not to have seen or learned, that I will quote here -his account of the manifestations which he has described, after having -observed them with great circumspection: - -284. “Dr. Bell commenced (at a meeting of hospital directors) by -expressing his surprise that at the meeting, last year, of so large -a number of persons whose lives were spent in investigating the -reciprocal influences of mind and body, scarcely a single member had -given a moment’s attention to a topic directly in their path, which, -whether regarded as merely an epidemic mental delusion, or as a new -psychological science, was producing such momentous effects upon the -world. It was now said to number over two millions of believers, had -an extended literature, a talented periodical press in many forms, and -had certainly taken fast hold on many minds of soberness and power. He -was well aware how easily it was turned to ridicule, and that there -were many who would be ready to ask, when they saw hospital directors -seriously discussing the spiritual phenomena, _Quis custodiet ipsos -custodes?_ - -285. “But if there was any class of men who had duties in this -direction, it was those of our specialty. Our reports contain the -record of many cases of insanity said to be produced by it. It was -important, whether true or false, or mixed, that its precise depth, -length, and nature should be studied out. As is well known, mystery -always loses its terrific character when boldly met and opened to the -light of noonday. - -286. “Dr. Bell remarked, that on his return home from our meeting at -Washington, he had a peculiar wish to verify his previous observations -on what are technically known as the physical manifestations of this -new science. He could not pretend that he could doubt his repeated -personal observations, addressed to his sight, hearing, and touch, and -separated, as he believed, from any possibility of error or collusive -fraud. Yet the offer, by Professor Henry, of a large sum to any -person who would make one of _his_ tables move _in_ the Smithsonian -Institution, and the obvious incredulity of many of the ‘brethren,’ had -induced the desire again to see some full and unequivocal experiment in -_table-moving_. - -287. “An opportunity was not long wanting. On the occasion of the -visit of a well-known gentleman, long connected with the insane, and -who never had seen any of these phenomena at the asylum, Dr. Bell -invited him to go to a family where a medium of considerable power -was visiting. The family was one of the most respectable of the -vicinage, the head of it being a gentleman intrusted with millions of -dollars of other people’s money, as the financial manager of a large -banking institution. He and his wife had for some years been perfectly -convinced of the spiritual character of these manifestations. The -medium was a young lady of eighteen or twenty, of very slight figure, -weighing eighty or ninety pounds, and had discovered herself to be -a _medium_ while on a visit to these distant relatives. A family, -from character and position, more entirely beyond the suspicion of -even winking at any thing like fraud or irregularity, does not exist -in the world. They were so fortunate as to find the medium at home, -and the circle was made of the five persons mentioned. The ordinary -manifestations of raps, beating of musical tunes, and responses to -mental and spoken questions, were very completely presented, as well -as the movements of the table under the mere contact of fingers’ ends. -Finding that things appeared very favourable to a full exhibition -of what he wished to see, as evinced by the very facile movements -of the table under contact, Dr. Bell proposed trying the grand -_experimentum crucis_ of the physical manifestations—the movement -of the table without any human contact, direct or indirect. He was -permitted to arrange things to suit himself, and began by opening -the table more widely, and inserting two movable table-leaves, which -increased the length from about six to perhaps nine or ten feet. This, -he felt, also gave him an opportunity to see and upset all wires and -mechanism concealed, or, at least, to answer positively as to their -non-existence. The table was a solid structure of black walnut, with -six carved legs, the whole of such a weight that when the castors were -all in the right line of motion, he could just start it by the full -grasp of the thumb and fingers of both hands. - -288. “The persons stood on the _sides_ of the table, three and two, and -back from its edge about eighteen inches. As Dr. Bell is some six feet -two inches in height, he averred that he had no difficulty in seeing -_between_ the table and the persons of all present. The hands were -raised over it at about the same height, of a foot and a half. - -289. “At a request, the table commenced its motion, with moderate -speed, occasionally halting, and then gliding on a foot or two at once. -It seemed as if its motion would have been continuous, if the hands -above it had followed along _pari passu_. On reaching the folding-doors -dividing off the two parlours, and which were open, it rose over an -iron rod on which the door-trucks traversed, and which projected half -or three-quarters of an inch above the level of the carpet. It then -entered the other parlour, and went its whole length until it came near -the pier glass at its end—a centre-table having been pushed aside by -one of the party to allow its free course. - -290. “At request, for they during this time spoke as if to actual -beings, the motion was reversed, and it returned until it again reached -the iron rod. Here it stuck. The table hove, creaked, and struggled, -but all in vain; it could not surmount the obstacle. The medium was -then ‘impressed by the spirits’ to write, and seizing a pencil, hastily -wrote that if the fore legs were lifted over the bar, they (_i. e._ the -spirits) thought they could push the others over. This was done, and -the motion kept on. Once or twice Dr. Bell requested all to withdraw -a little farther from the table, ‘to see how far the influence would -extend.’ It was found that whenever a much greater distance, say two -feet, was reached, the movement ceased, and a delay of three or four -minutes occurred before it recommenced, giving the idea that, if broken -off, a certain reaccumulation of force was needful to put it in motion -again. The table reached the upper end of the parlour, from which -it had started, but was left some four feet from the medial line of -the room. Dr. Bell expressed the thanks of the company for the very -complete exhibition with which they had been favoured, but remarked -that the obligation would be enhanced if the ‘spirits’ would move the -table about four feet at right angles, so that the chairs would come -right for their late occupants. This was immediately done, and the -performance was deemed so perfectly full and satisfactory that nothing -more was asked at this session. - -291. “Dr. Bell was understood to say that this made some five or six -times in which he had seen the table move without human contact, and -all under circumstances apparently as free from suspicion as this -just related. He also stated that the Rev. Mr. P., a clergyman of -extraordinary sagacious perceptions and mechanical skill, took this -same medium to his own house, without previous thought, where she never -before had been, and where his own table, in the presence of his own -family alone, went through the fullest locomotion without human touch. -Dr. Bell mentioned that in his last experiment, that just narrated, the -entire space moved through was over fifty feet. - -292. “Dr. Bell then passed to the topic of responses to mental and -verbal questions, and gave several narratives of long conversations -with what purported to be the spirits of persons dead for twenty-five -to forty years, in which every question he could devise relating to -their domestic history, and to events in it known only to them and -him, had been truly answered. Some of the subjects put mentally—_i. -e._, without speaking or writing—had half a dozen correct replies, -forbidding, of course, completely, on any doctrine of chances, the -contingency of accident or coincidence, as such _mental_ questions, -_per se_, negative the explanation of previous knowledge on the part of -the medium. - -293. “A brief abstract of one of these will give a general idea of -their character: Dr. Bell had frequently remarked to his ‘spiritual’ -friends, that if any medium could reproduce the essential particulars -of a final interview which had occurred between himself and a deceased -brother in 1826, he should be almost compelled to admit that it came -from his spirit; because he was sure that he (Dr. Bell) never had -communicated it to any living being. Hence, as it never had been known -to but two persons, and was of so peculiar, well-marked a character, as -not to be capable of being confounded by generalities, he should hardly -be able otherwise to explain it. A few weeks afterward what purported -to be the spirit of that brother narrated the essential particulars -of that interview, the place where, down to the well-recollected -fact _that he was adjusting the stirrups of his saddle_, preparatory -to a distant journey, when it was held! Pretty early, however, in -his investigations, Dr. Bell began to find that, however correct his -spiritual conferees were, in most of their responses, the moment a -question was put involving a response the truth of which was unknown -to him, uniform failure occurred. Sometimes, where he believed at the -time that his questions were truly answered, subsequent information had -shown him that he had been mistaken. He had answers which he believed -to be true, when the facts were decidedly otherwise. - -294. “Pursuing this train of inquiry, he found the ‘spirits,’ while -averring that they could see him distinctly, ‘face to face,’ never -could read the signature to letters taken from an old file, and -unfolded _without his having seen the writing_. Yet as soon as he had -cast his eye upon the signature, without allowing any one else to -see it, it was promptly and correctly reproduced by the alphabetical -rappings. And again, when he had made a previous arrangement with his -family that they should do certain things every quarter of an hour at -home—he, of course, not knowing what—while he was to ask the ‘spirit’ -what was done at the instant, uniform failure occurred. He proved, too, -that the theory of the ‘spiritualists’ to meet such difficulties—viz., -that evil or trifling spirits interfered at _their_ end of the -telegraph—was not tenable. For the responses just before and after -these gross failures had been eminently and wonderfully accurate, and -the ‘spirits’ not only declared that they saw with perfect clearness -what was going on at his house, but denied that there had been any -interruption or interference. - -295. “Dr. Bell also gave examples where test questions, involving -replies _unknown_ to the interrogator, had been designedly intermixed -with those which were known. The result uniformly was, that the known -responses, however curious and far remote, were correctly reproduced; -the unknown were a set of perfectly wild and blundering errors, the -responses often being obviously formed out of the phraseology of the -question, as a _stuck_ schoolboy guesses out a reply! - -296. “The result of the inquiries of Dr. Bell and his friends—for -several gentlemen of eminently fitting talents pursued the -investigation with him—was briefly this:—_That what the questioner -knows the spirits know; what the questioner does not know, the spirits -are entirely ignorant of_. In other words, that there are really no -superhuman agencies in the matter at all—no connection with another -state of existence; but that it bears certain strong analogies to some -of the experiences of _clairvoyance_, in that mysterious science of -animal magnetism, as it has been protruding and receding for the last -hundred years. Dr. Bell thought there was some reason to believe that -the matter reproduced may come not only from the questioner, but if in -the mind of any one at the circle, that it might be evolved. He made -some observations upon the evidences of spirit existence, drawn from -the character of the matter communicated by the mediums in a state of -_impression_, when, as it is believed, spirits express themselves -through the human agent. Of course, the quality of such composition is -more or less a question of taste. Much of it is elevated, indicating -high intellectual and moral capacities in the mind to which it owes -its origin. Much more is absurd, puerile, and disgusting, infinitely -below the grade of the human productions of the same persons from -whom it professedly comes. Yet the spiritual revelation has given us -nothing of such extraordinary value or novelty as to stamp it, in the -judgment of unprejudiced minds, as of supermundane production. Dr. Bell -alluded to a treatise which had been put into his hands by an earnest -spiritualist, purporting to be the work of Thomas Paine, the author -of the Age of Reason, &c., which was thought would carry conviction -to anybody, as it purported to be a full explanation of the formation -and changes of this earth, by one who, from his _situs_, must know all -about it. The truth was, that the work was the production of some mind, -celestial or mundane, ignorant of the very first rudiments of chemical -philosophy, in which the most ridiculous blunders were made on every -page in matters which are as demonstrable as mathematics, and where, -of course, the answer cannot be made that the revelation was too high -for common readers. Nor does Dr. Bell believe, from his observations, -that the waters from this fountain ever reach a higher level than their -source. The most elevated specimen of the spiritual literature would -no doubt be found in the communications from Swedenborg and Lord Bacon -in Judge Edmond’s and Dr. Dexter’s first and second volumes. Yet, -whoever reads the very elegant and powerful preliminary treatise of -these gentlemen, which Dr. Bell thought would compare favourably with -any writings of the kind ever published, would not be able to feel that -Swedenborg and Lord Bacon, after their nearly one and more than two -centuries’ residence, respectively, amid the culture and refined senses -of the superior spheres, had more than equalled their unpretending -amanuenses still in the ‘vale of tears.’ - -297. “Dr. Bell concluded by the expression of his full convictions -that, while the faith in spirits must be given up as being connected -with these facts, it was a topic, whether regarded as a physical -novelty or even as a delusion, cutting deeply into the very religious -natures of our people, which was worth our fullest examination. _There -were great, novel, interesting facts here._ They had not been treated -fairly and respectfully, as they should have been. The effect was, -that the community, knowing that here were _facts_, if human senses -could be trusted at all, went away from those who should have thrown -light upon the mysteries, but who would or could not, to those who gave -some explanation, even if it was one which uprooted all previous forms -of religious faith. He hoped that the members of this association, -who were as much required to examine this topic as any order of men, -except, perhaps, the clergy, would not be afraid of looking it in the -face from any apprehensions of ridicule or of degrading their dignity.” - -298. After giving much evidence, showing that physical movements take -place without contact, and that communications were made to him which -could not have ensued without controlling reason, Dr. Bell finds that -in certain instances which have come to his knowledge spirits could -not communicate information nor ideas which did not exist in his -mind or that of some mortals present. Yet it appears that during a -manifestation which my learned friend witnessed, a request to lift the -legs of the table was given which did not occur to any mortal present. - -299. I have already given a brief reply to these objections of Dr. -Bell. Under this head I will only add my regret that my letter to -the Episcopal clergy, with a sketch of the information derived from -my spirit friends, had not fallen under Dr. Bell’s notice before his -conclusions were published. It will be seen that the information thus -alluded to is irreconcilable with Dr. Bell’s inferences. I shall, -however, postpone this discussion until facts have been more fully -presented to the reader. (866) - - - FOREIGN CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE. - - _Some quotations from a work on Spiritual Philosophy, addressed to the - Academy of Sciences at Paris, by James C. De Mirville._—Third Edition. - - - _Manifestations which occurred in France, in 1851._ - -300. There is a great resemblance between the manifestations which -have been described by Capron and others as having taken place at the -mansion of the Rev. Dr. Phelps, at Stratford, Connecticut, and those -which occurred in the Presbytery of Cideville in France, so as to be -verified before a court. The facts in this last-mentioned case were -verified by the testimony taken during a trial which grew out of the -circumstances. Some of the witnesses were persons distinguished by -their high character and position in society. None had any interested -motives for stating them; but, on the contrary, had to meet the odium -which falls upon all who tell truths conflicting with the prejudices of -the community within which they reside. Rochefoucault correctly urged -that it is more politic, to tell a probable lie than an improbable -truth. - -301. This impression I have seen to operate in making people backward -to admit their belief in spiritual communication. - -302. It is remarkable that in the case at Cideville, signals as the -means of intellectual communication were employed, independently of -their employment made between two and three years before in New York. -Of course, those who resorted to this expedient, might have heard -previously of the effort in the same way which had been successful in -this country The signs employed, however, differed. At Rochester _one -rap_ was taken for _no_, _two_ for _doubtful_, _three_ for _yes_. At -Cideville _one rap_ was received for _yes_, and _two_ for _no_. At the -former place, the alphabet was directly referred to; at the latter, -reference was made by figures indicating the place of the selected -letter in the alphabetic card. - -303. Of this character is the admission of the Roman Church of -the spiritual origin of the manifestations; ascribed, however, to -_diabolic_ agency. To this allusion has been already made; but I -subjoin some letters and expositions, translated from a French -work lately published on Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, and Spiritual -Manifestations. - -304. The following letters, taken from the work in question, will -require no farther introduction. - -305. If the Roman clergy thus advance the inference that the -manifestations and intellectual communications come from spiritual -agency, it will be easy for Spiritualism to show that it is vastly more -devoid of diabolic malevolence and inhumanity than the institutions -sanctioned by that priesthood. - - - _Letter from T. R. P. Ventura._ - -306. “_My Dear Sir_: When you came two years ago to consult me as to -the merit and propriety of your labours, I hesitated so much the less -to encourage their publication, that having myself entertained the -same ideas for a long time, I had been several times on the point of -proclaiming them from the sacred chair. I do not fear then to affirm -‘that the publication of this important and serious work would be of -incontestable usefulness, and tend strongly to enlighten opinion on a -mass of curious facts, and thus prepare for the solution of high and -important questions; for, I add, it is necessary that all the phases of -the subject should be first presented by the laity, in order that the -church may thus be enabled to form their judgment with full knowledge -of the case.’ - -307. “I do not say enough, my dear sir, in pronouncing your work -_useful_; I might have called it indispensable, had I foreseen the -approaching invasion of that scourge which you so happily designate -as a _spiritual_ epidemic: a scourge whose sudden and universal -propagation, in my opinion, notwithstanding its appearance of -puerility, will constitute ONE OF THE GREATEST EVENTS OF OUR AGE. But -how has it been both received and entertained? - -308. “Commencing with your savans, it is impossible not to be alarmed -by the obstinate incredulity which does not allow them to see what at -the present time can be confirmed by anybody. _Oculos habent et non -vident._[9] - -309. “Those individuals alarm me still more, who having given their -attention, and of course seen, shake their heads as a sign of -indifference and pity, as if the phenomenon exhibited was of a low -character and beneath their notice. When they have descended to the -foundation, they treat it with contempt. - -310. “Then, finally, and very differently indeed, I feel myself frozen -with terror by certain dispensers of truth, who, in their blindness, -trifle without scruple with their most relentless enemies; so far have -they forgotten their most serious teachings. - -311. “I do not profess to be a prophet, sir, and do not know what the -mercy or justice of God is preparing for us; but, like you, I tremble -for the present, and hope for the future; for marvellous lessons are -already presented to us in these passing phenomena. - -312. “In fact, the justification of the church and of the faith are -emanating from them: the definite condemnation of a fallen rationalism; -and consequently, the approaching glorification of all the past in the -true church, and even of that Middle Age, so calumniated, so ridiculed, -and gratuitously endowed with so much darkness. The political events of -these latter times have to justify that Middle Age, as respects good -sense in the affairs of government; and behold these facts of a nature -entirely foreign, coming to avenge its accusation of superstitious -credulity. This reparation was necessary, and after all our own age has -nothing to fear from it, for certainly it will not render injustice of -any kind to the objective and useful progress of modern civilization. - -313. “As for yourself, sir, you will enjoy the honour of having -brought, by your luminous discussions, a large stone for the -construction of this majestic edifice, and I rejoice in the -encouragement I have given you. I need not enlarge on this subject, FOR -SUCCESS HAS SPOKEN, and think I am sufficiently acquainted with you to -know that you did not anticipate one so brilliant. You have known how -to engage the attention of the learned, and people generally, by making -your work attractive while it is instructive—a quality sufficiently -rare to claim my congratulations. I will only add another word: had -this work been confined to the notice of those phenomena whose advent -we deplore, it would probably share their fate; but what will secure -its perpetuity is your discussion of medical science which you put in -apposition with your subject, and which will not long be able to resist -the severe stricture of your logic. Therefore, be assured, it will be -the learned, and especially physicians, that you will first convert -to your doctrine. Philosophers will only surrender after them; but so -far there is no doubt that you will have given rise to most serious -reflections in all of them. - -314. “I will not speak to you at present of two or three observations -which I have made in reading your book, which we will discuss _in -private_, and which only relate to some inaccuracy of doctrine, -foreign, besides, to the principal subject of your work. - -315. “Finally, my dear sir, I do not doubt that the God of truth -will bless your labours. Continue them, for the subject is vast, and -especially do not suffer yourself to be discouraged by the reasoning -of light minds, ‘that in divulging all these things you favour -their promulgation, when they had better be suppressed, &c. &c.’ A -gross error! They might as well accuse the doctors of causing the -cholera. And, beside, it is worthy of remark that all the cases of -insanity lately developed in the midst of these exhibitions are due -to thoughtless enthusiasm succeeding to an absolute state of doubt -and disbelief. It could not well be otherwise; the prodigy which was -doubted yesterday, and to-day is firmly established, will to-morrow be -transformed into _God_. Truth alone is able to prevent and remedy such -disastrous mishaps. - - Receive, my dear sir, the assurance, &c., - LE P. VENTURA DE RAULICA, - _Former General of the Monks, Examiner of the Bishops and of the - Roman clergy_.” - - - _Letter of Dr. Coze._ - -316. “_Sir_:—You do me the honour to ask my opinion of the book on _the -Spirits_ which you have just published. That opinion I have already -expressed to our mutual friend, the good worthy doctor Paulin; and true -it is, this book has made a strong impression on my mind, for I had -arrived at similar conclusions from the examination of some magnetic -phenomena and _the moving of tables_. I find in your book a chain -of very remarkable facts—presented, too, with talent and clearness -very unusual in this sort of writing. I see, beside, that science is -brought back to the path which cannot mislead us to that of the sacred -writings; there, as I think, are to be found the true philosophy and -the true light. - -317. “I do not fancy that my opinion can have any weight with the -learned world. If, however, you think proper to make this public, -I consent with all my heart in behalf of a truth which you so well -defend, and THE SUCCESS OF WHICH APPEARS TO ME INFALLIBLE. - - I have the honour to be, &c., - R. COZE, - _Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Strasbourg_.” - - - _Letter of M. F. De Saulcy._ - -318. “_Sir_:—You desire me to report to you my opinion in writing -which I have formed as to the strange phenomena, to say the least of -them, which have been conventionally called _table turning_ and table -talking. I am not the man to recoil from what I regard as a truth, -whatever sarcasm may be reserved for such profession of faith, and -therefore proceed to satisfy your inquiry. - -319. “It is about eight or ten months since when the public of Paris -was agitated by the late arrival of the fact from America and Germany; -a fact which pure physics was not able to explain _a priori_. I did -as many always do, and have no doubt done for a long time—received -this account with the most determined incredulity, and, I confess, -with ridicule. I considered its adepts as charlatans or as simpletons, -and refused for a long time to bestow on it the least attention. I -became tired of the war, however, and after hearing many affirm, to -whom I could not apply these epithets, the reality of these facts, I -determined to try for myself. - -320. “My son and a friend were my two companions: we had the patience -for forty-five minutes, seated at the table, to form what is called the -chain, and were not a little surprised, I assure you, to see at the end -of that time the table on which we were operating, and which was merely -the parlour dinner-table, begin to move, and after some hesitation -to contract a rotary movement, which, accelerating, soon became very -rapid. We endeavoured by pressing to make it strike against the bar and -arrest its motion, but could not succeed. - -321. “After repeating the experiment two or three times, I sought to -find some cause in physics for the movement, and battled the whole -theory of Electro-Dynamics with the aid of an electroscope, compass, -iron-filings, iron, &c. As I could not detect the least trace of -electricity, I thought then of impulses due to the volition of the -operators, and of which a sort of integration might cause the motion -of the table. On that I stopped, and for several weeks did not give -the smallest attention to a phenomenon which did not seem to merit any -further notice. - -322. “Finally was commenced the faculty of _talking_, and I assure you -my incredulity was considerably greater than when its moving power was -announced. I was sparing, however, in my epithets, for I soon found -myself an investigator. I watched the rogues, as I suspected, for two -hours, but left the room a full believer of its reality, without any -further examination, confirmed too by all subsequent experiments. (1.) - -323. “What could be said indeed of the fact witnessed together, that a -crayon, which was fastened to the leg of a table, wrote legible words, -while we were pressing it down with our hands? - -324. “It was then, sir, that your book fell into my hands. I have read -it with the most lively interest; have admired your erudition, and the -courage necessary at our epoch to treat such a subject. - -325. “I believe in the existence of facts which often volition is -unable to produce, and over which I declare that volition sometimes -appears to have a manifest influence. I believe in the intervention of -intelligence DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN, and which puts in action means -almost ridiculous. - -326. “I believe that the Christian religion should not encourage the -practice of these experiments. I believe there is danger in allowing -them to become a habit, and at least we may lose the little reason -which has been granted man by the Giver of all things. I believe, -finally, that it is the duty of an honest man to dissuade others from -occupying themselves with it, in preaching, by example, and not -allowing it in the least to occupy himself. - -327. “This is the end I have reached after some months’ experience; -and, ask permission to close this letter, already too long, by -repeating a very wise saying of a man of high intelligence: ‘Either -these phenomena are, or are not real; if not, it is disgraceful to lose -time with them; if they are, it is dangerous to invoke them and to make -them a pastime.’ - - Please accept, &c., - F. DE SAULCY, - _Member of the Institute_.” - - - _Spiritualism in Paris._ - - [See New York Reformer, September, 1853.] - -“We find the following article in the London Illustrated News of July -23; it is an extract from the News’ Paris correspondence:— - -328. “‘An immense sensation was caused here, a few days since, by a -revelation given on the authority of some of the most respected and -influential members of the clergy, headed by the Archbishop of Paris, -on the subject of table movements. The archbishop, being questioned -as to his opinion of the legitimacy, in a religious point of view, -of attempting to communicate with spirits through the medium of the -tables, alleged that he had not sufficiently studied the question to -reply definitively; that he imagined that the effects produced were -wholly of the nature of physical science, and in that case harmless; -but that, in order to form a judgment, he would attend a meeting -composed of certain members of the clergy, at a place appointed to make -the usual experiments. - -329. “‘The table being put in motion, one of the party demanded it in -reply, by a certain number of raps, if there were a spirit present. The -response was in the affirmative; and in answer to a second question, -the spirit represented herself, by raps indicating certain letters -of the alphabet, to be that of _Sœur Francoise_, deceased a week -previously at the convent of -—-, Paris. The Abbe B-—- stated that he -had confessed the _Sœur Francoise_, who had, in fact, died at the time -and place named. General consternation, as may be supposed, ensued when -the Abbe L-—-, rising, commanded the spirit in the name of the Saviour -to appear. - -330. “‘The report declares that the spirit hereupon actually became -visible, and replied to a variety of questions put to it, but of what -import we are not informed. On the above details we do not pretend to -give either explanation or opinion. - -331. “‘Such is the story as related by the members of the _Seance_, -two of whom were so affected by the events related as to be some days -seriously indisposed, one of them even confined to bed. - -332. “‘Various narratives mention that, through the medium of the -tables, communications are held with spirits of all nations. The -spirits, happily, being excellent linguists, find no difficulty in -expressing themselves in any language chosen by the questioner, and -reveal the secrets of the prison-house with a frankness, not to say -indiscretion, that would shock the more reserved ghost in Hamlet, in no -way confirming his statement of the horrors of their temporary abode. -Many of them describe in glowing terms the beauties and delights of -their celestial abodes.’” - - - SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. - -THE following contribution, under the preceding head, is translated by -my much esteemed friend, Dr. Geib, from the work of De Mirville, whence -the articles under the designation of FOREIGN COROBORATIVE EVIDENCE -have been obtained through the same able translator: - -333. “Toward the end of the year 1852 the epidemic had been imported -into the North of Scotland by some American mediums; thence it got to -London, where, according to the latest accounts, it must have reached, -by the present time, a pretty extensive development. Seeing its -progress in this way, we were led to say, If it ever reaches Germany, -that whole country will be on fire. - -334. “The religious gazette of Augsburg of June 18, 1853, contained an -article from which we make some extracts: - -335. “‘Again the world is presented with various marvellous -appearances, which, coming from elevated sources, force themselves on -public notice, and which, in every case, throw a very marked shadow on -our own epoch of civilization. It may be appropriate to communicate -some of those found in the _Gazette Générale_; and leaving reflection -to the reader, we will give some of the most striking. - -336. “‘_The Morgan Blatt_ (Morning Sheet) announces among its -novelties from Palatinat Rhénan, the phenomenon of a young girl not -yet pubescent, who, they say, is able at will to command a _rapping -spectre_, (Klopferle.) The spectre raps as often as the little girl -orders him, being obedient in the extreme. What is remarkable is, that -the spectres of the Old World, as well as the New, have a _strong -family likeness, being as much alike as two drops of water_. And -the Tribune of New York, printed in the German language, has lately -contained various communications on this subject. But whence come these -rapping spectres, and why make their appearance all at once?’ - -337. “The Gazette of Augsbourg then refers to several other facts of -the same nature, which, at all times, have caused much embarrassment to -the German authorities, either in giving rise to lengthy inquests, or -in causing the condemnation of persons proved afterward to be entirely -innocent; but as for those of the present time, it fully understands, -proclaims, and demonstrates them to be of the _American Affiliation_. - -338. “The _Journal du Magnetisme_ of the 10th of March, 1853, had -already furnished us with the reported account given in the course -of last January to the tribunal of London, by the _rapping spirit_ -of the house of Sanger; the same phenomena, the same stupefaction, -the same impossibility to discover the jugglers. However, the subject -appeared to rest at this point in Germany, when, in the month of April, -the first phenomenon of _table moving_ reached Bremen, and then the -_Augsbourg Gazette_ insisted on its true origin. - -339. “‘For eight days previous,’ it said, ‘our good town has been in an -agitation difficult to describe; it is completely absorbed by a miracle -which was not thought of before the arrival of the steamer from New -York—the Washington. The NEW PHENOMENON IS IMPORTED FROM AMERICA.’ - -340. “Now a certain Doctor André was the first to describe this first -exhibition of table turning; therefore they called it his _discovery_. -What a discovery! - -341. “‘Having formed a chain,’ he says, ‘of seven or eight persons, the -_right_ little finger of each touching the _left_ one of his neighbour, -the table they surround will commence turning, and continue as long as -the chain remains unbroken, and stop when an individual leaves it.’ - -342. “A general burst of pleasantry and incredulity first accompanied -the revelation of the doctor. But soon experiment begins, and laughter -gives place to a sort of dejection. Certain savans, professors of the -University of Heidelberg, MM. Mittermouer and Zoepfl, M. Molh, brother -of the member of the Institute, Eschenmajer, Ennemoser, and Kerner, -attest the same facts; and Doctor Lœwe of Vienna undertakes to give the -theory of it: ‘This theory consists, according to him, in the opposite -polarity of the right and left sides of the human body; hence, having -formed a chain of human beings, the contrary poles of which, viz. the -right and left, touch each other, and this chain, exerting upon any -body whatever a prolonged action, conveys to it an electric current, -and converts it into a magnet, and thus polarization is established in -that body; and in virtue of its tendency to magnetic orientation, the -south pole of the table impressing it with a movement to the north, the -latter commences a continued rotation, and turns on its axis as long as -the indispensable conditions are continued.’ - -343. “Unfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with -these _indispensable conditions_. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and -Berlin, there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French -press observed a uniform inexplicable silence! - -344. “We ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold what -began to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and hat -turning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known when -it appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of -nature; and that tables never had any other destiny! - -345. “Again we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by -which we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables, -which, nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of a _vessel_ -and a medium? However, silence becoming impossible, the French press -has thought proper to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the -Empire, _Le Pays_, happened to inform us that ‘from the Baltic to -the banks of the Danube, all Germany was in a fever.’ It became then -plainer and plainer that we were going to be infected, and from that -time we hastened to prepare our batteries. - -346. “It was high time, for about the end of April, the grand -mysterious army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all -the large cities of France—Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, -&c.—the _turning_ epidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and -better to impress the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables, -hats, seats, &c., for all these participated in the demonstration. - -347. “At Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made -a pastime for a soirée. Children were introduced into the circles, -without considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with -these mysterious amusements. - -348. “It is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come -near them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an -electricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather? - -349. “It is true, too, that M. Rouilly, _maître de pension_ at Orleans, -undertook to give an answer. In the _Moniteur due Loiret_, he informs -us that ‘at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young -man of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs, -and that his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful -manner, making as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able, -he said, to utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated -man; it was necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still -felt some nervous trembling.’ M. Rouilly ended in saying ‘that he -felt it his duty to report this fact for the benefit of those who may -enter into these experiments without knowing their possible serious -inconveniences.’ Little attention was paid to this, so much had fashion -asserted empire, so much was this pleasure worth its cost. - -350. “However, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed -to ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the -savans say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric -appearances? will their philosophy allow them to seek independently -of the fluids, which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of -such a variety of effects? No; they well know, however, that in the -sciences—medicine, for example—every investigation that stops short -of phenomena, is of very secondary value; we may be satisfied, for -want of better, but still we do not feel ourselves in possession of -the truth; we still seek it. Why in this case should we do otherwise? -These suppositions were just, but we say without hesitation our -fantastic experimenters committed from the first an unpardonable fault, -philosophically speaking; that is, not to have taken the least notice -of those facts from America which were beginning to sound in their ears -from all sides. When we are visited by the plague, yellow fever, or -cholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied in Egypt, -Spain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at the place -of their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination. -Well! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would have seen -_as clear as day_ that the _Augsbourg Gazette_ was right in telling -them that this _animal magnetizing_ was received direct from America. -But what shall we do? we take no pleasure _in looking_ at what we do -not want _to see_. - -351. “However, this affiliation once well established, well understood, -by thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have -reached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited -themselves in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in -tables or behind _partitions_, we could have seen immediately what -might be reserved for us for the future. - -352. “But rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is -too gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it -only sees in this a _waggish_ electricity, and will never consent to be -persuaded that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths, -or rather at the side of such enormities in physics. - -353. “And then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then -what becomes of the _indispensable_ conditions of Dr. André? that is to -say: ‘All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.’ - -354. “This morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a -circle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the -circle continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for -the street, and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins -to waltz, as if to bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics, -what electricity! Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries -disinherited! Behold the city of Valence, who laboured all in her -power, who followed with angelic patience all the prescriptions of -the new science; nothing could produce the phenomena. Is it that at -Valence, perchance, the human species has no electricity? Mon Dieu! -it has electricity, but it is not of that accidental and local kind, -the real kind for the occasion, and which may be therefore denominated -_erratic_; as the ancients called those gods that moved about from -place to place. - -355. “No, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with -the explanation of the _little fingers_, but soon perceives that these -little fingers supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric -trough, and the chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also, -the chain was said to be very important; and the trough, magnet, -steel, glass pile all _necessary_ agents. Very well, what has now -become of all these necessities? The magnetic effects exceed all those -of that time, and notwithstanding they are not made any use of. Much -more! since the _passes_ have ceased to be the fashion, the phenomena -have doubled. In Germany, where people go to the bottom of things, -they have desired to look into the heart of it. Each master of the -magnet—and they are pretty plenty there—has constructed his own trough. -That of Walford consists of an _iron_ box, furnished with bottles, iron -wire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser was made of _beech_ without -bottles, and filled with water, which did not prevent the effects from -being precisely the same in the two cases. Thus it was said: It is -magnetism alone which gives them this power, and they magnetized their -best. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to magnetize, and -the trough lost none of its power! ‘Ah! ah!’ they say, ‘the trough is -magnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they put a stout -man into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in excellent -health. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity -all the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited -themselves so brilliantly.’ - -356. “This is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of -which M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect -he was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to -be caught by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics -to be entirely innocent of all the effects they witnessed. But at the -same time they thought proper to refer to the _imagination_ these same -prodigious effects, which no one could understand even after having -seen them; and there was their great mistake; they were right as -savans, as philosophers inexcusable. - -357. “Moreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed under -these circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. What -prejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered many -retreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, not -only to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these -are about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will -be necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real -as an _effect_, are not in fact real in their _cause_; that they lie -when they wish the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they -act by turns with and without a chain in a particular town, and not in -some other, &c. - -358. “But on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause, -is almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent -yourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits, -hobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate! -Not a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will -forever be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory -which was thought to have been gained centuries before. - -359. “Beware, however, of the first _supernal intelligence_! for -we shall fall back on our ancient and primitive _criterion_, our -infallible _touchstone_. - -360. “All depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this -time; an imprudent question might lose all. - -361. “And already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article -which we find in the _Courier du Nord_? ‘In another house the table, -they say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the -direction indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted -the hours, and told the age of the assistants,’ &c. - -362. “What means that other letter from Bordeaux, in the _Guyenne_? ‘A -hat submitted to _animal magnetism_ appeared _more intelligent_ even -than the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols, _the age_ of -persons, the number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it -told the _amount_ of ladies and gentlemen together in the room,’ &c. - -363. “What follows is better still: see in the _Journal le Pays_, a -letter of M., the Abbé of Moigno, according to which it follows that -MM. Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered -the tables to rest on _this_ leg and then on _the other_, and made them -beat time, &c. - -364. “We read in La Patrie—‘_Explanation given by the savans_.’ Ah! -let us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this -journal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have -arrived: ‘The table and hat turners _act mostly in good faith_, (quite -a concession,) but _they deceive themselves_; they think they cause the -motion of an inanimate object by an act of volition, or an effusion -of magnetic fluid from their fingers; while it is by muscular action, -_imperceptible_ to themselves, or others.’ Ah! take notice! It is by -a vibratory movement coming from thousands of small nervous branches. -Add to this, lassitude, _humidity of the hands_, and you will have -an explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, at least _sufficiently -plausible_, of the phenomena which engage our attention. M. Chevreul -(of the Institute) has _analyzed_ this physiological predisposition, -and has _illustrated_ it by the fact familiar to the billiard player, -who having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his -shoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions, _as if -to impel it_, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c. - -365. “It is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase ‘_as if to impel it_,’ -for had he been so unfortunate as to say, _and in fact he did impel -it_, we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced. -But that lucky ‘_as if_,’ saves us from a very bad predicament; it -brings back to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say, -that in the relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time, -has all the muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in -the smallest degree, the direction of an object, not under its direct -action. To the present time all the laws of physics have been based -on the grand primordial law, and the player of ten-pins is not more -successful from such efforts, than he of the billiard ball just named. - -366. “How changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy of -Sciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at -a distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle—an experiment, -too, which could _never_ be renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place -of needles, all at once heavy tables are seen _waltzing about the -room, and obedient to the will_; and all this is easily explained! It -is _quite plausible_! Yes, but this time, gentlemen Savans, we will -not allow you to distort the facts. Since the commencement of this -volume, we have done nothing but establish, on good evidence, all -those which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their fancy, after -having absolutely denied them. But now the half of France rises with -us to convict them, and to say to you: No, your _nervous branches_ -will never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would -refer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our -own questions, nor the _super-intelligence_ of those which probably -to-morrow will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves. - -367. “Attending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a -man of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way -to the weakest scholar who, _cue in hand_, might fairly undertake to -answer him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most -horribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its -principles, loses, in our estimation, much of its authority. - -368. “_La Revue Medicale_, cited by _La Patrie_ of May 20th, declares -in its turn ‘the explanation either by _imagination_ or _muscular -vibrations_, as represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan, -_entirely nullified_ by the fact of the simple change in the relations -of the _little fingers_.’ - -369. “As for the Medical, they see in it _animal magnetism_, and -exclaim: ‘No one is able to foresee the application of which this -discovery is susceptible. It is an entire world for explanation. Who -knows if there is not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating -a whole generation!’ - -370. “Lucky Magnetism—what a reparation you have a right to demand! -what incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday -so cruelly tore you to pieces! But _La Presse_ and _L’Union Medicale_ -may do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their -word. - -371. “A just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would not -believe and you are not believed now! We read afresh in _La Patrie_ of -May 21st, the recital of ‘tables promenading and upsetting _without -contact by pure efforts of volition_, or even by a simple magnetic -_pass_—a very _superfluous_ precaution of the experimenter.’ Very -superfluous, indeed! It could not have been better expressed. - -372. “In the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still -maintain that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture of _the two -nervous atmospheres_? The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to -use the language of Reichenbach, must be very _sensitive_; and in this -new dance _without contact_—what becomes of the explanation by muscular -vibration, and especially by _the humidity of the hands_? - -373. “We have some very important communications, on the 23d of May, -from M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chambéry, -respecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and -establishing the _perfect intelligence_ of the agent in question. -M. Bonjean, however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform -process. ‘These responses,’ he says, ‘are not, and _cannot be but the -reflection of the thoughts_ of the person who causes the phenomena, and -the movables _are only able to satisfy_ those questions whose answers -are known, without ever being able to supply an answer that is not -known.’ - -374. “The idea that the furniture is unable to _give satisfaction_ -is charming! but up to this point it was not understood to be -_super-intelligence_. Patience, however, for it is bound to happen! - -375. “Besides, M. Bonjean does full justice to the _muscular movements_ -of M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of -Strasbourg turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons -moved without _immediate contact_. Next, he passes from the physical -to the moral question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very -encouraging. ‘Fathers and mothers,’ he exclaims, ‘if you do not desire -to develope premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard -the peace of your wives, _be mistrustful of the magnetic chain_ in -general, and of the dancing of tables in particular.’ - -376. “It will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly -on mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under -all this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented -sin. - -377. “In a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most -distinguished engineers, to the Abbé Moigno, who had very ably opposed -these experiments in _Le Pays_, M. Seguin says, ‘When I reason -dispassionately on the _real and very positive_ results which I have -obtained, and seen obtained by others before my eyes, I think myself -under the control of an hallucination which causes me to see things -differently to what they are, so much does my reason refuse to admit -them; but when I repeat my experiments, I find it impossible any longer -to resist the force of evidence, when indeed it confounds and upsets -all my opinions. - -378. “‘_How can you_ expect me to accept your explanation, when a table -touched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, presses _against_ my -hand and _against_ my legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost -break itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could -impart to it a force equal to such efforts, and _especially when that -person_ is myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts as -THEY ARE, the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself, -in whom you have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The -explanation will come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in -these phenomena of _turning tables_ there is something more than you -see—a _physical reality_ outside of the imagination and of the faith of -those who appear to make them move.’ - -379. “It is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to -defend the _physical_ evidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a -thousand times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us -see if M., the Abbé Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his -revenge on another. - -380. “Referring to a communication made to the academy by one M. -Vauquelin, about one of these _enchanted tables_, which in his hands -was able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the -most secret thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims in _Le Cosmos Revue -Encyclopédique des Sciences_: ‘This time _it is too strong_; we find -ourselves definitively at the mercy of magic, and the moment has -come to proclaim it at Rome. Then there is neither magnetism nor -electricity; not even the influence of human volition on matter; but -supposing the fact to be certain—WHICH IS HARD TO SWALLOW—there must -be in it _the intervention of spirits_, or _magic_. Intelligence that -can refuse these deductions of common sense, would be DISORDERED -intelligence, as useless to dispute with as _with fools_. If you have -not been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you affirm are -true, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits and of -magic became the sorrowful but great realities.’ - -381. “M. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers, -writes what follows in _La Gazette de France_:—‘I will not insist on -this point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to -me entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician, -and, I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical -impulsion might be communicated. But the rotation only serves to -_present_ other phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to -refer to any kind of muscular action. - -382. “‘Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it -promptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to -you the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an -exactness, with a solemnity that fairly _frightened us_. “Strike three -blows; strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right -foot; with your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one -foot; remain up; prevent those on the side raised from returning the -table to the floor.” After each command the table obeyed. It produced -movements that no complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have -induced; _for we should have afterward tried in vain to place it on -one foot, and keep it there by the pressure of the hands, resisting -incontestably the efforts to press it down_. - -383. “‘Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were -obeyed as well as grown persons. - -384. “‘Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be -audible, but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the -table obeyed! _There was in no instance the least error._ - -385. “‘Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of his -age, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind, _endeavouring -in the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large_. I must -own, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally -diminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two, -_because_ my wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct -number. - -386. “‘Finally, having continued these experiments more than an hour, -at which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, I -felt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise -again, _and turn over on my side, which it did_. - - “‘Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration, - A. DE GASPARIN.’ - - -387. “We stop our citations here; for those who are not content -with the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from -philosophers, or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing, -too, _in all parts of the world_, will not be better satisfied by any -thing we could add. A day is coming, however, that will open every -mouth. Then from all those parlours so reserved before—from all those -cabinets in which experiments had been conducted with _closed doors_, -the truth will burst forth in its full power. Then it will be known -that some of the most esteemed men of Paris, of the bench, pulpit, -and men of letters, have both desired to see and have seen it; have -desired to know and have known it. It will be known that the evil -_super-intelligence_ has been revealed to them, and that if they have -been silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, it was -only an act of prudence to restrain public opinion. - -388. “But on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly -predict: the facts of to-day _which it does admit_, proving to amount -to nothing, and the _inadmissible_ facts being admitted, its faith will -change, and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs, -two savants will not be able to look at each other any more without -smiling, and often enough to exclaim: ‘It has been well said, my dear -colleague; it has always been foretold, that “HE, WHO IS OUTSIDE OF -PURE MATHEMATICS, PRONOUNCES THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, WANTS PRUDENCE.’” - - ARAGO.” - - - SPIRITUALISM IN GREAT BRITAIN. - - _Account of Mr. Robert Owen’s Conversion._ - -389. “While in doubt upon this subject, I heard of the media in this -country, and was casually introduced to Mrs. Hayden, an American -medium, without having any intention to ask a question respecting the -spirits; my object being to purchase a book which Mrs. Hayden had for -sale, written by a valued and most truthful friend of mine in America, -Adin Ballou, who has written a plain, practical, common-sense history -of this new revelation to the human race. - -390. “While conversing with Mrs. Hayden, and while we were both -standing before the fire, and talking of our mutual friends, suddenly -raps were heard on a table at some distance from us, no one being near -to it. I was surprised, and as the raps continued and appeared to -indicate a strong desire to attract attention, I asked what was the -meaning of the sounds? Mrs. Hayden said they were spirits anxious to -communicate with some one, and she would inquire who they were. They -replied to her, by the alphabet. that they were friends of mine who -were desirous to communicate with me. Mrs. Hayden then gave me the -alphabet and pencil, and I found, according to _their own_ statements, -that the spirits were those of my mother and father. I tested their -truth by various questions, and their answers, all correct, surprised -me exceedingly. I have since had twelve séances, some of long -continuance, and during which, with one exception, I have had prompt -and true answers so far as the past and present, and very rational -replies as to the future; but these last have to be tested by time. The -exception was my own afterward-discovered error.” - -391. From the following quotation, it seems that Mr. Owen has not had -any reason to diminish his faith in spiritualism. The manifestations, -of which his account is subjoined, are eminently wonderful; yet they -are not more so than those which are recorded as having been realized -under the influence of the same medium, in this country, or at Koons’s -Establishment in Ohio:— - - - _Letter of Robert Owen to the Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph._ - - SEVEN OAKS, April 23, 1855. - -392. “_Dear Sir_:—Just now, on my return from London, where, last -night, I had been giving a lecture to Mr. Ronge’s party of foreigners -and others on Education, I had the pleasure to receive your 2d Number -of ‘The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.’ I have hastily glanced over it, -and I feel much interest in your proceedings, and wish you all success -in the good cause. I say good cause, for it is sure to lead to great -ultimate good, and especially will it destroy the many evils arising -from sectarianism, and other causes of hatred and ruin between man and -nations. I must tell you of what occurred to me last night, after my -return from the lecture, about nine o’clock. - -393. “A Mr. Hume, a young Scotchman, who went to America to pursue his -studies as a medical student, four or five years ago, became a medium, -(he is now about twenty years of age,) and soon became a very superior -one. He had engaged to accompany the Haydens and Miss Jay. He took -his passage and came, but the others, for some cause, postponed their -voyage, but may now be daily expected. They arrived on the 22d. I had -heard on my arrival in London, from friends on whom I could depend, -of the extraordinary results by his mediumship. I made arrangements -to visit those friends and Mr. Hume when I finished my lecture, which -I did, and found my two friends and Mr. Hume waiting my arrival. On -being seated around a regular full-sized card table, there were raps -immediately, and because I do not hear very well, the raps increased -until they became very loud, but I heard the first raps distinctly. -Many spirits were present; some, relatives of my friends, and others, -my own relations. My wife and daughters, my son and brother, and also -my father and mother, with all of whom I have had frequent delightful -intercourse through various mediums. My two friends present are -husband and wife; and the first new occurrence to me was, seeing the -lady’s silk apron untied by invisible means—a somewhat complicated -operation—and taken from her and given to Mr. Hume, opposite to her. -It was then conveyed backward and forward, from one to another, and it -soon came to me. I held it with much force, but it was drawn from me -with greater force, for I was afraid damage would be done to it. Next a -flower was taken from the table, conveyed away by invisible means, and -brought to me. The flower I kept for being so presented to me. Next I -had my handkerchief out; it was taken from my hands, and in an instant -thrown from the opposite side of the table, not as it was taken, but -made into a large hat, which I also have as a curiosity. Then the -spirits came and touched each of us. I was occasionally touched on one -knee, then on the other, and afterward on both at once; and then one -of them shook hands with me, and I most distinctly felt the fingers -of them separately. An accordeon was then placed under the table, and -soon the spirit of the daughter of the family played most beautifully -several tunes and pieces of music. I asked for one of my favourite -Scotch tunes, and it was immediately played. The instrument was then -raised by invisible power, and given first to one, then to another; it -was thus brought to me. The table was then lifted from the floor; at -first, about a foot, and immediately afterward, about three feet. - -394. “After this the medium was put into a trance, during which he saw -beautiful visions of spirits, and one of them spake through him while -in that state sentiments that went to the heart of each of us, giving -us advice, invaluable in its import, and in language beautifully and -eloquently expressed, and calculated to make the deepest impression on -our memories. While reason remains I shall never forget it; and it was -given with many encouraging words, to pursue my course in the measures -in which I am engaged; to endeavour to introduce the millennium, but -also stating the obstacles I should meet, and the great difficulties -which were to be overcome. - -395. “Much more occurred, very interesting; but the post time expires, -and I wish you to have this communication by this mail. - - “Yours sincerely, ROBERT OWEN.” - -396. I subjoin the following narrative of Mr. Rufus Elmer, of -Springfield, Massachusetts, concerning manifestations through Mr. Hume, -as corroborating those described by Mr. Owen. Thus, on both sides of -the Atlantic, we have evidence of analogous striking results by the -same medium:— - - - _Mr. Hume at Springfield._ - -397. “Rufus Elmer, Esq., of Springfield, informs us that Mr. Hume -spent the nights of March 17th and 18th at his house. On the evening -of the 17th, thirteen persons were present, when a series of most -extraordinary demonstrations took place. First, two large tables -standing together, around which the company were sitting, were lifted -from the floor, while all hands were resting upon their tops. Then an -accordeon, held under the table in one of Mr. Hume’s hands, (the other -being on the table,) with the keys downward, was played in strong -tones, three parts being maintained, and any tune performed that was -called for—even foreign music. The instrument was also played upon -while held in the same manner by each person present,—all hands except -the one holding the accordeon being upon the tables in sight. (These -manifestations were all made in a room well lighted by gas.) A bell, -weighing over a pound, was passed about under the tables, put in the -hands of each person, taken away again, passed rapidly from one end -of the tables to the other, a distance of eight feet, knocking loudly -on the under side as it went; and, finally, the tables having been -separated a few inches, and a cloth spread over the aperture, the bell -was held up under the cloth, while the company were allowed to feel the -hand which held it. Next, the bell was slid out on to one of the tables -from beneath the covering, and the hand which grasped it was exposed to -the view of all the company—the hands of each being at the same time -in full view. To gratify one who sat at so great a distance as not to -have a clear view, it was communicated that if all others would for -a moment avert their eyes, so as not to concentrate their magnetism -so powerfully upon the object, it could be more plainly manifested -to this one alone. Acting upon this hint, each person was allowed to -look singly at the hand—to the full satisfaction of all. One of those -present, mentally requested, unknown to all others, that the hand of -her spirit-child might be exhibited to her; and, behold! a child’s -hand was presented, while no child in the body was in the room. One -of the company was a coloured domestic in the family of Mr. E-—-, and -she mentally requested that her mother, who had before purported to -communicate to her, if present, would show her hand; when, lo! a black -hand appeared! These are but specimens of what occurred during the -evening.” - - - COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD. - - - _Remarks Introductory to my Spirit Father’s Communication._ - -398. AGREEABLY to my spirit father’s communication, the manifestations -which of late have given birth to Spiritualism, have been the result -of a deliberate effort, on the part of the inhabitants of the higher -spheres, to break through the partition which has interfered with the -attainment, by mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death. -To carry out this intention, a delegation of advanced spirits has been -appointed. Referring to this statement, I inquired how it happened that -low spirits were allowed to interfere in the undertaking? The answer -was, that the spirits of the lower spheres being more competent to make -mechanical movements and loud rappings, their assistance was requisite. - -399. Likewise, I inquired why it was deemed expedient to make these -manifestations, in the first instance, at Hydesville, near Rochester, -through the spirit of a murdered man? The answer to this was, that -the spirit of a murdered man would excite more interest, and that a -neighbourhood was chosen where spiritual agency would be more readily -credited than in more learned or fashionable and conspicuous circles, -where the prejudice against supernatural agencies is extremely strong; -but that the manifestations had likewise been made at Stratford, in -Connecticut, under other circumstances. Nor were these the only places. -They had been made elsewhere, without much success in awakening public -attention. - -400. Thus, it appears that at the outset, the object was to draw -attention, and in the next place to induce communications. It will -appear from the account of the manifestations at Hydesville and -Stratford, that as soon as through an ingenious agreement upon signals -rational intercommunication was established, the manifestations -became changed in character. The mischievousness displayed, in the -primitive derangement of furniture, ceased. This was attributed to the -replacement of spirits of inferior grade, by their superiors. - -401. Thus this new and glorious light has come up amid dark clouds, as -we often see the thunder-gust the harbinger of a bright sky. - -402. But still there has been another source of temporary degradation, -not arising solely from the spirits, but from the inquirers also. -The great motive in the first instance for witnessing spiritual -manifestations was the love of the marvellous, or the desire to expose -what was deemed jugglery. The mere movements of tables, without any -reference to spiritual agency, was the great object of attention. -Though I was present where table turning was discussed, if I ever -heard the idea of spirits being the cause, it left no impression on my -memory, as has already been stated. (134.) - -403. But after alphabetical communication commenced, it was performed -so slowly, that the replies were often brief, and made with a view to -establish identity of the spirits with the individual whom it professes -to personate; or to test the existence of a spirit by the replies given -to inquirers respecting facts which could not be known to the medium. -At the first recognition, the spirit would occupy the time mainly -with statements very natural and amiable, but not instructive beyond -the degree of confirmation thus afforded of the great fact of such -intercourse being possible on the part of friends who have quitted this -stage of existence. - -404. Communications through spelling and writing media very much fell -short of the expectations which the name assumed by the spirit would -awaken. - -405. As soon as convinced that the phenomena were due to the shades -of the dead, I looked with eagerness for some consistent information -of their abodes, modes of existence, of the theological doctrines -entertained by them, and the actual diversities of their situation -consequent to various degrees of moral and intellectual merit. - -406. It was with regret that I found in the published accounts, nothing -satisfactory, nothing precise, nothing connected. In no publication did -I find any satisfactory statements of the location of the spirit world, -or of its subdivision into spheres. - -407. Urging this deficiency of information upon those spirit friends -who seemed to have selected me as an instrument in promulgating the -invaluable truths of Spiritualism, I obtained information, as early -as May, 1854, respecting the situation of the spiritual spheres, or -country of spirits, relatively to the earth; but about the latter -part of October my father commenced writing on the subject through a -medium of the other sex, but the ideas furnished were too much blended -with her own prepossessions, with which her mind was replete. Hence, -although many pages had been written, they were rejected, and resort -was had to another medium—Mrs. Gourlay. The result thus obtained -was afterwards read to the author, at the disk, so as to have every -paragraph scrutinized. - -408. Under the following head will be found my father’s communication. - - - _My Spirit Father’s Communication._[10] - -409. My son, in communicating with you respecting the destiny of man, -I shall endeavour, according to the extent of my capacity and highest -perception of truth, to give you a view, as correct and definite as -possible, of the all-important subject in question. - -410. The spirit world lies between sixty and one hundred and twenty -miles from the terrestrial surface; the whole intermediate space, -including that immediately over the earth, the habitation of mortals, -is divided into seven concentric regions called spheres. The region -next the earth, the primary scene of man’s existence, is known as the -first or rudimental sphere. - -411. The remaining six may be distinguished as the spiritual spheres. - -412. The six spiritual spheres are concentric zones, or circles, of -exceedingly refined matter, encompassing the earth like belts or -girdles. The distance of each from the other is regulated by fixed laws. - -413. You will understand, then, they are not shapeless chimeras, or -mere projections of the mind, but absolute entities, as much so indeed -as the planets of the solar system or the globe on which you now -reside. They have latitudes, longitudes, and atmospheres of peculiar -vital air, whose soft and balmy undulating currents produce a most -pleasurable and invigorating effect. Their surfaces are diversified -with an immense variety of the most picturesque landscapes; with lofty -mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and the internal -correspondence of all the higher phenomena of earth. The trees and -shrubbery, crowned with exquisitely beautiful foliage and flowers of -every colour and variety, send forth their grateful emanations. - -414. The physical economy and arrangements of each sphere differs from -the other; new and striking scenes of grandeur being presented to us in -each, increasing in beauty and sublimity as they ascend. - -415. Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a common axis, -forming the same angle with the plane of the ecliptic, and move with -it about the ponderable sun, they are not dependent on that body -for either light or heat, receiving not a perceptible ray from that -ponderable source; but receive those dispensations wholly from his -internal or spiritual correspondence, (a spiritual sun concentric with -the sun of your world,)—from that great central luminary whose native -brightness and uninterrupted splendour baffle description. - -416. We have no divisions of time, therefore, into days, weeks, months, -or years; nor alternations of season, caused by the earth’s annual -revolution; those periods being observed with reference only to the -affairs of earth. - -417. Although we, like you, are constantly progressing toward -perfection, our ideas of time and the seasons differ widely from yours; -with you it is time—with us, eternity. In the terrestrial sphere, a -man’s thoughts, being bounded by time and space, are limited; but with -us they are extended in proportion as we get rid of those restrictions -and our perceptions of truth become more accurate. - -418. As order is a primary object in the spheres, there are of course -laws for its preservation. Fundamentally, these proceed through his -ministering angels, from the Divine Lawgiver, who commands the angelic -hosts of heaven and rules the inhabitants of earth; who employs myriads -of ministering angels as the means of intercommunication between their -Supreme Master and his creatures throughout the universe. - -419. So far as legislation, subordinate or supplementary to that of -the Supreme Legislator, is required, the government of the spheres is -republican, exercising legislative, judicial, and executive powers. -But these functions are not embarrassed by the necessity of codes -indited or printed, nor by that of physical coercion. The results of -these functions are realized in simultaneous and homogeneous opinions -awakened in the minds of the ruling spirits, as truth takes hold of the -minds of mathematicians, _pari passu_, as they read the same series -of demonstrations. The conclusions in which the chief spirits thus -unanimously concur, are by them impressed upon their constituents, who, -thus impressed, are constitutionally unable to resist the sentiment -which, like a magic spell, operates upon their sense of right, and -overrules any rebellious passion. - -420. As, in the rudimental sphere, weighing, measurement, or -mathematical calculation or demonstration, when performed by competent -persons, are rarely disputed, so in the spheres, the decisions of -those whose authority is intuitively evident in moral or legal -questions, meet with acquiescence. It follows, therefore, that neither -imprisonment nor fetters are requisite for the enforcement of moral or -legal restrictions. - -421. Moreover, it must be evident that in the spheres, wisdom, -knowledge, rectitude, and conscientiousness are the real vicegerents of -God, the higher spirits acting as his media. - -422. We acknowledge no aristocracy but that of mind and merit. In our -diplomatic intercourse with our brothers of earth, when affairs of the -greatest importance are to be transacted, (the present dispensation, -for example,) we intrust them to a delegation of the most advanced -spirits—those who are best acquainted with the affairs of the celestial -country and of that to which they are accredited. - -423. Our laws are meted out in the scale of exact justice, from -whose awards there is _no_ appeal. Punishments are but the natural -consequences of violated laws; being invariably commensurate with -offences, and have reference as well to the reformation of the -offender, as to the prevention of future crime. - -424. The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth, -which being unbounded and free as air and light, can of course be -appropriated by each and every member of society, according to his or -her capacity of reception, the supply being always equal to the demand. - -425. Wealth consists, upon earth, of those objects of human luxury or -taste, which can only be acquired by means of labour and capital. Other -things being equal, the value is generally in proportion to the cost -incurred in the production. But in the spheres, such objects existing -in profusion, the supply is of course always equal to the demand, -though no less necessary than the air which you breathe; like it, they -have no marketable value; there is no one who has occasion to buy, all -being abundantly supplied from a common inexhaustible stock. - -426. Hence it will appear that we have no occasion for gold or silver, -which perisheth with the using, but the currency of _moral_ and -_intellectual_ worth, coined in the mint of divine love, and assayed by -the standards of purity and truth. Our bank, whose charter is eternal, -and whose notes are never subject to fluctuations, and always payable -on _demand_, is none other than the great bank of heaven, whose capital -stock consists of an infinitude of love, mercy, and benevolence, of -which our Heavenly Father is president and director, and in which his -beloved children, the whole human family, are shareholders. - -427. With regard to the social constitutions of the “spheres,” each is -divided into six circles, or societies, in which kindred and congenial -spirits are united and subsist together, agreeably with the law of -affinity. - -428. Although the members of each society unite as near as may be on -the same plan, agreeing in the most prominent moral and intellectual -features; yet it will be found, on careful analysis, that the varieties -of character, in each society, are almost infinite; being as numerous -as the persons who compose the circle. - -429. Each society has teachers from those above, and not unfrequently -from the higher spheres, whose province it is to impart to us the -knowledge acquired from their instructions and experience, in the -different departments of science, and which we in turn transmit to -those below. Thus, by receiving and giving knowledge our moral and -intellectual faculties are expanded to higher conceptions and more -exalted views of the great Creator, whose almighty power is no less -displayed in the constitution of spirit worlds, than in that of the -countless resplendent orbs of space. - -430. We do not, as many persons in the rudimental state imagine, -abandon the studies which we commenced on earth, which would -presuppose the loss of our reasoning powers, and our consequent -inferiority to yourselves; but on the contrary, we go on progressing -in knowledge and wisdom, and shall progress throughout the boundless -ages of eternity. You being chained down to earth, by the law -of gravitation, are comparatively limited in your resources for -information; but we having arrived at a higher sphere of thought and -action, and having a more extensive field of vision, can soar higher -and farther into the wonderful workings of that mysterious Being, who, -owing to the infinity of his perfections, must be forever in advance -of us, his finite creatures, and to whom, of course, we can bear no -relative proportion. - -431. Our scientific researches and investigations are extended to all -that pertains to the phenomena of universal nature; to all the wonders -of the heavens and the earth, and to whatever the mind of man is -capable of conceiving: all of which exercise our faculties, and form a -considerable part of our enjoyments. The noble and sublime sciences of -astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, engage a considerable portion -of our attention, and afford us an inexhaustible subject for study and -reflection. - -432. Nevertheless, there are millions of spirits who are not yet -sufficiently advanced to take any interest in those pursuits; for you -will bear in mind that the spheres are but so many departments of a -great normal school, for the mental discipline and development of -the race, each of which is reached only by the spiral[11] stages of -progression,—the earth being the first in the series, and the seventh -sphere the last; being preparatory to an entrance into the supernal -heaven. You will perceive, then, that we have an unlimited scope for -the prosecution of our studies, and that whatever knowledge you fail to -acquire in the rudimental state, legitimate thereto, you will have to -obtain, in some of the degrees of the spiritual spheres. - -433. We do not study those practical arts, which are so essential to -the earth life, such as mechanics, &c.; for we do not stand in need of -their applications; our studies being wholly of a mental character, we -attend to the fundamental principles only. All the more intellectual -branches of the arts and sciences are cultivated in a much more perfect -manner than that to which we have been accustomed upon earth. The -mind being untrammelled by the gross material body, and having its -intellectual energies and perceptions improved, we can by intuition, -as it were, more clearly and rapidly perceive and understand the -principles and truths on which the sciences are based. We can trace the -various relations of each subject, so as to understand its connective -importance; a knowledge at which mortals arrive only by a long and -tedious process. - -434. We are not, for good and wise ends, which in due time will be -fully explained, permitted to reveal all our knowledge to those below -us, as the consequences of such a procedure would be perilous to the -happiness of all, and subversive of order. - -435. In addition to our studies we have many other sources of -intellectual, moral, and heartfelt enjoyment, from which we derive the -most ineffable pleasure: one of which is social reunions and convivial -meetings; a coming together of dear friends, brothers, sisters, -children and parents; where the liveliest emotion and tenderest -affections of our nature are excited, and the fondest and most -endearing reminiscences are awakened; where spirit meets in unison with -spirit, and heart beats responsive to heart. - -436. Yet individuals united by the ties of consanguinity are not always -linked together, even here, by the golden chain of love and benevolent -affection, since it not unfrequently happens that there is much more -harmony existing among those who are not members of the same family. -Notwithstanding that persons who were intimately acquainted with each -other in the natural world, and those who are akin, may be and often -are separated, sometimes for long periods, still they do occasionally -meet together; those in the higher degrees and spheres passing to the -lower, while those in the latter never ascend to the former till fully -prepared for such a transition, agreeably to the fixed and unalterable -laws of progression. The periods of such separations vary according to -the relative gradations of intellectual and moral qualities in each. - -437. The peculiar connections and relations of parents and children, -brothers and sisters, and all the minor ties of consanguinity, must be -forever maintained, although there may be an indefinite interruption to -the harmonious play of their affinities. - -438. As regards the institution of marriage, I would observe that on -earth it is a civil contract, entered into by two persons, male and -female, mutually or otherwise, as the case may be, for and during the -term of their natural lives, but which is legally annulled on the -demise of either party; so that whether or not it be renewed in the -spiritual world, is determined by choice, not obligation. - -439. Celestial marriage, however, is quite a different affair: it is -the blending of two minds in one, resulting from an innate reciprocal -love in each; a conjunction of negative and positive principles, -forming a true and indissoluble bond of spiritual union, which human -legislation cannot reach: a marriage which is born of God, and is -therefore eternal. It is often asked, “Will all be married in heaven?” -I answer, Yes, most assuredly; it never was designed for man to be -alone, either on earth or in heaven: each will seek and find their -counterpart. - -440. Each society has a municipal administration or moral code, subject -to the divine government; submission to the will of God, and obedience -to his laws, whether recognised in nature or revelation, forming the -basis of its constitution. With us philosophy and religion go hand in -hand. - -441. Evil or misdirected spirits find their affinities in the second -sphere, where the lowest and most undeveloped are associated together, -and remain for indefinite periods, but with all the moral depravity -and darkness with which they are enveloped, through the benign -influence exerted over their perceptive and rational faculties, by -higher intelligences, each begins to feel, sooner or later, the low -and degraded position he occupies; moreover, finding new means of -progress, and new sources of contemplation as well as delight, and his -capacity of making perpetual advancement in knowledge, his intellectual -faculties become gradually expanded, and his moral powers increased. -Hence the grovelling propensities of his nature yielding to the -dictates of reason, his grosser passions subside, causing him to aspire -to higher associations and circumstances, which in turn beget new -wants, thoughts, and feelings. - -442. We have no sectarian or ecclesiastical feuds; no metaphysical -dogmas; nor are we troubled with those insatiable cravings and -inordinate ambitions, so often manifested by mortals; nor have we any -taxation for religion, the voluntary contributions of intellectual and -moral minds being its meet support. - -443. Our religious teachers belong to that class of persons who were -noted, during their probation on earth, for their philanthropy and -deeds of moral bravery; those who, regardless of the scoffs and sneers -of the time-serving multitude, dared to promulgate and defend the -doctrines of “civil and religious liberty.” These practical reformers -and saviours of the race, instead of worrying their hearers, as is -the custom with many on earth, with horrible denunciations and awful -threats of eternal vengeance for their misdoing, admonish and exhort -them to higher and nobler aims and aspirations; to the study of Deity -as manifested in his stupendous works. - -444. They urge upon them, too, the necessity of their co-operation -in the reformation and advancement of their more degraded brethren, -by instructing them in the divine principles of love, wisdom, and -benevolence. They instruct them in the soul-inspiring and elevating -doctrine of _universal_ and _eternal_ progression, and in the sublime -truth that _evil is not an indestructible and positive principle, but a -negative condition, a mere temporary circumstance of their existence_; -and, furthermore, _that suffering for sin is not a revengeful and -malevolent infliction of God, but a necessary and invariable sequence -of violated law_. - -445. They teach them also that, according to the divine moral economy, -there is no such thing as pardon for sins committed—no immediate -mercy—no possible escape from the natural results of crime, no matter -where or by whom committed; no healing of a diseased moral constitution -by any outward appliances, or ceremonial absurdities; and finally, -that the only way whereby to escape sin and its consequences, is by -progressing above and beyond it. - -446. We derive much pleasure from the exercise of our talents in vocal -and instrumental music, which far excels the noblest efforts of musical -genius on earth. When we convene to worship God in our temples, whose -halls and columns beam with inherent celestial light, our voices are -blended together in songs of praise and adoration to the Almighty -Author of our existence, from whom all blessings are derived. - -447. From what has been stated, it may be perceived that we are moral, -intellectual, and sensitive creatures. Instead of being, as many of -you imagine, mere shadowy and unsubstantial entities, we are possessed -of definite, tangible, and exquisitely symmetrical forms, with -well-rounded and graceful limbs, and yet so light and elastic that we -can glide through the atmosphere with almost electric speed. The forked -lightnings may flash, and the thunders roll in awful reverberation -along the vault of heaven, and the rain descend in gushing torrents; -nevertheless, by the mere act of volition, we may stand unharmed at -your side. - -448. We are, moreover, endowed with all the beauty, loveliness, and -vivacity of youth, and are clothed in flowing vestments of effulgent -nature suited to the particular degree of refinement of our bodies. Our -raiment being composed of phosphorescent principles, we have the power -of attracting and absorbing or reflecting the rays evolved, according -as our condition is more or less developed. This accounts for our being -seen, by clairvoyants, in different degrees of brightness, from a dusky -hue to the most intensely brilliant light. - -449. The spiritual body is a perfect human form, originating in, -and analogous to, the corporeal organization in its several parts, -functions, and relations. The heart beats in rythmic pulsations, the -lungs fulfil their office of respiration, and the brain generates -its vitalized magnetic fluid, whose life-giving currents permeate -every portion of the spiritual organism. Man in the rudimental state -is tripartite, consisting of soul, of spirit, and flesh; but in the -spheres a duality, composed of soul and spirit. Having approached the -portals of death, he disrobes himself of the exterior form as he would -put away a worn-out garment. The gross and cumbrous physical machine, -which was given for the purpose of developing his more beautiful and -excellent spiritual body, and of bringing him into more immediate -relationship with the outward world, can serve his purposes no longer. - -450. For your clearer understanding of the _modus operandi_ of our -intercourse with man, you will remember that by our transition to -the world of spirits we part with the body only. We lose none of our -intelligence by the transfer, but, on the contrary, become daily more -and more developed in our knowledge of and power over the forces in -nature; so that we are enabled to perform many feats to you, seemingly -wonderful, and which really appear miraculous to the majority of those -who witness them. - -451. Having disposed of the external mechanism of flesh, we cannot come -into direct contact with physical matter, but we are able, through the -sphere of the medium, when natural conditions are complied with, not -only to communicate our thoughts and wishes to our friends, but to move -solid, ponderable bodies. By spheres, I mean the particular mental or -physical state, or emanation by which all bodies, organic or inorganic, -are immediately surrounded, and the particular electrical relations -which they sustain to each other, causing repulsions and attractions in -man and animals as well as in chemical reagents. - -452. When we wish to impress the mind of the medium, by the effort of -our magic will, (provided always that he or she is in sympathy with -or sustains a negative relation to the operator,) we can dispose and -arrange the magnetic currents of the brain so as to form or fashion -them into ideas of our own. We can also learn to read the thoughts -of another—conditions being favourable—as readily as you can gain a -knowledge of the characters or symbols of a language foreign to your -own. - -453. Thoughts being motions of the mind, assume specific and definite -forms, and when _distinct_ in the mind can be clearly perceived and -understood by any spirit who is in sympathy with the mind in which they -are generated. - -454. To influence, mechanically, the hand of a medium to write, we -direct currents of vitalized spiritual electricity on the particular -muscles which we desire to control. In order to produce the physical -manifestations, it is not by any means requisite that the medium should -be possessed of a good moral character or well-balanced mind, as an -individual of small mental calibre would answer our purpose equally -well; but an advanced spirit could not directly impress or control the -organs of a mind with which he is not in affinity, and _vice versâ_. - -455. We can instantly determine the sphere of a spirit, in or out of -the body, by the particular brilliancy and character of the light in -which he is enveloped, as well as by the peculiar sensation which his -presence creates. - -456. The raps are produced by _voluntary_ discharges of the vitalized -spiritual electricity, above mentioned, from the spirit, coming in -contact with the animal electricity emanating from the medium. These -discharges we can direct at will to any particular locality, thereby -producing sounds or concussions. - -457. The question being often asked, “How do you move solid -substances?” I would partly answer it by asking, How does a magnet -attract and raise from their resting-places certain bodies within -whose sphere it is brought? How does a man move his body and direct it -whithersoever it goeth? How does God, the almighty cause of all causes, -move and keep in perpetual motion the immense systems which revolve in -space, and maintain each in its due relative position? I answer, By the -magnetism of a _positive_ will. - -458. We, in common with you and all animals, possess an infinitesimal -portion of this power, varying in degree in different classes and -in different individuals. When you raise your arm, as in the act of -lifting or moving a body, you direct by the force of your will-power -galvanic currents on the muscles required to perform the function. The -muscles acting as levers, through the stimulus of the subtle element, -act and react on the more solid parts, the bones, and thus is the -object laid hold of and moved, and still you do not come into direct -contact with the object. Now, this is called a _very simple_ operation, -and so it would appear, but who understands it? Although advanced -spirits are much more conversant with the forces operating in nature -than the most intellectually developed man in the form, still they do -not, nor can they ever, as long as eternity rolls on, understand the -hidden sphere of cause. The operation of the will it is impossible -to understand. Now, as I have said, we are not possessed of physical -bodies; still we can make the imponderable elements subserve our -purposes by acting as bones, nerves, and muscles. - -459. Touching our peregrinations and voyages of discovery, about which -so much has been said by spirits, as well as mortals, I will say -that it is a fallacy to suppose that every spirit can visit at will -the planets of the solar system, much less those of the more remote -systems, since I am certain that none but the residents of the seventh -sphere, or the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” have the power to do -so; because each planet, being an inhabited globe, hath its concentric -or spiritual spheres, through all of which in order to reach it a -spirit must pass. It is obvious, therefore, according to the immutable -law of progression, that the transit of a spirit to a distant planet -would require its adaptation to the highest sphere of that body. - -460. Having spoken of the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” I will -explain what is meant by this designation. They are those pure and -comparatively exalted beings who, having advanced beyond the highest -sphere of the planet to which they belonged, and attained a very high -state of moral and intellectual development, have been admitted into -that great and illimitable sphere of progression which lies outside -of all other spheres, and in which the greatest conceivable degree -of harmony reigns. It is composed of one grand harmonial society, -whose members are privileged to go wheresoever they will through the -boundless empire of space. They are principally from the planets -Jupiter and Saturn, and hold a much more distinguished rank in the -intellectual, moral, and social system than the inhabitants of earth. -I have not learned that any spirit from our planet has yet reached the -Supernal Heaven. - -461. It has been said that spirits hunger, thirst, and stand in need -of repose. It is true that those states do pertain to spirit life -agreeably to the law of spiritual correspondences. The grosser and more -undeveloped the spirit, the closer is the analogy between it and the -physical states. - -462. Physical laws and substances are gross or externalized spiritual -laws and things. The more refined and developed the spirit, the less it -requires of gross aliment. Refined, intellectual, and moral beings are -nourished and sustained by refined, intellectual, and moral nutriment. -Their food is derived from the “Tree of Knowledge,” and they slake -their thirst at the crystal streams which continually flow from the -inexhaustible fountain of God’s wisdom and love. The lowest undeveloped -spirit lives on comparatively refined aliment to that on which mortals -subsist. It consists of the more refined elements of spiritual fruits -and vegetables. The spirit’s need of rest depends on its particular -degree of development, diminishing in proportion to its advancement -from the material plane. - -463. Though the principles embodied in our teachings and philosophy -may be regarded, by the majority of mankind, as _strange_ and -incomprehensible, they are, nevertheless, no more so than the -principles of natural science would be to the unlettered mind. As the -ability to comprehend the principles on which the natural sciences are -based increases with the expansion of the intellectual faculties, in -like manner is the power of perceiving spiritual things and relations -increased by the development of the interior or spiritual faculties. - -464. As there are no words in the human language in which spiritual -ideas may be embodied so as to convey their literal and exact -signification, we are obliged ofttimes to have recourse to the use of -analogisms and metaphorical modes of expression. In our communion with -you we have to comply with the peculiar structure and rules of your -language; but the genius of our language is such that we can impart -more ideas to each other in a single word than you can possibly convey -in a hundred. - -465. I have thus given you a general outline of the leading facts -connected with the destiny of the race. I have endeavoured to show you -that man is a progressive being, that he possesses a refined material -(449) organization, which, going with him at death, serves as a medium -through which he may communicate with the visible world. I will here -add that, under certain circumstances, this spiritual organization has -the power of reflecting the rays of light, so as to be rendered visible -to the natural eye, as are certain gaseous bodies. - -466. I have attempted to show you, too, that the spirit on entering the -spheres, being governed by its affinity, takes its position in that -circle for which it is morally and intellectually adapted; hence the -first sphere is the abode of all the most degraded spirits, and that -their advancement, however slow it may be, is nevertheless sure, since -“onward and upward” is the motto emblazoned on the spiritual banner. - -467. I have endeavoured to show you, also, that the spirit is a -_finite_ being like man in the form, and, therefore, _fallible_, and -that as he advances in knowledge, he grasps more of truth and drops -more of error. I have attempted to show you that the spirit world is -a counterpart of the natural world, and that we, no less than you, -are subject to surrounding conditions and circumstances. Spirits of -congenial minds and opinions are drawn toward each other and to you, -on the principle that “like attracts like.” In order to receive high -moral and intellectual communications, it is essentially necessary that -the medium and circle should be in affinity with each other, and with -the spirits who are capable of giving such communications. - -468. Besides the topics adverted to, I will briefly call your attention -to a few of the most prominent among the beneficial results which -will flow from spiritual intercommunion. It will settle the important -question, “_If a man die, shall he live again?_” It will reduce the -fact of the immortality of the human spirit to a certainty, so that -the world’s knowledge of the fact will not be the result of a _blind -faith_, but a positive philosophy. It will show the relation existing -between mind and matter. It will make men thinking and rational beings. -It will establish a holy and most delightful intercourse between -the inhabitants of the terrestrial world and their departed spirit -friends. It will expand and liberalize the mind far beyond your present -conceptions. It will fraternize and unite all the members of the -human family in an everlasting bond of spiritual union and harmonial -brotherhood. It will establish the principles of love to God and your -fellows. It will do away with sectarian bigotry. It will show that -many of the so-called religious teachings are but impositions on the -credulity of mankind, being founded on the grossest absurdities and -palpable ignorance of the nature of things. - -469. It will give man higher and infinitely more exalted views of God, -and bring him into closer communion with the Author of his being. It -will do away completely with the sting of death, and rob the grave of -its terrors. It will teach the eternal progression of the soul, and -show that the time is fast approaching when the moral condition of the -race is to be vastly improved; when error is to be abolished, and truth -is to take its place; when the glory of the Lord is to be revealed, and -all flesh shall see it together! In fine, it will be a help to the soul -in the hour of its adversity, and enable it to bear up under affliction -with noble and heroic fortitude; and when about to launch its barque on -the river of eternal life for the fair and beautiful land of promise, -it will be its stay and sheet-anchor. - - Your father, ROBERT HARE. - - - _Communication from a Spirit Son of the Author._ - -I have in the spirit world two sons, one of whom died, thirteen months -old, in 1813; the other, five months old, in 1825. Both have been to -communicate with me. I subjoin a letter received from the younger: - -470. “_My Dear Father_:—I made a very brief communication to you -through the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort -to control the human organism. It has been long known to me that -spirits could manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always -held communion with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The -law is as natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure -forever. But so great has been, and still is, the superstition of the -masses, and to such an extent has man’s mental vision been obscured by -his so-called spiritual teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few -instances, spirits have failed in their attempts to reveal themselves -to the civilized portion of mankind. The conditions have, for the most -part, been wanting, owing to the above causes, and which have grown -out of man’s false notions respecting his natural and true relation -with the unseen world. The less civilized of our Father’s children, -in regard to their communion with spirits, have been much more highly -favoured than their otherwise more fortunate brethren, since it has not -been an uncommon circumstance for them to commune with their departed -friends. - -471. “Many years, my dear parent, have elapsed since I entered the -bright abode of the blest—a very little child, yet a very happy one. My -first and second birth rapidly succeeded each other; but so little did -I know, from actual experience, of my rudimental condition, that I have -never realized the change. I have no memory of my earth-life, yet I -know from observation and reflection that I am to some extent the loser -by my premature birth into the spiritual state. I have, it is true, -measurably obtained since then that knowledge of exterior nature which -I should have acquired in the flesh, on the globe which gave me birth, -as an independent, individualized existence. - -472. “My life here has been a charmed one; enrapturing scenes of beauty -being constantly presented to view, like the ever-varying landscapes -delineated on the canvas by a skilful artist. Now is seen a beautiful -silvery lake on whose translucent bosom floats the graceful swan, -bending his pliant neck, as if proudly conscious of his surpassing -beauty; and anon, among the lilies of this lake, which appear like gems -placed on a virgin brow, shoots a tiny barque, freighted with angelic -children. Then is presented a bolder view, of towering mountains and -wide-extended plains, with the accompanying characteristics of hill and -dell. - -473. “In answer to a question which would naturally suggest itself to -your mind, respecting the means by which I have become acquainted with -that knowledge of the external world which I should have gained in it, -I would say it has been acquired by frequent visits to the earth. I -have been accustomed to accompany you, father, in your daily walks, and -to study, through you and mother, those elementary lessons which are -so essential to the full development of the spirit. Your son Theodore, -though nearly forgotten by you, has not been far distant. The time is -fast approaching, and is near at hand, when man’s spiritual nature and -destiny will be much more fully comprehended by the world. Then spirit -manifestations and spirit intercourse will be considered as natural as -for the sun to rise in the eastern heavens. Spirits highly elevated in -love and wisdom would not descend from their exalted position except -to teach, for their attractions are upward, but their mission is to -instruct those below them, from which they derive much happiness. -You know, father, how much pleasure it gives you to impart knowledge -to others. How much greater then is our enjoyment, whose minds are -intensely more susceptible of real joys! Your spiritual mission on -earth has just begun, and we are endeavouring to impress your mind with -the sacred importance of its fulfilment. Give unto others that we give -unto you, and you shall receive abundantly. I occupy a place which -has not yet been opened to your perception. Prepare yourself, my dear -father, for its higher and more glorious unfoldings, by first gaining -that knowledge which pertains to the lower degrees, and you will -thereby become elevated to the higher spiritual planes, and increase -your knowledge of things celestial, and greatly develop and enlarge -your sphere of usefulness. THEODORE.” - - - _Additional Communications from Spirits who died while Infants._ - -474. THE brother of a medium reported himself by spelling out his -name in full—Dewitt Matthias. He had departed this life at the age of -thirteen months. I inquired if he had taught himself to spell. I was -instructed, was his answer. - -475. While I was in a state of extreme unbelief, Dewitt’s mother -told me that her son, who died when aged only thirteen months, -had communicated with her; and said that his stature had grown -with his age, now sixteen years. This statement I mentioned as an -exemplification of credulity, little thinking that this wonder would be -realized by the existence of my spirit children being made evident to -me by such communications as that from Theodore, above given. - -476. The eldest child of my parents died an infant, yet my elder -brother, Charles, in his account of his spiritual birth, mentions that -this brother came as a full-grown spirit to greet his translation to -the spirit world. - - - _Communication from a very young Spirit child to its Parents._ - -477. The following communications have been received from a spirit -child, as I understand, of about six years old. It will be perceived -that it was assisted by its grandmother. They have been handed to me by -the child’s father, Mr. George Helmick, in whose sincerity I have great -confidence. - -478. The following message, says Mr. Helmick, came through the medium -of Miss Irish, some eight months since, on an occasion when there were -some twelve or fifteen persons present, nearly all of whom were entire -strangers to me and my wife, who was also present. We had never seen -Miss Irish before, and _we know_ that she had no knowledge of us in any -respect. - -479. The _fact_ that we had a child in the spirit world was _not_ known -to _any_ present but myself and wife. - -480. “Father, do you not, kind father, feel my soft and gentle touch -upon your brow?[12] Can you not feel my presence, as grandmamma and I, -with care, enfold you in our embrace? - -“Mother, gentle, loving mother, do you not feel my angel kiss, as I -imprint it upon your cheek? - -“Father, mother, I left you before earth’s errors had a chance to take -root within my young and tender mind. - -481. “Then, loving parents, think of me as you do of a gentle -moonbeam, which struggles to bless earth with its presence but for a -moment, and then softly and sweetly returns to heaven again. - - “SPIRIT CHILD.” - - _For George Helmick._ - - * * * * * - -The following message was received through Mrs. Gourlay on the 27th of -October last, by the aid of a disk and alphabet as arranged by Dr. Hare: - -482. “Dear and loving mother, grandma will help me to write to you. - -483. “A calm and holy atmosphere pervades this little company, and -lovely forms are surrounding each earth friend. O thou great God of -goodness! to thee our hearts are raised in thanksgiving for this -privilege of communion with our friends on earth. Gratitude should -fill the hearts of all present. Little children are sporting in this -atmosphere of love like gentle moonbeams, kissing with a gentle touch -the brows of their loving parents. - -484. “Oh! why should you weep for those who have gone before? Rather -mourn those who are debarred the joys of our celestial homes, where -the weary spirit finds rest from the toils of earth, where all is joy -evermore. - -485. “Gentle mother, your little seraph-boy is not _dead_, but -_liveth_. In his uncontaminated love, find comfort for the ills of life. - -486. “Dear father, it was my spirit hand which was placed on thy brow, -which you just felt. - -487. “I left earth pure. In this purity I come to my dear parents. -Accept my love, and give me yours in return. - - “LITTLE WALTER.” - - _Mrs. Helmick._ - - - OF THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH,[13] CALLED DEATH, OF HUMAN BEINGS, CALLED - MORTALS, ALTHOUGH IMMORTAL. - - - _Of Spiritual Birth._ - -488. Having obtained from several of my most valued spirit friends or -relatives, narratives of their translation from this sphere to the -world of spirits, it appears, from their concurrent testimony, that on -the death of the body, the soul finds itself soon afterward awaking -from a profound sleep,—but so much more like dreaming than being awake, -as for a short time to create a doubt whether it be not dreaming. -Meanwhile, bright shadowy forms become more and more distinguishable; -and the body which it has left being perceived apart on its bed, or in -whatever position its death occurred, the conviction is induced that -another state of existence has been attained. As the forms, at first -shadowy, become distinct, they are usually found to be those of the -nearest or dearest previously departed friends. These meet the nascent -spirit with every possible manifestation of affection, while the most -ecstatic emotions are awakened. - -489. Forthwith the spirit is conducted to his celestial abode: of which -the elevation is greater as the morality of the individual concerned is -higher. - - - _Narrative given by Spirits of their translation to the Spirit World, - the abode of human souls in a future state_ - -490. The following narrative is from an excellent spirit -philanthropist, who, though a stranger to me in this world, introduced -himself to me at the session of a small circle, by the communication -alleged to be intended for me, which has already been quoted. (147.) - -491. He has since reported himself as the author of those sentiments, -and has held many conversations with me.[14] - -492. Subsequently to an address made by me at Franklin Hall, he -expressed himself as follows: “Do not keep your light under a bushel. -I was present and heard you speak last night. I wish you to say more -about your personal experience. That would weigh with the community at -large.” I excused my course by answering, that I wished my experience -to be riper before submitting it to the community. - - -_Narrative of his Spiritual Birth, by W. W-—-, a most benevolent Spirit - of the Fifth Sphere._ - -493. “Did you ever have a most delightful dream in which you saw your -near and dear friends about you, all seeming happy and contented with -their condition? If you have, then you can form an imperfect idea -of my state when I awoke to the reality of the change which opened -upon my entranced sight on being ushered into the spheres. I had been -long sick, and was subject to periods of unconsciousness. Therefore I -did not soon perceive the change to be real. I felt almost too much -happiness for my spirit to bear. - -“On looking around, I perceived my mother, with outstretched arms, -ready to receive her welcome son to the mansion prepared for him. - -494. “Did I still dream? I asked: no! it was a blessed reality; -all pain had fled, and my spirit rejoiced in new health. I could -hardly contain myself from expressing my gratitude to God in verbal -ejaculations. But I soon found that I had a much more delightful mode -of expression. Each countenance beamed with love and intelligence, and -the spirits could interpret my thoughts as readily as mortals can read -a well-printed book. - -495. “One spirit, on whose countenance I could read volumes, -approached, and taking me by the hand said, ‘Welcome, dear brother, to -this sinless world, where your progression is sure; no obstacles shall -impede your footsteps; the conditions of time are removed; your feet -shall fail not in the race of progress. Onward and Upward is our motto.’ - -496. “With willing heart I followed my guide. Every step taken led -me up toward the great Source of light and truth. I never wearied -in my journey. Bright and sparkling waters flowed at my feet, and -living flowers sprang up before me. Each new object gave me courage to -proceed. Old familiar faces met my gaze at every footstep, and cherub -forms flitted past me. Golden clouds rested over the scene, and all -nature was refulgent with light and animation. Huge oaks tossed their -giant branches to the pure breezes of heaven, and lofty pines bowed -their heads in love and adoration. The little birds sent forth their -notes of praise, while the air was laden with the perfume of flowers. -Being fond of the beauties of nature while on earth, I enjoyed this -scene much. - -497. “I was rejoiced to see so many of my friends present. Each vied -with the other to give me the most cordial welcome. - -498. “I soon perceived that I was near my journey’s end, for I had -reached the fifth sphere of spiritual progression. My guide pointed out -to my view the mansion which I was to occupy. - -499. “I was told that I could return to earth, when I was so inclined. -Inclination often draws me thither. So long as a spirit has friends -on earth, he will visit them; but when they join him, he loses his -attachment for the rudimental sphere, and seldom thereafter leaves his -celestial abode. - -500. “My habitation consists of suites of rooms, most beautifully -ornamented with paintings and statues and the most elegant productions -of spirit art. _Each individual can have his dwelling to suit his own -particular taste or fancy. The more refined and elevated the spirit, -the more refined and beautiful is the house or home that he inhabits._ - -501. “The occupations of the higher spirits are of a more intellectual -character than the highest on earth. - -502. “Our spheres are types of yours; but we do not have to provide -for the casket which contains the spiritual jewel.” - - - SPIRITUAL BIRTH OF MARIA. - - -503. IF the reader will turn to my narrative, 192 to 200, he will learn -under what circumstances I became acquainted with Maria, the being of -whose spiritual birth it will, in the next place, be my object to give -her own account. - -504. My acquaintance with this truly angelic creature has awakened in -me lively friendship and esteem. These sentiments have been induced -by her devotion to her parents, her affectionate recollection of her -children, and gracious demeanour to others. - - -_The Spirit Maria’s Narrative, as given through the Mediumship of Mrs. - M. B. Gourlay._ - -505. _Dear Father_: I promised to give you an account of my entrance -into, and life in the spheres. As I said to you on a former occasion, -I felt like one just awaking from a deep sleep induced by the -deadening influence of an opiate. It was some time before I could -collect my scattered senses. On partially regaining my consciousness, -I recollected having been sick, and the anxiety of my friends for -my restoration to health; and I wondered at the sudden change in my -feelings. Those racking pains I experienced had all fled, and I felt -a newness of life which was truly delightful. Indistinct and shadowy -forms flitted before me. On closely inspecting them, I perceived that -they were my departed friends. It was then that I fully realized the -change in my condition. My first and greatest concern was for those who -seemed so inconsolable at my loss, and for whom I still entertained the -most devoted love and affection. My vision becoming gradually clearer, -I perceived, among the group, my brother William ready to receive me. -He was clothed in a garment of living light, and closely resembles you, -dear father, in form and features. He addressed me in the following -language:—“Welcome, thrice welcome, my beloved sister, to the regions -of immortality! I have been your guardian angel through life, and -have looked forward with pleasure to this happy reunion.” I was now -informed by him that I must leave my treasures on earth. This gave me -some uneasiness, but being assured that I should visit them again, I -cheerfully accompanied him in his upward flight. - -506. Surprise and delight pervaded my existence when I beheld those -friends bound to me by the ties of consanguinity ready to receive me -and fold me to their hearts. - -507. Gliding swiftly upward, on gaining an elevation of some sixty -miles from the earth’s surface, we passed into the second sphere;[15] -on entering which a tremor seized me. A moral darkness pervades the -atmosphere, which renders it gloomy and uncomfortable in the extreme. -The inhabitants are dark and dismal in their appearance, and are -continually tortured with the pangs of a guilty conscience. Here -disorder and confusion reign supreme, each spirit vieing with the other -in rendering discord more discordant. We passed on rapidly, leaving the -second sphere and its undeveloped inhabitants behind. - -508. On approaching the third sphere, we were met by a company of -angels from the seventh sphere, among whom I recognised my brothers -who died in infancy. They had attained the stature of men. I now felt -that law of affinity which binds us so closely together, drawing me -toward them, and I was enabled at once to single them out from the -multitude which accompanied them. With smiles they greeted me, saying, -“Welcome, dear sister; another link is added to the chain of love -which binds us together. One by one they shall be removed from earth -till the chain is completed here.” - -509. We next entered the third sphere, where comparative order reigns. -There I perceived many spirits intently listening to a teacher, whose -theme was the subject of progression. - -510. Anxiously desiring to reach my destiny, we quickly passed to the -fourth sphere. How different the scene! every thing looked bright and -beautiful to my enraptured sight. It seemed like an enchanted land. -Thousands of flowers scented the air with their odoriferous perfume, -and rapturous strains of music thrilled me with delight! We now -approached a beautiful temple devoted to the science of the harmony -of sounds. In it music in all its departments is taught. O, father, -could you hear the master spirits of song, who lived ages ago on -earth, attuning their instruments to harmony, your senses would become -entranced. Music, being conceived in heaven, is sent forth to earth -to elevate man, and attract him to our great and beneficent Father. I -perceived that the fourth sphere was to be my abiding-place for the -present. - -511. On my return to the second sphere, it looked somewhat different to -me, for, having lost my fear, I could more closely inspect the place -and its inhabitants. The country, as far as my vision could penetrate, -seemed like a vast desert, without a green spot to relieve the eye. -Its denizens are seen straggling here and there, with no fixed object -in view. All are seeking to minister to their perverted tastes. Some -are holding forth in loud tones, and painting in false and gaudy -colours the joy of their home; others, who occupied high stations on -earth, hang their heads in confusion, and would fain hide themselves -from view; but they are taunted with rude jests, and told that their -“pride of position will avail them nothing here.” One heart-sickening -feature of this place is the absence of children. No purity can exist -where such evils abound. “The loud laugh, which bespeaks the vacant -mind,” is heard pealing forth in derision, as the teachers from the -higher spheres approach the motley group. Some, in whom the work of -regeneration has commenced, are seen ascending the spiral stairway of -progress which leads to the third sphere. - -512. The beauty of the third sphere far transcends that of earth. The -scenery is endlessly diversified with spiritual objects, corresponding -to things of your planet. Mountains and valleys, hills and dales, -rivers and lakes, and trees and plants, lend their enchantment to the -scene. The inhabitants of this sphere are anxious for instruction. The -teachers from the higher degrees are listened to with profound respect -and attention. - -513. I saw many persons whom I knew in the rudimental state. I met a -spirit yesterday whom I have seen in your company before he left the -form.[16] I felt attracted to him. On approaching him, he smilingly -said, “Why do you take such an interest in me, fair being? I know you -not.” “True,” I replied, “but I saw you in my father’s company before -you left the earth, and was present once when my brother gave you a -communication, which, by the way, you received with much incredulity; -therefore, I feel constrained to speak to you.” He thanked me, saying, -“I never believed in the immortality of the soul; consequently, it was -not strange that I should doubt the spirits.” “Your skepticism,” I -replied, “was honest; therefore you will rise much sooner in the scale -of progression. A sincere unbelief is better than false professions.” -Here I left him, and followed a multitude who were just entering a -magnificent temple, where a teacher was to address them. This structure -is immensely large and exquisitely symmetrical in its proportions. -Many stately columns support its roof, each surmounted by a cap of -chaste design. The material of this temple is similar in appearance -to alabaster, but transparent. The seats are semicircular, forming an -amphitheatre, in the centre of which stood the speaker, Channing. With -uplifted hands he invoked God’s blessing on all mankind. With what -breathless attention all listened to the glowing words of eloquence -which fell from his lips! This is the true worship of the soul. His -text was: “The light that is within you.” He dwelt at some length on -the importance of self-elevation, as a means of progressing others. -He spoke of the moral bond of union which binds the race together. -“When one individual,” said he, “is degraded, all must suffer.” His -discourse abounded with clear and energetic thought. - -514. As we passed from this temple, I met my friend of yesterday. -He remarked that he had learned much from the speaker who had just -addressed us. He said that his mind, before entering the spheres, -had been much troubled about the future, although light had begun to -dawn on his mental horizon. “Hope,” said he, “with her cheering -countenance, had almost deserted me, and the world appeared like a -dreary wilderness. Sick and disheartened, I laid me down to recruit my -exhausted energies. An unconscious period intervened, and then burst on -my enraptured vision the glorious morning of the resurrection in all -its loveliness; and with it came a bright messenger of light to bear me -onward and upward to the boundless regions of progressive wisdom, where -my untrammelled spirit can soar aloft to study the wondrous works of -Almighty God.” - -515. In the fourth sphere the scenery is characterized by still more -beautiful landscapes: the grass appears of a greener green, and the -flowers are more gorgeous in their hue, and the birds sing still more -sweetly. Shall I lead you to this parterre? Here you perceive the lily -with its almond-shaped leaves, and stamens delicately tinted with the -faintest crimson; by its side is the blushing rose. Here you observe -the myrtle, the emblem of love, and the passion-flower, which speaks -of a deathless passion. All have an interior language which spirits -alone can fully comprehend. The trees here are somewhat different -from those on earth. This is a strange-looking one. Its trunk is very -straight, and runs up to an immense height without branches; its top is -surmounted by tufts of beautiful spiral-shaped silvery leaves; by its -side stands one of very different appearance, whose depending branches, -like the graceful willow, bend beneath their wealth of leaves, courting -one to repose beneath their grateful shade. Here, too, are sparkling -streams, murmuring cascades, and gushing fountains, and trees bending -beneath their load of golden fruit; and here are temples devoted to the -arts and sciences. - -516. Now, dear father, let not a school on earth rise up before -your imagination. Our schools and systems of instruction differ -widely from those in the rudimental sphere, inasmuch as they are far -more beautiful. We use neither books nor charts, but the spirit or -substance of each subject is presented to the student, whose mind at -once perceives its internal meaning. In this way are solved the most -difficult problems. - -517. Let us enter this building devoted to the teachers from the -seventh sphere. See the multitude thronging its portals. Before we -enter, let us glance at its exterior. It is circular in form, and -beautiful in its architectural design. Its spiral columns are entwined -with the richest flowers, which yield a delicious fragrance. As you -enter this temple, its fretted vaults resound with the soft harmonious -symphonies of spirit voices. In the midst of the group stands the -teacher, Melancthon, who suffered in the cause of religious freedom. -His countenance is mild and angelic, but he still retains that fearless -spirit which characterized him on earth. - -518. Here comes a band of beautiful children carrying wreaths of -flowers in their hands. They are singing, and they lead by the hand a -lovely child just escaped from earth. How happy it seems! It is quite -unconscious of the change in its condition. - -519. Let us now wend our way to the fifth sphere. This state is in -a still greater degree heavenly. As far as the eye can reach are -seen lovely villas, magnificent temples, forest-crowned hills, and -gently undulating plains. Let us go up this avenue, shaded with lofty -sycamores: this is the residence of H. K. White. How enchanting the -spot! It is a low cottage embosomed in the midst of trees and flowers, -which, by interlacing, form beautiful arbours with arched entrances. -The grounds about this dwelling are skilfully and tastefully laid -out. The clematis and honeysuckle entwine their tendrils around the -trellis-work of the door. Let us enter. Statues of the most exquisite -finish fill the niches; couches and divans of various forms and -singular devices grace the rooms, and carpets of the softest texture -and most brilliant dyes cover the floors. It is, indeed, the beau -ideal of a poet’s home. In this sphere dwell Channing, Ballou, Murray, -the Wesleys, Byron, Burns, Moore, Shelley, Scott, and Hahnemann, the -founder of your school, who is still engaged in the investigation of -scientific truths. I speak of those persons in particular, because -I am personally acquainted with them, being attracted to them by a -congeniality of feeling. - -520. The sixth state or sphere far transcends the most gorgeous -picture of oriental splendour. So lovely are the scenes presented to -the view there, that I cannot impress your mind with any thing like -a just conception of them. _I receive my ideas of the fifth, sixth, -and seventh spheres from the spirits who dwell therein, having never -visited them in person._ What a magnificent panorama is there presented -to the spirit’s gaze! There are colossal temples, and “houses not made -with hands, eternal in the heavens.” As far as the vision can extend -may be seen cities and palaces, whose lofty domes sparkle like diamonds -in the sunbeams of heaven; oceans and seas with which yours are mere -lakes in comparison; placid lakes and noble rivers winding their -interminable way through valleys clothed with perpetual verdure. - -521. There are gardens there of inconceivable beauty, filled with the -choicest and most aromatic herbs and flowers, and birds with every -conceivable variety of plumage. The parks are of great magnitude, -and abound with the most beautiful animals. The swift antelope, -the wild gazelle, and the graceful deer are seen ranging over the -flowery plains. There the lion and the lamb lie down together in -peaceful innocence. There are congregated millions of spirits, who are -associated together like a harmonious and happy family. The vales are -vocal with celestial melody, and the air is redolent with the perfume -of flowers. - -522. How shall I describe to you the transcendent glory of the seventh -sphere? Let us contemplate it. In it all the beauties and joys of -the lower degrees are combined, but in a much more refined and -sublimated form. There dwell the spirits of the just made more perfect. -Innumerable companies of children, which constitute the infant army of -heaven, are singing in gladsome strains the love of Him who called them -into being, causing the atmosphere to resound with harmonious shouts -of joy. There dwells Jesus of Nazareth, the great moral reformer, and -“John the beloved.” There reside the apostles, prophets, and martyrs -of olden time. There live Confucius, Seneca, Plato, Socrates, and -Solon, with all the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome. - -523. That sphere is illumined by the refulgent beams of heaven’s great -central sun, in whose genial warmth and golden flood of living light -spirits find life eternal. - - - _My Sister’s account of her Spiritual Birth, or Translation to the - Spirit World._ - -524. _Dear brother_: The language of mortals is inadequate to convey -to your mind a tenth part of the joy that I experienced when liberated -from the physical body. You remember well the hour when the summons -came. You did not expect me to depart so soon. The mutual relationship -which had existed between my body and spirit being dissolved, I found -myself still a living, thinking, and intelligent being, and in a world -of tangible and eternal realities. - -525. When the last act in the drama of life was finished, and as soon -as I had emerged from the pleasing reverie which succeeded the moment -of dissolution, I found my room filled with bright visitants from -the world of spirits, and my ears were delighted with the sweetest -melodies. I now felt that the great secret was about to be disclosed, -and I began to realize that I had indeed passed from death unto life. - -526. Dazzled by the exceeding brilliancy of the light which emanated -from the pure beings who surrounded me, I began to distrust my senses, -and looked about to assure myself that I was not in a dream or trance. -I was soon startled from my musing by a gentle pull at my garment, -and on turning round to discover the cause, I instantly recognised my -beloved father. Oh! imagine my feelings at that joyful moment; no words -can describe them. I now felt a strong desire to leave earth. Father -perceiving this, placed his hand in mine, and said, “My daughter, the -battle is fought, the victory is won; follow me.” He now led me forth -into open space. We were immediately encircled by a magnificent halo -of light, and strains of heavenly music floated on the circumambient -air. Here a scene of glory was revealed to me which human imagination -is unable to conceive. As we penetrated the clear blue depths of ether, -myriads of angelic beings crossed our path, and many greeted me with -words of welcome. - -527. Having passed beyond earth’s sphere, new and more glorious scenes -burst upon my enraptured vision, and they increased in beauty at each -successive stage of our journey. I felt that a great change had taken -place in my condition, for the most intense sensations of pleasure -pervaded my soul. Father watched my emotions with deep interest, and -was delighted with the startling and happy effect produced on my mind. -We passed quickly through the different stages of our progress, till we -arrived at the fifth spiritual sphere, which is my present home. I am -often with my friends on earth, and would gladly influence them, and -prove my identity to them, if they would render themselves receptive to -my power. - -528. My present home, in point of beauty, far excels any scene ever -witnessed by mortal eye. The interior of nature is laid open to the -spirit’s perception, and the hidden treasures of earth are exposed -to its view. When we desire to be with our friends on earth, we have -only to will it, and our desire is instantly gratified. We can visit -the spheres below, but not those above us until we are prepared for -admission into them by a gradual process of development. - -529. The first spiritual sphere is the abode of those spirits whose -desires are low and sensuous; they pursue those pleasures which are -most congenial to their unrefined and grovelling natures; but as their -moral faculties become strengthened, they lose their taste for debasing -pursuits, and rise in the scale of being. The brightness of the halo -which envelopes the spirit is increased in proportion to its increase -of moral and intellectual greatness. - -530. Dear Robert, I have looked forward with great pleasure to the time -when I might be enabled to commune with you. - -531. All knowledge gained by mortals will be of advantage to them in -the spheres. - -532. Each individual in the spirit world is judged and suffers -according to the deeds done in the body. There is no possible escape -from the legitimate consequences of evil actions. The book of God’s -judgment is the record made on the tablets of the mind, and it may be -read by all. The hypocrite can remain hypocrite no longer, as he will -inevitably appear in his true colours; and in this fact, in part, shall -his punishment consist. - -533. I would say a few words to you concerning the condition of -infants. The infant spirit ascends directly to the seventh sphere, and -is given in charge of a guardian spirit, by whom it is cared for and -instructed in those things which most serve to develop its intellectual -powers. It is permitted occasionally to visit its parents who may be in -lower spheres, and to descend even to earth with its guardian angel, -who often communicates for it. - -534. Every individual, at death, is waited on by a congenial spirit, -who escorts him to his home in that sphere to which his merit entitles -him. - -535. The object of our present mission to the inhabitants of the earth -is to convince millions of _doubting_ mortals of the fact of their -_immortality_, and of the glorious destiny which awaits them beyond the -limits of the tomb. - -536. It is thought by many of our brothers in the flesh that we will -impart to them _all_ the knowledge that we possess respecting the -mysteries of the spheres; but on this point let them be undeceived, for -it is utterly impossible for them to comprehend all in their present -rudimental state. Our chief object is to assure them, by unmistakable -signs, of the soul’s immortality, and the conditions necessary to be -observed by them in order to obtain a happy future existence. - -537. Notwithstanding the truth of spirit manifestations and spirit -teachings, there are many persons who will not readily perceive it; -their minds are so much cramped and distorted by false teachings, that -many years shall have elapsed before there can be much improvement in -them; of such it hath been said, “They would not believe though one -should arise from the dead.” - -538. My brother, I would say a word to you touching your duty in regard -to the present dispensation. You occupy a prominent and important place -in the dissemination of this most glorious gospel; your mind has ever -been desirous of the truth; a uniform consistency of conduct has marked -your course through life: pursue, then, the even tenor of your way, -and let love be the controlling principle of your motives and actions, -and if reviled, revile not again, but bear all things nobly for the -truth’s sake, and great will be your reward. I would say, moreover, let -your reason determine the value of our teachings. You are engrossed to -some extent by the cares and perplexities of earth life; therefore you -cannot so fully realize the wondrous joys which await you in yonder -peaceful heaven! - -539. My brother, when the lamp of your earthly existence shall begin to -burn dimly, and the objects of earth recede from your view, your spirit -father and sister will be at hand to conduct you into the presence of -those loved friends who are bound to you by the ties of consanguinity -and sympathy. MARTHA. - - - _My Brother’s account of his Spiritual Birth._ - -540. _Dear brother Robert_: How long I remained in a state of -unconsciousness, previous to my spiritual birth, is unknown to me; -suffice it to say, when the vital cord which bound me to the physical -body was parted, I experienced a full consciousness of my personality. -I enjoyed perfect freedom from pain and sickness, and an unwonted -degree of strength and buoyancy of spirit; sensations of the most -exalted character took possession of me, and a holy calm pervaded the -sanctuary of my soul. It was not, however, until I saw my body lying -upon the bed, that the true nature of my situation flashed across my -mind. I shall never forget that moment of ecstatic bliss. I felt a -sudden and indescribable consciousness of increased mental and physical -power, and my body was most beautifully and symmetrically formed; in -fact, I beheld myself a perfect and immortal man! I perceived, too, -that my step was lighter, freer, and more elastic than usual, and my -whole system was singularly rejuvenated. I knew that I was in eternity, -yet I saw that I was upon the earth. As my mind became clear, and -my vision less obstructed, a radiant spirit, whom I had not before -noticed, addressed me in these words: “Brother! welcome, welcome, to -the bright and joyous spirit land, to this blest habitation for the -children of men, to this land of ceaseless progression.” The spirit -having spoken thus, beckoned me away. - -541. Having passed beyond the sphere of earth, we entered the regions -of perpetual day, where the foot of mortal never trod; where the -brilliant flowers were never culled by mortal hands; where beautiful -spirits, angelic beings, float in mid air, and sport beside the -sparkling fountains; where harmonious voices mingle with the rich tones -of golden harps, and silver flute-notes ascend to the arching heavens. -On our way thither we saw many companies of ministering angels passing -to and fro on their respective missions. Some, who were assembled in -groups, talked earnestly together upon congenial subjects; while others -blended their voices in anthems of praise, whose echoes were prolonged -far up through the realms of space to blend with still more glorious -harmonies in spheres above. Those celestial beings, though beautiful -beyond the conception of finite man, were not of the highest order -of angels. They belong to that class whose mission is to visit the -dwellings of men, and to minister unto the bereaved and afflicted of -earth; to tend the beds of the dying, and to whisper rest to the weary -and hope to the desponding. - -542. My brother, I might speak to you of the past, but I prefer to -open the door of the bright and glorious future. Solon said that no -one should call himself happy before death; now, although I do not -sanction this advice of the distinguished sage, I know that there is, -comparatively speaking, no happiness in the rudimentary state; no -pleasure equal to that which awaits the resurrected spirit in those -beautiful mansions where it shall forever bathe in the eternal sunlight -of its Father’s love. I cannot find words to describe to you the -magnificent creations of Him from whom all order, beauty, and harmony -proceed. - -543. I am surrounded by every thing that can delight the eye, please -the ear, and gratify the taste. I have every facility for studying all -the principles in the vast universe of matter. - -544. In the higher spiritual states perfect peace and tranquillity -reign: no strife mars the harmony of the celestial abodes. - -545. My mission is to instruct spirits in the lower circles, and to -raise them from their degraded condition. - -546. Every spirit follows those pursuits that are most congenial to him. - -547. Every spirit has a sphere of utility, and finds his true position -on entering the spheres. - -Brother, the years of your external life are drawing to a close. -When your initial term is finished, you will enter upon an unending -series of moral and intellectual developments; then you will be fully -compensated for all that you have endured in the cause of truth on -earth. Your present life, remember, is but the prelude to ineffable -joys in the world beyond the grave. Thank God, your barque is not -drifting rudderless and pilotless on the great ocean of time. No! she -is well-manned and equipped, and pursues her direct course, fearing -neither Scylla nor Charybdis. - -Robert, you have acted nobly and fearlessly in defending the great -cause of humanity. We are watching your movements with great interest. -Continue to devote your mental energies to the development of spiritual -facts, and we will aid you when conditions favour. Farewell. - - C. W. H. - - - CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS. - - _Sixty-four Queries addressed to a Convocation of Worthies from the - Spirit World; also, the Replies given by them, and confirmed under - conditions which no mortal could pervert._ - - -548. Having received many pages of communication from my father, -sister, brother, and certain other spirit friends, on the subject of -the spirit world, and having been urged by him and other inhabitants of -that world to publish the information thus communicated, I represented, -at a time when this honoured being reported his presence, that I felt a -reluctance at publishing solely on the authority of _my relations_; and -requested that certain distinguished spirits, who, as I had been told, -had attended one of my lectures at Boston, should sanction a synopsis -of the facts which I had learned respecting the spirit world. (409 to -547.) - -549. The propriety of my request being admitted, it was appointed that -on Monday, the 18th of February, 1855, at nine o’clock, there should -be a convocation of some of the worthies in question at the dwelling -of the excellent medium employed. Accordingly, soon after my arrival -there, at the appointed time, my father reported himself, and the -following names were spelt out as being present: - - George Washington, - J. Q. Adams, - Wm. H. Harrison, - A. Jackson, - Henry Clay, - Benjamin Franklin, - W. E. Channing, - H. K. White, - Isaac Newton, - Byron, - Martha Washington, - Besides relatives and friends. - -550. The queries subjoined were then read successively, pausing, of -course, for an answer to each in turn. - -551. The answers were given through an instrument analogous to that -represented by Fig. 1, Plate 4, and described on the page opposite to -the plate. - -552. Finally, after all the queries had been answered agreeably to the -usual conditions, a confirmation of the whole was given _under test -conditions_, as explained in the page opposite Plate 4. - -553. Relying on these conditions as competent to secure the issue -against the control of the medium or that of any other mortal, the -question was put, “Have all the answers been correctly communicated?” -In reply, the index moved so as to point to the word “Yes,” and the -following address was made at the same time: - -554. Friend, we have heard your questions, and severally affirm that we -have answered them as recorded by you. - -555. It is to be understood that all the subjoined inquiries were -answered simply in the affirmative, excepting where a qualified answer -made more words necessary than the word “Yes,” by itself. The queries -having been previously reduced to writing, the answers were written -down by me at once. - -556. (1.) Is it true that within a space lying between the earth -and the lunar orbit there are seven concentric regions, denominated -spheres, which may be called the country of spirits; that this country -has all the features of terrestrial scenery, but with a much greater -beauty, even in the third sphere, while the beauty of the other four -spheres is greater in proportion as they are higher? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -557. (2.) Is it true that in those regions there are mountains, plains, -rivers, lakes, brooks, rills, trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and every -attribute of the most admired portions of this lower sphere? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -558. (3.) Is it true that, by the higher spirits, music, poetry, and -all the sciences and fine arts, are highly and zealously cultivated, -and that the pleasures of social intercourse are more highly enjoyed -than upon earth? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -559. (4.) Are the narratives of their translation to the spirit world, -which I have received from my sister, brother, William Wiggins, and -the spirit Maria, to be relied on as coming from them, and as correct -in their representations of the usual process of transference to the -spiritual world after death? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -560. (5.) How many spheres are there, this world being the first in the -series? - -_Ans._ Seven. - -561. (6.) How many inhabited by spirits? - -_Ans._ Six. - -562. (7.) Are there subdivisions? if so, how many in each sphere? - -_Ans._ Six. - -563. (8.) Are the subdivisions equidistant? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -564. (9.) How are they designated? - -_Ans._ Either as circles or planes. - -565. (10.) Are they concentric with each other and with this globe? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -566. (11.) At what distance from the terrestrial surface does the lower -boundary of the second sphere, or first spiritual abode, commence? - -_Ans._ Sixty miles. - -567. (12.) Are the atmospheres of the spheres more rare in proportion -as they are more elevated? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -568. (13.) Do they increase in beauty as they are higher in the series? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -569. (14.) How are they illuminated? - -_Ans._ By a peculiar sun within the spiritual spheres. - -570. (15.) Is our sun visible in the spirit world? - -_Ans._ No. - -571. (16.) If lighted by a peculiar spiritual sun invisible in our -mundane region, do the rays of that sun consist of undulations of an -all-pervading ethereal fluid, analogous to that assumed to exist by the -undulationists? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -572. (17.) Or do they depend upon the last-mentioned fluid for -existence? - -_Ans._ No. - -573. (18.) Are there not peculiar elementary principles appropriate, -severally, to the spiritual world, and likewise to the material world? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -574. (19.) Is it not an error to suppose that any of the ponderable -elements recognised by chemistry can contribute to the organization of -the person of an imponderable spirit? - -_Ans._ Of course, not without a loss of ponderosity, which involves a -loss of identity or a transformation. - -575. (20.) Is it not luminiferous matter which causes the effulgence -of spirits, analogous in its effects to that of luminiferous insects, -though consisting of a spiritual material entirely different from those -which enter into the luminiferous matter of insects? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -576. (21.) Are spirits in the lowest level of the second sphere -destitute of effulgence? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -577. (22.) Are they absolutely enveloped in a dark halo? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -578. (23.) Is reformation indicated first by diminished darkness, and -subsequently by augmented effulgence? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -579. (24.) Is the sphere of a spirit known by the relative brightness -or darkness of his halo? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -580. (25.) Is the lower circle of the second sphere disagreeable as to -its scenery? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -581. (26.) Is spirit Maria’s description of the spheres correct? (505 -to 523.) - -_Ans._ Yes. - -582. (27.) Does this feature lessen as the circles are higher? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -583. (28.) Do the last-mentioned circles present an aspect less -agreeable than that of our sphere? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -584. (29.) At what point does the scenery become superior to any in our -world? - -_Ans._ In the third sphere. - -585. (30.) What designates the boundaries of the spheres, so as to make -spirits perceive when they are passing through the partition between -one and another? - -_Ans._ Diversity of impression made upon the spirit. - -586. (31.) What confines a spirit to his proper level, so that none can -mount above it into a sphere to which he does not belong? - -_Ans._ A moral specific gravity, in which the weight is inversely as -the merit, prevents the spirit from rising above his proper level. - -587. (32.) Are spirits of different densities rarer or more refined in -constitution as they are higher in rank? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -588. (33.) Has the most dense or most undeveloped spirit any weight? if -not, how are they denser than those who have progressed farther? - -_Ans._ They are in the spheres heavy as compared with other spirits, -but their weight would not influence a scale-beam in this mundane -sphere. - -589. (34.) If the lowest have no weight, wherefore are they more -competent to give physical manifestations by moving ponderable bodies? - -_Ans._ They do not act by weight, but all spirits, under favourable -conditions and with certain means, possess, in a minute degree, a -portion of that power possessed to an infinite extent by the Deity, of -annulling gravitation and vis inertiæ; and though they cannot exercise -such powers without the aid of a medium, the medium is to them as an -implement in the hands of a human being. - -590. (35.) How are such movements produced consistently with the law -that action and reaction are equal and contrary? - -_Ans._ Gravity and vis inertiæ being neutralized, the physical law of -action and reaction does not prevail against the spirit volition. - -591. (36.) Do spirits employ their limbs in effecting manifestations? - -_Ans._ Not necessarily. - -592. (37.) Have spirits a power of creating that which they desire? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -593. (38.) Like the genius of Aladdin’s lamp, can spirits within their -sphere create habitations at their bidding? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -594. (39.) Does this creative power exist in the spirits of each -sphere, or is it denied, as I have been informed, to those of the -second sphere? - -_Ans._ It is denied. - -595. (40.) Is this creative power more extensive as the sphere to which -the spirit belongs is more elevated? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -596. (41.) Are the spirits of the third sphere happy? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -597. (42.) Does happiness become greater as the rank of the spirit -becomes higher? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -598. (43.) Do spirits of infants go to the seventh sphere? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -599. (44.) Does an infant dying before noticing any thing go to that -sphere? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -600. (45.) Does it require care analogous to that given to infants in -this world? - -_Ans._ It is carefully instructed. - -601. (46.) Do infant spirits come down and reside among kindred more -or less, visiting, as it grows older, those mundane scenes which may -compensate it for its loss of opportunities by premature death? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -602. (47.) Does not the inability to communicate with its kindred cause -it to be unhappy under these circumstances? - -_Ans._ It is not rendered unhappy, in consequence of the peculiar -manner in which such circumstances act upon the spirit mind. - -603. (48.) Do such spirits, as for instance, those going to the other -world while children, but having attained mature age, say forty, -become companions for their parents and friends in the spheres who may -have died after their maturity, or is there a too great simplicity or -childishness? - -_Ans._ In purity and simplicity they are contented to live. - -604. (49.) Is the love of children, who have died very young, as great -to their parents and relations who remain in this world as if they -continued to live in their society? - -_Ans._ Greater. - -605. (50.) Is there a deference shown to spirits on the same plane -commensurate with their superiority in learning, science, and wisdom? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -606. (51.) The object of marriage in this world being manifestly -the perpetuation of the species, consistently with the preservation -of refinement and the welfare of offspring, and there being no such -motive in the spiritual world, how can there be any motive for any such -indissoluble ties? - -_Ans._ Between spirits joined by matrimony in the spheres there is a -greater blending of mutual self-love into one common sentiment than in -any other friendship. - -607. (52.) Have spirits any fluid circulating through an arterial and -venous system, which is subjected to a respiratory process, analogous -to that which our blood undergoes? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -608. (53.) As spirits are weightless, is not this fluid devoid of -weight? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -609. (54.) Has it any colour? - -_Ans._ No. - -610. (55.) Does the gaseous or ethereal matter respired by spirits -pervade the mundane sphere? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -611. (56.) Do mortals breathe it as a means of sustenance to their -spiritual organization while encased by this “mortal coil?” - -_Ans._ Yes. - -612. (57.) Does it supply the nervous system? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -613. (58.) Is it communicated to inferior animals? - -_Ans._ Yes. - -614. (59.) Do fishes require atmospheric oxygen while swimming, (water -consisting of 8 parts in 9 of pure oxygen,) in order to get at the -spiritual gas associated with the former? - -_Ans._ The spiritual gas imperceptibly accompanying atmospheric air is -especially necessary to fishes. - -615. (60.) Creed is alleged to be productive of no obstruction to -ascendency in the spiritual world. - -_Ans._ Belief, being an _involuntary_ act of the mind, has no merit or -culpability attached to it, excepting so far as it is the consequence -or is productive of prejudices; the advance of a spirit is retarded by -these defects. - -616. (61.) As in the spiritual world there is no necessity, desire, -or passion which spirits can gratify by violence or fraud, on what is -virtue founded? Where there is no motive or power to do wrong, where is -the merit of doing right? - -_Ans._ In the spheres, vice is displayed by the endurance of bad -passions; virtue is manifested by love, purity, and the aspiration for -improvement. - -617. (62.) As the diversities of human character are clearly the -results of organization and education, neither of which can be -controlled by the human beings whose merit or demerit is the inevitable -consequence, how can there be any culpability? It is true that a man -can act as he wills; but is not his will the creature of his passions -and reason jointly? If his passions be increased, will not reason be -less capable of controlling them? and, _vice versâ_, if his passions be -enfeebled or his reason strengthened, will not his passions have less -sway? Does it not follow that while we must in self-defence resist or -restrain those who cannot govern themselves, should we not commiserate -all who have the misfortune to be so badly constituted? - -_Ans._ We are no more able to answer that than you. - -618. (63.) When a being virtuously constituted is murdered by one of -the opposite character, who is most an object of commiseration? which -is most favoured as a creature of God? Is not the difference between -these beings analogous to that between the dog and the wolf? Both -creatures of God—one is to be extirpated, the other cherished, as an -inevitable consequence of the laws of creation? - -_Ans._ The victim is most favoured. - -619. (64.) Has not the analogy between a wicked or a savage man, and -one who has the advantage of a good organization and education, a -better exemplification in the case of a wild dog, and one brought up -by a kind master, since the wild dog is reclaimable, may be reformed, -and so may the bad or savage man. Hence, in the spheres, is not -punishment or restraint made with a view to reformation rather than as -a retribution for inevitable defects? - -_Ans._ Correct. - - - EXPOSITION OF THE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD. - - -620. From the information conveyed by communications submitted in the -preceding pages, as well as others, it appears that there are seven -spheres recognised in the spirit world. The terrestrial abode forms the -first or rudimental sphere. - -621. At the distance of about sixty miles from the terrestrial -surface, the spirit world commences. It consists of six bands or -zones, designated as spheres, surrounding the earth, so as to have -one common centre with it and with each other. An idea of these rings -may be formed from that of the planet Saturn, excepting that they are -comparatively much nearer to their planet, and that they have their -broad surfaces parallel to the planet, and at right angles to the -ecliptic, instead of being like Saturn’s rings, so arranged that their -surfaces are parallel to the plane in which his ecliptic exists. - -622. Supposing the earth to be represented by a globe of thirteen and -a half inches in diameter, the lower surface of the lowest of the -spiritual spheres, if represented in due proportion to the actual -distance from the earth, would be only one-tenth of an inch from the -terrestrial surface. The bands observed over the regions in the planet -Jupiter which correspond with our tropical regions, agree very well -in relative position with those which are assigned to our spiritual -spheres. They are probably the spiritual spheres of that planet. - -It having struck me as possible that these bands might be due to -spiritual spheres appertaining to Jupiter, I inquired of the spirits; -their reply was confirmatory. - -623. The objection naturally occurs that ours are invisible to us; yet -we know that light may be polarized in passing through transparent -masses so as to produce effects in one case which it does not in others -when not so polarized. It would have to pass through the spheres of -Jupiter, and return through them again. This light, twice subjected -to the ordeal of passing through the spirit world, when contrasted -with that which goes and returns without any such ordeal, may undergo -a change of a nature to produce an effect upon the eye, when, in the -absence of this contrast, no visual change should be perceptible. - -624. I am aware that it has been alleged that the bands do not appear -always to occupy the same boundaries, and at times appear separated -or more unequally distributed than at others. This may be due in part -to actual changes which the spiritual essence may undergo as to its -relative position, or optical delusions, if not deviations, resulting -from the susceptibility of polarizing causes. - -625. Possibly some peculiarity in the reflecting surface of the planet -may be productive of such polarizing variations in the state of the -light as to cause a difference sufficient for detection. - -626. Alum, transparent to the rays of light, intercepts nearly the -whole of the rays of heat. Opaque black glass intercepts the rays of -light entirely, those of heat but partially. - -627. Rock salt, a substance analogous to alum, intercepts radiant heat -only to a very small extent. - -628. When the rays of the setting sun fall upon the glass of windows, -we see one portion reflected with great effulgence, yet another goes -through the glass. The last-mentioned portion of the rays received on a -second pane are reflected, while those which were reflected will pass -through another pane without reflection. - -629. This may demonstrate that the conditions requisite to the -permeability of media by rays is affected by diversities of intestinal -arrangements which are inscrutable to us. - -630. The interval between the lower boundaries of the first spiritual -sphere and the second is estimated at thirty miles as a maximum, but -this interval is represented to be less, as the spheres between which -it may exist are more elevated or remote from the terrestrial centre. - -631. Each sphere is divided into six “circles” or plains. More -properly these may be described as concentric zones, occupying each -about one-sixth of the space comprised within the boundaries of the -sphere. There being six subdivisions to each of the six spheres, in all -there must be thirty-six gradations. - -632. These boundaries are not marked by any visible partition, but -spirits have in this respect a peculiar sense, which makes them feel -when they are passing the boundaries of one sphere in order to get to -the next. - -633. This allegation of the existence of an invisible spirit world -within the clear azure space intervening between the surface of this -globe and the lunar orbit may startle the reader; and yet this idea may -have been presented by Scripture to the same mind, without awakening -skepticism. It was urged by a spirit friend—Is it more wonderful that -you should find our habitations invisible, than that we are invisible? - -634. It is plain that between the lowest degrees of vice, ignorance, -and folly, and the highest degrees of virtue, learning, and wisdom, -there are many gradations. When we are translated to the spheres, -we take a rank proportional to our merit, which seems to be there -intuitively susceptible of estimation by the law above alluded to, -of the grossness being greater as the character is more imperfect. -Both the spirits and spheres are represented as having a gradation -in constitutional refinement, so that the sphere to which a spirit -belongs is intuitively manifest. Rank is determined by a sort of moral -specific gravity, in which merit is inversely as weight. Another -means of distinction is a circumambient halo by which every spirit -is accompanied, which passes from a darkness to effulgency as the -spirit belongs to a higher plane. Even mortals are alleged to be -surrounded with a halo visible to spirits, although not to themselves. -Intuitively, from the extent and nature of this halo, spirits perceive -the sphere to which any mundane being belongs. The effulgence of the -higher spirits is represented as splendid. As soon as emancipated from -their corporeal tenement, spirits enter the spheres, and are entitled -to a station higher in direct proportion to their morality, wisdom, -knowledge, and intellectual refinement. - -635. The first spiritual sphere, or the second in the whole series, is -as large as all the other five above it. This is the hell or Hades of -the spirit world, where all sensual, malevolent, selfish beings reside. -The next sphere above this, or the third in the whole series, is the -habitation of all well-meaning persons, however bigoted, fanatical, or -ignorant. Here they are tolerably happy. - -636. In proportion as spirits improve in purity, benevolence, and -wisdom, they ascend. They may ascend as love-spirits, in consequence -of the two first-mentioned attributes; but cannot go up on account of -wisdom alone. A knave, however wise, cannot advance in the spheres. -There are, in fact, two modes of ascent—love, so called, and love and -wisdom united. Those who go up in love are called _love_-spirits; those -who unite both qualifications are called wisdom-spirits. A feminine -spirit, who had been remarkable for her disinterested devotion to her -relatives and friends, ascended almost forthwith to the fifth sphere. -My friend W. W. had an ascent equally rapid to the same sphere. Yet -another spirit, who was fully as free from vice as either of those -above alluded to, took many years to ascend in _wisdom_ to the -fifth sphere, not being satisfied to rise unless accompanied by the -attributes of wisdom, as well as love. Spirit B. alleged that because -he was a free-thinker he went up more quickly than another spirit, A. -A., being questioned, admitted that B. had got on more speedily, in -consequence of superior liberality. - -637. Washington is in the seventh sphere. - -638. In the spheres, diversity of creed has no influence, excepting so -far as its adoption indicates badness of heart and narrowness of mind, -and has been of a nature to injure the moral and intellectual character. - -639. Degradation ensues as an inevitable consequence of vice, and as -the means of reform, _not as vindictive punishment_. God is represented -as all love, and is never named without the most zealous devotion. -Spirits in any sphere can descend into any sphere below that to which -they belong, but cannot ascend above this sphere. They are surrounded -by a halo, which is brighter in proportion as their sphere is higher. -They have an intuitive power of judging of each other and of mortals. -Attachments originating in this life are strengthened, while hatred -passes away. The spirits in the upper spheres have “_ineffable_” -happiness. The sufferings of those below are negative, rather than -positive. They are made to feel shame at a degradation which is -rendered intuitively evident to themselves and all other spirits. But -all are capable of improvement, so as to have elevation and happiness -within their reach sooner or later. The higher spirits are always ready -to assist sinners by kind admonition. (92.) - -640. My brother alleges himself to hold the office of a teacher. By -teachers, spirits fresh from this world, called the “rudimental -sphere,” are examined to determine their rank. - -641. Spirits are carried along with our globe by their moral affections -and affinity, which upon them acts as gravitation upon material bodies. -They are just where they wish themselves to be, as they move in -obedience to their moral impulses or aspirations, not having a gross, -material body to carry along with them. - -642. Spirits of the higher spheres control more or less those below -them in station, who are sent by them to impress mortals virtuously. -Spirits are not allowed to interpose directly, so as to alter the -course of events upon earth. They are not allowed to aid in any -measure to obtain wealth. - -643. Blessed spirits are endowed with a power competent to the -gratification of every rational want. They enjoy, as I am authorized -to say by the convocation of spirits to whom allusion has been made, a -power like that ascribed to the genius of Aladdin’s lamp. (593.) - -644. There is nothing of the nature of marketable property in the -spirit world, since every inhabitant above the second sphere, or Hades, -has as much as he wants, and needs no more to purchase the requisites -for his enjoyment or subsistence, than we need to buy air to breathe. - -645. It ought also to be explained that after spirits reach the -highest plain or circle of the seventh sphere, they are represented as -being entitled to enter the supernal heaven, taking place among the -ministering angels of the Deity. - -646. Whether the connubial tie endures or not, is optional. Hence -those who have not found their matrimonial connection a source of -happiness in this world, are at liberty to seek a new hymeneal union -in the spirit world. Where there have been a plurality of husbands or -wives, those unite who find themselves happy in doing so. But, as if -to indemnify mortals for the crosses in marriage or in love, or for -the dreariness of mundane celibacy, all are destined in the spheres to -find a counterpart with whom they may be happy, there being peculiarly -ardent pleasurable emotions attached to the connubial union in the -spheres which mortals cannot understand. - -647. Infants grow as they would have done upon earth, nearly. They are -nursed and educated, and on account of their higher purity have, in -this point of view, as much elevation as their relatives who attain -great worldly pre-eminence. - -648. The alleged motives for our existence in this rudimental sphere, -is the necessity of contrast to enable us to appreciate the immunity -from suffering of the higher spheres. Infants in this respect are at a -disadvantage; but being unable to appreciate their deficiency, do not -grieve therefor. “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘twere folly to be wise.” - -649. Allusion has already been made to the condition of those who have -departed from this world during infancy, or prior to maturity. A letter -from one of my sons who died when five months old has been introduced -into this work, (470.) The change which ensues on spiritual birth, has -been described. (488.) - -650. Among the most wonderful facts narrated by my spirit father, -and sanctioned by the convocation of spirits, is the existence of a -spiritual sun concentric with ours, and yet emitting independent rays -for the spirit world, not for our world; while the rays of our sun do -not reach the world above mentioned. - -651. Further, the fact that spirits respire a vital fluid inscrutable -to our chemists, although it coexists everywhere with oxygen, and -furnishes our spirits, while encased in the flesh, with an appropriate -spiritual nourishment. - -652. Thus is there another world, existing concentrically and in some -degree associated with ours, which is of infinitely greater importance -to our enduring existence than that wherein we now abide. - -653. After I had written the preceding exposition of the knowledge -imparted to me of the spirit world, I solicited an intercommunion -with Washington, to submit the summary for his sanction. Accordingly, -he was ushered into my presence by a reliable spirit, and my -exposition, and the pages contrasting the heaven of Spiritualism with -that of Scripture, were read, and received his sanction under _test -conditions_. (See Plate 4.) - -654. In this, my first interview, I premised that I wished to let -him know that I had always been one of his most devoted political -advocates, having always styled myself a _Washington_ Federalist, and -that I had as early as 1812 embodied my sentiments in some verses. He -said he was aware that such verses were written by me, but would wish -me to repeat them. I obeyed his request. They are as follows: - -655. - Hail glorious day, which gave Washington birth, - To Columbia and liberty dear, - When a guardian angel descended on earth - To shed blessings o’er many a year. - - Though heroes and statesmen, by glory enshrined, - May be seen in the temple of fame, - No hero or statesman unblemished we find, - Unless under Washington’s name. - - Wealth, titles, and power, were by him ever spurn’d, - Of heroes too often the aim; - From a king or his favours indignant he turn’d, - Only feeling his country’s high claim. - - To this ever true, in her trouble’s dark night, - Intent on her welfare alone, - Against her proud tyrants, he urged the dread fight, - Till lie forced them her freedom to own. - - Next in France a strange demon uplifted its head, - All the nations of earth to bewray, - And into its snares would Columbia have led, - Had not Washington warn’d her to stay. - - Best and wisest of men! when counsell’d by thee, - Could thy people their treasure withhold? - When ruled by another, then could they agree - To lavish their millions untold? - - By Genet insulted, by slander aggrieved, - If thy wrongs unrevenged could remain, - For denouncing the men whom false he believed, - By a mob could thy Lingan be slain? - - Can the voice of the country for whom he had bled, - E’er sanction a murder so base, - Or the tear-drops of millions, piously shed, - The deep stain from our annals efface? - -656. As soon as the last words in the preceding verses were recited, I -was thrilled by the following effusion: - -657. _My Friend_: How my heart swells with grateful emotion, at hearing -that beautiful effusion from your lips! Yes, my friend, I strove while -on earth, to carry out the impressions which were made on my mind -by superior intelligences, and if I failed, my countrymen will bear -testimony. - -658. Your noble father is a friend of mine, and I feel a love for you -commensurate with his worth. He is foremost in the ranks of spiritual -intelligences, and ready to act when duty calls. - -659. My friend, I sympathize with you in your arduous undertaking; but -let me assure you that your reward will be greater than the suffering -you have endured. Yes, most nobly you have fought against error; and -you will yet place the banner of freedom high upon the battlement of -truth. Farewell, noble scion of a noble man! - - GEO. WASHINGTON. - - - APOLOGY FOR MY CONVERSION. - - - _Apology for my change of opinion and belief in the existence and - agency of Spirits._ - -660. I do not conceive that in my change of opinion I have been -involved in any inconsistency of principle. It always appeared to me -that in explaining the planetary movements, after arriving at the -Newtonian boundary made by momentum and gravitation, there could be -no alternative between appealing to the spiritual power of God, or -resorting to atheism. An appeal to the power of God has always been -my choice; nevertheless holding that wondrous power to be of a nature -wholly unintelligible to finite man. (57 to 87.) - -661. Confining the range of my philosophy to the laws of motion, -magnificently illustrated by the innumerable solar systems, but no less -operative in every minute mechanical movement, I hold that I could -only come to the same conclusion as Faraday, that if tables _when -associated with human beings_ moved, it must in some way be due to -those beings, since, agreeably to all experience of the laws of matter -in the _material_ world, inanimate bodies cannot originate motion. -But as when the planetary motions are considered, any hypothesis -fails which does not account for the rationality of the result, and -therefore involves the agency not only of a powerful but a rational -cause; so the manifestations of Spiritualism, involving both reason -and power, might consistently justify me in looking for agents endowed -with the reason and power manifested by the phenomena. This power being -_invisible_ and _imponderable_, and at the same time _rational_, there -was no alternative but to consider it as _spiritual_, no less than that -to which planetary motion is due. In its potentiality the power thus -manifested might be extremely minute as compared with the potentiality -of the Creator; still it had to be of the same spiritual nature. - -662. It has not appeared unreasonable to infer that the soul in -assuming the spirit form should acquire a power of which material -beings are destitute, and of which they can only conceive an idea from -its necessity to the operations of God. Parting with its material -attributes, were the soul not to acquire others, even if it could -exist, it would be perfectly helpless. Hence, in becoming an immaterial -spirit, it must acquire powers indispensable and appropriate to that -state of existence. - -663. Since we know that the animal frame for the most part after death, -on the exposure to the air, warmth, and moisture, returns to the -atmosphere whence it is mainly derived, it follows that on undergoing -that awful change the soul must take the spirit form, unless it perish -with its material tenement. So far, then, all who believe in the -immortality of the soul, must concur with spiritualists that on dying -we become spirits. - -664. It will then be admitted by all who believe in the immortality -of the soul that, as for every mortal that dies a spirit is born, -innumerable spirits must exist. Is it not then reasonable to consider -them as agents in producing phenomena which can only be ascribed to -invisible, imponderable, rational, and affectionate beings, especially -when they themselves sanction this inference by word and deed? - -665. Were a tyrant to enclose a human being while alive within a -cast-iron vessel, the aperture through which the introduction should -be made being closed by a stopple soldered in air-tight, all the -ponderable elements of the corporeal body would be retained; but can -any one who believes the soul to survive the body, think that it would -remain included in that vessel so long as it should endure? Cast-iron -coats itself with a carbonated peroxide, vulgarly called rust, and then -undergoes no farther change; so that the corporeal elements might be -retained to an infinite time. But could the soul be thus imprisoned, -perhaps to eternity? Could the tyranny of a man thus imprison an -immortal soul? Does it not follow that the soul would not be confined -by the air-tight and apparently impenetrable metallic vessel? - - - _Invisibility of the Soul._ - -666. The invisibility of the soul in leaving the body, must be -admitted, since, however the dying may be surrounded by their friends -and nurses, and vigilantly guarded after death by watches, as customary -with many, the soul is not seen to leave the body. It must, therefore, -be invisible, and capable of permeating cast-iron or any other -material within which, while alive, an immortal being might be enclosed -air-tight. - - - _On the Whereabout of Heaven._ - -667. The qualities of invisibility and penetrative power being -necessarily conceded to the soul, is it unreasonable to extend this -attribute to its habitation in the skies: to the country of spirits? - -668. In communicating with a friendly spirit, I adverted to the -difficulty of inducing people to conceive that in the clear azure space -existing between the earth and moon, there should be scenery like ours, -with plains, hills, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, seas, and every -variety of edifice in greater perfection than upon earth. “You do not -see us,” said my friend; “then why should you wonder at not seeing our -world?” - -669. It is quite evident that no such obstacle stood in the way of -belief in the existence of heaven among the Jews, as it is constantly -referred to as being above; Noah’s deluge came through the windows of -heaven; and this idea has been sustained in the language of Christ, as -well as of the Hebrew prophets. - -670. Elijah is represented as having visibly ascended to heaven. That -the vicinity and invisibility of heaven are not at war with Scripture, -is alleged in a recent work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh of the German -Reformed Church, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He quotes approvingly a -passage in a work, entitled “Physicial Theory of Another Life,” by -Taylor, which I subjoin: - -671. Taylor suggests—“That within the space occupied by the visible -and ponderable universe, and on all sides of us, there is existing and -moving another element, fraught with another species of life, corporeal -indeed, and various in its orders, but not open to the cognízance of -those who are confined to the conditions of animal organization, not to -be seen nor heard, nor to be felt by man.” “Our present conjecture,” -remarks the author in another place, “reaches to the extent of -supposing that within the space encircled by the sidereal revolutions, -there exists and moves a second universe, not less real than the one -we are at present conversant with: a universe elaborate in structure, -and replete with life; life agitated with momentous interests, and -perhaps by frivolous interests; a universe conscious perhaps of the -material spheres, or unconscious of them, and firmly believing (as we -do) _itself_ to be the only reality. Our planets in their sweep do not -perforate the structure of this invisible creation; our suns do not -scorch its plains: for the two collateral systems are not connected by -any active affinities.” - -672. This would bring “the things which are not seen,” indeed, near to -and around us. To enter the other world would not be so much a removal -in space, as just to be made loose from, or to become insensible to, -the conditions of this life. Death will be only the destruction or -disappearance of human and earthly affinities, and directly we shall -be surrounded by affinities adapted to our new state of existence, and -shall find for ourselves a congenial home in and around our present -habitation. - -673. Much is argued in favour of this theory. It is said in no place to -interfere with Scripture, but rather to be countenanced by incidental -hints and allusions. It is said to be made highly probable by the -known truths of physical science. An unseen world, in all respects -material, inhabited by corporeal beings, it is said, is possible. There -are material elements which are not cognizable to any of our senses -except by a round of research and experiment, and then only in their -remote effects, as, for instance, electricity. The atmosphere also, and -light, are material, and yet so subtle as almost entirely to evade our -unassisted observation; and may there not be still others as yet to us -unknown? We are related to, and become acquainted with, the external -world by the medium of the five senses; but who will say that there -are not other senses hidden in possibility in our nature which may by -means of other affinities communicate with a world far more refined in -its constitution, with which we cannot now come in contact? Science -has discovered living animalculæ in the solidest substances; the air -we breathe and the water we drink are the homes of myriads of beings, -and though unseen by the naked eye, these elements are swarming with -miniature life! It seems to be God’s motto, “_Multum in parvo_”—life in -life, world in world, universe in universe! With these known facts in -science before us, may we not, it is asked, consider the above theory -probable? - -674. It is further supposed that this invisible world around us is -the after stage of the present life; and as it is a stage of being in -all respects superior to this, it may be that its inhabitants have a -knowledge of us, though we have not of them, just as we are acquainted -with grades of animalcule life beneath us, when it can hardly be -supposed that they know any thing of our existence. Hence, too, in some -exceptive cases it may be possible for them to break through the veil -of separation, and appear in various ways unto men on the platform of -human life. Then we are indeed “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,” -who stand around, or bend over us, and look with deep interest upon -the struggle of life, and when they see it unequal in the case of the -saints, they break through in their ardour, and become ministering -spirits to those who are heirs of eternal life. - -675. It is also supposed that these beings in the world unseen may -have capacities to communicate with the remotest inhabitants of God’s -universe. The facilities of communication may be so great in these -ethereal climes, that space is annihilated, and the different hosts of -intelligences in the wide universe may commune with each other and God -as one family in their “Father’s house.” - -676. There is a surprising degree of coincidence between the -speculations comprised in this quotation, and the accounts which I have -received respecting the spirit world from some of those occupying an -elevated grade therein. It has been observed above that if the soul -be immortal, it cannot be imagined to remain in the grave, since the -greater part of the human organization in hot weather escapes through -putrefaction, as vapour or gas. Hence the endurance of the soul after -death involves spiritual existence. We must, therefore, on dying, take -an invisible spiritual form. - -677. Believers in revelation stare incredulously when mention is made -of a _spirit_, as if its existence were an impossibility; yet it -has been shown, that according to orthodoxy, death extricating the -soul from the body, it must forthwith commence its spiritual life. -The existence of spirits being thus established, that they should -communicate with us would be more probable than that they should not, -excepting that it has not been heretofore generally known to take -place. But spirits allege that the manifestations which have been -taking place for some years have been the result of efforts especially -made by a delegation of philanthropic spirits, to break through the -partition which has so long prevented the communication to mortals of a -correct knowledge of the existence of the human soul after death, and -the requisites to the attainment of celestial happiness. - -678. The accomplishment of this object is a step in the progressive -advancement and the means of improvement possessed by the celestial -world, analogous to the invention of printing or of the telegraph in -the mundane sphere. - -679. The management is intrusted to advanced spirits acquainted with -the affairs of both worlds. Agreeably to Scripture, heaven is _above_, -over our heads; to prevent the Tower of Babel from reaching it, a -confusion of tongues was ordained. The second commandment speaks of -heaven _above_ and earth beneath. Christ “descended into hell,” -according to the apostles’ creed; of course, hell is below. “Whosoever -calls his brother a fool, is in danger of hell-fire.” That hell and -fire should be thus associated is therefore consistent with the -observations of geologists, who infer that the interior of the earth -consists of ignited matter of which volcanoes are the safety-tubes, -however inconsistent with reason to suppose immortal souls to be -broiling therein. - -680. But enlightened Christians do not, I believe, locate hell within -this earth, nor call in fire to aid in their conceptions of it. -Evidently, the more rational idea of the future abode of souls is that -of its being above every point on the earth’s surface, and equidistant -therefrom. This would involve that of a space concentric with the -earth, and which falls in with the idea of that comprising the spheres -of Spiritualism. - -681. If we leave this earth, in order to imagine any location beyond -the range of astronomical bodies, it would place the locality at a -distance, according to Herschel, requiring nineteen hundred thousand -years for souls to travel, moving with the velocity of light, two -hundred thousand miles in a second. In one of my lectures, in 1842, I -suggested that heaven might be situated at that central space about -which all the constellations of the universe have been supposed to -revolve. - -682. But if we infer a general place of reception for souls, then in -that celestial emporium every soul from all the myriads of planets, -of all the solar systems in the universe, must congregate. Far more -rational does it not seem that our heaven should be associated with our -own planet, in the welfare, the past history, and future prospects of -which the souls who were born upon it, must take pre-eminent interest? - -683. The separation of any heaven into spheres seems inevitable, since -the association of spirits according to their virtue and intellectual -acquirements and capacity seems indispensable to harmony and happiness. -Thus the more virtuous, wise, and cultivated spirits are, the higher -their spheres of existence. - -684. Let any person contemplate the information respecting the spirit -world given in the preceding pages, in the communications from my -spirit relations and others, and then say whether, in receiving them as -true, any believer in immortality, as vaguely portrayed in the gospel, -will not make a beneficial exchange. - -685. How can any person become a spiritualist without forthwith finding -an irresistible impulse to conduct himself in this world, so as to -acquire eminence in the next? For what are we all working? is it not -for happiness, “our being’s end and aim,” the difference being only -in the mode by which it is sought? By some it is through the good of -others as well as of themselves; yet too many seek it without regard -to that portion of their fellow-creatures whom they may deem it their -interest to oppress, deceive, cheat, or rob. - -686. But even these will perceive how much better it will be to pursue -the opposite course, since every wrong done by them here, will have to -be expiated by a proportionate penance in the spirit world. - -687. By every good action resulting from the wish to do as we would be -done by, we advance a step higher in that heavenly stairway by which we -may ultimately reach the supernal heaven, and become ministering angels -of God. - -688. But even during our ascending progression, we shall pass through -a succession of stages wherein every intellectual, social, and amiable -propensity of our nature will be gratified. - -689. In justice to myself, and to give more weight to the inferences -drawn from my laborious investigations, I will subjoin the -correspondence between Mr. Holcomb and myself, which succeeded the -receipt of the letter which has been introduced in the commencement -of my narrative, (128.) So far as my judgment goes, there never was a -letter written of which the facts or inferences are more correct; yet -it appears that so late as the 8th of February I was still a doubter. -The tenor of the correspondence will show that if I was conquered, I -did not yield the ground undisputed, and was vanquished only by facts -and reasons which, when understood or admitted, must produce in others -the conviction which they created in me. If I was the victim of an -intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution did not yield at once to -the miasma. It took some three months to include me among its victims. - - - PHILADELPHIA, January 14, 1854. - -690. _Dear Sir_:—Your letter of the 17th of November met my eye as I -was this morning looking over a file of letters. I am led to write, -therefore, that in consequence of your suggestion, and those of others, -I have been giving my attention to the phenomena to which you alluded. -When I come to any conclusion, I will write again. - -691. I still concur with Faraday, and have seen nothing to make me -believe in the spiritual manifestations. Yet I am not surprised that -the latter should be believed in by those who have that belief, as -there are phenomena which I cannot explain yet, any more than many -which I have seen resulting from jugglery. The converts are, however, -such worthy persons, that I cannot bring myself to suspect them of -deception. I think you must be mistaken as respects a table moving when -left to itself entirely. The circumstances for producing this phenomena -have been repeatedly made favourable by the mediums in my presence, but -excepting in one instance, when it was within reach of the feet, no -motion ensued. - -692. It would, indeed, be a glorious mercy if God would give us some -evidence, which should settle the religious opinions of mankind. - - ROBERT HARE. - - - SOUTHWICK, Mass., Feb. 3d, 1854. - -693. _Dear Sir_: I wish, however, to say something in regard to the -subject-matter of your letter. You say you are not surprised at the -belief of many in Spiritualism, as there are phenomena which you cannot -explain. You also say that you think I must be mistaken “_as respects -a table moving when left to itself entirely_.” I do not think a table -would move if left to itself entirely, since matter cannot put itself -into motion. The great question is, What is the power that makes the -table move? You think it is muscular, and I am certain that it is -something else. When I am looking at the sun in a clear sky, I know -that it shines. No argument would have any influence to make me doubt -the evidence of my senses. There has, no doubt, been a great deal of -jugglery in the world, but shall I doubt the evidence of my senses -on that account? How shall we prove any thing in a court of justice, -if the evidence of our senses is not to be relied upon? While I am -looking at a table, it moves, and I have the same evidence that no -body touches it, that I have that it moves. I see the table tilt up, -and poise itself on two of its four legs, and then on the other two, -and finally it wholly rises from the floor, and seems to float in the -air without any visible support whatever; all this time there are no -persons within six feet of it. In a letter of N. P. Talmadge, published -in the Tribune of May 27th last, he gives an account of his seeing -tables move when nothing visible touched them. I mention _him_, because -I suppose his character and standing would be likely to have weight -with you. It would, however, be very easy to mention a very great many -cases, proved by testimony that would be conclusive in any court of -justice. I supposed that it was too late in the day to doubt facts of -this character, as they are taking place in numerous places in this -country and also in Europe. I suppose this is the reason why Faraday’s -explanation has availed so little to check Spiritualism in England or -France. - -694. I believe Henry Gordon resides now in Philadelphia. I have no -doubt you can see such things for yourself in his presence by attending -a few times. Our judge of probate, who lives a few miles from me, told -me a few days ago that a young lady of his acquaintance put her hands -upon a table and it moved. He then took hold of the table to prevent -the motion, but he had not strength to do it. The table would slide on -the floor, notwithstanding his utmost efforts to prevent it. Now it is -perfectly idle to say that the young lady _unconsciously_ exerted such -a power. The judge ridicules the idea of its being caused by spirits. -He says that it is electricity. You are too well acquainted with the -laws of electricity to believe that under such circumstances it can -produce any such feats. I know of a case, in Springfield City, in which -four respectable merchants, with whom I am acquainted, testify that a -large table, with two of them on it, moved around the room. In that -instance the medium’s hands were on the table. But who can believe that -such a force could be exerted without the movers being conscious of it. -There are cases enough of the same description to fill a volume. - -695. There is another phase of this matter that is worthy of attention, -and that is the intelligence connected with it. You mention cases -where the answers were not correct. Thousands of such cases might be -furnished. In the presence of some of the mediums, almost all the -answers will be false; while in the presence of others, it will be very -rare that a wrong answer is given. Some of the answers being wrong -does not prove that there is no intelligence connected with it. In -the presence of a good medium, a question asked mentally is answered -as readily and as correctly as when asked vocally. I do not depend on -the testimony of others for this. I have found it to be true in my own -experience. In the presence of some mediums, mental questions are not -answered. The foregoing are facts that are well settled if evidence can -settle any thing. To say that we are dupes and fools, decides nothing. -I suppose that I can examine a matter as carefully and intricately as -most men, and I know I am not deceived about the facts. But the cause -is quite another matter. - -696. I suppose you are acquainted with the various and conflicting -explanations that have been given. They all appear to my mind perfectly -absurd and incredible, and no two of them agree. Rev. Dr. Beecher was -appointed by his association to examine and report. He did so, and -decides that the communications are from the spirits of the dead, but -from the evil or unblest portion of them. If it is from spirits, there -is as much evidence that some of them are good, as that others are evil. - -697. I must close. I did not expect an answer, but was glad to hear -from you, and if you make any important discovery, I should be glad -to hear from you again; I am not settled in my mind respecting the -cause of these strange phenomena. I agree with you heartily in your -last remark in your letter, that “it would indeed be a glorious mercy -if God would give us some evidence which should settle the religious -opinions of mankind.” - - Yours, very respectfully, - AMASA HOLCOMB. - - - _In reply to the preceding, so much of a letter from the Author as - relates to Spiritualism._ - - PHILADELPHIA, February 8, 1854. - -698. You believe fully that tables move without contact, because you -have _seen them move_; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them -move without human contact, although I have been at several circles. - -699. You have been much more lucky than I have been as to the -manifestations, whether mechanical or mental. - -700. I shall lose no opportunity of making further observations. I -have no clue to find Gordon. You ought to give me his address, and -communicate all you know respecting him. - - ROBT. HARE. - - - SOUTHWICK, February 20, 1854. - -701. _Dear Sir_: Your letter of February 8th is before me. You did not -say whether you believed in the soul’s immortality or not! This is the -most important of all questions to me, and how is it to be settled? If -the Bible is not to be depended upon, and we have no communications -from the spirit world, what evidence have we of our immortality? I have -been greatly afflicted with doubts upon this subject. It has exceeded -all other afflictions that I have met with. You will of course see at -once how desirous I am that these apparent communications should prove -to be in _reality_ from the spirit world, as that would settle the -question. I seize upon every thing that seems to have a bearing upon -the question of immortality, and I confess that I have strong hopes -that Spiritualism, as it is termed, will settle this question. If it be -true that there is physical force and intelligence, neither of which -proceed from the medium, how is it to be explained? You doubt these -two, but I am as well assured of them as I can be of any thing. - -702. If spirits communicate, it is certain that some of them deceive. -It would appear that there are all sorts of characters, the same as -there are in this world. If you should become satisfied of the two -facts that I mentioned, I should like to have you and other men of -science try your skill at explanation. - -703. I will relate what took place at the first sitting that I ever -attended. It was in Boston, and I went as a perfect stranger. Before -the sitting commenced, and but few had collected, a strolling musician -came along and commenced playing at the door, and every tune played -at the door was beaten or rapped on the table. The medium was in the -room; I saw her walk up to the table and lay her hand on it, and then -walk away, but it made no difference with the raps on the table; they -continued, without any person near it, as long as the tunes were played -at the door. When it came my turn to question, I asked, Are any of my -relatives present? _Ans._ Yes. Will you rap at each letter of your -name, if the alphabet is called over. _Ans._ Yes! The alphabet was -called, and there was a rap at A, one at L, one at F, one at R, one -at E, and one at D,—Alfred: a son that died at the age of twenty-two -years. Among a great many questions, I asked, How many years since you -died. Is it twelve? Is it eleven? Is it ten? Is it nine? Is it eight? -Is it seven? There was a rap at seven, but I asked, Is it six? and -instantly there were rapped........; the seventh was fainter. I said, -He probably means that it is six and a piece, when instantly they were -repeated ........; the last the faintest. The raps were equidistant, -like the ticking of a clock, and about as loud. I supposed at the time -that it was _less_ than seven. After the sitting was over, and we were -preparing to leave, I said, It is possible that we may have mistaken -the time since my son’s death? There was instantly a loud rap on the -table. I then asked, Did you mean seven? and there was instantly an -affirmative. I inquired for the odd months, and the answer was four. -When I got home, I found the true time was seven years, four months, -and two days. These last raps were when no person was within _six feet_ -of the table. I confess myself unable to explain the foregoing without -admitting that it was my son who responded. If you could have such an -opportunity, and inquire for some dear friend whom you loved in life, I -think you would witness what would interest you. - -704. I mention the foregoing as a specimen. I have received a great -many communications purporting to be both from my son and a daughter, -who died at the age of eighteen, quite as remarkable as the above. Now, -admitting the two facts of physical force and intelligence, I don’t -know even then that spirits are the agents; but it seems probable, -because I doubt whether any other explanation can be given, that -will appear at all reasonable. It is very evident that there is an -intelligence that governs the world; but if that intelligence has -given us no revelation excepting what is in nature, then it appears -to me that every thing that can give us any knowledge of what we are -to be hereafter, is valuable beyond all price. Uncertainty upon this -matter is painful, but then we know so little about the Deity, that I -think there is great uncertainty in our views of what he does, either -to prevent or bring to pass the good and evil that we see around us. -Yours, very respectfully, - AMASA HOLCOMB. - - - _Some parts of a letter to Mr. Holcomb, in reply to the parts of his - letter relating to Spiritualism._ - - PHILADELPHIA, February 24, 1854. - -705. _Dear Sir_: There is a great resemblance in your sentiments, -as described in your letter of the 20th, (just received,) and those -which I entertain, excepting that while I am very desirous—I may say -extremely desirous—to learn something which may prove another state of -existence, I am not unhappy at my not being able to find out the truth. -If I have less hopes, I have also less fears, than those who have -heaven and hell both to encounter. I do not envy those who are placed -in the situation of depending upon the estimate which may be formed of -them hereafter, whether they are to be placed among the “_sheep_” or -“_the goats_.” - -706. It is true that the gospel holds out the idea on one hand that -intense belief, called faith, will wash away sin; but on the other, -it is said, that “he who knoweth his Master’s will, yet doeth it -not,” shall be beaten with many stripes, while he who is ignorant of -that will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with few. Under these -circumstances, who can escape flagellation? Who is it that does the -will of God, as enumerated by Christ? Who loves his neighbour as -himself? Who presents a second cheek on receiving a blow on one? Who -gives his coat, when his cloak has been taken? Who returns good for -evil? Who acts as if it were as hard for a rich man to go to heaven as -for a camel to get through the eye of a needle? - -707. Unless our missionaries can make better Christians abroad than -they leave at home, it were inhuman to add to the number, who are to be -pre-eminently punished for their neglect of their Master’s will, while -fully apprized of it. In many cases a pagan will be better off than his -nominally Christian instructor, although he should not prove a convert -to Christianity. - -708. My sentiments are much like those which Socrates expressed. _I -hope for a future world, and therein to have a happier existence._ All -those reasons which have been advanced by wise and good men in favour -of such futurity, operate upon my mind as upon theirs; but if there be -no such a state of future existence, I shall _never wake up to feel my -disappointment_. It _will only be a prolongation of a state of oblivion -analogous to that which we enter upon transiently, every night_. - -709. The incentives which have acted upon you, act also upon me, and -I have seen some of the manifestations on which you rely; but not so -satisfactorily. The answers which I have received have not been worthy -of the other world. - -710. A message from my own father, amounted to this: “_Oh, my son, -listen to reason_;” and there it ended. Several similar nugatory -sentences have been manifested through the alphabet. - -711. I have, however, constructed an instrument to put the question of -independency of intelligence to the test. It works independently of any -control of the medium, as the letters, which must be seen to bring them -correctly under the index, are concealed by a screen. (Plate I.) - -712. The sentence above quoted was communicated in this way. - -713. I am about, by this contrivance, to test the manifestations -farther. - - ROBERT HARE. - - - MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUALISM. - - -714. Among the best precepts afforded by the gospel is that of laying -up treasure in heaven, in preference to seeking to become rich in -this world. To pursue the last-mentioned course has been alleged to -disqualify us more or less for entering heaven. Certainly, however, -honest exertion for the acquisition of wealth is the corner-stone of -human prosperity, and money seems in most instances necessary to the -effectual exercise of that fellow-feeling in the cultivation of which -human virtue pre-eminently consists. (See Influence of Mundane wealth -on Celestial Happiness.) - -715. How can a man display charity, hospitality, or contribute his -_means_ and _time_ to objects of philanthropy, unless he beforehand lay -up wealth? How could the Samaritan have assisted the traveller who had -been maltreated by thieves, had he not taken care to have something -beforehand, not only for himself, but for the needy? But still the -precept, Lay up treasure for thyself in heaven, is precisely the course -which Spiritualism indicates. Precepts may lead, but examples will -draw. Those who have gone before us to eternal life, furnish us not -only precepts, but examples also. They furnish exemplifications of -the consequences of their conduct, if followed. With few exceptions, -my intercourse has been with those only, who did lay up treasure in -heaven, by doing on earth as they would have others to do unto them. -Of the spirits with whom I have communicated, only two alleged or -indicated that they were unhappy. Of these, I was informed, one bore an -ill character upon earth. - -716. Another, after having suggested to his inquiring brother -some measures relating to his surviving wife’s temporal concerns, -spontaneously added the following words: “I am not _hapey_.” The -inquiry being made for the cause of his misery, the resulting reply -was, “I did not do _rite_ when I was in this world.” - -717. Another admitted that he was drowned, in consequence of getting -dead drunk. On being asked if he were happy, he answered, “Damned -happy.” In reply to an inquiry whether he was sorry to have quitted -this life, he replied in the affirmative. - -718. Having evidently been a seaman, who had sailed under an officer -who was present, he had preserved the usual fondness of sailors for -tobacco and grog. This propensity he could not avoid displaying, -notwithstanding his having passed death’s dread portal, and the obvious -inutility of expressing to mortals his craving for those pernicious -stimulants. - -719. Thus it appears that in the spirit world one means of retribution -for the indulgence of bad propensities in this life, is subjugation to -their ungratified cravings. - -720. Of course, the more of these a spirit carries with him, the -greater is his misery; while the more he founds his happiness on -the indulgence of good propensities, the greater his power and -opportunities of enjoyment. - -721. As an illustration of the manner in which happiness may arise from -the indulgence of good propensities, one of the enjoyments of a spirit -of the fifth sphere is, as I am informed, in looking after children of -relatives and friends, who have not as yet followed them to the spirit -world. - -722. Believing in the existence of a spirit world, where there are -thirty-six grades of existence, corresponding to degrees of purity -and intellectual acquirement,—purity alone giving exaltation merely, -while cultivation of mind secures breadth of consideration,—we have, -in the first place, to adhere strictly to truth, honesty, justice, -benevolence, and doing as we would be done by, to reach a sphere higher -in proportion as we are more successful. Yet, among those on the same -plane, superiority in mental attributes gives precedence. - -723. Nothing is better known than “while precepts may lead, examples -draw,” and that subjection to bad examples, even when checked by good -precepts, is generally irresistible by the young. But when there are -no precepts to check, but, on the contrary, ill counsel as well as -bad example, few human beings, however well constituted organically, -could resist the tendency of such educational evil. Let bad hereditary -propensities be superadded, and what can ensue but a climax of -wickedness? Manifestly, however, all this is independent of any choice -on the part of the victim. A high degree of virtue may consistently -be inferred to result if all these conditions be inverted, and good -precepts, good examples, co-operative in improving a mind of the -opposite kind, one which owes to its progenitors goodness of heart and -high intellectual capacity. - -724. Much stress is laid upon free-will, but is will ever free from -the joint control of reason and passion? What is will, if it be not -the resultant of the conflict or co-operation of these? It may be -a question whether, without passions, a man would act at all; but -certainly he would act like an idiot or baby, so far as his will should -be entirely independent of his reason. - -725. It must be conceded, then, that the prodigious diversity between -virtue and vice is the consequence of contingencies, which are no more -under the control of the individual affected than the colour of his -hair or the number of cubits in his stature. - -726. The great features of the spiritual religion are, as I understand -them, as follows:—Its foundation is laid in the belief of an all-good -Deity, whose power is manifested to us by the immensity, profundity, -sublimity, ingenuity, and adaptation of the means to the ends in the -creation ascribed to the co-operation, if not origination, of his mind. -The Bible of the spiritualist is the book of nature—the only one which -by inward and outward evidence can be ascribed to divine authorship. - -727. In this book we read, as matters of fact, that there is an -infinite series of gradation in the rank of animals, as well as variety -in their dispositions and propensities. This may be seen, from the -half-animal, half-vegetable known as the polypus, up to man, there -being gradations not only of genera, but of species and varieties. -Thus amid men there are various races, rising one above the other -in development, from the Bushman, Hottentot, or lowest Negro, up to -the most highly-developed race of white men. But when we have passed -through the gradation of the races, we have to enter upon that of -individuals, who in the same race are by diversity of organization or -education, or of both, made extremely different as to intellectual, -moral, and scientific pre-eminence. - -728. It is difficult for human reason to reconcile with impartiality -this immense diversity in the lot of the creatures of God; but that -such is the law of nature is self-evident: it is an intuitive truth. To -reconcile it with the all-goodness of God, we must suppose a limitation -of power, and that it has been beyond his power to put created beings -more nearly upon a level. But, as Seneca observes, all have received -more than they had a claim for. Some may think that the parable of the -hiring of labourers for a vineyard, conveys an idea like that of the -Roman sage. - -729. These considerations being premised, it would seem that punishment -in the spirit world is only the carrying out of the same system, -excepting that while the deficiencies or vices which have arisen in -this world become a punishment in the next, they also operate as -the means of improvement, or, to use the language of that world, of -“_progression_.” It may be inferred that as in this world the power -of the Deity, although commensurate with the all but infinite universe -in which we exist, was so restricted by conditions as to induce that -enormous diversity of position in the scale of animation which has -been presented to view. Yet in the world to come these defects and -vices are liable to be remedied; and, though they react upon their -victim, it is with a view to his own ultimate benefit. There is not -a malevolent devil to seize the poor miscreant, and, like the savage -Indian, torture him with a fiend-like pleasure. He is regarded with -compassion, and as soon as contrition is induced, treated with sympathy -by the higher spirits, and assisted by counsel and enlightened by -instruction. Unable any longer to indulge his bad propensities, the -desire of rising to a higher level becomes a passion. Intellectual and -social pleasures begin to be enjoyed. So long as he remains under the -influence of his mundane appetites, he has to consort with spirits -who are similarly actuated; they read each other’s mind, and thus are -made acquainted with the deformity of their own. They eventually thus -become instrumental in reciprocal correction. So soon as an aspiration -for a better state is awakened, they rise to the next plane or circle -above that in which they may have been existing; the only difficulty -is in taking the first step. Progression grows with its growth, and -strengthens with its strength, so that all beings may sooner or -later attain to the highest sphere in the spirit world. It should be -understood that there is no pardon for existing sin. Pardon can only -exist as a consequence of reform, and in proportion thereto. (92.) - -730. An assailant of Spiritualism, who not long since lectured at -Sansom Street Hall, founded one of his charges on the commiseration -felt by good angels for sinners, agreeably to Spiritualism. But from -the examination above given respecting the origin of the difference -between the virtuous and vicious, does it not appear that the fate of -the latter is quite as hard as can be reconciled with justice, even -under the more benign institution of Spiritualism? According to this, -there exist in the spirit world six spheres, each subdivided into six -circles or planes, forming together a succession of grades in which the -soul finds its place according to moral and intellectual merit. The -first of the spheres is throughout comparatively hideous in its aspect -and disgusting in its inhabitants, who are designated by a dark halo -in lieu of the effulgence which distinguishes spirits of the rest of -the spheres. Moreover, this distinguishing effulgence, as well as the -beauty of the spirit world, augments with the grade of the being whom -it envelops, thus making a series of ranks in society founded on real -nobility of head and heart. When it is considered that this immense -diversity ensues mainly from contingency in organization, education, -and greater or less exposure to trial, it must be clear that the -difference made between the good and the bad by Spiritualism does not -fall short of the degree which human reason can reconcile with justice. - -731. The assailant of Spiritualism to whom allusion was made, -while admitting the truth of the evidence given of communication -with spirits, explained it by reference to Satan. It is remarkably -inconsistent with this idea that this evidence is of a nature to -abrogate the existence, and of course the sovereignty, of that -imaginary arch-fiend. Again, it can hardly be conceived that the -greater commiseration for sinners should come from a malevolent devil, -and the urging for everlasting and cruel torture from a sincere -disciple of the benevolent Jesus Christ. But how much, then, must it -shock one who embraces these views, that in addition to the misfortune -of being badly organized, badly educated, and badly tempted, the being -subjected to these disadvantages is to be exposed eternally to misery, -typified, if not realized, by broiling on burning brimstone! I am -aware that doing away with the more horrible attributes of hell will -be alleged to be subversive of one of the restraints upon criminality; -but, in the first place, it is evident that a man who is restrained -from crime solely by the fear of punishment is only a more prudent -villain than one who is not restrained by that selfish apprehension. -When a man is deterred from crime only by prudence, hope of reward, or -fear of punishment, he ought not to have a higher grade in heaven than -the perpetrator of the crime. - -732. But, agreeably to experience, of all restraints upon crime, none -are more efficacious than the fear of degradation. The lawyer who will -do the bidding of a caucus (or of a powerful demagogue in the executive -office) in order to get a judicial appointment, when securely seated -therein, will not give a charge which will degrade him in the eyes of -the legal profession, and consequently in that of society, as well as -in his own estimation. The dishonest gambler, who neglects to pay his -tradesman’s bill, will not fail to pay his gambling debts. The debtor -who will take every advantage in getting a high price for his goods, -and who will put off any other payment as long as possible, fails not -to pay his note at a bank. Sovereign states, who pay no other claims, -take every means to meet the interest on their funded obligations. -“Failure” in the one case, in the mercantile adaptation, involves -the loss of reputation for good financial faith, abroad as well as at -home; but the just complaints of domestic claimants, not heard upon -the exchange, are unheeded. The great object, in many cases, is not -to leave the crime “undone, but to keep it unknown.” The corrupt, -selfish politician, who would promote war in order to give himself an -opportunity of emolument or official pre-eminence, when facing the -enemy in the field of battle will _nominally_ die for that country -whose interests he has sacrificed. But not from the alleged motive will -he die, but either to avoid being degraded as a coward, or for the hope -of popularity which may help him to office. - -733. In the spirit world, all are seen through and justly estimated, -so that degradation and vice, or elevation and virtue, are inevitably -associated by spiritual intuition. Yet there is, in my opinion, far -more satisfactory proof of the truth of Spiritualism than of any other -creed involving immortality; while, so far as adopted, it must tend -to do away with priestcraft, sectarian malevolence, and religious -intolerance. Man will go to the spirits of his ancestors for his -religion, not to a fanatical, bigoted, or interested priest. Should -spirits actually exist, as supposed, and convey the same religious -knowledge all over the world, all men will agree that virtue is to be -the means of salvation, not bigotry, under the name of faith. - -734. It is conceived that Spiritualism has all the desirable attributes -of religion, as stated in the second page of the introduction of this -work. It sanctions the idea of the existence of one Supreme Being, -who is represented as all love to his creatures; while his powers -are made known to us by the sublimity, profundity, magnificence, and -inconceivable extent of the creation which he rules. It does not -represent him as selfishly creating us for the purpose of worshipping -him, as capable of jealousy or implacable wrath for the result of -errors which his alleged omnipotence could by a _fiat_ correct. On -the contrary, we have been created to be happy sooner or later; evil -existing not through design, but in consequence of conditions which -he cannot control or cure unless through the operation of general -principles. - -735. With a view to mutual happiness, reciprocal beneficence is -enjoined. We are required to obey the precepts of acting toward others -as we would have them act toward us. - -736. This innate law is appealed to instinctively by any child who -is oppressed by another larger than itself, and was consecrated by -Confucius six hundred years before its judicious sanction by Christ. - -737. Spiritualism has the merit pre-eminently not only of furnishing -a knowledge of immortality beyond the grave, but a precise knowledge -of the spirit world in lieu of the silence of the Pentateuch and the -vagueness and inconsistency of the gospel. An effort to establish the -truth of these allegations will be made under the next head. - - -THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVEN AND HELL - OF SCRIPTURE. - - -738. On the first spiritual manifestations occurring, the great object -of the mass of observers was to see the physical effects. In the -next place, intellectual communications were sought, but these being -obtained by a tedious process, it was deemed sufficiently interesting -if a few sentences could be made out, or even one. It was, moreover, -a great object with inquirers to ascertain by the interchange of -language, whether the spirit of a relation or friend were really -present, as alleged by the supposed spirit. Hence, the communications -were very deficient as respects any information of the spirit world. -It is not surprising, therefore, that prejudicial unbelievers should -have taken up the idea that there is nothing inviting in the heaven -of Spiritualism. I hope that, agreeably to the communications from the -spirit world recorded in the preceding pages, there is enough to create -an ardent desire to become a dweller therein. - -739. But is it not unreasonable for a person to disdain a state of -existence which is by the spirits themselves described as “ineffably” -happy? Alluding to the progression, which is to carry spirits -eventually among the ministering angels of God, I observed to my spirit -friend, Dr. W. E. Channing, that I did not consider him in heaven yet. -“Were you situated as I am,” said he, “you would not say that!” But -let us see how far the ideas of heaven, as warranted in Scripture, are -comparable with those which have been communicated by spirits. - -740. In a work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh, of the German Reformed -Church of Lancaster, Pa., a great effort is made to collect all the -hints respecting heaven which have been given in the Old and New -Testaments. This learned divine quotes the following paragraph from -Dr. Chalmers: “The common imagination,” says Dr. Chalmers, “that we -have a paradise on the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial -region, where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended -upon nothing—where all the warm and sensible accompaniments which give -such an expression of strength, and life, and colouring to our present -habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element; that is, -meagre and imperceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals -here below; where every vestige of materialism is done away, and -nothing left but unearthly scenes, that have no power of allurement, -and certain unearthly ecstasies, with which it is felt impossible to -sympathize.” - -741. After reading and believing the representations of heaven given by -the immortal inhabitants of the spirit world, who can avoid turning in -disgust from the portrait thus cited by Dr. Chalmers? - -742. The most favourable idea of heaven given in Scripture seems to -be that which identifies it with Paradise; in other words, a most -beautiful garden. But who would conceive an _eternal_ residence in one -garden, however superlative its attractions, as desirable? The idea -of the spheres assumes a succession of gardens, with every pleasure, -every joy of which the human heart and intellect are capable; and -beyond those gardens the whole universe is open to us, and an ultimate -ministration as angels under our Heavenly Father. - -743. The portraiture cited by Chalmers is not approved of by the -Rev. Mr. Harbaugh, but in order to confute it he does not resort to -any better picture given in the Bible, but to reasoning. This shows -that, learned as he is, and idolatrous as he appears in worshipping -the Bible as an adequate fountain of light, he cannot get from the -object of this idolatry any passage tending to prove the inconsistency -of the idea quoted from Chalmers with Scripture. Were there not the -greatest poverty of instruction on this all-important subject, the -ideas alleged to exist as above mentioned, upon the high authority -of Dr. Chalmers, could never have had sufficient currency to merit -notice. It may be assumed that no Christians can conceive themselves -to be better entitled to the joys of heaven than the twelve apostles -of Christ. In order to show how far any expectations of a bliss higher -than that afforded by Spiritualism could have been entertained by those -disciples consistently with Scripture, I deem it in point to refer the -language held to them by their Divine Master. I subjoin a few lines -from Dr. Harbaugh, wherein he quotes the query put to that Master, by -the _twelve_, and the consequent reply. Nothing can be farther from my -idea of a happy state than the benefaction promised to them. The query -and reply are subjoined, in order to enable the reader to judge of -both:—_Behold, we have left all and followed thee: what shall we have -therefor?_ The Saviour answered the above query when made by Peter, as -follows:—_When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, -ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of -Israel._ Here is a direct answer by Christ to an inquiry respecting -the nature of the reward which his disciples were to have for their -merits as his faithful devotees. They are to be made severally worldly -dignitaries; each is to sit on a throne, judging a tribe of Israel. -That is, they are to have worldly pre-eminence, accompanied, of course, -by all the vexations attendant on such stations, as well as the -uncertainty and limitation arising from liability to death and disease. -How weak and worldly-minded must his disciples have been, could such -a prospect be alluring to them! I ask for any sectarian to say in -candour, whether a governorship over one of the wealthiest States, the -presidency, or any sovereignty in Christendom, would be deemed a heaven -in comparison with that eternity of ineffable happiness enjoyed by the -immortal spirits of the higher spheres? Yet Mr. Harbaugh, with the -simplicity of blind faith, quotes this without perceiving how meagre is -the gospel evidence thus afforded of the joys awaiting the faithful as -a reward for their good conduct in this life. - -744. The following remarks, made by Mr. Harbaugh, demonstrate how -partial sectarians are in reading Scripture: “_What shall we have -therefor? This is a question that frequently arises in the Christian’s -mind, as he endeavours to cheer his ofttimes drooping spirits with -a look toward the recompense of reward. What shall we have? We have -left all for thee, and by following thee we have confessed that we -are pilgrims and strangers upon earth. In this world we shall have -tribulation; but thou didst overcome the world; what shall those have -who overcame with thee?_” Harbaugh remarks: “_Here then is curiosity -which the Saviour himself approves, because he satisfies it. The same -pious curiosity still manifests itself in the minds of God’s people in -their holiest hours, and shall there be nothing revealed to satisfy -them? Yes, God will approve of such inquiries, and will grant the -influence of that Spirit, who leads unto all truth to all those who -search the Scripture for an answer._” Drawing an eloquent picture of -the aspirations of the soul for some realization of the vague ideas of -the rewards of the faithful in a future state of existence, he exults -that this _curiosity_, as he calls it, should be sanctioned by Christ, -“who approves this curiosity because he satisfies it.” How does he -satisfy it? Is it by holding up the hope of a judgeship for each? It -seems it was not then foreseen that instead of performing the part of -the Jewish Messiah, with which he thus identified himself, that of -gathering together the _chosen_ people of God, he was to put forth -opinions which were to scatter them through the world. “Wo unto you, -Chorazin,” &c., for the heinous offence of not admitting him to be -both the Messiah and the Son of God. The promise of the judgeships was -quite consistent with the former character, and strengthens the idea -that he never pretended to any higher mission. With this the promise -in question is consistent, but is wholly irreconcilable with his -divinity, which would make these judgeships worse than giving a stone -for bread or a serpent for a fish. In order to have bestowed these -judgeships, the Roman empire must have been subverted. It seems that if -(as stated by the worthy Mr. Harbaugh) _the curiosity of the disciples -was truly and correctly satisfied_, that this satisfaction was the sum -total of the heaven with which they were remunerated; since not the -slightest hint is given that they were, like the penitent thief, to -be with their object of devotion in paradise. It would seem, on the -whole, that the rewards of the thief and the beggar Lazarus were of a -more heavenly nature than those promised to the apostles, even had the -latter been susceptible of realization, instead of being irreconcilable -with the doom which awaited the Hebrews, and consequently a mere _vox -et præterea nihil_. But while, in lieu of an eternal progressive -happiness, Christ holds up the transient, precarious, and limited -supremacy from which a truly pious and wise man would turn in disgust, -when hell is to be represented, we have eternal torments typified -by fire, and weeping and gnashing of teeth in _utter darkness_, in -despite of this fire. The situation which Christ, the Son of God, was -to have, was to bear manifestly a relation to that of his disciples. -His situation would be somewhat analogous to that of Washington, when -he was in the presidential chair, and the thirteen States were governed -by as many of his faithful followers in the Revolutionary War. Yet -Washington did not find his chair worth retaining longer than the good -of the country made it important to remain. I am confident that neither -would that great man leave his position in the seventh sphere for the -presidency, nor any spirit among those who held the gubernatorial -dignity, as suggested, find a governorship now a motive for leaving -their bright abodes in the celestial world. - -745. Dr. Harbaugh sanctions the idea that the revolutions of all -the constellations with which telescopic examination has made us -acquainted, may take place about a central sun, bearing the relation -to other suns analogous to that which God has been represented to -have to the other potentates; whence the title of “King of kings.” -The existence, then, of a _sun_ of _suns_ is suggested, about which -the constellations formed by inferior bodies of the same kind revolve. -It would seem, then, that a more fitted allotment had been made if, -enthroned by his Father’s side on that sun of suns, he had allotted -to each of his disciples a constellation, than have assigned to them -miserable transitory judgeships in Judea: a speck of territory, in this -speck of a globe, which in a field of vision embracing the universe, -would be imperceptible. - -746. There being in Scripture so much more stress laid upon the -torments of hell than the joys of heaven, is probably the reason why -the horror of death is so great among Christians in general. Their -practice in this respect is to speak of death as a great calamity. -Here and there may be found a believer who is thoroughly convinced -that the efficacy of his peculiar tenets, combined with the absence of -criminality, and the redeeming influence of repentance, will insure -him a passage to heaven; but the predominant language is to represent -the death of any large number of human beings as a great calamity. -Those who are exposed to danger pray most earnestly to be saved, and -their death is always treated as a cause for deep regret by surviving -friends. Hence the weeping, the grief, and the mourning called for by -custom,—the relations and connections wearing black for months. Hence -the dark hearse, the black pall, and bitter lamentation over the grave; -which shows that it is not realized that death is only a glorious -spiritual birth! I am confident that spiritualists will soon abandon -a custom which must on their part be inconsistent; since they must -look on death as no more a bereavement, than a residence in a foreign -country, the means of communication being within reach, and a happy -reunion foreseen. - -747. When on board of a steamer under way at night, the possibility of -her going down occurring to my mind, I felt cheered by the idea that -I should not go down with her, but soar to the spirit world with my -immortal friends, who would flock to meet my apotheosis. (Page 101.) - -748. It has been urged that a most substantial idea of heaven, given -in the old Bible, is that of a restoration to Paradise, of which the -description gives the idea of an exquisite, beautiful garden; but -Spiritualism gives the idea of garden above garden, improving in beauty -with their elevation. Then there are thirty-six gradations in all, and -in the five happy spheres thirty; so that there is excitement arising -from well-rewarded emulation as a source of interest. Into the idea of -heaven, as suggested in Scripture, intellectual ability and improvement -form no part and give no superiority; whence the tendency of the more -strict constructionists to turn a cold shoulder to every acquirement -which is not coupled with scriptural knowledge. Neither the Athenæum, -nor any library, is to be accessible on Sunday. If the time devoted -at meetings and at church were given to the study of the real book -of God, how much more learned would be those who thus employ their -Sundays! It is held that the lowest and most ignorant person who is -educated to believe implicitly the tenets of a sect, when he would by -the same process as easily be made to believe any other tenets, is -in heaven to be as high as the most enlightened as well as virtuous -man, who has the only merit which can be attached to belief in a high -degree—that of ardent desire for truth, and taking the pains to form an -opinion for himself. Nay, the ignorant bigot is to be higher in heaven, -if the free-thinker alluded to, should not agree with the ghostly -adviser, of the devoted sectarian with whom he is compared. - -749. The idea of living in the finest garden which imagination can -conceive, without the enjoyments and progression which my father’s -communication attributes to the spheres, would beget tedium rather -than the ineffable happiness which my spirit friends profess to enjoy. -But while one of the Jewish ideas of heaven in its best form, is thus -deficient, the description given by the learned Josephus of hell is -horrible in the extreme, that of heaven being disgusting. I give it as -I find it quoted by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh: - -750. “Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and -unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a -place in the world not regularly finished, a subterraneous region, -wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance -in this region there must be perpetual darkness. This region is -allotted as a place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed -as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishment, -agreeably to every one’s behaviour and manners. - -751. “In this region there is a certain place set apart as a lake of -unquenchable fire, whereinto, we suppose, no one hath hitherto been -cast, but it is prepared for a day aforedetermined by God, in which -one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when -the unjust, and those that have been disobedient to God, and have -given honour to such idols as have been the vain operations of the -hands of men as to God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting -punishment, as having been the causes of defilement; while the just -shall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are now -indeed confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the just -are confined. For there is one descent in this region, at whose gate, -we believe, there stands an archangel, with a host; which gate, when -those pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed -over souls, they do not go the same way, but the just are guided to -the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed -over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt -from the beginning of the world, not constrained by necessity, but -ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoicing -in the expectation of those new enjoyments which will be peculiar -to every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have -here; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing -cold, nor any briers there; but the countenances of the fathers and -the just, which they see always, smile upon them while they wait for -the rest, and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this -region. This place we call the bosom of Abraham. But as to the unjust, -they are dragged by force to the left hand, by the angels allotted -for punishment, no longer going with a good will, but as prisoners -driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them -to reproach them, and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to -thrust them still downward. Now these angels that are set over these -souls drag them into the neighbourhood of hell itself; who, when they -are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand -clear of the hot vapour itself; but when they have a near view of this -spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they -are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in -effect punished thereby; not only so, but when they see the place (or -choir) of the fathers and of the just, even thereby are they punished, -for a chaos deep and large is fixed between them, insomuch that a just -man that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can any one -that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.” - -752. So much for Josephus. Mr. Harbaugh subjoins as follows: “This -extract is exceedingly interesting. It shows to what extent of -distinctness the Jewish ideas of the future state had attained. The -dreamlike underworld is here considerably illuminated. The righteous -and the wicked are separated, and already share the first fruits of -their eternal reward. The righteous are surrounded with intimations -and shadowy promises of better things to come, in the expectation of -which they are already happy; the wicked are surrounded with tokens and -forebodings of more fearful ill, much of which they already suffer in -awful expectation. - -753. “Through this picture,” says our good parson, “we see in faint -but terrible glimmerings, in the distance, the region of eternal fire, -which awaits the wicked when the judgment-day shall remove them from -Hades; on the other hand, we see also the dawning of an eternal day -for the just, the rest and eternal new life which is to succeed this -region. This kingdom of the dead, beyond which the thoughts of men -in the early ages did not wander, is considered only as a place of -detention for judgment, while the idea of a final state, both for the -righteous and the wicked, is believed to exist beyond it.” - -754. How can any person sincerely pretend that those who rely on a -happy idea of our immortal life are indebted for it to the source -from which this Hebrew Pharisee derived the impressions given in the -preceding quotation? Yet the Pharisees were the only conspicuous -Hebrew sect who believed in heaven. The Sadducees did not believe in -immortality. - -755. The history of Lazarus and the rich man, (says Harbaugh, page -168,) “plainly teaches that both the righteous and the wicked on death -pass into a fixed and eternal abode, where no change is possible;” -and he further states (pp. 169-70) that “the misery of the wicked -commences immediately after death, and before the resurrection, and -their condition is unchangeably fixed.” According to St. Luke, (chapter -xvi.) in the page alluded to above by Harbaugh, we are informed that -the wicked, while in the torture of hell-fire, are within the view of -the righteous, (verse 23.) The righteous are near enough to converse -with those in torment, and yet there is an impassable barrier between -them. The rich man is not tortured for his sins, but simply because -he had “_enjoyed good things_.” Yet Abraham, who turned his son and -son’s mother out in the wilderness to starve, and twice exposed his -wife to prostitution, is represented as enjoying the reward due to the -righteous. - -756. How little sincere, heartfelt belief there can be in the words -of Christ, may be estimated from the fact that scarcely any Christian -but seeks for the good things of this life, instead of qualifying -themselves for heaven by undergoing the rewarded privations of a -Lazarus. - -757. It is utterly unintelligible to my mind why repentance and -reformation should not avail after, as well as before death, as it is -represented to be in the spirit world. - -758. There is a coincidence between these representations of Josephus -and those of the gospel, so far as that both represent the righteous as -witnessing the torments of the wicked. Would not such a situation make -heaven a hell to good-hearted angels? - -759. According to Matthew, (chapter xxv. 24,) the blessed, after -the day of judgment, are to _inherit the kingdom prepared from the -foundation of the world_. Of the joys that kingdom would afford there -is no description. But, as usual, hell is made sufficiently horrible, -(chapter xxv. 41,)—“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, -prepared for the devil and his angels.” - -760. In this respect, if in no other, there is an immense superiority -in the conceptions of futurity given by my immortal advisers, in -comparison with those attributed as above to Christ. - -761. It has been urged that human conduct is so much dependent on -organization, education, temptation, and example, neither of which are -within the option of any soul, that the orthodox doctrine respecting -sin is manifestly wrong. But admitting the culpability which that -doctrine imputes, it has been shown that the gradations of sinfulness -between the extremes of vice and virtue are innumerable. Suppose for -each gradation a strand in a ladder, like that of which Jacob dreamed, -and human souls supported severally at elevations commensurate with -their respective pretensions. This adjustment being made, suppose a -plane at any level to divide the vertical row into two portions, all -below the plane being considered as goats, all above the plane as -sheep. Evidently, between the soul just above, and that just below the -plane, there would be only a shade of difference; yet the one would -have to go to hell, the other to heaven, eternally. - -762. According to Spiritualism, on entering the spirit world each soul -finds its just level by a sort of moral specific gravity, in which -merit is inversely as weight. Every soul, moreover, has the privilege -of reforming, and rising proportionally to the improvement thus -obtained. - -763. One of the most agreeable conceptions attending our future -existence in the spheres, is that of being restored to the appearance -of youth; the decrepitude and wrinkles of age, of disease, mutilation, -deformity, ugliness, are all avoided in the spiritual body. The insane -are restored to reason, the idiot gradually improved in mind. - - -DISCORDANCE AS TO THE WHEREABOUT OF THE SCRIPTURAL HEAVEN.—INSTINCTIVE - IMPRESSION AS TO HEAVEN BEING OVERHEAD. - - -764. There is no small degree of contradiction in Scripture respecting -the locality of heaven. In addressing the thief, paradise is identified -with heaven by Christ. “_St. Paul is alleged to have been taken up -into paradise_,” says Harbaugh; yet, according to the map accompanying -the work of Josephus, Paradise is represented as being upon the river -Tigris, near the Persian Gulf. The idea given of the abode of Adam -and Eve, in Genesis, conveys the impression that it was a terrestrial -locality. - -765. In the Decalogue the abbreviation of life is threatened as the -punishment for not honouring parents, and God is alleged to have -held out the promised land to Moses, instead of comforting him by a -clairvoyant view of a place of blissful enjoyment in some celestial -region. - -766. Elijah was carried up to heaven in the sight of Elisha. The -commandment makes heaven above, the earth beneath. Christ was seen -ascending by his disciples, and according to the apostles’ creed, after -descending into hell, he arose on the third day and ascended into -heaven. Yet Josephus consigns both heaven and hell to a subterranean -region, like the Elysian Fields and Erebus of the heathen, but places -them on each side of a lake of everlasting fire. This representation is -sanctioned in the allusion by Christ to Dives, Lazarus, and Abraham; -the former, broiling to eternity, requests that Lazarus should get a -little water to cool the tip of his tongue. This Abraham declares to be -_impossible_. Hence it appears the parties were so near as to converse -with each other, and for those who were blest to witness the sufferings -of the damned. Thus, according to Christ as well as Josephus, heaven -and hell are in immediate proximity, and both must be in the infernal -regions. - -767. The actual effects of the old Bible were to produce either -_unbelievers_ in _immortality_, like the Sadducees, or _immoral -believers_, like the Pharisees, whom Christ especially denounces as -_vipers_, and _internally corrupt, like whited sepulchres holding dead -men’s bones_. - -768. Christ never singles out the Sadducees for denunciation, but -speaks of the Pharisees particularly as hypocritical and corrupt. But -in what did their hypocrisy consist, if it was not in that insincerity -of their professions as respects belief in futurity which was shown by -their worldliness. - -769. Thus the evidence of the existence of a future state was such as -to produce avowed unbelievers, or professed believers whose morality -was so deficient as to create an expression that they were corrupt -hypocrites, as odious as vipers. - -770. It is not the feebleness of the impressions respecting the -existence of another world, where happiness is proportional to good -conduct, that renders the existing system so inoperative in preventing -those vices which it especially interdicts; as, for instance, -combativeness, cupidity, and revengefulness; so that the course usually -pursued by professed Christians, does not merely amount to a neglect -of Christ’s precepts, but renders an adherence to them disreputable? -Nothing is more degrading throughout Christendom than poverty or tame -submission to blows. The last excuse Christians in general will make -for any omission or deficiency is their poverty. - -771. If they really believed that they would broil to eternity, like -the rich man, merely for seeking the good things of this life, would -the attainment of those good things be made the great object of their -existence? - -772. Notwithstanding the representations of Josephus, sanctioned, as -above shown, by Christ, of the subterranean localization of Elysium, -there seems, nevertheless, an instinctive propensity to assume that -heaven is overhead. Clergymen all look upward when they address God, -and the Thespian artists universally follow their example. Whenever -heaven is referred to, it is customary, I believe, for all devout -persons to turn their eyes in the same direction. - -773. But if heaven be above, what does this term _above_ mean? It -practically designates a vertical direction relatively to this globe -at any point over which a speaker who uses the word may stand. -Consequently, it indicates a space overhead, having everywhere the same -relative position to the terrestrial surface; in other words, a region -concentric with that surface, like that within which the clouds float. -This floating takes place rarely at a less distance than two, or more -than six, miles. - -774. The spiritual spheres are estimated, as already mentioned, as -being between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles from the earth’s -surface. They are, therefore, analogous in position to the region -of the clouds, though at a much greater distance and vastly more -capacious. - -775. According to Christianity, there is no immortality for animals -below the grade of humanity; but according to Spiritualism, animals -that are favourites of man in this world are his companions in the -next. Much stress is laid on the singing of birds in the account -given of the spheres. There is a line of demarcation below which the -privilege of an existence after death is not enjoyed. Respecting that -boundary my information is at present incomplete. - -776. In order to do justice to the excellent and learned clergyman to -whom I have so often referred, I will annex the whole of those pages in -which he conceives himself to give the “_true doctrine_” respecting -heaven. However unsatisfactory it may be to me, I hope it will be found -interesting to those who, like the author, look only to the Bible for -information respecting their existence beyond the grave. - - - “THE TRUE DOCTRINE” - - _Respecting Heaven, according to the Rev. H. Harbaugh, Pastor of the - First German Reformed Church, Lancaster, Penna._ - - - “One gentle sigh their fetter breaks; - We scarce can say, ‘They’re gone!’ - Before the willing spirit takes - Her mansion near the throne.” - -777. “The different theories by which the souls of saints are supposed -to be detained from entering heaven immediately at death, have now been -exhibited. They have led us a long and dreary chase. The groundlessness -of these theories has been, in part, shown in connection with a -statement of them. They will, however, be more completely overthrown -by a statement of the true doctrine, and by the arguments that may be -adduced in its support. Various arguments that, in passing along, were -offered against these false views, will also substantiate the true -doctrine; thus the same implements that have been used to tear down the -old building may be employed to erect the new. If, therefore, any thing -should be presented in this section, among other things, which may -seem to have been presented before, it must be remembered that though -they are the same tools, they are now used to do a different kind of -execution. - -778. “We consider the true doctrine of God’s word on this subject to be -this: The saints do immediately, at death, enter that place which is -called heaven, where the body of the Saviour now is, where the divine -manifestations are most clearly and gloriously made, where angels have -their proper home, and where all the heirs of Christ shall finally and -forevermore be assembled. - -779. “That the saints pass immediately at death into heaven, is taught -in the symbols in some of the most pious and learned denominations in -the church. We grant that this does not prove it absolutely true; but -it has much weight, as showing how the Scripture on this subject was -understood by many pious and learned men who had the same interest -in and motives for the truth as we have, and were, we may therefore -suppose, just as sincerely anxious to be led into the truth as we can -possibly be. The conclusions, therefore, to which they have come, and -which have been adopted by their numerous successors for centuries, are -valuable. Beside furnishing us with the testimony of so much learning -and piety, it serves to show that this is no new idea, and that it is -not the faith of a few, but is the testimony of the church. - -780. “The first symbolical testimony we produce is the Heidelberg -Catechism, published first in 1563. This symbol has been the embodiment -of the reformed faith for more than three centuries. Its influence -has been very extensively respected and felt. It has, since its -publication, been translated and read in at least fourteen different -languages; and it is said that _half a million editions_ of it have -been published in Germany alone. In this country it is received as a -symbolic book, both in the Dutch Reformed and in the German Reformed -churches. In the fifty-seventh question it is asked, What comfort is -afforded to us by the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; and the -answer is: ‘That not only my soul after this life _shall be immediately -taken up to Christ its head_; but also, that my body, being raised by -the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and be made like -unto the glorious body of Christ.’ Here the doctrine is plainly taught, -and has been responded to with a joyful amen by millions during three -hundred years. - -781. “The next is from the Shorter Catechism, received as a symbolic -book in the different branches of the Presbyterian communion. It is -in answer to the thirty-seventh question: ‘What benefits do believers -receive from Christ at death? The souls of believers are at their death -made perfect in holiness, _and do immediately pass into glory_; and -their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves -till the resurrection.’ In the eighty-sixth question of the Larger -Catechism this same doctrine is taught in more words. The following -quotation is from the Westminster Confession of Faith: ‘The bodies -of men, after death, return to dust and see corruption; but their -souls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having an immortal substance, -_immediately_ return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, -being _then_ made perfect in holiness, _are received into the highest -heavens_, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting -for the full redemption of their bodies.’ The declaration that they -are ‘_then_ made perfect in holiness,’ is no doubt directly aimed -against the idea of a process of purgatorial or medicinal preparation, -mentioned in a previous section. The declaration that they are then -‘received into the _highest heavens_,’ is intended to stand in -opposition to the idea of a middle abode in all its forms. - -782. “The book of ‘Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal -Church’ is silent on this subject; but, so far as I have been able -to learn, the proper Protestant doctrine on this subject is held in -that large communion. Their views of the nature of justification and -sanctification would admit of no other to be consistently believed -among them. It is believed that this is also the prevailing sentiment -among Baptists, and other Congregationalists. - -783. “What is here presented from symbols as the united faith of so -many learned and pious men living in different ages, and in different -parts of the world, is also founded on holy Scripture. By no wresting -and violence has the church, in the general stream of its theological -views, been turned aside from this faith. It is vain that men hope to -annul, by means of violent and unnatural interpretations, the plain -declarations of Scripture, to serve a theory. - - ‘Truth, crush’d to earth, will rise again, - The eternal years of God are hers.’ - -784. “The Saviour said to the penitent thief on the cross—‘To-day shalt -thou be with me in paradise.’ Now the question arises, Where and what -is that paradise in which the Saviour promised the dying penitent that -he should be with him that day? This can be seen by referring to other -passages in the Scriptures where the word paradise is used, and where -its sense cannot be mistaken. This can be seen by reference to 2 Cor. -xii. There it is said that Paul was caught up into paradise; and in the -same passage the place into which he was taken is called the _third -heaven_—the highest and holiest place in the universe. In Rev. ii. 7 -we are told that the tree of life stands in the midst of the paradise -of God; and in Rev. xxii. 2, we are told that that same tree of life -stands by the side of the river which flows from the throne of God and -the Lamb. From this it is evident that paradise is the heaven where God -dwells and the Lamb. Is then the middle abode, Hades, the kingdom of -shades, the peculiar abode of God and the Lamb? - -785. “The objection that the Saviour himself did not go to heaven -that day, but was for forty days afterward on the earth, and that -therefore he could not be with the penitent thief in paradise, has no -force. During the three days that intervened between his death and -resurrection, he could as well be in heaven as in Hades. Indeed, it is -evident that he was in heaven during those three days, from what he -says to his disciples shortly before his death: ‘A little while, and -ye shall not see me; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, -_because I go to the Father_.’ Moreover, his tarrying on the earth and -appearing among his disciples does not conflict with the idea that he -was also in paradise. When he was yet in the flesh on earth, he could -say: ‘And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but that he came down from -heaven, even the Son of man which _is in heaven_.’ In the same way -that he was in heaven at that time, he may have been in heaven with the -penitent thief during the forty days between his death and ascension. - -786. “The history of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.) plainly -teaches that both the righteous and the wicked, at death, pass into -a _fixed_ and eternal abode, where no change is possible. No comment -on the passage is necessary. This portion of Scripture has a thousand -times been tortured out of its meaning by errorists of various kinds, -and as often has its testimony fallen back into the church’s healthful -stream of sound views. As a sheep, carried away from the fold, returns -when set free, so this passage always comes back again; for the voice -of a stranger it heareth not, nor followeth! - -787. “In the Revelation, John, in his vision, saw the souls of departed -martyrs and saints ‘in heaven,’ ‘under the altar,’ ‘before the throne -of God,’ &c., and in the company of each other, of God, of Christ, and -of angels, in the central and highest heavens, and in that place where -the saints go no more out forever. Let it be remembered, also, that all -this is _before the resurrection_; and if the following passages are -carefully considered, they will leave no doubt on any candid mind that -the saints are, immediately after death, admitted into heaven. To quote -them all would be too tedious; a reference to them is sufficient: Rev. -v. 6-14; vi. 9-12; vii. 9-17; xiv. 1-6; xiv. 12, 13. - -788. “For further proof still the reader is referred to Acts vii. 59; 2 -Cor. v. 1-9; Phil. i. 21-24; 2 Tim. iv. 6-9; Eph. iii. 15. In this last -passage, the whole family of Christ is represented to be at two places, -in heaven and on earth; but according to the other theory, there ought -also to be some in Hades, or the third place. - -789. “It may also be remarked that the misery of the wicked commences, -according to the Scripture, immediately after death, and before the -resurrection, and that their condition is unchangeably fixed. This is -evident from Luke xvi.; and also from that passage in Jude where he -says that those who had died impenitent in the destruction of Sodom -and Gomorrah were, at the time he wrote, ‘suffering the vengeance of -eternal fire.’ In like manner it is said of the righteous at death, -that they are blessed ‘from henceforth;’ and of those who were clothed -in white robes, having come up through great tribulation, it is said, -‘therefore _are_ they before the throne of God.’ - -790. “These passages are plain, and it would, in all probability, never -have been attempted to make them mean any thing different from their -plain sense, were it not for some difficulties, which, it is thought, -stood in the way of the doctrine that the souls of the saints pass -immediately at death into heaven. Let us look at these, and see whether -they are not fancied difficulties, which one glance at the truth ought -to remove: - -791. (1.) “It is said that the soul, in a state of separation from -the body, cannot be in the same state, nor properly in the same -place, as it will be after the resurrection; and as heaven is to be -the eternal abode of the saints after the resurrection, it cannot be a -proper abode for them before. This objection has, however, no force. -There is, for instance, in this world, a great difference between a -person in childhood and old age, yea, before he is born and after, or -between his sleeping and waking state; and yet he is in all these in -the same world, in the same place, and is the same person. The state -and condition of the Saviour differs widely from that of any saint or -angel, and yet both are in heaven. So angels and human spirits differ, -and yet both are in one company and in one place. So in heaven the -condition of the saints before and after the resurrection may differ -much, and yet they may be, in both cases, in the same place. - -792. “(2.) The saints cannot enter heaven, it is said, before they -are judged; and as the day of judgment is represented to be after the -resurrection, the saints cannot enter heaven until after that, and -consequently not immediately at death. We may, however, consider, as -is generally done, that the day of judgment is only a public and final -consummation of the decision of man’s destiny. Although God can, and -no doubt, does, for himself, judge and decide for each one when he -dies, yet it seems necessary for the glorious praise of his justice and -righteousness that all other intelligences should see the propriety of -his decision. This is necessary, that every mouth may be stopped; and -in order to do this he has appointed a day in the which he will judge -the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained. - -793. “(3.) It is also said that the condition of many is represented -in that day to be undecided. Thus many are said to be disappointed; -coming to be judged, they find that their expectations of heaven are -vain, and they say, ‘Have we not prophesied, cast out devils, and -done many wonderful works in Thy name?’ Now it is said that if these -persons had been in a fixed state before, they could not have been in -doubt on this matter. The force of this objection is only apparent. -The representations of the judgment are after the manner of men, and -consequently our conceptions of it must be more or less according to -what we are accustomed to see on earth. The Saviour is warning his -hearers not to delay preparation for death; and, in order to impress -his solemn exhortation, tells them that many will find themselves -disappointed in their expectations in reference to the final decision -of their judge, and that their hopes of heaven, being built on the -sand, will fail at last. It does no more exclusively refer to that day -than the many warnings to prepare to meet the Son of Man refer to the -time of his second coming. He is always coming, and to prepare for -death is to prepare to meet him. So to find ourselves deceived at the -day of death is the same as to find ourselves deceived at the day of -judgment. - -794. “(4.) Again, it is said that in some cases the full effects and -consequences of persons’ actions are not fully worked out when persons -die. Thus, for instance, it is known that the labours and writings of -many infidels, who are long since dead, are still working for evil; -and on the other hand, the labours and writings of many good men are -still working out good. These consequences must, in a certain sense, -come into the consideration of their punishment or reward. Hence it is -thought their destiny cannot immediately be decided. But to this it may -be replied that God, who judges, knows how these consequences will work -themselves out, and is able, therefore, to give a just judgment as well -at the day of death as at the end of the world. At the last day, when -all consequences have run out their history, it will be proper that -they should be exhibited in a solemn public judgment, that all may see -for themselves that all his ways are just and right. Besides, there is -nothing unreasonable or unscriptural in the belief that the happiness -of the righteous in heaven, and the misery of the lost in hell, will -increase in exact proportion as the consequences of their actions on -the earth are developing themselves, until the day of judgment, when -the cup will be full, and then the full draught of happiness or misery -will be taken finally and forever! Oh, what a moment will that be! - -795. “Some additional considerations will serve more completely still -to answer these and other objections, and reconcile the serious and -thoughtful mind to the idea that the souls of the saints are in heaven -before the resurrection of the body. - -796. “We shall only gain proper ideas in reference to this interesting -subject when we have corrected our ideas of heaven, for many of them -are evidently wrong. We are inclined to think of heaven as affording -to the saints a fixed or stereotyped condition, without attaching to -it the idea of degrees and progression. When we maintain that the -saints pass immediately at death into heaven, we do not mean that they -enter then upon their final condition, or into their highest state -of perfection, but only that they enter into that _place_ which is -their final abode. When, for instance, a child is born into the world, -it is in the world; but it is limited in its observations, actions, -ideas, capacities, and enjoyments, and yet all these are in their -state perfect; all its faculties occupy their place symmetrically, -and we have in the child a uniform but not a perfect being. Analogous -to this may be the primary stage of our future celestial history. -The child is in the world before it is born and during its infantile -years, but how different is it, and how different is the world to it, -from what it will be when all its faculties are ripe! So in heaven. -The child before self-consciousness appears to enjoy an indistinct and -floating life, but happy too; so may it be with our future condition -before the resurrection of the body. The condition of the disembodied -spirit will, no doubt, be somewhat isolated and lonely, (in a pleasant -sense,) its happiness being derived much, though not entirely, from -the flow of its own harmonious existence, and not from its connection -with things external. Its future connection with its body will arrest -its floating condition, and connect it again more consciously with -locality and materiality. Thus it will become more capable of social -relations and joys; just as the child emerging from its floating state -in infancy has its social powers developed by being furnished with -self-consciousness and speech, by which it learns intelligently to -separate and distinguish itself from the general mass of being, which -makes its enjoyments higher in their nature and more acute and sensible -in their quality. - -797. “Perhaps the state of the saints previous to the resurrection -of the body, and in the first stage of their future being, may be -analogous to (but of course higher than) a state of ordinary sleep, -with active, pleasant dreaming. In dreams, the spirit acts and enjoys, -unconscious of the body; and may we not suppose that the spirit after -death may, to a certain extent, act and enjoy without the body? Perhaps -it may in this state pass profitably and pleasantly through the first -stages of its future history. It may, so to say, become habituated to -eternal things, and develop its spiritual capacities to such a degree -as to be prepared, at the time of the resurrection, to enter upon a -more tangible and positive state of existence. It may thus, also, -become acquainted with purely spiritual beings, and with the modes of -purely spiritual existence. This will be useful, because the saints -after the resurrection will be required to hold communion with things -material and immaterial. While the saint is in this world, in the -body, he becomes conversant with material things, and habituated to -them; now, in the other world, in a disembodied state, previous to the -resurrection, he will become conversant with and habituated to purely -spiritual existence, so that after the resurrection, when soul and body -are again united, he will be able to hold converse and communion with -either material or immaterial existences at pleasure. - -798. “To this it may be objected that while those who lived in the -early ages of the world would have a long time to remain in this state -of celestial pupilage, those who live in later ages would have less, -and those in the last days scarcely any. - -799. “This objection, so far from militating against this idea, most -beautifully illustrates and confirms it. Thus the souls of men are more -developed in spiritual things now, and will be still more in future, -than they were in the earlier ages of the world. Those who lived in -the morning of the world had very limited and indistinct ideas of -divine and eternal things. Their views of a future world, especially, -were exceedingly misty and obscure. As the church advanced, life and -immortality were more and more brought to light. Revelation passed from -types, shadows, and ceremonies, into brighter and clearer realities; -and spiritual conceptions gained a firmer and more distinct hold upon -the consciousness of men. The new dispensation was an advance upon -the old, as under the old the age of prophecy had been upon the -law, and the law upon the simple twilight of the patriarchal age. In -what a different light those who lived after the new dispensation -dawned, stood from those under the Old Testament, is clear from what -the Saviour says—‘Among those that are born of women, there is not a -greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the -kingdom of God’ (in the new dispensation) ‘is greater than he.’ - -800. “At the present day, clearer views are enjoyed than were enjoyed -in the early history of the Christian church. Let any one read the -history of the patristic controversies, and he will see how the most -learned stumbled among propositions in search of truth which are now -clearly comprehended by intelligent Sabbath-school children. And so -it will go on into the future. Spiritual ideas which are as giants -to us, and the nature and relations of which we do not see, will be -apprehended by our successors at once. Thus, under the tuition of the -Spirit, revelation will show itself progressive, and new things, as -well as old, in reference to the spiritual world, will be constantly -and successively brought out of the treasure of God’s word, of which -the divine Spirit is the commentator. How, you ask, does all this apply -to the subject in hand? Thus the earlier a saint lived in this world, -the longer time for this heavenly pupilage he will have in the next -before the resurrection, and he needs more; the later he lived in this -world, the less will he have in the other before the resurrection, and -he needs less. Thus those who enjoy in this world superior advantages -on account of living under the clearer dispensation of divine truth -in the last ages of the church, shall not have any advantage over -those who had less on account of living in the first ages, since those -who had less will have longer time in the future world before the -resurrection. - -801. “With this idea in view, the passage in 1 Thess. iv. 15 becomes -beautifully intelligible: ‘For this we say unto you by the word of the -Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, -shall not prevent’ (that is, shall not go before, anticipate, or have -any advantage over) ‘those which are asleep; the dead in Christ shall -RISE first: _then_’ (when they have risen) ‘we which are alive and -remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet -the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord.’ Those -who shall live in the last moment, having had their spirits fully -enlightened and prepared for a future existence in the brightness of -the latter-day glory before death, shall not ‘sleep’ at all, for there -will be no necessity for it; but ‘shall all be changed in a moment, in -the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.’ ‘The dead shall be raised -incorruptible,’ having been prepared for their incorruptible body, but -‘we shall be changed.’ 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. - -802. “This theory may be seen in the same way to illustrate itself -consistently when applied to those who are lost. Those who live last -in the world, when superior light is around them, sin against greater -light than those who lived earlier, and are therefore sooner prepared -to have their doleful station fixed finally in hell, in the union of -soul and body. - -803. “The doctrine we present in reference to the condition of the -spirits of the saints in heaven, differs from the idea of a middle -state, in a third place, in several important particulars. It excludes -the idea of a middle place entirely, and of course all idea of -probation, which is generally attached to it in some form or other. The -state of the spirit in heaven, though imperfect, being the celestial -childhood of the spirit, is nevertheless final, and not probationary. -Our enjoyments there will be in exact proportion to our capacity; and -as fast as our spirits are unfolded, will our joys increase. - - ‘The more our spirits are enlarged on earth, - The deeper draughts they shall receive of heaven.’ - -804. “What an interesting moment to the spirit will be the moment after -death! What scenes will open up before it! The friends will stand -weeping over the now tenantless body, but the spirit is—oh! - - ‘My thoughts pursue it where it flies, - And trace its wondrous way!’ - -805. “The Christian need have no unpleasant anxiety about what scenes -will open to him, for he knows that the glory which will then break -upon his astonished spirit will exceed his keenest anticipations.” - - - OF MEDIUMSHIP. - - -806. The facts which I have noticed in relation to mediumship, are -certainly among the most inexplicable in nature. - -807. There are two modes in which spiritual manifestations are made -through the influence or sub-agency of media. In the one mode, they -employ the tongue to speak, the fingers to write, or hands to actuate -tables or instruments for communication; in the other, they act upon -ponderable matter _directly_, through a halo or aura appertaining -to media; so that although the muscular power may be incapacitated -for aiding them, they will cause a body to move, or produce raps -intelligibly so as to select letters conveying their ideas, -uninfluenced by those of the medium. - -808. Even where they act through the muscular frame of the media, their -vision may be intercepted by a screen, so that they cannot influence -the selection of the letters requisite to a communication. (Plate I.) - -809. Rappings or tappings are made at the distance of many feet from -the medium, and ponderable bodies, such as bells, are moved or made to -undergo the motion requisite to being rang. - -810. It will be perceived that my spirit father, in reply to the -queries put in relation to this mystery, asks, “_How do you move your -limbs—carry the body wheresoever it goeth? how does God cause the -movements of astronomical orbs?_” (457.) - -811. Evidently some instrument must intervene between the divine will -and the bodies actuated thereby, and in humble imitation between the -human will and the limbs. Upon the viscera our will has no influence. -The heart moves without the exercise of volition. - -812. As there is an ethereal medium by means of which light moves -through space from the remotest visible fixed star to the eye, at -the rate of two hundred thousand miles per second; as through an -affection of the same ether frictional electricity moves, according -to Wheatstone’s estimate, with a velocity exceeding that of light,—so -may we not infer that the instrument of Divine will acts with still -greater velocity, and that in making man in this respect after his own -image, so far as necessary to an available existence, gives him one -degree of power over the same element while in the mortal state, and -another higher degree of power in the spiritual state. But if there -be an element through which a spirit within his _mortal_ frame is -capable of actuating that frame, may not this element of actuation be -susceptible of becoming an instrument to the will of another spirit in -the _immortal state_? - -813. The aura of a medium which thus enables an immortal spirit to do -within its scope things which it cannot do otherwise, appears to vary -with the human being resorted to; so that only a few are so endowed -with this aura as to be competent as media. Moreover, in those who are -so constituted as to be competent instruments of spiritual actuation, -this competency is various. There is a gradation of competency, by -which the nature of the instrumentality varies from that which empowers -violent loud knocking and the moving of ponderable bodies without -actual contact, to the grade which confers power to make intellectual -communications of the higher order without that of audible knocking. -Further, the power to employ these grades of mediumship varies as the -sphere of the spirit varies. - -814. It has been stated that mortals have each a halo perceptible to -spirits, by which they are enabled to determine the sphere to which any -individual will go on passing death’s portal. Spirits cannot approach -effectively a medium of a sphere much above, or below that to which -they belong. - -815. As media, in proportion as they are more capable of serving for -the higher intellectual communication, are less capable of serving for -mechanical demonstration, and as they are more capable of the latter -are less competent for the former, spirits likewise have a higher or -lower capacity to employ media. It has been mentioned that having -made a test apparatus, my spirit sister alleged that it could not be -actuated by her without assistance of spirits from a lower sphere. -I inquired whether she could not meet me again, accompanied by the -requisite aid. The reply was in the affirmative, and accordingly she -met me at an appointed hour, and my apparatus was actuated effectually -under test conditions. (Plate 4, _dd_, _ii_, _kk_.) - -816. After I had read over an exposition of my information respecting -the spirit world to the spirit of the illustrious Washington, I -requested him to give me a confirmation while the medium should be -under test conditions. (Plate 4, _kk_.) I placed the hand of the medium -upon the board lever of the instrument, of which a representation has -been given, (Plate I, Plate 4,) so as to be on the outer side of the -fulcrum, and requested him to attest the reliability of the medium -during the previous intercommunion. In reply it was alleged not to -be within his power to give me that test; I urged that this test had -been given in his presence. “_We had an employee, then_,” was his -rejoinder. Fortunately I had contrived a test instrument requiring -less of the mechanical power, so that by means of it he was enabled to -perfect the evidence by bringing the index to the affirmative, under -conditions which put it out of the power of the medium to produce that -result. (See Plate 4 and description.) - -817. These facts make the subject of mediumship a most complicated -mystery; but the creation teems with mystery, so that inscrutability -cannot be a ground for disbelief of any thing. The only cases wherein -there is absolute incredibility, are those in which the definition of -the premises contradicts those of the inferences or conclusions. - -818. It is evident from the creative power which the spirits aver -themselves to possess, that they exercise faculties which they do not -understand. Their explanation of the mysteries of mediumship only -substitutes one mystery for another. - -819. If we undertake to generalize, it must come pretty near what I -have said above, that spirits are endowed, as my spirit father alleges, -with a “_magic will_,” capable of producing, as they allege, wonderful -results within their own world, (452;) nevertheless that this will does -not act by itself directly on mundane bodies. An intermedium is found -in the halo or aura within or without certain human organizations. -The halos thus existing are not all similarly endowed; some having -one, some another capability. Some are better for one object, some -for another object. Again, the will-power varies as the sphere of the -spirits is higher or lower, so that the medium suited for one is not -suited for another. - -820. Thus the means by which they are capable of communicating -is various, and moreover precarious, according to the health and -equanimity of the mortal being under whose halo they may strive to act. - -821. Evidently, the ponderable elements recognised by mundane chemists -cannot contribute to any of the bodies of the spirit world, since -their gravity must disqualify them for use in a world where every -thing is, in comparison with them, weightless. Accordingly, one of the -queries put by me to the convocation of spirits (574) was, whether -any of our elements, being ponderable, could act as such in the -imponderable spiritual creation. The reply was, Not without undergoing -a transformation. This would be equivalent to annihilating them first, -and recreating them afterward, when the process of creating alone -would be sufficient. But manifestly it is of no importance, whether -their adaptation to the spirit world be the result of creation or of -transformation. - -822. Concerned in the processes of mediumship, it is manifest that -there is none of that kind of electricity or magnetism of which the -laws and phenomena have been the subject of Faraday’s researches, -and which are treated of in books, under the heads of frictional or -mechanical electricity, galvanism, or electro-magnetism. - -823. Frictional electricity, such as produced usually by the -friction of glass in an electrical machine, or of aqueous globules -generated by steam escaping from a boiler, is always to be detected -by electrometers, or the spark given to a conducting body when in -communication with the earth; the human knuckle, for instance. When not -sufficiently accumulated to produce these evidences of its presence, it -must be in a very feeble state of excitement. But even in the highest -accumulation by human means, as in the discharge of a powerfully -charged Leyden battery, it only acts for a time inconceivably brief, -and does not move ponderable masses as they are moved in the instance -of spiritual manifestation. It is only _in transitu_, that frictional -electricity displays much power, and then its path is extremely narrow, -and the duration of its influence inconceivably minute. According to -Wheatstone’s experiments and calculations, it would go round the earth -in the tenth part of a second. - -824. How infinitely small, then, the period required to go from -one side of a room to another! Besides, there are neither means of -generating such electricity, nor of securing that insulation which must -be an indispensable precursor of accumulation. - -825. Galvanic or voltaic electricity does not act at a distance so -as to produce any recognised effects, except in the case of magnetic -metals, or in the state of transition produced by an electric -discharge. In these phenomena the potent effects are attainable only -by means of perfect insulated conductors, as we see in the telegraphic -apparatus. No reaction with imperfect conducting bodies competent -to toss them to and fro, or up and down, can be accomplished. The -decomposing influence, called electrolytic, is only exhibited at -insensible distances, within a filament of the matter affected. - -826. It has appeared to me a great error on the part of spirits, as -well as mortals, that they should make efforts to explain the phenomena -of the spirit world by the ponderable or imponderable agents of the -temporal world. The fact that the rays of our sun do not affect -the spirit world, and that there is for that region an appropriate -luminary whose rays we do not perceive, (415) must demonstrate that the -imponderable element to which they owe their peculiar light differs -from the ethereal fluid which, according to the undulatory theory, is -the means of producing light in the terrestrial creation. - -827. In one of the replies made by the convocation, (571,) the idea was -sanctioned of the effulgence of the spirit being due to an appropriate -ethereal fluid, analogous to that above alluded to. But it has, I -think, been shown by me, that as light is due to the _undulations_ of -_our_ ether, so electricity is due to _waves_ of _polarization_. But -if undulations produce light in the ether of the spiritual universe -as well as in ours, why may not polarization produce in the ether of -the spirit world an electricity analagous to ours? Thus, although -in spiritual manifestations our electricity takes no part, their -electricity may be the means by which their will is transmitted -effectually in the phenomena which it controls. - -828. The words _magnetism_ and _magnetic_ are used in this world in -two different senses. In one, it signifies the magnetism of magnets -or electromagnets; in the other, the animal magnetism of which the -existence was suggested by Mesmer, and which is commonly called -Mesmerism. - -829. This mesmerical magnetism seems to be dependent rather on -properties which we have as immortals, encased in a corporeal clothing, -than as mortals owing our mental faculties to that frame. If it be -the spiritual portion of our organization which is operative in -clairvoyancy, spiritual electricity may be the intermedium both of that -faculty and of mesmeric influence. - -830. All spirits are clairvoyant more or less, and where this faculty -is exercised, it seems to be due to an unusual ascendancy of the -spiritual powers over the corporeal, so that clairvoyants possess some -of the faculties which every spirit, after _shuffling off the mortal -coil_, must possess to a greater or less extent. - -831. In striving to make a test apparatus by which the communication -should be uninfluenced by the muscular power of the medium, through -which alone her will could modify the ideas communicated, an -interesting fact was ascertained. The nullifying of the power of -muscular control, which it is the object of this contrivance to -accomplish, is obtained unexceptionally by means of two balls and a -plate, as already illustrated, (Plate 2,) or by placing the hands of -the medium exterior to the fulcrum of the lever-board, as described -in the instance of testing the communication received from the -convocation. But these methods requiring that the conditions should -be favourable, both, as respects the spirit communicating and the -medium, are liable to fail. It struck me that the distance between the -hands and the surface of the table or tray to be moved, by lessening -the influence of the medium on the table or tray, lessened the power -of actuation. My efforts were therefore directed to contrive to have -the hand of the medium near the surface to be moved, without the -possibility of contact. - -832. With this view I placed a board for receiving the hands of the -medium upon delicate rollers, so that no horizontal movement would -affect the base board supporting the rollers and actuating the index. -To give greater efficacy to the aura, a plate of glass was supported -in a wooden frame or sash by means of four screw rods fixed upright -on the base board, each furnished with two screw nuts. The screw rods -passed through four suitable holes, so as to have one nut beneath, the -other above, the sash. Thus situated, by adjusting the nuts, the sash -could be regulated to any horizontal level, so as to be near the upper -surfaces of the hands without any contact therewith. - -833. On trying this arrangement, it was found as difficult for a spirit -to actuate it as if the glazed sash had not been employed. - -834. Under these circumstances, I had the glass plate or pane slit -lengthwise into two equal strips. These being restored to the position -previously occupied in the sash, I interposed between their edges a -piece of sheet-tin, with teeth cut in one of its edges, (Plate 4, -_kk_,) so as to make it look like a long narrow saw, such as are used -by sawyers in frames. With the aid of a leaden joint, (such as is used -by glaziers to join glass panes,) to which the saw was soldered, the -teeth of this projected about the eighth of an inch below the glass, -so as to be near the upper surface of any hand, resting on the sliding -board. - -835. It was with no small degree of satisfaction that I found the -apparatus now sufficiently susceptible of actuation by my spirit -friends. - -836. From this result it would seem that the saw-shaped metallic -conductor, operated precisely as it would have acted had it been -necessary to impart to the pane those means of electric discharge of -which, as at first used, it was deficient. - -837. As soon as I had introduced the serrated conductor, my spirit -father corroborated the impression that it promoted the influence of -the medium. - -838. This was the first instance in which I have discovered any analogy -between the laws governing the communication of the medium of the -spirit will-power, and those obeyed by electrical phenomena. - -839. An account is given in my narrative of an experiment in which -a board, suspended at one end from a spring-balance, was made to -descend with a force of three pounds, through the instrumentality of -a medium who had no connection with the board, excepting water which -was interposed. Hence, as the hook screwed into the board, by which -it was secured to the hook of the balance, was six times as far from -the fulcrum as the hands of the medium, the force exerted by the -officiating spirit was equal to 3 × 6 = 18 pounds. (See Plate 3, and -description.) Nevertheless, no upward reaction was perceptible to me, -nor was any experienced by the medium, Henry Gordon, as he declared. - -840. In the case of the boy (Plate 3,) a downward action of seven -pounds was observed, which, multiplied by the difference of distance, -amounted to 7 × 6 = 42 pounds, and yet the boy was not perceptibly -impelled in the opposite direction. Nor, when through the same juvenile -mediumship, the whole of the apparatus was thrown upon the floor, did -the boy appear to be impelled in the opposite direction. Nor was there -any reaction when the apparatus was thrown down. Now, agreeably to -the laws of nature, as established by human experience, in all cases -of motion or momentum, there must be an equal force exercised in the -opposite direction by the _vis inertiæ_ of some other matter endowed -with that attribute. Hence Archimedes said, “Give me but where to -stand, and I will move the world.” A point of support, a place of -resistance, however, was held to be indispensable. - -841. The only explanation of which I can conceive is, that spirits, -by volition, can deprive bodies of _vis inertiæ_, and move bodies, as -they do themselves, by their will. But the necessity of the presence -of a medium to the display of this power, granting its existence, is a -mystery. - -842. That the spirit should, by its “magic” will-power, take -possession of the frame of a human being, so as to make use of -its brain and nervous system, depriving its appropriate owner of -control, is a wonderful fact sufficiently difficult to believe, -yet, nevertheless, intelligible. The aura which surrounds a medium -must be imponderable. No volition of the medium can, through its -instrumentality, move ponderable bodies, nor cause raps or consequent -vibrations in the wooden boards. Hence, the presence of a medium -imparts power to spirits which the medium does not possess. - -843. The aura on the one side, and the spirit on the other, are inert -unless associated. Thus the volition of the spirit gives activity to -an effluvium, by itself, so devoid of efficacy that it wholly escapes -the perception of the possessor or the observation of his mundane -companions. It has been already alleged, that the usual reference to -mundane electricity must be wholly unsatisfactory to all acquainted -with the phenomena and laws associated under that name; since no such -movements have ever been produced by such electrical means, nor is it -consistent with those mundane electrical laws, nor the facts which -electricians have noticed, that such movements should be produced. -Those movements which have been produced by electricity have never -been effected without surfaces oppositely charged, nor, of course, -without the means of charging them. Neither are there associated with -the spiritual manifestations means at hand of creating nor of holding -charges either much more minute than those which display perceptible -force or cause audible sound. - -844. Electro-magnetic phenomena require the use of powerful galvanic -batteries or magnetic metals. Galvanic series, of the most powerful -kind, do not act at the minutest distance without contact. - -845. Even lightning could not move a table backward and forward, though -it might shatter it into pieces, if duly interposed in a circuit. - -846. Electrical sparks produce _snapping_ sounds in the air, not -_knockings_ or _rappings_ upon sonorous solids. - - - ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE ILL-TREATMENT OF MEDIA, ON SPIRITUAL - MANIFESTATIONS.—OF COUNTER-MEDIUMSHIP. - - -847. Allusion has been above made to the unfavourable influence upon -manifestations of the demeanour and incredulity of the investigator, -displayed in suspicious, cold, scrutinizing looks, such as would be -merited only by a cheat or pickpocket. All this has a deteriorating -influence upon mediumship, and likewise repels the spirits. While -communicating through a medium, a near blood relative, much beloved -by the communicating spirit while in this world, coming into the -circle, an immediate departure of the spirit was the consequence. -It was subsequently alleged in explanation that there existed a -repulsiveness between him and the spirit, founded on the idea that his -opinions were under the influence of worldly considerations, whence a -predetermination to disbelieve, as far as possible, by an unfavourable -view of the evidence. - -848. An incredulity liable to be overcome by the reason by which it -has been created does not form a bar; but where an impregnable bigotry -has been introduced merely by education, so that the person under its -influence would have been a Catholic, Calvinist, Unitarian, Jew, or -Mohammedan by a change of parentage, cannot usually be changed by any -evidence or argument. Spirits will not spend their time subjecting -their manifestations to such impregnable bigotry, or to predetermined -malevolence. - -849. On this account such persons find it hard to obtain the -manifestations which they seek with ill-will to Spiritualism, and a -predisposition to ridicule and pervert it. - -850. Besides this difficulty, there is no doubt a constitutional state, -the inverse of that which creates a medium. The atmosphere of persons -so constituted, neutralizes that of those who are endowed with that of -mediumship. - -851. It were impossible for any one to be more incredulous than I -was when I commenced my investigations; but in the first place, my -recorded religious impressions, founded on more than a half century -of intense reflection, in no respect conflicted with the belief which -Spiritualism required. As I said to a clergyman, I wish I knew as well -what I ought to believe, as I can perceive what I ought not to believe. -I was ardently desirous that the existence of a future state should be -established in a way to conform to positive science, so that they might -start together. This was perceived by my spirit friends, and that they -had only to give me sufficient evidence of the existence of spirits -and their world, to make me lay down in the cause my comparatively -worthless mortal life, could I be more useful to truth in dying than in -living. - -852. My father and sister, brother and friend Blodget, were therefore -not deterred by my sneers or denunciations. Moreover, I was never -predisposed to suspect any medium of treachery, and therefore never -disgusted them by the display of any such impressions. To the aid -of these truly angelic spirits who were nearly allied with me, came -another angel, (whom I will designate by his initials W. W.,) who, -from philanthropic motives, seems to have selected me to serve in this -invaluable dispensation. Hence, his first annunciation of my destined -course, in language which so far, however it may imply an overestimate -of my capacity to serve, shows the more the partiality with which it -seems to have been estimated by him. (47.) - - - _The Author’s Discovery of his powers as a Medium._ - -853. It occurred to me to try how far the interposition of my hand -would interfere with the powers of the medium to whom I resorted. To my -surprise, it seemed very little to impair the actuation of the index by -the officiating spirit. It next occurred to me to ascertain how far a -diminution of contact, between the hand of the medium and mine, would -impair the power exercised under these conditions. In pursuance of my -request, the contact was diminished by successively lifting the fingers -of the medium and the rest of the hand from mine, until only one finger -was left. Finally, this finger was removed, and yet the power of -actuation still continued to exist, though enfeebled. The officiating -spirit, my friend W. W., now was made a party to this investigation, -being requested to estimate the effects as well as myself. - -854. I requested the medium to pick up a pair of scissors which lay on -the table, and, while holding the blades between the finger and thumb, -to lay the rings upon the back of my hand. An increase of power was -manifested to my observation and that of W. W. - -855. At a subsequent sitting, having made due preparation, a strip of -sheet tin about two inches wide, and about fifteen inches in length, -being applied to the back of my hand while resting on the base board of -the spiritoscope, (Plate 4, Fig. 2,) the medium held it successively -at various distances. Under these circumstances, the facilitation was -greater as the distance between her hand and mine was diminished. - -856. A plate of glass of about four inches square, interposed between -the palm of the hand of the medium and the back of mine, interrupted -the power entirely; but neither cork nor a metallic plate of a similar -size much reduced the power. - -857. The frame (Fig. 3, Plate 4) being _in situ_, as described, -paragraph _kk_ of the description, under these circumstances the -removal of the serrated strips diminished the power more and more as -removed. - -858. Thus it appears that there is a mesmeric electricity, or spiritual -electricity, which may be considered as appropriate to the spirit world -as their vital air is; but which like that air, may influence our -spiritual bodies while in their mundane tenement. It may, as well as -the vital air of the spirit world, belong in common to the inhabitants -of that world and to us as spirits, being a polarizing affection of -the spiritual ethereal medium, of which the undulations constitute the -peculiar rays of their spiritual sun. - -859. That this spiritual or mesmeric electricity should be auxiliary to -the efficacy of the magic will-power, of spirits, is of course one of -those mysteries which, like that of gravitation, may be ascertained to -prevail, and yet be to spirits as well as mortals inexplicable. - -860. We live in a wonder-working universe, which becomes more and more -wonderful as we learn more of it, instead of being brought more within -our comprehension. When we compare what we know with the knowledge of -savages, it may appear a mountain of learning and science; but this -very learning and science only makes us see still more how great is our -ignorance! - - - ON PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS. - - -861. This, for the third time, brings under discussion the report of -Dr. Bell, of Somerville, near Boston, on spiritual manifestations. - -862. It is not in reference to this distinguished physician in his -individual capacity that I name him thus often, but in reference to the -hypothesis which his allegations must oblige him to sustain, and of -which he may be considered a most respectable advocate. Dr. Bell not -only admits, but confirms by his own testimony, the important fact of -the movement of heavy bodies without contact. His experience, in this -respect, is more striking than mine, since he has not only seen this -phenomena take place repeatedly, but on one occasion, as before stated, -saw tables move _fifty_ feet, intelligently obedient to his directions. -He also admits the reception of such communications from pretended -spirits, as spiritualists would consider as coming from real spirits. -Yet on the negative ground, that _agreeably to his experience, nothing -was found to be communicable_ but what pre-existed in the mind of some -mortal present, he infers that the ideas received are not derived from -spirits, but from the minds of those mortals who are parties to the -process. - -863. Of course our distinguished friend thus involves himself in the -task of explaining not only the intellectual, but also the mechanical -movements, by the mental agency of the media who participate in the -conditions under which the manifestations occur. - -864. I have already adduced manifestations irreconcilable with the -assumption on which the whole of Dr. Bell’s inference is built, (111 -to 288.) But were his observations verified, in order to make them -justify the abnegation of spirits, it should be shown that any spirit -could tell him _any_ thing which must be known to him, whether known -to the spirits or not. Remembering all the facts communicated to -him by his spirit brother, it should be shown that any other spirit -could narrate them as well as his spirit brother. Any inquiry made of -_any_ spirit, _of which the answer is known to the inquirer_, should -be told on request as well as any other; but it will be found that -answers are given only to those of which the spirit knows the answers -independently, through his own memory. Under favourable circumstances -mental questions are answered; but often, when mental questions cannot -be answered, those put verbally are replied to. I have detected spirit -impostors, by their inability to tell the name of my sister in the -spheres. - -865. I postponed the discussion on this question until I should have -submitted to the reader the communications which I had received. I -trust that these are of a nature to show that they could not have -originated in my mind, nor in those of the media through whom they were -obtained. - -866. Whatever want of ability may be shown, by Dr. Bell, to exist in -the communications alleged to come from Paine, Swedenborg, and Bacon, -or from spirits personating those distinguished men, it cannot do -away the valuable information which I have obtained from my spirit -father and others, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits. It has been -shown that in a few pages of that communication, there is vastly more -knowledge of our happy prospects in the future world, than all that can -be found in the Scriptures. - -867. Dr. Bell will not, I am sure, suspect me of any want of -truthfulness, and will hardly flatter the media and myself with an -unconscious origination of ideas, which had never before occurred to -either. - -868. If he finds that in the case of Swedenborg and Bacon the spirits -are below their medial instruments in capacity, he will find that in -the instance of my spirit friends this estimate must be inverted. - -869. My experience does not tend to establish that there is less -folly or more wisdom in the inhabitants of the spirit world than in -this. I concur with Dr. Bell in the opinion that the work to which he -alludes, attributed to the spirit of Paine, merits all the denunciation -which he bestows on it. I concur that it must be the work of a mind, -whether celestial or mundane, ignorant of the rudiments of chemical -philosophy. But if such a work coming from a mortal would not disprove -the author’s claim to be a mortal human being, wherefore then should a -foolish book coming from a foolish, ignorant spirit, personating Paine, -disprove the author to be a spirit? It only shows that low, ignorant, -foolish spirits personate the spirits of eminent authors; but does that -disprove the existence of spirits? Does madness or idiocy annihilate -the victim of these afflictions? But in all cases where communications -are obtained through speaking or writing media, the minds of the media -are liable, unconsciously, to pervert or repress the sentiments of the -spirits, and therefore are not trusted by me, unless corroborated by -communications through the alphabet. - -870. By their existence in the spheres, it seems to me that spirits -improve as to their talents, not as to their reasoning powers. They -have a superior knowledge to that which we possess of their own world, -but not of our sciences, as far as I have had means of judging. Having -no great objects to effect, they have no great incentive to thought or -contrivance. It is by learning, more than by invention, that they rise -in the spheres. - -871. These inferences are not, however, admitted by the spirits. They -allege that as their medial instruments improve, they will give me -reason to change my opinion. They assume to go deeper and farther into -the nature of things than mortals. - -872. To me it seems that their happiness is due in part to -self-felicitation and seeing every thing under a rosy hue. They often -advert to the superior height upon which they stand, without showing -that they see more in consequence. - -873. So far as I can judge, in some branches of knowledge, the spirits -will improve by discussion with mortals. They will be cured of some of -their “sky scraping!” - -874. They seem to be mainly improved by their reciprocal intercourse. -Thus honest bigots of all sects, find when they get together that in -point of fact none of their records are true! - -875. It is by getting rid of error, more than acquiring knowledge, that -they rise in reciprocal estimation. - -876. Very soon after my father began to communicate with me, nearly -fourteen months ago, he said—“We know little more in religion than -you.” - -877. They all agree that good works are solely of importance, creeds -only being good or bad as they induce good or bad deeds. - -878. A good man cannot accept a creed which sanctions wickedness; that, -for instance, which authorizes, under certain sophistical pretences, -spoliation, massacre, rape, fraud, &c. Whenever any man brings himself -to believe that his God ever authorized such crimes, or patronized -those who were guilty of them, he becomes more or less immoral. Dr. -Berg truly alleged that “_a devotee is assimilated to the God whom he -worships_.” - -879. To assist me, as it were, in exposing the errors of those who -with Dr. Bell admit, for the most part, the facts of Spiritualism, yet -ascribe the whole to the minds of mortals acting as media or inquirers, -an advocate of that side of the question gives this explanation of the -fact of my having sent a message to Mrs. Gourlay by my spirit sister: - -880. He alleged it as a fact, that if two snails be placed in -proximity, and afterward apart to a considerable distance, that the -contact of one, will affect the other perceptibly. - -881. That Mrs. Gourlay and myself being frequently in each other’s -society, it followed that if at the distance of about a hundred -miles I wished her to induce Dr. Gourlay to apply at the bank, Mrs. -Gourlay, although at the time engaged in receiving a most interesting -communication from her mother for her brother, had so much more -snail-like sympathy, with me at Cape Island, than with the ideas she -believed to proceed from her mother, that she would interrupt the one -forthwith, to attend to the other at that particularly inconvenient -time! Meanwhile, the phenomenon of the index of my disk being moved -independently of any effort of mine, so that I can make oath that no -mortal moved it, is not taken into view. Surely if by such means a -message respecting a pecuniary affair could awaken sympathy, there are -many messages which it would be of immensely more importance to convey, -than that which I sent in the instance in question. - -882. But how comes it that neither I nor any other of her friends can -send messages to Mrs. Gourlay while in the same city with her? Must -her friends go to Cape Island for the purpose? Will this erudite and -ingenious psychologist inform me by what means I may bring about this -object, which, on business account, would be more convenient than -sending notes by penny post? - -883. Am I to go through the same process of sitting down at my -spiritoscope? Will this learned assailant of Spiritualism inform me why -I must do this, and must wait till the index moves? Wherefore should it -move after a quarter of an hour’s invocation, when it will not move at -first? - -884. Again, I wish the circumstance I am about to mention to be -explained by psychology: I was sitting in my solitary third-story -room at Cape Island, invoking my sister as usual, when to my surprise -I saw Cadwallader spelt out on my disk. “My old friend, General -Cadwallader?” said I. “Yes.” A communication ensued of much interest. -But before concluding, I requested him, as a test, to give me the -name of a person whom I met in an affair of honour more than fifty -years ago, when he (General Cadwallader) was my second. The name was -forthwith given, by the pointing out on the disk the letters requisite -to spell it. - -885. Now as the spirit of General Cadwallader, during more than fifteen -months that other friends had sought to communicate with me, had never -made me a visit, why should his name have been spelt out when I had not -the remotest hope of his coming, and was expecting another spirit, the -only one who had been with me at the Cape? - -886. Further, the breakfast bell having rung, I said, “General, will -you come again after breakfast?” I understood him to consent to this -invitation. Accordingly, when afterward I reseated myself in _statu -quo_, I looked for the General, but, lo! Martha, my sister’s name, was -spelt out! - -887. I challenge this psychologist to put his hypothesis on paper, in -order that I may psychologize him into a more consistent assumption of -premises and conclusions. - -888. Let him show his hand by reducing his sophistry, as I -conscientiously consider it, to black and white. He may learn the -difference between talent and judgment. I am aware that he shows a vast -deal more of the _appropriate_ ability of his profession in defending -the view he has espoused, than I could hope to exert. It is only in the -strength of truth that I feel strong. “Thrice is he armed that hath -his quarrel just.” - -889. It is of no small importance that this learned and subtle -psychologist, should explain how my spiritoscope, or any other -instrumental means of alphabetic indication, becomes necessary to -effect the psychologization of a medium at a great distance, so as to -convey to her mind the ideas which it is an object to impart. Why is -it necessary that the index over a disk at Cape May, should revolve to -the letters requisite to spell a message, in order that the index of -another disk in Philadelphia, should revolve at a _subsequent_ time? -How does the mechanism in one place, acquire a power from the remote -actuation of another? Will it be pretended that they are affected -analogously to the sympathetic snails; whence, having kept each other’s -company, this miracle ensued? But even this is not true, since they -were not kept together, if ever they were in each other’s company. - -890. Could any process be divined by which an instrument for supposed -alphabetic communication with spirits, could be applied to transmit -such messages as that for which I employed mine, according to this -psychological hypothesis, it would be superior to the existing -telegraphic process, since the ocean could be no barrier to messages -which, although dependent on snail-like sympathy, would have nothing in -it of the proverbial creeping attribute of the animal in question. - -891. The following manifestations are of a nature, as it seems to me, -to invalidate Dr. Bell’s notion that the communications received from -the spirit are acquired from the minds of the bystanders: - -892. Calling on Miss Ellis, it was found that her time was so -pre-engaged, that she could not, as she said, sit for me till the -day but one succeeding. My spirit sister manifested her desire to -communicate, and conveyed the idea that Miss Ellis could give an hour -named next day, if she would examine her list. This examination being -made, the suggestion was verified. - -893. Here was an idea not obtained from the mind of any person present. -It could not exist in the minds of those who, like my friend and -myself, had not seen the list, nor could it have been in Miss Ellis’s -mind, as in that case she would not have had to consult the list, in -order to determine the truth of the suggestion. - -894. In this visit, Dr. W. F. Channing, who was my companion, said -that possibly he had better not accompany me. It was left to my spirit -sister to decide. No instrument being ready, as the quickest mode -of communication, the medium was made to take up her pen, and began -forthwith to make figures upon a sheet of paper. When the operation -terminated, nothing but figures were seen to have been written. The -medium said she did not know what to make of it. But _under_ the -letters it was written, “Select, from the alphabet, the letters -corresponding, and you have my answer.” This being done, the following -sentence was obtained: “_My dear brother, come alone._” - -895. It cannot be reasonably imagined that either Miss Ellis, my -friend, or myself suggested this reply, as my friend and myself -regretted the result, and it was not the interest of Miss Ellis to -lessen the circle. But none of us had the ability to have perceived the -numbers indicating the relative position of letters in the alphabetic -row, so as to have selected them correctly. It would take some time to -associate the letters with the numbers duly, and an unusual strength of -memory to recollect them. - - - MODERN PROCESS FOR ALPHABETIC CONVERSE WITH SPIRITS, AS NEW TO MAN AS -THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. - - -896. In his instructive work on Spiritualism, the idea is advanced by -Capron, that the species of modern spirit communication, of which his -book mainly treats, dates back to a period of history so early that no -age or country is exempt from accounts of them. - -897. To me it seems that I have never read any thing in history -in which intellectual communication was established by sounds or -mechanical movements with invisible beings. Sight has almost always -been the sense most appealed to in evidence of the appearance of -ghosts. In the instance of the Witch of Endor, Samuel is made to come -from his grave, not like one of our happy spirits from his beautiful -abode in the spirit world:— - -“Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, -Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a -loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived -me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for -what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending -out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she -said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul -perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the -ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou -disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; -for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, -and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore -I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall -do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the -Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord -hath done to him as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom -out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: -Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his -fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto -thee this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee -into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons -be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the -hand of the Philistines.” 1 Sam. xxviii. 11-19. - -898. It is represented in this quotation, that the ghost of Samuel came -and conversed with Saul; that he “_ascendeth out of the earth; an old -man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle_.” Where is there any -thing in common between this representation and the process by which -I communicate with my familiar spirits,—not coming up from the grave, -or the disgusting heaven of Josephus, but from their magical abodes in -the skies! I challenge any one to adduce the idea, as having ever been -expressed, that any one had found any mode of conversing with spirits -resembling in its operation that which we now have discovered. This -seems to be as new to the spirits as to us, being as much a novelty as -the electric telegraph. The very limited degree in which it has been -recently accomplished has been attained with very great difficulty. It -appears that efforts were made to establish this intercourse in England -at the mansion of the celebrated Wesley, without any beneficial result. -If ever this art had been discovered, certainly it would not have been -lost. Even the idea of rapping or knocking _independently of mortal -agency_, had the fact ever been established, could not have been held -so incredible as it was, almost universally, when it took place at -Hydesville, or in Great Britain, as above mentioned. - -899. The learned Dr. Priestley, utterly incredulous that the rappings -at Wesley’s could be ascribed to any supermundane agency, attributes -it to some trick on the part of servants, assisted by neighbours. It -appears that in general the most scientific and well-read persons are -the most backward in ascribing such phenomena to invisible spirits. If, -therefore, during past ages such inscrutable noises and movements of -bodies had occurred, resembling those recently noticed, still no such -use had been made of them as we now behold. Such manifestations being -once so far demonstrated as to induce people of sound mind to unite in -referring them to the immortal spirits of departed friends, is a fact -of such awful, thrilling interest, that it never could have become -obsolete; especially as the same state of things which permitted it -once to be successfully witnessed, would have led to its reiteration. -Neither the spirits nor mortals had laid it aside, any more than the -telegraph or the railways will be disused, after experiencing the -advantages of those inventions. - -900. Is there not as much reason for the lateness of this discovery, -as for that of any of those inventions by which modern times are -distinguished from ancient? Even now, with what difficulty has it been -accomplished to the degree to which it has arrived. After eighteen -months of laborious investigation, I find myself surrounded by -inveterate skeptics among my own family friends and most of my comrades -in science. - -901. There is scarcely a country besides this in which I should escape -legal penalties or tyrannical restraint, in expressing the opinions -which I most devoutly entertain, and am impelled irresistibly to -express; and, although in this country, free from legal penalties, -there is scarcely an orthodox female tongue belonging to some of the -best of the sex (in all other respects amiable) which will not devote -itself universally in the service of bigotry and intolerance. - -902. But beside the arguments thus founded, there is another, resting -on the fact that had there been any intellectual communication with -the spirit world, there could not have been such an ignorance of the -religious doctrines which there prevail. There is in that world no -diversity as respects the existence and unity of God; nor as to the -unimportance of those creeds which have caused in this world so much -mischief, by the consequent animosity, persecutions, and warfare. The -superior efficacy of good works over creeds is by the _higher_ spirits -invariably insisted upon. - -903. Then, agreeably to the same authority, the idea of an omnipotent, -omniscient, and prescient God being under the necessity of subjecting -things to trial, is considered as involving a contradiction; the -premises being irreconcilable with the conclusion. There is not an -elevated spirit that will not answer in the affirmative, every query -proposed in the verses inserted, (page 34.) - -904. There is but one sentiment as respects the question between -probation and progression, and that is in favour of the latter. -“Onward and upward is the motto on our spiritual banner.” Such is the -language held, and repeated over and over again. It would not take a -quarter of an hour for a spirit to pour information into the ear of -a mortal which, if credited, would put an end to all honest discord -respecting religion, and induce that mortal thenceforth to look to the -spirit world as his ultimate destination. The language of the paragraph -in the address through Lanning, would go home to every human mortal -having reason to comprehend it, so that whatever they might pursue in -this world would be with an ultimate view to ascendancy in the other. -(See Preface.) - -905. Bigotry, fanaticism, selfish sectarianism, the want of media and -bold, enlightened investigators, seem to have formed impenetrable -obstacles to the promulgation of a knowledge of the greatest importance -to human prosperity, morals, and future happiness. No doubt that so -much evil should arise merely from want of a knowledge so near at -hand, is one of the facts which human reason finds it most difficult -to reconcile with the power and goodness of the Almighty Ruler of the -universe; but that is a difficulty which exists in case any one creed -be assumed as true; since none has been heretofore so communicated as -to be within the reach of mankind in general. Meanwhile the error has -originated in various sects, that they have been especially favoured -by God, so that they alone of all his creatures have had true light let -in upon them. - -906. Happily, from the mode in which the light of Spiritualism has -been received by its present votaries, it may be gradually extended to -all their fellow-creatures; and meanwhile those who enjoy this light -do not assume that their fellow-creatures who are in this respect -less fortunate, are on that account to be censured, denounced, and -persecuted as far as the power to persecute goes. Spiritualists believe -the wonderful manifestations on which their creed rests, to have far -more testimony in its favour than any other before accredited; and -that the manifestations relied on being more recent, and observed by -multitudes of eye-witnesses, known by their neighbours to be truthful, -have, as _mere hearsay proof_, an immense superiority over the recorded -tradition of an obscure, illiterate, superstitious age and country. But -then the same privilege which has been enjoyed by one set of observers -belongs to any succeeding number, and no less to succeeding ages than -to this. It is not assumed that any special inspiration appertains to -any existing being, as an instrument of promoting truth, that will -not inure to others. No particular exclusive capacity for miracles is -claimed for this age; on the contrary, the belief is that in this, as -in other things, there will be improvement and progression, and that -posterity will learn directly from the same high angelic source whence -we learn. - -907. The more the moral code of Spiritualism is contrasted with that -which has heretofore prevailed, the better we shall be pleased. We -challenge the strongest, the most learned of those who adhere to that -dispensation, to meet us _ore rotundo seu currente calamo_. Confident -in the strength of truth and the feebleness of error, the writer of -these lines fears not any competitor who makes error his client. - - - INFLUENCE OF MUNDANE WEALTH IN THE WORLD TO COME. - - _According to the Spiritual Code, riches elevate or degrade according - to the virtue displayed in their acquisition and employment._ - - -908. The great object of the more prudent and calculating portion of -mankind, is to provide for that old age which they all hope to attain, -or, if it be not reached, to provide the means for themselves or -families which may insure a comfortable if not luxurious support, in -case sickness or mutilation should deprive them of the power of making -money, or competency to earn wages. - -909. But how precarious and fleeting are any such worldly advantages, -when compared with those of an eternal home, where every thing -desirable may be had without causing a drop of sweat to fall from the -brow! Let the description of the higher spheres be compared with any -earthly paradise, which, besides inferiority in every attribute which -can render it attractive, is open to all the ills of mental and bodily -suffering to which flesh is heir. If there be any objection to the -consequences of a due appreciation of the bliss which we may expect -in the spirit world, it would seem to be founded on its tendency so -to enfeeble our interest in this world, as to deter the human efforts -on which this sphere is, under God’s laws, mainly dependent for -improvement. But then, as a matter of principle, in order to merit -elevation in the spirit world, exertion may be induced in this; and -exertion _thus_ originating, can never be perverted to the perpetuation -of those wrongs now so often forming the steps to human aggrandizement. -The subjugation, the pillage, and extirpation of mankind, will never be -induced by considerations founded on the desire to accumulate treasure -in heaven. - -910. There is hardly in respect to any subject, more error than in the -estimate made of persons who strive to acquire wealth. The question -lies not in the zeal with which it may be sought, but in the object -for which it is desired. Although the maxim that the end justifies the -means, be immoral when extended so far as to palliate any dereliction -of the cardinal virtues, does it not hold good so long as the means -employed are consistent with these virtues? Is it not charitable -honestly to seek the pecuniary means of being charitable? Is it not -liberal to seek the means wherewith to be liberal? Hospitable, to seek -the means to support hospitality? Is it not the duty of each man to -promote the welfare of his wife and children, by seeking the means -wherewith to house, clothe, and feed them, and, moreover, to educate -them intellectually as well as morally? Since, when destitute of -education, a man is little above a brute, surely it must be meritorious -to seek the means of educational improvement, both for ourselves and -for those by whom we are surrounded; but more especially for those who -are so dependent on us, that it can only through us be attained. - -911. That part of the Lord’s prayer which deprecates temptation, is -perhaps of pre-eminent importance; since where there is one man who -goes through the world honestly by resisting temptation, there are -hundreds who preserve their honesty by avoiding temptation: by so -providing pecuniary means in due time, as not to be placed between the -alternative of starving, begging, cheating, or stealing. - -912. In our republic it will be found that while the acquisition of -wealth enables one individual to raise his family by educational -superiority, the offspring of another, by the loss of fortune, sink -into the mass of illiterate labourers; so that there is a perpetual -undulation by the educational influence of money. Though public schools -may extend the advantages of education to the poor, yet _want_ drives -the educated youth to loathsome drudgery, made more painful by the -enlargement of his views resulting from education. - -913. To the consequence of hereditary noblemen hereditary wealth is -essential, having vastly more influence than titles. In those countries -where titles exist without associated wealth, they have scarcely any -weight. However incompetent money may be to give importance to an -_uneducated_ commoner, a cotton-spinner, by educating his son and -giving him his fortune, may prepare him to sway an empire; when, had -his father been a pauper, the premier might have lived among those so -eloquently described by Shakspeare’s Henry the Fourth, as upon “uneasy -pallets stretching them.” How different from those perfumed chambers -and canopies of costly state, to which this spinner’s boy was actually -enabled to climb through the education and position resulting from -paternal affluence! - -914. Civilization elevates those who have the advantages of education, -and who are either professionally employed in intellectual pursuits, or -have leisure to cultivate science and literature from taste. But the -same division of human labour and enterprise which gives intellectual -pursuits to a few as a profession, gives to the mass occupations -inconsistent with the cultivation of their intellectual powers. Those -who are engaged in the humblest species of industry, living from -hand to mouth, have little or no time to spare from that which their -necessities imperatively require; and the bodily fatigue incurred -during working hours, makes repose from all exertion the primary object. - -915. But the situation of the poor, ignorant, and uneducated labourer -in civilized society, is rendered worse than that of an equally -ignorant and uneducated barbarian, by contrast with _his_ educated -neighbours. The lowest savage has as much scholastic education as -his chief, while the civilized labourer may be in the rear of an -educated child of five years of age. Thus the _absolute_ evil is made -_relatively_ still greater. When any man reflects on these facts, can -he be otherwise than anxious for those means which are necessary to put -his offspring upon a par in learning with those of others in the same -community? - -916. Early in life, it is manifest to every one who does not enjoy -pecuniary affluence, that any species of indulgence which he may desire -requires money for its attainment. Even the command of leisure for any -enjoyment requires money, since, if obliged to work to earn his bread, -a man may not have leisure for any other object. - -917. Among the most rational motives for the pursuit of wealth is the -love of independence. “Thy spirit, Independence, let me share—lord of -the lion heart and eagle eye!” In this sentiment every noble soul must -participate. How many have had, like the apothecary in Shakspeare’s -tragedy, to allow their poverty to rule, instead of honest will! How -many have been induced to “_earn their daily bread by their daily -shame_!” - -918. Prudent, thoughtful, honest men, who do not choose to live -houseless, without clothes, nor upon the sweat of other men’s brows, -turn from the paths of amusement, of sensual enjoyment, from the love -of literature or science, or from the observation and investigation -of nature’s beauties and miracles, in order to get, _through wealth_, -the power, and honest right to indulge. But while pursuing this great -object, in the first instance only as the means of attaining other -objects, good or bad, they grow old in the chase; their passions -burn out, while avarice originates as it were from their ashes, not, -phœnix-like, to replace _one_ parental being, but a horrid monster, -having nothing in common with a plurality of progenitors, but the -selfish, ardent love of money, unmitigated by any redeeming aspiration. -A being so actuated—or, in other words, _a miser_—would certainly find -it as difficult to reach a higher sphere in the spirit world, as it -were for a camel to get through the needle’s eye. - -919. As swine accumulate fat to bequeath to those to whom they leave -their carcasses, so the avaricious accumulate wealth, to hoard until it -can no longer be retained. They die with an immense amount of negative -sin; since all their omissions to do good, which is within their power, -is carried to their debit in the spirit world. Their poverty in the -spirit world will be proportioned to their ill-used wealth in this -temporal abode. - -920. When this is well brought home to mankind, there will be less -avarice, and fewer of those crimes which arise from selfish cupidity, -or ambition. - - - MRS. GOURLAY’S NARRATIVE. - - -921. The following is a narrative of the circumstances which led to -the conversion to a belief in Spiritualism, of my esteemed friend, -Mrs. M. B. Gourlay, through _whose_ high attributes as an intellectual -medium, I am in a great measure indebted for _my_ conversion. I do most -devoutly believe that the information received from my spirit father, -through her mediumship, would, if duly credited, be of more value to -true religion and morality, than the forty millions of dollars annually -expended upon the Church of England. - - - PHILADELPHIA, May 20, 1855. -_To Professor Robert Hare_: - -922. _My Dear Sir_: Pursuant to your request, I have the pleasure to -present you the following particulars of my experience and observation -in relation to the phenomena of spiritual intercourse,—phenomena -which engage, at the present time, the serious and profound attention -of thousands of intelligent minds; manifestations that are rapidly -and steadily spreading their influence over the entire continent, -and carrying with them the evidence of their spiritual origin, while -impressing receptive minds with the truth of their sacred importance to -an extent unexampled in the history of any other movement. - -923. My attention was attracted to the phenomena in question, about -five years since, by reading sundry reports in the New York Tribune, of -certain mysterious sounds which had occurred in the city of Rochester, -and purported to have been made by the spirits of the departed. - -924. I regarded the subject at first with great distrust, supposing it -a mere imposition on the credulity of the public, and considered it -entirely unworthy of serious thought. - -925. Finding, however, that it was eliciting considerable notice, and -knowing that _facts are sometimes stranger than fiction_, I deemed it -consonant with reason to suspend my judgment till more conversant with -the facts. - -926. Having been admonished by a much-loved, intelligent, and, I would -add, _practical_ Christian mother to worship at the altar of truth, -while exercising my reason on all subjects presented to my mind, I was, -as might be presumed, nearly, if not entirely, free from the shackles -of bigotry, superstition, and dogmatism, and was thus prepared, so -far at least as these barriers to mental and moral progression are -concerned, to investigate any subject within the range of my capacity. - -927. Hearing of the spread of the manifestations, and their actual -occurrence in the city of Bangor, Maine, where I then resided, I -resolved, with the first favourable opportunity, to investigate the -matter for myself. - -928. Not many days had elapsed after forming this resolution, before -I met an intimate friend, an exemplary and respected member of the -Methodist Episcopal denomination, who informed me that she was -interested in spiritual manifestations, and desired to investigate -them. But alas! she was bound by the galling fetters of sectarian and -priestly bondage, and dared not move in such an investigation. Her -pastor had said that the “_arch deceiver_,” the veritable _Satan_, -was the prime instigator in this _scheme_, and, moreover, that to -participate in a movement so diabolical in its character would render -her liable not only to loss of membership in the church, but expose her -to divine wrath in this world, as well as endless torment in the world -to come. - -929. I believed such an intolerant and persecuting spirit, to be -diametrically opposed to every principle of true Christianity, and -repugnant to the claims of reason; and deprecating any doctrine, -orthodox though called, that would thus stifle free thought and -inquiry, and consign to eternal misery the children of our heavenly -Father, even however depraved, I advised my friend to exercise her -reason, with which she was by nature endowed, and regardless of the -sneers of a time-serving multitude, or the anathemas of the church, to -obey the injunction of the apostle—“Prove all things—_hold fast that -which is good_.” - -930. She consented; and a few days subsequent to this interview, -she extended to me an invitation to attend a spiritual circle to be -convened at the house of a highly respectable family, members of the -Unitarian Church, and much esteemed by a large circle of friends for -their many virtues. - -931. The invitation was gladly accepted, and the ensuing evening found -us seated at a table in the domicile of our worthy friends, Mr. and -Mrs. T-—-, with some six or eight intelligent persons of both sexes. - -932. Having, agreeably to request, placed our hands on the table, we -silently raised our thoughts in solemn and sincere aspirations to the -great Father of spirits, and desired to be brought into more harmonious -relation with the spirits of our dear departed friends, and hoping that -these might thereby be better able to manifest themselves to their -friends still in the earthly habiliments of humanity. - -933. We had not remained long in this position, before we heard -distinct sounds like the falling of drops of water on the table. -Imagine our surprise and inexpressible delight, when first aroused to -a vital consciousness of the presence of celestial visitants in our -midst! I shall never forget the glorious expression of pleasure which -illumined the countenances of that little band of seekers for truth, -nor the electric thrill of joy which I experienced on this happy -occasion. - -934. The sounds continued to respond to our inquiries; three expressing -the affirmative, and one the negative. It was suggested by a member of -the circle to use the alphabet as a means of communication; and that -on passing a pencil slowly over the card, the spirits would indicate, -by the sounds, the letters required to convey their thoughts. In this -manner we received many convincing evidences of spirit intercourse; -such as getting the names of our spirit friends, the particular -localities of their birth and death, and the precise time of their -departure from this world, with many other proofs of their presence and -identity. - -935. We were soon informed by the communicating intelligence that a -much more rapid mode of communication would now be established between -us. On inquiring its nature, it was spelt out—Let Welthea (referring -to my friend) take the pen, and we will write through her hand.