{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_61807/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_61807","id":"gutenberg_61807","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61807","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Spiritualism","Table-moving (Spiritualism)"],"text":"PSYCHOMANCY.\n\n\nSPIRIT-RAPPINGS AND TABLE-TIPPINGS\n\nEXPOSED.\n\n\nBY\n\nPROF. CHARLES G. PAGE, M. D., ETC.\n\n\nNEW-YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 200 BROADWAY.\n\nMDCCCLIII.\n\n\n\n\n    Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by D.\n    APPLETON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court\n    of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.\n\n\n\n\nSPIRIT-RAPPINGS.\n\n\nThe wide-spread and alarming mania of _Spirit-rappings_ and\n_table-tippings_ of the present day, is only a modification, or\nnew garb, of _devilish instrumentalities_, operating through human\nmachinations, which have infested society from time immemorial. We\nstart with this proposition, harsh as it may sound to some, and if we\nshould fail to sustain it by facts, reasoning, and common sense, to\nthe entire satisfaction of all, we still say to the unbelievers in our\ndoctrine, show us the proof to the contrary; and with a confidence\nfirm as our belief in Holy Writ, and the unfailing laws of God,\nwe challenge the exhibition to our senses of any performance with\nspirit-rappings, or table-tippings, which cannot be explained upon\nnatural, and _well known_ natural laws. We will here premise, that\nwe do not attribute to Satan any direct agency in this matter other\nthan has always been ascribed to him in the crimes and misdeeds of man\nfrom the fall down to this present time. That neither the \"prince of\nthe power of the air,\" nor his imps (unless they be in human shape),\nrap out intelligence by sounds, get under tables and tip them over,\nswing them round, or perform any of these extraordinary feats, which\nso many among us are determined to invest with supernatural character\nand origin. Nor do we consider that the arch-enemy of man has brought\nany _new power_ or _agency_ into operation to further his mischievous\ndesigns. FAR FROM IT. _A new power?_ It would frustrate his schemes\nin their very inception. _A new power?_ It is a lawful subject of\npursuit, to the very exhaustion of mental resources. _A new power?_\nIts bare mention is an arousing signal to the devotees of science, and\nupon the first scintillation of plausibility, the midnight lamp will\nburn throughout Christendom, till its capabilities and subserviency\nto man's actual wants are unfolded. No! the tempter knows his game\nand tools, and perhaps his own limits, all too well to give to man a\nnew and legitimate object of research, and thus divert investigation\nfrom hallucinating and mercenary sorceries to that which is lawful\nand truthful. He works with his own and old tools, upon and through\nthat most successful instrumentality, over which, by long and dire\nexperience, he has acquired such mighty ascendency--the human soul.\nThis is his pliant tool, and here his stronghold. To those who\nregard the Scriptural account of the devil's existence and agency as\nallegorical, our argument, in its cardinal character and bearing, will\napply with the same force, for they have only to invest the mind of\nman with all the force and attributes that the allegory gives to both\ncombined, and we address ourselves to them with the same interest and\nhope of success as with those who believe the Scripture implicitly\nto the letter. To all alike, the deep, untiring, unending wiles of\nthe human soul are familiar themes, and it matters but little to our\npresent purpose, whether these impious transactions proceed from the\nmain-spring of unaided, uninspired thought, or whether the unheeding\nthought is impressed by supernal powers. There is in the mind a\nstrong and often morbid appetency for the supernatural and marvellous;\na proneness to inquire beyond what is actually revealed; and, worse\nthan this, a prurience of power, either real or specious, to exalt one\nabove his fellow mortals, and give the weight of Divine authority to\nhis words and acts. From this desire originates priestcraft, astrology\nand sorcery, and in the former habitude of the mind lies the secret\nof their success and perpetuation. It has been a real source of\ndistress to us, to see professing Christians, even among our immediate\nfriends, pushing their inquiries beyond the confines of realities into\nthe spirit-world, forgetting or misapprehending the injunctions of\nScripture forbidding us to look into such things, and unconscious of\nthe fact, that their well-meant invocations of spirits by the tipping\nof tables and rappings, was, in every step and act of repetition,\nlending encouragement to the mercenary and nefarious schemes of a\ncertain set of vile impostors, who originated the cheat, and were\ncontinuing its practice for the sake of filthy lucre. To them, and\nto all, we say Stop! ere this temerity be visited with the righteous\njudgments of an offended Deity, who has pronounced, in his holy\noracles, in clear and unmistakable language, his malediction of sorcery\nand witchcraft; has set the bounds of human inquiry where time stops\nand eternity begins, and sealed up the future in impenetrable mystery;\nwho has refused to the yearning hearts of fond and bereaved parents\nall knowledge of their dear departed, save the hopes and consolations\nof the Scripture. What! shall the GREAT JUDGMENT be anticipated, and\nthe archives of eternal retribution be read by the _knocking of sticks\nupon the floor_, or the upsetting of tables? Shall eternity be made\nsubordinate to time; the immortal to the mortal? Shall the silence of\nthe grave be disturbed by grovelling mountebanks, or its stern abodes\nbecome vocal through these gross mediums of rappers and tippers?\nIMPIOUS! IMPIOUS! We need not quote Scripture against this unholy\npursuit, for its anathemas are full and loud, and he who runs may read.\nWe know there are those who are innocently engaged in the _invocation\nof spirits_, and who seem to take delight in holding converse with\ntheir departed friends, as they suppose. We ask them to pause, and\nconsider well what they are doing! to look around, and see the\ndevastation of human intellect, the fearful swellings of the madhouse\nrolls, the frightful deeds of blood and violence, and the stupendous\nfrauds, all begotten of this monster mania! Are these the fruits of\nlegitimate and holy deeds? Are these your consolations while at your\nspiritual shrines? Do they not bear evidence in themselves of their\ndiabolical origin, and are they not warnings to you to beware, lest in\nyour attempts to enter beyond the veil into the \"_Holy of Holies_,\" you\nbe struck down also? If these pests of society are beyond the reach of\nearthly tribunals, will you countenance and encourage their career?\nShall we be met here with the assertion that there are religious\nmaniacs, that religious excitement makes madmen, and leads to deeds of\nviolence? We spurn the fallacy; and with proud defiance, armed with the\nRock of Ages, we hurl back the apology in the very teeth of the casuist\nwho made it, and, fearless of his replication, triumphantly assert that\nthe true religion of Jesus Christ, whose first fruits and very essence\nis peace to the soul, NEVER DROVE ANY BODY MAD.\n\nWe profess a profound reverence for all that is holy, and from our\nearliest recollection have been imbued with a deep dread of profanity\nin any shape, and approached this mockery of high Heaven with some\nreluctance, unwilling that our veneration should suffer so much\nviolence. But we felt justified, in the full assurance that this\nthing was not of Heaven, but of men. For the sake of unravelling\nthis imposture and illusion, for this purpose _alone_, we have put\nourselves frequently in the attitude of dupes of these impostors,\nand feigning for a time conviction and conversion, have led them on\ntill they were completely baffled in every attempt to perform their\ntricks, and the spirits became powerless and silent as the mortal\ntenements they once actuated. When we first sat down to a table with\na few well-meaning and particular family friends to conjure spirits,\nwe confess to a momentary feeling of horripilation, not from fear of\nmeeting a visitor from another world, but from the impression that the\nvery act was _heaven-daring_ and _profane_. But when we came to utter\nthe Rapper's Shibboleth, \"_If there are any spirits present, will\nthey please to signify it by tipping the table?_\" the thoughts of\nsacrilege vanished, and were immediately supplanted by an irresistible\nsense of the ridiculous, and the smile and the laugh rose above all\nconvictions of solemnity or irreverence. \"Will the spirits please to\ntip the table?\" was again and again reiterated, but no table tipped\nfor us. Perhaps we are not \"_mediums_,\" said one. \"The spirits have\ndeclared that I am a medium,\" said another; but that Great Exorcist,\n_common sense_, was present and prevalent on this occasion; and the\nspirits would not communicate, and the table would not tip, _certainly\nnot, of itself_. We introduced every variety of manipulation of\ncrossing hands, interlocking fingers, and, in spite of all, and the\nmost patient persistence, the table proved true to its lifeless\ncharacter, and the universal law that \"_matter is inert, and cannot\nmove of itself_.\" What could have been the cause of this abortive\nconjuration? Were the spirits present, and not disposed to gratify\na certain class of _dilettanti_ who were present? Were they jesting\nand teazing, or in bad humor with our persons, our fixtures, or our\nespionage? For we had heard from very respectable sources, of the\nspirits jesting and taunting those present on such occasions. Or were\nthey far away on some errand of duty, or busy and monopolized for some\n_special tippings_ elsewhere? This last idea seems to be precluded by\nthe fact that certain great spirits, such as Channing, Webster, Clay\nand Calhoun, who figure so largely on these occasions, rap and tip in\ndifferent places at the same time. What mummery is all this to the\nmind that believes in the omnipresence of the Great God himself, who\ncannot look upon such practices but with abhorrence. Are you, Christian\nman or woman, one whit better for these doings than that woman with\nthe familiar spirits, the Witch of Endor?[1] Are you not rather her\ndisciple? and is she not held up to you for an example and a warning?\nDo you think that rappings and table-tippings give respectability to\nwitchcraft? Is reading the future and the invisible world by rappings\nand tippings any better than the doings of yonder wretched crone, who\nworks out in her concealed abode the same problems by packs of cards\nand mystical incantations? Are you not ministering encouragement to her\nhagship, and pursuing her very vocation, though under another name?