{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40485/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40485","id":"gutenberg_40485","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40485","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Fox family","Spiritualism"],"text":"[Illustration: Mrs. Margaret Fox]\n\n\n\n\n  THE MISSING LINK\n  IN\n  MODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\n  BY\n  A. LEAH UNDERHILL,\n  OF THE FOX FAMILY.\n\n  _REVISED AND ARRANGED BY A LITERARY FRIEND._\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  THOMAS R. KNOX & CO.,\n  (SUCCESSORS TO JAMES MILLER,)\n  813 BROADWAY.\n  1885.\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY\n  A. LEAH UNDERHILL.\n\n  TROW'S\n  PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,\n  NEW YORK.\n\n\n\n\n  Dedication.\n\n\n  TO MY HUSBAND,\n  DANIEL UNDERHILL,\n  WHO,\n  BEFORE I HAD OTHER CLAIMS THAN THOSE OF TRUTH AND RIGHT,\n  NOBLY SUSTAINED ME WHEN OLDER FRIENDS WAVERED,\n  THIS NARRATIVE IS DEDICATED,\n  NOT LESS GRATEFULLY THAN LOVINGLY.\n\n\n\n\nEDITOR'S PREFACE.\n\n\nThe author of this volume, having written it from time to time, from\nher recollections and documentary materials, which include bushels of\nletters--but unwilling to commit it to the press in the disjointed\ncondition which was a natural consequence of her own want of much\npractice of the pen--did me the honor of requesting my aid in revising\nand arranging it for publication. Her honesty and sincerity of character\nhave caused her to insist upon a preface to that effect. Though deeming\nthis a superfluous scruple on her part, I am induced to comply with her\nwish for a different reason; and that is, the opportunity it affords of\nbearing my testimony to the remarkable accuracy of her memory and of her\ntruthfulness, as those qualities have proved themselves throughout the\nintimate intercourse of many weeks, during which she has often had to\nrepeat the same recollections of facts and incidents, under what was\nalmost legal cross-examination, without ever the slightest variation in\ntheir details, and without ever allowing anything to pass which might\nbe in the least degree tainted with inaccuracy or mistake. As she is so\nwell known to so many friends, it is superfluous for me to express on\nthis page, which will meet her eye for the first time in print, the\nhigh and affectionate esteem and respect with which that intimate\nintercourse, with all its opportunities for observation and judgment,\nhave inspired the\n\n    EDITOR.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n  INTRODUCTION                                                         1\n\n                      CHAPTER I.\n  HYDESVILLE                                                           5\n    \"Mysterious Noises\" heard in the House of John D. Fox, in\n      Hydesville (Town of Arcadia), near Newark, Wayne County,\n      N.\u00a0Y.--Statements of Witnesses.\n\n                      CHAPTER II.\n  HYDESVILLE (_Continued_)                                            20\n    The Last Digging in the Cellar--Mob Antagonism--Noble\n      Friends--Experiences and Theories--Antecedents of the\n      House--Franklin.\n\n                      CHAPTER III.\n  ROCHESTER                                                           30\n    My First Knowledge of the Matter--Hasten to Hydesville--Rapping\n      on a Canal Boat--Experiences--Mother Comes to Rochester--Calvin\n      Brown--Devious Route of Projectiles Up-stairs from Cellar to\n      Garret--A Death-knell Sounded all Night on the Keys of a Locked\n      Piano.\n\n                      CHAPTER IV.\n  ROCHESTER (_Continued_)                                             47\n    Ventriloquism--\"Proclaim these Truths to the World\"--The Call\n      for the Alphabet--Voices in Raps--God's Telegraph between\n      the two Worlds--An Eviction--Committee of Five--No Money\n      Accepted--Improper Questions to Spirits--\"Done\"--Struggle\n      against the \"Uncanny Thing\"--Benjamin Franklin.\n\n                      CHAPTER V.\n  ROCHESTER (_Continued_), November, 1848                             57\n    Light Articles made Immovable--The Coffins--Adieu of the\n      Spirits--Their Return--First Steps toward Public\n      Investigation--\"Hire Corinthian Hall\"--First Committee of\n      Investigation--Second--Third or \"Infidel\" Committee--Behavior\n      of a Great Dining-table--The Tar and Torpedo Mob.\n\n                      CHAPTER VI.\n  MEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY                                      74\n    Some Family Antecedents--Our Great-grandmother--Phantom\n      Prophetic Funerals--Vision of a Tombstone Nine Years in\n      Advance, etc.\n\n                      CHAPTER VII.\n  MEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY (_Continued_)                        89\n    Marvellous Writing by a Baby Medium.\n\n                      CHAPTER VIII.\n  ROCHESTER (_Continued_)                                            100\n    \"Repeat the Lord's Prayer\"--First Money Accepted--Muscular\n      Quakerism--Letter from George Willets--Letter from John E.\n      Robinson--Caution against Consultation of Spirits about\n      Worldly Interests.\n\n                      CHAPTER IX.\n  ALBANY AND TROY. 1850                                              115\n    Excursion to Albany--Delavan House and Van Vechten\n      Hall--Rev. Dr. Staats and the Judges--High Class of\n      Minds Interested--President Eliphalet Nott--Pecuniary\n      Arrangements--Excursion to Troy--Trojan Ladies--Mob Attempts\n      on Life of Margaretta.\n\n                      CHAPTER X.\n  NEW YORK. 1850                                                     128\n    \"The Rochester Knockings at Barnum's Hotel\"--Hard Work--Our\n      Visitors--A Poisoned Bouquet--Hair of the Emperor\n      Napoleon\u00a0I.--Hair of John C. Calhoun--Investigation at\n      Residence of Rev. Rufus W. Griswold, by the Leading Literary\n      Celebrities of New York.\n\n                      CHAPTER XI.\n  RETURN TO ROCHESTER                                                142\n    Letters and Newspaper Articles Respecting our New York\n      Campaign--Letter from Amy Post--Letters from John E.\n      Robinson--Article from a Sunday Newspaper--From the New York\n      Day-Book--Letter from Dr. C.\u00a0D. Griswold--Letter from Jacob\n      C. Cuyler--Article by Horace Greeley--Poem from the Sunday\n      Dispatch.\n\n                      CHAPTER XII.\n  BUFFALO. 1850-51.                                                  165\n    Urged to Return to New York--Visit to Buffalo--Attempt by a\n      Pretended Friend to Frighten us Away--Thunderbolt from the\n      Buffalo Commercial Advertiser--The \"Females\"--Knee-joint\n      Theory--Our Reply Challenging Investigation of it--The\n      Doctors' Day--Mrs. Patchen's Peculiarity.\n\n                      CHAPTER XIII.\n  BUFFALO (_Continued_)                                              179\n    Investigations upon Investigations--A Meeting at the Phelps\n      House--Manifestations with Bells, etc.--Mr. Albro's Report--A\n      Death Scene--Letter from Me to the Commercial Advertiser, and\n      how I forced its Insertion--Article from the Buffalo Daily\n      Republic--Letter from Mr. Greeley--Mr. E.\u00a0W. Capron--Departure\n      from Buffalo.\n\n                      CHAPTER XIV.\n  BUFFALO (_Continued_)                                              197\n    Letters from John E. Robinson and Welcome Whittaker.\n\n                      CHAPTER XV.\n  EXTRACTS FROM D.\u00a0M. DEWEY'S HISTORY                                206\n    Letters from Rev. Charles Hammond and John E. Robinson.\n\n                      CHAPTER XVI.\n  THE OHIO CAMPAIGN                                                  219\n    Return to Rochester--Attempted Burglary--Summons to\n      Ohio--\"Rev.\" C.\u00a0C. Burr--\"Toe-ology\"--Gold Medals and\n      Jewelled Watch--First Public Speech--Committee Investigations\n      as usual--Calvin's Illness, and henceforth Mrs. Brown--First\n      Spiritual Convention.\n\n                      CHAPTER XVII.\n  MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS CONNECTED WITH THE OHIO CAMPAIGN             231\n    N.\u00a0S. Wheeler--E.\u00a0S. Brownfield--Chillicothe Committee--Charles\n      F. Whippo--M.\u00a0L. Wright--D.\u00a0A. Eddy--Extracts from the\n      Press--\"A Fair Challenge from Mrs. Fish\" and Sequel--Columbus\n      Committee--D.\u00a0A. Eddy--M.\u00a0L. Wright--Interesting Letter from\n      Dear Amy Post--Article from the Cleveland Plaindealer.\n\n                      CHAPTER XVIII.\n  NEW YORK CITY, FROM JANUARY, 1852                                  250\n    Competing Claims upon Us--Decision in Favor of New York as\n      Residence--Death of Calvin R. Brown--Remains Removed to\n      Rochester for Burial--Personal Friendships--Alice and Phoebe\n      Cary--Course of Test Experiments at Dr. Gray's--The Monday\n      Evening Circle--Rules of S\u00e9ances.\n\n                      CHAPTER XIX.\n  NEW YORK CITY (_Continued_)                                        269\n    Our Brilliant Success with the Superior Intellectual\n      Classes--Whiskey at Washington--Cognizance of Domestic\n      Secrets--Discomfiture of Anderson, \"the Wizard of the\n      North\"--Remarkable Experience with a very Notorious Person.\n\n                      CHAPTER XX.\n  PHOSPHORUS                                                         282\n    Spirit Lights Visible at Dark S\u00e9ances--Private Circle in Jersey\n      City in 1857--Solid Granules of Phosphorus Appearing in Earth\n      which I had Touched--Surprising and Distressing Letter--The\n      Good Spirits and Daniel Underhill to the Rescue--Benjamin\n      Franklin--Marriage to D. Underhill, November 2, 1858, and\n      Close of my Public Mediumship--Analogous Phenomena in Private\n      at Home.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXI.\n  BOSTON AND THE HARVARD PROFESSORS, 1857                            297\n    Agreement for an Investigation by a Committee of Harvard\n      Professors--Expulsion of a Student from the Divinity School for\n      the Crime of Mediumship--Professor Felton--Agassiz--Varley,\n      the Electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXII.\n  BOSTON AND THE HARVARD PROFESSORS (_Continued_)                    312\n    Disinterested Judgments upon the Sham Investigation--Our Part\n      in the Proceedings--More Fair Investigation by the Collective\n      Representatives of the New England Press--Investigation by a\n      Body of Unitarian Clergymen--Our Triumphant Return\n      Home--Theodore Parker.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXIII.\n  ROBERT DALE OWEN AND PROFESSOR FELTON, PRESIDENT OF HARVARD\n  COLLEGE                                                            326\n    Masterly Letter from Mr. Owen.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXIV.\n  EXPERIENCES OF ROBERT DALE OWEN THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE\n  AUTHOR                                                             339\n    Moving a Ledge of Rock on the Sea-shore--Raps on the Water, and\n      in the Living Wood--Seeing the Raps--Moving Ponderable Bodies\n      by Occult Agency--Crucial Test--A Heavy Dinner-table Suspended\n      in the Air by Occult Agency.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXV.\n  EXPERIENCES OF THE AUTHOR WITH ROBERT DALE OWEN (_Continued_)      348\n\n                      CHAPTER XXVI.\n  SPIRIT CURES--MR. CAPRON'S WIFE                                    361\n    Statement by E.\u00a0W. Capron--Wife of General Waddy Thompson, of\n      South Carolina--Wife of Mr. Davis, of Providence, R.\u00a0I.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXVII.\n  MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS                                              368\n    J. Heddon--S. Chamberlain--John E. Robinson--A.\n      Underhill--George Lee, M.D.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXVIII.\n  MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS (_Continued_)                                386\n    E.\u00a0F. Norton--John E. Robinson--Governor N.\u00a0P.\n      Tallmadge--Pauline M. Davis--Same--John E. Robinson--Prof.\n      J.\u00a0J. Watson.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXIX.\n  SOME OBSERVATIONS ON MEDIUMSHIP                                    403\n    Mysteries of Mediumship--To Prove the Immortality of the\n      Soul--Passivity and Harmony at S\u00e9ances--Honest and Candid\n      Scepticism--Imaginary and Self-induced Mediumship--Deceptive\n      Communications--Cautions--Rappings--Spirits made\n      Visible--Beware of Fraudulent Mediums--Not all Spirits\n      Reliable--Cabinets.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXX.\n  MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS                                            415\n    Felicia Hemans--Spirit Dictations of Music.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXXI.\n  MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS (_Continued_)                              421\n    Crowd of Spirits made Visible by Lightning--Scarcely Credible\n      but True--A Game of Euchre--Margaret's Dream--Mistaken Names\n      Corrected by Spirits--An Unwilling Convert made Grateful and\n      Happy--A Spirit Knows better than the Postmaster--Opening\n      of a Combination Lock--A Visitor Magnetized into a Medium\n      Himself--Curious Story about a Mutilated Limb--Disturbance in\n      the Troup Street Cottage--A Caution against Cruelty to Orphan\n      Children--Mrs. Hopper's Mysterious End--\"Touch Samantha\"--\"I\n      felt my Handkercher Tied Tighter every Minit\"--\"No Brimstone\n      yet\"--Kitchen Work by Night--'Sich a Gittin' up Stairs'--The\n      Death of Isaac T. Hopper--William M. Thackeray--\"Witch\n      Stories\"--George Thompson--A Child's Letter--Extracts from\n      D. Underhill's Minute Book--Practical Jokes Performed and\n      Rebuked--A Prophetic Dream--James A. Garfield--\"Incident\"\n      Related by the Editor.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXXII.\n  ACTION OF SPIRITS THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF A FIVE-MONTH'S-OLD\n  INFANT                                                             464\n    Various Manifestations around the Baby--Writing in Greek\n      through his Hand.\n\n                      CHAPTER XXXIII.\n  \"THE MISSING LINK\"                                                 471\n\n  FINALE                                                             475\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n  MRS. MARGARET FOX                   _Frontispiece._\n                                                 PAGE\n  JOHN D. FOX                                      10\n  DIAGRAM, PROSPECT STREET HOUSE                   42\n  AUTOGRAPH ILLUSTRATIONS OF A BABY'S MEDIUMSHIP   90\n  MRS. MARGARETTA FOX KANE                        122\n  DIAGRAM, TROUT STREET HOUSE                     209\n  CLEVELAND (OHIO) GOLD MEDAL                     225\n  AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF ALICE CARY                  265\n  AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF SAME                        266\n  AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF JOHN W. EDMONDS             267\n  AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF HORACE GREELEY              268\n  DANIEL UNDERHILL                                292\n  MRS. KATIE FOX JENCKEN                          465\n  GREEK WRITING BY A FIVE-MONTH'S-OLD INFANT      470\n  A. LEAH UNDERHILL (THE AUTHOR)                  475\n  THE HYDESVILLE HOUSE                            477\n\n  NOTE.--The steel-engraved portraits of the Fox family are from\n  paintings, of dates very different from those referred to on the\n  pages which they face. With the exception of the parents (Mr. and\n  Mrs. Fox), they represent the three \"_Fox girls_\" (as they were\n  called) at ages more matured than would correspond to the text of\n  the pages which they accompany. Photography was not so advanced and\n  universal as at the present day.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nIt is not that the history of Spiritual Manifestations in this century\nand country has not again and again been written, nor that a library of\nthe splendid literature of Spiritualism--narrative, philosophical, and\nreligious--does not already exist, that I have deemed it a duty to give\nthis history to the world.\n\nIt happens that nobody else possesses--both in vivid personal\nrecollections and in stores of documentary material--the means and\nthe data necessary for the task of giving a correct account of the\ninitiation of the movement known as Modern Spiritualism; and the now\nhastening lapse of years gives warning that if to place it on record is\na duty--as many friends have often urged--it is a duty not to be much\nlonger delayed.\n\nMany mistakes and material omissions have been made in former summary\naccounts from pens of friends, as well as misstatements from those of\nfoes; nor could any one heretofore form any clear or complete idea of\nthe early years of the epochal period which dates from March 31, 1848.\n\nSince that day, starting from a small country village of Western New\nYork, Spiritualism has made its way--against tremendous obstacles\nand resistances, but under an impulse and a guidance from higher\nspheres--round the civilized globe. Starting from three sisters, two of\nthem children, and the eldest a little beyond that age, clustered round\na matchless mother (whose revered portrait does honor to my title-page),\nits ranks of believers, private or publicly avowed, have grown within\nthirty-six years to millions whose number no man positively knows, but\nwhich, I think, cannot be less than as many as it counts of years.\nBeginning in a small house, temporarily occupied while another was\nbuilding, it has established itself in sovereign palaces; and the\nlatest reports from England represent it as fast growing, under the\nencouraging influence of the reigning royal family, even into social\nfashionableness. As in the story of the weary forty years' wandering of\nthe children of Israel in the desert--fed by food and led by light, both\nfrom heaven--so does Spiritualism seem to be now nearing the borders of\nits Promised Land. It is but a few years since it was a favorite topic\nfor scoff or sneer by the press, while now it is but rarely that here\nand there is to be found some writer so far lagging behind the march of\nthe age as still to yield, in that way, to the force of former foolish\nhabit. How far and how deeply it has modified the old teachings of the\npulpit is patent to all observant eyes; while among the priesthood in\nthe divine temple of Science, the number and unsurpassed rank of those\nwho, under its influence, have abandoned the materialism of their old\nphilosophies, after exhaustive investigation of the facts and truths of\nSpiritualism, is such as to stamp with the disgrace of simple ignorance\nthose who may still dare to deny and deride;--even as history has fixed\nthe fate of those professors and priests who refused to take a look\nthrough Galileo's telescope; or of those doctors who, being past the\nage of forty, could never, to their dying day, accept Harvey's\ndemonstrations of the circulation of the blood.\n\nIt will be seen in the following pages how a vein of that mysterious\nsomething which, in our generation of \"the Fox family,\" has come to\nbe called \"mediumship,\" is perceptible, cropping out in old stories,\nrunning through ancestral generations, and how it reappears most\nmarvellously in an infant in the next one succeeding to us. It will\nalso appear how long and strenuously we resisted its influence and its\nmanifestations, and struggled against the absolute persecutions which at\nlast forced us into publicity.\n\nI conclude this Introduction by a brief allusion to the reasonable\nquestion which has been so often asked, _Cui bono?_--or what is the use\nof the manifestations of Spiritualism?\n\nIt is that they _demonstrate_ the reality of the survival of man's\nspirit, or inner self, after that \"death\" which is but birth into\nanother stage of progressed and progressive life, in unchanged\npersonality and identity; or, in other words, that immortality of the\nsoul (heretofore a mere dogma of unproved and unprovable \"faith\"), which\nis the foundation corner-stone of all religions and of all Religion. In\nthe words of Paul, to \"faith\" they \"add knowledge.\" They thus not only\nconsole bereavement, snatch from death its sting, and from the grave its\nvictory, but through the concurrent teachings of all good and advanced\nspirits they make us feel the _real reality_ of the brotherhood of\nmankind, and the common fatherhood of that supreme, unnamed, and\nunnamable Infinitude of Love, Wisdom, and Power, who is addressed in\nPope's Universal Prayer, as--\n\n      \"Father of all, in every age,\n        In every clime adored,\n      By saint, by savage, and by sage,\n        Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.\"\n\n\n\n\n  THE MISSING LINK\n  IN\n  MODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nHYDESVILLE.\n\n  \"MYSTERIOUS NOISES\" HEARD IN THE HOUSE OF JOHN D. FOX, IN\n    HYDESVILLE (TOWN OF ARCADIA), NEAR NEWARK, WAYNE COUNTY,\n    N.\u00a0Y.--STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES.\n\n\nThe following statements were made by the different persons whose names\nare signed to them, and taken down in writing as they made them; after\nwhich they were carefully read, and signed by them. They comprise but a\nsmall number of those who heard these noises, or have been knowing to\nthese transactions; but they are deemed sufficient to satisfy the public\nmind in regard to their truthfulness.\n\n\nCERTIFICATE OF MRS. MARGARET FOX, WIFE OF JOHN D. FOX, THE OCCUPANT OF\nTHE HOUSE.\n\n\"We moved into this house on December 11, 1847, and have resided here\nsince that date. We formerly lived in the city of Rochester, N.\u00a0Y.\nWe were first _disturbed_ by these noises about a fortnight ago. It\nsounded like some one knocking in the east bedroom, on the floor; we\ncould hardly tell where to locate the sounds, as sometimes it sounded as\nif the furniture was moved, but on examination we found everything in\norder. The children had become so alarmed that I thought best to have\nthem sleep in the room with us. There were four of us in family, and\nsometimes five.\n\n\"On the night of the first disturbance we all got up, lighted a candle\nand searched the entire house, the noises continuing during the time,\nand being heard near the same place. Although not very loud, it produced\na jar of the bedsteads and chairs that could be felt when we were in\nbed. It was a tremulous motion, more than a sudden jar. We could feel\nthe jar when standing on the floor. It continued on this night until we\nslept. I did not sleep until about twelve o'clock. On March 30th we were\ndisturbed all night. The noises were heard in all parts of the house. My\nhusband stationed himself outside of the door while I stood inside,\nand the knocks came on the door between us. We heard footsteps in the\npantry, and walking down-stairs; we could not rest, and I then concluded\nthat the house must be haunted by some unhappy, restless spirit. I had\noften heard of such things, but had never witnessed anything of the kind\nthat I could not account for before.\n\n\"On Friday night, March 31, 1848, we concluded to go to bed early and\nnot permit ourselves to be disturbed by the noises, but try and get\na night's rest. My husband was here on all these occasions, heard the\nnoises, and helped search. It was very early when we went to bed on this\nnight; hardly dark. I had been so broken of my rest I was almost sick.\nMy husband had not gone to bed when we first heard the noise on this\nevening. I had just lain down. It commenced as usual. I knew it from\nall other noises I had ever before heard. The children, who slept in\nthe other bed in the room, heard the rapping, and tried to make similar\nsounds by snapping their fingers.\n\n\"My youngest child (Cathie) said: 'Mr. Splitfoot, do as I do,' clapping\nher hands. The sound instantly followed her with the same number\nof raps; when she stopped the sound ceased for a short time. Then\nMargaretta said, in sport: 'Now do just as I do; count one, two, three,\nfour,' striking one hand against the other at the same time, and the\nraps came as before. She was afraid to repeat them. Then Cathie said,\nin her childish simplicity: 'O mother, I know what it is; to-morrow is\nApril-fool day, and it's somebody trying to fool us.' I then thought I\ncould put a test that no one in the place could answer. I asked the\nnoise to rap my different children's ages, successively. Instantly each\none of my children's ages was given correctly, pausing between them\nsufficiently long to individualize them until the seventh, at which a\nlonger pause was made, and then three more emphatic raps were given,\ncorresponding to the age of the little one that died, which was my\nyoungest child. I then asked: 'Is this a human being that answers my\nquestions so correctly?' There was no rap. I asked: 'Is it a spirit? If\nit is, make two raps?' Two sounds were given as soon as the request was\nmade. I then said: 'If it was an injured spirit, make two raps,' which\nwere instantly made, causing the house to tremble. I asked, 'Were you\ninjured in this house?' The answer was given as before. 'Is the person\nliving that injured you?' Answered by raps in the same manner. I\nascertained by the same method that it was a man, aged thirty one-years;\nthat he had been murdered in this house, and his remains were buried in\nthe cellar; that his family consisted of a wife and five children, two\nsons and three daughters, all living at the time of his death, but that\nhis wife had since died. I asked: 'Will you continue to rap if I call in\nmy neighbors that they may hear it too?' The raps were loud in the\naffirmative. My husband went and called in Mrs. Redfield (our nearest\nneighbor). She is a very candid woman. The girls were sitting up in bed\nclinging to each other and trembling with terror. I think I was as calm\nas I am now. Mrs. Redfield came immediately (this was about half past\nseven), thinking she would have a laugh at the children; but when she\nsaw them pale with fright and nearly speechless, she was amazed, and\nbelieved there was something more serious than she had supposed. I asked\na few questions for her, and was answered as before. He told her age\nexactly. She then called her husband, and the same questions were asked\nand answered. Then Mr. Redfield called in Mr. Duesler and wife, and\nseveral others. Mr. Duesler then called in Mr. and Mrs. Hyde, also Mr.\nand Mrs. Jewell. Mr. Duesler asked many questions, and received answers.\nI then named all the neighbors I could think of, and asked if any of\nthem had injured him, and received no answer. Mr. Duesler then asked\nquestions and received answers. He asked, 'Were you murdered?' Raps\naffirmative. 'Can your murderer be brought to justice?' No sound. 'Can\nhe be punished by the law?' No answer. He then said: 'If your murderer\ncannot be punished by the law, manifest it by raps,' and the raps were\nmade clearly and distinctly. In the same way Mr. Duesler ascertained\nthat he was murdered in the east bed-room about five years ago, and that\nthe murder was committed by a Mr. ----, on a Tuesday night, at twelve\no'clock; that he was murdered by having his throat cut with a butcher\nknife; that the body was taken down cellar; that it was not buried\nuntil the next night; that it was taken through the buttery, down the\nstairway, and that it was buried ten feet below the surface of the\nground. It was also ascertained that he was murdered for his money, by\nraps affirmative. 'How much was it, one hundred?' No rap. 'Was it two\nhundred?' etc.; and when he mentioned five hundred the raps replied in\nthe affirmative. Many called in who were fishing in the creek, and all\nheard the same questions and answers. Many remained in the house all\nnight. I and my children left the house. My husband remained in the\nhouse with Mr. Redfield all night. On the next Saturday the house was\nfilled to overflowing. There were no sounds heard during the day, but\nthey commenced again in the evening. It was said there were over three\nhundred persons present at the time. On Sunday morning the noises were\nheard throughout the day by all who came to the house. On Saturday\nnight, April 1st, they commenced digging in the cellar; they dug until\nthey came to water, and then gave it up. The noise was not heard on\nSunday evening nor during the night. Stephen B. Smith and wife (my\ndaughter Maria), and my son, David S. Fox and wife, slept in the room\nthis night. I have heard nothing since that time until yesterday. In the\nforenoon of yesterday there were several questions answered in the usual\nway, by rapping. I have heard the noise several times to-day.\n\n[Illustration: _John D. Fox._]\n\n\"I am not a believer in haunted houses or supernatural appearances. I am\nvery sorry that there has been so much excitement about it. It has been\na great deal of trouble to us. It was our misfortune to live here at\nthis time; but I am willing and anxious that the truth should be known,\nand that a true statement should be made. I cannot account for these\nnoises; all that I know is, that they have been heard repeatedly, as I\nhave stated. I have heard this rapping again this (Tuesday) morning,\nApril 4th. My children also heard it. I certify that the foregoing\nstatement has been read to me, and that the same is true; and that I\nshould be willing to take my oath that it is so, if necessary.\n\n    (Signed)    \"MARGARET FOX.\n  \"APRIL 11, 1848.\"\n\n\nSTATEMENT OF JOHN D. FOX.\n\n\"I have heard the above statement of my wife, Margaret Fox, read, and\nhereby certify that the same is true in all its particulars. I heard the\nsame rappings which she has spoken of, in answer to the questions, as\nstated by her. There have been a great many questions besides those\nasked, and answered in the same way. Some have been asked a great many\ntimes, and they have always received the same answers. There has never\nbeen any contradiction whatever.\n\n\"I do not know of any way to account for these noises, as being caused\nby any natural means. We have searched every nook and corner in and\nabout the house, at different times, to ascertain if possible whether\nanything or anybody was secreted there that could make the noise, and\nhave not been able to find anything which would or could explain the\nmystery. It has caused a great deal of trouble and anxiety.\n\n\"Hundreds have visited the house, so that it is impossible for us to\nattend to our daily occupations; and I hope that, whether caused by\nnatural or supernatural means, it will be ascertained soon. The digging\nin the cellar will be resumed as soon as the water settles; and then it\ncan be ascertained whether there are any indications of a body ever\nhaving been buried there; and if there are, I shall have no doubt but\nthat it is of supernatural origin.\n\n    (Signed)    \"JOHN D. FOX.\n  \"APRIL 11, 1848.\"\n\n\nSTATEMENT OF WILLIAM DUESLER.\n\n\"I live in this place. I moved from Cayuga County here, last October. I\nlive within a few rods of the house in which these sounds have been\nheard. The first I heard anything about them was a week ago last Friday\nevening (March 31st). Mrs. Redfield came over to my house, to get my\nwife to go over to Mr. Fox's. Mrs. R. appeared to be very much agitated.\nMy wife wanted me to go over with them, and I accordingly went. When she\ntold us what she wanted us to go over there for, I laughed at her and\nridiculed the idea of there being anything mysterious about it. I told\nher it was all nonsense, and that we would find out the cause of the\nnoise, and that it could easily be accounted for. This was about nine\no'clock in the evening. There were some twelve or fourteen persons\npresent when I left them. Some were so frightened that they did not want\nto go into the room. I went into the room and sat down on the bed. Mr.\nFox asked a question, and I heard the rapping, which they had spoken of,\ndistinctly. I felt the bedstead jar when the sounds were produced. Mr.\nFox then asked if it would answer my questions if I asked any; and it\nrapped three times. I then asked if it was an injured spirit, and it\nrapped. I asked if it had come to hurt any one who was then present. It\ndid not rap. I then reversed the question, and it rapped. I asked if my\nfather or I had injured it (as we had formerly lived in that house),\nand there was no noise. 'If we have not injured you, manifest it by\nrapping,' and we all heard three distinct raps. I then asked if such\nor such a one had injured it (meaning the several families who had\nformerly lived in the house), and there was no noise. Upon asking the\nnegatives of those questions the rapping was heard. I then asked if\nMr. ---- (naming a person who had lived in the house at a former period)\nhad injured it; and if so, to manifest it by rapping, and it made three\nraps louder than usual; and at the same time the bedstead jarred more\nthan it had before. I then inquired if it was murdered for money, and\nthe sounds were heard. Questions and answers as to different sums of\nmoney were then given as stated by Mr. Fox. All in the room said they\nheard the sounds distinctly.\n\n\"After that, I went over and got Artemus W. Hyde to come over. I then\nasked over nearly all the same questions, and got the same answers. Mr.\nRedfield went after David Jewell and wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Hyde also\ncame in. After they came, I asked the same questions over again, and got\nthe same answers. I asked if it was murdered by being struck on the\nhead, and there were no sounds; I then reversed the question, and the\nrapping was heard. I then asked if it was stabbed in the side, and there\nwas no answer. Upon asking the negative of this the rapping was heard.\nIt usually rapped three times in giving an affirmative answer to my\nquestions. I then asked if it had its throat cut, and it rapped as\nusual. Then, if it was with a butcher knife, and the rapping was heard.\nIn the same way it was ascertained that it was asleep at the time, but\nwas awakened when the knife entered its throat; that it struggled and\nmade some noise and resistance. Then I asked if there was any one in the\nhouse at the time but him, and it did not rap. I then asked if they two\nwere alone, and the rapping was heard. I then asked if Lucretia Pulver\nwas there at the time, and there was no rapping. If she had gone away\nthat night, and if Mrs. ---- was gone away also, and the rapping was\nheard each time. There was no rapping heard, only when we asked\nquestions. I then asked if any one in Hydesville knew of the murder at\nthe time except ----, and it rapped. Then I asked about a number of\npersons, if they knew it, and there was no rapping until I came to\nMrs. ----, and when I came to her name the rapping was heard. Then if\nany one but ---- and wife knew of it, and I got no rap. Then if they\nwere all that knew of the murder, and it rapped. I asked if the body was\nput into the cellar, and it rapped. I then asked if it was buried in\ndifferent points of the cellar, and to all my questions there was no\nrapping, until I asked if it was near the centre, and the rapping was\nheard. Charles Redfield then took a candle and went down cellar. I told\nhim to place himself in different parts of the cellar, and as he did so\nI asked the question if a person was over the place where it was buried,\nand I got no answer until he stood over a certain place in the cellar,\nwhen it rapped. He then stepped one side, and when I asked the question\nthere were no noises. This we repeated several times, and we found that\nwhenever he stood over the one place the rapping was heard, and when he\nmoved away from that one place, there was no rapping in answer.\"\n\nNOTE.--The remainder of Mr. Duesler's statement does not vary from that\nof my mother and others, and, for want of room, is omitted. It was dated\nApril 12, 1848.\n\n\nSTATEMENT OF MISS LUCRETIA PULVER.\n\n\"I lived in this house all one winter, in the family of Mr. ----. I\nworked for them a part of the time, and a part of the time I boarded and\nwent to school. I lived there about three months. During the latter part\nof the time I was there I heard these knockings frequently: in the\nbedroom, under the foot of the bed. I heard it a number of nights, as I\nslept in the bedroom nearly all the time that I stayed there. One night\nI thought I heard a man walking in the buttery. This buttery is near\nthe bedroom, with a stairway between the two. Miss Amelia Losey stayed\nwith me that night. She also heard the noise, and we were both much\nfrightened, and got up and fastened down the windows, and fastened the\ndoor. It sounded as if a person walked through the buttery, down cellar,\nand part way across the cellar bottom, and then the noise ceased. There\nwas no one else in the house at the time except my little brother, who\nwas asleep in the same room with us. This was about twelve o'clock I\nshould think. We did not go to bed until after eleven, but had not been\nasleep when we heard it striking. Mr. and Mrs. ---- had gone to Loch\nBerlin, to be gone till the next day. One morning about a week after\nthis Mrs. ---- sent me down cellar to shut the outside door (which\nfastens on the inside). In going across the cellar I sank knee deep in\nthe centre of the cellar. It appeared to be uneven and very loose. After\nI got up-stairs Mrs. ---- asked me what I screamed for. When I told her,\nshe laughed at me for being frightened, and said it was only where rats\nhad been at work in the ground.\n\n\"A day or two after this, Mr. ---- carried a lot of dirt into the\ncellar, just at night, and was at work there some time. Mrs. ---- told\nme that he was filling up the rat-holes.\n\n\"A few days before I first heard the noises, or anything of the kind had\never occurred, a foot-pedlar called there about two o'clock in the\nafternoon. Mrs. ---- then told me that Mr. ---- thought they would not\nwant me any longer, and that I might go home; but, if they wanted me\nagain they would send for me. Mrs. ---- was going to Loch Berlin, to\nstay that night. This was the first I had heard of it. I wanted to buy\nsome things of the pedlar, but had no money with me, and he said he\nwould call at our house the next morning and sell them to me. _I never\nsaw him after that._ Three days after this they sent for me to come and\nboard with them, and go to school. I accordingly came, and went to\nschool about one week, when she wanted I should stay out of school\nand do house-work, as she had a couple of coats to make over for her\nhusband. She said they were too large for her husband, and out of\nfashion, and she must alter them. They were ripped to pieces when I\nfirst saw them. I should think the pedlar was about thirty years old. I\nheard him conversing with Mrs. ---- about his family. He told her how\nmany children he had, in answer to her inquiry. I do not recollect how\nmany he said he had. Mrs. ---- told me that he (the pedlar) was an old\nacquaintance of theirs. A short time after this Mrs. ---- gave me a\nthimble, which she said she had bought of the pedlar, and paid him fifty\ncents for. Some time after I had left her I visited her again; and she\nsaid the pedlar had been there again, and showed me another thimble,\nwhich, she said, she had bought of the same pedlar. She said he had\ncheated her; that he had sold it to her for pure silver, but it was only\nGerman silver. She also showed me some other things which she said she\nhad bought of him.\n\n\"I did not (and do not now) know what to think of the noises I have\nheard. The dog would sit under the bedroom window and howl all night\nlong. Mr. and Mrs. ---- appeared to be very good folks, only they were\nrather quick-tempered.\n\n\"This pedlar carried a trunk and a basket, I think, with vials of\nessence in it. He wore a black coat and light-colored pants.\n\n\"I am willing to swear to the above statement, if necessary.\n\n    \"LUCRETIA PULVER.\n  \"APRIL 11, 1848.\"\n\n\nMRS. ANNA PULVER.\n\n\"I was acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. ----. I called on them frequently.\nMy warping bars were in their chamber, and I used to go there to do my\nwork. One morning when I went there Mrs. ---- told me that she felt very\nbadly; that she had not slept much, if any, the night before. When I\nasked her what the matter was, she said she didn't know but it was the\nfidgets; but she thought she heard something walking about from one room\nto another, and that she and Mr. ---- got up and fastened the windows\ndown. She felt safe after that. I heard her speak about hearing sounds\nafter that, which she could not account for.\n\n    \"ANNA PULVER.\n  \"APRIL 11, 1848.\"\n\n\nIt will be sufficient to sum up the important bearings of this subject\nby quoting a few more extracts from the numerous certificates contained\nin the little pamphlet published by E.\u00a0E. Lewis, Esq., of Canandaigua,\nN.\u00a0Y.\n\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. Weekman lived in this house for a year and a half, and\nwere frequently startled by the rappings, walking, etc. On several\noccasions they sought diligently to discover the cause. He stood with\nhis hand on the latch, and when the knockings were repeated, suddenly\nopened the door and ran into the yard and entirely around the house; but\nnothing was ascertained by him.\"\n\nMrs. Weekman says: \"We heard great noises during the night; sometimes a\nsound as if a person was walking in the cellar. (There was nothing but a\nsingle board floor, between the cellar and the upper room, so that the\nsound made in one was easily heard in the other.) One night one of our\nlittle girls, who slept in the room where the noises were heard, awoke\nus all by her screaming very loudly. My husband and myself, and our\nhired girl, all went to the room to see what was the matter with her.\nThe child sat up in bed, crying and screaming, and it was some time\nbefore we could quiet her enough to get answers to our questions. She\nsaid 'something had been moving around her and over her head and face:\nthat it was cold, and that she felt it all over her.' This was between\ntwelve and one o'clock. We took her into bed with us, and it was a long\ntime before we could get her to sleep in that bed again. At one time Mr.\nWeekman heard his name called. (I was away that night, sitting up with a\nsick person.) He was awakened, and supposed some one wanted him. He sat\nup in bed for some time, but heard no more. We never found out what or\nwho called him. So many have heard these noises that it seems there must\nbe something unusual.\"\n\nMrs. Jane C. Lape \"lived in the family of Mrs. Weekman at the time she\nstates. There was but one door in the bedroom. When I was doing my\nwork, I saw a man in the bedroom joining the kitchen. I saw the man\ndistinctly. I was frightened. I had been in the kitchen a long time, and\nknew that nobody could have gone into that room. The man stood facing me\nwhen I saw him. He did not speak, nor did I hear any noise at any time.\nHe had on light pants, black frock-coat, and cloth cap. He was of\nmedium size. I knew of no person in that vicinity who would answer that\ndescription. Mrs. Weekman was in another part of the house at that time.\nI left the room, and when I returned with Mrs. Weekman there was no\nperson there. She thought it was some person who wanted to frighten me;\nbut we were never able to ascertain who or what it was. I have always\nthought and still do think that it was supernatural. I had never been a\nbeliever in such things until I saw this.\"\n\n\nTHE WELL OFFENSIVE.\n\n\"We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that during the summer of 1844,\nwe lived near the house now occupied by John D. Fox; that it was then\noccupied by ---- ----; and that, during the summer, the water in that\nwell was very offensive and bad. We further certify that said well is\nwithin thirty feet of the centre of the cellar under said house.\n\n    \"(Signed)  NORMAN AYRES.\n               JOHN IRISH.\n  \"ARCADIA, April 18, 1848.\"\n\n\nIn my brother's statement (see pamphlet by E.\u00a0E. Lewis, Esq.) was given\na correct account of the digging to find the body of the murdered man in\nthe cellar.\n\n\nSTATEMENT OF DAVID S. FOX.\n\n\"I live about two miles from the house my father, John D. Fox, now\noccupies, and where these strange noises were heard. It was a week ago\nlast Friday, March 31st, when they told me about it. I advised them to\nmake a thorough search, and I thought they would find a cause for it. I\nheard no noise, and after remaining a short time, returned home. The\nnext morning, April 1, 1848, they sent for me to come again, and they\ntold me the noises had been heard all night. I went early in the\nevening; heard the rapping distinctly. Many questions were asked and\nanswered by the rapping.\"\n\n(It is not necessary to here repeat all of David's statement, as the\nentire substance of it is given in nearly all the other certificates.)\n\n\"A large collection of people had assembled, more than could get into\nthe house; committees were chosen, and placed in different parts of the\nhouse, that no deception might be practised by any one. These committees\nwere composed of neighbors and friends, whom we knew to be strictly\nhonest. I remained in the house until about one o'clock in the morning.\nThe noises had ceased a little before twelve. After some of the crowd\nhad left, we commenced digging in the cellar. Before digging I asked the\nquestion: 'In what part of the cellar was your body buried?' naming the\ndifferent corners of the cellar. No response was made. 'Was it in the\ncentre?' The rapping answered affirmatively. Mr. Carlos Hyde went down\nin the cellar, walked over the bottom, asking at every point if he was\nover the right place, but no rappings were heard until he stood in the\ncentre of the cellar. It then rapped so that those in the cellar as well\nas those in the room above could hear it. We dug about three feet deep,\nwhen the water came in so fast we had to stop. I was here again on\nMonday, April 3d, and we commenced digging again in the cellar, and\nbaling out the water; but we found it impossible to make any headway.\n\n\"On Tuesday evening they began digging again. I got a pump, and we took\nup the floor and put it in the hole, and began to pump and bale out the\nwater at the same time. We could not lower the water much and had to\ngive it up. The water is in the hole, although it is lowering gradually.\nI thought, from there being so many respectable people present, and they\nhaving heard the same sounds that I did, that there must be something in\nit. I never believed in haunted houses or anything of that kind. I have\nheard of such things, but never saw or heard anything but what I could\naccount for on reasonable grounds. I cannot account for this noise as\nbeing produced by any human agency. I am perfectly willing to take my\noath as to the truth of the statements which I have here made, if it is\nthought necessary.\n\n    \"(Signed)  DAVID S. FOX.\n  \"TUESDAY, April 11, 1848.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nHYDESVILLE (_Continued_).\n\n  THE LAST DIGGING IN THE CELLAR--MOB ANTAGONISM--NOBLE\n    FRIENDS--EXPERIENCES AND THEORIES--ANTECEDENTS OF THE\n    HOUSE--FRANKLIN.\n\n\nIt was late in July, 1848. The old house at Hydesville was not occupied\nby any one, save the \"murdered man.\" Many went there alone, or in small\nparties; and often the rappings were heard.\n\nWe, too, visited the old house, went down into the cellar, and called on\nthe spirits to answer our questions and direct us aright.\n\nNotwithstanding all the bitter conflicts we had passed through in\nRochester, we had come to the conclusion that good spirits (as well as\nbad ones) could manifest themselves to us. We were greatly favored in\nour early associations with a class of progressive philanthropic people\namong our neighbors, whose highest aim was to benefit the world, and\nwho urged us to go forth and do our duty. We learned from them to take\na more liberal view, as they had taught us many valuable lessons of\nforbearance and perseverance. When I saw my dear good brother bow with\nthe others, and ask questions of the Spirits, my soul and all within me\nwas lifted beyond the scoffs and ridicule which I knew we must submit to\nif we performed the heavy duties incumbent upon us. There had been great\nexcitement for a time, but little now was said in that vicinity about\nit, as there had been so much ridicule attached to the occurrences of\nthe past, that the leaders shrank from further publicity. But, during\nthis time, we were having our experiences in Rochester, where I resided.\n\nIt was now directed by the Spirits that the digging should be resumed.\n(It was the dry season of the year, and the water in the Ganargua[1]\nwas low.) My brother declared that he could not again enter upon so\nhazardous an undertaking. He believed himself capable of acting on\nhis own judgment in the matter. But for once he found, to his utter\ndiscomfiture, that the mighty powers that seemed to rule our destiny\nwere not to be defeated. The Spirits directed that he should invite\ncertain gentlemen to assist in the digging. They spelled out the names\nof many Rochester friends, viz., Henry Bush, Lyman Granger, Mr. Post,\nDr. Faulkner, and Rev. A.\u00a0H. Jervis. The above-named were old and tried\nfriends, and we felt no hesitation in calling upon them; but when David\nwas requested to invite gentlemen living in the vicinity of Hydesville,\nwith whom he had little or no acquaintance, he positively refused to do\ntheir bidding. The friends in Rochester received this announcement with\napparent satisfaction. All came at the appointed time. Mr. and Mrs.\nGranger and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Bush, Mrs. Jervis, Dr. Faulkner and\nhis little son, etc. I doubt if either of these gentlemen had ever used\nthe pickaxe and spade before; but they came willing to perform their\nduty. Brother David still declared that he could not, and would not,\nmake himself so ridiculous as to invite men who would laugh at him for\nentertaining such an idea; but still the Spirits commanded him to obey\ninstructions, and nightly they would go through the performance of\nrepresenting the murder scene. (This occurrence was in my brother's\nhouse.) Gurgling, strangling, sawing, planing, and boring; representing\nthe enactment of the horrid crime said to have been committed in the\nHydesville house.\n\n    [1] The old Indian name of the creek.\n\nOur friends urged David to act in accordance with the request of the\n\"Spirits,\" but he could not make up his mind to do so. He walked from\nroom to room, and in secret prayed that this terrible injunction might\nbe removed. He cried, with uplifted hands, to God, to have compassion on\nour family; and then, in despair, would say: \"Better to die together,\nthan to live so disgraced.\" The sight of his grief and despair was\nheart-rending; but the Spirits were inexorable. The day appointed for\nthe digging arrived. During the previous, night all was in an uproar.\nThe sounds as of broken crockery were heard, and as if heavy weights\nwere dragged across the floor. Sawing, planing, digging, boring,\ngroaning, and whispering close to our ears. This continued until the\nbright, beautiful dawn of the morning warned us that it was time to\nprepare for the labors of the day. We were commanded by the Spirits\nthus--\"Go forth and do your duty, and good will come of it.\" Chauncy\nCulver, my brother's wife's brother, called in, and David said:\n\"Chauncy, you are politely invited to join us in the digging to-day.\" He\nanswered, \"I am willing to do so, Dave.\" Others who had been named, but\nnot invited, dropped in by chance, and all united with us; but the great\nburden fell upon David's shoulders. Chickens were cooked, puddings,\npies, cakes, and sweet-meats were prepared by my brother's wife,\nElizabeth, and my sister Maria. Our living was sumptuous, and we had\nvery little opposition during the first day's work. The earth was hard\nand dry, and the digging tiresome; but the party worked diligently until\nnear noon, when they came to a quantity of charcoal and traces of lime\n(this was between four and five feet below the cellar bottom), some hair\nof a reddish or sandy hue, and some teeth, which showed, beyond all\nquestion, that the earth had at some time, and for some purpose, been\ndisturbed. The party worked on until it began to grow dark, and the\nfirst day's work was ended. We returned to David's home, about two miles\nfrom the Hydesville house, well satisfied with our day's work, and the\nfriends felt that they had done all in their power to get at the truth\nof the Spirits' declaration.\n\nWe made two large beds on opposite sides of the parlor; the women and\nchildren rested upon one of them, and the men on the other; Dr.\nFaulkner and his little son being in the parlor bedroom. All heard the\nmanifestations that night; and they were most wonderful in character.\nThis arrangement of the beds was directed by the Spirits, that they\nmight gratify all by making manifestations during the night.\n\nThe next day we resumed our labor. The ladies accompanied their husbands\nand friends. We had started as early as possible. Mr. S.\u00a0B. Smith, my\nsisters husband, my brother David, and some of the neighbors turned out\nfive or six wagons to convey us to our destination, forming quite a\nprocession of our own; but as we came to the turn of the hill, from\nwhence we could see in all directions, there were vehicles of every\ndescription wending their way to the \"haunted house.\" Shouts of ribaldry\nand roars of laughter fell upon our ears like the death-knell of some\npoor soul--who might almost begin to feel himself guilty of crimes he\nhad never committed.\n\nWe entered the cellar. On came the noisy rabble. Our noble, pale-faced,\nhonorable men stood firm in their duty. Mark the contrast, dear readers:\nmany of those noble souls now stand in the higher ranks in glory. They\nhave passed through the fiery furnace, entered the \"golden gate\" of the\nnew Jerusalem; and to them offer your praises and admiration. Such men\nand women as those dared to stand before the world and battle for the\nright. It was _such as they_ who fought and won the great battle against\nslavery and contributed to its overthrow. May they continue to live in\nthe memories of the children of earth.\n\nThrough the second day the digging was frequently interrupted by the\nrude entrance of some of the outside crowd. We (the women) formed a\nguard around the place where the work was in progress, to protect the\nmen thus engaged. We had candles in our hands, with which to light the\nlaborers, when suddenly one of the workers cried out, \"Great God! here\nare the pieces of a broken bowl!\" (The Spirit always said that the bowl\nwhich caught his blood was buried; and he represented nightly the sound\nof pouring blood into a vessel or bowl, dropping slower and slower,\nuntil at last it ceased entirely; and then the sound would come as if\nthe bowl were thrown and broken in pieces.) Several bones were found\nwhich doctors pronounced human bones, stating to what parts of the body\nthey belonged. One, I remember, was said to be from the ankle, two from\nthe hands, and some from the skull, etc. (Some persons, who never saw\nthese bones, argued that they were not human bones, hair, and teeth\nwhich were there found. But I ask, in the name of common sense, how did\nthey happen to be there, nearly six feet beneath the cellar bottom?)\n\nIn the afternoon the crowd outside grew more bold, and among them were\nsympathizers with the man who was accused by the general public opinion.\nWe pitied him, and regretted that he had been named; but we never knew\nthat such a man had lived, until the neighbors had brought out the fact\nby putting questions which were answered by the rappings.\n\nThese spectators were becoming more and more excited, and crowded into\nthe cellar. Some called us crazy. They reached over the heads of the\nwomen and spat upon and dropped sticks and stones on those who were\ndigging. We still stood firm in the defence of our friends, the laboring\nparty; and they worked on until they struck what seemed to be a board.\nThis sounded hollow, and its location was beneath the sand and gravel.\nThey procured an augur and bored through the obstruction, when the augur\ndropped to the handle. They then obtained bits, and attached them to\nlong sticks, and with them bored several inches, when the bit would\ndrop to the depth of a foot or more. In this way they lost two of the\nbits, which dropped through and were not recovered. By this time the\nexcitement was overwhelming. The cellar was filled with people. Some\ncried, \"Drag out the women! drag them out!\" Others said, \"Don't hurt\nthe women, drag out the men!\" The floor over our heads creaked with the\nweight of the multitude. It grew dark. Our friends could work no longer,\nand reluctantly retired. How we all reached the outside, amid the shouts\nand the roar of the excited crowd, I cannot explain; but at length we\nstood together in the door-yard, awaiting our conveyances, and no word\nof disrespect was spoken to any of us. The Spirits said: \"Dear faithful\nfriends, your work here is done. God will reward you.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said that noble-looking man, Henry Bush, with the acquiescence of\nall, \"our work is done.\"\n\nWe all returned to David's (the old homestead). That night and the\nfollowing day our friends returned to Rochester. We remained a few days\nwith our family.\n\nI must pass over many interesting circumstances, or it will be wholly\nimpossible to put our story in one volume: but I deem it due to my\nfamily that some facts should be stated in this history.\n\nAfter the public parts we had been forced to perform at Hydesville, the\nnews spread far and wide. The crowd of people came in wagons from every\ndirection before the harvest had been gathered. Some drove through the\ngate, but others took down the fences, and drove through the grain\nfields, and peppermint beds, regardless of the destruction they were\nperpetrating. Against all this destruction of his property, David was\ndefenceless. He saw and felt how utterly useless it was for him to\nattempt to remonstrate with such an element.\n\nIt was late in the afternoon when a tired horseman came galloping up the\ncarriage road, to inform my brother that a party consisting of several\nwagon-loads were on their way to mob us. At this announcement we were\nmuch frightened, and knew not what to do. Intimations of such a design\nhad reached us previously, and powder and shot had been provided for our\ndefence. The boys and hired men had gathered piles of stones behind the\nhouse, and at first it was considered to be our wisest way to defend\nourselves as best we could.\n\nThe sun was low and we dreaded the night coming on. What could we do?\nMother called us all into the parlor bedroom, and there we knelt, with\nfear, and prayed to God for protection. The Spirits spelled out to us,\n\"You will not be harmed. God will protect you.\" We stood for a moment\nand counselled together. The package of powder flew from the top of the\nbureau and hit Cathie on the forehead, and that of the shot came and\nstruck me on the shoulder. My brother took the guns and fired them off,\nand threw the powder and shot into the peppermint patch, saying, \"I will\nnot raise a hand against them. If God has sent this upon us, for the\ngood of mankind, he is able to protect us. I will trust him.\"\n\nThe windows were fastened down as best we could. The dog began to bark\nfearfully. We heard the distant shouts and snatches of songs, and knew\nthey would soon be upon us. They drove up the road, into the yard, and\none woman jumped through the window of the kitchen, _hoops and all_. She\nwas in the kitchen before any of us knew they had entered the door-yard.\nDavid left us alone in the parlor, walked into the kitchen, and said to\nthe woman, \"If you had knocked I would have opened the door for you; it\nwas not locked.\" He then opened all the doors, walked out to the crowd,\nand said, \"Ladies and gentlemen, walk in. You are welcome to search the\nhouse from garret to cellar, if you will do so respectfully.\" One man,\nthe leader of the crowd, exclaimed, in a manner of the utmost surprise:\n\"My God! Dave Fox, is it you they have said so much about? No, we won't\ncome in now. We'll go home and dress ourselves and come another time.\"\n\nThus ended this mob against the Spiritualists, as all others\nsubsequently have ended. The Spirits, therefore, fulfilled their promise\nand protected us from all harm.\n\nI might fill many a page with the experiences of the family in that\nhouse at Hydesville, during the period of about three months and three\nweeks preceding that March 31, 1848, on which the neighbors were first\ncalled in. From the very first night of their taking possession of it,\nthey were disturbed and puzzled with the strange knockings and other\nnoises. They had gone into it only as a temporary home, while my father\nwas building the new house on the homestead farm, and the carpenter had\nestimated a couple of months as sufficient time for his work. All sorts\nof natural theories were imagined as to the cause of the sounds, nor did\nthey, for some time, think of Spirits or of anything supernatural, or\neven important. Father insisted, at one time, that they proceeded from a\ncobbler in the neighborhood, hammering leather, and working late in the\nnight. Then it was \"some boards that must be loose and shaken by the\nwind.\" Then it appeared that \"there must be dancing going on at Mr.\nDuesler's, or some other house within hearing;\" then \"the house must be\nfull of rats\"--though mother declared she had never seen a rat in it.\nAgain, when the knocks would break out suddenly, close to some of the\nfamily, or at the table, one of the girls would charge the other with\nhaving caused them, saying, \"Now you did that,\" etc., etc. Father had\nalways been a regular Methodist, in good standing, and was invariable\nin his practice of morning prayers; and when he would be kneeling upon\nhis chair, it would sometimes amuse the children to see him open wide\nhis eyes, as knocks would sound and vibrate on his chair itself. He\nexpressed it graphically to mother: \"When I am done praying, that\njigging stops.\" My daughter Lizzie used to declare that when she was\nwriting, there would sometimes come a strong ticking on the paper. One\nnight loud screams were heard from the children, Maggie and Cathie, in\nbed. \"O mother, come quick. Somebody has lain down across the bed.\"\nThey were often so frightened that mother would have to take them to\nlie on both sides of her in her bed, and sometimes they would go, one\nto father's bed and the other to mother's. But these frights were\nattributed to bad dreams. Indeed, it now seems strange that so little\nserious impression was made on their minds for so long a time by these\nstrange things, so persistent, so varied, and so inexplicable, which\nthey instinctively abstained from talking about to the neighbors.\n\nIt was not till March 31st that they seemed to have culminated to the\npoint which exhausted their patience, and which at last drove them to\ndo so. On the preceding night they had been kept awake nearly all\nnight by the knocking and heavy poundings about the house; and up to\nthree o'clock in the morning they were occupied pursuing the sounds\nabout from place to place, puzzling over them, and baffled in every\nattempt to discover a cause. The door would be pounded upon from the\noutside, and father would take hold of the handle, and on the return\nof the knocking would suddenly fling the door open, only to discover\nnothing. He and mother stood on the opposite sides of it, and each\nwould hear the knocking on the side opposite to themselves, as though\nmade by powerful muffled knuckles. Yet on neither side could be found\ntraces of any person or thing to have produced them, while both would\n_feel_ the strong vibrations of the wooden door.\n\nIt was afterward learned that, for several years back, strange noises\nhad been heard by successive occupants of that house, none of whom had\nremained long as its tenants. Prior to its occupation by a certain\nfamily there had been no such disturbances; subsequently to then, they\nhad been experienced by all their successors. It would be easy for me to\nname families of the highest respectability, and who are still my good\nfriends, who would attest this.[2]\n\n    [2] It would seem that none of the families who, in the course of\n    several years, had preceded the Fox family in the occupancy of\n    this haunted house, combined the highly mediumistic nature with\n    the other characteristics specially qualifying them for the great\n    work for which the time was ripe, so that the manifestations,\n    which appealed for attention, had knocked in vain at doors which\n    could not open to them. Dr. Franklin, great philosopher and\n    inventor of his time, was also, in the Spirit life, one of the\n    inventors of this mode of communication between the two worlds,\n    through knockings given in correspondence with the letters of the\n    alphabet. Through another medium, besides the author of this\n    volume, he has told me that out of \"millions\" he at last found\n    in the Fox family the instruments he wanted for its practical\n    application and introduction. This narrative curiously shows how\n    hard and long they too struggled against the mission to which the\n    Spirits were leading and at last forcing them, as will be seen\n    below. I asked him if Spirits had influenced them to take the\n    Hydesville house. His reply was a curious one. Instead of three\n    consecutive and decided raps, which would have expressed assent,\n    he on two occasions answered with only two raps, followed after a\n    moment's pause with a third, completing a qualified affirmative.\n    \"You mean that it was partially so?\" I said; which was immediately\n    answered with an unqualified assent; and he added, \"It was many,\n    not one alone,\" thus disclaiming the credit of its sole and\n    individual authorship.--ED.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nROCHESTER\n\n  MY FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF THE MATTER--HASTEN TO HYDESVILLE--RAPPING ON\n    A CANAL BOAT--EXPERIENCES--MOTHER COMES TO ROCHESTER--CALVIN\n    BROWN--DEVIOUS ROUTE OF PROJECTILES UP-STAIRS FROM CELLAR TO\n    GARRET--A DEATH-KNELL SOUNDED ALL NIGHT ON THE KEYS OF A LOCKED\n    PIANO.\n\n\nThis volume is not meant to be an autobiography, though I regret to\nbe compelled to speak so much of myself in giving an account of the\ninauguration of the movement known as \"Modern Spiritualism,\" through the\nthree sisters of the Fox family, of whom I was the eldest, and already\nmarried when my two sisters, Margaretta and Catharine, were children. I\nwas not with the family, but at my own house in Rochester, during most\nof the events related above.\n\nI was myself also at that time but little more than a child, for when\nI was married at Rochester, N.\u00a0Y., I could count but fourteen years\nand five months. It will be seen below how I was twice widowed before\nthe age of twenty-four, though my second marriage was on the supposed\ndeath-bed of one who had been a brother to us all from childhood, and\nwho merely desired to bequeath me his name.\n\nMr. Fish discovered when too late that he had married a child, and soon\nbecame indifferent to his home and family. He left Rochester under a\npretence of going on business to the West. The next I heard of him was\nthat he had married a rich widow in the State of Illinois.\n\nAs he had left little means for the support of myself and child, I\nturned my attention to teaching music. I had many friends who assisted\nme in getting pupils, and I was delighted to find myself entirely\nindependent. One day (early in May, 1848), I was at the house of Mr.\nLittle, enjoying myself with the young ladies, when Mrs. Little came\nin with the proof-sheet of a pamphlet issued by E. E. Lewis, Esq.,\nof Canandaigua, N.\u00a0Y. Mrs. Little knew my maiden name was Fox; that\nmy parents (at the time) were in Arcadia, Wayne County, N.\u00a0Y., and\nconcluded I must be the daughter of John D. Fox. She then introduced\nthe printer, and he commenced questioning me about my family relations.\nHe said, \"Is your mother's name Margaret? Have you a brother David?\"\nI replied, yes. I began to be startled by his questions, and said,\n\"For mercy's sake, what has happened?\" He answered by placing the\nproof-sheet in my hands, which gave me the first idea I ever had of the\nmanifestations which had been taking place at the dwelling of our family\nin Hydesville. I read it, and cried over it. I knew not what to think,\nbut I said to them all, \"If my father, mother, and brother David have\ncertified to such a statement, _it is true_.\" All who heard me thus\ndeclare believed it, and never wavered for a moment. As soon as I could\ncollect my thoughts, I called on Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Grover, old\nfriends of mine and of our family, and related to them the account\nwhich I had read in the proof-sheet.\n\nI told them I should take the night boat for Newark, Wayne County. I\nwould visit my family, and learn for myself about the mysterious affair.\nThey concluded to go with me. We were, at that time, obliged to travel\nby the Erie Canal packet-boat, as the direct railroad between Syracuse\nand Rochester had not yet been built. It took a few hours longer then\nthan now to make that journey. When we arrived at Hydesville, which is\nabout two miles from our old homestead, we found the house deserted. My\nbrother had persuaded the family to leave the old \"haunted house,\" and\nlive with him until their new house was finished.\n\nWe drove to brother David's, where we found mother completely broken\ndown by the recent events. She never smiled; but her sighs and tears\nwere heart-rending. We begged her to hope for the best, and try to think\ndifferently; but she could not. She wished we could all die; and it was,\nat the time, impossible to cheer her by anything we could say or do. She\nwas only about middle age, and her health had always been good; and she\nwas, by nature, very cheerful.\n\nI with the ladies who accompanied me remained about two weeks, when we\nconcluded to take Katie and Lizzie (my daughter) with us and return home\nto Rochester, as mother thought the former to be the one followed mostly\nby the sounds; and we hoped, by separating the two children (Maggie and\nKatie), that we could put a stop to the disturbance.\n\nWe had not gone many miles on the canal, however, when we became aware\nthat the rapping had accompanied us. Perfect consternation came upon us.\nI knew not what to do. We did not wish our friends to know that the\nrapping had followed us; and we remained, as much as possible, by\nourselves.\n\nWhen we went to the dinner-table with the other passengers, the Spirits\nbecame quite bold and rapped loudly; and occasionally one end of the\ntable would jump up and nearly spill the water out of our glasses; but\nthere was so much noise on the boat going through the locks and other\ndisturbances, that only we, who recognized the special sounds, knew of\nthem. We arrived at home about 5 P.M. I sat down to think over the\noccurrences of the day and of other days during my visit.\n\nThe two girls had gone into the garden. All at once came a dreadful\nsound, as if a pail of bonnyclabber had been poured from the ceiling and\nfallen upon the floor near the window. The sound was horrible enough,\nbut, in addition, came the jarring of the windows and of the whole\nhouse, as if a heavy piece of artillery had been discharged in the\nimmediate vicinity. I was so paralyzed by fear that I could not move,\nand sat stupefied; again came the same terrible sound, with all the\njarring, as at first; and yet again it came; when I sprang from the sofa\non which I had been seated and rushed out into the garden where the\nchildren were. They immediately cried out, \"Why, what is the matter with\nyou, Leah? how pale you look!\" I made some evasive reply, as I did not\nwish to alarm them.\n\nWe went to bed at an early hour, being tired and much excited. The\nchildren had expressed great fear, and I went to bed with them. No\nsooner had I extinguished the light, than the children screamed, and\nLizzie said she felt a cold hand passing over her face, and another over\nher shoulder down her back. She screamed fearfully, and I feared she\nwould go into spasms. Katie was also much frightened. For my part I was\nequally terror-stricken. I arose from my bed and sought the Bible, from\nwhich I read a chapter. But while I was reading the girls felt some\ntouches. I had never felt them; and I could not realize that they were\nnot in some way mistaken.\n\nIt was now late in the night and all was silent. We thought we would try\nto sleep, as we were tired and excited. But the instant we extinguished\nour light the Bible flew from under my pillow--where I had placed it,\nsupposing that the sacred volume would be respected. The box of matches\nwas shaken in our faces, and such a variety of performances ensued that\nwe gave up in despair to our fate, whatever it might be. We called on\neach other, if either was silent a few moments, that we might know\nthat we were all alive. Finally, when the night was nearly spent, the\ndisturbance ceased, and we fell asleep. We did not awake until very late\nin the morning. The sun shone brightly, and the birds sang sweetly in\nthe trees of the public square. (Our residence then was on Mechanics'\nSquare.) The June roses were just out, and all nature was in her\nloveliest hues. We could not make the disturbances of the past night\nseem real to us. I doubted everything, but kept my own counsel; and as\nthe shades of evening fell upon the scene, which had been a day of such\nbrightness and beauty, I made up my mind that I would go on as usual and\ntry to forget, as far as possible, the frightful occurrences of the\nprevious night. In the evening my friend Jane Little and two or three\nother friends called in to spend an hour or so with us. We sang, and I\nplayed on the piano; but even then, while the lamp was burning brightly,\nI felt the deep throbbing of the dull accompaniment of the invisibles,\nkeeping time to the music as I played; but I did not wish to have\nmy visitors know it, and the Spirits seemed kind enough not to make\nthemselves heard so that others would observe what was so apparent to\nme.\n\nAll seemed quiet when we retired for the night, at about ten o'clock.\nWe slept quietly for about two hours, when we were awakened by the most\nfrightful manifestations. The house was in a perfect uproar. Tables and\neverything in the room below us were being moved about. Doors were\nopened and shut, making the greatest possible noises. _They then walked\nup-stairs_ and into the room next to us (our bedroom was an open recess\noff from this room). There seemed to be many actors engaged in the\nperformance, and a large audience in attendance.\n\nThe representation of a pantomime performance was perfect.\n\nAfter the first scene, there was great applause by the Spirit audience.\nImmediately following, one Spirit was heard to dance _as if with clogs_,\nwhich continued fully ten minutes. This amused the audience very much;\nand a loud clapping of hands followed. After this we heard nothing more\nexcept the representation of a large crowd walking away down-stairs,\nthrough the rooms, closing the doors heavily after them. It is useless\nto attempt to record all the manifestations which occurred nightly\nduring the last few weeks that we remained in that house. I came to the\nconclusion that it was haunted, and decided to move out of it as soon as\nI could find another house that suited me.\n\nThere was a house on Prospect Street, nearly finished, and I engaged\nit. I was particular to tell the agent that I wanted a house in which\nno crime had been committed. For I believed that the house I was then\nliving in, like the one at Hydesville, was haunted; and I presumed that\nin this case as in the other it must have had its origin in hidden\ncrime. He smiled as he remarked that he \"thought that I would have\nno difficulty on that account.\" We moved into this house as soon as\npossible, and congratulated ourselves on our good fortune in finding a\nplace that had never before been tenanted.\n\nTwo houses stood on one foundation. On the ground floor was a kitchen,\ncellar, and pantry. The staircase led from the kitchen to the second\nfloor. On the outside, a front and rear flight of steps led to a balcony\nfrom which we could enter the parlor and dining-room, on the second\nfloor. Another flight of steps led from the dining-room to the third\nfloor, which was one room the entire length and breadth of the house. In\nthis last-named room we put up three beds, and one bed in the room on\nthe parlor floor. I partitioned off a small room in one corner of the\nupper floor with chintz curtains. This lessened the size of the large\nroom and afforded us a store-room. In the rear of the house was an\nold cemetery, called \"the Buffalo Burying-ground.\" This cemetery was\nseparated from our lot by a high fence. I remember I disliked the idea\nof seeing those tall monuments every time I went into the pantry. (The\nentrance into the dining-room from the kitchen was through the pantry.)\n\nNothing occurred, during the first night of our occupancy of this house,\nof an unusual character, and we slept undisturbed.\n\nI had written to our family at Arcadia, and told them what was\ntranspiring with us nightly. This worried mother, and she determined to\ncome immediately, and find some plan for suppressing it, if it could\npossibly be done. She, with Margaretta, arrived the next day, and we\nrejoiced to tell her that we had occupied the new house one night, and\nno sounds had been heard to disturb us. After supper we remained at the\ntable a long time, until mother suggested that it was getting late, and\nwe had better retire for the night.\n\nAll was quiet until about midnight, when we distinctly heard footsteps\ncoming up the stairs, walking into the little room I had partitioned\noff with curtains, which seemed admirably adapted to their purposes. We\ncould hear them shuffling, giggling, and whispering, as if they were\nenjoying themselves at some surprise they were about to give us.\nOccasionally they would come and give our bed a tremendous shaking,\nlifting it (and us) entirely from the floor, almost to the ceiling, and\nthen let us down with a bang; then pat us with hands. Then they would\nretire to the little room, which we subsequently named \"the green room.\"\nAt length we were quiet, and all fell asleep and slept until late in the\nmorning.\n\nThe sun shone brightly in through the window, and mother exclaimed: \"Can\nit be possible? Is it really true? How can we live and endure it? We\ncannot much longer stay here alone nights. We must have somebody to stay\nwith us.\" Fillmore Grover came to take his lesson, and mother asked him\nto tell Calvin she would like to have him call and see her. (Calvin\nBrown's mother had been left a widow when quite young. She was the\ndaughter of Daniel Hopkins, of Canada West, and belonged to the Society\nof Friends. She married out of the society, which was then against their\ndiscipline. She placed her oldest child, Calvin, in a military school;\nand when she found herself gradually failing in strength, she wrote to\nher father, who came and took her home, with her three younger children.\nShe returned once to Rochester, and requested mother to look after\nCalvin, and care for him as she would for her own child, if she should\nnot recover. His mother died, and he called my parents father and\nmother; the same as the rest of us.)\n\nHe called at about two o'clock. We all sat down and related what had\nhappened and what we had witnessed during the past night. He promised\nto come and stay there at night; but he advised us to ask no questions,\nnor give them any encouragement, as he considered them evil spirits. To\nthis we all agreed.\n\nHe came that night, and we were allowed to rest quietly until about two\no'clock, when we were all awakened by a disturbance in the \"green room.\"\nEverything seemed to be in commotion, but, as Calvin was in the house,\nI felt more confidence in myself. I asked them to please behave\nthemselves. At this, one Spirit walked around, as if on his bare feet.\nHe answered my question by stamping on the floor. I was amused--although\nafraid. He seemed so willing to do my bidding that I could not resist\nthe temptation of speaking to him as he marched around my bed. I said,\n\"_Flat-Foot_,[3] can you dance the Highland fling?\" This seemed to\ndelight him. I sang the music for him, and he danced most admirably.\nThis shocked mother, and she said, \"O Leah, how can you encourage\nthat fiend, by singing for him to dance?\" I soon found that they took\nadvantage of my familiarity, and gathered in strong force around us. And\nhere language utterly fails to describe the incidents that occurred.\nLoud whispering, giggling, scuffling, groaning, death-struggles, murder\nscenes of the most fearful character--I forbear to describe them. Mother\nbecame so alarmed that she called to Calvin to come up-stairs. He\ncame--angry at the Spirits, and declared that \"he would conquer, or die\nin the attempt.\" This seemed to amuse them. They went to his bed, raised\nit up and let it down, and shook it violently. He was still determined\nnot to yield to them.\n\n    [3] As from the sounds of the foot-falls it seemed to us.\n\nBefore Calvin came up-stairs, and during a short lull in their\nperformances, we quickly removed our beds to the floor, hoping thereby\nto prevent them from raising us up and letting us down with such\nviolence. Calvin said, as he came up, that we were foolish to make our\nbeds on the floor, as it pleased the Spirits to see how completely\nthey had conquered us. So he laid down on his bed, and quietly waited\ndevelopments. Mother said, \"Calvin, I wish your bed was on the floor,\ntoo. We have not been disturbed since we left the bedstead.\" Calvin\nremarked, \"They are up to some deviltry now. I hear them.\" He no sooner\nuttered these words, than a shower of slippers came flying at him as he\nlay in his bed. He bore this without a murmur. The next instant he was\nstruck violently with his cane. He seized it and struck back, right and\nleft, with all his strength, without hitting anything; but received a\npalpable _bang_ in return for every thrust he made. He sprang to his\nfeet and fought with all his might. Everything thrown at him he pitched\nback to them, until a brass candlestick was thrown at him, cutting his\nlip. This quite enraged him. He pronounced a solemn malediction, and,\nthrowing himself on the bed, vowed he would have nothing more to do with\n\"fiendish Spirits.\"\n\nHe was not long permitted to remain in quiet there. They commenced\nat his bedstead and deliberately razed it to the floor, leaving the\nhead-board in one place, the foot-board in another, the two sides at\nangles, and the bed-clothes scattered about the room. He was left lying\non his mattress, and for a moment there was silence; after which some\nslight movements were heard in the \"green room.\" I had stowed a large\nnumber of balls of carpet-rags in an old chest standing on the floor,\nwith two trunks and several other articles on the top of it. It seemed\nbut the work of a moment for them to get at the carpet-balls, which came\nflying at us from every direction, hitting us in the same place every\ntime. They took us for their target, and threw with the skill of an\narcher. Darkness made no difference with them, and if either of us\nattempted to remonstrate against such violence, they would instantly\ngive _the remonstrant_ the benefit of a ball.\n\nThe next day was Sunday. We were greatly depressed, and decided to leave\nthings as they were. After breakfast we concluded to visit Mount Hope\nCemetery. We returned late, and retired immediately after supper. While\nsitting on our bed-side (on the floor), deliberating in our own minds\nwhat was best to do, we were suddenly startled by a tremendous knocking\non the roof of the house. (The raps always appear to be made on the\nopposite side of the door, or floor, table, etc.) We implored them to\nstay where they were (as it seemed the noises were outside the house),\nand let us alone; but no sooner was the request made, than a sound slap\nwas given us each, as if in reproof of what we had been saying. A second\nslap, as if with an open hand, was administered to Cathie, when she\ncried out, \"O, look!\" We all saw what seemed to be the form of a large\nman, lying across the foot of our bed, breathing irregularly, and\napparently in great distress. (The sheet was wrapped around him, muffled\nclosely about his neck.) His gurgling manifestation was terrific, and\nproduced a sensible vibration. We pitied him. He appeared like one\npassing through the agonies of death. While we were contemplating\nthis figure, another slap came upon Cathie,[4] and she fell to\nall appearance lifeless. We were greatly alarmed at this terrible\nmanifestation. We knew nothing of Clairvoyance, Magnetism, or Trance\nMediums, at that time. We had no one to advise us, and we were nearly\ndistracted. Calvin took a looking-glass and held it close to Cathie's\nmouth, but we could discern no signs of life. Finally we were on the\npoint of calling some one in, when a deep groan announced that she\nlived. We held her hands, but could not perceive the slightest\npulsation. After remaining in this unconscious state for some time, she\nagain moaned piteously and raised her hand, pointing at something she\nsaw, and explained to us afterward. We asked many questions which she\nanswered by pressing our hands. She described the terrible occurrence at\nthe Hydesville house, and when the influence left her, she wept\ninconsolably for a long time.\n\n    [4] My youngest sister Catharine is sometimes called Cathie in\n    these pages and sometimes Katie. Mother and father always\n    called her Cathie and it was her domestic name. At a later\n    period the public always spoke and wrote of her as Katie, so\n    that that appellation came practically to supersede the other.\n    But now, while writing of the period here referred to, the\n    Cathie rises spontaneously, and for mother's sake I love to let\n    it so stand, pronouncing it to myself as she did, _Cathie_, as\n    a diminutive of Catharine.\n\nAfter she became quiet a holy influence fell upon her, and she repeated\ntwenty or thirty verses of poetry. I can only remember the last line of\neach verse, which was:\n\n      \"To be with Christ is better far.\"\n\nAfter this things changed somewhat. We heard the sounds at all times of\nday and night, variously located in different parts of the house, but in\na much milder form; unless some of us attempted to go contrary to their\nwishes. Often at meal-time the table would be gradually agitated, and\nCalvin in particular would be more disturbed than the rest of us. Once\nhe arose from his chair and reached across the table for a heavy pitcher\nof water, when the chair was instantly removed and he sat down on the\nfloor, spilling the water all over himself. He instantly arose and with\nan execration denounced the whole thing as the work of the devil and his\nimps. Of course we laughed at his calamity, and he thought we should not\nencourage such things by laughing at them. He often laughed about it,\nyears afterward, as heartily as we had done.\n\n[Illustration: A, Handrail to landing from second floor. B, Bed occupied\nby Calvin. C, Our mattresses laid together on the floor. D, E, Beds. F,\nA store-room. The dotted lines, with arrows, show the route taken by the\nvegetables from the store-room or kitchen floor to their destination two\nstories above.]\n\nWe had stored our winter provisions in the cellar. Among them were\nseveral barrels of apples, potatoes, turnips, etc. From this cellar came\nthe apples, potatoes, and turnips flying across our room, hitting all\nin precisely the same place every time. It will now be remembered that\nthese articles were in the cellar on the ground floor, and had to come\nfrom the rear of the cellar, through the door, into the kitchen, through\nthe kitchen, up the stairs, into the pantry on the second floor, through\nthe pantry into the dining-room, up the second flight of stairs, into\nthe large room in which we slept, hitting us as we lay in our beds near\nthe front window. The reader can trace their pathway from departure to\narrival at their destination on the diagram of the three stories.\n\nA cabinet shop was the next thing represented by the Spirits. They\nseemed to be possessed of all kinds of tools to work with. After sawing\noff boards they would let them fall heavily on the floor, jarring\neverything around them. Then after planing, jointing, driving nails, and\nscrewing down the lid of a coffin, they would shove the hollow sounding\narticle about the room. (This we understood at a later day.) Often, to\nour utter amazement, pickets from the discarded lots in the cemetery\ncame flying through the room over our heads, on our beds, like d\u00e9bris in\na tornado. They came from the extreme west side of the burying-ground,\nthrough _that_ lot, and the distance of two hundred feet through _our_\nlot; an entire distance of about four hundred feet. That they came by no\nvisible means, we knew; as no human power could have thrown them through\nthe air into our chamber window, hitting us on our beds, in the same\nplace every time.\n\nMrs. Vick and her three daughters lived in the other house, on the same\nfoundation as our own. She was a very quiet neighbor, and sympathized\nwith us. She was a native of England, and related many interesting and\nstrange things which she had witnessed in her own family.\n\nI did not wish to encourage the manifestations, and we seldom asked\nquestions. At this time, our troubles (in Rochester) were not known to\nany one except Mrs. Vick and our own family. But things were coming to\na fearful crisis. We closed our windows and did not raise our shades\nduring the day. This seemed to annoy the Spirits more than anything else\nwe had done, and caused them to make a change in their manifestations.\nCalvin had gone away with his (military) company, and we were left alone\nseveral days, at the mercy of the Spirits. We had the consolation of\nknowing that we had never harmed _any one_, and we could see no reason\nwhy the Spirits should wish to _harm us_.\n\nWe called on our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Post, and told them our story,\nwhich afforded them no little amusement at our expense. They were\nfriends of our family, and listened attentively to our statement,\nbelieving we were suffering under some psychological delusion. But when\nthey came to examine for themselves, and witnessed the manifestations\n_in their own house_, they began to think we were not so entirely\ndeluded as they had supposed. As soon as they became interested, they\nbegged permission to invite some friends of theirs. We consented to let\nMr. and Mrs. Henry Bush, and Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Granger come as they\nwere friends of our family, provided they would keep the matter a\nprofound secret. But we soon found it was not long to be so kept.\n\nAt times, when we were overcome with anxiety, we would all kneel down\nwith mother, and pray for protection. We had become satisfied that no\nearthly power could relieve us. While on our knees, pins would be stuck\ninto different parts of our persons. Mother's cap would be removed from\nher head, her comb jerked out of her hair, and every conceivable thing\ndone to annoy us. We resolved to rest, as best we could, during the day;\nbut would, on our knees, pray to have these evil doings suppressed.\nOften did my dear anxious mother exclaim--\"What have we done? What have\n_have we_ done, that we should be so tormented? Dear children, pray to\nGod to have mercy upon us.\"\n\nMy little sister Katie would sometimes say, \"_I can't pray, I feel more\nlike swearing_.\"\n\nOne evening they had been more quiet than usual. We remained some time\nat the table, and began to hope that things were going to be better with\nus, when we were suddenly startled and shocked by sounds from the piano,\nwhich was open in the parlor. The lower bass key tolled the death-knell,\nsolemnly and distinctly, while we sat at the table, unable for a time to\nstir. At length I went into the parlor, closed the piano, locked it, and\ntook the key with me; but the sounds kept on. No other demonstrations\nwere made during the night, but the tolling of that knell inside the\nlocked piano. While this solemn sound was made, they would make no other\ndisturbances.\n\nCalvin had not yet returned. The door-bell rang, and Mr. and Mrs. Post\ncame in. On hearing these sounds Mr. Post went for Mr. and Mrs. Bush.\nWhen Mr. Bush came and listened to the solemn sounds a few minutes, he\nfell upon his knees and prayed to God to sustain this family if, in his\ngreat wisdom, he had chosen them as instruments through whom mankind\nshould be benefited. Still the dreadful sounds continued until about one\no'clock. Our friends left, and we retired to our sleeping-rooms to try\nand rest, if possible. We seldom all slept at once, as we were sure to\nbe disturbed by some frightful exhibition, if we allowed our light to go\nout. We were getting ready for bed, when we heard a wagon drive up to\nthe side gate and a familiar voice say \"Whoa\" to his horses. Mother\nhastened to the door, and called out, \"Oh! Stephen, who is dead? We have\nhad a terrible warning of death, all night.\" Stephen, my sister Maria's\nhusband, replied, \"No one is dead, that I know of. But David's little\nElla was supposed to be dying when I left, I have come to take you back\nwith me.\" He fed his horses, rested a short time on the sofa, and about\nfour o'clock started for Arcadia, with mother and Maggie. The sounds on\nthe piano ceased. When we received a message from Arcadia, it was to\nthis effect: that dear little Ella was alive when they reached home, but\ndied the next day.\n\nWe had been warned, in the spring, when I was there in company with Mrs.\nGrover and Mrs. Granger, that a death would take place in our family.\nThe words were written on a block of wood corresponding exactly with\nthose the children had brought from the new house which was being built\nby my father, within speaking distance of brother David's home. The\ncommunication, written in plain letters and thrown through the open\nwindow in broad daylight, read as follows: \"One of your family will die.\nShe will be happy with the angels; mourn not for her.\" I believed it\nwould be mother, as she was so broken down and unhappy. We feared that\nshe would not endure it much longer.\n\nThe writing on the block had always troubled me. I was in the room when\nit was thrown in, and knew that no human power could have thrown it in\nat that window and escaped instant detection.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nROCHESTER (_Continued_).\n\n  VENTRILOQUISM--\"PROCLAIM THESE TRUTHS TO THE WORLD\"--THE CALL\n    FOR THE ALPHABET--VOICES IN RAPS--GOD'S TELEGRAPH BETWEEN\n    THE TWO WORLDS--AN EVICTION--COMMITTEE OF FIVE--NO MONEY\n    ACCEPTED--IMPROPER QUESTIONS TO SPIRITS--\"DONE\"--STRUGGLE AGAINST\n    THE \"UNCANNY THING\"--BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.\n\n\nMother and Maggie returned in about two weeks to Rochester, expecting to\nremain with us until the new house was finished. But \"a change came over\nthe spirit of our dream.\" Things in spiritual matters grew from bad to\nworse. Our kind friend, Mrs. Vick, had died suddenly during mother's\nabsence, and the family soon gave up the house. It was rented by a\nnew tenant, a diminutive, sickly-looking man who could not stand the\n\"racket.\" His wife complained to him, and declared that she was afraid\nto remain at home with the children while he was absent. One day, while\nthey were eating dinner, they heard knocks on their table. He was\nfurious in his irritation at this, and coming up to me said: \"You are\nventriloquists, and I will put a stop to your doings. I will have you\narrested if I ever hear any noises in my house again.\" I doubt if\nhe had finished eating his dinner. He was very pale and trembled with\nexcitement. My neighbor, Mrs. Bush, a very intelligent and talented\nlady, had called on me, and took up the argument in my behalf herself.\nShe said to him: \"Inasmuch as the sounds have been in your house, which\nhave disturbed Leah all the morning, I think, if any one is arrested,\nyou should be the one.\"\n\nThe Spirits took \"a new cue\" from this visit of our neighbor. They\nseemed determined to take measures to satisfy him that his attempt to\ninterfere with, or stop their manifestations, did not accomplish that\nobject. They were, apparently, determined to settle the question of\nventriloquism beyond any future doubt. They sounded their trumpets upon\nthe house-top. In other words they carried on the manifestations on the\nvery peak of the roof. It sounded like the frequent discharge of heavy\nartillery. It was stated to us, the next day, that the sounds were heard\na mile away. We feared that the roof would fall in upon us. We all fell\nupon our knees and prayed for protection. We were in this position when\nCalvin returned. That night the sounds continued until daylight. The\nfurniture on the second floor moved in every direction. Books were\nthrown about the room. The bureau in the bed-room was moved so that it\nblocked up the door. The music, from the parlor, flew at us while at\nbreakfast in the dining-room. We knew not what to do. We had been in the\nhabit of conversing by putting direct questions, which could be answered\naffirmatively or negatively; but we did not think of getting the\nalphabet, until our dear friend _Isaac Post_ came in. He said to me,\n\"Leah, why, don't thee remember that thy brother David conversed with\nthe Hydesville Spirits by using the alphabet? Perhaps they will explain\nwhat is wanted, if thee will call the alphabet now.\" This seemed to be\nexactly what they _did_ want; and I asked the question, \"Do you want to\nsay something to us?\" There was a tremendous rapping in answer. I then\ncommenced calling the alphabet, letter by letter in its order; and the\nfirst message we ever obtained in Rochester, through the Spirits, was\nthis: \"Dear friends, you must proclaim these truths to the world. This\nis the dawning of a new era; and you must not try to conceal it any\nlonger. When you do your duty, God will protect you; and good Spirits\nwill watch over you.\"\n\nI asked if the Spirits would give me a _signal_ by which I might know\nwhen they wanted us to use the alphabet. They then spelled, \"We will rap\nfive times, in quick succession; and you will know whenever it is called\nfor.\" When this was concluded there was a tremendous rapping all over\nthe room; and then each one gave his own distinctive signal. They have\nbeen continued from that day to this.\n\nBy this I mean that they gave their several rappings with such\ndifferences in sound as to be quite distinct from each other, and almost\nas clearly recognizable as would be their intonations of voice as\nspeakers, or signatures as writers. On the occasion here mentioned I\nthink there must have been a score of spirits who rapped one after the\nother, some on the table, some on the door, ceiling, windows, floor,\netc. Some were loud, some low, some rapid and some slower, and no two of\nthem seemed quite the same. Many persons who are familiar with these\nsignals frequently identify them by the sounds.\n\nI soon received letters from various places saying that it had been made\nknown through clairvoyants, speaking mediums and seers, that the same\nsignal had been given to all mediums.\n\nThus we see that God's Telegraph[5] ante-dated that of Samuel F.\u00a0B.\nMorse.\n\n    [5] It opened up communication between the two worlds of matter\n    and spirit, as that of Morse had done between distant places in\n    the material plane of our life.--ED.\n\nThis work progressed too slowly to suit the Spirits. We could not\nconsent to let it be publicly known that we were having such marvellous\ndisturbances. So they sought out a new way to coerce us.\n\nOne night there was a great uproar in the other house. Loud rappings\nwere heard, the little man's pillow was jerked from under his head, his\nwife nearly fainted, his children screamed, and he was badly frightened.\nHe could stand it no longer. He arose in the middle of the night, and\ncalled up a party of his church brethren, who went to his house and\nwitnessed the demonstrations. They then went to the office of my\nlandlord and got his concurrence, and obtained a warrant for our removal\nfrom our house. It will be recollected that this was Mr. J.\u00a0B. Bennett,\nto whom, when I engaged the house of him, I said I wanted a new house\nwhere no crime had been committed, as I believed the house I lived in\nwas haunted; and that he replied, \"I think you will have no difficulty\non that account.\" Yet he at once consented to our expulsion because my\nlittle neighbor had heard the sounds in his own house. The warrant was\nserved in the morning. I immediately communicated with my friends, who\nrallied in large numbers, and before the week was out, we were all\nsettled in a pleasant little cottage on Troup Street. It was about\nSeptember 1, 1849, when we moved into the house. I cannot let this\nopportunity pass without paying a tribute to those dear friends.\n\nThey too were ridiculed and persecuted at home and abroad; but they\nstood firm, and defended the right, as they were fully convinced that\nit only required time to prove it to the world. Many of those precious\nsouls have passed to the world beyond, and I know they rejoice in Heaven\nto-day over the happy discoveries they made, and which they tell us have\ngreatly widened their capacity for usefulness and enjoyment in a higher\nsphere.\n\nThere was a marked difference in the manifestations during our meals.\nThe rappings seemed more concentrated, and very near us. The Spirits\nappeared interested in much that we were saying, and often pressed us\napprovingly with their hands. On one occasion a Spirit child laid its\nlittle hands on mine (not in mine), and so long as I remained quiet and\npermitted the little angel to do as it wished to, without disturbing the\nconditions requisite to enable it to come so near me, there was no\nshrinking or withdrawal on the part of the Spirit, who had thus far\nre-entered this mundane sphere to prove to us, beyond a doubt, that she\nstill lived, and loved us. We could not doubt it. There was no one to\ndeceive us. The Spirit was my darling little sister. She pressed us with\nboth her hands, and kissed them over and over again. We would close our\neyes in daylight and they would kiss us naturally as in life. We were\ntruly converted, and as the dear old Methodists used to say, \"born\nagain.\"\n\nWe could then realize that we had something to live for, something to\nhope for, in that sacred hour when each one in our humble group \"lay at\nthe feet of Jesus,\" willing to be guided and directed in the paths of\ntruth and duty. The alphabet was called for, and the following message\nwas given and signed by our ever revered grandfather, known to his\nfamily and friends as a man of encyclop\u00e6dic knowledge, as well as of\nnoble character. \"You need not wait as I did for that great 'change of\nheart;' but adopt the course at once and live up to your highest light.\nGo where that leads you.\"\n\n\n\"MY DEAR CHILDREN:--The time will come when you will understand and\nappreciate this great dispensation. You must permit your good friends to\nmeet with you and hold communion with their friends in heaven.\n\n    \"I am your grandfather,\n      \"JACOB SMITH.