[17] To -all of us this was a new and unexpected revelation. My friend, being -very timid and retiring in her nature, was evidently confused by this -announcement. At our very earnest solicitation, however, she lifted -the pen from the table. Her hand was now seized by an invisible and -intelligent power, and being in a normal state, several beautiful -stanzas,[18] touching her mission in this glorious cause, resulted -from this first and, to all of us, astounding performance. - -936. This, to us, was a new phase of the manifestations, and to myself -and friend was very wonderful, since, I am certain, she had never -thought of becoming a medium for spiritual intercommunion. - -937. Soon after writing the stanzas alluded to, her hand was again -influenced to write a communication to a gentleman present. He was a -stranger to my friend, now regarded as a medium, and the communication -was from the spirit of a sister who had passed from earth about thirty -years before, the name, in full, of the spirit being appended. - -938. After receiving instructions from the spirits, in regard to the -manner of conducting our circle, we adjourned to the time appointed for -our next meeting. - -939. On the succeeding day I visited my friend at her residence, and -received many additional evidences of the presence and identity of -spirits. My father, mother, and sister, and many other loved spirit -friends with whom the medium had no acquaintance, and whose names even -were not known to her, communicated, and reminded me of many incidents -of their life on earth of which my friend was wholly ignorant, and some -of them I had myself almost forgotten. - -940. At subsequent and frequent interviews with this lady, I received -many indubitable proofs of the presence and guardianship of angels; of -which the following is an example: - -941. Some weeks after our first interview, and while discussing the -ordinary topics of the day, her hand was influenced to write these -sentences: - -942. “_My dear M_: You will be surprised and pleased to learn that -an old schoolmate is present; one that you never, while on earth, -anticipated hearing from again. Many years have fled since our last -meeting. I have come from the realms of the unseen, to renew the -acquaintance with you begun in childhood, and to advise you in relation -to your spiritual development. You are destined to become a good -_impressional_ medium for spiritual truth. Follow the directions which -we from time to time shall give you, and you will progress rapidly, -and be greatly profited thereby. Elevate your mind to the source of -light and truth, and seek to be saved from every thing that might -hinder your spiritual advancement. Devote a portion of each day to the -development of your spirit, and investigate the principles which govern -the physical and spiritual departments of the universe. You are living -in the light of an advanced age, and are surrounded by many advantages. -Improve the privileges that you enjoy, for the benefit of yourself and -others. LYDIA MANLY.” - -943. The communication being finished, my friend handed it to me, -saying, “I am not acquainted with this name.” I said, on glancing -at the signature, that I never knew any one of the name of Hanly. It -was immediately written, “Let Margaret look again, and she will find -that she is mistaken in the name; it is _Manly_, not _Hanly_.” Imagine -my astonishment on recognising the name of a schoolmate whom I had -not seen, heard, nor thought of, for many years. This was to me, and -might be to any one, a full and satisfactory confirmation of spiritual -communion. - -944. On a subsequent occasion, it was written, through my friend, by -my spirit sister, “Do you want instruction? I will talk to you of -friendship this time. Let the basis of your friendship be esteem, -and by all means seek to have this sure foundation. Friendship is a -source of the greatest pleasure, and when begun in a right manner, -ends not on earth, but continues to increase with unabated interest -throughout eternity. Yours has thus far been characterized by firmness -and sincerity. Oh! if you knew with what interest I look upon you, my -dear sisters, watching the progress of your affections, and seeking a -close intimacy with your spirits, it would awaken in both of your minds -a lively interest for heavenly objects, and incite you to the pursuit -of solid happiness. Friendship should begin in time to continue in -eternity. Oh! could I convey to you the worth of time when viewed in -this light! - -945. “I am watching your silent communings. The lofty aspirations -of your souls are not of an earthly nature. Your minds are being -enlightened and seeking communion with God. Be encouraged, my dear -sisters; we shall all be united in love. Be well grounded in the -spiritual faith, and let your motto be—_Onward in the divine life._ - MARY.” - -946. Again, it was written, “Sing with the spirit! Sister, let thy -heart make tuneful melody with an angel choir who now surround you! -Sing a song to immortality; how the dear departed, clothed in robes of -victory, now stand on heavenly hills, enwrapt in glorious visions of -the Great Eternal, bowing before the throne! Sing, ‘Death, where is thy -sting? oh! grave, where is thy victory?’ - -947. “While here you meet, guardian angels are in attendance. Here is -a gray-haired sire, a mother, and a sweet-lipped babe. All have come, -with noiseless wing, to listen to thee. Precious moments! Improve them -in converse sweet of heaven, and blessings, richer far than earthly -treasures, we will pour upon you.” - -948. The reminiscences of the hours devoted with my friend to the -investigation of this sublime subject are among the happiest of my -life. They serve to awaken the purest, holiest, and most affectionate -sentiments and sympathies of my nature, and thereby lead me into closer -communion with the loved ones who have gone before me. - -949. But in reference to my family, I was for a season destined to be -alone in my happy belief. It is true, my husband did not reject the -subject, but thought the phenomena in question might be accounted for -by a reference to the principles of mental science. I requested him to -solve the mystery. He attempted it, but failed. His explanation, like -all others adverse to the spiritual theory, was an explanation in which -_nothing is explained_. - -950. About three months after these occurrences, a lady informed my -husband that one of her daughters, about fifteen years of age, was -a medium for the rappings. The young lady being present, declined -the appellation as a term of reproach. Perceiving her discomfort, he -requested to know what she thought of these manifestations. Her reply -was, that they claimed a spiritual origin, but, in her opinion, they -were due to “_electricity, or something of that sort_.” - -951. Hearing the raps on the young lady’s chair, and on various other -articles of furniture in the room, he requested her to put her hands -on the table. This being done, the sounds were made on the table so -loud and distinct, that they might have been heard in an adjoining -apartment. Inquiring of the spirits if they would communicate with him -by the alphabet, he was answered in the affirmative by three raps. - -952. Having taken a seat at some distance from the table, and placed -himself in such a position that no one could see the letters but -himself, he proceeded to take down those indicated by the sounds as he -passed a pencil slowly over the alphabet. - -953. The sounds having at length ceased to respond, he tried to read -the communication, but found it impossible to do so until he had first -arranged what was written into words and sentences. This having been -accomplished, he read, to his utter amazement, as follows: “My dear -son, your parent rejoices in this opportunity to communicate with you. -Let me advise you to investigate this most important subject; it will -benefit you in time and eternity. Your spirit father, W. G.” - -954. On reading this communication, my husband said he felt “riveted -to the spot;” that he had realized the presence of a long-lost parent, -and that language failed to convey his feelings. It is perhaps needless -to say that he was from that moment a believer in the truth of -Spiritualism. - -955. Months rolled on, and we continued to receive and enjoy the -delightful intercourse of our spirit friends. One day, while engaged -in sewing, the needle dropped suddenly from my fingers. At the same -instant I experienced a sensation in my right hand and arm analogous -to a slight electric shock. My husband, seeing me start, inquired the -cause. Perceiving the temperature of my hand diminished, he became -somewhat alarmed, and commenced rubbing it. In a few moments we heard -sounds on the workstand at which I was seated. I inquired if the -spirits wished to communicate, which was responded to by three raps. -Taking the card and passing a pencil over it, the following words were -given: - -956. “My child, be not afraid! we are trying to develope you as a -writing medium.” I experienced the next day a similar feeling in the -same arm, and was influenced to write the following impressive words: - -957. “_My dear Child_: Your mother would impart to you a few thoughts -relative to an event which is generally regarded with unspeakable -horror. I mean the dissolution of the material body. Death should -present no terror to the mind, since it is but a transition of the -spirit to a more exalted and perfected state of being; a disunion -of the imperishable and eternal principles of the soul and spirit -from their temporary home in the physical form. It is but the door -at whose threshhold the spirit lays aside its worn-out garment, to -appear clothed in its much more beautiful habiliments in the spiritual -realm—the entrance to “a house not made with hands, eternal in the -heavens.” - -958. “To the mind that views this change in the condition of the -spirit in its true light, it will appear a necessary preliminary step -in the development of the immortal germ to a higher and much more -glorious existence. With the gross earthly body, the spirit could not -inhabit the celestial spheres, nor rove the elysian fields of eternal -progression. You have a rosebud in your keeping, which must expand -to an immortal flower in heaven. Earth has given it birth, but its -vitality is feeble. It needs transplanting into a more genial soil in -the garden of our Father and our God, where it will ultimately unfold -its fair and beautiful proportions. In other words, your little infant, -Emily, will soon join me; for I perceive that disease is deep seated in -her system—a disease that no remedy can reach. Be prepared, then, my -dear child, for the change which is soon to take place. Prepare for the -messenger Death! Be calm, be firm! Your mother, LYDIA.” - -959. This was a manifestation to me of a spirit mother’s love and -watchful care. She foresaw that the inevitable event was at hand. She -perceived that our darling child was incurably diseased. Although I -trembled at the thought of parting with my treasure, still I was much -calmer and more resigned in consequence of this parental warning, when -the dread summons came. - -960. Three weeks passed, and still there was no apparent change in our -little one from her usual seemingly healthy condition. My husband had -business which called him to Philadelphia. At his urgent request I -accompanied him. We left our little ones in charge of a female friend -and a faithful nurse, intending to be absent about two weeks. Ten -days subsequent to the time of our departure from home, I received -a strong impression to return, and that my presence would soon be -required there. My husband objected, on the ground that his business -was unfinished. I proposed returning alone, but he was unwilling, and -we started for home the next morning. We found our children all well. -I was joked about my _spiritual_ impression, and was told it was the -result of imagination. On the day succeeding our return, however, our -dear child was taken sick, and after an illness of three days her -enfranchised spirit passed from earth to heaven. - -961. Notwithstanding the ridicule heaped, at that time, by its opposers -upon the believers in Spiritualism, and the affected contempt in which -the votaries of this much-abused doctrine were then held, we pursued -the investigation of the subject, and became daily more imbued with -a sense of the truth and harmony of its divine teachings. We had the -pleasure of seeing many persons, who had once denounced it as an idle -dream, as a humbug, and a delusion, now converted to a full faith in -its glorious realities. A change came over the spirit of their dream, -and they are now blessed in the enjoyment of the richest feast for mind -and soul ever bestowed by a munificent God upon his grateful children. -And many do not hesitate to proclaim the fact to the world; for, thank -heaven, the days of the Inquisition are numbered, and a brighter and -more glorious day is dawning on benighted humanity. - -962. The following extracts from a letter of my brother, Dr. North, -of Waterville, Maine, in reply to my husband, may serve to show the -mind of one of the skeptics referred to, in regard to the subject of -Spiritualism, both before and after investigation. As they may not be -uninteresting to your readers, I give them to you, as follows: - -963. “_Dear Doctor_:—Your letter of the 17th instant is before me, -and its _remarkable_ contents noticed. Had a great man or men, for -instance, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, or Millard Fillmore, advised a -friend to a certain course, if I thought that course improper, I should -have felt at liberty to dissent from him or them; but when the adviser -is the _spirit of my departed mother, or the soul of your departed -brother_, I cannot dissent, or give an opinion that would conflict with -them. It seems to me, dear doctor, that you cannot have better advisers -unless you call the spirit of Gabriel to your assistance, and you can -do no less than consult the dictates of the rappers. - -964. “To be serious, I am surprised at your easy conversion to -Spiritualism. I had supposed you spirit-proof, the greatest skeptic -in the land; but I find you are completely _taken in and done for_! -I do not place the least reliance on your superhuman communications, -and would advise you to look upon them as phenomena of Mesmerism or -mind-reading. The medium is in a mesmeric state, and consequently -is capable of reading the thoughts of the inquirer, and answering -questions correctly. The sounds are easily accounted for. The subject -is _alarmed_ and _superstitious_, and therefore easily imposed upon. -The creaking of a boot is often taken by such persons in this state of -mind as a spiritual rap. Do not be imposed upon by such superstition, -but choose rather to be guided by good sound sense. - -965. “You might consult the spirit of Lorenzo Dow. He was a good old -soul, and one that always safely advised his friends. - -966. “Give my love to Martin Luther, and William Penn, and the -Wandering Jew. If you should hear any thing of M. B-—-, you may let me -know. He died three or four years since in my debt.” - -967. The subjoined was received some time after the foregoing from the -same hand, but was dictated, it seems, by a _more elevated spirit_: - -968. “In relation to Spiritualism, I am deeply convinced of its -truthfulness. God grant that the grand and glorious realities which it -reveals may so influence me that my progress in goodness and holiness -will never end! Do I believe in it? Yes! yes! It is my daily hope and -happiness; the bread of life; and it will be my consolation in death. I -have read much, but have seen little of the manifestations. I should be -very happy to spend a fortnight with you and meet your circle. - -969. “My wife is reading and approximating toward belief. We have read -the following works:—Davis’s Harmonia; Davis’s Present Age and Inner -Life; Edmonds’s and Dexter’s work on Spiritualism; Beecher’s Report, -and Brittan’s Reply to the same; Stilling’s Pneumatology; Riechenbach’s -Dynamics; Cahagnet’s Celestial Telegraph, and the Spiritual Telegraph, -weekly. I am so deeply interested in spiritual literature that other -reading is insipid to me. I am rejoiced that people in the higher walks -of life are engaged in the subject. It will give popularity to it, -and the weak and fearful souls will be encouraged and strengthened in -well-doing.” The following was addressed to me last February: - -970. “_My Dear Sister_: You say it is _too late_ to wish us a happy -New Year. It is never too late to wish our friends happiness, and -strive to make them happy. This is a new year indeed; a new era to be -made memorable through time and eternity; one in which the spirits -of our friends are striving for our happiness. Then let us not only -make each other happy, but by purifying our thoughts and conversation, -strive to progress in this rudimental world, so that when we find -ourselves disrobed of these bodies, and in the sphere of eternal -progression, we may be with and make the spirits of our friends -happy. This is a glorious happy new year. The old ark of theology and -superstition is passing away. The life-blood of the popular theology is -drying up. The lens of the spiritual philosophy is concentrating upon -it the powerful and burning rays of truth. Already a dense and fetid -smoke is issuing from its decaying portals. Its priests and votaries -already are crying, Fire! fire! God grant, that from its ashes no -phœnix may arise to propagate anew its senseless dogmas. Then will this -be a happy year for all mankind.” On a subsequent occasion he writes— - -971. “The spiritual doctrine is gaining ground here. Many of our -influential citizens are believers. Some that were _infidels_ have -become hopeful Christians. Public opinion is softening, and it is not -now esteemed a disgrace, as it was some time since, to believe. The -acquisition of such men as Professor Hare, Edmonds, Talmadge, Chase, -Simmons, Dexter, and Brittan to our ranks, has given respectability to -it, and wrought a revolution in opinion.” - -972. Thus much I have said respecting my spiritual experience -anterior to leaving Maine. Concerning my experience since then, much -more might be said, but as you are already familiar with the most -of it, it remains for me to present you with a few of the best and -most unequivocal demonstrations of spiritual communion that I have -witnessed, but which have not come under your personal observation. -Among which the following touching incidents cannot fail to interest -those whose hearts and minds are not closed by the iron bars of -prejudice and superstition: - -973. While spending the evening of January the 21st, 1854, at the house -of a friend, it was proposed by the lady and her husband that we should -form a circle. We had not been long seated at the table when three -ladies, two of whom I had never seen, favoured us with their company, -and took their seats at some distance from the circle. They had been in -the room but two or three minutes, when the following was given through -the table: - -974. “My dear mother! In love I meet you this evening. Oh, mother, why -do you mourn my death? I have just begun to live. Grieve not for me! - -975. “I wish my husband to investigate Spiritualism. I will communicate -to him. - -976. “Why should you erect a monumental slab to my memory? Let me live -in the hearts of friends. SARAH NORTH.” - -977. When the gentleman who took down the communication read it, I was -surprised at hearing the name of North, that being my maiden name. As -there was no Sarah in our family, I asked the spirits, Who is Sarah -North? Before they had time to reply, one of the ladies referred to -(Mrs. Wightman) approached the table in tears. She said, “That is from -my daughter Sarah. I have been engaged to-day in the solemn duty of -selecting a tombstone to her memory.” - -978. On Nov. 25th, 1854, I sat by appointment with Mrs. Wightman for -spirit intercourse. Mrs. W. put the question, “Is Elizabeth Adams -present?” “Yes.” “Will she communicate?” “Yes.” “My dear aunt,” was -immediately spelt out. Interrupting the communication at that point, -I asked Mrs. W. if Elizabeth Adams was her niece. No, she replied; it -must be a mistake. Thinking it probable that there was something wrong -in the conditions, I removed my hand for a few moments. On replacing -it, to our surprise, the words, “My dear aunt,” were repeated. -“Well!” we exclaimed, simultaneously, “that is strange. Let us see -what may come;” and we received the following: - -979. “_My dear Aunt_: This is the first time that I have communicated. -When I left the rudimental sphere, I was so young I did not know what -it meant to die; I now know. It was the beginning of life! I will come -again soon and talk with you. Your niece, - ALMIRA BARNES.” - -980. It was some moments before Mrs. W. could recall to mind the -fact that her sister had lost a child, of the above name, about -twenty-three years since, aged three months. Here is intelligence so -clearly independent of our minds, that it is, in my opinion, entirely -fatal to the theory of “_mental reflection_” so often adduced by the -unbelievers in Spiritualism. At the close of this communication the -following was received: - -981. “_Dear Mother_: I am happy to have this opportunity to send you -a kind message. Although I am often with you, I cannot speak to you -through your own mediumship. Oh mother! what delight it would give me -could I make myself visible to you. What would you say if you should -see me sitting in the chair I so long occupied when an invalid? I often -sit in that chair, but you cannot yet see me. Have you not heard me rap -to you? I have tried in various ways to make myself manifest. I think -you had better go South this winter. I think father’s health would be -better there. I will visit you, if you go. The climate where you now -live is too bracing for father’s lungs. When the warm weather returns, -you can bid farewell to the sunny South and seek your Northern home. I -wish I could speak to you through your own dear hand, but that I cannot -yet do. - -982. “_Dear mother_, you will become a medium; then we shall have good -times. Good-by, blessed mother! I look forward to a happy reunion with -all your loved ones here. ELIZABETH ADAMS.” - -983. The above, as may be seen, was from the spirit that Mrs. W. called -for, and the communication was designed for the spirit’s mother, who -lived in the State of New York. The message was subsequently forwarded -to her address. E. A., Mrs. Wightman, informed me, died after a -lingering illness of consumption. She occupied the arm-chair alluded to -during the greater part of her sickness, and she promised her mother -she would come back and sit in it after her death, if she could. Her -step-father, whose indisposition she refers to, is affected with a -chronic disease of the lungs. The loved ones are Elizabeth’s brothers -and sisters, all of whom, five or six, are in the spirit world. These -facts were unknown to me at the time. - -984. Last January, my friend Mrs. Wightman brought two ladies to -witness, for the first time, some of the phenomena of our beautiful -philosophy. Their names were suppressed, to be disclosed by the -communications that might come from their spirit friends, in order -to strengthen the evidences of spiritual intercourse. My hand being -applied to the disk, the index spelled out the following: - -985. “_Dear Mother_: I am not dead, but living in the love sphere of my -Father in heaven. When you laid my little body in the ground, it caused -you many tears. Kind friends wept. I see one here who was a faithful -friend to you in that hour of anguish. Cherish her, for she was a -friend in need. Oh! mother, I wish you to believe that your little -child is indeed with you. I can come to earth when I wish to see you -and father. It only causes me to feel a little sad that you and father -cannot see me. F. H. W.” - -986. One of the ladies rose from her seat and accepted the -communication as from her darling boy, who had been put in his grave -two years before. The name was all right: “Franklin Henry Wilcox.” The -friend referred to was Mrs. Wightman, who had been a true friend in the -trying hour of a mother’s sorrow, and had performed the solemn duty of -preparing her dear child for the depository of his earthly remains, and -to pour balm on the heart of a bereaved and stricken mother. - -987. About two months since, two of the professors of the Female -Medical College of Pennsylvania, one of whom, Dr. Harvey, is favourably -known to you, called to see me in relation to the subject of -Spiritualism. I had never seen either of these gentlemen. After a few -minutes’ conversation on the topic in question, Dr. H. observed—“We -should like, madam, if you will be kind enough to favour us with a -sitting, to communicate with our spirit friends.” Complying with the -doctor’s request, I placed my hand on the disk, and the subjoined was -rapidly communicated: - -988. “My brothers in the glorious profession of medicine! I greet you -this afternoon with unabated affection and respect. It seems like a -dream that I have passed from your midst; but passing away is written -on all things of a perishable nature. Not so with the spirit, which is -an emanation from God. - -989. “My earthly career is closed, and a brighter one is now in view. -Oh, the inexpressible delight which fills my soul when I behold the -wondrous works of Omnipotence! Here I can pursue, untrammelled, those -subjects which were so delightful to me when an inhabitant of the -mundane sphere. Oh! that I had prepared my mind in some measure, by -proper investigation, for this transcendent world of living beauties! -but the love of my profession filled my mind, to the exclusion of the -more important one of spiritual progression. I would that I could -converse with my beloved wife, that I might console her for her early -loss! Tell her that I am happy; this will speak volumes. JOHNSON.” - -990. The foregoing was accepted by the doctors, as coming from their -colleague, the late Dr. Johnson; and they said that he was the spirit -they had wished to hear from. - -991. The same spirit has since communicated with Dr. H. and has given -him abundant evidence of his identity. - -992. Many more incidents in my experience, giving proof of the truth of -spirit intercourse, might be adduced; but as time and space admonish me -to bring my narrative to a close, I reserve them for a future period. - -993. I have thus, my dear friend, given you a very hasty and imperfect -sketch of my experience in Spiritualism, and my development as a -medium. Little need here be said to prove, to reflecting minds, the -value of this heaven-descended philosophy. It is a theme that all may -study with pleasure and profit, when so disposed. - -994. Whatever may be thought of modern Spiritualism, and however -opposed it may be to many of the preconceived notions and opinions -of mankind, it is certain that there is nothing in its fundamental -doctrines and teachings, which may not be reconciled with the laws of -God, so far as these are known to man. - -995. It matters not, I should think, whether this movement is -sanctioned or not by a former revelation, as that would neither add -to nor detract from its intrinsic merit. Spiritualism is endeared to -the heart of thousands by its fond associations, and mementoes of -love and affection from those dear friends who have passed from their -sight, though still united to them by kindred ties. It has gone on -in triumph, overspreading every State in our glorious republic, and, -passing over the broad sea, has reached the shores of other lands, -binding together the brotherhood of man in the sacred bonds of love, -and dispelling the discordant elements of strife and sectism which have -hung over the world, and like a dark pall, imparted their sombre hue -to the minds of men. Progress is its name, and love its mission. It -has no affinity with vice. It makes no war with right, but inculcates -the highest standard of morality. It is noiselessly accomplishing its -divine mission. Many a widow’s heart is made to leap with joy by its -benign influence, and many an orphan feels its silent ministration. -Many a prodigal son has been reclaimed at the brink of ruin by the -voice of a spirit mother! It is not only a few individuals who are to -receive the blessings which flow from this new dispensation—the masses -are to be benefited. It inculcates principles which will strengthen -the foundations of society, promote harmony in the social system, and -ultimately unite all mankind under its broad standard of peace. That -Spiritualism is rapidly extending its bounds, and gaining hundreds -of thousands of converts, admits not of a doubt; and that it has the -elements within it to elevate, reform, and redeem the race, it were -folly, nay, madness, to deny. - -996. Eighteen months have scarcely elapsed, my dear friend, since -our first acquaintance, and you are aware of the circumstances which -afforded me this highly-esteemed pleasure. The event, I am happy to -say, has proved an era in my own life that I shall always revert to -with pleasurable and heartfelt emotion; for its results have not only -proved a blessing and solace to you, but a source of much joy and -happiness to myself. Though you have encountered much opposition, -and even abuse, from the ignorant and illiterate as well as from the -professed votaries of science, in defending the cause of spiritual -philosophy, you have fearlessly and faithfully battled against error, -and planted your standard on the high pinnacle of truth. And as David -of old, with the smooth stones of Kedron, slew the Gathean giant, and -was met with songs of triumph and dances of joy by the daughters of -Israel; so you, armed with the panoply of truth, have gone forth with -the weapons of philosophy and reason to prostrate the hydra-headed -monster; and will, I trust, receive in your turn the acknowledgments -and love of your grateful friends. - - 997. “There is a nobler strife than clashing spears, - A nobler peril than the battle-field; - ‘Tis when, with trust in God, worn as a shield, - ‘Midst universal hisses, scoffs, and sneers, - The man of truth with brow serene appears - And stands forth singly, for the right appealed - To the Eternal Umpire; nor will yield - One backward step, from policy or fears. - The savage, bandit, nay, the brute, is steeled - ‘Gainst bristling danger—e’en the worm uprears - Beneath the foot his tiny sting, to crave - A venomed vengeance; but immortal years - Are full of glory for the Christ-like brave, - Who dare to suffer wrong, that they from wrong may save.” - - Very truly yours, - MARGARET B. GOURLAY. - - - ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF SPIRITUALISM, IN THE - HAPPINESS IMPARTED BY THE CONVERSION OF AN UNBELIEVER TO A BELIEF IN - IMMORTALITY. - - -998. Certainly, in one conclusion all zealous religious sectarians -will coincide. I allude to that which makes belief in a future state -of existence of the highest importance to the happiness of reasoning -mortals. - -999. Those who, for faith in immortality, have been satisfied to rely -on the creed which they may have chanced to derive from their ancestors -through education, and have consequently felt the comfort of a belief -in immortality thence arising, may readily conceive of the benefit -which must ensue to those of their fellow-creatures upon whom such a -creed has not been impressed, but who are quite sensible of the immense -value of any facts tending to create such a belief in life to come. -It is to be lamented, however, that persons who have this impression -contingently from a peculiar education, are irritated at having -analogous impressions created in a different way. - -1000. But in obedience to any dissatisfaction thus arising, to assail -those who may acquire a knowledge of futurity by a new route, is -manifestly inconsistent with the golden rule. As an exemplification -of the benefit which the new evidences of another and a better world -may produce in the minds of those who are not satisfied with that of -revelation, I will subjoin the account of his conversion indited by one -of my esteemed friends, Doctor W. Geib, who preceded me in spiritual -investigation, and has longer enjoyed the influence which Spiritualism -exercises over its votaries. - -1001. The author was a member of the circle under whose auspices my -experimental tests were for the most part applied, and was present on -the very occasion when _my own apparatus, which had been contrived to -disprove spiritual agency_, demonstrated its existence. - -1002. “The verdure and warblings of fifty springs had elevated the -souls of the writer of the present sketch in wonder, admiration, and -gratitude, to the great Omnipotent Father of the Universe, without -opening to his longing view a world beyond the grave. - -1003. “There was pain in the thought, that scenes so enchanting, -feelings so susceptible to their charms, a mind constituted to -appreciate their miraculous wonders and pervading fascinations, and to -do homage to the great Intelligence which gave them existence, should -in a few short years be destined, like the foliage of the forest, to -death and decay. - -1004. “Still, to his mind there was arrogance in the thought that man -could ever be the recipient of joys beyond those provided for him in -common with all animal creation; and he chased from his mind the sombre -thought of death, as a dreaded incubus upon life and the enemy of his -few remaining joys. - -1005. “But how changed the scene! Death, once so disturbing to -his peace, so discordant with the moral attributes of his nature, -which ‘puzzles the will,’ and leads the mind to seek in wonder and -discouragement the motive for human life, is now but a ‘consummation -devoutly to be wished,’ when this race of earthly life shall have -been duly run; when we may have filled the measure of our destined -usefulness, and secured by our moral affinities a joyful reception in -the spheres above. - -1006. “And why this change in thought and feeling? How are the horrors -of the grave, the dread of dissolution into the primordial elements of -creation, exchanged for the blissful assurance of immortal life for -the soul of man, in all its associate identity, after it shall have -departed from its earthly tenement of flesh? - -1007. “The answer to this all-absorbing question, which sheds light -into the gloomy recesses of the skeptic’s mind, and gives joy to his -despairing heart—which supplied evidence where none had been sought, -conviction where it had been sought in vain, and imparts to the -accepted hope and faith of the professional believer, the confirmation -of a demonstrated fact—is to be found in the irrefutable evidence of -_Spiritual Philosophy_. - -1008. “How invaluable is this dispensation of an Almighty Providence, -which has made his despairing creature, a believer in the immortality -of the soul of man; has cleared from his mental vision the clouds -of doubt and disbelief, and has opened to his rejoicing mind the -irrefragable evidence of a future life beyond the grave! - - 1009 ‘Hail now on earth the glorious day, - When infidels have learnt to pray; - When heaven’s laws by reason blessed, - Are all with fondest love confessed! - - When man in bliss can look above, - And see a God in all his love; - Can own with joy the mighty King, - And loud his hallelujahs sing. - - Throw back the gates, ye heavenly band, - To loved ones show the spirit land; - Hang out the beacon lights to see - A home _for all_, the bond and free. - - And now the dreams of former days - Behold in those celestial ways; - Where sorrow’s eye is never seen, - Where love and hope are ever green.’—W. G. - -1010. “The exhibition of so-called spiritual agency in New York City by -the Misses Fox and their mother, was the first incident that claimed -my notice, and excited my laughter and ridicule, in this apparent new -phase in the science of legerdemain. - -1011. Blitz and his wonders crossed my mental vision, and seemed -outdone by the results of this feminine exhibition, in which the -spirits of another world were invoked, and aided in the performance. - -1012. This happened when psychology had been developed to a wondering -world, as the climax of magnetic phenomena in the wonderful attributes -of man, and was regarded by myself among many as the culmination of -human research in the science of animal life. - -1013. Meeting an intelligent friend who had bestowed much pains in the -investigation of this department of science, and inquiring of him as -to the progress of magnetism, I was answered, that something much more -wonderful than magnetism engaged his attention and occupied his mind at -that time. - -1014. Asking what the subject might be, and being asked in return, if I -had not heard of the wonders of Spiritualism, a painful impression was -made on my mind and feelings that, where all had been regarded as sound -and straight, there must be some latent obliquity of thought; that my -friend, as the Spaniards say, was a little _tonto_, or that he was -likely soon to become so, was quite apparent. - -1015. However, my strictest scrutiny could detect no decline of his -intelligent and ingenuous mind, and his well-digested remarks addressed -to my incredulous ears, gave proof enough that this might be another -demand for the investigation of science, and a step forward in the -progressive development of nature’s laws. - -1016. Being the leading member of a circle that held its meetings at -his house, and kindly acquiescing in my request to be present and -witness the phenomena, I found myself shortly afterward seated at a -table, on a Sabbath evening, with about twenty ladies and gentlemen, -whose every appearance was fatal to my preconceived prejudices against -the understanding of those with whom I expected to be associated. - -1017. It was evidently a meeting for religious devotion. Sacred -songs took the lead, and my own voice, as if impelled by a foreign -influence, was raised for the first time by the impulse of feeling to -participation in this vocal prayer of gratitude and praise, sung to the -great, almighty Founder of the universe. - -1018. Indeed it would be well for the cause of spiritual philosophy if -all exhibitions of its wonderful and sacred phenomena were made under -circumstances calculated to impress the mind with the greatness and -dignity of its source. To feel protected from the nefarious cupidity of -the world is an important first step for the successful investigation -of a subject so sacred in its character, and so absorbing, in -contemplating the prospective existence of man. - -1019. Seeing my associates place their hands flat on the table, I -followed their example, and was soon made sensible of the reason, by -feeling what was recognised as electric concussion, made by spirits to -denote their presence. - -1020. And ever will my mind recur with delight and gratitude to the -influence on my moral nature of this mission of love and salvation to -an invulnerable heart! It flashed like electricity across the mind; the -clouds of skepticism were ruptured, and shed a grateful and refreshing -shower of hopeful joy on the feverish doubts of an unbelieving soul. -This beginning led to progressive investigation, and that, as is -uniformly the case, to a confirmed conviction of _the communion of -spirits with their friends on earth_. - -1021. Hearing much of physical demonstrations, but having witnessed -only the concussions, vulgarly called the raps, the question was put to -my friend, the gentleman already referred to, if a demonstration could -be had to gratify my curiosity, and strengthen my assurance, when the -following dialogue occurred: - -1022. ‘Will the spirits be so obliging as to make a physical -demonstration?’ Answered by three raps on the table, which were -responded to by an affirmative expression from the whole circle. My -seat was at the side of the medium, a married lady of considerably more -than ordinary weight. _Question._ Will the spirits move Mrs. D. in her -chair? _Ans._ Yes. - -1023. As this demonstration was intended for my special benefit, and -our invisible friends were fully committed for its performance, my -attention was riveted on the lady who was to be the subject of it. -‘Madam, will you please put your feet on the spar of the chair?’ This -being fully accomplished—‘and your hands in your lap,’ was added. -As her hands dropped, _the lady left my side_, passed about two feet -backward, and immediately returned to her former position at the table. - -1024. My astonishment was naturally raised to the highest pitch, -demanding of Dr. P., who sat on her opposite side, if I could believe -my own eyes, and that Mrs. D. had really been moved from my side. -‘Oh, certainly,’ he replied; ‘that is nothing. I have seen far more -wonderful manifestations than that.’ - -1025. The idea of collusion was too ridiculous to be entertained for a -moment; every consideration condemned it. The carpet on which the chair -stood on its slender legs, with at least one hundred and fifty pounds -added to its gravity, must have been extensively injured had the chair -remained in contact with it. But not even a sound was audible, and my -mind was left to contemplate _an invisible power that had effected the -movement of a ponderous body in mid air_. - -1026. Showing the interest of my own dear invisible guardian friends, -it was spelt out by the card, the primitive mode of communication at -that time, that I should change my seat to the side of the medium; and -it was only after this change had been made that my mind was impressed -to ask for a demonstration. - -1027. By this demonstration of supernal agency I was delighted, -humbled, and convinced. As the octogenarian Robert Owen, of London, -proclaimed to the world in a published letter, in relating his own -case, I became a convert to _spiritual life_ and _intercourse_ by the -force of this evidence, because I should have considered any man a -fool, who, with a mind free from the curse of a bigoted education, and -whose thoughts and feelings were not mortgaged to the world, could -reject such palpable and convincing proof, and entertain a different -conclusion. - -1028. Being subsequently in the city of New York, I visited the public -circles of Mrs. C., a medium for automatic writing and the sounds. -Being requested, as the rest had been, but without response, to ask if -any of my spirit friends were present, my interrogation was answered by -three distinct raps on the table. ‘Now ask who it is; a father, mother, -and so on;’ and I was informed it was a son. ‘Is your sister with you?’ -‘Yes.’ ‘Will you spell her name?’ ‘Yes;’ and it was correctly given. -‘Is her little son with her?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Will you spell his name?’ ‘Yes;’ -and a name of seventeen letters was correctly spelt out by the card, -the letters being indicated, when pointed to, by three raps. - -1029. My spirit son also informed me when he had died and of what -disease. I asked if they were happy. It will be observed that my -son’s name had not been mentioned, reserving it for a test. Three -raps had replied in the affirmative to my question, when the medium -spasmodically seized a pencil, extended a sheet of paper toward me, -and wrote upside down, so that I might read it as written: ‘We are -looking forward for you to join us, when we shall be more so;’ and -to my perfect delight and astonishment, signed my son’s name to the -communication, asking whether the name was correct. - -1030. On a subsequent occasion, when a large and respectable company -was present, I remarked to Mrs. C. that she had reported the fact that -foreign languages had been written by her hand. ‘All kinds of language; -but I don’t know any thing about them,’ was the reply. ‘If you have -no objection, I should like to get a communication from my son, in a -foreign language.’ ‘Oh, not the least; if he knew it in this world, he -will know it in the next.’ ‘My son, will you give me a communication in -a foreign language?’ Answer, three raps. The company were all intent on -this striking and convincing test of spiritual intercourse. In French? -no; one rap. In Spanish? three raps. The medium’s hand, as before, -seized the pencil, and wrote upside down a communication to me _in -correct Spanish_, though we all accepted her declaration, that she was -not acquainted with one word of the Spanish language. - -1031. As it is said of our beneficent almighty Father, that when two -or three are gathered together in his name, he is with them, so it is -with the spirits of our dear departed relatives and friends. When a -few congenial, harmonious spirits of earth are associated in virtuous -love, and their affinity for their supermundane spirit friends is -strong enough to draw them here, they come on missions of friendship, -and pour happiness into our hearts, provided the presence of a medium, -possessing the required conditions, affords them an opportunity. - -1032. It has been my good fortune to be a member of such an -association, called a spirit circle; and the communications which have -come to me from my dear departed children, and others who are dear to -me, filled with love and interest for my welfare in the world, have -given a value to life which it never had before, supplying a stimulus -to the heart and mind which has guarded them from the influence of -surrounding excitements, and strewed that path with many sweets which -was too apt, with less humility and resignation, to be regarded with -doubt and pursued with remorse. - -1033. Let it not be said that spiritual philosophy imparts no benefit -to man. It need not be asked if opening heaven to the mind of the -skeptic is not a boon: it is too manifest an axiom to be made a -question. Is it no advantage to mankind to know that this life is a -prelude to one in the skies? no incentive to virtue to be taught that -the beginning of our spirit life will correspond with the termination -of our mundane existence, and that our position there will be governed -by our affinities here? Operating on spiritual, as gravity does on -physical, matter, and giving to crime a weight which holds the criminal -back in the career of immortal happiness; and that this must be first -disposed of by the redeeming laws of nature before the soul can begin -its progressive flight to spheres of celestial bliss. - -1034. At one of those family harmonious associations at which spirits -are wont to come, I received a first communication from a much-loved -daughter, whose devoted affection in this world caused her untimely -death to leave a large blank in my happiness, till spiritual philosophy -gave to my mind the assurance of her exalted bliss and unaltered love. - -1035. To hear, as it were, the voice of one who had been resolved, -agreeably to my belief, into the primitive elements of her physical -nature, proclaiming her existence and transcendent happiness in scenes -of surpassing beauty and fascination, was well calculated to soften the -heart, however hard before, and make it for the future a more ready -recipient of happy impressions; to open the floodgates of feeling, -waken up the latent sympathies of our nature, and make us participants -of those fountains of joy, which flow from the blessings of pure -religion. - - - _Letter from a Spirit Daughter._ - -1036. “‘_Father Dear_: I will give you some idea of my beautiful home. -Think of all the flowers ever seen on earth blended in one, all the -heavenly strains of music blended in one strain, all beauty combined, -and you will have a slight conception of the heavenly kingdom. - -1037. Poets have sung of heavenly joys, but fancy cannot paint, nor -artist sketch, the wondrous beauties of the spirit home. Darling -father, how glad I am to see you have begun to live for heaven! I shall -be one to welcome you when life’s journey is over. Oh, mother dear, -will you, for the love you bear to us, listen to the voice of your -children? We will give you all the proof you ask. MARIA.” - -1038. This was all got by pointing to the letters on a card, and -taken down by a third person. All in such a manner as to preclude the -possibility of the least participation of any one in its production. - -1039. A beautiful and much-loved son, who left this world at three -years of age, came to me, at the end of twenty-seven years, from -the seventh supernal sphere, with words of love, consolation, and -advice. Such events, to a believer in the spiritual doctrine, are well -calculated to arouse the strongest energies of the soul and inspire the -best feelings of the heart! - -1040. The regular progress of maturity of the spirit, uninterrupted by -the grave, is made evident to our astonished minds by an event like -this. We are also admonished by the same source that decline is not an -attribute of spirit life; that old age recedes, and infancy advances, -to the same point of maturity, with entire immunity from all physical -infirmity. - -1041. On last Christmas-day, being convalescent from a rather doubtful -illness, and musing alone on the wonders and blessings of spiritual -intercourse, I was induced to write the following letter to my -much-loved spirit daughter, from whom had come the preceding and many -other communications: - -1042. ‘_Dear angel Child_: The untiring affinity of your cherished -love, which, unobstructed by time and space, makes you so often the -companion of my mind and heart, and the dear partner of my thoughts -and feelings, would seem to render the present object of addressing a -letter to you and your dear brothers in heaven a superfluous task. - -1043. But, my dear Maria, my ever dear and cherished child, with -my growing faith in the blessed reality of spiritual existence, I -am becoming daily more anxious to preserve the history of my happy -experience, and also my correspondence with my beloved relations of -this world, who have preceded me in the progressive destiny of the -human race. Beside which, my beloved daughter, it will assimilate, -revive, and perpetuate that mundane correspondence, the dear mementoes -of which had their beginning seventeen summers since in your sick -chamber on the banks of the Hudson, while an ambitious and youthful -votary of Minerva, and ended on the Alabama, ever sacred to my memory, -with the termination of your worldly career, a wife and a mother. - -1044. The considerations which engage my mind and elicit my solicitude, -in this contemplated correspondence with my spirit relatives and -friends, are the mode of conducting it, that may make them acquainted -with its contents, the fear of transcending the limits of propriety -in the subject-matter of my letters, and my solicitude to make all my -thoughts, feelings, and acts as conformable to the high behests of -spirit life as may be within the reach of my weak and earthly nature. - -1045. The communications I have received from you and your dear -brothers, and from your Uncle John and Aunt Rebecca, are a perpetual -source of happiness to my mind, and nothing, while I am in this world, -can reflect so much joy on my heart as the continued correspondence of -all the loved ones who have gone before me. - -1046. Your angel visits, and those of my dear William, during my recent -bodily affliction, have exercised that joyful influence on my heart and -mind so essential in diseases of a dangerous nature and of doubtful -termination. - -1047. The assurance which you and your dear brother have given me, that -my sickness has had the happy effect to spiritualize my mental and -physical nature, has been already made manifest to my grateful mind by -strengthened resolution for the future, and a more exalted sense of the -demands of that true spiritual philosophy which felicitates our life in -this, and secures for us a desirable position in the spheres above. - -1048. Flowing from my warm aspirations for the increased happiness of -my fellow-creatures in this mundane sphere, by the dissemination and -growth of the spiritual doctrine, I cherish a wish that this letter may -be made to subserve that divine object, by exhibiting to the world an -irrefutable test of spiritual intercourse. - -1049. For this purpose, my dear angel child, in your next interview -through our much-respected medium, allow me to request the favour of -you to make my letter so far the subject of your communication, as may -exhibit the reality of your spiritual existence, intelligence, and -clairvoyance, and your continued correspondence of heart and mind with -your happy father. - -“_Christmas_, 1854. - -1050. Shortly after writing this letter, at the circle of which I am a -member, the following communication was spelled out on the spiritoscope -or disc. - -1051. ‘_Darling Father_: I wish to say something to you about William’s -communication. He has impressed you since you were sick more than -myself. You are rapidly developing as an impressional medium. - -1052. ‘We have been constantly with you. Having wished to give a -communication the evening our friend (a lady who is a very superior -medium) was with you and mother, but the mode was too tedious. It -was an era in mother’s life. Her opposition tends in some measure to -repulse us; not that we love her less, but our loving natures must meet -reciprocal tenderness. - -1053. ‘Love begets love in the heavenly spheres, as well as on earth. -I cannot say more at present, but I think William will speak more at -length about the letter. MARIA.’ - -1054. ‘What letter?’ ‘Father knows,’ was the reply. The next -communication for me on the same evening was the following: - -1055. ‘Father, I wish you to read the letter which you have in your -pocket-book before you go home; it will dispel all doubts in your mind -relative to its spiritual origin. W. G.’ - -1056. On the next evening, finding myself incidentally one of a happy -meeting of spiritual friends, the following came for me through the -spiritoscope from my brother, referring to my letter: - -1057. ‘_Brother William_: We are still with and around you. During your -sickness it was the province of Maria to watch you daily. Other friends -were near; among these were father and mother, with your sons Jacob, -William, and Henry, Rebecca, and many others bound to you by the ties -of consanguinity. On Christmas-day we held a levee in your room. If you -could have seen us, I think it might have disturbed your placidity, but -you sat as composed as if you were entirely alone. I think if you will -recall the circumstances, you will confess that a power foreign to your -own was exerting an influence to give forth spiritual monitions. - -1058. ‘I am anxious that Maria should make a communication _in regard -to the letter_, and she will do so when an opportunity offers.’ - -1059. On the next meeting of our circle, the following beautiful letter -was put in my hand by our intelligent and highly-developed medium, Mrs. -Gourlay, written by her under spiritual impression: - -1060. ‘_Dear Father_: I mentioned to you briefly at the circle that -brother William impressed you to write the letter which you addressed -to me on Christmas-day. I perceive with pleasure that my friend Mrs. -G. is now sufficiently under my control to answer your affectionate -epistle. The proposed correspondence between us affords me much -pleasure, and causes me to feel as if I were really to live over -again the days of my earthly existence, when I was blessed with the -oft-repeated manifestations of your parental love and affection. I -flatter myself, my dear father, that this revival of loving association -will tend much to your happiness as well as mine. I will be a friendly -star to guide you in your course over the troubled sea of life, that -you may not become submerged in its surging billows, but arrive safely -at the haven of eternal joy and felicity. I will lift your soul by -degrees to the source of love and wisdom, and cause you to feel -sensations of pleasure such as you have never before experienced. You -have a mind which delights in the beauties of nature and art. Let me -tell you, then, that no scene of earthly grandeur which you have ever -witnessed, nor the sublimest flight of fancy of the wildest enthusiast -in the cause of Spiritualism, can compare with the beauties and joys of -the spirit home. - -1061. ‘I regret that the members of my loved family are so much blinded -by prejudice, as to debar themselves the holy privilege of spiritual -intercourse—a communion which would serve to connect them indissolubly -with us, and teach them of a world beyond death and the grave. Oh! -father, how my heart rejoices that I can come to you with cheering -words, and pour into your willing ear the tidings of the gospel of -peace, which will prove a balm of consolation to your drooping spirit! -The ordinary trials of life are but as dew on the eagle’s wing, when -the proud bird soars aloft to court the rays of the rising sun. Father, -I have already presented you with a view of the beautiful realities of -my spirit home. The picture I have drawn is no ideal one, but a real -and substantial scene of enduring pleasures. Now let me ask, How will -your joys compare with ours? Oh! that the minds of my darling children -might become imbued with an understanding of this most holy religion, -for I am conscious that it would add largely to their present and -future bliss! - -1062. Dear father, I perceive the emotions of your inmost heart, and if -the love of a devoted child can in any wise conduce to your happiness, -it is most freely thine. Oh! that dear mother could feel as you do, how -happy her declining years on earth might become! When she is disposed -to listen to the voices of her spirit children, it will be our pleasure -to come to her “with glad tidings of great joy.” Wishing you both, my -dear parents, all the happiness which earth can afford, I subscribe -myself your ever loving daughter. MARIA.’” - -1063. The following letter was placed in a sealed envelope, addressed -and handed to Mrs. Gourlay for an impressional reply. A few days -afterward the answer to it, here annexed, was handed to me by my -esteemed friend, the lady named, with the original letter still in the -sealed envelope as it had been handed to her. This has to be regarded -as a beautiful specimen of psychometric mediumship. - - PHILADELPHIA, March 23, 1855. - -1064. _My dear Brother John_: Your communication last evening at -our circle of “progress” afforded me much gratification, as you -are doubtless aware from your pervading perception. I regret that -circumstances do not allow of a more frequent intercourse with my -beloved friends of the spirit land. It is also my ardent desire to hold -communion with all my spirit relatives, and would wish with you, my -dear brother, to bring about this delightful consummation. - -1065. Your injunction of cheerfulness, as an efficient means of -securing a healthful equilibrium of the vital organism, I can fully -appreciate, and shall endeavour to profit by your welcome brotherly -and excellent advice, as far as circumstances will permit. It is true, -my dear John, that a longer sojourn here harmonizes with my desire to -effect some objects, the accomplishment of which would probably add to -my happiness here, and my claim for congenial association. The object -to which I allude is the amelioration of the condition of the poor and -wretched of my fellow-creatures, making them through my agency the -recipients of some active benevolence. - -1066. I have imbibed the opinion that the only acceptable offering -at the throne of the great God, is the actual performance of those -duties which are incumbent on us as individuals and social beings; -beginning with the establishment of our own personal physical and moral -character, and those of our own household and immediate social circle -of relatives and friends; and then, to the accomplishment of this, -to cultivate the sentiment of benevolence in aiding to promote the -individual welfare of mankind in the use of what talent and other means -may have fallen to our lot. I am prone, in my relations with the great -Omnipotent Ruler of the universe, to apply the time-honoured maxim, -“Actions speak louder than words.” - -1067. Your invitation, my dear brother, to increase my intercourse with -my spirit friends, finds in my heart and mind a very ready compliance. -You propose a daily appropriation of time to this object. If you will -do me the favour to appoint the time most agreeable to them and most -desirable for myself, it shall be, to the fullest extent of my power, -sacredly devoted to a duty and pleasure that are nearest to my heart. - -1068. I feel the assurance that the good earth-character and -intelligence of my spirit family, and the extent of our mutual love -and affinity, afford me a more than ordinary opportunity for receiving -information of that bright world which has become a delightful -prospective inheritance to me and to thousands of doubting, fearful, -and despairing minds. - -1069. Your inspiring cheerfulness, my dear John, has already verified -your sensible prognostic of the great influence on disease of a -cheerful mind. I have learnt to entertain a high opinion of the bright -intelligence and clairvoyance of the more elevated denizens of the -spirit world; and shall always, therefore, regard any advice that -may be offered me for the better government of my body and soul as a -welcome and precious offering from those I love. I will close for the -present with the assurance of my unaltered affection. WILLIAM. - -1070. _My dear Brother_: With heartfelt love and affection I respond -to your letter in reply to a message which I delivered through the -instrumentality of our devoted friend, Mrs. Gourlay. During our happy -interchange of thought, it will be my endeavour to suggest such ideas -to your mind as may serve to elevate it and develope its capabilities. -To the mind that is ignorant and prejudiced, this mode of communion -with the invisible world may seem to be a direct violation and -infringement of nature’s laws; but it is, on the contrary, not only -natural, but perfectly legitimate to the age in which you now live. -It is not a new revelation, but simply the discovery of hidden truths -peculiarly adapted to the present advanced state of the race. It is -old material in a new form. The material and spiritual elements are -contributing, as _never before_, to the elevation and happiness of -mankind, and already is established a spiritual telegraph on which I am -at this moment successfully operating—sending a message of love to you, -my brother. - -1071. You say my words of cheer have wrought a change for the better -in your system. This is a result which naturally follows a strict -adherence to my prescription—cheerfulness. - -1072. You desire to know what time would be most advisable for you to -sit for spiritual communion. I would say, early in the morning, before -the mind becomes taxed with the cares of the day, make a record of your -impressions. - -1073. You observe that it gives you great pleasure to receive messages -from those in the spirit world who are bound to you by the ties of -relationship. Let me assure you, my dear brother, that the feeling is -mutual; and while time lasts with you, it will be our endeavour to -gladden your heart with tokens of our increasing and untiring love. -Your cup of happiness shall be filled to the brim, if it depends on us. - -1074. Brother, may you meet with friends true and kind; may the labours -of the cheerful morn render each day a happier one to you; and when -night steals upon a slumbering world, may you close your outward eyes -in peace with all mankind! Keep the mind’s sunshine bright! You have a -soul to feel for others’ woes, and this is the true stamp of divinity. - JOHN. - - - MARRIAGE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN. - - _The Hymeneal Tie in the Spirit World grows out of the necessity of - the Connubial Union in the Mundane Sphere. “Free love” imputation - refuted._[19] - - -1075. Some peculiar views respecting marriage, which are not consistent -with the ideas of female delicacy and chastity heretofore entertained, -have been designated by the name of “_Free Love_,” and have been -commented on as proceeding from the spirit world. I am happy to say -that, agreeably to the impressions which I have derived from my spirit -friends, any doctrine, having a tendency of the kind thus described, -would be at least as much censured in the spirit world as in this. As -the best mode of removing this groundless imputation on Spiritualism, I -will state the impressions which I entertain on the subject of marriage. - -1076. Among the sources of happiness in the spirit world much insisted -on is that resulting from a combined union of those really created for -each other. The marriage contracted in this world, loses its binding -power in the spirit world, yet may endure if mutually desired. If a -husband has had several wives, or a wife several husbands, the tie -endures only between the most congenial pair.[20] - -1077. Sexual association is the means throughout nature by which -the perpetuation of species is effected. But that this association -may exist among human beings without degradation, it is manifestly -necessary that it should not be indiscriminate. Not only delicacy, -modesty, and the cultivation of congenial affection, but likewise the -interests of offspring, require that the parents and children should -form one family. The welfare of children, their equal duty to both -parents, and natural affections between the parents and their children, -must make a separation painful to all parties, however affection may -have declined between the husband and wife, on the part of either or -both. - -1078. Hence, in the mundane sphere, the perpetuation of the human -race consistently with decorum, and the welfare of offspring, and -the happiness of the parties, especially the mother and wife, seems -to be the great object of matrimony. In the spheres it is difficult -to perceive how any motives of equally high importance can exist. It -must be that connubial union in the spirit world rather grows out of -marriage in this world, in order to fill up the void in the heart which -might otherwise arise from our mundane habits. It would seem as if it -were a benevolent indemnification for celibacy, or for the miseries so -often resulting from the connubial state in this world, consequent, -like the sufferings of child-bearing, to the perpetuation of mankind. - -1079. It seems to me an error to suppose that the terrestrial marriage -can be a secondary object with God, when the important part which it -performs is taken into view. - -1080. Incapacity to maintain a family often renders it impossible for -those who would marry to come together, and worldly motives induce -marriages, even when disgust or indifference may exist on the part of -one, if not on that of both the parties. - -1081. It seems, moreover, even where marriage actually results from the -passion of love, that it is more or less the consequence of a species -of hallucination, through which lovers deck an object with all that -they would wish to exist in the way of merit, and feel toward them an -affection proportionate to their own capacity to love, rather than of -the degree of power in the object, reasonably to excite such intense -partiality. It is thus that the love of the mother to the child she -believes to be her own, will be powerful in proportion to her own -capacity for maternal love, rather than of the child to excite love; -since though it be a monster, and not _really her own child_, but -_fraudulently substituted_ therefor, it will cause no diminution of her -maternal devotion. - -1082. It is the impression on the mind that determines the object to -which the passion is directed; the character of the being actuated by -the passion, which determines its strength. - -1083. But where to all those qualifications which would create -friendship between persons of the same sex, the peculiar emotions -which take place between those of different sexes are superadded, -those who come together in this world under the hymeneal tie, may find -it something more than a mere civil contract, and not terminated by -death. Moreover, independently of the original passion, there arises an -affection which is justly distinguished as conjugal, and which differs -from the other in this highly important particular, that it is founded -on a thorough reciprocal knowledge, instead of that ignorance which too -often accompanies attachments produced by the arrows of the blind god, -as Cupid is sometimes designated with figurative consistency. - -1084. Having always supposed that independently of the emotions -peculiar to the sexes, there could only be friendship between a man and -woman like that which would exist between a brother and sister, I am at -a loss to understand what it can be which, in the spiritual state of -existence, can induce indissoluble marriage. - -1085. On submitting the suggestions comprised in the preceding -statement to the spirit to whom I owe much information, herein quoted, -and to the spirit of a most intimate male friend, by both it was -alleged that peculiar emotions were attendant on sexual affection in -the spheres, as well as on earth, so far as consistent with the absence -of that which exists in common with brutes. - - - THE MORALITY OF CHRISTENDOM BEING IRRECONCILABLE WITH THE NEW - TESTAMENT, CANNOT BE ITS LEGITIMATE OFFSPRING. - - -_Inspiration can have no higher authority, than the human testimony on - which its existence is arrogated._ - -1086. Is it not a mistake to suppose that any doctrine gains any -validity by claiming inspiration as its source, when there is nothing -but human testimony to advance in support of that claim? For if in the -instance of Spiritualism, human testimony is deemed to be unavailable, -how comes it to avail when adduced in support of this arrogant claim of -inspiration? As well might a man expect to cure the defect of a marshy -foundation by substituting columns of iron for wooden posts, or that, -while resting on wood, the support could be made firmer by introducing -iron into the superstructure. - -1087. As the introduction of the iron would diminish the competency -of the foundation in proportion to the augmentation of weight, so the -claim to inspiration lessens the competency of the testimony upon which -it is advanced, proportionally as the incredibility is increased. - -1088. But as respects the ancient witnesses, their own statements make -them out unworthy of confidence. Facts or circumstances are stated -which are manifestly blasphemous, inconsistent, and absurd, if not -impossible. Thus a want of veracity or of discretion being demonstrated -in some points, is sufficient to destroy validity in all. - -1089. Revelation assumes God to be omnipotent, omniscient, prescient, -and all good, yet represents him as under the necessity of subjecting -his creatures to probation, to find out what, by the premises, he must -foresee. It represents him while wishing his creatures to know him and -his attributes, as _not teaching_ them that which he wishes them to -learn, yet punishing them and their posterity for ignorance arising -from his own omission. - -1090. It does not suffice to allege that the Old Testament taught God’s -will to the Jews; since it is to me incredible that our Heavenly Father -would give instruction of vital importance to a few of his children, -leaving all the rest uninstructed, and yet afflict them for this -result. But, admitting this possible, it appears that the instruction -given the Jews in the book of Moses failed in those particulars, which -are of paramount importance. - -1091. In the Bible, God is represented as susceptible of _jealousy_, of -_wrath_, of authorizing the butchery of three thousand Israelites for -worshipping a golden calf; sanctioning the massacre of the whole nation -of the Midianites, with the reservation of the virgins for violation -by the bloody murderers of their kindred; the outrageous deception and -fraud on the part of Jacob; swindling the Egyptians by borrowing their -ornaments with intention of purloining them; hardening the heart of -Pharaoh, yet afflicting his subjects for the obduracy thus produced; -instructing Saul to surprise and massacre the Amalekites, even to each -“_suckling babe_”, for a wrong done by their ancestors some hundred -years before, as authorizing the hewing down with a sword the regal -prisoner Agag in cold blood,[21] and sanctioning the destruction of -whole pagan communities by David.[22] - -1092. The following is the account given of this favourite of Jehovah: -“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand -of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily -escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, -to seek me any more in any coast of Israel; so shall I escape out of -his hand. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men -that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And -David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his -household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, -and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. And it was told Saul that -David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. And David -said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them -give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: -for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? Then -Achish gave him Ziglag that day: wherefore Ziglag pertaineth unto the -kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the -country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And David -and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and -the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the -land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David -smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the -sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, -and returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, Whither have ye -made a road to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and -against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the -Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings -to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and -so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the -Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people -Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.” - -1093. Here is massacre, spoliation, base lying to Achish, his truly -noble-hearted friend, whom he deceives into a belief that he had made -the people of Israel abhor him, when it was his intention to become -king of Judea, and of course the enemy of his too-confiding protector, -whenever an opportunity offered. - -1094. Praise be to God that he has sent us a new way to religious -light, not associated with this _detestable_ immorality! - -1095. Jehovah is made to arrest the sun, in order that Joshua may -slaughter his flying foes. He is described as authorizing the Jews -to extirpate their neighbours and seize their territory. I do most -conscientiously declare that the portrait of Jehovah by the Bible -appears to me more suitable for Satan than for our heavenly Father, -who is represented by the spirits as perfectly impartial and equally -loving to all his creatures. - -1096. The example set in the Bible of slandering and persecuting those -who did not believe in its doctrines, has ever been followed out by -scriptural devotees, who would presumptuously represent that it is only -from the Scriptures, which _they_ recognise as the word of God, that a -correct knowledge of the divine attributes can be obtained. But this is -the converse of the truth. As described by Seneca, the Roman Sage, the -God of the ancient theist was to the Jehovah of the Bible as Hyperion -to Satyr. (See Seneca’s opinions of God, 1224) - -1097. It appears to me a striking proof how far men can be demented by -educational bigotry, that it should be supposed that their omnipotent -God can require human missionaries’ aid to promulgate or carry out his -will. - - Did God a special creed require, - Each soul would he not with that creed inspire? - -1098. The _Old Testament does not impart a knowledge of immortality, -without which religion were worthless. The notions derived from the -gospel are vague, disgusting, inaccurate, and difficult to believe._ -The Pentateuch did not give the Jews an idea of immortality, nor were -those Jews distinguished for morality, who from other sources than -the Pentateuch embraced a belief in immortality. It has already been -pointed out that the most enlightened sect among the children of -Israel, the Sadducees, did not believe in a future state, while the -Pharisees, who professed to believe therein, appear to have been so -immoral as to be pre-eminently the objects of Christ’s denunciation. - -1099. As respects the precepts of Christ, those on which he laid most -stress are not only neglected, but grossly violated, by the opposite -course being sanctioned by the overruling sentiment of society. Nothing -would subject a man to more contempt in Christendom than a tame -submission to blows, or being so poor as to wear patched or ragged -clothes. There are few, if any, in Christendom, who would not rather -have any deficiency in attire attributed to accident or taste, than to -poverty. - -1100. I have shown that the idea which the Pharisees entertained of -heaven, as portrayed by Josephus, representing the wicked like the rich -man within sight of the good, would be a hell to a good-hearted angel. -This representation is sanctioned by Christ in his story of the rich -man and Lazarus. The only reward promised to his apostles was worldly -preeminence in the form of judgeships. Hence it were hardly reasonable -for those who are subordinate in merit to the disciples to expect -any better remuneration. Hell is as absurdly as horridly typified by -eternal exposure to interminable fire. - -1101. Thus neither among the Jews, nor among Christians, has the Bible -furnished any adequate account of a future state, nor has it been -productive of higher morality; since the only morality which does -exist, _is coupled not only with the neglect, but with the violation -of those precepts which the gospel inculcates_. - -1102. Diogenes took a lantern to see if he could find an honest man -in Greece. Were any one to employ a lime-light, he would not in -Christendom find a Christian who carries out in practice the precepts -of his divine Master. If those who know their Master’s will, yet do it -not, are to be beaten with many stripes, while the ignorant pagan is to -bear but few, were it not better to be a pagan than such a Christian -as those are, for the most part, who exist in Christendom? Unless our -missionaries can make better Christians, is it not inhumane to add to -the number? - -1103. On calling on a bigoted, self-styled disciple of Christ to show -me anyone who put the precepts of Christ into practice, the reply was, -“_We rely on his merits._” “That is _all_ you do,” said I. “In -common with others of your tenets, you make the blood of Christ a fund -on which every sinner may draw in proportion as he has confidence in -its detersive influence.” - -1104. I am supported in some of the views above presented, by a -communication from a believer in revelation, under the signature of -_Bosanquet_, to the Baltimore Church Times, for June 15, 1848. I will -quote a portion of this communication, which is as follows: - - 1105. “But the want of faith is more open and direct than this, and - it is the more obvious and pointed upon religious subjects. The Bible - is boldly and practically denied in every particular. No class or - body of men believe and obey it, and strange as it may seem, it is by - no nation, or people, or churches, or sects of men, less implicitly - believed and followed than by those very people and sections of the - church who talk so much about it. There are no persons less obedient - to the plain sense and mandates of the written word of God, than those - who most speak of and uphold it as the sole authority and standard, - and reject all assistance from the history of the church and what - is spoken against as tradition. Every class of persons reject some - portion or other of the sacred Scriptures. If you talk to some of - temporal honour and rewards, and the observance of a day of rest, - and the patriarchs, they will say, Oh! that is the Old Testament, - and is abrogated. If you speak to others of good works, they will - say, Oh! that is only in the Gospels, and the Epistles carry us much - beyond that, and are superior to it. Unitarians, again, receive a - Bible of their own; that is, just so many passages are excluded as - will suit their own belief and purpose. Others, of numerous sects, - dwell each upon some half dozen chapters, or passages, or phrases, or - words of Scripture, of the Epistles especially, and dwell upon them - idolatrously and devotedly, to the exclusion of all the rest, so far - as the authority of Scripture is concerned, from belief and practice. - - 1106. This is even in the religious world—the thinking and reasoning - world. Let us now turn our observation to the world itself; to the - working and practical. - - 1107. The Bible is denied in every particular. Men do not believe that - we are really to be Christians; that we are to imitate our Lord. They - do not believe that the world could possibly go on if all men were to - act upon pure Christian motives, and up to a perfect Christian rule: - if they were to forgive and forget injuries; if they were not to - resent an affront; if they were to give to people because they asked - them: if they were to lend money without looking for interest; if we - were all to give up luxuries, and style, and costly furniture and - equipage; if we, our cattle and servants, were strictly to observe the - day of rest. How many are there among us who believe that ‘the tree - of knowledge’ is not an absolute good? or that we ought to receive - the gospel with the simplicity of little children. Who believes that - we ought to honour our father and mother, and our sovereign? Who is - there that acts up to the precept that we ought not to judge others in - their character? How many are there who appear to believe that it is - not right to be anxious about the future; that riches are not a good - thing; that the entrance into heaven is easier to the poor man; that - we ought to return a tenth to God; that we would bring a blessing to - give freely and largely to the poor; that children are a blessing and - a gift from the Lord, and that the man is happy who has his quiver - full of them? It is evident that in all these points the Bible is - disbelieved and is practically denied, and does not control or guide - us in our habits and principles of life and society. - - 1108. Still less do we believe that the public measures, the laws, - and government of the state, and the intercourse with other - nations, ought to be, or can be, carried on and conducted upon - Christian principles. What number or classes of persons believe that - righteousness exalteth a nation? that we are punished according to the - national sins of the people, and for the sins of the rulers? and that - if wicked and irreligious men preside over our councils, we shall as - a nation suffer the penalties of it? or that the conscience of the - government is the conscience of the people, and that our rulers are - bound to take the first care for the pure religion and morals of the - country; and that, if they do so, their righteousness will bring down - a blessing upon the nation? - - 1109. To come again to more direct practice, and to our own habits of - life. Who is there who thinks _first_ what is right, and according - to the pattern of Christ, and after the will of God, in what he is - about to do, and not what is wise and expedient? Who seeks first the - kingdom of God, and God’s rule of righteousness, and trusts that all - temporal good consequences will follow upon it? Who is there who - thinks and abides _only_ by the rule of what is right and commanded? - We may almost answer in the words of Scripture, ‘There is none - righteous, no, not one!’ Who believes in and trusts to the assistance - and suggestions of the Spirit in his designs and undertakings, and - believes, and acts, and writes, and thinks, as believing that the most - useful and important and influential suggestions of our thoughts and - invention come to our mind by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, more - than by our own cleverness, and exertion, and memory, and prays for - divine help upon commencing every task, or writing, or undertaking - accordingly? Who forbears strictly and endeavours to expel at once - all thought and every suggestion of the mind in worldly matters on - a Sunday, with confidence and faith that the same and more useful - thought will be supplied on the succeeding week-days, and that the - unqualified dedication and sanctification of the Lord’s day will make - the labour of the six days more effectual and fruitful than would be - that of the seven? Who would believe now that a sabbatical year would - not necessarily be impracticable and ruinous, or that a populous - country could exist under such a rule, or that it would not produce a - debasing and demoralizing idleness?” - -1110. Let not the reader infer that these admissions come from a -free-thinker. The following remarks will prove the writer one of the -_faithful_, in the sense in which this epithet argues a mind chained -down by abject enthralment, to put any constructions on facts but that -which is subversive of educational prejudice: “_All the evils of which -the existence is admitted are due to our narrowing down our reception -of truths and facts to the limits of reason—of our own more or less -shallow individual reason._” - -1111. Now to me it seems that the nominal profession of a faith in -facts which are absurd and contradictory, and professed reverence -for precepts which are as utterly impracticable as unwise in the -abstract, induces this monstrous incompatibility of the actual morality -of Christendom with the professions of Christians and doctrines of -Christianity. - -1112. Our submission to scriptural authority is not to be governed -by our own reason, but by that of persons who lived many ages ago, -originally assumed to be inspired by God, upon human testimony; which -in the case of Spiritualism, or any other than the one in point, is -treated as mere chaff. - -1113. It strikes me, from the considerations presented under the head -of Mundane Wealth, that the precepts of Christ were fundamentally -erroneous, so far as they discredit and discourage efforts for the -honest acquisition of wealth. (908.) - -1114. God has given the fowls of the air feathers as a natural -clothing, and thus any effort to procure clothing on their part is -rendered unnecessary; he has not given them hands nor intellectual -ingenuity to _spin_ and _weave_. On the other side, with little -exception, man is naturally devoid of clothing, and requires clothes -to protect him from the scorching solar rays or freezing blasts of -winter, but _has_ been furnished with the _hands_ and the _ingenuity_ -to _spin_ and _weave_. Under these circumstances, was it reasonable -to allege that man should be governed by the example of the feathered -creation? Was it reasonable to infer that there should be no spinning -or weaving by men, because there neither was nor could be any performed -by fowls? - -1115. Again, the lily, like all other vegetables, not only comes into -existence naked, but remains so, since it neither can nor will clothe -itself, and would perish if by any artificial clothing it were shut -out from the influence of the solar rays, and from the absorption of -carbonic acid, which furnishes the vegetable creation with the carbon -requisite for the fibres essential to stability. Hence the allegation -that Solomon in all his glory was not _clothed_ like the lily, is -irreconcilable with the nature and actual state of this beautiful -flower, which is destitute of clothing by nature, and which would -perish if it were clothed. The skin of vegetable leaves, to a certain -extent, performs for them what mouths do for animals. How unreasonable, -then, to argue from one to the other, that man should imitate the -vegetable; or to compare a plant, naturally and of necessity naked, -with a king gorgeously clothed? - -1116. The degrading a rich man, whether honest or not, to the level -of a felon or murderer, as respects accessibility to heaven, and of -course favour in the sight of God, is so erroneous, that there never -was a precept which was less respected in practice, by the votaries of -its author. As I have heretofore remarked, the conduct of Christians -is not merely negative in respect to this precept—they do not merely -neglect it; their course is the _converse_ of any obedience to its -dictates. Yet _professed_ Christians while violating their divine -Master’s behests in a way which makes their performance the inverse of -the results which their professions involve, for the most part treat -any person who does not profess devotion for Christ’s doctrines, as -actually more culpable than themselves, and more liable to retribution -after death. This is about as just as for a man, who after marrying -a woman and calling her his wife, should act the inverse of the -obligations imposed by the connubial contract, and then consider an -individual who had never entered into any obligation with her of any -kind, as guilty of sinful neglect in not acknowledging as a wife, one -whom he never married. The question is, who treats the woman most ill, -he who acknowledges but neglects, or he who does not display a hymeneal -devotion which he never led her to expect? - -1117. Again, the precept to return good for evil, would, if acted -up to, encourage evil. Were a man to submit quietly to be robbed, -whipped, and cheated, he would encourage robbing, flagellation, and -fraud. Far wiser is the precept of Confucius, “Return good for good; -for evil, justice.” The impracticable precept of Christ is so far from -being carried out by professing Christians, that in their conduct to -the aborigines of Africa, India, and America, they have always been -aggressive, always rewarding the hospitality of the natives with fraud -and violence, and their conduct toward each other is the inverse of the -ultra precept of Christ—“Return good for evil.” They not unfrequently -return evil for good. - -1118. There is, as I think, nothing more injurious than the habitual -violation of acknowledged professions. If the violator be aware of -his inconsistency, it involves the incessant perpetration of manifest -wickedness; and if his mind be so cramped by education that he commits -such violations unconsciously, it must degrade the all-important power -of distinguishing good from evil. Thus, in the garb of truth, - - Dark error leads - With best intent - To evil deeds, - The bigot to ensnare. - -1119. It is this nominal devotion to the doctrines of Christ, with -a demeanour diametrically in teeth of them, which causes that -anti-Christian morality which Bosanquet portrays. - -1120. But I am conscientiously of opinion that the respect paid -to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, &c., by which one five -hundred-millionth of the blood of Abraham is made an honour to Jesus -Christ, is among the reasons of the low state of morality among those -who consider the Bible as the Word of God, and are thus led to view -with indulgence, prostitution, murder, massacre, rape, cheating, and -fraud. Agreeably to the opinion of a champion of Christianity, already -quoted, “The worshipper is assimilated to the imaginary deity whom he -worships.” - -1121. With the exchange of two words for two other words, the -verses which Pope ascribes to Eloisa, might well be uttered by -many self-called Christians, who in defending the gospel from any -conscientious attack, hesitate not at any intemperance of language, and -yet think that the marriage _ceremony_ is all that is called for. - -1122. “Ah! wretch, believed the spouse of God in vain, - Confessed within the slave of love and man.” - -1123. Although the substitution of the words _wealth_ and _power_ -for love and man would spoil the rhythm, it would not lessen the -applicability to the great mass of those who call themselves -Christians, while not only neglecting, but positively violating the -precepts of Him by whose blood they still hope, by a due degree of -_faith_, to wash away their transgressions. - -1124. The universe, as it is presented to my mind, induces a belief -that it must have a presiding deity of commensurate power. As there -are millions of suns, each having its planets; as the space which -it occupies appears to us little short of infinity; as it must have -endured from eternity, and must endure eternally,—the power and glory -of this presiding deity must be commensurate with his realm, as to -extent and magnificence. Yet evil exists; which can only exist from -choice on his part, or because it cannot be avoided. There must be -a want of will or power to prevent or remove evil. Such is the God -which my reason obliges me to acknowledge. Where impressions are the -offspring of reason, they cannot destroy their parent. But those who -owe their opinions of their deity to tradition, have a deity which, not -having originated from reason, may always be made the means of setting -its dictates aside. - -1125. The bigot’s god is a dangerous idol, although he be not -represented by an image; and no less dangerous is any book which owes -authority to hereditary, intolerant dictation and servile devotion. - -1126. The fear of public opinion, or a desire to do what is _deemed_ -right among men, seems to be the principal motive for religious -professions and church-going in the great mass of society. The -prevailing morality being, as already noticed, not only neglectful -of Christ’s precepts, but absolutely the inverse of them—not only -_permitting_, but _calling_ for a course diametrically opposite, as -respects the acquisition of wealth and submission to wrongs—shows that -it is not generally founded on a desire to cultivate the good will of -Christ, but to square with sectarian opinion. I hold that one cause of -this is, that the conviction of a future state, in which happiness is -in proportion to our deportment here, is not so deep as that which I -now have. Under the conviction which I have, nothing could tempt me to -act in such way as to produce a retrograde influence on my pretensions -as a spirit. - -1127. It seems to me, as urged by me before, that no one believing the -language of Abraham, as narrated and sanctioned by Christ, to have come -authenticated direct from the Son of God, and consequently expecting it -to be verified, would render himself liable to the punishment of Dives -for the sake of enjoying the _good things_ of this world. - -1128. The idea that souls are to remain in the grave till the “_last -day_,” the procrastination of that day and geological knowledge being -inconsistent with the belief that any such day will arrive, makes the -sinner less fearful, the good less hopeful, and diminishes the number -of those who are actually, in their worldly conduct, influenced by -their hopes or fear of future rewards or punishments. - -1129. The expectation of washing away sin through the merit of a -bigoted belief in Christ, co-operating with the vague, contradictory, -and irrational idea of heaven and hell recorded in Scripture, seems to -be the reason why Christians act so inconsistently with the precepts of -Him whom they professedly adore. - -1130. Nothing can be more inconsistent with the religion inculcated by -my spirit friends, than the idea of atonement for sin by faith in any -religion, true or false. - -1131. Had there ever been any available light let in from the spirit -world, this error had been denounced, and having been thus stamped -as erroneous from on high, could not have acquired or retained its -mischievous hold of so many millions of human beings, by substituting -blind faith for genuine virtue. - - - _Injurious Influence of unreasonable Restriction._ - -1132. Another reason why, throughout Christendom, the vices most -deprecated by Christ are those pre-eminently prevalent, is that his -precepts were absolutely impracticable, unless explained away in the -style of Lord Peter in the “_Tale of a Tub_.” - -1133. Some of the excellent Society of Friends may, as respects war, -have been obedient to the precepts of Christ, and probably in other -respects deviate from them less than most other sects; but as to -wealth their course is the inverse of giving away their money. They -are rationally among the most active and successful in the honest -acquisition of money. In this they would act morally, excepting the -violation of their recognised obligation to obey the precepts of Christ. - -1134. Does not experience show that nothing is more injurious to morals -than unreasonable restraint? This has been seen in the profligacy of -the children of puritanical sectarians. To disobey an unreasonable -restriction always appears comparatively a trivial offence. Going to -a play, in the opinion of the mass of the world, is not sinful; but -for a minor to go to a play in disobedience of parental authority, -by stealth, deception, or lying, becomes sinful delinquency, and -introduces a habit which may lead to crime as wicked as that of the -conduct of Jacob to Esau. Lying and deceiving for venial purposes will -soon induce the habit. The restriction from eating pork or drinking -wine has no doubt induced much deception and falsehood among the -followers of Mohammed, and thus made a crime where none would have -existed. In like manner, the putting a rich man on a footing with a -felon, as respects access to heaven, forbidding the resistance to blows -or spoliation, makes almost every professed Christian practically -unfaithful to his professions, and of course an infidel of the worst -kind. More or less of this infidelity is involved in various ways, as -above admitted by “Bosanquet.” - -1135. If the history of Christianity, so called, be reviewed, it will -be found that the deviations from the precepts of Christ during the -present age are quite venial, compared with those which took place -during the thousand years or more in which Romanism had the ascendency. - -1136. A painful picture of the morals of the clergy during that period -may be found in a recent work by Bishop Hopkins of Vermont. It would -seem as if the crimes and indecency displayed during the Middle Ages, -exceed even those of Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and David, and Samuel, the -cruel, despotic pope of Judea. The deposition of Saul for not killing -Agag, and his hewing his royal prisoner down with a sword in cold -blood, may have been looked to as a justification of pontifical cruelty -and despotism. - - _No one would believe that a capable farmer would make such a mistake - as to sow garlic instead of wheat. Yet God, while represented as - having intended to sow Protestantism, is considered as having caused, - throughout Christendom, a crop of Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian - form, for more than a thousand years; those weeds still occupying more - than half of the whole soil._ - -1137. The immense importance attached by mankind to correct religious -impressions is demonstrated, in the first place, by the enormous -expenditure throughout this world in sustaining those who are conceived -by their constituents to be the true expounders of religion;[23] and, -in the second place, by the blood and treasure which have been expended -either in missions or in wars, for the extension or defence of the -impressions believed by various sectarians to be the most accordant -with truth. - -1138. Yet it must be plain that in no case has there been any higher -evidence than that of an _alleged_ human communication, direct or -indirect, with some recognised deity, if not the true God. If the will -of God has ever been revealed, the number who have actually pretended -to an interview with him, or with any immortal subordinate spirit -are very few. The Old Testament depends upon the testimony of Moses -and a few Hebrew prophets, whose inspiration rests upon their own -allegations, respecting themselves or each other. - -1139. As regards the basis of Christianity, there are two -irreconcilable opinions: one held by the Protestants, the other by the -Roman Catholics; since although there is a great diversity of opinion -between Protestants, there is between all Protestants and Papists -this difference: The latter relying on their own church as the sole -depository of all the evidence of Christianity, do not allow any direct -recourse to Scripture for a rule of faith. The former reject the claims -of the church of Rome, and resort to the gospel for their rule of -faith.[24] - -1140. But wherefore should such implicit confidence be placed in -language alleged to have been held by Moses or any other ancient -author? or should they be credited, even when they allege God to have -used such words as these, “_Let me wax hot in my wrath that I may -consume them._” The motive for this imputation against God, was that -Moses might take credit for _moderation_ in slaughtering only three -thousand of God’s chosen people in one day, for worshipping a golden -calf, made by his own brother, afterward made high-priest. Thus the -ringleader, being the brother of Moses, was loaded with honours, while -those whom he led astray were to be massacred in cold blood. Yet it -is on such witnesses as this blood-thirsty, blasphemous bigot, that -orthodoxy relies for assuming the Pentateuch to be the word of God, -censuring, if not persecuting, all who do not concur with it. - -1141. The intercourse with the angel Gabriel rests upon the evidence -of Mary alone, who was interested immensely to make her child a god, -instead of being her illegitimate offspring. Of the dream of Joseph -there can be no witness besides himself. But would a dream be now -admitted as testimony in any court of justice. - -1142. The diversity of opinion existing between Romanists and -Protestants, are briefly exhibited in the subjoined quotations from the -controversy between Archbishop Hughes and the Rev. Mr. Breckinridge. -They have already been cited by me in a pamphlet on the better -employment of the first day of the week. Here are the opinions of two -men highly qualified to judge. In one, we have an eminent champion of -Romanism; in the other, a no less able champion of Calvinism. To the -latter belongs the distinction of having persecuted the Quakers and -witches, and of having roasted Servetus; to the former, putting some -hundreds of thousands to death or torture by the sword, the rack, or -the fagot. - -1143. Agreeing with each of the parties that the other is in the wrong, -I, of course, assume that they are both in error. Taken together, they -may be considered as proving that there is no evidence in favour of -Christianity, which I have not the authority of eminent Christians for -rejecting. In the 29th page of the controversy between himself and -Breckinridge, Bishop Hughes speaks as follows: - -1144. “My fourth argument was, that the Protestant rule of faith -actually undermines the authority of the Scriptures, by extinguishing -the proofs of their _authenticity_ and _inspiration_, and consequently -terminates in moral suicide. Just imagine to yourself an ordinary will -or testament, written but twenty years ago, purporting to be the last -will and testament of a wealthy deceased relative, and designating -you as _heir_, but without either signature or probate, and ask -yourself what it would be worth? Could such a document establish its -own authenticity? And yet this is precisely the situation to which -the Protestant rule of faith reduced the Scriptures, by which, and -_by which alone_, their authenticity could have been established. St. -Augustine, of whom Presbyterians are sometimes wont to speak with -respect, declared that it was the testimony of the church which moved -him to believe in the Scriptures. But _now_ the order of belief is -‘reformed.’ Men pick up (pardon the phrase) the sacred volume, as they -find it floating on the sea of two thousand years, and by one great -but _gratuitous_ act of belief, which flings all intermediate church -authority and tradition to the winds, they say ‘the Bible is the Bible, -and we are its interpreters, every man for himself.'” - -1145. It seems not to have occurred to the right reverend champion of -the Catholic creed, that it is not more true that a testament without -witnesses is of no validity, than it is true that the testimony of -witnesses claiming under the will, cannot be admitted. A document -written after the death of the testator would not be considered in -a court of justice as entitled to the name of a testament. But were -persons to write a will after a man’s death, and bring it forward, -claiming under it supremacy, would their claim produce any result -beside derision? - -1146. The distinguished prelate justly treats the gospel as resting on -the traditionary evidence of the church; since, as he truly urges, the -church existed before the gospel, having been instituted at the time -when his instructions were given to the apostles by Christ. - -1147. But how much value is to be attached to the testimony of the -church, may be learned from the following opinion of the learned -clergyman to whom I have alluded as the other party in the controversy, -(pages 35, 36:) - -1148. “_The unwarrantable liberties of your church with the word of God -show her fallible to a deplorable degree._ - -1149. _Your rule, if observed, requires implicit faith in the decretals -and interpretations of fallible men, which is subversive of the very -nature and end of religion in the soul._ Faith supposes knowledge, -conviction on evidence, and trust in God, founded on a belief of -divine truth; but your rule requires unconditional submission to the -dicta of the church in the lump. The ‘_Carbonaria fides_,’ or faith -of the collier, is the very faith required. It is as follows: When -asked, ‘What do you believe?’ he answered, ‘I believe what the church -believes.’ ‘What does the church believe?’ _Ans._ ‘What I believe.’ -‘Then what do you and the church together believe?’ _Ans._ ‘We both -believe the same thing.’ This is the grand catholicon for believing -every thing, without knowing any thing. In this soil grew the maxim -that ‘ignorance is the mother of devotion.’ It is believing by proxy, -or rather not believing at all, in the true sense. Here is the secret -of the unity of your church.” - -1150. To conclude, I agree with the right reverend able and learned -archbishop, that Christianity has no witnesses but those disciples -of Christ whom he calls the church; but I also concur with his able, -learned, and reverend opponent, that the said church is neither -competent as a witness, nor reliable as a foundation for Christianity. - -1151. Breckinridge does not perceive that the gospel on which he -relies, and the recorded traditions which ascribe that work to -inspiration, have no better foundation than the testimony of _fallible_ -men. - -1152. Manifestly, however, the authority of the church of Rome cannot -be overset without oversetting the authenticity of the Christian -religion. - -1153. Could any one believe that an experienced farmer would sow a -field with garlic when intending to have a crop of wheat? Would not -the conclusion be that if a field upon his farm were occupied by that -objectionable weed, it must have been the spontaneous production of -the soil, not of a mistake so gross on his part? Yet our prescient God -is represented as so much inferior in foresight to an ordinary farmer, -that while the religious soil of Christendom was for ages occupied with -crops of Catholicism, in the Grecian or Roman modification, the seed of -Protestantism was sown by God through his son and vicegerent, Christ, -intending to have the soil occupied by Protestantism. Manifestly, -either it was intended that Catholicism should prevail, as above -described, or an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God did not -preside over the seeding. - -1154. Yet notwithstanding this diversity as to the true import of -Christianity between the most distinguished Christian sectarians, -each sect conceives itself justified in propagating its own peculiar -opinions among ignorant pagans. The principle being thus sanctioned, -that those who _believe_ themselves to have become acquainted with -religious truth, are justified in propagating a knowledge of it, -wherefore should not that privilege be exercised by a spiritualist as -well as a Christian? - -1155. Humility is one of the virtues inculcated by Christ; but if -his disciples assume to themselves a peculiar capacity to know what -is true, and an exclusive right to teach what they thus assume to be -truth, there will be no humility in their practice, however it may be -blazoned among their professions. - -1156. The view which I have presented in the preceding pages is -corroborated by a personage of no less authority than William Pitt, -afterward the Earl of Chatham, and prime minister of England. His -opinions, alleged to have been originally published in the London -Journal for 1733, are as follows: - - - _Letter of William Pitt._ - - “_Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to -visit the Fatherless and Widows in their afflictions, and to keep one’s - self unspotted from the World._” - -1157. “_Gentlemen_: Whoever takes a view of the world, will find, -that what the greatest part of mankind have agreed to call religion, -has been only some outward exercise esteemed sufficient to work a -reconciliation with God. It has moved them to build temples, flay -victims, offer up sacrifices, to fast and feast, to petition and -thank, to laugh and cry, to sing and sigh by turns; but it has not -yet been found sufficient to induce them to break off an amour, to -make a restitution of ill-gotten wealth, or to bring the passions -and appetites to a reasonable subjection. Differ as much as they -may in opinion concerning what they ought to believe, or after what -manner they are to serve God, as they call it, yet they all agree in -gratifying their appetites. The same passions reign eternally in all -countries and in all ages, Jew and Mohammedan, the Christian and the -Pagan, the Tartar and the Indian, all kinds of men who differ in almost -every thing else, universally agree with regard to their passions. -If there be any difference among them, it is this; that the more -superstitious, the more vicious they always are, and the more they -believe, the less they practise. This is a melancholy consideration -to a good mind; it is a truth, and certainly above all things, worth -our while to inquire into. We will, therefore, probe the wound, and -search to the bottom; we will lay the axe to the root of the tree, and -show you the true reason why men go on in sinning and repenting, and -sinning again through the whole course of their lives; and the reason -is, because they have been taught, most wickedly taught, that religion -and virtue are two things absolutely distinct; that the deficiency -of the one might be supplied by the sufficiency of the other; and -that what you want in virtue, you must make up in religion. But this -religion, so dishonourable to God, and so pernicious to men, is worse -than Atheism, for Atheism, though it takes away one great motive to -support virtue in distress, yet it furnishes no man with arguments to -be vicious; but superstition, or what the world means by religion, is -the greatest possible encouragement to vice, by setting up something -as religion which shall atone and commute for the want of virtue. This -is establishing iniquity by a law, the highest law; by authority, the -highest authority; that of God himself. We complain of the vices of the -world, and of the wickedness of men, without searching into the true -cause. It is not because they are wicked by nature, for that is both -false and impious, but because to serve the purposes of their pretended -soul-savers, they have been carefully taught that they are wicked by -nature, and cannot help continuing so. It would have been impossible -for men to have been both religious and vicious, had religion been made -to consist wherein alone it does consist; and had they been always -taught that true religion is the practice of virtue in obedience to the -will of God, who presides over all things, and will finally make every -man happy who does his duty. - -1158. This single opinion in religion, that all things are so well -made by the Deity, that virtue is its own reward, and that happiness -will ever arise from acting according to the reason of things, or that -God, ever wise and good, will provide some extraordinary happiness for -those who suffer for virtue’s sake, is enough to support a man under -all difficulties, to keep him steady to his duty, and to enable him -to stand as firm as a rock, amid all the charms of applause, profit, -and honour. But this religion of reason, which all men are capable -of, has been neglected and condemned, and another set up, the natural -consequences of which have puzzled men’s understandings, and debauched -their morals, more than all the lewd poets and atheistical philosophers -that ever infested the world; for instead of being taught that religion -consists in action, or obedience to the eternal moral law of God, we -have been most gravely and venerably told that it consists in the -belief of certain opinions which we could form no idea of, or which -were contrary to the clear perceptions of our minds, or which had no -tendency to make us either wiser or better, or, which is much worse, -had a manifest tendency to make us wicked and immoral. And this belief, -this impious belief, arising from imposition on one side, and from want -of examination on the other, has been called by the sacred name of -religion, whereas real and genuine religion consists in knowledge and -obedience. We know there is a God, and know his will, which is, that we -should do all the good we can; and we are assured from his perfections, -that we shall find our own good in so doing. - -1159. And what would we have more? are we, after such inquiry, and in -an age full of liberty, children still? and cannot we be quiet unless -we have holy romances, sacred fables, and traditionary tales to amuse -us in an idle hour, and to give rest to our souls, when our follies and -vices will not suffer us to rest? - -1160. You have been taught, indeed, that right belief, or orthodoxy, -will, like charity, cover a multitude of sins; but be not deceived; -belief of, or mere assent to the truth of propositions upon evidence, -is not a virtue, nor unbelief a vice; faith is not a voluntary act, -does not depend upon the will; every man must believe or disbelieve, -whether he will or not, according as the evidence appears to him. If, -therefore, men, however dignified or distinguished, command us to -believe, they are guilty of the highest folly and absurdity, because -it is out of our power; but if they command us to believe, and annex -rewards to belief, and severe penalties to unbelief, then they are most -wicked and immoral, because they annex rewards and punishments to what -is involuntary, and, therefore, neither rewardable nor punishable. -It appears, then, very plainly unreasonable and unjust to command -us to believe any doctrine, good or bad, wise or unwise; but, when -men command us to believe opinions which have no tendency to promote -virtue, but which are allowed to commute or atone for the want of it, -then they are arrived at the utmost pitch of impiety, then is their -iniquity full; then have they finished the misery, and completed -the destruction of poor mortal man; by betraying the interest of -virtue, they have undermined and sapped the foundation of all human -happiness; and how treacherously and dreadfully have they betrayed it! -A gift, well applied, the chattering of some unintelligible sounds -called creeds; an unfeigned assent and consent to whatever the church -enjoins, religious worship and consecrated feasts; repenting on a -death-bed; pardons rightly sued out; and absolution authoritatively -given, have done more toward making and continuing men vicious, than -all the natural passions and infidelity put together. For infidelity -can only take away the supernatural rewards of virtue; but these -superstitious opinions and practices have not only turned the scene, -and made men lose sight of the natural rewards of it, but have induced -them to think, that were there no hereafter, vice would be preferable -to virtue, and that they increase in happiness as they increase in -wickedness; and this they have been taught in several religious -discourses and sermons, delivered by men whose authority was never -doubted, particularly by a late Rev. prelate, I mean Bishop Atterbury, -in his sermon on these words: ‘If in this life only be hope, then we -are of all men the most miserable,’ where vice and faith ride most -lovingly and triumphantly together. But these doctrines of the natural -excellency of vice, the efficacy of a right belief, the dignity of -atonements and propitiations have, beside depriving us of the native -beauty and charms of honesty, and thus cruelly stabbing virtue to the -heart, raised and diffused among men a certain unnatural passion, -which we shall call a religious hatred—a hatred constant, deep-rooted, -and immortal. All other passions rise and fall, die and revive again; -but this of religious and pious hatred rises and grows every day -stronger upon the mind as we grow more religious, because we hate for -God’s sake, and for the sake of those poor souls, too, who have the -misfortune not to believe as we do; and can we in so good a cause hate -too much? the more thoroughly we hate the better we are; and the more -mischief we do to the bodies and states of these infidels and heretics, -the more do we show our love to God. This is religious zeal, and this -has been called divinity; but remember, the only true divinity is -humanity. W. PITT.” - - - _Offer of Guidance by a Mundane Spirit._ - -1161. The Rev. Allen Putnam, whose narrative of his conversion to -Spiritualism, has been submitted, gave a very sensible and interesting -lecture on this new doctrine, at the Melodeon, in Boston, last October. -One of his remarks struck me as being very well warranted by my own -observation and experience. He said that we are wont to express -indignation at the absurd, cruel, and unnatural Chinese custom of -cramping the female foot; but to him it appeared that in Christendom -a much worse practice existed, that of cramping the minds of females -by bringing them up zealous sectarians, their opinions, in general, -being determined by their parentage. Thus Miss A. is a Romanist; Miss -B. an Episcopalian; Miss C. a Calvinist; Miss D. a Methodist; Miss E. a -Jewess; all most excellent creatures in any other respect excepting the -effects of educational sectarianism, which had been interchanged, had -their parentage been commuted. (259.) - -1162. One of the blessings of Spiritualism, according to my view, -is, that this cramped state of the mind, which attaches importance -to various phases of analogous educational error, will be removed by -receiving their opinions from the same source. But it seems that one -of the most amiable and interesting among those angelic devotees, has -been actuated by the same anxiety for my salvation from hell, that I -have felt for her emancipation from the educational ligatures imposed -upon her otherwise excellent understanding. The following letter is the -fruit of her zeal in my favour: - - August 1, 1855. - -1163. _My dear Sir_: You have too much kindness yourself, not to -receive in kindness what is so intended; and you have too much -politeness not to grant as much as you ask of a friend. I, therefore, -with all confidence, send you the enclosed letter, written by one -of the first intellects in the country. Now, if when you send your -pamphlets and the papers you wish me to read, you will state that you -have read this letter, (_with_ the _care_ you wish me to read yours,) -not to refute but to comprehend the mind of the writer, I will do the -same. But, as what I send to you requires higher power than any power -in _created_ man, I will continue to pray to this higher power, this -Creator of all things, that you may so read under his blessing and -guidance, (before whom you and the very world upon which you tread, are -but a molecule or mite,) that _you_, I say, may find that salvation for -your immortal soul, which you seem so much to desire. If you believe -that your father and sister exist, and consequently, that you _have_ -a soul that cannot die, you must feel a deep anxiety with us all for -the future welfare of this soul, and will not treat with indifference -the attempt to offer you that which is a complete satisfaction to your -friend! - -1164. I would avoid argument, as two persons at opposite points -can never see the objects in the same light; but I send simply the -Christian’s plan of salvation, to which I only ask you to attend as -carefully as I attended to the statement of your theory. When I return -to New York permanently, I will inform you. As I am anxious to retain -these papers, and life is uncertain, please so arrange them that they -may easily be found, should any thing happen.” - -1165. The following lines, which are subjoined in the title page of my -pamphlet, addressed to the Episcopal clergy, would have forewarned any -but an enthusiast, that there was an outwork to be conquered before any -impression could be made: - -1166. If God can creatures make to suit his will, - Foresee, if they can, his design fulfill, - Wherefore those creatures to trial expose, - Traits to find out, which he thus foreknows? - -1167. Persons who should differ about axioms could never agree in -mathematical demonstrations, nor is it possible for A and B to agree in -theology, when A assumes what to B appears to comprise a contradiction -within its premises and conclusions. Having for years held the opinion -conveyed in the above lines, to be self-evident truth, it is of course -useless to debate with those who take an opposite view, especially -just at this time, when I believe that opinion to be sanctioned by my -spirit friends. This opinion was urged in my letter to the Episcopal -clergy; yet this kind adviser has not seen, or has not taken pains to -understand, its all-important bearing. - -1168. The letter of this charming woman commences with begging the -question. It is assumed that the arguments of her clerical friend -_require for comprehension a higher power than any power created in -man_. But this to me appears fanatical presumption, just as much as -it would be in any other sectarian. The excellent authoress of the -epistle puts herself in a class of females whom it has been my object -to emancipate from the restraint imposed upon their minds, no less -cramping than that to which the feet of Chinese ladies are subjected. - -1169. It must be evident, that unless there was a successful precursory -effort by facts and reasoning, to make me believe that what appears -to me _below_ good sense, is actually above it, her inference that -discussion would be useless is quite evident. But this amounts to an -admission that the opinions which it is her object to impart, are not -founded in reason. - -1170. Her clerical friend falls into the same error, as will appear -from the following quotation. The last postulate in the world which -he could induce me to admit, would be that any thing which owes its -existence entirely to barbarous, wicked, ignorant, covetous, and -blood-thirsty men, can be God’s word, and, therefore, paramount to -human reason. - -1171. How would he enable an idiot to believe in the Bible, or in any -thing? Is not our capacity to believe correctly, greater as our reason -is better by nature? It is only through his own intellectual faculties -that he has received his opinions and can defend them. It is through my -reason that my head and heart repel the Old Testament as, for the most -part, the work of a set of unprincipled bigots, comprising allegations -which the present state of astronomy and geology demonstrate to be -fallacious, and which, independently of that cramping of the intellect -by education, which it is my ardent desire to remove, would be -denounced replete with indecency, immorality, and misrepresentation of -God. - -1172. It is striking that this kind lady, in referring to my sister and -other spirit friends, should suppose that I would slight the _direct -heartfelt evidence received from them_, in obedience to _impressions -felt by her in common with every other devotee to any religion -whatever_. They could, with just as much consistency, appeal to their -tenets, and assume their “Koran,” their “Shasters,” or “Zendavesta” -to be above my reason. - -1173. But the whole tenor of this application shows that the -authoress expects to set aside the results of nearly twenty months’ -investigation, creating in me a firm devout conviction that I have a -correct knowledge of the spirit world, received through my relatives, -friends, and high spirits, in deference to those of a set of people -of whom I know nothing but ill. May God do that for her which she -has so benevolently implored for me, and remove from her brain the -influence of educational narrowness. I would utter the same aspiration -for the divine whom she has brought in as her advocate, who I -hope as _sincerely_ believes what he alleges, as I believe in the -communications of my guardian spirits. - -1174. But this superior intellect, it will be shown, falls into one of -the most inexcusable errors, into which a tyro in reasoning can fall, -that of founding his arguments on premises which are emphatically -denied by the other party—a gross begging of the question, that the -Bible is the word of God, and paramount to human reason. - -1175. In a subsequent part of this letter, Hume’s excellent rule is -set aside: that we must weigh the probability of the evidence against -the improbability of the miracle. Rochefoucault alleges, ‘Tis better -to tell a probable lie, than an extremely improbable truth. By what -evidence can any record be proved true, when it is vastly more probable -it should be false, than the facts recorded by it should be true. - -1176. Manifestly, there are but these two ways in which any record can -command credence: either there must be external evidence sufficient to -weigh against the improbability of the facts which it has recorded; -or those facts must be of a nature to create belief from their -probability, from what is called internal evidence. As to external -evidence, clearly any amount of that, may be adduced without creating a -belief in spiritual manifestations. Human evidence is wholly inadequate -to prove any thing which sectarianism does not wish to admit. -Considering the external evidence of Scripture as vastly inferior to -that on which Spiritualism is founded, and the miracles recorded, and -the doctrines taught, as carrying no evidence of their truth, but the -contrary, I do not understand upon what reasonable ground they are to -be identified with the word of God. - -1177. This fascinating lady supposes that she gave ear to my exposition -of my views; but I am under the impression that she is quite deaf -to any thing that does not concur with her fanatical impressions, -otherwise she would never have looked upon me as one to be converted -from the opinions which I entertain by the reasoning of her clerical -friend, beginning with a begging of the question: assuming that -revelation is God’s word, in order to prove it to be God’s word. - -1178. So the Bible is true because of the miracles which it records; -and these are true because the Bible records them! - -1179. If she can so confine her mind as to become master of the -pyramid of facts which I have raised in favour of Spiritualism, she -will perceive that all other evidence of immortality sinks into -insignificance as compared with it. Now all this may be nominally -abrogated by denying the truth of it. But if I do not rely on my own -senses, is it likely I shall rely on those of other persons, in whom I -have no more confidence than her clerical adviser and herself have in -Mohammed and his disciples. - -1180. I subjoin a portion of the letter of the clerical champion, -whose reasoning this interesting devotee deems so conclusive. I have -gone over the whole of it, and have ascertained that by substituting -Allah for God, Mohammed for Christ, Prophet for Redeemer, Mediator -for Saviour, it has a qualification which would be deemed a merit -elsewhere, if not in Christendom: it would serve just as well to uphold -the religion of Mohammed, as that of Christ. - -1181. The letter is so long that it would occupy too many pages to -give the whole; but I will give a portion, sufficient to show how the -reasoning, on which many sectarians rely, may be just as good for any -other creed, founded on an arrogation of premises, as that for which -they contend. - -1182. “Allah forbid that I should depreciate the value of reason in -any of its offices. Reason is Allah’s gift to man, and must be used as -Allah designs. But so is the Koran Allah’s gift to man, and must be -used as Allah designs. Two gifts from the same perfect being cannot -conflict with each other. The Koran in its teachings and revealings may -go beyond or rise above the comprehension of our reason, because reason -in man is a finite and imperfect gift, while the Koran from Allah -opens the mind of an infinite and perfect being. But the Koran does -not and cannot in any thing contradict reason, because Allah does not -and cannot contradict himself. Unless, therefore, you are prepared to -say that the Koran is _not_ Allah’s gift to man—if you are a believer -in its true divine inspiration—you must see and admit that when the -Koran, as Allah’s mouth, reveals any thing which _our_ reason cannot -as yet comprehend, because beyond or above, though not against, that -reason, then _Faith_ must submissively receive the revelation addressed -to it, and _Reason_ stop her speculation and shut her mouth at the -limit which Allah has set. Reason has to do with the _evidences_ which -show the Koran _to be_ Allah’s gift; with the grammatical and intended -_sense_ of what Allah taught and revealed in the Koran, and with the -_use_ of what in the Koran is clear to the comprehension of man. But -here Reason’s province ends. When the Koran goes beyond or rises above -this point, _Reason must_ pause and adore, and Faith must go forward -and receive. I do not hold, as you intimate, that the right exercise -of reason ‘is impious,’ or that Reason is to be _discarded_ and Faith -_substituted_, if by this be implied any thing _incompatible_ between -the proper offices of Reason and Faith; but I mean that _our_ finite -reason is to _stop_ at the limit assigned her by her _author_, and let -_Faith_ as a _higher_ power go forward and receive what Allah teaches -or reveals to her acceptance. Faith can now receive more than Reason -can as yet comprehend. She _does_ so in the province of _nature_; she -must do so in the province of _revelation_. This cannot be denied -without taking at once the ground of the infidel—a ground from which, I -doubt not, you would shrink back as from the border of an open pit of -destruction. - -1183. I am thus brought to your remark, that ‘The Mohammedan system, -as generally received, is not difficult to understand.’ If this be -strictly true, it must be because that system, ‘as generally received,’ -is not the _true_ system; for, in this sense, or as _truly_ and -_rightly_ received, the Mohammedan system contains various things -which it is difficult to understand, if by understanding be meant -_comprehending_. We may, indeed, _understand_ that a fact or a truth -_exists_ or is _revealed_, while that fact or that truth _itself_ is, -for the present, utterly beyond or above our _comprehension_. And this -is precisely the case with the Mohammedan system _rightly_ viewed. It -contains various facts and truths which _our_ reason cannot yet fathom. -Natural reason loves to _separate_ and set aside these great and high -things from the Koran as _non-essentials_, and then to busy itself with -those parts of the Koran which are level with its own height; pleased -with the dream that it has grasped _enough_, has grasped _all_ that can -be of any real value. Believe me when reason does this, for one who has -the Koran in his hands, she plays at a perilous game. - -1184. The main position which I have thus far taken is, however, -virtually conceded in another part of your letter. Alluding to -what I had urged as to the importance of acknowledging Mohammed as -your mediator, and relying on his mediation only for justification -as all-sufficient, reconciling all difficulties, and removing all -embarrassment from the consideration of the union of justice and -mercy in the deity, you say: ‘But _does_ it remove all embarrassment? -Is not Allah himself the author of the plan of salvation? Was not -Mohammed himself Allah, and also his vicegerent?’ The _impossibility_ -of answering these questions satisfactorily to the plainest reason, -teaches me to recoil from the impiety of inquiring _how_ my Maker will -save me or reconcile his own attributes? I know full well that the -great mass of human minds are totally incapable of considering such -a subject with any approximation to a solution of it, and therefore -do I feel that the eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does -not depend on such theological questions. Here you directly admit the -inability of reason in most minds satisfactorily to comprehend some of -the great and high points of the Mohammedan system, and the consequent -impiety of her _attempting_ such a comprehension. You might as well -explicitly admit her inability for this comprehension in _all_ minds; -for _no_ mind in its present state can by _reason alone_ grasp all that -Allah has revealed in the Koran. These great and high things are not -proposed to reason _alone_, but to reason so far as their _evidence_ is -concerned, and to _faith_ so far as their substance is to be received. -Reason may satisfy herself that they _are_ revealed. _Faith alone_ can -take in the substance which they contain. When they _are_ proposed to -it, faith _must_ receive them, or salvation cannot come, whether the -reason of the individual addressed be the ‘plainest’ or otherwise. - -1185. Your _argument_ in the above extract does not satisfy me so well -as your _admission_. From the inability of the great mass of minds -satisfactorily to comprehend the high mysteries of the Koran, you infer -that the ‘eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does not depend -on such theological questions.’ Certainly, the salvation of mankind in -the mass does not depend on these or any other theological questions; -if by this be meant depending on the ability to _comprehend_ such -questions, because the points involved in these questions, so far as -they are mysteries, are proposed not to _reason_ as _comprehending_, -but to _faith_ as _receiving_. But do you mean to be understood as -saying, that when the Koran is put into any man’s hand, and when Allah -through the Koran opens to that man his _revealed_ way of salvation, -the individual thus approached may accept what is level with his -_reason_, but reject what is proposed to his _faith_ and _above_ his -reason, and that yet notwithstanding such rejection he may reasonably -hope to be saved? If so, I ask you by what right you argue thus? Who -is Allah, and what is man? When he tells you the way in which he will -save you, not the mass of mankind or the heathen to whom the Koran has -never come, but _you yourself_, what right have you to say that _your_ -salvation does not depend on your faith’s reception of those very -things which are above your reason’s comprehension? How do you know -but that the whole efficacy of the plan _proposed to you_, depends on -your receiving the great facts and truths propounded to your _faith_? -‘Faith _itself_, I admit,’ you may contend, ‘does not save any man; it -is the Mediator that saves.’ But you have no right to say, or think, -or hope that he will or can save _you_ with the Koran in your hand, -in any other way than that which in the Koran he proposes to your -_faith_. And if when he demands your _faith_ in what surpasses your -reason, you withhold that faith, and plead the sufficiency of what he -has incidentally made level with your _reason_, do you not thereby -show that you have not the spirit which he requires, and that you are -yet none of his? In the Koran he has not only revealed to you his -mission and sanctification, but also proposed to you his mediation as a -propitiation for your sin; and he has told you that ‘you must be _born -again_,’ not only of water, but also ‘of the spirit;’ that except you -be converted and become as a ‘little child, you shall not enter into -the kingdom of heaven;’ and that ‘he that _believeth_ and is baptized -shall be saved, but he that _believeth not_ shall be _damned_:’ -‘_believeth_’ not a _part_ only, but the _whole_ of the Koran then -intrusted to its Ulemas. Here he explicitly demands your faith in the -whole Koran. But suppose it had been otherwise, suppose he had simply -opened to you _a_ way by which he could _certainly_ save _you_, without -saying any thing about _faith_, as the one great and necessary receiver -of the facts and truths involved in that way; I ask, would not a -rejection of a _part_ of those involved facts and truths be equivalent -to a rejection of the whole? Would it not display the same spirit as a -rejection of the whole? Would it not show that you were not walking in -_his_ way, but in some _other_ which you supposed _might possibly_ be -found? Nay, would it not show that in your heart you had no confidence -in him as a mediator; that you even rebelled against his right to -prescribe to you the terms on which he would save you?” - -1186. To conclude, with respect to this guardian angel of my soul, to -whom this digression owes its existence; it may comfort her to know -that I conceive myself so securely protected and guided already, and -so sure of the result of that guidance and protection, that I would -advise her, in my turn, to consider well whether she ought not to pray -to God to give her a little more light respecting her own destiny, -than is afforded by the book which is vaunted as being above reason, -and as being the word of God. Does she conceive the subterranean cave -with the “_lake of unquenchable fire_,” in which Dives is roasting -in sight of the blessed, to be so satisfactory as to be unwilling to -hear of a preferable abode in the azure sky? Does she aspire to some -official position commensurate with that of the judgships which Christ -promised his disciples? If it is to procure me a place in the heaven -described in Scripture, I beg leave to decline, being pre-engaged; and -therefore give her an invitation to meet me hereafter in the glorious -abode to which I confidently aspire, and where I shall feel myself -especially called upon to render her my assistance to rise from the -inferior though happy sphere to which, with her present opinions, she -is destined. - -1187. I would recommend to her, and to others in the same predicament, -the perusal of the influence of the conversion to Spiritualism on my -friends, as presented in this volume. I would also recommend her to -study the comparison made between the heaven and hell of Scripture and -that of Spiritualism, as herein presented. - -1188. I hope my would-be mundane guide to salvation will find in the -verse and prose addressed to me by one more nearly allied (215, 250, -538) a sufficient apology for declining her kindly-tendered guidance, -especially as the path through which she would lead me is known to this -excellent relative, who has frequently passed and repassed it during -her residence of more than two years in the spirit world, while to my -mundane friend it is as yet unknown, and, as I believe, misapprehended. -But although my mind has not been converted to her view of the service -tendered, my heart will never cease to be gratefully inclined toward -one who, while actually in want of guidance herself, thought so much of -the supposed deficiency from which it is imagined I suffer. - - -_Improper use of the epithet Infidel, as used in the parodied quotation - from the Clergyman’s Letter._ - -1189. If a man cannot be guilty of infidelity to another man’s wife, -how can he be guilty of infidelity to another man’s religion? The -Mohammedan wrongfully calls the Christian “infidel,” because he does -not believe in Mohammed; and as wrongfully is the epithet retorted, -because the Mohammedan does not believe in Christ. The epithet can only -be truly applicable to those who, while professing a religion, do not -act up to their professions. In this sense, Christendom, so called, -teems with infidels to Christianity. - - - _On Atonement._ - -1190. Since my spirit sister’s translation to the spheres, she has -risen from the fifth to the sixth sphere. It has been alleged by her -that her ascent was retarded by her belief in the atonement. I subjoin -some reasoning on that subject: - -1191. As respects free-will, Dr. Johnson shrewdly said that all -practice is in its favour, all theory against it; but whatever view -may be taken on this subject, no one can deny that _so far as it is -possible for sin to be avoided_, it must be within the power of God -to make men virtuous. The fact that they are not sinless, must arise -either from his not wishing to make them more virtuous, or from his -inability to make them so. That he does not make them free from sin -implies either a want of will or a want of power. - -1192. But whatever may in this respect be true, his omniscience must -have enabled him to perceive the result beforehand, and of course it -is inconceivable that he would, consistently with his goodness, have -created them, foreknowing that they would be so wicked as to deserve -eternal punishment. - -1193. All this it was in his power to obviate by not creating men, or -by making their temptations less, or their power of resistance greater. -But foreseeing their wickedness, and imposing fetters on his omnipotent -power, so as to render _a certain amount of suffering inevitable_, he -is said to have determined that a portion of the godhead should expiate -in the flesh, by the pains of crucifixion, the punishment due to the -sinful creatures which he has been supposed to have wilfully created, -foreseeing this result. - -1194. But in order to make men better, instead of using that almighty -power with which he is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, -to soften the human heart and enlighten the human mind universally, -he is made to resort to a method which, however cruel and manifestly -unjust in making an innocent being suffer for the guilty, has proved -utterly inefficient, since only a small minority of mankind profess -Christianity, and of that minority only an imperceptible portion, -if any, comply with its requisitions, as before observed; hence the -greater part are liable “_to be beaten with many stripes_,” while -those to whom the mission of Christ has been unknown are to “_be -beaten with but few stripes_.” - -1195. Human lawgivers may enact constitutions which result in practical -failure, because they do not foresee the issue. Such failures are -ascribed to their deficiency in practical wisdom. But the failure of -measures for the production of any result proving it unwise, must -demonstrate that it did not originate with an all-wise author; in other -words, with the Almighty. - -1196. It is manifestly absurd to ascribe to that Being any measures -which have failed to effect the ends for which they have been -specially devised. Knowing that Mohammed would have more followers -than Christ, that the largest portion of mankind would remain pagans, -that even in Christendom the Christian religion would be a source of -bloody contention and theological hatred, making scarcely any real -Christians,—how could it originate with a wise and prescient Deity? - -1197. “By their fruits ye shall know them?” It being premised that God -is omniscient, all-wise, and omnipotent, can any fruit proceed from -that high source which has not proved to answer well the purpose for -which it was intended? - -1198. The actual morality of Christendom being the inverse of that -excessive and impracticable restraint, which Christ enjoined as the -object of his mission, must prove that his doctrine could not have -originated with a being by whom its failure must have been foreseen. - -1199. Arguments such as I have used are met often by referring to -the evils, to which all animated nature is subjected, in the way -of misery, mutilation, disease, or death. But when the government -of the universe is attributed to general laws, it may be inferred -that evil results from a want of power to render those laws free -from bad consequences. Nothing but such limitation of power, or an -indisposition to prevent those evils, can account for their occurrence. -But this is widely different from assuming, in the first place, with -self-called orthodoxy, that God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-wise, -and all-good, and then representing him as resorting to measures for -the accomplishment of his ends which are utterly inefficacious. This -is accusing the Almighty of acting like an idiot. Can any thing be -more preposterous, than that an all-wise, all-good, all-powerful, and -all-foreseeing Deity should require the services of human missionaries -to carry out his will? Would he not at least require that such -messengers of his word should first agree as to what that word ought -to be? A pagan might remain during his whole life a pagan, should -he, before adopting any creed, require that professed Christians, in -general, should agree as to the tenets which he should espouse. - -1200. Agreeably to the attributes assigned to the Deity by orthodoxy, -the state of things which exists in the universe cannot be otherwise -than as God wishes it to be, to the falling of a sparrow; so that any -change sought by man, beyond the immediate sphere of his necessities, -must be an officious interference with God’s providence. - -1201. Yet if a man be considered as an instrument in attaining certain -beneficent ends, without which those ends could not be accomplished, -then human exertion is reasonable, in whatever way it can be productive -of good. - -1202. How can any being who contemplates the wonderful power displayed -in the creation, hesitate to perceive that if the divine Architect -desired that all men should coincide in their modes of worship, he -would have furnished them sufficient evidence of his will, and disposed -their minds to receive the desired impression? - -1203. Nevertheless, his measures are represented as the inverse of -these. It is represented that a creed which he wished all men to -embrace was promulgated in an obscure part of an obscure country, -under the yoke of heathen despotism, in a language unknown to any -other people. It was so promulgated that the great majority of mankind -were entirely out of the reach of its influence, and have remained -so for nearly two thousand years. Moreover, those who have been made -acquainted with Christianity are unable to agree in what it consists. - -1204. As I have already urged, if we were to judge of the extention of -Christianity by the number of Christians who do not in practice violate -the precepts of Christ, it might be a question whether the name of -Christendom is applicable to any part of the world. - - - _On the massacre at Sinope, as a probable consequence of Religious - Fanaticism and Intolerance._ - -1205. As in consideration of the idolatry of the Amalekites the -Israelites were, according to the Bible, authorized to extirpate that -nation, for a wrong done to Israel some hundred years before, may not -the Russians imagine themselves justified for the massacre of Sinope? -(1 Sam. xv.) - -1206. The Turks have done vastly more harm to the Greek Christians, -when, with fire and sword, they subdued the Greek empire, and obliged -each man to pay annually for wearing his head, than the tribe of Amalek -did to the Hebrews. In the one case there does not appear to have -been for centuries any repetition of the wrong; but in the other the -wrongs were reiterated, and of an enduring nature. It is true that the -Mohammedan sovereigns were in Turkey more tolerant of their Christian -subjects than Christian sovereigns were of Mohammedans; or even of -the Albigenses, Lollards, Wicliffites, Lutherans, or Calvinists. The -Turks never introduced an inquisitorial tribunal to burn or torture -unbelievers. On this account they may think themselves less open to -the charge of cruel intolerance than some of the self-called disciples -of Christ; and no doubt the discordancy between the conduct of those -disciples and the precepts of their teacher, may have contributed to -their contemptuous opinions of those whom they improperly call infidels -to Mohammed, not perceiving that people who have not professed a -religion, can no more be infidels thereto than one man can be guilty -of infidelity to another man’s wife. This argument, however, would be -answered by the fact that Christians call Mohammedans infidels, not in -consequence of any violation of _their_ faith in Mohammed, but because -they have never had any faith in Christ. - -1207. Such skeptical Mohammedans as Lady Mary Wortley Montague made -mention of in her letters from Constantinople, will no doubt consider -the term infidel applicable only to such as break their professed -faith, whatever it may be. - -1208. Agreeably to this definition, every fighting or wealth-seeking -Christian is an infidel to the religion which he professes; every -Mohammedan who indulges in wine is an infidel. - -1209. The religion taught by Mohammed, like that of Moses, authorized -the most cruel wars, the extermination of nations for erroneous -belief, while the religion of Christ directs us to love our neighbours -as ourselves; to return good for evil; to give our coat when our cloak -is taken; to submit passively to blows, and that the possession of -wealth interferes with access to heaven. Christianity is, moreover, -unfavourable to polygamy or concubinage. - -1210. It follows that the precepts of Jesus call for restraint upon -the predominant passions of human nature, while those of Mohammed, -in justifying warfare, excessive indulgence in women, and in the -spoliation and massacre of unbelievers, coincide with the most -predominating propensities of human nature. It is, therefore, far -easier to be faithful to the precepts of Mohammed than those of Christ. - -1211. Nevertheless, as both Christ and Mohammed treated the Old -Testament as authentic, it is to be feared that the Turks and Russians -may look to it for justification of their intolerant cruelty. - -1212. None of the ancient Pagans were as hostile to the Hebrews, as -the disciples of Mohammed have been to the Greek Christians. But not -even the Mohammedans have been so intolerant to those whom they call -infidels, as Christian sectarians have been, to such persons as they -have dogmatically adjudged to be heretics. - -1213. It should be well considered whether any authority dependent on -human records can justify the inference that God, anywhere, or in any -age, ever authorized such cruelty as that exhibited at Sinope. - -1214. Whenever men adopt the idea entertained by the Jews and -Mohammedans, and certain sects of Christians, that a peculiar creed is -necessary to salvation, it is deemed humane to inflict any temporal -evil in order to eradicate any other belief which will subject souls to -eternal punishment. When to the Catholics in the reign of Queen Mary -it was urged that burning heretics alive would not change their creed, -the reply was, that although the victims should not be converted, the -souls of their progeny would be saved from damnation by the extirpation -of the heresy with the heretics. Admitting the premises, the conclusion -was correct, and the auto-da-fé and the tortures of the inquisition -were even more excusable than a painful chirurgical operation, when it -preserves the temporal life of the patient. - -1215. If the Czar is of opinion, that for every Christian who may -replace a Turk, a soul will be saved from damnation, he may conceive -himself as well authorized to extirpate the Turks, as were Moses and -Joshua to extirpate any heathen nation. - -1216. Moreover, by some Christians, Jesus is considered as having -sanctioned the retention of that characteristic of the Hebrew -portraiture of Jehovah, which makes it right to exterminate unbelievers -in the orthodox creed. This must be a source of discord wherever it is -recognised, as it induces persecution from conscientious regard to the -salvation of the victims upon whom it acts, while in them it naturally -creates bitter resentment instead of gratitude. - -1217. Having submitted the representations of Jehovah, given in the Old -Testament, I will subjoin those of the great modern philosopher Newton, -and those of Seneca, one of the most distinguished sages of antiquity. -The reader may, from these data, judge how far piety or morality would -suffer, were that ancient record to give way to the direct evidence of -Spiritualism. - - - _Opinions of God held by Sir Isaac Newton.—Enfield’s Philosophy, Page - 638._ - -1218. “God has no need of organs; he being everywhere present to the -things themselves. - -1219. “It appears from phenomena, that there is a being incorporeal, -living, intelligent, omnipresent, who, in infinite space, as it were -in his sensory, sees the things themselves, intimately and thoroughly -perceives them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence -to himself. - -1220. “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets -could only arise from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and -powerful being; and if the fixed stars be centres of similar systems, -these, being all formed by like wisdom, must be subject to the dominion -of one; especially since the light of the fixed stars is of the same -nature with the light of the sun; and all systems mutually give and -receive light. - -1221. “God governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as -the Lord of the universe. The Supreme Deity is an eternal, infinite, -and absolutely perfect being, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his -duration extends from eternity to eternity, and his presence from -infinity to infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things -which exist, or can be known. He is not eternity or infinity; but -eternal and infinite; he is not duration or space; but he endures and -is present; he endures forever and is present everywhere. Since every -portion of space is always, and every indivisible moment of duration -is everywhere, certainly the Maker and Lord of all things cannot be -_never_ or _nowhere_. God is omnipresent, not virtually only, but -substantially; for power cannot subsist without substance. In him all -things are contained and move, but without reciprocal affection. God is -not affected by the motion of bodies, nor do bodies suffer resistance -from the omnipresence of God. - -1222. “It is universally allowed that God exists necessarily; and -by the same necessity he exists always and everywhere. Whence he is -throughout similar, all eye, all ear, all brain, all arm, all power -of perceiving, understanding, and acting; but in a manner not at all -human, not at all corporeal; in a manner to us altogether unknown. As -a blind man has no idea of colours, so we have no idea of the manner -in which the most wise God perceives and understands all things. He is -entirely without body, and bodily form, and therefore can neither be -seen, nor heard, nor touched; nor ought he to be worshipped under any -corporeal representation. We have ideas of his attributes, but what -the _substance_ of _any_ thing is, we are wholly ignorant. We see only -the figures and colours of bodies; we hear only sounds; we touch only -external superficies; we smell only odours; we taste only savours; of -their internal substance we have no knowledge by any sense, or by any -reflex act of the mind; much less have we any idea of the substance of -God. We know him only by his properties and attributes, by the most -wise and excellent structure of things, and by final causes; and we -reverence and worship him on account of his dominion. A God without -dominion, providence, and design, is nothing else but fate and nature.” - -1223. The language above quoted does not involve the idea that Newton -owed his idea of God to the Bible, or that he considered him as having -any person, much less that he consisted of three persons. He makes -no allusion to Christ or to the Scriptures. His opinions are quite -reconcilable with Theism, but incompatible with the existence of the -Trinity. - - - _On God and his Attributes, by Seneca._ - -1224. “Great respect is due to universal opinion. We consider common -assent an evidence of truth. That there are Gods, we are convinced, -among other proofs, from the fact that the belief in their existence is -natural to man. No nation has been found so brutal as to be entirely -without religion. - -1225. “We begin to know God from his works. What is God? All that you -see, and all that you do not see. In what does the nature of God and -man differ? The best part of man is his mind; in God there is nothing -but mind. He is pure spirit. Many names are applicable to him. Do you -call him Fate? You do not err. He it is upon whom every thing depends. -The cause of causes. Do you call him Providence? You are right. It is -by his appointment that this world is so arranged that it performs -without confusion the part assigned to it. Do you call him Nature? You -do not sin. It is he from whom all things are produced. - -1226. “You may properly apply to God any name expressive of celestial -power. All his benefits may give rise to distinctive appellations. Thus -he is called Father, Hercules, Mercury, &c. Father, because he is truly -the Father of all; Hercules, because he is omnipotent; Mercury, because -he is pure Reason, the principle of science, of order, and of harmony. - -1227. “Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, are all names of _one_ -God, expressive of his various attributes, and are qualities of the one -mind; _whichever of them you love, you love God_. Known unto God are -all his works. - -1228. “Whatever is to happen is present with him. What to us is sudden -and unexpected, has by him been foreseen and _provided_ for. - -1229. “A wise man does not change his opinion, how much less God! As -a river does not flow back, or stop in its course, _so the order of -nature is governed by fixed laws, which are nothing less than divine -decrees_. - -1230. “Who is so wretched, so neglected, who born to so cruel a -destiny, as not to have received any benefits from the gods? Look -at those who complain of their lot, you will find that they are not -deprived of all comforts. Is the gift of life nothing? Are there -no objects pleasant to the eye, to the ear, or to the mind? God’s -kindness does not only supply us with what is necessary to existence, -he provides also for our pleasure. Witness the variety of fruits, -differing in flavour; the many healthful vegetables, so great a variety -of food for different seasons of the year, some produced from the earth -without culture, _even for the idle_; animals of all kinds abounding -in the earth, the sea, and the air, as if all things in nature were -tributary to our enjoyment. Consider the rivers flowing gracefully -through the fields which they fertilize; others, whose deep beds in -their vast and navigable courses, afford the means of a profitable -commerce, or by overflowing their banks during the drought and heat of -summer, water the parched earth and cause it to bring forth abundantly. -You deny that you have received any favours, and yet are unwilling to -part with what you possess. There are some philosophers who do not -appreciate the divine gifts. They complain that we are not endowed with -perfect health, incorruptible virtue, and foreknowledge. They scarcely -refrain from impudently despising nature, that she has made us less -than gods. How much better would it be to return thanks to the gods -for the many benefits we have received, and for placing us in this -beautiful world, and subjecting it to our rule, as their vicegerents. - -1231. “The Deity has thought of us from the beginning; and this world -has been so arranged as to make his care of us manifest. We admit -our obligation to love our parents, as those from whom we derive -our existence. They were, however, certainly not the authors of our -existence, but were utterly ignorant of the mysteries of nature. - -1232. “That we are indebted for our existence to an _intelligent -cause_, is evident from the provisions made for our support long before -our birth. - -1233. “The strong instinct of a mother, making her willing to endure -any privation for the helpless stranger; the sacred fountain which, -at the moment it is wanted, flows from the mother’s breast; the air -adapted to the lungs, the light to the eye: what more shall I say?—_a -present God is revealed!_ - -1234. “Our kind Father begins to bestow benefits on us before we -are capable of perceiving our obligations to him, and continues them -even when we are ungrateful. Some accuse him of forgetting them; some -of injuring them; others believe him to be regardless of his works; -nevertheless, like a good parent, who _smiles_ at the follies of his -children, God does not cease _to confer his benefits on those who deny -his existence, but with an equal eye regards all nations, and uses -his power only to bless_. He sprinkles the earth with soft showers; he -moves the sea by his breath; tempers the severity of winter and the -heat of summer, and is _placable to the errors of imperfect mortals_.” - - - _On the Better Employment of the First Day of the Week._ - -1235. The subjoined essay, as above designated, was written nearly -ten years ago, before the author had any hope that any knowledge of a -future state would be mercifully afforded through himself, as well as -many others, which would supply the only deficiency in the elements -requisite to the proposed innovation. Fortunately the doctrines, since -taught by the spirits, entirely corroborate the suggestions of this -essay; so that Spiritualism, natural religion, and literature, may -hereafter go hand in hand on Sunday. - -1236. This now gloomy day, may, through the happy united -instrumentality suggested, become a day of real intellectual -improvement, as well as of every species of variety of innocent -recreation. Yet every species of selfish sensual pleasure will be -avoided and condemned by every conscientious believer in spiritual -manifestations. - -1237. It is suggested that persons opposed to sabbatarianism, -inconsistent with the early and long-continued practice of -Christianity, and with the freedom of conscience guaranteed by -the Constitution of the United States, should unite to render -Sunday (erroneously called the Sabbath) a day of moral, literary, -and scientific instruction, for those who, dissatisfied with the -sectarianism of the existing places of worship, pass the day without -edifying occupation. - -1238. The object of this association would be to contemplate the Deity, -agreeably to the opinions entertained by the first and one of the best -of philosophers, Sir Isaac Newton; the sentiments of morality comprised -in the precepts ascribed to Confucius, as well as to Christ, “Do unto -others as you would have them do unto you.” - -1239. As respects the object of devotion, the idea of the Deity -entertained by Newton, and this sentiment of Pope’s universal prayer, -might be adopted: - -1240. “Father of all, in every age, - In every clime adored, - By saint, by savage, and by sage, - Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.” - -1241. As regards ceremonial, that sanctioned by Christ, agreeably to -which the brief appeal of the humble, contrite publican, was deemed -preferable to that of the self-complacent, multiloquent, pompous -Pharisee. - -1242. The opinions of the Deity given by Newton, are quoted to show -that there is nothing therein to justify intolerant sectarianism, nor -to indicate the distinguished author to have been indebted for them to -Revelation. - -1243. As favouring toleration, the sentiments expressed by Seneca, the -Roman sage, should be cherished. The sentiments of this sage prove that -among the heathens a more pious idea of God existed than that given by -the Bible, which represents him as jealous, and as punishing not only -the individual, but his posterity, for an involuntary ignorance, which -by a mere fiat, omnipotency could correct. - -1244. God is quite tolerant, according to Seneca, as respects any -misapprehension of his pretensions, while, according to Moses, he is -extremely intolerant. - -1245. Instead of teaching people to dislike and disesteem those who may -differ from them, as to the designation, form, or name under which the -Deity is to be worshipped, it should be held that no person of sound -mind would waste his time and his energies in worshipping that which -he does not conscientiously believe to be entitled to adoration, any -more than a man will _knowingly_ pay a debt to or court the favour of -one to whom he owes nothing, and from whom he cannot expect any thing -in return. It might be argued as reasonably, that a person in paying by -_mistake_ a forged draft, is less honest than in paying one which is -genuine, as that a virtuous pagan is to have less favour with God than -any other man, however orthodox his creed. (See Theological Axioms, -page 34.) - -1246. Were a lessee to pay a forged order for rent due to his landlord, -would the latter strive to punish him for the mistake, especially if so -wealthy as not to feel the want of the money? But what would be said -of the landlord who, knowing that his lessee had received an erroneous -impression as to the owner of his tenement, should allow him to pay -year after year without any effort to prevent him from being cheated? -Would not this deprive him of moral if not of legal claim to the rent? -God is represented as omniscient, and consequently as cognizant of the -misapprehension which leads the pagan to kneel before his idol, and yet -without either influencing his mind, or placing before him any evidence -of his error, punishing him for his mistake. - -1247. It should, moreover, be an object to prove the greatness and -goodness of God, by making men acquainted with the wondrous miracles -of that universe of which a nook has been assigned to the inhabitants -of this planet, which, in comparison with the totality, is as minute -as any grain of sand which contributes to form our terrestrial globe -is to the whole mass of which it constitutes a part—so insignificant. -It should be an object to show how that “_honesty is the best -policy_,”—the bad never being happy. - -1248. Those well-educated sectarians of different creeds should be held -wanting in humility, who severally considered themselves free from -that error in belief to which they deem all other men liable. It is -conceived, also, that individuals are answerable for their opinions to -God only, and that for one man to condemn another for not thinking as -he himself thinks, is to violate the precept, “judge not, lest ye be -judged,” and the golden rule of acting toward other men as you would -have them act toward you. - -1249. Since our missions are all intended to induce pagans and others -to think freely as respects the tenets in which they have been -educated, how can it be otherwise than proper for every person to think -without fear of denunciation upon the tenets of his ancestry. Are we -to deny ourselves the liberty of thought, which we claim for all who -differ from us as to their creeds? - -1250. A sectarian who is a Christian only as to _observances_, and is -therefore really a _practical_ infidel, accuses a man of infidelity who -is _practically_ a Christian, so far as Christianity and virtue are -associated, because that man does not arrive at his morality by the -route which his denunciator points out, but never follows to any good -purpose. - -1251. While missionaries, who _ought_ to know all that can be learned, -_do not agree among themselves_, wherefore do they attempt to instruct -the ignorant? How is the unlettered pagan to judge between the -Catholic, Calvinist, Unitarian, or Deist? - - - _Additional Remarks respecting the Observance of the Sabbath, so - called._ - -1252. It is believed that a great majority of the people of the -United States, while favourable to the observance of Sunday as a day -of worship, of innocent recreation, and of moral and intellectual -improvement, are adverse to the legal enforcement of restrictions -introduced into Christianity by puritanism. They do not consider the -_first_ day of the week as liable to the commandment given to the Jews -for the observance of _the seventh_ day; still less that the _innocent -recreation allowed to the Jews under that commandment_ is to be denied -to Christians on that day of rest. The commandment _forbids work_, but -does not _prohibit recreation_. That it was thus viewed by the Hebrews, -is asserted upon the authority of a learned Jew. - -1253. It is conceived that the enforcement of any observance on -sectarian ground, is inconsistent with the freedom of conscience -guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. - -1254. If God intended the Sabbath to be kept so strictly, wherefore is -it not kept holy by him? why do not the rivers stop flowing, vegetables -growing, and the wind stop blowing on the day selected for the Sabbath, -especially if a sparrow does not fall without his cognizance. - -1255. _Precepts may lead, but example will draw._ Aware of this, is it -conceivable that God would enjoin man to keep any day holy, and yet -fail to keep it holy himself? Regulating the blowing of the winds, as -well as the _falling of sparrows_, when creating a storm, would he not -be responsible for forcing the breach of the Sabbath upon the mariner? - -1256. Ought the farmer to lose his crops in order to avoid working -on Sunday? The Romans took advantage of the Hebrew Sabbath to make -their advances upon Jerusalem, the tenets of the Jews restricting them -from resistance; yet there was no divine interference to shield this -chosen people against the heathen conqueror, or to assist them in the -observance of the commandment. - -1257. The plea on which the commandment was founded is manifestly -groundless—_that an omnipotent God could be so weary as to require -rest_. But it has been suggested by enlightened Christians, that the -six days were periods of immense duration, and of course the seventh -day being like the rest could not be a day of twenty-four hours, like -the Jewish Sabbath so called, but, on the contrary, an era comprising -many ages. - - - _If Creatures be not so created as to love their Neighbours as - themselves, precepts can no more alter them in this respect, than - change the Colour of their Hair, or the Number of Cubits in their - Stature._ - -1258. In the spheres, agreeably to the communication received from -spirits, great importance is attached to the friendship, the affection, -and the ardent love, which may subsist between congenial minds or -souls; they seem to recognise love as something which cannot be felt -by all to all; so that while benevolence, charity, and sympathy may be -sentiments entertained to mankind generally, there are other sentiments -which require concentration, in order to have any efficacy. Of this -nature are parental, filial, and conjugal affection, as well as other -intimate friendships. - -1259. Sympathy between the parent and child, between husband and wife, -and likewise occasionally between brothers and sisters, or such friends -as Pylades and Orestes, may be so strong as to induce the risk, if not -the loss of life, but this sympathy cannot be self-induced. Where, -from principle, a person may determine to make the sacrifice, not from -impulse, he cannot endow himself with the sensitiveness which would -make him feel for the sufferer as for himself. A being may admire such -a sentiment, and have an ambition to be so actuated, but that would -not create the sensibility to which its existence is due. It has been -alleged that Napoleon’s mother said of him, as I remember to have read -somewhere: “He wished to have a good heart.” The most that can be -done is to act as if we did love, and consequently sympathize, so as -to feel the pains and privations of another as if they were our own. -But it were inconsistent to entertain a love so powerful and peculiar, -and not give our time, thought, services, or attention to the object of -our affection. It were inconsistent so to love and keep at a distance, -and behave toward the object as if we were indifferent. But were the -sentiment to be felt universally, or even generally, there would be -such a cutting up of our time, service, or attention, that, as respects -any individual in particular, it would be nugatory, and might as well -not exist. There would likewise be such a multiplicity and perplexity -of yearnings that it would distract the heart, perhaps place it in a -less happy condition than if it were devoid of any affection whatever. - -1260. Although temporal life may at times be sacrificed by one being -to save that of another, it is manifestly because the being who makes -the sacrifice is constituted so nobly as to endure less pain under -the circumstances in question in making than avoiding self-immolation. -But can any one who has not been so organized and educated as to make -such a sacrifice, be sufficiently changed by preaching, or monition, to -undergo self-immolation to save a fellow-creature? - -1261. Is it reasonable to order, direct, or advise people to love, -especially on the part of any one who by his acknowledged omnipotency -could so constitute them as to sympathize to any required extent? I -admit, that it may be consistent to urge them to act toward others, as -far as possible, as if they were _loved_.[25] - -1262. Should not the great object of cultivation be sympathy and -benevolence, which are general in their nature? We may deeply -sympathize with a sufferer, even with a brute, whom we do not love. -Benevolence should we not also cultivate, by endeavouring habitually to -take the most favourable view of those around us which our observation -and reason can permit? Does it not argue a want of discrimination to -treat love as a sentiment, to be entertained toward all other mortals -by mere volition? Is it reasonable that Christ, or any other teacher, -assuming to be missionaries of the Creator, should enjoin us to -love, when the capacity for that sentiment manifestly varies through -organization and education, derived from that Creator by various human -beings, as much nearly, as the opposite propensities of the wolf -and dog? Behold the difference between the elephant and rhinoceros: -the former capable of a canine fidelity and affection, the latter -irretrievably hostile; and again between a wild elephant and one tamed -by education. - -1263. Were his organization and education dependent on himself, it -might be reasonable to say to a human being, Love your neighbour as -yourself, love your enemies; but how can that Deity who determines -man’s race and his parentage, and of course whether he be a savage -or a civilized man, whether a Thug or a _real_ Christian, if such a -thing can be,—how can that Deity require a being to do that which is -irreconcilable with his passions, opinions, and habits, derived from -nature and education, as well as the examples set by those around him? - -1264. The inutility of precepts in controlling human passions, may be -seen in the history of Christendom, in which, as already urged, the -morals and conduct of mankind, with very few exceptions, have been -diametrically opposite to that of their divine Master, so called. -Who have been more aggressive than the great majority of professed -Christians? Who have been more actuated by cupidity? Yet these votaries -have been, for the most part, vociferous in their professions of -devotedness to Christ, making him the Son of God as well as their -teacher, and too often cruelly maltreating those who have denied his -divinity. - -1265. Both on the part of the ancient Jews, or on that of modern -Christians, religion has been made an excuse or a plea for despoiling -unbelievers of their patrimony. In the contention respecting the right -to Oregon, the great question, on which judgment was to turn, was, -which of all of the Christian potentates claiming it, was the first to -lay his longing eyes upon the object of contention? It has been shown -that the massacre of whole nations involved no criminality, provided -they were pagans. David put to the sword the pagan communities, man, -woman, and child, during which time Jehovah was with him. The pagans -being mere vermin in the estimation of the Jewish deity, the wrongs -done to them were not cited as among David’s misdoings. No Nathan -came to call him to account for his flagitious conduct to them, or to -Achish, (1 Sam. xxvii. 8 to 12.) - -1266. In his correspondence with the British minister, respecting -territorial rights granted to the English by the Mosquito king, Mr. -Clayton urged that the aborigines never had been admitted to have -any rights to their own lands, which could interfere with Christian -claimants. - - - _Attacks upon the authenticity of Scripture cannot endanger the - prevalent morality, which, while it is superior to that of the Old - Testament, indicates a recklessness of the precepts of Christ, - excepting so far as they make faith a counterpoise for sin._ - -1267. In the preceding pages, I have endeavoured to show that the -existing morality of Christendom does not owe its existence to -Christianity. My object has been to do away the apprehension that -this morality would be deprived of its foundation were Spiritualism -or any other innovation to be accredited which would be inconsistent -with revelation. But I hope I have shown that whatever merit may be -possessed by the existing state of morals, it cannot be ascribed to -any influence exercised by those precepts of Christ which are not only -neglected, but acted in diametric opposition to. - -1268. Another cause of alarm has been that it would weaken that belief -in a future state of rewards and punishments which is so essential to -encourage virtue and repress vice. But it has been pointed out that -the authority of Moses is against the existence of a future state, not -merely negatively, but positively, so far as any authority is given to -him as inspired by God. For what stronger argument need there be that -there is no state of existence beyond the grave, than the fact that -the being who of all mankind solely had immediate converse with the -Deity, should not have learned from him the all-important fact? If, as -now held generally among Christians, an unbeliever in a future state -is culpable in the sight of God, as well as theirs, and disqualified -from testifying in courts of justice, can it be conceived that God -would have failed to communicate a knowledge of immortal existence to -his favourite lawgiver; or how could that lawgiver have been so devoid -of that desire for immortality as to have been satisfied to remain -ignorant? - -1269. Materialists who have become converts to Spiritualism, all -represent themselves as having entertained a great anxiety to believe -in immortality prior to the blessed, cherished truth having been made -evident to their thirsting souls. - -1270. Converts from Materialism to Spiritualism, who have shown -much zeal in the investigation of the subject, and eagerness in -believing in immortality as soon as evidence was obtained, were, by -certain sectarians, doomed to hell for their heresy. Yet this Hebrew -materialist, who made no use of his transcendent opportunities of -acquiring correct knowledge of futurity from the Deity, is made an -object of veneration, and the book which he wrote, while devoid of this -pre-eminently important information, is worshipped as an idol. - -1271. His allegations that God authorized the Israelites to _borrow_ -in order to _purloin_, or that he authorized the murder of the people -misled by Aaron to worship the golden calf, are manifestly as false -as blasphemous. Then why imagine that mankind can suffer by the -substitution of a belief in a future state associated with the purest -principles of morality, for the books of Moses, which sanction crimes -and discredit immortality? - -1272. As respects any subsequent alleged inspirations to which -Pharisees, the papists of Judea, owed their _professed_ belief in a -future state, in the first place, we have the authority of Christ -for viewing them as hypocrites: externally, like whited sepulchres, -internally, as no less corrupt than dead men’s bones. Of course there -is reason, on this account, to doubt whether they acquired a sincere -belief in a future state from any part of Scripture. But evidently it -did not make them moral. Their immorality, on the contrary, was made -more hideous by the cloak of false religion. Nothing is more detestable -than to see religion in men’s mouths, with cupidity and unprincipled -ambition at their hearts. Yet this much may be said for the Pharisees, -that they had not _professed_ themselves _Christians_, and thus subject -to those precepts of Jesus which place the acquisition of wealth on -a level with felony as respects the accessibility to heaven. The -Pharisees of Christendom, even those who assumed to be exclusively the -depositories of revelation and sole expounders of God’s word, have been -_absolutely_ as wicked as the Pharisees, and _relatively_ more wicked -by the monstrous discordancy of their course with their professed -devotion to the ultra precepts of the alleged Son of their God. - -1273. It has been shown, moreover, that although Christ occasionally -referred to hell, yet he gave inconsistent views of it, (738, 764.) At -one time it is fire, into which any one is to be doomed for alleging -his brother a fool, whether this allegation be true or not; at another, -it is utter _darkness_, with weeping and gnashing of teeth; and of -course there could be no fire. Then the disgusting description given by -Josephus is sanctioned, agreeably to which, like the Elysium and Erebus -of the heathen, both hell and heaven are subterranean localities, but -separated by a lake of unquenchable fire, across which Abraham and -Dives converse. At another time, heaven is above; he ascends to heaven -in sight of his apostles, yet the penitent thief is to be with him in -paradise, which, agreeably to Genesis and Josephus, is upon the earth -on the river Tigris, near the Persian Gulf. But wherever the Elysium -and Erebus of the gospel may be, all souls, according to it, are to -remain in their graves till the “_last_ day,” and then, like Samuel, -being called up from their tombs, are to be sorted into two squadrons, -of which one is to go to an _undescribed_ heaven, the other to the -“hell fire prepared for the devil and his angels from the beginning of -the world.” The injustice which would follow from a judgment of this -kind, by which two souls differing from each other only by a shade -would meet a fate so different that one would have to go to heaven, -the other to hell to remain eternally, is so manifest, that, like the -ultraism of the same record, it loses its effect altogether upon people -in general. - -1274. It must be clear that the great mass of professed Christians -are very little restrained by their fears of such an eternity of -punishment. Had Christ any specific knowledge of the kingdom of heaven -to which he occasionally alluded, wherefore did he not convey that -knowledge to his disciples? But they seem to have learned no more from -Jesus than Moses did from Jehovah, and hence their querulous inquiry as -to what would be their reward. But the promise of judgeships, (743 to -745,) of worldly preeminence, was a satire upon them. It argues that -he considered them as worldly-minded. Had he known the world to be -looked upon by the apostles as beneath consideration in comparison with -immortal life, he would hardly have insulted them by the offer. But -their tone has a great deal too much of the Swiss in it. Had they been -so very dull, or Christ so reserved, that the idea was not conveyed to -them that in acting the part of pious, virtuous men, they would have -the reward promised to the righteous in the other world. - -1275. Thank God, no spiritualist who reads with attention the -communications given in this work, will ever inquire as to the extent -of selfish reward which he is to enjoy! He would be impressed by his -general knowledge with the idea that the less any being is actuated -by selfish aspiration, the greater his capacity for happiness and his -pretensions to the means of felicity. - - - _The Doctrine of a peculiar Belief being necessary to Salvation, - and a counterpoise for Sin, a source of discord originally confined - to Judea, expanded with Christianity and Islamism; verifying - Christ’s allegation, that he came “as a Sword, not as a Messenger of - Peace.”—Superior Morality, and far more unquestionable Certainty of - the Communications from the Spirit World._ - -1276. It were in vain, I think, to find in the apple of discord, in -the mischiefs let loose from Pandora’s box, or any other figurative -exemplification, any idea adequate to convey my conception of the -mischief done to the world by introducing the dogma, that belief could -be the means of salvation; so that if God had so constituted or so -situated a people, that they could not believe what was communicated to -them by certain itinerant preachers, it should be worse for them in the -day of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah; two cities which God had -destroyed because he had not so organized them, and circumstanced them, -as to make them as virtuous as he, subsequently to their creation, -desired. - -1277. Christ fully justified this opinion, when he alleged himself -to have come as a _sword, not as a messenger of peace_, and to set -father and son, mother and daughter, &c., at variance with each other, -making the people of a man’s own household his foes. It may be said -that he identified himself with piety and rectitude; so that it was -for the virtue of which he, as the Son or missionary of God, was the -representative, that he plead; but this pious devotion has much more of -self in it than people imagine. They identify God or Christ with the -welfare of their souls and bodies. It is through the hope of benefit to -these that they take such a deep interest in God. - -1278. But is it not strange that the Christian religion should be -treated as a harbinger of peace and harmony, when, with its entrance -into the world, came the intolerance, before confined to Judea, and -when by its founder it is represented as a sword, to sever the dearest -ties by introducing the poisoning idea that belief could be a virtue or -a sin? It seems to have been the cause of a peculiar animosity which -has always accompanied its progress, if not its endurance, and which -set the example to Mohammed of attaching the same fanatical idea to -another basis, comporting with his individual aggrandizement, at the -expense of much human misery. - -1279. The language of Christ held to his apostles, showing that he -considered them as thirsting for temporal honours, and his aspiration -for the _throne_ of his _glory_, situated, of course, in the same -mundane region, may warrant the surmise that his views did not differ -from those of Mohammed as to the ultimate object, however much he may -have found it necessary, under the Roman despotism, to fight with the -tongue instead of the sword. - -1280. But how can this sentiment be justified in which he makes -devotion to himself irreconcilable with the holy ties between the -child and his parents, or the parents and their children? The God of -Spiritualism would view parental and filial love as the truest piety. -He asks only that love. He has not constituted us to have that sort of -love for him. Had he wished it, he would have made us so, as to be thus -actuated. - -1281. “He that believeth in me shall have eternal life.” “Thy faith -hath made thee whole.” These allegations produced a change in the -world at large. That bigotry and animosity which led the Jews to -consider that all who did not agree with them in creed, were objects -of spoliation, massacre, rape, enslavement, were now extended to other -parts of the world. - -1282. No doubt the success of this exclusive notion, on the part of -Christ, led to its adoption by Mohammed, and thus some hundred millions -have been actuated by this mischievous impression, which is now at work -on the Russian territory. It has been already suggested that this idea -always begets persecution to the extent of the power to exercise it. -While seeing the horrid consequences of this error in the persecution -of the French Calvinists, Calvin could not avoid the diabolic impulse -in the instance of Servetus. It cannot be necessary to recall to our -readers the many bloody persecutions and religious wars which have -disgraced Christendom far more than any other part of the globe, nor -to allude to the tyranny reciprocally employed by any sect having -complete ascendancy. Yet with these consequences before the mind—the -facts which I have adduced to prove that the morality of Christendom -is not due to Scripture—the tocsin is sounded wherever any effort is -made to get rid of the crimes and indecencies of the Old Testament, or -the error of making bigoted belief, under the name of faith, a primary -consideration on the part of the New Testament. People are taught that -every thing good is due to Scripture; that thence alone can we get any -correct notions of morality, any knowledge of a future state. The idea -is entertained that Christianity made a great change for the better as -soon as it prevailed, and that without it we should sink into a state -of demoralization. - -1283. Consistently with my experience of the effect of a confident -belief in a future state of existence on my own mind, as already -suggested, I was always under the impression, prior to my conversion, -that those who believed in a future state must be happier; and if -that belief were not associated with mischievous error, that it -should not be assailed. The idea that what I considered as bigotry, -should be a counterpoise for sin, I did consider a mischievous error, -tending to substitute devotion for good works, and as I saw, too, -made nations selfish. The love of hoarding was very commonly coupled -with this selfishness, which operated at once to produce efforts to -lay up treasure on earth by close dealing, and in heaven by strict -sectarianism, bigotry, and intolerance. But, nevertheless, I was -restrained from any effort to cure these errors, from the conviction -that religion, unaccompanied by the expectation of a future state, can -never take hold of the human heart. - -1284. In a dialogue between the spirit of Wm. Penn and that of Thos. -Paine, the former points out this error: “You strove to take from -your readers one of their greatest comforts under the afflictions of -mortal life.” _Foreseeing this_ would have prevented me from writing -the Age of Reason. Any set of skeptics who should only coincide in -disbelieving, could never adhere together nor make many converts. The -prospect of future life must be promised confidently, or there would be -few proselytes. - -1285. But the spiritual manifestations, and the intellectual, the -heartfelt intercommunion with my relatives, friends, and the immortal, -great, and good Washington, now enable me to assert that there is not, -nor can be upon any record of the past, any evidence so complete, -as that presented to my senses, concurrently with a multitude of -observers. I now, therefore, feel myself warranted to speak out what my -reason justifies and my conscience dictates; and have not hesitated to -express the opinions which are spread out upon the pages immediately -preceding that which contains this exposition. - -1286. With a view to show how much more happy was the state of -reciprocal sectarian feeling in the world before this idea of making -belief an object of vital importance, I will quote here, first a -passage from Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, vol. i., and will -subjoin some pages from “Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman -Empire;” following these up with quotations from Bishop Hopkins, of -Vermont: - - - _Quotation from Mosheim._ - -1287. “Each nation suffered its neighbours to follow their own method -of worship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and -ceremonies, and discovered no displeasure at their diversity of -sentiments in religious matters. They all looked upon the world as one -great empire, divided into various provinces, over every one of which a -certain order of divinities presided, and that, therefore, none could -behold with contempt the gods of other nations, or force strangers to -pay homage to theirs. - -1288. “The Romans exercised this toleration in the amplest manner. -As the sources from which all men’s ideas are derived are the same, -namely, from their senses, there being no other inlet to the mind -but thereby, there is nothing wonderful in the general prevalence of -a sameness of the ideas of human beings in all regions and all ages -of the world. The affections of fear, grief, pain, hope, pleasure, -gratitude, &c., are as common to man as his nature as a man, and could -not fail to produce a corresponding similarity in the objects of his -superstitious veneration. To have nothing in common with the already -established notions of mankind, to bear no features of resemblance to -their hallucinations and follies, to be nothing like them, to be to -nothing so unlike, should be the essential predications and _necessary_ -credentials of the ‘wisdom which is from above.’ - -1289. “It has, however, been alleged by learned men, with convincing -arguments of probability, ‘that the principal deities of all the -Gentile nations resembled each other extremely, in their essential -characters; and if so, their receiving the same names could not -introduce much confusion into mythology, since they were probably -derived from one common source. If the _Thor_ of the ancient Celts -was the same in dignity, character, and attributes with the _Jupiter_ -of the Greeks and Romans, where was the impropriety of giving him the -same name? _Dies Jovis_ is still the Latin form for our Thor’s day. -When the Greeks found in other countries deities that resembled their -own, they persuaded the worshippers of those foreign gods that their -deities were the same that were honoured in Greece, and were, indeed, -themselves convinced that this was the case. In consequence of this, -the Greeks gave the names of their gods to those of other nations, and -the Romans in this followed their example. Hence we find the names of -Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, &c. frequently mentioned in the more -recent monuments and inscriptions which have been found among the Gauls -and Germans, though the ancient inhabitants of those countries had -worshipped no gods under such denominations.” - - - _Quotation from Gibbon._ - -1290. “The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it -concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the -enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their -subjects. The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman -world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the -philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally -useful. And thus toleration produced, not only mutual indulgence, but -even religious concord. - -1291. “The superstition of the people was not imbittered by any -mixture of theological rancour; nor was it confined by the chains of -any speculative system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached -to his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different -religions of the earth. Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or -an omen, a singular disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually -disposed him to multiply the articles of his belief, and to enlarge -the list of his protectors. The thin texture of the pagan mythology -was interwoven with various, but not discordant, materials. As soon as -it was allowed that sages and heroes, who had lived, or who had died, -for the benefit of their country, were exalted to a state of power and -immortality, it was universally confessed that they deserved, if not -the adoration, at least the reverence, of all mankind. The deities of -a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in peace, their -local and respected influence; nor could the Roman, who deprecated the -wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering -to the beneficent genius of the Nile. The visible powers of nature, -the planets, and the elements, were the same throughout the universe -The invisible governors of the moral world were inevitably cast in a -similar mould of fiction and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, -acquired its divine representative; every art and profession its -patron, whose attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were -uniformly derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. A -republic of gods of such opposite tempers and interests required, in -every system, the moderating hand of a supreme magistrate, who, by the -progress of knowledge and flattery, was gradually invested with the -sublime perfections of an Eternal Parent, and an omnipotent Monarch. -Such was the mild spirit of antiquity, that the nations were less -attentive to the difference than to the resemblance of their religious -worship. The Greek, the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before -their respective altars, easily persuaded themselves that under various -names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same deities. The -elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful and almost regular form to -the polytheism of the ancient world. - -1292. “The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature -of man rather than from that of God. They meditated, however, on the -Divine Nature as a very curious and important speculation, and in -the profound inquiry they displayed the strength and weakness of the -human understanding. Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics -and the Platonists endeavoured to reconcile the jarring interests of -reason and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of the -existence and perfections of the first cause, but as it was impossible -for them to conceive the creation of matter, the workmen in the Stoic -philosophy was not sufficiently distinguished from the work, while, on -the contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his disciples resembled -an idea rather than a substance. The opinions of the Academics and -Epicureans were of a less religious cast; but while the modest science -of the former induced them to doubt, the positive ignorance of the -latter urged them to deny the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The -spirit of inquiry, prompted by emulation and supported by freedom, has -divided the public teachers of philosophy into a variety of contending -sects; but the ingenuous youth who, from every part, resorted to -Athens and the other seats of learning in the Roman empire, were alike -instructed in every school to reject and to despise the religion -of the multitude. How, indeed, was it possible that a philosopher -should accept, as divine truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the -incoherent traditions of antiquity, or that he should adore as gods -those imperfect beings whom he must have despised as men! Against such -unworthy adversaries Cicero condescended to employ the arms of reason -and eloquence, but the satire of Lucian was a much more adequate as -well as more efficacious weapon. We may be well assured that a writer -conversant with the world would never have ventured to expose the -gods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already been the -objects of secret contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of -society. - -1293. “Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed -in the age of the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and -the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In their -writings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity asserted the -independent dignity of reason, but they resigned their actions to -the commands of law and of custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and -indulgence, the various errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised -the ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of -the gods, and sometimes condescending to act a part on the theatre of -superstition, they concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the -sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined to -wrangle about their respective modes of faith or of worship. It was -indifferent to them what shape the folly of the multitude might choose -to assume; and they approached with the same inward contempt, and the -same external reverence, the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, or the -Capitoline Jupiter. - -1294. “It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of -persecution could induce itself into the Roman councils. The -magistrates could not be actuated by a blind though honest bigotry, -since the magistrates were themselves philosophers, and the schools -of Athens had given laws to the senate. They could not be impelled -by ambition or avarice, as the temporal and ecclesiastical powers -were united in the same hands. The pontiffs were chosen among the -most illustrious of the senators, and the office of Supreme Pontiff -was constantly exercised by the emperors themselves. They knew and -valued the advantages of religion, as it is connected with civil -government. They encouraged the public festivals which humanize the -manners of the people. They managed the arts of divination, as a -convenient instrument of policy, and they respected as the firmest -bond of society the useful persuasion that, either in this or a future -life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by the avenging -gods? But while they acknowledged the general advantages of religion, -they were convinced that the various modes of worship contributed -alike to the same salutary purposes, and that, in every country, the -form of superstition which had received the sanction of time and -experience was the best adapted to the climate and to its inhabitants. -Avarice and taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations -of the elegant statues of their gods and the rich ornaments of their -temples, but in the exercise of the religion which they derived from -their ancestors, they uniformly experienced the indulgence, and even -protection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of Gaul seems, and -indeed only seems, an exception to this universal toleration. Under the -specious pretext of abolishing human sacrifices, the Emperors Tiberius -and Claudius suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids; but the -priests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in peaceful -obscurity till the final destruction of paganism. - -1295. “Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled -with subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all -introduced and enjoyed the favourite superstitions of their native -country. Every city in the empire was justified in maintaining the -purity of its ancient ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the -common privilege, sometimes interposed to check this inundation of -foreign rites. The Egyptian superstition, of all the most contemptible -and abject, was frequently prohibited; the temples of Serapis and Isis -demolished, and their worshippers banished from Rome and Italy. But -the zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of -policy. The exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the temples -were restored with increasing splendour, and Isis and Serapis at length -assumed their place among the Roman deities. Nor was this indulgence -a departure from the old maxims of government. In the purest ages of -the commonwealth, Cybele and Æsculapius had been invited by solemn -embassies, and it was customary to tempt the protectors of besieged -cities by the promise of more distinguished honours than they possessed -in their native country. Rome gradually became the common temple of her -subjects, and the freedom of the city was bestowed on all the gods of -mankind.” - - - _For more than a thousand years the Grecian or Roman Catholic Clergy - were the sole depositories of the word of God, so called, and - Regulators of Religious morals; yet during that time the Clergy were - for the most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of - the community; whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the - wicked Clergy in general were really unbelievers in the truth of the - Gospel. If the morals of the modern Clergy are better, it is neither - from the barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, nor - the ultra precepts of the Gospel; being too much enlightened to be - governed in practice by either._ - - 1296. “ORIGEN complains of the neglect and inattention of his day, - through the increase of worldliness. Cyprian about the same time - mourns over the progress of degeneracy, and Eusebius, toward the close - of the third century, laments the corruption of the primitive morality - in strong terms of censure. - - 1297. “But yet superstition was rapidly advancing, and the complaints - of priestly corruption and general licentiousness were on the - increase. The election of Pope Damasus was the occasion of a public - riot, in which his partisans besieged the church where the friends - of the other candidate were assembled, broke down the doors, and - uncovered the roof; and in the shameful battle that ensued, one - hundred and thirty-seven persons were slain, of both sexes. The - splendour of the Roman bishops had grown so rapidly, that the heathen - historian Ammianus Marcellinus pronounced the episcopal style of - living to be superior to that of a king. Toward the close of the - fourth century, Chrysostom defended the new system of monkery, on the - ground that Christians had become so corrupt, especially in the large - cities. Jerome before him had bitterly complained of the prevailing - degeneracy, and became a monk in order to escape from it. St. - Augustine lamented that many Christians in his day (about A. D. 389) - were superstitious, that they adored the sepulchres and pictures of - the saints, and ate and drank to excess at funerals, under the excuse - that it was an act of religion. - - 1298. “The fifth century was not likely to improve the state of the - church, but on the contrary it witnessed a rapid deterioration. The - testimony of Salvian is set forth by Fleury, proving that among the - Roman Christians there was much heathen idolatry remaining; that - the greater part were only Christians in name, and worse than the - barbarians in life and conversation. - - 1299. In the sixth century, toward the close, we see Pope Gregory the - Great attributing all the public calamities to the ambition of the - bishops, who concealed the teeth of wolves under the face of sheep. - - 1300. “The seventh century. We begin to see the fruits of clerical - celibacy in the rule established by the council of Toledo, that the - illegitimate children of the clergy, from the bishop down to the - sub-deacon, should be slaves in the church where their fathers served. - It is to be presumed that this canon was intended to discourage - and amend the incontinence of the clergy, but the adoption of such - an extraordinary law proves plainly the prevalence of the evil. So - general had the worldliness of the clergy become, that in the latter - part of this century the most eminent bishops of France took great - part in political matters, and in time of war marched at the head of - their troops, like the lay barons. - - 1301. “One of the most important events of the eighth century was the - forgery of the Decretals, by which all the primitive bishops of Rome, - from Clement to Sylvester, were made to utter the most extravagant - doctrines concerning the power of the pope, the supremacy of Rome, and - the authority to judge the other bishops, while the pope himself could - be judged by none. Yet such was the ignorance of the times, that this - forgery was successful throughout the whole Latin Church, and remained - unquestioned for eight hundred years together. Another strong proof of - this prevailing ignorance is found in the course of the bishops at the - second council of Nice, where pretended miracles performed by images - were cited from false documents without any suspicion of mistake. - - 1302. “The parliament of Worms presented to the emperor a request from - all the people that the bishops should no longer go out at the head of - their troops, but should stay in their dioceses and assist the army - by their prayers; and Charlemagne willingly granted the petition. - But it is remarkable that this application came not from the clergy, - but from the laity; and it was so little regarded afterward, that - we shall find some warlike bishops even among the popes themselves. - This same emperor endeavoured with great zeal to purify the morals - of the clergy; and his reproofs of their worldliness, their avarice, - and their prostitution of sacred things for the sake of gain, are - remarkable monuments of his own good sense and of the corruption - which infested the church in the ninth century. After his death, - which occurred in A. D. 814, some churches invoked him as a saint, - notwithstanding he had four wives and five concubines. - - 1303. “The year 844 was signalized by the introduction of false relics - at Dijon in France, by which, nevertheless, several remarkable cures - were supposed to have been effected, until the fraud was discovered; - but the proceedings show that such impostures were common. In A. D. - 850 a poor presbyter named Gotheschalk, who had adopted high views - on predestination, was not only deposed from the priesthood, but - afterward publicly whipped, as an incorrigible heretic, and cast into - prison, where he died after eighteen years’ confinement. Yet his - doctrine was defended by other bishops of high reputation, and his - punishment was denounced as cruel and unjust. - - 1304. “In A. D. 864, a violent outrage took place at Rome, in which - Gonthier, the Archbishop of Cologne, protesting against the judgment - of Pope Nicholas, told his brother Hildwin, who was a priest, to - place his protestation on the tomb of Saint Peter: that is, upon the - altar of the church. Accordingly, Hildwin entered into the church - with several followers, all armed, and as the keepers opposed him, - he repulsed them with blows, and killed one of them upon the spot. - He then accomplished his purpose, and retreated sword in hand. The - anecdote is only of importance as a proof of the spirit of the age. - The first instance of a partial interdict occurs in A. D. 871. - The ordeals of boiling water, cold water, and red-hot iron were - employed in this age, to determine questions of justice under the - auspices of the priests; and even kings employed them, with all - faith and confidence. The Duke of Naples had formed an alliance - with the Saracens, which the pope disproved; and as he refused to - break it on the order of the pontiff, he was excommunicated. The - Bishop Athanasius, who was the duke’s own brother, took him and put - out his eyes, sent him as prisoner to Rome, and caused himself to - be proclaimed Duke of Naples in his place. The pope approved this - conduct highly, and praised the bishop for loving God more than his - brother, and putting out the right eye which had offended, according - to Scripture. This pontiff was John VIII., and the time was A. D. 877. - - - _Reasons for not proceeding farther with Quotation of Details._ - -1305. It would occupy too much space, and make too wide a digression, -were I to proceed in quoting the details of the evidence showing the -state of morals in Christendom during the Middle Ages to have been much -below that which the heathen displayed during the period immediately -succeeding the advent of Christ, according to Mosheim and Gibbon. But -although the reader should not be enabled to form an opinion directly, -by a perusal of the details, fortunately I am enabled to submit that of -the right reverend prelate by whom they have been compiled. - -1306. The fact deserves attention, that for more than a thousand -years, of all the upper classes of society the Christian clergy were -pre-eminently wicked, frequent complaints having been made against -them by the laity, notwithstanding the cruel persecution to which -complainants were liable. The popes were generally as prominent in -wickedness as high in official distinction. The summing up of Bishop -Hopkins, which I subjoin, fully confirms the impression which I have -endeavoured to convey: - -1307. “I have now gone over the history of your church, with the -single aim of proving, from your own records, the rise, progress, and -terrible extent of its corruption, up to the close of the sixteenth -century. Here we see that for a period of seven centuries together -there had been a constant outcry for reformation; that the popes and -priesthood were the objects of continual complaint on the part of -the laity; that by their own acknowledgment, although the church was -never destitute of true Christians, yet holiness was the exception, -and iniquity the rule, since the great body of the clergy were steeped -in licentiousness, avarice, simony, cruelty, violence, falsehood, and -blood; that the University of Paris, one of your most famous nurseries -of theological education, was infested with an infidel philosophy, and -with habits of libertine sacrilege; that the boasts of absolute atheism -were heard from the lips of pontiffs and cardinals; that the reliance -of your church was in the terrors of the inquisition, in the rack, the -dungeon, and the stake; that war, and treachery, and assassination, -were patronized in the service of religion; that bishops, and -cardinals, and popes, were ready to lead their troops to battle; that -there were constant revolts and rebellions against the tyranny of the -priestly power; that there were many schisms in the papal kingdom, in -which two or three pretenders to infallibility cursed each other at the -same time, in the name of God and his apostles; and that every effort -to banish these horrible iniquities proved utterly abortive, until the -success of the Protestant reformation compelled them to respect public -opinion, by fear for their very being if they continued to brave it any -longer.” - -1308. It is believed that there was no such wickedness among the -pagan priesthood as to have become a cause of complaint, although -far less power existed to silence accusation. Throughout Christendom -even monarchs were made to suffer severely for their remonstrances -against papal tyranny, and had to make concessions after having been -ill-treated. By way of exemplifying his disrespect for those precepts -of Christ which enjoin humility, meekness, and poorness of spirit as -the means of reaching heaven, Pope Celestin kicked the crown from -the head of the emperor, Henry VII., as this potentate knelt before -him. Could any sane man have done this while believing that Christ’s -allegations were to be verified, agreeably to which the “_poor in -spirit_” are to have heaven, the meek to inherit the earth? (See -Hopkins.) - -1309. According to Taylor’s Diegesis, Constantine inquired of Sopater, -the pagan priest, if he could absolve him from his sins, among which -was that of scalding one of his wives to death, and executing unjustly -one of his sons. Sopater informed him that it went beyond his power to -obtain pardon for such sins. The Christian priests having agreed to -procure the desired absolution, is supposed to have been one of the -principal motives which induced Constantine to embrace Christianity. -Yet it was under this wicked despot that the Council of Nice was held, -which decided in favour of the divinity of Christ. - -1310. It is difficult to imagine that persons who actually believed -in a future state of rewards and punishments, and who of course must -have been impressed with the comparative insignificance of any worldly -enjoyments, would, for any earthly objects, have acted so much in -a way to doom their souls to perpetual torture. It may therefore -be inferred that the clerical papists who acted so wickedly were -religious hypocrites, like the Jewish Pharisees. I am strongly under -the impression that the imperfection of the proof of the truth of -Scriptures, in the first place, and the inadequate and disgusting -representations respecting the future world which they present, has -always been productive of secret unbelief, and consequent recklessness -respecting the dictates of religion or morality. - -1311. Of the manner in which the clergy of the present day reason -themselves into a belief, and expect to induce others to concur with -them, the parodied quotation from the clerical Goliah of my _would-be -guide to heaven_ is an exemplification. It is only by _frowning down -objections_, or _begging the question_, that they can get on. (1182.) - -1312. Said one among the most amiable of my clerical friends to me, -when I adverted to the improbability that the Deity of this almost -infinite universe would select a few human animalcules in Judea as -his especial favourites: “Dr. Hare, you must not expect me to sit by -patiently, and see the pillars of my profession assailed.” I am sorry, -said I, if I have said any thing to give you pain. “How would you like -the pillars of your science to be attacked?” I would defend them, not -endeavour to silence the assailant! But all criticisms which lead to -the cure of errors only benefit a science founded on truth. - -1313. The skepticism produced by reading the Bible is alleged, by -Archbishop Hughes, as the motive of his church for forbidding the -reading of it to the faithful. It was the reading of the Bible, when a -minor, which led to my unbelief in its authenticity. Bible societies -may, without intending it, do much to prepare the reasoning portion -of mankind for the adoption of a more moral, consistent, and rational -gospel. - -1314. That one pope at least was a materialist, the following quotation -from Bishop Hopkins’s work will prove. - - 1315. “The year 1308 was marked by the resolution of Pope Clement V. - to take up his residence at Avignon. Two years afterward, he appointed - three cardinals to examine the witnesses against the former pope, - Boniface VIII., and Cardinal Cajetan; and the testimony taken on the - occasion proved them both to have been downright atheists. It was in - substance as follows: - - 1316. “Nicholas, a priest and canon of the cathedral, &c., on oath, - said, that being at Naples, under the pontificate of Celestin V., viz. - A. D. 1274, in the house of Marin Sichinulfe, where Cardinal Benedict - Cajetan dwelt, he entered the chamber of the cardinal in the suite of - the Bishop of Fricenti, and found there a clerk disputing with him, - in presence of several persons, upon the questions, which was the - best law or religion, that of the Christians, of the Jews, or of the - Saracens? and who those were that best observed their own? Then the - cardinal said, What are all these religions? They are the inventions - of men. We need not put ourselves to any trouble, except for this - world, since there is no other life but the present. He said also, on - the same occasion, that this world has had no beginning, and would not - have an end. Nicholas, Abbot of St. Benedict, &c., deposed to the same - fact, adding that the Cardinal Cajetan had said that the bread was not - changed in the sacrament of the altar, and that it was false that it - was the body of Jesus Christ; that there is no resurrection; that the - soul dies with the body; that this was his opinion and that of all - men of letters, but that the simple and ignorant thought otherwise. - The witness being asked if the cardinal did not thus speak jestingly, - replied that he said these things seriously and in good faith. - - 1317. “Manfred, a lay citizen of Lucca, said, that in the year 1300, - before Christmas, being in the chamber of Pope Boniface, in presence - of the ambassadors of Florence, of Boulogne, and of Lucca, and many - other persons, a man, who appeared to be the Pope’s chaplain, told - his holiness of the death of a certain knight who had been a wicked - man, and therefore it was necessary to pray for him, that Jesus Christ - might have pity on his soul. Upon which Boniface treated him as if he - were a fool; and after having spoken injuriously of Jesus Christ, he - added: This knight has already received all the good and evil he can - have, and there is no other life than this, nor any other paradise - or hell than what is in this world. The witness testified to another - discourse of Boniface, which modesty does not allow of our reporting; - and another witness recited a story about him still more impious than - the foregoing. - - 1318. “‘What remains of this information,’ says Fleury, ‘comprehends - the depositions of thirteen witnesses, all to a similar effect. - Another information which appeared the following year contained the - evidence of twenty-three witnesses to the same facts, with others - equally scandalous. But as the affair was never brought to judgment, - it is superfluous to enter into any further details.’ - - 1319. “Now here is a very extraordinary and powerful evidence to prove - that at least one pope, and he a very distinguished one, Boniface - VIII., and one cardinal, of high reputation, were not only infidels - themselves, but claimed to be of the same class with ‘_all men of - letters_.’ That the testimony was satisfactory seems incontrovertible; - because the witnesses were thirty-six in number, unimpeached in - character, and thought sufficient by Philip the Fair, King of France, - and all his leading nobility. He proposed that Boniface should be - arraigned, though dead, for heresy, and that his bones should be - disinterred and burned, according to the modern fashion established by - the Roman Church. It may seem strange, however, that even if Boniface - and Cajetan had held such sentiments, they should have been so foolish - as to utter them in the presence of so many. To this two answers - may be given. First, that the influence of the philosophy which we - have already noted in the University of Paris was so prevalent, that - the clergy and the upper ranks of the laity were generally infected - with it, and religion was looked upon, by nearly all, as a thing of - policy, necessary to keep the vulgar in order, but only professed - by the higher classes, as it was in heathen Rome, ‘for the sake of - appearances.’ Unhappily, there are many proofs too strong to be - doubted that this infidel philosophy was rife among the priesthood; - and perhaps there is no other way of accounting for the manifest fact - that the church, like the state, was governed for so many ages by the - machinery of force and fear, as if there was no inward conscience to - appeal to, except among a few pious souls, here and there—enough to - perpetuate the church, according to the promise of Christ, but not - enough to affect the general sentiment.” - - - _Any religion, like that of Moses, which does not make Immortality a - primary consideration, must be chiefly confined to worldly objects, - and of course unworthy of consideration or respect._ - -1320. While the silence of the Pentateuch respecting immortality throws -the authority of the “word of God,” so called, against the endowment -of the human soul with that all-important attribute, the language of -the decalogue is inconsistent with the unity of the divine power. The -words, “_Thou shalt have no other gods before me_,” implies that there -were other gods who might be acknowledged; since if there were none -other, the proper words would be—Thou _canst_ have no other God but me, -or—There _is no other God_ but me. - -1321. Again, when Jehovah alleges himself to be jealous, of whom could -he be jealous, if there was no other God to excite the sentiment of -jealousy? Can any one conceive God to be jealous of an idol, when -he must perceive that whatever worship may be bestowed on idols, is -actually intended for the true God? (1245, 1246.) Could Adam have been -jealous when there was no other man in existence to be jealous of? - -1322. In the Introduction the ends to be answered by religion were -stated, (page 18.) Several of the foregoing pages have been designed -to show that Scripture does not fulfil these objects, being almost -silent as respects immortality, using doubtful language respecting the -unity of the divine power. Moreover, Jehovah is described as wrathful, -jealous, and vindictive; as sanctioning the massacre, spoliation, and -extirpation of neighbouring nations.[26] The fruits of the religion of -Moses were two sects, of whom one did not believe in a future state of -rewards and punishments; the other, although professing such a belief, -(according to the barbarous idea of Josephus,) were not as moral as -the unbelievers, (750, 1098.) Moreover, as respects the New Testament, -the precepts on which it laid the most stress, those against pecuniary -cupidity and resistance of wrong, have been not only neglected, but -acted upon inversely; so that rapacity and aggression have been the -predominant features of the conduct of Christians, unworthily so -called, toward each other, but especially toward those who have been -of a different religious belief. In one trait, however, the words of -Christ, already cited, have been fully carried out: “I come as a -sword.”[27] - -1323. It may be seen from the passages quoted, that prior to the -promulgation of Christianity, people of various religious sects were -willing to live in harmony; but that after its promulgation there was -much discord, and that those who should have been especially influenced -by Christianity (the priesthood) were the foremost in vice! - -1324. It is conceived that either on the one side the evidence of -Christianity could not have gone home to the soul of those who so -grossly violated its monitions, or that the rewards held out by it had -not been presented under an aspect sufficiently inviting to counteract -the fleeting allurements of this temporal world. It is conceived that -Scripture is from beginning to end, from the Pentateuch to the Gospel -of John, too worldly, as first exhibited in the promise of _lands_ -to the Jews, and lastly of _judgeships_ to the apostles. The Old -Testament, of necessity, can treat of nothing but worldliness, since -there is throughout scarcely any reference to heaven; and some of the -Psalms would accord better with the curses of a devil, than with the -prayers of a sincere Christian. The cix. Psalm contains this language: - - 1325. “When he shall be judged, let him be condemned; and let his - prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his - office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let - his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their - bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch - all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there - be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour - his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the - generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity - of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of - his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, - that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that - he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy - man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, - so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it - be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his - garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil unto - his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and - for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the - reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil - against my soul.” - -1326. Under these circumstances, wherefore should there be any alarm -for the consequences of replacing belief in Scripture by belief in -Spiritualism, if the evidence of this be, as we think, vastly more -reliable, and the morality far more consistent with that followed in -practice by great and good men of ancient and modern times. - -1327. Moreover, the basis of probation, upon which the morality of -Scripture is built, is manifestly a _castle in the air_, since it -involves this contradiction, that an omnipotent, omniscient, and -prescient Deity, who can make his creatures what he wishes them to be, -and must know what they are, has to resort to trial to learn that which -he knows before the process is undertaken, as well as he can possibly -after its accomplishment. This demonstration alone overturns the whole -probationary superstructure existing in the minds of sectarians. - -1328. Meanwhile, the communications which I have submitted involve the -idea of progression, and convey infinitely more knowledge of futurity -than the Old and New Testaments taken together. - - -_People profess Christianity more from a desire to do right, than they - do right in consequence of their professions._ - -1329. I am aware how much it is a part of the existing system of -education to imbue a confident faith in whatever tenets may be taught, -and how little it is possible, in consequence, to have any arguments -fairly considered which bear against the educational impressions. It -may be seen in the instance of the interesting lady to whom I owe the -kind letter, (1163,) how much more anxious such persons are to teach -than to listen. She had, as she supposed, listened to an exposition -of my views, of which the foundation had already been described in -a published letter, with an effort to compare the heaven and hell -of Scripture with those of Spiritualism; yet in all confidence of -victory, this excellent creature brings me a letter written by one -whom she considers to have a first-rate intellect, and who begins by -assuming what I most emphatically deny, and of which the argument is -just as good for Mohammedanism as for Christianity, provided the Koran -be assumed as the word of God in lieu of the Bible, and Mohammed as -the vicegerent of God instead of Christ. This may be considered as -the argument of an eminent Episcopalian in favour of the truth of -Christianity, while in those cited from Hughes and Breckinridge we -have the arguments of an eminent Romanist on one side, and an eminent -Calvinist on the other. The one objects to the basis of “_fallible_” -men as the rule of faith; the other, to any inference derived from -a gospel by “_fallible_” men. Breckinridge does not recollect that -there is nothing more fallible than the traditions, compilations, and -translations of fallible men, nor how skeptical all those who sustain -the truth of Scripture on this evidence, are of any other evidence of -the same kind which conflicts with Scripture. - -1330. If the reader will look at the letters of Amasa Holcomb and my -replies, (690,) he will see an exemplification of the difficulty in -which many were placed, who had no other evidence of a future state -beside that afforded by Scripture. Let him apply to the human evidence -of antiquity no less skepticism than is now applied to the human -evidence of Spiritualists, and then estimate the weight of testimony in -favour of the Scriptures. Let him fairly consider the internal evidence -against Scripture, as briefly sketched in this work or elsewhere, and -then say whether he can conscientiously condemn Mr. Holcomb or myself -for conscientiously disbelieving Scripture. - -1331. Let it be considered whether belief in Christianity is not at -the present time a consequence of morality, rather than its cause; -whether it is not, with ninety-nine in a hundred, the consequence of -early impressions, which have associated the Christian religion and -morals inseparably on the conscience; without, however, inducing in -any one of the individuals thus influenced any idea that the precepts -of Christ are to be carried out in practice. It would be manifestly -preposterous to look for this where the clergy, who were the teachers, -did not practically obey the precepts, but went ahead in the race of -iniquity, whichever way the current might lead, and almost everywhere -as desirous of wealth, and power, and worldly distinction as other men. -The imperfection of the evidence of scriptural truth, on which the -belief in it rests, or that false moral sense derived from education, -which makes the person affected just as tenacious of one creed as -of another, whether it be Judaic, Christian, or Mohammedan, causes -the faith thus arising to yield whenever the moral sense is impaired -on which it rests. Not being supported by reason, as soon as the -educational conscientiousness on which it was founded is blunted, any -faith built upon it forms no barrier. The individual perceives that -his opinions were not formed by himself, but imparted, and would have -been different, had he been born of different parents. Thus faith rests -upon morality, not morality upon faith; and when morality goes, faith -ceases to be a barrier. But meanwhile those who abandon morality, -find in their educational impressions one which is a salvo to them, -however sinful. They find that Christ died for those who believe in his -divinity or in his divine mission, and of course, that by closing their -ears and eyes to all evidence or argument impeaching Christianity, and -continuing to cherish the early impressions made by their teachers, -they may be redeemed from future punishment; whereas, as Dr. Berg -alleged in his debate with Barker, “_A sinner cannot be saved out of -Christ_.” - -1332. But one consequence of this interested, bigoted belief is, that -animosity which, it was foretold by Christ, would cause such horrible -discord, and would make his advent equivalent to a severing of all -the dearest ties between relatives and friends, the superior and his -subordinates. As at this time any idea of a religion would be scouted -with indignation which should not make a future state of rewards and -punishments the primary object, it is inconceivable to me wherefore the -Old Testament should be an object of veneration to those whose thoughts -are _heavenward_. How could there be any thing but worldliness where -nothing but the things of the world were objects of desire—no heaven -beyond. - -1333. From what has been urged, is it not manifest that, in the first -place, it is of great importance that the evidence of a future state -should be placed on a firmer footing than on recorded and translated -traditions, or on the decretals of a most profligate priesthood? -Would it not be one of the greatest imaginable blessings that those -who have not the consolation of believing in immortality, should have -that consolation, and those who already believe in a future state of -existence, should have a better knowledge of that state, than that -given by Josephus, sanctioned by Christ, even as collated by the pious -and learned clergyman, Dr. Harbaugh? (750.) - -1334. If Christ had nothing but the vicinity of the fire prepared for -the devil and his angels, agreeably to Josephus, and his story of Dives -and Lazarus, or imaginary worldly appointments, or lying in the grave -till the _last day_,—if these are all the grounds that Christians have -had to build upon as respects future happiness, is it to be wondered -at that the priesthood of the Middle Ages, who best knew the defect of -gospel evidence, how little they themselves were to be trusted, and how -illusory was the promise made to the apostles of judgeships, (743,) -should, of all others in society, be the least restrained by fear of -future punishment? - - - _It is a calumny against human nature to represent men as wilfully - ignorant of the true religion._ - -1335. A prevalent calumny against human nature has been, that men -remain wilfully reckless as respects religious truth; or that they -remain in error designedly, and not because they mistake it for truth. -But it is notorious, that as respects the laws of man, those who make -it their business to violate them take great care to make themselves -acquainted with the laws which it is their object to break. None but -an idiot would expect the law to be less severe in proportion as he -should keep himself ignorant of its provisions. No banditti in the -Russian empire would expect the less to go to Siberia because they -should deny the reigning czar to be the sovereign. They would not -expect to escape his power by enthroning a _pretended_ czar, and paying -him honour. Such conduct would be too absurd, even for fools to pursue; -yet it is upon such erroneous views that three thousand Israelites were -surprised and assassinated for worshipping the golden calf; and that -eminent clergymen do not consider it as blasphemy against the paternal -God, described by Seneca (1224) to represent him as sanctioning this -horrible butchery.[28] - -1336. The truth is, the selfishness of the worst men makes it quite as -much an object with them, as with good men, to know to what punishments -they may become liable, or what advantages they will be entitled to -hereafter. Self-interest makes every man anxious to know that which -deeply affects his future existence. Is there any one who would not -wish to learn whether his soul is to rot in the coffin with its fleshy -integuments, or to have another and eternal existence, happy or -wretched according to his deportment in this world?[29] - -1337. Those who really wish to serve the cause of true religion, -and human welfare here and hereafter, should not expect that harsh -words or measures will promote these objects. If, from want of due -consideration, they uphold that which is repulsive to the human heart -and understanding, and turn a deaf ear to facts and reasoning, which -would produce a more beneficial issue, they will really be amenable to -the blame which they so unjustly lavish upon those whom they calumniate -as “_Infidels_,” while they themselves are really infidels to their -professed principles. The Bible itself made me an unbeliever in its -authenticity, and makes unbelievers of many who read it attentively and -fearlessly, after their reason is matured. - -1338. Nothing could serve the cause of true religion and true morality -more than a belief in a future state of reward and punishment, without -having that book made an appendage to the instruction. - - - _To appreciate the Jewish representation of the Deity, a reader should - first form an idea of this planet and its inhabitants, comparatively - with the hundred millions of solar systems, and the inconceivable - extent of the space which encompasses them, which fall within the - domain of one common Deity._ - -1339. In order to form an idea of the Deity, we must consider the -extent of the universe over which he rules, and the magnificence and -multiplicity of the bodies which it comprises. Alpha Centauri, a star -of the Centaur, a constellation in the southern hemisphere, is the -nearest of the fixed stars; it nevertheless is nearly twenty thousand -million of miles from the earth. Light, flying at the rate of two -hundred thousand miles in a second, to come from that star, would take -three years and three months to reach the earth. - -1340. A star in the constellation of the Swan, known as “61 Cygni,” is -another among the few whose distance is sufficiently small to allow it -to be measured. This is nearly three times as far as Alpha Centauri; -so that it would take light nine years to come from “61 Cygni” to the -earth. This star appears single to the naked eye, but, seen through a -telescope, appears like two stars, which according to Mitchell, are six -thousand millions of miles apart. - -1341. But the stars which enter into the nebula of Orion are so -remote, that light, to come from one of them, would require ninety-two -thousand years. Suppose an imaginary right line to be extended from a -star in Orion so as to pass through the centre of this planet, and to -reach a star on the other side as remote as that first mentioned; of -course, the distance being doubled, it would require light twice the -time to perceive it, or one hundred and eighty-four thousand years. -Suppose a spherical space of which that line forms a diameter, or we -may suppose a larger sphere, including all the nebula visible by the -Rosse telescope. It is estimated that there are in all not less than -one hundred millions of stars visible with the aid of that magnificent -instrument, each of which is a sun with its planets; so that we have -reason to suppose that there are an hundred millions of solar systems. -Some of the suns are, like Sirius, estimated to give sixty-three times -as much light as our sun emits. Our planet is to Jupiter as one to -twelve hundred; to Saturn, as one to one thousand; to the sun, as -one to one million four hundred thousand. It is hardly to be seen by -the naked eye from Jupiter, and would be invisible to any human eye -situated upon any planet more remote than Jupiter. To the whole of the -sidereal creation, it is as a globule of water in the ocean, and the -inhabitants are as animalcules in that globule. - -1342. Having thus prepared his mind with a proper conception of -the vastness of the attributes of the Deity, and the degree of the -comparative importance of the human race in the divine mind, as it -surveys the whole creation, let the reader take up the book of Genesis, -and compare the impressions which that alleged word of God would convey -with those which the preceding facts and considerations would induce. -It may be expedient that the reader, while under the sublime impression -of the majesty and magnificence of the Deity, as displayed in his -works, should consider what evidence there is of any entity having -the relation to him of a female; and if it be irrational to suppose -a commensurate being of the other sex, let the reader consider how -this Supreme Deity could have a son? The existence of a son requiring -both a father and mother, it may be well to think how a male without -a female god could have a son. He may take into view the opinions -of Newton, that God cannot be presumed to have organs. Doubtless it -will be perceived that this all-pervading, magnificent being cannot -require eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a tongue to speak, -or a mouth to eat, legs with which to walk, or arms with which to -strike. Of course he will not consider him as having a person made of -those organs, as in the instance of his creature, man. He will agree -with Newton, that it were absurd to ascribe even one person to God, -and would be still more so to ascribe three persons. Again, if three -persons be essential to God, he being eternal, the three persons must -be eternal, and of course neither can bear the relation of a son to the -other; nor can the _coeval_ Holy Ghost proceed from two of the trio, -forming the third person, who, by the premises, existed _before_ he -came into his _subsequent_ existence, as alleged by the contradictory -conclusion. If the individuals composing the Godhead have any distinct -will or reason, the admission of the trinity amounts to polytheism; -and if they have not severally independent natures and reason, then -the association of the idea of three persons is useless. Is it not -idolatrous thus to associate with the Deity effete masses of spiritual -matter, under the name of _persons_, and worship the imaginary -monster thus created as the true God? Still more, is it not monstrous -to represent that those who cannot adore this imaginary idol, are -_wilfully_ incredulous? - -1343. I have said that the account of the creation, given in the -Pentateuch, is inconsistent with geological facts. Much sophistry has -been employed to escape from this truth. Thus eminent geologists have -striven to reconcile the alleged creation of the world in six days, -to mean actually six eras, each of immense duration; yet Scripture -representing that the day succeeding those so employed, should be kept -holy as a Sabbath, and this being viewed in the Decalogue as a period -of twenty-four hours, precludes the assignment of any longer duration -to each of the six days, actually occupied by the Creator in performing -his great work. - -1344. To enable the reader to judge how far the facts ascertained -by geological investigation, can be reconciled with the scriptural -account, I shall here quote them, as stated by Professor Hitchcock, in -his work entitled “Religion of Geology,” page 19. It should be known -to the reader that this author is among those who assume the Bible to -be the word of God upon the same grounds as the clergyman, (1182.) - -1345. “Under these circumstances, all that I can do, is to state -definitely what I apprehend to be the established principles of the -science that have a bearing upon religious truth, and refer my hearers -to standard works on the subject for the proof that they are true. If -any will not take the trouble to examine the proofs, I trust they will -have candour and impartiality enough not to deny my positions. - -1346. “The first important conclusion to which every careful observer -will come is, that the rocks of all sorts which compose the present -crust of the globe, so far as it has been explored, at least to the -depth of several miles, appear to have been the result of second -causes; that is, they are now in a different state from that in which -they were originally created. - -1347. “It is, indeed, a favourite idea with some, that all the rocks -and their contents were created, just as we now meet them, in a moment -of time; that the supposed remains of animals and plants, which many -of them contain, and which occur in all states, from an animal or -plant little changed, to a complete conversion into stone, were never -real animals and plants, but only resemblances; and that the marks of -fusion and of the wearing of water, exhibited by the rocks, are not -to be taken as evidences that they have undergone such processes, but -only that it has pleased God to give them that appearance; and that, in -fact, it was as easy for God to create them just as they now are as in -any other form. - -1348. “It is a presumption against such a supposition, that no men, who -have carefully examined rocks and organic remains, are its advocates. -Not that they doubt the power of God to produce such effects, but -they deny the probability that he has exerted it in this manner; for -throughout nature, wherever they have an opportunity to witness her -operations, they find that when substances appear to have undergone -changes, by means of secondary agencies, they have in fact undergone -them; and, therefore, the whole analogy of nature goes to prove that -the rocks have experienced great changes since their deposition. If -rocks are an exception to the rest of nature,—that is, if they are the -effect of miraculous agency,—there is no proof of it; and to admit it -without proof is to destroy all grounds of analogical reasoning in -natural operations; in other words, it is to remove the entire basis of -reasoning in physical science. Every reasonable man, therefore, who has -examined rocks, will admit that they have undergone important changes -since their original formation. - -1349. “In the second place, the same general laws appear to have always -prevailed on the globe, and to have controlled the changes which have -taken place upon and within it. We come to no spot, in the history of -the rocks, in which a system different from that which now prevails -appears to have existed. Great peculiarities in the structure of -animals and plants do indeed occur, as well as changes on a scale of -magnitude unknown at present; but this was only a wise adaptation to -peculiar circumstances, and not an infringement of the general laws. - -1350. “In the third place, the geological changes which the earth has -undergone, and is now undergoing, appear to have been the result of the -same agencies—viz. heat and water. - -1351. “Fourthly. It is demonstrated that the present continents of the -globe, with perhaps the exception of some of their highest mountains, -have for a long period constituted the bottom of the ocean, and have -been subsequently either elevated into their present position, or the -waters have been drained off from their surface. This is probably the -most important principle in geology; and though regarded with much -skepticism by many, it is as satisfactorily proved as any principle of -physical science not resting on mathematical demonstration. - -1352. “Fifthly. The internal parts of the earth are found to possess -a very high temperature; nor can it be doubted that at least oceans -of melted matter exist beneath the crust, and perhaps even all the -deep-seated interior is in a state of fusion. - -1353. “Sixthly. The fossiliferous rocks, or such as contain animals -and plants, are not less than six or seven miles in perpendicular -thickness, and are composed of hundreds of alternating layers of -different kinds, all of which appear to have been deposited, just as -rocks are now forming, at the bottom of lakes and seas; and hence their -deposition must have occupied an immense period of time. Even if we -admit that this deposition went on in particular places much faster -than at present, a variety of facts forbid the supposition that this -was the general mode of their formation. - -1354. “Seventhly. The remains of animals and plants found in the earth -are not mingled confusedly together, but are found arranged, for the -most part, in as much order as the drawers of a well-regulated cabinet. -In general, they appear to have lived and died on or near the spots -where they are now found; and as countless millions of these remains -are often found piled together, so as to form almost entire mountains, -the periods requisite for their formation must have been immensely -long, as was taught in the preceding proposition. - -1355. “Eighthly. Still further confirmation of the same important -principle is found in the well-established fact, that there have been -upon the globe, previous to the existing races, not less than five -distinct periods of organized existence; that is, five great groups of -animals and plants, so completely independent that no species whatever -is found in more than one of them, have lived and successively passed -away before the creation of the races that now occupy the surface. -Other standard writers make the number of these periods of existence -as many as twelve. Comparative anatomy testifies that so unlike in -structure were these different groups, that they could not have -coexisted in the same climate and other external circumstances. - -1356. “Ninthly. In the earliest times in which animals and plants -lived, the climate over the whole globe appears to have been as warm -as, or even warmer than, it is now between the tropics. And the slow -change from warmer to colder appears to have been the chief cause of -the successive destruction of the different races; and new ones were -created, better adapted to the altered condition of the globe; and -yet each group seems to have occupied the globe through a period of -great length; so that we have here another evidence of the vast cycles -of duration that must have rolled away even since the earth became a -habitable globe. - -1357. “Tenthly. There is no small reason to suppose that the globe -underwent numerous changes previous to the time when animals were -placed upon it; that, in fact, the time was when the whole matter of -the earth was in a melted state, and not improbably also even in a -gaseous state. These points, indeed, are not as well established as the -others that have been mentioned; but, if admitted, they give to the -globe an incalculable antiquity. - -1358. “Eleventhly. It appears that the present condition of the earth’s -crust and surface was of comparatively recent commencement; otherwise -the steep flanks of mountains would have ceased to crumble down, and -wide oceans would have been filled with alluvial deposits. - -1359. “Twelfthly. Among the thirty thousand species of animals and -plants found in the rocks,[30] very few living species have been -detected; and even these few occur in the most recent rocks, while -in the secondary group, not less than six miles thick, not a single -species now on the globe has been discovered. Hence the present races -did not exist till after those in the secondary rocks had died. No -human remains have been found below those alluvial deposits which are -now forming by rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Hence geology infers that -man was one of the latest animals that was placed on the globe. - -1360. “Thirteenthly. The surface of the earth has undergone an enormous -amount of erosion by the action of the ocean, the rivers, and the -atmosphere. The ocean has worn away the solid rock, in some parts of -the world, not less than ten thousand feet in depth, and rivers have -cut channels through the hardest strata, hundreds of feet deep and -several miles long; both of which effects demand periods inconceivably -long. - -1361. “Fourteenthly. At a comparatively recent date, northern and -southern regions have been swept over and worn down by the joint action -of ice and water, the force in general having been directed toward the -equator. This is called the _drift_ period. - -1362. “Fifteenthly. Since the drift period, the ocean has stood some -thousands of feet above its present level in many countries. - -1363. “Sixteenthly. There is evidence, in regard to some parts of -the world, that the continents are now experiencing slow vertical -movements—some places sinking, and others rising. And hence a -presumption is derived that, in early times, such changes may have been -often repeated, and on a great scale. - -1364. “Seventeenthly. Every successive change of importance on the -earth’s surface appears to have been an improvement of its condition, -adapting it to beings of a higher organization, and to man at last, the -most perfect of all. - -1365. “Finally. The present races of animals and plants on the globe -are for the most part disposed in groups, occupying particular -districts, beyond whose limits the species peculiar to those provinces -usually droop and die. The same is true, to some extent, as to the -animals and plants found in the rocks; though the much greater -uniformity of climate that prevailed in early times permitted organized -beings to take a much wider range than at present; so that the -zoological and botanical districts were then probably much wider. But -the general conclusion, in respect to living and extinct animals is, -that there must have been several centres of creation, from which they -emigrated as far as their natures would allow them to range. - -1366. “It would be easy to state more principles of geology of -considerable importance; but I have now named the principal ones that -bear upon the subject of religion. A brief statement of the leading -truths of theology, whether natural or revealed, which these principles -affect, and on which they cast light, will give an idea of the subjects -which I propose to discuss in these lectures. - -1367. “The first point relates to the age of the world. For while it -has been the usual interpretation of the Mosaic account that the world -was brought into existence nearly at the same time with man and the -other existing animals, geology throws back its creation to a period -indefinitely but immeasurably remote. The question is, not whether -man has existed on the globe longer than the common interpretation -of Genesis requires,—for here geology and the Bible speak the same -language,—but whether the globe itself did not exist long before his -creation; that is, long before the six days’ work, so definitely -described in the Mosaic account? In other words, is not this a case -in which the discoveries of science enable us more accurately to -understand the Scriptures? - -1368. “The introduction of death into the world, and the specific -character of that death described in Scripture as the consequence of -sin, are the next points where geology touches the subject of religion. -Here, too, the general interpretation of Scripture is at variance with -the facts of geology, which distinctly testify to the occurrence of -death among animals long before the existence of man. Shall geology -here, also, be permitted to modify our exposition of the Bible? - -1369. “The subject of deluges, and especially that of Noah, will next -claim our attention. For though it is now generally agreed that geology -cannot detect traces of such a deluge as the Scriptures describe, yet -upon some other bearings of that subject it does cast light; and so -remarkable is the history of opinions concerning the Noachian deluge, -that it could not on that account alone be properly passed in silence.” - - -_Our actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, and the - extent to which we are tempted extraneously._ - -1370. “Are not the hairs of your head all numbered?—Which of you by -taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” Luke xii. 7, 25. - -1371. May it not be consistently inquired, who, without God’s -assistance, can make his passions less ardent? his counteracting reason -or conscientiousness more competent to restrain them? Who, prior to -his sublunary existence, had the option, whether he should be born -a Jew, a Gentile, or a Christian; whether in the Roman, Grecian, -Episcopalian, or dissenting churches; whether his progenitors should -be Chinese, Hindoos, Europeans, negroes, or savages? Who has, through -his own previous choice, been brought up, on the one hand, by ignorant -and vicious, or on the other, by virtuous and well-educated, parents? -Can any soul be alleged to be responsible for entering the body of -an infant begotten by idolaters, and thus subjected to the curse of -the commandment? Or can a soul be deemed to have any merit because -it came into the world as the progeny of parents orthodox in their -own estimation, and happy in the belief that while myriads are to -suffer to eternity in another world, for errors or crimes arising from -causes beyond their control, a few are to be made eternally happy, -notwithstanding their admitted sinfulness, by virtue of a bigoted -confidence in the pre-eminent ability of their parents, their priests, -or of themselves to learn tenets of which the great majority of mankind -are ignorant? Humility in profession is associated with a towering and -overbearing presumption in practice toward all who differ with them in -creed: hence an effort to instruct others at the expense of millions -spent in missions, while they have no better evidence of the accuracy -of their own knowledge than a fallible human conviction. - -1372. If two persons, A. and B., were organized exactly alike, educated -precisely in the same way, and subjected to the same temptations -or incentives, would they not act alike? Would not their acting -differently prove that they were not alike in all respects? - -1373. It may be said that they are free agents, being endowed with -free-will; but if they be perfectly alike and similarly situated, -(agreeably to the premises,) their free-will must be perfectly similar; -and if not, let it be allowed to be, through God’s will, perfectly -similar. Is it in their power to alter the nature of their will, any -more than “_the colour of their hair_.” - -1374. If any other being act differently from these, does it not -follow that he is differently organized, educated, or situated from -them; and that the diversity in one or all of these respects must be -proportionable to the degree in which his actions and morals differ -from those of A. and B. - -1375. But it may be inquired, where is the merit of virtue, or the -demerit of vice, if they be the consequences of causes over which we -have no control? The reply is, that virtue is an endowment due to the -will of Deity, just as the difference between the different races of -mankind and the various genera of animals, or between individuals of -the same species, must be due to that volition. An analogous idea of -the necessity of God’s help to virtue is insisted upon by some of our -most respectable and numerous Christian sects. It places virtue in man, -so far as it may exist, upon the same basis as in God. It has always -been held by all Christians that God can do no wrong; that vice is -inconsistent with his nature. The more, then, a man is by nature and -education incapable of being vicious, the greater his natural aptitude -for virtue, the more he approaches its most perfect exemplification. - -1376. But how can the punishment of the wicked be justified under -this view of their case? I answer, that it can only be justified in -self-defence, for the reformation of the offender, or to prevent the -repetition of injury where no other means can be employed, just as -killing wild beasts, noxious insects, or our enemies in warfare is -justified. - -1377. Punishment, unless with a view to prevention or reformation, -seems to me diabolic. It seems irreconcilable with the injunction to -return good for evil, that the Deity from whom it proceeds should -return evil for evil, _in excess_; that he should, for finite and -transient sins, award eternal punishment. - -1378. The inference that omniscience and omnipotence could create -myriads of beings, foreseeing that they must be subjected to extreme -misery for an unlimited time, is irreconcilable with all goodness -and omniscience. But it may be demanded, does not the fear of future -punishment make mankind more virtuous? The man who avoids a felony -solely through fear of future punishment is not the less wicked; he is -only a more prudent, or a more cowardly villain. That piety to God and -philanthropy are virtues, is most evident; but then these incentives -must be disinterested. If Abraham could believe that shedding his -son’s blood upon the altar would gratify the Deity, in order to make -it a pious or virtuous act, it should have been unaccompanied by any -expectation of benefit to himself. He must have had a conception of -the Deity fully as bad as that of any heathen, to suppose that the -sacrifice would be agreeable to him. - -1379. There is, moreover, much reason to infer that a man who could -pass his wife as his sister, and send her to a palace in order to -gain influence with a king, did not lose sight of himself when he -contemplated killing his son to propitiate the King of kings. But no -human testimony should induce us to credit such imputations against -Jehovah. Nothing is more probable than that priests should invent this -absurd fable, and nothing more improbable than that an omniscient -God, who could read Abraham’s inmost thoughts, should have found it -necessary to ask such a barbarous sacrifice, in order to determine the -extent and sincerity of that devotion of which he must have already -known the precise limits. - - - _On Probation._ - -1380. I have already made objections to the idea that we can be placed -in this world for the purpose of probation. I will here make use of -additional arguments in support of those objections. Spiritualism -assumes that we are placed here for progression. It has, in this -aspect, a self-evident ascendency over the scriptural doctrine. - -1381. A finite being has need to subject his works to trial, in order -to learn whether they have the requisite perfection; but how can an -omnipotent and omniscient Deity be under any necessity of _trying_ his -works? In the first place, they must be precisely what he has designed; -in the next place, foreseeing the result of any experiment he may make, -he has no motive for the trial. Thus, before placing Adam and Eve in -Paradise, God must have known that Adam would be incompetent to resist -his wife, his wife the serpent, and that the apple would be eaten. -How useless then was the experiment! How can it be reconciled with -omniscience and omnipotence? The crime would not have taken place had -God made woman less inquisitive; her husband strong enough morally to -resist temptation and his wife’s seductive influence; or had not the -serpent or Satan, under the form of this reptile, been allowed to tempt -Eve. And yet in consequence of that act, not only the soul of the first -man, but that of all his posterity, are considered by orthodoxy as -having fallen, as being doomed to eternal punishment, unless by being -morally regenerated, principally by a blind belief in the allegation of -certain priests, who do not agree among themselves as to what we are to -believe. - -1382. But what had souls unborn to do with the acts of Adam and Eve? -Is it conceivable that the soul of the child is begotten by the souls -of its parents, or to be inferred that it is a spiritual being, -created by God for the body, which the progenitors beget in their -corporeal capacity? (See Seneca’s opinion, 1230.) How could a dumb -snake, belonging to the class of reptiles, very low comparatively in -intellectual capacity, acquire power of speech and reason without a -special miracle on the part of God, either _directly_ or _indirectly_ -through Satan, acting with the cognizance of his divine master. This -reptile, previously created without feet, because the devil merely -assumed his form, is doomed as a _punishment_ to crawl on his belly, in -the only way in which he could move consistently with his organization, -independently of the sentence!!! Would it be any greater punishment to -cause snakes to creep on their bellies than quadrupeds to go on their -feet? Since none of the genera of serpents are endowed with reason or -speech, how could they be responsible for the acts of an animal which, -being endowed with those attributes, would not belong to their order? -It must have been a peculiar reptile, in the form of a snake, created -for the special purpose of tempting Eve. If, with Milton, it be assumed -that it was Satan, in the form of a serpent, who tempted her? how could -serpents be responsible for the crime? - - -_World least moral when the Christian church had most sway.—Honour and - mercantile credit more trusted than religion.—Virtue due more to the - heart than to sectarianism.—Bigotry acts like an evil spirit._ - -1383. It will be perceived, that when the church had the world most -completely under its sway, there was the least morality; but as the -arts and sciences grew up, in despite of religious intolerance, -morality improved. Thus a system has been established, which while -violating, more especially the most emphatic monitions of Christ, tends -to enforce those rules of conduct which are necessary to the welfare -of society. But an auxiliary principle—honour—has come into operation, -which often restrains those who are not influenced by religion, nor by -pure morality. Honour, like the fear of hell, may make a man act more -nobly, or more honestly, without improving his religious principles or -his heart. Hence the saying, “_Honour among thieves_,” and likewise -among unprincipled gamblers. - -1384. Mercantile honour, under the name of mercantile credit, is -another important substitute for real heartfelt integrity. The ill -consequences of a loss of worldly consideration, or of those advantages -which result from the ability to _borrow_, or to _postpone_ payment -with consent of the creditor, is a motive for punctual payment, when -a debt equally due, in honesty, would be neglected. This goes much -farther as an element of the prevailing morality in securing punctual -payment, than religion. - -1385. That religion has actually very little to do with mercantile -morals, must be evident, _since it is never, on change, an object of -inquiry_. When men are about to trust large sums, they do not inquire -how often the other party goes to church, nor to what church he goes. -It has never been my lot to know any one whom I thought better for -his religion. I have known many whom I thought better through native -goodness of heart than they would have been if left to the influence of -their bigoted opinions alone. I heard a clergyman, distinguished for -his amiability and liberality in social intercourse, speak from the -pulpit of infidelity as “the work of the devil.” - -1386. There are allegations of this kind made from the pulpit which -to me appear to be absolutely calumnious, though those who make them -do not conceive themselves to be calumniators. It is, in truth, their -false religion which speaks; they are possessed as if by an evil -spirit, yet the goodness of their hearts prevents them from realizing -any such calumnies in their personal intercourse with society. Dr. Berg -said it was not _he_ (Dr. Berg) that spoke when he used ill language to -Barker, but the Bible. There is a want of Christian moderation in the -language of Christ, and John the Baptist, and in some of the Psalms, -which seems inconsistent with Christ’s precepts. John, addressing the -Pharisees as “vipers fleeing from the wrath to come,” representing -them as poisonous reptiles, and God as _enraged_ against them. The -language of Christ respecting some of the same sect, to which allusion -has been made, is even more abusive. - -1387. But among the calumnies to which I have alluded, are those which -represent the human heart as innately wicked, and only to be corrected -by religious regeneration. All the souls created since Adam ate the -apple, must be born anew, thus drawing a marked distinction between -those who have gone through this second birth, and such as myself, who -have not undergone this recuperative process. But what man of common -sense draws a line between those who are thought to have been born over -again, and those who have not? The great majority of those who call -themselves Christians, do not put any more trust in one who has gone -through this second birth, than in one who is not deemed to have been -thus regenerated. - - - _Progress of Literature and Science in Arabia under the Mohammedan - Pontiffs, called Caliphs._ - -1388. While the science and literature of the Roman Empire sank -under the influence of the Christian pontiff (pope) into ignorance, -superstition, and vice, the Arabians, under the influence of their -Mohammedan pontiffs, (caliphs,) arose from barbarism to a comparatively -superior state of intellectual acquirement, as the following -quotation, from “Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” will -show: - - 1389. “After their civil and domestic wars, the subjects of the - Abbassides, awakening from this mental lethargy, found leisure and - felt curiosity for the acquisition of profane science. This spirit was - first encouraged by the Caliph Almansor, who, besides his knowledge - of the Mohammedan law, had applied himself with success to the study - of astronomy, but when the sceptre devolved to Almamon, the seventh - of the Abbassides, he completed the designs of his grandfather, - and invited the muses from their ancient seats. His ambassadors at - Constantinople, his agents in Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, collected the - volumes of Grecian science: at his command they were translated by - the most skilful interpreters into the Arabic language; his subjects - were exhorted assiduously to peruse these instructive writings; and - the successor of Mohammed assisted with pleasure and modesty at the - assemblies and disputations of the learned. ‘He was not ignorant,’ - says Abulpharagius, ‘that _they_ are the elect of God, his best and - most useful servants, whose lives are devoted to the improvement of - their rational faculties. The mean ambition of the Chinese or the Turk - may glory in the industry of their hands, or the indulgence of their - brutal appetites. Yet these dexterous artists must view, with hopeless - emulation, the hexagons and pyramids of the cells of a bee-hive: these - fortitudinous heroes are awed by the superior fierceness of the lions - and tigers; and in their amorous enjoyments, they are much inferior to - the vigour of the grossest and most sordid quadrupeds. The teachers - of wisdom are the true luminaries and legislators of a world, which, - without their aid, would again sink in ignorance and barbarism.’ The - zeal and curiosity of Almamon were imitated by succeeding princes - of the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa and the - Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the - commanders of the faithful: the same royal prerogative was claimed by - their independent emirs of the provinces; and their emulation diffused - the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bochara to Fez - and Cordova. The vizir of a sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred - thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad, - which he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars. - The fruits of instruction were communicated, perhaps at different - times, to six thousand disciples of every degree, from the son of the - noble to that of the mechanic: a sufficient allowance was provided for - the indigent scholars; and the merit or industry of the professors was - repaid with adequate stipends. In every city the productions of Arabic - literature were copied and collected by the curiosity of the studious - and the vanity of the rich. A private doctor refused the invitation - of the sultan of Bochara, because the carriage of his books would - have required four hundred camels. The royal library of the Fatimites - consisted of one hundred thousand manuscripts, elegantly transcribed - and splendidly bound, which were lent, without jealousy or avarice, - to the students of Cairo. Yet this collection must appear moderate, - if we can believe that the Ommiades of Spain had formed a library of - six hundred thousand volumes, forty-four of which were employed in - the mere catalogue. Their capital, Cordova, with the adjacent towns - of Malaga, Almeria, and Murcia, had given birth to more than three - hundred writers, and above seventy public libraries were opened in - the cities of the Andalusian kingdom. The age of Arabian learning - continued about five hundred years, till the great eruption of the - Moguls, and was coeval with the darkest and most slothful period - of European annals; but since the sun of science has arisen in the - West, it should seem that the Oriental studies have languished and - declined.” - -1390. I here close my remarks upon the Influence of Scripture on the -Morals of Christians. They have proceeded from a desire to promulgate -what I deem to be truth, and to expose the errors by which I conceive -it to be environed. It is inconsistent with my nature to state less -than the truth when treating on any subject. I shall be sorry for any -pain which I may give to those whose hearts are so associated with -their opinions, that whatever conflicts with the one is painful to -the other; yet I wish any persons so wounded to reflect how little -denunciation has been spared, not only as respects opinions, but as -respects motives, where “_infidels_,” unjustly so called, have been -held up to view. I have not assailed the _motives_ of any one; even as -respects _opinions_, I have withheld or modified sarcasms which, as I -think, might have been justly employed, or used without modification. - - - ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS. - - -1391. Subsequently to the printing of the articles under the head -of Corroborative Evidence, a pamphlet was received from which the -subjoined pages are translated, by my friend, Dr. Geib. It serves to -show the impression made by spirit manifestations in another part of -Christendom, upon one who belongs to the church. - - - _The Opinions of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin, on Table Turning and -Mediums, (considered in relation to theology and physics) examined, by - the Abbot Almignana, Doctor of the Canon Law, Theologian, &c._ - - - _Introduction._ - -1392. “Mesmerism, table turning, and mediumship being phenomena which, -in my estimation, demand serious investigation before pronouncing -judgment on them, as soon as this became known to me, as an ocular -witness, far from judging of them, _ex abrupto_, as so many have done -under the same circumstances, I confined myself to make numerous -experiments, with the hope that they might in time furnish me with -some very useful facts, in searching for the cause of these wonderful -phenomena. - -1393. “Being in possession of some of these facts, I thought the -present an opportune time for their publication, when two _savans_ of -the elite, such as the Marquis de Mirville and the Count de Gasparin, -are engaged in a scientific contest on this subject. - -1394. “I consider the present moment the more opportune, that the -facts furnished by my investigation, being at variance with certain -leading points in the doctrines contained in the _Pneumatology_ of M. -de Mirville, and the _Supernatural in General_ of M. de Gasparin, may -induce those writers to give a new complexion to their doctrines, by -taking counsel from my facts. These, shedding a new light on the triple -phenomena, would powerfully aid in the solution of a problem which, up -to the present time, does not appear to have been solved in a manner as -clear and positive, as the interests of truth, science, and religion -demand. Such has been and is now my belief, as well as that of many -others whom I thought proper to consult before undertaking the task in -which I have engaged. - -1395. “Simple as my language is, it will be seen to have issued -from the pen of a man who boldly seeks the truth, and is not to be -arrested in his course by any worldly interests. Persuaded that in -view of my position, my readers will grant me the indulgence which in -a similar case I could not refuse them, I will proceed to the main -question without further preliminaries. I divide my monograph into two -parts; facts opposed to the Pneumatology of M. de Mirville, and the -Supernatural in General of M. de Gasparin. - - - _First Part._ - -1396. “Table turning and mediumship are nothing more, in the opinion -of M. de Mirville, than the work of the devil! I give an abstract of -his doctrine as found in his Pneumatology. ‘In the letter,’ he says, -‘which I had the honour to address to the _Societe Mesmerisme_ of -Paris on the non-intervention of the devil in therapeutic mesmerism, -dated Sept. 20, 1847, and published in numbers 54, 56, and 57 of the -Journal of _Magnetism_, I established the existence of the devil, with -the attributes given him in the Scriptures, as well as the power he -possesses, with divine permission, to act morally and physically on -mankind, as set forth in the same holy books.’ - -1397. “In view of what I have just said, I cannot be mistaken by M. de -Mirville with respect to demonology. But while admitting the existence -of a devil, and his power over man, I cannot agree with the opinion -of M. de Mirville in his _Pneumatology_, which admits the direct -intervention of the devil in table turning and table talking, as well -as in the powers of mediums; a view of the subject which I hold to be -at variance with the teachings of the Catholic Church on the possessed, -and the manner of deliverance therefrom, the evil spirit, which I -proceed to explain. - -1398. “It is an axiom as old as the world—in proportion as the cause -is removed the effect ceases; _sublata causa tollitur effectus_. The -truth of this maxim, in reference also to diabolical possessions, -is found to be explicitly proved in the Holy Scriptures. A mute is -presented to Christ to be cured: _oblatus est ei mutus_. The Divine -Master, knowing that dumbness is caused by the devil, hastens to remove -the cause, by chasing the evil spirit from the body of the possessed, -which being done, the mute spoke in the midst of the people ravished -with admiration. ‘And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And -it came to pass when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the -people wondered.’ St. Luke xi. 14. - -1399. “There was at Philippi, in Macedonia, a girl who, being possessed -of the evil spirit, had the gift of divination to such an extent, -that people came from all parts to consult her, much to the benefit -of her masters. St. Paul having chased the demon from the body of the -possessed, she lost the gift of divination; which exasperating her -masters, they dragged St. Paul before a magistrate like a malefactor. -(Acts xv.) Admitting these principles, it follows that if the devil -intervenes directly in tables and mediums, as Christ drove him from -the mute, and St. Paul from the girl of Philippi, then, _a fortiori_, -should clairvoyants lose their lucidity, tables be made to stand still, -and mediums be deprived the power of tracing a line however short; -_sublata causa tollitur effectus_. The cause being removed, the effect -must cease. - -1400. “Our next object is to refer to the means for removing the evil -spirit wherever found; and consulting the Catholic ritual affords us -this knowledge. In fact, agreeably to these teachings, demons are -driven off by the sacred names of God and Jesus, by prayer, the sign of -the cross, by holy water, and exorcisms; and these means being known, I -am going to report the effect of these means on clairvoyant subjects, -tables, and mediums. - -1403. “Having witnessed some extraordinary phenomena, and desiring -to assure myself as to the presence of a diabolical agency in these -manifestations, as I had been persuaded to believe—profiting by the -opportunity offered by some mediums magnetized by others, and not by -myself—I was induced to pray to invoke the sacred names of God and -Jesus, to make the sign of the cross on the subjects, and went so far -as to sprinkle them with holy water, with the design of driving out the -devil, should he have taken possession of them. However, as not one of -these mediums lost, in my presence, the smallest part of their powers, -I was led to infer that the devil had nothing to do with the phenomena. - -1404. “The following fact should attract the attention of all observers -holding the orthodox faith: A youth of thirteen, put to sleep by his -mother, at my house, gave proof of the greatest clairvoyance, even -so far as to be in communion with supermundane beings. Alarmed, as I -acknowledge I was, at what passed under my eyes, and suspecting, as I -did, that the devil might be the agent of those phenomena, I took my -crucifix, and presenting it to the clairvoyant, conjured him in the -holy name of Jesus. But in place of repelling it, as I expected, he -seized the cross in the most affectionate manner, and, smiling, pressed -it to his lips; as much to the edification of his mother as of myself. -Should M. de Mirville desire the address of the parties, he can have it. - -1405. “The means thus employed by me to discover if the evil spirit -actuated mesmeric subjects, have been employed also by other persons -with the same view, and with similar results. Should M. de Mirville -desire to know some of these persons, I will be happy to facilitate -the acquaintance. As to exorcism, it is known by the biography of the -celebrated clairvoyant Prudence, that although exorcised on several -occasions, the exorcisms failed to deprive him, in the smallest degree, -of his great clairvoyance. To the facts which I have just reported in -support of the non-intervention of the devil, some new facts of another -kind will be adjoined, which in some measure confirm the first. - -1406. “One of the models of sacred eloquence, the R. P. Lacordaire, -speaking of mesmerism in 1846, far from qualifying it as _satanical_, -as M. de Mirville has done, proclaimed from the pulpit of truth, in -the church of _Notre Dame_ of Paris, that this phenomenon belonged to -the order of prophecy, and that it was a provision of the divinity to -humble the pride of materialism. This language, descended from the -summit of the sacred tribune, is known to have received the public -approbation of Mgr. Affre, the centre of Catholicism of the diocese of -Paris, who, addressing the faithful, said to them: ‘My brothers, it is -God who speaks with the mouth of the illustrious Dominican.’ - -1407. A very pious female, abandoned by her medical adviser, being in a -state of despair, was magnetized by one of her parents, and fell into -the most complete trance. In one of her first sleeps, she said she saw -a person who, according to the description she gave of him, appeared to -be the clairvoyant’s great-grandfather, deceased several years before -the birth of his grand-daughter. The latter was cured by the advice -received during her trance condition from the said great-grandfather. -This fact appeared to me so grave in its nature, and so interesting to -science and religion, that I thought proper to publish it in number -nineteen of the _Magnetisme Spiritualiste_, with an appeal to all those -who, by their knowledge, might be able to explain this phenomenon. - -1408. Among those to whom our appeal was made, figured the theologians, -to whom, in speaking of the person who appeared to the clairvoyant, -I said: ‘Should this not be considered the devil, who, assuming a -fantastic personation, took that of the great-grandfather of M. R., -and appearing thus to him, cured him of a disease which he himself had -originated?’ - -1409. Some copies of the number of the journal in question were sent -to the sovereign pontiff, through his apostolic nuncio at Paris, to -Mgr. the archbishop of Paris, to the faculty of theology at Sorbonne, -to RR. PP. Jesuits of the _Rue des Postes_, to R. P. Lacordaire, and -to the Calvinistic Consistory of Paris, begging them to enlighten me -on a fact of such grave importance. But to the present time, a period -of three years, not one of these great personages has informed me that -the phenomenon to which I invited their attention is the work of the -devil, which proves that, in their opinion, the evil one is a stranger -to this phenomenon; for otherwise they would not have failed to answer -my inquiry, if only from interest for religion, or through charity to -myself. Should M. de Mirville desire to know the clairvoyant I refer -to, he can be conducted to his domicile. - -1410. Mgr. Sibour, on mesmerism, and _La Grandeur_, if interrogated, -will tell you that the thoughts expressed by clairvoyants are only -reflections from their magnetizers, without saying a single word to you -about the devil. But we have said enough on clairvoyants, and will pass -to the tables. - -1411. I have made a great many experiments in table-turning and -table-talking with pious laymen and with ecclesiastics, men of prayer -and serious habits, and even with a venerable bishop, and always in a -very serious manner; desiring to know, for the sake of religion and -our souls, if the devil is in reality the agent who conveys movement -and language to the tables. Besides exorcism, we have employed all the -means taught and prescribed in the Catholic Church to drive out the -devil, and we have never obtained any results; for neither prayer, nor -the sacred names of God and Jesus, nor the sign of the cross made on -the tables, nor the crucifix, nor the chapelet, (the beads,) nor the -Gospels, nor the image of Christ placed on the tables, nor holy water, -could stop their turnings, knockings, and replying to our questions. -But far from it, and much to our astonishment, we have seen the table -turn over before the image of Christ crucified. I will say no more. In -the experiments made with the bishop just named, and the person with -whom I was boarding, it was the venerable bishop himself that made the -sign of the cross on a stand, without in the least retarding the motion -of that small piece of furniture. Monseigneur then asked the stand if -it loved the cross, and it replying in the affirmative, it was with -surprise that Monseigneur saw the stand turn over before his _croix -pastorale_, and speak to him in orthodox language of a future life. - -1412. If, according to all the facts which I have just reported, it -be necessary to reason agreeably to M. de Mirville, behold what that -reasoning must be. The teachings of the Catholic ritual give to prayer, -to the sacred names of God and Jesus, to the sign of the cross, to -the holy water, and the exorcisms, the virtue of driving the devil -(_le démon_) out of the possessed. Now, as neither prayer, the sacred -names, the sign of the cross, &c. are able to drive the spirit out of -mediums, nor out of tables, which, according to M. de Mirville, are -also victims, then the Catholic Instructor, which assigns these means -for removing evil spirits, must be in error. Then the Scripture, the -SS. PP., and the Church, authorities on which the Catholic teachings -are based on the subject of possessions, and the manner of delivering -the possessed of the evil spirit, (_les démons_,) are in error.[31] And -what true Catholic dare entertain this language? It is then to avoid -getting into so unfortunate a position, that I have thought proper to -reject the opinion of M. de Mirville on the manifestations of spirits. -I shall be told that if the prescribed means sometimes fail, it is from -want of faith on the part of those who employ them. This is my reply to -that objection. The peasants do not possess a large quantity of faith, -and, notwithstanding, Origen says the name of God, pronounced even by a -peasant, chases the demons.—_Origines contra celsum._ - -1413. There are a great many people, and among them figure some -pious ecclesiastics and laymen, who quite frequently partake of the -sacrament, who have experimented with me, who have prayed with me, -have invoked with me the sacred names of God and Jesus, &c.; is -it then credible that among these persons, not one should be found -possessing a portion of faith equal to that of a peasant, which is -able, according to Origen, to drive out the devil in the name of God? I -am unable to believe it. What! the venerable bishop, who experimented -with me during four years, had sacrificed himself in propagating the -faith in distant lands, should he not have as much faith as a peasant, -in order to be able to remove an evil spirit in the name of God? This -would be to insult the sacred labour of propagating the faith in the -person of one of its most distinguished apostles. - -1414. But this is not enough; notice how St. John teaches us to know if -a spirit is of God or not. ‘My well beloved, this is how to know that -a spirit is of God: all spirits who confess that Jesus Christ has come -in the flesh, are of God, and those who do not confess that he is come -in the flesh, are not of God.’ (1 John ix.) Instructed by St. John in -the manner of knowing the spirits of God, to assure myself further on -the nature of spirits or occult forces, exhibited in the movement and -language of tables, I have used the method indicated by St. John. It -was with this view that, my little table being in motion, I addressed -to it the following questions: Do you confess that Jesus Christ is come -in the flesh? Yes, it replied. The same question, repeated several -times, produced uniformly the same answer. Having this experiment alone -at my house, I was desirous of seeing whether the same results would be -obtained in company. With this design I went to the houses of persons -acquainted with these phenomena, and begged a gentleman, a medium, to -place his hands with mine on a stand. The movement of the stand being -felt, the same question was answered in the same manner. And after this -experience can I conscientiously believe in the intervention of the -devil in the turning and speaking of the tables, without regarding the -testimony of St. John as erroneous; and should I regard it as such? It -is for M. de Mirville to answer. - -1415. But I do not stop here. It is said in the ritual of Paris -and others, in the chapter of the possessed, as follows: _Signa -energumenorum sunt. Ignota lingua liogni idque, maxima serie verborum -quæ previderi non potuerunt velita loquentem intelligere distantia, et -oculta patefacere et vires supra etatis suæ naturam ostendere._ Very -well, if demons, as the ritual says, speak all languages, even those -unknown, after the great number of experiments which I have made, I -am prepared to declare that tables do not speak all languages, even -the known ones, nor do they understand them. Let some one who does -not understand Greek, addressing a question to the table in French, -request it to reply in Greek, and we will see if the table does it. Let -a stranger give to an inquirer at the table a question in a language -unknown to him, limiting himself to merely reading it, and we will see -if the table respond; I defy all the tables in the world to do it. If -M. de Mirville desires to make these experiments with me, I am entirely -at his service. - -1416. I have endeavoured to discover if tables have the faculty which, -according to the ritual, is possessed by the devil (_les démons_) to -penetrate the hidden and the future, and I have found in this direction -more error than truth. As to the superior physical force which, -according to the ritual, is possessed by the devil, (_les démons_,) -there is not a single turning table in the world, whose movement cannot -be arrested or retarded by enveloping the hands of the experimenters in -silk; which proves that the tables have not a power _supra naturam_, -and that of course it could not be the devil who furnishes the -momentum. But what gives more force to the reasons on which I rest, -for not referring the motive-power to an evil spirit, is this: that -having made them separately known to four prelates of the church of -France, three of whom are conspicuous in the religious investigation -of these phenomena, begging a due examination and report if my opinion -is in error, that I may retract and write against the tables, not one -of these prelates has pronounced me wrong, nor in the least blamed my -exposition of facts. And in case it may become necessary to establish -this fact, I retain the letters of these prelates. Let us now pass to -the consideration of the mediums.[32] - -1417. Hearing that there were persons whose hands, without their will, -were made to write some very extraordinary things, and that these -persons were called ‘mediums,’ one day, in order to assure myself -of the fact, I took a crayon in my hand, and placing it on paper, -concentrated myself as much as possible. But a few minutes had passed, -when I felt my hand controlled without my will, and saw it trace some -lines, letters, and words. This experiment being repeated often -with the same success, I have therefore become a medium, though of a -secondary degree. - -1418. Desiring to know whether, in this phenomenon, there might not be -some diabolical agency, in order to satisfy my mind on that subject, I -asked of the occult power, or the spirit that controlled my hand, if -it was the devil; being answered in the negative, I requested to have -proof of it. Scarcely were those words uttered, when my hand, moving -with energy, drew a large cross. Seeing this, I put the same questions -about J. C. that were put at my table, and the answers, being written, -were the same; from which I concluded that the agency in the writing of -mediums is the same as in moving the tables, which, in my opinion, is -not that of the devil, as already said. However, in order to confirm -my assurance of the non-intervention of the devil in the phenomena of -mediums, I desired to add another experiment, which follows: - -1419. As the devil speaks all languages, according to the ritual, even -those unknown, to see whether the occult power or spirit which caused -me to write possessed this satanic attribute, which, being so, would -prove the intervention of the devil in the performance of mediums, I -asked the invisible agent if it would cause the Lord’s prayer to be -written in several languages, and was answered in the affirmative. -Yielding my hand with a pen to the motive power, the _Pater_ was -written in two ways, which the same power, also by writing, said was -in Valaque and in Russian. Then requesting the same to be written in -French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, it was immediately done; when -requesting it to be written in English and German, was answered it -could not be done. Why not? I inquired. Because you neither speak nor -write those two languages, which is necessary. - -1420. In what languages then, I asked, are you able to make me write? -In the languages which I spoke on earth, as the Valaque and Russian, -and those which you speak. The _Pater_, thus written, I had the honour -to present it personally to Monseigneur the Archbishop of Paris, by -his request. Having mentioned this, I was advised to request my spirit -friend to write something in Valaque, and have it submitted to some one -acquainted with that language, in order to determine the fact of its -being so; which proposal I willingly accepted. - -1421. But, returned to my house, the idea occurred to me to make an -experiment to control my familiar spirit myself. I wrote on a piece of -paper a phrase in French, and took a separate copy of it on another -piece of paper. I read this phrase to my spirit, and requested him -to render it in Valaque. The spirit, having made some lines, told me -by writing that the translation was already made. I requested him to -do the same with it in Spanish, Italian, and Latin, and it was done. -Requesting him further to write the same in English, he replied it -could not be done, as I did not speak that language. Allowing a few -minutes to pass, I took the copy of the phrase, and requested the -spirit to do the same with it that he had done with the original. The -spirit having caused me to write, as he professed, the same phrase in -the same languages as he had caused me to write it in previously, I -hastened to compare the two translations; but what was my surprise when -finding the Spanish, Italian, and Latin translations of the copy like -those of the original; I found the Valaque translation of the original -and that of the copy not at all alike! - -1422. “Convinced, then, that my spirit did not understand the -_Valaque_, which proved to me, according to the ritual, that it was not -a devil, (_un démon_,) but that notwithstanding he had deceived me, I -gave him a severe reprimand, treating him as an infamous cheat, and -driving him from my presence. At this juncture, my hand was caused to -tremble excessively, which terminated by writing in large characters: -‘I am the devil, and you are a bad preacher that seeks to find out -the secrets of God!’ Very well, I said; your proclamation in large -letters that you are the devil, is no reason why I should believe it. -The devil, according to the ritual, speaks all languages, and you -do not speak the Valaque nor English, and therefore you are not the -devil. If I am a bad preacher, that does not concern you. It is God -who will judge me, and I submit to his holy will. Could I see you as -I feel you, I would fix you well; but as it is, I decline any further -correspondence with you. - -1423. “Scarcely had I expressed these words, when my hand, being -influenced, wrote as follows: ‘Pardon! pardon! I am not the devil. If -I said so, it was to frighten you, because you continued to plague -me with your questions; but I see you are a man that fears nothing. -You are not a bad preacher, but a great thinker. Continue then to -experiment with me, and I will always tell you the truth!’ - -1424. “Very well, I pardon you, and request you to say, without -deceiving me, what languages you do speak? ‘I speak no other languages -than those which you speak, and if I did otherwise, it was for -amusement.’ Then what are the languages which the spirits speak? ‘Those -of the communing person, and no others.’[33] And this ended the meeting. - -1425. “Wishing still to test what had been said to me by my spirit, I -went to the house of a writing medium, like myself, and begged him to -try some experiments in writing. In the midst of our experiments, I -wrote the following words on a small piece of paper in Spanish: _Como -té llamos?_ and without making their signification known to the medium -in French, requested him to read them to the spirit friend. This was -done, but the spirit was silent. The medium, however, insisting on -an answer, was impressed by the spirit to write the word _malheur_, -(misfortune.) The reply not agreeing with the question, I told the -medium to say to his spirit that he had badly replied. Then the spirit -made the medium write as follows: ‘If I have not complied with your -request, it is because I do not understand that language.’ - -1426. As the medium did not understand what had been read to the -spirit, which in French would mean, _Comment vous appelez-vous?_ (What -is your name?) I perceived that if the spirit did not reply to the -Spanish, it was because the medium neither spoke nor understood that -tongue; which agreed with what my spirit had told me. Then I requested -the medium to ask his spirit to make me write. On the affirmative -response of the spirit, I took the pen, and addressing the same -question to him: _Como te llamos?_ he replied in Spanish—_Benito_. -Answer me in French—_Benoit_. In Latin—_Benedictus_. - -1427. This experiment confirming what my spirit had told me, that -the spirits could produce only the language of those with whom they -communed, was a new proof for me of the non-intervention of the devil; -seeing, according to the ritual, that he is master of all languages, -and that mediums only write those they understand, and have previously -learnt.[34] If M. de Mirville desires to make some such experiments -with me, it will afford me great pleasure to do so. - -1428. _Nota bene_: What merits particular regard in the information -received from my spirit friend as to the language used by spirits in -communing with men is, that the same was said one hundred and five -years since by the ecstatic Swedenborg. See No. 236 of his Treatise on -Heaven and Hell, by Le Boys des Guays. - -1429. This will suffice for the present for M. de Mirville. It remains -for him to explain the facts we have reported, and to reconcile them -with his _Pneumatology_: in expectation I proceed to notice the -_Supernatural in General_ of M. de Gasparin.” - - - _Second Part._ - -1430. “All the prodigies of the mesmeric subjects of clairvoyants, the -sorcery, haunting spirits, apparitions, visions, &c., owe their origin, -according to M. de Gasparin, to nervous excitement, fluidic action, -and sometimes are hallucinations. As I do not design here to make a -critical analysis of M. de Gasparin’s work, not considering myself -capable, and leaving this honour to those who are in some scientific -line, I design merely occupying myself with some facts which refer -personally to me, and which appear to me to oppose some points in the -doctrine of M. de Gasparin in his table-turning, or _Supernatural in -General_, as already noticed in the introduction to the monograph, and -I commence with the subject of ecstasy. - -1431. “Speaking of ecstatics, M. de Gasparin explains himself as -follows: ‘As to their intellectual faculties, they are capable in those -cases of prodigious development. The ecstatics declare themselves that -they have two souls; that a voice foreign to their own causes them to -speak; that they suddenly receive ideas entirely unknown to them, and -terms of expression entirely strange to them. It happens even that the -peasant accustomed to _patois_, speaks French, and that illiterate -men express themselves in Latin. Now, have we something here that is -_supernatural_? Certainly not; it is a physiological state, or often -the treasures of reminiscence, which the subject possessed, though in -fact not aware of it. The peasant may have known how to speak French; -she may not have known it, and still it may all have been engraved -on the deep recesses of the memory, where nothing is ever really -effaced. Exalted or sick, she finds herself in possession of the French -language. A merchant, who has scarcely passed the first classes, -and who never knew Latin, finds himself the possessor of the Latin -language, and embarrasses his doctor, whom he addresses in that tongue.’ - -1432. “According to this ecstatic theory of M. de Gasparin, it follows -that the ideas expressed by the subjects, and which were unknown to -them in their normal state, are nothing more than reminiscences. I -admit, with M. de Gasparin, that reminiscence is only the return of the -soul to the recollection of a thing or an idea, which, though engraven -on the memory, was forgotten. This return, however, does not happen -without some remarks, which, from the recollection of some ideas or -incidents, conduct the mind to the recollection of what was forgotten. - -1433. “I am a medium: according to the received opinion, a medium is -a waking magnetic subject. Now, every magnetic subject is in a degree -ecstatic; therefore I, being a medium, am ecstatic. Well, I being -ecstatic, take a pencil, and concentrating myself in that state, -request the occult power that moves my hand without my volition to -cause it to write, if it is possible, something on the creation. The -last word is scarcely pronounced when my hand proceeds to write, -without interruption, something true or false, on the creation, which -surprises me. - -1434. “This interview terminates, and desiring to know if these ideas -on the creation come from reminiscences, I seek to discover if they -could have been engraven on my memory, either from reading or hearing -them related. With this view I commenced by reading religious and -philosophic books that would be likely to discuss the question, but -could find nothing like what I had written. I consulted the public -libraries, and they contained nothing on the creation similar to what -my hand had communicated. Not a professor, philosopher, naturalist, -physiologist, theologian, or historian, with whom I had ever had any -intercourse, could recollect any thing of the kind. - -1435. “After this, I reason as follows: having examined all the -means by which what was written by my hand on the creation could -have been impressed on my memory, nothing appears to warrant that -belief; therefore, these notions on the creation cannot be regarded as -reminiscences. - -1436. “But it is not enough, we have said, that in reminiscence, are -necessary, which, by the recollection of an object, idea, or notion, -we are led to the further recollection of something forgotten. That -this should take place, some time is required, however little it may -be. However, in the case related, not a moment was required, and this -breaks up the required process, in order to respond to the theory of M. -de Gasparin. - -1437. “Now, if these ideas on the creation are not reminiscences—if -they do not emanate from the devil, who, agreeably to our author, is an -entire stranger to these phenomena—if it is not the soul of a deceased -person that controlled my hand, as M. de Gasparin, being a Protestant, -does not believe in returning spirits nor in communion with the dead, -who then caused to be written by my hand such strange things, without -my knowledge or assistance? And I beg M. de Gasparin to be so good as -to explain this phenomenon, which appears to be in opposition with his -theory on the prodigies of ecstatic subjects. Should M. de Gasparin -desire to see what I have written, he can be gratified. But what will -he say, when having requested my spirit to reply in writing on some -subject familiar to my mind, he is unable to do it, or replies contrary -to my thoughts and convictions? Can this be called reminiscence? I pass -now to consider mesmerism. - -1438. “In speaking on this subject, the _Supernatural_ of M. de -Gasparin says, ‘The clairvoyance of mesmerism appears in general -to have only the character of an echo. Its wonders are those of -reminiscence or perception of images and thoughts, which occupy the -intelligence of the person with whom the clairvoyant is in rapport. -This appears to be the balance-sheet of animal magnetism, and it has -changed but little since its origin.’ (Tome ii. page 311.) - -1439. “According to what M. de Gasparin has just told us, it follows, -that when a clairvoyant tells us in his sleep that he sees the spirit -of a deceased person, and gives us an exact description of his person, -we are not to regard it as the deceased person that the clairvoyant -sees, but his image impressed on the memory of that clairvoyant from -acquaintance with the defunct when living, or in the memory of the -consulting visitor in rapport; so that the clairvoyant, in these -apparitions of the dead, is governed only by reminiscence or the -reflection of images or of thoughts. Now, having allowed M. de Gasparin -to speak, I desire in my turn to speak also. - -1440. “In January, 1848, a work was published, entitled _Les Arcanes -de la Vie Future Révelée_: The Arcana of a Future Life Revealed. My -attention being attracted by the title of this work, it was procured, -and proved to be nothing but a collection of the apparitions of -deceased persons to clairvoyants. - -1441. “On so delicate a question, I thought it best to consult the -Scriptures, to see whether the appearance of the dead to the living -was admitted by the sacred volumes. I opened, then, the Bible, and -the first passage that met my eye was the chap. xxvii. of the first -book of Kings, where it said that Samuel had appeared to the witch -of Endor, and that, by the intermediation of the latter, the prophet -spoke to Samuel; an apparition on which were sketched those reported -by M. Cahagnet in his _Arcana_. I saw afterward in the second book of -Maccabees, the high-priest Onias and the prophet Jeremiah appearing -to Judas Maccabeus. I see in St. Matthew, chap. xvii., the apparition -of Moses and Elias to Peter, John, and James on the Tabor. Finally, I -read, in chap. xxviii. of the said St. Matthew, that at the death of -our Saviour Jesus Christ, many of the dead appeared to a great number -of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. - -1442. “Convinced by the holy volume of the possibility, or rather of -the reality, of the apparition of the dead to the living, I put to -myself this question: Can these apparitions of the dead to the living -which, according to the Bible, took place in former times, be permitted -to occur at the present time? In order to resolve that question, I -desired again to consult the Bible, and found the Holy Spirit, in -Ecclesiastes, holding the following language: ‘_What has been, is what -shall be; and what has been done, is what shall be done again._’ - -1443. “Then, I said to myself, the appearance of the dead to the living -has taken place, according to the Bible; therefore, agreeably to the -same sacred volume, what has existed at one time may exist at another. -Therefore, there is no reason for rejecting the doctrine of communion -of spirits, God willing, at the present time. - -1444. “But it is to be found out whether the apparitions reported in -the _Arcana_ were realities, or were only illusions, so called. The -solution of this problem belongs to me. And with this view I found -myself at the house of the author of the _Arcana_, where a very -serious discussion took place between him and myself on his work, -which ended with the apparition of my brother Joseph, the third one -that figures in the second volume of the _Arcana_. In fact, I called -for the apparition of my late brother, and scarcely had a few minutes -passed when the clairvoyant, Adile, told me she saw a gentleman, and -by the description she gave of the stature, costume, character, the -cause and place of the death of the person appearing, I could not avoid -recognising in the said person that of my brother Joseph. - -1445. “This apparition had such an effect on me, as to keep me awake -the whole night, seeking to explain the phenomenon. But becoming -fatigued with researches, I thought, as a magnetizer, to be able to -explain these apparitions by the same means as M. de Gasparin pretends -to explain them at the present time. I said to myself that clairvoyants -saw the image of things impressed on the memory of the persons with -whom they were in rapport; the image of my late brother being engraved -on my memory, it was enough for M. Cahagnet to put me, by an act of his -will, in rapport with his clairvoyant, for the latter to have seen the -image of my brother on the tablets of my memory. - -1446. “With this impression, I wrote to M. Cahagnet, saying to -him, that in spite of my assurance yesterday of the reality of the -apparition of my brother, my knowledge of magnetism had caused -me to-day to think otherwise, and that further evidence would be -necessary to convince me of its reality. M. Cahagnet having complied, -two spirits were evoked; one of my aforesaid brother Joseph, and the -other of Antoinette Carré, the sister of my domestic; apparitions -reported in the second volume of the _Arcana_, and the description -given by the clairvoyant could not have been more correct. But as I -still entertained the idea that these images could not be traced by -the clairvoyant in my mind, this meeting produced no results. Curious, -however, to know whether other clairvoyants possessed the same faculty -as the clairvoyant of M. Cahagnet in regard to these apparitions, in -the sense I understand them, I begged M. Lecocq, clockmaker of the -navy, living at Argenteuil, to try some experiments with his sister, a -very lucid clairvoyant. - -1447. “Five apparitions appeared, of whom three were unknown to him -or his clairvoyant, knowing only their names; and their identity was -determined by the assistance of other persons present who had known -them, as reported from two sources, the letter written me by M. Lecocq, -which M. de Gasparin can see, and the report made by the former to M. -Cahagnet, which was published in the second volume of the _Arcana_, -page 244. In view of this fact, and others of the same nature come -to my knowledge, my opinion as to the derivation of appearances and -thoughts from the mind of communicants through the clairvoyant begins -to be modified. However, to be entirely convinced of the reality of -these apparitions, I should require similar facts to be presented to my -own eyes. - -1448. “Animated by these sentiments, I requested a person in whom -I reposed entire confidence, to give me the name of a defunct, -entirely unknown to me, and that of Joseph Moral was given. The young -clairvoyant of thirteen years, whom I named at the beginning of this -monograph, being one day put to sleep by his mother at my house, -I used the opportunity to request the subject to invoke the spirit -of Joseph Moral. Scarcely had two minutes elapsed, when the young -clairvoyant announced the presence of a person, whom she described. -Having never seen the said Joseph Moral, and therefore not able to say -any thing about him, I was limited to writing down a faithful account -of him as given by the clairvoyant. - -1449. “The meeting ended, I sought the person who had furnished the -name, and reading the description, and much surprised to find it -correct, she said to me, ‘How, sir, were you able to give such an exact -description of M. Joseph Moral, whom you never knew and have never -seen?’ - -1450. “This fact was for me a positive conviction that clairvoyants, -in their communion with the dead, do not simply see the image of the -deceased in the memory of the consulting party, but that they see -the veritable _souls_ of the departed, as the witch of Endor saw the -soul of Samuel, according to our creed, called the Holy Spirit of the -Ecclesiastic. And should M. de Gasparin desire to know the person who -gave me the name of M. Joseph Moral, it will give me pleasure to wait -on him to her house. - -1451. “Here is another fact like the preceding, but still more -interesting. M. de Sarrio, of Alicant, in Spain, a cavalier of Malta, -gave to my brother Joseph, of whom I have already spoken, fifteen -thousand francs, to be distributed among the poor; for which sum my -brother aforesaid gave a receipt to the benevolent donor. At the death -of M. de Sarrio, his brother, the Marquis of Algolfa, becoming his -heir, found this receipt among the papers of the deceased. At the death -of my brother, the Marquis desiring to know if all the amount had been -disbursed, addressed my sister, who became his heir, on the subject. -But my sister, being unacquainted with his affairs, not having lived -with him, submitted to the marquis the schedule of the deceased; which, -showing only the distribution of half the amount, the other half was -claimed by the marquis, and finally made the subject of a lawsuit. - -1452. “My sister, much aggrieved, made me a party to her troubles, in a -letter from Alicant. Discomforted by what had happened to my sister, I -visited my young clairvoyant and demanded the presence of my brother, -who, as she had said, had several times been with her. He was reported -present, and I questioned him in relation to the money received from -M. de Sarrio, reproaching him in regard to the reversion of the said -balance, and the pain he had caused my sister. - -1453. “My brother, astounded at my language, said, that he owed nothing -to anybody; and as to the amount referred to, he had given it to Father -Mario before dying, to be distributed to the poor; to prove which it -would be necessary to call Father Mario. Scarcely had my brother said -this, when the clairvoyant said she saw a man with my brother, and from -the description she gave of him, I thought I recognised a Capuchin -friar, who, interrogated by my brother, confirmed what he had said. - -1454. “Having never heard the name of Father Mario, as I had left -Alicant thirty years before, I requested some particulars of his -country and family, and was told he belonged to St. Vincent du Respect, -one league from Alicant, &c., and I put the following questions to my -sister, by letter: Was your brother Joseph visited in his sickness by a -priest named Father Mario, having a sister at St. Vincent du Respect? -and do you know if this Father Mario is dead? Following is the answer: - -1455. “‘As to Father Mario, he left this country several years since, -and it is not known if he is in France or America. He did not visit -our brother in his last sickness, because he had left some years -before. He has two sisters, one was in Algeria, and the other went -with him.’ The letters written by me to my sister on this subject, and -her replies, with other details, were published in the third volume -of the _Arcana_. The originals are at the disposal of M. de Gasparin, -and I would desire to ask that gentleman one question: Whether the -apparition of Father Mario, as established by the letters of my sister, -confirming the existence of Father Mario, is not a positive fact, -and not an hallucination? Whether, as this monk had never been seen -nor known by me, his image could possibly have been perceived by the -clairvoyant through any impression made upon my mind? Of course, it -could not have been the devil who personated Father Mario, if M. de -Gasparin _correctly_ repudiates the intervention of Satan in spiritual -manifestations. - -1456. “Can M. de Gasparin explain to me the appearance of Father Mario -consistently with his _Psychological hypothesis in General_. These -are the facts which I have at present to oppose to the _Psychological -Rationale_ of M. de Gasparin. At a future time I shall be prepared to -say more to him as well as to M. de Mirville, both on mesmerism and -table-turning, as well as in regard to mediums. - -1457. “If the marquis and count do not respond to my call, their -silence will do great injury to the cause of truth, science, and -religion. It is, then, in order not to act against interests so sacred, -that I take pleasure in hoping that these gentlemen will comply with my -wishes.” - - -_Mechanical Movements without Contact. By Mr. Isaac Rhen, President of - the Harmonial Society of Philadelphia._[35] - -1458. Among the most distinguished and eloquent advocates of -Spiritualism in Philadelphia, is Mr. Isaac Rehn, President of the -Harmonial Society. It is said that a good countenance is a constant -letter of recommendation. The truth of this adage is conspicuously -realized in the instance of this sensible and agreeable spiritualist. -There is an air of good feeling and sincerity in Mr. Rehn’s tones and -expression, which would cause him to be viewed as a reliable witness -before any honest and intelligent jury. - -1459. The fact of mechanical movements being induced _without muscular -contact, direct_ or _indirect_, is one of the phenomena which scarcely -any one will believe without intuitive proof. It will be seen that -on the third of February, 1854, after I had been engaged in the -investigation of spiritual manifestations for more than two months, I -was still so incredulous as to employ this language to Mr. Holcomb: -“You believe fully that tables move without contact, because you have -seen them thus moved; I am skeptical, because I have not seen them move -without human contact, although I have been at several circles.” - -1460. But one of the forms of this phenomenon, which has excited the -most wonder and incredulity, is that of the carrying of Mr. Henry -Gordon, a medium, through the air without the contact of any mundane -body. Mr. Rehn having been among the witnesses of this fact, I -requested him to give me a statement of it, as well as of others of -a similar kind. Subjoined is a letter, written in consequence of my -request: - - PHILADELPHIA, August 1, 1855. -PROFESSOR ROBERT HARE: - -1461. _Dear Sir_: In obedience to your invitation, I will proceed to -make a brief statement of the more prominent facts supporting the -hypothesis, that the spirits of those who once dwelt with us do still -hold intercourse with mortals. - -1462. During the early part of the year 1850, some friends of mine, -in whom I had full confidence, stated to me the result of several -intercommunions had with these mysterious agents, by which I was led -to a determination to test the matter for myself; and, accordingly, on -the fifth day of July, in company with a friend, I visited New York, -that being the only accessible point known to us at which to gain the -object of our visit. The Fox family, consisting of Mrs. Fox, Mrs. -Fish, (afterward Mrs. Brown,) Catherine and Margaret Fox were then at -Barnum’s Hotel, giving to the public opportunities to test the reality -or imposture of the so-called spiritual phenomena. We called at the -rooms of the family, and obtained a sitting during the afternoon of -the same day. A dozen or more persons were present at the sitting, the -result of which was the conviction that the sounds were not a deception -on the part of the mediums, but the result of some occult force and -intelligence, independent of the ladies themselves. - -1463. Without entering into any detail of the incidents of the visit -above referred to, or speculations upon the general subject under -consideration, I propose to cite incidents in my own experience, which -go to establish the truth of spiritual intercourse. - -1464. Shortly after the commencement of the sounds in the first -circle instituted in this city, and of which I was, from the first, -a member, demonstrations in the form of movements of tables, chairs, -and other articles commenced. Many times they were very violent, but -in most instances it was necessary that the hands of the company, and -especially those of the medium, should be upon the table. During the -session of a circle, however, held in the afternoon—and of course in -daylight—these movements became unusually violent. Two card-tables, -around which the company sat, having been drawn to the centre of the -floor, were thrown backward and forward with great force. After moving -thus for some minutes, one of the tables started toward some two or -three of the company, and pressed heavily against them, causing them to -recede until they had reached the wall; the table would then retreat -to the centre of the floor, and, as it were, charge some two or three -more, whom in like manner it would press back. Thus it continued -retreating and attacking, until the entire company were seated around -at the sides of the room. - -1465. Having thus cleared the floor in the central part of the -room, the table rose deliberately at the side next to myself, and -so continued until it had turned some distance beyond the point of -equilibrium, with the evident design of performing a revolution. - -1466. These and other manifestations were at the time so wonderful -and strange to that part of the company present which had never -before met in a circle, as to cause great terror. One lady became so -much alarmed during the performance of the spirits with the table as -above described, that she screamed aloud, which interfering with the -requisite conditions for success, the table fell heavily upon the -floor, breaking off the top. - -1467. During the rising of the table on the side toward myself, I -reached my hand and pressed upon it, with the view of seeing what force -was employed in raising it. Upon removing my hand, it would spring up -as if it were suspended from the ceiling by an elastic cord. - -1468. At the time this phenomenon was occurring, a friend of mine, Mr. -J. A. Cutting, of Boston, Massachusetts, being seated by my side, found -himself moved, as though some one had drawn the chair on which he was -sitting. He then placed his feet upon the front round of the chair, -so as to entirely insulate himself from the floor, and while in this -position he was raised from the floor, chair and all. This gentleman -was quite large and stout, weighing, I should think, not less than one -hundred and seventy pounds. - -1469. I would here state particularly and emphatically, that at the -time of these most violent movements of the table, _no hands were upon -them, nor was there any physical contact with the objects moved_. - -1470. At the same session, a tumbler and pitcher being upon a washstand -in a corner of the room, some five feet distant from any person -present, suddenly a crash was heard in the direction in which those -articles were situated. Upon examination, the tumbler was found to be -broken into several hundred pieces, and what is still more strange, the -pieces were not scattered around, but occupied a spot which did not -exceed eight or ten inches in diameter! It seemed as if the tumbler -had _collapsed_; even the bottom, thick as it was, was broken into -many pieces. These facts occurred at the house of Mr. George D. Henck, -dentist, in Arch street, who, with the other persons present on that -occasion, will at any time corroborate these statements. - -1671. On another occasion, at the house of Mr. J. Thompson, of this -city, during a sitting, I requested, among other things, that the -spirits would move the table without physical contact. Mrs. Thompson, -Mrs. R-—-, and myself, the only persons in the room, drew back from the -table, and it was then moved some six or eight inches. In addition to -this, it moved from various points, and objects were retained on the -table, when under ordinary circumstances, from the inclination of the -table, they must have fallen off. - -1472. At a sitting at my own residence, some two years since, some very -strange phenomena occurred. At the close of the session, a young man, -of slender frame and constitution, (Mr. H. C. Gordon,) had his hand -thrown violently upon the centre of a large dining-table, weighing not -less than eighty or ninety pounds. Some of the company were requested -to raise Mr. Gordon’s hand from the table. This, after much effort, was -accomplished, and, strange to relate, the table accompanied the hand -until it was entirely isolated from the floor. This was a result which -I would have doubted, had it not come under my own personal observation. - -1473. About the same time, a company of persons, whose names, as far as -I can recollect, I shall mention, were seated around two tables, joined -together, in order to furnish room sufficient to seat the party. The -house in which I then lived had two parlours, with folding doors. The -two tables referred to occupied the entire length of the front parlour, -leaving barely room enough for the chairs at the front end of the -room; the other end of the table extended quite to the folding doors, -leaving, of course, no passage on either end. It so happened that I -was seated at that end of the table projecting into the doorway. The -medium, Mr. Gordon, was seated about midway of the tables, on the left, -the other seats being occupied by the rest of the company. - -1474. After a variety of manifestations had occurred, the medium was -raised from his seat by an invisible power, and, after some apparent -resistance on his part, was carried through the doorway between the -parlours, directly over my head, and his head being bumped along the -ceiling, he passed to the farther end of the back room, in which there -was no one beside himself. - -1475. Although all the individuals present had not equally good -opportunity of ascertaining the facts in this case, the room having -been somewhat darkened, still his transit over the end of the table at -which I was seated, and the utter impossibility of the medium passing -out in other way than over our heads, his continued conversation while -thus suspended, and his position, as indicated by the sound, with other -facts in the case, leave no reasonable doubt of the performance of the -feat. - -1476. There were present on the occasion alluded to, the following -persons, viz.: Aaron Comfort, George D. Henck, Rebecca Thomas, Naomi -Thomas, Marianne Thomas, Esther Henck, Mrs. Rehn, J. S. Mintzer, M. D., -and many others. Respectfully, I. REHN. - -1477. The truth of the elevation and carriage of this medium aloft, by -invisible agency, from one part of a room to another, does not depend -on the testimony of one set of observers; several other respectable -eye-witnesses have alleged the occurrence of a similar manifestation in -their presence. - - -_Communication from J. M. Kennedy, Esq._ - -1478. One of our most zealous and eloquent spiritualists, is my -friend, J. M. Kennedy. He has done me the favour, out of many striking -manifestations observed by him, to communicate two, which are among the -most demonstrative of a physical power and mental intelligence, and -which cannot be ascribed to mortal agency. That in which the magnetic -needle was moved by his request, without physical contact, is, as I -conceive, pre-eminently interesting. - - PHILADELPHIA, August, 1855. - “PROFESSOR HARE: - -1479. “_Sir_: You ask me to state some facts I have witnessed, which -tended to convince my mind that the varied phenomena, occurring among -us, are truly ascribable to the direct action of disembodied spirits. I -will state two matters, remarking, however, that I have had other and -different forms of evidence equally satisfactory to me. - -1480. “About two years since, I was invited to meet a private circle -to witness physical manifestations. I met them at the house of a -near neighbour, whose lady is a medium. There were about ten persons -present. The circle being seated, the movement of the table and tipping -in answer to questions occurred. I now asked for a communication with -myself, which was assented to. I then inquired if the spirits would -move the table, despite of my power to hold it still, the company to -withdraw from the table, excepting the medium and myself. The answer -was, ‘_We will!_’ The company all arose, and removed their chairs; I -stood up and took hold of the table, exercising my best judgment as to -the use of my strength in the pending contest. The medium having placed -her hand on the table, I promptly announced, _‘I am ready_.’ At once, -the movement of the table commenced, despite of my efforts to prevent -it, and having slightly pushed me backward, it began to draw me in the -opposite direction. It moved entirely across the room, dragging me -along with it, my feet sliding on the carpet. I resisted the motion of -the table with all the power I could command, and no visible being but -myself had any contact with it, excepting the medium, whose hand (not -_hands_) was on the top of the table. - -1481. “I then said, ‘If I sit on the table, will you throw me off?’ -_Answer._ Yes. I at once sat on it, and the medium placing her hand as -before, I said, ‘_I am ready_,’ and almost instantaneously the table -was turned over on its side, of course, throwing me off. All this -occurred at a private house; the room was light enough to read small -print, and there was entire freedom to search for trick, machinery, &c. -There was to me evidence of an intelligent, invisible power, giving us -the tests we suggested and asked for, to prove its presence and power. - -1482. “On another occasion, there were present, at the dwelling of -another friend of mine, my friend and his lady, also a lad learning -business with him, and myself, the apprentice lad being the medium. We -sat in the parlour in the afternoon, windows open, room well lighted. - -1483. “Among other manifestations which occurred was this: I placed on -the centre of the large dining-table a glass tumbler, on which I placed -a compass, the needle being one foot in length. On the periphery of the -compass, the alphabet, as well as the various points, was painted, and -at each letter there was a small metallic pin permanently fixed. After -changing the compass freely, to see if the needle worked free and true, -I left it so placed that the needle pointed due north, according to the -points marked therefor. We then removed our chairs from the table some -distance, no one being in contact with it. My friend was on the east, -his lady on the south, the medium on the west, and myself on the north -side of the table. I then requested that the spirits would move the -compass needle to such points as we might designate; and naming north, -south, east, west, north-east, south-west, &c., perhaps, in all, nearly -twenty different points, I saw the needle promptly and quickly moved -to each point, as and when designated by me, and there held steadily -for a brief time; and on each occasion, after having been thus held, -I saw it fly back to the north point. I also requested that they (the -spirits) would spell _John_ by moving the needle to the letters, and I -saw the needle promptly moved to the several letters required to spell -the name, stopping at each, tipping and touching the small pin opposite -the letter, and then immediately returning to its position due north. - -1484. “This manifestation I was compelled to regard as clearly proving -the action of an invisible, intelligent power, present with us, and -purporting to be a disembodied spirit once known among us as a man. -There was here also perfect freedom to search for trick, machinery, -&c.; and all these suggested explanations occurred as clearly to my -mind as to men generally, and were duly cared for by me; for I was then -an investigator of the truth of spirit manifestations, and did not -wish to be _humbugged_. These cases, however, are but a sample of the -chain of testimony that has satisfied my mind fully on this question. - JOHN M. KENNEDY.” - - - _Communication from Wm. West, Esq._ - -1485. As respects the communication which follows, I have only to say -that I consider the author as quite reliable, both as to his capacity -to observe accurately, and his disposition to exert that capacity -faithfully. I believe him to have one of those minds which, like the -scale-beam, allows every thing _pro_ or _con_ to have its due weight. - - “PHILADELPHIA, September 6, 1855. -“PROFESSOR R. HARE: - -1486. “_Dear Sir_: At our last interview you wished a few facts from my -experience. - -1487. “About three years since I lectured in this city against the -_spiritual_ agency of ‘the modern manifestations,’ and advocated a -nerve aura, obedient to the will. At that time I had the power to stop -the physical movements. Subsequently, the agents in these phenomena -refused to obey me. I have since been informed by the spirits, that -they permitted me to control them for a time, in order ultimately to -convince me by depriving me of said power. - -1488. “Having read your statement of the message transmitted by you, -through your spirit sister, from Cape May, in July last, to this city, -I have thought that an account of a similar despatch from myself, -through my spirit wife, to a circle in this city, might be acceptable. - -1489. “On the evening of June 22, 1853, while sitting at the table -at Mrs. Long’s, (a writing medium, living at No. 9 Thompson St., New -York), my deceased wife purported to be communicating with me. At that -time I had been appointed, by the spirits, dictator to a circle, which -convened every Wednesday evening at the residence of H. C. Gordon, -103 North Fifth St., Philadelphia. I inquired of my wife if she could -convey a message to the circle then assembled in Philadelphia. She -answered, ‘_I will try_.’ I then requested her to take my respects -to the circle, and inform them that I was succeeding admirably in -my investigation, and becoming stronger in the glorious truth of -spirit intercommunion. In the course of seventeen minutes, the spirit -again announced her presence, and informed us she had delivered the -message. On the next Wednesday evening, I was present at the circle -in Philadelphia, and was informed by all the members present that my -communication had been duly received. Another spirit, I was informed, -had been communicating, when an interruption occurred, and my wife gave -her name, and, in substance, the communication, through the hand of Mr. -Gordon. - -1490. “There were present about twelve persons of high respectability, -among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Mr. and Mrs. Laird, Mr. Aaron -Comfort, Mr. William Knapp, &c. - -1491. “At Mrs. Long’s there were three or four persons present, among -them, I think, Mr. Ira Davis. - -1492. “I am not a medium, therefore the objection of _medium sympathy_ -is out of place. Yours, &c. W. WEST. - - “George St., 4th house west of Broad.” - - - _Koons’s Establishment._ - -1493. Among the wonders of Spiritualism, none have excited so much -astonishment as the manifestations which have occurred at the -establishment of Mr. Koons, in Athens county, Ohio. The phenomena -are so extraordinary, as to be difficult to be believed, even by -Spiritualists; and yet there is far more evidence of their truth than -of any of the miracles recorded in Scripture. In no instance has any -of these been attested in due form by known spectators, and admitting -that, in this respect, there is no deficiency, they were not of a -nature to be repeated before a succession of observers. Those at -Koons’s have been repeated, and are still being repeated. I first heard -that there was such an establishment from my spirit brother, at least -fifteen months ago. My spirit friends confirm the truth of the account -received, and sanction the idea that there is something in the locality -which favours mediumship. I subjoin the narratives of several visitors -to the establishment in question: - - - _Communication from Joseph Hazard, Esq._ - -1494. Joseph Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, R. I., is very well known -in Philadelphia, as well as in the vicinity of his residence. Mr. -Hazard accompanied me, in some of my investigating visits, to spiritual -circles, and was present, as I have mentioned, (139,) on the occasion -when I first saw a table move without contact. There is no doubt but -that he is a truthful witness. If he has overrated what he heard or -saw, it must be from the enthusiasm with which he was inspired. - - ATHENS CO., _Ohio_, May 4, 1855. - -1495. _My Dear Sir_: I have been here these three days, witnessing the -wonderful spirit manifestations of which we have heard so much. Allow -me to assure you that the published account of them is no more to the -reality than shadow is to substance. No pen can describe, and if it -could, I believe no mind could believe that had not witnessed them. The -spirits talk audibly through a trumpet, not with good articulation, -but as if the process were mechanical. On the accordeon, however, the -language is exquisitely articulated, being some beautiful air or catch, -according to the number of words; the harmony being perfect, and every -note forming a part or whole word. They frequently move overhead, next -the ceiling, with a rapidity of motion inconceivably astounding, -blowing a trumpet with deafening blasts at times, or beating a -tamborine or some other instrument. - -1496. One of the exhibitions represents a spirit hand during this -circuit, beating a tamborine, there being a piece of sand-paper with -phosphorus on it, which they use for illuminating the hand. I saw them -begin the work and complete it. The hand was small and delicate, and -flew all over the room with something like the rapidity of light on a -broken surface of water, frequently snapping the fingers, and stopping -often near to myself and others, that we might see it to full advantage. - -1497. Another hand, which I could not see, touched me, but I took hold -of it. It seemed as if covered with buckskin. - -1498. The spirits are now contriving a plan to exhibit in the light. -They say that light destroys the conditions necessary by their present -system, even that evolved by the phosphorus rendering the operation -very difficult. - -1499. It appears evident that spirits to be seen with material eyes are -obliged to materialize themselves, or else spiritualize our vision; and -these things have been done repeatedly. - -1500. I have not yet seen them write. I have heard them talk and play -on many instruments by the hour. There is a base and tenor drum on -which they perform with such violence, that it is almost deafening at -times, and the whole house resounds till it shakes throughout. Some of -the music is seraphic, especially when they speak with the harmonicon, -when it is more unearthly in its character than I should have been able -to imagine. - -1501. The spirit houses are distinct buildings of one room, dark -as Erebus, and rather lonesome places, in this wilderness. I have, -nevertheless, obtained permission to sleep on the floor each night in -one: and during two of those nights I have been favoured with faint -music on the drums. Last night, from the moment I extinguished the -light, drumming was continued throughout the night, accompanied by a -few notes on the violin. - -1502. The spirit said last night, “I can’t play a bit,” but, -nevertheless, he played some things delightfully. This was a new -performer, who had sent word he would perform this night, and that he -was a German. - -1503. One spirit attempted to sing through the trumpet, but could not -make music; after each failure he would stop a minute, and then, very -good-naturedly, say, “I will try again.” This he did several times, -when he added “What shall I do for you, if I can’t sing?” He at length -took up an accordeon, and succeeded better on that; but I presume did -not suit himself, as he would exclaim every once in a while, “Oh, -dear!” very despondingly. - -1504. The effort the spirits make to manifest themselves is very -great, evidently, and the amiability of their demeanour here is -striking. However, I cannot tell you but a small portion of what I -have seen, but believing you would be interested in this sketch, I -have hastily made it, and hope you will excuse the rudeness of it. If -I could not witness again what I have seen during the last seventy-two -hours, I would not part with the consciousness of it for the whole -State of Ohio. - I am very sincerely your friend, - JOS. P. HAZARD. -To PROF. ROBT. HARE, Philada. - - - A VISIT TO THE SPIRITUALISTS OF OHIO. - - - _Letter from John Gage.—The Home of the Mediums and the Haunts of the - Spirits.—What they did, said, and wrote._ - - - LOCALITY OF JONATHAN KOONS.—A HILLY LAND. - -1505. The house of Mr. Koons is in Milford, Athens county, Ohio, -twenty-five miles south-west of McConnelsville, forty-two miles from -Lancaster, and sixty-seven miles from Columbus. - -1506. Persons going from the West can go to Lancaster, which is the -nearest point by railroad, thence down the Hocking River by stage, -which runs daily to Chauncey, thence on foot two miles to Koons. From -the North persons would take the stage at Columbus, thence to Lancaster -by the lines above described. From the East there are steamboats to -McConnelsville, on the Muskingum, both from Zanesville and Marietta, -but from these private carriages must be got; distance as above, -twenty-five miles, but the miles bear no correspondence to the hours, -for on every route they think they do well if they accomplish two and -a half miles an hour. No man ever travelled over so hilly a country -anywhere else, and when you finally get into Koons’s vicinity, you find -the essence of hills personified; there is no such thing as a level -spot large enough to put a house on. - - - THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITUALIST.—PRESENCE OF ELECTRICITY. - -1507. Koons’s house is located on the south-east angle of a sharp -ridge, some few rods below the edge of the ledge, and where, when the -native trees occupied the ground, the lightning was wont to make frolic -among them; and where it still likes to sport. The stove-pipe above the -spirit room was burst off, and a number of times during the sitting of -the mediums, the electric sparks were seen to play over the wires of -the spirit table. - - - THE ROOM WHERE THE SPIRITS MANIFEST THEIR POWER. - -1508. The spirit room is built of logs, as well as the house in which -Mr. Koons resides; it is situated at the end of his dwelling-house, and -six feet from it. It is twelve by sixteen feet square, and seven feet -high inside; there is a tight floor, and the ceiling above is of rough -boards, laid close edge to edge; in the garret above, there is less -than three feet clear room to the peak of the roof, and up here are -stowed old shoes and other old trumpery. There is a door in the front, -near the centre of the building, and a small window on each side of it, -and one window in the back side; the windows have each close shutters -outside to exclude the light. Across the back end of the room are three -rough board shelves. Two feet in front of these, stands the spirit -table, three feet wide and six feet long. In front of this, and setting -against it, is a common fall-leaf table, about three and a half feet -square, which extends to within one foot of the stove; and across the -back end of the room are two rough benches for spectators to sit upon, -and the front one comes within one foot of the stove. Then, on each end -of the table is room for three or four chairs, all of which fills the -room so full that there is no room to get around. Mr. Koons’s seat is -at the left of the table, where he sits and plays the fiddle. Nahum, -his son, sits on the left of the table; he is a lad eighteen years old, -and the principal medium; and his mother sits next to him. - - - THE FURNITURE AND OCCUPANTS. - -1509. The spirit table has a frame or rack standing on it, and extended -from one end to the other; this rack sustains a tenor drum at one -end and a brass drum at the other, attached to it by means of wires; -there are wires also passing in various directions about the rack, and -sustaining some small bells, some images of birds cut out of copper -plate, &c.; there are two fiddles, a guitar, banjo, accordeon, French -harp, tin horn, tea bell, triangle, and tamborine, either hanging up or -on the tables. The room will hold eighteen or twenty persons besides -the mediums, and when filled, as it usually is, there is no room to -pass around or between the people and the table or stove. - -1510. Some phosphorus is always placed on the table between wet sheets -of paper, for the exhibition of the hand. - - - THE MANIFESTATIONS COMMENCE.—THE SPIRITS PLAY ON DRUMS, HARPS, FRENCH - HORNS, ACCORDEONS, AND TAMBORINES. - - KOONS’S ROOM, June 19, 1855. -1511. Between eight and nine o’clock, Mr. Koons and his son Nahum went -into the room and closed the doors and shutters, for the purpose, they -said, of inquiring of King, the presiding spirit, whether he would -attend that evening, and what time he would commence; this they always -do, and they were told to get ready in twenty minutes. We went into -the room. Mr. Koons took his seat with his fiddle and tuned it; I took -my seat by his side, and my wife next to me, our chairs setting close -to each other, and the chairs and benches in the room were all filled. -The window-shutters and doors were now closed, and Mr. Koons put out -the light, and immediately there came a startling blow upon the table -that made the room jar, and almost brought me to my feet. “Well, -King,” said Mr. Koons, “you are here,” and commenced playing a lively -tune. As soon as Koons began to play the fiddle, the bass and tenor -drums began to play with such power and energy as to frighten me; the -whole house was on a jar and vibrating in perfect time with the music; -and I know no mortal hands had hold of the drumsticks, and for the -time the thought was irresistible and constant that spirits controlled -them. After two or three tunes on the drums, the tamborine was taken -up and beat with such violence, that I expected every moment it would -be dashed to pieces, at the same time it was making rapid circles in -the room and dashing from one place to another, and occasionally thrust -almost in my face, so that I was afraid it would hit me. Then the -French harp would be played, and then the drums, harp, and accordeon -altogether; then a strange kind of unearthly noise would sing in -concert with the music. Interspersed between the tunes upon the harp -was talking through the horn, the horn frequently passing through the -room, over and around us at the same time. - - -THE MANIFESTATIONS CONTINUE, AND THE HEAD SPIRIT WRITES A COMMUNICATION. - -1512. At one time there was talking around the room, so as to disturb -those that were anxious to hear every thing, when suddenly there came -a shriek that was truly terrific; such a sound as Milton might suppose -would be made by an imp of the infernal regions. The horn then said: -“Keep silent.” - -1513. Koons talked some time with the voice in the horn and harp; then -asked him to write a communication for me. We then heard the rattling -of paper, and the phosphorus began to show itself, was taken up in a -hand, showed the hand. It then got a pencil, took some paper, and laid -it on a table close before me, and wrote on it, making the same sound -that a pencil always makes in rapid writing; then made some flourishes -on the paper below the writing, threw down the pencil, handed the paper -into my hand, and threw the phosphorus on the floor in front of Mr. -Koons, who took it up and handed it to the hand again; it then threw -it in the corner of the room, and said, “Good-night,” when Mr. Koons -lighted a candle. I examined the paper that the hand had given me, and -found it was my paper, which I had placed on the table, with a private -mark on it. There were four lines written on it in a good legible hand, -and following the ruled lines on the paper as follows: - -1514. “Well, friend, we return our regards to you for the interest you -have manifested in our presence and performance; we now take our leave. -Farewell. KING.” - - AT KOONS’S, Thursday, June 21. -1515. We have much more of a performance than usual, and one highly -satisfactory. Among other things, after they had finished playing a -tune, Mr. Schenick, who sat next to me, and who plays the violin very -well, said, “King, won’t you hand me the other fiddle?” It was taken -up and handed to him over my head, thumbing the strings as it passed. -“Yes,” it said, “I will give you the fiddle; you do not want the bow, -I suppose.” “Oh, yes,” said Schenick, “I want the bow, too.” The horn -said, “Can’t you get along without it?” Schenick answered, “I can’t -play very well with my fingers.” Then the bow was handed to him, the -horn named a tune, and both fiddles began to play, accompanied by the -drums and the accordeon, and a number of voices sang, something like -human voices. - -1516. Then the tamborine was played with much spirit, and passed -rapidly around the room. At the same time it made stops in front of a -person, touched them gently on the shoulder, head, or somewhere else, -playing all the while; then passed to another, and so on. It passed -me, and dropped into my wife’s lap. It then flew over Van Sickle’s -head, made a great flourish, lit on it, and began to press down; and -Van says, “Bear down; I can hold you up.” He then said there was the -weight of a large man put on his head; it also passed to a number of -others, and pressed down on their heads. Mr. Koons then asked him to -lay the tamborine on my head, which it did immediately, bearing down, I -should think, with a weight of twenty pounds: I raised up my hand and -took hold of it, when it started up, and I held on as fast as I dared -for fear of breaking the Tamborine; it then passed around and came -to my wife, and pressed gently against her head. This, she said, she -mentally requested it to do, as she did not want it to bear down hard -on her. - -1517. Mr. Koons then said, “King, it is very warm here; won’t you -take Mrs. Gage’s fan and fan us?” But before he had finished speaking, -the tamborine began to fly around the room like lightning, breathing -a strong current of wind, and fanning all in the house. Then the -phosphorus was taken up and darted around the room like flakes of -lightning, and a hand began to develop. We talked with the voice while -this process was going on, and tried to urge our spirit friends to -write a communication for us. When the hand was formed, it passed -around the room and shook hands or touched the hands of many of us. It -took hold of my hand, and then of my wife’s. We both felt the shape of -a hand distinctly. It then got some paper and a pencil, and laying the -paper on the table, right in front of us, began to write with great -rapidity; covered one side of the sheet; turned it over again, wrote -five lines, signed it, filled the rest of the page with flourishes, -folded it, and placed it in my wife’s hand. It then flew around the -room, darting from the table up to the ceiling, there making three or -four distinct knocks, and darting down and up, repeating the knocks -a number of times in succession; it then passed all around the room, -stopping and showing the hand to all that wanted to see it. It then -commenced darting around the room again, and snapping its fingers as -loud as a man could do. It then threw the phosphorus in the back corner -of the room, said “Good night,” and was gone. Mr. Koons then lighted -the candle, and my wife read the paper which was given her by the -spirit hand, as follows: - - - THE SPIRIT’S LETTER. - -1518. _To the Friends of this Circle_: After various inquiries made at -this circle, we deem it highly necessary to reply by stated reasons, -why our presiding spirit declines to give the names of the spirits -present during our performances at this room: - -1519. 