\nShall not this veritable beldame rise up in judgment, and plead in\njustification of _fortune-telling_ the example of the Christian Church\nin spirit-rapping and table-tipping? Perhaps you think that these\nseeming wonders are fraught with more interest, novelty, and mystery,\nthan the magical demonstrations of old. Why, in very truth, they are\ncontemptibly insignificant when compared with the witcheries of old.\nRead Upham's letters on the witchcraft of the New England Colonies, Sir\nWalter Scott's demonology and witchcraft, and see how the rappings and\ntippings dwindle before the performances of the witches of yore. After\nreading these, study well Sir David Brewster's Natural Magic--a book\nthat should be in the hands of every one who takes interest in these\nmarvels of the day. There you will see how phenomena, at first sight\ninexplicable, are solved by the touch-stones of science and common\nsense. You will there find that sorcery was not to be stopped entirely\nby the gibbet, the gallows or the stake, but that the light of reason\nand science were most effectual in promoting its overthrow. Sir Walter\nScott says of the opposers of witchcraft in the seventeenth century,\nthat the \"pursuers of exact science to its coy retreats were sure to be\nthe first to discover that the most remarkable phenomena in nature are\nregulated by certain fixed laws, and cannot be rationally referred to\nsupernatural agency\" (meaning, of course, supernatural interference),\n\"the sufficing cause to which superstition attributes all that is\nbeyond her own narrow power of explanation. Each advance in natural\nknowledge teaches us, that it is the pleasure of the Creator to govern\nthe world by the laws which he has imposed, and which in our times are\nnot interrupted or suspended.\"\n\nIn all ages, the Church has attributed sorcery to the agency of the\ndevil. If this is his work, he certainly proceeds upon the same general\n_modus operandi_ as ever. As one artifice wears out, or is exploded by\nthe power of science, he resorts to another; that is, he prompts new\ntricks by his own unseen influences, upon the minds of those who become\nhis willing instruments. The most gross of all is spirit-rapping,\nand next, the subtle delusions of mesmerism, and table-tippings. We\ncannot stop here to discuss mesmerism, for whatever there may be in\nit of lawful inquiry, surely the sending of clairvoyant spirits to\nthe portals of heaven or hell, to bring back descriptions of those\nabodes and their inhabitants, is sorcery of the most impious character.\nSome years ago said a distinguished poet, \"Satan now, is wiser than\nof yore;\" doubtless he has advanced a few degrees in strategy, since\nPope's time, and as the light and power of science and wisdom increase,\nso does he deepen his plots and shift his points of attack. Now we will\nrepeat here, that it is entirely immaterial to our purpose whether our\nreaders believe in the seen or unseen, direct or indirect influences\nof the devil upon mind or matter, or in neither one nor the other. If\nthey do not believe that he \"goes about like a roaring lion, seeking\nwhom he may devour,\" if they do not believe in the existence of such\na malignant being, they have only this alternative, that they must\nfind the devil's equivalent in the human heart, which though a less\npalatable doctrine, will answer the design of this argument, which is\nto show that these pretended wonders of knocks and table movements\nare illusory, nefarious and mischievous, originating chiefly from\nevil-minded persons, and perpetuated by the indifference of careless\nobservers, the connivance of others, and mainly by the fanaticism,\nignorance, and credulousness of a large class of persons found in every\ncommunity. These have been recognized in all ages as the principal\ningredients in sorcery, but there is yet another element which is doing\nmuch to foster this crime, and although not a new feature, yet is quite\nprevalent at this time, and less excusable than it was in the days of\nBacon and Napier. Sir Walter Scott, in one of his letters, has this\npoint in our discussion so strongly portrayed, that we take the liberty\nof quoting him at some length, rejoicing in the opportunity of adding\nhis great wisdom and authority in these matters, to our own efforts.\nSpeaking of the causes which retarded the subversion of witchcraft\nin the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, among learned men, he\nsays, \"The learned and sensible Dr. Webster, for instance, writing\nin the detection of the supposed witchcraft, assumes, as a string of\nundeniable facts, opinions which our more experienced age would reject\nas frivolous fancies; for example, the effects of healing by the\nweapon-salve, the sympathetic powder, the curing of various diseases by\napprehensions, amulets, or by transplantation.\" All of which undoubted\nwonders he accuses the age of desiring to throw on the devil's back--an\nunnecessary load, certainly, since such things do not exist, and it\nis therefore in vain to seek to account for them. It followed, that\nwhile the opposers of the ordinary theory might have struck the deepest\nblow at the witch hypothesis by an appeal to common sense, they were\nthemselves hampered by articles of philosophical belief, which, they\nmust have been sensible, contained nearly as deep draughts upon human\ncredulity as were made by the demonologists, against whose doctrine\nthey protested. This error had a doubly bad effect, both as degrading\nthe immediate department in which it occurred, and as affording a\nprotection for falsehood in other branches of science. The champions\nwho, in their own province, were obliged by the imperfect knowledge\nof the times to admit much that was mystical and inexplicable; those\nwho opined, with Bacon, that warts could be cured by sympathy--who\nthought, with Napier, that hidden treasure could be discovered by the\nmathematics--who salved the weapon instead of the wound, and detected\nmurders as well as springs of water by the divining-rod, could not\nconsistently use, to confute the believers in witches, an argument\nturning on the impossible or the incredible.\n\n\"Such were the obstacles arising from the vanity of philosophers and\nthe imperfection of their science, which suspended the strength of\ntheir appeal to reason and common sense, against the condemning of\nwretches to a cruel death, on account of crimes, which the nature of\nthings rendered in modern times impossible.\"\n\nThus learned men seeking to unravel mysteries, for want of sagacity and\nfull knowledge, may become the apologists of sorcery and witchcraft.\nBacon was obliged to be a philosopher for the whole enlightened\nworld; but, in our day, so vast has each branch of science become,\nthat any one of them would be full enough for a Bacon's grasp, and\nphilosophers hardly dare to venture outside of their own boundaries,\nlest they become, or be considered _philosophists_. We hear men of\nscience abused because they take such obstinate, inexorable positions\nagainst these \"_fooleries_.\" This they are bound to do. Familiar\nwith the laws of nature, all real phenomena are alike marvellous to\ntheir minds, and those which claim to be miraculous, supernatural,\nand, _par excellence_, the MARVELLOUS, they repudiate summarily as\nabsurdities, knowing that if they cannot disabuse the popular mind,\nthey can prove their irrationality to their own entire satisfaction, at\nleast. Formerly fortune-tellers were sometimes styled Philomaths, but\nwe think that as fortune-telling has degenerated into such disrepute,\nthe name is unworthily applied, and we propose to transfer it to that\nclass of learned writers of the present day, who seek to trace these\ntricks of raps and tips to the direct agency of the devil, or evil or\ngood spirits;--supposing these spirits to make the sounds or movements,\nand to give the communications;--and to that class specially who\nattribute these phenomena to electricity, magnetism, or to the action\nof some power or fluid hitherto unknown; in short, to all, who look\nupon these things as any thing else than impostures and illusions.\nThese are the philomaths of the present day, and while they thus stand\nin the way of advancement in true knowledge, they are, in effect,\nfostering error, superstition, and sorcery. We boast in our day of the\nenlightenment of the masses, the spread of education and the diffusion\nof knowledge; but for all this, necromancy is not dead nor stifled;\nand is now like a baleful poison running rife through our land, upon\nthe most preposterous foundations and pretexts. Spirits, rapping upon\ndoors, floors, and tables, upsetting tables and swinging them about\nthe room? Spirits, do you say? Has a \"spirit flesh and blood?\" Has a\nspirit _bones, muscles, fingers, heels, toes, and sticks_? DO SPIRITS\nWEAR PETTICOATS _and long dresses_? A \"_new fluid_,\" says another\nphilomath. A new fluid, forsooth? None other than that old fluid of\ncredulity or gullibity, if we may be allowed the latter term. An\n\"old fluid,\" says another. \"Electricity or magnetism in some shape.\"\nThis is insufferable. Since the first discoveries in electricity and\nmagnetism, these agents have had to take the paternity of every rare\nand inexplicable phenomenon. This is much more the case now than when\nSir Walter Scott wrote his letters on witchcraft, though he says that\nthe divining-rod, and other remarkable and misconceived phenomena, were\nassigned to the agency of electricity and magnetism. At the present\ntimes these subtle agents are the common _scape-goats_ for mesmeric,\nelectro-biological, psychological, and every other kind of phenomenon,\nthe cause of which eludes the senses, and the new-fangled farce of\n\"rappings and tippings\" must fain take advantage of the same subterfuge\nin order to make its way to popular credence. Unfortunately, in this\ncase an accurate knowledge of the laws of electricity is possessed\nby comparatively few persons; and the electric fluid, or power of\nmagnetism, becomes a very clever instrument in the hands of charlatans\nand empirics, through which to enforce upon the popular mind the\nreality of their tricks and impostures. To one who has an adequate\nknowledge of the laws of electricity and magnetism, it is more than\namusing to see with what pedantic gravity these latter philomaths\ndescant upon electricity and magnetism, contorting and butchering\ntheir established laws all the while, to explain some vile juggle, or\nunravel the psychomancy of rappers and tippers; and also to see with\nwhat avidity their inflated arguments are gulped by gaping crowds, who\napparently are unwilling or unable to swallow a single _naked truth_.\nIt is often said that \"men love to be deceived.