\"\n\n\nThis communication affected us all deeply (particularly my mother), and\nbrought our souls together sympathetically. We read it to our visitors.\nThey at once adopted the plan of sitting around the table with us. This\nmethod immediately, as a consequence, placed the subject before the\ncommunity. It was discussed everywhere, both publicly and privately. Mr.\nIsaac Post's store was beset, from morning until night, with inquirers\nwho were anxious to visit us. As we were situated, our friends felt a\ndelicacy in bringing strangers to our house, except by previous\narrangement.\n\nIn a short time the interest increased to such a degree that it was\nthought advisable to form a committee of five in a convenient part of\nthe city, through whom the rushing crowd of curiosity seekers could be\naccommodated. The names of this committee were Isaac Post, R.\u00a0D. Jones,\nEdward Jones, John Kedzie, and Andrew Clackner. They were faithful\nfriends, who never permitted any one to visit us unattended by\nthemselves, or some reliable person. All through this, and, indeed,\nfor the first two years, we scorned the idea of receiving money from\nvisitors. We felt that it would be degrading to accept money for\nthe exhibition of spiritualism. Our time and business were greatly\ninterfered with, and the overwhelming question frequently arose, \"What\nshall we do? We cannot endure this much longer.\" But there was a course\nmarked out for us (unconsciously to ourselves) to follow. For a time we\nfancied things were going on better, and we felt encouraged, but we\nlittle knew the bitter experience we were destined to pass through. Many\nof our visitors were anxious to learn, through the Spirits, how to make\na fortune. Some wished to know the secrets of others; some, dissatisfied\nwith their domestic relations, sought the aid of Spirits to help them\nout of their difficulty; some wanted to know what numbers they should\nbuy in a lottery, to be successful; others would wish to be advised in\ntheir stock speculations.\n\nTo all such questions ready responses were given, but invariably ended\nin failures.\n\nThis order of investigation brought us in rapport with an entirely\ndifferent class of Spirits. They had no particular motive in tormenting\nus, but they seemed delighted to lead us on, and deceive the visitors\nwho sought them in such a spirit. But, when people sought for\ncommunications of a more elevated character, answers were given\naccordingly.\n\nFrequently our friends would become so deeply interested in their\nmanifestations that they would forget we were mortal and needed time to\nrecuperate our physical strength. They did not know that every echo, as\nit came through our medium forces, consumed a portion of our vitality.\nThe Spirit knew this, and would close the s\u00e9ances by spelling \"done.\"\nThis, our friends would sometimes take exception to, and complain that\nthey should break off so abruptly. We could not explain, to their\nsatisfaction, that we were exhausted under the constant pressure of mind\nand body. The Spirits, knowing this, would give the signal \"done.\" After\nthis word done was spelled, we never obtained anything of an elevated\ncharacter. We could get physical manifestations, of an independent\ncharacter, such as throwing things, and moving furniture in different\nparts of the house. _Those_ manifestations seldom seemed to weaken us,\nbut intellectual communications given through our immediate brain forces\nhad a weakening effect upon us when continued too long.\n\nA gentleman (Dr. C.\u00a0D. Griswold) living in Batavia had induced his\nminister (an Episcopal clergyman) to visit us.\n\nThey arrived late; and, after a few questions had been answered, the\nword \"done\" was spelled. They did not understand the meaning of this,\nand continued their questions. Suddenly a loud rapping, in a distant\npart of the room, spelled out, \"Why the devil do you ask questions after\nyou have been told done?\"\n\nThis was a terrible damper to us all. The minister stood aghast, looking\nfirst at one and then at the other with astonishment, as if wondering\nwhat kind of creatures we were. The friend who had brought him was\nmortified in the extreme. They remained in town, and called on us again\nthe next morning. All things were quiet, and we sat down with these two\ngentlemen alone. The doctor asked this question, \"Will the spirit of my\ndear father come and answer my questions?\"\n\nImmediately the alphabet was called for, and spelled out this sentence,\n\"When good Spirits say 'done,' you should not seek for further\ncommunications. Order is heaven's first law, and you should not overtax\nmediums; for no good Spirit will answer, after their guardians say\n'done.'\"\n\nThe doctor received the explanation favorably, and felt greatly relieved\nwhen he saw his friend, the minister, was disposed to investigate\nfurther. With us all was turmoil and confusion. When manifestations and\ncommunications were consistent, we believed them to come from good\nSpirits; but when they were to the contrary, we condemned all as evil.\nWe had no religious prejudices, no motive whatever in establishing\ntheories. We could make no satisfactory explanations to the various\ninterrogatories, made by promiscuous parties who were constantly in\nattendance.\n\nLet me here emphasize the fact that the general feeling of our family,\nof all of us, including Calvin Brown, who was virtually one of us, was\nstrongly adverse to all this strange and uncanny thing. We regarded it\nas a great misfortune, as it was an affliction, which had fallen upon\nus; how, whence or why, we knew not. The influence of the surrounding\nopinion of neighbors, and the country round about, reacted upon us in\nconformation of our own natural and educational impressions, that the\nwhole thing was of evil origin, unnatural, perplexing, and tormenting;\nwhile its unpopularity tended to cast a painful shadow upon us. We\nresisted it, struggled against it, and constantly and earnestly prayed\nfor deliverance from it, even while a strange fascination attached to\nthese marvellous manifestations thus forced upon us, against our will,\nby invisible agencies and agents whom we could neither resist, control,\nnor understand. If our will, earnest desires and prayers could have\nprevailed or availed, the whole thing would have ended then and there,\nand the world outside of our little neighborhood would never have heard\nmore of the Rochester Rappings, or of the unfortunate Fox family.\n\nBut the movement was not in our hands nor under our control. It had an\nobject, and we, as reluctant and humble instruments, were in the hands\nof other and higher wills and forces, from whom it had proceeded, by\nwhom it was directed, and, so to speak, engineered. We have since come\nto understand that all these events and incidents, perplexing and\ndistressful as they were to us, were but the birth-throes of a new\ntruth, which was destined to revolutionize this world, and establish a\ncommunication between the here and the hereafter; of the Earth and of\nthe Spirit.\n\nAnd I may here say that, inasmuch as Electricity and Magnetism seem to\nplay some part in the machinery of this intercommunication, it is not\nsurprising that the Spirit on the other side who seems to have been the\nprincipal initiator, not to say the inventor of this new development in\nthe evolution of Humanity, was the great man known to earthly fame as\nthe father of electrical science, as he was one of the great fathers of\nAmerican liberty; he of whom it has been grandly written that he\nsnatched the lightning from the sky, and the sceptre from the hand of\nthe tyrant: the immortal BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nROCHESTER (_Continued_), NOVEMBER, 1848.\n\n  LIGHT ARTICLES MADE IMMOVABLE--THE COFFINS--ADIEU OF THE\n    SPIRITS--THEIR RETURN--FIRST STEPS TOWARD PUBLIC INVESTIGATION--\"HIRE\n    CORINTHIAN HALL\"--FIRST COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION--SECOND--THIRD OR\n    \"INFIDEL\" COMMITTEE--BEHAVIOR OF A GREAT DINING-TABLE--THE TAR AND\n    TORPEDO MOB.\n\n\nAll this could not have gone on very long in a western city (as it then\nwas) like Rochester, with its 70,000 inhabitants, without leading to a\nstate of feeling and opinion which made it impossible to keep the matter\nconfined to the limited number of persons who, from time to time,\ngot access to s\u00e9ances (at our house) held under the auspices of the\ncommittee of five persons previously named.\n\nMr. E. W. Capron, of Auburn, had been introduced to us by friends of\nlong standing. He was at that time a sceptic in almost everything\nrelating to immortality, but he was an honest man, and soon became\nthoroughly convinced of the truth of Spiritualism. We still hoped to\nsuppress the manifestations, and mother consented to let Cathie go\nhome with Mr. and Mrs. Capron, imagining by that means to put a stop\nto further disturbances. For a few days there seemed to be a change\nfor the better, and again mother thought she had accomplished her\nobject; but all this while the Spirits had been actively employed, as\nthey soon convinced us by more powerful demonstrations than ever. They\nhad redoubled their forces and paraded themselves through every part\nof the house, standing guard at all the apertures, thus to prevent\nany two of us from coming near each other to confer on any matter,\nhowever important we deemed it to be.\n\nDuring the winter of 1849, scarcely a day passed that we did not have\nsome new and wonderful exhibition of the power and intelligence of our\nstrange visitors. At times things would fly through space, above our\nheads, when there was no human form to be seen. The chairs, tables, and\neven small articles, would suddenly become so heavy that no strength\nthat we could exert could move them. It became a common saying in our\nhouse that \"the Spirits are holding them down,\" when we would have\noccasion to lift any light article from one place to another. It was\nconstantly repeated to us that we had \"a mission to perform,\" and we\nwere directed to \"make ready for the work.\" My mother declared that we\nwould never yield to any such directions again; but the Spirits said,\n\"You have been chosen to go before the world to convince the sceptical\nof the great truth of immortality.\" It was in vain that we opposed to\nthis a strenuous resistance, and argued that we had already done enough,\nand more than should be required of us. But the constant burden of their\ndeclaration was that we must \"go forth and do our duty.\"\n\nAt last they resorted to more violent measures of coercion. One morning,\non awaking, we found four _coffins_ drawn on the kitchen floor, of\nlife-size, and corresponding to the different sizes of mother, myself,\nMargaretta, and Katie: and after we had washed them away, we found next\nmorning the same fearful objects on the ceiling. Twice again was this\nrepeated in the dining-room, so that they came four times in all. They\nwere handsomely and artistically drawn in black and white, the lids\nbeing thrown back to show how beautifully they had done the work of\npinking the white linings. Each coffin had the drawing of its plate, and\non them were perfectly and correctly written our respective names and\nages, while beneath them was also written in large plain letters: \"If\nyou do not go forth and do your duty you will soon be laid in your\ncoffins.\" We called in our friends to behold the gruesome sight. Some\nwere superstitious and declared that they would not dare to disobey such\nbiddings; but we feared that if we yielded to them, we would become\nsubject to some unknown evil influences, so that mother still held out\nagainst what did not meet her approval.\n\nIt is impossible for me to make my reader understand and realize the\nscenes we passed through. Crowds of inquirers came to the house at all\nhours of the day and evening.\n\nThe committee had more than they could attend to; we had no time to\nattend to any household duties. My music pupils had all left, and the\nquestion arose: \"What shall we do? How can we live so?\" The new house\nwas finished, and father wanted us all to come home; but the Spirits\nsaid, \"No, you cannot go; you must remain here and do your duty.\" After\na few brief messages to friends, the Spirits, in a most impressive and\nsolemn manner, bade us all good-by, and closed their manifestations.\nThey made the occasion quite solemn, and the company felt wholly\ndeserted when they became satisfied that the Spirits had taken their\nfinal departure. We tried, on several occasions, to get the sounds; but\ncould not. The Spirits remained firm in their decision for twelve days.\n\nMother now deemed it advisable to return to her home (in Arcadia, Wayne\nCounty), as she was much needed there, and she hoped we would no longer\nbe disturbed by Spirits. Margaretta, Calvin, myself, and Alfie, our good\nservant, were alone, and the absence of all manifestations or Spiritual\ncommunications caused many a pang of remorse. Often we wished it were\npossible for us to enjoy the society of our dear Spirit friends, without\nbeing forced into that public notoriety and that constant collision with\na hostile world which seemed to be involved in what the Spirits called\nthe \"duty\" which they were urging upon us.\n\nWhile we were thus in silent waiting, and had given up all hope of\nagain hearing from our Spirit friends, Mr. Capron, of Auburn, and Mr.\nGeorge Willets, of Rochester, called on us. As we saw them coming, we\nmet them at the door and informed them that the Spirits would not rap\nfor us any more. They came into the hall, saying, \"Perhaps they will\nrap for us, if not for you.\" And so they did. They came with the\nwell-known joyous sounds, all over the hall, as if they were glad to\nmeet us all again. We could not repress our great satisfaction at the\nrenewal of our enjoyment, for we now felt that there had really been\nenjoyment in it, however mingled with perplexity and distress. It was,\nto us, like the return of long absent friends, whose value, while with\nus, we had not sufficiently appreciated.\n\nIt was during this interview that the Spirits again broached the subject\nof a public investigation. Directions were given to have the whole\nmatter made public.\n\nThey then detailed their plan to us in a lengthy communication. They\ntold us what was required of us, and what they declared to be our duty,\nas follows:\n\n\"You all have a duty to perform. We want you to make the matter more\npublic.\" To this, Mr. Capron replied that nothing but the greatest\nridicule would be heaped upon all who should engage in such an\nundertaking. The following message immediately came in reply, \"That will\nbe so much the better. Your triumph will be so much the greater!\" They\ntold Capron and Willets, that they (the Spirits) wanted them to get up\nmeetings for the purpose of letting the public know this great truth.\nOur friends (C. and W.) said in reply to this that they had families to\nsupport; and they could not see how they could go before the public\nwith a matter which must make them so decidedly unpopular in the then\nexisting state of public opinion. The Spirits then directed that we\nshould hold meetings at different private houses; and they (the Spirits)\nwould manifest for promiscuous companies. Meetings were accordingly held\nat the residences of Messrs. Willets, Post, Granger, and others. The\nSpirits fulfilled their promises admirably. We decided to leave the\nentire movement to their direction. We felt powerless to act on our own\njudgment. We met at the house of Mr. Isaac Post to talk over the matter,\nand learn all we could in regard to this great step forced upon us in a\nway so contrary to our own wishes. We had not been long in the parlor\nbefore the alphabet was called and spelled, \"Amy, thee must invite\nsixteen persons to come here on Saturday evening, to hear the Spirit\nrappings.\" Amy (Mrs. Post) replied, \"Why, I don't know whom to invite to\nsuch an entertainment. How can I do so?\" The rapping answered, \"I will\ntell thee: 'Mr. or Mrs. ----: You are invited BY THE SPIRITS to call at\nthe house of Mr. Isaac Post next Thursday evening, at eight o'clock, to\nhear the Spirits rap.'\" Amy said she did not know whom to invite, and\nasked the Spirits if they would give her the names. This they consented\nto do, and proceeded to spell out the names of persons, many of whom\nneither Mrs. Post nor any one present knew. They were all lawyers,\neditors, and doctors. It is to be regretted that the book containing\nthese names is lost. Dr. Moore was the only one named who did not come\nin answer to the invitation. Frederick Douglass, editor of _The North\nStar_, was present. They met, as I have stated, at the house of Isaac\nPost. They listened, with respectful attention, to the sounds of the\nrappings. A part of the company went into the cellar, and a part\nremained in the room above; but the rapping always seemed to be on the\nside opposite to the listeners. After they had satisfied themselves of\nthe reality of the sounds, and that they were not made by us, they\nproposed to get some answers to questions, but the comment or answer of\nthe Spirits was, \"No. We invited you here to listen to the sounds, and\nnot to get communications. Good night.\" They did, however, make another\nappointment for the next Thursday evening, at the house of Mr. George\nWillets, and again all except Dr. Moore came, with some individuals\nadded to the number, and the sounds were heard as in the first instance.\nAgain the visitors proposed to get answers to questions; but again the\nreply was that they were only invited to hear the sounds.\n\nThis whole proceeding, as they informed us, was to convince us that they\ncould rap sufficiently loud to be heard in a public hall.\n\nThe Spirits then gave us their directions as follows: \"Hire Corinthian\nHall\" (then the largest hall in Rochester). Margaretta and myself were\nto go to the hall; Mr. Capron was to deliver the lecture, in which he\nwas to relate the commencement at Hydesville, and the progress of it up\nto the present time. Mr. Willets was to act as friend and business man,\ndoorkeeper, etc. A committee of five gentlemen was to be appointed at\neach meeting, by the audience, and instructed to report at the\ncommencement of the next meeting.\n\nThe Spirits who had given the directions had promised to make the sounds\nso loud that all in the hall could hear them. Before the meeting the\nfollowing names were spelled out, of persons thus designated to sit\non the platform with us: Rev. A. Jervis (Methodist minister), Lyman\nGranger (a well-known member of the M.\u00a0E. Church), Simeon Draper (a\nprominent Methodist), Mrs. Sarah D. Fish (a member of the Society of\nFriends), and Mrs. Pierpont. When these names were first spelled out by\nthe Spirits some of the persons objected to thus going forward in so\nunpopular a work, when the Rev. Mr. Jervis spoke up and said, \"I know it\nis true, and I'll face a frowning world.\" His emphatic earnestness awoke\nthe others who had been named, and they all consented to serve. It\nshould be remembered that the most minute directions were given by the\nSpirits, through the use of the alphabet, without suggestions from any\none concerned in the work to be done. The Spirits told us, moreover,\nthat this was the best way to interest the public, and prepare them for\na more general acceptance of Spiritual Communication by the world at\nlarge.\n\nNotices were accordingly published in the newspapers of the meeting to\nbe held in Corinthian Hall, on the evening of November 14, 1848.\n\nAccording to the directions of the Spirits, Margaretta and myself\nappeared at Corinthian Hall, where a large audience had already\nassembled to witness the manifestations which had excited so much\ngeneral curiosity.\n\nMr. Capron, in delivering the lecture, depended more upon his knowledge\nof the facts, as they had then occurred, than on any theory of his own,\nor of others, in regard to the rappings.\n\nWe wished to have the subject carefully scrutinized by honest\ncommittees, and have them report to the public the result of their\ninvestigations. Mr. Capron stated emphatically that if he could not\nexplain what it was, he certainly knew what it was not.\n\nIt was also announced to the audience that no ordinary minds would be\naccepted on the committees. We had, at that early day, discovered\nthat the greater the intelligence, the more satisfactory were the\nmanifestations. At this lecture the audience listened with very\nrespectful attention. The editor of a Second Advent paper also delivered\nhis little speech, telling the audience that the sounds were spiritual,\nhe had no doubt; but it was the spirit of the devil, and that the\npersons in whose presence the sounds were heard should be cast into\nprison. He said his \"little say,\" and we never heard of him afterward.\n\nWhen this episode had closed, the following gentlemen were named as a\nCommittee of Investigation, and requested to report the next evening,\nviz., A.\u00a0J. Coombs, Daniel Marsh, Nathaniel Clark, A. Judson, and Edwin\nJones.\n\nThus the first great step was taken, in order to lay the facts of Modern\nSpiritualism before the world. It was now to be tried in a way by which\nno guilty person could hope to escape detection. Any one guilty of fraud\nas great as this would have been, had it consisted of simulation on our\npart, must certainly have met with swift exposure, and been stripped of\nall power or opportunity for further mischief. In fact, could it be\nrationally apprehended that we, or any one, would have dared to face an\nadverse public, of a thronged city, and the entire sentiment of a world\nagainst us, as we had been directed to do, with nothing but a damning\nfalsehood at our backs to lean upon?\n\nThe appointment of an intelligent committee was readily agreed upon by\nthe audience; and they--most of them perhaps--felt confident that the\nsupposed fraud would now be probed to the bottom. So sure seemed the\neditors of the _Rochester Democrat_ that this was \"the last of the\nrappings,\" that they wrote a long article on the \"humbug\" which had\ndeceived so many, rejoicing that the end was near.\n\nBut when, on the following evening, the Committee made their report, the\nnewspaper men were obliged to substitute something else in place of the\nanticipated detection and exposure, as the result of their examination\ndid not verify the theory of these newspaper quasi-leaders and\ninstructors of public thought. The following was the report of the\nCommittee:\n\n\"Without the knowledge of the persons in whose presence the\nmanifestations are made, the Committee selected the hall of the 'Sons\nof Temperance,' for investigation of the subject under consideration.\nThat the sounds, on the floor near where the Mediums stood, were heard\nas distinctly as at the other places; and that part of the Committee\nheard the rapping on the wall behind them; that a number of questions\nwere asked, which were answered not altogether right nor altogether\nwrong; that, in the afternoon, they went to the house of a private\ncitizen, and while there, the sounds were heard _on the outside_\n(apparently) of the front door, after they had entered, and on the\ndoor of a closet. By placing the hand upon the door, there was a\nsensible jar felt when the rapping was heard.\n\n\"One of the Committee placed one of his hands upon the feet of the\nladies, and the other on the floor, and though the feet were not moved,\nthere was a distinct jar of the floor. On the pavement and on the ground\nthe same sounds were heard; a kind of double rap, as of a stroke and a\nrebound, was distinguishable. When the sisters were separated at a\ndistance from each other, no sound was heard; but when a third person\nwas interposed between them, the sounds were heard. The sisters seemed\nto give every opportunity to the Committee to investigate the case\nfully, and would submit to a thorough investigation by a committee of\nladies, if desired. They all agree that the sounds were heard, but they\nentirely fail to discern any means by which it could be done.\"\n\nOn the following evening, each member of the Committee spoke for\nhimself, and they all perfectly agreed as to the facts stated. Their\nreport was received with surprise by such of the audience as had come\nwith the expectation of having the subject exposed as a fraud, and the\nrappings stopped.\n\nAfter some further remarks by Mr. Capron, and a discussion of a brief\ncharacter upon the subject, another Committee was appointed consisting\nof the following gentlemen: Dr. H.\u00a0H. Langworthy, Hon. Frederick\nWhittlesey, General D.\u00a0C. McCallum, William Fisher, of Rochester, and\nHon. A.\u00a0P. Hascall, of Le Roy, subsequently member of Congress.\n\nAt the meeting, on the evening after this lecture, this Committee\nreported that \"They went into the investigation at the office of\nChancellor Whittlesey, and they heard the sounds on the floor, on\nthe wall, and on the door; that the ladies were placed in different\npositions, and, like the other Committee, they were unable to tell from\nwhat the sounds proceeded, or how they were made; that Dr. Langworthy\nmade observations with a stethoscope to ascertain whether there was\nany movement of the lungs, and found not the least difference when\nthe sounds were being made, and there was no kind of probability or\npossibility of their being made by ventriloquism, as some had supposed;\nand they could not have been made by machinery.\"\n\nAs this report was read, there was a murmur of discontent, of baffled\nopposition, and, in some cases, unmistakable willingness to proceed\nto violence against all who had offered every opportunity for fair\ninvestigation. Many persons, among the large number congregated there,\nwere disappointed and indignant at the discovery that it was _not a\ncheat_. A very large number of people were present on this occasion, and\na portion of them seemed determined that the _cause of the deception_,\nor the manner of its performance, should be ascertained and exposed.\nThey predetermined that there could be no honesty unless it came in\ntheir old beaten track of belief.\n\nIt was during the investigation on this second day, that Chancellor\nWhittlesey informed me that he was a friend to us. He said to me: \"Now,\ndon't be alarmed. I am a friend to you and know that these things are\ntrue. I have read 'Davis's Revelations,' and I believe fully that\nSpirits can communicate. You shall have a fair investigation.\" This was\nafter very insulting and even violent behavior by Dr. H.\u00a0H. Langworthy;\nand it did me a great deal of good to be so assured by one of the\nCommittee, and one of the best of them; and also a man who had long been\nVice Chancellor of the State of New York; and whom the whole country\nknew as one of the wise men of the time, a neighbor of ours and known to\nus.\n\nOn the third evening the audience was much larger, and a portion of them\nseemed determined that at all hazards, and cost what it might, it should\nbe exposed. Mr. Warren L. Burtis declared that \"those girls would not\nhave him on the Committee for a hundred dollars;\" intimating that _he_\nwas known to possess unusual facilities for the detection of fraud. The\naudience was not looking for the proof of facts. They constituted a\nlarge and self-chosen committee who seemed to consider it their duty to\nprove by anathemas the falsity of Spiritualism. He, W.\u00a0L. Burtis, was at\nonce placed on the Committee; and after being so appointed, he remarked\nwith much importance, if he \"could not find it out he would forfeit a\nnew hat.\" Mr. Kenyon said, \"If I cannot fathom the fraud, I will throw\nmyself over Genesee Falls.\" He too was immediately placed on the\nCommittee. All the others chosen as members were equally opposed to us.\nThe Committee consisted of Dr. E.\u00a0P. Langworthy, Dr. J. Gates, William\nFitzhugh, W.\u00a0L. Burtis, and L. Kenyon. Mr. Packard, a well-known\ncabinet-maker, suggested that if he were chosen he would have a party of\nladies to examine the clothing of the girls, as he believed the sounds\nwere all made by leaden balls, sewed in the bottom of their dresses. But\nMr. Packard was not chosen, because, as before stated, the occasion\nrequired the application of the higher order of intelligence. To this,\nhowever, no attention was given by him or others excepting a significant\nsmile of disappointment. The public had by this time learned that such\nleaden-ball suggestions were not less than absurd.\n\nThis Committee met at the rooms of Dr. Gates, in the Rochester House.\nThis was called the \"Infidel Committee.\" The public had heretofore\nchosen persons of a more religious character; and men representing the\nscientific portion of the inhabitants had now concluded that, by placing\nthe subject in the hands of scientific infidels, they would \"fathom the\nfraud.\"\n\nThis party now chosen were disgusted by the reflection that they were\nto enter upon such an undertaking; but they had been chosen, and would\nserve and do their duty to the public. This Committee appointed three\nladies, who took us into a private room, disrobed and clothed us with\ngarments of their own selection, after which we seated ourselves around\na table; but no manifestations of any importance were made. Disappointed\nin not finding any machinery, they had a lurking suspicion that we had\ndoffed it for the occasion.\n\nThey called on the \"Ghosts\" to manifest themselves if they could, but\nno responses came to such invitations. They now concluded it was about\ndinner-time, and said to us, \"You can go home and get your dinner.\nPerhaps the ghosts will be more sociable in the afternoon;\" plainly\nintimating that we could go home and prepare ourselves for rapping, and\nthat things would be more satisfactory after our return. It was now my\nturn to be the speaker; I told them: \"No, we shall not stir from this\nroom until the time for this investigation shall expire; which will be\nat six o'clock P.M.\" Some of the Committee exclaimed, \"Good for the\nRappers! That looks like business. Ladies and gentlemen, let us have\ndinner in this room. We will give the girls fair play.\" A sumptuous\ndinner was prepared and brought in to us, and all took seats at the\ntable. They taunted us in every way. Sometimes we felt ourselves\nforsaken, and disposed to give up in despair. Our friends were locked\nout, and not permitted to come into the room; but we could hear their\nfaithful footsteps outside the door, in the hall of the hotel--Isaac and\nAmy Post, Mr. and Mrs. Pierpont, George Willets, and others. My young\nsister Maggie was by my side, bathed in tears. Dr. Gates was carving. I\nwas struggling with a choking emotion, and could not taste food. The\nparty were joking and funning at our expense, when, suddenly the great\ntable began to tremble, and raised first one end and then the other,\nwith loud creaking sounds, like a ship struggling in a heavy gale, until\nit was finally suspended above our heads.\n\nFor a moment all were silent and looked at each other with astonishment.\nThe waiters fled in every direction. Instantly the scene was changed.\nThe ladies threw their arms around us, one after another; and it was\ntheir turn to cry.\n\nThey said to us: \"Oh, you poor girls, how you have been abused! Oh, how\nsorry we are for you; after all, _it is true_!\" The gentlemen with one\naccord said, \"Girls, you have gained a victory. We will stand by you to\nthe last.\"\n\nLet it be understood that this Committee of ladies and gentlemen took us\nto the parlors of the Rochester House, which could be divided into two\nrooms by closing the folding-doors. After dinner the gentlemen of the\nCommittee insulated the table by putting glass under the legs, procured\ntwo sacks of feathers, and advised the ladies how to conduct the\ninvestigation. They then closed the doors, and (the gentlemen of the\nCommittee having retired) left us and the lady members of the Committee\nalone. By this time the Committee had become kindly disposed toward us.\nThey suggested to us that we should stand upon the sacks of feathers on\nthe table, with our dresses tied tight above our ankles. We complied\nwith all their suggestions, cheerfully. Immediately the sounds were\nheard on the table, floor, and walls. The ladies instantly opened the\ndoors, and the gentlemen came in and witnessed the manifestations\nthemselves.\n\nThe ladies, at my suggestion, signed the following certificate:\n\n\"When they were standing on pillows, with a handkerchief tied around the\nbottom of their dresses, tight to their ankles, we all heard the rapping\non the table, on the wall, and floor distinctly.\n\n    \"MRS. STONE.\n    \"MRS. J. GATES.\n    \"MISS M.\u00a0P. LAWRENCE.\"\n\n\nBefore we left the room, word was sent to the Committee, saying, \"Do not\ngo to the Hall this evening; for if you report favorably to the girls\nyou will be mobbed.\" Our friends, who anticipated a riot and feared for\nour safety, as soon as we got to the house after this terrible day's\nwork and anxiety, urged us not to go to the Hall. But what were we to\ndo? Even the Committee were threatened if it made a favorable report;\nbut they all informed us that they would protect us in any event.\n\nE.\u00a0W. Capron and George Willets said, \"What are we to do, if you forsake\nus at such a time?\" Amy Post said, \"Go, I will go with you.\" The Spirits\nspelled, \"Go, God will protect you. You will not be harmed.\" Margaretta\nhad been so harassed during the day, and had been so urged by some of\nher friends, that she resolved not to go to the Hall that night. This\nwould have spoiled all our success so far. It would be utter ruin to us.\nAmy Post (that darling little Quaker lady), who stood firm as a rock,\nsaid, \"We will go and sit down by ourselves, and see how we shall feel\nabout it.\" I soon said, \"Amy, if you will go, I will go with you, if\nI go to my death.\" Margaretta did not change her mind until we were\npreparing to go, when she said, \"I cannot have you go without me. I must\ngo, although I expect we will be killed.\" So we all went. We found the\nfaithful friends, who were appointed to sit on the platform, already in\ntheir places. There were but few words said by Mr. Capron, as every one\nwas anxious to hear the report of the Committee. When it was made, it\nwas more full than any of the others. It rehearsed the fact that they\nhad excluded from the room, in which the examination was conducted, all\nour friends, and we were left alone to fight the battle. Each member of\nthe Committee reported separately, agreeing with, and corroborating the\nfirst statement.\n\nThe reports of the different committees did not satisfy the rowdy\nelement, which at this time had become a howling mob, who were\npredetermined to assault us, and also the last Committee, if they did\nnot report against us. They even warmed tar, and had it concealed in a\ncloset at the head of the stairway adjacent to the door of the Hall.\nSome of our friends, knowing this, took the precaution of calling on the\npolice. Our Committee was informed of the proceedings of the mob, and\nwhen we separated at six o'clock and went to Mr. Post's to await the\nhour of meeting at the Hall, declared to us that they would stand by us,\nin these words: \"Never fear, girls, you have gained the victory; we will\nstand by you to the last.\" And they did, nobly.\n\nWe were directed by the Spirits to go forth and submit to everything\nlawful; but that the committees chosen by the audience should be\ncomposed of such as represented the best intelligence of the community.\n\nJosiah Bissel was the presiding genius of the mob. He had caused to be\npurchased some torpedoes which he distributed among his rowdy friends to\nthrow upon the floor, and thus begin disturbance. It had been agreed\nupon by his bosom friends (the rowdy element) that he should ascend the\nplatform, and with a long heavy stick, which he carried as a cane, give\na signal for the onslaught. The other leaders in this mob were Lawrence\nR. and Leonard W. Jerome, Alderman Lewis Seelye, Major Packard, and\nothers, awaiting the signal. But no sooner was it given them than a\nfine, large, respectable-looking gentleman sprang upon the platform and\ntook a seat between myself and my sister, whose hand he took in his. I\nthought, at the moment, he was an enemy, and ordered him to leave, and\nnot dare touch my sister. He replied, \"I am your friend; I am the Chief\nof Police--look, these men in front are all my men; and they have come\nto protect you.\"\n\nAt the sound of the signal made by Bissel, the mob rushed to the\nplatform. Torpedoes were heard in every part of the Hall. The Chief of\nPolice quietly informed Josiah Bissel that if any one was taken into\ncustody he would be the man.\n\nAs the mob began their demonstrations, one gentleman, Mr. Alfred\nHubbell, who had been an investigator at our house, raised his hand and\nsaid in a loud voice: \"Girls, you have nothing to fear. Don't be afraid.\nI have fifty good men here all ready to protect you.\"\n\nMr. Abelard Reynolds, proprietor of the Hall, was on the platform,\ndetermined to stand between us and the mob. The ringleaders of the mob,\nfollowed by their gang, quickly disappeared. Our work, as planned by the\nSpirits, for that time was done. Our triumph was complete. The promises\nof our Spirit friends and directors were all fulfilled. However they may\nhave allowed suspicion to come upon us, which it was not in their power\nto prevent, they had always brought us safe and sound out of the\napparent difficulty, and gained a signal triumph through our humble\nagency.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY.\n\n  SOME FAMILY ANTECEDENTS--OUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER--PHANTOM PROPHETIC\n    FUNERALS--VISION OF A TOMBSTONE NINE YEARS IN ADVANCE, ETC.\n\n\nI will here interrupt the course of this narrative with a chapter about\nour family, principally in reference to that peculiar and strange\nconstitutional _something_, which, in us three children (myself and the\ntwo younger ones, Margaretta and Catharine), has come out so strongly\ninto what is called \"mediumship,\" and which would seem to have been the\ncause why the \"Spirits,\" whose instruments we have been, chose us for\ntheir purpose, and imposed upon us the burden of what they called \"the\nduty,\" against which we thus so long and hard, but vainly, struggled.\n\nMy parents were both native-born Americans. My father's ancestors were\nGerman; the name having been originally Voss, which passed through Foss\ninto Fox. In my mother's family, French, English, and Dutch mingled. Her\npaternal grandfather, John C. Smith, was of English ancestry. He married\nElizabeth Blauvelt, of descent from Holland. Her maternal grandfather\nwas French, Rutan by name, and her maternal grandmother, whose maiden\nname was Margaret Ackerman, was also a descendant from Holland, and\nresided on Long Island with her parents until her marriage, after which\nshe removed to New York City, where her only child, my grandmother, was\nborn. She (Margaret Rutan), my mother's maternal grandmother, had, from\nchildhood, evinced the power of foretelling events. She frequently\nfollowed phantom funerals, and entering the grave-yard, would stand and\nlook on until the last rites had been performed, after which she would\nturn away sorrowing. She never felt timid until the ceremony was\nended. Then she would find herself alone, in her normal condition, and\nremembering all she had seen, and knowing also what would inevitably\nfollow, she would be sadly depressed.\n\nOn two occasions she was prevailed upon to tell whose funeral she had\nattended the previous night, which caused her such intense distress of\nmind, she besought them to never again urge her to reveal that which was\nmade known to her during her somnambulic walks. The moment the person\nceased to breathe, she would say, \"Mr. or Mrs. (whoever it might be) is\ndead.\"\n\nIf the death had taken place in a distant part of the country it would\nmake no difference, so long as the burial place was there. She felt\nrelieved as soon as the event transpired. She always visited the\ngrave-yard between the hours of twelve and two o'clock at night. My\ngrandfather frequently walked slowly after her to accompany her home on\nher return.\n\nAnother remarkable feature used to attend these nocturnal excursions of\nmy great-grandmother, in the somnambulic condition, when she would thus\nwitness the celebration of funerals of persons who were at the time\nstill alive and well. She would see and recognize all the persons in\nattendance on the funeral, from the officiating minister down, and\nafterward remember and relate their names, which used always to\ncorrespond with the fact as it afterward came about. She would even tell\nby whose horses the body was brought to the grave (in the country at\nthat time there were no regular hearses, and this service was performed\nby some friend or neighbor). When the crowded phantom funeral was over\nshe would awake to find herself alone in the graveyard; sometimes with\nmy grandfather (her son-in-law) awaiting at a little distance to\naccompany her return home. But frequently she had no such watching\nattendant, and I remember to have heard it said how distressing it would\nbe for her to awake entirely alone and make her solitary way homeward,\nfrom what she knew to be the foreshadowed interment of some one near and\ndear.\n\n\nMY AUNT ELIZABETH'S VISION OF HER OWN TOMBSTONE.\n\nMy mother's sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins, had much the same faculty.\nShe never left her bed at night to visit scenes about to transpire, but\nnearly everything of importance was foreshadowed in her dreams. She\nwould frequently relate them on the morning following. One morning, she\ngave us a relation of her dream. She said, laughingly, to her brother:\n\"I dreamed I had a fall, last night. You and I were riding on horseback,\nwhen suddenly my horse stumbled and fell in front of Judge Perry's door.\nI rolled down the little embankment, and Tom Foot came and helped me\nup.\" Grandmother said, \"That can't come true, for Tom is, by this time,\nfar away.\" They thought no more of it.\n\nSome time after, her brother said to her, \"Bessie, would you like to\ntake a ride with me this morning?\" She replied that she would, and they\nsoon started off, each on a spirited horse, never thinking of her dream,\nuntil the horse stumbled and she fell and rolled down the bank, exactly\nin front of Judge Perry's door. _Tom_ came out and helped her up. He had\nnot gone away, as he had contemplated doing.\n\nMr. Robert Dale Owen, in his \"Foot-falls on the Boundary of Another\nWorld,\" has given a more detailed account of her remarkable dreams. I\nwill only add the last sad fulfilment of a dream which she had some\nyears previously to its fulfilment. She was then in her nineteenth year.\nShe said, \"I dreamed I was in a new country, walking alone, when\nsuddenly I came to a small cemetery, and, walking up to one of the most\nprominent head-stones, read the inscription, which was this:\n\n                   IN MEMORY\n                       OF\n                ELIZABETH SMITH,\n                 Wife of H----,\n             Who departed this life\n         In the year of our Lord 18--,\n    Aged 27 years, 8 months and 26 days.\"[6]\n\n    [6] I am not entirely certain that I remember the number of\n    days with distinctness: it is very nearly correct.\n\nShe was deeply impressed by this dream, and could not rest. She left her\nbed, and went into her mother's sleeping-room, sobbing, and related the\ndream. Her father and mother both endeavored to disabuse her mind of any\nbelief in this unhappy dream. He tenderly folded her in his arms and\nquoted from Scripture many beautiful sayings, such as: \"Of that day\nand hour knoweth no man: no, not even the angels in Heaven.\" She was\ncomforted and seldom referred to her dream. The gentleman to whom she\nwas affianced died. Her father purchased a home, and moved to Sodus,\nWayne County, N.\u00a0Y., where she became acquainted with Mr. C. Higgins.\nThey were married, and enjoyed five years of uninterrupted happiness.\nThe time was drawing near when she expected to become a mother. Uncle\nCharles was a devoted husband, and regretted that duty called him from\nhome at this time. (He was engaged in Albany on public business.) He\ncould not rest; he must return to his darling little wife, and spend a\nfew days with her, and arrange with his brother, Dr. Higgins, to remain\nas a protector and physician in his house, until all danger had passed.\nHe came (to her) unexpected, and she was delighted to see him.\n\nThe doctor came to remain as long as it was necessary. Her husband had\nalready overstaid his time; and, as it was important for him to be in\nAlbany, he was obliged to leave. There were many anxious hearts that\nfeared, and silently prayed that their hopes of happiness might be\nrealized. (I really do think that she had been reasoned out of belief in\n_that_ dream.) She rejoiced and was happy when he promised her he would\nnever again accept an office which would take him from home.\n\nIt was a bright, lovely morning. The team stood waiting at the gate, to\ntake him to Newark (ten miles), the nearest point from which he could\nreach the canal packet boat, for Albany. Bessie walked with him to the\ngate (about two hundred feet from the door), where he tenderly embraced\nher and kissed her again and again, promising that he would refrain from\nleaving home on business in the future. He alluded in glowing terms to\ntheir prospects of happiness, in the birth of their expected child, and\nwarned her of the danger of yielding to superstition. He begged her not\nto repeat her dreams, as they were the result of a disordered condition\nof health. Then, taking her in his arms, he carried her back to the\nhouse, saying: \"My darling, I cannot part with you here at the gate;\npermit me to remember you as seated in your pleasant room, surrounded by\nloving friends, and happy again.\" He held her in a long, fond embrace,\nkissing her with tears and sobs, and gently seating her in her\neasy-chair, bade her farewell, and rushed to the conveyance, fearing to\nlook back, lest he should see her weeping at the door.\n\nShe wept some time after he was gone, but soon felt more cheerful, and\nfrequently repeated what he had promised--that he would never leave home\nagain after that season.\n\nA week had passed, and a little voice was heard. She fondly clasped her\nbabe to her breast and called it \"My little Charles, my darling baby!\nOh! how happy I am.\" They were both doing well. Letters were sent to her\nhusband by every mail, which were duly received by him. She wished the\nchild would resemble his father, who was a splendid man in every sense.\nShe too was perfect in form and feature.\n\nIt was the day on which she had attained her age of twenty-seven years,\neight months, and twenty-six days, _the age marked on the tombstone she\nhad seen in her dream of about nine years before_. All the family knew\nof it, though she gave no sign of thinking of it, and seemed entirely\ncheerful and happy.\n\nThe little one was two weeks old; a letter was received that morning\nsaying, \"I shall be at home the last of this week. I shall say\nfarewell to Albany.\" Words cannot express her joy at this unexpected\nannouncement. She directed everything, how to dress the baby, and\narranged for them to go after her husband's mother and sister, who had\nnot seen the little one, as they had been absent on a visit. They were\ndelighted to find Bessie and the baby so well, and the little Charles\nlooking \"so exactly like his father, except that he had his mother's\ncurly hair.\" The mother seemed perfectly happy, but there were anxious\nhearts that silently prayed to God to avert the fearful calamity, which\nthey feared might now be hanging over them. The day was passing away.\nShe was well and cheerful. Her family were near her, doing all they\ncould to divert her thoughts from _the date_. Her minister, Rev. Mark\nJohnson, and his wife called to spend an hour with the family. She was\npleased to see them, and united with them in prayer. She called Mrs.\nJohnson to see how sweetly the infant nestled in her bosom. Then,\nturning to the minister she said, \"Mr. Johnson, we shall have the baby\nchristened Charles Smith Higgins as soon as his father comes home.\"\n\nThe last rays of the setting sun shone on the tree tops. Once more she\ncalled attention to the child, smiling on it the while; when suddenly\nshe exclaimed, \"Oh!\" and placed one hand upon her breast, while with the\nother pressing the babe closer to her bosom.\n\nMother caught her in her arms, her sister Catharine ran to call the\ndoctor; but before they could enter the room, her spirit had taken its\nflight to the immortal world.\n\nHer tombstone now records her dream, verbatim, in the old cemetery in\nSodus.\n\nThey directed letters to her husband and friends in Albany, also sent\nletters to every packet-boat going east and returning. (There were no\nrailroads nor convenient telegraph wires at that time.) They published\nthe sad news in all the papers, and sent them to every place where he\nwould be likely to get them.\n\nHe left Albany on Thursday, expecting to reach home on Sunday. At Lyons\nhe left the boat, thinking he could reach home some hours sooner by\ntaking a private conveyance. He met an acquaintance at the hotel, who\nhanded him a paper containing a \"special notice\" of the sudden death\nof Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins. He saw no more, but fell prostrated with\noverwhelming grief. In vain they tried to rouse him until the reaction\ncame. The funeral was appointed for half-past two o'clock P.M. He had\ntwenty miles to ride, and it was nearly one o'clock then; he called for\na horse, and started direct for the church, hoping to reach there before\nthe burial. A large concourse had already assembled at the house, which\nwas about two miles distant from the church. All were anxiously looking\nand waiting for the absent one. The weather was extremely warm, and they\nwould proceed slowly; so it was thought best to start. Several times\nthey halted on the way. Every eye and ear were strained to catch the\nfaintest sight or sound, but all in vain. The church was reached. The\nmourners moved slowly up the aisle. There was not a single heart in\nthat large assembly which did not thrill with sorrowful emotion. The\ncongregation prayed in silence, and sobs were heard in every part of\nthe house. The minister stood silent for a moment, then slowly and\ndistinctly said--\"I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord.\"\n\nHis voice was deep and solemn, and its clear tones penetrated every\nheart. His eyes beamed with tenderness, as he recounted with touching\npathos the scenes of past happiness and this sad reverse. He offered up\npetitions to the Most High for the bereaved husband and friends. After\ntaking final leave of those dearly loved features, so soon to be closed\nforever from our mortal vision, we started for the cemetery, distant\nabout a quarter of a mile. Once more we halted. All hearts were\nhigh-strung with the hope that Uncle Charles might yet arrive; a prayer\nwas said, the last sad offices were performed, and the friends returned,\nwith aching hearts, to their bereaved home. Just as the family were\nentering the gateway, a tired, dusty rider came galloping at full speed.\nHe came from the cemetery, where he had been seen to throw himself on\nthe newly made grave, and call, in the bitter anguish of his soul, \"My\ndarling, O, my darling, come back to me.\" (His sister's son witnessed\nthe scene.) It was sad to see his manly form so bowed by sorrow. He\nthrew his arms around her sisters and held them in a long embrace; then\ncalling for the child, he clasped it to his heart, crying, \"My Bessie's\nbaby! Oh, my darling child! You are all that is left to me.\"\n\nI cannot describe his grief. It can be better imagined, than expressed\nin language.\n\n\nPROPHETIC CLAIRVOYANCE.\n\nAnother story of my great-grandmother, which not only exists in the\nfamily, but which I perfectly remember to have heard from her own lips,\nillustrates her faculty of what I may call prophetic clairvoyance.\n\nShe had a friend and neighbor, named Urie, who had a splendid team of\nhorses, of which he was very fond and proud, but which she had often\nurged him to get rid of, assuring him that they would cause his death if\nhe did not. Her habitual manifestations of this faculty were during her\nsomnambulic walks in the middle hours of the night; but this I am now to\nrelate occurred about noonday, when she had not been asleep.\n\nShe was seated at a window which looked upon the road, engaged in some\nwork of embroidery, when she was seen to start up, rush out to the road\nand run at her utmost speed about a mile, to a spot where the grassy\nside of the road sloped up to a fence. At this spot (followed by Mr.\nUrie's wife and family), she ran up to the fence, and, taking off her\napron, was seen to hold something, seemingly enfolded in it, with every\nindication of extreme agitation and distress. With her hands clasped\ntogether she was seen to rock her body backward and forward in great\ndistress over the _something_ apparently covered by the apron. Exactly\none year from that day she _did_ see from her window Mr. Urie's team\nrunning away wildly past the house, dragging him entangled in the lines.\n\nAt the precise spot where she had stopped before, now lay his dead body,\nwith the bloody face so torn and disfigured that she took off her apron\nto cover it up from sight.\n\nMy mother used frequently to receive warning of an approaching death\nin the family, through a particular dream (it was that of dining with\nGeneral Washington). The recurrence of that dream always brought with\nit great distress to her mind, and she used to say (she was the soul of\ntruth and all human goodness) that this warning had never failed her.\n\nMuch more on this subject of these indications of ancestral mediumship\nrunning in our family may be found in Mr. Owen's \"Foot-falls,\" he having\ntaken particular interest in inquiring into the aspect of the subject.\n\n\nBROTHER DAVID.\n\nBesides ourselves, who have been brought so prominently before the\npublic, my brother David and my other sisters have often given clear\nproofs of some form or degree of mediumship. David and his wife can, at\nalmost any time, communicate with Spirits; not only by sitting at a\ntable, but by together touching a chair, or any other similar object,\nthe movements of which will signal to them the letters of the alphabet.\n\n\nUNCLE JOHN.\n\nMy mother's only brother, John, was once kicked on the head by a\nfavorite horse, which the blacksmith did not dare to shoe, and which his\nyoung master once rashly attempted to handle for the purpose. Uncle John\nwas carried into the hotel unconscious, where he lay all night in that\ncondition. About twelve o'clock that night his sister, Aunt Elizabeth\n(Mrs. Higgins), at home, about thirty miles distant, both heard and saw\nhim walk across her room, groaning in pain. As he did not answer when\nshe spoke to him, she supposed he had not heard her, and she went into\nher grandfather's room; who, speaking first before she could do so,\nsaid, \"What's the matter with John? He has walked past my door several\ntimes, holding his hand to his head, and looked into my room; but when I\nspoke, he went away without answering me.\"\n\nThe next morning word came that he was lying, dangerously injured, at\nthe hotel. His father went immediately to him, but found him unconscious\nand unable to speak. He eventually recovered, and declared that he had\nbeen at home with the family during the night of his injury.\n\nHis grandfather, John C. Smith, my great-grandfather, English by birth,\nwas the one who saved me when lost in the woods. (See the curious story\nrelated on a future page.) I think he was the very noblest and grandest\nman I have ever known. He was of unusual stature and strength, of the\nsweetest temper and character, as well as of superior intellect.\n\n\nMR. COOK'S DEATH.\n\nA party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Cook--an English\ngentleman and a partner and intimate friend of Mr. Emerson--mother, her\nsister Catharine, Ann Emerson and myself (we were little girls at that\ntime), drove to the \"Sand Hill burying-ground\" to visit the graves of\nour loved ones. Mr. Cook and my aunt rode in his carriage, while the\nrest of us rode in the family carriage. They arrived a little before we\ndid, and walked to Mr. E's. plot, where stooping he pulled up a flower\nand, tossing it at my beautiful Aunt Catharine, said, \"I wonder who\nwill lie here next?\" After remaining a while we drove home, in Clinton\nStreet, Rochester, where the nurse was standing with the babe Georgie in\nher arms. (George was an uncommonly lovely boy, named after Mr. Cook.)\nWhen taking the child in his arms Mr. Cook said, \"O thou angel boy! I\nmust not neglect to will thee thy dower.\" He remained with us through\nthe evening and bade us good-night. His house was nearly a mile away. I\nretired with mother and her sister. I slept in a trundle-bed drawn from\nunder their large bed. Our family was then boarding there, father being\nabsent from home much of the time. It was my habit to study my lessons\nin bed before going to sleep, in which way I was sure to remember them\nin the morning; and as there was to be a school exhibition next day, it\nwas late before I put out the candle, when mother gave a fearful scream\nwhich brought every one to inquire the cause. At first she declined to\nsay anything about it--feeling very sure it must have been Mr. Cook she\nhad seen; and she disliked to say anything more. She however insisted\nupon having seen a man, and described him as resting upon his hands on\nthe bed, bending over her sister Catharine, and looking her in the face;\nshe recognized the man to be Mr. Cook. They tried to impress her with\nthe belief that it was a dream, but she knew she had not slept.\n\nEarly next morning a messenger woke up the household, and announced that\nMr. Cook had dropped dead in the mill at 6 A.M. He and Mr. Emerson were\nthe wealthy owners of the principal flouring mills on the Genesee River,\nat Rochester.\n\nMr. Cook's body was buried at the spot from which he had plucked the\nflower.\n\nMr. Cook was no doubt sleeping quietly at the time they were searching\nthe house to find the apparition just before the midnight hour, as he\nsaid to his foreman on entering the mill, in reply to his morning\nsalutation, \"I am well, and I think I slept too well, as I intended to\nbe here at five o'clock.\" He walked a moment longer and fell, to rise no\nmore.\n\n\nSTRANGE OCCURRENCES PRIOR TO GRANDFATHER'S DEATH.\n\nMy sister Maria (Mrs. Smith) from her childhood has, at certain times,\nbeen able, by gently touching her fingers to the lightest of tables, to\nmake it impossible for a strong man to lift it from the spot without\ndanger of breaking it.\n\nMy sister, Mrs. Osterhout, was also remarkable for intuitive knowledge,\ndreams, and visions. Some fifteen or sixteen years ago some singular\nmanifestations occurred around the lingering death-bed of her husband.\nAbout a week before his death my sister was called off to a room in the\nhouse, five rooms distant from the one he occupied, where some sewing\nwomen were at work, really in preparation for his fast-nearing end. On\nher return he told her he had heard all the directions she had been\ngiving, and repeated them to her. The following extract is from a letter\nfrom my niece Helen, one of his children. It speaks for itself:\n\n\"A few days afterward we were all in the room, and he said, 'Do you\nsee?' We all looked in the same direction he was looking, and saw a\ncoffin being carried out of the house. I shall never forget the look he\ngave us; Emma, Ben, Nannie, and myself were in the room. We all saw it.\nThree days before he died the boys were in the barn. It being Sunday,\nwe were busy doing the morning work, when we were startled by what we\nthought to be the report of a gun. A second time we heard the same\nreport. Father said, 'The boys have got the gun in the barn,' and wanted\nthem to be called into the house; but they had heard the second report,\nwhich they thought was in the house, and came in to see what was the\nmatter. We were now all gathered in father's room, when a third report\nsounded still louder and seemed to be in the same room with us. Mother\nwas very much affected, and father said, 'Don't be frightened, my\ndarling, it is only a warning of the near approach of my death.' There\nwere a great many things at that time transpiring which were very\nmysterious. Lights were seen in the house and door-yard, barn, etc.,\nwhich could not be accounted for; and sounds were heard as of sawing,\ndriving of nails, etc.\"\n\n\nMY OWN CHILDREN.\n\nAll my children grew up into Spiritualism naturally. Lillie, once, while\nlying awake in bed with her sister Lizzie, the gas being at half-light,\nsaw a lady standing in the corner of the room who then walked about it,\npassed out, and then re-entered it. She wore a dress resembling her\nsister's wrapper, with its peculiar large flowered pattern. The bed\nbeing a wide one, she was not in contact with her sister, and supposed\nthe figure to be Lizzie, and called to her to ask what she was about,\nbut she perceived that it was _not_ her sister, who was asleep by her\nside, and whom she waked. They turned up the light, and the figure was\nno more there. Both were frightened, and kept the light burning brightly\nfor the rest of the night.\n\nLillie used often to say to me, \"Mamma, put out the light. My guardian\nSpirit will take care of me.\" She had no fear of them. Georgie, on the\ncontrary, was somewhat afraid, and would say, \"Leave a little light,\nmamma, 'cause the Spirits are rapping.\" Leah would come flying\ndown-stairs, pale and almost breathless, at the least indication of the\npresence of Spirits. Still they all knew and believed in them, and loved\nto sit in dark circles in our family alone and witness the different\nforms of manifestations.\n\nLillie has an abnormal faculty which often gives entertainment to her\nfriends. She goes out of the room, and any member of the company may\nhide any small object wherever he may please--such as a key or coin or\nanything convenient. All the rest of the company are requested to fix\ntheir thoughts on the object and its place of concealment, while careful\nnot to do or say anything to suggest a clue. On her entrance she takes\nhis hand and applies it to her forehead, still holding on to it and\nkeeping her eyes shut. She will then lead him to the spot where it is\nconcealed. She moves by starts, he accompanying her passively. She very\nrarely fails to find the article concealed.\n\n\nMUSICAL MEDIUMSHIP.\n\nI might tell much of the indications of the mediumistic character which\nhave run through the children of the generation following our own; that\nis to say, those of my brother and sisters and myself, including my\nnephew's little son of five years, who plays on a child's harmonica with\nastonishing accuracy and beauty, accompanying any musical performance\nand following every variation with whatever rapidity, with his face\nkindled with excitement and delight; the whole being spontaneous,\nwithout ever having had any instruction. He is (I have no doubt) a\nmusical medium, of whom the world has seen several; the most remarkable\none being the idiot boy known as \"Blind Tom.\" It is indeed evident\nenough that this mysterious gift, or whatever it may be called, is not\ndestined to die out with the present generation.\n\nThe next instance of mediumship in the generation succeeding ourselves\nis such as to merit a chapter to itself.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nMEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY (_Continued_).\n\n\nMARVELLOUS WRITING BY A BABY MEDIUM.\n\nBut I must mention more particularly the case of my little nephew,\nthe elder of the two children of my sister Katie, now Mrs. Jencken\n(pronounced Yencken); for I have now before me two pieces of writing\nactually executed by his baby fingers. The story of the incident is as\nfollows:\n\nKatie and I were sitting at the billiard table, which then occupied the\nmiddle of our library, with the child in my lap; while his mother, at\nmy side, was relating some of the incidents of the day. (She had been\ncalling on old friends.) The child being troublesome in his movements\nand cries, his mother, to quiet him, gave him the paper and pencil (it\nwas a piece of white blotting paper, not much inked by use), as the\nchild was fond of scratching lines and marks. She said, \"There! take\nthat, and keep still.\" He dropped the paper once or twice, and I picked\nit up and held one end of it, he holding the other; and with his\ndisengaged hand I noticed that he was not making mere marks and\nscratches, but that he was actually forming letters, and I exclaimed,\n\"Why, Katie, he is writing!\"\n\n\"I shouldn't be surprised,\" was her answer. We watched the process, as\nhis dear little fingers were guided to complete, in somewhat straggling\nletters, though perfectly distinct, \"Grandma is here. Boysie.\" It is\nnot strong nor dark enough to be reproduced in photography, but any\nrespectable inquirer is welcome to inspection of the sentence written\nby the child, then one year old. His father had been delighted, at his\nbirth, with the appearance of so beautiful a child; and his baptismal\nname was Ferdinand Lowenstein Diedrick. His pet name was \"Boysie.\" The\nextent of his baby vocabulary at that time was \"papa\" and \"mamma.\" My\nlate brother-in-law, Mr. Jencken, was a highly respected barrister\nin London. He was prominent in the labors of the \"Society for the\nCodification of International Law,\" of which the well-known David Dudley\nField is President; who has said of him that not half a dozen men in all\nEurope could compete with him.\n\nBesides the above-mentioned writing actually executed by this wonderful\nmedium baby of about a year old, which I have in my possession, and of\nwhich I regret that it cannot be photographed, I have before me also a\nphotographic copy, of _carte de visite_ size (sent me by Mr. Jencken),\nof a piece of writing executed by his infant fingers at the age of five\nmonths and eighteen days (of course controlled by Spirit power), in\nthese words: _I love this little boy. God bless his mama. J.\u00a0B.\u00a0F._ And\nbelow, _I am happy_ (the last syllable of \"happy\" being scrawled very\nindistinctly). Below it is the following attestation by Mr. Jencken's\nhand: \"Written by the infant boy of Mrs. Jencken on the 11th March,\n1874, aged five months and eighteen days. Mr. Jencken, Mrs. Jencken, and\nnurse present.\"\n\nOn the rear of the card, in the hand of Mr. Jencken (and in that of my\nsister, Katie, for her signature), is the further attestation: \"The\nwriting on the other side of this leaf was written by our infant child,\naged five months and eighteen days, in our presence, in a clear light,\nthe pencil having been placed in the baby's hand by an invisible\nagency.--London, 11th March, 1874. (Signed) H. D. Jencken. (Signed)\nK.\u00a0F. Jencken.\"\n\nOn the opposite page will be found lithographic copies of the two sides\nof the card above described.\n\n  [Illustration: I love this little\n  boy. God bless his mama.\n\n  J B F,\n\n  I am happy\n\n  Written by the infant boy\n  of Mrs Jencken on the\n  =11 March 1874=, aged 5 months\n                     & 18 =days=\n\n  Mr Jencken, Mrs Jencken &\n  nurse present.\n\n  The writing on the other\n  leaf was written by our\n  infant child, aged 5 months\n  & 18 days, in our presence, in\n  a clear light, the pencil\n  having been placed in the baby's\n  right hand by an invisible\n  agency.\n\n  London 11 March 1874.\n          H.\u00a0D. Jencken.\n          K.\u00a0F. Jencken.]\n\nAmong my loose papers I find a newspaper article from the _London\nSpiritualist_ of December 12, 1873, respecting this extraordinary child:\n\n\"MEDIUMSHIP OF A BABY.--H.\u00a0D. Jencken, Barrister-at-Law, of 53\nBrompton-Crescent, Brompton, has had further disturbances in his house,\nin consequence of the mediumship of his little boy, aged two months.\n\n\"Last Friday Mr. Jencken and Mrs. Jencken (Kate Fox) went to the great\nscientific _soir\u00e9e_ at the Crystal Palace, and that same evening, about\nnine o'clock, their housemaid, Elizabeth, went up-stairs to the front\ndrawing-room to turn down the gas burners. As she approached the door\nshe saw its handle turn round and she cried out, 'Who is that?' The door\nthen opened, and a veiled figure looked out at her. She only saw a part\nof the face, because the white drapery about it hid the rest, and she\nfancied that the eyes had an evil look. She ran down-stairs and gave the\nalarm to the cook and sempstress, saying that she thought thieves were\nin the house.\n\n\"Just after this occurred on the first floor, the nurse, Mrs. Macarthy,\nwho was watching the baby in a room near the top of the house, heard\nfootsteps outside; the door gently opened, and a short woman, young and\npleasant-looking, robed in white, entered, and returned quickly, twice.\nAt first the nurse thought that a joke was being played upon her; but,\nupon searching the adjoining room and landing, she could not find\nanybody. She then went down-stairs and joined the three servants below,\nwho had previously heard footsteps going up-stairs from the drawing-room\nto the nursery.\n\n\"The cook then went for a policeman, and the other three servants went\nup to the nursery, where they heard rapping noises and voices; the\nlatter were not sufficiently distinct to be intelligible. They also\nheard footsteps going right up to the top of the house. When the police\narrived they searched the house and found nothing. Just as they were\ngoing away, some footsteps followed them down the stairs. One of the\npolicemen turned round and said that the noises must be caused by a\nghost.\n\n\"Three days previously the housemaid had seen a figure in the\ndrawing-room. It suddenly disappeared. This form, she said, was covered\nwith a shawl, like that worn by Mrs. Jencken before she left the house.\nWas it Mrs. Jencken's 'double,' present there in consequence of her\nconstant thoughts about the baby?\n\n\"The nurse says she has seen hands making passes over the baby, and has\nheard raps at the head of the child's bedstead, and once the pillow was\npressed down by an unseen hand. On another occasion, a gold ring was\nseen knocking against the iron rail at the head of the bedstead. Last\nSunday we questioned the nurse and housemaid on all these points. They\nwere in a very nervous state about the whole matter, and evidently\ndeeply impressed by the circumstances, since they knew nothing about\nSpiritualism, until these phenomena forced themselves upon their\nattention.\n\n\"Mr. Jencken tells us that a few days ago, about six o'clock in the\nmorning, while it was yet dark, Mrs. Jencken brought the child to him.\nA strong light streamed from both the eyes of the baby, and illuminated\nits face, and raps said, 'We are looking at you through the eyes of the\nbaby.' When Mr. Jencken stated this, we called his attention to the\ncircumstance that a similar thing had occurred in connection with the\nmediumship of Swedenborg, whose eyes shone for a time with such lustre,\nas to frighten some persons who unexpectedly entered his room. In that\ncase also, the Spirits said that they were looking through his eyes. On\nseveral occasions recently, while we have been present at _s\u00e9ances_ at\nMr. Jencken's house, footsteps have been heard outside, and the rustling\nof a dress against the door. On quickly opening the door, nobody was\nthere.\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. Jencken leave town for Brighton next Monday.\"\n\nFor a further specimen of Spirit writing executed by the fingers of\nthis marvellous infant, the reader is referred to page 550 of Mrs. E.\nHardinge Britten's recent great work, entitled \"Nineteenth Century\nMiracles.\" The writing in this case was, \"_I love this little child God\nbless him advise his father to go back to London on Monday by all means.\nSusan._\" The attesting witnesses are, I. Wason, K.\u00a0F. Jencken, E.\nBuffum, New Church College, Devonshire Street, Islington, London, and\nthe + mark of Mrs. McCarthy, the nurse who held the child.\n\nFrom a letter from Mr. Jencken I know that this advice to him \"_to go\nback to London on Monday by all means_\" was good counsel. It proved that\nhis presence there was necessary for important business. Mrs. Britten's\nbook (p. 550) gives a facsimile of this communication as written by\nSpirit power through the tiny fingers of a baby. My sister wrote me at\nthe time a long letter about it, full of anxiety lest so wonderful a\nchild could not be expected to grow up to health. Its correctness is\ntherefore unimpeachable. But I must add that the letter-press at the\nbottom, in which the age of the infant is given as \"nine days,\" is a\nmanifest mistake, probably typographical. It is quite sufficient that\nhis age counted by months. As a human achievement by such baby fingers,\nit would be incredible; as the act of a Spirit employing those of a\nremarkable baby medium, it is simple enough to the apprehension of any\nexperienced Spiritualist.\n\nWhat future awaits this child remains to be seen. The house of his\nparents used for a time to be overrun by people of rank too high to be\n(in that country) refused admittance, who wanted to see some specimens\nof his mediumistic manifestations; until his parents wisely determined\nto break it all off, and not allow any exercise of his powers in that\nline to be indulged in, till he shall have reached the age of adult\nphysical development in health and strength.\n\nThe child is now about ten years of age, and, I rejoice to say, healthy,\nactive, and bright, as well as beautiful;--and further that his parents\nhave kept him entirely aloof from mediumship--to which course I strongly\nadvised them.\n\n\nOUR MOTHER AND FATHER.\n\nOur dear mother (who passed from this life to the next on the 3d\nAugust, 1865) was a woman of sound intellect, gentle disposition,\nvery charitable, and just to every one. She had great power of\ndiscrimination, and seldom failed in her estimate of character. Her\nportrait looks down upon me from our parlor wall; and when I look up\ninto her blessed face, my first impulse is to fall upon my knees and\nthank my God that I have had such a mother.\n\nRobert Dale Owen was one day sitting in the back parlor, engaged in\nwriting. He remained with us three months, at my husband's invitation,\nwhile writing his \"Foot-falls on the Boundary of Another World.\" He sat\nat equal distance from mother and her portrait, alternately looking from\none to the other. As I stepped in the door, he turned to me and said,\n\"Mrs. Underhill, if that were the portrait of my mother, and she were\nliving, as yours now is, and could sit for another every day, I would\nnot take a thousand dollars for it. I never saw a portrait so perfectly\ncorrect in my life, and I doubt if you could ever get another so\nperfect.\"\n\nOur father was not as well known to the public. Situated as we were, our\nparents concluded that, as we were compelled to travel and submit to all\ninvestigations necessary to establish a new truth (for new it was, to\nus), or to submit to, or rest under the condemnation of the world at\nlarge, we must of necessity have suitable companions. Therefore it was\ndecided that mother and Calvin should go wherever we went.\n\nOur father was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a\nclass leader at the time of his death (on the 10th January, 1865). One\nSunday morning he was ready to go to church and stood in the library,\nwaiting for my husband, who was going with him. I stood beside him when\nsuddenly the signal for the alphabet was given. I repeated the letters,\nand the Spirit said, \"My dear son, it is a pleasure to me to attend you\nto the church. I always go with you there.\"\n\nHis chest heaved, and with tears in his eyes he said, \"Are you the\nSpirit of my dear mother now speaking to me?\" The answer was, \"Yes, I am\nyour mother Catharine.\" He then asked, \"Is my father here too?\" Answer,\n\"Yes, my dear son. I bless you this morning. We shall all be together in\nHeaven soon.\n\n    \"DAVID.\"\n\nI asked him, \"Do you think the Methodists would approve of this if you\nwere to read it to them?\" He replied, \"It would matter little to me\nwhether they did or not. I not only believe it but I know it is true,\nand the time will come when they will all believe it.\"\n\nMr. Underhill then went with him to church, and when they returned he\nsaid to me (holding up the little message in his hand), \"This, to me, is\nfar stronger proof of a glorious immortality than all the preachers on\nearth could give me.\"\n\nMother was also a member of the same church in Rochester in 1849. She\nwas officially waited upon in Arcadia by a very young preacher (hardly\ntwenty years of age in appearance) who had, evidently, but little\nexperience in the office to which he had been _specially called_ to save\nsouls. He introduced himself as the \"servant of the Lord,\" and, walking\nup to mother, said, \"This is sister Fox, I suppose?\" Mother replied, \"I\nam Mrs. Fox.\" \"Well, Mrs. Fox, there is a complaint against you for\ncountenancing your children in carrying on a wicked deception. It is\ncalculated to do much harm, and it is contrary to the religion of the\nBible.\" He urged her to make her confession before the church, and cause\nher children to discontinue their unholy pursuit, and she could remain\nin good standing in the church. This little man was a circuit preacher,\nand we suppose had taken upon himself to do the Lord's work, in his own\nway, as we never heard from him again; and I seriously doubt if any one\never sent him. It recalls what Sojourner Truth said to the preacher,\nwhen she was attending a woman's rights meeting in the church and a\nviolent thunder-storm came up, with peal after peal shaking the building\nto its foundation, when the minister arose and proposed that they should\nadjourn, as he thought the Lord was angry on account of the movement,\nand he believed it was wicked to hold such a meeting in a church.\n\nSojourner arose and said to him, \"Set still, chile. Don't you be\nafeared. I don' believe the Lord ever hearn tell on you.\"\n\nMother was never expelled from the church, but the leading members came\nto our side--minister and all.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nA celebrated seer has publicly asserted that rapping mediums are\nnecessarily of nervous temperament, apprehensive of evil, and usually\ndiseased.\n\nThere has never been in our family, so far as I have been able to trace\nthem, on either side, a taint of disease; from my mother's grandfather\nRutan, who lived to be ninety-three years of age, and her grandfather on\nher father's side, John C. Smith, who was more than eighty years of age\nwhen he left this sphere of existence. The same is true of my father's\nfather and grandfather, neither of whom were diseased. We have been\nsingularly free from all manner of ailments so common in thousands of\nfamilies. We had no taint of hereditary scrofula, were never subject\nto inflammatory diseases. Healthy, sound, and strong, not easily\nfrightened, steadfast in faith, and never disposed to believe anything\nwithout evidence. I have very little interest in anything covered by the\nwords theoretic speculations, or in self-induced conditions, in which\nmany thousands who stand on rostrums and teach the anxious inquirers\nafter truth that of which they themselves know little or nothing. My\nmotto is: Live up to your highest light. Listen to the small voice\nwithin, and obey the dictates of your conscience. Do unto others as you\nwould be done by. Follow the golden rule. Go worship where and what your\nconscience, not pride, leads you, and you need not fear to meet your\nGod.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nJustice as well as reverential duty has prompted my gracing the\ntitle-page with the portrait of my mother, rather than follow the\ncustomary practice of placing upon it that of the author, by way of\npersonal introduction to the eye of the reader. Though, as has been\nseen, our father had but little part to play beyond that of consenting\nspectator in the early history of Spiritualism, yet my mother's part in\nit, and services to its cause, were of the highest value and importance.\nHer strength, moral and mental, as the central figure of our family\ngroup before the public, largely supported us in our mission, in which\nshe always accompanied and protected us; nor, after she had once yielded\nher consent and acceptance of the \"duty,\" did she ever begrudge her time\nand her labors thus withdrawn from the private life of domesticity,\nwhich would have been infinitely her preference.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nROCHESTER (_Continued_).\n\n  \"REPEAT THE LORD'S PRAYER\"--FIRST MONEY ACCEPTED--MUSCULAR\n    QUAKERISM--LETTER FROM GEORGE WILLETS--LETTER FROM JOHN E.\n    ROBINSON--CAUTION AGAINST CONSULTATION OF SPIRITS ABOUT WORLDLY\n    INTERESTS.\n\n\nTo resume the narrative interrupted at page 74.\n\nWe left Corinthian Hall about ten o'clock P.M., and returned with Mr.\nand Mrs. Post, to their hospitable Quaker home.\n\nWe had passed the fiery ordeal. It had been a wearisome, exhausting\ntrial. We needed rest, and it was thought advisable for us to remain\nthere a few days. Many people called at our house on Troup Street, and,\nwhen they were informed of our absence, subsequently called at Mr.\nPost's to see us, but were refused admittance under the circumstances\nwhich imposed the necessity.\n\nBefore we left this home of our kind and dear friends, mother and Kathie\nreturned. (The latter had been to Mr. Capron's, in Auburn, and returned\nwith mother to Rochester.)\n\nMother had not heard of the public investigation, and thus was spared\nall the anxiety and torture of mind which we had undergone. She declared\nthat if she had been there she would not have permitted it.\n\nWe were consoled by the reflection that we had fairly gained the\nvictory, and cleared ourselves from the charges of deception; and that\nwas our first and chief desire. We believed we had done our duty, and\nrejoiced that we had been so truly, so kindly and so nobly supported,\nand so honorably acquitted. Mother was rejoiced at our success and began\nto feel more resigned. Many persons continued to call, and all were\nanxious to learn from us and the Spirits something more than they were\nable to get through popular report or the newspapers. We often refused\nto see them, and declared we would not again subject ourselves to the\ncriticisms of those who knew little or nothing of the subject, and were\nin general so bitterly hostile and prejudiced against it.\n\nOh, how little did we know of all that was before us! We had just opened\nthe door to the public curiosity and interest; and it was not for us to\ndiscriminate _who_ should enter therein. The people came from every\ndirection. We knew not what to do. Judge Hascall came to spend an\nevening with us, bringing with him a large party of his friends,\nviz., Judge Summerfield, Hon. J. Hedden, Andrew Stewart, Mr. Duncan\nMcNaughton, Judge Chamberlain, Mr. McKay, and Mr. McVean. One of these\nparties was known to his friends as an extreme infidel in religious\nmatters.\n\nSeveral of the parties named had visited us before, and they had urged\nMr. McNaughton to spend the evening with us. He tried to excuse himself,\nbut they insisted, and he finally consented to do so; they clearly\nunderstood that he was not to take any part in the investigation.\nThey arrived at about eight o'clock P.M. Judge Hascall introduced the\ngentlemen as his friends and neighbors from Genesee County, N.\u00a0Y. They\nwere all distinguished men, holding high positions in their several\npursuits.\n\nNo sooner had we taken our seats at the table, than the Spirits spelled\nout, \"My dear son, repeat the Lord's prayer.\" Each member looked at the\nothers inquiringly, but no word was spoken except to ask \"Who?\"\n\nThe rappings answered, \"My dear son, ha'e ye forgotten your puir auld\nmither? O my son, repeat the Lord's prayer.\" Mr. McNaughton was a very\ntall man, with a strong Scotch accent. The rapping still continued\nto call upon him to repeat the Lord's prayer. He looked from one to\nanother, but said nothing. His friends urged him to comply with the\nSpirit's request; but he was disgusted, and thought it was a trick which\nhis friends were playing upon him, and as they were very jolly, he would\nnot make himself ridiculous by resenting it: but still no further\nmanifestations came, under the then state of things.\n\nHis friends told him that if he wanted to witness anything further\nhe would have to comply with the request of the Spirit. After much\npersuasion, he reluctantly commenced in a very low, indistinct manner to\nmumble something that sounded like \"Our father, which art in heaven.\" By\nthis time a universal roar of laughter broke from the company. Still,\nthe Spirit urged him to go on, and he began again with little better\nsuccess.\n\nHis friends knew full well it had been many a day since he had prayed\nwith his \"dear auld mither.\" The Spirit then spelled that \"_all_\nshould join in repeating the Lord's prayer,\" and we all united in its\nrepetition. The responsive rappings of approval were heard all over the\nroom--on the table, chairs, floor, and wall. Mr. McNaughton looked\nastonished. The table danced with evident joy, and we were obliged\nto move back. There it stood, upon one foot, fairly dancing. Mr.\nMcNaughton exclaimed boldly, in his Scotch dialect, \"Exthraordinary!\nExthraordinary! I begin to understand it now.\" The laughter was over.\nThe Spirit of his mother said, \"My dear son, do you remember how we used\nto repeat the Lord's prayer together, when you were a little laddie?\"\n\"Yes, mother. Yes, I comprehend it all. I am converted to the truth of\nSpiritual manifestations.\"\n\nThe company remained until ten o'clock, and the manifestations were\nvery satisfactory. They felt more than gratified, and, to use their own\nwords, said, \"We cannot go away without giving you some remuneration for\nthe time you have kindly spent with us.\" Mr. McNaughton had just lost a\nlovely daughter, and she gave him sweet assurance of her undying love\nand her immortal existence.\n\nThis is the first instance in which we had ever been offered payment for\nour time. They offered it in kindness and good faith, believing it was\njustly our due. But to us it seemed humiliating. We had not needed such\naid, as my brother furnished us with provisions from the farm, and, with\nwhat I still had left of that received for teaching, I had enough for\npresent purposes; and I fully intended to return with mother, and live\nat the old home. Still our friends insisted that we should not refuse\ntheir kindly intended gift. This first money was received on November\n28, 1849.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nI will here introduce, for love and veneration to his memory, a letter\nwritten about this time by our excellent Quaker friend George Willets,\nof Rochester, to Mr. E.\u00a0W. Capron, who handed it over to me. He was\none of the noblest of men. And Quaker as he was (he was one of the\n\"Progressive Friends,\" commonly called Hicksites), I once witnessed a\nscene in which a just and righteous indignation caused him to cast off\nhis coat, in readiness to deal in very mundane fashion with an unworthy\nand misbehaving member of one of the \"investigating committees.\" \"I've\nnever fought a man in my life,\" he said, \"but I will not stand by\nand see thee insult these children.\" The assailant wilted down. The\nprovocation was such that I am sure the angel who may have charge of\nthe short record of Quaker sins, after writing it \"dropped a tear on the\nwords and blotted them out forever.\"\n\n\nLETTER FROM GEORGE WILLETS.\n\n(About end of 1848.)\n\n_Dear friend, E.\u00a0W. Capron:_\n\nIt is with some reluctance that I furnish you with the following\nstatement. Not that I am afraid to tell the truth, but that the world,\nas I conceive, is not ready to receive such truths yet. _Ridicule_ will\nprobably be heaped upon me; but when I consider that it is the ignorant\nonly who use that weapon, perhaps I can afford to stand up and say, \"Let\nthe storm come.\" All who know me can say whether I have been truthful\nfrom my youth up, yea or nay; and the strongest language that I can use\nis to say that the following statement is _strictly and entirely true_.\n\nIn the summer of 1848, I had concluded, from the best judgment that\nI could bring to my aid, that it was best for my family to remove\nsomewhere among the wilds of the West. Accordingly I took a tour of\nobservation, and finding some land in Michigan, that suited me better\nthan any other, belonging to a gentleman living in Rochester, I stopped\non my return, in order, if possible, to negotiate for it. I stayed\nwith my friend and relative, Isaac Post, and while there he told me\nof certain sounds being heard in the city; and that they displayed\nintelligence, and purported to be made by \"Spirits,\" or persons\ninvisible to us. I was really sceptical about any such things, but at\nhis solicitation went to examine the matter. The persons with whom these\nsounds seemed to be, I had never seen nor heard of before, and my friend\nwas careful not to tell them who I was, or where I had been. It seems\nthat the question was asked whether there was any communication for me,\nand the direction from the sounds was, that three persons be magnetized;\ntwo of whom were present, and one was sent for from a neighboring\nfamily. I did not know the name of any person present, and I was also\ncertain that none of them knew me. After the three persons were put\nin the clairvoyant state, one of them said, \"We have got to go to\nMichigan.\" They all agreed that they had got to go there, and on my\naccount. They did seem all to go there, and began to describe places and\nthings which I had seen, and at length came to a piece of land which\nthey said was the place they came to look at. They then described the\nland so accurately, which I had stopped in Rochester to buy, that I\nbegan to wonder who had told them. They all, with one accord, then said,\n\"But he must not go there. His father says that he had better not go.\"\nAs they said this, there came a loud sound close to my chair, and _I sat\nsome distance from any other person_. They spoke much of my father, and\nwhat his mind was, and at each time that same sound was heard. Up\nto this time I had not spoken a word, but found the big drops of\nperspiration starting from my face. I gathered courage, and thought I\nwould dispel that illusion directly. I said, \"As you assume to know my\nfather, and what his mind is concerning me, _perhaps_ you can tell his\nname.\" They all seemed to look steadily for some time, then commenced\nand spoke slowly and deliberately these letters: \"W-i-l-l-i-a-m\nW-i-l-l-e-t-s.\" At each letter the loud sound that I first heard was\nagain heard, and felt immediately under my feet. I never was so\nastonished in my life, and involuntarily said, \"What does all this\nmean?\" The sounds then said, by the alphabet being called over, that\nthey had better be awakened, and the first loud sounds said, \"I will\ntalk with George, and tell him all about it.\" The direction was for Mr.\nPost, myself, and a little girl, thirteen years old, to go by ourselves.\nAnd here I wish it distinctly understood, that all which I shall relate\nas obtained from those sounds, was in the presence only of my friends,\nMr. and Mrs. Post, myself, and the little girl spoken of. As what\nfollows all purported to be from my father, I will say that his name was\nWilliam Willets, a member of the Society of Friends, widely known at\nWestbury, Long Island, where he lived until nearly sixty years of age,\nand subsequently at Skaneateles, Onondaga County, where he died in 1841.\nThe communication by sounds then went on to say that it was my father\nwho was present and talking with me; and three hours were consumed at\nthe first interview.\n\nIn saying to me what his counsel was, it always assumed to counsel and\nadvise, but never to dictate. He said that it was not best for us to go\nto Michigan, and gave various reasons, among which were that we should\nnot enjoy ourselves in a new country, and that my health would not be\ncompetent for the task of clearing up new land; and that he _foresaw_,\nif we did go, that we should come back again, and would be less in\nnumber than when we went. I then asked what was best to do. The answer\nthen was, \"Come to Rochester.\" I replied that I knew of no business that\nI could do in Rochester. The sounds said, \"I will tell thee when thee\ncomes.\" I asked if I might know now. The answer was, \"No, no business is\nneeded until thee comes, and then I will tell thee.\" The sounds then\nsaid, that after a time it would be best for me to buy some land. I\nasked where. The sounds then spelled out the name of a man whom no one\npresent knew, and said that he owned fifty acres of land on such a\nstreet adjoining the city, and such a distance from the centre of the\ncity; that he would sell any part. I asked the price that would be\nasked. The sounds were heard and counted by three of us,--one hundred\nand fifty times in succession,--to tell us the number of dollars per\nacre that would be asked. The sounds said that we had better go the next\nday and see if this was so, and said that we should not see the man\nuntil ten o'clock, though we might look for him as early as we pleased.\n\nIn the morning I looked in the Directory and there found the name\nspelled out to us, and went to his residence at seven o'clock, and was\ninformed that he was gone to a distant part of the city, and would not\nbe home until twelve o'clock. We then went to find him, and had some\ndifficulty in doing so, but after talking with him five or six minutes,\nlooked at the time, and it _was seven minutes past ten_. This person\nsaid that he owned fifty acres on the street told us by the sounds, and\nthat he would sell any part. When I asked him the price, he showed me a\nmap with the price of each lot marked, and taking the number of acres\nsaid by the sounds to be best to buy, and averaging the price, it was\nthe price told us by the sounds, within six one-hundredths of a dollar\nper acre. I then went home to my family and pondered over these strange\nthings. Many were the conflicts in my own mind, and I heard the cry from\nall quarters of \"humbug,\" \"deception,\" \"fraud;\" but I could not believe\nthat I wanted to deceive myself. Three months I thought of these things\ndeeply, and _I could not go_ to Michigan. I concluded, if it was\ndeception, it would do the world some good to find it out. The first of\nDecember, 1848, I moved from Waterloo to Rochester. A few days after\ngetting here, the little girl spoken of came round to our house, and\nsaid that the \"spirit\" had directed her to come; for what purpose she\ndid not know; we inquired what it was, and this was the communication:\n\"I told thee if thee would come to Rochester, I would tell thee where\nthee could find employment: in four days from this time I will tell\nthee. In the meantime the anti-slavery folks are going to hold their\nfair; would it not be well for thee to help them?\" No one was present\nat this time except my wife, the little girl, and myself. The four days\nwent by, and again, without solicitation, and without thinking the time\nwas up, the girl came again. The communication was, \"Apply to William\nWiley, Superintendent of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad, to-morrow\nat two o'clock, at his office, for a situation, and thee will have one\nbefore this week is out.\" This was Thursday. I was a stranger to Mr.\nWiley, and I called on Mr. Post, and told him the direction, and asked\nhim if the next day he would go with me. That evening he, happening to\nbe at the depot, inquired if Mr. Wiley was at home, and was told that he\nwas in Boston, and, by a letter just received, would not be at home till\nFriday night. I was told by the sounds on Wednesday to apply on Thursday\nat two o'clock. Thursday at half-past one, instead of going to the\nrailroad office, I went round where these sounds were heard, and said,\n\"How is this?--I am told to apply to William Wiley, and he is in\nBoston.\" The sounds said: \"_Go to his office now, he is there_.\" I\ncalled for Mr. Post and walked immediately there, and _found Mr. Wiley\nin his office_. He said that he had returned sooner than he expected to\nwhen he wrote the letter. Mr. Post said that I was a relative of his,\nand wished employment; and Mr. Wiley replied that they were all full,\nwith abundant applications, and could give no encouragement whatever. We\nwalked back, thinking deeply, and I went where the sounds were heard\nagain. I inquired, \"How is this?--Mr. Wiley has no place for me!\" The\nanswer was: \"_Thee will have a place on the cars, and will know it\nbefore the week is out_.\"\n\nOn Saturday night, at dark, I met Mr. Post, and he asked if I had heard\nanything from Mr. Wiley. I replied, \"Not a word.\" At eight o'clock on\nthat same evening Mr. Post called at my house, and said that Mr. Wiley\nhad just been at his store, and said that he had a place for me, and\nwished me to call at his office on Monday morning. As Mr. Wiley did not\ntell what place I was to fill, I again asked the sounds what it was; and\nthey said it was to go as baggage-master between this place and Auburn.\nOn Sunday morning I wrote to my friend James Truman, of Waterloo,\nstating that I should pass through that place on Monday following, in\nthe capacity above stated, _before I knew from Mr. Wiley what place he\nwanted me to fill_; and he can probably testify to that fact. One month\nafter I had been running on the cars, I learned that the person whose\nplace I took had done things worthy of a dismissal, _previous_ to my\nbeing directed to make application, which did not come to Mr. Wiley's\nnotice till _the day on which I received the appointment_. These things\nhave only been known to a few friends; you and the world now have them.\nI have many communications, penned down at the time they were received,\npurporting to be from my father, all of the most elevating character,\ninciting me to goodness, purity and honesty of heart, and ever pointing\nto the endless progression of man. In conclusion, I may say that I have\nexamined the matter attentively for one year and a half, and have had\nabundant opportunities to do so, and am prepared to say, although the\nsounds may cease to-day, and never be heard again, _they have displayed\na remarkable degree of intelligence, and were not made by any person\nvisible_ to us.\n\n    (Signed)    GEORGE WILLETS.[7]\n\n    [7] I feel bound to call attention to the fact that the\n    directions narrated in this letter were _volunteered_ by the\n    Spirits to Mr. Willets, not sought by him, and they were all\n    strictly correct. They led to this good and serviceable friend\n    being established in Rochester, where he became very useful to\n    us and to the nascent Cause to which the Spirits had called and\n    devoted us. But I am anxious to caution the reader against the\n    error of consulting Spirits for information or direction about\n    _matters of worldly interest_. They will probably get answers,\n    but from mocking and deceptive Spirits, who step in when the\n    good and true ones decline to intervene. It is not the mission\n    of good Spirits to mingle in affairs of mere non-spiritual\n    interest. Beware of what is called \"business mediumship,\" and\n    of directions respecting fortune-making or fortune-telling.\n    Never forget that there are tricksters and liars out of the\n    flesh as well as in it; which is little to be wondered at since\n    so many of that character are daily passing out from the one\n    condition into the other, when they remain for periods often\n    prolonged, _earth-bound_ by their own selfish viciousness. We\n    should never do more than ask good Spirits to guide us by their\n    kindly influences, and then do the best in the situation that\n    we can according to our best lights of conscience and judgment.\n    Nor can we ever transfer to Spirit counsellors our own moral\n    and mental responsibilities.--A.\u00a0L.\u00a0U.\n\n\nBefore proceeding further I desire at this point to insert in this\nvolume an interesting letter, addressed to the Rochester _Daily\nAdvertiser_, by our friend Mr. John E. Robinson, also, like Mr. Willets,\na well-known and distinguished member of the Society of Friends.\n\nThe controversy on the rapping and the general spiritual manifestations\nafter the public investigation could no longer be suppressed. It became\na subject which elicited much comment in the public prints; but\nin relation to which the Spiritualists had nothing to fear. Their\nopponents, generally, wrote without ever having examined it; and graded\nthe vehemence of their opposition by the strength of their fealty to\nthe teachings of their leaders. One of these acknowledged leaders was\nChester Dewey, D.D., of the Rochester Collegiate Institute, who, without\nseeking to investigate the subject, claimed to recognize it as a fraud\nin its inception and wicked in its designs; and thus recorded his\nopinion in the public press at Rochester. His letters to the Rochester\n_Daily Advertiser_, at the time, drew forth the following rejoinder by\nMr. Robinson, of that city, which was published in the columns of that\npaper:\n\n\n\"THE RAPPING MYSTERY.\n\n\"MESSRS. EDITORS: There has been a vast deal of ink shed upon the\nabove-named subject, and much of it to but little purpose, except\nto demonstrate the willingness of individuals to show up before the\nworld the least attractive features of their intellectual and moral\ncharacters. Far the greater number of paragraphists who have essayed\nto enlighten the world on this subject, and protect this community in\nparticular from _humbug_, as they are pleased to term it, have made up\ntheir various articles of exceedingly cheap material. Ridicule, the\nfool's argument, has formed the chief staple of their lucubrations.\nDenunciation, unsparingly poured out, has been heaped upon the heads of\nthose most immediately connected with this singular phenomenon, and an\nunwarrantable and unmanly meanness, which has led the writers, almost\nwithout exception, to traduce the character of the Fox family, and has\ntaught us how easy it is for men to forget their manhood and stoop to a\npoint at which they can lay claim to but little of the nobility of human\nnature.\n\n\"I, for one, can find an apology for the penny-a-liners who have poured\ntheir puerile effusions _at_ the knocking mystery. They do but cater\nfor a public sentiment and public ignorance in this matter; and their\nbread-and-butter demands of them that they shall not wave their inky\nwands beyond the line of that opinion. But there are some for whom\nwe cannot make this apology. I notice in your paper of 23d inst. a\ncommunication over the signature of C.\u00a0D. The writer of said article\nlays claim (and not a groundless one) to the reputation of a man of\nwisdom. He is known among us as the expounder of laws natural and\ndivine. His picture, so he tells us, hangs from the walls of the\nAthen\u00e6um, and looks down complacently upon its visitors as a teacher of\nthe exact and occult sciences. The community in which he lives has\nnourished him during a long lapse of years, has accredited to him the\nprerogatives he has claimed, and has looked up to him, as one clothed\nwith authority, to enlighten it upon all abstruse subjects. And yet,\nwith the knowledge (which he must possess) that if anything be spoken\nof it must be spoken of understandingly,--that a man in his position\nutterly disregards the safety of his reputation who rushes to record an\nopinion without ascertaining that it is tenable, and that he has facts\nto sustain him; this self-same C.