1st. Let the inquirer conceive himself entering a congregated -promiscuous assembly of persons, who are all anxiously awaiting his -approach under the discharge of some important and general mission, -in behalf of those in attendance. On entering the assembly, he looks -around upon his anxious inquirers, and sees them attended with their -respective safeguards, such as he never saw before. In the discharge of -his official duty, however, he is necessitated to exclude himself from -the direct view and intercourse of the safeguards, so as to be brought -into a nearer relation to the corresponding parties. The interlocution -accordingly takes place, when each one in turn begins to interrogate -the speaker in his excluded position, on subjects relating to their -excluded guard, of which the speaker knows but little or nothing, -except the cognition of their presence on his arrival; and in order to -acquaint himself with the circumstances and matters inquired after, so -as to answer correctly, the speaker has to disencumber himself at every -inquiry, and not only so, but would also fail to perform his _devolved_ -duty by submitting himself to the scrutiny and criticism of the -corresponding parties. Which, then, of the two requirements would be of -the most consequence—to discommode the general interest of the assembly -and that of his own official duty, or to omit the latter and attend to -the discharge of a more important and higher duty, by which the peace -and consoling riches would be augmented to the fulness of their cup? - -1520. Now, this is the position our presiding spirit occupies. When -himself and band enter the room, he recognises, many bright guardian -spirits interspersed among the promiscuous assembly, of whom he has -no knowledge. And in the discharge of their manifesting performances, -they necessarily must assume physical incumbrances, which shuts them -from a direct view of the attending spirits; and as many questions that -are led in relation to them so often, the corresponding spirit has -to disrobe himself so as to give a correct relation, to say nothing -of the possibility of receiving and conveying wrong impressions from -spirits who do not regard the truth. - -1521. Given by Second King, at the council of the presiding band. - - - THE ABOVE IS CERTIFIED TO. - -1522. After this communication had been read, a certificate, setting -forth the above facts was drawn up and signed by all those present, as -follows: - -1523. _Audience present._—Portia Gage, Gage’s Lake, Ill.; John Gage, -Gage’s Lake, Lake county, Ill.; Solomon Bordon, Millfield, Athens -county, Ohio; Thomas Morris and wife, Hyram Schenick, Selah Van Sickle, -Delaware, Ohio. - -1524. _Mediums present._—Jonathan Koons, Abigail T. Koons, Nahum W. -Koons. - - - CONCLUDING REMARKS. - -1525. When a person comes here and sees the rooms, and finds them open -all day for the children to run in and out of, and for visitors to -examine, and sees there are no juggler’s tools about, and no place to -keep them; the mediums and all engaged are of that artless stamp, and -in their whole appearance, bearing, and conduct, so marked with honesty -and sincerity of purpose, that the idea of their being imposters, or -of their psychologizing their auditors, is simply ridiculous. That -the music is not imaginary, is proved in another way, if further -proof is necessary; it can be heard as well outside as inside of the -houses, and is frequently heard by the neighbours for miles around. -There is no question about the manifestations, and about their having -all that superhuman or unaccountable character that the most sanguine -writers have given them. They rather seem to be over-cautious about -exaggerating any thing, and consequently fall far short of conveying -an adequate idea of the phenomena. Therefore, all we have to do is to -account for these existing facts, for the facts cannot be controverted. -The intelligence displayed is sometimes of a high order, and they -always claim to be spirits of men or women who have left the earthly -form, and passed to that undiscovered country from whose bourne it has -been said no travellers return. But of this every one can judge for -themselves, though it is difficult to imagine what they can be, if they -are not spirits. JOHN GAGE. - - - _An Evening at Koon’s Spirit Room. By Charles Partridge, Esq., New - York._ - -1526. Sunday evening, 27th May last, I walked some three miles through -a wood over a very poor road, in the direction of what is called -the spirit rooms of Jonathan Koons. I noticed at the foot of a hill -several carriages by the roadside, and horses tied to the fence and -trees; and on reaching the place, I observed from thirty to fifty men -sitting on stones, logs, and fences around a dilapidated log-cabin. -The men looked respectable, and their deportment and conversation -bore the impress of a religious meeting. I inquired who lived there, -and was informed that Jonathan Koons lived in that house, (pointing -to the cabin,) and _that_ (pointing to a small one near by) is the -spirits’ room. I inquired what spirits lived there, and was told that -it was the room where people go in to talk with their spirit friends -who have gone out of their earthly tabernacle. On inquiry as to what -this gathering was for, I was informed that these people had come to -talk with their spirit friends and to witness spirit manifestations. -I was informed that I might go in—that everybody was free to enter -and examine the room, and to attend the circle. I selected a good -“soft” stone, and sat me down, a perfect stranger, with the other -disciples. I scrutinized the people closely, and listened to their -conversation without joining in it. I overheard one say that Mr. Koons -was in his house. In the course of half an hour a man came out, whom -several persons addressed as Mr. Koons; he glanced his eyes over the -congregation; presently, two men drove up, who, as I subsequently -learned, came from Amesville, some ten miles distant; they were entire -strangers to me and I to them; they looked around, spoke with some -persons, and then with Mr. Koons, asking whom he had there, &c., and -finally asked him who I was, pointing me out to Mr. Koons. Mr. Koons -observed that he had not learned my name, that I had just come; but -he was impressed by spirits to say, “His name is Charles Partridge, -of New York.” Soon after, one of these men approached me, and asked -if I was Mr. Partridge, from New York. I answered in the affirmative. -“Charles Partridge?” “Yes.” “Well,” said he, “the spirits told Mr. -Koons who you were.” I had not overheard their conversation, but such -was the result of one of my tests as to the spirit origin of these -manifestations. - -1527. Mr. Koons and one of his children (a medium) went into the -spirit room alone, as is their custom before forming the public -circle, to receive such instruction from the presiding spirit (King) -as he might wish to communicate. There are often more persons present -desiring to obtain admittance than the room will hold. In such cases -the spirit directs Mr. Koons to especially invite those in who have -come the longest distance, and such as cannot remain there for another -opportunity, usually calling the names of the parties, and leaving out -the neighbours and those who can make it convenient to be present on -subsequent occasions. At one of these preliminary interviews, I was -invited in by Mr. Koons. Immediately on closing the doors, the spirit -took up the trumpet, (described in my last communication,) and spoke -through it audibly and distinctly, saying, “Good evening, friends!” -to which we responded in like manner. The spirit then addressed me by -name, and observed, in substance, that although they were strangers -to me, I was not a stranger to them: they had been cognizant of my -thoughts, desires, and efforts in behalf of Spiritualism from the -time my attention was first called to the subject. They spoke in very -flattering terms of myself and others, who had been bold to testify to -the spiritual manifestations witnessed in the early times, and during -the severer trials and opposition. They had watched the TELEGRAPH with -anxious solicitude, and with eminent satisfaction. They closed in a -fervent benediction and consecration to further and greater good and -uses. After which this spirit (King) said to Mr. Koons, that they could -not hold a public circle that evening, as he was elsewhere engaged. -Mr. Koons expressed much regret at this announcement, and said he felt -much embarrassed and mortified, because several persons were there -who had come a long way; some from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, -Canada, and other distant places. The spirit said he was sorry, but -he had engaged to attend a circle elsewhere, (naming the place a long -distance away,) and he must be there in fifteen minutes. Mr. Koons -would not be satisfied with any excuses, but insisted that he (King) -had agreed to preside over his circle, and meet the company who came -there; and rather than be made the instrument of apology to others for -the disappointment in the performances, he would abandon it altogether, -etc. King said, “Wait a few moments, and I will go and see if -arrangements can be made.” He thereupon laid down the trumpet, and to -all appearances left us, and we could get no further replies for four -or five minutes, when the trumpet was again taken up, and King spoke -through it, saying he had arranged the matter by deputizing a portion -of his band to fill his engagement, and they would therefore hold a -circle in that place, commencing the performance in fifteen minutes, -but perhaps they would not be able to make so good music, or have the -full complement of the manifestations. Thus ended this preliminary -interview, which sufficiently indicates the character of all similar -ones. - -1528. I attended three public circles in the spirit house of Mr. Koons, -and three in the spirit house of Mr. John Tippie; they are situated -about three miles apart; the rooms and manifestations are very similar, -although the electrical tables, so called, differ somewhat in their -construction; the presiding spirits are of the same name, King; they -claim to be father and son. These rooms will seat about twenty-five -or thirty persons each, and are usually full. Many times, while I was -there, more persons desired to go in than the house would hold, and -some of them had to remain outside. They could hear the music and -the spirits’ conversation just as well, and they only had to forego -being touched by spirits and seeing them. The music is heard, under -favourable circumstances, at the distance of one mile, or as far as -any band of martial music can be heard. After the circle is formed, -the door and windows are shut, the light is usually extinguished, and -almost instantaneously, a tremendous blow by the large drumstick is -struck on the table, when immediately the bass and tenor drums are -beaten rapidly, like calling the roll on the muster-field, waking a -thousand echoes. The rapid and tremulous blows on these drums are -really frightful to many persons. This beating of the drums is -continued five minutes or more, and when ended, King usually takes up -the trumpet and salutes us with “Good evening, friends,” or something -like it, and often asks what particular manifestations are desired. -If none are specially asked for, King often asks Mr. Koons to play on -the violin, the spirit band playing at the same time on the drums, -triangle, tamborine, harp, accordeon, harmonica, etc. etc.; upon these -the spirits perform scientifically, in very quick and perfect time. -They commence upon each instrument at one instant, and in full blast, -and stop suddenly after sounding the full note, showing that they have -some more perfect method than we have of notifying each performer of -the instant to start and stop. After the introductory piece on the -instruments, the spirits often sing. I heard them sing. The spirits -spoke to us, requesting us to remain perfectly silent. Presently, we -heard human voices singing, apparently in the distance, so as to be -scarcely distinguishable; the sounds gradually increased, each part -relatively, until it appeared as if a full choir of human voices were -in our small room, singing most exquisitely. I think I never heard such -perfect harmony; each part was performed with strict attention to its -relative degree of sound or force. There was none of that flopping, -floundering, ranting, and shrieking which constitutes the staple of -what is latterly called music; _harmony_, rather than _noise_, seemed -to constitute the spirits’ song. So captivating was it, that the -heartstrings seemed to relax or to increase their tension, to accord -with the heavenly harmony. It seems to me that no person could sit -in that sanctuary without feeling the song of “Glory to God in the -highest, peace on earth, and good-will to man,” spontaneously rising -in the bosom, and finding expression on the lip. I don’t know that the -spirits attempted to utter words with their song; if they did, they -succeeded in this particular no better than modern singers. But it was -hardly necessary for the spirits to articulate, for every strain and -modulation seemed pregnant with holy sentiments, and language could -scarcely signify more. After this vocal performance, several pieces of -quick music were performed by the spirits on the several instruments. -They play faster than mortals usually do, and in most perfect time -throughout. If any instrument gets out of chord, they tune it; they -tuned the violin in my presence, and did it rapidly and skilfully. - -1529. Spirits reconstruct their physical bodies, or portions of them, -from similar elements, apparently, as those which constitute our mortal -bodies. Spirits’ hands and arms were reorganized in our presence, on -several of these occasions; and that we might see the more distinctly, -they sometimes wet their hands with a weak solution of phosphorus, -(which Mr. Koons prepared some time previous by their request,) which -emits a light, so that their hands can be almost as distinctly seen in -a dark room as they could be if the room were light. At one of these -circles which I attended, there were three hands which had been covered -with this solution of phosphorus, and we all saw them passing swiftly -around the room, over our heads, carrying the instruments, and playing -upon the violin, accordeon, triangle, harmonica, and tamborine, and -all keeping perfect time. These instruments were moved so swiftly and -near the faces of the audience,—our own among them,—that we felt the -cool atmospheric current as distinctly as we do that produced by a -fan. Several of the company in different parts of the room remarked -that they not only felt this disturbance of the air, but heard it, -and distinctly saw the hand and instrument pass close to their faces. -Several of us requested the spirits to place these instruments in our -hands, or touch us on our heads or other parts of our bodies; and in -most cases it was instantly done. I held up my hands, and requested the -spirits to beat time with the tamborine on my hands. They did so, and -gave me more than I asked for, by striking my knees, hands, and head -in a similar manner. I have seen the tamborine players in the minstrel -bands of New York; I have seen the best performers in the country; but -they cannot perform equal to these spirits. The perfect time and the -rapidity with which they beat are truly surprising. - -1530. Spirit hands with phosphorus upon them passed around the room, -opening and shutting, and exhibiting them in various ways and positions -which no mortal hand could assume or occupy—demonstrating them to -be veritable spirit hands, physically organized. The phosphorescent -illumination from these hands was so distinct, that it occurred to -me I could see to read by it; and I took a pamphlet from my pocket, -and asked the spirit to place the hand over it, that I might see if I -could read by the light. The spirit did so, when I at once perceived -that I held the pamphlet wrong end up. I turned it, and could read. -The members of the circle remarked that they could see very plainly -my hands, face, and the pamphlet I held, and as distinctly could see -the spirit’s hand and a portion of the arm. I then put out my hands, -and asked the spirits to shake hands with me; they did so almost -instantly. I then asked them to let me examine their hands, and they -placed them in mine, and I looked at them and felt them until I was -entirely satisfied. Others asked the same favour, and it was readily -granted them. These spirit hands appeared to be reorganized from the -same elements that our hands are; and, except that they had a kind of -tremulous motion, and some of them being cold and death-like, we could -not by our senses distinguish them from hands of persons living in the -form. - -1531. This spirit hand took a pen, and we all distinctly saw it write -on paper which was lying on the table; the writing was executed much -more rapidly than I ever saw mortal hand perform; the paper was then -handed to me by the spirit, and I still retain it in my possession. At -the close of the session the spirit of King, as is his custom, took up -the trumpet and gave us a short lecture through it—speaking audibly -and distinctly, presenting the benefits to be derived, both in time -and eternity, from intercourse with spirits, and exhorting us to be -discreet and bold in speech, diligent in our investigations, faithful -to the responsibilities which these privileges impose, charitable -toward those who are in ignorance and error, tempering our zeal with -wisdom; and finally closing with a benediction. - -1532. I am aware that these facts so much transcend the ordinary -experience of mortals, that few persons can accept them as true on any -amount of human testimony. I obtained the addresses of the following -named persons, and hope they will excuse me for the liberty I take -in referring to them in this connection, for the confirmation of -my statements. They were present at some or all the circles which -I attended, when these manifestations occurred: R. I. Butterfield, -Cleveland, Ohio; William D. Young, Covington, Ind.; George and David -Brier, Rainsville, Ind.; David Edger and daughter, Mercer co., Pa.; S. -Van Sickle, Delaware, O.; S. T. Dean, Andrew Ogg, and Geo. Walker and -son, Amesville, O.; Azel Johnson, Millfield, O.; W. S. Watkins, New -York; Thomas Morris and wife, Dover, O.; Dr. Geo. Carpenter, Athens, -O.; Thomas White, Mount Pleasant, O. Many other persons were present, -whose names I did not learn. CHARLES PARTRIDGE. - - - _Experience of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge._ - -1533. The following communication from Governor Tallmadge to Mrs. -Sarah H. Whitman, of Providence, R. I., has been in print for some -time, and came out early, when Spiritualism had made too little -impression to be duly appreciated. I for one, at the period of its -first publication, could not realize it. But the public are now better -prepared, and it may be repeated with advantage. Besides, this work -is made for the uninformed and incredulous, rather than for those who -have been heretofore converted, and who are familiar with the earliest -manifestations. - - BALTIMORE, _Tuesday, April 12, 1853_. -1534. _Dear Madam_: I seize a few leisure moments, while detained here -a short time on business, to give you a more extended account of the -“Physical Manifestations” to which I alluded in a former letter. In -this account, I shall confine myself to those which purport to come -from the spirit of John C. Calhoun. - -1535. I have received numerous communications from him, from the -commencement of my investigation of this subject down to the present -time. Those communications have been received through rapping -mediums, writing mediums, and speaking mediums. They are of the most -extraordinary character. In style and sentiment, they would do honour -to him in his best days on earth. - -1536. After the arrival of the Misses Fox in Washington City, in -February last, I called on them by appointment, and, at once, received -a communication from Calhoun. I then wrote down and propounded -_mentally_ the following question: - -1537. “Can you _do_ any thing (meaning physical manifestations) to -confirm me in the truth of these revelations, and to remove from my -mind the least shadow of unbelief?” To which I received the following -answer: - -1538. “I will give you a communication on Monday, at half-past seven -o’clock. Do not fail to be here. I will then give you an explanation. - “JOHN C. CALHOUN.” - -1539. It is proper here to remark, that all the communications referred -to in this letter, were made by Calhoun after a call for the alphabet, -and were rapped out, letter by letter, and taken down by me in the -usual way. They were made in the presence of the Misses Fox and their -mother. I called on Monday at the hour appointed, and received the -following communication: - -1540. “My friend, the question is often put to you, ‘What good can -result from these manifestations?’ I will answer it. It is to draw -mankind together in harmony, and convince skeptics of the immortality -of the soul. JOHN C. CALHOUN.” - -1541. This reminds me that, in 1850, at Bridgeport, in the presence of -other mediums, among many questions put and answers received, were the -following, the answer purporting to come from W. E. Channing: - -1542. _Q._ What do spirits propose to accomplish by these new -manifestations? _A._ To unite mankind, and to convince skeptical minds -of the immortality of the soul. - -1543. The coincidence in sentiment of the answer of J. C. Calhoun -and W. E. Channing, in regard to the object of these manifestations, -is remarkable, and worthy of particular notice. The concurrence of -two such great minds, whether in or out of the body, on a subject so -engrossing, cannot fail to command the attention of every admirer of -exalted intellect and moral purity. - -1544. During the above communication of Calhoun, the table moved -occasionally, perhaps a foot, first one way and then the other. After -the communication closed, we all moved back from the table, from two to -four feet, _so that no one touched the table_. Suddenly the table moved -from the position it occupied some three or four feet, rested a few -moments, and then moved back to its original position. Then it again -moved as far the other way, and returned to the place it started from. -One side of the table was then raised, and stood for a few moments at -an angle of about thirty-five degrees, and then again rested on the -floor as usual. - -1545. The table was a large, heavy, round table, at which ten or a -dozen persons might be seated at dinner. _During all these movements -no person touched the table, nor was any one near it._ After seeing it -raised in the manner above mentioned, I had the curiosity to test its -weight by raising it myself. I accordingly took my seat by it, placed -my hands under the leaf, and exerted as much force as I was capable of -in that sitting posture, and could not raise it a particle from the -floor. I then stood up in the best possible position to exert the -greatest force, took hold of the leaf, and still could not raise it -with all the strength I could apply. I then requested the three ladies -to take hold around the table, and try altogether to lift it. We lifted -upon it until the leaf and top began to crack, and did not raise it -a particle. We then desisted, fearing we should break the table. I -then said, “Will the spirits permit me to raise the table?” I took -hold alone and raised it without difficulty. After this, the following -conversation ensued: - -1546. _Q._ Can you raise the table entirely from the floor? _A._ Yes. - -1547. _Q._ Will you raise me with it? _A._ Yes. Get me the square table. - -1548. The square table was of cherry, with four legs—a large-sized -tea-table. It was brought out and substituted for the round one, the -leaves being raised. I took my seat on the centre; the three ladies sat -at the sides and end, their hands and arms resting upon it. This, of -course, added to the weight to be raised—namely, my own weight and the -weight of the table. Two legs of the table were then raised about six -inches from the floor, and then the other two were raised to a level of -the first, _so that the whole table was suspended in the air about six -inches above the floor_. While thus seated on it, I could feel a gentle -vibratory motion, as if floating in the atmosphere. After being thus -suspended in the air for a few moments, the table was gently let down -again to the floor! - -1549. Some pretend to say, that these physical manifestations are made -by electricity! I should like to know by what laws of electricity -known to us, a table is at one time riveted, as it were, to the floor, -against all the force that could be exerted to raise it; and at another -time raised entirely from the floor, with more than two hundred pounds -weight upon it? - -1550. At a subsequent meeting, Calhoun directed me to bring three bells -and a guitar. I brought them accordingly. The bells were of different -sizes—the largest like a small-sized dinner-bell. He directed a drawer -to be put under the square table. I put under a bureau-drawer, bottom -side up. He directed the bells to be placed on the drawer. The three -ladies and myself were seated at the table with our hands and arms -resting on it. The bells commenced ringing in a sort of chime. Numerous -raps were made, as if beating time to a march. The bells continued to -ring and to chime in with the beating of time. The time of the march -was slow and solemn. It was beautiful and perfect. The most fastidious -ear could not detect any discrepancy in it. - -1551. The raps then ceased, and the bells rang violently for several -minutes. A bell was then pressed on my foot, my ankle, and my -knee. This was at different times repeated. Knocks were made _most -vehemently_ against the underside of the table, so that a large tin -candlestick was, by every blow, raised completely from the table by the -concussion. - -1552. I afterward examined the underside of the table, (which, it will -be recollected, was of cherry,) and found _indentations_ in the wood, -made by the end of the handle of the bell, which was tipped with brass. -Could electricity make those violent knocks with the handle of the -bell, causing indentations and raising the candlestick from the table -at every blow? Or was it done by the same invisible power that riveted -the table to the floor and again raised it, with all the weight upon -it, entirely above the floor? - -1553. Here the ringing of the bells ceased, and then I felt sensibly -and distinctly the impression of a hand on my foot, ankle, and knee. -These manifestations were several times repeated. - -1554. I was then directed to put the guitar on the drawer. We were -all seated as before, with our hands and arms resting on the table. -The guitar was touched softly and gently, and gave forth sweet and -delicious sounds, like the accompaniment to a beautiful and exquisite -piece of music. It then played a sort of symphony, in much louder and -bolder tones. And, as it played, these harmonious sounds becoming soft, -and sweet, and low, began to recede, and grew fainter and fainter, -till they died away on the ear in the distance. Then they returned and -grew louder and nearer, till they were heard again in full and gushing -volume, as when they commenced. I am utterly incapable of giving any -adequate idea of the beauty and harmony of this music. I have heard the -guitar touched by the most delicate and scientific hands, and heard -from it, under such guidance, the most splendid performances. But -never did I hear any thing that fastened upon the very soul like these -prophetic strains drawn out by an invisible hand from the spirit-world. -While listening to it, I was ready to exclaim, in the language of the -Bard of Avon— - -1555. “That strain again; it had a dying fall; - Oh, it came o’er my ear like the sweet south - That breathes upon a bank of violets, - Stealing and giving odour.” - -1556. After the music had ceased, the following communication was -received: - -1557. “This is my hand that touches you and the guitar. - JOHN C. CALHOUN.” - -1558. At another time, the following physical manifestation was made -in the presence of General Hamilton, General Waddy Thompson, of South -Carolina, and myself: - -1559. We were directed to place the Bible on a drawer under the table. -I placed it there, completely closed. It was a small pocket Bible, with -very fine print. Numerous raps were then heard, beating time to “Hail -Columbia,” which had been called for. Soon the sounds began to recede, -and grew fainter and fainter, till, like the music of the guitar, they -died away in the distance. The alphabet was then called for, and it -was spelled out, “Look.” I looked on the drawer and found the Bible -open. I took it up and carefully kept it open at the place as I found -it. On bringing it to the light, I found it open at St. John’s Gospel, -chapter ii. being on the left side, and chapter iii. being on the right -side. I said, “Do you wish us to look at chapter ii.?” _A._ “No.” -“Do you wish us to look at chapter iii.?” _A._ “Yes.” And it was -then said, “Read.” I commenced reading the chapter, and significant -and emphatic raps were given at many verses; and at verses 8, 11, 19, -34, _most vehement_ raps were given. By looking at these verses, you -will appreciate the significancy and intelligence of this emphatic -demonstration. This manifestation purported to come from Calhoun, who -had previously invited us three gentlemen to be present at a particular -hour. - -1560. In reflecting on the preceding manifestations, one cannot but -marvel at the power by which they are made, and the _intelligence_ -by which that power is directed. And it would seem impossible for -one to doubt the source of that intelligence. If, however, doubt -should still remain on the mind of any one acquainted with similar -manifestations, that doubt must be entirely dispelled by the account of -the manifestation which follows: - -1561. I was present, by Calhoun’s appointment, with the Misses Fox and -their mother. We were seated at the table as heretofore, our hands -and arms resting upon it. I was directed to put paper and pencil on -the drawer. I placed several sheets of unruled letter-paper, together -with a wood pencil, on it. I soon heard the sound of the pencil on the -paper. It was then rapped out, “Get the pencil and sharpen it.” I -looked under the table, but did not see the pencil. At length I found -it lying diagonally from me, three or four feet from the table. The -lead was broken off within the wood. I sharpened it, and again put it -on the drawer. Again I heard the sound of the pencil on the paper. -On being directed to look at the paper, I discovered pencil marks on -each side of the outer sheet, but no writing. Then was received the -following communication: - -1562. “The power is not enough to write a sentence. This will show you -that I _can_ write. If you meet on Friday, precisely at seven, I will -write a short sentence. JOHN C. CALHOUN.” - -1563. We met, pursuant to appointment, took our seats at the table, -our hands and arms resting on it as usual. I placed the paper with my -silver-cased pencil on the drawer, and said: - -1564. “My friend, I wish the sentence to be in your own handwriting, -so that your friends will recognise it.” He replied, “You will know -the writing.” He then said, “Have your minds on the spirit of John C. -Calhoun.” - -1565. I soon heard a rapid movement of the pencil on the paper, and a -rustling of the paper, together with a movement of the drawer. I was -then directed to look under the drawer. I looked, and found my pencil -outside of the drawer, near my feet, but found no paper on the drawer -where I placed it. On raising up the drawer, I discovered the paper -all under it. The sheets were a little deranged, and on examining, I -found on the outside sheet these words: “_I’m with you still_.” - -1566. I afterward showed the “sentence” to General James Hamilton, -former Governor of South Carolina, General Waddy Thompson, former -Minister to Mexico, General Robert B. Campbell, late Consul at Havana, -together with other intimate friends of Calhoun, and also to one of his -sons, all of whom are as well acquainted with his handwriting as their -own; and they all pronounced it to be a perfect _fac simile_ of the -handwriting of JOHN C. CALHOUN. - -1567. General Hamilton stated a fact, in connection with this writing, -of great significance. He says that Calhoun was in the habit of writing -“I’m,” for “I am,” and that he has numerous letters from him where -the abbreviation is thus used. - -1568. Mrs. General Macomb has stated the same fact to me. She says -that her husband, the late General Macomb, has shown to her Calhoun’s -letters to him, where this abbreviation “I’m” was used for “I am,” -and spoke of it as a peculiarity of Calhoun. - -1569. How significant, then, does this fact become! We have not only -the most unequivocal testimony to the handwriting itself, but, lest -any skeptic should suggest the possibility of an imitation or a -counterfeit, this abbreviation, peculiar to himself, and known only -to his most intimate friends, and which no imitator or counterfeiter -could know, is introduced by way of putting such a suggestion to flight -forever. - -1570. This “sentence” is perfectly characteristic of Calhoun. It -contains his terseness of style, and his condensation of thought. -It is a text from which volumes might be written. It proves—1. The -immortality of the soul; 2. The power of spirits to revisit the earth; -3. Their ability to communicate with relatives and friends; and, 4. The -identity of the spirit to all eternity. - -1571. How one’s soul expands with these sublime connections! How -resistless is this testimony of their truth! How surprising that men -can doubt, when this flood of living light is poured upon them by -spirits who, in the language of Webster, “revel in the glory of the -eternal light of God.” - Very truly yours, N. P. TALLMADGE. - - MRS. SARAH HELEN WHITMAN, Providence, R. I. - - - _Letter from Mr. D. H. Hume.—Spiritualism in London._ - -1572. The author of the letter which comes under this head has already -been introduced to the readers of this work, in giving an account of -the manifestations observed through his mediumship, (393.) - - EALING VILLA, NEAR LONDON, July 26, 1855. -1573. * * * In London I found but a limited number, comparatively -speaking, who possess any intelligent or rational idea of the -spiritual philosophy. The subject has not made any great advance here; -but those who are investigating include in their number some of the -best minds of England. The first call I received was from Sir Charles -E. Ischam, who has proved a most excellent friend to me. A day or two -after this I received an invitation from Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton to -visit him at his country-seat at Knebworth. I accepted his invitation, -and had an interesting and delightful visit. - -1574. I was deeply interested in Sir Edward, who is, by birth, -education, and mind, a most superior person. His love of the beautiful, -in nature and art, but especially in nature, is manifested at every -part of his wide domain. Knebworth was originally built by a follower -of the Conqueror, and was, in the year of the Armada, occupied by Queen -Elizabeth. The state-room contains the bed upon which her majesty -slept. It has rich velvet hangings—the same which shaded the slumbers -of Queen Bess. The room of the extensive library contains the oak table -at which Cromwell, Pym & Co. sat while planning the rebellion. * * * We -had some manifestations at our _seances_ almost as good as those we had -at -—- ‘s in your place. The spirits showed their presence in the same -palpable way, by presenting tangible hands, shaking hands, &c., and Sir -Edward “acknowledges the corn,” to use a Yankee vulgarism. He is much -interested in the subject, and has bestowed no small share of thought -upon the matter. - -1575. I have also had the pleasure of being presented to the -Marchioness of H-—-s, Baroness G-—-y R-—-n. She is a highly -intellectual and altogether charming lady, who possesses much native -refinement and a fearless desire to learn and follow the TRUTH. I -met, too, the Earl of E-—-e and the Marquis of C-—-e, at one of our -circles a few evenings since. A most kind friend I also found in the -Vicomte de St. Amirro, Chargé d’Affaires from Brazil, who has given -me valuable letters to France. I am to meet him and his lady (both -investigators) the coming autumn at the Neapolitan court. - -1576. I enclose a paragraph from one of the London journals, giving a -sketch of an interview I had with Lord Brougham and Sir David Brewster. -The latter, as you are well aware, wrote that article in the _Edinburgh -Review_, some months ago, in which he argued against the existence of -spirit agency in the production of the manifestations, and in which -he denounced the whole matter, in the bitterest terms, as a delusion -and an imposition. His article has been eagerly and widely quoted -by the opponents of Spiritualism on both sides of the Atlantic, and -its statements are doubtless believed by those who are incapable of -appreciating or comprehending the truths which they assail. - -1577. Sir David, however, has for once met with a “_stumper_,” for -he has seen and felt such manifestations of his spirit friends as -to completely upset his philosophy. He frankly confessed that he -is “sorely puzzled” at what he has witnessed, and Lord Brougham -acknowledges himself to be thoroughly nonplussed. Both of these noted -men brought the whole force of their keen discernment to bear upon the -solution of the phenomena; but the presence of substantial, actual -hands, and the demonstrative strength of the spirits who thus clothed -themselves for the time and moved material objects about the room, -proved to be too much of a question for them to master. - -1578. Time will not allow me to mention the various interesting -sittings I have had, nor the many distinguished personages who have -been in our circles during my short stay in London. I am at present -enjoying the quiet of an English country home. The gentleman with whom -I am stopping (Mr. Rymer) is one of the most distinguished solicitors -in London. He has been a _materialist_, or disbeliever in a future -state, all his life previous to witnessing these demonstrations of -spirit existence. He is now a believer (or rather a _knower_) of the -future life. The manifestations, so often scoffed at by professing -Christians, have done for him, as they have for upward of twenty-five -thousand infidels and atheists in America, what no power of the pulpit -or doctrine of evangelical religion could ever have effected. - -1579. Is not this one fact alone a sufficient reply to the oft-repeated -question of “What good does it all do?” There is many a broad-loving -soul that, failing in the effort to narrow itself down to the limits -of a dogmatical creed, has ended in infidelity or blank atheism; but -the number of these is becoming steadily less by the influence of the -spirit manifestations, which are to them what the placing of the hand -in the spear-wound was to Thomas. Mr. R., since his conversion, has -given a lecture on the subject, and will give another. - -1580. One thing I will not omit. Mrs. Trollope, whom Americans will be -apt to remember, came, with her son, from Florence to London for the -express purpose of seeing the manifestations. They were accordingly -invited to spend a few days with me at my village home; and, I must -say, I was agreeably disappointed in her. My previous ideas of her had -not been such as to prepossess me in her favour, but I have become an -admirer of her private character. She has none of the stiffness of -the author about her, nor any of the “blue-stocking.” She enjoys the -realities of existence more fully than any one I have ever met in a -circle. - -1581. The _seance_ with her was one of strange interest. Her son -was an unbeliever, and his mother was very desirous that he should -be “brought to a knowledge of the truth.” When at length the light -_did_ beam upon his soul, and the chords of his spirit vibrated in -unison with the celestial harmonies that ushered in the birth of faith -through the shadows of his old unbelief, the result was too much for -his stoicism, and the tears of holy joy coursed down his manly cheeks. -_Her_ joy was too great for utterance, and her rapturous emotions -seemingly too great to be endured. It was an impressive scene, and an -occasion of deep interest. There are many such in the life of a spirit -medium. - -1582. In a few weeks I leave England for the Continent, in company with -my friend, Mr. Rymer. We intend to reach Rome in November, where we -purpose to spend a few months, if his holiness will let us. You shall -hear from me again. - Yours truly, D. H. HUME. - -The following is the article referred to as having appeared in the -London Journal: - - - _Lord Brougham with the Spirits._ - -1583. “A circumstance which has excited the most extraordinary -sensation among the privileged few who have been admitted within the -sphere of its operations, has taken place at Ealing, a village on the -Uxbridge road. A young gentleman, named Hume, a native of Scotland, but -who has resided for many years in America, is now on a visit at the -house of Mr. Rymer, a highly respectable solicitor. Mr. Hume is what -the Americans term a ‘medium,’ and through his instrumentality some -extraordinary and, if true, miraculous, occurrences have taken place. - -1584. “The spirits of deceased persons have been heard and felt in Mr. -Rymer’s house, and a variety of circumstances have taken place, which -the persons who were present affirm could not have been produced except -by supernatural agency. One of the spirits is supposed to be that of a -son of Mr. Rymer, a little boy about eleven or twelve years of age, who -has been induced to write to his parents under the cover of the table, -and the writing is, to all appearances, precisely similar to that of -the child when alive. Mr. Rymer, who is thoroughly convinced of the -_bonâ fides_ of the affair, has invited several persons to witness the -manifestations, and among them the Rev. Mr. Lambert, the incumbent, who -has become a devout believer in the existence of these communicative -spirits. - -1585. “Some rumours of the spirit manifestations having reached Lord -Brougham, the medium had an interview with the noble and learned lord -in the presence of Sir David Brewster, when several unaccountable -revelations were made, and even Lord Brougham has confessed himself -amazed and sorely bothered to comprehend the description of agency by -which an accordeon is forced into his hands and made to play, or his -watch taken out of his pocket and found in the hands of some other -persons in the room; for such are among the vagaries performed by the -Ealing spirits. The house of Mr. Rymer is, of course, besieged by -persons anxious to witness the manifestations, and scarcely a night -passes that some scoffer is not converted into a true believer in the -mystery of spiritual manifestations.” - - - _Evidence afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson._ - -1586. The following is the summary of the result of the investigation -of spiritual manifestations by the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of the Baptist -Church, Nashville, Tennessee. - -1587. His sentiments are of a nature to need no recommendation, as -they appeal to the head and the heart. He is one of the advocates of -Spiritualism of whom we have reason to be proud. It is from his work, -entitled “A Record of Communications from the Spirit Spheres,” that -this summary is quoted: - -1588. “You will now allow me to sum up briefly the phenomena I have -witnessed since my investigations began: - -1589. “First. I have seen tables and other furniture moved, with and -without hands; heard distinct and sometimes loud raps on the ceiling, -floor, and furniture of various rooms, which were changed from one -locality to another, as doubts arose as to any unobserved causes, to -which we would have attributed them but for the transition; have heard -them upon my person, clothing, pillow, pulpit, and still have them in -almost every serious hour of thought and meditation, and have them near -me as I write; and I find this experience to be that of hundreds who, -with me and others, believers and skeptics, have witnessed or realized -all I here state to be true. - -1590. “Second. I have heard, in the presence of scores, whose names -are at any man’s command who may desire them for an honest reference, -native Americans, who never spoke a word of German, discourse for -hours in that tongue, in prose and poetry, in the presence of native -Germans, who pronounced their addresses pure specimens of the power of -their language. I see, daily, lengthy essays and books written under -what claims to be spirit intelligence, above, far above, the capacity -and culture of the instruments through whom they are written. There is -scarcely a day in which I do not receive such communications; and if a -day passes without it, it is my neglect, not that of the intelligence, -that seems ever ready to speak when a proper medium can be secured. -At home and abroad, in the houses of strangers and acquaintances, -such mediums have described the age, appearance, time of death, and -the peculiarities of character of the deceased relatives of persons -present, and where they could have had no acquaintance with them, and, -in many instances, could not have known of their existence or death. I -have had meetings of mediums who knew nothing of each other occur at my -house and elsewhere, without their knowledge, and to which they were -brought from a distance of miles, and which seemed as inexplicable to -them as to me, until after some effect for their benefit was secured -by their meeting, and explained by their spirit monitors. To prove the -identity of spirit intelligences, communicating to me through others, -they have detailed private conversations held with me during their -earth life; referred to incidents and events of which the mediums -could have known nothing; described, accurately, occurrences taking -place at a distance of hundreds of miles; answered questions that had -been written in my private records for future investigation, months -after they had passed from my active memory; stated the state of my -investigations of various subjects, with the folly or wisdom, as they -regarded it, of my difficulties; leaving me, on the whole, no choice -as to whether I would regard them as what they claimed to be, save -that of honest conviction or the most shameless hypocrisy. Allow me to -say, therefore, that there is no event of history, no fact in mental -philosophy, no conclusions in logical dialectics, more fully and -forcibly established, in my convictions, than the following: - -1591. “I BELIEVE, I KNOW, THAT I HAVE HELD, AND NOW FREQUENTLY HOLD, -COMMUNION, INTELLIGIBLE AND IMPROVING, WITH KINDRED AND ELEVATED -SPIRITS, WHO HAVE PASSED FROM FLESHLY SIGHT. - -1592. “You will not be surprised, therefore, at my willingness to risk -reputation, the dearest ties of friendship, and prospects of earthly -gain and honour, if need be, in the avowal and propagation of this -faith, and the results to which it must inevitably lead. God knows, -and every intimate friend on earth knows, that I would hesitate, long -and seriously, to avow a faith that was doubtful in my own mind, or -of doubtful influence for good in my dim foresight, where so much -is apparently at stake. I think I may safely appeal to my past life -as proof that the dearest personal and earthly considerations have -often been sacrificed, where it was thought my action would affect -the interests or happiness of others. Know, then, that it is from the -maturest consideration of duty, and the obligation that every man owes -to truth and right, and especially when truth and right are ridiculed -and denounced, that I detail to you these results of a long experience -and the most serious and solemn investigations of my life. Willingly, I -cannot find it in my heart to disappoint a friend or injure an enemy. -And with such friends as in the providence of God have surrounded -me, who have proved themselves true and enduring when every form of -bigotry and animosity were aroused against my position, reputation, and -influence,—with all this pressure of enmity and friendship upon me, you -must know, and all will hereafter know, that nothing but loyalty to -conviction and a desire to preserve privileges I have learned to esteem -above what men call life or death, could induce me to lay these facts -before the world. - -1593. “If it be asked what good we expect to effect by the statement -of these facts, we answer, the spread of truth upon the dearest, -purest, and holiest relations of man, and the breaking away of the -clouds that gather around the mind of man in view of death and -futurity, the darkness of which can nowhere be more distinctly -felt than in the asking of such a question. The purity, angelic -loveliness, and divine holiness that such a faith, if firmly based, -must secure, inspires the loyal soul as with heavenly beatitudes in the -contemplation. Its power to restrain and reform; to soften the hard -heart of evil indulgence; to expose the still harder heart of bigotry -and religious denunciation; to moisten the eye of criminal effrontery, -which the hypocrisies of the world have made stern and fixed; to bring -the strong man of selfish apathy, as a child once more in company with -his brother-children, at the feet of maternal or sisterly tenderness, -whose earthly bodies have long since been entombed; to keep down the -unnatural separations of families beneath the manly wisdom and fatherly -affection of one who claims all as his, and still needing his care; to -turn the scoff of godless ribaldry into loving faith, and the shame of -pulpit curses pronounced upon _human_ brethren and by _human_ beings, -of eternal doom, into blessings of eternal help; to make all, yes all, -realize an inner religion, which worships at the altar of eternal truth -and unchangeable love. With such aims and prospects before us, to ask -what is the good of general, tangible spirit intercourse, is to ask the -good of immortality, of heaven, and of God.” - - - _An Exposition of views respecting the principal facts, causes, and - peculiarities involved in Spiritual Manifestations; together with - interesting phenomenal statements and communications. By_ ADIN BALLOU. - -1594. The preceding is the title of a work by the Rev. Adin Ballou, -of Hopedale, Massachusetts. It is among those which give what appears -to me available, well-considered facts and opinions respecting -Spiritualism. Mr. Ballou judiciously, as I think, disposes the spirit -manifestations under the following heads: - -1595. “I. Those in which all the important demonstrations were most -evidently caused by departed spirits. II. Those in which some of the -important demonstrations were probably caused or greatly affected by -undeparted spirits. III. Those in which the demonstrations were of a -heterogeneous, incongruous, or derogatory character. - -1596. “The following is a statement of Mr. Ballou’s experience taken -from the work in question: - -1597. “In this chapter I shall conclude what I have to say under my -first general head, by referring to a few particulars connected with -cases within my personal knowledge, and then stating the principal -points of doctrine taught by the spirits. - -1598. “I will not go into minute narration or description, but simply -mention the more important phenomena I have witnessed. I have heard -multiform sounds in the presence of spirit media, purporting to be made -by departed spirits; some like the tickings of a small watch, others -like the clicking of a common clock, others like the loud knocking of -a labouring man on the door of his neighbour with his knuckles, others -like the scratching of a hard finger-nail on a board, others like the -creaking of a door or window, &c. &c. I have heard the time and metre -of tunes beaten out with the utmost accuracy, and by several rappers in -unison—not only while the tune was being played or sung, but afterward, -without accompaniment. And I am as certain that these sounds were not -made by any conscious mortal agency, as I am of the best-authenticated -facts in the common transactions of life. - -1599. “I have seen tables and light stands of various size moved about -in the most astonishing manner, by what purported to be the same -invisible agency, with only the gentle and passive resting of the hands -or finger-ends of the medium on one of their edges; also, many distinct -movings of such objects, by request, _without_ the touch of the medium -at all. I have sat and conversed by the hour together with the authors -of these sounds and motions, by means of signals first agreed on; -asking questions and obtaining answers—receiving communications spelled -out by the alphabet—discussing propositions sometimes made by them to -me, and _vice versâ_; all by a slow process, indeed, but with every -possible demonstration of intelligence, though not without incidental -misapprehensions and mistakes. I have witnessed the asking of mental -questions by inquirers, who received as prompt and correct answers as -when the questions were asked audibly to the cognition of the medium. - -1600. “I have known these invisibles, by request, to write their names -with a common plumbago pencil on a clean sheet of paper—half a dozen of -them, each in a different hand. To make sure of this, as an absolute -fact, the medium was required to lay her left hand, back downward, in -the hollow of a veracious person’s hand, both open; when a piece of -pasteboard paper was laid on her hand, a well-examined blank sheet of -writing-paper placed thereon, and a lead pencil on top of _that_; in -which position (the medium’s right hand being held up to view,) both -the hands, with these fixtures resting on them, were placed under the -leaf of the table, as insisted on by the _writers_. After a minute or -two, at a given signal by the spirits that they had _done_, the paper -was exhibited with various names written thereon, as above affirmed. -This was repeatedly tested with the same results, under circumstances -putting all suspicion of fraud and jugglery entirely at rest. - -1601. “I have requested what purported to be the spirit of a friend, -many years deceased, to go to a particular place, several miles -distant from that of the _sitting_, and to bring me back intelligence -respecting the then health and doings of a certain relative well known -to the parties. In three minutes of time the intelligence was obtained, -numerous particulars given, some of them rather improbable, but every -one exactly confirmed the next day by personal inquiries made for that -purpose. - -1602. “I have been requested by the invisibles to speak on a particular -subject, at a given time and place, with the assurance that responses -should be made on the occasion, by knockings, approving the truths -uttered; all which was strikingly verified. Once, at a most unexpected -interview, when nothing of the kind had been previously thought of by -any person present, a spirit, so purporting, who had several times -evinced much interest in my public labours, spelled out:—‘Have you -selected your subjects of discourse for the next Sunday?’ Only _one_ of -them, I answered. Would my _spirit friend_ like to suggest a text for -the other part of the day? ‘Yes.’ What is it? I inquired. He spelled -out the word ‘The,’ and ceased. Wondering at his silence, the signal of -another spirit was given. The new-comer communicated by _movings_ of -the table, not by _raps_, like the other. He said that our friend, the -_rapper_, had been suddenly summoned away for a few moments, but would -certainly return soon. He _did_ return within fifteen minutes, resumed -his communication just where he left it, and spelled out—‘_The second -chapter of first Corinthians, the twelfth and thirteenth verses._’ -No man in the room had the least recollection of the words referred -to. So the Bible was called for, when the text proved to be the -following:—‘_Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the -spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are given -to us of God. Which things we also speak, not in the words which man’s -wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual -things with spiritual._’ Struck with the sublimity, purity, richness, -and force of the passage, I answered that I accepted it thankfully, -as a very appropriate text for the occasion referred to, and would -endeavour to illustrate its great truths as well as I might be able. -My _spirit friend_ expressed great pleasure by sounds rapidly made on -the table, and announced that he and several other sympathizing spirits -should be present to hear the discourse, and, if the _medium_ should -also be there, would manifest their approbation of the good things -uttered. All this was verified in a remarkable manner. - -1603. “I have seen a medium gently magnetized and thrown into a trance -in one minute, by the imperceptible influence of the spirits, in -accordance with their own original proposition, reluctantly acceded to -by the medium and her friends; during which sometimes she had visions -of the spirit world, and at others became entirely non-cognizant of -every thing transpiring in either world. In the latter case, the -spirits, as previously promised, made use of her organs of speech, -unconsciously to herself, and thus answered numerous questions, instead -of responding by the rappings. That these trances were not superinduced -by mortal agency, and were not _feigned_, but _real_, I am as certain -as I can be of any thing not absolutely beyond the possibility of -mistake. - -1604. “I might proceed much further in the particularization of -manifestations coming under my personal observation, but will not make -myself tedious. Suffice it to say, that I have witnessed enough with -my own eyes and ears to prepare me for the belief of the still more -incredible manifestations reported from a thousand places in our -country and the world. I will merely add, that I have received many -excellent communications from these invisible friends, and scarcely a -single one of a light, frivolous, or low character; though I know that -in this respect my experience has been unlike that of some others. -I can say in truth, speaking for myself alone, that my whole moral -nature has been purified and elevated by the influences which have -flowed in upon me during the investigation of this subject. Others, I -am sure, can say the same. There are those, no doubt, who have abused -the whole thing—befooling themselves and others in a lamentable manner. -What is there in the wide world that has wholly escaped abuse and -perversion? Reason, inspired and crowned with the wisdom from above, -is indispensable to the avoidance of these evils. Until a much larger -portion of mankind than at present attain to the development of their -higher faculties, we must expect the abuse and perversion, to a greater -or less extent, of every thing in nature. ‘But wisdom is justified of -all her children.’” - -1605. The following statement of A. H. Jarvis, a Methodist clergyman, -of Rochester, New York, is copied from Mr. Ballou’s work. It is one -of those manifestations in which the information conveyed cannot be -conceived to have pre-existed in the mind of the person by whom it was -received: - -1606. “There are many facts which have come under my observation, -equally convincing of the intelligence and utility of the -communications from these unseen agents, who, I now believe, are -continually about us, and more perfectly acquainted with all our -ways, and even our thoughts, than we are with each other. But the -fact in reference to my friend Pickard is what you desire. He was at -my house on Friday afternoon, April 6, 1849. None of the Fox family -were present. While at the tea-table, we had free communications on -different subjects. Pickard was requested to ask questions. He desired -to know who it was that would answer questions. The answer was—‘I -am your mother, MARY PICKARD.’ Her name, or the fact of her death, -was not known to any of us. The next Monday evening he (Pickard) was -at Mr. G-—-’s, and tarried there over night. He there received a -communication, purporting to be from his mother, saying, ‘Your child -is dead.’ He came immediately to my place, and said he should take the -stage for home, (Lockport, sixty miles distant.) He left in the stage -at 8 or 9, A. M. At 12, M., I returned to my house, my wife meeting me -with a telegraph envelope. I broke the seal and read mentally, first: - - “‘ROCHESTER, April 10, 1849. - -1607. “‘By telegraph from Lockport—the Rev. A. H. Jarvis, No. 4 West St. - -1608. “‘Tell Mr. Pickard, if you can find him, his child died this -morning.—Answer. R. MALLORY.’ - -1609. “I then read it to my wife, and said, ‘This is one of the best -and most convincing evidences of the intelligence of those invisible -agents;’ and then I added, ‘God’s telegraph has outdone Morse’s, -altogether.’ - “Yours, truly, A. H. JARVIS.’ - -“To E. W. CAPRON, _Auburn_.” - -1610. The subjoined opinions of the spirits, taken from the volume -above mentioned, differ but immaterially from those which I have -received; proving that information respecting scriptural morals, when -properly sought, will be consistently obtained: - -1611. “1. There is one and but one God, an infinite Spirit and the -Father of spirits. He loves all, and eternally seeks their good by all -wise and fitting means. - -1612. “2. All human beings are spirits as to their absolute internal -constitution, and soon after death emerge into distinct conscious -spiritual identities, having bodies, forms, and peculiarities as -obviously cognizable to each other, and as distinguishable from each -other, as here in the flesh. - -1613. “3. All human beings possess certain mental and moral qualities, -partly constitutional, partly circumstantial, and partly self-wrought, -which determine for the time being each individual’s real spiritual -character and relative nearness to, or distance from, the divine -standard of perfection. So that each one is in a certain sphere, and -in some circle or degree of that sphere, as to his spirit, _always_, -whether existing in the fleshly body or after his dissolution. And if -a person is spiritually in a certain sphere at death, in that sphere -he finds himself the moment he resumes his consciousness in the spirit -world, associated with kindred spirits. - -1614. “4. There are seven spirit spheres, or circles,[36] inferior -to the heavenly or celestial spheres, and each sphere or circle has -several degrees. Man is a being by nature capable of progress, subject -to certain fundamental spiritual and moral laws. In conformity to these -laws, he may now progress from lower to higher spheres; _i. e._ he may -draw nearer and nearer to God; or, what is the same thing, nearer as a -spirit to the divine standard of perfection. But without conformity to -these laws, he cannot progress, but obscures and debases himself. Death -does not change man’s real character, nor his proper spirit sphere, nor -his capability to make progress, nor the laws of progress. No man is -in a morally worse state, all things considered, by reason of passing -into the spirit world. The _worst_ even are, if any way affected, -in a better state there than in the flesh. They whose spirit sphere -was purer, find themselves proportionally blessed. Many remain very -long in the lower spheres, where, though enabled to enjoy existence -in the degree possible at such a distance from the divine focus of -blessedness, they are ‘spirits in prison,’ and wretched in comparison -with those in the paradisaical spheres. Their existence is a blessing -to them even while thus _low_, and there is no such place or state as -a HELL of unmitigated, hopeless misery. Meantime, God, angels, and all -the higher spirits, are for ever seeking the elevation of the inferior -spirits, by all just, wise, and appropriate means. And no one, however -low and sluggish of progress, will finally fail to be attracted upward, -obediently to the divine laws, from one degree to another, and from one -sphere to another, till he reach the heavenly mansion—even though it -take an age of eternities to complete his destiny. - -1615. “5. Spirits in the higher of the seven spheres are employed in -three general exercises. 1. In religious aspirations, meditations, -worship—in striving after a more perfect knowledge of and communication -with God—whom they cannot see there any more than here, as a personal -being, but only in spirit by faith and intuition. 2. In study, -self-examination, contemplations of truth, and acquainting themselves -with all useful knowledge attainable by them. 3. In ministering to -struggling spirits on earth and in the lower spheres—endeavouring -to elevate and bless them; thus cultivating love to God, wisdom -within themselves, and ever-active benevolence to their inferiors in -condition. Spirits in any circle can descend into all the circles below -their own, but cannot, except by special permission, ascend into a -higher sphere, until qualified by spiritual progress. - -1616. “6. Mankind are by nature one family of brothers and sisters, -the offspring of a common Father in heaven, whom they ought to love -with all their heart, and each other as themselves. The good of each is -really the good of all, and that of all the good of each. Therefore, no -one can injure another without injuring himself in the end. All kinds -of tyranny and oppression are utterly sinful. So all war, violence, -revenge, and vindictive punishment. So all intemperance, debauchery, -and sexual pollution. So all falsehood, covetousness, fraud, extortion, -and pecuniary taking of advantage. So all pride and domineering of -superiors over inferiors. So all religious bigotry, thrusting down, -persecution, and sectarian bitterness. So every thing contrary to -personal holiness, to the piety which loves God supremely, and man as a -brother, whether friend or foe. These reliable spirits are everywhere -reformers, regenerators of the world, individually and socially. They -are for the reconciliation of all things—for universal harmony—on the -great principles of truth, purity, justice, love, and wisdom. And they -all predict a better future for the human race here on earth, as well -as in the future state. - -1617. “7. It is the imperative duty of every human being to exercise -his own powers, faculties, reason, and judgment, with modesty, -humility, and firmness, and not to be overawed, borne down, or led away -captive, by any assuming spirit in or out of the flesh. Every one is -accountable for himself, and ought both to judge and act for himself, -with supreme reverence for God and his moral perfections, according to -his own highest convictions of truth and duty. Thus he should examine -the Bible and all books. Thus all human governments, authorities, -powers, constitutions, laws, customs, and usages, in church and state. -Thus try all spirits, and their communications—all pretended prophets, -philosophers, and teachers—all professions and assumptions whatsoever. -No one should imperiously dictate, or cower down before another. But -truth, rectitude, reason, and the suasion of wisdom, should alone sway -the minds of moral agents. - -1618. “Such is a fair digest and summary of the principal doctrines -put forth in ninety-nine one hundredths of the communications of -reliable spirits throughout the country. I have stated them in my own -language, as I have understood them. It will be seen that they differ -in some respects from every sectarian view of theology, religion, and -morality now popular in the world.” - - - _The Hon. J. W. Edmonds’s Testimony._ - -1619. To those who have not seen the original statement of the -benevolent and distinguished Judge Edmonds, respecting his conversion, -the subjoined account, taken from the introduction to his work on -“Spiritualism,” may prove interesting. - -1620. “It was in January, 1851, that my attention was first called -to the subject of ‘spiritual intercourse.’ I had, in the course of -my life, read and heard from the pulpit so many contradictory and -conflicting doctrines on the subject (of man’s future existence) that I -hardly knew what to believe. - -1621. “For about four months I devoted at least two evenings in a -week, and sometimes more, to witnessing the phenomenon in all its -phases. I kept careful records of all I witnessed, and, from time to -time, compared them with each other, to detect inconsistencies and -contradictions. I read all I could lay my hands upon, on the subject, -and especially all the professed ‘exposures of the humbug.’ In fine, -I availed myself of every opportunity that was afforded thoroughly to -sift the matter to the bottom. I was all this time an unbeliever. At -length the evidence came, and with such force that no sane man could -withhold his faith. - -1622. “To detail what I witnessed for those four months, and recorded, -would fill, at least, one hundred and thirty closely-written pages. I -will, however, mention a few things, which will give a general idea of -that which characterized interviews now numbering several hundred. Most -of them have occurred in the presence of others. I have preserved their -names in my records. * * * * * These considerations grow out of this -fact: - -1623. “First. That I have thus very many witnesses whom I can invoke to -establish the truth of my statements. - -1624. “Second. That if I have been deluded, and have not seen and heard -what I think I have, my delusion has been shared by many as shrewd, as -intelligent, as honest, and as enlightened people as are to be found -anywhere among us. - -1625. “My attention was first drawn to the intercourse by the rappings, -then the most common, but now the most inconsiderable, mode of -communing. Of course I was on the look-out for deception, and at first -relied upon my senses, and the conclusions which my reason might draw -from their evidence. * * * - -1626. “After depending upon my senses as to these various phases of -the phenomenon, I invoked the aid of science, and, with the assistance -of an accomplished electrician and his machinery, and of eight or ten -intelligent, educated, and shrewd persons, examined the matter. We -pursued our inquiries many days, and established, to our satisfaction, -two things: first, that the sounds were not produced by the agency -of any person present or near us; and, secondly, that they were not -forthcoming at our will and pleasure. In the mean time, another feature -attracted my attention, and that was ‘physical manifestations,’ as they -are termed. Thus, I have known a pine table, with four legs, lifted -up bodily from the floor, in the centre of a circle of six or eight -persons, turned upside down, and laid upon its top at our feet, then -lifted up over our heads, and put leaning against the back of the sofa -on which we sat. * * * * I have seen a mahogany centre-table, having -only a centre leg, and with a lamp burning upon it, lifted from the -floor, at least a foot, in spite of the efforts of those present, and -shaken backward and forward, as one would shake a goblet in his hand. * -* * * - -1627. “I have known a dinner-bell, taken from a shelf in a closet, -rung over the heads of four or five persons in that closet, then rung -around the room over the heads of twelve or fifteen persons in the back -parlour, and then borne through the folding-doors to the farther end of -the front parlour, and then dropped on the floor. - -1628. “I have known persons pulled about, with a force which it was -impossible for them to resist; and once, when all my strength was -added, in vain, to that of one thus affected. - -1629. “I have known a mahogany chair thrown on its side, and moved -swiftly back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room -where there were, at least, a dozen people sitting. Yet no one was -touched, and it was repeatedly stopped within a few inches of me, when -it was coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken -my legs. - -1630. “This is not a tithe, nay, not an hundredth part, of what I -have seen, of the same character. At the same time, I have heard from -others, whose testimony would be credited in any human transaction, -and which I could not permit myself to disregard, accounts of still -more extraordinary transactions; for I have been by no means so much -favoured in this respect as some. - -1631. “Intelligence was a remarkable feature of the phenomenon. Thus, -I have frequently known mental questions answered—that is, questions -merely framed in the mind of the interrogator, and not revealed by him -or known to others. Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down -alone in my room, and carefully prepared a series of questions to be -propounded; and I have been surprised to find my questions answered, -and in the precise order in which I wrote them, without my even taking -my memorandum out of my pocket, and when I knew that no person present -knew that I had prepared questions, much less what they were. - -1632. “My most secret thoughts—those which I never uttered to mortal -man or woman—have been freely spoken, as if I had uttered them. - -1633. “I have known Latin, French, and Spanish words spelled out -through the rappings; and I have heard mediums, who knew no language -but their own, speak in those languages, and in Italian, German, and -Greek, and in other languages unknown to me, but which were represented -to be Arabic, Chinese, and Indian, and all done with the ease and -rapidity of a native. - -1634. “I have seen a person who knew nothing of music, except a little -that he had learned at a country singing-school, go to the piano and -play in perfect keeping, as to time and concord, the several parts of -an overture to an opera. - -1635. “When I was absent last winter, in Central America, my friends -in town heard of my whereabouts, and of the state of my health, seven -times; and, on my return, by comparing their information with the -entries in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct. - -1636. “I went into the investigation, originally thinking it a -deception, and intending to make public my exposure of it. Having, -from my researches, come to a different conclusion, I feel that the -obligation to make known the result is just as strong. Therefore it is, -mainly, that I give the result to the world. “J. W. EDMONDS.” - - - _Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison._ - -1637. Mr. Garrison is spoken of as a man of unimpeachable veracity and -independent mind. His testimony will have weight with one class of -inquirers, if not with another. The following is from the “Liberator” -of March 3, 1854. - -1638. “We are often privately asked, what we think of the ‘Spiritual -Manifestations,’ so called, and whether we have had any opportunities -to investigate them. - -1639. “When we first heard of the ‘Rochester knockings,’ we supposed -(not personally knowing the persons implicated) that there might be -some collusion in that particular case, or, if not, that the phenomena -would ere long elicit a satisfactory solution, independent of all -spiritual agency. As the manifestations have spread from house to -house, from city to city, from one part of the country to the other, -across the Atlantic into Europe, till now the civilized world is -compelled to acknowledge their reality, however diverse in accounting -for them—as these manifestations continue to increase in variety and -power, so that all suspicion of trick or imposture becomes simply -absurd and preposterous—and as every attempt to find a solution for -them in some physical theory relating to electricity, the odic force, -clairvoyance, and the like, has thus far proved abortive—it becomes -every intelligent mind to enter into an investigation of them with -candour and fairness, as opportunity may offer, and to bear such -testimony in regard to them as the facts may warrant, no matter what -ridicule it may excite on the part of the uninformed or skeptical. - -1640. “As for ourselves, most assuredly we have been in no haste to -jump to a conclusion in regard to phenomena so universally diffused, -and of so extraordinary a character. For the last three years, we have -kept pace with nearly all that has been published on the subject; and -we have witnessed, at various times, many surprising ‘manifestations;’ -and our conviction is, that they cannot be accounted for on any other -theory than that of spiritual agency. This theory, however, is not -unattended with discrepancies, difficulties, and trials. It is certain -that, if it be true, there are many deceptive spirits, and that the -apostolic injunction to ‘believe not every spirit,’ but to try them in -every possible way, is specially to be regarded, or the consequences -may prove very disastrous. - -1641. “We might write a pretty long essay on what we have seen and -heard, touching this matter; but this we reserve for some other -occasion. We shall now merely describe some of the phenomena which we -witnessed in New York during our recent visit to that city. - -1642. “The medium in this instance was Mrs. Brown, formerly Mrs. -Fish, of Rochester. The circle was composed of six gentlemen and four -ladies. The table was of ample dimensions, so as to accommodate the -party without inconvenience. We sat around it in the usual manner, (the -hands of each individual resting upon the table,) and engaged in social -chit-chat. While waiting for some demonstrations from the invisible -world, we had our right foot patted as by a human hand, and the right -leg of our pantaloons strongly pulled, by some unseen agency. This was -done repeatedly, though we said nothing at the time; but, thinking -it might be possible that the foot of some one of the company might -undesignedly be in contact with our own, we cautiously felt around to -ascertain if this were the case, but there was nothing tangible; and -the moment we put our foot down, the same familiar tappings and jerks -followed. Still, we made no disclosure. Raps were then distinctly -heard, and the alphabet was called for. Letter by letter, it was -rapped out that the medium must put her feet in the custody of one -of the party, and then we were told to wait for demonstrations. This -was evidently done to convince every one present that the medium had -nothing to do with the phenomena, by way of fraud or collusion; and, -during the entire sitting, (a protracted one,) before any remarkable -feat was performed, the medium was invariably ordered to take such a -position as to render it clearly impossible for her to be privy to -it. The presence of several spirits was indicated during the evening, -and satisfactory tests were made; but the most communicative and -efficient one purported to be that of ‘Jesse Hutchinson.’ It was he -who had been playing bo-peep with us under the table; and, now that -the medium was secured, to the satisfaction of all present, he renewed -his salutations, not only to us personally, but to nearly every one -of the circle. The ladies had their dresses, and the gentlemen their -pantaloons, pulled, and their feet patted, in the most emphatic manner. -Heavy raps were now made on the floor; and, on being requested to that -effect, ‘Jesse’ beat a march—it seemed to us Washington’s march—in -admirable time, and in the most spirited manner; no drummer could have -done it more skilfully. He was then asked to beat time, while the -company joined in singing several tunes—‘The Old Granite State,’ among -others—which he did to perfection. He then spelt out the following -communications by the alphabet: ‘I am most happy, dear friends, to be -able to give you such tangible evidence of my presence. The good time -has truly come. The gates of the New Jerusalem are open, and the good -spirits, made more pure by the change of spheres, are knocking at the -door of your souls.’ - -1643. “Isaac T. Hopper now indicated his presence to his daughter, who -was at the table, and made some physical demonstrations. His message, -as rapped out, was as follows: ‘I am truly happy to echo back joy and -gladness from my happy home. Truth is bearing its way on gloriously, -and the subject of Spiritualism will work miracles in the cause of -reform. My friends, the rock of prejudice begins to yield to the hammer -of truth; and, now, with the aid of good spirits, you can blast it -without the use of powder.’ And he subsequently added, ‘I want you to -see that spirits have power to move matter.’ - -1644. “It was next rapped out, ‘Put the bell under the table.’ We, -accordingly, took the bell, (an ordinary table-bell,) and put it -down at our feet. In a few moments, it was smartly rung by an unseen -power, and then fell to the floor. This was done again and again—the -bell making the circuit of the table, and ringing so loudly that the -servant-girl, in an adjacent room, supposing she was needed, came in to -inquire what was wanted. - -1645. “Next, a cane with a hooked handle was laid on the carpet, under -the table. Immediately, it struck the table violently, and rubbed -along the under surface its entire length. It then fell to the floor, -and traversed over and under the feet of several of the party, like -a living snake—in one or two instances the foot being involuntarily -lifted to enable it to pass under. Its movements were exceedingly -curious. At one time, we caught hold of the handle as it protruded -itself by our side, and endeavoured to pull it from under the table; -but the resistance was as strong as though another hand was grasping it -at the opposite end. - -1646. “We were now directed to put several things under the table, -observe how they were placed, and wait for results. When told to look, -we found that a penknife was missing, nor could it be discovered by the -most careful search. On again resuming our seats, we were told to take -another look; and, behold! there was the penknife, precisely where it -had been originally placed! - -1647. “Next, we were directed to lay some writing-paper, with a pencil -upon it, under the table. This was done; and, in a few moments, on -being told to look, we found the word ‘Jesse’ written upon it in -a scrawling hand, as though made with great difficulty. The same -experiment was again made, and ‘Isaac T. H.’ (Hopper) was written very -legibly, and in a different hand. A third time this was done, and ‘Mary -Jane’ was recorded,—the name of a young lady who had been communicating -with a gentleman present. The first two autographs we have in our -possession. - -1648. “We now made two requests of ‘Jesse,’ to convince us yet more -strongly of his presence. The first was, to press our right foot firmly -to the floor, and to make loud raps directly under it. This was quickly -done, the foot being grasped as by a mortal hand, and vibrating to the -raps thus strangely made. The second was, if possible, to take us by -the right hand with his own, so as to make the touch palpable beyond -a doubt. Keeping the hand carefully in custody between our knees as -we sat—the hands of all the company, including those of the medium, -being on the table—we, in a few moments, had it patted, first on one -side, then on the other, briskly and repeatedly, as if by another hand, -having a negative feeling, as though there was no warmth in it, but -natural in every other respect. For the general gratification, the same -thing was done to others of the party. - -1649. “How shall demonstrations like these be accounted for, except on -the hypothesis of spirit-agency? If we cannot positively affirm that -Isaac T. Hopper and Jesse Hutchinson were present on that occasion, we -are, at least, prepared to declare, as our own conviction, as well as -that of the entire company, we believe, that invisible spirits, not -of this mundane sphere, performed the phenomena we have thus briefly -narrated to our readers.” - - - _Testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Newton._ - -1650. The following is extracted from a highly interesting letter, -entitled, “The Ministry of Angels Realized,” addressed by Mr. and Mrs. -Newton to the Edward’s Congregational Church, Boston, of which they -were members. Mr. Newton is editor of the “New England Spiritualist,” -and sustains a reputation for high moral and intellectual attainment. - -1651. “The results, however, of this first investigation, at the time, -were (for reasons not then apparent, but which have since been made -plain to us) far from satisfactory. Though we witnessed some striking -evidences of invisible intelligent agency, there was nothing by which -this agency could be possibly identified; and the conclusion seemed -most in accordance with our previous opinions, that, if any agency -beyond that of human beings was concerned, it was that of evil and -seducing spirits. Some months subsequently to this, we were led to -attempt the investigation under circumstances more favourable to -arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. * * * The results of this -interview were of the most surprising, yea, astounding character. An -intelligence, claiming to be that of a venerated parent, who had long -since passed within the veil, manifested its presence, and addressed -to one of us a communication glowing with parental affection, and -breathing the very spirit of the upper realm. This was accompanied by -the statement of a number of facts, pertaining to his earthly life, -none of which, we were fully satisfied, could have been known to any -person, bodily present, except the inquirer, and some of them unknown -even to him. Although the investigation had been approached with minds -on the alert and perceptions sharpened to detect collusion, imposture, -deception, or diabolism, in any of its forms, no trace of them could -be perceived; all was conducted with evident frankness and candour, on -the part of those concerned; and no solution of the mystery was then -arrived at, and no adequate one has since been offered, which does not -recognise the agency of intelligent beings. A trumpet-blast from the -clouds could scarcely have been more startling to our prejudices and -unbelief than was that message from the hidden world. * * * As may be -well supposed, the interest awakened by this occurrence was sufficient -to lead to a further investigation. But a truth so novel and startling -could not at once be received, however demonstrative and convincing -the evidence on which it rested. Nor was it until evidence had -accumulated upon evidence, and proof become piled upon proof—not until -manifestations of the most marvellous character had been repeatedly -witnessed, under a great variety of circumstances, and notwithstanding -the application of every conceivable test—that we could consent to -acknowledge, even to ourselves, a belief in the agency of spiritual -beings. That belief, however, in spite of prejudice and skepticism, in -spite of the general cry of “humbug” and “imposture,” in spite of -all attempts of scientific men to explain the marvels on the basis of -materialism, (which explanations we found in every case to be wholly -inadequate to account for what we witnessed,) that belief became at -length forced upon our minds by irresistible evidence. - -1652. “But the question still pressed upon us, who were these invisible -beings? and what their character and designs? They claimed to be the -spirits of departed human beings. Some of them insisted that they -were our relatives and friends, and they furnished most startling -and inexplicable proofs of their identity. They professed to be thus -manifesting themselves to our outward senses, for the purest and -holiest of purposes. * * * - -1653. “The most favourable of opportunities were offered us for making -investigation, and they were carefully and prayerfully improved. - -1654. “For several months did we continue to apply to what was -transpiring under our notice, through the mediumship of others, the -keenest powers of observation, and the highest exercise of moral -perception, which have been granted us; ever seeking light and aid from -Him who has said, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’ - -1655. “At length, these intelligences from another sphere began to -manifest themselves to us in a manner most unlooked-for and diverse -from any thing we had elsewhere witnessed, in the quietness and -seclusion of our own home, and without the intervention of any other -person. From small and gentle beginnings, they have gone forward, -as we were able to bear the increasing light, to give greater, and -higher, and clearer proofs of the reality of their presence, their -identity, and their heavenly mission; until, through a period of six or -seven months, we have been permitted, as we believe, the almost daily -enjoyment of the sweetest and most intimate communion with the spirits -of ‘just ones made perfect above.’ - “A. E. NEWTON, - S. J. NEWTON.” - - - _Testimony of Members of the New York Circle._ - -1656. The following is a statement of facts by Mrs. Charles Partridge, -taken from the minutes of the New York circle, attested by several -highly respectable and credible persons, among whom is my personal -friend, Doctor Gray. - -1657. “Persons at the circle have been unexpectedly turned round in the -chairs in which they were sitting, and moved to and from the table. -Chairs and sofas have suddenly started from their positions against -the wall, and moved forward to the centre of the room, when they were -required in the formation of the circle. The persons in the circle have -each successively lifted his own side of the table, and the invisible -power has raised the opposite side correspondingly. Occasionally the -spirits have raised the table entirely, and sustained it in air, at -a distance of from one to three feet from the floor, so that all -could satisfy themselves that no person in the flesh was touching it. -Lights of various colours have been produced in dark rooms. A man -has been suspended in, and conveyed through, the air, a distance of -fifty feet, or more. The communications have been given in various -ways, but chiefly in writing, and by the rappings through the ordinary -alphabetical mode. - -1658. “At the close of the session held on the 17th of November, 1851, -the spirits, through the alphabet, and in their usual manner, said, ‘We -wish to give you a sentence for you to find out and remember;’ when -the following was communicated: ‘_Debemos amar á todo el mundo aun á -nuestros enemigos._’ No person present on that occasion understood a -word of this language, but we were subsequently informed that it was -Spanish. - -1659. “During the session on the 19th of January, 1852, the spirits -signified their desire to make a communication in Hebrew. Mr. -Partridge asked who should call the alphabet, and received for answer, -‘The only person present who understands it—George Bush.’ Professor -Bush thereupon proceeded to repeat the Hebrew alphabet, and a -communication in that language was received. - -1660. “Many additional facts might be given to show that spirits -communicate in various languages through E. P. Fowler; but the above -will suffice for the purposes of this statement. - -1661. “We cannot allow the present occasion to pass, without an -expression of the entire confidence and unqualified esteem with which -Mr. Fowler is regarded by the members of the New York circle, and -by those who know him generally. We have had an intimate personal -acquaintance with him for two years past—some of us for a much longer -period—and we have only known him as a high-minded and honourable -young man. From the beginning, he has steadily refused to accept the -slightest compensation for his time and services while employed in the -capacity of a medium; and we deem it but an act of simple justice to -Mr. F. to record the fact that, on all occasions, we have found him -entirely unassuming in his deportment, and eminently truthful in his -life. - - “R. T. HALLOCK, M. D., - J. T. WARNER, M. D., - ALMIRA L. FOWLER, - A. G. HULL, M. D., - W. J. BANER, - JOHN F. GRAY, M. D., - SAMUEL T. FOWLER, - MR. & MRS. CHARLES PARTRIDGE.” - - - _Testimony of the Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston._ - -1662. “This is to certify that, during a long investigation of the -modern phenomena which are now attracting attention in our own country -and in the old, I have repeatedly seen my own table, in my own room, -to which I know there is no nice machinery affixed for purposes of -deception, without any contact whatever of earthly kind, raised, -tipped, moved about the room, as if a strong man was there at work. -Also, a piano-forte played upon in the same way, without mortal -contact, producing most beautiful music—an ocean piece, in which a -storm was represented succeeded by a calm. These phenomena occurred in -the presence of several other individuals of both sexes, all of whom -saw, and all of whom are ready to testify. I have also received from -a medium, who never saw me before, and knew nothing of my family, the -fact of my father’s death, his name, and a perfect _fac-simile_ of his -handwriting; and this when I was not expecting such handwriting, and -could not have possibly imitated it, without a copy, in the labour of -three months. D. F. GODDARD.” - -1663. As this work may be read by many who have not perused any other -book on the subject of which it treats, I hope that those who take it -up, having a knowledge of the most important spirit manifestations -heretofore published, will excuse my quoting them here. My object is to -furnish the readers of this volume a reasonably, comprehensive view of -Spiritualism, without the necessity of their referring to works which -may not be easily accessible. - -1664. To the cool Yankee sagacity of Mrs. Fox and her daughters, the -world is indebted for the happy result that these manifestations did -not, like those which preceded them in other parts of the world, -end in a mere inexplicable mystery, and erroneous inferences as to -their origin. I allude here to the well-known fact, that similar -manifestations were made in the early part of the last century, in -Epworth, England, at the mansion of the celebrated clergyman, Wesley, -and that one of his daughters was endowed with the attributes of a -medium for many years, without the art of alphabetic communication -having been suggested. - -1665. I might here republish the history of the famous “_rappings_ and -_knockings_” at Hydesville and Rochester, in the State of New York; but -as regards evidence, they amount to about the same thing, only not so -concentrated, as those demonstrations which occurred at the residence -of the Rev. Dr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut. The doctor, who is a -Congregationalist, and one of the most worthy men in the world, became -a convert to Spiritualism in consequence of these manifestations, an -account of which is subjoined. I quote it from the excellent work of -E. W. Capron, Esq., entitled, “Modern Spiritualism, its Facts and -Fanaticisms.” - -1666. I omit quoting the history of the abortive effort made by the -spirits to communicate with the Wesleys, but refer the reader to the -account published in a work entitled, “Memoirs of the Wesley Family,” -by Adam Clark, LL.D., second edition, 1846; or to the work of Mr. -Capron, already specified. - - - _Manifestations at Stratford, Conn., in the House of Rev. - Eliakim Phelps, D.D.—Remarkable Exhibitions of Power.—Singular - Occurrences.—Image-making.—Destruction of Furniture.—Incendiary - Spirits.—The Spirits identified.—Unhappy Spirits, from the remembrance - of wrong done in this World.—Wrong-doing revealed.—Directions given - for restoring ill-gotten Gains.—Discontinuance of the Manifestations._ - -1667. “While these strange occurrences were taking place at Rochester -and Auburn, and the press and people were busy in trying to account -for them on strictly mundane principles, making all manner of -insinuations against the character and motives of those who even dared -to investigate for themselves, some manifestations took place at -Stratford, Conn., which attracted attention to that quarter, as well on -account of the character and standing of the gentleman at whose house -they occurred, as the very strange, boisterous, and violent character -of the manifestations. I have been allowed to examine all the records -kept of the occurrences by Dr. Phelps, and shall be able, therefore, -to present the history with more minuteness and accuracy than has ever -before appeared. - -1668. “The first disturbances took place on the tenth day of March, -1850, at the house of Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D. The house had been -occupied by him from the 22d of February, 1848. It is a large and -genteel country mansion, separated from the street by a fence -forty-five feet in front of the house; which is thirty-two feet in -front, and, including the piazza, seventy feet deep, with a hall -thirteen feet wide, running through the whole depth of the building. -Adjoining, and opening from this hall, are two parlours and a -dining-room. On the second floor are five sleeping-rooms, and on the -third floor two. The kitchen is in the basement. The house was built -about the year 1829 or ‘30 by a Captain Dondall, who for several years -commanded a vessel in the China trade, and who died in the Bay of -Canton within two or three years after his family had taken up their -residence in the house. The property then passed into the hands of -another sea-captain, by the name of Purcell, who, with his family, -occupied it for several years. Captain Purcell dying suddenly in New -York, the family removed, and the house was occupied by an Episcopal -clergyman for a school a year or more, and afterward by a Mr-—-, also -as a school for boys. - -1669. “None of the families who had thus far occupied the house had -ever been disturbed, or witnessed any thing aside from ordinary -events. At the death of Captain Purcell it became the property of the -two daughters, of whom Dr. Phelps purchased it during the month of -November, 1847. For two years previous to this it had been unoccupied. -Dr. Phelps and family commenced their residence therein on the 22d of -February, 1848. Nothing occurred to excite the attention of the family -out of the ordinary course of events until the 10th of March, 1850; -and, as before stated, nothing can be learned of any strange or unusual -events occurring there previous to that time. It will be observed by -the dates given that Dr. Phelps had occupied the house more than two -years, had found it an agreeable and quiet place of residence—having -never himself or any member of the family been disturbed or alarmed -by unusual occurrences. On the 10th of March, as above stated, it -being the Sabbath, Dr. Phelps and family, consisting of Mrs. Phelps, -two daughters, and two sons, the eldest a daughter aged sixteen, a -son of twelve years, and a second daughter of six years, children of -Mrs. Phelps by a former marriage, and another son of Dr. Phelps by the -present marriage, not then three years old, all attended church; and -an Irish servant girl, who had been employed in the family some six -months, and had shown herself to be honest and trustworthy, had gone -on that day to Bridgeport, to attend the Catholic church. On leaving -the house in the morning, it appears that the doctor had secured the -chamber doors, and put the keys in his pocket; those which could be -were locked inside and the keys left in them. The only door by which -the chambers could be entered was locked, and the key taken by Dr. -Phelps. He also locked the front door inside, left the key in the -lock, and, passing out at the back door, locked that, and placed the -key in his pocket. On returning from church at noon, the front door -was found standing open; the chamber doors, which were left fastened, -were now open; and in the nursery the furniture was thrown about in -disorder; chairs on the bed, and thrown down upon the floor; the -shovel, tongs, and poker, with other things, were in unusual positions -and places, every thing showing unmistakable signs of the work of -some rude hand making mischief in their absence. Upon discovering the -disorder here, Dr. Phelps passed into other rooms on the same floor, -but could see no further evidence of intrusion. The first supposition -was, very naturally, that some person or persons had entered and -robbed the house. Search was immediately made in the closets where -silver plate, spoons, forks, etc., were kept. All were found safe and -undisturbed. A gold watch, left in an exposed place, remained there as -left. The impression still remained that burglars had been in; and, on -examination of the windows, one was found that could be raised from the -outside, and though there was no evidence of entrance having been made -there, no doubt existed that this was the place of access. Thinking -they might return during the afternoon, Dr. Phelps remained at home, -the other members of the family going again to church. Being left -alone, the doctor armed himself, and, selecting a secluded position, -awaited the return of the burglars. There was no disturbance during -the afternoon; no sound of footfall; all remained quiet. On the return -of the family, after the service, usually closing at three o’clock, -several other articles were found out of place, but not in a way to -make it certain that they were not moved in the morning. Articles of -kitchen furniture were changed about. A teakettle, which had been used -at dinner-time, was found hidden behind some boxes in the cellar. The -bread, sugar-bowl, eggs, and numerous other things kept in the kitchen, -were found where they did not belong, and where they had evidently -been placed in some way which the family could not account for. Upon -entering the middle chamber, occupied as a sleeping-room, a sheet was -found spread over the bed outside the counterpane, and beneath which -was a nightgown and _chemise_ laid out with the arms folded across -the breast, with stockings placed in a position to represent, as it -seemed, a corpse disposed as is usual before placing it in the coffin. -On the wall were written characters resembling those said by certain -clairvoyants to belong to a spiritual language, but which none of the -family were able to decipher. Whether they had any significance, or -how they came there, was alike an unanswerable question by the family; -they had not observed them before. Occurrences ceased for that day and -night, yet, no one thinking of any mystery in the matter, they imputed -it to roguish boys, or others, who had effected entrance with false -keys, for mischief rather than for robbery, and that the culprits would -soon be detected. The next morning, March 11th, when the family went -up stairs, after breakfast, the middle chamber had again been visited, -exhibiting much the same scene of disorder presented the previous day. -A sheet was spread out upon the floor, the washstand laid upon its back -upon the sheet, a candlestick set upon the stand, the washbowl placed -upon one side, and the pitcher on the other. The nightgown and chemise, -used on the previous occasion to represent a dead body, were found one -in the bowl, the other in the pitcher. It appears that these articles -of clothing were not then in use; they had been placed in a trunk which -stood in a closet adjoining that room. They were replaced in the trunk -when removed from the bed the day before. As they were conversing -in relation to the disposition of the things as above stated, Mrs. -Phelps looked under the bed, and discovered articles there, partially -concealed by the bed, resembling those in question. They were taken -out and pronounced to be the same. Dr. Phelps had not before examined -them, but then took them, noted the name and number on each, as they -were marked, folded and placed them again in the trunk, remarking that -he would put them where they would stay; did not lock the trunk, not -having a key, but locked the closet and placed the key about his own -person; then requesting the family to all leave the room first, which -they did, the doctor, following, locked the door of the room, and kept -the key. Having observed that Mrs. Phelps seemed a little troubled as -to the mystery, he thought to convince her that there was no mystery in -the matter, and, having secured the closet and room, he descended to -the rooms below, following them all. After the lapse of some fifteen -minutes, some person spoke to the doctor, upon which he went up to the -chambers. At the head of the stairs, out in the hall, he found the same -articles which he had left as before stated. He examined them, and was -_positive they were the same_. He went to the door, found it locked, -entered by applying the key from his pocket, went to the closet, found -it locked, took the key from his pocket, opened the door, looked in -the trunk, and the articles were gone! Dr. Phelps states that he was -confident there was no deception in the case, and that he then, for the -first, felt that there was a mystery about the affair. He had never -believed in the appearing of ghosts or departed spirits, warnings, or -any thing of that nature, and, at the age of threescore, had never -seen or heard any thing connected with that class of phenomena. The -evidence upon which such superstitions, as he termed them, rest, he -had never examined, and, while he had no proof positive that they were -impossible, and never did occur, he had no evidence to found a belief -upon that they ever had. His idea of spiritual manifestations seems to -have been that most, if not all, followed by a strict scrutiny, might -be accounted for on natural or known principles, or some physical -means, which would disrobe them of the mysterious altogether. But it -was not to rest here. On the same day (March 11th) the moving and -throwing of furniture commenced. An umbrella, standing at the end of -the hall, leaped, without visible assistance, a distance of at least -twenty-five feet. Dr. Phelps saw the movement, and knows there was no -perceptible agency by which the motion was produced. A bucket, standing -at the head of the stairs, was thrown into the entry below. Smaller -articles, such as nails, forks, knives, spoons, bits of tin, iron, and -keys, were thrown from different directions about the house. He says, -‘There were times when they came from such directions that they _might_ -have been thrown by some person in the house’—at least, that may be -admitted; but in very many cases the motion and point of starting -were such as to preclude all possibility of deception on the part of -persons in the rooms. During the afternoon, Dr. and Mrs. Phelps had -occasion to go to Bridgeport, a distance of some three miles. During -their absence the shovel and tongs, standing in the dining-room, were -thrown violently down the basement stairs; a piece of mourning-crape -fastened to the knocker of the back door, and the mirrors in the front -chambers covered with sheets and tablecloths, as is the custom in some -parts of the country while a person lies dead in the house. The crape -on the door Dr. Phelps did not see, but the covering on the mirrors he -removed with his own hands. The position of the mirrors in one room -was such that the coverings could not, without great difficulty, have -been placed there by any person about the house. Various articles were -said to have been thrown about the room—the phenomena continuing in his -absence about the same as when he was present in the fore part of the -day. Soon after sundown all was again quiet, and so continued through -the night. - -1670. “The next morning, (March 12th,) soon after the family were -up, the same phenomena began again; knives, forks, spoons, blocks of -wood, nails, etc. etc. were thrown from different directions, and with -increased frequency, attended by still stranger circumstances, and -those of a still more mysterious character. Mrs. Phelps expressed some -alarm, and a wish that some of the neighbours might be called in. Dr. -Phelps called on a retired clergyman of Stratford, a man of extensive -information, much experience, and sound judgment, who was universally -admitted to be capable of rendering correct judgment and good advice in -such a case. He requested him to call and spend an hour at the house, -to which he cheerfully consented. Dr. P. told him that his family had -been a little excited by some occurrences in the house, but did not -state any of the details of the matter, but desired that he would sit -with them for a short time and witness for himself. He remained all -day, but was, at first, firmly of the opinion that the occurrences were -produced, in some way, through the agency of the girl, or some other -person about the house, and his main attention was directed to the girl -in the kitchen, or the children, in the expectation that he should -detect them in doing it. - -1671. “The door leading from the parlours to the kitchen was, by his -request, locked, and all communication between it and the other parts -of the house cut off; still, the throwing of articles went on as -before. The children were sent out of the room, and the doors locked; -but this made no difference. He stayed through most of the day on -Thursday, and returned soon after breakfast next morning, and remained -most of the time for nearly three weeks. He became satisfied, before -the close of the second day, that neither the girl in the kitchen nor -the children had any agency in producing the strange movements. During -the day (March 12th) some of the neighbours were in the house, and -small blocks of wood were seen to fall in different places in their -presence; but only one person noticed them in a way to excite inquiry, -and that person was requested not to mention what she had seen. - -1672. “On Wednesday, March 13th, the manifestations commenced early -in the morning, in the middle chamber, the room in which two children -slept, and began while they were both asleep. A book, standing in -the library, ten or twelve feet from the bed, leaped from the shelf -into the middle of the room. The blower, which was in the grate, -leaped out on the floor, a distance of at least six feet, the noise -of which first awakened the children. At the breakfast-table several -articles were thrown; among them a large potato, which had been sent -from Pennsylvania, and laid up in a closet in the east chamber, fell -on the table directly by the side of Dr. P.'s plate, in a manner that -no person could have done it without instant detection. The doctor’s -curiosity was much excited, and he watched, with all the scrutiny he -was capable, every person in the room. He took up the potato and let it -fall from different heights, in order to determine how far it must have -fallen to have made the concussion that it did; and it was adjudged by -all that the distance could not have been more than twelve or fifteen -inches. - -1673. “Rev. Mr.—— came in soon after breakfast, and remained during the -day. Several Bibles were opened at different passages, which seemed to -be selected with a great deal of care, and indicated either by placing -small pieces of paper on them or turning down a leaf. These things -first occurred in the middle chamber, where the library stood. While -the family were at dinner similar things were done in the parlour -adjoining the dining-room. Two Bibles and an Episcopal prayer-book -were opened at different passages, chairs turned forward on the floor, -two solar lamps placed on the floor, a hat and man’s cap put one on -each; nearly every thing in the room had been moved, and in so _short -a time_, that it seems wholly inadmissible that any person about the -house could have done it; beside, the whole household were in the -dining-room, all seated at the table, except the servant, and she was -employed waiting on the table. - -1674. “In the afternoon the demonstrations were confined to the middle -parlour; Dr. and Mrs. Phelps, and Mr.——, and, a part of the time, the -eldest daughter, being present; in the absence of the daughter the -doors were locked, and the three first named only were present. - -1675. “The throwing of various things occupied the afternoon. The -articles thrown were picked up and placed upon the mantel, and between -the hours of one and four o’clock, the number amounted to forty-six; -among which were nails, bits of tin, iron, keys, and small blocks, all -of which were gathered from different parts of the house; most of them -from closets on the second floor and the chambers. At one time, while -Mr. M-—- was standing near the centre of the room, a padlock, which was -known to have been in the closet of the middle chamber, fell at his -feet. He took it in his hand, letting it fall from different heights, -to discover the probable distance it must have fallen to produce the -concussion. After various trials it was judged to have fallen not more -than two or two and a half feet. As Dr. P. was sitting, perhaps ten -feet from the piano-forte, he saw a small toy-mouse, which was on the -piano, arise as if tossed, and, describing a parabola as it came, fall -at his side, so near that he took it from the floor without leaving -his chair. This he speaks of seeing as distinctly as he ever saw any -thing, the whole being perfectly in his view. He also saw, in the -same way, among other things, a nail, cotton-spool, and key, arise -from behind the sofa, which stood diagonally across the corner of the -room. He arose, went to the sofa, looking behind and under it, but -could discover nothing which might give impulse to the articles. While -examining the carpet about the sofa to find if any other things were -there, without success, as his eyes were directed to one spot, there -arose from that very point a piece of cheese-rind, perhaps eight inches -from the floor; when he saw it first it arose four or five feet, passed -over the sofa, and fell on the floor. He is positive it was not there -when he was looking at the carpet, and knows there were no visible -means of its moving. - -1676. “Mr. M-—- suggested, as he was about to leave on Wednesday night, -that if the strange phenomena should return, he would like to have -some other persons called in. Early the next morning, Thursday, the -14th, the manifestations commenced about as they had on the previous -day. Soon after breakfast a sheet was found spread upon the floor, -several Bibles were opened at different places, the candlesticks, in -a row, the highest in the middle, and covered with a sheet; other -articles changed about the room, without any seeming design, more -than to attract attention. Mr. M-—- proposed that notes be despatched -to Rev. Mr. W-—-, Congregational minister, and Mr. Plant, a lawyer -of high standing and respectability, which was accordingly done. It -was at this time that they first began to hear rappings and heavy -poundings. A loud sound, like some person striking the floor with some -heavy substance, was heard, generally in the middle chamber. This was -usually done when no one was in the chamber, and on any one entering -all was still. In one instance a chair was seen to rise from the floor -and beat down again, five or six times, with a violence which caused -the house to tremble so as to be felt in all the adjoining apartments. -A large plated candlestick, standing on the mantel, was moved by some -unseen power to the floor, and then rose up and down, beating the -floor, until the candlestick was broken. This was the first article -that was damaged about the house. Several times during the day loud -noises, like some one pounding with an axe or some heavy substance on -the floor, were heard in different parts of the house, and several -times the loud poundings terminated with a frightful scream; it was not -a cry of distress, or any thing that could be easily imitated, seeming -like something between the cry of a cat and the bleating of a calf, -but louder than either. These sounds occurred in all probably twenty -times while the manifestations were going on. Sometimes the screams -seemed to be in the third story, sometimes in the front-hall chamber, -several times out in the yard, and occasionally in other places. There -was at no time any audible expression of words. The sounds consisted of -poundings, knockings, and screamings. On this day the first images were -found, which will be spoken of more fully hereafter. - -1677. “In the evening of this day, just after some young ladies had -called, Dr. P.‘s daughter returned to the parlour, it being between -nine and ten o’clock. After seeing the young ladies to the door, an -iron stand, in which stood the fire-shovel, tongs, and poker, leaped -from the hearth, where it stood, into the middle of the floor, and rose -up and beat the floor with a force that made a jar that could be felt, -and the sound heard, in any part of the house. This was seen only by -the daughter, but Dr. P. and wife heard the noise. The daughter ran -through the dining-room to get up stairs, and, as she passed, a large -table was standing, with the other furniture, arranged for breakfast -the next morning. The table was three feet nine inches wide, and five -feet three inches long, made of solid mahogany; and when she entered -the room it rose up and beat five or six times against the floor with -a force which made the house jar. The noise was heard by many persons -in the house. Mrs. P. was alarmed, and screamed out, ‘Oh, take me from -this place!’ This happened between nine and ten o’clock, P. M. Previous -to this time all manifestations had ceased by sundown, or a little -after. - -1678. “Soon after daylight on Friday, March 15th, movements similar to -those on previous days commenced. Henry, a lad then eleven and a half -years of age, attended the academy, and nothing had, thus far, ever -occurred to connect these strange phenomena with his presence. Dr. P. -had never heard or thought of particular persons being ‘mediums.’ But -on this day the remarkable occurrences seemed to be connected more or -less with this boy. His cap was torn on his head, so as to be entirely -destroyed. Another one which he put on was taken in the same way. First -a small hole opened in the crown; this gradually extended, and in a -short time it was torn into many pieces. On another cap characters -were made, apparently with chalk. They resembled those sometimes made -by persons in the higher mesmeric state, describing them as characters -of a spiritual language. Five or six of these characters were, at -one time, made on the boy’s cap. Others, supposed to constitute a -sentence, were written on a red pocket-handkerchief; others on his -pantaloons and coat, and on the _inside_ of his sack-coat. Copies of -these characters were taken with great care, and were preserved till -September following, when they were mysteriously destroyed. From this -time it became evident that some of the phenomena had some kind of -connection with this boy. - -1679. “An umbrella which he was carrying was, in a mysterious manner, -torn in several pieces. His pantaloons were torn from the bottom -upward, as high as the knee, and sometimes higher, and were literally -torn to ribbons, an inch or more wide. This occurred several times -under the immediate inspection of Rev. Mr. M., which seems to fix -the fact that, in those instances at least, no power visible did it. -Thus it continued for several weeks, clothing to the amount of twenty -dollars being destroyed. At one time, while he was riding in a carriage -with Dr. P., his cap on his head was torn in a mysterious manner, and -his pants torn from the waistband to the bottom, in a way that no human -power could have done. Dr. P. heard them torn, but could see nothing -doing it, and knows the boy could not have done it himself. It was on -this day, March 15th, that images, dressed in articles of clothing, -were again seen; only two or three appeared on that day. The most -extraordinary occurrences of this kind took place on Saturday, the -16th. Soon after breakfast two or three images appeared in the middle -chamber; soon again another, followed by others still, numbering in -all eleven or twelve. They were formed of articles of clothing, found -about the house, stuffed to resemble the human figure. A lady’s dress -would be stuffed in some cases with a muff; again with a pillow, and -sometimes with other dresses; a bonnet and shoes were aptly placed to -complete the figure. These, on this occasion, all but one, represented -females in the attitude of devotion, some having Bibles or prayer-books -placed before them. One, formed of Mrs. P.‘s dress, so much resembled -the real, that the little boy, scarce three years old, coming into -the room with his sister, older, whispered, ‘Be still, ma is saying -prayers.’ - -1680. “A portable writing-desk, usually standing on the secretary in -the room, was taken and placed upon the floor, a towel spread over -it, and the image of a child kneeling beside it. A Yankee clock was -taken from the mantel in the nursery and placed upon the floor in the -middle room, a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that -the clock was still going when discovered in its new place, though it -stopped some time after. It does not appear that any of these images -were seen in the process of construction, or that the clothing, which -was gathered from different localities, was seen in the act of moving. -When persons entered the room every thing was still, the clothing about -the floor, which, upon going in again within a few minutes, were found -wrought into forms. The marked rapidity of their construction, and the -lifelike appearance of them, seems to have been truly wonderful. During -this day several others than members of the family were present. In -several instances, when the rooms were closed and the doors guarded, so -that no person could enter, the images were constructed. To one reading -or listening to the relation of these facts, the mischief and cunning -evinced will seem amusing as well as most wonderful; but to the family, -who bore the annoyance and witnessed the terrifying demonstrations, it -was a serious and trying affair. - -1681. “The reader will keep in mind that this was on Saturday of -the first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were -still believing that they must be produced by some one in the house; -every member of the family therefore was subjected to the most rigid -scrutiny, which makes it morally certain that no member of the -household could have had any agency in the matter without being at once -detected. Beside the neatness and despatch with which they were formed, -the natural appearance of most of them must have required taste and -skill beyond the conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M. -remained there throughout the day, Mr. W., Governor Plant, and Captain -S., a part of the day. During the day and evening various things -were thrown in different parts of the house. A brick-bat, which lay -on the stairs leading to the third story, was thrown violently down -stairs, passing very near the head of the eldest daughter as she was -descending the stairs. A fire-shovel was also thrown near her, which -she first saw high above her in a position to fall upon her head. She -was several times constrained to cry out from fear, so much as to cause -apprehension on her account. - -1682. “[I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute -account of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has now -grown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having her -name mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon -was tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tight as to cause -a serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room -when it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on -account of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ -materially in their nature from the occurrences herein related.] - -1683. “The hiding of hats, caps, clothing, &c., seems at this time -to have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was -seen to go up stairs—not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly -by unseen hands. For several days Dr. P. was forced to keep his hat -under lock and key to prevent its disappearance, if left out as usual. -Coats, hats, and canes of gentlemen, who were strangers in the house, -were spirited away; the only object seeming to be the gratification -of mischievous desires, with the exception of a few instances. They -were found sometimes in the chimney, under the bed, and in the bottom -of trunks. The design seemed to be to detain the owners to witness -further demonstrations. Two gentlemen from an adjoining town called, -one of whom had expressed an earnest desire to witness the phenomena; -but having passed several hours, and seeing nothing, they were about -to leave, when the person who expressed the wish found himself minus -a hat. A thorough searching followed, but no hat could be found; -consequently, the gentleman decided to remain until the next day. -During the evening and night, phenomena transpired sufficient to -gratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like results, -afterward occurred. - -1684. “On the nineteenth and twentieth, little occurred to cause alarm. -Some of the family heard loud and frightful screams in an adjacent -outhouse, which must have been torturing to the feelings, much more -so than the silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the -house. Reports had now got abroad, and some excitement was being -produced, as is always the case in country towns, where each person -knows their neighbour’s private business quite as well, and sometimes -better, than those most interested. And in a matter of this kind all -efforts to prevent publicity would prove unavailing. Curiosity and -staring wonder would overstep all bounds of propriety and respect for -the private rights and feelings of the family, forgetting that it is no -slight thing for the harmony and quiet of a household to be invaded, -each member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured scrutiny, or -careless reproach. On this subject I can speak from experience, having -myself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibility it is a -trial indeed. In this case, Dr. P. adopted the rule of giving all who -called an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and to this rule -he adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation -must have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered -outside, a stranger, who came unintroduced by letter or otherwise, -asked to spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons. - -1685. “On Friday and Saturday, March 23d and 24th, the disturbances -increased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams -were heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset -and dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought -himself suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and -supposed that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He -was very much frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family, -and remained in a state of great nervous excitement for two or three -hours, and the effects did not wholly wear off for more than a week. -At times he was in such a state as to require two men to hold him. For -several days after this, he spent a portion of his time with one of the -neighbours during the day; but the disturbances continued the same at -the house, although he appeared to be more or less the medium as long -as the phenomena continued. At one time he was thrown into a cistern of -water; at another he was tied up and suspended from a tree, and several -times was thrown into a state of apparent insensibility, in which he -would remain from ten to fifteen minutes, and for which no human cause -could be assigned. - -1686. “Somewhere about the 20th or 22d of March, Dr. P.‘s attention -was called to a pamphlet, (Capron and Barron’s,) giving a history of -the ‘mysterious noises’ at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who -had read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances -in the manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to -questions. To this the doctor objected, for reasons known to himself, -but which may readily be imagined by those knowing his position in -life, and his general opinions of such phenomena. - -1687. “On the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the 3d of April -Harry also left. No manifestations took place while both were away. -Harry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks; but the very day that -Harry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power than -ever. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious -characters was dropped near the front door. These characters were -interpreted by a clairvoyant[37] to read as follows: - - 1688. ‘Fear not when he returns; all danger is o’er. - We came, we disturbed thy house; but shall no more. - Believe us not evil or good, till we prove - Our speech to humanity, our language of love.’ - -1689. This was supposed to indicate that no further disturbance would -be made; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was -found in the boy’s hat, in these words: - - 1690. ‘The good ones say that all is done, - But the wicked ones say it has just begun.’ - -1691. The ‘wicked ones,’ in this case, seemed to come nearer the truth -than the ‘good ones;’ for, on the afternoon of the eighth of April, -the breaking of glass commenced for the first time, by the breaking of -a pane in a mysterious manner. In the evening of the same day another -was broken during family prayers, some of the pieces falling inside -and some outside. There were no indications of any thing being thrown -against it. - -1692. From this time forward for several weeks glass was broken almost -daily, until the whole number of panes broken amounted to _seventy-one_ -in the house and out-buildings. Most of them were broken by something -being thrown against them; among the articles were a brush, a shoe, a -poker, a fire-shovel, a candlestick, a pair of snuffers, books, and -numerous other things; occasionally a stone or piece of brick, thrown -from the outside. - -1693. Dr. P. thinks it would have been possible, but not probable, -that, in some of these cases, they might have been broken by human -agency; but he was an eye-witness in some twenty or thirty cases, and -knows that they could not have been so done. He saw a brush, which he -knew to have been on a certain shelf but a moment before, and no person -near the shelf, fly to the window, break out a glass, and fall down -between the shutter and sash, where he knew from the position that no -one could have thrown it. He saw a tumbler, which was standing on a -bureau, rise from its place, fly to the window, and dash out the only -pane remaining whole in the window, when no person was within twenty -feet of it, and the only persons in the room were himself and Harry, -the latter standing by the doctor’s side in the doorway of the room—a -position in which it was utterly impossible for him to have done it -without detection. - -1694. The mysterious visitors, whoever they were, seemed at times to be -actuated by a spirit of sheer mischief in the destruction of property, -particularly glass and crockery. Even the glass in the carriage-top -was broken out. Pitchers of water were, on two or three occasions, -poured into the beds, and the pitchers and other vessels thrown about -the room and broken. The damage to furniture during the whole time -was nearly two hundred dollars. Sometimes there was a cessation of -‘hostilities’ for two or three days; but they would then return with -additional violence; in fact, they increased gradually in violence -from the beginning to the middle of April. On the evening of that day, -and during the night, they were more violent and destructive than ever -before. On the night of the 13th of April, loud pounding and beating, -as with some hard substance, were frequent in the room adjoining that -in which Dr. P. slept; so loud and continued were they, that at one -o’clock no person in the house had been able to sleep. Soon after, a -small drawer was taken from a dressing-table, and beaten so violently -against the bedstead as to break it into fragments, some of which were -thrown against the windows, breaking two panes of glass. The knockings -were now transferred to Mrs. P.‘s room. She was pinched, pricked with -pins, and otherwise annoyed in a manner beyond explanation ‘on any -known laws of matter or mind.’ Mr. W. C. was staying in the house that -night. He went to the room by request, and proposed to interrogate -them, as they were then doing at Rochester and other places in Western -New York. Being left to act his pleasure, he queried, and was replied -to as follows: ‘Who are you? If a spirit, knock.’ Immediately there -were heard on the head of the bed distinct knocks. _Q._—‘Are you a good -or bad spirit? If good, knock.’ To this there was no answering sound. -‘If a bad spirit, knock.’ At once the same sounds as before were heard. -_Q._—‘Will you spell your name if the alphabet is called?’ _A._—Knock. -It was done; and a name was spelled out, and a communication made -of a most extraordinary character, detailing the particulars of a -transaction in which a portion of the family were said to have been -defrauded out of a large property. As this whole communication relates -to a matter which may yet come before the tribunals of our country for -adjudication, I am expressly prohibited from making any extracts from -this part of the journal. I regret this more, as the facts in this case -form one of the most wonderful and unaccountable cases on record. - -1695. The family concluded that, after these important disclosures -were made, the disturbances would cease; but they were doomed to be -disappointed. The following night no communications were made, but the -throwing of articles and breaking of windows, crockery, etc., were -renewed with greater violence than before. Four or five panes of glass -were broken in one room in the space of half an hour. While the family -were together in the east chamber, a small sauce-dish, with an iron -handle, rose from the floor, under the washstand, and beat against -the bedstead with such violence as to break the handle off, and was -then thrown back from whence it started. It beat seven or eight times -against the bedstead, producing a noise that could easily be heard -twenty rods. A round of a chair was beaten against the bedstead in the -same manner, when there was no person within seven or eight feet of -it. A lamp that was on the mantel leaped into the middle of the floor, -and was extinguished. Being left thus suddenly in the dark produced no -little agitation, and Mrs. Phelps proposed that they should take the -children and go into the street, rather than stay in the house that -night. In a few minutes two gentlemen, who had appointed to spend the -night with them, arrived, and the more violent of the manifestations -ceased. - -1696. About this time, Dr. P.‘s attention was called to the fact that -the demonstrations were much more violent in the presence of some -persons than of others. While some were present they would cease -entirely, and commence as soon as they left, with great vehemence. - -1697. On the 17th the communications were renewed, and from that time -they had frequent communications, mainly respecting the property -affair. At one time they asked how they should know that this was -really from the spirit it purported to be, and requested his signature; -when in less than four minutes a small piece of paper, having on it an -exact fac-simile of his handwriting, was seen sticking to the wall—the -writing apparently done with a pencil. Dr. Phelps still preserves the -original paper, with the name inked over. It was stuck to the wall by -being made damp. - -1698. It was now discovered that, in order to get the rapping, the -presence of Henry was necessary. At one time a request was made by the -rapping to send him to New York, and a threat that all the windows in -the house would be broken, if they did not, was made; but in a few -minutes after, a small piece of paper was seen to fall, apparently from -the ceiling, and on it written, ‘Send him not to New York—evil will -befall him.’ It was evident that there were two or more contending -agencies engaged in the manifestations. It was not easy to define -or imagine what their objects were. At times, when one was making a -communication, the other would rap, seemingly to make confusion. At -other times, when a communication was being made by alphabet, a paper -would be dropped down, and on it written, ‘It is all a lie; don’t -believe what he says.” Sometimes language the most profane, and -occasionally, but rarely, obscene, would be written out in this way. -Inquiry was made as to how these contradictory communications were -to be accounted for, and the answer was that an opposing spirit was -attempting to defeat the object of the first; that this spirit was -now one of his tormentors; that both were in a state of misery, and -his suffering would be mitigated if the object of the first could be -accomplished, although he would never go to a state of happiness. - -1699. “Among the spirits who communicated were two who professed to -be in a state of happiness, and three in a state of misery. One of -the good spirits claimed to be a sister of him who made the first -communication; she communicated frequently, and constantly manifested -herself in the morning and evening devotions of the family, and always -gave two distinct knocks at the utterance of ‘Amen.’ Upon inquiry as -to the meaning of these two knocks, the answer was given that it was a -response, after the manner of the Episcopal service, signifying that -she joined in the devotions. - -1700. Much that was communicated after the first few days was of -a trifling and childish character; some, more like what would be -received from street rowdies than any thing else. To the question why -they destroyed property, they replied, ‘For fun.’ It was asked of the -opposing spirit what could be done to afford him relief; he answered -that ‘The best thing they could do would be to give him a piece of -pie.’ Sometimes letters would come, purporting to be from ministers of -Philadelphia, giving accounts of conversions in their congregations -and additions to their churches. These were addressed to the doctor, -and indicated a knowledge of things in Philadelphia to an astonishing -degree. Some of the letters were addressed to Mrs. Phelps, signed, or -rather purporting to be signed, by departed spirits of persons who -had lived in Philadelphia, and all, or nearly all, who had lived in -a single square, and were the acquaintances of Mrs. Phelps, during a -residence in that city, in the time of her former marriage. Sentimental -notes were also addressed to the daughter. These letters and billets -were frequent, amounting in all to nearly one hundred, and were all -written in one hand, though purporting to come from different persons. -The fact was at one time referred to, and an explanation desired, to -which the following was given: ‘We do not write with the hand—do not -touch the pencil; we write with the will.’ At one time a paper was -thrown down to Mrs. Phelps, while in the parlour with a number of -ladies, having written on it, with a pencil, as follows: - -1701. ‘SIR: Sir Sambo’s compliments, and begs the laddyes to accept as -a token of esteem.’ - -1702. A lady in the family of Dr. Phelps had, in a humorous way, -requested the spirits to write her a letter that she might send to -a friend in Philadelphia. The spirit complied with the request by -sending down the following: - -1703. ‘DEAR MARY: I have just time to write and tell you I am well. -Give my love to Miss K. and her uncle. Also to Mrs. and Mr. D. Also to -Sarah. Good-bye. H. P. DEVIL.’ - -1704. The initials of the lady’s name who asked for the letter were H. -P. - -1705. Papers were also thrown down, signed ‘Beelzebub’ and ‘Sam Slick.’ -Sometimes names of persons whom the family had known in Philadelphia, -but who had been dead several years, were signed to these papers. - -1706. The following was in pencil, and seems to be written in the same -hand as the other. It was superscribed ‘E. Phelps:’ - -1707. ‘If you promise not to write what I told you, I will not throw -any thing all this week.’ - -1708. On the 28th of July, 1850, two singular letters were thrown -down, addressed to Dr. Phelps. They were both in one handwriting, -but were signed by two different orthodox clergymen of Philadelphia. -Their interest in religious movements, and their acquaintance with the -phraseology of ‘revival’ correspondence, are seen at a glance. ‘St. -Peter’s,’ in the second letter, is a Puseyite church. - - 1709. ‘DEAR BROTHER: The Lord is dealing bountifully with his chosen - people. Brother Barnes admitted to the church forty-nine last Sunday, - and Brother Parker thirty-four to-day. Brother Converse has had the - cholera, and Brother Fairchild has grown so fleshy as scarcely to - be recognised. Our friend Mr. Tarr has buried his wife. She died of - consumption. E. Tarr is married. Brother Mahu, being suddenly inspired - last Sunday, spoke so eloquently and so loud, and used such majestic - action, as to be quite done up for a while. He broke a blood-vessel. - Old Tiers has gone crazy, and is shut up in a mad-house, or, rather, - a hospital. The H-—-s have gone into the country to spend some time. - That’s all the news. - ‘Your faithful brother in Christ, - - ‘R. A.’ - -1710. ‘DEAR BROTHER: The millennium truly is coming. The day of the -Lord is at hand. We are adding countless numbers to the altar of the -Lord. Brother A-—- became inspired last Sunday to such a degree, -that his soul took its flight to the regions above, and has not yet -returned. The Catholic churches, St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s, were -burned down; St. Peter’s, also—I believe that is a Catholic church. -Brother Mahu was preaching from the text, ‘Resist the devil,’ &c., when -he was suddenly overturned by an invisible power, which frightened him -so that his hair turned white in five minutes. - -1711. ‘Brother Barnes, to render his church more attractive, is -going to have opera-singing and dancing every Sunday afternoon. Mrs. -Alexander Tower, old Mr. Tiers, Brother Fairchild, and Mrs. Somerville -are going to dance. I think they will find it a very lucrative -employment. Jane and Martha still progress in Hebrew. - ‘Your affectionate brother, M. R.’ - -1712. On Sunday, April 27th, 1851, on returning from church, the family -found strange characters written on the last leaf of a writing-book, -lying on the hall floor, although it was known to be in the nursery -previous to their going away. None of the family had any knowledge of -how the book got into the hall.[38] - -1713. H. C. Gordon, a clairvoyant, interpreted the characters as -follows: The first line, 95th Psalm, 2d verse; second line, 3d and 6th -verse; and the third line, the 10th verse. - -1714. Certain characters were found on the wall in the east chamber, on -Sunday morning, May 4th, 1851. They were made with a candle on the wall -near the south window. - -1715. These were translated to be, ‘Spirits of a higher order desire to -communicate with you soon.’ - -1716. Spirit-writing, without visible human agency, has never been -a common mode of communicating, although it was among the early -occurrences at Hydesville, Rochester, and Auburn.[39] - -1717. Sometimes these missives were enclosed in a book, and thrown down -stairs or into the room; sometimes wrapped about a key or nail, or -any thing that would give a momentum, and thrown into the room. Often -they were seen to fall from above; this occurring frequently when the -doors were closed, and it was not possible for any visible agent to -have been the cause. Writing would appear on the wall at times, made, -as it appeared, with a pencil. On one occasion, Dr. Phelps was writing -at his desk, and, turning his back for a few moments, without leaving -his chair, turned again to his paper, where he found written in large -letters, ‘Very nice paper and very nice ink for the devil.’ The ink was -not yet dry, the desk was not two feet from him as he sat, and he was -entirely alone in the room. - -1718. About the first of May, Dr. Phelps, of Boston, brother of the -Rev. Doctor, and Prof. Phelps, of Andover, a son of the Rev. Doctor, -went to Stratford to ‘expose the humbug,’ and with a full belief that -it was a trick of evil-minded persons, and that they should be able -to detect and expose it without trouble; and they were disappointed, -as hundreds have been under like circumstances. On Tuesday evening -a loud rap was heard on the back door, seeming to be made by the -knocker, loud enough to be heard twenty rods distant. The servant -went to the door, but no person was there. After the lapse of five or -eight minutes, the rap was repeated. It was then supposed that some -one had done it mischievously; but, on looking about, no person was -discovered. It was in the shades of evening, but not dark enough to -prevent any person being seen, who might have done it, as easily as -at mid-day. The knocking came the third time, when Dr. Phelps—the -visitor—placed himself in the hall, perhaps four feet from the door, -and the Professor, of Andover, took a position on the steps without, -each having full view of the door. The same loud raps were repeated -on the door between them. The knocker did not move, nor could the eye -detect any cause for what met the ear. The noise was heard throughout -the house, and both the gentlemen were positive that no visible agent -was employed to produce it. About bed-time, a loud pounding was heard -on the chamber-door. The gentlemen, each with a candle in hand, stood -on either side of the door, as the pounding, as though done with a -heavy boot, was continued. The noise appeared to each to be on the side -of the door opposite to him. On the following morning, as Dr. Phelps, -of Stratford, was standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the -third story, a noise as loud and much resembling the report of a pistol -occurred apparently close to his ear. These boisterous sounds occurred -at intervals during a great part of the time that the disturbance was -continued. Sometimes for weeks they would not be heard; and again for -days they were heard every day. - -1719. It would seem, from various occurrences, that the agents of -these sounds, whoever they were, must have been human beings, or, at -least, possessed of all the leading characteristics of humanity. They -were evidently influenced by kindness or unkindness, by respect and -confidence, as persons generally are in this life. Some instances -illustrating this are given. One morning, during the breakfast hour, -they would push the table suddenly, raise up one side and shake it in -such a manner as to spill the coffee, and otherwise occasion serious -inconvenience. A person at the table spoke to them in a tone of -authority, commanding them to desist; but the act was at once repeated. -Again they were commanded to cease, but increased violence followed -this command. This was five or six times repeated, and the shaking -was each time renewed. At length another person at the table said, ‘I -request you kindly to cease this annoyance, and allow us to take our -breakfast quietly,’ and they ceased at once, without a repetition. It -was found, from this time, that kindness had about the same effect -upon them that it produces upon mankind at large. A lady, the wife of -a clergyman, spent a few weeks in the family during the summer, who -received many communications from them, would often, when the scissors, -thimble, or things of that kind, were mislaid, say, ‘I will thank the -spirits to return my thimble, scissors,’ or whatever was missing, -and the article named would drop at her side, or in her lap, within -a minute. Things of this kind occurred very many times in the course -of the time that these phenomena were continued. If a key or knife, -or any thing of the kind, was mislaid, and any person was looking for -it, frequently it would be thrown to them as though their wants were -anticipated. Dr. Phelps was once with Harry in the stable, when the -currycomb could not be found, and he asked Harry where it was, to which -Harry replied that he did not know. At that moment, the doctor saw -it rise, as if thrown, from a point ten feet distant from them, and, -describing a parabola, fall within a short distance of the spot where -they both were standing. - -1720. About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps and Harry were riding to -Huntington, a distance of seven miles. When they had proceeded about -one mile on the way, a stone, about the size of a hen’s egg, was thrown -into the carriage, and lodged on Dr. Phelps’s hat. Soon another and -another were thrown in. The carriage was a covered one, and the back -curtain was down, and there was no way a stone could have been thrown -in by ordinary means. At one house where they stopped, the moment the -front door was opened, two stones were thrown, one of which entered the -door as it stood partly open, and the other hit one of the lights of -glass, and broke it. Harry was standing on the door-steps at the time, -and there was no one in the street who could have thrown them. Two -stones were also thrown against another house where they stopped of an -errand. Sixteen stones were thrown into the carriage on the doctor’s -return, and, including those thrown against the two houses, twenty, in -driving three or four hours. - -1721. As it was now apparent that these strange things were in some way -connected with Harry as a medium, it was thought best to separate him -from the family. Accordingly board was obtained for him in a family -some two miles distant. One day, when he came home, he told his mother, -in great secrecy, that on the night previous he had been awakened from -his sleep by some person dressed in white, whom he saw standing by his -bedside. He was frightened, and was about to scream, when the person -spoke and said, ‘Be not afraid, my son; I am your father;’ and then -placed in the boy’s hand a silver watch, and told him to wear it for -his sake. The boy affirms that he had the watch in his hand; that it -was not a dream; and that he was entirely awake; and that his father -told him to tell no one of it but his mother and Dr. P. His mother told -him it was nothing but a dream, and turned it off as a light affair. - -1722. It seems that a valuable silver watch had been left the boy by -his father, which was not in use, but had been kept locked up in a -drawer of a dressing-table, to which he (Harry) had no access. A member -of the family, having occasion to look into the drawer, saw the watch, -and knows it was there, and that the drawer was locked, and the key -given to Mrs. P. A few minutes after the conversation with his mother -about the apparition and the watch, the night previous, he came in -from the yard with the watch in his hand! He said his father had again -appeared to him, and put the watch into his hand again, and said, ‘Wear -this for my sake.’ He brought the watch into the house, and showed it -to his mother, and said that his father said, ‘Tell your mother to look -at the second-hand.’ The hand was off, and lay on the face of the watch -under the crystal. A credible person will make oath, if called upon, -that she saw the watch in the drawer, where it was usually kept, not -more than six or eight minutes before, and that she locked the drawer -and gave the key to Mrs. Phelps. The key had been in possession of no -other person, and Harry had not been in the room during the time. The -watch was taken to Dr. P., and he tried to replace the second-hand, -but could not succeed. He closed it, leaving the hand loose on the -face, and passed it back to Harry, saying that he must take it to the -watch-maker. When he took it in his hand, he exclaimed, ‘Why, it’s -on!’ They looked, and it was on and going. In a few minutes it was off -again, and was put on a second time, all within a minute or two. The -doctor affirms that it was not out of his sight a moment; that he knows -the watch was not opened, and that no visible power was employed in -doing it. - -1723. On one occasion the piano-forte was played while it is known that -no person was in the room; and, at another time, it was turned around, -the front toward the wall, and so far removed from the side of the room -as to allow the player room to sit next to the wall; the stool was also -appropriately placed. - -1724. On several occasions, about this time, certain members of the -family saw, or thought they did, visible appearances. Dr. P. did not -give entire credit to these statements; not but what he had full -confidence in the honesty of the family, but the excited state in -which some of them had been for a long time led him to think that they -might imagine they saw what had no existence in fact. Toward the last -of May, it was signified that one of the spirits who had communicated -would appear visibly—first to the daughter, then to Mrs. P., and then -to the doctor himself. They asked in what manner he would appear, and -the answer was, ‘In a sheet.’ Between ten and eleven o’clock the same -night, soon after the family had retired, Anna, who occupied the east -bedroom, the door between her room and that where the doctor and his -wife slept being open, and a lamp burning on a stand so placed as to -light both rooms, called to her mother, and said, ‘There it is, in a -sheet.’ Dr. P. asked where; when she said it was in the door between -the two rooms, coming from the room the doctor occupied, but the doctor -saw nothing. The daughter was frightened, and covered up her head, -and in a few minutes looked up and saw nothing. He was represented as -moving slowly from one room to the other. - -1725. In about two minutes Mrs. Phelps exclaimed, ‘There it is!’ and -drew the clothes over her head. Both the daughter and mother saw it at -this time, but still the doctor saw nothing, although in as favourable -a position as either of the others. - -1726. After two or three minutes had elapsed, the doctor also saw it. -It appeared to him to move slowly from the hall chamber into his, -and turn and move slowly back. It had the appearance of a very tall -person with a sheet thrown around it; he saw only the sheet. In about -one minute, something was thrown on to the bed, which proved to be a -sheet which had been taken from the wardrobe in the hall. Dr. Phelps -declares that he was not frightened in the least, and could not have -been mistaken in the appearance. Some two or three weeks subsequent -to this a similar appearance was seen, and Dr. P. sprang out of bed, -determined to seize hold of it if possible. It came part way into his -room, and then moved slowly back. The daughter affirmed that the doctor -was within two or three feet of it when it disappeared, and a sheet -dropped into a chair. These were the only instances in which the doctor -saw any thing himself. Others of the family saw persons in a mysterious -way several times. - -1727. At one time, while Anna was in the dining-room, and a cousin of -hers and some of the children in the front yard, her attention was -arrested by some one entering the front parlour. She went in, and saw -three gentlemen—two of them sitting on the sofa, and one on a chair by -the table—all having their hats on, and drawn down over their eyes more -than usual; the one by the table had his feet upon the table, and was -reading a paper. She was surprised that neither of them rose up, or -looked at her, as she entered the room; and when she was within five or -six feet of the one nearest her, he leaned over on one side and fell, -chair and all, on the floor, and instantly all disappeared! She was -frightened, and ran to her cousin, who was near the front door. She -came in, but no persons were there, neither could they have entered -without her seeing them. The chair was thrown down, but no person near -who could have done it. - -1728. A few other instances occurred in which appearances were supposed -to have been seen; but the circumstances were not of a character -to put the matter beyond a doubt, therefore no record was kept of -them. About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps spent some time with the -Fox family in New York. He soon decided that the manifestations were -essentially the same as those at his house, with a few points of -difference. With them property was not destroyed, and they were not -painfully annoyed. The sounds were different, it being with them a -double or rolling sound, and at his house a single knock. They could -call upon and receive answers from different spirits, or what claimed -to be different ones. This could be done at his house. During the -months of June and July the same general occurrences continued at -Stratford. Sometimes for two or three days there would seem to be an -entire cessation of ‘hostilities.’ Then they would commence again with -redoubled force. People from all parts of the country were visiting -the house, to whom every facility was afforded to search into the -cause. Newspaper discussions were going on, casting the most unjust and -painful reflections, subjecting the family to suffering little short of -martyrdom, while numberless other persons had as good an opportunity of -explaining the matter as the persecuted family. In this affliction I -can sympathize somewhat with Dr. Phelps and family. In the first days -of these phenomena in Western New York, all persons who were involved -with or interested in them were looked upon and treated at once as void -of all common feeling or sensibility, both privately and publicly; -their names passed about, coupled with opprobrious epithets; their -houses were entered without ceremony, and even in the face of direct -request to the contrary; their right to quiet and repose invaded, their -houses often being crowded with visitors, prompted by idle curiosity -and a malicious desire to torture, beyond the midnight hour; still -insisting to remain, and adding insult to injury by declaring in your -ears that it was an arrant cheat—a grand humbug—being carried on; and -all for—what? And at the same time those whose ill-fortune it then -seemed to be to have an identity with it were weeping and praying for -the scourge to be removed from them; for scourge it seemed, indeed, -under such circumstances. - -1729. Dr. and Mrs. Phelps concluded, in August, as the demonstrations -were then less frequent, on taking a short journey of three weeks. -The disturbances were still more annoying in their absence than -before; and it was decided as best to close the house for the winter, -and remain away. Accordingly, on the 11th of September, Harry left -for Pennsylvania, and it was arranged that the other members of the -family should follow within three weeks. It seems that, although the -manifestations were connected more intimately with Harry, his presence -was not all-important, as they did not cease altogether when he -left; but communications were still made, though with less force and -violence. The knockings were not as loud, and the communications less -free or frequent. At one time a note was thrown into the room, while -Dr. P. was writing at the desk, which contained the following: “How -soon do the family expect to go to Pennsylvania? I wish to make some -arrangements before they go. Please answer in writing.’ The doctor -replied as desired, as follows: ‘About the first of October,’ and -placed the paper in a position where he had before put writings of the -kind, and heard nothing further. - -1730. Two or three days after this, a communication was given by use of -the alphabet, saying that Root, a gentleman who had been in the house, -had destroyed the doctor’s book. He inquired ‘What book?’ and was -answered ‘The big book.’ Yet he did not know what book was designated, -and repeated the question, and received the answer, ‘The big book -in the secretary.’ Still it was not understood. Again was spelled, -‘Look and see!’ Dr. Phelps had in the secretary two blank books; -in the larger one he had written a full account of the mysterious -manifestations, in the form of a diary, and, having noted them as they -occurred from day to day, they were recorded with more minuteness -than could afterward be done. Upon looking, it was discovered that -every page that had been written upon was torn from the book and gone. -After a long search, the fragments of the leaves were found in the -vault. Copies of the characters which the doctor had carefully taken, -and felt anxious to preserve, were every scrap gone. There were, in -a dressing-table drawer in the chamber, a great number of the notes -sent. These were set on fire with a match and burned in the drawer. -The fire was discovered by the smoke, but not until the papers were -so far charred as to injure them beyond preservation. A few of these -writings only are retained, which were in other places. The last of the -annoyances was on the 25th of September, and was that of throwing ink -upon the daughter’s dress. She was standing on the piazza, near the -front door; the window of the front chamber was open, from which was -thrown a small bottle of ink. The ink went over her dress in a way to -entirely unfit it for further use. There was no person in the chamber -who would have done such a thing for mischief; and, indeed, no person -in the house who would have been guilty of it. - -1731. The young lady was just setting out for a visit at New Haven, -from which she was anticipating much pleasure, and I cannot conceive of -any feeling, short of sheer malevolence, that would prompt such an act. - -1732. On the second day of October, the family, with the exception of -Dr. Phelps and the cook, left Stratford to go to Pennsylvania. During -their absence all demonstrations ceased, with what may be termed one -exception. A letter, addressed by Dr. Phelps to Mrs. Phelps, contained, -when it reached her, some of the spirit-writing in pencil, saying that -‘her husband was sick and wished her to return if she expected to see -him alive.’ He was then in good health; but the next week was sick and -confined to his bed two or three days. There may or may not have been -some connection between the two occurrences. It was the design of Dr. -Phelps to separate the family for a time, in order, if possible, to get -rid of the annoyance; and for the five weeks he remained at Stratford, -after the family had left, no disturbances took place. Harry stayed -in Bucks county (Pa.) all winter, and the other members of the family -lived in Philadelphia. - -1733. In the month of March the family returned to Stratford. The house -had been closed and under the charge of a neighbour, and no sign of -any disturbance was visible, as every article of furniture was found -just as they left it. About the fourth or fifth day after their return -slight rapping was heard as they sat at the tea-table. They affected -not to notice it, and the next day it was repeated more distinctly, but -no response was made. Soon after, certain characters were found about -the house, which were known, from the circumstances, to be of recent -origin. Two or three days after, distinct communications were made by -a spirit purporting to be Dr. Phelps’s daughter, who died at the age -of twelve years. On being questioned, this spirit could not give any -evidence of identity. - -1734. About the first of May several communications of a trifling -character were given. On one occasion the doctor asked if they would be -troubled any more as they had been, when they answered by rapping the -following: - - 1735. ‘Be not afraid that they will trouble you more, - Though we have not quitted Connecticut shore.’ - -1736. At another time certain characters were given, which were -interpreted by the rapping as follows: ‘Evil one has gone, and better -one has come.’ No communications were made after the early part of -May, but some things occurred indicating their presence and desire for -mischief. - -1737. At one time, on cutting a loaf of bread, there were found in it -nails, pen-holders, small sticks, and tin, under circumstances which -showed that they must have been placed there after it was put on the -table and before the family were ready for tea. At one time Harry’s -hat was hid away, and then his cap, and then another hat. He took his -brother’s cap to use, and that was also taken away. On the evening -of the 18th of July they set fire to some papers in the doctor’s -secretary, and some twenty papers and letters were burned before they -were discovered. Fire was set at the same time to the papers in both -the closets, under the stairs in the hall. They were discovered by the -smoke. Two or three days after this, when some friends who had visited -them were about to leave, their bonnets and some other articles could -not be found, although search was made in every part of the house, -until the train by which they were to go to New York had passed. They -were at last found, locked into an enclosed washstand, in a way that -made it morally certain that they could not have been placed there by -human hands. - -1738. On the 29th of July Harry left to spend some time at New Lebanon, -N. Y., and during his absence no manifestations were noticed, although -they were constantly on the look-out for something of the kind. Anna -and her mother left for Philadelphia on the 25th of September, and -they had been so long exempt from annoyances that they hoped they had -ceased altogether. But Harry had the manifestations at New Lebanon, and -there was first operated on, by invisible agency, to produce a magnetic -sleep, into which he passed with a sudden shock. He had never been -magnetized before, although frequent attempts had been made to do so. -In this state he evinced all the phenomena common to good clairvoyance. -On his return to Stratford, on the 9th of October, the sounds -accompanied him almost constantly; but they seemed less inclined to -mischief than formerly, because, as they said, ‘Harry had passed to a -higher state, where the low and ignorant spirits could not communicate -with him.’ - -1739. On several occasions characters of a unique description were -made. Some were written early in April, 1851, which Harry interpreted -to read: ‘We are to take our leave of you soon.’ - -1740. Some were traced out with chalk on the piazza of the house, on -the 31st of March, 1850. - -1741. These Harry interpreted to mean: ‘_You may expect good spirits to -come by-and-by_.’ The same characters had been said, by A. J. Davis, -to read: ‘_Our society desires through various mediums to impart -thoughts_.’ The spirit that seemed to be most prominent in all these -communications claimed to be Harry’s father, and sometimes a sister -of Dr. Phelps, who died about three years previous to this; also a -child of Dr. Phelps, who died more than twenty-two years before. The -communications seemed generally to come from the boy’s father. On -the 12th of October he passed into a mesmeric state, and wrote some -characters, which he translated as follows: - -1742. ‘_My dear children_: I love you, and try to do every thing that -will do you good. Obey dear Mr. Phelps in every thing, for he knows -what is right and what is wrong. This is the advice of your spirit -father.’ - -1743. On the same paper were written others, which, being translated, -read: ‘You were troubled once with evil spirits, but now they are no -more. They have bid adieu, and good spirits have come and are with you -all the time.’ - -1744. Again occur others, which read: ‘You must not fear, brother, that -you will be troubled with evil spirits any more. No, brother, no more. - Your spirit sister, BLISS.’ - -1745. The person here supposed to communicate is a sister of Dr. -Phelps, a widow, who left the earth-sphere in 1848, and by whom several -of the previous communications are said to have been made. Other -characters, of the same general formation, were made at the same time, -but were not then translated. - -1746. On the evening of the 12th, Dr. Phelps, Harry, and two younger -children, were seated at a table; responses were frequently given by -raps under the table. Dr. Phelps inquired if it would accommodate -them at all to have some substance to rap with; to which they replied -affirmatively. He threw down a table-knife; the raps seemed immediately -to be made by striking the knife against the table-leaf, and soon it -was tossed up on to the table. A small tea-bell was then placed under -the table; it was rung several times, and tossed on to the table as -the knife had been. It was again put down, and returned as before; -the same being repeated several times in succession. The light was -then extinguished, and the candle put under the table with a match-box -containing matches, and the spirits requested to light it. They -distinctly heard the match drawn upon the bottom of the box, which -was prepared with sand-paper for that use. All saw the light, but the -first match went out. Again the scratching of the match was heard; -it ignited, the candle lighted, and was placed upon the table! The -experiment was repeated several times, with the same result; every -precaution being taken to prevent collusion in the matter. - -1747. On a subsequent occasion a chair was placed upon the table by -invisible power, and the two children, Harry and Hannah, raised up and -placed upon it; they could neither of them tell how it was done. The -sensation was that of some person placing a hand under them and raising -them up. Many of these things occurred when the room was darkened, as -has been the case in numerous other places, and for which explanations -have been recorded, as given by the spirits. On the evening of the 20th -of October, the light being put out of the room, the bell was placed -under the table, with a request that it should be rung, and placed in -the doctor’s hand. He was sitting by the table with both his hands -lying on his lap open, with the palms upward. The bell rung several -times with some violence, and then was placed in his left hand. This -was repeated four or five times in succession. Dr. P. sat beyond the -reach of any one, and the room was sufficiently light for him to have -detected any movement on the part of persons present. He requested them -to let him feel the hand that placed the bell in his. Very soon a hand -came in contact with his, took hold of his fingers, shaking his hand, -passed slowly over the back of his hand, then over the palm again, took -hold of his fingers, and he felt what he is sure to have been a human -hand. He describes it as being cold and moist, which accords with my -own experience repeatedly, and that of my friends. They then took hold -of his foot, shook it with much force, loosened the string, took off -the shoe, and placed it upon the table before him. At his request the -shoe was replaced, the heel adjusted, and the strings drawn up, but not -tied. - -1748. On a subsequent occasion a large-sized tea-bell was rung under -the table, then rose up, passed round the room, ringing violently all -the way, and fell upon the table. The candle was in the closet, but the -room was sufficiently light to make it certain that no person left the -table to convey it. It was manifest that from the time Harry returned -from New Lebanon the manifestations began gradually to subside. They -were less frequent and less marked. It was arranged that he should -accompany the family to Philadelphia, and go to a boarding-school at a -town about twenty miles distant from the city. At different times he -had been told that if he went there he would again be annoyed by bad -spirits. The question was many times put, ‘Will you annoy him again -if he goes to the school?’ _A._—‘We will not, but others will.’—‘What -others?’ _A._—‘Those who were with him last summer.’—‘Will they disturb -him if he stays here and goes to the academy in Stratford?’—‘No. They -will not disturb him while he is with you.’—‘What will they do if he -goes to Pennsylvania?’ _A._—‘They will tear his clothes, destroy his -books, and break his windows.’—‘Can you not control those bad spirits, -and prevent their doing him any injury?’—‘No.’—‘Will you do all you -can?’—‘Yes.’ At another time Dr. Phelps inquired if they would not -leave him, as his mother was so much opposed to the whole thing. -‘Will you not, to oblige her, leave him, that he may be a medium no -longer?’ said the doctor. The reply was, ‘If we leave him, evil spirits -will get possession of him again.’ These communications were made -by what purported to be the boy’s father. For two weeks previous to -going to Philadelphia the manifestations had almost wholly subsided; -perhaps only occurred when requested; and notwithstanding the repeated -declarations that when he should leave for the school in Pennsylvania, -the bad spirits would come in and make him trouble, it was determined -to try the experiment, and on the 11th of November the family set out -for Philadelphia, where they were to spend the winter, while Harry was -to go to school. He remained with the family in Philadelphia about a -week, where a few communications were given to Dr. Phelps in private. -The spirits said they would begin to annoy the boy on the cars, on -his way to the school, would pinch him and tear his clothes, so that, -when he got there, they would be found torn, and that the troubles -would follow him in the school as long as he stayed there. Dr. Phelps, -under all the circumstances, thought it best not to send him; but on -consultation it was decided to have him go, and on the 19th of November -he started for the school. Dr. P. went a mile or two with him, put him -under the care of the conductor, and told him to report on his return -if any thing worthy of notice occurred on the way. In two days the -doctor was sent for to come and take him away. He said that soon after -his father left him on the cars, he was pinched, pricked with pins, -and annoyed in various other ways, until he reached his destination; -that, on his arrival there, he found that his pantaloons were torn in -front, between the waistband and the knees, in two places, several -inches in length. He changed them for another pair which were new and -made of very substantial material, and these were torn down in front -at least half a yard in length, before the doctor arrived there. The -knockings had attended him in school and other places; his books were -torn and damaged to the amount of two dollars, which the doctor paid. -The family where he was had become alarmed, and would not keep him, and -he was taken away. The boy stated that on one of the evenings, while he -was there, he was walking in the street, when his cap was mysteriously -taken from his head and thrown upon the sidewalk. As he stooped to pick -it up he saw the flash of a gun at some distance, and a bullet passed -over his back and struck a board fence near him. He was afterward -informed by the rapping that, had he not stooped down, he would have -been killed, and that his friendly spirit took this means to preserve -him. - -1749. Dr. P. now concluded to return with Harry to Stratford, and was -told that the bad spirits would have no control over him there. The -family in which they resided in Philadelphia had become alarmed at the -strange occurrences, and finally they again returned to Stratford. -From that time the disturbances began to subside, and by the 15th of -December, 1851, they had ceased altogether. The family remained at -Stratford till the spring of 1852, when they returned to their former -residence in the city. The house at Stratford is occupied by another -family, but no disturbances have ever occurred with the family which -now occupy the house, and none with Dr. P.‘s family since the above -date. - -1750. Thus ends one of the most remarkable histories in the whole -course of modern spiritual manifestations. The authority on which -it comes to the world is indisputable, and the characters of all -concerned are beyond suspicion. It will be observed that generally the -demonstrations, as in case of Mr. Calvin R. Brown, in the Fox family, -were less boisterous after the family consented to hold communication -with them. It seemed to be the desire of a spirit to communicate and -set right a matter which was making him unhappy. This accomplished, the -demonstrations ceased. - -1751. From the foregoing narrative it will be seen that these phenomena -do not attach to places, as some have supposed. It makes the fact -equally clear that they do attach to persons, and that without certain -media they cannot, to any extent, take place. If there is such a thing -as ‘haunted houses,’ they must belong to another class of phenomena, or -a very different phase of the same, than those always depending on the -presence of particular persons. - -1752. Another fact seems also to be proved by the above narration, -namely, that persons may be powerful mediums at one time and afterward -lose the power, for neither of the media of Dr. Phelps’s family in -Stratford have had any proof of mediumship for years.” - - - _Idea of the existence of a spiritual sun, and a vital spiritual - oxygen, found to exist independently in the mind of a much esteemed - author._ - -1753. The most wonderful and important of all the facts communicated to -me by my spirit father, and subsequently sanctioned by a convocation -of spirits, were the following: 1. That there is a special spirit -sun, concentric with our sun, which illuminates the spirit world, -without perceptibly affecting our visual organs. 2. That there is a -peculiar vital gas which spirits breathe, although inscrutable to our -senses or chemical tests, which we respire in our spiritual capacity. -These facts I have considered as among those, which it was impossible -could have been learned from the minds of Mrs. Gourlay or myself, as -they were certainly new to both of us, and difficult to realize when -communicated. My attention has been recently directed by a friend to an -essay in a work entitled “Rambles and Reveries of a Student,” wherein -I find (page 11) the ideas in question to have been awakened in the -author without the smallest interchange of ideas with Mrs. Gourlay or -myself. I have been under the impression that his leaning would have -been unfavourable to Spiritualism. The language employed is as follows: - -1754. I hold it as a truth, that a divine atmosphere surrounds our -earth—an aroma emitted from the world of spirits, in which dwell the -great truths and secrets of the universe—a great world that pours down -riches upon us, as the sun pours down heat; and as without the sun this -world would be but a formless wilderness, so, without this spirit sun, -would it be barren of thought or beauty. - -1755. Above us and around us exists a spiritual atmosphere, more subtle -than the natural one. As the latter is the supporter of physical life, -so the former is of psychal. We absorb the delicate magnetic aromata -from all substances, through the medium of the air, as well as the -comparatively coarse oxygen; so all of our soul-life comes from this -spirit atmosphere—all thought, all feeling, all appreciation of truth -and beauty. - -1756. Man is the apex of earth-creation, and the basis of all heavenly -life—the foundation of all spiritual existence. Standing thus in -a middle plane as the highest thing of earth, and the lowest of -heaven, he holds magnetic relationship to both; the earth not only -supplying the physical requirements of his being, such as food, -drink, and air, but he absorbs impalpable nourishment from all his -surroundings: the aroma from flowers, and trees, and fruit, as well -as the magnetic emanations from people; intuitively appreciating -harmonious influences—feeling an instinctive repulsion when under those -that are inharmonious. This antagonism, or horror, we call antipathy; -and biography abounds with strange stories of its individual action. -Whenever antipathy is experienced, it is a proof that something exists -in the peculiar magnetic sphere which has no affinity with the other -sphere. - -1757. An animal is but a highly organized combination of the mechanical -and chemical forces of the earth, returning to the earth when death -ensues: the only good resulting from its life is, that gross matter has -been changed into a little higher condition by the combination. - -1758. Man, regarded as the animal, possesses nothing after his death -but the spiritual attributes he has received, corresponding to the -physical things he sought in his earthly life; if that was low and -sensual, his spiritual condition will be the same; for the spirit land -is as much a spiritual condition as it is a place. - -1759. As man’s external form grows from appropriating substance from -the earth, so are thoughts and sentiments, and all things relating to -the soul, appropriated from the spirit world. Take the earth from man, -and he ceases to exist as a physical being; take the spirit world from -him, and he ceases to exist as an immortal soul. - -1760. All physical things have corresponding truths in the -spiritual world, and a man is truly harmonious when he receives the -corresponding essence or quality with the material thing—not as a -mere symbolization, but as an actuality, as real to the soul as its -corresponding earthly truth is to the body. As a petty illustration, we -will say that where an apple is eaten, a harmonious man receives not -only the nutriment contained in the fruit, but he also receives its -spiritual correspondence, so as to be doubly nourished by it. - -1761. “Men having a stronger magnetic relationship to the spirit -world, are easily exhausted, for they do not receive strength enough -from the earth sphere to keep soul and body in harmony. - -1762. Persons _en rapport_ with the earth are the labourers and tillers -of the ground, living only in the lowest plane of mental life. - -1763. The truly harmonious men receive equally the spiritual and -physical elements: they are electrical conductors, whose attracting -points bend downward as well as upward, dispensing, equally, thought -and strength to their less harmonious fellows, with but little -exhaustion. - -1764. Men originate nothing: they have merely different degrees of -receptivity; are merely more or less in magnetic relationship with -the higher world. A principle, or truth, is not your truth, or my -truth, but God’s truth; as much as a drop of water in the ocean, or a -sand-grain in the great desert; as little a personal possession as the -cloud above your head. If we look at it abstractly, we perceive the -absurdity of all quarrels in relation to originality of ideas—water -refreshes the thirsty traveller, whether drunk from his own cup or the -cup of another; and if we can incorporate a new truth into our lives, -it is unimportant whether we receive it directly or indirectly from the -great fountain. - -1765. The intellectual struggle of the student is but an education of -the soul, training it to become susceptible to higher influences—an -attempt to enter into unalloyed magnetic relationship with the spirit -world. - -1766. Prayer is a simple and natural method of becoming _en rapport_ -with higher beings and a higher world: yet no thinker ever believed -that prayer would move the Divine Being to alter His eternal plans. -As He is the fountain of all Love and all Wisdom, His designs must be -without flaw—must be for eternal good: yet prayer is one of the most -holy, beautiful, and useful of things; it is the earnest asking of -the soul for comfort—whatever the words may be—and by the exaltation -of feeling, we rise up from the earth-life into the higher spiritual -planes, and become harmonized by the indwelling harmonies of those -spheres. Prayer is aspiration. Prayer is the desire to embrace the -Infinite. The form of prayer is unimportant; its power lies in the -indwelling desire of good. Men should not have forms and times of -prayer, but their whole lives should be long, unending acts of prayer.” - -1767. It seems that the light of Spiritualism had begun to dawn in the -mind of the author of the preceding passage. His language respecting -prayer is in strict conformity with the doctrine of Spiritualism. - -1768. As the author, to whom reference is thus made, was on terms of -great mutual friendship with my late sister, as well as with myself, -I have consulted her spirit as to the origin of the impressions which -had been thus indited by our common friend. It appears from her reply -to my inquiry, that these ideas were communicated to him by my spirit -father, and that his conversion to Spiritualism had commenced prior to -his decease, which took place about two years ago. - - - OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT. - - - _Of Matter._ - -1769. It is a fact, that as we study more deeply the nature of matter, -we find that we know the less about it. The crude impressions by which -it makes us sensible of its presence are, of course, intuitively -received, and are reiterated incessantly. Hence, the mass of mankind do -not imagine that there can be any mystery respecting that ponderable -matter which influences the scale-beam. The existence of any other -matter, people generally are slow to admit. The electric fluid and -caloric, the supposed causes of electricity and heat, were rarely -believed in, out of the scientific world, but _ponderable_ matter is -the last thing of which any person would imagine himself ignorant. Yet -we find that some of the most experienced investigators of nature, have -not made up their minds as to what ponderable matter is. - -1770. According to Newton, matter consists of hard, impenetrable -particles, endowed with _vis inertiæ_, gravitation, and chemical -attraction for other particles; _vis inertiæ_ being that force by -which a body, if in motion, requires a certain degree of force to -arrest or retard it, or to put it into motion if at rest. Gravitation -causes all masses to attract each other reciprocally, with a force -exactly proportioned to their _vis inertiæ_; so that these forces are -reciprocally measures of each other. It is usual to make gravitation -its own measure, by estimating it to be as the weight of the mass; -while weight is only the reciprocal attraction of gravitation between -the body tried, and the earth. (64.) - -1771. These properties being conceded as belonging to matter, and the -measure of its quantity, the next question is, of what does massive -matter consist? As to the ratio of weight to bulk, which is designated -as “_specific gravity_,” we see an immense disparity between solids. -Potassium, for instance, weighs three-fourths of its bulk of water, -while platinum weighs twenty-one times its bulk in that fluid. The -density of gaseous hydrogen is to that of platina not more than 1 to -25,000, and yet it may be rarified to the one-hundredth part of its -normal spissitude, while apparently filling the same space. Thus the -same space may be filled successively by different portions of matter, -yet the quantity of matter in the space, in the first case, may be -to the quantity contained in the second, as 2,500,000 to 1. Newton’s -definition of material particles was as follows: - -1772. “It seems probable to me that God, in the beginning, formed -matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of -such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in -such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he -formed them; and that those primitive particles, being solids, are -incomparably harder than any porous bodies compounded of them; even so -very hard as never to wear or break in pieces; no mundane power being -able to divide what God himself intended to be indivisible.” - -1773. Boscovitch, observing that all that was essential to material -atoms was attraction and repulsion, the latter being the substitute -of Newton’s impenetrability, suggested an hypothesis which dispensed -with the atom, and assumed only the forces of attraction and repulsion; -alternating, as it appears to me, in a way more original than -warrantable. This idea of atoms has been modified by an accomplished -mathematician, Exley, of Bristol, England. I quote here Exley’s view: - -1774. “The reader has only to allow that each atom of matter consists -of an indefinitely extensive sphere of attraction, resting on a very -small concentric sphere of repulsion, the force being everywhere, from -the centre, inversely as the square of the distance, repulsive near the -centre, and then attractive. Now that part which regards the attraction -has already obtained the consent of all the followers of _Newton_; -and much more than the other part, which respects repulsion, has been -already received in the principles of our present philosophy. - -1775. It may be here asked—Are we absolutely to exclude solid atoms? -I confess I can find no use for them. It is true, Sir Isaac Newton -thought that the atoms of matter consisted of minute solids. - -1776. But this hypothesis, however convenient and consonant with -our prejudices, is not absolutely necessary to the explanation of -natural phenomena; for, it may be conceived, according to the theory -of Boscovitch, that matter consists not of solid particles, but of -mere mathematical centres, of forces attractive and repulsive, whose -relations to space were ordained, and whose actions are regulated and -maintained by the Creator of the universe. Both hypotheses, however, -agree in one great principle, viz.: that the properties of bodies -depend upon forces emanating from immovable points (whether substantial -or not is of little importance) of their masses. - -1777. The atoms of matter constituted as in the theory now proposed -possess all the individuality, indivisibility, and indestructibility, -which the learned and illustrious _Newton_ ascribes to his small -solids, and they answer all the ends he has mentioned; the central -points, indeed, will be utterly impenetrable by each other, since -the repulsion there is infinite; and if at those centres we suppose -small solids to be placed, they can answer no farther end than is -accomplished by this immensely great repulsive force; for from what -we know of matter, we must suppose them to be indefinitely small, if -we introduce such solids; and hence they will occupy the place where -the repulsion is infinitely great; such solids would be found only an -obstacle, and an incumbrance to the free actions of matter; since, -however small we imagine them to be, their magnitude will be infinite -if compared with a mathematical point, the centre of an atom, which is -devoid altogether of magnitude. It may be added, that if any reader -wish to retain these solids at the centres of the atoms, it will not -materially affect the conclusions, provided he allow us to have them as -small as we please; and so much, if he intend to philosophize, he must -grant, whatever course he may determine to pursue.” - -1778. These efforts to define matter derive interest from the following -attempt of Farraday to sustain a view inconsistent with that of Newton, -by practical illustration: - - - _Strictures on a Speculation by Farraday, respecting the Nature of - Matter._ - -1779. This sagacious investigator adverts to the fact, that after -each atom in a mass of metallic potassium has combined with an atom -of oxygen and an atom of water, forming thus a hydrated oxide—caustic -potash—the resulting aggregate occupies much less space than its -metallic ingredient previously occupied; so that, taking equal bulks -of the hydrate and of potassium, there will be in the metal only 430 -metallic atoms, while in the hydrate there will be 700 such atoms. -Yet in the latter, besides the 700 metallic atoms, there will be an -equal number of aqueous and oxygenous atoms, in all 2800 ponderable -atoms. It follows, that if the atoms of potassium are to be considered -as minute impenetrable particles, kept at certain distances by an -equilibrium of forces, there must be, in a mass of potassium, vastly -more space than matter. Moreover, it is the space alone that can be -continuous. The non-contiguous material atoms cannot form a continuous -mass. Consequently, the well-known power of potassium to conduct -electricity must be a quality of the continuous empty space which it -comprises, not of the discontinuous particles of matter with which -that space is regularly interspersed. It is in the next place urged, -that while, agreeably to these considerations, space is shown to be -a conductor, there are considerations equally tending to prove it to -be a non-conductor, since in certain non-conducting bodies, such as -resins, there must be nearly as much vacant space as in potassium. -Hence the supposition that atoms are minute impenetrable particles, -involves the necessity of considering empty space as a conductor in -metals, and as a non-conductor in resins, and of course in sulphur -and other electrics. This is considered as a _reductio ad absurdum_. -To avoid this contradiction, Farraday supposes that atoms are not -minute impenetrable bodies, but, existing throughout the whole space -in which their properties are observed, may penetrate each other. -Consistently, although the atoms of potassium pervade the whole space -which they apparently occupy, the entrance into that space of an -equivalent number of atoms of oxygen and water, in consequence of -some reciprocal reaction, causes a contraction in the boundaries by -which the combination thus formed is enclosed. This is an original and -interesting view of this subject, well worthy of the contemplation of -chemical philosophers. - -1780. But, upon these premises, Farraday has ventured on some -inferences which, upon various accounts, appear to me unwarrantable. -I agree that “_a_” representing a particle of matter, and “_m_” -representing its properties, it is only with “_m_” that we have any -acquaintance, the existence of “_a_” resting merely on an inference. -Heretofore I have often appealed to this fact, in order to show that -the evidence of imponderable, no less than of ponderable matter, is -precisely the existence of properties which can only be accounted -for by inferring the existence of an appropriate matter to which -those properties appertain. Yet I cannot concur in the idea that, -because it is only with “_m_” that we are acquainted, the existence -of “_a_” must not be inevitably inferred, so that bodies are to be -considered as constituted of their materialized powers. I use the word -“materialized,” because it is fully admitted by Farraday, that by -dispensing with an impenetrable atom “_a_” we do not get rid of the -idea of matter, but have to imagine each atom as existing throughout -the whole sphere of its force, instead of being condensed about the -centre. This seems to follow from the following language: - -1781. “_The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem -to involve necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or -at least the space to which gravitation extends, including the sun and -its system; for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a -certain force, and it is this force which constitutes matter._” - -1782. Literally, this paragraph seems to convey the impression, that, -agreeably to this new idea of matter, the sun and his planets are not -distinct bodies, but consist of certain material powers reciprocally -penetrating each other, and pervading a space larger than that -comprised within the orbit of Neptune. We do not live upon, but within, -the matter of which the earth is constituted, or rather within a -mixture of all the solar and planetary matter belonging to our solar -system. I cannot conceive that the sagacious author seriously intended -to sanction any notion involving these consequences. I shall assume, -therefore, that, excepting the case of gravitation, his new idea of -matter was intended to be restricted to those powers which display -themselves within masses at insensible distances, and shall proceed -to state the objections which seem to exist against the new idea as -associated with those powers. - -1783. Evidently the arguments of Farraday against the existence, in -potassium and other masses of matter, of impenetrable atoms endowed -with cohesion, chemical affinity, momentum, and gravitation, rest -upon the inference that in metals there is nothing to perform the -part of an electrical conductor besides continuous empty space. This -illustrious philosopher has heretofore appeared to be disinclined -to admit the existence of _any_ matter devoid of ponderability! The -main object of certain letters which I addressed to him was to prove -that the phenomena of induction could not, as he had represented, be -an “_action_” of ponderable atoms, but, on the contrary, must be -considered as an _affection_ of them consequent to the intervention -of an imponderable matter, without which the phenomena of electricity -would be inexplicable. This repugnance to the admission of an -imponderable electrical cause, has been the more remarkable, as -his researches have not only proved the existence of prodigious -electrical power in metals, but likewise that it is evolved during -chemico-electric reaction, in equivalent proportion to the quantity of -ponderable matter decomposed or combined. - -1784. According to his researches, a grain of water, by electrolytic -reaction with four grains of zinc, evolves as much electricity as would -charge fifteen millions of square feet of coated glass when supplied -by a plate machine of fifty inches in diameter. But in addition to the -proofs of the existence of electrical powers in metals thus furnished, -it is demonstrated that this power must be inseparably associated with -metals, by the well-known fact that in the electro-magnetic machine—an -apparatus which we owe to his genius, and the mechanical ingenuity -of Pixii and Saxton—a coil of wire, being subjected to the inductive -influence of a magnet, is capable of furnishing, within the circuit -which it forms, all the phenomena of an electrical current, whether of -ignition, shock, or electrolysis. - -1785. The existence in metals of an enormous calorific power must be -evident from the heat evolved by mere hammering. It is well known that -by a skilful application of the hammer, a piece of iron, between it and -a cold anvil, may be ignited. To what other cause than their inherent -calorific power can the ignition of metals by the discharge of a Leyden -battery be ascribed? - -1786. It follows, that the existence of an immense calorific and -electrical power is undeniable. The materiality of these powers, or of -their cause, is all that has been questionable. But, according to the -speculations of Farraday, all the powers of matter are material; not -only the calorific and electrical powers are thus to be considered, -but likewise the powers of cohesion, chemical affinity, inertia, and -gravitation, while _of all these material powers only the latter can be -ponderable_! - -1787. Thus, a disinclination on the part of this distinguished -investigator to admit the existence of one or two imponderable -principles, has led him into speculations involving the existence of a -much greater number. But if, while the rest of the properties of the -metal are represented by Newtonian atoms, the calorific and electrical -powers be both material and imponderable, and of these such enormous -quantities exist in potassium, as well as in zinc and all other metals, -so much of the reasoning in question as is founded on the vacuity of -the space between the metallic atoms is groundless. - -1788. Although the space occupied by the hydrated oxide of potassium -comprises 2800 ponderable atoms, while that occupied by an equal -mass of the metal comprises only 430, there may be in the latter -proportionally as much more of the material, though imponderable, -powers of heat and electricity, as there is less of matter endowed with -ponderability. - -1789. Thus, while assuming the existence of fewer imponderable causes -than the celebrated author of the speculation has himself proposed, -we explain the conducting power of metals, without being under the -necessity of attributing to void space the property of electrical -conduction. Moreover, I consider it quite consistent to suppose that -the presence of the ethereal basis of electricity is indispensable to -electrical conduction, and that diversities in this faculty are due -to the proportion of that material power present, and the mode of its -association with other matter. The immense superiority of metals will -be explained, by referring it to their being peculiarly replete with -the ethereal basis of heat and electricity. - -1790. Hence Farraday’s suggestions respecting the _materiality_ of what -has heretofore been designated as the _properties_ of bodies, furnish -the means of refuting his arguments against the existence of ponderable -impenetrable atoms as the basis of cohesion, chemical affinity, -momentum, and gravitation. - -1791. But I will, in the next place, prove that his suggestions not -only furnish an answer to his objections to the views in this respect -heretofore entertained, but are likewise pregnant with consequences -directly inconsistent with the view of the subject which he has -recently presented. - -1792. I have said that of all the powers which are, according to -Farraday’s speculations, to be deemed material, gravitation can alone -be ponderable; since, according to his speculations, gravitation, -in common with every power heretofore attributed to impenetrable -particles, must be a matter independently pervading the space -throughout which it is perceived. This being the consequence, by what -tie is gravitation, or, in other words, weight—indissolubly attached -to the rest? It cannot be pretended that either of the powers is the -property of any other. Each of them is an _m_, and cannot play the -part of an _a_, not only because an _m_, an effect, cannot be an -_a_, its cause, but because, according to the premises, no _a_ can -exist. Nor can it be advanced that they are the same power, since -chemical affinity and cohesion act only at insensible distances, while -gravitation acts at any and every distance, with forces inversely as -their squares; and, moreover, the power of chemical affinity is not -commensurate with that of gravitation. One part, by weight, of hydrogen -has a greater affinity, universally, for any other element than two -hundred parts of gold. By what means then are cohesion, chemical -affinity, and gravitation inseparably associated in all the ponderable -elements of matter? Is it not fatal to the validity of the highly -ingenious and interesting deductions of Farraday, that they are thus -shown to be utterly incompetent to explain the inseparable association -of cohesion, chemical affinity, and inertia with gravitation, while -the existence of a vacuity between Newtonian atoms, mainly relied upon -as the basis of an argument against their existence, is shown to be -inconsistent both with the ingenious speculation which has called forth -these remarks, and those Herculean “researches” which must perpetuate -his fame? (See Appendix for Farraday’s Speculations on Electric -Conduction and the Nature of Matter.) - - - _On Whewell’s demonstration that all matter is heavy._ - -1793. While the speculations of Farraday, isolate gravitation, as -the only matter endowed with weight, and treat all other matters as -weightless, those of another eminent philosopher, Whewell, would tend -to prove that _all_ matter is heavy. - -1794. This subject may be interesting now, when we are anxious to -understand well the nature of matter, which Comte would represent -as the _basis of mind_, and when it becomes a point of departure in -forming ideas of spirit and mind, as they must be contemplated by -Spiritualism. I therefore subjoin a critique upon the allegation that -all matter can be heavy, and on the relation between _vis inertiæ_ and -_gravitation_. - -1795. One consideration seems to be usually overlooked in contemplating -these forces. It is forgotten that _inertia_ is the property of one -body, while gravitation requires two for its existence. If there were -only one body in nature, it might move on, in obedience to its _vis -inertiæ_, for any length of time; but, during an isolated existence, -could neither attract nor be attracted. Whewell’s theorem, in his own -language, is as follows: - - 1796. “We see,” alleges Whewell, “that the propositions that - all bodies are heavy, and that inertia is proportional to weight, - necessarily follow from those fundamental ideas which we unavoidably - employ in all attempts to reason concerning the mechanical relations - of bodies.” (See Demonstration that all Matter is heavy, by the Rev. - William Whewell, B.D. Silliman’s Journal, vol. 42, page 265.) - -To PROFESSOR WHEWELL: -1797. DEAR SIR: I thank you for your kind attention in sending me a -copy of your pamphlet, entitled a “_Demonstration that all Matter is -heavy_,” comprising a communication made to the Cambridge Philosophical -Society. - -1798. I conceive that to demonstrate that all matter is heavy, is, in -other words, to prove that all matter is endowed with attraction of -gravitation, or that general property which, when it causes bodies to -tend toward the centre of the earth, is called weight. Hence to assert -that all matter is heavy, is no more than to say, that attraction of -gravitation exists between all or any masses of matter. - -1799. You say, “it may be urged that we have no difficulty in -conceiving of matter which is not heavy.” I have no hesitation in -asserting that there should be no difficulty in entertaining such a -conception; since I cannot understand why any two masses may not be as -readily conceived to _repel_, as to _attract_ each other, or _neither -to attract nor to repel_. Is it not easier to imagine two remote masses -indifferent to each other, than that they act upon each other? Is any -thing more difficult to understand than that a body can act where it is -not? - -1800. It is also mentioned by you, that it may be urged “_that inertia -and weight are two separate properties of matter_.” Now I will not -only urge, but also, with all due deference, will undertake to show, -that the existence of inertia may as well be proven, and its quantity -estimated, by means of repulsion as by means of attraction. - -1801. Suppose two bodies, A and B, to be endowed with reciprocal -attraction, or, in other words, to gravitate toward each other. Being -placed at a distance, and then allowed to approach, if, after any given -time, it were found that they had moved severally any ascertained -distances, evidently their relative inertias would be considered as -inversely as those distances. - -1802. In the next place, let us suppose two bodies, X and Y, endowed -with the opposite force of reciprocal repulsion, to be placed in -proximity, and then allowed to fly apart. The distances run through by -them severally, being, at any given time, determined, might not their -respective inertias be taken to be inversely as those distances; so -that the question would be as well ascertained in this case as in that -above stated, in which gravitation should be resorted to as the test? - -1803. It seems to me that this question is sufficiently answered in the -affirmative, in your second paragraph, page 7, (p. 269,) in which you -allege, that “_one body has twice as much inertia as another, if, when -the same force acts upon it for the same time, it acquires but half the -velocity. This is the fundamental conception of inertia._” - -1804. In the third paragraph, fourth page, (p. 261,) you say, “_that -the quantity of matter is measured by those sensible properties of -matter which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction, and division, -as the matter is added, subtracted, or divided, the quantity of -matter cannot be known in any other way; but this mode of measuring -the quantity of matter, in order to be true at all, must be true -universally_.” - -1805. Also your fourth paragraph, fifth page, (p. 268,) concludes with -this allegation: “_And thus we have proved, that if there be any kind -of matter which is not heavy, the weight can no longer avail us, in any -case, to any extent, as the measure of the quantity of matter._” - -1806. In reply to these allegations, let me inquire, Cannot a matter -exist of which the sensible properties do not admit of being measured -by human means? Because some kinds of matter can be measured by “those -sensible qualities which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction, -and division,” does it follow that there may not be matter which is -incapable of being thus measured? And wherefore would the method of -obtaining philosophical truth be “futile” in the one case, because -inapplicable in the other? Because the inertias of A and B have been -discovered, by means of their gravitation, does it follow that the -inertias of X and Y cannot be discovered by their self-repellent -power? Why should the inapplicability of gravitation in the one case -render its employment futile in the other? - -1807. It is self-evident, that matter without weight cannot be -estimated by weighing, but I deny that on that account such weightless -matter may not be otherwise estimated. The inertias of A and B cannot -be better measured by gravitation than those of X and Y by repulsion, -as already shown. - -1808. You seem to infer, in paragraph second, page sixth, (p. 268,) -that we should be equally destitute of the means of measuring matter -accurately, “_were any kind of matter heavy indeed, but not so heavy, -in proportion to its quantity of matter, as other kinds_.” - -1809. If, in the case of all matter, weight be admitted to be the only -measure of quantity, it were inconsistent to suppose any given quantity -of matter, of any one kind, to have less weight than an equal quantity -of another kind; but upon what other than a conventional basis is it to -be assumed that there is more matter in a cubic inch of platinum than -in a cubic inch of tin? in a cubic inch of mercury than in a cubic inch -of iron? Judging by the chemical efficacy of the masses, although the -weight of mercury is to that of iron as 13.6 is to 8, there are more -equivalents of the latter than the former in any given bulk, since by -weight twenty-eight parts of iron are equivalent to two hundred and two -parts of mercury. - -1810. Weight is one of the properties of certain kinds of matter, -and has been advantageously resorted to, in preference to any other -property, in estimating the quantity of the matter to which it -appertains. Nevertheless, measurement by bulk is found expedient or -necessary in many cases. But may we not appeal to any general property -which admits of being measured or estimated? Farraday has inferred that -the quantity of electricity is as the quantity of gas which it evolves. -Light has been considered as proportional in quantity to the surface -which it illuminates with a given intensity at a certain distance. -The quantity of caloric has been held to be directly as the weight of -water which it will render aeriform; and has also been estimated by the -degree of its expansive or thermometric influence. What scale-beam is -more delicate than the thermoscope of Melloni? - -1811. In the last paragraph but one, seventh page, (p. 270,) you -suggest, that “_perhaps some persons might conceive that the identity -of weight and inertia is obvious at once, for both are merely -resistance to motion; inertia, resistance to all motion, or change of -motion; weight, resistance to motion upward_.” - -1812. I am surprised that you should think the opinion of any person -worthy of attention, who should entertain so narrow a view of weight, -as antagonist of momentum, as that above quoted, “_that it is a -resistance to motion upward_.” Agreeably to the definition given at the -commencement of the letter, weight, in its usual practical sense, is -only one case of the general force which causes all ponderable masses -of matter to gravitate toward each other, and which is of course liable -to resist any conflicting motion, whatever may be the direction. When, -in the form of solar attraction, it overcomes that inertia of the -planets which would otherwise cause them to leave their orbits, does -gravitation “_resist motion upward_?” - -1813. In the next paragraph you allege, that “_there is a difference -in these two kinds of resistance to motion. Inertia is instantaneous, -weight is continuous, resistance._” - -1814. It is to this allegation I object, that as you have defined -inertia to be “_resistance to motion, or to change of motion_,” it -follows that it can be instantaneous only where the impulse which it -resists is instantaneous. It cannot be less continuous than the force -by which it is overcome. - -1815. Gravity has been considered as acting upon falling bodies by an -infinity of impulses, each producing an adequate acceleration; but to -every such accelerating impulse, producing of course a “_change of -motion_,” will there not be a commensurate resistance from inertia? and -the impulses and resistances being both infinite, will not one be as -continuous as the other? - -1816. I have already adverted to inertia as the continuous antagonist -of solar attraction in the case of revolving planets. - -1817. Agreeably to Mossotti, the creation consists of two kinds of -matter, of which the homogeneous particles are mutually repellent, -the heterogeneous mutually attractive. Consistently with this -hypothesis, _per se_, any matter must be imponderable; being endowed -with a property the very opposite of attraction of gravitation. This -last-mentioned property exists between masses consisting of both kinds -of particles, so far as the attraction between the heterogeneous atoms -predominates over the repulsion between those which are homogeneous. -It would follow from these premises, that all matter is ponderable or -otherwise, accordingly as it may be situated. - -1818. Can the ether by which, according to the undulatory theory, light -is transmitted, consist of ponderable matter? Were it so, would it -not be attracted about the planets with forces proportioned to their -weight, respectively? and becoming of unequal density, would not the -diversity in its density, thus arising, affect its undulations, as the -transmission of sound is influenced by any variations in the density of -the aeriform fluid by which it is propagated? - With esteem, I am yours truly, - ROBERT HARE - -(See appendix for Whewell’s Essay.) - - - _Additional Remarks on the Speculations of Farraday and Exley, above - noticed._ - -1819. Is it possible for a mere centre to be endowed with a force? -or reasonable that language should not make a distinction between -something and nothing, between cause and effect, between matter and the -properties of matter? _m_ being the properties, and _a_ the Newtonian -atom, of which they have been considered as the attributes, I cannot -concur in the reasoning which infers that where we can only perceive -phenomena, we are to dispense with the idea of _causation_, because -that causation is not directly perceptible. It seems to me, from the -meaning of the words, that no cause can exist without some effect, nor -can any effect exist without a cause. Language founded on the existence -of ideas cannot be disused. Can there be any reason for considering any -thing as endowed with existence which gives no evidence of existence? -We distinguish between the thing which causes and the effect which it -produces. The cause evidently has a centrality; the effect, though it -indicates by the direction in which it arrives, the centre whence it -proceeds, is remote from that centre. The existence of this centrality -seems to be recognised in the suggestion that atoms are centres of -forces. This implies that the source or cause is at the centre in each -atom, and, of course, the phenomenon, being more or less remote from -the centre, cannot be the source or cause, and hence has been treated -as an effect or property. - -1820. The suggestion that the office of atoms may be performed by -centres of forces, in fact, assigns to a _mere centre_ the part now -performed by a Newtonian atom. But it must be evident that the centre -is that point within any rotating mass, which does not turn therewith; -and which, where neither of the opposite motions resulting from -rotation take place, can neither have length nor breadth. This reduces -the idea of a centre to a common definition with a mathematical point; -which is nihility in the extreme. An absolutely void space may be -identified with nihility, and a mathematical point is a portion of that -space, without length, breadth, or thickness. To endow centres with -forces is to disregard the axiom, “Out of nothing nothing can come.” -Moreover, wherefore should there be a force at _certain_ mathematical -points, and yet others be destitute of the same attribute? Manifestly, -if some _mathematical_ points are deficient of powers with which others -are endowed, there must be something associated with one, which is not -associated with the other. This justifies the Newtonian idea, that the -force, though proceeding from the centre, is, like the terrestrial -attraction of gravitation, the resultant of the complicated attraction -of the whole of a body surrounding the centre. But the centrality -of the force does not seem to accord with the idea of the inferred -diffusion of properties. In the instance of gravitation it does not -account for those attributes by which this globe acts as a solid mass -within its material superficies, and yet, according to the Farradian -definition, reaches beyond the moon! - -1821. But the idea of that polarity, of which Farraday has done so -much to establish the existence in all matter, in one form or another, -seems to involve that, to constitute atoms, there must be two centres -of _analogous_, but _opposite_, forces in each: whence it ensues that -crystals shoot in prisms or spiculæ, as water is seen to shoot in -freezing; and through which salts, as deposited by the evaporation of -the solvent from a solution of them, are seen to travel over the sides -of the vessel; and upon which property the phenomena of electricity and -magnetism appear to be dependent. How is this to be reconciled with -this notion of each atom existing in a diffusible penetrable state -throughout the space in which its properties prevail? Since these -opposite polarities are energetic in their reciprocal polar attraction, -what keeps them together, yet prevents them from so uniting as to -produce neutralization? - -1822. Mr. Exley’s ideas, if admitted, leave no alternative but either -to place a Newtonian atom within each of his concentric spheres, or -to assume that nothing can have properties, or that effects can exist -without causes. What is to cause a force at any mathematical point -more than at any other? How, in case of a moving body, are the forces -to appear successively to proceed from various centres, if there be -nothing in which it is inherent, which moves and carries its forces -or properties wheresoever it goes? Does not this suggestion that -atoms are centres of their forces, by making the cart draw itself, -force the effect to be its own cause? It is quite consistent with the -Newtonian definition, that the resultant of the action of every part -of a mass should comport as if it proceeded from a common centre, -as does terrestrial gravitation; and of course, whether we have the -Newtonian idea or that of Boscovitch, Farraday, or Exley, we have -forces proceeding from centres. The great difference is that agreeably -to the one these forces emanate from nothing; agreeably to the other, -from something. I used to define matter to my pupils as that which has -properties. In the mind, is not force distinguished from some moving -power which gives it rise? Is not this distinction inevitable? and were -the word force employed to designate the moving power which exercises -force, would it not confound ideas, without altering the actual state -of the case? Would it not impoverish language, without improving -science? - - - _Of Mundane, Ethereal, and Ponderable Matter, in their Chemical - relations._ - -1823. The bodies which occupy the attention of a chemist are found in -one of three states—those of solidity, fluidity, and elasticity. Ice, -liquid water, and steam exemplify these different states. The fact is -thus illustrated, that the same chemical compound, consisting of oxygen -and hydrogen, may exist in either state, according to the temperature -to which it may be subjected. - -1824. Experience justifies the surmise, that scarcely any body in -nature is utterly insusceptible of these three states, provided it were -heated or refrigerated with an unlimited power. - -1825. Beside the property of gravitation, of which the energy is -inversely as the square of the distance, however great, (as when it -enables the two suns, apparently forming but one—the double star, -61 Cygni (1340)—at the distance of six thousand millions of miles, -to attract each other so as to revolve about their common centre -of gravity,) atoms are endowed with a force called attraction of -aggregation, which operates only at insensible distances, so that when -brought into due proximity they unite and form a coherent mass. Again, -they are endowed, as already mentioned, with chemical affinity, which -varies with the kind of particles in which it exists as a property; -being the characteristic by which they are distinguished one from the -other. - -1826. According to the doctrine which chemists have heretofore -suggested for the existence of matter in the elastic or gaseous -state, each aerial or gaseous atom was conceived to be enveloped in -an atmosphere of fluid called caloric, resembling the ether in the -self-repellent power of its constituent particles. This atmosphere has -been assumed to impart to atoms which it envelopes its own inherent -power of reciprocal repulsion, like that which those of the ether have. -But Dalton showed that there was no repulsion between gaseous atoms -when _heterogeneous_. Two or more such gases, hydrogen and nitrogen, -for instance, being comprised in the same cavity, there would be no -repulsion between the atoms of hydrogen and those of nitrogen, but -only between those of the same gas. This has been held to be equally -true, however many gases might be mingled, or whatever vapours might be -superadded. - -1827. The idea is thus refuted, which ascribes the repulsive power to -the same elastic fluid, since in that case the diversity of the gaseous -atoms could not so affect the repulsive influence as to nullify it -between heterogeneous atoms, while sustaining this repulsion, where the -atoms should be alike. - -1828. Moreover, as the rays of light have been found to be mere -undulations in the ether; the rays of heat, being perfectly analogous -in their attributes, must also be due to ethereal undulations. But -vaporization may be affected by radiant heat, and gases owe their -aeriform state to the same cause as vapor or steam; yet transient -undulations evidently cannot form a permanent combination, so as to -confer the durable elasticity of a permanent gas. - -1829. It appears, then, that neither the doctrine of caloric, nor the -undulatory doctrine, as it is received, will explain the creation of -permanent gas. Under these circumstances a modification of the existing -opinions is called for. It has, for some years, occurred to me, that -the Newtonian doctrine of radiation might be associated with that of -undulation. - -1830. The fact that radiant heat could be collected by a mirror so -as to raise the temperature of bodies placed in the focus, and that -this process could take place in vacuo, as ascertained by Sir Humphrey -Davy, had been adduced as unquestionable evidence of the materiality -of caloric, the supposed fluid cause of heat. But as the cold -proceeding from a snowball or any cold body could be collected by the -same process, it was urged by some chemists that the evidence of the -materiality of the cause of cold must also be admitted. Prevost met -this argument by suggesting that no body in nature is absolutely cold. -Every body, however refrigerated, is not so cold as to be incapable -of greater refrigeration. Hence all bodies being absolutely above the -zero of nature, are throwing off rays to each other, and where there -is equality of temperature, they do not cause any change in their -relative temperatures. The rays thrown off by A are compensated by -those which it receives from B, and _vice versa_. But if A throws off -to B more than B reciprocates, the temperature of A must fall until an -equilibrium is attained. Thus, A being the mirror and B the snowball, -the mirror is refrigerated, and causes a greater radiation from any -body situated about its focus. This explanation was generally received, -but to me, the following rationale, which I advanced, appeared -preferable: - -1831. I assumed caloric to exist throughout the sublunary creation, -as the luminiferous ether is assumed to be diffused throughout all -space by the undulationists; the diffusion arising from the reciprocal -repulsion of its particles being similar to that which had been -supposed to cause the diffusion of caloric. There is the greatest -analogy between this diffusion and that which is known to exist in the -case of gases. The process is the same, whether the gas be dense like -chlorine, or thirty-six times as rare, as in the instance of hydrogen, -and in the luminiferous ether resembles the process by which hydrogen -is rarified, or might be rendered more rare, were the pressure of the -atmosphere removed. - -1832. It is known that in any gas or gaseous mixture like that which -we breathe, if a deficit of pressure be caused in any spot, the -gaseous particles will quickly move toward it, in order to restore -the equilibrium of pressure, and that if, on the other hand, any -augmentation of pressure be produced at any spot, the gas will move -outward to restore the equilibrium. - -1833. The particles being symmetrically arranged in lines, a row of -particles may be conceived to lie between every two remote points. If -we suppose any number of points in the focal body, and a corresponding -number in the surface of the mirror, it may be conceived that the -intervening ethereal or calorific particles will move in rows one way -or the other, as the pressure in the focal space may become greater or -less. Thus an effect is brought about, equivalent to that which the -Newtonian idea of radiation involves; lines of particles proceed from -the hotter points to the colder ones. - -1834. The arrangement of the particles of caloric, which was -originally, in my view, confined to the sublunary creation, appears of -necessity to belong to the luminiferous ether, required by the theory -ascribing light to undulations, though the last-mentioned medium must -be endowed with ubiquity as above stated, so as to abound in every part -of space through which light reaches the eye. - -1835. The undulatory hypothesis supposes that a wave-like motion being -imparted to a row of particles, by a luminous point in the surface of -the luminous body, is transmitted, like the sound producing waves in -the air, to the other end of the row. - -1836. This undulatory progression has been roughly illustrated by the -transitory serpentine movements which may be made in a cord, stretched -like a clothes-line between the tops of posts. - -1837. In order to make this illustration elucidate the conception which -I advance, we have only to suppose that the cord, instead of being -attached to the post, should be drawn rapidly over pulleys, and, while -thus actuated, be subjected to a cause of undulatory vibration. It -may be conceived that, by this process, the ethereal particles, while -performing all which the undulatory theory requires, might at the same -time perform all required by that of emission and material calorific -radiation. Directed upon a vaporizable liquid, the undulations might -perform the part of sensible heat; the ethereal particles, successively -combining, might furnish the latent heat requisite to the constitution -of vapour. - -1838. Agreeably to Newton, the seven colours of the spectrum are due to -as many different kinds of radiant particles of various refrangibility, -or susceptibility of being bent from the rectilinear path when passed -through the same refracting medium.[40] - -1839. According to the undulatory theory, the colours are caused by -diversities in the undulations producing them. Retaining this feature, -the last-mentioned hypothesis, as modified by myself, appears to -be competent to explain the phenomena of light as well as those of -vaporization, produced by calorific radiation, since not only is any -vaporizing liquid subjected to the transient effect of the undulations, -but also may combine with the ethereal particles as they come into -contact with it. - -1840. Thus modified, the rationale of the rainbow, or prismatic -spectrum, would not be that the colours indicate as many varieties -of original radiant particles, but that they are to be explained -agreeably to the undulatory hypothesis, which ascribes them to as many -varieties in the undulations, just as the notes in music are ascribed -to diversities of vibration. - -1841. The ether, under this view, performs the part heretofore -assigned to latent heat, by combining with solids so as to render them -susceptible of expansion, and of electrical conduction by being liable -to the polarization which constitutes electricity. - -1842. Sensible heat, according to this aspect, is due to the vibrations -of the ethereal fluid, which is sustained by the sun, by ignition -in the interior of the earth, and by chemical reaction, including -combustion and respiration. - -1843. The correctness of the inference, that conductors owe their -conductive power to ethereal matter entering into their composition, -has been insisted upon in my strictures on Farraday’s speculation in -some of the preceding pages. The facts admitted by this distinguished -investigator of nature’s laws, gave to me a basis on which to rest an -argument in favour of the existence of an imponderable cause of heat -and electricity in metals, which seems to me unanswerable. - -1844. Agreeably to the hypothesis respecting which the preceding -preparatory suggestions have been made, gasification is not due to a -repulsive atmosphere of ethereal matter, severally appropriated to -each ponderable constituent atom, but to an attraction for every such -atom exercised by the ethereal fluid, such as water exercises toward -sugar, quick-lime, salt, or any soluble substance. The ether attracts -the particles of certain solids, and is of course reacted upon by them. -The particles thus attracted naturally distribute themselves throughout -it, at symmetrical distances. Hence the law of Pettit and Dulong is -verified, which, at least, holds good with all gasifiable atoms, that -their capacity is inversely as their atomic weight. - -1845. The atomic weights of hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine -being severally 1, 14, 36, when associated with equal volumes of -the _imponderable_ ether, they will have still the same weight. -Equal volumes will weigh the same as the atoms with which they are -associated; and the capacity for heat, being directly as the volumes, -will be inversely as the weights, the calculation being the same, -whether ether or caloric be the imponderable principle to which they -owe their gasification. By concurring with those chemists, who estimate -the atoms of oxygen at 16, instead of 8, this gas will come into the -same calculation. - -1846. When heterogeneous gases are confined within the same cavity, -that they should not react with each other is no more wonderful, -than that the same mass of water may at the same time hold different -substances in solution, which may add to its hydrostatic pressure -though they have no reciprocal reaction. - -1847. Sensible heat appears to be due to vibrations in the ether, kept -up by the solar rays or central ignition within this globe. By the -heat thus acquired the self-repellent power of the ether is augmented. -When by refrigeration this source of repulsion is diminished beyond -a certain limit, the atoms of certain vaporizable particles, such -as those of steam and other condensible vapours, are approximated -sufficiently to attract each other, and consequently coalesce and are -condensed. - -1848. It follows that light is due to _undulation_, sensible heat -to _vibration_, and electricity to the _polarization_ caused in the -ethereal medium, while either in a free, or in a combined state. Thus -this luminiferous ether performs the part heretofore attributed to -latent heat or caloric in one state; in another state, that of sensible -heat. - - - _Suggestions of Massotti, respecting the Nature of Matter._ - -1849. Massotti has suggested that all bodies consist of two kinds of -ultimate particles; that any two or more particles of one kind are -repulsive of each other, while any two or more of different kinds are -reciprocally attractive. Hence atoms are formed, consisting of one atom -of one kind and one of the other kind. Of course, were the opposite -forces exercised by the heterogeneous and homogeneous equal, the -resulting atoms would be neither attractive nor repulsive; but assuming -the attractive power to have the ascendency, the hypothesis would -account for the property of gravitation. - -1850. Let the suggestions of Massotti be modified, so far as that -the extremities of each particle, whether of one or the other kind, -are to be considered as endowed with opposite polarities, like those -of the magnetic needle, as already suggested in the case of matter -in general. Then in one relative position of the extremities they -may be reciprocally repulsive, in the other reciprocally attractive; -likewise one of the kinds of matter, like the light-producing ether -of the undulationists, may pervade the universe, and be condensed in -a peculiarly great quantity within perfect conductors: all this being -premised, it may be conceived how the waves of opposite polarization, -which proceed from oppositely electrified, or in other words, -oppositely polarized bodies, cause the matter through which they pass -to be decomposed or explosively rent. - -1851. As elsewhere stated, in large bodies of water, waves are the -effect of transference of motion successively from one part of the mass -to the other; the rolling of the wave causing nothing to pass but the -motion, and of course, the momentum is invariably consequent to motion. -The waves by which sound is transmitted, are analogous; nothing being -transferred excepting a vibration of the air, capable of affecting the -tympanum of the ear with the impression requisite to create in the -sensorium the idea of sound. - -1852. Any affection of matter, capable of existing in successive parts -of a material body, so that while the body is stationary, the affection -passes from one part of the mass to others, may be considered as a wave -of that affection, as reasonably as the affection called momentum is -considered as producing a wave in water, when passing through it, as -above described. It is in this way that I consider that the term wave -of polarization may be applied to an affection of matter consisting -of an abnormal position of the poles of the constituent particles, -successively induced in rows of atoms, so as to proceed from one part -of the series to the other. - -1853. And as two sets of waves, of which the hollows of one should -correspond with the elevations of the others, would, by being -associated, produce an even surface and equalization of the momentum -in the aqueous liquid, so, in opposite polarities, there might be -reciprocal neutralization by the coming together of the polarities. - - - _On Electro-polarity as the Cause of Electrical Phenomena._ - -1854. Agreeably to the view which I take of the present state of -our electrical knowledge, the phenomena designated under the name -of electricity are due entirely to a process which I designate as -polarization, and the consequences thereof. Those attractions and -repulsions which have been found to exist between particles of matter, -instead of being an endowment of the whole mass of each particle, seem -confined, as already suggested, to particular terminations or spots, -as we see this property on a larger scale in the loadstone or natural -magnet. In the body long known under this appellation, the attractive -power which it exercises is displayed usually at two distinct portions -of its superficies, which are called poles. When a piece of steel -wire is duly rubbed by either of these poles, it acquires a similar -attractive polarity, which always appears at the extremities. When -formed into an appropriate shape and freely suspended, such a wire -magnet constitutes the compass needle, having the wonderful and -all-important faculty of arranging itself within a meridian plane, -so as to be always nearly north and south; the same pole invariably -pointing in the same direction. The poles are named from the quarter to -which they point, one being called the north pole of the needle, the -other the south pole. This involves that the north pole of the earth -itself has nominally south polarity; the south pole, north polarity. - -1855. When two suspended compass needles are sufficiently approximated, -it will be seen that between the poles which point in the same -direction, there is repulsion; between those which point in different -directions, attraction. When the dissimilar poles are brought into -contact, they adhere; and if left cohering, will continue attached for -any length of time; and while in that state of coherence, the magnetic -power of the poles thus touching, being neutralized, disappears.[41] - -1856. If two needles be laid parallel, an interval between them, -the extremities being made to communicate by applying two wires of -suitable dimensions, also parallel to each other, the magnetic power -will be neutralized. - -1857. It is inferred that analogous phenomena take place in the -particles of masses or surfaces which are endowed with chemical -affinity or even cohesive attraction. - -1858. It is to the existence of the power by which these effects -are caused, at opposite terminations, that bodies, in congealing or -freezing from the state of liquidity, shoot into prismatic, oblong, -regular forms, called crystals. This is illustrated in the formation of -ice, which is seen to shoot into such prismatic crystals. - -1859. When a pane of glass is so situated as to have the focus of a -solar microscope thrown upon any spot, so that the glass thus affected -may be between the eye of an observer and the microscope, any small -crystals formed are greatly magnified. Hence if the focal space be -moistened with a solution of certain salts, the solvent evaporating, -crystallization ensues, and is seen to form appropriate figures for -each salt employed. It is owing to this property that when certain -solutions of various substances are evaporated, the soluble solid, as -it is deposited from the solvent, arranges itself longitudinally; one -atom attaching itself to the pole of another, until it creeps over the -sides of the vessel in great quantity. The appearance of arborescence -in certain minerals is thus accounted for. When an amalgam of mercury -with silver is hung by a platina wire within a bottle of a solution -of silver in nitric acid, there is formed a beautiful branching of -silver filaments. These are longer, though more slowly formed, as the -solution is more dilute. In very dilute solutions I have seen prisms of -silver of more than an inch in length, so delicate, that but for the -brilliancy of the surface they could not have been detected by the eye. - -1860. Farraday distinguished two kinds of polarity—ferro-magnetic -and dia-magnetic. That above described as taking place between steel -magnets is designated as ferro-magnetic. Dia-magnetic particles under -magnetic influence take position at right angles to that which would -ensue from ferro-magnetism. - -1861. This explanation being premised to enable the student to -comprehend what is meant by polarity, I will proceed to explain -electric phenomena, according to the theory which I hold. - -1862. It is expected that the preceding discussions have prepared the -reader to conceive that the atoms of all ponderable matter are endowed -with two analogous but opposite polar powers, which we term polarity. -That in any two atoms the dissimilar polar powers tend to make them -unite, the similar powers having the opposite tendency. That in any -inert mass the opposite powers or polarities are in contact, and thus -reciprocally neutralized. - -1863. It will be also understood that the ethereal fluid which pervades -the universe as the means of illumination is assumed to consist in -like manner of atoms or particles which are endowed with polarity, so -that when the opposite poles are in proximity, there is neutralization: -repulsion, and disturbance, when similar poles are approximated. This -being premised, the allegation may be intelligible, that when bodies -are electrified, the poles of the component atoms or particles are -conceived to be deranged from their natural position of reciprocal -neutralization, so that they react with exterior bodies, disturbing the -poles of their constituent particles, and thus electrifying them by -induction. - -1864. This abnormal state of disturbance, is conceived to be produced -on glass or resin, or any electric, when duly subjected to friction. - -1865. Thus when in an electric machine a vitreous surface is rubbed by -a leather cushion, the particles both of the leather and glass surfaces -are deranged from their natural state of reciprocal neutralization, -and present their poles in an active state, and the glass surface, -moving through the ethereal medium, (812) polarizes it as it passes, -the ether resuming its normal state till the ethereal atmosphere over -the conductor is reached. To that it imparts durable polarity; the -metallic superficies of the conductor taking the opposite state, so -that the charge is retained until the glass goes to and returns from -the cushion, with a farther supply of polarity. - -1866. The charges of polarization received by the plates at each -succeeding revolution of the plate or cylinder, is divided with the -ethereal atmosphere over the conductor, and this process is reiterated -till the frictional power has accomplished its maximum effect. Then -the conductor is said to be charged positively, according to the -theory of one fluid, and vitreously, according to that of Dufay, or -the theory of two fluids. Meanwhile, if the cushion communicates duly -with an insulated conductor, a process perfectly analogous to that -just described has been charging that conductor, _pari passu_, with -the one first mentioned. By these means we have two excited or charged -conductors. - -1867. If, before charging these conquerors, two scalps of hair be -severally situated on them, it will be perceived that, as the charging -proceeds, the hairs on each of the scalps rise, and endeavour to keep -away from each other. But, meanwhile, the whole of the hair on either -is attracted by that on the other conductor. Moreover, on touching both -conductors with any metallic rod, simultaneously, the whole of the -excitement disappears, and the hairs assume their normal position. - -1868. In producing this discharge, iron is not more effective than -any other metal. It is, in fact, known to be less competent for this -species of conduction, than copper, silver, or gold. - -1869. When the conductors are excited they have a powerful effect upon -gold leaves, suspended as in the electrometer. - -1870. The state of the conductors, when excited, as described here, is -said to be _static_. Such a state of excitement is distinguished as a -_statical_ charge of electricity. - -1871. In the next place, if we procure a horse-shoe magnet, lay it -on a table, cover it with a sheet of paper, and then sift over it -iron filings, we shall see the shape of the magnet delineated upon -the paper, by the filings arranging themselves above its corners in -preference. But as the sifting proceeds, the filings will be seen -to extend themselves in filaments, so as very much to resemble the -electrified hair above described. A tuft of the ferruginous filaments -will be formed upon each pole of the magnet, each filament avoiding -its neighbours, as far as possible. But while each filament, in either -tuft, avoids every other in its appropriate tuft, the whole of the -filaments in one, are attracted by those in the other. Thus, the -charges of polarity which cause each similarly polarized filament to -avoid those in the same state, induce those polarized by one of the -poles of the magnet, to attract such as are polarized by the other pole -of the magnet. - -1872. Here is, so far, a great analogy between the phenomena of the -polarization of filings and the polarization of the hair, above -described. But then there is this difference: excepting iron, cobalt, -and nickel, there is no metal which can, by contact with the poles of a -magnet, neutralize the polarity by which the iron filings are affected; -and even these metals produce this result by a process, the inverse -of that by which charges of statical electricity are neutralized. In -fact, the magnetic metal, far from acting as a discharger, acts as -a keeper; and a piece of iron, of a suitable shape, applied to the -terminations of a horse-shoe magnet, prevents the gradual diminution of -the magnetism, which otherwise ensues. Hence the name keeper is applied -to it, as well as armature, derived from the French. - -1873. It will be perceived that, in a steel magnet, the charges are -sustained at the terminations of a conductor, which, as estimated by -Cavendish, conducts electricity with a velocity two hundred thousand -times as great as water. - -1874. The charge of the conductor of the machine is superficial, a gilt -globe of glass holding as good a charge as a solid globe of metal; -and, moreover, in this superficial charge, the ether and the air -participate, undergoing a polar affection, analogous to that of the -filings exposed to the influence of the magnet. - -1875. On the other hand, in the use of the steel magnet, the charge is -internal, and, other things being equal, increases with the quantity -of iron charged; neither the air nor the ether participate in this -magnetic charge. There is no mode in which the charges of the poles -of a magnet can be made to pass from one to the other, through any -interposed conducting mass. - -1876. The retention of the charge seems to be dependent upon a state -of the particles in which they are capable of being deranged from -their normal position with a certain degree of extraneous influence, -and can only resume their natural relative position by a contrary -application of a similar agent. Although steel differs from iron only -in containing, as an ingredient, one-fiftieth of carbon, this gives it -the highly valuable property of hardening, when suddenly refrigerated; -a result which may be accounted for by supposing that, in consequence -of the sudden exposure to a powerful conducting medium, there is a -sort of a jerk by which the particles loose from their midst an undue -portion of their ethereal constituents, and cannot recover their normal -arrangement after the refrigeration. When this effect is reached to -a maximum, the steel is so brittle as sometimes to fly into two or -more pieces when left to itself. When soft iron is subjected to the -magnetizing process, it exchanges one polarity for the other with such -speed, that, in some electro-magnetic instruments, this reversal is -effected more than one hundred times in a second; but precisely in -proportion as the magnetism is readily received, it is more readily -lost. On the other side, when hardened to a maximum, steel can scarcely -be magnetized at all. Thus, to have a permanent magnet, we must employ -the metal in a state of induration between the extremes. These facts -tend to corroborate the inference that magnetism is dependent on the -relative position of the ferruginous particles. It is presumed that the -ferruginous particles of which the filings consist indicate, by their -direction, as seen externally, the direction in which the constituent -particles of the magnet are situated beneath the metallic surface.[42] - -1877. If to a wire, connecting the poles of a galvanic battery, iron -filings are applied, each ferruginous particle becomes a little magnet, -and displays exactly the same disposition to unite in filaments as -has been represented to take place when they are exposed upon a sheet -of paper, to the influence of a magnet supporting it. But while this -affection is thus identical with that induced by the steel magnet, it -differs therefrom, in its being as transient as the galvanic discharges -to which it owes its existence. These, at the lowest estimate, are -sufficiently rapid to go round the globe in two seconds; whence it -may be conceived that the time taken to percur a few inches of wire -must be almost infinitely brief. Hence, although the filings continue -in a state of magnetization so long as the action of the battery is -sustained, and the wire kept in due contact with the poles of the -battery, it is only by a rapid reiteration of discharges, that this -result is effected. - -1878. As the relative position of the particles composing the steel -magnet has been inferred to be indicated by that of the movable filings -which they influence, we may suppose the position of the particles -composing the wire, to be indicated by that which the filings take by -which it is encircled. These are situated always as if forming tangents -to the circumference of the wire, and hence it may be perceived that -the metallic particles, forming the wire, have been shifted from their -normal position, parallel to the axis, so as to take that tangential -direction which the magnetization evinces. - -1879. On one end of the wire being in communication with one pole of -a voltaic series, on touching the other pole of the series with the -other end of the wire, filaments of the particles previously situated -parallel to the axis, are jerked out of the normal position with -an inconceivable quickness, the discharge, however, not affecting -successive parts of the length absolutely at once, but successively; so -that there is a time required for the process, however inconceivably -minute it may appear to us. The effect upon the filaments of filings, -at the different ends of the wire, are perfectly simultaneous, and the -effect analogous, but different in this respect, that the positive -poles are presented externally at one end, the negative at the other, -so that, when the polarizing affections meet at an intermediate point -within the wire, neutrality ensues. - -1880. Thus it will be perceived that no current passes through the -wire, any more than the water which is seen to form a wave, on one side -of a lake, passes with the wave which is seen apparently to proceed -to the other side. Notoriously, in this case, nothing passes but the -momentum, which is successively imparted to successive portions of the -intervening water; so, in the galvanic discharge, successive portions -of the intervening wire are affected by the original disturbing jerks, -of which the power passes from each portion to that next beyond it, -just as the momentum in the case of the aqueous wave. - -1881. Upon these considerations I hold myself as warranted in calling -the affections of the wire, as described, _waves_ of polarization, not -that the affection of the wire has the smallest similitude to that -with which water produces waves, but that, in both cases, there is a -successive communication of a property. It is well known that there -is this analogy in the two cases; in either, opposite waves, on due -meeting, produce reciprocal neutrality. - -1882. The neutralization of the electro-polarity induced upon the -charged conductors (1867) by touching both at the same time by a -conducting rod, is effected in some degree analogously to the process -in the voltaic discharge; since waves of opposite polarization are -produced at each extremity, and, rushing toward an intermediate point, -are neutralized by meeting. But the polarization in the case of the -conductors, as has been stated, (1874,) is superficial, and extends not -only to the surfaces of the conductors, but likewise to the surrounding -ether and air, and does not affect the ponderable atoms of the wire -unless the charge be too great to pass in this superficial manner. In -that case, being condensed upon the wire to a state of great intensity, -it causes a polarization of the atoms composing it, similar to that of -the voltaic discharge, though less durable. - -1883. From the preceding exposition it follows that the conduction -and insulation of that species of electricity which is excited by an -electrical machine or other frictional processes, exists upon the -superficies of insulated masses, or that of the circumambient particles -of the air or ether. This frictional electricity likewise passes -preferably over the surfaces of conductors, so that the moistened -surface of glass, or other non-conductors, conveys it with enormous -facility. It is notorious, that when the air is moist, electrical -machines are paralyzed. But this cannot be in consequence of the moist -air acting as a conductor. Agreeably to some experiments which I made, -a fog from hot water does not act as a conductor. Evidently, were a fog -or a cloud a conductor, the air and moisture forming a thunder cloud -could not be electrified, so as to give the discharges which constitute -lightning. - -1884. It is well known that a tube will carry more lightning than a -rod, of which the sectional area should comprise the same quantity of -metal. Yet, when the wire is too small to carry a charge outside, it -is acted upon intestinally and may be explosively deflagrated. But -while the existence of a film of moisture upon the glass legs of an -electrical machine, may paralyze its power, to a powerful galvanic -battery moisture is well known to be essential. - -1885. If the poles of a powerful voltaic series, while highly charged, -were severally to have a conducting communication with the conductors -of an electrical machine, it would discharge them so rapidly, that -the most active working would not enable them to give a spark; yet at -the poles of the same series there might be charges accumulated which -would, in effecting chemical decomposition, heating, deflagrating wire, -or inducing magnetism, be immensely superior to that created by a -machine. - -1886. Farraday’s reasoning and observations, founded on the idea -that the only difference between galvanic and frictional electricity -was that between quantity and intensity, led him to take up the idea -that a grain of water with an equivalent of zinc would evolve as much -electricity as sixteen millions of square feet of coated glass, charged -by a powerful machine of fifty inches in diameter. I am surprised that -Farraday did not consider his premises erroneous, when he found them -involving such startling conclusions. - -1887. The source of this startling inference was, I think, as follows: -Farraday entertained the opinion, that the only difference between -voltaic and frictional electricity was that of quantity and intensity. -He went so far as to intimate that this opinion would be entertained -the more confidently as the electrician forming his decision should -be better acquainted with the subject. I advanced what appeared to me -unanswerable objections to this conclusion, but such as were not deemed -by him worthy of reply. Unduly confident in his postulate, Farraday -first ascertained the greatest effect which could be produced by a -certain number of turns of a powerful machine, with a fifty inch plate, -in causing a deviation of the galvanometric needle, and then, comparing -the quantity of zinc and water required to produce the same effect -through galvanic action, by a rule-of-three statement the result above -mentioned was obtained. In my view the error arose from overlooking -the fact that in the one case the whole discharge was exercised in -polarizing the ponderable matter, while in the other only a portion of -the discharge was thus employed, being only a secondary effect of the -polarization of the circumambient medium. Only that portion of the -charge which was forced into an association with the ponderable matter, -had any effect on the galvanometric needle. - -1888. According to Gaziot’s experiments, a Grove’s battery of 320 -pairs would not give a spark before contact at any distance, although -frictional machines, proportionally powerful, have given sparks at -twenty inches. - -1889. Thus the laws of conduction and insulation, as respects the -two kinds of electricity in question, are different; the waves of -polarization are in the case of the galvanic circuit confined to -absolute contact with conducting ponderable matter. It cannot pass -through the electrical medium or the air by the disruptive process. -When once a passage has been made for it, it may pass convectively, -carrying with it the polarizable matter, as may be seen in the arch -formed between the poles of a powerful voltaic series after contact. - -1890. This arch cannot be formed between two metallic points, because -none but those of a most fixed and infusible nature can support the -heat produced. It is only between charcoal points that it can be -created, because no other competent conductor is infusible at the -temperature of its volatilization. It is in fact only by the process in -question, that charcoal can be volatilized _per se_. It may be inferred -that as those waves of electro-polarity which require the presence of -ponderable as well as ethereal matter cannot pass over an interval -without the assistance of ponderable matter such as is supplied by the -coal. On contact with each other, the points completing the circuit -are subjected to an intensity of the polarizing power which causes the -carbon of the points, in the state of vapour, to become associated -with the ethereal waves, and thus produces the flaming arch, which -distinguishes the scene of reciprocal neutralization. - - -_Of Mind, as existing independently, and as distinguished from Matter._ - -1891. Three ideas must coexist in every rational being; nihility, mind, -and matter. We can, of course, conceive of a perfectly void space, -and likewise of a mathematical point, which designates a position not -an entity. Yet, position cannot be determined without surrounding -entities, between which this point exists, without having claim to any -portion of those entities, whether there be only one actual material -surface, or where several are cornered together. Of such points we have -already treated, as forming at the immovable centre of a rotating mass, -so that a centre is, of course, one state of the existence of such a -point. - -1892. After the considerations already presented, it will be seen that -there is great difficulty in conceiving of the existence of an atom of -matter endowed with polarity, and of course with two centres of two -analogous, but opposite and irreconcilable forces. And we must consider -that there are more than fifty such heterogeneous elementary atoms, -all endowed with various degrees of affinity, so as that two may unite -energetically to the exclusion of a third. This is designated as a -case of decomposition, and may be exemplified by the process in which -water is explosively decomposed by potassium, with which the oxygen of -the water unites to the exclusion of hydrogen. When we see that from -seven parts, by weight, of charcoal, and about nine parts of water, -sugar ensues; that the sweetness with which this sugar is endowed, is -the result of a difference between this substance and starch, in the -proportion of the watery elements: starch consisting of less water than -sugar, with the same amount of charcoal; when we learn that twelve -parts, by weight, of charcoal, fourteen parts of nitrogen, and one of -hydrogen, constitute the deadly prussic acid; and when, in fact, we -discover that the atoms of matter which compose our flesh are capable -of entering into as many active chemical combinations as the beads of -a kaleidoscope can be productive of figures, then it will be manifest -that the phenomena characterizing what we call matter, as well as the -powers of that matter, are such as to prove our utter incapacity to -comprehend the powers and properties of material atoms, and that we -must not object to any wonder that nature may produce, because it is -beyond our comprehension.[43] - -1893. The belief in the powers displayed by matter does not then result -from their being explicable, but from their being evident, just as -the elaboration of the chick from the egg demonstrates the fact that -the yolk and the white have been converted into a chicken without our -being enabled to comprehend the process by which it has been effected. -Such being the imperfection of our knowledge respecting the intricate -nature of matter and its reactions, it seems to me inconsistent that -there should have been such backwardness to believe in the independent -existence of mind, of which the phenomena and properties are quite as -evident as those of matter, the mode of existence and operation in -either case being inscrutable. - -1894. The great distinction between mind and matter is the presence -of will on the one side, and the absence of it upon the other. _Vis -inertiæ_ is the antipodes of will; and if gravitation have any -association with will, it will be that of the Creator; but in the inert -mass actuated, it serves only to add to the evidence of incapability of -self-actuation. - -1895. Passion and reason, the parents of will, are properties as -manifest as those which, surrounding a centre, give to it that idea of -a central force which indicates the presence of material atoms, though -it does not constitute them, as I have urged. - -1896. The existence of _vis inertiæ_, gravitation, and chemical -affinity, is not more evident as properties of ponderable matter than -reason and passion and consequent will are of mind; nor is will less -evidently the offspring of reason and passion, than momentum is of _vis -inertiæ_ and gravitation. The existence of these attributes of mind is -as evident as is the existence of those of ponderable matter, and the -incomprehensibility of their origin or mode of operation should no more -be an obstacle to belief in the former case than in the latter. - -1897. Nothing is more thoroughly fundamental and essential in the -doctrine inculcated by revelation than the omnipotency of the will of -God. According to Scripture, the whole heaven and earth, and all that -is in them, sprung into existence in consequence of the fiat of the -Deity, whose will, under the designation of “overruling providence,” -is alleged to regulate every thing, even to the fall of a sparrow, -or the advent of a pestilence. It follows that the suggestions which -I have made respecting the powers of mind are perfectly orthodox, -so far as the mind of the Creator is concerned; and as, according -to orthodoxy, man is made after God’s own image, however humble and -minute may be the being so made, his mind, so far as it exists, must -be, within the sphere allotted to it, existing upon an analogous -footing to that of its author. The idea of all things coming from the -creative power of God as the first cause, involves the existence of -the divine-will power, of the first cause; and consequently, beings -endowed with an analogous will, must, so far as they have any available -existence, be endowed with will-power, of which the potentiality may be -more extensive in spirits than in mortals. - -1898. It is because there is no other imaginable power which can be -productive of the rationality of the universal creation, that forms the -great argument for assuming the will of a reasoning Deity to be the -cause of causes. Vain were it to appeal to any irrational force under -the name of odylic, or any other, to explain the divine attributes -on which this argument reposes. In like manner, the assailants of -Spiritualism cannot find any nominal force, whether new or old, which -can explain the rationality of the results which I have submitted to -the public in this book, as coming from the minds of my spirit friends. - - - _Of Spirit independently, or as distinguished from Mind and Matter._ - -1899. It has been alleged above, that three ideas must exist in the -conception of every rational being; nihility, mind, matter. - -1900. Mind is distinct from matter in its usual acceptation; but it -also differs from nihility. There are some attributes common to mind -and matter; since they cannot be considered as nothing, they must both -be something. Therefore, the word thing applies to either, and thing -is sometimes received as synonymous with matter. But between these two -kinds of things, mind and matter, we have an intermediate thing called -spirit, which is sometimes confounded with mind. In its original sense, -this word merely denoted a thin or refined matter, such as air, wind, -breath. In chemistry, it has been applied to every thing obtained by -distillation, as, for instance, spirit of wine, spirit of salt, spirit -of nitre, of vitriol, spirit of turpentine.[44] - -1901. Hence, by analogy, when the mind of a mortal, after death, was -seen, or supposed to be seen, in a shadowy form called a ghost or -shade, it was conceived to be the spirit or essence of the mortal body -which it had inhabited. It was the body which the mind took or kept for -its integuments after abandoning its perishable mundane _casket_, as -the spirits are wont to call the carnal body. - -1902. It is difficult for us mortals to conceive of mind without such a -spiritual body. Yet, agreeably to information from my spirit friends, -the substances of which the bodies, the country, and habitations of -spirits are constituted, seem to have the attributes of materiality -no less than the substances of which the bodies, the territory, and -the habitations of mortals are constituted. Their spiritual substances -perform for them the same offices as our material substances do -for ours, yet it is expedient to distinguish them by different -appellations, and those cited here have been sanctioned by custom at -least as far as the time of St. Paul, or when these words in Genesis -were first used: “The spirit of God moved on the surface of the water.” - -1903. Hence, the words materialism and materialist have been made -synonymous with unbelief or unbeliever in a future state of _spiritual_ -existence. - -1904. Spirit has also been confounded with mind or soul, or so -associated that we speak of the spirit of a friend, when intending to -convey the idea of soul or mind. - -1905. The soul seems to be understood as the basis both of the -passions and the reason, uniting both the power of thinking and -reasoning with those of loving and hating, of benevolence and -malevolence, so that even the soul of Jehovah has been represented in -Scripture as being actuated by jealousy, wrath, and vindictiveness. - -1906. According to information from the spirit world, spirit is -viewed as the clothing of the soul, and is not constant in its -characteristics; but, on the contrary, varies with the plane which it -occupies, so that its density is inversely as the rank attained. It is -on this account that the inferior spirits cannot rise above the level -to which they rightfully belong. - -1907. The impression is conveyed that there is a state to be attained -in the spiritual heaven, wherein the tenuity of the integuments of the -soul are still more refined. - -1908. According to the speculation in which I indulged in a previous -page, a centre cannot differ from the nihility involved by the -conception of a mathematical point, without a circumambient something, -to which the difference is due, and, however difficult to conceive in -what way the attributes of a human soul are associated about the centre -whence their influence proceeds, this difficulty, having been shown to -exist no less in the case of ponderable atoms, would be an objection to -the existence of matter as much as of mind. - - - _Of the Soul, as distinguished from Mind and Matter._ - -1909. The word mind is much used as synonymous with intellect or -understanding, though it seems to me we consider it as more or less -associated with the passions which actuate it. The word soul, on the -other hand, involves the association of every thing which distinguishes -a being capable of passion, and competent to reason, from a corpse. -It is remarkable that, as spirits become more pure and intellectual, -they should be alleged to become more refined in their spiritual -integuments, thus removing further from the mundane state, and becoming -less capable of giving those manifestations in which violent movements -are witnessed. - - - _On the Odic, or Odylic, Force._ - -1910. There never was perhaps a more eloquent exhibition of that which -has been designated as _ratiocinatio verbosa_, than in the appeals made -to the odic force as the means of explaining spiritual manifestations. -It may be inferred, from the speculation into which I entered, when -treating of mediumship, (806,) that there is a spiritual light and -spiritual electricity, which performs for spirits in the spiritual -world what our electricity and light does for us in this world. It -was pointed out that the term magnetism had been applied to mesmeric -phenomena rather in consequence of an analogy between them and those -of electro-magnetism, than from any identity. To this spiritual -electricity, mortals, in their spiritual organism, which coexists with -the mortal body, during mundane life, are liable; being unconsciously -under its influence. - -1911. The phenomena of mundane light being ascribed to the undulations -of an ethereal fluid pervading the visible universe, (1831,) and -electricity being ascribed to the polarization of the same fluid, -so the spirits ascribe _their electricity_ and _their light_ to the -undulation and polarization of an analogous ethereal fluid. It is to -this ethereal fluid of the spiritual world, that the phenomena called -odic belong, as I conceive. We may speak of that ether as the odic -fluid, and we may designate the light and electricity which it produces -as odic light, and odic electricity. - -1912. But the use of the term force, as applied either to the ether -appropriate to this mundane sphere, or to that which belongs more -especially to the spirit world, seems to me erroneous. Imponderable -fluids may be instrumental to forces, but, _per se_, cannot have force. -No imponderable material fluid can _per se_ have any force, unless -that of the reciprocal repulsion of particles, which causes their -equable diffusion and resistance to condensation. Electricity has less -force in proportion as it is more isolated. In vacuo it passes more -diffusely and with less noise in proportion as the vacuum is more -perfect. The violence of electrical phenomena is always dependent upon -the reaction of the ponderable masses upon or between which it acts. -In proportion as the matter on which it operates is more favourable -to its condensation therein, or thereupon, the more violent is the -deflagration or explosion which results. But in all the phenomena -which have hitherto been recognised as the objects of strict physical -examination, _vis inertiæ_ has been indispensable to the exhibition -of force. “Give me but where to stand, and I will move the world,” -was the exclamation of Archimedes; but the conviction thus expressed, -of the necessity of a resisting basis, is universally recognised. In -other words, there can be no action without reaction, whether chemical, -mechanical, or muscular force be applied. Of course, it is preposterous -to speak of an _isolated_ imponderable physical fluid, as possessing -force _per se_. When left to itself it would remain inert, like any -other inanimate matter. Clearly, isolated action on the part of such a -fluid cannot be shown in any case whatever. - -1913. Reichenbach alleged the substance or principle to which the name -odic has been given to be visible, but he did not adduce any instance -of its acting as a moving power so as to justify its being designated -as the odic force. - -1914. It is, however, unnecessary that those who admit the existence of -an invisible ethereal medium through which, _without muscular contact_, -or agency, effects are produced by will, should concur in their -opinions respecting the nature of that imponderable principle. The -question between those agreeing in the preceding principles, is whether -it is to the will of mortals or to the will of disembodied spirits -that such manifestations are to be attributed. I should think that no -person who shall have read the communications which I have introduced -into this work, as coming from my spirit friends, can ascribe those -communications to the medium and myself. They must either suppose -that there is a wilful manufacture of the wonderful and interesting -information therein contained, setting aside the test conditions, -through which they are sanctioned, as unreliable; or they must ascribe -a wonderful fertility to the minds of the media and myself, through -whom they have been obtained. - -1915. So far from the ideas being obtained from my mind, which proceed -from my spirit father, that he and I cannot come to one opinion on some -points after much discussion. My father and sister have, by reiterated -communication, as well established a conviction on my mind of their -being that which they allege themselves to be, as if a correspondence -had been carried on with them for the same space of time, say eighteen -months, while they should be residing in another part of the country. - -1916. But the whole superstructure built up by the most confident -among the recent assailants of Spiritualism, Mahan, rests on the error -already exposed in the case of its commission by Dr. Bell. - -1917. It is assumed that spirits can never tell any ideas which do -not exist in the minds of some persons present. Who was present when -my spirit messenger conveyed to Mrs. Gourlay the request to send her -husband to bank to inquire when a note would be due? Again, when cards -were selected without the denomination having been seen by any mortal -present, how could the denomination of the cards be spelt out upon the -alphabetic disk? - -1918. In his work, Mr. Mahan assumes that the odic force is identical -with that which is the immediate cause of the spirit manifestations. -Agreeably to the considerations above presented, no imponderable -material principle, such as the ether of the undulation theory is -supposed to be, can be a force. The only part which it can perform is -that of being a medium of force. The fluid of electricity was never -assumed to be a moving power, neither according to the Franklinian -hypothesis of one fluid, nor that of two fluids, according to Dufay. -Without chemical or mechanical disturbance, they would be as still as -the water in a pond during a perfect calm. - -1919. There is evidently, however, in nature, an imponderable cause of -motion, and of other changes, more complicate than simple motion, and, -I believe, only one such cause, and that is mind. No one who attributes -the creation to the mind of the Creator, but must admit that the mind -of the Creator and Ruler of the universe is the moving power of the -universe. It must also be admitted that the mind of man, as a moving -power, is very minute in comparison with that of its Author, or Source, -but still resembling it so far as it reasons, and obeys the dictates of -that reason, and causes matter to move in consequence of its designs, -desires, wishes, or emotions. - -1920. But if this will of the Creator exists, it must have some medium -through which it reaches the objects which it influences, just as the -ether of the undulationist is necessary to the transmission of light. -It is through this medium that gravitation exists as one of the effects -of divine will, since, although it appears to be a property of matter, -it is inferred to be no less the effect of an habitual exercise of -volition, than the erect posture preserved in man, by analogous means, -unconsciously; whence, in him, it ceases with sleep. The human will, -within its comparatively minute, humble sphere of action, must require -also a medium analogous to that through which God acts; otherwise, -how does a thought so quickly move the toe? While encompassed by its -perishable tenement, there is a certain extent of this will-power -enjoyed through the laws of God; but on casting off this envelope, the -spirit, to be qualified for its new state of existence, becomes endowed -with more extensive power of the nature in question. - -1921. This power of the will exists and is displayed in the mesmeric -phenomena, where the will of one individual dominates over the limbs of -another. The power of the will of an individual over his own muscles, -not only in the usual movement, but in producing a rigidity of the -muscles of the arm or thigh, is of course notorious. But it appears -that there are some persons morbidly susceptible of this rigidity, -or at least preternaturally liable to it. Again, others have a will -which is, in some degree, preternatural; hence, when such persons are -in proximity, the one can actuate the muscles of the other, and even -modify the impressions on the brain. - -1922. Spirits, as above stated, appear to be endowed with this -will-power to an extent proportioned to their necessities. Hence it was -substantiated by my spirit father in the first instance, and by the -convocation of spirits in the second, that they, like the genius of -Aladdin’s lamp, can create, in their own world, the objects of rational -desire or fancy by a _fiat_, but their will-power cannot directly move -mundane bodies. In order to effect this, they must avail themselves of -the coarser medium of the human will-power, in which case they act, as -one mortal may act upon the will-power of another in proximity. The -will-power aura of human beings and of spirits seems to emanate from -their organism respectively, and, no doubt, connects duly with that of -God. Hence, there is thus, that association of the divine will, with -all animated beings, which is suggested by the popular theology. The -will, and the aura through which it acts, varying with the organism -with which it is associated, it requires a certain coincidence in the -attributes of a spirit and a mortal, to enable the former to use the -aura of the latter to produce any manifestation of its will or ideas. -But so far as this coincidence exists, the power is enjoyed. That such -coincidences have arisen, I conceive must be evident from the careful -consideration of the facts which I have recorded in this work. - -1923. The question is put by the Rev. Mr. Mahan, why the odic force, -existing in nature, may not be productive of the results ascribed -to disembodied spirits? He overlooks the fact that no inanimate -imponderable principle can be, _per se_, a moving power; that inanimate -matter does not move itself. Then, as I understand, agreeably to -another phase, he inquires why may it not become an instrument to the -minds of the mortals concerned? - -1924. In the first place, there are facts within my experience which -cannot be explained by any possible exertion of any mundane mind, -were those concerned to concur in striving to accomplish the result. -Thus, how would it be possible for Mrs. Gourlay and myself to have -brought about the result of which an account has been given in the -supplemental preface of this work, and upon which remarks have been -made in other pages? It is utterly impossible that, by any imaginable -process, Mrs. Gourlay, having no previous hint, could have become the -instrument of my volition at the distance of nearly a hundred miles -from Philadelphia, and when, at the time, she was intently engaged in -receiving, as she alleges, a communication from her spirit mother to -her brother, who was her visitor from his abode in Maine. - -1925. Again, it cannot be imagined that things would be communicated -by my spirit father and others, of which I was ignorant when they -were made. The same may be said of Mrs. Gourlay, as she knew nothing -of the facts communicated to her, for me. Then, when the narrative of -those facts was read over to the spirit, there were often things to -be explained and views to be justified, in opposition to my previous -impressions. Conversing frequently with Mrs. Gourlay, I know that she -had none of the important impressions respecting the spheres, which -were conveyed through her for my edification. - - - RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAHAN. - - - _Proposition of Mr. Mahan._ - -1926. “Evidence that the Scriptures are given by inspiration of -the Spirit of God, as contrasted with the evidence, that the spirit -manifestations are from the spirits of men.” - -1927. The Rev. Mr. Mahan, not satisfied with endeavouring to refute -Spiritualism directly, devotes some pages of his work to the object of -bearing it down by the weight of Scriptural superiority, both as to the -evidence, and its moral tendencies. This renders the expediency of the -strictures which I have made, or may make, on the other side of the -question, unquestionable. - -1928. There are several truths, which I deem to be axiomatic, which -are irreconcilable with the truth of Revelation, (18 to 20.) Merely -to state them is to refute Mr. Mahan’s allegation above cited. With -readers who will not admit the axioms to which allusion is made, I must -agree to differ. (See page 34.) - -1929. In the first place, I have represented it as a contradiction to -allege that an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God can subject -any thing to probation, (1380.) - -1930. In the next place, I hold that an _omnipotent_ God cannot wish -men to have any religion, without that object being effected. - - Will not any event arrive - For which both will and power strive? - Must not any result obtain - Which power unites with will to gain? - -1931. I answer these queries in the affirmative, and of course consider -the theology of Revelation as involved in a contradiction, so far as it -represents an _omnipotent and prescient_ God _as wishing any creed to -be adopted which has not been adopted_. - -1932. As a corollary to these axioms, it results that God never has -performed any miracle for the purpose of conveying a knowledge of -the true religion; simply because all that have been alleged to have -come from God have only produced religious discord. Of course God, -foreseeing the failure of those miracles, would not have resorted to -them. - - Did God a special creed require, - Each soul would he not with that creed inspire? - -1933. This I answer affirmatively. The truth of the affirmative is as -clear to my mind as any of Euclid’s axioms. - -1934. Another conclusion I consider as inevitable: that no document can -be substantiated by the facts of which it furnishes the sole evidence. - -1935. In this predicament I place the Bible, the Koran, the Shaster, or -Veda, and the Zendavesta, or any religious record of antiquity. - -1936. Manifestly, a record made by man can have no higher authority -than that of the men whose testimony it records, and those by whom it -was recorded. - - - _Of the origin of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, - according to the testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an - obscure priest and a fanatical king._ - -1937. If we are to judge of the Jewish priesthood by the example -afforded by Samuel, we have no more reason to trust a Hebrew pontiff -than a Romish pope, (1091.) Bishop Hopkins has sufficiently shown how -far priests are to be trusted, (1296.) What would be said of any book, -alleged to be due to Divine inspiration, if it had, agreeably to its -own authority, an origin no more reliable than the allegation of a -priest that it had been found in a temple or church, there being no -other evidence of its not having been forged by the priest, or his -accomplices, than his own allegation? What better evidence would there -be of the sacred origin of such a document, than there is of the Book -of Mormon—the Bible brought forward by Joe Smith? Yet the following -quotation will show that there was no Bible in use in Judea in the -reign of Josiah, 350 years after the reign of David, and just before -the Babylonian captivity; and that, in consequence, idolatry had to a -great extent superseded the true worship. - -1938. Under these circumstances, the high priest alleged a copy of the -Bible to be found, and sent it by a scribe to the king. This monarch -had lived in such ignorance of the existence of this holy code, that he -was thrown into a state of such deep penitence for the sinful omissions -arising from his ignorance, as to rend his clothes by way of expressing -his sorrow. Moreover, orders were forthwith given to have the abuses -abated, which had been introduced solely through ignorance. - -1939. I view this evidence of the highest importance at this time, -when such men as Mahan, and the anonymous author of the parodied -letter, (1182,) are appealing to the Bible as the inspired word of -God, and thus making God sanction a catalogue of atrocious crimes -and indecencies, and when this imposture is to sit as an incubus -on those truly moral impressions which the blessed spirits of the -immortal Washington and other worthies, as well as my honoured father, -would communicate for the amelioration of the religion and morals -of mankind. I repeat, that I consider it of immense importance that -attention should be called to the questionable foundation on which -these pretensions to inspiration are erected. I shall, therefore, not -only quote a portion of these pretended _words of God_, but also that -part of a chapter in the Book of Josephus which narrates the same -all-important occurrence more fully and satisfactorily, though giving -the same evidence essentially. - - - _Scriptural Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses by Hilkiah, - the High Priest._—2 Chron. xxxiv.; 2 Kings xxii. - - 1940. “And when they brought out the money that was brought into the - house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the - Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the - scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. - And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the - book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All - that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered - together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have - delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the - workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the - priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And - it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law, that he - rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son - of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and - Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for - me, and for them that are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning - the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the - Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept - the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. - And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the - prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, - keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) - and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus - saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, - Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and - upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written - in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: because - they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that - they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; - therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not - be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of - the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel - concerning the words which thou hast heard; because thy heart was - tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest - his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, - and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep - before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. Behold, I will - gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave - in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring - upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought - the king word again. Then the king sent and gathered together all the - elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of - the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, - and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: - and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant - that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his - place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, - and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, - with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the - covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were - present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants - of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their - fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the - countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that - were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And - all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of - their fathers.” - - - _Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses, by Josephus._ - - 1941. “The repairs of the temple being completed, and all expenses - defrayed, Hilkiah, in conformity to the king’s orders, took out the - money for the purpose of converting it into vessels for the use of the - temple; and, upon removing the gold, happened to discover the sacred - books of Moses. This he took out and gave to Shaphan, the king’s - secretary, to peruse, who, upon reading them over, went to the king, - accompanied by Hilkiah, who told him that he had executed all his - commands relative to the reparation of the temple, and at the same - time presented the book to him in great form, assuring him what it - was, and where they had found it. - - 1942. “The king ordered Shaphan to read a part of the contents, which - being done, he rent his robes, in dread of the heavy curses denounced - against a wicked generation. In the height of his affliction, he - desired the secretary, with Hilkiah, and several priests who were - present, to go to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, a man - of eminence, and unite their endeavours to prevail upon her to make - intercession with God for pardon toward himself and his subjects. He - told them there was great reason to apprehend that the vengeance of - Heaven would fall upon the present generation as a punishment for - the iniquity of their progenitors, and particularly their neglect - and contempt of the laws of Moses; and that, without obtaining a - reconciliation, they should be dispersed over the face of the earth, - and terminate their lives in misery. - - 1943. “Hilkiah, with those who were appointed to accompany him, - immediately repaired to the prophetess, and having related the cause - of the king’s affliction, and his earnest desire of her intercession - with Heaven in behalf of him and his subjects, she bade them return - him this answer: That the sentence already pronounced was not to - be recalled on any supplication or intercession whatever. That the - people were to be banished from their own country, and punished for - their disobedience with the loss of all human comforts. That the - judgment was irrevocable, for their obstinately persisting in their - superstitious and idolatrous practices, notwithstanding so many - warnings to a timely repentance, and the menacing predictions of the - prophets, if they persevered in their abominations. - - 1944. “This unchangeable decree was to show, by the event, that there - is a just and overruling Disposer of all things, and the predictions - which he delivered by the means of the prophets will be infallibly - verified, as the certain indications of his whole will respecting - mankind. The prophetess added, ‘Tell the king, however, that, in - consideration of his own pious and virtuous example, the judgment - shall be averted from the people during his days; but that the day of - his death shall be the eve of their final destruction.’ - - 1945. “As soon as Josiah received this message from the prophetess, - he immediately despatched messengers to the several cities within his - dominions, commanding all the priests and Levites, and men of all - ages and conditions, to repair with the utmost speed to Jerusalem. - These orders being obeyed, and the people assembled, the king went - to the temple, where, in the hearing of the whole multitude, he - caused the laws of God, as contained in the books of Moses, to be - distinctly read; after which he bound himself and the people, with - their universal consent, by a most solemn oath, strictly to observe - every article contained in the sacred books, respecting the laws - and religion established by Moses. This solemn oath was followed by - prayers and oblations for the divine blessing and protection. - - 1946. “The king strictly enjoined the high priest to take a particular - account of the plate and vessel in the temple, and to cast out so - many of them as they should find to have been dedicated by any of his - ancestors to idolatrous services. Those that were found were reduced - to dust, and in that state thrown into the air. All the priests were - likewise put to death, that were not of the flock of Aaron. - - 1947. “Having effected this reformation in Jerusalem, Josiah made a - progress throughout his whole dominions, where he destroyed all the - relics of Jeroboam’s superstition and idolatry, and burnt the bones of - false prophets, upon the very altar which that impious king had set - up. Of this we have taken notice before, as well as the intervention - of the prophet, with a prediction in the hearing of the multitude, - at the time when Jeroboam was offering sacrifice, ‘That one of the - race of David, Josiah by name, was to do this.’ The prediction was - verified, by the event, three hundred and fifty-one years after it was - foretold. - - 1948. “So ardent was the zeal of Josiah for extending the great work - of reformation, that he went in person to several of the Israelites - who had escaped the Assyrian bondage, in order to dissuade them from - continuing in superstition, and prevail with them to embrace the pure - religion of their forefathers, according to the long established - custom of their country. Nor did he rest here, but caused the towns - and villages to be searched for the discovery of any remains of - idolatrous practices that might lie concealed. The very figures of - the horses over the porch of the temple, which their forefathers had - dedicated to the sun, and all the monuments to which the people had - ascribed divine honour, were, by his special order, taken away and - destroyed. - - 1949. “Having thus purged the whole nation from idolatry, and fully - restored the true worship of the one only and true God, he called an - assembly of the people at Jerusalem, for the purpose of celebrating - the passover, the time for that festival being near at hand. On this - occasion the king gave out of his own store, for paschal sacrifices, - thirty goats, a thousand lambs, and three thousand oxen. The heads - of the priests presented to the others of the sacerdotal order two - thousand six hundred lambs, and the chief of the Levites gave to - their tribes five thousand lambs, and five hundred oxen. A solemn - sacrifice was made of these victims, according to the precepts of - Moses, and the ceremony was performed under the direction of the - priests. From the time of the prophet Samuel to that day, there had - never been a festival celebrated with equal solemnity; for this had - the allowed preference, because the whole was conducted in strict - conformity to the very letter of the laws, and the precise mode of - their forefathers. Josiah, after the accomplishment of a work of such - moment and importance to the nation in general, enjoyed his government - in honour, peace, and plenty, till he closed his life.”—Book 10, page - 153. - - - _If the Pentateuch had been previously known to the Jews, it is - incredible that it could have become_ obsolete _and_ forgotten _prior -to the alleged discovery of it in the Temple, in the reign of Josiah_. - -1950. After the Pentateuch had been viewed as the word of God, made -known to a people as their peculiar inheritance, lifting them, in their -own estimation, above the rest of mankind, as God’s chosen people, this -code being the sole authority for their _bloody_ and _rapacious_ course -toward their neighbours, is it credible that such a document, had it -ever existed, could have become both obsolete and forgotten?[45] Yet -we have no alternative but to admit this absurdity, or to conclude -that the Bible has no better authority than the Book of Mormon; the one -being no more than the other the work of a designing priesthood and -would-be rulers. - -1951. What credit would be given to any work having no better authority -for divine origin than that of the allegation that some pope had -found it in a cathedral or in the Vatican, and had sent it to some -monarchical bigot as the mislaid testament of the Almighty, given by -inspiration through some ancient predecessor of his holiness? - -1952. It may be difficult to conceive that Hilkiah and his associates, -in writing a book, as proceeding by inspiration from Jehovah, could -have fabricated any facts so derogatory to an immaculate Deity as -those mentioned under the authority of Moses. How impious must have -been their conceptions, to represent him as authorizing them to borrow -trinkets of the Egyptians, in order to purloin them; the sanctioning -the cold-blooded murder of three thousand people for religious error; -the slaughtering of whole nations, even to their suckling babes, as -in the case of the Midianites, Canaanites, and Amalekites, with the -setting aside virgins for the fate from which the Roman Virginius -relieved his daughter by his dagger! It is difficult to conceive -that an idea, so derogatory of God, could have been entertained by -his _chosen_ people. Yet, on the other hand, inasmuch as they _were -written_, there must have been some mind so impious as to have -originated them; and it may be a less wonder that such fabricators -should have existed in a cruel and barbarous age of the world, than -that, in the present age of superior morality and civilization, they -should find endorsers in the professed ministers of the Being whom they -have thus misrepresented. - - 1953. Mr. Mahan alleges: “Every reader will agree with us in the - assumption that the incorruptible God has never performed and never - will perform a miracle in attestation of that which is unreal or - untrue. A religion really and truly attested by divine miracles must - therefore be admitted to be true.” - -1954. To this very admissible _truism_, I add that an omnipotent -and _prescient_ God could not have any occasion to perform miracles -in attestation of any thing, since, by the premises, his will must -be carried out without miracles. That any thing should, even for an -instant, be contrary to his will, is inconsistent with his foresight -and omnipotency. It would be a miracle _that any thing counter to his -will should exist_. - -1955. The next postulate of Mr. Mahan is: “_No religion attested as -true by divine miracles can be false._” - -1956. Was this proposition ever impugned? No one would resist the -unquestionable dictates of God, however conveyed, whether by miracles -or any other means. The question is not whether a religion _attested by -divine miracles should be accredited, but whether there were ever any -miracles, attesting any religion, performed; and if so, what religion -has the peculiar merit of having been thus attested?_ Millions, who -believe in other religions, deride those miracles of revelation which -Mr. Mahan would adduce; and Protestants do not admit many which the -Romish Church sanctions. For one, I deny that any miracle has ever been -performed with the view of attesting any religion whatever. No miracle -could be necessary to attest the will of Omnipotence any more than to -enable a man to wave his hand. But, admitting that it ever has been -necessary, no miracle has ever been resorted to for the purpose in -question, since none has answered the desired end. This would not have -been the case had miracles been resorted to by _prescient_ omnipotence. - -1957. A miracle, as defined by this author, on page 345 of his work, -is an event “_whose existence and characteristics can be accounted -for but by a reference to the direct and immediate interposition of -creative power, as their exclusive cause_.” - -1958. I reassert that, where omnipotence and prescience are concerned, -such interposition could, in no case, be requisite. The miracle would -be, that there could be any thing so contrary to omnipotent will as to -require any miraculous interference to set it right! - -1959. Instead of assuming, with orthodoxy, that our heavenly Father -is _quite_ omnipotent, spirits hold that his powers are only such as -this magnificent and almost infinite universe involves; consequently, -there is no necessity on their part to admit that every thing must be -exactly as God wishes it to be. They are not obliged to consider him as -allowing mischievous ignorance, sin, and misery to exist, while by a -_fiat_ he could correct them; and still less are they involved in the -necessity of supposing that, while able to make every thing _perfect_, -he, from choice, makes them imperfect, and yet has had to resort to -drowning his creatures by a great flood, and subjecting whole nations -to degrading captivity; authorizing one nation to massacre another, -even to each suckling babe, for wrongs done centuries before. - -1960. By Spiritualism, the Deity is represented as operating by general -laws, from which, consistently with his attributes, he cannot deviate, -having to perform no miracle to attain his ends; and that through these -laws he is incessantly acting for the good of mankind; and the whole -universe is progressing under his benign controlling influence. - -1961. Thus we have the two systems, that of progression last mentioned, -and that of probation above objected to; which last, being in diametric -opposition to an axiomatic truth, is, on this account alone, manifestly -absurd. - -1962. But, admitting that miracles could, without inconsistency, be -supposed to be resorted to by prescient omnipotence, in order to -produce or prevent some consequence of a general law, in the making or -carrying out of which an all-wise and all-powerful being inconsistently -displays a want of wisdom and foresight, it must be perfectly clear -that a prescient being would resort to such miracles as would produce -the desired effect; not such as would be only partially seen or -believed, and would become a new source of discord. Omnipotence could -certainly devise miracles which could be seen and be believed in by all -men; and which would so impress their minds, as to make them believe in -what they should hear and see. By a single fiat, God, if as omnipotent -as represented in Scripture, could make all his people of one mind. He -would not send them a “_sword to separate father from child, mother -from daughter, mother-in-law from daughter-in-law_,” and to make -_the subordinates of each household rise in rebellion against their -master_. A prescient God would not perform miracles of such doubtful -character as, for want of evidence, to oblige one of the miracle-makers -to enforce a belief in them by treacherous and cruel assassination, -as did Moses. God would require no evidence of his miracles but such -as could be recorded in the minds of believers. He would not have the -records of his will so situated, as to be liable to be confounded with -the fabrications of priestcraft. If devils were to be cast out, he -would not have drowned a herd of swine, merely to give those immortal -miscreants a ducking. - -1963. So far are the miracles narrated in the gospel from commanding my -credence, that the account of them proves to me, that the Evangelists -were men without discretion, in recording any thing so absurd and -_incredible_, and so _useless_ to the _main object_, of giving a -_knowledge of God_, and of the _means of reaching a future happy state_. - -1964. How absurd to represent God as performing miracles remotely -and indirectly bearing upon his object, instead of exercising his -omnipotent power universally, effectually, and at once! - -1965. If God were to adopt any miraculous means to make his will known, -they would not be such as would fail in attaining their end. None but -an idiot would resort to measures foreknown to be incompetent to the -object for which they should be devised. As no miracles that have -been alleged to have been performed have been productive of general -conviction of the truth of the creed which they have been alleged to -support, it follows that they could not have had a divine origin. A -prescient God would not have resorted to incompetent miracles. - -1966. This reverend author is likewise of opinion that nothing but -miracles can be appealed to as evidence of the divine origin of -Christianity or of any other religion. - -1967. When miracles are appealed to by different sects, in support of -their conflicting pretensions, it must result that, if religion is to -be founded only on miracles, that religion only can be recognised as -true whose miracles are so pre-eminently evident as to abrogate all -others that conflict with it. But it is notorious that the miracles -brought forward by each sect are denied, if not ridiculed, by others. -Appealing to miracles is, in fact, appealing to the human evidence -on which they depend. In like manner, any religion which rests on -assumed inspiration, rests, in fact, on the evidence proving that the -inspiration claimed ever took place. - -1968. But are we to believe in all miracles which have been alleged -by men to have happened? Are we to believe any book to be inspired, -because men, who contradict each other, alleged it to be inspired? -and if several books are alleged to be inspired, how are we to choose -between them? Is a man’s choice of these books to be governed by his -education? If brought up in Turkey, is he to believe that the Koran is -the word of God; if in Christendom, the gospel? If all who surround -him were to treat it as impious to doubt that _a book_ is the word -of God, is he to submit to this dictation, or is he to exercise his -own judgment, and examine whether the Bible of the Christian, and the -miracles on which it rests, are not more likely to be true than the -Koran and the miracles on which it rests? But if, after having examined -both of these works, he finds that the miracles on which they rest are, -in both cases, entirely dependent on human testimony, and that this -testimony is disputed on one side by the Mohammedans, and on the other -by the Christians, and that each party only admits such miracles to be -true as harmonize with his own religion; that miracles told by profane -writers rather tend to discredit than to corroborate the occurrences -with which they are associated,—will not the inference naturally arise -that the belief in miracles is the result of religion, not religion the -result of belief in miracles? - -1969. An analogous result may be perceived in relation to any -extraordinary manifestation in Spiritualism. Scarcely any one will -believe that the spirit hand (1513) has been seen and felt at Koons’s -establishment in Ohio, unless previously a convert to Spiritualism. -Thus he does not become a spiritualist by reading the account of that -manifestation, but believes the manifestation because he has been -converted to Spiritualism. Did the truth of that manifestation rest -upon the evidence of only one set of eye-witnesses, even spiritualists -had not believed in it. As miracles have ever been alleged to have been -seen only by very few persons, and have never been of a nature to be -seen by a succession of observers, I cannot conceive why any man, in -any age or time, could be reasonably expected to display a credulity, -the inverse of that now exhibited, as respects this spiritual -manifestation. Scarcely any person, without being an eye-witness of -the fact, has been brought to believe that tables move without human -contact. By recurrence, the reader may perceive that in my letter of -February 3, 1854, I use this language in my letter to Mr. Holcomb: _You -believe that tables move without contact, because you have seen them -so moved; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them moved without -contact, though I have been at several circles_, (698.) - -1970. When I stated to my friend, Professor Henry, the experiment -illustrated by plate 3, with the utmost precision, made twice on -two different evenings, he said: “I would believe you as soon as -any man in the world, but I cannot believe that.” Yet the result -of that experiment was nothing more than the fact of bodies moving -when uninfluenced by any apparent mortal agency, accompanied by -a demonstration of a governing reason; a result which has been -established again and again by myself with the greatest precision, -and by many other investigators. Evidently, if this had never been -repeated, it would have been treated as a mental hallucination on my -part by my comrades in science and all the rest of the community. - -1971. Such is the difficulty of inducing credence, in enlightened -minds, of any thing which is inconsistent with those laws of nature -with which they have become familiar. Clearly, in the present advanced -state of the human mind, no miracles would be believed on hearsay -testimony. - -1972. It seems as if facts, incredible at first view, are always -believed when they are confirmed by being seen by independent and -disinterested and intelligent observers sufficiently often, and under -such modifications, as to make all such observers believe in them. We -are willing to believe in a mysterious fact as _one_ of a _genus_, but -not when isolated. If I may judge by the incredulity with which my -observations in Spiritualism have been met by those who had previously -considered me reliable, I should deem it utterly impossible among -intelligent, well-educated people of the present day to induce a belief -in an isolated miracle; and, as respects ignorant, bigoted sectarians, -the difficulty to obtain credence would be at least as great. - -1973. Were our heavenly Father now to cause miracles to be performed as -wonderful and as isolated as those mentioned in Scripture, as no one -would know any thing of them direct from God, excepting those by whom -they might be witnessed, it would only cause the narrators of them to -be ridiculed, as those spiritualists were ridiculed who first asserted -their belief in spiritual manifestations. In order, therefore, that -miracles should be believed in by an enlightened community, belief -would have to be instilled by education or supported by reiterated -observation, since, in enlightened communities, no miracles would be -believed in but those which should come within these conditions. - -1974. There is not a single miracle mentioned in the gospel which -tends to throw light upon the alleged object of Christ’s mission. -The object of their performance was mainly to prove his supernatural -power to those who should believe in them, and thus to cause him to -be accredited as a missionary from God. So far from their ever having -had an effect of this kind on my mind, gospel miracles tended only to -destroy my confidence in the veracity or discretion of their narrators, -upon the same principle that spiritualists have lost weight with their -intelligent friends by mentioning manifestations which were considered -by these as incredible. - -1975. I can foresee a great triumph for spiritualists, sooner or -later, in the world to come, if not in this; but this result will -not flow from the conversion of their skeptical friends to a belief -in the manifestations which may have been viewed by the narrators, -as described. The conversion of skeptics will arise from their own -observation, with the concurrent testimony of many reliable witnesses, -all tending to the verification of analogous phenomena. - -1976. The miracles of Scripture never have had nor never can have this -species of corroboration, and of course will make but little progress -among people educated under conflicting impressions. In this age of -bigotry in favour of all educational mysteries and extreme skepticism -as to innovations, the last thing which could obtain credence would -be miracles of the nature of those which Mr. Mahan assumes to be the -_only_ foundation for religious belief. - -1977. It has already been urged that Moses was, _by his own account_, -a worldly man, who, as I conceive, was guilty of a misrepresentation -in alleging that the Creator of the hundred millions of solar systems -comprised in this universe (1342) made him and his people especially -the object of a partiality, authorizing them to plunder and extirpate -all the neighbouring people: moreover, that Moses was worldly-minded -in the _extreme_, and so intent upon acquiring lands in this world, as -to neglect his opportunities, if he had any, of learning from Jehovah, -in frequent alleged intercourse with him, any information respecting -the immortality of the soul, (1091, 1098, 1271.) My attention has been -recently turned to the 24th chapter of Exodus. It is there mentioned -that Moses, with more than seventy elders of Israel, went up the mount, -and there had an interview with the God of Israel, when “_they saw -God_.” It is then stated that “_The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, -Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. And -this is the offering which you shall take of them, gold, silver, and -brass, and blue and purple, fine linen, and goats’ hair_,” &c.[46] - -1978. There are then two or three chapters occupied with the -specification of the various valuable articles of gold, and precious -wood, and stones, required by an _omnipotent God to furnish a -tabernacle_. Such is the misuse made by this pretended missionary of -God, of the opportunity of learning that _which is above all price_. -How many thousands of human beings have been willing to lay down -their lives for religious truth!—and yet this pretended favourite of -Jehovah, by his own account, spent his time in getting baubles, making -the Almighty his agent. It may be that the whole is a fable, and that -the account originated in the time of Hilkiah, when the Pentateuch was -acknowledged to have been found accidentally. But if Moses and the -elders really ascended the mount, and represented themselves as seeing -God, and receiving those directions, evidently they were all a set of -impostors, who resorted to this mode of obtaining furniture for the -tabernacle. - - - _Great Importance attached to a Belief in Immortality by Cyrus the - Great, King of Persia, as contrasted with the recklessness of Moses - respecting the same Belief._ - -1979. Among the errors propagated industriously by fanatical -sectarians, is that of representing the Old and New Testament as of -inestimable importance, as the only source of our knowledge of a -future state of existence, of which heathen writers are mentioned as -deficient. In refutation of the calumny thus promulgated, I deem it -expedient to quote the following sentiments ascribed by Xenophon to -Cyrus, King of Persia, in _addressing his children_: - - 1980. “Think not, my dearest children, that when I depart from you, - I shall be no more: remember that my soul, even while I lived among - you, was invisible; yet by my actions you were sensible it existed in - this body. Believe it, therefore, existing still, though it still be - unseen. How quickly would the honours of illustrious men perish after - death, if their souls performed nothing to preserve their fame! For - my part, I could never think that the soul, which, while in a mortal - body, lives, when departed from it, dies; or that its consciousness is - lost when it is discharged out of an unconscious habitation; on the - contrary, it most truly exists when it is freed from all corporeal - alliance.” - -1981. Let this be compared with the inexcusable inattention of Moses, -taking his own narrative to be true, in communicating with God about -every thing else, almost, excepting that which concerns immortal life. -If the despicable criminality of Abraham in putting his wife at the -pleasure of two heathen kings successively, and _their repugnance_ -to have violated his connubial rights, be taken as a fit test of -comparative morality, if these sentiments of King Cyrus be compared -with those of the Jewish lawgiver as respects immortality, the chosen -people of God were much below some neighbouring heathens both in -morality and religion. - -1982. This inference will be fortified by comparing the portraiture of -the Deity as given by Moses (1140) and Samuel, (1091,) with that given -by Seneca, (1224.) - - - _The Worship of a Book, Idolatry._ - -1983. Much has been said in Scripture and by its votaries against -idolatry, but I do most seriously consider the Old Testament as a more -pernicious idol than any image or statue can be in the nature of things. - -1984. An image or statue does not speak; it suggests nothing cruel, -unjust, or indecent to the worshipper; neither do any of the objects -usually treated as idols. It must evidently be an error to accuse -idolaters of contemplating the inert image to which they kneel, as -their God. They must see that it neither does nor can do any thing. -They must perceive that, fixed in one place, the image cannot have -that ubiquity or efficacy, essential to divine power. It follows that -the object of adoration must be an invisible power associated with the -idol, which may occupy the image only when invoked. In every temple -devoted to Jupiter there might be a statue of Jupiter, and yet it -was never held that there was more than one Jupiter. From the verses -subjoined, from Pope’s translation of the Iliad, it appears that Homer -gave to Jupiter a supremacy which made the other deities bear to him no -higher relation than that which the archangels do to God, according to -Christianity: - - 1985. “Let down our golden everlasting chain, - Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and main; - Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth, - To drag by this the Thunderer down to earth. - Ye strive in vain. If I but lift this hand, - I heave the heavens, the ocean, and the land; - For such I reign, unbounded and above, - And such are men and gods compared to Jove.” - -1986. But when a book is made the word of God, which patronizes men as -belonging to a _chosen_ seed who are guilty of cruelty, robbery, fraud, -massacre in cold blood, it becomes a more active and mischievous idol -than any dumb beast, image, or statue can be. An idolater worships a -silent idol as the representative of God. The idol cannot say, “_I am -a jealous God: I wax hot in my wrath_.” - -1987. Mr. Mahan urges, that the sufferings undergone by martyrs to -Christianity is evidence of its truth, whereas, it seems to me that -it only proves the conviction of the parties, which, if displayed -by a dervise or a fakir, would be called bigotry. But if suffering -in a cause is evidence in its favour, there have been sufferers on -the other side, as well as on that which this author has undertaken -to uphold. It is but fair, if those who suffer for one side should -have their suffering held up as proof of their conscientiousness, the -same conscientiousness should be conceded to those who have suffered -for the other. The author of the pages I am about to quote, the Rev. -Robert Taylor, was, for want of a better answer to his publication, -condemned to Oakam Jail, in England, for one year. It was there he -wrote his Diagesis, copies of which may be had of Mr. Curtis, No. 34 -Arch street, as well as other books which may assist readers to form an -opinion for themselves. I shall quote some pages from this work, which, -being studied after reading Mahan’s arrogant allegations, will make -good the old saying, that “One story is good until another is told.” - - 1988. “The ordinary notion, that the four gospels were written by the - persons whose names they bear, and that they have descended to us - from original autographs of Matthew and John, immediate disciples, - and of Mark and Luke, contemporaries and companions, of Christ, in - like manner as the writings of still more early poets and historians - have descended to us from the pens of the authors to whom they are - attributed, is altogether untenable. It has been entirely surrendered - by the most able and ingenuous Christian writers, and will no longer - be maintained by any but those whose zeal outruns their knowledge, - and whose recklessness and temerity of assertion can serve only to - dishonour and betray the cause they so injudiciously seek to defend. - - 1989. “The surrender of a position which the world has for ages been - led to consider impregnable, by the admission of all that the early - objection of the learned Christian Bishop, FAUSTUS the Manichean, - implied, when he pressed Augustine with that bold challenge which - Augustine was not able to answer, that,[47] ‘It was certain that the - New Testament was not written by Christ himself, nor by his apostles, - but a long while after them, by some unknown persons, who, lest they - should not be credited when they wrote of affairs they were little - acquainted with, affixed to their works the names of apostles, or - of such as were supposed to have been their companions, asserting - that what they had written themselves was written ACCORDING TO those - persons to whom they ascribed it.’ - - 1990. “This admission has not been held to be fatal to the claims of - divine revelation, nor was it held to be so even by the learned Father - himself who so strenuously insisted on it, since he declares his own - unshaken faith in Christ’s _mystical_ crucifixion, notwithstanding. - - 1991. “Adroitly handled as the passage has been by the ingenuity of - theologians, it has been made rather to subserve the cause of the - evidences of the Christian religion than to injure it. Since, though - it be admitted that the Christian world has ‘_all along been under - a delusion_’ in this respect, and has held these writings to be of - higher authority than they really are; yet the writings themselves and - their authors are innocent of having contributed to that delusion, - and never bore _on_ them, nor _in_ them, any challenge to so high - authority as the mistaken piety of Christians has ascribed to them, - but did all along profess no more than to have been written, as - Faustus testifies, not BY, but ACCORDING to, Matthew, Mark, Luke, - and John; and by persons of whom indeed it is not known who or what - they were, nor was it of any consequence that it should be, after the - general acquiescence of the church had established the sufficient - correctness of the compilations they had made. - - 1992. “And here the _longo post tempore_ (_the great while after_) - is a favourable presumption of the sufficient opportunity that all - persons[48] had, of knowing and being satisfied that the gospels - which the church received were indeed all that they purported to be; - that is, faithful narrations of the life and doctrines of Christ - _according_ to what could be collected from the verbal accounts which - his apostles had given, or by tradition been supposed to have given, - and, as such, ‘_worthy of all acceptation_.’ - - 1993. “The objection of Faustus becomes from its own nature the most - indubitable and inexceptionable evidence, carrying us up to the very - early age, the fourth century, in which he wrote, with a demonstration - that the gospels were then universally known and received under the - precise designation, and none other, than that with which they have - come down to us, even as the gospels, respectively, _according_ to - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. - - 1994. “Of course there can be no occasion to pursue the inquiry into - the authenticity of the Christian Scriptures lower down than the - fourth century. - - 1995. “1. _Though_, in that age, there was no established canon or - authoritative declaration that such and none other than those which - have come down to us were the books which contained the Christian rule - of faith. - - 1996. “2. And though ‘no manuscript of these writings now in existence - is prior to the sixth century, and various readings which, as appears - from the quotations of the Fathers, were in the text of the Greek - Testament are to be found in none of the manuscripts which are at - present remaining.’—_Michaelis_, vol. ii. p. 160. - - 1997. “3. And though many passages which are now found in these - Scriptures were not contained in any ancient copies whatever. - - 1998. “4. And though ‘in our common editions of the Greek Testament - are MANY readings which exist not in a single manuscript, but are - founded on MERE CONJECTURE.’ —_Marsh’s Michaelis_, vol. ii. p. 496. - - 1999. “5. And though ‘it is notorious, that the orthodox charge the - heretics with corrupting the text, and that the heretics recriminate - upon the orthodox.’—_Unitarian New Version_, p. 121. - - 2000. “6. And though ‘it is an undoubted fact that the heretics were - in the right in many points of criticism where the Fathers accused - them of wilful corruption.’—_Bp. Marsh_, vol. ii. p. 362. - - 2001. “7. And though ‘it is notorious that forged writings under the - names of the apostles were in circulation almost from the apostolic - age.’—See 2 Thess. ii. 2, _quoted in Unitarian New Version_.[49] - - 2002. “8. And though, ‘not long after Christ’s ascension into heaven, - several histories of his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and - fabulous wonders, were composed by persons whose intentions, perhaps, - were not bad, but whose writings discovered the greatest superstition - and ignorance.’—_Mosheim_, vol. i. p. 109. - - 2003. “9. And though, says the great Scaliger, ‘They put into their - Scriptures whatever they thought would serve their purpose.’[50] - - 2004. “10. And though, ‘notwithstanding those twelve known infallible - and faithful judges of controversy, (the twelve apostles,) there - were as many and as _damnable_ heresies crept in, even in the - apostolic age, as in any other age, perhaps, during the same space of - time.’—_Reeve’s Preliminary Discourse to the Commonitory of Vincentius - Lirinensis_, p. 190. - - 2005. “11. And though there were in the manuscripts of the New - Testament, at the time of editing the last printed copies of the - Greek text, upward of ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND various - readings.”—_Unitarian New Version_, p. 22. - - 2006. “12. And though ‘the confusion unavoidable in these versions - (the ancient Latin, from which all our European versions are derived) - had arisen to such a height, that St. Jerome, in his Preface to the - Gospels, complains that no one copy resembled another.’—_Michaelis_, - vol. ii. p. 119. - - 2007. “13. And though the Gospels fatally contradict each other; that - is, in several important particulars, they do so to such an extent - as no ingenuity of supposition has yet been able to reconcile: after - Marsh, Michaelis, and the most learned critics, have stuck, and owned - the conquest. - - 2008. “14. And though the difference of character between the - three first Gospels and that ascribed to St. John is so flagrantly - egregious, that the most learned Christian divines and profoundest - scholars have frankly avowed that the Jesus Christ of St. John is a - wholly different character from the Jesus Christ of Matthew, Mark, and - Luke; and that their account and his should both be true is flatly - impossible.[51] - - 2009. “15. And though such was the idolatrous adulation paid to the - authority of Origen, that emendations of the text which were but - suggested by him were taken in as part of the New Testament; though he - himself acknowledged that they were supported by the authority of no - manuscript whatever.—_Marsh, in loco._ - - 2010. “16. And though, even so late as the period of the Reformation, - we have whole passages which have been thrust into the text, and - thrust out, just as it served the turn which the Protestant tricksters - had to serve. - - 2011. “17. And though we have on record the most indubitable - historical evidence of a general censure and correction of the Gospels - having been made at Constantinople, in the year 506, by order of the - Emperor Anastasius.[52] - - 2012. “18. And though we have like unquestionable historical evidence - of measureless and inappreciable alterations of the same having been - made by our own Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the avowed - purpose of _accommodating them to the faith of the orthodox_.”[53] - - - _Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon_ vs. _Mr. Mahan_. - -2013. The silence of Josephus respecting Christ induced some Christians -to concoct the pious fraud of interpolating in his history a notice of -the career and crucifixion of Christ, but subsequent Christian writers -have detected and exposed the interpolation; so that the history -alluded to, written soon after Christ’s death by the distinguished -Hebrew, contains no notice of those events; and, from the following -passage in Gibbon, it appears that it did not awaken much attention -among the Romans. Yet Mahan, assuming the opposite to be true, urges -it as evidence of the evangelical account, that the phenomena drew -universal attention. - - 2014. “How shall we excuse,” says Gibbon, “the supine inattention - of the pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were - presented by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to - their senses? This miraculous event, which ought to have excited the - wonder, the curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without - notice in an age of science and history. It happened during the - lifetime of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have experienced - the immediate effects or received the earliest intelligence of the - prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded - all the great phenomena of nature—earthquakes, meteors, comets, and - eclipses—which his indefatigable curiosity could collect; both one and - the other have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to which the - mortal eye has been witness since the creation of the globe.” (Gibbon, - vol. ii. chap. xv. p. 379.) - - - _The Worshippers of the Golden Calf more righteous than their - Assassins._ - -2015. The example is set in the Old Testament of attributing the worst -motives to every one who does not concur with the accusers in religious -opinions. I conscientiously believe that the Israelites who made the -golden calf were at least as righteous in their worship as those who -treacherously and cruelly massacred them in obedience to an order -strangely represented as sanctioned by Jehovah: “_Put every man his -sword by his side, and go in and out of the camp, and slay every man -his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; and -the children of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there -fell of the people on that day about three thousand men._” - -2016. Obviously, the only way in which those who, with Mr. Mahan, -can find any pretence for ascribing this horrible sanguinary order -to the inspiration of God, is by treating idolatry as so wicked as -to be punished, not only in the immediate transgressor, but in his -offspring to the third and fourth generation. Is it not a fairer way -of viewing this affair to infer that Moses and his partisans were -covetous, unprincipled men, who did not hesitate at _swindling_, -_lying_, _massacre_, or any measures requisite to give him and them -ascendency? Was there ever a greater analogy between the measures of -any two evil-doers than those of Mohammed and Moses, both professing -communion with God, which we now know could not have taken place, and -both pleading his commands to exercise the most horrible intolerance at -home, as well as cruel rapacity abroad? - -2017. Mohammed appears to have been more successful than Moses in -convincing his followers of his mission. There seems to have been a -great distrust of Moses, which he artfully always ascribes to the -impiety of the unbelievers; like all other religious impostors, -identifying his word with that of God. Nothing but his inability to -convince the skeptics of the divine origin of his mission could have -induced them to worship idols in opposition to his remonstrance; and -the fact that Aaron assisted them in casting the golden calf, can -only be explained by his participation in the heresy. Does not this -alleged conduct on the part of Aaron render the whole affair so absurd -as to throw doubt over the whole history? Moses, while killing the -malcontents, could hardly avoid punishing their ringleader. Moreover, -how could one who would assist in idolatrous worship, be fit to hold -the office of high-priest, into which he was soon afterward installed -with great pomp? - -2018. It is perfectly clear, to my mind, that a pagan who sincerely -worships any thing as his God, really worships God. He stands in the -same relation to his God that a debtor stands to his real creditor when -paying a forged draft. - -2019. Wicked priests have raised a cry against idolaters, as the real -thief strives, by calling after some innocent person within view, to -divert the hue and cry from himself. As an exemplification of this -species of wickedness, I quote here a speech made to the Emperor -Constantius by Julius Firmicius Maternus, (Taylor’s Diagesis, page 144:) - - 2020. (Addressing the Emperor Constantius.) “Take away, take away, - in perfect security,” exclaims this self-called Christian priest, “O - most holy emperor, take away all the ornaments of their temples. Let - the fire of the mint or the flames of the mines melt down their gods. - Seize upon all their wealthy endowments, and turn them to your own use - and property. And, O most sacred emperor, it is absolutely necessary - for you to revenge and punish this evil. You are commanded by the - law of the Most High God to persecute all sorts of idolatry with the - utmost severity; hear and commend to your own sacred understanding - what God himself commands. He commands you not to spare your son - or your brother; he bids you plunge the avenging knife even into - the heart of your wife that sleeps in your bosom; to persecute your - dearest friend with a sublime severity; and to arm your whole people - against these sacrilegious pagans, and tear them limb from limb. Yea, - even whole cities, if you should find this guilt in them, must be cut - off. O most holy emperor, God promises you the rewards of his mercy, - upon condition of your thus acting. Do, therefore, what he commands, - complete what he prescribes.” - -2021. It should be recollected that this diabolical address was made -to the Christian son and successor of Constantine. Can there be a more -shocking picture of the mischievous consequences of the example and -doctrines of Moses as respects idolaters? Certainly, Constantius was -not any better for his Christianity, when he could listen, without -indignation, to such wicked suggestions! - -2022. It is alleged that in the city of Thessalonica the Emperor -Theodosius put to death all the pagans that breathed, in obedience to -Christianized Mosaic intolerance, which in modern times was carried out -in the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day, and the Inquisition. Such -were the effects of the propagation of Christianity, with the appendage -of the Pentateuch to the swordlike attributes with which Christ endowed -himself: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not -to send peace, but a sword!” Matt. x. 34. - -2023. Shakspeare truly makes one of his characters say that whosoever -takes away the good name of another commits a more wicked theft than -one who takes a purse. But in this portrait of the effect of calumny -there is one important feature omitted, which is sometimes the most -injurious: I allude to the pain of mind created by a false accusation. -If, as I have before urged, it be wrong to hurt the flesh by a blow, is -it not wrong to hurt the soul by calumny? The sting of the fangs of the -viper, no less than the paw of the lion, may give a mortal infliction; -but no less painful may be the effect of a false human tongue. Is it -not as great a wrong to wound a man’s soul as his flesh? Yet there -never has been any hesitation on the part of sectarians to express any -painful opinion as to heretics or idolaters. The word _infidel_, so -much more deserved by themselves for their violation of the precepts -they profess, is used as a matter of course, and, coupling with an -error in worship a heinous sinfulness, the idolater is always in the -wrong. But reasonably, upon the grounds which have been advanced in the -preceding portion of this work, (1245,) idolatry may be an imputation -against the intellectual pretension, but not against the integrity, of -the worshipper; and for one I consider the propensity to the worship -of idols displayed throughout the whole of the Jewish history, and -even by Solomon the “_Wise_,” as a strong proof that there never was -sufficient evidence presented to the Jews of the divine origin of the -books of Moses, or any others represented as conveying God’s holy word. - -2024. It is not doing as we would be done by to accuse any worshipper -of bad motives, for the reasons which I have above given; and when it -is considered how unwilling people are to part with their property, -the fact that the Israelites gave their gold ornaments to enable Aaron -to cast a golden calf, shows that they sincerely believed that their -worship would be acceptable to some deity who had the best claim to -their acknowledgment. If they mistook the object, it must have been -an error of the understanding, which it would have been evidently -more reasonable to have corrected by reasoning and evidence, than by -punishment. - -2025. While such eminent men as Mahan, and the learned Goliah of my -mundane guardian spirit, will hold up this, to my mind, barbarous and -preposterous Pentateuch as the word of God, I am obliged to meet them -upon the ground thus stated; but there are other highly respectable -clergymen, who concur in questioning that the Pentateuch existed -until after the return of the Jews from their captivity; and there is -evidence, agreeably to the quotations I have made, that this alleged -work of divine inspiration, or _word of God_, as stated in the Second -Book of Chronicles, and 22d chapter of the Second Book of Kings, has -no better foundation than the word of the priest Hilkiah and his -accomplices. - -2026. The Rev. Mr. Norton, in a laborious investigation, shows that, -according to internal evidence, almost all the important facts -stated in Genesis and Exodus are inconsistent with each other or the -circumstances under which they are alleged to have happened. - -2027. Mr. Mahan conceives that the willingness of the believers in the -gospel to sacrifice their lives in testimony of the sincerity of their -conviction proves the truth of revelation. Wherefore, then, does not -their exposure to the slaughtering sword of the partisans of Moses -prove the sincerity of the Israelites in their worship of their idol? -No wise knave would do any thing so absurd. History shows that many of -those who have been most willing to make sacrifices for their belief -have been great fanatics. Their willingness to suffer only proves the -intensity of their belief, not the truth of the miracles which they -believe. - -2028. Having first assumed, contrary to the fact, that the mission -of Christ was generally accredited in the contemporaneous pagan -communities, Mr. Mahan claims this to be evidence of the facts stated -by the evangelists. - -2029. But if the belief in a mission by contemporaries is evidence in -its favour, is not the disbelief of contemporaries evidence on the -other side? Is not the fact that Moses could only expel idolatry from -the Hebrews by the sword, a proof that he was unable to convince them -by any adequate evidence of his claims to inspiration? - -2030. This surmise, respecting the inadequacy of the facts and -reasoning which Moses had to advance in favour of his pretensions -as a missionary of Jehovah, appears to be fully justified in the -history given by Josephus. From the following language, which this -distinguished Jewish historian alleges to have been held by one of the -Israelites, it is evident that Moses was then viewed as no better than -Mohammed or any of the usurping popes of Christendom. While Protestants -sanction such religious despots as Moses and Samuel, they ought not to -complain of the papal despots of Christendom, (note to 1091.) - - -_Just denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation of Moses, - by noble-minded Israelites._[54] - - 2031. “Corah, an Hebrew of great wealth and influence, and famous for - his eloquence, becoming jealous of the dignity to which Moses had - attained, raised a clamour against him among the Levites who were of - the same tribe, by suggesting to them, in an occasional harangue, - ‘That it redounded to their dishonour thus tamely to suffer Moses, - under pretence of the divine command, to retain unlimited authority, - vest the priesthood in his brother Aaron without their suffrages, - and bestow places of honour and profit at pleasure.’ He added, ‘that - these measures were the more oppressive and grievous as founded on - the arts of sophistry and insinuation; that those who are conscious - of deserving posts of dignity endeavour to obtain them not by force, - but mild persuasion; that it was the interest of a state to check - the ambition of such aspiring individuals, before they acquired an - influence that might prove destructive.’ He demanded by what authority - Moses had conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons, enforcing - his own title as superior to theirs, both by descent and property.” - -2032. In consequence of this, Moses addresses the following prayer, -which certainly is as remote from the sentiments which the precepts of -Christ would call for, as any which can be imagined: - - 2033. “Testify thy wonted kindness to the Hebrews by inflicting - condign punishment on Dathan and Abiram, for suggesting that thy - purposes are opposed by my arts. Visit these detractors from thy glory - with exemplary vengeance. Let the earth on which they tread swallow - them up, _with their families_ and substance, to the manifestation of - thy power, and as an example to posterity not to think unworthily of - the Majesty of heaven.” - -2034. Mr. Mahan urges that those who sacrificed their lives for a cause -must have had good reason for their course. What are we, then, to think -of Zimri the Hebrew, who used the following language to Moses, and -was, as well as those who concurred with him in opinion, murdered in -consequence, not after trial, but by Lynch law, as will appear from the -sequel?[55] - - 2035. “‘Moses, you are at liberty to contend for the use and - observance of your own laws, which have obtained a sanction and - authority by long custom alone, or you would have been brought to - merited disgrace and punishment, and found, to your cost, that the - Hebrews were not to be deluded by your arts. I will never subject - myself to your tyrannical decrees, assured that, under a pretext of - regard to religion and law, you seek to enslave us, and establish a - supreme authority over us, by denying us those liberties to which - all free-born men have an undoubted right. Was there a more grievous - oppression during the whole course of an Egyptian bondage than - the power you usurped of punishing every man by laws of your own - formation? You particularly deserve punishment for abrogating and - annulling those customs, laws, and privileges which are authorized - and established by the common consent of nations, and preferring - the suggestions of your fancy to rules so generally followed and - rationally founded. Conscious that I have done nothing wrong, I now - frankly declare, in this assembly, that I have married a strange - woman. This I confess with an honest boldness, and would do the same - in the face of the world. I also worship the gods whom thou hast - forbidden to be worshipped, as I do not hold myself bound to submit - to your arbitrary sway either in matters of law or religion, but - must assert the liberty of investigating the truth for myself, and - directing my own personal concerns.’ - - 2036. “Zimri, in this speech, delivered the general sentiment of the - whole faction, while the multitude silently waited the issue of his - presumptuous conduct, for they apprehended much confusion would ensue.” - -2037. But one of Moses’s partisans did not allow this noble asserter -of the rights of human nature to survive this bold stand long, as will -appear from the rest of the narrative, which thus proceeds: - - 2038. “His contumacy and flagrantly insolent behaviour to Moses - raised the resentment of one Phineas to the highest degree. He was a - youth eminent for the dignity of his family, his singular prowess, and - his personal virtues. Eleazar the high-priest being his father, he - was nearly allied to the great lawgiver. Sensible that to suffer such - indignity to pass with impunity would bring both the religion and the - laws of the Hebrews into contempt, he determined to make an example of - the ringleader of the faction, as his exalted rank would cause that - example to have a greater influence on the minds of the people. His - resolution being equal to his zeal, he repaired, without delay, to the - tent of Zimri, and at one stroke slew both him and Cobi his wife. This - resolute act excited an emulation among those of his contemporaries - who still maintained a regard for the honour of their country, to - avenge themselves on those who had done it violation; inasmuch that - they fell most furiously upon the faction, and put great numbers of - them to the sword.” - -2039. Where is the true-hearted son of Columbia who would not have been -among those who fell with Zimri, for the right of choosing his wife and -his religion according to his own judgment? - - -_Remarkable observance of the Golden Rule by Moses, in his last advice - to the Israelites._[56] - - 2040. “‘Wherefore, to avoid this danger of apostasy from the worship - of the God of your fathers, suffer not any of your enemies to live - after you have conquered them; but esteem it highly conducive to - your interest to destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live, - you become infected by their manners, and thereby corrupt your own - institutions. I do further exhort you to overthrow their altars, - temples, groves, and indeed to exterminate their nations with fire and - sword. By these means alone the permanency of your happy constitution - can be secured to you.’” - -2041. Let these sentiments of Moses be compared with those of the great -Cyrus, in which he justly adverts to the immortality of the soul. Moses -was always worldly, and, as respects the lives of neighbouring pagans, -so called, displayed no better morality than Thuggism on a great scale. - - - _Straining at Spiritual Gnats, while swallowing Scriptural Camels._ - -2042. The question is put, Wherefore can spirits cause tappings on -or tilting of tables, only when a medium is present? To those who -believe in the Old Testament as the word of God, it may be in point to -inquire, Wherefore the mere elevation of the hands of Moses, on a hill -remote from the field of battle, enabled the Israelites to overcome -their enemies, when the opposite result ensued when the hands of the -veracious prophet were lowered, as agreeably to verses 11 and 12, -chapter xvii. of Exodus? - - 2043. “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel - prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But - Moses’s hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, - and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one - on the one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were - steady until the going down of the sun.” - -2044. It follows from the verses in question that the skill, strength, -or courage of every Jewish combatant varied with the elevation or -depression of the arms of Moses above or below a mean horizontal plane. - -2045. Surely, the peculiar influences thus exercised by the author of -the Pentateuch is at least as incredible as that by which the presence -of a medium enables spirits to move ponderable bodies, when otherwise -they could not move them. The influence ascribed to Moses is alleged to -have been witnessed only on one occasion, whereas that attributed to -media has been seen in a multiplicity of instances by living witnesses -of good character, who will attest to the facts, as well as the media -themselves. - -2046. But, independently of the incredibility of this Mosaic miracle -as an isolated fact discordant with the laws of nature and human -experience, is it not incredible on account of its inconsistency with -the just and humane idea of God which the truly pious entertain, -that he should give this assistance to the Jews in their unchristian -warfare? This reasoning is at least as applicable to the alleged -arrestation of the sun, (involving that of the rotary motion of the -earth,) in order that Joshua might make a further slaughter of the -vanquished Canaanites. For this slaughter the prominent excuse seems -to have been that Moses, wishing to possess the territory of the -Canaanites, professed to have the authority of God for extirpating them -as idolaters, agreeably to the following language, which is represented -by Mr. Mahan and others as the word of God, (Deut. viii. 16, 20, 22:) - - 2047. “And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God - shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither - shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. - Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until - they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. And - the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and - little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the - field increase upon thee.” - - - _The Evidence which is insufficient to establish the Iniquity of a - Sinner cannot be sufficient to establish the Divine Authority of a - Book._ - - 2048. “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity - or any sin: at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall - the matter be established,” (Deut. xix. 15.) - -2049. Agreeably to the preceding quotation from Scripture, one witness -is not sufficient to convict a man of any iniquity. Two witnesses, -at least, are necessary to establish guilt. But if a single witness -be insufficient to establish the iniquity of a man, how is it to be -established, on the evidence of the priest Hilkiah alone, that the -manuscript, which, as he represented, he had found in the temple, was -the inspired code of Moses, or, as Mahan and others would have it, the -word of God? - -2050. Should the righteousness of a religious code be established by -evidence insufficient to establish the iniquity of an individual? -_A fortiori_, when, by proving the righteousness of a code, a whole -generation was to be convicted of iniquity, was the evidence of one -individual sufficient, especially when the iniquity thus to be adjudged -was to draw down the unquenchable wrath of God, agreeably to Huldah the -prophetess? - - -_Word of God, impiously so called, or the Golden Rule inverted by God’s - alleged Commands._ - - 2051. “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then - proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of - peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that - is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall - serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make - war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy - God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male - thereof with the edge of the sword: but the women, and the little - ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil - thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself: and thou shalt eat the spoil of - thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou - do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are - not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people - which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt - save alive nothing that breatheth: but thou shalt utterly destroy - them, namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the - Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath - commanded thee,” (Deut. xx. 10-17.) - - - PAGAN FEARLESSNESS OF DEATH. - - - _Opinion of Mr. Huc, a Christian Priest, that it is their religion -which makes Christians more fearful of death than the Chinese_, (746.) - -2052. PARSON BERG and Bishop McIlvaine unjustly represent the doctrines -of futurity, held by Christians, as causing those who believe in -eternal punishment—in the horrible hell described by Josephus, and -sanctioned by the gospel, with the precarious notions of heaven -derived from the same authority—to have less fear of death than -deists, by them called _infidels_. But I have known many deists die, -and certainly I have never seen any believer in Christianity meet -death with more firmness than those who did not believe. Some of the -last-mentioned class have died of painful complaints with the most -admirable equanimity. But to illustrate the injustice of these reverend -gentlemen in their undue assumption of the superior fearlessness of -death of those persons who believe in the gospel over those who do not -so believe, I will here quote a passage from the travels of a Christian -missionary, which describes the equanimity with which the Chinese meet -death. From the work of the French missionary, Mr. Huc, it will be seen -that _death_ is contemplated with far less fearful apprehension in -China than in Christendom. - - - _Observations of the Missionary, Mr. Huc, to whom reference has just - been made._ - - 2053. “In no other country than China, perhaps, could men be heard - exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin. People (in - Christendom) are most shy of mentioning the lugubrious objects - destined to contain the mortal remains of a relation or friend; and - when death does enter the house, the coffin is got in in secresy and - silence, in order to spare the feelings of the mourning family. But - it is quite otherwise in China; there a coffin is simply an article - of the first necessity to the dead, and of luxury and fancy to the - living. In the great towns you see them displayed in the shops with - all sorts of tasteful decorations, painted, and varnished, and - polished, and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers, and give - them the fancy to buy themselves one. - - 2054. “People in easy circumstances, who have money to spare for - their pleasures, scarcely ever fail to provide themselves beforehand - with a coffin to suit their own taste, and which they consider - becoming; and, until the moment arrives for lying down in it, it is - kept in the house; not as an article of immediate necessity, but as - one that cannot fail to be consoling and pleasant to the eye in a - nicely-furnished apartment. - - 2055. “For well-brought up children, it is a favourite method of - expressing the fervour of their filial piety toward the authors of - their being, a sweet and tender consolation for the heart of a son, - to be able to purchase a beautiful coffin for an aged father or - mother, and come in state to present the gift at the moment when they - least expect such an agreeable surprise. If one is not sufficiently - favoured by fortune to be able to afford the purchase of a coffin in - advance, care is always taken before ‘_saluting the world_,’ as the - Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfaction of - casting a glance at his last abode; and if he is surrounded by at all - affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin and place - it by the side of his bed. - - 2056. “In the country, this is not always so easy, for coffins are - not kept quite ready, and, besides, peasants have not such luxurious - habits as townspeople. The only way, then, is to send for the - carpenter of the place, who takes the measure of the sick person, not - forgetting to observe to him that it must be made a little longer than - would seem necessary, because one always stretches out a little when - dead. A bargain is then made concerning the length and breadth, and - especially the cost; wood is brought, and the workmen set about their - task in the yard, close to the chamber of the dying person, who is - entertained with the music of the saw and the other tools, while death - is at work with him, preparing him to occupy the snug abode when it is - ready. - - 2057. “All this is done with the most perfect coolness, and without - the slightest emotion, real or affected. We have ourselves witnessed - such scenes more than once, and it has always been one of the things - that most surprised us in the manners of this extraordinary country. - A short time after our arrival in the mission of the north, we were - walking one day in the country with a Chinese seminarist, who had the - patience to reply to all our long and tedious questions about the - men and things of the Celestial Empire. While we were keeping up the - dialogue as well as we could, in a mixture of Latin and Chinese, using - a word of one or the other as we found occasion, we saw coming toward - us a rather numerous crowd, who advanced in an orderly manner along a - narrow path. It might have been called a procession. - - 2058. “Our first impulse was to turn aside, and get into some safe - corner behind a large hill; for, not having as yet much experience - in the manners and customs of the Chinese, we had some hesitation in - producing ourselves, for fear of being recognised and thrown into - prison; possibly even condemned and strangled. The crowd had now come - up with us, and we stood aside to let it pass. It was composed of a - great number of villagers, who looked at us with smiling faces, and - had the appearance of being uncommonly pleased. After them came a - litter, on which was borne an empty coffin, and then another litter, - upon which lay extended a dying man, wrapped in blankets. His face was - haggard and livid, and his expiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin - that preceded him. When every one had passed, we hastened to ask the - meaning of this strange procession. ‘It is some sick man,’ said the - seminarist, ‘who has been taken ill in a neighbouring village, and - whom they are bringing home to his family. The Chinese do not like to - die away from their own house.’ ‘That is very natural; but what is - the coffin for?’ ‘For the sick man, who probably has not many days to - live. They seem to have made every thing ready for his funeral.’ I - remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen. ‘That, they - mean to use for the mourning.’ - - 2059. “These words threw us in the most profound astonishment, and we - saw then that we had come into a new world—into the midst of a people - whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans. - These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral of a still - living friend and relation—this coffin placed purposely under the - eyes of the dying man, doubtless with the purpose of doing what was - agreeable to him; all this plunged us into a strange reverie, and the - walk was continued in silence. The astonishing calmness with which the - Chinese see the approach of death does not fail when the last moment - arrives. They expire with the most incomparable tranquillity, without - any of the emotions, the agitations, the agonies that usually render - the moment of death so terrific.” - -2060. It is remarkable that Mr. Huc cites an “_entire want of -religious feeling, as among the causes of this indifference to -death_.”[57] But it may be inquired whether that can be a proper kind -of religious feeling which interferes with equanimity at the prospect -of our spiritual birth. I can easily believe Mr. Huc to be correct, if -his entire want of religious feeling means the absence of all fear of -an eternal broiling, like that of Dives. - -2061. It is the absence of that _sort_ of religion which this -_sectarian would teach_; that which consigns the great majority of -mankind to perpetual misery on account of their disbelief in Romanism. - -2062. Widely different is the effect of the religion I have espoused. -It has made a prodigious change in my feelings. I look forward to death -with hope, rather than fear. (See page 32 (108) of this work for the -different effect of Romanism on my mind.) - - - _Conclusion of Strictures on Mr. Mahan’s Religious Errors._ - -2063. It will be observed that under the general head of Mr. Mahan’s -errors, I have treated of not only those which he has advocated, but -such as he sanctions by his general endorsement of Scripture. However, -I here take my leave of Mr. Mahan and his errors. - - - - - CONCLUSION. - - -2064. In a work by the English bishop Warburton, is to be found the -following allegation: - - “The doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments is not to - be found in, nor did it make part of, the Mosaic dispensation.” - - - _The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of belief - in human immortality, as will appear by the prefixed quotation, as - well as the inability of any of its devotees to point out any part - which conflicts with the right reverend author’s opinion, above - mentioned.—Injustice of representing disbelievers in the Bible as not - having as good grounds for belief in immortality as those who rest - their belief on a work which, by its silence, tends to discountenance - the hope of a future life.—Those who uphold the Bible against - Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the only satisfactory evidence - ever given to man of a future habitation in the spirit world._ - -2065. Religious people all very justly insist on the immense importance -of a belief in a future state of existence, in which we are to enjoy a -degree of happiness in proportion to our good conduct in this life, or -of misery in proportion as we do evil. - -2066. Throughout Christendom I believe such a belief is necessary to -render a person competent as a witness, or to hold any office. As it -is assumed generally by Christians that there is no other proof of -immortality than that alleged to be afforded by Scripture, unbelievers -in Scripture are assumed to be unbelievers in a future state, and -the most unfavourable insinuations are made respecting such persons, -(1310.) Bishop McIlvaine, in his “Evidences,” has _charitably_ -represented that, as a class, such men are peculiarly vicious, and in -their domestic relations immoral; _not recollecting how far Christian -prelates have been found wanting in the present, as well as in past -times_. But notwithstanding that the disbelief in a future state is -held to be so universally pernicious in its influence, self-called -orthodox Christians deem it impious not to bow before the Bible as -the holy word of God, or to be wanting in respect for his inspired -missionary, Moses. But admitting that the books found by Hilkiah (1940) -were written, under divine inspiration, by Moses, how does it happen -that those books and their author stand in such high estimation, -_when they actually give no evidence of immortality, but rather tend -to prove that God, in communicating his will to Moses, thought it -more important to give to the Jews directions for the decoration of a -tabernacle, than to impart to them the invaluable knowledge of their -eternal existence? Moreover, God is represented as holding in especial -favour, those who did not think it of as much importance to inquire -into the truth of immortality, as to obtain decorations for pharisaical -worship._ Why is Moses, _a materialist_, to be venerated, who so -grossly trifled with his opportunities? There is either a flagitious -misrepresentation, or he, of all men, had the best opportunity of -learning this _all-important_ truth; and therefore, dying ignorant of -it, is proportionally more culpable. Wherefore is the uncandid and -unfounded pretence resorted to, that attacking the Old Testament is -attacking the basis of the hope of heaven, when, on the contrary, that -record has really the opposite tendency—that of enfeebling the evidence -of immortality? - -2067. We see the _heathen_ Cyrus, on his death-bed, (1980,) striving -to impress upon his children a belief in immortality, while Moses, -dying a worldly-minded, blood-thirsty materialist, employs his last -moments in giving _inhuman_ directions for the _merciless massacre_ of -every conquered pagan. Yet, while Bishop McIlvaine, as respects his -contemporaries, represents materialism as irreconcilable with virtue, -Moses is to be venerated and the books attributed to his authorship -idolatrously worshipped as the word of God! But if the advocacy of any -thing which tends to lessen the hope of immortality be culpable, is -it not culpable, against the truths of Spiritualism to hold up a book -which authorizes disbelief in immortality, and that, too, upon such -questionable authority as an obscure priest and fanatical and barbarous -autocrat? (1937.) As respects the gospel, it has, I hope, been shown -that, with all the exertions of the good parson Harbaugh to exhibit -the heaven of Scripture in its most favorable aspect, (777 to 805,) -Spiritualism has immensely the advantage in the description given of -the spirit world, (409 to 469,) sanctioned by the replies given to my -queries under test conditions, (552). - -2068. Another ground of pre-eminence is the perfect immunity from any -association with such a priesthood as that described by the Right Rev. -Bishop Hopkins. Media, replacing the priests, will owe their office to -nature, not to any aristocracy, monarch, or theocrat, (1307). - -2069. Private disinterested Media will always outnumber and control any -of the same class who may attempt to acquire unfair ascendancy, even -if, in the nature of the case, it were possible that such a wrong could -be contemplated. - -2070. I trust I have shown that the actual morals of Christendom are -irreconcilable with the precepts of the gospel, which denounce wealth -and enjoin submission to wrong, these morals being also inconsistent -with the materialism of the books of Moses. Under these circumstances, -let the reader turn to the evidence which has converted me from a -prepossessed skeptic to a devout believer in spiritual communication. -Let that glorious portraiture of the spirit-world be considered which -has been opened to the view of mortals through the high spirits who -have accredited me as one of their servants. I will not go over the -evidence, nor recapitulate the arguments which I have already so fully -urged upon the attention of my readers. I implore them to read with -candour, and think earnestly of the facts and reasoning submitted in -this volume. - - - _P. S.—Explanation respecting Jesus Christ._ - - My spirit sister alleges that Christ never uttered the language - recorded as his, and upon which I have commented. This being admitted, - I wish that nothing which I have said may be considered as bearing - personally on a Being who is so much the object of devotion with - many of my dearest connections, relations, and friends. I wish that - it should be considered that it is only upon the doctrines imputed - to Christ, that I have intended to animadvert, not on Jesus himself. - Surely I am justified as treating that language as coming from Jesus - Christ, which is ascribed to him in the only history of his teachings - which has come down to us, and which, under the name of the holy - canonical gospel, is considered by more than three-fourths of all the - Christians in existence as inspired by God! - - - - - APPENDIX. - - -Under this head I place some articles which could not be embodied -in this work; but which it may nevertheless be expedient to place -within the reach of certain readers. Among the articles referred to -is the theory of electricity, which I first published in 1848, and -which has been approved by the spirit of Franklin, and, in obedience -to his advice, inserted in this volume. Unfortunately, there are but -few persons sufficiently acquainted with the phenomena which form its -basis, and the technical language employed by professed electricians, -to find it agreeable to study the subject in question; but they may -qualify themselves to do so by studying the elementary works on this -branch of science. - - - LETTER TO THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY. - -Although the subjoined letter has been published in various channels, -as well as in a separate pamphlet, I deem it proper to record it in -this work, as, otherwise, many who may see the one might not see the -other. It will be perceived that the substance of my second letter has -been already incorporated in the preceding pages, (714 to 776.) Of -course it is to the first letter that I now allude, and which I intend -to record here. - - _Letter from Dr. Hare to the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal - Church, offering to lay before them the New Evidence of Immortality._ - (_Submitted to the late Convention, Philadelphia, May 15, 1855._) - - REVEREND AND DEAR SIRS: Having, from my youth, been on friendly terms - with the clergy of the Episcopal Church, within the pale of which I - was born and christened; having, in fact, had among the clergy of that - church some excellent friends and relatives,—it has been a source of - regret that I have not been able to see doctrines deeply affecting - the happiness of mankind in the same light. I am, however, fully - sensible of the kindness and courtesy with which I have been treated - by clergymen in general, and especially by those of the church above - designated. I have always been under the belief that in no part of the - globe, nor at any period of human history, has a priesthood existed - as moral, as sincere, and truly pious as those of my country; and - among that priesthood, I believe, none have stood higher in these - qualifications than such as are of the Episcopal Church. - - It is happy for me that of late I have, in one respect, found myself - more in accordance with the Christian clergy: I allude here to the - awakening of perfect confidence in the immortality of the soul. - There was on this subject, heretofore, this difference between my - sentiments and those of my clerical friends, that while I hoped for - a future state, I was no less skeptical respecting the evidence of - witnesses who lived some thousand years ago than of those who have, - in modern times, alleged themselves to have witnessed supernatural - manifestations. I required in the former case, no less than in the - latter, intuitive proof; or the consistent testimony of independent - observers having sufficient sense, knowledge, and integrity to make - reliable witnesses. - - Happily, in the case of Spiritualism, both of these tests have been - afforded to me, so that I now believe in a future state no less firmly - than the orthodox Christian. - - Like St. Paul, in the case of Christianity, I entered upon the - investigation of Spiritualism with a view to refutation; but the very - instruments which I contrived to accomplish that object produced the - opposite effect. - - If human testimony is not to be taken when advanced by contemporaries - known to be conscientious, truthful, and well informed, how is it to - be relied on with respect to those of whom we know nothing available - beside what their own writings mention? - - I am prepared to submit a communication respecting the spirit world - from my father, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits, whose - approbation was manifested by means which no mortal could pervert. - - The practical influence on my mind has been to make me far more - happy, to remove all fear of death, and to render me more watchful as - to my deportment in life. I know that my sainted parents, and other - relatives and friends, my children who died in infancy, are around me, - witnessing every act and exercising a limited power over my safety and - my health. - - Mourning for the dead now seems to be groundless, and at all events - can be indulged only upon selfish considerations. But who would grieve - deeply at a transient separation, even for years, from friends made - happier by the change, when sure of a happy reunion ultimately? - - No evidence of any important truth in science can be shown to be more - unexceptionable than that which I have received of this glorious fact, - that heaven is really “at hand,” and that our relatives, friends, and - acquaintances who are worthy of happiness, while describing themselves - as ineffably happy, are still progressing to higher felicity; and - while hovering aloft in our midst, are taking interest in our welfare - with an augmented zeal or affection, so that, by these means, they may - be a solace to us, in despite of death. - - As the reverend clergy of the Episcopal Church are about to meet in - Philadelphia, I deem it my duty to afford them an opportunity of - hearing the evidence on which I rely; and which, with _due effort_, - they can have subjected to their own intuition. - - Should the clergy deem it expedient to listen to my exposition, I - shall be ready to answer any queries which may be made. - - I am aware that there may be considerations which may justify the - clergy in declining to hear me. I have never, in my own case, deemed - it wise to seek abstract right at the expense of practical evil. I - would not urge persons in certain official stations to become converts - to Spiritualism, lest it should, by consequent unpopularity, interfere - with their usefulness, as in the case of Judge Edmonds; and a like - objection must arise as to the conversion of clergymen, so far as - to bring their convictions in competition with their professional - vocation. Orthodox Christians are generally educated to believe not - only that the revelation on which they rely is true, but that no - other can be justifiable. Hence they are evidently displeased that - spiritualists should allege themselves to have come by other means - to that belief in immortality which is admitted on all sides to be - the greatest comfort under the afflictions to which temporal life is - liable. - - There is, moreover, this discordancy in doctrine: Agreeably to - Scripture, man is placed here for probation, and is liable to - be _eternally_ punished if he prove delinquent. According to - Spiritualism, man is placed here for progression, and when he goes to - the next world, still will have the opportunity to progress, however - wicked he may be when he departs this life. - - It is conceived by spiritualists that if, as the orthodox allege, - God be omnipotent, he can make his creatures to suit his will; if he - be omniscient, he must know what they are when made; and if he be - prescient, he can foresee what they will be, and consequently cannot - have the smallest conceivable motive for exposing them to probation. - - I foresee that it may not be deemed expedient to take any notice of - this letter; but whatever may be the result in this way, does not - interfere with the propriety of my putting it in your power to avail - yourselves of my offer; since I have a sanction from a higher source, - the spirit of the immortal Washington, the proofs of whose communion - with me I am prepared to submit to any respectable inquirers. - - I am aware that this language would, a few years ago, have made - me attach the idea of insanity to the author; but this cannot, - nevertheless, in the slightest degree, be deducible from it now, from - the notorious fact that the same monomania is never entertained by any - two persons, and in _my hallucination_, if it _be such_, there are a - multitude of participators. That is to say, there are a multitude of - persons of every grade who believe that they have communicated with - their spirit friends, as I have with mine; and who, like me, have - believed themselves to have held communion with the spirits of some of - the most distinguished men who have departed this life. A faith in the - miracles of the New Testament may as well be adduced as insanity as - belief in spiritual manifestations under these circumstances. - - The fact that manifestations have been made and truthfully described - has been admitted by the Catholic Church, but are ascribed to Satanic - agency. - - Let the doctrines of Spiritualism, and those of the church in - question, be compared, in order to determine which owes most to Satan. - - The existence of a devil being admitted, was there ever a more fertile - source of diabolical intolerance than the idea that a peculiar belief - being necessary to save men’s souls from hell fire, any temporal evil - to which mortals might be subjected to coerce belief, would be as - justifiable as the forcible extirpation of an incipient cancer from - the body of a child unwilling to submit to the operation? If ever - there was a devil’s agency, it may be seen in the auto-da-fé, the - Inquisition, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day. - - Of the same devilish character was the execution of Servetus by - Calvin, or the persecution of the Quakers and witches by the Puritans. - - Respectfully, your well-wisher, ROBERT HARE. - - - A LETTER FROM DR. HARE. - -_Addressed to the President of the Association for the Advancement of -Science, at their meeting, August 18, 1855._ - - - PRELIMINARY REMARKS. - -Having addressed the subjoined letter to the American Association for -the Advancement of Science, the standing committee resolved that the -subject did not fall sufficiently within the objects of the Association -to allow even of its being read to the meeting. In the instance of my -letter to the Episcopal clergy, it was stated that its acknowledgment -by them was not expected; and after this impression was verified, I -admitted that, in their not replying, the interest of the church was -best consulted. In the present case I admit that the harmony of the -Association was perhaps best consulted in not recognising that the -objects of the Association involved the duty of allowing certain facts -to be stated before it, which are at war with the received doctrines of -science, no less than with those of revelation. - -During the Dark Ages, the so-called word of God (but really the words -of ignorant propagandists) had taken such hold of the proper domain of -science, that it was heresy to assert the rotundity of this planet, -or that the sun did not revolve about it diurnally. But at this time -science has established itself upon the domain claimed for religious -truth, so that between the positive science of the atheist Comte and -the dogmatic opinions of the orthodox savan, there is no room for the -germ of Spiritualism to shoot up. - -It seems to me that, in due courtesy and liberality, the standing -committee might have had my letter read to the meeting, and have let -the members judge whether it should be acknowledged. But I place it -on record in this volume, and leave the propriety of their having -neglected to acknowledge it to be estimated hereafter in this world, as -it has already been in the world of spirits, as respects its influence -on the estimation of the parties. - -I am aware, however, that every man in society is more or less a -_peon_, and that there is no small analogy between the situation of -many holding worldly pre-eminence and that of the poor apothecary -of Shakspeare. Conscience and reason are ever under the control of -expediency. Those who live in society must be governed by the hearts -and heads of others as well as their own: unless they are quite sure -that the cause of truth will suffer by their silence, they should not -speak to give others umbrage. I always considered it my duty not to do -any thing which would injure the institution of which I was a member -for nearly thirty years. Doubtless, the sachems of the Association did -what they thought best, as probably I should have done, had I been -situated as they were, and holding their opinions. - -In the letter as actually sent to the Association, I introduced the -arguments founded on Dr. Bell’s observations, (111, 287, 864,) also the -facts and reasoning submitted in the Supplemental Preface. I shall, of -course, leave the reader to recur to those passages, and introduce here -only the other portions of my letter: - - TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: - - _Dear Sir_: Being engaged in putting a work to press, I am sorry to - be unable to be present at the meeting of the Association on the 15th - inst. - - When I was at the last meeting, I stated an experiment made with the - greatest care and precision, which proved the existence of a power - independent of any possible or conceivable mortal agency; and I had - on that occasion an opportunity of experiencing the fate of the Dutch - ambassador who first made the king of Ava acquainted with the fact - that bodies of water can be frozen so as to enable people to walk on - a solidified aqueous surface. It was a disease of the mind in either - case. - - But let no one apply to his soul the self-complacent unction that - it was my hallucination, not bigoted ignorance, that originated - that diagnosis. Since that time, the fact of movements being made - intelligibly, without any perceptible or assignable mortal aid, - has been verified hundreds of times by others; while under my own - intuition it has been reiterated many times, the experiment which I - adduced having been repeated with every imaginable precaution and - instructive variation. * * * * * - - About two years have elapsed, since I erroneously sanctioned - Farraday’s explanation of the manifestations, in ascribing them to - involuntary muscular action. This arose from my being, no less than - that philosopher, so utterly incredulous and intolerant of any idea of - spiritual agency in any of the phenomena of nature, excepting those - which I ascribed to God, that I did not take the possible agency of - spirits into view; but having been obliged to admit the facts conceded - by Dr. Bell, (287,) and having received interesting and intellectual - communications of which he has not been informed, I cannot, with - him, stop half-way: nor could he, were he to have the interesting - communications with his spirit friends which I have had with mine. - - There has been a time when religion repressed science; and it - would seem that at the present era science is to revenge itself by - repressing religious truth, by sanctioning indirectly the alleged - manifestations of antiquity, while deriding those of the present - time; believing on miracles told by no one knows who, yet denying the - allegations of eye-witnesses known to be truthful; while straining at - spiritual gnats, swallowing scriptural camels. - - With high esteem, your well-wisher, - ROBERT HARE. - - - FARRADAY’S SPECULATION. - - -_Speculation touching Electric Conduction and the nature of Matter. By -Farraday._ - -Having expressed my objections to Farraday’s inferences respecting -matter, &c., I feel that justice requires that I should submit the -article which drew forth my strictures. At this time, when electricity -and matter are scrutinized with a view to understand the analogous, but -different, entities of the spirit world, the ideas of an experimental -investigator so eminently successful, must be of interest to readers: - - Light and electricity are two great and searching investigators of - the molecular structure of bodies, and it was, while considering - the probable nature of conduction and insulation in bodies not - decomposable by the electricity to which they were subject, and the - relation of electricity to space contemplated as void of that which, - by the anatomist, is called matter, that considerations, something - like those which follow, were presented to my mind. - - If the view of the constitution of matter, already referred to, be - assumed to be correct, and I may be allowed to speak of the particles - of matter and of the space between them (in water, or in the vapour - of water, for instance) as two different things, then space must be - taken as the only continuous part, for the particles are considered as - separated by space from each other. Space will permeate all masses of - matter in every direction like a net, except that, in place of meshes, - it will form cells, isolating each atom from its neighbours, and - itself only being continuous. - - Then take the case of a piece of shellac, a non-conductor, and it - would appear at once, from such a view of its constitution, that - space is an insulator, for if it were a conductor, the shellac could - not insulate, whatever might be the relation as to conducting power - of its material atoms; the space would be like a fine metallic web - penetrating it in every direction, just as we may imagine of a heap - of siliceous sand having all its pores filled with water, or as we - may consider of a stick of black wax, which, though it contains an - infinity of particles of conducting charcoal diffused through every - part of it, cannot conduct, because a non-conducting body (a resin) - intervenes and separates them one from another like the supposed space - in the lac. - - Next take the case of a metal, platinum or potassium, constituted, - according to the atomic theory, in the same manner. The metal is a - conductor; but how can this be, except space be a conductor, for it - is the only continuous part of the metal, and the atoms not only do - not touch, (by the theory,) but, as we shall see presently, must be - assumed to be a considerable way apart. Space, therefore, must be a - conductor, or else the metals could not conduct, but would be in the - situation of the black sealing-wax referred to a little while ago. - - But if space be a conductor, how then can shellac, sulphur, &c. - insulate? for space permeates them in every direction. Or, if space be - an insulator, how can a metal or other similar body conduct? - - It would seem, therefore, that in accepting the ordinary atomic - theory, space may be proved to be a non-conductor in non-conducting - bodies, and a conductor in conducting bodies; but the reasoning - ends in this, a subversion of that theory altogether, for if space - be an insulator, it cannot exist in conducting bodies, and if it be - a conductor, it cannot exist in insulating bodies. Any ground of - reasoning which tends to such conclusions must in itself be false. - - In connection with such conclusions, we may consider shortly what - are the probabilities that present themselves to the mind, if the - extension of the atomic theory which chemists have imagined be applied - in conjunction with the conducting powers of metals. If the specific - gravity of the metals be divided by the atomic numbers, it gives - us the number of atoms, upon the hypothesis, in equal bulks of the - metals. In the following table the first column of figures expresses - nearly the numbers of atoms in, and the second column of figures the - conducting power of, equal volumes of the metals named: - - Atoms. Conducting power. - 1·00 gold 6·00 - 1·00 silver 4·66 - 1·12 lead 0·52 - 1·30 tin 1·00 - 2·20 platinum 1·04 - 2·27 zinc 1·80 - 2·87 copper 6·33 - 2·90 iron 1·00 - - So here iron, which contains the greatest number of atoms in a given - bulk, is the worst conductor excepting one. Gold, which contains the - fewest, is nearly the best conductor; not that these conditions are in - inverse proportions, for copper, which contains nearly as many atoms - as iron, conducts better still than gold, and with above six times the - power of iron. Lead, which contains more atoms than gold, has only - about one-twelfth of its conducting power; lead, which is much heavier - than tin and much lighter than platina, has only half the conducting - power of either of these metals. And all this happens among substances - which we are bound to consider at present as elementary or simple. - Whichever way we consider the particles of matter and the space - between them, and examine the assumed constitution of matter by this - table, the results are full of perplexity. - - Now let us take the case of potassium, a compact metallic substance - with excellent conducting powers—its oxide or hydrate a non-conductor; - it will supply us with some facts having very important bearings on - the assumed atomic construction of matter. - - When potassium is oxidized, an atom of it combines with an atom of - oxygen to form an atom of potassa, and an atom of potassa combines - with an atom of water, consisting of two atoms of oxygen and hydrogen, - to form an atom of hydrate of potassa, so that an atom of hydrate - of potassa contains four elementary atoms. The specific gravity of - potassium is 0·865, and its atomic weight 40·; the specific gravity - of cast hydrate of potassa, in such a state of purity as I could - obtain it, I found to be nearly 2; its atomic weight, 57. From these, - which may be taken as facts, the following strange conclusions flow: - A piece of potassium contains less potassium than an equal piece of - the potash formed by it and oxygen. We may cast into potassium oxygen, - atom for atom, and then again both oxygen and hydrogen in a twofold - number of atoms, and with all these additions the matter shall become - less and less, until it is not two-thirds of its original volume. If - a given bulk of potassium contains 45 atoms, the same bulk of hydrate - of potassa contains 70 atoms nearly _of the metal potassium_, and, - besides that, 210 atoms more of oxygen and hydrogen. In dealing with - assumptions, I must assume a little more for the sake of making any - kind of statement; let me therefore assume that in the hydrate of - potassa the atoms are all of one size and nearly touching each other, - and that in a cubic inch of that substance there are 2800 elementary - atoms of potassium, oxygen, and hydrogen; take 2100 atoms of oxygen - and hydrogen, and the 700 atoms of potassium remaining will swell - into more than a cubic inch and a half; and if we diminish the number - until only those containable in a cubic inch remain, we shall have - 430, or thereabout. So a space which can contain 2800 atoms, and - among them 700 of potassium itself, is found to be entirely filled by - 430 atoms of potassium, as they exist in the ordinary state of that - metal. Surely, then, under the suppositions of the atomic theory, the - atoms of potassium must be very far apart in the metal, _i. e._ there - must be much more of space than of matter in that body; yet it is an - excellent conductor; and so space must be a conductor, but then what - becomes of shellac, sulphur, and all the insulators? for space must - also, by the theory, exist in them. - - Again, the volume which will contain 430 atoms of potassium, and - nothing else while in the state of metal, will, when that potassium - is converted into nitre, contain very nearly the same number of atoms - of potassium, _i. e._ 416, and also then seven times as many, or 2912 - atoms, of nitrogen and oxygen beside. In carbonate of potassa, the - space which will contain only the 430 atoms of potassium as metal, - being entirely filled by it, will, after the conversion, contain - 256 atoms more of potassium, making 686 atoms of that metal, and in - addition 2744 atoms of oxygen and carbon. - - These and similar considerations might be extended through compounds - of sodium and other bodies, with results equally striking, and indeed - more so, when the relations of one substance, as oxygen and sulphur, - with different bodies are brought into comparison. - - I am not ignorant that the mind is most powerfully drawn by the - phenomena of crystallization, chemistry, and physics generally to the - acknowledgment of centres of force. I feel myself constrained, for the - present, hypothetically to admit them, and cannot do without them; but - I feel great difficulty in the conception of atoms of matter which in - solids, fluids, and vapours are supposed to be more or less apart from - each other, with intervening space not occupied by atoms, and perceive - great contradictions in the conclusions which flow from such a view. - - If we must assume at all, as indeed in a branch of knowledge like - the present we can hardly help it, then the safest course appears to - be to assume as little as possible; and in that respect the atoms of - Boscovich appear to me to have a great advantage over the more usual - notion. His atoms, if I understand aright, are mere centres of forces - or powers, not particles of matter in which the powers themselves - reside. If in the ordinary view of atoms, we call the particle of - matter away from the powers _a_, and the system of powers or forces in - and around it _m_, then in Boscovich’s theory _a_ disappears, and is - a mere mathematical point, while in the usual notion it is a little, - unchangeable, impenetrable piece of matter, and _m_ is an atmosphere - of force grouped around it. - - In many of the hypothetical uses made of atoms, as in crystallography, - chemistry, magnetism, &c., this difference in the assumption makes - little or no alteration in the results; but in other cases, as of - electric conductors, the nature of light, the manner in which bodies - combine to produce compounds, the effect of forces, as heat or - electricity, upon matter, the difference will be very great. - - Thus, referring back to potassium, in which as a metal the atoms must, - as we have seen, be, according to the usual view, very far apart - from each other, how can we for a moment imagine that its conducting - property belongs to it any otherwise than as a consequence of the - properties of the space, or, as I have called it above, the _m_? - So also its other properties in regard to light, or magnetism, or - solidity, or hardness, or specific gravity, must belong to it, in - consequence of the properties or forces of the _m_, not those of the - _a_, which, without the forces, is conceived of as having no powers. - But then, surely, the _m_ is the _matter_ of the potassium, for - where is there the least ground (except in a gratuitous assumption) - for imagining a difference in kind between the nature of that space - midway between the centres of two contiguous atoms, and any other spot - between these centres? A difference in degree or even in the nature - of the power consistent with the laws of continuity I can admit, but - the difference between a supposed little hard particle and the powers - around it, I cannot imagine. - - To my mind, therefore, the _a_ or nucleus vanishes, and the substance - consist of the powers or _m_; and indeed what notion can we form - of the nucleus independent of its powers? All our perception and - knowledge of the atom, and even our fancy, is limited to ideas of its - powers; what thought remains on which to hang the imagination of an - _a_ independent of the acknowledged forces? As mind just entering on - the subject may consider it difficult to think of the powers of matter - independent of a separate something to be called _the matter_, but it - is certainly far more difficult, and indeed impossible to think of or - imagine that _matter_ independent of the powers. Now, the powers we - know and recognise in every phenomena of the creation, the abstract - matter in one; why, then, assume the existence of that of which we - are ignorant, which we cannot conceive, and for which there is no - philosophical necessity? - - Before concluding these speculations, I will refer to a few of the - important differences between the assumption of atoms consisting - merely of centres of force like those of Boscovich, and that other - assumption of molecules of something specially material, having powers - attached in and around them. - - With the latter atoms a mass of matter consists of atoms and - intervening space; with the former atoms matter is everywhere present, - and there is no intervening space unoccupied by it. In gases the atoms - touch each other just as truly as in solids. In this respect the atoms - of water touch each other, whether that substance be in the form of - ice, water, or steam; no mere intervening space is present. Doubtless, - the centres of force vary in their distance one from another, but - that which is truly the matter of one atom touches the matter of its - neighbours. - - Hence matter will be _continuous_ throughout, and in considering - we have not to suppose a distinction between its atoms and any - intervening space. The powers around the centres give these centres - the properties of atoms of matter; and these powers again, when many - centres by their conjoint forces are grouped into a mass, give to - every part of that mass the properties of matter. In such a view - all the contradiction resulting from the consideration of electric - insulation and conduction disappears. - - The atoms may be conceived of as highly _elastic_, instead of - being supposed excessively hard and unalterable in form; the mere - compression of a bladder of air between the hands can alter their size - a little, and the experiments of Cagniard la Tour carry on this change - in size until the difference in bulk at one time and another may be - made several hundred times. Such is also the case when a solid or a - fluid body is converted into vapour. - - With regard also to the _shape_ of the atoms, and, according to the - ordinary assumption, its definite and unalterable character, another - view must now be taken of it. An atom by itself might be conceived - of as spherical or spheroidal, or where many were touching in all - directions, the form might be thought of as a dodecahedron, for - any one would be surrounded by and bear against twelve others, on - different sides. But if an atom be conceived to be a centre of power, - that which is ordinarily referred to under the term _shape_, would - now be referred to the disposition and relative intensity of the - forces. The power arranged in and around a centre might be uniform in - arrangement and intensity in every direction outward from that centre, - and then a section of equal intensity of force through the radii would - be a sphere; or the law of decrease of force from the centre outward - might vary in different directions, and then the section of equal - intensity might be an oblate or oblong spheroid, or have other forms; - or the forces might be disposed so as to make the atom polar; or they - might circulate around it equatorially or otherwise, after the manner - of imagined magnetic atoms. In fact, nothing can be supposed of the - disposition of forces in or about a solid nucleus of matter, which - cannot be equally conceived with respect to a centre. - - In the view of matter now sustained as the lesser assumption, matter - and the atoms of matter would be mutually penetrable. As regards - the mutual penetrability of matter, one would think that the facts - respecting potassium and its compounds, already described, would - be enough to prove that point to a mind which accepts a fact for a - fact, and is not obstructed in its judgment by preconceived notions. - With respect to the mutual penetrability of the atoms, it seems to - me to present in many points of view a more beautiful, yet equally - probable and philosophic, idea of the constitution of bodies than the - other hypotheses, especially in the case of chemical combination. - If we suppose an atom of oxygen and an atom of potassium about to - combine and produce potash, the hypothesis of solid, unchangeable, - impenetrable atoms places these two particles side by side in a - position easily, because mechanically, imagined, and not unfrequently - represented; but if these two atoms be centres of power, they will - mutually penetrate to the very centres, thus forming one atom or - molecule, with powers either uniformly around it or arranged as the - resultant of the powers of the two constituent atoms; and the manner - in which two or many centres of force may in this way combine, and - afterward, under the dominion of stronger forces, separate, may in - some degree be illustrated by the beautiful case of the conjunction - of two sea waves of different velocities into one, their perfect - union for a time, and final separation into the constituent waves, - considered, I think, at the meeting of the British Association at - Liverpool. It does not, of course, follow from this view that the - centres shall always coincide; that will depend upon the relative - disposition of the powers of each atom. - - The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem to - involve necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or, - at least, all space to which gravitation extends, (including the sun - and its system,) for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on - a certain force, and it is this force which constitutes the matter. - In that view matter is not merely mutually penetrable, but each - atom extends, so to say, throughout the whole of the solar system, - yet always retaining its own centre of force. This, at first sight, - seems to fall in very harmoniously with Massotti’s mathematical - investigations and reference of the phenomena of electricity, - cohesion, gravitation, &c. to one force in matter, and also again with - the old adage “matter cannot act where it is not.” But it is no part - of my intention to enter into such considerations as these, or what - the bearings of this hypothesis would be on the theory of light and - the supposed ether. My desire has been rather to bring certain facts - from electrical conduction and chemical combination to bear strongly - upon our views regarding the nature of atoms and matter, and so to - assist in distinguishing in natural philosophy our real knowledge—_i. - e._ the knowledge of facts and laws—from that, which, though it has - the form of knowledge, may, from its including so much that is mere - assumption, be the very reverse. - -It is to be regretted that the memoir of the Rev. Mr. Whewell could not -be quoted, being long and obscure. His opinions, it is conceived, have -been stated fairly, (1796.) - - - _Motives for republishing my Memoirs on Electrical Theory._ - -The principal motive, without which the other motives would not have -prevailed, is, that having had an interview with the spirit of Franklin -expressly to have his advice, it was given decidedly in favour of -publication. - -There is no door in the temple of science which is so easy of access as -that which leads to the department of electricity. The illustrations -usually given at a popular lecture may, at the same time, amuse an -infant, instruct a student, and yet perplex a profound philosopher. -As associated with the phenomena of thunder and lightning, at one -time attributed to the bolt of omnipotent Jove, no consequences of -scientific research are so awful and sublime: coupled with the magnetic -electric telegraph, no other result so miraculous. While _vis inertiæ_ -would keep all nature in _statu quo_, whether at rest, or like our -planet in motion with a velocity fifty times as great as that of a -cannon ball: while gravitation tends like the clock weight to produce a -definite action and, _per se_, never to act again: electricity, with a -protean diversity of power, appears to be the great instrument of all -those changes by which the quiescent influence of the properties above -mentioned, is modified in the mundane sphere of chemistry and of life. - -Every tyro is aware of the wonderful property imparted to electrics by -friction—to the tourmaline by heat; and that the same process, on a -large scale, will produce sparks, ignition, combustion, deflagration, -and destroy animal life by an instantaneous shock. It is notorious that -these wonderful powers may all be imparted to a naked pane of glass, -while the charge thus imparted is really only two opposite and equal -affections, capable of neutralizing each other by due communication. -Known also is it, that properties, to a certain extent similar, may be -found in a pile of pairs of heterogeneous metals, with the additional -power of electrolysis, or, in other words, of resolving chemical -compounds into their ingredients, (1376.) It is well known that, by -these means, water, long and almost religiously considered as one of -the four elements of the universe, can be decomposed into two kinds of -air; that the earths and alkalies have been resolved into metals and -oxygen; and that there is scarcely any chemical compound consisting -of two elements, which may not, when in aqueous solution or in fusion -by heat, be directly or indirectly decomposed by electrolysis, as -explained in the note to page 384. - -These multifarious feats of electricity have caused it to be -contemplated as the source of every thing mysterious in nature. It is -not surprising, therefore, that those who, through the accessibility of -electricity, had become partially acquainted with electrical phenomena, -should view it as the source of spiritual manifestations; while those -who have a more extensive knowledge of the nature and extent of -electrical jurisdiction should perceive at once that the phenomena in -question do not fall within its sphere. - -After the discovery, by Oersted, of the previously unsuspected reaction -between galvanized wire and a magnetic needle, those who had resorted -to either one or two fluids to explain electrical phenomena, found -themselves completely at fault. Yet the language originated by Franklin -has been still employed conventionally. This, though not misleading -adepts, introduces confusion in the minds of those who have merely -reached the ante-chamber of the electrical department. - -Under these circumstances, I deem it expedient to republish the -exposition of electrical theory which I first laid before the -scientific world in 1848. - -I hope that those who endeavour to refer spiritual manifestations or -animal magnetism to electricity, in any of its modifications, will -study this exposition of my views. - -Though, as already stated, there appears to be, for the spirit world, -appropriate elements, distinct from those of this mundane world, -there is, nevertheless, a correspondence. We mortals can best prepare -ourselves to understand the elements of that world by understanding our -own. From an idea of _our_ light and _our_ vital air, we may by analogy -conceive of theirs as a preliminary to any further knowledge. - -The following theory has been submitted to the spirit of Franklin, who -fully approved of it, and fully admitted the validity of the reasons -assigned by me for substituting this new exposition of electricity for -that which goes under his celebrated name. - - - _Objections to the Theories severally of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere, - with an effort to explain Electrical Phenomena, by Statical or - Undulatory Polarization.[58] By Robert Hare, M.D., Emeritus Professor - of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania._ - -1. It appears, from the experiments of Wheatstone, that the discharge -of a Leyden jar, by means of a copper wire, takes place within a time -so small, that were the transfer of a fluid from the positive to the -negative surface requisite for its accomplishment, a current having -a velocity exceeding two hundred thousand miles in a second would be -necessary. - -2. The only causes for the velocity of an electric current, according -to Franklin, are the repulsion between the particles of the electric -fluid of which it has been assumed to consist, and the attraction -between those particles and other matter. These forces are alleged to -concur in distributing the supposed fluid throughout space, whether -otherwise void, or partially occupied by conducting solids or fluids. -Hence, when between two or more spaces, surfaces, or conducting -masses, there is an unequal distribution of the electric fluid, the -equilibrium is restored whenever a communication is opened by means -of a sufficiently conducting medium. Agreeably to this view of the -subject, there seems to be a resemblance between the supposed effort of -the electrical fluid to attain a state of equable diffusion, and that -which would exist in the case of a gas confined in adjoining receivers, -so as to be more dense within one than within the other; for, however -the subtilty of the supposed electric fluid may exceed that of any gas, -there seems to be an analogy as respects the processes of diffusion -which must prevail. But on opening a communication between cavities in -which any aeriform fluid exists, in different degrees of condensation, -the density must lessen in one cavity and augment in the other, with a -rapidity which must diminish gradually, and become evanescent with the -difference of pressure by which it is induced. Far from taking place in -an analogous manner, electrical discharges are effected with an extreme -suddenness, the whole of the redundancy being discharged at once, -in a mode more like the flight of a bullet, projected with infinite -velocity, than that of a jet gradually varying in celerity from a -maximum to a minimum. - -3. So far, in fact, is an electrical discharge from displaying the -features which belong to the reaction of a condensed elastic fluid, -that agreeably to the observations of our distinguished countryman -Henry, the result is more like the vibrations of a spring, which, in -striving to regain its normal position, goes beyond it. The first -discharge between the surfaces of a Leyden jar is not productive of a -perfect equilibrium. The transfer of different polarities goes beyond -the point of reciprocal neutralization, producing a state, to a small -extent, the opposite of that at first existing; and hence a refluent -discharge ensues, opposite in direction to the primary one. But even -this does not produce an equilibrium, so that a third effort is made. -These alternate discharges were detected by means of the magnetism -imparted to needles exposed in coils of copper wire.[59] - -4. Supposing one or more rows of electrical particles, forming such a -filament of electricity as must occupy the space within a wire of great -length, to be made the medium of discharge to a Leyden jar; agreeably -to the hypothesis of one fluid, the electrical filament must be -attracted at one end of the wire and repelled at the other, as soon as -its terminations are brought into due communication with the coatings -of the jar. Yet the influence of the oppositely-charged surfaces of the -jar cannot be conceived to extend to those portions of the electricity -which are remote from the points of contact, until they be reached -by a succession of vibrations. Hence, it is inconceivable that every -particle in the filament of electric matter can be made at the same -time to move, so as to constitute a current having the necessary -velocity and volume to transfer, instantaneously, the electricity -requisite to constitute a charge. Even the transmission of the -impulses, in such an infinitesimal of time, seems to be inconceivable. - -5. In reply to these objections, it has been urged by the Franklinians -that a conductor being replete with electricity, as soon as this fluid -should be removed at one end, it ought to move at the other. This might -be true of a fluid if incompressible, but could not hold good were it -elastic. A bell wire moves at both ends when pulled only at one; but -this would not ensue were a cord of gum-elastic substituted for the -wire. - -6. But if the flow of one fluid, with the enormous velocity inferred, -be difficult to conceive, still more must it be incomprehensible that -two fluids can rush with similar celerity, from each surface of the -jar, in opposite directions, through the narrow channel afforded by a -wire; especially as they are alleged to exercise an intense affinity; -so that it is only by a series of decompositions and recompositions -that they can pass each other. - -7. That agreeably to the theory of Dufay, equivalent portions of the -resinous and vitreous fluids must exchange places during an electrical -discharge, will appear evident from the following considerations: One -surface being redundant with vitreous and deficient commensurately of -resinous electricity, and the other redundant with the resinous and -deficient of the vitreous fluid, it is inevitable that, to restore the -equilibrium, there must be a simultaneous transfer of each redundancy -to the surfaces wherein there is a deficiency of it to be supplied. If, -after decomposing a large portion of the neutral compound previously -existing on the surface of the jar, and transferring the ingredients -severally in opposite directions, so as to cause each to exist in -excess upon the surface assigned to it, should the redundancies, thus -originated, be neutralized by meeting in the discharging rod, neither -surface could recover its quota of the electrical ingredient of which -it must have been deprived agreeably to the premises. - -8. This calls to mind the fact that no evidence has been adduced of the -existence of any _tertium quid_, arising from the union of the supposed -electricities, founded on any property displayed by their resulting -combination in the neutral state. It must, if it exist, constitute an -anomalous matter, destitute of all properties, and of the existence of -which we have no evidence, besides that founded on the appearance and -disappearance of its alleged ingredients. - -9. But however plausibly the discharges consequent to making a -conducting communication from one electrified mass or surface to -another mass or surface in an opposite state, may be ascribed to -accumulations either of one or of two fluids, neither, according to -one theory nor the other, is it possible to account satisfactorily -for the stationary magnetism with which steel may be endowed, nor the -transitory magnetism, or power of dynamic induction, acquired by wires -transmitting galvanic discharges. - -10. For the most plausible effort which has been made for the purpose -of reconciling the phenomena of electro-magnetism with the theory of -two fluids, or with that of one fluid so far as these theories are -convertible, we are indebted to Ampere. - -11. According to the hypothesis advanced by this eminent philosopher, -the difference between a magnetized and an electrified body is not -attributable to any diversity in the imponderable matter to which -their properties are respectively due, but to a difference in the -actual state or distribution of that matter. Statical polarity is -the consequence of the unequal distribution of the two electric -fluids whose existence he assumes; while magnetical polarity is the -consequence merely of the motion of those fluids, which, in magnets, -are supposed to gyrate in opposite directions about each particle of -the mass. These gyrations are conceived to take place only in planes at -right angles to the axis of the magnet; so that, in a straight magnet, -the planes of the orbits must be parallel to each other.[60] - -12. The aggregate effect of all the minute vortices of the electrical -fluids, in any one plane, bounded by the lateral surfaces of the -magnet, is equivalent externally to one vortex, since, in either -case, every electric particle on that surface will so move as to -describe tangents to a circle drawn about the axis of the magnet. When -the electrical vortices of the pole of one magnet conflict in their -direction with those of another, as when similar magnetic poles are -approximated, repulsion ensues; but if the vortices are coincident in -direction, as when dissimilar poles are near, attraction takes place. -When a current through a galvanized wire[61] concurs in direction with -the magnetic vortices, as above described, attraction ensues; repulsion -resulting when it does not so concur. Hence, the magnet, if movable, -will strive to assume a position in which its electrical currents -will not conflict with those of the wire on one side more than on the -other; also the wire, if movable, will strive so to arrange itself so -as to produce the same result, which can arrive only when the needle -is at right angles to the wire, and its sides consequently equidistant -therefrom. - -13. Electric currents will produce magnetic vortices, and, -reciprocally, magnetic vortices will produce electric currents. Hence -the magnetism imparted to iron by galvanic spirals, and the Farradian -currents produced by magnetized iron within spirals not galvanized. - -14. Ampere’s theory has, in a high degree, the usual fault of -substituting one mystery for another; but, on the other hand, it has, -in an equally high extent, the only merit to which any theory can make -an indisputable claim: I mean that of associating facts so as to make -them more easy to comprehend and to remember, enabling us, by analogy, -to foresee results, and thus affording a clue in our investigations. -Evidently, the author of this theory was guided by it in his highly -interesting and instructive contrivances; and Professor Henry ascribes -his success in improving the electro-magnet to the theoretic clue which -he had received from Ampere. - -15. Nevertheless, the postulates on which this Amperean hypothesis -is founded appear to me unreasonable. They require us to concede -that about every atom of a permanent magnet a process is going on -analogous to that generally admitted to exist in a galvanic circuit, -where two fluids pass each other in a common channel by a series -of decompositions and recompositions, (7.) In the galvanic circuit -this process is sustained by chemical reaction; but without any -coenduring cause, how is it to be sustained permanently in a magnet? -Is it reasonable to assume that the heterogeneous constituents of an -imaginary _tertium quid_ are perpetually separating only to reunite? -(8.)[62] - -16. In cases of complex affinity, where four particles, A B C D are -united into two compounds A B, C D, it is easy to conceive that, in -obedience to a stronger affinity, A shall combine with C, and B with -D: but, without any extraneous agency, wherefore, in any one compound, -should a particle A quit a particle B, in order to unite with another -particle of the same kind; or wherefore should any one B quit one A, in -order to combine with another A? - -17. That such a process should take place in consequence of the -inductive agency of a similar process already established in a magnet -or galvanized wire were difficult to believe; but it would seem utterly -incredible that the most _transient_ influence of such induction should -be productive of such permanent electrolytic gyration as has been above -specified. Moreover, it is inconceivable that the particles of any -matter should, as required by this hypothesis, _merely by being put -into motion_, acquire a power of reciprocal repulsion or attraction of -which it were otherwise destitute. - -18. The vortices being assumed to take place about each atom, cannot -severally occupy an area of greater diameter than can exist between the -centres of any two atoms. Of course, the gyratory force exercised about -the surface of a magnet by the aggregate movements of the vortices -cannot extend beyond the surface more than half the diameter of one -of the minute areas of gyration alluded to. Wherefore, then, do these -gyrations, when similar in direction, from their concurrence approach -each other; when dissimilar in direction, from contrariety move away, -even when situated comparatively at a great distance? - -19. I should consider Ampere’s theory as more reasonable were it -founded upon the existence of one fluid; since, in that case, vortices -might be imagined without the necessity of supposing an endless and -unaccountable separation and reunion of two sets of particles; not only -devoid of any property capable of sustaining their alleged opposite -gyrations, but actually endowed with an intense reciprocal attraction -which must render such gyrations impossible. But even if grounded on -the idea of one fluid, this celebrated hypothesis does not seem to -me to account for the phenomena which it was intended to explain. -If distinct portions of any fluid do not attract or repel each other -when at rest, wherefore should they either attract or repel each other -when in motion? Evidently mere motion can generate neither attraction -nor repulsion. Bodies projected horizontally gravitate with the same -intensity, and consequently, in any given time, fall to the earth -through the same perpendicular distance, whether moving with the -celerity of a cannon ball, or undergoing no impulse excepting those -arising from their own unresisted weights. - -20. The objections which are thus shown to be applicable in the case -of liquids, of which the neighbouring particles are destitute of the -reaction requisite to produce the phenomena requiring explanation, -must operate with still greater force where ethereal fluids are in -question, of which the properties are positively irreconcilable with -the phenomena. According both to Franklin and Dufay, bodies, when -similarly electrified, should repel each other; yet in point of fact, -collateral wires, when subjected to similar voltaic discharges, and of -course similarly electrified, become reciprocally attractive, while -such wires, when dissimilarly electrified by currents which are not -analogous, become reciprocally repulsive. - -21. Agreeably to Ampere, an iron bar, situated within a coil of wire -subjected to a galvanic current, is magnetized, because the current in -the wire is productive of an electrical whirlpool about every particle -of the metal. When the iron is soft, the magnetism, and of course -the gyrations of which its magnetism consists by the premises, cease -for the most part as soon as the circuit through the coil is broken; -but when the iron is in the more rigid state of hardened steel, the -gyrations continue for any length of time after the exciting cause has -ceased. - -22. This theory does not explain wherefore the hardening of the -steel should cause the gyration to be more difficult to induce, yet -more lasting when its induction is effected. Evidently the metallic -particles must take some part in the process; since it is dependent for -its existence and endurance upon their nature and their state. Yet no -function is assigned to these particles. In fact, it is inconceivable -either that they can participate in, or contribute to, the supposed -gyration. - -23. The electrical fluid in an iron bar cannot form a vortex about -each particle, all the vortices turning in one direction, without a -conflict between those which are contiguous. In order not to conflict -with each other, the alternate vortices would have to turn in different -directions, like interlocking cog-wheels in machinery. But in that -case, if magnetism be due to currents, the magneto-inductive influence -of one set would neutralize that of the other. Again, how can a -current, excited by a battery in one circuitous conductor, cause, by -dynamic induction, a current in the _opposite direction_, through -another conductor parallel to the first, but insulated therefrom? How -can a current of quantity in a ribbon coil[63] give rise to one of -intensity in a coil of fine wire, rushing of course with a velocity -commensurate with the intensity thus imparted? - -24. From the preceding considerations, and others which will be -stated, it follows that it has been erroneously inferred that the only -difference between galvanic and frictional electricity is dependent on -quantity and intensity. It must be evident that there is a diversity in -the nature of these affections of matter, sufficient to create a line -of demarcation between them. - -25. Having stated my objections to the electrical theories heretofore -advanced, it may be proper that I should suggest any hypothetical -views which may appear to me of a character to amend or to supersede -those to which I have objected. But however I may have been emboldened -to point out defects which have appeared to me to be inherent in the -theories heretofore accredited, I am far from presuming to devise any -substitute which will be unobjectionable. I am fully aware that there -is an obscurity as respects the nature and mutual influence of chemical -affinity, heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and vitality, which -science can only to a minute extent dispel. - -26. The hypothesis which I now deem preferable is so much indebted -to the researches and suggestions of Farraday and others, that, were -it true, I could claim for myself but a small share of the merit of -its origination. That sagacious electrician employs the following -language: “_In the long-continued course of experimental inquiry, in -which I have been engaged, this general result has pressed upon me -constantly—namely, the necessity of admitting two forces or directions -of force, combined with the impossibility of separating these two -forces or electricities from each other._” (_Experimental Researches_, -1163.)[64] - -27. Subsequently, (1244,) after citing another proof of the -inseparability of the two electric forces, he alleges _it to be_ -“_another argument in favour of the view that induction and its -concomitant phenomena depend upon_ a polarity of the particles of -matter!” - - - _Supposed grounds for a Theory._ - -28. The grounds upon which I venture to advance a theory are as follows: - -The existence of two heterogeneous polar forces acting in opposite -directions, and necessarily connate and coexistent; yet capable of -reciprocal neutralization, agreeably to the authority of Farraday -and others: the polarity of matter in general, as displayed during -the crystallization and vegetation of salts: also as made evident -by Farraday’s late researches, and the experiments and observations -of Hunt: the very small proportion of the space in solids, as in -the instance of potassium and other metals, which are apparently -occupied by the ponderable atoms; while, agreeably to the researches -and speculations of Farraday, (rightly interpreted,) the residual -space must be replete with imponderable matter: the experiments -and inferences of Davy and others, tending to sanction the idea -that an imponderable ethereal fluid must pervade the creation: the -perfect identity of the polarizing effects, transiently created in -a wire by subjection to a galvanic discharge, with those produced -by the permanent polarizing power of a steel magnet: the utter -heterogeneousness of the powers of galvanic and frictional electricity, -as respects ability to produce sparks before contact, and likewise of -the polarities which they respectively produce: and superficiality -of electricity proper during discharge as well as when existing upon -insulated surfaces, as demonstrated by atmospheric electricity when -conveyed by telegraphic wires, agreeably to Henry; the sounds observed -severally by Page, Henry, and Mairran, as being consequent to making -and breaking a galvanic circuit through a conductor, or magnetizing or -demagnetizing by means of surrounding galvanized coils. - - -_Proofs of the existence of an enormous quantity of Imponderable Matter - in Metals._ - -29. It has been most sagaciously pointed out by Farraday that four -hundred and thirty atoms, which form a cube of potassium in the -metallic state, must occupy nearly six times as much space as the same -number of similar atoms fill, when existing in a cube of hydrated oxide -of potassium of the same size; which, beside seven hundred metallic -atoms, must hold seven hundred atoms of hydrogen and fourteen hundred -of oxygen—in all two thousand eight hundred atoms; whence it follows -that, in the metallic cube, there must be _room_ for six times as many -atoms as it actually holds. - -30. With all due deference, I am of opinion that this distinguished -philosopher has not been consistent in assuming that, agreeably to the -Newtonian idea of ponderable atoms, the space in potassium not replete -with metal must be vacant; since, according to facts established by -his researches, or resulting therefrom, an enormous quantity both of -the causes of heat and of electricity exists in metals. Moreover, -agreeably to his recent speculations, those causes must consist of -material, independent, imponderable matter, occupying the whole of the -space in which their efficacy is perceptible. To the evolution of the -imponderable matter thus associated, the incandescence of a globule -of potassium on contact with water, may be ascribed, since it is the -consequence of the displacement of such matter by the elements of -water, which, in replacing it, converts the metal into the hydrated -oxide called caustic potash. - -31. The existence both of the causes of electricity and heat in metals -is likewise confirmed by the fact that the inductive influence of a -magnet is sufficient to cause all the phenomena of heat, electrolysis, -and magnetism, as exemplified by the magneto-electric machine. The -existence of the cause of heat in metals is also evident from the -ignition of an iron rod when hammered, or the deflagration of wire by -the discharge of a Leyden battery. - -32. The superiority of metals as electrical conductors may be the -consequence of the pre-eminent abundance of imponderable matter -entering into their composition, as above alluded to in the case of -potassium. - -33. Graham, in his Elements, treating of electricity, alleges that the -“great discoveries of Farraday have completely altered the aspect of -this department of science, and suggests that all electrical phenomena -whatever involve the presence of matter.” Unless the distinguished -author from whom this quotation is made intended to restrict the -meaning of the word matter to ponderable matter, there was no novelty -in the idea that electrical phenomena involve the presence of matter, -since the hypotheses of Franklin and Dufay assume the existence of -one or more imponderable material fluids. But, on the other hand, -if the meaning of the word _matter_ is only to comprise that which -is ponderable, the allegation is inconsistent with the authority -cited. According to the researches of Farraday, there is an enormous -electrical power in metals, and, according to his speculations, such -powers must be considered as imponderable material principles, -pervading the space within which they prevail, independently of -any ponderable atom acting as a basis for material properties; the -existence of such atoms being represented as questionable. - - - _Electrical Phenomena attributed to Stationary, or Undulatory, - Polarization._ - -34. It having been shown that in electrical discharges there cannot -reasonably be any transfer of matter, so as to justify the idea -of their being effected either by one current or by two currents, -the only alternative seems to be that the phenomena are due to a -progressive affection of the conducting medium, analogous in its mode -of propagation to waves, as in the case of liquids, or the aërial or -ethereal undulations to which sound and light are ascribed. (1, 2, 3, -&c.) - -35. The idea intended to be conveyed by the word wave, as applied in -common to the undulatory affections above mentioned, and that which -is conceived to be the cause of the phenomena usually ascribed to one -or more electrical currents, requires only that there should be a -state of matter, which, while it may be utterly different from either -of those which constitute the waves of water, light, or sound, may, -nevertheless, like either, pass successively from one portion of a mass -to another. - -36. The affection thus designated may be reasonably distinguished from -other waves, as a _wave of polarization_, since the wire acts, so long -as subjected to the reiterated discharges of a voltaic series, as if it -were converted into innumerable small magnets, situated like tangents -to radii proceeding from its axis. - -37. But if a polarizable medium be requisite to electrical discharges, -since they pass through a space when devoid of _ponderable_ matter, -there must be some _imponderable_ medium through which they can be -effected. Hence we have reason to infer that there is an imponderable -existing throughout all space, as well as within conductors, which is -more or less the medium of the opposite waves essential to electric -discharges. Quoting his own language, Davy’s experiments led him to -consider “that space, (meaning void space,) where there is not an -appreciable quantity of this matter, (meaning ponderable matter,) is -capable of exhibiting electrical phenomena:” also that such phenomena -“are produced by a highly subtile fluid or fluids.” Moreover, that -“it may be assumed, as in the hypothesis of Hooke, Euler, and -Huyghens, that an ethereal matter susceptible of electrical affections -fills all space.” - -38. Agreeably to the suggestions above made, all ponderable matter -which is liable to be electrified _internally_ by electrical -discharges, may be considered as consisting of atoms composed of -imponderable ethereo-electric particles in a state of combination -with ponderable particles, analogous to that which has been supposed -to exist between such particles and caloric when causing expansion, -liquidity, or the aëriform state. Atoms, so constituted of ethereal -and ponderable particles, may be designated as ethereo-ponderable -atoms.[65] - -39. A quiescent charge of frictional electricity, only affecting the -superficies of any ponderable mass with which it may be associated, -and having no influence upon the component ethereo-ponderable atoms -severally, is not to be ascribed to redundancies or deficiencies of -the ethereal matter, but to different states of polarization produced -in different sets of the particles of such matter existing about the -electrifiable bodies.[66] During the action of an electrical machine, -these particles are polarized by the opposite polarities transiently -induced in the surfaces subjected to friction; one set of particles -going with the electric, the other remaining with the rubber. - -40. The particles thus oppositely polarized, severally divide their -appropriate polarities with other ethereal matter surrounding -the conductors, and this, when insulated, is retained until a -further polarization results from the same process. Thus are the -ethereo-electric atmospheres respectively surrounding the positive and -negative conductors oppositely polarized, and consequently charged -to the degree which the machine is competent to induce. Under these -circumstances, if a conducting rod be made to form between them a -communication, by touching each conductor with one of its ends, the -polarities of the ethereo-electric atmospheres by which they are -severally surrounded propagate themselves, by a wave-like process, -over and more or less through the rod, according to its nature and -dimensions, so as to meet intermediately, and thus produce reciprocal -neutralization. - -41. When the oppositely polarizing waves, generated by friction, as -above described, are by means of a conducting communication transmitted -to the surface of a coated pane, the two different portions of the -electro-ether there existing are severally polarized in opposite ways, -one being endowed with the properties usually called vitreous, or -positive, the other with those usually called resinous, or negative. In -fact, the two polarized atmospheres thus created, may be conveniently -designated as the “_two electricities_,” and alluded to in the -language heretofore employed in treating of phenomena, agreeably to the -hypothesis which assumes the existence of heterogeneous fluids instead -of heterogeneous polarities. - -42. Of course it will follow, that the oppositely polarized ethereal -atmospheres thus produced, one on each surface of the electric which -keeps them apart, must exercise toward each other an attraction -perfectly analogous to that which has been supposed to be exercised -by the imaginary heterogeneous electric fluids of Dufay. The -electro-ether[67] being elastic, a condensation over each of the -charged surfaces, proportionable to the attractive force must ensue; -while over the surface of an electrified conductor, the similarly -polarized atoms, not being attracted by those in an oppositely -polarized atmosphere beneath the surface, tend, by their reciprocally -repulsive reagency, to exist further apart than in a neutral state. -Hence, the electro-ether, as it exists over the surface of an -insulated conductor, is rendered rarer, while, as existing over the -surfaces of charged panes or Leyden jars, it must be in a state of -condensation.[68] And, consequently, while the space perceptibly -electrified by the charge of a conductor, for equal areas and charging -power, is much more extensive than the space in which the charge of a -coated pane is perceptible, the striking distance being likewise much -greater; yet upon any body, successively subjected to a discharge from -each, the effect will be more potent when produced by means of the pane. - - -_Ignition, Electrolysis, and Magnetism, Secondary Effects of Frictional -Discharges; or, in other words, of Polarizing Electro-ethereal Waves._ - -43. In proportion as a wire is small in comparison with the charge -which it may be made the means of neutralizing, the conducting power -seems to be more dependent on the sectional area,[69] and less upon the -extent of surface. The reciprocal repulsion of the similarly polarized -ethereal particles must tend always to make them seek the surface, but -at the same time their attraction for the ethereo-ponderable particles -composing the wire has the opposite effect, and tends to derange -these from their normal polar state of quiescence. Commensurate with -the extent in which this state is subverted, is the resulting heat, -electrolytic power, and electro-magnetic influence. The phenomena -last mentioned are, however, secondary effects consequent to the -participation of the ethereo-ponderable matter in the undulations -resulting from the statical discharge. - -44. Such effects, making allowance for the extreme minuteness of the -time occupied by the process, are probably, in all cases, proportional -to the degree in which the ponderable matter is effected, up to the -point at which it is dissipated by deflagration; but the duration of -a statical discharge being almost infinitely minute for any length of -coil which can conveniently be subjected thereto, the electro-magnetic -and other effects of a statical discharge are not commensurate with the -intensity of the affection of the wire. - -45. There is, in fact, this additional reason for the diversity between -the electro-magnetic power of a statical discharge, as compared with -that of the voltaic series: any wire which is of sufficient length and -tenuity to display the maximum power of deflagration by the former, -cannot serve for the same purpose in the case of the latter. Moreover, -the form of a helix closely wound, so that the coatings may touch, -which is that most favourable for the reiteration of the magnetic -influence of the circuit upon an iron rod, cannot be adopted in the -case of statical discharges of high intensity, since the proximity of -the circumvolutions would enable the ethereal waves, notwithstanding -the interposition of cotton or silk, to cross superficially from -one to the other, parallel to the axis of the included iron, instead -of pursuing the circuitous channel afforded by the helix with the -intensity requisite to the polarization of the ponderable atoms. - - - _The extreme Diversity, as respects striking Distance, between the - direct Effects of Frictional Electricity and those directly arising - from Galvanic Reaction._ - -46. The intensity of the excitement produced by different electrical -machines is estimated to be as the relative lengths of the sparks which -proceed from their prime conductors respectively. Admitting that the -relative intensity were merely as the length of the spark, not as the -square of that length, still there would be an infinite difference -between the intensity of a voltaic series and that of electrical -machines, if measured by this test. Large electrical machines, like -that at the Polytechnic Institution, London, give sparks at twenty -inches and more; while, agreeably to Gassiott’s experiments, a Groves’s -battery of 320 pairs, in full power, would not, before contact, give -a spark at _any distance, however minute_. It follows, that, as -respects the species of intensity which is indicated by length of -sparks, or striking distance, the difference between the electricity -of the most powerful voltaic series and electrical machines is not to -be represented by any degree of _disparity_; it proves that galvanism -proper and electricity proper are heterogeneous. - -47. It should be recollected that the intensity of galvanic action in -a series of 320 pairs, excepting the loss from conduction, would be to -that of one pair as 320 to 1.[70] Of course, the striking distance of -a battery of one pair would be 320 times less than nothing: 320 below -zero. - -48. We may infer that the undulatory polarization of ethereo-ponderable -matter is the primary, direct, and characteristic effect of galvanic -excitement, in its more energetic modifications. Yet, that by peculiar -care in securing insulation, as in the water batteries of Cross and -Gassiott, ethereal undulations may be produced, with the consequent -accumulation of ethereal polarity requisite to give sparks before -contact, agreeably to the experiments of those ingenious philosophers. - -49. Hence it may be presumed that, during intense ethereo-ponderable -polarization, superficial ethereal waves may always be a secondary -effect, although the conducting power of the reagents, requisite to -the constitution of powerful galvanic batteries, is inconsistent with -that accumulation of ethereal polarity which constitutes a statical -spark-giving charge. - -50. As all the members forming a voltaic series have to be discharged -in one circuit, the energy of the effort to discharge, and the velocity -of the consequent undulations must be, _cæteris paribus_, as the number -of members which co-operate to produce the discharge. Of course the -more active the ethereo-ponderable waves, the greater must be their -efficacy in producing ethereal waves of polarization, as a secondary -effect, agreeably to the suggestions above made, (49, 36.) - -51. Hence, in a battery consisting of one galvanic pair excited -by reagents of great chemical energy and conducting power, the -electro-magnetic effects are pre-eminent; while De Luc’s electric -columns, consisting of several thousands of minute pairs, feeble as to -their chemical and conducting efficacy, are pre-eminent for statical -spark-giving power, (48.) This seems to be quite consistent; since, on -the one hand, the waves of polarization must be larger and slower as -the pairs are bigger and fewer; and, on the other hand, smaller and -more active as the pairs are more minute and more numerous. - -_On the perfect similitude between the Polarity communicated to Iron -Filings by a Magnetized Steel Bar and a Galvanized Wire._ - -52. If by a sieve, or any other means, iron filings be duly strewed -over a paper, resting on a bar magnet, they will all become magnets, so -as to arrange themselves in rows like the links of a chain. Each of the -little magnets thus created will, at its outermost end, have a polarity -similar to that of the pole (of the magnet) with which it may be -affiliated. Of course the resulting ferruginous rows formed severally -by the two different poles of the bar will have polarities as opposite -as those of the said poles. - -53. In an analogous mode, if two wires be made the media of a galvanic -discharge, iron filings, under their influence, will receive a magnetic -polarity, arranging themselves about each wire like so many tangents to -as many radii proceeding from its axis: those magnetized by one wire -reacting with such as are magnetized by the other. - -54. The affections of the ferruginous particles during the continuance -of the current so called are precisely like those of the same particles -when under the influence of the bar magnet. The great discordancy is in -the fact that the influence of the magnet is permanent, while that of -the wire is indebted for existence to a series of oppositely polarizing -but transient impulses which proceed toward the middle of the circuit -from each side, so as to produce reciprocal neutralization by meeting -midway. - -55. The effect upon the filings, as originally pointed out by Oersted, -is precisely such as would arise were the ponderable matter of the -wire, resolved by each impulse into innumerable little magnets, -situated so as to form tangents to as many radii proceeding from the -axis of the wire. - -56. Independently of the filings, the wires react with each other as if -their constitution, during subjection to the discharge, were such as -above supposed. When the discharges through them concur in direction, -they attract, because the left side of one is next the right side of -the other, bringing the opposite poles of their little magnets into -proximity; but when the discharge is made in opposite directions, the -two right or the two left sides will be in proximity, and will, by the -consequent approximation of the similar poles of the little magnets, be -productive of repulsion. - -57. From these last-mentioned facts and considerations, it must -be evident that, assuming that there is in a galvanized wire a -derangement of the poles of the constituent ethereo-ponderable -particles analogous to that permanently existing in magnetized steel, -involves no contradiction, no absurdity, nor any thing but what is -consistent with the researches and inferences of Davy, Farraday, and -other eminent investigators of the phenomena of nature. - - - _Process by which the Ethereo-ponderable Atoms within a Galvanic - Circuit are polarized by the Chemical Reaction._ - -58. In order that an ethereo-ponderable particle of oxygen in any -aqueous solution shall unite with an ethereo-ponderable particle -of zinc in a galvanic pair, there must be a partial revolution of -the whole row of ethereo-ponderable zinc atoms, with which the atom -assailed is catenated by the attractions between dissimilar poles; and -likewise there must be a series of decompositions and recompositions -between every atom of water existing in the circuit, an atom of -hydrogen being eliminated at one end, an atom of oxygen at the other. -The impulse must extend through the negative plate to the conductor, -by which it communicates with the zinc or electro-positive plate. When -the circuit is open, the power of combination exercised by the zinc -and oxygen is inadequate to produce this movement in the whole chain -of atoms, liquid and metallic; but as it is indifferent whether any -two atoms are united with each other, or with any other atoms of the -same kind, the chemical force easily causes them to exchange partners, -as it were, when the whole are made to form a circuitous row in due -contiguity.[71] - -59. As we know that, during their union with oxygen, metals give out -an enormous quantity of heat and electricity, it is reasonable to -suppose that whenever an atom of oxygen and an atom of zinc jump into -union with each other, a wave is induced in the ethereo-ponderable -matter, and that this wave is sustained by the decompositions and -recompositions, by means of which an atom of hydrogen is evolved at -the negative plate, and probably enabled to assume the aeriform state. -There must, at the same time, be a communication of wave polarity by -contact of the negative plate with the connecting wire, by which the -positive wave in the wire is induced. Although the inherent polarities -of the atoms are not, agreeably to this view, the moving power in -galvanism, yet they facilitate, and in some cases induce, the exercise -of that power, by enabling it to act at a distance, when otherwise it -might be inefficient. - -60. This, I conceive, is shown in the effect of platina sponge, upon -a mixture of the gaseous elements of water; also in Groves’s _gas_ -battery, by means of which hydrogen and oxygen gas severally react -with water in syphons, so as to cause each other to condense, without -any communication beside that through the platina, and an electrolytic -decomposition and recomposition extending from one of the aqueous -surfaces in contact with one of the gases, to the other surface in -contact with the other gas. - - - _Difference between Electro-ethereal and Ethereo-ponderable - Polarization._ - -61. There are two species of electro-polarity which come under the head -of statical electricity. One of these Farraday illustrates by supposing -three bodies, A, B, and C, in proximity, but not in contact, when A, -being electrified, electrifies B, and B electrifies C by induction. -This, Farraday calls an _action_ of the particles of the bodies -concerned, whereas, by his own premises, it appears to me to be merely -a superficial affection of the masses or of a circumambient ethereal -matter. This species of polarization, to which the insulating power -of air is necessary, affects the superficies of a body only, being -displayed as well by a gilt globe of glass as a solid globe of metal. -No sensible change appears to be produced in the ponderable conducting -superficies by this inductive superficial electrification of masses; -and of course no magnetism. - -62. When a small image, of which the scalp has been abundantly -furnished with long hair, is electrified, the hairy filaments extend -themselves and move apart, as if actuated by a repulsive power: also, -when iron filings are so managed as to obey the influence of the -poles of a powerful magnet, (51,) they arrange themselves in a manner -resembling that of the electrified hair. There is, moreover, this -additional analogy, that there is an attraction between two portions of -hair differently electrified, like that which arises between filings -differently magnetized. Yet the properties of the electrified hair -and magnetized filings are, in some respects, utterly dissimilar. A -conducting communication between differently electrified portions of -hair would entirely neutralize the respective electrical states; so -that all the electrical phenomena displayed by them would cease. Yet -such a communication made between the poles, exciting the filings, -by any non-magnetic conductor, does not in the slightest degree -lessen their polar affections and consequent power of reciprocal -influence. Upon the electrified hair, the proximity or the contact -of a steel magnet has no more effect than would result under like -circumstances from any other metallic mass similarly employed; but -by the approximation, and still more, the contact of such a magnet, -the affection of the filings may be enhanced, lessened, or nullified, -according to the mode of its employment. In the case of the hair the -affection is superficial, and the requisite charging power must be in -proportion to the extent of surface. In the case of the magnetized -ferruginous particles, it is the mass which is affected, and, _cæteris -paribus_, the more metal, the greater the capacity for magnetic -power. In the instance of the electrified hair, as in every other of -frictional excitement, the electrical power resides in imponderable -ethereo-electric atmospheres which adhere superficially to the masses, -being liable to be unequally distributed upon them in opposite states -of polarity, consequent to a superficial polarization of the exciting -or excited ponderable masses; but in the instance of bodies permanently -magnetic, or those rendered transiently magnetic by galvanic influence, -the ethereo-electric matter and the ponderable atoms are inferred to be -in a state of combination, forming ethereo-ponderable atoms, so that -both may become parties to the movements and affections of which the -positive and negative waves consist. - -63. Thus an explanation is afforded of the hitherto mysterious -diversity of the powers of a gold-leaf electroscope and galvanoscopes, -although both are to a miraculous degree sensitive—the latter to the -most feeble galvanic discharge, the former to the slightest statical -excitement; yet neither is in the most minute degree affected by the -polarization which affects the other. - -64. The charge which may exist in a coated pane affords another -exemplification of statical or electro-ethereal polarity. In this case, -according to Farraday, the particles of glass are thrown into a state -of electro-polarity, and are, in fact, partially affected as if they -belonged to a conductor; so that insulators and conductors differ only -in the possession in a high degree by the one of a susceptibility of -which the other is possessed to an extent barely perceptible. The facts -seem to me only to show that either an insulator or conductor may be -both affected by the same polarizing force, the transmission of which -the one facilitates, the other prevents. I am under the impression -that it is only by the disruptive process that electricity passes -through glass; of course involving a fracture. It gets through a pane -or jar, not by aid of the vitreous particles, but in despite of their -opposing coherence. The glass in such cases is not liable to be fused, -deflagrated, or dissipated, as conductors are. It is forced out of the -way of the electrical waves, being incapable of becoming a party to -them. Discharges will take place through a vacuity, rather than through -the thinnest leaf of mica. But if, as Farraday has alleged, from within -a glass flask hermetically sealed, an electrical charge has been found -to escape, after a long time, it proves only that glass is not a -perfect insulator, _not that perfect insulation and perfect conduction -are different extremes of the same property_. On the contrary, the one -is founded upon a constitution competent to the propagation within it -of the electro-polarizing waves, with miraculous facility, while the -other is founded either on an absolute incapacity, or comparatively an -infinitely small ability to be the medium of their conveyance. The one -extremely retards, the other excessively expedites, its passage through -a space otherwise void.[72] - - - _Competency of a Wire to convey a Galvanic Discharge is as its - sectional area, while statical discharges of frictional electricity, - preferring the surface, are promoted by its extension. Yet in - proportion as such discharges are heavy, the ability of a wire to - convey them and its magnetic energy become more dependent on its - sectional area, and less upon extent of surface._ - -65. Reference has been made to two modes of electrical conduction, -in one of which the efficacy is as the surface; in the other, as the -area of a section of the conductor. Although glass be substantially a -non-conductor, the power of the surface of glass when moistened or gilt -to discharge statical electricity is enormous. It has been generally -considered that, as a protection against lightning, the same weight of -metal employed as a pipe would be more efficacious than in the usual -solid form of a lightning rod: yet this law does not hold good with -respect to galvanic discharges, which are not expedited by a mere -extension of conducting surface. Independently of the augmentation -of conducting power, consequent to radiation and contact with the -air, the cooling influence of which, according to Davy, promotes -galvano-electric conduction, a metallic ribbon does not convey a -galvanic discharge better than a wire of similar weight and length.[73] - -66. Agreeably to the considerations above stated, the sectional area -of a conductor remaining the same, in proportion as any _statical_ -accumulation which it may discharge is greater, the effects are less -superficial; and the ethereo-ponderable atoms are affected more -analogously to those exposed to galvanic discharges. It is in this -way that the discharge of a Leyden jar imparts magnetic polarization. -Thus, on the one hand, the electro-ethereal matter being polarized -and greatly condensed, combines with and communicates polarization, -and consequently magnetism, to ethereo-ponderable bodies; while, on -the other hand, these, when polarized by galvanic reaction, and thus -rendered magnetic, communicate polarity to the electro-ether. Hence, -statical electricity, when produced by galvanism, and magnetism, when -produced by statical electricity, are secondary effects. - -67. Where a wire is of such dimensions, in proportion to the charge, -as to be heated, ignited, or dispersed by statical electricity, -there seems to be a transitory concentration of the electric power, -which transforms the nature of the reaction, and an internal -wave of electro-ponderable polarization, similar to those of -galvano-electricity, is the consequence. - -68. As above observed, (31,) the current produced by the -magneto-electric machine has all the attributes of the galvano-electric -current; yet this is altogether a secondary effect of the changes of -polarity in a keeper, acting upon a wire solely by dynamic induction. -But if, by mere external influence, the machine above mentioned can -produce within a circuit a current such as above described, is it -unreasonable to suppose that the common machine, when it acts upon -a circuit, may put into activity the matter existing therein, so as -to produce waves of polarization, having the power of those usually -ascribed to a galvano-electrical current? - -69. It has been shown that both reason and the researches and -suggestions of Farraday warrant the inference that ponderable atoms, -in solids and liquids, may be considered as swimming in an enormous -quantity of condensed imponderable matter, in which all the particles, -whether ponderable or imponderable, are, in their natural state, held -in a certain relative position due to the reciprocal attraction of -their dissimilar poles. A galvano-electrified body differs from one in -its ordinary state, in having the relative position of the poles of -its ethereo-ponderable atoms so changed, that their inherent opposite -polarities not being productive of reciprocal neutralization, a -reaction with external bodies ensues. - -70. In statical excitement the affection is superficial as respects -the ponderable bodies concerned, while in dynamic excitement the -polarities of the whole mass are deranged oppositely at opposite ends -of the electrified mass; so that the oppositely disturbing impulses, -proceeding from the poles of the disturbing apparatus, neutralize -each other intermediately. Supposing the ponderable as well as the -imponderable matter in a perfect conductor to be susceptible of the -polar arrangement, of which an electrified state is thus represented to -consist, non-conductors to be insusceptible of such polar derangement; -imperfect conductors may have a constitution intermediate between -metals and electrics. - -71. When an electrical discharge is made through any space devoid -of air or other matter, it must then find its way solely by the -polarization of the rare imponderable matter existing therein; and -consequently its corruscations should be proportionably more diffuse, -which is actually found to be true; but when gaseous ethereo-ponderable -atoms intervene, as in wire, they enable competent waves to exist -within a narrower channel and to attain a greater intensity. - -72. I consider all bodies as insulators which cause discharges through -them to be more difficult than through a vacuum, and which, by their -interposition within a circuit, can prevent that propagation of -the oppositely polarizing undulations which would otherwise ensue. -This furnishes a good mean of discrimination between insulators and -conductors, the criterion being that a discharge ensues more readily as -there is more of the one and less of the other in the way: that the one -leads the waves where they would not go, the other impedes their going -where they would proceed. Both in the case of disruptive discharge -through air, producing a spark, or of a deflagrating discharge through -wire, causing its explosion, there is a dispersion of intervening -ponderable particles; and yet there is this manifest discordancy, that -in one case the undulatory process of transfer is assisted, in the -other resisted. The waves follow the metallic filament with intense -attraction, while they strive to get out of the way of those formed -by the aeriform matter, as if repelled. Hence the term disruptive, -from _dirumpo_, to break through, was happily employed by Farraday to -designate spark discharges. - -73. The zigzag form of the disruptive spark shows that there is a -tendency in the aeriform particles to turn the waves out of that -straight course, which, if unresisted or facilitated, they would -naturally pursue. On the one hand, the aerial filaments being -unsuitable for the conveyance of the electric waves, these are forced -by them out of the normal path—first in one direction, then in another; -while, on the other hand, the finest metallic filament furnishes -a channel for the electric waves, so favourable that this channel -is pursued, although the consequent polarization of the conducting -particles be so intense as to make them fly asunder with explosive -violence. Even when a bell-wire has been dissipated by lightning, it -has been found to facilitate and determine the path of the discharge. - -74. The various forms of the electric spark, resulting from varying the -gas through which it may be made to pass, agreeably to the researches -of Farraday, is explained by the supposition that the peculiarities -of the spark is partially the consequence of the polarizability of -the gaseous atoms through which the discharge is made, and varies, -accordingly, in its appearance. - - - _Difference between Frictional Electricity and Galvanic does - not depend on the one being superior as to Quantity, the other - as to Intensity; but on the different Degrees in which the - Ethereo-ponderable Atoms of the Bodies affected are deranged from - their natural state of Neutralized Polarity._ - -75. I infer that all magneto-polar charges are attended by an affection -of ponderable particles; and that the reason why the most intense -statical charge does not affect a galvanometer is, that it is only -when appositely excited bodies are neutralized by the interposition of -a conductor as during a discharge, that ethereo-ponderable particles -are sufficiently polarized to enable them to act upon others in their -vicinity, so as to produce a polar affection the opposite of their -own. (54.58.) In this way dynamic induction is consistently explained, -by supposing that the waves of polarization, in passing along one -conductor, produce, _pari passu_, the opposite polarization in the -proximate part of any neighbouring conductor suitably constituted, -situated and arranged to allow it to form a part of a circuit. - -76. It is only during the state of the incessant generation and -destruction of what has been called the two electricities, that the -circuit, which is the channel for the passage of the polarizing waves, -is endowed with electro-magnetic powers. It was, no doubt, in obedience -to a perception of this fact, that Oersted ascribed the magnetism of -a galvanized wire to a conflict of the electricities. Undoubtedly, -that state of a conductor in which, by being a part of an electrical -circuit, it becomes enabled to display electro-magnetic powers, is so -far a conflict of the two electricities, as the affections of matter, -which are denominated electrical, consist of two opposite polar -forces, proceeding, agreeably to the language of Farraday, in opposite -directions from each side of the source, and conflicting with each -other, so as to be productive of reciprocal annihilation. - -77. That a corpuscular change in conductors is concomitant with their -subjection to, or emancipation from, a galvanic current, is proved by -an experiment of Henry’s, which he afforded me an opportunity on one -occasion of witnessing. I allude to the fact that sound is produced -whenever the circuit is suddenly made or suddenly ruptured. By I. P. -Marrian it has been observed that a similar result takes place during -the magnetization or demagnetization of iron rods, by the alternate -establishment or arrestation of galvanic discharges through wires -coiled about them so as to convert each into an electro-magnet. Mr. -Marrian represents the sound as resembling that produced by striking a -rod upon one of its ends.[74][75] Sounds from this source were observed -by Dr. Page in 1838. See Silliman’s Journal for that year, vol. xxxiii. - -78. Thus it appears that there is an analogy between the state of -matter which involves permanent magnetism, and that which constitutes -a galvanic current, so far as this, that either by one or the other, -during either its access or cessation, an affection of the ponderable -particles concerned ensues, sufficient to produce sound. - -79. Simultaneously with the production of sounds, as above stated, -by the opening or closing of the galvanic circuit through a metallic -rod or the coils of an electro-magnet, secondary waves are induced, -called secondary currents. It seems reasonable to ascribe these waves -to the same shifting of the poles, which produces the sonorific -undulations.[76] - -80. Within the bodies of animals and vegetables, the electro-ether -may be supposed to exist as an atmosphere surrounding the -ethereo-ponderable atoms of which their organs are constituted, so as -to occupy all the space which is not replete with such atoms. Hence a -discharge of frictional electricity may indirectly polarize the whole -animal frame, by producing ethereo-ponderable polarization in the -constituent atoms of the fibres of the nerves and muscles. Probably -this polarization is produced more immediately in the ponderable solids -by a discharge from a voltaic series or a wire subjected to electro-or -magneto-dynamic induction. In the latter instances the shock is -reiterated so rapidly as to appear more enduring, while in the former -it is more startling and producible at an infinitely greater distance. - -81. Agreeably to Farraday’s researches, (1485 to 1543,) there is -reason to suppose that in frictional spark discharges, the consequent -shock, light, and other peculiarities are in part owing to waves of -ethereo-ponderable polarization, indirectly produced in the intervening -gaseous matter. - - - _Of Ethereo-ponderable Deflagration._ - -82. It is well known that between two pieces of charcoal severally -attached, one to the negative, the other to the positive, pole of a -numerous and well-excited voltaic series, an arch of flame may be -produced by moving them apart after contact. This phenomenon evidently -depends upon the volatilization of the ponderable matter concerned; -since it cannot be produced before the carbon has been volatilized -by contact, nor by any body besides charcoal, this being the only -conductor which is sufficiently infusible, and yet duly volatilizable. -Metals, similarly treated, fuse at the point of contact and cohere. -On separation, after touching, a single spark ensues, which, without -repetition of contact, cannot be reproduced. Hence, it may be inferred -that the carbonaceous vapour is indispensable to this process, as -a medium for the ethereo-ponderable polarizing waves, being soon -consumed by the surrounding atmospheric oxygen. The excrescence upon -the negative charcoal, observed by Silliman, together with the opposite -appearance on the positive charcoal, may be owing to the lesser -affinity for oxygen on the negative side.[78] - -83. There may be some resemblance imagined between this luminous -discharge between the poles, and that which has already been designated -as disruptive; but this flaming arch discharge does not break through -the air; it only usurps its place gradually, and then sustains this -usurpation. It differs from the other as to its cause, so far as -galvanic reaction differs from friction; moreover, it requires a -volatilizable, as well as a polarizable ponderable conducting substance -to enable its appropriate undulations to meet at a mean distance from -the solid polar terminations whence they respectively proceed. - -84. The most appropriate designation of the phenomenon under -consideration is that of ethereo-ponderable undulatory deflagration. -Under this head we may not only place the flaming arch, but likewise -the active ignition and dissipation of fine wire or leaf metal, or when -attached to one pole, and made barely to touch the other. - -85. In one of Farraday’s experiments, a circuit was completed by -subjecting platina points, severally proceeding from the poles of -a voltaic series, while very near to each other, to the flame of -a spirit lamp. This was ascribed by him to the rarefaction of the -air, but ought, as I think, to be attributed to the polarizable -ethereo-ponderable matter of the flame, performing the same office as -the volatilized carbon in the flaming arch, between charcoal points, to -which reference has been made. - - - _Summary._ - -From the facts and reasoning which have been above stated, it is -presumed that the following deductions may be considered as highly -probable, if not altogether susceptible of demonstration: - -The theories of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere are irreconcilable with -the premises on which they are founded, and with facts on all sides -admitted. - -A charge of frictional electricity, or that species of electric -excitement which is produced by friction, is not due to any -accumulation, nor to any deficiency either of one or of two fluids, -but to the opposite polarities induced in imponderable ethereal -matter existing throughout space however otherwise void, and likewise -condensed more or less within ponderable bodies, so as to enter into -combination with their particles, forming atoms which may be designated -as ethereo-ponderable. - -Frictional charges of electricity seek the surfaces of bodies to which -they may be imparted, without sensibly affecting the ethereo-ponderable -matter of which they consist. - -When surfaces thus oppositely charged, or, in other words, having -about them oppositely polarized ethereal atmospheres, are made to -communicate, no current takes place, nor any transfer of the polarized -matter: yet any conductor, touching both atmospheres, furnishes -a channel through which the opposite polarities are reciprocally -neutralized by being communicated wave-like to an intermediate point. - -Galvano-electric discharges are likewise effected by waves of opposite -polarization, without any flow of matter meriting to be called a -current. - -But such waves are not propagated superficially through the purely -ethereal medium; they occur in masses formed both of the ethereal -and ponderable matter. If the generation of frictional electricity, -sufficient to influence the gold-leaf electrometer, indicate that there -are some purely ethereal waves caused by the galvano-electric reaction, -such waves arise from the inductive influence of those created in the -ethereo-ponderable matter. - -When the intensity of a frictional discharge is increased beyond a -certain point, the wire remaining the same, its powers become enfeebled -or destroyed by ignition, and ultimately deflagration: if the diameter -of the wire be increased, the surface, proportionally augmented, -enables more of the ethereal waves to pass superficially, producing -proportionally less ethereo-ponderable undulation. - -Magnetism, when stationary, as in magnetic needles and other permanent -magnets, appears to be owing to an enduring polarization of the -ethereo-ponderable atoms, like that transiently produced by a galvanic -discharge. - -The magnetism transiently exhibited by a galvanized wire, is due to -oppositely polarizing impulses, severally proceeding wave-like to an -intermediate part of the circuit where reciprocal neutralization ensues. - -When magnetism is produced by a frictional discharge operating upon a -conducting wire, it must be deemed a secondary effect, arising from the -polarizing influence of the ethereal waves upon the ethereo-ponderable -atoms of the wire. - -Such waves pass superficially in preference; but when the wire -is comparatively small, the reaction between the waves and the -ethereo-ponderable atoms becomes sufficiently powerful to polarize -them, and thus render them competent, for an extremely minute period -of time, to produce all the affections of a galvano-electric current, -whether of ignition, of electrolysis, or magnetization. Thus, as the -ethereo-ponderable waves produce such as are purely ethereal, so purely -ethereal waves may produce such as are ethereo-ponderable. - -The polarization of hair upon electrified scalps is supposed to be due -to a superficial association with the surrounding polarized ethereal -atoms, while that of iron filings, by a magnet or galvanized wire, is -conceived to arise from the influence of polarized ethereo-ponderable -atoms, consisting of ethereal and ponderable matter in a state of -combination. - -Farradian discharges are as truly the effects of ethereo-ponderable -polarization as those from an electrified conductor, or coated surfaces -of glass are due to static ethereal polarization, (39, 40, 41.)[79] - - THE END. - - - PRINTED AND STEREOTYPED - BY HOLMAN & GRAY - - - - -INVOCATION OF SPIRITS.[80] - - Spirits on high, or far or near, - Who happen our humble chanting to hear, - Our circle with your presence bless; - Our souls with pious emotions impress. - Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast; - Death waits for his due, and life may be past. - - In mercy teach us truth to know, - And, passing death’s portal, whither we go; - Of your abodes the wonders teach, - And how to deserve that haven to reach. - Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast; - Death’s portal may yawn, and life may be past. - - Say how far in the azure sky - The magical homes of immortals lie:[81] - Tell us how angels draw their breath— - That breathing beyond the power of death.[82] - Say, spirits, say I our sand runs fast; - Death’s warrant may come, and life may be past. - - The bliss portray which the good enjoy, - The pain and remorse which the bad annoy, - The sun which sheds on earth no rays, - Yet glorious light in heaven displays![83] - Haste and portray’ our sand runs fast; - Death’s mandate may come, and life may be past. - - -_Query to the High Spirits._ - - Throughout the azure realms of space - Do blessed spirits cheerly fly - To orbs too far for thoughts to reach, - Or Ross’ reflector to descry? - Or bide they near their natal orb, - To mingle with their mundane friends, - Striving their minds to impress with truth - Which to their future welfare tends? - - -_Reply of the Spirits._ - - ‘Tis not to orbs vastly remote - That earth-born spirits wend their flight; - About their own planet to rove - Will ever be their great delight. - Attached by love in lieu of weight, - Throughout its vast orbit they move, - Ever striving with lively zeal - The fate of mortals to improve.[84] - - -PORTUGUESE HYMN SPIRITUALIZED. - - Adeste fideles læti triumphantes, - Venite, venite in circulum - Ortam videte cœli cognoscentiam. - Venite adoremus, venite adoremus, - Venite adoremus Dominum. - - Ecce in nostro tempore quæ nata - Veritati tibi sit gloria - Patris æterni verbum clarefactum. - Venite adoremus, venite adoremus, - Venite adoremus Dominum. - - Valde exultat chorus angelorum - Resonant aulæ celestium - Gloria in excelsis Deo. - Venite adoremus, venite adoremus, - Venite adoremus Dominum. - - -_Translation of Portuguese Hymn, as altered._ - - Come hither, ye faithful, joyfully triumphing; - Come, come into a circle; - Behold, a knowledge of heaven is born to us. - Come let us adore, come let us adore our God. - - O truth, to you who art just born to us, - Let there be glory rendered, - The word of God being made evident. - Come let us adore, &c. - - Greatly does the chorus of angels exult, - Causing the temples of heaven to resound: - Glory be to God on high. - Come let us adore, &c. - - - - - NEW AND VALUABLE BOOKS - - JUST PUBLISHED BY - - PARTRIDGE AND BRITTAN, - - 300 Broadway, New York. - - -Brittan and Richmond’s Discussion. - - Four hundred pages, octavo. 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But as the position thus given does not fall into -the plane of the pulley at the back of the disk, the wheel in question -is supported upon an axle which is secured in staples or holes, and -carries a pulley just at the position where it is coincident with the -plane aforesaid. The wheel is visible in front. - -[4] _Vis inertiæ_, or force of inertness, is the force by which -a body, when at rest, resists being put into motion, or, when in -motion, resists arrestation. The force, in this latter case, is called -momentum, being directly as the weight multiplied by the velocity. -Thus, two pounds, moving at the rate of one foot per second, exercise -exactly the same momentum as one pound moving at the rate of two feet -per second. - -The force of a spring, or of explosive compounds, cannot be called -momentum; neither velocity nor weight enter into its constitution; -though, when transferred to a projectile, it produces momentum -proportional to the force with which it acts, the weight moved, and -velocity imparted. - -Muscular force does not come within the definition of momentum, -although it produces this property in a hammer, proportionably to -its weight and the resulting velocity. Nor is the force of gravity -momentum, though momentum be generated by it in falling bodies. - -[5] It is suggested that these words may be misapprehended. I use them -in the sense given by Johnson: “_Sight of any thing, commonly mental -view_.” - -I understand that evidence to be intuitive which is obtained by the -simultaneous action of the mind and the sight, and, of course, of any -other of the senses. Intuitive is derived from the Latin word _intuo_, -to look upon. “_Intuere cœlum_,” according to Cicero, means to look at -the sky. - -[6] I have since been assured by my spirit friends, that there was no -deception on the part of the medium here alluded to. It has since been -alleged by them that it was my own father who made the raps on the -small table above mentioned, when I sat at it between the two media. -It was my spirit friend, William Blodget, who rapped when the flute, -tubes, and rod were held against the door, or when the rapping appeared -to be made against the partition between the parlours. - -[7] Excepting the difference of the table represented in length, the -apparatus here described does not differ from that represented in Plate -2, which is accompanied by a description. - -[8] It may be expedient to state that the disk was counterpoised by a -weight at the smaller end of the board. This weight was suspended from -a hook at one end of a rod, which was so fastened by staples, as to -have the distance of the hook from the fulcrum adjusted so as to make -the weight counterpoise the disk exactly. - -This experiment may be understood by looking at Plate 3. The board -employed is there represented, associated with a wire-gauze cage and -spring balance. Let all these be removed in the mind’s eye. Suppose -the large disk represented in the Plate I to be affixed with its axle -to the board, near where the hook is represented as attached to the -balance. Suppose a counter-weight at the other end of the board to -balance the disk, so as to keep the board level when left to itself. -Now, the cord and weights being applied, as in the experiment with -table, (154,) on the medium placing her hands on the small end, the -results above described ensued. - -[9] Though gifted with vision, they are, nevertheless, blind. - -[10] My father was a member of the convention by which the original -constitution of the State of Pennsylvania was made. Subsequently, -he served in the legislature, and held the office of Speaker of the -Senate. His name must be associated with many of the laws of his time. -During leisure he used to amuse himself with the Latin poets and -historians, as well as with those of Great Britain and of France. The -Historical Society of Pennsylvania have lately published a journal -which he wrote of a tour, made in 1775, through New York to Canada and -Niagara Falls. - -[11] Is understood in the spheres as synonymous with gradual. - -[12] I had remarked to the company during the evening that I felt a -spirit touching my forehead. I had often before that time felt a gentle -touch upon my forehead or brow, as if touched by a feather, but I did -not know its cause, and this was the first intimation. - -[13] _Apotheosis_ from _apo_, among, and _theos_, god, having been used -to signify translation to a place among gods, might not _apo-angelosis_ -be used to signify translation to a place among angels, from _apo_, -among, and _angelos_, an angel? - -[14] - - “_Praise undeserved is satire in disguise._” - -This being manifestly true, it follows that whatever applause may be -bestowed upon an author by his spiritual advisers, as he may consider -them, will be so inverted in the mind’s eye of an unbeliever as to -have all the efficacy of satire. Under these circumstances I should be -terribly satirized were I here to give the whole of a communication -made by this benevolent philanthropic spirit, of which the following -is a part. Were I to give his sentiments in full, it would be rather -from the motive of showing how vivacious is the interest taken in the -progress of Spiritualism by certain worthies of the spirit world, and -to give another exemplification of the ardour of the spirit mind after -emerging from its mundane tenement. But the main motive for publishing -so much of the communication in question as subjoined, is the -confirmation thus afforded of the account previously given by my angel -sister, of the attendance of high spirits upon my lectures at Boston. - -This account was also confirmed by independent communications from two -other sources. Opecancanough, the Indian chief, was present, as he gave -me to understand, and without knowing the names, described some of the -parties who were present. - - -_Part of a Letter from Mrs. Gourlay to the Author._ - - PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 1854. - -“_My Dear Sir_: Having finished reading your letter, I felt a very -powerful influence indicating the presence of spirits. Accordingly, -seating myself at the instrument, [Plate I. Fig. 2,] the following -communication was rapidly given: - -“‘My dear sister, say to our beloved friend and brother that I was -present at his lectures in Boston, and was much pleased to hear him -speak so nobly and fearlessly in the holy cause of _Spiritualism_. * * -* * * * * * * * * * * - -“‘There was a great assemblage of elevated spirits convened at our -friend’s lectures in Boston. Among those whom I particularly recognised -were B. Franklin, W. E. Channing, J. Q. Adams, H. Kirk White, Byron, -Burns, Moore, Dr. Physick, Dr. Rush, Dr. Chalmers, and a host of -others. His chief supporters were his father and mother, his loving -sister Martha and brother Charles, and his friend Blodgett, Walter -Gourlay, and myself. - - W. W.’ - -“My dear friend: The above is the communication which I received, -_verbatim_, and which you will please accept for what it is worth. I -believe it came from the source whence it purports to have emanated. I -questioned W. W. regarding the nature of the marks of approbation. His -reply was, ‘We rapped several times.’ - -[15] First spiritual sphere. - -[16] This spirit, I have ascertained, was the late Mr. McIlhenny, -treasurer to the Athenæum, who died in August, 1854. I took the more -interest in this as he was my classmate, and was present at some of -the investigations which led to my conversion. I took leave of him one -evening in July, 1854, after a walk in Walnut street. He then appeared -to be nearly a convert to Spiritualism, though he did not deem it -prudent to acknowledge his opinions publicly. His remarks coincided -with those ascribed to him by the truly angelic Maria. Within the last -month Maria brought him to communicate with me. - -[17] To meet the curiosity of the reader, it may be well to say -that communications by the pen are either _impressional_—that is, -resulting from the volition of the writer, aided in the matter by the -influence of a spirit—or they are _automatic_; that is, produced by the -mechanical action of the spirits on the hand of the medium, entirely -independent of the medium’s volition. - -[18] I would state, on the authority of this lady and her relatives, -many of whom were opposed to Spiritualism, that this was the first -time that she had ever produced a poetical effusion; though it has -not been an uncommon circumstance for her, since then, when under -spiritual influence, to write page after page of extremely beautiful -and excellent composition, both in prose and verse, far surpassing in -elegance of language her natural powers of thought and fancy. - -[19] This article should have been inserted earlier, but was mislaid. - -[20] The fact that my father, my brother, my nephew, and my friend -General Cadwalader, are each residing with their mundane wives, proves -that in this world a hymeneal torch may be lighted, which may not be -extinguished by death. - -[21] I quote here the language of Samuel, the wicked pope of Judea, to -Saul, respecting the destruction of the tribe of Amalek: “Thus saith -the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he -laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and -smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them -not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, -camel and ass. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and -utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul -and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, -and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would -not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, -that they destroyed utterly.” - -One would think here was butchery enough to satisfy a devil, but it -does not satisfy the God of the Bible. Saul is deposed for giving -quarter to Agag, and not carrying his revenge so far as to destroy -the flocks and herds as well as the captive king, of whom the -blood-thirsty, blasphemous pontiff becomes himself the cold-blooded -executioner, hewing Agag to death _before the Lord_. Dr. Berg alleges -that men are assimilated to the god whom they worship. What ought then -to be the effect of worshipping the God thus described in the Bible? - -How does this comport with the extravagant precepts of Christ, -agreeably to which we are to return good for evil? - -There cannot in the history of any pagan country be found an instance -more glaring, of the unjustifiable perpetuation of revenge, than this -putting a whole people to the sword for a wrong done by their ancestors -some hundred years before. - -If examples draw us, while precepts do no more than lead, according to -the proverb, what influence are such examples of the morality of the -Bible likely to produce in those who are taught to view it as the word -of God? - -_From the pernicious influence of such religious errors may the noble -spirits of our progenitors relieve us and our offspring!_ - -[22] Shakspeare’s king, in the tragedy of Hamlet, is made to express -this correct sentiment in the midst of his villainy: “Pray I cannot, -be my inclination sharp as ‘twill.” Why? because he still retained the -objects for which he sinned. But though David had exposed Uriah to be -killed to obtain his wife, he retained her in despite of his professed -penitence. - -Yet of this man Jehovah is represented as saying, “I took thee from -the sheepcote, from following sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over -my people Israel, and I have been with thee wheresoever thou hast -walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have -made thee a name of the great men that are in earth.” - -Thus God is represented as the constant companion, and, of course, -accomplice of his butchering, robbery, and treachery: just the part -which would belong to Satan, were such an evil being to exist. He is -called to account for the murder of Uriah, but the pagans whom he -robbed and massacred were only vermin in the estimation of the Jewish -Jehovah. - -[23] In Great Britain, nearly forty millions of dollars per annum. - -[24] Perhaps, however, the high-church Episcopalians occupy middle -ground. - -[25] God is made out to be a strange bungler. Though omnipotent, he -does not make his creatures as he wishes them to be; and although -omniscient, has to subject them to trial to discover what they are. -He does not inform them of that which he wishes them to believe, but -punishes them and their children to the third and fourth generation -for his own omission. For no other reason than his having afforded to -a particular nation more knowledge of his will than he had afforded to -others, he gives them a right to extirpate their neighbours and take -possession of their lands. - -[26] “I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people -to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their -backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive -out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. I -will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land -become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By -little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be -increased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy bounds from the Red -Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the -river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; -and thou shalt drive them out before thee.” - -[27] “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not -to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance -against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the -daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” “Suppose ye that I am come -to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from -henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against -two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the -son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, -and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her -daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.“ - -[28] The fact that so many of the Israelites, assisted and of -course countenanced by Aaron, the brother of Moses, afterward made -high-priest, were thus induced to worship an idol, shows that they -were pious but ignorant. It has elsewhere been urged that any one that -worships, _means_ to _worship right_ as much as a person who _pays_ -a _debt_ means to _pay_ the _right creditor_. It argues against the -sufficiency of the facts and reasoning by which Moses supported his -pretensions to inspiration, that he had to resort to his sword in order -to prevent his people from worshipping idols. That they were sincere, -must be evident from their relinquishing their golden trinkets for the -purpose of furnishing materials for the calf. - -[29] It must be admitted that Moses does not seem to have cared whether -his soul perished or not, provided he could get enough territory on -this side of the grave, by pleading God’s sanction, and the skilful use -of the sword. He seems to have valued the favour of Jehovah only for -worldly objects. Had it been otherwise, in lieu of so much stress being -laid upon the “_promised land_,” it had been more wisely rested on the -hope of heaven. Had Moses obtained a knowledge of the spirit world, the -Sadducees had not been materialists, nor the Pharisees worldly-minded, -corrupt hypocrites, as alleged by Christ. - -[30] “Two or three years since Professor Bronn described twenty-six -thousand six hundred and seventy-eight species; and, upon an average, -one thousand species are discovered every year. M. Alcide D’Orbigny, -in 1850, stated the number of mollusks and radiated animals alone at -seventeen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven species.” - -[31] [The use of the word “demons” in the text would seem to make it -very uncertain that the Catholic school entertains the doctrine of -an individual, personal devil. When used in the plural, as it often -is, it cannot mean _the_ devil, yet both singular and plural, the -word “demon” seems to convey the same idea. Scripture commentators -make the word demon to signify a spirit, whether good or bad. But our -author does not seem to have yet become very thoroughly grounded in the -doctrine of the communion of angels with man; which will certainly be -found to be the only tangible doctrine.—TRANSLATOR.] - -[32] [Having reached this stage of our author’s remarks, his translator -begs leave to submit them to a transient review. It is evident that his -investigations in the physical demonstrations, relating to spiritual -philosophy, fall very short of the intelligence of the present time. -He seems to be a total stranger to that flood of truth and love that -has for years been pouring its blessings on the hearts and minds of -tens of thousands of delighted and grateful recipients in the Western -hemisphere, and by the very means that appear to have been fully in his -power of reaching that heavenly boon, but which were all exhausted to -convince the world that the devil has nothing to do with it. - -This is certainly a point gained on Catholic ground, and had our friend -supplied some argument equally conclusive for theologians of the -opposing school, he would probably save them the sin of making out of -the devil, by imputation, a veritable saint. - -The question will naturally arise with his readers, If the power and -intelligence do not emanate from the devil, from whom or what do they -emanate? But on this subject, from some reason that can only be guessed -at, our author, the abbot, is so far silent. The confirmed theory -of spirit intercourse, when the vehicle is mechanical or automatic, -makes the character and intelligence of the communication depend on -the communicating spirit, subject to apparent irregularities. But -our author, in his hurry perhaps to prove his favourite postulate of -excluding the devil, makes them depend on the one, as he says, who -“consults the table.” If he speaks Greek, then the table talks Greek, -and ditto for all other languages, &c. But certainly the marquis would -corner him here. He says, also, that the motive power is intercepted by -a non-conductor, as silk round the hands. Although this may be true to -some extent with feeble mediums, still the fact that tables often move -without contact with any one, must nullify the abbot’s theory, whatever -it may be.] - -[33] [This is probably correct, when the medium writes impressionally; -but exactly the reverse is true when the writing is automatic, or -mechanically controlled by the spirit.—TRANSLATOR.] - -[34] Our author seems to confound his _dramatis personæ_: he first -says it is the language of the communicant, and afterward the language -of the medium which the spirit understands. But the simple theory is, -according to the experience of the Western hemisphere, that what is -communicated depends on the intelligence of the communicating agent, -which is the spirit. That spirits, it is true, possess the clairvoyant -faculty, and can read our thoughts, but those thoughts must be clothed -in a language they understand.—TRANSLATOR. [I am under the impression -that the power of the spirit to construe our thoughts, varies with the -spirit and medium, and with the same medium under different conditions -as to health and tranquillity of mind. No invariable rule can, in my -opinion, be said to exist as to the powers of spirits to learn our -thoughts, whether we speak one language or another.—DR. HARE.]] - - -[35] This communication, as well as those immediately preceding and -following it, would have been inserted under the head of Corroborative -Evidence, page 55, &c., had they been received in time. - -[36] [According to my spirit friends, this earth forms one of them, the -first; so that there are six spirit spheres.] - -[37] Andrew Jackson Davis. - -[38] Wood-cuts of the characters alluded to in this and the succeeding -paragraphs, may be seen in Mr. Capron’s book. - -[39] “Mr. Sunderland, in his ‘Book of Human Nature,’ p. 280, says this -was the first of the spirit writing, but Mr. Capron alleges that he -was acquainted with cases of this kind long before the disturbances at -Stratford.” - -[40] Latterly, Sir David Brewster has conceived that only three -elementary species of light are requisite, according to the theory of -emission, to perform all the offices which Newton ascribed to seven. - -[41] It should be understood, that when two magnetic needles are -associated by the contact of dissimilar poles, the extreme poles do not -lose their magnetism, although it will be more feeble than when the -needles are independently situated. - -[42] _Explanation of the Galvanic Pile, Battery, or Series._—When -pieces of zinc and silver are so placed in the mouth as to have their -surfaces separated by the tongue, their extremities extending beyond -it externally, on allowing the latter to touch each other, a metallic -taste is perceived by the person whose tongue is subjected to the -process thus described. It has been ascertained that at the same time -a minute portion of the zinc is oxydized at the expense of the water -which exists in the saliva. - -Suppose a pile of plates of zinc and silver, or copper, alternating, -to be separated into couples by the interposition of moistened cloth; -each plate will on one side touch its partner, on the other side the -moistened cloth. Every couple of zinc and copper separated by the -cloth are situated as the pair above described, when separated by the -tongue, and are equally capable of giving a discharge which would be -sensible to the taste, under those circumstances. The plates which are -in metallic contact have no such disposition to discharge, because -there is no moisture to act upon them, and no diversity of electrical -state can be excited on account of their great conducting power, which -would neutralize any such excitement as soon as it could be created. -The surfaces separated by the cloth cannot discharge to each other, -because there is no conductor extending from one to the other. But -as the whole pile is a conductor of electricity, to discharge every -pair entering into its constituency it is only necessary to touch each -end simultaneously with a good conductor—a wire, for instance. The -whole series will then be discharged at once, and the energy of the -discharge is proportional to the number to be thus discharged. There -is an uncertainty and obscurity as to the precise _rationale_ of the -effect thus obtained. There is as much difference about this as there -is about the nature of matter. It will not be expedient, therefore, -in presenting a popular view, to enter upon that intricate question, -and will be enough to state the laws and facts which are admitted -generally by men of science. It is universally admitted that, if each -of the terminal plates, in such a pile or series, have a platina wire -soldered or otherwise well connected with it, the other ends of the -wires extending into some water, this liquid will be decomposed, and -a similar decomposition may, directly or indirectly, be effected of -various substances held in solution by water, as well as substances -liquified by heat. Moreover, when the same wire is made to form the -means of discharge by extending from one terminal plate to the other, -it acquires the property of attracting iron filings, and, so long as -the discharge through it is sustained, will cause the compass needle -to arrange itself always at right angles to the wire. Under these -circumstances, according to the Franklinian theory, a current of -electricity passes from the positive to the negative pole; according to -the theory of Dufay, a fluid proceeding from each pole, they combine -in the wire. According to the view above given, two opposite waves of -polarization pass, by which the metallic atoms or particles are shifted -from their natural position, so as to act externally, as already stated. - -It is not, I believe, known to whom the world is indebted for the -fundamental observation in galvanism, made, as has been mentioned, -by the assistance of the tongue and plates of silver and zinc. -Subsequently, Galvani, probably without any reference to this -phenomenon, ascertained some other consequences of the reaction of -the elementary pair; but to Volta we owe the pile or series above -described. In whatever form voltaic series may have been subsequently -constructed, the main principles are the same, the reaction of chemical -agents so arranged in succession as to be productive of that intensity -of discharge, and powers of decomposition, to which allusion has been -made. - -These have latterly been called electrolytic; and decomposition, by the -voltaic series, has been called electrolysis, by Farraday—a beautiful, -well-conceived, and expressive word. (See Essay on Electrical Theory, -in the Appendix.) - -[43] It were absurd to draw any conclusion from this, that -incomprehensibility is a reason for believing the miracles ascribed to -Mohammed or any other religious impostor. That we cannot understand how -a result is accomplished is no reason for disbelieving it in opposition -to the evidence of our senses; but, at the same time, it forms no -reason for believing, of itself, but is rather a clog upon belief, when -intuitively awakened. - -[44] In this last sense it is used as synonymous with essence. By -chemists, latterly, spirit of turpentine is called oil of turpentine. -All the volatile oils obtained by delicate distillation, usually with -water, like oil of turpentine, are called essential oils or essences. - -As respects the employment of language to express ideas when a new -view is originated, there is a choice of evils; we are placed between -Scylla and Charybdis. There is no alternative but to use an old word in -a sense more or less new, or to coin a new one. In either case there -is a manifest disadvantage; and the question arises, shall we teach -a new meaning for an old word, or present to those to whom we would -convey our ideas a new idea with a new word to designate it? The word -matter, it will be found, has, in Webster’s dictionary, ten meanings -assigned to it. Though in some of its acceptations it may be considered -as applicable to every thing that exists, so as to qualify space so -far as to distinguish it from nihility. Nevertheless, it has been used -as distinguishing those substances which are neither spiritual nor -mental. The antagonism of spirit and matter in the words, “There is -a spiritual body and a material body,” is not warranted in chemistry, -since the distillate or spirit evolved by distillation is a material -body, however it may be more volatile or of less density than the -_caput mortuum_ left in the alembic or retort. - -[45] It is a remarkable fact that, although in later times the Jews -have been so frequently named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does -not appear to have been customary during the time which intervened -between the supposed era of Moses and that of the finding of the -Pentateuch in the temple. - -This serves to show that the Pentateuch is a fabrication of the -priesthood and King Josiah. - -[46] The following trash is thus made to be specified by the God -of the universe:—gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, goats’ hair, -red rams’-skins, badger skins, shittim-wood, oil for light, oil for -anointing, spices, sweet incense, onyx-stones, shew-bread, candlesticks -with six branches, almond-shaped bowls with a knop and a flower, knop -and branches of beaten gold, seven lamps, large dishes, curtains of -fine linen, spoons, cherubims of gold. Eight columns, nearly one -hundred verses, are taken up with this mummery, expressly directed by -Jehovah himself. - -Now, let the use Moses made of his opportunities be compared with that -which I have made of those afforded me by the spirits, and then judge -between Spiritualism and self-called orthodoxy. - -[47] “Nec ab ipso scriptum constat, nec ab ejus apostolis sed longo -post tempore a quibusdam incerti nominis viris, qui ne sibi non -haberetur fides scribentibus quæ nescirent, partim apostolorum, -partim eorum que apostolos secuti viderentur nomina scriptorum suorum -frontibus indiderunt, asseverantes SECUNDUM cos, se scripsisse quæ -scripserunt.—_Quoted by Lardner_, vol. 2, p. 221. - -[48] “By _all persons_, understanding strictly all _parsons_, for the -common people were _nobody_, and never at any time had any voice, -judgment, or option in the business of religion, but always believed -that which their godfathers and godmothers did promise and vow that -they should believe. God or devil, and any Scriptures their masters -pleased, were always all one to them. - -[49] “‘_Almost from the apostolic age!_’ Why, the text itself, if it -prove any thing, proves that such forged writings were in existence -absolutely IN the apostolic age, and among the apostles themselves. - -[50] “Omnia quæ Christianismo conducere putabant bibliis suis -interseruerunt.—_Tindalio citante._ - -[51] “Si forte accidisset, ut Johannis Evangelium per octodecim secula -priora prosus ignotum jacuisset, et nostris demum temporibus, in -modium productum esset omnes haud dubie uno ore confiterentur Jesum a -Johanne descriptum longe alium esse ac illium Matthæi, Marci, et Lucæ, -nec utramque descriptionem simul veram esse posse.—_Carol. Theoph. -Bretschneider Probab, Lipsiæ_, 1820. - -[52] “Here it is. ‘Messala V. C. consule, Constantinopoli, jubente -Anastasia Imperatore, sancta evangelia, tanquam ab idiotis evangelistis -composita, reprehenduntur et emendantur.’—_Victor Tununensis, Cave’s -Historia Literaria_, vol. i. p. 415—i. e., ‘_The illustrious Messala -being Consul, by the command of the Emperor Anastasias, the holy -Gospels, as having been written by idiot evangelists, are censured and -corrected._’—Victor, Bishop of Tunis in Africa. - -[53] “See Beausobre, quoted in the Manifesto of the Christian Society; -and this and the preceding extract vindicated, in the author’s -Syntagma, against the vituperations of the evangelical Dr. John Pye -Smith, _in locis_.” - -[54] Josephus, book iv. chap. ii. page 49. - -[55] Ibid. book iv. chap. vi. page 53. - -[56] Josephus, book iv. chap. viii. page 55. - -[57] See vol. ii. page 42, Huc’s Travels. - -[58] According to Farraday’s researches and general experience, we have -reason to believe that all particles of matter are endowed with one or -the other of two species of polarity. This word polarity conveys the -idea that two terminations in each particle are respectively endowed -with forces which are analogous, but contrary in their nature; so -that of any two homogeneous particles, the similar poles repel each -other, while the dissimilar attract; likewise, when freely suspended, -they take a certain position relatively to each other, and on due -proximity, the opposite polar forces, counteracting each other, appear -to be extinct. When deranged from this natural state of reciprocal -neutralization, their liberated poles react with the particles of -adjacent bodies, or those in the surrounding medium. Under these -circumstances, any body which may be constituted of the particles thus -reacting is said to be polarized, or in a state of polarization. - -Statical implies stationary; undulatory, wave-like. - -[59] Communicated to the American Philosophical Society. - -[60] The words gyration, vortex, and whirl are considered as -synonymous, and used indifferently to avoid monotony. - -[61] I consider a wire as galvanized, when it is made the medium of the -discharge from a galvanic battery. - -[62] In some electro-magnetic apparatus, the polarity of an -electro-magnet is reversed more than 100 times in a second. - -[63] See Silliman’s Journal, vol. xxxviii. p. 215, 1840. - -[64] This seems to have been entirely overlooked in his suggestions -respecting the nature of material atoms. It appears to me that the -characteristics thus insisted upon are incompatible with the idea that -each property is of itself a diffusible matter, and that in such atoms -two polarities can exist inseparable from each other. - -[65] Pouillet suggests that when the passage of a ray of light through -glass, is influenced by a powerful magnet, agreeably to the experiments -of Farraday, “consistently with the undulatory theory of light, it -is the ether of the body submitted to the experiment, which would be -modified by the magnetism, and that it would be very difficult to -recognise whether it is modified without any participation of the -ponderable matter with which it is so intimately connected.” Thus -the existence of matter, composed of ethereal as well as ponderable -particles, is sustained by all the evidence which has been brought to -uphold the undulatory theory of light.—_L. & E. Phil. Mag._ &c., for -1846, vol. xxviii., page 335. - -[66] The word statical has been used to designate phenomena which are -the effects of electricity when at rest, as when accumulated upon -conductors or the surfaces of panes or jars. Phenomena which are -supposed to arise from electricity in motion (forming a current) are -designated as dynamic. Thus, when charging one side of a pane produces -the opposite state in the other, the effect upon the latter is ascribed -to _statical_ induction; but when a discharge of electricity through -one wire, causes a current in another, forming an adjacent circuit, the -result is ascribed to _dynamic_ induction. This method of designation -is employed whether the alleged current be owing to electricity -generated by friction, as in the case of a machine, or generated by -chemical reaction, as in the case of a galvanic battery. A good word -is wanting to distinguish electricity, when produced by friction, -from electricity produced by galvano-chemical reaction: for want of a -better, I will resort to that employed by Noad, (_frictional_,) which -has the advantage of being self-explanatory. - -[67] As the word ether is used in various senses, the syllables -“_electro_” being prefixed, serve to designate that which is intended. - -[68] See my communication on “_Free Electricity_,” in Silliman’s -American Journal of Science, vol. iii., New Series, number for May, -1847. - -[69] The sectional area of a conductor is the area of the superficies -which would be exposed by cutting it through at right angles to its -axis. - -[70] According to Colomb’s experiments, electrical attraction and -repulsion are inversely as the squares of the distances: ought not the -inductive power of statical charges which is produced by those forces, -and which precedes and determines the length of the resulting spark, to -obey the same law? - -If this calculation be correct, the intensity must be as the squares of -the striking distances, as indicated by sparks. - -It may be urged that the striking distances, as measured by the length -of the sparks, is in the compound ratio of the quantity and intensity. -As to the quantity, however, galvanic sources have always been treated -as pre-eminent in efficacy, so that on that side there could be no -disparity. Moreover, I have found, that in galvanic apparatus of only -one, or even of two pairs, as in the calorimotors, the intensity -lessened as the surfaces were enlarged. By a pair of fifty square feet -of zinc surface, a white heat could not be produced in a wire of any -size, however small. The calorific power of such apparatus can only be -made evident by the production of a comparatively very low temperature, -in a comparatively very large mass. - -[71] Suppose a number of boys and girls, associated as partners for a -dance, to stand up in a row, severally united, and distinguished into -couples by those joining hands; the sexes being regularly alternating, -so that no two of the same sex should be hand in hand. Under these -conditions no effort to take a boy from one end of the row, or a -girl from the other end, could be effected with the consent of the -couples concerned, both partners in which would thus be deprived of -the power of joining in the dance. But should it be understood that -only an exchange of partners was all that should be intended, and, -consistently, a boy from one end and a girl from the other end of the -row, taken simultaneously and allowed to form a couple, forthwith, the -rest merely shifting their hands from one neighbour to another, there -would no longer be the same motive for resistance and the required -exchange might be cheerfully accomplished. - -[72] By a void I mean a Torrecellian vacuum. The omnipresence of the -electro-ether must render the existence of a perfect void impossible. - -[73] It is well known that Wollaston effected the decomposition of -water by the aid of a powerful electrical machine. Having enclosed -platina wires within glass tubes, these were fused so as to cover the -ends. The glass was afterward so far removed, by grinding, as to expose -minute metallic points to the liquid. Under these circumstances, the -electricity conveyed by the wires, being prevented from proceeding -over them superficially, was obliged to make its way through the -ethereo-ponderable matter of which metals consist. Instead of proving -the identity of galvanism with frictional electricity, this experiment -shows that in one characteristic, at least, there is a discordancy. -At the same time it may indicate that ethereal may give rise to -ethereo-ponderable undulations. - -[74] Agreeably to experiments of Farraday, the particles of a glass -prism may be as influenced by an electro-magnet as to affect the -passage of polarized light. - -[75] L. and E. Phil. Mag. and Jour., vol. xlv. p. 383, 1844. - -[76] These phenomena excite more interest in consequence of the -employment, for medical purposes, of an apparatus originally contrived -by Callan, but since ingeniously modified by our countryman, Dr. -Page, into a form which has been designated as the electrotome. A -coil of coarse copper wire, covered with cotton, like bonnet wire, is -wound about a wooden cylinder. Around the coil thus formed, a coil of -fine copper wire similarly covered is wound, leaving the extremities -accessible. One end of the coarse coil communicating constantly with -one pole of a galvanic battery, the other end is left free; so that -by scraping with it the teeth of a rasp attached to the other pole, -a rapid closing and opening of the circuit may be effected. Under -these circumstances, an observer, holding the ends of the fine coil, -receives shocks more or less severe, according to the construction of -the battery, the energy of the agents employed to excite it, or the -total weight and relative dimensions of the coils as to length and -sectional area. Agreeably to the received doctrine, the shocks thus -produced are owing to secondary currents caused by dynamic induction. -Agreeably to the hypothesis which I have advanced, the atoms of the -coarse wire, polarized by waves proceeding from the poles of the -battery, induce a corresponding polarization of the atoms of the fine -wire; the aggregate polarity imparted being as the number of atoms -in the former to the number of atoms in the latter: or (to use an -equivalent ratio) as the weight of the coarse, to the weight of the -fine wire. But as on breaking the circuit through the coarse wire, the -ethereo-ponderable atoms in both wires resume their neutral positions, -while this requires each circuit to be run through within the same -minute interval, the velocities of their respective waves will be -inversely as their sectional areas and directly as their lengths: in -other words, the velocity in the fine wire will be as much greater -as the channel which it affords is narrower and longer. The cylinder -included within the coils as above stated being removed, a cylindrical -space is vacated. If into the cavity thus made iron rods, like knitting -needles, be introduced, one after the other, while the apparatus is in -operation, the shocks increase in severity as the number augments; so -that from being supportable they may be rendered intolerable. The shock -takes place without the presence of iron, but is much increased by its -assistance.[77] - -These facts appear to me to justify a surmise that the -ethereo-ponderable atoms of iron, in becoming magnetized and -demagnetized, co-operate with the ethereo-ponderable atoms of the -copper coils in the induction of secondary undulations. It is conceived -that these may be owing to the intestinal change attended by sound, -as above stated, (73;) this being caused by a sudden approximation of -the poles of the atoms, previously moved apart by the influence of the -galvanized coil. But if this sudden coming together of the previously -separated poles of atoms within a magnetized cylinder of iron, can -contribute to the energy of secondary waves, it is consistent to infer -that these waves owe their origin to an analogous approximation of -the separated poles of the cupreous atoms, forming the finer coil, in -which the secondary undulations may be created without the presence of -iron. Of course, this reasoning will apply to all cases in which the -phenomena hitherto attributed to Farradian currents are the result of -dynamic induction. - -Thus it appears that the polarization of magnets, and that created -and sustained when a galvanized coil or helix acts upon another in -proximity, have the same relation to galvanic discharges that the -charges upon insulated surfaces have to their appropriate discharges. -The permanent magnetism of steel seems to have some analogy with the -charge upon a coated pane, while we may consider as analogous with -the charges upon insulated conductors, already adverted to, (61, 62,) -that state of the ethereo-ponderable particles, (38,) of a wire helix, -which _state_, resulting from the influence of an included magnet, -or neighbouring galvanized coil, and being discharged on a change of -relative position, or breach of the galvanizing circuit, is productive -of spark, shock, ignition, or electrolysis, as exemplified by Callan’s -coil, Page’s electrotome, or the magneto-electric machine. - -[77] Agreeably to the usual construction, the cylinder about which the -inner coarse wire coil is wound is originally of iron, so that there is -as much of this metal contained as it can hold. Various contrivances -are resorted to for the closing and opening of the circuit, which are -more ingenious and convenient than scraping a rasp, as above described. - -[78] American Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 121, 1826. - -[79] It is well known that if a rod of iron be included in a coil -of coated copper wire, on making the coil the medium of a voltaic -discharge, the wire is magnetized. Agreeably to a communication from -Joule, in the L. & E. Phil. Mag. & Jour. for Feb,, 1847, the bar is at -the same time lengthened, without any augmentation of bulk, so that its -other dimensions must be lessened in proportion to the elongation. - -All these facts tend to prove that a change in the relative position -of the constituent ethereo-ponderable atoms of iron accompanies its -magnetization, either as an immediate cause or as a collateral effect. - -[80] To the tune of Moore’s “Canadian Boat Song.” - -[81] See paragraph 410. - -[82] See paragraph 449. - -[83] See paragraph 415. - -[84] Tune “Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon.” - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE -SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS *** - -***** This file should be named 64160-0.txt or 64160-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/6/64160/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Robert Hare</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 28, 2020 [eBook #64160]</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS ***</div> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and -punctuation remains unchanged.</p> - -<p>There is no anchor for footnote 5 on page 35 (containing paras 122,123 -and 124), so the anchor has been placed at the end of para 122.</p> - -<p>Vail has been corrected to veil throughout.</p> - -<p>The cover was prepared by the transcriber and is placed in the public -domain.</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h1> -EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION<br /> - -<span class="xsm">OF THE</span><br /> - -SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS,</h1> - -<p class="center xsm">DEMONSTRATING</p> - -<p class="center">THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS AND THEIR COMMUNION -WITH MORTALS.</p> - -<p class="center">DOCTRINE OF THE SPIRIT WORLD RESPECTING HEAVEN, HELL, -MORALITY, AND GOD.</p> - -<p class="center xsm">ALSO,</p> - -<p class="center">Influence of Scripture on the Morals of Christians.</p> - - -<p class="center p2">BY</p> - -<p class="center">ROBERT HARE, M.D.</p> - -<p class="center xsm">EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, GRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE -AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, AND -MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES.</p> - -<p class="center xsm p2"><i lang="la">Verba animi proferre</i>, vitam impendere vero.</p> - -<p class="center xsm">Denounce dark Error and bright Truth proclaim, -Though ghastly Death oppose, with threat’ning aim.</p> - - -<p class="center p2">NEW YORK:<br /> -<span class="sm">PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, 342 BROADWAY.<br /> -1855.</span> -</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<p class="center sm bt"> -Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1855, by<br /> - -MARGARET B. GOURLAY,</p> - -<p class="center sm bb">in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern<br /> -District of Pennsylvania.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>1</span></p> - -<p><a id="PLATE_I"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="iplatei" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_plate_i.jpg" alt="Plate I" /> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot sm"> -<p class="center">PLATE I.</p> - -<p><i>Engraving and description of the apparatus, which, being contrived for the purpose of -determining whether the manifestations attributed to spirits could be made without mortal -aid, by deciding the question affirmatively, led to the author’s conversion.</i></p> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) PLATE I. <span class="smcap">Fig. 1</span>, is an engraving from a photograph of the apparatus above alluded to. The -disk <i>A</i> is represented as supported upon a rod of iron forming the axis on which it turns. To the -outer end of this rod, the index <i>B</i> is affixed, so as to be stationary in a vertical position; the upper -termination situated just in front of the letters. These are placed around the margin of the disk. -The cord <i>C</i> encircles the pulley situated about the centre of the disk, like a hub to a carriage wheel. -The ends of the cord are severally tied to weights, which, when the table is tilted, react against each -other through the pulley; one being so large as to be immovable, the other so small as to be lifted. -Of course a hook in the floor may be substituted for the larger weight.</p> - - -<p class="center">PEASE’S APPARATUS.</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) The relative position of the medium, and that of the screen intercepting her view of the disk, -are too conspicuous to require particularization.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fig. 2</span>, represents Pease’s disk, or dial apparatus, associated with a vibrating lever and stand contrived -by myself. The whole, thus modified, has been named the Spiritoscope.</p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) The apparatus thus designated consists of a box <i>F</i>, which is a miniature representation of a -low, square, four sided house, with a single sloping roof, but without any floor closing it at the -bottom.</p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) On the outside of the part serving as the roof, the alphabetic dial is depicted. On the inner -surface of the roof board, the spring, pulley, and strings are attached, by which the index is made to -revolve, so as to point out any letter.</p> - -<p>(<i>e</i>) <i>G</i> represents the vibrating lever upon which the medium’s hands are placed. When test conditions -are not requisite, her hands should be situated so as that merely one-half may be on each side -of the fulcrum wire, on which the lever turns. When test conditions are requisite, the hands should -be altogether on the portion of the board which is between the exterior end of the board and the -fulcrum. When thus placed, it is utterly impossible to move the lever so as to cause it to select letters, -or to control the selection, by any spirit who may be employing them to make a communication.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>(<i>f</i>) Not only are the letters of the alphabet printed equidistant, in due order, on the margin of the -disk or dial-face; there are likewise words, the digits, and notes of music.</p> - -<p>(<i>g</i>) The words are as follows: <i>Yes</i>—<i>Doubtful</i>—<i>No</i>—<i>Don’t know</i>—<i>I think so</i>—<i>A mistake</i>—<i>I’ll spell it -over</i>—<i>A message</i>—<i>Done</i>—<i>I’ll come again</i>—<i>Good-bye</i>—<i>I must leave</i>. These words are printed on equidistant -radial lines, nearly dividing the area between them. The digits are printed on radial lines -intermediate between those on which the words appear.</p> - -<p>Five concentric circular lines, dividing the margin into as many smaller portions, as in music paper, -serve for the inditing of musical notes; respecting which the directions are given by Pease upon a -printed slip of paper pasted inside.</p> - -<p>(<i>h</i>) The index in this instrument is secured upon the outer end of a pivot supporting a pulley of -about ¾ of an inch in diameter. The spring consists of a coil of brass wire, of which one end is fastened -into the inside of the roof-board (<i>c</i>) of which the outside forms the surface for the letters, &c., -while the other end of the wire is prolonged beyond the coil to about 2½ inches, and, by means of -a loop, has a string of catgut tied to it securely. This string is fastened to a perforation in the pivot. -Another piece of the same kind of string is fastened to the circumference of the pulley. The pivot -being turned so as to wind upon it the string proceeding from the spring, and thus constraining it so -as to make it capable of effectual recoil from the pulley, the latter may, with a little care, be made, -as the spring recoils, to wind about it another string duly attached to its circumference. The strings -being thus wound, (one to the right, the other to the left,) when the string attached to the pulley is -pulled from the outside of the box, it is unwound therefrom, and meanwhile winds that attached to -the spring upon the pivot. The reaction of the spring, when left to itself, reverses this process, producing -the opposite revolution in the pulley. The index attached to the pivot of course turns in one -direction or the other, as the pivot is actuated by the drawing out or retraction of the string which -proceeds from it. This, at the outer end, is tied to a ring, which prevents it from receding into the -box.</p> - -<p>(<i>i</i>) It is surprising with what readiness a spirit, even when unused to the apparatus, will, by moving -the lever, actuate the index, causing it to point to the letters, words, or figures distributed on the face -of the disk, as above mentioned.</p> - -<p>(<i>j</i>) The apparatus of Pease above described, agreeably to the design of the maker, operates by -means of a string extending from the brass ring, in which the pulley string terminates externally, -to a weight situated upon the floor, so as to be taut when at rest. When this arrangement is made, -tilting of the table, by raising the end at which the box is situated, causes the weight to pull the -string, and of course to induce the revolution of the pulley, its pivot, and corresponding index. The -restoration of the table to its usual position reverses the motion. Hence by these means the index -may be moved either way, as requisite for the selection of the letters required for communicating.</p> - -<p>(<i>k</i>) The other figure in the same plate represents Pease’s disk apparatus, so arranged, as to be affixed -to any table of moderate dimensions. The fulcrum on which the lever vibrates is so made as to be -affixed to one of the table’s edges by clamps, while the disk, situated in a vertical plane, is supported -by a bar which has a clamp to secure it to the table, while to the disk it is fastened by being introduced -into square staples, made to receive it securely, in a mode resembling that by which a square -bolt is secured. Under the vibrating lever, a hollow wire is fastened by staples, so as to receive a solid -wire, which can be made to slide farther in or out, and thus adjust itself to the distance.]</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>2</span></p> - -<p><a id="PLATE_II"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="iplateii" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_plate_ii.jpg" alt="Plate II" /> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot sm"> - - -<p class="center">PLATE II.</p> - - -<p><i>Description of the instrument by which spirits were enabled to move a table under the -influence of mediumship, yet in no wise under the control of the medium employed, even -clairvoyance being nullified.</i></p> - -<p>(<i>i</i>) The table is about six feet in length, and sixteen inches in width, so contrived -as to separate into three parts for conveniency of carriage.</p> - -<p>(<i>j</i>) The pair of legs under the right side are upon castors. Those on the left side -upon an axle, passing through perforations suitably made for its reception. The -axle consists of a rod of about ½ of an inch in thickness. The axle serves for two -wheels of about six inches diameter, of which one is grooved. A disk, already described -as appertaining to apparatus in a preceding page, is secured upon a pivot -affixed to a strip of wood, which is made to slide between two other strips attached -to the frame of the table just under the top board. By these means, the band embraces -both the hub of the disk and the wheel; when this turns in consequence of -the shoving of the table horizontally along the floor, the disk turns with the wheel, -and as much faster as the circumference of the groove in the hub, is less than that -of the groove in the wheel.</p> - -<p>(<i>k</i>) The index is in this apparatus situated precisely as in that described in Plate -I.; and any mortal having due hold of the table, may, by shoving it one way or the -other, bring any letter under the index, so as to spell out any desired word. But no -person, sitting as the medium is in the engraving represented to sit, with the plate -on two balls, can actuate the disk so as to spell out words as above mentioned. Utterly -incapacitated from moving the table, it were manifestly impossible to actuate -the disk, or to interfere with the movements otherwise imparted.</p> - -<p>(<i>l</i>) In the employment of the apparatus (Plate I.) it has been suggested that -through clairvoyance the medium might see the letters, despite of the screen, or -might learn them from the mind of the observer; but in this case the medium sees -the letters without the aid of clairvoyancy; but this power does not account for the -regulation of the manifestations; since, even seeing the letters, they cannot control -the movements so as to give to the intuitive power thus exercised any efficacy.</p> - -<p>(<i>m</i>) On the surface of the table, on the right, may be seen a board upon castors. -This was contrived as a substitute for the plate on balls. The castors, of course, -perform the same office as the balls in allowing a solid material communication between -the hands of the medium and the table, without giving the power to induce -or control the movement. Evidently, though by any horizontal impulse the medium -might cause the castors to turn and the board to move in consequence, the force -necessary to effect this must fall short of that requisite to move the table.</p> - -<p>(<i>n</i>) In point of fact, the board, when under the plate, balls, and hands of the medium, -was often moved rapidly to and fro, without moving the table. To move this -under such conditions without moving the board or tray, required a distinct spiritual -process, of much greater difficulty, and which some spirits were either <i>unwilling</i> or -<i>unable</i> to employ successfully.</p> - -<p>See “Mediumship” in this work. See also 164, 166.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<p><a id="PLATE_III"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp78" id="iplateiii" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_plate_iii.jpg" alt="Plate III" /> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot sm"> -<p class="center">PLATE III.</p> - -<p>(<i>o</i>) On the opposite page is a representation of an experiment, in which the medium -was prevented from having any other communication with the apparatus, -actuated under his mediumship, excepting through water. Yet under these circumstances -the spring balance indicated the exertion of a force equal to 18 pounds.</p> - -<p>(<i>p</i>) A board is supported on a rod so as to make it serve as a fulcrum, as in a -see-saw, excepting that the fulcrum is at the distance of only a foot from one end, -while it is three feet from the other. This end is supported by a spring-balance -which indicates pounds and ounces by a rotary index.</p> - -<p>(<i>q</i>) Upon the board, at about six inches from the fulcrum, there is a hole into -which the knob of an inverted glass vase, nine inches in diameter, is inserted.</p> - -<p>(<i>r</i>) Upon two iron rods proceeding vertically from a board resting on the floor, -so as to have one on each side of the vase, a cage of wire, such as is used to defend -food from flies, of about five inches diameter, is upheld [inverted] by the rod within -the vase concentrically, so as to leave between it and the sides of the vase an interstice -of an inch nearly, and an interval of an inch and a half between it and the -bottom of the vase.</p> - -<p>(<i>s</i>) The vase being filled with water until within an inch of the brim, the medium’s -hands were introduced into the cage and thus secured from touching the vase.</p> - -<p>(<i>t</i>) These arrangements being made, the spirits were invoked to show their -power, when repeatedly the spring-balance indicated an augmentation of weight -equal to three pounds. The relative distances of the vase and balance from the -fulcrum being as 6 to 36, the force exerted must have been 3 × 6 = 18 pounds; -yet the medium did not appear to be subjected to any reaction, and declared that he -experienced none.</p> - -<p>(<i>u</i>) It was on stating this result to the Association for the Advancement of Science, -that I met with much the same reception as the King of Ava gave to the Dutch ambassador, -who alleged water to be at times solidified in his country, by cold, so as -to be walked upon.</p> - -<p>(<i>v</i>) The belief in spiritual agency was treated as a mental disease, with which I, -of course, had been infected; those who made this charge being perfectly unconscious -that their education has associated morbid incredulity with bigoted and fanatical -credence.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>3</span></p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<p><a id="PLATE_IV"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="iplateiv" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_plate_iv.jpg" alt="Plate IV" /> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot sm"> -<p class="center">PLATE IV.</p> - - -<p>(<i>x</i>) The apparatus of which the opposite cuts afford a representation are spiritoscopes, under modifications -to which I resorted subsequently to the contrivance in which Pease’s dial is employed. For -Pease’s “dial,” disks are substituted, resembling those originally employed by me, as represented in -Plates I. and II. These last mentioned, however, were made to revolve under the index; while in -Pease’s apparatus the index revolves, the disk remaining at rest. The advantage of having the disk -to revolve is, that the letter is always to be looked for, within the same space; whereas in operating -with the other the eye has to follow the index through all its rapid movements.</p> - -<p>(<i>y</i>) The convenience and economy of casting the disks of iron was deemed a sufficient motive for -resorting to the rotation of the index; as when made of that metal the disk becomes too heavy to be -rotated with ease, first one way and then another.</p> - -<p>(<i>z</i>) In <span class="smcap">Fig. 1</span> the vibrating lever is resorted to, and the process is precisely the same as that already -described, in which Pease’s dial is associated with the same mechanism.</p> - -<p>(<i>aa</i>) The words on the dial faces in Figures 1 and 2 are somewhat abbreviated.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>(<i>bb</i>) The rod <i>R</i> slides in staples, so as to be made to extend farther or nearer from the fulcrum. The -legs on which the disk is supported, which are a part of the casing, terminate below in a socket which -fits upon a plug screwed into the base-board; upon this plug it may be fastened by the set screw (<i>s</i>). -By sliding the rod (<i>r</i>) inward, the disk may be turned half round upon the plug, so as to place the -lettered surface out of the sight of the medium, whose power to influence the communications is thus -nullified. This is one mode of attaining test conditions; in other words, those conditions which make -it impossible that the communications received should be due to any mortal, (151 to 166,) unless, as -gratuitously and erroneously, as I believe, alleged, the medium by clairvoyancy sees the letters.</p> - -<p>(<i>cc</i>) By another method test conditions are obtained which are not exposed to this evil.</p> - -<p>(<i>dd</i>) The method to which I allude has been explained in the description of Plate I. in reference to -the spiritoscope formed with the aid of a Pease’s disk, paragraph (<i>e</i>). The process is the same in the -employment of Fig. 1 Plate IV. under consideration. It may be better understood in this case, as the -illustration of the lever board <i>L</i> is more conspicuous. In the ordinary mode of operating without test -conditions, the hand of the medium is so situated as to have nearly half of it beyond the fulcrum, -marked by the line <i>F L</i>. When test conditions are imposed, the tips of the fingers only reach to that -line, without going beyond it. Situated as last mentioned, the medium to whom they appertain cannot -move the rod <i>R</i>, because it is already against the lower edge of the disk, which prevents it from -moving upwards. In the opposite direction the medium can create no pressure, since her efforts could -only tend to lift her hand, <i>per se</i>, from the disk. It is important that the reader should pay attention -to this exposition, as the conditions thus made evident are often appealed to as one proof, among -others, that my information and credentials are from the immortal worthies of the spirit world.</p> - -<p>(<i>ee</i>) <span class="smcap">Fig. 2</span> is analogous in its mode of operating, to the apparatus represented in Plate II. It is in -the substitution of a small board for a table that the principal difference consists.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The board requires -only to be large enough to allow the hands to rest upon it in front of the disk. The index is actuated -by a horizontal motion to and fro, which, as in the apparatus, Plate II., causes the rotation of a supporting -wheel, which by means of a band communicates rotation to a pulley supported behind the -disk on the pivot to which the index is secured in front. The sliding pulley <i>P</i> being fastened at a -due distance from the disk (<i>o</i>), is used to keep the band tight.</p> - -<p>(<i>ff</i>) This instrument is preferred by the spirits, and is easier for a feeble medium to employ effectually. -I cannot as yet avail myself of Fig. 1; through Fig. 2 I have had some interesting tests.</p> - -<p>(<i>gg</i>) This form, then, is best for incipient mediumship.</p> - -<p>(<i>hh</i>) <span class="smcap">Fig. 2</span> may be employed under test conditions, by so situating it as that the dial shall be on -the side opposite to that where the medium sits; under these circumstances she cannot see the index -or the letters, and consequently cannot control the spelling of spirits, so as to give results from her -own mind instead of theirs. This mode of testing does not preclude the subterfuge, so often resorted -to, of clairvoyant power, enabling the medium to see through the cast-iron, or read the letters in the -minds of the bystanders. This power I have never witnessed; yet it is absurdly attributed to media -who, as well as all their friends, are ignorant of the existence of any such power.</p> - -<p>(<i>ii</i>) Another mode of testing is that illustrated in Plate II., where a plate upon two balls supports -the hands of the medium, and forms the only means of conducting communication between the medium -and apparatus. It may be easily conceived that instead of the hands being placed upon the -board, the plate and balls being interposed, the hands of the medium may be supported over the board -of Fig. 2. as they are represented to be supported over the table in Fig. 1, Plate II.</p> - -<p>See 167, 169, 172, 177, 196.</p> - -<p>(<i>kk</i>) <span class="smcap">Fig. 3</span>, Plate IV., is a representation of an association of serrated strips of iron in a wooden frame, -which sliding on the lever board of Fig. 1, so as to have the saws just above the back of the hand of -the medium, is found to increase the efficacy of the mediumship. It is only of importance to use it -when test conditions are requisite, as explained already, Fig. 1, (<i>hh</i>). The rationale, so far as it can be -suggested, will be stated under the head of mediumship. It will be perceived that the size of the -frame is not in due proportion to the lever board, being upon a larger scale. But this renders it more -conspicuous, and the reader can easily conceive its size to be such as to allow the grooves in the -wooden sides of the frame to receive the edges of the lever board <i>L</i>, and thus to be secured firmly -thereupon.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>4</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>5</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdrb"></td> -<td class="tdrb"><small>PAGE</small></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Preface.</span>—Letter from J. F. Lanning, Esq.—Spiritual communication, through the -mediumship of Mr. Lanning, to the author—Author’s Reply—Communication -from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning, under test conditions, the credentials -transmitted through Mr. Lanning—Postscript by the author—Supplemental Preface</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Introduction.</span>—The evidence of the existence of a Deity, by the author—Theological -Axioms</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Intuitive Evidence of the Existence of Spirits.</span>—Narrative of the author’s -experimental investigation of Spiritualism—Letter in reply to an inquiry respecting -the Influence of Electricity in Table-Turning—Of Manifestations founded on -Movements without contact, or such contact as cannot be sufficient to cause the -result—Hymn chanted, and reply</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Corroborative Evidence of the Existence of Spirits.</span>—Evidence afforded by -the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass.—Evidence of Dr. Bell, of Somerville, -near Boston—His errors, arising from ignorance of facts, (110, 283, 864.)</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Foreign Corroborative Evidence of the Existence of Spirits.</span>—Manifestations -which occurred in France in 1851—Letter from T. R. P. Ventura—Letter of -Dr. Coze—Letter of M. F. De Saulcy—Spiritualism in Paris—Spiritual Manifestations -in France and Germany—Spiritualism in Great Britain—Letter of Robert -Owen, Esq.</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Communications from the Spirit World.</span>—Remarks introductory to my spirit -father’s communication—My father’s communication—Communication from a spirit -son of the author—Additional communications from spirits who died while infants—Communication -from a very young spirit child to its parents</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Of Spiritual Birth.</span>—Narratives given by spirits of their translation to the spirit -world—Narrative of his spiritual birth, by W. W., a most benevolent spirit—The -spirit Maria’s narrative—My sister’s account of her translation to the spirit world—My -brother’s account of his spiritual birth, &c.</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Convocation of Spirits.</span>—Sixty-four queries addressed to a convocation of worthies -from the spirit world; also their replies to the same, (through the mediumship of -Mrs. Gourlay,) confirmed under conditions which no mortal could pervert</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Exposition of the Information received from the Spirit World</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Apology for my Conversion.</span>—Reasons for my change of opinion, and belief in -the existence and agency of spirits—On the whereabout of heaven—Correspondence -with Mr. Holcomb, of Southwick, Massachusetts</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Moral Influence of Spiritualism</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">The Heaven and Hell of Spiritualism contrasted with the Heaven and -Hell of Scripture</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Instinctive Impression as to Heaven being overhead.</span>—Discordance as to the -whereabout of the scriptural heaven</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">“The True Doctrine.”</span>—The Rev. H. Harbaugh’s opinion respecting heaven</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Of Mediumship</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>6</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Of Counter-Mediumship.</span>—On the influence of the ill-treatment of media on spiritual -manifestations—The author’s discovery of his powers as a medium</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">On Psychological Explanations of Spiritual Manifestations</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Alphabetic Converse with Spirits.</span>—Modern process for alphabetic converse with -spirits as new as that of electric telegraph</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Influence of Mundane Wealth in the World to come.</span>—According to the spiritual -code, riches elevate or degrade according to the morality displayed in their -acquisition and employment</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Gourlay’s Narrative of her Conversion to Spiritualism</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Practical Benefit of Spiritualism.</span>—Illustration of the practical benefit of Spiritualism, -in the happiness imparted by the conversion of an unbeliever to a belief -in immortality—Letter from a spirit daughter—Correspondence with a spirit brother</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Marriage on Earth and in Heaven.</span>—The hymeneal tie in the spirit world grows -out of the necessity of the connubial union in the mundane sphere—“Free Love” -imputation refuted</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Influence of Scripture on the Morals of Christians.</span>—The morality of Christendom -being irreconcilable with the New Testament, cannot be its legitimate offspring—Inspiration -can have no higher authority than the human testimony on -which its existence is arrogated—Injurious influence of unreasonable restriction—No -one would believe that a capable farmer would make such a mistake as to sow -garlic instead of wheat; yet God, while represented as having intended to sow -Protestantism, is considered as having caused throughout Christendom a crop of -Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian form, for more than a thousand years: those -weeds still occupying more than half of the whole soil—Letter of William Pitt, afterward -Earl of Chatham—Offer of guidance by a mundane spirit—Improper use of -the epithet Infidel—On Atonement—On the massacre at Sinope—Opinions of God -held by Sir Isaac Newton—On God and his attributes, by Seneca—On the better -employment of the first day of the week—Additional remarks respecting the observance -of the Sabbath, so called—If creatures be not so created as to love their -neighbours as themselves, precepts can no more alter them in this respect than -change the colour of their hair or the number of cubits in their stature—Attacks -upon the authenticity of Scripture cannot endanger the prevalent morality, which, -while superior to that of the Old Testament, indicates a recklessness of the precepts -of Christ, excepting so far as faith is upheld as a counterpoise for sin—The -doctrine of a peculiar belief being necessary to salvation, and a counterpoise for -sin, a source of discord originally confined to Judea, expanded with Christianity -and Islamism: verifying Christ’s allegation, that he came “as a sword, not as a -messenger of peace”—Superior morality and far less questionable certainty of the -communications from the spirit world—Quotation from Mosheim—Quotation from -Gibbon—For more than a thousand years, the Grecian or Roman Catholic clergy -were the solo depositaries of the word of God, so called, and regulators of religious -morals; yet, according to Bishop Hopkins, during that time, the clergy were for -the most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of the community; -whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the wicked clergy in general were -unbelievers in the truth of the gospel—If the morals of the modern clergy are -better, it is neither from the barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, -nor the ultra precepts of the gospel; being too much enlightened to be governed -by either—Summary made by Bishop Hopkins—Any religion, like that of -Moses, which does not make immortality a primary consideration, must be chiefly -confined to worldly objects, and, of course, unworthy of consideration. People -profess Christianity more from a desire to do right, than they do right in consequence -of their professions—A calumny against human nature to represent men as <i>wilfully</i> -ignorant of the true religion—To appreciate the Jewish representation of -the Deity, a reader should first form an idea of this planet and its inhabitants,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>7</span> -comparatively with the hundred millions of solar systems, and the inconceivable -extent of the space which encompasses them, and which falls within the domain of -one common Deity—Our actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, -and the extent to which we are tempted extraneously—On probation—World -least moral when the Christian church had most sway—Honour and mercantile -credit more trusted than religion. Virtue due more to the heart than to sectarianism. -Bigotry acts like an evil spirit—Progress of literature and science in Arabia, -under the Mohammedan pontiffs, called caliphs</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Additional Corroborative Evidence of the Existence of Spirits.</span>—The opinions -of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin on Table Turning and Mediums, (considered -in relation to theology and physics,) examined by the Abbot Almignana, doctor of -the common law, theologian, &c.—Mechanical movements without contact, by Mr. -Isaac Rehn, President of the Harmonial Society, Philadelphia—Communication -from J. M. Kennedy, Esq.—Communication from Wm. West, Esq.—Koons’s Establishment—Communications -from Joseph Hazard, Esq.—A visit to the Spiritualists -of Ohio—Letter from John Gage—The home of the mediums, and the haunts of the -spirits—What they did, said, and wrote—The house of the Spiritualists—Presence -of electricity—The room where the spirits manifest their power—The furniture -and occupants—The manifestations commence—The spirits play on drums, harps, -French horns, accordeons, and tamborines—The manifestations continue, and the -head spirit writes a communication—The spirit’s letter—Concluding remarks—An -evening at Koons’s spirit room, by Charles Partridge, Esq., New York—Experience -of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge—Letter from Mr. D. H. Hume—Spiritualism in London—Lord -Brougham with the spirits—Evidence afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson—An -exposition of views respecting the principal facts, causes, and peculiarities -involved in spiritual manifestations; together with interesting phenomenal -statements and communications, by Adin Ballou—Testimony of the Hon. J. W. -Edmonds—Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison.—Testimony of Mr. and Mrs. -Newton—Testimony of members of the New York circle—Testimony of the Rev. -D. F. Goddard, Boston—Manifestations at Stratford, Connecticut, in the house of -the Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D.—Remarkable exhibitions of power—Singular occurrences—Image-making—Destruction -of furniture—Incendiary spirits—The -spirits identified—Unhappy spirits, from the remembrance of wrong done in this -world—Wrong doing revealed—Directions given for restoring ill-gotten gains—Discontinuance -of the manifestations—Idea of the existence of a spiritual sun, -and a vital spiritual oxygen, found to exist, independently, in the mind of a much-esteemed -author</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Of Matter, Mind, and Spirit.</span>—Of matter—Strictures on a speculation by Farraday -respecting the nature of matter—On Whewell’s demonstration that all matter -is heavy—Additional remarks on the speculation of Farraday and Exley, above -noticed—Of mundane, ethereal, and ponderable matter, in their chemical relations—Suggestions -of Massotti, respecting the nature of matter—On electro-polarity as -the cause of electrical phenomena—Of mind, as existing independently, and as distinguished -from matter—Of spirit independently, or as distinguished from mind -and matter—Of the soul, as distinguished from mind and matter—On the odic, or -odylic force</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_363">363</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Religious Errors of Mr. Mahan.</span>—Proposition of Mr. Mahan—Of the origin of -the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, according to the testimony of the -Bible itself, than that of an obscure priest and a fanatical king—Scriptural account -of the finding of the Books of Moses by Hilkiah, the high-priest—Account -of the finding of the Books of Moses, by Josephus—If the Pentateuch had been -previously known to the Jews, it is incredible that it could have become obsolete -and forgotten prior to the alleged discovery of it in the temple in the reign of -Josiah—Great importance attached to a belief in immortality by Cyrus the Great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>8</span> -King of Persia, as contrasted with the recklessness of Moses respecting the same -belief—The worship of a book, idolatry—Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon <i>vs.</i> -Mr. Mahan—The worshippers of the golden calf more righteous than their assassins—Just -denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation of Moses, by noble-minded -Israelites—Remarkable observance of the golden rule by Moses, in his last -advice to the Israelites—Straining at spiritual gnats while swallowing scriptural -camels—The evidence which is insufficient to establish the iniquity of a sinner -cannot be sufficient to establish the divine authority of a book—Word of God, so -called, or the golden rule inverted by God’s alleged commands—Pagan fearlessness -of death—Observations of Mr. Huc, a Christian priest, that it is their religion -which makes Christians more fearful of death than the Chinese—Mr. Huc’s observations—Conclusion -of strictures on Mr. Mahan’s religious errors</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_396">396</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Conclusion.</span>—The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of a belief in -human immortality—Injustice of representing disbelievers in the Bible as not having -as good ground for belief in immortality as those who rest their belief on a -work which, by its silence, tends to discountenance the hope of a future life—Those -who uphold the Bible against Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the only -satisfactory evidence ever given to man of a future habitation in the spirit world</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_423">423</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>9</span></p> - - -<h3>APPENDIX.</h3> - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Letter to the Episcopal Clergy.</span>—Letter from Dr. Hare to the clergy of the -Protestant Episcopal Church, offering to lay before them the new evidence of immortality. -(Submitted to the late convention, Philadelphia, May 15, 1855.)</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_427">427</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">A Letter from Dr. Hare.</span>—Addressed to the Association for the Advancement of -Science, at their meeting, August 18, 1855—Preliminary remarks</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_430">430</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Farraday’s Speculation.</span>—Speculation touching electric conduction and the nature -of matter. By Farraday</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_432">432</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Motives for Republishing my Memoir on Electrical Theory</span></td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_437">437</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Electrical Theory.</span>—Objections to the theories severally of Franklin, Dufay, and -Ampere, with an effort to explain electrical phenomena by statical or undulatory -polarization—Supposed grounds for a theory—Proofs of the existence of an enormous -quantity of imponderable matter in metals—Electrical phenomena attributed -to stationary or undulatory polarization—On the perfect similitude between the -polarity communicated to iron filings by a magnetized steel bar and a galvanized -wire—Process by which the ethereo-ponderable atoms within a galvanic circuit are -polarized by the chemical reaction—Difference between electro-ethereal and ethereo-ponderable -polarization—Competency of a wire to convey a galvanic discharge is -as its sectional area, while statical discharges of frictional electricity, preferring -the surface, are promoted by its extension. Yet in proportion as such discharges -are heavy, the ability of a wire to convey them and its magnetic energy become -more dependent on its sectional area, and less upon extent of surface—Difference -between frictional electricity and galvanic does not depend on the one being superior -as to quantity, the other as to intensity; but on the different degrees in which -the ethereo-ponderable atoms of the bodies affected are deranged from their natural -state of neutralized polarity—Of ethereo-ponderable deflagration—Summary.</td> -<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_439">439</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>10</span></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="i011fp" style="max-width: 75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_011fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">Rob<sup>t</sup> Hare M D.<br /> -<small>EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, GRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE -AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE AND -MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES.</small><br /> -<small>Engraved at J. M. Butlers establishment, 84 Chestnut St. Philad<sup>a</sup></small>. -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>11</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>As prefatory to this volume, it may be expedient here to introduce -the credentials which I have lately received from the spirit world. -With the medium of their communication, Mr. Lanning, of this -city, No. 124 Arch St., I have had but little intercourse, knowing -him, however, by report, as a good man and a zealous spiritualist. -The communication which I owe to his mediumship, was utterly unexpected -by me, never having, in any way, hinted to him, directly -or indirectly, that it would be desirable to receive such an indication -of confidence and approbation.</p> - -<p>The first and only knowledge which I had of this, to me, stirring -appeal, is comprised in the following letter from Lanning. -The difference between the style of his own language, though very -good for its purpose, and that which he ascribes to the spirits, must -corroborate his allegation that this address did not originate in -his brain.</p> - -<p>On submitting the address to my spirit father, he sanctioned the -idea of its proceeding from spirits.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, June 7, 1855.</p> - -<p><i>Dear Sir</i>: I send you the following communication, and think it to be an emanation -from the spirit life. I feel not a little reluctance in so doing, for it is seldom I -can get any thing for others. How it may suit your mind, I do not know, nor do I -wish to impose it upon you for any thing worthy your consideration. I would hesitate -much to instruct one so much my senior, and whose name I esteem, were it not -that I love a cause so near your heart; and I feel that my mind is only the channel -through which I have every evidence, the unseen in the spirit life, at times give -their thoughts to mortals. I have no idea from what spirit it came, but <i>know it did -not originate in my own brain</i>.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gap6">Very truly, yours,</span> -<span class="smcap">J. F. Lanning</span>.</p> - - -<p class="p2 nind"> -<span class="smcap">To Dr. Robert Hare, Philadelphia</span>: -</p> - -<p><i>Prof. Robert Hare</i>—Venerable and much-esteemed friend, it is an unwonted pleasure -with us to number you as a leading mind in the ranks of this new and better -gospel which is being given to the dwellers of earth. We see the many and perplexing -difficulties which, to you, apparently hinder your progress in this path to -light and love, and we sympathize with you in all your efforts to unfold your mind -and to render it useful and happy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>12</span></p> - -<p>Could you see the great glory which is to be the issue of your labours in the new -unfoldings of spiritual science, you would not despair of your mission, nor weary in -your devotion to it. Let us ask you, If there is any earthly fame or consideration -that could induce you to turn back again to the familiar paths in which a life of patient -labour has been spent? If there is any earthly joy or brilliant attainment -which you have ever enjoyed, worthy to be compared with the little you have realized -since you commenced your investigations in this the most important pursuit of your -life? Ask yourself how much happiness you have found in the contemplation of that -fact which has been demonstrated, not only to your wishes, but to your senses, -that the thinking mind <i>never dies</i>; that the grave, which is but the wardrobe of the -cast-off garment of the spirit, has no power over the soul; that it lives <i>on</i>, lives <i>ever</i>, -and must throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity continue to unfold its powers. -Ask yourself, what is <i>earth</i>, what is <i>fame</i>, what is the endearment to your present -life, when contrasted or compared with the assurance which you now have, that <i>there -is no death</i>, no loss of your individuality, no <i>severing</i> of the ties of friendship and love -which shall not be renewed again in that fairer land, the home of the angels, whither -you and all you love on earth are tending? Ponder then, our venerable friend, and -ask your thirsting soul, if this knowledge is not worth more than the cost of diamonds -to you? We, who have laid aside the crumbling casket which contained the -priceless jewel that is never tarnished, know full well the value of this gem of knowledge -which now sparkles on your vision just opened.</p> - -<p>There are many things which we would like to say to you, but the conditions and -circumstances which control our operations render it impossible for us to present -to your mind the light which it so much seeks. To answer the demands of your -spirit is now impossible to us. Time and the unfoldings of your mind can only solve -the questions you would propound. You are well aware that the growth of your -present knowledge is but the effect of earnest inquiry, of patient toil, and deep study, -and experiment after experiment in your searchings for truth. Such was the only -way you reached the position which you now occupy in the science so dear to you. -It came in no other way, it could come in no other. The child is subjected to the -necessity of first learning the alphabet before it is prepared to spell, and must understand -the meaning of words before it can comprehend the sentence it reads. So in -this investigation. That which is apparently of little meaning must first be learned, -the alphabet must be mastered, hard words pronounced, and all must be understood -before there is a fittedness for progression. The wisest on earth, aye, the wisest in -spirit life, are learners, students: none but God is perfectly wise; and it is no humiliation -to any mind that it contains not all of wisdom. Let us say to you that if -patient in your investigations, you shall in due time obtain that which you so earnestly -seek. Could we work miracles, (a thing impossible,) they would astound -rather than enlighten your mind. Could we withdraw the veil which separates the -vision from the things you desire to see in our spheres of life, you have no data by -which you could make plain to yourself or to the eyes of your fellow-man the sights -you would behold.</p> - -<p>Go on in your searchings, our good friend: the end is not yet with you. Brilliant -minds with brilliant thoughts are burning to give utterance to earth through you. -You are a selected instrument of our own choosing, and we are watching and guiding -in the path and to the goal you seek. You may not only “speak trumpet-tongued -to the scientific world,” but in <i>thunder-tones</i> to those savans who think they are the -masters of the keys of knowledge.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>13</span></p> - -<h4>Author’s Reply to the preceding Address.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, June 15, 1855.</p> -<p class="nind"><i>To my spirit friends, to whom I owe the preceding address</i>:</p> - -<p>It is quite unnecessary for my angel friends to urge upon my heart, or upon my -reason the nothingness of this world, in comparison with that of which a description -has lately been given to me.</p> - -<p>So highly do I estimate the prospect thus awakened, that it seems almost <i>too</i> good, -<i>too</i> desirable to be realized. There are so many painful ideas awakened in my mind -respecting the lot of humanity, by the events of past and present times, that it is -difficult to conceive that, at the short distance of little more than the eightieth part -of the diameter of our globe, there should be such a contrast. But to <i>heighten</i> my -appreciation of the inestimable value of such an heirship is utterly uncalled for. If -there be any drawback, it is the misery which pervades this mundane sphere. The -sympathy which, on the one hand, ties you to this world, must, on the other, cause -a participation in the sufferings which pervade all animated nature. While I am -aware that sympathy, as above suggested, would prevent me from flying from a perception -or contemplation of the wretchedness in question, it seems as if the heaven -of Spiritualism were, in this phase, in some degree open to the objection to the heaven -of Scripture, founded on its too great proximity to hell. Is not the spiritual -heaven too near this sphere, and too much associated with it by its sympathy, not to -suffer indirectly a portion of its miseries?</p> - -<p>If there were any thing I should deem to be requisite to render existence in the -spirit world happier, it would be the power of removing the miseries of this lower -world, <i>and especially those arising from Error</i>—the most prolific source of evil. According -to Addison’s allegory, Death admitted the pretensions of Intemperance to be superior -in destructiveness, to those of any of the numerous diseases which competed for the -honour of the premiership in his cabinet; but might not Error have successfully competed -with Intemperance?—Error, the main cause of intemperance, of intolerant -bigotry, and of war, which destroys both by the sword and by sickness which it -induces?</p> - -<p>It is difficult for us to conceive that good, affectionate spirits are not unhappy at -witnessing the distress which they cannot relieve. The prisoners at Sing Sing are -said to undergo mental torture by the silence imposed upon them. Yet this is imposed -upon spirits, when often a word would prevent fatal events.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, Spiritualism, so far as it prevails, will make all better: in the first -place, by removing error and sectarian discord, and, in the next place, by making -nature the object of our study, and, indirectly, of our worship, as the work of the -Being who created all.</p> - -<p>You need not any more strive to stimulate my estimation of the high office which -you bestow on me as promulgator of the knowledge given me of the spheres, than to -excite my appreciation of that knowledge. I would not relinquish my position for -any temporal sovereignty. My love of truth, my desire for human happiness, would -be sufficient for my pay in causing truth to triumph, as that, of course, would be -a heaven to me in contemplating the misery obviated and the happiness induced.</p> - -<p>Doubtless, not to be fairly appreciated would be painful; while merited applause -would be a high gratification; but, were that my primary motive, I should not deserve -applause. All that I would desire would be, to have that share of honour to -which I might be entitled in common with other colabourers in the cause of truth: -to exist in the spheres on the same plane with the illustrious Washington and his -coadjutors, and associated with my beloved relatives and friends, having access to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>14</span> -the wise and good men of all ages and nations! That were a heaven indeed! To be -worthy of and enjoy such a heaven, is the only selfish ambition with which I am -actuated, so far as I know myself.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">Your truly devoted servant and friend,</span> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare</span>.</p></div> - -<p class="p2">Having suggested to my spirit father that it would be expedient -that some names should be attached to the credentials with which -the preceding address from the spirits seemed to endow me by appointment, -he induced several spirits of eminence to accompany -him to Mrs. Gourlay’s this morning, (August 4, 1855.) This gave -me an opportunity to read Lanning’s letter, the address which I -received through him as above represented, and my reply. In return -I received the subjoined communication.</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Communication from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning -the credentials transmitted through the mediumship of Mr. -Lanning.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">August 4, 1855.</span></p> - -<p><i>Respected Friend</i>: We cheerfully accompany your father to sanction the communication -given through our medium, Mr. Lanning, to yourself. My friend, we have -sought media in various localities through whom to accredit you as our minister to -earth’s inhabitants, but owing to unfavourable conditions, we have, in most instances, -failed. We perceive with pleasure that your heart is fully imbued with the -importance of your holy mission. It needs no fulsome flattery from us to incite you -to action. A principle of right and truth pervades all your movements in this spiritual -campaign. We truly style it a campaign, since you are battling fearlessly -against Error, that hydra-headed monster who has slain his millions and tens of millions. -We have looked forward to the publication of facts involved through your experimental -investigations with interest. The communication above referred to was -given by one who stood high in the estimation of the people of our great republic; -but, for personal reasons, he wishes to withhold his name.</p> - -<p>Be it known to all who may read these credentials, that we sanction them, and -authorize our names to be affixed thereunto.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Geo. Washington</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">J. Q. Adams</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dr. Chalmers</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Oberlin</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">W. E. Channing</span>, and others.</li> -</ul> -</div> - - -<h4>Postscript by the author.</h4> - -<p>It is a well-known saying that there is “but one step between the -sublime and the ridiculous.” This idea was never verified more -fully than in the position I find myself now occupying, accordingly -as those by whom that position is viewed may consider the manifestations -which have given rise to it in the light wherein they are -now viewed by me, <i>or</i> as they <i>were two years ago viewed</i> by <i>myself</i>, -and are <i>now seen</i> by the great majority of my estimable contemporaries.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>15</span></p> - -<p>I sincerely believe that I have communicated with the spirits of -my parents, sister, brother, and dearest friends, and likewise with -the spirits of the illustrious Washington and other worthies of the -spirit world; that I am by them commissioned, under their -auspices, to teach truth and to expose error. This admitted, I -may be reasonably inspired with the sentiment authorized in the -preceding credentials, that I hold my office to be greatly preferable -to that of any mundane appointment, and for the reasons -above given in those credentials. But how vast is the difference -between this estimate and that which <i>must ascribe</i> these <i>impressions -to hallucination!</i> my <i>position being that of a dupe or fanatic</i>. Yet -there can be no man of real integrity and good sense, unimpaired -by educational bigotry, who will not respect sincere devotion to -the cause of piety, truth, and human welfare, here and hereafter, -however displayed. Hence, although the foregoing prefatory -pages should have no other influence, they may operate to show -my own deep conviction of the righteousness of my course, founded, -as I believe it to have been, on the most precise, laborious, experimental -inquiry, and built up under the guidance of my sainted -father, as well as under the auspices of Washington and other -worthy immortals.</p> - -<p>Those who shall give a careful perusal to the following work -will find that there has been some “method in my madness;” and -that, if I am a victim to an intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution -did not yield at once to the miasma. But let not the -reader too readily “lay the flattering unction to his soul” that ’tis -my hallucination that is to be impugned, not his ignorance of facts -and his educational errors.</p> - -<p><i>The sanction of the spirits, as above given, was obtained under -test conditions; so that it was utterly out of the power of any mortal -to pervert the result from being a pure emanation from the -spirits whose names are above given.</i></p> - -<p>It ought to be understood that the sanction given by the spirits -whose names are attached to the preceding certificate, was obtained -under test conditions, as explained in paragraph bb., dd., in the -description of Plate iv. Moreover, I placed my hand on the instrument -illustrated by Fig. 2 in same plate, so as to question the -spirits directly as to the reliability of the affirmation, previously -given to me, and the fidelity of the medium generally. In both -cases the index moved so as to give an affirmative reply.</p> -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>16</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="SUPPLEMENTAL_PREFACE">SUPPLEMENTAL PREFACE.</h3> -</div> - - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The most precise and laborious experiments which I have made in my investigation -of Spiritualism, have been assailed by the most disparaging suggestions, as respects -my capacity to avoid being the dupe of any medium employed. Had my conclusions -been of the opposite kind, how much fulsome exaggeration had there been, -founded on my experience as an investigator of science for more than half a century! -And now, in a case when my own direct evidence is adduced, the most ridiculous -surmises as to my probable oversight or indiscretion are suggested, as the means of -escape from the only fair conclusion.</p> - -<p>Having despatched a spirit friend from Cape Island, at one o’clock on the third of -July, to request Mrs. Gourlay, in Philadelphia, to send her husband to the bank to -make an inquiry, and to report the result to me at half-past 3 o’clock, the report -was made to me as desired. The subject was not mentioned until after my return -to Philadelphia, when, being at the residence of Mrs. Gourlay, I inquired of her, -whether she had received any message from me during my absence? In reply, it was -stated that while a communication from her spirit mother was being made to her -brother, who was present, my spirit messenger interrupted it to request her to -send her husband to the bank to make the desired inquiry: that, in consequence, -the application was made at the bank. The note-clerk recollected the application to -him, but appeared to have considered it as too irregular to merit much attention. -Hence the impression <i>received</i> by the applicants, and communicated to me, was not -correct. But as it did not accord with that existing in my memory, it could not have -been learned from <span class="allsmcap">MY</span> mind.</p> - -<p>Wishing to make this transaction a test, I was particularly careful to manage so -that I might honourably insist upon it as a test; and, until I learned the fact from -Mrs. Gourlay and from the note-clerk that the inquiry was made, it did not amount -to a test manifestation. But, if I had been ever so indiscreet, would it not be absurd -to imagine a conspiracy between any person at Cape Island with Dr. and Mrs. Gourlay, -her brother, and the note-clerk at the bank, to deceive me on my return by -concurrent falsehoods?</p> - -<p>I submit these facts to the public, as proving that there must have been an invisible, -intelligent being with whom I communicated at Cape Island, who, bearing my -message to this city, communicated it to Mrs. Gourlay, so as to induce the application -at the bank. Otherwise, what imaginable cause could have produced the result, -especially within the time occupied—of two and a half hours?</p> - -<p>The existence of spirit agency being thus demonstrated, I am justified in solemnly -calling on my contemporaries to give credence to the important information which I -have received from spirits, respecting the destiny of the human soul after death. -They may be assured that every other object of consideration sinks into insignificance -in comparison with this information and the bearing it must have upon morals, religion -and politics, whenever it can be known and be believed by society in general, as -it is by me.</p></div> -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>17</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>As introductory to this work, I shall make a few brief remarks on the -following topics:—</p> - -<p>Objects of religion.—Diversity of opinion as to the means by which -they have been attainable.—Every sect, excepting one, would vote against -any one.—Consequent sentiments of the Author as embodied in verse.—Reasons -for his believing in the existence of a Deity.—American priesthood -eminently honest and pious.—If people who have obtained a belief -in immortality by <i>one route</i> are better and happier therefor, why object -that others, by another route, should attain the same ends.—The table, no -less than our firesides, an object of interest.—Inconsistency of those who -make their Deity pass through all the stages of human existence, from -the embryo to maturity, in objecting to the transient employment of tables.—Use -of the tables soon laid aside in the manifestations to which the Author -has resorted.—Inconsistency of accusing Spiritualists of undue incredulity -as to scriptural miracles, and of the opposite defect as respects spiritual -manifestations.—Of certain savans who strain at spiritual gnats, yet -swallow scriptural camels.—Miracles of Scripture, if they ever occurred, -can never be repeated; but the manifestations of Spiritualism will be repeated -with an improved and a multifarious efficiency.—Religion and -positive or inductive science having, under the guidance of devotion and -atheism, been made to travel in opposite directions, are by Spiritualism -so associated as to travel together in the same direction.—The atheist -Comte would dissolve the union between theology and science.—According -to Comte, where true science begins, the domain of theology terminates, -being only a creature of the imagination.—According to Spiritualism, -it is the domain of ignorance that is lessened, while theology, <i>founded</i> on -<i>knowledge</i>, grows with its growth, and strengthens with its strength.—An -effort to refute the idea of Comte, that the phenomena of the sidereal -creation can be explained by gravitation; which, left to itself, would -consolidate all the matter in the universe into an inert lump.—Suggestions -respecting the devil.—Arguments founded on ignorance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1"></a>1. On all sides I presume that it will be admitted that the great objects -of religion are as follows:—</p> - -<p><a id="para_2"></a>2. To furnish the best evidence of the existence of a Supreme Deity, -and of his attributes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>18</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_3"></a>3. To convey a correct idea of our duty toward that Deity and our -fellow creatures.</p> - -<p><a id="para_4"></a>4. To impart that knowledge of a state of existence beyond the grave -which will be <i>happier</i> as we are more <i>virtuous in this life</i>, and more -miserable as we are more vicious; this knowledge affording the best consolation -amid temporal sufferings of the righteous, and the strongest restraint -upon the vicious indulgence of passion in the unrighteous.</p> - -<p><a id="para_5"></a>5. Finally, by these means, to promote morality and the happiness of -man in this world, and prepare him for a blissful position in the world to -come.</p> - -<p><a id="para_6"></a>6. It must result, from these premises, that whichever is most competent -for the attainment of these all-important ends, will be the best -religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_7"></a>7. The above-mentioned postulates being generally admitted, various recorded -traditions, pretended to have been derived from one or more deities, -have been advanced as best calculated to meet the requisitions in question. -Each of the religious doctrines thus advanced is tenaciously defended by -its appropriate priesthood. If the opinions of the majority of these advocates -of their respective revelations be taken as respects any creed excepting -their own, it will be denounced as originating in error or fraud. -The opinion being taken successively upon <i>any one</i>, by all but those to -whom it appertains, each would be condemned.</p> - -<p><a id="para_8"></a>8. It was under these impressions that the following verses were -written, more than forty years ago. They have recently been published -in a pamphlet on the better employment of the first day of the week.</p> - -<p>They serve to show that my skepticism arose from my love of truth, -instead of that aversion from it, ascribed to skeptics by many well-meaning -bigots.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-1"><a id="para_9"></a>9. Oh, Truth! if man thy way could find,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not doomed to stray with error blind,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">How much more kind his fate!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But wayward still, he seeks his bane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor can of foul delusion gain</div> - <div class="verse indent4">A knowledge till too late.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By sad experience slowly shown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy way at times though plainly known,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Too late repays his care;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While in thy garb dark Error leads,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With best intent, to evil deeds</div> - <div class="verse indent4">The bigot to ensnare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Is there a theme more highly fraught</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With matter for our serious thought</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Than this reflection sad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That millions err in different ways,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet all their own impressions praise,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Deeming all others bad?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>19</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To man it seems no standard’s given,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No scale of Truth hangs down from Heaven</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Opinion to assay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet called upon to act and think,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How are we then to shun the brink</div> - <div class="verse indent4">O’er which so many stray?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_10"></a>10. How far I was a believer in God may be estimated from the following -opinions, which have appeared in the pamphlet wherein the foregoing -verses were published:</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> -<h3>On the Evidence of the Existence of a Deity.<br /> - -<small>BY THE AUTHOR.</small></h3> - -<p><a id="para_11"></a>11. <span class="smcap">The</span> existence of the universe is not more evident than that of the -reasoning power by which it is controlled. The evidence of profound and -ingenious contrivance is more manifested the more we inquire. Yet the -universe, and the reason by which it has been contrived and is regulated, -are not one. Neither is the reason the universe, nor is the universe the -reason. This governing reason, therefore, wherever, or however it may -exist, is the main attribute of the Deity, whom we can only know and estimate -by his works. And surely they are sufficiently sublime, beautiful, -magnificent, and extensive to give the idea of a being who may be considered -as infinite in comparison with man. Yet as the existence of evil -displays either a deficiency of power, or a deficiency of goodness, I adopt -the idea of a deficiency of power in preference.</p> - -<p><a id="para_12"></a>12. “If,” as Newton rationally infers, “God has no organs,” the person -of man cannot be made after God’s image, since the human image is -mostly made up by the human organs. Man has feet to walk, arms to -work with, eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, a nose for smelling. It were -absurd to attribute such organs to God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_13"></a>13. It follows that while we have as much evidence of a Deity as we -have of our own, we are utterly incapable of forming any idea of his form, -mode of existence, or his wondrous power. We are as sure of the immensity -and ubiquity of his power as of the existence of the universe, -with which he must at least be coextensive and in separatelyassociated. -That his power must have always existed, we are also certain; since if -nothing had ever prevailed, there never could have been any thing: out -of nothing, nothing can come.</p> - -<p><a id="para_14"></a>14. The universe, no less than the Deity, must be eternal, since if at -any time, however remote, the Deity existed without a universe, there -must have been an infinite antecedent period during which the divine -power must have been nullified for want of objects for its exercise. A -Deity so situated would be as a king without a kingdom to govern.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>20</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_15"></a>15. I am under the impression that mind is at least as essential to the -creation as matter. It seems to me inconceivable that the various elementary -atoms of the chemist could come into existence, with their adaptation -to produce the multiplicity of efficient combinations which they are capable -of forming, without having been modified by one mind. The existence of -adaptation, I think, proves the existence of mind. But even were these atoms -to possess inherently the adaptation which they manifest, of what possible -utility could be the variegated consequences thereof, were there no minds -to perceive, appreciate, or enjoy them. The beauty of colour, the music -of sound, the elegance of curves or angles, could have no existence were -there no perception of them; since those attributes are in a great measure -attached to objects by mind. Independently of mind, music is mere aerial -vibration, colour mere superficial texture, or intestinal arrangement producing -undulatory waves variously polarized, which are the proximate -causes, which would be sterile, were there no mind to be actuated by -them through appropriate organs.</p> - -<p><a id="para_16"></a>16. Could the universe exist without mind, would not its existence be -nugatory?</p> - -<p><a id="para_17"></a>17. The following allegations seem to me no less true than the axioms -of Euclid:</p> - -<p><a id="para_18"></a>18. No evil can endure which any being has both the power and desire -to remove.</p> - -<p><a id="para_19"></a>19. Any result must ensue which any being has both power and desire -to accomplish.</p> - -<p><a id="para_20"></a>20. No rational being will strive by trial to ascertain that which he -knows as well before as after trial.</p> - -<p><a id="para_21"></a>21. If God be both omnipotent and omniscient, he can, of course, make -his creatures exactly to suit his will and fancy, and foresee how they will -fulfil the end for which they are created. Wherefore then subject them -to probation to discover traits which by the premises he must thoroughly -foreknow.</p> - -<p><a id="para_22"></a>22. Is it not more consistent with divine goodness to infer that we -are placed in this life for progressive improvement, and that there is no -evil which can be avoided consistently with his enormous, though not unlimited, -power?</p> - -<p><a id="para_23"></a>23. Such an inference coincides with the communications recently received, -from the spirits of departed friends, which it is the object of this -publication to promulgate.</p> - -<p><a id="para_24"></a>24. Unfortunately, human opinion is very much influenced by passion -and prejudice. Hence in questions respecting property, we often find honest -men differing as to what is just. So when any creed is associated with -the hope of enjoying by its tenure a <i>better</i>, if not <i>exclusive</i>, pretension to -eternal happiness and the favour of God, the sectarian by whom it may be -held becomes honestly tenacious of its despotic supremacy over all others.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>21</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_25"></a>25. I have no doubt that a large portion of our American priesthood -are sincere in the advocacy of the tenets respectively held by them. -Among them I have known some of the best of men, and I have generally -found them more tolerant of skepticism than the majority of their followers. -It has not, however, been unfrequently urged by clergymen as a -ground of adherence to Christianity, that <i>without it</i>, there is no authentic -evidence of a future state of existence. I have seen an argument from an -able and respectable Christian writer, urging that there is no refuge for -the mass of mankind to be found in pure deism, unaccompanied by any -specific evidence of a future state.</p> - -<p><a id="para_26"></a>26. Under these circumstances should Spiritualism afford such a refuge -to those who are utterly dissatisfied with the evidence of the truth of -scriptural revelation, it will certainly be a <i>blessing to them</i>; and those who -have heretofore found this essential comfort in one way, ought not to -object should their neighbours find it in another way.</p> - -<p><a id="para_27"></a>27. An effort has been made to throw ridicule on spiritual manifestations, -on account of phenomena being effected by means of tables and -other movable furniture; but it should be recollected that, when <i>movements -were</i> to be <i>effected</i>, resort to <i>movable</i> bodies was inevitable; and as -generally the proximity of media, if not the contact, was necessary to -facilitate the movements, there was no body so accessible as tables. But -these violent mechanical manifestations were always merely to draw attention; -just as a person will knock, or even kick, violently at a front door, -until some one looks out of a window to communicate with him. The more -violent manifestations ceased both at Hydesville, at Rochester, and at -Stratford in Connecticut, as soon as the alphabetic mode of communicating -was employed. I never have had any to take place during my intercourse -with my spirit-friends, unless as tests for unbelievers, when intellectual -communications could not be made. It is more than fifteen months since -I have resorted to instruments which have nothing in common with -tables. Of these instruments, engravings and descriptions will be found -in this work.</p> - -<p><a id="para_28"></a>28. But is it not a great error to consider our tables as less sacred than -our firesides? Could any appeal more thoroughly vibrate to the heart of -civilized man than that of any invasion of his rights which should render -his fireside liable to intrusion? Hence, in the Latin motto, “Pro aris et -focis,” the inviolability of the fireside is placed side by side with freedom -of conscience. But, with the passing away of winter, the interest in the -fireside declines: ’tis changeable as the temperature of air. It loses all -its force in the tropics; but, throughout Christendom, the table still -draws about it the inmates of every human dwelling, at all seasons, and in -every kind of weather. Even when not excited by hunger, we value the -social meeting which takes place around it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_29"></a>29. At tables, moreover, conferences are held, contracts and deeds<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>22</span> -signed, and decrees, statute-laws, and ordinances are written. Treaties, -also, are made at tables, on which not the fate of individuals merely, but -of nations, depends.</p> - -<p><a id="para_30"></a>30. Is the renown of the “knights of the round table” tarnished by -their being only known in connection with the word in question? Is any -director or trustee ashamed of being, with his colleagues, designated as a -“board?”—a humble synonym for table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_31"></a>31. It was at a table the Declaration of Independence was signed; -and in Trumbull’s picture of its presentation to Congress a table is made -to occupy a conspicuous position. Our tables should be at least as much -objects of our regard as the vicinity of our fireplace.</p> - -<p><a id="para_32"></a>32. The sarcasms founded on the use of the table in spiritual manifestations -proceed, inconsistently, from those persons who would bring their -deity through all the stages of human life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_33"></a>33. The human body of Christ must have gone through all the stages -from the embryo to maturity. It was worshipped in a manger, and lived -thirty years in obscurity and inaction. Why all this delay, when the -angel, armed with the power of God, might have addressed Herod, the -Roman emperor, and every other potentate on earth in a single year? -The Almighty softening their hearts, as he hardened that of Pharaoh, -the conversion of mankind had been the inevitable consequence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_34"></a>34. Alluding to his second advent, Christ used these words:—“They -shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and -glory.” Mark xiii. 26. Wherefore did not his first coming take place in -this conspicuous, glorious, and unquestionable manner?</p> - -<p><a id="para_35"></a>35. It is often inquired, Wherefore were not these efforts to communicate -with mankind at an earlier period of the world’s duration? but it -may be demanded in return, Wherefore did not Christ come until the -earth had been peopled, even according to Scripture, about four thousand -years?</p> - -<p><a id="para_36"></a>36. Why was not the use of the compass, of gunpowder, printing, the -steam-engine, steamboat, railway, telegraph, daguerreotyping, electrotyping, -contrived earlier in this terrestrial sphere? Let orthodoxy take the -beam out of its own eye first.</p> - -<p><a id="para_37"></a>37. Had Christ taught these arts, they would not only have had a more -general influence during the era of their accomplishment, but have left a -durable and irrefragable proof of a towering mental superiority. As they -would have gone into use, there could have been no question as to their -accomplishment; so that every intelligent being might have become intuitively -cognizant of their wonderful results.</p> - -<p><a id="para_38"></a>38. The invention of gunpowder, the telegraph, and the mariner’s -compass might have been the means of preventing the inroads of the -Goths and Vandals, and, subsequently, the success of the Mohammedans; -since the Arabians would hardly have availed themselves of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>23</span> -these inventions at the time the Mohammedan conquests were commenced.</p> - -<p><a id="para_39"></a>39. How important would have been the art of printing to the promulgation -of a correct knowledge of the revelation which was the alleged -object of Christ’s mission!</p> - -<p><a id="para_40"></a>40. Of those who believe in revelation, it may be inquired, Why the -Hebrews were preferred, as the receivers of divine inspiration, to the -more civilized Greeks, Romans, Hindoos, or Chinese? If revelation was -requisite to one nation, was it not equally necessary to all?</p> - -<p><a id="para_41"></a>41. Wherefore, after Christ had undergone crucifixion in order to -make people Christians, should Mohammed have been allowed to massacre -or enslave them for being Christians?</p> - -<p><a id="para_42"></a>42. There is even now great difficulty in effecting those intercommunications -with spirits in this country of universal <i>legal</i> tolerance. I say -<i>legal</i>, since there is, as Owen alleged, “<i>too much Christian despotism of -another kind</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_43"></a>43. Almost every editor is, more or less, a censor to the press, and a -peon of popularity. The tendency is not to <i>repress</i>, but to <i>gratify</i>, and, -of course, <i>promote</i> existing bigotry. This bigotry and its Siamese brother, -intolerance, have, in all countries and ages, been exercising a <i>mischievous</i>, -though often a <i>well-intended</i>, vigilance, over any innovation of a -nature to emancipate the human mind from educational error; and, whenever -supported by temporal power, has resorted to persecution—even to -the use of the sword, of the rack, or the fagot; and, in this country of -boasted freedom and much-vaunted liberty of the press, shows its baleful -power by defamation, or alleging disqualification for employment, wherever -its influence can be exerted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_44"></a>44. A conspicuous printer in this city refused to print an edition of -my recent pamphlet, as he would allow nothing to go through his press -which was against the Bible. This shows how far fanaticism will go, -even at this advanced era of science and in this country of vaunted intellectual -freedom.</p> - -<p><a id="para_45"></a>45. Two hundred years ago, Spiritualism would have been as much persecuted -as witchcraft.</p> - -<p><a id="para_46"></a>46. In reprobation of unbelief in the scriptural proofs of immortality, it -has been usual for self-complacent believers to urge that the “wish -was father to the thought;” that a sincere desire to perceive the truth -could not exist without conviction; but the opposite must have been the -prevailing weakness among unbelievers in Scripture who have become -spiritualists, if they are now over-credulous in admitting the evidence on -which Spiritualism is founded.</p> - -<p><a id="para_47"></a>47. I declare solemnly, that I always was intensely anxious to know the -truth; that although, theoretically, I doubted the possibility of changing -the course of things by prayer, yet I did often lift my thoughts up to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>24</span> -God, imploring that some light might be given to me. Of course, as soon -as the facts admitted of no other explanation than that my father, sister, -brother, and other spirit friends, had been engaged in efforts to convince -me of their existence, and of that of the spirit world, the most intense -desire arose to verify the facts tending to settle the all-important question, -whether man is immortal.</p> - -<p><a id="para_48"></a>48. If the evidence of the truth of revelation were as adequate as -represented by its votaries, my conscientious inability to believe in it -would indicate an undue constitutional skepticism; whence I required -more proof than the great mass of Christians, in order to produce -credence. Yet, now having found the evidence of immortality in the -case of Spiritualism satisfactory, it cannot be urged that my hesitation -respecting the evidence of revelation arose from any unwillingness to -believe in a future state, or unreasonableness as to the evidence requisite -to justify belief. Manifestly, it would be inconsistent to accuse me of -disbelieving in the one case from undue, hard-hearted incredulity, and -yet, in the other, yielding from the opposite characteristics.</p> - -<p><a id="para_49"></a>49. Fundamentally, my reasons for not believing in revelation have -been, that it violates certain axioms above stated, (<a href="#para_18">18</a>,) which have been -as clear to my mind as those collated by Euclid.</p> - -<p><a id="para_50"></a>50. It may be shown that the existing system fails to give any evidence -which can be <i>subjected to the intuition of each generation successively</i>. It -rests on the alleged intuition of human beings who existed ages ago, and -of whom we know nothing but what they say of themselves through history -or recorded tradition. It reposes entirely on the testimony of propagandists, -who were interested to give it importance, or on partial human narrators -or compilers. It has been erected on a species of hearsay evidence, -inadmissible in courts of justice. This species of testimony in the case -of Spiritualism is contemptuously set aside. No one will believe in manifestations -unless intuitively observed. Wherefore this <i>faith</i> in <i>ancient</i> -witnesses, this <i>skepticism of those of our own times</i>, even when they are -known to be truthful?</p> - -<p><a id="para_51"></a>51. On my stating to a distinguished savan a fact which has been -essentially verified since in more than a hundred instances, his reply was—I -would believe you as soon as any man in the world, yet I cannot believe -what you mention. He suggested the idea of its being an epidemic, with -which I was of course infected; nevertheless, that savan, as a professing -Christian, admitted facts vastly more incredible, depending on the alleged -intuition of witnesses who lived two thousand years ago, nearly. This, -doubtless, was the consequence of educational bigotry, which would have -caused a belief in the miracles of any other religion in which he should -have been brought up.</p> - -<p><a id="para_52"></a>52. Such persons strain at the gnats of Spiritualism, yet swallow the -camels of Scripture.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>25</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_53"></a>53. In like manner an Eastern sovereign treated a Dutch ambassador as -deranged, because he alleged that bodies of water, in his country, were -capable of solidification, so as to support people on the surface.</p> - -<p><a id="para_54"></a>54. But if this skepticism is shown with respect to observers of our -day, how can it be expected that it should not be displayed toward observers -of antiquity?</p> - -<p><a id="para_55"></a>55. Spiritualism will in this respect have a great advantage, as it will -always be supported by the intuition of its actual votaries. It will not -rest on bygone miracles, never to be repeated, if they ever occurred, but -will rest upon an intercourse with the spirit world which will grow and -improve with time.</p> - -<p><a id="para_56"></a>56. One of the pre-eminent blessings resulting from this new philosophy -will be its bringing religion within the scope of positive science. -This word positive is employed by the learned atheist Comte to designate -science founded on observation and experiment. It will give the quietus -to the cold, cheerless view of our being’s end and aim presented in his -work.</p> - -<p><a id="para_57"></a>57. Professor Nichol endeavoured, in the following way, to comfort his -Christian auditors against the apparent incompatibility of the phenomena -of the sidereal creation with the language of Scripture: Having drawn -two lines from the same point, making a right angle, the learned lecturer -said, <i>Suppose A sets out and pursues one of these routes, B pursues the -other, and both arrive at certain truths; although these results should not -seem to have any thing to do with each other; yet</i>, said he, <i>if they be truths, -they must come together eventually; they cannot always travel away from -each other</i>. But if any person find that, agreeably to all his experience, -the results thus attained, tend to greater and greater remoteness and inconsistency, -there would be little comfort found in the idea of a possible -ultimate approximation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_58"></a>58. It is upon this actual fundamental discordancy between scriptural -impressions, and the truths ascertained by experimental and intuitive investigation, -that Comte builds his inference that theology is to be entirely -abandoned. But very different is the position of Spiritualism relative -to positive science. It starts from the same basis of intuition and -induction from facts. It does not controvert any of the results of positive -science within the ponderable material creation, to which the results contemplated -by Comte belong. It superadds new facts respecting the spirit -world, which had so entirely escaped the researches of materialists, that -they entertain the highest incredulity merely upon negative grounds,—merely -because the facts in question have not taken place within the experience -of those who have investigated the laws of ponderable matter -and one or two imponderable principles associated therewith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_59"></a>59. Such was the ground of my incredulity; which, however, vanished -before intuitive demonstration.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>26</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_60"></a>60. It is admitted by Comte that we know nothing of the sources or -causes of nature’s laws; that their origination is so perfectly inscrutable, -as to make it idle to take up time in any scrutiny for that purpose. He -treats the resort to the Deity as the cause, as a mere abstraction tending -to comfort the human mind before it has become acquainted with true -science, and doomed to be laid aside with the advance of positive science.</p> - -<p><a id="para_61"></a>61. Of course his doctrine makes him avowedly a thorough ignoramus -as to the <i>causes</i> of laws, or the means by which they were established, -and can have no other basis but the negative argument above stated, in -objecting to the facts ascertained in relation to the spiritual creation. -Hence when the spirits allege that by their volition they can neutralize -gravity, or <i>vis inertiæ</i>,<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> there is nothing in positive science to confute this. -The inability of material beings to neutralize gravitation by their powers -is no proof that spiritual beings cannot effect this change.</p> - -<p><a id="para_62"></a>62. Thus while allowing the atheist his material dominion, Spiritualism -will erect within and above the same space a dominion of an importance -as much greater as eternity is to the average duration of human life, and -as the boundless regions of the fixed stars are to the habitable area of this -globe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_63"></a>63. But although Comte be a man of great learning, his fundamental -opinions appear to be faulty, and his distribution of the operations of the -mind imaginary.</p> - -<p><a id="para_64"></a>64. In treating of gravitation as the <i>primary</i> law, does he not commit -a blunder? Is not vis inertiæ above indispensable to gravitation, since it may be -conceived to exist without gravitation, while gravitation cannot exist without -vis inertiæ?</p> - -<p><a id="para_65"></a>65. The power of a body A to draw B toward it can never exceed that -which is necessary to put it into motion, which must be directly as its vis -inertiæ; and where the one is null, the other must be null.</p> - -<p><a id="para_66"></a>66. I cannot imagine how any philosopher so learned as Comte should -not perceive the reduction of the phenomena of the universe to “different -aspects” of the one faculty of gravitation to be utterly impossible. In<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>27</span> -the first place, it has been shown that gravitation could not be the basis -of vis inertiæ, without which it cannot exist; and in the next place, gravitation -has always, at any given point of time, its possible influence limited -to the power of making a body move toward an appropriate centre of -gravity, and afterward remain forever at rest, unless affected by some -extraneous cause.</p> - -<p><a id="para_67"></a>67. It is alleged also that the phenomena of the universe are explained -by gravitation. I here quote his own words:</p> - -<p><a id="para_68"></a>68. “<i>Our business is—seeing how vain is any research into what are -called causes, whether first or final—to pursue an accurate discovery of -these laws, with a view to reducing them to the smallest possible number.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_69"></a>69. How is it possible, I demand, to reduce the orbitual motion of a -planet to fewer causes than vis inertiæ, motion, and gravitation? Vis inertiæ -and motion are necessary to momentum; and momentum thus arising, -acting in a tangential direction to that of gravitation, is indispensable to -form, with the force of gravity, the resultant which constitutes the orbitual -curve.</p> - -<p><a id="para_70"></a>70. Yet from subsequent language in the same paragraph, the idea is -suggested of reducing planetary motions to one cause, gravitation! This -will be perceived from his language, subjoined as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_71"></a>71. “<i>The best illustration of this is in the case of the doctrine of gravitation. -We say that the general phenomena of the universe are explained -by it, because it connects, under one head, the whole immense variety of -astronomical facts, exhibiting the constant tendency of atoms toward each -other in direct proportion to their masses, and in inverse proportion to the -squares of their distance.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_72"></a>72. How can the revolution of a single planet about the sun be explained -without the centrifugal or tangential force due to momentum? -Were not gravitation resisted by the projectile velocity constituted by -motion and vis inertiæ, would not all the planets fall into their suns, -respectively?</p> - -<p><a id="para_73"></a>73. Are there not three essential elements in such orbitual movements,—vis -inertiæ, motion, and gravitation? Are not these as necessary to an -orbit as three sides are to a triangle? and is it not as great an error to -suppose that such movements can continue by the agency of <i>one</i> of them, -as to make one right line serve to enclose a superficies?</p> - -<p><a id="para_74"></a>74. Between two philosophers, both equally learned with Comte, one -may be, like him, an atheist, the other, like Newton, a believer in God; -and yet, as respects the whole range of positive science, would there be -any clashing? They would attribute every thing to the same <i>laws</i>, -whether these should be ascribed to a deity or not. The origin of the -laws recognised by both would, by one, be ascribed to an inscrutable -God; by the other, to inscrutability without a God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_75"></a>75. Because the movements of the heavenly bodies are ascribed to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>28</span> -three elements above mentioned,—an unknown source of projectile force, -vis inertiæ, by which that force is perpetuated, and gravitation, by which -it is modified into elliptical, orbitual revolution, operating as laws governing -planetary movement,—it does not make the astronomer who adopts -this conception less of a theologian; it only makes him a more enlightened -theologian. We ascribe <i>less</i> to the <i>special</i> interference of the Creator -in proportion as our knowledge enables us to perceive results attained by -general laws. This, Comte conceives, causes theists to be less theological, -and to lessen what he seems to view as the domain which theology is -allowed to have. But is it not more correct to assume that it is only the -domain of ignorance which grows less, while that of theology becomes -simpler and more correct, but not less extensive? It is not that less is -ascribed to God, but that the aggregate is more intelligently ascribed as -the laws through which his agency is recognised are fewer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_76"></a>76. Newton assumed inertia, gravitation, and motion as the foundation -of his philosophy; but attributed these fundamental properties, or states of -matter, to the will of that governing mind of which he held the existence -to be as evident as that of the matter governed. Comte does not consider -that there is any positive proof of the existence of such a ruling mind, and -does not, therefore, find it necessary to admit the existence of a Deity. -Thus, the states or properties above mentioned are, with Newton, proximate, -with Comte, ultimate, causes. Hence, when we arrive at the foundation -of the Newtonian doctrine, we cannot go deeper without admitting -the existence of a God. Without this admission, we involve ourselves in -the irremediable darkness of atheism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_77"></a>77. In this respect, I have always been a follower of Newton. Evidently, -both the governing reason and the creation which it rules must -have existed from eternity; since, if nothing ever existed exclusively, it -must have forever endured, and there never could have been any thing. -So, if there ever had been no mind, there never could have been any -mind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_78"></a>78. The human mind, says Comte, by its nature employs, in its progress, -three methods of philosophizing,—the theological, the metaphysical, -and the positive, differing essentially from each other, and even radically -opposed. Hence, he assumes the <i>successive</i> existence of three modes of -contemplating the aggregate phenomena of the universe, any one of which -excludes the others. The first, “<i>is the point of departure of the human -understanding; the third, its ultimate, fixed, definite state; the second, -merely a state of transition from the first to the third</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_79"></a>79. It seems to be assumed that the intellectual progress of the human -mind must necessarily be through these three stages. Moreover, it is -suggested that each individual, in reviewing the progression of his mind -from childhood to mature age, will perceive that he was a theologian in -his childhood, a metaphysician in his youth, and a natural philosopher in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>29</span> -his manhood. If this did not come from a distinguished philosopher, I -should pronounce it ridiculous. If allowed to be so egotistical, I must say -that I am not aware that I went through these stages in the different periods -of my life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_80"></a>80. Studying metaphysical works as a part of my education, I took -great interest in the theory of moral sentiments, and published essays on -topics of that nature in the “Portfolio;” but previously, I wrote my -“Memoir on the Blowpipe.” In 1810, my “Brief View of the Policy -and Resources of the United States” was published, in which it was first -truly advanced that credit is money.</p> - -<p><a id="para_81"></a>81. Subsequently, more than a hundred publications were made by me, -for the most part on chemistry and electricity, yet always intermingled -with political, moral, and financial essays.</p> - -<p><a id="para_82"></a>82. I am now, more than ever, a theologian; and my first publications -touching that subject date after the attainment of threescore and ten.</p> - -<p><a id="para_83"></a>83. But theology and religion were subjects always near to my heart; -and were accompanied by the pain arising from the discordancy of my -opinions with those entertained by much-loved relatives and friends.</p> - -<p><a id="para_84"></a>84. I do not understand how any man of common sense can conceive -that theological, metaphysical, or experimental science can be the separate -object of contemplation; or that the share that either may occupy at any -age, to the exclusion of the others, will not depend on exterior contingencies.</p> - -<p><a id="para_85"></a>85. I became a believer in God solely from my intuitive perception of -the existence of a governing reason. Of course, all things were to be -ascribed to that reason ultimately, but proximately to the very laws which -this author considers as the object or basis of positive science.</p> - -<p><a id="para_86"></a>86. He holds that our inquiries should be bounded by the inscrutability -of the well-ascertained physical properties and laws of matter. -Coinciding, <i>practically</i>, with Comte until lately, I held that inquiry -should be bounded by the inscrutability of the Divine Lawgiver, to -whom these laws owed existence. But Spiritualism has opened an -avenue to inquiry beyond the boundary thus practically admitted no -less by myself than by Comte. Other inscrutable laws and phenomena -have to be recognised within a region for the existence of which Comte, -in denying spiritual agency, allows no room.</p> - -<p><a id="para_87"></a>87. Though, practically, this field of inquiry was shut out from me as -well as from Comte, <i>theoretically</i>, it was not excluded by my philosophy. -Although in ascribing the universe to mind, the unity of its design and -harmony of its phenomena led to the inference that it must be due to one -supreme mind, there was still room for the coexistence of any number of -degrees of subordinate mental agency, between that supreme mind and -man.</p> - -<p><a id="para_88"></a>88. Beside those antagonists to Spiritualism, who would set aside the -evidence of persons living at the present time and who are known to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>30</span> -truthful, by the evidence of others who lived some thousand years since, -spiritualists are assailed by such as admit their facts, but explain them -differently. Thus the Roman Catholic Church has admitted the manifestations -to indicate an invisible physical and rational power which cannot be -attributed to human agency. But instead of ascribing them to spirits, -good or bad, of mortals who have passed the portal of death, they consider -them the work of Old Nick.</p> - -<p><a id="para_89"></a>89. If this personage ever did influence the acts of any sect, manifestly -it must have been in those instances in which alleged religious error has -been made the ground for persecution, from the time of the extirpation -and spoliation of the Midianites, Canaanites, and others, down to that -of the extirpation of the Albigenses, the auto da fé, inquisition, massacre -of St. Bartholomew, fires of Smithfield, roasting of Servetus, and the persecution -of the Quakers and witches.</p> - -<p><a id="para_90"></a>90. So far as the devil is only an imaginary embodiment of the evil -passions of men, as conceived by many enlightened Christians, no doubt -those and many other analagous acts were due to the devil; but when -the benevolent language of the spirits respecting sinners is contrasted -with the cruel doctrine of the church in question, as well as by others, it -can hardly be conceived that this language comes from Satan, and that of -the churches from the “benevolent” Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_91"></a>91. The following verses, which have already appeared in my letter to -the Episcopal clergy, express the sentiments of the spirits—every soul -having the privilege of reforming, and rising proportionally to the improvement -thus obtained:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-2"><a id="para_92"></a>92. However late, as holy angels teach,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Souls now in Hades, bliss in Heaven may reach.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All whose conduct has been mainly right,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With lightning speed may gain that blissful height;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While those who selfish, sensual ends pursue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For ages may their vicious conduct rue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Doom’d in some low and loathsome plane to dwell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Made through remorse and shame the sinner’s hell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet through contrition and a change of mind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The means of rising may each sinner find.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The higher spirits their assistance give,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Teaching the contrite how for heaven to live.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_93"></a>93. Let these lines be contrasted with those which are given in the work -on Heaven of the Rev. Dr. Harbaugh—a most excellent orthodox clergyman -of the German Reformed Church—which are as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_94"></a>94. “But the wicked? alas! for him at that awful moment! Oh! my -soul, come not thou into the secret of his sorrows.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“How shocking must thy summons be, O death!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him.—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In that dread moment, how the frantic soul</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Raves round the walls of her clay tenement;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>31</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On all she’s leaving, now no longer hers!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A little longer; yet a little longer;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! might she stay to wash away her stains;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fit her for her passage! Mournful sight!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her very eyes weep blood, and every groan</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She heaves is big with horror. But the foe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a stanch murderer, steady to his purpose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pursues her close, through every lane of life,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor misses once the track; but presses on,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till forced at last to the tremendous verge,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At once she sinks to everlasting ruin.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_95"></a>95. But I conceive that the existence of a devil is irreconcilable with -all goodness and omnipotency; and that, were a devil created by God, the -Creator would be answerable for all the acts of the being so created. Evidently, -the devil could be nothing else but what omnipotence should make -him, and could do nothing but what prescience would foresee. The acts -of the devil would therefore be indirectly those of his maker.</p> - -<p><a id="para_96"></a>96. I would inquire of those who rely on the Bible as the source of -their opinions, how it happens that Moses makes no allusion to Satan as -an agent in the events of which he is the narrator?</p> - -<p><a id="para_97"></a>97. Though Milton represents that malevolent being as taking the form -of the serpent, Moses, far from sanctioning that idea, makes not only the -individual snake, but the whole genus forever amenable for the part -performed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_98"></a>98. In his description of hell, Josephus represents an archangel as the -janitor, which is quite inconsistent with Satan’s being the jailor. Is it -conceivable that an archangel should be doorkeeper to the devil?</p> - -<p><a id="para_99"></a>99. Moreover, in stating the reasons why the doom of the rich man -(broiling to eternity) was irremediable, no allusion is made to the satanic -despot whose inexorable malevolence would have had to be counteracted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_100"></a>100. It would seem to be an axiom, that whenever any event does not -take place, it must be because there is no being who has at once the <i>power</i> -and the <i>wish</i> to cause it to happen; and when any event does ensue, there -can exist no being having at once the <i>power</i> and <i>wish</i> to prevent it from -happening. Moreover, consistently, no agent can exist whose destruction -is desired by another being, who, having the right, is competent by mere -volition to destroy that agent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_101"></a>101. It follows, that if there actually does exist any being, such as is -designated by the words <i>Devil</i>, <i>Satan</i>, <i>Beelzebub</i>, to treat him as the <i>creature</i> -of God, would be inconsistent <i>either</i> with the attribute of all goodness -or of omnipotence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_102"></a>102. Can any act be more devilish than that of creating a devil? Would -it not be blasphemous to ascribe to a beneficent Deity a measure so trul<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>32</span>y -diabolical? It has been said that the devil is a necessary agent in God’s -providence. How necessary, if God be omnipotent?</p> - -<p><a id="para_103"></a>103. Does not the necessity of employing a bad agent involve inability -to create a good agent?</p> - -<p><a id="para_104"></a>104. The evils which exist in the creation may, to a great extent, be -explained by an inevitable limitation of power. Thus, probably, there could -be no virtue were there no vice; no pleasure, were there no pain. Ecstasy -might become painful by unlimited endurance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_105"></a>105. Without appetites and passions, an animal would be reduced to -the state of a vegetable, which lives without perception.</p> - -<p><a id="para_106"></a>106. The language held by certain sectarians on such subjects, seems to -me often contradictory of the idea they strive to enforce. Thus they -represent that our sorrows and our pangs are intended for our amendment, -or designed to prevent some greater evil <i>here</i> or <i>hereafter</i>; but what can -justify a painful remedy, if there be power to adopt one which, while -equally efficacious, would be painless?</p> - -<p><a id="para_107"></a>107. God is, on one side, represented as the cause of all the circumstances -under which we exist; yet, on the other, is under the necessity of -afflicting us in order to remove or to remedy them! If possessing both -ability and disposition to reform us without causing us to suffer, could -suffering be inflicted consistently with all goodness?</p> - -<p><a id="para_108"></a>108. Of a most excellent Roman Catholic I inquired whether it was -not held by their church that a belief in their tenets was necessary to salvation? -The reply was in the affirmative. And yet, said I, of all who -do believe, only those can be saved who do their Master’s will,—who add -good works to an orthodox creed? The reply was again affirmative. Of -all mankind, then, there is but a very small number, comparatively, who -are not, according to the creed in question, to go to hell? Again I received -an affirmative reply. I would then (I rejoined) when I die, rather -go into an eternal sleep, than awake in heaven to find so many of my fellow-creatures -in endless misery, the mere knowledge of which would make -heaven itself a hell to a good-hearted angel.</p> - -<p><a id="para_109"></a>109. Another species of objection to the existence of spirits is, that -although movements of bodies are admitted to take place without any perceptible -or conceivable mortal agency, the existence of spirits as the cause -is to be disbelieved, because the observers have not been successful in getting -replies such as they think would have been given were spirits the source.</p> - -<p><a id="para_110"></a>110. Thus a very distinguished physician, Dr. Bell, has alleged that -nothing has in his investigations been communicated which was not previously -in the mind of one or more mortals present. This is one of the -instances in which the assailant of Spiritualism founds his argument in his -error. It is an argument which has no other basis than inaccurate information, -because I am enabled to disprove the truth of the conclusion on which -the inference is founded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>33</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_111"></a>111. Nevertheless, I am not surprised that an inference should have -been made, which holds good as respects certain spirits or media, though -not others. If a pack of cards be so cut that the card exposed cannot be -seen by any mortal present, it may be found that although certain spirits -cannot describe the card, unless seen by some person present, yet other -spirits can describe the card under these circumstances. Among my -guardian spirits, there are two who have repeatedly described the card -exposed fortuitously by cutting a pack, as in the process for determining -trumps in a game of whist.</p> - -<p><a id="para_112"></a>112. Since reading Dr. Bell’s remarks, cards, taken indiscriminately -from a pack, and laid down behind the medium and myself, the denomination -unseen by any mortal, have been named correctly by one of the spirits -alluded to, although, about the same time, another eminent spirit could -not name cards when similarly employed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_113"></a>113. Agreeably to my experience in a multitude of cases, spirits have -reported themselves who were wholly unexpected, and when others were -expected. When I was expecting my sister in Boston, my brother reported -himself. Lately, when expecting her, Cadwalader was spelt out, being -the name of an old friend, who forthwith gave me a test, proving his -identity. As this spirit had never visited my disk before, I had not the -smallest expectation of his coming.</p> - -<p><a id="para_114"></a>114. My spirit brother referred to a confidential conversation had with -my brother Powel, in which the former was alluded to, when nothing was -farther from my mind than that he had been present as an invisible listener.</p> - -<p><a id="para_115"></a>115. I will now mention a fact of recent occurrence, which completely -refutes Dr. Bell’s inference: Being at Cape May, one of my guardian -spirits was with me frequently.</p> - -<p><a id="para_116"></a>116. On the 3d instant, at one o’clock <span class="allsmcap">A. M.</span>, I requested the faithful -being in question to go to my friend Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth -street, Philadelphia, and request her to induce Dr. Gourlay to go to the -Philadelphia Bank to ascertain at what time a note would be due, and -that I would sit at the instrument at half-past three o’clock to receive the -answer. Accordingly, at that time, my spirit friend manifested herself, -and gave me the result of the inquiry.</p> - -<p><a id="para_117"></a>117. On my return to the city, I learned from Mrs. Gourlay that my -angelic messenger had interrupted a communication, which was taking -place through the spiritoscope, in order to communicate my message, and, -in consequence, her husband and brother went to the bank, and made the -inquiry, of which the result was that communicated to me at half-past three -o’clock by my spirit friend.</p> - -<p><a id="para_118"></a>118. This differed from the impression which I had from memory, and -was not, of course, obtained from my mind. And it is evident that the -medium could not have known of my message until she was made to receive -it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>34</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_119"></a>119. But independently of the inability to communicate ideas, not pre-existing -in the minds of mortals present, which has been so erroneously -inferred to exist by Dr. Bell, let this eminent physician suggest any conceivable -explanation of the phenomena attested by him, excepting that -founded on the agency of spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_120"></a>120. And, independently of any other proof, the fact that one of my -guardian spirits bore a message from me at Cape May to Mrs. Gourlay at -Philadelphia, so as to induce her to do what was requested, is evidently, -of itself, inexplicable under any other view than that of a spirit having -officiated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_121"></a>121. To conclude, I hope that while Spiritualism will give a quietus to -atheism, it will be found, agreeably to the facts and reasoning presented in -this book, better sustained by evidence, and to answer the great objects -of religion, as above stated, vastly better than any other religious doctrine.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<h3>THEOLOGICAL AXIOMS.</h3> - -<p>Is not the affirmative of any of these queries, as evidently true as any -of the axioms of Euclid?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Did not that thought from heaven proceed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">According God’s mercy to every creed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which however pagan, howe’er untrue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is meant to give our Creator his due?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May not devotion to God be shown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether through Christ or Mohammed known?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether men die in holy war,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or kneel to be crushed by Juggernaut’s car?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mankind would God in error leave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet penally for that error aggrieve.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Did God a special creed require,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Can a glaring evil endure</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Despite of the power and will to cure?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Must not any event arrive</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For which both will and power strive?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will not any result obtain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which power unites with will to gain?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If God can creatures make to suit his will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Foresee, if they can, his design fulfil;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherefore to trial, those creatures expose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Traits to discover, which he thus foreknows?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="i035fp" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_035fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>M. B. Gourlay</i></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>35</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTUITIVE_EVIDENCE">INTUITIVE EVIDENCE<br /> - -<small>OF THE<br /> - -EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.</small></h2></div> - -<hr /> - -<h3>NARRATIVE OF THE AUTHOR’S EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF -SPIRITUALISM.</h3> - -<p><a id="para_122"></a>122. <span class="smcap">The</span> first fruit of my attention to the phenomena of table turning, -was the following letter. I trust I shall not be considered as self-complacent, -when I allege it to be an exemplification of <i>wise ignorance</i>, which is -about equivalent to folly. The wisest man who speaks in ignorance, -speaks foolishly to the ears of those who perceive his ignorance. The -great mass of men of science appear in this light to spiritualists when -they argue against Spiritualism. Men who are only <i>nominally</i> Know -Nothings have proved a formidable party in politics; unfortunately, Spiritualism -has, in its most active opponents, <i>real</i> Know Nothings, who will -not admit any fact of a spiritual origin, unless such as they have been -educated to believe. In that case, many have powers of intellectual deglutition -rivalling those of the anaconda in the physical way.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<h4><i>Letter in reply to an Inquiry respecting the influence of Electricity in -Table Turning.</i></h4> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, July 27, 1853.</p> - -<p><a id="para_123"></a>123. “<i>Dear Sir</i>: I am of opinion that it is utterly impossible for six -or eight, or any number of persons, seated around a table, to produce an -electric current. Moreover, I am confident that if by any adequate means -an electrical current were created, however forcible, it could not be productive -of table turning. A dry wooden table is almost a non-conductor, -but if forming a link necessary to complete a circuit between the sky and -earth, it might possibly be shattered by a stroke of lightning; but if the -power of all the galvanic apparatus ever made was to be collected in one -current, there would be no power to <i>move</i> or otherwise affect such a table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_124"></a>124. “Frictional electricity, such as produced by electric machines, -must first be accumulated and then discharged, in order to produce any -striking effect. It is in <i>transitu</i> that its power is seen and felt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>36</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_125"></a>125. “Insulated conductors, whether inanimate, or in the form of animals, -may be electrified by the most powerful means, without being injured or -seriously incommoded. Before a spark of lightning passes, every object -on the terrestrial surface, for a great distance around, is subjected to a -portion of the requisite previous accumulation. Yet it is only those objects -which are made the medium of discharge that are sensibly affected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_126"></a>126. “Powerful galvanic accumulation can only be produced by those -appropriate arrangements which concentrate upon a comparatively small -filament of particles their peculiar polarizing power; but nothing seems -to me more inconsistent with experience than to suppose a table moved -by any possible form or mode of galvanic reaction. It was ascertained by -Gaziot that one of the most powerful galvanic batteries ever made could -not give a spark <i>before</i> contact to a conductor presented to it, at the -smallest distance which could be made by a delicate micrometer. If there -is any law which is pre-eminent for its invariability, it is, that <i>inanimate</i> -matter cannot, <i>per se</i>, change its state as respects motion or rest. Were -this law liable to any variation, we should be proportionably liable to -perish; since in that case the revolutions and rotations of our planet and -its satellite might undergo perturbations by which the ocean might inundate -the land, or the too great proximity or remoteness of the sun cause -us to be scorched or frozen. If the globe did not carry the Pacific more -steadily than the most competent person could carry a basin of water, we -should be drowned by the overflow of the land. I recommend to your -attention, and that of others interested in this hallucination, Faraday’s -observations and experiments, recently published in some of our respectable -newspapers. I entirely concur in the conclusions of that distinguished -experimental expounder of Nature’s riddles.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare.</span>”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_127"></a>127. This publication drew forth the following remonstrance in the subjoined -letter, which does great credit to the correctness of the author’s -observation and sagacity. It contributed, together with a personal invitation -from Dr. Comstock to attend a circle, to induce the investigation -upon which I entered immediately afterward.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Southwick, Mass.</span>, Nov. 17, 1853.</p> - -<p><a id="para_128"></a>128. “<i>Dear Sir</i>: I had the pleasure of a slight acquaintance with you, -something less than twenty years ago, when I exhibited telescopes in -Philadelphia. You will, I trust, excuse the liberty I take in writing to -you now. I have seen your letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer upon table -moving. I never believed it was caused by electricity or galvanism, but -is it not as likely to be these, as muscular force? You agree with Professor -Faraday that the table is moved by the hands that are on it. Now -I know, as certainly as I can know any thing, that this is not true in general, -if it is in any instance. There is as much evidence that tables some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>37</span>times -move without any person near them, as that they sometimes move -with hands on them. I cannot in this case doubt the evidence of my -senses. I have seen tables move, and heard tunes beat on them, when no -person was within several feet of them. This fact is proof positive that -the force or power is not muscular.</p> - -<p><a id="para_129"></a>129. “If any further evidence was necessary to set aside Professor -Faraday’s explanation, it is found in abundance in the great variety of -other facts taking place through the country, such as musical instruments -being played upon without any hands touching them, and a great variety -of other heavy articles being moved without any visible cause. If tables -never moved except when hands were on them, the case would be different; -but as they do move, both with and without hands, it is plain that -the true cause remains yet to be discovered.</p> - -<p><a id="para_130"></a>130. “I wish, sir, that you had leisure and opportunity to witness some -other phases of this matter, which seem not yet to have fallen under your -notice, and I think you would be satisfied that there is less ‘hallucination’ -and ‘self-deception’ about it, than you have imagined. The intelligence -connected with these movements has not been accounted for.</p> - -<p><a id="para_131"></a>131. “If these things can be accounted for on scientific principles, -would it not be a great acquisition to science, to discover what those principles -are? If, however, science cannot discover them, the public are -deeply interested in knowing the fact. It is certainly of great importance -that these strange things that are taking place everywhere should -be explained. It is affecting the churches seriously; whether for -good or for evil is uncertain until the truth is known. No cause -has yet been assigned that does not imply a greater absurdity than -even to believe, as many do, that it is caused by spirits either good or -bad, or both.</p> - -<p><a id="para_132"></a>132. “I have examined this matter for the last three years with as -much carefulness as possible, and am not satisfied. If the force is not -muscular, as it is certain that it is not, I wish science to try again.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">“Yours, respectfully,</span> -<span class="smcap">Amasa Holcombe</span>.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_133"></a>133. It will be perceived that the letter alluded to by Mr. Holcombe, -written in reply to some inquiries respecting my opinion of the cause of -table turning, was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, in July, 1853. -This letter will show that I was at that time utterly incredulous of any -cause of the phenomena excepting unconscious muscular action on the -part of the persons with whom the phenomena were associated. The -inferences of Faraday, tending to the same conclusion, I thoroughly sanctioned.</p> - -<p><a id="para_134"></a>134. As no allusion to spirits as the cause had been made by this Herculean -investigator in the letter which drew forth mine, they were not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>38</span> -contemplated in my view of the subject. Had I ever heard spiritual -agency assigned as a cause, so great was my disbelief of any such agency, -that it would have made no impression on my memory.</p> - -<p><a id="para_135"></a>135. Though present on several occasions when table turning was the -subject of discussion, it was not, within my hearing, attributed to spiritual -agency. In common with almost all educated persons of the nineteenth -century, I had been brought up deaf to any testimony which -claimed assistance from supernatural causes, such as ghosts, magic, or -witchcraft.</p> - -<p><a id="para_136"></a>136. Subsequently to my publication corroborating the inferences of -Faraday, having, in obedience to solicitations already cited, consented to -visit circles in which spiritual manifestations were alleged to be made, -I was conducted to a private house at which meetings for spiritual inquiry -were occasionally held.</p> - -<p><a id="para_137"></a>137. Seated at a table with half a dozen persons, a hymn was sung -with religious zeal and solemnity. Soon afterward tappings were distinctly -heard as if made beneath and against the table, which, from the -perfect stillness of every one of the party, could not be attributed to any -one among them. Apparently, the sounds were such as could only be made -with some hard instrument, or with the ends of fingers aided by the nails.</p> - -<p><a id="para_138"></a>138. I learned that simple queries were answered by means of these -manifestations; one tap being considered as equivalent to a negative; two, -to doubtful; and three, to an affirmative. With the greatest <i>apparent -sincerity</i>, questions were put and answers taken and recorded, as if all -concerned considered them as coming from a rational though invisible -agent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_139"></a>139. Subsequently, two media sat down at a small table, (drawer removed,) -which, upon careful examination, I found to present to my inspection -nothing but the surface of a bare board, on the under side as well as -upon the upper. Yet the taps were heard as before, seemingly against the -table. Even assuming the people by whom I was surrounded, to be -capable of deception, and the feat to be due to jugglery, it was still inexplicable. -But manifestly I was in a company of worthy people, who were -themselves under a deception if these sounds did not proceed from spiritual -agency.</p> - -<p><a id="para_140"></a>140. On a subsequent occasion, at the same house, I heard similar tapping -on a partition between two parlours. I opened the door between the -parlours, and passed to that adjoining the one in which I had been sitting. -Nothing could be seen which could account for the sounds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_141"></a>141. The medium to whose presence these manifestations were due, -then held a flute against the panel of the door, and invited me to listen. -On putting my ear near to the flute, tapping was quite audible. On the -ensuing evening, I carried with me a sealed glass tube, a hollow tube of -the same material, and a brass rod. These being successively held against<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>39</span> -the door panel, similarly to the holding of the flute, the rapping was again -heard.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_142"></a>142. I have much reason to confide in the disinterestedness of the -medium through whose assistance these facts were observed. She would -not allow me even to make a present to her child; and her sitting for me -was deemed prejudicial to her comfort and health, so that by the advice -of her physician it was finally discontinued. Her parents believed the -manifestations obtained through her influence to be caused by spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_143"></a>143. Sitting at another mansion, in company with an able lawyer, (an -unbeliever in Spiritualism,) as well as an accomplished female medium -and two other persons, sounds were heard like those above mentioned. -The lawyer alluded to, though from his profession accustomed to distrust -and to scrutinize evidence, admitted that he found it utterly impossible -to account for these sounds by any visible agency.</p> - -<p><a id="para_144"></a>144. In order to make my narrative of the evidence upon the subject -of rapping continuous, I would state that during the evening of my first -visit to the circle of spiritualists, as above mentioned, while grasping with -my utmost energy a table at which I was seated, two female media, by -merely placing their hands upon the surface of the table on the opposite -side, caused it to move to and fro, in despite of my utmost exertions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_145"></a>145. Visiting another circle under the influence of another medium, I -found that <i>tilting</i> a table was substituted for the sounds as a means of -manifestation. As one rap signifies no, two, doubtful, and three, affirmative, -so is it with the motions, or tippings, as they are usually called.</p> - -<p><a id="para_146"></a>146. Passing the fingers over the letters upon an alphabetic pasteboard, -like those to assist children in learning their letters, when it comes over -the required letter, its selection is indicated either by a tapping or tilting. -By this process, when the medium’s eyes were directed to the ceiling, as -independently observed by the legal friend above mentioned, as well as -myself, the following communication was given:</p> - -<p><a id="para_147"></a>147. “<i>Light is dawning on the mind of your friend; soon he will -speak trumpet-tongued to the scientific world, and add a new link to that -chain of evidence on which our hope of man’s salvation is founded.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_148"></a>148. The lawyer declared that he was utterly unable to conceive how, -by the human means apparently employed, such sentences could be elaborated. -Legerdemain on the part of the person who took down the manifestation -was the only way to get rid of this evidence without resorting -to the agency of some invisible intelligent being, who, by operating upon -the tables, at once exercised physical force and mental power.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>40</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_149"></a>149. But assigning the result to legerdemain was altogether opposed -to my knowledge of his character. This gentleman, and the circle to -which he belonged, spent about three hours, twice or thrice a week, in -getting communications through the alphabet, by the process to which the -lines above mentioned were due. This would not have taken place, had -<i>they</i> not had implicit confidence, that the information thus obtained proceeded -from spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_150"></a>150. Subsequently, I contrived an apparatus which, if spirits were -actually concerned in the phenomena, would enable them to manifest their -physical and intellectual power independently of control by any medium. -(See Engraving and description,<a href="#PLATE_I"> Plate I</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_151"></a>151. Upon a pasteboard disk, more than a foot in diameter, the letters -cut out from an alphabet card were nailed around the circumference, as -much as possible deranged from the usual alphabetic order. About the -centre a small pulley was secured of two and a half inches diameter, fitting -on an axletree, which passed through the legs of the table, about six inches -from the top. Two weights were provided—one of about eight pounds, the -other about two pounds. These were attached one to each end of a cord -wound about the pulley, and placed upon the floor immediately under it. -Upon the table a screen of sheet zinc was fastened, behind which the medium -was to be seated, so that she could not see the letters on the disk. A -stationary vertical wire, attached to the axle, served for an index.</p> - -<p><a id="para_152"></a>152. On tilting the table, the cord would be unwound from the pulley -on the side of the larger weight, being wound up simultaneously to an -equivalent extent on the side of the small weight, causing the pulley and -disk to rotate about the axle. Restoring the table to its normal position, -the smaller weight being allowed to act unresisted upon the cord and pulley, -the rotation would be reversed. Of course, any person actuating the -table and seeing the letters, could cause the disk so to rotate as to bring -any letter under the index; but should <i>the letters be concealed from the -operator</i>, no letter required could be brought under the index at will.</p> - -<p><a id="para_153"></a>153. Hence it was so contrived that neither the medium seated at the -table behind the screen, nor any other person so seated, could, by tilting -the table, bring any letter of the alphabet under the index, nor spell out -any word requested.</p> - -<p><a id="para_154"></a>154. These arrangements being made, an accomplished lady, capable -of serving in the required capacity, was so kind as to assist me by taking -her seat behind the screen, while I took my seat in front of the disk.</p> - -<p><a id="para_155"></a>155. I then said, “If there be any spirit present, please to indicate the -affirmative by causing the letter Y to come under the index.” Forthwith -this letter was brought under the index.</p> - -<p><a id="para_156"></a>156. “Will the spirit do us the favour to give the initials of his name?” -The letters R H were successively brought under the index. “My honoured -father?” said I. The letter Y was again brought under the index.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>41</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_157"></a>157. “Will my father do me the favour to bring the letters under the -index successively in alphabetical order?” Immediately the disk began -to revolve so as to produce the desired result. After it had proceeded as -far as the middle of the alphabet, I requested that “the name of Washington -should be spelt out by the same process.” This feat was accordingly -performed, as well as others of a like nature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_158"></a>158. The company consisted of but few persons besides the medium, -who now urged that I could no longer refuse to come over to their belief. -Under these circumstances the following communication was made by the -revolving of the disk: “<i>Oh, my son, listen to reason!</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_159"></a>159. I urged that the experiment was of immense importance, if considered -as proving a spirit to be present, and to have actuated the apparatus; -affording thus precise experimental proof of the immortality of the -soul: that a matter of such moment should not be considered as conclusively -decided until every possible additional means of verification should -be employed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_160"></a>160. This led my companions to accuse me of extreme incredulity. The -medium said she “should not deem it worth while to sit for me again,” -and one of the gentlemen sat himself down by the fireside, declaring me -“to be insusceptible of conviction, and that he would now give me up.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_161"></a>161. Nevertheless, the medium, relenting, gave me another sitting at -her own dwelling a few days afterward; when I had improved the apparatus -by employing two stationary weights by which the cord actuating the -pulley, as in the drill-bow process, was made to pull it round by a horizontal -motion of the table supported on castors, instead of the tilting -motion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_162"></a>162. The results confirmed those previously received, my father reporting -himself again. He said that my mother and sister were with him, -but not my brother. I inquired “if they were happy.” The disk revolved -so as to bring the letter Y under the index, signifying the affirmation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_163"></a>163. On the following week, I took my apparatus to the house of a -spiritualist, where a circle was to meet. The apparatus being duly arranged, -a lady whom I had never before noticed, and by whom my apparatus -was seen for the first time, sat down at my table behind the screen. -The spirit of an uncle who had left this life was invoked by this medium. -Her invocation being successful, the spirit spelt his name out in full; other -names were spelt out at request.</p> - -<p><a id="para_164"></a>164. Although the requisite letters were ultimately found, there was -evidently some difficulty, as if there was some groping for them with an -imperfect light. This has been explained since by my father’s spirit. He -alleges that preferably the eyes of the medium would be employed, but -that, although with difficulty, he used mine as a substitute.</p> - -<p><a id="para_165"></a>165. But although, with a view to convince the skeptical, spirits will<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>42</span> -occasionally give manifestations when the vision or muscular control of -the medium is nullified, it is more difficult for them to operate in this -way; moreover, it is more difficult for some spirits than for others.</p> - -<p><a id="para_166"></a>166. Those spirits by whom I obtained my test manifestations were -interested in my success. Others have refused to aid me in like manner. -One who has assisted me with much zeal, has communicated that he would -work my apparatus when arranged for a test; but, that as it caused much -more exertion, and, of course, retardation, he advised that the test arrangement -should not be interposed when it could be avoided.</p> - -<p>167.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>The table, at this stage of my inquiry, was not more than thirty -inches in length. I had improved the construction in the following way:</p> - -<p><a id="para_168"></a>168. Two of the legs were furnished with castors, through holes duly -bored. Through perforations in the other two legs a rod was introduced, -serving as an axle to two wheels of about five inches diameter. One of -these wheels was grooved, so as to carry a band which extended around -the pulley of the disk. Hence, pushing the table nine inches horizontally -by the necessary rotation of the supporting wheels, caused the disk to -make a complete revolution. It was while the table was of the size above -mentioned, that I first saw the violent action to which they might be subjected -without any corresponding or commensurate visible cause. The -hand of the medium being laid on the table at about half-way between the -centre and the nearest edge, it moved as if it were animated, jumping like -a restive horse.</p> - -<p><a id="para_169"></a>169. Having my apparatus thus prepared, a medium sat at my table, -the screen intercepting her view of the disk. No manifestation took place -through the disk, though other indications of the presence of spirits were -given. Hence, inducing the medium to sit at an ordinary table, I inquired -if any change could be made which would enable them to communicate -through my apparatus? The reply through the alphabetic card was, “Let -the medium see the letters.” At first it struck me that this would make -the experiment abortive, as it would remove the condition by which alone -independency of interference by the medium was secured. However, it -soon occurred that by means of a metallic plate, made quite true, and -some brass balls, like billiard balls, with which I was provided, I could -neutralize the power of the medium to move the table, so that she could -not influence the selection of the letters, though permitted to see them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_170"></a>170. Accordingly, as soon almost as the medium placed her hands on -the plate resting on the ball, and without any other communication with -the table, the disk began to revolve in such a way as to bring the letters -under the index in due alphabetic order. Afterward various names were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>43</span> -spelled, and communications were made. At subsequent sittings, the -grandfather and brother of the medium manifested their presence successively -by spelling their names on the disk. My father, by means of -this apparatus, gave me the name of an uncle who was killed by the Arabs -nearly seventy years ago. In order that, without any possibility of contact -with the legs, the medium might sit at the table, the length was subsequently -extended to six feet, being so made as to separate into three -parts, for convenience in carrying from one place to another. It is under -this modification that it is represented in <a href="#PLATE_II">Plate 2</a> accompanied by a description, -with the medium sitting as when employed in obtaining some -of the manifestations herein mentioned. On the left may be seen the -wheels and axle. The front wheel may be distinguished, with its groove -securing the band which embraces it, together with the pulley on the disk.</p> - -<p><a id="para_171"></a>171. The disk represented in this figure differs from the one represented -above, (employed in my first investigations,) in having the alphabet in -the usual order. But they are so made as that one can be made to replace -the other, when requisite.</p> - -<p><a id="para_172"></a>172. On one side of the long table, <a href="#PLATE_II">Plate 2</a>, a board or tray on castors is -represented. This was used sometimes as a support for the hands of the -medium, by its being interposed between them and the table. On one -occasion, where the hands of the medium were supported by the plate and -ball upon this tray, it was moved briskly to and fro upon the table, the -hands of the medium and the ball and plate accompanying the motion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_173"></a>173. On various subsequent occasions I have had this experiment of -putting the hands of the medium on a plate and balls repeated, and with -the same result. The interposition of the plate and balls makes it much -more difficult for spirits to move a table than when the hands are directly -applied. In the latter case, the spirits actuate the hands primarily, and -the table or apparatus secondarily; but when the hands are incapacitated -from influencing the motion, the spirit has to assail the inanimate matter -directly, assisted only by an emanation from the medium. In this attack -upon ponderable matter, the spirits of the second sphere are the most -capable; but even with their assistance, the condition of the medium must -be very favourable to render success possible.</p> - -<p><a id="para_174"></a>174. I next resorted to an apparatus like the plaything called a see-saw, -excepting that the fulcrum, instead of being under the middle of the board, -was situated at one-fourth of the whole length from one end. There was -one foot on one side of the fulcrum, and three feet on the other. The -disk and its axle was transferred from the table, <a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>, near to the longer -end of this seesaw-like apparatus. The cord attached to two weights was -employed as above described, so that as the disk was made to rise or fall -with the vibration of the board by the action of the cord, a revolution -took place, bringing the letters successively under the index, as already -explained to have resulted from the movements of the table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>44</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_175"></a>175. The disk being situated edgewise to the medium, the letters could -not be seen. Under these circumstances, the hands of the medium -were placed upon the surface of the smaller portion of the board outside -of the fulcrum. The disk revolved to and fro, so as to bring the letters -under the index in due alphabetic order. Moreover, while this process -was under way, to render the result more unquestionable, I interposed a -screen between the disk, and the eyes of the medium, without causing any -arrestation of the process.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_176"></a>176. Afterward upon the table supported on wheels or castors, and -moving the disk by a band, I used a tray on castors to support the hand -of the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_177"></a>177. When the hands of the medium, or those of any other operator, -were placed upon this tray, it was impossible to move the table by means -of it, because much less force would make it move on its castors than would -move the table. Sometimes the tray would be moved backward and -forward with rapidity, the table remaining quite still. Yet, on urging -that the table should be moved, this desideratum would be conceded, and -the tray would become stationary, relatively, to the table. On one occasion, -when an intelligent spirit was manifesting, I interposed a brass ball -(<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>.) and plate between the tray and the hands of the medium, and -then requested that the tray might be moved. My request was obeyed; -the tray moved repeatedly about a foot to and fro, accompanied by the -hand of the medium, the ball remaining at rest, relatively, to the tray.</p> - -<p><a id="para_178"></a>178. Having my apparatus at the residence of the lady by whom it had -been actuated in the third trial above mentioned, (<a href="#para_172">172)</a> this lady sitting -at the table as a medium, my sister reported herself. As a test question, -I inquired “What was the name of a partner in business, of my father, who, -when he had left the city with the Americans during the Revolutionary -war, came out with the British, and took care of the joint property?” The -disk revolved successively to letters correctly indicating the name to be -Warren. I then inquired the name of the partner of my English grandfather, -who died in London more than seventy years ago. The true name -was given by the same process.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>45</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_179"></a>179. The medium and all present were strangers to my family, and I -had never heard either name mentioned, except by my father. Even my -younger brother did not remember that of my father’s partner.</p> - -<p><a id="para_180"></a>180. Subsequently, in the presence of a medium utterly unacquainted -with my family, to whom I was first introduced in December, 1853, and -who had only within two years previously removed to our city from Maine, -I inquired of my father the name of an English cousin who had married an -admiral. The name was spelled out. In like manner the maiden name -of an English brother’s wife was given—an unusual name, Clargess.</p> - -<p><a id="para_181"></a>181. The principle of my apparatus for spiritual manifestations has -been employed on a smaller scale by Mr. Isaac T. Pease, of Thompsonville, -Connecticut, substituting the reaction of a spring for that of a weight, -and making the index revolve instead of the disk. (<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_182"></a>182. By the modification which I made for the employment of this -smaller instrument communication was greatly facilitated. I had subsequently -a copious interchange of ideas with my father, brother, and sister, -and other friendly spirits. (See engraving and description, <a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>, Fig. 2.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_183"></a>183. At the house of a spiritualist who had been holding circles for -more than a year, I had confirmatory evidence of the intelligence by which -spirit rapping is regulated. I was allowed to subject the table employed -to a strict scrutiny, removing the drawer to obtain a more thorough -inspection. This table was nevertheless repeatedly agitated with an energy -which could not be ascribed to the hands placed quietly upon its -surface by a circle of persons perfectly quiescent. Often at this circle, and -at others during the chanting of hymns, have I seen a table thus situated -keeping time by its vibratory movements with a sympathetic tremour.</p> - -<p><a id="para_184"></a>184. The spirit friend of a medium present, who called herself Amanda -Ford, used on request to make a sound like that of the hammering by -blacksmiths, designated as “ten-pounds-ten.” This sound would be shifted -to that of sawing or sweeping. Doubtless, these manifestations might be -imitated by certain ventriloquists; but I had not the smallest reason to -suspect ventriloquism, and Amanda gave me the following unquestionable -proofs of her spiritual existence:</p> - -<p><a id="para_185"></a>185. Taking up the alphabetic card, and holding it up near my face, -in a feeble light, with the back toward the medium, so as not to be inspected -by any one else, I asked Amanda, as I should pass my fingers over -the letters, to indicate those necessary for spelling out her name, by the -usual manifestation. The name was in this way correctly spelt out.</p> - -<p><a id="para_186"></a>186. In the next place, at the same time and under the same circumstances, -I asked her then to spell the name of Washington. Passing my -fingers over the letters of the alphabet, not regularly but zigzag, and stopping -a short time at the letters adjoining the right ones, that much-revered -name was correctly spelt out, with one single error, the omission of the G.</p> - -<p><a id="para_187"></a>187. Suspicion that the rapping or tapping could arise from any me<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>46</span>chanism -concealed in the table, was precluded when they were made -under my own tables, fitted up with my own hands.</p> - - -<h4><i>Of manifestations founded on table movements without contact, or such -contact, as cannot be sufficient to cause the result.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_188"></a>188. It was at the same mansion, where the above-mentioned manifestations -were observed, that I first saw a table continue in motion when -every person had withdrawn to about the distance of a foot; so that no -one touched it; and while thus agitated on our host saying, “Move the -table toward Dr. Hare,” it moved toward me and back again. At the same -premises, when between the hands of each of two media and a small table -a plate upon a brass ball was interposed, without any other communication -with it, the table was violently overset, so as to have its legs uppermost. -Yet while thus upside down, it continued to vibrate, a single finger of a -medium girl, about twelve years of age, being the sole means of human -contact therewith. This I ascertained, with the greatest care, by kneeling -on the floor and causing the finger of the medium, by the tip of which -alone her touch was effected, to be situated between me and the light of -a lamp.</p> - -<p><a id="para_189"></a>189. In the observations above stated, respecting the movements of the -table <i>when untouched</i>, I was aided by the presence of my friend Joseph -Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, Rhode Island, who occupied a seat opposite -to mine on the other side of the table; so that while he saw all clear -on one side, I saw all clear on the other. In my narrative I have adverted -to two recent instances in which severally, in the presence only of the -medium and myself, the table moved, as I could judge, about eight -inches, being at the same time untouched by either of us.</p> - -<p><a id="para_190"></a>190. Next in importance to the movements of tables which take place -without any contact, are those in which the table rises under the hands -of the medium laid gently upon it. On one occasion I saw a large circular -table, supported by three massive claws on castors, overset several -times by the influence of three ladies, who were media. In order to have -this experiment performed with as much precision as circumstances would -permit, I seated myself on one side of the table, so as to be equidistant -from two of the three claws by which it was supported. The intermediate -medium, was directly opposite the third claw, while the others stood one -on each side of her. My relative position was such, that as they were -standing upright before me, I could look at their persons partially below -as well as above the table. These arrangements having been made, the -three media laid their hands on the table a little beyond the margin, so -that they could not apply their thumbs below the edge and thus assist -the table to raise. Under these circumstances I was enabled to watch the -media above as well as below the table, by casting my eyes upward and -downward alternately, they being all on their feet, and standing upright.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>47</span> -It was under these conditions, that the table, in three successive trials, came -over toward me and went back to its normal position.</p> - -<p><a id="para_191"></a>191. It did not slam down quickly, when on arriving at such a position, -as to make it impossible for the ladies to resist its farther descent; but -descended gently, rising slowly in recovering its usual upright position.</p> - -<p><a id="para_192"></a>192. I called one morning at the dwelling of a medium to whom allusion -has been made more than once in my narrative. I sat down at a table -with the medium, her father, and a gentleman who accompanied me. I -inquired if any of my spirit friends were present; the table tilted negatively. -“Will the spirit give its initials through the alphabetic card?” -In reply the letters M C were indicated. My companion, whose attention -had been withdrawn, on hearing the result, said: “They are the initials of -my daughter’s name;” exclaiming, “<i>Maria, are you here?</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_193"></a>193. The table tilted in the affirmative, vivaciously, as if the daughter’s -heart were in the movement.</p> - -<p><a id="para_194"></a>194. Maria proving to be a sprightly spirit, a lively conversation ensued. -I inquired if she could not work my apparatus; she answered through the -card, “<i>It is impossible for a spirit to work your apparatus; I am very -sorry.</i>” I replied that evidently it was not impossible, since it had been -actuated by spirits successfully several times. “You mean to say,” I -added, “that it is difficult.” To this she replied affirmatively by three -tilts of the table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_195"></a>195. As through the influence of the medium, who sat at the table with -us, communications had been received through my apparatus several times, -the alphabet arranged from a state of disarrangement, and names spelt -out by the revolution of the disk, it cannot be imagined that the medium -could have influenced the alphabetical communications in this instance, since -the medium, even if prone to deception, would have perceived it ridiculous -to allege it impossible to work an apparatus which had on several -occasions under her influence, proved the opposite to be true, in the presence -of her father as well as myself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_196"></a>196. It has been already mentioned in the narrative (<a href="#para_164">164</a>.) that my -spirit father, and spirit friend W. W., had alleged that they worked my -apparatus with great difficulty when under test conditions, from their great -desire to make me a convert to Spiritualism. It was, therefore, quite -consistent that a spirit, who had no such powerful motive, should have -preferred to find an apology for not actuating my apparatus, rather than to -have studied, or sought for the means of surmounting the obstacles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_197"></a>197. As all the manifestations, observed on this occasion, were by the -tilting or partial lifting of the table, I urged the spirit to aid me in obtaining -a test that these manifestations came not from the medium, but from -herself, a spirit. I immediately procured from a basket which I had previously -brought to the premises, a brass ball, turned truly spherical, like a -billiard ball, and a plate of zinc which had been ground quite true. I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>48</span> -placed the ball on the table, the plate on the ball, and the hands of the -medium on the plate. She had no other communication with the table -than that which was thus established. Pressing on the ball when situated -between perpendicular lines falling inside of all the legs of the table, -would of course only press it downward more firmly on its feet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_198"></a>198. Things being thus arranged, I solicited Maria to repeat the upward -jerks which she had employed in the communication which she had been -making. Her father joined his solicitation to mine, pointing out that my -object was to obtain evidence, which would satisfy the scientific world that -such manifestations were due to the agency of spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_199"></a>199. After a little delay the table rose under the ball, the plate, and -the hands of the medium, with greater force than had been displayed in -any of the foregoing movements.</p> - -<p><a id="para_200"></a>200. Subsequently, being in company with Maria’s father, at the dwelling -of a spiritualist, and sitting with a medium at the table supporting -an apparatus for alphabetical communications, the spirit of Maria, who -seems to follow her worthy father with much filial affection, reported herself. -I inquired whether she remembered our previous meeting, and -what means I resorted to as a test. She replied, “You used a plate and -ball to support the hands of the medium, which I knocked away.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_201"></a>201. While receiving communications from my spirit sister, the table -tilting toward the medium, so as to cause the cord actuating the index, by -being through a string tied to a weight on the floor, alternately to be withdrawn -and returned, consequently, winding off and on the pulley which -turned the index, I suggested that the relative position of the medium -should be reversed, so that she should be on the same side with the -apparatus. By this change the table would have to rise under the hands -of the medium. The proposed modification was successfully carried out.</p> - -<p><a id="para_202"></a>202. I asked my sister how a spirit could work an apparatus with the -medium’s hands on the upper surface of the table; the reply was, that the -presence of the hands of the medium enabled the spirit to act in opposition -to them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_203"></a>203. Under this head comes the experiment in which a board was -supported so as to turn on a fulcrum, one foot of the board being on -one side of the fulcrum, and three feet on the other, the longer end -suspended on a spring balance. When a medium, eleven years old, placed -his hands on the short end, that end rose while the other, of course, went -down; in some instances, showing an increase of downward pressure on -the balance, equivalent to seven pounds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_204"></a>204. This experiment was subsequently repeated at my laboratory, in -the presence of John M. Kennedy, Esq. Having a basin of water on the -board, the boy’s hands being merely immersed in the water, and not -touching the parietes of the containing vessel; the balance was affected -as in the experiment above described, although not to so great an extent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>49</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_205"></a>205. In one case, Mr. Kennedy satisfied himself, that the medium did -not touch the vessel, by placing his own hands below those of the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_206"></a>206. My much-esteemed friend, Prof. Henry, having treated this -result as incredible, I was induced to repeat it with the greatest precision -and precaution, as represented in <a href="#PLATE_III">Plate 3</a>. The board, as already -described, being about four feet in length, is supported by a rod as a fulcrum -at about one foot from one end, and, of course, three feet from the -other; a glass vase, about nine inches in diameter and five inches in -height, having a knob to hold it by when inverted, had this knob inserted -in a hole made in the board, six inches nearly from the fulcrum. Thus, -the vase rested on the board, the mouth upward. A wire-gauze cage, -such as is used to keep flies from sugar, was so arranged by well-known -means, as to slide up or down on two iron rods, one on each side of the -trestle supporting the fulcrum. By these arrangements it was so adjusted -as to descend into the vase until within an inch and a half of the bottom, -while the inferiority of its dimensions prevented it from coming elsewhere -within an inch of the parietes of the vase. Water was poured into the -vase so as to rise into the cage till within about an inch and a half of -the brim.</p> - -<p><a id="para_207"></a>207. A well-known medium (Gordon) was induced to plunge his hands, -clasped together, to the bottom of the cage, holding them perfectly still. -As soon as these conditions were attained, the apparatus being untouched -by any one excepting the medium as described, I invoked the aid of my -spirit friends. A downward force was repeatedly exerted upon the end -of the board appended to the balance equal to three pounds’ weight -nearly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_208"></a>208. It will be perceived that in this manifestation, the medium had -no means of communication with the board, beside the water. It was not -until he became quite still, that the invocation was made. Nevertheless, -he did not appear to be subjected to any reacting force. Yet, the distance -of the hook of the balance from the fulcrum on which the board turned, -was six times as great as the cage in which the hands were situated. -Consequently, a force of 3 × 6 = 18 pounds must have been exerted. The -board would probably have been depressed much more, but that the water -had been spilled by any farther inclination of the vase.</p> - -<p><a id="para_209"></a>209. This experiment has since been repeated again and again, but on -a smaller scale, when, not only the downward force was exercised, <i>but the -spelling of words was</i> accomplished.</p> - -<p><a id="para_210"></a>210. On one occasion, when no result ensued, it appeared to arise from -the water being so cold as to chill the medium, because, on warming it -up to a comfortable temperature, the desired manifestations were obtained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_211"></a>211. At the same time and place, after the manifestation by means of -the spring balances above described (<a href="#para_207">207</a>) had been accomplished, I -requested my spirit friends to repeat that which has been above mentioned,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>50</span> -as performed by putting the hands of a medium upon a plate and ball supported -by a tea-table. (pari passu.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_212"></a>212. Accordingly, the attending medium being placed under exactly -the same circumstances and conditions, a similar violent tilting ensued.</p> - -<p><a id="para_213"></a>213. Dr. Child, together with the same medium and myself, placed our -finger ends all reciprocally in contact, and about a quarter of an inch above -a tea-table. After an interval of about two minutes, the table rose, and -was tossed from the legs on one side to those on the other forcibly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_214"></a>214. During a visit to New York, I entered the apartment where one -of the Misses Fox was sitting. There were more than half a dozen persons -present. On my entrance, I inquired, “Does any one here recognise me, -so as to know my name?” No person answered that I was known. As soon, -however, as I inquired, my spirit sister announced herself, and indicated -my name.</p> - -<p><a id="para_215"></a>215. During a visit made to Boston last autumn, on sitting with a -medium, my sister addressed me in the following way, by spelling the -words out upon the disk apparatus just described:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brother beloved, of ardent soul,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Striving to reach a heavenly goal;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wouldst thou attain the blissful height</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where wisdom purifies the sight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where God reveals to humblest gaze,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bliss and beauty of his ways</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Incline thine ear to angels bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who radiant from the realms of light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For ever hover near,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To offer thee, sweet words of cheer.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_216"></a>216. Only the first couplet in these verses differs at all from those -which were given in the impromptu, the words having been too flattering -for me, to have mentioned. Soon after being at the residence of a highly-esteemed -friend, who is a medium, my spirit sister, who manifests much -love for this lady, reporting herself, I told her of the change which I thus -desired to have made. The reply was, “I give you full liberty to alter my -verses; you know I never wrote two lines of poetry while in the flesh.” -Miss Ellis is no poetess, still less is Mrs. P., the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_217"></a>217. After my lecture at the Melodeon, being at the residence of Mrs. -Hayden, an accomplished medium, I requested a repetition of the experiment, -of which I had given an account on that occasion, in which the view -of the disk was cut off from the medium, by the interposition of a screen; -and Mrs. Hayden consenting, an arrangement was made so as to satisfy -the bystanders, as well as myself, that the letters on the disk could not be -seen by her. Under these conditions the name of Washington was spelt out.</p> - -<p><a id="para_218"></a>218. I have had this test repeated under Gordon’s mediumship, as well -as that of others, several times. Afterward, Mrs. Hayden sitting aloof, on -making the index move successively to each letter, those required for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>51</span> -name of Jefferson were selected in due order, by rapping at the one in demand, -as it came under the index.</p> - -<p><a id="para_219"></a>219. Through the influence of Mrs. Hayden, an uncommon test was -afforded by my faithful spirit sister.</p> - -<p><a id="para_220"></a>220. My charming, intelligent friend, Mrs. Eustis, daughter of the late -Rev. Dr. W. E. Channing, though not a believer in Spiritualism, became -desirous of seeing the manifestations so much relied upon by me. Having -accompanied me to the residence of Mrs. Hayden, Mrs. Eustis was -sitting beside her, while through her influence my sister was making a -communication by means of the apparatus described. (<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>, Fig. 2.) -When the process commenced, the hand of Mrs. Hayden was resting on the -lever in the usual position, but was subsequently lifted, so as to allow Mrs. -Eustis, as well as myself, to see between it and the wooden surface, without -creating any apparent abatement of the power of indicating the requisite -letters. (Description of <a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>, par. <i>e</i>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_221"></a>221. While the process still proceeded under these conditions, Mrs. -Eustis, having placed her hand upon the surface of the board lever, alleged -that she felt it imparting motion to her hand.</p> - -<p><a id="para_222"></a>222. Dr. W. F. Channing has since informed me that Mrs. Eustis’s account -of these manifestations, as given to him, coincide with those given -to him by me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_223"></a>223. Sometime after this feat was performed through Mrs. Hayden, I -inquired of my sister if she could not perform it through an excellent medium -under whose influence communications were making at the time of -this inquiry. It was replied that Mrs. Eustis being unconsciously to a -certain extent a medium herself, the power of Mrs. Hayden was augmented -by her presence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_224"></a>224. But as respects the selection of letters without the assistance of -the eyes of the medium, I have had many instances of this being done, -although the facility of its performance is various, not only with different -media and with different spirits, but likewise when the spirit and medium -are the same: it varies with the state of the medium. I sat more than an -hour with an accomplished medium, during an excessively hot evening, -without receiving any communication; in consequence, as I supposed, of the -effect of the heat upon her organism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_225"></a>225. The interposition of water contained in a glass vase, upon the -broad part of the lever actuating the index, so that the hands of the medium -can touch nothing but the water, has an effect analogous to the lifting -of the hand as above described, since the only difference in the conditions -is, that in the one case there is air, in the other water, interposed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_226"></a>226. It has been stated that, by the interposition of water, the power of -actuating the index was paralyzed; yet merely warming the water enabled -the manifestation to proceed, so as to empower the spirit to spell such -names as were called for. (<a href="#para_210">210</a>.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>52</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_227"></a>227. In one instance, I took a book from my pocket which the medium -had never seen, and opened it at a page where the heading “Publisher’s -Preface” was conspicuous, without allowing the medium to see any thing -more than the back of the book. Holding the page exposed to the disk, -the spirit spelt out “<i>Publish</i>—,” and then seemed unable to proceed. -Meanwhile, the medium called to her little son to be quiet; forthwith the -deficient letters, <i>ers</i>, were supplied, so as to finish the word “<i>Publisher’s</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_228"></a>228. The medium alleged that her mind was imbued with the idea that -the word “publishing” was coming forth, and with a view to aid the spirit, -lent some muscular aid to the letters necessary to complete that word; but -attention to her child causing her mind to be withdrawn, the spirit immediately -selected the letters above indited. On the same occasion I opened -the same book, keeping the back toward the medium, opposite to an engraving -of Jefferson: immediately, Jefferson was spelt out.</p> - -<p><a id="para_229"></a>229. On my way to Boston, I visited Mrs. Ann Leah Brown, formerly -Miss Fox. At about eight in the morning, I found her under very unfavourable -circumstances: Mrs. Brown had been watching the previous night -with a sick child. Nevertheless, considering me as an advocate of the -cause of truth, a short sitting was given to me, during which my faithful -spirit sister manifested herself by comparatively loud knockings.</p> - -<p><a id="para_230"></a>230. Through this I learned that Mrs. Brown was not in condition to -make it expedient to resort to her mediumship then, had not the necessity -of attending to her sick child formed a sufficient impediment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_231"></a>231. On my return from Boston, I called again on this interesting medium, -and then saw a table, situated at the distance of more than a foot from -her person, which was quiescent, make a movement to and fro of at least -eight inches. Moreover, as I sat on the opposite side of an intervening table, -I felt unexpectedly a slight touch against my leg as if by a human finger.