\" This is true to some\nextent, and it is sometimes the case that a quack will draw crowds\naround him where a truly learned man could not get a foothold. The\ntruth however is mighty, and will prevail, and the power of learning\nalways has been, and will be felt, though it may be somewhat slow\nto assert and maintain its supremacy. In verity, there is not one\nproperty, condition, or law of electricity or magnetism, so far as they\nhave been established by experiment and science, that would explain\nrappings and tippings without doing violence to philosophy. A few years\nago, a medical friend and brother came to our house late at night,\nin considerable trepidation, and wished us to go and see a woman who\nwas bewitched in an extraordinary manner. At intervals she would be\nseized with convulsions, and while the fit was on her she pulled pins\nout of the hands, arms, and legs of bystanders, and tossing the pins\ninto her mouth, swallowed them. We remonstrated with him, but though\nhighly intelligent, and excelling in his profession, our friend the\nDoctor would not give it up. He had seen it, believed it, but could not\naccount for it, and came to us specially to ascertain if \"ELECTRICITY\nhad not something to do with it.\" Knowing that the witches of old had\na special fancy for pins, and fully prepared to see nothing more than\na dexterous feat of legerdemain, we consented to go, late as it was,\nand as soon as the pretty little elf, who was lying upon a pallet upon\nthe floor, had become convulsed, and pulled a pin from our person, and\nswallowed it, we discovered the _quomod\u00f2_, and the next day, with a\nlittle practice, we were able to go into very fair convulsions, and\ncould draw out pins and swallow them as skilfully as the witch herself.\nOur good friend, the doctor, had not even noticed that the convulsive\nmovements were all confined to the voluntary actions upon the muscles,\nso engrossed was he with the idea of the supernatural character of\nthis performance. It is remarkable to notice how the scrutinizing\npowers of the most astute, fail as soon as they entertain the remotest\nidea of the supernatural in these cases. This girl was visited by\nhundreds of respectable and intelligent persons in our community, and\nnotwithstanding a publication which was made exposing the trick, but\nfew were able to discover it for themselves, and the greater portion\nbelieved it to be a genuine performance, and alms were freely given in\nsympathy for her unfortunate condition. Our sympathies were enlisted\nfor those whom _she bewitched_, and we must give the _enchantress_\ncredit for more shrewdness than her customers, and we believe she\nreaped quite a rich harvest for her skill in legerdemain. We cite this\ncase to show what violence is done to science to account for modern\nsorceries. _Remember_, we are called on to decide if _electricity_\nplayed any part in this extraordinary exhibition.\n\nMany years ago a person of the name of Hannington came to Salem,\nMassachusetts, then the place of our residence, to exhibit the\nso-called _mysterious lady_. This lady had the power of naming and\ndescribing various things which she could not see, declare names\nwritten upon bits of paper handed to persons promiscuously in the\naudience, and a variety of performances, which completely astounded her\nvisitors. Their programme announced that they had visited the principal\ncities in this country and Europe, and that her extraordinary gift of\ndivination had baffled the ablest researches. We were invited to see\nthis great modern Pythoness, and specially for the purpose of judging\nwhether it was an _auricular_ illusion. In a word, whether it might\nnot be an extraordinary case of ventriloquism, for this seems to have\nbeen the last resort for a solution of the problem, with those who\nrepudiated witchery. Electricity would not answer this time, and the\nscience of sound had to be mutilated for the occasion. Being ourselves\nexpert in the performance of ventriloquism, and familiar with the laws\nof acoustics, it needed but a moment to decide that ventriloquism was\nutterly inadequate to the solution of the puzzle, and before we left\nthe room we discerned the whole trick, disconcerted the performers very\nessentially, and the next day published a full exposure, after which\nthe whereabouts of the _mysterious lady_ was a greater mystery than\nher performances had been.\n\nA few years since, an account was published throughout this country and\nEurope, of a prodigy in the shape of an _electrical girl_ in Paris,\nwho was indued with an extraordinary power--_electrical_ of course--by\nwhich, when she attempted to sit down in a chair, it was thrown from\nher with great violence. This was one of the wonders of the day, and\nafter having deceived multitudes, and become an object of universal\ninterest and sympathy, she fell into the hands of a select committee\nof the Academy of Sciences, with Arago at their head. Does any one\nsuppose that Arago ever entertained for a moment the idea of electrical\naction in this connection? Not at all! Arago immediately set himself\nto the examination of the girls heels, and soon found that she moved\nthe chairs by muscular effort. By long practice she had acquired such\nskill and power of kicking, or thrusting the chair away from herself,\nthat it was always done without exhibiting any motion exterior to\nher dress, or the slightest disturbance of her person. So much for\nelectricity or the \"_new fluid_\" in this case. This kicking girl was\nstyled the _Electrical girl_, or the _Electrical wonder_. Of course she\nbelonged to the _new fluid class_, for no one acquainted with the laws\nof electricity, would have entertained a suspicion that electricity had\nany thing to do with the phenomenon.\n\nWe may be accused of being somewhat dogmatical in this treatise,\nand perhaps we are so, while we have to deal with so many fanatics\nand pragmatical philomaths. For the superstitious and ignorant, we\nhave some charity, but we confess that we have little or no patience\nfor those among educated men, who are wearers of the _amulets_ of\nelectricity, magnetism, or _new fluids_. They evince more pedantry\nthan penetration, and are inexcusable disseminators of sophistry\nand error. They are exactly in the category of the believers in\nperpetual motion, and, in fact, the ascription of such phenomena as\ntable-tippings to electricity, magnetism, or some new fluid, goes\na step beyond perpetual motion, if that is possible. Most of the\nplodders after perpetual motion expect to get, by some new adjustment,\na machine that will barely move of itself without any great surplus\nof power; but according to this new table-tipping philosophy, we\ncertainly should look for any amount of horse power, without any\nconsumption of material, and no other expense than that of keeping\na clever medium at hand. On the principle of touching a heavy table\n_lightly_ (for the touch must be light according to rule), and thus\ncausing by incantations the table to tip, rise up, whirl about, etc.,\nit would cost but little to move a church or a mountain, and mediums\nshould be in great demand for mechanical purposes, as being cheaper\nand safer than steam engines. How strange it does appear, that these\npseudo-philosophers have entirely lost sight of the one great radical\nprinciple of all dynamic science, viz., that action and reaction are\nequal, and never have attached the least value to the fact, that when\npersons put their hands _lightly_ upon tables, _their hands always\nfollow the motion of the table, whichever way the table moves_. It\ncertainly appeared to us a very _significant_ fact, when we first saw\nthe performance, and if considered in connection with electricity,\nor the _new fluid_, is sufficiently anomalous to require a careful\nanalysis. But more of this anon, as we propose to examine the rappings\nfirst. This imposture originated with two girls, by the name of Fox,\nfrom Rochester, New-York, who are now, with their mother, travelling\nthrough the country, and exhibiting their art for money. A few weeks\nago, the Fox-mother gave us an account of this wonderful development\nof noises or rappings about the two daughters, and from her we learned\nthat the noises were kept up for a long time before they discovered\nthe cause. At first they were annoyed by them, but, _after a while_,\nthey became so familiar with the sounds, that they took but little\nnotice of them, until they discovered the mode of communicating with\ntheir authors, and ascertained that the sounds were made by spirits\nof the departed. According to her account, the spirits then rapped at\npoints remote from the girls, but it seems that the spiritual habit has\nchanged somewhat, for since the girls have been on exhibition,[2] the\nspirits rap nowhere except directly _under the girls, and about their\nfeet_, or upon something with which their persons or dresses are in\ncontact. We had no desire to see these creatures, except to discover\nthe precise means by which they made the raps, and although fully\nprepared to condemn them before we paid them a visit, we preferred not\nto condemn them unseen, lest, on that ground, the clique of rappers\nshould have some advantage over our argument.\n\nIt amuses us greatly at times, when discussing these matters with our\nfriends, to be told that our \"opinions are all made up beforehand,\"\n\"that we are prejudiced,\" &c. We admit the charge, and say frankly\nwe _are_ prejudiced, and mean to prejudge any effort to make black\nappear to be white, and white, black; and declare the pretensions of\nthese rappers and tippers to be as grossly absurd and silly, as any\nmonstrosity in the shape of a proposition, that ever emanated from a\ncrazy or evil designing brain. When we are told that a table is moved\nby the mere effort of the will, that it moves about when it is not\ntouched, we deny the statement _flatly_ at once, and challenge the\nreproduction of the miracle, and when we are told that spirits rap\nupon tables, floors, doors, walls, or any thing else, we deny the\nstatement, and challenge the production of any kind of rap or sound\nin these cases, which is not clearly traceable to human agency.\nPerhaps it will be inferred that we either do or should take ground\nagainst supernatural interference and miracles altogether, seeing\nthat we are prepared to condemn _\u00e0 priori_, these manifestations,\nclaiming for themselves supernatural origin. We confess that one of\nthe greatest obstacles we have to encounter in the course of this\nexposition, is the deep-rooted belief in the existence, at the present\nday, of miraculous powers, agencies and deeds, and the readiness with\nwhich many persons ascribe every thing which eludes their judgment or\nsenses, and especially whatever savors in the least of religion, to\nsuperhuman agency. We do not mean to draw upon Holy Writ for arguments\nin support of our decision, upon these _rappings_ and _tippings_, but\nanticipating the reception we shall meet, with this class of persons,\nwe must advert briefly to the grounds of their belief and objection,\nand at the same time define our own position. We here find ourselves\narrayed against learned divines of the present day, who, failing to\naccount for these strange doings upon the supposition of human agency,\nresort to their belief in the superhuman, and consistently with\ntheir professional calling, must evidently found their views upon\nscripture. Failing to discern the \"_finger of God_,\" they have come\nto their last resort, \"that these manifestations are the work of the\ndevil, or of evil spirits.