\u00a0D., this Solon of the closet and\npulpit, without a particle of evidence, in the absence of all personal\nobservation, rushes in the hot haste of blind folly to the press, and\ntells the \"good people\" that the phenomenon in question is no phenomenon\nat all, but only a sheer humbug! a miserable delusion, cunningly\ncontrived, but fit only to deceive such fanatical fools as have been\nchasing shadows from time immemorial, down to the advent of Mormonism.\n\n\"This word _humbug_ is in great request. It is of modern origin, and the\nmoderns are making the most of it. Everything new, while going through\nits incipient stage, is denominated 'humbug.' Everything and everybody a\nwhit in advance of the age or its intelligence is looked at askance by\nthe gaping crowd, and 'humbug' is the ready watchword. The community's\nacknowledged leaders, and whose antics, at times, should have taught\nthem that\n\n      'A little learning is a dangerous thing,'\n\nare asked by their too credulous disciples to give them their opinion\non some new and startling development in physics or man's intellectual\nnature, and immediately these 'learned Thebans,' scorning the patient\ntoil and honest purpose of the true student, turn their blear eyes upon\nthe interrogations and shout Humbug! Humbug!\n\n\"In such cases their visual organs are of about as much service to them\nas the sun is to that burrowing animal which shuns the light of day.\nWhen will men, even whose gray hairs seem to ask us to expect better\nthings of them, learn that bareface assertion weighs not as evidence\nwith those who choose to think for themselves? Ours is a thinking age,\nand requires something more than the bold _say so_ of any man to\nconvince people that a thing _may_ or _may not_ be. We live at a period,\ntoo, and in the midst of minds which have learned that much that was\nreceived as unadulterated truth by the past, upon which the dust of\nburied centuries had gathered and seemed to hallow, has been proved\nerroneous by the light of advancing knowledge and the searching analysis\nof science. And who shall say where that knowledge is to stop? Is\nthere to be no new unfolding of man's intellectual powers? Is he ever\nto remain in the comparative ignorance he now is in respecting the\nrelations which he, while here in this life, sustains to the spiritual\nworld? Are the laws of his being and its attributes as yet entirely\nrevealed to him? Is the physical of this world of so much importance\nthat the astounding developments of this and the coming cycles of time\nare to be confined entirely to that, to the exclusion of man's higher\nand more ethereal nature? These questions I leave your correspondent\nC.\u00a0D. and his coadjutor J.\u00a0W.\u00a0H. to answer for themselves in their more\nreflective hours.\n\n\"C.\u00a0D. says 'the wary and eagle-eyed are kept out, and excluded from\nopportunity of investigation.' Now, to be perfectly plain, this remark\nborders very much upon misrepresentation. _It is not so._ And if the\ngentleman would have 'the good people' understand that he is thus\ndenied, I would undeceive them. Mr. Dewey has on more than one occasion\nbeen urged by those who would have afforded him every opportunity for\ninvestigation, to test the reality of the said phenomena. He could have\nhad, and may have, associated with him in such investigation, men whom\nhe or others may select, as his equals in every respect, to aid him; and\nbefore he has the temerity to repeat his uttered cry of humbug, and\nbrand again, with most unchristian readiness, as deceivers, individuals\nwhom he does not know, I call upon him to avail himself of the senses\nwhich God has given him for that purpose. He need feel no repugnance to\nvisiting so obscure a locality as Troup Street. His equals (to say the\nleast) have been there before him, and he would not have to tarry long\nin that region to meet with visitors who possess more intelligence, a\nwider charity, greater modesty, and a better purpose than he has\nmanifested in his communications.\n\n\"A man's practice is the touchstone of his faith, and I want no better\nevidence of the practical infidelity of any one, than to know that while\nhe preaches for so much the square yard the doctrine of an after-life,\nhe scouts anything which comes to us in the shape of tangible evidence\nof the soul's immortality.\n\n\"Mr. Dewey says he will be 'glad to see the truth advanced, lead where\nit may.' In this I join him, and such motive must be my apology for\ntrespassing upon your columns and patience.\n\n    \"Respectfully yours,\n      \"JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n  \"ROCHESTER, February, 25, 1850.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nALBANY AND TROY. 1850.\n\n  EXCURSION TO ALBANY--DELAVAN HOUSE AND VAN VECHTEN HALL--REV. DR.\n    STAATS AND THE JUDGES--HIGH CLASS OF MINDS INTERESTED--PRESIDENT\n    ELIPHALET NOTT--PECUNIARY ARRANGEMENTS--EXCURSION TO TROY--TROJAN\n    LADIES--MOB ATTEMPTS ON LIFE OF MARGARETTA.\n\n\nEXCURSION TO ALBANY.\n\nWe were directed (by the spirits) to \"go forth and let the truth be\nknown.\" We had already passed through a terrible experience, and feared\nto make another such hazardous attempt; but the fiat had gone forth. We\nhad debated the question a long time before we could consent to subject\nourselves to another public contest. However, there was no alternative.\nWe were compelled to \"do our duty,\" regardless of consequences, so far\nas it was in our power.\n\nIt was the first of April, 1850, when the Rev. R.\u00a0P. Ambler and Mr.\nD.\u00a0F. Coman, of Springfield, Mass., called on us for an evening s\u00e9ance.\nThey came with an introduction from our friend Apollus Munn. Mr. Ambler\nwas a Universalist minister, had preached in Albany, and was much\nrespected there. They were greatly astonished by the evidence they\nreceived during the s\u00e9ance; and it proved to them clearly that their\ncommunications were received from spirits, or from some power entirely\nbeyond our knowledge. Various circumstances point to the conclusion that\nthese arrangements had been planned and directed for us by our spirit\nfriends and guides.\n\nWe had been informed by the spirits that we should have a proper person\nto lecture for us; and were told that we should first go to Albany,\nengage a public hall, and allow the spirit-rapping to be heard by the\naudience. We did not, however, dare to attempt such a venture until\nwe had made another experiment in our own city (Rochester). Only five\nmonths previously we had left Corinthian Hall, triumphantly indeed, but\namid a howling mob. But they had been kept at bay and overpowered by\nsuperior forces, and we tried by the public, and not found guilty.\n\nOnce again we engaged a hall, at our own expense, and gave notice to the\npublic that Mr. Ambler would deliver a lecture, and \"the three sisters\nwould accompany him on the platform.\" The hall was crowded. The lecturer\nwas eloquent and the audience pleased. The rappings were profuse. Public\nopinion had changed since the first lectures on the subject. _Friends_\nrushed to the platform to congratulate us on our triumphant success.\n\nMany good wishes for our happiness and prosperity in our great\nenterprise were showered upon us; and we little dreamed that we had\ngiven our last public entertainment to our true and tried friends in\nRochester. We did not even imagine that we were then leaving our dear\nold home for a new one in a new city, when the proper time should\narrive. There was much and arduous consultation respecting the mode in\nwhich we should go forth into the world on the travels and toils that\nlay before us.\n\nOur father had been interrupted in all his business arrangements, and\ncould not possibly leave home, and Calvin, who had grown up in our\nfamily (a son and brother by adoption), was the best personal protector\nwe could have. We left with our father's sympathy and blessing.\n\nWe reached Albany the last of April, 1850. We engaged a suite of rooms\nin the Delavan House. Mr. Ambler was our lecturer, and Mr. Coman our\nbusiness man--mother, Maggie, Katie, and myself, with Calvin as our\nescort. We engaged Van Vechten Hall. It had been previously announced\nthrough the papers that \"the Fox Family\" would appear at the hall, with\nMr. Ambler, who would deliver a course of lectures, preparatory to our\ngiving s\u00e9ances at the Delavan House.\n\nOur career was now commenced. After all our resolving not to go any more\nbefore the public, we had been forced to let the world know what was\nrevealed to us, and what was meant not for us alone.\n\nOur rooms were thronged by the _\u00e9lite_ of Albany and of many other\nplaces adjacent. Our success was great, as the spirits had promised. We\nreceived both public and private parties from all parts of the country.\n\nThe spirits had performed their parts admirably for nearly two weeks,\nwhen I received a note from the editor of the _Albany Morning Express_.\n\n(It will be remembered that at one of the Rochester investigations, a\nSecond Advent minister had deemed it his duty to rise in public and\nexpress his idea that all this was of diabolic origin, and that _we_,\nthe mediums, ought to be sent to prison. But the good old days of\nCotton Mather and of the hangings at Salem were past, and after the\nconscientious but narrow bigot resumed his seat, no further notice was\ntaken of the good man or of his suggestion. I may remark in passing,\nthat the spirits who extorted from Mr. MacNaughton the Lord's Prayer,\nwhich he had been taught in childhood to repeat at the knees of his\n\"puir auld mither,\" and had converted him to Spiritualism and a belief\nin the immortality of the soul, would seem to have been strange\nemissaries of Satan.)\n\nAt Albany we met a somewhat similar experience, both in the attempt made\nagainst us and in its results. A certain respectable minister, I do not\nknow of what denomination, named Dr. Staats, was so far exercised in\nhis mind by the reports of our meetings at the Delavan House, that he\napplied to the courts for a warrant for our arrest. I had the surprise\nof receiving the following note from the highly respected editor of the\n_Morning Express_:\n\n\n    \"ALBANY MORNING EXPRESS,\n    \"May 13, 1850.\n\n\"MRS. FISH: I have just this moment been called upon by the judges of\nthe court before whom Rev. Dr. Staats would have brought you, had he\nbeen able so to do, who say they would be pleased to call on you this\nafternoon, at four o'clock, as they will then be at leisure. Can you\naccommodate them? I think it will be a grand move to have them witness\nthe demonstrations. I would call, but am so busy this morning that\neven ---- is out of my mind.\n\n    \"In great haste,\n    \"Yours respectfully,\n    \"JACOB C. CUYLER.\"\n\n\nAt precisely the appointed time the expected party of judges and lawyers\narrived, numbering seventeen, all men of distinction. They were just and\nhonest men, with open, judicial minds, seeking only the truth, and not\nthe gratification of hostile prejudices. The proprietor of the house,\nMr. Rozelle, was ill in bed; but he rose, dressed himself, and went down\nto meet the judicial party before they left his house. They said to him,\nwhen they left, \"It will take wiser judges than we are to pronounce\nagainst them.\"\n\nThe judges came frequently to see us afterward; and thus, through\nthe Rev. Dr. Staats's efforts to injure us, and have us arrested for\n\"blasphemy against the holy scriptures,\" a strong army was raised up\nfor our protection. And this result we found was invariably the case\nthrough all our subsequent public career.\n\nWherever and whenever an attempt was made to show to the world that\nit was not true, however hostile and powerful the men engaged against\nus, we always--without a single exception--were brought through our\ndifficulties in triumph, although, at times, we could not see how we\nwere to escape the entanglements often thrown around us. We placed\nourselves wholly under the directions of our spirit friends, and\ninvariably came out with safety and honor, as they told us we should, if\nwe but acted our parts faithfully.\n\nBefore the time arrived for us to leave Albany, we had been deluged with\nletters, by reputable parties, from all parts of the country, urging us\nto come and afford them an opportunity for themselves to investigate. Of\ncourse we could not comply with all these requests, as we could at the\ntime only give attention to the principal cities.\n\nDuring our stay in Albany our rooms were thronged with anxious\ninvestigators from all the neighboring towns and cities. We usually\nmet the higher order of intelligences; as the conceited nabob and the\nequally conceited representative of the (morally) lower classes, were\nseldom attracted to subjects beyond their comprehension and above their\nsympathies.\n\nMy books of registration plainly show the class of minds which became\ninterested in Spiritualism at that early day. I shall preserve them.\nThey should be placed in some historical library, so that generations\nyet to come may realize the fact that Spiritualism was first sought\nafter by the most enlightened and progressive minds of the nineteenth\ncentury.\n\nI will not here record the names of my attached friends and constant\nvisitors (with but two exceptions) of that most interesting period--two\nremarkable for their advanced years as well as for their high personal\ndistinction, the Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College,\nSchenectady, and Mr. Edward C. Delavan, the owner (though not the\nproprietor) of the house at which we resided. The latter was nearly,\nif not quite, an octogenarian, and certainly cut a somewhat remarkable\nfigure by the side of his young wife and their baby of ten months. On\none occasion he was so delighted with some communication, addressed to\nhim by his pet name of childhood, from his long-departed mother, that he\nwas overflowing in his expressions of gratitude, and he forced into my\nhand a twenty-dollar gold piece. The not less venerable Dr. Nott once\nlaid his hand on my head and said, \"My child, I am not far from the time\nwhen I shall go to the world of spirits, of which you reveal and prove\nso much; and you must, naturally, long survive me in the present life;\nbut if it shall be in my power I will strive to be one of your guardian\nspirits.\"\n\nThis is the proper place to state the pecuniary arrangement dictated to\nus by our spirit friends for the support and prosecution of this mission\nto the world, which they had imposed upon us. Our public meetings were\nheld in Van Vechten Hall, then the principal one in Albany. Our suite of\nrooms in the Delavan was the best in the house. Of course our expenses\nwere very heavy; often amounting to $150 a week. Our regular charge was\n$1 each person, and, for a private s\u00e9ance of an hour, $5 for two or more\npersons. These figures had been prescribed to us. We never heard of any\ncomplaints of dissatisfaction, on the part of our visitors, with the\nevidences which they used to receive; and no language would suffice to\ntell of the hundreds of assurances of delight and gratitude, which were\nthe better part of our compensation for the time thus absorbed, and for\nthe fatigue and exhaustion of these labors under the direction of our\nfriends in the spirit life.\n\n\nEXCURSION TO TROY.\n\nIt is with regret that I dismiss so briefly, as has been done above, our\nexperiences in Albany, where we began in May, 1850, what may be called\nthe first stage of the fulfilment of our mission. I might fill this\nvolume with my reminiscences and notes of them.\n\nIt was on May 24, 1850, that we left Albany and went to Troy. Many\nTrojans had visited our rooms in Albany, and urged us to spend a few\ndays in Troy before going to New York. We consented to do so, much\nagainst our own wishes, as we had made our arrangements to go from\nAlbany direct to New York. We were kindly received at the Troy House,\nand our rooms were thronged as elsewhere. Our success was gratifying\nto us all. But we were not long permitted to enjoy such peace and\nprosperity. A murmur arose among the \"women,\" whose conduct toward us in\nTroy was cruel and unchristianlike. They insinuated that if the mediums\nwere men their husbands would not become so deeply enlisted in this\nunpopular, and, seemingly, weird subject. They adopted the absurd theory\nof toe and knee rapping. One lady especially distinguished herself by\nher intellectual antics in this her line of procedure. (Her husband was\nmuch younger than herself, handsome and prosperous.) She became violent\nin her denunciations. I well knew that, with the aid of Heaven, we could\neasily prove such accusations false. We met our combatants on their own\npremises. A committee of \"investigators\" was gotten up, composed of\nthree ladies and two ministers. We submitted to all of their suggestive\nwhims, and came off, as usual, triumphant. The course and result of this\ncommittee of investigation induced many persons to visit our rooms who\nhad never before been interested in the subject. We made many life\nfriends in Troy, and left promising to visit them soon again (which we\ndid a few months later).\n\nThe evening before we left we were honored by a band of music in front\nof the Troy House. The proprietor, Mr. Coleman, and General Viele came\nto our rooms and announced the fact, saying, \"Ladies, this is expressly\nfor you.\" He accompanied us to the balcony, where, with uncovered heads,\nthe crowd saluted us with their hearty applause of approbation. The\nfollowing evening we took the night boat from Albany, and were soon on\nthe beautiful Hudson wending our way to the city of New York.\n\nBut as this chapter is so short, I may as well, at the expense of\nchronology in my narrative, anticipate a few months, to introduce here\na serious adventure which befell my young child-sister Margaretta, or\nMaggie, at this same city of Troy, or rather West Troy, in the following\nmonth of November, 1850. It is a curious illustration of the desperate\nbitterness of feeling which arose in some portions of the more ignorant\nclasses in some of our American communities.\n\n[Illustration: _Margaretta Fox Kane._]\n\nIn it we see a striking revival of the old Salem (and medi\u00e6val) spirit\nof animosity against the so-called \"witchcraft;\" a spirit which was\nperhaps stimulated by the same mistaken and misguided religious zeal\nwhich some couple of centuries before had hurried to the stake, the\nscaffold, or the nearest pond or river, many a poor victim to the\nunhappy and misunderstood gift of what we now know as mediumship. In the\nmonth of November, 1850, a mob attempt was made to destroy the life of\nMargaretta while visiting at the house of Mr. R.\u00a0M. Bouton. The mob\nwas composed of a very low order of society, and were urged to do the\nwork by prompters, who kept themselves in the background. Though not on\nthe same scale of dimensions in numbers, mother and I at a later day\nconcurred in recognizing in the riotous mob in New York, in July, 1863,\nfeatures in the conduct of the men and women (the latter seemed not\nless savage than the former) that curiously reminded us of the terrible\nscenes of West Troy. They had evidently been put up to regard this\ncommunication with spirits as deviltry which it was right and proper to\ncrush out even by taking our lives. They doubtless supposed, that by\ndestroying our lives the whole matter would be put to rest. Accordingly\nher (Margaretta)'s every movement was watched, so that it was not safe\nfor her to leave the house unattended. Finally the house was forcibly\nattacked; but being well barricaded and garrisoned the 'fort was held'\nand the assassins were not successful. The following letter from Mr.\nBouton will explain the facts:\n\n\n    \"WEST TROY, November 13, 1850.\n\n\"MY DEAR MRS. FISH: We are endeavoring to make arrangements for Maggie\nto go to another place. If she has mentioned the name of the place\nto you, keep it a secret as you value her life. A deep plot is laid\nto destroy her. My house is beset every night by a most determined\nmurderous mob; and we guard her every moment. We think if we can place\nher where we wish to, she will be safe. I shall defend her and her\nreputation at the risk of my fortune and my life. I will advise you of\nour progress; suppress the name of the place, if you can. I write with\ndifficulty, not having rested for several nights. Five villanous-looking\nfellows are watching the house night and day. She has never left my\nhouse unattended, which has foiled them thus far. On returning late\nfrom East Troy, a few nights past, with my wife, her sister, Maggie,\nand myself, in our family coach, when we reached the river we found\nno boat. The five men above mentioned were there, and they tried\nto persuade my driver to go by the way of the long Troy bridge (a\n_glorious_ place for murder). We did not go, but they followed us home,\nand after we had retired attempted to break into the room occupied by\nMargaretta and my sister-in-law. They were furious on being defeated,\nand threw stones against the house and fired through the windows. I have\nprocured means of defence, but we cannot sleep nights, and get very\nlittle rest during the days. They will, no doubt, return again to-night,\nbut they will meet a warm reception, as many of our friends from East\nTroy will be with us. Last night Mrs. B. and Maggie went to the door of\na shed in the rear together; but the fiends were on the watch and fired\nat them, with angry exclamations at there being some one with her. They\nwere all large, strong men.\"\n\n\nA postscript to this letter, dated the next day, says:\n\n\n\"As I feared, the men did return last night, and broke into the house;\nbut we were prepared for them, and they did not effect any thing. Come\nimmediately, if you can.\"\n\n\nThe mob increased on the following night (Saturday), and on Sunday I\nreceived five telegraphic despatches to come to Troy, as follows:\n\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, November 16, 1850.\n\n\"This despatch has been received from West Troy for MRS. A. LEAH FISH.\n\n\"Send your mother here, or come yourself, by Monday night. It is of\nvital importance. Answer by telegraph at once.\n\n    \"R.\u00a0M. BOUTON.\"\n\n\nOn receipt of this telegram I immediately telegraphed to know its\nmeaning, and received the following in reply:\n\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, November 16, 1850.\n\n\"This despatch has just been received from West Troy for MRS. A. LEAH\nFISH.\n\n\"You must be here by Monday night, 18th inst. It is of _vital_\nimportance.\n\n    \"R.\u00a0M. BOUTON.\"\n\n\nI then telegraphed back to Mr. B. begging him to explain the situation\nof my sister, when immediately I received the following:\n\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, November 17, 1850.\n\n\"This despatch has just been received from West Troy.\n\n\"MRS. A. LEAH FISH:\n\n\"Your sister is alive and well, but in great danger. Safe at present.\n\n    \"R.\u00a0M. BOUTON.\"\n\n\nI started for Troy on the first train East the next morning. When I\nreached Schenectady I had to change cars for Troy.\n\nI had just taken a seat, at about the middle of the car, when a\nrough-looking man sat down beside me, and commenced interrogating me as\nto where I was going, etc. I endeavored to be civil, but I suspected him\nof having something to do with the mob. After a while he left and held a\nlong conversation with two men, near the front of the car, very like\nhimself in appearance, and soon returned, taking his seat beside me\nagain. I had moved to the other end of the seat, and maintained my\nposition, thereby compelling him to press through in front of me with\nsome difficulty. When again he attempted to speak to me I took up my\nsatchel and left the seat entirely to himself. He _again_ followed me,\nbut this time I braced myself up and called the conductor (who had been\nwatching his behavior all the way), and requested him to \"compel this\nman to leave,\" which he did immediately.\n\nThere were very few persons in the car; I think not more than seven in\nall. It was evident that he had a design against me; but he expected to\nmeet an older person, and was thrown off his course by my youthful\nappearance. He had doubtless expected to meet mother. They had made\ninquiries of a passenger who had taken the car from Schenectady, and who\nafterward told Mr. B. that those men said they were expecting to meet a\nlady from Rochester; but that she was older than the lady on the car,\netc.\n\nIt had been arranged that I should stop at the Troy House on my arrival\nat East Troy. It was eight o'clock P.M., and very dark. As I stepped out\nof the car on to the platform, I saw a carriage standing in front of the\nhotel, and supposed it was for me, as had been previously arranged. At\nthis moment a gentleman stepped up, and after a close scrutiny said to\nme:\n\n\"I am right, it is Leah; I know you by your resemblance to Maggie,\" and\nmotioning me to silence.\n\nAnother gentleman stepped on my other side, and they guarded me to the\ncarriage each with a drawn revolver. On entering the carriage I saw\nthree loaded pistols lying on the seat in front of me. It is difficult\nto say which I most feared, the mob or the pistols. The religious\ntelegraphic operator had evidently revealed the correspondence between\nMr. Bouton and myself, as there was no other source through which it\ncould have been made known that I was expected.\n\nA number of disorderly persons followed the carriage and crossed the\nferry with us. No attempt was made to disturb us; but on reaching Mr.\nB.'s house we found it surrounded by a reinforced mob. I had been\ninstructed how to conduct myself on our arrival. I was told that two or\nthree gentlemen would rush from the door and suddenly carry me in.\nAccordingly, when the carriage stopped close to the door steps I found\nmyself in the arms of three strong men, who landed me safely. I found\nMaggie sick and nearly paralyzed with fright. There were strong-armed\nforces for protection on our side. We had not been in the house ten\nminutes when several shots were fired and stones thrown, breaking\neverything in their way. We crouched beneath the furniture, and lay on\nthe floor to escape the bullets, expecting at every moment some stray\nshot or stone would strike us. (Our hiding-room was in the interior of\nthe house.) The mob threatened and did all in their power to destroy us;\nbut, knowing the gentlemen inside were so well prepared for them, they\nretired for the night. They, however, continued their watchfulness until\nwe left the place. Mr. Bouton's house stood in the outskirts of West\nTroy, near a lumber yard, a capital hiding-place for a mob, and I am not\nsure there were any policemen there at that time. Poor Maggie's nerves\nwere terribly unstrung. She would start in her sleep and cry out\nfearfully, believing she was still besieged by the mob. She was too ill\nto be taken home, and I managed (with the aid of friends) to get her to\nAlbany, where we remained several weeks at the Delavan House. During\nour stay in Albany, the identical men who met me and followed me from\nSchenectady to West Troy were prowling about my home in Rochester. All\nthe circumstances connected with the affair show conclusively that\nthere was a deep-laid scheme to destroy us, and that these men had been\nappointed to accomplish that object; but, like every other attempt at\nviolence against us, they met with nothing but discomfiture.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nNEW YORK. 1850.\n\n  \"THE ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS AT BARNUM'S HOTEL\"--HARD WORK--OUR\n    VISITORS--A POISONED BOUQUET--HAIR OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON\u00a0I.--HAIR\n    OF JOHN C. CALHOUN--INVESTIGATION AT RESIDENCE OF REV. RUFUS W.\n    GRISWOLD, BY THE LEADING LITERARY CELEBRITIES OF NEW YORK.\n\n\nFIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK.\n\nWe arrived in New York City on June 4, 1850, and had engaged rooms at\nBarnum's Hotel, corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane. (This proprietor\nmust not be confounded with the great showman of that name.)\n\nHorace Greeley was our first caller. He advised us to charge five\ndollars admission fee. I told him that would be altogether too much; but\nhe feared greatly for our safety, and thought this exorbitant sum would\nkeep the rabble away. I told him I thought it decidedly better to follow\nthe directions of the Spirits, and trust in Providence for protection\nand success. He announced our arrival in the _Tribune_, and published\nour rules of order. The editors of the _Tribune_ and many other papers\nwere in our rooms daily. Mr. Ripley used to say to us: \"Ladies, you are\nthe lions of New York.\" Mary Taylor, in a Broadway theatre, sweetly sang\n\"The Rochester Knockings at Barnum's Hotel,\" as a popular topic of the\nday. Many things in stores, on sidewalks, and newspaper advertisements,\nwere paraded and labelled with the words \"Rochester Knockings.\"\n\nWhat a time, to be sure, we had of it during that first visit, of\nnearly three months, to the great metropolis! Our party was seven in\nnumber. Our parlor was a large room opposite to the main one of the\nhotel, from which it was separated by a wide corridor. A long table with\nthirty seats occupied the centre of it, and we gave three receptions\neach day, for which our advertised hours were: 10 to 12 A.M., 3 to 5\nP.M., and 8 to 10 P.M.; but the midday meeting would often lengthen out\ntill we had barely time to get ready for dinner, and the evening one to\nmidnight. The public parlors served as ante-rooms, in which visitors\nwaited their turns to be admitted by one of our attendant gentlemen.\nPrivate sittings were often extorted from us by importunity, which\nwould begin at the earliest hours before breakfast. With what degree of\nexhaustion of muscles, nerves, mind and spirit, we would reach our beds\n(in our rooms on the floor above), where sleep was often slow to come to\nour over-strained systems, may be imagined by my readers. The mere\npressure upon us of the three successive crowds would, alone, have been\na strain hard to bear; but every individual had his or her colloquies\nto be held with their respective Spirit friends. The burthen of it fell\nupon us all, but most heavily upon our dear mother, who took it so\ndeeply to heart when she knew we were so unjustly suspected and so\nseverely tested. She was of course always present with us, but only as a\nspectator and for protection. Ministers of all denominations, members of\nall professions, legal, medical, literary, and commercial, were among\nour guests, and many of them were frequent visitors. The occasions were\nrare when the slightest want of courtesy, respect, and kindness occurred\nto wound or displease us; and the only thing approaching an indignity\nwe had to complain of among ourselves, was the frequency with which\ncommittees of ladies would retire with us to disrobe and reclothe us,\nthe holding of our feet, etc.\n\nAmong the thousands of strangers who streamed through our rooms, I, of\ncourse, could know or remember the names of but few individuals; and\nmany an one had his or her designation by which we used to recognize\nthem, as--the White Spirit, or the Black, or the Gray, the Count, the\nSlick Wig, the Old Oriental, the Hippopotamus, etc., etc. By the way,\nthe Count was also an elderly gentleman with white hair and angelic\neyes, a foreigner, who at parting made me a present of a set of old\nchina of extreme rarity, for which I have since refused a dealer's offer\nof a thousand dollars, and which I still employ at parties and f\u00eates,\nand particular occasions, and always with a kind thought of the dear old\ndonor. The summer season of travel, of course, brought many Southerners\nto our rooms, as well as visitors from other cities of the Union.\n\nWe again passed through an ordeal of special investigation by a large\ncommittee of the first men of New York, in scientific and literary, as\nwell as social distinction, which took place at the residence of the\nRev. Rufus W. Griswold, for some account of which, and the signal\ntriumph in which it resulted, I refer to a letter which will be found\nfurther on, and which was extensively republished.\n\nOnly one very painful thing occurred: an anonymous present made to me of\na large, superb bouquet of flowers, the smelling of which nearly cost\nme my life. I was thought to be at death's door; and a week had passed\nbefore I fully recovered from the effect. Spirits told us that it had\nproceeded from the malignity of a hostile quarter, and that the bouquet\nwas poisoned.\n\nI have always had a peculiar sensitiveness to poison; and could not\neven now, in the open air, pass near to certain growing plants, such as\npoison ivy, without suffering sensibly from their vicinity.\n\nThere was another occasion on which evil was not only intended, but\nattempted, by some who falsely believed they were doing God service by\nbreaking up the \"pestilent Rochester knockings.\" We, too, had our case\nof a \"prophet\" (Isaiah) sent to curse, but who remained to bless.\nOur \"prophet,\" of whom this was true, was none other than the famous\nCaptain I. Rynders, well known as the Captain of the Empire Club--a\nDemocratic party organization of \"fighting men,\" the counterpoise to a\ncorresponding body on the other side of politics. These rival corps had,\noriginally, for their business the breaking up of the meetings of the\nadverse party, or to defend those of their own party against similar\nattacks from the opposite fighting corps. Captain Rynders, though a\nrather slender man, was one of such pluck, energy, and resolution, that\nhis very name came to represent a real power in New York. His politics,\nin which he was very zealous, made him (as most men of that day were, on\nboth sides) very hostile to \"the Abolitionists,\" many a meeting of\nwhom the Empire Club had broken up after the most summary of fashions,\nnamely, through windows as well as doors. One day three men, one of\nthem of Herculean proportions, with his shirt-collar wide open, sailor\nfashion, on a brown sunburnt neck, entered our parlor, after payment of\ntheir regular fee outside, and took their seats together; the Hercules\nnext to me. His appearance was every way formidable. A certain slight\ncommotion was manifest in the company on their entrance. I soon received\nfrom three different friends in the room (Mr. Greeley, George Ripley,\nand another) little billets warning me against \"the most dangerous man\nin New York\"--whose appearance \"portended evil,\" and telling me to be\n\"extremely careful\" of all I should say and do, etc. One lady bent over\nme from behind, handed me a bit of paper which spoke of \"black danger\nclouds,\" and a row as being imminent from \"those men,\" and then made\nher escape into one of the more remote parlors of the hotel. But they\nsat quietly as observers. There were several clergymen in the company,\none of them being the celebrated Dr. Phelps, of Stratford, Conn. There\nwere at the table also two elderly, tall, thin, and pale Quaker maiden\nladies, a little ghostly perhaps in appearance, one of whom presently\naddressed to the Spirits the question, \"Which is the more correct, the\nBible or Andrew Jackson Davis's Revelations?\" To this came many raps,\nwhich were differently understood around the table, according to the\nvarious opinions. It made quite a sensation. I rose and said that those\nraps were not an answer to the question, but a call for the alphabet,\nwhich I proceeded to repeat aloud as usual. The answer returned was:\n\"The Bible contains many true and beautiful things, and so also does\nDavis's Revelations,\" a reply which Dr. Phelps considered a good and\nwise one. I presently invited one of my three neighbors (not the\nHerculean one) to the door, which I opened, and he was made to hear loud\nrappings on the wooden panels, and also on the marble flooring.\n\nMy real object was to conciliate him as being one of the party of\n\"danger clouds,\" though he was not the one who had been the object of my\nterror. \"What is the meaning of this?\" he said. \"Have _you_ anything to\ndo with the Rochester knockings? I thought those two white old maids\nwere the ones. I was sent here by a religious society to break it all\nup, and drive it out of New York, as I did last week with Fred. Douglass\nand Julia Griffith, and their sets of Abolitionists.\" I told him he had\nbeen very wrong in doing so, and that those ladies were strangers here,\nas he and his friends were. \"What, are _you_ the Rochester knockers?\"\n\"Yes.\" \"Why, I thought you were older. Ain't you afraid of me? What,\nthese children!\" \"No, I am not a bit afraid of you,\" I repeated, though\nin my secret heart I was dreadfully afraid of the other man. \"Well, I am\nCaptain Rynders--haven't you heard of me?\" \"Yes, I have, but I am not\nafraid of you.\" He took a seat at the table, and I invited him to ask\nsome questions of some friends of his in the Spirit world. He asked a\nbrother of his where he had died--\"In California,\" was the correct\nreply. \"Of what disease?\" To this also he got a reply, which, with a\nstrong blow of his fist on the table, he admitted to be correct.\n\nCaptain Rynders was now our friend, and a good and gallant one he\nproved. He made the _Herald_ publish a long account of it in our favor;\nthe only occasion of its doing anything of the kind. He said that nobody\nshould molest us; that he saw no reason why it should be done, and\nhe emphasized this with a strong blow upon the table. He was indeed\nsurprised that _we_ were the mediums; he had supposed them to be the old\nQuaker women over there (alas, poor good souls!). My relations soon\nbecame equally comfortable with his big friend also, of whom I had been\nso afraid. A letter for me was brought in and laid on the table between\nhim and me. I noticed that he seemed to observe the direction on it\nsomewhat closely. I presently handed the letter over to mother, saying,\n\"Here is a letter from our dear friend Maria Rogers.\" Said my big\nneighbor, \"Why, where did you ever know Maria Rogers?\" \"In Albany, at\nthe Delavan House, where her husband had some business position. She is\none of the sweetest women I ever knew, and I love her dearly. She was\nalso very beautiful.\" \"She is all that you say,\" was his reply, \"and she\nis my own darling sister.\" The letter proved to be an invitation to\nspend Sunday with her at the Oceanic House. I had no further fear of her\nbig brother, who, together with Captain Rynders, would certainly have\npitched all the rest of the company out of the window in our defence,\nhad it been necessary. Such was the conversion of our \"prophet,\" from\nthe cursing for which he had been commissioned, to blessings. I have\nsince been assured by those who knew him, that Captain Rynders was\nreally a good man at heart, with other manly qualities besides his\ncourage, notwithstanding his animosity against the Abolitionists of that\nperiod, and others against whom the energies of the Empire Club had been\ndirected by his party. I have some reason to believe that he has been a\nhappier man from that time than before. I was sincerely glad to see him\na few weeks ago, when he called on me, by my request, to compare notes\nupon our reminiscences of this adventure, and I was indeed astonished to\nhear so young a looking man avow that he was now eighty years of age.\n\nAt all our s\u00e9ances the general character of the manifestations was\nthat all present heard the explosive sounds or \"knockings,\" whose\nsignificance resided in their correspondence with the letters of the\nalphabet; while each in succession had the opportunity of communicating\nwith his own friends in the spirit life. Nor do I believe that a single\nperson passed through the experience of one of those meetings who was\nnot satisfied, in his own sincere mind, that we had nothing of physical\nrelation to their production, and that no conceivable mundane means\ncould have produced them.\n\nThough in our own domestic experience remarkable phenomena of the\nphysical order had often been produced by the Spirits, such, for\ninstance, as the rising of objects in the air, including our own\npersons, etc., yet nothing of this kind occurred at these meetings,\nbeyond the phenomenon of the sitters being touched, sometimes\ncaressingly, by invisible hands, or having their garments pulled, or\ntheir chairs or the table moved--which were frequent experiences to our\nvisitors.\n\nI cannot afford the space for numerous individual incidents of interest\nwhich occurred at those meetings, but will mention one, which is not\nlikely to be forgotten by some of the witnesses to it, who may perhaps\nread this page. A stranger came one day, of evident distinction and\nadvanced years, French, though speaking English; I have a vague\nimpression that he was a diplomatist. He had with him a friend. He\nproduced a folded paper or envelope, and asked if the Spirits could tell\nhim what it contained. The answer promptly came, \"A piece of the hair of\nthe Emperor Napoleon.\" This naturally arrested the eager attention of\nall the company. I trembled with doubt and fear of a failure. The old\ngentleman opened the paper and held up a small piece of hair, and, with\ntears in his eyes and quivering lips, said--either he had been one of\nthose who accompanied Napoleon on his voyage to St. Helena, or that he\nwas a friend of the physician who had accompanied him. After this\nlapse of time I am not certain which, but something was said about the\nphysician. He told how on an occasion of his hair being cut by the\nbarber, the fallen pieces had been religiously gathered up, and this was\none of them. Turning to his friend who had come with him, he said, \"I\ndid not need this evidence, but this test is evidently intended for\nyou;\" and then explained that in the morning his friend, who was an\nentire unbeliever, had said, in reference to their intended visit to us,\nthat if we were subjected to that test, and if it should be told what\nwere the contents of the envelope, he would be a believer too. I\nremember that Mr. Greeley and Mr. Ripley, of the _Tribune_, were\npresent. If this should fall under the eye of any survivors of that\nscene, I should be pleased to hear from them. None present can have\nforgotten it.\n\nThere were a number of somewhat similar cases of treasured locks of hair\nbeing thus identified by those who had worn them in life, but though\nthere are many whose hair is thus preserved by faithful memories, there\nhas been but one Napoleon the Great.\n\nHowever, I will further add that if there was but one Napoleon\u00a0I., there\nwas also but one John C. Calhoun. One day a Southern gentleman was at\nthe table, and, having heard of the above incident respecting the great\nEmperor, produced and laid down his pocket-book, asking to know one\nthing it contained. \"Hair of John C. Calhoun,\" was the reply. He\nacknowledged its truth, and exhibited the lock.\n\nDuring this our first visit to New York occurred another \"investigation\"\nby a number of the most eminent literary and commercial gentlemen of\nthat city, at the residence of the Rev. Rufus W. Griswold. It included\nsuch men as J. Fenimore Cooper, George Bancroft, Rev. Dr. Hawks, Dr.\nJohn W. Francis, William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel P. Willis, Dr. Marcy,\nand others. It had its origin with the Dr. C.\u00a0D. Griswold, M.D. (our\nfriend at Rochester, mentioned on a former page), who came down to New\nYork expressly to propose it to us, telling us that the high position of\nhis brother, Rufus W., would enable him to unite for that purpose the\nbest elements which the great metropolis could afford. We were only too\nglad to comply with so kind and friendly a suggestion. In the wilderness\nof my papers I do not find the full records of that interesting\noccasion, of which no full formal report was ever issued; but I well\nremember that it was highly satisfactory to ourselves and our friends.\nAll the testings desired, such as making us stand on cushions, etc.,\nwere exhausted. I recollect that Fenimore Cooper addressed an immense\nnumber of questions to Spirits (my impression is a hundred and fifty),\nand received correct replies. I find among some newspaper scraps a long\neditorial in a Sunday paper, by its junior editor, written in the full\nvein of hostile persiflage usual at that time with the press, dependent\nfor existence on its subscription lists, the following as its\nconclusion:\n\n\"Since writing the above, we have read in the _Tribune_ an account of an\ninterview between the Spirits' interpreters and Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper,\nMr. George Bancroft, Rev. Dr. Hawks, Dr. Francis, Mr. Wm. Cullen Bryant,\nMr. N. P. Willis, Dr. Marcy, and other literary celebrities, at the\nrooms of the Rev. Doctor Griswold. The responses given to several of\nthese gentlemen, as reported in the _Tribune_, were most extraordinary;\nand yet--infidel that we are!--these replies have not shaken our\nobstinate incredulity.\n\n\"Our senses are the only witnesses we will consent to trust in relation\nto phenomena which, if really supernatural, would upset, among other\nthings, the Christian Religion,[8] and the verdict of our senses upon\nall the performances which have come under our observation.\"\n\n    [8] This is a mistake or misrepresentation frequent with those who\n    regard dogmatic \"orthodoxy\" (according to the title it claims) as\n    the true and the only \"Christian Religion.\" All Spirits indeed\n    reject the dogmas of the eternal hell-fire, of total depravity, of\n    vicarious atonement, of anything but One Supreme Spirit or God,\n    and of the literal plenary inspiration of the Bible; but a vast\n    body of the most enlightened Spiritualists (I believe the bulk of\n    them) devoutly cherish _the Christianity taught, lived, and died\n    for by Christ himself_; and a pamphlet by a well-known and popular\n    Spiritualist is rightly entitled \"Christ the Corner-Stone of\n    Spiritualism.\"--ED.\n\nAny reader desirous of examining the _Tribune's_ report above alluded\nto, can easily find it in the files of that paper for 1850. I content\nmyself, for brevity's sake, with the following extract from Mr. Capron's\nvolume on \"Spiritualism: Its Facts and Fanaticisms,\" etc. (1855), page\n172:\n\n\"But curiosity had so far obtained the mastery of bigoted opposition as\nto lead many of the most eminent men of the city to give the subject a\nfair investigation. The result was, as elsewhere, the making of many\nconverts; and these were not from among men of inferior intellects or of\nunbalanced minds.\n\n\"Not long after the arrival of the mediums, a number of literary\ngentlemen assembled at the house of Rev. Dr. Griswold, an Episcopalian\nclergyman, in Broadway. Neither of the sisters Fox had ever been at the\nhouse before, and the meeting was called for the purpose of testing, as\nfar as they were able, the validity of these alleged manifestations.\nAmong the company were J. Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, Mr. George\nBancroft, the historian, Rev. Dr. Hawks, Dr. J.\u00a0W. Francis, Dr. Marcy,\nMr. N.\u00a0P. Willis, Mr. Wm. Cullen Bryant, the poet, and Mr. Bigelow, of\nthe _Evening Post_, Mr. Richard B. Kimball, Mr. H. Tuckerman, and Gen.\nLyman. These gentlemen were well known throughout the country, and the\nreport was well calculated to carry much weight with it, let it be on\nwhich side it would. The result was highly satisfactory to the mediums\nand their friends. On this occasion Mrs. Fox and her three daughters\nwere present. Mr. Tuckerman was among the first to interrogate the\nSpirits. Among his questions were the following in regard to an\nindividual whose name he had not spoken, but had simply in his mind:\n\n\"'Did he live in New York?' No answer. 'In Baltimore?' 'In Cambridge?'\n'In Boston?'--Three distinct raps, which is the sign of an affirmative\nanswer. A negative reply is indicated by silence. Mr. T. continued, 'Was\nhe a lawyer?' 'A merchant?' 'A physician?' 'A clergyman?' Knocks. 'Was\nhe an Episcopalian?' 'A Presbyterian?' 'A Unitarian?'--going over\nthe names of the principal sects. No answer. At the suggestion of a\ngentleman, Mr. T. asked 'Was he a Christian?' Knocks. Mr. T. then asked\nthe age of the person in a series of tens. 'Was he twenty years old at\nthe time of his death?' 'Was he thirty?' 'Forty?' 'Fifty?' 'Sixty?'\nKnocks. 'Has he left a family?' Knocks. 'Children?' Knocks. 'Five?'\n'Three?' 'Two?' Knocks. 'Did he die in Boston?' 'In Philadelphia?' 'In\nAlbany?' 'In Northampton?' 'In Bennington?' Knocks. 'Did he die of\nconsumption?' 'Of fever?' 'Of cholera?' 'Of old age?' Knocks.\n\n\"The person in Mr. Tuckerman's mind was the late Dr. William Ellery\nChanning, the eminent and liberal Unitarian divine. He lived in Boston,\nand died in Bennington, Vt., while on a journey.\n\n\"Dr. Francis having fixed in his mind the name of an individual, the\n'rapping' spelled out B-u-r--when several of the company exclaimed,\nspontaneously, 'Robert Burns.' This was the true answer; and after an\ninteresting interview with the bard of Scotia, the doctor declined\nasking any more questions.\n\n\"Mr. James Fenimore Cooper then asked, 'Is the person I inquire about\na relative?' 'Yes,' was at once indicated by the knocks. 'A near\nrelative?' 'Yes.' 'A man?' No answer. 'A woman?' 'Yes.' 'A daughter?' 'A\nmother?' 'A wife?' No answer. 'A sister?' 'Yes.' Mr. C. then asked the\nnumber of years since her death. Fifty knocks were given, and the number\nunanimously so announced by the company. Mr. C. now asked, 'Did she die\nof consumption?' and naming several diseases to which no answer was\ngiven. 'Did she die by accident?' 'Yes.' 'Was she killed by lightning?'\n'Was she shot?' 'Was she lost at sea?' 'Did she fall from a carriage?'\n'Was she thrown from a horse?' 'Yes.'\n\n\"Mr. Cooper here discontinued his investigations, and informed the\ncompany that just fifty years ago that present month he had a sister\nthrown from a horse and killed, and that all the answers had been\nstrictly correct.\"\n\nMr. Ripley, one of the editors of the _Tribune_, a man of candor and\ngreat intelligence, drew up the report of the whole proceedings, of\nwhich the above is but a short extract, and in conclusion he says:\n\n\"The evening was now far advanced, and it was not thought desirable to\ncontinue our colloquies any further. At the suggestion of several\ngentlemen, the ladies removed from the sofa, where they had sat during\nthe evening, and remained standing in another part of the room. The\nknockings were now heard on the doors, at both ends of the room,\nproducing a vibration on the panels which was felt by every one who\ntouched them. Different gentlemen stood on the outside and inside of\nthe door at the same time, when loud knockings were heard on the side\nopposite to where they stood. The ladies were at such a distance from\nthe door, in both cases, as to render no countenance to the idea that\nthe sounds were produced by any direct communication with them. They\nnow went into a parlor under the room in which the party was held,\naccompanied by several gentlemen, and the sounds were then produced\nwith great distinctness, causing sensible vibrations in the sofa, and\napparently coming from a thick hearth-rug before the fire-place, as well\nas from other quarters of the room.\n\n\"Such are the most important facts which we can recall of the\nmanifestations of the evening. We believe we have stated them without\nany coloring whatever, as they appeared to every one present; but, with\nregard to their origin or their nature, we are as much in the dark as\nany of our readers.\"\n\nI will add to the above but a few lines. After Fenimore Cooper, and his\nresponsive friends in the Spirit life, had occupied the floor, so to\nspeak, for a long time, calls upon him began to arise as to whether any\nof his answers were correct. Of course he alone could know, since they\nwere in the form of raps. Old Dr. Francis, who had sat with his chin\nresting on his big cane, and his eyes intently fixed on Mr. Cooper, as\nhad been the eyes of all the company, began knocking impatiently on\nthe floor, which example was followed by others, as in the case of an\nimpatient audience at a theatre. At last Mr. Cooper gave satisfaction to\ntheir curiosity, now wound up to a high pitch, by saying: \"Gentlemen,\nevery single answer has been correct.\" This was of course no small\nrelief and satisfaction to us.\n\nAnd it was a still greater satisfaction when, after his death in\nSeptember of the following year, I received a visit from Mr. Cooper's\nnephew, with a note from the great novelist, one of the last things\nwritten by his prolific pen, and a message from him on his death-bed,\nsubstantially as follows: \"Tell the Fox family I bless them. I have been\nmade happy through them. They have prepared me for this hour.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nRETURN TO ROCHESTER.\n\n  LETTERS AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES RESPECTING OUR NEW YORK\n    CAMPAIGN--LETTER FROM AMY POST--LETTERS FROM JOHN E.\n    ROBINSON--ARTICLE FROM A SUNDAY NEWSPAPER--FROM THE NEW YORK\n    DAY-BOOK--LETTER FROM DR. C.\u00a0D. GRISWOLD--LETTER FROM JACOB C.\n    CUYLER--ARTICLE BY HORACE GREELEY--POEM FROM THE SUNDAY DISPATCH.\n\n\nSuch was our first campaign in New York, through all the hot months of\nthat summer of 1850. Toward the close of September our friends, as\nwell as ourselves, recognized the necessity for us of some rest and\nrecuperation, and we decided to return to Rochester. But before being\nallowed to do so, our kind and devoted friends, Mr. and Mrs. Greeley,\ninsisted on our spending a fortnight with them at their home in\nNineteenth Street. We also spent a week with other friends at\nGreenpoint. But this did not afford much relief to our overwrought\nbrains and bodies, because Mr. Greeley's hospitable house was a centre\nof visiting to the literary circles of New York, and Spiritualism and\nits manifestations, for the satisfaction of their visitors, were almost\nas much the order of our days as had been the case at Barnum's Hotel,\namong countless more. Bayard Taylor was at that period very earnest in\nhis investigations, and was a daily frequenter of the house. At last we\nwere suffered to tear ourselves away from New York; and ah, what sighs\nof relief we breathed when we got back to our dearly beloved Rochester,\nwhere we resumed our former happy domestic life, in which we all\ndivided our days, going at pleasure to and fro, between my house on\nTroup Street and the farm, the homestead and father's house, now a sort\nof adjunct to the latter; every one of which dwellings was always an\nopen house to any one of the family.\n\nThis affords a convenient point at which to introduce a few out of the\nmany letters from valued friends referring to our time and experiences\nin New York. I give the first place to one from that best, sweetest, and\nnoblest of women, Amy, wife of Isaac Post, friends in the double sense\nof intimacy, and the denominational one, for both she and her husband,\nwho were all but second parents to me, were, as they still are, perfect\nspecimens of the ideal Quakerism.\n\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, N.\u00a0Y., May 30, 1850.\n\n\"DEAR LEAH: I have very often thought of you since you left our goodly\ncity, and have as often desired to communicate with you, but I hardly\nknow where to direct a letter to find you; though I might have known\nthat your movements would be slow, for strange, indeed, it would be if\nyou did not find people enough, in every place you visited, interested\nin the remarkable phenomena that attend you, to keep you a long time. It\nis almost useless to say that we always rejoice whenever we hear of\nyour prosperity, either temporally or spiritually; and while we do\nexceedingly miss you and feel your loss, we are thankful that you are\naffording _others_ the privilege of witnessing what we have so often\nenjoyed. When will you find a stopping place? Sometimes I think _not\nthis side of Europe_, but perhaps my ideas are too boundless. You, and\nthe good angels that are with you, can better tell; but wherever you\nmay go, my heart and good wishes go with you. John E. Robinson kindly\nread to me some parts of thy letter. I was very grateful for thy kind\nremembrance of us, and much pleased to hear, from thy own pen, of your\ncomfortable situation, company, etc.\n\n\"Please present my love to thy mother, Calvin, and both the dear girls.\nWillet says, 'I want to see Leah and Margaretta.'\n\n    \"Thy affectionate friend,\n      \"AMY POST.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following two are from a true and lifelong friend (also in the\ntwofold sense), John E. Robinson, of whom I could not, with either\njustice or truth, speak in terms any less strong than those above\napplied to my beloved Amy and Isaac Post.\n\n\nLETTER FROM JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, Friday, June 21, 1850.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH: Your anxiously looked for letter came to me Thursday\nmorning last, and gave me a great deal of pleasure in the reading. It\nwas worth more than all the newspapers I have seen in a twelvemonth,\nbecause it gave me an interior view of your temporary home, and a sketch\nof several things which I wanted to know something of. It was all of\ninterest to me, from the top of the first page to the last line of the\ntenth; and I promise not to scold you any more, for I observe much of it\nwas written during late hours of the night, when you could not help but\nbe worn with fatigue. The only wonder is that at such time you could\nfind room in your memory for me.\n\n\"By the way, Leah, what think you Mr. Jones told me? a bit of gossip\nabout you and a millionaire, somewhere about Troy, or Albany. He told it\nas a special secret, and left me to make the most of it. It is capital.\nWhen do you _go off_? I shall be expecting a delicate note on satin\npaper, addressed to me, tied with a love-knot of matrimonial ribbon,\nstating when you will be 'at home.' Very well, do as you think best.\nIt's no use for me to cross your path when you get fairly 'on a train,'\nand, so far as my advice is concerned, I think you are smart enough in\nsuch matters, and can only say to you, as the lawyer said to the young\nman who taught him a lesson in roguery, 'You need no lesson from me.'\n\n\"I was pleased with the account of your ramble in Hoboken, but wish you\nhad taken some other day for the excursion, as the one in question\nalways brings there such a crowd of the 'lower ten.' I hate crowds!\nthough even in them there is a difference. Commend me to a mass of\nSunday-clad peasantry rather than a crowd of the lower strata of New\nYork--or the equally unpleasant sham aristocracy of Rochester.\n\n\"I remember those shaded walks of Hoboken. They are among the beautiful\nthings and pleasant places, the memory of which is stored away in my\nattic story. I suppose you will see all the points of attraction before\nyou turn your steps homeward. You will not go further eastward, I\nsuppose. If you should go to Boston, go by way of Newport, and visit its\nbeach. That famous beach, at the hour of early morning or just at\nevening twilight, is one of the grandest sights I ever looked upon. I\nwon't attempt to describe it to you; but, if you _can_ see it, the\nmemory thereof will not die out from your mind. The eye and the ear have\nkindred offices. They are, both of them, organs through which the soul\nwithin us takes cognizance of beauty. The magnificent stave of music\nwhich has once trembled on the tympanum, is forever prisoned in the\nspirit--'a thing of beauty;' and so each glorious form of nature on\nwhich the eye has rested, while the spirit drank in its inspiration,\nremains 'a joy forever.' And _this_ we call Memory. Why do we call it\nso? Because it is one of those mysterious powers of the human soul for\nwhich we have no other name.\n\n\"But I am forgetting what to say to you.\n\n\"Your particular mention of a number of your visitors is very agreeable\nto me. What a pity I cannot accept your invitation, and spend a week\nwith you. You must remember everything you see and hear, and tell me all\nwhen you come home. I am very glad you like Mr. Hopper. He is a queer\nfellow--when he has a mind to be. He can veil the greatest amount of fun\nunder the most serious face, of any one I know. He carries a 'band of\nmusic' under that Quaker physiognomy of his. I have often been talking\nto him seriously, and stopped short to tell him I could not read him. I\ndid not know whether his thoughts were mine or exactly the opposite. His\nremarkable father, Isaac T. Hopper, is one of the noblest-hearted beings\nin this wide world. His whole life has been marked by acts of most\nperfect benevolence and devotion to the cause of Truth and Humanity. I\nwas pleased with N.\u00a0P. Willis's article in _The Home Journal_, though\nwritten in his peculiar vein, and regret to learn that he has been\nsubjected to such an outrage at the hands of the actor Edwin Forrest. I\nknow nothing of Willis's morals, but should suppose him above anything\nmean, or what would render him justly amenable to the censure of those\nwho have long admired him as a leading journalist and charming writer.\nIt is a sad, sad day for a man or woman who have made for themselves a\nhome in thousands of hearts, and ministered to us in our holiday hours,\nwhen he or she stoops from that admired eminence, and becomes a thing\nfor scorn to point its finger at. I will not believe _this_ of Nathaniel\nParker Willis--the author of a thousand gems of thought which he has\nscattered up and down in my memory like spring flowers.\n\n\"Our daily press is just what it was. You cannot expect anything else\nfrom papers with little talent, and no courage, at the editorial helm.\n\n\"If you come across such a man as Horace Greeley will recommend as one\nof his own stamp, tell him Western New York wants a journalist who is\nup and dressed and afraid of nobody; and if he will come out here, and\npitch into 'em, he will make his fortune and serve the country. I've a\nthought in my mind, and will give it to you for what it is worth.\n\n\"Soon after the meeting at Doctor Griswold's, I saw in the N.\u00a0Y.\n_Evening Post_ (what was very proper--so far as it went, because it did\nnot charge _you_ with originating these phenomena, but only disclaimed\nbelief in their Spiritual nature), a sort of disclaimer evidently by\none of the persons present who took the privilege of speaking for the\nothers (or most of them). Now the fact is that, if anything which has\nengrossed a large share of public attention is really worthy of serious\ninvestigation, the _result of such investigation_ is equally worthy to\nbe made publicly known. And as the prominent minds in New York can most\neffectually do this, they, or those of them who have had the opportunity\nto arrive at fair conclusions, ought to be willing to state that result\nin explicit language, over their proper signatures. It would be but a\nsimple act of justice to you; a satisfaction to the multitudes who\nare prevented, by a thousand considerations, from seeing you; and no\ndishonor to them. Before you leave, if it meets the approbation of\nyour best friends, I would have it done. It would give you a _vantage\nground_, from whence you could all look down upon the miserable\nscribblers who have been eking out _their_ existence by abusing _you_.\nWrite soon, and tell me what has transpired since your last letter.\n\n\"My love to you all.\n\n    \"Yours truly,\n      \"J.\u00a0E. ROBINSON.\"\n\n\nJOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, July 28, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH:\n\n\"Your welcome letter came to me last Tuesday. I have been very anxious\nto hear from you. You write so seldom, and I am always anticipating your\nletters long before they reach me. I am sorry to learn that you have\nbeen afflicted, but frequently wonder you are not all sick from the\neffect of continued application to the duties which devolve on you. I\nsympathize with you often in your thousand and one perplexities of mind\nand body. It gives me pleasure to know that the friends stand by you\nthrough all trials; and you will, I doubt not, find in your mind that\nappreciation of them that will secure a pleasing recollection when you\nshall have left them.\n\n\"You say that 'you all wish to come home, and will probably return\n_soon_.' Now, I wish I could believe that word has any significance in\nsuch connection; but it has become such a misnomer, in Spiritual things,\nthat it is a great sinner.\n\n\"Sometimes I shut out the reality of things around me, and fancy you all\nhere again. For the moment, I am pleasingly deceived, and again I stand\nwithin the charmed circle of the Rochester Seeresses. I hear your bursts\nof laughter, and look deep into your dark eyes to read what manner of\nthought is passing behind the Spirit windows. You are glad to see me.\nMaggie and Kate also give a like evidence. But I am only dreaming; you\nare away, and as far off as you were two months ago. I have little\nexpectation of seeing you in less than two months; there are reasons\nwhich will keep you away so long, notwithstanding you speak of coming\nhome. But I don't wish to hasten you. You know what is best, and will\nact accordingly. I should be sorry if you should do anything that you\nwould afterward regret.\n\n\"The most familiar Spiritualists--if that term is proper, now hold\nweekly sociables here. We have met but twice as yet, but design\ncontinuing them each Sunday evening. The last Sunday and this we met\nat the house of Mr. Granger, and passed the hours very much to our\nsatisfaction. There were present Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Mr. and Mrs.\nPost, Mr. Hammond, Mr. W.\u00a0A. Langworthy, Mr. Jarvis, Mr. Edward Jones,\nGeorge Willets, Mr. Rich, and the writer of this. The design is to have\nthese meetings tend to the mutual improvement of those present. They\npartake more of a social and conversational than what would be called\na religious character; opportunities for the interchange of views in\nreference to Spiritual things. It is similar to the association in\nSpringfield, which Mr. Munn alluded to when here. By the way, Mr. Munn\nhas sent me the prospectus of a weekly paper--_The Spirit Messenger_, to\nbe issued at Springfield next month. His motive is not speculation, as\nany one may well judge who knows what an up-hill business the advocacy\nof advanced truth is in this our age. You and your friends in New York\nmust send on to him a list of subscribers. I hope it will be sustained\nby the many who are seeking for light on this and kindred subjects of\ndeep interest. If, as intended, it covers the field heretofore occupied\nby the miraculous, it ought to be sustained.\n\n\"Your house on Troup Street has been closed so long it will require\nseeing to before you go into it. You ought to send word several days\nbefore you reach here, in order that it may be properly ventilated. If\nyou can do so, some of your friends will attend to it.\n\n    \"As ever, your friend,\n      \"JOHN E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nARTICLE FROM A NEW YORK SUNDAY NEWSPAPER.\n\nThe following is anonymous from a Sunday newspaper, the name of which I\nam not now able to give:\n\n\"We paid a visit on Sunday last to the Rochester ladies (at Barnum's\nHotel), so celebrated in this world, and in the world of Spirits, for\nthe extraordinary revelations made to them through the remarkable\nknockings or sounds which have excited so much attention.\n\n\"They appear to be intelligent persons, and there is little, if\nanything, in their manner that looks like simulation or imposture. We\nare a perfect heretic in all such beliefs, and never did have faith\nin anything that we could not understand. As to ghosts, spectres,\nwitchcraft, or Spirits from the other world, we have never believed in\nany of them, consequently it cannot trouble us if we are occasionally\ndeceived; and we are seldom vexed at being hoaxed in anything. We have\nattained a period of such wonderful discoveries in science and the\narts--we accomplish so many extraordinary triumphs and unaccountable\nenterprises in the present age--that our motto is 'nil admirari.' Let us\nsee all that is to be seen as quickly as possible, before we shake off\nthis 'mortal coil.' After steam and the telegraph, we are ready to\nbelieve anything. The Spirit who makes knocks for these young ladies\nseems to be a familiar one, for it has followed them from Rochester and\nknocks in every part of Barnum's Hotel, corner of Broadway and Maiden\nLane.\n\n\"The sounds, on the occasion of our visit, seemed to proceed from\nseveral parts of the room, near the table and in the next apartment.\nWe thought with Hamlet, 'Be thou a spirit of hell or goblin\ndamned,--Bringest thou airs from heaven or blasts from hell,--Be thy\nintents wicked or charitable,--Thou com'st in such a questionable shape,\nthat I will speak to thee!'\n\n\"The first idea that struck us was to inquire of our old friend, Tom\nPaine.\n\n\"We wrote down his name and the names of several cities, and asked where\nhe died. The Spirits knocked 'at New York.' We then inquired how old he\nwas when he died. The familiars knocked seventy times. This was pretty\nnear. We asked if he voted for the death of Louis\u00a0XVI.? It rapped 'No.'\nThe old sinner! This was perplexing and strange, yet it made no\nimpression upon us. A clergyman whom we have known as possessing a\nclear, strong mind, brought in his pocket a family daguerrotype, and\nrespectfully requested the Spirits to state how many figures were in it,\nwhen the number was rapped correctly. He then asked how many of the six\nhad died, and the number was again rapped correctly. We saw the table at\nwhich we sat and the door opposite vibrate with the knocks, and yet we\nsaw none that we could suspect of collusion. It is evident, however,\nthat the minds of all present must harmonize, and there must be quietude\nand union of the nervous fluid to develop striking and wise answers to\nquestions--particularly of a domestic character. The young ladies moved\nabout the room, apparently independent, and it was clear that _they_\nwere not knocking, _whoever was_; and as to concealment and emissaries\nin a large bustling hotel, with bells ringing, waiters running about,\nchambermaids and lodgers constantly on the move, it is entirely out of\nthe question. So we came away utterly disbelieving in all supernatural\nagency, and, at the same time, unable to say how any human means could\nbe used without detection. The powwowings and witchcraft which prevailed\nso long in New England among our ancestors are now at an end. Our homes\nare no longer disturbed with an unaccountable noise, as of old; our\nchildren do not vomit crooked pins and tenpenny nails; nor have we\neither magic or sorcery. We no longer have those spirits which the\nRosicrucians tell us inhabit the elements: sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and\nsalamanders. Yet, grave and earnest men have, of old, believed in\nwitchcraft, and many at this day believe in this Spiritual communion\nwith the dead, as well as in these mysterious knockings.\n\n\"We, however, are not of that number; but would not censure or condemn\nthose who are. The world is curious--these knockings are curious--and\nthese young ladies are worth seeing, and the mysterious worth hearing.\nThen let them pass for what they are worth.\"\n\n\nARTICLE FROM THE N.\u00a0Y. DAY-BOOK BY ITS EDITOR, R.\u00a0N. SIMPSON.\n\n\"_The Rochester Knocking Girls._\"\n\n\"O ho! you are all coming into it are you?\n\n\"It is somewhat amusing to see editors of papers, distinguished men,\nliterary characters and others coming into the belief of Spiritualism,\nor mysterious knockings; eating their own words and swallowing Spirits,\ngirls, knockers and all. We say that it is amusing--it _would_ be\namusing, were it not disgusting to see men, who pretend to possess an\nordinary share of intelligence, so completely stultify themselves--as\nmany of these characters have.\n\n\"More than six months ago these knockings commenced in Rochester, and a\ncommittee, composed of the most respectable citizens of that city went\ninto a thorough examination of the cause of them, and reported to the\nworld the result of that examination. In that report they tell us all\nand more than we have heard or seen since the girls have been in this\ncity, and conclude by exonerating the girls from practising deception or\nfraud in any of their exhibitions.\n\n\"After reading that report, the writer of this went to Rochester and\nvisited the girls: the result of that visit he published in the\n_Day-Book_ with just as much expectation of his statements being\nbelieved as if he had said that the cars ran off the track, or that he\ncrossed Seneca Lake on board of a steamboat. What was his surprise to\nfind that not one in twenty believed a word of them. _The Journal of\nCommerce_, _The Courier_, _The Express_, _The Christian Intelligencer_,\nand in fact all the papers in the city amused themselves and their\nreaders by making fun of the whole matter. When we met a friend he would\naccost us with, 'Well, you have been to see the Rochester knockings,\nhave you?'\n\n\"'Yes sir,' would be our answer.\n\n\"'Well, what do you think of them?'\n\n\"'I think just what I have written and published!'\n\n\"'Stimson--you don't pretend to believe in that humbug?'\n\n\"'I believe that I heard the knockings, and that the girls had no direct\nagency in making them.'\n\n\"An incredulous stare full in the face, the cheeks filled with wind, and\na sudden bursting into a wild ironical laugh would follow, and the\nfriend would turn away with, 'Well, Stimson, I am used up; if you are so\neasily humbugged as that I have nothing more to say.'\n\n\"This manifestation of utter disbelief in the whole thing, we must\nacknowledge, nettled us a little, and we concluded to 'shut up,' and\ndeny that we believed in anything. We began to doubt that we had been\nto Rochester at all, and as for seeing the girls or hearing the\nknockings, we were ready to swear as bravely and boldly as Peter (and\nwith the same truth) that we knew nothing about them.\n\n\"Well, time passed on, the papers had their fun, and the girls are here.\nWhat say _The Journal of Commerce_ and _The Express_ now? Do they call\nit all humbug? O no! some of our great men have been to see and hear for\nthemselves, and instead of calling it humbug swallow it without gulping.\nOf course _The Journal of Commerce_ can't go against the great men, and\n_The Express_, never having had an opinion of its own, follows on the\nback track as tamely as an ass colt.\"\n\n\nLETTER FROM DR. C.\u00a0D. GRISWOLD, M.D.\n\n_The Rappings in New York._\n\n\"_To the Editor of the Evening Mirror_: Now that a considerable number\nof 'the wise men of the East,' even of Gotham, have been permitted to\nhear the veritable 'rappings' which so confounded the 'foolish' and\n'credulous' people of the 'West,' I do not see that they are any more\nsuccessful in discovering the machinery, wire-work, or other means of\ncollusion to which these phenomena have been attributed (by those who\nhave never witnessed them), than were their western neighbors. All, or\nnearly all those who have investigated this matter with any honesty of\npurpose, have found it far exceeding their conceptions. There is often a\ntruthfulness and exactness in these communications which are perfectly\nastounding, and when failures do occur they can readily be accounted for\nif it is admitted that they are addressed to an intelligence which reads\nthe most secret thoughts. What is the nature of this intelligence which\ntells us our thoughts when sincere, and regards them not when called\nfor with a trifling or dishonest purpose? Can it be the keen-sighted\nperception of the parties interested? Can it be explained by the\nprinciples of mesmerism, or is it supernatural? These are the questions\nto be answered. Those who cannot control their thoughts from the\nobservations of others, may be satisfied with the first; those who do\nnot take into consideration the physical demonstrations, may consider\nthe second an explanation; but to explain all, it may be doubted, as\nsome do, that the power exists in the supernatural world. This is\nanything but an age of reason. 'Opinion' has gained the ascendancy and\nsits upon 'reason's throne,' and with an assurance incompatible with\neverything but ignorance, despises 'facts' and evidence. Strange and\nmysterious as this matter is, many of the phenomena are settled 'facts'\nwhich plainly contradict the vague 'opinions' set afloat by those who\nknow little of what they talk or write about. Take, for instance, a\nnote--published in _The Evening Post_--by a person who was present at\nthe interview for the investigation of the subject, at the rooms of\nDr. Griswold, in which he says that 'all the persons present on that\noccasion (whom he has since seen) are of the opinion that the phenomena,\nor knockings, were electrical, and the answers accidental.' These may\nnot be his precise words, yet they embody correctly his expression; but\nthey are incorrect in fact, and in their implication; as all of the\npersons then present have not been consulted, far less have they given\nan unanimous opinion as above expressed.\n\n\"Before any one adopts the 'opinion' that these sounds are electrical,\nwould it not be well to show how they can be produced while the three\npersons on whom they are attendant are insulated several feet apart; how\nelectricity can be so harnessed to tables, chairs, and other things, as\nto move them about, or hold them in their places so that no human arm\ncan stir them, or produce a concussion equal to what would require\nthe force of a strong arm to accomplish and with the aid of a heavy\ninstrument; without saying anything of the still more wonderful\nmanifestations indicating intellectual direction. Any one who can give\nthe rationale of all this, upon electrical principles, will undo some of\nthe established and known laws, and discover to the world not only the\nmeans for converting this subtle agent into _an intelligent_ motive\npower, but also to give it the skill of a masterly engineer.\n\n\"The assumption that the correct answers given to questions that\nevening--though not remarkable, comparatively--were 'accidental,' bears\nabsurdity upon the face of it. Such 'opinions' throw no light upon the\nmystery, but leave it still more inexplicable to the general intelligent\nmind.\n\n\"Of thousands who have now witnessed these phenomena, almost every one\nat first regarded the idea that these parties were not directly the\noperators, as most preposterous. But since what is called a 'public\nopinion' has become pretty well established, the rest of the world fall\nin, and see nothing very strange in them--after all. And thus it would\nbe with the next point, or the claim of Spirituality, were it only\nunderstood that the immaculate judge, 'public opinion,' had decided in\nits favor. Such is the value of _opinion_ in a large sense. If the truth\nis told of other days, mankind valued their opinions, and kept them to\nthemselves. But not so now. The article is known to be valueless; and\neach one seems desirous of getting rid of his stock. At no age of\nthe world did _charlatanism_ make more rapid strides than it does at\npresent; so that, it seems, the same traits of character which render us\nthe subjects of deception, make us slow to embrace truth; and for the\nreason, as I conceive, that 'facts' and 'evidence' are less an element\nin the 'foundation' of opinions than are prejudices, preconceived\nnotions, personal interest, and the fear of being laughed at.\n\n\"The philosophy of the Sunday Press upon this subject has sustained the\nwell-known character of those journals; to say the least, they have\nbeen very spirited. Religion which has been arrayed against God, is the\ndevil's weapon, and _The Herald_ borrowed it for the first onset;\n'seriously' fearing that this subject would be made to overthrow the\ngood results which sound education and true Christian piety might\naccomplish. Pray, what would _The Herald_ have to fear from such a\nresult? Its premises would be exempt from any change by such a\nrevolution, and it would, no doubt, add to its subscription lists.\n\n\"There is one cheerful inference to be drawn from _The Herald's_\nposition with regard to this subject; that is, that the devil has no\nmeddling with the matter. By the way, this calls to mind another\ndistinguished individual--Dr. David Meredith Reese--who has the\nadvantage of a longer name, if not quite so notorious, the great\nexpounder of humbugs.\n\n\"He has promised to show up the deception upon the first opportunity,\nand people would have great confidence in his experience. Come forward,\ndoctor, and redeem your pledge; or take back your unmanly imputations;\nbut, for the credit of the thing, do not say that you believe in its\nverity.\n\n    \"C.\u00a0D. GRISWOLD, M.D.\"\n\n\nLETTER FROM JACOB C. CUYLER.\n\nThe following is from the editor of _The Albany Express_, before\nmentioned in connection with the visit of the judges and lawyers at\nAlbany.\n\n\n    \"ALBANY MORNING EXPRESS OFFICE,\n      \"June 9, 1850.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"After reading an account of your meeting at the house of the Rev. Dr.\nGriswold, in Broadway, New York, accompanied as it was by many very\nsatisfactory, and I trust convincing, manifestations, I have experienced\na species of gratification which I can call nothing more nor less than\nrevengeful. Those who have scoffed and scouted the idea of 'Spiritual\ncommunications' were modest enough in their prejudiced opinions to\nstyle me fanatic and chimerical; and some, more unscrupulous than their\nbrethren, even hinted that no respectable paper would devote its columns\nto the dissemination of such doctrines throughout the world. But 'Truth\nis mighty, and will prevail.' Choosing rather that time should vindicate\nthe 'Spirits,' than that our own feeble efforts should act as their\ndefender, we have waited with some anxiety the result in New York City.\nWhen, therefore, we learned that such men as Mr. Cooper, Mr. Tuckerman,\nDr. Frances, and others of like stamp, had received such demonstrations\nas are recorded in the public journals of that city, I took the liberty\nof adding some considerable to my diminutive stature. I walked about\nwith all the assurance of a millionaire, and just at the nick of time,\nwhom should I come in contact with but the unbeliever Hastings, of\n_The Knickerbocker_. Triumphantly I held up before his astonished gaze\nthe record, and exultingly asked him whether those men were fools,\nlunatics, or fanatics? I had him there, and all he could say in reply\nwas--_Humbug_.\n\n\"Well, that was as much as I expected, and laughing at his stubborn\nignorance I left him.\n\n\"I see that even Bennett, of _The Herald_, has somewhat changed his\ntone, and that he speaks quite favorably of the affair. He will be\ncompelled to do more than all this, I hope, before long, or many weeks\nroll over his head. The press generally in New York, I am happy to see,\nare acting very kindly toward you, and I only wish that all may receive\nentire satisfaction in their investigations. With us, all remains as\nusual. Many who seemed to manifest but little interest in the affair\nwhile you were here have, since your departure, evinced a desire to see\nand investigate. So will it be everywhere, and among all classes. The\nSwitch still speaks of 'Yaupy'[9] and the Spirits with contempt; but I\nbelieve 'Yaupy' suffers nothing from his efforts. He still seems to be\nin the enjoyment of health, and although _seldom known to smile_, he can\nlaugh with more freedom than is his usual custom.\n\n\"Do you think of stopping in our city before you return to Rochester? I\nhope so.\n\n\"I have heard that Margaretta has been unwell since your arrival in New\nYork, but presume her recovery is complete. Present my kind regards to\nyour mother and Maggy and Catty.\n\n\"Hoping to see you in New York before you leave, I remain\n\n    Yours respectfully,\n      \"JACOB C. CUYLER.\"\n\n    [9] Yaupy is Low Dutch for Jacob; the writer of the letter\n    originally employed it as a _nom de plume_.\n\n\nARTICLE BY HORACE GREELEY, PUBLISHED IN THE TRIBUNE.\n\n\"Mrs. Fox and her three daughters left our city yesterday on their\nreturn to Rochester, after a stay here of some weeks, during which they\nhave freely subjected the mysterious influence by which they seem to be\naccompanied, to every reasonable test, and to the keen and critical\nscrutiny of the hundreds who have chosen to visit them, or whom they\nhave been invited to visit.\n\n\"The rooms which they occupied at the hotel have been repeatedly\nsearched and scrutinized; they have been taken without an hour's\nnotice, into houses they had never before entered; they have been, all\nunconsciously, placed on a glass surface concealed under the carpet, in\norder to interrupt electric vibrations; they have been disrobed by a\ncommittee of ladies, appointed without notice, and insisting that\nneither of them should leave the room until the investigation had been\nmade, etc., etc., yet we believe that no one to this moment pretends\nthat he has detected either of them in producing or causing the\n'rappings;' nor do we think any of their contemners has invented a\nplausible theory to account for the production of these sounds, nor the\nsingular intelligence which (certainly at times) has seemed to be\nmanifested through them.\n\n\"Some ten or twelve days since, they gave up their rooms at the hotel,\nand devoted the remainder of their sojourn here to visiting several\nfamilies, to which they had been invited by persons interested in the\nsubject, and subjecting the singular influence to a closer and calmer\nexamination than could be given to it at a hotel and before casual\ncompanies of strangers, drawn together by a vague curiosity, mere\nrational interest, or predetermined and invincible hostility. Our own\ndwelling was among those thus visited, not merely submitting to but\ncourting the fullest and keenest inquiry with regard to the alleged\n'manifestations' from the Spirit world by which they were attended. We\ndevoted what time we could spare from our duties, out of three days, to\nthis subject, and it would be the basest cowardice not to say that we\nare convinced beyond a doubt of _their perfect integrity and good faith_\nin the premises. Whatever may be the origin or the cause of the\n'rappings,' the ladies in whose presence they occur do not make them.\nWe tested this thoroughly and to our entire satisfaction.\n\n\"Their conduct and bearing is as unlike that of deceivers as possible,\nand we think no one acquainted with them could believe them at all\ncapable of engaging in so daring, impious, and shameful a juggle as this\nwould be if they caused the sounds. And it is not possible that such\na juggle should have been so long perpetrated in public, yet escape\ndetection. A juggler performs one feat quickly and hurries on to\nanother; he does not devote weeks after weeks to doing the same thing\nover and over deliberately, in full view of hundreds who sit beside or\nconfronting him in broad daylight, not to enjoy but to detect his trick.\nA deceiver naturally avoids conversation on the subject of his knavery,\nbut these ladies converse freely and fully with regard to the origin of\nthese 'rappings' in their dwelling years ago, the various sensations\nthey caused, the neighborhood excitement created, the progress of the\ndevelopments--what they have seen, heard, and experienced from first to\nlast. If all were false they could not fail to have involved themselves\nere this in a labyrinth of blasting contradictions, as each separately\ngives accounts of the most astounding occurrences at this or that time.\nPersons foolish enough so to commit themselves without reserve or\ncaution could not have deferred a thorough self-exposure for a single\nweek.\n\n\"Of course a variety of opinions of so strange a matter would naturally\nbe formed by the various persons who have visited them, and we presume\nthose who have merely run into their room for an hour or so and\nlistened, among a huddle of strangers, to a medley of questions--not all\nadmitting of very profitable answers--put to certain invisible\nintelligencies and answered by rappings or singular noises on the floor,\ntable, etc., as the alphabet was called over or otherwise, would\nnaturally go away perhaps puzzled, probably disgusted, rarely\nconvinced. It is hardly possible that a matter ostensibly so grave could\nbe presented under circumstances less favorable to conviction. But of\nthose who have enjoyed proper opportunities for a full investigation we\nbelieve that fully three-fourths are convinced, as we are, that these\nsingular sounds and seeming manifestations are not produced by Mrs. Fox\nand her daughters, nor by any human being connected with them.\n\n\"How they _are_ caused, and whence they proceed, are questions which\nopen a much wider field of inquiry, with whose way-marks we do not\nprofess to be familiar. He must be well acquainted with the arcana\nof the universe who shall presume dogmatically to decide that these\nmanifestations are natural or supernatural. The ladies say that they\nare informed that this is but the beginning of a new era or economy,\nin which Spirits clothed in flesh are to be more closely and palpably\nconnected with those which have put on immortality; that the\nmanifestations have already appeared in many other families and are\ndestined to be diffused and rendered clearer, until all who will may\ncommunicate freely and beneficially with their friends who have\n'shuffled off this mortal coil.' Of all this we know nothing and shall\nguess nothing. But if we were simply to print (which we shall not) the\nquestions we asked and the answers we received during a two hours'\nuninterrupted conference with the 'rappers,' we should at once be\naccused of having done so expressly to sustain the theory which\nregards these manifestations as the utterances of departed spirits.\n\n\"We believe it is the intention of the ladies to shun henceforth all\npublicity or notoriety as far as possible. They do not expect or wish to\nmake gain of the 'Rappings;' they have desired to vindicate their own\ncharacters from the gross imputations so freely cast upon them;\nbelieving that, that effected, they hope to be permitted hereafter to\nlive in that seclusion which befits their sex, their station, and their\nwishes. We trust they may be permitted to do so.\n\n    \"H.\u00a0G.\"\n\n\nA POEM.\n\nThe following clever verses (published in _The New York Sunday\nDispatch_) were from the pen of a gentleman who had been a vehement\nopponent, but who, being an honest and good man, had not been able to\nresist the evidences of the truth of \"the Communion of Spirits.\" In\ninserting them, the Editor exercises his prerogative in disregard of the\nobjections and vain veto of the author who was the subject of them.\n\n      When first Leah Brown\n      Became talked of through town,\n        And compared to the famed witch of Endor,\n      I thought 'twould be best\n      To apply the old test,\n        And to fagot and fire to send her.\n\n      In my zeal orthodox\n      To trap this sly Fox,\n        A terrible pit-fall I planned,\n      But she every one foils,\n      I was caught in her toils,\n        And, I own it, completely trepanned.\n\n      'Tis no wonder her spell\n      Should on every one tell,\n        And worm out our secrets by scores,\n      Her eye's such a piercer,\n      I never saw fiercer.\n        It made me leak out through my pores.\n\n      'Twas plain she saw through me,\n      Though Heaven beshrew me,\n        If I even myself could divine.\n      In my visage dyspeptic\n      She saw but a sceptic,\n        Her own was the reflex of mine.\n\n      For my doubts it was clear\n      I was soon to pay dear,\n        To this point all her efforts were pitched,\n      And I own it with shame,\n      She has managed that same,\n        For now I am fairly--_bewitched_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nBUFFALO. 1850-51.\n\n  URGED TO RETURN TO NEW YORK--VISIT TO BUFFALO--ATTEMPT BY A\n    PRETENDED FRIEND TO FRIGHTEN US AWAY--THUNDERBOLT FROM THE\n    BUFFALO COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER--THE \"FEMALES\"--KNEE-JOINT\n    THEORY--OUR REPLY CHALLENGING INVESTIGATION OF IT--THE DOCTORS'\n    DAY--MRS. PATCHEN'S PECULIARITY.\n\n\nWe all returned to our home in Rochester, but immediately started for\nthe old homestead (Arcadia, Wayne County), where for about a month we\nenjoyed the society of our dear friends to our hearts' content. After\nthis it became necessary to go back to Rochester, where we received\nurgent letters from New York, insisting on our return to that city, now\nthat we had had what our friends there thought a sufficient period of\nrepose and holiday. These invitations we refused, whatever might be the\nconditions offered; but this soon brought upon us a visit of Judge\nEdmonds and others, _in person_, who insisted, in the name of all our\nfriends, as well as in that of our \"duty,\" that some of the family at\nleast should return with him to New York. This finally led, after much\npersuasion and deliberation, to our consent that Katie, accompanied of\ncourse by mother, should do so, and Maggie remained with me at my house\nin Troup Street, Rochester. At New York mother and Katie were to reside\nsuccessively with our principal friends in the great city.\n\nWe left Rochester for Buffalo the 16th of December, 1850, at the\nearnest solicitation of many friends there. It was our intention on\nleaving home to be absent about two weeks, but, like the Spirits, we\ncould not calculate our time. When we had been there about two weeks, we\nbegan to think of turning our steps homeward; but our friends would not\nconsent to our leaving them so soon, as the crowded s\u00e9ances and the\ncontinued increasing interest seemed to demand our presence still\nlonger. We remained, and soon found why we were detained. About this\ntime two of the Buffalo doctors called on us, viz., Dr. C.\u00a0B. Coventry\nand Dr. Charles A. Lee. To my certain knowledge, Dr. Austin Flint never\nappeared in our presence until after he had made the wonderful discovery\nof \"knee-ology,\" which is fully explained hereafter. Dr. Coventry\nappeared gentlemanly at all times and places; but Dr. Lee proved himself\nto be a wily, deceitful man. He certainly professed, to us, to be\ngreatly surprised at what he witnessed in our presence; and I was myself\nafterward surprised at the manner and tone of the subsequent attacks\nupon us in which he united.\n\nThe first intimation we had of the thunderbolt which was being forged to\nbe hurled upon us by the Buffalo doctors, from what they seemed to\nconsider as an Olympic height of professional authority, was a visit\nwhich I received one morning from Dr. T.\u00a0M. Foote, formerly U.\u00a0S.\nMinister to Bogota, and at this time editor of _The Buffalo Commercial\nAdvertiser_. He professed to come as our friend, and with a gentle\nblandness and confidential tone advised me to leave Buffalo at once,\nsuggesting that the first train would leave in about two hours; that the\nwhole thing was now found out and exposed, and that he came to save us\nfrom being mobbed out of the city. I suppose now that our oily friend in\nhis own evil heart imagined us to be really frauds, and that I would\nprobably be frightened into flight; or, at any rate, give evidence of\nconscious guilt in the mode of receiving such a friendly warning. For a\nmoment or two I scarcely understood his meaning; but then I asked,\nwith my best haughtiness, what right he had to come to my door, at our\nprivate hours, without sending up his card; and I stepped back into my\nroom, shutting and locking the door in his face, and at once rang the\nbell, more violently than was perhaps lady-like, but so as to bring the\nporter very promptly to the door, near which my visitor was still\nstanding. I told the porter to beg Mr. Rogers, the good and kind\nproprietor of the house, to step up, and to him I complained that _that\nman_ had dared to come to my door, within my private hours, without\nfirst sending up his card for permission; that he had insulted me, and\nthat I begged he might never be admitted again under any circumstances.\nOf course I knew well enough who \"that man\" was, for he had often been\nat our rooms, and had entertained us with stories of the tricks of\nlegerdemain he had witnessed in South America. He was here an important\nand potent personage, being an ex-diplomatist and editor of an evening\npaper. From his other title, I suppose he must once have also been of\nthe same profession as the three M.D.'s whose attack on us was already\nin type in his columns, as I soon afterward knew by the news-boys' cries\nof \"The Rochester Knockings! Great Exposure of the Rochester Knockings!\"\n\nIf the Rochester knockings were an imposture, nobody was more imposed\nupon by them than myself, and nobody could have had a greater interest\nin learning how they were produced. I therefore sent out to buy a copy\nof _The Commercial Advertiser_ of February 18, 1851, still damp from the\npress, in which I read the following authoritative scientific account of\nthe way in which, for now nearly three years, my little sisters and\nmyself had been wearing out our knee-bones to impose upon the world,\nour family, and ourselves! And this is what I read:\n\n\n  \"TO THE EDITOR OF _The Commercial Advertiser_:\n\n  \"Curiosity having led us to visit the rooms at the Phelps House in\n  which two females from Rochester--Mrs. Fish and Miss Fox--profess to\n  exhibit striking manifestations from the Spirit world, by means of\n  which communion may be had with deceased friends, etc.; and having\n  arrived at a physiological explanation of the phenomena, the\n  correctness of which has been demonstrated in an instance which has\n  since fallen under our observation, we have felt that a public\n  statement is called for which may perhaps serve to prevent a further\n  waste of time, money, and credulity (to say nothing of sentiment and\n  philosophy) in connection with this so long successful imposition.\n\n  \"The explanation is reached, almost by a logical necessity, on the\n  application of a method of reasoning much resorted to in the\n  diagnosis of diseases--namely, _the reasoning by exclusion_.\n\n  \"It was reached by this method prior to the demonstration which has\n  subsequently occurred.\n\n  \"It is to be assumed, first, that the manifestations are not to\n  be regarded as spiritual, provided they can be physically or\n  physiologically accounted for. Immaterial agencies are not to be\n  invoked until material agencies fail. We are thus to _exclude_\n  Spiritual causation in this stage of the investigation.\n\n  \"Next, it is taken for granted that the _rappings_ are not produced\n  by artificial contrivances about the persons of the females, which\n  may be concealed by the dress. This hypothesis is excluded because\n  it is understood that the females have been repeatedly and carefully\n  examined by lady committees.\n\n  \"It is obvious that the rappings are not caused by machinery\n  attached to tables, doors, etc., for they are heard in different\n  rooms, and in different parts of the same room in which the females\n  are present, but always near the spot where the females are\n  stationed. This mechanical hypothesis is then to be excluded. So\n  much for negative evidence, and now for what positively relates to\n  the subject.\n\n  \"On carefully observing the countenances of the two females it is\n  evident that they involve an effort of the will. They evidently\n  attempted to conceal any indications of voluntary effort, but did\n  not succeed. A voluntary effort was manifested, and it was plain\n  that it could not be continued very long without fatigue. Assuming,\n  then, this _positive fact_, the inquiry arises, how can the will be\n  exerted to produce sounds (rappings) without obvious movements of\n  the body? The voluntary muscles themselves are the only organs, save\n  those which belong to the mind itself, over which volition can\n  exercise any direct control. But contractions of the muscles do not,\n  in the muscles themselves, occasion obvious sounds. The muscles,\n  therefore, to develop audible vibrations, must act upon parts with\n  which they are connected. Now, it was sufficiently clear that the\n  rappings were not _vocal_ sounds; these could not be produced\n  without movements of the respiratory muscles, which would at\n  once lead to detection. Hence, excluding vocal sounds, the only\n  _possible_ source of the noises in question, produced as we have\n  seen they must be, by voluntary muscular contractions, is in one\n  or more of the movable articulations of the skeleton, from the\n  anatomical construction of the voluntary muscles. This explanation\n  remains as the _only alternative_.\n\n  \"By an analysis prosecuted in this manner we arrive at the\n  conviction that the _rappings_, assuming that they are not\n  spiritual, are produced by the action of the will, through voluntary\n  action on the joints.\n\n  \"Various facts may be cited to show that the motion of the joints,\n  under certain circumstances, is adequate to produce the phenomena\n  of the rappings; but we need not now refer to these. By a curious\n  coincidence, after arriving at the above conclusion respecting the\n  source of the sounds, an instance has fallen under our observation,\n  which demonstrates the fact that noises precisely identical with the\n  _spiritual rappings_ may be produced in the _knee-joints_.\n\n  \"A highly respectable lady of this city possesses the ability of\n  developing sounds similar, both in character and degree, to those\n  professedly elicited, by the Rochester impostors, from the Spirit\n  world. We have witnessed the production of the sounds by the lady\n  referred to, and have been permitted to examine the mechanism by\n  which they are produced. Without entering at this time into a very\n  minute anatomical and physiological explanation, it is sufficient to\n  state that the muscles inserted into the upper and inner side of the\n  large bone of the leg (the tibia), near the knee-joint, are brought\n  into action so as to move the upper surface of the bone just named\n  laterally upon the lower surface of the thigh bone (the femur),\n  giving rise, in fact, to a partial lateral dislocation.[10] This is\n  effected by an act of the will, without any obvious movement of the\n  limb, occasioning a loud noise, and the return of the bone to its\n  place is attended by a second sound. Most of the Rochester rappings\n  are double. It is practicable, however, to produce a single sound by\n  moving the bone out of place with the requisite quickness and force,\n  and allowing it to slide slowly back, in which case it is noiseless.\n\n  \"The visible vibrations of articles in the room, situated near the\n  operator, occur, if the limb, or any portion of the body, is in\n  contact with them at the time the sounds are produced. The force of\n  the semi-dislocation of the bone is sufficient to occasion distinct\n  jarring of the doors, tables, etc., if in contact. The intensity of\n  the sound may be varied in proportion to the force of the muscular\n  contractions, and this will render the apparent source of the\n  rappings more or less distinct.\n\n  \"We have witnessed repetitions of experiments, in the case just\n  referred to, sufficient to exhibit to us all the phenomena of the\n  sounds belonging to the Rochester rappings, and, without further\n  explanations at this time, we append our names in testimony of the\n  facts contained in the foregoing hastily penned exposition.\n\n    \"AUSTIN FLINT, M.\u00a0D.,   }\n    \"CHARLES A. LEE, M.\u00a0D., } University\n    \"C.\u00a0B. COVENTRY, M.\u00a0D., } of Buffalo.\n  \"February 17, 1851.\"\n\n    [10] This article was also published in the Buffalo Medical\n    Journal for March, 1851, with a note saying that the _editor_\n    had _taken the liberty_ to \"correct an error in the account of\n    the displacement of the joint which produces the sounds.