</p> - -<p><a id="para_232"></a>232. During this visit, Mrs. Brown created much interest by giving a -brief account of the trials which herself and her sister had undergone, -being on the one hand urged to give their services to the community, as -the means of promoting truth, while on the other they were treated as impostors -or jugglers. The impression left on my mind was extremely favourable -as respects Mrs. Brown’s sincerity in her Spiritualism and in her -goodness of heart.</p> - -<p><a id="para_233"></a>233. In consequence of her invitation, I attended a circle at her house -a few days subsequently, when I saw, in addition to all the usual manifestations, -the following for the first time: Under a table around which the -party was seated, a sheet of paper was deposited on the carpeted floor. A -pencil was placed upon the paper; soon after, on examination, I found my -name scrawled thereon.</p> - -<p><a id="para_234"></a>234. Two small bells situated upon the floor beneath the table were -rung, and subsequently it was found that one of them had been lifted and -seated on the other.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>53</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_235"></a>235. My spirit sister has since informed me that my name was written -upon the paper by my spirit friend William Blodget.</p> - -<p><a id="para_236"></a>236. While at Boston, having read to a friend a communication from my -father through a writing medium, I placed it in one of my pockets, and -proceeded to the Fountain Inn. When there, I felt for it without success. -Unexpectedly, I went to Salem by the cars, and returned the same evening. -On undressing myself the scroll was missing, and I inferred that it had -been lost between the place where it had been read and the inn above -named, where I felt for it unsuccessfully. On going next morning to Mrs. -Hayden’s, and my spirit father reporting himself, I inquired whether he -knew what had become of the scroll. It was answered, that it had been -left upon the seat in the car on my quitting it at Salem.</p> - -<p><a id="para_237"></a>237. Inquiring of the conductor, who was on duty in the car where it had -been left, he said that it had been found on the seat, was safe at Portland, -and should be returned to me next day. This promise was realized.</p> - -<p><a id="para_238"></a>238. On one occasion, sitting at the disk with Mrs. Hayden, a spirit -gave his initials as C. H. Hare. Not recollecting any one of our relations -of that name precisely, I inquired if he were one of them. The reply was -affirmative. “Are you a son of my cousin Charles Hare, of St. Johns, -New Brunswick?” “Yes,” was spelled out. This spirit then gave me -the profession of his grandfather, also that of his father, and the fact of -the former having been blown into the water at Toulon, and of the latter -having made a miraculous escape from Verdun, where he had been confined -until his knowledge of French enabled him to escape by personating -in disguise an officer of the customs. Only one mistake was made in -referring to my English relatives, respecting an uncle’s name. Other inquiries -were correctly answered.</p> - -<p><a id="para_239"></a>239. Subsequently, the brother of this spirit made us a visit in Philadelphia, -and informed us that the mundane career of his brother Charles -Henry, had been terminated by shipwreck some few years anterior to the -visit made, as mentioned, to me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_240"></a>240. No one being present beside myself, and the medium ignorant of -Latin, my father spelt out upon the disk the words he had pointed out to -me in Virgil more than fifty-five years ago, as expressive of the beating -Entellus gave Dares, as described by Virgil—“<i>pulsatque versatque</i>;” also -the word which so much resembles the sound of horses’ hoofs trampling -on the ground, “<i>Quadrupedante</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_241"></a>241. A spirit of the name of Powel tendered his services, and undertook -to spell Cato, but instead of that name, Blodget, my friend, -occupied the disk, and spelt his own name, and afterward Cato. On the -same occasion Blodget spelt out and designated words without the medium -seeing the alphabet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_242"></a>242. The employment of letters to express ideas neither existing in -the mind of the medium nor in mine, cannot evidently be explained by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>54</span> -any psychological subterfuge. The name Blodget being indicated by -reference to the alphabet, instead of Cato, which was promised, precludes -the idea that it was learned from the mind of any mortal present.</p> - -<p><a id="para_243"></a>243. It must be manifest that the greatest difficulty which I had to -overcome during the investigation of which the preceding pages give a -history, arose from the necessity of making every observation under such -circumstances as to show that I was not deceived by the media.</p> - -<p><a id="para_244"></a>244. But having latterly acquired the powers of a medium in a sufficient -degree to interchange ideas with my spirit friends, I am no longer -under the necessity of defending media from the charge of falsehood and -deception. It is now my own character only that can be in question.</p> - -<p><a id="para_245"></a>245. Upon this the occurrence of the manifestation to which I am about -to allude rests. (Reference to this has been made in the Introduction -to this work, 115.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_246"></a>246. The fact that my spirit sister undertook at one o’clock, on the 3rd -of July, 1855, to convey from the Atlantic Hotel, Cape May Island, a -message to Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth street, Philadelphia, requesting -that she would induce Dr. Gourlay to go to the Philadelphia -Bank to ascertain the time when a note would be due, and report to me at -half-past three o’clock; that she did report at the appointed time; and that -on my return to Philadelphia, Mrs. Gourlay alleged herself to have received -the message, and that her husband and brother went to the bank in -consequence. With the idea received by the latter, my sister’s report coincided -agreeably to his statement to me. All this proves that a spirit must -have officiated, as nothing else can explain the transaction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_247"></a>247. The note clerk recollects the application, but does not appear to -have felt himself called upon to take the trouble to get the register, which -was not in his hands at the time. Hence the impression received by the -applicants was not correct, but corresponded with the report made to me -by my sister, which differed from the impression on my memory, and of -course, was not obtained from my mind.</p> - -<hr /> -<h3>HYMN CHANTED TO MY SISTER, AND HER REPLY.</h3> - -<p><a id="para_248"></a>248. My sister having mentioned her name in the spheres, to be Queen -of Flowers. I substituted this name translated into Latin in the Sicilian -Mariners’ Hymn, replacing virgo by soror, the Latin for sister; seraph for -mater; bonissima for piissima; carissima for purissima; and cura for ora. -It then read as follows:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-2">248. Oh! bonissima, oh! carissima</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dulcis soror, amata</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Florum regina</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In cœlo cognita</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cura, Cura, pro nobis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cura, cura, pro nobis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Seraph amata intemerata</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cura, cura, pro nobis.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>55</span></p> -<p><a id="para_249"></a>249. As soon as this was chanted, the following reply was given through -the spiritoscope, at which I was sitting with Mrs. Gourlay as medium:</p> - -<p><a id="para_250"></a>250. “<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>:—I answer your prayer by saying I do watch -over you, and pray for your welfare. I am grateful for your remembrance, -and shall strive to deserve it. O! brother, our cause is a common one, -and we feel the same interest in its promulgation. I am daily striving to -disseminate its truths, but can make little progress, having so much ignorance -to contend against. I know that the truths of progression, with the -help of a good and wise God, will ultimately prevail over all the land; but -when that happy time comes to earth, your freed spirit will rove the endless -fields of immortality with those loved friends who have gone a little -while before. Then will we revel in delights which, in comparison with -earth’s joys, are far more beautiful and sublime. I wish you could look -with the eye of prescience, and see that glorious time, when all nations -shall become as a band of brothers.”</p> - - -<hr /> - - -<h3>CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_251"></a>251. The evidence of the manifestations adduced in the foregoing narrative -does not rest upon myself only, since there have been persons present -when they were observed, and they have in my presence been repeated -essentially under various modifications, in many instances, not specially -alluded to.</p> - -<p><a id="para_252"></a>252. The evidence may be contemplated under various phases: First, -those in which rappings or other noises have been made, which could -not be traced to any mortal agency; secondly, those in which sounds were -so made as to indicate letters forming grammatical, well-spelt sentences, -affording proof that they were under the guidance of some rational being; -thirdly, those in which the nature of the communication has been such as to -prove that the being causing them must, agreeably to accompanying allegations, -be some known acquaintance, friend, or relative of the inquirer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_253"></a>253. Again, cases in which movements have been made of ponderable -bodies, either without any human contact, or with such contact as could -not be productive of the resulting motion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_254"></a>254. Cases in which such movements of bodies have been of a nature -to produce intellectual communications, resembling those obtained as above -mentioned by sounds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_255"></a>255. Although the apparatus by which these various proofs were -attained, <i>with the greatest possible precaution and precision</i>, modified them -as to the manner; essentially all the evidence which I have obtained, tending -to the conclusions above mentioned, has likewise been substantially<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>56</span> -obtained by a great number of observers. Many who never sought any -spiritual communication, and have not been induced to enroll themselves -as spiritualists, will nevertheless not only affirm the existence of the sounds -and movements, but also admit their inscrutability.</p> - -<p><a id="para_256"></a>256. But we have now, in a matter-of-fact, business-like publication, -by E. W. Capron, a record of the original manifestations at Hydesville -and Rochester, in New York; where, as it is well known, they produced -intense interest, excitement, and controversy; which gave rise to successive -town-meetings, and the appointment of committees by these meetings -for the purpose of ascertaining whether any other cause could be discovered -for the manifestations, except the spiritual beings who assumed -them to be their doings. Some of the persons appointed to make the -investigation, were prepossessed with the belief that the phenomena were -due to some juggling contrivance. One alleged that he would throw -himself over the Genesee Falls, or prove the knockings due to humbuggery. -Another alleged that the media, aware of his prepossession, would -not for one hundred dollars have him on the committee; yet both these -persons being put on the committee, the latter came out in favour of the -inscrutability of the noise; while the former neither accounted for it, -“<i>nor threw himself over the falls</i>,” as Mr. Capron pointedly alleges.</p> - -<p><a id="para_257"></a>257. Subsequently, in the city of New York, the mystery was subjected -to the ordeal of a public investigation by a number of distinguished citizens, -whose reports confirmed those of the Rochester committees. Fennimore -Cooper was among those appointed on the New York committee, and -was the means himself of obtaining an unequivocal test. His sister’s -death, which had resulted from being thrown from a horse, was correctly -stated by her spirit in every particular, in reply to mental inquiries by him -made.</p> - -<p><a id="para_258"></a>258. Again at Stratford, Connecticut, at a house of a minister of the -gospel, manifestations were made fully as striking as those which had -occurred at Hydesville and Rochester, so as to establish in the mind of -this estimable clergyman, and in those of many others acquainted with -the facts, a belief in spiritual agency. (<a href="#para_1667">1667</a>)</p> - - -<h4><i>Corroborative evidence by the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_259"></a>259. As affording support to the testimony which I have given, I deem -it expedient to cite that of the Rev. Allen Putnam, formerly a Unitarian -clergyman and preacher in Augusta, Maine, having been in the legislature -of that State, and for some time editor of the New England Farmer. -Mr. Putnam had the advantage of a theological and collegiate education -at Harvard. I heard an able and erudite lecture from this worthy spiritualist, -at Boston last October.</p> - -<p><a id="para_260"></a>260. Mr. Putnam entered upon the investigation of the manifestations -in July, 1852, nearly eighteen months before my investigation com<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>57</span>menced. -Like me, he began as an unbeliever, and was converted by communications -received from the spirits of his wife and relatives, who had -left this life. In a company ignorant of the fact that he had married -twice, his first wife had made herself known to him, so as to create a conviction -of her identity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_261"></a>261. In the next place, his ancestors communicated with Mr. Putnam, -so as to satisfy his mind that they were the beings they professed to be. -I do not enter into the detail of the facts which created conviction in the -mind of this respectable observer; my object is to show that other minds -have gone through the process which has influenced mine, in order that -sceptics may not “lay the flattering unction to their souls” that ’tis my -<i>madness</i> speaks in <i>favour</i>, not their <i>prejudices</i> that speak <i>against</i>, the -conclusions in which investigators of sound understanding have concurred.</p> - -<p><a id="para_262"></a>262. Mr. Putnam alleges: “Some uncommon movements have occurred -in my presence. I have seen a table moved without any visible power -applied to it.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_263"></a>263. The following narrative is taken from the pamphlet published -by the author in question. It is quite characteristic of the variety of -character found in the spheres. This juvenile spirit owed his education -entirely to his schooling in the spirit world. It will be perceived that he -died while yet an infant. (Page 34, Paragraph 3.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_264"></a>264. “Entering a medium’s room one morning, I saw a gentlemanly, -intelligent man, apparently about thirty, sitting at the table and putting -questions. Soon a tiny rap was heard, and the name Natty was spelled -out. ‘Who are you?’ said the man. ‘I am your brother;’ was the answer. -‘No,’ said the man, ‘I had no such brother.’ ‘You had,’ said the -rapper. ‘No,’ said the man. ‘Yes,’ said the other. ‘Well, let us see,’ -added the man. ‘How old were you, Natty, when you died?’ ‘Five days,‘ -was the answer. ‘How long since you died?’ ‘Thirty-five years.’ The -gentleman here bit his lip in thought, and said—‘I believe there was an -infant brother who died before I was born, but I thought they called him -Oliver.’ ‘No,’ was the response, ‘they called him Natty, and I am he.’ -‘Natty,’ said the man, ‘how do you know that I am your brother?’ ‘By -love,’ he answered. ‘By love?’ said the questioner; ‘but don’t you love -others as well as relatives?’ Ans. ‘We like others, and love relatives!’ -‘What,’ it was then asked—‘what is the difference between love and like?’ -The word LOVE was immediately written in large letters, two or three -inches long, and <i>like</i> was traced under it in <i>very small</i> letters. ‘Natty,’ -continued the man, ‘you are not my brother, but are some one else, attempting -to impose upon me.’ ‘I am your brother,’ was the earnest rejoinder. -‘Then, will you tell me what sphere you are in?’ ‘The fourth,’ he said. -‘The fourth, ah? Now I’ve caught you—for as you died in infancy, you -was fitted for the seventh sphere when you left the earth.’ ‘I have been -there;’ was the response. ‘Have been there, and yet are now in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>58</span> -fourth! how is that? are you moving backward? coming down?’ ‘No, -I am an adviser in the fourth.’ ‘Adviser! what is that? a sort of superintendent?’ -‘Yes.’ ‘Oh! you are in office, then?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you get -any pay? We pay well for such things here.’ ‘Yes, I get pay.’ ‘What -pay?’ ‘The pleasure of seeing those under me progress.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_265"></a>265. “I then said to the gentleman stranger, ‘Sir, you have found your -<i>match</i>, if not your brother. I think I would own the relationship;’ and in -continuance I remarked, that this seemed to be a very bright, cheerful -spirit; when there was written—‘I am always laughing.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_266"></a>266. “My next remark was—‘Natty, I should like to make your acquaintance.’ -‘Hand out your card;’ was the instant response. Finding -no card in my pocket, I wrote, secretly, on a slip of paper—‘Mr. Allen -Putnam, Eustis St., Roxbury’—turned the paper over, placing the writing -down upon the table, kept my hand over the paper, and asked Natty to -make a copy. Instantly the medium’s hand wrote—Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox. -The writing on my paper had been seen by me alone, and I was looking -for a copy in full, but received only abbreviations, and those of every -word, Eustis being reduced to the letter U. This closed my first interview -with him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_267"></a>267. “Some weeks afterward, when he was forgotten, the medium’s -hand wrote, ‘Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox.—I have used your card.’ ‘Natty,‘ -said I, ‘as you left the earth when very young, I would like to know how -you learned the English language.’ He answered, ‘My mother knew it, -I think;’ and asked, ‘Will you let my mamma come?’ ‘Certainly, with -pleasure.’ And the following was written:</p> - -<p><a id="para_268"></a>268. “‘My friend, you must not be angry with my darling boy. It -ofttimes grieves me to have him, so pure, use such wild phrases. I am -your friend, as a soldier in the cause.</p> -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Elizabeth Y-—-.</span>’</p> - -<p><a id="para_269"></a>269. “Very often this little bright spark comes out with something unexpected, -amusing, or witty; but at all times he manifests a very marked -disposition to be obliging and kind. Once, when his communication seemed -to be closed, I said, ‘You are not going, Natty?’ ‘Yes—gone—don’t you -see the dust fly?’ ‘Where,’ I asked, ‘do you pick up such phrases?’ -‘Hear ‘um.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_270"></a>270. “On another occasion he said, ‘My friend, you must not put on -a long face when you come to talk with supposed ghosts. You must not -believe all they tell you to. You must not go to the end of the world and -jump off, because they tell you to.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_271"></a>271. “When once I said to him, ‘How do you go to work, Natty, to use -a medium’s hand?’ He said, ‘Why, you see, we just passes a chain of -light around the wrist, and that sets it to shaking. The next operation is -to make it write, of course. Sometimes the words are allowed to pass -through the brains. We now have such a power over this medium, that -we can make her shake awfully.’ ‘Try my wrist, Natty,’ said a lady who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>59</span> -was present. ‘Dear, beloved aunty, I’ve got a peck of love for you, but I -can’t make you trace my purified thoughts on the clean paper.’”</p> - -<p>For those who endeavour to get rid of the evidence of respectable witnesses, -such as Mr. Putnam, by representing them as dupes, and the media -as impostors, it may be well to quote the following passage from the -same publication: (Page 44.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_272"></a>272. “Within the last fourteen months I have seen twenty-two or three -different mediums—all but four of them private ones—taking no pecuniary -compensation; and more than half of them are our own citizens, several -of whom are now present in this assembly. I have spent very many hours -in their presence. Have seen them at their homes—at my own home—and -in the parlours of neighbours and friends. I have met and watched -them in the broadest sunlight and at evening. Every desirable opportunity -has been furnished me for detecting machinery, jugglery, or imposture, -and I have faithfully, but in vain, strove to find something mundane -a sufficient cause for all these wonders. That trick or humbug is sometimes -attempted by pretenders to uncommon susceptibilities, no one will -have a wish to deny. But very many of the mediums, private ones, are -as much above these things as are the very best persons among the witnesses.</p> - -<p><a id="para_273"></a>273. “One medium, an active, energetic business man, of more than -sixty years, has submitted himself to be used by me at any time, however -suddenly called upon, whether in his counting-room or in mine,—whether -called in his shirt sleeves from the woodpile, or coalbin, or dressed up and -ready for company; and I have used him and watched him daily almost, -and that through several successive months. Many mediums have been -watched for long periods, and under quite varied circumstances; and, -though the power exerted through any of them is very far from being -uniform, and though the mode of manifestation is in no two alike, yet I -have seen no sign of its being anywhere applied by machinery; or of its -being varied by any preparation or act of the mediums themselves.</p> - -<p><a id="para_274"></a>274. “They deny, one and all, young and old, educated and ignorant -alike—they all deny, and that, too, in the most private and friendly circles, -where all the thoughts flow out,—they all deny that they exercise their -wills at all in the production of these wonders. And I cannot rate that -fairness very high which, in the face of such a fact, will persist in saying -that all of it is trick, imposture, humbug. More than one hundred thousand -witnesses have looked on, and yet are unable to prove to any extent -the cheats alleged. More than five thousand mediums in this country -unitedly and persistedly declare that they use no machinery and practice -no trick.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_275"></a>275. This charge is utterly futile when we see persons in affluence -converted by their own mediumship, as in the case of two of my most -esteemed friends.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>60</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_276"></a>276. My conversion was effected before I attended any public medium. -To the ladies by whom it was effected my requisitions could only have -been onerous, had not the desire for truth to oblige me been a strong -motive for the pains which they were made to take.</p> - -<p><a id="para_277"></a>277. It does not seem sufficiently understood by those who object to -Spiritualism, upon the ground of the inconsistency of the opinions given -by spirits, that our next state of existence is one of progression, and that -we go there with all our imperfections, which are removed more or less -slowly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_278"></a>278. “Many men, many minds,” is an old adage: it is equally true as -respects the inhabitants of the spirit world, excepting that as their elevation -in that world is higher, accordance in opinion is more prevalent. In -the spirits of the fifth sphere, and those above that sphere, I find little -diversity in important facts or doctrines.</p> - -<p><a id="para_279"></a>279. Allusion is made to this diversity in some communications from -Franklin, to Mr. Putnam, which are as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_280"></a>280. “The mortals of earth expect truth from the spirit land; they -think that it is perfect, and that the angels are omnipotent. Oh, how -far do they wander in the darkness of their own minds! The spirit home -is <i>progressive</i>, like unto this: the canting hypocrite passes into the heavens -with the same thoughts; the simple babe too passes into this new-born -life with all its childlike innocence. Each one has to mount the ladder -of progression.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_281"></a>281. “There are millions in the spirit world that know not of the existence -of this planet, even as the children of this earth know not of the -starry world above. But on beholding angels descend to this hidden planet, -they follow, and in wonderment behold a new world, and that world -inhabited. Then do they find whence they originated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_282"></a>282. “Allusion has been made to the one-sided support given to Spiritualism -on the part of those who admit many of the most important facts, -yet do not ascribe them to the spirits of the departed. These opponents -were alleged to be of different features; one ascribing them to Satan, the -other disputing their spiritual origination, because agreeably to their <i>imperfect</i> -information, certain traits were found to be deficient which should -exist, were the intellectual communications due to the spirits of our departed -fellow-creatures. The idea of these spiritual manifestations owing -their existence to Satan has already been noticed, (<a href="#para_88">88</a>,) but from the communications -which will be given in this work must appear still more untenable -than they have, as I trust, been proved to be. As one of the most -respectable of these, who deny the existence of spirits, the distinguished -Dr. Bell, of Somerville, Massachusetts, has been noticed. (<a href="#para_110">110</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_283"></a>283. “It is conceived that Dr. Bell’s positive evidence in favour of -phenomena which he has seen, gives so much more weight in favour of the -existence of spirits than his arguments on negative grounds, as to what he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>61</span> -happens not to have seen or learned, that I will quote here his account of -the manifestations which he has described, after having observed them -with great circumspection:</p> - -<p><a id="para_284"></a>284. “Dr. Bell commenced (at a meeting of hospital directors) by expressing -his surprise that at the meeting, last year, of so large a number -of persons whose lives were spent in investigating the reciprocal influences -of mind and body, scarcely a single member had given a moment’s attention -to a topic directly in their path, which, whether regarded as merely -an epidemic mental delusion, or as a new psychological science, was producing -such momentous effects upon the world. It was now said to number -over two millions of believers, had an extended literature, a talented -periodical press in many forms, and had certainly taken fast hold on many -minds of soberness and power. He was well aware how easily it was -turned to ridicule, and that there were many who would be ready to ask, -when they saw hospital directors seriously discussing the spiritual phenomena, -<i>Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_285"></a>285. “But if there was any class of men who had duties in this direction, -it was those of our specialty. Our reports contain the record of -many cases of insanity said to be produced by it. It was important, -whether true or false, or mixed, that its precise depth, length, and nature -should be studied out. As is well known, mystery always loses its terrific -character when boldly met and opened to the light of noonday.</p> - -<p><a id="para_286"></a>286. “Dr. Bell remarked, that on his return home from our meeting at -Washington, he had a peculiar wish to verify his previous observations on -what are technically known as the physical manifestations of this new -science. He could not pretend that he could doubt his repeated personal -observations, addressed to his sight, hearing, and touch, and separated, as -he believed, from any possibility of error or collusive fraud. Yet the -offer, by Professor Henry, of a large sum to any person who would make -one of <i>his</i> tables move <i>in</i> the Smithsonian Institution, and the obvious -incredulity of many of the ‘brethren,’ had induced the desire again to see -some full and unequivocal experiment in <i>table-moving</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_287"></a>287. “An opportunity was not long wanting. On the occasion of the -visit of a well-known gentleman, long connected with the insane, and who -never had seen any of these phenomena at the asylum, Dr. Bell invited -him to go to a family where a medium of considerable power was visiting. -The family was one of the most respectable of the vicinage, the head of it -being a gentleman intrusted with millions of dollars of other people’s -money, as the financial manager of a large banking institution. He and -his wife had for some years been perfectly convinced of the spiritual character -of these manifestations. The medium was a young lady of eighteen -or twenty, of very slight figure, weighing eighty or ninety pounds, and had -discovered herself to be a <i>medium</i> while on a visit to these distant relatives. -A family, from character and position, more entirely beyond the suspicion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>62</span> -of even winking at any thing like fraud or irregularity, does not exist in -the world. They were so fortunate as to find the medium at home, and -the circle was made of the five persons mentioned. The ordinary manifestations -of raps, beating of musical tunes, and responses to mental and -spoken questions, were very completely presented, as well as the movements -of the table under the mere contact of fingers’ ends. Finding that -things appeared very favourable to a full exhibition of what he wished to -see, as evinced by the very facile movements of the table under contact, -Dr. Bell proposed trying the grand <i>experimentum crucis</i> of the physical -manifestations—the movement of the table without any human contact, -direct or indirect. He was permitted to arrange things to suit himself, -and began by opening the table more widely, and inserting two movable -table-leaves, which increased the length from about six to perhaps nine or -ten feet. This, he felt, also gave him an opportunity to see and upset all -wires and mechanism concealed, or, at least, to answer positively as to their -non-existence. The table was a solid structure of black walnut, with six -carved legs, the whole of such a weight that when the castors were all in -the right line of motion, he could just start it by the full grasp of the -thumb and fingers of both hands.</p> - -<p><a id="para_288"></a>288. “The persons stood on the <i>sides</i> of the table, three and two, and -back from its edge about eighteen inches. As Dr. Bell is some six feet -two inches in height, he averred that he had no difficulty in seeing <i>between</i> -the table and the persons of all present. The hands were raised over it at -about the same height, of a foot and a half.</p> - -<p><a id="para_289"></a>289. “At a request, the table commenced its motion, with moderate -speed, occasionally halting, and then gliding on a foot or two at once. It -seemed as if its motion would have been continuous, if the hands above it -had followed along <i>pari passu</i>. On reaching the folding-doors dividing -off the two parlours, and which were open, it rose over an iron rod on -which the door-trucks traversed, and which projected half or three-quarters -of an inch above the level of the carpet. It then entered the other parlour, -and went its whole length until it came near the pier glass at its end—a -centre-table having been pushed aside by one of the party to allow its free -course.</p> - -<p><a id="para_290"></a>290. “At request, for they during this time spoke as if to actual beings, -the motion was reversed, and it returned until it again reached the iron -rod. Here it stuck. The table hove, creaked, and struggled, but all in -vain; it could not surmount the obstacle. The medium was then ‘impressed -by the spirits’ to write, and seizing a pencil, hastily wrote that if -the fore legs were lifted over the bar, they (<i>i. e.</i> the spirits) thought they -could push the others over. This was done, and the motion kept on. -Once or twice Dr. Bell requested all to withdraw a little farther from the -table, ‘to see how far the influence would extend.’ It was found that -whenever a much greater distance, say two feet, was reached, the move<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>63</span>ment -ceased, and a delay of three or four minutes occurred before it recommenced, -giving the idea that, if broken off, a certain reaccumulation of -force was needful to put it in motion again. The table reached the upper -end of the parlour, from which it had started, but was left some four feet -from the medial line of the room. Dr. Bell expressed the thanks of the -company for the very complete exhibition with which they had been -favoured, but remarked that the obligation would be enhanced if the -‘spirits’ would move the table about four feet at right angles, so that the -chairs would come right for their late occupants. This was immediately -done, and the performance was deemed so perfectly full and satisfactory -that nothing more was asked at this session.</p> - -<p><a id="para_291"></a>291. “Dr. Bell was understood to say that this made some five or six -times in which he had seen the table move without human contact, and -all under circumstances apparently as free from suspicion as this just -related. He also stated that the Rev. Mr. P., a clergyman of extraordinary -sagacious perceptions and mechanical skill, took this same medium to his -own house, without previous thought, where she never before had been, -and where his own table, in the presence of his own family alone, went -through the fullest locomotion without human touch. Dr. Bell mentioned -that in his last experiment, that just narrated, the entire space moved -through was over fifty feet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_292"></a>292. “Dr. Bell then passed to the topic of responses to mental and -verbal questions, and gave several narratives of long conversations with -what purported to be the spirits of persons dead for twenty-five to forty -years, in which every question he could devise relating to their domestic -history, and to events in it known only to them and him, had been truly -answered. Some of the subjects put mentally—<i>i. e.</i>, without speaking or -writing—had half a dozen correct replies, forbidding, of course, completely, -on any doctrine of chances, the contingency of accident or coincidence, -as such <i>mental</i> questions, <i>per se</i>, negative the explanation of previous -knowledge on the part of the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_293"></a>293. “A brief abstract of one of these will give a general idea of their -character: Dr. Bell had frequently remarked to his ‘spiritual’ friends, -that if any medium could reproduce the essential particulars of a final -interview which had occurred between himself and a deceased brother in -1826, he should be almost compelled to admit that it came from his spirit; -because he was sure that he (Dr. Bell) never had communicated it to any -living being. Hence, as it never had been known to but two persons, and -was of so peculiar, well-marked a character, as not to be capable of being -confounded by generalities, he should hardly be able otherwise to explain -it. A few weeks afterward what purported to be the spirit of that brother -narrated the essential particulars of that interview, the place where, -down to the well-recollected fact <i>that he was adjusting the stirrups of his -saddle</i>, preparatory to a distant journey, when it was held! Pretty early,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>64</span> -however, in his investigations, Dr. Bell began to find that, however correct -his spiritual conferees were, in most of their responses, the moment a -question was put involving a response the truth of which was unknown -to him, uniform failure occurred. Sometimes, where he believed at the -time that his questions were truly answered, subsequent information had -shown him that he had been mistaken. He had answers which he believed -to be true, when the facts were decidedly otherwise.</p> - -<p><a id="para_294"></a>294. “Pursuing this train of inquiry, he found the ‘spirits,’ while -averring that they could see him distinctly, ‘face to face,’ never could -read the signature to letters taken from an old file, and unfolded <i>without -his having seen the writing</i>. Yet as soon as he had cast his eye upon the -signature, without allowing any one else to see it, it was promptly and -correctly reproduced by the alphabetical rappings. And again, when he -had made a previous arrangement with his family that they should do -certain things every quarter of an hour at home—he, of course, not -knowing what—while he was to ask the ‘spirit’ what was done at the instant, -uniform failure occurred. He proved, too, that the theory of the -‘spiritualists’ to meet such difficulties—viz., that evil or trifling spirits -interfered at <i>their</i> end of the telegraph—was not tenable. For the -responses just before and after these gross failures had been eminently -and wonderfully accurate, and the ‘spirits’ not only declared that they saw -with perfect clearness what was going on at his house, but denied that -there had been any interruption or interference.</p> - -<p><a id="para_295"></a>295. “Dr. Bell also gave examples where test questions, involving replies -<i>unknown</i> to the interrogator, had been designedly intermixed with those -which were known. The result uniformly was, that the known responses, -however curious and far remote, were correctly reproduced; the unknown -were a set of perfectly wild and blundering errors, the responses often -being obviously formed out of the phraseology of the question, as a <i>stuck</i> -schoolboy guesses out a reply!</p> - -<p><a id="para_296"></a>296. “The result of the inquiries of Dr. Bell and his friends—for -several gentlemen of eminently fitting talents pursued the investigation -with him—was briefly this:—<i>That what the questioner knows the spirits -know; what the questioner does not know, the spirits are entirely ignorant -of</i>. In other words, that there are really no superhuman agencies in the -matter at all—no connection with another state of existence; but that it -bears certain strong analogies to some of the experiences of <i>clairvoyance</i>, -in that mysterious science of animal magnetism, as it has been protruding -and receding for the last hundred years. Dr. Bell thought there was -some reason to believe that the matter reproduced may come not only from -the questioner, but if in the mind of any one at the circle, that it might -be evolved. He made some observations upon the evidences of spirit existence, -drawn from the character of the matter communicated by the mediums -in a state of <i>impression</i>, when, as it is believed, spirits express<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>65</span> -themselves through the human agent. Of course, the quality of such -composition is more or less a question of taste. Much of it is elevated, -indicating high intellectual and moral capacities in the mind to which it -owes its origin. Much more is absurd, puerile, and disgusting, infinitely -below the grade of the human productions of the same persons from whom -it professedly comes. Yet the spiritual revelation has given us nothing -of such extraordinary value or novelty as to stamp it, in the judgment of -unprejudiced minds, as of supermundane production. Dr. Bell alluded -to a treatise which had been put into his hands by an earnest spiritualist, -purporting to be the work of Thomas Paine, the author of the Age of -Reason, &c., which was thought would carry conviction to anybody, as it -purported to be a full explanation of the formation and changes of this -earth, by one who, from his <i>situs</i>, must know all about it. The truth was, -that the work was the production of some mind, celestial or mundane, -ignorant of the very first rudiments of chemical philosophy, in which the -most ridiculous blunders were made on every page in matters which are -as demonstrable as mathematics, and where, of course, the answer cannot -be made that the revelation was too high for common readers. Nor does -Dr. Bell believe, from his observations, that the waters from this fountain -ever reach a higher level than their source. The most elevated specimen -of the spiritual literature would no doubt be found in the communications -from Swedenborg and Lord Bacon in Judge Edmond’s and Dr. -Dexter’s first and second volumes. Yet, whoever reads the very elegant -and powerful preliminary treatise of these gentlemen, which Dr. Bell -thought would compare favourably with any writings of the kind ever -published, would not be able to feel that Swedenborg and Lord Bacon, -after their nearly one and more than two centuries’ residence, respectively, -amid the culture and refined senses of the superior spheres, had more -than equalled their unpretending amanuenses still in the ‘vale of tears.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_297"></a>297. “Dr. Bell concluded by the expression of his full convictions that, -while the faith in spirits must be given up as being connected with these -facts, it was a topic, whether regarded as a physical novelty or even as a -delusion, cutting deeply into the very religious natures of our people, -which was worth our fullest examination. <i>There were great, novel, interesting -facts here.</i> They had not been treated fairly and respectfully, as -they should have been. The effect was, that the community, knowing that -here were <i>facts</i>, if human senses could be trusted at all, went away from -those who should have thrown light upon the mysteries, but who would -or could not, to those who gave some explanation, even if it was one -which uprooted all previous forms of religious faith. He hoped that the -members of this association, who were as much required to examine this -topic as any order of men, except, perhaps, the clergy, would not be afraid -of looking it in the face from any apprehensions of ridicule or of degrading -their dignity.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>66</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_298"></a>298. After giving much evidence, showing that physical movements -take place without contact, and that communications were made to him -which could not have ensued without controlling reason, Dr. Bell finds -that in certain instances which have come to his knowledge spirits could -not communicate information nor ideas which did not exist in his mind -or that of some mortals present. Yet it appears that during a manifestation -which my learned friend witnessed, a request to lift the legs of the -table was given which did not occur to any mortal present.</p> - -<p><a id="para_299"></a>299. I have already given a brief reply to these objections of Dr. Bell. -Under this head I will only add my regret that my letter to the Episcopal -clergy, with a sketch of the information derived from my spirit friends, -had not fallen under Dr. Bell’s notice before his conclusions were published. -It will be seen that the information thus alluded to is irreconcilable -with Dr. Bell’s inferences. I shall, however, postpone this discussion -until facts have been more fully presented to the reader. (<a href="#para_866">866</a>)</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3> FOREIGN CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE.</h3> - -<p class="hang"><i>Some quotations from a work on Spiritual Philosophy, addressed to the -Academy of Sciences at Paris, by James C. De Mirville.</i>—Third -Edition.</p> - - -<h4><i>Manifestations which occurred in France, in 1851.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_300"></a>300. There is a great resemblance between the manifestations which -have been described by Capron and others as having taken place at the -mansion of the Rev. Dr. Phelps, at Stratford, Connecticut, and those which -occurred in the Presbytery of Cideville in France, so as to be verified before -a court. The facts in this last-mentioned case were verified by the testimony -taken during a trial which grew out of the circumstances. Some of -the witnesses were persons distinguished by their high character and position -in society. None had any interested motives for stating them; but, -on the contrary, had to meet the odium which falls upon all who tell truths -conflicting with the prejudices of the community within which they reside. -Rochefoucault correctly urged that it is more politic, to tell a probable -lie than an improbable truth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_301"></a>301. This impression I have seen to operate in making people backward -to admit their belief in spiritual communication.</p> - -<p><a id="para_302"></a>302. It is remarkable that in the case at Cideville, signals as the means -of intellectual communication were employed, independently of their employment -made between two and three years before in New York. Of -course, those who resorted to this expedient, might have heard previously -of the effort in the same way which had been successful in this country<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>67</span> -The signs employed, however, differed. At Rochester <i>one rap</i> was taken -for <i>no</i>, <i>two</i> for <i>doubtful</i>, <i>three</i> for <i>yes</i>. At Cideville <i>one rap</i> was received -for <i>yes</i>, and <i>two</i> for <i>no</i>. At the former place, the alphabet was directly -referred to; at the latter, reference was made by figures indicating the -place of the selected letter in the alphabetic card.</p> - -<p><a id="para_303"></a>303. Of this character is the admission of the Roman Church of the -spiritual origin of the manifestations; ascribed, however, to <i>diabolic</i> -agency. To this allusion has been already made; but I subjoin some -letters and expositions, translated from a French work lately published on -Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, and Spiritual Manifestations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_304"></a>304. The following letters, taken from the work in question, will require -no farther introduction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_305"></a>305. If the Roman clergy thus advance the inference that the manifestations -and intellectual communications come from spiritual agency, it -will be easy for Spiritualism to show that it is vastly more devoid of diabolic -malevolence and inhumanity than the institutions sanctioned by that -priesthood.</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter from T. R. P. Ventura.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_306"></a>306. “<i>My Dear Sir</i>: When you came two years ago to consult me as -to the merit and propriety of your labours, I hesitated so much the less to -encourage their publication, that having myself entertained the same ideas -for a long time, I had been several times on the point of proclaiming them -from the sacred chair. I do not fear then to affirm ‘that the publication -of this important and serious work would be of incontestable usefulness, -and tend strongly to enlighten opinion on a mass of curious facts, and thus -prepare for the solution of high and important questions; for, I add, it is -necessary that all the phases of the subject should be first presented by the -laity, in order that the church may thus be enabled to form their judgment -with full knowledge of the case.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_307"></a>307. “I do not say enough, my dear sir, in pronouncing your work -<i>useful</i>; I might have called it indispensable, had I foreseen the approaching -invasion of that scourge which you so happily designate as a <i>spiritual</i> -epidemic: a scourge whose sudden and universal propagation, in my opinion, -notwithstanding its appearance of puerility, will constitute <span class="allsmcap">ONE OF THE -GREATEST EVENTS OF OUR AGE</span>. But how has it been both received and -entertained?</p> - -<p><a id="para_308"></a>308. “Commencing with your savans, it is impossible not to be alarmed -by the obstinate incredulity which does not allow them to see what at the -present time can be confirmed by anybody. <i lang="la">Oculos habent et non vident.</i><a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_309"></a>309. “Those individuals alarm me still more, who having given their -attention, and of course seen, shake their heads as a sign of indifference<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>68</span> -and pity, as if the phenomenon exhibited was of a low character and -beneath their notice. When they have descended to the foundation, they -treat it with contempt.</p> - -<p><a id="para_310"></a>310. “Then, finally, and very differently indeed, I feel myself frozen -with terror by certain dispensers of truth, who, in their blindness, trifle -without scruple with their most relentless enemies; so far have they forgotten -their most serious teachings.</p> - -<p><a id="para_311"></a>311. “I do not profess to be a prophet, sir, and do not know what the -mercy or justice of God is preparing for us; but, like you, I tremble for -the present, and hope for the future; for marvellous lessons are already -presented to us in these passing phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_312"></a>312. “In fact, the justification of the church and of the faith are -emanating from them: the definite condemnation of a fallen rationalism; -and consequently, the approaching glorification of all the past in the true -church, and even of that Middle Age, so calumniated, so ridiculed, and -gratuitously endowed with so much darkness. The political events of -these latter times have to justify that Middle Age, as respects good sense -in the affairs of government; and behold these facts of a nature entirely -foreign, coming to avenge its accusation of superstitious credulity. This -reparation was necessary, and after all our own age has nothing to fear -from it, for certainly it will not render injustice of any kind to the objective -and useful progress of modern civilization.</p> - -<p><a id="para_313"></a>313. “As for yourself, sir, you will enjoy the honour of having brought, -by your luminous discussions, a large stone for the construction of this -majestic edifice, and I rejoice in the encouragement I have given you. I -need not enlarge on this subject, <span class="allsmcap">FOR SUCCESS HAS SPOKEN</span>, and think I -am sufficiently acquainted with you to know that you did not anticipate -one so brilliant. You have known how to engage the attention of the -learned, and people generally, by making your work attractive while it is -instructive—a quality sufficiently rare to claim my congratulations. I -will only add another word: had this work been confined to the notice of -those phenomena whose advent we deplore, it would probably share their -fate; but what will secure its perpetuity is your discussion of medical -science which you put in apposition with your subject, and which will not -long be able to resist the severe stricture of your logic. Therefore, be -assured, it will be the learned, and especially physicians, that you will first -convert to your doctrine. Philosophers will only surrender after them; -but so far there is no doubt that you will have given rise to most serious -reflections in all of them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_314"></a>314. “I will not speak to you at present of two or three observations -which I have made in reading your book, which we will discuss <i>in private</i>, -and which only relate to some inaccuracy of doctrine, foreign, besides, to -the principal subject of your work.</p> - -<p><a id="para_315"></a>315. “Finally, my dear sir, I do not doubt that the God of truth will<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>69</span> -bless your labours. Continue them, for the subject is vast, and especially -do not suffer yourself to be discouraged by the reasoning of light minds, -‘that in divulging all these things you favour their promulgation, when -they had better be suppressed, &c. &c.’ A gross error! They might -as well accuse the doctors of causing the cholera. And, beside, it is worthy -of remark that all the cases of insanity lately developed in the midst -of these exhibitions are due to thoughtless enthusiasm succeeding to an -absolute state of doubt and disbelief. It could not well be otherwise; the -prodigy which was doubted yesterday, and to-day is firmly established, -will to-morrow be transformed into <i>God</i>. Truth alone is able to prevent -and remedy such disastrous mishaps.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="gap3">Receive, my dear sir, the assurance, &c.,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Le P. Ventura De Raulica</span>,<br /> -<i>Former General of the Monks, Examiner of the Bishops and of the Roman clergy</i>.” -</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter of Dr. Coze.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_316"></a>316. “<i>Sir</i>:—You do me the honour to ask my opinion of the book on -<i>the Spirits</i> which you have just published. That opinion I have already -expressed to our mutual friend, the good worthy doctor Paulin; and true -it is, this book has made a strong impression on my mind, for I had -arrived at similar conclusions from the examination of some magnetic phenomena -and <i>the moving of tables</i>. I find in your book a chain of very -remarkable facts—presented, too, with talent and clearness very unusual -in this sort of writing. I see, beside, that science is brought back to the -path which cannot mislead us to that of the sacred writings; there, as I -think, are to be found the true philosophy and the true light.</p> - -<p><a id="para_317"></a>317. “I do not fancy that my opinion can have any weight with the -learned world. If, however, you think proper to make this public, I consent -with all my heart in behalf of a truth which you so well defend, and -<span class="allsmcap">THE SUCCESS OF WHICH APPEARS TO ME INFALLIBLE</span>.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="gap3">I have the honour to be, &c.,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">R. Coze</span>,<br /> -<i>Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Strasbourg</i>.” -</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter of M. F. De Saulcy.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_318"></a>318. “<i>Sir</i>:—You desire me to report to you my opinion in writing -which I have formed as to the strange phenomena, to say the least of -them, which have been conventionally called <i>table turning</i> and table talking. -I am not the man to recoil from what I regard as a truth, whatever -sarcasm may be reserved for such profession of faith, and therefore proceed -to satisfy your inquiry.</p> - -<p><a id="para_319"></a>319. “It is about eight or ten months since when the public of Paris was -agitated by the late arrival of the fact from America and Germany; a fact -which pure physics was not able to explain <i>a priori</i>. I did as many always<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>70</span> -do, and have no doubt done for a long time—received this account with the -most determined incredulity, and, I confess, with ridicule. I considered its -adepts as charlatans or as simpletons, and refused for a long time to bestow -on it the least attention. I became tired of the war, however, and -after hearing many affirm, to whom I could not apply these epithets, the -reality of these facts, I determined to try for myself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_320"></a>320. “My son and a friend were my two companions: we had the patience -for forty-five minutes, seated at the table, to form what is called -the chain, and were not a little surprised, I assure you, to see at the end -of that time the table on which we were operating, and which was merely -the parlour dinner-table, begin to move, and after some hesitation to contract -a rotary movement, which, accelerating, soon became very rapid. We -endeavoured by pressing to make it strike against the bar and arrest its -motion, but could not succeed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_321"></a>321. “After repeating the experiment two or three times, I sought to -find some cause in physics for the movement, and battled the whole theory -of Electro-Dynamics with the aid of an electroscope, compass, iron-filings, -iron, &c. As I could not detect the least trace of electricity, I thought -then of impulses due to the volition of the operators, and of which a sort -of integration might cause the motion of the table. On that I stopped, -and for several weeks did not give the smallest attention to a phenomenon -which did not seem to merit any further notice.</p> - -<p><a id="para_322"></a>322. “Finally was commenced the faculty of <i>talking</i>, and I assure you -my incredulity was considerably greater than when its moving power was -announced. I was sparing, however, in my epithets, for I soon found -myself an investigator. I watched the rogues, as I suspected, for two -hours, but left the room a full believer of its reality, without any further -examination, confirmed too by all subsequent experiments. (<a href="#para_1">1</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_323"></a>323. “What could be said indeed of the fact witnessed together, that -a crayon, which was fastened to the leg of a table, wrote legible words, -while we were pressing it down with our hands?</p> - -<p><a id="para_324"></a>324. “It was then, sir, that your book fell into my hands. I have -read it with the most lively interest; have admired your erudition, and -the courage necessary at our epoch to treat such a subject.</p> - -<p><a id="para_325"></a>325. “I believe in the existence of facts which often volition is unable -to produce, and over which I declare that volition sometimes appears to -have a manifest influence. I believe in the intervention of intelligence -<span class="allsmcap">DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN</span>, and which puts in action means almost -ridiculous.</p> - -<p><a id="para_326"></a>326. “I believe that the Christian religion should not encourage the -practice of these experiments. I believe there is danger in allowing them -to become a habit, and at least we may lose the little reason which has -been granted man by the Giver of all things. I believe, finally, that it is -the duty of an honest man to dissuade others from occupying themselves<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>71</span> -with it, in preaching, by example, and not allowing it in the least to occupy -himself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_327"></a>327. “This is the end I have reached after some months’ experience; -and, ask permission to close this letter, already too long, by repeating a -very wise saying of a man of high intelligence: ‘Either these phenomena -are, or are not real; if not, it is disgraceful to lose time with them; if -they are, it is dangerous to invoke them and to make them a pastime.’</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="gap3">Please accept, &c.,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">F. De Saulcy</span>,<br /> -<i>Member of the Institute</i>.”</p> - - -<h4><i>Spiritualism in Paris.</i></h4> - -<p class="center sm">[See New York Reformer, September, 1853.]</p> - -<p>“We find the following article in the London Illustrated News of -July 23; it is an extract from the News’ Paris correspondence:—</p> - -<p><a id="para_328"></a>328. “‘An immense sensation was caused here, a few days since, by a -revelation given on the authority of some of the most respected and influential -members of the clergy, headed by the Archbishop of Paris, on the -subject of table movements. The archbishop, being questioned as to his -opinion of the legitimacy, in a religious point of view, of attempting to -communicate with spirits through the medium of the tables, alleged that -he had not sufficiently studied the question to reply definitively; that he -imagined that the effects produced were wholly of the nature of physical -science, and in that case harmless; but that, in order to form a judgment, -he would attend a meeting composed of certain members of the clergy, at -a place appointed to make the usual experiments.</p> - -<p><a id="para_329"></a>329. “‘The table being put in motion, one of the party demanded it in -reply, by a certain number of raps, if there were a spirit present. The -response was in the affirmative; and in answer to a second question, the -spirit represented herself, by raps indicating certain letters of the alphabet, -to be that of <i lang="fr">Sœur Francoise</i>, deceased a week previously at the convent -of -—-, Paris. The Abbe B-—- stated that he had confessed the -<i>Sœur Francoise</i>, who had, in fact, died at the time and place named. -General consternation, as may be supposed, ensued when the Abbe L-—-, -rising, commanded the spirit in the name of the Saviour to appear.</p> - -<p><a id="para_330"></a>330. “‘The report declares that the spirit hereupon actually became visible, -and replied to a variety of questions put to it, but of what import -we are not informed. On the above details we do not pretend to give -either explanation or opinion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_331"></a>331. “‘Such is the story as related by the members of the <i>Seance</i>, two -of whom were so affected by the events related as to be some days seriously -indisposed, one of them even confined to bed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_332"></a>332. “‘Various narratives mention that, through the medium of the -tables, communications are held with spirits of all nations. The spirits, -happily, being excellent linguists, find no difficulty in expressing the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>72</span>mselves -in any language chosen by the questioner, and reveal the secrets of -the prison-house with a frankness, not to say indiscretion, that would -shock the more reserved ghost in Hamlet, in no way confirming his statement -of the horrors of their temporary abode. Many of them describe -in glowing terms the beauties and delights of their celestial abodes.’”</p> - -<hr /> - -<h3>SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> following contribution, under the preceding head, is translated by -my much esteemed friend, Dr. Geib, from the work of De Mirville, whence -the articles under the designation of <span class="smcap">Foreign Coroborative Evidence</span> -have been obtained through the same able translator:</p> - -<p><a id="para_333"></a>333. “Toward the end of the year 1852 the epidemic had been imported -into the North of Scotland by some American mediums; thence it got to -London, where, according to the latest accounts, it must have reached, by -the present time, a pretty extensive development. Seeing its progress in -this way, we were led to say, If it ever reaches Germany, that whole -country will be on fire.</p> - -<p><a id="para_334"></a>334. “The religious gazette of Augsburg of June 18, 1853, contained -an article from which we make some extracts:</p> - -<p><a id="para_335"></a>335. “‘Again the world is presented with various marvellous appearances, -which, coming from elevated sources, force themselves on public -notice, and which, in every case, throw a very marked shadow on our own -epoch of civilization. It may be appropriate to communicate some of those -found in the <cite>Gazette Générale</cite>; and leaving reflection to the reader, we -will give some of the most striking.</p> - -<p><a id="para_336"></a>336. “‘<i>The Morgan Blatt</i> (Morning Sheet) announces among its novelties -from Palatinat Rhénan, the phenomenon of a young girl not yet -pubescent, who, they say, is able at will to command a <i>rapping spectre</i>, -(Klopferle.) The spectre raps as often as the little girl orders him, being -obedient in the extreme. What is remarkable is, that the spectres of the -Old World, as well as the New, have a <i>strong family likeness, being as -much alike as two drops of water</i>. And the Tribune of New York, -printed in the German language, has lately contained various communications -on this subject. But whence come these rapping spectres, and why -make their appearance all at once?’</p> - -<p><a id="para_337"></a>337. “The Gazette of Augsbourg then refers to several other facts of the -same nature, which, at all times, have caused much embarrassment to the -German authorities, either in giving rise to lengthy inquests, or in causing -the condemnation of persons proved afterward to be entirely innocent; but -as for those of the present time, it fully understands, proclaims, and -demonstrates them to be of the <i>American Affiliation</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>73</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_338"></a>338. “The <cite>Journal du Magnetisme</cite> of the 10th of March, 1853, had -already furnished us with the reported account given in the course of last -January to the tribunal of London, by the <i>rapping spirit</i> of the house of -Sanger; the same phenomena, the same stupefaction, the same impossibility -to discover the jugglers. However, the subject appeared to rest at -this point in Germany, when, in the month of April, the first phenomenon -of <i>table moving</i> reached Bremen, and then the <cite>Augsbourg Gazette</cite> insisted -on its true origin.</p> - -<p><a id="para_339"></a>339. “‘For eight days previous,’ it said, ‘our good town has been -in an agitation difficult to describe; it is completely absorbed by a miracle -which was not thought of before the arrival of the steamer from New -York—the Washington. The <span class="smcap">new phenomenon is imported from -America</span>.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_340"></a>340. “Now a certain Doctor André was the first to describe this first -exhibition of table turning; therefore they called it his <i>discovery</i>. What -a discovery!</p> - -<p><a id="para_341"></a>341. “‘Having formed a chain,’ he says, ‘of seven or eight persons, -the <i>right</i> little finger of each touching the <i>left</i> one of his neighbour, the -table they surround will commence turning, and continue as long as the -chain remains unbroken, and stop when an individual leaves it.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_342"></a>342. “A general burst of pleasantry and incredulity first accompanied -the revelation of the doctor. But soon experiment begins, and laughter -gives place to a sort of dejection. Certain savans, professors of the University -of Heidelberg, MM. Mittermouer and Zoepfl, M. Molh, brother of the -member of the Institute, Eschenmajer, Ennemoser, and Kerner, attest the -same facts; and Doctor Lœwe of Vienna undertakes to give the theory of it: -‘This theory consists, according to him, in the opposite polarity of the -right and left sides of the human body; hence, having formed a chain of -human beings, the contrary poles of which, viz. the right and left, touch each -other, and this chain, exerting upon any body whatever a prolonged action, -conveys to it an electric current, and converts it into a magnet, and thus -polarization is established in that body; and in virtue of its tendency to -magnetic orientation, the south pole of the table impressing it with a -movement to the north, the latter commences a continued rotation, and -turns on its axis as long as the indispensable conditions are continued.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_343"></a>343. “Unfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with these -<i>indispensable conditions</i>. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and Berlin, -there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French press observed -a uniform inexplicable silence!</p> - -<p><a id="para_344"></a>344. “We ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold -what began to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and -hat turning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known -when it appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of -nature; and that tables never had any other destiny!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>74</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_345"></a>345. “Again we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by which -we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables, which, -nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of a <i>vessel</i> and a medium? -However, silence becoming impossible, the French press has thought proper -to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the Empire, <cite>Le Pays</cite>, -happened to inform us that ‘from the Baltic to the banks of the Danube, -all Germany was in a fever.’ It became then plainer and plainer that -we were going to be infected, and from that time we hastened to prepare -our batteries.</p> - -<p><a id="para_346"></a>346. “It was high time, for about the end of April, the grand mysterious -army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all the large cities -of France—Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, &c.—the <i>turning</i> -epidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and better to impress -the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables, hats, seats, &c., for all these -participated in the demonstration.</p> - -<p><a id="para_347"></a>347. “At Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made -a pastime for a soirée. Children were introduced into the circles, without -considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with these -mysterious amusements.</p> - -<p><a id="para_348"></a>348. “It is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come -near them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an -electricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather?</p> - -<p><a id="para_349"></a>349. “It is true, too, that M. Rouilly, <i>maître de pension</i> at Orleans, undertook -to give an answer. In the <cite>Moniteur due Loiret</cite>, he informs us -that ‘at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young man -of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs, and that -his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful manner, making -as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able, he said, to -utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated man; it was -necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still felt some nervous -trembling.’ M. Rouilly ended in saying ‘that he felt it his duty to -report this fact for the benefit of those who may enter into these experiments -without knowing their possible serious inconveniences.’ Little -attention was paid to this, so much had fashion asserted empire, so much -was this pleasure worth its cost.</p> - -<p><a id="para_350"></a>350. “However, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed -to ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the savans -say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric appearances? -will their philosophy allow them to seek independently of the fluids, -which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of such a variety of -effects? No; they well know, however, that in the sciences—medicine, for -example—every investigation that stops short of phenomena, is of very -secondary value; we may be satisfied, for want of better, but still we do -not feel ourselves in possession of the truth; we still seek it. Why in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>75</span> -this case should we do otherwise? These suppositions were just, but we -say without hesitation our fantastic experimenters committed from the -first an unpardonable fault, philosophically speaking; that is, not to have -taken the least notice of those facts from America which were beginning -to sound in their ears from all sides. When we are visited by the plague, -yellow fever, or cholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied -in Egypt, Spain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at -the place of their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination. -Well! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would -have seen <i>as clear as day</i> that the <cite>Augsbourg Gazette</cite> was right in telling -them that this <i>animal magnetizing</i> was received direct from America. -But what shall we do? we take no pleasure <i>in looking</i> at what we do not -want <i>to see</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_351"></a>351. “However, this affiliation once well established, well understood, -by thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have -reached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited themselves -in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in tables or -behind <i>partitions</i>, we could have seen immediately what might be reserved -for us for the future.</p> - -<p><a id="para_352"></a>352. “But rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is -too gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it only -sees in this a <i>waggish</i> electricity, and will never consent to be persuaded -that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths, or rather at -the side of such enormities in physics.</p> - -<p><a id="para_353"></a>353. “And then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then -what becomes of the <i>indispensable</i> conditions of Dr. André? that is to -say: ‘All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_354"></a>354. “This morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a -circle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the circle -continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for the street, -and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins to waltz, as if to -bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics, what electricity! -Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries disinherited! Behold -the city of Valence, who laboured all in her power, who followed with -angelic patience all the prescriptions of the new science; nothing could -produce the phenomena. Is it that at Valence, perchance, the human -species has no electricity? Mon Dieu! it has electricity, but it is not of -that accidental and local kind, the real kind for the occasion, and which -may be therefore denominated <i>erratic</i>; as the ancients called those gods -that moved about from place to place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_355"></a>355. “No, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with the -explanation of the <i>little fingers</i>, but soon perceives that these little fingers -supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric trough, and the -chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also, the chain was said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>76</span> -to be very important; and the trough, magnet, steel, glass pile all <i>necessary</i> -agents. Very well, what has now become of all these necessities? -The magnetic effects exceed all those of that time, and notwithstanding -they are not made any use of. Much more! since the <i>passes</i> have ceased -to be the fashion, the phenomena have doubled. In Germany, where people -go to the bottom of things, they have desired to look into the heart -of it. Each master of the magnet—and they are pretty plenty there—has -constructed his own trough. That of Walford consists of an <i>iron</i> -box, furnished with bottles, iron wire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser -was made of <i>beech</i> without bottles, and filled with water, which did not -prevent the effects from being precisely the same in the two cases. Thus -it was said: It is magnetism alone which gives them this power, and they -magnetized their best. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to -magnetize, and the trough lost none of its power! ‘Ah! ah!’ they say, -‘the trough is magnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they -put a stout man into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in -excellent health. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity -all the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited -themselves so brilliantly.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_356"></a>356. “This is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of -which M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect he -was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to be caught -by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics to be entirely innocent -of all the effects they witnessed. But at the same time they thought -proper to refer to the <i>imagination</i> these same prodigious effects, which -no one could understand even after having seen them; and there was their -great mistake; they were right as savans, as philosophers inexcusable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_357"></a>357. “Moreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed -under these circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. -What prejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered -many retreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, -not only to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these -are about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will -be necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real as -an <i>effect</i>, are not in fact real in their <i>cause</i>; that they lie when they wish -the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they act by turns with -and without a chain in a particular town, and not in some other, &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_358"></a>358. “But on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause, -is almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent -yourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits, -hobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate! -Not a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will forever -be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory which was -thought to have been gained centuries before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>77</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_359"></a>359. “Beware, however, of the first <i>supernal intelligence</i>! for we -shall fall back on our ancient and primitive <i>criterion</i>, our infallible <i>touchstone</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_360"></a>360. “All depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this -time; an imprudent question might lose all.</p> - -<p><a id="para_361"></a>361. “And already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article -which we find in the <cite>Courier du Nord</cite>? ‘In another house the table, -they say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the -direction indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted -the hours, and told the age of the assistants,’ &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_362"></a>362. “What means that other letter from Bordeaux, in the <i>Guyenne</i>? ‘A -hat submitted to <i>animal magnetism</i> appeared <i>more intelligent</i> even than -the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols, <i>the age</i> of persons, the -number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it told the <i>amount</i> -of ladies and gentlemen together in the room,’ &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_363"></a>363. “What follows is better still: see in the <cite>Journal le Pays</cite>, a letter -of M., the Abbé of Moigno, according to which it follows that MM. -Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered the -tables to rest on <i>this</i> leg and then on <i>the other</i>, and made them beat -time, &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_364"></a>364. “We read in La Patrie—‘<i>Explanation given by the savans</i>.’ -Ah! let us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this -journal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have arrived: -‘The table and hat turners <i>act mostly in good faith</i>, (quite a concession,) -but <i>they deceive themselves</i>; they think they cause the motion of an inanimate -object by an act of volition, or an effusion of magnetic fluid from -their fingers; while it is by muscular action, <i>imperceptible</i> to themselves, -or others.’ Ah! take notice! It is by a vibratory movement coming -from thousands of small nervous branches. Add to this, lassitude, <i>humidity -of the hands</i>, and you will have an explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, -at least <i>sufficiently plausible</i>, of the phenomena which engage our -attention. M. Chevreul (of the Institute) has <i>analyzed</i> this physiological -predisposition, and has <i>illustrated</i> it by the fact familiar to the billiard -player, who having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his -shoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions, <i>as if to -impel it</i>, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_365"></a>365. “It is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase ‘<i>as if to impel it</i>,’ -for had he been so unfortunate as to say, <i>and in fact he did impel it</i>, -we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced. But -that lucky ‘<i>as if</i>,’ saves us from a very bad predicament; it brings back -to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say, that in the -relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time, has all the -muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in the smallest degree, -the direction of an object, not under its direct action. To the present<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>78</span> -time all the laws of physics have been based on the grand primordial law, -and the player of ten-pins is not more successful from such efforts, than -he of the billiard ball just named.</p> - -<p><a id="para_366"></a>366. “How changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy -of Sciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at -a distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle—an experiment, -too, which could <i>never</i> be renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place of needles, -all at once heavy tables are seen <i>waltzing about the room, and obedient to the -will</i>; and all this is easily explained! It is <i>quite plausible</i>! Yes, but this -time, gentlemen Savans, we will not allow you to distort the facts. Since -the commencement of this volume, we have done nothing but establish, -on good evidence, all those which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their -fancy, after having absolutely denied them. But now the half of France -rises with us to convict them, and to say to you: No, your <i>nervous branches</i> -will never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would -refer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our own -questions, nor the <i>super-intelligence</i> of those which probably to-morrow -will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves.</p> - -<p><a id="para_367"></a>367. “Attending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a -man of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way -to the weakest scholar who, <i>cue in hand</i>, might fairly undertake to answer -him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most -horribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its principles, -loses, in our estimation, much of its authority.</p> - -<p><a id="para_368"></a>368. “<i>La Revue Medicale</i>, cited by <cite>La Patrie</cite> of May 20th, declares in -its turn ‘the explanation either by <i>imagination</i> or <i>muscular vibrations</i>, as -represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan, <i>entirely nullified</i> by the -fact of the simple change in the relations of the <i>little fingers</i>.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_369"></a>369. “As for the Medical, they see in it <i>animal magnetism</i>, and exclaim: -‘No one is able to foresee the application of which this discovery is susceptible. -It is an entire world for explanation. Who knows if there is -not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating a whole generation!’</p> - -<p><a id="para_370"></a>370. “Lucky Magnetism—what a reparation you have a right to demand! -what incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday -so cruelly tore you to pieces! But <cite>La Presse</cite> and <cite>L’Union Medicale</cite> may -do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their word.</p> - -<p><a id="para_371"></a>371. “A just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would -not believe and you are not believed now! We read afresh in <cite>La Patrie</cite> -of May 21st, the recital of ‘tables promenading and upsetting <i>without -contact by pure efforts of volition</i>, or even by a simple magnetic <i>pass</i>—a -very <i>superfluous</i> precaution of the experimenter.’ Very superfluous, indeed! -It could not have been better expressed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_372"></a>372. “In the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still maintain -that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture of <i>the two nervous at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>79</span>mospheres</i>? -The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to use the -language of Reichenbach, must be very <i>sensitive</i>; and in this new dance -<i>without contact</i>—what becomes of the explanation by muscular vibration, -and especially by <i>the humidity of the hands</i>?</p> - -<p><a id="para_373"></a>373. “We have some very important communications, on the 23d of -May, from M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chambéry, -respecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and establishing -the <i>perfect intelligence</i> of the agent in question. M. Bonjean, -however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform process. ‘These -responses,’ he says, ‘are not, and <i>cannot be but the reflection of the thoughts</i> -of the person who causes the phenomena, and the movables <i>are only able to -satisfy</i> those questions whose answers are known, without ever being able -to supply an answer that is not known.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_374"></a>374. “The idea that the furniture is unable to <i>give satisfaction</i> is charming! -but up to this point it was not understood to be <i>super-intelligence</i>. -Patience, however, for it is bound to happen!</p> - -<p><a id="para_375"></a>375. “Besides, M. Bonjean does full justice to the <i>muscular movements</i> -of M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of Strasbourg -turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons moved without -<i>immediate contact</i>. Next, he passes from the physical to the moral -question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very encouraging. -‘Fathers and mothers,’ he exclaims, ‘if you do not desire to develope -premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard the peace of -your wives, <i>be mistrustful of the magnetic chain</i> in general, and of the -dancing of tables in particular.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_376"></a>376. “It will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly on -mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under -all this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented -sin.</p> - -<p><a id="para_377"></a>377. “In a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most distinguished -engineers, to the Abbé Moigno, who had very ably opposed these -experiments in <cite>Le Pays</cite>, M. Seguin says, ‘When I reason dispassionately -on the <i>real and very positive</i> results which I have obtained, and seen obtained -by others before my eyes, I think myself under the control of an -hallucination which causes me to see things differently to what they are, -so much does my reason refuse to admit them; but when I repeat my experiments, -I find it impossible any longer to resist the force of evidence, -when indeed it confounds and upsets all my opinions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_378"></a>378. “‘<i>How can you</i> expect me to accept your explanation, when a -table touched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, presses <i>against</i> my -hand and <i>against</i> my legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost -break itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could -impart to it a force equal to such efforts, and <i>especially when that person</i> -is myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts as <span class="allsmcap">THEY ARE</span>,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>80</span> -the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself, in whom you -have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The explanation will -come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in these phenomena of -<i>turning tables</i> there is something more than you see—a <i>physical reality</i> -outside of the imagination and of the faith of those who appear to make -them move.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_379"></a>379. “It is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to defend -the <i>physical</i> evidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a thousand -times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us see if M., the -Abbé Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his revenge on another.</p> - -<p><a id="para_380"></a>380. “Referring to a communication made to the academy by one M. -Vauquelin, about one of these <i>enchanted tables</i>, which in his hands was -able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the most secret -thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims in <cite>Le Cosmos Revue Encyclopédique -des Sciences</cite>: ‘This time <i>it is too strong</i>; we find ourselves definitively at -the mercy of magic, and the moment has come to proclaim it at Rome. -Then there is neither magnetism nor electricity; not even the influence -of human volition on matter; but supposing the fact to be certain—<span class="allsmcap">WHICH -IS HARD TO SWALLOW</span>—there must be in it <i>the intervention of spirits</i>, or -<i>magic</i>. Intelligence that can refuse these deductions of common sense, -would be <span class="allsmcap">DISORDERED</span> intelligence, as useless to dispute with as <i>with fools</i>. -If you have not been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you -affirm are true, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits -and of magic became the sorrowful but great realities.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_381"></a>381. “M. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers, -writes what follows in <cite>La Gazette de France</cite>:—‘I will not insist on this -point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to me -entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician, and, -I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical impulsion -might be communicated. But the rotation only serves to <i>present</i> other -phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to refer to any kind -of muscular action.</p> - -<p><a id="para_382"></a>382. “‘Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it -promptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to -you the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an -exactness, with a solemnity that fairly <i>frightened us</i>. “Strike three blows; -strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right foot; with -your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one foot; remain up; -prevent those on the side raised from returning the table to the floor.” -After each command the table obeyed. It produced movements that no -complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have induced; <i>for we should -have afterward tried in vain to place it on one foot, and keep it there by -the pressure of the hands, resisting incontestably the efforts to press it down</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>81</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_383"></a>383. “‘Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were -obeyed as well as grown persons.</p> - -<p><a id="para_384"></a>384. “‘Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be audible, -but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the table -obeyed! <i>There was in no instance the least error.</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_385"></a>385. “‘Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of -his age, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind, <i>endeavouring -in the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large</i>. I must -own, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally -diminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two, <i>because</i> -my wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct number.</p> - -<p><a id="para_386"></a>386. “‘Finally, having continued these experiments more than an -hour, at which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, -I felt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise -again, <i>and turn over on my side, which it did</i>.</p> - -<p class="center"> -“‘Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration,</p> -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">A. De Gasparin</span>.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_387"></a>387. “We stop our citations here; for those who are not content with -the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from philosophers, -or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing, too, <i>in all parts -of the world</i>, will not be better satisfied by any thing we could add. A -day is coming, however, that will open every mouth. Then from all those -parlours so reserved before—from all those cabinets in which experiments -had been conducted with <i>closed doors</i>, the truth will burst forth in its full -power. Then it will be known that some of the most esteemed men of -Paris, of the bench, pulpit, and men of letters, have both desired to see -and have seen it; have desired to know and have known it. It will be -known that the evil <i>super-intelligence</i> has been revealed to them, and that -if they have been silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, -it was only an act of prudence to restrain public opinion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_388"></a>388. “But on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly -predict: the facts of to-day <i>which it does admit</i>, proving to amount to nothing, -and the <i>inadmissible</i> facts being admitted, its faith will change, -and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs, two -savants will not be able to look at each other any more without smiling, -and often enough to exclaim: ‘It has been well said, my dear colleague; -it has always been foretold, that “<span class="smcap">He, who is outside of pure mathematics, -pronounces the word</span> IMPOSSIBLE, <span class="allsmcap">WANTS PRUDENCE</span>.’”</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Arago.”</span>” -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>82</span></p> -<hr /> - -<h3>SPIRITUALISM IN GREAT BRITAIN.</h3> - -<h4><i>Account of Mr. Robert Owen’s Conversion.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_389"></a>389. “While in doubt upon this subject, I heard of the media in this -country, and was casually introduced to Mrs. Hayden, an American medium, -without having any intention to ask a question respecting the spirits; -my object being to purchase a book which Mrs. Hayden had for sale, -written by a valued and most truthful friend of mine in America, Adin -Ballou, who has written a plain, practical, common-sense history of this -new revelation to the human race.</p> - -<p><a id="para_390"></a>390. “While conversing with Mrs. Hayden, and while we were both standing -before the fire, and talking of our mutual friends, suddenly raps were -heard on a table at some distance from us, no one being near to it. I was -surprised, and as the raps continued and appeared to indicate a strong desire -to attract attention, I asked what was the meaning of the sounds? Mrs. -Hayden said they were spirits anxious to communicate with some one, -and she would inquire who they were. They replied to her, by the alphabet. -that they were friends of mine who were desirous to communicate with -me. Mrs. Hayden then gave me the alphabet and pencil, and I found, -according to <i>their own</i> statements, that the spirits were those of my mother -and father. I tested their truth by various questions, and their answers, -all correct, surprised me exceedingly. I have since had twelve séances, -some of long continuance, and during which, with one exception, I have -had prompt and true answers so far as the past and present, and very rational -replies as to the future; but these last have to be tested by time. -The exception was my own afterward-discovered error.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_391"></a>391. From the following quotation, it seems that Mr. Owen has not -had any reason to diminish his faith in spiritualism. The manifestations, -of which his account is subjoined, are eminently wonderful; yet they are -not more so than those which are recorded as having been realized under -the influence of the same medium, in this country, or at Koons’s Establishment -in Ohio:—</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter of Robert Owen to the Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.</i></h4> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Seven Oaks</span>, April 23, 1855. -</p> - -<p><a id="para_392"></a>392. “<i>Dear Sir</i>:—Just now, on my return from London, where, last -night, I had been giving a lecture to Mr. Ronge’s party of foreigners and -others on Education, I had the pleasure to receive your 2d Number of ‘The -Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.’ I have hastily glanced over it, and I -feel much interest in your proceedings, and wish you all success in the -good cause. I say good cause, for it is sure to lead to great ultimate good, -and especially will it destroy the many evils arising from sectarianism, and -other causes of hatred and ruin between man and nations. I must tell<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>83</span> -you of what occurred to me last night, after my return from the lecture, -about nine o’clock.</p> - -<p><a id="para_393"></a>393. “A Mr. Hume, a young Scotchman, who went to America to pursue -his studies as a medical student, four or five years ago, became a medium, -(he is now about twenty years of age,) and soon became a very -superior one. He had engaged to accompany the Haydens and Miss Jay. -He took his passage and came, but the others, for some cause, postponed -their voyage, but may now be daily expected. They arrived on the 22d. -I had heard on my arrival in London, from friends on whom I could depend, -of the extraordinary results by his mediumship. I made arrangements -to visit those friends and Mr. Hume when I finished my lecture, which I -did, and found my two friends and Mr. Hume waiting my arrival. On -being seated around a regular full-sized card table, there were raps immediately, -and because I do not hear very well, the raps increased until they -became very loud, but I heard the first raps distinctly. Many spirits were -present; some, relatives of my friends, and others, my own relations. My -wife and daughters, my son and brother, and also my father and mother, -with all of whom I have had frequent delightful intercourse through various -mediums. My two friends present are husband and wife; and the -first new occurrence to me was, seeing the lady’s silk apron untied by invisible -means—a somewhat complicated operation—and taken from her -and given to Mr. Hume, opposite to her. It was then conveyed backward -and forward, from one to another, and it soon came to me. I held it with -much force, but it was drawn from me with greater force, for I was afraid -damage would be done to it. Next a flower was taken from the table, -conveyed away by invisible means, and brought to me. The flower I kept -for being so presented to me. Next I had my handkerchief out; it was -taken from my hands, and in an instant thrown from the opposite side of -the table, not as it was taken, but made into a large hat, which I also have -as a curiosity. Then the spirits came and touched each of us. I was -occasionally touched on one knee, then on the other, and afterward on both -at once; and then one of them shook hands with me, and I most distinctly -felt the fingers of them separately. An accordeon was then placed under -the table, and soon the spirit of the daughter of the family played most beautifully -several tunes and pieces of music. I asked for one of my favourite -Scotch tunes, and it was immediately played. The instrument was then -raised by invisible power, and given first to one, then to another; it was -thus brought to me. The table was then lifted from the floor; at first, -about a foot, and immediately afterward, about three feet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_394"></a>394. “After this the medium was put into a trance, during which he -saw beautiful visions of spirits, and one of them spake through him while -in that state sentiments that went to the heart of each of us, giving us -advice, invaluable in its import, and in language beautifully and eloquently -expressed, and calculated to make the deepest impression on our memo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>84</span>ries. -While reason remains I shall never forget it; and it was given with -many encouraging words, to pursue my course in the measures in which I -am engaged; to endeavour to introduce the millennium, but also stating -the obstacles I should meet, and the great difficulties which were to be -overcome.</p> - -<p><a id="para_395"></a>395. “Much more occurred, very interesting; but the post time expires, -and I wish you to have this communication by this mail.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="gap3">“Yours sincerely,</span><span class="smcap">Robert Owen</span>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_396"></a>396. I subjoin the following narrative of Mr. Rufus Elmer, of Springfield, -Massachusetts, concerning manifestations through Mr. Hume, as -corroborating those described by Mr. Owen. Thus, on both sides of the -Atlantic, we have evidence of analogous striking results by the same -medium:—</p> - - -<h4><i>Mr. Hume at Springfield.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_397"></a>397. “Rufus Elmer, Esq., of Springfield, informs us that Mr. Hume -spent the nights of March 17th and 18th at his house. On the evening -of the 17th, thirteen persons were present, when a series of most extraordinary -demonstrations took place. First, two large tables standing together, -around which the company were sitting, were lifted from the floor, -while all hands were resting upon their tops. Then an accordeon, held -under the table in one of Mr. Hume’s hands, (the other being on the -table,) with the keys downward, was played in strong tones, three parts -being maintained, and any tune performed that was called for—even foreign -music. The instrument was also played upon while held in the same -manner by each person present,—all hands except the one holding the -accordeon being upon the tables in sight. (These manifestations were all -made in a room well lighted by gas.) A bell, weighing over a pound, -was passed about under the tables, put in the hands of each person, taken -away again, passed rapidly from one end of the tables to the other, a distance -of eight feet, knocking loudly on the under side as it went; and, -finally, the tables having been separated a few inches, and a cloth spread -over the aperture, the bell was held up under the cloth, while the company -were allowed to feel the hand which held it. Next, the bell was -slid out on to one of the tables from beneath the covering, and the hand -which grasped it was exposed to the view of all the company—the hands -of each being at the same time in full view. To gratify one who sat at -so great a distance as not to have a clear view, it was communicated that if -all others would for a moment avert their eyes, so as not to concentrate their -magnetism so powerfully upon the object, it could be more plainly manifested -to this one alone. Acting upon this hint, each person was allowed -to look singly at the hand—to the full satisfaction of all. One of those -present, mentally requested, unknown to all others, that the hand of her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>85</span> -spirit-child might be exhibited to her; and, behold! a child’s hand was -presented, while no child in the body was in the room. One of the company -was a coloured domestic in the family of Mr. E-—-, and she mentally -requested that her mother, who had before purported to communicate -to her, if present, would show her hand; when, lo! a black hand -appeared! These are but specimens of what occurred during the evening.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 id="COMMUNICATIONS_FROM_THE_SPIRIT_WORLD">COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.</h3> -</div> - - -<h4><i>Remarks Introductory to my Spirit Father’s Communication.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_398"></a>398. <span class="smcap">Agreeably</span> to my spirit father’s communication, the manifestations -which of late have given birth to Spiritualism, have been the result of a -deliberate effort, on the part of the inhabitants of the higher spheres, to -break through the partition which has interfered with the attainment, by -mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death. To carry out this -intention, a delegation of advanced spirits has been appointed. Referring -to this statement, I inquired how it happened that low spirits were allowed -to interfere in the undertaking? The answer was, that the spirits of -the lower spheres being more competent to make mechanical movements -and loud rappings, their assistance was requisite.</p> - -<p><a id="para_399"></a>399. Likewise, I inquired why it was deemed expedient to make these -manifestations, in the first instance, at Hydesville, near Rochester, through -the spirit of a murdered man? The answer to this was, that the spirit -of a murdered man would excite more interest, and that a neighbourhood -was chosen where spiritual agency would be more readily credited than -in more learned or fashionable and conspicuous circles, where the prejudice -against supernatural agencies is extremely strong; but that the manifestations -had likewise been made at Stratford, in Connecticut, under other -circumstances. Nor were these the only places. They had been made -elsewhere, without much success in awakening public attention.</p> - -<p><a id="para_400"></a>400. Thus, it appears that at the outset, the object was to draw attention, -and in the next place to induce communications. It will appear from -the account of the manifestations at Hydesville and Stratford, that as soon -as through an ingenious agreement upon signals rational intercommunication -was established, the manifestations became changed in character. -The mischievousness displayed, in the primitive derangement of furniture, -ceased. This was attributed to the replacement of spirits of inferior grade, -by their superiors.</p> - -<p><a id="para_401"></a>401. Thus this new and glorious light has come up amid dark clouds, -as we often see the thunder-gust the harbinger of a bright sky.</p> - -<p><a id="para_402"></a>402. But still there has been another source of temporary degradation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>86</span> -not arising solely from the spirits, but from the inquirers also. The great -motive in the first instance for witnessing spiritual manifestations was the -love of the marvellous, or the desire to expose what was deemed jugglery. -The mere movements of tables, without any reference to spiritual agency, -was the great object of attention. Though I was present where table -turning was discussed, if I ever heard the idea of spirits being the cause, -it left no impression on my memory, as has already been stated. (<a href="#para_134">134</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_403"></a>403. But after alphabetical communication commenced, it was performed -so slowly, that the replies were often brief, and made with a view to -establish identity of the spirits with the individual whom it professes to -personate; or to test the existence of a spirit by the replies given to inquirers -respecting facts which could not be known to the medium. At -the first recognition, the spirit would occupy the time mainly with statements -very natural and amiable, but not instructive beyond the degree of -confirmation thus afforded of the great fact of such intercourse being possible -on the part of friends who have quitted this stage of existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_404"></a>404. Communications through spelling and writing media very much -fell short of the expectations which the name assumed by the spirit would -awaken.</p> - -<p><a id="para_405"></a>405. As soon as convinced that the phenomena were due to the shades -of the dead, I looked with eagerness for some consistent information of -their abodes, modes of existence, of the theological doctrines entertained by -them, and the actual diversities of their situation consequent to various -degrees of moral and intellectual merit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_406"></a>406. It was with regret that I found in the published accounts, nothing -satisfactory, nothing precise, nothing connected. In no publication did I -find any satisfactory statements of the location of the spirit world, or of -its subdivision into spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_407"></a>407. Urging this deficiency of information upon those spirit friends -who seemed to have selected me as an instrument in promulgating the invaluable -truths of Spiritualism, I obtained information, as early as May, -1854, respecting the situation of the spiritual spheres, or country of -spirits, relatively to the earth; but about the latter part of October my -father commenced writing on the subject through a medium of the other -sex, but the ideas furnished were too much blended with her own prepossessions, -with which her mind was replete. Hence, although many -pages had been written, they were rejected, and resort was had to another -medium—Mrs. Gourlay. The result thus obtained was afterwards read to -the author, at the disk, so as to have every paragraph scrutinized.</p> - -<p><a id="para_408"></a>408. Under the following head will be found my father’s communication.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>87</span></p> - - -<h4>My Spirit Father’s Communication.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></h4> - -<p><a id="para_409"></a>409. My son, in communicating with you respecting the destiny of -man, I shall endeavour, according to the extent of my capacity and -highest perception of truth, to give you a view, as correct and definite as -possible, of the all-important subject in question.</p> - -<p><a id="para_410"></a>410. The spirit world lies between sixty and one hundred and twenty -miles from the terrestrial surface; the whole intermediate space, including -that immediately over the earth, the habitation of mortals, is divided into -seven concentric regions called spheres. The region next the earth, the -primary scene of man’s existence, is known as the first or rudimental -sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_411"></a>411. The remaining six may be distinguished as the spiritual spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_412"></a>412. The six spiritual spheres are concentric zones, or circles, of exceedingly -refined matter, encompassing the earth like belts or girdles. -The distance of each from the other is regulated by fixed laws.</p> - -<p><a id="para_413"></a>413. You will understand, then, they are not shapeless chimeras, or -mere projections of the mind, but absolute entities, as much so indeed as -the planets of the solar system or the globe on which you now reside. -They have latitudes, longitudes, and atmospheres of peculiar vital air, -whose soft and balmy undulating currents produce a most pleasurable and -invigorating effect. Their surfaces are diversified with an immense variety -of the most picturesque landscapes; with lofty mountain ranges, valleys, -rivers, lakes, forests, and the internal correspondence of all the higher -phenomena of earth. The trees and shrubbery, crowned with exquisitely -beautiful foliage and flowers of every colour and variety, send forth their -grateful emanations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_414"></a>414. The physical economy and arrangements of each sphere differs -from the other; new and striking scenes of grandeur being presented to -us in each, increasing in beauty and sublimity as they ascend.</p> - -<p><a id="para_415"></a>415. Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a common axis, -forming the same angle with the plane of the ecliptic, and move with it -about the ponderable sun, they are not dependent on that body for either -light or heat, receiving not a perceptible ray from that ponderable source; -but receive those dispensations wholly from his internal or spiritual correspondence, -(a spiritual sun concentric with the sun of your world,)—from -that great central luminary whose native brightness and uninterrupted -splendour baffle description.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>88</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_416"></a>416. We have no divisions of time, therefore, into days, weeks, months, -or years; nor alternations of season, caused by the earth’s annual revolution; -those periods being observed with reference only to the affairs of -earth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_417"></a>417. Although we, like you, are constantly progressing toward perfection, -our ideas of time and the seasons differ widely from yours; with -you it is time—with us, eternity. In the terrestrial sphere, a man’s thoughts, -being bounded by time and space, are limited; but with us they are extended -in proportion as we get rid of those restrictions and our perceptions -of truth become more accurate.</p> - -<p><a id="para_418"></a>418. As order is a primary object in the spheres, there are of course -laws for its preservation. Fundamentally, these proceed through his ministering -angels, from the Divine Lawgiver, who commands the angelic hosts -of heaven and rules the inhabitants of earth; who employs myriads of -ministering angels as the means of intercommunication between their -Supreme Master and his creatures throughout the universe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_419"></a>419. So far as legislation, subordinate or supplementary to that of the -Supreme Legislator, is required, the government of the spheres is republican, -exercising legislative, judicial, and executive powers. But these -functions are not embarrassed by the necessity of codes indited or -printed, nor by that of physical coercion. The results of these functions -are realized in simultaneous and homogeneous opinions awakened in the -minds of the ruling spirits, as truth takes hold of the minds of mathematicians, -<i>pari passu</i>, as they read the same series of demonstrations. The -conclusions in which the chief spirits thus unanimously concur, are by -them impressed upon their constituents, who, thus impressed, are constitutionally -unable to resist the sentiment which, like a magic spell, operates -upon their sense of right, and overrules any rebellious passion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_420"></a>420. As, in the rudimental sphere, weighing, measurement, or mathematical -calculation or demonstration, when performed by competent persons, -are rarely disputed, so in the spheres, the decisions of those whose -authority is intuitively evident in moral or legal questions, meet with -acquiescence. It follows, therefore, that neither imprisonment nor fetters -are requisite for the enforcement of moral or legal restrictions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_421"></a>421. Moreover, it must be evident that in the spheres, wisdom, knowledge, -rectitude, and conscientiousness are the real vicegerents of God, the -higher spirits acting as his media.</p> - -<p><a id="para_422"></a>422. We acknowledge no aristocracy but that of mind and merit. -In our diplomatic intercourse with our brothers of earth, when affairs of -the greatest importance are to be transacted, (the present dispensation, for -example,) we intrust them to a delegation of the most advanced spirits—those -who are best acquainted with the affairs of the celestial country and -of that to which they are accredited.</p> - -<p><a id="para_423"></a>423. Our laws are meted out in the scale of exact justice, from whose<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>89</span> -awards there is <i>no</i> appeal. Punishments are but the natural consequences -of violated laws; being invariably commensurate with offences, and have -reference as well to the reformation of the offender, as to the prevention -of future crime.</p> - -<p><a id="para_424"></a>424. The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth, -which being unbounded and free as air and light, can of course be appropriated -by each and every member of society, according to his or her -capacity of reception, the supply being always equal to the demand.</p> - -<p><a id="para_425"></a>425. Wealth consists, upon earth, of those objects of human luxury -or taste, which can only be acquired by means of labour and capital. -Other things being equal, the value is generally in proportion to the cost -incurred in the production. But in the spheres, such objects existing in -profusion, the supply is of course always equal to the demand, though no -less necessary than the air which you breathe; like it, they have no -marketable value; there is no one who has occasion to buy, all being -abundantly supplied from a common inexhaustible stock.</p> - -<p><a id="para_426"></a>426. Hence it will appear that we have no occasion for gold or silver, -which perisheth with the using, but the currency of <i>moral</i> and <i>intellectual</i> -worth, coined in the mint of divine love, and assayed by the standards of -purity and truth. Our bank, whose charter is eternal, and whose notes -are never subject to fluctuations, and always payable on <i>demand</i>, is none -other than the great bank of heaven, whose capital stock consists of an -infinitude of love, mercy, and benevolence, of which our Heavenly Father -is president and director, and in which his beloved children, the -whole human family, are shareholders.</p> - -<p><a id="para_427"></a>427. With regard to the social constitutions of the “spheres,” each is -divided into six circles, or societies, in which kindred and congenial spirits -are united and subsist together, agreeably with the law of affinity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_428"></a>428. Although the members of each society unite as near as may be on -the same plan, agreeing in the most prominent moral and intellectual -features; yet it will be found, on careful analysis, that the varieties of -character, in each society, are almost infinite; being as numerous as the -persons who compose the circle.</p> - -<p><a id="para_429"></a>429. Each society has teachers from those above, and not unfrequently -from the higher spheres, whose province it is to impart to us the knowledge -acquired from their instructions and experience, in the different -departments of science, and which we in turn transmit to those below. -Thus, by receiving and giving knowledge our moral and intellectual faculties -are expanded to higher conceptions and more exalted views of the -great Creator, whose almighty power is no less displayed in the constitution -of spirit worlds, than in that of the countless resplendent orbs of -space.</p> - -<p><a id="para_430"></a>430. We do not, as many persons in the rudimental state imagine, -abandon the studies which we commenced on earth, which would presup<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>90</span>pose -the loss of our reasoning powers, and our consequent inferiority to -yourselves; but on the contrary, we go on progressing in knowledge and -wisdom, and shall progress throughout the boundless ages of eternity. You -being chained down to earth, by the law of gravitation, are comparatively -limited in your resources for information; but we having arrived at a -higher sphere of thought and action, and having a more extensive field -of vision, can soar higher and farther into the wonderful workings of -that mysterious Being, who, owing to the infinity of his perfections, must -be forever in advance of us, his finite creatures, and to whom, of course, -we can bear no relative proportion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_431"></a>431. Our scientific researches and investigations are extended to all -that pertains to the phenomena of universal nature; to all the wonders -of the heavens and the earth, and to whatever the mind of man is capable -of conceiving: all of which exercise our faculties, and form a considerable -part of our enjoyments. The noble and sublime sciences of -astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, engage a considerable portion of -our attention, and afford us an inexhaustible subject for study and reflection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_432"></a>432. Nevertheless, there are millions of spirits who are not yet sufficiently -advanced to take any interest in those pursuits; for you will bear -in mind that the spheres are but so many departments of a great normal -school, for the mental discipline and development of the race, each of -which is reached only by the spiral<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> stages of progression,—the earth -being the first in the series, and the seventh sphere the last; being preparatory -to an entrance into the supernal heaven. You will perceive, then, -that we have an unlimited scope for the prosecution of our studies, and -that whatever knowledge you fail to acquire in the rudimental state, legitimate -thereto, you will have to obtain, in some of the degrees of the -spiritual spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_433"></a>433. We do not study those practical arts, which are so essential to the -earth life, such as mechanics, &c.; for we do not stand in need of their -applications; our studies being wholly of a mental character, we attend -to the fundamental principles only. All the more intellectual branches -of the arts and sciences are cultivated in a much more perfect manner -than that to which we have been accustomed upon earth. The mind -being untrammelled by the gross material body, and having its intellectual -energies and perceptions improved, we can by intuition, as it were, more -clearly and rapidly perceive and understand the principles and truths on -which the sciences are based. We can trace the various relations of each -subject, so as to understand its connective importance; a knowledge at -which mortals arrive only by a long and tedious process.</p> - -<p><a id="para_434"></a>434. We are not, for good and wise ends, which in due time will be -fully explained, permitted to reveal all our knowledge to those below us,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>91</span> -as the consequences of such a procedure would be perilous to the happiness -of all, and subversive of order.</p> - -<p><a id="para_435"></a>435. In addition to our studies we have many other sources of intellectual, -moral, and heartfelt enjoyment, from which we derive the most ineffable -pleasure: one of which is social reunions and convivial meetings; -a coming together of dear friends, brothers, sisters, children and parents; -where the liveliest emotion and tenderest affections of our nature are excited, -and the fondest and most endearing reminiscences are awakened; -where spirit meets in unison with spirit, and heart beats responsive to -heart.</p> - -<p><a id="para_436"></a>436. Yet individuals united by the ties of consanguinity are not always -linked together, even here, by the golden chain of love and benevolent -affection, since it not unfrequently happens that there is much more harmony -existing among those who are not members of the same family. -Notwithstanding that persons who were intimately acquainted with each -other in the natural world, and those who are akin, may be and often are -separated, sometimes for long periods, still they do occasionally meet together; -those in the higher degrees and spheres passing to the lower, while -those in the latter never ascend to the former till fully prepared for such -a transition, agreeably to the fixed and unalterable laws of progression. -The periods of such separations vary according to the relative gradations -of intellectual and moral qualities in each.</p> - -<p><a id="para_437"></a>437. The peculiar connections and relations of parents and children, -brothers and sisters, and all the minor ties of consanguinity, must be forever -maintained, although there may be an indefinite interruption to the -harmonious play of their affinities.</p> - -<p><a id="para_438"></a>438. As regards the institution of marriage, I would observe that on -earth it is a civil contract, entered into by two persons, male and female, -mutually or otherwise, as the case may be, for and during the term of their -natural lives, but which is legally annulled on the demise of either party; -so that whether or not it be renewed in the spiritual world, is determined -by choice, not obligation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_439"></a>439. Celestial marriage, however, is quite a different affair: it is the -blending of two minds in one, resulting from an innate reciprocal love in -each; a conjunction of negative and positive principles, forming a true and -indissoluble bond of spiritual union, which human legislation cannot reach: -a marriage which is born of God, and is therefore eternal. It is often -asked, “Will all be married in heaven?” I answer, Yes, most assuredly; -it never was designed for man to be alone, either on earth or in heaven: -each will seek and find their counterpart.</p> - -<p><a id="para_440"></a>440. Each society has a municipal administration or moral code, subject -to the divine government; submission to the will of God, and obedience -to his laws, whether recognised in nature or revelation, forming the basis -of its constitution. With us philosophy and religion go hand in hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>92</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_441"></a>441. Evil or misdirected spirits find their affinities in the second sphere, -where the lowest and most undeveloped are associated together, and remain -for indefinite periods, but with all the moral depravity and darkness with -which they are enveloped, through the benign influence exerted over their -perceptive and rational faculties, by higher intelligences, each begins to -feel, sooner or later, the low and degraded position he occupies; moreover, -finding new means of progress, and new sources of contemplation as well -as delight, and his capacity of making perpetual advancement in knowledge, -his intellectual faculties become gradually expanded, and his moral powers -increased. Hence the grovelling propensities of his nature yielding to the -dictates of reason, his grosser passions subside, causing him to aspire to -higher associations and circumstances, which in turn beget new wants, -thoughts, and feelings.</p> - -<p><a id="para_442"></a>442. We have no sectarian or ecclesiastical feuds; no metaphysical -dogmas; nor are we troubled with those insatiable cravings and inordinate -ambitions, so often manifested by mortals; nor have we any taxation for -religion, the voluntary contributions of intellectual and moral minds being -its meet support.</p> - -<p><a id="para_443"></a>443. Our religious teachers belong to that class of persons who were -noted, during their probation on earth, for their philanthropy and deeds -of moral bravery; those who, regardless of the scoffs and sneers of the -time-serving multitude, dared to promulgate and defend the doctrines -of “civil and religious liberty.” These practical reformers and saviours -of the race, instead of worrying their hearers, as is the custom with many -on earth, with horrible denunciations and awful threats of eternal vengeance -for their misdoing, admonish and exhort them to higher and nobler aims -and aspirations; to the study of Deity as manifested in his stupendous -works.</p> - -<p><a id="para_444"></a>444. They urge upon them, too, the necessity of their co-operation in -the reformation and advancement of their more degraded brethren, by instructing -them in the divine principles of love, wisdom, and benevolence. -They instruct them in the soul-inspiring and elevating doctrine of <i>universal</i> -and <i>eternal</i> progression, and in the sublime truth that <i>evil is not an -indestructible and positive principle, but a negative condition, a mere -temporary circumstance of their existence</i>; and, furthermore, <i>that suffering -for sin is not a revengeful and malevolent infliction of God, but a -necessary and invariable sequence of violated law</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_445"></a>445. They teach them also that, according to the divine moral economy, -there is no such thing as pardon for sins committed—no immediate mercy—no -possible escape from the natural results of crime, no matter where -or by whom committed; no healing of a diseased moral constitution by -any outward appliances, or ceremonial absurdities; and finally, that the -only way whereby to escape sin and its consequences, is by progressing -above and beyond it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>93</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_446"></a>446. We derive much pleasure from the exercise of our talents in vocal -and instrumental music, which far excels the noblest efforts of musical -genius on earth. When we convene to worship God in our temples, whose -halls and columns beam with inherent celestial light, our voices are blended -together in songs of praise and adoration to the Almighty Author of our -existence, from whom all blessings are derived.</p> - -<p><a id="para_447"></a>447. From what has been stated, it may be perceived that we are moral, -intellectual, and sensitive creatures. Instead of being, as many of you -imagine, mere shadowy and unsubstantial entities, we are possessed of -definite, tangible, and exquisitely symmetrical forms, with well-rounded and -graceful limbs, and yet so light and elastic that we can glide through the -atmosphere with almost electric speed. The forked lightnings may flash, -and the thunders roll in awful reverberation along the vault of heaven, and -the rain descend in gushing torrents; nevertheless, by the mere act of -volition, we may stand unharmed at your side.</p> - -<p><a id="para_448"></a>448. We are, moreover, endowed with all the beauty, loveliness, and -vivacity of youth, and are clothed in flowing vestments of effulgent nature -suited to the particular degree of refinement of our bodies. Our raiment -being composed of phosphorescent principles, we have the power of attracting -and absorbing or reflecting the rays evolved, according as our condition -is more or less developed. This accounts for our being seen, by -clairvoyants, in different degrees of brightness, from a dusky hue to the -most intensely brilliant light.</p> - -<p><a id="para_449"></a>449. The spiritual body is a perfect human form, originating in, and -analogous to, the corporeal organization in its several parts, functions, and -relations. The heart beats in rythmic pulsations, the lungs fulfil their -office of respiration, and the brain generates its vitalized magnetic fluid, -whose life-giving currents permeate every portion of the spiritual organism. -Man in the rudimental state is tripartite, consisting of soul, of spirit, and -flesh; but in the spheres a duality, composed of soul and spirit. Having -approached the portals of death, he disrobes himself of the exterior form as -he would put away a worn-out garment. The gross and cumbrous physical -machine, which was given for the purpose of developing his more beautiful -and excellent spiritual body, and of bringing him into more immediate -relationship with the outward world, can serve his purposes no longer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_450"></a>450. For your clearer understanding of the <i>modus operandi</i> of our intercourse -with man, you will remember that by our transition to the world -of spirits we part with the body only. We lose none of our intelligence -by the transfer, but, on the contrary, become daily more and more developed -in our knowledge of and power over the forces in nature; so that we -are enabled to perform many feats to you, seemingly wonderful, and which -really appear miraculous to the majority of those who witness them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_451"></a>451. Having disposed of the external mechanism of flesh, we cannot -come into direct contact with physical matter, but we are able, through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>94</span> -the sphere of the medium, when natural conditions are complied with, -not only to communicate our thoughts and wishes to our friends, but to -move solid, ponderable bodies. By spheres, I mean the particular mental -or physical state, or emanation by which all bodies, organic or inorganic, -are immediately surrounded, and the particular electrical relations which -they sustain to each other, causing repulsions and attractions in man and -animals as well as in chemical reagents.</p> - -<p><a id="para_452"></a>452. When we wish to impress the mind of the medium, by the effort -of our magic will, (provided always that he or she is in sympathy with -or sustains a negative relation to the operator,) we can dispose and arrange -the magnetic currents of the brain so as to form or fashion them into ideas -of our own. We can also learn to read the thoughts of another—conditions -being favourable—as readily as you can gain a knowledge of the -characters or symbols of a language foreign to your own.</p> - -<p><a id="para_453"></a>453. Thoughts being motions of the mind, assume specific and definite -forms, and when <i>distinct</i> in the mind can be clearly perceived and understood -by any spirit who is in sympathy with the mind in which they are -generated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_454"></a>454. To influence, mechanically, the hand of a medium to write, we -direct currents of vitalized spiritual electricity on the particular muscles -which we desire to control. In order to produce the physical manifestations, -it is not by any means requisite that the medium should be possessed of a -good moral character or well-balanced mind, as an individual of small -mental calibre would answer our purpose equally well; but an advanced -spirit could not directly impress or control the organs of a mind with which -he is not in affinity, and <i>vice versâ</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_455"></a>455. We can instantly determine the sphere of a spirit, in or out of the -body, by the particular brilliancy and character of the light in which he -is enveloped, as well as by the peculiar sensation which his presence creates.</p> - -<p><a id="para_456"></a>456. The raps are produced by <i>voluntary</i> discharges of the vitalized -spiritual electricity, above mentioned, from the spirit, coming in contact -with the animal electricity emanating from the medium. These discharges -we can direct at will to any particular locality, thereby producing sounds -or concussions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_457"></a>457. The question being often asked, “How do you move solid substances?” -I would partly answer it by asking, How does a magnet attract -and raise from their resting-places certain bodies within whose sphere it is -brought? How does a man move his body and direct it whithersoever it -goeth? How does God, the almighty cause of all causes, move and keep -in perpetual motion the immense systems which revolve in space, and maintain -each in its due relative position? I answer, By the magnetism of a -<i>positive</i> will.</p> - -<p><a id="para_458"></a>458. We, in common with you and all animals, possess an infinitesimal -portion of this power, varying in degree in different classes and in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>95</span> -different individuals. When you raise your arm, as in the act of lifting -or moving a body, you direct by the force of your will-power galvanic -currents on the muscles required to perform the function. The muscles -acting as levers, through the stimulus of the subtle element, act and react -on the more solid parts, the bones, and thus is the object laid hold of and -moved, and still you do not come into direct contact with the object. Now, -this is called a <i>very simple</i> operation, and so it would appear, but who understands -it? Although advanced spirits are much more conversant with the -forces operating in nature than the most intellectually developed man in -the form, still they do not, nor can they ever, as long as eternity rolls on, -understand the hidden sphere of cause. The operation of the will it is -impossible to understand. Now, as I have said, we are not possessed of -physical bodies; still we can make the imponderable elements subserve our -purposes by acting as bones, nerves, and muscles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_459"></a>459. Touching our peregrinations and voyages of discovery, about which -so much has been said by spirits, as well as mortals, I will say that it is a -fallacy to suppose that every spirit can visit at will the planets of the solar -system, much less those of the more remote systems, since I am certain -that none but the residents of the seventh sphere, or the angels of the -“Supernal Heavens,” have the power to do so; because each planet, being -an inhabited globe, hath its concentric or spiritual spheres, through all -of which in order to reach it a spirit must pass. It is obvious, therefore, -according to the immutable law of progression, that the transit of a spirit -to a distant planet would require its adaptation to the highest sphere of -that body.</p> - -<p><a id="para_460"></a>460. Having spoken of the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” I will -explain what is meant by this designation. They are those pure and -comparatively exalted beings who, having advanced beyond the highest -sphere of the planet to which they belonged, and attained a very high -state of moral and intellectual development, have been admitted into that -great and illimitable sphere of progression which lies outside of all other -spheres, and in which the greatest conceivable degree of harmony reigns. -It is composed of one grand harmonial society, whose members are privileged -to go wheresoever they will through the boundless empire of space. -They are principally from the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and hold a much -more distinguished rank in the intellectual, moral, and social system than -the inhabitants of earth. I have not learned that any spirit from our -planet has yet reached the Supernal Heaven.</p> - -<p><a id="para_461"></a>461. It has been said that spirits hunger, thirst, and stand in need of -repose. It is true that those states do pertain to spirit life agreeably -to the law of spiritual correspondences. The grosser and more undeveloped -the spirit, the closer is the analogy between it and the physical -states.</p> - -<p><a id="para_462"></a>462. Physical laws and substances are gross or externalized spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>96</span> -laws and things. The more refined and developed the spirit, the less it -requires of gross aliment. Refined, intellectual, and moral beings are -nourished and sustained by refined, intellectual, and moral nutriment. -Their food is derived from the “Tree of Knowledge,” and they slake their -thirst at the crystal streams which continually flow from the inexhaustible -fountain of God’s wisdom and love. The lowest undeveloped spirit lives -on comparatively refined aliment to that on which mortals subsist. It consists -of the more refined elements of spiritual fruits and vegetables. The -spirit’s need of rest depends on its particular degree of development, -diminishing in proportion to its advancement from the material plane.</p> - -<p><a id="para_463"></a>463. Though the principles embodied in our teachings and philosophy -may be regarded, by the majority of mankind, as <i>strange</i> and incomprehensible, -they are, nevertheless, no more so than the principles of natural -science would be to the unlettered mind. As the ability to comprehend -the principles on which the natural sciences are based increases with -the expansion of the intellectual faculties, in like manner is the power of -perceiving spiritual things and relations increased by the development of -the interior or spiritual faculties.</p> - -<p><a id="para_464"></a>464. As there are no words in the human language in which spiritual -ideas may be embodied so as to convey their literal and exact signification, -we are obliged ofttimes to have recourse to the use of analogisms and metaphorical -modes of expression. In our communion with you we have to -comply with the peculiar structure and rules of your language; but the -genius of our language is such that we can impart more ideas to each other -in a single word than you can possibly convey in a hundred.</p> - -<p><a id="para_465"></a>465. I have thus given you a general outline of the leading facts connected -with the destiny of the race. I have endeavoured to show you that -man is a progressive being, that he possesses a refined material (<a href="#para_449">449</a>) organization, -which, going with him at death, serves as a medium through -which he may communicate with the visible world. I will here add that, -under certain circumstances, this spiritual organization has the power of -reflecting the rays of light, so as to be rendered visible to the natural eye, -as are certain gaseous bodies.</p> - -<p><a id="para_466"></a>466. I have attempted to show you, too, that the spirit on entering the -spheres, being governed by its affinity, takes its position in that circle for -which it is morally and intellectually adapted; hence the first sphere is the -abode of all the most degraded spirits, and that their advancement, however -slow it may be, is nevertheless sure, since “onward and upward” is -the motto emblazoned on the spiritual banner.</p> - -<p><a id="para_467"></a>467. I have endeavoured to show you, also, that the spirit is a <i>finite</i> -being like man in the form, and, therefore, <i>fallible</i>, and that as he advances -in knowledge, he grasps more of truth and drops more of error. I have -attempted to show you that the spirit world is a counterpart of the natural -world, and that we, no less than you, are subject to surrounding conditions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>97</span> -and circumstances. Spirits of congenial minds and opinions are drawn -toward each other and to you, on the principle that “like attracts like.” -In order to receive high moral and intellectual communications, it is essentially -necessary that the medium and circle should be in affinity with each -other, and with the spirits who are capable of giving such communications.</p> - -<p><a id="para_468"></a>468. Besides the topics adverted to, I will briefly call your attention to -a few of the most prominent among the beneficial results which will flow -from spiritual intercommunion. It will settle the important question, “<i>If -a man die, shall he live again?</i>” It will reduce the fact of the immortality -of the human spirit to a certainty, so that the world’s knowledge of -the fact will not be the result of a <i>blind faith</i>, but a positive philosophy. -It will show the relation existing between mind and matter. It will make -men thinking and rational beings. It will establish a holy and most delightful -intercourse between the inhabitants of the terrestrial world and -their departed spirit friends. It will expand and liberalize the mind far -beyond your present conceptions. It will fraternize and unite all the -members of the human family in an everlasting bond of spiritual union -and harmonial brotherhood. It will establish the principles of love to -God and your fellows. It will do away with sectarian bigotry. It will -show that many of the so-called religious teachings are but impositions -on the credulity of mankind, being founded on the grossest absurdities -and palpable ignorance of the nature of things.</p> - -<p><a id="para_469"></a>469. It will give man higher and infinitely more exalted views of God, -and bring him into closer communion with the Author of his being. It -will do away completely with the sting of death, and rob the grave of its -terrors. It will teach the eternal progression of the soul, and show that -the time is fast approaching when the moral condition of the race is to be -vastly improved; when error is to be abolished, and truth is to take its -place; when the glory of the Lord is to be revealed, and all flesh shall see -it together! In fine, it will be a help to the soul in the hour of its adversity, -and enable it to bear up under affliction with noble and heroic fortitude; -and when about to launch its barque on the river of eternal life for -the fair and beautiful land of promise, it will be its stay and sheet-anchor.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap6">Your father,</span> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare</span>.</p> - - -<h4><i>Communication from a Spirit Son of the Author.</i></h4> - -<p>I have in the spirit world two sons, one of whom died, thirteen months -old, in 1813; the other, five months old, in 1825. Both have been to -communicate with me. I subjoin a letter received from the younger:</p> - -<p><a id="para_470"></a>470. “<i>My Dear Father</i>:—I made a very brief communication to you -through the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort to -control the human organism. It has been long known to me that spirits could -manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always held communion -with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The law is as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>98</span> -natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure forever. But so -great has been, and still is, the superstition of the masses, and to such -an extent has man’s mental vision been obscured by his so-called spiritual -teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few instances, spirits have failed -in their attempts to reveal themselves to the civilized portion of mankind. -The conditions have, for the most part, been wanting, owing to the above -causes, and which have grown out of man’s false notions respecting his -natural and true relation with the unseen world. The less civilized of our -Father’s children, in regard to their communion with spirits, have been -much more highly favoured than their otherwise more fortunate brethren, -since it has not been an uncommon circumstance for them to commune -with their departed friends.</p> - -<p><a id="para_471"></a>471. “Many years, my dear parent, have elapsed since I entered the -bright abode of the blest—a very little child, yet a very happy one. My -first and second birth rapidly succeeded each other; but so little did I -know, from actual experience, of my rudimental condition, that I have -never realized the change. I have no memory of my earth-life, yet I know -from observation and reflection that I am to some extent the loser by my -premature birth into the spiritual state. I have, it is true, measurably -obtained since then that knowledge of exterior nature which I should have -acquired in the flesh, on the globe which gave me birth, as an independent, -individualized existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_472"></a>472. “My life here has been a charmed one; enrapturing scenes of -beauty being constantly presented to view, like the ever-varying landscapes -delineated on the canvas by a skilful artist. Now is seen a beautiful -silvery lake on whose translucent bosom floats the graceful swan, bending -his pliant neck, as if proudly conscious of his surpassing beauty; and -anon, among the lilies of this lake, which appear like gems placed on a -virgin brow, shoots a tiny barque, freighted with angelic children. Then -is presented a bolder view, of towering mountains and wide-extended -plains, with the accompanying characteristics of hill and dell.</p> - -<p><a id="para_473"></a>473. “In answer to a question which would naturally suggest itself to -your mind, respecting the means by which I have become acquainted with -that knowledge of the external world which I should have gained in it, I -would say it has been acquired by frequent visits to the earth. I have -been accustomed to accompany you, father, in your daily walks, and to -study, through you and mother, those elementary lessons which are so -essential to the full development of the spirit. Your son Theodore, though -nearly forgotten by you, has not been far distant. The time is fast approaching, -and is near at hand, when man’s spiritual nature and destiny -will be much more fully comprehended by the world. Then spirit manifestations -and spirit intercourse will be considered as natural as for the -sun to rise in the eastern heavens. Spirits highly elevated in love and -wisdom would not descend from their exalted position except to teach, fo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>99</span>r -their attractions are upward, but their mission is to instruct those below -them, from which they derive much happiness. You know, father, how -much pleasure it gives you to impart knowledge to others. How much -greater then is our enjoyment, whose minds are intensely more susceptible -of real joys! Your spiritual mission on earth has just begun, and we are -endeavouring to impress your mind with the sacred importance of its fulfilment. -Give unto others that we give unto you, and you shall receive -abundantly. I occupy a place which has not yet been opened to your -perception. Prepare yourself, my dear father, for its higher and more -glorious unfoldings, by first gaining that knowledge which pertains to the -lower degrees, and you will thereby become elevated to the higher spiritual -planes, and increase your knowledge of things celestial, and greatly develop -and enlarge your sphere of usefulness.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Theodore.</span>”</p> - - -<h4>Additional Communications from Spirits who died while Infants.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_474"></a>474. <span class="smcap">The</span> brother of a medium reported himself by spelling out his -name in full—Dewitt Matthias. He had departed this life at the age of -thirteen months. I inquired if he had taught himself to spell. I was -instructed, was his answer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_475"></a>475. While I was in a state of extreme unbelief, Dewitt’s mother told -me that her son, who died when aged only thirteen months, had communicated -with her; and said that his stature had grown with his age, -now sixteen years. This statement I mentioned as an exemplification of -credulity, little thinking that this wonder would be realized by the existence -of my spirit children being made evident to me by such communications -as that from Theodore, above given.</p> - -<p><a id="para_476"></a>476. The eldest child of my parents died an infant, yet my elder brother, -Charles, in his account of his spiritual birth, mentions that this brother -came as a full-grown spirit to greet his translation to the spirit world.</p> - - -<h4>Communication from a very young Spirit child to its Parents.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_477"></a>477. The following communications have been received from a spirit -child, as I understand, of about six years old. It will be perceived that -it was assisted by its grandmother. They have been handed to me by -the child’s father, Mr. George Helmick, in whose sincerity I have great -confidence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_478"></a>478. The following message, says Mr. Helmick, came through the -medium of Miss Irish, some eight months since, on an occasion when -there were some twelve or fifteen persons present, nearly all of whom -were entire strangers to me and my wife, who was also present. We had -never seen Miss Irish before, and <i>we know</i> that she had no knowledge of -us in any respect.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>100</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_479"></a>479. The <i>fact</i> that we had a child in the spirit world was <i>not</i> known to -<i>any</i> present but myself and wife.</p> - -<p><a id="para_480"></a>480. “Father, do you not, kind father, feel my soft and gentle touch -upon your brow?<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> Can you not feel my presence, as grandmamma and I, -with care, enfold you in our embrace?</p> - -<p>“Mother, gentle, loving mother, do you not feel my angel kiss, as I imprint -it upon your cheek?</p> - -<p>“Father, mother, I left you before earth’s errors had a chance to take -root within my young and tender mind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_481"></a>481. “Then, loving parents, think of me as you do of a gentle moonbeam, -which struggles to bless earth with its presence but for a moment, -and then softly and sweetly returns to heaven again.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">Spirit Child.</span>”</p> - -<p><i><small>For George Helmick</small>.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The following message was received through Mrs. Gourlay on the 27th -of October last, by the aid of a disk and alphabet as arranged by Dr. -Hare:</p> - -<p><a id="para_482"></a>482. “Dear and loving mother, grandma will help me to write to you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_483"></a>483. “A calm and holy atmosphere pervades this little company, and -lovely forms are surrounding each earth friend. O thou great God of -goodness! to thee our hearts are raised in thanksgiving for this privilege -of communion with our friends on earth. Gratitude should fill the hearts -of all present. Little children are sporting in this atmosphere of love -like gentle moonbeams, kissing with a gentle touch the brows of their loving -parents.</p> - -<p><a id="para_484"></a>484. “Oh! why should you weep for those who have gone before? -Rather mourn those who are debarred the joys of our celestial homes, -where the weary spirit finds rest from the toils of earth, where all is joy -evermore.</p> - -<p><a id="para_485"></a>485. “Gentle mother, your little seraph-boy is not <i>dead</i>, but <i>liveth</i>. -In his uncontaminated love, find comfort for the ills of life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_486"></a>486. “Dear father, it was my spirit hand which was placed on thy -brow, which you just felt.</p> - -<p><a id="para_487"></a>487. “I left earth pure. In this purity I come to my dear parents. -Accept my love, and give me yours in return.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">Little Walter.</span>”</p> - -<p><i><small>Mrs. Helmick.</small></i></p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>101</span></p> - -<h3 id="OF_THE_SPIRITUAL_BIRTH13_CALLED_DEATH_OF_HUMAN_BEINGS">OF THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> CALLED DEATH, OF HUMAN BEINGS, -CALLED MORTALS, ALTHOUGH IMMORTAL.</h3> - - -<h4>Of Spiritual Birth.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_488"></a>488. Having obtained from several of my most valued spirit friends or -relatives, narratives of their translation from this sphere to the world of -spirits, it appears, from their concurrent testimony, that on the death of -the body, the soul finds itself soon afterward awaking from a profound -sleep,—but so much more like dreaming than being awake, as for a short -time to create a doubt whether it be not dreaming. Meanwhile, bright -shadowy forms become more and more distinguishable; and the body -which it has left being perceived apart on its bed, or in whatever position -its death occurred, the conviction is induced that another state of existence -has been attained. As the forms, at first shadowy, become distinct, -they are usually found to be those of the nearest or dearest previously departed -friends. These meet the nascent spirit with every possible manifestation -of affection, while the most ecstatic emotions are awakened.</p> - -<p><a id="para_489"></a>489. Forthwith the spirit is conducted to his celestial abode: of which -the elevation is greater as the morality of the individual concerned is -higher.</p> - - -<h4>Narrative given by Spirits of their translation to the Spirit World, the -abode of human souls in a future state</h4> - -<p><a id="para_490"></a>490. The following narrative is from an excellent spirit philanthropist, -who, though a stranger to me in this world, introduced himself to me at -the session of a small circle, by the communication alleged to be intended -for me, which has already been quoted. (<a href="#para_147">147</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_491"></a>491. He has since reported himself as the author of those sentiments, -and has held many conversations with me.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>102</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_492"></a>492. Subsequently to an address made by me at Franklin Hall, he expressed -himself as follows: “Do not keep your light under a bushel. I -was present and heard you speak last night. I wish you to say more about -your personal experience. That would weigh with the community at large.” -I excused my course by answering, that I wished my experience to be riper -before submitting it to the community.</p> - - -<h4>Narrative of his Spiritual Birth, by W. W-—-, a most benevolent Spirit -of the Fifth Sphere.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_493"></a>493. “Did you ever have a most delightful dream in which you saw -your near and dear friends about you, all seeming happy and contented -with their condition? If you have, then you can form an imperfect idea -of my state when I awoke to the reality of the change which opened upon -my entranced sight on being ushered into the spheres. I had been long -sick, and was subject to periods of unconsciousness. Therefore I did not -soon perceive the change to be real. I felt almost too much happiness for -my spirit to bear.</p> - -<p>“On looking around, I perceived my mother, with outstretched arms, -ready to receive her welcome son to the mansion prepared for him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_494"></a>494. “Did I still dream? I asked: no! it was a blessed reality; all -pain had fled, and my spirit rejoiced in new health. I could hardly contain -myself from expressing my gratitude to God in verbal ejaculations. -But I soon found that I had a much more delightful mode of expression. -Each countenance beamed with love and intelligence, and the spirits could -interpret my thoughts as readily as mortals can read a well-printed book.</p> - -<p><a id="para_495"></a>495. “One spirit, on whose countenance I could read volumes, -approached, and taking me by the hand said, ‘Welcome, dear brother, to -this sinless world, where your progression is sure; no obstacles shall impede -your footsteps; the conditions of time are removed; your feet shall -fail not in the race of progress. Onward and Upward is our motto.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>103</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_496"></a>496. “With willing heart I followed my guide. Every step taken led -me up toward the great Source of light and truth. I never wearied in -my journey. Bright and sparkling waters flowed at my feet, and living -flowers sprang up before me. Each new object gave me courage to proceed. -Old familiar faces met my gaze at every footstep, and cherub forms -flitted past me. Golden clouds rested over the scene, and all nature was -refulgent with light and animation. Huge oaks tossed their giant branches -to the pure breezes of heaven, and lofty pines bowed their heads in love -and adoration. The little birds sent forth their notes of praise, while the -air was laden with the perfume of flowers. Being fond of the beauties of -nature while on earth, I enjoyed this scene much.</p> - -<p><a id="para_497"></a>497. “I was rejoiced to see so many of my friends present. Each vied -with the other to give me the most cordial welcome.</p> - -<p><a id="para_498"></a>498. “I soon perceived that I was near my journey’s end, for I had -reached the fifth sphere of spiritual progression. My guide pointed out to -my view the mansion which I was to occupy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_499"></a>499. “I was told that I could return to earth, when I was so inclined. -Inclination often draws me thither. So long as a spirit has friends on -earth, he will visit them; but when they join him, he loses his attachment -for the rudimental sphere, and seldom thereafter leaves his celestial -abode.</p> - -<p><a id="para_500"></a>500. “My habitation consists of suites of rooms, most beautifully ornamented -with paintings and statues and the most elegant productions of -spirit art. <i>Each individual can have his dwelling to suit his own particular -taste or fancy. The more refined and elevated the spirit, the more -refined and beautiful is the house or home that he inhabits.</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_501"></a>501. “The occupations of the higher spirits are of a more intellectual -character than the highest on earth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_502"></a>502. “Our spheres are types of yours; but we do not have to provide -for the casket which contains the spiritual jewel.”</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<h3>SPIRITUAL BIRTH OF MARIA.</h3> - -<p><a id="para_503"></a>503. <span class="smcap">If</span> the reader will turn to my narrative, 192 to 200, he will learn -under what circumstances I became acquainted with Maria, the being -of whose spiritual birth it will, in the next place, be my object to give her -own account.</p> - -<p><a id="para_504"></a>504. My acquaintance with this truly angelic creature has awakened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>104</span> -in me lively friendship and esteem. These sentiments have been induced -by her devotion to her parents, her affectionate recollection of her children, -and gracious demeanour to others.</p> - - -<h4>The Spirit Maria’s Narrative, as given through the Mediumship of Mrs. -M. B. Gourlay.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_505"></a>505. <i>Dear Father</i>: I promised to give you an account of my entrance -into, and life in the spheres. As I said to you on a former occasion, I -felt like one just awaking from a deep sleep induced by the deadening -influence of an opiate. It was some time before I could collect my scattered -senses. On partially regaining my consciousness, I recollected having been -sick, and the anxiety of my friends for my restoration to health; and I -wondered at the sudden change in my feelings. Those racking pains I -experienced had all fled, and I felt a newness of life which was truly -delightful. Indistinct and shadowy forms flitted before me. On closely -inspecting them, I perceived that they were my departed friends. It was -then that I fully realized the change in my condition. My first and greatest -concern was for those who seemed so inconsolable at my loss, and for whom -I still entertained the most devoted love and affection. My vision becoming -gradually clearer, I perceived, among the group, my brother William -ready to receive me. He was clothed in a garment of living light, and -closely resembles you, dear father, in form and features. He addressed -me in the following language:—“Welcome, thrice welcome, my beloved -sister, to the regions of immortality! I have been your guardian angel -through life, and have looked forward with pleasure to this happy reunion.” -I was now informed by him that I must leave my treasures on -earth. This gave me some uneasiness, but being assured that I should -visit them again, I cheerfully accompanied him in his upward flight.</p> - -<p><a id="para_506"></a>506. Surprise and delight pervaded my existence when I beheld -those friends bound to me by the ties of consanguinity ready to receive -me and fold me to their hearts.</p> - -<p><a id="para_507"></a>507. Gliding swiftly upward, on gaining an elevation of some sixty -miles from the earth’s surface, we passed into the second sphere;<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> on -entering which a tremor seized me. A moral darkness pervades the -atmosphere, which renders it gloomy and uncomfortable in the extreme. -The inhabitants are dark and dismal in their appearance, and are continually -tortured with the pangs of a guilty conscience. Here disorder -and confusion reign supreme, each spirit vieing with the other in rendering -discord more discordant. We passed on rapidly, leaving the second -sphere and its undeveloped inhabitants behind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_508"></a>508. On approaching the third sphere, we were met by a company of -angels from the seventh sphere, among whom I recognised my brothers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>105</span> -who died in infancy. They had attained the stature of men. I now felt -that law of affinity which binds us so closely together, drawing me toward -them, and I was enabled at once to single them out from the multitude -which accompanied them. With smiles they greeted me, saying, “Welcome, -dear sister; another link is added to the chain of love which -binds us together. One by one they shall be removed from earth till the -chain is completed here.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_509"></a>509. We next entered the third sphere, where comparative order -reigns. There I perceived many spirits intently listening to a teacher, -whose theme was the subject of progression.</p> - -<p><a id="para_510"></a>510. Anxiously desiring to reach my destiny, we quickly passed to -the fourth sphere. How different the scene! every thing looked bright -and beautiful to my enraptured sight. It seemed like an enchanted land. -Thousands of flowers scented the air with their odoriferous perfume, and -rapturous strains of music thrilled me with delight! We now approached -a beautiful temple devoted to the science of the harmony of sounds. In it -music in all its departments is taught. O, father, could you hear the -master spirits of song, who lived ages ago on earth, attuning their instruments -to harmony, your senses would become entranced. Music, being -conceived in heaven, is sent forth to earth to elevate man, and attract him -to our great and beneficent Father. I perceived that the fourth sphere -was to be my abiding-place for the present.</p> - -<p><a id="para_511"></a>511. On my return to the second sphere, it looked somewhat different -to me, for, having lost my fear, I could more closely inspect the place and -its inhabitants. The country, as far as my vision could penetrate, seemed -like a vast desert, without a green spot to relieve the eye. Its denizens -are seen straggling here and there, with no fixed object in view. All are -seeking to minister to their perverted tastes. Some are holding forth in -loud tones, and painting in false and gaudy colours the joy of their home; -others, who occupied high stations on earth, hang their heads in confusion, -and would fain hide themselves from view; but they are taunted with -rude jests, and told that their “pride of position will avail them nothing -here.” One heart-sickening feature of this place is the absence of children. -No purity can exist where such evils abound. “The loud laugh, -which bespeaks the vacant mind,” is heard pealing forth in derision, as the -teachers from the higher spheres approach the motley group. Some, in -whom the work of regeneration has commenced, are seen ascending the -spiral stairway of progress which leads to the third sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_512"></a>512. The beauty of the third sphere far transcends that of earth. The -scenery is endlessly diversified with spiritual objects, corresponding to -things of your planet. Mountains and valleys, hills and dales, rivers and -lakes, and trees and plants, lend their enchantment to the scene. The -inhabitants of this sphere are anxious for instruction. The teachers from -the higher degrees are listened to with profound respect and attention.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>106</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_513"></a>513. I saw many persons whom I knew in the rudimental state. I met -a spirit yesterday whom I have seen in your company before he left the -form.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> I felt attracted to him. On approaching him, he smilingly said, -“Why do you take such an interest in me, fair being? I know you not.” -“True,” I replied, “but I saw you in my father’s company before you left -the earth, and was present once when my brother gave you a communication, -which, by the way, you received with much incredulity; therefore, I feel -constrained to speak to you.” He thanked me, saying, “I never believed -in the immortality of the soul; consequently, it was not strange that I -should doubt the spirits.” “Your skepticism,” I replied, “was honest; -therefore you will rise much sooner in the scale of progression. A sincere -unbelief is better than false professions.” Here I left him, and followed -a multitude who were just entering a magnificent temple, where a teacher -was to address them. This structure is immensely large and exquisitely -symmetrical in its proportions. Many stately columns support its roof, -each surmounted by a cap of chaste design. The material of this temple -is similar in appearance to alabaster, but transparent. The seats are semicircular, -forming an amphitheatre, in the centre of which stood the speaker, -Channing. With uplifted hands he invoked God’s blessing on all mankind. -With what breathless attention all listened to the glowing words -of eloquence which fell from his lips! This is the true worship of the -soul. His text was: “The light that is within you.” He dwelt at some -length on the importance of self-elevation, as a means of progressing -others. He spoke of the moral bond of union which binds the race together. -“When one individual,” said he, “is degraded, all must suffer.” -His discourse abounded with clear and energetic thought.</p> - -<p><a id="para_514"></a>514. As we passed from this temple, I met my friend of yesterday. -He remarked that he had learned much from the speaker who had just -addressed us. He said that his mind, before entering the spheres, had -been much troubled about the future, although light had begun to dawn -on his mental horizon. “Hope,” said he, “with her cheering countenance, -had almost deserted me, and the world appeared like a dreary wilderness. -Sick and disheartened, I laid me down to recruit my exhausted -energies. An unconscious period intervened, and then burst on my enraptured -vision the glorious morning of the resurrection in all its loveliness; -and with it came a bright messenger of light to bear me onward -and upward to the boundless regions of progressive wisdom, where my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>107</span> -untrammelled spirit can soar aloft to study the wondrous works of Almighty -God.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_515"></a>515. In the fourth sphere the scenery is characterized by still more -beautiful landscapes: the grass appears of a greener green, and the flowers -are more gorgeous in their hue, and the birds sing still more sweetly. -Shall I lead you to this parterre? Here you perceive the lily with its -almond-shaped leaves, and stamens delicately tinted with the faintest -crimson; by its side is the blushing rose. Here you observe the myrtle, -the emblem of love, and the passion-flower, which speaks of a deathless -passion. All have an interior language which spirits alone can fully comprehend. -The trees here are somewhat different from those on earth. -This is a strange-looking one. Its trunk is very straight, and runs up to -an immense height without branches; its top is surmounted by tufts of -beautiful spiral-shaped silvery leaves; by its side stands one of very different -appearance, whose depending branches, like the graceful willow, -bend beneath their wealth of leaves, courting one to repose beneath their -grateful shade. Here, too, are sparkling streams, murmuring cascades, -and gushing fountains, and trees bending beneath their load of golden -fruit; and here are temples devoted to the arts and sciences.</p> - -<p><a id="para_516"></a>516. Now, dear father, let not a school on earth rise up before your -imagination. Our schools and systems of instruction differ widely from -those in the rudimental sphere, inasmuch as they are far more beautiful. -We use neither books nor charts, but the spirit or substance of each subject -is presented to the student, whose mind at once perceives its internal -meaning. In this way are solved the most difficult problems.</p> - -<p><a id="para_517"></a>517. Let us enter this building devoted to the teachers from the seventh -sphere. See the multitude thronging its portals. Before we enter, let us -glance at its exterior. It is circular in form, and beautiful in its architectural -design. Its spiral columns are entwined with the richest flowers, -which yield a delicious fragrance. As you enter this temple, its fretted -vaults resound with the soft harmonious symphonies of spirit voices. In -the midst of the group stands the teacher, Melancthon, who suffered in the -cause of religious freedom. His countenance is mild and angelic, but he -still retains that fearless spirit which characterized him on earth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_518"></a>518. Here comes a band of beautiful children carrying wreaths of -flowers in their hands. They are singing, and they lead by the hand a -lovely child just escaped from earth. How happy it seems! It is quite -unconscious of the change in its condition.</p> - -<p><a id="para_519"></a>519. Let us now wend our way to the fifth sphere. This state is in a -still greater degree heavenly. As far as the eye can reach are seen lovely -villas, magnificent temples, forest-crowned hills, and gently undulating -plains. Let us go up this avenue, shaded with lofty sycamores: this is the -residence of H. K. White. How enchanting the spot! It is a low cottage -embosomed in the midst of trees and flowers, which, by interlacing,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>108</span> -form beautiful arbours with arched entrances. The grounds about this -dwelling are skilfully and tastefully laid out. The clematis and honeysuckle -entwine their tendrils around the trellis-work of the door. Let us -enter. Statues of the most exquisite finish fill the niches; couches and -divans of various forms and singular devices grace the rooms, and carpets -of the softest texture and most brilliant dyes cover the floors. It is, -indeed, the beau ideal of a poet’s home. In this sphere dwell Channing, -Ballou, Murray, the Wesleys, Byron, Burns, Moore, Shelley, Scott, and -Hahnemann, the founder of your school, who is still engaged in the investigation -of scientific truths. I speak of those persons in particular, -because I am personally acquainted with them, being attracted to them -by a congeniality of feeling.</p> - -<p><a id="para_520"></a>520. The sixth state or sphere far transcends the most gorgeous picture -of oriental splendour. So lovely are the scenes presented to the view there, -that I cannot impress your mind with any thing like a just conception of -them. <i>I receive my ideas of the fifth, sixth, and seventh spheres from -the spirits who dwell therein, having never visited them in person.</i> What -a magnificent panorama is there presented to the spirit’s gaze! There are -colossal temples, and “houses not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” -As far as the vision can extend may be seen cities and palaces, -whose lofty domes sparkle like diamonds in the sunbeams of heaven; -oceans and seas with which yours are mere lakes in comparison; placid -lakes and noble rivers winding their interminable way through valleys -clothed with perpetual verdure.</p> - -<p><a id="para_521"></a>521. There are gardens there of inconceivable beauty, filled with the -choicest and most aromatic herbs and flowers, and birds with every conceivable -variety of plumage. The parks are of great magnitude, and -abound with the most beautiful animals. The swift antelope, the wild -gazelle, and the graceful deer are seen ranging over the flowery plains. -There the lion and the lamb lie down together in peaceful innocence. -There are congregated millions of spirits, who are associated together -like a harmonious and happy family. The vales are vocal with celestial -melody, and the air is redolent with the perfume of flowers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_522"></a>522. How shall I describe to you the transcendent glory of the seventh -sphere? Let us contemplate it. In it all the beauties and joys -of the lower degrees are combined, but in a much more refined and sublimated -form. There dwell the spirits of the just made more perfect. -Innumerable companies of children, which constitute the infant army of -heaven, are singing in gladsome strains the love of Him who called them -into being, causing the atmosphere to resound with harmonious shouts -of joy. There dwells Jesus of Nazareth, the great moral reformer, and -“John the beloved.” There reside the apostles, prophets, and martyrs -of olden time. There live Confucius, Seneca, Plato, Socrates, and Solon, -with all the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>109</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_523"></a>523. That sphere is illumined by the refulgent beams of heaven’s -great central sun, in whose genial warmth and golden flood of living light -spirits find life eternal.</p> - - -<h4>My Sister’s account of her Spiritual Birth, or Translation to the Spirit -World.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_524"></a>524. <i>Dear brother</i>: The language of mortals is inadequate to convey -to your mind a tenth part of the joy that I experienced when liberated -from the physical body. You remember well the hour when the summons -came. You did not expect me to depart so soon. The mutual relationship -which had existed between my body and spirit being dissolved, I -found myself still a living, thinking, and intelligent being, and in a world -of tangible and eternal realities.</p> - -<p><a id="para_525"></a>525. When the last act in the drama of life was finished, and as soon -as I had emerged from the pleasing reverie which succeeded the moment -of dissolution, I found my room filled with bright visitants from the world -of spirits, and my ears were delighted with the sweetest melodies. I now -felt that the great secret was about to be disclosed, and I began to realize -that I had indeed passed from death unto life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_526"></a>526. Dazzled by the exceeding brilliancy of the light which emanated -from the pure beings who surrounded me, I began to distrust my senses, -and looked about to assure myself that I was not in a dream or trance. I -was soon startled from my musing by a gentle pull at my garment, and -on turning round to discover the cause, I instantly recognised my beloved -father. Oh! imagine my feelings at that joyful moment; no words can -describe them. I now felt a strong desire to leave earth. Father perceiving -this, placed his hand in mine, and said, “My daughter, the battle -is fought, the victory is won; follow me.” He now led me forth into open -space. We were immediately encircled by a magnificent halo of light, -and strains of heavenly music floated on the circumambient air. Here a -scene of glory was revealed to me which human imagination is unable to -conceive. As we penetrated the clear blue depths of ether, myriads of -angelic beings crossed our path, and many greeted me with words of -welcome.</p> - -<p><a id="para_527"></a>527. Having passed beyond earth’s sphere, new and more glorious -scenes burst upon my enraptured vision, and they increased in beauty at -each successive stage of our journey. I felt that a great change had taken -place in my condition, for the most intense sensations of pleasure pervaded -my soul. Father watched my emotions with deep interest, and was delighted -with the startling and happy effect produced on my mind. We -passed quickly through the different stages of our progress, till we arrived -at the fifth spiritual sphere, which is my present home. I am often with -my friends on earth, and would gladly influence them, and prove my -identity to them, if they would render themselves receptive to my power.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>110</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_528"></a>528. My present home, in point of beauty, far excels any scene ever -witnessed by mortal eye. The interior of nature is laid open to the spirit’s -perception, and the hidden treasures of earth are exposed to its view. -When we desire to be with our friends on earth, we have only to will it, -and our desire is instantly gratified. We can visit the spheres below, but -not those above us until we are prepared for admission into them by a -gradual process of development.</p> - -<p><a id="para_529"></a>529. The first spiritual sphere is the abode of those spirits whose desires -are low and sensuous; they pursue those pleasures which are most congenial -to their unrefined and grovelling natures; but as their moral faculties -become strengthened, they lose their taste for debasing pursuits, and -rise in the scale of being. The brightness of the halo which envelopes -the spirit is increased in proportion to its increase of moral and intellectual -greatness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_530"></a>530. Dear Robert, I have looked forward with great pleasure to the -time when I might be enabled to commune with you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_531"></a>531. All knowledge gained by mortals will be of advantage to them in -the spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_532"></a>532. Each individual in the spirit world is judged and suffers according -to the deeds done in the body. There is no possible escape from the -legitimate consequences of evil actions. The book of God’s judgment is -the record made on the tablets of the mind, and it may be read by all. -The hypocrite can remain hypocrite no longer, as he will inevitably -appear in his true colours; and in this fact, in part, shall his punishment -consist.</p> - -<p><a id="para_533"></a>533. I would say a few words to you concerning the condition of infants. -The infant spirit ascends directly to the seventh sphere, and is given in -charge of a guardian spirit, by whom it is cared for and instructed in those -things which most serve to develop its intellectual powers. It is permitted -occasionally to visit its parents who may be in lower spheres, and -to descend even to earth with its guardian angel, who often communicates -for it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_534"></a>534. Every individual, at death, is waited on by a congenial spirit, -who escorts him to his home in that sphere to which his merit entitles -him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_535"></a>535. The object of our present mission to the inhabitants of the earth -is to convince millions of <i>doubting</i> mortals of the fact of their <i>immortality</i>, -and of the glorious destiny which awaits them beyond the limits of the -tomb.</p> - -<p><a id="para_536"></a>536. It is thought by many of our brothers in the flesh that we will -impart to them <i>all</i> the knowledge that we possess respecting the mysteries -of the spheres; but on this point let them be undeceived, for it is utterly -impossible for them to comprehend all in their present rudimental state. -Our chief object is to assure them, by unmistakable signs, of the sou<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>111</span>l’s -immortality, and the conditions necessary to be observed by them in order -to obtain a happy future existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_537"></a>537. Notwithstanding the truth of spirit manifestations and spirit -teachings, there are many persons who will not readily perceive it; their -minds are so much cramped and distorted by false teachings, that many -years shall have elapsed before there can be much improvement in them; -of such it hath been said, “They would not believe though one should -arise from the dead.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_538"></a>538. My brother, I would say a word to you touching your duty in -regard to the present dispensation. You occupy a prominent and important -place in the dissemination of this most glorious gospel; your mind -has ever been desirous of the truth; a uniform consistency of conduct has -marked your course through life: pursue, then, the even tenor of your way, -and let love be the controlling principle of your motives and actions, and -if reviled, revile not again, but bear all things nobly for the truth’s sake, -and great will be your reward. I would say, moreover, let your reason -determine the value of our teachings. You are engrossed to some extent -by the cares and perplexities of earth life; therefore you cannot so fully -realize the wondrous joys which await you in yonder peaceful heaven!</p> - -<p><a id="para_539"></a>539. My brother, when the lamp of your earthly existence shall begin -to burn dimly, and the objects of earth recede from your view, your spirit -father and sister will be at hand to conduct you into the presence of those -loved friends who are bound to you by the ties of consanguinity and -sympathy.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Martha.</span></p> - - -<h4>My Brother’s account of his Spiritual Birth.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_540"></a>540. <i>Dear brother Robert</i>: How long I remained in a state of unconsciousness, -previous to my spiritual birth, is unknown to me; suffice -it to say, when the vital cord which bound me to the physical body was -parted, I experienced a full consciousness of my personality. I enjoyed -perfect freedom from pain and sickness, and an unwonted degree of strength -and buoyancy of spirit; sensations of the most exalted character took -possession of me, and a holy calm pervaded the sanctuary of my soul. -It was not, however, until I saw my body lying upon the bed, that the -true nature of my situation flashed across my mind. I shall never forget -that moment of ecstatic bliss. I felt a sudden and indescribable consciousness -of increased mental and physical power, and my body was most beautifully -and symmetrically formed; in fact, I beheld myself a perfect and -immortal man! I perceived, too, that my step was lighter, freer, and -more elastic than usual, and my whole system was singularly rejuvenated. -I knew that I was in eternity, yet I saw that I was upon the earth. As -my mind became clear, and my vision less obstructed, a radiant spirit, -whom I had not before noticed, addressed me in these words: “Brother! -welcome, welcome, to the bright and joyous spirit land, to this blest habi<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>112</span>tation -for the children of men, to this land of ceaseless progression.” -The spirit having spoken thus, beckoned me away.</p> - -<p><a id="para_541"></a>541. Having passed beyond the sphere of earth, we entered the regions -of perpetual day, where the foot of mortal never trod; where the brilliant -flowers were never culled by mortal hands; where beautiful spirits, -angelic beings, float in mid air, and sport beside the sparkling fountains; -where harmonious voices mingle with the rich tones of golden harps, and -silver flute-notes ascend to the arching heavens. On our way thither we -saw many companies of ministering angels passing to and fro on their -respective missions. Some, who were assembled in groups, talked earnestly -together upon congenial subjects; while others blended their voices in -anthems of praise, whose echoes were prolonged far up through the realms -of space to blend with still more glorious harmonies in spheres above. -Those celestial beings, though beautiful beyond the conception of finite -man, were not of the highest order of angels. They belong to that class -whose mission is to visit the dwellings of men, and to minister unto the -bereaved and afflicted of earth; to tend the beds of the dying, and to -whisper rest to the weary and hope to the desponding.</p> - -<p><a id="para_542"></a>542. My brother, I might speak to you of the past, but I prefer to -open the door of the bright and glorious future. Solon said that no one -should call himself happy before death; now, although I do not sanction -this advice of the distinguished sage, I know that there is, comparatively -speaking, no happiness in the rudimentary state; no pleasure equal to -that which awaits the resurrected spirit in those beautiful mansions where -it shall forever bathe in the eternal sunlight of its Father’s love. I cannot -find words to describe to you the magnificent creations of Him from -whom all order, beauty, and harmony proceed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_543"></a>543. I am surrounded by every thing that can delight the eye, please -the ear, and gratify the taste. I have every facility for studying all the -principles in the vast universe of matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_544"></a>544. In the higher spiritual states perfect peace and tranquillity -reign: no strife mars the harmony of the celestial abodes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_545"></a>545. My mission is to instruct spirits in the lower circles, and to -raise them from their degraded condition.</p> - -<p><a id="para_546"></a>546. Every spirit follows those pursuits that are most congenial -to him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_547"></a>547. Every spirit has a sphere of utility, and finds his true position -on entering the spheres.</p> - -<p>Brother, the years of your external life are drawing to a close. When -your initial term is finished, you will enter upon an unending series of -moral and intellectual developments; then you will be fully compensated -for all that you have endured in the cause of truth on earth. Your present -life, remember, is but the prelude to ineffable joys in the world beyond -the grave. Thank God, your barque is not drifting rudderless and pilot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>113</span>less -on the great ocean of time. No! she is well-manned and equipped, -and pursues her direct course, fearing neither Scylla nor Charybdis.</p> - -<p>Robert, you have acted nobly and fearlessly in defending the great -cause of humanity. We are watching your movements with great interest. -Continue to devote your mental energies to the development of spiritual -facts, and we will aid you when conditions favour. Farewell.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -C. W. H.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 id="CONVOCATION_OF_SPIRITS">CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>Sixty-four Queries addressed to a Convocation of Worthies from the -Spirit World; also, the Replies given by them, and confirmed under -conditions which no mortal could pervert.</i></p></div> - - -<p><a id="para_548"></a>548. Having received many pages of communication from my father, -sister, brother, and certain other spirit friends, on the subject of the spirit -world, and having been urged by him and other inhabitants of that world -to publish the information thus communicated, I represented, at a time -when this honoured being reported his presence, that I felt a reluctance -at publishing solely on the authority of <i>my relations</i>; and requested that -certain distinguished spirits, who, as I had been told, had attended one of -my lectures at Boston, should sanction a synopsis of the facts which I had -learned respecting the spirit world. (<a href="#para_409">409</a> to 547.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_549"></a>549. The propriety of my request being admitted, it was appointed that -on Monday, the 18th of February, 1855, at nine o’clock, there should be a -convocation of some of the worthies in question at the dwelling of the -excellent medium employed. Accordingly, soon after my arrival there, at -the appointed time, my father reported himself, and the following names -were spelt out as being present:</p> - -<ul> -<li>George Washington,</li> -<li>J. Q. Adams,</li> -<li>Wm. H. Harrison,</li> -<li>A. Jackson,</li> -<li>Henry Clay,</li> -<li>Benjamin Franklin,</li> -<li>W. E. Channing,</li> -<li>H. K. White,</li> -<li>Isaac Newton,</li> -<li>Byron,</li> -<li>Martha Washington,</li> -<li>Besides relatives and friends.</li> -</ul> - -<p><a id="para_550"></a>550. The queries subjoined were then read successively, pausing, of -course, for an answer to each in turn.</p> - -<p><a id="para_551"></a>551. The answers were given through an instrument analogous to that -represented by Fig. 1, <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>, and described on the page opposite to the -plate.</p> - -<p><a id="para_552"></a>552. Finally, after all the queries had been answered agreeably to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>114</span> -usual conditions, a confirmation of the whole was given <i>under test conditions</i>, -as explained in the page opposite <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_553"></a>553. Relying on these conditions as competent to secure the issue -against the control of the medium or that of any other mortal, the question -was put, “Have all the answers been correctly communicated?” In -reply, the index moved so as to point to the word “Yes,” and the following -address was made at the same time:</p> - -<p><a id="para_554"></a>554. Friend, we have heard your questions, and severally affirm that -we have answered them as recorded by you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_555"></a>555. It is to be understood that all the subjoined inquiries were -answered simply in the affirmative, excepting where a qualified answer -made more words necessary than the word “Yes,” by itself. The queries -having been previously reduced to writing, the answers were written down -by me at once.</p> - -<p><a id="para_556"></a>556. (1.) Is it true that within a space lying between the earth and -the lunar orbit there are seven concentric regions, denominated spheres, -which may be called the country of spirits; that this country has all -the features of terrestrial scenery, but with a much greater beauty, even in -the third sphere, while the beauty of the other four spheres is greater in -proportion as they are higher?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_557"></a>557. (2.) Is it true that in those regions there are mountains, plains, -rivers, lakes, brooks, rills, trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and every attribute -of the most admired portions of this lower sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_558"></a>558. (3.) Is it true that, by the higher spirits, music, poetry, and all -the sciences and fine arts, are highly and zealously cultivated, and that the -pleasures of social intercourse are more highly enjoyed than upon earth?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_559"></a>559. (4.) Are the narratives of their translation to the spirit world, -which I have received from my sister, brother, William Wiggins, and -the spirit Maria, to be relied on as coming from them, and as correct -in their representations of the usual process of transference to the spiritual -world after death?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_560"></a>560. (5.) How many spheres are there, this world being the first in -the series?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Seven.</p> - -<p><a id="para_561"></a>561. (6.) How many inhabited by spirits?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Six.</p> - -<p><a id="para_562"></a>562. (7.) Are there subdivisions? if so, how many in each sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Six.</p> - -<p><a id="para_563"></a>563. (8.) Are the subdivisions equidistant?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>115</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_564"></a>564. (9.) How are they designated?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Either as circles or planes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_565"></a>565. (10.) Are they concentric with each other and with this globe?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_566"></a>566. (11.) At what distance from the terrestrial surface does the lower -boundary of the second sphere, or first spiritual abode, commence?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Sixty miles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_567"></a>567. (12.) Are the atmospheres of the spheres more rare in proportion -as they are more elevated?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_568"></a>568. (13.) Do they increase in beauty as they are higher in the series?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_569"></a>569. (14.) How are they illuminated?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> By a peculiar sun within the spiritual spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_570"></a>570. (15.) Is our sun visible in the spirit world?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> No.</p> - -<p><a id="para_571"></a>571. (16.) If lighted by a peculiar spiritual sun invisible in our mundane -region, do the rays of that sun consist of undulations of an all-pervading -ethereal fluid, analogous to that assumed to exist by the undulationists?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_572"></a>572. (17.) Or do they depend upon the last-mentioned fluid for existence?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> No.</p> - -<p><a id="para_573"></a>573. (18.) Are there not peculiar elementary principles appropriate, -severally, to the spiritual world, and likewise to the material world?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_574"></a>574. (19.) Is it not an error to suppose that any of the ponderable elements -recognised by chemistry can contribute to the organization of the -person of an imponderable spirit?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Of course, not without a loss of ponderosity, which involves a loss -of identity or a transformation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_575"></a>575. (20.) Is it not luminiferous matter which causes the effulgence -of spirits, analogous in its effects to that of luminiferous insects, though -consisting of a spiritual material entirely different from those which enter -into the luminiferous matter of insects?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_576"></a>576. (21.) Are spirits in the lowest level of the second sphere destitute -of effulgence?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_577"></a>577. (22.) Are they absolutely enveloped in a dark halo?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_578"></a>578. (23.) Is reformation indicated first by diminished darkness, and -subsequently by augmented effulgence?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>116</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_579"></a>579. (24.) Is the sphere of a spirit known by the relative brightness -or darkness of his halo?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_580"></a>580. (25.) Is the lower circle of the second sphere disagreeable as to -its scenery?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_581"></a>581. (26.) Is spirit Maria’s description of the spheres correct? (505 -to 523.)</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_582"></a>582. (27.) Does this feature lessen as the circles are higher?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_583"></a>583. (28.) Do the last-mentioned circles present an aspect less agreeable -than that of our sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_584"></a>584. (29.) At what point does the scenery become superior to any in -our world?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> In the third sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_585"></a>585. (30.) What designates the boundaries of the spheres, so as to -make spirits perceive when they are passing through the partition between -one and another?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Diversity of impression made upon the spirit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_586"></a>586. (31.) What confines a spirit to his proper level, so that none can -mount above it into a sphere to which he does not belong?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> A moral specific gravity, in which the weight is inversely as the -merit, prevents the spirit from rising above his proper level.</p> - -<p><a id="para_587"></a>587. (32.) Are spirits of different densities rarer or more refined in -constitution as they are higher in rank?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_588"></a>588. (33.) Has the most dense or most undeveloped spirit any weight? -if not, how are they denser than those who have progressed farther?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> They are in the spheres heavy as compared with other spirits, but -their weight would not influence a scale-beam in this mundane sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_589"></a>589. (34.) If the lowest have no weight, wherefore are they more competent -to give physical manifestations by moving ponderable bodies?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> They do not act by weight, but all spirits, under favourable conditions -and with certain means, possess, in a minute degree, a portion of -that power possessed to an infinite extent by the Deity, of annulling gravitation -and vis inertiæ; and though they cannot exercise such powers without -the aid of a medium, the medium is to them as an implement in the -hands of a human being.</p> - -<p><a id="para_590"></a>590. (35.) How are such movements produced consistently with the -law that action and reaction are equal and contrary?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Gravity and vis inertiæ being neutralized, the physical law of action -and reaction does not prevail against the spirit volition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>117</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_591"></a>591. (36.) Do spirits employ their limbs in effecting manifestations?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Not necessarily.</p> - -<p><a id="para_592"></a>592. (37.) Have spirits a power of creating that which they desire?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_593"></a>593. (38.) Like the genius of Aladdin’s lamp, can spirits within their -sphere create habitations at their bidding?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_594"></a>594. (39.) Does this creative power exist in the spirits of each sphere, -or is it denied, as I have been informed, to those of the second sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> It is denied.</p> - -<p><a id="para_595"></a>595. (40.) Is this creative power more extensive as the sphere to which -the spirit belongs is more elevated?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_596"></a>596. (41.) Are the spirits of the third sphere happy?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_597"></a>597. (42.) Does happiness become greater as the rank of the spirit becomes -higher?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_598"></a>598. (43.) Do spirits of infants go to the seventh sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_599"></a>599. (44.) Does an infant dying before noticing any thing go to that -sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_600"></a>600. (45.) Does it require care analogous to that given to infants in this -world?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> It is carefully instructed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_601"></a>601. (46.) Do infant spirits come down and reside among kindred more -or less, visiting, as it grows older, those mundane scenes which may compensate -it for its loss of opportunities by premature death?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_602"></a>602. (47.) Does not the inability to communicate with its kindred cause -it to be unhappy under these circumstances?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> It is not rendered unhappy, in consequence of the peculiar manner -in which such circumstances act upon the spirit mind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_603"></a>603. (48.) Do such spirits, as for instance, those going to the other world -while children, but having attained mature age, say forty, become companions -for their parents and friends in the spheres who may have died -after their maturity, or is there a too great simplicity or childishness?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> In purity and simplicity they are contented to live.</p> - -<p><a id="para_604"></a>604. (49.) Is the love of children, who have died very young, as great -to their parents and relations who remain in this world as if they continued -to live in their society?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Greater.</p> - -<p><a id="para_605"></a>605. (50.) Is there a deference shown to spirits on the same plane<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>118</span> -commensurate with their superiority in learning, science, and wisdom?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_606"></a>606. (51.) The object of marriage in this world being manifestly the -perpetuation of the species, consistently with the preservation of refinement -and the welfare of offspring, and there being no such motive in the -spiritual world, how can there be any motive for any such indissoluble ties?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Between spirits joined by matrimony in the spheres there is a -greater blending of mutual self-love into one common sentiment than in -any other friendship.</p> - -<p><a id="para_607"></a>607. (52.) Have spirits any fluid circulating through an arterial and -venous system, which is subjected to a respiratory process, analogous to -that which our blood undergoes?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_608"></a>608. (53.) As spirits are weightless, is not this fluid devoid of weight?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_609"></a>609. (54.) Has it any colour?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> No.</p> - -<p><a id="para_610"></a>610. (55.) Does the gaseous or ethereal matter respired by spirits pervade -the mundane sphere?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_611"></a>611. (56.) Do mortals breathe it as a means of sustenance to their -spiritual organization while encased by this “mortal coil?”</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_612"></a>612. (57.) Does it supply the nervous system?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_613"></a>613. (58.) Is it communicated to inferior animals?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_614"></a>614. (59.) Do fishes require atmospheric oxygen while swimming, -(water consisting of 8 parts in 9 of pure oxygen,) in order to get at the -spiritual gas associated with the former?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> The spiritual gas imperceptibly accompanying atmospheric air is -especially necessary to fishes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_615"></a>615. (60.) Creed is alleged to be productive of no obstruction to ascendency -in the spiritual world.</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Belief, being an <i>involuntary</i> act of the mind, has no merit or culpability -attached to it, excepting so far as it is the consequence or is productive -of prejudices; the advance of a spirit is retarded by these defects.</p> - -<p><a id="para_616"></a>616. (61.) As in the spiritual world there is no necessity, desire, or -passion which spirits can gratify by violence or fraud, on what is virtue -founded? Where there is no motive or power to do wrong, where is the -merit of doing right?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> In the spheres, vice is displayed by the endurance of bad passions; -virtue is manifested by love, purity, and the aspiration for improvement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>119</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_617"></a>617. (62.) As the diversities of human character are clearly the results -of organization and education, neither of which can be controlled by the -human beings whose merit or demerit is the inevitable consequence, -how can there be any culpability? It is true that a man can act as he -wills; but is not his will the creature of his passions and reason jointly? -If his passions be increased, will not reason be less capable of controlling -them? and, <i>vice versâ</i>, if his passions be enfeebled or his reason strengthened, -will not his passions have less sway? Does it not follow that while -we must in self-defence resist or restrain those who cannot govern themselves, -should we not commiserate all who have the misfortune to be so -badly constituted?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> We are no more able to answer that than you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_618"></a>618. (63.) When a being virtuously constituted is murdered by one of -the opposite character, who is most an object of commiseration? which is -most favoured as a creature of God? Is not the difference between these -beings analogous to that between the dog and the wolf? Both creatures -of God—one is to be extirpated, the other cherished, as an inevitable consequence -of the laws of creation?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> The victim is most favoured.</p> - -<p><a id="para_619"></a>619. (64.) Has not the analogy between a wicked or a savage man, and -one who has the advantage of a good organization and education, a better -exemplification in the case of a wild dog, and one brought up by a kind -master, since the wild dog is reclaimable, may be reformed, and so may the -bad or savage man. Hence, in the spheres, is not punishment or restraint -made with a view to reformation rather than as a retribution for inevitable -defects?</p> - -<p><i>Ans.</i> Correct.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="EXPOSITION_OF_THE_INFORMATION_RECEIVED_FROM_THE_SPIRIT">EXPOSITION OF THE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SPIRIT -WORLD.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_620"></a>620. From the information conveyed by communications submitted in -the preceding pages, as well as others, it appears that there are seven spheres -recognised in the spirit world. The terrestrial abode forms the first or -rudimental sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_621"></a>621. At the distance of about sixty miles from the terrestrial surface, -the spirit world commences. It consists of six bands or zones, designated -as spheres, surrounding the earth, so as to have one common centre with -it and with each other. An idea of these rings may be formed from that -of the planet Saturn, excepting that they are comparatively much nearer -to their planet, and that they have their broad surfaces parallel to the -planet, and at right angles to the ecliptic, instead of being like Saturn’s -rings, so arranged that their surfaces are parallel to the plane in which his -ecliptic exists.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>120</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_622"></a>622. Supposing the earth to be represented by a globe of thirteen and -a half inches in diameter, the lower surface of the lowest of the spiritual -spheres, if represented in due proportion to the actual distance from the -earth, would be only one-tenth of an inch from the terrestrial surface. -The bands observed over the regions in the planet Jupiter which correspond -with our tropical regions, agree very well in relative position with -those which are assigned to our spiritual spheres. They are probably the -spiritual spheres of that planet.</p> - -<p>It having struck me as possible that these bands might be due to spiritual -spheres appertaining to Jupiter, I inquired of the spirits; their -reply was confirmatory.</p> - -<p><a id="para_623"></a>623. The objection naturally occurs that ours are invisible to us; yet -we know that light may be polarized in passing through transparent masses -so as to produce effects in one case which it does not in others when not -so polarized. It would have to pass through the spheres of Jupiter, and -return through them again. This light, twice subjected to the ordeal of -passing through the spirit world, when contrasted with that which goes and -returns without any such ordeal, may undergo a change of a nature to -produce an effect upon the eye, when, in the absence of this contrast, no -visual change should be perceptible.</p> - -<p><a id="para_624"></a>624. I am aware that it has been alleged that the bands do not appear -always to occupy the same boundaries, and at times appear separated or -more unequally distributed than at others. This may be due in part to -actual changes which the spiritual essence may undergo as to its relative -position, or optical delusions, if not deviations, resulting from the susceptibility -of polarizing causes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_625"></a>625. Possibly some peculiarity in the reflecting surface of the planet -may be productive of such polarizing variations in the state of the light as -to cause a difference sufficient for detection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_626"></a>626. Alum, transparent to the rays of light, intercepts nearly the whole -of the rays of heat. Opaque black glass intercepts the rays of light -entirely, those of heat but partially.</p> - -<p><a id="para_627"></a>627. Rock salt, a substance analogous to alum, intercepts radiant heat -only to a very small extent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_628"></a>628. When the rays of the setting sun fall upon the glass of windows, -we see one portion reflected with great effulgence, yet another goes -through the glass. The last-mentioned portion of the rays received on a -second pane are reflected, while those which were reflected will pass through -another pane without reflection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_629"></a>629. This may demonstrate that the conditions requisite to the permeability -of media by rays is affected by diversities of intestinal arrangements -which are inscrutable to us.</p> - -<p><a id="para_630"></a>630. The interval between the lower boundaries of the first spiritual sphere -and the second is estimated at thirty miles as a maximum, but this interval<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>121</span> -is represented to be less, as the spheres between which it may exist are -more elevated or remote from the terrestrial centre.</p> - -<p><a id="para_631"></a>631. Each sphere is divided into six “circles” or plains. More properly -these may be described as concentric zones, occupying each about -one-sixth of the space comprised within the boundaries of the sphere. There -being six subdivisions to each of the six spheres, in all there must be -thirty-six gradations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_632"></a>632. These boundaries are not marked by any visible partition, but -spirits have in this respect a peculiar sense, which makes them feel when -they are passing the boundaries of one sphere in order to get to the -next.</p> - -<p><a id="para_633"></a>633. This allegation of the existence of an invisible spirit world within -the clear azure space intervening between the surface of this globe and -the lunar orbit may startle the reader; and yet this idea may have been -presented by Scripture to the same mind, without awakening skepticism. -It was urged by a spirit friend—Is it more wonderful that you should find -our habitations invisible, than that we are invisible?</p> - -<p><a id="para_634"></a>634. It is plain that between the lowest degrees of vice, ignorance, and -folly, and the highest degrees of virtue, learning, and wisdom, there are -many gradations. When we are translated to the spheres, we take a rank -proportional to our merit, which seems to be there intuitively susceptible -of estimation by the law above alluded to, of the grossness being greater -as the character is more imperfect. Both the spirits and spheres are -represented as having a gradation in constitutional refinement, so that the -sphere to which a spirit belongs is intuitively manifest. Rank is determined -by a sort of moral specific gravity, in which merit is inversely as -weight. Another means of distinction is a circumambient halo by which -every spirit is accompanied, which passes from a darkness to effulgency -as the spirit belongs to a higher plane. Even mortals are alleged to be -surrounded with a halo visible to spirits, although not to themselves. -Intuitively, from the extent and nature of this halo, spirits perceive the -sphere to which any mundane being belongs. The effulgence of the higher -spirits is represented as splendid. As soon as emancipated from their corporeal -tenement, spirits enter the spheres, and are entitled to a station -higher in direct proportion to their morality, wisdom, knowledge, and -intellectual refinement.</p> - -<p><a id="para_635"></a>635. The first spiritual sphere, or the second in the whole series, is as -large as all the other five above it. This is the hell or Hades of the spirit -world, where all sensual, malevolent, selfish beings reside. The next -sphere above this, or the third in the whole series, is the habitation of all -well-meaning persons, however bigoted, fanatical, or ignorant. Here they -are tolerably happy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_636"></a>636. In proportion as spirits improve in purity, benevolence, and wisdom, -they ascend. They may ascend as love-spirits, in consequence of the two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>122</span> -first-mentioned attributes; but cannot go up on account of wisdom alone. -A knave, however wise, cannot advance in the spheres. There are, in -fact, two modes of ascent—love, so called, and love and wisdom united. -Those who go up in love are called <i>love</i>-spirits; those who unite both -qualifications are called wisdom-spirits. A feminine spirit, who had been -remarkable for her disinterested devotion to her relatives and friends, -ascended almost forthwith to the fifth sphere. My friend W. W. had an -ascent equally rapid to the same sphere. Yet another spirit, who was -fully as free from vice as either of those above alluded to, took many years -to ascend in <i>wisdom</i> to the fifth sphere, not being satisfied to rise unless -accompanied by the attributes of wisdom, as well as love. Spirit B. -alleged that because he was a free-thinker he went up more quickly than -another spirit, A. A., being questioned, admitted that B. had got on -more speedily, in consequence of superior liberality.</p> - -<p><a id="para_637"></a>637. Washington is in the seventh sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_638"></a>638. In the spheres, diversity of creed has no influence, excepting so -far as its adoption indicates badness of heart and narrowness of mind, and -has been of a nature to injure the moral and intellectual character.</p> - -<p><a id="para_639"></a>639. Degradation ensues as an inevitable consequence of vice, and as -the means of reform, <i>not as vindictive punishment</i>. God is represented -as all love, and is never named without the most zealous devotion. Spirits -in any sphere can descend into any sphere below that to which they belong, -but cannot ascend above this sphere. They are surrounded by a -halo, which is brighter in proportion as their sphere is higher. They have -an intuitive power of judging of each other and of mortals. Attachments -originating in this life are strengthened, while hatred passes away. The -spirits in the upper spheres have “<i>ineffable</i>” happiness. The sufferings -of those below are negative, rather than positive. They are made to -feel shame at a degradation which is rendered intuitively evident to -themselves and all other spirits. But all are capable of improvement, -so as to have elevation and happiness within their reach sooner or -later. The higher spirits are always ready to assist sinners by kind -admonition. (<a href="#para_92">92</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_640"></a>640. My brother alleges himself to hold the office of a teacher. By -teachers, spirits fresh from this world, called the “rudimental sphere,” are -examined to determine their rank.</p> - -<p><a id="para_641"></a>641. Spirits are carried along with our globe by their moral affections -and affinity, which upon them acts as gravitation upon material bodies. -They are just where they wish themselves to be, as they move in obedience -to their moral impulses or aspirations, not having a gross, material body -to carry along with them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_642"></a>642. Spirits of the higher spheres control more or less those below -them in station, who are sent by them to impress mortals virtuously. -Spirits are not allowed to interpose directly, so as to alter the course of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>123</span> -events upon earth. They are not allowed to aid in any measure to obtain -wealth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_643"></a>643. Blessed spirits are endowed with a power competent to the gratification -of every rational want. They enjoy, as I am authorized to say by -the convocation of spirits to whom allusion has been made, a power like -that ascribed to the genius of Aladdin’s lamp. (<a href="#para_593">593</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_644"></a>644. There is nothing of the nature of marketable property in the spirit -world, since every inhabitant above the second sphere, or Hades, has as -much as he wants, and needs no more to purchase the requisites for his -enjoyment or subsistence, than we need to buy air to breathe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_645"></a>645. It ought also to be explained that after spirits reach the highest -plain or circle of the seventh sphere, they are represented as being entitled -to enter the supernal heaven, taking place among the ministering angels -of the Deity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_646"></a>646. Whether the connubial tie endures or not, is optional. Hence -those who have not found their matrimonial connection a source of happiness -in this world, are at liberty to seek a new hymeneal union in the -spirit world. Where there have been a plurality of husbands or wives, -those unite who find themselves happy in doing so. But, as if to indemnify -mortals for the crosses in marriage or in love, or for the dreariness of mundane -celibacy, all are destined in the spheres to find a counterpart with -whom they may be happy, there being peculiarly ardent pleasurable emotions -attached to the connubial union in the spheres which mortals cannot -understand.</p> - -<p><a id="para_647"></a>647. Infants grow as they would have done upon earth, nearly. They -are nursed and educated, and on account of their higher purity have, in -this point of view, as much elevation as their relatives who attain great -worldly pre-eminence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_648"></a>648. The alleged motives for our existence in this rudimental sphere, -is the necessity of contrast to enable us to appreciate the immunity from -suffering of the higher spheres. Infants in this respect are at a disadvantage; -but being unable to appreciate their deficiency, do not grieve therefor. -“Where ignorance is bliss, ‘twere folly to be wise.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_649"></a>649. Allusion has already been made to the condition of those who -have departed from this world during infancy, or prior to maturity. A letter -from one of my sons who died when five months old has been introduced -into this work, (<a href="#para_470">470</a>.) The change which ensues on spiritual birth, -has been described. (<a href="#para_488">488</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_650"></a>650. Among the most wonderful facts narrated by my spirit father, -and sanctioned by the convocation of spirits, is the existence of a spiritual -sun concentric with ours, and yet emitting independent rays for the spirit -world, not for our world; while the rays of our sun do not reach the -world above mentioned.</p> - -<p><a id="para_651"></a>651. Further, the fact that spirits respire a vital fluid inscrutable to our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>124</span> -chemists, although it coexists everywhere with oxygen, and furnishes our -spirits, while encased in the flesh, with an appropriate spiritual nourishment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_652"></a>652. Thus is there another world, existing concentrically and in some -degree associated with ours, which is of infinitely greater importance to -our enduring existence than that wherein we now abide.</p> - -<p><a id="para_653"></a>653. After I had written the preceding exposition of the knowledge -imparted to me of the spirit world, I solicited an intercommunion with -Washington, to submit the summary for his sanction. Accordingly, he -was ushered into my presence by a reliable spirit, and my exposition, and -the pages contrasting the heaven of Spiritualism with that of Scripture, -were read, and received his sanction under <i>test conditions</i>. (See <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_654"></a>654. In this, my first interview, I premised that I wished to let him -know that I had always been one of his most devoted political advocates, -having always styled myself a <i>Washington</i> Federalist, and that I had as -early as 1812 embodied my sentiments in some verses. He said he was -aware that such verses were written by me, but would wish me to repeat -them. I obeyed his request. They are as follows:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-2"><a id="para_655"></a>655. Hail glorious day, which gave Washington birth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Columbia and liberty dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When a guardian angel descended on earth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To shed blessings o’er many a year.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Though heroes and statesmen, by glory enshrined,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">May be seen in the temple of fame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No hero or statesman unblemished we find,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unless under Washington’s name.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Wealth, titles, and power, were by him ever spurn’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of heroes too often the aim;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From a king or his favours indignant he turn’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Only feeling his country’s high claim.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To this ever true, in her trouble’s dark night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Intent on her welfare alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against her proud tyrants, he urged the dread fight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till lie forced them her freedom to own.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Next in France a strange demon uplifted its head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All the nations of earth to bewray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And into its snares would Columbia have led,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Had not Washington warn’d her to stay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Best and wisest of men! when counsell’d by thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Could thy people their treasure withhold?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When ruled by another, then could they agree</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lavish their millions untold?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By Genet insulted, by slander aggrieved,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If thy wrongs unrevenged could remain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For denouncing the men whom false he believed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By a mob could thy Lingan be slain?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>125</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Can the voice of the country for whom he had bled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">E’er sanction a murder so base,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or the tear-drops of millions, piously shed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The deep stain from our annals efface?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_656"></a>656. As soon as the last words in the preceding verses were recited, I -was thrilled by the following effusion:</p> - -<p><a id="para_657"></a>657. <i>My Friend</i>: How my heart swells with grateful emotion, at hearing -that beautiful effusion from your lips! Yes, my friend, I strove while on -earth, to carry out the impressions which were made on my mind by superior -intelligences, and if I failed, my countrymen will bear testimony.</p> - -<p><a id="para_658"></a>658. Your noble father is a friend of mine, and I feel a love for you -commensurate with his worth. He is foremost in the ranks of spiritual -intelligences, and ready to act when duty calls.</p> - -<p><a id="para_659"></a>659. My friend, I sympathize with you in your arduous undertaking; -but let me assure you that your reward will be greater than the suffering -you have endured. Yes, most nobly you have fought against error; and -you will yet place the banner of freedom high upon the battlement of -truth. Farewell, noble scion of a noble man!</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Geo. Washington.</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="APOLOGY_FOR_MY_CONVERSION">APOLOGY FOR MY CONVERSION.</h3> - - -<h4>Apology for my change of opinion and belief in the existence and agency -of Spirits.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_660"></a>660. I do not conceive that in my change of opinion I have been involved -in any inconsistency of principle. It always appeared to me that -in explaining the planetary movements, after arriving at the Newtonian -boundary made by momentum and gravitation, there could be no alternative -between appealing to the spiritual power of God, or resorting to atheism. -An appeal to the power of God has always been my choice; nevertheless -holding that wondrous power to be of a nature wholly unintelligible -to finite man. (<a href="#para_57">57</a> to 87.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_661"></a>661. Confining the range of my philosophy to the laws of motion, magnificently -illustrated by the innumerable solar systems, but no less operative -in every minute mechanical movement, I hold that I could only come -to the same conclusion as Faraday, that if tables <i>when associated with human -beings</i> moved, it must in some way be due to those beings, since, -agreeably to all experience of the laws of matter in the <i>material</i> world, -inanimate bodies cannot originate motion. But as when the planetary -motions are considered, any hypothesis fails which does not account for -the rationality of the result, and therefore involves the agency not only -of a powerful but a rational cause; so the manifestations of Spiritualism,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>126</span> -involving both reason and power, might consistently justify me in looking -for agents endowed with the reason and power manifested by the phenomena. -This power being <i>invisible</i> and <i>imponderable</i>, and at the same -time <i>rational</i>, there was no alternative but to consider it as <i>spiritual</i>, no -less than that to which planetary motion is due. In its potentiality the -power thus manifested might be extremely minute as compared with the -potentiality of the Creator; still it had to be of the same spiritual nature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_662"></a>662. It has not appeared unreasonable to infer that the soul in assuming -the spirit form should acquire a power of which material beings are -destitute, and of which they can only conceive an idea from its necessity -to the operations of God. Parting with its material attributes, were the -soul not to acquire others, even if it could exist, it would be perfectly -helpless. Hence, in becoming an immaterial spirit, it must acquire powers -indispensable and appropriate to that state of existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_663"></a>663. Since we know that the animal frame for the most part after death, -on the exposure to the air, warmth, and moisture, returns to the atmosphere -whence it is mainly derived, it follows that on undergoing that awful -change the soul must take the spirit form, unless it perish with its material -tenement. So far, then, all who believe in the immortality of the -soul, must concur with spiritualists that on dying we become spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_664"></a>664. It will then be admitted by all who believe in the immortality of -the soul that, as for every mortal that dies a spirit is born, innumerable -spirits must exist. Is it not then reasonable to consider them as agents in -producing phenomena which can only be ascribed to invisible, imponderable, -rational, and affectionate beings, especially when they themselves -sanction this inference by word and deed?</p> - -<p><a id="para_665"></a>665. Were a tyrant to enclose a human being while alive within a cast-iron -vessel, the aperture through which the introduction should be made -being closed by a stopple soldered in air-tight, all the ponderable elements -of the corporeal body would be retained; but can any one who believes the -soul to survive the body, think that it would remain included in that vessel -so long as it should endure? Cast-iron coats itself with a carbonated -peroxide, vulgarly called rust, and then undergoes no farther change; so -that the corporeal elements might be retained to an infinite time. But -could the soul be thus imprisoned, perhaps to eternity? Could the tyranny -of a man thus imprison an immortal soul? Does it not follow that the -soul would not be confined by the air-tight and apparently impenetrable -metallic vessel?</p> - - -<h4>Invisibility of the Soul.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_666"></a>666. The invisibility of the soul in leaving the body, must be admitted, -since, however the dying may be surrounded by their friends and -nurses, and vigilantly guarded after death by watches, as customary with -many, the soul is not seen to leave the body. It must, therefore, be in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>127</span>visible, -and capable of permeating cast-iron or any other material within -which, while alive, an immortal being might be enclosed air-tight.</p> - - -<h4>On the Whereabout of Heaven.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_667"></a>667. The qualities of invisibility and penetrative power being necessarily -conceded to the soul, is it unreasonable to extend this attribute to its -habitation in the skies: to the country of spirits?</p> - -<p><a id="para_668"></a>668. In communicating with a friendly spirit, I adverted to the difficulty -of inducing people to conceive that in the clear azure space existing -between the earth and moon, there should be scenery like ours, with plains, -hills, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, seas, and every variety of edifice in -greater perfection than upon earth. “You do not see us,” said my friend; -“then why should you wonder at not seeing our world?”</p> - -<p><a id="para_669"></a>669. It is quite evident that no such obstacle stood in the way of belief -in the existence of heaven among the Jews, as it is constantly referred to -as being above; Noah’s deluge came through the windows of heaven; and -this idea has been sustained in the language of Christ, as well as of the -Hebrew prophets.</p> - -<p><a id="para_670"></a>670. Elijah is represented as having visibly ascended to heaven. That -the vicinity and invisibility of heaven are not at war with Scripture, is -alleged in a recent work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh of the German Reformed -Church, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He quotes approvingly a -passage in a work, entitled “Physicial Theory of Another Life,” by Taylor, -which I subjoin:</p> - -<p><a id="para_671"></a>671. Taylor suggests—“That within the space occupied by the visible -and ponderable universe, and on all sides of us, there is existing and -moving another element, fraught with another species of life, corporeal -indeed, and various in its orders, but not open to the cognízance of those -who are confined to the conditions of animal organization, not to be seen -nor heard, nor to be felt by man.” “Our present conjecture,” remarks -the author in another place, “reaches to the extent of supposing that -within the space encircled by the sidereal revolutions, there exists and moves -a second universe, not less real than the one we are at present conversant -with: a universe elaborate in structure, and replete with life; life agitated -with momentous interests, and perhaps by frivolous interests; a universe -conscious perhaps of the material spheres, or unconscious of them, and -firmly believing (as we do) <i>itself</i> to be the only reality. Our planets in -their sweep do not perforate the structure of this invisible creation; our -suns do not scorch its plains: for the two collateral systems are not connected -by any active affinities.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_672"></a>672. This would bring “the things which are not seen,” indeed, near -to and around us. To enter the other world would not be so much a -removal in space, as just to be made loose from, or to become insensible to,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>128</span> -the conditions of this life. Death will be only the destruction or disappearance -of human and earthly affinities, and directly we shall be surrounded -by affinities adapted to our new state of existence, and shall find for ourselves -a congenial home in and around our present habitation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_673"></a>673. Much is argued in favour of this theory. It is said in no place -to interfere with Scripture, but rather to be countenanced by incidental -hints and allusions. It is said to be made highly probable by the known -truths of physical science. An unseen world, in all respects material, -inhabited by corporeal beings, it is said, is possible. There are material -elements which are not cognizable to any of our senses except by a round -of research and experiment, and then only in their remote effects, as, for -instance, electricity. The atmosphere also, and light, are material, and -yet so subtle as almost entirely to evade our unassisted observation; and -may there not be still others as yet to us unknown? We are related to, -and become acquainted with, the external world by the medium of the five -senses; but who will say that there are not other senses hidden in possibility -in our nature which may by means of other affinities communicate -with a world far more refined in its constitution, with which we cannot -now come in contact? Science has discovered living animalculæ in the -solidest substances; the air we breathe and the water we drink are the -homes of myriads of beings, and though unseen by the naked eye, these -elements are swarming with miniature life! It seems to be God’s motto, -“<i>Multum in parvo</i>”—life in life, world in world, universe in universe! -With these known facts in science before us, may we not, it is asked, consider -the above theory probable?</p> - -<p><a id="para_674"></a>674. It is further supposed that this invisible world around us is the -after stage of the present life; and as it is a stage of being in all respects -superior to this, it may be that its inhabitants have a knowledge of us, -though we have not of them, just as we are acquainted with grades of -animalcule life beneath us, when it can hardly be supposed that they know -any thing of our existence. Hence, too, in some exceptive cases it may -be possible for them to break through the veil of separation, and appear -in various ways unto men on the platform of human life. Then we are -indeed “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,” who stand around, or bend -over us, and look with deep interest upon the struggle of life, and when -they see it unequal in the case of the saints, they break through in their -ardour, and become ministering spirits to those who are heirs of eternal -life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_675"></a>675. It is also supposed that these beings in the world unseen may -have capacities to communicate with the remotest inhabitants of God’s -universe. The facilities of communication may be so great in these ethereal -climes, that space is annihilated, and the different hosts of intelligences in -the wide universe may commune with each other and God as one family -in their “Father’s house.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>129</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_676"></a>676. There is a surprising degree of coincidence between the speculations -comprised in this quotation, and the accounts which I have received -respecting the spirit world from some of those occupying an elevated -grade therein. It has been observed above that if the soul be immortal, -it cannot be imagined to remain in the grave, since the greater part of -the human organization in hot weather escapes through putrefaction, as -vapour or gas. Hence the endurance of the soul after death involves -spiritual existence. We must, therefore, on dying, take an invisible spiritual -form.</p> - -<p><a id="para_677"></a>677. Believers in revelation stare incredulously when mention is made -of a <i>spirit</i>, as if its existence were an impossibility; yet it has been shown, -that according to orthodoxy, death extricating the soul from the body, it -must forthwith commence its spiritual life. The existence of spirits being -thus established, that they should communicate with us would be more -probable than that they should not, excepting that it has not been heretofore -generally known to take place. But spirits allege that the manifestations -which have been taking place for some years have been the result -of efforts especially made by a delegation of philanthropic spirits, to break -through the partition which has so long prevented the communication to -mortals of a correct knowledge of the existence of the human soul after -death, and the requisites to the attainment of celestial happiness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_678"></a>678. The accomplishment of this object is a step in the progressive advancement -and the means of improvement possessed by the celestial world, -analogous to the invention of printing or of the telegraph in the mundane -sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_679"></a>679. The management is intrusted to advanced spirits acquainted with -the affairs of both worlds. Agreeably to Scripture, heaven is <i>above</i>, -over our heads; to prevent the Tower of Babel from reaching it, a confusion -of tongues was ordained. The second commandment speaks of heaven -<i>above</i> and earth beneath. Christ “descended into hell,” according to -the apostles’ creed; of course, hell is below. “Whosoever calls his brother -a fool, is in danger of hell-fire.” That hell and fire should be thus associated -is therefore consistent with the observations of geologists, who infer that -the interior of the earth consists of ignited matter of which volcanoes are -the safety-tubes, however inconsistent with reason to suppose immortal -souls to be broiling therein.</p> - -<p><a id="para_680"></a>680. But enlightened Christians do not, I believe, locate hell within -this earth, nor call in fire to aid in their conceptions of it. Evidently, the -more rational idea of the future abode of souls is that of its being above -every point on the earth’s surface, and equidistant therefrom. This would -involve that of a space concentric with the earth, and which falls in with -the idea of that comprising the spheres of Spiritualism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_681"></a>681. If we leave this earth, in order to imagine any location beyond -the range of astronomical bodies, it would place the locality at a distance,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>130</span> -according to Herschel, requiring nineteen hundred thousand years for -souls to travel, moving with the velocity of light, two hundred thousand -miles in a second. In one of my lectures, in 1842, I suggested that heaven -might be situated at that central space about which all the constellations -of the universe have been supposed to revolve.</p> - -<p><a id="para_682"></a>682. But if we infer a general place of reception for souls, then in that -celestial emporium every soul from all the myriads of planets, of all the -solar systems in the universe, must congregate. Far more rational does it -not seem that our heaven should be associated with our own planet, in the -welfare, the past history, and future prospects of which the souls who were -born upon it, must take pre-eminent interest?</p> - -<p><a id="para_683"></a>683. The separation of any heaven into spheres seems inevitable, since -the association of spirits according to their virtue and intellectual acquirements -and capacity seems indispensable to harmony and happiness. Thus -the more virtuous, wise, and cultivated spirits are, the higher their spheres -of existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_684"></a>684. Let any person contemplate the information respecting the spirit -world given in the preceding pages, in the communications from my spirit -relations and others, and then say whether, in receiving them as true, any -believer in immortality, as vaguely portrayed in the gospel, will not make -a beneficial exchange.</p> - -<p><a id="para_685"></a>685. How can any person become a spiritualist without forthwith finding -an irresistible impulse to conduct himself in this world, so as to acquire -eminence in the next? For what are we all working? is it not for happiness, -“our being’s end and aim,” the difference being only in the mode -by which it is sought? By some it is through the good of others as well -as of themselves; yet too many seek it without regard to that portion of -their fellow-creatures whom they may deem it their interest to oppress, deceive, -cheat, or rob.</p> - -<p><a id="para_686"></a>686. But even these will perceive how much better it will be to pursue -the opposite course, since every wrong done by them here, will have to be -expiated by a proportionate penance in the spirit world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_687"></a>687. By every good action resulting from the wish to do as we would -be done by, we advance a step higher in that heavenly stairway by which -we may ultimately reach the supernal heaven, and become ministering angels -of God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_688"></a>688. But even during our ascending progression, we shall pass through -a succession of stages wherein every intellectual, social, and amiable propensity -of our nature will be gratified.</p> - -<p><a id="para_689"></a>689. In justice to myself, and to give more weight to the inferences -drawn from my laborious investigations, I will subjoin the correspondence -between Mr. Holcomb and myself, which succeeded the receipt of the letter -which has been introduced in the commencement of my narrative, (<a href="#para_128">128</a>.) -So far as my judgment goes, there never was a letter written of which the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>131</span> -facts or inferences are more correct; yet it appears that so late as the 8th -of February I was still a doubter. The tenor of the correspondence will -show that if I was conquered, I did not yield the ground undisputed, and -was vanquished only by facts and reasons which, when understood or admitted, -must produce in others the conviction which they created in me. -If I was the victim of an intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution -did not yield at once to the miasma. It took some three months to include -me among its victims.</p> - - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, January 14, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_690"></a>690. <i>Dear Sir</i>:—Your letter of the 17th of November met my eye as -I was this morning looking over a file of letters. I am led to write, therefore, -that in consequence of your suggestion, and those of others, I have -been giving my attention to the phenomena to which you alluded. When -I come to any conclusion, I will write again.</p> - -<p><a id="para_691"></a>691. I still concur with Faraday, and have seen nothing to make me -believe in the spiritual manifestations. Yet I am not surprised that the -latter should be believed in by those who have that belief, as there are phenomena -which I cannot explain yet, any more than many which I have -seen resulting from jugglery. The converts are, however, such worthy -persons, that I cannot bring myself to suspect them of deception. I -think you must be mistaken as respects a table moving when left to itself -entirely. The circumstances for producing this phenomena have been -repeatedly made favourable by the mediums in my presence, but excepting -in one instance, when it was within reach of the feet, no motion ensued.</p> - -<p><a id="para_692"></a>692. It would, indeed, be a glorious mercy if God would give us some -evidence, which should settle the religious opinions of mankind.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare.</span></p> - - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Southwick</span>, Mass., Feb. 3d, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_693"></a>693. <i>Dear Sir</i>: I wish, however, to say something in regard to the -subject-matter of your letter. You say you are not surprised at the belief -of many in Spiritualism, as there are phenomena which you cannot explain. -You also say that you think I must be mistaken “<i>as respects a -table moving when left to itself entirely</i>.” I do not think a table would -move if left to itself entirely, since matter cannot put itself into motion. -The great question is, What is the power that makes the table move? You -think it is muscular, and I am certain that it is something else. When -I am looking at the sun in a clear sky, I know that it shines. No argument -would have any influence to make me doubt the evidence of my -senses. There has, no doubt, been a great deal of jugglery in the world, -but shall I doubt the evidence of my senses on that account? How shall -we prove any thing in a court of justice, if the evidence of our senses is -not to be relied upon? While I am looking at a table, it moves, and I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>132</span> -have the same evidence that no body touches it, that I have that it moves. -I see the table tilt up, and poise itself on two of its four legs, and then on -the other two, and finally it wholly rises from the floor, and seems to float -in the air without any visible support whatever; all this time there are no -persons within six feet of it. In a letter of N. P. Talmadge, published in -the Tribune of May 27th last, he gives an account of his seeing tables -move when nothing visible touched them. I mention <i>him</i>, because I suppose -his character and standing would be likely to have weight with you. -It would, however, be very easy to mention a very great many cases, proved -by testimony that would be conclusive in any court of justice. I supposed -that it was too late in the day to doubt facts of this character, as they are -taking place in numerous places in this country and also in Europe. I -suppose this is the reason why Faraday’s explanation has availed so little -to check Spiritualism in England or France.</p> - -<p><a id="para_694"></a>694. I believe Henry Gordon resides now in Philadelphia. I have no -doubt you can see such things for yourself in his presence by attending a -few times. Our judge of probate, who lives a few miles from me, told -me a few days ago that a young lady of his acquaintance put her hands -upon a table and it moved. He then took hold of the table to prevent -the motion, but he had not strength to do it. The table would slide on -the floor, notwithstanding his utmost efforts to prevent it. Now it is perfectly -idle to say that the young lady <i>unconsciously</i> exerted such a power. -The judge ridicules the idea of its being caused by spirits. He says that it -is electricity. You are too well acquainted with the laws of electricity to -believe that under such circumstances it can produce any such feats. I -know of a case, in Springfield City, in which four respectable merchants, -with whom I am acquainted, testify that a large table, with two of them on -it, moved around the room. In that instance the medium’s hands were on -the table. But who can believe that such a force could be exerted without -the movers being conscious of it. There are cases enough of the same -description to fill a volume.</p> - -<p><a id="para_695"></a>695. There is another phase of this matter that is worthy of attention, -and that is the intelligence connected with it. You mention cases where -the answers were not correct. Thousands of such cases might be furnished. -In the presence of some of the mediums, almost all the answers -will be false; while in the presence of others, it will be very rare that a -wrong answer is given. Some of the answers being wrong does not prove -that there is no intelligence connected with it. In the presence of a good -medium, a question asked mentally is answered as readily and as correctly -as when asked vocally. I do not depend on the testimony of others for -this. I have found it to be true in my own experience. In the presence -of some mediums, mental questions are not answered. The foregoing are -facts that are well settled if evidence can settle any thing. To say that -we are dupes and fools, decides nothing. I suppose that I can examine a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>133</span> -matter as carefully and intricately as most men, and I know I am not deceived -about the facts. But the cause is quite another matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_696"></a>696. I suppose you are acquainted with the various and conflicting -explanations that have been given. They all appear to my mind perfectly -absurd and incredible, and no two of them agree. Rev. Dr. Beecher was -appointed by his association to examine and report. He did so, and decides -that the communications are from the spirits of the dead, but from -the evil or unblest portion of them. If it is from spirits, there is as much -evidence that some of them are good, as that others are evil.</p> - -<p><a id="para_697"></a>697. I must close. I did not expect an answer, but was glad to hear -from you, and if you make any important discovery, I should be glad to -hear from you again; I am not settled in my mind respecting the cause -of these strange phenomena. I agree with you heartily in your last remark -in your letter, that “it would indeed be a glorious mercy if God would give -us some evidence which should settle the religious opinions of mankind.”</p> - -<p class="psig">Yours, very respectfully,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Amasa Holcomb</span>.</p> - - -<h4>In reply to the preceding, so much of a letter from the Author as relates<br /> -to Spiritualism.</h4> - - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, February 8, 1854. -</p> - -<p><a id="para_698"></a>698. You believe fully that tables move without contact, because you -have <i>seen them move</i>; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them move -without human contact, although I have been at several circles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_699"></a>699. You have been much more lucky than I have been as to the manifestations, -whether mechanical or mental.</p> - -<p><a id="para_700"></a>700. I shall lose no opportunity of making further observations. I -have no clue to find Gordon. You ought to give me his address, and -communicate all you know respecting him.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Robt. Hare.</span> -</p> - - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Southwick</span>, February 20, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_701"></a>701. <i>Dear Sir</i>: Your letter of February 8th is before me. You did not -say whether you believed in the soul’s immortality or not! This is the -most important of all questions to me, and how is it to be settled? If -the Bible is not to be depended upon, and we have no communications -from the spirit world, what evidence have we of our immortality? I have -been greatly afflicted with doubts upon this subject. It has exceeded all -other afflictions that I have met with. You will of course see at once -how desirous I am that these apparent communications should prove to be -in <i>reality</i> from the spirit world, as that would settle the question. I seize -upon every thing that seems to have a bearing upon the question of immortality, -and I confess that I have strong hopes that Spiritualism, as it is -termed, will settle this question. If it be true that there is physical force<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>134</span> -and intelligence, neither of which proceed from the medium, how is it to -be explained? You doubt these two, but I am as well assured of them -as I can be of any thing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_702"></a>702. If spirits communicate, it is certain that some of them deceive. -It would appear that there are all sorts of characters, the same as there -are in this world. If you should become satisfied of the two facts that I -mentioned, I should like to have you and other men of science try your -skill at explanation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_703"></a>703. I will relate what took place at the first sitting that I ever -attended. It was in Boston, and I went as a perfect stranger. Before -the sitting commenced, and but few had collected, a strolling musician -came along and commenced playing at the door, and every tune played at -the door was beaten or rapped on the table. The medium was in the -room; I saw her walk up to the table and lay her hand on it, and then -walk away, but it made no difference with the raps on the table; they continued, -without any person near it, as long as the tunes were played at -the door. When it came my turn to question, I asked, Are any of my -relatives present? <i>Ans.</i> Yes. Will you rap at each letter of your name, -if the alphabet is called over. <i>Ans.</i> Yes! The alphabet was called, and -there was a rap at A, one at L, one at F, one at R, one at E, and one at -D,—Alfred: a son that died at the age of twenty-two years. Among a -great many questions, I asked, How many years since you died. Is it -twelve? Is it eleven? Is it ten? Is it nine? Is it eight? Is it -seven? There was a rap at seven, but I asked, Is it six? and instantly -there were rapped........; the seventh was fainter. I said, He probably -means that it is six and a piece, when instantly they were repeated -........; the last the faintest. The raps were equidistant, like the -ticking of a clock, and about as loud. I supposed at the time that it was -<i>less</i> than seven. After the sitting was over, and we were preparing to -leave, I said, It is possible that we may have mistaken the time since my -son’s death? There was instantly a loud rap on the table. I then asked, -Did you mean seven? and there was instantly an affirmative. I inquired -for the odd months, and the answer was four. When I got home, I found -the true time was seven years, four months, and two days. These last raps -were when no person was within <i>six feet</i> of the table. I confess myself -unable to explain the foregoing without admitting that it was my son who -responded. If you could have such an opportunity, and inquire for some -dear friend whom you loved in life, I think you would witness what would -interest you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_704"></a>704. I mention the foregoing as a specimen. I have received a great -many communications purporting to be both from my son and a daughter, -who died at the age of eighteen, quite as remarkable as the above. Now, -admitting the two facts of physical force and intelligence, I don’t know -even then that spirits are the agents; but it seems probable, because I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>135</span> -doubt whether any other explanation can be given, that will appear at all -reasonable. It is very evident that there is an intelligence that governs -the world; but if that intelligence has given us no revelation excepting -what is in nature, then it appears to me that every thing that can give -us any knowledge of what we are to be hereafter, is valuable beyond all -price. Uncertainty upon this matter is painful, but then we know so -little about the Deity, that I think there is great uncertainty in our views -of what he does, either to prevent or bring to pass the good and evil that -we see around us. Yours, very respectfully,</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Amasa Holcomb</span>. -</p> - - -<h4>Some parts of a letter to Mr. Holcomb, in reply to the parts of his letter -relating to Spiritualism.</h4> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, February 24, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_705"></a>705. <i>Dear Sir</i>: There is a great resemblance in your sentiments, as described -in your letter of the 20th, (just received,) and those which I entertain, -excepting that while I am very desirous—I may say extremely -desirous—to learn something which may prove another state of existence, -I am not unhappy at my not being able to find out the truth. If I have -less hopes, I have also less fears, than those who have heaven and hell -both to encounter. I do not envy those who are placed in the situation -of depending upon the estimate which may be formed of them hereafter, -whether they are to be placed among the “<i>sheep</i>” or “<i>the goats</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_706"></a>706. It is true that the gospel holds out the idea on one hand that intense -belief, called faith, will wash away sin; but on the other, it is said, -that “he who knoweth his Master’s will, yet doeth it not,” shall be beaten -with many stripes, while he who is ignorant of that will, and doeth it not, -shall be beaten with few. Under these circumstances, who can escape -flagellation? Who is it that does the will of God, as enumerated by -Christ? Who loves his neighbour as himself? Who presents a second -cheek on receiving a blow on one? Who gives his coat, when his cloak -has been taken? Who returns good for evil? Who acts as if it were as -hard for a rich man to go to heaven as for a camel to get through the eye -of a needle?</p> - -<p><a id="para_707"></a>707. Unless our missionaries can make better Christians abroad than -they leave at home, it were inhuman to add to the number, who are to be -pre-eminently punished for their neglect of their Master’s will, while fully -apprized of it. In many cases a pagan will be better off than his nominally -Christian instructor, although he should not prove a convert to -Christianity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_708"></a>708. My sentiments are much like those which Socrates expressed. -<i>I hope for a future world, and therein to have a happier existence.</i> All -those reasons which have been advanced by wise and good men in favour -of such futurity, operate upon my mind as upon theirs; but if there be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>136</span> -no such a state of future existence, I shall <i>never wake up to feel my disappointment</i>. -It <i>will only be a prolongation of a state of oblivion analogous -to that which we enter upon transiently, every night</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_709"></a>709. The incentives which have acted upon you, act also upon me, and -I have seen some of the manifestations on which you rely; but not so -satisfactorily. The answers which I have received have not been worthy -of the other world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_710"></a>710. A message from my own father, amounted to this: “<i>Oh, my son, -listen to reason</i>;” and there it ended. Several similar nugatory sentences -have been manifested through the alphabet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_711"></a>711. I have, however, constructed an instrument to put the question -of independency of intelligence to the test. It works independently of -any control of the medium, as the letters, which must be seen to bring -them correctly under the index, are concealed by a screen. (<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_712"></a>712. The sentence above quoted was communicated in this way.</p> - -<p><a id="para_713"></a>713. I am about, by this contrivance, to test the manifestations farther.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare.</span> -</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="MORAL_INFLUENCE_OF_SPIRITUALISM">MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUALISM.</h3> - - - -<p><a id="para_714"></a>714. Among the best precepts afforded by the gospel is that of laying -up treasure in heaven, in preference to seeking to become rich in this -world. To pursue the last-mentioned course has been alleged to disqualify -us more or less for entering heaven. Certainly, however, honest exertion -for the acquisition of wealth is the corner-stone of human prosperity, and -money seems in most instances necessary to the effectual exercise of that -fellow-feeling in the cultivation of which human virtue pre-eminently -consists. (See Influence of Mundane wealth on Celestial Happiness.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_715"></a>715. How can a man display charity, hospitality, or contribute his -<i>means</i> and <i>time</i> to objects of philanthropy, unless he beforehand lay up -wealth? How could the Samaritan have assisted the traveller who had -been maltreated by thieves, had he not taken care to have something beforehand, -not only for himself, but for the needy? But still the precept, -Lay up treasure for thyself in heaven, is precisely the course which Spiritualism -indicates. Precepts may lead, but examples will draw. Those -who have gone before us to eternal life, furnish us not only precepts, but -examples also. They furnish exemplifications of the consequences of their -conduct, if followed. With few exceptions, my intercourse has been with -those only, who did lay up treasure in heaven, by doing on earth as they -would have others to do unto them. Of the spirits with whom I have -communicated, only two alleged or indicated that they were unhappy. Of -these, I was informed, one bore an ill character upon earth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>137</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_716"></a>716. Another, after having suggested to his inquiring brother some -measures relating to his surviving wife’s temporal concerns, spontaneously -added the following words: “I am not <i>hapey</i>.” The inquiry being made -for the cause of his misery, the resulting reply was, “I did not do <i>rite</i> -when I was in this world.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_717"></a>717. Another admitted that he was drowned, in consequence of getting -dead drunk. On being asked if he were happy, he answered, “Damned -happy.” In reply to an inquiry whether he was sorry to have quitted -this life, he replied in the affirmative.</p> - -<p><a id="para_718"></a>718. Having evidently been a seaman, who had sailed under an officer -who was present, he had preserved the usual fondness of sailors for tobacco -and grog. This propensity he could not avoid displaying, notwithstanding -his having passed death’s dread portal, and the obvious inutility -of expressing to mortals his craving for those pernicious stimulants.</p> - -<p><a id="para_719"></a>719. Thus it appears that in the spirit world one means of retribution -for the indulgence of bad propensities in this life, is subjugation to their -ungratified cravings.</p> - -<p><a id="para_720"></a>720. Of course, the more of these a spirit carries with him, the greater -is his misery; while the more he founds his happiness on the indulgence of -good propensities, the greater his power and opportunities of enjoyment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_721"></a>721. As an illustration of the manner in which happiness may arise -from the indulgence of good propensities, one of the enjoyments of a spirit -of the fifth sphere is, as I am informed, in looking after children of -relatives and friends, who have not as yet followed them to the spirit world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_722"></a>722. Believing in the existence of a spirit world, where there are thirty-six -grades of existence, corresponding to degrees of purity and intellectual -acquirement,—purity alone giving exaltation merely, while cultivation of -mind secures breadth of consideration,—we have, in the first place, to adhere -strictly to truth, honesty, justice, benevolence, and doing as we would -be done by, to reach a sphere higher in proportion as we are more successful. -Yet, among those on the same plane, superiority in mental attributes -gives precedence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_723"></a>723. Nothing is better known than “while precepts may lead, examples -draw,” and that subjection to bad examples, even when checked by good -precepts, is generally irresistible by the young. But when there are no -precepts to check, but, on the contrary, ill counsel as well as bad example, -few human beings, however well constituted organically, could resist -the tendency of such educational evil. Let bad hereditary propensities be -superadded, and what can ensue but a climax of wickedness? Manifestly, -however, all this is independent of any choice on the part of the victim. -A high degree of virtue may consistently be inferred to result if all these -conditions be inverted, and good precepts, good examples, co-operative in -improving a mind of the opposite kind, one which owes to its progenitors -goodness of heart and high intellectual capacity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>138</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_724"></a>724. Much stress is laid upon free-will, but is will ever free from the -joint control of reason and passion? What is will, if it be not the resultant -of the conflict or co-operation of these? It may be a question whether, -without passions, a man would act at all; but certainly he would act -like an idiot or baby, so far as his will should be entirely independent of -his reason.</p> - -<p><a id="para_725"></a>725. It must be conceded, then, that the prodigious diversity between -virtue and vice is the consequence of contingencies, which are no more -under the control of the individual affected than the colour of his hair or -the number of cubits in his stature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_726"></a>726. The great features of the spiritual religion are, as I understand -them, as follows:—Its foundation is laid in the belief of an all-good Deity, -whose power is manifested to us by the immensity, profundity, sublimity, -ingenuity, and adaptation of the means to the ends in the creation ascribed -to the co-operation, if not origination, of his mind. The Bible of the -spiritualist is the book of nature—the only one which by inward and outward -evidence can be ascribed to divine authorship.</p> - -<p><a id="para_727"></a>727. In this book we read, as matters of fact, that there is an infinite -series of gradation in the rank of animals, as well as variety in their dispositions -and propensities. This may be seen, from the half-animal, half-vegetable -known as the polypus, up to man, there being gradations not -only of genera, but of species and varieties. Thus amid men there are -various races, rising one above the other in development, from the Bushman, -Hottentot, or lowest Negro, up to the most highly-developed race of -white men. But when we have passed through the gradation of the races, -we have to enter upon that of individuals, who in the same race are by -diversity of organization or education, or of both, made extremely different -as to intellectual, moral, and scientific pre-eminence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_728"></a>728. It is difficult for human reason to reconcile with impartiality this -immense diversity in the lot of the creatures of God; but that such is the -law of nature is self-evident: it is an intuitive truth. To reconcile it with -the all-goodness of God, we must suppose a limitation of power, and that -it has been beyond his power to put created beings more nearly upon -a level. But, as Seneca observes, all have received more than they had a -claim for. Some may think that the parable of the hiring of labourers -for a vineyard, conveys an idea like that of the Roman sage.</p> - -<p><a id="para_729"></a>729. These considerations being premised, it would seem that punishment -in the spirit world is only the carrying out of the same system, excepting -that while the deficiencies or vices which have arisen in this world -become a punishment in the next, they also operate as the means of improvement, -or, to use the language of that world, of “<i>progression</i>.” It -may be inferred that as in this world the power of the Deity, although -commensurate with the all but infinite universe in which we exist, was so -restricted by conditions as to induce that enormous diversity of position in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>139</span> -the scale of animation which has been presented to view. Yet in the -world to come these defects and vices are liable to be remedied; and, -though they react upon their victim, it is with a view to his own ultimate -benefit. There is not a malevolent devil to seize the poor miscreant, and, -like the savage Indian, torture him with a fiend-like pleasure. He is regarded -with compassion, and as soon as contrition is induced, treated with -sympathy by the higher spirits, and assisted by counsel and enlightened -by instruction. Unable any longer to indulge his bad propensities, the -desire of rising to a higher level becomes a passion. Intellectual and -social pleasures begin to be enjoyed. So long as he remains under the influence -of his mundane appetites, he has to consort with spirits who are -similarly actuated; they read each other’s mind, and thus are made -acquainted with the deformity of their own. They eventually thus become -instrumental in reciprocal correction. So soon as an aspiration for -a better state is awakened, they rise to the next plane or circle above that -in which they may have been existing; the only difficulty is in taking the -first step. Progression grows with its growth, and strengthens with its -strength, so that all beings may sooner or later attain to the highest sphere -in the spirit world. It should be understood that there is no pardon for -existing sin. Pardon can only exist as a consequence of reform, and in -proportion thereto. (<a href="#para_92">92</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_730"></a>730. An assailant of Spiritualism, who not long since lectured at Sansom -Street Hall, founded one of his charges on the commiseration felt -by good angels for sinners, agreeably to Spiritualism. But from the examination -above given respecting the origin of the difference between the -virtuous and vicious, does it not appear that the fate of the latter is quite -as hard as can be reconciled with justice, even under the more benign institution -of Spiritualism? According to this, there exist in the spirit -world six spheres, each subdivided into six circles or planes, forming together -a succession of grades in which the soul finds its place according -to moral and intellectual merit. The first of the spheres is throughout -comparatively hideous in its aspect and disgusting in its inhabitants, who -are designated by a dark halo in lieu of the effulgence which distinguishes -spirits of the rest of the spheres. Moreover, this distinguishing effulgence, -as well as the beauty of the spirit world, augments with the grade -of the being whom it envelops, thus making a series of ranks in society -founded on real nobility of head and heart. When it is considered that -this immense diversity ensues mainly from contingency in organization, -education, and greater or less exposure to trial, it must be clear that the -difference made between the good and the bad by Spiritualism does not -fall short of the degree which human reason can reconcile with justice.</p> - -<p><a id="para_731"></a>731. The assailant of Spiritualism to whom allusion was made, while -admitting the truth of the evidence given of communication with spirits, -explained it by reference to Satan. It is remarkably inconsistent with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>140</span> -this idea that this evidence is of a nature to abrogate the existence, and -of course the sovereignty, of that imaginary arch-fiend. Again, it can -hardly be conceived that the greater commiseration for sinners should -come from a malevolent devil, and the urging for everlasting and cruel -torture from a sincere disciple of the benevolent Jesus Christ. But how -much, then, must it shock one who embraces these views, that in addition -to the misfortune of being badly organized, badly educated, and badly -tempted, the being subjected to these disadvantages is to be exposed eternally -to misery, typified, if not realized, by broiling on burning brimstone! -I am aware that doing away with the more horrible attributes of hell will -be alleged to be subversive of one of the restraints upon criminality; but, -in the first place, it is evident that a man who is restrained from crime -solely by the fear of punishment is only a more prudent villain than one -who is not restrained by that selfish apprehension. When a man is deterred -from crime only by prudence, hope of reward, or fear of punishment, -he ought not to have a higher grade in heaven than the perpetrator -of the crime.</p> - -<p><a id="para_732"></a>732. But, agreeably to experience, of all restraints upon crime, none are -more efficacious than the fear of degradation. The lawyer who will do the -bidding of a caucus (or of a powerful demagogue in the executive office) -in order to get a judicial appointment, when securely seated therein, will -not give a charge which will degrade him in the eyes of the legal profession, -and consequently in that of society, as well as in his own estimation. -The dishonest gambler, who neglects to pay his tradesman’s bill, -will not fail to pay his gambling debts. The debtor who will take every -advantage in getting a high price for his goods, and who will put off any -other payment as long as possible, fails not to pay his note at a bank. -Sovereign states, who pay no other claims, take every means to meet the -interest on their funded obligations. “Failure” in the one case, in the -mercantile adaptation, involves the loss of reputation for good financial -faith, abroad as well as at home; but the just complaints of domestic -claimants, not heard upon the exchange, are unheeded. The great object, -in many cases, is not to leave the crime “undone, but to keep it unknown.” -The corrupt, selfish politician, who would promote war in order to give -himself an opportunity of emolument or official pre-eminence, when facing -the enemy in the field of battle will <i>nominally</i> die for that country whose -interests he has sacrificed. But not from the alleged motive will he die, -but either to avoid being degraded as a coward, or for the hope of popularity -which may help him to office.</p> - -<p><a id="para_733"></a>733. In the spirit world, all are seen through and justly estimated, so -that degradation and vice, or elevation and virtue, are inevitably associated -by spiritual intuition. Yet there is, in my opinion, far more satisfactory -proof of the truth of Spiritualism than of any other creed involving immortality; -while, so far as adopted, it must tend to do away with priest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>141</span>craft, -sectarian malevolence, and religious intolerance. Man will go to the -spirits of his ancestors for his religion, not to a fanatical, bigoted, or interested -priest. Should spirits actually exist, as supposed, and convey the -same religious knowledge all over the world, all men will agree that virtue -is to be the means of salvation, not bigotry, under the name of faith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_734"></a>734. It is conceived that Spiritualism has all the desirable attributes of -religion, as stated in the second page of the introduction of this work. It -sanctions the idea of the existence of one Supreme Being, who is represented -as all love to his creatures; while his powers are made known to us -by the sublimity, profundity, magnificence, and inconceivable extent of -the creation which he rules. It does not represent him as selfishly creating -us for the purpose of worshipping him, as capable of jealousy or implacable -wrath for the result of errors which his alleged omnipotence could -by a <i>fiat</i> correct. On the contrary, we have been created to be happy -sooner or later; evil existing not through design, but in consequence of -conditions which he cannot control or cure unless through the operation -of general principles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_735"></a>735. With a view to mutual happiness, reciprocal beneficence is enjoined. -We are required to obey the precepts of acting toward others as we would -have them act toward us.</p> - -<p><a id="para_736"></a>736. This innate law is appealed to instinctively by any child who is -oppressed by another larger than itself, and was consecrated by Confucius -six hundred years before its judicious sanction by Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_737"></a>737. Spiritualism has the merit pre-eminently not only of furnishing a -knowledge of immortality beyond the grave, but a precise knowledge of -the spirit world in lieu of the silence of the Pentateuch and the vagueness -and inconsistency of the gospel. An effort to establish the truth of these -allegations will be made under the next head.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="THE_HEAVEN_AND_HELL_OF_SPIRITUALISM_CONTRASTED_WITH">THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH -THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SCRIPTURE.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_738"></a>738. On the first spiritual manifestations occurring, the great object of -the mass of observers was to see the physical effects. In the next place, -intellectual communications were sought, but these being obtained by a -tedious process, it was deemed sufficiently interesting if a few sentences -could be made out, or even one. It was, moreover, a great object with -inquirers to ascertain by the interchange of language, whether the spirit -of a relation or friend were really present, as alleged by the supposed spirit. -Hence, the communications were very deficient as respects any information -of the spirit world. It is not surprising, therefore, that prejudicial unbelievers -should have taken up the idea that there is nothing inviting in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>142</span> -heaven of Spiritualism. I hope that, agreeably to the communications -from the spirit world recorded in the preceding pages, there is enough to -create an ardent desire to become a dweller therein.</p> - -<p><a id="para_739"></a>739. But is it not unreasonable for a person to disdain a state of existence -which is by the spirits themselves described as “ineffably” happy? -Alluding to the progression, which is to carry spirits eventually among the -ministering angels of God, I observed to my spirit friend, Dr. W. E. Channing, -that I did not consider him in heaven yet. “Were you situated as I -am,” said he, “you would not say that!” But let us see how far the ideas -of heaven, as warranted in Scripture, are comparable with those which have -been communicated by spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_740"></a>740. In a work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh, of the German Reformed -Church of Lancaster, Pa., a great effort is made to collect all the hints -respecting heaven which have been given in the Old and New Testaments. -This learned divine quotes the following paragraph from Dr. Chalmers: -“The common imagination,” says Dr. Chalmers, “that we have a paradise -on the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial region, where the inmates -float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing—where all the -warm and sensible accompaniments which give such an expression of -strength, and life, and colouring to our present habitation, are attenuated -into a sort of spiritual element; that is, meagre and imperceptible, and -utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below; where every vestige -of materialism is done away, and nothing left but unearthly scenes, that -have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly ecstasies, with which -it is felt impossible to sympathize.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_741"></a>741. After reading and believing the representations of heaven given -by the immortal inhabitants of the spirit world, who can avoid turning in -disgust from the portrait thus cited by Dr. Chalmers?</p> - -<p><a id="para_742"></a>742. The most favourable idea of heaven given in Scripture seems to -be that which identifies it with Paradise; in other words, a most beautiful -garden. But who would conceive an <i>eternal</i> residence in one garden, -however superlative its attractions, as desirable? The idea of the spheres -assumes a succession of gardens, with every pleasure, every joy of which -the human heart and intellect are capable; and beyond those gardens -the whole universe is open to us, and an ultimate ministration as angels -under our Heavenly Father.</p> - -<p><a id="para_743"></a>743. The portraiture cited by Chalmers is not approved of by the Rev. -Mr. Harbaugh, but in order to confute it he does not resort to any better -picture given in the Bible, but to reasoning. This shows that, learned as -he is, and idolatrous as he appears in worshipping the Bible as an adequate -fountain of light, he cannot get from the object of this idolatry any -passage tending to prove the inconsistency of the idea quoted from Chalmers -with Scripture. Were there not the greatest poverty of instruction -on this all-important subject, the ideas alleged to exist as above mentioned,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>143</span> -upon the high authority of Dr. Chalmers, could never have had sufficient -currency to merit notice. It may be assumed that no Christians can conceive -themselves to be better entitled to the joys of heaven than the -twelve apostles of Christ. In order to show how far any expectations of -a bliss higher than that afforded by Spiritualism could have been entertained -by those disciples consistently with Scripture, I deem it in point to -refer the language held to them by their Divine Master. I subjoin a few -lines from Dr. Harbaugh, wherein he quotes the query put to that Master, -by the <i>twelve</i>, and the consequent reply. Nothing can be farther from -my idea of a happy state than the benefaction promised to them. The -query and reply are subjoined, in order to enable the reader to judge of -both:—<i>Behold, we have left all and followed thee: what shall we have -therefor?</i> The Saviour answered the above query when made by Peter, -as follows:—<i>When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, -ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.</i> -Here is a direct answer by Christ to an inquiry respecting the nature of -the reward which his disciples were to have for their merits as his faithful -devotees. They are to be made severally worldly dignitaries; each is to -sit on a throne, judging a tribe of Israel. That is, they are to have -worldly pre-eminence, accompanied, of course, by all the vexations attendant -on such stations, as well as the uncertainty and limitation arising from -liability to death and disease. How weak and worldly-minded must his -disciples have been, could such a prospect be alluring to them! I ask for -any sectarian to say in candour, whether a governorship over one of the -wealthiest States, the presidency, or any sovereignty in Christendom, -would be deemed a heaven in comparison with that eternity of ineffable -happiness enjoyed by the immortal spirits of the higher spheres? Yet -Mr. Harbaugh, with the simplicity of blind faith, quotes this without perceiving -how meagre is the gospel evidence thus afforded of the joys -awaiting the faithful as a reward for their good conduct in this life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_744"></a>744. The following remarks, made by Mr. Harbaugh, demonstrate how -partial sectarians are in reading Scripture: “<i>What shall we have therefor? -This is a question that frequently arises in the Christian’s mind, as he -endeavours to cheer his ofttimes drooping spirits with a look toward the -recompense of reward. What shall we have? We have left all for thee, -and by following thee we have confessed that we are pilgrims and strangers -upon earth. In this world we shall have tribulation; but thou didst overcome -the world; what shall those have who overcame with thee?</i>” Harbaugh -remarks: “<i>Here then is curiosity which the Saviour himself approves, -because he satisfies it. The same pious curiosity still manifests -itself in the minds of God’s people in their holiest hours, and shall there -be nothing revealed to satisfy them? Yes, God will approve of such inquiries, -and will grant the influence of that Spirit, who leads unto all -truth to all those who search the Scripture for an answer.</i>” Drawing an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>144</span> -eloquent picture of the aspirations of the soul for some realization of the -vague ideas of the rewards of the faithful in a future state of existence, -he exults that this <i>curiosity</i>, as he calls it, should be sanctioned by Christ, -“who approves this curiosity because he satisfies it.” How does he -satisfy it? Is it by holding up the hope of a judgeship for each? It -seems it was not then foreseen that instead of performing the part of the -Jewish Messiah, with which he thus identified himself, that of gathering -together the <i>chosen</i> people of God, he was to put forth opinions which -were to scatter them through the world. “Wo unto you, Chorazin,” -&c., for the heinous offence of not admitting him to be both the Messiah -and the Son of God. The promise of the judgeships was quite consistent -with the former character, and strengthens the idea that he never pretended -to any higher mission. With this the promise in question is consistent, -but is wholly irreconcilable with his divinity, which would make -these judgeships worse than giving a stone for bread or a serpent for a -fish. In order to have bestowed these judgeships, the Roman empire -must have been subverted. It seems that if (as stated by the worthy Mr. -Harbaugh) <i>the curiosity of the disciples was truly and correctly satisfied</i>, -that this satisfaction was the sum total of the heaven with which they -were remunerated; since not the slightest hint is given that they were, -like the penitent thief, to be with their object of devotion in paradise. -It would seem, on the whole, that the rewards of the thief and the beggar -Lazarus were of a more heavenly nature than those promised to the apostles, -even had the latter been susceptible of realization, instead of being -irreconcilable with the doom which awaited the Hebrews, and consequently -a mere <i>vox et præterea nihil</i>. But while, in lieu of an eternal progressive -happiness, Christ holds up the transient, precarious, and limited -supremacy from which a truly pious and wise man would turn in disgust, -when hell is to be represented, we have eternal torments typified by fire, -and weeping and gnashing of teeth in <i>utter darkness</i>, in despite of this -fire. The situation which Christ, the Son of God, was to have, was to -bear manifestly a relation to that of his disciples. His situation would -be somewhat analogous to that of Washington, when he was in the presidential -chair, and the thirteen States were governed by as many of his -faithful followers in the Revolutionary War. Yet Washington did not -find his chair worth retaining longer than the good of the country made -it important to remain. I am confident that neither would that great man -leave his position in the seventh sphere for the presidency, nor any spirit -among those who held the gubernatorial dignity, as suggested, find a -governorship now a motive for leaving their bright abodes in the celestial -world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_745"></a>745. Dr. Harbaugh sanctions the idea that the revolutions of all the -constellations with which telescopic examination has made us acquainted, -may take place about a central sun, bearing the relation to other suns<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>145</span> -analogous to that which God has been represented to have to the other -potentates; whence the title of “King of kings.” The existence, then, of -a <i>sun</i> of <i>suns</i> is suggested, about which the constellations formed by inferior -bodies of the same kind revolve. It would seem, then, that a more -fitted allotment had been made if, enthroned by his Father’s side on that -sun of suns, he had allotted to each of his disciples a constellation, than -have assigned to them miserable transitory judgeships in Judea: a speck -of territory, in this speck of a globe, which in a field of vision embracing -the universe, would be imperceptible.</p> - -<p><a id="para_746"></a>746. There being in Scripture so much more stress laid upon the torments -of hell than the joys of heaven, is probably the reason why the -horror of death is so great among Christians in general. Their practice -in this respect is to speak of death as a great calamity. Here and there -may be found a believer who is thoroughly convinced that the efficacy of -his peculiar tenets, combined with the absence of criminality, and the -redeeming influence of repentance, will insure him a passage to heaven; -but the predominant language is to represent the death of any large number -of human beings as a great calamity. Those who are exposed to danger -pray most earnestly to be saved, and their death is always treated as -a cause for deep regret by surviving friends. Hence the weeping, the -grief, and the mourning called for by custom,—the relations and connections -wearing black for months. Hence the dark hearse, the black pall, and -bitter lamentation over the grave; which shows that it is not realized that -death is only a glorious spiritual birth! I am confident that spiritualists -will soon abandon a custom which must on their part be inconsistent; -since they must look on death as no more a bereavement, than a residence -in a foreign country, the means of communication being within reach, and -a happy reunion foreseen.</p> - -<p><a id="para_747"></a>747. When on board of a steamer under way at night, the possibility -of her going down occurring to my mind, I felt cheered by the idea that -I should not go down with her, but soar to the spirit world with my immortal -friends, who would flock to meet my apotheosis. (Page 101.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_748"></a>748. It has been urged that a most substantial idea of heaven, given in -the old Bible, is that of a restoration to Paradise, of which the description -gives the idea of an exquisite, beautiful garden; but Spiritualism -gives the idea of garden above garden, improving in beauty with their -elevation. Then there are thirty-six gradations in all, and in the five -happy spheres thirty; so that there is excitement arising from well-rewarded -emulation as a source of interest. Into the idea of heaven, as -suggested in Scripture, intellectual ability and improvement form no part -and give no superiority; whence the tendency of the more strict constructionists -to turn a cold shoulder to every acquirement which is not coupled -with scriptural knowledge. Neither the Athenæum, nor any library, is to -be accessible on Sunday. If the time devoted at meetings and at church<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>146</span> -were given to the study of the real book of God, how much more learned -would be those who thus employ their Sundays! It is held that the lowest -and most ignorant person who is educated to believe implicitly the -tenets of a sect, when he would by the same process as easily be made to -believe any other tenets, is in heaven to be as high as the most enlightened -as well as virtuous man, who has the only merit which can be -attached to belief in a high degree—that of ardent desire for truth, and -taking the pains to form an opinion for himself. Nay, the ignorant bigot -is to be higher in heaven, if the free-thinker alluded to, should not agree -with the ghostly adviser, of the devoted sectarian with whom he is compared.</p> - -<p><a id="para_749"></a>749. The idea of living in the finest garden which imagination can conceive, -without the enjoyments and progression which my father’s communication -attributes to the spheres, would beget tedium rather than the -ineffable happiness which my spirit friends profess to enjoy. But while -one of the Jewish ideas of heaven in its best form, is thus deficient, the -description given by the learned Josephus of hell is horrible in the extreme, -that of heaven being disgusting. I give it as I find it quoted by -the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh:</p> - -<p><a id="para_750"></a>750. “Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and unrighteous -are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a place in -the world not regularly finished, a subterraneous region, wherein the light -of this world does not shine; from which circumstance in this region -there must be perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a place of -custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who -distribute to them temporary punishment, agreeably to every one’s behaviour -and manners.</p> - -<p><a id="para_751"></a>751. “In this region there is a certain place set apart as a lake of -unquenchable fire, whereinto, we suppose, no one hath hitherto been cast, -but it is prepared for a day aforedetermined by God, in which one righteous -sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when the unjust, -and those that have been disobedient to God, and have given honour to -such idols as have been the vain operations of the hands of men as to God -himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting punishment, as having been -the causes of defilement; while the just shall obtain an incorruptible and -never-fading kingdom. These are now indeed confined in Hades, but not -in the same place wherein the just are confined. For there is one descent -in this region, at whose gate, we believe, there stands an archangel, with -a host; which gate, when those pass through that are conducted down by -the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same way, but the just -are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels -appointed over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have -dwelt from the beginning of the world, not constrained by necessity, but -ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoicing i<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>147</span>n -the expectation of those new enjoyments which will be peculiar to every -one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have here; with -whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold, nor any -briers there; but the countenances of the fathers and the just, which they -see always, smile upon them while they wait for the rest, and eternal new -life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call the -bosom of Abraham. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to -the left hand, by the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with -a good will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent the -angels appointed over them to reproach them, and threaten them with -their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downward. Now these angels -that are set over these souls drag them into the neighbourhood of hell -itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and -do not stand clear of the hot vapour itself; but when they have a near -view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, -they are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in -effect punished thereby; not only so, but when they see the place (or choir) -of the fathers and of the just, even thereby are they punished, for a chaos -deep and large is fixed between them, insomuch that a just man that hath -compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can any one that is unjust, -if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_752"></a>752. So much for Josephus. Mr. Harbaugh subjoins as follows: “This -extract is exceedingly interesting. It shows to what extent of distinctness -the Jewish ideas of the future state had attained. The dreamlike underworld -is here considerably illuminated. The righteous and the wicked are -separated, and already share the first fruits of their eternal reward. The -righteous are surrounded with intimations and shadowy promises of better -things to come, in the expectation of which they are already happy; the -wicked are surrounded with tokens and forebodings of more fearful ill, -much of which they already suffer in awful expectation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_753"></a>753. “Through this picture,” says our good parson, “we see in faint -but terrible glimmerings, in the distance, the region of eternal fire, which -awaits the wicked when the judgment-day shall remove them from Hades; -on the other hand, we see also the dawning of an eternal day for the just, -the rest and eternal new life which is to succeed this region. This kingdom -of the dead, beyond which the thoughts of men in the early ages did -not wander, is considered only as a place of detention for judgment, while -the idea of a final state, both for the righteous and the wicked, is believed -to exist beyond it.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_754"></a>754. How can any person sincerely pretend that those who rely on a -happy idea of our immortal life are indebted for it to the source from -which this Hebrew Pharisee derived the impressions given in the preceding -quotation? Yet the Pharisees were the only conspicuous Hebrew sect -who believed in heaven. The Sadducees did not believe in immortality.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>148</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_755"></a>755. The history of Lazarus and the rich man, (says Harbaugh, page -168,) “plainly teaches that both the righteous and the wicked on death -pass into a fixed and eternal abode, where no change is possible;” and he -further states (pp. 169-70) that “the misery of the wicked commences -immediately after death, and before the resurrection, and their condition -is unchangeably fixed.” According to St. Luke, (chapter xvi.) in the page -alluded to above by Harbaugh, we are informed that the wicked, while in -the torture of hell-fire, are within the view of the righteous, (verse 23.) -The righteous are near enough to converse with those in torment, and yet -there is an impassable barrier between them. The rich man is not tortured -for his sins, but simply because he had “<i>enjoyed good things</i>.” Yet -Abraham, who turned his son and son’s mother out in the wilderness to -starve, and twice exposed his wife to prostitution, is represented as enjoying -the reward due to the righteous.</p> - -<p><a id="para_756"></a>756. How little sincere, heartfelt belief there can be in the words of -Christ, may be estimated from the fact that scarcely any Christian but -seeks for the good things of this life, instead of qualifying themselves for -heaven by undergoing the rewarded privations of a Lazarus.</p> - -<p><a id="para_757"></a>757. It is utterly unintelligible to my mind why repentance and reformation -should not avail after, as well as before death, as it is represented -to be in the spirit world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_758"></a>758. There is a coincidence between these representations of Josephus -and those of the gospel, so far as that both represent the righteous as witnessing -the torments of the wicked. Would not such a situation make -heaven a hell to good-hearted angels?</p> - -<p><a id="para_759"></a>759. According to Matthew, (chapter xxv. 24,) the blessed, after the -day of judgment, are to <i>inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation -of the world</i>. Of the joys that kingdom would afford there is no -description. But, as usual, hell is made sufficiently horrible, (chapter xxv. -41,)—“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the -devil and his angels.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_760"></a>760. In this respect, if in no other, there is an immense superiority in -the conceptions of futurity given by my immortal advisers, in comparison -with those attributed as above to Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_761"></a>761. It has been urged that human conduct is so much dependent on -organization, education, temptation, and example, neither of which are -within the option of any soul, that the orthodox doctrine respecting sin is -manifestly wrong. But admitting the culpability which that doctrine imputes, -it has been shown that the gradations of sinfulness between the -extremes of vice and virtue are innumerable. Suppose for each gradation -a strand in a ladder, like that of which Jacob dreamed, and human souls -supported severally at elevations commensurate with their respective pretensions. -This adjustment being made, suppose a plane at any level to -divide the vertical row into two portions, all below the plane being con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>149</span>sidered -as goats, all above the plane as sheep. Evidently, between the -soul just above, and that just below the plane, there would be only a shade -of difference; yet the one would have to go to hell, the other to heaven, -eternally.</p> - -<p><a id="para_762"></a>762. According to Spiritualism, on entering the spirit world each soul -finds its just level by a sort of moral specific gravity, in which merit is -inversely as weight. Every soul, moreover, has the privilege of reforming, -and rising proportionally to the improvement thus obtained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_763"></a>763. One of the most agreeable conceptions attending our future existence -in the spheres, is that of being restored to the appearance of youth; -the decrepitude and wrinkles of age, of disease, mutilation, deformity, -ugliness, are all avoided in the spiritual body. The insane are restored to -reason, the idiot gradually improved in mind.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="DISCORDANCE_AS_TO_THE_WHEREABOUT_OF_THE_SCRIPTURAL_HEAVENINSTINCTIVE">DISCORDANCE AS TO THE WHEREABOUT OF THE SCRIPTURAL HEAVEN.—INSTINCTIVE -IMPRESSION AS TO HEAVEN BEING OVERHEAD.</h3> - - - -<p><a id="para_764"></a>764. There is no small degree of contradiction in Scripture respecting -the locality of heaven. In addressing the thief, paradise is identified with -heaven by Christ. “<i>St. Paul is alleged to have been taken up into paradise</i>,” -says Harbaugh; yet, according to the map accompanying the work -of Josephus, Paradise is represented as being upon the river Tigris, near the -Persian Gulf. The idea given of the abode of Adam and Eve, in Genesis, -conveys the impression that it was a terrestrial locality.</p> - -<p><a id="para_765"></a>765. In the Decalogue the abbreviation of life is threatened as the punishment -for not honouring parents, and God is alleged to have held out -the promised land to Moses, instead of comforting him by a clairvoyant -view of a place of blissful enjoyment in some celestial region.</p> - -<p><a id="para_766"></a>766. Elijah was carried up to heaven in the sight of Elisha. The commandment -makes heaven above, the earth beneath. Christ was seen ascending -by his disciples, and according to the apostles’ creed, after descending -into hell, he arose on the third day and ascended into heaven. Yet -Josephus consigns both heaven and hell to a subterranean region, like the -Elysian Fields and Erebus of the heathen, but places them on each side -of a lake of everlasting fire. This representation is sanctioned in the -allusion by Christ to Dives, Lazarus, and Abraham; the former, broiling -to eternity, requests that Lazarus should get a little water to cool the tip -of his tongue. This Abraham declares to be <i>impossible</i>. Hence it appears -the parties were so near as to converse with each other, and for those -who were blest to witness the sufferings of the damned. Thus, according -to Christ as well as Josephus, heaven and hell are in immediate proximity, -and both must be in the infernal regions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>150</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_767"></a>767. The actual effects of the old Bible were to produce either <i>unbelievers</i> -in <i>immortality</i>, like the Sadducees, or <i>immoral believers</i>, like the -Pharisees, whom Christ especially denounces as <i>vipers</i>, and <i>internally corrupt, -like whited sepulchres holding dead men’s bones</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_768"></a>768. Christ never singles out the Sadducees for denunciation, but speaks -of the Pharisees particularly as hypocritical and corrupt. But in what -did their hypocrisy consist, if it was not in that insincerity of their professions -as respects belief in futurity which was shown by their worldliness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_769"></a>769. Thus the evidence of the existence of a future state was such as -to produce avowed unbelievers, or professed believers whose morality was -so deficient as to create an expression that they were corrupt hypocrites, as -odious as vipers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_770"></a>770. It is not the feebleness of the impressions respecting the existence -of another world, where happiness is proportional to good conduct, that -renders the existing system so inoperative in preventing those vices which -it especially interdicts; as, for instance, combativeness, cupidity, and revengefulness; -so that the course usually pursued by professed Christians, -does not merely amount to a neglect of Christ’s precepts, but renders an -adherence to them disreputable? Nothing is more degrading throughout -Christendom than poverty or tame submission to blows. The last excuse -Christians in general will make for any omission or deficiency is their -poverty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_771"></a>771. If they really believed that they would broil to eternity, like the -rich man, merely for seeking the good things of this life, would the attainment -of those good things be made the great object of their existence?</p> - -<p><a id="para_772"></a>772. Notwithstanding the representations of Josephus, sanctioned, as -above shown, by Christ, of the subterranean localization of Elysium, there -seems, nevertheless, an instinctive propensity to assume that heaven is -overhead. Clergymen all look upward when they address God, and the -Thespian artists universally follow their example. Whenever heaven is -referred to, it is customary, I believe, for all devout persons to turn their -eyes in the same direction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_773"></a>773. But if heaven be above, what does this term <i>above</i> mean? It -practically designates a vertical direction relatively to this globe at any -point over which a speaker who uses the word may stand. Consequently, -it indicates a space overhead, having everywhere the same relative position -to the terrestrial surface; in other words, a region concentric with that -surface, like that within which the clouds float. This floating takes place -rarely at a less distance than two, or more than six, miles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_774"></a>774. The spiritual spheres are estimated, as already mentioned, as being -between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles from the earth’s surface. -They are, therefore, analogous in position to the region of the clouds, though -at a much greater distance and vastly more capacious.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>151</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_775"></a>775. According to Christianity, there is no immortality for animals -below the grade of humanity; but according to Spiritualism, animals -that are favourites of man in this world are his companions in the next. -Much stress is laid on the singing of birds in the account given of the -spheres. There is a line of demarcation below which the privilege of an -existence after death is not enjoyed. Respecting that boundary my information -is at present incomplete.</p> - -<p><a id="para_776"></a>776. In order to do justice to the excellent and learned clergyman to -whom I have so often referred, I will annex the whole of those pages in -which he conceives himself to give the “<i>true doctrine</i>” respecting heaven. -However unsatisfactory it may be to me, I hope it will be found interesting -to those who, like the author, look only to the Bible for information respecting -their existence beyond the grave.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="X-THE_TRUE_DOCTRINE">“THE TRUE DOCTRINE”</h3> - - -<h4>Respecting Heaven, according to the Rev. H. Harbaugh, Pastor of the -First German Reformed Church, Lancaster, Penna.</h4> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“One gentle sigh their fetter breaks;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We scarce can say, ‘They’re gone!’</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before the willing spirit takes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her mansion near the throne.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_777"></a>777. “The different theories by which the souls of saints are supposed -to be detained from entering heaven immediately at death, have now been -exhibited. They have led us a long and dreary chase. The groundlessness -of these theories has been, in part, shown in connection with a statement -of them. They will, however, be more completely overthrown by a -statement of the true doctrine, and by the arguments that may be adduced -in its support. Various arguments that, in passing along, were offered -against these false views, will also substantiate the true doctrine; thus the -same implements that have been used to tear down the old building may -be employed to erect the new. If, therefore, any thing should be presented -in this section, among other things, which may seem to have been -presented before, it must be remembered that though they are the same -tools, they are now used to do a different kind of execution.</p> - -<p><a id="para_778"></a>778. “We consider the true doctrine of God’s word on this subject to -be this: The saints do immediately, at death, enter that place which is -called heaven, where the body of the Saviour now is, where the divine -manifestations are most clearly and gloriously made, where angels have -their proper home, and where all the heirs of Christ shall finally and forevermore -be assembled.</p> - -<p><a id="para_779"></a>779. “That the saints pass immediately at death into heaven, is taught -in the symbols in some of the most pious and learned denominations in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>152</span> -the church. We grant that this does not prove it absolutely true; but it -has much weight, as showing how the Scripture on this subject was understood -by many pious and learned men who had the same interest in -and motives for the truth as we have, and were, we may therefore suppose, -just as sincerely anxious to be led into the truth as we can possibly be. -The conclusions, therefore, to which they have come, and which have been -adopted by their numerous successors for centuries, are valuable. Beside -furnishing us with the testimony of so much learning and piety, it serves -to show that this is no new idea, and that it is not the faith of a few, but -is the testimony of the church.</p> - -<p><a id="para_780"></a>780. “The first symbolical testimony we produce is the Heidelberg Catechism, -published first in 1563. This symbol has been the embodiment -of the reformed faith for more than three centuries. Its influence has -been very extensively respected and felt. It has, since its publication, -been translated and read in at least fourteen different languages; and it -is said that <i>half a million editions</i> of it have been published in Germany -alone. In this country it is received as a symbolic book, both in the Dutch -Reformed and in the German Reformed churches. In the fifty-seventh -question it is asked, What comfort is afforded to us by the doctrine of the -resurrection of the body; and the answer is: ‘That not only my soul -after this life <i>shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head</i>; but also, -that my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with -my soul, and be made like unto the glorious body of Christ.’ Here the -doctrine is plainly taught, and has been responded to with a joyful amen -by millions during three hundred years.</p> - -<p><a id="para_781"></a>781. “The next is from the Shorter Catechism, received as a symbolic -book in the different branches of the Presbyterian communion. It is in -answer to the thirty-seventh question: ‘What benefits do believers receive -from Christ at death? The souls of believers are at their death made -perfect in holiness, <i>and do immediately pass into glory</i>; and their bodies, -being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.’ -In the eighty-sixth question of the Larger Catechism this same doctrine -is taught in more words. The following quotation is from the Westminster -Confession of Faith: ‘The bodies of men, after death, return to dust -and see corruption; but their souls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having -an immortal substance, <i>immediately</i> return to God who gave them. The -souls of the righteous, being <i>then</i> made perfect in holiness, <i>are received -into the highest heavens</i>, where they behold the face of God in light and -glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.’ The declaration -that they are ‘<i>then</i> made perfect in holiness,’ is no doubt directly aimed -against the idea of a process of purgatorial or medicinal preparation, mentioned -in a previous section. The declaration that they are then ‘received -into the <i>highest heavens</i>,’ is intended to stand in opposition to the idea of -a middle abode in all its forms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>153</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_782"></a>782. “The book of ‘Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal -Church’ is silent on this subject; but, so far as I have been able to -learn, the proper Protestant doctrine on this subject is held in that large -communion. Their views of the nature of justification and sanctification -would admit of no other to be consistently believed among them. It is -believed that this is also the prevailing sentiment among Baptists, and -other Congregationalists.</p> - -<p><a id="para_783"></a>783. “What is here presented from symbols as the united faith of so -many learned and pious men living in different ages, and in different parts -of the world, is also founded on holy Scripture. By no wresting and violence -has the church, in the general stream of its theological views, been -turned aside from this faith. It is vain that men hope to annul, by means -of violent and unnatural interpretations, the plain declarations of Scripture, -to serve a theory.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Truth, crush’d to earth, will rise again,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The eternal years of God are hers.’</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_784"></a>784. “The Saviour said to the penitent thief on the cross—‘To-day shalt -thou be with me in paradise.’ Now the question arises, Where and what -is that paradise in which the Saviour promised the dying penitent that he -should be with him that day? This can be seen by referring to other passages -in the Scriptures where the word paradise is used, and where its -sense cannot be mistaken. This can be seen by reference to 2 Cor. xii. -There it is said that Paul was caught up into paradise; and in the same -passage the place into which he was taken is called the <i>third heaven</i>—the -highest and holiest place in the universe. In Rev. ii. 7 we are told -that the tree of life stands in the midst of the paradise of God; and in -Rev. xxii. 2, we are told that that same tree of life stands by the side of -the river which flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. From this -it is evident that paradise is the heaven where God dwells and the Lamb. -Is then the middle abode, Hades, the kingdom of shades, the peculiar -abode of God and the Lamb?</p> - -<p><a id="para_785"></a>785. “The objection that the Saviour himself did not go to heaven -that day, but was for forty days afterward on the earth, and that therefore -he could not be with the penitent thief in paradise, has no force. During -the three days that intervened between his death and resurrection, he -could as well be in heaven as in Hades. Indeed, it is evident that he was -in heaven during those three days, from what he says to his disciples -shortly before his death: ‘A little while, and ye shall not see me; and -again, a little while, and ye shall see me, <i>because I go to the Father</i>.’ -Moreover, his tarrying on the earth and appearing among his disciples does -not conflict with the idea that he was also in paradise. When he was yet -in the flesh on earth, he could say: ‘And no man hath ascended up to -heaven, but that he came down from heaven, even the Son of man which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>154</span> -<i>is in heaven</i>.’ In the same way that he was in heaven at that time, he -may have been in heaven with the penitent thief during the forty days -between his death and ascension.</p> - -<p><a id="para_786"></a>786. “The history of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.) plainly -teaches that both the righteous and the wicked, at death, pass into a <i>fixed</i> -and eternal abode, where no change is possible. No comment on the passage -is necessary. This portion of Scripture has a thousand times been -tortured out of its meaning by errorists of various kinds, and as often has -its testimony fallen back into the church’s healthful stream of sound views. -As a sheep, carried away from the fold, returns when set free, so this passage -always comes back again; for the voice of a stranger it heareth not, -nor followeth!</p> - -<p><a id="para_787"></a>787. “In the Revelation, John, in his vision, saw the souls of departed -martyrs and saints ‘in heaven,’ ‘under the altar,’ ‘before the throne of -God,’ &c., and in the company of each other, of God, of Christ, and of -angels, in the central and highest heavens, and in that place where the -saints go no more out forever. Let it be remembered, also, that all this -is <i>before the resurrection</i>; and if the following passages are carefully considered, -they will leave no doubt on any candid mind that the saints are, -immediately after death, admitted into heaven. To quote them all would -be too tedious; a reference to them is sufficient: Rev. v. 6-14; vi. 9-12; -vii. 9-17; xiv. 1-6; xiv. 12, 13.</p> - -<p><a id="para_788"></a>788. “For further proof still the reader is referred to Acts vii. 59; -2 Cor. v. 1-9; Phil. i. 21-24; 2 Tim. iv. 6-9; Eph. iii. 15. In this -last passage, the whole family of Christ is represented to be at two places, -in heaven and on earth; but according to the other theory, there ought -also to be some in Hades, or the third place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_789"></a>789. “It may also be remarked that the misery of the wicked commences, -according to the Scripture, immediately after death, and before -the resurrection, and that their condition is unchangeably fixed. This is -evident from Luke xvi.; and also from that passage in Jude where he says -that those who had died impenitent in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah -were, at the time he wrote, ‘suffering the vengeance of eternal -fire.’ In like manner it is said of the righteous at death, that they are -blessed ‘from henceforth;’ and of those who were clothed in white robes, -having come up through great tribulation, it is said, ‘therefore <i>are</i> they -before the throne of God.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_790"></a>790. “These passages are plain, and it would, in all probability, never -have been attempted to make them mean any thing different from their -plain sense, were it not for some difficulties, which, it is thought, -stood in the way of the doctrine that the souls of the saints pass immediately -at death into heaven. Let us look at these, and see whether they -are not fancied difficulties, which one glance at the truth ought to remove:</p> - -<p><a id="para_791"></a>791. (1.) “It is said that the soul, in a state of separation from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>155</span> -body, cannot be in the same state, nor properly in the same place, as it -will be after the resurrection; and as heaven is to be the eternal abode of -the saints after the resurrection, it cannot be a proper abode for them -before. This objection has, however, no force. There is, for instance, in -this world, a great difference between a person in childhood and old age, -yea, before he is born and after, or between his sleeping and waking state; -and yet he is in all these in the same world, in the same place, and is the -same person. The state and condition of the Saviour differs widely from -that of any saint or angel, and yet both are in heaven. So angels and -human spirits differ, and yet both are in one company and in one place. -So in heaven the condition of the saints before and after the resurrection -may differ much, and yet they may be, in both cases, in the same place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_792"></a>792. “(2.) The saints cannot enter heaven, it is said, before they are -judged; and as the day of judgment is represented to be after the resurrection, -the saints cannot enter heaven until after that, and consequently -not immediately at death. We may, however, consider, as is generally -done, that the day of judgment is only a public and final consummation of -the decision of man’s destiny. Although God can, and no doubt, does, -for himself, judge and decide for each one when he dies, yet it seems necessary -for the glorious praise of his justice and righteousness that all -other intelligences should see the propriety of his decision. This is necessary, -that every mouth may be stopped; and in order to do this he has -appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by -that man whom he has ordained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_793"></a>793. “(3.) It is also said that the condition of many is represented in -that day to be undecided. Thus many are said to be disappointed; -coming to be judged, they find that their expectations of heaven are vain, -and they say, ‘Have we not prophesied, cast out devils, and done many -wonderful works in Thy name?’ Now it is said that if these persons had -been in a fixed state before, they could not have been in doubt on this -matter. The force of this objection is only apparent. The representations -of the judgment are after the manner of men, and consequently our -conceptions of it must be more or less according to what we are accustomed -to see on earth. The Saviour is warning his hearers not to delay -preparation for death; and, in order to impress his solemn exhortation, -tells them that many will find themselves disappointed in their expectations -in reference to the final decision of their judge, and that their hopes -of heaven, being built on the sand, will fail at last. It does no more exclusively -refer to that day than the many warnings to prepare to meet the -Son of Man refer to the time of his second coming. He is always coming, -and to prepare for death is to prepare to meet him. So to find ourselves -deceived at the day of death is the same as to find ourselves deceived at -the day of judgment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_794"></a>794. “(4.) Again, it is said that in some cases the full effects and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>156</span> -consequences of persons’ actions are not fully worked out when persons -die. Thus, for instance, it is known that the labours and writings of -many infidels, who are long since dead, are still working for evil; and on -the other hand, the labours and writings of many good men are still working -out good. These consequences must, in a certain sense, come into the -consideration of their punishment or reward. Hence it is thought their -destiny cannot immediately be decided. But to this it may be replied -that God, who judges, knows how these consequences will work themselves -out, and is able, therefore, to give a just judgment as well at the -day of death as at the end of the world. At the last day, when all consequences -have run out their history, it will be proper that they should -be exhibited in a solemn public judgment, that all may see for themselves -that all his ways are just and right. Besides, there is nothing unreasonable -or unscriptural in the belief that the happiness of the righteous in -heaven, and the misery of the lost in hell, will increase in exact proportion -as the consequences of their actions on the earth are developing themselves, -until the day of judgment, when the cup will be full, and then the -full draught of happiness or misery will be taken finally and forever! -Oh, what a moment will that be!</p> - -<p><a id="para_795"></a>795. “Some additional considerations will serve more completely still -to answer these and other objections, and reconcile the serious and thoughtful -mind to the idea that the souls of the saints are in heaven before the -resurrection of the body.</p> - -<p><a id="para_796"></a>796. “We shall only gain proper ideas in reference to this interesting -subject when we have corrected our ideas of heaven, for many of them are -evidently wrong. We are inclined to think of heaven as affording to the -saints a fixed or stereotyped condition, without attaching to it the idea of -degrees and progression. When we maintain that the saints pass immediately -at death into heaven, we do not mean that they enter then upon their -final condition, or into their highest state of perfection, but only that they -enter into that <i>place</i> which is their final abode. When, for instance, a -child is born into the world, it is in the world; but it is limited in its -observations, actions, ideas, capacities, and enjoyments, and yet all these -are in their state perfect; all its faculties occupy their place symmetrically, -and we have in the child a uniform but not a perfect being. Analogous -to this may be the primary stage of our future celestial history. The -child is in the world before it is born and during its infantile years, but -how different is it, and how different is the world to it, from what it will -be when all its faculties are ripe! So in heaven. The child before self-consciousness -appears to enjoy an indistinct and floating life, but happy -too; so may it be with our future condition before the resurrection of the -body. The condition of the disembodied spirit will, no doubt, be somewhat -isolated and lonely, (in a pleasant sense,) its happiness being derived -much, though not entirely, from the flow of its own harmonious existence,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>157</span> -and not from its connection with things external. Its future connection -with its body will arrest its floating condition, and connect it again more -consciously with locality and materiality. Thus it will become more -capable of social relations and joys; just as the child emerging from its -floating state in infancy has its social powers developed by being furnished -with self-consciousness and speech, by which it learns intelligently to -separate and distinguish itself from the general mass of being, which makes -its enjoyments higher in their nature and more acute and sensible in their -quality.</p> - -<p><a id="para_797"></a>797. “Perhaps the state of the saints previous to the resurrection of -the body, and in the first stage of their future being, may be analogous to -(but of course higher than) a state of ordinary sleep, with active, pleasant -dreaming. In dreams, the spirit acts and enjoys, unconscious of the body; -and may we not suppose that the spirit after death may, to a certain extent, -act and enjoy without the body? Perhaps it may in this state pass -profitably and pleasantly through the first stages of its future history. It -may, so to say, become habituated to eternal things, and develop its spiritual -capacities to such a degree as to be prepared, at the time of the -resurrection, to enter upon a more tangible and positive state of existence. -It may thus, also, become acquainted with purely spiritual beings, and with -the modes of purely spiritual existence. This will be useful, because the -saints after the resurrection will be required to hold communion with -things material and immaterial. While the saint is in this world, in the -body, he becomes conversant with material things, and habituated to them; -now, in the other world, in a disembodied state, previous to the resurrection, -he will become conversant with and habituated to purely spiritual -existence, so that after the resurrection, when soul and body are again -united, he will be able to hold converse and communion with either material -or immaterial existences at pleasure.</p> - -<p><a id="para_798"></a>798. “To this it may be objected that while those who lived in the -early ages of the world would have a long time to remain in this state of -celestial pupilage, those who live in later ages would have less, and those -in the last days scarcely any.</p> - -<p><a id="para_799"></a>799. “This objection, so far from militating against this idea, most -beautifully illustrates and confirms it. Thus the souls of men are more -developed in spiritual things now, and will be still more in future, than -they were in the earlier ages of the world. Those who lived in the morning -of the world had very limited and indistinct ideas of divine and -eternal things. Their views of a future world, especially, were exceedingly -misty and obscure. As the church advanced, life and immortality -were more and more brought to light. Revelation passed from types, -shadows, and ceremonies, into brighter and clearer realities; and spiritual -conceptions gained a firmer and more distinct hold upon the consciousness -of men. The new dispensation was an advance upon the old, as under the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>158</span> -old the age of prophecy had been upon the law, and the law upon the -simple twilight of the patriarchal age. In what a different light those who -lived after the new dispensation dawned, stood from those under the Old -Testament, is clear from what the Saviour says—‘Among those that are -born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but -he that is least in the kingdom of God’ (in the new dispensation) ‘is -greater than he.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_800"></a>800. “At the present day, clearer views are enjoyed than were enjoyed -in the early history of the Christian church. Let any one read the history -of the patristic controversies, and he will see how the most learned stumbled -among propositions in search of truth which are now clearly comprehended -by intelligent Sabbath-school children. And so it will go on into the -future. Spiritual ideas which are as giants to us, and the nature and -relations of which we do not see, will be apprehended by our successors at -once. Thus, under the tuition of the Spirit, revelation will show itself -progressive, and new things, as well as old, in reference to the spiritual -world, will be constantly and successively brought out of the treasure of -God’s word, of which the divine Spirit is the commentator. How, you -ask, does all this apply to the subject in hand? Thus the earlier a saint -lived in this world, the longer time for this heavenly pupilage he will have -in the next before the resurrection, and he needs more; the later he lived -in this world, the less will he have in the other before the resurrection, -and he needs less. Thus those who enjoy in this world superior advantages -on account of living under the clearer dispensation of divine truth in -the last ages of the church, shall not have any advantage over those who -had less on account of living in the first ages, since those who had less -will have longer time in the future world before the resurrection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_801"></a>801. “With this idea in view, the passage in 1 Thess. iv. 15 becomes -beautifully intelligible: ‘For this we say unto you by the word of the -Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, -shall not prevent’ (that is, shall not go before, anticipate, or have any -advantage over) ‘those which are asleep; the dead in Christ shall <span class="allsmcap">RISE</span> -first: <i>then</i>’ (when they have risen) ‘we which are alive and remain shall -be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the -air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord.’ Those who shall live in the -last moment, having had their spirits fully enlightened and prepared for a -future existence in the brightness of the latter-day glory before death, -shall not ‘sleep’ at all, for there will be no necessity for it; but ‘shall all -be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.’ -‘The dead shall be raised incorruptible,’ having been prepared for their -incorruptible body, but ‘we shall be changed.’ 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.</p> - -<p><a id="para_802"></a>802. “This theory may be seen in the same way to illustrate itself -consistently when applied to those who are lost. Those who live last in -the world, when superior light is around them, sin against greater light<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>159</span> -than those who lived earlier, and are therefore sooner prepared to have -their doleful station fixed finally in hell, in the union of soul and body.</p> - -<p><a id="para_803"></a>803. “The doctrine we present in reference to the condition of the -spirits of the saints in heaven, differs from the idea of a middle state, in a -third place, in several important particulars. It excludes the idea of a -middle place entirely, and of course all idea of probation, which is generally -attached to it in some form or other. The state of the spirit in -heaven, though imperfect, being the celestial childhood of the spirit, is -nevertheless final, and not probationary. Our enjoyments there will be in -exact proportion to our capacity; and as fast as our spirits are unfolded, -will our joys increase.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">‘The more our spirits are enlarged on earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The deeper draughts they shall receive of heaven.’</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_804"></a>804. “What an interesting moment to the spirit will be the moment -after death! What scenes will open up before it! The friends will stand -weeping over the now tenantless body, but the spirit is—oh!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">‘My thoughts pursue it where it flies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And trace its wondrous way!’</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_805"></a>805. “The Christian need have no unpleasant anxiety about what -scenes will open to him, for he knows that the glory which will then -break upon his astonished spirit will exceed his keenest anticipations.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="OF_MEDIUMSHIP">OF MEDIUMSHIP.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_806"></a>806. The facts which I have noticed in relation to mediumship, are -certainly among the most inexplicable in nature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_807"></a>807. There are two modes in which spiritual manifestations are made -through the influence or sub-agency of media. In the one mode, they employ -the tongue to speak, the fingers to write, or hands to actuate tables -or instruments for communication; in the other, they act upon ponderable -matter <i>directly</i>, through a halo or aura appertaining to media; so that -although the muscular power may be incapacitated for aiding them, they -will cause a body to move, or produce raps intelligibly so as to select letters -conveying their ideas, uninfluenced by those of the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_808"></a>808. Even where they act through the muscular frame of the media, -their vision may be intercepted by a screen, so that they cannot influence -the selection of the letters requisite to a communication. (<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_809"></a>809. Rappings or tappings are made at the distance of many feet from -the medium, and ponderable bodies, such as bells, are moved or made to -undergo the motion requisite to being rang.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>160</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_810"></a>810. It will be perceived that my spirit father, in reply to the queries -put in relation to this mystery, asks, “<i>How do you move your limbs—carry -the body wheresoever it goeth? how does God cause the movements of astronomical -orbs?</i>” (<a href="#para_457">457</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_811"></a>811. Evidently some instrument must intervene between the divine will -and the bodies actuated thereby, and in humble imitation between the -human will and the limbs. Upon the viscera our will has no influence. -The heart moves without the exercise of volition.</p> - -<p><a id="para_812"></a>812. As there is an ethereal medium by means of which light moves -through space from the remotest visible fixed star to the eye, at the -rate of two hundred thousand miles per second; as through an affection -of the same ether frictional electricity moves, according to Wheatstone’s -estimate, with a velocity exceeding that of light,—so may we not infer that -the instrument of Divine will acts with still greater velocity, and that in -making man in this respect after his own image, so far as necessary to an -available existence, gives him one degree of power over the same element -while in the mortal state, and another higher degree of power in the spiritual -state. But if there be an element through which a spirit within his -<i>mortal</i> frame is capable of actuating that frame, may not this element of -actuation be susceptible of becoming an instrument to the will of another -spirit in the <i>immortal state</i>?</p> - -<p><a id="para_813"></a>813. The aura of a medium which thus enables an immortal spirit to do -within its scope things which it cannot do otherwise, appears to vary with -the human being resorted to; so that only a few are so endowed with this -aura as to be competent as media. Moreover, in those who are so constituted -as to be competent instruments of spiritual actuation, this competency -is various. There is a gradation of competency, by which the nature of the -instrumentality varies from that which empowers violent loud knocking -and the moving of ponderable bodies without actual contact, to the grade -which confers power to make intellectual communications of the higher -order without that of audible knocking. Further, the power to employ -these grades of mediumship varies as the sphere of the spirit varies.</p> - -<p><a id="para_814"></a>814. It has been stated that mortals have each a halo perceptible to -spirits, by which they are enabled to determine the sphere to which any -individual will go on passing death’s portal. Spirits cannot approach effectively -a medium of a sphere much above, or below that to which they belong.