\" Without claiming any depth in biblical\nlore, we ask them where is the authority for any such conclusion in\nthe Bible? The Bible teaches plainly of the devil's agency, of his\noperations upon the heart of man, and so far would such a construction\nbe justifiable, but no farther. There is not one instance recorded,\nin which Satanic agency was recognizable by man as _immediate_. \"By\ntheir fruits ye shall know them,\" is a sufficient rule of judgment\nfor any deeds, pretensions, or manifestations whatsoever; and here\nthey should rest content, and instead of going beyond the record,\nmight safely administer the general caution, that these \"lies are of\ntheir father, the devil,\" without introducing the whole Pandemonium\ninto our houses, to overturn our tables and upset the laws of gravity\nand mechanical philosophy. We believe that miracles were performed\nof old, for holy purposes, and no other; that they were necessary to\nenforce the truth of revelation; that the day of miracles has gone\nby, and that they ceased when their necessity ceased. We have our own\nmode of fixing that period, but the discussion would be too far from\nour present purpose, and we have digressed too much already. We take\nthe ground that every witch, wizard, magician, astrologer, sorcerer,\nnecromancer, and fortune-teller, from the earliest, down to the present\ntime, has had no more power over matter, or the laws of nature, than\nany other person, and that whoever lays claim to familiar spirits,\nforesight, or any direct communication with the invisible world,\nthrough raps and tips, is either witch, wizard, conjurer, or sorcerer\n_de facto_.[3] The prime movers in all these marvels are _impostors_,\nand their disciples, _dupes_. While the former are filling their\ncoffers at the expense of the latter, they must often indulge in secret\nmerriment at the credulity of their adherents; and particularly at the\ngrave discussions of the learned clergy and others upon electricity,\nmagnetism, the new fluid, the nervous fluid, or the devil's immediate\nagency, as probable causes of these strange phenomena. Surely the\n\"children of this world are wiser than the children of light.\" The\njuggler with his legerdemain far outstrips any thing that has ever been\naccomplished by rappers and tippers, but then he tells you that he\nperforms by sleight of hand, and that unless your eyes are quicker than\nhis hands, you will be deceived. If certain of his performances were to\nbe introduced with some religious jargon and pretext, his success in\ninfatuating the mass of the people, would put the rappers and tippers\nentirely in the shade, for the tricks of these latter are clumsy and\npoorly done at the best. Mr. Anderson, the professed juggler, known\nas the Wizard of the North, has, to his great credit, published\na series of communications, in which he boldly avers that these\nrappers are all impostors, and has contrived a system of rapping and\nspiritual communications, quite as successful as those of the original\nfraternity. He has failed, however, to elucidate the whole subject,\nfrom the fact that he has been contented with a mere imitation, which\nthe rappers will of course pronounce a counterfeit. Our first visit\nto the rappers, was in company with a gentleman of high eminence in\nscience, of keen discernment, and very fruitful in expedients. We had\nformed no particular plan of procedure, except that we had agreed to\nfeign belief in these performances, lest incredulity might prove an\nobstacle to investigation, and keep the rappers too much on their\nguard. Repudiating all idea of the supernatural, we were not liable\nto any distraction on that account, and our attention was directed\nentirely to the scrutiny of the performances, with reference to their\nsolution upon established principles of evidence and natural laws. If\nthe advocates of this new \"spiritual philosophy\" should object to this\nprejudication, our answer is, that aside from our prior experience in\nunravelling many such pretended wonders, we hold our position to be\nentirely justifiable, on the ground of probabilities, and that hitherto\nwe have never known an instance in which so much of presumption was not\nin such cases, legitimated in the conclusion of facts.\n\nBe this as it may, we had resolved to follow up these rappings and\ntippings to see whether they were impostures, delusions, or illusions,\none or all. After the mother of the Fox girls had given us an account\nof the spiritual visitation of her daughters, they three took seats\nat a large circular table, and we joined the circle sitting opposite\nto them. We were directed to ask if there were any spirits present.\nThis done, BANG, BANG upon the table announced the presence of the\nspirits. The table was evidently struck underneath by something _hard_,\n_solid_, _material_, and so as to jar the table perceptibly to the hand\nresting upon it. Our coadjutor feigned surprise and alarm, and stooped\nto look under the table, when the raps immediately ceased. This he\nrepeated several times and each time the raps ceased. We asked again\nif there were any spirits present, but no answer came while he had his\neyes below the level of the table top, but as soon as he sat up, the\nraps upon the table commenced again. He however was so persevering\nin his scrutiny about the table as to give us a good opportunity to\nsay--for mere effect--\"Why do you look under there, you cannot _see_\na spirit?\" The rappers finding themselves baffled in making their\ndemonstrations through the table, were forced to retreat from it, and\ntaking their seats a short distance from the table, the rappings\nthen commenced upon the floor immediately under the girls, or about\ntheir feet. Both the girls were rappers, but one conspicuously so, she\nrapping much louder than the other, and did most of the rapping for\nthe occasion. Both the girls wore long dresses sweeping the floor, but\nthe principal rapper ought to have been attended by a train bearer.\n\"Are there any spirits present?\" was again asked, and the raps came\npromptly and so thick and fast that the spirits seemed anxious to make\nsome communications, so we proceeded to this part of the ceremony.\nThe instructions being given to us how to proceed, we commenced by\nasking several questions, but to these we received either no answers,\nor incorrect ones. The programme was this: We were to write down three\nnames[4] of spirits, one of which was to be the name of the spirit\nwe intended to invoke. We were then to put down the names of three\ndiseases, one of which was to be the disease of which the person\nhad died. We were then to put down three places, one of which was to\nbe the place where the person died. We were then to point _seriatim_\nto the names of the persons, and that when we pointed to the name\nof the person intended, the spirit would signify his presence and\napprobation, by two raps, which mean YES. Names of others, or those\nnot intended, would be answered by one rap, which meant NO. We made no\nprogress, however, and, although there was an abundance of rapping,\nthere was no communication, no intelligence, no confirmation to us, of\nwhat we already knew (in the imperfection of human knowledge), and we\nappealed with an air and tone of assumed _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ to the rappers to\nknow if perhaps our failures were not owing to our great wickedness?\n\"Oh, no!\" said the Mother Fox, \"it will happen so sometimes.\" Just\nthen a gentleman entered who, it appears, was a devotee of Rappism,\nand a daily worshipper at the Fox shrine, for the purpose of holding\ncommunication with the spirit of a departed wife. As we had failed,\nentirely, to elicit even a respectable _guess_ in answer to our\ninquiries of the spirits, and this gentleman had been more highly\nfavored, his visit was rather fortunate at this juncture, for it gave\nus an opportunity to observe more closely than when our minds were\noccupied with the manipulation of the _spiritual telegraph_.\n\nMr. * * * commenced at once with an account of his previous interviews\nand then proceeded to inquire for his beloved spirit. Rap, rap,\nindicated her presence, and he asked some several questions which were\nanswered to his satisfaction, the Fox mother repeating over and over\nthe alphabet, so fast that we could not follow to get the answer for\nourselves, but the rappers being in good _practice_, seemed to find\nno difficulty in keeping pace. We saw in this individual, a degree\nof infatuation rarely to be met with in intelligent _men of the\nworld_, and unmistakable evidence of entire mental hebetude upon this\nparticular subject. We, however, turned his fascination to a very good\naccount, as we shall presently show. We inquired if these rappings ever\noccurred any where except immediately about the persons of these girls.\n\"Oh yes,\" was the mother's answer, \"the sounds have been made in that\nwardrobe, and upon the door,\" etc. We pressed hard to have the raps\nfrom the wardrobe, but to our surprise and disappointment the girl got\ninto the wardrobe, leaving the door open, and so snugly was she encased\nthere in consequence of a partition in the wardrobe, that her dress was\nlargely in contact with three sides or walls of the little apartment.\nOf course we did not expect any better or different performance from\nthat with which we had been entertained outside the wardrobe. \"Will the\nspirit rap here?\" says the girl, and rap, rap, it came on the floor of\nthe wardrobe. She was then requested to have the rappings made upon the\nsides and back of the wardrobe, which she did, taking a little extra\ntime to arrange herself for these performances. She then requested us\nto put our ear to the top of the wardrobe and the rap would proceed\nfrom that quarter. We were not to be entrapped by this trick, for we\nknew full well the old and trite experiment of placing the ear upon one\nend of a long stick when a sound is made upon the other end. In this\nexperiment the sound will always appear to be made near the ear. We\ntherefore kept our attention fixed upon the bottom or lower part of\nthe wardrobe, and while some present, misled by the artifice, supposed\nthe sound came from the upper part of the wardrobe, we observed that\nthe sound was produced where it was at first, down below, and that\nit was not modified in the least, which certainly ought to have been\nthe case, if the sound had been made opposite to the person's ear.