\" That\n    correction was of the sentence we have italicized, and the\n    editorial correction reads as follows:\n\n    \"Without entering, at this time, into minute anatomical and\n    physiological explanation, it is sufficient to state that,\n    _owing to relaxation of the ligaments of the knee-joint, by\n    means of muscular action and pressure of the lower extremity\n    against a point of resistance, the large bone of the leg_ (the\n    tibia) is moved laterally upon the lower surface of the thigh\n    bone (the femur), giving rise, in fact, to partial lateral\n    dislocation.\"\n\n    By comparing the portion italicized, in this note especially, it\n    will be seen that the \"doctors disagreed\" very materially,\n    making, in fact, two different statements.\n\n\nI had been so indignant at Dr. Foote's first intimation to me of what\nwas coming, that if, when I slammed the door in his face, it had\nhappened to come in contact with his nose, which he had so impertinently\nand hypocritically attempted to intrude into our rooms, I fear I should\nnot have much regretted the accident; but anger evaporated over the\nperusal of this precious scientific performance; which was certainly\nenough to make me smile aloud over its absurdity. I saw at once that we\ncould have nothing to fear from it, even though, at the first blush, its\nsolemn professional air and tone might impose upon the ignorant and\ngratify the bigotry of some hostilities. I knew that the first sincere\ninvestigation, with special reference to this new and comical knee-joint\ntheory, must at once explode it and cover its authors with confusion. I\npublished the next day, in all the daily papers, the following card. It\nwill be remembered that I was now alone in Buffalo with Maggie; mother\nand Katie being at New York.\n\n\n\"TO DOCTORS FLINT, COVENTRY, and LEE:\n\n\"GENTLEMEN--We observe, by a communication in _The Commercial\nAdvertiser_, that you have recently made an examination of a 'highly\nrespectable lady of this city,' by which you have discovered the secret\nof the 'Rochester impostors.' As we do not feel willing to rest under\nthe imputation of being impostors, we are very willing to undergo a\nproper and decent examination, provided we can select three male and\nthree female friends who shall be present on the occasion.\n\n\"We can assure the public that there is no one more anxious than\nourselves to discover the origin of these mysterious manifestations.\nIf they can be explained on 'anatomical and physiological' principles,\nit is due to the world that the investigation be made, and that the\n'humbug' be exposed. As there seems to be much interest manifested by\nthe public on that subject, we would suggest that as early an\ninvestigation as is convenient would be acceptable to the undersigned.\n\n    \"A. LEAH FISH.\n    \"MARGARETTA FOX.\"\n\n\nThe learned professors, being thus challenged, could do no less than\naccept, and a meeting was arranged, which took place at the Phelps\nHouse. Indeed, for the next fortnight we may be said to have surrendered\nour whole time to investigations, our rooms being open freely and\ngratuitously to meetings of the public, or of committees appointed by\nthem, consisting of gentlemen selected from \"the pick\" of Buffalo. The\nthree doctors had the first evening in their own hands; though there\nwere present Mr. Rogers, the proprietor of the hotel, and I think two or\nthree gentlemen friendly to us, and many other promiscuous gentlemen.\nI remember particularly the presence of two steamboat men (idle, of\ncourse, at that season), Captains Rounds and Walker. This is fixed in my\nrecollection because of a little incident in regard to which I have\nnever been sure which of them was the (kindly) guilty party. They both\nfelt a pity--natural to good and kindly men--for two young creatures\nthus baited, as it were by cruel enemies; and as we, Maggie and I, sat\ntogether on a sofa, and after long waiting no raps came, one of them\nrested his arm on the back of the sofa and actually, with his knuckles,\nmade behind me three raps which were not a bad imitation. Perhaps he was\nnot more than half conscious of what he did, like the boy who denied\nthat he had whistled in school and said \"it whistled itself.\" But I knew\nthe raps not to be genuine; while the kindness of heart of the author of\nthem at such a moment of trial excited in me something perhaps a little\nhysterical, for I cried, or rather sobbed out--\"O, for pity's sake,\ndon't do that. If God and the good Spirits have deserted us we will\nabide the consequences; but don't let there be any false rapping.\" Good\nMr. Rogers was so much moved and excited (he had been before wiping\nstreams of perspiration from his forehead) that he staggered as he\nstood, and some friends assisted him out of the room; and I understood\nthat he actually fainted.\n\nBut the good Spirits had inspired me well; for I was afterward told that\nit produced the best effect on all present. From this I presume that I\nmust except the doctors, whom professional dignity and pride committed\nto their new theory; and who, probably under the materialistic bigotry\nof modern science, were all in arms against us and the Spirits. The\nspontaneous genuineness of it was clear evidence that there was nothing\nbut honesty in us, whatever mystery might be under these strange\nmanifestations--mysterious to ourselves first and most of all.\n\nIt was certainly a severe and cruel ordeal for us, as we sat there under\nthat accusation, surrounded by all these men, authorities, some of them\npersecutors, while the raps, usually so ready and familiar, would not\ncome to our relief. Some few and faint ones did indeed come--some nine\nor ten. The doctors say in their account that it was while they\nintermitted the holding of our feet. Such was not my impression, but I\nattach small importance to that. It will be seen herein that the first\n_Doctors' day_ was followed by many more, in the presence of committees\nof all that was highest and best of authority in Buffalo, in which not\nonly did the raps abound, alike when our feet and knees were held and\nwhen they were not, but other manifestations of the presence and action\nof our Spirit-friends which far transcended the significancy of raps.\nWe are now familiar with the fact that Spirits often refuse to act in\nthe presence of those who bring to the occasion, not a candid and fair\nspirit of inquiry for the satisfaction of an honest scepticism, but a\nbitter and offensive bigotry of prejudice and invincible hostility,\nwhich does not really seek, but rather repels the truth, and but little\ndeserves the favor of its exhibition to them by the Spirits.\n\nNeither men nor Spirits care always to cast their pearls away upon unfit\nand unworthy recipients. Our Spirits knew well what they could and would\nexhibit on the following days to the public of Buffalo and the world,\nthrough better channels of higher authority.\n\nThe three doctors published their account, the animus of which appears\nin the one circumstance that we are never mentioned but as \"females\"--a\nsmall fact, but enough to show how some males may be M.D.'s without\nbeing gentlemen.\n\nThe following extracts from their account of it will present the whole\nof its substance:\n\n  \"The two females were seated upon two chairs placed near together,\n  their heels resting on cushions, their lower limbs extended, with\n  the toes elevated and the feet separated from each other. The object\n  of this experiment was to secure a position in which the ligaments\n  of the knee-joint should be made tense, and no opportunity offered\n  to make a pressure with the foot. We were pretty well satisfied that\n  the displacement of the bones requisite for the sounds could not be\n  effected, unless a fulcrum were obtained by resting one foot upon\n  the other, or on some resisting body. The company waited half an\n  hour, but no sounds were heard in this position.\n\n  \"The position of the younger sister was then changed to a sitting\n  posture, with lower limbs extended on the sofa, the elder sister\n  sitting, in the customary way, at the other extremity of the sofa.\n  The 'Spirits' did not choose to signify their presence under these\n  circumstances, although repeatedly requested so to do. The latter\n  experiment went to confirm the belief that the younger sister alone\n  produced the rapping. These experiments were continued until the\n  females themselves admitted that it was useless to continue any\n  longer at that time, with any expectation of _manifestations_ being\n  made.\n\n  \"In resuming the usual position on the sofa, the feet resting\n  on the floor, the _knockings_ soon began to be heard. It was then\n  suggested that some other experiments be made. This was assented to,\n  notwithstanding the first was to our minds amply conclusive. The\n  experiment selected was, that the knees of the two females be firmly\n  grasped, with the hands so applied that any lateral movement of\n  the bones would be perceptible to the touch. The pressure was made\n  through the dress. It was not expected to prevent the sounds, but to\n  ascertain if they proceeded from the knee-joint. It is obvious that\n  this experiment was far less demonstrative to an observer than the\n  first, because, if the bones were distinctly felt to move, the only\n  evidence of this fact would be the testimony of those whose hands\n  were in contact with them. The hands were kept in apposition for\n  several minutes at a time, and the experiments repeated frequently,\n  for the space of half an hour or more, with negative results; that\n  is to say, there were plenty of _raps_ when the knees were not held,\n  and none when the hands were applied, save once; as the pressure was\n  intentionally somewhat relaxed (Dr. Lee being the holder) two or\n  three faint single _raps_ were heard, and Dr. Lee immediately\n  averred that the motion of the bone was plainly perceptible to him.\n  The experiment of seizing the knees as quickly as possible, when\n  the knocking first commenced, was tried several times, but always\n  with the effect of putting an immediate _quietus_ upon the\n  _demonstrations_.\n\n  \"The proposition to bandage the knees was discussed. The experiment\n  was objected to, on the part of the friends of the females, unless\n  we could concede that it should be a conclusive test experiment. We\n  were not prepared with appliances to render the limb immovable, and\n  therefore declined to have it considered such a test.\n\n  \"This was the experiment anticipated, and one which, we presume, the\n  females thought would end in their triumph. A bandage applied above\n  and below the patella, admitting of flexion of the limb, will\n  probably prevent the displacement, as we have but little doubt had\n  been ascertained by the Rochester females before an examination was\n  invited. Should it become necessary to repeat experiments in other\n  places, in furtherance of the explosion of the imposition, we would\n  suggest that the bandage be not relied upon.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n  \"Had our experiments, which were first directed to this joint,\n  failed, we should have proceeded to interrogate, experimentally,\n  other articulations. But the conclusion seemed clear that the\n  _Rochester Knockings_ emanate from the knee-joint.\"\n\n\nThe name of the lady referred to, who had some extraordinary formation\nof the joint in one of her knees, was Mrs. Patchen. (At the close of\nthis chapter the reader will find some letters from her to me.) She\ncould produce a peculiar, unpleasant, crunching sound by pressing her\nknee forward against some resisting object, and then kicking, as it\nwere, upward her foot by a movement which lifted her dress and was\nobviously visible to persons present. But it was with great effort and\nvery painful to herself, and the consequence of her having exhibited it\nto a committee at our rooms was that she was confined for about a week.\nThe way her peculiar case had come to their knowledge was this: One\nnight, when her husband had returned late from one of our meetings and\nstated the cause of his delay, she told him, in joke, that she could\nmake raps with her knee-joint, and that he should rather pay her than\nus. She could also make them in bed, having a side-board on which she\ncould press the knee. The next day her husband mentioned this to Dr.\nAustin Flint, who happened to be his family physician. The medical\neagerness to rush forth with their address to the public above quoted,\nwith little if any investigation, is shown by the fact that it was on\nthe following day that the scientific tirade against us, signed by the\nthree doctors, appeared in _The Commercial Advertiser_. It is most\ncharitable to suppose that they never really heard Mrs. Patchen's\npeculiar sound, because it was manifest to all who afterward heard it at\nour rooms, that it bore no resemblance to the knocking of our invisible\nfriends, since otherwise there is no escape from a still more\ndiscreditable alternative.\n\nMrs. Patchen was greatly annoyed at the use to which this rare\npeculiarity of hers had been perverted. She came to see me and\nexpressed her deep regret, even before we recognized each other as old\nschool-mates; and the following letters, written after she had heard\nand witnessed for herself (the originals of which I still possess),\nsufficiently speak for themselves. The date of the doctors' attack was\nFebruary 18, 1851.\n\n\n    \"SATURDAY, March 8, 1851.\n\n\"MY DEAR MRS. FISH:\n\n\"Can you and your sister possibly make it convenient to come to my house\nthis afternoon? If not, do come this evening without fail. You will\nconfer a great favor by so doing. I want to see you both very much.\n\n    \"Your ever dear friend,\n      \"MRS. PATCHEN.\n\n\"P.S. I did not send your little satchel, as I wanted you to come and\nsee me yourself. Please send an answer by the little boy.\"\n\n\n    \"BUFFALO, March 21, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR FRIENDS, MRS. FISH AND SISTER:\n\n\"I have been anxiously waiting to see you at our home again.\n\n\"The Phelps House is so crowded I could not see you privately for a\nmoment. I do want to see you very much. I have heard so much of your\n'manifestations'--not yours, but the manifestations of the Spirits. They\nare very mysterious; it is very singular. My husband was at your rooms\nlast evening, but he thought it not best for me to come in such a crowd.\nI wish you could disengage yourselves for one afternoon or evening as\nsoon as you possibly can. I never before felt so deeply interested in\nthe subject. I cannot possibly wait a week. Please send word when you\nwill come.\n\n    \"Faithfully yours,\n      \"MRS. PATCHEN.\"\n\n\nThis is the lady through whom Dr. Flint endeavored to expose us to the\nworld as humbugs and impostors.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nBUFFALO (_Continued_).\n\n  INVESTIGATIONS UPON INVESTIGATIONS--A MEETING AT THE PHELPS\n    HOUSE--MANIFESTATIONS WITH BELLS, ETC.--MR. ALBRO'S REPORT--A\n    DEATH SCENE--LETTER FROM ME TO THE \"COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER,\" AND\n    HOW I FORCED ITS INSERTION--ARTICLE FROM THE \"BUFFALO DAILY\n    REPUBLIC\"--LETTER FROM MR. GREELEY--MR. E.\u00a0W. CAPRON--DEPARTURE\n    FROM BUFFALO.\n\n\nBut the three doctors were not to have it all their own way--not even\nwith the assistance of a fourth, who was now the ex-diplomatic editor\nof their organ, and whom I spare from mention of what had been, in\nformer times, his last exercise in Buffalo of the honorable profession\nto which he had been of but little honor. Whether he is still living\nin the flesh, or has gone to learn for himself, in the Spirit world,\nall the truth of Spiritualism, I do not know. They had put all Buffalo\non the boil, and our rooms were crowded with hosts of indignant\nfriends. For about a fortnight they were open and free to the public,\nwithout money and without price, whenever fresh parties came or were\nbrought who desired satisfaction on any point glowing out of the then\nraging doctoral controversy. Different committees of investigation and\nre-investigation were appointed, for which services the first and best\nmen and women of Buffalo would be chosen. I will particularize two,\nwith omission of some merely prefatory matter from the second of the\ntwo, the reports of which are taken from Mr. Capron's book, quoting\nfrom the Buffalo papers.\n\n\nA MEETING AT THE PHELPS HOUSE.\n\n\"A company, consisting of J.\u00a0L. Reynolds, F. Rumsey, Dr. W.\u00a0R. Scott, H.\nCummings, Dr. G.\u00a0E. Hayes, Capt. A. Walker, C.\u00a0C. Bristol, James Dunkin\nand wife, J.\u00a0S. Chadwick, S. Albro, and J. Stringham, met at the rooms\nof Mrs. Fish and Miss Fox, at seven and a half o'clock last Monday\nevening. Two large hand-bells and one small one had been provided for\nSpirits to manifest their presence with, if they should choose to make\nuse of them. The bells were placed under the table, and the company were\nseated. Rappings immediately commenced, manifesting the presence of the\nrepresentatives of the Spirit-country. We resolved to ask no questions,\nand wait for voluntary manifestations. Alphabet called, spelling, 'Sit\nclose, and you may see some new manifestations.' All drew near the\ntable, and waited in silence. After waiting some time, the small bell\ncommenced ringing. The mediums' feet had been placed in the custody\nof two gentlemen who had not been there before, and their hands were\ncontinually on the table. The largest bell now commenced ringing, and,\nwhile ringing, moved 'round, traversing the whole area under the table.\nTwo bells rang at once. Afterward the whole three united in a kind of\nchime. The largest bell was placed on Dr. Hayes's foot, and bore on\nit with a pressure of six times its weight. He put his hand down and\ntouched the bell. He received other manifestations in the presence of an\nactive agent. The medium told him to ask if it was a Spirit. He did so,\nand was answered by a pinch of his toe, signifying the affirmative.\n\n\"'Is it the Spirit of my brother?' _Answer_, 'Yes.' He wrote the names\nof his deceased brothers, and it designated its own name by pinching his\ntoe. 'Does the Spirit wish to communicate with me?' 'I will communicate\nwith you at home, when all is calm.' Here silence prevailed for a time.\nThe bells commenced ringing, and occasionally one would fall upon the\nfloor. Alphabet called, spelling, 'Move back a little from the table.'\nAll moved back except Capt. Walker, who made several efforts to obey,\nbut found his chair fast. He looked to see if it was not fast in the\ncarpet, and tried to raise it, but it refused to move upward, backward\nor forward. Alphabet called, spelling, 'Sit close to the table.' All\ndrew their chairs close to the table, and Capt. Walker embraced the\nopportunity to see if the order had not loosened his chair; but he could\nnot stir it.\n\n\"Now the Spirit commenced performances with bells; sometimes ringing\nthem all at once, and sometimes placing them on the feet of one, and\non the knees of another. Sometimes they would fall on the floor, and\nsometimes hit the under side of the table. This ceased, the alphabet was\ncalled, and the spelling was, 'Look.' We looked, and the three bells\nstood in a right line, about eighteen inches apart. We resumed our\npositions, and the operations of ringing, pressing feet, and throwing\ndown bells, went on again. Again we were called to 'look,' and the two\nlarge bells stood upright, but the small one was missing, and could not\nbe found. One of the company suggested that we look under the larger\nbells. The largest bell was lifted, and the missing one was found under\nit, standing erect. The play then went on, till we were again told to\n'look,' and the small bell was found under the large one, lying on its\nside. So it continued for some time, placing the bells in various\npositions, and calling on the company to 'look.'\n\n\"In answer to a question asked some days previously,--'What is the use\nof these demonstrations?' the Spirits said, 'They are made to prove\nthat the mediums have no agency in it.' And the question asked by Mr.\nStringham, 'May I leave the table while the others remain, that I may\nlook under and see the bells ringing?' was answered, 'What do you think\nwe require you to sit close to the table for?' When Spirits make these\nphysical demonstrations they are compelled to assume shapes which human\neyes must not look upon.\n\n\"When the above-named performances were finished, loud concussions were\nheard and felt on the under side of the table. They became louder and\nlouder, till the brass candlesticks were made to bound up six or eight\ninches from the table. The candles were repeatedly thrown out of them,\nand we were compelled to hold them in our hands. These concussions were\nequal to those a man could make with a large nail-hammer, while lying on\nhis back and striking with all his strength. We expected the bed of the\ntable to be split in pieces, and Mrs. Fish became alarmed, turned pale,\nand begged us to leave the table. We did not comply, and the concussions\nwere continued for full fifteen minutes. At the close of this very noisy\nexhibition, the alphabet was called for, and the spelling was, 'We are\nall done for to-night.' They were not importuned to continue the\nperformances, and we arose from the table.\n\n\"The table was turned up to see what impressions were made, and a great\nnumber of deep indentations, in the hard cherry-wood, manifested the\nforce with which the middle-sized bell had been thrust against it. Dr.\nHayes took the bell and struck the table with the battered iron point\nwhich comes through the wooden handle, and made like indentations,\nthough nothing like so deep as those made by the performers. Any one\nmight have examined the table, and found the evidence.\n\n    (Signed)    \"ONE OF THE COMPANY.\"\n\n\nThis, coming as it did from, and being endorsed by, respectable\ncitizens, was a strong opposing argument against the knee-joint theory.\nEvery one could see that either these persons had formed a conspiracy to\ndeceive the public, or the professors were proved to be the \"humbugs\"\nthemselves. Still another report appeared in a few days, which rendered\nthe explanation of the professors still more ridiculous. It was from the\npen of a well-known citizen of Buffalo, who had been appointed by a\ncompany to prepare it. I give it as it appeared in one of the Buffalo\npapers.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION.\n\n\"MR. MAYNARD:\n\n\"Having been deputed by a select company, who visited the two sisters,\nMrs. Fish and Miss Fox, at their room in the Phelps House, on Friday\nevening last, to report what we there saw and heard, it becomes my duty\nto ask you to give place to this communication in your columns.\n\n\"The company consisted of Dr. Scott, C.\u00a0C. Bristol, J. Stringham, F.\nRumsey and lady, Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. Stevens, and myself.\n\n\"When all had assembled we took seats around the table. Mrs. Fish and\nMiss Fox, the two 'mediums,' were requested to take seats on a sofa\nwhich stood between the table and the wall. Dr. Scott and myself were\nseated, by arrangement, on the right and left of these two ladies, and\nthey were requested to put their feet on ours, and to keep them there,\nwhich they did. The purpose of this arrangement will be understood by\nthe reader. When all was still, the Spirits (I use the word assentingly)\ncommenced such a clatter of rappings that there seemed to be quite a\ncompany of them. This, we were told, was to manifest their presence and\ntheir willingness to be consulted.\n\n\"The confusion of sounds ceased, and the alphabet was called for by\nfive distinct raps, which it appears is the invariable signal. Mrs. Fish\ncalled the alphabet, and the letters designated by the rappings made the\nfollowing words: 'Get a better supply of paper before you get engaged,\nand let your minds run in one perfect channel. In that way you will\nsoon be able to get satisfactory demonstrations.' A supply of paper was\nprocured, and all were seated and still again. Two small bells had been\nplaced under the table, one at each end. When all was quiet, the signal\nfor the alphabet was given, and the spelling which followed was, 'All\nsit close to the table and to each other. Move the bells.' The bells\nwere then moved to near the centre of the table. Alphabet called again.\n'Put your hands on the table.' All obeyed the mandate, and immediately\nthe bells commenced ringing. They rang for a few minutes, and again the\nalphabet was demanded. The spelling was, 'You will perceive, by what you\nhave already heard, that a great and mighty development is about to be\nmade to mankind.' At this moment a rap was heard at the door, which was\nmade by a gentleman who wished to come in, but who retired on being\ninformed that it was a private party. Some remark was made by the\nyounger of the two mediums, in relation to the interruption, which\naffected the other to tears. A considerable interval of silence\nfollowed, and we began to fear that our entertainment would not be\nresumed; but the call for the alphabet proved that we had not been\ndeserted by our invisible friends. The spelling was, 'We want you to\ncheer up, dear children. All sit close. Hands on the table.' Now the\nbells commenced ringing again, moving all round under the table, giving\nforth tones the most musical, mellow, and soothing. The ringing ceased,\nand the alphabet was called. The spelling was, 'This is done to\nharmonize you all.'\n\n\"_Question by the acting medium._--'Do the Spirits wish us to be in a\nhappy state of mind?'\n\n\"_Answer._--'Yes.' Then followed, 'I want you all to reach out your\nfeet, except the four on the sofa.' This was done, and immediately Mrs.\nStevens said something had taken hold of her feet. She was directed to\nask if it was a Spirit, which she did, and received an affirmative\nanswer. 'Is it the Spirit of my father?' 'Yes,' was replied, and the\nrespondent continued, 'we are glad you came here.'\n\n\"Following this was a harsh, grating sound, not unlike the friction of a\nsaw which is pushed slowly through a board, and drawn back quickly. This\nwas continued but a short time, when the alphabet was called for, and\nthe spelling was, 'I breathed so when I was dying.' Then the same sound\nof grating was heard, and it continued like one laboring in the last\nmoments of life. These breathings became shorter and further between,\ntill a seemingly ineffectual attempt, like a hiccough, closed the drama,\nand the death-scene was complete.\n\n\"Hereupon the alphabet was called for, and the following address was\nspelled: 'Such is the end of man's existence on the earth; but he\nsuddenly awakes to a glorious immortality. This, my dear friends, is\ndemonstrated to relieve mankind from the dread of changing existence.\nThe appearance of suffering is not real; therefore I exhort you to look\nforward with joy for the happy transition from earth to heaven. You have\nneed of great watchfulness and care that you may be permitted to enter\nthe society of the blest. Done.' What was very remarkable in the\ndelivery of this address, as the medium read the alphabet, the letters\nwere designated sometimes by raps, as usual, and sometimes by ringing\nof a bell. The latter method was used, I think, quite as much as the\nformer. During the whole delivery the feet of the lady-mediums rested\nentirely on those of Dr. Scott and mine, and their hands constantly\nrested on the table. This, as it seems to me, puts to rest any question\nof their agency in producing the sounds. Mrs. Stevens, during the whole\nof the communication by 'Spirits,' felt a pair of large and powerful\nhands grasping her knees, the pressure of which, she avers, was quite\npainful. She also felt a weight in her lap, which was equal to that of\nher father while living. His name was Asa Ranson. The female portrait\nwhich hangs in the Common Council room is that of his daughter, and a\nsister of Mrs. Stevens. The latter lady says that the death scene which\nwas enacted in our presence was a perfect representation of the reality\nwhich she had witnessed.\n\n\"At the conclusion of the address, it was asked by the acting medium,\n'Are the Spirits _all_ done?' No reply was made. It was then asked, 'If\nwe put paper under the table, will the Spirits write?' _Answer by the\nalphabet_, 'We will make marks on paper.' A piece of paper was then\ntaken and passed around, to be examined by the company. All saw that it\nwas without mark or scratch of any kind. A scratching sound was then\nheard under the table, and also the sound that is noted when paper is\ntorn. The alphabet was called, and the spelling was, 'Look.' The paper\nwas taken out, and found to be torn in pieces and scratched as with a\nnail, or some dull instrument. It was then asked, 'If we put paper and\npencil under, will the Spirits write?' Three raps were given as answer\nin the affirmative, and the alphabet was called. The spelling was, 'Keep\nyour pencil.' Another piece of paper was then handed round. We all\nexamined it closely, and found it all fair and clean, without the least\nmark whatever. It was put under the table by the last examiner, and the\nscratching commenced. Directly the alphabet was called for, and 'Look'\nspelled out. The paper was taken out, and found to be scratched as\nbefore, and torn a little; but the Spirit had fulfilled its promise. It\nhad written--for the figure 7 in plain pencil-mark stood on the untorn\npart of it. The figure was found to be just one inch long, and seemed as\nif made by the hand of a farmer, or mechanic, who aimed at plainness\nrather than elegance in his chirography. I have the paper in my\npossession, and will exhibit it to any one who wishes to see it.\n\n\"I had forgotten to mention that during the communications from Mrs.\nStevens's father, she read the alphabet part of the time, and received\nanswers by a rap on her foot. She was too much excited to continue, and\nthe alphabet was read by the medium.\n\n\"When the last paper was brought out from under the table, we all\nexpressed a desire to know what was meant by the character 7. Our\ndeliberations on that subject were soon cut short by a call for the\nalphabet, and the meaning was spelled out as follows:\n\n\"'Seven of this party will be mediums. Do not ask which. We are done for\nto-night.' _Question._ 'Will the Spirits answer no more questions?'\n_Answer._ 'We are done for to-night. Move away from the table.'\n\n\"There were many other incidents during the sitting. The lady-medium\nwho sat next to Dr. Scott had her dress pulled and held fast, and she\ninvited the doctor to try and see if he could release it. He made a\nstrong effort, but gave it up for fear of tearing it. Several others had\ntheir feet handled and their clothes pulled. I felt a palpable pressure\nagainst the inside of my leg, and a pinch of my ankle, while a bell was\nringing close to my feet--no person being near me but Miss Fox, and she\nhad both her feet on one of mine, and both her hands on the table. This\nis a faithful statement of facts, for the truth of which, as far as\nthey relate to the sitting on Friday evening, I refer the reader to all\nthe persons whose names are given above. I refrain from conclusions and\ncomments, and close with the simple declaration that I am much puzzled\nand astonished.\n\n    (Signed)    \"S. ALBRO.\"\n\n\nI may also be allowed to introduce a published letter of my own,\ncontaining some important statements which have never been contradicted.\nIt was from no spirit of fairness or liberality that the editor inserted\nthis letter in his columns. Mr. Rogers (the proprietor of the house)\ntold me that he had heard from him words for which he was liable to a\nsuit by me for slander, and that he would back me in such a suit. All\nthat was most honorable in Buffalo also stood by me. I took my letter\ndown to the editor at the dinner table (he boarded at the hotel), and\ntold him he must publish it that afternoon, and also retract his\nslanders, or I would have him forthwith arrested. This was aloud,\nin presence of all the company at the table. He submitted without\nresistance, and smoothed down the slander by explaining it away, and\nby saying that he had spoken only in jest. He published, and I was\nsatisfied--as were also all my friends.\n\n\n    \"BUFFALO, March 14, 1851.\n\n\"TO THE EDITOR OF _The Commercial Advertiser_:\n\n\"I gladly avail myself of the privilege you have so courteously extended\nto me to defend myself through your columns against the aspersions\nwhich, if suffered to pass unheeded, might bring temporary disgrace\nupon the cause in which we are engaged as involuntary though willing\ninstruments of a higher power. Some time since, you gave place in the\ncolumns of your paper to a statement, made by Professors Lee, Flint,\nand Coventry, which they put forth to the public as an exposition of the\n'Rochester Knockings.' The positions which they assumed we knew to be\nfallacious and unsupportable, and we at once challenged a fair and\nimpartial investigation, believing that it was not in the nature of\nthese gentlemen to seek our conviction of fraud contrary to evidence\nwhich I knew must convince every candid mind. It is true that when our\nfeet were placed on cushions stuffed with shavings, and resting on our\nheels, there were no sounds heard, and that sounds were heard when our\nfeet were resting on the floor; and it is just as true that if our\nfriendly Spirits retired when they witnessed such harsh proceedings on\nthe part of our persecutors, it was not in our power to detain them. Dr.\nLee says he heard two sounds when he held Margaretta's knees. I counted\nfive at one time during that operation, two at another, and three at\nanother, which made ten instead of two. But I do not consider this\ncircumstance of any importance whatever. The spirit in which they\nengaged in the investigation was too palpable to be mistaken, evincing\ntoo great a determination to carry their points to admit of the\npossibility of a conviction. They had heard sounds made by limber\n_joints_, and because one person could produce one kind of sounds, made\nby knee-joints, they would have the community believe that all the\nsounds heard in our presence for the last four years were produced by\nthumping or snapping the _knee-joints_.\n\n\"As professional men, whose reputation is dear to them, I would like to\nhave them tell your readers what condition our poor joints would be\nin by this time, after three years' constant service in this almost\nceaseless operation. I will not call this quackery, but will be content\nto leave it to the public to pass judgment on their professional\nerudition. Two of the professors made little or no investigation. They\nwere in our room but a few minutes previous to the appearance of the\narticle in your paper.\n\n\"Professor Lee, however, was in to see us frequently, and at several\ntimes expressed great surprise, affirming, with great apparent candor,\nthat the sounds were truly astonishing. He witnessed the answers that\nwere received by Mr. Chase, which were all correct and very astonishing;\nyet he did not attempt to account for them. Now, if Dr. Lee can account\nfor the correct answers that are given, as well as how the sounds are\nproduced, it will gratify me very much, and I will try to account for\nsome of the large ones. Mr. Chase called again, a day or two after that,\nand could get no correct answers; but this was no matter of surprise to\nme after his having been in close communion with _Dr. Lee_; for we are\ntaught to believe that Spirits associate by affinity, and if that be\ntrue, he was no doubt led into a different society of Spirits by\nassociating with _him_.\n\n\"I do not believe the Spirits of my dear departed friends could manifest\nthemselves in their presence, and I would not willingly call on them to\nmingle in such society. The word 'Impostor' grated very harshly on my\nears, and I struggle very hard to overcome the feelings which such a\ncruel charge will naturally excite in every human bosom where honor\nfinds a lodgment; but, in spite of all my endeavors, I still feel like\nother mortals; and this feeling prompts me to demand justice at the\nhands of a discerning public, and especially those who have witnessed\nthe entire success of the same experiments which proved a total failure\nwith our Esculapian knee-buckles.\n\n\"The committees, which have frequently met since the affair with the\nM.D.'s, have witnessed all the experiments they attempted, and can\ntestify to their entire success.\n\n\"One day, in presence of a number of persons, the same cushions were\nbrought out, and we took seats, elevated, with our feet upon them,\nresting on our heels, when the sounds were distinctly heard by all\npresent. Captain Rounds and Judge Burroughs were present on that\noccasion.\n\n\"Our feet were held from the floor by Dr. Gray and Mr. Clark, in\npresence of the whole committee, on the evening of the investigation\nmade by the medical gentlemen (after they left); and the sounds were\ndistinctly heard, which was allowed by the committee to be a far more\nsatisfactory test, as they could distinctly hear the sounds under their\nfeet, and feel the floor _jar_ while our feet were held nearly or quite\na foot from the floor. The whole committee consisted of Dr. Gray and\nlady, Mr. Clark and lady, Mr. Everet and lady, Mr. Stringham, Mr.\nBristol, and two gentlemen invited by the professors.\n\n\"Most of this committee were persons we had never before seen, but we\nare informed they are persons whose testimony can be relied upon. I\nwould like to have Drs. Lee, Flint, and Coventry club their professional\nlore and perceptive acumen, and inform the public how bells are rung,\nand gongs made to ring out tunes, untouched by human hands; for, if you\nhave any confidence in your own citizens, they can tell you what I now\naffirm is true. I will not be particular to mention the names of all the\npersons who have witnessed these striking phenomena, but I will refer\nyou to the following: C.\u00a0C. Bristol, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Stringham, Mr.\nStephen Dudley, Mr. L. Ramsey, Mr. Pond, Mr. Gould, and Mr. Tallmadge;\nand they can refer you to dozens of other respectable persons, who have\nwitnessed the same.\n\n\"While these manifestations were going on, many of the persons\nabove-named have held us both so fast by the feet that we could not stir\nwithout their knowledge.\n\n\"They (the Doctors) have attempted to explain one of the least\nimportant points; and, as we know, have signally failed. Now let them\nproceed to the more difficult points, or manfully acknowledge their\nfailure and our innocence of fraud.\n\n\"As Dr. Lee is the editor of the _Medical Journal_ which is published in\nthis city, and as he saw fit to publish the injurious report against our\nmoral integrity, which was made by the visiting committee of M.D.'s., we\nhope he will manifest the sense of honor which his standing in society\nwarrants us in looking for, by publishing the contradiction, which must\nnow be evident to him, and thereby make the reparation as apparent as\nthe injury. This would be just, if not magnanimous.\n\n    \"Yours, etc.,\n      \"A. Leah Fish.\"\n\n\nTo the above narrative of the Buffalo doctors' affair I append an\neditorial article from _The Buffalo Daily Republic_:\n\n\n\"THE PROFESSORS AND THE 'KNOCKINGS.'\n\n\"I think it was nearly three weeks ago that it was given out in a very\nauthoritative tone, and, if I am not very much mistaken, the newly\nreturned Minister from Bogota was the oracular organ used on the\noccasion to proclaim to the 'humbugged' citizens of Buffalo, that in\ntwenty-four hours we should hear no more of the knockings. The news\nflew about the city with the rapidity of lightning, that the end of the\n'rappings' was nigh, that an awful explosion was about to take place.\nA lady had been found who produced noises with the knee-joints. The\nUniversity of Buffalo had examined the lady's knee-joints, heard the\nnoises, and pronounced them identical with the sounds produced by the\nRochester ladies, and, what was still more awful and astounding, the\nUniversity of Buffalo were about to print their report in the Buffalo\n_Commercial Advertiser_. Who could withstand such a shock?--It was\nconceded on all hands that if the ladies could endure the University\nand the _Commercial Advertiser_, they need never fear any natural\ncatastrophe. True to the prediction, out came the 'report.' Three wise\nmen had spoken, yea, three _professors_, professors even of Materia\nMedica, Physiology, and of Principles and Practice of Medicine. Be it\nremembered, too, that the University was under the guidance of that good\nman, Millard Fillmore, as Chancellor, and Dr. Thomas M. Foote, late\nMinister to Bogota, as one of its council men--thus uniting to the\ncollective wisdom of the professors the great head of the nation, and\nspeaking through his immediate organ, the _Commercial Advertiser_.\nBuffalo was the great battle-ground and the University the great\nadversary chosen to annihilate this already too wide-spread imposture.\nNow, do not understand me as attributing any unkind motive to those\ngentlemen professors; I have no doubt they were actuated by a nice sense\nof duty which they owed to science and to their fellow-beings to make\nthe expos\u00e9. I could not say a word against Dr. Lee or Dr. Coventry,\nif I wanted to; they are strangers to most of our citizens, and only\ncome among us periodically, and I am informed that they are very\nmuch respected so far as they have extended their acquaintance here.\nProfessor Flint has been a resident of this city for many years, and is\nregarded by those that employ him as an able practitioner of medicine.\nHe conducts the editorial management of the Buffalo _Medical Journal_,\nin the last number of which he has devoted a large portion of its\ncolumns to the matter of these 'mysterious manifestations.' I am\nonly sorry that its circulation is so limited as not to allow the\ninvestigating public to appreciate its strictures. He intimates that\nthe 'report' was hastily drawn up and contains errors, and in order to\ndo the professors justice, requests the press to recopy the article\nas amended. There is certainly no impropriety in all that, if the\nUniversity left out some material argument, in their hurry to explode a\nhumbug of such vast magnitude. The press can do no less than put them\nright. But is it a fair mode of warfare? I am exceedingly ignorant\nof professional etiquette in these matters, and as a friend of the\nmanifestations, I wish to ask the unprejudiced public if it is right\nthat the University, after having had their load and fire, should insist\nthat because the first charge did not bring down the game, they should\nbe allowed another shot without some preliminary arrangements? The\nrequest is modest enough, and perhaps, taken in connection with the\n_fact_ that the University got on to its knees before the mediums,\nin order the more readily to detect the muscular sensation of the\nknee-joints of the ladies, is a sufficient offset to what might seem an\nunreasonable afterthought.\n\n\"The code of honor among gentlemen has settled the question, I believe,\nthat the first fire, whether mortal or not, is sufficient evidence of\ncourage, and that beyond that, the question of honor is merged into a\nmalignant desire to kill. If the University is satisfied that they have\nexposed the humbug, why ask to bring in new proof? Is it because the\nladies, instead of leaving town in twenty-four hours, have staid as many\ndays? Is it because the public are more anxious than ever to see and\nlearn more of these mysterious manifestations? Is it because there is\nmore intense interest than ever elicited, the more the subject is\ninvestigated? Is it because intelligent men are giving the matter\nconsideration? I ask, what causes so much disquietude in the minds\nof the professors? Have they shot off their gun too quick? Are they\nsensible that public opinion is not impressed with the belief in their\nassertions and their expos\u00e9? Are they displeased because the ladies keep\nstaying in spite of their mandate to go home? The University has taken\nup the cudgel to beat the hydra, and as fast as one head falls a dozen\nnew ones spring out (or would if they could succeed in knocking one\noff). The manifestations, instead of being content with mere knocking on\nthe floor, have commenced the ringing of bells (some large enough to\ntire the arms of even professors), pounding under the table, so as to\nleave visible manifestations, sufficient to satisfy a dozen universities\nof its physical ability, moving furniture, playing on musical\ninstruments, and various other demonstrations equally wonderful and\nsatisfactory to all who see them.\"\n\n\nFrom one of Mr. Greeley's letters of this trying time, I extract the\nfollowing: \"Be faithful. Remember how short the time of life is. Submit\nto every lawful investigation. While you are being tested by the\ndoctors, to prove you make the sounds by snapping the knee-joints,\ninsist on having a committee of ladies appointed to hold your feet, and\nfor ever silence the blasting charge of toe rapping, or it will cover\nyou with a cloud of obloquy from which you may not recover in years, if\never.\"\n\nE.\u00a0W. Capron, who stood by us in our Rochester trials and\ninvestigations, and who delivered the first lecture on the subject of\nModern Spiritualism, was, at this time, editor of the Providence, R.\u00a0I.,\n_Daily Mirror_. From him I also received the following note: \"I have not\nseen the whole of the article referred to, but to me, knowing what I do,\nthe theories of knee-pan, or knee-joint, are equally ridiculous. There\nnever has been a time when you could so completely kill all opposition\nas the present opportunity offers, if you go through the fiery ordeal\nand come out unscathed, _as I know you will_, for I know you are true.\nYou have stood fiery trials before, and have always triumphed.\"\n\nAfter having met the several investigating committees, and submitted to\nall the requirements of the public at large, amidst a host of friends\nwho came to the Phelps House to bid us farewell, with many who\naccompanied us to the departing train, we left them with mutual feelings\nof regret, but amid their congratulations and prayers for our future\nprosperity.\n\nWe had come to Buffalo for a visit of a fortnight. In a financial point\nof view, we had never met with an equal success. Not a few of the\nprincipal gentlemen of the city sent us parting gifts of congratulation\non a noble scale of munificence, as tributes of sympathy for what we\nhad had to bear, and of gratitude for the demonstrative proofs of\nimmortality it had been ours to bring to their experimental _knowledge_.\n\nThe day appointed for our departure our hotel apartments proved\ninsufficient to entertain our friendly visitors who came to bid us\nadieu. The public parlors, being kindly assigned to us for the purpose\nby the proprietor, were filled to overflowing. Never can I forget that\nday, nor those dear and noble friends.\n\nAnd thus ended the short-lived apparent triumph of \"the Buffalo\nDoctors.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nBUFFALO (_Continued._)\n\n  LETTERS FROM JOHN E. ROBINSON AND WELCOME WHITTAKER.\n\n\nDuring the progress of all this, our Buffalo Campaign, it is scarcely\nworth while to say that I received no end of letters of sympathy and\nencouragement. The number must have counted by thousands who had by this\ntime witnessed for themselves, not merely the comparatively small sounds\nof the ordinary rapping near our persons, but sometimes great knockings,\nas by powerful arms and heavy hammers, on all parts of rooms and even\noutside of them; together with ringing of bells, moving and lifting of\ntables, etc.; to say nothing of the intelligent communications which\nidentified their Spirit friends, etc. All such persons therefore knew\nthat the Buffalo doctoral theory of _knee-joints_ was impossible\nand absurd, and felt no uneasiness about the result of any real\ninvestigations. But many of them naturally sympathized with us under the\nharassing annoyance in which we were placed by the promulgation of even\nsuch a ridiculous theory, under such high-sounding \"scientific\"\nauthority.\n\nFrom these letters I select the following.\n\n\nLETTER FROM JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    ROCHESTER, February 26, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR LEAH:\n\n\"I received this evening your note (of rather diminutive proportions),\nwritten day before yesterday. Having been on the lookout for a letter\nfor several days, it was very acceptable. It is written in a hopeful\nand encouraging vein, and, so far as what is expressed relates to\nmyself, I can take no exceptions to its language. I should think it\ndictated in some intervening hour of quiet; one of the few which pass\nabove and tranquillize for the time the unresting surface of your daily\nlife. Such hours, let them be passed when they may, come and go with all\nof us; and the dial finger that marks their exit, registers also the\nblessings which they leave upon the heart. Impulsive as you are;\naccustomed as you are to excitement, and possessing (as you do) a\nwoman's fondness for the glare of the world's gilded exterior; there is\na part of your nature better than the rest, which would often shut out\nfrom the chamber of its occupancy those noisy and obtrusive influences\nwhich corrode its brightness and rob it of its rest.\n\n\"That is the part of your being (the Leah) whom I would oftenest wish\nto have audience with; and in such hours as I speak of I would consider\nit a luxury equal to 'Wenham ice' in the torrid zone, or a shower of\nvertical sunbeams on an Arctic traveller--to _knock_ at the door of that\ninner chamber, and finding entrance, to sit down at the table of your\nheart and commune with you face to face. I have turned down the leaves\nin my memory whereon the records of such brief communings have been\nmade, and it is no small pleasure to refer to them, as I often do,\nduring these days of denial. So seldom it is now-a-days when the Spirit\nI would talk to answers my signal with the words 'at home.'\n\n\"We (your friends here) want you _and the Spirits_--who seem to think\ntheir bread-and-butter depends on their paying court (in especial) to\nyou and yours--to come to us once in a while--like the chance sunlight\nthat struggles through the bars of the prisoner's window to reveal the\ngladness of the upper world--and rub the rust from our chains.\n\n\"You ought to come home next week, at any rate, even if you are\ndetermined on going West again. And really, I think you ought to visit\nCleveland and Cincinnati before long. You would find many good people in\nboth places, who would rejoice to see you and Margaretta, and who are\nlooking out for your advent there with no little anxiety.\n\n\"Mrs. Bush read to me last evening a portion of a letter from her\nbrother, resident, I believe, in the latter city, in which he urges her\nto come there and speaks of things connected with Spiritualism somewhat\nin detail. I observe Mr. Cogshall's book is noticed very fairly in the\n_National Era_ (of Washington, D.\u00a0C.), a journal of high character for\nliterary attainments. I will copy the notice as follows: 'We have read\nthis book, and have been pleased with its style, and impressed with the\nsincerity of its author. Still we do not believe. Nothing short of sight\nand hearing can convince us that the souls of the departed are really\nrapping in such an audible and startling manner on the wall which\ndivides us from the Spiritual world--really moving chairs and tables and\nringing bells, and otherwise disturbing domestic order and quiet. Yet,\naccording to this little history, some Spirits justify themselves for\ntheir sudden incursions into our territory, by giving comfort to the\nmourner and sweet assurances of a love which could not die.'\n\n\"If all be an imposture, who can measure the depth of that depravity\nwhich trifles thus with the holiest affections, aspirations, and\nsorrows? Greeley in a late _Tribune_ has a rich joke. He says: 'Some\nbrainless editor out in Milwaukee not long since published the fact that\nhe had an interview with the Spirit of Captain West, of the steamer,\nwho reported that the noble steamer struck an iceberg and went to the\nbottom of the ocean with all on board.' Milwaukee is a great place!\nOur George (Willets) thinks 'that Spirit took some trouble to spread\nthe news.' It is presumable that it was one of the Auburn Apostolic\nbrethren. What a pity that Spirits (some of them) are not less given to\nlying. However, if they are capable of falsehood (as we well know some\nof them are), it is better they should show their hands, else their\ncommunications might work much evil. The _good_ shines out with a more\nglorious brightness in contrast with the darkness of its opposite.\n\n\"Enough is known already to warrant the immense interest which this\nsubject is now creating, and I think that there is in the future (not\nvery distant) a glad day approaching. I am sometimes disposed to be\ndepressed. I have very little from Spirits, such as I would most wish\nto get communications from, and you can hardly realize the sense of\nneglect--so to speak--which I feel. I hope, when you return, some of\nmy kindred Spirits--that delicate, pure-souled sister of mine, in\nparticular (a lock of whose hair I took from among my papers yesterday\nand found it as lustrous as when first taken from her perishing form),\nmay have some message to deliver to one whose love for her is immortal.\nLeah, I want to whisper in your ear. Turn from the table and the\nsceptics who sit by, and lend me your ears. Last night, when my internal\nsenses were playing their pranks, I had a dream of you. You were at\nyour home, and my solicitude for the kingdom had led my steps to the\n_capital_ of the New Jerusalem. My best bow had been made to the\nSpirits, the last words to you had been said, and I was about going out\nof the gate, when I remembered an important omission: and turning just\nas you were closing the front door, I cried, 'Leah! Leah!' and awoke\nwith your name on my lips; pronouncing it once _audibly_ after I\nawoke--just to see if you could come and answer me. But no response\ncame, not even an echo of my voice from the walls of my room. Leah!\nLeah! I call again, and will you come?\n\n    \"Yours in the bonds of patience,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\nLETTER FROM WELCOME WHITTAKER.\n\n    TROY, N.\u00a0Y., February 24, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"I perceive, by the Buffalo papers, that you have had the unparalleled\ntemerity to call public attention, in that place, to the manifestations\nof Spiritualism; and that, too, without so much as consulting for one\nmoment the feelings, prejudices, or _scientific accumulation_ of certain\nof the wonderful Faculty there. Well, they pounced upon you as you might\nwell suppose such (God forgive me!) _scientific gentlemen_ would,\nconscious as they doubtless are, that their position on the pyramid of\nall human knowledge is nothing short of the very cap-stone itself. Not\nonly have they, in most _chivalrous manner_, arrayed themselves for your\ndisrespect, but a masterly stroke, ingeniously given, shielded the\npublic forever against such _gross trickery and imposition_ by an expos\u00e9\nof the whole thing!\n\n\"O! never three luckier D(og)s together than the three M.D.'s of\nBuffalo, who in so short a time lifted the veil and exposed to open day\nthe 'very mechanism' by which deluded thousands have been _led astray_,\nfirst by a course of negative reasoning, the parallel of which, I\nventure to say, cannot be found in all the annals of philosophic\nresearch. This of itself must be sufficient to render the names of Lee,\nFlint, and Coventry, at least _notorious_, if not illustrious.\n\n\"But, as if one death would not be a sufficient quietus, they give the\ncertain home-thrust (the mortal stab), in the _naked, positive proof_.\nNow was there ever anything equal to that? When will such philanthropy,\nsuch critical discernment, such zeal, and such science be appreciated?\nAnd last, though not least, that highly respectable lady, 'who, by\na mental effort, can dislocate her knee-joints,' and then make the\n'identical' sounds so foolishly ascribed to the Spirits, must not be\nlost sight of in the words of overwhelming gratitude to these three\nM.D.'s above mentioned.\n\n\"Dear, kind-hearted soul! she must possess an unbounded share of the\nmilk of human-kindness. No one can, for a moment, suppose that she was\nsolicited to expose her knees to various _gentlemen_ of the medical\nprofession, for they must be sufficiently acquainted with anatomy and\nphysiology to know all the _mechanism_ at all competent to produce\nthose sounds. It must, therefore, have been on her part perfectly\nvoluntary--prompted purely by a most benevolent desire to expose a\n_humbug_. But Spiritualism will still progress, and its advocates shall\ngloriously ride over all adversity, for God is omnipotent.\n\n\"If contemptible meanness, united with unmitigated scoundrelism, can be\nfound on this earth, it resides in the black heart of him who coins\nepithets designed to rob defenceless females of their spotless\nreputation, which is ever of more value to them than life itself.\n\n\"I felt, therefore, most indignant while reading the two articles in the\n_Commercial Advertiser_ of the 17th, and the _Courier_ of the 18th, both\nof which I believe to be palpably libellous; and for which, I have no\ndoubt, any able lawyer would tell you a suit for slander would bear most\nbeautifully.\n\n\"I thought to advise you to proceed against these libellers forthwith;\nbut when indignation gave place to mingled contempt and pity, I came\nto the conclusion that if you could follow the example of Him whose\npersecutors were the objects of his latest petition--'Father, forgive\nthem, for they know not what they do'--it might perhaps be best in the\nlong run. But it is not always easy to determine the exact point where\nforbearance ceases to be a virtue.\n\n\"A friend from Syracuse told me the other day, that a sum of money (he\ndid not say how much) had been subscribed for the purpose of having you\nvisit that place. I will meet you if I can.\n\n    \"Yours,\n      \"WELCOME WHITTAKER.\"\n\n\nLETTER FROM JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n       \"THE CITY OF THE NEW DISPENSATION,\n    \"March 12, 1851, Anno Spirituum, 3.\n\n\"DEAR LEAH:\n\n\"What a woman you are! Why don't you write to me? You know how anxious\nyour friends are to hear from you, and you promised to write often and\nto send _papers_ frequently. Only _one_ paper have I received from you.\nEverybody whom you care a fig for here in Rochester asks me about\nBuffalo and _you, and you_. But I am not _posted up_ and cannot tell\nthem of your triumphs or escapes from the hands of the many-headed hydra\nwhom you have slain so often. Not having a line from you a week ago,\nin answer to my last letter, I thought you intended to return last\nSaturday, but no train of cars, which I have heard of, brought you as a\npart of its living freight, and _we_ (that is I) are 'a-wearied' because\nyou answer not our call to 'come.' Now I _command_ you, in the name\nof all the gods of the heathen mythology, to come to us, either\n_spiritwise_ (on a sheet of paper of ample dimensions), or _bodily_\n(as would most effectually comport with our comfort and desire), by an\nearly departing train from our sister city, whose queenly dignity,\nin thus aspiring to rob us of our Spiritual flame--the guide of our\nuncertain steps--we are getting jealous of. I received a good letter\nfrom your witch sister, my darling little Katie, this morning. She\nwrites with much cheerfulness. Says she has commenced another quarter\nat her school (in New York). She says also she is 'crazy' to see me!\nYou know just about what is intended to be understood when she thus\naddresses me (her friend and adviser); but Cathie is fast learning to be\na woman, and my prayer is that she may escape the bitter trials through\nwhich you and your mother have been called to pass. She adds: 'We had a\ntelegraphic despatch from Maggie, saying she would be here last week\nSaturday; but she don't come, and we have given up looking for her.' She\nsays: 'Give my love to Leah and Margaretta, and tell them I want to see\nthem.'\n\n\"George Willets and myself went over to see Clara (your housekeeper)\nyesterday. She is getting along tolerably well, but appears unwilling to\nremain much longer alone. She is evidently afraid--thinks the Spirits\nannoy her at nights. More than half of that is (of course) imagination.\nWhy not come home, and go again, _if you must_, westward? But here I am\nasking you questions and you do not answer them. Busied as you are, and\ntired as you must be, most of the time, it is too much of a task for you\nto write to me; and I don't know but George is right in saying, 'Leah\nhas found so many new loves that the winds blowing eastward come not\nfreighted with a thought of _us_.' Since the above was written an\nold friend from the country has called in to see me, and one of his\nquestions was, 'Well, do your views remain the same in regard to the\nrapping?' 'Yes,' I said, 'I have had no occasion or cause to change\nthem.' 'Why, Doctor Flint's statement has explained the whole thing,'\nhe said, and added, 'He writes very plausibly and conclusively on the\nsubject.' Now, this friend and relative of mine is a most excellent\nman, and I thoroughly appreciate him as a good member of society, an\nexcellent husband and father, and an honest man; but the light which\nillumes the pathway of his intellect is not set on a very high hill!\nLeah, I ought not to write to you, wouldn't if I could avoid it, and beg\npardon of propriety for thus making a virtue of necessity.\n\n\"Mine to you--not forgetting Maggie and Calvin.\n\n    \"Yours,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nEXTRACTS FROM D.\u00a0M. DEWEY'S HISTORY.\n\n  LETTERS FROM REV. CHARLES HAMMOND AND JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n\nBefore I proceed to our next field of operations, which was Ohio, I may\ntake the opportunity afforded by the interval to extract from a volume\nentitled, \"D.\u00a0M. Dewey's History of the Strange Sounds or Rappings Heard\nin Rochester and Western New York,\" two letters, by the Rev. C.\u00a0C.\nHammond, and our good friend, John E. Robinson, which will be found well\nworthy of perusal.\n\n\nLETTER FROM REV. CHARLES HAMMOND.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, February 22, 1850.\n\n\"MR. D.\u00a0M. DEWEY:\n\n\"DEAR SIR--In compliance with your solicitation, I will proceed to lay\nbefore you a brief statement of what has fallen under my observation, in\nregard to the 'mysterious sounds' and 'demonstrations' purporting to be\nmade by intelligent Spirits, who once inhabited an earthly tabernacle.\n\n\"In the early part of January last, in company with other persons, I\ngained an introduction to the family in this city in whose residence\nthese sounds had been heard. They received us politely, and seemed\nrather more cheerful than what I had supposed would be natural for\nthose who were hourly exchanging communications with the Spirits of the\nrevered dead. A company of twenty or more persons had assembled--the\n'three sisters' came into the room--the sounds were heard--and through\nthe medium of the alphabet, they, and about half of the company, were\ndirected to retire to another apartment. Our company in the absence of\nthe 'three sisters,' whose presence is generally deemed essential to\nthese Spiritual communications, were all seated closely around an\nordinary dining-table, when one of the ladies, bowing her head,\ninquired, 'Will the Spirit answer questions now?' No response being\nmade, I felt the disappointment of the lady, and was half inclined\nto smile at the ludicrous scene, when the searching glance of her\nsuspicious eye falling upon me, bade me maintain my usual gravity and\nrespect toward the company, and the occasion which had called us there.\nAfter several ineffectual attempts to get responses the sounds were\nheard, and the company generally were privileged with answers to their\nrespective interrogatories. I availed myself of the opportunity, but\ngained no other satisfaction than a prompt assurance that all my 'test\nquestions' should be answered when I should come there again. I went\naway sceptical, though unable to account for the 'sounds,' which caused\nthe floor occasionally to vibrate under my feet.\n\n\"On my next visit I was much more successful. During the interval I had\nprepared my mind with certain questions, touching events unknown to the\nfamily, and of a remote date. The sounds told me my age precisely,\nthough my appearance is such as to indicate a difference of eight or ten\nyears. The names of six of my nearest deceased relations were given me.\nI then inquired, 'Will the Spirit, who now makes these sounds, give me\nits name?' Five sounds directed me to the alphabet, which I repeated\nuntil the name of 'Charles' appeared, which answered to an infant child\nwhom we consigned to the grave in March, 1843. To my inquiries, it gave\nme a true answer in regard to the time it had been in the Spirit-land,\nand also the period since my eldest sister's death, which was nearly\neighteen years--the latter fact not being recollected then, I found\nit true by dates on my return home. Many other test questions were\ncorrectly answered; and yet, notwithstanding that the origin of these\nsounds seemed inexplicable, I was inclined to impute them to mesmerism\nor clairvoyance. However, as the Spirit promised to satisfy me by other\ndemonstrations when I came again, I patiently awaited the opportunity.\n\n\"On the third visit, I was selected from a half-dozen gentlemen, and\ndirected by these sounds to retire to another apartment, in company with\nthe 'three sisters' and their mother.\n\n\"It was about eight o'clock in the evening. A lighted candle was placed\non a large table, and we seated ourselves around it. I occupied one side\nof the table, the mother and youngest daughter the right, and two of the\nsisters the left, leaving the opposite side of the table vacant. On\ntaking our positions the sounds were heard, and continued to multiply,\nand became more violent, until every part of the room trembled with\ntheir demonstrations. They were unlike any I had heard before. Suddenly,\nas we were all resting on the table, I felt the side next to me move\nupward; I pressed upon it heavily, but soon it passed out of the reach\nof us all--full six feet from me, and at least four from the person\nnearest to it. I saw distinctly its position--not a thread could have\nconnected it with any of the company without my notice, for I had come\nto detect imposition, if it could be found. In this position we were\nsituated, when the question was asked, 'Will the Spirit move the table\nback where it was before?' And back it came, as though it were carried\non the head of some one, who had not suited his position to a perfect\nequipoise, the balance being sometimes in favor of one side and then\nthe other. But it regained its first position. In the mean time the\n'demonstrations' became louder and louder. The family commenced and sang\nthe 'Spirits' Song,' and several other pieces of sacred music, during\nwhich accurate time was marked on the table, causing it to vibrate; a\ntransparent hand, resembling a shadow, presented itself before my face;\nI felt fingers taking hold of a lock of hair on the left side of my\nhead, causing an inclination of several inches; then a cold, death-like\nhand was drawn designedly over my face; three gentle raps on my left\nknee; my right limb forcibly pulled, against strong resistance, under\nthe table; a violent shaking, as though two hands were applied to my\nshoulders; myself and chair uplifted and moved back a few inches, and\nseveral slaps, as with a hand, on the side of my head, which were\nrepeated on each one of the company, more rapidly than I could count.\n\n[Illustration: Ground Floor of Troup St. house. But note that the rear\nroom D is not on that level, but in that of the Second Story: there\nbeing under it a corresponding dining-room: while above A and C, and\nlevel with D, were bed rooms; and _h_ is the Stair connecting the two\nstories. A, Front Parlor. B, Hall. C, Bed-room. D, Sitting-Room (on\nfloor above). E, Bed-room. F, Stoop. G, Store-room (lighted from the\nroof). a, Table moved in presence of Dr. Hammond. b, Table moved, see\nlines. c, Stove. d, Large parlor stove. ee, Lounges. f, Bureau. g,\nPiano. h, Stairs to sitting-room D.]\n\n\"During these manifestations, a piece of pasteboard, nearly a foot\nsquare, was swung with such velocity before us as to throw a strong\ncurrent of air in our faces; a paper curtain attached to one of the\nwindows was rolled up and unrolled twice; a lounge immediately behind\nme was shaken violently; two small drawers in a bureau played back\nand forth with inconceivable rapidity; a sound, resembling a man\nsawing boards and planing them, was heard under the table; a common\nspinning-wheel seemed to be in motion, making a very natural buzz of the\nspindle; a reel articulated each knot wound upon it; while the sound of\na rocking cradle indicated maternal care for the infant's slumbers.\nThese were among many demonstrations which I witnessed that evening,\namid which I felt a perfect self-possession, and in no instance the\nslightest embarrassment, except a momentary chill when the cold hand was\napplied to my face, similar to a sensation I have realized when touching\na dead body.\n\n\"That any of the company could have performed these things, under the\ncircumstances in which we were situated, would require a greater stretch\nof credulity on my part, than it would to believe it was the work of\nSpirits. It could not, by any possibility, have been done by any of the\nparty of individuals present, nor even attempted, without detection.\nAnd I may add, that near the close of the demonstrations at this visit,\nthere was a vibration of the floor, as though several tons in weight had\nbeen uplifted and suddenly fallen again upon it. This caused everything\nin the room to shake most violently for several minutes, when the force\nwas withdrawn.\n\n\"I have also tested the intelligence of these Spirits in every way my\ningenuity could invent. On one occasion, I wrote a word on a slip of\npaper privately, placed it in my wallet, went there, and the sounds,\nthrough the alphabet, spelled that word correctly as I had written it.\nThat word was 'Sybil.'\n\n\"On the 20th of February, inst., the two youngest sisters made my family\na visit. Here the sounds were heard, questions involving subjects wholly\nunknown to them were answered, a large heavy dining-table was moved\nseveral times; and on expressing thanks at the table to the Giver of all\ngood, some six or eight sounds responded to every sentence I uttered, by\nmaking loud and distinct sounds in various parts of the room.\n\n    \"Yours truly,\n      \"C. HAMMOND.\"\n\n\nLETTER OF JOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n\"D.\u00a0M. DEWEY:\n\n\"SIR--As you have requested of me some recital of my acquaintance with\nthe phenomena known as the 'mysterious knockings' or 'rappings,' as the\npopular term is, the following is cheerfully placed at your disposal.\n\n\"My attention was first called to the subject, I think, by Mr. Isaac\nPost, in the month of October, 1848, at which time Mrs. Fish, with a\nyounger sister, was living on Prospect Street. I had previously heard\naccounts of something of the kind which was said to have occurred at\nHydesville, Wayne County, of this State, the former place of residence\nof Mr. John D. Fox and Mrs. Margaret Fox, now of Arcadia; but had\nconsidered it, as most others did, the mere offspring of excited\nimagination, or a trick made up perhaps for the purpose of harmless\ndeception. You may well suppose that I sought an introduction to the\nsingular mystery with no very credulous ear. I could not doubt the\nhonesty of my friend Post, and from the reports which he gave of his\nexperience thus far, I thought the contrivance must certainly be an\ningenious one and well worth one's while to unravel.\n\n\"I went in company with my friend John Kedzie. What transpired on the\noccasion of my first visit, I do not distinctly recollect. My curiosity,\nhowever, was only increased, and as an invitation was extended for\nfurther observation, I soon became more conversant with the mystery and\nthose whom it seemed more particularly to attend. I soon discovered that\nI must utterly doubt the truthfulness of my senses--which, by the way,\nare not deficient beyond those of others--or admit that there were\nsounds produced in my presence, in some manner utterly unaccountable.\nThey were considered to be produced by spiritual beings, but the bare\nfact that I heard noises and could not account for them, was no evidence\nto me that such was their origin. Some action of a (to me) hidden law of\nnature upon inert matter might do this; or it might, in some way, be\nthe effect of animal magnetism. I wanted to know if there was any\nintelligence connected with, and controlling, these manifestations. That\npoint reached, I desired to ascertain whether or not the signs of such\nintelligence could be imparted to me in such a manner, that I should\nknow it was out of the power of these individuals of flesh and blood to\ngive them.\n\n\"I had been informed that these manifestations, although partaking of\nthe same general features, did not claim to be the production of any one\nparticular Spirit or intelligence; but that numberless Spirits, those\nmost naturally drawn by affinity to present themselves in the presence\nof visitors, had and exercised this power.\n\n\"In accordance with the hint thus given, I asked the noisy but unseen\nconversationist if I could have the privilege of talking with my\nsister--then in the Spirit-world. An affirmative answer being given,\npretty soon a gentle rapping was heard, and on my asking if this was the\nsignification of her presence, the reply was, yes. I then asked a number\nof questions, referring to the time when we were together in years long\nsince past. The questions thus asked were answered promptly and\nintelligibly.\n\n\"Afterward the same gentle rapping was heard in the form of a call for\nthe alphabet (five quick successive raps). The letters were called, and\na sentence spelled out (unsuggested by any query), addressed to me and\ncommencing, 'Brother, do you remember,' etc. I have not the memoranda\nmade at the time and cannot recall the precise language of the\ncommunication; but the impression then made upon my mind was that it was\nexceedingly like my sister. They were _her thoughts_, clothed in the\nself-same drapery which she was accustomed to throw around them. She\nmentioned the disease of which her body died (consumption), and alluded\nto the protracted cough accompanying it. I asked if she was happy, and\nreceived an affirmative reply. She told me, in reply to my queries, that\nhuman Spirits after they leave this stage of existence enter upon a\nsphere in advance of the one they pass from; that they are the subjects\nof an universal law, that of progress, and occupy such sphere as the\nstate of their purity and advancement, at the time of death (so-called),\nprepares them for, and as various in its arrangements as are the classes\nof Spirits; that the 'many mansions in the Father's house,' are but the\nvaried spheres, suited to the wants and conditions of their occupants.\n\n\"Since the occasions above alluded to, and many times during the past\nyear, I have had opportunities of this kind. Very frequently when I\nhave been at the house of Mrs. Fish, the time and attention of these\nmanifestations have been engrossed by other visitors, and often, on\nsuch occasions, I have been exceedingly interested. In a multitude of\ninstances I have seen individuals there, entire strangers to the family,\nwhose questions have been answered by these invisible agencies with the\nutmost accuracy. I remember at one time while there, a gentleman and his\nwife called and begged an opportunity for a few moments. They were\nnon-residents of the city, and desired to leave town on the morrow. The\nrequest was granted. We all took seats around the table, and permission\nwas given the gentleman to ask questions. To the question 'How many\nchildren have I had?' the reply was, _one_. 'Is it living?' The question\nbeing reversed, the signal intimated to the father (what was the case)\nthat the child was in the Spirit-world. He asked the child's age at the\ntime of its death, and the length of time that had elapsed since its\ndeath, which queries were, as he said, correctly answered. He then asked\nif the Spirit of that child would be allowed to converse with him; an\naffirmative was given, and soon a roll of light sounds announced the\npresence of the little one. A signal for the alphabet was given, and the\nchildlike Spirit spelled out a communication to its earthly parent, the\neffect of which, upon the father, told but too plainly the reality of\nthe semblance. The mother then asked a few questions, such as 'Are you\nvery happy?' 'Are you often with me?' 'Must I cease to grieve that I\nhave lost you, and remember that you are permitted, although unseen, to\nbe with me still?'\n\n\"That mother left the room in tears; but they were not the outburst of\nsorrow. Gladness was in her heart (as she said) for the first time since\nshe laid her darling child--her first-born--down to sleep on the bosom\nof its mother earth.\n\n\"I might give you a variety of instances to which I have been a witness,\nwherein a remarkable perception has been evinced by these agencies; but\na statement of such things goes but a little way toward convincing a\nsceptic, or satisfying the mind of any one who has not the opportunity\nof observing for himself. The human mind admits with extreme reluctance\nthe truth of things which it has been trained to believe without the\nrange of possibility.\n\n\"I have thus given to you, as briefly as possible, what you have\nasked me for. My convictions are the result of patient and honest\ninvestigation, extending through a period of sixteen months. They are\nfixed--so far as the prime fact is concerned, that a communication\nexists between the inhabitants of 'this breathing world,' and a distinct\norder of intelligences invisible to the outward eye. If at any time\nI embrace an error, I would thank him who should point it out and\ndemonstrate the truth. But mere argument, however ingenious, can never\nmove my convictions on this subject. I have submitted everything to\nthe scrutiny of such powers as God has given to the highest nature I\npossess, and know no better guide to lead me; and any evidence which\nshall change my opinions must reach me through the same channels of the\nmind by which these convictions entered it.\n\n\"Perhaps it would not be out of place, in this connection, to state\n(what many are aware of) that the family to whom I have alluded as the\nones in whose presence these manifestations occur--although by no means\nthe only ones--have, in consequence of the circumstances, been subject\nof much misrepresentation, and, in some instances, of serious wrong.\nThis might have been expected at the hands of those who are ever ready\nto cast opprobrium on individual character if it chance to be allied in\nany way to what _to them_ is unaccountable, or cannot be made to serve\ntheir peculiar views and purposes. During my acquaintance with them I\nhave never discovered the least ground for the justice of such charges.\nI have known them intimately nearly a year and a half, and some of my\nfriends have been acquainted with them for many years. No one has ever\nsuggested to me the belief that any of the family had been guilty of any\ndeparture from moral rectitude. I have uniformly been treated by them\nwith courtesy and kindness; and they have, on all proper occasions,\nextended to me such facilities as were requisite to enable me to\nprosecute my inquiries. They make no ultra pretensions to what the world\ncalls piety, neither do they claim exemption from the venial faults\nwhich exist more or less in all their fellow-beings. Neither do they set\nup the false claim (which some exceedingly soft heads have imputed to\nthem) that they, as individuals, are inspired, or have a mission from\nthe Deity to this world. They are _merely_ the _passive media_ through\nwhom these communications are made to us, from the world of Spirits.\n\n\"Recognizing then, as I do--what to me is undeniable--that for some wise\npurpose, intelligences in another sphere of existence are permitted to\ncommunicate with us in this way, numberless questions have suggested\nthemselves to my mind.\n\n\"As nothing important ever takes place in the wide realm of the\nUniverse, _unconnected with a purpose_, what is the aim of this?\n\n\"I answer--as I did involuntarily, in the first stage of my\nexperience--to teach mankind that what they have been harboring as a\nshadow, but never known, is in truth a reality; that the interior man,\nthe sentient being\n\n      'That stirs within and animates the clay,'\n\nis immortal and never dies. This consideration, were there no others, is\nquite sufficient. But it is not to be supposed that we have yet been\nmade acquainted with all the bearings which it is to have upon us and\nour welfare. If these Spiritual beings are indeed what they purport to\nbe--human Spirits--our own kith and kin, who once walked with us on\nearth, and still sympathize with us; then, indeed, we may be immensely\nbenefited by what they may unfold to us. That they _are such_, I have no\npositive knowledge or evidence, and none sufficiently strong to warrant\nthe assertion. It is somewhat difficult to identify them, with our\npresent crude and limited knowledge. The best we can do, is to judge for\nourselves from the correspondences of things. If I converse with a\nSpirit, and its language--as addressed to me--corresponds closely with\nthe mind of that individual, as I knew it in this life--and particularly\nif it alluded to occurrences known only _to myself and it_--I have an\nanalogical evidence of its identity. On the other hand, if such Spirit\ngives me a communication, the sentiment and structure of which are\ntotally at variance with my perception of the individual thus\npersonated, I have the same kind of evidence (but no other) that the\nsaid Spirit has sought to deceive me.\n\n\"Thus you will perceive my impression to be that Spirits of various\ngrades of intelligence and moral dignity in the scale of being, are\nallowed the same power; and those persons who seek intercourse with _the\ngood_, need all the panoply of truth and sincerity to guard them from\ncontact with the opposite.\n\n\"This admission, however, is by no means condemnatory of the whole\nmatter. A Wisdom, exceeding man's, allows good and evil men to live in\nthis world; but it does not follow that, because I may occasionally\nchance to meet with one of the latter, I am to deny myself communication\nwith the former. We must do the best we can in our condition; act, as\nwell as we may, the part for which we are adapted by the attributes with\nwhich Deity hath endowed us. And if, in order to commune occasionally\nwith a bright being of the upper sphere, I am, at times, subjected to\nannoyance by one of a lower order (a devil, if you please), I can well\nafford it, and come off best in the _finale_. These unseen devils, after\nall the disrespect that has been shown them, if I have met them in\ncouncil, have evinced the possession of nothing _much_ worse than\nignorance.\n\n\"And here let me say, I am of the serious opinion that _all_ the devils\nof the universe are not _yet_ congregated in the Spirit-world. Many,\nalas! too many of them, are clothed with human forms, and move in our\nmidst, visible to the common eye. They are spirits of darkness, with a\nmoral depravity which would do no discredit to any locality ever dreamed\nof in a vision of hell itself. Their presence is confined to no one\nparticular class. They enter your Senate chamber even, sometimes, and\ndistract the councils of honest men.\n\n\"So will it be, in that strange economy which our dark vision seeks in\nvain to fathom, until man attains that higher stature, that more perfect\nbeing to which we must all hope he is ultimately destined.\n\n    \"Respectfully yours,\n      \"J.\u00a0E. ROBINSON.\n  \"ROCHESTER, March 6, 1850.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE OHIO CAMPAIGN.\n\n  RETURN TO ROCHESTER--ATTEMPTED BURGLARY--SUMMONS TO OHIO--\"REV.\"\n    C.\u00a0C. BURR--\"TOE-OLOGY\"--GOLD MEDALS AND JEWELLED WATCH--FIRST\n    PUBLIC SPEECH--COMMITTEE INVESTIGATIONS AS USUAL--CALVIN'S\n    ILLNESS, AND HENCEFORTH MRS. BROWN--FIRST SPIRITUAL CONVENTION.\n\n\nWe reached our home in Rochester late in the evening, and, as my\nhousekeeper was absent, we were alone in the Troup Street house that\nnight. The friends had kindly lighted and warmed the house, and were\nthere to receive us. After they left we immediately retired, and were\nsoon lost in sleep. I had not slept long, however, when I was awakened\nby a voice saying urgently in my ear, \"Get up and light your candle,\nquick!\" Supposing that Margaretta had spoken to me, I replied, \"What did\nyou say?\" but finding her fast asleep, I scratched a match, and had just\ntime to see the form of a man who had got the lower sash raised and half\nhis body into the room. He was, of course, a burglar, and doubtless\nexpected to find a booty in the money which the papers had reported us\nto have brought with us from Buffalo. My voice and the flash of light\nmade him start back so precipitately that he broke the window-sash while\nmaking his exit. The visit was never repeated. I may have mentioned that\nonce before, in my former house in Prospect Street, we had been awakened\nby a voice bidding us to \"Get up, the house is on fire.\" We found that\nthe wood-box behind the stove in the sitting-room was in flames, which\nwould soon have been communicated to the door, within a few inches of\nthe staircase, which was our only means of egress and safety.\n\nOn the morning after our return from Buffalo, to my great surprise,\nmother drove up to the door, having just arrived by the train from New\nYork. Her first words were, \"What is the matter? I have been so urgently\ndirected to come to you, that I feared something had happened, or was\ngoing to.\"\n\nShe and Katie had remained in New York, during the time of our stay in\nBuffalo, with the friends before named. I may here mention that Katie\nattended school, all the time she remained in New York, during the day\nhours, and sometimes united in the s\u00e9ances held by the friends in the\nevenings. Mr. Greeley often said, on the strength of her childish\nletters, \"Katie, I expect to see you develop into another Margaret\nFuller some day, if you will only give your attention to study.\"\nWe employed private teachers for the children, at the hours not\ncompulsorily absorbed by the public. I gladly stood the brunt of the\nlabors for their benefit in the matter of their education. (See Mr.\nRobinson's letter of March 12, 1851, p.\u00a0203.)\n\nAfter explanations, the upshot was that mother returned the same evening\nto rejoin Katie in New York, taking Margaretta with her. Soon after our\nreturn to Troup Street it became necessary, to my great regret, to leave\nthe house, as the property had to be sold for division among heirs; but\nI found a much larger and finer house on the corner of Troup and Sophia\nStreets. The fatigues of moving, following so soon upon the Buffalo\ninquisition, brought on a serious illness, from which I had scarcely\nrecovered when I received such insisting summons, by letters and\ntelegrams, from good friends in Cleveland, Ohio, that I was compelled to\nundertake the journey, which proved to be the beginning of what was\ncalled \"the Ohio campaign.\"\n\nSo did events arrange themselves, or so did other influences arrange\nthem, to compel us to widen more and more the fulfilment of the \"duty\"\nto \"go forth\" which had been imposed upon us. Among the telegrams from\nCleveland, received when I was on a sick bed, was this one: \"Mrs. Fish,\nwe want you to come immediately to Cleveland. It is vitally important.\"\nTo which Mr. Post replied, \"Mrs. Fish is not well, and we think it would\nbe dangerous for her to leave.\" Then came another, saying, \"Burr is\nhere, slandering you and all who believe in Spiritualism.\"\n\nStill, my friends insisted on my waiting until I was stronger, when\na letter came containing a partial explanation of the \"Rev.\" Burr's\nvillanous conduct toward me. He had slandered me so grossly that my\nfriends would not allow him to go unpunished. They had arrested him in\nmy name, and it was necessary for me to be there in person. I also\nreceived the following letters from a valued friend:\n\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, April 25, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"DEAR LADY--There are _many_ reasons why you should visit our city. One\nis, we are anxious to witness the Spirit manifestations, and another\nreason is, that the world-renowned _cheat_, C. Chauncy Burr, will soon\nbe here to expose the Rochester rappings and the mediums. I wonder if he\nwill succeed as well as Flint, Lee, and Coventry did in Buffalo! All\nthis and more, makes it desirable that you should come at once.\n\n    \"Very Respectfully,\n      \"M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\"\n\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, May 1, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND--Yours of the 28th inst. is at hand. We are glad (as you\nsee by the _Plaindealer_ which we have to-day sent you) that you have\nconcluded to come. You have many friends here who will make your visit\npleasant, and not disappoint your expectations. As regards Burr, his\ntongue is no slander where he is known. We have decided the Dunham House\n(for many reasons) is the best, as you can have a first floor parlor\nwith three rooms attached, and the house is as respectable as any in the\nplace, though perhaps not quite as large as the Weddell. You will be\nmuch better accommodated. The table is first-class. Telegraph the day\nyou will start so that we may know when to expect you, as every one\nfeels anxious to meet you.\n\n    \"With kind regards, yours truly,\n      \"M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\"\n\n\nAll this decided my course and I went. And as my mother and the two\ngirls, Margaretta and Cathy, were in New York, my married sister, Mrs.\nSmith, and her dear little boy Charlie, and Calvin Brown, accompanied\nme. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at Cleveland. A party of our\ntrue friends escorted us from the boat to the hotel, where they informed\nus they had arranged for a drive to a water-cure resort some ten or\ntwelve miles in the country.\n\nAs soon as we had breakfasted and prepared ourselves, we started on\nour excursion. There were several carriages, and I think not more than\ntwo persons in the company whom I had ever met before. Soon after\nour arrival, the ladies took us into a beautiful grove and carefully\nexplained to me the nature of the slanders the Rev. C.\u00a0C. Burr had\nreported against me.\n\nI think they were somewhat surprised at the indifference I manifested.\nAtrocious as his slanders had been, I could not work up my mind to deem\nthem worthy of my stooping to notice them. I said to them, \"If you\nladies had passed through one half the abuse I have, for the past\ntwo years or more, you would not wonder that I am personally quite\nindifferent to what all my enemies may say against me.\" However, it was\nwell that they had prosecuted Burr, as they put him under heavy bonds,\nand compelled him to keep the peace, and hold his slanderous tongue.\n\nMother and the girls returned to Rochester about three weeks after I\nleft for Cleveland. The children, Maggie and Cathy, were persuaded to go\nto Cincinnati with a lady friend of ours from Rochester, Mrs. Kedzie,\nwho had conceived the idea of a western tour of mediumistic exhibitions,\nand knowing that I was in Cleveland, they stopped at our hotel to see\nus. Maggie could not be persuaded to go further. Cathy, too, thought it\nwould be much more pleasant for her to remain with us at Cleveland,\nbut inasmuch as Mrs. K. had come with them, expecting to go on to\nCincinnati, I argued that having come with her, they should fulfil their\nengagement. Finally it was decided that sister Maria should accompany\nCathy, with her little boy and Mrs. K., to Cincinnati, and Maggie remain\nwith Calvin and myself.\n\nI found out that the girls had left greatly against mother's wishes,\nand I telegraphed her to come immediately to Cleveland, which she did.\nMrs. K. and my sisters remained in Cincinnati about three weeks, and\nstopped at Columbus, expecting to remain there some time; but when\nthey had been there about a week little Charley was taken very ill.\nHis life was despaired of for several days, during which time all\nbusiness was suspended, and Mrs. Kedzie returned to Rochester. My\nsister Maria's husband arrived about that time and found the child--as\nwas thought--hopelessly ill.\n\nI was greatly distressed, and my friends gathered around to condole with\nme. Every hour brought a despatch saying, \"Charley still lives.\" I could\ndo nothing but walk the floor and cry in my despair. I had been the\nmeans of bringing him from home, and I blamed myself, knowing the effect\nit would have on my brother-in-law and sister, if they should lose their\nonly child, after having already lost three dear little boys. In our\nprivate room we called on the Spirits to advise us what to do. They\ndirected us to telegraph at once to Columbus to \"bring him here\" (to\nCleveland). We followed their directions. They started immediately, and\nwhen they arrived the child seemed in a dying condition.\n\nI took him in charge, and _with the aid of Spirit advice_ soon found him\nconvalescing. As soon as he was able they returned home.\n\nFloods of letters summoned us to all parts of the State. I had even to\nhire other persons to help in the labor of answering them. Nor shall I\nnow undertake a narrative of our tour. As a general rule, so far as it\nwas possible, we followed in the tracks of our arch-enemy, the \"Rev. C.\nChauncy Burr;\" and it was often announced that when he should have\nconcluded his course of lectures, the Fox family would succeed him and\nafford the public the opportunity of judging for themselves. As the\nBuffalo doctors had gone in for their theory of knee-ology (with what\nsuccess the reader has seen), so the Burr theory may be called that of\n_toe_-ology; for he had conceived the brilliant idea of producing a sort\nof low raps, inside a _wide_ boot, by striking his great toe upon the\nsole, as any one may do upon the table by pressing and over-lapping\nthe middle finger by the index and suddenly releasing the latter. His\nbrother Heman was the one who thus operated, while he himself figured as\nthe lecturer. The head-waiter of the hotel at which Burr stopped, told\nme how his toes were inflamed and bloody from this exercise, and how\nmany a poultice he had had to supply him with. The difference was\nalways manifest between the mere underfoot uniform sounds, yielded by\nthis miserable trick, and the variety of the \"knockings\" on tables,\nfloors, doors, walls, and ceilings--now faint, now approaching the\nthunderous--to say nothing of the identification of the Spirits who were\nrapping to us, through the recognized significance and truth of their\ncommunications. Burr was at last almost hooted and pelted out of the\nState; and at the court-house of Painesville we were taken to see the\nmarks of the showers of shattered eggs and muddy pieces of turf which\nremained to attest the reception he had received the day before.\n\nOur progress was a course of triumph. I might fill a page with the names\nof the friends in all quarters of the State, including its best men and\nwomen, between whom and myself arose friendships which time will never\nobliterate from my heart. I will only name one who was to us in Ohio\nwhat Greeley was in New York, John W. Gray, the editor of _The\nPlaindealer_, and his wife, one of the loveliest and best of women.\n\nOut of the trunks and boxes of letters, whose contents are beyond my\npower to explore, I have taken a few, almost at random, with no time for\nselection, which are given below, and from which the reader may gather\nsome particulars of this period, which will in part supply the place of\na narrative of our experiences in this, which I have called our Ohio\ncampaign. But I must mention the interesting incidents of two gold\nmedals having been presented, the one to myself, in Cleveland, when I\nwas about to leave, the other to Maggie, at Cincinnati. To Katie was\npresented a beautiful jewelled watch and chain. I indulge myself in the\npleasure of showing mine to my readers. I am unable to show Maggie's\n(which was oval) because it has been unfortunately lost in a trunk that\nwas stolen. I say nothing of beautiful presents, in diamonds and other\njewelry, etc. from ladies and gentlemen, who often seemed to feel that\nthey could not do too much to show us their gratitude for the certain\nand realized _knowledge_, received through us, of the great truth that\nour loved and lost still live and love us, and that \"death\" is only a\nbrief separation of those soon to be reunited forever.\n\n  [Illustration: A\n  Tribute of Respect\n  _to\n  Mrs. Ann L Fish\n  from Friends in_\n  CLEVELAND\n  1851.]\n\nThe following letters accompanied my medal and Katie's watch and chain.\nThe substantially similar one accompanying Maggie's medal seems to have\nbeen lost.\n\n\n  \"CLEVELAND, July 1, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. A. LEAH FISH:\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND--We the undersigned present you with this emblem as a\nsincere token of our love and affection.\n\n\"You have been faithful and steadfast in all your duties. You have\nbeen instrumental in bringing us to a realization of the truth of\nImmortality.\n\n\"May you be blessed with health and crowned with victory, and triumph\nover your enemies, is the prayer of your united friends.\n\n    N.\u00a0E. CRITTENDEN,    M.\u00a0C. WRIGHT,\n    D.\u00a0A. EDDY,          S.\u00a0D. KELLY,\n    DR. BIGELOW,         ANTHONY M. REYNOLDS,\n    JOHN W. GRAY,        A. UNDERHILL,\n    R.\u00a0L. PAINE,         E. HINKLY, _Artist, and\n    DR. UNDERHILL,         Designer of the Medal_.\"\n\n\n    \"CINCINNATI, O., July 9, 1851.\n\n\"MISS CATHARINE FOX:\n\n\"The individuals whose names are hereunto attached, having faith in your\nintegrity, as a testimonial of their regard for you personally, and of\nthe gratification they have enjoyed through you as a Medium for\nSpiritual communications, desire you to accept the watch and chain which\nwill be presented to you by your friend, MR. E.\u00a0F. NORTON.\n\n    B. URNER,            JOHN D. PARK,\n    W.\u00a0T. COGGSHALL,     JAMES GOODIN,\n    CHARLES H. ERWIN,    DANIEL GANO,\n    S.\u00a0H. TITUS,         C.\u00a0J.\u00a0W. SMITH,\n    RALPH VALENTINE,     E.\u00a0F. NORTON,\n            AUGUSTUS WATTLES.\"\n\n\nI will mention one other incident in the course of our Ohio experience,\nas being the first occasion on which I was compelled, and mustered the\ncourage, to address a short speech to an audience. On an urgent\ninvitation we went to Painesville toward the last of May. We arrived\nthere late in the afternoon. We found many friends, in the parlor of the\nhotel, awaiting our arrival and prepared to escort us to the Court\nHouse, to see the condition in which Rev. C.\u00a0C. Burr had left it. Tufts\nof grass (it had been raining the previous night), bricks, broken eggs,\nsticks, and tin pans, with which the reverend gentleman had been\nsaluted, were strewn all over the Court House. We advertised through\nall the papers that, immediately after the Burrs had lectured and\nentertained the public with their toe-rapping expositions, the Fox\nfamily would be forthcoming to give them every opportunity of testing\nthe truth of the real Spirit rappings. We were expected, and everything\nwas done to make our visit there agreeable. The Court House was cleared\nof all the rubbish, and at precisely eight o'clock Calvin, Maggie, my\nsister Maria's little boy, Charley Smith, and myself entered the Court\nHouse with crowds of friends, amid shouts of \"Welcome to the Fox family\"\nresounding from every part of the room.\n\nLawyer Tiffany was there to address the audience, but he was not able\nto make himself heard, but stood and smiled at the demonstration. The\naudience, with one accord, called out, \"Take the platform!\" Calvin\naccompanied us, leaving little Charley with a lady friend, but he was\nfrightened and cried, \"Take me too.\" He was only two and a half years\nold. Judge Bissell carried the child in his arms, and placed him by my\nside. He looked up at me and said, \"Aunt Leah, will they hurt you?\" I\ntold him, \"No, dear, they are our friends.\" The rappings were distinctly\nheard all over the hall as soon as quiet was restored. The audience\nwould not be content until I spoke to them. My words were few. I thanked\nthem for their kindness, but tears of gratitude soon choked all further\nutterance. This was my first public speech.\n\nAt this point, Mr. Tiffany was allowed to proceed with his lecture,\nwhich was very satisfactory to the audience.\n\nWe had engaged to go a second time to Cincinnati, as there were many\nthere who had not had an opportunity of visiting Katy's rooms while she\nwas there in company with sister Maria and Mrs. Kedzie, about the 20th\nof July.\n\nThe cholera had broken out in the Burnett House, and we engaged rooms in\nthe Walnut Street House, where we remained during our stay in\nCincinnati.\n\nWe were frequently invited to visit our friends living in the vicinity\nof the city, and gladly accepted their kind invitations, as it afforded\nus rest, change of scene and atmosphere. We spent several days\ndelightfully at the house of Major Gano; and also made many visits at\nthe house of Mr. Longworth, the proprietor and owner of the great wine\nvaults of Cincinnati, well known to the public, and whose son-in-law,\nWilliam Flagg, and his wife, were interested in us. We submitted to the\nexamination of many committees in Cincinnati (and other places which we\nvisited in Ohio). We remained in that city until the latter part of\nAugust. The weather was extremely warm, and we were all prostrated with\nheat and fatigue, and we longed to return to our home and friends in\nRochester. About this time Calvin was suddenly attacked with hemorrhage\nof the lungs. Physicians pronounced his case hopeless. Mother and I took\ncare of him through that fearful night. The following morning he said to\nus--taking each one by the hand--\"Dear Mother and Leah, the only regret\nI feel is in leaving you, subject as you are to the persecutions of your\nenemies.\" Then fixing his eyes on me he said, \"You have been a dear\nsister to me. The best legacy I could leave you, as a protection when I\nam gone, is my name. If we were married now, your widowhood would be a\ngreat protection from the importunate intrusions to which you are so\nfrequently subjected.\" Mother wept over him as none but a mother could\nweep. She fully consented, and left us to decide as we both thought\nbest. We were married September 10, 1851, on what was supposed to be the\ndeath-bed of our beloved Calvin, and thus I became Mrs. Brown. Calvin\nrecovered, however, from that attack and lingered in tolerable comfort,\nuntil about six months previous to his death, in May, 1853.\n\nThe agitation of the subject of Spiritualism resulting from this our\n\"Ohio Campaign,\" of 1851, led to the first Spiritualist convention in\nthe world's history, so far as I know, which was called for and\nassembled at Cleveland in February, 1852, respecting which I find the\nfollowing letter from David A. Eddy, bearing date of the 28th of that\nmonth:\n\n\"I enclose to you to-day a Cleveland _Herald_ containing a report of\nour convention, the first of the kind ever known, and which may with\npropriety be called 'Spiritual Convention No. One.' It has had some\neffect in bringing the subject before the people, and calling out\ninvestigation. It has thrown the church into spasms. Everything in Ohio\nis going on as well as we could wish.