</p> - -<p><a id="para_815"></a>815. As media, in proportion as they are more capable of serving for -the higher intellectual communication, are less capable of serving for mechanical -demonstration, and as they are more capable of the latter are less -competent for the former, spirits likewise have a higher or lower capacity -to employ media. It has been mentioned that having made a test apparatus, -my spirit sister alleged that it could not be actuated by her without -assistance of spirits from a lower sphere. I inquired whether she could -not meet me again, accompanied by the requisite aid. The reply was in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>161</span> -the affirmative, and accordingly she met me at an appointed hour, and my -apparatus was actuated effectually under test conditions. (<a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>, <i>dd</i>, <i>ii</i>, <i>kk</i>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_816"></a>816. After I had read over an exposition of my information respecting -the spirit world to the spirit of the illustrious Washington, I requested -him to give me a confirmation while the medium should be under test -conditions. (<a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>, <i>kk</i>.) I placed the hand of the medium upon the -board lever of the instrument, of which a representation has been given, -(<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>, <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>,) so as to be on the outer side of the fulcrum, and requested -him to attest the reliability of the medium during the previous -intercommunion. In reply it was alleged not to be within his power to -give me that test; I urged that this test had been given in his presence. -“<i>We had an employee, then</i>,” was his rejoinder. Fortunately I had contrived -a test instrument requiring less of the mechanical power, so that -by means of it he was enabled to perfect the evidence by bringing the index -to the affirmative, under conditions which put it out of the power of -the medium to produce that result. (See <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a> and description.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_817"></a>817. These facts make the subject of mediumship a most complicated -mystery; but the creation teems with mystery, so that inscrutability cannot -be a ground for disbelief of any thing. The only cases wherein there -is absolute incredibility, are those in which the definition of the premises -contradicts those of the inferences or conclusions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_818"></a>818. It is evident from the creative power which the spirits aver themselves -to possess, that they exercise faculties which they do not understand. -Their explanation of the mysteries of mediumship only substitutes -one mystery for another.</p> - -<p><a id="para_819"></a>819. If we undertake to generalize, it must come pretty near what I -have said above, that spirits are endowed, as my spirit father alleges, with -a “<i>magic will</i>,” capable of producing, as they allege, wonderful results -within their own world, (<a href="#para_452">452</a>;) nevertheless that this will does not act by -itself directly on mundane bodies. An intermedium is found in the halo -or aura within or without certain human organizations. The halos thus -existing are not all similarly endowed; some having one, some another -capability. Some are better for one object, some for another object. -Again, the will-power varies as the sphere of the spirits is higher or lower, -so that the medium suited for one is not suited for another.</p> - -<p><a id="para_820"></a>820. Thus the means by which they are capable of communicating is -various, and moreover precarious, according to the health and equanimity -of the mortal being under whose halo they may strive to act.</p> - -<p><a id="para_821"></a>821. Evidently, the ponderable elements recognised by mundane chemists -cannot contribute to any of the bodies of the spirit world, since their -gravity must disqualify them for use in a world where every thing is, in -comparison with them, weightless. Accordingly, one of the queries put by -me to the convocation of spirits (<a href="#para_574">574</a>) was, whether any of our elements, -being ponderable, could act as such in the imponderable spiritual creation.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>162</span> -The reply was, Not without undergoing a transformation. This would be -equivalent to annihilating them first, and recreating them afterward, when -the process of creating alone would be sufficient. But manifestly it is of -no importance, whether their adaptation to the spirit world be the result -of creation or of transformation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_822"></a>822. Concerned in the processes of mediumship, it is manifest that -there is none of that kind of electricity or magnetism of which the laws -and phenomena have been the subject of Faraday’s researches, and which -are treated of in books, under the heads of frictional or mechanical electricity, -galvanism, or electro-magnetism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_823"></a>823. Frictional electricity, such as produced usually by the friction of -glass in an electrical machine, or of aqueous globules generated by steam -escaping from a boiler, is always to be detected by electrometers, or the -spark given to a conducting body when in communication with the earth; -the human knuckle, for instance. When not sufficiently accumulated to -produce these evidences of its presence, it must be in a very feeble state -of excitement. But even in the highest accumulation by human means, -as in the discharge of a powerfully charged Leyden battery, it only acts for -a time inconceivably brief, and does not move ponderable masses as they -are moved in the instance of spiritual manifestation. It is only <i>in transitu</i>, -that frictional electricity displays much power, and then its path is extremely -narrow, and the duration of its influence inconceivably minute. -According to Wheatstone’s experiments and calculations, it would go round -the earth in the tenth part of a second.</p> - -<p><a id="para_824"></a>824. How infinitely small, then, the period required to go from one side -of a room to another! Besides, there are neither means of generating such -electricity, nor of securing that insulation which must be an indispensable -precursor of accumulation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_825"></a>825. Galvanic or voltaic electricity does not act at a distance so as to -produce any recognised effects, except in the case of magnetic metals, or -in the state of transition produced by an electric discharge. In these phenomena -the potent effects are attainable only by means of perfect insulated -conductors, as we see in the telegraphic apparatus. No reaction with imperfect -conducting bodies competent to toss them to and fro, or up and -down, can be accomplished. The decomposing influence, called electrolytic, -is only exhibited at insensible distances, within a filament of the matter -affected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_826"></a>826. It has appeared to me a great error on the part of spirits, as well -as mortals, that they should make efforts to explain the phenomena of the -spirit world by the ponderable or imponderable agents of the temporal -world. The fact that the rays of our sun do not affect the spirit world, -and that there is for that region an appropriate luminary whose rays we -do not perceive, (<a href="#para_415">415</a>) must demonstrate that the imponderable element to -which they owe their peculiar light differs from the ethereal fluid which,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>163</span> -according to the undulatory theory, is the means of producing light in the -terrestrial creation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_827"></a>827. In one of the replies made by the convocation, (<a href="#para_571">571</a>,) the idea -was sanctioned of the effulgence of the spirit being due to an appropriate -ethereal fluid, analogous to that above alluded to. But it has, I think, -been shown by me, that as light is due to the <i>undulations</i> of <i>our</i> ether, so -electricity is due to <i>waves</i> of <i>polarization</i>. But if undulations produce -light in the ether of the spiritual universe as well as in ours, why may -not polarization produce in the ether of the spirit world an electricity analagous -to ours? Thus, although in spiritual manifestations our electricity -takes no part, their electricity may be the means by which their will is -transmitted effectually in the phenomena which it controls.</p> - -<p><a id="para_828"></a>828. The words <i>magnetism</i> and <i>magnetic</i> are used in this world in two -different senses. In one, it signifies the magnetism of magnets or electromagnets; -in the other, the animal magnetism of which the existence was -suggested by Mesmer, and which is commonly called Mesmerism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_829"></a>829. This mesmerical magnetism seems to be dependent rather on properties -which we have as immortals, encased in a corporeal clothing, than -as mortals owing our mental faculties to that frame. If it be the spiritual -portion of our organization which is operative in clairvoyancy, spiritual -electricity may be the intermedium both of that faculty and of mesmeric -influence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_830"></a>830. All spirits are clairvoyant more or less, and where this faculty is -exercised, it seems to be due to an unusual ascendancy of the spiritual -powers over the corporeal, so that clairvoyants possess some of the faculties -which every spirit, after <i>shuffling off the mortal coil</i>, must possess to -a greater or less extent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_831"></a>831. In striving to make a test apparatus by which the communication -should be uninfluenced by the muscular power of the medium, through -which alone her will could modify the ideas communicated, an interesting -fact was ascertained. The nullifying of the power of muscular control, -which it is the object of this contrivance to accomplish, is obtained unexceptionally -by means of two balls and a plate, as already illustrated, -(<a href="#PLATE_II">Plate 2</a>,) or by placing the hands of the medium exterior to the fulcrum -of the lever-board, as described in the instance of testing the communication -received from the convocation. But these methods requiring that the -conditions should be favourable, both, as respects the spirit communicating -and the medium, are liable to fail. It struck me that the distance between -the hands and the surface of the table or tray to be moved, by lessening -the influence of the medium on the table or tray, lessened the power of -actuation. My efforts were therefore directed to contrive to have the -hand of the medium near the surface to be moved, without the possibility -of contact.</p> - -<p><a id="para_832"></a>832. With this view I placed a board for receiving the hands of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>164</span> -medium upon delicate rollers, so that no horizontal movement would affect -the base board supporting the rollers and actuating the index. To give -greater efficacy to the aura, a plate of glass was supported in a wooden -frame or sash by means of four screw rods fixed upright on the base board, -each furnished with two screw nuts. The screw rods passed through four -suitable holes, so as to have one nut beneath, the other above, the sash. -Thus situated, by adjusting the nuts, the sash could be regulated to any -horizontal level, so as to be near the upper surfaces of the hands without -any contact therewith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_833"></a>833. On trying this arrangement, it was found as difficult for a spirit to -actuate it as if the glazed sash had not been employed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_834"></a>834. Under these circumstances, I had the glass plate or pane slit lengthwise -into two equal strips. These being restored to the position previously -occupied in the sash, I interposed between their edges a piece of sheet-tin, -with teeth cut in one of its edges, (<a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>, <i>kk</i>,) so as to make it look like a -long narrow saw, such as are used by sawyers in frames. With the aid of a -leaden joint, (such as is used by glaziers to join glass panes,) to which the -saw was soldered, the teeth of this projected about the eighth of an inch -below the glass, so as to be near the upper surface of any hand, resting on -the sliding board.</p> - -<p><a id="para_835"></a>835. It was with no small degree of satisfaction that I found the apparatus -now sufficiently susceptible of actuation by my spirit friends.</p> - -<p><a id="para_836"></a>836. From this result it would seem that the saw-shaped metallic conductor, -operated precisely as it would have acted had it been necessary to -impart to the pane those means of electric discharge of which, as at first -used, it was deficient.</p> - -<p><a id="para_837"></a>837. As soon as I had introduced the serrated conductor, my spirit -father corroborated the impression that it promoted the influence of the -medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_838"></a>838. This was the first instance in which I have discovered any analogy -between the laws governing the communication of the medium of the -spirit will-power, and those obeyed by electrical phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_839"></a>839. An account is given in my narrative of an experiment in which a -board, suspended at one end from a spring-balance, was made to descend -with a force of three pounds, through the instrumentality of a medium who -had no connection with the board, excepting water which was interposed. -Hence, as the hook screwed into the board, by which it was secured to -the hook of the balance, was six times as far from the fulcrum as the -hands of the medium, the force exerted by the officiating spirit was equal -to 3 × 6 = 18 pounds. (See <a href="#PLATE_III">Plate 3</a>, and description.) Nevertheless, -no upward reaction was perceptible to me, nor was any experienced by the -medium, Henry Gordon, as he declared.</p> - -<p><a id="para_840"></a>840. In the case of the boy (<a href="#PLATE_III">Plate 3</a>,) a downward action of seven pounds -was observed, which, multiplied by the difference of distance, amounted to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>165</span> -7 × 6 = 42 pounds, and yet the boy was not perceptibly impelled in the -opposite direction. Nor, when through the same juvenile mediumship, -the whole of the apparatus was thrown upon the floor, did the boy appear -to be impelled in the opposite direction. Nor was there any reaction when -the apparatus was thrown down. Now, agreeably to the laws of nature, -as established by human experience, in all cases of motion or momentum, -there must be an equal force exercised in the opposite direction by the <i>vis -inertiæ</i> of some other matter endowed with that attribute. Hence Archimedes -said, “Give me but where to stand, and I will move the world.” A point -of support, a place of resistance, however, was held to be indispensable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_841"></a>841. The only explanation of which I can conceive is, that spirits, by -volition, can deprive bodies of <i>vis inertiæ</i>, and move bodies, as they do -themselves, by their will. But the necessity of the presence of a medium -to the display of this power, granting its existence, is a mystery.</p> - -<p><a id="para_842"></a>842. That the spirit should, by its “magic” will-power, take possession -of the frame of a human being, so as to make use of its brain and nervous -system, depriving its appropriate owner of control, is a wonderful fact -sufficiently difficult to believe, yet, nevertheless, intelligible. The aura -which surrounds a medium must be imponderable. No volition of the -medium can, through its instrumentality, move ponderable bodies, nor cause -raps or consequent vibrations in the wooden boards. Hence, the presence -of a medium imparts power to spirits which the medium does not possess.</p> - -<p><a id="para_843"></a>843. The aura on the one side, and the spirit on the other, are inert -unless associated. Thus the volition of the spirit gives activity to an -effluvium, by itself, so devoid of efficacy that it wholly escapes the perception -of the possessor or the observation of his mundane companions. It has -been already alleged, that the usual reference to mundane electricity must -be wholly unsatisfactory to all acquainted with the phenomena and laws -associated under that name; since no such movements have ever been -produced by such electrical means, nor is it consistent with those mundane -electrical laws, nor the facts which electricians have noticed, that such -movements should be produced. Those movements which have been produced -by electricity have never been effected without surfaces oppositely -charged, nor, of course, without the means of charging them. Neither are -there associated with the spiritual manifestations means at hand of creating -nor of holding charges either much more minute than those which -display perceptible force or cause audible sound.</p> - -<p><a id="para_844"></a>844. Electro-magnetic phenomena require the use of powerful galvanic -batteries or magnetic metals. Galvanic series, of the most powerful kind, -do not act at the minutest distance without contact.</p> - -<p><a id="para_845"></a>845. Even lightning could not move a table backward and forward, -though it might shatter it into pieces, if duly interposed in a circuit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_846"></a>846. Electrical sparks produce <i>snapping</i> sounds in the air, not <i>knockings</i> -or <i>rappings</i> upon sonorous solids.</p> -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>166</span></p> - -<h3 id="ON_THE_INFLUENCE_OF_THE_ILL-TREATMENT_OF_MEDIA_ON_SPIRITUAL">ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE ILL-TREATMENT OF MEDIA, ON SPIRITUAL -MANIFESTATIONS.—OF COUNTER-MEDIUMSHIP.</h3> - - - -<p><a id="para_847"></a>847. Allusion has been above made to the unfavourable influence -upon manifestations of the demeanour and incredulity of the investigator, -displayed in suspicious, cold, scrutinizing looks, such as would be merited -only by a cheat or pickpocket. All this has a deteriorating influence upon -mediumship, and likewise repels the spirits. While communicating through -a medium, a near blood relative, much beloved by the communicating -spirit while in this world, coming into the circle, an immediate departure -of the spirit was the consequence. It was subsequently alleged in explanation -that there existed a repulsiveness between him and the spirit, founded -on the idea that his opinions were under the influence of worldly considerations, -whence a predetermination to disbelieve, as far as possible, by -an unfavourable view of the evidence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_848"></a>848. An incredulity liable to be overcome by the reason by which it has -been created does not form a bar; but where an impregnable bigotry has -been introduced merely by education, so that the person under its influence -would have been a Catholic, Calvinist, Unitarian, Jew, or Mohammedan -by a change of parentage, cannot usually be changed by any evidence or -argument. Spirits will not spend their time subjecting their manifestations -to such impregnable bigotry, or to predetermined malevolence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_849"></a>849. On this account such persons find it hard to obtain the manifestations -which they seek with ill-will to Spiritualism, and a predisposition to -ridicule and pervert it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_850"></a>850. Besides this difficulty, there is no doubt a constitutional state, -the inverse of that which creates a medium. The atmosphere of persons -so constituted, neutralizes that of those who are endowed with that of -mediumship.</p> - -<p><a id="para_851"></a>851. It were impossible for any one to be more incredulous than I was -when I commenced my investigations; but in the first place, my recorded -religious impressions, founded on more than a half century of intense -reflection, in no respect conflicted with the belief which Spiritualism -required. As I said to a clergyman, I wish I knew as well what I ought -to believe, as I can perceive what I ought not to believe. I was ardently -desirous that the existence of a future state should be established in a way -to conform to positive science, so that they might start together. This -was perceived by my spirit friends, and that they had only to give me -sufficient evidence of the existence of spirits and their world, to make me -lay down in the cause my comparatively worthless mortal life, could I be -more useful to truth in dying than in living.</p> - -<p><a id="para_852"></a>852. My father and sister, brother and friend Blodget, were therefore -not deterred by my sneers or denunciations. Moreover, I was never pre<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>167</span>disposed -to suspect any medium of treachery, and therefore never disgusted -them by the display of any such impressions. To the aid of these truly -angelic spirits who were nearly allied with me, came another angel, (whom -I will designate by his initials W. W.,) who, from philanthropic motives, -seems to have selected me to serve in this invaluable dispensation. Hence, -his first annunciation of my destined course, in language which so far, however -it may imply an overestimate of my capacity to serve, shows the more -the partiality with which it seems to have been estimated by him. (<a href="#para_47">47</a>.)</p> - - -<h4>The Author’s Discovery of his powers as a Medium.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_853"></a>853. It occurred to me to try how far the interposition of my hand -would interfere with the powers of the medium to whom I resorted. To -my surprise, it seemed very little to impair the actuation of the index by -the officiating spirit. It next occurred to me to ascertain how far a diminution -of contact, between the hand of the medium and mine, would impair -the power exercised under these conditions. In pursuance of my -request, the contact was diminished by successively lifting the fingers of -the medium and the rest of the hand from mine, until only one finger -was left. Finally, this finger was removed, and yet the power of actuation -still continued to exist, though enfeebled. The officiating spirit, my -friend W. W., now was made a party to this investigation, being requested -to estimate the effects as well as myself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_854"></a>854. I requested the medium to pick up a pair of scissors which lay on -the table, and, while holding the blades between the finger and thumb, to -lay the rings upon the back of my hand. An increase of power was -manifested to my observation and that of W. W.</p> - -<p><a id="para_855"></a>855. At a subsequent sitting, having made due preparation, a strip of -sheet tin about two inches wide, and about fifteen inches in length, being -applied to the back of my hand while resting on the base board of the -spiritoscope, (<a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>, Fig. 2,) the medium held it successively at various -distances. Under these circumstances, the facilitation was greater as the -distance between her hand and mine was diminished.</p> - -<p><a id="para_856"></a>856. A plate of glass of about four inches square, interposed between -the palm of the hand of the medium and the back of mine, interrupted -the power entirely; but neither cork nor a metallic plate of a similar size -much reduced the power.</p> - -<p><a id="para_857"></a>857. The frame (Fig. 3, <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate 4</a>) being <i>in situ</i>, as described, paragraph -<i>kk</i> of the description, under these circumstances the removal of the -serrated strips diminished the power more and more as removed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_858"></a>858. Thus it appears that there is a mesmeric electricity, or spiritual -electricity, which may be considered as appropriate to the spirit world as -their vital air is; but which like that air, may influence our spiritual bodies -while in their mundane tenement. It may, as well as the vital air of the -spirit world, belong in common to the inhabitants of that world and to us<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>168</span> -as spirits, being a polarizing affection of the spiritual ethereal medium, -of which the undulations constitute the peculiar rays of their spiritual sun.</p> - -<p><a id="para_859"></a>859. That this spiritual or mesmeric electricity should be auxiliary to -the efficacy of the magic will-power, of spirits, is of course one of those -mysteries which, like that of gravitation, may be ascertained to prevail, -and yet be to spirits as well as mortals inexplicable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_860"></a>860. We live in a wonder-working universe, which becomes more and -more wonderful as we learn more of it, instead of being brought more -within our comprehension. When we compare what we know with the -knowledge of savages, it may appear a mountain of learning and science; -but this very learning and science only makes us see still more how great -is our ignorance!</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="ON_PSYCHOLOGICAL_EXPLANATIONS_OF_SPIRITUAL_MANIFESTATIONS"> -ON PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_861"></a>861. This, for the third time, brings under discussion the report of -Dr. Bell, of Somerville, near Boston, on spiritual manifestations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_862"></a>862. It is not in reference to this distinguished physician in his individual -capacity that I name him thus often, but in reference to the hypothesis -which his allegations must oblige him to sustain, and of which he -may be considered a most respectable advocate. Dr. Bell not only admits, -but confirms by his own testimony, the important fact of the movement -of heavy bodies without contact. His experience, in this respect, is more -striking than mine, since he has not only seen this phenomena take place -repeatedly, but on one occasion, as before stated, saw tables move <i>fifty</i> feet, -intelligently obedient to his directions. He also admits the reception of -such communications from pretended spirits, as spiritualists would consider -as coming from real spirits. Yet on the negative ground, that -<i>agreeably to his experience, nothing was found to be communicable</i> but -what pre-existed in the mind of some mortal present, he infers that the -ideas received are not derived from spirits, but from the minds of those -mortals who are parties to the process.</p> - -<p><a id="para_863"></a>863. Of course our distinguished friend thus involves himself in the -task of explaining not only the intellectual, but also the mechanical movements, -by the mental agency of the media who participate in the conditions -under which the manifestations occur.</p> - -<p><a id="para_864"></a>864. I have already adduced manifestations irreconcilable with the -assumption on which the whole of Dr. Bell’s inference is built, (<a href="#para_111">111</a> to 288.) -But were his observations verified, in order to make them justify the abnegation -of spirits, it should be shown that any spirit could tell him <i>any</i> -thing which must be known to him, whether known to the spirits or not.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>169</span> -Remembering all the facts communicated to him by his spirit brother, it -should be shown that any other spirit could narrate them as well as his -spirit brother. Any inquiry made of <i>any</i> spirit, <i>of which the answer is -known to the inquirer</i>, should be told on request as well as any other; -but it will be found that answers are given only to those of which the -spirit knows the answers independently, through his own memory. Under -favourable circumstances mental questions are answered; but often, -when mental questions cannot be answered, those put verbally are replied -to. I have detected spirit impostors, by their inability to tell the name of -my sister in the spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_865"></a>865. I postponed the discussion on this question until I should have -submitted to the reader the communications which I had received. I -trust that these are of a nature to show that they could not have originated -in my mind, nor in those of the media through whom they were obtained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_866"></a>866. Whatever want of ability may be shown, by Dr. Bell, to exist in -the communications alleged to come from Paine, Swedenborg, and Bacon, -or from spirits personating those distinguished men, it cannot do away -the valuable information which I have obtained from my spirit father and -others, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits. It has been shown that in -a few pages of that communication, there is vastly more knowledge of -our happy prospects in the future world, than all that can be found in the -Scriptures.</p> - -<p><a id="para_867"></a>867. Dr. Bell will not, I am sure, suspect me of any want of truthfulness, -and will hardly flatter the media and myself with an unconscious -origination of ideas, which had never before occurred to either.</p> - -<p><a id="para_868"></a>868. If he finds that in the case of Swedenborg and Bacon the spirits -are below their medial instruments in capacity, he will find that in the -instance of my spirit friends this estimate must be inverted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_869"></a>869. My experience does not tend to establish that there is less folly or -more wisdom in the inhabitants of the spirit world than in this. I concur -with Dr. Bell in the opinion that the work to which he alludes, attributed -to the spirit of Paine, merits all the denunciation which he bestows -on it. I concur that it must be the work of a mind, whether celestial or -mundane, ignorant of the rudiments of chemical philosophy. But if such -a work coming from a mortal would not disprove the author’s claim to be -a mortal human being, wherefore then should a foolish book coming from -a foolish, ignorant spirit, personating Paine, disprove the author to be a -spirit? It only shows that low, ignorant, foolish spirits personate the -spirits of eminent authors; but does that disprove the existence of spirits? -Does madness or idiocy annihilate the victim of these afflictions? But in -all cases where communications are obtained through speaking or writing -media, the minds of the media are liable, unconsciously, to pervert or -repress the sentiments of the spirits, and therefore are not trusted by me, -unless corroborated by communications through the alphabet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>170</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_870"></a>870. By their existence in the spheres, it seems to me that spirits improve -as to their talents, not as to their reasoning powers. They have a -superior knowledge to that which we possess of their own world, but not -of our sciences, as far as I have had means of judging. Having no great -objects to effect, they have no great incentive to thought or contrivance. -It is by learning, more than by invention, that they rise in the spheres.</p> - -<p><a id="para_871"></a>871. These inferences are not, however, admitted by the spirits. They -allege that as their medial instruments improve, they will give me reason -to change my opinion. They assume to go deeper and farther into the -nature of things than mortals.</p> - -<p><a id="para_872"></a>872. To me it seems that their happiness is due in part to self-felicitation -and seeing every thing under a rosy hue. They often advert to the -superior height upon which they stand, without showing that they see more -in consequence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_873"></a>873. So far as I can judge, in some branches of knowledge, the spirits -will improve by discussion with mortals. They will be cured of some of -their “sky scraping!”</p> - -<p><a id="para_874"></a>874. They seem to be mainly improved by their reciprocal intercourse. -Thus honest bigots of all sects, find when they get together that in point -of fact none of their records are true!</p> - -<p><a id="para_875"></a>875. It is by getting rid of error, more than acquiring knowledge, that -they rise in reciprocal estimation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_876"></a>876. Very soon after my father began to communicate with me, nearly -fourteen months ago, he said—“We know little more in religion than you.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_877"></a>877. They all agree that good works are solely of importance, creeds -only being good or bad as they induce good or bad deeds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_878"></a>878. A good man cannot accept a creed which sanctions wickedness; -that, for instance, which authorizes, under certain sophistical pretences, -spoliation, massacre, rape, fraud, &c. Whenever any man brings himself -to believe that his God ever authorized such crimes, or patronized -those who were guilty of them, he becomes more or less immoral. Dr. Berg -truly alleged that “<i>a devotee is assimilated to the God whom he worships</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_879"></a>879. To assist me, as it were, in exposing the errors of those who with -Dr. Bell admit, for the most part, the facts of Spiritualism, yet ascribe the -whole to the minds of mortals acting as media or inquirers, an advocate -of that side of the question gives this explanation of the fact of my having -sent a message to Mrs. Gourlay by my spirit sister:</p> - -<p><a id="para_880"></a>880. He alleged it as a fact, that if two snails be placed in proximity, -and afterward apart to a considerable distance, that the contact of one, will -affect the other perceptibly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_881"></a>881. That Mrs. Gourlay and myself being frequently in each other’s -society, it followed that if at the distance of about a hundred miles I wished -her to induce Dr. Gourlay to apply at the bank, Mrs. Gourlay, although -at the time engaged in receiving a most interesting communication from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>171</span> -her mother for her brother, had so much more snail-like sympathy, with -me at Cape Island, than with the ideas she believed to proceed from her -mother, that she would interrupt the one forthwith, to attend to the other -at that particularly inconvenient time! Meanwhile, the phenomenon of -the index of my disk being moved independently of any effort of mine, so -that I can make oath that no mortal moved it, is not taken into view. -Surely if by such means a message respecting a pecuniary affair could -awaken sympathy, there are many messages which it would be of immensely -more importance to convey, than that which I sent in the instance -in question.</p> - -<p><a id="para_882"></a>882. But how comes it that neither I nor any other of her friends can -send messages to Mrs. Gourlay while in the same city with her? Must -her friends go to Cape Island for the purpose? Will this erudite and ingenious -psychologist inform me by what means I may bring about this -object, which, on business account, would be more convenient than sending -notes by penny post?</p> - -<p><a id="para_883"></a>883. Am I to go through the same process of sitting down at my spiritoscope? -Will this learned assailant of Spiritualism inform me why I must -do this, and must wait till the index moves? Wherefore should it move -after a quarter of an hour’s invocation, when it will not move at first?</p> - -<p><a id="para_884"></a>884. Again, I wish the circumstance I am about to mention to be explained -by psychology: I was sitting in my solitary third-story room at -Cape Island, invoking my sister as usual, when to my surprise I saw Cadwallader -spelt out on my disk. “My old friend, General Cadwallader?” -said I. “Yes.” A communication ensued of much interest. But before -concluding, I requested him, as a test, to give me the name of a person -whom I met in an affair of honour more than fifty years ago, when he -(General Cadwallader) was my second. The name was forthwith given, -by the pointing out on the disk the letters requisite to spell it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_885"></a>885. Now as the spirit of General Cadwallader, during more than fifteen -months that other friends had sought to communicate with me, had never -made me a visit, why should his name have been spelt out when I had not -the remotest hope of his coming, and was expecting another spirit, the -only one who had been with me at the Cape?</p> - -<p><a id="para_886"></a>886. Further, the breakfast bell having rung, I said, “General, will you -come again after breakfast?” I understood him to consent to this invitation. -Accordingly, when afterward I reseated myself in <i>statu quo</i>, I -looked for the General, but, lo! Martha, my sister’s name, was spelt out!</p> - -<p><a id="para_887"></a>887. I challenge this psychologist to put his hypothesis on paper, in -order that I may psychologize him into a more consistent assumption of premises -and conclusions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_888"></a>888. Let him show his hand by reducing his sophistry, as I conscientiously -consider it, to black and white. He may learn the difference between -talent and judgment. I am aware that he shows a vast deal more of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>172</span> -<i>appropriate</i> ability of his profession in defending the view he has espoused, -than I could hope to exert. It is only in the strength of truth that I feel -strong. “Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_889"></a>889. It is of no small importance that this learned and subtle psychologist, -should explain how my spiritoscope, or any other instrumental means -of alphabetic indication, becomes necessary to effect the psychologization of -a medium at a great distance, so as to convey to her mind the ideas which it -is an object to impart. Why is it necessary that the index over a disk at -Cape May, should revolve to the letters requisite to spell a message, in -order that the index of another disk in Philadelphia, should revolve at a -<i>subsequent</i> time? How does the mechanism in one place, acquire a power -from the remote actuation of another? Will it be pretended that they -are affected analogously to the sympathetic snails; whence, having kept -each other’s company, this miracle ensued? But even this is not true, since -they were not kept together, if ever they were in each other’s company.</p> - -<p><a id="para_890"></a>890. Could any process be divined by which an instrument for supposed -alphabetic communication with spirits, could be applied to transmit such -messages as that for which I employed mine, according to this psychological -hypothesis, it would be superior to the existing telegraphic process, -since the ocean could be no barrier to messages which, although dependent -on snail-like sympathy, would have nothing in it of the proverbial -creeping attribute of the animal in question.</p> - -<p><a id="para_891"></a>891. The following manifestations are of a nature, as it seems to me, to -invalidate Dr. Bell’s notion that the communications received from the -spirit are acquired from the minds of the bystanders:</p> - -<p><a id="para_892"></a>892. Calling on Miss Ellis, it was found that her time was so pre-engaged, -that she could not, as she said, sit for me till the day but one -succeeding. My spirit sister manifested her desire to communicate, and -conveyed the idea that Miss Ellis could give an hour named next day, if -she would examine her list. This examination being made, the suggestion -was verified.</p> - -<p><a id="para_893"></a>893. Here was an idea not obtained from the mind of any person present. -It could not exist in the minds of those who, like my friend and -myself, had not seen the list, nor could it have been in Miss Ellis’s mind, -as in that case she would not have had to consult the list, in order to determine -the truth of the suggestion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_894"></a>894. In this visit, Dr. W. F. Channing, who was my companion, said -that possibly he had better not accompany me. It was left to my spirit -sister to decide. No instrument being ready, as the quickest mode of -communication, the medium was made to take up her pen, and began forthwith -to make figures upon a sheet of paper. When the operation terminated, -nothing but figures were seen to have been written. The medium -said she did not know what to make of it. But <i>under</i> the letters it was -written, “Select, from the alphabet, the letters corresponding, and you have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>173</span> -my answer.” This being done, the following sentence was obtained: “<i>My -dear brother, come alone.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_895"></a>895. It cannot be reasonably imagined that either Miss Ellis, my friend, -or myself suggested this reply, as my friend and myself regretted the -result, and it was not the interest of Miss Ellis to lessen the circle. But -none of us had the ability to have perceived the numbers indicating the -relative position of letters in the alphabetic row, so as to have selected -them correctly. It would take some time to associate the letters with the -numbers duly, and an unusual strength of memory to recollect them.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="MODERN_PROCESS_FOR_ALPHABETIC_CONVERSE_WITH_SPIRITS_AS">MODERN PROCESS FOR ALPHABETIC CONVERSE WITH SPIRITS, AS -NEW TO MAN AS THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_896"></a>896. In his instructive work on Spiritualism, the idea is advanced by -Capron, that the species of modern spirit communication, of which his -book mainly treats, dates back to a period of history so early that no age -or country is exempt from accounts of them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_897"></a>897. To me it seems that I have never read any thing in history in -which intellectual communication was established by sounds or mechanical -movements with invisible beings. Sight has almost always been the -sense most appealed to in evidence of the appearance of ghosts. In the -instance of the Witch of Endor, Samuel is made to come from his grave, -not like one of our happy spirits from his beautiful abode in the spirit -world:—</p> - -<p>“Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he -said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried -with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou -deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not -afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw -gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he -of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a -mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his -face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why -hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore -distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed -from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: -therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what -I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing -the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the -Lord hath done to him as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the -kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: -Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>174</span> -wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee -this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the -hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with -me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the -Philistines.” 1 Sam. xxviii. 11-19.</p> - -<p><a id="para_898"></a>898. It is represented in this quotation, that the ghost of Samuel came -and conversed with Saul; that he “<i>ascendeth out of the earth; an old -man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle</i>.” Where is there any -thing in common between this representation and the process by which I -communicate with my familiar spirits,—not coming up from the grave, or -the disgusting heaven of Josephus, but from their magical abodes in the -skies! I challenge any one to adduce the idea, as having ever been expressed, -that any one had found any mode of conversing with spirits -resembling in its operation that which we now have discovered. This -seems to be as new to the spirits as to us, being as much a novelty as the -electric telegraph. The very limited degree in which it has been recently -accomplished has been attained with very great difficulty. It appears that -efforts were made to establish this intercourse in England at the mansion -of the celebrated Wesley, without any beneficial result. If ever this art -had been discovered, certainly it would not have been lost. Even the idea -of rapping or knocking <i>independently of mortal agency</i>, had the fact ever -been established, could not have been held so incredible as it was, almost -universally, when it took place at Hydesville, or in Great Britain, as above -mentioned.</p> - -<p><a id="para_899"></a>899. The learned Dr. Priestley, utterly incredulous that the rappings -at Wesley’s could be ascribed to any supermundane agency, attributes it -to some trick on the part of servants, assisted by neighbours. It appears -that in general the most scientific and well-read persons are the -most backward in ascribing such phenomena to invisible spirits. If, -therefore, during past ages such inscrutable noises and movements of -bodies had occurred, resembling those recently noticed, still no such use -had been made of them as we now behold. Such manifestations being -once so far demonstrated as to induce people of sound mind to unite -in referring them to the immortal spirits of departed friends, is a fact of -such awful, thrilling interest, that it never could have become obsolete; -especially as the same state of things which permitted it once to be -successfully witnessed, would have led to its reiteration. Neither the -spirits nor mortals had laid it aside, any more than the telegraph or the -railways will be disused, after experiencing the advantages of those inventions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_900"></a>900. Is there not as much reason for the lateness of this discovery, as -for that of any of those inventions by which modern times are distinguished -from ancient? Even now, with what difficulty has it been accomplished -to the degree to which it has arrived. After eighteen months of laborious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>175</span> -investigation, I find myself surrounded by inveterate skeptics among my -own family friends and most of my comrades in science.</p> - -<p><a id="para_901"></a>901. There is scarcely a country besides this in which I should escape -legal penalties or tyrannical restraint, in expressing the opinions which I -most devoutly entertain, and am impelled irresistibly to express; and, -although in this country, free from legal penalties, there is scarcely an -orthodox female tongue belonging to some of the best of the sex (in all -other respects amiable) which will not devote itself universally in the service -of bigotry and intolerance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_902"></a>902. But beside the arguments thus founded, there is another, resting -on the fact that had there been any intellectual communication with the -spirit world, there could not have been such an ignorance of the religious -doctrines which there prevail. There is in that world no diversity as -respects the existence and unity of God; nor as to the unimportance of -those creeds which have caused in this world so much mischief, by the -consequent animosity, persecutions, and warfare. The superior efficacy of -good works over creeds is by the <i>higher</i> spirits invariably insisted upon.</p> - -<p><a id="para_903"></a>903. Then, agreeably to the same authority, the idea of an omnipotent, -omniscient, and prescient God being under the necessity of subjecting -things to trial, is considered as involving a contradiction; the premises -being irreconcilable with the conclusion. There is not an elevated spirit -that will not answer in the affirmative, every query proposed in the verses -inserted, (page 34.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_904"></a>904. There is but one sentiment as respects the question between probation -and progression, and that is in favour of the latter. “Onward and -upward is the motto on our spiritual banner.” Such is the language held, -and repeated over and over again. It would not take a quarter of an hour -for a spirit to pour information into the ear of a mortal which, if credited, -would put an end to all honest discord respecting religion, and induce that -mortal thenceforth to look to the spirit world as his ultimate destination. -The language of the paragraph in the address through Lanning, would go -home to every human mortal having reason to comprehend it, so that -whatever they might pursue in this world would be with an ultimate view -to ascendancy in the other. (See Preface.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_905"></a>905. Bigotry, fanaticism, selfish sectarianism, the want of media and -bold, enlightened investigators, seem to have formed impenetrable obstacles -to the promulgation of a knowledge of the greatest importance to human -prosperity, morals, and future happiness. No doubt that so much evil -should arise merely from want of a knowledge so near at hand, is one of -the facts which human reason finds it most difficult to reconcile with the -power and goodness of the Almighty Ruler of the universe; but that is a -difficulty which exists in case any one creed be assumed as true; since none -has been heretofore so communicated as to be within the reach of mankind -in general. Meanwhile the error has originated in various sects, that they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>176</span> -have been especially favoured by God, so that they alone of all his creatures -have had true light let in upon them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_906"></a>906. Happily, from the mode in which the light of Spiritualism has -been received by its present votaries, it may be gradually extended to all -their fellow-creatures; and meanwhile those who enjoy this light do not -assume that their fellow-creatures who are in this respect less fortunate, -are on that account to be censured, denounced, and persecuted as far as the -power to persecute goes. Spiritualists believe the wonderful manifestations -on which their creed rests, to have far more testimony in its favour than -any other before accredited; and that the manifestations relied on being -more recent, and observed by multitudes of eye-witnesses, known by their -neighbours to be truthful, have, as <i>mere hearsay proof</i>, an immense superiority -over the recorded tradition of an obscure, illiterate, superstitious -age and country. But then the same privilege which has been enjoyed by -one set of observers belongs to any succeeding number, and no less to succeeding -ages than to this. It is not assumed that any special inspiration -appertains to any existing being, as an instrument of promoting truth, that -will not inure to others. No particular exclusive capacity for miracles is -claimed for this age; on the contrary, the belief is that in this, as in other -things, there will be improvement and progression, and that posterity will -learn directly from the same high angelic source whence we learn.</p> - -<p><a id="para_907"></a>907. The more the moral code of Spiritualism is contrasted with that -which has heretofore prevailed, the better we shall be pleased. We challenge -the strongest, the most learned of those who adhere to that dispensation, -to meet us <i>ore rotundo seu currente calamo</i>. Confident in the strength -of truth and the feebleness of error, the writer of these lines fears not -any competitor who makes error his client.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="INFLUENCE_OF_MUNDANE_WEALTH_IN_THE_WORLD_TO_COME"> -INFLUENCE OF MUNDANE WEALTH IN THE WORLD TO COME.</h3> - - -<h4 class="hang">According to the Spiritual Code, riches elevate or degrade according to -the virtue displayed in their acquisition and employment.</h4> - - -<p><a id="para_908"></a>908. The great object of the more prudent and calculating portion of -mankind, is to provide for that old age which they all hope to attain, or, if -it be not reached, to provide the means for themselves or families which -may insure a comfortable if not luxurious support, in case sickness or -mutilation should deprive them of the power of making money, or competency -to earn wages.</p> - -<p><a id="para_909"></a>909. But how precarious and fleeting are any such worldly advantages, -when compared with those of an eternal home, where every thing desirable -may be had without causing a drop of sweat to fall from the brow! Let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>177</span> -the description of the higher spheres be compared with any earthly paradise, -which, besides inferiority in every attribute which can render it attractive, -is open to all the ills of mental and bodily suffering to which flesh is -heir. If there be any objection to the consequences of a due appreciation -of the bliss which we may expect in the spirit world, it would seem to be -founded on its tendency so to enfeeble our interest in this world, as to -deter the human efforts on which this sphere is, under God’s laws, mainly -dependent for improvement. But then, as a matter of principle, in order -to merit elevation in the spirit world, exertion may be induced in this; and -exertion <i>thus</i> originating, can never be perverted to the perpetuation of -those wrongs now so often forming the steps to human aggrandizement. -The subjugation, the pillage, and extirpation of mankind, will never be -induced by considerations founded on the desire to accumulate treasure in -heaven.</p> - -<p><a id="para_910"></a>910. There is hardly in respect to any subject, more error than in the -estimate made of persons who strive to acquire wealth. The question lies -not in the zeal with which it may be sought, but in the object for which -it is desired. Although the maxim that the end justifies the means, be -immoral when extended so far as to palliate any dereliction of the cardinal -virtues, does it not hold good so long as the means employed are consistent -with these virtues? Is it not charitable honestly to seek the pecuniary -means of being charitable? Is it not liberal to seek the means wherewith -to be liberal? Hospitable, to seek the means to support hospitality? Is it -not the duty of each man to promote the welfare of his wife and children, -by seeking the means wherewith to house, clothe, and feed them, and, -moreover, to educate them intellectually as well as morally? Since, when -destitute of education, a man is little above a brute, surely it must be meritorious -to seek the means of educational improvement, both for ourselves -and for those by whom we are surrounded; but more especially for those -who are so dependent on us, that it can only through us be attained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_911"></a>911. That part of the Lord’s prayer which deprecates temptation, is -perhaps of pre-eminent importance; since where there is one man who goes -through the world honestly by resisting temptation, there are hundreds -who preserve their honesty by avoiding temptation: by so providing pecuniary -means in due time, as not to be placed between the alternative of -starving, begging, cheating, or stealing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_912"></a>912. In our republic it will be found that while the acquisition of wealth -enables one individual to raise his family by educational superiority, the -offspring of another, by the loss of fortune, sink into the mass of illiterate -labourers; so that there is a perpetual undulation by the educational influence -of money. Though public schools may extend the advantages of -education to the poor, yet <i>want</i> drives the educated youth to loathsome -drudgery, made more painful by the enlargement of his views resulting -from education.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>178</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_913"></a>913. To the consequence of hereditary noblemen hereditary wealth is -essential, having vastly more influence than titles. In those countries -where titles exist without associated wealth, they have scarcely any weight. -However incompetent money may be to give importance to an <i>uneducated</i> -commoner, a cotton-spinner, by educating his son and giving him his fortune, -may prepare him to sway an empire; when, had his father been a -pauper, the premier might have lived among those so eloquently described -by Shakspeare’s Henry the Fourth, as upon “uneasy pallets stretching -them.” How different from those perfumed chambers and canopies of -costly state, to which this spinner’s boy was actually enabled to climb -through the education and position resulting from paternal affluence!</p> - -<p><a id="para_914"></a>914. Civilization elevates those who have the advantages of education, -and who are either professionally employed in intellectual pursuits, or have -leisure to cultivate science and literature from taste. But the same division -of human labour and enterprise which gives intellectual pursuits to a -few as a profession, gives to the mass occupations inconsistent with the -cultivation of their intellectual powers. Those who are engaged in the -humblest species of industry, living from hand to mouth, have little or no -time to spare from that which their necessities imperatively require; and -the bodily fatigue incurred during working hours, makes repose from all -exertion the primary object.</p> - -<p><a id="para_915"></a>915. But the situation of the poor, ignorant, and uneducated labourer -in civilized society, is rendered worse than that of an equally ignorant and -uneducated barbarian, by contrast with <i>his</i> educated neighbours. The lowest -savage has as much scholastic education as his chief, while the civilized -labourer may be in the rear of an educated child of five years of age. -Thus the <i>absolute</i> evil is made <i>relatively</i> still greater. When any man -reflects on these facts, can he be otherwise than anxious for those means -which are necessary to put his offspring upon a par in learning with those -of others in the same community?</p> - -<p><a id="para_916"></a>916. Early in life, it is manifest to every one who does not enjoy pecuniary -affluence, that any species of indulgence which he may desire requires -money for its attainment. Even the command of leisure for any -enjoyment requires money, since, if obliged to work to earn his bread, a -man may not have leisure for any other object.</p> - -<p><a id="para_917"></a>917. Among the most rational motives for the pursuit of wealth is the -love of independence. “Thy spirit, Independence, let me share—lord of -the lion heart and eagle eye!” In this sentiment every noble soul must -participate. How many have had, like the apothecary in Shakspeare’s -tragedy, to allow their poverty to rule, instead of honest will! How many -have been induced to “<i>earn their daily bread by their daily shame</i>!”</p> - -<p><a id="para_918"></a>918. Prudent, thoughtful, honest men, who do not choose to live houseless, -without clothes, nor upon the sweat of other men’s brows, turn from -the paths of amusement, of sensual enjoyment, from the love of literature<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>179</span> -or science, or from the observation and investigation of nature’s beauties -and miracles, in order to get, <i>through wealth</i>, the power, and honest right -to indulge. But while pursuing this great object, in the first instance -only as the means of attaining other objects, good or bad, they grow old -in the chase; their passions burn out, while avarice originates as it were -from their ashes, not, phœnix-like, to replace <i>one</i> parental being, but a horrid -monster, having nothing in common with a plurality of progenitors, -but the selfish, ardent love of money, unmitigated by any redeeming aspiration. -A being so actuated—or, in other words, <i>a miser</i>—would certainly -find it as difficult to reach a higher sphere in the spirit world, as it were -for a camel to get through the needle’s eye.</p> - -<p><a id="para_919"></a>919. As swine accumulate fat to bequeath to those to whom they leave -their carcasses, so the avaricious accumulate wealth, to hoard until it can -no longer be retained. They die with an immense amount of negative sin; -since all their omissions to do good, which is within their power, is carried -to their debit in the spirit world. Their poverty in the spirit world will -be proportioned to their ill-used wealth in this temporal abode.</p> - -<p><a id="para_920"></a>920. When this is well brought home to mankind, there will be less -avarice, and fewer of those crimes which arise from selfish cupidity, or ambition.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="MRS_GOURLAYS_NARRATIVE">MRS. GOURLAY’S NARRATIVE.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_921"></a>921. The following is a narrative of the circumstances which led to the -conversion to a belief in Spiritualism, of my esteemed friend, Mrs. M. B. -Gourlay, through <i>whose</i> high attributes as an intellectual medium, I am in -a great measure indebted for <i>my</i> conversion. I do most devoutly believe -that the information received from my spirit father, through her mediumship, -would, if duly credited, be of more value to true religion and morality, -than the forty millions of dollars annually expended upon the Church of -England.</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, May 20, 1855.</p> -<p class="nind"><i>To Professor Robert Hare</i>:</p> - -<p><a id="para_922"></a>922. <i>My Dear Sir</i>: Pursuant to your request, I have the pleasure to -present you the following particulars of my experience and observation in -relation to the phenomena of spiritual intercourse,—phenomena which -engage, at the present time, the serious and profound attention of thousands -of intelligent minds; manifestations that are rapidly and steadily -spreading their influence over the entire continent, and carrying with them -the evidence of their spiritual origin, while impressing receptive minds -with the truth of their sacred importance to an extent unexampled in the -history of any other movement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>180</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_923"></a>923. My attention was attracted to the phenomena in question, about -five years since, by reading sundry reports in the New York Tribune, of -certain mysterious sounds which had occurred in the city of Rochester, -and purported to have been made by the spirits of the departed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_924"></a>924. I regarded the subject at first with great distrust, supposing it a -mere imposition on the credulity of the public, and considered it entirely -unworthy of serious thought.</p> - -<p><a id="para_925"></a>925. Finding, however, that it was eliciting considerable notice, and -knowing that <i>facts are sometimes stranger than fiction</i>, I deemed it consonant -with reason to suspend my judgment till more conversant with the -facts.</p> - -<p><a id="para_926"></a>926. Having been admonished by a much-loved, intelligent, and, I -would add, <i>practical</i> Christian mother to worship at the altar of truth, -while exercising my reason on all subjects presented to my mind, I was, as -might be presumed, nearly, if not entirely, free from the shackles of bigotry, -superstition, and dogmatism, and was thus prepared, so far at least as these -barriers to mental and moral progression are concerned, to investigate any -subject within the range of my capacity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_927"></a>927. Hearing of the spread of the manifestations, and their actual -occurrence in the city of Bangor, Maine, where I then resided, I resolved, -with the first favourable opportunity, to investigate the matter for -myself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_928"></a>928. Not many days had elapsed after forming this resolution, before I -met an intimate friend, an exemplary and respected member of the Methodist -Episcopal denomination, who informed me that she was interested -in spiritual manifestations, and desired to investigate them. But alas! -she was bound by the galling fetters of sectarian and priestly bondage, and -dared not move in such an investigation. Her pastor had said that -the “<i>arch deceiver</i>,” the veritable <i>Satan</i>, was the prime instigator in -this <i>scheme</i>, and, moreover, that to participate in a movement so diabolical -in its character would render her liable not only to loss of membership in -the church, but expose her to divine wrath in this world, as well as endless -torment in the world to come.</p> - -<p><a id="para_929"></a>929. I believed such an intolerant and persecuting spirit, to be diametrically -opposed to every principle of true Christianity, and repugnant to -the claims of reason; and deprecating any doctrine, orthodox though -called, that would thus stifle free thought and inquiry, and consign to eternal -misery the children of our heavenly Father, even however depraved, I -advised my friend to exercise her reason, with which she was by nature -endowed, and regardless of the sneers of a time-serving multitude, or -the anathemas of the church, to obey the injunction of the apostle—“Prove -all things—<i>hold fast that which is good</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_930"></a>930. She consented; and a few days subsequent to this interview, she -extended to me an invitation to attend a spiritual circle to be convened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>181</span> -at the house of a highly respectable family, members of the Unitarian -Church, and much esteemed by a large circle of friends for their many -virtues.</p> - -<p><a id="para_931"></a>931. The invitation was gladly accepted, and the ensuing evening found -us seated at a table in the domicile of our worthy friends, Mr. and Mrs. -T-—-, with some six or eight intelligent persons of both sexes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_932"></a>932. Having, agreeably to request, placed our hands on the table, we -silently raised our thoughts in solemn and sincere aspirations to the great -Father of spirits, and desired to be brought into more harmonious relation -with the spirits of our dear departed friends, and hoping that these -might thereby be better able to manifest themselves to their friends still in -the earthly habiliments of humanity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_933"></a>933. We had not remained long in this position, before we heard distinct -sounds like the falling of drops of water on the table. Imagine our -surprise and inexpressible delight, when first aroused to a vital consciousness -of the presence of celestial visitants in our midst! I shall never -forget the glorious expression of pleasure which illumined the countenances -of that little band of seekers for truth, nor the electric thrill of -joy which I experienced on this happy occasion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_934"></a>934. The sounds continued to respond to our inquiries; three expressing -the affirmative, and one the negative. It was suggested by a member -of the circle to use the alphabet as a means of communication; and that -on passing a pencil slowly over the card, the spirits would indicate, by the -sounds, the letters required to convey their thoughts. In this manner we -received many convincing evidences of spirit intercourse; such as getting -the names of our spirit friends, the particular localities of their birth and -death, and the precise time of their departure from this world, with many -other proofs of their presence and identity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_935"></a>935. We were soon informed by the communicating intelligence that a -much more rapid mode of communication would now be established between -us. On inquiring its nature, it was spelt out—Let Welthea (referring -to my friend) take the pen, and we will write through her hand.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> -To all of us this was a new and unexpected revelation. My friend, being -very timid and retiring in her nature, was evidently confused by this announcement. -At our very earnest solicitation, however, she lifted the pen -from the table. Her hand was now seized by an invisible and intelligent -power, and being in a normal state, several beautiful stanzas,<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> touching<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>182</span> -her mission in this glorious cause, resulted from this first and, to all of -us, astounding performance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_936"></a>936. This, to us, was a new phase of the manifestations, and to myself -and friend was very wonderful, since, I am certain, she had never thought -of becoming a medium for spiritual intercommunion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_937"></a>937. Soon after writing the stanzas alluded to, her hand was again influenced -to write a communication to a gentleman present. He was a -stranger to my friend, now regarded as a medium, and the communication -was from the spirit of a sister who had passed from earth about thirty -years before, the name, in full, of the spirit being appended.</p> - -<p><a id="para_938"></a>938. After receiving instructions from the spirits, in regard to the -manner of conducting our circle, we adjourned to the time appointed for -our next meeting.</p> - -<p><a id="para_939"></a>939. On the succeeding day I visited my friend at her residence, and -received many additional evidences of the presence and identity of spirits. -My father, mother, and sister, and many other loved spirit friends with -whom the medium had no acquaintance, and whose names even were not -known to her, communicated, and reminded me of many incidents of their -life on earth of which my friend was wholly ignorant, and some of them -I had myself almost forgotten.</p> - -<p><a id="para_940"></a>940. At subsequent and frequent interviews with this lady, I received -many indubitable proofs of the presence and guardianship of angels; of -which the following is an example:</p> - -<p><a id="para_941"></a>941. Some weeks after our first interview, and while discussing the -ordinary topics of the day, her hand was influenced to write these -sentences:</p> - -<p><a id="para_942"></a>942. “<i>My dear M</i>: You will be surprised and pleased to learn that an -old schoolmate is present; one that you never, while on earth, anticipated -hearing from again. Many years have fled since our last meeting. I -have come from the realms of the unseen, to renew the acquaintance -with you begun in childhood, and to advise you in relation to your -spiritual development. You are destined to become a good <i>impressional</i> -medium for spiritual truth. Follow the directions which we from time to -time shall give you, and you will progress rapidly, and be greatly profited -thereby. Elevate your mind to the source of light and truth, and seek to -be saved from every thing that might hinder your spiritual advancement. -Devote a portion of each day to the development of your spirit, and investigate -the principles which govern the physical and spiritual departments -of the universe. You are living in the light of an advanced age, and are -surrounded by many advantages. Improve the privileges that you enjoy, -for the benefit of yourself and others.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Lydia Manly.</span>”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>183</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_943"></a>943. The communication being finished, my friend handed it to me, -saying, “I am not acquainted with this name.” I said, on glancing at -the signature, that I never knew any one of the name of Hanly. It was -immediately written, “Let Margaret look again, and she will find that -she is mistaken in the name; it is <i>Manly</i>, not <i>Hanly</i>.” Imagine my -astonishment on recognising the name of a schoolmate whom I had not -seen, heard, nor thought of, for many years. This was to me, and might be -to any one, a full and satisfactory confirmation of spiritual communion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_944"></a>944. On a subsequent occasion, it was written, through my friend, by my -spirit sister, “Do you want instruction? I will talk to you of friendship -this time. Let the basis of your friendship be esteem, and by all means -seek to have this sure foundation. Friendship is a source of the greatest -pleasure, and when begun in a right manner, ends not on earth, but continues -to increase with unabated interest throughout eternity. Yours has -thus far been characterized by firmness and sincerity. Oh! if you knew -with what interest I look upon you, my dear sisters, watching the progress -of your affections, and seeking a close intimacy with your spirits, it -would awaken in both of your minds a lively interest for heavenly objects, -and incite you to the pursuit of solid happiness. Friendship should begin -in time to continue in eternity. Oh! could I convey to you the worth -of time when viewed in this light!</p> - -<p><a id="para_945"></a>945. “I am watching your silent communings. The lofty aspirations -of your souls are not of an earthly nature. Your minds are being enlightened -and seeking communion with God. Be encouraged, my dear -sisters; we shall all be united in love. Be well grounded in the spiritual -faith, and let your motto be—<i>Onward in the divine life.</i></p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Mary.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_946"></a>946. Again, it was written, “Sing with the spirit! Sister, let thy -heart make tuneful melody with an angel choir who now surround you! -Sing a song to immortality; how the dear departed, clothed in robes of -victory, now stand on heavenly hills, enwrapt in glorious visions of the -Great Eternal, bowing before the throne! Sing, ‘Death, where is thy -sting? oh! grave, where is thy victory?’</p> - -<p><a id="para_947"></a>947. “While here you meet, guardian angels are in attendance. Here -is a gray-haired sire, a mother, and a sweet-lipped babe. All have come, -with noiseless wing, to listen to thee. Precious moments! Improve them -in converse sweet of heaven, and blessings, richer far than earthly treasures, -we will pour upon you.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_948"></a>948. The reminiscences of the hours devoted with my friend to the investigation -of this sublime subject are among the happiest of my life. They -serve to awaken the purest, holiest, and most affectionate sentiments and -sympathies of my nature, and thereby lead me into closer communion with -the loved ones who have gone before me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_949"></a>949. But in reference to my family, I was for a season destined to be -alone in my happy belief. It is true, my husband did not reject the sub<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>184</span>ject, -but thought the phenomena in question might be accounted for by a -reference to the principles of mental science. I requested him to solve -the mystery. He attempted it, but failed. His explanation, like all -others adverse to the spiritual theory, was an explanation in which <i>nothing -is explained</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_950"></a>950. About three months after these occurrences, a lady informed my -husband that one of her daughters, about fifteen years of age, was a medium -for the rappings. The young lady being present, declined the appellation -as a term of reproach. Perceiving her discomfort, he requested to -know what she thought of these manifestations. Her reply was, that they -claimed a spiritual origin, but, in her opinion, they were due to “<i>electricity, -or something of that sort</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_951"></a>951. Hearing the raps on the young lady’s chair, and on various other -articles of furniture in the room, he requested her to put her hands on the -table. This being done, the sounds were made on the table so loud and -distinct, that they might have been heard in an adjoining apartment. Inquiring -of the spirits if they would communicate with him by the alphabet, -he was answered in the affirmative by three raps.</p> - -<p><a id="para_952"></a>952. Having taken a seat at some distance from the table, and placed -himself in such a position that no one could see the letters but himself, -he proceeded to take down those indicated by the sounds as he passed a -pencil slowly over the alphabet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_953"></a>953. The sounds having at length ceased to respond, he tried to read -the communication, but found it impossible to do so until he had first -arranged what was written into words and sentences. This having been -accomplished, he read, to his utter amazement, as follows: “My dear son, -your parent rejoices in this opportunity to communicate with you. Let -me advise you to investigate this most important subject; it will benefit -you in time and eternity.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">Your spirit father,</span> W. G.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_954"></a>954. On reading this communication, my husband said he felt “riveted -to the spot;” that he had realized the presence of a long-lost parent, and -that language failed to convey his feelings. It is perhaps needless to say -that he was from that moment a believer in the truth of Spiritualism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_955"></a>955. Months rolled on, and we continued to receive and enjoy the delightful -intercourse of our spirit friends. One day, while engaged in sewing, -the needle dropped suddenly from my fingers. At the same instant -I experienced a sensation in my right hand and arm analogous to a slight -electric shock. My husband, seeing me start, inquired the cause. Perceiving -the temperature of my hand diminished, he became somewhat -alarmed, and commenced rubbing it. In a few moments we heard sounds -on the workstand at which I was seated. I inquired if the spirits wished -to communicate, which was responded to by three raps. Taking the card -and passing a pencil over it, the following words were given:</p> - -<p><a id="para_956"></a>956. “My child, be not afraid! we are trying to develope you as a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>185</span> -writing medium.” I experienced the next day a similar feeling in the -same arm, and was influenced to write the following impressive words:</p> - -<p><a id="para_957"></a>957. “<i>My dear Child</i>: Your mother would impart to you a few thoughts -relative to an event which is generally regarded with unspeakable horror. -I mean the dissolution of the material body. Death should present no -terror to the mind, since it is but a transition of the spirit to a more exalted -and perfected state of being; a disunion of the imperishable and -eternal principles of the soul and spirit from their temporary home in the -physical form. It is but the door at whose threshhold the spirit lays aside -its worn-out garment, to appear clothed in its much more beautiful habiliments -in the spiritual realm—the entrance to “a house not made with -hands, eternal in the heavens.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_958"></a>958. “To the mind that views this change in the condition of the spirit -in its true light, it will appear a necessary preliminary step in the development -of the immortal germ to a higher and much more glorious existence. -With the gross earthly body, the spirit could not inhabit the celestial -spheres, nor rove the elysian fields of eternal progression. You have -a rosebud in your keeping, which must expand to an immortal flower in -heaven. Earth has given it birth, but its vitality is feeble. It needs -transplanting into a more genial soil in the garden of our Father and our -God, where it will ultimately unfold its fair and beautiful proportions. In -other words, your little infant, Emily, will soon join me; for I perceive -that disease is deep seated in her system—a disease that no remedy can -reach. Be prepared, then, my dear child, for the change which is soon to -take place. Prepare for the messenger Death! Be calm, be firm!</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">“Your mother,</span> <span class="smcap">Lydia</span>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_959"></a>959. This was a manifestation to me of a spirit mother’s love and -watchful care. She foresaw that the inevitable event was at hand. She -perceived that our darling child was incurably diseased. Although I -trembled at the thought of parting with my treasure, still I was much -calmer and more resigned in consequence of this parental warning, when -the dread summons came.</p> - -<p><a id="para_960"></a>960. Three weeks passed, and still there was no apparent change in our -little one from her usual seemingly healthy condition. My husband had -business which called him to Philadelphia. At his urgent request I accompanied -him. We left our little ones in charge of a female friend and a faithful -nurse, intending to be absent about two weeks. Ten days subsequent -to the time of our departure from home, I received a strong impression to -return, and that my presence would soon be required there. My husband -objected, on the ground that his business was unfinished. I proposed returning -alone, but he was unwilling, and we started for home the next -morning. We found our children all well. I was joked about my <i>spiritual</i> -impression, and was told it was the result of imagination. On the -day succeeding our return, however, our dear child was taken sick, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>186</span> -after an illness of three days her enfranchised spirit passed from earth to -heaven.</p> - -<p><a id="para_961"></a>961. Notwithstanding the ridicule heaped, at that time, by its opposers -upon the believers in Spiritualism, and the affected contempt in which the -votaries of this much-abused doctrine were then held, we pursued the investigation -of the subject, and became daily more imbued with a sense of -the truth and harmony of its divine teachings. We had the pleasure of -seeing many persons, who had once denounced it as an idle dream, as a -humbug, and a delusion, now converted to a full faith in its glorious realities. -A change came over the spirit of their dream, and they are now -blessed in the enjoyment of the richest feast for mind and soul ever bestowed -by a munificent God upon his grateful children. And many do -not hesitate to proclaim the fact to the world; for, thank heaven, the days -of the Inquisition are numbered, and a brighter and more glorious day is -dawning on benighted humanity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_962"></a>962. The following extracts from a letter of my brother, Dr. North, of -Waterville, Maine, in reply to my husband, may serve to show the mind -of one of the skeptics referred to, in regard to the subject of Spiritualism, -both before and after investigation. As they may not be uninteresting to -your readers, I give them to you, as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_963"></a>963. “<i>Dear Doctor</i>:—Your letter of the 17th instant is before me, -and its <i>remarkable</i> contents noticed. Had a great man or men, for instance, -Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, or Millard Fillmore, advised a friend -to a certain course, if I thought that course improper, I should have felt at -liberty to dissent from him or them; but when the adviser is the <i>spirit of -my departed mother, or the soul of your departed brother</i>, I cannot dissent, -or give an opinion that would conflict with them. It seems to me, -dear doctor, that you cannot have better advisers unless you call the spirit -of Gabriel to your assistance, and you can do no less than consult the dictates -of the rappers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_964"></a>964. “To be serious, I am surprised at your easy conversion to Spiritualism. -I had supposed you spirit-proof, the greatest skeptic in the -land; but I find you are completely <i>taken in and done for</i>! I do not -place the least reliance on your superhuman communications, and would -advise you to look upon them as phenomena of Mesmerism or mind-reading. -The medium is in a mesmeric state, and consequently is capable of -reading the thoughts of the inquirer, and answering questions correctly. -The sounds are easily accounted for. The subject is <i>alarmed</i> and <i>superstitious</i>, -and therefore easily imposed upon. The creaking of a boot is -often taken by such persons in this state of mind as a spiritual rap. Do -not be imposed upon by such superstition, but choose rather to be guided -by good sound sense.</p> - -<p><a id="para_965"></a>965. “You might consult the spirit of Lorenzo Dow. He was a good -old soul, and one that always safely advised his friends.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>187</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_966"></a>966. “Give my love to Martin Luther, and William Penn, and the -Wandering Jew. If you should hear any thing of M. B-—-, you may let -me know. He died three or four years since in my debt.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_967"></a>967. The subjoined was received some time after the foregoing from the -same hand, but was dictated, it seems, by a <i>more elevated spirit</i>:</p> - -<p><a id="para_968"></a>968. “In relation to Spiritualism, I am deeply convinced of its truthfulness. -God grant that the grand and glorious realities which it reveals -may so influence me that my progress in goodness and holiness will never -end! Do I believe in it? Yes! yes! It is my daily hope and happiness; -the bread of life; and it will be my consolation in death. I have -read much, but have seen little of the manifestations. I should be very -happy to spend a fortnight with you and meet your circle.</p> - -<p><a id="para_969"></a>969. “My wife is reading and approximating toward belief. We have -read the following works:—Davis’s Harmonia; Davis’s Present Age and -Inner Life; Edmonds’s and Dexter’s work on Spiritualism; Beecher’s -Report, and Brittan’s Reply to the same; Stilling’s Pneumatology; -Riechenbach’s Dynamics; Cahagnet’s Celestial Telegraph, and the Spiritual -Telegraph, weekly. I am so deeply interested in spiritual literature -that other reading is insipid to me. I am rejoiced that people in the -higher walks of life are engaged in the subject. It will give popularity to -it, and the weak and fearful souls will be encouraged and strengthened in -well-doing.” The following was addressed to me last February:</p> - -<p><a id="para_970"></a>970. “<i>My Dear Sister</i>: You say it is <i>too late</i> to wish us a happy New -Year. It is never too late to wish our friends happiness, and strive to -make them happy. This is a new year indeed; a new era to be made -memorable through time and eternity; one in which the spirits of our -friends are striving for our happiness. Then let us not only make each -other happy, but by purifying our thoughts and conversation, strive to -progress in this rudimental world, so that when we find ourselves disrobed -of these bodies, and in the sphere of eternal progression, we may be with -and make the spirits of our friends happy. This is a glorious happy new -year. The old ark of theology and superstition is passing away. The -life-blood of the popular theology is drying up. The lens of the spiritual -philosophy is concentrating upon it the powerful and burning rays of truth. -Already a dense and fetid smoke is issuing from its decaying portals. Its -priests and votaries already are crying, Fire! fire! God grant, that from -its ashes no phœnix may arise to propagate anew its senseless dogmas. -Then will this be a happy year for all mankind.” On a subsequent occasion -he writes—</p> - -<p><a id="para_971"></a>971. “The spiritual doctrine is gaining ground here. Many of our -influential citizens are believers. Some that were <i>infidels</i> have become -hopeful Christians. Public opinion is softening, and it is not now esteemed -a disgrace, as it was some time since, to believe. The acquisition of such -men as Professor Hare, Edmonds, Talmadge, Chase, Simmons, Dexter, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>188</span> -Brittan to our ranks, has given respectability to it, and wrought a revolution -in opinion.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_972"></a>972. Thus much I have said respecting my spiritual experience anterior -to leaving Maine. Concerning my experience since then, much more -might be said, but as you are already familiar with the most of it, it -remains for me to present you with a few of the best and most unequivocal -demonstrations of spiritual communion that I have witnessed, but -which have not come under your personal observation. Among which -the following touching incidents cannot fail to interest those whose -hearts and minds are not closed by the iron bars of prejudice and superstition:</p> - -<p><a id="para_973"></a>973. While spending the evening of January the 21st, 1854, at the -house of a friend, it was proposed by the lady and her husband that we -should form a circle. We had not been long seated at the table when -three ladies, two of whom I had never seen, favoured us with their company, -and took their seats at some distance from the circle. They had -been in the room but two or three minutes, when the following was given -through the table:</p> - -<p><a id="para_974"></a>974. “My dear mother! In love I meet you this evening. Oh, mother, -why do you mourn my death? I have just begun to live. Grieve -not for me!</p> - -<p><a id="para_975"></a>975. “I wish my husband to investigate Spiritualism. I will communicate -to him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_976"></a>976. “Why should you erect a monumental slab to my memory? Let -me live in the hearts of friends.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Sarah North.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_977"></a>977. When the gentleman who took down the communication read it, -I was surprised at hearing the name of North, that being my maiden -name. As there was no Sarah in our family, I asked the spirits, Who -is Sarah North? Before they had time to reply, one of the ladies referred -to (Mrs. Wightman) approached the table in tears. She said, “That is -from my daughter Sarah. I have been engaged to-day in the solemn duty -of selecting a tombstone to her memory.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_978"></a>978. On Nov. 25th, 1854, I sat by appointment with Mrs. Wightman -for spirit intercourse. Mrs. W. put the question, “Is Elizabeth Adams -present?” “Yes.” “Will she communicate?” “Yes.” “My dear -aunt,” was immediately spelt out. Interrupting the communication at -that point, I asked Mrs. W. if Elizabeth Adams was her niece. No, she -replied; it must be a mistake. Thinking it probable that there was something -wrong in the conditions, I removed my hand for a few moments. -On replacing it, to our surprise, the words, “My dear aunt,” were repeated. -“Well!” we exclaimed, simultaneously, “that is strange. Let us see -what may come;” and we received the following:</p> - -<p><a id="para_979"></a>979. “<i>My dear Aunt</i>: This is the first time that I have communicated. -When I left the rudimental sphere, I was so young I did not know wha<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>189</span>t -it meant to die; I now know. It was the beginning of life! I will come -again soon and talk with you.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">Your niece,</span> -<span class="smcap">Almira Barnes</span>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_980"></a>980. It was some moments before Mrs. W. could recall to mind the -fact that her sister had lost a child, of the above name, about twenty-three -years since, aged three months. Here is intelligence so clearly independent -of our minds, that it is, in my opinion, entirely fatal to the theory of -“<i>mental reflection</i>” so often adduced by the unbelievers in Spiritualism. -At the close of this communication the following was received:</p> - -<p><a id="para_981"></a>981. “<i>Dear Mother</i>: I am happy to have this opportunity to send you -a kind message. Although I am often with you, I cannot speak to you -through your own mediumship. Oh mother! what delight it would give me -could I make myself visible to you. What would you say if you should -see me sitting in the chair I so long occupied when an invalid? I often sit -in that chair, but you cannot yet see me. Have you not heard me rap to -you? I have tried in various ways to make myself manifest. I think you -had better go South this winter. I think father’s health would be better -there. I will visit you, if you go. The climate where you now live is too -bracing for father’s lungs. When the warm weather returns, you can bid -farewell to the sunny South and seek your Northern home. I wish I could -speak to you through your own dear hand, but that I cannot yet do.</p> - -<p><a id="para_982"></a>982. “<i>Dear mother</i>, you will become a medium; then we shall have -good times. Good-by, blessed mother! I look forward to a happy reunion -with all your loved ones here.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Adams.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_983"></a>983. The above, as may be seen, was from the spirit that Mrs. W. -called for, and the communication was designed for the spirit’s mother, -who lived in the State of New York. The message was subsequently forwarded -to her address. E. A., Mrs. Wightman, informed me, died after -a lingering illness of consumption. She occupied the arm-chair alluded -to during the greater part of her sickness, and she promised her mother -she would come back and sit in it after her death, if she could. Her step-father, -whose indisposition she refers to, is affected with a chronic disease -of the lungs. The loved ones are Elizabeth’s brothers and sisters, all of -whom, five or six, are in the spirit world. These facts were unknown to -me at the time.</p> - -<p><a id="para_984"></a>984. Last January, my friend Mrs. Wightman brought two ladies to -witness, for the first time, some of the phenomena of our beautiful philosophy. -Their names were suppressed, to be disclosed by the communications -that might come from their spirit friends, in order to strengthen the -evidences of spiritual intercourse. My hand being applied to the disk, the -index spelled out the following:</p> - -<p><a id="para_985"></a>985. “<i>Dear Mother</i>: I am not dead, but living in the love sphere of -my Father in heaven. When you laid my little body in the ground, it -caused you many tears. Kind friends wept. I see one here who was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>190</span> -faithful friend to you in that hour of anguish. Cherish her, for she was a -friend in need. Oh! mother, I wish you to believe that your little child -is indeed with you. I can come to earth when I wish to see you and father. -It only causes me to feel a little sad that you and father cannot see -me.</p> - -<p class="psig">F. H. W.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_986"></a>986. One of the ladies rose from her seat and accepted the communication -as from her darling boy, who had been put in his grave two years before. -The name was all right: “Franklin Henry Wilcox.” The friend -referred to was Mrs. Wightman, who had been a true friend in the trying -hour of a mother’s sorrow, and had performed the solemn duty of preparing -her dear child for the depository of his earthly remains, and to pour -balm on the heart of a bereaved and stricken mother.</p> - -<p><a id="para_987"></a>987. About two months since, two of the professors of the Female Medical -College of Pennsylvania, one of whom, Dr. Harvey, is favourably -known to you, called to see me in relation to the subject of Spiritualism. -I had never seen either of these gentlemen. After a few minutes’ conversation -on the topic in question, Dr. H. observed—“We should like, madam, -if you will be kind enough to favour us with a sitting, to communicate -with our spirit friends.” Complying with the doctor’s request, I placed -my hand on the disk, and the subjoined was rapidly communicated:</p> - -<p><a id="para_988"></a>988. “My brothers in the glorious profession of medicine! I greet you -this afternoon with unabated affection and respect. It seems like a dream -that I have passed from your midst; but passing away is written on all -things of a perishable nature. Not so with the spirit, which is an emanation -from God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_989"></a>989. “My earthly career is closed, and a brighter one is now in view. -Oh, the inexpressible delight which fills my soul when I behold the wondrous -works of Omnipotence! Here I can pursue, untrammelled, those subjects -which were so delightful to me when an inhabitant of the mundane sphere. -Oh! that I had prepared my mind in some measure, by proper investigation, -for this transcendent world of living beauties! but the love of my -profession filled my mind, to the exclusion of the more important one of -spiritual progression. I would that I could converse with my beloved wife, -that I might console her for her early loss! Tell her that I am happy; -this will speak volumes.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Johnson.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_990"></a>990. The foregoing was accepted by the doctors, as coming from their -colleague, the late Dr. Johnson; and they said that he was the spirit they -had wished to hear from.</p> - -<p><a id="para_991"></a>991. The same spirit has since communicated with Dr. H. and has given -him abundant evidence of his identity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_992"></a>992. Many more incidents in my experience, giving proof of the truth -of spirit intercourse, might be adduced; but as time and space admonish -me to bring my narrative to a close, I reserve them for a future period.</p> - -<p><a id="para_993"></a>993. I have thus, my dear friend, given you a very hasty and imperfect<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>191</span> -sketch of my experience in Spiritualism, and my development as a medium. -Little need here be said to prove, to reflecting minds, the value of -this heaven-descended philosophy. It is a theme that all may study -with pleasure and profit, when so disposed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_994"></a>994. Whatever may be thought of modern Spiritualism, and however -opposed it may be to many of the preconceived notions and opinions of -mankind, it is certain that there is nothing in its fundamental doctrines -and teachings, which may not be reconciled with the laws of God, so far -as these are known to man.</p> - -<p><a id="para_995"></a>995. It matters not, I should think, whether this movement is sanctioned -or not by a former revelation, as that would neither add to nor detract -from its intrinsic merit. Spiritualism is endeared to the heart of thousands -by its fond associations, and mementoes of love and affection from -those dear friends who have passed from their sight, though still united to -them by kindred ties. It has gone on in triumph, overspreading every -State in our glorious republic, and, passing over the broad sea, has reached -the shores of other lands, binding together the brotherhood of man in the -sacred bonds of love, and dispelling the discordant elements of strife and -sectism which have hung over the world, and like a dark pall, imparted -their sombre hue to the minds of men. Progress is its name, and love its -mission. It has no affinity with vice. It makes no war with right, but -inculcates the highest standard of morality. It is noiselessly accomplishing -its divine mission. Many a widow’s heart is made to leap with -joy by its benign influence, and many an orphan feels its silent ministration. -Many a prodigal son has been reclaimed at the brink of ruin by the voice -of a spirit mother! It is not only a few individuals who are to receive -the blessings which flow from this new dispensation—the masses are to be -benefited. It inculcates principles which will strengthen the foundations -of society, promote harmony in the social system, and ultimately unite all -mankind under its broad standard of peace. That Spiritualism is rapidly -extending its bounds, and gaining hundreds of thousands of converts, admits -not of a doubt; and that it has the elements within it to elevate, reform, -and redeem the race, it were folly, nay, madness, to deny.</p> - -<p><a id="para_996"></a>996. Eighteen months have scarcely elapsed, my dear friend, since our -first acquaintance, and you are aware of the circumstances which afforded -me this highly-esteemed pleasure. The event, I am happy to say, has -proved an era in my own life that I shall always revert to with pleasurable -and heartfelt emotion; for its results have not only proved a blessing and -solace to you, but a source of much joy and happiness to myself. Though -you have encountered much opposition, and even abuse, from the ignorant -and illiterate as well as from the professed votaries of science, in defending -the cause of spiritual philosophy, you have fearlessly and faithfully -battled against error, and planted your standard on the high pinnacle of -truth. And as David of old, with the smooth stones of Kedron, slew the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>192</span> -Gathean giant, and was met with songs of triumph and dances of joy by -the daughters of Israel; so you, armed with the panoply of truth, have gone -forth with the weapons of philosophy and reason to prostrate the hydra-headed -monster; and will, I trust, receive in your turn the acknowledgments -and love of your grateful friends.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-2"><a id="para_997"></a>997. “There is a nobler strife than clashing spears,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A nobler peril than the battle-field;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Tis when, with trust in God, worn as a shield,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Midst universal hisses, scoffs, and sneers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The man of truth with brow serene appears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And stands forth singly, for the right appealed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the Eternal Umpire; nor will yield</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One backward step, from policy or fears.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The savage, bandit, nay, the brute, is steeled</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Gainst bristling danger—e’en the worm uprears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath the foot his tiny sting, to crave</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A venomed vengeance; but immortal years</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are full of glory for the Christ-like brave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who dare to suffer wrong, that they from wrong may save.”</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Very truly yours,</div> - <div class="verse indent10"><span class="smcap">Margaret B. Gourlay</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<h3 class="hang">ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF SPIRITUALISM, IN THE -HAPPINESS IMPARTED BY THE CONVERSION OF AN UNBELIEVER TO -A BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_998"></a>998. Certainly, in one conclusion all zealous religious sectarians will -coincide. I allude to that which makes belief in a future state of existence -of the highest importance to the happiness of reasoning mortals.</p> - -<p><a id="para_999"></a>999. Those who, for faith in immortality, have been satisfied to rely on the -creed which they may have chanced to derive from their ancestors through -education, and have consequently felt the comfort of a belief in immortality -thence arising, may readily conceive of the benefit which must ensue -to those of their fellow-creatures upon whom such a creed has not been -impressed, but who are quite sensible of the immense value of any facts -tending to create such a belief in life to come. It is to be lamented, however, -that persons who have this impression contingently from a peculiar -education, are irritated at having analogous impressions created in a different -way.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1000"></a>1000. But in obedience to any dissatisfaction thus arising, to assail -those who may acquire a knowledge of futurity by a new route, is manifestly -inconsistent with the golden rule. As an exemplification of the -benefit which the new evidences of another and a better world may pro<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>193</span>duce -in the minds of those who are not satisfied with that of revelation, I -will subjoin the account of his conversion indited by one of my -esteemed friends, Doctor W. Geib, who preceded me in spiritual investigation, -and has longer enjoyed the influence which Spiritualism exercises -over its votaries.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1001"></a>1001. The author was a member of the circle under whose auspices my -experimental tests were for the most part applied, and was present on the -very occasion when <i>my own apparatus, which had been contrived to disprove -spiritual agency</i>, demonstrated its existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1002"></a>1002. “The verdure and warblings of fifty springs had elevated the souls -of the writer of the present sketch in wonder, admiration, and gratitude, to -the great Omnipotent Father of the Universe, without opening to his -longing view a world beyond the grave.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1003"></a>1003. “There was pain in the thought, that scenes so enchanting, feelings -so susceptible to their charms, a mind constituted to appreciate their -miraculous wonders and pervading fascinations, and to do homage to the -great Intelligence which gave them existence, should in a few short years -be destined, like the foliage of the forest, to death and decay.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1004"></a>1004. “Still, to his mind there was arrogance in the thought that man -could ever be the recipient of joys beyond those provided for him in common -with all animal creation; and he chased from his mind the sombre -thought of death, as a dreaded incubus upon life and the enemy of his few -remaining joys.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1005"></a>1005. “But how changed the scene! Death, once so disturbing to his -peace, so discordant with the moral attributes of his nature, which ‘puzzles -the will,’ and leads the mind to seek in wonder and discouragement the motive -for human life, is now but a ‘consummation devoutly to be wished,’ -when this race of earthly life shall have been duly run; when we may -have filled the measure of our destined usefulness, and secured by our -moral affinities a joyful reception in the spheres above.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1006"></a>1006. “And why this change in thought and feeling? How are the -horrors of the grave, the dread of dissolution into the primordial elements -of creation, exchanged for the blissful assurance of immortal life for the -soul of man, in all its associate identity, after it shall have departed from -its earthly tenement of flesh?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1007"></a>1007. “The answer to this all-absorbing question, which sheds light -into the gloomy recesses of the skeptic’s mind, and gives joy to his despairing -heart—which supplied evidence where none had been sought, conviction -where it had been sought in vain, and imparts to the accepted hope -and faith of the professional believer, the confirmation of a demonstrated -fact—is to be found in the irrefutable evidence of <i>Spiritual Philosophy</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1008"></a>1008. “How invaluable is this dispensation of an Almighty Providence, -which has made his despairing creature, a believer in the immortality of -the soul of man; has cleared from his mental vision the clouds of doubt<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>194</span> -and disbelief, and has opened to his rejoicing mind the irrefragable evidence -of a future life beyond the grave!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">1009 ‘Hail now on earth the glorious day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When infidels have learnt to pray;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When heaven’s laws by reason blessed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are all with fondest love confessed!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When man in bliss can look above,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And see a God in all his love;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Can own with joy the mighty King,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And loud his hallelujahs sing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Throw back the gates, ye heavenly band,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To loved ones show the spirit land;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hang out the beacon lights to see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A home <i>for all</i>, the bond and free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And now the dreams of former days</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Behold in those celestial ways;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where sorrow’s eye is never seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where love and hope are ever green.’—W. G.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1010"></a>1010. “The exhibition of so-called spiritual agency in New York City -by the Misses Fox and their mother, was the first incident that claimed -my notice, and excited my laughter and ridicule, in this apparent new -phase in the science of legerdemain.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1011"></a>1011. Blitz and his wonders crossed my mental vision, and seemed -outdone by the results of this feminine exhibition, in which the spirits -of another world were invoked, and aided in the performance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1012"></a>1012. This happened when psychology had been developed to a wondering -world, as the climax of magnetic phenomena in the wonderful attributes -of man, and was regarded by myself among many as the culmination -of human research in the science of animal life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1013"></a>1013. Meeting an intelligent friend who had bestowed much pains in -the investigation of this department of science, and inquiring of him as to -the progress of magnetism, I was answered, that something much more wonderful -than magnetism engaged his attention and occupied his mind at -that time.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1014"></a>1014. Asking what the subject might be, and being asked in return, -if I had not heard of the wonders of Spiritualism, a painful impression was -made on my mind and feelings that, where all had been regarded as sound -and straight, there must be some latent obliquity of thought; that my -friend, as the Spaniards say, was a little <i>tonto</i>, or that he was likely soon -to become so, was quite apparent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1015"></a>1015. However, my strictest scrutiny could detect no decline of his -intelligent and ingenuous mind, and his well-digested remarks addressed to -my incredulous ears, gave proof enough that this might be another demand -for the investigation of science, and a step forward in the progressive -development of nature’s laws.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>195</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1016"></a>1016. Being the leading member of a circle that held its meetings at -his house, and kindly acquiescing in my request to be present and witness -the phenomena, I found myself shortly afterward seated at a table, on a -Sabbath evening, with about twenty ladies and gentlemen, whose every -appearance was fatal to my preconceived prejudices against the understanding -of those with whom I expected to be associated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1017"></a>1017. It was evidently a meeting for religious devotion. Sacred songs -took the lead, and my own voice, as if impelled by a foreign influence, was -raised for the first time by the impulse of feeling to participation in this -vocal prayer of gratitude and praise, sung to the great, almighty Founder -of the universe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1018"></a>1018. Indeed it would be well for the cause of spiritual philosophy -if all exhibitions of its wonderful and sacred phenomena were made under -circumstances calculated to impress the mind with the greatness and dignity -of its source. To feel protected from the nefarious cupidity of the -world is an important first step for the successful investigation of a subject -so sacred in its character, and so absorbing, in contemplating the prospective -existence of man.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1019"></a>1019. Seeing my associates place their hands flat on the table, I followed -their example, and was soon made sensible of the reason, by feeling -what was recognised as electric concussion, made by spirits to denote their -presence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1020"></a>1020. And ever will my mind recur with delight and gratitude to the -influence on my moral nature of this mission of love and salvation to an -invulnerable heart! It flashed like electricity across the mind; the clouds -of skepticism were ruptured, and shed a grateful and refreshing shower of -hopeful joy on the feverish doubts of an unbelieving soul. This beginning -led to progressive investigation, and that, as is uniformly the case, to a -confirmed conviction of <i>the communion of spirits with their friends on -earth</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1021"></a>1021. Hearing much of physical demonstrations, but having witnessed -only the concussions, vulgarly called the raps, the question was put to my -friend, the gentleman already referred to, if a demonstration could be had -to gratify my curiosity, and strengthen my assurance, when the following -dialogue occurred:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1022"></a>1022. ‘Will the spirits be so obliging as to make a physical demonstration?’ -Answered by three raps on the table, which were responded to -by an affirmative expression from the whole circle. My seat was at the -side of the medium, a married lady of considerably more than ordinary -weight. <i>Question.</i> Will the spirits move Mrs. D. in her chair? <i>Ans.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1023"></a>1023. As this demonstration was intended for my special benefit, and -our invisible friends were fully committed for its performance, my attention -was riveted on the lady who was to be the subject of it. ‘Madam, -will you please put your feet on the spar of the chair?’ This being fully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>196</span> -accomplished—‘and your hands in your lap,’ was added. As her hands -dropped, <i>the lady left my side</i>, passed about two feet backward, and immediately -returned to her former position at the table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1024"></a>1024. My astonishment was naturally raised to the highest pitch, -demanding of Dr. P., who sat on her opposite side, if I could believe my -own eyes, and that Mrs. D. had really been moved from my side. ‘Oh, -certainly,’ he replied; ‘that is nothing. I have seen far more wonderful -manifestations than that.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1025"></a>1025. The idea of collusion was too ridiculous to be entertained for a -moment; every consideration condemned it. The carpet on which the -chair stood on its slender legs, with at least one hundred and fifty pounds -added to its gravity, must have been extensively injured had the chair -remained in contact with it. But not even a sound was audible, and my -mind was left to contemplate <i>an invisible power that had effected the -movement of a ponderous body in mid air</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1026"></a>1026. Showing the interest of my own dear invisible guardian friends, -it was spelt out by the card, the primitive mode of communication at that -time, that I should change my seat to the side of the medium; and it was -only after this change had been made that my mind was impressed to ask -for a demonstration.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1027"></a>1027. By this demonstration of supernal agency I was delighted, -humbled, and convinced. As the octogenarian Robert Owen, of London, -proclaimed to the world in a published letter, in relating his own case, I -became a convert to <i>spiritual life</i> and <i>intercourse</i> by the force of this -evidence, because I should have considered any man a fool, who, with a -mind free from the curse of a bigoted education, and whose thoughts and -feelings were not mortgaged to the world, could reject such palpable and -convincing proof, and entertain a different conclusion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1028"></a>1028. Being subsequently in the city of New York, I visited the -public circles of Mrs. C., a medium for automatic writing and the sounds. -Being requested, as the rest had been, but without response, to ask if any -of my spirit friends were present, my interrogation was answered by three -distinct raps on the table. ‘Now ask who it is; a father, mother, and so -on;’ and I was informed it was a son. ‘Is your sister with you?’ ‘Yes.‘ -‘Will you spell her name?’ ‘Yes;’ and it was correctly given. ‘Is her -little son with her?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Will you spell his name?’ ‘Yes;’ and a -name of seventeen letters was correctly spelt out by the card, the letters -being indicated, when pointed to, by three raps.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1029"></a>1029. My spirit son also informed me when he had died and of what -disease. I asked if they were happy. It will be observed that my -son’s name had not been mentioned, reserving it for a test. Three raps -had replied in the affirmative to my question, when the medium spasmodically -seized a pencil, extended a sheet of paper toward me, and wrote -upside down, so that I might read it as written: ‘We are looking forward<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>197</span> -for you to join us, when we shall be more so;’ and to my perfect delight -and astonishment, signed my son’s name to the communication, asking -whether the name was correct.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1030"></a>1030. On a subsequent occasion, when a large and respectable company -was present, I remarked to Mrs. C. that she had reported the fact -that foreign languages had been written by her hand. ‘All kinds of language; -but I don’t know any thing about them,’ was the reply. ‘If you -have no objection, I should like to get a communication from my son, in a -foreign language.’ ‘Oh, not the least; if he knew it in this world, he -will know it in the next.’ ‘My son, will you give me a communication in -a foreign language?’ Answer, three raps. The company were all intent on -this striking and convincing test of spiritual intercourse. In French? no; -one rap. In Spanish? three raps. The medium’s hand, as before, seized -the pencil, and wrote upside down a communication to me <i>in correct Spanish</i>, -though we all accepted her declaration, that she was not acquainted -with one word of the Spanish language.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1031"></a>1031. As it is said of our beneficent almighty Father, that when two -or three are gathered together in his name, he is with them, so it is with -the spirits of our dear departed relatives and friends. When a few congenial, -harmonious spirits of earth are associated in virtuous love, and -their affinity for their supermundane spirit friends is strong enough to -draw them here, they come on missions of friendship, and pour happiness -into our hearts, provided the presence of a medium, possessing the required -conditions, affords them an opportunity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1032"></a>1032. It has been my good fortune to be a member of such an association, -called a spirit circle; and the communications which have come to -me from my dear departed children, and others who are dear to me, filled -with love and interest for my welfare in the world, have given a value to -life which it never had before, supplying a stimulus to the heart and mind -which has guarded them from the influence of surrounding excitements, -and strewed that path with many sweets which was too apt, with less -humility and resignation, to be regarded with doubt and pursued with -remorse.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1033"></a>1033. Let it not be said that spiritual philosophy imparts no benefit to -man. It need not be asked if opening heaven to the mind of the skeptic -is not a boon: it is too manifest an axiom to be made a question. Is it no -advantage to mankind to know that this life is a prelude to one in the -skies? no incentive to virtue to be taught that the beginning of our spirit -life will correspond with the termination of our mundane existence, and -that our position there will be governed by our affinities here? Operating -on spiritual, as gravity does on physical, matter, and giving to crime a weight -which holds the criminal back in the career of immortal happiness; and -that this must be first disposed of by the redeeming laws of nature before -the soul can begin its progressive flight to spheres of celestial bliss.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>198</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1034"></a>1034. At one of those family harmonious associations at which spirits -are wont to come, I received a first communication from a much-loved -daughter, whose devoted affection in this world caused her untimely death -to leave a large blank in my happiness, till spiritual philosophy gave to -my mind the assurance of her exalted bliss and unaltered love.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1035"></a>1035. To hear, as it were, the voice of one who had been resolved, -agreeably to my belief, into the primitive elements of her physical nature, -proclaiming her existence and transcendent happiness in scenes of surpassing -beauty and fascination, was well calculated to soften the heart, however -hard before, and make it for the future a more ready recipient of happy -impressions; to open the floodgates of feeling, waken up the latent -sympathies of our nature, and make us participants of those fountains of -joy, which flow from the blessings of pure religion.</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter from a Spirit Daughter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1036"></a>1036. “‘<i>Father Dear</i>: I will give you some idea of my beautiful -home. Think of all the flowers ever seen on earth blended in one, all -the heavenly strains of music blended in one strain, all beauty combined, -and you will have a slight conception of the heavenly kingdom.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1037"></a>1037. Poets have sung of heavenly joys, but fancy cannot paint, nor -artist sketch, the wondrous beauties of the spirit home. Darling father, -how glad I am to see you have begun to live for heaven! I shall be one -to welcome you when life’s journey is over. Oh, mother dear, will you, -for the love you bear to us, listen to the voice of your children? We will -give you all the proof you ask.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Maria.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1038"></a>1038. This was all got by pointing to the letters on a card, and taken -down by a third person. All in such a manner as to preclude the possibility -of the least participation of any one in its production.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1039"></a>1039. A beautiful and much-loved son, who left this world at three -years of age, came to me, at the end of twenty-seven years, from the seventh -supernal sphere, with words of love, consolation, and advice. Such events, -to a believer in the spiritual doctrine, are well calculated to arouse the -strongest energies of the soul and inspire the best feelings of the heart!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1040"></a>1040. The regular progress of maturity of the spirit, uninterrupted by -the grave, is made evident to our astonished minds by an event like this. -We are also admonished by the same source that decline is not an attribute -of spirit life; that old age recedes, and infancy advances, to the same -point of maturity, with entire immunity from all physical infirmity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1041"></a>1041. On last Christmas-day, being convalescent from a rather doubtful -illness, and musing alone on the wonders and blessings of spiritual -intercourse, I was induced to write the following letter to my much-loved -spirit daughter, from whom had come the preceding and many other communications:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1042"></a>1042. ‘<i>Dear angel Child</i>: The untiring affinity of your cherished<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>199</span> -love, which, unobstructed by time and space, makes you so often the companion -of my mind and heart, and the dear partner of my thoughts and -feelings, would seem to render the present object of addressing a letter to -you and your dear brothers in heaven a superfluous task.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1043"></a>1043. But, my dear Maria, my ever dear and cherished child, with -my growing faith in the blessed reality of spiritual existence, I am becoming -daily more anxious to preserve the history of my happy experience, -and also my correspondence with my beloved relations of this world, who -have preceded me in the progressive destiny of the human race. Beside -which, my beloved daughter, it will assimilate, revive, and perpetuate -that mundane correspondence, the dear mementoes of which had their beginning -seventeen summers since in your sick chamber on the banks of -the Hudson, while an ambitious and youthful votary of Minerva, and -ended on the Alabama, ever sacred to my memory, with the termination -of your worldly career, a wife and a mother.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1044"></a>1044. The considerations which engage my mind and elicit my solicitude, -in this contemplated correspondence with my spirit relatives and -friends, are the mode of conducting it, that may make them acquainted -with its contents, the fear of transcending the limits of propriety in the -subject-matter of my letters, and my solicitude to make all my thoughts, -feelings, and acts as conformable to the high behests of spirit life as may -be within the reach of my weak and earthly nature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1045"></a>1045. The communications I have received from you and your dear -brothers, and from your Uncle John and Aunt Rebecca, are a perpetual -source of happiness to my mind, and nothing, while I am in this world, -can reflect so much joy on my heart as the continued correspondence of -all the loved ones who have gone before me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1046"></a>1046. Your angel visits, and those of my dear William, during my -recent bodily affliction, have exercised that joyful influence on my heart -and mind so essential in diseases of a dangerous nature and of doubtful -termination.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1047"></a>1047. The assurance which you and your dear brother have given -me, that my sickness has had the happy effect to spiritualize my mental -and physical nature, has been already made manifest to my grateful mind -by strengthened resolution for the future, and a more exalted sense of the -demands of that true spiritual philosophy which felicitates our life in this, -and secures for us a desirable position in the spheres above.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1048"></a>1048. Flowing from my warm aspirations for the increased happiness -of my fellow-creatures in this mundane sphere, by the dissemination and -growth of the spiritual doctrine, I cherish a wish that this letter may be -made to subserve that divine object, by exhibiting to the world an irrefutable -test of spiritual intercourse.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1049"></a>1049. For this purpose, my dear angel child, in your next interview -through our much-respected medium, allow me to request the favour of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>200</span> -you to make my letter so far the subject of your communication, as may -exhibit the reality of your spiritual existence, intelligence, and clairvoyance, -and your continued correspondence of heart and mind with your -happy father.</p> - -<p>“<i>Christmas</i>, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1050"></a>1050. Shortly after writing this letter, at the circle of which I am a -member, the following communication was spelled out on the spiritoscope -or disc.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1051"></a>1051. ‘<i>Darling Father</i>: I wish to say something to you about William’s -communication. He has impressed you since you were sick more -than myself. You are rapidly developing as an impressional medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1052"></a>1052. ‘We have been constantly with you. Having wished to give a -communication the evening our friend (a lady who is a very superior medium) -was with you and mother, but the mode was too tedious. It was -an era in mother’s life. Her opposition tends in some measure to repulse -us; not that we love her less, but our loving natures must meet reciprocal -tenderness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1053"></a>1053. ‘Love begets love in the heavenly spheres, as well as on earth. -I cannot say more at present, but I think William will speak more at -length about the letter.</p> -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Maria.</span>’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1054"></a>1054. ‘What letter?’ ‘Father knows,’ was the reply. The next -communication for me on the same evening was the following:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1055"></a>1055. ‘Father, I wish you to read the letter which you have in your -pocket-book before you go home; it will dispel all doubts in your mind -relative to its spiritual origin.</p> - -<p class="psig">W. G.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1056"></a>1056. On the next evening, finding myself incidentally one of a happy -meeting of spiritual friends, the following came for me through the spiritoscope -from my brother, referring to my letter:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1057"></a>1057. ‘<i>Brother William</i>: We are still with and around you. During -your sickness it was the province of Maria to watch you daily. Other -friends were near; among these were father and mother, with your sons -Jacob, William, and Henry, Rebecca, and many others bound to you by -the ties of consanguinity. On Christmas-day we held a levee in your -room. If you could have seen us, I think it might have disturbed your -placidity, but you sat as composed as if you were entirely alone. I think -if you will recall the circumstances, you will confess that a power foreign -to your own was exerting an influence to give forth spiritual monitions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1058"></a>1058. ‘I am anxious that Maria should make a communication <i>in regard -to the letter</i>, and she will do so when an opportunity offers.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1059"></a>1059. On the next meeting of our circle, the following beautiful letter -was put in my hand by our intelligent and highly-developed medium, -Mrs. Gourlay, written by her under spiritual impression:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1060"></a>1060. ‘<i>Dear Father</i>: I mentioned to you briefly at the circle that -brother William impressed you to write the letter which you addressed to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>201</span> -me on Christmas-day. I perceive with pleasure that my friend Mrs. G. -is now sufficiently under my control to answer your affectionate epistle. -The proposed correspondence between us affords me much pleasure, and -causes me to feel as if I were really to live over again the days of my -earthly existence, when I was blessed with the oft-repeated manifestations -of your parental love and affection. I flatter myself, my dear father, that -this revival of loving association will tend much to your happiness as well -as mine. I will be a friendly star to guide you in your course over the -troubled sea of life, that you may not become submerged in its surging -billows, but arrive safely at the haven of eternal joy and felicity. I will -lift your soul by degrees to the source of love and wisdom, and cause you -to feel sensations of pleasure such as you have never before experienced. -You have a mind which delights in the beauties of nature and art. Let -me tell you, then, that no scene of earthly grandeur which you have ever -witnessed, nor the sublimest flight of fancy of the wildest enthusiast in -the cause of Spiritualism, can compare with the beauties and joys of the -spirit home.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1061"></a>1061. ‘I regret that the members of my loved family are so much -blinded by prejudice, as to debar themselves the holy privilege of spiritual -intercourse—a communion which would serve to connect them indissolubly -with us, and teach them of a world beyond death and the grave. Oh! -father, how my heart rejoices that I can come to you with cheering words, -and pour into your willing ear the tidings of the gospel of peace, which -will prove a balm of consolation to your drooping spirit! The ordinary -trials of life are but as dew on the eagle’s wing, when the proud bird soars -aloft to court the rays of the rising sun. Father, I have already presented -you with a view of the beautiful realities of my spirit home. The picture -I have drawn is no ideal one, but a real and substantial scene of enduring -pleasures. Now let me ask, How will your joys compare with ours? Oh! -that the minds of my darling children might become imbued with an understanding -of this most holy religion, for I am conscious that it would -add largely to their present and future bliss!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1062"></a>1062. Dear father, I perceive the emotions of your inmost heart, and -if the love of a devoted child can in any wise conduce to your happiness, -it is most freely thine. Oh! that dear mother could feel as you do, how -happy her declining years on earth might become! When she is disposed -to listen to the voices of her spirit children, it will be our pleasure to come -to her “with glad tidings of great joy.” Wishing you both, my dear -parents, all the happiness which earth can afford, I subscribe myself your -ever loving daughter.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">Maria.</span>’”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1063"></a>1063. The following letter was placed in a sealed envelope, addressed -and handed to Mrs. Gourlay for an impressional reply. A few days afterward -the answer to it, here annexed, was handed to me by my esteemed -friend, the lady named, with the original letter still in the sealed envelope<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>202</span> -as it had been handed to her. This has to be regarded as a beautiful specimen -of psychometric mediumship.</p> - -<p class="padd"><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, March 23, 1855.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1064"></a>1064. <i>My dear Brother John</i>: Your communication last evening at our -circle of “progress” afforded me much gratification, as you are doubtless -aware from your pervading perception. I regret that circumstances do not -allow of a more frequent intercourse with my beloved friends of the spirit -land. It is also my ardent desire to hold communion with all my spirit -relatives, and would wish with you, my dear brother, to bring about this -delightful consummation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1065"></a>1065. Your injunction of cheerfulness, as an efficient means of securing -a healthful equilibrium of the vital organism, I can fully appreciate, and -shall endeavour to profit by your welcome brotherly and excellent advice, -as far as circumstances will permit. It is true, my dear John, that a -longer sojourn here harmonizes with my desire to effect some objects, the -accomplishment of which would probably add to my happiness here, and -my claim for congenial association. The object to which I allude is the -amelioration of the condition of the poor and wretched of my fellow-creatures, -making them through my agency the recipients of some active benevolence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1066"></a>1066. I have imbibed the opinion that the only acceptable offering at -the throne of the great God, is the actual performance of those duties -which are incumbent on us as individuals and social beings; beginning -with the establishment of our own personal physical and moral character, -and those of our own household and immediate social circle of relatives and -friends; and then, to the accomplishment of this, to cultivate the sentiment -of benevolence in aiding to promote the individual welfare of mankind in -the use of what talent and other means may have fallen to our lot. I am -prone, in my relations with the great Omnipotent Ruler of the universe, to -apply the time-honoured maxim, “Actions speak louder than words.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1067"></a>1067. Your invitation, my dear brother, to increase my intercourse with -my spirit friends, finds in my heart and mind a very ready compliance. -You propose a daily appropriation of time to this object. If you will do -me the favour to appoint the time most agreeable to them and most desirable -for myself, it shall be, to the fullest extent of my power, sacredly -devoted to a duty and pleasure that are nearest to my heart.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1068"></a>1068. I feel the assurance that the good earth-character and intelligence -of my spirit family, and the extent of our mutual love and affinity, afford -me a more than ordinary opportunity for receiving information of that -bright world which has become a delightful prospective inheritance to me -and to thousands of doubting, fearful, and despairing minds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1069"></a>1069. Your inspiring cheerfulness, my dear John, has already verified -your sensible prognostic of the great influence on disease of a cheerful -mind. I have learnt to entertain a high opinion of the bright intelligence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>203</span> -and clairvoyance of the more elevated denizens of the spirit world; and -shall always, therefore, regard any advice that may be offered me for the -better government of my body and soul as a welcome and precious offering -from those I love. I will close for the present with the assurance of -my unaltered affection.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">William.</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1070"></a>1070. <i>My dear Brother</i>: With heartfelt love and affection I respond -to your letter in reply to a message which I delivered through the instrumentality -of our devoted friend, Mrs. Gourlay. During our happy interchange -of thought, it will be my endeavour to suggest such ideas to your -mind as may serve to elevate it and develope its capabilities. To the mind -that is ignorant and prejudiced, this mode of communion with the invisible -world may seem to be a direct violation and infringement of nature’s laws; -but it is, on the contrary, not only natural, but perfectly legitimate to the -age in which you now live. It is not a new revelation, but simply the -discovery of hidden truths peculiarly adapted to the present advanced -state of the race. It is old material in a new form. The material and -spiritual elements are contributing, as <i>never before</i>, to the elevation and -happiness of mankind, and already is established a spiritual telegraph on -which I am at this moment successfully operating—sending a message -of love to you, my brother.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1071"></a>1071. You say my words of cheer have wrought a change for the better -in your system. This is a result which naturally follows a strict adherence -to my prescription—cheerfulness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1072"></a>1072. You desire to know what time would be most advisable for you -to sit for spiritual communion. I would say, early in the morning, before -the mind becomes taxed with the cares of the day, make a record of your -impressions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1073"></a>1073. You observe that it gives you great pleasure to receive messages -from those in the spirit world who are bound to you by the ties of relationship. -Let me assure you, my dear brother, that the feeling is mutual; and -while time lasts with you, it will be our endeavour to gladden your heart -with tokens of our increasing and untiring love. Your cup of happiness -shall be filled to the brim, if it depends on us.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1074"></a>1074. Brother, may you meet with friends true and kind; may the labours -of the cheerful morn render each day a happier one to you; and when -night steals upon a slumbering world, may you close your outward eyes in -peace with all mankind! Keep the mind’s sunshine bright! You have -a soul to feel for others’ woes, and this is the true stamp of divinity.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">John.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>204</span></p> - -<h3 id="MARRIAGE_ON_EARTH_AND_IN_HEAVEN">MARRIAGE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.</h3> - - -<h4 class="hang">The Hymeneal Tie in the Spirit World grows out of the necessity of the -Connubial Union in the Mundane Sphere. “Free love” imputation -refuted.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></h4> - - -<p><a id="para_1075"></a>1075. Some peculiar views respecting marriage, which are not consistent -with the ideas of female delicacy and chastity heretofore entertained, -have been designated by the name of “<i>Free Love</i>,” and have been commented -on as proceeding from the spirit world. I am happy to say that, -agreeably to the impressions which I have derived from my spirit friends, -any doctrine, having a tendency of the kind thus described, would be at -least as much censured in the spirit world as in this. As the best mode -of removing this groundless imputation on Spiritualism, I will state the -impressions which I entertain on the subject of marriage.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1076"></a>1076. Among the sources of happiness in the spirit world much insisted -on is that resulting from a combined union of those really created -for each other. The marriage contracted in this world, loses its binding -power in the spirit world, yet may endure if mutually desired. If a -husband has had several wives, or a wife several husbands, the tie endures -only between the most congenial pair.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1077"></a>1077. Sexual association is the means throughout nature by which the -perpetuation of species is effected. But that this association may exist -among human beings without degradation, it is manifestly necessary that -it should not be indiscriminate. Not only delicacy, modesty, and the cultivation -of congenial affection, but likewise the interests of offspring, require -that the parents and children should form one family. The welfare -of children, their equal duty to both parents, and natural affections between -the parents and their children, must make a separation painful to all -parties, however affection may have declined between the husband and -wife, on the part of either or both.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1078"></a>1078. Hence, in the mundane sphere, the perpetuation of the human -race consistently with decorum, and the welfare of offspring, and the happiness -of the parties, especially the mother and wife, seems to be the -great object of matrimony. In the spheres it is difficult to perceive how -any motives of equally high importance can exist. It must be that connubial -union in the spirit world rather grows out of marriage in this -world, in order to fill up the void in the heart which might otherwise<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>205</span> -arise from our mundane habits. It would seem as if it were a benevolent -indemnification for celibacy, or for the miseries so often resulting from the -connubial state in this world, consequent, like the sufferings of child-bearing, -to the perpetuation of mankind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1079"></a>1079. It seems to me an error to suppose that the terrestrial marriage -can be a secondary object with God, when the important part which it -performs is taken into view.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1080"></a>1080. Incapacity to maintain a family often renders it impossible for -those who would marry to come together, and worldly motives induce marriages, -even when disgust or indifference may exist on the part of one, -if not on that of both the parties.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1081"></a>1081. It seems, moreover, even where marriage actually results from -the passion of love, that it is more or less the consequence of a species -of hallucination, through which lovers deck an object with all that they -would wish to exist in the way of merit, and feel toward them an affection -proportionate to their own capacity to love, rather than of the degree of -power in the object, reasonably to excite such intense partiality. It is -thus that the love of the mother to the child she believes to be her own, -will be powerful in proportion to her own capacity for maternal love, -rather than of the child to excite love; since though it be a monster, and -not <i>really her own child</i>, but <i>fraudulently substituted</i> therefor, it will -cause no diminution of her maternal devotion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1082"></a>1082. It is the impression on the mind that determines the object to -which the passion is directed; the character of the being actuated by the -passion, which determines its strength.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1083"></a>1083. But where to all those qualifications which would create friendship -between persons of the same sex, the peculiar emotions which take -place between those of different sexes are superadded, those who come -together in this world under the hymeneal tie, may find it something more -than a mere civil contract, and not terminated by death. Moreover, independently -of the original passion, there arises an affection which is -justly distinguished as conjugal, and which differs from the other in this -highly important particular, that it is founded on a thorough reciprocal -knowledge, instead of that ignorance which too often accompanies attachments -produced by the arrows of the blind god, as Cupid is sometimes -designated with figurative consistency.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1084"></a>1084. Having always supposed that independently of the emotions -peculiar to the sexes, there could only be friendship between a man and -woman like that which would exist between a brother and sister, I am at -a loss to understand what it can be which, in the spiritual state of existence, -can induce indissoluble marriage.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1085"></a>1085. On submitting the suggestions comprised in the preceding statement -to the spirit to whom I owe much information, herein quoted, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>206</span> -to the spirit of a most intimate male friend, by both it was alleged that -peculiar emotions were attendant on sexual affection in the spheres, as -well as on earth, so far as consistent with the absence of that which exists -in common with brutes.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="THE_MORALITY_OF_CHRISTENDOM_BEING_IRRECONCILABLE_WITH">THE MORALITY OF CHRISTENDOM BEING IRRECONCILABLE WITH -THE NEW TESTAMENT, CANNOT BE ITS LEGITIMATE OFFSPRING.</h3> - - -<h4>Inspiration can have no higher authority, than the human testimony on -which its existence is arrogated.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1086"></a>1086. Is it not a mistake to suppose that any doctrine gains any validity -by claiming inspiration as its source, when there is nothing but human -testimony to advance in support of that claim? For if in the instance of -Spiritualism, human testimony is deemed to be unavailable, how comes it -to avail when adduced in support of this arrogant claim of inspiration? -As well might a man expect to cure the defect of a marshy foundation by -substituting columns of iron for wooden posts, or that, while resting on -wood, the support could be made firmer by introducing iron into the superstructure.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1087"></a>1087. As the introduction of the iron would diminish the competency -of the foundation in proportion to the augmentation of weight, so the -claim to inspiration lessens the competency of the testimony upon which -it is advanced, proportionally as the incredibility is increased.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1088"></a>1088. But as respects the ancient witnesses, their own statements make -them out unworthy of confidence. Facts or circumstances are stated -which are manifestly blasphemous, inconsistent, and absurd, if not impossible. -Thus a want of veracity or of discretion being demonstrated in some -points, is sufficient to destroy validity in all.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1089"></a>1089. Revelation assumes God to be omnipotent, omniscient, prescient, -and all good, yet represents him as under the necessity of subjecting his -creatures to probation, to find out what, by the premises, he must foresee. -It represents him while wishing his creatures to know him and his attributes, -as <i>not teaching</i> them that which he wishes them to learn, yet punishing -them and their posterity for ignorance arising from his own omission.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1090"></a>1090. It does not suffice to allege that the Old Testament taught God’s -will to the Jews; since it is to me incredible that our Heavenly Father -would give instruction of vital importance to a few of his children, leaving -all the rest uninstructed, and yet afflict them for this result. But, -admitting this possible, it appears that the instruction given the Jews in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>207</span> -the book of Moses failed in those particulars, which are of paramount importance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1091"></a>1091. In the Bible, God is represented as susceptible of <i>jealousy</i>, of -<i>wrath</i>, of authorizing the butchery of three thousand Israelites for worshipping -a golden calf; sanctioning the massacre of the whole nation of the -Midianites, with the reservation of the virgins for violation by the bloody -murderers of their kindred; the outrageous deception and fraud on the -part of Jacob; swindling the Egyptians by borrowing their ornaments with -intention of purloining them; hardening the heart of Pharaoh, yet afflicting -his subjects for the obduracy thus produced; instructing Saul to -surprise and massacre the Amalekites, even to each “<i>suckling babe</i>”, for a -wrong done by their ancestors some hundred years before, as authorizing -the hewing down with a sword the regal prisoner Agag in cold -blood,<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> and sanctioning the destruction of whole pagan communities by -David.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>208</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1092"></a>1092. The following is the account given of this favourite of Jehovah: -“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of -Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape -into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me -any more in any coast of Israel; so shall I escape out of his hand. And -David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with -him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with -Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David -with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, -Nabal’s wife. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he -sought no more again for him. And David said unto Achish, If I have -now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in -the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in -the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziglag that day: wherefore -Ziglag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the -time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year -and four months. And David and his men went up, and invaded the -Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were -of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the -land of Egypt. And David smote the land, and left neither man nor -woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and -the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. And -Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to-day? And David said, -Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, -and against the south of the Kenites. And David saved neither man nor -woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, -saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth -in the country of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He -hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be -my servant forever.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1093"></a>1093. Here is massacre, spoliation, base lying to Achish, his truly -noble-hearted friend, whom he deceives into a belief that he had made the -people of Israel abhor him, when it was his intention to become king of -Judea, and of course the enemy of his too-confiding protector, whenever -an opportunity offered.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1094"></a>1094. Praise be to God that he has sent us a new way to religious light, -not associated with this <i>detestable</i> immorality!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1095"></a>1095. Jehovah is made to arrest the sun, in order that Joshua may -slaughter his flying foes. He is described as authorizing the Jews to extirpate -their neighbours and seize their territory. I do most conscientiously -declare that the portrait of Jehovah by the Bible appears to me more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>209</span> -suitable for Satan than for our heavenly Father, who is represented by the -spirits as perfectly impartial and equally loving to all his creatures.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1096"></a>1096. The example set in the Bible of slandering and persecuting those -who did not believe in its doctrines, has ever been followed out by scriptural -devotees, who would presumptuously represent that it is only from -the Scriptures, which <i>they</i> recognise as the word of God, that a correct -knowledge of the divine attributes can be obtained. But this is the converse -of the truth. As described by Seneca, the Roman Sage, the God -of the ancient theist was to the Jehovah of the Bible as Hyperion to -Satyr. (See Seneca’s opinions of God, 1224)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1097"></a>1097. It appears to me a striking proof how far men can be demented -by educational bigotry, that it should be supposed that their omnipotent -God can require human missionaries’ aid to promulgate or carry out his will.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Did God a special creed require,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1098"></a>1098. The <i>Old Testament does not impart a knowledge of immortality, -without which religion were worthless. The notions derived from the gospel -are vague, disgusting, inaccurate, and difficult to believe.</i> The Pentateuch -did not give the Jews an idea of immortality, nor were those Jews -distinguished for morality, who from other sources than the Pentateuch -embraced a belief in immortality. It has already been pointed out that -the most enlightened sect among the children of Israel, the Sadducees, -did not believe in a future state, while the Pharisees, who professed to believe -therein, appear to have been so immoral as to be pre-eminently the -objects of Christ’s denunciation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1099"></a>1099. As respects the precepts of Christ, those on which he laid most -stress are not only neglected, but grossly violated, by the opposite course -being sanctioned by the overruling sentiment of society. Nothing would -subject a man to more contempt in Christendom than a tame submission -to blows, or being so poor as to wear patched or ragged clothes. There -are few, if any, in Christendom, who would not rather have any deficiency -in attire attributed to accident or taste, than to poverty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1100"></a>1100. I have shown that the idea which the Pharisees entertained of -heaven, as portrayed by Josephus, representing the wicked like the rich -man within sight of the good, would be a hell to a good-hearted angel. -This representation is sanctioned by Christ in his story of the rich man -and Lazarus. The only reward promised to his apostles was worldly preeminence -in the form of judgeships. Hence it were hardly reasonable for -those who are subordinate in merit to the disciples to expect any better -remuneration. Hell is as absurdly as horridly typified by eternal exposure -to interminable fire.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1101"></a>1101. Thus neither among the Jews, nor among Christians, has the -Bible furnished any adequate account of a future state, nor has it been -productive of higher morality; since the only morality which does exist,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>210</span> -<i>is coupled not only with the neglect, but with the violation of those precepts -which the gospel inculcates</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1102"></a>1102. Diogenes took a lantern to see if he could find an honest man in -Greece. Were any one to employ a lime-light, he would not in Christendom -find a Christian who carries out in practice the precepts of his divine -Master. If those who know their Master’s will, yet do it not, are to be -beaten with many stripes, while the ignorant pagan is to bear but few, -were it not better to be a pagan than such a Christian as those are, for the -most part, who exist in Christendom? Unless our missionaries can make -better Christians, is it not inhumane to add to the number?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1103"></a>1103. On calling on a bigoted, self-styled disciple of Christ to show me -anyone who put the precepts of Christ into practice, the reply was, “<i>We rely -on his merits.</i>” “That is <i>all</i> you do,” said I. “In common with others -of your tenets, you make the blood of Christ a fund on which every sinner -may draw in proportion as he has confidence in its detersive influence.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1104"></a>1104. I am supported in some of the views above presented, by a communication -from a believer in revelation, under the signature of <cite>Bosanquet</cite>, -to the Baltimore Church Times, for June 15, 1848. I will quote a portion -of this communication, which is as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1105"></a>1105. “But the want of faith is more open and direct than this, and it is the more obvious -and pointed upon religious subjects. The Bible is boldly and practically denied in -every particular. No class or body of men believe and obey it, and strange as it may -seem, it is by no nation, or people, or churches, or sects of men, less implicitly believed -and followed than by those very people and sections of the church who talk so much -about it. There are no persons less obedient to the plain sense and mandates of the -written word of God, than those who most speak of and uphold it as the sole authority -and standard, and reject all assistance from the history of the church and what is spoken -against as tradition. Every class of persons reject some portion or other of the sacred -Scriptures. If you talk to some of temporal honour and rewards, and the observance of -a day of rest, and the patriarchs, they will say, Oh! that is the Old Testament, and is abrogated. -If you speak to others of good works, they will say, Oh! that is only in the Gospels, -and the Epistles carry us much beyond that, and are superior to it. Unitarians, -again, receive a Bible of their own; that is, just so many passages are excluded as will suit -their own belief and purpose. Others, of numerous sects, dwell each upon some half -dozen chapters, or passages, or phrases, or words of Scripture, of the Epistles especially, -and dwell upon them idolatrously and devotedly, to the exclusion of all the rest, so far as -the authority of Scripture is concerned, from belief and practice.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1106"></a>1106. This is even in the religious world—the thinking and reasoning world. Let us -now turn our observation to the world itself; to the working and practical.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1107"></a>1107. The Bible is denied in every particular. Men do not believe that we are really to -be Christians; that we are to imitate our Lord. They do not believe that the world could -possibly go on if all men were to act upon pure Christian motives, and up to a perfect -Christian rule: if they were to forgive and forget injuries; if they were not to resent an -affront; if they were to give to people because they asked them: if they were to lend -money without looking for interest; if we were all to give up luxuries, and style, and -costly furniture and equipage; if we, our cattle and servants, were strictly to observe the -day of rest. How many are there among us who believe that ‘the tree of knowledge’ is -not an absolute good? or that we ought to receive the gospel with the simplicity of little -children. Who believes that we ought to honour our father and mother, and our sovereign? -Who is there that acts up to the precept that we ought not to judge others in -their character? How many are there who appear to believe that it is not right to be -anxious about the future; that riches are not a good thing; that the entrance into heaven -is easier to the poor man; that we ought to return a tenth to God; that we would bring a -blessing to give freely and largely to the poor; that children are a blessing and a gift -from the Lord, and that the man is happy who has his quiver full of them? It is evident -that in all these points the Bible is disbelieved and is practically denied, and does -not control or guide us in our habits and principles of life and society.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1108"></a>1108. Still less do we believe that the public measures, the laws, and government of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>211</span> -the state, and the intercourse with other nations, ought to be, or can be, carried on and -conducted upon Christian principles. What number or classes of persons believe that -righteousness exalteth a nation? that we are punished according to the national sins of -the people, and for the sins of the rulers? and that if wicked and irreligious men preside -over our councils, we shall as a nation suffer the penalties of it? or that the conscience -of the government is the conscience of the people, and that our rulers are bound to take -the first care for the pure religion and morals of the country; and that, if they do so, their -righteousness will bring down a blessing upon the nation?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1109"></a>1109. To come again to more direct practice, and to our own habits of life. Who is -there who thinks <i>first</i> what is right, and according to the pattern of Christ, and after the -will of God, in what he is about to do, and not what is wise and expedient? Who seeks -first the kingdom of God, and God’s rule of righteousness, and trusts that all temporal -good consequences will follow upon it? Who is there who thinks and abides <i>only</i> by the -rule of what is right and commanded? We may almost answer in the words of Scripture, -‘There is none righteous, no, not one!’ Who believes in and trusts to the assistance -and suggestions of the Spirit in his designs and undertakings, and believes, and acts, and -writes, and thinks, as believing that the most useful and important and influential suggestions -of our thoughts and invention come to our mind by the inspiration of the Holy -Spirit, more than by our own cleverness, and exertion, and memory, and prays for divine -help upon commencing every task, or writing, or undertaking accordingly? Who forbears -strictly and endeavours to expel at once all thought and every suggestion of the mind in -worldly matters on a Sunday, with confidence and faith that the same and more useful -thought will be supplied on the succeeding week-days, and that the unqualified dedication -and sanctification of the Lord’s day will make the labour of the six days more effectual -and fruitful than would be that of the seven? Who would believe now that a sabbatical -year would not necessarily be impracticable and ruinous, or that a populous country -could exist under such a rule, or that it would not produce a debasing and demoralizing -idleness?”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1110"></a>1110. Let not the reader infer that these admissions come from a free-thinker. -The following remarks will prove the writer one of the <i>faithful</i>, in -the sense in which this epithet argues a mind chained down by abject enthralment, -to put any constructions on facts but that which is subversive of -educational prejudice: “<i>All the evils of which the existence is admitted -are due to our narrowing down our reception of truths and facts to the -limits of reason—of our own more or less shallow individual reason.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1111"></a>1111. Now to me it seems that the nominal profession of a faith in -facts which are absurd and contradictory, and professed reverence for -precepts which are as utterly impracticable as unwise in the abstract, induces -this monstrous incompatibility of the actual morality of Christendom -with the professions of Christians and doctrines of Christianity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1112"></a>1112. Our submission to scriptural authority is not to be governed by -our own reason, but by that of persons who lived many ages ago, originally -assumed to be inspired by God, upon human testimony; which in the -case of Spiritualism, or any other than the one in point, is treated as mere -chaff.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1113"></a>1113. It strikes me, from the considerations presented under the head -of Mundane Wealth, that the precepts of Christ were fundamentally -erroneous, so far as they discredit and discourage efforts for the honest -acquisition of wealth. (<a href="#para_908">908</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1114"></a>1114. God has given the fowls of the air feathers as a natural clothing, -and thus any effort to procure clothing on their part is rendered unnecessary; -he has not given them hands nor intellectual ingenuity to <i>spin</i> and -<i>weave</i>. On the other side, with little exception, man is naturally devoid -of clothing, and requires clothes to protect him from the scorching solar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>212</span> -rays or freezing blasts of winter, but <i>has</i> been furnished with the <i>hands</i> -and the <i>ingenuity</i> to <i>spin</i> and <i>weave</i>. Under these circumstances, was it -reasonable to allege that man should be governed by the example of the -feathered creation? Was it reasonable to infer that there should be no -spinning or weaving by men, because there neither was nor could be any -performed by fowls?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1115"></a>1115. Again, the lily, like all other vegetables, not only comes into -existence naked, but remains so, since it neither can nor will clothe itself, -and would perish if by any artificial clothing it were shut out from the -influence of the solar rays, and from the absorption of carbonic acid, which -furnishes the vegetable creation with the carbon requisite for the fibres -essential to stability. Hence the allegation that Solomon in all his glory -was not <i>clothed</i> like the lily, is irreconcilable with the nature and actual -state of this beautiful flower, which is destitute of clothing by nature, and -which would perish if it were clothed. The skin of vegetable leaves, to a -certain extent, performs for them what mouths do for animals. How unreasonable, -then, to argue from one to the other, that man should imitate -the vegetable; or to compare a plant, naturally and of necessity naked, with -a king gorgeously clothed?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1116"></a>1116. The degrading a rich man, whether honest or not, to the level -of a felon or murderer, as respects accessibility to heaven, and of course -favour in the sight of God, is so erroneous, that there never was a precept -which was less respected in practice, by the votaries of its author. As I -have heretofore remarked, the conduct of Christians is not merely negative -in respect to this precept—they do not merely neglect it; their course is -the <i>converse</i> of any obedience to its dictates. Yet <i>professed</i> Christians -while violating their divine Master’s behests in a way which makes their -performance the inverse of the results which their professions involve, for -the most part treat any person who does not profess devotion for Christ’s -doctrines, as actually more culpable than themselves, and more liable to -retribution after death. This is about as just as for a man, who after -marrying a woman and calling her his wife, should act the inverse of the -obligations imposed by the connubial contract, and then consider an individual -who had never entered into any obligation with her of any kind, as -guilty of sinful neglect in not acknowledging as a wife, one whom he never -married. The question is, who treats the woman most ill, he who acknowledges -but neglects, or he who does not display a hymeneal devotion -which he never led her to expect?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1117"></a>1117. Again, the precept to return good for evil, would, if acted up to, -encourage evil. Were a man to submit quietly to be robbed, whipped, -and cheated, he would encourage robbing, flagellation, and fraud. Far -wiser is the precept of Confucius, “Return good for good; for evil, justice.” -The impracticable precept of Christ is so far from being carried out by -professing Christians, that in their conduct to the aborigines of Africa,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>213</span> -India, and America, they have always been aggressive, always rewarding -the hospitality of the natives with fraud and violence, and their conduct -toward each other is the inverse of the ultra precept of Christ—“Return -good for evil.” They not unfrequently return evil for good.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1118"></a>1118. There is, as I think, nothing more injurious than the habitual -violation of acknowledged professions. If the violator be aware of his -inconsistency, it involves the incessant perpetration of manifest wickedness; -and if his mind be so cramped by education that he commits such -violations unconsciously, it must degrade the all-important power of distinguishing -good from evil. Thus, in the garb of truth,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Dark error leads</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With best intent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To evil deeds,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bigot to ensnare.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1119"></a>1119. It is this nominal devotion to the doctrines of Christ, with a -demeanour diametrically in teeth of them, which causes that anti-Christian -morality which Bosanquet portrays.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1120"></a>1120. But I am conscientiously of opinion that the respect paid to -Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, &c., by which one five hundred-millionth -of the blood of Abraham is made an honour to Jesus Christ, -is among the reasons of the low state of morality among those who -consider the Bible as the Word of God, and are thus led to view with -indulgence, prostitution, murder, massacre, rape, cheating, and fraud. -Agreeably to the opinion of a champion of Christianity, already quoted, -“The worshipper is assimilated to the imaginary deity whom he worships.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1121"></a>1121. With the exchange of two words for two other words, the verses -which Pope ascribes to Eloisa, might well be uttered by many self-called -Christians, who in defending the gospel from any conscientious attack, hesitate -not at any intemperance of language, and yet think that the marriage -<i>ceremony</i> is all that is called for.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1122"></a>1122. “Ah! wretch, believed the spouse of God in vain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Confessed within the slave of love and man.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1123"></a>1123. Although the substitution of the words <i>wealth</i> and <i>power</i> for love -and man would spoil the rhythm, it would not lessen the applicability to -the great mass of those who call themselves Christians, while not only -neglecting, but positively violating the precepts of Him by whose blood -they still hope, by a due degree of <i>faith</i>, to wash away their transgressions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1124"></a>1124. The universe, as it is presented to my mind, induces a belief that -it must have a presiding deity of commensurate power. As there are -millions of suns, each having its planets; as the space which it occupies -appears to us little short of infinity; as it must have endured from eternity, -and must endure eternally,—the power and glory of this presiding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>214</span> -deity must be commensurate with his realm, as to extent and magnificence. -Yet evil exists; which can only exist from choice on his part, or -because it cannot be avoided. There must be a want of will or power to -prevent or remove evil. Such is the God which my reason obliges me to -acknowledge. Where impressions are the offspring of reason, they cannot -destroy their parent. But those who owe their opinions of their deity to -tradition, have a deity which, not having originated from reason, may -always be made the means of setting its dictates aside.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1125"></a>1125. The bigot’s god is a dangerous idol, although he be not represented -by an image; and no less dangerous is any book which owes authority -to hereditary, intolerant dictation and servile devotion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1126"></a>1126. The fear of public opinion, or a desire to do what is <i>deemed</i> right -among men, seems to be the principal motive for religious professions and -church-going in the great mass of society. The prevailing morality being, -as already noticed, not only neglectful of Christ’s precepts, but absolutely -the inverse of them—not only <i>permitting</i>, but <i>calling</i> for a course diametrically -opposite, as respects the acquisition of wealth and submission to -wrongs—shows that it is not generally founded on a desire to cultivate the -good will of Christ, but to square with sectarian opinion. I hold that one -cause of this is, that the conviction of a future state, in which happiness -is in proportion to our deportment here, is not so deep as that which I now -have. Under the conviction which I have, nothing could tempt me to act -in such way as to produce a retrograde influence on my pretensions as a -spirit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1127"></a>1127. It seems to me, as urged by me before, that no one believing the -language of Abraham, as narrated and sanctioned by Christ, to have come -authenticated direct from the Son of God, and consequently expecting it to -be verified, would render himself liable to the punishment of Dives for the -sake of enjoying the <i>good things</i> of this world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1128"></a>1128. The idea that souls are to remain in the grave till the “<i>last day</i>,” -the procrastination of that day and geological knowledge being inconsistent -with the belief that any such day will arrive, makes the sinner less fearful, -the good less hopeful, and diminishes the number of those who are actually, -in their worldly conduct, influenced by their hopes or fear of future -rewards or punishments.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1129"></a>1129. The expectation of washing away sin through the merit of a -bigoted belief in Christ, co-operating with the vague, contradictory, and -irrational idea of heaven and hell recorded in Scripture, seems to be the -reason why Christians act so inconsistently with the precepts of Him whom -they professedly adore.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1130"></a>1130. Nothing can be more inconsistent with the religion inculcated by -my spirit friends, than the idea of atonement for sin by faith in any religion, -true or false.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1131"></a>1131. Had there ever been any available light let in from the spirit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>215</span> -world, this error had been denounced, and having been thus stamped as -erroneous from on high, could not have acquired or retained its mischievous -hold of so many millions of human beings, by substituting blind faith -for genuine virtue.</p> - - -<h4>Injurious Influence of unreasonable Restriction.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1132"></a>1132. Another reason why, throughout Christendom, the vices most -deprecated by Christ are those pre-eminently prevalent, is that his precepts -were absolutely impracticable, unless explained away in the style of Lord -Peter in the “<i>Tale of a Tub</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1133"></a>1133. Some of the excellent Society of Friends may, as respects war, -have been obedient to the precepts of Christ, and probably in other respects -deviate from them less than most other sects; but as to wealth their -course is the inverse of giving away their money. They are rationally -among the most active and successful in the honest acquisition of money. -In this they would act morally, excepting the violation of their recognised -obligation to obey the precepts of Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1134"></a>1134. Does not experience show that nothing is more injurious to morals -than unreasonable restraint? This has been seen in the profligacy of -the children of puritanical sectarians. To disobey an unreasonable restriction -always appears comparatively a trivial offence. Going to a play, -in the opinion of the mass of the world, is not sinful; but for a minor to -go to a play in disobedience of parental authority, by stealth, deception, -or lying, becomes sinful delinquency, and introduces a habit which may -lead to crime as wicked as that of the conduct of Jacob to Esau. Lying -and deceiving for venial purposes will soon induce the habit. The restriction -from eating pork or drinking wine has no doubt induced much deception -and falsehood among the followers of Mohammed, and thus made a -crime where none would have existed. In like manner, the putting a rich -man on a footing with a felon, as respects access to heaven, forbidding the -resistance to blows or spoliation, makes almost every professed Christian -practically unfaithful to his professions, and of course an infidel of the -worst kind. More or less of this infidelity is involved in various ways, as -above admitted by “Bosanquet.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1135"></a>1135. If the history of Christianity, so called, be reviewed, it will be -found that the deviations from the precepts of Christ during the present -age are quite venial, compared with those which took place during the -thousand years or more in which Romanism had the ascendency.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1136"></a>1136. A painful picture of the morals of the clergy during that period -may be found in a recent work by Bishop Hopkins of Vermont. It would -seem as if the crimes and indecency displayed during the Middle Ages, -exceed even those of Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and David, and Samuel, the -cruel, despotic pope of Judea. The deposition of Saul for not killing -Agag, and his hewing his royal prisoner down with a sword in cold<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>216</span> -blood, may have been looked to as a justification of pontifical cruelty -and despotism.</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">No one would believe that a capable farmer would make such a mistake -as to sow garlic instead of wheat. Yet God, while represented as -having intended to sow Protestantism, is considered as having caused, -throughout Christendom, a crop of Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian -form, for more than a thousand years; those weeds still occupying -more than half of the whole soil.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1137"></a>1137. The immense importance attached by mankind to correct religious -impressions is demonstrated, in the first place, by the enormous expenditure -throughout this world in sustaining those who are conceived by their -constituents to be the true expounders of religion;<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and, in the second -place, by the blood and treasure which have been expended either in missions -or in wars, for the extension or defence of the impressions believed -by various sectarians to be the most accordant with truth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1138"></a>1138. Yet it must be plain that in no case has there been any higher -evidence than that of an <i>alleged</i> human communication, direct or indirect, -with some recognised deity, if not the true God. If the will of God has -ever been revealed, the number who have actually pretended to an interview -with him, or with any immortal subordinate spirit are very few. The -Old Testament depends upon the testimony of Moses and a few Hebrew -prophets, whose inspiration rests upon their own allegations, respecting -themselves or each other.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1139"></a>1139. As regards the basis of Christianity, there are two irreconcilable -opinions: one held by the Protestants, the other by the Roman Catholics; -since although there is a great diversity of opinion between Protestants, -there is between all Protestants and Papists this difference: The latter -relying on their own church as the sole depository of all the evidence of -Christianity, do not allow any direct recourse to Scripture for a rule of -faith. The former reject the claims of the church of Rome, and resort to -the gospel for their rule of faith.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1140"></a>1140. But wherefore should such implicit confidence be placed in language -alleged to have been held by Moses or any other ancient author? or -should they be credited, even when they allege God to have used such -words as these, “<i>Let me wax hot in my wrath that I may consume them.</i>” -The motive for this imputation against God, was that Moses might take -credit for <i>moderation</i> in slaughtering only three thousand of God’s chosen -people in one day, for worshipping a golden calf, made by his own brother, -afterward made high-priest. Thus the ringleader, being the brother of -Moses, was loaded with honours, while those whom he led astray were to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>217</span> -be massacred in cold blood. Yet it is on such witnesses as this blood-thirsty, -blasphemous bigot, that orthodoxy relies for assuming the Pentateuch -to be the word of God, censuring, if not persecuting, all who do not -concur with it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1141"></a>1141. The intercourse with the angel Gabriel rests upon the evidence -of Mary alone, who was interested immensely to make her child a god, -instead of being her illegitimate offspring. Of the dream of Joseph there -can be no witness besides himself. But would a dream be now admitted -as testimony in any court of justice.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1142"></a>1142. The diversity of opinion existing between Romanists and Protestants, -are briefly exhibited in the subjoined quotations from the controversy -between Archbishop Hughes and the Rev. Mr. Breckinridge. They -have already been cited by me in a pamphlet on the better employment of -the first day of the week. Here are the opinions of two men highly qualified -to judge. In one, we have an eminent champion of Romanism; in -the other, a no less able champion of Calvinism. To the latter belongs -the distinction of having persecuted the Quakers and witches, and of having -roasted Servetus; to the former, putting some hundreds of thousands -to death or torture by the sword, the rack, or the fagot.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1143"></a>1143. Agreeing with each of the parties that the other is in the wrong, -I, of course, assume that they are both in error. Taken together, they -may be considered as proving that there is no evidence in favour of Christianity, -which I have not the authority of eminent Christians for rejecting. -In the 29th page of the controversy between himself and Breckinridge, -Bishop Hughes speaks as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1144"></a>1144. “My fourth argument was, that the Protestant rule of faith actually -undermines the authority of the Scriptures, by extinguishing the -proofs of their <i>authenticity</i> and <i>inspiration</i>, and consequently terminates -in moral suicide. Just imagine to yourself an ordinary will or testament, -written but twenty years ago, purporting to be the last will and testament -of a wealthy deceased relative, and designating you as <i>heir</i>, but without -either signature or probate, and ask yourself what it would be worth? -Could such a document establish its own authenticity? And yet this is -precisely the situation to which the Protestant rule of faith reduced the -Scriptures, by which, and <i>by which alone</i>, their authenticity could have -been established. St. Augustine, of whom Presbyterians are sometimes -wont to speak with respect, declared that it was the testimony of the church -which moved him to believe in the Scriptures. But <i>now</i> the order of -belief is ‘reformed.’ Men pick up (pardon the phrase) the sacred volume, -as they find it floating on the sea of two thousand years, and by one -great but <i>gratuitous</i> act of belief, which flings all intermediate church authority -and tradition to the winds, they say ‘the Bible is the Bible, and -we are its interpreters, every man for himself.'”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1145"></a>1145. It seems not to have occurred to the right reverend champio<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>218</span>n -of the Catholic creed, that it is not more true that a testament without witnesses -is of no validity, than it is true that the testimony of witnesses -claiming under the will, cannot be admitted. A document written after -the death of the testator would not be considered in a court of justice as -entitled to the name of a testament. But were persons to write a will -after a man’s death, and bring it forward, claiming under it supremacy, -would their claim produce any result beside derision?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1146"></a>1146. The distinguished prelate justly treats the gospel as resting on -the traditionary evidence of the church; since, as he truly urges, the -church existed before the gospel, having been instituted at the time when -his instructions were given to the apostles by Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1147"></a>1147. But how much value is to be attached to the testimony of the -church, may be learned from the following opinion of the learned clergyman -to whom I have alluded as the other party in the controversy, (pages -35, 36:)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1148"></a>1148. “<i>The unwarrantable liberties of your church with the word of -God show her fallible to a deplorable degree.</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_1149"></a>1149. <i>Your rule, if observed, requires implicit faith in the decretals -and interpretations of fallible men, which is subversive of the very nature -and end of religion in the soul.</i> Faith supposes knowledge, conviction on -evidence, and trust in God, founded on a belief of divine truth; but your -rule requires unconditional submission to the dicta of the church in the -lump. The ‘<i>Carbonaria fides</i>,’ or faith of the collier, is the very faith -required. It is as follows: When asked, ‘What do you believe?’ he -answered, ‘I believe what the church believes.’ ‘What does the church -believe?’ <i>Ans.</i> ‘What I believe.’ ‘Then what do you and the church -together believe?’ <i>Ans.</i> ‘We both believe the same thing.’ This is the -grand catholicon for believing every thing, without knowing any thing. -In this soil grew the maxim that ‘ignorance is the mother of devotion.’ -It is believing by proxy, or rather not believing at all, in the true sense. -Here is the secret of the unity of your church.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1150"></a>1150. To conclude, I agree with the right reverend able and learned -archbishop, that Christianity has no witnesses but those disciples of Christ -whom he calls the church; but I also concur with his able, learned, and -reverend opponent, that the said church is neither competent as a witness, -nor reliable as a foundation for Christianity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1151"></a>1151. Breckinridge does not perceive that the gospel on which he relies, -and the recorded traditions which ascribe that work to inspiration, -have no better foundation than the testimony of <i>fallible</i> men.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1152"></a>1152. Manifestly, however, the authority of the church of Rome cannot -be overset without oversetting the authenticity of the Christian -religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1153"></a>1153. Could any one believe that an experienced farmer would sow a -field with garlic when intending to have a crop of wheat? Would not th<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>219</span>e -conclusion be that if a field upon his farm were occupied by that objectionable -weed, it must have been the spontaneous production of the soil, -not of a mistake so gross on his part? Yet our prescient God is represented -as so much inferior in foresight to an ordinary farmer, that while -the religious soil of Christendom was for ages occupied with crops of Catholicism, -in the Grecian or Roman modification, the seed of Protestantism -was sown by God through his son and vicegerent, Christ, intending to -have the soil occupied by Protestantism. Manifestly, either it was intended -that Catholicism should prevail, as above described, or an omnipotent, -omniscient, and prescient God did not preside over the seeding.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1154"></a>1154. Yet notwithstanding this diversity as to the true import of Christianity -between the most distinguished Christian sectarians, each sect conceives -itself justified in propagating its own peculiar opinions among -ignorant pagans. The principle being thus sanctioned, that those who -<i>believe</i> themselves to have become acquainted with religious truth, are -justified in propagating a knowledge of it, wherefore should not that privilege -be exercised by a spiritualist as well as a Christian?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1155"></a>1155. Humility is one of the virtues inculcated by Christ; but if his disciples -assume to themselves a peculiar capacity to know what is true, and -an exclusive right to teach what they thus assume to be truth, there will -be no humility in their practice, however it may be blazoned among their -professions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1156"></a>1156. The view which I have presented in the preceding pages is corroborated -by a personage of no less authority than William Pitt, afterward -the Earl of Chatham, and prime minister of England. His opinions, -alleged to have been originally published in the London Journal for 1733, -are as follows:</p> - - -<h4>Letter of William Pitt.</h4> - -<p>“<i>Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the Fatherless -and Widows in their afflictions, and to keep one’s self unspotted from the World.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1157"></a>1157. “<i>Gentlemen</i>: Whoever takes a view of the world, will find, that -what the greatest part of mankind have agreed to call religion, has been only -some outward exercise esteemed sufficient to work a reconciliation with God. -It has moved them to build temples, flay victims, offer up sacrifices, to fast -and feast, to petition and thank, to laugh and cry, to sing and sigh by -turns; but it has not yet been found sufficient to induce them to break -off an amour, to make a restitution of ill-gotten wealth, or to bring the -passions and appetites to a reasonable subjection. Differ as much as they -may in opinion concerning what they ought to believe, or after what manner -they are to serve God, as they call it, yet they all agree in gratifying -their appetites. The same passions reign eternally in all countries and in -all ages, Jew and Mohammedan, the Christian and the Pagan, the Tartar -and the Indian, all kinds of men who differ in almost every thing else, -universally agree with regard to their passions. If there be any difference<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>220</span> -among them, it is this; that the more superstitious, the more vicious they -always are, and the more they believe, the less they practise. This is a -melancholy consideration to a good mind; it is a truth, and certainly -above all things, worth our while to inquire into. We will, therefore, -probe the wound, and search to the bottom; we will lay the axe to the -root of the tree, and show you the true reason why men go on in sinning -and repenting, and sinning again through the whole course of their lives; -and the reason is, because they have been taught, most wickedly taught, -that religion and virtue are two things absolutely distinct; that the deficiency -of the one might be supplied by the sufficiency of the other; and -that what you want in virtue, you must make up in religion. But this -religion, so dishonourable to God, and so pernicious to men, is worse than -Atheism, for Atheism, though it takes away one great motive to support -virtue in distress, yet it furnishes no man with arguments to be vicious; -but superstition, or what the world means by religion, is the greatest possible -encouragement to vice, by setting up something as religion which -shall atone and commute for the want of virtue. This is establishing iniquity -by a law, the highest law; by authority, the highest authority; that -of God himself. We complain of the vices of the world, and of the -wickedness of men, without searching into the true cause. It is not -because they are wicked by nature, for that is both false and impious, -but because to serve the purposes of their pretended soul-savers, they have -been carefully taught that they are wicked by nature, and cannot help -continuing so. It would have been impossible for men to have been both -religious and vicious, had religion been made to consist wherein alone it -does consist; and had they been always taught that true religion is the -practice of virtue in obedience to the will of God, who presides over all -things, and will finally make every man happy who does his duty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1158"></a>1158. This single opinion in religion, that all things are so well made -by the Deity, that virtue is its own reward, and that happiness will ever -arise from acting according to the reason of things, or that God, ever wise -and good, will provide some extraordinary happiness for those who suffer -for virtue’s sake, is enough to support a man under all difficulties, to keep -him steady to his duty, and to enable him to stand as firm as a rock, amid -all the charms of applause, profit, and honour. But this religion of reason, -which all men are capable of, has been neglected and condemned, and -another set up, the natural consequences of which have puzzled men’s -understandings, and debauched their morals, more than all the lewd poets -and atheistical philosophers that ever infested the world; for instead of -being taught that religion consists in action, or obedience to the eternal -moral law of God, we have been most gravely and venerably told that it -consists in the belief of certain opinions which we could form no idea of, -or which were contrary to the clear perceptions of our minds, or which -had no tendency to make us either wiser or better, or, which is much<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>221</span> -worse, had a manifest tendency to make us wicked and immoral. And -this belief, this impious belief, arising from imposition on one side, and -from want of examination on the other, has been called by the sacred -name of religion, whereas real and genuine religion consists in knowledge -and obedience. We know there is a God, and know his will, which is, -that we should do all the good we can; and we are assured from his perfections, -that we shall find our own good in so doing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1159"></a>1159. And what would we have more? are we, after such inquiry, -and in an age full of liberty, children still? and cannot we be quiet unless -we have holy romances, sacred fables, and traditionary tales to amuse us -in an idle hour, and to give rest to our souls, when our follies and vices -will not suffer us to rest?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1160"></a>1160. You have been taught, indeed, that right belief, or orthodoxy, -will, like charity, cover a multitude of sins; but be not deceived; belief -of, or mere assent to the truth of propositions upon evidence, is not a virtue, -nor unbelief a vice; faith is not a voluntary act, does not depend -upon the will; every man must believe or disbelieve, whether he will or -not, according as the evidence appears to him. If, therefore, men, however -dignified or distinguished, command us to believe, they are guilty of -the highest folly and absurdity, because it is out of our power; but if -they command us to believe, and annex rewards to belief, and severe penalties -to unbelief, then they are most wicked and immoral, because they -annex rewards and punishments to what is involuntary, and, therefore, -neither rewardable nor punishable. It appears, then, very plainly unreasonable -and unjust to command us to believe any doctrine, good or bad, -wise or unwise; but, when men command us to believe opinions which -have no tendency to promote virtue, but which are allowed to commute -or atone for the want of it, then they are arrived at the utmost pitch of -impiety, then is their iniquity full; then have they finished the misery, -and completed the destruction of poor mortal man; by betraying the interest -of virtue, they have undermined and sapped the foundation of all -human happiness; and how treacherously and dreadfully have they betrayed -it! A gift, well applied, the chattering of some unintelligible -sounds called creeds; an unfeigned assent and consent to whatever the -church enjoins, religious worship and consecrated feasts; repenting on a -death-bed; pardons rightly sued out; and absolution authoritatively given, -have done more toward making and continuing men vicious, than all the -natural passions and infidelity put together. For infidelity can only take -away the supernatural rewards of virtue; but these superstitious opinions -and practices have not only turned the scene, and made men lose sight -of the natural rewards of it, but have induced them to think, that were -there no hereafter, vice would be preferable to virtue, and that they increase -in happiness as they increase in wickedness; and this they have -been taught in several religious discourses and sermons, delivered by men<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>222</span> -whose authority was never doubted, particularly by a late Rev. prelate, I -mean Bishop Atterbury, in his sermon on these words: ‘If in this life -only be hope, then we are of all men the most miserable,’ where vice and -faith ride most lovingly and triumphantly together. But these doctrines -of the natural excellency of vice, the efficacy of a right belief, the dignity -of atonements and propitiations have, beside depriving us of the native -beauty and charms of honesty, and thus cruelly stabbing virtue to the -heart, raised and diffused among men a certain unnatural passion, which -we shall call a religious hatred—a hatred constant, deep-rooted, and immortal. -All other passions rise and fall, die and revive again; but this of -religious and pious hatred rises and grows every day stronger upon the mind -as we grow more religious, because we hate for God’s sake, and for the -sake of those poor souls, too, who have the misfortune not to believe as we -do; and can we in so good a cause hate too much? the more thoroughly -we hate the better we are; and the more mischief we do to the bodies and -states of these infidels and heretics, the more do we show our love to God. -This is religious zeal, and this has been called divinity; but remember, -the only true divinity is humanity.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">W. Pitt.</span>”</p> - - -<h4><i>Offer of Guidance by a Mundane Spirit.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1161"></a>1161. The Rev. Allen Putnam, whose narrative of his conversion to -Spiritualism, has been submitted, gave a very sensible and interesting lecture -on this new doctrine, at the Melodeon, in Boston, last October. One -of his remarks struck me as being very well warranted by my own observation -and experience. He said that we are wont to express indignation at the -absurd, cruel, and unnatural Chinese custom of cramping the female foot; -but to him it appeared that in Christendom a much worse practice existed, -that of cramping the minds of females by bringing them up zealous sectarians, -their opinions, in general, being determined by their parentage. -Thus Miss A. is a Romanist; Miss B. an Episcopalian; Miss C. a Calvinist; -Miss D. a Methodist; Miss E. a Jewess; all most excellent creatures -in any other respect excepting the effects of educational sectarianism, -which had been interchanged, had their parentage been commuted. (<a href="#para_259">259</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1162"></a>1162. One of the blessings of Spiritualism, according to my view, is, -that this cramped state of the mind, which attaches importance to various -phases of analogous educational error, will be removed by receiving -their opinions from the same source. But it seems that one of the most -amiable and interesting among those angelic devotees, has been actuated by -the same anxiety for my salvation from hell, that I have felt for her emancipation -from the educational ligatures imposed upon her otherwise excellent -understanding. The following letter is the fruit of her zeal in my favour:</p> - -<p class="padd">August 1, 1855.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1163"></a>1163. <i>My dear Sir</i>: You have too much kindness yourself, not to receive -in kindness what is so intended; and you have too much politeness not to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>223</span> -grant as much as you ask of a friend. I, therefore, with all confidence, -send you the enclosed letter, written by one of the first intellects in the -country. Now, if when you send your pamphlets and the papers you wish -me to read, you will state that you have read this letter, (<i>with</i> the <i>care</i> you -wish me to read yours,) not to refute but to comprehend the mind of the -writer, I will do the same. But, as what I send to you requires higher -power than any power in <i>created</i> man, I will continue to pray to this higher -power, this Creator of all things, that you may so read under his blessing -and guidance, (before whom you and the very world upon which you tread, -are but a molecule or mite,) that <i>you</i>, I say, may find that salvation for -your immortal soul, which you seem so much to desire. If you believe -that your father and sister exist, and consequently, that you <i>have</i> a soul -that cannot die, you must feel a deep anxiety with us all for the future -welfare of this soul, and will not treat with indifference the attempt to -offer you that which is a complete satisfaction to your friend!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1164"></a>1164. I would avoid argument, as two persons at opposite points can -never see the objects in the same light; but I send simply the Christian’s -plan of salvation, to which I only ask you to attend as carefully as I attended -to the statement of your theory. When I return to New York -permanently, I will inform you. As I am anxious to retain these papers, -and life is uncertain, please so arrange them that they may easily be found, -should any thing happen.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1165"></a>1165. The following lines, which are subjoined in the title page of my -pamphlet, addressed to the Episcopal clergy, would have forewarned any -but an enthusiast, that there was an outwork to be conquered before any -impression could be made:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1166"></a>1166. If God can creatures make to suit his will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Foresee, if they can, his design fulfill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherefore those creatures to trial expose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Traits to find out, which he thus foreknows?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1167"></a>1167. Persons who should differ about axioms could never agree in -mathematical demonstrations, nor is it possible for A and B to agree in -theology, when A assumes what to B appears to comprise a contradiction -within its premises and conclusions. Having for years held the opinion -conveyed in the above lines, to be self-evident truth, it is of course useless -to debate with those who take an opposite view, especially just at this time, -when I believe that opinion to be sanctioned by my spirit friends. This -opinion was urged in my letter to the Episcopal clergy; yet this kind -adviser has not seen, or has not taken pains to understand, its all-important -bearing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1168"></a>1168. The letter of this charming woman commences with begging the -question. It is assumed that the arguments of her clerical friend <i>require -for comprehension a higher power than any power created in man</i>. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>224</span> -this to me appears fanatical presumption, just as much as it would be in -any other sectarian. The excellent authoress of the epistle puts herself in -a class of females whom it has been my object to emancipate from the -restraint imposed upon their minds, no less cramping than that to which -the feet of Chinese ladies are subjected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1169"></a>1169. It must be evident, that unless there was a successful precursory -effort by facts and reasoning, to make me believe that what appears to me -<i>below</i> good sense, is actually above it, her inference that discussion would -be useless is quite evident. But this amounts to an admission that the -opinions which it is her object to impart, are not founded in reason.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1170"></a>1170. Her clerical friend falls into the same error, as will appear from -the following quotation. The last postulate in the world which he could -induce me to admit, would be that any thing which owes its existence entirely -to barbarous, wicked, ignorant, covetous, and blood-thirsty men, can -be God’s word, and, therefore, paramount to human reason.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1171"></a>1171. How would he enable an idiot to believe in the Bible, or in any -thing? Is not our capacity to believe correctly, greater as our reason is -better by nature? It is only through his own intellectual faculties that -he has received his opinions and can defend them. It is through my reason -that my head and heart repel the Old Testament as, for the most part, -the work of a set of unprincipled bigots, comprising allegations which the -present state of astronomy and geology demonstrate to be fallacious, and -which, independently of that cramping of the intellect by education, which -it is my ardent desire to remove, would be denounced replete with indecency, -immorality, and misrepresentation of God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1172"></a>1172. It is striking that this kind lady, in referring to my sister and -other spirit friends, should suppose that I would slight the <i>direct heartfelt -evidence received from them</i>, in obedience to <i>impressions felt by her in -common with every other devotee to any religion whatever</i>. They could, -with just as much consistency, appeal to their tenets, and assume their -“Koran,” their “Shasters,” or “Zendavesta” to be above my reason.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1173"></a>1173. But the whole tenor of this application shows that the authoress -expects to set aside the results of nearly twenty months’ investigation, creating -in me a firm devout conviction that I have a correct knowledge of the -spirit world, received through my relatives, friends, and high spirits, in -deference to those of a set of people of whom I know nothing but ill. -May God do that for her which she has so benevolently implored for me, -and remove from her brain the influence of educational narrowness. I -would utter the same aspiration for the divine whom she has brought in as -her advocate, who I hope as <i>sincerely</i> believes what he alleges, as I believe -in the communications of my guardian spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1174"></a>1174. But this superior intellect, it will be shown, falls into one of -the most inexcusable errors, into which a tyro in reasoning can fall, that -of founding his arguments on premises which are emphatically denied by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>225</span> -the other party—a gross begging of the question, that the Bible is the -word of God, and paramount to human reason.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1175"></a>1175. In a subsequent part of this letter, Hume’s excellent rule is set -aside: that we must weigh the probability of the evidence against the -improbability of the miracle. Rochefoucault alleges, ‘Tis better to tell a -probable lie, than an extremely improbable truth. By what evidence can -any record be proved true, when it is vastly more probable it should be -false, than the facts recorded by it should be true.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1176"></a>1176. Manifestly, there are but these two ways in which any record can -command credence: either there must be external evidence sufficient to -weigh against the improbability of the facts which it has recorded; or -those facts must be of a nature to create belief from their probability, from -what is called internal evidence. As to external evidence, clearly any -amount of that, may be adduced without creating a belief in spiritual manifestations. -Human evidence is wholly inadequate to prove any thing -which sectarianism does not wish to admit. Considering the external evidence -of Scripture as vastly inferior to that on which Spiritualism is -founded, and the miracles recorded, and the doctrines taught, as carrying -no evidence of their truth, but the contrary, I do not understand upon -what reasonable ground they are to be identified with the word of God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1177"></a>1177. This fascinating lady supposes that she gave ear to my exposition -of my views; but I am under the impression that she is quite deaf to any -thing that does not concur with her fanatical impressions, otherwise she -would never have looked upon me as one to be converted from the opinions -which I entertain by the reasoning of her clerical friend, beginning with a -begging of the question: assuming that revelation is God’s word, in order -to prove it to be God’s word.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1178"></a>1178. So the Bible is true because of the miracles which it records; -and these are true because the Bible records them!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1179"></a>1179. If she can so confine her mind as to become master of the pyramid -of facts which I have raised in favour of Spiritualism, she will perceive -that all other evidence of immortality sinks into insignificance as -compared with it. Now all this may be nominally abrogated by denying -the truth of it. But if I do not rely on my own senses, is it likely I shall -rely on those of other persons, in whom I have no more confidence than -her clerical adviser and herself have in Mohammed and his disciples.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1180"></a>1180. I subjoin a portion of the letter of the clerical champion, whose -reasoning this interesting devotee deems so conclusive. I have gone over -the whole of it, and have ascertained that by substituting Allah for God, -Mohammed for Christ, Prophet for Redeemer, Mediator for Saviour, it has -a qualification which would be deemed a merit elsewhere, if not in Christendom: -it would serve just as well to uphold the religion of Mohammed, -as that of Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1181"></a>1181. The letter is so long that it would occupy too many pages to give<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>226</span> -the whole; but I will give a portion, sufficient to show how the reasoning, -on which many sectarians rely, may be just as good for any other creed, -founded on an arrogation of premises, as that for which they contend.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1182"></a>1182. “Allah forbid that I should depreciate the value of reason in -any of its offices. Reason is Allah’s gift to man, and must be used as -Allah designs. But so is the Koran Allah’s gift to man, and must be -used as Allah designs. Two gifts from the same perfect being cannot -conflict with each other. The Koran in its teachings and revealings may -go beyond or rise above the comprehension of our reason, because reason -in man is a finite and imperfect gift, while the Koran from Allah opens -the mind of an infinite and perfect being. But the Koran does not and -cannot in any thing contradict reason, because Allah does not and cannot -contradict himself. Unless, therefore, you are prepared to say that -the Koran is <i>not</i> Allah’s gift to man—if you are a believer in its true -divine inspiration—you must see and admit that when the Koran, as Allah’s -mouth, reveals any thing which <i>our</i> reason cannot as yet comprehend, because -beyond or above, though not against, that reason, then <i>Faith</i> must -submissively receive the revelation addressed to it, and <i>Reason</i> stop her -speculation and shut her mouth at the limit which Allah has set. Reason -has to do with the <i>evidences</i> which show the Koran <i>to be</i> Allah’s gift; -with the grammatical and intended <i>sense</i> of what Allah taught and revealed -in the Koran, and with the <i>use</i> of what in the Koran is clear to the comprehension -of man. But here Reason’s province ends. When the Koran -goes beyond or rises above this point, <i>Reason must</i> pause and adore, and -Faith must go forward and receive. I do not hold, as you intimate, that -the right exercise of reason ‘is impious,’ or that Reason is to be <i>discarded</i> -and Faith <i>substituted</i>, if by this be implied any thing <i>incompatible</i> between -the proper offices of Reason and Faith; but I mean that <i>our</i> finite -reason is to <i>stop</i> at the limit assigned her by her <i>author</i>, and let <i>Faith</i> as -a <i>higher</i> power go forward and receive what Allah teaches or reveals to -her acceptance. Faith can now receive more than Reason can as yet comprehend. -She <i>does</i> so in the province of <i>nature</i>; she must do so in the -province of <i>revelation</i>. This cannot be denied without taking at once the -ground of the infidel—a ground from which, I doubt not, you would shrink -back as from the border of an open pit of destruction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1183"></a>1183. I am thus brought to your remark, that ‘The Mohammedan -system, as generally received, is not difficult to understand.’ If this be -strictly true, it must be because that system, ‘as generally received,’ is not -the <i>true</i> system; for, in this sense, or as <i>truly</i> and <i>rightly</i> received, the -Mohammedan system contains various things which it is difficult to understand, -if by understanding be meant <i>comprehending</i>. We may, indeed, -<i>understand</i> that a fact or a truth <i>exists</i> or is <i>revealed</i>, while that fact or that -truth <i>itself</i> is, for the present, utterly beyond or above our <i>comprehension</i>. -And this is precisely the case with the Mohammedan system <i>rightly</i> viewed.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>227</span> -It contains various facts and truths which <i>our</i> reason cannot yet fathom. -Natural reason loves to <i>separate</i> and set aside these great and high things -from the Koran as <i>non-essentials</i>, and then to busy itself with those parts -of the Koran which are level with its own height; pleased with the dream -that it has grasped <i>enough</i>, has grasped <i>all</i> that can be of any real value. -Believe me when reason does this, for one who has the Koran in his -hands, she plays at a perilous game.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1184"></a>1184. The main position which I have thus far taken is, however, virtually -conceded in another part of your letter. Alluding to what I had -urged as to the importance of acknowledging Mohammed as your mediator, -and relying on his mediation only for justification as all-sufficient, -reconciling all difficulties, and removing all embarrassment from the consideration -of the union of justice and mercy in the deity, you say: ‘But -<i>does</i> it remove all embarrassment? Is not Allah himself the author of -the plan of salvation? Was not Mohammed himself Allah, and also his -vicegerent?’ The <i>impossibility</i> of answering these questions satisfactorily -to the plainest reason, teaches me to recoil from the impiety of inquiring -<i>how</i> my Maker will save me or reconcile his own attributes? I know full -well that the great mass of human minds are totally incapable of considering -such a subject with any approximation to a solution of it, and therefore -do I feel that the eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does -not depend on such theological questions. Here you directly admit the -inability of reason in most minds satisfactorily to comprehend some of the -great and high points of the Mohammedan system, and the consequent -impiety of her <i>attempting</i> such a comprehension. You might as well explicitly -admit her inability for this comprehension in <i>all</i> minds; for <i>no</i> -mind in its present state can by <i>reason alone</i> grasp all that Allah has -revealed in the Koran. These great and high things are not proposed to -reason <i>alone</i>, but to reason so far as their <i>evidence</i> is concerned, and to -<i>faith</i> so far as their substance is to be received. Reason may satisfy herself -that they <i>are</i> revealed. <i>Faith alone</i> can take in the substance which -they contain. When they <i>are</i> proposed to it, faith <i>must</i> receive them, -or salvation cannot come, whether the reason of the individual addressed -be the ‘plainest’ or otherwise.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1185"></a>1185. Your <i>argument</i> in the above extract does not satisfy me so well -as your <i>admission</i>. From the inability of the great mass of minds satisfactorily -to comprehend the high mysteries of the Koran, you infer that -the ‘eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does not depend on -such theological questions.’ Certainly, the salvation of mankind in the -mass does not depend on these or any other theological questions; if by -this be meant depending on the ability to <i>comprehend</i> such questions, because -the points involved in these questions, so far as they are mysteries, are -proposed not to <i>reason</i> as <i>comprehending</i>, but to <i>faith</i> as <i>receiving</i>. But -do you mean to be understood as saying, that when the Koran is put into<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>228</span> -any man’s hand, and when Allah through the Koran opens to that man -his <i>revealed</i> way of salvation, the individual thus approached may accept -what is level with his <i>reason</i>, but reject what is proposed to his <i>faith</i> and -<i>above</i> his reason, and that yet notwithstanding such rejection he may reasonably -hope to be saved? If so, I ask you by what right you argue thus? -Who is Allah, and what is man? When he tells you the way in which -he will save you, not the mass of mankind or the heathen to whom the -Koran has never come, but <i>you yourself</i>, what right have you to say that -<i>your</i> salvation does not depend on your faith’s reception of those very -things which are above your reason’s comprehension? How do you know -but that the whole efficacy of the plan <i>proposed to you</i>, depends on your -receiving the great facts and truths propounded to your <i>faith</i>? ‘Faith -<i>itself</i>, I admit,’ you may contend, ‘does not save any man; it is the Mediator -that saves.’ But you have no right to say, or think, or hope that he will -or can save <i>you</i> with the Koran in your hand, in any other way than that -which in the Koran he proposes to your <i>faith</i>. And if when he demands -your <i>faith</i> in what surpasses your reason, you withhold that faith, and -plead the sufficiency of what he has incidentally made level with your -<i>reason</i>, do you not thereby show that you have not the spirit which he -requires, and that you are yet none of his? In the Koran he has not only -revealed to you his mission and sanctification, but also proposed to you his -mediation as a propitiation for your sin; and he has told you that ‘you -must be <i>born again</i>,’ not only of water, but also ‘of the spirit;’ that except -you be converted and become as a ‘little child, you shall not enter -into the kingdom of heaven;’ and that ‘he that <i>believeth</i> and is baptized -shall be saved, but he that <i>believeth not</i> shall be <i>damned</i>:’ ‘<i>believeth</i>’ not -a <i>part</i> only, but the <i>whole</i> of the Koran then intrusted to its Ulemas. -Here he explicitly demands your faith in the whole Koran. But suppose -it had been otherwise, suppose he had simply opened to you <i>a</i> way by -which he could <i>certainly</i> save <i>you</i>, without saying any thing about <i>faith</i>, -as the one great and necessary receiver of the facts and truths involved in -that way; I ask, would not a rejection of a <i>part</i> of those involved facts -and truths be equivalent to a rejection of the whole? Would it not display -the same spirit as a rejection of the whole? Would it not show that you -were not walking in <i>his</i> way, but in some <i>other</i> which you supposed <i>might -possibly</i> be found? Nay, would it not show that in your heart you had -no confidence in him as a mediator; that you even rebelled against his -right to prescribe to you the terms on which he would save you?”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1186"></a>1186. To conclude, with respect to this guardian angel of my soul, to -whom this digression owes its existence; it may comfort her to know that -I conceive myself so securely protected and guided already, and so sure -of the result of that guidance and protection, that I would advise her, in -my turn, to consider well whether she ought not to pray to God to give -her a little more light respecting her own destiny, than is afforded by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>229</span> -book which is vaunted as being above reason, and as being the word of -God. Does she conceive the subterranean cave with the “<i>lake of unquenchable -fire</i>,” in which Dives is roasting in sight of the blessed, to be so -satisfactory as to be unwilling to hear of a preferable abode in the azure -sky? Does she aspire to some official position commensurate with that of -the judgships which Christ promised his disciples? If it is to procure me -a place in the heaven described in Scripture, I beg leave to decline, -being pre-engaged; and therefore give her an invitation to meet me hereafter -in the glorious abode to which I confidently aspire, and where I shall -feel myself especially called upon to render her my assistance to rise from -the inferior though happy sphere to which, with her present opinions, she -is destined.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1187"></a>1187. I would recommend to her, and to others in the same predicament, -the perusal of the influence of the conversion to Spiritualism on -my friends, as presented in this volume. I would also recommend her to -study the comparison made between the heaven and hell of Scripture and -that of Spiritualism, as herein presented.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1188"></a>1188. I hope my would-be mundane guide to salvation will find in the -verse and prose addressed to me by one more nearly allied (<a href="#para_215">215</a>, <a href="#para_250">250</a>, <a href="#para_538">538</a>) -a sufficient apology for declining her kindly-tendered guidance, especially -as the path through which she would lead me is known to this excellent -relative, who has frequently passed and repassed it during her residence of -more than two years in the spirit world, while to my mundane friend it is -as yet unknown, and, as I believe, misapprehended. But although my -mind has not been converted to her view of the service tendered, my heart -will never cease to be gratefully inclined toward one who, while actually -in want of guidance herself, thought so much of the supposed deficiency -from which it is imagined I suffer.</p> - - -<h4><i>Improper use of the epithet Infidel, as used in the parodied quotation from -the Clergyman’s Letter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1189"></a>1189. If a man cannot be guilty of infidelity to another man’s wife, -how can he be guilty of infidelity to another man’s religion? The Mohammedan -wrongfully calls the Christian “infidel,” because he does not -believe in Mohammed; and as wrongfully is the epithet retorted, because -the Mohammedan does not believe in Christ. The epithet can only be -truly applicable to those who, while professing a religion, do not act up to -their professions. In this sense, Christendom, so called, teems with infidels -to Christianity.</p> - - -<h4><i>On Atonement.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1190"></a>1190. Since my spirit sister’s translation to the spheres, she has risen -from the fifth to the sixth sphere. It has been alleged by her that her -ascent was retarded by her belief in the atonement. I subjoin some reasoning -on that subject:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>230</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1191"></a>1191. As respects free-will, Dr. Johnson shrewdly said that all practice -is in its favour, all theory against it; but whatever view may be taken -on this subject, no one can deny that <i>so far as it is possible for sin to be -avoided</i>, it must be within the power of God to make men virtuous. The -fact that they are not sinless, must arise either from his not wishing to -make them more virtuous, or from his inability to make them so. That -he does not make them free from sin implies either a want of will or a -want of power.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1192"></a>1192. But whatever may in this respect be true, his omniscience must -have enabled him to perceive the result beforehand, and of course it is -inconceivable that he would, consistently with his goodness, have created -them, foreknowing that they would be so wicked as to deserve eternal -punishment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1193"></a>1193. All this it was in his power to obviate by not creating men, or -by making their temptations less, or their power of resistance greater. -But foreseeing their wickedness, and imposing fetters on his omnipotent -power, so as to render <i>a certain amount of suffering inevitable</i>, he is said -to have determined that a portion of the godhead should expiate in the -flesh, by the pains of crucifixion, the punishment due to the sinful creatures -which he has been supposed to have wilfully created, foreseeing this -result.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1194"></a>1194. But in order to make men better, instead of using that almighty -power with which he is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, to -soften the human heart and enlighten the human mind universally, he is -made to resort to a method which, however cruel and manifestly unjust in -making an innocent being suffer for the guilty, has proved utterly inefficient, -since only a small minority of mankind profess Christianity, and -of that minority only an imperceptible portion, if any, comply with its -requisitions, as before observed; hence the greater part are liable “<i>to be -beaten with many stripes</i>,” while those to whom the mission of Christ has -been unknown are to “<i>be beaten with but few stripes</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1195"></a>1195. Human lawgivers may enact constitutions which result in practical -failure, because they do not foresee the issue. Such failures are -ascribed to their deficiency in practical wisdom. But the failure of measures -for the production of any result proving it unwise, must demonstrate -that it did not originate with an all-wise author; in other words, with the -Almighty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1196"></a>1196. It is manifestly absurd to ascribe to that Being any measures -which have failed to effect the ends for which they have been specially -devised. Knowing that Mohammed would have more followers than -Christ, that the largest portion of mankind would remain pagans, that -even in Christendom the Christian religion would be a source of bloody -contention and theological hatred, making scarcely any real Christians,—how -could it originate with a wise and prescient Deity?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>231</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1197"></a>1197. “By their fruits ye shall know them?” It being premised that -God is omniscient, all-wise, and omnipotent, can any fruit proceed from -that high source which has not proved to answer well the purpose for -which it was intended?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1198"></a>1198. The actual morality of Christendom being the inverse of that -excessive and impracticable restraint, which Christ enjoined as the object -of his mission, must prove that his doctrine could not have originated -with a being by whom its failure must have been foreseen.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1199"></a>1199. Arguments such as I have used are met often by referring to the -evils, to which all animated nature is subjected, in the way of misery, mutilation, -disease, or death. But when the government of the universe is -attributed to general laws, it may be inferred that evil results from a want -of power to render those laws free from bad consequences. Nothing but -such limitation of power, or an indisposition to prevent those evils, can -account for their occurrence. But this is widely different from assuming, -in the first place, with self-called orthodoxy, that God is omnipotent, -omniscient, all-wise, and all-good, and then representing him as resorting -to measures for the accomplishment of his ends which are utterly inefficacious. -This is accusing the Almighty of acting like an idiot. Can -any thing be more preposterous, than that an all-wise, all-good, all-powerful, -and all-foreseeing Deity should require the services of human missionaries -to carry out his will? Would he not at least require that such messengers -of his word should first agree as to what that word ought to be? A -pagan might remain during his whole life a pagan, should he, before adopting -any creed, require that professed Christians, in general, should agree -as to the tenets which he should espouse.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1200"></a>1200. Agreeably to the attributes assigned to the Deity by orthodoxy, -the state of things which exists in the universe cannot be otherwise than -as God wishes it to be, to the falling of a sparrow; so that any change -sought by man, beyond the immediate sphere of his necessities, must be -an officious interference with God’s providence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1201"></a>1201. Yet if a man be considered as an instrument in attaining certain -beneficent ends, without which those ends could not be accomplished, then -human exertion is reasonable, in whatever way it can be productive of good.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1202"></a>1202. How can any being who contemplates the wonderful power displayed -in the creation, hesitate to perceive that if the divine Architect -desired that all men should coincide in their modes of worship, he would -have furnished them sufficient evidence of his will, and disposed their -minds to receive the desired impression?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1203"></a>1203. Nevertheless, his measures are represented as the inverse of these. -It is represented that a creed which he wished all men to embrace was -promulgated in an obscure part of an obscure country, under the yoke of -heathen despotism, in a language unknown to any other people. It was -so promulgated that the great majority of mankind were entirely out of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>232</span> -the reach of its influence, and have remained so for nearly two thousand -years. Moreover, those who have been made acquainted with Christianity -are unable to agree in what it consists.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1204"></a>1204. As I have already urged, if we were to judge of the extention of -Christianity by the number of Christians who do not in practice violate the -precepts of Christ, it might be a question whether the name of Christendom -is applicable to any part of the world.</p> - - -<h4>On the massacre at Sinope, as a probable consequence of Religious Fanaticism -and Intolerance.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1205"></a>1205. As in consideration of the idolatry of the Amalekites the Israelites -were, according to the Bible, authorized to extirpate that nation, for -a wrong done to Israel some hundred years before, may not the Russians -imagine themselves justified for the massacre of Sinope? (1 Sam. xv.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1206"></a>1206. The Turks have done vastly more harm to the Greek Christians, -when, with fire and sword, they subdued the Greek empire, and obliged -each man to pay annually for wearing his head, than the tribe of Amalek -did to the Hebrews. In the one case there does not appear to have been -for centuries any repetition of the wrong; but in the other the wrongs -were reiterated, and of an enduring nature. It is true that the Mohammedan -sovereigns were in Turkey more tolerant of their Christian subjects -than Christian sovereigns were of Mohammedans; or even of the Albigenses, -Lollards, Wicliffites, Lutherans, or Calvinists. The Turks never -introduced an inquisitorial tribunal to burn or torture unbelievers. -On this account they may think themselves less open to the charge of -cruel intolerance than some of the self-called disciples of Christ; and no -doubt the discordancy between the conduct of those disciples and the -precepts of their teacher, may have contributed to their contemptuous -opinions of those whom they improperly call infidels to Mohammed, not -perceiving that people who have not professed a religion, can no more be -infidels thereto than one man can be guilty of infidelity to another man’s -wife. This argument, however, would be answered by the fact that Christians -call Mohammedans infidels, not in consequence of any violation of -<i>their</i> faith in Mohammed, but because they have never had any faith in -Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1207"></a>1207. Such skeptical Mohammedans as Lady Mary Wortley Montague -made mention of in her letters from Constantinople, will no doubt consider -the term infidel applicable only to such as break their professed faith, -whatever it may be.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1208"></a>1208. Agreeably to this definition, every fighting or wealth-seeking -Christian is an infidel to the religion which he professes; every Mohammedan -who indulges in wine is an infidel.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1209"></a>1209. The religion taught by Mohammed, like that of Moses, authorized -the most cruel wars, the extermination of nations for erroneous belief,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>233</span> -while the religion of Christ directs us to love our neighbours as ourselves; -to return good for evil; to give our coat when our cloak is taken; to submit -passively to blows, and that the possession of wealth interferes with -access to heaven. Christianity is, moreover, unfavourable to polygamy or -concubinage.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1210"></a>1210. It follows that the precepts of Jesus call for restraint upon the -predominant passions of human nature, while those of Mohammed, in justifying -warfare, excessive indulgence in women, and in the spoliation and -massacre of unbelievers, coincide with the most predominating propensities -of human nature. It is, therefore, far easier to be faithful to the -precepts of Mohammed than those of Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1211"></a>1211. Nevertheless, as both Christ and Mohammed treated the Old -Testament as authentic, it is to be feared that the Turks and Russians -may look to it for justification of their intolerant cruelty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1212"></a>1212. None of the ancient Pagans were as hostile to the Hebrews, as -the disciples of Mohammed have been to the Greek Christians. But not -even the Mohammedans have been so intolerant to those whom they call -infidels, as Christian sectarians have been, to such persons as they have -dogmatically adjudged to be heretics.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1213"></a>1213. It should be well considered whether any authority dependent -on human records can justify the inference that God, anywhere, or in any -age, ever authorized such cruelty as that exhibited at Sinope.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1214"></a>1214. Whenever men adopt the idea entertained by the Jews and Mohammedans, -and certain sects of Christians, that a peculiar creed is necessary -to salvation, it is deemed humane to inflict any temporal evil in order -to eradicate any other belief which will subject souls to eternal punishment. -When to the Catholics in the reign of Queen Mary it was urged that burning -heretics alive would not change their creed, the reply was, that although -the victims should not be converted, the souls of their progeny would be -saved from damnation by the extirpation of the heresy with the heretics. -Admitting the premises, the conclusion was correct, and the auto-da-fé and -the tortures of the inquisition were even more excusable than a painful -chirurgical operation, when it preserves the temporal life of the patient.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1215"></a>1215. If the Czar is of opinion, that for every Christian who may replace -a Turk, a soul will be saved from damnation, he may conceive himself as -well authorized to extirpate the Turks, as were Moses and Joshua to extirpate -any heathen nation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1216"></a>1216. Moreover, by some Christians, Jesus is considered as having sanctioned -the retention of that characteristic of the Hebrew portraiture of -Jehovah, which makes it right to exterminate unbelievers in the orthodox -creed. This must be a source of discord wherever it is recognised, as it -induces persecution from conscientious regard to the salvation of the victims -upon whom it acts, while in them it naturally creates bitter resentment -instead of gratitude.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>234</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1217"></a>1217. Having submitted the representations of Jehovah, given in the -Old Testament, I will subjoin those of the great modern philosopher -Newton, and those of Seneca, one of the most distinguished sages of antiquity. -The reader may, from these data, judge how far piety or morality -would suffer, were that ancient record to give way to the direct evidence -of Spiritualism.</p> - - -<h4><i>Opinions of God held by Sir Isaac Newton.—Enfield’s Philosophy, -Page 638.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1218"></a>1218. “God has no need of organs; he being everywhere present to -the things themselves.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1219"></a>1219. “It appears from phenomena, that there is a being incorporeal, -living, intelligent, omnipresent, who, in infinite space, as it were in his -sensory, sees the things themselves, intimately and thoroughly perceives -them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence to himself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1220"></a>1220. “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets -could only arise from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and -powerful being; and if the fixed stars be centres of similar systems, these, -being all formed by like wisdom, must be subject to the dominion of one; -especially since the light of the fixed stars is of the same nature with the -light of the sun; and all systems mutually give and receive light.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1221"></a>1221. “God governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as the -Lord of the universe. The Supreme Deity is an eternal, infinite, and -absolutely perfect being, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his duration -extends from eternity to eternity, and his presence from infinity to infinity; -he governs all things, and knows all things which exist, or can be known. -He is not eternity or infinity; but eternal and infinite; he is not duration -or space; but he endures and is present; he endures forever and is present -everywhere. Since every portion of space is always, and every indivisible -moment of duration is everywhere, certainly the Maker and Lord of all -things cannot be <i>never</i> or <i>nowhere</i>. God is omnipresent, not virtually -only, but substantially; for power cannot subsist without substance. In -him all things are contained and move, but without reciprocal affection. -God is not affected by the motion of bodies, nor do bodies suffer resistance -from the omnipresence of God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1222"></a>1222. “It is universally allowed that God exists necessarily; and by -the same necessity he exists always and everywhere. Whence he is -throughout similar, all eye, all ear, all brain, all arm, all power of perceiving, -understanding, and acting; but in a manner not at all human, not at -all corporeal; in a manner to us altogether unknown. As a blind man has -no idea of colours, so we have no idea of the manner in which the most -wise God perceives and understands all things. He is entirely without -body, and bodily form, and therefore can neither be seen, nor heard, no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>235</span>r -touched; nor ought he to be worshipped under any corporeal representation. -We have ideas of his attributes, but what the <i>substance</i> of <i>any</i> thing -is, we are wholly ignorant. We see only the figures and colours of bodies; -we hear only sounds; we touch only external superficies; we smell only -odours; we taste only savours; of their internal substance we have no -knowledge by any sense, or by any reflex act of the mind; much less -have we any idea of the substance of God. We know him only by his -properties and attributes, by the most wise and excellent structure of things, -and by final causes; and we reverence and worship him on account of his -dominion. A God without dominion, providence, and design, is nothing -else but fate and nature.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1223"></a>1223. The language above quoted does not involve the idea that Newton -owed his idea of God to the Bible, or that he considered him as having -any person, much less that he consisted of three persons. He makes no -allusion to Christ or to the Scriptures. His opinions are quite reconcilable -with Theism, but incompatible with the existence of the Trinity.</p> - - -<h4><i>On God and his Attributes, by Seneca.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1224"></a>1224. “Great respect is due to universal opinion. We consider common -assent an evidence of truth. That there are Gods, we are convinced, -among other proofs, from the fact that the belief in their existence is -natural to man. No nation has been found so brutal as to be entirely -without religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1225"></a>1225. “We begin to know God from his works. What is God? All -that you see, and all that you do not see. In what does the nature of God -and man differ? The best part of man is his mind; in God there is nothing -but mind. He is pure spirit. Many names are applicable to him. Do -you call him Fate? You do not err. He it is upon whom every thing -depends. The cause of causes. Do you call him Providence? You are -right. It is by his appointment that this world is so arranged that it -performs without confusion the part assigned to it. Do you call him -Nature? You do not sin. It is he from whom all things are produced.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1226"></a>1226. “You may properly apply to God any name expressive of celestial -power. All his benefits may give rise to distinctive appellations. -Thus he is called Father, Hercules, Mercury, &c. Father, because he is -truly the Father of all; Hercules, because he is omnipotent; Mercury, -because he is pure Reason, the principle of science, of order, and of -harmony.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1227"></a>1227. “Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, are all names of <i>one</i> -God, expressive of his various attributes, and are qualities of the one mind; -<i>whichever of them you love, you love God</i>. Known unto God are all his -works.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1228"></a>1228. “Whatever is to happen is present with him. What to us is -sudden and unexpected, has by him been foreseen and <i>provided</i> for.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>236</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1229"></a>1229. “A wise man does not change his opinion, how much less God! -As a river does not flow back, or stop in its course, <i>so the order of nature -is governed by fixed laws, which are nothing less than divine decrees</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1230"></a>1230. “Who is so wretched, so neglected, who born to so cruel a destiny, -as not to have received any benefits from the gods? Look at those -who complain of their lot, you will find that they are not deprived of all -comforts. Is the gift of life nothing? Are there no objects pleasant to -the eye, to the ear, or to the mind? God’s kindness does not only supply -us with what is necessary to existence, he provides also for our pleasure. -Witness the variety of fruits, differing in flavour; the many healthful -vegetables, so great a variety of food for different seasons of the year, some -produced from the earth without culture, <i>even for the idle</i>; animals of all -kinds abounding in the earth, the sea, and the air, as if all things in -nature were tributary to our enjoyment. Consider the rivers flowing gracefully -through the fields which they fertilize; others, whose deep beds in -their vast and navigable courses, afford the means of a profitable commerce, -or by overflowing their banks during the drought and heat of summer, -water the parched earth and cause it to bring forth abundantly. You deny -that you have received any favours, and yet are unwilling to part with what -you possess. There are some philosophers who do not appreciate the divine -gifts. They complain that we are not endowed with perfect health, incorruptible -virtue, and foreknowledge. They scarcely refrain from impudently -despising nature, that she has made us less than gods. How much better -would it be to return thanks to the gods for the many benefits we have -received, and for placing us in this beautiful world, and subjecting it to -our rule, as their vicegerents.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1231"></a>1231. “The Deity has thought of us from the beginning; and this -world has been so arranged as to make his care of us manifest. We admit -our obligation to love our parents, as those from whom we derive our existence. -They were, however, certainly not the authors of our existence, -but were utterly ignorant of the mysteries of nature.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1232"></a>1232. “That we are indebted for our existence to an <i>intelligent cause</i>, -is evident from the provisions made for our support long before our birth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1233"></a>1233. “The strong instinct of a mother, making her willing to endure -any privation for the helpless stranger; the sacred fountain which, at the -moment it is wanted, flows from the mother’s breast; the air adapted to -the lungs, the light to the eye: what more shall I say?—<i>a present God is -revealed!</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_1234"></a>1234. “Our kind Father begins to bestow benefits on us before we are -capable of perceiving our obligations to him, and continues them even -when we are ungrateful. Some accuse him of forgetting them; some of -injuring them; others believe him to be regardless of his works; nevertheless, -like a good parent, who <i>smiles</i> at the follies of his children, God -does not cease <i>to confer his benefits on those who deny his existence, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>237</span> -with an equal eye regards all nations, and uses his power only to bless</i>. -He sprinkles the earth with soft showers; he moves the sea by his breath; -tempers the severity of winter and the heat of summer, and is <i>placable to -the errors of imperfect mortals</i>.”</p> - - -<h4><i>On the Better Employment of the First Day of the Week.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1235"></a>1235. The subjoined essay, as above designated, was written nearly -ten years ago, before the author had any hope that any knowledge of a -future state would be mercifully afforded through himself, as well as many -others, which would supply the only deficiency in the elements requisite to -the proposed innovation. Fortunately the doctrines, since taught by the -spirits, entirely corroborate the suggestions of this essay; so that Spiritualism, -natural religion, and literature, may hereafter go hand in hand -on Sunday.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1236"></a>1236. This now gloomy day, may, through the happy united instrumentality -suggested, become a day of real intellectual improvement, as well -as of every species of variety of innocent recreation. Yet every species -of selfish sensual pleasure will be avoided and condemned by every conscientious -believer in spiritual manifestations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1237"></a>1237. It is suggested that persons opposed to sabbatarianism, inconsistent -with the early and long-continued practice of Christianity, and -with the freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution of the United -States, should unite to render Sunday (erroneously called the Sabbath) a -day of moral, literary, and scientific instruction, for those who, dissatisfied -with the sectarianism of the existing places of worship, pass the day without -edifying occupation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1238"></a>1238. The object of this association would be to contemplate the Deity, -agreeably to the opinions entertained by the first and one of the best of -philosophers, Sir Isaac Newton; the sentiments of morality comprised in -the precepts ascribed to Confucius, as well as to Christ, “Do unto others -as you would have them do unto you.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1239"></a>1239. As respects the object of devotion, the idea of the Deity entertained -by Newton, and this sentiment of Pope’s universal prayer, might -be adopted:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1240"></a>1240. “Father of all, in every age,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In every clime adored,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By saint, by savage, and by sage,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="para_1241"></a>1241. As regards ceremonial, that sanctioned by Christ, agreeably -to which the brief appeal of the humble, contrite publican, was deemed -preferable to that of the self-complacent, multiloquent, pompous Pharisee.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1242"></a>1242. The opinions of the Deity given by Newton, are quoted to show -that there is nothing therein to justify intolerant sectarianism, nor to indicate -the distinguished author to have been indebted for them to Revelation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1243"></a>1243. As favouring toleration, the sentiments expressed by Seneca, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>238</span> -Roman sage, should be cherished. The sentiments of this sage prove that -among the heathens a more pious idea of God existed than that given by -the Bible, which represents him as jealous, and as punishing not only the -individual, but his posterity, for an involuntary ignorance, which by a mere -fiat, omnipotency could correct.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1244"></a>1244. God is quite tolerant, according to Seneca, as respects any misapprehension -of his pretensions, while, according to Moses, he is extremely -intolerant.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1245"></a>1245. Instead of teaching people to dislike and disesteem those who -may differ from them, as to the designation, form, or name under which -the Deity is to be worshipped, it should be held that no person of sound -mind would waste his time and his energies in worshipping that which he -does not conscientiously believe to be entitled to adoration, any more than -a man will <i>knowingly</i> pay a debt to or court the favour of one to whom -he owes nothing, and from whom he cannot expect any thing in return. -It might be argued as reasonably, that a person in paying by <i>mistake</i> a -forged draft, is less honest than in paying one which is genuine, as that a -virtuous pagan is to have less favour with God than any other man, however -orthodox his creed. (See Theological Axioms, page 34.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1246"></a>1246. Were a lessee to pay a forged order for rent due to his landlord, -would the latter strive to punish him for the mistake, especially if so -wealthy as not to feel the want of the money? But what would be said -of the landlord who, knowing that his lessee had received an erroneous -impression as to the owner of his tenement, should allow him to pay year -after year without any effort to prevent him from being cheated? Would -not this deprive him of moral if not of legal claim to the rent? God is -represented as omniscient, and consequently as cognizant of the misapprehension -which leads the pagan to kneel before his idol, and yet without -either influencing his mind, or placing before him any evidence of his error, -punishing him for his mistake.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1247"></a>1247. It should, moreover, be an object to prove the greatness and goodness -of God, by making men acquainted with the wondrous miracles of -that universe of which a nook has been assigned to the inhabitants of this -planet, which, in comparison with the totality, is as minute as any grain of -sand which contributes to form our terrestrial globe is to the whole mass -of which it constitutes a part—so insignificant. It should be an object to -show how that “<i>honesty is the best policy</i>,”—the bad never being happy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1248"></a>1248. Those well-educated sectarians of different creeds should be held -wanting in humility, who severally considered themselves free from that -error in belief to which they deem all other men liable. It is conceived, -also, that individuals are answerable for their opinions to God only, and -that for one man to condemn another for not thinking as he himself thinks, -is to violate the precept, “judge not, lest ye be judged,” and the golden -rule of acting toward other men as you would have them act toward you.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>239</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1249"></a>1249. Since our missions are all intended to induce pagans and others -to think freely as respects the tenets in which they have been educated, -how can it be otherwise than proper for every person to think without fear -of denunciation upon the tenets of his ancestry. Are we to deny ourselves -the liberty of thought, which we claim for all who differ from us as -to their creeds?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1250"></a>1250. A sectarian who is a Christian only as to <i>observances</i>, and is -therefore really a <i>practical</i> infidel, accuses a man of infidelity who is <i>practically</i> -a Christian, so far as Christianity and virtue are associated, because -that man does not arrive at his morality by the route which his denunciator -points out, but never follows to any good purpose.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1251"></a>1251. While missionaries, who <i>ought</i> to know all that can be learned, <i>do -not agree among themselves</i>, wherefore do they attempt to instruct the -ignorant? How is the unlettered pagan to judge between the Catholic, -Calvinist, Unitarian, or Deist?</p> - - -<h4><i>Additional Remarks respecting the Observance of the Sabbath, so called.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1252"></a>1252. It is believed that a great majority of the people of the United -States, while favourable to the observance of Sunday as a day of worship, -of innocent recreation, and of moral and intellectual improvement, are adverse -to the legal enforcement of restrictions introduced into Christianity -by puritanism. They do not consider the <i>first</i> day of the week as liable -to the commandment given to the Jews for the observance of <i>the seventh</i> -day; still less that the <i>innocent recreation allowed to the Jews under that -commandment</i> is to be denied to Christians on that day of rest. The -commandment <i>forbids work</i>, but does not <i>prohibit recreation</i>. That it -was thus viewed by the Hebrews, is asserted upon the authority of a -learned Jew.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1253"></a>1253. It is conceived that the enforcement of any observance on sectarian -ground, is inconsistent with the freedom of conscience guaranteed by -the Constitution of the United States.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1254"></a>1254. If God intended the Sabbath to be kept so strictly, wherefore is -it not kept holy by him? why do not the rivers stop flowing, vegetables -growing, and the wind stop blowing on the day selected for the Sabbath, -especially if a sparrow does not fall without his cognizance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1255"></a>1255. <i>Precepts may lead, but example will draw.</i> Aware of this, is -it conceivable that God would enjoin man to keep any day holy, and yet -fail to keep it holy himself? Regulating the blowing of the winds, as -well as the <i>falling of sparrows</i>, when creating a storm, would he not be -responsible for forcing the breach of the Sabbath upon the mariner?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1256"></a>1256. Ought the farmer to lose his crops in order to avoid working on -Sunday? The Romans took advantage of the Hebrew Sabbath to make -their advances upon Jerusalem, the tenets of the Jews restricting them -from resistance; yet there was no divine interference to shield this chosen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>240</span> -people against the heathen conqueror, or to assist them in the observance -of the commandment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1257"></a>1257. The plea on which the commandment was founded is manifestly -groundless—<i>that an omnipotent God could be so weary as to require rest</i>. -But it has been suggested by enlightened Christians, that the six days were -periods of immense duration, and of course the seventh day being like the -rest could not be a day of twenty-four hours, like the Jewish Sabbath so -called, but, on the contrary, an era comprising many ages.</p> - -<h4><i>If Creatures be not so created as to love their Neighbours as themselves, -precepts can no more alter them in this respect, than change the Colour -of their Hair, or the Number of Cubits in their Stature.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1258"></a>1258. In the spheres, agreeably to the communication received from -spirits, great importance is attached to the friendship, the affection, and -the ardent love, which may subsist between congenial minds or souls; -they seem to recognise love as something which cannot be felt by all to all; -so that while benevolence, charity, and sympathy may be sentiments entertained -to mankind generally, there are other sentiments which require concentration, -in order to have any efficacy. Of this nature are parental, -filial, and conjugal affection, as well as other intimate friendships.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1259"></a>1259. Sympathy between the parent and child, between husband and -wife, and likewise occasionally between brothers and sisters, or such friends -as Pylades and Orestes, may be so strong as to induce the risk, if not the -loss of life, but this sympathy cannot be self-induced. Where, from principle, -a person may determine to make the sacrifice, not from impulse, he -cannot endow himself with the sensitiveness which would make him feel -for the sufferer as for himself. A being may admire such a sentiment, and -have an ambition to be so actuated, but that would not create the sensibility -to which its existence is due. It has been alleged that Napoleon’s -mother said of him, as I remember to have read somewhere: “He wished to -have a good heart.” The most that can be done is to act as if we did love, -and consequently sympathize, so as to feel the pains and privations of another -as if they were our own. But it were inconsistent to entertain a love -so powerful and peculiar, and not give our time, thought, services, or attention -to the object of our affection. It were inconsistent so to love and keep -at a distance, and behave toward the object as if we were indifferent. But -were the sentiment to be felt universally, or even generally, there would -be such a cutting up of our time, service, or attention, that, as respects -any individual in particular, it would be nugatory, and might as well not -exist. There would likewise be such a multiplicity and perplexity of -yearnings that it would distract the heart, perhaps place it in a less happy -condition than if it were devoid of any affection whatever.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1260"></a>1260. Although temporal life may at times be sacrificed by one being -to save that of another, it is manifestly because the being who makes the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>241</span> -sacrifice is constituted so nobly as to endure less pain under the circumstances -in question in making than avoiding self-immolation. But can -any one who has not been so organized and educated as to make such a -sacrifice, be sufficiently changed by preaching, or monition, to undergo self-immolation -to save a fellow-creature?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1261"></a>1261. Is it reasonable to order, direct, or advise people to love, especially -on the part of any one who by his acknowledged omnipotency could -so constitute them as to sympathize to any required extent? I admit, -that it may be consistent to urge them to act toward others, as far as possible, -as if they were <i>loved</i>.<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1262"></a>1262. Should not the great object of cultivation be sympathy and benevolence, -which are general in their nature? We may deeply sympathize -with a sufferer, even with a brute, whom we do not love. Benevolence -should we not also cultivate, by endeavouring habitually to take the most -favourable view of those around us which our observation and reason can -permit? Does it not argue a want of discrimination to treat love as a -sentiment, to be entertained toward all other mortals by mere volition? -Is it reasonable that Christ, or any other teacher, assuming to be missionaries -of the Creator, should enjoin us to love, when the capacity for that -sentiment manifestly varies through organization and education, derived -from that Creator by various human beings, as much nearly, as the opposite -propensities of the wolf and dog? Behold the difference between the -elephant and rhinoceros: the former capable of a canine fidelity and affection, -the latter irretrievably hostile; and again between a wild elephant -and one tamed by education.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1263"></a>1263. Were his organization and education dependent on himself, it -might be reasonable to say to a human being, Love your neighbour as yourself, -love your enemies; but how can that Deity who determines man’s race -and his parentage, and of course whether he be a savage or a civilized -man, whether a Thug or a <i>real</i> Christian, if such a thing can be,—how can -that Deity require a being to do that which is irreconcilable with his passions, -opinions, and habits, derived from nature and education, as well as -the examples set by those around him?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1264"></a>1264. The inutility of precepts in controlling human passions, may be -seen in the history of Christendom, in which, as already urged, the morals -and conduct of mankind, with very few exceptions, have been diametrically -opposite to that of their divine Master, so called. Who have been more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>242</span> -aggressive than the great majority of professed Christians? Who have -been more actuated by cupidity? Yet these votaries have been, for the -most part, vociferous in their professions of devotedness to Christ, making -him the Son of God as well as their teacher, and too often cruelly -maltreating those who have denied his divinity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1265"></a>1265. Both on the part of the ancient Jews, or on that of modern Christians, -religion has been made an excuse or a plea for despoiling unbelievers -of their patrimony. In the contention respecting the right to Oregon, -the great question, on which judgment was to turn, was, which of all of the -Christian potentates claiming it, was the first to lay his longing eyes upon -the object of contention? It has been shown that the massacre of whole -nations involved no criminality, provided they were pagans. David put to -the sword the pagan communities, man, woman, and child, during which -time Jehovah was with him. The pagans being mere vermin in the estimation -of the Jewish deity, the wrongs done to them were not cited as -among David’s misdoings. No Nathan came to call him to account for -his flagitious conduct to them, or to Achish, (1 Sam. xxvii. 8 to 12.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1266"></a>1266. In his correspondence with the British minister, respecting territorial -rights granted to the English by the Mosquito king, Mr. Clayton -urged that the aborigines never had been admitted to have any rights to -their own lands, which could interfere with Christian claimants.</p> - -<h4 class="hang"><i>Attacks upon the authenticity of Scripture cannot endanger the prevalent -morality, which, while it is superior to that of the Old Testament, indicates -a recklessness of the precepts of Christ, excepting so far as they -make faith a counterpoise for sin.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1267"></a>1267. In the preceding pages, I have endeavoured to show that the existing -morality of Christendom does not owe its existence to Christianity. -My object has been to do away the apprehension that this morality would -be deprived of its foundation were Spiritualism or any other innovation to -be accredited which would be inconsistent with revelation. But I hope -I have shown that whatever merit may be possessed by the existing state -of morals, it cannot be ascribed to any influence exercised by those precepts -of Christ which are not only neglected, but acted in diametric opposition -to.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1268"></a>1268. Another cause of alarm has been that it would weaken that belief -in a future state of rewards and punishments which is so essential to encourage -virtue and repress vice. But it has been pointed out that the authority -of Moses is against the existence of a future state, not merely negatively, -but positively, so far as any authority is given to him as inspired by God. -For what stronger argument need there be that there is no state of existence -beyond the grave, than the fact that the being who of all mankind -solely had immediate converse with the Deity, should not have learned -from him the all-important fact? If, as now held generally among Chris<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>243</span>tians, -an unbeliever in a future state is culpable in the sight of God, as -well as theirs, and disqualified from testifying in courts of justice, can it -be conceived that God would have failed to communicate a knowledge of -immortal existence to his favourite lawgiver; or how could that lawgiver -have been so devoid of that desire for immortality as to have been satisfied -to remain ignorant?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1269"></a>1269. Materialists who have become converts to Spiritualism, all represent -themselves as having entertained a great anxiety to believe in immortality -prior to the blessed, cherished truth having been made evident to -their thirsting souls.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1270"></a>1270. Converts from Materialism to Spiritualism, who have shown much -zeal in the investigation of the subject, and eagerness in believing in immortality -as soon as evidence was obtained, were, by certain sectarians, -doomed to hell for their heresy. Yet this Hebrew materialist, who made -no use of his transcendent opportunities of acquiring correct knowledge -of futurity from the Deity, is made an object of veneration, and the book -which he wrote, while devoid of this pre-eminently important information, -is worshipped as an idol.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1271"></a>1271. His allegations that God authorized the Israelites to <i>borrow</i> in -order to <i>purloin</i>, or that he authorized the murder of the people misled by -Aaron to worship the golden calf, are manifestly as false as blasphemous. -Then why imagine that mankind can suffer by the substitution of a belief -in a future state associated with the purest principles of morality, for the -books of Moses, which sanction crimes and discredit immortality?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1272"></a>1272. As respects any subsequent alleged inspirations to which Pharisees, -the papists of Judea, owed their <i>professed</i> belief in a future state, in the -first place, we have the authority of Christ for viewing them as hypocrites: -externally, like whited sepulchres, internally, as no less corrupt than dead -men’s bones. Of course there is reason, on this account, to doubt whether -they acquired a sincere belief in a future state from any part of Scripture. -But evidently it did not make them moral. Their immorality, on the contrary, -was made more hideous by the cloak of false religion. Nothing is -more detestable than to see religion in men’s mouths, with cupidity and -unprincipled ambition at their hearts. Yet this much may be said for the -Pharisees, that they had not <i>professed</i> themselves <i>Christians</i>, and thus -subject to those precepts of Jesus which place the acquisition of wealth -on a level with felony as respects the accessibility to heaven. The Pharisees -of Christendom, even those who assumed to be exclusively the depositories -of revelation and sole expounders of God’s word, have been -<i>absolutely</i> as wicked as the Pharisees, and <i>relatively</i> more wicked by the -monstrous discordancy of their course with their professed devotion to the -ultra precepts of the alleged Son of their God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1273"></a>1273. It has been shown, moreover, that although Christ occasionally -referred to hell, yet he gave inconsistent views of it, (<a href="#para_738">738</a>, <a href="#para_764">764</a>764.) At one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>244</span> -time it is fire, into which any one is to be doomed for alleging his brother -a fool, whether this allegation be true or not; at another, it is utter <i>darkness</i>, -with weeping and gnashing of teeth; and of course there could be no -fire. Then the disgusting description given by Josephus is sanctioned, -agreeably to which, like the Elysium and Erebus of the heathen, both hell -and heaven are subterranean localities, but separated by a lake of unquenchable -fire, across which Abraham and Dives converse. At another time, -heaven is above; he ascends to heaven in sight of his apostles, yet the -penitent thief is to be with him in paradise, which, agreeably to Genesis -and Josephus, is upon the earth on the river Tigris, near the Persian Gulf. -But wherever the Elysium and Erebus of the gospel may be, all souls, according -to it, are to remain in their graves till the “<i>last</i> day,” and then, -like Samuel, being called up from their tombs, are to be sorted into two -squadrons, of which one is to go to an <i>undescribed</i> heaven, the other to the -“hell fire prepared for the devil and his angels from the beginning of the -world.” The injustice which would follow from a judgment of this kind, -by which two souls differing from each other only by a shade would meet -a fate so different that one would have to go to heaven, the other to hell to -remain eternally, is so manifest, that, like the ultraism of the same record, it -loses its effect altogether upon people in general.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1274"></a>1274. It must be clear that the great mass of professed Christians are -very little restrained by their fears of such an eternity of punishment. Had -Christ any specific knowledge of the kingdom of heaven to which he occasionally -alluded, wherefore did he not convey that knowledge to his disciples? -But they seem to have learned no more from Jesus than Moses did from -Jehovah, and hence their querulous inquiry as to what would be their -reward. But the promise of judgeships, (<a href="#para_743">743</a> to 745,) of worldly preeminence, -was a satire upon them. It argues that he considered them as -worldly-minded. Had he known the world to be looked upon by the apostles -as beneath consideration in comparison with immortal life, he would -hardly have insulted them by the offer. But their tone has a great deal -too much of the Swiss in it. Had they been so very dull, or Christ so reserved, -that the idea was not conveyed to them that in acting the part of pious, -virtuous men, they would have the reward promised to the righteous in -the other world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1275"></a>1275. Thank God, no spiritualist who reads with attention the communications -given in this work, will ever inquire as to the extent of selfish -reward which he is to enjoy! He would be impressed by his general -knowledge with the idea that the less any being is actuated by selfish aspiration, -the greater his capacity for happiness and his pretensions to the -means of felicity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>245</span></p> - - -<h4 class="hang"><i>The Doctrine of a peculiar Belief being necessary to Salvation, and a -counterpoise for Sin, a source of discord originally confined to Judea, -expanded with Christianity and Islamism; verifying Christ’s allegation, -that he came “as a Sword, not as a Messenger of Peace.”—Superior -Morality, and far more unquestionable Certainty of the Communications -from the Spirit World.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1276"></a>1276. It were in vain, I think, to find in the apple of discord, in the -mischiefs let loose from Pandora’s box, or any other figurative exemplification, -any idea adequate to convey my conception of the mischief done to -the world by introducing the dogma, that belief could be the means of -salvation; so that if God had so constituted or so situated a people, that -they could not believe what was communicated to them by certain itinerant -preachers, it should be worse for them in the day of judgment than for -Sodom and Gomorrah; two cities which God had destroyed because he had -not so organized them, and circumstanced them, as to make them as virtuous -as he, subsequently to their creation, desired.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1277"></a>1277. Christ fully justified this opinion, when he alleged himself to -have come as a <i>sword, not as a messenger of peace</i>, and to set father and -son, mother and daughter, &c., at variance with each other, making the -people of a man’s own household his foes. It may be said that he identified -himself with piety and rectitude; so that it was for the virtue of which -he, as the Son or missionary of God, was the representative, that he plead; -but this pious devotion has much more of self in it than people imagine. -They identify God or Christ with the welfare of their souls and bodies. It -is through the hope of benefit to these that they take such a deep interest -in God.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1278"></a>1278. But is it not strange that the Christian religion should be treated -as a harbinger of peace and harmony, when, with its entrance into the -world, came the intolerance, before confined to Judea, and when by its -founder it is represented as a sword, to sever the dearest ties by introducing -the poisoning idea that belief could be a virtue or a sin? It seems to -have been the cause of a peculiar animosity which has always accompanied -its progress, if not its endurance, and which set the example to Mohammed -of attaching the same fanatical idea to another basis, comporting with -his individual aggrandizement, at the expense of much human misery.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1279"></a>1279. The language of Christ held to his apostles, showing that he considered -them as thirsting for temporal honours, and his aspiration for the -<i>throne</i> of his <i>glory</i>, situated, of course, in the same mundane region, may -warrant the surmise that his views did not differ from those of Mohammed -as to the ultimate object, however much he may have found it necessary, -under the Roman despotism, to fight with the tongue instead of the sword.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1280"></a>1280. But how can this sentiment be justified in which he makes devotion -to himself irreconcilable with the holy ties between the child and his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>246</span> -parents, or the parents and their children? The God of Spiritualism -would view parental and filial love as the truest piety. He asks only that -love. He has not constituted us to have that sort of love for him. Had -he wished it, he would have made us so, as to be thus actuated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1281"></a>1281. “He that believeth in me shall have eternal life.” “Thy faith -hath made thee whole.” These allegations produced a change in the world -at large. That bigotry and animosity which led the Jews to consider that -all who did not agree with them in creed, were objects of spoliation, massacre, -rape, enslavement, were now extended to other parts of the world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1282"></a>1282. No doubt the success of this exclusive notion, on the part of -Christ, led to its adoption by Mohammed, and thus some hundred millions -have been actuated by this mischievous impression, which is now at work -on the Russian territory. It has been already suggested that this idea -always begets persecution to the extent of the power to exercise it. While -seeing the horrid consequences of this error in the persecution of the -French Calvinists, Calvin could not avoid the diabolic impulse in the instance -of Servetus. It cannot be necessary to recall to our readers the -many bloody persecutions and religious wars which have disgraced Christendom -far more than any other part of the globe, nor to allude to the -tyranny reciprocally employed by any sect having complete ascendancy. -Yet with these consequences before the mind—the facts which I have adduced -to prove that the morality of Christendom is not due to Scripture—the -tocsin is sounded wherever any effort is made to get rid of the crimes -and indecencies of the Old Testament, or the error of making bigoted -belief, under the name of faith, a primary consideration on the part of the -New Testament. People are taught that every thing good is due to Scripture; -that thence alone can we get any correct notions of morality, any -knowledge of a future state. The idea is entertained that Christianity -made a great change for the better as soon as it prevailed, and that without -it we should sink into a state of demoralization.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1283"></a>1283. Consistently with my experience of the effect of a confident belief -in a future state of existence on my own mind, as already suggested, -I was always under the impression, prior to my conversion, that those who -believed in a future state must be happier; and if that belief were not associated -with mischievous error, that it should not be assailed. The idea -that what I considered as bigotry, should be a counterpoise for sin, I did -consider a mischievous error, tending to substitute devotion for good works, -and as I saw, too, made nations selfish. The love of hoarding was very -commonly coupled with this selfishness, which operated at once to produce -efforts to lay up treasure on earth by close dealing, and in heaven by strict -sectarianism, bigotry, and intolerance. But, nevertheless, I was restrained -from any effort to cure these errors, from the conviction that religion, unaccompanied -by the expectation of a future state, can never take hold of -the human heart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>247</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1284"></a>1284. In a dialogue between the spirit of Wm. Penn and that of Thos. -Paine, the former points out this error: “You strove to take from your -readers one of their greatest comforts under the afflictions of mortal life.” -<i>Foreseeing this</i> would have prevented me from writing the Age of Reason. -Any set of skeptics who should only coincide in disbelieving, could never -adhere together nor make many converts. The prospect of future life -must be promised confidently, or there would be few proselytes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1285"></a>1285. But the spiritual manifestations, and the intellectual, the heartfelt -intercommunion with my relatives, friends, and the immortal, great, and -good Washington, now enable me to assert that there is not, nor can be -upon any record of the past, any evidence so complete, as that presented -to my senses, concurrently with a multitude of observers. I now, therefore, -feel myself warranted to speak out what my reason justifies and my -conscience dictates; and have not hesitated to express the opinions which -are spread out upon the pages immediately preceding that which contains -this exposition.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1286"></a>1286. With a view to show how much more happy was the state of -reciprocal sectarian feeling in the world before this idea of making belief -an object of vital importance, I will quote here, first a passage from Mosheim’s -Ecclesiastical History, vol. i., and will subjoin some pages from -“Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;” following these up -with quotations from Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont:</p> - - -<h4><i>Quotation from Mosheim.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1287"></a>1287. “Each nation suffered its neighbours to follow their own method -of worship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and ceremonies, -and discovered no displeasure at their diversity of sentiments in -religious matters. They all looked upon the world as one great empire, -divided into various provinces, over every one of which a certain order -of divinities presided, and that, therefore, none could behold with -contempt the gods of other nations, or force strangers to pay homage to -theirs.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1288"></a>1288. “The Romans exercised this toleration in the amplest manner. -As the sources from which all men’s ideas are derived are the same, -namely, from their senses, there being no other inlet to the mind but -thereby, there is nothing wonderful in the general prevalence of a sameness -of the ideas of human beings in all regions and all ages of the world. -The affections of fear, grief, pain, hope, pleasure, gratitude, &c., are as -common to man as his nature as a man, and could not fail to produce a -corresponding similarity in the objects of his superstitious veneration. To -have nothing in common with the already established notions of mankind, -to bear no features of resemblance to their hallucinations and follies, to -be nothing like them, to be to nothing so unlike, should be the essential -predications and <i>necessary</i> credentials of the ‘wisdom which is from above.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>248</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1289"></a>1289. “It has, however, been alleged by learned men, with convincing -arguments of probability, ‘that the principal deities of all the Gentile -nations resembled each other extremely, in their essential characters; -and if so, their receiving the same names could not introduce much confusion -into mythology, since they were probably derived from one common -source. If the <i>Thor</i> of the ancient Celts was the same in dignity, character, -and attributes with the <i>Jupiter</i> of the Greeks and Romans, where -was the impropriety of giving him the same name? <i>Dies Jovis</i> is still -the Latin form for our Thor’s day. When the Greeks found in other -countries deities that resembled their own, they persuaded the worshippers -of those foreign gods that their deities were the same that were honoured -in Greece, and were, indeed, themselves convinced that this was the case. -In consequence of this, the Greeks gave the names of their gods to those -of other nations, and the Romans in this followed their example. Hence -we find the names of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, &c. frequently -mentioned in the more recent monuments and inscriptions which have -been found among the Gauls and Germans, though the ancient inhabitants -of those countries had worshipped no gods under such denominations.”</p> - - -<h4><i>Quotation from Gibbon.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1290"></a>1290. “The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned -religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, -and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various -modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered -by the people as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and -by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced, not -only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1291"></a>1291. “The superstition of the people was not imbittered by any mixture -of theological rancour; nor was it confined by the chains of any speculative -system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached to his -national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different religions of the -earth. Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular -disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the -articles of his belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The thin -texture of the pagan mythology was interwoven with various, but not discordant, -materials. As soon as it was allowed that sages and heroes, who -had lived, or who had died, for the benefit of their country, were exalted -to a state of power and immortality, it was universally confessed that -they deserved, if not the adoration, at least the reverence, of all mankind. -The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in -peace, their local and respected influence; nor could the Roman, who deprecated -the wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his -offering to the beneficent genius of the Nile. The visible powers of nature, -the planets, and the elements, were the same throughout the universe<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>249</span> -The invisible governors of the moral world were inevitably cast in a similar -mould of fiction and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, acquired -its divine representative; every art and profession its patron, whose attributes, -in the most distant ages and countries, were uniformly derived from -the character of their peculiar votaries. A republic of gods of such opposite -tempers and interests required, in every system, the moderating -hand of a supreme magistrate, who, by the progress of knowledge and -flattery, was gradually invested with the sublime perfections of an Eternal -Parent, and an omnipotent Monarch. Such was the mild spirit of antiquity, -that the nations were less attentive to the difference than to the -resemblance of their religious worship. The Greek, the Roman, and the -Barbarian, as they met before their respective altars, easily persuaded -themselves that under various names, and with various ceremonies, they -adored the same deities. The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful -and almost regular form to the polytheism of the ancient world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1292"></a>1292. “The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature -of man rather than from that of God. They meditated, however, -on the Divine Nature as a very curious and important speculation, and -in the profound inquiry they displayed the strength and weakness of the -human understanding. Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics -and the Platonists endeavoured to reconcile the jarring interests of reason -and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of the existence -and perfections of the first cause, but as it was impossible for them to -conceive the creation of matter, the workmen in the Stoic philosophy was -not sufficiently distinguished from the work, while, on the contrary, the -spiritual God of Plato and his disciples resembled an idea rather than a -substance. The opinions of the Academics and Epicureans were of a less -religious cast; but while the modest science of the former induced them to -doubt, the positive ignorance of the latter urged them to deny the providence -of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit of inquiry, prompted by emulation and -supported by freedom, has divided the public teachers of philosophy into a -variety of contending sects; but the ingenuous youth who, from every -part, resorted to Athens and the other seats of learning in the Roman -empire, were alike instructed in every school to reject and to despise the -religion of the multitude. How, indeed, was it possible that a philosopher -should accept, as divine truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the incoherent -traditions of antiquity, or that he should adore as gods those imperfect -beings whom he must have despised as men! Against such unworthy -adversaries Cicero condescended to employ the arms of reason and -eloquence, but the satire of Lucian was a much more adequate as well as -more efficacious weapon. We may be well assured that a writer conversant -with the world would never have ventured to expose the gods of his -country to public ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret -contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of society.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>250</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1293"></a>1293. “Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed in -the age of the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and the credulity -of the people were sufficiently respected. In their writings and conversation, -the philosophers of antiquity asserted the independent dignity -of reason, but they resigned their actions to the commands of law and of -custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and indulgence, the various errors -of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their fathers, -devoutly frequented the temples of the gods, and sometimes condescending -to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they concealed the sentiments -of an atheist under the sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper -were scarcely inclined to wrangle about their respective modes of faith or -of worship. It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of the multitude -might choose to assume; and they approached with the same inward -contempt, and the same external reverence, the altars of the Lybian, -the Olympian, or the Capitoline Jupiter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1294"></a>1294. “It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of persecution -could induce itself into the Roman councils. The magistrates could -not be actuated by a blind though honest bigotry, since the magistrates -were themselves philosophers, and the schools of Athens had given laws -to the senate. They could not be impelled by ambition or avarice, as the -temporal and ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The -pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators, and the -office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by the emperors themselves. -They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is connected -with civil government. They encouraged the public festivals which -humanize the manners of the people. They managed the arts of divination, -as a convenient instrument of policy, and they respected as the firmest -bond of society the useful persuasion that, either in this or a future -life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by the avenging -gods? But while they acknowledged the general advantages of religion, -they were convinced that the various modes of worship contributed alike -to the same salutary purposes, and that, in every country, the form of -superstition which had received the sanction of time and experience was -the best adapted to the climate and to its inhabitants. Avarice and taste -very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations of the elegant statues -of their gods and the rich ornaments of their temples, but in the exercise -of the religion which they derived from their ancestors, they uniformly -experienced the indulgence, and even protection, of the Roman conquerors. -The province of Gaul seems, and indeed only seems, an exception -to this universal toleration. Under the specious pretext of abolishing -human sacrifices, the Emperors Tiberius and Claudius suppressed the dangerous -power of the Druids; but the priests themselves, their gods and -their altars, subsisted in peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of -paganism.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>251</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1295"></a>1295. “Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled -with subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all introduced -and enjoyed the favourite superstitions of their native country. -Every city in the empire was justified in maintaining the purity of its ancient -ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the common privilege, -sometimes interposed to check this inundation of foreign rites. The Egyptian -superstition, of all the most contemptible and abject, was frequently -prohibited; the temples of Serapis and Isis demolished, and their worshippers -banished from Rome and Italy. But the zeal of fanaticism prevailed -over the cold and feeble efforts of policy. The exiles returned, the -proselytes multiplied, the temples were restored with increasing splendour, -and Isis and Serapis at length assumed their place among the Roman deities. -Nor was this indulgence a departure from the old maxims of government. -In the purest ages of the commonwealth, Cybele and Æsculapius -had been invited by solemn embassies, and it was customary to tempt -the protectors of besieged cities by the promise of more distinguished -honours than they possessed in their native country. Rome gradually became -the common temple of her subjects, and the freedom of the city was -bestowed on all the gods of mankind.”</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">For more than a thousand years the Grecian or Roman Catholic Clergy -were the sole depositories of the word of God, so called, and Regulators -of Religious morals; yet during that time the Clergy were for the -most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of the community; -whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the wicked -Clergy in general were really unbelievers in the truth of the Gospel. -If the morals of the modern Clergy are better, it is neither from the -barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, nor the ultra -precepts of the Gospel; being too much enlightened to be governed in -practice by either.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1296"></a>1296. “<span class="smcap">Origen</span> complains of the neglect and inattention of his day, through the increase -of worldliness. Cyprian about the same time mourns over the progress of degeneracy, -and Eusebius, toward the close of the third century, laments the corruption of the -primitive morality in strong terms of censure.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1297"></a>1297. “But yet superstition was rapidly advancing, and the complaints of priestly corruption -and general licentiousness were on the increase. The election of Pope Damasus -was the occasion of a public riot, in which his partisans besieged the church where the -friends of the other candidate were assembled, broke down the doors, and uncovered the -roof; and in the shameful battle that ensued, one hundred and thirty-seven persons were -slain, of both sexes. The splendour of the Roman bishops had grown so rapidly, that the -heathen historian Ammianus Marcellinus pronounced the episcopal style of living to be -superior to that of a king. Toward the close of the fourth century, Chrysostom defended -the new system of monkery, on the ground that Christians had become so corrupt, especially -in the large cities. Jerome before him had bitterly complained of the prevailing -degeneracy, and became a monk in order to escape from it. St. Augustine lamented that -many Christians in his day (about <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 389) were superstitious, that they adored the -sepulchres and pictures of the saints, and ate and drank to excess at funerals, under the -excuse that it was an act of religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1298"></a>1298. “The fifth century was not likely to improve the state of the church, but on the -contrary it witnessed a rapid deterioration. The testimony of Salvian is set forth by -Fleury, proving that among the Roman Christians there was much heathen idolatry re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>252</span>maining; -that the greater part were only Christians in name, and worse than the barbarians -in life and conversation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1299"></a>1299. In the sixth century, toward the close, we see Pope Gregory the Great attributing -all the public calamities to the ambition of the bishops, who concealed the teeth of -wolves under the face of sheep.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1300"></a>1300. “The seventh century. We begin to see the fruits of clerical celibacy in the rule -established by the council of Toledo, that the illegitimate children of the clergy, from the -bishop down to the sub-deacon, should be slaves in the church where their fathers served. -It is to be presumed that this canon was intended to discourage and amend the incontinence -of the clergy, but the adoption of such an extraordinary law proves plainly the -prevalence of the evil. So general had the worldliness of the clergy become, that in the -latter part of this century the most eminent bishops of France took great part in political -matters, and in time of war marched at the head of their troops, like the lay barons.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1301"></a>1301. “One of the most important events of the eighth century was the forgery of the -Decretals, by which all the primitive bishops of Rome, from Clement to Sylvester, were -made to utter the most extravagant doctrines concerning the power of the pope, the supremacy -of Rome, and the authority to judge the other bishops, while the pope himself -could be judged by none. Yet such was the ignorance of the times, that this forgery was -successful throughout the whole Latin Church, and remained unquestioned for eight -hundred years together. Another strong proof of this prevailing ignorance is found in -the course of the bishops at the second council of Nice, where pretended miracles performed -by images were cited from false documents without any suspicion of mistake.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1302"></a>1302. “The parliament of Worms presented to the emperor a request from all the people -that the bishops should no longer go out at the head of their troops, but should stay in -their dioceses and assist the army by their prayers; and Charlemagne willingly granted the -petition. But it is remarkable that this application came not from the clergy, but from the -laity; and it was so little regarded afterward, that we shall find some warlike bishops even -among the popes themselves. This same emperor endeavoured with great zeal to purify -the morals of the clergy; and his reproofs of their worldliness, their avarice, and their -prostitution of sacred things for the sake of gain, are remarkable monuments of his own -good sense and of the corruption which infested the church in the ninth century. After -his death, which occurred in <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 814, some churches invoked him as a saint, notwithstanding -he had four wives and five concubines.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1303"></a>1303. “The year 844 was signalized by the introduction of false relics at Dijon in -France, by which, nevertheless, several remarkable cures were supposed to have been -effected, until the fraud was discovered; but the proceedings show that such impostures -were common. In <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 850 a poor presbyter named Gotheschalk, who had adopted high -views on predestination, was not only deposed from the priesthood, but afterward publicly -whipped, as an incorrigible heretic, and cast into prison, where he died after eighteen -years’ confinement. Yet his doctrine was defended by other bishops of high reputation, -and his punishment was denounced as cruel and unjust.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1304"></a>1304. “In <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 864, a violent outrage took place at Rome, in which Gonthier, the -Archbishop of Cologne, protesting against the judgment of Pope Nicholas, told his -brother Hildwin, who was a priest, to place his protestation on the tomb of Saint Peter: -that is, upon the altar of the church. Accordingly, Hildwin entered into the church -with several followers, all armed, and as the keepers opposed him, he repulsed them with -blows, and killed one of them upon the spot. He then accomplished his purpose, and retreated -sword in hand. The anecdote is only of importance as a proof of the spirit of the -age. The first instance of a partial interdict occurs in <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 871. The ordeals of boiling -water, cold water, and red-hot iron were employed in this age, to determine questions of -justice under the auspices of the priests; and even kings employed them, with all faith -and confidence. The Duke of Naples had formed an alliance with the Saracens, which -the pope disproved; and as he refused to break it on the order of the pontiff, he was excommunicated. -The Bishop Athanasius, who was the duke’s own brother, took him and -put out his eyes, sent him as prisoner to Rome, and caused himself to be proclaimed Duke -of Naples in his place. The pope approved this conduct highly, and praised the bishop for -loving God more than his brother, and putting out the right eye which had offended, -according to Scripture. This pontiff was John VIII., and the time was <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 877.</p></div> - - -<h4><i>Reasons for not proceeding farther with Quotation of Details.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1305"></a>1305. It would occupy too much space, and make too wide a digression, -were I to proceed in quoting the details of the evidence showing the state -of morals in Christendom during the Middle Ages to have been much below -that which the heathen displayed during the period immediately succeeding -the advent of Christ, according to Mosheim and Gibbon. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>253</span> -although the reader should not be enabled to form an opinion directly, by -a perusal of the details, fortunately I am enabled to submit that of the -right reverend prelate by whom they have been compiled.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1306"></a>1306. The fact deserves attention, that for more than a thousand years, -of all the upper classes of society the Christian clergy were pre-eminently -wicked, frequent complaints having been made against them by the laity, -notwithstanding the cruel persecution to which complainants were liable. -The popes were generally as prominent in wickedness as high in official -distinction. The summing up of Bishop Hopkins, which I subjoin, fully -confirms the impression which I have endeavoured to convey:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1307"></a>1307. “I have now gone over the history of your church, with the -single aim of proving, from your own records, the rise, progress, and terrible -extent of its corruption, up to the close of the sixteenth century. -Here we see that for a period of seven centuries together there had been -a constant outcry for reformation; that the popes and priesthood were the -objects of continual complaint on the part of the laity; that by their own -acknowledgment, although the church was never destitute of true Christians, -yet holiness was the exception, and iniquity the rule, since the -great body of the clergy were steeped in licentiousness, avarice, simony, -cruelty, violence, falsehood, and blood; that the University of Paris, one -of your most famous nurseries of theological education, was infested with -an infidel philosophy, and with habits of libertine sacrilege; that the boasts -of absolute atheism were heard from the lips of pontiffs and cardinals; -that the reliance of your church was in the terrors of the inquisition, in -the rack, the dungeon, and the stake; that war, and treachery, and assassination, -were patronized in the service of religion; that bishops, and cardinals, -and popes, were ready to lead their troops to battle; that there were -constant revolts and rebellions against the tyranny of the priestly power; -that there were many schisms in the papal kingdom, in which two or three -pretenders to infallibility cursed each other at the same time, in the name -of God and his apostles; and that every effort to banish these horrible -iniquities proved utterly abortive, until the success of the Protestant reformation -compelled them to respect public opinion, by fear for their very -being if they continued to brave it any longer.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1308"></a>1308. It is believed that there was no such wickedness among the pagan -priesthood as to have become a cause of complaint, although far less -power existed to silence accusation. Throughout Christendom even monarchs -were made to suffer severely for their remonstrances against papal -tyranny, and had to make concessions after having been ill-treated. By -way of exemplifying his disrespect for those precepts of Christ which enjoin -humility, meekness, and poorness of spirit as the means of reaching -heaven, Pope Celestin kicked the crown from the head of the emperor, -Henry VII., as this potentate knelt before him. Could any sane man -have done this while believing that Christ’s allegations were to be verified,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>254</span> -agreeably to which the “<i>poor in spirit</i>” are to have heaven, the meek to -inherit the earth? (See Hopkins.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1309"></a>1309. According to Taylor’s Diegesis, Constantine inquired of Sopater, -the pagan priest, if he could absolve him from his sins, among which was -that of scalding one of his wives to death, and executing unjustly one of -his sons. Sopater informed him that it went beyond his power to obtain -pardon for such sins. The Christian priests having agreed to procure the -desired absolution, is supposed to have been one of the principal motives -which induced Constantine to embrace Christianity. Yet it was under -this wicked despot that the Council of Nice was held, which decided in -favour of the divinity of Christ.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1310"></a>1310. It is difficult to imagine that persons who actually believed in a -future state of rewards and punishments, and who of course must have -been impressed with the comparative insignificance of any worldly enjoyments, -would, for any earthly objects, have acted so much in a way to -doom their souls to perpetual torture. It may therefore be inferred that -the clerical papists who acted so wickedly were religious hypocrites, like -the Jewish Pharisees. I am strongly under the impression that the imperfection -of the proof of the truth of Scriptures, in the first place, and -the inadequate and disgusting representations respecting the future world -which they present, has always been productive of secret unbelief, and -consequent recklessness respecting the dictates of religion or morality.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1311"></a>1311. Of the manner in which the clergy of the present day reason -themselves into a belief, and expect to induce others to concur with them, -the parodied quotation from the clerical Goliah of my <i>would-be guide to -heaven</i> is an exemplification. It is only by <i>frowning down objections</i>, or -<i>begging the question</i>, that they can get on. (<a href="#para_1182">1182</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1312"></a>1312. Said one among the most amiable of my clerical friends to me, -when I adverted to the improbability that the Deity of this almost infinite -universe would select a few human animalcules in Judea as his especial -favourites: “Dr. Hare, you must not expect me to sit by patiently, -and see the pillars of my profession assailed.” I am sorry, said I, if I -have said any thing to give you pain. “How would you like the pillars -of your science to be attacked?” I would defend them, not endeavour -to silence the assailant! But all criticisms which lead to the cure of -errors only benefit a science founded on truth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1313"></a>1313. The skepticism produced by reading the Bible is alleged, by Archbishop -Hughes, as the motive of his church for forbidding the reading of -it to the faithful. It was the reading of the Bible, when a minor, which -led to my unbelief in its authenticity. Bible societies may, without intending -it, do much to prepare the reasoning portion of mankind for the -adoption of a more moral, consistent, and rational gospel.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1314"></a>1314. That one pope at least was a materialist, the following quotation -from Bishop Hopkins’s work will prove.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>255</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1315"></a>1315. “The year 1308 was marked by the resolution of Pope Clement V. to take up his -residence at Avignon. Two years afterward, he appointed three cardinals to examine the -witnesses against the former pope, Boniface VIII., and Cardinal Cajetan; and the testimony -taken on the occasion proved them both to have been downright atheists. It was -in substance as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1316"></a>1316. “Nicholas, a priest and canon of the cathedral, &c., on oath, said, that being at -Naples, under the pontificate of Celestin V., viz. <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 1274, in the house of Marin Sichinulfe, -where Cardinal Benedict Cajetan dwelt, he entered the chamber of the cardinal in -the suite of the Bishop of Fricenti, and found there a clerk disputing with him, in presence -of several persons, upon the questions, which was the best law or religion, that of -the Christians, of the Jews, or of the Saracens? and who those were that best observed -their own? Then the cardinal said, What are all these religions? They are the inventions -of men. We need not put ourselves to any trouble, except for this world, since there -is no other life but the present. He said also, on the same occasion, that this world has -had no beginning, and would not have an end. Nicholas, Abbot of St. Benedict, &c., deposed -to the same fact, adding that the Cardinal Cajetan had said that the bread was not -changed in the sacrament of the altar, and that it was false that it was the body of Jesus -Christ; that there is no resurrection; that the soul dies with the body; that this was his -opinion and that of all men of letters, but that the simple and ignorant thought otherwise. -The witness being asked if the cardinal did not thus speak jestingly, replied that -he said these things seriously and in good faith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1317"></a>1317. “Manfred, a lay citizen of Lucca, said, that in the year 1300, before Christmas, -being in the chamber of Pope Boniface, in presence of the ambassadors of Florence, of -Boulogne, and of Lucca, and many other persons, a man, who appeared to be the Pope’s -chaplain, told his holiness of the death of a certain knight who had been a wicked -man, and therefore it was necessary to pray for him, that Jesus Christ might have pity -on his soul. Upon which Boniface treated him as if he were a fool; and after having -spoken injuriously of Jesus Christ, he added: This knight has already received all the -good and evil he can have, and there is no other life than this, nor any other paradise or -hell than what is in this world. The witness testified to another discourse of Boniface, -which modesty does not allow of our reporting; and another witness recited a story about -him still more impious than the foregoing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1318"></a>1318. “‘What remains of this information,’ says Fleury, ‘comprehends the depositions -of thirteen witnesses, all to a similar effect. Another information which appeared the following -year contained the evidence of twenty-three witnesses to the same facts, with -others equally scandalous. But as the affair was never brought to judgment, it is superfluous -to enter into any further details.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1319"></a>1319. “Now here is a very extraordinary and powerful evidence to prove that at least -one pope, and he a very distinguished one, Boniface VIII., and one cardinal, of high reputation, -were not only infidels themselves, but claimed to be of the same class with ‘<i>all -men of letters</i>.’ That the testimony was satisfactory seems incontrovertible; because the -witnesses were thirty-six in number, unimpeached in character, and thought sufficient by -Philip the Fair, King of France, and all his leading nobility. He proposed that Boniface -should be arraigned, though dead, for heresy, and that his bones should be disinterred -and burned, according to the modern fashion established by the Roman Church. It may -seem strange, however, that even if Boniface and Cajetan had held such sentiments, they -should have been so foolish as to utter them in the presence of so many. To this two answers -may be given. First, that the influence of the philosophy which we have already -noted in the University of Paris was so prevalent, that the clergy and the upper ranks of -the laity were generally infected with it, and religion was looked upon, by nearly all, as -a thing of policy, necessary to keep the vulgar in order, but only professed by the higher -classes, as it was in heathen Rome, ‘for the sake of appearances.’ Unhappily, there are -many proofs too strong to be doubted that this infidel philosophy was rife among the -priesthood; and perhaps there is no other way of accounting for the manifest fact that -the church, like the state, was governed for so many ages by the machinery of force and -fear, as if there was no inward conscience to appeal to, except among a few pious souls, -here and there—enough to perpetuate the church, according to the promise of Christ, but -not enough to affect the general sentiment.”</p></div> - -<h4 class="hang">Any religion, like that of Moses, which does not make Immortality a primary -consideration, must be chiefly confined to worldly objects, and of -course unworthy of consideration or respect.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1320"></a>1320. While the silence of the Pentateuch respecting immortality throws -the authority of the “word of God,” so called, against the endowment of -the human soul with that all-important attribute, the language of the de<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>256</span>calogue -is inconsistent with the unity of the divine power. The words, -“<i>Thou shalt have no other gods before me</i>,” implies that there were other -gods who might be acknowledged; since if there were none other, the -proper words would be—Thou <i>canst</i> have no other God but me, or—There -<i>is no other God</i> but me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1321"></a>1321. Again, when Jehovah alleges himself to be jealous, of whom -could he be jealous, if there was no other God to excite the sentiment of -jealousy? Can any one conceive God to be jealous of an idol, when he -must perceive that whatever worship may be bestowed on idols, is actually -intended for the true God? (<a href="#para_1245">1245</a>, 1246.) Could Adam have been jealous -when there was no other man in existence to be jealous of?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1322"></a>1322. In the Introduction the ends to be answered by religion were -stated, (page 18.) Several of the foregoing pages have been designed to -show that Scripture does not fulfil these objects, being almost silent as -respects immortality, using doubtful language respecting the unity of the -divine power. Moreover, Jehovah is described as wrathful, jealous, and -vindictive; as sanctioning the massacre, spoliation, and extirpation of neighbouring -nations.<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The fruits of the religion of Moses were two sects, of -whom one did not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments; -the other, although professing such a belief, (according to the barbarous -idea of Josephus,) were not as moral as the unbelievers, (<a href="#para_750">750</a>, <a href="#para_1098">1098</a>.) Moreover, -as respects the New Testament, the precepts on which it laid the -most stress, those against pecuniary cupidity and resistance of wrong, have -been not only neglected, but acted upon inversely; so that rapacity and -aggression have been the predominant features of the conduct of Christians, -unworthily so called, toward each other, but especially toward those who -have been of a different religious belief. In one trait, however, the words -of Christ, already cited, have been fully carried out: “I come as a sword.”<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1323"></a>1323. It may be seen from the passages quoted, that prior to the pro<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>257</span>mulgation -of Christianity, people of various religious sects were willing to -live in harmony; but that after its promulgation there was much discord, -and that those who should have been especially influenced by Christianity -(the priesthood) were the foremost in vice!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1324"></a>1324. It is conceived that either on the one side the evidence of Christianity -could not have gone home to the soul of those who so grossly violated -its monitions, or that the rewards held out by it had not been presented -under an aspect sufficiently inviting to counteract the fleeting allurements -of this temporal world. It is conceived that Scripture is from -beginning to end, from the Pentateuch to the Gospel of John, too worldly, -as first exhibited in the promise of <i>lands</i> to the Jews, and lastly of <i>judgeships</i> -to the apostles. The Old Testament, of necessity, can treat of nothing -but worldliness, since there is throughout scarcely any reference to heaven; -and some of the Psalms would accord better with the curses of a devil, -than with the prayers of a sincere Christian. The cix. Psalm contains -this language:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1325"></a>1325. “When he shall be judged, let him be condemned; and let his prayer become sin. -Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his -wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their -bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and -let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither -let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the -generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be -remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them -be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. -Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, -that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto -him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself -with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like -oil unto his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle -wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from -the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1326"></a>1326. Under these circumstances, wherefore should there be any alarm -for the consequences of replacing belief in Scripture by belief in Spiritualism, -if the evidence of this be, as we think, vastly more reliable, and the -morality far more consistent with that followed in practice by great and -good men of ancient and modern times.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1327"></a>1327. Moreover, the basis of probation, upon which the morality of -Scripture is built, is manifestly a <i>castle in the air</i>, since it involves this -contradiction, that an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient Deity, who -can make his creatures what he wishes them to be, and must know what -they are, has to resort to trial to learn that which he knows before the -process is undertaken, as well as he can possibly after its accomplishment. -This demonstration alone overturns the whole probationary superstructure -existing in the minds of sectarians.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1328"></a>1328. Meanwhile, the communications which I have submitted involve -the idea of progression, and convey infinitely more knowledge of futurity -than the Old and New Testaments taken together.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>258</span></p> - - -<h4><i>People profess Christianity more from a desire to do right, than they do -right in consequence of their professions.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1329"></a>1329. I am aware how much it is a part of the existing system of education -to imbue a confident faith in whatever tenets may be taught, and -how little it is possible, in consequence, to have any arguments fairly considered -which bear against the educational impressions. It may be seen -in the instance of the interesting lady to whom I owe the kind letter, (<a href="#para_1163">1163</a>,) -how much more anxious such persons are to teach than to listen. She -had, as she supposed, listened to an exposition of my views, of which the -foundation had already been described in a published letter, with an effort -to compare the heaven and hell of Scripture with those of Spiritualism; -yet in all confidence of victory, this excellent creature brings me a letter -written by one whom she considers to have a first-rate intellect, and who -begins by assuming what I most emphatically deny, and of which the -argument is just as good for Mohammedanism as for Christianity, provided -the Koran be assumed as the word of God in lieu of the Bible, and Mohammed -as the vicegerent of God instead of Christ. This may be considered -as the argument of an eminent Episcopalian in favour of the truth -of Christianity, while in those cited from Hughes and Breckinridge we -have the arguments of an eminent Romanist on one side, and an eminent -Calvinist on the other. The one objects to the basis of “<i>fallible</i>” men -as the rule of faith; the other, to any inference derived from a gospel by -“<i>fallible</i>” men. Breckinridge does not recollect that there is nothing -more fallible than the traditions, compilations, and translations of fallible -men, nor how skeptical all those who sustain the truth of Scripture on -this evidence, are of any other evidence of the same kind which conflicts -with Scripture.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1330"></a>1330. If the reader will look at the letters of Amasa Holcomb and my -replies, (<a href="#para_690">690</a>,) he will see an exemplification of the difficulty in which -many were placed, who had no other evidence of a future state beside -that afforded by Scripture. Let him apply to the human evidence of -antiquity no less skepticism than is now applied to the human evidence -of Spiritualists, and then estimate the weight of testimony in favour of the -Scriptures. Let him fairly consider the internal evidence against Scripture, -as briefly sketched in this work or elsewhere, and then say whether -he can conscientiously condemn Mr. Holcomb or myself for conscientiously -disbelieving Scripture.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1331"></a>1331. Let it be considered whether belief in Christianity is not at the -present time a consequence of morality, rather than its cause; whether it is -not, with ninety-nine in a hundred, the consequence of early impressions, -which have associated the Christian religion and morals inseparably on the -conscience; without, however, inducing in any one of the individuals thus -influenced any idea that the precepts of Christ are to be carried out in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>259</span> -practice. It would be manifestly preposterous to look for this where the -clergy, who were the teachers, did not practically obey the precepts, but -went ahead in the race of iniquity, whichever way the current might lead, -and almost everywhere as desirous of wealth, and power, and worldly distinction -as other men. The imperfection of the evidence of scriptural -truth, on which the belief in it rests, or that false moral sense derived from -education, which makes the person affected just as tenacious of one creed -as of another, whether it be Judaic, Christian, or Mohammedan, causes -the faith thus arising to yield whenever the moral sense is impaired on -which it rests. Not being supported by reason, as soon as the educational -conscientiousness on which it was founded is blunted, any faith built upon -it forms no barrier. The individual perceives that his opinions were not -formed by himself, but imparted, and would have been different, had he -been born of different parents. Thus faith rests upon morality, not morality -upon faith; and when morality goes, faith ceases to be a barrier. -But meanwhile those who abandon morality, find in their educational impressions -one which is a salvo to them, however sinful. They find that -Christ died for those who believe in his divinity or in his divine mission, -and of course, that by closing their ears and eyes to all evidence or argument -impeaching Christianity, and continuing to cherish the early impressions -made by their teachers, they may be redeemed from future punishment; -whereas, as Dr. Berg alleged in his debate with Barker, “<i>A sinner -cannot be saved out of Christ</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1332"></a>1332. But one consequence of this interested, bigoted belief is, that -animosity which, it was foretold by Christ, would cause such horrible discord, -and would make his advent equivalent to a severing of all the -dearest ties between relatives and friends, the superior and his subordinates. -As at this time any idea of a religion would be scouted with indignation -which should not make a future state of rewards and punishments -the primary object, it is inconceivable to me wherefore the Old Testament -should be an object of veneration to those whose thoughts are <i>heavenward</i>. -How could there be any thing but worldliness where nothing but the things -of the world were objects of desire—no heaven beyond.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1333"></a>1333. From what has been urged, is it not manifest that, in the first -place, it is of great importance that the evidence of a future state should -be placed on a firmer footing than on recorded and translated traditions, -or on the decretals of a most profligate priesthood? Would it not be one -of the greatest imaginable blessings that those who have not the consolation -of believing in immortality, should have that consolation, and those -who already believe in a future state of existence, should have a better -knowledge of that state, than that given by Josephus, sanctioned by Christ, -even as collated by the pious and learned clergyman, Dr. Harbaugh? (<a href="#para_750">750</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1334"></a>1334. If Christ had nothing but the vicinity of the fire prepared for the -devil and his angels, agreeably to Josephus, and his story of Dives and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>260</span> -Lazarus, or imaginary worldly appointments, or lying in the grave till the -<i>last day</i>,—if these are all the grounds that Christians have had to build -upon as respects future happiness, is it to be wondered at that the priesthood -of the Middle Ages, who best knew the defect of gospel evidence, how little -they themselves were to be trusted, and how illusory was the promise -made to the apostles of judgeships, (<a href="#para_743">743</a>,) should, of all others in society, -be the least restrained by fear of future punishment?</p> - - -<h4><i>It is a calumny against human nature to represent men as wilfully ignorant -of the true religion.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1335"></a>1335. A prevalent calumny against human nature has been, that men -remain wilfully reckless as respects religious truth; or that they remain in -error designedly, and not because they mistake it for truth. But it is notorious, -that as respects the laws of man, those who make it their business -to violate them take great care to make themselves acquainted with the -laws which it is their object to break. None but an idiot would expect -the law to be less severe in proportion as he should keep himself ignorant -of its provisions. No banditti in the Russian empire would expect the -less to go to Siberia because they should deny the reigning czar to be the -sovereign. They would not expect to escape his power by enthroning a -<i>pretended</i> czar, and paying him honour. Such conduct would be too absurd, -even for fools to pursue; yet it is upon such erroneous views that -three thousand Israelites were surprised and assassinated for worshipping -the golden calf; and that eminent clergymen do not consider it as blasphemy -against the paternal God, described by Seneca (<a href="#para_1224">1224</a>) to represent -him as sanctioning this horrible butchery.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1336"></a>1336. The truth is, the selfishness of the worst men makes it quite as -much an object with them, as with good men, to know to what punishments -they may become liable, or what advantages they will be entitled to -hereafter. Self-interest makes every man anxious to know that which -deeply affects his future existence. Is there any one who would not wish -to learn whether his soul is to rot in the coffin with its fleshy integuments, -or to have another and eternal existence, happy or wretched according to -his deportment in this world?<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>261</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1337"></a>1337. Those who really wish to serve the cause of true religion, and -human welfare here and hereafter, should not expect that harsh words or -measures will promote these objects. If, from want of due consideration, -they uphold that which is repulsive to the human heart and understanding, -and turn a deaf ear to facts and reasoning, which would produce a more -beneficial issue, they will really be amenable to the blame which they so -unjustly lavish upon those whom they calumniate as “<i>Infidels</i>,” while -they themselves are really infidels to their professed principles. The Bible -itself made me an unbeliever in its authenticity, and makes unbelievers of -many who read it attentively and fearlessly, after their reason is matured.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1338"></a>1338. Nothing could serve the cause of true religion and true morality -more than a belief in a future state of reward and punishment, without -having that book made an appendage to the instruction.</p> - -<h4 class="hang">To appreciate the Jewish representation of the Deity, a reader should first -form an idea of this planet and its inhabitants, comparatively with the -hundred millions of solar systems, and the inconceivable extent of the -space which encompasses them, which fall within the domain of one -common Deity.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1339"></a>1339. In order to form an idea of the Deity, we must consider the extent -of the universe over which he rules, and the magnificence and multiplicity -of the bodies which it comprises. Alpha Centauri, a star of the -Centaur, a constellation in the southern hemisphere, is the nearest of the -fixed stars; it nevertheless is nearly twenty thousand million of miles from -the earth. Light, flying at the rate of two hundred thousand miles in a -second, to come from that star, would take three years and three months -to reach the earth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1340"></a>1340. A star in the constellation of the Swan, known as “61 Cygni,” is -another among the few whose distance is sufficiently small to allow it to -be measured. This is nearly three times as far as Alpha Centauri; so that -it would take light nine years to come from “61 Cygni” to the earth. -This star appears single to the naked eye, but, seen through a telescope, -appears like two stars, which according to Mitchell, are six thousand -millions of miles apart.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1341"></a>1341. But the stars which enter into the nebula of Orion are so remote, -that light, to come from one of them, would require ninety-two thousand -years. Suppose an imaginary right line to be extended from a star in -Orion so as to pass through the centre of this planet, and to reach a star -on the other side as remote as that first mentioned; of course, the distance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>262</span> -being doubled, it would require light twice the time to perceive it, or one -hundred and eighty-four thousand years. Suppose a spherical space of -which that line forms a diameter, or we may suppose a larger sphere, including -all the nebula visible by the Rosse telescope. It is estimated that -there are in all not less than one hundred millions of stars visible with the -aid of that magnificent instrument, each of which is a sun with its planets; -so that we have reason to suppose that there are an hundred millions of -solar systems. Some of the suns are, like Sirius, estimated to give sixty-three -times as much light as our sun emits. Our planet is to Jupiter as -one to twelve hundred; to Saturn, as one to one thousand; to the sun, -as one to one million four hundred thousand. It is hardly to be seen by -the naked eye from Jupiter, and would be invisible to any human eye -situated upon any planet more remote than Jupiter. To the whole of the -sidereal creation, it is as a globule of water in the ocean, and the inhabitants -are as animalcules in that globule.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1342"></a>1342. Having thus prepared his mind with a proper conception of the -vastness of the attributes of the Deity, and the degree of the comparative -importance of the human race in the divine mind, as it surveys the whole -creation, let the reader take up the book of Genesis, and compare the impressions -which that alleged word of God would convey with those which -the preceding facts and considerations would induce. It may be expedient -that the reader, while under the sublime impression of the majesty and -magnificence of the Deity, as displayed in his works, should consider what -evidence there is of any entity having the relation to him of a female; and -if it be irrational to suppose a commensurate being of the other sex, let -the reader consider how this Supreme Deity could have a son? The existence -of a son requiring both a father and mother, it may be well to think -how a male without a female god could have a son. He may take into -view the opinions of Newton, that God cannot be presumed to have organs. -Doubtless it will be perceived that this all-pervading, magnificent being -cannot require eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a tongue to speak, -or a mouth to eat, legs with which to walk, or arms with which to strike. -Of course he will not consider him as having a person made of those organs, -as in the instance of his creature, man. He will agree with Newton, that -it were absurd to ascribe even one person to God, and would be still more -so to ascribe three persons. Again, if three persons be essential to God, -he being eternal, the three persons must be eternal, and of course neither -can bear the relation of a son to the other; nor can the <i>coeval</i> Holy Ghost -proceed from two of the trio, forming the third person, who, by the premises, -existed <i>before</i> he came into his <i>subsequent</i> existence, as alleged by -the contradictory conclusion. If the individuals composing the Godhead -have any distinct will or reason, the admission of the trinity amounts to -polytheism; and if they have not severally independent natures and reason, -then the association of the idea of three persons is useless. Is it not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>263</span> -idolatrous thus to associate with the Deity effete masses of spiritual matter, -under the name of <i>persons</i>, and worship the imaginary monster thus created -as the true God? Still more, is it not monstrous to represent that those -who cannot adore this imaginary idol, are <i>wilfully</i> incredulous?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1343"></a>1343. I have said that the account of the creation, given in the Pentateuch, -is inconsistent with geological facts. Much sophistry has been employed -to escape from this truth. Thus eminent geologists have striven to -reconcile the alleged creation of the world in six days, to mean actually -six eras, each of immense duration; yet Scripture representing that the -day succeeding those so employed, should be kept holy as a Sabbath, and -this being viewed in the Decalogue as a period of twenty-four hours, precludes -the assignment of any longer duration to each of the six days, actually -occupied by the Creator in performing his great work.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1344"></a>1344. To enable the reader to judge how far the facts ascertained by -geological investigation, can be reconciled with the scriptural account, I -shall here quote them, as stated by Professor Hitchcock, in his work entitled -“Religion of Geology,” page 19. It should be known to the reader that -this author is among those who assume the Bible to be the word of God -upon the same grounds as the clergyman, (<a href="#para_1182">1182</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1345"></a>1345. “Under these circumstances, all that I can do, is to state definitely -what I apprehend to be the established principles of the science -that have a bearing upon religious truth, and refer my hearers to standard -works on the subject for the proof that they are true. If any will not -take the trouble to examine the proofs, I trust they will have candour and -impartiality enough not to deny my positions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1346"></a>1346. “The first important conclusion to which every careful observer -will come is, that the rocks of all sorts which compose the present crust -of the globe, so far as it has been explored, at least to the depth of several -miles, appear to have been the result of second causes; that is, they are -now in a different state from that in which they were originally created.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1347"></a>1347. “It is, indeed, a favourite idea with some, that all the rocks and -their contents were created, just as we now meet them, in a moment of -time; that the supposed remains of animals and plants, which many of -them contain, and which occur in all states, from an animal or plant little -changed, to a complete conversion into stone, were never real animals and -plants, but only resemblances; and that the marks of fusion and of the -wearing of water, exhibited by the rocks, are not to be taken as evidences -that they have undergone such processes, but only that it has pleased God -to give them that appearance; and that, in fact, it was as easy for God to -create them just as they now are as in any other form.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1348"></a>1348. “It is a presumption against such a supposition, that no men, -who have carefully examined rocks and organic remains, are its advocates. -Not that they doubt the power of God to produce such effects, but they -deny the probability that he has exerted it in this manner; for through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>264</span>out -nature, wherever they have an opportunity to witness her operations, -they find that when substances appear to have undergone changes, by -means of secondary agencies, they have in fact undergone them; and, -therefore, the whole analogy of nature goes to prove that the rocks -have experienced great changes since their deposition. If rocks are an -exception to the rest of nature,—that is, if they are the effect of miraculous -agency,—there is no proof of it; and to admit it without proof is to -destroy all grounds of analogical reasoning in natural operations; in other -words, it is to remove the entire basis of reasoning in physical science. -Every reasonable man, therefore, who has examined rocks, will admit that -they have undergone important changes since their original formation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1349"></a>1349. “In the second place, the same general laws appear to have -always prevailed on the globe, and to have controlled the changes which -have taken place upon and within it. We come to no spot, in the history -of the rocks, in which a system different from that which now prevails -appears to have existed. Great peculiarities in the structure of animals -and plants do indeed occur, as well as changes on a scale of magnitude -unknown at present; but this was only a wise adaptation to peculiar circumstances, -and not an infringement of the general laws.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1350"></a>1350. “In the third place, the geological changes which the earth has -undergone, and is now undergoing, appear to have been the result of the -same agencies—viz. heat and water.