\nThe girl then called attention to several points in the upper part\nof the wardrobe, and it appeared to the satisfaction of some present\nthat the sounds came from those points, while to us it was perfectly\nevident that the sounds were not at all changed in direction or\ncharacter, and in reality proceeded from the old quarter. Our knowledge\nof ventriloquism also fortified us against this trick. Ventriloquism\nis a deception, the success of which depends upon a certain power\nof modulating the voice, a correct ear for imitation of sounds, and\nskill and judgment in selection of time, place and circumstances for\nthe performance. When persons present are not aware or apprised of\nthe attempt to deceive them, the ventriloquist is not obliged to be\nvery particular in his selection. But when his intention is announced\nor anticipated, his art is exercised to direct the attention of his\nauditors to the quarter from which he wishes the sound to appear to\ncome. If our readers will turn to Brewster's Natural Magic on this\nsubject, they will find many interesting tricks described on this\nprinciple. Nothing is more easy than to deceive completely, by calling\nthe attention of persons present to sounds from a certain position or\ndirection, while in reality the sounds are made elsewhere and in a\nremote quarter, provided the real origin of the sounds be concealed\nfrom the sight. So it was in the case of the raps, with those whose\neyes and _expectations_ were fixed upon the top of the wardrobe. The\ntrick was poorly done however, for the sound did not undergo the proper\nmodification, and in fact it was out of the girl's power to modify it\nto suit this case. For the origin of the raps, being concealed under\nher dress, she could not divest it of its muffled character without\nexposing her art. It is particularly worthy of note here, that for\nthese experiments in the wardrobe no particular spirit was invoked,\nand the raps were continued as long as necessary for the gratification\nof the bystanders, and were several times commenced without any\nparticular invocation on the part of the girl, she evidently forgetting\nthe dignity of the spirit in the excitement of the moment. This over,\nit was desired to have the spirits knock at the door, but they could\nnot manifest without the girl's immediate presence, and accordingly,\nshe placed herself against the outside of the room door, which was\nabout two thirds open, she taking hold of the latch. We were about\nto take position outside, in the passage, when she remarked that the\nspirits would rap much better if we took hold of the door. This was\nrather more necessary than cunning, and the rapper knew of course that\nunless she or some one held the door, the knock upon it would move\nthe door on its hinges away from her. When she was fairly fixed with\nher dress in contact with the door, the raps commenced upon the door.\nAfter this she turned her head and asked if the spirit would please to\nrap in the passage, when she gave rather a feeble rap, which suited\nthe trick tolerably well and here the rapping ended for this visit.\nThe rap from the passage explained the purpose of keeping us in the\nroom, for if we had gone into the passage the trick would have failed\nfor us, as we should have been able from our position there, to refer\nthe sound to the right quarter viz., about the girl's feet. On the\nsecond visit we were there with our former coadjutor and several other\ngentlemen of eminence, and a lady of the highest respectability, strong\nmind, and distinguished for her indomitable energy and perseverance.\nOur quondam enthusiast we found there at his matins, in company with\nseveral persons eminent in political life. One of them, a member of\nCongress, had been endeavoring to get some spiritual communications,\nbut became so disgusted with the _bad guessing_ of the Fox girls, that\nhe left the room. The enthusiast, Mr. * * *, then invoked his favorite\nspirit and proposed a question, the answer to which was spelled out by\nthe Fox mother as before, and he expressed himself perfectly satisfied\nwith the answer. We then took our turn. We put down upon paper the\nnames of three departed spirits, three diseases, and three places. In\npointing to these names with the pencil, we took good care to conceal\nthe pencil movement behind a book, and carefully guarded against any\nemphatic movement which should betray our will to the practiced eyes\nof the girls. The raps came for the wrong spirit, and rapped the wrong\ndisease, and place of death. We then made another effort. Three names\nwere selected, as follows, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun; Webster's was\nthe spirit we invoked, and they hit it right this time for the name,\nbut mark the sequel. The answer was that Webster died of CROUP! and\nat Salem, Mass. Of course we did not indicate by any look or movement\nthat our inquiries had been answered correctly or incorrectly until\nwe had got through. Our scientific friend next made a trial, and his\nanswers were more ludicrous if possible then those we had obtained.\nHe attempted in several ways to get replies from the spirits, being\nalways careful to give no clue to his thoughts by outward signs, but\nall to no purpose. The spirits, judging from the raps, were there in\nabundance, but no intelligence, or correct answers could be had from\nthem. Next another friend of ours came to the trial. He had not been\naccustomed to investigate such tricks, and very imprudently suffered\nMr. * * * to put the questions for him. The answers came in accordance\nwith the facts, that is the right spirit was designated by the raps,\nand the manner of his death. Mr. * * * put the questions each in\ndifferent tone and shape, and the girls undoubtedly read him as they\nhad done before. Noticing this, we remarked to Mr. * * * that as he\nhad been so successful we would like to have him inquire for us, to\nwhich he readily assented. We, however premised, that he must use\nthe same _intonation_ and _language_ in asking each question, which\nhe agreed to do, as far as he could. This we exacted, not because we\nhad any suspicion of collusion in this case, but as we explained it\nat the time, because many persons would unwittingly by emphasis or\nsome significance indicate to the rappers, or any shrewd person, the\nparticular object he had in view. With these precautions, the question\nwas put to the rappers. We were to fix our thoughts upon a particular\nspirit, the disease of which the person died, and the place where;\nthe name with two others was put down upon paper, the disease with\nseveral others, and also the place of death with two others. Mr. * *\n* propounded as follows: Will the spirit inform us of the spirit the\ngentleman is thinking of? Rap, rap! Yes. Will it inform us correctly?\nRap, rap! Yes. Pointing to a name with a pencil, he asked, Is it\nthis? Rap! No. Is it this? Rap, rap! Yes. Pointing to the diseases\nand places, with the same question each time; when the whole was gone\nthrough with, Mr. * * * asked, Has the spirit informed us correctly?\nRap, rap! Yes. We were thinking of Webster's spirit, and the result\nwas this. The rappers hit it right as to the name, but they informed\nus this time that Mr. Webster died of FUNGUS H\u00c6MATODES, in Newark, New\nJersey.\n\nThis was too much for forbearance, but still we kept our purpose of\ninvestigation in view, and again pleaded our own wickedness as the\nprobable cause of these failures. \"Oh! no,\" said they, \"it will happen\nso sometimes.\" What a deeply disgusting spectacle! These girls and\ntheir mother sitting there, with all gravity, and pretending to be the\n\"_mediums_\" of communication with disembodied spirits, and dealing out\nsuch nonsense as that just related.\n\nThe rappers were then sitting some distance from the table, and we\nasked if the \"Spirits would rap upon the table?\" Rap! No. \"Will the\nspirit _please_ to rap upon the table?\" Rap, rap, rap. \"Not now.\" It\nseems that three raps for the expression \"Not now\" was a part of the\nspiritual stenography, as they had occasion to use this evasion quite\noften to escape difficulties. \"Will the spirit please to explain why it\nwill not rap upon the table?\" Rap, rap, rap! \"Not now.\" \"When will it?\"\n\"This evening, at such an hour,\" naming it. This last communication\nwas spelled out by the Fox mother, and a time was named at which it\nwould be impossible to get an opportunity to propound such a question,\nas they held their spiritual levee in the evening to crowds. Moreover,\nwe had no desire to repeat the question to these tricksters, to\nbe shuffled, as we most certainly should have been, with the same\nprevarication. On the occasion of our first visit, Mr. * * * said that\nthe spirits had rapped upon his foot, while sitting at a table. The\nexperiment was repeated by request, and very likely would have been\nsuccessful, if we had not fixed our eyes very intently upon his and\nthe rappers' feet. As it was, this feat was not performed. On the\nsecond visit, we implored the spirits to rap upon our feet. \"Not now,\"\nwas the answer. It was evident that we were not receiving our money's\nworth of spiritual manifestations according to the show-bill; but, as\nevery failure was our gain, we were not disposed to quarrel with the\nrappers or the spirits. One of my scientific friends then asked if\nthey would not rap if they were suspended in a swing, or stood upon a\npillow? \"Oh yes,\" was the reply, \"we have done that; that has all been\ntried.\" One of the Fox girls proposed to send upstairs for a pillow,\nbut it occurred to us that they _might_ rap while standing upon any\n_common-sized pillow_, for the reason that their dresses would cover\nand extend beyond the pillow, and thus give them an opportunity to get\ntheir rapping instrument down upon the floor over the sides of the\npillow. We therefore proceeded immediately, while they were engaged in\nsome conversation, to make up a cushion upon the floor to suit our own\nviews. We gathered a number of cloaks, and laid them folded upon the\nfloor, so as to make a circular cushion of about three and a half feet\ndiameter, and so thick that we were persuaded no ordinary raps with\ntheir instrument could be heard through the soft mass, or if any sound\nshould be produced it would be so modified as to betray its origin.\nThe Fox mother objected to this preparation; but the girls said, \"We\nknow we can rap; the spirits will rap there, for they have always done\nso.\" By way of an excuse for making this cushion, we remarked that one\nof the coats was silk, and that we would ascertain if electricity had\nany thing to do with it. The Fox mother said, \"All that had been tried\nbefore; and that the girls[5]could rap standing upon glass tumblers,\nand that she knew it must be the spirits, for these manifestations\nhad been with them now for six years.\" We replied (to keep up our\nargument), \"You know that there are persons who think these sounds are\nall due to some modification of electricity, and others who think that\nelectricity is the very essence of spirituality,[6] and we wish to see\nin this case how far it may be concerned in the phenomena.