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS LETTERS CONNECTED WITH THE OHIO CAMPAIGN.\n\n  N.\u00a0S. WHEELER--E.\u00a0S. BROWNFIELD--CHILLICOTHE COMMITTEE--CHARLES F.\n    WHIPPO--M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT--D.\u00a0A. EDDY--EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS--\"A\n    FAIR CHALLENGE FROM MRS. FISH\" AND SEQUEL--COLUMBUS COMMITTEE--D.\u00a0A.\n    EDDY--M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT--INTERESTING LETTER FROM DEAR AMY POST--ARTICLE\n    FROM THE CLEVELAND PLAINDEALER.\n\n\nN.\u00a0S. WHEELER.\n\n    \"PAINESVILLE, O., May 7, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"DEAR MADAM--Great excitement prevails in our quiet little village at\nthis time. Miss May Cronk has become quite a satisfactory medium. Her\ndevelopment is extraordinary. We think perhaps if you could spend about\ntwo weeks or ten days with us, your presence would afford us a fair\nopportunity to test the matter to our heart's content. I see by the\nbabble of the Cleveland papers that you are expected in that city soon;\nsome say that you are now there. Burr is drivelling out his dolorous\ntale to large audiences in Cleveland; but whether his cracking joints\nwill endure the torture much longer, has not yet been revealed. I hope\nfor your own happiness, as well as for the successful triumph that\nawaits you, you may preserve your equanimity and successfully resist all\ndistracting influences.\n\n\"We are all anxious to see you here. Come.\n\n    \"Truly yours,\n      \"N.\u00a0S. WHEELER.\"\n\n\n    NEWARK, O., May 19, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"Although a stranger to you, I take the liberty of addressing you on the\nsubject of Spirit manifestations; also to give you a pressing invitation\nto visit our town in behalf of a number of our citizens, as well as\nmyself, who are as firm as the rock of Gibraltar in the faith; although\na great many of us have not had the opportunity of witnessing the\nphenomena; and the probability is that many of us will not have the\nprivilege of doing so unless some of our friends, who are more favored\nthan we are, will visit our town and tarry with us a while.\n\n\"You could not but be pleased, as Newark is one of the most beautiful\ntowns in the interior of the State; and you will find the people very\npleasant and intelligent, if you can visit us. Please answer as soon as\nyou receive this.\n\n    \"Yours with respect,\n      \"E.\u00a0S. BROWNFIELD.\n\n\"P.\u00a0S. I am here authorized to use the names of our friends, some of\nwhom you will doubtless recollect; also others, for whose character and\nrespectability I have but to refer you to Dr. Bigelow, of Cleveland,\nwho is well acquainted with all, viz., Mrs. Boss, Mrs. Baker, Wm. Boss,\nThos. Holmes, Dr. Blair, John J. Mooney, Wm. Lyon, Wm. Cunningham, and\nLewis Evans, _who all join in_ pressing the invitation.--_E.\u00a0S.\u00a0B._\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nCHILLICOTHE COMMITTEE.\n\n    \"CHILLICOTHE, O., May 23, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR MADAM:\n\n\"You will notice by the enclosed proceedings, that the duty has devolved\non us, in behalf of the citizens of this place and vicinity, friendly\nto the investigation of the so-called \"Spiritual rappings\" and\n\"manifestations,\" to extend to you an invitation that we may be honored\nwith your company and have the benefit of your experience in the\ninvestigation of that which is to us a subject of the highest interest,\nand which we consider deserving the most patient and devoted attention.\n\n\"In addition to the performance of our official duty as a committee,\nwe request you to accept from us, individually, our warmest and most\nheartfelt congratulations, for the dignity you have preserved, and\nthe Christian forbearance and charity you have manifested toward your\nopponents, amid the many trying scenes you have encountered during the\nlast two years, while lending your aid to the investigation of truths of\na new and startling character.\n\n\"We are the more desirous that you should honor us with a visit, from\nhaving instituted some experiments ourselves, with partial success, the\nparticulars of which have been published from time to time, to encourage\nthe friends of the science to pursue the investigation for themselves.\nCircumstances, however, have not yet been sufficiently favorable to its\ndevelopment to enable us to gratify the public interest which it has\nnaturally excited; and consequently a visit from yourself at this\nparticular juncture would be particularly gratifying. We should be\npleased also to learn what mode of compensation would be the most\nagreeable to you as a remuneration for your services. Hoping to obtain\nfrom you a favorable reply, and a visit at some early day most\nconvenient to yourself, accept, madam, our assurances of esteem and\nfriendship.\n\n    \"JOHNSON LOFLAND,\n    JONATHAN MIESSE,\n    H.\u00a0M. PINTO,\n          _Committee_.\"\n\n\"To MRS. FISH, of Rochester, Cleveland, Ohio.\n\n\"A meeting of the citizens of Chillicothe and vicinity, friendly to the\ninvestigation of the phenomena known us 'Spirit rappings,' 'Spiritual\nmanifestations,' etc., which have claimed a considerable share of public\nattention in the United States during the last two years, was held in\nthe city of Chillicothe on May 23, 1851, at which Clement Pine was\nappointed chairman, and George Armstrong secretary.\n\n\"On motion it was resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to\nforward an invitation to Mrs. Fish, of Rochester, who, it is understood,\nis now in Cleveland, to visit our city, that the citizens may have the\nbenefit of her presence and experience in witnessing the so-called\n'Spiritual manifestations.' Johnson Lofland, H.\u00a0M. Pinto, and Jonathan\nMiesse, M.D., were appointed by the chair said committee.\n\n\"Resolved, that it shall be the duty of said committee, on receiving\nan answer from Mrs. Fish, to call another meeting, and make known her\nintentions in regard to the acceptance or non-acceptance of such\ninvitation, and in case we should be favored with a visit from Mrs.\nFish, to propose such measures for her reception as may be deemed\nnecessary.\n\n\"Resolved, that a copy of the proceedings of this meeting be made by the\nsecretary, and transmitted immediately, together with a letter of\ninvitation, to Mrs. Fish, by said committee.\n\n    \"CLEMENT PINE, _Chairman_,\n    GEORGE ARMSTRONG, _Secretary_.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe foregoing letter was sent to Massillon for other signatures of\nparties there alike interested.\n\n\n    \"MASSILLON, O., June 23, 1851.\n\n\"We earnestly hope that you will accept of this invitation, and thereby\ngive a few earnest inquirers after truth an opportunity to satisfy their\nminds upon a very important subject.\n\n    \"C.\u00a0D. SMITH,      J.\u00a0W. UNDERHILL,\n    D.\u00a0M. BRADSHAW,    F. KEITH,\n    S. HUNT,           J.\u00a0R. CECIL,\n    R. PARTRIDGE,      G.\u00a0W. WILLIAMS,\n    C.\u00a0H. RUSSELL,     S. HAUND,\n              S. RAWSON.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nCHARLES F. WHIPPO.\n\n    \"NEW CASTLE, Lawrence Co., Pa., June 9, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH: My object in writing this is to invite you, in behalf of\nmyself and many intelligent friends here, to stop, on your way to\nPittsburg, and spend a few days with us.\n\n\"I have heard of your trials and troubles at Buffalo and at Cleveland,\nand you have had my sympathy through all. I hope and trust you will be\nable to stand up under these persecutions, steadfastly and firmly.\n\n\"Remember that truth is mighty and will ultimately prevail. The Rev.\nRascal C.\u00a0C. Burr is on the wane, and he will learn, before all is over,\nthat 'honesty is the best policy.'\n\n    \"Very respectfully and truly yours,\n      \"CHARLES F. WHIPPO.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nM.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, August 23, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH: My dear friend, I promised to answer the article by Green,\nthrough which you were called on to enter the arena with Mr. Clark, for\nexamination, etc. I did so; but the Clark family came out boldly, and\noffered to make oath that they knew nothing of the source of the\n'manifestations;' that the article by Green was without their knowledge\nand very much against their wishes. We all thought best to suppress it\nfor the present. You can hardly imagine how much pleasure and happiness\n_we_ have realized when in your presence. That scene in the cemetery\ncan never die out from my memory. How can we ever forget those sweet\nmessages from our dear ones, whose affection for us has outlived their\nmortality?\n\n\"Oh, come with us again and permit us to listen to those good old raps\nthat first shook our scepticism and brought us to a realization of the\ntruth. That message in the grave-yard, saying, 'My dear son, weep no\nmore, the fault was mine. No longer bow your head in vain regret and\ngrief. I _bless_ you, be happy.' Then the messages from our dear\nchildren, bidding us to rejoice and weep no more, 'We are all happy in\nheaven;' and then, in answer to my mental questions they spelled, 'We\naccompanied you here--this is not our abiding place--we will return with\nyou and watch over you through the night, and communicate with you at\nhome.' The promises have all been fulfilled. We have the manifestations\nat our own house, and the Spirit of our father is our guardian-angel\nnow. My wife holds daily converse with him, and he tells us he 'is\nhappy. All is well.' This is not belief, it is knowledge. Your friends\nin Cleveland are all armed and equipped, ready to defend you now and\nforever. It is midnight; my dear wife and children are sleeping quietly,\nand those of the higher spheres are watching over them. The midnight\nwinds whistle fearfully around our dwelling, and as I write old Lake\nErie lashes her shores with a fury perfectly terrific. May the good\nSpirits of the wave watch over the mariner to-night and pilot him safely\ninto harbor. Our friend Gray has returned and wishes me to remember him\nto you. Mr. Tiffany has also returned. You must excuse him for not\ncalling on you, as his child was very ill, and passed away to its Spirit\nhome last Wednesday. He feels deeply interested in your welfare, and has\nattended to all the preliminaries in the slander case, so that you need\ngive yourself no uneasiness in the matter. Judge Bissell complains of\nyour not writing. Be sure and write to him immediately. He is your _true\nfriend_ and will see that _justice_ is done in your case. Judge Paine\nalso, do not forget to write to him.\n\n\"Now, Leah, _your true friends_ (I need not name them) are expecting you\nwill locate here some day, not far distant. We expect to see you in\nRochester soon. My love to your mother, sisters, and Calvin, with a\ngreat share for yourself, and believe me\n\n    \"_Truly yours ever_,\n      \"M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nD.\u00a0A. EDDY.\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, O., October 28, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. FISH:\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIEND--Your letter dated at Rochester, after you had partially\nrecovered from your severe illness, was duly received, and I answered at\nlength; but while waiting to get hold of the precious bluff missive that\nappeared in _The True Democrat_, to enclose to you, some time elapsed,\nand when I finally got it, I found you were sojourning in Troy, N.\u00a0Y.\nSo the letter was old, and I did not send it. I cannot find words to\nexpress how glad I am to hear that you have recovered and are able to\nvisit a place where I know you will have so many true friends; but we\nwill not own to any city that can produce more sincere friends than\nCleveland.\n\n\"I suppose that Mrs. Eddy has informed you of Mr. Crittenden's intention\nof making you a visit soon. Is it not possible for you to come here\nagain before close of navigation? If not, you may look for me there the\nfirst of January, or about that time. We want you to come to Cleveland.\nWe will select a house here where you will be happy and comfortable. We\npity those poor wretches who are ready to persecute those who are too\ngood to breathe the air of the same neighborhood where they reside.\nBut never mind, you know and we know there is truth in these new\nrevelations, and the good work is destined to lead men from darkness and\ndoubt, into the blessed light of truth and a hope which I despaired of\never obtaining.\n\n\"Your correspondence must necessarily be very large and quite a task.\nThe cause is gaining here daily, but we want you here again. Adieu for\nthe present.\n\n    \"Sincerely yours,\n      \"D.\u00a0A. EDDY.\n\n\"P.\u00a0S. We have all signed the bail bonds for costs in your suit with C.\nChauncy Burr. I presume Dr. Wright has advised you ere this. Burr is\nmuch troubled, but do not let anyone influence you to settle, on any\nconditions.\n\n    \"D.\u00a0A.\u00a0E.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nEXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS.\n\n\"We learn by a telegraphic despatch from Cleveland, that Mrs. Fish, the\ncelebrated 'medium,' will be here in a few days, when she will give\nour citizens an opportunity to hear the 'rappings' to their entire\nsatisfaction. It is a singular fact, that notwithstanding the slanders\nheaped upon this lady by those accomplished mountebanks, the Burrs, she\nfollows them up with a sharp stick, and meets them face to face. It is\nnot very manly or very dignified to slander a lady when she is not\npresent.\n\n\"The Burrs are still giving their exhibitions of toe-ology to very\nsmall audiences in this city. Those who have heretofore believed that\nthe rappings were all humbug, are now entirely convinced that they\nare not half so great a humbug as these itinerant, catch-penny\nlecturers.\"--_Pittsburg Post_.\n\n\n\"_A Literary Man in 'Trouble.'_--The Rev. C. Chauncy Burr, the man who\nmakes 'literature his profession,' has been prosecuted in Cleveland, O.,\nfor slander, by Mrs. Fish (of the Fox family), who has laid her damages\nat $10,000. He will now have the opportunity to prove his charge, which\nhe always contended could be easily proved. It will be an exciting\nsuit.\"--_Providence Mirror._\n\n\n\"_The Burr Burst._--The Burrs have lowered their colors, taken down all\nsail, and left Pittsburg, under a good, stiff, spanking breeze. Mr.\nCourtney, O.\u00a0S. Fowler (the phrenologist), Miss Sarah W. Taylor, S.\nParker, J. P. Glass, Milo A. Townsend, Rev. Mr. Williams, Dr. Ewing, and\nseveral of the most respectable citizens of Pittsburg (so says _The\nPost_) are after them with three columns of cards and sharp sticks,\npublished in the Pittsburg papers. 'What a terrible thing it is to be a\nterrible critter,' as Mrs. Partington would say.\"--_Cincinnati\nNonpareil._\n\n\n\"Mrs. Fish and her sister have returned from a short excursion into the\ncountry, and will be found at 'The Dunham,' for a few days more. They\nhave invitations from almost every city in the Union to visit them, but\nthey are very contented in the Forest City.\"--_Cleveland Herald._\n\n\n\"_The Spirits._--Miss Catharine Fox, the spirit medium, accompanied by\na married sister and a female friend, will remain a few days at the\nWalnut Street House, where they will be pleased to meet those who feel\ninterested in these manifestations, and who desire to investigate\nthe subject with candor. We were present last night, with a number\nof friends, at an interview with the ladies, when some of the\nmanifestations were produced by the customary rappings, which, to say\nthe least, did not appear to be produced by any physical effort of the\nmedium. Miss Catharine is a very interesting girl, and looks very far\nfrom being capable of carrying out any humbug whatever. We can do no\nless than request our readers to examine for themselves.\"--_Cincinnati\nNonpareil._\n\n\n\"_Personal._--Miss Catharine Fox, one of the original mediums of the\nRochester rappings, has arrived in Cincinnati, and is stopping at the\nWalnut Street House. The public will have an opportunity for a few days\nto judge for themselves in regard to things which have 'turned the world\nupside down.' As she professes to 'call Spirits from the vasty deep,'\nand Mr. Burr is here to knock them in the head as fast as they come,\nexciting times may be expected.\"--_Cincinnati Nonpareil._\n\n\n\"EDITOR OF THE PLAINDEALER:\n\n\"SIR--Cannot Mrs. Fish and the Misses Fox be prevailed on to make us a\nvisit? The fact is, Gray, we Michiganders are wofully benighted upon\nSpiritual subjects. Everything pertaining to 'the world, the flesh,\nand the devil' we understand perfectly; but when it comes to getting\ncommunications from the other world direct, and seeing with our eyes, we\n'knock under.' Our press, too, is anything but free upon these subjects,\ngiving only one side, and concluding with the small bill of _The\nHerald_, that there are _no more_ things in Heaven and earth than are\ndreamed of in their philosophy.\"--_Detroit Correspondent._\n\n\nFROM THE CINCINNATI NONPAREIL.\n\n\"_A Fair Challenge by Mrs. Fish._--It appears that the most sceptical in\nCincinnati, even the editor of _The Daily Times_, have to concede that\ntoe and knee joints have nothing to do with Spirit rappings. It has\nbecome a settled fact that Burr's and the Buffalo doctors' theories are\nthe silliest humbug theories of the day. But the editor of _The Times_,\nin a spirit of malicious infidelity, accuses Mrs. Fish and her young\nsisters, Margaretta and Cathy, with having concealed about their persons\nsome sort of intelligent machinery, which makes the raps and answers\nquestions, whether mentally or orally put. The editor deserves a leather\nmedal for so sage a conclusion, and should have one, had not the great\ndemand for them among Burr's followers and the Buffalo boobies exhausted\nthe stock of those ornaments and cleaned the market of supply.\n\n\"To silence this pretension, Mrs. Fish published the following challenge\nin the Cincinnati papers:\n\n\n\"'A CARD TO THE PUBLIC.\n\n\"'With my sisters, Margaretta and Cathy Fox, I will remain at the Walnut\nStreet House a few days, where we shall be happy to wait upon all those\nwho wish to satisfy themselves as to the truth or falsity of Spirit\nrappings. The editor of _The Times_ generously acquits us of all joint\nsnapping, and I think we can very easily dispose of his explanation. If\nthere be even a shadow of suspicion still lurking in any mind that the\nsounds are made by mechanical contrivances of any character, we are\nwilling at any moment to meet a committee of ladies, to whom we will\ngive all fair opportunity of satisfaction. We only ask that the\ncommittee shall consist of ladies whose testimony will have weight with\nthe public.\n\n    \"'ANN L. FISH.'\n\n\n\"This same question was raised in New York when the mediums were there,\nand by a coterie of ladies and gentlemen of the very first families. One\nof the wealthiest merchants went so far as to pledge a large sum of\nmoney, that 'take the mediums unawares' (_i.e._, not dressed for the\noccasion), 'and they could not induce the raps.' Others, equally\nuncharitable and unbelieving, coincided with him, and they demanded a\ncommittee of investigation forthwith. They took the mediums into a room,\nbolted the door, and erected a platform of tables, on which they were\ncompelled to stand. Here, piece by piece, they were disrobed by the\ncommittee, and every article of wearing apparel examined and laid aside.\nNot a rap had been heard during the whole time, and the girls, to use\ntheir own language, 'feared the Spirits, as well as their friends on\nearth, had deserted them.' After everything was completed and order\nrestored in the room, Mrs. Fish, in a trembling but determined voice\nsaid, 'Spirits, if ever you manifest yourselves to us again, do it now!'\n\n\"The raps came, instanter, like hail-stones, on every part of the stage.\nThe mediums were overcome with joy, and every eye in the room glistened\nwith tears of sympathy for the sisters. There was, without, a large\nnumber of gentlemen and others waiting to hear the report of the\ncommittee; and when these facts were made known to them by their wives\nand others on the committee, and in tears, too, they with one accord\nrepented of their unbelief and cruelty. These facts were published by\nthe said committee in the New York papers, and created a profound\nsensation. But it seems the Cincinnati editor has forgotten this and a\nthousand other degrading tests, instituted by a wilful ignorance, which\nthese ladies have since submitted to rather than lose what is of\ninfinite value to them, their own good name.\n\n\"Will this valiant man dare accept this challenge from a woman, and his\nwife be one of the committee to report to him that 'he is a fool'? We\nshall see.\"\n\n\nCommittees of citizens, from various places in Ohio, were constantly\ncoming to us; and every day brought requests to visit them. But we could\nonly attend to a few of the larger places.\n\nTo show how widely Spiritualism has spread, and how anxious people were\nto have the proof of it, I give a few of the many letters of this kind\nwe have preserved.\n\n\nCOLUMBUS COMMITTEE.\n\n    \"COLUMBUS, O., May 22, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. ANN L. FISH:\n\n\"MADAM--The undersigned, residents of this city, in common with many\nothers of their fellow-citizens, feeling a deep and abiding interest in\nthe great subject of Spiritual and immortal existence, anxiously desire\nto witness, and investigate for themselves, the Spiritual manifestations\nsaid to have been recently made in various parts of the country, and\nespecially the phenomena connected with yourself and your two sisters,\nrespectfully and cordially invite you, if consistent with your other\nduties and engagements, to visit our city at your earliest convenience.\n\n    \"LEONARD HUMPHREY,    F. GALE,\n    WILLIAM BURDELL,      PHILIP REED,\n    J.\u00a0H. WADE,           JOHN FOWLER,\n    N. UPTON,             JOHN J. JANNEY,\n    J.\u00a0H. COULTER,        JESSE MORRIS,\n              T.\u00a0S. BUTTOLPH.\"\n\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, O., August 27, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR MRS. FISH:\n\n\"I snatch a moment in the hurry to say we are all well, including the\nbaby. She has got over her cough entirely, and is more interesting, if\npossible, than ever.\n\n\"Spiritual manifestations are gaining rapidly.\n\n\"I was in Buffalo last week: saw Messrs. C.\u00a0C. Bristol, Dudley, Albro,\nand Hayes. They are all writing mediums, and the things they write are\ntruly astonishing. Their hands are moved without any effort, and the\nevidence of its being the work of Spirits is beyond the least flickering\nof doubt. They all inquired (very interestedly) after you, regretting\nthey could not have seen you on your return. Will you be likely to come\nthis way again this fall? We sincerely hope you will find it possible to\ndo so. Do drop us a line. How have you found things on arrival at home?\nMrs. E. joins me in love to you. We remain truly your friends.\n\n    \"D.\u00a0A. EDDY.\"\n\n\nM.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, September 8, 1851.\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIEND:\n\n\"We received yours of the 11th, and were thankful for it. You doubtless\nknow what is going on here, as Mr. Gray tells me he sends you the\n_Plaindealer_. Spirits told us the truth about the Clark family, etc.\nYou will see my article signed 'A Friend of Truth,' which heads him off\nentirely and puts a stop to any further designs against Spiritual\nmatters. I have another article ready; if necessary, I shall publish it.\nBurr is in hot water; one of his attorneys called on me a few days\nsince, and tried to settle the matter and get it out of court, but your\nfriends here turn a deaf ear to all his propositions. He called on me\nagain yesterday, and asked me on what conditions I thought you would\nsettle with him. (He not knowing that you had nothing to do with the\nprosecution.) I told him it could not be accomplished short of his\nacknowledging in every paper of the Union that he was a liar, a\nblackguard and a villain, paying the costs of the court, and giving you\nmoney enough to purchase a place in this city; and I did not know as\n_that_ would do it. He is badly frightened. Everything has been properly\nattended to, and we have no fears of the result. Bail has been given for\ncosts and everything is right.\n\n\"Now, my dear friend, do not allow anyone to influence you to\ndiscontinue this suit. Burr deserves to be punished to the fullest\nextent of the law, and for your own sake, for the sake of your friends,\nand for the sake of the cause in which we are engaged, permit it to go\nthrough.\n\n\"Your visit here, though not a golden one, will, I doubt not, be the\nmost important event in your whole life. The trial will not come off in\nthe October term, but will quite likely the next. We must all 'keep\ncool.' Now, Leah, make up your mind to settle in Cleveland, where you\nhave so many good friends, whom you know you can trust. We intend to\nvisit you before navigation closes, if possible.\n\n\"Remember me to Calvin, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, your mother, Maggie and\nKatie, dear little Charlie, and may _good_ Spirits aid you in every\nemergency, direct you aright in all things, so that when called to\nexchange worlds, your earth life shall close like flowers at setting\nsun. So may we all live and die. My wife unites in love to you.\n\n    \"Ever yours truly,\n      \"M.\u00a0L. WRIGHT.\"\n\n\nINTERESTING LETTER FROM MRS. AMY POST.\n\nThe letter written by a venerable Quaker lady, who has for years been a\nneighbor and intimate friend of Mrs. Fish and the Fox family, speaks a\nlanguage so plain that we have requested the privilege of publishing it,\nthough not so intended by the author.--_Cleveland Plaindealer._\n\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, June, 1851.\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIEND, A. LEAH FISH:\n\n\"I have often thought of thee and thy company since you left your\nbeautiful home for an Ohio city, and have been much delighted to hear\nyou have found friends who can appreciate the value and importance of\nthis wonderful development to mankind. When I think of the very happy\nchange it has made in my views and feelings, regarding the present as\nwell as the future life, I feel anxious that all the world should become\nacquainted with it. It is a wealth I had despaired of ever obtaining--to\nbe convinced that we have commenced to live a life which will never\nend--a life whose joys, too, are enhanced by our practices of goodness.\nI have always admired the doctrine and wished to believe it, viz.,\n'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,\nye have,' etc.; and also, 'In my father's house there are many\nmansions;' but the belief I had on this point was always accompanied\nwith a desire for more _positive proof_ of immortality. For some time\nbefore your family made me acquainted with this blessed Spirit-rapping\ndispensation, I had become more settled in the belief, and unreasonable\nbut popular doctrine of there being no half-way house; but we must\neither go to Heaven or to Hell. But what am I writing this to thee for?\nThee knows how happy I have been made, and how thankful I have been\nthat you all have been willing to bear persecutions and revilings,\nself-denial and provocations, for the sake of the _Truth_, and clearing\nyourselves from the imputations of deception. Oh! could strangers only\nknow as I have known the trials you have endured and the sacrifices\nyou made the first two years, they could not be made to believe it an\ninvention of your own, nor pursued for mercenary purposes. Thy mother\nhas been so troubled and unhappy away from you all that I could not feel\nsurprised at her accepting thy very kind invitation to come to you.\nThe feelings of a mother are tenderly alive to the interests of her\nchildren. I know truly, therefore, I was very glad, for your as well as\nher sake, to have your own mother with you, as you have never before\nbeen without her guardian protection.\n\n\"Please give my loving regards to Margaretta and Calvin, and do all the\ngood you can. Believe me to be thy sincere and affectionate friend,\n\n    \"AMY POST.\"\n\n\nDOINGS AT THE DUNHAM--THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALISM AS RAPPED OUT BY\nDR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.\n\n(_From the Cleveland Plaindealer._)\n\n\"So engrossed are we in worldly affairs, that we have but little time to\ninvestigate Spiritual matters, although opportunities present themselves\ntwice a day at the Dunham House. There are, however, a few gentlemen of\nleisure who are taking up this subject systematically, and looking into\nits mysteries earnestly. Some dozen of the most intellectual minds\nin the city have formed a league to jointly, candidly, and honestly\ninvestigate this phenomenon, have already had two sittings, and report\n'progress.' We have been kindly invited by this circle to attend\nwhenever our convenience would admit, knowing that we had the moral\ncourage to publish what we saw and heard, without stopping to inquire\nwhether anything similar had been published fifty years before, or\nwithout consulting the masculine grannies of the day, whether it met\ntheir approval or not. By such invitation we attended a little while\nlast evening, and found the company had progressed so far as to\ndiscard all tests of the _medium_, of the _Spirituality_ of the\n_communications_, and were actually (as they believed) taking lessons in\nphilosophy from the ancient masters. After sitting a while, and hearing\na great variety of rapping sounds, there was a loud knocker appeared\nwhich was simultaneously recognized, by several who had heard it before,\nas the signal of Benjamin Franklin. He was a long time questioned\nconcerning Spiritual matters, sometimes answering by raps, and sometimes\nusing the alphabet. It was in substance as follows:\n\n\"Spirit is the great positive of all existence, and matter the great\nnegative. There is an elemental difference between Matter and Spirit.\nElectricity and magnetism are always connected with matter, and belong\nto it. The dividing link between matter and mind is between magnetism\nand vitality.\n\n\"There are different degrees of refinement in the electrical and\nmagnetic media. Chemical affinities are electrical and magnetic.\nCohesion and gravitation also depend on similar principles.\n\n\"The time has not yet come when the true philosophy may be explained,\nbut will soon. Investigation and experience will hasten it on.\n\n\"Repulsion in nature is caused by stronger attraction. The ascension of\na balloon from the earth is a fair illustration of the principle of\nrepulsion. Everything in the universe takes its appropriate place by\nvirtue of its elemental affinities, and can occupy no other place,\nwithout changing the relations of itself and every other body in\nexistence. The earth, as also every other heavenly body, is caused to\nmove in its appropriate orbit by the united action of every other body\nin existence, and cannot be made to come in contact with other bodies;\nfor the combining influences of all the separate bodies mark out\nseparate paths for each. Thought is mental motion, and is conveyed from\none mind to another through an intermediate medium, which is put in\nmotion by this mental action. This medium, in its refinement lies\nbetween the nervous medium and Spirit, and exists in every degree of\nrefinement from the nervous fluid to Spirit.\n\n\"Clairvoyance consists in insulating the mind of the subject, and in\nproportion as the mind is brought into clear contact with higher\nrefinements of this medium, will the subject become clear-sighted.\nBiology, as used by Burr and others, is an improper term. Psychology\nwould be a better word. The word Biology was used to make the subject a\nhumbug. The phenomena attending Psychological (Biological) experiments,\nbelong to the lower class of mesmeric influences--and pass from them\nthrough every degree, to perfect clear-sightedness.\n\n\"Much further information was given which we failed to note. As the\ndoctor promised to meet the circle again, we hope to report a more\ncomplete theory. After which the circle drew up close to the table, and\nvarious rapping sounds were heard upon the chairs, the table, the floor,\netc. The sound of sawing boards, driving nails into a box or something\nhollow, was repeated several times.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nNEW YORK CITY, FROM JANUARY, 1852.\n\n  COMPETING CLAIMS UPON US--DECISION IN FAVOR OF NEW YORK AS\n    RESIDENCE--DEATH OF CALVIN R. BROWN--REMAINS REMOVED TO ROCHESTER\n    FOR BURIAL--PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS--ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY--COURSE\n    OF TEST EXPERIMENTS AT DR. GRAY'S--THE MONDAY EVENING CIRCLE--RULES\n    OF S\u00c9ANCES.\n\n\nI have sketched our experiences thus far at Rochester, Albany, Troy, New\nYork, Buffalo, and Ohio generally; after which I returned to Albany and\nTroy, a second time, by the earnest entreaty of friends--taking Glens\nFalls on the way, where I remained with my uncle John and Calvin; my\nmother and the girls being at that time in Cincinnati for the second\ntime.\n\nA fortnight after this I returned to my pleasant home in Rochester\n(corner of Troup and Sophia Streets). I now considered that we were\nfairly entitled to repose; and thought that, after the publicity given\nto the Spirit manifestations, through the press, and the thousands of\nour visitors, including persons from all parts of the Union, the _duty_\nimposed on us had been reasonably and, as I deemed, sufficiently\ndischarged.\n\nBut it soon became evident that isolation had now become impossible.\nInvitations and appeals of the most urgent character rained upon me from\nimportant individuals, and from collective bodies of prominent men in\nthe respective cities and towns.\n\nThe Spirits, who had sent us forth, had well understood that, after\nour hands had thus been \"put to the plough,\" it would be beyond our\npossibility to \"look back.\" Many friends to the new cause urged their\nadvice that we should establish ourselves in one of the great centres of\npopulation and movement, where the thousands and tens of thousands of\nour locomotive people could conveniently come and hear for themselves.\nNew York was naturally indicated for this purpose, but Cleveland and\nCincinnati disputed her claim; while our friends in Rochester insisted\nthat their city was the most appropriate and natural home and centre for\nthe \"Rochester Knockings.\"\n\nAt last our Ohio friends, and indeed all others, concurred in the\nselection of New York, as a duty and for the good of humanity; while\nstill hoping for occasional excursions for the benefit of other places.\n\nAt Rochester, by way of keeping up a continued hold upon us, they\noffered to provide for the payment of the rent of my house, in the hope\nthat I would eventually return to it. But this I could not accept.\n\nShall I ever forget that day of our departure from Rochester? Our\nfriends crowded the depot, and the parting embraces and hand-grasps\ncontinued even after the train had started in its first slow movements.\nNo small number of our friends made their adieux in tears and blessings:\nwhile, for my part, I remember that I did nothing but cry all the way to\nSyracuse. This was in the early days of January, 1852.\n\nAfter a few days of stay with friends and relations--(for we were an old\nKnickerbocker family, and it was in my early childhood that grandfather\nhad transplanted us to Wayne County, which was to us then almost the\nfar West, with its deserted wigwams and wandering Indian hunters)--we\nsettled for a short time in a house temporarily taken, till the one\nfound for me by a good friend, Mr. Sweet, should be ready. I established\nmyself in West 26th Street, in a large and handsome brown stone front,\nin a neighborhood then of first-rate excellence, in which I resided for\ntwo years. From that house I removed to 15th Street, next door to Irving\nPlace; from which, after a residence of a year, I removed, by advice\nof my friends, to No. 1 Ludlow Place, which I left only to go to my\nhusband's home in West 37th Street, on my marriage, in 1858, which epoch\nwas also the close of my career of public mediumship. Twenty-six years\nhave now elapsed from that most blessed of days to this. Our home has\nbeen indeed a happy one. Though I have lost children, it has never been\nthat which Victor Hugo had not the heart to wish for his worst enemy, a\nhouse without a child. Indeed, it has usually been full of them. I am\nstill \"mother,\" and my husband \"father,\" to a well-beloved little\ncrowd who are the same to us as our very own, and by whom I am\nindiscriminately called \"Aunt Leah\" and \"Ma.\" And what with relatives,\nand friends on visits, and nephews and nieces of whose education we have\ntaken charge, for the better advantages of New York, it has been one\npretty full of visible inmates, as well as those who are not the less\nreal because invisible. And these latter are ever ready to respond, with\nthe dear familiar raps and alphabet, to our desire to communicate with\nthem; to say nothing of occasional manifestations in other ways, of\ntheir presence with us. An earnest thought or request rarely fails to\nbring our unseen ones.\n\n\nDuring two years from the date of my marriage with Calvin R. Brown (see\npage 230), he had been slowly declining. He breathed the last breath of\nhis blameless life on the 4th of May, 1853, while I was still residing\nin 26th Street. He had attained the age of nearly twenty-nine years.\nProfessor S.\u00a0B. Brittan preached the funeral sermon in New York on the\n6th day of May, at 8 o'clock P.M. A large concourse of personal friends\nand friends of the cause of Spiritualism attended. After Professor\nBrittan had concluded his discourse, Judge Edmonds delivered a short\neulogy which purported to come from the Spirit world. Dr. Gray came in\nrather late, as he had been detained by professional duties, and begged\nthe indulgence of the audience, as he felt it alike a pleasure and a\nduty he owed to the departed, to pay a small tribute to his memory,\nand of condolence to the bereft family. He then said, \"I have been\nhis attendant physician, and conversed with him daily during his slow\ndecline. He suffered much at times, but never complained. He always met\nme with a smile. He had no fear of death, still he wanted to live. He\nwas firm, truthful, and honorable in every sense. He was a husband, a\nson, and a brother--and a linch-pin in the cause of Spiritualism. Honor\nto whom honor is due.\"\n\nDuring the delivery of the speeches, rappings were heard all over the\nroom, in response.\n\nI regret that the paper, giving a minute account of the funeral, has\nbeen lost. Arrangements were made by the friends, Judge Edmonds, Dr.\nGray, and Mr. Partridge, to procure a church in Rochester, and announce\nthrough the papers that the funeral would be held on the 8th of May.\nThese parties telegraphed a message to Isaac Post, of that city, to the\nabove effect, who immediately returned the answer, \"Bring on your dead.\nMy house is at your service.\" We started on the following morning with\nhis remains. Our party consisted of mother, Maggie, Cathy, Lizzie (my\ndaughter), and myself. They engaged the undertaker to go with us to\nattend to the burying of our dead. We arrived in Rochester at seven\no'clock P.M., and found the hearse and carriages at the depot waiting to\ntake us to Mr. Post's house, where already had assembled a large company\nof friends who deeply sympathized with us.\n\nThe funeral was appointed at ten o'clock A.M. of the 8th. Rev. Chas.\nHammond delivered the funeral sermon. The remains were taken to Mount\nHope Cemetery; from whence we returned to Isaac Post's, where we tarried\nover night. We engaged a travelling coach early the next morning, and\nstarted for Newark, thirty miles east of Rochester. We arrived at my\nbrother David's about three o'clock P.M. The children all met us at the\nturn of the lane: all were delighted to see us. We took them in the\ncarriage with us; little Georgie, who was about seven years of age, was\nwonderfully struck with the appearance of our deep mourning, and said,\n\"Grandma, what makes you all dress so black? Did anybody die?\" Mother\nreplied, \"Yes, dear, your uncle Calvin died.\" He replied, \"Oh dear,\nthat's too bad.\" After dinner we all went to sister Maria's, a distance\nof one mile, taking the children with us. When David and his family went\nhome, little Georgie wanted to stay with us, which he did, and played\nwith little Charlie Smith until bed-time--when they retired and\napparently slept well all night. The next morning Georgie felt sick. My\nbrother Stephen harnessed up his horses, and we took him home. They went\nfor the doctor immediately, but he died before twelve o'clock that day.\nHis funeral was on the 12th day of the month. Two Methodist ministers\nofficiated.\n\nIt was a singular coincidence that two Universalist and two Methodist\nministers selected the same Bible text, the same funeral hymns, and the\nsame tunes, at the services in New York, Rochester, and Newark. In my\naffliction I had not noticed this until mother spoke of it, and said it\nwas evident that the same guardian influences had controlled on all\nthese three occasions, distinct as they were in time, place, and\ncircumstances. It was probably meant that we should recognize and feel\nthe presence of the unseen friends, who thus signified their sympathy\nwith us in our grief.\n\nLizzie, Katie, and myself started for New York on the morning of the\n13th, leaving mother and Maggie with David and Elizabeth, who had\nsuffered such a sudden bereavement.\n\n\nI abstain from speaking of the private friendships which grew out of so\nmuch opportunity for acquaintance and intercourse with so many out of\nthe best classes of New York society (in the true sense of the word). I\nam proud as well as happy to have enjoyed such high and precious and\nennobling friendships, many of which are not wholly severed even by that\ndeath which only makes our friends invisible for a time to our mortal\neyes, since a thought, a wish can still bring to me those signal sounds\nwhich are as their voices. I will indulge myself here only with a page\nor two about two semi-angelic women, Alice and Phoebe Cary, who have now\nrisen into the completeness of their angelhood.\n\nALICE and PHOEBE CARY were among my truest, best, and dearest friends.\nI was introduced to them by Mr. Greeley when we first came to New York,\nand our friendship continued during their life. We passed many pleasant\nevenings with the sisters and a few select friends.\n\nThe last time I saw Phoebe, we met in Arnold's store, the day before we\nsailed for Europe. She came and sat down beside me, and laid her hand\ngently on mine before I saw her. I was delighted to see her, but was\nstartled by her changed appearance. I rallied her a little, and tried to\ncheer her. She smiled faintly, but not as she was wont to do. Phoebe\nhad made a confidante of me some time before. She called on me late one\nafternoon, and sent up word to me to come at once, as she could remain\nbut a short time.\n\nIt was an unexpected call, at that hour, and I hastened to see her as\nsoon as possible. She said, \"I could not rest without seeing you. Sit\ndown. I want to talk with you.\" I inquired about Alice's health, as\nusual, and she said, \"Alice will never be any better. What shall I do\nwhen she leaves me? I cannot live without her.\"\n\nHer dark expressive eyes spoke more than her words. I tried to console\nher, but I did not know the nature of the incurable disease that was\nslowly but surely wearing Alice's life away. She remained some time, and\nwhen leaving me at the door her eyes filled with tears.\n\nMr. Robert Cary (their father), and his elder daughter, from Cincinnati,\nalways visited us when they were in New York, and they both related many\ninteresting occurrences which they had witnessed in their own family. I\nwill here relate their \"Ghost Story,\" as they told it to me.\n\n\"There had been a thunder-storm, and the pouring rain had driven all\ninto the house. Our new house was finished, but we had not yet moved\ninto it. This new house stood opposite the old one. The rain was over,\nand the sun was shining brightly when our mother called out, and asked,\n'How it came that Rhoda and Lucy were in the new house?'\n\n\"The door of the new house was open, and there stood Rhoda, in plain\nsight, holding Lucy in her arms. The whole family came to the door, and\nall saw the same. They called 'Rhoda!' but received no answer. They\nsupposed Rhoda had gone with Lucy into the house to escape the rain;\nwhen at this moment Rhoda came down-stairs where she had left Lucy\nasleep. She, too, saw what we had seen--the apparition of her own\n'wraith' with that of Lucy in her arms.\n\n\"All felt solemnly impressed, and believed it to be a warning of\nsomething sorrowful. They went over immediately, and examined every part\nof the house, but not a trace of any human being was discernible. Rhoda\ndied within a year, and Lucy a month later. They frequently saw Spirits\ndistinctly.\"\n\n(For further particulars of these events see a \"Memorial of Alice and\nPhoebe Cary,\" by Mary Clemmer.)\n\nPhoebe possessed ready wit. She attended our first reception (soon after\nmy marriage to Mr. Underhill), after we had moved into our new house.\nWhen she met me at the parlor door, she whispered in my ear, \"My feet\nare quite wet; I forgot my india rubbers.\" It had rained hard that\nafternoon. I told her she could find a change up-stairs in my room; and\nsent one of my girls to wait upon her. When she came down into the\nparlor, she said to me, aside, \"I little thought I should stand in your\nshoes so soon.\"\n\nThese sisters were devoted Spiritualists, but knowing how often I was\nimportuned by believers and curious people, they would sometimes\nspecify, in their notes of invitation, that they wanted me \"socially,\nnot Spiritually.\" I subjoin to this chapter facsimiles of two of Alice's\nprecious little missives, which I preserve among my treasures of\nthe heart. I add to them also facsimiles of the writing of Horace\nGreeley and Judge Edmonds, which can never lose their interest for\nSpiritualists. I leave Mr. Greeley's letter as a puzzle to the reader to\ndecipher it. It is well known that a special apprenticeship had to be\nserved in the _Tribune_ office to train a few compositors into the\npossibility of reading his writing.\n\nWhen Mrs. Greeley died in October, 1872, Mr. Greeley in his great sorrow\nsought for consolation through the Spirits. At his request Mr. Oliver\nJohnson came and asked me to get a communication from Spirit friends of\nMr. Greeley. Mr. Underhill, his mother, Mr. Johnson, and myself took\nseats at the table, and waited in silence for some Spirit to manifest.\nVery soon the alphabet was signalled for, and this was spelled (it was\ntaken down by Mr. Underhill), \"Bear my message to my dear friend Horace.\nTell him many kindred Spirits are hovering around him in this day of\ntrial; and though he may not be susceptible to our heart-whisperings\nnow, when quiet and rested he will feel the truthfulness of this\nmessage. Truth will meet a response in his honest heart.\n\n    \"ALICE CARY.\"\n\n\nCOURSES OF TEST EXPERIMENTATION.\n\nOne of the courses of test experimentation made within this period in\nNew York was as follows:\n\nI met a party of gentlemen at the house of Dr. John F. Gray, in\nLafayette Place, New York City, for about two years. The meetings were\nheld once a week. The circle was composed of Dr. John F. Gray, Hon. John\nW. Edmonds, Dr. Robert T. Hallock, Dr. Hull, Charles Partridge, and\nGeorge Washington Rains. The latter gentleman was an officer in the\nU.\u00a0S. Army, and stationed at that time on Governor's Island.\n\nThis party carefully, honestly, and scientifically investigated\nthe rappings and all phenomena connected therewith. They sought to\nascertain, if possible, the peculiar temperament of both mind and body,\nor the predominant qualities of either, or both, to become instrumental,\nor to interpose an agency, between the visible and invisible worlds.\n\nThey were disgusted with the silly pretended expos\u00e9 of the conceited\n\"Buffalo doctors,\" and the equally silly and infamous C.\u00a0C. Burr.\n\nMajor Rains was an educated chemist and fine electrician. He arranged a\nswing, which was fastened to iron or steel chains, sustained by tackles\nand pulleys attached to the ceiling. I sat in the swing, and over my\nhead was a large glass of circular form, about two and a half feet in\ndiameter, and beneath my feet (which were about four feet from the\nfloor) was a steel circular disk about three feet in diameter. The\nwhole arrangement was suspended by the tackles. Major Rains brought his\nelectrometer, and made every experiment that their ingenuity could\ninvent or suggest. They suspended the table; each person in the room\nstanding on horse-shoe magnets provided for that occasion.\n\nThe physicians were provided with stethoscopes, and placed them on\ndifferent parts of my person. They all declared \"that the sounds had\nnothing whatever to do with the physical body;\" and, \"So far as we can\ndiscover, the mediums have no more power over the sounds than the\ninvestigators have.\"\n\nSuch has been the character of the verdict, whenever an honest attempt\nhas been made to discover the source of the rappings.\n\n\nPRIVATE CIRCLE FOR MEETINGS ON MONDAY EVENINGS.\n\nThis circle was composed of Professor Mapes, Dr. A.\u00a0D. Wilson, Dr.\nKirby, Dr. John F. Gray, W.\u00a0P. Sanger and wife, Dr. Robert Hallock,\nGeorge Willets, Hon. John W. Edmonds, John T. Daley, and several others.\nThis party was known as Professor Mapes's party.\n\nThis party agreed to sit for development, and waive all personal\nquestions, as they wanted to learn all they could of a general\ncharacter.\n\nIt was also agreed, by the heads of the committee, that no fanatic in\nSpiritualism, nor dictatorial or selfish individual, should be admitted\nto their party. If, by chance, any one conflicting with the harmony of\nthe circle was admitted, he was forthwith expelled. I could mention\nseveral who were thus dismissed, or gotten rid of, after having been\nadmitted. I must pass over many very interesting and important facts\nthat were made known to and through that intellectual and honorable\nparty. One circumstance, as a visible and tangible phenomenon, was\nbeyond all cavil.\n\nProfessor Mapes was requested, by Spirit direction, to place a number of\nthree-cent pieces on the floor, under the table between his feet, and\nthey would let him see what the Spirits would do with them. All the\ngentlemen present searched their pockets, but could not find enough to\ngratify the demand of the Spirits; so one of the gentlemen of the party\nwent out and succeeded in getting a large handful of them. They were\nthen more plentiful in circulation than they are now. The professor then\nplaced them as directed. He scattered the coin on the floor, and placed\nhis feet in front of the money, protecting it from any interference;\nthey strictly prohibited all women save myself and the wife of one of\nthe company, from the circle--for my sisters were at that time holding\nsittings at their own home. The party was then directed to examine the\nsituation of the professor and the money. The gas was burning brightly.\nI never turned down the lights, and knew nothing of cabinets or\ncurtains, and had never, at that time, heard of them. The professor sat\nat one end of the table, and I sat, facing him, at the other end. We\nwere at further distance apart than any other two of the circle. The\nSpirits directed us to sing. We sang a few minutes, and they spelled out\n\"look.\" The professor moved back, and there, in five piles lying neatly\npiled one upon the other, to the extent of four inches each in height,\nwere the three-cent pieces. The company were all directed to leave their\nseats and look at them. Professor Mapes made a draft of the positions\nof the money before and after the experiment.\n\nOne of the party, a gentleman of veracity, had his gaiter unbuttoned\nwhile sitting in the circle. He was greatly excited, but, according to\nthe rules under which he entered the association, he did not speak until\nthe manifestations ceased. He was then called upon to explain to the\ncircle; which he did by holding up his feet and showing to the circle\nthat a playful Spirit had meddled with one of his gaiters. (He wore\ncloth gaiters and low shoes.) And the strangest part of the thing was\nthat it could not be found in the room. He was asked to explain what the\nsensation was. He said, \"The hand that held my _foot_ was icy cold, and\nthe nimble fingers that unbuttoned the gaiter were burning hot.\" He\nadded, \"My gaiter was new, and buttoned tightly.\" They were sometimes\ndirected to get on the table; and, without hands touching it, it would\nrun all over the floor--sometimes with one, and often with two or three\npersons, upon it.\n\n\nRULES OF S\u00c9ANCES.\n\nAt our public hours, none were admitted but investigators. An\nintelligent waiter at the door received the fee on their entrance,\nthough the number was not inconsiderable who were welcome without fee,\nnor of those to whom, when I had reason to know them to be poor and\ndeserving, I afterward returned it.\n\nThe following were my private rules, made known to all visitors,\ncompliance with which was enforced by the general public feeling, and by\nthe respectful and polite tone which characterized my receptions, and\nthe personal consideration of which all the family were the objects,\nfrom our noble mother, who was usually present, to our youngest sister,\nKatie (now Mrs. Jencken, in London).\n\n\n  \"RULES OF ORDER.\n\n  \"Each individual in the Circle is entitled to a just proportion\n  of the time, and that it may be secured to each in turn, without\n  interruption or annoyance, System and Order are essential, to secure\n  which, the following Rules of Order are expected to be observed.\n\n  \"_First._--Each person may use the time which properly belongs\n  to him as he sees fit, but, having so used it, cannot again ask\n  questions, or in any way appropriate the time, except he is again\n  reached in rotation.\n\n  \"_Second._--Any aid that new investigators may require will be\n  cheerfully rendered by Mrs. Brown, but no other person in the Circle\n  should, by prompting, suggesting, loud conversation, or otherwise,\n  interfere with the person in communication. _Particular attention\n  is called to this Rule, and an exact and rigid observance of it\n  requested, as its violation results in great loss of time and\n  disturbs the Harmony, which is essential to reliable\n  communications._\n\n  \"_Third._--Conversation in the Circle, except by those in\n  communication with the Spirit, should be as little as possible, and\n  that aside and in an undertone.\n\n  \"_Fourth._--All persons should follow, without delay or discussion,\n  all directions with reference to conduct, position, etc., as\n  compliance with directions generally insures satisfactory\n  manifestations, while neglect or refusal usually results in their\n  partial or complete cessation.\n\n  \"_Fifth._--The ladies, in whose presence the manifestations are\n  made, will use their best exertions to satisfy all inquiries; but\n  since the manifestations, alike in their commencement, character and\n  duration, are _above their personal control_, they cannot promise\n  that all persons, or all inquiries, will obtain answers, no\n  manifestations being made except as the Spirits will.\n\n\n  EXPLANATIONS.\n\n  The subject should be approached in good faith and with entire\n  truthfulness and honesty, by all who seek correct responses. This\n  remark is suggested by the law which in Spiritual intercourse is\n  believed to be of universal application, viz., '_Like attracts\n  Like._'\n\n  \"The communications are mainly conversational in their nature, and\n  in answer to questions such as can be responded to by the Spirits in\n  the monosyllables, _Yes_ and _No_.\n\n  \"Inquirers should direct their questions to the Spirits, as if they\n  were conversing with them in the body, stating their questions\n  plainly, either in writing or orally.\n\n  The answers by the Spirits are given by signals as follows:\n\n  Three raps signifying _Yes_.\n\n  One rap        \"      _No_.\n\n  Two raps       \"      _neither Yes nor No_, but variously, according\n  to the nature of the question, as: _not now, not yet, not quite, don't\n  know_, and the like.\n\n  Five raps signifying _Alphabet_--The Alphabet is never responded to,\n  except when the signal for it has been given by the Spirit. Hence,\n  to save time, it is never called, unless the signal has been heard.\n\n  Continuous light raps indicate _an error_ in the answer just given.\n  They annul the signal previously made, and the question should be\n  repeated.\n\n  Continuous loud raps indicate _want of Harmony_ in the Circle, and\n  may generally be taken as a reproof in consequence of some violation\n  of the Rules of Order.\n\n\n  _Admission One Dollar._\n\n  Hours: From 3 to 5 P.M., and 8 to 10 in the evening; except\n  Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and Saturday afternoons, which are\n  reserved for private parties.\n\n  The mornings of each day are also appropriated to private parties,\n  the terms for which are five dollars for each hour, and for which\n  arrangements can be made by application to Mrs. Brown.\n\n  [Hand Symbol] No visitors will be received on Sundays.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe received a great deal of money. There were occasional days when my\nmaid, the good and faithful Susie, would make returns of a hundred\ndollars as the day's receipts; but it was as freely spent as given. We,\nnone of us, have ever been accused of the spirit of hoarding; nor had\nMammon any temple in the home or in the hearts of any of us, though\nCharity had; and that, I think, is one of the frequent though not\ninvariable fruits of Spiritualism and intercourse with Spirits,\nobservable in human character and life. Money, and selfishness in all\nits forms, are apt to shrink into small dimensions of value in the minds\nof persons who communicate much with those of the next life, and who\nthus come to know and realize, as a certainty, the truth of _that next\nlife_.\n\n  [Illustration:\n  My dear Mr. & Mrs. Underhill--\n\n         Can you come\n  and take tea with us\n  to-morrow evening? I do\n  hope so. I want you socially--not\n  =spiritually=. Mr. Oliver Johnson\n  and Mr. Owen will be here,\n  and both of them hope to\n  meet you. Tea at six\n  o'clock. Our number is\n  52 East 20th St. near the\n  Fourth Ave.\n\n  Hoping to see you.\n\n    I am most truly yours.\n\n            Alice Cary.\n\n  Sunday.]\n\n  [Illustration:\n  My dear Mrs. Underhill--\n\n          Can you and Mr.\n  Underhill drink tea with\n  us tomorrow evening?\n  Half past six is our hour.\n  You will meet Mr. Davis\n  of Washington, and probably\n  Mr. Greeley\n\n  Hoping to see you.\n\n    I am very truly yours,\n\n              Alice Cary.\n\n  52 East 20th St.\n\n  Saturday.]\n\n  [Illustration: March 30. '58\n\n  Dear Leah\n\n            I have a gathering\n  of spiritualists at my house\n  on the first Monday evening\n  of every month. The first\n  one will be next Monday\n  April 5=th= Will you come?\n  You will meet many old\n  friends\n\n          Yrs =J W Edmonds=\n\n  159 Lexington Avenue\n  between 31st & 32d Street]\n\n  [Illustration: New York Tribune\n\n    New York, Dec. 4, 1876\n\n  My Friend:\n\n        I thank you for\n  your note just opened.\n  I will try to call on\n  you soon, but I am\n  =very= busy.\n\n        I have a letter\n  from my folks to-day.\n  They are at Arcachon\n  near Bordeaux on\n  the south-west coast\n  of France. Mrs. Greeley\n  cannot walk a step being\n  a fearful sufferer\n  from rheumatism, but\n  her hives are better.\n  The girls are both with\n  her and well. I may try\n  to find you next sunday.\n\n    Yours, Horace Greeley.\n\n  Mrs. Leah Underhill]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nNEW YORK CITY _(Continued)_.\n\n  OUR BRILLIANT SUCCESS WITH THE SUPERIOR INTELLECTUAL CLASSES--WHISKEY\n    AT WASHINGTON--COGNIZANCE OF DOMESTIC SECRETS--DISCOMFITURE OF\n    ANDERSON, \"THE WIZARD OF THE NORTH\"--REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE WITH\n    A VERY NOTORIOUS PERSON.\n\n\nOur rooms were frequented by much of the best society in New York; and\nit was common to see the street encumbered with long files of carriages.\nParticularly the intellectual and literary classes were familiar\nvisitors, both at our circles and in our private life. Many of them\nbecame our most intimate friends. Hundreds of promiscuous visitors were\ndeeply interested, and were, in reality, Spiritualists at heart who had\nnot the courage to face the social and business disadvantages attaching\nto the public avowal of such a novel and unpopular doctrine, which the\nclergy, as a rule, denounced. Several of the most highly respected\nSenators in Congress having become open and warm Spiritualists--among\nwhom Gov. N.\u00a0P. Tallmadge was the most openly zealous--probably nearly\nall of that body passed through the experience of our rooms; for I\nfrequently received telegrams from Washington for private engagements\nfor a party of a dozen or more. It was remarkable how the superior\nclasses of actors _took to Spiritualism_, and I have been greatly\ninterested in them from my earliest acquaintance with them. My tenderest\nsympathies have been awakened when sitting in circles with many of them,\nwho have been raised in my estimation far above the level of those who\nfancy themselves to be their superiors.\n\nThis Spiritualism is a searcher of hearts, and the truly good get\nsatisfactory answers and elevated Spirits to guide and watch over them.\nBut to return to Washington, it was not at that time a very satisfactory\nplace for the prosecution of Spiritualism: even though it was such a\ncentre of congregation from all parts of the country. It was, indeed,\na centre of political agitation, and business connected with the\nGovernment; but at that time, at least, too much whiskey was consumed\nthere. The following letter from my young sister Katie will sufficiently\nillustrate this:\n\n\n\"I am tired of my life. Only think of it! Last evening a party of twelve\nfine-looking gentlemen visited our rooms. All, but two, were as drunk as\nthey could well be. They made mean, low remarks. Only imagine Maggie\nand me, and dear mother, before a crowd of drunken Senators! One very\nfine-looking man stood up before the crowd, and addressed them thus: 'I\nwish to be heard, gentlemen. This is all a humbug, but it is worth a\ndollar to sit in the sunlight of Miss Kate's eyes.'\n\n\"(Margaretta had left in disgust.) At this sudden announcement, all was\nstill as death. My face was red as fire. A friend walked up to me. He\nwas from the Navy-yard, and said, 'Don't mind him, he is drunk; I would\nnot pay the least attention to him. He is a gentleman when sober; and\nwhen I repeat his language to him to-morrow, he will feel ashamed of his\nconduct.' We all left the room, and that ended the scene. Oh, dear Leah,\nI long to be laid in a peaceful grave. I care not how soon. I would live\non a crust of bread, and drink cold water, if I could live a different\nlife. Oh, how we wished for you, dear Leah! I told them, if my sister\nLeah was with us, they would not dare insult us. They would be escorted\nby officers from our rooms.\n\n\"Washington is a mean city. I despise nearly everything I meet here.\nGov. Tallmadge and Waddy Thompson are honorable gentlemen. They bring\ntheir friends during our private hours.\"\n\n\nI have written these extracts from my child-sister's letter, to more\nfully illustrate the dreadful position we held at that time. Still, some\nwondered how it was that the \"Fox Family\" should have been the chosen\nones, through whom Spirits could communicate; and one little incident,\nwhich I can never forget, transpired when we were at Barnum's Hotel,\ncorner of Maiden Lane and Broadway, 1850.\n\nDr. Scott, a tall, wiry, wriggling old consequence, walked up to mother\nwith his smirking smile (the rooms were filled with investigators, and\nhe wished to appear to great advantage), and said, bending low, \"Mrs.\nFox, can you explain why your children should be mediums? Is it because\nyour family are better than other folk?\"\n\nMother replied, \"Dr. Scott, can you explain to me why fresh fish swim in\nsalt water?\" They looked at each other in silence, while the company\nroared with laughter.\n\nExperience taught me to adopt a rule not to give private s\u00e9ances to\nsingle strangers, but rather to only two or more at a time. This was not\nso much as a safeguard against personal impertinences (for such things\nwere of rare occurrence, and never repeated), but under the advice of\nmy Spirit friends, to afford some protection against malignant enemies\nwho might come (as had happened) under a mask of friendly interest\nand honest investigation, and then, when unchecked by the presence of\nanother witness, give calumnious accounts of their private s\u00e9ances. I\nmight cite some curious instances of this.\n\nBut I should have but few instances to tell of personal impertinence\never having been addressed to me, though thus living a life which\nconstantly afforded to promiscuous strangers the free admission to the\npresence of myself and my young sisters, protected only by their dignity\nand their noble mother's presence. I will mention but one, which\noccurred in an Eastern city, in 1857, the hero of which was an important\nman who had inherited from a far nobler father one of the greatest names\nknown to our history. The incident occurred neither in New York nor in\nWashington, but to name the city would go far to identify the person.\nFive gentlemen were announced at one of my public hours, of whom one was\nevidently the most prominent man, and a sort of leader of the company. A\nglance sufficed to show that he was considerably intoxicated, and that\nsome of his companions had had more or less share in the conviviality\nwhich had preceded their visits to the \"Spirits\" of a different kind. He\nis no longer in this life, but some of the rest doubtless survive, and\nare not likely to have forgotten the occasion when they had to retire\nignominiously from my rooms at a hotel.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nNaturally during the years thus spent in the exercise of my mediumship\nin New York, I became acquainted with no small number of domestic\nand family affairs of the most delicate--sometimes the most\npainful--character. In the private s\u00e9ances so often solicited by\nvisitors there would arise, in their communication with Spirits,\nrevelations of secrets the existence of which was little suspected by\nthe outside world, and which, with me, were under no less absolute and\nsacred a sanction of secresy than in the Catholic confessional, or the\nconfidential relations of the medical man. And it is a happiness for me\nto know that, apart from the communications received by visitors from\ntheir Spirit friends, I have many a time and oft had the opportunity of\nexerting useful influences on the minds of some whose inmost hearts and\nlives have thus been laid open before a sympathetic and sisterly eye.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nDISCOMFITURE OF ANDERSON, \"THE WIZARD OF THE NORTH.\"\n\nI am tempted to relate one occurrence of this period, though I do not\nremember its exact date. The newspapers will supply it to anybody\ndesirous of chronological accuracy (it must have been about the middle\nof 1853). The famous conjurer Anderson, \"The Wizard of the North,\" was\nexhibiting in New York, I believe in the large building called Tripler\nHall, in the rear of a hotel on Broadway, near Bond Street. He had\nadvertised a challenge to any \"poverty-stricken medium\" to come to his\nhall and attempt to produce their \"knockings\" if they could, with the\noffer of a thousand dollars if they should do so. Possibly he had\nexpected to crowd his hall for several evenings by this clap-trap, as he\nwas himself a conjuring trickster by trade, he supposed that we were of\nthe same kidney, or class, and that we would not venture to accept such\na challenge from him. It happened that we (Katy and I) arrived one\nevening at home from a week's absence in Rochester, and were told at the\ndoor by Susie that Judge Edmonds, Dr. Gray, and one or two friends more\nwere waiting in the parlor to see us. They had known of our expected\narrival at that hour.\n\nNow, the object of our visit to Rochester had been this: I had conveyed\nthere for burial the body of a beloved member of my family. After that\ninterment, I was further detained by the death of a nephew, and the same\nundertaker remained to conduct this second ceremony. The friends who\nwere awaiting us at home hastily explained the situation, Anderson's\nchallenge, etc., and said that we ought to be already at Tripler Hall,\nand urged our instant starting. I pleaded the impossibility (physical\nand moral), but they insisted that we must not leave that triumph to our\nadversaries--for the sake of our cause as well as for our own or that of\nour friends. They said that a cup of tea could be prepared and swallowed\nin fifteen minutes, and the upshot was that Judge Edmonds drafted a\nshort note to Mr. Anderson, which I copied and signed, announcing our\nacceptance of his challenge and our speedy following after our missive,\nwith the sole variation from his terms that the one thousand dollars\nwere to go to some public charity (I forget which), as we would not\naccept it. A reliable messenger rushed off to place it in Anderson's\nhands. We reached the hall with all possible speed and found it crowded\nto its utmost capacity. I had the arm of Judge Edmonds, and Kate that of\nDr. Gray. We arrived in time to hear Anderson reading aloud, at the\nfront of his stage, the concluding lines of the letter he had received.\nHe was in a perfect rage, gesticulating in the most violent manner,\ndenouncing the suddenness with which this had been sprung upon him,\netc., etc., and refusing us admission to his stage. All know that\nconjurers usually extend forward a long bridge from their stage over the\npit of the theatre, along which they travel to and fro in the course of\ntheir dealings, and \"patter\" with the audience. We and our respective\nescorts (we, of course, in deepest of crapes, and dropping with\nfatigue[11]) ascended the outer steps of this bridge, and moved forward\ntoward the stage, to which we came very near. But the violence of speech\nand action by Anderson, who barred the way at the other end, held us\nback. Mr. Partridge spoke from the stage, and Judge Edmonds and Dr. Gray\nfrom their places, relating the facts, how we had that moment returned\nfrom burying our dead, exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and\nheart-broken with grief, but had yielded to their appeals to us to come\ninstantly to meet the challenge which had been addressed to us and\nto Spiritualism, with the simple condition that the money staked by\nAnderson should go not to us but to a public charity. It may be imagined\nwhat effect all this produced upon the audience. \"Fair play to the\nRochester knockings!\" \"Fair play to the sisters!\" etc., etc., mingled\nwith hisses, seemed to come from every throat. A very little more, and\nI believe the \"Wizard of the North\" would have been mobbed on his own\nstage. But finding that we could not gain admission to it while he thus\nbarred the way, and it being plain and patent to everybody that he had\nbacked down, and that we and Spiritualism were incontestably triumphant,\nthe crape-draped figures, with their highly honorable escort, withdrew\nas they had come, and glad were we to get back home and to disrobe\nourselves of our travelling dresses. The next day the papers told how\nAnderson had backed down, and for a week following redoubled crowds\nflocked to our receptions with their congratulations.\n\n    [11] In this I but followed in the rut of custom. I do not now\n    approve of crapes and lugubrious mourning. Why thus parade\n    insignia of mourning for the mere disappearance of those whom\n    we know to be now more alive than when they were fettered by\n    the bonds of sublunary life--far, far happier and higher--and\n    not less near and loving to us than they had been when we\n    could see, hear, and feel them with our natural senses? Our\n    immoderate grief only grieves them. Spiritualism will, one day,\n    put an end to the trade in crape, \"and,\" the scribe might well\n    add, \"the enormous exactions of the undertaker, which often\n    impoverish the living but sincere mourners.\"\n\nThe conjurer might, of course, have been sued by us for his $1,000, for\nthe benefit of a charity; but we were satisfied, and cared no further\nfor that or for him. He never renewed the challenge, or if he ever did,\nin any distant place when we were not there to respond (as is likely\nenough, for such is a conjurer's trick), we never heard of it.\n\nThe \"Wizard\" had met with about as bad a fate as the Buffalo doctors,\nwith their knee theory, the Rev. C.\u00a0C. Burr, with his toe-ology, and\nthe Harvard professors, with their unknown theory--promised, but\nnever put forth. Anderson had, no doubt, never examined the numerous\n\"investigations\" through which we had passed triumphant, and had taken\nfor granted that we were tricksters, like himself, who needed our own\nstage, machinery, etc., and was probably the most astonished of men\nand conjurers when he received my unostentatious acceptance of his\nchallenge, followed up by the _de facto_ appearance of two black-draped\nand travel-worn young ladies with their escorts, bearding the lion in\nhis den, and vainly applying for impromptu admission to his own stage.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nREMARKABLE EXPERIENCE WITH A ONCE VERY NOTORIOUS PERSON.\n\nOne afternoon in 1852, between five and eight (my private hours), my\ngood Susie announced a grand lady, apparently, who had come in a fine\ncarriage with a footman, and who, when told that it was not one of my\nhours for receiving, begged to see me for a moment. She was admitted, in\nher satins and velvets, of good figure, handsome and striking, though\nnot beautiful nor longer very young; lady-like in her deportment and\ngeneral effect, though I could discover that her language was not\nquite up to her elegant style of dress and manner. She made on me the\nimpression of some woman of rather inferior antecedents, who had been\nmarried by some rich man for her good looks. She wanted simply to make\nan engagement for a private hour, which I gave her for the next morning,\nand to which she was duly punctual.\n\nShe had not been long seated at the table with me, after asking some\nquestions, when she bent her head down upon the table and wept and\nsobbed convulsively, and called on the Spirit of her mother, who,\ntogether with other affectionate expressions, answered in substance, \"My\ndear child, you were left destitute, and a helpless child, and neglected\nand abused by those who should have taken care of you.\" After recovering\nherself, she said, \"You little know how this affects me. These are words\nof tenderness from my mother; I do believe it, and I am sure of it. I\nwas, indeed, left a helpless child to the cold charity of the world.\"\n\nShe did not remain very long, nor do I recall more details; but she wept\nprofusely and sobbed, and took my hand, bidding me good-bye, leaving on\nthe table the regular fee of $5. I had no reason to expect to see her\nagain, nor any to doubt her entire respectability.\n\nShe soon after came again (my maid Susie announced her as \"the rich\nlady\") and engaged another hour for a private party of her friends.\nThere came with her, to that appointment, three or four nice-looking and\nwell-behaved young women, and two little girls, sisters, of nine and\neleven years, whom she presented to me as \"my Gracie and my Florence;\"\nand whom I, at the time, presumed to be her children.\n\nShe asked, \"Is so and so present?\" (I do not recall the name.) \"Yes,\"\nwas answered; and she asked, \"What shall I do with these dear children?\"\nThe reply came, \"You have done well by them so far.\" They were pretty\nand sweet-mannered children, evidently under good training. She said\nthey were not her own, and that they were being brought up at a superior\nseminary in Albany, and that on coming of age they would inherit a good\nproperty. She turned to the children and said, \"Your father and mother\nare here.\" \"Oh! aunty (clinging to her), what do they say?\" \"They say\nyou must continue at school.\" (The children loved her, and had wanted to\ncome home to her.) The Spirits then rapped out, \"We watch over you\nhourly. When you pray we always listen to your prayers.\" There was\nweeping and sobbing between the children and their \"Aunty.\" Some\nquestions then passed respecting their property and minor matters. I\nafterward learned from my good friend, Dr. Wilson, who knew all about\nthem, that the father, after the death of the mother, had fallen into\nrelations with my visitor (who, to me, was as yet only \"the rich lady\"),\nand then, when he found his end approaching (from consumption), had\ngiven her his directions about his children, knowing her heart to be\ngood, and reliable for conformity to them. While this sitting was\ngoing on an interruption occurred, which eventually led up to such\nconsequences that I must introduce it.\n\nA French woman, an importer of laces and a pedler of them, was announced\nby Susie, who knew that I had some business with her about the purchase\nof some of her goods, and I had to give her a few minutes. She was a\nkeen and artful woman, and having noticed the style of the customary\ncarriages at my door, she asked me if I could not introduce her to some\nof my friends, to whom she might sell some of her wares. I yielded to\nher request (such women are sometimes irresistible), and the result was\nthat, on my showing my own lace to my elegant visitors, they examined\nthe store in her box, and two of them engaged sets of lace from her.\nThrough her acquaintance thus formed with \"the rich lady,\" at whose\nhouse she had to deliver her laces, she learned who she was, and it\nwas easy in New York then for such a woman to learn all about her. It\nwill be seen below that the consequences were serious for my poor\nvisitor, \"the rich lady.\" This French lace dealer had heard about the\n\"manifestations\" at my house, and even knew something about such things\nin France, and in her visits to that house, to me unknown, as was\nequally the name of its mistress, she took on herself the character of a\nclairvoyant medium, and played upon them plenty of her cunning tricks,\nsuch as pretended entrancement, etc., for which perhaps a door may have\nbeen opened through the genuine experience they had had with me.\n\nMy still anonymous friend, \"the rich lady,\" paid me afterward another\nvisit, in which she still kept me ignorant of who she was. She came\nalone this time, and unbosomed many of her sorrows to me. (How many\nothers have done so! some men, but chiefly women!) While she was there\nin the parlor a gentleman came in (Dr. Schoonmaker, a dentist, of 12th\nStreet, a friend of mine, who I believe is still living and remembers\nit) and was introduced into the back room. By some accident of the\nopening of the door, he caught a glimpse of my visitor in the front\nroom. He said to me, \"Mrs. Brown, are you aware who that is in your\nfront room?\" I said that we knew her as \"the rich lady,\" though she was\nan uneducated one. \"Have you never heard of the notorious ---- ----?\"\nand he told me her name, of which of course I had heard. \"I am so sorry\nyou have told me this,\" I replied; \"she has engaged me for another day.\"\n\"Well,\" he said, \"I am her dentist; and she was in my chair a good part\nof yesterday. Her fee is as good as anybody's; your advertisements open\nthe door to all investigators, and you have no right to refuse her so\nlong as she behaves herself.\" \"She has certainly acted like a lady thus\nfar with me,\" I could not but answer.\n\nBetween then and her next engagement with me (which was her fourth visit\nto my house), the lace woman had played her fraudulent cards upon her.\nShe had palmed off upon her a fraudulent trance and Spiritualism, and\nhad prepared her for the coming of a handsome young French officer, with\net cetera, et cetera of a story. The upshot was that this young man was\nthe lace woman's son, and an adventurer of whom the rich lady was made a\nprey. He pretended honorable love and marriage, at which a sinful but\nrepentant soul clutched readily. She married him, and paid me a farewell\nvisit on her departure.\n\nShe said, \"You little know the good you have done to me;\" and she threw\non my neck a gold chain and handsome cross. She kissed my hand and left\nit wet with tears. \"Oh, it won't hurt you,\" she said, \"if I kiss your\nhand, though I am much worse than you think me--or at least have been.\"\n\nMy good friend, Professor Mapes, was present at this, and public repute\nhad made him know all about her. After she had gone he said to me, \"You\nhave done that poor woman more good than all the preachers of New York\ncould ever have done. You have reformed one of the vilest of women.\"\n\nI afterward heard that her handsome adventurer-husband spent or got away\nfrom her all her money, and absconded, abandoning her; and that she died\ndestitute and forlorn in a hospital in Paris. I could tell more tales\nthan this of women who have passed through my hands, or rather those of\nthe Spirits, between whom and them I have humbly served as a medium.\n\nI have thus far carried my narrative down to the time at which my public\nmediumship closed with my marriage in 1858. Of the five years spent\nin New York, I have spoken only in the general manner of the present\nchapter, though were I to enter upon the field of particulars I should\nhave to weary the reader's patience with a second volume. I will only\nrelate two episodes of that interesting period: the phosphorus affair,\nand the affair of the Harvard professors, for reasons which will be\napparent. But I must give them each a chapter to itself.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nPHOSPHORUS.\n\n  SPIRIT LIGHTS VISIBLE AT DARK S\u00c9ANCES--PRIVATE CIRCLE IN JERSEY\n    CITY IN 1857--SOLID GRANULES OF PHOSPHORUS APPEARING IN EARTH\n    WHICH I HAD TOUCHED--SURPRISING AND DISTRESSING LETTER--THE\n    GOOD SPIRITS AND DANIEL UNDERHILL TO THE RESCUE--BENJAMIN\n    FRANKLIN--MARRIAGE TO D. UNDERHILL, NOVEMBER 2, 1858, AND CLOSE\n    OF MY PUBLIC MEDIUMSHIP--ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA IN PRIVATE AT HOME.\n\n\nI will here relate from my experiences a curious and, so far as I know,\nnovel chapter in the records of Modern Spiritualism, namely, _the\nproduction of solid granulated phosphorus by Spirits_.\n\nIt will be seen that that phenomenon actually occurred through my\nmediumship, though under circumstances and appearances highly suggestive\n(to our enemies) of trickery on my part, and such as naturally to awaken\nuneasiness in the minds of friends whom long experience with me should\nhave made, and had made, suspicion-proof in regard to me and my Spirit\nguides; and that for nearly nine months I was made very unhappy for the\nwant of confirmatory evidence as to the real objective genuineness of\nthe phenomenon sufficient to silence cavil and compel conviction. My\nunhappiness proceeded from the consciousness that _some_ friends had\ndoubted more or less (though never going the length of signifying doubt\nto myself), while I could not know _who_, nor how far doubt had taken\ndistinct shape in their minds. To a person of my temperament and temper,\nhowever sustained by pride and conscious innocence, I cannot easily\nconceive a more painful situation. But thank God (and the good Spirits\nwho have never failed me in the long run), this invisible cloud which\nfor months chilled the atmosphere of my life, as a distressful something\nkeenly felt though not to be seen, cleared off like the evaporation of\ndew from the surface of a mirror, as will be seen below.\n\nWe never gave _public_ s\u00e9ances in darkened rooms. I do not approve of\nthe practice. Many forms of manifestations thus obtained are calculated\nto prejudice the investigator and excite suspicion of the medium. I love\nto sit with a few friends, who are prepared to witness manifestations,\nwhether in light or dark, and who have had sufficient evidence to\nunderstand the conditions necessary to enable Spirits to manifest\nthemselves in form. On such occasions there should not be more than six\nor seven persons in the circle, and they should all be harmonious, and\nsit together around a table; placing their hands in such a manner that\nif any one shall stir, or change position, it must be at once\ndiscovered.\n\nWhen Spirits appear, they come surrounded with, or luminous by, their\nown light. I seldom sat in a darkened room without seeing lights, which\nwere also visible to the company.\n\nI never used anything to conceal, or afford the Spirits a hiding-place\nfor anything. I was never directed to do so. We (all persons present)\nhave been told to sit in the dark and rub the palms of our hands\ntogether; when, immediately on that being done, sparks of light would\nappear. (I can frequently produce such lights--or, rather, they come of\nthemselves--when entirely alone.) I suppose they are electrical or\nphosphorescent; but there are different lights. At times they vary in\nform, color, and intensity. Sometimes they will be of the size of a\nspark; sometimes of that of a hand, or larger; sometimes flitting or\nflickering about; sometimes--especially when a Spirit is communicating\nwith you by touches, or caresses, or otherwise--fixed in front of your\nface, like a person looking into your eyes; sometimes a vague, luminous\ncloudiness, suggestive of a form or not, as the case may be. Mr. Robert\nDale Owen took every precaution to lock and seal the doors; not that he\ndoubted us, but because he was writing a book for the sceptical world to\nread, and in his honesty of purpose he determined to be \"sure.\" He was\nright. His two books, the \"Footfalls\" and the \"Debatable Land,\" can\nnever lose their interest and value to the student of Spiritualism.\n\nFrequently, while sitting with select friends in dark circles, lights\nwould appear in different parts of the room; sometimes quite numerous.\nThese sights were no new thing to us, but very astonishing to those who\nhad never before witnessed such manifestations. In order to convince\nsuch, the Spirits would direct them to examine the room and everything\nin it; lock the doors, join hands and quietly wait for manifestations.\nWe were sometimes directed to sing, but not to ask questions, nor to\nmake any exclamations of wonder, or expressions of opinion, until the\nmanifestations had ceased. Such directions must be complied with, if we\nwould win good success.[12]\n\n    [12] The frequency of the appearance of _lights_, or luminous\n    appearances, at s\u00e9ances, is suggestive of the idea that Spirits\n    often employ, in their manifestations, phosphorus in some form or\n    condition--phosphorus probably drawn from the atmosphere, or from\n    the brains of the medium or sitters, or both, through their higher\n    knowledge of the secrets and resources of the chemistry of nature.\n    That they should know also how to make it inodorous is easily\n    conceivable. I have never perceived (though in this the author of\n    \"The Missing Link\" thinks she has sometimes done so) any of the\n    phosphoric odor as accompanying those exhibitions of Spirit\n    lights, though sometimes the entire forms of Spirits appear as\n    what I may call phosphorically luminous. That human brains are, to\n    some extent at least, natural reservoirs, from which they draw or\n    elaborate some basis of phosphorus, seems probable enough--or at\n    least should be so to those philosophers who strive to approximate\n    phosphorus to thought, and bid us eat phosphoric food to stimulate\n    our wits, and fancy they catch a gleam of it in the brightening of\n    the eye. It is reliably recorded that at the famous s\u00e9ances of\n    Count de Bullet, at which the controlling Spirit is known by the\n    conventional name of \"John King,\" he constantly appeared holding\n    what seemed a round, white, luminous stone, whose light would\n    gradually fade out after a while, till almost invisible, when he\n    would either withdraw for a moment or two into the cabinet,\n    where the medium was asleep in trance, and return with his lamp\n    re-illumined, or else apply the _stone_, called his 'lamp,' to the\n    forehead of the Count de Bullet, when the light would be seen to\n    rapidly resume its full brightness. The first effect of such\n    application to the forehead, was that _dark clouds of wreathing\n    smoke_ would seem to enter into the stone from the forehead, soon\n    to pass into pervading light; strong in close proximity, but, like\n    phosphoric light, not radiating to much distance. That the Spirits\n    should be able to elaborate the cerebral, or atmospheric, or\n    terrestrial phosphorus into the condition of solid particles of\n    granulated phosphorus, is not difficult to conceive, but I do not\n    know of any other instance of their having actually done it, under\n    human observation, than that now related by Mrs. Underhill.--ED.\n\nI met a large private circle in Jersey City, for a long time, once a\nweek. Many of the members of this party had met at my s\u00e9ances for years;\nbut, as they could not all come to New York, I went to their different\nhouses across the river to accommodate them. This party insisted on\nsitting in darkened rooms. Some of them had witnessed remarkable\nmanifestations in our most private s\u00e9ances. George Willets and wife were\nmembers of this circle, and they desired to have others see a little of\nthe wonderful manifestations which they had so often witnessed.\n\nI consented to do so, but the Spirits expressly directed them not to\nattempt such an undertaking in a party so little calculated to follow\nimplicitly the directions requisite to accomplish the results sought.\nWe had learned, by repeated observations, that Spirits could, under\ncertain conditions, when we were all in bed and no person stirring in\nthe room to disturb the forces through which they operate, disclose\nmysteries which hitherto were unknown in this age of the world. After\nmuch persuasion, I decided to sit for such manifestations.\n\nThe directions were given by the Spirits, and all were anxious to see\nand know these facts through their own perceptions; as it is difficult\nto \"realize\" some things on the representations of others, however\nworthy of our confidence and however possessing it.\n\nOur first sitting proved satisfactory, so far as it went; but the party\nwere directed to be more quiet and not have more persons present than\ncould be accommodated conveniently.\n\nThe second attempt was at the house of Mr. Simeon S. Post, and was\nsuccessful until they became greatly excited, and the directions were\nnot followed; inasmuch as there were too many persons present who were\nentirely ignorant of the rules by which we were controlled; and although\nthey were permitted to make the closest scrutiny of the whole previous\narrangements, in order to keep the forces undisturbed during their (the\nSpirits') operations, they (the investigators) could not or would not,\nfor want of common sense, perhaps, follow all the directions.\n\nThis being the case, in order to gratify those who were prepared and\nblest with good sense, a part of the company were directed to go with me\ninto the adjoining room (a bath-room). While there the lights appeared,\nvery bright--almost blazing at times. I was faint and _my hands seemed\nburning_. I naturally ran to the faucet to let the cold water run on\nthem, which greatly relieved the burning sensation. But the floating,\nmoving lights continued, and being near the door, the lady of the house\nwent out into the yard with me, where I instinctively plunged my hands\ninto the damp earth (it had been raining).\n\nThe next evening Mrs. Post _saw lights where my hands had been_, and\nfound in the ground several particles of solid phosphorus, being guided\nto the spot by seeing the phosphoric smoke rising through the ground,\nas well as by the luminosity of the spot. They (my friends) could not\ncomprehend this mystery. They talked over the matter between themselves,\nand my friend Mr. Willets wrote me a letter, which I will here give.\n\n\n    \"NO. 6, PAVONIA PLACE,         }\n    JERSEY CITY, November 24, 1857.}\n\n\"DEAR MRS. BROWN:\n\n\"The members of the circle are expecting me to see you and have a talk\nwith you respecting the manifestations of lights at Mr. Simeon Post's\nhouse last week. I argued that the Spirits could produce phosphorus (in\nmy opinion, accumulated from the atmosphere and medium forces of the\ncircle combined). Mr. Post had not the least suspicion of anything\nwrong, but could not account for the lights appearing where your hands\nhad been. I have stood by you always, and in this case have done so,\nsaying that I know that you would not deceive any one. _Can you_ explain\nthis matter so that it will be satisfactory to the circle? You will not\nthink hard of me for bringing this to your notice, and believe me to be\nyour sincere friend,\n\n    \"GEORGE WILLETS.\"\n\n\nThis letter of course implied that I might have had--what had of course\nno foundation in fact--phosphorus on my fingers. Nor could I have much\nblamed any in whose mind such a thought might have arisen, however\npainful to me, or however unjust the suspicion.\n\nMr. Underhill had accompanied me to Jersey City. He was a friend of Mr.\nPost's, who had invited him to join the circle. It was convenient for\nhim to call for me, as it was on his way. I did not know that any one\ndoubted the genuineness of the manifestations at Mr. Post's, and judge\nof my painful astonishment when I read Mr. Willet's letter. I knew I was\ninnocent, but did not know that I could so prove myself. I prayed to the\nMost High to relieve me from this terrible imputation. Mr. Underhill\nfelt sure of my innocence. In his own purity of heart he could not doubt\nme. His sister had become a medium, and spoke in unknown tongues. And\nhis mother could move tables by placing her hands upon them. She is\nstill with us, in full possession of her faculties.\n\n      \"None know her, but to love her,\n      None name her, but to praise.\"\n\nMr. Underhill came to my rescue in that dark hour of my life, when old\nand trusted friends wavered in opinion.\n\nIf this volume were to be limited in its circulation to New York City,\nwhere Mr. Underhill is conspicuously, while modestly, known in the\nbusiness world through a long series of years, as President of one of\nits oldest and most solid Fire Insurance companies, it would not be\nnecessary to say a word about his character for honor and veracity. It\nbest becomes me to abstain from doing so, leaving to strangers to him to\nsatisfy themselves by easy inquiries.\n\nHe accompanied me to Jersey City, and how many others (if any) shared\nhis generous confidence I could not know, as none had the rudeness or\nunkindness to manifest their doubts to me. His faith in my integrity\nstrengthened and enabled me to stand the ordeal. I leave it to him to\nrelate the rest of the story.\n\n\nSTATEMENT OF DANIEL UNDERHILL.\n\n\"On Sunday evening, at Mrs. Brown's, soon after the receipt of Mr.\nGeorge Willets' letter, there were present Dr. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs.\nOliver Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland, Mrs. Brown, and myself. Some of\nher most intimate friends frequently dropped in on Sunday evenings to\nenjoy a social cup of tea, and an hour or so in pleasant conversation.\n\n\"On this occasion it was announced by the 'invisibles' that on Tuesday\nevening next an investigating s\u00e9ance, for phosphorescent phenomena,\nshould be held; and the following persons were chosen by the Spirits to\nattend, namely, Dr. A.\u00a0D. Wilson, Henry Sheldon, Oliver Johnson, Mrs.\nJohnson, J.\u00a0F. Cleveland, Mrs. Cleveland, Julian G. Davies, Mr. Downer,\nMr. Beadle, Leah (Mrs.) Brown, Katie Fox, Daniel Underhill, Dr. Kirby,\n'if he wishes.'\n\n\"The parties not present at the time were notified and invited to\nattend.\n\n\"Mr. Sheldon was requested to procure some earth, which he did from\nunder Brooklyn Heights, and brought it with him in a cigar-box wrapped\nin paper.\n\n\"When the parties were seated at the table, in general conversation,\ndirections were given by the Spirits.\n\n\"Mr. Sheldon was requested to unwrap the box of fresh Brooklyn earth and\nplace it on the centre of the table, and darken the room. The box was\nplaced as directed.\n\n\"After the room was darkened, the box was moved by the 'Spirits' nearer\nto Mrs. B., who then placed her fingers in the earth. Her fingers soon\nbecame luminous, so that her hands were visible to the whole circle.\nWhen she removed her hands the light was turned on. Dr. Wilson took the\nbox, and with his knife dug out a quantity of granulated phosphorus. In\ndoing so, some of the granules had not sufficiently hardened, and\nseparated on the table. The doctor, in endeavoring to pick them up,\nburnt his fingers quite badly.\"\n\nAnd again, July 31, 1858:\n\n\"On this evening I called on Mrs. Brown (at No. 1 Ludlow Place), who\nstated to me that she had all day been impressed that if she should have\na sitting with a few friends that evening, she would have manifestations\nof a character to explain the mystery of the occurrence at Mr. S.\u00a0S.\nPost's, Jersey City (where I had attended a private s\u00e9ance with her\nbetween seven and eight months previously).\n\n\"On this occasion there were present Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Johnson, Miss\nKnight, Mr. Kedzie (of Rochester), Mrs. Brown, and myself. We retired to\nthe back parlor, closing the doors and windows in order to make the room\nquite dark. Mr. Kedzie procured a bowl of earth and water, as directed\n(by the Spirits), and placed it on the table around which we were\nseated. While we were engaged in general conversation and singing,\nlights were seen floating about the room, at times immediately over the\ncentre of the circle. Mrs. Brown placed her fingers in the bowl, from\nwhich arose a light, or vapor, which so illuminated the room as to make\nher hands visible to all around the table.\n\n\"Bright phosphoric lights were also seen in the earth. On examination,\nwe found deposited several granules of pure phosphorus, which we\ncollected and preserved.\n\n\"On the following evening Mrs. B. informed me that she wanted to go to\nJersey City, to the house of Mr. Post; that if she did so, the same\nmanifestations would occur in the presence of his family; and she\ndesired me, if I saw Mr. Post, to inform him of her wish to do so, in\norder to satisfy them that what had occurred there, in the commencement\nof the dark sittings, nearly eight months previously, was entirely\nbeyond any control or agency of hers; but she desired that no one should\nbe present except Mr. Post's immediate family.\n\n\"On Wednesday morning following (August 4th) Mr. Post called at my\noffice. When I informed him of Mrs. Brown's wishes, he expressed much\npleasure, and a strong desire that it should be so tested. He wished\nthat it might be during the current week, if possible, as he expected to\nleave home the first of the week following, to be absent for several\nmonths. I informed Mrs. B. that evening of my interview with Mr. Post,\nwhen she appointed Saturday evening, and desired me to inform Mr. Post\nof the fact, as he would call on me the following day.\n\n\"Mrs. Brown called at my office about 11.30 A.M., and informed me that\nshe had been directed by the Spirits to have Mr. John Hilton present.\n\n\"I accompanied Mrs. B. to the home of Mr. Post, at 245 South Sixth\nStreet, Jersey City, on the evening appointed. We arrived there about\neight o'clock P.M. They were requested to make a thorough examination,\nin order to satisfy themselves that neither Mrs. B. nor myself had any\nphosphorus about us. Mrs. B. retired to a private room with the ladies,\nwho disrobed her of every article of clothing, and furnished her with an\nentire outfit from their own wardrobe. After this they dressed and\nreconducted her to the room in which the s\u00e9ance was held.\n\n\"In the mean time the gentlemen satisfied themselves that there was no\nphosphorus about my person. We assembled in the front room up-stairs.\nThere were present Mr. Post, Mrs. Post, a daughter and two sons, Mr.\nPost's sister, Mr. Hilton, Mrs. Brown, and myself.\n\n\"After taking seats at the table, they were directed to close and lock\nall the doors and windows. They were also directed to get a bowl of\nwater and bring in the box of earth, which had been procured by Messrs.\nPost and Hilton during the day and sealed up by them.\n\n\"After sitting a few moments they were directed to 'break the seal'\n(which was done by Mr. Simeon Post). The box was placed in front of the\nmedium. He was then directed by the Spirits to 'put out the light,'\nwhich was done. In a few moments they discovered a phosphorescent light,\nemanating from the ends of Mrs. Brown's fingers. Indeed, there seemed to\nbe a vaporous exhalation from her entire person; and after her fingers\nhad rested on the earth a short time, a visible fluid gradually\nconcentrated around Mrs. Brown's hands, and deposited itself from the\nextremities of her fingers into the earth.\n\n\"This performance lasted about fifteen minutes. The box was examined,\nand Mr. Post procured from the earth it contained several quite large\ngranules of phosphorus, the purity of which was beyond question, and\nwhich he preserved, and caused to be chemically examined and tested.\n\n\"Mrs. B. was then taken in charge by the ladies, and reconducted to\nthe dressing-room, clothed in her own attire, and returned to the\nsitting-room. There was a wish expressed, on the part of all present,\nto get communications from their 'Spirit friends;' and, although there\nseemed to be a perfect willingness on the part of the medium, the\ncontrolling Spirits deemed it advisable that there should be no further\nmanifestations on that night, and said, through raps, 'It would be wrong\nto permit different classes of Spirits to manifest under existing\ncircumstances. I will bring about another meeting soon.\n\n    'BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.'\"\n\n\nMr. Underhill and I were married on the second day of November, 1858, at\nNo. 35 Nineteenth Street, New York City. My father had taken the house\nof Mr. Horace Greeley, who made it his home with my parents when he\nwas in the city. We were married by the Rev. John Pierpont. Mr. U.\npurchased the house we now live in, and we moved into it immediately on\nour return from a western excursion. It was agreed upon that his friends\nshould be mine, and my friends should be his, but that I should never\nagain sit in public circles.\n\n[Illustration: Daniel Underhill]\n\nHe thought I had done my duty faithfully, and that it was time for me to\nretire from public s\u00e9ances. The announcement fell like a thunderbolt\nupon nearly all of my investigators. Many argued that it was a duty I\nowed to the public, and to my God, to continue to labor in the cause of\nSpiritualism; that I had been chosen, by higher authorities, to do\na work that rested on me and my family. Some of my friends thought\ndifferently, and as they knew the man who had so generously acquitted me\nof all blame or suspicion, and who so nobly sustained me through the\ndifficulties with which I was destined to contend, my true friends\ncongratulated me and rejoiced at my good fortune.