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1351"></a>1351. “Fourthly. It is demonstrated that the present continents of -the globe, with perhaps the exception of some of their highest mountains, -have for a long period constituted the bottom of the ocean, and have been -subsequently either elevated into their present position, or the waters have -been drained off from their surface. This is probably the most important -principle in geology; and though regarded with much skepticism by many, -it is as satisfactorily proved as any principle of physical science not resting -on mathematical demonstration.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1352"></a>1352. “Fifthly. The internal parts of the earth are found to possess a -very high temperature; nor can it be doubted that at least oceans of melted -matter exist beneath the crust, and perhaps even all the deep-seated interior -is in a state of fusion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1353"></a>1353. “Sixthly. The fossiliferous rocks, or such as contain animals and -plants, are not less than six or seven miles in perpendicular thickness, and -are composed of hundreds of alternating layers of different kinds, all of -which appear to have been deposited, just as rocks are now forming, at the -bottom of lakes and seas; and hence their deposition must have occupied -an immense period of time. Even if we admit that this deposition went -on in particular places much faster than at present, a variety of facts forbid -the supposition that this was the general mode of their formation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1354"></a>1354. “Seventhly. The remains of animals and plants found in the -earth are not mingled confusedly together, but are found arranged, for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>265</span> -most part, in as much order as the drawers of a well-regulated cabinet. -In general, they appear to have lived and died on or near the spots where -they are now found; and as countless millions of these remains are often -found piled together, so as to form almost entire mountains, the periods -requisite for their formation must have been immensely long, as was -taught in the preceding proposition.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1355"></a>1355. “Eighthly. Still further confirmation of the same important -principle is found in the well-established fact, that there have been upon -the globe, previous to the existing races, not less than five distinct periods -of organized existence; that is, five great groups of animals and plants, so -completely independent that no species whatever is found in more than -one of them, have lived and successively passed away before the creation -of the races that now occupy the surface. Other standard writers make -the number of these periods of existence as many as twelve. Comparative -anatomy testifies that so unlike in structure were these different groups, -that they could not have coexisted in the same climate and other external -circumstances.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1356"></a>1356. “Ninthly. In the earliest times in which animals and plants -lived, the climate over the whole globe appears to have been as warm as, -or even warmer than, it is now between the tropics. And the slow change -from warmer to colder appears to have been the chief cause of the successive -destruction of the different races; and new ones were created, better -adapted to the altered condition of the globe; and yet each group seems -to have occupied the globe through a period of great length; so that we -have here another evidence of the vast cycles of duration that must have -rolled away even since the earth became a habitable globe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1357"></a>1357. “Tenthly. There is no small reason to suppose that the globe -underwent numerous changes previous to the time when animals were -placed upon it; that, in fact, the time was when the whole matter of the -earth was in a melted state, and not improbably also even in a gaseous -state. These points, indeed, are not as well established as the others that -have been mentioned; but, if admitted, they give to the globe an incalculable -antiquity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1358"></a>1358. “Eleventhly. It appears that the present condition of the earth’s -crust and surface was of comparatively recent commencement; otherwise -the steep flanks of mountains would have ceased to crumble down, and -wide oceans would have been filled with alluvial deposits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1359"></a>1359. “Twelfthly. Among the thirty thousand species of animals and -plants found in the rocks,<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> very few living species have been detected; -and even these few occur in the most recent rocks, while in the secondary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>266</span> -group, not less than six miles thick, not a single species now on the globe -has been discovered. Hence the present races did not exist till after those -in the secondary rocks had died. No human remains have been found -below those alluvial deposits which are now forming by rivers, lakes, and -the ocean. Hence geology infers that man was one of the latest animals -that was placed on the globe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1360"></a>1360. “Thirteenthly. The surface of the earth has undergone an enormous -amount of erosion by the action of the ocean, the rivers, and the -atmosphere. The ocean has worn away the solid rock, in some parts of -the world, not less than ten thousand feet in depth, and rivers have cut -channels through the hardest strata, hundreds of feet deep and several -miles long; both of which effects demand periods inconceivably long.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1361"></a>1361. “Fourteenthly. At a comparatively recent date, northern and -southern regions have been swept over and worn down by the joint action -of ice and water, the force in general having been directed toward the -equator. This is called the <i>drift</i> period.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1362"></a>1362. “Fifteenthly. Since the drift period, the ocean has stood some -thousands of feet above its present level in many countries.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1363"></a>1363. “Sixteenthly. There is evidence, in regard to some parts of the -world, that the continents are now experiencing slow vertical movements—some -places sinking, and others rising. And hence a presumption is -derived that, in early times, such changes may have been often repeated, -and on a great scale.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1364"></a>1364. “Seventeenthly. Every successive change of importance on the -earth’s surface appears to have been an improvement of its condition, -adapting it to beings of a higher organization, and to man at last, the -most perfect of all.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1365"></a>1365. “Finally. The present races of animals and plants on the globe -are for the most part disposed in groups, occupying particular districts, -beyond whose limits the species peculiar to those provinces usually droop -and die. The same is true, to some extent, as to the animals and plants -found in the rocks; though the much greater uniformity of climate that -prevailed in early times permitted organized beings to take a much wider -range than at present; so that the zoological and botanical districts were -then probably much wider. But the general conclusion, in respect to -living and extinct animals is, that there must have been several centres -of creation, from which they emigrated as far as their natures would allow -them to range.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1366"></a>1366. “It would be easy to state more principles of geology of considerable -importance; but I have now named the principal ones that bear -upon the subject of religion. A brief statement of the leading truths of -theology, whether natural or revealed, which these principles affect, and on -which they cast light, will give an idea of the subjects which I propose to -discuss in these lectures.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>267</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1367"></a>1367. “The first point relates to the age of the world. For while it -has been the usual interpretation of the Mosaic account that the world -was brought into existence nearly at the same time with man and the -other existing animals, geology throws back its creation to a period indefinitely -but immeasurably remote. The question is, not whether man has -existed on the globe longer than the common interpretation of Genesis -requires,—for here geology and the Bible speak the same language,—but -whether the globe itself did not exist long before his creation; that is, -long before the six days’ work, so definitely described in the Mosaic -account? In other words, is not this a case in which the discoveries of -science enable us more accurately to understand the Scriptures?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1368"></a>1368. “The introduction of death into the world, and the specific character -of that death described in Scripture as the consequence of sin, are -the next points where geology touches the subject of religion. Here, too, -the general interpretation of Scripture is at variance with the facts of -geology, which distinctly testify to the occurrence of death among animals -long before the existence of man. Shall geology here, also, be permitted -to modify our exposition of the Bible?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1369"></a>1369. “The subject of deluges, and especially that of Noah, will next -claim our attention. For though it is now generally agreed that geology -cannot detect traces of such a deluge as the Scriptures describe, yet upon -some other bearings of that subject it does cast light; and so remarkable -is the history of opinions concerning the Noachian deluge, that it could -not on that account alone be properly passed in silence.”</p> - - -<h4><i>Our actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, and the -extent to which we are tempted extraneously.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1370"></a>1370. “Are not the hairs of your head all numbered?—Which of you by -taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” Luke xii. 7, 25.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1371"></a>1371. May it not be consistently inquired, who, without God’s assistance, -can make his passions less ardent? his counteracting reason or conscientiousness -more competent to restrain them? Who, prior to his sublunary -existence, had the option, whether he should be born a Jew, a -Gentile, or a Christian; whether in the Roman, Grecian, Episcopalian, or -dissenting churches; whether his progenitors should be Chinese, Hindoos, -Europeans, negroes, or savages? Who has, through his own previous -choice, been brought up, on the one hand, by ignorant and vicious, or on -the other, by virtuous and well-educated, parents? Can any soul be alleged -to be responsible for entering the body of an infant begotten by idolaters, -and thus subjected to the curse of the commandment? Or can a soul be -deemed to have any merit because it came into the world as the progeny -of parents orthodox in their own estimation, and happy in the belief that -while myriads are to suffer to eternity in another world, for errors or crimes -arising from causes beyond their control, a few are to be made eternally<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>268</span> -happy, notwithstanding their admitted sinfulness, by virtue of a bigoted -confidence in the pre-eminent ability of their parents, their priests, or -of themselves to learn tenets of which the great majority of mankind are -ignorant? Humility in profession is associated with a towering and overbearing -presumption in practice toward all who differ with them in creed: -hence an effort to instruct others at the expense of millions spent in missions, -while they have no better evidence of the accuracy of their own -knowledge than a fallible human conviction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1372"></a>1372. If two persons, A. and B., were organized exactly alike, educated -precisely in the same way, and subjected to the same temptations or incentives, -would they not act alike? Would not their acting differently prove -that they were not alike in all respects?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1373"></a>1373. It may be said that they are free agents, being endowed with free-will; -but if they be perfectly alike and similarly situated, (agreeably to the -premises,) their free-will must be perfectly similar; and if not, let it be -allowed to be, through God’s will, perfectly similar. Is it in their power -to alter the nature of their will, any more than “<i>the colour of their hair</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1374"></a>1374. If any other being act differently from these, does it not follow -that he is differently organized, educated, or situated from them; and that -the diversity in one or all of these respects must be proportionable to the -degree in which his actions and morals differ from those of A. and B.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1375"></a>1375. But it may be inquired, where is the merit of virtue, or the demerit -of vice, if they be the consequences of causes over which we have -no control? The reply is, that virtue is an endowment due to the will of -Deity, just as the difference between the different races of mankind and -the various genera of animals, or between individuals of the same species, -must be due to that volition. An analogous idea of the necessity of God’s -help to virtue is insisted upon by some of our most respectable and numerous -Christian sects. It places virtue in man, so far as it may exist, upon -the same basis as in God. It has always been held by all Christians that -God can do no wrong; that vice is inconsistent with his nature. The -more, then, a man is by nature and education incapable of being vicious, -the greater his natural aptitude for virtue, the more he approaches its most -perfect exemplification.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1376"></a>1376. But how can the punishment of the wicked be justified under -this view of their case? I answer, that it can only be justified in self-defence, -for the reformation of the offender, or to prevent the repetition -of injury where no other means can be employed, just as killing wild -beasts, noxious insects, or our enemies in warfare is justified.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1377"></a>1377. Punishment, unless with a view to prevention or reformation, -seems to me diabolic. It seems irreconcilable with the injunction to return -good for evil, that the Deity from whom it proceeds should return evil for -evil, <i>in excess</i>; that he should, for finite and transient sins, award eternal -punishment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>269</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1378"></a>1378. The inference that omniscience and omnipotence could create -myriads of beings, foreseeing that they must be subjected to extreme misery -for an unlimited time, is irreconcilable with all goodness and omniscience. -But it may be demanded, does not the fear of future punishment make -mankind more virtuous? The man who avoids a felony solely through fear -of future punishment is not the less wicked; he is only a more prudent, or -a more cowardly villain. That piety to God and philanthropy are virtues, -is most evident; but then these incentives must be disinterested. If Abraham -could believe that shedding his son’s blood upon the altar would gratify -the Deity, in order to make it a pious or virtuous act, it should have -been unaccompanied by any expectation of benefit to himself. He must -have had a conception of the Deity fully as bad as that of any heathen, -to suppose that the sacrifice would be agreeable to him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1379"></a>1379. There is, moreover, much reason to infer that a man who could -pass his wife as his sister, and send her to a palace in order to gain influence -with a king, did not lose sight of himself when he contemplated killing -his son to propitiate the King of kings. But no human testimony -should induce us to credit such imputations against Jehovah. Nothing is -more probable than that priests should invent this absurd fable, and nothing -more improbable than that an omniscient God, who could read Abraham’s -inmost thoughts, should have found it necessary to ask such a barbarous -sacrifice, in order to determine the extent and sincerity of that devotion -of which he must have already known the precise limits.</p> - - -<h4><i>On Probation.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1380"></a>1380. I have already made objections to the idea that we can be placed -in this world for the purpose of probation. I will here make use of additional -arguments in support of those objections. Spiritualism assumes -that we are placed here for progression. It has, in this aspect, a self-evident -ascendency over the scriptural doctrine.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1381"></a>1381. A finite being has need to subject his works to trial, in order to -learn whether they have the requisite perfection; but how can an omnipotent -and omniscient Deity be under any necessity of <i>trying</i> his works? In -the first place, they must be precisely what he has designed; in the next -place, foreseeing the result of any experiment he may make, he has no -motive for the trial. Thus, before placing Adam and Eve in Paradise, God -must have known that Adam would be incompetent to resist his wife, his -wife the serpent, and that the apple would be eaten. How useless then -was the experiment! How can it be reconciled with omniscience and -omnipotence? The crime would not have taken place had God made -woman less inquisitive; her husband strong enough morally to resist -temptation and his wife’s seductive influence; or had not the serpent or -Satan, under the form of this reptile, been allowed to tempt Eve. And -yet in consequence of that act, not only the soul of the first man, but that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>270</span> -of all his posterity, are considered by orthodoxy as having fallen, as being -doomed to eternal punishment, unless by being morally regenerated, principally -by a blind belief in the allegation of certain priests, who do not -agree among themselves as to what we are to believe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1382"></a>1382. But what had souls unborn to do with the acts of Adam and -Eve? Is it conceivable that the soul of the child is begotten by the -souls of its parents, or to be inferred that it is a spiritual being, created by -God for the body, which the progenitors beget in their corporeal capacity? -(See Seneca’s opinion, 1230.) How could a dumb snake, belonging to the -class of reptiles, very low comparatively in intellectual capacity, acquire -power of speech and reason without a special miracle on the part of God, -either <i>directly</i> or <i>indirectly</i> through Satan, acting with the cognizance of his -divine master. This reptile, previously created without feet, because the -devil merely assumed his form, is doomed as a <i>punishment</i> to crawl on -his belly, in the only way in which he could move consistently with his -organization, independently of the sentence!!! Would it be any greater -punishment to cause snakes to creep on their bellies than quadrupeds to -go on their feet? Since none of the genera of serpents are endowed with -reason or speech, how could they be responsible for the acts of an animal -which, being endowed with those attributes, would not belong to their -order? It must have been a peculiar reptile, in the form of a snake, -created for the special purpose of tempting Eve. If, with Milton, it be -assumed that it was Satan, in the form of a serpent, who tempted her? -how could serpents be responsible for the crime?</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">World least moral when the Christian church had most sway.—Honour -and mercantile credit more trusted than religion.—Virtue due more to -the heart than to sectarianism.—Bigotry acts like an evil spirit.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1383"></a>1383. It will be perceived, that when the church had the world most -completely under its sway, there was the least morality; but as the arts -and sciences grew up, in despite of religious intolerance, morality improved. -Thus a system has been established, which while violating, more especially -the most emphatic monitions of Christ, tends to enforce those rules of conduct -which are necessary to the welfare of society. But an auxiliary -principle—honour—has come into operation, which often restrains those -who are not influenced by religion, nor by pure morality. Honour, like -the fear of hell, may make a man act more nobly, or more honestly, without -improving his religious principles or his heart. Hence the saying, -“<i>Honour among thieves</i>,” and likewise among unprincipled gamblers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1384"></a>1384. Mercantile honour, under the name of mercantile credit, is another -important substitute for real heartfelt integrity. The ill consequences -of a loss of worldly consideration, or of those advantages which -result from the ability to <i>borrow</i>, or to <i>postpone</i> payment with consent of -the creditor, is a motive for punctual payment, when a debt equally due,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>271</span> -in honesty, would be neglected. This goes much farther as an element -of the prevailing morality in securing punctual payment, than -religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1385"></a>1385. That religion has actually very little to do with mercantile morals, -must be evident, <i>since it is never, on change, an object of inquiry</i>. When -men are about to trust large sums, they do not inquire how often the other -party goes to church, nor to what church he goes. It has never been my -lot to know any one whom I thought better for his religion. I have known -many whom I thought better through native goodness of heart than they -would have been if left to the influence of their bigoted opinions alone. -I heard a clergyman, distinguished for his amiability and liberality in -social intercourse, speak from the pulpit of infidelity as “the work of the -devil.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1386"></a>1386. There are allegations of this kind made from the pulpit which to -me appear to be absolutely calumnious, though those who make them do -not conceive themselves to be calumniators. It is, in truth, their false religion -which speaks; they are possessed as if by an evil spirit, yet the goodness -of their hearts prevents them from realizing any such calumnies in -their personal intercourse with society. Dr. Berg said it was not <i>he</i> (Dr. -Berg) that spoke when he used ill language to Barker, but the Bible. -There is a want of Christian moderation in the language of Christ, and -John the Baptist, and in some of the Psalms, which seems inconsistent with -Christ’s precepts. John, addressing the Pharisees as “vipers fleeing from -the wrath to come,” representing them as poisonous reptiles, and God as -<i>enraged</i> against them. The language of Christ respecting some of the -same sect, to which allusion has been made, is even more abusive.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1387"></a>1387. But among the calumnies to which I have alluded, are those -which represent the human heart as innately wicked, and only to be corrected -by religious regeneration. All the souls created since Adam ate -the apple, must be born anew, thus drawing a marked distinction between -those who have gone through this second birth, and such as myself, who -have not undergone this recuperative process. But what man of common -sense draws a line between those who are thought to have been born over -again, and those who have not? The great majority of those who call -themselves Christians, do not put any more trust in one who has gone -through this second birth, than in one who is not deemed to have been -thus regenerated.</p> - - -<h4><i>Progress of Literature and Science in Arabia under the Mohammedan -Pontiffs, called Caliphs.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1388"></a>1388. While the science and literature of the Roman Empire sank -under the influence of the Christian pontiff (pope) into ignorance, superstition, -and vice, the Arabians, under the influence of their Mohammedan -pontiffs, (caliphs,) arose from barbarism to a comparatively superior state<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>272</span> -of intellectual acquirement, as the following quotation, from “Gibbon’s -Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” will show:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1389"></a>1389. “After their civil and domestic wars, the subjects of the Abbassides, awakening -from this mental lethargy, found leisure and felt curiosity for the acquisition of profane -science. This spirit was first encouraged by the Caliph Almansor, who, besides his knowledge -of the Mohammedan law, had applied himself with success to the study of astronomy, -but when the sceptre devolved to Almamon, the seventh of the Abbassides, he completed -the designs of his grandfather, and invited the muses from their ancient seats. His ambassadors -at Constantinople, his agents in Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, collected the volumes -of Grecian science: at his command they were translated by the most skilful interpreters -into the Arabic language; his subjects were exhorted assiduously to peruse these -instructive writings; and the successor of Mohammed assisted with pleasure and modesty -at the assemblies and disputations of the learned. ‘He was not ignorant,’ says Abulpharagius, -‘that <i>they</i> are the elect of God, his best and most useful servants, whose lives are -devoted to the improvement of their rational faculties. The mean ambition of the Chinese -or the Turk may glory in the industry of their hands, or the indulgence of their -brutal appetites. Yet these dexterous artists must view, with hopeless emulation, the -hexagons and pyramids of the cells of a bee-hive: these fortitudinous heroes are awed by -the superior fierceness of the lions and tigers; and in their amorous enjoyments, they are -much inferior to the vigour of the grossest and most sordid quadrupeds. The teachers -of wisdom are the true luminaries and legislators of a world, which, without their aid, -would again sink in ignorance and barbarism.’ The zeal and curiosity of Almamon were -imitated by succeeding princes of the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa -and the Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the commanders -of the faithful: the same royal prerogative was claimed by their independent emirs of the -provinces; and their emulation diffused the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand -and Bochara to Fez and Cordova. The vizir of a sultan consecrated a sum of two -hundred thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad, which he endowed -with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars. The fruits of instruction were -communicated, perhaps at different times, to six thousand disciples of every degree, from -the son of the noble to that of the mechanic: a sufficient allowance was provided for the -indigent scholars; and the merit or industry of the professors was repaid with adequate -stipends. In every city the productions of Arabic literature were copied and collected by -the curiosity of the studious and the vanity of the rich. A private doctor refused the invitation -of the sultan of Bochara, because the carriage of his books would have required -four hundred camels. The royal library of the Fatimites consisted of one hundred thousand -manuscripts, elegantly transcribed and splendidly bound, which were lent, without jealousy -or avarice, to the students of Cairo. Yet this collection must appear moderate, if -we can believe that the Ommiades of Spain had formed a library of six hundred thousand -volumes, forty-four of which were employed in the mere catalogue. Their capital, Cordova, -with the adjacent towns of Malaga, Almeria, and Murcia, had given birth to more -than three hundred writers, and above seventy public libraries were opened in the cities -of the Andalusian kingdom. The age of Arabian learning continued about five hundred -years, till the great eruption of the Moguls, and was coeval with the darkest and most -slothful period of European annals; but since the sun of science has arisen in the West, it -should seem that the Oriental studies have languished and declined.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1390"></a>1390. I here close my remarks upon the Influence of Scripture on the -Morals of Christians. They have proceeded from a desire to promulgate -what I deem to be truth, and to expose the errors by which I conceive it -to be environed. It is inconsistent with my nature to state less than the -truth when treating on any subject. I shall be sorry for any pain which -I may give to those whose hearts are so associated with their opinions, that -whatever conflicts with the one is painful to the other; yet I wish any -persons so wounded to reflect how little denunciation has been spared, not -only as respects opinions, but as respects motives, where “<i>infidels</i>,” unjustly -so called, have been held up to view. I have not assailed the <i>motives</i> -of any one; even as respects <i>opinions</i>, I have withheld or modified -sarcasms which, as I think, might have been justly employed, or used -without modification.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>273</span></p> - -<h3 id="ADDITIONAL_CORROBORATIVE_EVIDENCE_OF_THE_EXISTENCE_OF">ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF -SPIRITS.</h3> - - -<p><a id="para_1391"></a>1391. Subsequently to the printing of the articles under the head of -Corroborative Evidence, a pamphlet was received from which the subjoined -pages are translated, by my friend, Dr. Geib. It serves to show the impression -made by spirit manifestations in another part of Christendom, -upon one who belongs to the church.</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">The Opinions of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin, on Table Turning -and Mediums, (considered in relation to theology and physics) examined, -by the Abbot Almignana, Doctor of the Canon Law, Theologian, -&c.</h4> - - -<h5><i>Introduction.</i></h5> - -<p><a id="para_1392"></a>1392. “Mesmerism, table turning, and mediumship being phenomena -which, in my estimation, demand serious investigation before pronouncing -judgment on them, as soon as this became known to me, as an ocular witness, -far from judging of them, <i>ex abrupto</i>, as so many have done under -the same circumstances, I confined myself to make numerous experiments, -with the hope that they might in time furnish me with some very useful -facts, in searching for the cause of these wonderful phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1393"></a>1393. “Being in possession of some of these facts, I thought the present -an opportune time for their publication, when two <i>savans</i> of the elite, -such as the Marquis de Mirville and the Count de Gasparin, are engaged -in a scientific contest on this subject.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1394"></a>1394. “I consider the present moment the more opportune, that the -facts furnished by my investigation, being at variance with certain leading -points in the doctrines contained in the <i>Pneumatology</i> of M. de Mirville, -and the <i>Supernatural in General</i> of M. de Gasparin, may induce those -writers to give a new complexion to their doctrines, by taking counsel from -my facts. These, shedding a new light on the triple phenomena, would -powerfully aid in the solution of a problem which, up to the present time, -does not appear to have been solved in a manner as clear and positive, as -the interests of truth, science, and religion demand. Such has been and -is now my belief, as well as that of many others whom I thought proper -to consult before undertaking the task in which I have engaged.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1395"></a>1395. “Simple as my language is, it will be seen to have issued from -the pen of a man who boldly seeks the truth, and is not to be arrested in -his course by any worldly interests. Persuaded that in view of my -position, my readers will grant me the indulgence which in a similar case -I could not refuse them, I will proceed to the main question without further -preliminaries. I divide my monograph into two parts; facts opposed to -the Pneumatology of M. de Mirville, and the Supernatural in General of -M. de Gasparin.</p> -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>274</span></p> - -<h5><i>First Part.</i></h5> - -<p><a id="para_1396"></a>1396. “Table turning and mediumship are nothing more, in the opinion -of M. de Mirville, than the work of the devil! I give an abstract of his -doctrine as found in his Pneumatology. ‘In the letter,’ he says, ‘which -I had the honour to address to the <i>Societe Mesmerisme</i> of Paris on the -non-intervention of the devil in therapeutic mesmerism, dated Sept. 20, -1847, and published in numbers 54, 56, and 57 of the Journal of <cite>Magnetism</cite>, -I established the existence of the devil, with the attributes given him -in the Scriptures, as well as the power he possesses, with divine permission, -to act morally and physically on mankind, as set forth in the same holy -books.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1397"></a>1397. “In view of what I have just said, I cannot be mistaken by M. de -Mirville with respect to demonology. But while admitting the existence -of a devil, and his power over man, I cannot agree with the opinion of M. -de Mirville in his <cite>Pneumatology</cite>, which admits the direct intervention of -the devil in table turning and table talking, as well as in the powers of -mediums; a view of the subject which I hold to be at variance with the -teachings of the Catholic Church on the possessed, and the manner of deliverance -therefrom, the evil spirit, which I proceed to explain.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1398"></a>1398. “It is an axiom as old as the world—in proportion as the cause -is removed the effect ceases; <i>sublata causa tollitur effectus</i>. The truth -of this maxim, in reference also to diabolical possessions, is found to be -explicitly proved in the Holy Scriptures. A mute is presented to Christ -to be cured: <i>oblatus est ei mutus</i>. The Divine Master, knowing that -dumbness is caused by the devil, hastens to remove the cause, by chasing -the evil spirit from the body of the possessed, which being done, the mute -spoke in the midst of the people ravished with admiration. ‘And he was -casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass when the devil -was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered.’ St. Luke xi. 14.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1399"></a>1399. “There was at Philippi, in Macedonia, a girl who, being possessed -of the evil spirit, had the gift of divination to such an extent, that people -came from all parts to consult her, much to the benefit of her masters. St. -Paul having chased the demon from the body of the possessed, she lost -the gift of divination; which exasperating her masters, they dragged St. -Paul before a magistrate like a malefactor. (Acts xv.) Admitting these -principles, it follows that if the devil intervenes directly in tables and mediums, -as Christ drove him from the mute, and St. Paul from the girl of -Philippi, then, <i>a fortiori</i>, should clairvoyants lose their lucidity, tables be -made to stand still, and mediums be deprived the power of tracing a line -however short; <i>sublata causa tollitur effectus</i>. The cause being removed, -the effect must cease.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1400"></a>1400. “Our next object is to refer to the means for removing the evil -spirit wherever found; and consulting the Catholic ritual affords us this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>275</span> -knowledge. In fact, agreeably to these teachings, demons are driven off -by the sacred names of God and Jesus, by prayer, the sign of the cross, -by holy water, and exorcisms; and these means being known, I am going -to report the effect of these means on clairvoyant subjects, tables, and -mediums.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1403"></a>1403. “Having witnessed some extraordinary phenomena, and desiring -to assure myself as to the presence of a diabolical agency in these manifestations, -as I had been persuaded to believe—profiting by the opportunity -offered by some mediums magnetized by others, and not by myself—I was -induced to pray to invoke the sacred names of God and Jesus, to make -the sign of the cross on the subjects, and went so far as to sprinkle them -with holy water, with the design of driving out the devil, should he have -taken possession of them. However, as not one of these mediums lost, in -my presence, the smallest part of their powers, I was led to infer that the -devil had nothing to do with the phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1404"></a>1404. “The following fact should attract the attention of all observers -holding the orthodox faith: A youth of thirteen, put to sleep by his -mother, at my house, gave proof of the greatest clairvoyance, even so far -as to be in communion with supermundane beings. Alarmed, as I acknowledge -I was, at what passed under my eyes, and suspecting, as I did, -that the devil might be the agent of those phenomena, I took my crucifix, -and presenting it to the clairvoyant, conjured him in the holy name of -Jesus. But in place of repelling it, as I expected, he seized the cross in -the most affectionate manner, and, smiling, pressed it to his lips; as much -to the edification of his mother as of myself. Should M. de Mirville -desire the address of the parties, he can have it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1405"></a>1405. “The means thus employed by me to discover if the evil spirit -actuated mesmeric subjects, have been employed also by other persons -with the same view, and with similar results. Should M. de Mirville -desire to know some of these persons, I will be happy to facilitate the -acquaintance. As to exorcism, it is known by the biography of the celebrated -clairvoyant Prudence, that although exorcised on several occasions, -the exorcisms failed to deprive him, in the smallest degree, of his great -clairvoyance. To the facts which I have just reported in support of the -non-intervention of the devil, some new facts of another kind will be -adjoined, which in some measure confirm the first.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1406"></a>1406. “One of the models of sacred eloquence, the R. P. Lacordaire, -speaking of mesmerism in 1846, far from qualifying it as <i>satanical</i>, as M. -de Mirville has done, proclaimed from the pulpit of truth, in the church -of <i>Notre Dame</i> of Paris, that this phenomenon belonged to the order of -prophecy, and that it was a provision of the divinity to humble the pride -of materialism. This language, descended from the summit of the sacred -tribune, is known to have received the public approbation of Mgr. Affre, -the centre of Catholicism of the diocese of Paris, who, addressing the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>276</span> -faithful, said to them: ‘My brothers, it is God who speaks with the mouth -of the illustrious Dominican.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1407"></a>1407. A very pious female, abandoned by her medical adviser, being -in a state of despair, was magnetized by one of her parents, and fell into -the most complete trance. In one of her first sleeps, she said she saw a -person who, according to the description she gave of him, appeared to be -the clairvoyant’s great-grandfather, deceased several years before the birth -of his grand-daughter. The latter was cured by the advice received during -her trance condition from the said great-grandfather. This fact appeared -to me so grave in its nature, and so interesting to science and religion, -that I thought proper to publish it in number nineteen of the <cite>Magnetisme -Spiritualiste</cite>, with an appeal to all those who, by their knowledge, might -be able to explain this phenomenon.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1408"></a>1408. Among those to whom our appeal was made, figured the theologians, -to whom, in speaking of the person who appeared to the clairvoyant, -I said: ‘Should this not be considered the devil, who, assuming a -fantastic personation, took that of the great-grandfather of M. R., and -appearing thus to him, cured him of a disease which he himself had -originated?’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1409"></a>1409. Some copies of the number of the journal in question were -sent to the sovereign pontiff, through his apostolic nuncio at Paris, to Mgr. -the archbishop of Paris, to the faculty of theology at Sorbonne, to RR. -PP. Jesuits of the <i>Rue des Postes</i>, to R. P. Lacordaire, and to the Calvinistic -Consistory of Paris, begging them to enlighten me on a fact of -such grave importance. But to the present time, a period of three years, -not one of these great personages has informed me that the phenomenon -to which I invited their attention is the work of the devil, which proves -that, in their opinion, the evil one is a stranger to this phenomenon; for -otherwise they would not have failed to answer my inquiry, if only from -interest for religion, or through charity to myself. Should M. de Mirville -desire to know the clairvoyant I refer to, he can be conducted to his -domicile.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1410"></a>1410. Mgr. Sibour, on mesmerism, and <i>La Grandeur</i>, if interrogated, -will tell you that the thoughts expressed by clairvoyants are only reflections -from their magnetizers, without saying a single word to you about -the devil. But we have said enough on clairvoyants, and will pass to the -tables.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1411"></a>1411. I have made a great many experiments in table-turning and -table-talking with pious laymen and with ecclesiastics, men of prayer and -serious habits, and even with a venerable bishop, and always in a very -serious manner; desiring to know, for the sake of religion and our souls, -if the devil is in reality the agent who conveys movement and language -to the tables. Besides exorcism, we have employed all the means taught -and prescribed in the Catholic Church to drive out the devil, and we have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>277</span> -never obtained any results; for neither prayer, nor the sacred names of -God and Jesus, nor the sign of the cross made on the tables, nor the crucifix, -nor the chapelet, (the beads,) nor the Gospels, nor the image of -Christ placed on the tables, nor holy water, could stop their turnings, -knockings, and replying to our questions. But far from it, and much to -our astonishment, we have seen the table turn over before the image of -Christ crucified. I will say no more. In the experiments made with the -bishop just named, and the person with whom I was boarding, it was the -venerable bishop himself that made the sign of the cross on a stand, without -in the least retarding the motion of that small piece of furniture. -Monseigneur then asked the stand if it loved the cross, and it replying in -the affirmative, it was with surprise that Monseigneur saw the stand turn -over before his <i>croix pastorale</i>, and speak to him in orthodox language of -a future life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1412"></a>1412. If, according to all the facts which I have just reported, it be -necessary to reason agreeably to M. de Mirville, behold what that reasoning -must be. The teachings of the Catholic ritual give to prayer, to the -sacred names of God and Jesus, to the sign of the cross, to the holy water, -and the exorcisms, the virtue of driving the devil (<i>le démon</i>) out of the -possessed. Now, as neither prayer, the sacred names, the sign of the cross, -&c. are able to drive the spirit out of mediums, nor out of tables, which, -according to M. de Mirville, are also victims, then the Catholic Instructor, -which assigns these means for removing evil spirits, must be in error. -Then the Scripture, the SS. PP., and the Church, authorities on which the -Catholic teachings are based on the subject of possessions, and the manner -of delivering the possessed of the evil spirit, (<i>les démons</i>,) are in error.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> -And what true Catholic dare entertain this language? It is then to avoid -getting into so unfortunate a position, that I have thought proper to reject -the opinion of M. de Mirville on the manifestations of spirits. I shall be -told that if the prescribed means sometimes fail, it is from want of faith -on the part of those who employ them. This is my reply to that objection. -The peasants do not possess a large quantity of faith, and, notwithstanding, -Origen says the name of God, pronounced even by a peasant, -chases the demons.—<i>Origines contra celsum.</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_1413"></a>1413. There are a great many people, and among them figure some -pious ecclesiastics and laymen, who quite frequently partake of the sacrament, -who have experimented with me, who have prayed with me, have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>278</span> -invoked with me the sacred names of God and Jesus, &c.; is it then credible -that among these persons, not one should be found possessing a portion -of faith equal to that of a peasant, which is able, according to Origen, -to drive out the devil in the name of God? I am unable to believe it. -What! the venerable bishop, who experimented with me during four years, -had sacrificed himself in propagating the faith in distant lands, should he -not have as much faith as a peasant, in order to be able to remove an evil -spirit in the name of God? This would be to insult the sacred labour of -propagating the faith in the person of one of its most distinguished apostles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1414"></a>1414. But this is not enough; notice how St. John teaches us to know -if a spirit is of God or not. ‘My well beloved, this is how to know that -a spirit is of God: all spirits who confess that Jesus Christ has come in -the flesh, are of God, and those who do not confess that he is come in the -flesh, are not of God.’ (1 John ix.) Instructed by St. John in the manner -of knowing the spirits of God, to assure myself further on the nature -of spirits or occult forces, exhibited in the movement and language of tables, -I have used the method indicated by St. John. It was with this view that, -my little table being in motion, I addressed to it the following questions: -Do you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh? Yes, it replied. -The same question, repeated several times, produced uniformly the same answer. -Having this experiment alone at my house, I was desirous of seeing -whether the same results would be obtained in company. With this design -I went to the houses of persons acquainted with these phenomena, -and begged a gentleman, a medium, to place his hands with mine on a -stand. The movement of the stand being felt, the same question was answered -in the same manner. And after this experience can I conscientiously -believe in the intervention of the devil in the turning and speaking -of the tables, without regarding the testimony of St. John as erroneous; -and should I regard it as such? It is for M. de Mirville to answer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1415"></a>1415. But I do not stop here. It is said in the ritual of Paris and -others, in the chapter of the possessed, as follows: <i lang="la">Signa energumenorum -sunt. Ignota lingua liogni idque, maxima serie verborum quæ previderi -non potuerunt velita loquentem intelligere distantia, et oculta patefacere -et vires supra etatis suæ naturam ostendere.</i> Very well, if demons, as -the ritual says, speak all languages, even those unknown, after the great -number of experiments which I have made, I am prepared to declare that -tables do not speak all languages, even the known ones, nor do they understand -them. Let some one who does not understand Greek, addressing a -question to the table in French, request it to reply in Greek, and we will -see if the table does it. Let a stranger give to an inquirer at the table a -question in a language unknown to him, limiting himself to merely reading -it, and we will see if the table respond; I defy all the tables in the -world to do it. If M. de Mirville desires to make these experiments with -me, I am entirely at his service.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>279</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1416"></a>1416. I have endeavoured to discover if tables have the faculty which, -according to the ritual, is possessed by the devil (<i>les démons</i>) to penetrate -the hidden and the future, and I have found in this direction more -error than truth. As to the superior physical force which, according to -the ritual, is possessed by the devil, (<i>les démons</i>,) there is not a single turning -table in the world, whose movement cannot be arrested or retarded by -enveloping the hands of the experimenters in silk; which proves that the -tables have not a power <i>supra naturam</i>, and that of course it could not be -the devil who furnishes the momentum. But what gives more force to the -reasons on which I rest, for not referring the motive-power to an evil -spirit, is this: that having made them separately known to four prelates of -the church of France, three of whom are conspicuous in the religious investigation -of these phenomena, begging a due examination and report if -my opinion is in error, that I may retract and write against the tables, -not one of these prelates has pronounced me wrong, nor in the least blamed -my exposition of facts. And in case it may become necessary to establish -this fact, I retain the letters of these prelates. Let us now pass to the -consideration of the mediums.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1417"></a>1417. Hearing that there were persons whose hands, without their -will, were made to write some very extraordinary things, and that these -persons were called ‘mediums,’ one day, in order to assure myself of the -fact, I took a crayon in my hand, and placing it on paper, concentrated -myself as much as possible. But a few minutes had passed, when I felt -my hand controlled without my will, and saw it trace some lines, letters,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>280</span> -and words. This experiment being repeated often with the same success, -I have therefore become a medium, though of a secondary degree.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1418"></a>1418. Desiring to know whether, in this phenomenon, there might not -be some diabolical agency, in order to satisfy my mind on that subject, I -asked of the occult power, or the spirit that controlled my hand, if it was -the devil; being answered in the negative, I requested to have proof of it. -Scarcely were those words uttered, when my hand, moving with energy, -drew a large cross. Seeing this, I put the same questions about J. C. -that were put at my table, and the answers, being written, were the same; -from which I concluded that the agency in the writing of mediums is the -same as in moving the tables, which, in my opinion, is not that of the -devil, as already said. However, in order to confirm my assurance of the -non-intervention of the devil in the phenomena of mediums, I desired to -add another experiment, which follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1419"></a>1419. As the devil speaks all languages, according to the ritual, even -those unknown, to see whether the occult power or spirit which caused me -to write possessed this satanic attribute, which, being so, would prove the -intervention of the devil in the performance of mediums, I asked the -invisible agent if it would cause the Lord’s prayer to be written in several -languages, and was answered in the affirmative. Yielding my hand with -a pen to the motive power, the <i lang="la">Pater</i> was written in two ways, which the -same power, also by writing, said was in Valaque and in Russian. Then -requesting the same to be written in French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, -it was immediately done; when requesting it to be written in English and -German, was answered it could not be done. Why not? I inquired. -Because you neither speak nor write those two languages, which is -necessary.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1420"></a>1420. In what languages then, I asked, are you able to make me -write? In the languages which I spoke on earth, as the Valaque and -Russian, and those which you speak. The <i lang="la">Pater</i>, thus written, I had the -honour to present it personally to Monseigneur the Archbishop of Paris, -by his request. Having mentioned this, I was advised to request my spirit -friend to write something in Valaque, and have it submitted to some one -acquainted with that language, in order to determine the fact of its being -so; which proposal I willingly accepted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1421"></a>1421. But, returned to my house, the idea occurred to me to make an -experiment to control my familiar spirit myself. I wrote on a piece of -paper a phrase in French, and took a separate copy of it on another piece -of paper. I read this phrase to my spirit, and requested him to render it -in Valaque. The spirit, having made some lines, told me by writing that -the translation was already made. I requested him to do the same with -it in Spanish, Italian, and Latin, and it was done. Requesting him further -to write the same in English, he replied it could not be done, as I -did not speak that language. Allowing a few minutes to pass, I took the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>281</span> -copy of the phrase, and requested the spirit to do the same with it that he -had done with the original. The spirit having caused me to write, as he -professed, the same phrase in the same languages as he had caused me to -write it in previously, I hastened to compare the two translations; but -what was my surprise when finding the Spanish, Italian, and Latin translations -of the copy like those of the original; I found the Valaque translation -of the original and that of the copy not at all alike!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1422"></a>1422. “Convinced, then, that my spirit did not understand the <i lang="la">Valaque</i>, -which proved to me, according to the ritual, that it was not a devil, (<i>un -démon</i>,) but that notwithstanding he had deceived me, I gave him a -severe reprimand, treating him as an infamous cheat, and driving him -from my presence. At this juncture, my hand was caused to tremble excessively, -which terminated by writing in large characters: ‘I am the -devil, and you are a bad preacher that seeks to find out the secrets of God!’ -Very well, I said; your proclamation in large letters that you are the -devil, is no reason why I should believe it. The devil, according to the -ritual, speaks all languages, and you do not speak the Valaque nor English, -and therefore you are not the devil. If I am a bad preacher, that does -not concern you. It is God who will judge me, and I submit to his holy -will. Could I see you as I feel you, I would fix you well; but as it is, I -decline any further correspondence with you.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1423"></a>1423. “Scarcely had I expressed these words, when my hand, being -influenced, wrote as follows: ‘Pardon! pardon! I am not the devil. If -I said so, it was to frighten you, because you continued to plague me with -your questions; but I see you are a man that fears nothing. You are not -a bad preacher, but a great thinker. Continue then to experiment with -me, and I will always tell you the truth!’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1424"></a>1424. “Very well, I pardon you, and request you to say, without deceiving -me, what languages you do speak? ‘I speak no other languages than -those which you speak, and if I did otherwise, it was for amusement.’ -Then what are the languages which the spirits speak? ‘Those of the -communing person, and no others.’<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> And this ended the meeting.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1425"></a>1425. “Wishing still to test what had been said to me by my spirit, I -went to the house of a writing medium, like myself, and begged him to -try some experiments in writing. In the midst of our experiments, I -wrote the following words on a small piece of paper in Spanish: <i lang="es">Como té -llamos?</i> and without making their signification known to the medium in -French, requested him to read them to the spirit friend. This was done, -but the spirit was silent. The medium, however, insisting on an answer, -was impressed by the spirit to write the word <i>malheur</i>, (misfortune.) The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>282</span> -reply not agreeing with the question, I told the medium to say to his spirit -that he had badly replied. Then the spirit made the medium write as -follows: ‘If I have not complied with your request, it is because I do not -understand that language.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1426"></a>1426. As the medium did not understand what had been read to the -spirit, which in French would mean, <i lang="fr">Comment vous appelez-vous?</i> (What -is your name?) I perceived that if the spirit did not reply to the Spanish, -it was because the medium neither spoke nor understood that tongue; -which agreed with what my spirit had told me. Then I requested the -medium to ask his spirit to make me write. On the affirmative response -of the spirit, I took the pen, and addressing the same question to him: -<i>Como te llamos?</i> he replied in Spanish—<i>Benito</i>. Answer me in French—<i>Benoit</i>. -In Latin—<i>Benedictus</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1427"></a>1427. This experiment confirming what my spirit had told me, that -the spirits could produce only the language of those with whom they communed, -was a new proof for me of the non-intervention of the devil; seeing, -according to the ritual, that he is master of all languages, and that -mediums only write those they understand, and have previously learnt.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> -If M. de Mirville desires to make some such experiments with me, it will -afford me great pleasure to do so.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1428"></a>1428. <i lang="la">Nota bene</i>: What merits particular regard in the information -received from my spirit friend as to the language used by spirits in communing -with men is, that the same was said one hundred and five years -since by the ecstatic Swedenborg. See No. 236 of his Treatise on Heaven -and Hell, by Le Boys des Guays.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1429"></a>1429. This will suffice for the present for M. de Mirville. It remains -for him to explain the facts we have reported, and to reconcile them with -his <cite>Pneumatology</cite>: in expectation I proceed to notice the <i>Supernatural -in General</i> of M. de Gasparin.”</p> - - -<h5><i>Second Part.</i></h5> - -<p><a id="para_1430"></a>1430. “All the prodigies of the mesmeric subjects of clairvoyants, the -sorcery, haunting spirits, apparitions, visions, &c., owe their origin, according -to M. de Gasparin, to nervous excitement, fluidic action, and some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>283</span>times -are hallucinations. As I do not design here to make a critical analysis -of M. de Gasparin’s work, not considering myself capable, and leaving -this honour to those who are in some scientific line, I design merely -occupying myself with some facts which refer personally to me, and which -appear to me to oppose some points in the doctrine of M. de Gasparin in -his table-turning, or <i>Supernatural in General</i>, as already noticed in the -introduction to the monograph, and I commence with the subject of -ecstasy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1431"></a>1431. “Speaking of ecstatics, M. de Gasparin explains himself as follows: -‘As to their intellectual faculties, they are capable in those cases of -prodigious development. The ecstatics declare themselves that they have -two souls; that a voice foreign to their own causes them to speak; that -they suddenly receive ideas entirely unknown to them, and terms of expression -entirely strange to them. It happens even that the peasant -accustomed to <i>patois</i>, speaks French, and that illiterate men express themselves -in Latin. Now, have we something here that is <i>supernatural</i>? -Certainly not; it is a physiological state, or often the treasures of reminiscence, -which the subject possessed, though in fact not aware of it. The -peasant may have known how to speak French; she may not have known -it, and still it may all have been engraved on the deep recesses of the -memory, where nothing is ever really effaced. Exalted or sick, she finds -herself in possession of the French language. A merchant, who has -scarcely passed the first classes, and who never knew Latin, finds himself -the possessor of the Latin language, and embarrasses his doctor, whom he -addresses in that tongue.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1432"></a>1432. “According to this ecstatic theory of M. de Gasparin, it follows -that the ideas expressed by the subjects, and which were unknown to -them in their normal state, are nothing more than reminiscences. I admit, -with M. de Gasparin, that reminiscence is only the return of the soul to -the recollection of a thing or an idea, which, though engraven on the memory, -was forgotten. This return, however, does not happen without some -remarks, which, from the recollection of some ideas or incidents, conduct -the mind to the recollection of what was forgotten.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1433"></a>1433. “I am a medium: according to the received opinion, a medium is -a waking magnetic subject. Now, every magnetic subject is in a degree -ecstatic; therefore I, being a medium, am ecstatic. Well, I being ecstatic, -take a pencil, and concentrating myself in that state, request the occult -power that moves my hand without my volition to cause it to write, if it -is possible, something on the creation. The last word is scarcely pronounced -when my hand proceeds to write, without interruption, something -true or false, on the creation, which surprises me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1434"></a>1434. “This interview terminates, and desiring to know if these ideas -on the creation come from reminiscences, I seek to discover if they could -have been engraven on my memory, either from reading or hearing them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>284</span> -related. With this view I commenced by reading religious and philosophic -books that would be likely to discuss the question, but could find nothing -like what I had written. I consulted the public libraries, and they contained -nothing on the creation similar to what my hand had communicated. -Not a professor, philosopher, naturalist, physiologist, theologian, or historian, -with whom I had ever had any intercourse, could recollect any thing -of the kind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1435"></a>1435. “After this, I reason as follows: having examined all the means -by which what was written by my hand on the creation could have been -impressed on my memory, nothing appears to warrant that belief; therefore, -these notions on the creation cannot be regarded as reminiscences.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1436"></a>1436. “But it is not enough, we have said, that in reminiscence, are -necessary, which, by the recollection of an object, idea, or notion, we are -led to the further recollection of something forgotten. That this should -take place, some time is required, however little it may be. However, in -the case related, not a moment was required, and this breaks up the required -process, in order to respond to the theory of M. de Gasparin.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1437"></a>1437. “Now, if these ideas on the creation are not reminiscences—if -they do not emanate from the devil, who, agreeably to our author, is an -entire stranger to these phenomena—if it is not the soul of a deceased -person that controlled my hand, as M. de Gasparin, being a Protestant, -does not believe in returning spirits nor in communion with the dead, -who then caused to be written by my hand such strange things, without my -knowledge or assistance? And I beg M. de Gasparin to be so good as to -explain this phenomenon, which appears to be in opposition with his theory -on the prodigies of ecstatic subjects. Should M. de Gasparin desire to see -what I have written, he can be gratified. But what will he say, when -having requested my spirit to reply in writing on some subject familiar to -my mind, he is unable to do it, or replies contrary to my thoughts and -convictions? Can this be called reminiscence? I pass now to consider -mesmerism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1438"></a>1438. “In speaking on this subject, the <i>Supernatural</i> of M. de Gasparin -says, ‘The clairvoyance of mesmerism appears in general to have only the -character of an echo. Its wonders are those of reminiscence or perception -of images and thoughts, which occupy the intelligence of the person with -whom the clairvoyant is in rapport. This appears to be the balance-sheet -of animal magnetism, and it has changed but little since its origin.’ (Tome -ii. page 311.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1439"></a>1439. “According to what M. de Gasparin has just told us, it follows, -that when a clairvoyant tells us in his sleep that he sees the spirit of a -deceased person, and gives us an exact description of his person, we are -not to regard it as the deceased person that the clairvoyant sees, but his -image impressed on the memory of that clairvoyant from acquaintance with -the defunct when living, or in the memory of the consulting visitor in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>285</span> -rapport; so that the clairvoyant, in these apparitions of the dead, is governed -only by reminiscence or the reflection of images or of thoughts. -Now, having allowed M. de Gasparin to speak, I desire in my turn to -speak also.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1440"></a>1440. “In January, 1848, a work was published, entitled <cite>Les Arcanes de -la Vie Future Révelée</cite>: The Arcana of a Future Life Revealed. My attention -being attracted by the title of this work, it was procured, and proved -to be nothing but a collection of the apparitions of deceased persons to -clairvoyants.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1441"></a>1441. “On so delicate a question, I thought it best to consult the -Scriptures, to see whether the appearance of the dead to the living was -admitted by the sacred volumes. I opened, then, the Bible, and the first -passage that met my eye was the chap. xxvii. of the first book of Kings, -where it said that Samuel had appeared to the witch of Endor, and that, -by the intermediation of the latter, the prophet spoke to Samuel; an -apparition on which were sketched those reported by M. Cahagnet in his -<i>Arcana</i>. I saw afterward in the second book of Maccabees, the high-priest -Onias and the prophet Jeremiah appearing to Judas Maccabeus. -I see in St. Matthew, chap. xvii., the apparition of Moses and Elias to -Peter, John, and James on the Tabor. Finally, I read, in chap. xxviii. -of the said St. Matthew, that at the death of our Saviour Jesus Christ, -many of the dead appeared to a great number of the inhabitants of -Jerusalem.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1442"></a>1442. “Convinced by the holy volume of the possibility, or rather of -the reality, of the apparition of the dead to the living, I put to myself this -question: Can these apparitions of the dead to the living which, according -to the Bible, took place in former times, be permitted to occur at the present -time? In order to resolve that question, I desired again to consult -the Bible, and found the Holy Spirit, in Ecclesiastes, holding the following -language: ‘<i>What has been, is what shall be; and what has been done, is -what shall be done again.</i>’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1443"></a>1443. “Then, I said to myself, the appearance of the dead to the living -has taken place, according to the Bible; therefore, agreeably to the same -sacred volume, what has existed at one time may exist at another. Therefore, -there is no reason for rejecting the doctrine of communion of spirits, -God willing, at the present time.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1444"></a>1444. “But it is to be found out whether the apparitions reported in -the <cite>Arcana</cite> were realities, or were only illusions, so called. The solution -of this problem belongs to me. And with this view I found myself at the -house of the author of the <cite>Arcana</cite>, where a very serious discussion took -place between him and myself on his work, which ended with the apparition -of my brother Joseph, the third one that figures in the second -volume of the <cite>Arcana</cite>. In fact, I called for the apparition of my late -brother, and scarcely had a few minutes passed when the clairvoyant,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>286</span> -Adile, told me she saw a gentleman, and by the description she gave of -the stature, costume, character, the cause and place of the death of the -person appearing, I could not avoid recognising in the said person that of -my brother Joseph.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1445"></a>1445. “This apparition had such an effect on me, as to keep me awake -the whole night, seeking to explain the phenomenon. But becoming -fatigued with researches, I thought, as a magnetizer, to be able to explain -these apparitions by the same means as M. de Gasparin pretends to explain -them at the present time. I said to myself that clairvoyants saw the -image of things impressed on the memory of the persons with whom they -were in rapport; the image of my late brother being engraved on my -memory, it was enough for M. Cahagnet to put me, by an act of his will, -in rapport with his clairvoyant, for the latter to have seen the image of my -brother on the tablets of my memory.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1446"></a>1446. “With this impression, I wrote to M. Cahagnet, saying to him, -that in spite of my assurance yesterday of the reality of the apparition of -my brother, my knowledge of magnetism had caused me to-day to think -otherwise, and that further evidence would be necessary to convince me of -its reality. M. Cahagnet having complied, two spirits were evoked; one -of my aforesaid brother Joseph, and the other of Antoinette Carré, the -sister of my domestic; apparitions reported in the second volume of the -<i>Arcana</i>, and the description given by the clairvoyant could not have been -more correct. But as I still entertained the idea that these images could -not be traced by the clairvoyant in my mind, this meeting produced no -results. Curious, however, to know whether other clairvoyants possessed -the same faculty as the clairvoyant of M. Cahagnet in regard to these apparitions, -in the sense I understand them, I begged M. Lecocq, clockmaker -of the navy, living at Argenteuil, to try some experiments with his -sister, a very lucid clairvoyant.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1447"></a>1447. “Five apparitions appeared, of whom three were unknown to -him or his clairvoyant, knowing only their names; and their identity was -determined by the assistance of other persons present who had known -them, as reported from two sources, the letter written me by M. Lecocq, -which M. de Gasparin can see, and the report made by the former to M. -Cahagnet, which was published in the second volume of the <cite>Arcana</cite>, page -244. In view of this fact, and others of the same nature come to my -knowledge, my opinion as to the derivation of appearances and thoughts -from the mind of communicants through the clairvoyant begins to be modified. -However, to be entirely convinced of the reality of these apparitions, -I should require similar facts to be presented to my own eyes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1448"></a>1448. “Animated by these sentiments, I requested a person in whom -I reposed entire confidence, to give me the name of a defunct, entirely -unknown to me, and that of Joseph Moral was given. The young clairvoyant -of thirteen years, whom I named at the beginning of this mono<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>287</span>graph, -being one day put to sleep by his mother at my house, I used the -opportunity to request the subject to invoke the spirit of Joseph Moral. -Scarcely had two minutes elapsed, when the young clairvoyant announced -the presence of a person, whom she described. Having never seen the -said Joseph Moral, and therefore not able to say any thing about him, I -was limited to writing down a faithful account of him as given by the -clairvoyant.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1449"></a>1449. “The meeting ended, I sought the person who had furnished the -name, and reading the description, and much surprised to find it correct, -she said to me, ‘How, sir, were you able to give such an exact description -of M. Joseph Moral, whom you never knew and have never seen?’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1450"></a>1450. “This fact was for me a positive conviction that clairvoyants, in -their communion with the dead, do not simply see the image of the -deceased in the memory of the consulting party, but that they see the -veritable <i>souls</i> of the departed, as the witch of Endor saw the soul of -Samuel, according to our creed, called the Holy Spirit of the Ecclesiastic. -And should M. de Gasparin desire to know the person who gave me the -name of M. Joseph Moral, it will give me pleasure to wait on him to her -house.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1451"></a>1451. “Here is another fact like the preceding, but still more interesting. -M. de Sarrio, of Alicant, in Spain, a cavalier of Malta, gave to my -brother Joseph, of whom I have already spoken, fifteen thousand francs, to -be distributed among the poor; for which sum my brother aforesaid gave -a receipt to the benevolent donor. At the death of M. de Sarrio, his brother, -the Marquis of Algolfa, becoming his heir, found this receipt among -the papers of the deceased. At the death of my brother, the Marquis -desiring to know if all the amount had been disbursed, addressed my -sister, who became his heir, on the subject. But my sister, being unacquainted -with his affairs, not having lived with him, submitted to the -marquis the schedule of the deceased; which, showing only the distribution -of half the amount, the other half was claimed by the marquis, and -finally made the subject of a lawsuit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1452"></a>1452. “My sister, much aggrieved, made me a party to her troubles, in -a letter from Alicant. Discomforted by what had happened to my sister, I -visited my young clairvoyant and demanded the presence of my brother, -who, as she had said, had several times been with her. He was reported -present, and I questioned him in relation to the money received from M. de -Sarrio, reproaching him in regard to the reversion of the said balance, and -the pain he had caused my sister.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1453"></a>1453. “My brother, astounded at my language, said, that he owed nothing -to anybody; and as to the amount referred to, he had given it to Father -Mario before dying, to be distributed to the poor; to prove which it would be -necessary to call Father Mario. Scarcely had my brother said this, when -the clairvoyant said she saw a man with my brother, and from the descrip<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>288</span>tion -she gave of him, I thought I recognised a Capuchin friar, who, interrogated -by my brother, confirmed what he had said.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1454"></a>1454. “Having never heard the name of Father Mario, as I had left -Alicant thirty years before, I requested some particulars of his country -and family, and was told he belonged to St. Vincent du Respect, one league -from Alicant, &c., and I put the following questions to my sister, by letter: -Was your brother Joseph visited in his sickness by a priest named Father -Mario, having a sister at St. Vincent du Respect? and do you know if -this Father Mario is dead? Following is the answer:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1455"></a>1455. “‘As to Father Mario, he left this country several years since, -and it is not known if he is in France or America. He did not visit our -brother in his last sickness, because he had left some years before. He -has two sisters, one was in Algeria, and the other went with him.’ The -letters written by me to my sister on this subject, and her replies, with -other details, were published in the third volume of the <cite>Arcana</cite>. The -originals are at the disposal of M. de Gasparin, and I would desire to ask -that gentleman one question: Whether the apparition of Father Mario, as -established by the letters of my sister, confirming the existence of Father -Mario, is not a positive fact, and not an hallucination? Whether, as this -monk had never been seen nor known by me, his image could possibly -have been perceived by the clairvoyant through any impression made -upon my mind? Of course, it could not have been the devil who personated -Father Mario, if M. de Gasparin <i>correctly</i> repudiates the intervention -of Satan in spiritual manifestations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1456"></a>1456. “Can M. de Gasparin explain to me the appearance of Father -Mario consistently with his <cite>Psychological hypothesis in General</cite>. These -are the facts which I have at present to oppose to the <cite>Psychological Rationale</cite> -of M. de Gasparin. At a future time I shall be prepared to say -more to him as well as to M. de Mirville, both on mesmerism and table-turning, -as well as in regard to mediums.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1457"></a>1457. “If the marquis and count do not respond to my call, their -silence will do great injury to the cause of truth, science, and religion. It -is, then, in order not to act against interests so sacred, that I take pleasure -in hoping that these gentlemen will comply with my wishes.”</p> - - -<h4><i>Mechanical Movements without Contact. By Mr. Isaac Rhen, President -of the Harmonial Society of Philadelphia.</i><a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1458"></a>1458. Among the most distinguished and eloquent advocates of Spiritualism -in Philadelphia, is Mr. Isaac Rehn, President of the Harmonial -Society. It is said that a good countenance is a constant letter of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>289</span> -recommendation. The truth of this adage is conspicuously realized in the -instance of this sensible and agreeable spiritualist. There is an air of good -feeling and sincerity in Mr. Rehn’s tones and expression, which would -cause him to be viewed as a reliable witness before any honest and intelligent -jury.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1459"></a>1459. The fact of mechanical movements being induced <i>without muscular -contact, direct</i> or <i>indirect</i>, is one of the phenomena which scarcely -any one will believe without intuitive proof. It will be seen that on the -third of February, 1854, after I had been engaged in the investigation of -spiritual manifestations for more than two months, I was still so incredulous -as to employ this language to Mr. Holcomb: “You believe fully that -tables move without contact, because you have seen them thus moved; I -am skeptical, because I have not seen them move without human contact, -although I have been at several circles.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1460"></a>1460. But one of the forms of this phenomenon, which has excited the -most wonder and incredulity, is that of the carrying of Mr. Henry Gordon, -a medium, through the air without the contact of any mundane body. Mr. -Rehn having been among the witnesses of this fact, I requested him to give -me a statement of it, as well as of others of a similar kind. Subjoined is -a letter, written in consequence of my request:</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, August 1, 1855.</p> -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Professor Robert Hare</span>:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1461"></a>1461. <i>Dear Sir</i>: In obedience to your invitation, I will proceed to -make a brief statement of the more prominent facts supporting the hypothesis, -that the spirits of those who once dwelt with us do still hold intercourse -with mortals.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1462"></a>1462. During the early part of the year 1850, some friends of mine, in -whom I had full confidence, stated to me the result of several intercommunions -had with these mysterious agents, by which I was led to a determination -to test the matter for myself; and, accordingly, on the fifth day of July, -in company with a friend, I visited New York, that being the only accessible -point known to us at which to gain the object of our visit. The Fox -family, consisting of Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Fish, (afterward Mrs. Brown,) Catherine -and Margaret Fox were then at Barnum’s Hotel, giving to the public -opportunities to test the reality or imposture of the so-called spiritual -phenomena. We called at the rooms of the family, and obtained a sitting -during the afternoon of the same day. A dozen or more persons were -present at the sitting, the result of which was the conviction that the -sounds were not a deception on the part of the mediums, but the result of -some occult force and intelligence, independent of the ladies themselves.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1463"></a>1463. Without entering into any detail of the incidents of the visit -above referred to, or speculations upon the general subject under consideration, -I propose to cite incidents in my own experience, which go to -establish the truth of spiritual intercourse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>290</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1464"></a>1464. Shortly after the commencement of the sounds in the first circle -instituted in this city, and of which I was, from the first, a member, demonstrations -in the form of movements of tables, chairs, and other articles -commenced. Many times they were very violent, but in most instances it was -necessary that the hands of the company, and especially those of the medium, -should be upon the table. During the session of a circle, however, held in -the afternoon—and of course in daylight—these movements became unusually -violent. Two card-tables, around which the company sat, having been -drawn to the centre of the floor, were thrown backward and forward with -great force. After moving thus for some minutes, one of the tables started -toward some two or three of the company, and pressed heavily against -them, causing them to recede until they had reached the wall; the table -would then retreat to the centre of the floor, and, as it were, charge some -two or three more, whom in like manner it would press back. Thus it -continued retreating and attacking, until the entire company were seated -around at the sides of the room.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1465"></a>1465. Having thus cleared the floor in the central part of the room, the -table rose deliberately at the side next to myself, and so continued until it -had turned some distance beyond the point of equilibrium, with the evident -design of performing a revolution.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1466"></a>1466. These and other manifestations were at the time so wonderful -and strange to that part of the company present which had never before -met in a circle, as to cause great terror. One lady became so much alarmed -during the performance of the spirits with the table as above described, -that she screamed aloud, which interfering with the requisite conditions -for success, the table fell heavily upon the floor, breaking off the top.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1467"></a>1467. During the rising of the table on the side toward myself, I -reached my hand and pressed upon it, with the view of seeing what force -was employed in raising it. Upon removing my hand, it would spring up -as if it were suspended from the ceiling by an elastic cord.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1468"></a>1468. At the time this phenomenon was occurring, a friend of mine, -Mr. J. A. Cutting, of Boston, Massachusetts, being seated by my side, -found himself moved, as though some one had drawn the chair on which -he was sitting. He then placed his feet upon the front round of the chair, -so as to entirely insulate himself from the floor, and while in this position -he was raised from the floor, chair and all. This gentleman was quite -large and stout, weighing, I should think, not less than one hundred and -seventy pounds.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1469"></a>1469. I would here state particularly and emphatically, that at the time -of these most violent movements of the table, <i>no hands were upon them, -nor was there any physical contact with the objects moved</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1470"></a>1470. At the same session, a tumbler and pitcher being upon a washstand -in a corner of the room, some five feet distant from any person present, -suddenly a crash was heard in the direction in which those articles<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>291</span> -were situated. Upon examination, the tumbler was found to be broken -into several hundred pieces, and what is still more strange, the pieces were -not scattered around, but occupied a spot which did not exceed eight or -ten inches in diameter! It seemed as if the tumbler had <i>collapsed</i>; even -the bottom, thick as it was, was broken into many pieces. These facts occurred -at the house of Mr. George D. Henck, dentist, in Arch street, who, -with the other persons present on that occasion, will at any time corroborate -these statements.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1471"></a>1471. On another occasion, at the house of Mr. J. Thompson, of this -city, during a sitting, I requested, among other things, that the spirits -would move the table without physical contact. Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. -R-—-, and myself, the only persons in the room, drew back from the -table, and it was then moved some six or eight inches. In addition to -this, it moved from various points, and objects were retained on the table, -when under ordinary circumstances, from the inclination of the table, -they must have fallen off.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1472"></a>1472. At a sitting at my own residence, some two years since, some -very strange phenomena occurred. At the close of the session, a young -man, of slender frame and constitution, (Mr. H. C. Gordon,) had his hand -thrown violently upon the centre of a large dining-table, weighing not less -than eighty or ninety pounds. Some of the company were requested to -raise Mr. Gordon’s hand from the table. This, after much effort, was accomplished, -and, strange to relate, the table accompanied the hand until it -was entirely isolated from the floor. This was a result which I would have -doubted, had it not come under my own personal observation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1473"></a>1473. About the same time, a company of persons, whose names, as far -as I can recollect, I shall mention, were seated around two tables, joined -together, in order to furnish room sufficient to seat the party. The house -in which I then lived had two parlours, with folding doors. The two -tables referred to occupied the entire length of the front parlour, leaving -barely room enough for the chairs at the front end of the room; the other -end of the table extended quite to the folding doors, leaving, of course, no -passage on either end. It so happened that I was seated at that end of -the table projecting into the doorway. The medium, Mr. Gordon, was -seated about midway of the tables, on the left, the other seats being occupied -by the rest of the company.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1474"></a>1474. After a variety of manifestations had occurred, the medium was -raised from his seat by an invisible power, and, after some apparent resistance -on his part, was carried through the doorway between the parlours, -directly over my head, and his head being bumped along the ceiling, he -passed to the farther end of the back room, in which there was no one -beside himself.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1475"></a>1475. Although all the individuals present had not equally good opportunity -of ascertaining the facts in this case, the room having been some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>292</span>what -darkened, still his transit over the end of the table at which I was -seated, and the utter impossibility of the medium passing out in other -way than over our heads, his continued conversation while thus suspended, -and his position, as indicated by the sound, with other facts in -the case, leave no reasonable doubt of the performance of the feat.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1476"></a>1476. There were present on the occasion alluded to, the following persons, -viz.: Aaron Comfort, George D. Henck, Rebecca Thomas, Naomi -Thomas, Marianne Thomas, Esther Henck, Mrs. Rehn, J. S. Mintzer, -M. D., and many others.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -Respectfully, <span class="smcap">I. Rehn</span>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1477"></a>1477. The truth of the elevation and carriage of this medium aloft, by -invisible agency, from one part of a room to another, does not depend on -the testimony of one set of observers; several other respectable eye-witnesses -have alleged the occurrence of a similar manifestation in their -presence.</p> - - -<h4><i>Communication from J. M. Kennedy, Esq.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1478"></a>1478. One of our most zealous and eloquent spiritualists, is my friend, -J. M. Kennedy. He has done me the favour, out of many striking manifestations -observed by him, to communicate two, which are among the -most demonstrative of a physical power and mental intelligence, and which -cannot be ascribed to mortal agency. That in which the magnetic needle -was moved by his request, without physical contact, is, as I conceive, pre-eminently -interesting.</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, August, 1855.</p> -<p class="nind"> -“<span class="smcap">Professor Hare</span>:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1479"></a>1479. “<i>Sir</i>: You ask me to state some facts I have witnessed, which -tended to convince my mind that the varied phenomena, occurring among -us, are truly ascribable to the direct action of disembodied spirits. I will -state two matters, remarking, however, that I have had other and different -forms of evidence equally satisfactory to me.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1480"></a>1480. “About two years since, I was invited to meet a private circle -to witness physical manifestations. I met them at the house of a near -neighbour, whose lady is a medium. There were about ten persons present. -The circle being seated, the movement of the table and tipping in -answer to questions occurred. I now asked for a communication with -myself, which was assented to. I then inquired if the spirits would move -the table, despite of my power to hold it still, the company to withdraw -from the table, excepting the medium and myself. The answer was, ‘<i>We -will!</i>’ The company all arose, and removed their chairs; I stood up and -took hold of the table, exercising my best judgment as to the use of my -strength in the pending contest. The medium having placed her hand on -the table, I promptly announced, <i>‘I am ready</i>.’ At once, the movement -of the table commenced, despite of my efforts to prevent it, and having -slightly pushed me backward, it began to draw me in the opposite direc<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>293</span>tion. -It moved entirely across the room, dragging me along with it, my -feet sliding on the carpet. I resisted the motion of the table with all the -power I could command, and no visible being but myself had any contact -with it, excepting the medium, whose hand (not <i>hands</i>) was on the top of -the table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1481"></a>1481. “I then said, ‘If I sit on the table, will you throw me off?’ -<i>Answer.</i> Yes. I at once sat on it, and the medium placing her hand as -before, I said, ‘<i>I am ready</i>,’ and almost instantaneously the table was -turned over on its side, of course, throwing me off. All this occurred at -a private house; the room was light enough to read small print, and there -was entire freedom to search for trick, machinery, &c. There was to me -evidence of an intelligent, invisible power, giving us the tests we suggested -and asked for, to prove its presence and power.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1482"></a>1482. “On another occasion, there were present, at the dwelling of -another friend of mine, my friend and his lady, also a lad learning business -with him, and myself, the apprentice lad being the medium. We -sat in the parlour in the afternoon, windows open, room well lighted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1483"></a>1483. “Among other manifestations which occurred was this: I placed -on the centre of the large dining-table a glass tumbler, on which I placed -a compass, the needle being one foot in length. On the periphery of the -compass, the alphabet, as well as the various points, was painted, and at -each letter there was a small metallic pin permanently fixed. After -changing the compass freely, to see if the needle worked free and true, I -left it so placed that the needle pointed due north, according to the points -marked therefor. We then removed our chairs from the table some distance, -no one being in contact with it. My friend was on the east, his -lady on the south, the medium on the west, and myself on the north side -of the table. I then requested that the spirits would move the compass -needle to such points as we might designate; and naming north, south, -east, west, north-east, south-west, &c., perhaps, in all, nearly twenty different -points, I saw the needle promptly and quickly moved to each point, -as and when designated by me, and there held steadily for a brief time; and -on each occasion, after having been thus held, I saw it fly back to the -north point. I also requested that they (the spirits) would spell <i>John</i> by -moving the needle to the letters, and I saw the needle promptly moved to -the several letters required to spell the name, stopping at each, tipping -and touching the small pin opposite the letter, and then immediately returning -to its position due north.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1484"></a>1484. “This manifestation I was compelled to regard as clearly proving -the action of an invisible, intelligent power, present with us, and purporting -to be a disembodied spirit once known among us as a man. There -was here also perfect freedom to search for trick, machinery, &c.; and all -these suggested explanations occurred as clearly to my mind as to men -generally, and were duly cared for by me; for I was then an investigator<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>294</span> -of the truth of spirit manifestations, and did not wish to be <i>humbugged</i>. -These cases, however, are but a sample of the chain of testimony that has -satisfied my mind fully on this question.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">John M. Kennedy.</span>”</p> - - -<h4><i>Communication from Wm. West, Esq.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1485"></a>1485. As respects the communication which follows, I have only to say -that I consider the author as quite reliable, both as to his capacity to observe -accurately, and his disposition to exert that capacity faithfully. I -believe him to have one of those minds which, like the scale-beam, allows -every thing <i>pro</i> or <i>con</i> to have its due weight.</p> - -<p class="padd"> -“<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, September 6, 1855.</p> -<p class="nind"> -“<span class="smcap">Professor R. Hare</span>: -</p> - -<p><a id="para_1486"></a>1486. “<i>Dear Sir</i>: At our last interview you wished a few facts from -my experience.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1487"></a>1487. “About three years since I lectured in this city against the -<i>spiritual</i> agency of ‘the modern manifestations,’ and advocated a nerve -aura, obedient to the will. At that time I had the power to stop the -physical movements. Subsequently, the agents in these phenomena refused -to obey me. I have since been informed by the spirits, that they -permitted me to control them for a time, in order ultimately to convince -me by depriving me of said power.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1488"></a>1488. “Having read your statement of the message transmitted by you, -through your spirit sister, from Cape May, in July last, to this city, I -have thought that an account of a similar despatch from myself, through -my spirit wife, to a circle in this city, might be acceptable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1489"></a>1489. “On the evening of June 22, 1853, while sitting at the table at -Mrs. Long’s, (a writing medium, living at No. 9 Thompson St., New York), -my deceased wife purported to be communicating with me. At that time -I had been appointed, by the spirits, dictator to a circle, which convened -every Wednesday evening at the residence of H. C. Gordon, 103 North -Fifth St., Philadelphia. I inquired of my wife if she could convey a message -to the circle then assembled in Philadelphia. She answered, ‘<i>I will -try</i>.’ I then requested her to take my respects to the circle, and inform -them that I was succeeding admirably in my investigation, and becoming -stronger in the glorious truth of spirit intercommunion. In the course -of seventeen minutes, the spirit again announced her presence, and informed -us she had delivered the message. On the next Wednesday evening, -I was present at the circle in Philadelphia, and was informed by all -the members present that my communication had been duly received. -Another spirit, I was informed, had been communicating, when an interruption -occurred, and my wife gave her name, and, in substance, the communication, -through the hand of Mr. Gordon.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1490"></a>1490. “There were present about twelve persons of high respectability,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>295</span> -among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Mr. and Mrs. Laird, Mr. Aaron -Comfort, Mr. William Knapp, &c.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1491"></a>1491. “At Mrs. Long’s there were three or four persons present, among -them, I think, Mr. Ira Davis.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1492"></a>1492. “I am not a medium, therefore the objection of <i>medium sympathy</i> -is out of place.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap6"> -Yours, &c.</span> <span class="smcap">W. West</span>.<br /> -“George St., 4th house west of Broad.” -</p> - - -<h4><i>Koons’s Establishment.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1493"></a>1493. Among the wonders of Spiritualism, none have excited so much -astonishment as the manifestations which have occurred at the establishment -of Mr. Koons, in Athens county, Ohio. The phenomena are so -extraordinary, as to be difficult to be believed, even by Spiritualists; and -yet there is far more evidence of their truth than of any of the miracles -recorded in Scripture. In no instance has any of these been attested in -due form by known spectators, and admitting that, in this respect, there -is no deficiency, they were not of a nature to be repeated before a succession -of observers. Those at Koons’s have been repeated, and are still -being repeated. I first heard that there was such an establishment from -my spirit brother, at least fifteen months ago. My spirit friends confirm -the truth of the account received, and sanction the idea that there is something -in the locality which favours mediumship. I subjoin the narratives -of several visitors to the establishment in question:</p> - - -<h4><i>Communication from Joseph Hazard, Esq.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1494"></a>1494. Joseph Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, R. I., is very well known -in Philadelphia, as well as in the vicinity of his residence. Mr. Hazard -accompanied me, in some of my investigating visits, to spiritual circles, -and was present, as I have mentioned, (<a href="#para_139">139</a>,) on the occasion when I first -saw a table move without contact. There is no doubt but that he is a -truthful witness. If he has overrated what he heard or saw, it must be -from the enthusiasm with which he was inspired.</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Athens Co.</span>, <i>Ohio</i>, May 4, 1855.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1495"></a>1495. <i>My Dear Sir</i>: I have been here these three days, witnessing the -wonderful spirit manifestations of which we have heard so much. Allow -me to assure you that the published account of them is no more to the -reality than shadow is to substance. No pen can describe, and if it could, -I believe no mind could believe that had not witnessed them. The spirits -talk audibly through a trumpet, not with good articulation, but as if the -process were mechanical. On the accordeon, however, the language is -exquisitely articulated, being some beautiful air or catch, according to the -number of words; the harmony being perfect, and every note forming a -part or whole word. They frequently move overhead, next the ceiling,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>296</span> -with a rapidity of motion inconceivably astounding, blowing a trumpet -with deafening blasts at times, or beating a tamborine or some other instrument.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1496"></a>1496. One of the exhibitions represents a spirit hand during this circuit, -beating a tamborine, there being a piece of sand-paper with phosphorus -on it, which they use for illuminating the hand. I saw them begin -the work and complete it. The hand was small and delicate, and flew all -over the room with something like the rapidity of light on a broken surface -of water, frequently snapping the fingers, and stopping often near to -myself and others, that we might see it to full advantage.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1497"></a>1497. Another hand, which I could not see, touched me, but I took hold -of it. It seemed as if covered with buckskin.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1498"></a>1498. The spirits are now contriving a plan to exhibit in the light. They -say that light destroys the conditions necessary by their present system, -even that evolved by the phosphorus rendering the operation very difficult.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1499"></a>1499. It appears evident that spirits to be seen with material eyes are -obliged to materialize themselves, or else spiritualize our vision; and these -things have been done repeatedly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1500"></a>1500. I have not yet seen them write. I have heard them talk and -play on many instruments by the hour. There is a base and tenor drum -on which they perform with such violence, that it is almost deafening at -times, and the whole house resounds till it shakes throughout. Some of -the music is seraphic, especially when they speak with the harmonicon, -when it is more unearthly in its character than I should have been able to -imagine.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1501"></a>1501. The spirit houses are distinct buildings of one room, dark as -Erebus, and rather lonesome places, in this wilderness. I have, nevertheless, -obtained permission to sleep on the floor each night in one: and during -two of those nights I have been favoured with faint music on the -drums. Last night, from the moment I extinguished the light, drumming -was continued throughout the night, accompanied by a few notes on the -violin.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1502"></a>1502. The spirit said last night, “I can’t play a bit,” but, nevertheless, -he played some things delightfully. This was a new performer, who had -sent word he would perform this night, and that he was a German.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1503"></a>1503. One spirit attempted to sing through the trumpet, but could not -make music; after each failure he would stop a minute, and then, very -good-naturedly, say, “I will try again.” This he did several times, when -he added “What shall I do for you, if I can’t sing?” He at length -took up an accordeon, and succeeded better on that; but I presume did -not suit himself, as he would exclaim every once in a while, “Oh, dear!” -very despondingly.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1504"></a>1504. The effort the spirits make to manifest themselves is very great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>297</span> -evidently, and the amiability of their demeanour here is striking. However, -I cannot tell you but a small portion of what I have seen, but believing -you would be interested in this sketch, I have hastily made it, and -hope you will excuse the rudeness of it. If I could not witness again -what I have seen during the last seventy-two hours, I would not part with -the consciousness of it for the whole State of Ohio.</p> - -<p class="psig">I am very sincerely your friend,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Jos. P. Hazard.</span></p> -<p class="nind"> -To <span class="smcap">Prof. Robt. Hare</span>, Philada.<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<h3>A VISIT TO THE SPIRITUALISTS OF OHIO.</h3> - - -<h4><i>Letter from John Gage.—The Home of the Mediums and the Haunts of -the Spirits.—What they did, said, and wrote.</i></h4> - - -<h5><span class="allsmcap">LOCALITY OF JONATHAN KOONS.—A HILLY LAND.</span></h5> - -<p><a id="para_1505"></a>1505. The house of Mr. Koons is in Milford, Athens county, Ohio, -twenty-five miles south-west of McConnelsville, forty-two miles from Lancaster, -and sixty-seven miles from Columbus.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1506"></a>1506. Persons going from the West can go to Lancaster, which is the -nearest point by railroad, thence down the Hocking River by stage, which -runs daily to Chauncey, thence on foot two miles to Koons. From the -North persons would take the stage at Columbus, thence to Lancaster by -the lines above described. From the East there are steamboats to McConnelsville, -on the Muskingum, both from Zanesville and Marietta, but from -these private carriages must be got; distance as above, twenty-five miles, -but the miles bear no correspondence to the hours, for on every route they -think they do well if they accomplish two and a half miles an hour. No -man ever travelled over so hilly a country anywhere else, and when you -finally get into Koons’s vicinity, you find the essence of hills personified; -there is no such thing as a level spot large enough to put a house on.</p> - - -<h5>THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITUALIST.—PRESENCE OF ELECTRICITY.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1507"></a>1507. Koons’s house is located on the south-east angle of a sharp ridge, -some few rods below the edge of the ledge, and where, when the native -trees occupied the ground, the lightning was wont to make frolic among -them; and where it still likes to sport. The stove-pipe above the spirit -room was burst off, and a number of times during the sitting of the -mediums, the electric sparks were seen to play over the wires of the -spirit table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>298</span></p> - - -<h5>THE ROOM WHERE THE SPIRITS MANIFEST THEIR POWER.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1508"></a>1508. The spirit room is built of logs, as well as the house in which -Mr. Koons resides; it is situated at the end of his dwelling-house, and -six feet from it. It is twelve by sixteen feet square, and seven feet high -inside; there is a tight floor, and the ceiling above is of rough boards, -laid close edge to edge; in the garret above, there is less than three feet -clear room to the peak of the roof, and up here are stowed old shoes and -other old trumpery. There is a door in the front, near the centre of the -building, and a small window on each side of it, and one window in the -back side; the windows have each close shutters outside to exclude the -light. Across the back end of the room are three rough board shelves. -Two feet in front of these, stands the spirit table, three feet wide and six -feet long. In front of this, and setting against it, is a common fall-leaf -table, about three and a half feet square, which extends to within one foot -of the stove; and across the back end of the room are two rough benches -for spectators to sit upon, and the front one comes within one foot of the -stove. Then, on each end of the table is room for three or four chairs, all -of which fills the room so full that there is no room to get around. Mr. -Koons’s seat is at the left of the table, where he sits and plays the fiddle. -Nahum, his son, sits on the left of the table; he is a lad eighteen years -old, and the principal medium; and his mother sits next to him.</p> - - -<h5>THE FURNITURE AND OCCUPANTS.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1509"></a>1509. The spirit table has a frame or rack standing on it, and extended -from one end to the other; this rack sustains a tenor drum at one end and -a brass drum at the other, attached to it by means of wires; there are -wires also passing in various directions about the rack, and sustaining some -small bells, some images of birds cut out of copper plate, &c.; there are -two fiddles, a guitar, banjo, accordeon, French harp, tin horn, tea bell, -triangle, and tamborine, either hanging up or on the tables. The room -will hold eighteen or twenty persons besides the mediums, and when filled, -as it usually is, there is no room to pass around or between the people and -the table or stove.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1510"></a>1510. Some phosphorus is always placed on the table between wet -sheets of paper, for the exhibition of the hand.</p> - - -<h5>THE MANIFESTATIONS COMMENCE.—THE SPIRITS PLAY ON DRUMS, HARPS, -FRENCH HORNS, ACCORDEONS, AND TAMBORINES.</h5> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Koons’s Room</span>, June 19, 1855.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1511"></a>1511. Between eight and nine o’clock, Mr. Koons and his son Nahum -went into the room and closed the doors and shutters, for the purpose, they -said, of inquiring of King, the presiding spirit, whether he would attend -that evening, and what time he would commence; this they always do,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>299</span> -and they were told to get ready in twenty minutes. We went into the -room. Mr. Koons took his seat with his fiddle and tuned it; I took my -seat by his side, and my wife next to me, our chairs setting close to each -other, and the chairs and benches in the room were all filled. The window-shutters -and doors were now closed, and Mr. Koons put out the light, and -immediately there came a startling blow upon the table that made the -room jar, and almost brought me to my feet. “Well, King,” said Mr. -Koons, “you are here,” and commenced playing a lively tune. As soon -as Koons began to play the fiddle, the bass and tenor drums began to play -with such power and energy as to frighten me; the whole house was on a -jar and vibrating in perfect time with the music; and I know no mortal -hands had hold of the drumsticks, and for the time the thought was irresistible -and constant that spirits controlled them. After two or three tunes -on the drums, the tamborine was taken up and beat with such violence, -that I expected every moment it would be dashed to pieces, at the same -time it was making rapid circles in the room and dashing from one place -to another, and occasionally thrust almost in my face, so that I was afraid -it would hit me. Then the French harp would be played, and then the -drums, harp, and accordeon altogether; then a strange kind of unearthly -noise would sing in concert with the music. Interspersed between the -tunes upon the harp was talking through the horn, the horn frequently -passing through the room, over and around us at the same time.</p> - - -<h5>THE MANIFESTATIONS CONTINUE, AND THE HEAD SPIRIT WRITES A -COMMUNICATION.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1512"></a>1512. At one time there was talking around the room, so as to disturb -those that were anxious to hear every thing, when suddenly there came a -shriek that was truly terrific; such a sound as Milton might suppose -would be made by an imp of the infernal regions. The horn then said: -“Keep silent.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1513"></a>1513. Koons talked some time with the voice in the horn and harp; -then asked him to write a communication for me. We then heard the -rattling of paper, and the phosphorus began to show itself, was taken up -in a hand, showed the hand. It then got a pencil, took some paper, and -laid it on a table close before me, and wrote on it, making the same sound -that a pencil always makes in rapid writing; then made some flourishes on -the paper below the writing, threw down the pencil, handed the paper into -my hand, and threw the phosphorus on the floor in front of Mr. Koons, -who took it up and handed it to the hand again; it then threw it in the -corner of the room, and said, “Good-night,” when Mr. Koons lighted a -candle. I examined the paper that the hand had given me, and found it -was my paper, which I had placed on the table, with a private mark on it. -There were four lines written on it in a good legible hand, and following -the ruled lines on the paper as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>300</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1514"></a>1514. “Well, friend, we return our regards to you for the interest you -have manifested in our presence and performance; we now take our -leave. Farewell.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">King</span>.” -</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">At Koons’s</span>, Thursday, June 21. -</p> - -<p><a id="para_1515"></a>1515. We have much more of a performance than usual, and one highly -satisfactory. Among other things, after they had finished playing a tune, -Mr. Schenick, who sat next to me, and who plays the violin very well, -said, “King, won’t you hand me the other fiddle?” It was taken up and -handed to him over my head, thumbing the strings as it passed. “Yes,” -it said, “I will give you the fiddle; you do not want the bow, I suppose.” -“Oh, yes,” said Schenick, “I want the bow, too.” The horn said, “Can’t -you get along without it?” Schenick answered, “I can’t play very well -with my fingers.” Then the bow was handed to him, the horn named a -tune, and both fiddles began to play, accompanied by the drums and the -accordeon, and a number of voices sang, something like human voices.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1516"></a>1516. Then the tamborine was played with much spirit, and passed -rapidly around the room. At the same time it made stops in front of a -person, touched them gently on the shoulder, head, or somewhere else, -playing all the while; then passed to another, and so on. It passed me, -and dropped into my wife’s lap. It then flew over Van Sickle’s head, -made a great flourish, lit on it, and began to press down; and Van says, -“Bear down; I can hold you up.” He then said there was the weight of -a large man put on his head; it also passed to a number of others, and -pressed down on their heads. Mr. Koons then asked him to lay the tamborine -on my head, which it did immediately, bearing down, I should think, -with a weight of twenty pounds: I raised up my hand and took hold of -it, when it started up, and I held on as fast as I dared for fear of breaking -the Tamborine; it then passed around and came to my wife, and pressed -gently against her head. This, she said, she mentally requested it to do, -as she did not want it to bear down hard on her.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1517"></a>1517. Mr. Koons then said, “King, it is very warm here; won’t you -take Mrs. Gage’s fan and fan us?” But before he had finished speaking, -the tamborine began to fly around the room like lightning, breathing a strong -current of wind, and fanning all in the house. Then the phosphorus was -taken up and darted around the room like flakes of lightning, and a hand -began to develop. We talked with the voice while this process was going -on, and tried to urge our spirit friends to write a communication for us. -When the hand was formed, it passed around the room and shook hands or -touched the hands of many of us. It took hold of my hand, and then of -my wife’s. We both felt the shape of a hand distinctly. It then got some -paper and a pencil, and laying the paper on the table, right in front of us, -began to write with great rapidity; covered one side of the sheet; turned -it over again, wrote five lines, signed it, filled the rest of the page with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>301</span> -flourishes, folded it, and placed it in my wife’s hand. It then flew around -the room, darting from the table up to the ceiling, there making three or four -distinct knocks, and darting down and up, repeating the knocks a number -of times in succession; it then passed all around the room, stopping and -showing the hand to all that wanted to see it. It then commenced darting -around the room again, and snapping its fingers as loud as a man could -do. It then threw the phosphorus in the back corner of the room, said -“Good night,” and was gone. Mr. Koons then lighted the candle, and my -wife read the paper which was given her by the spirit hand, as follows:</p> - - -<h5>THE SPIRIT’S LETTER.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1518"></a>1518. <i>To the Friends of this Circle</i>: After various inquiries made at -this circle, we deem it highly necessary to reply by stated reasons, why our -presiding spirit declines to give the names of the spirits present during -our performances at this room:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1519"></a>1519. 1st. Let the inquirer conceive himself entering a congregated -promiscuous assembly of persons, who are all anxiously awaiting his approach -under the discharge of some important and general mission, in behalf -of those in attendance. On entering the assembly, he looks around -upon his anxious inquirers, and sees them attended with their respective -safeguards, such as he never saw before. In the discharge of his official -duty, however, he is necessitated to exclude himself from the direct view -and intercourse of the safeguards, so as to be brought into a nearer relation -to the corresponding parties. The interlocution accordingly takes -place, when each one in turn begins to interrogate the speaker in his excluded -position, on subjects relating to their excluded guard, of which the -speaker knows but little or nothing, except the cognition of their presence -on his arrival; and in order to acquaint himself with the circumstances -and matters inquired after, so as to answer correctly, the speaker has to -disencumber himself at every inquiry, and not only so, but would also fail -to perform his <i>devolved</i> duty by submitting himself to the scrutiny and -criticism of the corresponding parties. Which, then, of the two requirements -would be of the most consequence—to discommode the general interest -of the assembly and that of his own official duty, or to omit the latter -and attend to the discharge of a more important and higher duty, by which -the peace and consoling riches would be augmented to the fulness of their -cup?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1520"></a>1520. Now, this is the position our presiding spirit occupies. When -himself and band enter the room, he recognises, many bright guardian -spirits interspersed among the promiscuous assembly, of whom he has no -knowledge. And in the discharge of their manifesting performances, they -necessarily must assume physical incumbrances, which shuts them from a -direct view of the attending spirits; and as many questions that are led -in relation to them so often, the corresponding spirit has to disrobe him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>302</span>self -so as to give a correct relation, to say nothing of the possibility of receiving -and conveying wrong impressions from spirits who do not regard -the truth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1521"></a>1521. Given by Second King, at the council of the presiding band.</p> - - -<h5>THE ABOVE IS CERTIFIED TO.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1522"></a>1522. After this communication had been read, a certificate, setting forth -the above facts was drawn up and signed by all those present, as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1523"></a>1523. <i>Audience present.</i>—Portia Gage, Gage’s Lake, Ill.; John Gage, -Gage’s Lake, Lake county, Ill.; Solomon Bordon, Millfield, Athens county, -Ohio; Thomas Morris and wife, Hyram Schenick, Selah Van Sickle, Delaware, -Ohio.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1524"></a>1524. <i>Mediums present.</i>—Jonathan Koons, Abigail T. Koons, Nahum -W. Koons.</p> - - -<h5>CONCLUDING REMARKS.</h5> - -<p><a id="para_1525"></a>1525. When a person comes here and sees the rooms, and finds them -open all day for the children to run in and out of, and for visitors to examine, -and sees there are no juggler’s tools about, and no place to keep -them; the mediums and all engaged are of that artless stamp, and in their -whole appearance, bearing, and conduct, so marked with honesty and sincerity -of purpose, that the idea of their being imposters, or of their psychologizing -their auditors, is simply ridiculous. That the music is not imaginary, -is proved in another way, if further proof is necessary; it can be -heard as well outside as inside of the houses, and is frequently heard by -the neighbours for miles around. There is no question about the manifestations, -and about their having all that superhuman or unaccountable character -that the most sanguine writers have given them. They rather seem to be -over-cautious about exaggerating any thing, and consequently fall far short -of conveying an adequate idea of the phenomena. Therefore, all we have -to do is to account for these existing facts, for the facts cannot be controverted. -The intelligence displayed is sometimes of a high order, and they -always claim to be spirits of men or women who have left the earthly form, -and passed to that undiscovered country from whose bourne it has been -said no travellers return. But of this every one can judge for themselves, -though it is difficult to imagine what they can be, if they are not spirits.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">John Gage.</span></p> - - -<h4><i>An Evening at Koon’s Spirit Room. By Charles Partridge, Esq., -New York.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1526"></a>1526. Sunday evening, 27th May last, I walked some three miles -through a wood over a very poor road, in the direction of what is called -the spirit rooms of Jonathan Koons. I noticed at the foot of a hill several -carriages by the roadside, and horses tied to the fence and trees; and -on reaching the place, I observed from thirty to fifty men sitting on stones,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>303</span> -logs, and fences around a dilapidated log-cabin. The men looked respectable, -and their deportment and conversation bore the impress of a religious -meeting. I inquired who lived there, and was informed that Jonathan -Koons lived in that house, (pointing to the cabin,) and <i>that</i> (pointing to a -small one near by) is the spirits’ room. I inquired what spirits lived -there, and was told that it was the room where people go in to talk with -their spirit friends who have gone out of their earthly tabernacle. On -inquiry as to what this gathering was for, I was informed that these people -had come to talk with their spirit friends and to witness spirit manifestations. -I was informed that I might go in—that everybody was free to -enter and examine the room, and to attend the circle. I selected a good -“soft” stone, and sat me down, a perfect stranger, with the other disciples. -I scrutinized the people closely, and listened to their conversation without -joining in it. I overheard one say that Mr. Koons was in his house. In -the course of half an hour a man came out, whom several persons addressed -as Mr. Koons; he glanced his eyes over the congregation; presently, two -men drove up, who, as I subsequently learned, came from Amesville, some -ten miles distant; they were entire strangers to me and I to them; they -looked around, spoke with some persons, and then with Mr. Koons, asking -whom he had there, &c., and finally asked him who I was, pointing me out -to Mr. Koons. Mr. Koons observed that he had not learned my name, -that I had just come; but he was impressed by spirits to say, “His name -is Charles Partridge, of New York.” Soon after, one of these men approached -me, and asked if I was Mr. Partridge, from New York. I answered -in the affirmative. “Charles Partridge?” “Yes.” “Well,” said he, -“the spirits told Mr. Koons who you were.” I had not overheard their -conversation, but such was the result of one of my tests as to the spirit -origin of these manifestations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1527"></a>1527. Mr. Koons and one of his children (a medium) went into the -spirit room alone, as is their custom before forming the public circle, to -receive such instruction from the presiding spirit (King) as he might wish -to communicate. There are often more persons present desiring to obtain -admittance than the room will hold. In such cases the spirit directs Mr. -Koons to especially invite those in who have come the longest distance, -and such as cannot remain there for another opportunity, usually calling -the names of the parties, and leaving out the neighbours and those who -can make it convenient to be present on subsequent occasions. At one of -these preliminary interviews, I was invited in by Mr. Koons. Immediately -on closing the doors, the spirit took up the trumpet, (described in my last -communication,) and spoke through it audibly and distinctly, saying, “Good -evening, friends!” to which we responded in like manner. The spirit -then addressed me by name, and observed, in substance, that although -they were strangers to me, I was not a stranger to them: they had been -cognizant of my thoughts, desires, and efforts in behalf of Spiritualism from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>304</span> -the time my attention was first called to the subject. They spoke in very -flattering terms of myself and others, who had been bold to testify to the -spiritual manifestations witnessed in the early times, and during the severer -trials and opposition. They had watched the <span class="allsmcap">TELEGRAPH</span> with anxious solicitude, -and with eminent satisfaction. They closed in a fervent benediction -and consecration to further and greater good and uses. After which this -spirit (King) said to Mr. Koons, that they could not hold a public circle -that evening, as he was elsewhere engaged. Mr. Koons expressed much -regret at this announcement, and said he felt much embarrassed and mortified, -because several persons were there who had come a long way; some -from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Canada, and other distant places. -The spirit said he was sorry, but he had engaged to attend a circle elsewhere, -(naming the place a long distance away,) and he must be there in -fifteen minutes. Mr. Koons would not be satisfied with any excuses, but -insisted that he (King) had agreed to preside over his circle, and meet the -company who came there; and rather than be made the instrument of -apology to others for the disappointment in the performances, he would -abandon it altogether, etc. King said, “Wait a few moments, and I will -go and see if arrangements can be made.” He thereupon laid down the -trumpet, and to all appearances left us, and we could get no further replies -for four or five minutes, when the trumpet was again taken up, and King -spoke through it, saying he had arranged the matter by deputizing a portion -of his band to fill his engagement, and they would therefore hold a -circle in that place, commencing the performance in fifteen minutes, but -perhaps they would not be able to make so good music, or have the full -complement of the manifestations. Thus ended this preliminary interview, -which sufficiently indicates the character of all similar ones.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1528"></a>1528. I attended three public circles in the spirit house of Mr. Koons, -and three in the spirit house of Mr. John Tippie; they are situated about -three miles apart; the rooms and manifestations are very similar, although -the electrical tables, so called, differ somewhat in their construction; the -presiding spirits are of the same name, King; they claim to be father and -son. These rooms will seat about twenty-five or thirty persons each, and -are usually full. Many times, while I was there, more persons desired to -go in than the house would hold, and some of them had to remain outside. -They could hear the music and the spirits’ conversation just as well, and -they only had to forego being touched by spirits and seeing them. The -music is heard, under favourable circumstances, at the distance of one mile, -or as far as any band of martial music can be heard. After the circle is -formed, the door and windows are shut, the light is usually extinguished, -and almost instantaneously, a tremendous blow by the large drumstick is -struck on the table, when immediately the bass and tenor drums are beaten -rapidly, like calling the roll on the muster-field, waking a thousand echoes. -The rapid and tremulous blows on these drums are really frightful to many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>305</span> -persons. This beating of the drums is continued five minutes or more, -and when ended, King usually takes up the trumpet and salutes us with -“Good evening, friends,” or something like it, and often asks what particular -manifestations are desired. If none are specially asked for, King often asks -Mr. Koons to play on the violin, the spirit band playing at the same time -on the drums, triangle, tamborine, harp, accordeon, harmonica, etc. etc.; -upon these the spirits perform scientifically, in very quick and perfect time. -They commence upon each instrument at one instant, and in full blast, and -stop suddenly after sounding the full note, showing that they have some -more perfect method than we have of notifying each performer of the instant -to start and stop. After the introductory piece on the instruments, -the spirits often sing. I heard them sing. The spirits spoke to us, requesting -us to remain perfectly silent. Presently, we heard human voices -singing, apparently in the distance, so as to be scarcely distinguishable; -the sounds gradually increased, each part relatively, until it appeared as if -a full choir of human voices were in our small room, singing most exquisitely. -I think I never heard such perfect harmony; each part was performed -with strict attention to its relative degree of sound or force. There -was none of that flopping, floundering, ranting, and shrieking which constitutes -the staple of what is latterly called music; <i>harmony</i>, rather than -<i>noise</i>, seemed to constitute the spirits’ song. So captivating was it, that -the heartstrings seemed to relax or to increase their tension, to accord with -the heavenly harmony. It seems to me that no person could sit in that -sanctuary without feeling the song of “Glory to God in the highest, peace -on earth, and good-will to man,” spontaneously rising in the bosom, and -finding expression on the lip. I don’t know that the spirits attempted to -utter words with their song; if they did, they succeeded in this particular -no better than modern singers. But it was hardly necessary for the spirits -to articulate, for every strain and modulation seemed pregnant with holy -sentiments, and language could scarcely signify more. After this vocal -performance, several pieces of quick music were performed by the spirits -on the several instruments. They play faster than mortals usually do, and -in most perfect time throughout. If any instrument gets out of chord, -they tune it; they tuned the violin in my presence, and did it rapidly and -skilfully.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1529"></a>1529. Spirits reconstruct their physical bodies, or portions of them, from -similar elements, apparently, as those which constitute our mortal bodies. -Spirits’ hands and arms were reorganized in our presence, on several of -these occasions; and that we might see the more distinctly, they sometimes -wet their hands with a weak solution of phosphorus, (which Mr. Koons -prepared some time previous by their request,) which emits a light, so that -their hands can be almost as distinctly seen in a dark room as they could -be if the room were light. At one of these circles which I attended, there -were three hands which had been covered with this solution of phosphorus,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>306</span> -and we all saw them passing swiftly around the room, over our heads, carrying -the instruments, and playing upon the violin, accordeon, triangle, -harmonica, and tamborine, and all keeping perfect time. These instruments -were moved so swiftly and near the faces of the audience,—our own -among them,—that we felt the cool atmospheric current as distinctly as we -do that produced by a fan. Several of the company in different parts of -the room remarked that they not only felt this disturbance of the air, but -heard it, and distinctly saw the hand and instrument pass close to their -faces. Several of us requested the spirits to place these instruments in our -hands, or touch us on our heads or other parts of our bodies; and in most -cases it was instantly done. I held up my hands, and requested the spirits -to beat time with the tamborine on my hands. They did so, and gave -me more than I asked for, by striking my knees, hands, and head in a similar -manner. I have seen the tamborine players in the minstrel bands of -New York; I have seen the best performers in the country; but they cannot -perform equal to these spirits. The perfect time and the rapidity with -which they beat are truly surprising.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1530"></a>1530. Spirit hands with phosphorus upon them passed around the -room, opening and shutting, and exhibiting them in various ways and positions -which no mortal hand could assume or occupy—demonstrating them -to be veritable spirit hands, physically organized. The phosphorescent -illumination from these hands was so distinct, that it occurred to me I could -see to read by it; and I took a pamphlet from my pocket, and asked the -spirit to place the hand over it, that I might see if I could read by the -light. The spirit did so, when I at once perceived that I held the pamphlet -wrong end up. I turned it, and could read. The members of the -circle remarked that they could see very plainly my hands, face, and the -pamphlet I held, and as distinctly could see the spirit’s hand and a portion -of the arm. I then put out my hands, and asked the spirits to shake -hands with me; they did so almost instantly. I then asked them to let -me examine their hands, and they placed them in mine, and I looked at -them and felt them until I was entirely satisfied. Others asked the same -favour, and it was readily granted them. These spirit hands appeared to -be reorganized from the same elements that our hands are; and, except -that they had a kind of tremulous motion, and some of them being cold and -death-like, we could not by our senses distinguish them from hands of -persons living in the form.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1531"></a>1531. This spirit hand took a pen, and we all distinctly saw it write on -paper which was lying on the table; the writing was executed much more -rapidly than I ever saw mortal hand perform; the paper was then handed -to me by the spirit, and I still retain it in my possession. At the close of -the session the spirit of King, as is his custom, took up the trumpet and -gave us a short lecture through it—speaking audibly and distinctly, presenting -the benefits to be derived, both in time and eternity, from intercourse<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>307</span> -with spirits, and exhorting us to be discreet and bold in speech, diligent in -our investigations, faithful to the responsibilities which these privileges -impose, charitable toward those who are in ignorance and error, tempering -our zeal with wisdom; and finally closing with a benediction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1532"></a>1532. I am aware that these facts so much transcend the ordinary experience -of mortals, that few persons can accept them as true on any -amount of human testimony. I obtained the addresses of the following -named persons, and hope they will excuse me for the liberty I take in referring -to them in this connection, for the confirmation of my statements. -They were present at some or all the circles which I attended, when -these manifestations occurred: R. I. Butterfield, Cleveland, Ohio; William -D. Young, Covington, Ind.; George and David Brier, Rainsville, Ind.; -David Edger and daughter, Mercer co., Pa.; S. Van Sickle, Delaware, -O.; S. T. Dean, Andrew Ogg, and Geo. Walker and son, Amesville, O.; -Azel Johnson, Millfield, O.; W. S. Watkins, New York; Thomas Morris -and wife, Dover, O.; Dr. Geo. Carpenter, Athens, O.; Thomas White, -Mount Pleasant, O. Many other persons were present, whose names I did -not learn.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Partridge.</span></p> - - -<h4><i>Experience of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1533"></a>1533. The following communication from Governor Tallmadge to Mrs. -Sarah H. Whitman, of Providence, R. I., has been in print for some time, -and came out early, when Spiritualism had made too little impression to be -duly appreciated. I for one, at the period of its first publication, could -not realize it. But the public are now better prepared, and it may be repeated -with advantage. Besides, this work is made for the uninformed -and incredulous, rather than for those who have been heretofore converted, -and who are familiar with the earliest manifestations.</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Baltimore</span>, <i>Tuesday, April 12, 1853</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1534"></a>1534. <i>Dear Madam</i>: I seize a few leisure moments, while detained -here a short time on business, to give you a more extended account of the -“Physical Manifestations” to which I alluded in a former letter. In this -account, I shall confine myself to those which purport to come from the -spirit of John C. Calhoun.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1535"></a>1535. I have received numerous communications from him, from the -commencement of my investigation of this subject down to the present -time. Those communications have been received through rapping mediums, -writing mediums, and speaking mediums. They are of the most -extraordinary character. In style and sentiment, they would do honour to -him in his best days on earth.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1536"></a>1536. After the arrival of the Misses Fox in Washington City, in February -last, I called on them by appointment, and, at once, received a communication -from Calhoun. I then wrote down and propounded <i>mentally</i> -the following question:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>308</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1537"></a>1537. “Can you <i>do</i> any thing (meaning physical manifestations) to -confirm me in the truth of these revelations, and to remove from my mind -the least shadow of unbelief?” To which I received the following answer:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1538"></a>1538. “I will give you a communication on Monday, at half-past seven -o’clock. Do not fail to be here. I will then give you an explanation.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">John C. Calhoun.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1539"></a>1539. It is proper here to remark, that all the communications referred -to in this letter, were made by Calhoun after a call for the alphabet, and -were rapped out, letter by letter, and taken down by me in the usual -way. They were made in the presence of the Misses Fox and their -mother. I called on Monday at the hour appointed, and received the following -communication:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1540"></a>1540. “My friend, the question is often put to you, ‘What good can -result from these manifestations?’ I will answer it. It is to draw mankind -together in harmony, and convince skeptics of the immortality of the -soul.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">John C. Calhoun.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1541"></a>1541. This reminds me that, in 1850, at Bridgeport, in the presence of -other mediums, among many questions put and answers received, were the -following, the answer purporting to come from W. E. Channing:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1542"></a>1542. <i>Q.</i> What do spirits propose to accomplish by these new manifestations? -<i>A.</i> To unite mankind, and to convince skeptical minds of the -immortality of the soul.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1543"></a>1543. The coincidence in sentiment of the answer of J. C. Calhoun -and W. E. Channing, in regard to the object of these manifestations, is -remarkable, and worthy of particular notice. The concurrence of two -such great minds, whether in or out of the body, on a subject so engrossing, -cannot fail to command the attention of every admirer of exalted -intellect and moral purity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1544"></a>1544. During the above communication of Calhoun, the table moved -occasionally, perhaps a foot, first one way and then the other. After the -communication closed, we all moved back from the table, from two to four -feet, <i>so that no one touched the table</i>. Suddenly the table moved from the -position it occupied some three or four feet, rested a few moments, and -then moved back to its original position. Then it again moved as far the -other way, and returned to the place it started from. One side of the -table was then raised, and stood for a few moments at an angle of about -thirty-five degrees, and then again rested on the floor as usual.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1545"></a>1545. The table was a large, heavy, round table, at which ten or a -dozen persons might be seated at dinner. <i>During all these movements no -person touched the table, nor was any one near it.</i> After seeing it raised -in the manner above mentioned, I had the curiosity to test its weight by -raising it myself. I accordingly took my seat by it, placed my hands -under the leaf, and exerted as much force as I was capable of in that -sitting posture, and could not raise it a particle from the floor. I then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>309</span> -stood up in the best possible position to exert the greatest force, took hold -of the leaf, and still could not raise it with all the strength I could apply. -I then requested the three ladies to take hold around the table, and try -altogether to lift it. We lifted upon it until the leaf and top began to -crack, and did not raise it a particle. We then desisted, fearing we should -break the table. I then said, “Will the spirits permit me to raise the -table?” I took hold alone and raised it without difficulty. After this, the -following conversation ensued:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1546"></a>1546. <i>Q.</i> Can you raise the table entirely from the floor? <i>A.</i> Yes.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1547"></a>1547. <i>Q.</i> Will you raise me with it? <i>A.</i> Yes. Get me the square -table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1548"></a>1548. The square table was of cherry, with four legs—a large-sized -tea-table. It was brought out and substituted for the round one, the -leaves being raised. I took my seat on the centre; the three ladies sat at -the sides and end, their hands and arms resting upon it. This, of course, -added to the weight to be raised—namely, my own weight and the weight -of the table. Two legs of the table were then raised about six inches -from the floor, and then the other two were raised to a level of the first, -<i>so that the whole table was suspended in the air about six inches above the -floor</i>. While thus seated on it, I could feel a gentle vibratory motion, as -if floating in the atmosphere. After being thus suspended in the air for a -few moments, the table was gently let down again to the floor!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1549"></a>1549. Some pretend to say, that these physical manifestations are made -by electricity! I should like to know by what laws of electricity known -to us, a table is at one time riveted, as it were, to the floor, against all the -force that could be exerted to raise it; and at another time raised entirely -from the floor, with more than two hundred pounds weight upon it?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1550"></a>1550. At a subsequent meeting, Calhoun directed me to bring three -bells and a guitar. I brought them accordingly. The bells were of different -sizes—the largest like a small-sized dinner-bell. He directed a drawer -to be put under the square table. I put under a bureau-drawer, bottom -side up. He directed the bells to be placed on the drawer. The three -ladies and myself were seated at the table with our hands and arms resting -on it. The bells commenced ringing in a sort of chime. Numerous raps -were made, as if beating time to a march. The bells continued to ring -and to chime in with the beating of time. The time of the march was -slow and solemn. It was beautiful and perfect. The most fastidious ear -could not detect any discrepancy in it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1551"></a>1551. The raps then ceased, and the bells rang violently for several -minutes. A bell was then pressed on my foot, my ankle, and my knee. -This was at different times repeated. Knocks were made <i>most vehemently</i> -against the underside of the table, so that a large tin candlestick was, by -every blow, raised completely from the table by the concussion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1552"></a>1552. I afterward examined the underside of the table, (which, it will<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>310</span> -be recollected, was of cherry,) and found <i>indentations</i> in the wood, made -by the end of the handle of the bell, which was tipped with brass. Could -electricity make those violent knocks with the handle of the bell, causing -indentations and raising the candlestick from the table at every blow? Or -was it done by the same invisible power that riveted the table to the floor -and again raised it, with all the weight upon it, entirely above the floor?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1553"></a>1553. Here the ringing of the bells ceased, and then I felt sensibly and -distinctly the impression of a hand on my foot, ankle, and knee. These -manifestations were several times repeated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1554"></a>1554. I was then directed to put the guitar on the drawer. We were -all seated as before, with our hands and arms resting on the table. The -guitar was touched softly and gently, and gave forth sweet and delicious -sounds, like the accompaniment to a beautiful and exquisite piece of music. -It then played a sort of symphony, in much louder and bolder tones. And, -as it played, these harmonious sounds becoming soft, and sweet, and low, -began to recede, and grew fainter and fainter, till they died away on the -ear in the distance. Then they returned and grew louder and nearer, till -they were heard again in full and gushing volume, as when they commenced. -I am utterly incapable of giving any adequate idea of the beauty -and harmony of this music. I have heard the guitar touched by the -most delicate and scientific hands, and heard from it, under such guidance, -the most splendid performances. But never did I hear any thing that -fastened upon the very soul like these prophetic strains drawn out by an -invisible hand from the spirit-world. While listening to it, I was ready to -exclaim, in the language of the Bard of Avon—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1555"></a>1555. “That strain again; it had a dying fall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, it came o’er my ear like the sweet south</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That breathes upon a bank of violets,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Stealing and giving odour.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1556"></a>1556. After the music had ceased, the following communication was -received:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1557"></a>1557. “This is my hand that touches you and the guitar.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">John C. Calhoun.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1558"></a>1558. At another time, the following physical manifestation was made -in the presence of General Hamilton, General Waddy Thompson, of South -Carolina, and myself:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1559"></a>1559. We were directed to place the Bible on a drawer under the table. -I placed it there, completely closed. It was a small pocket Bible, with -very fine print. Numerous raps were then heard, beating time to “Hail -Columbia,” which had been called for. Soon the sounds began to recede, -and grew fainter and fainter, till, like the music of the guitar, they died -away in the distance. The alphabet was then called for, and it was spelled -out, “Look.” I looked on the drawer and found the Bible open. I took -it up and carefully kept it open at the place as I found it. On bringing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>311</span> -it to the light, I found it open at St. John’s Gospel, chapter ii. being on -the left side, and chapter iii. being on the right side. I said, “Do you -wish us to look at chapter ii.?” <i>A.</i> “No.” “Do you wish us to look -at chapter iii.?” <i>A.</i> “Yes.” And it was then said, “Read.” I commenced -reading the chapter, and significant and emphatic raps were given -at many verses; and at verses 8, 11, 19, 34, <i>most vehement</i> raps were -given. By looking at these verses, you will appreciate the significancy -and intelligence of this emphatic demonstration. This manifestation purported -to come from Calhoun, who had previously invited us three gentlemen -to be present at a particular hour.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1560"></a>1560. In reflecting on the preceding manifestations, one cannot but -marvel at the power by which they are made, and the <i>intelligence</i> by which -that power is directed. And it would seem impossible for one to doubt -the source of that intelligence. If, however, doubt should still remain on -the mind of any one acquainted with similar manifestations, that doubt -must be entirely dispelled by the account of the manifestation which -follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1561"></a>1561. I was present, by Calhoun’s appointment, with the Misses Fox -and their mother. We were seated at the table as heretofore, our hands -and arms resting upon it. I was directed to put paper and pencil on the -drawer. I placed several sheets of unruled letter-paper, together with a -wood pencil, on it. I soon heard the sound of the pencil on the paper. -It was then rapped out, “Get the pencil and sharpen it.” I looked under -the table, but did not see the pencil. At length I found it lying diagonally -from me, three or four feet from the table. The lead was broken -off within the wood. I sharpened it, and again put it on the drawer. -Again I heard the sound of the pencil on the paper. On being directed -to look at the paper, I discovered pencil marks on each side of the outer -sheet, but no writing. Then was received the following communication:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1562"></a>1562. “The power is not enough to write a sentence. This will show -you that I <i>can</i> write. If you meet on Friday, precisely at seven, I will -write a short sentence.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">John C. Calhoun.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1563"></a>1563. We met, pursuant to appointment, took our seats at the table, -our hands and arms resting on it as usual. I placed the paper with my -silver-cased pencil on the drawer, and said:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1564"></a>1564. “My friend, I wish the sentence to be in your own handwriting, -so that your friends will recognise it.” He replied, “You will know the -writing.” He then said, “Have your minds on the spirit of John C. -Calhoun.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1565"></a>1565. I soon heard a rapid movement of the pencil on the paper, and -a rustling of the paper, together with a movement of the drawer. I was -then directed to look under the drawer. I looked, and found my pencil -outside of the drawer, near my feet, but found no paper on the drawer -where I placed it. On raising up the drawer, I discovered the paper all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>312</span> -under it. The sheets were a little deranged, and on examining, I found -on the outside sheet these words: “<i>I’m with you still</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1566"></a>1566. I afterward showed the “sentence” to General James Hamilton, -former Governor of South Carolina, General Waddy Thompson, former -Minister to Mexico, General Robert B. Campbell, late Consul at Havana, -together with other intimate friends of Calhoun, and also to one of his sons, -all of whom are as well acquainted with his handwriting as their own; and -they all pronounced it to be a perfect <i>fac simile</i> of the handwriting of -<span class="smcap">John C. Calhoun</span>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1567"></a>1567. General Hamilton stated a fact, in connection with this writing, -of great significance. He says that Calhoun was in the habit of writing -“I’m,” for “I am,” and that he has numerous letters from him where the -abbreviation is thus used.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1568"></a>1568. Mrs. General Macomb has stated the same fact to me. She says -that her husband, the late General Macomb, has shown to her Calhoun’s -letters to him, where this abbreviation “I’m” was used for “I am,” and -spoke of it as a peculiarity of Calhoun.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1569"></a>1569. How significant, then, does this fact become! We have not only -the most unequivocal testimony to the handwriting itself, but, lest any -skeptic should suggest the possibility of an imitation or a counterfeit, this -abbreviation, peculiar to himself, and known only to his most intimate -friends, and which no imitator or counterfeiter could know, is introduced -by way of putting such a suggestion to flight forever.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1570"></a>1570. This “sentence” is perfectly characteristic of Calhoun. It contains -his terseness of style, and his condensation of thought. It is a text -from which volumes might be written. It proves—1. The immortality of -the soul; 2. The power of spirits to revisit the earth; 3. Their ability to -communicate with relatives and friends; and, 4. The identity of the spirit -to all eternity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1571"></a>1571. How one’s soul expands with these sublime connections! How -resistless is this testimony of their truth! How surprising that men can -doubt, when this flood of living light is poured upon them by spirits who, in -the language of Webster, “revel in the glory of the eternal light of God.”</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">Very truly yours,</span> <span class="smcap">N. P. Tallmadge</span>.<br /> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman</span>, Providence, R. I.</p> - - -<h4><i>Letter from Mr. D. H. Hume.—Spiritualism in London.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1572"></a>1572. The author of the letter which comes under this head has already -been introduced to the readers of this work, in giving an account of the -manifestations observed through his mediumship, (<a href="#para_393">393</a>.)</p> - -<p class="padd"> -<span class="smcap">Ealing Villa, near London</span>, July 26, 1855.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1573"></a>1573. * * * In London I found but a limited number, comparatively -speaking, who possess any intelligent or rational idea of the spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>313</span> -philosophy. The subject has not made any great advance here; but those -who are investigating include in their number some of the best minds of -England. The first call I received was from Sir Charles E. Ischam, who -has proved a most excellent friend to me. A day or two after this I received -an invitation from Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton to visit him at his -country-seat at Knebworth. I accepted his invitation, and had an interesting -and delightful visit.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1574"></a>1574. I was deeply interested in Sir Edward, who is, by birth, education, -and mind, a most superior person. His love of the beautiful, in -nature and art, but especially in nature, is manifested at every part of his -wide domain. Knebworth was originally built by a follower of the Conqueror, -and was, in the year of the Armada, occupied by Queen Elizabeth. -The state-room contains the bed upon which her majesty slept. It has -rich velvet hangings—the same which shaded the slumbers of Queen Bess. -The room of the extensive library contains the oak table at which Cromwell, -Pym & Co. sat while planning the rebellion. * * * We had some -manifestations at our <i>seances</i> almost as good as those we had at-—- ‘s -in your place. The spirits showed their presence in the same palpable -way, by presenting tangible hands, shaking hands, &c., and Sir Edward -“acknowledges the corn,” to use a Yankee vulgarism. He is much interested -in the subject, and has bestowed no small share of thought upon -the matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1575"></a>1575. I have also had the pleasure of being presented to the Marchioness -of H-—-s, Baroness G-—-y R-—-n. She is a highly intellectual -and altogether charming lady, who possesses much native refinement -and a fearless desire to learn and follow the <span class="allsmcap">TRUTH</span>. I met, too, the Earl -of E-—-e and the Marquis of C-—-e, at one of our circles a few evenings -since. A most kind friend I also found in the Vicomte de St. Amirro, -Chargé d’Affaires from Brazil, who has given me valuable letters to France. -I am to meet him and his lady (both investigators) the coming autumn at -the Neapolitan court.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1576"></a>1576. I enclose a paragraph from one of the London journals, giving a -sketch of an interview I had with Lord Brougham and Sir David Brewster. -The latter, as you are well aware, wrote that article in the <cite>Edinburgh -Review</cite>, some months ago, in which he argued against the existence of -spirit agency in the production of the manifestations, and in which he -denounced the whole matter, in the bitterest terms, as a delusion and an -imposition. His article has been eagerly and widely quoted by the opponents -of Spiritualism on both sides of the Atlantic, and its statements are -doubtless believed by those who are incapable of appreciating or comprehending -the truths which they assail.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1577"></a>1577. Sir David, however, has for once met with a “<i>stumper</i>,” for he -has seen and felt such manifestations of his spirit friends as to completely -upset his philosophy. He frankly confessed that he is “sorely puzzled”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>314</span> -at what he has witnessed, and Lord Brougham acknowledges himself to -be thoroughly nonplussed. Both of these noted men brought the whole -force of their keen discernment to bear upon the solution of the phenomena; -but the presence of substantial, actual hands, and the demonstrative -strength of the spirits who thus clothed themselves for the time and -moved material objects about the room, proved to be too much of a question -for them to master.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1578"></a>1578. Time will not allow me to mention the various interesting sittings -I have had, nor the many distinguished personages who have been in our -circles during my short stay in London. I am at present enjoying the -quiet of an English country home. The gentleman with whom I am stopping -(Mr. Rymer) is one of the most distinguished solicitors in London. -He has been a <i>materialist</i>, or disbeliever in a future state, all his life previous -to witnessing these demonstrations of spirit existence. He is now a -believer (or rather a <i>knower</i>) of the future life. The manifestations, so -often scoffed at by professing Christians, have done for him, as they have -for upward of twenty-five thousand infidels and atheists in America, what -no power of the pulpit or doctrine of evangelical religion could ever have -effected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1579"></a>1579. Is not this one fact alone a sufficient reply to the oft-repeated -question of “What good does it all do?” There is many a broad-loving -soul that, failing in the effort to narrow itself down to the limits of a dogmatical -creed, has ended in infidelity or blank atheism; but the number -of these is becoming steadily less by the influence of the spirit manifestations, -which are to them what the placing of the hand in the spear-wound -was to Thomas. Mr. R., since his conversion, has given a lecture on the -subject, and will give another.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1580"></a>1580. One thing I will not omit. Mrs. Trollope, whom Americans -will be apt to remember, came, with her son, from Florence to London for -the express purpose of seeing the manifestations. They were accordingly -invited to spend a few days with me at my village home; and, I must say, -I was agreeably disappointed in her. My previous ideas of her had not -been such as to prepossess me in her favour, but I have become an admirer -of her private character. She has none of the stiffness of the author -about her, nor any of the “blue-stocking.” She enjoys the realities of -existence more fully than any one I have ever met in a circle.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1581"></a>1581. The <i>seance</i> with her was one of strange interest. Her son was -an unbeliever, and his mother was very desirous that he should be -“brought to a knowledge of the truth.” When at length the light <i>did</i> -beam upon his soul, and the chords of his spirit vibrated in unison with -the celestial harmonies that ushered in the birth of faith through the -shadows of his old unbelief, the result was too much for his stoicism, and -the tears of holy joy coursed down his manly cheeks. <i>Her</i> joy was too -great for utterance, and her rapturous emotions seemingly too great to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>315</span> -endured. It was an impressive scene, and an occasion of deep interest. -There are many such in the life of a spirit medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1582"></a>1582. In a few weeks I leave England for the Continent, in company -with my friend, Mr. Rymer. We intend to reach Rome in November, -where we purpose to spend a few months, if his holiness will let us. You -shall hear from me again.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap6">Yours truly,</span> <span class="smcap">D. H. Hume</span>. -</p> - -<p>The following is the article referred to as having appeared in the London -Journal:</p> - - -<h4><i>Lord Brougham with the Spirits.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1583"></a>1583. “A circumstance which has excited the most extraordinary sensation -among the privileged few who have been admitted within the sphere -of its operations, has taken place at Ealing, a village on the Uxbridge -road. A young gentleman, named Hume, a native of Scotland, but who -has resided for many years in America, is now on a visit at the house of -Mr. Rymer, a highly respectable solicitor. Mr. Hume is what the Americans -term a ‘medium,’ and through his instrumentality some extraordinary -and, if true, miraculous, occurrences have taken place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1584"></a>1584. “The spirits of deceased persons have been heard and felt in -Mr. Rymer’s house, and a variety of circumstances have taken place, -which the persons who were present affirm could not have been produced -except by supernatural agency. One of the spirits is supposed to be that -of a son of Mr. Rymer, a little boy about eleven or twelve years of age, -who has been induced to write to his parents under the cover of the table, -and the writing is, to all appearances, precisely similar to that of the child -when alive. Mr. Rymer, who is thoroughly convinced of the <i>bonâ fides</i> -of the affair, has invited several persons to witness the manifestations, -and among them the Rev. Mr. Lambert, the incumbent, who has become -a devout believer in the existence of these communicative spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1585"></a>1585. “Some rumours of the spirit manifestations having reached Lord -Brougham, the medium had an interview with the noble and learned lord -in the presence of Sir David Brewster, when several unaccountable revelations -were made, and even Lord Brougham has confessed himself amazed -and sorely bothered to comprehend the description of agency by which an -accordeon is forced into his hands and made to play, or his watch taken -out of his pocket and found in the hands of some other persons in the -room; for such are among the vagaries performed by the Ealing spirits. -The house of Mr. Rymer is, of course, besieged by persons anxious to -witness the manifestations, and scarcely a night passes that some scoffer -is not converted into a true believer in the mystery of spiritual manifestations.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>316</span></p> - - -<h4><i>Evidence afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1586"></a>1586. The following is the summary of the result of the investigation -of spiritual manifestations by the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of the Baptist -Church, Nashville, Tennessee.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1587"></a>1587. His sentiments are of a nature to need no recommendation, as -they appeal to the head and the heart. He is one of the advocates of -Spiritualism of whom we have reason to be proud. It is from his work, -entitled “A Record of Communications from the Spirit Spheres,” that -this summary is quoted:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1588"></a>1588. “You will now allow me to sum up briefly the phenomena I -have witnessed since my investigations began:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1589"></a>1589. “First. I have seen tables and other furniture moved, with and -without hands; heard distinct and sometimes loud raps on the ceiling, -floor, and furniture of various rooms, which were changed from one locality -to another, as doubts arose as to any unobserved causes, to which we would -have attributed them but for the transition; have heard them upon my -person, clothing, pillow, pulpit, and still have them in almost every serious -hour of thought and meditation, and have them near me as I write; and -I find this experience to be that of hundreds who, with me and others, -believers and skeptics, have witnessed or realized all I here state to -be true.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1590"></a>1590. “Second. I have heard, in the presence of scores, whose names -are at any man’s command who may desire them for an honest reference, -native Americans, who never spoke a word of German, discourse for hours -in that tongue, in prose and poetry, in the presence of native Germans, -who pronounced their addresses pure specimens of the power of their language. -I see, daily, lengthy essays and books written under what claims -to be spirit intelligence, above, far above, the capacity and culture of the -instruments through whom they are written. There is scarcely a day in -which I do not receive such communications; and if a day passes without -it, it is my neglect, not that of the intelligence, that seems ever ready to -speak when a proper medium can be secured. At home and abroad, in -the houses of strangers and acquaintances, such mediums have described -the age, appearance, time of death, and the peculiarities of character of -the deceased relatives of persons present, and where they could have had -no acquaintance with them, and, in many instances, could not have known -of their existence or death. I have had meetings of mediums who knew -nothing of each other occur at my house and elsewhere, without their -knowledge, and to which they were brought from a distance of miles, and -which seemed as inexplicable to them as to me, until after some effect for -their benefit was secured by their meeting, and explained by their spirit -monitors. To prove the identity of spirit intelligences, communicating to -me through others, they have detailed private conversations held with me<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>317</span> -during their earth life; referred to incidents and events of which the mediums -could have known nothing; described, accurately, occurrences taking -place at a distance of hundreds of miles; answered questions that had -been written in my private records for future investigation, months after -they had passed from my active memory; stated the state of my investigations -of various subjects, with the folly or wisdom, as they regarded it, -of my difficulties; leaving me, on the whole, no choice as to whether I -would regard them as what they claimed to be, save that of honest conviction -or the most shameless hypocrisy. Allow me to say, therefore, that -there is no event of history, no fact in mental philosophy, no conclusions -in logical dialectics, more fully and forcibly established, in my convictions, -than the following:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1591"></a>1591. “<span class="smcap">I believe, I know, that I have held, and now frequently -hold, communion, intelligible and improving, with -kindred and elevated spirits, who have passed from fleshly -sight.</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1592"></a>1592. “You will not be surprised, therefore, at my willingness to risk -reputation, the dearest ties of friendship, and prospects of earthly gain -and honour, if need be, in the avowal and propagation of this faith, and -the results to which it must inevitably lead. God knows, and every intimate -friend on earth knows, that I would hesitate, long and seriously, to -avow a faith that was doubtful in my own mind, or of doubtful influence -for good in my dim foresight, where so much is apparently at stake. I -think I may safely appeal to my past life as proof that the dearest personal -and earthly considerations have often been sacrificed, where it was -thought my action would affect the interests or happiness of others. -Know, then, that it is from the maturest consideration of duty, and the -obligation that every man owes to truth and right, and especially when -truth and right are ridiculed and denounced, that I detail to you these -results of a long experience and the most serious and solemn investigations -of my life. Willingly, I cannot find it in my heart to disappoint a friend -or injure an enemy. And with such friends as in the providence of God -have surrounded me, who have proved themselves true and enduring -when every form of bigotry and animosity were aroused against my position, -reputation, and influence,—with all this pressure of enmity and -friendship upon me, you must know, and all will hereafter know, that -nothing but loyalty to conviction and a desire to preserve privileges I have -learned to esteem above what men call life or death, could induce me to -lay these facts before the world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1593"></a>1593. “If it be asked what good we expect to effect by the statement -of these facts, we answer, the spread of truth upon the dearest, purest, -and holiest relations of man, and the breaking away of the clouds that -gather around the mind of man in view of death and futurity, the darkness -of which can nowhere be more distinctly felt than in the asking of suc<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>318</span>h -a question. The purity, angelic loveliness, and divine holiness that such -a faith, if firmly based, must secure, inspires the loyal soul as with heavenly -beatitudes in the contemplation. Its power to restrain and reform; -to soften the hard heart of evil indulgence; to expose the still harder -heart of bigotry and religious denunciation; to moisten the eye of criminal -effrontery, which the hypocrisies of the world have made stern and fixed; -to bring the strong man of selfish apathy, as a child once more in company -with his brother-children, at the feet of maternal or sisterly tenderness, -whose earthly bodies have long since been entombed; to keep down the -unnatural separations of families beneath the manly wisdom and fatherly -affection of one who claims all as his, and still needing his care; to turn -the scoff of godless ribaldry into loving faith, and the shame of pulpit -curses pronounced upon <i>human</i> brethren and by <i>human</i> beings, of eternal -doom, into blessings of eternal help; to make all, yes all, realize an inner -religion, which worships at the altar of eternal truth and unchangeable -love. With such aims and prospects before us, to ask what is the good of -general, tangible spirit intercourse, is to ask the good of immortality, of -heaven, and of God.”</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">An Exposition of views respecting the principal facts, causes, and peculiarities -involved in Spiritual Manifestations; together with interesting -phenomenal statements and communications. By <span class="smcap">Adin Ballou</span>.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1594"></a>1594. The preceding is the title of a work by the Rev. Adin Ballou, of -Hopedale, Massachusetts. It is among those which give what appears to -me available, well-considered facts and opinions respecting Spiritualism. -Mr. Ballou judiciously, as I think, disposes the spirit manifestations under -the following heads:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1595"></a>1595. “I. Those in which all the important demonstrations were most -evidently caused by departed spirits. II. Those in which some of the important -demonstrations were probably caused or greatly affected by undeparted -spirits. III. Those in which the demonstrations were of a heterogeneous, -incongruous, or derogatory character.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1596"></a>1596. “The following is a statement of Mr. Ballou’s experience taken -from the work in question:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1597"></a>1597. “In this chapter I shall conclude what I have to say under my -first general head, by referring to a few particulars connected with cases -within my personal knowledge, and then stating the principal points of -doctrine taught by the spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1598"></a>1598. “I will not go into minute narration or description, but simply -mention the more important phenomena I have witnessed. I have heard -multiform sounds in the presence of spirit media, purporting to be made -by departed spirits; some like the tickings of a small watch, others like the -clicking of a common clock, others like the loud knocking of a labouring -man on the door of his neighbour with his knuckles, others like the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319"></a>319</span> -scratching of a hard finger-nail on a board, others like the creaking of a -door or window, &c. &c. I have heard the time and metre of tunes beaten -out with the utmost accuracy, and by several rappers in unison—not only -while the tune was being played or sung, but afterward, without accompaniment. -And I am as certain that these sounds were not made by any -conscious mortal agency, as I am of the best-authenticated facts in the -common transactions of life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1599"></a>1599. “I have seen tables and light stands of various size moved about in -the most astonishing manner, by what purported to be the same invisible -agency, with only the gentle and passive resting of the hands or finger-ends -of the medium on one of their edges; also, many distinct movings of -such objects, by request, <i>without</i> the touch of the medium at all. I have -sat and conversed by the hour together with the authors of these sounds -and motions, by means of signals first agreed on; asking questions and obtaining -answers—receiving communications spelled out by the alphabet—discussing -propositions sometimes made by them to me, and <i>vice versâ</i>; -all by a slow process, indeed, but with every possible demonstration of intelligence, -though not without incidental misapprehensions and mistakes. -I have witnessed the asking of mental questions by inquirers, who received -as prompt and correct answers as when the questions were asked audibly to -the cognition of the medium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1600"></a>1600. “I have known these invisibles, by request, to write their names -with a common plumbago pencil on a clean sheet of paper—half a dozen -of them, each in a different hand. To make sure of this, as an absolute -fact, the medium was required to lay her left hand, back downward, in -the hollow of a veracious person’s hand, both open; when a piece of pasteboard -paper was laid on her hand, a well-examined blank sheet of writing-paper -placed thereon, and a lead pencil on top of <i>that</i>; in which position -(the medium’s right hand being held up to view,) both the hands, with -these fixtures resting on them, were placed under the leaf of the table, as -insisted on by the <i>writers</i>. After a minute or two, at a given signal by the -spirits that they had <i>done</i>, the paper was exhibited with various names -written thereon, as above affirmed. This was repeatedly tested with the -same results, under circumstances putting all suspicion of fraud and jugglery -entirely at rest.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1601"></a>1601. “I have requested what purported to be the spirit of a friend, -many years deceased, to go to a particular place, several miles distant from -that of the <i>sitting</i>, and to bring me back intelligence respecting the then -health and doings of a certain relative well known to the parties. In -three minutes of time the intelligence was obtained, numerous particulars -given, some of them rather improbable, but every one exactly confirmed the -next day by personal inquiries made for that purpose.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1602"></a>1602. “I have been requested by the invisibles to speak on a particular -subject, at a given time and place, with the assurance that responses should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>320</span> -be made on the occasion, by knockings, approving the truths uttered; all -which was strikingly verified. Once, at a most unexpected interview, when -nothing of the kind had been previously thought of by any person present, -a spirit, so purporting, who had several times evinced much interest in my -public labours, spelled out:—‘Have you selected your subjects of discourse -for the next Sunday?’ Only <i>one</i> of them, I answered. Would -my <i>spirit friend</i> like to suggest a text for the other part of the day? -‘Yes.’ What is it? I inquired. He spelled out the word ‘The,’ and -ceased. Wondering at his silence, the signal of another spirit was given. -The new-comer communicated by <i>movings</i> of the table, not by <i>raps</i>, like -the other. He said that our friend, the <i>rapper</i>, had been suddenly summoned -away for a few moments, but would certainly return soon. He <i>did</i> -return within fifteen minutes, resumed his communication just where he -left it, and spelled out—‘<i>The second chapter of first Corinthians, the -twelfth and thirteenth verses.</i>’ No man in the room had the least recollection -of the words referred to. So the Bible was called for, when the -text proved to be the following:—‘<i>Now we have received, not the spirit -of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the -things that are given to us of God. Which things we also speak, not in -the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; -comparing spiritual things with spiritual.</i>’ Struck with the sublimity, -purity, richness, and force of the passage, I answered that I accepted -it thankfully, as a very appropriate text for the occasion referred to, and -would endeavour to illustrate its great truths as well as I might be able. -My <i>spirit friend</i> expressed great pleasure by sounds rapidly made on the -table, and announced that he and several other sympathizing spirits should -be present to hear the discourse, and, if the <i>medium</i> should also be there, -would manifest their approbation of the good things uttered. All this -was verified in a remarkable manner.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1603"></a>1603. “I have seen a medium gently magnetized and thrown into a -trance in one minute, by the imperceptible influence of the spirits, in accordance -with their own original proposition, reluctantly acceded to by the -medium and her friends; during which sometimes she had visions of the -spirit world, and at others became entirely non-cognizant of every thing -transpiring in either world. In the latter case, the spirits, as previously -promised, made use of her organs of speech, unconsciously to herself, and -thus answered numerous questions, instead of responding by the rappings. -That these trances were not superinduced by mortal agency, and were not -<i>feigned</i>, but <i>real</i>, I am as certain as I can be of any thing not absolutely -beyond the possibility of mistake.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1604"></a>1604. “I might proceed much further in the particularization of manifestations -coming under my personal observation, but will not make myself -tedious. Suffice it to say, that I have witnessed enough with my own eyes -and ears to prepare me for the belief of the still more incredible manife<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321"></a>321</span>stations -reported from a thousand places in our country and the world. I -will merely add, that I have received many excellent communications from -these invisible friends, and scarcely a single one of a light, frivolous, or -low character; though I know that in this respect my experience has been -unlike that of some others. I can say in truth, speaking for myself alone, -that my whole moral nature has been purified and elevated by the influences -which have flowed in upon me during the investigation of this subject. -Others, I am sure, can say the same. There are those, no doubt, -who have abused the whole thing—befooling themselves and others in a -lamentable manner. What is there in the wide world that has wholly -escaped abuse and perversion? Reason, inspired and crowned with the -wisdom from above, is indispensable to the avoidance of these evils. Until -a much larger portion of mankind than at present attain to the development -of their higher faculties, we must expect the abuse and perversion, -to a greater or less extent, of every thing in nature. ‘But wisdom -is justified of all her children.’”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1605"></a>1605. The following statement of A. H. Jarvis, a Methodist clergyman, -of Rochester, New York, is copied from Mr. Ballou’s work. It is one of -those manifestations in which the information conveyed cannot be conceived -to have pre-existed in the mind of the person by whom it was -received:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1606"></a>1606. “There are many facts which have come under my observation, -equally convincing of the intelligence and utility of the communications -from these unseen agents, who, I now believe, are continually about us, -and more perfectly acquainted with all our ways, and even our thoughts, -than we are with each other. But the fact in reference to my friend -Pickard is what you desire. He was at my house on Friday afternoon, -April 6, 1849. None of the Fox family were present. While at the tea-table, -we had free communications on different subjects. Pickard was requested -to ask questions. He desired to know who it was that would answer -questions. The answer was—‘I am your mother, <span class="smcap">Mary Pickard</span>.’ -Her name, or the fact of her death, was not known to any of us. The -next Monday evening he (Pickard) was at Mr. G-—- ’s, and tarried there -over night. He there received a communication, purporting to be from -his mother, saying, ‘Your child is dead.’ He came immediately to my -place, and said he should take the stage for home, (Lockport, sixty miles -distant.) He left in the stage at 8 or 9, <span class="allsmcap">A. M.</span> At 12, <span class="allsmcap">M.</span>, I returned -to my house, my wife meeting me with a telegraph envelope. I broke the -seal and read mentally, first:</p> - -<p class="padd"> -“‘<span class="smcap">Rochester</span>, April 10, 1849.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1607"></a>1607. “‘By telegraph from Lockport—the Rev. A. H. Jarvis, No. 4 -West St.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1608"></a>1608. “‘Tell Mr. Pickard, if you can find him, his child died this -morning.—Answer.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">R. Mallory.</span>’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322"></a>322</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1609"></a>1609. “I then read it to my wife, and said, ‘This is one of the best and -most convincing evidences of the intelligence of those invisible agents;’ and -then I added, ‘God’s telegraph has outdone Morse’s, altogether.’</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap6">“Yours, truly,</span> <span class="smcap">A. H. Jarvis.</span>’</p> - -<p class="nind"> -“To <span class="smcap">E. W. Capron</span>, <i>Auburn</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1610"></a>1610. The subjoined opinions of the spirits, taken from the volume -above mentioned, differ but immaterially from those which I have received; -proving that information respecting scriptural morals, when properly -sought, will be consistently obtained:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1611"></a>1611. “1. There is one and but one God, an infinite Spirit and the Father -of spirits. He loves all, and eternally seeks their good by all wise and -fitting means.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1612"></a>1612. “2. All human beings are spirits as to their absolute internal constitution, -and soon after death emerge into distinct conscious spiritual identities, -having bodies, forms, and peculiarities as obviously cognizable to -each other, and as distinguishable from each other, as here in the flesh.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1613"></a>1613. “3. All human beings possess certain mental and moral qualities, -partly constitutional, partly circumstantial, and partly self-wrought, which -determine for the time being each individual’s real spiritual character and -relative nearness to, or distance from, the divine standard of perfection. So -that each one is in a certain sphere, and in some circle or degree of that -sphere, as to his spirit, <i>always</i>, whether existing in the fleshly body or -after his dissolution. And if a person is spiritually in a certain sphere at -death, in that sphere he finds himself the moment he resumes his consciousness -in the spirit world, associated with kindred spirits.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1614"></a>1614. “4. There are seven spirit spheres, or circles,<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> inferior to the -heavenly or celestial spheres, and each sphere or circle has several degrees. -Man is a being by nature capable of progress, subject to certain fundamental -spiritual and moral laws. In conformity to these laws, he may now -progress from lower to higher spheres; <i>i. e.</i> he may draw nearer and nearer -to God; or, what is the same thing, nearer as a spirit to the divine standard -of perfection. But without conformity to these laws, he cannot progress, -but obscures and debases himself. Death does not change man’s -real character, nor his proper spirit sphere, nor his capability to make progress, -nor the laws of progress. No man is in a morally worse state, all -things considered, by reason of passing into the spirit world. The <i>worst</i> -even are, if any way affected, in a better state there than in the flesh. -They whose spirit sphere was purer, find themselves proportionally blessed. -Many remain very long in the lower spheres, where, though enabled to -enjoy existence in the degree possible at such a distance from the divine -focus of blessedness, they are ‘spirits in prison,’ and wretched in com<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323"></a>323</span>parison -with those in the paradisaical spheres. Their existence is a blessing -to them even while thus <i>low</i>, and there is no such place or state as a -<span class="allsmcap">HELL</span> of unmitigated, hopeless misery. Meantime, God, angels, and all -the higher spirits, are for ever seeking the elevation of the inferior spirits, -by all just, wise, and appropriate means. And no one, however low and -sluggish of progress, will finally fail to be attracted upward, obediently to -the divine laws, from one degree to another, and from one sphere to another, -till he reach the heavenly mansion—even though it take an age of -eternities to complete his destiny.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1615"></a>1615. “5. Spirits in the higher of the seven spheres are employed in -three general exercises. 1. In religious aspirations, meditations, worship—in -striving after a more perfect knowledge of and communication with -God—whom they cannot see there any more than here, as a personal being, -but only in spirit by faith and intuition. 2. In study, self-examination, -contemplations of truth, and acquainting themselves with all useful -knowledge attainable by them. 3. In ministering to struggling spirits on -earth and in the lower spheres—endeavouring to elevate and bless them; -thus cultivating love to God, wisdom within themselves, and ever-active -benevolence to their inferiors in condition. Spirits in any circle can descend -into all the circles below their own, but cannot, except by special permission, -ascend into a higher sphere, until qualified by spiritual progress.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1616"></a>1616. “6. Mankind are by nature one family of brothers and sisters, -the offspring of a common Father in heaven, whom they ought to love with -all their heart, and each other as themselves. The good of each is really -the good of all, and that of all the good of each. Therefore, no one can -injure another without injuring himself in the end. All kinds of tyranny -and oppression are utterly sinful. So all war, violence, revenge, and vindictive -punishment. So all intemperance, debauchery, and sexual pollution. -So all falsehood, covetousness, fraud, extortion, and pecuniary taking -of advantage. So all pride and domineering of superiors over inferiors. -So all religious bigotry, thrusting down, persecution, and sectarian bitterness. -So every thing contrary to personal holiness, to the piety which -loves God supremely, and man as a brother, whether friend or foe. These -reliable spirits are everywhere reformers, regenerators of the world, individually -and socially. They are for the reconciliation of all things—for -universal harmony—on the great principles of truth, purity, justice, love, -and wisdom. And they all predict a better future for the human race here -on earth, as well as in the future state.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1617"></a>1617. “7. It is the imperative duty of every human being to exercise -his own powers, faculties, reason, and judgment, with modesty, humility, -and firmness, and not to be overawed, borne down, or led away captive, by -any assuming spirit in or out of the flesh. Every one is accountable for -himself, and ought both to judge and act for himself, with supreme reverence -for God and his moral perfections, according to his own highest con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324"></a>324</span>victions -of truth and duty. Thus he should examine the Bible and all -books. Thus all human governments, authorities, powers, constitutions, -laws, customs, and usages, in church and state. Thus try all spirits, and -their communications—all pretended prophets, philosophers, and teachers—all -professions and assumptions whatsoever. No one should imperiously -dictate, or cower down before another. But truth, rectitude, reason, and -the suasion of wisdom, should alone sway the minds of moral agents.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1618"></a>1618. “Such is a fair digest and summary of the principal doctrines -put forth in ninety-nine one hundredths of the communications of reliable -spirits throughout the country. I have stated them in my own language, -as I have understood them. It will be seen that they differ in some respects -from every sectarian view of theology, religion, and morality now -popular in the world.”</p> - - -<h4><i>The Hon. J. W. Edmonds’s Testimony.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1619"></a>1619. To those who have not seen the original statement of the benevolent -and distinguished Judge Edmonds, respecting his conversion, the subjoined -account, taken from the introduction to his work on “Spiritualism,” -may prove interesting.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1620"></a>1620. “It was in January, 1851, that my attention was first called to -the subject of ‘spiritual intercourse.’ I had, in the course of my life, -read and heard from the pulpit so many contradictory and conflicting doctrines -on the subject (of man’s future existence) that I hardly knew what -to believe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1621"></a>1621. “For about four months I devoted at least two evenings in a -week, and sometimes more, to witnessing the phenomenon in all its phases. -I kept careful records of all I witnessed, and, from time to time, compared -them with each other, to detect inconsistencies and contradictions. I read -all I could lay my hands upon, on the subject, and especially all the -professed ‘exposures of the humbug.’ In fine, I availed myself of every -opportunity that was afforded thoroughly to sift the matter to the bottom. -I was all this time an unbeliever. At length the evidence came, and with -such force that no sane man could withhold his faith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1622"></a>1622. “To detail what I witnessed for those four months, and recorded, -would fill, at least, one hundred and thirty closely-written pages. I will, -however, mention a few things, which will give a general idea of that -which characterized interviews now numbering several hundred. Most of -them have occurred in the presence of others. I have preserved their -names in my records. * * * * * These considerations grow out of -this fact:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1623"></a>1623. “First. That I have thus very many witnesses whom I can -invoke to establish the truth of my statements.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1624"></a>1624. “Second. That if I have been deluded, and have not seen and -heard what I think I have, my delusion has been shared by many as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325"></a>325</span> -shrewd, as intelligent, as honest, and as enlightened people as are to be -found anywhere among us.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1625"></a>1625. “My attention was first drawn to the intercourse by the rappings, -then the most common, but now the most inconsiderable, mode of communing. -Of course I was on the look-out for deception, and at first relied -upon my senses, and the conclusions which my reason might draw from -their evidence. * * *</p> - -<p><a id="para_1626"></a>1626. “After depending upon my senses as to these various phases of -the phenomenon, I invoked the aid of science, and, with the assistance of -an accomplished electrician and his machinery, and of eight or ten intelligent, -educated, and shrewd persons, examined the matter. We pursued -our inquiries many days, and established, to our satisfaction, two things: -first, that the sounds were not produced by the agency of any person present -or near us; and, secondly, that they were not forthcoming at our will -and pleasure. In the mean time, another feature attracted my attention, -and that was ‘physical manifestations,’ as they are termed. Thus, I have -known a pine table, with four legs, lifted up bodily from the floor, in the -centre of a circle of six or eight persons, turned upside down, and laid -upon its top at our feet, then lifted up over our heads, and put leaning -against the back of the sofa on which we sat. * * * * I have seen a mahogany -centre-table, having only a centre leg, and with a lamp burning -upon it, lifted from the floor, at least a foot, in spite of the efforts of those -present, and shaken backward and forward, as one would shake a goblet in -his hand. * * * *</p> - -<p><a id="para_1627"></a>1627. “I have known a dinner-bell, taken from a shelf in a closet, rung -over the heads of four or five persons in that closet, then rung around the -room over the heads of twelve or fifteen persons in the back parlour, and -then borne through the folding-doors to the farther end of the front parlour, -and then dropped on the floor.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1628"></a>1628. “I have known persons pulled about, with a force which it was -impossible for them to resist; and once, when all my strength was added, -in vain, to that of one thus affected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1629"></a>1629. “I have known a mahogany chair thrown on its side, and moved -swiftly back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room -where there were, at least, a dozen people sitting. Yet no one was touched, -and it was repeatedly stopped within a few inches of me, when it was -coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken my legs.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1630"></a>1630. “This is not a tithe, nay, not an hundredth part, of what I have -seen, of the same character. At the same time, I have heard from others, -whose testimony would be credited in any human transaction, and which -I could not permit myself to disregard, accounts of still more extraordinary -transactions; for I have been by no means so much favoured in this -respect as some.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1631"></a>1631. “Intelligence was a remarkable feature of the phenomenon.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326"></a>326</span> -Thus, I have frequently known mental questions answered—that is, questions -merely framed in the mind of the interrogator, and not revealed by -him or known to others. Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down -alone in my room, and carefully prepared a series of questions to be propounded; -and I have been surprised to find my questions answered, and -in the precise order in which I wrote them, without my even taking my -memorandum out of my pocket, and when I knew that no person present -knew that I had prepared questions, much less what they were.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1632"></a>1632. “My most secret thoughts—those which I never uttered to -mortal man or woman—have been freely spoken, as if I had uttered them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1633"></a>1633. “I have known Latin, French, and Spanish words spelled out -through the rappings; and I have heard mediums, who knew no language -but their own, speak in those languages, and in Italian, German, and -Greek, and in other languages unknown to me, but which were represented -to be Arabic, Chinese, and Indian, and all done with the ease and -rapidity of a native.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1634"></a>1634. “I have seen a person who knew nothing of music, except a -little that he had learned at a country singing-school, go to the piano and -play in perfect keeping, as to time and concord, the several parts of an -overture to an opera.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1635"></a>1635. “When I was absent last winter, in Central America, my friends -in town heard of my whereabouts, and of the state of my health, seven -times; and, on my return, by comparing their information with the entries -in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1636"></a>1636. “I went into the investigation, originally thinking it a deception, -and intending to make public my exposure of it. Having, from my researches, -come to a different conclusion, I feel that the obligation to make -known the result is just as strong. Therefore it is, mainly, that I give -the result to the world.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">J. W. Edmonds.</span>”</p> - - -<h4><i>Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1637"></a>1637. Mr. Garrison is spoken of as a man of unimpeachable veracity -and independent mind. His testimony will have weight with one class of -inquirers, if not with another. The following is from the “Liberator” of -March 3, 1854.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1638"></a>1638. “We are often privately asked, what we think of the ‘Spiritual -Manifestations,’ so called, and whether we have had any opportunities to -investigate them.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1639"></a>1639. “When we first heard of the ‘Rochester knockings,’ we supposed -(not personally knowing the persons implicated) that there might be some -collusion in that particular case, or, if not, that the phenomena would ere -long elicit a satisfactory solution, independent of all spiritual agency. As -the manifestations have spread from house to house, from city to city, from -one part of the country to the other, across the Atlantic into Europe, till<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327"></a>327</span> -now the civilized world is compelled to acknowledge their reality, however -diverse in accounting for them—as these manifestations continue to increase -in variety and power, so that all suspicion of trick or imposture becomes -simply absurd and preposterous—and as every attempt to find a solution -for them in some physical theory relating to electricity, the odic -force, clairvoyance, and the like, has thus far proved abortive—it becomes -every intelligent mind to enter into an investigation of them with candour -and fairness, as opportunity may offer, and to bear such testimony in regard -to them as the facts may warrant, no matter what ridicule it may excite -on the part of the uninformed or skeptical.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1640"></a>1640. “As for ourselves, most assuredly we have been in no haste to -jump to a conclusion in regard to phenomena so universally diffused, and -of so extraordinary a character. For the last three years, we have kept -pace with nearly all that has been published on the subject; and we have -witnessed, at various times, many surprising ‘manifestations;’ and our -conviction is, that they cannot be accounted for on any other theory than -that of spiritual agency. This theory, however, is not unattended with -discrepancies, difficulties, and trials. It is certain that, if it be true, there -are many deceptive spirits, and that the apostolic injunction to ‘believe -not every spirit,’ but to try them in every possible way, is specially to be -regarded, or the consequences may prove very disastrous.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1641"></a>1641. “We might write a pretty long essay on what we have seen and -heard, touching this matter; but this we reserve for some other occasion. -We shall now merely describe some of the phenomena which we witnessed -in New York during our recent visit to that city.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1642"></a>1642. “The medium in this instance was Mrs. Brown, formerly Mrs. -Fish, of Rochester. The circle was composed of six gentlemen and four -ladies. The table was of ample dimensions, so as to accommodate the -party without inconvenience. We sat around it in the usual manner, (the -hands of each individual resting upon the table,) and engaged in social -chit-chat. While waiting for some demonstrations from the invisible -world, we had our right foot patted as by a human hand, and the right leg -of our pantaloons strongly pulled, by some unseen agency. This was done -repeatedly, though we said nothing at the time; but, thinking it might be -possible that the foot of some one of the company might undesignedly be -in contact with our own, we cautiously felt around to ascertain if this were -the case, but there was nothing tangible; and the moment we put our foot -down, the same familiar tappings and jerks followed. Still, we made no -disclosure. Raps were then distinctly heard, and the alphabet was called -for. Letter by letter, it was rapped out that the medium must put her feet -in the custody of one of the party, and then we were told to wait for demonstrations. -This was evidently done to convince every one present that -the medium had nothing to do with the phenomena, by way of fraud or -collusion; and, during the entire sitting, (a protracted one,) before any re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328"></a>328</span>markable -feat was performed, the medium was invariably ordered to take -such a position as to render it clearly impossible for her to be privy to it. -The presence of several spirits was indicated during the evening, and satisfactory -tests were made; but the most communicative and efficient one purported -to be that of ‘Jesse Hutchinson.’ It was he who had been playing -bo-peep with us under the table; and, now that the medium was secured, -to the satisfaction of all present, he renewed his salutations, not -only to us personally, but to nearly every one of the circle. The ladies -had their dresses, and the gentlemen their pantaloons, pulled, and their -feet patted, in the most emphatic manner. Heavy raps were now made -on the floor; and, on being requested to that effect, ‘Jesse’ beat a march—it -seemed to us Washington’s march—in admirable time, and in the most -spirited manner; no drummer could have done it more skilfully. He was -then asked to beat time, while the company joined in singing several -tunes—‘The Old Granite State,’ among others—which he did to perfection. -He then spelt out the following communications by the alphabet: -‘I am most happy, dear friends, to be able to give you such tangible evidence -of my presence. The good time has truly come. The gates of the -New Jerusalem are open, and the good spirits, made more pure by the -change of spheres, are knocking at the door of your souls.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1643"></a>1643. “Isaac T. Hopper now indicated his presence to his daughter, -who was at the table, and made some physical demonstrations. His message, -as rapped out, was as follows: ‘I am truly happy to echo back joy -and gladness from my happy home. Truth is bearing its way on gloriously, -and the subject of Spiritualism will work miracles in the cause of reform. -My friends, the rock of prejudice begins to yield to the hammer of truth; -and, now, with the aid of good spirits, you can blast it without the use of -powder.’ And he subsequently added, ‘I want you to see that spirits have -power to move matter.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1644"></a>1644. “It was next rapped out, ‘Put the bell under the table.’ We, -accordingly, took the bell, (an ordinary table-bell,) and put it down at our -feet. In a few moments, it was smartly rung by an unseen power, and -then fell to the floor. This was done again and again—the bell making -the circuit of the table, and ringing so loudly that the servant-girl, in an adjacent -room, supposing she was needed, came in to inquire what was wanted.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1645"></a>1645. “Next, a cane with a hooked handle was laid on the carpet, -under the table. Immediately, it struck the table violently, and rubbed -along the under surface its entire length. It then fell to the floor, and -traversed over and under the feet of several of the party, like a living -snake—in one or two instances the foot being involuntarily lifted to enable -it to pass under. Its movements were exceedingly curious. At one time, -we caught hold of the handle as it protruded itself by our side, and endeavoured -to pull it from under the table; but the resistance was as strong -as though another hand was grasping it at the opposite end.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329"></a>329</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1646"></a>1646. “We were now directed to put several things under the table, -observe how they were placed, and wait for results. When told to look, -we found that a penknife was missing, nor could it be discovered by the -most careful search. On again resuming our seats, we were told to take -another look; and, behold! there was the penknife, precisely where it -had been originally placed!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1647"></a>1647. “Next, we were directed to lay some writing-paper, with a pencil -upon it, under the table. This was done; and, in a few moments, on -being told to look, we found the word ‘Jesse’ written upon it in a scrawling -hand, as though made with great difficulty. The same experiment -was again made, and ‘Isaac T. H.’ (Hopper) was written very legibly, and -in a different hand. A third time this was done, and ‘Mary Jane’ was -recorded,—the name of a young lady who had been communicating with -a gentleman present. The first two autographs we have in our possession.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1648"></a>1648. “We now made two requests of ‘Jesse,’ to convince us yet -more strongly of his presence. The first was, to press our right foot -firmly to the floor, and to make loud raps directly under it. This was -quickly done, the foot being grasped as by a mortal hand, and vibrating -to the raps thus strangely made. The second was, if possible, to take us -by the right hand with his own, so as to make the touch palpable beyond -a doubt. Keeping the hand carefully in custody between our knees as we -sat—the hands of all the company, including those of the medium, being -on the table—we, in a few moments, had it patted, first on one side, then -on the other, briskly and repeatedly, as if by another hand, having a negative -feeling, as though there was no warmth in it, but natural in every -other respect. For the general gratification, the same thing was done to -others of the party.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1649"></a>1649. “How shall demonstrations like these be accounted for, except -on the hypothesis of spirit-agency? If we cannot positively affirm that -Isaac T. Hopper and Jesse Hutchinson were present on that occasion, we -are, at least, prepared to declare, as our own conviction, as well as that of -the entire company, we believe, that invisible spirits, not of this mundane -sphere, performed the phenomena we have thus briefly narrated to our -readers.”</p> - - -<h4><i>Testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Newton.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1650"></a>1650. The following is extracted from a highly interesting letter, entitled, -“The Ministry of Angels Realized,” addressed by Mr. and Mrs. -Newton to the Edward’s Congregational Church, Boston, of which they -were members. Mr. Newton is editor of the “New England Spiritualist,” -and sustains a reputation for high moral and intellectual attainment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1651"></a>1651. “The results, however, of this first investigation, at the time, were -(for reasons not then apparent, but which have since been made plain to us) -far from satisfactory. Though we witnessed some striking evidences of -invisible intelligent agency, there was nothing by which this agency could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330"></a>330</span> -be possibly identified; and the conclusion seemed most in accordance with -our previous opinions, that, if any agency beyond that of human beings -was concerned, it was that of evil and seducing spirits. Some months -subsequently to this, we were led to attempt the investigation under circumstances -more favourable to arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. * * * -The results of this interview were of the most surprising, yea, astounding -character. An intelligence, claiming to be that of a venerated parent, who -had long since passed within the veil, manifested its presence, and addressed -to one of us a communication glowing with parental affection, and breathing -the very spirit of the upper realm. This was accompanied by the -statement of a number of facts, pertaining to his earthly life, none of which, -we were fully satisfied, could have been known to any person, bodily -present, except the inquirer, and some of them unknown even to him. -Although the investigation had been approached with minds on the alert -and perceptions sharpened to detect collusion, imposture, deception, or diabolism, -in any of its forms, no trace of them could be perceived; all was -conducted with evident frankness and candour, on the part of those concerned; -and no solution of the mystery was then arrived at, and no adequate -one has since been offered, which does not recognise the agency of intelligent -beings. A trumpet-blast from the clouds could scarcely have been -more startling to our prejudices and unbelief than was that message from -the hidden world. * * * As may be well supposed, the interest awakened -by this occurrence was sufficient to lead to a further investigation. But a -truth so novel and startling could not at once be received, however demonstrative -and convincing the evidence on which it rested. Nor was it -until evidence had accumulated upon evidence, and proof become piled -upon proof—not until manifestations of the most marvellous character -had been repeatedly witnessed, under a great variety of circumstances, and -notwithstanding the application of every conceivable test—that we could -consent to acknowledge, even to ourselves, a belief in the agency of spiritual -beings. That belief, however, in spite of prejudice and skepticism, -in spite of the general cry of “humbug” and “imposture,” in spite of all -attempts of scientific men to explain the marvels on the basis of materialism, -(which explanations we found in every case to be wholly inadequate -to account for what we witnessed,) that belief became at length forced -upon our minds by irresistible evidence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1652"></a>1652. “But the question still pressed upon us, who were these invisible -beings? and what their character and designs? They claimed to be the -spirits of departed human beings. Some of them insisted that they were -our relatives and friends, and they furnished most startling and inexplicable -proofs of their identity. They professed to be thus manifesting themselves -to our outward senses, for the purest and holiest of purposes. * * *</p> - -<p><a id="para_1653"></a>1653. “The most favourable of opportunities were offered us for making -investigation, and they were carefully and prayerfully improved.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331"></a>331</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1654"></a>1654. “For several months did we continue to apply to what was transpiring -under our notice, through the mediumship of others, the keenest -powers of observation, and the highest exercise of moral perception, which -have been granted us; ever seeking light and aid from Him who has said, -‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1655"></a>1655. “At length, these intelligences from another sphere began to -manifest themselves to us in a manner most unlooked-for and diverse from -any thing we had elsewhere witnessed, in the quietness and seclusion of -our own home, and without the intervention of any other person. From -small and gentle beginnings, they have gone forward, as we were able to -bear the increasing light, to give greater, and higher, and clearer proofs -of the reality of their presence, their identity, and their heavenly mission; -until, through a period of six or seven months, we have been permitted, -as we believe, the almost daily enjoyment of the sweetest and most intimate -communion with the spirits of ‘just ones made perfect above.’</p> - -<p class="psig">“<span class="smcap">A. E. Newton,<br /> -S. J. Newton.</span>”</p> - - -<h4><i>Testimony of Members of the New York Circle.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1656"></a>1656. The following is a statement of facts by Mrs. Charles Partridge, -taken from the minutes of the New York circle, attested by several highly -respectable and credible persons, among whom is my personal friend, Doctor -Gray.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1657"></a>1657. “Persons at the circle have been unexpectedly turned round in -the chairs in which they were sitting, and moved to and from the table. -Chairs and sofas have suddenly started from their positions against the -wall, and moved forward to the centre of the room, when they were required -in the formation of the circle. The persons in the circle have -each successively lifted his own side of the table, and the invisible power -has raised the opposite side correspondingly. Occasionally the spirits -have raised the table entirely, and sustained it in air, at a distance of -from one to three feet from the floor, so that all could satisfy themselves -that no person in the flesh was touching it. Lights of various -colours have been produced in dark rooms. A man has been suspended -in, and conveyed through, the air, a distance of fifty feet, or more. The -communications have been given in various ways, but chiefly in writing, -and by the rappings through the ordinary alphabetical mode.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1658"></a>1658. “At the close of the session held on the 17th of November, 1851, -the spirits, through the alphabet, and in their usual manner, said, ‘We -wish to give you a sentence for you to find out and remember;’ when the -following was communicated: ‘<i>Debemos amar á todo el mundo aun á nuestros -enemigos.</i>’ No person present on that occasion understood a word -of this language, but we were subsequently informed that it was Spanish.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1659"></a>1659. “During the session on the 19th of January, 1852, the spirits sig<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332"></a>332</span>nified -their desire to make a communication in Hebrew. Mr. Partridge -asked who should call the alphabet, and received for answer, ‘The only -person present who understands it—George Bush.’ Professor Bush thereupon -proceeded to repeat the Hebrew alphabet, and a communication in -that language was received.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1660"></a>1660. “Many additional facts might be given to show that spirits communicate -in various languages through E. P. Fowler; but the above will -suffice for the purposes of this statement.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1661"></a>1661. “We cannot allow the present occasion to pass, without an expression -of the entire confidence and unqualified esteem with which Mr. -Fowler is regarded by the members of the New York circle, and by those -who know him generally. We have had an intimate personal acquaintance -with him for two years past—some of us for a much longer period—and -we have only known him as a high-minded and honourable young man. -From the beginning, he has steadily refused to accept the slightest compensation -for his time and services while employed in the capacity of a -medium; and we deem it but an act of simple justice to Mr. F. to record -the fact that, on all occasions, we have found him entirely unassuming in -his deportment, and eminently truthful in his life.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">R. T. Hallock, M. D.,<br /> -J. T. Warner, M. D.,<br /> -Almira L. Fowler,<br /> -A. G. Hull, M. D.,<br /> -W. J. Baner,<br /> -John F. Gray, M. D.,<br /> -Samuel T. Fowler,<br /> -Mr. & Mrs. Charles Partridge.</span>”</p> - - -<h4><i>Testimony of the Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1662"></a>1662. “This is to certify that, during a long investigation of the modern -phenomena which are now attracting attention in our own country -and in the old, I have repeatedly seen my own table, in my own room, to -which I know there is no nice machinery affixed for purposes of deception, -without any contact whatever of earthly kind, raised, tipped, moved about -the room, as if a strong man was there at work. Also, a piano-forte played -upon in the same way, without mortal contact, producing most beautiful -music—an ocean piece, in which a storm was represented succeeded by a -calm. These phenomena occurred in the presence of several other individuals -of both sexes, all of whom saw, and all of whom are ready to testify. -I have also received from a medium, who never saw me before, and knew -nothing of my family, the fact of my father’s death, his name, and a -perfect <i>fac-simile</i> of his handwriting; and this when I was not expecting -such handwriting, and could not have possibly imitated it, without a copy, -in the labour of three months.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">D. F. Goddard.</span>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1663"></a>1663. As this work may be read by many who have not perused any -other book on the subject of which it treats, I hope that those who take it -up, having a knowledge of the most important spirit manifestations heretofore -published, will excuse my quoting them here. My object is to fur<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333"></a>333</span>nish -the readers of this volume a reasonably, comprehensive view of Spiritualism, -without the necessity of their referring to works which may not -be easily accessible.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1664"></a>1664. To the cool Yankee sagacity of Mrs. Fox and her daughters, the -world is indebted for the happy result that these manifestations did not, -like those which preceded them in other parts of the world, end in a mere -inexplicable mystery, and erroneous inferences as to their origin. I allude -here to the well-known fact, that similar manifestations were made in the -early part of the last century, in Epworth, England, at the mansion of the -celebrated clergyman, Wesley, and that one of his daughters was endowed -with the attributes of a medium for many years, without the art of alphabetic -communication having been suggested.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1665"></a>1665. I might here republish the history of the famous “<i>rappings</i> and -<i>knockings</i>” at Hydesville and Rochester, in the State of New York; but -as regards evidence, they amount to about the same thing, only not so concentrated, -as those demonstrations which occurred at the residence of the -Rev. Dr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut. The doctor, who is a Congregationalist, -and one of the most worthy men in the world, became a convert -to Spiritualism in consequence of these manifestations, an account of -which is subjoined. I quote it from the excellent work of E. W. Capron, -Esq., entitled, “Modern Spiritualism, its Facts and Fanaticisms.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1666"></a>1666. I omit quoting the history of the abortive effort made by the -spirits to communicate with the Wesleys, but refer the reader to the account -published in a work entitled, “Memoirs of the Wesley Family,” -by Adam Clark, LL.D., second edition, 1846; or to the work of Mr. -Capron, already specified.</p> - -<h4 class="hang">Manifestations at Stratford, Conn., in the House of Rev. Eliakim Phelps, -D.D.—Remarkable Exhibitions of Power.—Singular Occurrences.—Image-making.—Destruction -of Furniture.—Incendiary Spirits.—The -Spirits identified.—Unhappy Spirits, from the remembrance of -wrong done in this World.—Wrong-doing revealed.—Directions given -for restoring ill-gotten Gains.—Discontinuance of the Manifestations.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1667"></a>1667. “While these strange occurrences were taking place at Rochester -and Auburn, and the press and people were busy in trying to account for -them on strictly mundane principles, making all manner of insinuations -against the character and motives of those who even dared to investigate -for themselves, some manifestations took place at Stratford, Conn., which -attracted attention to that quarter, as well on account of the character and -standing of the gentleman at whose house they occurred, as the very strange, -boisterous, and violent character of the manifestations. I have been allowed -to examine all the records kept of the occurrences by Dr. Phelps, and shall -be able, therefore, to present the history with more minuteness and accuracy -than has ever before appeared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334"></a>334</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1668"></a>1668. “The first disturbances took place on the tenth day of March, -1850, at the house of Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D. The house had been -occupied by him from the 22d of February, 1848. It is a large and genteel -country mansion, separated from the street by a fence forty-five feet -in front of the house; which is thirty-two feet in front, and, including the -piazza, seventy feet deep, with a hall thirteen feet wide, running through -the whole depth of the building. Adjoining, and opening from this hall, -are two parlours and a dining-room. On the second floor are five sleeping-rooms, -and on the third floor two. The kitchen is in the basement. The house -was built about the year 1829 or ‘30 by a Captain Dondall, who for several -years commanded a vessel in the China trade, and who died in the Bay of -Canton within two or three years after his family had taken up their residence -in the house. The property then passed into the hands of another -sea-captain, by the name of Purcell, who, with his family, occupied it for -several years. Captain Purcell dying suddenly in New York, the family -removed, and the house was occupied by an Episcopal clergyman for a -school a year or more, and afterward by a Mr -—-, also as a school for -boys.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1669"></a>1669. “None of the families who had thus far occupied the house had -ever been disturbed, or witnessed any thing aside from ordinary events. -At the death of Captain Purcell it became the property of the two daughters, -of whom Dr. Phelps purchased it during the month of November, -1847. For two years previous to this it had been unoccupied. Dr. Phelps -and family commenced their residence therein on the 22d of February, -1848. Nothing occurred to excite the attention of the family out of the -ordinary course of events until the 10th of March, 1850; and, as before -stated, nothing can be learned of any strange or unusual events occurring -there previous to that time. It will be observed by the dates given that -Dr. Phelps had occupied the house more than two years, had found it an -agreeable and quiet place of residence—having never himself or any member -of the family been disturbed or alarmed by unusual occurrences. On -the 10th of March, as above stated, it being the Sabbath, Dr. Phelps and -family, consisting of Mrs. Phelps, two daughters, and two sons, the eldest -a daughter aged sixteen, a son of twelve years, and a second daughter of -six years, children of Mrs. Phelps by a former marriage, and another son of -Dr. Phelps by the present marriage, not then three years old, all attended -church; and an Irish servant girl, who had been employed in the family -some six months, and had shown herself to be honest and trustworthy, had -gone on that day to Bridgeport, to attend the Catholic church. On leaving -the house in the morning, it appears that the doctor had secured the -chamber doors, and put the keys in his pocket; those which could be were -locked inside and the keys left in them. The only door by which the chambers -could be entered was locked, and the key taken by Dr. Phelps. He -also locked the front door inside, left the key in the lock, and, passing out at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335"></a>335</span> -the back door, locked that, and placed the key in his pocket. On returning -from church at noon, the front door was found standing open; the -chamber doors, which were left fastened, were now open; and in the nursery -the furniture was thrown about in disorder; chairs on the bed, and thrown -down upon the floor; the shovel, tongs, and poker, with other things, were in -unusual positions and places, every thing showing unmistakable signs of the -work of some rude hand making mischief in their absence. Upon discovering -the disorder here, Dr. Phelps passed into other rooms on the same floor, -but could see no further evidence of intrusion. The first supposition was, -very naturally, that some person or persons had entered and robbed the house. -Search was immediately made in the closets where silver plate, spoons, -forks, etc., were kept. All were found safe and undisturbed. A gold -watch, left in an exposed place, remained there as left. The impression -still remained that burglars had been in; and, on examination of the windows, -one was found that could be raised from the outside, and though there -was no evidence of entrance having been made there, no doubt existed that -this was the place of access. Thinking they might return during the afternoon, -Dr. Phelps remained at home, the other members of the family -going again to church. Being left alone, the doctor armed himself, and, -selecting a secluded position, awaited the return of the burglars. There -was no disturbance during the afternoon; no sound of footfall; all remained -quiet. On the return of the family, after the service, usually -closing at three o’clock, several other articles were found out of place, but -not in a way to make it certain that they were not moved in the morning. -Articles of kitchen furniture were changed about. A teakettle, which -had been used at dinner-time, was found hidden behind some boxes in the -cellar. The bread, sugar-bowl, eggs, and numerous other things kept in -the kitchen, were found where they did not belong, and where they had -evidently been placed in some way which the family could not account for. -Upon entering the middle chamber, occupied as a sleeping-room, a sheet -was found spread over the bed outside the counterpane, and beneath which -was a nightgown and <i>chemise</i> laid out with the arms folded across the -breast, with stockings placed in a position to represent, as it seemed, a -corpse disposed as is usual before placing it in the coffin. On the wall -were written characters resembling those said by certain clairvoyants to -belong to a spiritual language, but which none of the family were able to -decipher. Whether they had any significance, or how they came there, -was alike an unanswerable question by the family; they had not observed -them before. Occurrences ceased for that day and night, yet, no one -thinking of any mystery in the matter, they imputed it to roguish boys, -or others, who had effected entrance with false keys, for mischief rather -than for robbery, and that the culprits would soon be detected. The next -morning, March 11th, when the family went up stairs, after breakfast, the -middle chamber had again been visited, exhibiting much the same scene<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336"></a>336</span> -of disorder presented the previous day. A sheet was spread out upon the -floor, the washstand laid upon its back upon the sheet, a candlestick set -upon the stand, the washbowl placed upon one side, and the pitcher on the -other. The nightgown and chemise, used on the previous occasion to represent -a dead body, were found one in the bowl, the other in the pitcher. -It appears that these articles of clothing were not then in use; they had -been placed in a trunk which stood in a closet adjoining that room. They -were replaced in the trunk when removed from the bed the day before. -As they were conversing in relation to the disposition of the things as -above stated, Mrs. Phelps looked under the bed, and discovered articles -there, partially concealed by the bed, resembling those in question. They -were taken out and pronounced to be the same. Dr. Phelps had not before -examined them, but then took them, noted the name and number on each, -as they were marked, folded and placed them again in the trunk, remarking -that he would put them where they would stay; did not lock the trunk, -not having a key, but locked the closet and placed the key about his own -person; then requesting the family to all leave the room first, which they -did, the doctor, following, locked the door of the room, and kept the key. -Having observed that Mrs. Phelps seemed a little troubled as to the -mystery, he thought to convince her that there was no mystery in the -matter, and, having secured the closet and room, he descended to -the rooms below, following them all. After the lapse of some fifteen -minutes, some person spoke to the doctor, upon which he went up to the -chambers. At the head of the stairs, out in the hall, he found the same -articles which he had left as before stated. He examined them, and was -<i>positive they were the same</i>. He went to the door, found it locked, entered -by applying the key from his pocket, went to the closet, found it -locked, took the key from his pocket, opened the door, looked in the trunk, -and the articles were gone! Dr. Phelps states that he was confident -there was no deception in the case, and that he then, for the first, felt that -there was a mystery about the affair. He had never believed in the appearing -of ghosts or departed spirits, warnings, or any thing of that nature, -and, at the age of threescore, had never seen or heard any thing connected -with that class of phenomena. The evidence upon which such superstitions, -as he termed them, rest, he had never examined, and, while he had -no proof positive that they were impossible, and never did occur, he had -no evidence to found a belief upon that they ever had. His idea of spiritual -manifestations seems to have been that most, if not all, followed by -a strict scrutiny, might be accounted for on natural or known principles, -or some physical means, which would disrobe them of the mysterious altogether. -But it was not to rest here. On the same day (March 11th) the -moving and throwing of furniture commenced. An umbrella, standing at -the end of the hall, leaped, without visible assistance, a distance of at -least twenty-five feet. Dr. Phelps saw the movement, and knows there<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337"></a>337</span> -was no perceptible agency by which the motion was produced. A bucket, -standing at the head of the stairs, was thrown into the entry below. -Smaller articles, such as nails, forks, knives, spoons, bits of tin, iron, and -keys, were thrown from different directions about the house. He says, -‘There were times when they came from such directions that they <i>might</i> -have been thrown by some person in the house’—at least, that may be admitted; -but in very many cases the motion and point of starting were such -as to preclude all possibility of deception on the part of persons in the -rooms. During the afternoon, Dr. and Mrs. Phelps had occasion to go to -Bridgeport, a distance of some three miles. During their absence the -shovel and tongs, standing in the dining-room, were thrown violently down -the basement stairs; a piece of mourning-crape fastened to the knocker of -the back door, and the mirrors in the front chambers covered with sheets -and tablecloths, as is the custom in some parts of the country while a person -lies dead in the house. The crape on the door Dr. Phelps did not -see, but the covering on the mirrors he removed with his own hands. The -position of the mirrors in one room was such that the coverings could not, -without great difficulty, have been placed there by any person about the -house. Various articles were said to have been thrown about the room—the -phenomena continuing in his absence about the same as when he was -present in the fore part of the day. Soon after sundown all was again -quiet, and so continued through the night.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1670"></a>1670. “The next morning, (March 12th,) soon after the family were -up, the same phenomena began again; knives, forks, spoons, blocks of -wood, nails, etc. etc. were thrown from different directions, and with increased -frequency, attended by still stranger circumstances, and those of a -still more mysterious character. Mrs. Phelps expressed some alarm, and -a wish that some of the neighbours might be called in. Dr. Phelps -called on a retired clergyman of Stratford, a man of extensive information, -much experience, and sound judgment, who was universally admitted to -be capable of rendering correct judgment and good advice in such a case. -He requested him to call and spend an hour at the house, to which he -cheerfully consented. Dr. P. told him that his family had been a little -excited by some occurrences in the house, but did not state any of the -details of the matter, but desired that he would sit with them for a short -time and witness for himself. He remained all day, but was, at first, -firmly of the opinion that the occurrences were produced, in some way, -through the agency of the girl, or some other person about the house, and -his main attention was directed to the girl in the kitchen, or the children, -in the expectation that he should detect them in doing it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1671"></a>1671. “The door leading from the parlours to the kitchen was, by his -request, locked, and all communication between it and the other parts of -the house cut off; still, the throwing of articles went on as before. The -children were sent out of the room, and the doors locked; but this made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338"></a>338</span> -no difference. He stayed through most of the day on Thursday, and returned -soon after breakfast next morning, and remained most of the time -for nearly three weeks. He became satisfied, before the close of the second -day, that neither the girl in the kitchen nor the children had any agency -in producing the strange movements. During the day (March 12th) some -of the neighbours were in the house, and small blocks of wood were seen -to fall in different places in their presence; but only one person noticed -them in a way to excite inquiry, and that person was requested not to -mention what she had seen.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1672"></a>1672. “On Wednesday, March 13th, the manifestations commenced -early in the morning, in the middle chamber, the room in which two -children slept, and began while they were both asleep. A book, standing -in the library, ten or twelve feet from the bed, leaped from the shelf into -the middle of the room. The blower, which was in the grate, leaped out -on the floor, a distance of at least six feet, the noise of which first -awakened the children. At the breakfast-table several articles were -thrown; among them a large potato, which had been sent from Pennsylvania, -and laid up in a closet in the east chamber, fell on the table directly -by the side of Dr. P.'s plate, in a manner that no person could have done -it without instant detection. The doctor’s curiosity was much excited, -and he watched, with all the scrutiny he was capable, every person in the -room. He took up the potato and let it fall from different heights, in -order to determine how far it must have fallen to have made the concussion -that it did; and it was adjudged by all that the distance could not -have been more than twelve or fifteen inches.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1673"></a>1673. “Rev. Mr. —— came in soon after breakfast, and remained -during the day. Several Bibles were opened at different passages, which -seemed to be selected with a great deal of care, and indicated either by -placing small pieces of paper on them or turning down a leaf. These -things first occurred in the middle chamber, where the library stood. -While the family were at dinner similar things were done in the parlour -adjoining the dining-room. Two Bibles and an Episcopal prayer-book -were opened at different passages, chairs turned forward on the floor, two -solar lamps placed on the floor, a hat and man’s cap put one on each; -nearly every thing in the room had been moved, and in so <i>short a time</i>, -that it seems wholly inadmissible that any person about the house could -have done it; beside, the whole household were in the dining-room, all seated -at the table, except the servant, and she was employed waiting on the table.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1674"></a>1674. “In the afternoon the demonstrations were confined to the middle -parlour; Dr. and Mrs. Phelps, and Mr.——, and, a part of the time, -the eldest daughter, being present; in the absence of the daughter the -doors were locked, and the three first named only were present.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1675"></a>1675. “The throwing of various things occupied the afternoon. The -articles thrown were picked up and placed upon the mantel, and between<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339"></a>339</span> -the hours of one and four o’clock, the number amounted to forty-six; -among which were nails, bits of tin, iron, keys, and small blocks, all of -which were gathered from different parts of the house; most of them from -closets on the second floor and the chambers. At one time, while Mr. -M-—- was standing near the centre of the room, a padlock, which was -known to have been in the closet of the middle chamber, fell at his feet. -He took it in his hand, letting it fall from different heights, to discover -the probable distance it must have fallen to produce the concussion. After -various trials it was judged to have fallen not more than two or two and a -half feet. As Dr. P. was sitting, perhaps ten feet from the piano-forte, -he saw a small toy-mouse, which was on the piano, arise as if tossed, and, -describing a parabola as it came, fall at his side, so near that he took it -from the floor without leaving his chair. This he speaks of seeing as distinctly -as he ever saw any thing, the whole being perfectly in his view. -He also saw, in the same way, among other things, a nail, cotton-spool, -and key, arise from behind the sofa, which stood diagonally across the -corner of the room. He arose, went to the sofa, looking behind and under -it, but could discover nothing which might give impulse to the articles. -While examining the carpet about the sofa to find if any other things were -there, without success, as his eyes were directed to one spot, there arose -from that very point a piece of cheese-rind, perhaps eight inches from the -floor; when he saw it first it arose four or five feet, passed over the sofa, -and fell on the floor. He is positive it was not there when he was looking -at the carpet, and knows there were no visible means of its moving.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1676"></a>1676. “Mr. M-—- suggested, as he was about to leave on Wednesday -night, that if the strange phenomena should return, he would like to have -some other persons called in. Early the next morning, Thursday, the 14th, -the manifestations commenced about as they had on the previous day. -Soon after breakfast a sheet was found spread upon the floor, several -Bibles were opened at different places, the candlesticks, in a row, the -highest in the middle, and covered with a sheet; other articles changed -about the room, without any seeming design, more than to attract attention. -Mr. M-—- proposed that notes be despatched to Rev. Mr. W-—-, -Congregational minister, and Mr. Plant, a lawyer of high standing and -respectability, which was accordingly done. It was at this time that they -first began to hear rappings and heavy poundings. A loud sound, like -some person striking the floor with some heavy substance, was heard, -generally in the middle chamber. This was usually done when no one -was in the chamber, and on any one entering all was still. In one instance -a chair was seen to rise from the floor and beat down again, five or six -times, with a violence which caused the house to tremble so as to be felt -in all the adjoining apartments. A large plated candlestick, standing on -the mantel, was moved by some unseen power to the floor, and then rose -up and down, beating the floor, until the candlestick was broken. This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340"></a>340</span> -was the first article that was damaged about the house. Several times -during the day loud noises, like some one pounding with an axe or some -heavy substance on the floor, were heard in different parts of the house, -and several times the loud poundings terminated with a frightful scream; -it was not a cry of distress, or any thing that could be easily imitated, -seeming like something between the cry of a cat and the bleating of a calf, -but louder than either. These sounds occurred in all probably twenty -times while the manifestations were going on. Sometimes the screams -seemed to be in the third story, sometimes in the front-hall chamber, -several times out in the yard, and occasionally in other places. There was -at no time any audible expression of words. The sounds consisted of -poundings, knockings, and screamings. On this day the first images were -found, which will be spoken of more fully hereafter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1677"></a>1677. “In the evening of this day, just after some young ladies had -called, Dr. P.‘s daughter returned to the parlour, it being between nine -and ten o’clock. After seeing the young ladies to the door, an iron stand, -in which stood the fire-shovel, tongs, and poker, leaped from the hearth, -where it stood, into the middle of the floor, and rose up and beat the floor -with a force that made a jar that could be felt, and the sound heard, in -any part of the house. This was seen only by the daughter, but Dr. P. -and wife heard the noise. The daughter ran through the dining-room to -get up stairs, and, as she passed, a large table was standing, with the other -furniture, arranged for breakfast the next morning. The table was three -feet nine inches wide, and five feet three inches long, made of solid mahogany; -and when she entered the room it rose up and beat five or six -times against the floor with a force which made the house jar. The noise -was heard by many persons in the house. Mrs. P. was alarmed, and -screamed out, ‘Oh, take me from this place!’ This happened between -nine and ten o’clock, <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> Previous to this time all manifestations had -ceased by sundown, or a little after.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1678"></a>1678. “Soon after daylight on Friday, March 15th, movements similar -to those on previous days commenced. Henry, a lad then eleven and a -half years of age, attended the academy, and nothing had, thus far, ever -occurred to connect these strange phenomena with his presence. Dr. P. -had never heard or thought of particular persons being ‘mediums.’ But -on this day the remarkable occurrences seemed to be connected more or -less with this boy. His cap was torn on his head, so as to be entirely -destroyed. Another one which he put on was taken in the same way. -First a small hole opened in the crown; this gradually extended, and in a -short time it was torn into many pieces. On another cap characters were -made, apparently with chalk. They resembled those sometimes made by -persons in the higher mesmeric state, describing them as characters of a -spiritual language. Five or six of these characters were, at one time, -made on the boy’s cap. Others, supposed to constitute a sentence, were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341"></a>341</span> -written on a red pocket-handkerchief; others on his pantaloons and coat, -and on the <i>inside</i> of his sack-coat. Copies of these characters were -taken with great care, and were preserved till September following, when -they were mysteriously destroyed. From this time it became evident that -some of the phenomena had some kind of connection with this boy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1679"></a>1679. “An umbrella which he was carrying was, in a mysterious manner, -torn in several pieces. His pantaloons were torn from the bottom -upward, as high as the knee, and sometimes higher, and were literally torn -to ribbons, an inch or more wide. This occurred several times under the -immediate inspection of Rev. Mr. M., which seems to fix the fact that, -in those instances at least, no power visible did it. Thus it continued for -several weeks, clothing to the amount of twenty dollars being destroyed. -At one time, while he was riding in a carriage with Dr. P., his cap on his -head was torn in a mysterious manner, and his pants torn from the waistband -to the bottom, in a way that no human power could have done. Dr. -P. heard them torn, but could see nothing doing it, and knows the boy -could not have done it himself. It was on this day, March 15th, that -images, dressed in articles of clothing, were again seen; only two or three -appeared on that day. The most extraordinary occurrences of this kind -took place on Saturday, the 16th. Soon after breakfast two or three -images appeared in the middle chamber; soon again another, followed by -others still, numbering in all eleven or twelve. They were formed of -articles of clothing, found about the house, stuffed to resemble the human -figure. A lady’s dress would be stuffed in some cases with a muff; again -with a pillow, and sometimes with other dresses; a bonnet and shoes were -aptly placed to complete the figure. These, on this occasion, all but one, -represented females in the attitude of devotion, some having Bibles or -prayer-books placed before them. One, formed of Mrs. P.‘s dress, so -much resembled the real, that the little boy, scarce three years old, coming -into the room with his sister, older, whispered, ‘Be still, ma is saying -prayers.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1680"></a>1680. “A portable writing-desk, usually standing on the secretary in -the room, was taken and placed upon the floor, a towel spread over it, and -the image of a child kneeling beside it. A Yankee clock was taken from -the mantel in the nursery and placed upon the floor in the middle room, -a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that the clock was still -going when discovered in its new place, though it stopped some time after. -It does not appear that any of these images were seen in the process of -construction, or that the clothing, which was gathered from different localities, -was seen in the act of moving. When persons entered the room every -thing was still, the clothing about the floor, which, upon going in again -within a few minutes, were found wrought into forms. The marked rapidity -of their construction, and the lifelike appearance of them, seems to -have been truly wonderful. During this day several others than members<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342"></a>342</span> -of the family were present. In several instances, when the rooms were -closed and the doors guarded, so that no person could enter, the images -were constructed. To one reading or listening to the relation of these -facts, the mischief and cunning evinced will seem amusing as well as most -wonderful; but to the family, who bore the annoyance and witnessed the -terrifying demonstrations, it was a serious and trying affair.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1681"></a>1681. “The reader will keep in mind that this was on Saturday of the -first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were still believing -that they must be produced by some one in the house; every -member of the family therefore was subjected to the most rigid scrutiny, -which makes it morally certain that no member of the household could -have had any agency in the matter without being at once detected. Beside -the neatness and despatch with which they were formed, the natural appearance -of most of them must have required taste and skill beyond the -conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M. remained there -throughout the day, Mr. W., Governor Plant, and Captain S., a part of -the day. During the day and evening various things were thrown in different -parts of the house. A brick-bat, which lay on the stairs leading to -the third story, was thrown violently down stairs, passing very near the -head of the eldest daughter as she was descending the stairs. A fire-shovel -was also thrown near her, which she first saw high above her in a -position to fall upon her head. She was several times constrained to cry -out from fear, so much as to cause apprehension on her account.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1682"></a>1682. “[I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute -account of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has -now grown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having -her name mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon -was tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tight as to cause a -serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room when -it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on account -of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ materially -in their nature from the occurrences herein related.]</p> - -<p><a id="para_1683"></a>1683. “The hiding of hats, caps, clothing, &c., seems at this time to -have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was seen -to go up stairs—not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly by unseen -hands. For several days Dr. P. was forced to keep his hat under lock and -key to prevent its disappearance, if left out as usual. Coats, hats, and -canes of gentlemen, who were strangers in the house, were spirited away; -the only object seeming to be the gratification of mischievous desires, with -the exception of a few instances. They were found sometimes in the chimney, -under the bed, and in the bottom of trunks. The design seemed to -be to detain the owners to witness further demonstrations. Two gentlemen -from an adjoining town called, one of whom had expressed an earnest -desire to witness the phenomena; but having passed several hours, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343"></a>343</span> -seeing nothing, they were about to leave, when the person who expressed -the wish found himself minus a hat. A thorough searching followed, but -no hat could be found; consequently, the gentleman decided to remain until -the next day. During the evening and night, phenomena transpired -sufficient to gratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like -results, afterward occurred.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1684"></a>1684. “On the nineteenth and twentieth, little occurred to cause alarm. -Some of the family heard loud and frightful screams in an adjacent outhouse, -which must have been torturing to the feelings, much more so than -the silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the house. Reports -had now got abroad, and some excitement was being produced, as is -always the case in country towns, where each person knows their neighbour’s -private business quite as well, and sometimes better, than those most -interested. And in a matter of this kind all efforts to prevent publicity -would prove unavailing. Curiosity and staring wonder would overstep all -bounds of propriety and respect for the private rights and feelings of the -family, forgetting that it is no slight thing for the harmony and quiet of a -household to be invaded, each member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured -scrutiny, or careless reproach. On this subject I can speak from -experience, having myself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibility -it is a trial indeed. In this case, Dr. P. adopted the rule of giving -all who called an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and to this -rule he adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation -must have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered outside, -a stranger, who came unintroduced by letter or otherwise, asked to -spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1685"></a>1685. “On Friday and Saturday, March 23d and 24th, the disturbances -increased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams -were heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset -and dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought himself -suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and supposed -that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He was very much -frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family, and remained in a state -of great nervous excitement for two or three hours, and the effects did not -wholly wear off for more than a week. At times he was in such a state -as to require two men to hold him. For several days after this, he spent -a portion of his time with one of the neighbours during the day; but the -disturbances continued the same at the house, although he appeared to be -more or less the medium as long as the phenomena continued. At one -time he was thrown into a cistern of water; at another he was tied up and -suspended from a tree, and several times was thrown into a state of apparent -insensibility, in which he would remain from ten to fifteen minutes, -and for which no human cause could be assigned.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1686"></a>1686. “Somewhere about the 20th or 22d of March, Dr. P.‘s attention<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344"></a>344</span> -was called to a pamphlet, (Capron and Barron’s,) giving a history of the -‘mysterious noises’ at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who had -read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances in the -manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to questions. To -this the doctor objected, for reasons known to himself, but which may -readily be imagined by those knowing his position in life, and his general -opinions of such phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1687"></a>1687. “On the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the 3d of -April Harry also left. No manifestations took place while both were -away. Harry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks; but the very day -that Harry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power -than ever. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious -characters was dropped near the front door. These characters were -interpreted by a clairvoyant<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> to read as follows:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1688"></a>1688. ‘Fear not when he returns; all danger is o’er.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We came, we disturbed thy house; but shall no more.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Believe us not evil or good, till we prove</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our speech to humanity, our language of love.’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1689"></a>1689. This was supposed to indicate that no further disturbance would -be made; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was found -in the boy’s hat, in these words:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1690"></a>1690. ‘The good ones say that all is done,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But the wicked ones say it has just begun.’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1691"></a>1691. The ‘wicked ones,’ in this case, seemed to come nearer the -truth than the ‘good ones;’ for, on the afternoon of the eighth of April, -the breaking of glass commenced for the first time, by the breaking of a -pane in a mysterious manner. In the evening of the same day another -was broken during family prayers, some of the pieces falling inside and -some outside. There were no indications of any thing being thrown -against it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1692"></a>1692. From this time forward for several weeks glass was broken -almost daily, until the whole number of panes broken amounted to <i>seventy-one</i> -in the house and out-buildings. Most of them were broken by -something being thrown against them; among the articles were a brush, -a shoe, a poker, a fire-shovel, a candlestick, a pair of snuffers, books, and -numerous other things; occasionally a stone or piece of brick, thrown from -the outside.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1693"></a>1693. Dr. P. thinks it would have been possible, but not probable, that, -in some of these cases, they might have been broken by human agency; -but he was an eye-witness in some twenty or thirty cases, and knows that -they could not have been so done. He saw a brush, which he knew -to have been on a certain shelf but a moment before, and no person near<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345"></a>345</span> -the shelf, fly to the window, break out a glass, and fall down between the -shutter and sash, where he knew from the position that no one could -have thrown it. He saw a tumbler, which was standing on a bureau, rise -from its place, fly to the window, and dash out the only pane remaining -whole in the window, when no person was within twenty feet of it, and -the only persons in the room were himself and Harry, the latter standing -by the doctor’s side in the doorway of the room—a position in which it -was utterly impossible for him to have done it without detection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1694"></a>1694. The mysterious visitors, whoever they were, seemed at times -to be actuated by a spirit of sheer mischief in the destruction of property, -particularly glass and crockery. Even the glass in the carriage-top was -broken out. Pitchers of water were, on two or three occasions, poured -into the beds, and the pitchers and other vessels thrown about the room -and broken. The damage to furniture during the whole time was nearly -two hundred dollars. Sometimes there was a cessation of ‘hostilities’ for -two or three days; but they would then return with additional violence; -in fact, they increased gradually in violence from the beginning to the -middle of April. On the evening of that day, and during the night, they -were more violent and destructive than ever before. On the night of the -13th of April, loud pounding and beating, as with some hard substance, -were frequent in the room adjoining that in which Dr. P. slept; so loud -and continued were they, that at one o’clock no person in the house had -been able to sleep. Soon after, a small drawer was taken from a dressing-table, -and beaten so violently against the bedstead as to break it into -fragments, some of which were thrown against the windows, breaking -two panes of glass. The knockings were now transferred to Mrs. P.‘s -room. She was pinched, pricked with pins, and otherwise annoyed in a -manner beyond explanation ‘on any known laws of matter or mind.’ Mr. -W. C. was staying in the house that night. He went to the room by request, -and proposed to interrogate them, as they were then doing at Rochester -and other places in Western New York. Being left to act his pleasure, -he queried, and was replied to as follows: ‘Who are you? If a spirit, -knock.’ Immediately there were heard on the head of the bed distinct -knocks. <i>Q.</i>—‘Are you a good or bad spirit? If good, knock.’ To this -there was no answering sound. ‘If a bad spirit, knock.’ At once the same -sounds as before were heard. <i>Q.</i>—‘Will you spell your name if the alphabet -is called?’ <i>A.</i>—Knock. It was done; and a name was spelled out, and -a communication made of a most extraordinary character, detailing the -particulars of a transaction in which a portion of the family were said to -have been defrauded out of a large property. As this whole communication -relates to a matter which may yet come before the tribunals of our -country for adjudication, I am expressly prohibited from making any extracts -from this part of the journal. I regret this more, as the facts in -this case form one of the most wonderful and unaccountable cases on record.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346"></a>346</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1695"></a>1695. The family concluded that, after these important disclosures -were made, the disturbances would cease; but they were doomed to be -disappointed. The following night no communications were made, but -the throwing of articles and breaking of windows, crockery, etc., were -renewed with greater violence than before. Four or five panes of glass -were broken in one room in the space of half an hour. While the family -were together in the east chamber, a small sauce-dish, with an iron handle, -rose from the floor, under the washstand, and beat against the bedstead -with such violence as to break the handle off, and was then thrown back -from whence it started. It beat seven or eight times against the bedstead, -producing a noise that could easily be heard twenty rods. A round of a -chair was beaten against the bedstead in the same manner, when there was -no person within seven or eight feet of it. A lamp that was on the -mantel leaped into the middle of the floor, and was extinguished. Being -left thus suddenly in the dark produced no little agitation, and Mrs. -Phelps proposed that they should take the children and go into the street, -rather than stay in the house that night. In a few minutes two gentlemen, -who had appointed to spend the night with them, arrived, and the -more violent of the manifestations ceased.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1696"></a>1696. About this time, Dr. P.‘s attention was called to the fact that -the demonstrations were much more violent in the presence of some persons -than of others. While some were present they would cease entirely, -and commence as soon as they left, with great vehemence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1697"></a>1697. On the 17th the communications were renewed, and from that -time they had frequent communications, mainly respecting the property -affair. At one time they asked how they should know that this was -really from the spirit it purported to be, and requested his signature; -when in less than four minutes a small piece of paper, having on it an -exact fac-simile of his handwriting, was seen sticking to the wall—the -writing apparently done with a pencil. Dr. Phelps still preserves the -original paper, with the name inked over. It was stuck to the wall by -being made damp.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1698"></a>1698. It was now discovered that, in order to get the rapping, the -presence of Henry was necessary. At one time a request was made by -the rapping to send him to New York, and a threat that all the windows -in the house would be broken, if they did not, was made; but in a few -minutes after, a small piece of paper was seen to fall, apparently from the -ceiling, and on it written, ‘Send him not to New York—evil will befall -him.’ It was evident that there were two or more contending agencies -engaged in the manifestations. It was not easy to define or imagine -what their objects were. At times, when one was making a communication, -the other would rap, seemingly to make confusion. At other -times, when a communication was being made by alphabet, a paper -would be dropped down, and on it written, ‘It is all a lie; don’t believe<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347"></a>347</span> -what he says.” Sometimes language the most profane, and occasionally, -but rarely, obscene, would be written out in this way. Inquiry was made -as to how these contradictory communications were to be accounted for, -and the answer was that an opposing spirit was attempting to defeat the -object of the first; that this spirit was now one of his tormentors; that -both were in a state of misery, and his suffering would be mitigated if the -object of the first could be accomplished, although he would never go to a -state of happiness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1699"></a>1699. “Among the spirits who communicated were two who professed -to be in a state of happiness, and three in a state of misery. One of the -good spirits claimed to be a sister of him who made the first communication; -she communicated frequently, and constantly manifested herself in -the morning and evening devotions of the family, and always gave two -distinct knocks at the utterance of ‘Amen.’ Upon inquiry as to the -meaning of these two knocks, the answer was given that it was a response, -after the manner of the Episcopal service, signifying that she joined in -the devotions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1700"></a>1700. Much that was communicated after the first few days was of a -trifling and childish character; some, more like what would be received -from street rowdies than any thing else. To the question why they destroyed -property, they replied, ‘For fun.’ It was asked of the opposing -spirit what could be done to afford him relief; he answered that ‘The -best thing they could do would be to give him a piece of pie.’ Sometimes -letters would come, purporting to be from ministers of Philadelphia, -giving accounts of conversions in their congregations and additions to -their churches. These were addressed to the doctor, and indicated a -knowledge of things in Philadelphia to an astonishing degree. Some of -the letters were addressed to Mrs. Phelps, signed, or rather purporting to -be signed, by departed spirits of persons who had lived in Philadelphia, -and all, or nearly all, who had lived in a single square, and were the acquaintances -of Mrs. Phelps, during a residence in that city, in the time of -her former marriage. Sentimental notes were also addressed to the -daughter. These letters and billets were frequent, amounting in all to -nearly one hundred, and were all written in one hand, though purporting -to come from different persons. The fact was at one time referred to, -and an explanation desired, to which the following was given: ‘We do -not write with the hand—do not touch the pencil; we write with the -will.’ At one time a paper was thrown down to Mrs. Phelps, while in -the parlour with a number of ladies, having written on it, with a pencil, -as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1701"></a>1701. ‘<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: Sir Sambo’s compliments, and begs the laddyes to accept -as a token of esteem.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1702"></a>1702. A lady in the family of Dr. Phelps had, in a humorous way, -requested the spirits to write her a letter that she might send to a friend<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348"></a>348</span> -in Philadelphia. The spirit complied with the request by sending down -the following:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1703"></a>1703. ‘<span class="smcap">Dear Mary</span>: I have just time to write and tell you I am -well. Give my love to Miss K. and her uncle. Also to Mrs. and Mr. D. -Also to Sarah. Good-bye.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="smcap">H. P. Devil.</span>’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1704"></a>1704. The initials of the lady’s name who asked for the letter -were H. P.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1705"></a>1705. Papers were also thrown down, signed ‘Beelzebub’ and ‘Sam -Slick.’ Sometimes names of persons whom the family had known in -Philadelphia, but who had been dead several years, were signed to these -papers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1706"></a>1706. The following was in pencil, and seems to be written in the -same hand as the other. It was superscribed ‘E. Phelps:’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1707"></a>1707. ‘If you promise not to write what I told you, I will not throw -any thing all this week.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1708"></a>1708. On the 28th of July, 1850, two singular letters were thrown -down, addressed to Dr. Phelps. They were both in one handwriting, but -were signed by two different orthodox clergymen of Philadelphia. Their -interest in religious movements, and their acquaintance with the phraseology -of ‘revival’ correspondence, are seen at a glance. ‘St. Peter’s,’ in -the second letter, is a Puseyite church.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1709"></a>1709. ‘<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>: The Lord is dealing bountifully with his -chosen people. Brother Barnes admitted to the church forty-nine last -Sunday, and Brother Parker thirty-four to-day. Brother Converse has -had the cholera, and Brother Fairchild has grown so fleshy as scarcely to -be recognised. Our friend Mr. Tarr has buried his wife. She died of -consumption. E. Tarr is married. Brother Mahu, being suddenly inspired -last Sunday, spoke so eloquently and so loud, and used such majestic -action, as to be quite done up for a while. He broke a blood-vessel. -Old Tiers has gone crazy, and is shut up in a mad-house, or, rather, a hospital. -The H-—- s have gone into the country to spend some time. -That’s all the news.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -‘Your faithful brother in Christ,<br /> -‘R. A.’</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1710"></a>1710. ‘<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>: The millennium truly is coming. The day -of the Lord is at hand. We are adding countless numbers to the altar of -the Lord. Brother A-—- became inspired last Sunday to such a degree, -that his soul took its flight to the regions above, and has not yet returned. -The Catholic churches, St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s, were burned down; -St. Peter’s, also—I believe that is a Catholic church. Brother Mahu was -preaching from the text, ‘Resist the devil,’ &c., when he was suddenly -overturned by an invisible power, which frightened him so that his hair -turned white in five minutes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349"></a>349</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1711"></a>1711. ‘Brother Barnes, to render his church more attractive, is going -to have opera-singing and dancing every Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Alexander -Tower, old Mr. Tiers, Brother Fairchild, and Mrs. Somerville are -going to dance. I think they will find it a very lucrative employment. -Jane and Martha still progress in Hebrew.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap6">‘Your affectionate brother,</span> M. R.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1712"></a>1712. On Sunday, April 27th, 1851, on returning from church, the -family found strange characters written on the last leaf of a writing-book, -lying on the hall floor, although it was known to be in the nursery previous -to their going away. None of the family had any knowledge of how -the book got into the hall.<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1713"></a>1713. H. C. Gordon, a clairvoyant, interpreted the characters as follows: -The first line, 95th Psalm, 2d verse; second line, 3d and 6th verse; -and the third line, the 10th verse.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1714"></a>1714. Certain characters were found on the wall in the east chamber, -on Sunday morning, May 4th, 1851. They were made with a candle on -the wall near the south window.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1715"></a>1715. These were translated to be, ‘Spirits of a higher order desire to -communicate with you soon.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1716"></a>1716. Spirit-writing, without visible human agency, has never been a -common mode of communicating, although it was among the early occurrences -at Hydesville, Rochester, and Auburn.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1717"></a>1717. Sometimes these missives were enclosed in a book, and thrown -down stairs or into the room; sometimes wrapped about a key or nail, or -any thing that would give a momentum, and thrown into the room. Often -they were seen to fall from above; this occurring frequently when the -doors were closed, and it was not possible for any visible agent to have been -the cause. Writing would appear on the wall at times, made, as it appeared, -with a pencil. On one occasion, Dr. Phelps was writing at his -desk, and, turning his back for a few moments, without leaving his chair, -turned again to his paper, where he found written in large letters, ‘Very -nice paper and very nice ink for the devil.’ The ink was not yet dry, the -desk was not two feet from him as he sat, and he was entirely alone in the -room.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1718"></a>1718. About the first of May, Dr. Phelps, of Boston, brother of the Rev. -Doctor, and Prof. Phelps, of Andover, a son of the Rev. Doctor, went to -Stratford to ‘expose the humbug,’ and with a full belief that it was a trick -of evil-minded persons, and that they should be able to detect and expose -it without trouble; and they were disappointed, as hundreds have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350"></a>350</span> -under like circumstances. On Tuesday evening a loud rap was heard on -the back door, seeming to be made by the knocker, loud enough to be heard -twenty rods distant. The servant went to the door, but no person was -there. After the lapse of five or eight minutes, the rap was repeated. It -was then supposed that some one had done it mischievously; but, on looking -about, no person was discovered. It was in the shades of evening, -but not dark enough to prevent any person being seen, who might have -done it, as easily as at mid-day. The knocking came the third time, when -Dr. Phelps—the visitor—placed himself in the hall, perhaps four feet -from the door, and the Professor, of Andover, took a position on the steps -without, each having full view of the door. The same loud raps were -repeated on the door between them. The knocker did not move, nor could -the eye detect any cause for what met the ear. The noise was heard throughout -the house, and both the gentlemen were positive that no visible agent -was employed to produce it. About bed-time, a loud pounding was heard -on the chamber-door. The gentlemen, each with a candle in hand, stood -on either side of the door, as the pounding, as though done with a heavy -boot, was continued. The noise appeared to each to be on the side of the -door opposite to him. On the following morning, as Dr. Phelps, of Stratford, -was standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the third story, a -noise as loud and much resembling the report of a pistol occurred apparently -close to his ear. These boisterous sounds occurred at intervals during -a great part of the time that the disturbance was continued. Sometimes -for weeks they would not be heard; and again for days they were -heard every day.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1719"></a>1719. It would seem, from various occurrences, that the agents of -these sounds, whoever they were, must have been human beings, or, at -least, possessed of all the leading characteristics of humanity. They were -evidently influenced by kindness or unkindness, by respect and confidence, -as persons generally are in this life. Some instances illustrating this are -given. One morning, during the breakfast hour, they would push the table -suddenly, raise up one side and shake it in such a manner as to spill the -coffee, and otherwise occasion serious inconvenience. A person at the -table spoke to them in a tone of authority, commanding them to desist; -but the act was at once repeated. Again they were commanded to cease, -but increased violence followed this command. This was five or six times -repeated, and the shaking was each time renewed. At length another person -at the table said, ‘I request you kindly to cease this annoyance, and -allow us to take our breakfast quietly,’ and they ceased at once, without a -repetition. It was found, from this time, that kindness had about the same -effect upon them that it produces upon mankind at large. A lady, the -wife of a clergyman, spent a few weeks in the family during the summer, -who received many communications from them, would often, when the scissors, -thimble, or things of that kind, were mislaid, say, ‘I will thank the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351"></a>351</span> -spirits to return my thimble, scissors,’ or whatever was missing, and the -article named would drop at her side, or in her lap, within a minute. Things -of this kind occurred very many times in the course of the time that these -phenomena were continued. If a key or knife, or any thing of the kind, -was mislaid, and any person was looking for it, frequently it would be -thrown to them as though their wants were anticipated. Dr. Phelps was -once with Harry in the stable, when the currycomb could not be found, -and he asked Harry where it was, to which Harry replied that he did not -know. At that moment, the doctor saw it rise, as if thrown, from a point -ten feet distant from them, and, describing a parabola, fall within a short -distance of the spot where they both were standing.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1720"></a>1720. About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps and Harry were riding -to Huntington, a distance of seven miles. When they had proceeded -about one mile on the way, a stone, about the size of a hen’s egg, was -thrown into the carriage, and lodged on Dr. Phelps’s hat. Soon another -and another were thrown in. The carriage was a covered one, and the -back curtain was down, and there was no way a stone could have been -thrown in by ordinary means. At one house where they stopped, the moment -the front door was opened, two stones were thrown, one of which -entered the door as it stood partly open, and the other hit one of the lights -of glass, and broke it. Harry was standing on the door-steps at the time, -and there was no one in the street who could have thrown them. Two -stones were also thrown against another house where they stopped of an -errand. Sixteen stones were thrown into the carriage on the doctor’s -return, and, including those thrown against the two houses, twenty, in -driving three or four hours.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1721"></a>1721. As it was now apparent that these strange things were in some -way connected with Harry as a medium, it was thought best to separate -him from the family. Accordingly board was obtained for him in a family -some two miles distant. One day, when he came home, he told his mother, -in great secrecy, that on the night previous he had been awakened -from his sleep by some person dressed in white, whom he saw standing by -his bedside. He was frightened, and was about to scream, when the person -spoke and said, ‘Be not afraid, my son; I am your father;’ and then placed -in the boy’s hand a silver watch, and told him to wear it for his sake. The -boy affirms that he had the watch in his hand; that it was not a dream; -and that he was entirely awake; and that his father told him to tell no -one of it but his mother and Dr. P. His mother told him it was nothing -but a dream, and turned it off as a light affair.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1722"></a>1722. It seems that a valuable silver watch had been left the boy by -his father, which was not in use, but had been kept locked up in a drawer -of a dressing-table, to which he (Harry) had no access. A member of the -family, having occasion to look into the drawer, saw the watch, and knows -it was there, and that the drawer was locked, and the key given to Mrs. P.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352"></a>352</span> -A few minutes after the conversation with his mother about the apparition -and the watch, the night previous, he came in from the yard with the -watch in his hand! He said his father had again appeared to him, and -put the watch into his hand again, and said, ‘Wear this for my sake.’ He -brought the watch into the house, and showed it to his mother, and said -that his father said, ‘Tell your mother to look at the second-hand.’ The -hand was off, and lay on the face of the watch under the crystal. A credible -person will make oath, if called upon, that she saw the watch in the -drawer, where it was usually kept, not more than six or eight minutes before, -and that she locked the drawer and gave the key to Mrs. Phelps. -The key had been in possession of no other person, and Harry had not -been in the room during the time. The watch was taken to Dr. P., and -he tried to replace the second-hand, but could not succeed. He closed it, -leaving the hand loose on the face, and passed it back to Harry, saying -that he must take it to the watch-maker. When he took it in his hand, he -exclaimed, ‘Why, it’s on!’ They looked, and it was on and going. In a -few minutes it was off again, and was put on a second time, all within a -minute or two. The doctor affirms that it was not out of his sight a moment; -that he knows the watch was not opened, and that no visible power -was employed in doing it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1723"></a>1723. On one occasion the piano-forte was played while it is known -that no person was in the room; and, at another time, it was turned around, -the front toward the wall, and so far removed from the side of the room as -to allow the player room to sit next to the wall; the stool was also appropriately -placed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1724"></a>1724. On several occasions, about this time, certain members of the -family saw, or thought they did, visible appearances. Dr. P. did not give -entire credit to these statements; not but what he had full confidence in -the honesty of the family, but the excited state in which some of them had -been for a long time led him to think that they might imagine they saw -what had no existence in fact. Toward the last of May, it was signified -that one of the spirits who had communicated would appear visibly—first -to the daughter, then to Mrs. P., and then to the doctor himself. They -asked in what manner he would appear, and the answer was, ‘In a sheet.’ -Between ten and eleven o’clock the same night, soon after the family had -retired, Anna, who occupied the east bedroom, the door between her room -and that where the doctor and his wife slept being open, and a lamp burning -on a stand so placed as to light both rooms, called to her mother, and -said, ‘There it is, in a sheet.’ Dr. P. asked where; when she said it was -in the door between the two rooms, coming from the room the doctor occupied, -but the doctor saw nothing. The daughter was frightened, and -covered up her head, and in a few minutes looked up and saw nothing. -He was represented as moving slowly from one room to the other.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1725"></a>1725. In about two minutes Mrs. Phelps exclaimed, ‘There it is!’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353"></a>353</span> -and drew the clothes over her head. Both the daughter and mother saw -it at this time, but still the doctor saw nothing, although in as favourable -a position as either of the others.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1726"></a>1726. After two or three minutes had elapsed, the doctor also saw it. -It appeared to him to move slowly from the hall chamber into his, and -turn and move slowly back. It had the appearance of a very tall person -with a sheet thrown around it; he saw only the sheet. In about one -minute, something was thrown on to the bed, which proved to be a sheet -which had been taken from the wardrobe in the hall. Dr. Phelps declares -that he was not frightened in the least, and could not have been -mistaken in the appearance. Some two or three weeks subsequent to this -a similar appearance was seen, and Dr. P. sprang out of bed, determined -to seize hold of it if possible. It came part way into his room, and then -moved slowly back. The daughter affirmed that the doctor was within -two or three feet of it when it disappeared, and a sheet dropped into a -chair. These were the only instances in which the doctor saw any thing -himself. Others of the family saw persons in a mysterious way several -times.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1727"></a>1727. At one time, while Anna was in the dining-room, and a cousin -of hers and some of the children in the front yard, her attention was -arrested by some one entering the front parlour. She went in, and saw -three gentlemen—two of them sitting on the sofa, and one on a chair by -the table—all having their hats on, and drawn down over their eyes more -than usual; the one by the table had his feet upon the table, and was -reading a paper. She was surprised that neither of them rose up, or looked -at her, as she entered the room; and when she was within five or six feet -of the one nearest her, he leaned over on one side and fell, chair and all, on -the floor, and instantly all disappeared! She was frightened, and ran to -her cousin, who was near the front door. She came in, but no persons -were there, neither could they have entered without her seeing them. The -chair was thrown down, but no person near who could have done it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1728"></a>1728. A few other instances occurred in which appearances were supposed -to have been seen; but the circumstances were not of a character to -put the matter beyond a doubt, therefore no record was kept of them. -About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps spent some time with the Fox -family in New York. He soon decided that the manifestations were essentially -the same as those at his house, with a few points of difference. -With them property was not destroyed, and they were not painfully annoyed. -The sounds were different, it being with them a double or rolling -sound, and at his house a single knock. They could call upon and -receive answers from different spirits, or what claimed to be different ones. -This could be done at his house. During the months of June and July -the same general occurrences continued at Stratford. Sometimes for two -or three days there would seem to be an entire cessation of ‘hostilities.’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354"></a>354</span> -Then they would commence again with redoubled force. People from all -parts of the country were visiting the house, to whom every facility was -afforded to search into the cause. Newspaper discussions were going on, -casting the most unjust and painful reflections, subjecting the family to -suffering little short of martyrdom, while numberless other persons had as -good an opportunity of explaining the matter as the persecuted family. In -this affliction I can sympathize somewhat with Dr. Phelps and family. In -the first days of these phenomena in Western New York, all persons who -were involved with or interested in them were looked upon and treated at -once as void of all common feeling or sensibility, both privately and publicly; -their names passed about, coupled with opprobrious epithets; their -houses were entered without ceremony, and even in the face of direct -request to the contrary; their right to quiet and repose invaded, their -houses often being crowded with visitors, prompted by idle curiosity and -a malicious desire to torture, beyond the midnight hour; still insisting to -remain, and adding insult to injury by declaring in your ears that it was -an arrant cheat—a grand humbug—being carried on; and all for—what? -And at the same time those whose ill-fortune it then seemed to be to have -an identity with it were weeping and praying for the scourge to be removed -from them; for scourge it seemed, indeed, under such circumstances.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1729"></a>1729. Dr. and Mrs. Phelps concluded, in August, as the demonstrations -were then less frequent, on taking a short journey of three weeks. -The disturbances were still more annoying in their absence than before; -and it was decided as best to close the house for the winter, and remain -away. Accordingly, on the 11th of September, Harry left for Pennsylvania, -and it was arranged that the other members of the family should follow -within three weeks. It seems that, although the manifestations were connected -more intimately with Harry, his presence was not all-important, as -they did not cease altogether when he left; but communications were still -made, though with less force and violence. The knockings were not as -loud, and the communications less free or frequent. At one time a note -was thrown into the room, while Dr. P. was writing at the desk, which -contained the following: “How soon do the family expect to go to Pennsylvania? -I wish to make some arrangements before they go. Please -answer in writing.’ The doctor replied as desired, as follows: ‘About the -first of October,’ and placed the paper in a position where he had before -put writings of the kind, and heard nothing further.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1730"></a>1730. Two or three days after this, a communication was given by -use of the alphabet, saying that Root, a gentleman who had been in the -house, had destroyed the doctor’s book. He inquired ‘What book?’ and -was answered ‘The big book.’ Yet he did not know what book was designated, -and repeated the question, and received the answer, ‘The big -book in the secretary.’ Still it was not understood. Again was spelled, -‘Look and see!’ Dr. Phelps had in the secretary two blank books; in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355"></a>355</span> -larger one he had written a full account of the mysterious manifestations, -in the form of a diary, and, having noted them as they occurred from day -to day, they were recorded with more minuteness than could afterward be -done. Upon looking, it was discovered that every page that had been -written upon was torn from the book and gone. After a long search, the -fragments of the leaves were found in the vault. Copies of the characters -which the doctor had carefully taken, and felt anxious to preserve, were -every scrap gone. There were, in a dressing-table drawer in the chamber, -a great number of the notes sent. These were set on fire with a match -and burned in the drawer. The fire was discovered by the smoke, but not -until the papers were so far charred as to injure them beyond preservation. -A few of these writings only are retained, which were in other places. -The last of the annoyances was on the 25th of September, and was that -of throwing ink upon the daughter’s dress. She was standing on the -piazza, near the front door; the window of the front chamber was open, -from which was thrown a small bottle of ink. The ink went over her -dress in a way to entirely unfit it for further use. There was no person in -the chamber who would have done such a thing for mischief; and, indeed, -no person in the house who would have been guilty of it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1731"></a>1731. The young lady was just setting out for a visit at New Haven, -from which she was anticipating much pleasure, and I cannot conceive of -any feeling, short of sheer malevolence, that would prompt such an act.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1732"></a>1732. On the second day of October, the family, with the exception -of Dr. Phelps and the cook, left Stratford to go to Pennsylvania. During -their absence all demonstrations ceased, with what may be termed one exception. -A letter, addressed by Dr. Phelps to Mrs. Phelps, contained, -when it reached her, some of the spirit-writing in pencil, saying that ‘her -husband was sick and wished her to return if she expected to see him -alive.’ He was then in good health; but the next week was sick and -confined to his bed two or three days. There may or may not have been -some connection between the two occurrences. It was the design of Dr. -Phelps to separate the family for a time, in order, if possible, to get rid of -the annoyance; and for the five weeks he remained at Stratford, after the -family had left, no disturbances took place. Harry stayed in Bucks -county (Pa.) all winter, and the other members of the family lived in -Philadelphia.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1733"></a>1733. In the month of March the family returned to Stratford. The -house had been closed and under the charge of a neighbour, and no sign -of any disturbance was visible, as every article of furniture was found just -as they left it. About the fourth or fifth day after their return slight rapping -was heard as they sat at the tea-table. They affected not to notice -it, and the next day it was repeated more distinctly, but no response was -made. Soon after, certain characters were found about the house, which -were known, from the circumstances, to be of recent origin. Two or three<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356"></a>356</span> -days after, distinct communications were made by a spirit purporting to be -Dr. Phelps’s daughter, who died at the age of twelve years. On being -questioned, this spirit could not give any evidence of identity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1734"></a>1734. About the first of May several communications of a trifling -character were given. On one occasion the doctor asked if they would be -troubled any more as they had been, when they answered by rapping the -following:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1735"></a>1735. ‘Be not afraid that they will trouble you more,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though we have not quitted Connecticut shore.’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1736"></a>1736. At another time certain characters were given, which were interpreted -by the rapping as follows: ‘Evil one has gone, and better one -has come.’ No communications were made after the early part of May, -but some things occurred indicating their presence and desire for mischief.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1737"></a>1737. At one time, on cutting a loaf of bread, there were found in it -nails, pen-holders, small sticks, and tin, under circumstances which showed -that they must have been placed there after it was put on the table and -before the family were ready for tea. At one time Harry’s hat was hid -away, and then his cap, and then another hat. He took his brother’s cap -to use, and that was also taken away. On the evening of the 18th of -July they set fire to some papers in the doctor’s secretary, and some twenty -papers and letters were burned before they were discovered. Fire was set -at the same time to the papers in both the closets, under the stairs in the -hall. They were discovered by the smoke. Two or three days after this, -when some friends who had visited them were about to leave, their bonnets -and some other articles could not be found, although search was made -in every part of the house, until the train by which they were to go to -New York had passed. They were at last found, locked into an enclosed -washstand, in a way that made it morally certain that they could not have -been placed there by human hands.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1738"></a>1738. On the 29th of July Harry left to spend some time at New Lebanon, -N. Y., and during his absence no manifestations were noticed, although -they were constantly on the look-out for something of the kind. Anna and -her mother left for Philadelphia on the 25th of September, and they had -been so long exempt from annoyances that they hoped they had ceased -altogether. But Harry had the manifestations at New Lebanon, and there -was first operated on, by invisible agency, to produce a magnetic sleep, -into which he passed with a sudden shock. He had never been magnetized -before, although frequent attempts had been made to do so. In this state -he evinced all the phenomena common to good clairvoyance. On his return -to Stratford, on the 9th of October, the sounds accompanied him almost -constantly; but they seemed less inclined to mischief than formerly, because, -as they said, ‘Harry had passed to a higher state, where the low -and ignorant spirits could not communicate with him.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1739"></a>1739. On several occasions characters of a unique description were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357"></a>357</span> -made. Some were written early in April, 1851, which Harry interpreted -to read: ‘We are to take our leave of you soon.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1740"></a>1740. Some were traced out with chalk on the piazza of the house, on -the 31st of March, 1850.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1741"></a>1741. These Harry interpreted to mean: ‘<i>You may expect good spirits -to come by-and-by</i>.’ The same characters had been said, by A. J. -Davis, to read: ‘<i>Our society desires through various mediums to impart -thoughts</i>.’ The spirit that seemed to be most prominent in all these communications -claimed to be Harry’s father, and sometimes a sister of Dr. -Phelps, who died about three years previous to this; also a child of Dr. -Phelps, who died more than twenty-two years before. The communications -seemed generally to come from the boy’s father. On the 12th of October -he passed into a mesmeric state, and wrote some characters, which -he translated as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1742"></a>1742. ‘<i>My dear children</i>: I love you, and try to do every thing that -will do you good. Obey dear Mr. Phelps in every thing, for he knows -what is right and what is wrong. This is the advice of your spirit father.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1743"></a>1743. On the same paper were written others, which, being translated, -read: ‘You were troubled once with evil spirits, but now they are no more. -They have bid adieu, and good spirits have come and are with you all the -time.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1744"></a>1744. Again occur others, which read: ‘You must not fear, brother, -that you will be troubled with evil spirits any more. No, brother, no -more.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -Your spirit sister, <span class="smcap">Bliss</span>.’ -</p> - -<p><a id="para_1745"></a>1745. The person here supposed to communicate is a sister of Dr. -Phelps, a widow, who left the earth-sphere in 1848, and by whom several -of the previous communications are said to have been made. Other characters, -of the same general formation, were made at the same time, but -were not then translated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1746"></a>1746. On the evening of the 12th, Dr. Phelps, Harry, and two -younger children, were seated at a table; responses were frequently given -by raps under the table. Dr. Phelps inquired if it would accommodate -them at all to have some substance to rap with; to which they replied -affirmatively. He threw down a table-knife; the raps seemed immediately -to be made by striking the knife against the table-leaf, and soon it was -tossed up on to the table. A small tea-bell was then placed under the -table; it was rung several times, and tossed on to the table as the knife -had been. It was again put down, and returned as before; the same being -repeated several times in succession. The light was then extinguished, -and the candle put under the table with a match-box containing matches, -and the spirits requested to light it. They distinctly heard the match -drawn upon the bottom of the box, which was prepared with sand-paper -for that use. All saw the light, but the first match went out. Again the -scratching of the match was heard; it ignited, the candle lighted, and was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_358"></a>358</span> -placed upon the table! The experiment was repeated several times, with -the same result; every precaution being taken to prevent collusion in the -matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1747"></a>1747. On a subsequent occasion a chair was placed upon the table by -invisible power, and the two children, Harry and Hannah, raised up and -placed upon it; they could neither of them tell how it was done. The -sensation was that of some person placing a hand under them and raising -them up. Many of these things occurred when the room was darkened, -as has been the case in numerous other places, and for which explanations -have been recorded, as given by the spirits. On the evening of the 20th -of October, the light being put out of the room, the bell was placed under -the table, with a request that it should be rung, and placed in the doctor’s -hand. He was sitting by the table with both his hands lying on his -lap open, with the palms upward. The bell rung several times with some -violence, and then was placed in his left hand. This was repeated four or -five times in succession. Dr. P. sat beyond the reach of any one, and the -room was sufficiently light for him to have detected any movement on the -part of persons present. He requested them to let him feel the hand that -placed the bell in his. Very soon a hand came in contact with his, took -hold of his fingers, shaking his hand, passed slowly over the back of his -hand, then over the palm again, took hold of his fingers, and he felt what -he is sure to have been a human hand. He describes it as being cold and -moist, which accords with my own experience repeatedly, and that of my -friends. They then took hold of his foot, shook it with much force, -loosened the string, took off the shoe, and placed it upon the table before -him. At his request the shoe was replaced, the heel adjusted, and the -strings drawn up, but not tied.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1748"></a>1748. On a subsequent occasion a large-sized tea-bell was rung under -the table, then rose up, passed round the room, ringing violently all the -way, and fell upon the table. The candle was in the closet, but the room -was sufficiently light to make it certain that no person left the table to -convey it. It was manifest that from the time Harry returned from New -Lebanon the manifestations began gradually to subside. They were less -frequent and less marked. It was arranged that he should accompany -the family to Philadelphia, and go to a boarding-school at a town about -twenty miles distant from the city. At different times he had been told -that if he went there he would again be annoyed by bad spirits. The -question was many times put, ‘Will you annoy him again if he goes to -the school?’ <i>A.</i>—‘We will not, but others will.’—‘What others?’ <i>A.</i>—‘Those -who were with him last summer.’—‘Will they disturb him if he -stays here and goes to the academy in Stratford?’—‘No. They will not -disturb him while he is with you.’—‘What will they do if he goes to -Pennsylvania?’ <i>A.</i>—‘They will tear his clothes, destroy his books, and -break his windows.’—‘Can you not control those bad spirits, and prevent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_359"></a>359</span> -their doing him any injury?’—‘No.’—‘Will you do all you can?’—‘Yes.’ -At another time Dr. Phelps inquired if they would not leave him, as his -mother was so much opposed to the whole thing. ‘Will you not, to oblige -her, leave him, that he may be a medium no longer?’ said the doctor. -The reply was, ‘If we leave him, evil spirits will get possession of him -again.’ These communications were made by what purported to be the -boy’s father. For two weeks previous to going to Philadelphia the -manifestations had almost wholly subsided; perhaps only occurred when -requested; and notwithstanding the repeated declarations that when he -should leave for the school in Pennsylvania, the bad spirits would come in -and make him trouble, it was determined to try the experiment, and on -the 11th of November the family set out for Philadelphia, where they -were to spend the winter, while Harry was to go to school. He remained -with the family in Philadelphia about a week, where a few communications -were given to Dr. Phelps in private. The spirits said they would begin -to annoy the boy on the cars, on his way to the school, would pinch him -and tear his clothes, so that, when he got there, they would be found torn, -and that the troubles would follow him in the school as long as he stayed -there. Dr. Phelps, under all the circumstances, thought it best not to -send him; but on consultation it was decided to have him go, and on the -19th of November he started for the school. Dr. P. went a mile or two -with him, put him under the care of the conductor, and told him to report -on his return if any thing worthy of notice occurred on the way. In two -days the doctor was sent for to come and take him away. He said that -soon after his father left him on the cars, he was pinched, pricked with -pins, and annoyed in various other ways, until he reached his destination; -that, on his arrival there, he found that his pantaloons were torn in -front, between the waistband and the knees, in two places, several inches -in length. He changed them for another pair which were new and made -of very substantial material, and these were torn down in front at least -half a yard in length, before the doctor arrived there. The knockings had -attended him in school and other places; his books were torn and damaged -to the amount of two dollars, which the doctor paid. The family where -he was had become alarmed, and would not keep him, and he was taken -away. The boy stated that on one of the evenings, while he was there, -he was walking in the street, when his cap was mysteriously taken from -his head and thrown upon the sidewalk. As he stooped to pick it up he -saw the flash of a gun at some distance, and a bullet passed over his back -and struck a board fence near him. He was afterward informed by the -rapping that, had he not stooped down, he would have been killed, and -that his friendly spirit took this means to preserve him.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1749"></a>1749. Dr. P. now concluded to return with Harry to Stratford, and -was told that the bad spirits would have no control over him there. The -family in which they resided in Philadelphia had become alarmed at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_360"></a>360</span> -strange occurrences, and finally they again returned to Stratford. From -that time the disturbances began to subside, and by the 15th of December, -1851, they had ceased altogether. The family remained at Stratford till -the spring of 1852, when they returned to their former residence in the -city. The house at Stratford is occupied by another family, but no disturbances -have ever occurred with the family which now occupy the house, -and none with Dr. P.‘s family since the above date.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1750"></a>1750. Thus ends one of the most remarkable histories in the whole -course of modern spiritual manifestations. The authority on which it comes -to the world is indisputable, and the characters of all concerned are beyond -suspicion. It will be observed that generally the demonstrations, as in -case of Mr. Calvin R. Brown, in the Fox family, were less boisterous after the -family consented to hold communication with them. It seemed to be the -desire of a spirit to communicate and set right a matter which was making -him unhappy. This accomplished, the demonstrations ceased.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1751"></a>1751. From the foregoing narrative it will be seen that these phenomena -do not attach to places, as some have supposed. It makes the fact -equally clear that they do attach to persons, and that without certain -media they cannot, to any extent, take place. If there is such a thing as -‘haunted houses,’ they must belong to another class of phenomena, or a -very different phase of the same, than those always depending on the -presence of particular persons.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1752"></a>1752. Another fact seems also to be proved by the above narration, -namely, that persons may be powerful mediums at one time and afterward -lose the power, for neither of the media of Dr. Phelps’s family in Stratford -have had any proof of mediumship for years.”</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Idea of the existence of a spiritual sun, and a vital spiritual oxygen, -found to exist independently in the mind of a much esteemed author.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1753"></a>1753. The most wonderful and important of all the facts communicated -to me by my spirit father, and subsequently sanctioned by a convocation -of spirits, were the following: 1. That there is a special spirit sun, concentric -with our sun, which illuminates the spirit world, without perceptibly -affecting our visual organs. 2. That there is a peculiar vital gas -which spirits breathe, although inscrutable to our senses or chemical tests, -which we respire in our spiritual capacity. These facts I have considered -as among those, which it was impossible could have been learned from the -minds of Mrs. Gourlay or myself, as they were certainly new to both of us, -and difficult to realize when communicated. My attention has been recently -directed by a friend to an essay in a work entitled “Rambles and -Reveries of a Student,” wherein I find (page 11) the ideas in question to -have been awakened in the author without the smallest interchange of ideas -with Mrs. Gourlay or myself. I have been under the impression that his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_361"></a>361</span> -leaning would have been unfavourable to Spiritualism. The language -employed is as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1754"></a>1754. I hold it as a truth, that a divine atmosphere surrounds our -earth—an aroma emitted from the world of spirits, in which dwell the -great truths and secrets of the universe—a great world that pours down -riches upon us, as the sun pours down heat; and as without the sun this -world would be but a formless wilderness, so, without this spirit sun, would -it be barren of thought or beauty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1755"></a>1755. Above us and around us exists a spiritual atmosphere, more -subtle than the natural one. As the latter is the supporter of physical -life, so the former is of psychal. We absorb the delicate magnetic aromata -from all substances, through the medium of the air, as well as the comparatively -coarse oxygen; so all of our soul-life comes from this spirit atmosphere—all -thought, all feeling, all appreciation of truth and beauty.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1756"></a>1756. Man is the apex of earth-creation, and the basis of all heavenly -life—the foundation of all spiritual existence. Standing thus in a middle -plane as the highest thing of earth, and the lowest of heaven, he holds -magnetic relationship to both; the earth not only supplying the physical -requirements of his being, such as food, drink, and air, but he absorbs impalpable -nourishment from all his surroundings: the aroma from flowers, -and trees, and fruit, as well as the magnetic emanations from people; intuitively -appreciating harmonious influences—feeling an instinctive repulsion -when under those that are inharmonious. This antagonism, or horror, -we call antipathy; and biography abounds with strange stories of its individual -action. Whenever antipathy is experienced, it is a proof that something -exists in the peculiar magnetic sphere which has no affinity with the -other sphere.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1757"></a>1757. An animal is but a highly organized combination of the mechanical -and chemical forces of the earth, returning to the earth when -death ensues: the only good resulting from its life is, that gross matter -has been changed into a little higher condition by the combination.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1758"></a>1758. Man, regarded as the animal, possesses nothing after his death -but the spiritual attributes he has received, corresponding to the physical -things he sought in his earthly life; if that was low and sensual, his spiritual -condition will be the same; for the spirit land is as much a spiritual -condition as it is a place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1759"></a>1759. As man’s external form grows from appropriating substance -from the earth, so are thoughts and sentiments, and all things relating to -the soul, appropriated from the spirit world. Take the earth from man, -and he ceases to exist as a physical being; take the spirit world from him, -and he ceases to exist as an immortal soul.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1760"></a>1760. All physical things have corresponding truths in the spiritual -world, and a man is truly harmonious when he receives the corresponding -essence or quality with the material thing—not as a mere symbolization,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_362"></a>362</span> -but as an actuality, as real to the soul as its corresponding earthly truth is -to the body. As a petty illustration, we will say that where an apple is -eaten, a harmonious man receives not only the nutriment contained in the -fruit, but he also receives its spiritual correspondence, so as to be doubly -nourished by it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1761"></a>1761. “Men having a stronger magnetic relationship to the spirit -world, are easily exhausted, for they do not receive strength enough from -the earth sphere to keep soul and body in harmony.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1762"></a>1762. Persons <i>en rapport</i> with the earth are the labourers and tillers -of the ground, living only in the lowest plane of mental life.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1763"></a>1763. The truly harmonious men receive equally the spiritual and -physical elements: they are electrical conductors, whose attracting points -bend downward as well as upward, dispensing, equally, thought and -strength to their less harmonious fellows, with but little exhaustion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1764"></a>1764. Men originate nothing: they have merely different degrees of -receptivity; are merely more or less in magnetic relationship with the -higher world. A principle, or truth, is not your truth, or my truth, but -God’s truth; as much as a drop of water in the ocean, or a sand-grain in -the great desert; as little a personal possession as the cloud above your -head. If we look at it abstractly, we perceive the absurdity of all quarrels -in relation to originality of ideas—water refreshes the thirsty traveller, -whether drunk from his own cup or the cup of another; and if we can -incorporate a new truth into our lives, it is unimportant whether we receive -it directly or indirectly from the great fountain.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1765"></a>1765. The intellectual struggle of the student is but an education of -the soul, training it to become susceptible to higher influences—an attempt -to enter into unalloyed magnetic relationship with the spirit world.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1766"></a>1766. Prayer is a simple and natural method of becoming <i>en rapport</i> -with higher beings and a higher world: yet no thinker ever believed that -prayer would move the Divine Being to alter His eternal plans. As He is -the fountain of all Love and all Wisdom, His designs must be without -flaw—must be for eternal good: yet prayer is one of the most holy, beautiful, -and useful of things; it is the earnest asking of the soul for comfort—whatever -the words may be—and by the exaltation of feeling, we -rise up from the earth-life into the higher spiritual planes, and become -harmonized by the indwelling harmonies of those spheres. Prayer is aspiration. -Prayer is the desire to embrace the Infinite. The form of prayer -is unimportant; its power lies in the indwelling desire of good. Men -should not have forms and times of prayer, but their whole lives should -be long, unending acts of prayer.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1767"></a>1767. It seems that the light of Spiritualism had begun to dawn in the -mind of the author of the preceding passage. His language respecting -prayer is in strict conformity with the doctrine of Spiritualism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1768"></a>1768. As the author, to whom reference is thus made, was on terms of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_363"></a>363</span> -great mutual friendship with my late sister, as well as with myself, I have -consulted her spirit as to the origin of the impressions which had been -thus indited by our common friend. It appears from her reply to my -inquiry, that these ideas were communicated to him by my spirit father, -and that his conversion to Spiritualism had commenced prior to his decease, -which took place about two years ago.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="OF_MATTER_MIND_AND_SPIRIT">OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT.</h3> - - -<h4><i>Of Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1769"></a>1769. It is a fact, that as we study more deeply the nature of matter, -we find that we know the less about it. The crude impressions by which -it makes us sensible of its presence are, of course, intuitively received, and -are reiterated incessantly. Hence, the mass of mankind do not imagine -that there can be any mystery respecting that ponderable matter which -influences the scale-beam. The existence of any other matter, people generally -are slow to admit. The electric fluid and caloric, the supposed -causes of electricity and heat, were rarely believed in, out of the scientific -world, but <i>ponderable</i> matter is the last thing of which any person would -imagine himself ignorant. Yet we find that some of the most experienced -investigators of nature, have not made up their minds as to what ponderable -matter is.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1770"></a>1770. According to Newton, matter consists of hard, impenetrable particles, -endowed with <i>vis inertiæ</i>, gravitation, and chemical attraction for -other particles; <i>vis inertiæ</i> being that force by which a body, if in motion, -requires a certain degree of force to arrest or retard it, or to put it into -motion if at rest. Gravitation causes all masses to attract each other reciprocally, -with a force exactly proportioned to their <i>vis inertiæ</i>; so that -these forces are reciprocally measures of each other. It is usual to make -gravitation its own measure, by estimating it to be as the weight of the -mass; while weight is only the reciprocal attraction of gravitation between -the body tried, and the earth. (<a href="#para_64">64</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1771"></a>1771. These properties being conceded as belonging to matter, and the -measure of its quantity, the next question is, of what does massive matter -consist? As to the ratio of weight to bulk, which is designated as “<i>specific -gravity</i>,” we see an immense disparity between solids. Potassium, -for instance, weighs three-fourths of its bulk of water, while platinum -weighs twenty-one times its bulk in that fluid. The density of gaseous -hydrogen is to that of platina not more than 1 to 25,000, and yet it may -be rarified to the one-hundredth part of its normal spissitude, while apparently -filling the same space. Thus the same space may be filled successively -by different portions of matter, yet the quantity of matter in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_364"></a>364</span> -space, in the first case, may be to the quantity contained in the second, as -2,500,000 to 1. Newton’s definition of material particles was as follows:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1772"></a>1772. “It seems probable to me that God, in the beginning, formed -matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such -sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion -to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them; and that -those primitive particles, being solids, are incomparably harder than any -porous bodies compounded of them; even so very hard as never to wear -or break in pieces; no mundane power being able to divide what God himself -intended to be indivisible.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1773"></a>1773. Boscovitch, observing that all that was essential to material atoms -was attraction and repulsion, the latter being the substitute of Newton’s -impenetrability, suggested an hypothesis which dispensed with the atom, -and assumed only the forces of attraction and repulsion; alternating, as it -appears to me, in a way more original than warrantable. This idea of -atoms has been modified by an accomplished mathematician, Exley, of -Bristol, England. I quote here Exley’s view:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1774"></a>1774. “The reader has only to allow that each atom of matter consists -of an indefinitely extensive sphere of attraction, resting on a very small -concentric sphere of repulsion, the force being everywhere, from the centre, -inversely as the square of the distance, repulsive near the centre, and -then attractive. Now that part which regards the attraction has already -obtained the consent of all the followers of <i>Newton</i>; and much more than -the other part, which respects repulsion, has been already received in the -principles of our present philosophy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1775"></a>1775. It may be here asked—Are we absolutely to exclude solid -atoms? I confess I can find no use for them. It is true, Sir Isaac Newton -thought that the atoms of matter consisted of minute solids.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1776"></a>1776. But this hypothesis, however convenient and consonant with -our prejudices, is not absolutely necessary to the explanation of natural -phenomena; for, it may be conceived, according to the theory of Boscovitch, -that matter consists not of solid particles, but of mere mathematical -centres, of forces attractive and repulsive, whose relations to space were ordained, -and whose actions are regulated and maintained by the Creator of the -universe. Both hypotheses, however, agree in one great principle, viz.: that -the properties of bodies depend upon forces emanating from immovable -points (whether substantial or not is of little importance) of their masses.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1777"></a>1777. The atoms of matter constituted as in the theory now proposed -possess all the individuality, indivisibility, and indestructibility, which the -learned and illustrious <i>Newton</i> ascribes to his small solids, and they answer -all the ends he has mentioned; the central points, indeed, will be utterly -impenetrable by each other, since the repulsion there is infinite; and if at -those centres we suppose small solids to be placed, they can answer no farther -end than is accomplished by this immensely great repulsive force; -for from what we know of matter, we must suppose them to be indefinitely -small, if we introduce such solids; and hence they will occupy the place -where the repulsion is infinitely great; such solids would be found only an -obstacle, and an incumbrance to the free actions of matter; since, however -small we imagine them to be, their magnitude will be infinite if compared -with a mathematical point, the centre of an atom, which is devoid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_365"></a>365</span> -altogether of magnitude. It may be added, that if any reader wish to -retain these solids at the centres of the atoms, it will not materially affect -the conclusions, provided he allow us to have them as small as we please; -and so much, if he intend to philosophize, he must grant, whatever course -he may determine to pursue.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1778"></a>1778. These efforts to define matter derive interest from the following -attempt of Farraday to sustain a view inconsistent with that of Newton, by -practical illustration:</p> - - -<h4><i>Strictures on a Speculation by Farraday, respecting the Nature of Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1779"></a>1779. This sagacious investigator adverts to the fact, that after each -atom in a mass of metallic potassium has combined with an atom of oxygen -and an atom of water, forming thus a hydrated oxide—caustic potash—the -resulting aggregate occupies much less space than its metallic ingredient -previously occupied; so that, taking equal bulks of the hydrate and -of potassium, there will be in the metal only 430 metallic atoms, while in -the hydrate there will be 700 such atoms. Yet in the latter, besides the -700 metallic atoms, there will be an equal number of aqueous and oxygenous -atoms, in all 2800 ponderable atoms. It follows, that if the atoms -of potassium are to be considered as minute impenetrable particles, kept -at certain distances by an equilibrium of forces, there must be, in a mass -of potassium, vastly more space than matter. Moreover, it is the space -alone that can be continuous. The non-contiguous material atoms cannot -form a continuous mass. Consequently, the well-known power of potassium -to conduct electricity must be a quality of the continuous empty -space which it comprises, not of the discontinuous particles of matter with -which that space is regularly interspersed. It is in the next place urged, -that while, agreeably to these considerations, space is shown to be a conductor, -there are considerations equally tending to prove it to be a non-conductor, -since in certain non-conducting bodies, such as resins, there -must be nearly as much vacant space as in potassium. Hence the supposition -that atoms are minute impenetrable particles, involves the necessity -of considering empty space as a conductor in metals, and as a non-conductor -in resins, and of course in sulphur and other electrics. This is considered -as a <i>reductio ad absurdum</i>. To avoid this contradiction, Farraday -supposes that atoms are not minute impenetrable bodies, but, existing -throughout the whole space in which their properties are observed, may -penetrate each other. Consistently, although the atoms of potassium pervade -the whole space which they apparently occupy, the entrance into that -space of an equivalent number of atoms of oxygen and water, in consequence -of some reciprocal reaction, causes a contraction in the boundaries -by which the combination thus formed is enclosed. This is an original -and interesting view of this subject, well worthy of the contemplation of -chemical philosophers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1780"></a>1780. But, upon these premises, Farraday has ventured on some in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366"></a>366</span>ferences -which, upon various accounts, appear to me unwarrantable. I -agree that “<i>a</i>” representing a particle of matter, and “<i>m</i>” representing -its properties, it is only with “<i>m</i>” that we have any acquaintance, the existence -of “<i>a</i>” resting merely on an inference. Heretofore I have often -appealed to this fact, in order to show that the evidence of imponderable, -no less than of ponderable matter, is precisely the existence of properties -which can only be accounted for by inferring the existence of an appropriate -matter to which those properties appertain. Yet I cannot concur -in the idea that, because it is only with “<i>m</i>” that we are acquainted, the -existence of “<i>a</i>” must not be inevitably inferred, so that bodies are to be -considered as constituted of their materialized powers. I use the word -“materialized,” because it is fully admitted by Farraday, that by dispensing -with an impenetrable atom “<i>a</i>” we do not get rid of the idea of matter, -but have to imagine each atom as existing throughout the whole sphere of -its force, instead of being condensed about the centre. This seems to follow -from the following language:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1781"></a>1781. “<i>The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem -to involve necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or at least -the space to which gravitation extends, including the sun and its system; -for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a certain force, and -it is this force which constitutes matter.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1782"></a>1782. Literally, this paragraph seems to convey the impression, that, -agreeably to this new idea of matter, the sun and his planets are not distinct -bodies, but consist of certain material powers reciprocally penetrating each -other, and pervading a space larger than that comprised within the orbit -of Neptune. We do not live upon, but within, the matter of which the -earth is constituted, or rather within a mixture of all the solar and planetary -matter belonging to our solar system. I cannot conceive that the sagacious -author seriously intended to sanction any notion involving these consequences. -I shall assume, therefore, that, excepting the case of gravitation, -his new idea of matter was intended to be restricted to those powers which -display themselves within masses at insensible distances, and shall proceed -to state the objections which seem to exist against the new idea as associated -with those powers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1783"></a>1783. Evidently the arguments of Farraday against the existence, in -potassium and other masses of matter, of impenetrable atoms endowed with -cohesion, chemical affinity, momentum, and gravitation, rest upon the inference -that in metals there is nothing to perform the part of an electrical -conductor besides continuous empty space. This illustrious philosopher -has heretofore appeared to be disinclined to admit the existence of <i>any</i> -matter devoid of ponderability! The main object of certain letters which -I addressed to him was to prove that the phenomena of induction could -not, as he had represented, be an “<i>action</i>” of ponderable atoms, but, on -the contrary, must be considered as an <i>affection</i> of them consequent to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_367"></a>367</span> -the intervention of an imponderable matter, without which the phenomena -of electricity would be inexplicable. This repugnance to the admission -of an imponderable electrical cause, has been the more remarkable, as his -researches have not only proved the existence of prodigious electrical -power in metals, but likewise that it is evolved during chemico-electric -reaction, in equivalent proportion to the quantity of ponderable matter decomposed -or combined.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1784"></a>1784. According to his researches, a grain of water, by electrolytic reaction -with four grains of zinc, evolves as much electricity as would -charge fifteen millions of square feet of coated glass when supplied by a plate -machine of fifty inches in diameter. But in addition to the proofs of the -existence of electrical powers in metals thus furnished, it is demonstrated -that this power must be inseparably associated with metals, by the well-known -fact that in the electro-magnetic machine—an apparatus which we -owe to his genius, and the mechanical ingenuity of Pixii and Saxton—a -coil of wire, being subjected to the inductive influence of a magnet, is -capable of furnishing, within the circuit which it forms, all the phenomena -of an electrical current, whether of ignition, shock, or electrolysis.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1785"></a>1785. The existence in metals of an enormous calorific power must be -evident from the heat evolved by mere hammering. It is well known that -by a skilful application of the hammer, a piece of iron, between it and a -cold anvil, may be ignited. To what other cause than their inherent -calorific power can the ignition of metals by the discharge of a Leyden -battery be ascribed?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1786"></a>1786. It follows, that the existence of an immense calorific and electrical -power is undeniable. The materiality of these powers, or of their cause, -is all that has been questionable. But, according to the speculations of -Farraday, all the powers of matter are material; not only the calorific and -electrical powers are thus to be considered, but likewise the powers of -cohesion, chemical affinity, inertia, and gravitation, while <i>of all these material -powers only the latter can be ponderable</i>!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1787"></a>1787. Thus, a disinclination on the part of this distinguished investigator -to admit the existence of one or two imponderable principles, has led him -into speculations involving the existence of a much greater number. But -if, while the rest of the properties of the metal are represented by Newtonian -atoms, the calorific and electrical powers be both material and imponderable, -and of these such enormous quantities exist in potassium, as well -as in zinc and all other metals, so much of the reasoning in question as is -founded on the vacuity of the space between the metallic atoms is groundless.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1788"></a>1788. Although the space occupied by the hydrated oxide of potassium -comprises 2800 ponderable atoms, while that occupied by an equal -mass of the metal comprises only 430, there may be in the latter proportionally -as much more of the material, though imponderable, powers of heat -and electricity, as there is less of matter endowed with ponderability.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_368"></a>368</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1789"></a>1789. Thus, while assuming the existence of fewer imponderable causes -than the celebrated author of the speculation has himself proposed, we -explain the conducting power of metals, without being under the necessity -of attributing to void space the property of electrical conduction. Moreover, -I consider it quite consistent to suppose that the presence of the -ethereal basis of electricity is indispensable to electrical conduction, and -that diversities in this faculty are due to the proportion of that material -power present, and the mode of its association with other matter. The -immense superiority of metals will be explained, by referring it to their -being peculiarly replete with the ethereal basis of heat and electricity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1790"></a>1790. Hence Farraday’s suggestions respecting the <i>materiality</i> of what -has heretofore been designated as the <i>properties</i> of bodies, furnish the -means of refuting his arguments against the existence of ponderable impenetrable -atoms as the basis of cohesion, chemical affinity, momentum, -and gravitation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1791"></a>1791. But I will, in the next place, prove that his suggestions not only -furnish an answer to his objections to the views in this respect heretofore -entertained, but are likewise pregnant with consequences directly inconsistent -with the view of the subject which he has recently presented.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1792"></a>1792. I have said that of all the powers which are, according to Farraday’s -speculations, to be deemed material, gravitation can alone be ponderable; -since, according to his speculations, gravitation, in common with -every power heretofore attributed to impenetrable particles, must be a -matter independently pervading the space throughout which it is perceived. -This being the consequence, by what tie is gravitation, or, in -other words, weight—indissolubly attached to the rest? It cannot be pretended -that either of the powers is the property of any other. Each of -them is an <i>m</i>, and cannot play the part of an <i>a</i>, not only because an <i>m</i>, -an effect, cannot be an <i>a</i>, its cause, but because, according to the premises, -no <i>a</i> can exist. Nor can it be advanced that they are the same power, -since chemical affinity and cohesion act only at insensible distances, while -gravitation acts at any and every distance, with forces inversely as their -squares; and, moreover, the power of chemical affinity is not commensurate -with that of gravitation. One part, by weight, of hydrogen has a -greater affinity, universally, for any other element than two hundred parts -of gold. By what means then are cohesion, chemical affinity, and gravitation -inseparably associated in all the ponderable elements of matter? Is -it not fatal to the validity of the highly ingenious and interesting deductions -of Farraday, that they are thus shown to be utterly incompetent to -explain the inseparable association of cohesion, chemical affinity, and -inertia with gravitation, while the existence of a vacuity between Newtonian -atoms, mainly relied upon as the basis of an argument against their -existence, is shown to be inconsistent both with the ingenious speculation -which has called forth these remarks, and those Herculean “researches”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_369"></a>369</span> -which must perpetuate his fame? (See Appendix for Farraday’s Speculations -on Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter.)</p> - - -<h4><i>On Whewell’s demonstration that all matter is heavy.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1793"></a>1793. While the speculations of Farraday, isolate gravitation, as the -only matter endowed with weight, and treat all other matters as weightless, -those of another eminent philosopher, Whewell, would tend to prove -that <i>all</i> matter is heavy.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1794"></a>1794. This subject may be interesting now, when we are anxious to understand -well the nature of matter, which Comte would represent as the -<i>basis of mind</i>, and when it becomes a point of departure in forming ideas -of spirit and mind, as they must be contemplated by Spiritualism. I -therefore subjoin a critique upon the allegation that all matter can be -heavy, and on the relation between <i>vis inertiæ</i> and <i>gravitation</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1795"></a>1795. One consideration seems to be usually overlooked in contemplating -these forces. It is forgotten that <i>inertia</i> is the property of one -body, while gravitation requires two for its existence. If there were only -one body in nature, it might move on, in obedience to its <i>vis inertiæ</i>, for -any length of time; but, during an isolated existence, could neither attract -nor be attracted. Whewell’s theorem, in his own language, is as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1796"></a>1796. “We see,” alleges Whewell, “that the propositions that all bodies -are heavy, and that inertia is proportional to weight, necessarily follow -from those fundamental ideas which we unavoidably employ in all attempts -to reason concerning the mechanical relations of bodies.” (See Demonstration -that all Matter is heavy, by the Rev. William Whewell, B.D. Silliman’s -Journal, vol. 42, page 265.)</p></div> - -<p class="nind"> -To <span class="smcap">Professor Whewell</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<p><a id="para_1797"></a>1797. <span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: I thank you for your kind attention in sending me -a copy of your pamphlet, entitled a “<i>Demonstration that all Matter is -heavy</i>,” comprising a communication made to the Cambridge Philosophical -Society.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1798"></a>1798. I conceive that to demonstrate that all matter is heavy, is, in -other words, to prove that all matter is endowed with attraction of gravitation, -or that general property which, when it causes bodies to tend toward -the centre of the earth, is called weight. Hence to assert that all matter -is heavy, is no more than to say, that attraction of gravitation exists between -all or any masses of matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1799"></a>1799. You say, “it may be urged that we have no difficulty in conceiving -of matter which is not heavy.” I have no hesitation in asserting -that there should be no difficulty in entertaining such a conception; since -I cannot understand why any two masses may not be as readily conceived -to <i>repel</i>, as to <i>attract</i> each other, or <i>neither to attract nor to repel</i>. Is it -not easier to imagine two remote masses indifferent to each other, than that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_370"></a>370</span> -they act upon each other? Is any thing more difficult to understand than -that a body can act where it is not?