\" There\nwas no resisting this, and we were allowed to proceed. The result was\nexactly as we anticipated. While standing upon the cushion _they could\nnot rap at all_. The principal rapper saw her predicament, and took her\nstand upon the cushion so that her dress was partly over the edge of\nthe cushion, but this we objected to, and requested her to stand upon\nthe centre of the cushion, upon the plea that if her dress touched the\nfloor, it would conduct away the electricity. A perfectly empirical\nreason, of course; but they were none the wiser for that, and as soon\nas every thing was arranged to our liking, she invoked the spirit to\nrap. No rap came. Again and again the spirit was besought, but no\nresponse was given. She then asked her sister to come and stand upon\nthe cushion with her, thinking, in her subtlety, that two of them would\noccupy so much room as to give one, at least, a chance to have her\ndress over the edge of the cushion. But this we were prepared for; and\ngathered in the skirts of their dresses upon the cushion, upon the same\nplea as before. The result was the same as with one. No raps. The fact\nwas, their arts were completely baffled, the spirits had fled, and the\nexperiment not only proved the falsity of the assertion that they could\nrap standing on cushions, or when suspended in a swing, but afforded\nthe most conclusive evidence of the immediate and wilful agency of\nthese Fox girls in producing these sounds.\n\nThinking to redeem themselves from the inevitable verdict of this\ntrial, the principal rapper proposed to stand upon glass tumblers,\nto see if the spirits would rap then, as they had done on former\noccasions. She took her stand upon the tumblers. This elevated the\nlower border of her dress above the floor, and it so happened that\none of our number was sufficiently far from her that he could have\nseen her feet on the rapping instrument. She invoked the spirit. \"Will\nthe spirit please to rap?\" No rap. She then stooped a little, as if\naddressing the spirit below. \"Will the spirit please to rap now?\" No\nrap. She then stooped a little more, and by this time her dress was\nfairly down upon the floor, so as to cover feet and tumblers. \"Will\nthe spirit please to rap now?\" Rap, rap. This was very adroitly done,\nbut the trick was clear to us. How strange it is, that she should have\nbeen obliged to stoop, and to have invoked the spirit three times\nbefore the answer came; and, moreover, that she should look down to the\nfloor for the spirit; and how passing strange it is that these modern\nspirits should have such a fondness for _long dresses_ and _girls'\ntoes_. We then requested her to stand upon a chair, and rap. This she\ndid promptly, and the rap came at a bidding. The sound was different\nfrom that produced upon the carpeted floor, and underwent just the\nproper modification of a blow struck upon a hard, uncovered, wooden\nseat. Here we stopped, having seen quite enough of this game of \"_Fox_\nand _Geese_.\" Before leaving the room, one of the rappers requested\nour scientific friend not to publish them, and another stepped up to\nthe lady present, saying, \"You do not think that I have any machinery\nabout me to make these sounds, do you?\" We have it on the authority\nof this lady, who seemed determined to leave nothing untried to lead\nto the detection of this imposture, that she asked these rappers if\nthey would consent to a private examination of their persons, and that\nthey refused it positively, adding that if she had any doubt as to the\nreality of these spiritual manifestations she would have satisfactory\nrevelations made to her in her bed-chamber five weeks from that time.\nThis prophetic intelligence they rapped out for the occasion according\nto their own fancy and usual evasive duplicity in such cases. The five\nweeks have passed, but the lady has, of course, received no spiritual\nvisitations as predicted.\n\nOur readers are now ready to ask if we have discovered the machinery\nor instrumentality by which these girls make the sounds. In answer,\nwe say that our investigation is conclusive that these sounds are\nentirely at the control of these girls, and that we have placed them\nin situations where they could not rap at all. And if, after all this,\nwe have invented several modes by which the rappings can be made as\nsuccessfully as by them, we think we have discovered enough. During\neach of our two visits, we noticed, by very cautious and careful\ninspection, one interesting and significant fact--that each rap was\nattended with a slight movement of the person of the rapper, and\nthat a very distinct motion of the dress was visible about the right\nhypogastric region. While watching this point the girl noticed us,\nand immediately rose, went to the window, and dropped the curtain to\ndarken the room, which was on the north side of the building, and full\ndark enough before. When she sat down she drew her shawl over this\npart of her person. This was on the first visit. On the second visit,\nwe were soon discovered watching this movement again, and she rose and\nprocured a shawl with which she covered her person as before. We do not\npretend to decide that this movement had any direct connection with\nthe instrument by which she rapped upon the floor; if so, it was very\nclumsy and awkward, for we have devised a mode of rapping that involves\nno such motion, and which we will shortly explain. It may have been\nthat this movement was connected with the device for rapping upon the\ntable. We are of opinion that when they rapped upon the table, it was\nupon the under side of the table-top and not about their feet. They\ndid not, and evidently could not, rap upon the table without sitting\nclosely up to the table. If this conjecture, as to the rap under the\ntable-top, is right, the movement we saw is easily accounted for. Be\nit so, or be it not, we have invented a contrivance which raps upon\nthe under side of the table-top, and which involves precisely the\nmotion we discovered. It requires but little exercise of ingenuity to\ncontrive means of producing these sounds. It has been stated that a\nrelative of these girls has made a public statement under oath, that\nthey produce the raps with their toes, in a peculiar manner acquired\nby long practice. The public papers tell us that electro-magnetism\nhas been employed to carry out this fraud. The snapping of the joints\nhas been resorted to by another; and indeed we can easily imagine\na variety of ways in which these sounds are, or may be produced.\nThe Fox girls rapped upon neither of these plans. The sound was\nmachine-like, and too loud for a sound that could be made by striking\nthe naked or unarmed toe upon the floor, and entirely too loud for,\nand differing in character from, the snapping of the joints, and as to\nelectro-magnetism, it was entirely out of the question in this case.\nThe Fox girls visit the houses of strangers and rap always with the\nsame ease every where. The raps are never remote from their persons but\nalways directly about their feet, unless it be when they are sitting\nat the table, as we have before said, when the rap appears to be on the\nunder side of the table-top, although we would not undertake to decide\nfully upon this latter point, as they would not allow us to choose our\nposition so as to judge of the true direction of the sound; for as soon\nas my coadjutor looked under the table, the spirits decamped and we\nhad no rapping. There are certain circumstances, under which no ear,\nhowever skilful and practised, can judge correctly of the position or\ndistance where certain sounds originate. Such a case is exemplified in\nthe common speaking tubes used in public houses and elsewhere. When you\nplace your ear near the tube, the voice appears to be uttered close to\nthe ear, though the person speaking may be at a great distance. The\nInvisible Lady is another instance, for a full account of which, see\nBrewster's work on Natural Magic. But the most remarkable illustration\nof this case is exhibited in the following manner. If you take an iron\nrod ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred feet in length and strike it\nat one end, the blow is heard by a person having his ear close at\nthe other end precisely as if the blow was struck near his ear. This\nillusion is more remarkable if the listener cannot hear the original\nblow through the medium of the air. To make the whole experiment very\nimposing, suppose an iron rod, three-fourths of an inch in diameter,\nprojecting three or four feet through the floor of a large hall, and\nthat this projecting part is a continuation of a rod passing beneath\nthe floor of the room, and concealed entirely from observation and\nterminating out of doors, or in a distant apartment. Whenever a blow\nis struck upon the remote and concealed end, the sound not being heard\nexcept through the medium of the rod, appears to every person present,\nprecisely as if it issued from the projecting end within the hall. With\nproper pre-concertion and ceremonial preparation, such a contrivance\nas this would far exceed, in mysterious character, the shallow\ntrickery of these _feet-rappers_. From this experiment, which we have\ntried with entire success with a rod only twenty feet in length, we\nsee how closely we must look to all the attendant circumstances and\npossibilities of the case, before we can conclude strictly upon the\nposition of the origin of sounds, where their origin is out of sight.\nWe know that the rapping was always about their _heels_ when these\ngirls sat in chairs, stood upon the floor, or in chairs, or stood in\nthe wardrobe, or rapped upon the door. For this part of the performance\nwe had abundant opportunities for examination, and if these girls will\nstand upon the floor and allow us to examine their feet, at the time\nof the rapping, we defy them and their spirits to produce the rappings\nwithout a full exposure. It is worthy of note that witches have always\nbeen far more numerous than wizards. There are reasons for such\ndisparity in numbers, but this rapping business is particularly the\nprovince of females. There are no male rappers unless it be of late,\nsince they have resorted to confederacy, or electrical or mechanical\ntricks. There are no men-rappers who rap upon such an extensive scale\nas the Fox girls. The latter are not confined to a certain table, a\ncertain room, or certain spots in a room, or a certain house. They\ncarry their \"_Rattle-traps_\" about with them, and go from house to\nhouse, and their \"_familiar spirits_\" are very sociable, unceremonious,\nand accommodating. If they will but adopt the Bloomer costume,\nour word for it, the spirits would signify their disapprobation by\ndeparting at once. Relying upon their sex they trust the courtesy of\ntheir visitors as sufficient protection against the examination of even\ntheir feet, and therefore they make bold to wear unusually long dresses\nthe better to conceal their movements and rapping apparatus. When the\ngirl stood upon tumblers, she did not venture to rap till, by gradual\nstooping, she brought her dress down so as to cover her feet and touch\nthe floor. There are then special reasons why this kind of witchery\nshould be played off by females. _The Fox style of rapping_ CANNOT _be\nperformed by men, or in the male attire_. We do not attribute to woman\nmore or greater proneness, or power to deceive than to man; but when\nwoman undertakes to deceive, she is generally more successful. She\nis less suspected, has fewer motives, runs greater risk, and incurs\ngreater loss in the event of disclosures, and with the blandishments\nof person and sex, she silences opposition, smothers inquiry, defies\nand escapes inspection, and lastly takes captive the head with the\nheart. Possessed of greater susceptibilities and easily impressed; she\nis more readily carried away by new and strange fascinations, and in\ntimes of certain remarkable developements of sympathetic witchcrafts,\nshe is the first to be imposed upon and most apt to impose upon\nherself. This characteristic is well illustrated in the case of the\n_jerks_, a species of _witch mania_ which prevailed in this country\nso extensively many years ago, in which women figured so largely.