\n\n\nANOTHER STATEMENT FROM D. UNDERHILL.\n\n    \"SUNDAY NIGHT, August 1, 1859.\n\n\"We retired about eleven o'clock. I had locked the door opening from the\nhall into the front room, also the door leading from the same hall into\nthe bath-room. The door leading from the hall to the bed-room was locked\non the inside by Leah; but after retiring she was in doubt as to whether\nshe had locked it; whereupon I arose and went to the door, tried the\nlock, and found it fast. I then returned to bed. In a few moments we\nwere startled by the springing of the bolt of the lock of that door.\nLeah exclaimed, 'What's that?' I replied, 'It's nothing but the\nspringing of the bolt of the lock;' supposing that when I turned the\nknob the bolt had failed to spring into its proper place. 'No,' she\nsaid, 'it is something more than that.' Very soon we heard sounds, as if\nSpirits were on their knees on the floor patting the carpet with their\nhands. I commenced asking questions, and received responses by the same\nsounds.\n\n\"It was soon evident that one or more Spirits were around our bed. My\nquestions were answered by a hand patting me on the head. Soon something\nwas passed over our faces, just touching us, after which lights appeared\nover us. They passed to my side of the bed, and a cloth was placed upon\nmy right shoulder and pressed heavily--at times as with two hands; also\non the arm. When the pressure left my arm the light again appeared on or\nover us, waving about us, as if to gather force from the atmosphere.\nDuring all this time hands were distinctly visible holding the cloth\nwith a bright phosphorescent light upon it. Then the sheet with which I\nwas covered was drawn down and the cloth was placed upon my stomach and\nchest. On feeling it with my hands, I found it was a coarse towel.\nRepeated pressures were made in this way for some time, after which\nthere was an alarm of fire in the neighborhood. I dressed myself, and\nwent out, returning in about half an hour. On my return I again locked\nthe door and extinguished the light, and went to bed.\n\n\"My attention was attracted to a bright light on the floor, when, at\nthe same time, Leah noticed a bright, flashing light, rising from the\nmantel, and showing the picture over it distinctly. She called my\nattention to it. The foot-board of the bedstead obstructed my view, but\non rising I noticed several lights, also one which appeared above the\nmantel. I arose and went to satisfy myself that there were no matches\nlying around, when, reaching the spot, I found the light was very\nbrilliant, and emitted a strong phosphorescent vapor. Placing my hand\nupon one of the lights, I found it to be a small granule of phosphorus,\ncomparing exactly with those which we had before found deposited in the\nearth. Several of these granules were lying near by, and also in the\ncandelabrum on the end of the mantel-piece.\n\n\"As I was about to resume my place in bed, the alphabet was called for,\nand the Spirit spelled out, 'Look in the fire-place.' On looking I\ndiscovered a number of pieces or granules of phosphorus on the bricks\ninside of the fire-place, which was closed tightly with a screen or\nsummer-piece. The Spirits said they had placed them there to avoid\ndamage or danger, as my getting up and going out had disturbed the\nforces too suddenly.\n\n\"A few evenings afterward, there were again manifestations of\nphosphorus, which were so strong that I was fearful they might set fire\nto the bed, and as a matter of precaution, I procured a pail of water\nand placed it beside the bed. It was then spelled, 'Keep passive, and\nthere will be no danger.' I was then directed to place paper and pencil\nunder the bed, which I did, and very soon we heard the scratching of the\npencil on the paper, which was badly scorched, and a third part of it\nburned; but the writing was plainly visible. The paper was lost, and I\ndo not now remember the communication written upon it. The Spirits said,\nhowever, that the scorching of the paper was caused by the forces being\ntoo strong.\"\n\n\n    \"SATURDAY NIGHT, July 31, 1859.\n\n\"About ten o'clock P.M. Leah and myself were in the second story. I was\nsitting by the front window, leaning my hand against the casement,\ndozing. Leah had passed into the back room, and was returning to the\nfront room, when she was startled by heavy tramping, apparently close\nbehind her. The sound was similar to that of a person walking in wooden\nshoes. She called to me. I started, and met her in the middle room. When\nLeah stopped walking the footsteps ceased, but as soon as she commenced\nagain the same heavy steps kept pace with her. We passed into the front\nroom, where she called me to try a test. She sat down in a high chair,\nand I seated myself on the floor, in front of her, taking her feet on my\nknees. Very soon the same sounds were produced on the floor beside her\nchair; showing very clearly that the sounds were produced independently\nof her, not even causing any nervous start or electric motion on her\npart.\n\n    \"D. UNDERHILL.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nBOSTON AND THE HARVARD PROFESSORS, 1857.\n\n  AGREEMENT FOR AN INVESTIGATION BY A COMMITTEE OF HARVARD\n    PROFESSORS--EXPULSION OF A STUDENT FROM THE DIVINITY SCHOOL FOR\n    THE CRIME OF MEDIUMSHIP--PROFESSOR FELTON--AGASSIZ--VARLEY, THE\n    ELECTRICIAN OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY.\n\n\nOn the 16th day of June, 1857, we left our home in New York, at the\nearnest solicitation of friends in Boston, to attend an investigation\nwhich had been arranged in accordance with the following note:\n\n\nTHE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES.\n\n\"We, the undersigned, hereby agree to submit the question in controversy\nbetween us in regard to the phenomena of Spiritualism, so called, to\nthe investigation and award of the Committee, consisting of Professors\nAgassiz, Pierce, and Horsford, and Dr. Gould, according to the terms of\nthe paper annexed.\n\n    _Boston Courier_,\n      by GEORGE LUNT.\n    H.\u00a0F. GARDNER.\n  \"CAMBRIDGE, June 9, 1857.\"\n\n\n  DR. GARDNER'S CONDITIONS.\n\n  \"Meeting to be held in a suitable room in the city of Boston, to\n  continue six days, or a longer time if desirable, and two hours each\n  day to be devoted to the investigation, commencing at 4 and closing\n  at 6 o'clock P.M.\n\n  \"All the arrangements and details for the forming of the circles to\n  be entirely under the control of Dr. Gardner, except the Committee\n  may remain out of the circle so formed if they choose to do so. If\n  the phenomena are produced under the arrangements as ordered by Dr.\n  Gardner, and they are not satisfactory to the Committee, they shall\n  have the right to require them to be produced under such conditions\n  as in their judgment will be satisfactory to them.\n\n  \"As harmony is an essential condition for the production of the\n  manifestations, it is agreed that no loud talking or exciting debate\n  or other unnecessary noise shall be allowed in the rooms during the\n  sessions, and that each person present shall be treated with that\n  respect and courtesy which is due from each person to every other in\n  the society of GENTLEMEN.\n\n  \"There may be present at each session the writer in the _Boston\n  Courier_, and a friend, and the four gentlemen composing the\n  Committee of Investigation, Dr. Gardner, and any number of persons\n  not exceeding six at any one time, at his option, such being\n  selected and invited by Dr. Gardner.\n\n  \"The writer in the _Courier_, and the gentlemen composing the\n  Committee, agree that, while they are at liberty to exercise all the\n  shrewdness and powers of observation which they are capable during\n  the investigation, they will not exercise their will power to\n  endeavor to prevent the manifestations, but allow them to be\n  produced under the most favorable conditions which a thorough\n  scientific investigation will permit.\n\n  \"The words 'to be provided by Dr. Gardner' first being stricken out,\n  and the words 'and a friend' inserted, it is further understood that\n  the proceedings are not to be published until the investigations are\n  closed.\n\n    \"_Boston Courier_,\n      by GEORGE LUNT.\n    H.\u00a0F. GARDNER.\"\n\n\nWe questioned, at that time, the propriety of leaving New York to attend\nto this request, as to do so would necessarily cause us to break our\nengagements at home. And, as to the contest between the professors of\nHarvard College and the Boston Spiritualists, mediums, etc., we cared\nvery little at that time whether they (the professors) should pronounce\nfor or against us, and for this reason: that it may be safely averred\nthat while intelligent, scientific minds, honestly and studiously\ndevoted to their legitimate labors and investigations, have been, and\nare, glorious pioneers in the advancement of human knowledge, _there are\nsubjects_ touching which scholastic eminence furnishes but a poor outfit\nfor special and honest investigation. But we had met the equals of these\nBoston and Harvard professors long ere this; and here let me add we\nseldom received enlightenment through scientific opponents. Many\nsuccessful experiments had been made by honest, intelligent, and\neducated investigators, which proved, beyond all cavil, what _their\nscience_ could not fathom--and did not wish to.\n\nIt will be remembered, I doubt not, that Professor Eustis, of the\nScientific School, once caught the foot of a Divinity student out of its\nproper place under the table, and that the said professor cried \"fraud,\"\nand brought an accusation against the student before the governing\nfaculty of the university, who, in their high wisdom, knowing not what\nthey did, expelled the young man for the \"heinous crime of owning an\nerratic foot.\"\n\nI am unable to state here at what time this occurrence took place, but\nthe public press, at that time, very extensively condemned the action\nof the collegiate authorities in that case; and, in doing this,\nSpiritualism necessarily came more or less in for consideration. Great\ndoubt was expressed, in the press editorials of the day, of the honesty\nof the professors in thus expelling the student without giving him an\nopportunity to prove his integrity. The expulsion of this young Divinity\nstudent was simply because he was a Spiritualist and a medium, and\nrefused to abandon the sacred truth which he had learned and tested in\nhis own person; and it was in the full spirit of the old New England\npersecutions for honest opinion obnoxious to dominant authority; which,\nfortunately, had no longer the power to hang or burn. But the world\nmoves, after all, in spite of such persecutions, to which history soon\ndoes the justice it has rendered to Galileo; and the leading scientific\njournal of New England, published at Cambridge itself, an organ of the\nScientific faculty of Harvard, has recently put itself in the line of\nmodern progress in reference to this very subject of Spiritualism.\n\nFierce and rude attacks were made in the columns of _The Boston\nCourier_, _by these professors_, upon mediums, Spiritualists, and all\nwho had any faith in the phenomena; insinuating at the time that, \"If\nmediums believed in themselves, they would only be too eager to exhibit\ntheir powers before those who are most sceptical.\"\n\nIn reply to these attacks Dr. Gardner made the following proposition,\nviz., That a committee of twelve disinterested men shall be selected by\nthe principal editors of _The Boston Journal_, _The Boston Courier_,\nand _The Daily Traveller_, which committee shall arrange all the\npreliminaries of the discussion, and decide upon the strength of the\narguments, adduced for and against the Spiritual origin of the various\nforms of manifestations of the present day, usually denominated\nSpiritual.\n\nThe challenge to a public discussion was declined, but in lieu of it the\nfollowing statement appeared in _The Courier_, which was well understood\nto have proceeded from Professor Felton, of Harvard:\n\n\"We will pay $500 to Dr. Gardner, to Mrs. Henderson, to Mrs. Hatch, or\nto Mr. or Mrs. anybody else who will communicate a single word imparted\nto the 'Spirits' by us, in an adjoining room; who will read a single\nword, in English, written inside a book, or sheet of paper, folded in\nsuch a manner as we may choose; who will answer, with the aid of all the\nhigher intelligences he or she can invoke from the other world, _three\nquestions_--which the superior intelligences must be able to answer, if\nwhat they said in _The Melodeon_ was true; and we will not require Dr.\nGardner or the mediums to risk a single cent on the experiment. If one\nor all of them can do one of these things, the five hundred dollars\nshall be paid on the spot. If they fail, they shall pay nothing; not\neven the expense incident to trying the experiment.\"\n\nImmediately on receipt of this challenge from the professors, Dr.\nGardner replied, \"Now, Mr. Editor, I accept the offer, as I do also the\ndistinguished gentlemen named as the committee, provided the person or\npersons making the offer will agree to let all of the conditions of the\narrangement come within the scope of those natural laws within which we\nbelieve Spirits are confined in producing the manifestations above\nreferred to; and I will meet the person or persons making the offer at\nany time and place, after next Sabbath, which he or they may name, to\nmake such arrangements as are necessary to a thorough and scientific\ntest of this great subject.\n\n    \"H.\u00a0F. GARDNER.\n  \"May 27, 1857.\"\n\n\nThe committee named in the _Courier_ was George Lunt (editor of that\npaper), Prof. Benjamin Pierce, chairman, Prof. Agassiz, Prof. Horsford,\nand Dr. A.\u00a0B. Gould.\n\nThe place of meeting was in the upper room of the Albion Building,\ncorner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, Boston.\n\nI and Katie accepted an invitation to go to Boston to lend our\ncontribution to this investigation, with disinterested self-sacrifice\nfor the sake of the cause, and in support of Dr. Gardner, one of\nthe best of men and Spiritualists, who thus stood forward as its\nrepresentative and champion. I may mention that this was anterior, not\nsubsequent to the Phosphorus affair related in the preceding chapter.\nThere were present Miss Kendrick, George A. Redman, J.\u00a0V. Mansfield, the\nDavenport brothers, Katie and myself--mediums.\n\nThe committee of Spiritualists were Mr. Allan Putnam, Dr. Gardner, Major\nG. Washington Rains.\n\nAt the first meeting Dr. Gardner expressed his dissatisfaction with the\nidea of a penalty of $500, or of any money, to be paid by the _Courier_,\nand this seemed to meet unanimous approval; so that no ground remained\nfor the position afterward taken by the professors, that they had to\nmake an award, as stakeholders and judges, of $500 on the presentation\nof certain specific phenomena laid in Prof. Felton's original (unsigned)\narticle in the _Courier_, while the document above quoted, of June 9,\n1857, between the _Courier_ and Dr. Gardner, is conclusive to the effect\nthat it was to be a general scientific investigation. It will be seen\nbelow how the professors afterward quibbled over this point, and avoided\nmaking a report of any results, but only an \"award\" that the $500 was\nnot claimable, because the specific phenomena originally put forward by\nProf. Felton had not been exhibited; while at the same time promising\na future report, which report they _never came up to the scratch of\nmaking_. It was generally understood that a draft of a report had been\nproposed by a portion of them, but suppressed because deemed more\n\"damaging to Christianity\" than one favorable to Spiritualism. So that\nHarvard has ever since remained under the odium and ridicule of never\nhaving made a report, of which, in what they called an \"award,\" it had\nrecognized that the duty was incumbent on the professors, and which\nthey had expressly promised to make. It was in vain that for months\nand years the Spiritualist papers of Boston clamored for the promised\nreport, and jeered at those who evidently found it impossible to make\none which should not be more or less favorable to Spiritualism.\n\nThis meeting, to my mind, was very unsatisfactory. I was astonished and\ndisappointed at the course which the professors pursued. Astonished\nat their seeming ignorance of all laws of order and harmony, and\ndisappointed to find that they had met, determined to establish some\nappearance of carrying their point, right or wrong.\n\nThey fell far beneath the degree of intelligence we had met on so many\nformer occasions, in connection with the phenomenal manifestations\nassociated with Spiritualism. Our investigating committees had always\nheretofore been chosen with reference to their intellectual competency\nand honorable character; whose reports were expected to enlighten\nthousands who were unable to make such experiments themselves. But I am\nquite sure, from the experience I have had, that a great majority of\nthose highly conceited professors, many of whom were of quite ordinary\ntalent, had, to some extent, overcome the deficiencies of nature by\nturning their attention in one direction of specific study only.\n\nOn all other subjects, they are ordinary, and often very ordinary men.\nProfessor Agassiz conversed with me pleasantly, and I was attracted to\nhim, and admired him greatly; _but I knew he was wanting in courage_,\nthe courage of being ready to forfeit or endanger his great _position_\nin Harvard and the country. I incline to the theory presented by Mr.\nAllan Putnam in 1874, in his pamphlet on \"Agassiz and Spiritualism,\"\nthat Agassiz at this investigation was in a false position, which gives\nhim claims to our indulgence. In his earlier life, when a professor in\nSwitzerland, he had been thrown under the mesmeric spell by the Rev.\nChauncy Hare Townshend, and at this investigation was under mysterious\nconflicting influences, of which his better self was perhaps\nunconscious, and for which it was not responsible. (See the pamphlet\nreferred to, published by Colby and Rich, Boston.)\n\nHe said to me, \"Mrs. Brown, I have seen the day I could do everything\nyou do.\" I replied to this, \"Very well, Professor: if you can do all\nthat is done through me, you are a Medium,\" and I at once challenged\nhim, in friendship and good-will, to take the stand (in the presence of\ntheir committee) with me, and submit himself to the same tests I would,\nadding that unless he could do all that the Spirits could do through me,\nI should claim the victory.\n\nHe replied, \"My physical condition is much changed now.\" I did not at\nthat time know that he had formerly been a mesmeric subject, and had\nbeen made clairvoyant, and given positive proof of his mediumship long\nyears before I knew anything about Spirit rappings, magnetism, or\nanything relating to the subject. He positively refused to have anything\nto do further in connection with the examination at that time, and\nremained with me, aside, during the investigation going on at the time\nwith others.\n\nProf. Agassiz noticed that my attention was somewhat absorbed in the\nmovements of Prof. Pierce (as he wandered about so restlessly, and\nseemed very much troubled; I trying to study him out), and said to me,\n\"Mrs. Brown, what do you think of Prof. Pierce?\" I replied, \"If he\nwere boxed up in such a way that I could see nothing but his lower\nextremities, and the manner in which he plants his feet on the ground, I\ncould read his character correctly.\" He laughed and said, \"I think you\ndo not read him favorably.\" \"No,\" I said, \"he is not an honest man.\"\n\nProf. Agassiz did not dare to sit in a circle and subject himself to\nthe influence or power of magnetism, as may be seen in a quotation from\n\"Facts of Mesmerism,\" by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, an article written\nby himself and consequently correct, from which the following is\nextracted:\n\n\n\"Desirous to know what to think of mesmerism, I for a long time sought\nfor an opportunity of making some experiments in regard to it upon\nmyself, so as to avoid the doubts which might arise on the nature of\nthe sensations which we have heard described by mesmerized persons.\nM. Desor, yesterday, in a visit which he made to Berne, invited Mr.\nTownshend, who had previously mesmerized him, to accompany him to\nNeufchatel and try to mesmerize me.\n\n\"These gentlemen arrived here with the evening courier, and informed\nme of their arrival. At eight o'clock I went to them. We continued\nat supper till half-past nine o'clock, and about ten Mr. Townshend\ncommenced operating on me. While we sat opposite to each other, he, in\nthe first place, only took hold of my hands and looked at me fixedly.\nI was firmly resolved to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, whatever\nit might be; and therefore, the moment I saw him endeavoring to exert\nan action upon me, _I silently addressed the Author of all things,\nbeseeching him to give me the power to resist the influence, and to be\nconscientious in regard to myself, as well as in regard to the facts._\n\n\"I then fixed my eyes upon Mr. Townshend, attentive to whatever passed.\nI was in very suitable circumstances: the hour being early, and one at\nwhich I was in the habit of studying, was far from disposing me to\nsleep. I was sufficiently master of myself to experience no emotion,\nand to repress all flights of imagination, even if I had been less\ncalm; accordingly it was a long time before I felt any effect from the\npresence of Mr. Townshend opposite me. However, after at least a quarter\nof an hour, I felt a sensation of a current through all my limbs, and\nfrom that moment my eye-lids grew heavy. I then saw Mr. Townshend extend\nhis hands before my eyes, as if he were about to plunge his fingers into\nthem; and then make different circular movements around my eyes, which\ncaused my eye-lids to become still heavier.\n\n\"I had the idea that he was endeavoring to make me close my eyes, and\nyet it was not as if some one had threatened my eyes, and in the waking\nstate I had closed them to prevent him. It was an irresistible heaviness\nof the lids which compelled me to shut them, and, by degrees, I found\nthat I had no longer the power of keeping them open, but did not the\nless retain my consciousness of what was going on around me, so that I\nheard M. Desor speak to Mr. Townshend, understood what they said, and\nheard what questions they asked me, just as if I had been awake, but I\nhad not the power of answering. I endeavored in vain several times to\ndo so, and, when I succeeded, I perceived that I was passing out of the\nstate of torpor in which I had been, and which was rather agreeable than\npainful.\n\n\"In this state, I heard the watchman cry ten o'clock; then I heard\nit strike a quarter-past; but afterward I fell into a deeper sleep,\nalthough I never entirely lost my consciousness. It appeared to me that\nMr. Townshend was endeavoring to put me into a sound sleep. My movements\nseemed under his control; for I wished several times to change the\nposition of my arms, but had not sufficient power to do it, or even\nreally to will it; while I felt my head carried to the right or left\nshoulder, and backward or forward, without wishing it, and, indeed, in\nspite of the resistance which I endeavored to oppose; and this happened\nseveral times.\n\n\"I experienced at the same time a feeling of great pleasure in giving\nway to the attraction which dragged me sometimes to one side, sometimes\nto the other; then a kind of surprise on feeling my head fall into Mr.\nTownshend's hand, who appeared to me from that time to be the cause of\nthe attraction. To his inquiry if I were well, and what I felt, I found\nI could not answer, but I smiled; I felt that my features expanded in\nspite of my resistance. I was inwardly confused at experiencing pleasure\n_from an influence which was mysterious to me_. From this moment I\nwished to wake, and was less at my ease; and yet, on Mr. Townshend\nasking me whether I wished to be awakened, I made a hesitating movement\nwith my shoulders. Mr. Townshend then repeated some frictions which\nincreased my sleep, yet I was always conscious of what was passing\naround me.\n\n\"He then asked me if I wished to become lucid, at the same time\ncontinuing, as I felt, the frictions from the face to the arms. I then\nexperienced an indescribable sensation of delight, and for an instant\nsaw before me rays of dazzling light, which instantly disappeared. I was\nthen inwardly sorrowful at this state being prolonged. It appeared to me\nthat enough had been done with me. I wished to awake, but could not; yet\nwhen Mr. Townshend and Mr. Desor spoke, I heard them. I also heard the\nclock, and the watchman cry, but I did not know what hour he cried. Mr.\nTownshend then presented his watch to me, and asked me if I could see\nthe time, and if I saw him; but I could distinguish nothing. I heard the\nclock strike the quarter, but could not get out of my sleepy state. Mr.\nTownshend then woke me with some quick transverse movements from the\nmiddle of the face outward, which instantly caused my eyes to open;\nand at the same time I got up, saying to him, 'I thank you.' It was a\nquarter past eleven. He then told me--and M. Desor repeated the same\nthing--that the only fact which had satisfied them that I was in a state\nof mesmeric sleep was the facility with which my head followed all the\nmovements of his hand, although he did not touch me, and the pleasure\nwhich I appeared to feel at the moment when, after several repetitions\nof friction, he thus moved my head at pleasure.\n\n    \"(Signed)    AGASSIZ.\"\n\n\nOn the above quoted statement of Agassiz himself, Mr. Allan Putnam, in\nhis pamphlet on \"Agassiz and Spiritualism,\" remarks:\n\n\"We are distinctly taught, in the above (see pages 6, 7, 8, and 9), that\nas philosopher and scientist, then in the full vigor of manhood, Agassiz\n'had for a long time sought' for such an opportunity to be mesmerized as\nDr. Townshend's visit afforded. This professor, even then eminent--this\nman, gifted with gigantic mental and strong physical powers--reverently\nand prayerfully, as well as philosophically, sat calmly down, not to\nwelcome and imbibe, but '_to resist the mesmeric influence_.' Then Greek\nmet Greek, scientist met scientist, in calm but resolute measurement of\nthe strength and efficiency of their respective weapons and forces.\nAgassiz says his purpose was to _resist_. The whole tone of his account,\nhowever, indicates that his resistance was in no degree captious, but\ndesigned simply to measure the strength and enable him to note the\naction of mesmeric force. The vigorous professor then called into\nexercise all his own great inherent powers of resistance, and such\nfurther aid as his earnest aspiration could bring to his support, and\nyet was forced to yield up to another's will all command over his own\nphysical organs. A stronger than he entered and ruled over his peculiar\ndomain. The Author of all things, though besought, did not so co-operate\nas to countervail the legitimate action of natural powers. Invisible\nforces, emitted and directed by another man's mind, against which his\nown robust intellect was planted in calm and firm resistance, penetrated\neven the compact Agassiz, and caused him,\n\n\"1st. To feel the sensation of a current through all his limbs.\n\n\"2d. To close his eye-lids from necessity.\n\n\"3d. To lose his powers of utterance.\n\n\"4th. To lose power to change the position of his arms.\n\n\"5th. To lose power to even _will_ to move his arms.\n\n\"6th. To lack power to prevent movements of his own head by another's\nwill.\n\n\"7th. To experience great pleasure in giving way to the attraction upon\nhim.\n\n\"8th. To feel surprised at the contact of his head with another's hand.\n\n\"9th. To find the operator the cause of the attraction.\n\n\"10th. To be confused at experiencing _pleasure_ from an influence that\nwas _mysterious_ to him.\n\n\"11th. To see for an instant dazzling rays of light.\n\n\"12th. To be unable to awake, even though he wished to.\n\n\"Similar experiences have become so common that they are now devoid of\nstrangeness. Thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, have had their\nlike since 1839. But no other Agassiz has described the sensations and\nfacts attending the subduing operations. The character of their reporter\ngives his experiences exceptional value.\n\n\"It is true and readily admitted that this keen and exact observer was\nthen dominated by _mesmeric_, which many assume to be widely different\nfrom _Spirit_, force. The belief is prevalent to-day that those two\nadjectives describe one and the same thing. Few persons who have sought\nto discover the relations between mesmerism and Spiritualism, hesitate\nto indorse the following statement, made by Cromwell F. Varley before a\ncommittee of the London Dialectical Society, which was substantially\nthis, viz., 'I believe that the mesmeric force and the Spiritual force\nare the same--the only difference being that in one case the producing\nagent is in a material body, and in the other is out of such a body.'\nMr. Varley's competency to give a valuable opinion may be inferred from\nthe fact that the great Atlantic Telegraph Company elected him from\namong England's eminent electricians, to supervise and control the\nconstructors and operators of their vast and delicate apparatus for\nflashing knowledge under the waters, from continent to continent, and he\nmade their project a success. We add, that Spiritualism had, for years,\nbeen manifested in striking forms and much distinctness, both through\nhimself and other members of his own family, and that he had been an\nextensive observer and scientific student of its phenomena, and a\ncareful tester of its forces. He had reached the conclusion, not only\nthat the chief force employed in producing both the mesmeric and the\nSpiritualistic entrancement was the same, but also that it was distinct\nfrom either electricity or magnetism. From Mr. Varley's views the\nconclusion may be fairly deduced that Agassiz, in middle life,\nexperienced much that is undistinguishable from the sensations and\nperceptions of modern mediums, and that he was subdued by use of the\nsame force by which they are controlled. As a general rule, though\npossibly subject to a few exceptions, persons who have once yielded to\nmesmeric, afterward are very liable to succumb to Spirit force. This\nrule will have important bearings when we come to view the deportment of\nAgassiz as a member of the Harvard investigating committee. What we have\nalready adduced suggests the probability that, if unresisted by himself,\nSpirits could have controlled him with much facility, had he consented\nto be calm and unresisting while he was within the auras or spheres of\npersons whose emanations and constituent elements were helpful to the\ncontrol of physical forms by Spirits.\"\n\nThe great naturalist probably was mesmerized at other times than the one\nof which his own pen furnished an account. For Townshend, p.\u00a0344, says:\n\"Prof. Agassiz, who, when mesmerized, could not of himself stir a\nmuscle, moved like an automaton across the room when impelled by me.\nEven while retaining his consciousness enough _to resist my efforts_\nto move his limbs by mere gestures, without contact of any kind, he\nsubsequently owned that he was actually compelled into such motions as I\nwished him to perform.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nBOSTON AND THE HARVARD PROFESSORS (_Continued_).\n\n  DISINTERESTED JUDGMENTS UPON THE SHAM INVESTIGATION--OUR PART IN\n    THE PROCEEDINGS--MORE FAIR INVESTIGATION BY THE COLLECTIVE\n    REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NEW ENGLAND PRESS--INVESTIGATION BY A BODY\n    OF UNITARIAN CLERGYMEN--OUR TRIUMPHANT RETURN HOME--THEODORE\n    PARKER.\n\n\nNot only would Prof. Agassiz not sit in circle with us, saying that he\nhad vowed never again to sit in a circle, but he would not even consent\nto go into a private room with the medium, Mr. Redman, who invited him\nto do so when he found that the powerfully adverse influence of hostile\nwills and feelings strained against him, in the room in which sat the\nprofessors and the representative of _The Courier_, paralyzed his\nability to exhibit the phenomena which, under normal circumstances, were\nfamiliar and invariable with him.\n\nIt is evident that all this was a mere sham \"investigation.\" _The Boston\nTraveller_ said after it, that \"It is _the unanimous opinion_ of\nthose who witnessed the whole proceedings, with the exception of the\nrepresentative of _The Courier_, that the whole affair was in no sense\nof the word an investigation, and that nothing was proved or disproved\nby it.\" And without quoting from other (non-Spiritualist) papers, I will\nonly add from _The Cambridge Chronicle_ of July 11th, issued under the\nshadow of old Harvard's edifices, and circulated through its halls and\ndormitories, the following comments by a correspondent: \"It is patent to\nobservation that the committee approached the subject with preconceived\nviews. They seem to have taken for granted that they knew more on the\nsubject, even without investigation, than the unscientific Spiritualists\nwith all their long experience and heart interest in it; and they\nerroneously judged that the public would take their _ipse dixit_ with\nunreasoning deference. Because a man knows a rock, does it follow that\nhe knows a star? or if he knows a star, does he know a Spirit? Their\nprofessors have shown their ignorance in this 'investigation,' nothing\nmore,\" etc.\n\nI may say, with specific reference to the part of the \"two Fox sisters,\"\nthat in spite of the bad influences upon us of the bitterly hostile\nspirit which ruled the so-called \"investigation,\" and the contemptuous\nill-temper often manifested by some of the committee, I had no reason to\nbe dissatisfied with the part played by our Spirit friends. Our rappings\ncame, if not as profusely as usual, yet abundantly, both low and loud,\nin spite of our being moved to different parts of the room, of our being\nplaced standing on cushions and on the stuffed spring seat of a sofa,\netc. Their demonstrative effect was broken by Agassiz's assurances that\nhe could show how these could be produced by natural physiological\nmeans, and his pledge that he would do so, a pledge given in the\ncollective form of \"we,\" and therefore binding on the body whose silence\nwas assent to them. And yet on the last day, after he had in haste\nleft the room, and when Dr. Gardner called for the fulfilment of this\nengagement, Prof. Pierce, who had presided, wriggled out of it by the\nplea that that was only an individual promise by Prof. Agassiz, and _not\none by the committee_. Of course it would have been easy to recall\nAgassiz, or to hold another meeting for the purpose. Nor was that pledge\never after redeemed, in spite of the calls of the Spiritualist press.\nNor could the great Agassiz have more eloquently admitted the\nimpossibility of its fulfilment, than he did by such silence under such\ncircumstances.\n\nOn the 10th of July, 1857, Mr. Allan Putnam, of Roxbury, published a\nstatement from which I extract the following:\n\n\"Mrs. Brown and her sister, Miss C. Fox, were present as mediums. A\nconversation was started which was carried on mostly, but not entirely,\nby Mr. Lunt, the representative of _The Courier_, and Major Rains, of\nNewburg, N.\u00a0Y., a graduate of West Point, once assistant professor\nthere, and who, in connection with Judge Edmonds and others, made a\nlong-continued investigation of Spiritual powers scientifically. This\nconversation related to the instrumentality and processes by which\nSpirits work, and Major Rains expressed some of his views as to the\nproper processes for a scientific investigation of this particular\nsubject.\n\n\"Also, there was conversation, mostly between Professor Agassiz and\nMrs. Brown, as to when and how the Fox family first learned that they\npossessed this mediumistic susceptibility. The substance of this\nharmonized with what has often been published.\n\n\"After a time, the mediums and a few others being at the table, raps\nwere heard, mostly on the floor (or rather upon a three or four inch\nplatform covering the stuffed or deadened floor), while a few gentle\nones were felt and heard as if made on the table. Afterward, when Mrs.\nBrown stood by a large wooden box, and put first her finger and then a\ncommon pencil against the box, the raps were heard there as on the box\nand near her hand. Again, when she stood upon a covered stool, the\nsounds seemed to be made beneath her on the platform. Again, when the\ntwo mediums were both standing on the stuffed seat of a sofa, the\npersons near them remarked that they heard sounds as from the wood of\nthe sofa, and also from the wall against which the sofa stood. My\nposition was distant from the sofa, and I only state what others who\nwere near remarked. Many of the raps upon the platform and one or two\nupon the box were quite distinctly heard in most parts of the room.\n\n\"Near the close of their sitting, Prof. Agassiz stated that the\nproduction of such sounds could be referred to known laws, and said,\n'Before the investigation is over we will explain to you how they may\nbe produced.'\n\n\"When about to separate, Major Rains expressed a wish that all would\nstop and compare notes, and come to an agreement as to what had actually\noccurred or been exhibited. A few sentences as to the propriety or\nimportance of this course were exchanged between him and Prof. Pierce,\nwhen the Professor said, with a very ironical and discourteous tone and\nlook, 'We thank you, sir, for your _advice_,' and bowing, hastily left\nthe room. This occurred while a portion of the company were about\nleaving the room--while nearly all were standing and ready to go--while\npromiscuous conversation was going on--and it is not probable that many\nheard or saw what is here described. I was standing by the side of\nMajor Rains, and saw and heard the whole most distinctly. Mortified and\nashamed at the tones and looks of this representative of _Alma Mater_\nand of Science, when addressed to a gentleman stranger, and a man of\nscience, I turned silently away, and was not surprised when, shortly\nafter, Major Rains said to me, 'There seems no occasion for me to remain\nhere because of any knowledge or skill which my experience in such\ninvestigations may have given me; there is no attempt, no purpose, to\nhave an investigation of the general subject. I had better return home.'\nAnd soon he did go, as then proposed.\n\n\"Now the 'change came o'er the spirit of my dream.' At the next\ngathering I asked, privately, and learned from both Prof. Pierce and\nMr. Gould, that they considered the money question as still before them,\nand that they were but judges and not investigators. From that time\nmy relations to them and to that particular trial became relatively\nunpleasant. I had little to do or say, and nothing to hope for, because\nof the necessary antagonism in the room.\n\n\"At their next sitting Mr. Redman was the medium. Raps and tipping of\nthe table did not come as they usually do with him; yet he asked those\nat the table to write the names of deceased friends and roll up the\nslips. Prof. Pierce commenced writing in a book. Prof. Agassiz, in the\nmeanwhile, was standing near his back, frequently changing his own\nattitude and position, and looking very intently upon Redman, although\nhe said to Prof. Pierce, 'Throw that one out,' meaning the slip just\nwritten upon. There was the appearance of much mental disturbance in\nProf. Agassiz, as shown by his attitudes, his changes of position, his\nwild gaze, and his tones when he spoke. No raps came, _nothing_ claiming\nto be Spiritual was done by or through Mr. Redman in the public room. At\nsome time during this sitting Dr. Gardner drew attention to the points\nof disturbance, through strong mental action and intent use of the eyes.\nMr. Lunt was understood to say that he had been using both mind and eyes\nintently, and with much effect; but I was on the opposite side of the\nroom from him when he spoke, and may not have taken in the exact import\nof his words.\n\n\"Similar want of success attended the other mediums, at all the\nsubsequent sittings up to the meeting of the Davenports, on the last\nevening. These boys, or young men, were intrusted almost entirely to the\nmanagement of the Committee, and those of us who were but spectators\nare not so informed as to make it proper to state in advance of the\nCommittee what was attempted nor what the success. We do know that at\nthe close Prof. Agassiz held up a small, short piece of thread, which he\nsaid had been '_broken_,' and that that was the _test_. Having uttered\nthese words in a very rough tone and emphatic manner, he, in a similar\ntone, said, 'Good night, gentlemen,' and hastily left us.\n\n\"Prof. Pierce then said to Dr. Gardner, 'I suppose you are through with\nus.' The Doctor replied, 'No, you have promised to show us how the raps\nwere made.' 'Not as a Committee,' said Prof. Pierce; 'Mr. Agassiz made\nthat promise as an individual.' And thus the affair closed--we as much\ndisappointed at the failure of Agassiz to keep his word and unveil the\nmystery of rapping, as at any one failure during the sittings.\n\n\"The _Investigation_, in fact, was a trial of the correctness of the\nstatements made at the preliminary meeting, viz., 'that it was in the\npower of the gentlemen there present to make the trial a failure, by\nejecting certain forces from their own minds and eyes.' In this they\nwere successful.\n\n\"Two of the gentlemen, Prof. Agassiz and Mr. Lunt, omitted throughout\nall the sessions to comply with invitations to sit in the circle around\nthe table, and there was not, in any instance or at any point, any\nopportunity for Dr. Gardner to exercise 'the determination of all the\naccessory circumstances.' The former gentleman, it seems, was permitted\nto exercise his own choice as to being in the circle, but not so the\nlatter. Dr. Gardner's friends have been disappointed, and the chief\ndisappointment was at the manners and actions and mental and emotional\nstates of two of the Committee and a representative of _The Courier_.\n\n\"No chickens were hatched on this occasion, where the hen was kept in\nperpetual agitation, and was often driven from her nest during the\nperiod of incubation; _but it does not follow that eggs never contain\na vital principle_. Let the proper conditions be observed, let natural\nlaws have legitimate play, and the latent vital principle will take form\nand embodiment and come forth from the shell a thing of life and power.\nIt is easy to prevent the hatching of an egg, for the Committee did that\nwith very little trouble. But many hens 'steal to their nests,' and in\nsecluded spots, where natural laws are conformed to, the hatching\nprocesses still go on in spite of human science.\n\n    \"ALLEN PUTNAM.\n  \"ROXBURY, July 10, 1857.\"\n\n\nI must here bear testimony to the uniform politeness--I may say\nkindness--with which I was personally treated by Prof. Agassiz, however\nrough may have been his occasional treatment of some of the other\nmediums. So far as _we_ were concerned, he exhibited nothing but that\nperfect gentlemanhood which lent another grace to his mental greatness\nand scientific attainment. There has always remained on my mind the\nimpression of something mysterious as having clouded his general conduct\nin this \"investigation.\" He was indeed in a false position, and ought\nnever to have been a member of that committee of professors, inasmuch\nas it was of such serious importance to Prof. Felton (afterwards\npresident), who was virtually the prosecuting officer against\nSpiritualism, and so vehement in his public antagonism to it, and\nwho was also so closely connected by marriage with Agassiz, his\n_father-in-law_ (I believe), that a failure to support Felton in this\nmust have complicated family relations. I must also add that I found\nProf. Horsford unexceptionable as a kind and courteous gentleman. I\nthink that at the bottom of the committee's strange conduct in only\nmaking an \"award\" on a money question, which no longer existed before\nthem, and then remaining in the ridiculous position of never making\ntheir promised \"report,\" notwithstanding the challenges and the jeers\nof the Spiritualist papers and orators, lay, in some degree at least,\nthe facts of this awkwardness of domestic difficulties, and the\nimpossibility of getting the professors united upon any report.\n\nBut that noble man, who has long since gone to his reward, Dr. Gardner,\ndid not let the matter drop at this point. No sooner was the \"award\"\npromulgated than he engaged his mediums to postpone their departure from\nthe city, and, under like circumstances, in the same room, furniture\nunchanged, to repeat their sittings before a different set of\ninvestigators, namely, the _representatives of the Press_. A large body\nof these gentlemen attended, besides their friends and other spectators,\nand it is sufficient for me to say that the results were entirely\nsatisfactory. But Dr. Gardner had requested that their reports should be\nwithheld from publication until after the committee's full report should\nhave appeared.\n\nIn Mr. Allan Putnam's pamphlet above referred to (\"Agassiz and\nSpiritualism\"), is given an account of this convening of the members of\nthe Press, by Dr. Gardner, written by the temporary editor of _The New\nEngland Spiritualist_, and signed \"One Present,\" and commencing:\n\n\"It is well known that the 'award' of the committee entirely failed to\nmeet the rational demands of inquirers. It took the form of a decree\nrather than a decision. Such being the facts, Dr. Gardner thought it\ndue, not only to himself but to the community, to make another effort to\nhave the matter fairly and deliberately tested. Accordingly, immediately\nafter the appearance of the committee's 'award,' he invited the editors\nof the principal newspapers in the city to attend the s\u00e9ances and\nwitness manifestations through the same mediums he had employed before\nthe professors.\n\n\"The gentlemen who responded to this invitation were: Messrs. Carter,\nRobinson, and Brown, of _The Boston Traveller_; Stockwell, of _The\nJournal_; Bulger, of _The Post_; Clapp and Shillaber, of _The Gazette_;\nMarsh, of _The Bee_; Tracy, of _The Herald_; Hill, of _The Ledger_; and\nthe editors of _The Banner of Light_, and _New England Spiritualist_.\nThere were also present at a portion of the sittings, Hon. L.\u00a0V. Bell,\nA. Putnam, Esq., Alvin Adams, Esq., and others.\"\n\nI extract only the following, which relates to ourselves:\n\n\n\"SECOND SESSION.\n\n\"At the second session, on Thursday afternoon, July 2d, Mrs. Brown and\nMiss Kate Fox were present as mediums. The precaution was taken again to\nexamine the furniture and appliances of the room, to guard against any\nmechanical trickery. The company then seating themselves, raps were in a\nfew moments heard upon the floor and table. The sounds were various and\ncomplicated, from the lightest tap to quite heavy blows. The heavier\nsounds had a peculiar softness, as if they had been made by a padded\ndrum-stick worked by a spring.\n\n\"The next step was to test the intelligence manifested through the\nsounds. The method of doing this will be understood from the following,\nwhich is but a small part of the proceedings--as a report of the whole\nwould be but a repetition of questions similar in their character, and\neliciting equivalent results.\n\n\"A Spirit-friend of Mr. Marsh announced himself as present.\n\n\"MR. MARSH.--'Will you tell me your name?'\n\n\"BY THE SOUNDS.--'Yes.'\n\n\"A list of names was written by Mr. M., and as he pointed to them\nseparately the Spirit designated that of Le Grand Smith.\n\n\"MR. M.--'Will you tell me the manner of your death?'\n\n\"'Lost at sea.' (Correct.)\n\n\"MR. M.--'Will you tell me where I last saw you?'\n\n\"'New York.' (Correct.)\n\n\"'Have you any other acquaintance in this room?'\n\n\"'Mr. Clapp.'\n\n\"MR. C.--'Will Mr. Marsh ask him where I last saw him?'\n\n\"Answer obtained by Mr. Marsh--'Boston.' (Correct.)\n\n\"MR. C.--'I have seen him when he was sick; can he tell at what place?'\n\n\"MR. M.--'Will the Spirit tell where Mr. Clapp has seen him sick?'\n\n\"'New York.' (Correct.)\n\n\"'Where else?' (No answer.)\n\n\"'Whom were you intimate with in Boston? the Chickerings?'\n\n\"A weak affirmative was returned, which was supposed to indicate that he\nwas acquainted with them--perhaps not intimately.\n\n\"'Did you know Col. N.\u00a0A. Thompson?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Any other persons in this circle?'\n\n\"'Dr. Gardner'--and others.\n\n\"Dr. G. seemed willing that all failures should pass as such, and\npromptly said, 'That is a mistake, gentlemen; I don't know any such\nperson.'\n\n\"A desultory conversation here sprung up; after which Mr. Marsh resumed:\n'In whose employ were you when I first knew you?'\n\n\"'Jenny Lind's.'\n\n\"DR. G.--'Oh! is that the man? I know now. I saw him in Springfield\nonce; had some sharp words with him, too.'\n\n\"MR. STOCKWELL--'Is there any other Spirit present who was lost at sea?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"MR. S.--'An acquaintance of mine?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Will he tell in what steamer he was lost?'\n\n\"Correctly answered.\n\n\"'If I write a list of names, will he indicate his?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"Mr. S. wrote a list of names; but neither of them was indicated by the\nSpirit, though he went through the list twice. A moment or two after, an\nearnest response was heard. Mr. S. had spelt the name wrong in the first\ninstance; but instantly, on correcting it, the affirmative came. The\nlast-mentioned facts were then stated to the company, no hint having\nbeen given in the course of the proceeding whether it was satisfactory\nor not. The name indicated was that of Samuel Stacy.\n\n\"Another friend of Mr. S. announced his presence. His name was correctly\ngiven; and a list of towns was written, with the request that he would\npoint out where he died. No response came; but on changing the word\nCambridge in the list, to Cambridge_port_, the sounds were promptly\nreturned. In these last two instances was an accuracy of intelligence\nbeyond what was looked for by the experimenter.\n\n\"'Will the Spirit tell his birth-place?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"A list of towns being written by Mr. S., was passed to Mr. Brown, with\nthe request that the response might be given to him, Mr. B. being\ntotally ignorant of the matter.\n\n\"Various tests of this nature were tried. The questions were asked by\nthose ignorant of their answers, and the result was, without exception,\ncorrect.\n\n\"The question of a separate intelligence having had due consideration,\nexperiments were tried with regard to the sounds. The mediums, by\nrequest, moved to various portions of the room; and the sounds were\nproduced, varying in quality according to the different substances from\nwhich they apparently proceeded. The 'toe-joint' theory being suggested\nby some one, the mediums were requested to stand on the spring cushion\nof a sofa. This they did, and merely touching the tip of a finger\nagainst the plastering, the sounds were distinctly and abundantly heard\non, or rather _in_ the wall. They were equally distinct to a person in\nthe adjoining room. That the ladies had no other contact with the wall\nthan to touch it lightly with the tip of a single finger, all present\ncan testify.\"\n\n\nNor was this action of the members of the Press the only investigation\nby high authority which we two (Katie and I) underwent on this occasion\nof our visit to Boston, in 1857.\n\nIt was proposed by our friends that we should meet a party of Unitarian\nclergymen at the house of Rev. Dr. Harrington, in Summerville, about six\nmiles from Boston.\n\nThey made a most thorough investigation. They held a consultation in a\nprivate room, and considered that now was the time to satisfy themselves\nin regard to the production of the sounds; as they had read the\nstatement made by the Buffalo doctors, in which \"knee-knocking\" figures,\nand also the Burr toe-ological humbug, and many more wise theories,\nwhich they wished to prove true or silence forever.\n\nRev. Dr. Francis, a brother of Lydia Maria Child, and another\ndistinguished clergyman, were appointed to hold our knees, and two\nladies held our feet, rested on chairs, exposed plainly to view.\n\nDuring the time we were held in this position, sounds were made all\naround the room--on chairs, on the floor, under their feet, etc. One old\ngentleman shouted out, \"Thank God, I always believed the raps were\ngenuine, and now I know they are.\" He then told us he was living near\nRochester when we first came before the public, and always felt the\ndeepest sympathy for us.\n\nAt the close of the investigation we were all invited to go into the\ndining-room, where a sumptuous banquet had been prepared for the party.\nThe Spirits of earth and heaven met and rejoiced together on this\noccasion; and there were many more of the invisible ones than of those\nstill in the flesh. Many sweet songs were sung, and the timely echoes\nfrom the Spirit world told us plainly that they were not afar off. It\nwas time for us to leave them. Mr. Alvin Adams had taken us there in his\nbeautiful equipage, and he advised us of the hour. The party accompanied\nus to the carriage, and with many blessings and words of encouragement,\nbid us farewell.\n\nThere were fifteen or more Unitarian clergymen together with many of\ntheir lady and gentlemen friends. One of the clergymen, laying his hand\non the shoulder of Dr. Francis, exclaimed, \"Gentlemen, this is proof\npositive of that which we have all been grasping after, as a shadow,\nfrom time immemorial.\"\n\nOn our return to the hotel at Boston, a large party of friends had\nassembled in our parlor, and met us with outstretched hands. Wm. Lloyd\nGarrison said, \"I know you have been successful, or you would not come\nin with such happy faces.\" The Spirits rapped in response to his\nexclamation, and we spent a pleasant evening.\n\nThe following morning a large party, who came from Vermont, occasioned\nconsiderable amusement.\n\nThey came \"to see the mediums,\" which seemed to be all that some of them\nwanted. They waited in the reception-room. Several of them stood on the\nstairs. As we came from the breakfast table and passed through the hall,\none of them called out loudly to the others, \"There! we've seen 'em\nwithout paying.\"\n\nThey came from the Green Mountains, with the idea that we were something\ncurious to be seen: and they had concluded to spend a dollar in order to\ngratify their curiosity. Edwin Forrest and several of his friends were\nstill at the breakfast table, and they enjoyed the joke very much.\n\nThe party were not all, however, of this kind; two or three came in and\npaid the admission fee. One woman had good evidence of communication\nwith a daughter lately deceased.\n\nWe met many interesting persons at Mr. Parks's, among whom were Theodore\nParker, and Rev. James Freeman Clark, who seemed very much interested,\nand kindly invited us to accompany Mr. and Mrs. Parks to his home, which\ninvitation was accepted. We spent a pleasant day with his honored mother\nand sister, his wife being absent from home.\n\nI shall ever remember the beaming, kindly face of Rev. Theodore Parker,\nwho fearlessly, frankly, and honestly announced to his friends that he\nwas a believer in Spiritualism. Subsequently he visited me several times\nin company with Rev. John Pierpont.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nROBERT DALE OWEN AND PROFESSOR FELTON, PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE.\n\n  MASTERLY LETTER FROM MR. OWEN.\n\n\nAlthough not directly connected with the affair of the Harvard\nProfessors, yet it comes in natural sequence to the preceding chapter\nfor me to mention that, after the appearance of Robert Dale Owen's\n\"Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World,\" Professor Felton, who\nburned with angry zeal against Spiritualism, wrote him a letter (April\n13, 1860), which was slow in reaching its destination. Mr. Owen, having\nwritten a reply to it, requested Felton's permission to publish the\nformer with the latter; a request which was declined on the ground that\n\"the letter was hastily written, and intended only for your eyes.\"\n\nThe letter referred to was a fair sample of the sort of criticism which\nhe wrote on the subject, and which he was willing to retail out to\nothers, and then decline to face any fair discussion with a highly\nhonorable opponent, at least his equal in public and social position,\nwho had unanswerably answered his bitterly libellous language. It is\nopen to question whether Mr. Owen's delicacy was not excessive in\nrespecting the privacy of Professor Felton's volunteered letter of\ncontroversial attack upon his book, and whether he would not have been\nperfectly justified in publishing it, as he asked permission to do, side\nby side with the masterly reply which it elicited. This reply, which\nI now proceed to publish, will suffice to show how little the Harvard\ndignitary, however learned in Greek, was a match in logical controversy\nfor Mr. Owen, who had been a distinguished member of Congress, and who\nhad recently vacated the post of U.\u00a0S. Minister at the court of Naples.\n\nThe Professor stated that he had fully \"investigated the subject both\nin this country and in Europe, and that the conclusion at which he had\narrived was that the alleged physical phenomena, such as moving of\ntables without the ordinary application of physical force, _never\ntake place_ under conditions which absolutely prevent the action of\ndelusion or fraud.\" He is not the only man who has claimed to have\n\"investigated,\" when he has visited a few mediums with the eyes of his\nmind so shut and sealed with hostile prejudice that what he calls his\ninvestigation had been but an idle farce.\n\nThen again, in the same letter, he declares, in relation to the\ninvestigation in Boston, that \"the whole thing failed, failed utterly.\"\n\nI refrain from designating this as it deserves. I refer my readers to\nthe history of that sham investigation for them to give it its proper\ndesignation. He knew the statement was not true of the manifestations\nduring the investigation, if his own committee could be believed. The\nletter says, \"If I ever have time I shall prepare a volume on the\nsubject.\"\n\nHe did not, however, have time before he followed the course of Nature,\nand he has now found out for himself many things not falling within the\nscope of his studies as Professor of Greek, which he did not know\nbefore.\n\nAfter this outpouring, he goes on to sanction the same thing in\nChristian Revelation. He says the cases are different. Yes, we have the\nabsolute facts here, and that is better than those of long ago. The fact\nis, Prof. Felton never gave it one hour of fair investigation.\n\nThough Prof. Felton refused permission for the publication of his\nletter, I am under no restraint for the publication of Mr. Owen's\nmasterly reply to it; with which, as it has not before been published\n(to my knowledge), I am glad to be able to enrich this volume.\n\n\n    \"PHILADELPHIA, November 12, 1860.\n\n\"MY DEAR SIR:\n\n\"It was only on my recent return from Europe that I had the pleasure of\nreceiving your letter of the thirtieth of April last. I have since given\nto its strictures the earnest consideration to which the character and\nstanding of the writer and his friendly tone justly entitle them.\n\n\"If, on a careful review, I had found cause to believe that the tendency\nof my work is such as you represent, it would be little consolation\nto feel that it was prompted by those good intentions which you are\ncandid and courteous enough to ascribe to me. Prudence, painstaking\ndiscrimination, severe scrutiny of evidence, especially for the novel or\nthe extraordinary, are, in an author, duties as imperative as good faith\nand uprightness; nor should he escape reprehension by pleading the one,\nif it appear that he has neglected the others.\n\n\"But my conscience acquits me of neglecting, save by exceptional\ninadvertence, reasonable precautions. That these may, in some cases,\nhave proved unavailing, is the lot of human effort. So far, however,\nafter ten months' probation, I have had doubts cast upon a single\nnarrative only, out of the seventy or eighty which my volume contains;\nand it is to the credit of your sagacity that the story thus discredited\nis that of the Livonian Schoolteacher, the very one to the evidence for\nwhich you chiefly take exception. It was part of my business in visiting\nEurope to test a case, to the conflicting evidence regarding which,\nabout three months after the publication of 'Footfalls,' my attention\nwas called by a friend; and as my inquiries, though they showed some\nfoundation for the story, tended to discredit its details, I did what\nduty required of me; I omitted in the English edition, recently issued,\nand in the tenth American edition, the story in question, adding an\nexplanatory note, and substituting a narrative entitled 'The Two\nSisters,' relative to a similar phenomenon, and of which a copy is\nherewith inclosed. You will find the names of the two witnesses\ninitialized only; but I am authorized by these ladies to communicate to\nyou, if you desire to follow up the case, their names--neither unknown\nnor little esteemed--and their residence, within a day's easy journey of\nCambridge.\n\n\"In two of the narratives, the 'Wynyard apparition' and 'Gaspar,' I have\nobtained and inserted in the latest editions important additional\nvouchers.\n\n\"You have not, as you inform me, the 'slightest hesitation in rejecting\nthe entire mass of the stories.' Forgive me if I say, that I admire your\nboldness more than your discretion. Abercrombie, in his 'Intellectual\nPowers,' vouches ('Footfalls,' pp. 151, 163, 181, 204) for several of\nthe most remarkable. John Wesley relates (p. 225), and Dr. Adam Clarke\nand the poet Southey indorse (p. 238) another; Goethe is sponsor for\none (p. 197); sceptics like Mackay (p. 255) and Macnish (p. 155) for a\nsecond and third; Mrs. Senator Linn for a fourth (p. 455); Dr. Bushnell\nfor a fifth (p. 459); William Howitt and his amiable wife for several\nmore (pp. 170, 171, 373); Mr. and Mrs. S.\u00a0C. Hall for two of the most\ninteresting (pp. 447, 463). At least a dozen are attested by clergymen\nof unimpeached character. If all these names seem to you irresponsible,\nand if you refuse credit, unless men be 'put on the stand and under\nthe solemnity of an oath,' that species of evidence also, the highest\nknown to the law, I have furnished. The facts touching the Mompesson\ndisturbances were officially proved in court (p. 221); so, before the\nsheriff of Edinburgh, were those which tormented Captain Molesworth\n(p. 254); so, above all, were the phenomena of the Cideville Parsonage,\nrunning through two months and a half. In this last case I have given\n(pp. 275 to 282) the sworn testimony of _eleven_ witnesses taken down,\nas the French forms of law require, in writing, read over to each\nwitness, and its accuracy attested by the signature of each. Among these\nwitnesses were the mayor of the town, the Marquis de Mirville, well\nknown as an author of repute, a neighboring lady of rank and her son,\nand three clergymen. The mayor swears that he saw the shovel and tongs\nmove from the fireplace into the room, no one touching them or near\nthem; that, having replaced them, the same thing happened a second time,\n'while the witness had his eyes on them, so as to detect any trick.' The\nCurate of Saussy saw a 'hammer fly, impelled by an invisible force, from\nthe spot where it lay, and fall on the floor without more noise than if\nhe had placed it there.' All testify to phenomena, and especially to\nknockings, as marvellous as any which American Spiritualism claims.\nMonsieur de Saint Victor deposes that 'he felt convinced, that if every\nperson in the house had set to work, together, to pound with mallets on\nthe floor, they would not have produced such a racket' (p. 280). Not one\nof the witnesses, placed under such solemn responsibilities, 'shrinks\nfrom repeating the monstrous story.'\n\n\"The Cideville wonders, thus attested by evidence strong enough to\nhang a dozen men, far exceed those of Hydesville. Are you prepared to\npronounce these eleven witnesses (and as many more, whose testimony\nI have omitted, and who swear to the same incidents) to be, as you\ndeclared the Foxes, 'wretched cheats, contemptible and dishonest'? Did\nthey, too, palm 'unscrupulous frauds on deluded people'? Have you not\nthe 'slightest hesitation' in setting down persons of character and\nstation as wilful perjurers?--nay, as motiveless perjurers? Or were\nthey, one and all, deluded? Were the impressions their senses received\ndue only to 'ill-regulated imaginations'? What sort of imagination is\nit that would persuade two men that a table which they sought, by main\nforce, to prevent from moving, did move, without conceivable cause, in\nspite of their efforts? (p. 280.) Do people imagine 'such a clatter\nin the room that one can hardly endure it'?--or that 'every piece of\nfurniture there was set in vibration'?--or such a pounding that the\nwitness 'expected every moment that the floor of the apartment would\nsink beneath his feet'? (p. 280.)\n\n\"You take me to task for narrating on insufficient testimony. If the\nrules of evidence which I have applied in the Mompesson case, in the\nWesley case, in the Cideville case, and I will add in that of the\nRochester Knockings, are to be rejected as untrustworthy, then not\nonly shall we sink back to scepticism in all history and (as far as\nhistorical evidence goes) in all religion, but proof will fail us, in\nall our courts of justice, alike to acquit the innocent and condemn the\nguilty.\n\n\"I do not allege that all the narratives in my book are equally well\nauthenticated. The Stilling story, for example (p. 317), may be taken\nas apocryphal. That of the 'Surgeon's Assistant' (p. 325) has not been\nverified by me. 'The Rescue' (p. 333) came to me, thirty years after\nit happened, at second hand. But in these and in all similar examples\nthroughout the book, where the nature of the case did not admit of\nevidence at first hand, I have specially called the attention of the\nreader to that fact. Nor, if one or more of these stories should\nprove to be without foundation, would it be just, for that cause, to\ndiscredit the others. The '_ex uno disce omnes_' argument is not\napplicable here. Each narrative ought to be judged independently, by its\nown evidence. It is a sound maxim in law, that the superfluous does not\ninvalidate the essential.\n\n\"I may add that, if in one example I have negligently omitted\ncorroborative inquiries, I am not in the habit of sparing pains to\nauthenticate a narrative. You imagine that I have been satisfied with\nthe reports in Spiritual papers about the 'Electric girl.' I spent a\nweek in Paris in procuring the original documents in that case and\nembodying them in my narrative. A small portion only of these is\ncontained in the 'Comptes Rendus.' The authentic details have never yet\nbeen given to the American public. They are of great interest in a\nscientific point of view.\n\n\"You assume that such men as Arago regard clairvoyance as mere trickery.\nArago, in 1853, expressly said ('Footfalls,' p.\u00a023) that 'somnambulism\nought not to be rejected _a priori_, especially by those who have kept\nup with the progress of modern science;' and he admitted ('Footfalls,'\np.\u00a068) that 'psychology may one day obtain a place among the exact\nsciences.' Cuvier went further. He conceded ('Footfalls,' p.\u00a068) the\nprinciple lying at the base of Mesmerism.\n\n\"Inasmuch as my book treats only of spontaneous phenomena, not of those\nthat are evoked, I have therein said nothing of the Foxes, except in\nconnection with the narrative of what, in the olden time, would have\nbeen called the 'haunted house' of Hydesville; one of a class of which\nI have given numerous other older examples. Now, however, having been\nafforded by the sisters ample opportunity to investigate the rappings\nand other manifestations alleged to occur in their presence, I am\nready, after warning, to go farther, and to say that, whatever the true\ncharacter of these phenomena, I see no reason whatever for ascribing\nthem to imposture. Nothing came to light in the course of this\ninvestigation other than what bore, to my mind, the impress of an honest\ndesire to be freed, by rigid tests of fair dealing, from all blame. I\nnever rest my opinion of character or motive upon report when I can have\nopportunity of personal verification. Such opportunity, which in this\ncase I believe you have not had, I am enabled now to offer you. I am\nauthorized by Mrs. Underhill (formerly Leah Fox) and by her husband (a\ngentleman of New York who has been, for seventeen years, secretary of\none of the principal insurance offices in Wall Street), to say that,\nthough Mrs. Underhill has not for some years sat as a professional\nmedium, and has resolved not again to do so, she is willing, in the\ninterests of truth, to afford you, during the university vacation, or\nat other time when your leisure serves, all reasonable facilities for\nstrict investigation.\n\n\"I pray it may not be understood that I urge you to accept this offer. I\nthink, indeed, that such an investigation is not unworthy either of your\ncharacter or of mine. But I am no propagandist; and I have observed that\nif there be nothing within which moves us to undertake such inquiries,\nthey seldom afford satisfaction or eventuate in useful results.\n\n\"You speak of my book as 'ill-judged and mischievous,' as 'furnishing\naid to hosts of deceivers,' and you think it, 'in the present state of\nintellectual and moral disorder' on the subjects of which it treats,\n'peculiarly dangerous.'\n\n\"Truth, unless prematurely urged (John xvi. 12), is never ill-judged or\nmischievous. I did not go in search of this subject. It came up in the\ncourse of human events, and doubtless at the proper time and for a\ngood purpose. I found it already controlling the belief of hundreds of\nthousands, engaging the attention of millions. This, if it presented no\nother claims, appeared to me to entitle it, before judgment pronounced,\nto diligent and respectful inquiry. Thus inquiring, I perceived, as you\nhave done, 'intellectual and moral disorders' not unfrequently following\nin the train of its influence; yet, looking at it more closely, I became\nconvinced that it produced good as well as evil.\n\n\"Surveying the ground further, I found the arena occupied chiefly by\npartisans; some of these (shall I include yourself?) delving the good;\nothers, in their hasty enthusiasm, overlooking the evil. The former\nseemed to me to forget that it is not by despising error that we correct\nit; the latter, that the new and the untried often run into error and\nextravagance.\n\n\"Desiring, after twenty years of public life, some more tranquil and\nphilosophical field of labor, I discovered none which appeared to\npromise more useful results than this. If, as you allege, 'all the\nphenomena are due to two, and only two sources--delusion and imposture,'\nthese should be detected and exploded, as by carefully prosecuted\nresearches every delusion and every imposture can be. If, as I believe,\nthere be a foundation of truth underlying them, still there is\nimperative demand for the exercise of prudence and the precautions of\ndue regulation. Lacking these, a source of good may eventuate in evil.\nEven if the phenomena, wisely followed up, may elevate morality and\nfortify religion, yet if these marvels are permitted to spread among\nus without chart or compass whereby to steer our course through an\nunexplored ocean of mystery, we may find ourselves at the mercy of very\nsinister influences.\n\n\"As to the general question at issue between yourself and me, you admit\nthe reality of Spiritual influences directly exerted by God upon human\nintelligence. So far as, from the Creator's work, we may judge His modes\nof action, these are mediate and by ministering agencies, not by direct\nintervention. \"Why, then, should we regard the hypothesis of Spiritual\ninterposition (Hebrews i.\u00a014) as a baseless superstition?\n\n\"You further admit the occurrence, though only in Christ's day, of\nSpiritual intercourse. But a dispassionate survey of the economy of\nthe universe tends to the conviction that no great law of action ever\nshows itself, for a brief season, thereafter to disappear forever. And\nScripture, instead of thus restricting Spiritual phenomena, intimates\n(Mark xvi. 17, 18) their continuance.\n\n\"Guided by such general views, I published 'Footfalls.' Its prompt\nsale and its favorable reception have been my least rewards. Tokens of\nsympathy and of gratitude contain the greater. A mother, deprived by\ndeath of her favorite child, and refusing to be comforted because he was\nnot, confesses that she has been indebted to its pages for healthy and\nhopeful views of death, renovated spirits, courage to labor and to\nwait. A sceptic into whose hands the volume fell a few weeks before his\ndecease, requests that, after he is gone, I may be informed that to\nthat volume, and especially to its chapter on the 'Change at Death,' he\nowed the revolution of a life's opinions, and the first consolatory\nconviction which had ever reached him that there was a fairer and a\nbetter world toward which he was fast hastening.\n\n\"'By their fruits ye shall know them,' said the great Author of our\nreligion. Do not fruits like these indicate a good tree? And if the\nchief narratives contained in my book may be trusted, what are their\nteachings? That not an effort to store our minds or school our hearts,\nmade here in time, but has its result and its reward hereafter in\neternity. But what motive to exertion in good can be proposed to man\nmore powerful than such an assurance?\n\n\"These are my reasons for still believing, notwithstanding your opinion\nof my work, that it is of wholesome tendency.\n\n\"Time, the great teacher, will decide between us. Ten years--probably\nless--will see the question determined whether the Spiritual hypothesis\nis destined to grow in favor and assume station as a reality, or to sink\ninto discredit, as a mere figment of the brain. I am content to bide the\nevent.\n\n\"Meanwhile, following my convictions of the useful, I propose next year\n(unless ere then I pass to another phase of existence where much that is\nnow obscure will doubtless be made plain) to follow up my first work by\nanother; and therein I purpose to examine what I have not yet touched\nupon; namely, the progress and character of what go by the name of\n'Spiritual manifestations.' I purpose to investigate first their verity,\nthen their influence; to inquire under what aspects they have proved\ninjurious, and under what beneficial to mankind; how far they may be\nusefully prosecuted, and at what point they become prejudicial or\nunsafe.\n\n\"This second volume, like the first, shall contain many materials, some\nsuggestions, few opinions. On such a subject as this, dogmatism, whether\nin affirming or denying, is unpardonable. There is, perhaps, no human\ninquiry, as to which Bacon's wise aphorism is more applicable: 'If a man\nwill begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be\ncontent to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.'\n\n\"If even the opinions and suggestions I may offer should fail in\naccuracy, the materials will remain valuable, if care and industry may\navail judiciously to select them. From these each reader can deduce\nhis own conclusions; and thus, perhaps, such incidental puzzles as the\nseeming investment with clothing of apparitions may be relieved from the\nimputation of absurdity, if they do not find full solution.\n\n\"A word, in conclusion, as to the alleged abandonment of what is called\nSpiritualism by certain persons named by you. You adduce the reported\ndefection of such seceders as conclusive argument against the cause they\ndesert. But it proves nothing, except, perhaps, that one extreme often\nresults in its opposite. If these men, forsaking common sense, ran off\ninto wild extravagance, little wonder that they repented. And if their\ncase be otherwise, their secession, if secede they did, has still no\nweight. Weak men adopt opinions, and again discard them, alike on\ninsufficient evidence. We sometimes turn back, confused, in the very\npath of progress. Du Fay, the discoverer of the fact that there are two\nkinds or states of electricity, repudiated his own brilliant discovery.\n\n    \"I am, my dear sir,\n      \"Faithfully yours,\n        \"ROBERT DALE OWEN.\n  \"PRESIDENT C.\u00a0C. FELTON.\"[13]\n\n    [13] To this letter Prof. Felton never made any published reply.\n    A letter from him, bearing date seven days after that of Mr. Owen,\n    is before me (or rather a copy of it which Mr. Owen allowed Mr.\n    Underhill to make); but, while perfectly civil and friendly,\n    it bears on its face the evidence of a virtual prohibition of\n    publication, saying that it was so hastily written that it was\n    despatched without reperusal, and that his other duties left him\n    no time for public controversy on this subject. I need only say\n    that it was mainly made up of slashing and sweeping generalities\n    against Spiritualism, which Mr. Owen would have had not\n    the slightest difficulty in confuting--and in confuting so\n    triumphantly that the learned Greek professor of Harvard would not\n    have had a rag left to cover the nakedness of the \"_absurdum_\" to\n    which he would have been reduced by Owen's superior brain and pen.\n    A further appeal against publication was clearly involved in a\n    remark that he contemplated some future publication of a volume on\n    the subject. Mr. Owen therefore could do no more than await the\n    promised volume, but the purpose was never carried into effect;\n    which is much to be regretted, since its non-appearance costs\n    to the literature of Spiritualism a third volume (this time\n    controversial), which would have constituted a precious sequel to\n    Mr. Owen's two great works, the \"Footfalls on the Boundary of\n    another World,\" and \"The Debatable Land.\" The two gentlemen (both\n    of whom I knew) have now passed beyond that Boundary, and beyond\n    all further Debate about that Land, where we shall all soon find\n    them, I doubt not, now excellent friends to the cause of\n    Spiritualism, as well as to each other.--ED.\n\n\nI may add that Mr. Owen, in the summer of 1859, while residing with us,\nengaged upon his first book (the \"Footfalls\"), obtained the willing\nconsent of Mr. Underhill and myself, to invite Prof. Felton to come and\naccept the hospitality of our home at 232 W. 37th Street, for a\nfortnight or as much shorter or longer a period as he might favor us\nwith his stay; as a means of receiving daily and hourly evidences of all\nhe should like to investigate. Prof. Felton declined the invitation. The\ninvitation proved at least our willingness to submit to such an\nexhaustive investigation. What disposition its non-acceptance indicated\non the other side, in regard to a question which is confessedly one of\nsupremest vital importance to all mankind, it is not for me to say, but\nrather to leave to the judgment of those who may do me the honor of\nbeing my readers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nEXPERIENCES OF ROBERT DALE OWEN THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE AUTHOR.\n\n  MOVING A LEDGE OF ROCK ON THE SEA-SHORE--RAPS ON THE WATER, AND IN\n    THE LIVING WOOD--SEEING THE RAPS--MOVING PONDERABLE BODIES BY\n    OCCULT AGENCY--CRUCIAL TEST--A HEAVY DINNER-TABLE SUSPENDED IN\n    THE AIR BY OCCULT AGENCY.\n\n\nI will here introduce some interesting extracts from Robert Dale Owen,\nrelating to some of his personal experiences with me, which will speak\nfor themselves:\n\n\nI.\n\nMOVING A LEDGE OF ROCK ON THE SEA-SHORE.\n\n\"On the twenty-fourth of August, 1861, I accepted an invitation, from\nMr. Samuel B. Underhill, of New Rochelle, a sea-side village on the\nshore of Long Island Sound, to spend the next day with him, in company\nwith Mr. and Mrs. Underhill (their near relatives).\n\n\"On the afternoon of August 25, Mr. S.\u00a0B. Underhill drove us out in his\ncarriage, through the picturesque country adjoining the village; the\nparty consisting of Mr. S.\u00a0B. Underhill and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. D.\nUnderhill, and myself.[14]\n\n    [14] Mrs. S.\u00a0B. Underhill was a sister of my husband, and a full\n    believer in Spiritualism. There was no relationship between Mr.\n    S.\u00a0B. and Mr. D. Underhill. It had simply happened that his\n    sister had married a gentleman of her own name with whom she\n    had no tie of kin.\n\n\"In the course of the drive, coming near the shore of the Sound, at a\npoint where there were long ledges of rock slanting down into the\nwater, it suddenly suggested itself to me that here was an excellent\nopportunity for a crucial test. I inquired of Mrs. Underhill if she had\never tried to obtain raps on the sea-shore. 'No,' she said; she never\nhad.\n\n\"'Do you think we can get them here?' I asked. 'I have never found any\nplace where they could not be had,' she replied; 'so I dare say we can.'\nThereupon there were three raps--the conventional sign of assent--from\nthe bottom of the carriage.\n\n\"So we drove down to the beach, and got out to test the matter. The\nportion of rock whither we repaired was not an isolated block, detached\nfrom the rest, but part of a large, flat mass of rock, covering at least\nhalf an acre, and running back into a bluff bank that rose beyond it;\nthere were also several underlying ledges. We were about thirty feet\nfrom the sea and, as there was a moderate breeze, the surf broke on the\nrocks below us.\n\n\"But yet, standing on the ledge beside Mrs. Underhill, and asking for\nthe raps, I heard them quite distinctly above the noise produced by the\nsurf. This was several times repeated, with the same result.\n\n\"Then Mrs. Underhill and Mrs. S.\u00a0B. Underhill sat down, and I, stepping\non a lower ledge, laid my ear on the ledge on which the ladies were\nsitting and repeated my request. In a few seconds the raps were heard by\nme from within the substance of the rock and immediately beneath my ear.\n\n\"I then sought to verify the matter by the sense of touch. Placing my\nhand on the same ledge, a few feet from Mrs. Underhill, and asking for\nthe raps, when these came audibly, I felt, simultaneously with each\nrap, a slight but _unmistakably distinct vibration or concussion of the\nrock_. It was sufficiently marked to indicate to me a rap, once or\ntwice, when a louder roll of the surf for a moment drowned the sound.\n\n\"Without making any remark as to what I felt, I asked Mr. U. to put\nhis hand on the ledge. 'Why!' he suddenly exclaimed, 'the whole rock\nvibrates!' During all this time Mrs. Underhill sat, as far as I could\njudge, in complete repose.\"--\"Debatable Land,\" p.\u00a0346.\n\n\nII.\n\nRAPS ON THE WATER AND IN THE LIVING WOOD.\n\n\"On the tenth of July, 1861, I joined a few friends in an excursion from\nthe city of New York, by steamboat, to the Highlands of Neversink; Mr.\nand Mrs. Underhill being of the party.\n\n\"It occurred to me, while sitting on deck by Mrs. Underhill, to ask if\nwe could have the raps there. Instantly they were distinctly heard,\nfirst from the deck, and then I heard them, and quite plainly _felt\nthem_, on the wooden stool on which I sat. In the afternoon our party\nwent out in a sailing boat, fifteen or twenty feet long. There, again at\nmy suggestion, we had them, sounding from under the floor of the boat.\nIt had a centre-board, or sliding keel, and we had raps from within the\nlong, narrow box that inclosed it. At any part of this box where we\ncalled for the raps, we obtained them.\n\n\"In the evening we ascended a hill, back of the hotel, to the Highland\nlight-house. In returning and passing through a wood on the hill-side, I\nproposed to try if we could have raps from the ground; and immediately I\nplainly heard them from beneath the ground on which we trod: it was a\ndull sound, as of blows struck on the earth. Then I asked Mrs. Underhill\nto touch one of the trees with the tips of her fingers, and, applying my\near to the tree, I beard the raps from beneath the bark. Other persons\nof our party verified this as I had done.\n\n\"In returning, next morning, on another steamer, we had raps on the\nhand-rail of the upper promenade deck, and also from within a small\nmetal boat that was turned upside down, on the deck below.\n\n\"Notes of these experiments were taken immediately on my return to New\nYork.\"--Owen's \"Debatable Land,\" p.\u00a0345.\n\n\nIII.\n\nSEEING THE RAPS.\n\n\"It was during an evening session at Mr. Underhill's, February 22, 1860.\nBesides Mr. and Mrs. Underhill, Kate Fox, and myself, there were present\nMr. Underhill's aged father and mother; venerable examples of the plain,\nprimitive Quakers, both of whom took the deepest interest in the\nproceedings.\n\n\"By request, through the raps, the gas was extinguished and we joined\nhands.\n\n\"Very soon lights were seen floating about the room, apparently\nphosphorescent. At first they were small, just visible, but gradually\nthey became larger, attaining the size and general outline of hands;\nbut I could not distinguish any fingers. These lights usually showed\nthemselves first behind and between Leah and Kate, near the floor. Then\nthey rose; sometimes remaining near Leah's head, sometimes near her\nsister's. One of them was nearly as large as a human head. None of these\ntouched me, though one approached within a few inches. Another made\ncircles in the air just above our heads. After floating about for a\nbrief space, they usually seemed to return either to Leah or Kate.\n\n\"While the hands of the circle remained joined, I looked under the\ntable[15] and saw lights, as many as ten or twelve times, on or near the\nfloor, and moving about. Once, while I was looking intently at such a\nlight, about as large as a small fist, it rose and fell, as a hammer\nwould with which one was striking against the floor. At each stroke a\nloud rap was heard in connection. It was exactly as if _an invisible\nhand held an illuminated hammer and pounded with it_. Then, desiring\nconscious proof of what I saw was not by human agency, I asked\n_mentally_, 'Will the Spirit strike with that light three times?'\nwhich was done forthwith; and then, after an interval, repeated.\n\n    [15] This is literally exact that Mr. Owen \"looked under the\n    table,\" but it omits to say _how_; and I the more readily\n    supply that omission, because he himself, after his book was\n    published, expressed regret that, in his cultivation of\n    brevity, he had not explained himself more fully. To speak of\n    having looked under a table rather suggests the idea of having\n    stooped down for that purpose. The following was exactly the\n    way in which it passed. Mr. Owen desired to look under it and\n    thought of so doing, when the table, which was _an\n    extension-table_, opened itself, its two halves being drawn\n    apart, so as to enable him to see through as well as under it,\n    through the wide opening thus made--evidently by the Spirits\n    who had seen his thought. As this was a distinct phenomenal\n    fact (and one not without its interest) Mr. Owen regretted\n    afterward that he had not stated it precisely as it had\n    occurred.\n\n\"When, a second time, the light was seen and I was noticing the\ncorresponding sounds, some one said, 'Can you make it softer?'\n\n\"Almost instantly I saw the light diminish and strike the\nfloor, at intervals, with a soft and muffled sound, just\ndistinguishable.\"--\"Debatable Land,\" p.\u00a0348.\n\n\nIV.\n\nMOVING PONDERABLE BODIES BY OCCULT AGENCY.\n\n\"'When they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling\na beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried, and said (to\nElisha), 'Alas, master!' for it was borrowed. And the man of God said,\n'Where fell it?' And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick,\nand cast it thither; and the iron did swim.' (2 Kings vi. 4-6.)\n\n\"The raising from the ground of weighty substances, or the moving of\nthese from place to place, is one of the most common, and most easily\nverified, of physical manifestations. I have elsewhere given many\nexamples of it. (See 'Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World.') Here\nI shall add but two or three out of the numerous cases that have come\nunder my eye during Spiritual sessions.\n\n\"A most satisfactory test of the power, by occult agency, to raise\nponderous substances was suggested to me by that practical thinker, the\nlate Robert Chambers, the well-known author and publisher, during his\nvisit to the United States, in the autumn of 1860; and we carried it out\non the thirteenth of October of that year.\n\n\"On the evening of that day we had a sitting in Mrs. Underhill's\ndining-room; there being present Mr. and Mrs. Underhill, Kate Fox, Mr.\nChambers, and myself. In this room we found an extension dinner-table of\nsolid mahogany, capable of seating fourteen persons. This we contracted\nto the form of a centre-table, and, having procured a large steelyard,\nwe found that it weighed in that form a hundred and twenty-one pounds.\nWe suspended this table by the steelyard, in exact equipoise and about\neight inches from the floor. Then we sat down by it; and while our\nexperiment proceeded, Mrs. Underhill sat with the points of both feet\ntouching one of mine and Kate in the same relation to Mr. Chambers. This\nwas done at their suggestion, so as to afford us proof that they had no\nphysical agency in the matter. Their hands were over the table, near the\ntop, but not touching it. There was bright gas-light. Thus we were able\nto obtain a\n\n\nCRUCIAL TEST,\n\nthe table remaining suspended, with the constant weight at the figure\nof 121. We asked that it might be made lighter. In a few seconds the\nlong arm ascended. We moved the weight to the figure 100: it still\nascended; then to 80; then to 60. Even at this last figure the smaller\narm of the steelyard was somewhat depressed, showing that the table,\nfor the moment, weighed less than sixty pounds. It had _lost more than\nhalf its weight_, namely, upward of sixty-one pounds. In other words\nthere was a power equal to sixty-one pounds sustaining it. Then we\nasked that it might be made heavier; and it was so; first, as the\nfigures indicated, to 130, and finally to a hundred and forty-four\npounds.\n\n\"The change of weight continued, in each instance, from three to eight\nseconds, as we ascertained by our watches; and during the whole time the\nladies maintained the same position of feet and hands; Mr. Underhill not\napproaching the table.\n\n\"We had given Mr. Underhill no notice of our intention to ask for this\nexperiment. The heavy steelyard was bought for the occasion from a\nhardware-store in the neighborhood. How much a Jewish axe-head commonly\nweighed, in the days of Elisha, I know not; it could be but a few\npounds. Our miracle (dynamics) exceeded that of the prophet, as far as\nregards the weight of the body that was made lighter. But the Hebrew\nseer was at a greater distance from the object raised than were our\nmediums. On the evening just preceding that on which we tried the above\nexperiment I had a sitting at Mr. Underhill's, with very satisfactory\nresult.\"\n\n\nA HEAVY DINNER-TABLE SUSPENDED IN THE AIR WITHOUT CONTACT.\n\n\"Our session was on the evening of October 12, 1860, lasting from\nhalf-past nine till eleven.[16] It was held in the same room and at the\nsame table before mentioned, and by gas-light. Present, Mr. and Mrs.\nUnderhill, Kate Fox, Mr. Harrison Gray Dyer, of New York, and myself.\nWe had very loud rappings, from various parts of the room and on the\nchairs. Then, while our hands were on the table, it began to move,\nsometimes with a rotary motion, sometimes rising up on one side, until\nfinally it rose from the floor all but one leg. Then we sought to induce\nit to rise entirely from the floor. After (what seemed) strenuous\nefforts, almost successful, to rise, we aided it by each putting a\nsingle finger under it; and, with this slight assistance, it rose into\nthe air and remained suspended during six or seven seconds.\n\n    [16] We found, by repeated trials, that our experiments\n    succeeded better when we sat at a late hour, after the servants\n    had gone to bed, when the house and the streets were quiet.\n\n\"After a time we asked whether, if we removed our fingers from the\ntable-top, while it was in the air, it could still remain suspended; and\nthe reply (by rapping) being in the affirmative, after aiding it to rise\nas before, we withdrew our fingers entirely, raising them above it. The\ntable then remained, nearly level, suspended without any human support\nwhatever, during the space of five or six seconds; and then gradually\nsettled down, without jar or sudden dropping, to the floor.\n\n\"Then, anxious to advance a step further, we asked if the table could\nnot be raised from the floor without any aid or contact whatever. The\nreply being in the affirmative, we stood up and placed all our hands\nover it, at the distance of three or four inches from the table-top:\nwhen it rose of itself, following our hands as we gradually raised\nthem, till it hung in the air about the same distance from the floor\nas before. There it remained six or seven seconds, preserving its\nhorizontal, and almost as steady as when it rested on the ground; then\nit slowly descended, still preserving the horizontal, until the feet\nreached the carpet. As before, there was no jar or sudden dropping.\n\n\"The same experiment was repeated next evening in the presence of Robert\nChambers, after we had completed our tests with the steelyard; and with\nexactly the same results. At first, as before, we raised it on our\nfingers; then, withdrawing them, it remained in the air six or seven\nseconds. On the second trial it rose entirely without contact, remaining\nsuspended for about the same space. It should here be remarked that we\nwere in the habit, during these experiments, of moving the table to\ndifferent parts of the room, and of looking under it from time to time.\n\n\"Upon the whole I consider this moving of physical objects to be as\nconclusively established, in its ultramundane aspect, as the Spirit\nrap. A hundred and twenty pound dinner-table is no trifle to lift. The\nconditions exclude the possibility of concealed machinery. And by what\nconceivable bodily effort, undetectable by watchful bystanders, can two\nor three assistants heave from the ground, maintain in the air, and then\ndrop slowly to the floor, so ponderous a weight, with their hands the\nwhile in full view, under broad gas-light? No one in his senses, and\nbelieving in his senses, can witness what I have witnessed, and yet\nremain a sceptic in this matter.\"--\"Debatable Land,\" p.\u00a0361.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nEXPERIENCES OF THE AUTHOR WITH ROBERT DALE OWEN (_Continued_).\n\n\nV.\n\nAN EVENTFUL HOUR WITH LEAH FOX UNDERHILL--A GHOST SPEAKS.\n\n\"It was on the evening of Sunday, the twenty-first of October, 1860. The\nsitting was held in Mr. Underhill's dining-room, lasting from ten till\neleven o'clock P.M.\n\n\"The room was lighted by gas. There were two windows fronting the\nstreet; three doors: one opening on a corridor whence a staircase\nascended to the next floor, another opening on a short passage leading\nto the kitchen, the third, the door of a pantry in which were crockery\nand various other articles, including a barrel of loaf-sugar in one\ncorner.\n\n\"Before we had any demonstrations the raps requested us to wait until\nthe domestics had retired. There were two servant girls in the kitchen,\nwhom Mrs. Underhill sent up stairs to bed, so that everything was\nprofoundly still on that floor of the house. Then we fastened the inside\nblinds of both windows, so as to exclude all light from the street.\n\n\"Before commencing the session, at Mr. Underhill's request, I shut and\nlocked the three doors above referred to, leaving the keys in the doors,\nso that no one, even if furnished with keys, could open them from\nwithout. I satisfied myself by careful personal inspection of the\nfurniture, and otherwise, that there was no one in the pantry, nor any\none in the dining-room except the three persons who, along with myself,\nassisted at the sitting. These persons were Mr. Daniel Underhill, Mrs.\nUnderhill (Leah Fox), and her nephew, Charles, twelve years old. We sat\ndown to a centre-table, three feet eleven inches in diameter, of black\nwalnut, and without table-cover. (I had previously looked under it;\nnothing to be seen there.) The gas-burner was immediately over it. I\nsat on the east side of the table, Mr. Underhill opposite to me, Mrs.\nUnderhill on my left hand, and Charles on the right. There was no fire\nin the room.\n\n\"The rappings commenced, gradually increasing in number and force. After\na short interval they spelled, 'Put out the gas.' It was accordingly\nextinguished and the room remained in total darkness. Then 'Join hands.'\nShortly after doing so I felt, several times, a cool breeze blowing on\nmy cheek. Then was spelled, 'Do not break the circle.' We obeyed; and,\nexcept for a second or two at a time, it remained, on my part, unbroken\nthroughout the rest of the sitting.\n\n\"After a few minutes I perceived a light, apparently of a phosphorescent\ncharacter, on my left, near the floor. It was, at first, of a\nrectangular form, with the edges rounded. I judged it to be about four\ninches long and two and a half inches wide. It seemed like an open\npalm illuminated, but the light which emanated from it showed quite\ndistinctly its entire surface; I could distinguish no fingers. For a\ntime it moved about near the floor, then it rose into the air and\nfloated about the room, sometimes over our heads. After a time it\nchanged its appearance and increased in brightness. It then resembled an\nopaque oval substance, about the size of a child's head, muffled up in\nthe folds of some very white and shining material, like fine linen, only\nbrighter. As it moved about, I began to hear, at first imperfectly,\nafterward somewhat more distinctly, the rustling as of a silk dress, or\nof other light article of female apparel, giving the impression that one\nor more persons were moving silently about the room. Then the light\npassed behind Mrs. Underhill; then I saw it close to Mr. Underhill, and\njust opposite to me. Mr. Underhill said, 'Can you not go down to Mr.\nOwen? do try.' Thereupon it moved slowly around to my left side. This\ntime the folds appeared to have dropped, and what seemed a face (still\ncovered, however, with a luminous veil) came bending down within five or\nsix inches of my own face, as I turned toward it. As it approached, I\nplainly distinguished the semi-luminous outline of an entire figure of\nthe usual female stature. I saw, very distinctly, the arms moving. At\nthe lower extremity of its right arm, as if on the palm of the hand, the\nfigure bore what seemed a rectangular substance, about four inches by\ntwo, as nearly as I could estimate. This substance was more brightly\nilluminated than the rest of the figure. It may have been only the\nilluminated palm, but I do not think it was; it seemed more like a\ntransparent box with phosphorescent light within it. Whatever it was,\nthe figure raised it above its head, and then passed it slowly down\nclose to what seemed the face, and then over the upper part of the body,\nas one might pass a lantern over any object, with intent to make it\nvisible. This action it repeated several times.\n\n\"By aid of the illuminations thus afforded I saw, more distinctly than\nbefore, the general form of the face and figure; but both appeared\ncovered with a half-transparent veil, and I could distinguish no\nfeatures; nor were the outlines of the body, nor of the limbs, sharply\ndefined. The motion of the right arm with the light was the most marked\nand frequent.\n\n\"While this was taking place I held Mrs. Underhill's hand and Charles's.\nAs the various phases of the phenomena succeeded each other, I remarked\non what I saw; and Mr. Underhill, from the opposite side of the table,\nresponded to my remarks; so that I am quite certain he was seated there.\nI expressed a wish that the Spirit would touch me, and Mr. Underhill\nsaid, from his place, 'We are very anxious that the Spirit should touch\nMr. Owen, if it can.'\n\n\"Thereupon I felt what seemed a human hand laid on my head. And, as I\nlooked steadily at the figure, which stood on my left side, I saw its\nhead bend toward my left shoulder. A moment afterward I _felt_, and\nsimultaneously _heard_, just behind the point of that shoulder, a kiss\nimprinted. I could not, for any physical fact, obtain the evidence of\nthree senses--sight, touch, and hearing--more distinctly than in this\ncase I did.\n\n\"Immediately afterward I saw this luminous body pass behind me; what\nseemed, by the touch, to be hands gently laid hold of both my shoulders\nand turned me round to the right. I looked on that side and the figure\nnow stood by my right shoulder.\n\n\"After pausing there for a few seconds, it moved toward the window\nfurthest from me, and we heard the sounds as if some one were attempting\nto open the window-blind.\n\n\"Mr. Underhill, from his place, remarked that it would probably be able\nto effect this; for it had done so on a previous occasion. The blind was\nin four compartments, each of which could be opened or closed by raising\nor lowering a wire attached to movable slats. The figure opened the\nupper left-hand quarter of the blind, so that a faint light shone in\nfrom the street lamps. I was looking at the window when this occurred.\n\n\"Up to this time the appearance, gradually becoming more luminous, had\nbeen in sight, moving about the room fully five minutes. There was not\nthe slightest footfall when it moved. My hearing is very acute; I\nlistened for every sound; and as, in the intervals of conversation, the\nsilence was unbroken, I could have detected the fall of the lightest\nfootstep.\n\n\"From this time the light which illuminated the figure gradually faded,\nand soon I could no longer distinguish any form. The slight rustling\nsound, unaccompanied by footsteps, still, however, continued.\n\n\"Suddenly we heard a noise as of the door opposite to me being unlocked;\nthen of its being hastily opened and shut; then the rustling sound\napproached me on the left, and a key was laid on my left hand. Then\na second door was heard to be unlocked in the same way, and I heard\nanother key laid on the table just before me. Then a third door (that of\nthe cup-board, by the sound) was heard to be unlocked and opened, and a\nkey, as if pitched over our heads, was heard to drop with a clatter on\nthe table.\n\n\"While this was going on I commented, from time to time, on each\noccurrence, and received answers from Mr. Underhill, from his place at\nthe table opposite to me.