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1800"></a>1800. It is also mentioned by you, that it may be urged “<i>that inertia -and weight are two separate properties of matter</i>.” Now I will not only -urge, but also, with all due deference, will undertake to show, that the existence -of inertia may as well be proven, and its quantity estimated, by -means of repulsion as by means of attraction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1801"></a>1801. Suppose two bodies, A and B, to be endowed with reciprocal -attraction, or, in other words, to gravitate toward each other. Being -placed at a distance, and then allowed to approach, if, after any given -time, it were found that they had moved severally any ascertained distances, -evidently their relative inertias would be considered as inversely as -those distances.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1802"></a>1802. In the next place, let us suppose two bodies, X and Y, endowed -with the opposite force of reciprocal repulsion, to be placed in proximity, -and then allowed to fly apart. The distances run through by them severally, -being, at any given time, determined, might not their respective -inertias be taken to be inversely as those distances; so that the question -would be as well ascertained in this case as in that above stated, in which -gravitation should be resorted to as the test?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1803"></a>1803. It seems to me that this question is sufficiently answered in the -affirmative, in your second paragraph, page 7, (p. 269,) in which you -allege, that “<i>one body has twice as much inertia as another, if, when the -same force acts upon it for the same time, it acquires but half the velocity. -This is the fundamental conception of inertia.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1804"></a>1804. In the third paragraph, fourth page, (p. 261,) you say, “<i>that -the quantity of matter is measured by those sensible properties of matter -which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction, and division, as the -matter is added, subtracted, or divided, the quantity of matter cannot be -known in any other way; but this mode of measuring the quantity of -matter, in order to be true at all, must be true universally</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1805"></a>1805. Also your fourth paragraph, fifth page, (p. 268,) concludes with -this allegation: “<i>And thus we have proved, that if there be any kind of -matter which is not heavy, the weight can no longer avail us, in any case, -to any extent, as the measure of the quantity of matter.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1806"></a>1806. In reply to these allegations, let me inquire, Cannot a matter exist -of which the sensible properties do not admit of being measured by human -means? Because some kinds of matter can be measured by “those -sensible qualities which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction, and -division,” does it follow that there may not be matter which is incapable -of being thus measured? And wherefore would the method of obtaining -philosophical truth be “futile” in the one case, because inapplicable in the -other? Because the inertias of A and B have been discovered, by means -of their gravitation, does it follow that the inertias of X and Y cannot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_371"></a>371</span> -be discovered by their self-repellent power? Why should the inapplicability -of gravitation in the one case render its employment futile in the -other?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1807"></a>1807. It is self-evident, that matter without weight cannot be estimated -by weighing, but I deny that on that account such weightless -matter may not be otherwise estimated. The inertias of A and B cannot -be better measured by gravitation than those of X and Y by repulsion, as -already shown.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1808"></a>1808. You seem to infer, in paragraph second, page sixth, (p. 268,) -that we should be equally destitute of the means of measuring matter accurately, -“<i>were any kind of matter heavy indeed, but not so heavy, in -proportion to its quantity of matter, as other kinds</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1809"></a>1809. If, in the case of all matter, weight be admitted to be the only -measure of quantity, it were inconsistent to suppose any given quantity -of matter, of any one kind, to have less weight than an equal quantity of -another kind; but upon what other than a conventional basis is it to be -assumed that there is more matter in a cubic inch of platinum than in a -cubic inch of tin? in a cubic inch of mercury than in a cubic inch of iron? -Judging by the chemical efficacy of the masses, although the weight of -mercury is to that of iron as 13.6 is to 8, there are more equivalents of the -latter than the former in any given bulk, since by weight twenty-eight -parts of iron are equivalent to two hundred and two parts of mercury.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1810"></a>1810. Weight is one of the properties of certain kinds of matter, and -has been advantageously resorted to, in preference to any other property, -in estimating the quantity of the matter to which it appertains. Nevertheless, -measurement by bulk is found expedient or necessary in many -cases. But may we not appeal to any general property which admits of -being measured or estimated? Farraday has inferred that the quantity of -electricity is as the quantity of gas which it evolves. Light has been -considered as proportional in quantity to the surface which it illuminates -with a given intensity at a certain distance. The quantity of caloric has -been held to be directly as the weight of water which it will render aeriform; -and has also been estimated by the degree of its expansive or thermometric -influence. What scale-beam is more delicate than the thermoscope -of Melloni?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1811"></a>1811. In the last paragraph but one, seventh page, (p. 270,) you -suggest, that “<i>perhaps some persons might conceive that the identity of -weight and inertia is obvious at once, for both are merely resistance to -motion; inertia, resistance to all motion, or change of motion; weight, -resistance to motion upward</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1812"></a>1812. I am surprised that you should think the opinion of any person -worthy of attention, who should entertain so narrow a view of weight, as -antagonist of momentum, as that above quoted, “<i>that it is a resistance to -motion upward</i>.” Agreeably to the definition given at the commence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_372"></a>372</span>ment -of the letter, weight, in its usual practical sense, is only one case of -the general force which causes all ponderable masses of matter to gravitate -toward each other, and which is of course liable to resist any conflicting -motion, whatever may be the direction. When, in the form of solar attraction, -it overcomes that inertia of the planets which would otherwise cause -them to leave their orbits, does gravitation “<i>resist motion upward</i>?”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1813"></a>1813. In the next paragraph you allege, that “<i>there is a difference in -these two kinds of resistance to motion. Inertia is instantaneous, weight -is continuous, resistance.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1814"></a>1814. It is to this allegation I object, that as you have defined inertia -to be “<i>resistance to motion, or to change of motion</i>,” it follows that it -can be instantaneous only where the impulse which it resists is instantaneous. -It cannot be less continuous than the force by which it is -overcome.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1815"></a>1815. Gravity has been considered as acting upon falling bodies by an -infinity of impulses, each producing an adequate acceleration; but to every -such accelerating impulse, producing of course a “<i>change of motion</i>,” -will there not be a commensurate resistance from inertia? and the impulses -and resistances being both infinite, will not one be as continuous as -the other?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1816"></a>1816. I have already adverted to inertia as the continuous antagonist -of solar attraction in the case of revolving planets.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1817"></a>1817. Agreeably to Mossotti, the creation consists of two kinds of -matter, of which the homogeneous particles are mutually repellent, the -heterogeneous mutually attractive. Consistently with this hypothesis, <i>per -se</i>, any matter must be imponderable; being endowed with a property the -very opposite of attraction of gravitation. This last-mentioned property -exists between masses consisting of both kinds of particles, so far as the -attraction between the heterogeneous atoms predominates over the repulsion -between those which are homogeneous. It would follow from these -premises, that all matter is ponderable or otherwise, accordingly as it may -be situated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1818"></a>1818. Can the ether by which, according to the undulatory theory, light -is transmitted, consist of ponderable matter? Were it so, would it not be -attracted about the planets with forces proportioned to their weight, respectively? -and becoming of unequal density, would not the diversity in -its density, thus arising, affect its undulations, as the transmission of sound -is influenced by any variations in the density of the aeriform fluid by -which it is propagated?</p> - -<p class="psig"> -With esteem, I am yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare</span></p> - -<p><small>(See appendix for Whewell’s Essay.)</small></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_373"></a>373</span></p> - - -<h4>Additional Remarks on the Speculations of Farraday and Exley, above -noticed.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1819"></a>1819. Is it possible for a mere centre to be endowed with a force? or -reasonable that language should not make a distinction between something -and nothing, between cause and effect, between matter and the properties -of matter? <i>m</i> being the properties, and <i>a</i> the Newtonian atom, of which -they have been considered as the attributes, I cannot concur in the reasoning -which infers that where we can only perceive phenomena, we are to -dispense with the idea of <i>causation</i>, because that causation is not directly -perceptible. It seems to me, from the meaning of the words, that no -cause can exist without some effect, nor can any effect exist without a -cause. Language founded on the existence of ideas cannot be disused. -Can there be any reason for considering any thing as endowed with existence -which gives no evidence of existence? We distinguish between -the thing which causes and the effect which it produces. The cause evidently -has a centrality; the effect, though it indicates by the direction in which it -arrives, the centre whence it proceeds, is remote from that centre. The -existence of this centrality seems to be recognised in the suggestion that -atoms are centres of forces. This implies that the source or cause is at -the centre in each atom, and, of course, the phenomenon, being more or -less remote from the centre, cannot be the source or cause, and hence has -been treated as an effect or property.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1820"></a>1820. The suggestion that the office of atoms may be performed by -centres of forces, in fact, assigns to a <i>mere centre</i> the part now performed -by a Newtonian atom. But it must be evident that the centre is that -point within any rotating mass, which does not turn therewith; and which, -where neither of the opposite motions resulting from rotation take place, -can neither have length nor breadth. This reduces the idea of a centre -to a common definition with a mathematical point; which is nihility in -the extreme. An absolutely void space may be identified with nihility, -and a mathematical point is a portion of that space, without length, -breadth, or thickness. To endow centres with forces is to disregard the -axiom, “Out of nothing nothing can come.” Moreover, wherefore should -there be a force at <i>certain</i> mathematical points, and yet others be destitute -of the same attribute? Manifestly, if some <i>mathematical</i> points are deficient -of powers with which others are endowed, there must be something -associated with one, which is not associated with the other. This justifies -the Newtonian idea, that the force, though proceeding from the centre, is, -like the terrestrial attraction of gravitation, the resultant of the complicated -attraction of the whole of a body surrounding the centre. But the centrality -of the force does not seem to accord with the idea of the inferred -diffusion of properties. In the instance of gravitation it does not account -for those attributes by which this globe acts as a solid mass within its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_374"></a>374</span> -material superficies, and yet, according to the Farradian definition, reaches -beyond the moon!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1821"></a>1821. But the idea of that polarity, of which Farraday has done so -much to establish the existence in all matter, in one form or another, -seems to involve that, to constitute atoms, there must be two centres of -<i>analogous</i>, but <i>opposite</i>, forces in each: whence it ensues that crystals -shoot in prisms or spiculæ, as water is seen to shoot in freezing; and -through which salts, as deposited by the evaporation of the solvent from a -solution of them, are seen to travel over the sides of the vessel; and upon -which property the phenomena of electricity and magnetism appear to be -dependent. How is this to be reconciled with this notion of each atom -existing in a diffusible penetrable state throughout the space in which its -properties prevail? Since these opposite polarities are energetic in their -reciprocal polar attraction, what keeps them together, yet prevents them -from so uniting as to produce neutralization?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1822"></a>1822. Mr. Exley’s ideas, if admitted, leave no alternative but either to -place a Newtonian atom within each of his concentric spheres, or to assume -that nothing can have properties, or that effects can exist without causes. -What is to cause a force at any mathematical point more than at any other? -How, in case of a moving body, are the forces to appear successively to -proceed from various centres, if there be nothing in which it is inherent, -which moves and carries its forces or properties wheresoever it goes? Does -not this suggestion that atoms are centres of their forces, by making the -cart draw itself, force the effect to be its own cause? It is quite consistent -with the Newtonian definition, that the resultant of the action of every -part of a mass should comport as if it proceeded from a common centre, -as does terrestrial gravitation; and of course, whether we have the Newtonian -idea or that of Boscovitch, Farraday, or Exley, we have forces proceeding -from centres. The great difference is that agreeably to the one -these forces emanate from nothing; agreeably to the other, from something. -I used to define matter to my pupils as that which has properties. -In the mind, is not force distinguished from some moving power which -gives it rise? Is not this distinction inevitable? and were the word force -employed to designate the moving power which exercises force, would it -not confound ideas, without altering the actual state of the case? Would -it not impoverish language, without improving science?</p> - - -<h4><i>Of Mundane, Ethereal, and Ponderable Matter, in their Chemical -relations.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1823"></a>1823. The bodies which occupy the attention of a chemist are found in -one of three states—those of solidity, fluidity, and elasticity. Ice, liquid -water, and steam exemplify these different states. The fact is thus illustrated, -that the same chemical compound, consisting of oxygen and hy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_375"></a>375</span>drogen, -may exist in either state, according to the temperature to which it -may be subjected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1824"></a>1824. Experience justifies the surmise, that scarcely any body in nature -is utterly insusceptible of these three states, provided it were heated or refrigerated -with an unlimited power.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1825"></a>1825. Beside the property of gravitation, of which the energy is inversely -as the square of the distance, however great, (as when it enables -the two suns, apparently forming but one—the double star, 61 Cygni -(<a href="#para_1340">1340</a>)—at the distance of six thousand millions of miles, to attract each -other so as to revolve about their common centre of gravity,) atoms are -endowed with a force called attraction of aggregation, which operates only -at insensible distances, so that when brought into due proximity they unite -and form a coherent mass. Again, they are endowed, as already mentioned, -with chemical affinity, which varies with the kind of particles in -which it exists as a property; being the characteristic by which they are -distinguished one from the other.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1826"></a>1826. According to the doctrine which chemists have heretofore suggested -for the existence of matter in the elastic or gaseous state, each -aerial or gaseous atom was conceived to be enveloped in an atmosphere of -fluid called caloric, resembling the ether in the self-repellent power of its -constituent particles. This atmosphere has been assumed to impart to -atoms which it envelopes its own inherent power of reciprocal repulsion, -like that which those of the ether have. But Dalton showed that there -was no repulsion between gaseous atoms when <i>heterogeneous</i>. Two or -more such gases, hydrogen and nitrogen, for instance, being comprised in -the same cavity, there would be no repulsion between the atoms of hydrogen -and those of nitrogen, but only between those of the same gas. This -has been held to be equally true, however many gases might be mingled, -or whatever vapours might be superadded.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1827"></a>1827. The idea is thus refuted, which ascribes the repulsive power to -the same elastic fluid, since in that case the diversity of the gaseous atoms -could not so affect the repulsive influence as to nullify it between heterogeneous -atoms, while sustaining this repulsion, where the atoms should -be alike.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1828"></a>1828. Moreover, as the rays of light have been found to be mere undulations -in the ether; the rays of heat, being perfectly analogous in their -attributes, must also be due to ethereal undulations. But vaporization may -be affected by radiant heat, and gases owe their aeriform state to the same -cause as vapor or steam; yet transient undulations evidently cannot form -a permanent combination, so as to confer the durable elasticity of a permanent -gas.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1829"></a>1829. It appears, then, that neither the doctrine of caloric, nor the undulatory -doctrine, as it is received, will explain the creation of permanent -gas. Under these circumstances a modification of the existing opinions is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_376"></a>376</span> -called for. It has, for some years, occurred to me, that the Newtonian -doctrine of radiation might be associated with that of undulation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1830"></a>1830. The fact that radiant heat could be collected by a mirror so as to -raise the temperature of bodies placed in the focus, and that this process -could take place in vacuo, as ascertained by Sir Humphrey Davy, had been -adduced as unquestionable evidence of the materiality of caloric, the supposed -fluid cause of heat. But as the cold proceeding from a snowball or -any cold body could be collected by the same process, it was urged by -some chemists that the evidence of the materiality of the cause of cold -must also be admitted. Prevost met this argument by suggesting that no -body in nature is absolutely cold. Every body, however refrigerated, is -not so cold as to be incapable of greater refrigeration. Hence all bodies -being absolutely above the zero of nature, are throwing off rays to each -other, and where there is equality of temperature, they do not cause any -change in their relative temperatures. The rays thrown off by A are compensated -by those which it receives from B, and <i>vice versa</i>. But if A -throws off to B more than B reciprocates, the temperature of A must fall -until an equilibrium is attained. Thus, A being the mirror and B the -snowball, the mirror is refrigerated, and causes a greater radiation from -any body situated about its focus. This explanation was generally received, -but to me, the following rationale, which I advanced, appeared -preferable:</p> - -<p><a id="para_1831"></a>1831. I assumed caloric to exist throughout the sublunary creation, as -the luminiferous ether is assumed to be diffused throughout all space by -the undulationists; the diffusion arising from the reciprocal repulsion of -its particles being similar to that which had been supposed to cause the -diffusion of caloric. There is the greatest analogy between this diffusion -and that which is known to exist in the case of gases. The process is the -same, whether the gas be dense like chlorine, or thirty-six times as rare, -as in the instance of hydrogen, and in the luminiferous ether resembles -the process by which hydrogen is rarified, or might be rendered more rare, -were the pressure of the atmosphere removed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1832"></a>1832. It is known that in any gas or gaseous mixture like that which we -breathe, if a deficit of pressure be caused in any spot, the gaseous particles -will quickly move toward it, in order to restore the equilibrium of -pressure, and that if, on the other hand, any augmentation of pressure be -produced at any spot, the gas will move outward to restore the equilibrium.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1833"></a>1833. The particles being symmetrically arranged in lines, a row of -particles may be conceived to lie between every two remote points. If we -suppose any number of points in the focal body, and a corresponding -number in the surface of the mirror, it may be conceived that the intervening -ethereal or calorific particles will move in rows one way or the other, -as the pressure in the focal space may become greater or less. Thus an -effect is brought about, equivalent to that which the Newtonian idea of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_377"></a>377</span> -radiation involves; lines of particles proceed from the hotter points to the -colder ones.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1834"></a>1834. The arrangement of the particles of caloric, which was originally, -in my view, confined to the sublunary creation, appears of necessity to -belong to the luminiferous ether, required by the theory ascribing light to -undulations, though the last-mentioned medium must be endowed with -ubiquity as above stated, so as to abound in every part of space through -which light reaches the eye.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1835"></a>1835. The undulatory hypothesis supposes that a wave-like motion being -imparted to a row of particles, by a luminous point in the surface of the -luminous body, is transmitted, like the sound producing waves in the air, -to the other end of the row.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1836"></a>1836. This undulatory progression has been roughly illustrated by the -transitory serpentine movements which may be made in a cord, stretched -like a clothes-line between the tops of posts.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1837"></a>1837. In order to make this illustration elucidate the conception which I -advance, we have only to suppose that the cord, instead of being attached -to the post, should be drawn rapidly over pulleys, and, while thus actuated, -be subjected to a cause of undulatory vibration. It may be conceived -that, by this process, the ethereal particles, while performing all which the -undulatory theory requires, might at the same time perform all required -by that of emission and material calorific radiation. Directed upon a vaporizable -liquid, the undulations might perform the part of sensible -heat; the ethereal particles, successively combining, might furnish the -latent heat requisite to the constitution of vapour.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1838"></a>1838. Agreeably to Newton, the seven colours of the spectrum are due -to as many different kinds of radiant particles of various refrangibility, or -susceptibility of being bent from the rectilinear path when passed through -the same refracting medium.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1839"></a>1839. According to the undulatory theory, the colours are caused by -diversities in the undulations producing them. Retaining this feature, the -last-mentioned hypothesis, as modified by myself, appears to be competent -to explain the phenomena of light as well as those of vaporization, produced -by calorific radiation, since not only is any vaporizing liquid subjected -to the transient effect of the undulations, but also may combine with -the ethereal particles as they come into contact with it.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1840"></a>1840. Thus modified, the rationale of the rainbow, or prismatic spectrum, -would not be that the colours indicate as many varieties of original -radiant particles, but that they are to be explained agreeably to the undulatory -hypothesis, which ascribes them to as many varieties in the undulations, -just as the notes in music are ascribed to diversities of vibration.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_378"></a>378</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1841"></a>1841. The ether, under this view, performs the part heretofore assigned -to latent heat, by combining with solids so as to render them susceptible -of expansion, and of electrical conduction by being liable to the polarization -which constitutes electricity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1842"></a>1842. Sensible heat, according to this aspect, is due to the vibrations -of the ethereal fluid, which is sustained by the sun, by ignition in the -interior of the earth, and by chemical reaction, including combustion and -respiration.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1843"></a>1843. The correctness of the inference, that conductors owe their conductive -power to ethereal matter entering into their composition, has been -insisted upon in my strictures on Farraday’s speculation in some of the -preceding pages. The facts admitted by this distinguished investigator of -nature’s laws, gave to me a basis on which to rest an argument in favour -of the existence of an imponderable cause of heat and electricity in metals, -which seems to me unanswerable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1844"></a>1844. Agreeably to the hypothesis respecting which the preceding -preparatory suggestions have been made, gasification is not due to a -repulsive atmosphere of ethereal matter, severally appropriated to each -ponderable constituent atom, but to an attraction for every such atom exercised -by the ethereal fluid, such as water exercises toward sugar, quick-lime, -salt, or any soluble substance. The ether attracts the particles of -certain solids, and is of course reacted upon by them. The particles thus -attracted naturally distribute themselves throughout it, at symmetrical -distances. Hence the law of Pettit and Dulong is verified, which, at least, -holds good with all gasifiable atoms, that their capacity is inversely as -their atomic weight.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1845"></a>1845. The atomic weights of hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine being -severally 1, 14, 36, when associated with equal volumes of the <i>imponderable</i> -ether, they will have still the same weight. Equal volumes will weigh -the same as the atoms with which they are associated; and the capacity for -heat, being directly as the volumes, will be inversely as the weights, the -calculation being the same, whether ether or caloric be the imponderable -principle to which they owe their gasification. By concurring with those -chemists, who estimate the atoms of oxygen at 16, instead of 8, this gas -will come into the same calculation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1846"></a>1846. When heterogeneous gases are confined within the same cavity, -that they should not react with each other is no more wonderful, than that -the same mass of water may at the same time hold different substances in -solution, which may add to its hydrostatic pressure though they have no -reciprocal reaction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1847"></a>1847. Sensible heat appears to be due to vibrations in the ether, kept -up by the solar rays or central ignition within this globe. By the heat -thus acquired the self-repellent power of the ether is augmented. When -by refrigeration this source of repulsion is diminished beyond a certain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_379"></a>379</span> -limit, the atoms of certain vaporizable particles, such as those of steam and -other condensible vapours, are approximated sufficiently to attract each -other, and consequently coalesce and are condensed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1848"></a>1848. It follows that light is due to <i>undulation</i>, sensible heat to <i>vibration</i>, -and electricity to the <i>polarization</i> caused in the ethereal medium, while -either in a free, or in a combined state. Thus this luminiferous ether performs -the part heretofore attributed to latent heat or caloric in one state; -in another state, that of sensible heat.</p> - - -<h4><i>Suggestions of Massotti, respecting the Nature of Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1849"></a>1849. Massotti has suggested that all bodies consist of two kinds of -ultimate particles; that any two or more particles of one kind are repulsive -of each other, while any two or more of different kinds are reciprocally -attractive. Hence atoms are formed, consisting of one atom of one -kind and one of the other kind. Of course, were the opposite forces -exercised by the heterogeneous and homogeneous equal, the resulting atoms -would be neither attractive nor repulsive; but assuming the attractive -power to have the ascendency, the hypothesis would account for the property -of gravitation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1850"></a>1850. Let the suggestions of Massotti be modified, so far as that the -extremities of each particle, whether of one or the other kind, are to be -considered as endowed with opposite polarities, like those of the magnetic -needle, as already suggested in the case of matter in general. Then in -one relative position of the extremities they may be reciprocally repulsive, -in the other reciprocally attractive; likewise one of the kinds of matter, -like the light-producing ether of the undulationists, may pervade the universe, -and be condensed in a peculiarly great quantity within perfect conductors: -all this being premised, it may be conceived how the waves of -opposite polarization, which proceed from oppositely electrified, or in other -words, oppositely polarized bodies, cause the matter through which they -pass to be decomposed or explosively rent.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1851"></a>1851. As elsewhere stated, in large bodies of water, waves are the effect -of transference of motion successively from one part of the mass to the -other; the rolling of the wave causing nothing to pass but the motion, -and of course, the momentum is invariably consequent to motion. The -waves by which sound is transmitted, are analogous; nothing being transferred -excepting a vibration of the air, capable of affecting the tympanum -of the ear with the impression requisite to create in the sensorium the idea -of sound.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1852"></a>1852. Any affection of matter, capable of existing in successive parts of -a material body, so that while the body is stationary, the affection passes -from one part of the mass to others, may be considered as a wave of that -affection, as reasonably as the affection called momentum is considered as -producing a wave in water, when passing through it, as above described.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_380"></a>380</span> -It is in this way that I consider that the term wave of polarization may -be applied to an affection of matter consisting of an abnormal position of -the poles of the constituent particles, successively induced in rows of -atoms, so as to proceed from one part of the series to the other.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1853"></a>1853. And as two sets of waves, of which the hollows of one should -correspond with the elevations of the others, would, by being associated, -produce an even surface and equalization of the momentum in the aqueous -liquid, so, in opposite polarities, there might be reciprocal neutralization -by the coming together of the polarities.</p> - - -<h4><i>On Electro-polarity as the Cause of Electrical Phenomena.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1854"></a>1854. Agreeably to the view which I take of the present state of our -electrical knowledge, the phenomena designated under the name of electricity -are due entirely to a process which I designate as polarization, and -the consequences thereof. Those attractions and repulsions which have -been found to exist between particles of matter, instead of being an endowment -of the whole mass of each particle, seem confined, as already -suggested, to particular terminations or spots, as we see this property on a -larger scale in the loadstone or natural magnet. In the body long known -under this appellation, the attractive power which it exercises is displayed -usually at two distinct portions of its superficies, which are called poles. -When a piece of steel wire is duly rubbed by either of these poles, it acquires -a similar attractive polarity, which always appears at the extremities. -When formed into an appropriate shape and freely suspended, such a wire -magnet constitutes the compass needle, having the wonderful and all-important -faculty of arranging itself within a meridian plane, so as to be -always nearly north and south; the same pole invariably pointing in the -same direction. The poles are named from the quarter to which they -point, one being called the north pole of the needle, the other the south -pole. This involves that the north pole of the earth itself has nominally -south polarity; the south pole, north polarity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1855"></a>1855. When two suspended compass needles are sufficiently approximated, -it will be seen that between the poles which point in the same -direction, there is repulsion; between those which point in different -directions, attraction. When the dissimilar poles are brought into contact, -they adhere; and if left cohering, will continue attached for any length of -time; and while in that state of coherence, the magnetic power of the -poles thus touching, being neutralized, disappears.<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1856"></a>1856. If two needles be laid parallel, an interval between them, the extremities -being made to communicate by applying two wires of suitable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_381"></a>381</span> -dimensions, also parallel to each other, the magnetic power will be neutralized.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1857"></a>1857. It is inferred that analogous phenomena take place in the particles -of masses or surfaces which are endowed with chemical affinity or -even cohesive attraction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1858"></a>1858. It is to the existence of the power by which these effects are -caused, at opposite terminations, that bodies, in congealing or freezing from -the state of liquidity, shoot into prismatic, oblong, regular forms, called -crystals. This is illustrated in the formation of ice, which is seen to shoot -into such prismatic crystals.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1859"></a>1859. When a pane of glass is so situated as to have the focus of a solar -microscope thrown upon any spot, so that the glass thus affected may be -between the eye of an observer and the microscope, any small crystals -formed are greatly magnified. Hence if the focal space be moistened with -a solution of certain salts, the solvent evaporating, crystallization ensues, -and is seen to form appropriate figures for each salt employed. It is owing -to this property that when certain solutions of various substances are evaporated, -the soluble solid, as it is deposited from the solvent, arranges -itself longitudinally; one atom attaching itself to the pole of another, until -it creeps over the sides of the vessel in great quantity. The appearance -of arborescence in certain minerals is thus accounted for. When an amalgam -of mercury with silver is hung by a platina wire within a bottle of a -solution of silver in nitric acid, there is formed a beautiful branching of -silver filaments. These are longer, though more slowly formed, as the -solution is more dilute. In very dilute solutions I have seen prisms of -silver of more than an inch in length, so delicate, that but for the brilliancy -of the surface they could not have been detected by the eye.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1860"></a>1860. Farraday distinguished two kinds of polarity—ferro-magnetic and -dia-magnetic. That above described as taking place between steel magnets -is designated as ferro-magnetic. Dia-magnetic particles under magnetic -influence take position at right angles to that which would ensue from -ferro-magnetism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1861"></a>1861. This explanation being premised to enable the student to comprehend -what is meant by polarity, I will proceed to explain electric phenomena, -according to the theory which I hold.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1862"></a>1862. It is expected that the preceding discussions have prepared the -reader to conceive that the atoms of all ponderable matter are endowed -with two analogous but opposite polar powers, which we term polarity. -That in any two atoms the dissimilar polar powers tend to make them unite, -the similar powers having the opposite tendency. That in any inert mass -the opposite powers or polarities are in contact, and thus reciprocally neutralized.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1863"></a>1863. It will be also understood that the ethereal fluid which pervades -the universe as the means of illumination is assumed to consist in like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_382"></a>382</span> -manner of atoms or particles which are endowed with polarity, so that -when the opposite poles are in proximity, there is neutralization: repulsion, -and disturbance, when similar poles are approximated. This being premised, -the allegation may be intelligible, that when bodies are electrified, -the poles of the component atoms or particles are conceived to be deranged -from their natural position of reciprocal neutralization, so that they react -with exterior bodies, disturbing the poles of their constituent particles, -and thus electrifying them by induction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1864"></a>1864. This abnormal state of disturbance, is conceived to be produced -on glass or resin, or any electric, when duly subjected to friction.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1865"></a>1865. Thus when in an electric machine a vitreous surface is rubbed -by a leather cushion, the particles both of the leather and glass surfaces are -deranged from their natural state of reciprocal neutralization, and present -their poles in an active state, and the glass surface, moving through the -ethereal medium, (<a href="#para_812">812</a>) polarizes it as it passes, the ether resuming its -normal state till the ethereal atmosphere over the conductor is reached. To -that it imparts durable polarity; the metallic superficies of the conductor -taking the opposite state, so that the charge is retained until the glass goes -to and returns from the cushion, with a farther supply of polarity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1866"></a>1866. The charges of polarization received by the plates at each succeeding -revolution of the plate or cylinder, is divided with the ethereal -atmosphere over the conductor, and this process is reiterated till the frictional -power has accomplished its maximum effect. Then the conductor -is said to be charged positively, according to the theory of one fluid, and -vitreously, according to that of Dufay, or the theory of two fluids. Meanwhile, -if the cushion communicates duly with an insulated conductor, a -process perfectly analogous to that just described has been charging that -conductor, <i>pari passu</i>, with the one first mentioned. By these means we -have two excited or charged conductors.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1867"></a>1867. If, before charging these conquerors, two scalps of hair be severally -situated on them, it will be perceived that, as the charging proceeds, -the hairs on each of the scalps rise, and endeavour to keep away from each -other. But, meanwhile, the whole of the hair on either is attracted by -that on the other conductor. Moreover, on touching both conductors with -any metallic rod, simultaneously, the whole of the excitement disappears, -and the hairs assume their normal position.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1868"></a>1868. In producing this discharge, iron is not more effective than any -other metal. It is, in fact, known to be less competent for this species of -conduction, than copper, silver, or gold.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1869"></a>1869. When the conductors are excited they have a powerful effect -upon gold leaves, suspended as in the electrometer.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1870"></a>1870. The state of the conductors, when excited, as described here, is -said to be <i>static</i>. Such a state of excitement is distinguished as a <i>statical</i> -charge of electricity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_383"></a>383</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1871"></a>1871. In the next place, if we procure a horse-shoe magnet, lay it on a -table, cover it with a sheet of paper, and then sift over it iron filings, we -shall see the shape of the magnet delineated upon the paper, by the filings -arranging themselves above its corners in preference. But as the sifting -proceeds, the filings will be seen to extend themselves in filaments, so as -very much to resemble the electrified hair above described. A tuft of the -ferruginous filaments will be formed upon each pole of the magnet, each -filament avoiding its neighbours, as far as possible. But while each filament, -in either tuft, avoids every other in its appropriate tuft, the whole -of the filaments in one, are attracted by those in the other. Thus, the -charges of polarity which cause each similarly polarized filament to avoid -those in the same state, induce those polarized by one of the poles of -the magnet, to attract such as are polarized by the other pole of the -magnet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1872"></a>1872. Here is, so far, a great analogy between the phenomena of the -polarization of filings and the polarization of the hair, above described. -But then there is this difference: excepting iron, cobalt, and nickel, there -is no metal which can, by contact with the poles of a magnet, neutralize -the polarity by which the iron filings are affected; and even these metals -produce this result by a process, the inverse of that by which charges of -statical electricity are neutralized. In fact, the magnetic metal, far from -acting as a discharger, acts as a keeper; and a piece of iron, of a suitable -shape, applied to the terminations of a horse-shoe magnet, prevents the -gradual diminution of the magnetism, which otherwise ensues. Hence -the name keeper is applied to it, as well as armature, derived from the -French.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1873"></a>1873. It will be perceived that, in a steel magnet, the charges are sustained -at the terminations of a conductor, which, as estimated by Cavendish, -conducts electricity with a velocity two hundred thousand times as -great as water.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1874"></a>1874. The charge of the conductor of the machine is superficial, a gilt -globe of glass holding as good a charge as a solid globe of metal; and, -moreover, in this superficial charge, the ether and the air participate, undergoing -a polar affection, analogous to that of the filings exposed to the -influence of the magnet.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1875"></a>1875. On the other hand, in the use of the steel magnet, the charge -is internal, and, other things being equal, increases with the quantity of -iron charged; neither the air nor the ether participate in this magnetic -charge. There is no mode in which the charges of the poles of a magnet -can be made to pass from one to the other, through any interposed conducting -mass.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1876"></a>1876. The retention of the charge seems to be dependent upon a state -of the particles in which they are capable of being deranged from their -normal position with a certain degree of extraneous influence, and can only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_384"></a>384</span> -resume their natural relative position by a contrary application of a similar -agent. Although steel differs from iron only in containing, as an ingredient, -one-fiftieth of carbon, this gives it the highly valuable property of -hardening, when suddenly refrigerated; a result which may be accounted -for by supposing that, in consequence of the sudden exposure to a powerful -conducting medium, there is a sort of a jerk by which the particles -loose from their midst an undue portion of their ethereal constituents, and -cannot recover their normal arrangement after the refrigeration. When -this effect is reached to a maximum, the steel is so brittle as sometimes to -fly into two or more pieces when left to itself. When soft iron is subjected -to the magnetizing process, it exchanges one polarity for the other -with such speed, that, in some electro-magnetic instruments, this reversal -is effected more than one hundred times in a second; but precisely in proportion -as the magnetism is readily received, it is more readily lost. On -the other side, when hardened to a maximum, steel can scarcely be magnetized -at all. Thus, to have a permanent magnet, we must employ the -metal in a state of induration between the extremes. These facts tend to -corroborate the inference that magnetism is dependent on the relative position -of the ferruginous particles. It is presumed that the ferruginous particles -of which the filings consist indicate, by their direction, as seen externally, -the direction in which the constituent particles of the magnet -are situated beneath the metallic surface.<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_385"></a>385</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1877"></a>1877. If to a wire, connecting the poles of a galvanic battery, iron -filings are applied, each ferruginous particle becomes a little magnet, and -displays exactly the same disposition to unite in filaments as has been represented -to take place when they are exposed upon a sheet of paper, to -the influence of a magnet supporting it. But while this affection is thus -identical with that induced by the steel magnet, it differs therefrom, in its -being as transient as the galvanic discharges to which it owes its existence. -These, at the lowest estimate, are sufficiently rapid to go round the globe -in two seconds; whence it may be conceived that the time taken to percur -a few inches of wire must be almost infinitely brief. Hence, although -the filings continue in a state of magnetization so long as the action of the -battery is sustained, and the wire kept in due contact with the poles of -the battery, it is only by a rapid reiteration of discharges, that this result -is effected.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1878"></a>1878. As the relative position of the particles composing the steel -magnet has been inferred to be indicated by that of the movable filings -which they influence, we may suppose the position of the particles composing -the wire, to be indicated by that which the filings take by which it is -encircled. These are situated always as if forming tangents to the circumference -of the wire, and hence it may be perceived that the metallic -particles, forming the wire, have been shifted from their normal position, -parallel to the axis, so as to take that tangential direction which the magnetization -evinces.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1879"></a>1879. On one end of the wire being in communication with one pole -of a voltaic series, on touching the other pole of the series with the other -end of the wire, filaments of the particles previously situated parallel to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_386"></a>386</span> -the axis, are jerked out of the normal position with an inconceivable quickness, -the discharge, however, not affecting successive parts of the length -absolutely at once, but successively; so that there is a time required for -the process, however inconceivably minute it may appear to us. The -effect upon the filaments of filings, at the different ends of the wire, are -perfectly simultaneous, and the effect analogous, but different in this respect, -that the positive poles are presented externally at one end, the negative -at the other, so that, when the polarizing affections meet at an intermediate -point within the wire, neutrality ensues.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1880"></a>1880. Thus it will be perceived that no current passes through the -wire, any more than the water which is seen to form a wave, on one side -of a lake, passes with the wave which is seen apparently to proceed to the -other side. Notoriously, in this case, nothing passes but the momentum, -which is successively imparted to successive portions of the intervening -water; so, in the galvanic discharge, successive portions of the intervening -wire are affected by the original disturbing jerks, of which the power -passes from each portion to that next beyond it, just as the momentum in -the case of the aqueous wave.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1881"></a>1881. Upon these considerations I hold myself as warranted in calling -the affections of the wire, as described, <i>waves</i> of polarization, not that the -affection of the wire has the smallest similitude to that with which water -produces waves, but that, in both cases, there is a successive communication -of a property. It is well known that there is this analogy in the two cases; -in either, opposite waves, on due meeting, produce reciprocal neutrality.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1882"></a>1882. The neutralization of the electro-polarity induced upon the -charged conductors (<a href="#para_1867">1867</a>) by touching both at the same time by a conducting -rod, is effected in some degree analogously to the process in the voltaic -discharge; since waves of opposite polarization are produced at each extremity, -and, rushing toward an intermediate point, are neutralized by -meeting. But the polarization in the case of the conductors, as has been -stated, (<a href="#para_1874">1874</a>,) is superficial, and extends not only to the surfaces of the -conductors, but likewise to the surrounding ether and air, and does not -affect the ponderable atoms of the wire unless the charge be too great to -pass in this superficial manner. In that case, being condensed upon the -wire to a state of great intensity, it causes a polarization of the atoms -composing it, similar to that of the voltaic discharge, though less durable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1883"></a>1883. From the preceding exposition it follows that the conduction and -insulation of that species of electricity which is excited by an electrical -machine or other frictional processes, exists upon the superficies of insulated -masses, or that of the circumambient particles of the air or ether. -This frictional electricity likewise passes preferably over the surfaces of -conductors, so that the moistened surface of glass, or other non-conductors, -conveys it with enormous facility. It is notorious, that when the air is -moist, electrical machines are paralyzed. But this cannot be in conse<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_387"></a>387</span>quence -of the moist air acting as a conductor. Agreeably to some experiments -which I made, a fog from hot water does not act as a conductor. -Evidently, were a fog or a cloud a conductor, the air and moisture forming -a thunder cloud could not be electrified, so as to give the discharges which -constitute lightning.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1884"></a>1884. It is well known that a tube will carry more lightning than a -rod, of which the sectional area should comprise the same quantity of -metal. Yet, when the wire is too small to carry a charge outside, it is -acted upon intestinally and may be explosively deflagrated. But while the -existence of a film of moisture upon the glass legs of an electrical machine, -may paralyze its power, to a powerful galvanic battery moisture is well -known to be essential.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1885"></a>1885. If the poles of a powerful voltaic series, while highly charged, -were severally to have a conducting communication with the conductors -of an electrical machine, it would discharge them so rapidly, that the -most active working would not enable them to give a spark; yet at the -poles of the same series there might be charges accumulated which would, -in effecting chemical decomposition, heating, deflagrating wire, or inducing -magnetism, be immensely superior to that created by a machine.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1886"></a>1886. Farraday’s reasoning and observations, founded on the idea that -the only difference between galvanic and frictional electricity was that -between quantity and intensity, led him to take up the idea that a grain -of water with an equivalent of zinc would evolve as much electricity as -sixteen millions of square feet of coated glass, charged by a powerful machine -of fifty inches in diameter. I am surprised that Farraday did not consider -his premises erroneous, when he found them involving such startling -conclusions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1887"></a>1887. The source of this startling inference was, I think, as follows: -Farraday entertained the opinion, that the only difference between voltaic -and frictional electricity was that of quantity and intensity. He went so -far as to intimate that this opinion would be entertained the more confidently -as the electrician forming his decision should be better acquainted -with the subject. I advanced what appeared to me unanswerable objections -to this conclusion, but such as were not deemed by him worthy of -reply. Unduly confident in his postulate, Farraday first ascertained the -greatest effect which could be produced by a certain number of turns of a -powerful machine, with a fifty inch plate, in causing a deviation of the -galvanometric needle, and then, comparing the quantity of zinc and water -required to produce the same effect through galvanic action, by a rule-of-three -statement the result above mentioned was obtained. In my view -the error arose from overlooking the fact that in the one case the whole -discharge was exercised in polarizing the ponderable matter, while in the -other only a portion of the discharge was thus employed, being only a -secondary effect of the polarization of the circumambient medium. Only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_388"></a>388</span> -that portion of the charge which was forced into an association with the -ponderable matter, had any effect on the galvanometric needle.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1888"></a>1888. According to Gaziot’s experiments, a Grove’s battery of 320 -pairs would not give a spark before contact at any distance, although -frictional machines, proportionally powerful, have given sparks at twenty -inches.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1889"></a>1889. Thus the laws of conduction and insulation, as respects the two -kinds of electricity in question, are different; the waves of polarization are -in the case of the galvanic circuit confined to absolute contact with conducting -ponderable matter. It cannot pass through the electrical medium -or the air by the disruptive process. When once a passage has been made -for it, it may pass convectively, carrying with it the polarizable matter, as -may be seen in the arch formed between the poles of a powerful voltaic -series after contact.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1890"></a>1890. This arch cannot be formed between two metallic points, because -none but those of a most fixed and infusible nature can support the heat -produced. It is only between charcoal points that it can be created, because -no other competent conductor is infusible at the temperature of its volatilization. -It is in fact only by the process in question, that charcoal can be -volatilized <i>per se</i>. It may be inferred that as those waves of electro-polarity -which require the presence of ponderable as well as ethereal matter cannot -pass over an interval without the assistance of ponderable matter such -as is supplied by the coal. On contact with each other, the points completing -the circuit are subjected to an intensity of the polarizing power -which causes the carbon of the points, in the state of vapour, to become -associated with the ethereal waves, and thus produces the flaming arch, -which distinguishes the scene of reciprocal neutralization.</p> - - -<h4><i>Of Mind, as existing independently, and as distinguished from Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1891"></a>1891. Three ideas must coexist in every rational being; nihility, mind, -and matter. We can, of course, conceive of a perfectly void space, and -likewise of a mathematical point, which designates a position not an entity. -Yet, position cannot be determined without surrounding entities, -between which this point exists, without having claim to any portion of -those entities, whether there be only one actual material surface, or where -several are cornered together. Of such points we have already treated, as -forming at the immovable centre of a rotating mass, so that a centre is, -of course, one state of the existence of such a point.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1892"></a>1892. After the considerations already presented, it will be seen that -there is great difficulty in conceiving of the existence of an atom of matter -endowed with polarity, and of course with two centres of two analogous, -but opposite and irreconcilable forces. And we must consider that there -are more than fifty such heterogeneous elementary atoms, all endowed with -various degrees of affinity, so as that two may unite energetically to the ex<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_389"></a>389</span>clusion -of a third. This is designated as a case of decomposition, and -may be exemplified by the process in which water is explosively decomposed -by potassium, with which the oxygen of the water unites to the -exclusion of hydrogen. When we see that from seven parts, by weight, -of charcoal, and about nine parts of water, sugar ensues; that the sweetness -with which this sugar is endowed, is the result of a difference between -this substance and starch, in the proportion of the watery elements: starch -consisting of less water than sugar, with the same amount of charcoal; -when we learn that twelve parts, by weight, of charcoal, fourteen parts of -nitrogen, and one of hydrogen, constitute the deadly prussic acid; and -when, in fact, we discover that the atoms of matter which compose our -flesh are capable of entering into as many active chemical combinations -as the beads of a kaleidoscope can be productive of figures, then it will be -manifest that the phenomena characterizing what we call matter, as well -as the powers of that matter, are such as to prove our utter incapacity to -comprehend the powers and properties of material atoms, and that we -must not object to any wonder that nature may produce, because it is -beyond our comprehension.<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1893"></a>1893. The belief in the powers displayed by matter does not then -result from their being explicable, but from their being evident, just as -the elaboration of the chick from the egg demonstrates the fact that the -yolk and the white have been converted into a chicken without our being -enabled to comprehend the process by which it has been effected. Such -being the imperfection of our knowledge respecting the intricate nature of -matter and its reactions, it seems to me inconsistent that there should -have been such backwardness to believe in the independent existence of -mind, of which the phenomena and properties are quite as evident as -those of matter, the mode of existence and operation in either case being -inscrutable.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1894"></a>1894. The great distinction between mind and matter is the presence -of will on the one side, and the absence of it upon the other. <i>Vis inertiæ</i> -is the antipodes of will; and if gravitation have any association with will, -it will be that of the Creator; but in the inert mass actuated, it serves -only to add to the evidence of incapability of self-actuation.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1895"></a>1895. Passion and reason, the parents of will, are properties as manifest -as those which, surrounding a centre, give to it that idea of a central force -which indicates the presence of material atoms, though it does not constitute -them, as I have urged.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1896"></a>1896. The existence of <i>vis inertiæ</i>, gravitation, and chemical affinity,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_390"></a>390</span> -is not more evident as properties of ponderable matter than reason and -passion and consequent will are of mind; nor is will less evidently the -offspring of reason and passion, than momentum is of <i>vis inertiæ</i> and gravitation. -The existence of these attributes of mind is as evident as is the -existence of those of ponderable matter, and the incomprehensibility of -their origin or mode of operation should no more be an obstacle to belief -in the former case than in the latter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1897"></a>1897. Nothing is more thoroughly fundamental and essential in the -doctrine inculcated by revelation than the omnipotency of the will of God. -According to Scripture, the whole heaven and earth, and all that is in -them, sprung into existence in consequence of the fiat of the Deity, whose -will, under the designation of “overruling providence,” is alleged to -regulate every thing, even to the fall of a sparrow, or the advent of a pestilence. -It follows that the suggestions which I have made respecting the -powers of mind are perfectly orthodox, so far as the mind of the Creator -is concerned; and as, according to orthodoxy, man is made after God’s own -image, however humble and minute may be the being so made, his mind, -so far as it exists, must be, within the sphere allotted to it, existing upon -an analogous footing to that of its author. The idea of all things coming -from the creative power of God as the first cause, involves the existence of -the divine-will power, of the first cause; and consequently, beings endowed -with an analogous will, must, so far as they have any available existence, -be endowed with will-power, of which the potentiality may be more extensive -in spirits than in mortals.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1898"></a>1898. It is because there is no other imaginable power which can be -productive of the rationality of the universal creation, that forms the great -argument for assuming the will of a reasoning Deity to be the cause of -causes. Vain were it to appeal to any irrational force under the name of -odylic, or any other, to explain the divine attributes on which this argument -reposes. In like manner, the assailants of Spiritualism cannot find -any nominal force, whether new or old, which can explain the rationality -of the results which I have submitted to the public in this book, as coming -from the minds of my spirit friends.</p> - - -<h4><i>Of Spirit independently, or as distinguished from Mind and Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1899"></a>1899. It has been alleged above, that three ideas must exist in the conception -of every rational being; nihility, mind, matter.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1900"></a>1900. Mind is distinct from matter in its usual acceptation; but it also -differs from nihility. There are some attributes common to mind and -matter; since they cannot be considered as nothing, they must both be -something. Therefore, the word thing applies to either, and thing is -sometimes received as synonymous with matter. But between these two -kinds of things, mind and matter, we have an intermediate thing called<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_391"></a>391</span> -spirit, which is sometimes confounded with mind. In its original sense, -this word merely denoted a thin or refined matter, such as air, wind, -breath. In chemistry, it has been applied to every thing obtained by distillation, -as, for instance, spirit of wine, spirit of salt, spirit of nitre, of -vitriol, spirit of turpentine.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1901"></a>1901. Hence, by analogy, when the mind of a mortal, after death, was -seen, or supposed to be seen, in a shadowy form called a ghost or shade, it -was conceived to be the spirit or essence of the mortal body which it had -inhabited. It was the body which the mind took or kept for its integuments -after abandoning its perishable mundane <i>casket</i>, as the spirits are -wont to call the carnal body.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1902"></a>1902. It is difficult for us mortals to conceive of mind without such a -spiritual body. Yet, agreeably to information from my spirit friends, the -substances of which the bodies, the country, and habitations of spirits are -constituted, seem to have the attributes of materiality no less than the -substances of which the bodies, the territory, and the habitations of mortals -are constituted. Their spiritual substances perform for them the same -offices as our material substances do for ours, yet it is expedient to distinguish -them by different appellations, and those cited here have been sanctioned -by custom at least as far as the time of St. Paul, or when these -words in Genesis were first used: “The spirit of God moved on the surface -of the water.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1903"></a>1903. Hence, the words materialism and materialist have been made -synonymous with unbelief or unbeliever in a future state of <i>spiritual</i> -existence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1904"></a>1904. Spirit has also been confounded with mind or soul, or so associated -that we speak of the spirit of a friend, when intending to convey -the idea of soul or mind.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1905"></a>1905. The soul seems to be understood as the basis both of the passions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_392"></a>392</span> -and the reason, uniting both the power of thinking and reasoning with -those of loving and hating, of benevolence and malevolence, so that even -the soul of Jehovah has been represented in Scripture as being actuated -by jealousy, wrath, and vindictiveness.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1906"></a>1906. According to information from the spirit world, spirit is viewed -as the clothing of the soul, and is not constant in its characteristics; but, -on the contrary, varies with the plane which it occupies, so that its density -is inversely as the rank attained. It is on this account that the inferior -spirits cannot rise above the level to which they rightfully belong.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1907"></a>1907. The impression is conveyed that there is a state to be attained in -the spiritual heaven, wherein the tenuity of the integuments of the soul -are still more refined.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1908"></a>1908. According to the speculation in which I indulged in a previous -page, a centre cannot differ from the nihility involved by the conception -of a mathematical point, without a circumambient something, to which the -difference is due, and, however difficult to conceive in what way the attributes -of a human soul are associated about the centre whence their influence -proceeds, this difficulty, having been shown to exist no less in the -case of ponderable atoms, would be an objection to the existence of matter -as much as of mind.</p> - - -<h4><i>Of the Soul, as distinguished from Mind and Matter.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1909"></a>1909. The word mind is much used as synonymous with intellect or -understanding, though it seems to me we consider it as more or less associated -with the passions which actuate it. The word soul, on the other -hand, involves the association of every thing which distinguishes a being -capable of passion, and competent to reason, from a corpse. It is remarkable -that, as spirits become more pure and intellectual, they should be -alleged to become more refined in their spiritual integuments, thus removing -further from the mundane state, and becoming less capable of giving -those manifestations in which violent movements are witnessed.</p> - - -<h4><i>On the Odic, or Odylic, Force.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1910"></a>1910. There never was perhaps a more eloquent exhibition of that which -has been designated as <i>ratiocinatio verbosa</i>, than in the appeals made to -the odic force as the means of explaining spiritual manifestations. It -may be inferred, from the speculation into which I entered, when treating -of mediumship, (<a href="#para_806">806</a>,) that there is a spiritual light and spiritual electricity, -which performs for spirits in the spiritual world what our electricity -and light does for us in this world. It was pointed out that the term magnetism -had been applied to mesmeric phenomena rather in consequence -of an analogy between them and those of electro-magnetism, than from -any identity. To this spiritual electricity, mortals, in their spiritual organ<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_393"></a>393</span>ism, -which coexists with the mortal body, during mundane life, are liable; -being unconsciously under its influence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1911"></a>1911. The phenomena of mundane light being ascribed to the undulations -of an ethereal fluid pervading the visible universe, (<a href="#para_1831">1831</a>,) and electricity -being ascribed to the polarization of the same fluid, so the spirits -ascribe <i>their electricity</i> and <i>their light</i> to the undulation and polarization -of an analogous ethereal fluid. It is to this ethereal fluid of the spiritual -world, that the phenomena called odic belong, as I conceive. We may -speak of that ether as the odic fluid, and we may designate the light and -electricity which it produces as odic light, and odic electricity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1912"></a>1912. But the use of the term force, as applied either to the ether -appropriate to this mundane sphere, or to that which belongs more especially -to the spirit world, seems to me erroneous. Imponderable fluids may be -instrumental to forces, but, <i>per se</i>, cannot have force. No imponderable -material fluid can <i>per se</i> have any force, unless that of the reciprocal repulsion -of particles, which causes their equable diffusion and resistance to -condensation. Electricity has less force in proportion as it is more isolated. -In vacuo it passes more diffusely and with less noise in proportion as the -vacuum is more perfect. The violence of electrical phenomena is always -dependent upon the reaction of the ponderable masses upon or between -which it acts. In proportion as the matter on which it operates is more -favourable to its condensation therein, or thereupon, the more violent is -the deflagration or explosion which results. But in all the phenomena -which have hitherto been recognised as the objects of strict physical examination, -<i>vis inertiæ</i> has been indispensable to the exhibition of force. -“Give me but where to stand, and I will move the world,” was the exclamation -of Archimedes; but the conviction thus expressed, of the necessity -of a resisting basis, is universally recognised. In other words, there -can be no action without reaction, whether chemical, mechanical, or muscular -force be applied. Of course, it is preposterous to speak of an <i>isolated</i> -imponderable physical fluid, as possessing force <i>per se</i>. When left to -itself it would remain inert, like any other inanimate matter. Clearly, -isolated action on the part of such a fluid cannot be shown in any case -whatever.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1913"></a>1913. Reichenbach alleged the substance or principle to which the name -odic has been given to be visible, but he did not adduce any instance of -its acting as a moving power so as to justify its being designated as the -odic force.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1914"></a>1914. It is, however, unnecessary that those who admit the existence -of an invisible ethereal medium through which, <i>without muscular contact</i>, -or agency, effects are produced by will, should concur in their opinions -respecting the nature of that imponderable principle. The question between -those agreeing in the preceding principles, is whether it is to the -will of mortals or to the will of disembodied spirits that such manifesta<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_394"></a>394</span>tions -are to be attributed. I should think that no person who shall have -read the communications which I have introduced into this work, as coming -from my spirit friends, can ascribe those communications to the medium and -myself. They must either suppose that there is a wilful manufacture of -the wonderful and interesting information therein contained, setting aside -the test conditions, through which they are sanctioned, as unreliable; or -they must ascribe a wonderful fertility to the minds of the media and myself, -through whom they have been obtained.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1915"></a>1915. So far from the ideas being obtained from my mind, which proceed -from my spirit father, that he and I cannot come to one opinion on -some points after much discussion. My father and sister have, by reiterated -communication, as well established a conviction on my mind of their -being that which they allege themselves to be, as if a correspondence had -been carried on with them for the same space of time, say eighteen months, -while they should be residing in another part of the country.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1916"></a>1916. But the whole superstructure built up by the most confident -among the recent assailants of Spiritualism, Mahan, rests on the error -already exposed in the case of its commission by Dr. Bell.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1917"></a>1917. It is assumed that spirits can never tell any ideas which do not -exist in the minds of some persons present. Who was present when my -spirit messenger conveyed to Mrs. Gourlay the request to send her husband -to bank to inquire when a note would be due? Again, when cards were -selected without the denomination having been seen by any mortal present, -how could the denomination of the cards be spelt out upon the alphabetic -disk?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1918"></a>1918. In his work, Mr. Mahan assumes that the odic force is identical -with that which is the immediate cause of the spirit manifestations. -Agreeably to the considerations above presented, no imponderable material -principle, such as the ether of the undulation theory is supposed to be, can -be a force. The only part which it can perform is that of being a medium of -force. The fluid of electricity was never assumed to be a moving power, -neither according to the Franklinian hypothesis of one fluid, nor that of -two fluids, according to Dufay. Without chemical or mechanical disturbance, -they would be as still as the water in a pond during a perfect -calm.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1919"></a>1919. There is evidently, however, in nature, an imponderable cause of -motion, and of other changes, more complicate than simple motion, and, I -believe, only one such cause, and that is mind. No one who attributes the -creation to the mind of the Creator, but must admit that the mind of the -Creator and Ruler of the universe is the moving power of the universe. -It must also be admitted that the mind of man, as a moving power, is very -minute in comparison with that of its Author, or Source, but still resembling -it so far as it reasons, and obeys the dictates of that reason, and causes -matter to move in consequence of its designs, desires, wishes, or emotions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_395"></a>395</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1920"></a>1920. But if this will of the Creator exists, it must have some medium -through which it reaches the objects which it influences, just as the ether -of the undulationist is necessary to the transmission of light. It is -through this medium that gravitation exists as one of the effects of divine -will, since, although it appears to be a property of matter, it is inferred to -be no less the effect of an habitual exercise of volition, than the erect -posture preserved in man, by analogous means, unconsciously; whence, in -him, it ceases with sleep. The human will, within its comparatively -minute, humble sphere of action, must require also a medium analogous -to that through which God acts; otherwise, how does a thought so quickly -move the toe? While encompassed by its perishable tenement, there is -a certain extent of this will-power enjoyed through the laws of God; -but on casting off this envelope, the spirit, to be qualified for its new state -of existence, becomes endowed with more extensive power of the nature in -question.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1921"></a>1921. This power of the will exists and is displayed in the mesmeric -phenomena, where the will of one individual dominates over the limbs of -another. The power of the will of an individual over his own muscles, -not only in the usual movement, but in producing a rigidity of the muscles -of the arm or thigh, is of course notorious. But it appears that -there are some persons morbidly susceptible of this rigidity, or at least -preternaturally liable to it. Again, others have a will which is, in some -degree, preternatural; hence, when such persons are in proximity, the one -can actuate the muscles of the other, and even modify the impressions on -the brain.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1922"></a>1922. Spirits, as above stated, appear to be endowed with this will-power -to an extent proportioned to their necessities. Hence it was substantiated -by my spirit father in the first instance, and by the convocation of -spirits in the second, that they, like the genius of Aladdin’s lamp, can -create, in their own world, the objects of rational desire or fancy by a <i>fiat</i>, -but their will-power cannot directly move mundane bodies. In order to -effect this, they must avail themselves of the coarser medium of the human -will-power, in which case they act, as one mortal may act upon the will-power -of another in proximity. The will-power aura of human beings -and of spirits seems to emanate from their organism respectively, and, -no doubt, connects duly with that of God. Hence, there is thus, that -association of the divine will, with all animated beings, which is suggested -by the popular theology. The will, and the aura through which -it acts, varying with the organism with which it is associated, it requires -a certain coincidence in the attributes of a spirit and a mortal, to enable -the former to use the aura of the latter to produce any manifestation of -its will or ideas. But so far as this coincidence exists, the power is enjoyed. -That such coincidences have arisen, I conceive must be evident from the -careful consideration of the facts which I have recorded in this work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_396"></a>396</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1923"></a>1923. The question is put by the Rev. Mr. Mahan, why the odic force, -existing in nature, may not be productive of the results ascribed to disembodied -spirits? He overlooks the fact that no inanimate imponderable -principle can be, <i>per se</i>, a moving power; that inanimate matter does -not move itself. Then, as I understand, agreeably to another phase, he -inquires why may it not become an instrument to the minds of the mortals -concerned?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1924"></a>1924. In the first place, there are facts within my experience which -cannot be explained by any possible exertion of any mundane mind, were -those concerned to concur in striving to accomplish the result. Thus, how -would it be possible for Mrs. Gourlay and myself to have brought about -the result of which an account has been given in the supplemental preface -of this work, and upon which remarks have been made in other pages? -It is utterly impossible that, by any imaginable process, Mrs. Gourlay, -having no previous hint, could have become the instrument of my volition -at the distance of nearly a hundred miles from Philadelphia, and when, at -the time, she was intently engaged in receiving, as she alleges, a communication -from her spirit mother to her brother, who was her visitor from -his abode in Maine.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1925"></a>1925. Again, it cannot be imagined that things would be communicated -by my spirit father and others, of which I was ignorant when they -were made. The same may be said of Mrs. Gourlay, as she knew nothing of -the facts communicated to her, for me. Then, when the narrative of those -facts was read over to the spirit, there were often things to be explained and -views to be justified, in opposition to my previous impressions. Conversing -frequently with Mrs. Gourlay, I know that she had none of the important -impressions respecting the spheres, which were conveyed through -her for my edification.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<h3 id="RELIGIOUS_ERRORS_OF_MR_MAHAN">RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAHAN.</h3> - - -<h4><i>Proposition of Mr. Mahan.</i></h4> - -<p><a id="para_1926"></a>1926. “Evidence that the Scriptures are given by inspiration of the -Spirit of God, as contrasted with the evidence, that the spirit manifestations -are from the spirits of men.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1927"></a>1927. The Rev. Mr. Mahan, not satisfied with endeavouring to refute -Spiritualism directly, devotes some pages of his work to the object of bearing -it down by the weight of Scriptural superiority, both as to the evidence, -and its moral tendencies. This renders the expediency of the strictures -which I have made, or may make, on the other side of the question, unquestionable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_397"></a>397</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1928"></a>1928. There are several truths, which I deem to be axiomatic, which -are irreconcilable with the truth of Revelation, (<a href="#para_18">18</a> to 20.) Merely to state -them is to refute Mr. Mahan’s allegation above cited. With readers who -will not admit the axioms to which allusion is made, I must agree to differ. -(See page 34.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1929"></a>1929. In the first place, I have represented it as a contradiction to allege -that an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God can subject any thing -to probation, (<a href="#para_1380">1380</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1930"></a>1930. In the next place, I hold that an <i>omnipotent</i> God cannot wish -men to have any religion, without that object being effected.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Will not any event arrive</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For which both will and power strive?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Must not any result obtain</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Which power unites with will to gain?</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1931"></a>1931. I answer these queries in the affirmative, and of course consider -the theology of Revelation as involved in a contradiction, so far as it -represents an <i>omnipotent and prescient</i> God <i>as wishing any creed to be -adopted which has not been adopted</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1932"></a>1932. As a corollary to these axioms, it results that God never has performed -any miracle for the purpose of conveying a knowledge of the true -religion; simply because all that have been alleged to have come from -God have only produced religious discord. Of course God, foreseeing -the failure of those miracles, would not have resorted to them.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Did God a special creed require,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1933"></a>1933. This I answer affirmatively. The truth of the affirmative is as -clear to my mind as any of Euclid’s axioms.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1934"></a>1934. Another conclusion I consider as inevitable: that no document -can be substantiated by the facts of which it furnishes the sole evidence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1935"></a>1935. In this predicament I place the Bible, the Koran, the Shaster, -or Veda, and the Zendavesta, or any religious record of antiquity.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1936"></a>1936. Manifestly, a record made by man can have no higher authority -than that of the men whose testimony it records, and those by whom it -was recorded.</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Of the origin of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, according -to the testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an obscure priest -and a fanatical king.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1937"></a>1937. If we are to judge of the Jewish priesthood by the example -afforded by Samuel, we have no more reason to trust a Hebrew pontiff -than a Romish pope, (<a href="#para_1091">1091</a>.) Bishop Hopkins has sufficiently shown -how far priests are to be trusted, (<a href="#para_1296">1296</a>.) What would be said of any -book, alleged to be due to Divine inspiration, if it had, agreeably to its -own authority, an origin no more reliable than the allegation of a priest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_398"></a>398</span> -that it had been found in a temple or church, there being no other evidence -of its not having been forged by the priest, or his accomplices, -than his own allegation? What better evidence would there be of the -sacred origin of such a document, than there is of the Book of Mormon—the -Bible brought forward by Joe Smith? Yet the following quotation -will show that there was no Bible in use in Judea in the reign of Josiah, -350 years after the reign of David, and just before the Babylonian captivity; -and that, in consequence, idolatry had to a great extent superseded -the true worship.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1938"></a>1938. Under these circumstances, the high priest alleged a copy of the -Bible to be found, and sent it by a scribe to the king. This monarch had -lived in such ignorance of the existence of this holy code, that he was -thrown into a state of such deep penitence for the sinful omissions arising -from his ignorance, as to rend his clothes by way of expressing his sorrow. -Moreover, orders were forthwith given to have the abuses abated, -which had been introduced solely through ignorance.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1939"></a>1939. I view this evidence of the highest importance at this time, when -such men as Mahan, and the anonymous author of the parodied letter, -(<a href="#para_1182">1182</a>,) are appealing to the Bible as the inspired word of God, and thus -making God sanction a catalogue of atrocious crimes and indecencies, and -when this imposture is to sit as an incubus on those truly moral impressions -which the blessed spirits of the immortal Washington and other -worthies, as well as my honoured father, would communicate for the amelioration -of the religion and morals of mankind. I repeat, that I consider -it of immense importance that attention should be called to the questionable -foundation on which these pretensions to inspiration are erected. I -shall, therefore, not only quote a portion of these pretended <i>words of God</i>, -but also that part of a chapter in the Book of Josephus which narrates -the same all-important occurrence more fully and satisfactorily, though -giving the same evidence essentially.</p> - - -<h4>Scriptural Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses by Hilkiah, -the High Priest.—2 Chron. xxxiv.; 2 Kings xxii.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1940"></a>1940. “And when they brought out the money that was brought into -the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the -Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the -scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And -Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to -the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was -committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered together -the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it -into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then -Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given -me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass -when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. -And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_399"></a>399</span>d -Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant -of the king’s, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that -are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is -found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because -our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that -is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, -went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of -Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in -Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect. And she -answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that -sent you to me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this -place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written -in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: because they -have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they -might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore -my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. -And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so -shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the -words which thou hast heard; because thy heart was tender, and thou -didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest his words against -this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before -me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard -thee also, saith the Lord. Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and -thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see -all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of -the same. So they brought the king word again. Then the king sent -and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the -king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and -the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the -people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the -book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the -king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after -the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his -statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of -the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were -present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants -of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. -And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries -that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present -in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days -they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.”</p></div> - - -<h4>Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses, by Josephus.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1941"></a>1941. “The repairs of the temple being completed, and all expenses -defrayed, Hilkiah, in conformity to the king’s orders, took out the money -for the purpose of converting it into vessels for the use of the temple; and, -upon removing the gold, happened to discover the sacred books of Moses. -This he took out and gave to Shaphan, the king’s secretary, to peruse, -who, upon reading them over, went to the king, accompanied by Hilkiah, -who told him that he had executed all his commands relative to the reparation -of the temple, and at the same time presented the book to him in -great form, assuring him what it was, and where they had found it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_400"></a>400</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_1942"></a>1942. “The king ordered Shaphan to read a part of the contents, which -being done, he rent his robes, in dread of the heavy curses denounced -against a wicked generation. In the height of his affliction, he desired -the secretary, with Hilkiah, and several priests who were present, to go to -the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, a man of eminence, and unite -their endeavours to prevail upon her to make intercession with God for -pardon toward himself and his subjects. He told them there was great -reason to apprehend that the vengeance of Heaven would fall upon the -present generation as a punishment for the iniquity of their progenitors, -and particularly their neglect and contempt of the laws of Moses; and -that, without obtaining a reconciliation, they should be dispersed over the -face of the earth, and terminate their lives in misery.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1943"></a>1943. “Hilkiah, with those who were appointed to accompany him, -immediately repaired to the prophetess, and having related the cause of -the king’s affliction, and his earnest desire of her intercession with Heaven -in behalf of him and his subjects, she bade them return him this answer: -That the sentence already pronounced was not to be recalled on any supplication -or intercession whatever. That the people were to be banished from -their own country, and punished for their disobedience with the loss of all -human comforts. That the judgment was irrevocable, for their obstinately -persisting in their superstitious and idolatrous practices, notwithstanding so -many warnings to a timely repentance, and the menacing predictions of the -prophets, if they persevered in their abominations.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1944"></a>1944. “This unchangeable decree was to show, by the event, that there -is a just and overruling Disposer of all things, and the predictions which -he delivered by the means of the prophets will be infallibly verified, as -the certain indications of his whole will respecting mankind. The prophetess -added, ‘Tell the king, however, that, in consideration of his own -pious and virtuous example, the judgment shall be averted from the people -during his days; but that the day of his death shall be the eve of their -final destruction.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1945"></a>1945. “As soon as Josiah received this message from the prophetess, he -immediately despatched messengers to the several cities within his dominions, -commanding all the priests and Levites, and men of all ages and -conditions, to repair with the utmost speed to Jerusalem. These orders -being obeyed, and the people assembled, the king went to the temple, -where, in the hearing of the whole multitude, he caused the laws of God, -as contained in the books of Moses, to be distinctly read; after which he -bound himself and the people, with their universal consent, by a most -solemn oath, strictly to observe every article contained in the sacred books, -respecting the laws and religion established by Moses. This solemn oath -was followed by prayers and oblations for the divine blessing and protection.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1946"></a>1946. “The king strictly enjoined the high priest to take a particular -account of the plate and vessel in the temple, and to cast out so many of -them as they should find to have been dedicated by any of his ancestors to -idolatrous services. Those that were found were reduced to dust, and in -that state thrown into the air. All the priests were likewise put to death, -that were not of the flock of Aaron.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1947"></a>1947. “Having effected this reformation in Jerusalem, Josiah made a -progress throughout his whole dominions, where he destroyed all the relics -of Jeroboam’s superstition and idolatry, and burnt the bones of false prophets, -upon the very altar which that impious king had set up. Of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_401"></a>401</span> -we have taken notice before, as well as the intervention of the prophet, -with a prediction in the hearing of the multitude, at the time when Jeroboam -was offering sacrifice, ‘That one of the race of David, Josiah by -name, was to do this.’ The prediction was verified, by the event, three -hundred and fifty-one years after it was foretold.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1948"></a>1948. “So ardent was the zeal of Josiah for extending the great work -of reformation, that he went in person to several of the Israelites who had -escaped the Assyrian bondage, in order to dissuade them from continuing -in superstition, and prevail with them to embrace the pure religion of their -forefathers, according to the long established custom of their country. Nor -did he rest here, but caused the towns and villages to be searched for the -discovery of any remains of idolatrous practices that might lie concealed. -The very figures of the horses over the porch of the temple, which their -forefathers had dedicated to the sun, and all the monuments to which the -people had ascribed divine honour, were, by his special order, taken away -and destroyed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1949"></a>1949. “Having thus purged the whole nation from idolatry, and fully -restored the true worship of the one only and true God, he called an assembly -of the people at Jerusalem, for the purpose of celebrating the -passover, the time for that festival being near at hand. On this occasion -the king gave out of his own store, for paschal sacrifices, thirty goats, a -thousand lambs, and three thousand oxen. The heads of the priests presented -to the others of the sacerdotal order two thousand six hundred -lambs, and the chief of the Levites gave to their tribes five thousand -lambs, and five hundred oxen. A solemn sacrifice was made of these -victims, according to the precepts of Moses, and the ceremony was performed -under the direction of the priests. From the time of the prophet -Samuel to that day, there had never been a festival celebrated with equal -solemnity; for this had the allowed preference, because the whole was -conducted in strict conformity to the very letter of the laws, and the precise -mode of their forefathers. Josiah, after the accomplishment of a work -of such moment and importance to the nation in general, enjoyed his government -in honour, peace, and plenty, till he closed his life.”—Book 10, -page 153.</p></div> - - -<h4 class="hang">If the Pentateuch had been previously known to the Jews, it is incredible -that it could have become obsolete <i>and</i> forgotten <i>prior to the alleged -discovery of it in the Temple, in the reign of Josiah</i>.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1950"></a>1950. After the Pentateuch had been viewed as the word of God, made -known to a people as their peculiar inheritance, lifting them, in their own -estimation, above the rest of mankind, as God’s chosen people, this code -being the sole authority for their <i>bloody</i> and <i>rapacious</i> course toward their -neighbours, is it credible that such a document, had it ever existed, could -have become both obsolete and forgotten?<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Yet we have no alternative<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_402"></a>402</span> -but to admit this absurdity, or to conclude that the Bible has no better -authority than the Book of Mormon; the one being no more than the -other the work of a designing priesthood and would-be rulers.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1951"></a>1951. What credit would be given to any work having no better authority -for divine origin than that of the allegation that some pope had found -it in a cathedral or in the Vatican, and had sent it to some monarchical -bigot as the mislaid testament of the Almighty, given by inspiration -through some ancient predecessor of his holiness?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1952"></a>1952. It may be difficult to conceive that Hilkiah and his associates, in -writing a book, as proceeding by inspiration from Jehovah, could have -fabricated any facts so derogatory to an immaculate Deity as those mentioned -under the authority of Moses. How impious must have been their -conceptions, to represent him as authorizing them to borrow trinkets of the -Egyptians, in order to purloin them; the sanctioning the cold-blooded -murder of three thousand people for religious error; the slaughtering of -whole nations, even to their suckling babes, as in the case of the Midianites, -Canaanites, and Amalekites, with the setting aside virgins for the fate -from which the Roman Virginius relieved his daughter by his dagger! -It is difficult to conceive that an idea, so derogatory of God, could have -been entertained by his <i>chosen</i> people. Yet, on the other hand, inasmuch -as they <i>were written</i>, there must have been some mind so impious as to -have originated them; and it may be a less wonder that such fabricators -should have existed in a cruel and barbarous age of the world, than that, -in the present age of superior morality and civilization, they should find -endorsers in the professed ministers of the Being whom they have thus -misrepresented.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1953"></a>1953. Mr. Mahan alleges: “Every reader will agree with us in the -assumption that the incorruptible God has never performed and never will -perform a miracle in attestation of that which is unreal or untrue. A -religion really and truly attested by divine miracles must therefore be -admitted to be true.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1954"></a>1954. To this very admissible <i>truism</i>, I add that an omnipotent and -<i>prescient</i> God could not have any occasion to perform miracles in attestation -of any thing, since, by the premises, his will must be carried out -without miracles. That any thing should, even for an instant, be contrary -to his will, is inconsistent with his foresight and omnipotency. It would -be a miracle <i>that any thing counter to his will should exist</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1955"></a>1955. The next postulate of Mr. Mahan is: “<i>No religion attested as -true by divine miracles can be false.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1956"></a>1956. Was this proposition ever impugned? No one would resist the -unquestionable dictates of God, however conveyed, whether by miracles -or any other means. The question is not whether a religion <i>attested by -divine miracles should be accredited, but whether there were ever any miracles, -attesting any religion, performed; and if so, what religion has<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_403"></a>403</span> -the peculiar merit of having been thus attested?</i> Millions, who believe -in other religions, deride those miracles of revelation which Mr. Mahan -would adduce; and Protestants do not admit many which the Romish -Church sanctions. For one, I deny that any miracle has ever been performed -with the view of attesting any religion whatever. No miracle -could be necessary to attest the will of Omnipotence any more than to -enable a man to wave his hand. But, admitting that it ever has been necessary, -no miracle has ever been resorted to for the purpose in question, -since none has answered the desired end. This would not have been the -case had miracles been resorted to by <i>prescient</i> omnipotence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1957"></a>1957. A miracle, as defined by this author, on page 345 of his work, is -an event “<i>whose existence and characteristics can be accounted for but by -a reference to the direct and immediate interposition of creative power, as -their exclusive cause</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1958"></a>1958. I reassert that, where omnipotence and prescience are concerned, -such interposition could, in no case, be requisite. The miracle would be, -that there could be any thing so contrary to omnipotent will as to require -any miraculous interference to set it right!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1959"></a>1959. Instead of assuming, with orthodoxy, that our heavenly Father is -<i>quite</i> omnipotent, spirits hold that his powers are only such as this magnificent -and almost infinite universe involves; consequently, there is no -necessity on their part to admit that every thing must be exactly as God -wishes it to be. They are not obliged to consider him as allowing mischievous -ignorance, sin, and misery to exist, while by a <i>fiat</i> he could correct them; -and still less are they involved in the necessity of supposing that, while -able to make every thing <i>perfect</i>, he, from choice, makes them imperfect, -and yet has had to resort to drowning his creatures by a great flood, -and subjecting whole nations to degrading captivity; authorizing one -nation to massacre another, even to each suckling babe, for wrongs done -centuries before.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1960"></a>1960. By Spiritualism, the Deity is represented as operating by general -laws, from which, consistently with his attributes, he cannot deviate, having -to perform no miracle to attain his ends; and that through these laws he -is incessantly acting for the good of mankind; and the whole universe is -progressing under his benign controlling influence.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1961"></a>1961. Thus we have the two systems, that of progression last mentioned, -and that of probation above objected to; which last, being in diametric -opposition to an axiomatic truth, is, on this account alone, manifestly -absurd.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1962"></a>1962. But, admitting that miracles could, without inconsistency, be -supposed to be resorted to by prescient omnipotence, in order to produce -or prevent some consequence of a general law, in the making or carrying -out of which an all-wise and all-powerful being inconsistently displays a -want of wisdom and foresight, it must be perfectly clear that a prescient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_404"></a>404</span> -being would resort to such miracles as would produce the desired effect; -not such as would be only partially seen or believed, and would become a -new source of discord. Omnipotence could certainly devise miracles -which could be seen and be believed in by all men; and which would so -impress their minds, as to make them believe in what they should hear -and see. By a single fiat, God, if as omnipotent as represented in Scripture, -could make all his people of one mind. He would not send them a -“<i>sword to separate father from child, mother from daughter, mother-in-law -from daughter-in-law</i>,” and to make <i>the subordinates of each household -rise in rebellion against their master</i>. A prescient God would not -perform miracles of such doubtful character as, for want of evidence, to -oblige one of the miracle-makers to enforce a belief in them by treacherous -and cruel assassination, as did Moses. God would require no evidence of -his miracles but such as could be recorded in the minds of believers. He -would not have the records of his will so situated, as to be liable to be confounded -with the fabrications of priestcraft. If devils were to be cast out, -he would not have drowned a herd of swine, merely to give those immortal -miscreants a ducking.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1963"></a>1963. So far are the miracles narrated in the gospel from commanding -my credence, that the account of them proves to me, that the Evangelists -were men without discretion, in recording any thing so absurd and <i>incredible</i>, -and so <i>useless</i> to the <i>main object</i>, of giving a <i>knowledge of God</i>, -and of the <i>means of reaching a future happy state</i>.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1964"></a>1964. How absurd to represent God as performing miracles remotely -and indirectly bearing upon his object, instead of exercising his omnipotent -power universally, effectually, and at once!</p> - -<p><a id="para_1965"></a>1965. If God were to adopt any miraculous means to make his will -known, they would not be such as would fail in attaining their end. -None but an idiot would resort to measures foreknown to be incompetent -to the object for which they should be devised. As no miracles that have -been alleged to have been performed have been productive of general conviction -of the truth of the creed which they have been alleged to support, -it follows that they could not have had a divine origin. A prescient -God would not have resorted to incompetent miracles.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1966"></a>1966. This reverend author is likewise of opinion that nothing but -miracles can be appealed to as evidence of the divine origin of Christianity -or of any other religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1967"></a>1967. When miracles are appealed to by different sects, in support of -their conflicting pretensions, it must result that, if religion is to be founded -only on miracles, that religion only can be recognised as true whose miracles -are so pre-eminently evident as to abrogate all others that conflict -with it. But it is notorious that the miracles brought forward by each -sect are denied, if not ridiculed, by others. Appealing to miracles is, in -fact, appealing to the human evidence on which they depend. In like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_405"></a>405</span> -manner, any religion which rests on assumed inspiration, rests, in fact, on -the evidence proving that the inspiration claimed ever took place.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1968"></a>1968. But are we to believe in all miracles which have been alleged -by men to have happened? Are we to believe any book to be inspired, -because men, who contradict each other, alleged it to be inspired? and if -several books are alleged to be inspired, how are we to choose between -them? Is a man’s choice of these books to be governed by his education? -If brought up in Turkey, is he to believe that the Koran is the -word of God; if in Christendom, the gospel? If all who surround -him were to treat it as impious to doubt that <i>a book</i> is the word of -God, is he to submit to this dictation, or is he to exercise his own judgment, -and examine whether the Bible of the Christian, and the miracles -on which it rests, are not more likely to be true than the Koran and the -miracles on which it rests? But if, after having examined both of these -works, he finds that the miracles on which they rest are, in both cases, -entirely dependent on human testimony, and that this testimony is disputed -on one side by the Mohammedans, and on the other by the Christians, -and that each party only admits such miracles to be true as harmonize -with his own religion; that miracles told by profane writers -rather tend to discredit than to corroborate the occurrences with which -they are associated,—will not the inference naturally arise that the belief -in miracles is the result of religion, not religion the result of belief -in miracles?</p> - -<p><a id="para_1969"></a>1969. An analogous result may be perceived in relation to any extraordinary -manifestation in Spiritualism. Scarcely any one will believe that -the spirit hand (<a href="#para_1513">1513</a>) has been seen and felt at Koons’s establishment in -Ohio, unless previously a convert to Spiritualism. Thus he does not -become a spiritualist by reading the account of that manifestation, but -believes the manifestation because he has been converted to Spiritualism. -Did the truth of that manifestation rest upon the evidence of only one -set of eye-witnesses, even spiritualists had not believed in it. As miracles -have ever been alleged to have been seen only by very few persons, -and have never been of a nature to be seen by a succession of observers, -I cannot conceive why any man, in any age or time, could be reasonably -expected to display a credulity, the inverse of that now exhibited, as -respects this spiritual manifestation. Scarcely any person, without being -an eye-witness of the fact, has been brought to believe that tables move -without human contact. By recurrence, the reader may perceive that in -my letter of February 3, 1854, I use this language in my letter to Mr. -Holcomb: <i>You believe that tables move without contact, because you have -seen them so moved; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them moved -without contact, though I have been at several circles</i>, (<a href="#para_698">698</a>.)</p> - -<p><a id="para_1970"></a>1970. When I stated to my friend, Professor Henry, the experiment -illustrated by <a href="#PLATE_III">plate 3</a>, with the utmost precision, made twice on two dif<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_406"></a>406</span>ferent -evenings, he said: “I would believe you as soon as any man in the -world, but I cannot believe that.” Yet the result of that experiment was -nothing more than the fact of bodies moving when uninfluenced by any -apparent mortal agency, accompanied by a demonstration of a governing -reason; a result which has been established again and again by myself -with the greatest precision, and by many other investigators. Evidently, -if this had never been repeated, it would have been treated as a mental -hallucination on my part by my comrades in science and all the rest of the -community.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1971"></a>1971. Such is the difficulty of inducing credence, in enlightened minds, -of any thing which is inconsistent with those laws of nature with which -they have become familiar. Clearly, in the present advanced state of the -human mind, no miracles would be believed on hearsay testimony.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1972"></a>1972. It seems as if facts, incredible at first view, are always believed -when they are confirmed by being seen by independent and disinterested -and intelligent observers sufficiently often, and under such modifications, as -to make all such observers believe in them. We are willing to believe in -a mysterious fact as <i>one</i> of a <i>genus</i>, but not when isolated. If I may -judge by the incredulity with which my observations in Spiritualism have -been met by those who had previously considered me reliable, I should -deem it utterly impossible among intelligent, well-educated people of the -present day to induce a belief in an isolated miracle; and, as respects -ignorant, bigoted sectarians, the difficulty to obtain credence would be at -least as great.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1973"></a>1973. Were our heavenly Father now to cause miracles to be performed -as wonderful and as isolated as those mentioned in Scripture, as -no one would know any thing of them direct from God, excepting those -by whom they might be witnessed, it would only cause the narrators of -them to be ridiculed, as those spiritualists were ridiculed who first asserted -their belief in spiritual manifestations. In order, therefore, that miracles -should be believed in by an enlightened community, belief would have to -be instilled by education or supported by reiterated observation, since, in -enlightened communities, no miracles would be believed in but those which -should come within these conditions.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1974"></a>1974. There is not a single miracle mentioned in the gospel which tends -to throw light upon the alleged object of Christ’s mission. The object of -their performance was mainly to prove his supernatural power to those -who should believe in them, and thus to cause him to be accredited as a -missionary from God. So far from their ever having had an effect of this -kind on my mind, gospel miracles tended only to destroy my confidence in -the veracity or discretion of their narrators, upon the same principle that -spiritualists have lost weight with their intelligent friends by mentioning -manifestations which were considered by these as incredible.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1975"></a>1975. I can foresee a great triumph for spiritualists, sooner or later, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_407"></a>407</span> -the world to come, if not in this; but this result will not flow from the -conversion of their skeptical friends to a belief in the manifestations which -may have been viewed by the narrators, as described. The conversion of -skeptics will arise from their own observation, with the concurrent testimony -of many reliable witnesses, all tending to the verification of analogous -phenomena.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1976"></a>1976. The miracles of Scripture never have had nor never can have -this species of corroboration, and of course will make but little progress -among people educated under conflicting impressions. In this age of -bigotry in favour of all educational mysteries and extreme skepticism as to -innovations, the last thing which could obtain credence would be miracles -of the nature of those which Mr. Mahan assumes to be the <i>only</i> foundation -for religious belief.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1977"></a>1977. It has already been urged that Moses was, <i>by his own account</i>, -a worldly man, who, as I conceive, was guilty of a misrepresentation in -alleging that the Creator of the hundred millions of solar systems comprised -in this universe (<a href="#para_1342">1342</a>) made him and his people especially the object -of a partiality, authorizing them to plunder and extirpate all the -neighbouring people: moreover, that Moses was worldly-minded in the -<i>extreme</i>, and so intent upon acquiring lands in this world, as to neglect -his opportunities, if he had any, of learning from Jehovah, in frequent -alleged intercourse with him, any information respecting the immortality -of the soul, (<a href="#para_1091">1091</a>, <a href="#para_1098">1098</a>, <a href="#para_1271">1271</a>.) My attention has been recently turned -to the 24th chapter of Exodus. It is there mentioned that Moses, with -more than seventy elders of Israel, went up the mount, and there had an -interview with the God of Israel, when “<i>they saw God</i>.” It is then -stated that “<i>The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children -of Israel, that they bring me an offering. And this is the offering which -you shall take of them, gold, silver, and brass, and blue and purple, fine -linen, and goats’ hair</i>,” &c.<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_1978"></a>1978. There are then two or three chapters occupied with the specification -of the various valuable articles of gold, and precious wood, and stones, -required by an <i>omnipotent God to furnish a tabernacle</i>. Such is the misuse -made by this pretended missionary of God, of the opportunity of learning -that <i>which is above all price</i>. How many thousands of human beings<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_408"></a>408</span> -have been willing to lay down their lives for religious truth!—and yet this -pretended favourite of Jehovah, by his own account, spent his time in -getting baubles, making the Almighty his agent. It may be that the -whole is a fable, and that the account originated in the time of Hilkiah, -when the Pentateuch was acknowledged to have been found accidentally. -But if Moses and the elders really ascended the mount, and represented -themselves as seeing God, and receiving those directions, evidently they -were all a set of impostors, who resorted to this mode of obtaining furniture -for the tabernacle.</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Great Importance attached to a Belief in Immortality by Cyrus the -Great, King of Persia, as contrasted with the recklessness of Moses -respecting the same Belief.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1979"></a>1979. Among the errors propagated industriously by fanatical sectarians, -is that of representing the Old and New Testament as of inestimable importance, -as the only source of our knowledge of a future state of existence, -of which heathen writers are mentioned as deficient. In refutation -of the calumny thus promulgated, I deem it expedient to quote the following -sentiments ascribed by Xenophon to Cyrus, King of Persia, in <i>addressing -his children</i>:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1980"></a>1980. “Think not, my dearest children, that when I depart from you, -I shall be no more: remember that my soul, even while I lived among -you, was invisible; yet by my actions you were sensible it existed in this -body. Believe it, therefore, existing still, though it still be unseen. How -quickly would the honours of illustrious men perish after death, if their -souls performed nothing to preserve their fame! For my part, I could -never think that the soul, which, while in a mortal body, lives, when departed -from it, dies; or that its consciousness is lost when it is discharged -out of an unconscious habitation; on the contrary, it most truly exists -when it is freed from all corporeal alliance.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_1981"></a>1981. Let this be compared with the inexcusable inattention of Moses, -taking his own narrative to be true, in communicating with God about -every thing else, almost, excepting that which concerns immortal life. If -the despicable criminality of Abraham in putting his wife at the pleasure -of two heathen kings successively, and <i>their repugnance</i> to have violated -his connubial rights, be taken as a fit test of comparative morality, if -these sentiments of King Cyrus be compared with those of the Jewish -lawgiver as respects immortality, the chosen people of God were much -below some neighbouring heathens both in morality and religion.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1982"></a>1982. This inference will be fortified by comparing the portraiture of -the Deity as given by Moses (<a href="#para_1140">1140</a>) and Samuel, (<a href="#para_1091">1091</a>,) with that given -by Seneca, (<a href="#para_1224">1224</a>.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_409"></a>409</span></p> - - -<h4>The Worship of a Book, Idolatry.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_1983"></a>1983. Much has been said in Scripture and by its votaries against idolatry, -but I do most seriously consider the Old Testament as a more pernicious -idol than any image or statue can be in the nature of things.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1984"></a>1984. An image or statue does not speak; it suggests nothing cruel, -unjust, or indecent to the worshipper; neither do any of the objects usually -treated as idols. It must evidently be an error to accuse idolaters of contemplating -the inert image to which they kneel, as their God. They must -see that it neither does nor can do any thing. They must perceive that, -fixed in one place, the image cannot have that ubiquity or efficacy, essential -to divine power. It follows that the object of adoration must be an -invisible power associated with the idol, which may occupy the image -only when invoked. In every temple devoted to Jupiter there might be -a statue of Jupiter, and yet it was never held that there was more than -one Jupiter. From the verses subjoined, from Pope’s translation of the -Iliad, it appears that Homer gave to Jupiter a supremacy which made the -other deities bear to him no higher relation than that which the archangels -do to God, according to Christianity:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent-3"><a id="para_1985"></a>1985. “Let down our golden everlasting chain,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and main;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To drag by this the Thunderer down to earth.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye strive in vain. If I but lift this hand,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I heave the heavens, the ocean, and the land;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For such I reign, unbounded and above,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And such are men and gods compared to Jove.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><a id="para_1986"></a>1986. But when a book is made the word of God, which patronizes men -as belonging to a <i>chosen</i> seed who are guilty of cruelty, robbery, fraud, -massacre in cold blood, it becomes a more active and mischievous idol than -any dumb beast, image, or statue can be. An idolater worships a silent -idol as the representative of God. The idol cannot say, “<i>I am a jealous -God: I wax hot in my wrath</i>.”</p> - -<p><a id="para_1987"></a>1987. Mr. Mahan urges, that the sufferings undergone by martyrs to -Christianity is evidence of its truth, whereas, it seems to me that it only -proves the conviction of the parties, which, if displayed by a dervise or a -fakir, would be called bigotry. But if suffering in a cause is evidence -in its favour, there have been sufferers on the other side, as well as on that -which this author has undertaken to uphold. It is but fair, if those who -suffer for one side should have their suffering held up as proof of their -conscientiousness, the same conscientiousness should be conceded to those -who have suffered for the other. The author of the pages I am about to -quote, the Rev. Robert Taylor, was, for want of a better answer to his -publication, condemned to Oakam Jail, in England, for one year. It was -there he wrote his Diagesis, copies of which may be had of Mr. Curtis,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_410"></a>410</span> -No. 34 Arch street, as well as other books which may assist readers to -form an opinion for themselves. I shall quote some pages from this work, -which, being studied after reading Mahan’s arrogant allegations, will make -good the old saying, that “One story is good until another is told.”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_1988"></a>1988. “The ordinary notion, that the four gospels were written by the -persons whose names they bear, and that they have descended to us from -original autographs of Matthew and John, immediate disciples, and of -Mark and Luke, contemporaries and companions, of Christ, in like manner -as the writings of still more early poets and historians have descended to -us from the pens of the authors to whom they are attributed, is altogether -untenable. It has been entirely surrendered by the most able and ingenuous -Christian writers, and will no longer be maintained by any but those -whose zeal outruns their knowledge, and whose recklessness and temerity -of assertion can serve only to dishonour and betray the cause they so injudiciously -seek to defend.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1989"></a>1989. “The surrender of a position which the world has for ages been -led to consider impregnable, by the admission of all that the early objection -of the learned Christian Bishop, <span class="smcap">Faustus</span> the Manichean, implied, -when he pressed Augustine with that bold challenge which Augustine was -not able to answer, that,<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> ‘It was certain that the New Testament was -not written by Christ himself, nor by his apostles, but a long while after -them, by some unknown persons, who, lest they should not be credited -when they wrote of affairs they were little acquainted with, affixed to their -works the names of apostles, or of such as were supposed to have been -their companions, asserting that what they had written themselves was -written <span class="allsmcap">ACCORDING TO</span> those persons to whom they ascribed it.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1990"></a>1990. “This admission has not been held to be fatal to the claims of -divine revelation, nor was it held to be so even by the learned Father -himself who so strenuously insisted on it, since he declares his own unshaken -faith in Christ’s <i>mystical</i> crucifixion, notwithstanding.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1991"></a>1991. “Adroitly handled as the passage has been by the ingenuity of -theologians, it has been made rather to subserve the cause of the evidences -of the Christian religion than to injure it. Since, though it be admitted -that the Christian world has ‘<i>all along been under a delusion</i>’ in this -respect, and has held these writings to be of higher authority than they -really are; yet the writings themselves and their authors are innocent of -having contributed to that delusion, and never bore <i>on</i> them, nor <i>in</i> them, -any challenge to so high authority as the mistaken piety of Christians has -ascribed to them, but did all along profess no more than to have been -written, as Faustus testifies, not <span class="allsmcap">BY</span>, but <span class="allsmcap">ACCORDING</span> to, Matthew, Mark, -Luke, and John; and by persons of whom indeed it is not known who -or what they were, nor was it of any consequence that it should be, after -the general acquiescence of the church had established the sufficient correctness -of the compilations they had made.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1992"></a>1992. “And here the <i>longo post tempore</i> (<i>the great while after</i>) is a -favourable presumption of the sufficient opportunity that all persons<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> had,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_411"></a>411</span> -of knowing and being satisfied that the gospels which the church received -were indeed all that they purported to be; that is, faithful narrations of -the life and doctrines of Christ <i>according</i> to what could be collected from -the verbal accounts which his apostles had given, or by tradition been supposed -to have given, and, as such, ‘<i>worthy of all acceptation</i>.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_1993"></a>1993. “The objection of Faustus becomes from its own nature the most -indubitable and inexceptionable evidence, carrying us up to the very early -age, the fourth century, in which he wrote, with a demonstration that the -gospels were then universally known and received under the precise designation, -and none other, than that with which they have come down to us, -even as the gospels, respectively, <i>according</i> to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and -John.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1994"></a>1994. “Of course there can be no occasion to pursue the inquiry into -the authenticity of the Christian Scriptures lower down than the fourth -century.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1995"></a>1995. “1. <i>Though</i>, in that age, there was no established canon or -authoritative declaration that such and none other than those which have -come down to us were the books which contained the Christian rule of faith.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1996"></a>1996. “2. And though ‘no manuscript of these writings now in -existence is prior to the sixth century, and various readings which, as -appears from the quotations of the Fathers, were in the text of the Greek -Testament are to be found in none of the manuscripts which are at present -remaining.’—<i>Michaelis</i>, vol. ii. p. 160.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1997"></a>1997. “3. And though many passages which are now found in these -Scriptures were not contained in any ancient copies whatever.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1998"></a>1998. “4. And though ‘in our common editions of the Greek Testament -are <span class="allsmcap">MANY</span> readings which exist not in a single manuscript, but are -founded on <span class="allsmcap">MERE CONJECTURE</span>.’ —<i>Marsh’s Michaelis</i>, vol. ii. p. 496.</p> - -<p><a id="para_1999"></a>1999. “5. And though ‘it is notorious, that the orthodox charge the -heretics with corrupting the text, and that the heretics recriminate upon -the orthodox.’—<i>Unitarian New Version</i>, p. 121.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2000"></a>2000. “6. And though ‘it is an undoubted fact that the heretics were -in the right in many points of criticism where the Fathers accused them -of wilful corruption.’—<i>Bp. Marsh</i>, vol. ii. p. 362.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2001"></a>2001. “7. And though ‘it is notorious that forged writings under -the names of the apostles were in circulation almost from the apostolic -age.’—See 2 Thess. ii. 2, <i>quoted in Unitarian New Version</i>.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_2002"></a>2002. “8. And though, ‘not long after Christ’s ascension into heaven, -several histories of his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and fabulous -wonders, were composed by persons whose intentions, perhaps, were not -bad, but whose writings discovered the greatest superstition and ignorance.’—<i>Mosheim</i>, -vol. i. p. 109.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2003"></a>2003. “9. And though, says the great Scaliger, ‘They put into their -Scriptures whatever they thought would serve their purpose.’<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_412"></a>412</span></p> - -<p><a id="para_2004"></a>2004. “10. And though, ‘notwithstanding those twelve known infallible -and faithful judges of controversy, (the twelve apostles,) there were -as many and as <i>damnable</i> heresies crept in, even in the apostolic age, as -in any other age, perhaps, during the same space of time.’—<i>Reeve’s Preliminary -Discourse to the Commonitory of Vincentius Lirinensis</i>, p. 190.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2005"></a>2005. “11. And though there were in the manuscripts of the New -Testament, at the time of editing the last printed copies of the Greek -text, upward of <span class="allsmcap">ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND</span> various readings.”—<i>Unitarian -New Version</i>, p. 22.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2006"></a>2006. “12. And though ‘the confusion unavoidable in these versions -(the ancient Latin, from which all our European versions are derived) -had arisen to such a height, that St. Jerome, in his Preface to the Gospels, -complains that no one copy resembled another.’—<i>Michaelis</i>, vol. ii. -p. 119.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2007"></a>2007. “13. And though the Gospels fatally contradict each other; -that is, in several important particulars, they do so to such an extent as no -ingenuity of supposition has yet been able to reconcile: after Marsh, -Michaelis, and the most learned critics, have stuck, and owned the -conquest.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2008"></a>2008. “14. And though the difference of character between the three -first Gospels and that ascribed to St. John is so flagrantly egregious, that -the most learned Christian divines and profoundest scholars have frankly -avowed that the Jesus Christ of St. John is a wholly different character -from the Jesus Christ of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; and that their -account and his should both be true is flatly impossible.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_2009"></a>2009. “15. And though such was the idolatrous adulation paid to the -authority of Origen, that emendations of the text which were but suggested -by him were taken in as part of the New Testament; though he -himself acknowledged that they were supported by the authority of no -manuscript whatever.—<i>Marsh, in loco.</i></p> - -<p><a id="para_2010"></a>2010. “16. And though, even so late as the period of the Reformation, -we have whole passages which have been thrust into the text, and thrust -out, just as it served the turn which the Protestant tricksters had to serve.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2011"></a>2011. “17. And though we have on record the most indubitable historical -evidence of a general censure and correction of the Gospels having -been made at Constantinople, in the year 506, by order of the Emperor -Anastasius.<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p><a id="para_2012"></a>2012. “18. And though we have like unquestionable historical evidence -of measureless and inappreciable alterations of the same having -been made by our own Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the -avowed purpose of <i>accommodating them to the faith of the orthodox</i>.”<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_413"></a>413</span></p> - - -<h4>Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon vs. Mr. Mahan.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2013"></a>2013. The silence of Josephus respecting Christ induced some Christians -to concoct the pious fraud of interpolating in his history a notice of -the career and crucifixion of Christ, but subsequent Christian writers have -detected and exposed the interpolation; so that the history alluded to, -written soon after Christ’s death by the distinguished Hebrew, contains no -notice of those events; and, from the following passage in Gibbon, it appears -that it did not awaken much attention among the Romans. Yet Mahan, -assuming the opposite to be true, urges it as evidence of the evangelical -account, that the phenomena drew universal attention.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2014"></a>2014. “How shall we excuse,” says Gibbon, “the supine inattention of -the pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented -by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? -This miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, -and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice in an age of -science and history. It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and the -elder Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate effects or received -the earliest intelligence of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in a -laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena of nature—earthquakes, -meteors, comets, and eclipses—which his indefatigable curiosity -could collect; both one and the other have omitted to mention the greatest -phenomenon to which the mortal eye has been witness since the creation -of the globe.” (Gibbon, vol. ii. chap. xv. p. 379.)</p></div> - - -<h4>The Worshippers of the Golden Calf more righteous than their Assassins.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2015"></a>2015. The example is set in the Old Testament of attributing the worst -motives to every one who does not concur with the accusers in religious -opinions. I conscientiously believe that the Israelites who made the -golden calf were at least as righteous in their worship as those who treacherously -and cruelly massacred them in obedience to an order strangely -represented as sanctioned by Jehovah: “<i>Put every man his sword by his -side, and go in and out of the camp, and slay every man his brother, -every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; and the children -of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there fell of the -people on that day about three thousand men.</i>”</p> - -<p><a id="para_2016"></a>2016. Obviously, the only way in which those who, with Mr. Mahan, -can find any pretence for ascribing this horrible sanguinary order to the -inspiration of God, is by treating idolatry as so wicked as to be punished, -not only in the immediate transgressor, but in his offspring to the third -and fourth generation. Is it not a fairer way of viewing this affair to -infer that Moses and his partisans were covetous, unprincipled men, who -did not hesitate at <i>swindling</i>, <i>lying</i>, <i>massacre</i>, or any measures requisite -to give him and them ascendency? Was there ever a greater analogy -between the measures of any two evil-doers than those of Mohammed and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_414"></a>414</span> -Moses, both professing communion with God, which we now know could -not have taken place, and both pleading his commands to exercise the most -horrible intolerance at home, as well as cruel rapacity abroad?</p> - -<p><a id="para_2017"></a>2017. Mohammed appears to have been more successful than Moses in -convincing his followers of his mission. There seems to have been a great -distrust of Moses, which he artfully always ascribes to the impiety of the -unbelievers; like all other religious impostors, identifying his word with -that of God. Nothing but his inability to convince the skeptics of the -divine origin of his mission could have induced them to worship idols in -opposition to his remonstrance; and the fact that Aaron assisted them in -casting the golden calf, can only be explained by his participation in the -heresy. Does not this alleged conduct on the part of Aaron render the -whole affair so absurd as to throw doubt over the whole history? Moses, -while killing the malcontents, could hardly avoid punishing their ringleader. -Moreover, how could one who would assist in idolatrous worship, -be fit to hold the office of high-priest, into which he was soon afterward -installed with great pomp?</p> - -<p><a id="para_2018"></a>2018. It is perfectly clear, to my mind, that a pagan who sincerely worships -any thing as his God, really worships God. He stands in the same -relation to his God that a debtor stands to his real creditor when paying a -forged draft.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2019"></a>2019. Wicked priests have raised a cry against idolaters, as the real -thief strives, by calling after some innocent person within view, to divert -the hue and cry from himself. As an exemplification of this species of -wickedness, I quote here a speech made to the Emperor Constantius by -Julius Firmicius Maternus, (Taylor’s Diagesis, page 144:)</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2020"></a>2020. (Addressing the Emperor Constantius.) “Take away, take away, -in perfect security,” exclaims this self-called Christian priest, “O most -holy emperor, take away all the ornaments of their temples. Let the fire -of the mint or the flames of the mines melt down their gods. Seize upon -all their wealthy endowments, and turn them to your own use and property. -And, O most sacred emperor, it is absolutely necessary for you to -revenge and punish this evil. You are commanded by the law of the Most -High God to persecute all sorts of idolatry with the utmost severity; hear -and commend to your own sacred understanding what God himself commands. -He commands you not to spare your son or your brother; he bids -you plunge the avenging knife even into the heart of your wife that sleeps -in your bosom; to persecute your dearest friend with a sublime severity; -and to arm your whole people against these sacrilegious pagans, and tear -them limb from limb. Yea, even whole cities, if you should find this -guilt in them, must be cut off. O most holy emperor, God promises -you the rewards of his mercy, upon condition of your thus acting. Do, -therefore, what he commands, complete what he prescribes.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2021"></a>2021. It should be recollected that this diabolical address was made to -the Christian son and successor of Constantine. Can there be a more -shocking picture of the mischievous consequences of the example and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_415"></a>415</span> -doctrines of Moses as respects idolaters? Certainly, Constantius was not -any better for his Christianity, when he could listen, without indignation, -to such wicked suggestions!</p> - -<p><a id="para_2022"></a>2022. It is alleged that in the city of Thessalonica the Emperor Theodosius -put to death all the pagans that breathed, in obedience to Christianized -Mosaic intolerance, which in modern times was carried out in the -massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day, and the Inquisition. Such were the -effects of the propagation of Christianity, with the appendage of the Pentateuch -to the swordlike attributes with which Christ endowed himself: -“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not to send -peace, but a sword!” Matt. x. 34.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2023"></a>2023. Shakspeare truly makes one of his characters say that whosoever -takes away the good name of another commits a more wicked theft than -one who takes a purse. But in this portrait of the effect of calumny -there is one important feature omitted, which is sometimes the most injurious: -I allude to the pain of mind created by a false accusation. If, as -I have before urged, it be wrong to hurt the flesh by a blow, is it not -wrong to hurt the soul by calumny? The sting of the fangs of the viper, -no less than the paw of the lion, may give a mortal infliction; but no less -painful may be the effect of a false human tongue. Is it not as great a -wrong to wound a man’s soul as his flesh? Yet there never has been any -hesitation on the part of sectarians to express any painful opinion as to -heretics or idolaters. The word <i>infidel</i>, so much more deserved by themselves -for their violation of the precepts they profess, is used as a matter -of course, and, coupling with an error in worship a heinous sinfulness, the -idolater is always in the wrong. But reasonably, upon the grounds which -have been advanced in the preceding portion of this work, (<a href="#para_1245">1245</a>,) idolatry -may be an imputation against the intellectual pretension, but not -against the integrity, of the worshipper; and for one I consider the propensity -to the worship of idols displayed throughout the whole of the Jewish -history, and even by Solomon the “<i>Wise</i>,” as a strong proof that there -never was sufficient evidence presented to the Jews of the divine origin of -the books of Moses, or any others represented as conveying God’s holy -word.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2024"></a>2024. It is not doing as we would be done by to accuse any worshipper -of bad motives, for the reasons which I have above given; and when it is -considered how unwilling people are to part with their property, the fact that -the Israelites gave their gold ornaments to enable Aaron to cast a golden -calf, shows that they sincerely believed that their worship would be acceptable -to some deity who had the best claim to their acknowledgment. -If they mistook the object, it must have been an error of the understanding, -which it would have been evidently more reasonable to have corrected -by reasoning and evidence, than by punishment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2025"></a>2025. While such eminent men as Mahan, and the learned Goliah of my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_416"></a>416</span> -mundane guardian spirit, will hold up this, to my mind, barbarous and -preposterous Pentateuch as the word of God, I am obliged to meet them -upon the ground thus stated; but there are other highly respectable clergymen, -who concur in questioning that the Pentateuch existed until after -the return of the Jews from their captivity; and there is evidence, agreeably -to the quotations I have made, that this alleged work of divine inspiration, -or <i>word of God</i>, as stated in the Second Book of Chronicles, and 22d -chapter of the Second Book of Kings, has no better foundation than the -word of the priest Hilkiah and his accomplices.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2026"></a>2026. The Rev. Mr. Norton, in a laborious investigation, shows that, -according to internal evidence, almost all the important facts stated in -Genesis and Exodus are inconsistent with each other or the circumstances -under which they are alleged to have happened.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2027"></a>2027. Mr. Mahan conceives that the willingness of the believers in the -gospel to sacrifice their lives in testimony of the sincerity of their conviction -proves the truth of revelation. Wherefore, then, does not their -exposure to the slaughtering sword of the partisans of Moses prove the -sincerity of the Israelites in their worship of their idol? No wise knave -would do any thing so absurd. History shows that many of those who -have been most willing to make sacrifices for their belief have been great -fanatics. Their willingness to suffer only proves the intensity of their belief, -not the truth of the miracles which they believe.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2028"></a>2028. Having first assumed, contrary to the fact, that the mission of -Christ was generally accredited in the contemporaneous pagan communities, -Mr. Mahan claims this to be evidence of the facts stated by the evangelists.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2029"></a>2029. But if the belief in a mission by contemporaries is evidence in its -favour, is not the disbelief of contemporaries evidence on the other side? -Is not the fact that Moses could only expel idolatry from the Hebrews by -the sword, a proof that he was unable to convince them by any adequate -evidence of his claims to inspiration?</p> - -<p><a id="para_2030"></a>2030. This surmise, respecting the inadequacy of the facts and reasoning -which Moses had to advance in favour of his pretensions as a missionary -of Jehovah, appears to be fully justified in the history given by -Josephus. From the following language, which this distinguished Jewish -historian alleges to have been held by one of the Israelites, it is evident -that Moses was then viewed as no better than Mohammed or any of the -usurping popes of Christendom. While Protestants sanction such religious -despots as Moses and Samuel, they ought not to complain of the papal -despots of Christendom, (note to 1091.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_417"></a>417</span></p> - - -<h4>Just denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation of Moses, by -noble-minded Israelites.<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2031"></a>2031. “Corah, an Hebrew of great wealth and influence, and famous -for his eloquence, becoming jealous of the dignity to which Moses had -attained, raised a clamour against him among the Levites who were of the -same tribe, by suggesting to them, in an occasional harangue, ‘That it redounded -to their dishonour thus tamely to suffer Moses, under pretence of -the divine command, to retain unlimited authority, vest the priesthood in -his brother Aaron without their suffrages, and bestow places of honour and -profit at pleasure.’ He added, ‘that these measures were the more oppressive -and grievous as founded on the arts of sophistry and insinuation; -that those who are conscious of deserving posts of dignity endeavour to -obtain them not by force, but mild persuasion; that it was the interest of -a state to check the ambition of such aspiring individuals, before they acquired -an influence that might prove destructive.’ He demanded by what -authority Moses had conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons, enforcing -his own title as superior to theirs, both by descent and property.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2032"></a>2032. In consequence of this, Moses addresses the following prayer, -which certainly is as remote from the sentiments which the precepts of -Christ would call for, as any which can be imagined:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2033"></a>2033. “Testify thy wonted kindness to the Hebrews by inflicting condign -punishment on Dathan and Abiram, for suggesting that thy purposes -are opposed by my arts. Visit these detractors from thy glory with exemplary -vengeance. Let the earth on which they tread swallow them up, -<i>with their families</i> and substance, to the manifestation of thy power, and -as an example to posterity not to think unworthily of the Majesty of -heaven.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2034"></a>2034. Mr. Mahan urges that those who sacrificed their lives for a cause -must have had good reason for their course. What are we, then, to think -of Zimri the Hebrew, who used the following language to Moses, and was, -as well as those who concurred with him in opinion, murdered in consequence, -not after trial, but by Lynch law, as will appear from the sequel?<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2035"></a>2035. “‘Moses, you are at liberty to contend for the use and observance -of your own laws, which have obtained a sanction and authority by long -custom alone, or you would have been brought to merited disgrace and -punishment, and found, to your cost, that the Hebrews were not to be -deluded by your arts. I will never subject myself to your tyrannical decrees, -assured that, under a pretext of regard to religion and law, you seek -to enslave us, and establish a supreme authority over us, by denying us -those liberties to which all free-born men have an undoubted right. Was -there a more grievous oppression during the whole course of an Egyptian -bondage than the power you usurped of punishing every man by laws of -your own formation? You particularly deserve punishment for abrogating -and annulling those customs, laws, and privileges which are authorized and -established by the common consent of nations, and preferring the sugges<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_418"></a>418</span>tions -of your fancy to rules so generally followed and rationally founded. -Conscious that I have done nothing wrong, I now frankly declare, in this -assembly, that I have married a strange woman. This I confess with an -honest boldness, and would do the same in the face of the world. I also -worship the gods whom thou hast forbidden to be worshipped, as I do not -hold myself bound to submit to your arbitrary sway either in matters of -law or religion, but must assert the liberty of investigating the truth for -myself, and directing my own personal concerns.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_2036"></a>2036. “Zimri, in this speech, delivered the general sentiment of the -whole faction, while the multitude silently waited the issue of his presumptuous -conduct, for they apprehended much confusion would ensue.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2037"></a>2037. But one of Moses’s partisans did not allow this noble asserter of -the rights of human nature to survive this bold stand long, as will appear -from the rest of the narrative, which thus proceeds:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2038"></a>2038. “His contumacy and flagrantly insolent behaviour to Moses -raised the resentment of one Phineas to the highest degree. He was a -youth eminent for the dignity of his family, his singular prowess, and his -personal virtues. Eleazar the high-priest being his father, he was nearly -allied to the great lawgiver. Sensible that to suffer such indignity to pass -with impunity would bring both the religion and the laws of the Hebrews -into contempt, he determined to make an example of the ringleader of the -faction, as his exalted rank would cause that example to have a greater -influence on the minds of the people. His resolution being equal to his -zeal, he repaired, without delay, to the tent of Zimri, and at one stroke -slew both him and Cobi his wife. This resolute act excited an emulation -among those of his contemporaries who still maintained a regard for the -honour of their country, to avenge themselves on those who had done it -violation; inasmuch that they fell most furiously upon the faction, and put -great numbers of them to the sword.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2039"></a>2039. Where is the true-hearted son of Columbia who would not have -been among those who fell with Zimri, for the right of choosing his wife -and his religion according to his own judgment?</p> - - -<h4>Remarkable observance of the Golden Rule by Moses, in his last advice -to the Israelites.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2040"></a>2040. “‘Wherefore, to avoid this danger of apostasy from the worship -of the God of your fathers, suffer not any of your enemies to live after -you have conquered them; but esteem it highly conducive to your interest -to destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live, you become infected -by their manners, and thereby corrupt your own institutions. I do further -exhort you to overthrow their altars, temples, groves, and indeed to exterminate -their nations with fire and sword. By these means alone the permanency -of your happy constitution can be secured to you.’”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2041"></a>2041. Let these sentiments of Moses be compared with those of the -great Cyrus, in which he justly adverts to the immortality of the soul. -Moses was always worldly, and, as respects the lives of neighbouring pagans, -so called, displayed no better morality than Thuggism on a great scale.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_419"></a>419</span></p> - - -<h4>Straining at Spiritual Gnats, while swallowing Scriptural Camels.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2042"></a>2042. The question is put, Wherefore can spirits cause tappings on or -tilting of tables, only when a medium is present? To those who believe in -the Old Testament as the word of God, it may be in point to inquire, Wherefore -the mere elevation of the hands of Moses, on a hill remote from the -field of battle, enabled the Israelites to overcome their enemies, when the -opposite result ensued when the hands of the veracious prophet were -lowered, as agreeably to verses 11 and 12, chapter xvii. of Exodus?</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2043"></a>2043. “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel -prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But -Moses’s hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, -and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on -the one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady -until the going down of the sun.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2044"></a>2044. It follows from the verses in question that the skill, strength, or -courage of every Jewish combatant varied with the elevation or depression -of the arms of Moses above or below a mean horizontal plane.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2045"></a>2045. Surely, the peculiar influences thus exercised by the author of -the Pentateuch is at least as incredible as that by which the presence of -a medium enables spirits to move ponderable bodies, when otherwise they -could not move them. The influence ascribed to Moses is alleged to have -been witnessed only on one occasion, whereas that attributed to media has -been seen in a multiplicity of instances by living witnesses of good character, -who will attest to the facts, as well as the media themselves.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2046"></a>2046. But, independently of the incredibility of this Mosaic miracle as -an isolated fact discordant with the laws of nature and human experience, -is it not incredible on account of its inconsistency with the just and humane -idea of God which the truly pious entertain, that he should give this -assistance to the Jews in their unchristian warfare? This reasoning is at -least as applicable to the alleged arrestation of the sun, (involving that of -the rotary motion of the earth,) in order that Joshua might make a further -slaughter of the vanquished Canaanites. For this slaughter the prominent -excuse seems to have been that Moses, wishing to possess the territory of -the Canaanites, professed to have the authority of God for extirpating them -as idolaters, agreeably to the following language, which is represented -by Mr. Mahan and others as the word of God, (Deut. viii. 16, 20, 22:)</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2047"></a>2047. “And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God -shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt -thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. Moreover, the -Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, -and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. And the Lord thy God -will put out those nations before thee by little and little; thou mayest not -consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.”</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_420"></a>420</span></p> - - -<h4 class="hang">The Evidence which is insufficient to establish the Iniquity of a Sinner -cannot be sufficient to establish the Divine Authority of a Book.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2048"></a>2048. “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or -any sin: at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall the matter -be established,” (Deut. xix. 15.)</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2049"></a>2049. Agreeably to the preceding quotation from Scripture, one witness -is not sufficient to convict a man of any iniquity. Two witnesses, at least, -are necessary to establish guilt. But if a single witness be insufficient to -establish the iniquity of a man, how is it to be established, on the evidence -of the priest Hilkiah alone, that the manuscript, which, as he represented, -he had found in the temple, was the inspired code of Moses, or, as Mahan -and others would have it, the word of God?</p> - -<p><a id="para_2050"></a>2050. Should the righteousness of a religious code be established by -evidence insufficient to establish the iniquity of an individual? <i lang="la">A fortiori</i>, -when, by proving the righteousness of a code, a whole generation was to be -convicted of iniquity, was the evidence of one individual sufficient, especially -when the iniquity thus to be adjudged was to draw down the unquenchable -wrath of God, agreeably to Huldah the prophetess?</p> - - -<h4>Word of God, impiously so called, or the Golden Rule inverted by God’s -alleged Commands.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2051"></a>2051. “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then -proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, -and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein -shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will -make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt -besiege it. And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, -thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: but the -women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even -all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself: and thou shalt eat the -spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus -shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which -are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people -which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save -alive nothing that breatheth: but thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely, -the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the -Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,” -(Deut. xx. 10-17.)</p></div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_421"></a>421</span></p> - - -<h3>PAGAN FEARLESSNESS OF DEATH.</h3> - - -<h4 class="hang">Opinion of Mr. Huc, a Christian Priest, that it is their religion which -makes Christians more fearful of death than the Chinese, (<a href="#para_746">746</a>.)</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2052"></a>2052. <span class="smcap">Parson Berg</span> and Bishop McIlvaine unjustly represent the doctrines -of futurity, held by Christians, as causing those who believe in -eternal punishment—in the horrible hell described by Josephus, and sanctioned -by the gospel, with the precarious notions of heaven derived from -the same authority—to have less fear of death than deists, by them called -<i>infidels</i>. But I have known many deists die, and certainly I have never -seen any believer in Christianity meet death with more firmness than those -who did not believe. Some of the last-mentioned class have died of painful -complaints with the most admirable equanimity. But to illustrate the -injustice of these reverend gentlemen in their undue assumption of the -superior fearlessness of death of those persons who believe in the gospel -over those who do not so believe, I will here quote a passage from the -travels of a Christian missionary, which describes the equanimity with -which the Chinese meet death. From the work of the French missionary, -Mr. Huc, it will be seen that <i>death</i> is contemplated with far less fearful -apprehension in China than in Christendom.</p> - - -<h4>Observations of the Missionary, Mr. Huc, to whom reference has just -been made.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><a id="para_2053"></a>2053. “In no other country than China, perhaps, could men be heard -exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin. People (in Christendom) -are most shy of mentioning the lugubrious objects destined to contain -the mortal remains of a relation or friend; and when death does enter -the house, the coffin is got in in secresy and silence, in order to spare the -feelings of the mourning family. But it is quite otherwise in China; -there a coffin is simply an article of the first necessity to the dead, and of -luxury and fancy to the living. In the great towns you see them displayed -in the shops with all sorts of tasteful decorations, painted, and varnished, -and polished, and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers, and give -them the fancy to buy themselves one.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2054"></a>2054. “People in easy circumstances, who have money to spare for -their pleasures, scarcely ever fail to provide themselves beforehand with a -coffin to suit their own taste, and which they consider becoming; and, -until the moment arrives for lying down in it, it is kept in the house; not -as an article of immediate necessity, but as one that cannot fail to be consoling -and pleasant to the eye in a nicely-furnished apartment.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2055"></a>2055. “For well-brought up children, it is a favourite method of expressing -the fervour of their filial piety toward the authors of their being, -a sweet and tender consolation for the heart of a son, to be able to purchase -a beautiful coffin for an aged father or mother, and come in state to present -the gift at the moment when they least expect such an agreeable surprise.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_422"></a>422</span> -If one is not sufficiently favoured by fortune to be able to afford -the purchase of a coffin in advance, care is always taken before ‘<i>saluting -the world</i>,’ as the Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfaction -of casting a glance at his last abode; and if he is surrounded by at -all affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin and place it -by the side of his bed.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2056"></a>2056. “In the country, this is not always so easy, for coffins are not -kept quite ready, and, besides, peasants have not such luxurious habits as -townspeople. The only way, then, is to send for the carpenter of the -place, who takes the measure of the sick person, not forgetting to observe -to him that it must be made a little longer than would seem necessary, -because one always stretches out a little when dead. A bargain is then -made concerning the length and breadth, and especially the cost; wood is -brought, and the workmen set about their task in the yard, close to the -chamber of the dying person, who is entertained with the music of the -saw and the other tools, while death is at work with him, preparing him -to occupy the snug abode when it is ready.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2057"></a>2057. “All this is done with the most perfect coolness, and without the -slightest emotion, real or affected. We have ourselves witnessed such -scenes more than once, and it has always been one of the things that most -surprised us in the manners of this extraordinary country. A short time -after our arrival in the mission of the north, we were walking one day in -the country with a Chinese seminarist, who had the patience to reply to all -our long and tedious questions about the men and things of the Celestial -Empire. While we were keeping up the dialogue as well as we could, in a -mixture of Latin and Chinese, using a word of one or the other as we -found occasion, we saw coming toward us a rather numerous crowd, who -advanced in an orderly manner along a narrow path. It might have been -called a procession.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2058"></a>2058. “Our first impulse was to turn aside, and get into some safe -corner behind a large hill; for, not having as yet much experience in the -manners and customs of the Chinese, we had some hesitation in producing -ourselves, for fear of being recognised and thrown into prison; possibly -even condemned and strangled. The crowd had now come up with -us, and we stood aside to let it pass. It was composed of a great number -of villagers, who looked at us with smiling faces, and had the appearance -of being uncommonly pleased. After them came a litter, on which was -borne an empty coffin, and then another litter, upon which lay extended a -dying man, wrapped in blankets. His face was haggard and livid, and his -expiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin that preceded him. When every -one had passed, we hastened to ask the meaning of this strange procession. -‘It is some sick man,’ said the seminarist, ‘who has been taken ill in a -neighbouring village, and whom they are bringing home to his family. The -Chinese do not like to die away from their own house.’ ‘That is very natural; -but what is the coffin for?’ ‘For the sick man, who probably has -not many days to live. They seem to have made every thing ready for -his funeral.’ I remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen. -‘That, they mean to use for the mourning.’</p> - -<p><a id="para_2059"></a>2059. “These words threw us in the most profound astonishment, and -we saw then that we had come into a new world—into the midst of a -people whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans. -These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral of a still livin<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_423"></a>423</span>g -friend and relation—this coffin placed purposely under the eyes of the dying -man, doubtless with the purpose of doing what was agreeable to him; all -this plunged us into a strange reverie, and the walk was continued in -silence. The astonishing calmness with which the Chinese see the approach -of death does not fail when the last moment arrives. They expire -with the most incomparable tranquillity, without any of the emotions, the -agitations, the agonies that usually render the moment of death so terrific.”</p></div> - -<p><a id="para_2060"></a>2060. It is remarkable that Mr. Huc cites an “<i>entire want of religious -feeling, as among the causes of this indifference to death</i>.”<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> But it may -be inquired whether that can be a proper kind of religious feeling which -interferes with equanimity at the prospect of our spiritual birth. I can -easily believe Mr. Huc to be correct, if his entire want of religious feeling -means the absence of all fear of an eternal broiling, like that of Dives.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2061"></a>2061. It is the absence of that <i>sort</i> of religion which this <i>sectarian -would teach</i>; that which consigns the great majority of mankind to perpetual -misery on account of their disbelief in Romanism.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2062"></a>2062. Widely different is the effect of the religion I have espoused. It -has made a prodigious change in my feelings. I look forward to death -with hope, rather than fear. (See page <a href="#Page_32">32</a> (<a href="#para_108">108</a>) of this work for the different -effect of Romanism on my mind.)</p> - - -<h4>Conclusion of Strictures on Mr. Mahan’s Religious Errors.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2063"></a>2063. It will be observed that under the general head of Mr. Mahan’s -errors, I have treated of not only those which he has advocated, but such -as he sanctions by his general endorsement of Scripture. However, I -here take my leave of Mr. Mahan and his errors.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONCLUSION">CONCLUSION.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><a id="para_2064"></a>2064. In a work by the English bishop Warburton, is to be found the -following allegation:</p> - - -<p>“The doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments is not to -be found in, nor did it make part of, the Mosaic dispensation.”</p> - - -<h4 class="hang">The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of belief in human -immortality, as will appear by the prefixed quotation, as well as the -inability of any of its devotees to point out any part which conflicts -with the right reverend author’s opinion, above mentioned.—Injustice -of representing disbelievers in the Bible as not having as good grounds -for belief in immortality as those who rest their belief on a work which,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_424"></a>424</span> -by its silence, tends to discountenance the hope of a future life.—Those -who uphold the Bible against Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the -only satisfactory evidence ever given to man of a future habitation in -the spirit world.</h4> - -<p><a id="para_2065"></a>2065. Religious people all very justly insist on the immense importance -of a belief in a future state of existence, in which we are to enjoy a degree -of happiness in proportion to our good conduct in this life, or of -misery in proportion as we do evil.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2066"></a>2066. Throughout Christendom I believe such a belief is necessary to -render a person competent as a witness, or to hold any office. As it is -assumed generally by Christians that there is no other proof of immortality -than that alleged to be afforded by Scripture, unbelievers in Scripture -are assumed to be unbelievers in a future state, and the most unfavourable -insinuations are made respecting such persons, (<a href="#para_1310">1310</a>.) Bishop -McIlvaine, in his “Evidences,” has <i>charitably</i> represented that, as a -class, such men are peculiarly vicious, and in their domestic relations immoral; -<i>not recollecting how far Christian prelates have been found wanting -in the present, as well as in past times</i>. But notwithstanding that the -disbelief in a future state is held to be so universally pernicious in its -influence, self-called orthodox Christians deem it impious not to bow before -the Bible as the holy word of God, or to be wanting in respect for his -inspired missionary, Moses. But admitting that the books found by Hilkiah -(<a href="#para_1940">1940</a>) were written, under divine inspiration, by Moses, how does it -happen that those books and their author stand in such high estimation, -<i>when they actually give no evidence of immortality, but rather tend to -prove that God, in communicating his will to Moses, thought it more important -to give to the Jews directions for the decoration of a tabernacle, -than to impart to them the invaluable knowledge of their eternal existence? -Moreover, God is represented as holding in especial favour, those who did -not think it of as much importance to inquire into the truth of immortality, -as to obtain decorations for pharisaical worship.</i> Why is Moses, -<i>a materialist</i>, to be venerated, who so grossly trifled with his opportunities? -There is either a flagitious misrepresentation, or he, of all men, had the -best opportunity of learning this <i>all-important</i> truth; and therefore, dying -ignorant of it, is proportionally more culpable. Wherefore is the uncandid -and unfounded pretence resorted to, that attacking the Old Testament is -attacking the basis of the hope of heaven, when, on the contrary, that -record has really the opposite tendency—that of enfeebling the evidence -of immortality?</p> - -<p><a id="para_2067"></a>2067. We see the <i>heathen</i> Cyrus, on his death-bed, (<a href="#para_1980">1980</a>,) striving to -impress upon his children a belief in immortality, while Moses, dying a -worldly-minded, blood-thirsty materialist, employs his last moments in -giving <i>inhuman</i> directions for the <i>merciless massacre</i> of every conquered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_425"></a>425</span> -pagan. Yet, while Bishop McIlvaine, as respects his contemporaries, represents -materialism as irreconcilable with virtue, Moses is to be venerated -and the books attributed to his authorship idolatrously worshipped as -the word of God! But if the advocacy of any thing which tends to -lessen the hope of immortality be culpable, is it not culpable, against the -truths of Spiritualism to hold up a book which authorizes disbelief in -immortality, and that, too, upon such questionable authority as an obscure -priest and fanatical and barbarous autocrat? (<a href="#para_1937">1937</a>.) As respects the gospel, -it has, I hope, been shown that, with all the exertions of the good -parson Harbaugh to exhibit the heaven of Scripture in its most favorable -aspect, (<a href="#para_777">777</a> to 805,) Spiritualism has immensely the advantage in the -description given of the spirit world, (<a href="#para_409">409</a> to 469,) sanctioned by the replies -given to my queries under test conditions, (<a href="#para_552">552</a>).</p> - -<p><a id="para_2068"></a>2068. Another ground of pre-eminence is the perfect immunity from -any association with such a priesthood as that described by the Right -Rev. Bishop Hopkins. Media, replacing the priests, will owe their office -to nature, not to any aristocracy, monarch, or theocrat, (<a href="#para_1307">1307</a>).</p> - -<p><a id="para_2069"></a>2069. Private disinterested Media will always outnumber and control -any of the same class who may attempt to acquire unfair ascendancy, -even if, in the nature of the case, it were possible that such a wrong -could be contemplated.</p> - -<p><a id="para_2070"></a>2070. I trust I have shown that the actual morals of Christendom are -irreconcilable with the precepts of the gospel, which denounce wealth -and enjoin submission to wrong, these morals being also inconsistent with -the materialism of the books of Moses. Under these circumstances, let -the reader turn to the evidence which has converted me from a prepossessed -skeptic to a devout believer in spiritual communication. Let that -glorious portraiture of the spirit-world be considered which has been opened -to the view of mortals through the high spirits who have accredited -me as one of their servants. I will not go over the evidence, nor recapitulate -the arguments which I have already so fully urged upon the attention -of my readers. I implore them to read with candour, and think -earnestly of the facts and reasoning submitted in this volume.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>P. S.—Explanation respecting Jesus Christ.</i></p> - -<p>My spirit sister alleges that Christ never uttered the language recorded -as his, and upon which I have commented. This being admitted, I wish -that nothing which I have said may be considered as bearing personally on -a Being who is so much the object of devotion with many of my dearest -connections, relations, and friends. I wish that it should be considered -that it is only upon the doctrines imputed to Christ, that I have intended -to animadvert, not on Jesus himself. Surely I am justified as treating -that language as coming from Jesus Christ, which is ascribed to him in -the only history of his teachings which has come down to us, and which, -under the name of the holy canonical gospel, is considered by more than -three-fourths of all the Christians in existence as inspired by God!</p></div> -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_426"></a>426<br /><a id="Page_427"></a>427</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>Under this head I place some articles which could not be embodied in -this work; but which it may nevertheless be expedient to place within -the reach of certain readers. Among the articles referred to is the theory -of electricity, which I first published in 1848, and which has been approved -by the spirit of Franklin, and, in obedience to his advice, inserted -in this volume. Unfortunately, there are but few persons sufficiently acquainted -with the phenomena which form its basis, and the technical language -employed by professed electricians, to find it agreeable to study the -subject in question; but they may qualify themselves to do so by studying -the elementary works on this branch of science.</p> - - -<h3>LETTER TO THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY.</h3> - -<p>Although the subjoined letter has been published in various channels, -as well as in a separate pamphlet, I deem it proper to record it in this -work, as, otherwise, many who may see the one might not see the other. -It will be perceived that the substance of my second letter has been already -incorporated in the preceding pages, (<a href="#para_714">714</a> to 776.) Of course it is to the -first letter that I now allude, and which I intend to record here.</p> - - - -<h4 class="hang">Letter from Dr. Hare to the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, -offering to lay before them the New Evidence of Immortality. (<i>Submitted -to the late Convention, Philadelphia, May 15, 1855.</i>)</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">Reverend and Dear Sirs</span>: Having, from my youth, been on friendly -terms with the clergy of the Episcopal Church, within the pale of which -I was born and christened; having, in fact, had among the clergy of that -church some excellent friends and relatives,—it has been a source of regret -that I have not been able to see doctrines deeply affecting the happiness -of mankind in the same light. I am, however, fully sensible of the kindness -and courtesy with which I have been treated by clergymen in general, -and especially by those of the church above designated. I have always -been under the belief that in no part of the globe, nor at any period of -human history, has a priesthood existed as moral, as sincere, and truly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_428"></a>428</span> -pious as those of my country; and among that priesthood, I believe, none -have stood higher in these qualifications than such as are of the Episcopal -Church.</p> - -<p>It is happy for me that of late I have, in one respect, found myself more -in accordance with the Christian clergy: I allude here to the awakening -of perfect confidence in the immortality of the soul. There was on this -subject, heretofore, this difference between my sentiments and those of my -clerical friends, that while I hoped for a future state, I was no less skeptical -respecting the evidence of witnesses who lived some thousand years -ago than of those who have, in modern times, alleged themselves to have -witnessed supernatural manifestations. I required in the former case, no -less than in the latter, intuitive proof; or the consistent testimony of independent -observers having sufficient sense, knowledge, and integrity to -make reliable witnesses.</p> - -<p>Happily, in the case of Spiritualism, both of these tests have been afforded -to me, so that I now believe in a future state no less firmly than the -orthodox Christian.</p> - -<p>Like St. Paul, in the case of Christianity, I entered upon the investigation -of Spiritualism with a view to refutation; but the very instruments -which I contrived to accomplish that object produced the opposite effect.</p> - -<p>If human testimony is not to be taken when advanced by contemporaries -known to be conscientious, truthful, and well informed, how is it to -be relied on with respect to those of whom we know nothing available -beside what their own writings mention?</p> - -<p>I am prepared to submit a communication respecting the spirit world -from my father, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits, whose approbation -was manifested by means which no mortal could pervert.</p> - -<p>The practical influence on my mind has been to make me far more -happy, to remove all fear of death, and to render me more watchful as -to my deportment in life. I know that my sainted parents, and other -relatives and friends, my children who died in infancy, are around me, -witnessing every act and exercising a limited power over my safety and -my health.</p> - -<p>Mourning for the dead now seems to be groundless, and at all events -can be indulged only upon selfish considerations. But who would grieve -deeply at a transient separation, even for years, from friends made happier -by the change, when sure of a happy reunion ultimately?</p> - -<p>No evidence of any important truth in science can be shown to be more -unexceptionable than that which I have received of this glorious fact, that -heaven is really “at hand,” and that our relatives, friends, and acquaintances -who are worthy of happiness, while describing themselves as ineffably -happy, are still progressing to higher felicity; and while hovering -aloft in our midst, are taking interest in our welfare with an augmented -zeal or affection, so that, by these means, they may be a solace to us, in -despite of death.</p> - -<p>As the reverend clergy of the Episcopal Church are about to meet in -Philadelphia, I deem it my duty to afford them an opportunity of hearing -the evidence on which I rely; and which, with <i>due effort</i>, they can have -subjected to their own intuition.</p> - -<p>Should the clergy deem it expedient to listen to my exposition, I shall -be ready to answer any queries which may be made.</p> - -<p>I am aware that there may be considerations which may justify the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_429"></a>429</span> -clergy in declining to hear me. I have never, in my own case, deemed it -wise to seek abstract right at the expense of practical evil. I would not -urge persons in certain official stations to become converts to Spiritualism, -lest it should, by consequent unpopularity, interfere with their usefulness, -as in the case of Judge Edmonds; and a like objection must arise as to -the conversion of clergymen, so far as to bring their convictions in competition -with their professional vocation. Orthodox Christians are generally -educated to believe not only that the revelation on which they rely is true, -but that no other can be justifiable. Hence they are evidently displeased -that spiritualists should allege themselves to have come by other means to -that belief in immortality which is admitted on all sides to be the greatest -comfort under the afflictions to which temporal life is liable.</p> - -<p>There is, moreover, this discordancy in doctrine: Agreeably to Scripture, -man is placed here for probation, and is liable to be <i>eternally</i> punished -if he prove delinquent. According to Spiritualism, man is placed -here for progression, and when he goes to the next world, still will have -the opportunity to progress, however wicked he may be when he departs -this life.</p> - -<p>It is conceived by spiritualists that if, as the orthodox allege, God be -omnipotent, he can make his creatures to suit his will; if he be omniscient, -he must know what they are when made; and if he be prescient, he can -foresee what they will be, and consequently cannot have the smallest conceivable -motive for exposing them to probation.</p> - -<p>I foresee that it may not be deemed expedient to take any notice of this -letter; but whatever may be the result in this way, does not interfere -with the propriety of my putting it in your power to avail yourselves of -my offer; since I have a sanction from a higher source, the spirit of the -immortal Washington, the proofs of whose communion with me I am prepared -to submit to any respectable inquirers.</p> - -<p>I am aware that this language would, a few years ago, have made me -attach the idea of insanity to the author; but this cannot, nevertheless, -in the slightest degree, be deducible from it now, from the notorious fact -that the same monomania is never entertained by any two persons, and -in <i>my hallucination</i>, if it <i>be such</i>, there are a multitude of participators. -That is to say, there are a multitude of persons of every grade who believe -that they have communicated with their spirit friends, as I have -with mine; and who, like me, have believed themselves to have held -communion with the spirits of some of the most distinguished men who -have departed this life. A faith in the miracles of the New Testament -may as well be adduced as insanity as belief in spiritual manifestations -under these circumstances.</p> - -<p>The fact that manifestations have been made and truthfully described -has been admitted by the Catholic Church, but are ascribed to Satanic -agency.</p> - -<p>Let the doctrines of Spiritualism, and those of the church in question, -be compared, in order to determine which owes most to Satan.</p> - -<p>The existence of a devil being admitted, was there ever a more fertile -source of diabolical intolerance than the idea that a peculiar belief being -necessary to save men’s souls from hell fire, any temporal evil to which -mortals might be subjected to coerce belief, would be as justifiable as the -forcible extirpation of an incipient cancer from the body of a child unwilling -to submit to the operation? If ever there was a devil’s agency,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_430"></a>430</span> -it may be seen in the auto-da-fé, the Inquisition, and the massacre of St. -Bartholomew’s day.</p> - -<p>Of the same devilish character was the execution of Servetus by Calvin, -or the persecution of the Quakers and witches by the Puritans.</p> - -<p class="psig"><span class="gap3">Respectfully, your well-wisher,</span> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare</span>.</p></div> - - -<h3>A LETTER FROM DR. HARE.</h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Addressed to the President of the Association for the Advancement of -Science, at their meeting, August 18, 1855.</i></p> - - -<h4><span class="smcap">Preliminary Remarks.</span></h4> - -<p>Having addressed the subjoined letter to the American Association for -the Advancement of Science, the standing committee resolved that the -subject did not fall sufficiently within the objects of the Association to -allow even of its being read to the meeting. In the instance of my letter -to the Episcopal clergy, it was stated that its acknowledgment by them -was not expected; and after this impression was verified, I admitted that, -in their not replying, the interest of the church was best consulted. In -the present case I admit that the harmony of the Association was perhaps -best consulted in not recognising that the objects of the Association involved -the duty of allowing certain facts to be stated before it, which are -at war with the received doctrines of science, no less than with those of -revelation.</p> - -<p>During the Dark Ages, the so-called word of God (but really the words -of ignorant propagandists) had taken such hold of the proper domain -of science, that it was heresy to assert the rotundity of this planet, or -that the sun did not revolve about it diurnally. But at this time science -has established itself upon the domain claimed for religious truth, so that -between the positive science of the atheist Comte and the dogmatic opinions -of the orthodox savan, there is no room for the germ of Spiritualism -to shoot up.</p> - -<p>It seems to me that, in due courtesy and liberality, the standing committee -might have had my letter read to the meeting, and have let the -members judge whether it should be acknowledged. But I place it on -record in this volume, and leave the propriety of their having neglected -to acknowledge it to be estimated hereafter in this world, as it has already -been in the world of spirits, as respects its influence on the estimation of -the parties.</p> - -<p>I am aware, however, that every man in society is more or less a <i>peon</i>, -and that there is no small analogy between the situation of many holding -worldly pre-eminence and that of the poor apothecary of Shakspeare.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_431"></a>431</span> -Conscience and reason are ever under the control of expediency. Those -who live in society must be governed by the hearts and heads of others as -well as their own: unless they are quite sure that the cause of truth will -suffer by their silence, they should not speak to give others umbrage. I -always considered it my duty not to do any thing which would injure the -institution of which I was a member for nearly thirty years. Doubtless, -the sachems of the Association did what they thought best, as probably I -should have done, had I been situated as they were, and holding their -opinions.</p> - -<p>In the letter as actually sent to the Association, I introduced the arguments -founded on Dr. Bell’s observations, (<a href="#para_111">111</a>, <a href="#para_28">287</a>, <a href="#para_864">864</a>,) also the facts -and reasoning submitted in the Supplemental Preface. I shall, of course, -leave the reader to recur to those passages, and introduce here only the -other portions of my letter:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">To the President of the Association for the Advancement of Science</span>:</p> - -<p><i>Dear Sir</i>: Being engaged in putting a work to press, I am sorry to be -unable to be present at the meeting of the Association on the 15th inst.</p> - -<p>When I was at the last meeting, I stated an experiment made with the -greatest care and precision, which proved the existence of a power independent -of any possible or conceivable mortal agency; and I had on that -occasion an opportunity of experiencing the fate of the Dutch ambassador -who first made the king of Ava acquainted with the fact that bodies of -water can be frozen so as to enable people to walk on a solidified aqueous -surface. It was a disease of the mind in either case.</p> - -<p>But let no one apply to his soul the self-complacent unction that it was my -hallucination, not bigoted ignorance, that originated that diagnosis. Since -that time, the fact of movements being made intelligibly, without any perceptible -or assignable mortal aid, has been verified hundreds of times by -others; while under my own intuition it has been reiterated many times, -the experiment which I adduced having been repeated with every imaginable -precaution and instructive variation. * * * * *</p> - -<p>About two years have elapsed, since I erroneously sanctioned Farraday’s -explanation of the manifestations, in ascribing them to involuntary muscular -action. This arose from my being, no less than that philosopher, so utterly -incredulous and intolerant of any idea of spiritual agency in any of the phenomena -of nature, excepting those which I ascribed to God, that I did not take -the possible agency of spirits into view; but having been obliged to admit -the facts conceded by Dr. Bell, (<a href="#para_287">287</a>,) and having received interesting and -intellectual communications of which he has not been informed, I cannot, -with him, stop half-way: nor could he, were he to have the interesting -communications with his spirit friends which I have had with mine.</p> - -<p>There has been a time when religion repressed science; and it would -seem that at the present era science is to revenge itself by repressing -religious truth, by sanctioning indirectly the alleged manifestations of antiquity, -while deriding those of the present time; believing on miracles told -by no one knows who, yet denying the allegations of eye-witnesses known -to be truthful; while straining at spiritual gnats, swallowing scriptural -camels.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -With high esteem, your well-wisher,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Robert Hare</span>.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_432"></a>432</span></p> - - -<h3>FARRADAY’S SPECULATION.</h3> - - -<p class="center"><i>Speculation touching Electric Conduction and the nature of Matter. By -Farraday.</i></p> - -<p>Having expressed my objections to Farraday’s inferences respecting -matter, &c., I feel that justice requires that I should submit the article -which drew forth my strictures. At this time, when electricity and matter -are scrutinized with a view to understand the analogous, but different, -entities of the spirit world, the ideas of an experimental investigator so -eminently successful, must be of interest to readers:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Light and electricity are two great and searching investigators of the -molecular structure of bodies, and it was, while considering the probable -nature of conduction and insulation in bodies not decomposable by the -electricity to which they were subject, and the relation of electricity to -space contemplated as void of that which, by the anatomist, is called -matter, that considerations, something like those which follow, were presented -to my mind.</p> - -<p>If the view of the constitution of matter, already referred to, be assumed -to be correct, and I may be allowed to speak of the particles of -matter and of the space between them (in water, or in the vapour of water, -for instance) as two different things, then space must be taken as the only -continuous part, for the particles are considered as separated by space from -each other. Space will permeate all masses of matter in every direction -like a net, except that, in place of meshes, it will form cells, isolating each -atom from its neighbours, and itself only being continuous.</p> - -<p>Then take the case of a piece of shellac, a non-conductor, and it would -appear at once, from such a view of its constitution, that space is an insulator, -for if it were a conductor, the shellac could not insulate, whatever -might be the relation as to conducting power of its material atoms; the -space would be like a fine metallic web penetrating it in every direction, just -as we may imagine of a heap of siliceous sand having all its pores filled -with water, or as we may consider of a stick of black wax, which, though -it contains an infinity of particles of conducting charcoal diffused through -every part of it, cannot conduct, because a non-conducting body (a resin) -intervenes and separates them one from another like the supposed space in -the lac.</p> - -<p>Next take the case of a metal, platinum or potassium, constituted, according -to the atomic theory, in the same manner. The metal is a conductor; -but how can this be, except space be a conductor, for it is the only -continuous part of the metal, and the atoms not only do not touch, (by -the theory,) but, as we shall see presently, must be assumed to be a considerable -way apart. Space, therefore, must be a conductor, or else the -metals could not conduct, but would be in the situation of the black sealing-wax -referred to a little while ago.</p> - -<p>But if space be a conductor, how then can shellac, sulphur, &c. insulate? -for space permeates them in every direction. Or, if space be an insulator, -how can a metal or other similar body conduct?</p> - -<p>It would seem, therefore, that in accepting the ordinary atomic theory,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_433"></a>433</span> -space may be proved to be a non-conductor in non-conducting bodies, and -a conductor in conducting bodies; but the reasoning ends in this, a subversion -of that theory altogether, for if space be an insulator, it cannot -exist in conducting bodies, and if it be a conductor, it cannot exist in insulating -bodies. Any ground of reasoning which tends to such conclusions -must in itself be false.</p> - -<p>In connection with such conclusions, we may consider shortly what are -the probabilities that present themselves to the mind, if the extension of -the atomic theory which chemists have imagined be applied in conjunction -with the conducting powers of metals. If the specific gravity of the -metals be divided by the atomic numbers, it gives us the number of atoms, -upon the hypothesis, in equal bulks of the metals. In the following table -the first column of figures expresses nearly the numbers of atoms in, and -the second column of figures the conducting power of, equal volumes of -the metals named:</p> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<th class="tdl">Atoms.</th> -<td></td> -<th class="tdl">Conducting power.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1·00</td> -<td class="tdl">gold</td> -<td class="tdl">6·00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1·00</td> -<td class="tdl">silver</td> -<td class="tdl">4·66</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1·12</td> -<td class="tdl">lead</td> -<td class="tdl">0·52</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1·30</td> -<td class="tdl">tin</td> -<td class="tdl">1·00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2·20</td> -<td class="tdl">platinum</td> -<td class="tdl">1·04</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2·27</td> -<td class="tdl">zinc</td> -<td class="tdl">1·80</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2·87</td> -<td class="tdl">copper</td> -<td class="tdl">6·33</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2·90</td> -<td class="tdl">iron</td> -<td class="tdl">1·00</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>So here iron, which contains the greatest number of atoms in a given -bulk, is the worst conductor excepting one. Gold, which contains the -fewest, is nearly the best conductor; not that these conditions are in inverse -proportions, for copper, which contains nearly as many atoms as -iron, conducts better still than gold, and with above six times the power -of iron. Lead, which contains more atoms than gold, has only about one-twelfth -of its conducting power; lead, which is much heavier than tin -and much lighter than platina, has only half the conducting power of either -of these metals. And all this happens among substances which we are -bound to consider at present as elementary or simple. Whichever way we -consider the particles of matter and the space between them, and examine -the assumed constitution of matter by this table, the results are full of -perplexity.</p> - -<p>Now let us take the case of potassium, a compact metallic substance -with excellent conducting powers—its oxide or hydrate a non-conductor; it -will supply us with some facts having very important bearings on the assumed -atomic construction of matter.</p> - -<p>When potassium is oxidized, an atom of it combines with an atom of -oxygen to form an atom of potassa, and an atom of potassa combines with -an atom of water, consisting of two atoms of oxygen and hydrogen, to -form an atom of hydrate of potassa, so that an atom of hydrate of potassa -contains four elementary atoms. The specific gravity of potassium is -0·865, and its atomic weight 40·; the specific gravity of cast hydrate of -potassa, in such a state of purity as I could obtain it, I found to be nearly -2; its atomic weight, 57. From these, which may be taken as facts, the -following strange conclusions flow: A piece of potassium contains less potassium -than an equal piece of the potash formed by it and oxygen. We -may cast into potassium oxygen, atom for atom, and then again both -oxygen and hydrogen in a twofold number of atoms, and with all these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_434"></a>434</span> -additions the matter shall become less and less, until it is not two-thirds -of its original volume. If a given bulk of potassium contains 45 atoms, -the same bulk of hydrate of potassa contains 70 atoms nearly <i>of the metal -potassium</i>, and, besides that, 210 atoms more of oxygen and hydrogen. In -dealing with assumptions, I must assume a little more for the sake of -making any kind of statement; let me therefore assume that in the hydrate -of potassa the atoms are all of one size and nearly touching each -other, and that in a cubic inch of that substance there are 2800 elementary -atoms of potassium, oxygen, and hydrogen; take 2100 atoms of oxygen -and hydrogen, and the 700 atoms of potassium remaining will swell into -more than a cubic inch and a half; and if we diminish the number until -only those containable in a cubic inch remain, we shall have 430, or thereabout. -So a space which can contain 2800 atoms, and among them 700 -of potassium itself, is found to be entirely filled by 430 atoms of potassium, -as they exist in the ordinary state of that metal. Surely, then, -under the suppositions of the atomic theory, the atoms of potassium must -be very far apart in the metal, <i>i. e.</i> there must be much more of space -than of matter in that body; yet it is an excellent conductor; and so space -must be a conductor, but then what becomes of shellac, sulphur, and all -the insulators? for space must also, by the theory, exist in them.</p> - -<p>Again, the volume which will contain 430 atoms of potassium, and -nothing else while in the state of metal, will, when that potassium is converted -into nitre, contain very nearly the same number of atoms of potassium, -<i>i. e.</i> 416, and also then seven times as many, or 2912 atoms, of nitrogen -and oxygen beside. In carbonate of potassa, the space which will -contain only the 430 atoms of potassium as metal, being entirely filled -by it, will, after the conversion, contain 256 atoms more of potassium, -making 686 atoms of that metal, and in addition 2744 atoms of oxygen -and carbon.</p> - -<p>These and similar considerations might be extended through compounds -of sodium and other bodies, with results equally striking, and indeed more -so, when the relations of one substance, as oxygen and sulphur, with different -bodies are brought into comparison.</p> - -<p>I am not ignorant that the mind is most powerfully drawn by the phenomena -of crystallization, chemistry, and physics generally to the acknowledgment -of centres of force. I feel myself constrained, for the present, -hypothetically to admit them, and cannot do without them; but I feel -great difficulty in the conception of atoms of matter which in solids, fluids, -and vapours are supposed to be more or less apart from each other, with -intervening space not occupied by atoms, and perceive great contradictions -in the conclusions which flow from such a view.</p> - -<p>If we must assume at all, as indeed in a branch of knowledge like the -present we can hardly help it, then the safest course appears to be to assume -as little as possible; and in that respect the atoms of Boscovich appear -to me to have a great advantage over the more usual notion. His -atoms, if I understand aright, are mere centres of forces or powers, not -particles of matter in which the powers themselves reside. If in the -ordinary view of atoms, we call the particle of matter away from the -powers <i>a</i>, and the system of powers or forces in and around it <i>m</i>, then in -Boscovich’s theory <i>a</i> disappears, and is a mere mathematical point, while -in the usual notion it is a little, unchangeable, impenetrable piece of matter, -and <i>m</i> is an atmosphere of force grouped around it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_435"></a>435</span></p> - -<p>In many of the hypothetical uses made of atoms, as in crystallography, -chemistry, magnetism, &c., this difference in the assumption makes little -or no alteration in the results; but in other cases, as of electric conductors, -the nature of light, the manner in which bodies combine to produce compounds, -the effect of forces, as heat or electricity, upon matter, the difference -will be very great.</p> - -<p>Thus, referring back to potassium, in which as a metal the atoms must, -as we have seen, be, according to the usual view, very far apart from each -other, how can we for a moment imagine that its conducting property belongs -to it any otherwise than as a consequence of the properties of the -space, or, as I have called it above, the <i>m</i>? So also its other properties in -regard to light, or magnetism, or solidity, or hardness, or specific gravity, -must belong to it, in consequence of the properties or forces of the <i>m</i>, not -those of the <i>a</i>, which, without the forces, is conceived of as having no -powers. But then, surely, the <i>m</i> is the <i>matter</i> of the potassium, for where -is there the least ground (except in a gratuitous assumption) for imagining -a difference in kind between the nature of that space midway between -the centres of two contiguous atoms, and any other spot between these -centres? A difference in degree or even in the nature of the power consistent -with the laws of continuity I can admit, but the difference between a -supposed little hard particle and the powers around it, I cannot imagine.</p> - -<p>To my mind, therefore, the <i>a</i> or nucleus vanishes, and the substance consist -of the powers or <i>m</i>; and indeed what notion can we form of the nucleus -independent of its powers? All our perception and knowledge of the atom, -and even our fancy, is limited to ideas of its powers; what thought remains -on which to hang the imagination of an <i>a</i> independent of the acknowledged -forces? As mind just entering on the subject may consider it difficult to -think of the powers of matter independent of a separate something to be -called <i>the matter</i>, but it is certainly far more difficult, and indeed impossible -to think of or imagine that <i>matter</i> independent of the powers. Now, -the powers we know and recognise in every phenomena of the creation, the -abstract matter in one; why, then, assume the existence of that of which -we are ignorant, which we cannot conceive, and for which there is no philosophical -necessity?</p> - -<p>Before concluding these speculations, I will refer to a few of the important -differences between the assumption of atoms consisting merely of -centres of force like those of Boscovich, and that other assumption of -molecules of something specially material, having powers attached in and -around them.</p> - -<p>With the latter atoms a mass of matter consists of atoms and intervening -space; with the former atoms matter is everywhere present, and there is no -intervening space unoccupied by it. In gases the atoms touch each other -just as truly as in solids. In this respect the atoms of water touch each -other, whether that substance be in the form of ice, water, or steam; no -mere intervening space is present. Doubtless, the centres of force vary -in their distance one from another, but that which is truly the matter of -one atom touches the matter of its neighbours.</p> - -<p>Hence matter will be <i>continuous</i> throughout, and in considering we have -not to suppose a distinction between its atoms and any intervening space. -The powers around the centres give these centres the properties of atoms -of matter; and these powers again, when many centres by their conjoint -forces are grouped into a mass, give to every part of that mass the proper<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_436"></a>436</span>ties -of matter. In such a view all the contradiction resulting from the -consideration of electric insulation and conduction disappears.</p> - -<p>The atoms may be conceived of as highly <i>elastic</i>, instead of being supposed -excessively hard and unalterable in form; the mere compression of -a bladder of air between the hands can alter their size a little, and the -experiments of Cagniard la Tour carry on this change in size until the -difference in bulk at one time and another may be made several hundred times. -Such is also the case when a solid or a fluid body is converted into vapour.</p> - -<p>With regard also to the <i>shape</i> of the atoms, and, according to the ordinary -assumption, its definite and unalterable character, another view must -now be taken of it. An atom by itself might be conceived of as spherical -or spheroidal, or where many were touching in all directions, the form -might be thought of as a dodecahedron, for any one would be surrounded -by and bear against twelve others, on different sides. But if an atom be -conceived to be a centre of power, that which is ordinarily referred to under -the term <i>shape</i>, would now be referred to the disposition and relative intensity -of the forces. The power arranged in and around a centre might -be uniform in arrangement and intensity in every direction outward from -that centre, and then a section of equal intensity of force through the -radii would be a sphere; or the law of decrease of force from the centre -outward might vary in different directions, and then the section of equal -intensity might be an oblate or oblong spheroid, or have other forms; -or the forces might be disposed so as to make the atom polar; or they -might circulate around it equatorially or otherwise, after the manner of -imagined magnetic atoms. In fact, nothing can be supposed of the disposition -of forces in or about a solid nucleus of matter, which cannot be -equally conceived with respect to a centre.</p> - -<p>In the view of matter now sustained as the lesser assumption, matter -and the atoms of matter would be mutually penetrable. As regards the -mutual penetrability of matter, one would think that the facts respecting -potassium and its compounds, already described, would be enough to prove -that point to a mind which accepts a fact for a fact, and is not obstructed -in its judgment by preconceived notions. With respect to the mutual -penetrability of the atoms, it seems to me to present in many points of -view a more beautiful, yet equally probable and philosophic, idea of the -constitution of bodies than the other hypotheses, especially in the case of -chemical combination. If we suppose an atom of oxygen and an atom of -potassium about to combine and produce potash, the hypothesis of solid, -unchangeable, impenetrable atoms places these two particles side by side in -a position easily, because mechanically, imagined, and not unfrequently -represented; but if these two atoms be centres of power, they will mutually -penetrate to the very centres, thus forming one atom or molecule, with -powers either uniformly around it or arranged as the resultant of the -powers of the two constituent atoms; and the manner in which two or -many centres of force may in this way combine, and afterward, under the -dominion of stronger forces, separate, may in some degree be illustrated by -the beautiful case of the conjunction of two sea waves of different velocities -into one, their perfect union for a time, and final separation into the constituent -waves, considered, I think, at the meeting of the British Association -at Liverpool. It does not, of course, follow from this view that the centres -shall always coincide; that will depend upon the relative disposition of the -powers of each atom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_437"></a>437</span></p> - -<p>The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem to involve -necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or, at least, all -space to which gravitation extends, (including the sun and its system,) for -gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a certain force, and it is -this force which constitutes the matter. In that view matter is not merely -mutually penetrable, but each atom extends, so to say, throughout the -whole of the solar system, yet always retaining its own centre of force. -This, at first sight, seems to fall in very harmoniously with Massotti’s mathematical -investigations and reference of the phenomena of electricity, -cohesion, gravitation, &c. to one force in matter, and also again with the -old adage “matter cannot act where it is not.” But it is no part of my -intention to enter into such considerations as these, or what the bearings -of this hypothesis would be on the theory of light and the supposed ether. -My desire has been rather to bring certain facts from electrical conduction -and chemical combination to bear strongly upon our views regarding the -nature of atoms and matter, and so to assist in distinguishing in natural -philosophy our real knowledge—<i>i. e.</i> the knowledge of facts and laws—from -that, which, though it has the form of knowledge, may, from its including -so much that is mere assumption, be the very reverse.</p></div> - -<p>It is to be regretted that the memoir of the Rev. Mr. Whewell could -not be quoted, being long and obscure. His opinions, it is conceived, have -been stated fairly, (<a href="#para_1796">1796</a>.)</p> - - -<h4>Motives for republishing my Memoirs on Electrical Theory.</h4> - -<p>The principal motive, without which the other motives would not have -prevailed, is, that having had an interview with the spirit of Franklin expressly -to have his advice, it was given decidedly in favour of publication.</p> - -<p>There is no door in the temple of science which is so easy of access as -that which leads to the department of electricity. The illustrations usually -given at a popular lecture may, at the same time, amuse an infant, instruct -a student, and yet perplex a profound philosopher. As associated with -the phenomena of thunder and lightning, at one time attributed to the -bolt of omnipotent Jove, no consequences of scientific research are so -awful and sublime: coupled with the magnetic electric telegraph, no other -result so miraculous. While <i>vis inertiæ</i> would keep all nature in <i>statu -quo</i>, whether at rest, or like our planet in motion with a velocity fifty -times as great as that of a cannon ball: while gravitation tends like the -clock weight to produce a definite action and, <i>per se</i>, never to act again: -electricity, with a protean diversity of power, appears to be the great instrument -of all those changes by which the quiescent influence of the -properties above mentioned, is modified in the mundane sphere of chemistry -and of life.</p> - -<p>Every tyro is aware of the wonderful property imparted to electrics by -friction—to the tourmaline by heat; and that the same process, on a large -scale, will produce sparks, ignition, combustion, deflagration, and destroy -animal life by an instantaneous shock. It is notorious that these won<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_438"></a>438</span>derful -powers may all be imparted to a naked pane of glass, while the -charge thus imparted is really only two opposite and equal affections, capable -of neutralizing each other by due communication. Known also is -it, that properties, to a certain extent similar, may be found in a pile of -pairs of heterogeneous metals, with the additional power of electrolysis, -or, in other words, of resolving chemical compounds into their ingredients, -(<a href="#para_1376">1376</a>.) It is well known that, by these means, water, long and almost -religiously considered as one of the four elements of the universe, can be -decomposed into two kinds of air; that the earths and alkalies have been -resolved into metals and oxygen; and that there is scarcely any chemical -compound consisting of two elements, which may not, when in aqueous -solution or in fusion by heat, be directly or indirectly decomposed by electrolysis, -as explained in the note to page 384.</p> - -<p>These multifarious feats of electricity have caused it to be contemplated -as the source of every thing mysterious in nature. It is not surprising, -therefore, that those who, through the accessibility of electricity, had become -partially acquainted with electrical phenomena, should view it as the -source of spiritual manifestations; while those who have a more extensive -knowledge of the nature and extent of electrical jurisdiction should -perceive at once that the phenomena in question do not fall within its -sphere.</p> - -<p>After the discovery, by Oersted, of the previously unsuspected reaction -between galvanized wire and a magnetic needle, those who had -resorted to either one or two fluids to explain electrical phenomena, found -themselves completely at fault. Yet the language originated by Franklin -has been still employed conventionally. This, though not misleading -adepts, introduces confusion in the minds of those who have merely -reached the ante-chamber of the electrical department.</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances, I deem it expedient to republish the exposition -of electrical theory which I first laid before the scientific world -in 1848.</p> - -<p>I hope that those who endeavour to refer spiritual manifestations or -animal magnetism to electricity, in any of its modifications, will study this -exposition of my views.</p> - -<p>Though, as already stated, there appears to be, for the spirit world, appropriate -elements, distinct from those of this mundane world, there is, -nevertheless, a correspondence. We mortals can best prepare ourselves to -understand the elements of that world by understanding our own. From -an idea of <i>our</i> light and <i>our</i> vital air, we may by analogy conceive of -theirs as a preliminary to any further knowledge.</p> - -<p>The following theory has been submitted to the spirit of Franklin, who -fully approved of it, and fully admitted the validity of the reasons assigned -by me for substituting this new exposition of electricity for that which -goes under his celebrated name.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_439"></a>439</span></p> - -<h4 class="hang">Objections to the Theories severally of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere, -with an effort to explain Electrical Phenomena, by Statical or Undulatory -Polarization.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> By Robert Hare, M.D., Emeritus Professor of -Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania.</h4> - -<p>1. It appears, from the experiments of Wheatstone, that the discharge -of a Leyden jar, by means of a copper wire, takes place within a time so -small, that were the transfer of a fluid from the positive to the negative -surface requisite for its accomplishment, a current having a velocity exceeding -two hundred thousand miles in a second would be necessary.</p> - -<p>2. The only causes for the velocity of an electric current, according to -Franklin, are the repulsion between the particles of the electric fluid of -which it has been assumed to consist, and the attraction between those particles -and other matter. These forces are alleged to concur in distributing -the supposed fluid throughout space, whether otherwise void, or partially -occupied by conducting solids or fluids. Hence, when between two or -more spaces, surfaces, or conducting masses, there is an unequal distribution -of the electric fluid, the equilibrium is restored whenever a communication -is opened by means of a sufficiently conducting medium. Agreeably -to this view of the subject, there seems to be a resemblance between the -supposed effort of the electrical fluid to attain a state of equable diffusion, -and that which would exist in the case of a gas confined in adjoining receivers, -so as to be more dense within one than within the other; for, -however the subtilty of the supposed electric fluid may exceed that of any -gas, there seems to be an analogy as respects the processes of diffusion -which must prevail. But on opening a communication between cavities -in which any aeriform fluid exists, in different degrees of condensation, -the density must lessen in one cavity and augment in the other, with a -rapidity which must diminish gradually, and become evanescent with the -difference of pressure by which it is induced. Far from taking place in -an analogous manner, electrical discharges are effected with an extreme -suddenness, the whole of the redundancy being discharged at once, in -a mode more like the flight of a bullet, projected with infinite velocity, -than that of a jet gradually varying in celerity from a maximum to a -minimum.</p> - -<p>3. So far, in fact, is an electrical discharge from displaying the features -which belong to the reaction of a condensed elastic fluid, that agreeably to -the observations of our distinguished countryman Henry, the result is more -like the vibrations of a spring, which, in striving to regain its normal position, -goes beyond it. The first discharge between the surfaces of a -Leyden jar is not productive of a perfect equilibrium. The transfer of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_440"></a>440</span> -different polarities goes beyond the point of reciprocal neutralization, producing -a state, to a small extent, the opposite of that at first existing; and -hence a refluent discharge ensues, opposite in direction to the primary one. -But even this does not produce an equilibrium, so that a third effort is -made. These alternate discharges were detected by means of the magnetism -imparted to needles exposed in coils of copper wire.<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p>4. Supposing one or more rows of electrical particles, forming such a -filament of electricity as must occupy the space within a wire of great -length, to be made the medium of discharge to a Leyden jar; agreeably -to the hypothesis of one fluid, the electrical filament must be attracted at -one end of the wire and repelled at the other, as soon as its terminations -are brought into due communication with the coatings of the jar. Yet -the influence of the oppositely-charged surfaces of the jar cannot be conceived -to extend to those portions of the electricity which are remote from -the points of contact, until they be reached by a succession of vibrations. -Hence, it is inconceivable that every particle in the filament of electric -matter can be made at the same time to move, so as to constitute a current -having the necessary velocity and volume to transfer, instantaneously, the -electricity requisite to constitute a charge. Even the transmission of the -impulses, in such an infinitesimal of time, seems to be inconceivable.</p> - -<p>5. In reply to these objections, it has been urged by the Franklinians -that a conductor being replete with electricity, as soon as this fluid should -be removed at one end, it ought to move at the other. This might be true -of a fluid if incompressible, but could not hold good were it elastic. A -bell wire moves at both ends when pulled only at one; but this would not -ensue were a cord of gum-elastic substituted for the wire.</p> - -<p>6. But if the flow of one fluid, with the enormous velocity inferred, be -difficult to conceive, still more must it be incomprehensible that two fluids -can rush with similar celerity, from each surface of the jar, in opposite -directions, through the narrow channel afforded by a wire; especially as -they are alleged to exercise an intense affinity; so that it is only by a -series of decompositions and recompositions that they can pass each other.</p> - -<p>7. That agreeably to the theory of Dufay, equivalent portions of the -resinous and vitreous fluids must exchange places during an electrical discharge, -will appear evident from the following considerations: One surface -being redundant with vitreous and deficient commensurately of resinous -electricity, and the other redundant with the resinous and deficient of the -vitreous fluid, it is inevitable that, to restore the equilibrium, there must -be a simultaneous transfer of each redundancy to the surfaces wherein there -is a deficiency of it to be supplied. If, after decomposing a large portion -of the neutral compound previously existing on the surface of the jar, and -transferring the ingredients severally in opposite directions, so as to cause -each to exist in excess upon the surface assigned to it, should the redundancies, -thus originated, be neutralized by meeting in the discharging rod, -neither surface could recover its quota of the electrical ingredient of which -it must have been deprived agreeably to the premises.</p> - -<p>8. This calls to mind the fact that no evidence has been adduced of the -existence of any <i>tertium quid</i>, arising from the union of the supposed -electricities, founded on any property displayed by their resulting combination -in the neutral state. It must, if it exist, constitute an anomalous<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_441"></a>441</span> -matter, destitute of all properties, and of the existence of which we have -no evidence, besides that founded on the appearance and disappearance -of its alleged ingredients.</p> - -<p>9. But however plausibly the discharges consequent to making a conducting -communication from one electrified mass or surface to another -mass or surface in an opposite state, may be ascribed to accumulations -either of one or of two fluids, neither, according to one theory nor the -other, is it possible to account satisfactorily for the stationary magnetism -with which steel may be endowed, nor the transitory magnetism, or power -of dynamic induction, acquired by wires transmitting galvanic discharges.</p> - -<p>10. For the most plausible effort which has been made for the purpose -of reconciling the phenomena of electro-magnetism with the theory of -two fluids, or with that of one fluid so far as these theories are convertible, -we are indebted to Ampere.</p> - -<p>11. According to the hypothesis advanced by this eminent philosopher, -the difference between a magnetized and an electrified body is not attributable -to any diversity in the imponderable matter to which their properties -are respectively due, but to a difference in the actual state or distribution -of that matter. Statical polarity is the consequence of the unequal -distribution of the two electric fluids whose existence he assumes; while -magnetical polarity is the consequence merely of the motion of those fluids, -which, in magnets, are supposed to gyrate in opposite directions about each -particle of the mass. These gyrations are conceived to take place only in -planes at right angles to the axis of the magnet; so that, in a straight -magnet, the planes of the orbits must be parallel to each other.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> - -<p>12. The aggregate effect of all the minute vortices of the electrical -fluids, in any one plane, bounded by the lateral surfaces of the magnet, is -equivalent externally to one vortex, since, in either case, every electric -particle on that surface will so move as to describe tangents to a circle -drawn about the axis of the magnet. When the electrical vortices of the -pole of one magnet conflict in their direction with those of another, as -when similar magnetic poles are approximated, repulsion ensues; but if -the vortices are coincident in direction, as when dissimilar poles are near, -attraction takes place. When a current through a galvanized wire<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> concurs -in direction with the magnetic vortices, as above described, attraction -ensues; repulsion resulting when it does not so concur. Hence, the -magnet, if movable, will strive to assume a position in which its electrical -currents will not conflict with those of the wire on one side more than on -the other; also the wire, if movable, will strive so to arrange itself so as -to produce the same result, which can arrive only when the needle is at -right angles to the wire, and its sides consequently equidistant therefrom.</p> - -<p>13. Electric currents will produce magnetic vortices, and, reciprocally, -magnetic vortices will produce electric currents. Hence the magnetism -imparted to iron by galvanic spirals, and the Farradian currents produced -by magnetized iron within spirals not galvanized.</p> - -<p>14. Ampere’s theory has, in a high degree, the usual fault of substituting -one mystery for another; but, on the other hand, it has, in an equally<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_442"></a>442</span> -high extent, the only merit to which any theory can make an indisputable -claim: I mean that of associating facts so as to make them more easy to -comprehend and to remember, enabling us, by analogy, to foresee results, -and thus affording a clue in our investigations. Evidently, the author of -this theory was guided by it in his highly interesting and instructive contrivances; -and Professor Henry ascribes his success in improving the -electro-magnet to the theoretic clue which he had received from Ampere.</p> - -<p>15. Nevertheless, the postulates on which this Amperean hypothesis is -founded appear to me unreasonable. They require us to concede that -about every atom of a permanent magnet a process is going on analogous -to that generally admitted to exist in a galvanic circuit, where two fluids -pass each other in a common channel by a series of decompositions and -recompositions, (<a href="#para_7">7</a>.) In the galvanic circuit this process is sustained by -chemical reaction; but without any coenduring cause, how is it to be sustained -permanently in a magnet? Is it reasonable to assume that the -heterogeneous constituents of an imaginary <i>tertium quid</i> are perpetually -separating only to reunite? (<a href="#para_8">8</a>.)<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> - -<p>16. In cases of complex affinity, where four particles, A B C D are united -into two compounds A B, C D, it is easy to conceive that, in obedience -to a stronger affinity, A shall combine with C, and B with D: but, without -any extraneous agency, wherefore, in any one compound, should a particle -A quit a particle B, in order to unite with another particle of the -same kind; or wherefore should any one B quit one A, in order to combine -with another A?</p> - -<p>17. That such a process should take place in consequence of the inductive -agency of a similar process already established in a magnet or galvanized -wire were difficult to believe; but it would seem utterly incredible -that the most <i>transient</i> influence of such induction should be productive -of such permanent electrolytic gyration as has been above specified. Moreover, -it is inconceivable that the particles of any matter should, as required -by this hypothesis, <i>merely by being put into motion</i>, acquire a power of -reciprocal repulsion or attraction of which it were otherwise destitute.</p> - -<p>18. The vortices being assumed to take place about each atom, cannot -severally occupy an area of greater diameter than can exist between the -centres of any two atoms. Of course, the gyratory force exercised about -the surface of a magnet by the aggregate movements of the vortices cannot -extend beyond the surface more than half the diameter of one of the -minute areas of gyration alluded to. Wherefore, then, do these gyrations, -when similar in direction, from their concurrence approach each other; -when dissimilar in direction, from contrariety move away, even when -situated comparatively at a great distance?</p> - -<p>19. I should consider Ampere’s theory as more reasonable were it -founded upon the existence of one fluid; since, in that case, vortices -might be imagined without the necessity of supposing an endless and unaccountable -separation and reunion of two sets of particles; not only -devoid of any property capable of sustaining their alleged opposite gyrations, -but actually endowed with an intense reciprocal attraction which -must render such gyrations impossible. But even if grounded on the idea -of one fluid, this celebrated hypothesis does not seem to me to account for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_443"></a>443</span> -the phenomena which it was intended to explain. If distinct portions of -any fluid do not attract or repel each other when at rest, wherefore -should they either attract or repel each other when in motion? Evidently -mere motion can generate neither attraction nor repulsion. Bodies projected -horizontally gravitate with the same intensity, and consequently, -in any given time, fall to the earth through the same perpendicular distance, -whether moving with the celerity of a cannon ball, or undergoing -no impulse excepting those arising from their own unresisted weights.</p> - -<p>20. The objections which are thus shown to be applicable in the case of -liquids, of which the neighbouring particles are destitute of the reaction -requisite to produce the phenomena requiring explanation, must operate -with still greater force where ethereal fluids are in question, of which the -properties are positively irreconcilable with the phenomena. According -both to Franklin and Dufay, bodies, when similarly electrified, should repel -each other; yet in point of fact, collateral wires, when subjected to similar -voltaic discharges, and of course similarly electrified, become reciprocally -attractive, while such wires, when dissimilarly electrified by currents which -are not analogous, become reciprocally repulsive.</p> - -<p>21. Agreeably to Ampere, an iron bar, situated within a coil of wire -subjected to a galvanic current, is magnetized, because the current in the -wire is productive of an electrical whirlpool about every particle of the -metal. When the iron is soft, the magnetism, and of course the gyrations -of which its magnetism consists by the premises, cease for the most part -as soon as the circuit through the coil is broken; but when the iron is in -the more rigid state of hardened steel, the gyrations continue for any -length of time after the exciting cause has ceased.</p> - -<p>22. This theory does not explain wherefore the hardening of the steel -should cause the gyration to be more difficult to induce, yet more lasting -when its induction is effected. Evidently the metallic particles must take -some part in the process; since it is dependent for its existence and endurance -upon their nature and their state. Yet no function is assigned to -these particles. In fact, it is inconceivable either that they can participate -in, or contribute to, the supposed gyration.</p> - -<p>23. The electrical fluid in an iron bar cannot form a vortex about each -particle, all the vortices turning in one direction, without a conflict between -those which are contiguous. In order not to conflict with each other, the -alternate vortices would have to turn in different directions, like interlocking -cog-wheels in machinery. But in that case, if magnetism be due to -currents, the magneto-inductive influence of one set would neutralize that -of the other. Again, how can a current, excited by a battery in one circuitous -conductor, cause, by dynamic induction, a current in the <i>opposite -direction</i>, through another conductor parallel to the first, but insulated -therefrom? How can a current of quantity in a ribbon coil<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> give rise to -one of intensity in a coil of fine wire, rushing of course with a velocity -commensurate with the intensity thus imparted?</p> - -<p>24. From the preceding considerations, and others which will be stated, -it follows that it has been erroneously inferred that the only difference -between galvanic and frictional electricity is dependent on quantity and intensity. -It must be evident that there is a diversity in the nature of these -affections of matter, sufficient to create a line of demarcation between them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_444"></a>444</span></p> - -<p>25. Having stated my objections to the electrical theories heretofore -advanced, it may be proper that I should suggest any hypothetical views -which may appear to me of a character to amend or to supersede those to -which I have objected. But however I may have been emboldened to -point out defects which have appeared to me to be inherent in the theories -heretofore accredited, I am far from presuming to devise any substitute -which will be unobjectionable. I am fully aware that there is an obscurity -as respects the nature and mutual influence of chemical affinity, heat, light, -electricity, magnetism, and vitality, which science can only to a minute -extent dispel.</p> - -<p>26. The hypothesis which I now deem preferable is so much indebted -to the researches and suggestions of Farraday and others, that, were it -true, I could claim for myself but a small share of the merit of its origination. -That sagacious electrician employs the following language: “<i>In -the long-continued course of experimental inquiry, in which I have been -engaged, this general result has pressed upon me constantly—namely, the -necessity of admitting two forces or directions of force, combined with -the impossibility of separating these two forces or electricities from each -other.</i>” (<i>Experimental Researches</i>, 1163.)<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p>27. Subsequently, (<a href="#para_1244">1244</a>,) after citing another proof of the inseparability -of the two electric forces, he alleges <i>it to be</i> “<i>another argument in -favour of the view that induction and its concomitant phenomena depend -upon</i> a polarity of the particles of matter!”</p> - - -<h4>Supposed grounds for a Theory.</h4> - -<p>28. The grounds upon which I venture to advance a theory are as -follows:</p> - -<p>The existence of two heterogeneous polar forces acting in opposite directions, -and necessarily connate and coexistent; yet capable of reciprocal -neutralization, agreeably to the authority of Farraday and others: the -polarity of matter in general, as displayed during the crystallization and -vegetation of salts: also as made evident by Farraday’s late researches, -and the experiments and observations of Hunt: the very small proportion -of the space in solids, as in the instance of potassium and other metals, -which are apparently occupied by the ponderable atoms; while, agreeably -to the researches and speculations of Farraday, (rightly interpreted,) the -residual space must be replete with imponderable matter: the experiments -and inferences of Davy and others, tending to sanction the idea that an -imponderable ethereal fluid must pervade the creation: the perfect identity -of the polarizing effects, transiently created in a wire by subjection to a -galvanic discharge, with those produced by the permanent polarizing power -of a steel magnet: the utter heterogeneousness of the powers of galvanic -and frictional electricity, as respects ability to produce sparks before contact, -and likewise of the polarities which they respectively produce: and -superficiality of electricity proper during discharge as well as when existing -upon insulated surfaces, as demonstrated by atmospheric electricity when -conveyed by telegraphic wires, agreeably to Henry; the sounds observed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_445"></a>445</span> -severally by Page, Henry, and Mairran, as being consequent to making -and breaking a galvanic circuit through a conductor, or magnetizing or -demagnetizing by means of surrounding galvanized coils.</p> - - -<h4>Proofs of the existence of an enormous quantity of Imponderable Matter -in Metals.</h4> - -<p>29. It has been most sagaciously pointed out by Farraday that four -hundred and thirty atoms, which form a cube of potassium in the metallic -state, must occupy nearly six times as much space as the same number of -similar atoms fill, when existing in a cube of hydrated oxide of potassium -of the same size; which, beside seven hundred metallic atoms, must hold -seven hundred atoms of hydrogen and fourteen hundred of oxygen—in -all two thousand eight hundred atoms; whence it follows that, in the -metallic cube, there must be <i>room</i> for six times as many atoms as it actually -holds.</p> - -<p>30. With all due deference, I am of opinion that this distinguished -philosopher has not been consistent in assuming that, agreeably to the -Newtonian idea of ponderable atoms, the space in potassium not replete -with metal must be vacant; since, according to facts established by his researches, -or resulting therefrom, an enormous quantity both of the causes -of heat and of electricity exists in metals. Moreover, agreeably to his -recent speculations, those causes must consist of material, independent, -imponderable matter, occupying the whole of the space in which their efficacy -is perceptible. To the evolution of the imponderable matter thus -associated, the incandescence of a globule of potassium on contact with -water, may be ascribed, since it is the consequence of the displacement of -such matter by the elements of water, which, in replacing it, converts the -metal into the hydrated oxide called caustic potash.</p> - -<p>31. The existence both of the causes of electricity and heat in metals -is likewise confirmed by the fact that the inductive influence of a magnet -is sufficient to cause all the phenomena of heat, electrolysis, and magnetism, -as exemplified by the magneto-electric machine. The existence of -the cause of heat in metals is also evident from the ignition of an iron rod -when hammered, or the deflagration of wire by the discharge of a Leyden -battery.</p> - -<p>32. The superiority of metals as electrical conductors may be the consequence -of the pre-eminent abundance of imponderable matter entering -into their composition, as above alluded to in the case of potassium.</p> - -<p>33. Graham, in his Elements, treating of electricity, alleges that the -“great discoveries of Farraday have completely altered the aspect of this -department of science, and suggests that all electrical phenomena whatever -involve the presence of matter.” Unless the distinguished author -from whom this quotation is made intended to restrict the meaning of the -word matter to ponderable matter, there was no novelty in the idea that -electrical phenomena involve the presence of matter, since the hypotheses -of Franklin and Dufay assume the existence of one or more imponderable -material fluids. But, on the other hand, if the meaning of the word -<i>matter</i> is only to comprise that which is ponderable, the allegation is inconsistent -with the authority cited. According to the researches of Farraday, -there is an enormous electrical power in metals, and, according to his -speculations, such powers must be considered as imponderable material<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_446"></a>446</span> -principles, pervading the space within which they prevail, independently -of any ponderable atom acting as a basis for material properties; the existence -of such atoms being represented as questionable.</p> - - -<h4>Electrical Phenomena attributed to Stationary, or Undulatory, -Polarization.</h4> - -<p>34. It having been shown that in electrical discharges there cannot -reasonably be any transfer of matter, so as to justify the idea of their being -effected either by one current or by two currents, the only alternative -seems to be that the phenomena are due to a progressive affection of the -conducting medium, analogous in its mode of propagation to waves, as in -the case of liquids, or the aërial or ethereal undulations to which sound -and light are ascribed. (1, 2, 3, &c.)</p> - -<p>35. The idea intended to be conveyed by the word wave, as applied in -common to the undulatory affections above mentioned, and that which is -conceived to be the cause of the phenomena usually ascribed to one or -more electrical currents, requires only that there should be a state of matter, -which, while it may be utterly different from either of those which -constitute the waves of water, light, or sound, may, nevertheless, like -either, pass successively from one portion of a mass to another.</p> - -<p>36. The affection thus designated may be reasonably distinguished from -other waves, as a <i>wave of polarization</i>, since the wire acts, so long as subjected -to the reiterated discharges of a voltaic series, as if it were converted -into innumerable small magnets, situated like tangents to radii proceeding -from its axis.</p> - -<p>37. But if a polarizable medium be requisite to electrical discharges, -since they pass through a space when devoid of <i>ponderable</i> matter, there -must be some <i>imponderable</i> medium through which they can be effected. -Hence we have reason to infer that there is an imponderable existing -throughout all space, as well as within conductors, which is more or less -the medium of the opposite waves essential to electric discharges. Quoting -his own language, Davy’s experiments led him to consider “that space, -(meaning void space,) where there is not an appreciable quantity of this -matter, (meaning ponderable matter,) is capable of exhibiting electrical -phenomena:” also that such phenomena “are produced by a highly subtile -fluid or fluids.” Moreover, that “it may be assumed, as in the hypothesis -of Hooke, Euler, and Huyghens, that an ethereal matter susceptible -of electrical affections fills all space.”</p> - -<p>38. Agreeably to the suggestions above made, all ponderable matter -which is liable to be electrified <i>internally</i> by electrical discharges, may be -considered as consisting of atoms composed of imponderable ethereo-electric -particles in a state of combination with ponderable particles, analogous -to that which has been supposed to exist between such particles and caloric -when causing expansion, liquidity, or the aëriform state. Atoms, so constituted -of ethereal and ponderable particles, may be designated as ethereo-ponderable -atoms.<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_447"></a>447</span></p> - -<p>39. A quiescent charge of frictional electricity, only affecting the -superficies of any ponderable mass with which it may be associated, and -having no influence upon the component ethereo-ponderable atoms severally, -is not to be ascribed to redundancies or deficiencies of the ethereal -matter, but to different states of polarization produced in different sets of -the particles of such matter existing about the electrifiable bodies.<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> During -the action of an electrical machine, these particles are polarized by the -opposite polarities transiently induced in the surfaces subjected to friction; -one set of particles going with the electric, the other remaining with the -rubber.</p> - -<p>40. The particles thus oppositely polarized, severally divide their appropriate -polarities with other ethereal matter surrounding the conductors, and -this, when insulated, is retained until a further polarization results from -the same process. Thus are the ethereo-electric atmospheres respectively -surrounding the positive and negative conductors oppositely polarized, and -consequently charged to the degree which the machine is competent to induce. -Under these circumstances, if a conducting rod be made to form -between them a communication, by touching each conductor with one of its -ends, the polarities of the ethereo-electric atmospheres by which they are -severally surrounded propagate themselves, by a wave-like process, over -and more or less through the rod, according to its nature and dimensions, -so as to meet intermediately, and thus produce reciprocal neutralization.</p> - -<p>41. When the oppositely polarizing waves, generated by friction, as -above described, are by means of a conducting communication transmitted -to the surface of a coated pane, the two different portions of the electro-ether -there existing are severally polarized in opposite ways, one being -endowed with the properties usually called vitreous, or positive, the other -with those usually called resinous, or negative. In fact, the two polarized -atmospheres thus created, may be conveniently designated as the “<i>two -electricities</i>,” and alluded to in the language heretofore employed in treating -of phenomena, agreeably to the hypothesis which assumes the existence -of heterogeneous fluids instead of heterogeneous polarities.</p> - -<p>42. Of course it will follow, that the oppositely polarized ethereal atmospheres -thus produced, one on each surface of the electric which keeps -them apart, must exercise toward each other an attraction perfectly analogous -to that which has been supposed to be exercised by the imaginary -heterogeneous electric fluids of Dufay. The electro-ether<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> being elastic,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_448"></a>448</span> -a condensation over each of the charged surfaces, proportionable to the -attractive force must ensue; while over the surface of an electrified conductor, -the similarly polarized atoms, not being attracted by those in an -oppositely polarized atmosphere beneath the surface, tend, by their reciprocally -repulsive reagency, to exist further apart than in a neutral state. -Hence, the electro-ether, as it exists over the surface of an insulated conductor, -is rendered rarer, while, as existing over the surfaces of charged -panes or Leyden jars, it must be in a state of condensation.<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> And, consequently, -while the space perceptibly electrified by the charge of a conductor, -for equal areas and charging power, is much more extensive than -the space in which the charge of a coated pane is perceptible, the striking -distance being likewise much greater; yet upon any body, successively -subjected to a discharge from each, the effect will be more potent when -produced by means of the pane.</p> - - -<h4>Ignition, Electrolysis, and Magnetism, Secondary Effects of Frictional -Discharges; or, in other words, of Polarizing Electro-ethereal Waves.</h4> - -<p>43. In proportion as a wire is small in comparison with the charge which -it may be made the means of neutralizing, the conducting power seems to -be more dependent on the sectional area,<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> and less upon the extent of -surface. The reciprocal repulsion of the similarly polarized ethereal -particles must tend always to make them seek the surface, but at the same -time their attraction for the ethereo-ponderable particles composing the -wire has the opposite effect, and tends to derange these from their normal -polar state of quiescence. Commensurate with the extent in which -this state is subverted, is the resulting heat, electrolytic power, and electro-magnetic -influence. The phenomena last mentioned are, however, secondary -effects consequent to the participation of the ethereo-ponderable -matter in the undulations resulting from the statical discharge.</p> - -<p>44. Such effects, making allowance for the extreme minuteness of the -time occupied by the process, are probably, in all cases, proportional to the -degree in which the ponderable matter is effected, up to the point at which -it is dissipated by deflagration; but the duration of a statical discharge -being almost infinitely minute for any length of coil which can conveniently -be subjected thereto, the electro-magnetic and other effects of a -statical discharge are not commensurate with the intensity of the affection -of the wire.</p> - -<p>45. There is, in fact, this additional reason for the diversity between the -electro-magnetic power of a statical discharge, as compared with that of -the voltaic series: any wire which is of sufficient length and tenuity to -display the maximum power of deflagration by the former, cannot serve -for the same purpose in the case of the latter. Moreover, the form of a -helix closely wound, so that the coatings may touch, which is that most -favourable for the reiteration of the magnetic influence of the circuit upon -an iron rod, cannot be adopted in the case of statical discharges of high -intensity, since the proximity of the circumvolutions would enable the -ethereal waves, notwithstanding the interposition of cotton or silk, to cross<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_449"></a>449</span> -superficially from one to the other, parallel to the axis of the included -iron, instead of pursuing the circuitous channel afforded by the helix with -the intensity requisite to the polarization of the ponderable atoms.</p> - -<h4 class="hang">The extreme Diversity, as respects striking Distance, between the direct -Effects of Frictional Electricity and those directly arising from Galvanic -Reaction.</h4> - -<p>46. The intensity of the excitement produced by different electrical -machines is estimated to be as the relative lengths of the sparks which -proceed from their prime conductors respectively. Admitting that the -relative intensity were merely as the length of the spark, not as the square -of that length, still there would be an infinite difference between the intensity -of a voltaic series and that of electrical machines, if measured by -this test. Large electrical machines, like that at the Polytechnic Institution, -London, give sparks at twenty inches and more; while, agreeably to -Gassiott’s experiments, a Groves’s battery of 320 pairs, in full power, would -not, before contact, give a spark at <i>any distance, however minute</i>. It -follows, that, as respects the species of intensity which is indicated by -length of sparks, or striking distance, the difference between the electricity -of the most powerful voltaic series and electrical machines is not to be -represented by any degree of <i>disparity</i>; it proves that galvanism proper -and electricity proper are heterogeneous.</p> - -<p>47. It should be recollected that the intensity of galvanic action in a -series of 320 pairs, excepting the loss from conduction, would be to that -of one pair as 320 to 1.<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> Of course, the striking distance of a battery -of one pair would be 320 times less than nothing: 320 below zero.</p> - -<p>48. We may infer that the undulatory polarization of ethereo-ponderable -matter is the primary, direct, and characteristic effect of galvanic excitement, -in its more energetic modifications. Yet, that by peculiar care -in securing insulation, as in the water batteries of Cross and Gassiott, -ethereal undulations may be produced, with the consequent accumulation -of ethereal polarity requisite to give sparks before contact, agreeably to the -experiments of those ingenious philosophers.</p> - -<p>49. Hence it may be presumed that, during intense ethereo-ponderable -polarization, superficial ethereal waves may always be a secondary effect, -although the conducting power of the reagents, requisite to the constitution -of powerful galvanic batteries, is inconsistent with that accumulation -of ethereal polarity which constitutes a statical spark-giving charge.</p> - -<p>50. As all the members forming a voltaic series have to be discharged<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_450"></a>450</span> -in one circuit, the energy of the effort to discharge, and the velocity of -the consequent undulations must be, <i>cæteris paribus</i>, as the number of members -which co-operate to produce the discharge. Of course the more active -the ethereo-ponderable waves, the greater must be their efficacy in producing -ethereal waves of polarization, as a secondary effect, agreeably to the -suggestions above made, (49, 36.)</p> - -<p>51. Hence, in a battery consisting of one galvanic pair excited by reagents -of great chemical energy and conducting power, the electro-magnetic -effects are pre-eminent; while De Luc’s electric columns, consisting of -several thousands of minute pairs, feeble as to their chemical and conducting -efficacy, are pre-eminent for statical spark-giving power, (48.) This -seems to be quite consistent; since, on the one hand, the waves of polarization -must be larger and slower as the pairs are bigger and fewer; and, on -the other hand, smaller and more active as the pairs are more minute and -more numerous.</p> - -<h4>On the perfect similitude between the Polarity communicated to Iron -Filings by a Magnetized Steel Bar and a Galvanized Wire.</h4> - -<p>52. If by a sieve, or any other means, iron filings be duly strewed over -a paper, resting on a bar magnet, they will all become magnets, so as to -arrange themselves in rows like the links of a chain. Each of the little -magnets thus created will, at its outermost end, have a polarity similar to -that of the pole (of the magnet) with which it may be affiliated. Of course -the resulting ferruginous rows formed severally by the two different poles -of the bar will have polarities as opposite as those of the said poles.</p> - -<p>53. In an analogous mode, if two wires be made the media of a galvanic -discharge, iron filings, under their influence, will receive a magnetic -polarity, arranging themselves about each wire like so many tangents to as -many radii proceeding from its axis: those magnetized by one wire -reacting with such as are magnetized by the other.</p> - -<p>54. The affections of the ferruginous particles during the continuance -of the current so called are precisely like those of the same particles when -under the influence of the bar magnet. The great discordancy is in the -fact that the influence of the magnet is permanent, while that of the wire -is indebted for existence to a series of oppositely polarizing but transient -impulses which proceed toward the middle of the circuit from each side, -so as to produce reciprocal neutralization by meeting midway.</p> - -<p>55. The effect upon the filings, as originally pointed out by Oersted, is -precisely such as would arise were the ponderable matter of the wire, resolved -by each impulse into innumerable little magnets, situated so as to -form tangents to as many radii proceeding from the axis of the wire.</p> - -<p>56. Independently of the filings, the wires react with each other as if -their constitution, during subjection to the discharge, were such as above -supposed. When the discharges through them concur in direction, they -attract, because the left side of one is next the right side of the other, -bringing the opposite poles of their little magnets into proximity; but -when the discharge is made in opposite directions, the two right or -the two left sides will be in proximity, and will, by the consequent approximation -of the similar poles of the little magnets, be productive of -repulsion.</p> - -<p>57. From these last-mentioned facts and considerations, it must be evi<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_451"></a>451</span>dent -that, assuming that there is in a galvanized wire a derangement of -the poles of the constituent ethereo-ponderable particles analogous to that -permanently existing in magnetized steel, involves no contradiction, no -absurdity, nor any thing but what is consistent with the researches and -inferences of Davy, Farraday, and other eminent investigators of the phenomena -of nature.</p> - - -<h4>Process by which the Ethereo-ponderable Atoms within a Galvanic Circuit -are polarized by the Chemical Reaction.</h4> - -<p>58. In order that an ethereo-ponderable particle of oxygen in any -aqueous solution shall unite with an ethereo-ponderable particle of zinc in -a galvanic pair, there must be a partial revolution of the whole row of ethereo-ponderable -zinc atoms, with which the atom assailed is catenated by the -attractions between dissimilar poles; and likewise there must be a series -of decompositions and recompositions between every atom of water existing -in the circuit, an atom of hydrogen being eliminated at one end, an atom -of oxygen at the other. The impulse must extend through the negative -plate to the conductor, by which it communicates with the zinc or electro-positive -plate. When the circuit is open, the power of combination exercised -by the zinc and oxygen is inadequate to produce this movement in the -whole chain of atoms, liquid and metallic; but as it is indifferent whether -any two atoms are united with each other, or with any other atoms of the -same kind, the chemical force easily causes them to exchange partners, as it -were, when the whole are made to form a circuitous row in due contiguity.<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> - -<p>59. As we know that, during their union with oxygen, metals give out -an enormous quantity of heat and electricity, it is reasonable to suppose -that whenever an atom of oxygen and an atom of zinc jump into union -with each other, a wave is induced in the ethereo-ponderable matter, and -that this wave is sustained by the decompositions and recompositions, by -means of which an atom of hydrogen is evolved at the negative plate, and -probably enabled to assume the aeriform state. There must, at the same -time, be a communication of wave polarity by contact of the negative plate -with the connecting wire, by which the positive wave in the wire is induced. -Although the inherent polarities of the atoms are not, agreeably -to this view, the moving power in galvanism, yet they facilitate, and in -some cases induce, the exercise of that power, by enabling it to act at a -distance, when otherwise it might be inefficient.</p> - -<p>60. This, I conceive, is shown in the effect of platina sponge, upon a -mixture of the gaseous elements of water; also in Groves’s <i>gas</i> battery, -by means of which hydrogen and oxygen gas severally react with water in -syphons, so as to cause each other to condense, without any communication -beside that through the platina, and an electrolytic decomposition and re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_452"></a>452</span>composition -extending from one of the aqueous surfaces in contact with -one of the gases, to the other surface in contact with the other gas.</p> - - -<h4>Difference between Electro-ethereal and Ethereo-ponderable Polarization.</h4> - -<p>61. There are two species of electro-polarity which come under the head -of statical electricity. One of these Farraday illustrates by supposing -three bodies, A, B, and C, in proximity, but not in contact, when A, being -electrified, electrifies B, and B electrifies C by induction. This, Farraday -calls an <i>action</i> of the particles of the bodies concerned, whereas, by his -own premises, it appears to me to be merely a superficial affection of the -masses or of a circumambient ethereal matter. This species of polarization, -to which the insulating power of air is necessary, affects the superficies -of a body only, being displayed as well by a gilt globe of glass as a -solid globe of metal. No sensible change appears to be produced in the -ponderable conducting superficies by this inductive superficial electrification -of masses; and of course no magnetism.</p> - -<p>62. When a small image, of which the scalp has been abundantly -furnished with long hair, is electrified, the hairy filaments extend themselves -and move apart, as if actuated by a repulsive power: also, when iron -filings are so managed as to obey the influence of the poles of a powerful -magnet, (51,) they arrange themselves in a manner resembling that of the -electrified hair. There is, moreover, this additional analogy, that there is -an attraction between two portions of hair differently electrified, like that -which arises between filings differently magnetized. Yet the properties of -the electrified hair and magnetized filings are, in some respects, utterly -dissimilar. A conducting communication between differently electrified -portions of hair would entirely neutralize the respective electrical states; -so that all the electrical phenomena displayed by them would cease. Yet -such a communication made between the poles, exciting the filings, by any -non-magnetic conductor, does not in the slightest degree lessen their polar -affections and consequent power of reciprocal influence. Upon the electrified -hair, the proximity or the contact of a steel magnet has no more -effect than would result under like circumstances from any other metallic -mass similarly employed; but by the approximation, and still more, the -contact of such a magnet, the affection of the filings may be enhanced, -lessened, or nullified, according to the mode of its employment. In the -case of the hair the affection is superficial, and the requisite charging -power must be in proportion to the extent of surface. In the case of the -magnetized ferruginous particles, it is the mass which is affected, and, -<i>cæteris paribus</i>, the more metal, the greater the capacity for magnetic -power. In the instance of the electrified hair, as in every other of frictional -excitement, the electrical power resides in imponderable ethereo-electric -atmospheres which adhere superficially to the masses, being liable -to be unequally distributed upon them in opposite states of polarity, consequent -to a superficial polarization of the exciting or excited ponderable -masses; but in the instance of bodies permanently magnetic, or those rendered -transiently magnetic by galvanic influence, the ethereo-electric matter -and the ponderable atoms are inferred to be in a state of combination, -forming ethereo-ponderable atoms, so that both may become parties to the -movements and affections of which the positive and negative waves consist.</p> - -<p>63. Thus an explanation is afforded of the hitherto mysterious diversity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_453"></a>453</span> -of the powers of a gold-leaf electroscope and galvanoscopes, although -both are to a miraculous degree sensitive—the latter to the most feeble -galvanic discharge, the former to the slightest statical excitement; yet -neither is in the most minute degree affected by the polarization which -affects the other.</p> - -<p>64. The charge which may exist in a coated pane affords another exemplification -of statical or electro-ethereal polarity. In this case, according -to Farraday, the particles of glass are thrown into a state of electro-polarity, -and are, in fact, partially affected as if they belonged to a conductor; so -that insulators and conductors differ only in the possession in a high degree -by the one of a susceptibility of which the other is possessed to an extent -barely perceptible. The facts seem to me only to show that either an insulator -or conductor may be both affected by the same polarizing force, the -transmission of which the one facilitates, the other prevents. I am under -the impression that it is only by the disruptive process that electricity -passes through glass; of course involving a fracture. It gets through a -pane or jar, not by aid of the vitreous particles, but in despite of their -opposing coherence. The glass in such cases is not liable to be fused, deflagrated, -or dissipated, as conductors are. It is forced out of the way of -the electrical waves, being incapable of becoming a party to them. Discharges -will take place through a vacuity, rather than through the thinnest -leaf of mica. But if, as Farraday has alleged, from within a glass flask -hermetically sealed, an electrical charge has been found to escape, after a -long time, it proves only that glass is not a perfect insulator, <i>not that perfect -insulation and perfect conduction are different extremes of the same -property</i>. On the contrary, the one is founded upon a constitution competent -to the propagation within it of the electro-polarizing waves, with -miraculous facility, while the other is founded either on an absolute incapacity, -or comparatively an infinitely small ability to be the medium of -their conveyance. The one extremely retards, the other excessively expedites, -its passage through a space otherwise void.<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Competency of a Wire to convey a Galvanic Discharge is as its sectional -area, while statical discharges of frictional electricity, preferring the -surface, are promoted by its extension. Yet in proportion as such discharges -are heavy, the ability of a wire to convey them and its magnetic -energy become more dependent on its sectional area, and less upon -extent of surface.</h4> - -<p>65. Reference has been made to two modes of electrical conduction, in -one of which the efficacy is as the surface; in the other, as the area of a -section of the conductor. Although glass be substantially a non-conductor, -the power of the surface of glass when moistened or gilt to discharge -statical electricity is enormous. It has been generally considered that, as -a protection against lightning, the same weight of metal employed as a -pipe would be more efficacious than in the usual solid form of a lightning -rod: yet this law does not hold good with respect to galvanic discharges, -which are not expedited by a mere extension of conducting surface. Independently -of the augmentation of conducting power, consequent to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_454"></a>454</span> -radiation and contact with the air, the cooling influence of which, according -to Davy, promotes galvano-electric conduction, a metallic ribbon does -not convey a galvanic discharge better than a wire of similar weight and -length.<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - -<p>66. Agreeably to the considerations above stated, the sectional area of -a conductor remaining the same, in proportion as any <i>statical</i> accumulation -which it may discharge is greater, the effects are less superficial; and -the ethereo-ponderable atoms are affected more analogously to those exposed -to galvanic discharges. It is in this way that the discharge of a Leyden -jar imparts magnetic polarization. Thus, on the one hand, the electro-ethereal -matter being polarized and greatly condensed, combines with and -communicates polarization, and consequently magnetism, to ethereo-ponderable -bodies; while, on the other hand, these, when polarized by galvanic -reaction, and thus rendered magnetic, communicate polarity to the electro-ether. -Hence, statical electricity, when produced by galvanism, and magnetism, -when produced by statical electricity, are secondary effects.</p> - -<p>67. Where a wire is of such dimensions, in proportion to the charge, -as to be heated, ignited, or dispersed by statical electricity, there seems to -be a transitory concentration of the electric power, which transforms the -nature of the reaction, and an internal wave of electro-ponderable polarization, -similar to those of galvano-electricity, is the consequence.</p> - -<p>68. As above observed, (31,) the current produced by the magneto-electric -machine has all the attributes of the galvano-electric current; yet -this is altogether a secondary effect of the changes of polarity in a keeper, -acting upon a wire solely by dynamic induction. But if, by mere external -influence, the machine above mentioned can produce within a circuit a -current such as above described, is it unreasonable to suppose that the -common machine, when it acts upon a circuit, may put into activity the -matter existing therein, so as to produce waves of polarization, having the -power of those usually ascribed to a galvano-electrical current?</p> - -<p>69. It has been shown that both reason and the researches and suggestions -of Farraday warrant the inference that ponderable atoms, in solids -and liquids, may be considered as swimming in an enormous quantity of -condensed imponderable matter, in which all the particles, whether ponderable -or imponderable, are, in their natural state, held in a certain relative -position due to the reciprocal attraction of their dissimilar poles. A -galvano-electrified body differs from one in its ordinary state, in having the -relative position of the poles of its ethereo-ponderable atoms so changed, -that their inherent opposite polarities not being productive of reciprocal -neutralization, a reaction with external bodies ensues.</p> - -<p>70. In statical excitement the affection is superficial as respects the -ponderable bodies concerned, while in dynamic excitement the polarities -of the whole mass are deranged oppositely at opposite ends of the electrified -mass; so that the oppositely disturbing impulses, proceeding from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_455"></a>455</span> -the poles of the disturbing apparatus, neutralize each other intermediately. -Supposing the ponderable as well as the imponderable matter in a perfect -conductor to be susceptible of the polar arrangement, of which an electrified -state is thus represented to consist, non-conductors to be insusceptible -of such polar derangement; imperfect conductors may have a constitution -intermediate between metals and electrics.</p> - -<p>71. When an electrical discharge is made through any space devoid of -air or other matter, it must then find its way solely by the polarization of -the rare imponderable matter existing therein; and consequently its corruscations -should be proportionably more diffuse, which is actually found -to be true; but when gaseous ethereo-ponderable atoms intervene, as in -wire, they enable competent waves to exist within a narrower channel and -to attain a greater intensity.</p> - -<p>72. I consider all bodies as insulators which cause discharges through -them to be more difficult than through a vacuum, and which, by their -interposition within a circuit, can prevent that propagation of the oppositely -polarizing undulations which would otherwise ensue. This furnishes -a good mean of discrimination between insulators and conductors, the -criterion being that a discharge ensues more readily as there is more of -the one and less of the other in the way: that the one leads the waves -where they would not go, the other impedes their going where they would -proceed. Both in the case of disruptive discharge through air, producing -a spark, or of a deflagrating discharge through wire, causing its explosion, -there is a dispersion of intervening ponderable particles; and yet there is -this manifest discordancy, that in one case the undulatory process of transfer -is assisted, in the other resisted. The waves follow the metallic filament -with intense attraction, while they strive to get out of the way of those -formed by the aeriform matter, as if repelled. Hence the term disruptive, -from <i>dirumpo</i>, to break through, was happily employed by Farraday to -designate spark discharges.</p> - -<p>73. The zigzag form of the disruptive spark shows that there is a tendency -in the aeriform particles to turn the waves out of that straight -course, which, if unresisted or facilitated, they would naturally pursue. -On the one hand, the aerial filaments being unsuitable for the conveyance -of the electric waves, these are forced by them out of the normal path—first -in one direction, then in another; while, on the other hand, the finest -metallic filament furnishes a channel for the electric waves, so favourable -that this channel is pursued, although the consequent polarization of the -conducting particles be so intense as to make them fly asunder with explosive -violence. Even when a bell-wire has been dissipated by lightning, it -has been found to facilitate and determine the path of the discharge.</p> - -<p>74. The various forms of the electric spark, resulting from varying the -gas through which it may be made to pass, agreeably to the researches of -Farraday, is explained by the supposition that the peculiarities of the spark -is partially the consequence of the polarizability of the gaseous atoms -through which the discharge is made, and varies, accordingly, in its appearance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_456"></a>456</span></p> - - -<h4 class="hang">Difference between Frictional Electricity and Galvanic does not depend -on the one being superior as to Quantity, the other as to Intensity; but -on the different Degrees in which the Ethereo-ponderable Atoms of the -Bodies affected are deranged from their natural state of Neutralized -Polarity.</h4> - -<p>75. I infer that all magneto-polar charges are attended by an affection -of ponderable particles; and that the reason why the most intense statical -charge does not affect a galvanometer is, that it is only when appositely -excited bodies are neutralized by the interposition of a conductor as during -a discharge, that ethereo-ponderable particles are sufficiently polarized to -enable them to act upon others in their vicinity, so as to produce a polar -affection the opposite of their own. (54.58.) In this way dynamic induction -is consistently explained, by supposing that the waves of polarization, in -passing along one conductor, produce, <i>pari passu</i>, the opposite polarization -in the proximate part of any neighbouring conductor suitably constituted, -situated and arranged to allow it to form a part of a circuit.</p> - -<p>76. It is only during the state of the incessant generation and destruction -of what has been called the two electricities, that the circuit, which is the -channel for the passage of the polarizing waves, is endowed with electro-magnetic -powers. It was, no doubt, in obedience to a perception of this -fact, that Oersted ascribed the magnetism of a galvanized wire to a conflict -of the electricities. Undoubtedly, that state of a conductor in which, -by being a part of an electrical circuit, it becomes enabled to display electro-magnetic -powers, is so far a conflict of the two electricities, as the -affections of matter, which are denominated electrical, consist of two opposite -polar forces, proceeding, agreeably to the language of Farraday, in -opposite directions from each side of the source, and conflicting with each -other, so as to be productive of reciprocal annihilation.</p> - -<p>77. That a corpuscular change in conductors is concomitant with their -subjection to, or emancipation from, a galvanic current, is proved by an experiment -of Henry’s, which he afforded me an opportunity on one occasion -of witnessing. I allude to the fact that sound is produced whenever the -circuit is suddenly made or suddenly ruptured. By I. P. Marrian it has -been observed that a similar result takes place during the magnetization -or demagnetization of iron rods, by the alternate establishment or arrestation -of galvanic discharges through wires coiled about them so as to convert -each into an electro-magnet. Mr. Marrian represents the sound as -resembling that produced by striking a rod upon one of its ends.<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a><a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Sounds -from this source were observed by Dr. Page in 1838. See Silliman’s -Journal for that year, vol. xxxiii.</p> - -<p>78. Thus it appears that there is an analogy between the state of matter -which involves permanent magnetism, and that which constitutes a galvanic -current, so far as this, that either by one or the other, during either -its access or cessation, an affection of the ponderable particles concerned -ensues, sufficient to produce sound.</p> - -<p>79. Simultaneously with the production of sounds, as above stated, by -the opening or closing of the galvanic circuit through a metallic rod or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_457"></a>457</span> -the coils of an electro-magnet, secondary waves are induced, called secondary -currents. It seems reasonable to ascribe these waves to the same -shifting of the poles, which produces the sonorific undulations.<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p>80. Within the bodies of animals and vegetables, the electro-ether may -be supposed to exist as an atmosphere surrounding the ethereo-ponderable -atoms of which their organs are constituted, so as to occupy all the space -which is not replete with such atoms. Hence a discharge of frictional -electricity may indirectly polarize the whole animal frame, by producing -ethereo-ponderable polarization in the constituent atoms of the fibres of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_458"></a>458</span> -the nerves and muscles. Probably this polarization is produced more immediately -in the ponderable solids by a discharge from a voltaic series or -a wire subjected to electro-or magneto-dynamic induction. In the latter -instances the shock is reiterated so rapidly as to appear more enduring, -while in the former it is more startling and producible at an infinitely -greater distance.</p> - -<p>81. Agreeably to Farraday’s researches, (1485 to 1543,) there is reason -to suppose that in frictional spark discharges, the consequent shock, light, -and other peculiarities are in part owing to waves of ethereo-ponderable -polarization, indirectly produced in the intervening gaseous matter.</p> - - -<h4>Of Ethereo-ponderable Deflagration.</h4> - -<p>82. It is well known that between two pieces of charcoal severally -attached, one to the negative, the other to the positive, pole of a numerous -and well-excited voltaic series, an arch of flame may be produced by moving -them apart after contact. This phenomenon evidently depends upon -the volatilization of the ponderable matter concerned; since it cannot be -produced before the carbon has been volatilized by contact, nor by any -body besides charcoal, this being the only conductor which is sufficiently -infusible, and yet duly volatilizable. Metals, similarly treated, fuse at the -point of contact and cohere. On separation, after touching, a single spark -ensues, which, without repetition of contact, cannot be reproduced. Hence, -it may be inferred that the carbonaceous vapour is indispensable to this -process, as a medium for the ethereo-ponderable polarizing waves, being -soon consumed by the surrounding atmospheric oxygen. The excrescence -upon the negative charcoal, observed by Silliman, together with the opposite -appearance on the positive charcoal, may be owing to the lesser affinity -for oxygen on the negative side.<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p>83. There may be some resemblance imagined between this luminous -discharge between the poles, and that which has already been designated -as disruptive; but this flaming arch discharge does not break through -the air; it only usurps its place gradually, and then sustains this usurpation. -It differs from the other as to its cause, so far as galvanic reaction -differs from friction; moreover, it requires a volatilizable, as well as a -polarizable ponderable conducting substance to enable its appropriate undulations -to meet at a mean distance from the solid polar terminations -whence they respectively proceed.</p> - -<p>84. The most appropriate designation of the phenomenon under consideration -is that of ethereo-ponderable undulatory deflagration. Under -this head we may not only place the flaming arch, but likewise the active -ignition and dissipation of fine wire or leaf metal, or when attached to one -pole, and made barely to touch the other.</p> - -<p>85. In one of Farraday’s experiments, a circuit was completed by subjecting -platina points, severally proceeding from the poles of a voltaic -series, while very near to each other, to the flame of a spirit lamp. This -was ascribed by him to the rarefaction of the air, but ought, as I think, to -be attributed to the polarizable ethereo-ponderable matter of the flame, -performing the same office as the volatilized carbon in the flaming arch, -between charcoal points, to which reference has been made.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_459"></a>459</span></p> - - -<h4>Summary.</h4> - -<p>From the facts and reasoning which have been above stated, it is presumed -that the following deductions may be considered as highly probable, -if not altogether susceptible of demonstration:</p> - -<p>The theories of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere are irreconcilable with -the premises on which they are founded, and with facts on all sides -admitted.</p> - -<p>A charge of frictional electricity, or that species of electric excitement -which is produced by friction, is not due to any accumulation, nor to any -deficiency either of one or of two fluids, but to the opposite polarities induced -in imponderable ethereal matter existing throughout space however -otherwise void, and likewise condensed more or less within ponderable -bodies, so as to enter into combination with their particles, forming atoms -which may be designated as ethereo-ponderable.</p> - -<p>Frictional charges of electricity seek the surfaces of bodies to which -they may be imparted, without sensibly affecting the ethereo-ponderable -matter of which they consist.</p> - -<p>When surfaces thus oppositely charged, or, in other words, having about -them oppositely polarized ethereal atmospheres, are made to communicate, -no current takes place, nor any transfer of the polarized matter: yet any -conductor, touching both atmospheres, furnishes a channel through which -the opposite polarities are reciprocally neutralized by being communicated -wave-like to an intermediate point.</p> - -<p>Galvano-electric discharges are likewise effected by waves of opposite -polarization, without any flow of matter meriting to be called a current.</p> - -<p>But such waves are not propagated superficially through the purely -ethereal medium; they occur in masses formed both of the ethereal and -ponderable matter. If the generation of frictional electricity, sufficient to -influence the gold-leaf electrometer, indicate that there are some purely -ethereal waves caused by the galvano-electric reaction, such waves arise -from the inductive influence of those created in the ethereo-ponderable -matter.</p> - -<p>When the intensity of a frictional discharge is increased beyond a certain -point, the wire remaining the same, its powers become enfeebled or -destroyed by ignition, and ultimately deflagration: if the diameter of the -wire be increased, the surface, proportionally augmented, enables more of -the ethereal waves to pass superficially, producing proportionally less ethereo-ponderable -undulation.</p> - -<p>Magnetism, when stationary, as in magnetic needles and other permanent -magnets, appears to be owing to an enduring polarization of the -ethereo-ponderable atoms, like that transiently produced by a galvanic discharge.</p> - -<p>The magnetism transiently exhibited by a galvanized wire, is due to -oppositely polarizing impulses, severally proceeding wave-like to an intermediate -part of the circuit where reciprocal neutralization ensues.</p> - -<p>When magnetism is produced by a frictional discharge operating upon a -conducting wire, it must be deemed a secondary effect, arising from the -polarizing influence of the ethereal waves upon the ethereo-ponderable -atoms of the wire.</p> - -<p>Such waves pass superficially in preference; but when the wire is com<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_460"></a>460</span>paratively -small, the reaction between the waves and the ethereo-ponderable -atoms becomes sufficiently powerful to polarize them, and thus render -them competent, for an extremely minute period of time, to produce all -the affections of a galvano-electric current, whether of ignition, of electrolysis, -or magnetization. Thus, as the ethereo-ponderable waves produce -such as are purely ethereal, so purely ethereal waves may produce such as -are ethereo-ponderable.</p> - -<p>The polarization of hair upon electrified scalps is supposed to be due to -a superficial association with the surrounding polarized ethereal atoms, -while that of iron filings, by a magnet or galvanized wire, is conceived to -arise from the influence of polarized ethereo-ponderable atoms, consisting -of ethereal and ponderable matter in a state of combination.</p> - -<p>Farradian discharges are as truly the effects of ethereo-ponderable -polarization as those from an electrified conductor, or coated surfaces of -glass are due to static ethereal polarization, (39, 40, 41.)<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - - -<p> -<small>PRINTED AND STEREOTYPED<br /> -BY HOLMAN & GRAY</small></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_461"></a>461</span></p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<h3>INVOCATION OF SPIRITS.<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Spirits on high, or far or near,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who happen our humble chanting to hear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our circle with your presence bless;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our souls with pious emotions impress.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Death waits for his due, and life may be past.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">In mercy teach us truth to know,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, passing death’s portal, whither we go;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of your abodes the wonders teach,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And how to deserve that haven to reach.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Death’s portal may yawn, and life may be past.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Say how far in the azure sky</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The magical homes of immortals lie:<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tell us how angels draw their breath—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That breathing beyond the power of death.<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Say, spirits, say I our sand runs fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Death’s warrant may come, and life may be past.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">The bliss portray which the good enjoy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The pain and remorse which the bad annoy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sun which sheds on earth no rays,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Yet glorious light in heaven displays!<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Haste and portray’ our sand runs fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Death’s mandate may come, and life may be past.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="center"><i>Query to the High Spirits.</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Throughout the azure realms of space</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Do blessed spirits cheerly fly</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To orbs too far for thoughts to reach,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or Ross’ reflector to descry?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or bide they near their natal orb,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To mingle with their mundane friends,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Striving their minds to impress with truth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which to their future welfare tends?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_462"></a>462</span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Reply of the Spirits.</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Tis not to orbs vastly remote</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That earth-born spirits wend their flight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">About their own planet to rove</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will ever be their great delight.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Attached by love in lieu of weight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Throughout its vast orbit they move,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ever striving with lively zeal</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fate of mortals to improve.<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="center">PORTUGUESE HYMN SPIRITUALIZED.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite, venite in circulum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ortam videte cœli cognoscentiam.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus Dominum.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ecce in nostro tempore quæ nata</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Veritati tibi sit gloria</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Patris æterni verbum clarefactum.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus Dominum.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Valde exultat chorus angelorum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Resonant aulæ celestium</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gloria in excelsis Deo.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venite adoremus Dominum.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="center"><i>Translation of Portuguese Hymn, as altered.</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Come hither, ye faithful, joyfully triumphing;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, come into a circle;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Behold, a knowledge of heaven is born to us.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come let us adore, come let us adore our God.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O truth, to you who art just born to us,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let there be glory rendered,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The word of God being made evident.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come let us adore, &c.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Greatly does the chorus of angels exult,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Causing the temples of heaven to resound:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glory be to God on high.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come let us adore, &c.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_463"></a>463</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="NEW_AND_VALUABLE_BOOKS">NEW AND VALUABLE BOOKS</h2> -</div> - 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Price, paper 25 cents; muslin, 38 cents; postage, -6 cents.</p> - - -<p class="psig"> -PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, Publishers,<br /> -No. 300 Broadway, New York.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - -<div class="footnotes"><h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> See subsequent investigation on Media; also <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate IV</a>. and description.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> These disks cost at the foundry about 37½ cents a piece. One may be used as a pattern by which -to cast others.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> There is also this difference, that in Fig. 2 -the board is supported by only three wheels, so as to -have one in front under the hands of the medium, by which sufficient pressure is secured to make its -rotation certain. But as the position thus given does not fall into the plane of the pulley at the back -of the disk, the wheel in question is supported upon an axle which is secured in staples or holes, and -carries a pulley just at the position where it is coincident with the plane aforesaid. The wheel is visible -in front.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> <i lang="la">Vis inertiæ</i>, or force of inertness, is the force by which a body, when at rest, resists -being put into motion, or, when in motion, resists arrestation. The force, in this latter -case, is called momentum, being directly as the weight multiplied by the velocity. Thus, -two pounds, moving at the rate of one foot per second, exercise exactly the same momentum -as one pound moving at the rate of two feet per second.</p> - -<p>The force of a spring, or of explosive compounds, cannot be called momentum; neither -velocity nor weight enter into its constitution; though, when transferred to a projectile, -it produces momentum proportional to the force with which it acts, the weight moved, and -velocity imparted.</p> - -<p>Muscular force does not come within the definition of momentum, although it produces -this property in a hammer, proportionably to its weight and the resulting velocity. -Nor is the force of gravity momentum, though momentum be generated by it in falling -bodies.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> It is suggested that these words may be misapprehended. I use them in the sense -given by Johnson: “<i>Sight of any thing, commonly mental view</i>.”</p> - -<p>I understand that evidence to be intuitive which is obtained by the simultaneous action -of the mind and the sight, and, of course, of any other of the senses. Intuitive is derived -from the Latin word <i>intuo</i>, to look upon. “<i>Intuere cœlum</i>,” according to Cicero, -means to look at the sky.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> I have since been assured by my spirit friends, that there was no deception on the -part of the medium here alluded to. It has since been alleged by them that it was my -own father who made the raps on the small table above mentioned, when I sat at it between -the two media. It was my spirit friend, William Blodget, who rapped when the -flute, tubes, and rod were held against the door, or when the rapping appeared to be -made against the partition between the parlours.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Excepting the difference of the table represented in length, the apparatus here described -does not differ from that represented in <a href="#PLATE_II">Plate 2</a>, which is accompanied by a -description.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> It may be expedient to state that the disk was counterpoised by a weight at the -smaller end of the board. This weight was suspended from a hook at one end of a rod, -which was so fastened by staples, as to have the distance of the hook from the fulcrum -adjusted so as to make the weight counterpoise the disk exactly.</p> - -<p>This experiment may be understood by looking at <a href="#PLATE_III">Plate 3</a>. The board employed is -there represented, associated with a wire-gauze cage and spring balance. Let all these -be removed in the mind’s eye. Suppose the large disk represented in the <a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a> to be -affixed with its axle to the board, near where the hook is represented as attached to the -balance. Suppose a counter-weight at the other end of the board to balance the disk, so -as to keep the board level when left to itself. Now, the cord and weights being applied, -as in the experiment with table, (<a href="#para_154">154</a>,) on the medium placing her hands on the small -end, the results above described ensued.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> Though gifted with vision, they are, nevertheless, blind.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> My father was a member of the convention by which the original constitution of the -State of Pennsylvania was made. Subsequently, he served in the legislature, and held -the office of Speaker of the Senate. His name must be associated with many of the laws -of his time. During leisure he used to amuse himself with the Latin poets and historians, -as well as with those of Great Britain and of France. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania -have lately published a journal which he wrote of a tour, made in 1775, through -New York to Canada and Niagara Falls.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Is understood in the spheres as synonymous with gradual.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> I had remarked to the company during the evening that I felt a spirit touching my -forehead. I had often before that time felt a gentle touch upon my forehead or brow, -as if touched by a feather, but I did not know its cause, and this was the first intimation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> <i>Apotheosis</i> from <i>apo</i>, among, and <i>theos</i>, god, having been used to signify translation -to a place among gods, might not <i>apo-angelosis</i> be used to signify translation to a -place among angels, from <i>apo</i>, among, and <i>angelos</i>, an angel?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a></p> - -<p> -“<i>Praise undeserved is satire in disguise.</i>”<br /> -</p> - -<p>This being manifestly true, it follows that whatever applause may be bestowed upon an -author by his spiritual advisers, as he may consider them, will be so inverted in the mind’s -eye of an unbeliever as to have all the efficacy of satire. Under these circumstances I -should be terribly satirized were I here to give the whole of a communication made by -this benevolent philanthropic spirit, of which the following is a part. Were I to give his -sentiments in full, it would be rather from the motive of showing how vivacious is the interest -taken in the progress of Spiritualism by certain worthies of the spirit world, and to -give another exemplification of the ardour of the spirit mind after emerging from its -mundane tenement. But the main motive for publishing so much of the communication -in question as subjoined, is the confirmation thus afforded of the account previously given -by my angel sister, of the attendance of high spirits upon my lectures at Boston.</p> - -<p>This account was also confirmed by independent communications from two other sources. -Opecancanough, the Indian chief, was present, as he gave me to understand, and without -knowing the names, described some of the parties who were present.</p> - - -<p><i>Part of a Letter from Mrs. Gourlay to the Author.</i></p> - -<p> -<span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, November 14, 1854.<br /> -</p> - -<p>“<i>My Dear Sir</i>: Having finished reading your letter, I felt a very powerful influence -indicating the presence of spirits. Accordingly, seating myself at the instrument, [<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate I</a>. -Fig. 2,] the following communication was rapidly given:</p> - -<p>“‘My dear sister, say to our beloved friend and brother that I was present at his lectures -in Boston, and was much pleased to hear him speak so nobly and fearlessly in the -holy cause of <i>Spiritualism</i>. * * * * * * * * * * * * *</p> - -<p>“‘There was a great assemblage of elevated spirits convened at our friend’s lectures in -Boston. Among those whom I particularly recognised were B. Franklin, W. E. Channing, -J. Q. Adams, H. Kirk White, Byron, Burns, Moore, Dr. Physick, Dr. Rush, Dr. -Chalmers, and a host of others. His chief supporters were his father and mother, his -loving sister Martha and brother Charles, and his friend Blodgett, Walter Gourlay, and -myself.</p> - -<p> -W. W.’<br /> -</p> - -<p>“My dear friend: The above is the communication which I received, <i>verbatim</i>, and -which you will please accept for what it is worth. I believe it came from the source -whence it purports to have emanated. I questioned W. W. regarding the nature of the -marks of approbation. His reply was, ‘We rapped several times.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> First spiritual sphere.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> This spirit, I have ascertained, was the late Mr. McIlhenny, treasurer to the Athenæum, -who died in August, 1854. I took the more interest in this as he was my classmate, -and was present at some of the investigations which led to my conversion. I took leave -of him one evening in July, 1854, after a walk in Walnut street. He then appeared to -be nearly a convert to Spiritualism, though he did not deem it prudent to acknowledge -his opinions publicly. His remarks coincided with those ascribed to him by the truly -angelic Maria. Within the last month Maria brought him to communicate with me.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> To meet the curiosity of the reader, it may be well to say that communications by -the pen are either <i>impressional</i>—that is, resulting from the volition of the writer, aided -in the matter by the influence of a spirit—or they are <i>automatic</i>; that is, produced by the -mechanical action of the spirits on the hand of the medium, entirely independent of the -medium’s volition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> I would state, on the authority of this lady and her relatives, many of whom were -opposed to Spiritualism, that this was the first time that she had ever produced a poetical -effusion; though it has not been an uncommon circumstance for her, since then, when -under spiritual influence, to write page after page of extremely beautiful and excellent -composition, both in prose and verse, far surpassing in elegance of language her natural -powers of thought and fancy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> This article should have been inserted earlier, but was mislaid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> The fact that my father, my brother, my nephew, and my friend General Cadwalader, -are each residing with their mundane wives, proves that in this world a hymeneal torch -may be lighted, which may not be extinguished by death.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> I quote here the language of Samuel, the wicked pope of Judea, to Saul, respecting -the destruction of the tribe of Amalek: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that -which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from -Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them -not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. -And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people -with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the -sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and -would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed -utterly.”</p> - -<p>One would think here was butchery enough to satisfy a devil, but it does not satisfy the -God of the Bible. Saul is deposed for giving quarter to Agag, and not carrying his revenge -so far as to destroy the flocks and herds as well as the captive king, of whom the -blood-thirsty, blasphemous pontiff becomes himself the cold-blooded executioner, hewing -Agag to death <i>before the Lord</i>. Dr. Berg alleges that men are assimilated to the god whom -they worship. What ought then to be the effect of worshipping the God thus described in -the Bible?</p> - -<p>How does this comport with the extravagant precepts of Christ, agreeably to which we -are to return good for evil?</p> - -<p>There cannot in the history of any pagan country be found an instance more glaring, of -the unjustifiable perpetuation of revenge, than this putting a whole people to the sword -for a wrong done by their ancestors some hundred years before.</p> - -<p>If examples draw us, while precepts do no more than lead, according to the proverb, -what influence are such examples of the morality of the Bible likely to produce in those -who are taught to view it as the word of God?</p> - -<p><i>From the pernicious influence of such religious errors may the noble spirits of our progenitors -relieve us and our offspring!</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Shakspeare’s king, in the tragedy of Hamlet, is made to express this correct sentiment -in the midst of his villainy: “Pray I cannot, be my inclination sharp as ‘twill.” Why? -because he still retained the objects for which he sinned. But though David had exposed -Uriah to be killed to obtain his wife, he retained her in despite of his professed penitence.</p> - -<p>Yet of this man Jehovah is represented as saying, “I took thee from the sheepcote, -from following sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over my people Israel, and I have been -with thee wheresoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before -thee, and have made thee a name of the great men that are in earth.”</p> - -<p>Thus God is represented as the constant companion, and, of course, accomplice of his -butchering, robbery, and treachery: just the part which would belong to Satan, were such -an evil being to exist. He is called to account for the murder of Uriah, but the pagans -whom he robbed and massacred were only vermin in the estimation of the Jewish Jehovah.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> In Great Britain, nearly forty millions of dollars per annum.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Perhaps, however, the high-church Episcopalians occupy middle ground.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> God is made out to be a strange bungler. Though omnipotent, he does not make his -creatures as he wishes them to be; and although omniscient, has to subject them to trial to -discover what they are. He does not inform them of that which he wishes them to believe, -but punishes them and their children to the third and fourth generation for his own omission. -For no other reason than his having afforded to a particular nation more knowledge of his -will than he had afforded to others, he gives them a right to extirpate their neighbours -and take possession of their lands.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> “I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt -come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will send -hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from -before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become -desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive -them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And I will set -thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert -unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou -shalt drive them out before thee.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a -sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter -against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” “Suppose ye -that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from -henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against -three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the -mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law -against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.“</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> The fact that so many of the Israelites, assisted and of course countenanced by Aaron, -the brother of Moses, afterward made high-priest, were thus induced to worship an idol, -shows that they were pious but ignorant. It has elsewhere been urged that any one that -worships, <i>means</i> to <i>worship right</i> as much as a person who <i>pays</i> a <i>debt</i> means to <i>pay</i> the -<i>right creditor</i>. It argues against the sufficiency of the facts and reasoning by which -Moses supported his pretensions to inspiration, that he had to resort to his sword in order -to prevent his people from worshipping idols. That they were sincere, must be evident -from their relinquishing their golden trinkets for the purpose of furnishing materials for -the calf.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> It must be admitted that Moses does not seem to have cared whether his soul perished -or not, provided he could get enough territory on this side of the grave, by pleading -God’s sanction, and the skilful use of the sword. He seems to have valued the favour of -Jehovah only for worldly objects. Had it been otherwise, in lieu of so much stress being -laid upon the “<i>promised land</i>,” it had been more wisely rested on the hope of heaven. -Had Moses obtained a knowledge of the spirit world, the Sadducees had not been materialists, -nor the Pharisees worldly-minded, corrupt hypocrites, as alleged by Christ.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> “Two or three years since Professor Bronn described twenty-six thousand six hundred -and seventy-eight species; and, upon an average, one thousand species are discovered -every year. M. Alcide D’Orbigny, in 1850, stated the number of mollusks and radiated -animals alone at seventeen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven species.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> [The use of the word “demons” in the text would seem to make it very uncertain that -the Catholic school entertains the doctrine of an individual, personal devil. When used in -the plural, as it often is, it cannot mean <i>the</i> devil, yet both singular and plural, the word -“demon” seems to convey the same idea. Scripture commentators make the word demon -to signify a spirit, whether good or bad. But our author does not seem to have yet become -very thoroughly grounded in the doctrine of the communion of angels with man; which -will certainly be found to be the only tangible doctrine.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span>]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> [Having reached this stage of our author’s remarks, his translator begs leave to submit -them to a transient review. It is evident that his investigations in the physical demonstrations, -relating to spiritual philosophy, fall very short of the intelligence of the present -time. He seems to be a total stranger to that flood of truth and love that has for years -been pouring its blessings on the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of delighted and -grateful recipients in the Western hemisphere, and by the very means that appear to have -been fully in his power of reaching that heavenly boon, but which were all exhausted to -convince the world that the devil has nothing to do with it.</p> - -<p>This is certainly a point gained on Catholic ground, and had our friend supplied some -argument equally conclusive for theologians of the opposing school, he would probably -save them the sin of making out of the devil, by imputation, a veritable saint.</p> - -<p>The question will naturally arise with his readers, If the power and intelligence do not -emanate from the devil, from whom or what do they emanate? But on this subject, from -some reason that can only be guessed at, our author, the abbot, is so far silent. The -confirmed theory of spirit intercourse, when the vehicle is mechanical or automatic, makes -the character and intelligence of the communication depend on the communicating spirit, -subject to apparent irregularities. But our author, in his hurry perhaps to prove his favourite -postulate of excluding the devil, makes them depend on the one, as he says, who -“consults the table.” If he speaks Greek, then the table talks Greek, and ditto for all -other languages, &c. But certainly the marquis would corner him here. He says, also, -that the motive power is intercepted by a non-conductor, as silk round the hands. -Although this may be true to some extent with feeble mediums, still the fact that tables -often move without contact with any one, must nullify the abbot’s theory, whatever it -may be.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> [This is probably correct, when the medium writes impressionally; -but exactly the reverse is true when the writing is automatic, or mechanically controlled by the -spirit.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span>]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Our author seems to confound his <i>dramatis personæ</i>: he first says it is the language -of the communicant, and afterward the language of the medium which the spirit understands. -But the simple theory is, according to the experience of the Western hemisphere, -that what is communicated depends on the intelligence of the communicating agent, -which is the spirit. That spirits, it is true, possess the clairvoyant faculty, and can read -our thoughts, but those thoughts must be clothed in a language they understand.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span></p> - -</div> -[I am under the impression that the power of the spirit to construe our thoughts, varies -with the spirit and medium, and with the same medium under different conditions as to -health and tranquillity of mind. No invariable rule can, in my opinion, be said to exist -as to the powers of spirits to learn our thoughts, whether we speak one language or another.—<span class="smcap">Dr. -Hare.</span>]] - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> This communication, as well as those immediately preceding and following it, would -have been inserted under the head of Corroborative Evidence, page 55, &c., had they been -received in time.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> [According to my spirit friends, this earth forms one of them, the first; so that there -are six spirit spheres.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Andrew Jackson Davis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> Wood-cuts of the characters alluded to in this and the succeeding paragraphs, may -be seen in Mr. Capron’s book.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> “Mr. Sunderland, in his ‘Book of Human Nature,’ p. 280, says this was the first of -the spirit writing, but Mr. Capron alleges that he was acquainted with cases of this kind -long before the disturbances at Stratford.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> Latterly, Sir David Brewster has conceived that only three elementary species of -light are requisite, according to the theory of emission, to perform all the offices which -Newton ascribed to seven.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> It should be understood, that when two magnetic needles are associated by the contact -of dissimilar poles, the extreme poles do not lose their magnetism, although it will be -more feeble than when the needles are independently situated.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> <i>Explanation of the Galvanic Pile, Battery, or Series.</i>—When pieces of zinc and -silver are so placed in the mouth as to have their surfaces separated by the tongue, their -extremities extending beyond it externally, on allowing the latter to touch each other, a -metallic taste is perceived by the person whose tongue is subjected to the process thus -described. It has been ascertained that at the same time a minute portion of the zinc is -oxydized at the expense of the water which exists in the saliva.</p> - -<p>Suppose a pile of plates of zinc and silver, or copper, alternating, to be separated into -couples by the interposition of moistened cloth; each plate will on one side touch its -partner, on the other side the moistened cloth. Every couple of zinc and copper separated -by the cloth are situated as the pair above described, when separated by the tongue, and -are equally capable of giving a discharge which would be sensible to the taste, under those -circumstances. The plates which are in metallic contact have no such disposition to discharge, -because there is no moisture to act upon them, and no diversity of electrical state -can be excited on account of their great conducting power, which would neutralize any -such excitement as soon as it could be created. The surfaces separated by the cloth cannot -discharge to each other, because there is no conductor extending from one to the other. -But as the whole pile is a conductor of electricity, to discharge every pair entering into -its constituency it is only necessary to touch each end simultaneously with a good conductor—a -wire, for instance. The whole series will then be discharged at once, and the -energy of the discharge is proportional to the number to be thus discharged. There is an -uncertainty and obscurity as to the precise <i>rationale</i> of the effect thus obtained. There is -as much difference about this as there is about the nature of matter. It will not be expedient, -therefore, in presenting a popular view, to enter upon that intricate question, and -will be enough to state the laws and facts which are admitted generally by men of science. -It is universally admitted that, if each of the terminal plates, in such a pile or series, have -a platina wire soldered or otherwise well connected with it, the other ends of the wires -extending into some water, this liquid will be decomposed, and a similar decomposition -may, directly or indirectly, be effected of various substances held in solution by water, as -well as substances liquified by heat. Moreover, when the same wire is made to form the -means of discharge by extending from one terminal plate to the other, it acquires the -property of attracting iron filings, and, so long as the discharge through it is sustained, -will cause the compass needle to arrange itself always at right angles to the wire. Under -these circumstances, according to the Franklinian theory, a current of electricity passes -from the positive to the negative pole; according to the theory of Dufay, a fluid proceeding -from each pole, they combine in the wire. According to the view above given, two opposite -waves of polarization pass, by which the metallic atoms or particles are shifted from -their natural position, so as to act externally, as already stated.</p> - -<p>It is not, I believe, known to whom the world is indebted for the fundamental observation -in galvanism, made, as has been mentioned, by the assistance of the tongue and -plates of silver and zinc. Subsequently, Galvani, probably without any reference to this -phenomenon, ascertained some other consequences of the reaction of the elementary pair; -but to Volta we owe the pile or series above described. In whatever form voltaic series -may have been subsequently constructed, the main principles are the same, the reaction -of chemical agents so arranged in succession as to be productive of that intensity of discharge, -and powers of decomposition, to which allusion has been made.</p> - -<p>These have latterly been called electrolytic; and decomposition, by the voltaic series, has -been called electrolysis, by Farraday—a beautiful, well-conceived, and expressive word. -(See Essay on Electrical Theory, in the Appendix.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> It were absurd to draw any conclusion from this, that incomprehensibility is a reason -for believing the miracles ascribed to Mohammed or any other religious impostor. That -we cannot understand how a result is accomplished is no reason for disbelieving it in opposition -to the evidence of our senses; but, at the same time, it forms no reason for believing, -of itself, but is rather a clog upon belief, when intuitively awakened.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> In this last sense it is used as synonymous with essence. By chemists, latterly, spirit -of turpentine is called oil of turpentine. All the volatile oils obtained by delicate distillation, -usually with water, like oil of turpentine, are called essential oils or essences.</p> - -<p>As respects the employment of language to express ideas when a new view is originated, -there is a choice of evils; we are placed between Scylla and Charybdis. There is -no alternative but to use an old word in a sense more or less new, or to coin a new one. -In either case there is a manifest disadvantage; and the question arises, shall we teach a -new meaning for an old word, or present to those to whom we would convey our ideas a -new idea with a new word to designate it? The word matter, it will be found, has, in -Webster’s dictionary, ten meanings assigned to it. Though in some of its acceptations it -may be considered as applicable to every thing that exists, so as to qualify space so far -as to distinguish it from nihility. Nevertheless, it has been used as distinguishing those -substances which are neither spiritual nor mental. The antagonism of spirit and matter -in the words, “There is a spiritual body and a material body,” is not warranted in chemistry, -since the distillate or spirit evolved by distillation is a material body, however it -may be more volatile or of less density than the <i>caput mortuum</i> left in the alembic -or retort.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> It is a remarkable fact that, although in later times the Jews have been so frequently -named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does not appear to have been customary during -the time which intervened between the supposed era of Moses and that of the finding of -the Pentateuch in the temple.</p> - -<p>This serves to show that the Pentateuch is a fabrication of the priesthood and King -Josiah.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> The following trash is thus made to be specified by the God of the universe:—gold, -silver, brass, blue, purple, goats’ hair, red rams’-skins, badger skins, shittim-wood, oil for -light, oil for anointing, spices, sweet incense, onyx-stones, shew-bread, candlesticks with -six branches, almond-shaped bowls with a knop and a flower, knop and branches of beaten -gold, seven lamps, large dishes, curtains of fine linen, spoons, cherubims of gold. Eight -columns, nearly one hundred verses, are taken up with this mummery, expressly directed -by Jehovah himself.</p> - -<p>Now, let the use Moses made of his opportunities be compared with that which I have -made of those afforded me by the spirits, and then judge between Spiritualism and self-called -orthodoxy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> “Nec ab ipso scriptum constat, nec ab ejus apostolis sed longo post tempore a quibusdam -incerti nominis viris, qui ne sibi non haberetur fides scribentibus quæ nescirent, partim -apostolorum, partim eorum que apostolos secuti viderentur nomina scriptorum suorum -frontibus indiderunt, asseverantes <span class="allsmcap">SECUNDUM</span> cos, se scripsisse quæ scripserunt.—<i>Quoted -by Lardner</i>, vol. 2, p. 221.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> “By <i>all persons</i>, understanding strictly all <i>parsons</i>, for the common -people were <i>nobody</i>, and never at any time had any voice, judgment, or option in the business of -religion, but always believed that which their godfathers and godmothers did promise and -vow that they should believe. God or devil, and any Scriptures their masters pleased, -were always all one to them.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> “‘<i>Almost from the apostolic age!</i>’ Why, the text itself, if it prove any thing, proves -that such forged writings were in existence absolutely <span class="allsmcap">IN</span> the apostolic age, and among the -apostles themselves.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> “Omnia quæ Christianismo conducere putabant bibliis suis interseruerunt.—<i>Tindalio -citante.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> “Si forte accidisset, ut Johannis Evangelium per octodecim secula priora prosus ignotum -jacuisset, et nostris demum temporibus, in modium productum esset omnes haud dubie -uno ore confiterentur Jesum a Johanne descriptum longe alium esse ac illium Matthæi, -Marci, et Lucæ, nec utramque descriptionem simul veram esse posse.—<i>Carol. Theoph. -Bretschneider Probab, Lipsiæ</i>, 1820.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> “Here it is. ‘Messala V. C. consule, Constantinopoli, jubente Anastasia Imperatore, -sancta evangelia, tanquam ab idiotis evangelistis composita, reprehenduntur et emendantur.’—<i>Victor -Tununensis, Cave’s Historia Literaria</i>, vol. i. p. 415—i. e., ‘<i>The illustrious -Messala being Consul, by the command of the Emperor Anastasias, the holy Gospels, as having -been written by idiot evangelists, are censured and corrected.</i>’—Victor, Bishop of Tunis -in Africa.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> “See Beausobre, quoted in the Manifesto of the Christian Society; and this and -the preceding extract vindicated, in the author’s Syntagma, against the vituperations of -the evangelical Dr. John Pye Smith, <i>in locis</i>.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Josephus, book iv. chap. ii. page 49.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> Ibid. book iv. chap. vi. page 53.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Josephus, book iv. chap. viii. page 55.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> See vol. ii. page 42, Huc’s Travels.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> According to Farraday’s researches and general experience, we have reason to believe -that all particles of matter are endowed with one or the other of two species of polarity. -This word polarity conveys the idea that two terminations in each particle are respectively -endowed with forces which are analogous, but contrary in their nature; so that of any two -homogeneous particles, the similar poles repel each other, while the dissimilar attract; -likewise, when freely suspended, they take a certain position relatively to each other, and -on due proximity, the opposite polar forces, counteracting each other, appear to be extinct. -When deranged from this natural state of reciprocal neutralization, their liberated poles -react with the particles of adjacent bodies, or those in the surrounding medium. Under -these circumstances, any body which may be constituted of the particles thus reacting is -said to be polarized, or in a state of polarization.</p> - -<p>Statical implies stationary; undulatory, wave-like.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> Communicated to the American Philosophical Society.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> The words gyration, vortex, and whirl are considered as synonymous, and used indifferently -to avoid monotony.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> I consider a wire as galvanized, when it is made the medium of the discharge from -a galvanic battery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> In some electro-magnetic apparatus, the polarity of an electro-magnet is reversed more -than 100 times in a second.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> See Silliman’s Journal, vol. xxxviii. p. 215, 1840.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> This seems to have been entirely overlooked in his suggestions respecting the nature -of material atoms. It appears to me that the characteristics thus insisted upon are incompatible -with the idea that each property is of itself a diffusible matter, and that in such -atoms two polarities can exist inseparable from each other.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Pouillet suggests that when the passage of a ray of light through glass, is influenced -by a powerful magnet, agreeably to the experiments of Farraday, “consistently with the -undulatory theory of light, it is the ether of the body submitted to the experiment, which -would be modified by the magnetism, and that it would be very difficult to recognise -whether it is modified without any participation of the ponderable matter with which it -is so intimately connected.” Thus the existence of matter, composed of ethereal as well -as ponderable particles, is sustained by all the evidence which has been brought to uphold -the undulatory theory of light.—<i>L. & E. Phil. Mag.</i> &c., for 1846, vol. xxviii., page 335.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> The word statical has been used to designate phenomena which are the effects of -electricity when at rest, as when accumulated upon conductors or the surfaces of panes or -jars. Phenomena which are supposed to arise from electricity in motion (forming a current) -are designated as dynamic. Thus, when charging one side of a pane produces the -opposite state in the other, the effect upon the latter is ascribed to <i>statical</i> induction; but -when a discharge of electricity through one wire, causes a current in another, forming an -adjacent circuit, the result is ascribed to <i>dynamic</i> induction. This method of designation -is employed whether the alleged current be owing to electricity generated by friction, as -in the case of a machine, or generated by chemical reaction, as in the case of a galvanic -battery. A good word is wanting to distinguish electricity, when produced by friction, -from electricity produced by galvano-chemical reaction: for want of a better, I will resort -to that employed by Noad, (<i>frictional</i>,) which has the advantage of being self-explanatory.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> As the word ether is used in various senses, the syllables “<i>electro</i>” being prefixed, -serve to designate that which is intended.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> See my communication on “<i>Free Electricity</i>,” in Silliman’s American Journal of -Science, vol. iii., New Series, number for May, 1847.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> The sectional area of a conductor is the area of the superficies which would be exposed -by cutting it through at right angles to its axis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> According to Colomb’s experiments, electrical attraction and repulsion are inversely -as the squares of the distances: ought not the inductive power of statical charges which -is produced by those forces, and which precedes and determines the length of the resulting -spark, to obey the same law?</p> - -<p>If this calculation be correct, the intensity must be as the squares of the striking distances, -as indicated by sparks.</p> - -<p>It may be urged that the striking distances, as measured by the length of the sparks, -is in the compound ratio of the quantity and intensity. As to the quantity, however, -galvanic sources have always been treated as pre-eminent in efficacy, so that on that side -there could be no disparity. Moreover, I have found, that in galvanic apparatus of only -one, or even of two pairs, as in the calorimotors, the intensity lessened as the surfaces -were enlarged. By a pair of fifty square feet of zinc surface, a white heat could not be -produced in a wire of any size, however small. The calorific power of such apparatus -can only be made evident by the production of a comparatively very low temperature, in -a comparatively very large mass.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> Suppose a number of boys and girls, associated as partners for a dance, to stand up -in a row, severally united, and distinguished into couples by those joining hands; the -sexes being regularly alternating, so that no two of the same sex should be hand in hand. -Under these conditions no effort to take a boy from one end of the row, or a girl from the -other end, could be effected with the consent of the couples concerned, both partners in -which would thus be deprived of the power of joining in the dance. But should it be -understood that only an exchange of partners was all that should be intended, and, consistently, -a boy from one end and a girl from the other end of the row, taken simultaneously -and allowed to form a couple, forthwith, the rest merely shifting their hands -from one neighbour to another, there would no longer be the same motive for resistance -and the required exchange might be cheerfully accomplished.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> By a void I mean a Torrecellian vacuum. The omnipresence of the electro-ether -must render the existence of a perfect void impossible.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> It is well known that Wollaston effected the decomposition of water by the aid of a -powerful electrical machine. Having enclosed platina wires within glass tubes, these -were fused so as to cover the ends. The glass was afterward so far removed, by grinding, -as to expose minute metallic points to the liquid. Under these circumstances, the electricity -conveyed by the wires, being prevented from proceeding over them superficially, -was obliged to make its way through the ethereo-ponderable matter of which metals consist. -Instead of proving the identity of galvanism with frictional electricity, this experiment -shows that in one characteristic, at least, there is a discordancy. At the same time -it may indicate that ethereal may give rise to ethereo-ponderable undulations.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Agreeably to experiments of Farraday, the particles of a glass prism may be as influenced -by an electro-magnet as to affect the passage of polarized light.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> L. and E. Phil. Mag. and Jour., vol. xlv. p. 383, 1844.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> These phenomena excite more interest in consequence of the employment, for medical -purposes, of an apparatus originally contrived by Callan, but since ingeniously modified -by our countryman, Dr. Page, into a form which has been designated as the electrotome. -A coil of coarse copper wire, covered with cotton, like bonnet wire, is wound about a -wooden cylinder. Around the coil thus formed, a coil of fine copper wire similarly covered -is wound, leaving the extremities accessible. One end of the coarse coil communicating -constantly with one pole of a galvanic battery, the other end is left free; so that by scraping -with it the teeth of a rasp attached to the other pole, a rapid closing and opening of -the circuit may be effected. Under these circumstances, an observer, holding the ends of -the fine coil, receives shocks more or less severe, according to the construction of the battery, -the energy of the agents employed to excite it, or the total weight and relative dimensions -of the coils as to length and sectional area. Agreeably to the received doctrine, -the shocks thus produced are owing to secondary currents caused by dynamic induction. -Agreeably to the hypothesis which I have advanced, the atoms of the coarse wire, polarized -by waves proceeding from the poles of the battery, induce a corresponding polarization -of the atoms of the fine wire; the aggregate polarity imparted being as the number -of atoms in the former to the number of atoms in the latter: or (to use an equivalent -ratio) as the weight of the coarse, to the weight of the fine wire. But as on breaking the -circuit through the coarse wire, the ethereo-ponderable atoms in both wires resume their -neutral positions, while this requires each circuit to be run through within the same minute -interval, the velocities of their respective waves will be inversely as their sectional areas -and directly as their lengths: in other words, the velocity in the fine wire will be as much -greater as the channel which it affords is narrower and longer. The cylinder included -within the coils as above stated being removed, a cylindrical space is vacated. If into -the cavity thus made iron rods, like knitting needles, be introduced, one after the other, -while the apparatus is in operation, the shocks increase in severity as the number augments; -so that from being supportable they may be rendered intolerable. The shock -takes place without the presence of iron, but is much increased by its assistance.<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> - -<p>These facts appear to me to justify a surmise that the ethereo-ponderable atoms of iron, -in becoming magnetized and demagnetized, co-operate with the ethereo-ponderable atoms -of the copper coils in the induction of secondary undulations. It is conceived that these -may be owing to the intestinal change attended by sound, as above stated, (73;) this -being caused by a sudden approximation of the poles of the atoms, previously moved -apart by the influence of the galvanized coil. But if this sudden coming together of the -previously separated poles of atoms within a magnetized cylinder of iron, can contribute -to the energy of secondary waves, it is consistent to infer that these waves owe their origin -to an analogous approximation of the separated poles of the cupreous atoms, forming the -finer coil, in which the secondary undulations may be created without the presence of -iron. Of course, this reasoning will apply to all cases in which the phenomena hitherto -attributed to Farradian currents are the result of dynamic induction.</p> - -<p>Thus it appears that the polarization of magnets, and that created and sustained when -a galvanized coil or helix acts upon another in proximity, have the same relation to galvanic -discharges that the charges upon insulated surfaces have to their appropriate discharges. -The permanent magnetism of steel seems to have some analogy with the charge -upon a coated pane, while we may consider as analogous with the charges upon insulated -conductors, already adverted to, (61, 62,) that state of the ethereo-ponderable particles, -(38,) of a wire helix, which <i>state</i>, resulting from the influence of an included magnet, or -neighbouring galvanized coil, and being discharged on a change of relative position, or -breach of the galvanizing circuit, is productive of spark, shock, ignition, or electrolysis, -as exemplified by Callan’s coil, Page’s electrotome, or the magneto-electric machine.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Agreeably to the usual construction, the cylinder about which the inner coarse wire -coil is wound is originally of iron, so that there is as much of this metal contained as it -can hold. Various contrivances are resorted to for the closing and opening of the circuit, -which are more ingenious and convenient than scraping a rasp, as above described.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> American Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 121, 1826.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> It is well known that if a rod of iron be included in a coil of coated copper wire, on -making the coil the medium of a voltaic discharge, the wire is magnetized. Agreeably -to a communication from Joule, in the L. & E. Phil. Mag. & Jour. for Feb,, 1847, the bar -is at the same time lengthened, without any augmentation of bulk, so that its other dimensions -must be lessened in proportion to the elongation.</p> - -<p>All these facts tend to prove that a change in the relative position of the constituent -ethereo-ponderable atoms of iron accompanies its magnetization, either as an immediate -cause or as a collateral effect.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> To the tune of Moore’s “Canadian Boat Song.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> See paragraph 410.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> See paragraph 449.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> See paragraph 415.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> Tune “Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon.”</p> - -</div></div> - - -<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS ***</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 64160-h.htm or 64160-h.zip</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/6/64160/</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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