\nSympathetic action is potential with both sexes, but especially with\nwomen does it overpower sense, reason and volition, giving rise to\ntemporary insanity. We are however uncharitable enough to believe that,\nin many cases, upon these occasions the surrendry of the judgment\nand bewilderment of the imagination is not altogether involuntary,\nand that the whole operation of _being bewitched_ might be arrested\nat a certain stage of its progress by an effort to resist, except\nperhaps in conditions of extreme hysteria and nervous prostration,\nor irritability. We have seen a young lady of the very highest\nrespectability at a _table-tipping_, tugging away at the table to make\nit move, and all the while endeavoring to conceal her exertions, and\ndeclaring, when interrogated, that she did \"not make the slightest\neffort.\" Can it be that she had become so infatuated as to forget\nthat she was, or to persuade herself that she was not, deceiving,\nand yet all the while to be so assiduous and adroit in accomplishing\nher object? Charity says yes. Well! after all, there is something\nin the feat of deceiving and blinding reverend and grave Senators,\nJudges and Priests, well calculated to whet the pride, stimulate the\ncunning, and foster the love of power in a young Miss, especially when\nher arts are practised upon some doings not embraced in the criminal\ncode nor amenable to law. There are probably--paradoxical as it may\nseem--cases of honest deception. The desire to accomplish something\ngreat, something exceeding the common course of familiar phenomena,\nmay be so strong as to beget an entire perversion of all truthfulness,\na self sanctioning of error, artfulness, and imposture, oblivion of\nconscience, an enthusiastic profession of faith and spirited advocacy\nof the new developments, a bending of every thing to conceal the fraud,\nand withal a remarkable preservation of the appearance of sincerity,\nand an air of ingenuousness so well put on as to appear natural, which\ngo very far to inveigle those who may witness the performances.\n\nOf the modes we have devised of producing rappings we will not explain\nmore than one, that being sufficient to effect rapping sounds without\ndisturbance of the person. We have contrived a great many, and although\nwe have not seen the particular mode employed by the Fox girls, yet\nwe can rap just as well. A piece of soft metal such as lead, shaped\nlike a _chain shot_ or _dumb-bell_, tied to the great toe may be made\nto pound upon the floor, the door, the bottom of a wardrobe, or any\nsurface or thing which may be under or about the feet, with forcible\ndemonstrations. If any person will make the effort to move the toe up\nand down while the sole of the foot rests firmly upon the floor, it\nwill be found that a considerable motion may be effected, and of course\na _rapping_, without a disturbance of the person. A little practice\nwill make perfect. In order to walk about without the rattling of the\nrapping piece, it is necessary to tie to one end of it an elastic\ncord, a piece of vulcanized rubber answering very well, and fasten\nthis around the waist. A slight stooping or sitting down will leave\nthe instrument free to work. If you have thin shoes or slippers on, it\nmay be affixed outside of the slippers, or you can have it attached to\nthe toe, and make the slipper large enough to slip over the whole and\nslip it off, when rappings are called for. One other element and we are\nall equipped for spiritual rappings; petticoats or long dresses are\nindispensable to complete the invention. Whatever be the contrivance\nadopted to rap upon the floor, the whole must be concealed within the\nsanctuary of _skirts_ beyond the invasion of the curious or rude. We\nhave other more perfect, better concealed rapping instruments than the\none just described,[7] but not quite so simple or easy of application.\nMoreover the one described gives the double rap, (a peculiarity of\nthe Fox contrivance.) These girls managed their instrument adroitly,\nand deserve some little credit for their ingenuity in contriving and\noperating an instrument so successfully as to baffle the scrutiny\nof thousands of their visitors. They walk freely about with their\ninstruments, though a lady remarked to us that they both walked very\nawkwardly. With local preparations \"_mysterious_\" rappings may be\nproduced in a variety of ways, but these girls, the _prototypes_ of\nall rappers, neither employed or needed any aid from electro-magnetic\nmotions, acoustic science, or confederacy to practise their arts,\nthey used more ingenious and simple means. It is possible to make a\nrapping electro-magnetic movement, battery and all, small enough to be\ncarried under the dress, but like the telegraph, it must be controlled\nby volition and muscular action of the operator, and where is the\nadvantage of this over a mechanical instrument that raps directly?\nThere is no necessity for wonderment or the taxation of ingenuity on\naccount of these rapping sounds so long as you are excluded from a\npersonal examination of the rappers. We wish very much that the civil\nauthorities would pounce upon these rappers in the \"_very act_\" (_for\nobtaining money upon false pretences_)--(or some other plea) and make\na forcible disclosure of their trappings. We believe that this can and\nshould be done, and that such a proceeding would meet the full sanction\nof law and justice; that universal public opinion would sustain it,\nand we have no doubt of the nature and effect of the _denouement_.\nIf it had already been done, we should have been spared the labor of\nthis treatise at least, and we need not advert to the vast amount of\nsuffering and vice that would have been forestalled.\n\nSeeing then, that we can _rap_, yes, and give the double rap, how shall\nwe account for the extraordinary prophecies, messages, coincidences\nand communications in accordance with facts? We wish this had been\nthe only difficulty to surmount, for it perplexes much less than\nthe _feminine security_ of these rappers against the inspection\nof their actual _quomod\u00f2_. We can most safely presume that if by\nsearch warrant, stratagem, or _vi et armis_, the rapping instrument\nof these Fox girls had been exposed to the public, there would not\nhave been one doubt about the nature and origin of the _spiritual\ncommunications_, nor the question ever asked, how it happened that\nthese communications were so wonderfully true to fact. Brains, books,\ngood and bad spirits, devils and all would not have been needed for\nthis discussion. Indeed where is the necessity at all, of dragging out\nhuman weakness, credulity, and duplicity to solve the psychological\npart of this fraud and forgery, if we can rap as well as the Fox girls\n(the great guns of rappism), and on the strength of our rappings tell\n_more truth_ and _fewer lies_ than their spirits, what need have we\nof metaphysical disquisitions on the handwriting found in a drawer\nor any where else, resembling Mr. Calhoun's, John Smith's, or any\nother of the great departed?[8] So far as our experience went, the\nFox girls made few, very few good hits, and perpetrated a vast amount\nof most intolerable nonsense and contradiction; enough of itself,\neven if the rappings had been made outside the pale of their _queenly\nrobes_ one inch, two feet, above their heads, in the aerial centre\nof the room, disconnected with every tangible and visible thing, to\nhave turned any sensible man on his heel instanter, with contempt and\ndisgust. But for the sake of those who are duped or perplexed by these\ncommunications, we must spend a little breath to enlighten them. When\na man _suspects_ supernatural agency or interference in physical,\nreally visible, sensible, or tangible demonstrations, he is ready to\nbelieve any thing communicated at the time, and when he comes to the\nfull belief in divine interposition, his faith is perfected. Where,\nby long practice, preparation and skill, tricks are performed with\na view to imposition, it requires the highest degree of coolness,\ncalmness, and self-possession, to resist the impression of the\nsuperhuman, and however well fortified we may be in these respects, it\nis hardly to be expected that we should be able to discover the real\nnature of the performance without some experience and practice on our\nside. The instant the idea of the superhuman gets possession of the\nmind all fitness for investigation and power of analysis begins to\nvanish, and credulity swells to its utmost capacity. The most glaring\ninconsistencies and absurdities are not discerned and are swallowed\nwhole, and so deep is the blindness and so extraordinary in its\ncharacter, that we have seen a convert made to _spiritual rappism_\nupon the strength of one single coincidence selected from among a\ngreat mass of disgusting mummery and perversion of truth. Not one of\nthe discrepancies, were of any importance with him; one lucky hit\nof the rappers and the whole performance, errors, raps and all were\ninvested with supernatural power. Now, how does it happen, that the\nbeliever in such cases does not notice the incongruities and failures,\nor does not appear to notice them. This is somewhat of a psychological\nphenomenon, but might as well be explained on the ground of unfairness,\nas any other; unfairness is as often the beginning and accompaniment\nof _infatuation_, as a mental incapacity for more than one idea. A\nshrewd person can, at any time, take a promiscuous company, and with\nthe imposture of rapping, or any other trick, calculated to divert\nthe attention, and a mode of spelling out communications similar to\nthat adopted by the Fox girls, make out as many or more wonderful and\nseemingly supernatural communications as they, certainly not more of\nerror and absurdity. We were once riding in a stage-coach, with a\ngentleman, who, after a long journey, laid a wager with another that he\nwould tell the occupation of every person in the coach. To the surprise\nof all he won the wager. A lady present, apparently much hurt, asked\nhow he knew she was a \"housekeeper.