\n\n\"While we were conversing, there was a rattling of the crockery in the\ncup-board. Mrs. Underhill expressed her apprehensions as to some\nfavorite china, but Mr. Underhill replied, 'I will trust the Spirits;'\nand then added, 'Cannot the Spirit bring something to Mr. Owen?' Almost\nimmediately there was set down on the table, close to my left hand, some\nobject which I touched, and it proved to be a cut-glass goblet. In\nsetting it down, what seemed a human hand touched mine, and immediately\nafterward was laid several times on my shoulder. I expressed a desire\nthat it would distinctly grasp my hand, to which Mr. Underhill\nresponded. Instantly a small hand, or what in touch resembled one, took\nhold of my hand and grasped it. Then it clasped my bare wrist, gently\nbut with a firm grasp; then my lower arm, then my upper arm; each time\nwith a distinct grasp. I could not have distinguished the touch from\nthat of a human hand. It was a little cooler than mine, but not\ndisagreeably so. There was nothing chilly or clammy or otherwise\nunpleasant about it. There was after this, throughout the sitting,\nno sound whatever of opening or closing doors.\n\n\"While it was touching me thus, Mr. Underhill said, 'Can you fill the\ngoblet you brought to Mr. Owen with water?' There was a rustling but no\nfootstep, a slight noise in the pantry, and then the sound of something\ndropped into the goblet; but, putting my hand in, I felt no water. In\ndoing so I broke the circle only for a moment. Then, just behind me, I\nheard a sound as if the glass of the clock on the mantel-piece were\ntouched and shaken.\n\n\"All this time there was no word spoken except by those at the table;\nbut, once or twice, there was a whistling sound in the air.\n\n\"When, soon after, we were bidden by the raps to relight the gas, I\nfound three door-keys on the table, the goblet also, and within it a\nlump of loaf-sugar. Both the room doors were closed, but on trying them\nI found that neither was locked. Two of the keys on the table fitted\nthem. The door of the pantry, which the third key fitted, stood open,\nand the cover of the barrel of sugar was pushed partly off. The\nleft-hand upper portion of the blind, at which we had seen and heard\nthe figure, was open.\n\n\"These are facts, all briefly noted down the same evening on which they\nhappened, and written out in full the next morning.\n\n\"The allegations, by the raps, were that the Spirit present was that of\na daughter of Mrs. Fox, who had died young, and that other Spirits were\npresent (among them an Indian Spirit), aiding her to show herself to\nour circle. Emily--that was the girl's name--had been Mrs. Underhill's\nfavorite sister, long mourned over, and had lain, during the last hour\nof her life and at the moment of death, in Mrs. Underhill's arms. Mr.\nUnderhill stated to me that he had seen the same Spirit, as distinctly,\nseveral times before; and that he had been able to distinguish the\nfeatures. He appeared also, on this occasion, to have perceived the\nwhole figure, and especially the features, more distinctly than I did,\nthough my natural sight has always been keen, and, except within\nordinary reading distance, is still nearly as strong as it was thirty\nyears ago. With these exceptions, all present, so far as I could judge\nby comparing notes with them during and after the sitting, seemed to\nhave seen and heard the succession of phenomena here described just as\nI myself had done.\n\n\"Up to this time, never having witnessed any such phenomena as these, I\nhad often doubted within myself how I should be affected by witnessing\nan apparition, or what I had reason to consider such.\n\n\"It _seemed_ to me that I should experience no alarm; but of this in\nadvance of actual experience, I could not be assured. Now I know just\nhow far I can trust my self-possession. Awe I undoubtedly felt--awe and\nintense interest; but, in looking back on my feelings throughout that\nwonder-bringing hour, I feel certain that a physician might have placed\nhis finger on my wrist, even at the moment when that dimly illuminated\nPresence first bent over me, with scarcely six inches intervening\nbetween its veiled face and mine--its hands placed on my head, its lips\ntouching my shoulder--and not have found the beatings of my pulse unduly\naccelerated; or if he had detected acceleration, it could not, I am very\nsure, have been justly ascribed to any tremor or fear, but solely to the\nnatural effect of solemn and riveted expectation. If a man, under such\ncircumstances, may trust to his own recollections not twenty-four hours\nold, I can aver, on my honor, that I was not, at any time while these\nevents were in progress, under other excitement (though it may be\ngreater in degree) than a chemist might be supposed to experience while\nwatching the issue of a long-projected and decisive experiment, or an\nastronomer when the culminating point of some important observation is\nabout to be reached.\n\n\"I beg it may not be supposed that I mention this as boasting or\ncourage. There was, in truth, nothing of which to boast. The preceding\nand attendant circumstances were such as to preclude alarm. I was not\nalone, nor taken by surprise. I was expecting some phenomena and hoping\nthat they would be of a phosphorescent nature. And though I had not any\nexpectation of seeing an actual form, yet, as the allegation was that a\ndeceased sister, beloved by one of the assistants, was present, and as\nall the demonstrations were gentle and seemingly arranged by friendly\nagencies to satisfy my desire for the strongest evidence in proof of\nSpiritual appearance, I was under very different circumstances to\nthose which have often shaken the nerves even of the boldest, while\nencountering for the first time what is usually called a ghost.\n\n\"I state the fact of my equanimity, then, merely as one of the attendant\ncircumstances which may be fairly taken into account in judging the\ntestimony here supplied in proof of the appearance, in visible and\ntangible form, of an alleged Spirit of a deceased person. It is often\nassumed that a man who believes he sees an apparition is (to use a\ncommon expression) frightened out of his senses, and so, is not entitled\nto credit as a witness.\n\n\"If it be objected that, before the sitting closed, the doors were\nunlocked, I reply first, that all the remarkable and interesting\nportion of the phenomena _occurred before this happened_; and secondly,\nthat, as the keys of the locked doors were left in them, they could only\nbe opened from the inside. If, in reply to this last, it still be urged\nthat Mr. Underhill, deserting his post for a few seconds, might have\nopened one of the doors, I reply that I happened to be conversing with\nhim at the moment we first heard the key turned. I add that during the\nnext sitting, when still more wonderful phenomena occurred, I took a\nprecaution (as will be seen) which made it impossible that either Mr.\nUnderhill or any of the company should leave their seats, even for a\nmoment, without my knowledge.\"\n\n\nA GHOST SPEAKS.\n\n\"Five days after this I had the session here referred to, in the same\nroom, with the same assistants, during which similar phenomena were\nrepeated, but with one highly noteworthy addition.\n\n\"The date was the twenty-sixth of October, 1860, and it was an evening\nsession, from half-past ten till midnight. The same precautions which I\nhad taken before the commencement of the former sitting, as to locking\nall the doors, looking under the table, examining the room and\nfurniture, etc., I carefully adopted on this occasion also. As before,\nwe waited until the servants had retired and all was still.\n\n\"After a time there was spelled 'Darken;' then 'Join hands.' We obeyed;\nbut on this occasion I took an additional precaution. Grasping Mrs.\nUnderhill's right hand and Charles's left, I brought my own hands to the\ncentre of the table, and Mr. Underhill, across the table, laid his hands\non mine. This we continued throughout the entire sitting. I am able,\ntherefore, to assert that, from the beginning of this sitting till the\nend, the circle remained unbroken.\n\n\"After a few minutes, there appeared a luminous body of an irregularly\ncircular form, about four inches in diameter, floating between us and\nthe door, which was back of Mrs. Underhill. It was somewhat brighter\nthan when it first appeared on the previous occasion, that is, on the\ntwenty-first of October.\n\n\"Then, after an interval, the light, rustling sound seemed to indicate\nthe approach of some one. The figure was not so distinct as on the\nprevious occasion, the lower portion losing itself in a grayish cloud.\nThe highest light seemed to be on the spot corresponding to the\nforehead. But I saw no features; nor did I see the arms moving. Very\nsoon I was gently touched on the head, then on the shoulders, then laid\nhold of, as with both hands of some one standing behind me. Then the\nfigure seemed, by the sound, to move away toward Mr. Underhill. He\nstated that the figure was approaching him. He asked it if, as a test,\nit could take something out of his pocket; but there was no reply, by\nraps or otherwise. Immediately I heard a sound as if some one were\nmoving the key about in the door opposite to me.\n\n\"Soon after Mr. Underhill said the figure had again approached him. I\nsaw the illuminated circular substance close to his head, but could not\ndistinguish any figure. Mr. Underhill said that he could dimly discern\nthe figure.\n\n\"After a time it moved round to the lad Charles, who exhibited much\nalarm, crying out, 'Oh, go away! pray don't!' when it approached, as I\nsaw it do, close to his head, which he had bent down on the table. It\nwas now very bright, so that, by the light, I could see the outline of\nthe boy's head. Charles afterward stated that he saw it distinctly, and\nthat a hand touched him repeatedly. While it was close to Charles, it\nappeared to me as if a white handkerchief or some article of the like\ntexture were thrown over a hand or some similar support. I saw no\nfigure. When it rose behind Charles, as if to leave him when he cried\nout, I could perceive what resembled a hand grasping some illuminated\nsubstance, the outline of the hand appearing as a shadow across the\nilluminated ground.\n\n\"Then it moved, as I could see, to Mr. Underhill, and after a time\ncrossed over to me, and touched me gently on the shoulder. Of a sudden\nit occurred to me that one other evidence was lacking. I expressed a\ndesire that, if it could, it would speak. It seemed to make several\nefforts to do so, as indicated by a slight, guttural sound; then I heard\na sound resembling the syllable _es_, twice repeated.\n\n\"Then, by the raps, was spelled out, 'Sing.' Mrs. Underhill complied.\nThe figure which had seemed to move away and return, again touched me\nfrom behind, drawing me slightly toward it. Then, in a brief interval of\nthe singing, I heard, in a low voice, just behind me, 'God bless you.'\nAs additional assurance that it was no momentary illusion, I asked that\nit would speak again; and again, in an interval of the music, I heard,\nin distinct tones, the same words, 'God bless you.' They seemed to be\npronounced close to my ear. The voice was low--apparently a woman's\nvoice--just louder than a whisper, and the words seemed to be pronounced\nwith an effort, in subdued tones, as a person faint from sickness might\nspeak. I particularly noticed, also, that each word was pronounced\nseparately, with a perceptible interval between, and there was not the\nusual accent on _bless_, followed by the shortened _you_; but each word\nwas equally accented. In other respects the sound resembled the human\nvoice, when low and gentle.\n\n\"Mrs. Underhill afterward stated to me that she distinguished the word\n_you_, but not the others. Mr. Underhill said he had heard articulate\nsounds, but could not make out any of the words; he only knew that\nsomething had been said to me.\n\n\"After a time I saw the figure pass behind Mrs. Underhill and remain,\nfor a few minutes, near her husband; then it returned to me, appearing\non my left side. I saw the outline of a head and face, but still, as\nbefore, covered with a veil which concealed the features. I perceived,\nhowever, what I had not observed before, what seemed tresses of dark\nhair dropping over the face, and the dim outline of an arm raised one\nof these tresses, and then dropped it again, several times, as if to\nattract my attention. Behind was the vague outline of a figure, but less\ndistinct than during the previous sitting. Then the figure passed behind\nme. I was leaning over the table, so that Mr. Underhill might not have\nso far to stretch in order to reach my hands. I felt a kiss on my\nshoulders, then there was the feeling of two hands laid each on one\nshoulder, and I was drawn very gently back till my shoulders, above the\nchair back, were pressed against what seemed a material form. Almost at\nthe same moment my hand was kissed.\n\n\"Mr. Underhill cried out, 'Ah, you were drawn back;' and Mrs. Underhill\nsaid, a little impatiently, 'Every one is touched but me. Can't you come\nto me?' The words were hardly pronounced when she screamed out, as in\nalarm; she had been suddenly and unexpectedly kissed on the forehead.\n\n\"From that very moment the manifestations entirely ceased. No luminous\nobject to be seen, not another touch, not a rustle, not a sound of any\nkind in the room. I listened attentively, and am certain that no door\nopened or shut, and scarcely a minute or two elapsed ere it was spelled\nout, 'Light the gas.'\n\n\"When we had done so we found everything as before, with a single\nexception. I ascertained by looking under the table and in the pantry\nthat there was no one in the room but ourselves; I found all the three\ndoors locked, but the key belonging to the door opposite to me was\nmissing. We asked where it was; the raps replied, 'Look.' We could not\nsee it anywhere. Then we examined our pockets, and, from one of his\ncoat-pockets Mr. Underhill produced a key which was found to fit the\ndoor. Mrs. Underhill asked if her alarmed exclamation had injured the\nSpirit?\n\n\"Answer by the raps: 'Not much.'\n\n\"Mrs. U.: 'I'm so _much_ afraid I hurt her!'\n\n\"Answer: 'It frightened her.'\n\n\"Question (by me): 'Did Mrs. Underhill's cry of alarm cause the\nmanifestations to cease?'\n\n\"Answer: 'Yes.'\n\n\"As to the door-key, I remark:\n\n\"That Mr. Underhill asked, as a test, to have something taken from his\npocket; but it was a better test, since he could not move from his place\nto take the key from the door and deposit it in his pocket. Who _but_\na Spirit could take it, our circle remaining unbroken? Is the taking by\nSpirit agency incredible? But the hands that pressed my shoulders, that\ngrasped my hand, that clasped my wrist, were surely material enough to\nextract a key from a door-lock and drop it into a pocket.\n\n\"Then all the doors, this time, were left locked, so that no one\ncould enter from without; to say nothing of the absurd supposition\nthat a Spirit should open a door in order to admit human\nassistants.\"--\"Debatable Land,\" p.\u00a0467.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nSPIRIT CURES--MR. CAPRON'S WIFE.\n\n  STATEMENT BY E.\u00a0W. CAPRON--WIFE OF GENERAL WADDY THOMPSON, OF SOUTH\n    CAROLINA--WIFE OF MR. DAVIS OF PROVIDENCE, R.\u00a0I.\n\n\nI might fill many pages with my reminiscences under this head, but I now\nconfine myself to three instances, the first in order being also the\nfirst in my experience. I take it partly for that reason, and partly\nbecause it contains the features of the temporary transfer to myself of\nthe affection removed from the sufferer, and also of the cure having\nbeen performed _at a distance_.\n\n\nI.\n\nSTATEMENT BY E.\u00a0W. CAPRON.\n\n\"On the occasion of my first visit at the house of the Fox sisters, then\nliving in Prospect Street, Rochester, I mentioned casually that my wife\nwas afflicted with a very severe and troublesome cough. Nothing more was\nsaid about it at the time, but as we sat quietly conversing with and\nabout the 'Spirits,' Leah seemed suddenly entranced and said, 'I'm going\nto cure Rebecca's cough.' It was no sooner said than done. She visited\nher mentally and described her accurately, and pronounced her cured. I\nreturned to my home (Auburn) and found her entirely well. I expressed\nsurprise, and asked her how she became so suddenly cured? She said she\ndid not herself understand it, as her cough had left her since 'night\nbefore last.' Her cough was cured and never returned.\n\n    \"E.\u00a0W. CAPRON.\"\n\n  NOTE.--I will add that the cough was transferred to myself with\n  equal violence to that which had tormented Mrs. Capron. My family at\n  times feared that I might rupture a blood-vessel. (Why did the\n  Spirits not relieve me too?) It lasted for about a week, when my\n  mother sent for Professor E.\u00a0C. Rogers, a powerful mesmerizer who\n  happened to be lecturing in Rochester at the time, who by his\n  magnetic power and manipulations gave me prompt and complete relief.\n  He was not a \"Spiritualist,\" nor am I able to say exactly what his\n  philosophy was. He afterward published an 8vo volume of about 330\n  pages, entitled, \"Philosophy of Mysterious Agents, Human and\n  Mundane; or, Dynamic Laws and Relations of Man,\" etc.\n\n    A.\u00a0L.\u00a0U.\n\n\nII.\n\nWIFE OF GENERAL WADDY THOMPSON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA.\n\nGeneral Waddy Thompson was a widower when I first knew him (he had met\nmy mother and sisters in Washington, in 1852). Subsequently he attended\nmy s\u00e9ances frequently. On the occasion I now speak of (in the fall of\n1857), he called to make an engagement with me to see him and his young,\nsecond wife, who was an invalid. As they were going to start for home\nthe next morning, he wished to come that afternoon. It was cold, and the\nsnow and frozen rain came down heavily, but at the appointed time a\ncarriage drove to the door, and Mrs. Thompson was carried into the house\nby two men. She was beautiful alike in person and in character. Her\nlameness and great suffering, which she had endured for over four years,\nhad had their origin in milk fever, which had settled in her leg, and\nhad baffled the skill of the most renowned physicians of Europe and\nAmerica.\n\nThe manifestations of Spirit presence came freely, and very soon Mrs.\nThompson cried out, \"Oh! something is taking hold of my limbs with\nhands!\" The General begged her to sit still, saying, \"Do not stir, my\ndear; it is your Spirit guardian who loves you.\" She wept and called on\nher mother's Spirit to come, saying, \"Dear mother, I want you to go with\nme where I go, and watch over us all.\"\n\nMrs. Thompson was cured, and walked back without difficulty from Ludlow\nPlace to the St. Nicholas Hotel.\n\nTwo years later, in 1859, she and her lovely sister, Miss Jones,\naccompanied the General to New York, and on learning that it was our\nreception night, came to enjoy the evening with us, and related the\ncircumstances before a very large party.\n\n\nIII.\n\nWIFE OF MR. DAVIS, OF PROVIDENCE, R.\u00a0I.\n\nThe third I save myself the trouble of writing by copying it from Robert\nDale Owen's \"Debatable Land,\" page 513. But in doing so I correct an\nerror of _date_ which was natural enough on the part of Mrs. Davis in a\nnarration made in 1862 of an occurrence which had taken place some five\nyears before. In point of fact it occurred in 1857, while I resided in\nmy house, No. 1 Ludlow Place. She erroneously makes it February, 1858,\ninstead of 1857. My marriage with Mr. Underhill was on the 2d of\nNovember, 1858. Of course I was not \"Mrs. Underhill,\" but Mrs. Brown,\nat the time of this extraordinary cure; though it was natural that Mrs.\nDavis in 1862 should speak of me by the name which had then been mine\nfor about four years; and also that this should have misled Mr. Owen,\nand caused him to understand the case as having occurred after I had\nbecome Mrs. U. The reader will therefore, in perusing this narrative,\nsimply change the word \"Underhill\" to Brown. With that unimportant\ncorrection, the whole of it is strictly true. See letter from Mrs. Davis\nto me, written on her return home from this visit, dated August 8, 1857,\npage 391.\n\n\n_Paralysis of the Motor Nerve._\n\n\"In the month of February, 1858, a lady, the wife of Mr. Davis, of\nProvidence, R.\u00a0I., was residing at her home in the immediate vicinity of\nthat city.\n\n\"It happened, one morning, when a large and powerful horse was standing\nharnessed in front of the house, that a servant, passing carelessly\nclose to the animal with a child's carriage in which was an infant\ndaughter of Mrs. Davis, accidentally dropped the tongue of the carriage\nclose to the horse's heels. Mrs. Davis, seeing the danger of her child,\nrushed to the horse's head, and seizing him suddenly by the bridle with\nher right hand, the animal reared violently so as almost to lift her\nfrom her feet. She succeeded, however, in leading him off from her\nchild, which thus escaped unhurt.\n\n\"At the moment she experienced no pain; afterward she went about her\nusual occupations, but felt faint and languid throughout the day. About\nten o'clock P.M., sitting down to supper, she first noticed a pain in\nher elbow, and then, when she attempted to use her right hand, was\nunable to do so; she found it impossible to close three of the fingers\nof that hand, the index-finger alone obeying the impulse of her will.\nAfter a time the pain increased and extended above the elbow.\n\n\"In the course of the night the right leg also became affected, the pain\nextending to the hip.\n\n\"In the morning she discovered that she could not, by any effort of the\nwill, move either the right arm or the right leg.\n\n\"The physicians declared it to be a case of paralysis of the motor\nnerves, caused chiefly by sudden excitement. For a long time it resisted\nall remedies. During seven weeks the paralysis continued unabated.\n\n\"In all that time she never used hand or arm: when she walked she had to\ndrag the right leg after her. The leg, too, became cold even to the hip,\nand all efforts to warm it were ineffectual.\n\n\"In the month of April she experienced slight relief by the frequent use\nof electricity; but only so far that, by a special effort of the will,\nshe could partially move her hand and arm. Habitually she rested the\nelbow on her hip, or, when sitting in an arm-chair, raised it with the\nother hand so as to rest it on the chair-arm. Nor did she ever, until\nthe incident about to be related, regain the power of straightening\neither leg or arm. Nor was the warmth of the leg at all restored; and\nwhen she walked she still had to drag it after her along the ground.\n\n\"This continued, without alteration or improvement, until the month of\nJuly, 1858; and by this time she had become comparatively disheartened.\nLife seemed to her no longer worth having: a cripple for life, a burden\nto her friends, useless to her family. She gave way to tears and\ndespondency.\n\n\"In the early part of July a friend, Mrs. J., wife of a gentleman well\nknown in New York literary circles[17] and who had been staying with\nMrs. Davis, proposed to close her visit and return to that city.\nSuddenly Mrs. Davis experienced an impulse for which she could not at\nall account. It was an urgent desire to go to New York and visit Mrs.\nUnderhill (Leah Fox), with whom she was not acquainted, having merely\nheard of her through Mrs. J. She said to that lady (Mrs. J.) that\nif she would remain with her a day longer, she (Mrs. Davis) would\naccompany her to New York and visit Mrs. Underhill in hope of relief.\nMrs. J. consenting, they left Providence on the evening of July 3d,\nnotwithstanding the doubts expressed by Mr. Davis whether his wife\nwould be able to endure the journey, reached New York next morning,\nand proceeded at once to Mrs. Underhill's.\n\n    [17] Oliver Johnson, Editor of the _Anti-Slavery Standard_.\n\n\"Mrs. Davis was so much exhausted on her arrival, that she retired to a\nprivate room until the afternoon, when she, Mrs. J., and Mrs. Underhill\nmet in the parlor.\n\n\"Loud raps being heard, it was proposed to sit down at the centre-table.\nIt being but three o'clock in the afternoon, there was bright day-light.\n\n\"Soon after the ladies sat down, all their hands being on the table,\nMrs. Davis felt the ankle of her right leg seized as by the firm grasp\nof a human hand, the foot raised, and the heel placed in what seemed\nanother hand.[18] The touch of the fingers and thumb was unmistakably\ndistinct, and indicated that it was a right hand which grasped the\nankle, while a left hand received the heel. After a time the hand which\nhad seized the ankle released its grasp, and Mrs. Davis felt it make\npasses down the leg. These passes were continued about ten minutes. Mrs.\nDavis felt a sensation as of the circulation pervading the paralyzed\nlimb; and the natural warmth, of which it had been for months deprived,\ngradually returned. At the expiration of about ten minutes, there was\nspelled out by raps: 'Rise and walk.'\n\n    [18] The allegation by rapping was, that the agency was that of\n    a deceased brother of Mrs. Davis.\n\n\"Mrs. Davis arose and found, with an amazement which she said no words\ncould describe, that she could walk as well as she had ever done in her\nlife. She paced up and down the room to assure herself that it was a\nreality: the pain, the paralysis were gone; she could use the hitherto\ndisabled leg as freely as the other. After more than four months of\nsuffering and of decrepitude, she found the natural warmth and vigor of\nthe limb suddenly and (as it would be commonly phrased) miraculously\nrestored.\n\n\"This terminated the sitting for the time; the _arm_ still remaining\nparalyzed as before. But late in the evening, after the departure of\nseveral visitors, the ladies sat down again. This time, by rapping, a\nrequest was made to darken the room. After a brief delay the arm was\nmanipulated as the leg had been, but with more force, as if rubbed\ndownward from the shoulder by a smooth and somewhat elastic piece of\nmetal, like the steel busk sometimes used in ladies' stays. After this\nhad been continued for some time, what seemed to the touch a steel busk\nwas laid in Mrs. Davis's right hand, and, by raps, a request was spelled\nout to close the fingers upon it. This she found herself able to do with\na firm grasp. Then the busk was drawn forcibly from her hand.\n\n\"From that time forth she recovered the use of her arm as completely as\nshe had that of her leg. Nor has she had pain or any return of the\nparalysis, or weakness, or loss of temperature, in either limb, from\nthat day to the present time;[19] that is, during four years.\n\n    [19] Written July, 1862, when this narrative was communicated to\n    me.\n\n\"In communicating the above to me, as Mrs. Davis did, in presence of the\nsame friend who accompanied her to Mrs. Underhill's, Mrs. Davis kindly\ngave me permission to use her name.\"[20]\n\n    [20] The above was related to me July 20, 1862, by Mrs. Davis\n    herself. I wrote it out next day; and submitted the manuscript\n    on the 24th of July to Mrs. Davis, in presence of Mrs. J., for\n    authentication. It was assented to by both ladies as correct.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS LETTERS.\n\n  J. HEDDON--S. CHAMBERLAIN--JOHN E. ROBINSON--A. UNDERHILL--GEORGE\n    LEE, M.\u00a0D.\n\n\nThe two following letters, from Mr. Heddon and Judge Chamberlain to me,\nI take from _The Cleveland Plaindealer_, in which paper they are thus\nprefaced by the editor:\n\n\"_More Testimony._--Some friends of Mrs. Fish, on learning her intended\nvisit to this city, gave her many flattering letters, signifying their\ngreat esteem for her and confidence in the 'good cause,' as they call\nit, of the doctrine of Spiritualism. Among the many such testimonials we\nselect the following from J. Heddon, Esq., and Judge Chamberlain, men of\nthe first standing in their community.\"\n\n\nJ. HEDDON.\n\n    \"STAFFORD, May 9, 1851.\n\n\"RESPECTED MADAM: As Mr. Chamberlain and myself left Rochester before we\nhad an opportunity of copying those Spiritual manifestations, I will now\ntranscribe and send them to you by mail, and Mr. Chamberlain engages to\ndo the same. You are at perfect liberty to make any use you may think\nproper of mine, including or omitting the name, as you may think best;\nfor I am alike indifferent to frowns or flattery. I feel a lively\ninterest in the cause, and I believe many of my friends will be induced\nto pay you a visit on your return from the West; and most assuredly\nyour humble servant among the rest. The communications I copy _verbatim_\non the other side of the sheet.\n\n\"Wishing you a pleasant and successful visit to Cleveland, I am\n\n    \"Your most ob't servant,\n      \"J. HEDDON.\"\n\n\n    \"STAFFORD, May 9, 1851.\n\n\"You are aware that, for the first time, I had manifestations on my\nperson of the presence of Spirits at your house on Thursday last, after\nwhich I received the following communication from my Spirit friends. My\nwife thus addressed me:\n\n\"'My dear: I am with you always; in the silent hour of midnight, when\nall is quiet, I rest upon your bosom and bless you, and keep you safe.'\n\n\"_Message to her Child._--'Teach her to know her mother watches over\nher; tell her she has a mother \"still living,\" teach her to know that\ndeath hath no terror--the transition from Earth to Heaven is past\ndescription; we shall all be again united. All is well.'\n\n\"The Spirit of my father then said: 'I sanction all she has said--the\nTruth will rise triumphant--the cause is good. God rules victorious.'\n\n\"In answer to a question whether I should have manifestations at home,\nmy wife replied, 'I will make sounds upon your pillows.'\n\n\"The Spirit of a recently departed brother said, 'Tell her (our mother)\nI thought of her when I was dying, and desired to see you all, but when\nmy soul was released I came to your abode, and was greatly delighted\nwith my privileges. Things will change with you, and you will rejoice\nand know the truth.'\n\n\"The numerous test questions I kept no record of, and consequently they\nare omitted here.\n\n    \"J. HEDDON.\n\n\"N.\u00a0B. My brother died far away from home, which accounts for the above\nmessage to his mother.\"\n\n\nS. CHAMBERLAIN.\n\n    \"LE ROY, N.\u00a0Y., May 10, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. A.\u00a0L. FISH:\n\n\"I herewith annex a copy of an account of some incidents which occurred\nat your house on the 7th inst. The following _mental_ questions were\nasked and replied to by the Spirits in the usual manner.\n\n\"I asked if the Spirit I then had in my mind were present? Answer,\n'Yes.'\n\n\"I then asked if the Spirit would give me a message. The alphabet was\ncalled for and the following was spelled out:\n\n\"'I used to oppose the subject. I departed this life within the last\nyear; I am convinced of the reality of these things now. I visited\nMrs. Fish soon after I left the mortal body, and was pleased with my\ninterview. I scorned the idea of visiting her when I lived on earth,\nbut now I am delighted to call occasionally and listen to the\ncommunications. I wish I had known something more about these things\nbefore I left the earth.'\n\n\"I asked him to give me the letters of his name; which he did. This I\nconsidered a good test, as no one present could know whom I had in my\nmind; and the fact of his death and opinions on this subject were true,\nas I had been intimately acquainted with him for a period of twenty\nyears, and had had many interviews with him on the subject.\n\n\"I then asked, mentally, for the Spirit of a new acquaintance, with whom\nI had a misunderstanding while in life, which was not settled at his\ndeath. I asked him, mentally, what he had to say on the subject? The\nalphabet was called for, and said, 'We are good friends again. All\ndifferences are now settled forever.'\n\n\"I then said, mentally, 'Perhaps I was wrong.' He said, 'No, I was in\nfault.' I asked him to spell his first name, which he did. I asked the\nSpirit of my father-in-law if I should have a medium in my family. He\nanswered, by alphabet, 'You have a medium in your family already;' which\nwas true. I asked in what way. He replied, 'A medium in writing.' This\nwas also true. I asked him to spell his name, which he declined. I\nasked him why the Spirits declined, generally, to give their names. He\nanswered, 'That would convince the sceptic too easily.' He then said,\n'No good thing can be obtained without some labor--the husbandman must\ntill his ground before it will bring forth much fruit.' There were many\nother questions and answers that I consider equally good tests, but have\nno time to give them now.\n\n\"Wishing you much pleasure and true friends through life,\n\n    I am very sincerely yours,\n      \"S. CHAMBERLAIN.\"\n\n\nThis Judge Chamberlain was one of the most respectable citizens of Le\nRoy, N.\u00a0Y.\n\n\nJOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, May 23, 1851.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH: Your letter was received two days since, and I thank\nyour punctuality in thus early remembering not to forget me. The\naccompanying half-sheet was very welcome to Rachel. You could hardly\nhave written more, under the circumstances. I will therefore excuse you\nfor not giving me a particular account of things up to the date when\nyours was penned. I shall, however, expect a long letter from you soon,\nwritten all to me, and as the warfare has, by this time, fairly opened\nbetween our friends, the Spirits, and their antagonists in Cleveland,\nyou will have enough to tell me. The result of the 'passage at arms' is,\nof course, not doubtful to any who, like me, are aware of the temper of\nthe weapons which the Spirits wield against their opponents. But we are\nall interested, exceedingly so, in looking on, while the battle is waged\nin a new field, with fresh antagonists confident in their own strength\nbecause ignorant of the power of the opposing force. It is amusing, this\nconfidence of inflated ignorance! but it is such a universal weakness,\nthat we can hardly any longer wonder at its manifestation. You have so\noften witnessed it, and have so often triumphed over those who came to\nsneer and scoff at you, that I think you can well afford now to keep\nyour temper well harnessed on such occasions, and let your auditors see\nhow calm, how confident you are, while awaiting their overthrow. Why,\nLeah, you can afford to wear a smile and confront, with an unflashing\neye, the deriding, sneering sceptic, or even the enraged bigot, who\nbacks his authoritative condemnation by relating falsehoods that have\nbeen a thousand times refuted. 'But it is difficult,' say you, 'for me\nto be _more_ than mortal.' I know it, and doubt very much if I could be\nhalf as patient as you are. But I am at a _safe distance_, and have\nhazarded giving you (very modestly) this quiet hint. The application\nof whalebone to a man's back _may_ help his manners and regulate the\nmovements of his tongue and pen, but it is not very apt to convince\nhis reason. Mr. Sackett, probably, is quite aware of this; and his\nadministration of the corrective was evidently intended for the moral\nimprovement of the _Herald_ man. You wish he (Mr. S.) would come and\nmete out such justice to the Rochester editorial fraternity. I do not.\nThey are not _worth_ the _trouble_ of horse-whipping, and besides, only\nbe patient, Leah, and you will see them yet so confoundedly trounced by\nthe Spirits, that it will last them till the orthodox judgment day damns\nthem. It is to be hoped you are wise enough to retire from company\nsufficiently early in the evening to give you time for rest. There is\nscarcely anything which more destroys one's equanimity of mind than this\nneglect of rest. Now will you remember and take care of yourself? I have\nnot yet done with you, for this reason--you need scolding once in a\nwhile, and have but few friends who are willing to do it; so I shall\nremind you, on all proper occasions, of your delinquencies. It occurred\nto me the other day that we were wrong in so often thinking, latterly,\nthat Spiritualism had made but little advance in some time. It is true,\nso far as our knowledge is concerned; and the number of mediums for\nSpiritual communications seems very limited. But all this while the\nsubject has been taking hold of people's minds in _all parts of the\ncountry_. They do not stop thinking because a few church conferences\nand priest-ridden journalists tell them to. Editors who have some\nindependence will write, and their readers will digest anything which is\nmade palatable by the semblance of candor. There is, perhaps, no one\nsubject which is more thought of throughout this country and Europe at\nthis very time than these Spirit, demonstrations. I believe you will go\nto England and France; but when, and how, and under what auspices, I\nwill not try to guess. Tell Calvin I am obliged for the papers sent by\nhim. I have not seen any of the inmates of your house since you left. I\nwould call there if there were any necessity, but you have left matters\nin safe custody.\n\n\"Say to your sister Maria I hope the journey affords her pleasure, both\nin seeing a part of the beauties of the great West and in rendering you\nassistance, who so often want a sister upon whom you can lean and rely\nwith confidence.\n\n\"My best regards to her and Calvin, as well as yourself.\n\n    \"Yours truly,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\nA. UNDERHILL.\n\n    \"CLEVELAND, O., June 19, 1851.\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIEND LEAH:\n\n\"I trust you will appreciate the motive that prompts me to write\nthis to you. I have thought much on the subject, and will make a few\nsuggestions. Your position, as a family, before the world, is now of\ngreat importance. The fact of communicating with Spirits has not only\nbeen fully established in the minds of a few, but is becoming generally\nacknowledged by the intelligent world. Your record will necessarily form\na great part of the history of the world from this time onward, and\nthough your present trials and perplexities seem past endurance, yet\npatience and perseverance, until a final triumph overtakes you, should\nbe your polar star and watchword.\n\n\"There ever have been martyrs for truth's sake, and ever will be; and\nthough it may be grievous to bear the taunts and sneers of the ignorant,\nself-wise, and conceited bigot, yet, if the cause demands it we must\nendure the sacrifice and look beyond for the reward. I, who have battled\nfor years with the enemies of progress, have become inured to their\nunblushing insolence, and while I handle their errors without much\nmercy, I pity their ignorance. _You_ are differently situated, and\n_severely tried_ on every hand, but you are enlisted in the good cause,\nand you must not look back but upward and onward. Thousands are joining\nyour ranks, and your banner floats over the world. We are all fighting\nthe good fight of faith, and our motto is, 'Truth and justice to all\nmankind.'\n\n\"Other mediums are being developed, and their name will soon be legion,\ntheir power and influence irresistible. Already might you as well try to\nturn back the waters of the Niagara as to stay the onward march of the\ncause in which you and your family have been selected to take the lead\nand 'fight the good fight.' My dear Leah, remember the 'wise man' who\n'built his house upon a rock, and the rain descended, and the floods\ncame, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for\nit was founded upon a rock.' Let 'false prophets' arise (as I know they\nwill) and 'come to you in sheep's clothing.' You are in the right and\nhave nothing to fear. Many, too, will try to usurp your rights, but\ntrust in God. 'Fear not, neither be dismayed.' Take courage, then, my\ndear friend, and do not despair. Fight with reason, truth, and prudence,\nbut never surrender to cowardly slander or bigoted insolence; never,\nnever!\n\n\"Now, what I wish to say is this: The relations in which you stand to\nthe origin of this unbounded subject, make it highly important that your\nwhole history should be carefully preserved. In fact, you should keep a\ndaily journal, and record therein the progress and developments of this\nnew (and to many) startling science--for so I deem it. The fact is that\nyour names must form an inseparable part of the history of modern\nSpiritualism, and it is important that you should have that justice\nwhich the truth alone can give you. Hence, while it is fresh in the\nmind, your mother, yourself, or some one should carefully collect and\narrange these early facts, in such a way as to secure them and place\nthem where they belong, beyond all doubt or argument; and also, as far\nas is in your power, you should enter daily, if but two or three\ntimes, the distinguished names of your daily investigators, the names\nof the places you visit, and the thousand calls 'to come' from every\npart of the United States and from Europe. Do not neglect or deem it\nunimportant, for the time will come when it will be deeply regretted\n(if not by you) by those who come after you. Without saying more at\nthis time, please accept my best wishes, and be assured of my\nco-operation and willingness to share with you all the jeers and\ntaunts of sceptics or obstinate bigots. I much prefer the former, as\nthere is more hope for the sceptic than the bigot. I choose to stand\nwith a few who are in the right rather than with the many in the\nwrong. Smiles or frowns are alike unheeded when they come from the\nignorant or _self-wise_.\n\n    \"Most truly and respectfully your friend,\n      \"A. UNDERHILL.\"\n\n\nGEORGE LEE, M.D.\n\n    \"BARR\u00c9, MASS., June 30, 1851.\n\n\"MRS. ANN L. FISH:\n\n\"DEAR MADAM--I address you almost as a stranger, although I had the\nhonor of a short acquaintance at your place in Rochester, last\nSeptember. I was at your house on the same day with several clergymen\nfrom Massachusetts. I was then on my way to Mt. Morris on business. A\nlady from Mt. Morris visited you, a Mrs. Mashon (an acquaintance of\nyours). While I was stopping there at her house, she informed me that\nyourself and sisters were about to leave home for a time, and I was much\ndisappointed on finding you were all absent when I returned, as I was\nthen anxious to further investigate those mysterious manifestations. I\nfelt that I had been severely scathed in this world by the loss of all\nour children; and although I was educated strictly in the orthodox\nchurch and its tenets, yet I was somewhat sceptical in regard to the\nsoul's immortality. You cannot wonder that I should seek confirmation of\nthe soul's future life.\n\n\"When, therefore, I heard those mysterious sounds for the first time at\nyour house, it produced a thrill of joy, as being the strongest evidence\nof a future life that I had ever met with; and though I was satisfied\nthat there was no trick, no collusion in the sounds, yet I have not been\nso certain that it might not be some newly developed or newly elaborated\nelectrical effect; yet the evidence is in favor of its Spirituality. It\nis the most natural solution of the whole subject, and I should regret,\nas much as any one, to have it prove otherwise.\n\n\"I am satisfied that the mediums are honest and unconscious of the\nprimary cause of the phenomena. I am somewhat acquainted with\nSwedenborg's writings, and very well acquainted with A.\u00a0J. Davis and his\nwritings. I consider Davis and his writings among the greatest wonders\nof the world. That a young man, without education, without even having\nread books, should have given to the world such far-reaching thought and\nprofound philosophy, upon the most abstruse and metaphysical subjects,\nis a marvel indeed! The history of mankind cannot produce a parallel\nfact. And yet we do not suppose he has no errors. He does not claim\ninfallibility. In 'Nature's Divine Revelations' he says, 'Let then what\nI am impressed to state, be received as true or rejected as false, as it\naddresses itself to your judgment, or according to its appeals to your\nreason.'\n\n\"The highest angel in the universe could not give the whole philosophy\nof the universe, because that Spirit does not possess a perfect\nknowledge of _all things_; and I have seen many criticisms of Mr.\nDavis's writings, but they generally show that the writers of them do\nnot comprehend him; and although some strictures may be just, the great\nmajority of them evince a real misapprehension on the part of their\nauthors.\n\n\"Le Roy Sunderland has made two: one upon Mr. Davis's recent work,\n'The Philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse.' In both of Mr. Sunderland's\ncriticisms he shows his own want of discrimination. Dr. Gridley has\nanother article in _The Spirit World_ as a criticism of Davis. It\ndarkens knowledge with words. They do not take a very comprehensive view\nof Davis's philosophy. They seem to forget that Davis uses language\nfiguratively.\n\n\"I am somewhat acquainted with Mr. Sunderland, have been at his house\nrecently, and heard the rappings in presence of his daughter, Mrs.\nCooper, as a medium. The rappings are obscure--not more than one-quarter\nas loud or as distinct as I have heard them at your house--much of the\ntime so light as scarcely to be heard; yet I was satisfied at the time\nthat they were the same kind of sounds. I have been before several other\nmediums; the sounds are all much smaller than at your house.\n\n\"Mr. Sunderland seems to be unsettled in his mind about the Spirit\nworld, and about the Spirits being good or bad, or _how much_ evil; and\nis rather disposed to fall in with Swedenborg, at present, on that\nsubject. Mr. Sunderland will do some good with his paper, but I regret\nsome of his articles. This criticism upon Davis is most unjust and\nuncalled for.\n\n\"I am confident Mr. Davis is more correct, more consistent in his\nphilosophy of the Bible and the Spirit world, than Swedenborg.\n\n\"Nature and Reason is the standard whereby Davis directs to test all\nthese subjects. God manifesting himself in Nature, in the Universe, is\na true revelation to man, and whatever corresponds to the philosophy as\ndiscovered in Nature is truth.\n\n\"If a revelation is given us not in harmony with philosophy which is\n_known_ to be true, then that revelation is false. Davis's standard and\ngeneral philosophy cannot be overthrown; Davis sometimes being himself\nin sympathy with higher or purer Spirits, may use language to convey too\nhigh or too pure conceptions of the Spirit world; but if Davis is too\nhigh, Swedenborg is too low. His hells are inconsistent with a God\nof wisdom; and if the doctrine of progressive development can be\nestablished, or is true, as I think it is, then Swedenborg's doctrines\nare not all true; but that is the great doctrine of Davis's philosophy,\nand if it is true, it is all we need. Ultimately we must all become\nright.\n\n\"Although Swedenborg was a very learned and good man, and was\nSpiritually enlightened while on earth, yet his mind was trammelled by\nhis preconceived theological views. Davis's mind is under less bias, and\nmore free. I am well convinced his writings are destined to produce a\ngreat effect upon Christendom. Such men, or writers, as Sunderland,\nFarrald, and others who follow Swedenborg in part, do not seem to take\nin the whole ground in one view. They view the Universe in fragmentary\nparts. They do not seem to consider that a certain relation exists\nbetween all things. That\n\n      'All are but parts of one stupendous whole,\n      Whose body Nature is, and God the soul;'\n\nthat Law is necessary as Light; all is an effect of the same interior\ncause. The higher could not exist without the lower; and surely without\nthe lower there could be no progress, and without the parts the whole\ncould not exist. Higher and lower, evil and good, heat and cold, are\nrelative terms, comparatively positive or negative. I have not written\none word of what I intended to write, and what I especially requested a\nreply to. So you see that nearly my whole letter is a digression. But\nnow to the subject.\n\n\"I correspond with the Rev. A. Wilder, of Syracuse, N.\u00a0Y., who lately\nwrote to me that a Doctor Boynton, an itinerant lecturer, had been at\nSyracuse and informed him and Prof. Bush, of New York City, and others,\nthat he, the said Boynton, had been at your place at Rochester, and was\nthere informed by a cousin to yourself (a lady) how the rappings were\nmade, and that it was all a trick done in various ways, by the toes and\nby the fingers, etc. Dr. Boynton said that he pretended to be friendly,\ngot communication with his father's Spirit (who was not dead), and then\nhe detected this lady in rapping and charged her with it; and she owned\nup to him and taught him how to rap, which he was practising. To me this\nseemed absurd and like a falsehood. I replied to my friend, and used\nsome pretty strong language to convince him that Dr. Boynton was an\nimpostor, a deceiver, a liar, and unworthy of credit. I said to him that\na man who went to your place and was permitted to investigate the matter\nfairly, 'without money and without price,' and then went around the\ncountry telling such stories, would not need his ears much lengthened\nto bray, and what I wondered most at was, that Prof. Bush and Rev. A.\nWilder, M.D.--for he has both letters prefixed to his name--should give\nany credit to him. But, notwithstanding this, friend Wilder writes me\nagain and says he has no reason to question the veracity of Dr. Boynton.\n\n\"Now I wish you to reply to me and give me the facts in this case, so\nthat I may be able to know them, and relate them to my friends, Doctor\nWilder and Prof. Bush. These two men are both Swedenborgian preachers,\nand Dr. Wilder is also a medical lecturer in the medical school in\nSyracuse. A.\u00a0J. Davis says, in his recent work on Spiritual intercourse,\nthat the mediums sometimes may produce the rapping or other\nmanifestations unconsciously to themselves: being impressed by the\nSpirits or a strong desire to do what the Spirits are about to do, or\nwhat they greatly desire themselves. Whether anything of the kind occurs\nwith yourself or sisters, I never learned. If so, candidly and honestly\ninform me.\n\n\"There are things which we shall all better understand by and by.\n\n\"I saw Mr. A.\u00a0J. Davis a few days ago. He says, 'There is a better time\ncoming.' I don't know whether this will reach you at Rochester. I\nbelieve you are much absent. I heard from you in Buffalo through\na Mrs. Bond, of Mt. Morris. You will recollect a rather tall,\nlight-complexioned lady who had lost a sister and infant. She read to me\nher questions and answers to them before yourself and sister Margaretta.\nThis lady is talented, one of earth's progressive spirits. She first\ninformed me of the opposition you met with in Buffalo. Since then I have\nnoticed in the papers your reply, etc., to Doctors Lee, Flint, and\nCoventry.\n\n\"You have my sympathy in your trials. It appears to me that you have\ngreat reason to rejoice that you were instrumental, in the hands of\nSupreme Powers, in giving to the world a more substantial assurance of\nan immortality, and you have, through the tests you freely submitted to,\nforever silenced the theory of C. Chauncy Burr, and put to shame his\nemissaries. I have but little fellowship with Dr. Charles A. Lee, of\nBuffalo, although I bear the same title and am a relative of his. Mrs.\nMashon, of Mt. Morris, is a friend to you, and said she was formerly a\nneighbor of yours. Her testimony gave you a good moral character. It\nmight be useful, if necessary, in your case with Burr.\n\n\"I do not know what your intentions may be with C. C. Burr, but am glad\nyou noticed him as you did. He is a great impostor. Mr. Grimes is\nanother.\n\n    \"Yours fraternally,\n      \"GEO. W. LEE, M.D.\"\n\n\nJOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, March 23, 1852.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH: It is alike a pleasure and a duty for me to thank you\nfor your very welcome letter, which came to hand this morning. A letter\nfrom you had become of so rare occurrence, that this was, I assure you,\nparticularly pleasant to me. It reminded me forcibly of some favors of\nthe kind which past years bear record of, and which served, in no slight\ndegree, to give me those more pleasurable emotions in which consists the\nhappiness of life. I thank you very much for the message transmitted.\nThere is something in the communication _very like that sister_ from\nwhom it purports to come. So like, that after reading it and pondering\nupon the language, I fell into a half reverie, and imagined I could see\nthrough the veil that separates us, and could read in the eyes that\nlooked lovingly upon her brother, a confirmation of that which your\npen transcribed for me. I will keep it a long time, as a remembrance,\nand will be again obliged, whenever a repetition of the favor may be\nexperienced without taxing your patience and generosity beyond its\nfriendly bounds. I presume I should have become a medium long ago if\nmy condition had been suitable; I have no doubt of the wisdom of the\nSpirits in refraining from intrusting me with the commission such\nmediumship would have imposed. My nervous temperament is somewhat\npeculiar, and I am quite satisfied now that I would have been a poor\nservant of the cause, if anything like a position in the front ranks of\nit had been assigned me.\n\n\"As it is I am as ever a deeply interested spectator of the events as\nthey transpire, and looking, with entire and unflagging confidence, for\nthe time coming when the more glorious fruits of these newly developed\ntruths will ripen for the eye best fitted to appreciate them. I think,\nsometimes, that this Spiritualism advances upon the world of mind as the\ninflowing tide of ocean floods the shore. It seems to come in waves;\neach succeeding one beats further upon the strand than its predecessor.\nIs it not so? And is there not in the one an approximation to the\ngrandeur of the other? But you never stood, when a child, on Newport\nbeach, and may not see the meaning of my remark. I have tried to watch\nthese things clearly, and, without a spirit of assumption, I think I may\nsay I have made no great mistake in the matter in its earliest stage. I\npredicted the very course, on the part of the priesthood, which they\nhave since taken (see Charles Beecher's report). I claim no shrewdness\nfor this, because it is the only one they can take and maintain\nthemselves to their last hour. It is their last stronghold! and when\nthat falls they fall with it. Now of your proposed visit to Rochester.\nThe friends will, of course, be very glad to see you, and will expect\nyou to make less haste to get away. I told Isaac what you said about it,\nbut have not yet seen Amy. Her health is much improved, and she is the\nsame blessed woman she ever was, and, I know, wants to have a good visit\nfrom you and Katie Fox.\n\n    \"Yours truly,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\nSAME.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, May 23, 1852.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH:\n\n\"So you have really broken your long and persevering silence! I am\nobliged to you for the letter, which was received last evening, and\nespecially for the postscript added thereunto. You know it is said that\na woman's letter is never finished without a P. S.; but it is seldom so\ngenerous in its dimensions, or so full of sentiment, as to outweigh that\nto which it is appended.\n\n\"What a dishonest world this is! Your letter is half cheerful, half sad;\nand I, who know your life about as well as any one, do not wonder that\nit should be so. I am thankful, Leah, that the Recording Angel always\ntells a straight story upon the pages of his manuscript; thankful for\nmyself, for you, and for others, that we are not to be judged in that\nCourt whose sentence is final upon ex-parte evidence. Had my lot in\nearly life been cast as yours was, I do not think I should be as good as\nyou are, or even as happy.\n\n\"And this task which the Spirits have imposed upon you of late years, is\nanything but a light one. It has its brighter side, as I well know, its\nlightening influences; and were this not the case, no one, not even\nyourself, could endure the wear constant and severe, upon the mind, for\na single year. I can only advise you (just here), as I often have, to\ndevote sufficient time to rest; and do not rob yourself of that which\nnature demands, and which she _will have_ or impose a penalty.\n\n\"I am glad to know that you find friends, whom you do so much prize,\namong your lady visitors. You and I agree in one thing at least, that\na true and noble-souled woman is worth a thousand of the average\nstandard; and it is something to be able to appreciate and love such\na character. Do you not think so?\n\n\"Isaac and Amy received your letter to them to-day and sent it to me to\nread.\n\n    \"Your friend,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS LETTERS (_Continued_).\n\n  E.\u00a0F. NORTON--JOHN E. ROBINSON--GOVERNOR N.\u00a0P. TALLMADGE--PAULINE\n    M. DAVIS--SAME--JOHN E. ROBINSON--PROF. I. JAY WATSON.\n\n\n    \"CINCINNATI, June 14, 1852.\n\n\"MISS CATHERINE FOX AND SISTERS:\n\n\"Permit me to offer a few thoughts in reference to your late visit to\nthe Queen City. Having spent the day in calling on a number of the\nfriends who visited you while here, I find but one opinion, and that of\nregret at the necessity of your having to leave so soon. I have just\nleft the Walnut Street House. The captain informs me that no less than\nfifty persons had called to see you during the day. He said, 'They came\nby carriage loads.' Your friend Sweeney, the proprietor, is on the\nanxious-seat. The Spirit told him that a sister of his, residing in\nTexas, was dead. He received a letter this morning, after you left,\nconveying the sad intelligence of the death of that sister. I think he\nmay be classed as a convert to the cause. I can but think that, had you\nremained another week, the receipts would have doubled. The friends feel\nthat to wait till September is out of the question. Do prevail on one of\nyour sisters, Mrs. Fish, Margaretta, or Mrs. Smith, to return with you\nimmediately. Will not the good Spirits approve of it? It does seem to\nme that Cincinnati is the best point in the West, both in a pecuniary\npoint of view and for the advancement of the cause. Miss Cronk, of\nPainesville, and her father, are expected here soon, the circle having\nwritten and received an answer that they would come. Should they come,\nit will be for the benefit of the circle, and cannot interfere with your\nvisit. My Spiritual friends are all telegraphing me while writing, in\napprobation, perhaps, of what I am saying. I forgot to give you the book\ncontaining the list of the names of the visitors. I will copy it and\nenclose it to you. Please advise your sisters, and believe me\n\n    \"Yours truly,\n      \"E.\u00a0F. NORTON.\"\n\n\n      \"CLIPPER SHIP SEA SERPENT,\n    PACIFIC OCEAN, June 21, 1852. Lat. 22 N., Long. 118 W.\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIEND:\n\n\"My association with your family, during the past summer and winter, I\ntrust is a sufficient apology for the liberty I take in addressing you.\nThe past three months have offered a good time for reflection, and I\nacknowledge to a feeling of solicitude for you all. I know you have\nfriends in all parts of the world, but, I am sorry to say, even some of\nyour best friends sometimes fail to appreciate the severe tests through\nwhich you are compelled to pass, in order to prove the genuineness of\nSpirit manifestations. You will oblige me very much if you will write me\nparticulars in regard to your success in your new home, surrounded by\nnew friends, etc., etc.\n\n\"Mr. Greeley expressed a hope that you would stop at his home until your\nhouse is settled and ready for occupation. He also expects that Katy\nwill accept his invitation to come immediately to attend school, and\nremain with them until you are settled in New York. It is only since my\nsea-life that I have fully realized the situation. You are exposed to\nthe scoffs and ridicule of the masses, at all times and in all places.\nThis great and important truth is destined to revolutionize the world,\nand will render your names a part of the history of the age. It has\nalready done so. I shall claim as a right from you, occasionally, a full\naccount of the progress of the cause. The subject has been a very dear\none to me. In fact, I feel that I am living in a different sphere since\nI have been acquainted with the object of my own existence, and have a\nclearer perception of a life beyond. I can realize the truth of that\nsaying, so common with the good old Methodists, viz., 'I enjoy a peace\nthat the world cannot give nor take away.'\n\n\"We are now almost one thousand miles from San Francisco, being only\nfour or five days' sail, with a fair wind. Unfortunately, however, the\nwind is turned unfavorable, and we may be as many weeks. This is our one\nhundred and fourth day at sea, without landing, having travelled some\nfifteen thousand miles.\n\n\"Our voyage, on the whole, has been very pleasant. The weather has been\nremarkably fine. We have not experienced one day of what the sailors\nterm rough weather. Our passage round Cape Horn, the place so much\ndreaded by all voyagers, was unusually favorable. We were only three\ndays in getting round, while it is common for ships to be from fifteen\nto thirty. The greatest treat of the voyage is the sunsets on this side.\nTheir wondrous beauties baffle every attempt at description. Will you\nhave the kindness to send by mail the piece of music, 'Haunted Ground'?\n\n\"With kind regards to all, I remain yours truly,\n\n    \"E.\u00a0F. NORTON.\"\n\n\nJOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"ROCHESTER, N.\u00a0Y., October 20, 1853.\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND LEAH:\n\n\"I have received your note of a recent date, and am obliged to you for\nit, as I always am for a letter from you. But, what is the matter with\nyou? your letter is deeply tinged with sadness, and reads very much as I\nfeel sometimes, though from a different cause from any which appeared in\nyours.\n\n\"You have, or had just then, a November mood on, and here it is October,\nand a clear and bright sky; and although it be autumn, it is one of no\ncommon beauty. What has crossed your path? Are you not blessed with\nfriends good and true? such as you used to tell me of? and if your\nhealth is passingly good, what is there standing between you and your\nshare of happiness? I suppose I might give answers to these questions by\nlooking in upon my own life record: for a human is a human, and we\nare all of a piece in most things. But your letter leads me to these\nquestions, and so my pen has asked them. You do not say a word about\nSpirits, or what _they_ and _you_ are doing, leaving me to guess\neverything which I would know about those things.\n\n\"You recollect Frederica Bremer paid you a visit on Troup Street when\nshe was in this country. Her manner and remarks, as you related them to\nme, I remember in a general way, particularly as she was, on account of\nher eminent literary character, a marked personage; and I was somewhat\nsurprised this evening, when I read an extract from her recent book of\ntravels in America, in which she gives an account of her interview with\nyourself and sisters. It is evident that she was false to you, or else\nshe is _false to the public_ who now read her work. I mention this as a\npassing matter of but little consequence in itself, disconnected with\nother considerations, but which are inseparable therefrom.\n\n\"She is, through her writings, the familiar and admired companion in\ncountless homes here and elsewhere; and her opinions pass as of more\nvalue than those of most persons. I regret exceedingly that, for some\ncause, she has said either more or less than what seems to her the\ntruth. In the long run it will make no difference to truth itself, but I\ndo so hate to see one, whom I consider a noble spirit, swerve a hair's\nbreadth from the path of honor, merely to minister to the current\nopinions of a world that it should be too proud to bow to. It is but\nanother instance, another illustration of the truth of what I have often\nsaid to you and our friend George Willets, that there never has been\nanything which so severely tried the integrity of men and women as does\nthis Spiritualism.\n\n\"_The Rochester Union_ tells us you have quietly settled down in a place\ncalled Harmony, Chautauqua Co. No other paper has the news.\n\n    \"Yours,\n      \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\nGOVERNOR N.\u00a0P. TALLMADGE.\n\n    \"FOND DU LAC, WIS., March 27, 1857.\n\n\"DEAR MRS. BROWN:\n\n\"I received yesterday from Judge Smith the communication through you\nfrom my wife deceased. It was remarkable and significant in every point\nof view. Judge Smith writes that her name was not known to him nor to\nyou, and he did not know whether it be right or wrong. I wish to say to\nyou, it is exactly right--both the Christian name and the middle letter;\nand it is remarkable that whilst Judge Smith spells my name, as almost\nall persons spell it, with only one 'l,' to wit _Tal_madge, the name as\nrapped out, letter by letter, is _correctly_ spelled with two 'l's,' to\nwit, Tallmadge.\n\n\"I was much gratified with your note of condolence appended to the\ncommunication. I know your sincerity, and I appreciate your sympathy.\nYou know the pain of separation, and the severance of such earthly ties.\nBut how my views have changed from what they were when my son William\ndied! I had no peace for years till I began to communicate with him\nthrough you. Death now has no terrors for me. I feel that the separation\nfrom beloved friends and relatives is but temporary--and that, by a pure\nlife here, we shall soon be again united in 'another and a better\nworld,' where there will be no more separation forever.\n\n\"With kindest regards to your mother and sisters, I remain, very truly,\n\n    \"Your friend,\n      \"N.\u00a0P. TALLMADGE.\n  \"MRS. ANN LEAH BROWN,\n  No. 1 Ludlow Place, New York.\"\n\n\nPAULINE W. DAVIS.\n\n    \"PROVIDENCE, August 8, 1857.\n\n\"MY DEAR MRS. B.:\n\n\"A writer, whom I have been recently reading, says: 'I count life not by\nyears but by the acquaintances I form and value, hence if I make a love\nI double or even treble that year.'\n\n\"In that sense I would like to be old, for I would like to have many\nreal loves.\n\n\"I am glad of my visit to New York, for I learned that my heart was not\ncold when any one came near me with the power to rouse me.\n\n\"Deeply as I am interested in the new philosophy you are a chosen\nteacher of, still I am more interested in you as a woman; a woman whose\nheart is alive to all that is good and great, and that has been purified\nby a high love.\n\n\"It is not often, as I told you, that I make any demonstrations of\naffection (and I have been so long called cold that I begin to think I\nam rather so). Nor do I often express admiration; but toward you I was\nimpelled to offer much; and now, in writing you, were I to utter all the\nwarm feelings that awaken in my heart toward you, I fear you might think\nme weak and enthusiastic--or worse, insincere; which God forbid I should\never be.\n\n\"You are my opposite in almost everything. This may account for my\nadmiration, but not for my love; for it is not every one that I can\nlove. I have looked about to see what I could do among my friends, and\nwhat inducement I could offer you to come; which is very little indeed\nbeyond a warm welcome to our little cottage and hearts. Our friends are\nnearly all absent, but some half-dozen gentlemen wish much to have you\ncome. So your expenses would be insured, and you should have rest,\nquiet, and the perfect protection of our house; and I think you would\nenjoy the freshness of the country. It is so green and lovely now that\nit seems like June. I have been in Boston and saw my dear boy, who will\ncome down to see you if you come. I also obtained for you a beautiful\nthimble, so do not bring one for yourself. Please let me hear from you\nat once, and if you will come--what day. We will then meet you with our\ncarriage and take care of you. My husband is greatly interested in my\nstory, but can't realize the truth in the least. [This refers to a\nremarkable cure of Mrs. Davis by Mrs. B. which will be found in the\nchapter on Spirit Cures, page 364.--ED.]\n\n    \"God bless you, my dear friend.\n      \"PAULINE W. DAVIS.\n\n\"Mrs. J. is not well, but is out with my husband driving.\"\n\n\nSAME.\n\n    \"PROVIDENCE, June 12, 1859.\n\n\"MY DEAR MRS. UNDERHILL:\n\n\"I have been waiting a long time, hoping to hear from you and to have\nthat visit appointed. Now the country is so beautiful I must urge you to\ncome and enjoy it with me. Last evening I met Mr. Bartlett, who inquired\nfor you and hoped you would come very soon. He gives a strawberry party\non Saturday evening of this week. You shall see just whom you would like\nto see, and no others. You shall ride, walk, or rest, just as you like,\nand have a good time, that shall make you forget all the disagreeables\nof the past. How fortunate it is that we have the ability to forget some\nthings, and that the heart prefers to retain the beautiful and cast\naside the evil. Come next week, as then I shall have strawberries in\nabundance and cherries too. Mr. Underhill must come _for_ you. If he\ncomes _with_ you, he will hurry you away too soon, I know, and there are\na thousand things for us to talk about. My little Maybell is in splendid\nhealth and spirits. Give my kind regards to Mr. Underhill, and tell him\nto give you leave of absence now. Let me hear from you soon. If you come\nby the Fall River boat you have a beautiful sail up the river, and be\nhere to breakfast about half-past ten o'clock.\n\n\"I will meet you with a carriage at the wharf.\n\n    \"Yours with much affection,\n    (Signed)    \"PAULINE W. DAVIS.\"\n\n\nJOHN E. ROBINSON.\n\n    \"NEW YORK, October 1, 1884.\n\n\"MY KIND FRIEND, MRS. UNDERHILL:\n\n\"Learning that you are about having published a new book on the general\nsubject of Modern Spiritualism, and that, in connection therewith, you\npropose to avail yourself of such writings of mine as were suggested by\na careful study of its phenomenal facts during the early days of their\noccurrence; I write now to say that, so far from having any objections\nto such a design, I acquiesce promptly and thoroughly in your request.\n\n\"Furthermore, if any letters of mine, either of a public or private\ncharacter, can be of service to you, you need not, as a suggestion of\ndelicacy, withhold my name. What is truth to me, I utter, if the\noccasion seems to call for its expression.\n\n\"It has occurred to me, in this connection, that some thoughts of my\nmaturer years, which have quite recently passed through my mind, may be\npertinent to the general subject.\n\n\"Without being censorious, and desiring to keep strictly within the\nbounds of propriety, allow me to say that I have noted a marked\ntendency, especially in these latter years, of a more general atheistic\nquality in public thought upon the general subjects which lie at the\nbase of all human religious belief.\n\n\"I might, perhaps, italicize what I refer to, as a near approach to a\npositive unbelief, in most grades of modern intellects; from the most\ngifted to those lower strata which take their initial thoughts from\ntheir superiors.\n\n\"Now it seems to me on reflection, during a long season when my thoughts\nhave been almost my only companions, that the cause of all this general\ndeclension or 'eclipse of faith' is, that Science has taught too much,\n_unless it teaches more_!\n\n\"I would rather phrase it, however (for the emendation is a better\nsolution), that the true teachings of science have not been followed out\nto their ultimates.\n\n\"Now, to my apprehension, this is a most grievous error, and was well\nexpressed by the poet who penned the lines,\n\n      'Oh, star-eyed Science! hast thou wandered there\n      To bring us back the tidings of Despair?'\n\n\"Science has, as I apprehend it--and I would not be erroneous in my\njudgment, nor willingly harsh--generally impressed the intellects of\nits votaries in such a manner as to lead them intellectually to find\n_nothing beyond the elemental matter of the Universe as their eyes\nbehold it_. Exceptions there have been, and are, to this general charge;\nbut they are rare. To refer in especial to the fact stated (without\nbeing ungenerously personal), I may add that the acknowledged highest\nand most accomplished medical authority in New York to-day (so I am\ninformed) hesitates not to aver, as his best and highest conviction,\nthat when a human body is thoroughly dissected upon his table, he has\nshown to his class of students all _that was or is_ of the specimen of\nhumanity, save the extinct principle of animal existence.\n\n\"This is simply bald, blank atheism!\n\n\"It is an undoubted fact that such an opinion _may be held_ by many a\nman of sincerity; but such products have been initiated by the gross\nsensuousness of the religious thought, that has given _form and\nsubstance_ to what should never have been considered as coming within\nthe range of things designated by and possessing those attributes.\n\n\"Let me explain, if I can, to the comprehension of such as may,\nperchance, read this, the nature of the Faith that is in me.\n\n\"I am willing in my elder days to live by it, and to be judged of it\nby the enlightened convictions of my fellow-men while I live upon this\nearth, and by that Deity in whom I verily believe.\n\n\"I know--we all know--of the imperious forces of nature which rock a\ncontinent or roll back an ocean from its shores.\n\n\"We also know something of gigantic and of microscopic life; of the\nintelligence of animated nature, through all its varied and wonderful\nforms; we know and study the wonders of the human intellect, even from\n(I might almost say) the first dawn of life.\n\n\"We are all, more or less, conversant with the action of principles\nwhich inhere in many species of vegetable life, in which we note a rare\nand exquisite faculty of sensation, which mirrors in its perfection the\nfaculty of human consciousness, and human ingenuity.\n\n\"We look, not upward nor downward--for those terms are inadmissible in\nthis connection--but outward from our standpoint; and what do we see?\nThe heavens, as the ancients called what their limited vision revealed\nto them. Under Galileo's lead we look again, aided by the telescope of\nmoderate power, and, beyond that gathered in our first field of sight,\nwe find another countless host of stars. Tired with the result we think\nand rest. Recuperating our wearied eyes, we substitute an instrument of\nhigher power, and again peer into the realm of Infinitude. And again\nanother congeries of stars is opened to our human vision. Repeat the\nprocess as we may, and as often as we choose, increase the penetrating\npower of our instrument, the same fact remains. There is no end, no\nlimitation. But in all these results of our inquisitorial efforts we\ndiscover one preponderating law--that of undeviating order. This is the\none omnipresent principle by which their movements are governed.\n\n\"Law, in this sense at least, must be and is the result of dictation by\nthe highest wisdom, and necessitates the existence of Deity. I use the\nterm because it is the only one which is pertinent to the subject and\nidea to be expressed. The word God is the outcome of the earlier ages of\ncomparative intellectual darkness. The highest mental status of mankind\nat that time could not apprehend a Ruler of the Universe except as\nclothed with a form somewhat analogous to that of a human being, and\nhence the rather presumptuous declaration that 'God created man in His\nown image.'\n\n\"We can readily apprehend this.\n\n\"If, on contemplation, we look the _august question_ squarely in the\nface, we can most certainly reach the conclusion that this Ideal is\nthe highest possible one, and centres within itself _all things else_\nrequisite to an intelligent apprehension of what we are striving to\nreach. To illustrate--if we have not already covered the basic ground of\nthe thought--all the most potent and irresistible forces of Nature are\nstrictly impalpable; and yet we know somewhat of their lurkings; and\nsuch star-eyed minds as that of a Morse can reverently and gently lead\nthem in the direction of human pathways.\n\n\"This conviction may be considered as the final result of the eager\ninquiry of honest and intelligent human minds. I think it the reflex\nof the conviction of England's Newton, and I accept and retain it as\na finality of the question. It ennobles instead of dwarfing one's\nconception of a Ruler of all things, and gives us a stable as well as a\nrational and intellectual standpoint of observation, of faith, and of\nlove. Higher than the God of earlier worship, because entirely removed\nfrom the sensuous perceptions; not fashioned after the crude and\ndimly visioned ideals of elder time, it is sufficient for the highest\nyearnings of all Humanity, and must necessarily ennoble the faith of all\nwith whom it shall live as the great exponent of Power, Truth, and Love.\n\n\"I remain, sincerely, as ever,\n\n    \"Your friend,\n      \"J.\u00a0E. ROBINSON.\"[21]\n\n    [21] \"The writer is quite aware that if this letter, or its\n    substance, should be used as a part of the text of your book,\n    it may be perused by some who will pronounce its final and\n    legitimate conclusions as but a reflex or embodiment of ancient\n    Pantheism. I think, however, that the more critical of its\n    observers--if such it may and I hope will have--will discover a\n    wide divergence from that form of belief; which is really, if\n    rightly apprehended, totally at variance with the central idea\n    which I intend reverently to express.\n\n        \"J.\u00a0E.\u00a0R.\"\n\n\nThe following letter will explain itself. Professor J. Jay Watson needs\nno description. He was an intimate friend of Ol\u00e9 Bull, who bequeathed to\nhim his favorite violin, on which instrument he is himself a consummate\nperformer, while his little son, Emmons Watson, bids fair some day to\nrival Ol\u00e9 Bull himself. His direction of the music at the Centennial of\n1876, and his popular \"dime concerts\" in New York, attended by some\nhundreds of thousands, have made Professor Watson not less widely known\nthan he is everywhere highly respected, for his philanthropy as well as\nmusical genius and powers.\n\n    A.\u00a0L.\u00a0U.\n\n\n\"MRS. A. LEAH UNDERHILL:\n\n\"HIGHLY ESTEEMED FRIEND--It is with unfeigned pleasure that I comply\nwith your request to furnish you with an account of my strange\nexperience while visiting San Francisco, Cal., in company with Ol\u00e9 Bull,\nthe violinist, in 1870.\n\n\"I cheerfully give the facts as they occurred, and it seems eminently\nproper that the incident which I am about to relate should occupy a\nplace in your forthcoming book, when we recollect that the problem\ninvolved was solved through your marvellous mediumistic powers.\n\n\"My father-in-law, Mr. Samuel Parsons, formerly an old and revered\ncitizen of Gloucester, Mass., and who passed to the life beyond in 1865,\nhad for many years been noted for his remarkable prophecies as to the\ncoming of future events, as well as a strict regard for honesty and\ntruth. We frequently talked of the change called death, and as we\nwere both somewhat materialistic in our views as to a future state of\nexistence, we mutually agreed that the one who should be first called\nto pay the debt of nature, would, if there was a possibility of Spirit\nreturn, with sufficient power to tangibly manifest his presence, surely\ndo so; and in order that there could be no mistaking the individual\nidentity, he would seize the one still in earth-life by the hair of his\nhead and forcibly pull him from his bed to the floor.\n\n\"Laughable, and even ridiculous, as it may seem, this promise was at\nvarious times renewed, and frequently in the presence of mutual friends,\nwho are still living. This agreement was made as a sort of harmless\njoke, neither Mr. Parsons nor myself having, up to this time,\ninvestigated the philosophy of Modern Spiritualism in any form.\n\n\"During my visit to San Francisco, Cal., while managing the 'Ol\u00e9 Bull\nConcert Combination,' I had occasion to employ a number of persons, one\nof whom, having been proved glaringly dishonest, I was obliged to\ndischarge.\n\n\"This individual, not being satisfied with my leniency in letting him\noff without legal punishment, vowed vengeance upon me, saying to several\npersons that I should '_never leave California alive_.' As 'barking dogs\nseldom bite,' I paid little attention to his threats. One evening, after\nthe conclusion of our concert, I was accompanied to my hotel by J.\nHeneage Carter, Esq., an old-time friend, and the originator of the once\nfamous 'Carter Zouave Troupe.' After depositing the receipts of the\nevening with Mr. Ridgeway, clerk of the 'Lick House,' where our company\nwere stopping, I retired to my room with my friend Carter. A brief\nchat ensued, no allusion whatever being made as to the threats of the\ndischarged employee. Mr. Carter bade me a cheerful good-night and took\nhis departure. I had no special anxiety upon my mind, had eaten no\nhearty supper, taken no beverage in the shape of wine or liquor of any\ndescription; in fact, I have scrupulously avoided dissipation in any\nform up to the present moment of my life; consequently there was nothing\nin my stomach calculated to induce nightmare or unpleasant dreams.\n\n\"Upon retiring I immediately fell into a tranquil sleep, from which I\nwas unceremoniously awakened, without the slightest warning, by being\nsuddenly and vigorously grasped, apparently by a strong hand, by the\nhair of my head and jerked with tremendous force from my bed, landing\nsprawling upon the floor. Immediately gaining my feet, I prepared to\nface a demon in the flesh of some sort, and groped about the room to\nfind a friendly chair with which to defend myself, if need be. No\nfurther demonstration being made, however, I proceeded to strike a\nlight, nor for a moment did I lose my self-control, although constantly\nexpecting to be attacked by some unseen foe. Upon carefully examining my\nroom there was not the slightest sign of any being, human or otherwise,\nwith the exception of myself. Everything was still and as usual. I\nlooked at my watch and found the time to be 5.40 A.M. My scalp smarted\nintensely, as it naturally would after such harsh treatment, and had I\nbeen near an Indian camp I could readily have believed that I had lost\nthat important appendage, and without any great stretch of the\nimagination either.\n\n\"As there is no effect without a cause, and _vice versa_, I soon seated\nmyself and endeavored to solve the meaning of the remarkable phenomenon\njust experienced. In a moment a terrible thought flashed upon my mind.\nPerhaps some member of my family or near relative had died suddenly.\nHastily making my toilet I proceeded to the nearest telegraph station\nand impatiently awaited the arrival of the operator. My despatch was\ndirected to my sister in New York, with whom my family were stopping at\nthe time, and simply read, '_How are you all? Answer._' The reply,\n'_All well_,' caused me to breathe more freely, but the mystery was\nyet unexplained. I told the story to my friend Ol\u00e9 Bull, who became\nintensely interested, and often during our stay in California expressed\na great deal of solicitude in the matter.\n\n\"I would here state _en passant_, that the agreement made by my wife's\nfather and myself did not recur to my mind. To be sure, Mr. Parsons had\nbeen dead more than five years, yet it seems to me quite remarkable that\nour old compact had not at once presented itself; but I felt convinced\nthat this singular demonstration _meant_ something. Upon my return to\nNew York I visited you in company with Ol\u00e9 Bull, and you kindly gave\nus a private sitting. The alphabet being called for, the following was\nrapped out: '_John, the man whom you discharged in San Francisco, was on\nthe veranda of the hotel, and determined to execute his terrible threat.\nI thought it a good time to redeem my promise, and pulled you out of\nbed by your hair. I was obliged to do this roughly in order to\nthoroughly awaken you._--SAMUEL PARSONS.'\n\n    \"With great respect I am\n      \"Your sincere friend,\n        \"J. JAY WATSON.\n  \"BEVERLY, ESSEX COUNTY, MASS.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nSOME OBSERVATIONS ON MEDIUMSHIP.\n\n  MYSTERIES OF MEDIUMSHIP--TO PROVE THE IMMORTALITY OF THE\n    SOUL--PASSIVITY AND HARMONY AT S\u00c9ANCES--HONEST AND CANDID\n    SCEPTICISM--IMAGINARY AND SELF-INDUCED MEDIUMSHIP--DECEPTIVE\n    COMMUNICATIONS--CAUTIONS--RAPPINGS--SPIRITS MADE VISIBLE--BEWARE\n    OF FRAUDULENT MEDIUMS--NOT ALL SPIRITS RELIABLE--CABINETS.\n\n\nMediumship is a great mystery. Some persons are found to possess\nthe gift (often from ancestral derivation, as in the case of the\n\"second-sight\" in the Scotch Highlands), while others are totally devoid\nof it. There are also many varieties both in the forms and phases of it,\nand in the degrees in which different persons possess the strange--I may\nsay, abnormal--gift. There seem to be also great variations of _degree_\nin which it is possessed by different persons, constituting differences\nof mediumistic power.\n\nI am satisfied that there are few families in which some one or other\nof its members does not possess it, at least in latent condition, more\nor less developed or undeveloped; and that, if they will sit patiently\nand _passively_ (without anxiety or eagerness) round a table, without\nbeing discouraged and exhausted of patience by weeks or even months of\nfailure, the manifestations will generally at last come, whether in the\nform of rappings, or that of tilting of the table, or in other phenomena\ninexplicable on the ground of the ordinary laws of physical nature, and\ncompelling the recognition of the presence of extra-natural beings or\nforces--_i.e._, \"Spirits\"--as the only explanation of the manifest and\nincontestable facts.\n\nAgain, apart from the various degrees of the faculty in the mediums,\nthere is mystery hanging over the question of the various degrees of\nability of Spirits who may be present--high, low, or of intermediate\ngrade and character--to act through or with a particular medium. And\nstill again, there is mystery over the influence of the members of the\ncircle present, both upon the sensitive medium and upon the Spirits\npresent. And upon the fundamental point of what constitutes mediumship,\non what qualities, physical, mental or spiritual, it depends, hangs the\ngreatest mystery of all.\n\nOne thing seems certain, namely, that at least in the present age or\n\"dispensation,\" the Spirits about us seem desirous of communicating with\nus, human Spirits still in the flesh, and glad of the opportunities\nafforded them through the mediums for doing so. \"Psychics,\" or\n\"sensitives,\" have been suggested as more suitable designations than\n\"mediums,\" but that of \"medium\" seems to have got too strongly rooted in\npopular usage to be now easily changed.\n\nIt is certain that history shows what may be called mediumship to have\nexisted in all ages, climes, and civilizations, in various degrees, and\nthat in all races, barbarian or civilized, there has been more or less\nof manifestation, to man still in the flesh, of the continued existence\nof disincarnated man, or Spirits. The extraordinary outpouring of the\nevidence of this great truth which our times have witnessed, and which,\nbeginning in our country, has so rapidly made the circuit of the globe,\nseems, as has been declared by many of the higher classes of Spirits,\nto have grown out of the fact, that the science and philosophy of the\ncentury had become so deeply imbued with _materialism_, fast sapping the\nfoundations of _all_ religion, that it had become necessary, in the\ncounsels of the high Spirits who are the ministers of the will of the\nInfinite Supreme we name God, to overpour the world with a new flood of\nirresistible demonstration of the truth and reality of the next life and\nof the immortality of the soul.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf there is one mental condition, on the part of mediums and sitters,\nmore constantly insisted upon by good Spirits as necessary toward\nthe attaining of good results in the manifestations, it is that of\n\"_passivity_.\" If a sitter earnestly desires a particular thing, has\nhis heart and thought and will strongly set upon it, that is precisely\nwhat he is least likely to obtain, or to obtain it clearly and\nsatisfactorily, if he obtain it at all. The expression is sometimes\nused that both medium and sitter must keep themselves in a _negative_,\nas distinguished from a _positive_, condition. If they are\n\"positive\"--especially if persons of strong will--their magnetic or\nSpiritual \"positiveness\" seems to work adversely instead of harmoniously\nwith that of the invisibles.\n\nThe testimony from the Spirits is pretty unanimous that tranquil mental\nharmony in the circle is very necessary toward the attainment of good\nresults. Discussion of subjects of difference, in however friendly a\ntemper it may be conducted, is unfavorable. This is generally accepted\nas the reason why instrumental or vocal music is so commonly resorted\nto, as tending to lead the minds of all into the same channel. There may\nalso be something in its action to attune the air-vibrations into accord\ninstead of opposition, resulting from the differences of voice among a\nnumber of persons thus gathered together.\n\nIt is a mistake to suppose that faith in Spiritualism on the part of all\npresent is a necessary condition of success at s\u00e9ances. It is true that\nit sometimes seems that the presence of particular individuals is fatal\nto any, or any but the feeblest, manifestations. In such cases it is\nnot their ignorance and disbelief, nor a rational scepticism, that\nmilitate against success. On the contrary, Spirits like the visits of\nhonest, candid sceptics or inquirers, who are not inaccessible to\nevidence, nor so resolutely and bitterly hostile, and so acrid in\ntemper, that they neither can be convinced though one \"rose from the\ndead,\" nor are worthy of the attempt. They seem to resent the insulting\npresence and the unworthy mental condition and attitude of such persons,\nand ill-disposed to cast such pearls before such swine. Also, when\nsitters come with lies and fraud in their hearts, and trickery in their\npurposes, they bring with or attract to them lying and fraudulent\nSpirits who like to give them just what they come to seek. It is perhaps\neven more true in the Spirit life than in this, that like attracts like,\nand that birds of a feather flock together.\n\nThere are many imaginary mediums. They will tell you they see, hear,\nand speak to you under the influence of Spirits, when it is nothing\nbut an emanation from their own brain, and perhaps from the forces of\nthe circle combined. This I believe to be a self-induced condition,\ndeveloped by the powerful influence of the human will acting upon\ntheir own physical force.\n\nBeware how you become ensnared in the meshes of such mediums. They are\nonly fit subjects for the lunatic asylums.\n\nThere are, I believe, some unexplored regions in the human brain which\nmay be hereafter explained and better understood.\n\nI will give you an example of this phase of mediumship.\n\nA friend of mine, an excellent man but very ambitious to excel in doing\ngood, and at the same time to take a high position in Spiritualism, was\ntold by Spirits that he would be a medium. He was very sanguine and\nbelieved that he could revolutionize the world, if he should become one.\n\nHe was a clergyman and an honest man. One morning (after having waited a\nlong time for the fulfilment of the promise that he would be a medium),\nhe came to me with a roll of paper in his hand, his face beaming with\njoy, saying as he entered the room, \"At last the prophecy has been\nfulfilled! See, listen,\" and he read a beautiful poem signed \"Felicia\nHemans.\"\n\nHe afterward wrote many interesting things, and I have no doubt there\nwere or had been times when he was under the influence of good Spirits;\nbut as soon as he became ambitious to set himself up as \"high priest,\"\nthat innate something which belongs to the natural man performed the\noffice of his own mind.\n\nThat development is often very disastrous and unreliable, and should not\nbe encouraged. I will give you an illustration in the following\ncommunication.\n\nOne Sunday afternoon, while sitting in his library, his hand was\ninfluenced to write a communication, of which the following is a copy:\n\n\"I departed this earth-life a few hours ago, in ---- Street, No. ----.\nYou will find my children mourning over my lifeless form. Go to them at\nonce and assist them to bury my body.\n\n    (Signed)    MARY.\"\n\nHe read the communication to his wife, who remonstrated, saying that she\ndoubted it; but after considering the matter they both started to find\nthe distressed family. It was not very far from them; but judge of their\nastonishment when they found no such place as had been mentioned. The\n_street_ was there, but no _house_, and no number like the place\ndesignated. The communication, in its essentials, was _an entire\nfabrication_. In the evening they both called on me, and desired, if\npossible, that Spirits would explain through the rappings why he should\nhave been so deceived. The rapping said, \"My dear friend, this is an\nexperience which you will not forget. You have been led by ambition,\nmistaking it for a higher motive. You have besought Spirits to direct\nyou, when you should have acted according to your own best judgment.\nThus you have attracted a class of Spirits who are unreliable.\" This was\nsomething which many were necessitated to learn in the school of\nexperience, especially in those early days of Spiritualism.\n\nI do not approve of sitting in promiscuous circles for development.\nI remember several years ago there was a circle held in New York for\nthe purpose of making mediums. Our friend, Mr. George Willets, visited\nthe rooms of the \"developers\" several times, and reported to us the\nunfavorable effect it produced upon him. My sister Katie on one occasion\nwent with him. When she returned she felt badly and complained of\nstrange sensations, caused (she believed) by sitting in that circle. It\naffected her unfavorably for some days. She was sad, and complained of\nseeing disagreeable things whenever her eyes closed. This gradually\nchanged, but she could never be persuaded to visit such circles again.\n\nIn the case of the Dr. Phelps's manifestations I think there was\nabundant evidence to prove that a natural development took place there.\nAnd I am sure that we fought against it long enough and hard enough to\nprove that we were not knowingly instrumental in bringing about anything\nof our own mediumship. We were all annoyed at the idea of being called\nmediums.\n\nAnother well-known case--were I to mention the name it would be clearly\nremembered--was that of a wealthy gentleman doing a large business in\nthis city. He came to see me at No. 1 Ludlow Place, rejoicing in his\nnewly developed mediumship. He was a large, finely organized man, and\ncame to explain to me how wonderfully he was affected. He told me that\nhis wife was not pleased because he sat in circles for development, and\nshe thought he was losing his mind. This gentleman lived in Brooklyn,\nand if this should come under his eye he will recollect the\ncircumstance. He was not a disciple of the \"Rochester knockings,\" but a\nprofessed admirer of speaking, writing, and impressible mediums. He\nthought it would be very fine to become a great public speaker (as he\nhad been told he would be), and astonish the world; and therefore he\nbelieved it. He soon began to whirl around and pound himself and snort\nlike an animal. I thought he was a raving madman; but when he spoke he\nseemed rational enough at times, but his lucid moments were few and far\nbetween.\n\nAt length the Spirit rapped out the following: \"My son, sit down at the\ntable.\" He did so, apparently delighted. Again the alphabet was called\nfor, and this was spelled: \"Enclose the extremities of your fingers\nwithin your hands, cross your feet and rest your heels on the floor,\nand permit me to give you advice, namely: When you sit in the circle,\nexerting every faculty of mind and body, with your hands on the table\nand your feet on the floor, all your brain forces escape through your\nextremities and are absorbed by the more receptive members of the\ncircle.\"\n\nHe followed the directions of his guardian Spirit, and became quiet,\nand was so deeply interested in the rappings that he engaged a private\nhour and brought his wife the next day, who became equally interested\nand honestly confessed to me that she had blamed and condemned me as\nan impostor; and although her husband had not met in my circles,\nshe charged me with being the original cause of her husband's\n\"misfortune\"--as she considered it. From that time he was cured.\n\nI think he was on the high road to the lunatic asylum; and, although\nsome writers term the Spirit-rapping a manifestation of \"lower grade,\"\nin my own opinion communications come more direct from Spirits through\nthe rappings, or when accompanied by them, than when written or spoken,\netc., in magnetic circles where the mediums are quite as susceptible\nto an action exerted upon them by Spirits _embodied_ as by the\n_disembodied_.\n\nI have found it so in my own experience, and I never place entire\nconfidence in anything unless the Spirits sanction it to me by sounds in\nconnection with the alphabet, which was their first chosen method with\nus. Nor do I rely on the rappings unless what is said through them\nbears in itself the evidence of truth. I regret to see persons too much\ncarried away by this or any _ism_. Give me a good amanuensis, one who\ncan take down each letter as it is indicated (and not interrupt me by\nasking very often, \"What does it say?\" which breaks the telegraphic\nconnection, for the time, through which Spirits operate, exactly as the\ntelegraphic wires are affected by a thunder-storm)--give me, I say, such\nan amanuensis, and I can sit, as I have often sat, for hours at a time,\nreceiving the letters through the raps and alphabet, with no idea of\ntheir connection or meaning, nor any such knowledge possible to any\nlistener, and at the close every letter, word, and sentence will be\nfound perfectly correct, and the whole intelligible only when the whole\nis read in connected sequence.\n\nIt is impossible for any mortal to sit and reiterate the letters of the\nalphabet as fast as they can be repeated, hour after hour, and retain\nin the mind the structure of the sentences and chapters communicated. I\ndefy any one to do it. Even Theodore Parker pronounced it a quietus on\nthe Buffalo doctors. Try it yourselves, dear readers. Under the right\nconditions, I can sit and call the letters for hours together, and when\nthe message is finished it will be found to be perfect and unbroken from\nbeginning to end--in accordance with the intelligence of the Spirit, not\nthat of the medium.\n\nI have seen Spirits walk around the room, furnishing their own light\nsufficiently bright to show themselves distinctly to all persons\npresent, when every precaution had been taken to lock and seal the doors\nand windows, to prevent ingress or egress of any person to disturb the\ncircle; and I know hundreds, still living, who can testify to this\nstatement.\n\nNow, then, why should there be any need of so conducting circles\nfor manifestations as to cause suspicion, or leave the minds of\ninvestigators in doubt? Should a medium be allowed to enter a cabinet\nwithout any precautions on the part of the sitters to require \"test\nconditions,\" and deliberately clothe him or herself in the habiliments\nof angels, and then softly glide forth into a dimly lighted room,\nscarcely visible to the eye, and call it a \"materialization\" or a\n\"transfiguration\"? Shame on such cruel deception. I am astonished that\npeople are willing to be so imposed upon. When I was before the public,\nI expected and wished to give every satisfaction in my power. I believe\nall persons who wish to know the truth, and are willing to pay mediums\nfor their time and trouble, should demand their rights, search the\ncabinets, and hold the mediums by joining hands until they are fully\nsatisfied of the truthfulness of the manifestations. We have never\nobjected to being held, and we have even submitted to being stethoscoped\nand gagged to settle the question of ventriloquism, after every other\ntest had been applied.\n\nI do not wish to be understood as condemning all cabinet s\u00e9ances. We,\nfor our part, never used cabinets nor had occasion to do so. I know,\nthrough the best of testimony, that with honest mediums and select\nconfidential circles, marvellous phenomena have taken place through\nthat means since my day. But I do disapprove of such s\u00e9ances before\npromiscuous parties, when not accompanied with precautions against the\npossibility of deception; for when \"test conditions\" are not required by\nthe sitters, or insisted upon by the mediums as their only protection\nagainst malevolent suspicions, they open the door to fraudulent mediums\nfor the practice of abominable deceptions.\n\nNor will I dismiss the subject without cautioning all against the error\nof always relying implicitly upon the communications of those whom\nthey regard as Spirits far better, higher, and more enlightened than\nthemselves or their friends. Still less should they, necessarily, obey\ntheir directions or counsels, especially in regard to their business or\nsocial concerns.\n\nMany investigators find it hard to divest themselves of a sort of\nsuperstitious reverence for the Spirits in conversation with them. It\nis a mistake to suppose them to know everything, and a greater one to\nimagine them capable of doing everything. It is sometimes an error even\nto believe them to be the Spirits they profess to be. Spirits are of\nmany varieties of condition, character, and degrees of progress. There\nare those prone to amuse themselves with a sort of practical joking and\nfalse personation; and such Spirits, being in a low plane, are apt to be\nglad of any opportunity to push themselves forward into the door opened\nby the presence of the medium, and play their fantastic tricks on the\ntoo credulous. We must judge for ourselves of the reasonableness, the\nprobability, and the characteristic resemblance of what Spirits may say,\nto that which we might have expected from them. We must strive, by our\ndaily lives and conversation, to attract to ourselves only Spirits of\nthe better and higher orders in that world of the next life, which is\nfar more densely populous than the one in which we ourselves still \"live\nand move and have our being.\"\n\nAt the same time I think that the cause of Spiritualism would be at this\nday further advanced in general acceptance, if cabinets, and with them\nthe phenomena called materialization and transfiguration, had never been\nintroduced. For, however genuine, as well as impressive, may be the\nmanifestations of the presence and action of the Spirits which may have\noccurred in the employment of them, they afford _opportunities_ for\ndeception which dishonest mediums are but too ready to avail themselves\nof, and then when exposure comes (and it is generally Spiritualists\nwho are the most earnest in detecting and punishing the infamy of such\ndeception), they are at once trumpeted all over the land, and more harm\nis done to the progress of the cause than all the good ever resulting\nfrom the genuine phenomena themselves. No such exposures ever occurred\nin all our long and varied experience, though never have mediums been\nsubjected to more jealous and severe investigations; and there are\nfew of the more modern phenomena which have not occurred through our\nmediumship, though the usual mode of communication practised at our\ncircles was the one which I still consider the best and most direct, as\nit is the simplest--that of rapping to the alphabet.\n\nI will only add, before dismissing the subject, that though it is so\nmany years since I have ceased to practise the public exercise of my\nmediumship, I am not conscious that it has at all weakened or changed.\nOn rare occasions I have given private sittings to confidential friends,\nand few days pass which do not bring me conscious evidence of the\npresence of Spirit friends. It was under their prompting, and indeed\ndirection, that I have written this book, and often during its progress\nhave they given me their counsel at moments of doubt on my part as to\nwhat to insert or to omit. Happy, in so many ways, as has been my\ndomestic life, I should be ungrateful if I did not realize how largely\nthe unseen friends and visitors of my home have contributed to that\nhappiness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS.\n\n  FELICIA HEMANS--SPIRIT DICTATIONS OF MUSIC.\n\n\nIn compliance with the advice and wishes of the friend who has aided me\nin putting together the scattered parts of my volume, I now proceed to\nwind it up with what I might call a sample assortment of \"Incidents\" out\nof my Spiritualistic experience. This was not within my original scheme\nof the work, but in the course of several months of intimate intercourse\nwith him, there naturally arose in conversation frequent allusions\nto such reminiscences, leading me to tell him, under his intelligent\ninterrogation, the story of them. The result was that he came to insist\nthat some collection of them would constitute a useful as well as\ninteresting addition to my \"Missing Link.\" He therefore embraced many\nopportunities of returning to them, and drawing from me repetitions of\nthe narratives, and jotting down notes, from which he then insisted that\nI should write them out, with a little kind assistance from him. This\ncollection might easily have been greatly enlarged.\n\n\nFELICIA HEMANS--SPIRIT DICTATION OF MUSIC.\n\nThe following is a beautiful and curious experience which came one\nevening at Rochester, in the early days of our mediumship:\n\nMaggie and I were sitting alone in my cozy little parlor in Troup\nStreet, enjoying ourselves by a warm fire while the pouring rain and\nhowling winds outside assured us that we should not be interrupted by\ncallers. I was reading \"Memoirs of the Wesley Family,\" when the alphabet\nwas called for by the usual signal. I repeated the letters as they came\nthrough the alphabet, and wrote them as designated successively by the\nSpirit, viz.:\n\n  \"GAGCBAGAGEFEFAGFEFGFEDAGGCEDGGCBAGCCDBC.\"\n\nThese letters could not, of course, be construed into words, and I cast\nthem aside saying, \"This must be the Spirit of Johnny Story,\" a simple\nboy whom we had known when living, who could never be taught to read.\nThe alphabet was again called for and the message given by the Spirit\nwas, \"Apply the letters to your piano.\"\n\nOn doing so I recognized in them, to my surprise and delight, a sweet\nand tender melody. I was then told to set the music to \"Haunted Ground\"\nin Mrs. Hemans's Poems, but with the variation of changing \"Haunted\" to\n\"Hallowed\" in the last verse.\n\nProfessor J.\u00a0J. Watson has kindly arranged the accompaniment for the\norgan and piano, as on the next page.\n\nI have always considered this one of the most beautiful and interesting\ntests I have ever received. It certainly was not mind-reading. The\nletters as given had of course conveyed no sense to me, nor any idea of\nmusical notes. In connection with the music thus given for the poem with\nits altered name, I presume that it is proper to reproduce the poem\nitself.\n\n\nHAUNTED GROUND.\n\n      And slight, withal, may be the things which bring\n      Back on the heart the weight which it would fling\n      Aside forever--it may be a sound,\n      A tone of music, summer eve, or spring,\n      A flower--the wind--the ocean--which shall wound\n      Striking the electric chain, wherewith we are darkly bound.\n                                                      --BYRON.\n\n[Music: THE HAUNTED GROUND.\n\nArr. by J. JAY WATSON.\n\nORGAN\n\n\n     1. Yes, it is haunted, this quiet scene,\n        Fair as it looks, and all softly green;\n        Yet fear thou not, for the spell is thrown,\n        And the might of the shadow's on me alone.\n\n     2. Have I not, under these whisp'ring leaves,\n        Woven such dreams as the young heart weaves?\n        Shadows yet unto which life seem'd bound,\n        And is it not--is it not haunted ground?]\n\n[Music: THE HAUNTED GROUND.\n\nArr. by J. JAY WATSON.\n\nPIANO\n\n\n     1. Yes, it is haunted, this quiet scene,\n        Fair as it looks, and all softly green;\n        Yet fear thou not, for the spell is thrown,\n        And the might of the shadow's on me alone.\n\n     2. Have I not, under these whisp'ring leaves,\n        Woven such dreams as the young heart weaves?\n        Shadows yet unto which life seem'd bound,\n        And is it not--is it not haunted ground?]\n\n\nHAUNTED GROUND.--MRS. HEMANS.\n\n_Verse 3._\n\n      Have I not lived 'midst these lonely dells,\n      And loved, and sorrowed, and heard farewells,\n      And learn'd in my own deep soul to look,\n      And tremble before that mysterious book?\n\n      Have I not, under these whispering leaves,\n      Woven such dreams as the young heart weaves?\n      Shadows--yet unto which life seemed bound,\n      And is it not--is it not haunted ground?\n\n      Must I not hear what _thou_ hearest not,\n      Troubling the air of this sunny spot?\n      Is there not something to none but me\n      Told by the rustling of every tree?\n\n      Song hath been here--with its flow of thought,\n      Love--with its passionate visions fraught;\n      Death--breathing stillness and sadness round--\n      And is it not--is it not haunted ground?\n\n      Are there no phantoms, but such as come\n      By night from the darkness that wraps the tomb?--\n      A sound, a scent, or a whispering breeze\n      Can summon up mightier far than these!\n\n      But I may not linger amidst them here!\n      Lovely they are, and yet things to fear;\n      Passing and leaving a weight behind,\n      And a thrill on the chords of the stricken mind.\n\n      Away, away, that my soul may soar,\n      As a free bird of blue skies once more,\n      Here from its wing it may never cast\n      The chains by those Spirits brought back from the past.\n\n      Doubt it not--smile not--but go thou, too,\n      Look on the scenes where thy childhood grew--\n      Where thou hast prayed at thy mother's knee,\n      Where thou hast roved with thy brethren free;\n\n      Go thou, when life unto thee is changed,\n      Friends thou hast loved as thy soul, estranged;\n      When from the idols thy heart hath made,\n      Thou hast seen the colors of glory fade;\n\n      Oh! painfully then, by the wind's low sigh,\n      By the voice of the stream, by the flower-cup's dye,\n      By a thousand tokens of sight and sound,\n      Thou wilt feel thou art treading on hallowed ground.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS (_Continued_).\n\n  CROWD OF SPIRITS MADE VISIBLE BY LIGHTNING--SCARCELY CREDIBLE\n    BUT TRUE--A GAME OF EUCHRE--MARGARET'S DREAM--MISTAKEN NAMES\n    CORRECTED BY SPIRITS--AN UNWILLING CONVERT MADE GRATEFUL AND\n    HAPPY.\n\n\nCROWD OF SPIRITS MADE VISIBLE BY LIGHTNING.\n\nOne Sunday evening, in Ludlow Place, occurred the grandest\nmanifestations of Spirit presence I ever witnessed or heard of. Our\ngood friend Dr. A.\u00a0D. Wilson and his friend Dr. Kirby had come in the\nDoctor's carriage; and, as a great thunder-storm was gathering fast\noverhead, he ordered the carriage home, to return at nine o'clock, or\nwhen the storm should be over. We sat round the table in my private room\non the second floor, four of us--the two gentlemen, mother, and myself.\nSoon the vivid lightning flashed and the near thunder rolled and rattled\noverhead: while in the intervals the blackest of darkness was around us,\nthe Spirits having directed us not to have lights. The \"raps\" bade us\nto sing: and, my mother leading, we sang the Methodist hymn: \"I'm a\npilgrim; I'm a stranger,\" etc. (my father and mother were Methodists).\nBut as the peals and flashes came so mightily I was afraid, and thought\nit unseemly for us to sing in the presence of these grand manifestations\nof the lights and the voices of the heavens. Presently Dr. Wilson\nstarted up with the exclamation, \"Oh my God! there's my mother,\" and we\nall saw a form in the doorway leading from our room to another in the\nrear. And then, to his friend Dr. Kirby, \"And there's your mother with\nher arms around your neck!\" And then again to my mother, \"Oh, Mrs. Fox,\nthere's your noble father by you!\" And we all saw _the Spirits_.\n\nThe whole room was crowded with a glorious company of Spirits!\n\nWe would see them only by the flashes of the lightning. When the flash\nhad vanished, all was blackness; but, on its return, there they were\nstill, different forms and with varying features; and they looked as\nnatural as when in this--our life. What were our feelings? How could\nI express, or who will need that I should attempt to do so? We all\nresponded deeply to Dr. Wilson's exclamation, \"I would not have missed\nthis for all the world! Oh, who after such a sight could ever again\ncommit a sin?\"\n\nIt would seem that while we had no Spiritual sight to see them\nclairvoyantly in the darkness, they could bear the electric brightness\nof the lightning which revealed them to our eyes.\n\nA deep awe rested on us all, and we all united in the following\nbeautiful old Methodist hymn which my mother sang. Many a time afterward\nwe have sat in the hope of a repetition of this glorious spectacle; and\nDr. Wilson would come when there seemed some prospect of thunder and\nlightning. But it never came again. Perhaps there was something in the\nquiet solemnity of that Sabbath hour which prompted it to the Spirits;\nand once shown, it was enough: for memory could not but keep it ever\nfresh in our minds, as it is and will forever remain in mine.\n\n      What's this that steals, that steals upon my frame,\n              Is it death, is it death?\n      That soon will quench, will quench this vital frame,\n              Is it death, is it death?\n          If this is death, I soon shall be\n          From every pain and sorrow free,\n          I shall the King of Glory see,\n              All is well, all is well!\n\n      Weep not, my friends, my friends, weep not for me,\n              All is well, all is well,\n      My sins are pardoned, pardoned, I am free,\n              All is well, all is well.\n          There's not a cloud that does arise,\n          To hide my Saviour from my eyes,\n          I soon shall mount the upper skies,\n              All is well, all is well.\n\n      Tune, tune your harps, your harps, ye saints in glory,\n              All is well, all is well.\n      I will rehearse, rehearse the pleasing story,\n              All is well, all is well!\n          Bright angels are from glory come,\n          They're round my bed, they're in my room,\n          They wait to waft my Spirit home,\n              All is well, all is well!\n\n\nSCARCELY CREDIBLE, BUT TRUE.\n\nA strange adventure befell me, at the age of between eight and nine\nyears, which has always left a vivid impression on my mind; and I cannot\nresist the prompting to insert here a short summary of it. I will leave\nmy readers to judge of it for themselves.\n\nI had obtained grandmother's permission to visit some little girls at\nthe house of their father, Mr. Cox; which was granted on condition that\nI should be sure to come home before nightfall.\n\nIt was about a mile and a half distant from home by the main road,\nthough less than a mile through the woods. Much of that part of the\ncountry was at that time uncultivated and abounded with wild beasts of\nevery description of the period.\n\nI got safely to Mr. C.'s; and had a day so happy that it was only the\nthreatening clouds of an approaching storm which warned me that it was\nhigh time to start for home. I set out by the roadway, but Mrs. Cox\ncalled me back and sent two of her daughters to escort me through the\nwoods by the shorter paths, familiar to them on their way to school. We\nhad gone about half the distance through the woods, when sharp lightning\nand heavy thunder announced that the storm was close at hand; and the\nchildren left me at a point from which, as they supposed, I could not\nmiss my further way. They gave me directions how to proceed. I followed\nthem, as I supposed; but the darkness soon became intense, and the storm\nburst in all its fury. The thunder and lightning were terrific, the rain\nfell in torrents, and I was a very little girl alone in the woods.\nI heard the distant cries of the inhabitants of the wilderness, and\nhurriedly pressed forward in the hope of following the right track, but\nconstantly changing my idea of which direction to take. After long\nwanderings in this way, I fancied it to be about midnight, when the\nhowling of the winds rose to be nearly that of a tornado, and the\ncrashing of falling trees, torn up by the roots, seemed to surround me\nin all directions.\n\nI had been twenty times on my knees, in childish prayer to God to take\nme home; but perhaps God in heaven is too abstract an idea to be\nrealized by a child of that age, and I would instinctively find myself\naddressing my great-grandfather, who was the only person whose death I\nhad ever witnessed. I had known him to be good and kind. He was a man of\nunusual stature and strength. Him I could understand to be in heaven,\nand powerful to save me. I remember I prayed with my eyes closed,\nfearing I should behold some terrible phantom, for in our family\nexperience and tradition there had been many strange stories.\n\nI wandered all through that terrible night, and only rested on my knees,\nwhen praying to God and the angels (especially him, my grandfather) to\nprotect me. Storm-beaten and drenched as I then was I sat down and cried\nbitterly. Suddenly my attention was arrested by an unusual sound, as of\nboughs breaking and twigs crackling. I looked in the direction of the\nsound and saw, standing high upon the trunk of a fallen tree, a large,\ngood-natured looking dog, which I supposed to be Mr. Cox's dog, \"Rover.\"\nImmediately fear left me. I felt him to be _rescue and safety_. I called\nto him, \"Rover, Rover!\" and tried to get near him, but he turned from me\nleading the way. I followed; he looking back frequently, as if to see\nwhether or not I followed him. After wandering some time through zig-zag\nroutes, he brought me to Deacon Demarest's place, which I recognized, as\nthe house had recently been burned and I could not mistake it. At this\npoint he loitered a moment, and came so near me that I reached out my\nhand to caress him, but could or did not touch him, although he pressed\nagainst me palpably several times.\n\nHe \"waggled himself\" so like a dog, and seemed so kind to me that I\nbecame fondly attached to him. On I went, following him through\ncross-lots and over fences, startling the cattle to their feet, and\ncausing a great jingling of cowbells, never looking back, but intently\nfollowing the dog, fearing to lose sight of him for a moment, lest he\nshould leave me. At last we came to my home. The house stood about a\nhundred feet from the road. There were two gates of entrance to the\ndoor-yard or grounds: one a foot-gate, the other for carriages, etc.\nI opened the small gate and held it open, supposing the dog would pass\nthrough it; but judge of my amazement to see him instead of doing so,\nscale the great gate with a bound and meet me face to face on the other\nside, but no longer a dog! (Perhaps, at that instant, it was a fleeting\nvision of a dog, but it is certain he disappeared and was no more seen),\nwhile the noble form of my great-grandfather, with his loving smile, for\na moment stood before me at the gate, by the early morning light. I\ngave a scream which brought my grandfather from the house to the door,\nexclaiming, \"Great God! the child has been out in the woods all night.\"\n\nI was put to bed, from which I did not rise for a week. At times it was\nfeared that I never should rise from it, such was the effect of the\nexposure, fatigue, and fright of that terrible night. Mr. Redfield\n(mentioned on page 8, etc.) had spent the evening and night at our\nhouse, and was told how I had disobeyed my orders to return home before\ndark, and that I was evidently detained at Mr. Cox's. He said, before\nstarting in the morning, that he would stop at Mr. Cox's on his way to\nmill, and see about me. On his informing Mr. Cox that I had not returned\nhome, the latter hastened to our house in great fright lest evil had\nbefallen me from the animals or other adventure of the woods. He found\nme of course safe and asleep in my grandmother's bed. He was a devout\nMethodist, and knelt by my bedside and prayed over me with thanks to God\nthat I had been preserved through the terrors of that night of storm in\nthose wild woods, and, as I was told afterward, sobs of all the female\nmembers of the family accompanied his prayer.\n\nThere are many persons of the neighborhood still living whose\nrecollection can verify this story, and with whom it it is talked over\nwhen we meet, such as Evander Smith, John Onderdonk (a cousin of mine),\nPhilip Demarest, Albert Collins, etc.\n\n\nA GAME OF EUCHRE.\n\nDr. A.\u00a0D. Wilson, one of the most prominent physicians of New York,\nwas one of my dearest and best of friends. He had once--before my\nmarriage--had the experience of playing a game of euchre (through me as\nmedium) with an old Spirit friend of his, who, when in the flesh had\nbeen his frequent companion at the game. I do not recall the particulars\nof that former game sufficiently to relate it with accuracy; but one day\nDr. Wilson was telling the story to Mr. Underhill, who thereupon asked\nthe Spirits if they would play a game with him, which he was promised\nshould be done. This promise was made some three years before its\nfulfilment came about, during which time Mr. Underhill had frequently\nreminded the Spirits of their unfulfilled promise. It was an interesting\nexperience, and I felt desirous of again witnessing it. One evening at\nabout eight o'clock (it was in about 1862), our nephew C. O. Smith (a\nlad who figures as Charlie in the sketch of our Ohio campaign) was\nseated at one end of the table studying his lessons under bright\ngaslight. My husband and myself were the only other persons in the\nroom--which was the library, front room of the second story. Mr.\nUnderhill was reclining on the lounge, and I was seated near the middle\nwindow. By a simultaneous impulse (and such _simultaneous impulses_ were\na frequent experience with us) my husband and myself started up and\nseated ourselves at the table. I will continue the story as I have it\nwritten by Mr. Underhill himself.\n\n\"Leah and myself sat opposite each other, Charlie being seated at the\nend of the table between us, with his books. I asked the Spirit once\nagain if he would fulfil the promise given long ago to play a game of\ncards, as was occasionally done between Leah and myself. 'I'll try,'\nwas answered. I asked, 'Who is it? Will you give me your name?' The\nalphabet being then called for, the name was given me privately, not by\nrapping, which Leah would of course have heard, but by touches on my\nfoot, in correspondence to the letters of the alphabet. It was 'Calvin,'\nwhich I kept to myself, since it seemed to be meant to be for myself\nalone; but as Leah was inquisitive, she repeated the request for the\nname, to which no response came. On her persevering with the request, it\nwas rapped out, 'I can't be pumped.' This was just like Calvin, who,\nwhen he had once declined to answer a question would never be forced to\ndo so. The cards were then called for by the Spirit, and I was directed\nto put the pack under the table. Presently it was rapped, 'Cut for\ndeal.' I stooped down and cut the pack on the floor, and laid my cut\nalongside of the pack. The Spirit then said, 'Look,' and there under the\ntable lay his cut, on the other side of the pack. It was better than\nmine, and gave him the deal. It was a right bower. We then distinctly\nheard a shuffling of the cards under the table, and the Spirit called on\nme to cut them. I said to him, 'But you have the advantage over me, as\nyou have all the cards under there to yourself.' He replied, 'Yes, I can\nsee them all, but I will play fair.' He then told me to put my hand\nunder the table, and my three cards were placed in it. I was again\ndirected to look, and found that he had also dealt himself three. The\nother two due to each player were then dealt in the same way. On being\ndirected to look again under the table I saw that his turn-up card was\na jack. As the trump did not suit my hand, I said, 'I pass.' The Spirit\ntook it and discarded. I then led, by laying my card on the table. The\nSpirit responded to my play by placing his card into my hand which I\nheld under the table to receive it. In that hand he made a march. We\nthus played out that game in four deals, which he won, making five\npoints to my two. I did not doubt his having played fair. I then told\nLeah who my antagonist had been, and she said, 'How like Calvin that was\nto answer my pertinacious interrogation by saying that he would not be\npumped.'\"\n\n\nMARGARETTA'S DREAM.\n\nOne morning, when my sister Margaretta came down to breakfast, she was\nlooking pale, and tears were in her eyes. She related a dream which had\ngreatly affected her.\n\n\"I was,\" she said, \"sitting in the north room at home (in father's\nhouse). The door was open. Suddenly the sun seemed to be eclipsed: while\nthe atmosphere was filled with particles of dust, which at times were\nwafted in clouds which nearly obscured my vision. (The road is visible\nfrom the door for the distance of half a mile.) I observed a form slowly\napproaching amid the shower of dust and d\u00e9bris; and as it came nearer I\nrecognized in it my sister Maria, dressed in deep black, and ran to meet\nher. She raised her hands, saying, 'O Maggie! isn't this dreadful?' As\nwe met, a leaf (as from a book) dropped at our feet. I picked up the\nleaf and read from it these words:\n\n      \"Leaves have their time to fall,\n        And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath,\n      And stars to set--but all,\n        Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death!\"\n\nWe were all deeply impressed, and felt it to be a warning of some sad\nevent in the near future.\n\nIt was early, we had not yet breakfasted, and were sitting together\nfeeling very dejected, when my brother (who lived thirty miles east of\nRochester) walked into our room, and finding us all in tears, threw his\narms gently around mother's neck and asked her what was the matter.\n\nWe told him Margaretta's dream, well knowing that he must have sad\ntidings to relate to us, as he had ridden all night to get there at\nthat hour of the morning. He wept, and sobbing aloud said: \"I am the\nmessenger of sorrowful tidings. Dear little Sanford Smith is dead.\" This\nwas sister Maria's little son, seven years of age. David then told us\nhow the darling child had passed away. He died of croup. They did not\nconsider him dangerously ill at first, but hastened for the doctor. When\nhis mother stood over him, trying to make him more comfortable, tears\ndropped from her eyes upon his precious face. He pulled her down and\nkissed her, and with his little handkerchief wiped her tears away,\nsaying, \"Ma, don't cry so. I will be your guardian spirit, and rap just\nso\"--making the sounds with his darling fingers on the head-board. He\nwas a beautiful and interesting child: and it nearly broke their hearts\nto lay him away from their earthly sight, though conscious of his\nspiritual presence.\n\nWhile Margaretta was dreaming that truly wonderful dream, my brother\nDavid was on his way to inform us of the child's death.\n\n\nMISTAKEN NAMES CORRECTED BY SPIRITS.\n\nDr. A.\u00a0D. Wilson and Dr. Kirby, both men of high distinction,\nintroduced to me by Dr. John F. Gray, and who afterward became thorough\nSpiritualists and my dear friends, made a bad start in their first\nexperiences at my circles. They both went away somewhat disgusted with\nthe wrong names which the Spirits of their relatives had attributed to\nthemselves. Dr. Wilson's father having given his name as \"Patrick;\" and\nDr. Kirby's wife having called herself \"Mary Anne.\" They compared notes\nas they went out together. Dr. Wilson said that his father was not\nPatrick, but Peter; and Dr. Kirby that his wife's name was Nancy.\n\nSoon after Dr. Wilson came across his father's old diploma. He had\ngraduated at Edinburgh before coming to New York, where he became a\nprofessor in (I believe) Columbia College, and there was his name\nrecorded at full length as \"Patrick.\" He was not an Irishman, but a\nScotchman, and did not fancy being called \"Pat,\" and used to sign with\nhis initial; and somehow or other Peter got so fastened upon him that\nhis own son never knew his real name to have been Patrick till he found\nit on this old diploma. Dr. Kirby complained to his mother-in-law that\nhis wife Nancy had given her name as \"Mary Anne.\" \"Why, did you never\nknow that Nancy was christened Mary Anne?\" was her reply. The two\ndoctors again compared notes together to better purpose than before;\nand we all had a hearty laugh when they came together to tell us this\ncurious and excellent test they had both happened to receive. They were\nboth distinguished homoeopathic physicians, as was also their intimate\nfriend, Dr. Gray, by whom they had been introduced.\n\n\nAN UNWILLING CONVERT MADE HAPPY AND GRATEFUL.\n\nOne evening (in Ludlow Place) so severe a storm was raging, and it was\nso bitterly cold, that I had no fear of any visitors coming in, and had\nsettled myself for comfort in the basement room, and allowed the fire in\nthe parlor to go out. But the bell rang, and Susie announced a party of\nfour or five gentlemen. They had been brought by one of my good friends\nfrom the St. Nicholas Hotel. They were all Southerners; and one of them,\nan old gentleman, had been seduced out to go with the party to \"some\nplace of entertainment,\" without knowing what or where. (He was bitterly\nprejudiced against Spiritualism and us.) When he got in and learned\ninto what he had been entrapped, he was very angry, and refused to pay\nhis dollar or to go any farther. Susie reported that he was up in the\nhall, and their hack had been dismissed. I sent word to invite him down\nto the warm room, unless he chose to remain out in the cold, for which I\nshould be sorry. He finally came down, but sat apart in a corner of the\nroom as distant as possible from the group of us gathered round the\ntable near the fire. He was, as I afterward learned, an old man now left\nalone in the world with his wealth; a large family having been swept\naway from him, chiefly by yellow fever. He replied somewhat gruffly to\nmy invitation to him to draw up to the fire, and my friend scratched\na few lines to me telling me to take no notice further as he was a\nsceptic, and very angry at the trick they had played upon him. Before\nlong came some raps, saying, \"Father, do come to the table and get\nwarm,\" signed with the names of his wife and a number of his children:\nand they happened to be rather unusual names, of which I remember only\nTabitha, Rebecca, and Sarah. As one after another he heard them rapped\nout, he turned in his seat and became evidently excited and affected,\nand even tears began to stream down his aged face. He came to the table,\nwhere he received such satisfaction that his long-lost dead were really\nthere and speaking to him, that when the party broke up he expressed\ngreat gratitude; and said that though he had refused to pay his dollar,\nhe insisted on my acceptance of the $20 bill which he laid on the table.\n\nHe afterwards wrote me a beautiful letter, from the extreme South,\ntelling me that he had been a materialist, with no belief in the\nimmortality of the soul; but that now all life was changed for him; that\nhe now knew that his wife and children still lived and loved and were\nnear to him, and that he would soon be with them again. And he gave me\nsuch grateful blessings as were a compensation for the hardships and\nsuffering I had sometimes to encounter in the course of my career of\nmediumship. The friend who had done him the unwelcome service of thus\nentrapping him within my doors is still living, and owns a large orange\nplantation in Florida; and I have no objection to refer to him any\nreader whose prejudices may require any confirmation of the strict\naccuracy of this narrative of one of the pleasantest reminiscences of my\nlife.\n\n\nA SPIRIT KNOWS BETTER THAN THE POSTMASTER.\n\nOne morning we received a message, by rapping, to this effect:\n\n\"Your Uncle John is on his way, and will be here to-morrow morning.\"\n\nHe was then on a visit to my sister at Consecon, Canada West. We dearly\nloved Uncle John, and were delighted at this announcement; and as we had\nnever been deceived by anything thus volunteered by our Spirit friends,\nwe made all preparations for his arrival, and told several friends\nthat he was coming. Morning came, but no Uncle John. We went to the\nboat-landing from across the lake (\"Hanford's landing,\" then about a\ncouple of miles from Rochester, though the city has now pretty well\ngrown down to it); but no one knew anything about him. We then went to\nAmy Post, and told her how we had been deceived and disappointed by the\nSpirits. Mrs. Post was seriously affected by the false prophecy, or\nannouncement, and could not be reconciled to the situation without some\nfurther explanation from those who had deceived us. All we got from them\nwas this: \"Go to the post-office and you will find a letter which will\nexplain.\" On doing so we were told that there was none in our box. We\n(Mrs. Post, Miss Coles, Sister Kate, and myself), after a little talk\nover it, asked the Spirits why they persisted in such falsehoods, with\nmore questions which I cannot distinctly remember. We received the reply\n(by rappings): \"Go back and say you have just been told there _was_ a\nletter there. Tell them to look among the promiscuous letters, and it\nwill be found.\" (Spirits can emphasize by the strength of their raps as\nwell as we can by italics.) Of course we did accordingly, and the clerk\nreturned with a large letter, asking if my name was Leah A. Fish; which,\nof course, it was, with a variation in the order of Christian names, and\nprobably I had asked for the name of A.\u00a0L. Fish, perhaps omitting the\nfull name of \"Leah.\"\n\nThe clerk had made a plain mistake. The Spirit had been right.\n\nThe letter explained everything. Uncle had started from Consecon, but\nhad been overtaken at Coburg by a subpoena to attend an important trial,\nin which he was the principal witness.\n\nSpirits are but disembodied men and women, and are not much more\nomniscient after their disembodiment than they had been before it. They\nhad given their message truly before he had been overtaken at Coburg\nwith the subpoena. They had followed or accompanied Uncle John, but had\nno cognizance of outside circumstances which had occurred subsequently\nto their announcement, and then quitted him. There is instruction in\nthis, as well as a curious interest.\n\n\nOPENING OF A COMBINATION LOCK.\n\nProfessor Mapes had a friend who knew that he was investigating\nSpiritualism, and told him that he (the friend) had a test which none of\nhis mediums or Spirits could meet, but that he would give the mediums\n$600 if they could do so; that being a sum he had unexpectedly come\ninto and would gladly give if it could be done. The Professor brought\nhim to me, and he pulled out his $600 and produced a combination\npadlock, which he had set to a certain word, and he offered me the $600,\nto which I was welcome if I could open it. I told him that neither the\nSpirits nor I would do anything for money, and I refused to attempt it\nunless he put back his money into his pocket. This he had to do, but he\ncontinued to sit in the public circle, for which he paid the regular\nadmission fee of one dollar. Nothing came for him till, just as the\nparty was breaking up, there were rapped out the letters, _l-o-o-n_,\nfollowed with the sentence \"Open your lock,\" which nobody understood\ntill some person, repeating them aloud, said, \"That spells _loon_,\"\nwhich Mapes's friend heard, and, starting up excitedly and with an oath,\ncried out, \"Why, that is my word!\" The lock was at once opened at the\nword. He again threw the $600 to me, saying that I was heartily welcome\nto it. But he at last was compelled to put back his money. As he bade me\ngood-night he left in my hand a $10 gold piece, which I could not refuse\nto accept as a token of his gratitude and his feelings. He came\nfrequently afterwards and became a thorough and hearty Spiritualist.\nProf. Mapes, in introducing him, said he was a whole-souled man, though\na positive and rough one, and somewhat addicted to oaths, which rather\ndispleased me.\n\n\nA VISITOR MAGNETIZED INTO A MEDIUM HIMSELF.\n\nJudge Haskell, of Leroy, a distinguished man and a member of Congress,\nwas one of my old Rochester converts and earnest supporters. He used to\nsay that we acted on him like magnets, and magnetized him unconsciously,\nso that after an evening with us he found himself receiving raps\nhimself, an influence upon him which would last several days, sometimes\nas long as a week, and that he used to talk freely with the Spirits in\nhis own bed, receiving the raps on the headboard. He evidently had in\nhimself the basic conditions for the mysterious gift of mediumship, and\nmight have gone far if he had chosen to cultivate and develop it.\nIndeed, he often found himself, in his speeches, departing widely from\nwhat he had intended to say, and even speaking against his opinions,\nunder an influence controlling him against his own mind.\n\n\nCURIOUS STORY ABOUT A MUTILATED LIMB.\n\nI went with mother to visit my sister, Mrs. Osterhout, who lived in\nCanada West, near where my father had formerly resided. A bad accident\noccurred to a young man named Charlie, whose leg was so crushed by a\nheavy log rolling upon it that it had to be amputated above the knee.\nAs we sympathized with the family, mother and I went over on the first\nnight after the amputation to watch with him and help take care of him,\nwhile supporting his mother with our company. The limb had of course\nbeen buried. During the night he moaned and cried incessantly, and\nbegged us _to turn his foot over_. We did not understand him until he\nsaid, \"Tell Joe (the hired man) to turn my foot over; they have buried\nit with the toes downward.\" We went and told Joe about it, who made\nno account of it, regarding Charlie as not in his right mind; but the\nlatter continued so long with the same cries which proved such severe\nactual suffering, whatever might be the illusion possessing his mind in\nregard to his buried limb, that we were compelled to satisfy him by\ndirecting Joe to reopen the hole, which could scarcely be called a\ngrave. It was a fact; the leg was found exactly as Charlie had insisted\nit was, with the toes downward. It was accordingly turned over in the\nbox in which it had been buried, so as to rest in its natural position\non the heel, and poor Charlie immediately dropped to sleep, nor did he\nmake any further complaint. The reader has probably heard or read of\nanalogous stories about pain being felt in the extremities of limbs\nwhich had been amputated; continuing in some cases long after the\namputation. The Apostle says: \"There is a natural body and there is\na spiritual body.\"\n\n\nDISTURBANCES IN THE TROUP STREET COTTAGE.\n\nOne Sunday night, at Rochester, in that pleasant house on Troup Street,\nthere was one of those tremendous snow-storms which no longer appear to\nfall there as often or so deep as they did at that time. Margaretta and\nI were alone in the house. Alfie, our housekeeper, had gone out for the\nday, and we had no expectation of her being able to return through\nsuch a snow-storm. The house was built on ground which sloped down to\nthe rear from the front level of the street. We were sitting in the\ndining-room, which was a sort of rear addition to the cottage, and had\na veranda from which a door opened into the room, while another door led\nby a few steps to the cellar in which was a well--though we never used\nthe water from it, as I mistrusted its healthfulness; indeed I had a\nstrange feeling about that well, as though it might have been the scene\nof a crime. The wind coming furiously from that direction piled up the\nsnow-drift all the height of the lower sashes of the windows, and of\ncourse blocked access to the door from without. There were often so much\nknocking and other sounds about that cottage that I believed it, like\nthe others, to be haunted.\n\nMargaretta and I were making ourselves comfortable. We had drawn the\ntable near to the stove, and upon it was one of the country mince pies,\nsuch as New York does not know, and she had just lifted the teapot when\nknocks of the most fearful character thundered directly under her feet.\nThe blows implied a heavy mallet and a powerful arm, which so startled\nher as to cause her to let fall the teapot. Neither of us could stir\nfrom the spot. There was no cellar under this _rear_ addition to\nthe cottage, but the door from the cellar, which was under the main\nbuilding, opened into the tea-room very near to where I sat. Tremendous\npounding commenced against the cellar-door, causing it to fly open and\nclose again several times as by the same hand. Immediately after came\nfrom outside groans as from some one apparently perishing in the storm,\nseeming to indicate extreme suffering and anguish.\n\nAs we huddled together and sat paralyzed, we heard the cheerful voice of\nour good Quaker friend, Mr. Willets, and a knocking at the door of a\ncharacter not mysterious, and as soon as we were able to get the door\nopen, Mr. Willets, a gust of wind, and no small drift of snow, entered\ntogether. \"Well, girls, I got anxious about you, and, as Alfie is away,\nmy wife and I thought you might have no water and wood for to-morrow\nmorning, and it would be harder to get at you then; for this snow is\ngoing to last all night.\" He stayed a little while, when he found we\nwere sufficiently provided, and then this good man and friend made his\nbrave way out again.\n\nBefore Mr. Willets had left, Calvin also came to us under the same\nalarm, and to cheer us with his presence, and he stayed all night. And\nalthough there was no more moaning outside, yet the same heavy pounding\non the floor _continued through the night_. Though we at least went to\nour bed, the agitation and excitement prevented our having anything more\nthan a disturbed sleep; and whenever we would awake, there were still\nthe sounds, which lasted till morning; and the neighbors too told us the\nnext day how they had also heard and wondered at them. I have forgotten\nto mention that Mr. Willets and Calvin went out into the storm to see if\nthey could find anybody or any signs of anybody outside the house, but\nthey found nothing but the undisturbed levels of the snow.\n\nNor was this the only occasion of such violent and protracted knockings\nboth there and elsewhere. At my house in Ludlow Place, New York, we\nsometimes could not help believing that there were burglars in the\nhouse, and utterly reckless in their noises. We sometimes called in the\npoliceman to search the house as some of our friends must remember. For\nthe sake of male protection, I had (their friends being ours and ours\ntheirs) invited Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Johnson to occupy rooms in my third\nstory, and to share our table (for which we had to permit them to\ncontribute the small sum estimated to cover the additional cost of the\nlatter), and several times had Mr. Johnson come down during the night\nand insisted that there must be burglars in the house:--and this,\nnotwithstanding all his past observations. There were some reasons for\nsuspicions of crime having been committed in that house also. Now what\nsort of Spirits were they who thus disturbed our nights? And why? Of\ncourse I, many a time, interrogated them, but never got any satisfaction\nfrom their answers. They would never give any special motive or reason\nfor their thus coming, and would only say that they _could_ do it, and\nthat they _would_.\n\nThey never did any mischief beyond the fright and causing us to go up\nand down stairs and all over the house: perhaps they were not allowed to\ndo so, by other spirits, who nevertheless had no power to prevent their\ncoming.\n\nWas it their purpose to keep us up to the task that had been imposed on\nus, and in a state of submission from a sense of our powerlessness\nagainst them? I could not answer these questions then, nor can I now. A\nfriend has suggested that they were perhaps miserable and earth-bound,\nand unprogressed spirits whom our mediumship gave access to us and\ncertain limited means of action on material objects in our atmosphere,\nand they may have found a diversion from the poor life they are as yet\nliving, and some amusement in frightening us, somewhat as children enjoy\nthe mere making of noise and startling people, without attaining or\nseeking any other object. There are plenty of people daily passing into\nthe Spirit condition, where they undergo no speedy change, of whom this\nis very supposable.\n\nA predecessor (daughter of Mr. Calhoun) in the occupation of this house,\nsome years before, told me that they had heard similar noises, and Mr.\nCalhoun told me that he and friends had sat up in the night with pistols\nto catch the burglars presumed to cause them.\n\n\nA CAUTION AGAINST CRUELTY TO ORPHAN CHILDREN.\n\nIn Canada West, not far from the residence of my sister Mrs. Elizabeth\nOsterhout, there lived a family consisting of a husband, wife, and three\nchildren, and a \"hired\" girl, whom Mr. ---- favored. Mrs. ---- was\nrapidly declining; and she feared that her husband would marry the girl,\nafter her death. Knowing the violent temper of the girl, she besought\nher husband not to marry her, and thus, necessarily, place the children\nunder her care. He promised his wife he would not: but his promise was\nsoon broken, and to his sorrow he found, when too late, that his wife's\nfears were being realized. The children were neglected and cruelly\nbeaten for the least offences. They were sad, and were often seen crying\nand hungry. The neighbors fed the little ones whenever an opportunity\noffered; and the children told strange stories about their mother\ncoming to them at night. They said she came and covered them with\nblankets which their step-mother would not allow them to have on their\nbeds; and they said that when she found the blankets on their beds she\nwould whip them; and when they told her that _they_ did not put them on\nthe bed, she would accuse them of falsehood. But she soon had reason to\nknow that a power beyond the children was at work there. The step-mother\nhad taken the feather bed, which their own mother had made for them, and\ntied and hung it up, because she said they would soil it.\n\nSoon after this, quantities of feathers were lying about the\nsleeping-room, which could not be accounted for; until, on close\nexamination, they discovered the bed-tick was burned all over in exactly\nthe form of human hands.\n\nThis could not be charged to the children; and the occurrence was talked\nover by every one in the neighborhood.\n\nStill the children were shamefully treated, starved and beaten for the\nmost trifling things. There was another child born into the family, and\nthe elder ones were made to take care of it, and were abused whenever it\ncried. One day Mr. ---- was obliged to leave home to be gone over night.\nThe youngest of the first wife's children was suffering with cholera\ninfantum, and cried for want of care. This disturbed her ladyship. She\nleft her bed in a passion, jerked the little sufferer out of its bed,\nsetting it hard on the floor, while the other two were ordered to take\ncare of the sick child; and as she turned to leave the room she was met\nface to face by their Spirit mother, who, with open hand and extended\narm gave her a slap on the forehead. She turned to the children saying,\n\"Your mother has killed me.\" Her forehead instantly turned black where\nthe Spirit hands and fingers had touched her, and the marks corresponded\nexactly with the forms burnt in the bedtick.\n\nShe died three days after the hand had slapped her; and the discolored\nbrow was hidden in the tomb.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis is no fancy sketch, as some may be disposed to imagine. It is\nverily true as the terrible punishment was deserved.\n\n\nMRS. HOPPER'S MYSTERIOUS END.\n\nA well-authenticated and most mysterious occurrence, and one which has\nalways left in the minds of the residents of Rockland County a strong\ninclination to credit a belief in witchcraft--I confess to something\nof the kind myself--took place in my father's school-day time. I have\nlistened to his recital with staring eyes, ready to catch the slightest\nincident connected with it.\n\nMrs. Hopper, a very beautiful woman, was possessed of some very strange\npower. It was said that even when quite young she would perform strange\nfeats with children who were in the habit of associating with her; and\nit was clearly ascertained that she had been seen in different places at\none time.[22] I cannot say anything of my own knowledge of all this, but\nthere is no doubt of the facts which I am about to relate.\n\n    [22] The mysterious phenomenon of \"the double\"--called by the\n    Germans _doppelganger_, and the subject of various German\n    tales--while one of the most calculated to provoke incredulity,\n    is undoubtedly an occasional reality. I have heard more than\n    one person whose veracity I cannot doubt relate how they have\n    been seen at the same time in places hundreds of miles apart.\n    Any one may inquire of Mr. E.\u00a0H. Britten on this subject.\n    Undoubtedly such persons are mediums.\n\nMrs. Hopper had not appeared in her usual spirits for several days. She\ncomplained of not feeling well, wished to be left to her repose, and\nappeared to be looking forward to something they could not comprehend.\nOne of her bridal gifts was a favorite colored boy, a lad about\nseventeen years of age at the time of her departure. (Slavery still\nexisted in New York.) She was an only child and much petted by her\nparents and friends.\n\nHer mother, on learning she was ill, went to spend a few days with her,\nin the hope of cheering her spirits and benefiting her health. One\nafternoon she seemed more than usually restless, and called to Jack (the\ncolored boy) to bring his hat and coat to her to repair them. While\nmending his clothes, she said to Jack, \"Who will mend your clothes and\ncare for you when I'm gone?\" He tried to console her, and said, \"You\naint a goin' to die, Missus, you're too young.\" She told her mother she\nneedn't stay with her as she was quite well and her mother was needed at\nhome. She also told her husband she would rather he would sleep in\nanother room and leave her alone that night. They all complied with\nher wishes. The next morning her husband found the doors ajar, and on\nentering the room discovered that her bed had not been slept in, and on\ncloser examination discovered her comb and pins on the stove and all her\nwearing apparel torn open (in front) from head to foot, and lying on the\nfloor just as they had been stripped from her body. They searched the\nhouse and barn but could not find her. They explored the neighborhood,\nbut no trace of her nor footprints could be found. The neighbors turned\nout to hunt for the missing woman. School was dismissed and the children\njoined in the search.\n\nNear the place where she lived was a swamp. (My cousin took Mr.\nUnderhill and myself to see the house. It is a short drive from his\nhome--\"Mountain View House.\") The swamp named was quite extensive at\nthat time.\n\nThe party hunted three days; taking horns along, which they sounded,\nwhenever they strayed apart, to call them together again.\n\nI believe it was my father's aunt who first discovered the body of the\nmissing woman (which they had traced by her hair; some of which they\nfound hanging in the limbs of the trees). Her body was lying on a dry\nelevation, in the swamp, in a state of entire nudity; and so surrounded\nby mud and mire that they were obliged to make a log-way to enable them\nto reach and remove it. My aunt removed her apron and covered the body\nwith it.\n\nHer story is still repeated by many of the oldest inhabitants, and\nto-day remains no less a mystery.\n\nI believe she had covenanted with evil Spirits, and the time or limit of\nher agreement was ended. \"Try the Spirits. By their fruits ye shall know\nthem.\"\n\nNever yield your judgment to Spirits, however good they may be, unless\nyou are sure you are doing right. Obey the small voice within, and\nalways bear in mind that the highest gift from God is your own good\nsense. So say my guardian Spirits.\n\n\n\"TOUCH SAMANTHA.\"\n\nA very amusing incident occurred in one of my afternoon s\u00e9ances. Mr.\nDecker, with his wife and sister-in-law (acquaintances of mine from\nRochester), visited me and took seats in the circle. There were already\nabout twenty around the table. Mr. Decker was a believer in the\nmanifestations himself, but his wife's sister, Samantha Pierpont, knew\nvery little about the subject, and was afraid to sit in the circle.\n\nHe urged Samantha to come to the table, which she did after much\npersuasion. When it came Mr. Decker's turn to ask questions he called on\nthe Spirits to \"touch Samantha,\" but he had scarcely uttered the words\nwhen he disappeared from the circle and was seen coming out, feet\nforemost, from under the table at the very farthest extremity, causing\na great scattering among the visitors. Mrs. Ward fainted, and two other\nladies had to be taken out of the room. The s\u00e9ance was broken up for\nthat afternoon.\n\nMr. Horace Dresser was one of the party, and Mrs. Ward had accompanied\nhim to my house.\n\nThis seems to have been a counter practical joke, played upon himself by\nsome humorous Spirit (of whom there are many) for the one with which he\nwas persecuting poor Samantha.\n\n\n\"I FEEL MY HANDKERCHER TIED TIGHTER EVERY MINIT.\"\n\nWhen I first moved into Ludlow Place I met, in the street, a colored\nwoman with a brush and pail in her hand. She was very pretty and jolly,\nand I engaged her to help clean the house. I set her at work in the\nchina closet, and, before she had been ten minutes there at work, she\nturned to me and said, \"What yer got in dis yer house?\"\n\nI replied, \"I don't know what you mean. Explain yourself.\"\n\nShe muttered awhile, and in a moment more she said, \"Well, mebby yer\ndon't know, but I feels my hankercher tied tighter every minit.\"\n\n\n\"NO BRIMSTONE YET.\"\n\nIt has often struck me that there was something more than mere chance in\nclasses of persons who would gather round the table in my circles. There\nwould be occasions when _none_ but persons of superior intelligence\nand elevation of character would meet there, as though some kindred\ninfluences had prompted them thus simultaneously. When a few persons of\nthis order began to come, I have often said to mother, \"We are going to\nhave good manifestations this evening, as a galaxy of fine heads and\nnoble faces are gathering round the table.\"\n\nMr. Greeley has more than once remarked upon this to me, saying, \"Leah,\nI never, in any assembly, meet so many noble heads and the same order of\nintelligence I meet at your receptions.\"\n\nOne evening there was such an assemblage of some twenty-five or thirty\npersons, of whom none were misplaced in such good company. One young\nQuaker lad, of seventeen or eighteen, had accompanied his father. He\nwas a fine, bright and gentlemanly youth. It was the practice that each\nperson took his turn, as they sat, to address his questions to the\nSpirits. When the right came to him to ask his questions, he waived it\nin favor of his older neighbor, who, however, declined to accept it, and\ninsisted on his using his privilege. Accordingly, he wrote his question,\nscreening his paper with a book as he did so. His first question was,\n\"Is my friend John here?\" Three raps gave the answer _Yes_. He then\nasked a second question to which came the reply: \"Not quite so bad as\nthat; I haven't smelt any brimstone yet.\" This elicited a general laugh,\nand he was pressed to show his question, to which he objected, until he\nwas overborne by his father. It proved to have been, \"John, are you in\nhell?\"\n\n\nKITCHEN WORK BY NIGHT.\n\nWe have been awakened by the most fearful sights and sounds when no\nhuman being other than ourselves was stirring in the house. On several\noccasions I could not rest until I called a policeman in, and had the\nhouse searched from garret to cellar.\n\nThe manifestations were sometimes calculated to excite our sympathy, at\nother times they have lured us by false representations. I will give an\ninstance.\n\nMother and myself were in the sitting-room on the second floor alone,\nquite late at night (not far from midnight), when we distinctly heard\nwalking, talking, and opening and shutting of doors. I said to mother,\n\"Can it be possible that the girls are in the kitchen at this late\nhour?\" She replied, \"No, I saw them go up over an hour ago, and Susie\nsaid good-night to me.\" I then thought I noticed the odor of cooking\nfrom the kitchen. The girls had a habit of sitting up late, and I\ndetermined to go down and detect them in their tricks (on one occasion\nI had found them entertaining a large party, when they had supposed I\nwas in bed and asleep). We started cautiously, listening as we went,\nand occasionally hearing movements, appearing to us slyly made, as if\ncareful on their part not to be overheard. We took no light with us, as\nwe did not expect to need any. The lower hall seemed lighted from a\nwindow opening into it from the front basement, and a bright light shone\nfrom under the kitchen door which enabled us to see everything around.\nI went cautiously to the door, opened it quickly and found utter\ndarkness and silence. As I opened it I distinctly heard a clatter as of\ngriddles, etc., dropping. Judge of our surprise when suddenly we were\ninstantaneously seized and hustled about, and then both transported or\nlifted to the floor above by an irresistibly powerful \"force.\" I believe\nthat it was a device cunningly conceived by mischievous Spirits at play,\nto lure us down, and then frighten and bewilder us.\n\n\n\"SICH A GETTIN' UP STAIRS.\"\n\nOne evening when Margaretta and I were alone in my private room (the\nfront room of the second story), some friends wanted a dark s\u00e9ance;\nfor which purpose Katie went down with them into the basement room.\nThe parlor floor was unoccupied, and at a late hour the servants\nextinguished the hall light, supposing all to have gone. But the dark\ns\u00e9ance in progress with Katie in the basement continued so long past\nmidnight, with no sign of its breaking up, that I at last sent\nMargaretta down to let them know the hour and put an end to it. Of\ncourse all was dark on the two lower floors, but she could easily make\nher way. But as she was about to knock at the lower door, she was\nsuddenly seized by some person who hurled or shot her up, as it seemed\nto her, and landed her on her feet at the head of the stairs on the\nsecond floor, where her scream called me out from my room, and she\nrelated what had occurred. It was evident that there were some Spirits\nthere who did not choose to have the s\u00e9ance going on below interrupted.\n\nThere is an old negro melody which tells how\n\n      \"Sich a gettin' up stairs\n        I never did see,\n      Sich a gettin' up stairs,\" etc.\n\nMargaretta had been pitched, as it were, in an instant, up the two\nflights of stairs. The reader may refer to the next story for a somewhat\nsimilar way of being carried up stairs which once befell mother and\nmyself.\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF ISAAC T. HOPPER.\n\nHon. John W. Edmonds met occasionally with a private party, numbering\nfrom twelve to sixteen persons, nearly all singers of a choir belonging\nto a church in this city. This was my first private party formed after\nmy settlement in New York, in 1852.\n\nThe rules of the party were to meet at precisely eight and close at\nten o'clock. Judge Edmonds came and went as he pleased, often to the\nannoyance of the party through the interruptions thus produced. He came\nin one evening about nine o'clock and took his seat in silence. The\nparty were singing their sweet anthems, and all seemed drawn together in\nharmony. At the close of the singing our attention was suddenly called\nto a peculiar sound in the extreme corner of the room. Mr. Bostwick\nwas secretary of the circle. I have his minutes of it, which differ\nmaterially from Judge Edmonds' account, written from memory by Dr.\nDexter, and published in his book.\n\nI here give it exactly as it occurred.\n\nThis singular sound signaled the alphabet, which I called, and the\nfollowing message was given to us all:\n\n\n\"MY DEAR FRIENDS: I am free from all suffering and anxiety. I am\nre-united with the beloved partner of my youthful days.\n\n    \"ISAAC T. HOPPER.\"\n\n\nJudge Edmonds exclaimed, \"Gracious Heavens! can this be true? I have\nbeen with him from noon until seven o'clock this evening; and when\nI left him he seemed likely to live a month.\" Then, taking a small\npamphlet from his pocket, he said, \"I read this to him; he listened\nattentively and expressed his opinion upon it favorably.\" He then said,\n\"Mrs. Brown, can't you send one of your girls around to see if this is\ntrue?\" I said \"No, Judge; I could not send my girls out at this hour of\nnight.\" The party all cried out, \"No, Judge; go yourself. We will await\nyour return.\" He went, and was gone about an hour.\n\nWhen the door-bell rang we sat in breathless silence. The Judge paused\nin the door-way a moment, then solemnly, and with trembling lips, said,\n\"When I got there he had been dead an hour.\"\n\n\nWILLIAM M. THACKERAY.\n\nMr. Thackeray during his stay in New York visited my public s\u00e9ances, but\nnever asked questions in a crowd. His course of investigation was unlike\nthose of all others. The first visit he made he sat and listened to the\nsounds; and when his turn came to ask questions, he politely asked me to\naccept his arm and walk with him through the parlors (fifteen minutes\nwere allotted to each visitor) and he said, \"You must be weary by this\ntime. Do your investigators always tax you as they have this evening?\"\nI told him I considered this party very little trouble in comparison to\nmost others. The raps followed us as we walked, and were heard by all\nin the room. He apparently paid little attention to the sounds as we\nwalked. Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the room, and said to me:\n\"I have read much of your family, and the persecution you have been\nsubjected to; and the various expositions of the wise ones; but they\nhave not been able to convict you.\"\n\nThe rappings became tremendous, and the floor trembled beneath our feet.\nThey were made all about the room and on the furniture. I invited him to\ncall during my private hours, which he subsequently did, and conversed\nwith the Spirits freely.\n\nWhen he bade me good-by for the last time, he expressed pleasure at\nhaving met us, and thanked me for my kindness in permitting him to visit\nus during our private hours. He expressed himself delighted with his\nvisit, and said he was thoroughly convinced that no earthly power could\nmake the sounds as he had heard them: and he laughed heartily at Dr.\nFlint's theory of the knee-joints. Though compelled to restrain the\npublic expression of it in the _Cornhill Magazine_, of which he became\neditor, it is certain that Mr. Thackeray was a full Spiritualist, even\nthough not one of those bolder Spirits among men who feel, and live up\nto, the duty of proclaiming to the world, cost what it may, the divine\nand regenerating truth which has been received into their own souls.\nBut great difficulties, it must be confessed, stood in his way. The\nbigotries of his country and times made it impossible for him, under\nthe necessities of a profession wholly dependent on the favor of public\nopinion, to go further than he did, while it is certain that he was too\nnoble and true a man ever to cater to those bigotries by a word of\ndepreciation of Spiritualism.\n\n\n\"WITCH STORIES.\"\n\n\nI.\n\nAmy Emmet, a well-known character in Rockland County, N.\u00a0Y., was reputed\na witch. And I have been told by a perfectly reliable gentleman of many\nstrange things which occurred in the case of an own sister of his, who\nis still living. She (his sister) would roll over the floor, like a\nhoop, for a long time; and, when relieved from such terrible control,\nwould lie helpless and nearly exhausted.\n\nMy parents and grand-parents knew her and believed her to be possessed\nby evil powers.\n\n\nII.\n\nMary Treadway was a little girl; a playmate of my mother. She suffered\ngreatly under the power of some evil influence. She would scream and\nsay, in terror, \"See her! See her!--Now she's pinching me.\" Then,\napparently for saying so, she would be stoned nearly to death. She would\nbe black and blue all over after being pinched, covered with bruises,\nand often hit in the face with stones tied up in rags. Her mother made\na deep pasteboard sun-bonnet, hoping that the poor child might be\nrelieved by wearing it; but the stones would hit her in the face just\nthe same, even when she would bend her face down near the ground to\navoid them. Mother saw the stones strike her, apparently coming from the\nmirror. After having been troubled in every possible way, she suddenly\nbecame completely covered with a living mass of vermin.\n\nHer parents were well-to-do, respectable, cleanly people. Her tormentor\ndied, and she recovered.\n\n\nGEORGE THOMPSON.\n\n\"MRS. A.\u00a0L. UNDERHILL:\n\n\"DEAR FRIEND--Having learned that you are about to publish a somewhat\ndetailed account of your experience in connection with the phenomena of\nSpiritualism, and fearing that you might not remember an occurrence\nwhich took place at your house on Troup Street, in the city of\nRochester, N.\u00a0Y.--I think in 1849, when George Thompson (the English\nabolitionist) came to this country to lecture against slavery--I take\nthe liberty of referring to it.\n\n\"While lecturing in Rochester, he expressed a desire to witness\nsomething of what he had heard so much about.\n\n\"Mrs. Kedzie and myself, with a few other friends called on you. After\nbeing seated around a table, the rapping indicated that many Spirits\nwere glad to manifest to him.\n\n\"Mr. Thompson took a seat on the opposite side of the table from you,\nand commenced asking questions by writing them. A very warm friend of\nhis, who had travelled extensively with him in India and elsewhere,\npurported to be in communication with him. Many incidents of their\ntravels were recalled to his memory by the Spirit. I distinctly remember\none question which Mr. Thompson asked orally. It was this. 'What was\nthe present which you sent to my wife from India?' Answer, 'A cashmere\nshawl.'\n\n\"Afterward we asked Mr. Thompson if his answers were all satisfactory?\nHe replied promptly, 'They were quite right, quite right.'\n\n\"The fact in this case was, that the questions put, and answers given,\nwere not known to you or any one present, or in the United States of\nAmerica; and all the answers given were 'quite right.'\n\n\"Will sceptics explain, satisfactorily to themselves and others, how\nthis is done?\n\n    \"JOHN KEDZIE.\n  \"NEW YORK, June, 1884.\"\n\n\nA CHILD'S LETTER.\n\nLetter from a child eight years old. I insert this letter from a darling\nlittle child partly for love of her, but chiefly because she soon after,\nas I have been informed, developed, without any instruction, into a\nsplendid musical medium.\n\n\n    \"NEWARK, O., July 20, 1851.\n\n\"MY DEAR FISH:\n\n\"I promised to write you a letter, and I have a few words to say to you,\nit is not very long; and I hope you are well, and I send my love to you\nall. I think that I'll never forget you. I wish that you'll never forget\nme. We are all well and the baby has three teeth. Now you must come\nback, we all want to see you.\n\n\"I hope that Mr. Brown is better. You must remember your promise to me.\nI have been looking anxiously for a letter from you. I hope you will\nexcuse me, for this is the first letter I've ever written before. Tell\nMaggie that she must not forget her promise to me.\n\n\"My dear Fish, I love you very much. I want to say something to you but\nI don't know what. The fields are green, the woods are grand, and home\nis dear to me, but I would give a year for one sweet month to talk with\nthe Spirits. O I would clap my hands for joy. Mr. Blackman has acted the\npart of a coward. He has not the independence of a man to come out and\npublish the truth like a gentleman. I would have sent you one of his\npapers if they had pleased me.\n\n\"Good-bye, my dear Fish.\n\n    \"LOUISE MOONEY.\"\n\n\nEXTRACTS FROM DANIEL UNDERHILL'S MINUTE BOOK, BEARING DATE JUNE 5, 1862.\n\n\"While Leah and myself, with a few friends, were sitting at the table\nconversing, the following communications were spelled out:\n\n\"'There must be some desperate struggles before the Union army can hold\nthe Rebellion under control. Then many treacheries will be perpetrated\nthrough the semblance of peace; after which many new and arbitrary\nenforcements will be carried into effect, so that the difficulties\ncannot be determined for some time. Rebellion is among you everywhere,\nand the only curb is the law and the right to control. Even your leading\njournalists are not reliable, and their loyalty is speculative.\n\n    (Signed)    \"'RED JACKET.'\"\n\n\n\"'No more peace; no more love; no more truth; all is gone. My spirit\nsorrows, my light grows dark, my hope fails, and my form no more appears\non earth among my tribe. My feather gone, my axe dull, my arrow broke,\nand my hand no more pull the string. My eyes no more take aim. My work\nto do, and I no power.\n\n\"'Great Spirit make pale-face look up where help can come, and then we\nwill fly through air in cars of fire, to call the light and heat down\nto wake up the love, hope, charity, and faith which have no power now,\nto conquer in the war of hatred, envy, and rebellion.\n\n      \"'I have spoken.\n    (Signed)    \"'WAR EAGLE.'\"\n\n\nEXTRACT FROM COMMUNICATION PURPORTING TO COME FROM D. UNDERHILL'S\nFATHER.\n\n\"If every grain of sand on the sea-shore were a dime, and every dime\nshould be doubled at every second, it would not be half the value to you\na few years hence, that one evening's sitting with your guardian Spirit\nwill be to you when you are as I am now.\n\n    (Signed)     \"LEVI.\"\n\n\nPRACTICAL JOKES PERFORMED AND REBUKED.\n\nThough it is my rule not to introduce trifling incidents which were\nconstantly occurring to us in our domestic privacy, yet, finding them in\nmy private papers of 1849, I will here insert the following two because\nit occurs to me that it may have had a significance intended as a lesson\nto me.\n\nOne evening, being for a wonder without callers, Maggie and I thought we\nwould have a little fun at mother's and Cathie's expense. (Mother was\nvery easily disturbed by any unusual manifestations.) It will be seen\nthat, though we began it for our fun, the Spirits took it soon out of\nour hands and carried it out themselves in pretty strong earnest.[23]\n\n    [23] They probably meant it as a reproof of the girls' attempt\n    to mix up their childish nonsense with a subject too great and\n    grave for such trifling on their part.--ED.\n\nMaggie went into the parlor bed-room, and I laid down on the sofa. She\ntook a cane and I a shell from the table to rap with. I precautionally\nplaced matches near me in case of need. She rapped _once_ (with the\ncane) upon the ceiling, but before I could make any attempt at using my\nshell the house was in an uproar. The piano was violently sounded, the\nmatch-box rattled against the ceiling. I called to Maggie to know if it\nwas she who was pounding the piano so violently. Mother cried out, \"God\nhave mercy on us!\" She saw a very tall man--or the form of one--standing\nin the open doorway, and recognized him as her father. Mother was\nso frightened that she started up, and as she did so tore down\nthe window-shade, which let in the light of a bright moon. I was\nunceremoniously seized upon and lifted through a circular aperture in\nthe ceiling (large enough to admit four small pipes, leading from the\nparlor stove into a sheet-iron drum in the room above, in which Calvin\nslept). (See diagram on page 209.) I was there held suspended for\nseveral minutes by two iron hands (as they seemed to me), the one felt\nicy cold, and the other almost burning hot. Calvin, in bed in the room\nabove, lay quietly listening to the uproar, but made no remark. I\nentreated him to come down to us, but he positively refused, saying,\n\"No, you have raised the Devil, and must take the consequences.\"\n\nThis uproar continued all night, and people gathered around the house to\nlisten to it. We found, by experience, that nothing we could do in our\nattempt at a little fun played off on mother, would equal the\nperformances of the Spirits at our expense.\n\nThe second of these private domestic incidents, designed perhaps for\nrebukes and lessons, was as follows:\n\nTo make this story understood, it will be necessary to describe the\nsituation of the old homestead. The public road runs north and south;\nand both houses face eastward. The old house stands about two hundred\nyards from the road, surrounded by trees. Father's house (which was\nbeing built at the time he was living in Hydesville) stands near the\nroad, with ample yard room surrounding it. When turning into the lane,\nthere is a slight descent until you reach a little bridge, called the\n\"Tell-tale Bridge,\" over a small stream, which in wet seasons runs\nthrough the vale; after which you gradually ascend until you reach the\nlevel on which the main buildings stand. It is called the Tell-tale\nBridge because the hoofs and wheels always announce the approach of\nvisitors.\n\nIt was Sunday evening. A party of David's friends drove over from Newark\nto have a s\u00e9ance with the Spirits. It was decided that they should hold\ntheir meeting at mother's, with the girls (Maggie and Katie). I remained\nat David's, with Uncle John, Calvin, and the children--the youngest\nbeing a babe ten months old. My brother and his wife joined the party.\nUncle John suggested that some refreshments would be acceptable and help\nto while away the time. By the time we got through supper it was near\ntwelve o'clock, and the hired man came home belated. The servant girl\nwas tired, and all save myself retired for the night. The baby fretted\nfor its mother, and I walked the floor with him until he fell asleep.\nStill there were no signs of the adjournment of the party. I could hear\nthe sounds distinctly, and concluded they had entirely forgotten to\nnotice the time (it was then two o'clock). So I slipped on the hired\nman's coat and hat and ran down, to learn if there were any intimations\nof the party breaking up. I did not wish to be observed. The night was\nlovely, and the moon shone brightly; and my only refuge of concealment\nwas a few shocks of sweet corn left standing between the window and the\nfence. They could have seen me through the window if they had looked\nout from the sitting-room in which they were holding their s\u00e9ance.\nI procured a number of small stones and practised throwing very\nsuccessfully, hitting the mark between the windows a little distance\nfrom them. Having thus acquired confidence in my aim, I threw one larger\nthan the others, which went through the window crashing the glass into\nfragments. A general scream broke from all in the room. I ran down into\nthe hollow near the bridge, and hid in the tall, wet grass, knowing well\nenough that mother would soon be out to explore the grounds. I heard her\nsay, \"I do not believe that a Spirit did it. I know it was some of those\ngood-for-nothing, mean coon hunters; they have heard us, and they have\ndone this to annoy us.\" Then father said: \"They have no business to\nthrow stones through the windows. If that stone had hit any one, it\nmight have proved a serious thing.\"\n\nI shuddered, and was thankful it was no worse. Mr. Codding said, \"No,\nMrs. Fox, I think you are mistaken. I heard several electric explosions\njust before it hit the window.\" (Those were my smaller pebbles.) Father\nsaid, \"Do you believe a Spirit threw that stone through the window? If\nit was a Spirit it was an evil one.\"\n\nBy this time they were all out in the yard looking for the culprit, and\nnot more than twenty feet from where I lay cowering in the long grass\nwet with dew. As soon as they all re-entered the house I ran for dear\nlife, doffed my hat and coat, and jumped back into the bed with the\nbaby. I had lain there but an instant when the most terrific rumbling\nexplosion went through the house, shaking it to its foundations and\nwaking every sleeper. I have never witnessed, before or since, such\na manifestation. Uncle John rushed to my room, saying, \"In heaven's\nname, what has happened?\" The parties from the other house came in\nand related what had happened there; but I was so shocked by the\nmanifestation just made that I found no difficulty in suppressing my\nlaughter. I had been well punished for my folly. I had not intended to\ncarry the joke so far, and I prayed to be forgiven. I did not dare to\nconfess. I knew it would not do at that time, as the public would have\nregarded us as impostors, and this as a specimen of our tricks. I\nsuffered alone for my sin. I heard them discuss the matter frequently.\nOne day, full fifteen years afterward, my brother was giving me his\nopinion, saying, \"Leah, I do believe that was a mischievous Spirit that\nthrew the stone and smashed father's window.\" I looked at him\nquizzically, and said, \"Yes Dave, I believe it was too.\"\n\nHe caught me by the hand and said, \"You did it! you rogue. I know you\ndid!\"\n\nI confessed, and we have had many a hearty laugh over it since; but I\nhad not ventured to confess it to the family for fifteen years.\n\n\nA PROPHETIC DREAM.\n\nOn pages 76-77 above, in the chapter devoted to the \"Mediumistic Vein\nin our Family,\" is given an account of my aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins,\nhaving seen a prophetic vision, miscalled \"dream,\" which nearly nine\nyears afterward was actually enacted over her grave, which now speaks\nfor itself in the cemetery of Sodus, Wayne Co., N.\u00a0Y. I omitted there to\nmention another instance in which she \"dreamed\" of a strange event, some\nweeks in advance of its actual occurrence. I was a child at the time,\nbut perfectly remember it, besides its having often been talked about in\nthe family.\n\nWhen the family migrated from the city of New York to Sodus, Wayne\nCounty, N.\u00a0Y., it had been intended to go by the canal. Grandfather had\npreceded the removal of the family by about a year. One morning Aunt\nBessie (afterward Mrs. Higgins) announced that, \"We shall not make our\njourney by water.\" \"Why not?\" asked her mother. \"Because I dreamed last\nnight that we travelled by land, and there was a strange lady with us.\nIn my dream, too, we came to Mott's tavern in the Beech Woods, and they\ncould not admit us because Mrs. Mott lay dying in the house. I know it\nwill come true.\" She always felt that certainty in regard to _certain_\ndreams. \"Very unlikely indeed,\" was the reply, \"for but a year ago, when\nyou stopped there, Mr. Mott's wife lay dead in the house.\" \"You will\nsee.\" \"Then he must have married again, and he will lose his second\nwife.\"\n\nEvery particular came to pass as she had predicted. Mrs. Johnson, a\nstranger to the family at that time, accompanied them. By a change of\nplan they made the journey by land, as by that means (by grandfather's\norders) they took the horses (three teams) to use in the new home in the\n\"West.\"\n\nWhen they reached Mott's tavern, late in the evening, they were told\nthey could not be accommodated, as the house was full, and Mrs. Mott was\ndying. Bessie said to the clerk, \"I was here just one year ago to-day,\nand Mrs. Mott lay dead in the house.\" He replied, \"Mr. Mott was married\ntwo months ago, and it is his second wife who is now dying.\" It was\narranged, however, for them to stay in the adjoining house, owned by Mr.\nMott and occupied by his son.\n\nReferring back (see page 75) to my great-grandmother's visions of\nphantom funerals (sometimes more than a year in advance of their actual\noccurrence), I desire to add that such _pre-visioned_ funerals were not\nof persons whose age and state of health might have suggested such\nanticipation, but that they were of persons of all ages, and on two\noccasions the deaths were by accident, namely, by drowning and by a\nfall from a house.\n\nIn the case of Mr. Urie (page 82), the runaway that caused his death\nwas not that of a single horse, but of a high-spirited span of horses.\nThe mistake was an accidental one made by a copyist.\n\nI may add, generally, in regard to many of the strange occurrences\nrelated in this volume, there are witnesses still living who can attest\nthe correctness of my statements.\n\n\nJAMES A. GARFIELD.\n\nOne of the most pleasant of my reminiscences of our Ohio campaign, about\nthree and thirty years ago, is my intercourse with the great and good\nman whose honored name heads this paragraph. He was a frequent visitor\nto my s\u00e9ances, to which he used to bring also members of his family and\nfriends. He combined, with his eminent intelligence, culture and love\nof the truth, great geniality of temperament and manners. He was a\nconvinced and warm Spiritualist, and his autograph name is a frequent\none in my register.\n\n\nNot a few also of the representatives of foreign countries visited us at\nWashington and New York, and were surprised to receive communications in\ntheir several languages.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nTo the above array of the Author's \"Miscellaneous Incidents\" I will add\none of recent occurrence, for the sake of the evidence which it involves\nof two points, namely,\n\nFirst, of the reality of Mrs. Underhill's still continued mediumship;\n\nAnd secondly, of the interest really taken by her controlling Spirits in\nthis work of hers.\n\nIn the course of our united labors over it, extending through a period\nexceeding four months, there have arisen a number of occasions on\nwhich we have differed over various points of expediency in regard to\nthe arrangement and treatment, the insertion or suppression, of her\nvoluminous materials or notes, and have discussed them freely, with\nsome tenacity of opinion on both sides, while with reasonable candor\nand openness to conviction, certainly on her side. She has generally\nmaintained that her Spirits had \"impressed\" and directed her so and so\n(the chief of them seeming to be Dr. Franklin and her grandfather), and\na Spirit claiming to be Dr. Franklin has sometimes intervened in these\ndiscussions, either voluntarily or on being appealed to by us. I will\ndescribe one of these occasions, to afford the reader the opportunity of\njudging for himself of the genuineness of this Spirit intervention in\nthese friendly discussions between two mortals still in the flesh, both\nof them actuated by an equal sincerity of zeal for the truth and for the\ngood of humanity.\n\nWe were sitting in her library, on the opposite sides of a library\ntable. The only other person present was a most highly estimable friend\nof hers, lending her his friendly aid in copying, who was seated some\nseven or eight feet off. Both of her hands were on the table. My knee\nwas suddenly grasped by a strong, firm hand, evidently to call my\nattention. \"Is this you, dear Dr. Franklin?\" I asked. \"Yes,\" was the\nreply given by three pressures of the hand which held my knee strongly\nbetween its thumb and fingers. I did not doubt the Spirit to be what he\nclaimed to be, and I asked his opinion on the point in question. He\nusually addressed me as \"my son\" or \"my dear son.\" He did not habitually\nseem to impose his will, but rather to give his opinion, which I must\nsay was generally on the lady's side, and to which I generally\nconformed, even when saying that I still thought differently.\n\nPresently I felt my knee again grasped in the same way, but this time by\nwhat was evidently a smaller and a female hand. It proved to be that of\nmy \"sister Mary,\" of whose existence Mrs. Underhill knew nothing. Her\nobject was to tell me to write to another sister, Adelaide (still in\nthe flesh, and at some three thousand miles of distance) because, as\nshe said, the latter was \"distressed and suffering\" on account of my\nrecent silence (for which there had been special reasons causing\nprocrastination). Of these private family names and matters, Mrs. U. had\nno means of knowing anything. Her hands, I repeat, were on the table,\nand there was no human agency through which, in either of the two\ninstances, the grasping of my knee could have been caused. The knowledge\nof my private family matters goes far to prove that in the one case\nit must have been really done by my sister (a Spirit), and this\nidentification of her in the one case goes far to confirm that of the\nother as Dr. Franklin, both having in the same way declared who they\nwere.--ED.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nACTION OF SPIRITS THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF A FIVE-MONTH'S-OLD INFANT.\n\n  VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS AROUND THE BABY--WRITING IN GREEK THROUGH\n    HIS HAND.\n\n\nIn the preceding Chapter VI., I have mentioned some marvels about the\ninfant mediumship of my little nephew, the elder of Cathie's two boys,\nFerdinand Diedrich Loewenstein Jencken. Since the writing of that\nchapter and its consignment to unchangeable type, I have come across a\ncopy of a newspaper which had got mislaid and was supposed lost, the\nLondon _Medium and Daybreak_, of May 8, 1874. The possibility of such\nthings as were mentioned on my pages 89 to 95 having been done through\nthe dear little fingers of a babe in arms, must have been hard to many\nreaders to believe or to realize; though it ought not to be so difficult\nto those who pause to reflect that it was not those five-months-old\nfingers that thus acted, but the force and the will of Spirit powers\ncontrolling and guiding them. For the double purpose of supporting what\nI have written and of carrying still farther the marvellousness of this\nperfectly attested case, I now quote from page 290 of the _Medium and\nDaybreak_ the following article, which, on its face, bears the direct\ntestimony of Mr. Jencken himself and of J. Wason, Esq., a respectable\nEnglish solicitor. Of Mr. Jencken's unimpeachable authority enough has\nbeen said on page 90.\n\n[Illustration: _Katie Fox Jencken._]\n\n_From the London Medium and Daybreak, May 8, 1874, p.\u00a0290:_\n\n\nMEDIUMSHIP OF A BABY.\n\n\"A brief account, for which we are indebted to Mrs. and Mr. Jencken,\nof the progress of their infant boy, may not be uninteresting to the\nSpiritualistic public. We hence render it, _ipsissima verba_, as\nreceived by us.\n\n\"The baby medium, whose writing we have had engraved, was born on\nSeptember 19, 1873. Of a sensitive and delicate organization, great\ndifficulty was felt in preventing the life-cord snapping during the\nfirst few weeks of his existence. Care and a good nurse, however, saved\nthe little fellow, who is now a healthy, blue-eyed baby, with a\nsingularly well-formed head and large forehead.\n\n\"Six weeks after his advent, the wet nurse complained of constant\nnoises, resembling gentle knocks or taps. These were at first ascribed\nto rats or mice; finally, the truth could not be resisted, and the\ngentle rappings on the doors of the wardrobe, on the iron head-rail of\nthe bedstead, were admitted to be by unseen beings. On the 16th of\nNovember last, Mr. Jencken, desirous of testing the fact of the medial\npowers of his boy, obtained distinct raps and messages, holding his\nlittle boy near to a small round pedestal table. Soon afterward the\nalarmed nurse related how luminous hands had been seen by her making\npasses over the baby; the rappings increasing in intensity; shadowy\nforms had likewise been seen moving from the hearth to the bed. A\nwhistling sound then attracted attention; whispered words and other\nmysterious manifestations were observed. On one occasion, during the\nabsence of Mrs. Jencken, a Spirit-form opened the door of the nursery,\nentered, and left the room all but immediately, quietly gazing at the\nlittle boy with luminous eyes.\n\n\"During the month of December, small articles were frequently taken\nfrom the nurse; on one occasion a shadowy form appeared bending over the\nbed on which the nurse and baby were lying. Terribly frightened, the\nnurse grasped the child to leave the room; soft echoes, however, warned\nher not to fear. On December 16th, shortly after Mrs. Jencken arrived at\nBrighton, the little fellow uttered his first spoken words--'Ma-ma,\ndarling ma-ma'--much to the alarm of the nurse. On February 2d, the\nlittle fellow was carried by a Spirit-form from the nursery, on the same\nlanding, to the door of the drawing-room, where Mrs. Jencken, who had\nbeen impressed to go to the door, received him into her arms.[24] A\nhalf-suppressed cry of anguish from her informed Mr. J. Wason and Mr.\nJencken what had happened. On entering the bed-room the nurse was found\nasleep on the bed. During the whole of this time the rappings continued.\nOn one occasion a halo of light was observed to surround the baby's\nhead, finally enveloping his whole form. On other occasions clear\nluminous rays of light were noticed to stream from the eyes of the baby.\nOn March 6th, he wrote for the first time. This was done in the presence\nof Mr. Wason, whose account is now published. A few days subsequently,\ntwo sentences were written by the baby medium, under the following\ncircumstances: Mr. and Mrs. Jencken were seated at the dinner-table, the\nnurse with the baby occupying an armchair some eight or ten feet off.\nSuddenly a pencil was seen between the fingers of his hand. 'Ah, he is\ngoing to write,' exclaimed Mrs. Jencken, and placed a sheet of paper on\nthe nurse's knee; his little tiny hand then moved rapidly, and wrote the\nwords:\n\n  \"'I love this little boy, God bless\n    his Mamma.      J.\u00a0B.\u00a0T.\n                              \"'I am happy.'\n\nShortly afterward the pencil was again placed in his hand by an\ninvisible agency, a sheet of paper fluttered through the room and\nsettled on the nurse's knee; the little fellow then wrote:\n\n  \"'I love my Grandmamma,'\n\nsigning the paper with a mark the late Dr. Jencken used to employ when\non earth. The paper and pencil were then jerked into the middle of the\nroom. Since then, owing to Mr. Jencken's strong objection to any tests\nbeing applied, no further writings have been obtained. The rappings,\nhowever, continue, so also that strange luminosity of the eyes, so\nintense at times as to alarm his mother and nurse. Numerous letters have\nbeen received by Mr. Jencken from different parts of England, Holland,\nRussia, and other places, asking him to test this marvellous power of\nhis little boy, who, not six months old, has written messages; but to\nall these applications the answer has been a polite refusal, the medical\ngentleman attendant having warned the parents against any trial of\nstrength of this singularly gifted child.\n\n    [24] See Medium 206, page 167.\n\n\"In conclusion we may repeat the prophecy respecting this boy, which\nprediction was spelt out at the house of Mr. H.\u00a0P. Townsend, New York,\nsome five years ago, the message received then being to this effect:\nthat Kate Fox would go to Europe, marry, give birth to a child, whose\nmedial powers would be unexcelled; so great indeed would they be, that\ncompared to her child the mother would be a mere cipher. Jocosely, for\nyears afterward, Kate Fox was called the cipher in the house of Mr.\nTownsend. Thus far this prediction has been verified. If this little\nfellow be allowed by Providence to attain to years of maturity, he may\nperhaps verify all that the Spiritual beings, who foretold his birth\nwithin ten hours of its occurrence, have foreshadowed.\n\n\n\"Dear Mr. Burns:--The sentence signed 'Susan,' photographed [and now\nreproduced in our engraving.--ED. M.], was written through the hand of\nthe infant boy, aged five months and fifteen days, of Mr. and Mrs.\nJencken, on March 6th last, at No. 5 Lansdowne Terrace East, Brighton,\nby invisible agency, in my presence and that of Mrs. Jencken and her\nnurse, the pencil having been placed in the baby's right hand by\ninvisible agency, when I caused a memorandum of the fact to be written\nat once as a record, and afterward had the writing by the baby's hand\nand the memorandum with the signatures of the witnesses photographed,\nand I send you a copy of the whole, which you are at liberty to publish\nin the _Medium_, together with this letter, if you think fit. The\ncircumstances under which the photographed document was written are as\nfollows:\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. Jencken and the child were taken from London to Brighton\nfor the benefit of Mrs. Jencken's and the baby's health, and they had\nbeen, on March 6th before mentioned, at Brighton over three months; and\nI was at this time their guest, or rather sharing their lodgings with\nthem. Mrs. Jencken's and the baby's health improved, but Mr. Jencken\nbecame seriously ill at Brighton; violent nervous headaches with\nneuralgia and a general derangement of the stomach and digestive organs.\nI told him I thought his travelling from his chambers in the Temple to\nthe lodgings in Brighton--105 miles daily, which, by calculation,\nshowed he had travelled over 8,000 miles while at Brighton within four\nmonths--was the probable cause of his illness; but he took a different\nview, and consulted his friend, a German physician of note, who agreed\nwith him that these rapid journeys daily were not the cause of his\nill-health. I contended that a German M.D., however able, had no\nexperience as to the effect on health of daily long journeys by cab,\nomnibus, and railway, but I could make no change in Mr. Jencken's view.\nOn the day in question, viz., March 6th last, baby's nurse was holding\nbaby on her lap in the parlor, by the fire, about 1.30 P.M. I was\nwriting at a table near. Mrs. Jencken was in a room adjoining and\nopening into the parlor, the door between being half open. Suddenly the\nnurse exclaimed, 'Baby has a pencil in his hand!' She did not say that\nthe pencil had been put into the baby's hand by invisible agency, and I\nhaving had experience of babies clutching my finger pretty tightly, took\nno notice, but continued my writing. Nurse almost immediately after\nexclaimed, 'Baby is writing!' in a still more excited voice, which drew\nMrs. Jencken's attention, and she rushed into the parlor to the nurse\nand baby, and this roused me, when I got up and walked to the nurse, and\nlooking over Mrs. Jencken's shoulder, I saw the pencil in the child's\nhand and the paper under it with the writing as photographed.\n\n\"I may add that 'Susan' was the name of my departed wife, who was\nremarkably fond of children, and her Spirit (as is believed) had on\nseveral occasions previously manifested itself by writing and by raps\nthrough Mrs. Jencken, who, before her marriage, as most of your readers\nare aware, was the celebrated American medium, through whose family at\nRochester, U. S., the truths of Spiritualism (now so stupendous) were\nfirst manifested.\n\n\"The value will now be seen of the advice given by 'Susan' to Mr.\nJencken, 'to go back to London,' which Mr. Jencken did, and almost\nimmediately recovered his usual health and strength, which are those of\na strong, healthy man.\n\n\"Hoping your readers may take the same interest in this anecdote that\nyou do, and that it may conduce to increase the interest felt in\nSpiritualism, believe me, sincerely yours,\n\n    \"J. WASON, _Solicitor_.\n  \"Wason Buildings, Liverpool.\"\n\n\nSPIRIT WRITING.\n\n  \"_Photograph of a Sentence written in Greek characters by Direct\n    Spirit-Agency, without the Intervention of a Human Hand, at H.\u00a0D.\n    Jencken, Esq.'s, Rooms in Brighton, February 28, 1874._\n\n\"Paper (marked by a sceptic with his initials) and a pencil were placed\non the table, all the circle (one sceptic and five Spiritualists)\njoining hands; lights extinguished, a scratching noise, as of a pencil\nwriting on paper, was heard. On the candles being relighted, the\nsentence, as photographed below from the original writing, was found\nwritten on the initialed paper. Time occupied, about five minutes.\nPresent--One sceptic, Mr. and Mrs. Jencken, Mr. James Wason (of\nLiverpool), and two other parties of respectability, who were for\nSpiritualism 'when in her silver slippers and walking abroad with\napplause, but not when in rags and tatters;' they did not wish their\nnames to appear.\n\n  \"_Facsimile of the photographed writing._\n\n  [Illustration: \u1f49 \u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03c9\u03bd \u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03bc\u03b5 \u03b6\u03c9\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9]\n\n  \"Translation: 'WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL LIVE.'\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nThink of this child, born on September 19, 1873, writing a Greek\nquotation from the New Testament, and in the Greek characters, on\nFebruary 28, 1874, at the age of five months and nine days! But it was\nnot the mere baby fingers that wielded the pencil, though they were made\nto hold it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n\"THE MISSING LINK.\"\n\n_An Improvisation._\n\nBY MRS. HELEN J.\u00a0T. BRIGHAM.\n\n\n      Dark night lay over the land,\n        O'er the graves of all the dead,\n      And all hearts were stirred, and filled\n        With feelings deep and dread;\n      Not without doubt and fearing,\n        But as chilled by sudden gloom,--\n      No ray of comfort peering\n        Through the door-way of the tomb!\n\n      Their souls were sad and trembling\n        On the river's dreary brink,\n      They prayed that in death's shadows\n        They might find the Missing Link!\n      Yet love still seemed to be lost,\n        Or like bird with broken wing,\n      So weak, and lone, and helpless,\n        That it could not soar and sing.\n\n      How could this mouldered body\n        Be renewed again, they said,\n      When the golden day goes down\n        To the midnight of the dead?\n      See the little tender heart\n        That love had so softly pressed,\n      With its tiny dimpled hands\n        Folded on its icy breast,\n\n      While the mother's soul of love,\n        Bends over the precious dead.\n      Is it now by death transplanted\n        Where no bitter tears are shed?\n      Where, in answer to her prayer,\n      In a region bright and fair,\n      Safe beyond all earthly care,\n      Angels lead her over there?\n\n      Dear ones stood with broken heart,\n      Torn from all their loves apart,\n      Fathers, mothers with their dead,\n      While their hopeless words were said!\n      O land of crape and mourning,\n        Land dark with midnight gloom,\n      Is there no hope beyond us,\n        And beyond the silent tomb?\n\n      A land where there are no dead,\n      Where no farewell tears are shed,\n      Where there is no funeral pall\n      Evermore--Does death end all?\n      Like an infant's cradle rocking,\n      Then there came a gentle knocking,\n      And little children's hand\n      Opened up the Spirit-land.\n\n      O Missing Link! O blessed hand!\n      That opened wide the heav'nly land!\n      Those who once filled earth's fond places\n      Watch and wait with angel faces.\n      God speed thee, Book, that bears this truth--\n      Eternal life, eternal youth!\n      Go, bear the gratitude of souls\n      Far as Truth's endless being rolls![25]\n\n    [25] It is generally known that the \"inspirational speaker,\" Mrs.\n    Nellie J. T. Brigham, has for several years conducted, at\n    Republican Hall, West 33d Street, the religious services of the\n    \"First Association of Spiritualists\" of New York, on Sunday\n    mornings and evenings, with an improvised eloquence of\n    extraordinary sweetness, strength, and holiness. The custom is\n    this: After a prayer, etc., she improvises responses to questions\n    or topics proposed by the audience, and also poems on subjects\n    suggested by them on the spot. In the evening she improvises a\n    single consecutive discourse, or what may be called a sermon, on\n    some subject prompted to her by her Spirit guides. The practice in\n    the morning is that as many of the promiscuous audience as choose\n    deposit on the desk their questions, tending usually to the\n    elucidation of topics more or less connected with Spiritualism.\n    She has possessed and exercised this Spiritual gift since very\n    early childhood. A few weeks ago, among the subjects for poems\n    thus laid on her table was a copy of the title-page of this\n    volume. Her improvisation in regard to it was the above poem,\n    introduced by the following prefatory remarks.\n\n    \"We have with us this morning a lady, a Medium, who has been known\n    for years among the Spiritualists as one who has sown the seed in\n    the early forming of our faith, and scattered it with open heart\n    and hand. This lady, well known to you as Mrs. Underhill, Leah\n    Fox, has written a book, to be called 'The Missing Link in Modern\n    Spiritualism,' which you will soon have an opportunity of reading\n    for yourselves. The dedication of it is most beautiful, as\n    follows: 'To my husband, Daniel Underhill, who, before I had other\n    claims than those of the Truth and the Right, when other friends\n    wavered, nobly sustained me, this narrative is dedicated,\n    gratefully and lovingly.' This is an expression of just\n    appreciation. It is the soul of the Worker, and the soul of\n    Justice, and the soul of a Wife. Nothing is needed to be added to\n    it, but this is suggested as a subject for a poem.\" She then\n    proceeded to deliver it.\n\n    Two other subjects having been also suggested at the same time,\n    she responded to them as follows:\n\n\n    \"THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUL.\n\n      \"A drop from the infinite ocean, a ray from the infinite light,\n      One thought from the God eternal, one impulse of his love and\n            might,\n      Held by the love of the Father in His circling arm's embrace,\n      One grain of sand on the wide-spread land, is a soul in this\n            human race.\n      It cannot fall from his being, it never can die from sight,\n      For His soul is ever in it, and eternity is His light.\"\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n    \"THE BENEFICENCE OF SUFFERING.\n\n      \"No pain can be in vain, no loss an endless cross,\n      From every earthly grief shall come a sure relief,\n      From every leaden sorrow the jewel of to-morrow.\"\n\n    In the ranks of Mediumship there are no small number of noble\n    men and women possessing this splendid power. They are called\n    Inspirational or Trance Speakers. They speak as the mouth-pieces\n    of Spirit guides, using not the singular pronoun, but the\n    collective \"We.\" The only two whom I happen to know are Mrs.\n    Brigham and Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten. One of the most\n    competent of judges has said of Mrs. Britten: \"No living orator\n    could improvise, on half a dozen different high and deep\n    subjects, in style to compare with her. I have heard most of the\n    great orators of our times, pulpit, forensic, and parliamentary,\n    and she is the most eloquent man of them all.\" She and Mrs.\n    Brigham have been well called \"the Eagle and the Dove.\"\n\n[Illustration: _A. Leah Underhill._]\n\n\n\n\nFINALE.\n\n\nThis volume has lengthened itself out much beyond the author's\nintention, and it is more than time to close it with the word which, in\nhuman life, is rarely uttered without some tone of pain in the trembling\nvoice. It is only as I write it that I myself realize all there has been\nof nearness and of feeling, constituting a link of personal relation\nand sympathy between writer and reader; at least on her humble side.\nIt seems as though, throughout the double process, reciprocal in its\nnature, we have come, by a sort of Spiritual communion, to know each\nother as friends--speaking for myself, I had almost said of loving\nfriends.\n\nBut \"finale\" is a less melancholy word to the Spiritualist than it\nis to those who are less penetrated with his knowledge that what men\nmistakenly shrink from as \"death\" is but the beginning of higher and\nhappier life, developed in re-birth, like that which gives its bright\nwings to what was the creeping worm.\n\nAnd now, in thus gratefully taking leave of the readers who may have\naccompanied me, hand in hand, through pages of which every one has\nproceeded from my very heart and soul, I think I may also ask them to\naccompany me one single step further, in the following, which was once,\nletter by letter, dictated through me by Spirits at a circle in New\nYork.\n\nI give it now as copied from the By-Laws of Circle No. 1.\n\n\nPRAYER.\n\n\"Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast created us in thy wisdom,\nand sustained us by thy love, look down with compassion upon thy\nchildren here assembled, and assist us, we beseech thee, in our search\nafter Thy truth.\n\n\"Roll from our minds the clouds of error, ignorance, and superstition,\nthat the light of Thy wisdom may shine upon us, cheering our hearts,\nenlightening our understandings, and rendering bright our pathway to\nThy holy mansions, eternal in the heavens.\n\n\"Suffer Thy holy Spirits to minister unto us, as our guardians and\nguides, to lead us from darkness to light, and place us on the plane of\neverlasting progression.\n\n\"Drive far from us the darkness of our own errors and the mischiefs of\nour evil imaginings, and endue us with wisdom to receive and to know Thy\ntruth. Teach us to seek knowledge with a single eye to our advancement\nand Thy glory, and defend us from all false doctrine. Enable us to know\nand to feel Thy love, and that, through Thy ministering Spirits, it is\nshielding us by day and watching over us by night, so that when we take\nour departure from this sphere, we may realize that the love of the Lord\nis the feast of the soul.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE HOUSE AT HYDESVILLE.\n\nNow (by the act of its wealthy and respected owner, Artemas W. Hyde,\nEsq.), bearing the inscription, \"Here Spiritualism Originated, in\n1848.\"]\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nIn this txt-version text in italics was surrounded with _underscores_,\ntext in small capitals was changed to all capitals. Footnotes were placed\nafter the paragraph they belong to.\n\nTranscriptions to the handwritten letters were added, words surrounded\nby = signs were =underlined= in the original.\n\nAnomalies and inconsistencies in the original have been preserved, for\ninstance: the name of one of the Fox Sisters, Catherine, was spelled in\nmany different ways: Cathie, Kate, Katy, etc.\n\nErrors in punctuation were silently corrected. Also the following\ncorrections were made, on page\n\n  69 \"preivous\" changed to \"previous\" (except by previous\n  arrangement.)\n  74 \"paternal\" changed to \"maternal\" (Her maternal grandfather was\n  French)\n  269 \"became\" changed to \"become\" (having become open and)\n  278 \"betwen\" changed to \"between\" (sobbing between the children)\n  401 \"apppendage\" changed to \"appendage\" (lost that important\n  appendage)\n  422 \"stea's\" changed to \"steals\" (that steals upon my frame).","title":"The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":142652}