\" The reply was, Because I saw you\nfrequently putting your hands to your belt--for the keys. Many of our\nshrewd itinerant phrenologists, after the parade of measuring and\nfumbling one's head, and a few master-key questions, will portray the\nlife and character with a wonderful degree of accuracy. Our stage-coach\npythonist had, during the journey, watched the motions, complexion,\nconversation, expression of countenance, appearance of the hands, the\ndress,--in fine, ever little circumstance of habit or person, and it so\nhappened judged rightly in each case. It is so with the phrenologist,\nwho draws his information mostly from similar sources.[9] It is so\nwith the rappers; they observe carefully, have experience with persons\nof all classes, and generally, unless molested by some skeptic, have\nevery thing in their own way. Their visitors, especially the dupes,\nbetray more to these rappers than their own skill can eliminate, and\nit is surely to be expected that they should hit right sometimes. Upon\nmere hap-hazard conjecture, this might happen occasionally, but with\nall the arts and aids of preparation, credulity, and fanaticism, they\nbecome as successful as the oracles of Delos and Lesbos.\n\nBefore concluding the subject of rappings we remark briefly that a\nSPIRIT that cannot or will not tell the truth on all occasions, is\nwholly unworthy our credence or respect; and believing, as we do, that\nmiracles are God's prerogative and all miraculous power is withheld\nfrom evil spirits as militating with the plan of Revelation, we needed\nno further investigation for our own satisfaction, than to know that\na very large part of their pretended communications were grossly\nerroneous; but we have held it to be important for the sake of others\nthat the whole subject should be examined. The fever has somewhat\nabated of late, but unless boldly and vigorously assailed it will\nreappear under some new pretension with exacerbations more virulent\nthan ever.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] This witch of Endor it seems was the only woman with a _familiar\nspirit_ that had escaped death under the royal edict of Saul, and how\nsuccessfully she bewitched or juggled Saul our readers all know. We\nrefer them one and all to the 19th Chap. Leviticus, 31st verse--ED.\n\n[2] In Washington.\n\n[3] The Bible teaches of witches and wizards with familiar spirits,\nand that they were to be put to death; of magicians, astrologers,\nsorcerers, soothsayers, and false prophets; but the only account of a\nmiraculous performance by the devil, is that of his first great and\nmomentous fraud upon our race in the garden of Eden, and this is by\nsome considered as allegorical. Through that act he got possession of\nthe human heart, and he needs now no external manifestations to further\nhis intrigues.\n\nPharaoh's magicians were able, by their arts, to imitate to a certain\nextent only, the miracles of Moses and Aaron. They turned their rods\ninto serpents, the river into blood, and caused frogs to come out of\ntheir hiding-places, but when it came to the conversion of the small\ndust into lice, their magic was baffled, and \"then the magicians said\nunto Pharaoh _This is the finger of God_.\"\n\nThe raising of Samuel's spirit, and his prophecy of the result of\nthe battle, was a professional trick of the witch of Endor, and no\nmore remarkable than many of the doings related of the rappers and\ntippers, and of mesmerizers who send clairvoyants to explore the\nUNKNOWN WORLD. Considering all the circumstances, we think that many\nhits, or conjectures of false prophets, or fortune-tellers of the\npresent day, have been quite as successful, and even more wonderful,\nthan this feat of the witch of Endor. We know that some Commentators\nregard the raising of Samuel's ghost, and the prophecy of the result\nof the battle, as the work of God, and not of the witch herself, or\nher master; and to such a conclusion they seem to be forced, if they\nadmit any thing superhuman about it, for it would not answer to accord\nso much power to a witch, accursed of the law. How such an explanation\ncan be reconciled with Divine attributes and teachings, we are at loss\nto conceive. The account tells us that Saul had sought the Lord in\nvain. The Lord had refused to communicate with him. Shall it be said\nthen that the Almighty is capable of trifling? (for this seems to be\nthe alternative.) That he made known his will through a witch; and\nthat, in Saul's (the Lord's anointed) last extremity, the Lord forced\nhim to believe a lie or an accursed witch? Is not this the inference,\nthe inevitable conclusion? How readily all difficulty vanishes by\nexpounding this transaction upon the very same principles that we apply\nto spirit-rapping, viz.: that it was a juggle, and like all witchcraft\nof whatsoever kind, was of human immediate instrumentality. To affirm\nof such performances that they are inexplicable, and amazing, is no\nargument in favor of their superhuman character. They are not more\nwonderful or difficult of explanation, than hundreds of tricks which\nwe see, and of which we read every day, as performed by jugglers.\nTo the great mass of mankind these latter are equally puzzling, and\nwould undoubtedly pass for miracles, were it not for the fact that\nthey are _professedly_ tricks. We believe in the all-pervading,\nall-controlling, all-sustaining power of God, in Divine interposition,\nspecial Providences, and the efficacy of prayer, as taught in the\nScriptures, after our own interpretation. _We believe that miracles are\nGod's prerogative, and believing thus, we conclude that the working\nof miracles by the devil, or evil spirits, would furnish an excuse\nfor man's unbelief or infidelity._ Most earnestly, therefore, do we\ndeprecate the advancement of any theory (for it can be but _theory_ at\nthe best), which attributes these and kindred delusions, to the direct\nagency of the devil, or evil spirits. Such teachings are mischievous in\ntheir tendency, and militate with the true interests of Christianity,\njust as far and as long as they have no better foundation than theory,\nspeculation, or conjecture, and are wanting in proof positive,\ninvincible and overwhelming, of their correctness.--C.G.P., Ed.\n\n[4] We were thus given to understand that spirits retain their earthly\nnames, and answer to them. It occurred to us, therefore, that if we put\ndown the name of John Smith we should be sure of a response.--C. G. P.,\nEd.\n\n[5] The expression was very common with them that \"_they could rap_, or\n_had rapped_.\" Rather careless, certainly!\n\n[6] We, of course, had no more thought of electrical agency here than\nin the rap of an auctioneer's hammer.--C.G.P., ED.\n\n[7] We have made excellent rappings with this instrument, and\naccompanied them with very wonderful communications.--ED.\n\n[8] Whatever respect we may have for the memory of the great, we feel\nat liberty to banter their spirits if we catch them in bad company, and\nat base tricks.--ED.\n\n[9] We believe in the fundamental doctrines of phrenology, but have no\nfaith whatever in this common empirical trade of delineating character\npromiscuously by the contour of the head alone.--ED.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE-TIPPINGS.\n\n\nThis fallacy demands our most rigid scrutiny, and none the less of\nsevere reprobation, from the fact that it is engaged in, to a great\nextent, by respectable and intelligent persons. The business of\nSpiritual Rappings is a sheer and miserable imposture, and as the\nperformers are obliged to invent and manage the machinery, or whatever\ninstrumentality produces the sounds, there is no possibility of their\ndeceiving themselves. The table-tipping is rather a case of delusion,\nor self-imposition, though there are occasionally actors in this\nperformance who betray insincerity, and some whose actions give the\n_lie direct_ to their professions. How it happened that TABLES were\nselected for the demonstrations of departed spirits, or the operations\nof the \"_new fluid_,\" is beyond our wisdom to explain. Why should not\nthe pump-handle work _sua sponte_, the cradle rock itself, or the coach\nstart off without horses, as well as tables jump about the room at the\nmere imposition of hands, or the behest of those wonderful personages\nentitled _mediums_? Is there any thing in the shape, material, purpose,\nor history of a table that it should become, _par excellence_, the\nconnecting link between the natural and the spiritual world? or that\nit should be the great reservoir of electricity, magnetism, \"_new\nfluid_,\" \"_od_,\" or what not? Perhaps _legs_ are indispensable to\nthis new species of dancing and jumping. But, as in many of the best\n_authenticated_ cases, the table moves along the floor with a gradual,\nslow, and dignified motion, without jumping, and more especially as\nmany of the tables are upon castors, we see no reason why wheels\nshould not be better than legs, and why coaches will not do as well,\nor better, than tables--for the rolling friction is much less than\nthe sliding friction, and carriages could be made very light for this\nparticular purpose. These tipping magicians are not very fruitful in\nexpedients or they would have attempted long ago the speculation of a\n_new line of spiritual coaches on common roads, propelled by mediums_.\n\nBut to the point. One of the first table-tippings that came under our\nnotice was one which had become quite celebrated, and of which we had\nheard a great deal before we came to witness it. We were informed,\nby persons of high intelligence, who had been eye-witnesses, and\nparticipated in the experiments, that when several persons joined hands\naround this table, in connection with the medium, the table began to\nmove about the room with force, celerity, and apparent life. That\nforcible resistance could not stop it, and that the performers were\nhardly able to keep up with its motion. That, on the same occasion,\nheavy bodies were lifted from the floor by the mere superposition\nof hands, without grasping; in other words, that by laying the hand\nupon a heavy article, and raising the hand, the dead weight _lifted\nitself_ from the floor, and followed the motion of the hand. Our\ninformants were men of high standing, of high endowments and general\nintelligence, men of veracity, and men whose opinions were worth much\nin legal questions and matters of state. Oh! what a discovery and\ndevelopment was here. ADIEU YE LEVERS, SCREWS, WEDGES; PULLEYS, SCREW\nAND LEVER-JACKS, CRANES AND BOOM-DERRICKS, STEAM, GAS, AND EVERY\nKIND OF ENGINE, HORSE AND ALL OTHER POWERS, FIRE, AIR, AND WATER,\nELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM, CHEMICAL, MECHANICAL, AND ALL SUBSERVIENT\nAGENCIES, ONE AND ALL, ADIEU! Mind has subverted the laws of matter;\nall philosophy is merged in spirituality, and volition has become the\nall-potent, all-sufficient, all-pervading power; the crazy and pitiable\nseekers after perpetual motion are become the master spirits of the\nage, and gravity and friction have given way to two new controlling\nprinciples, levity and non-resistance. Suffice it to say, we laughed at\nour informants, and gave them a flat contradiction, \"that they had not\nseen what they related.\" It is well worthy of remark here, that we have\nnever yet known any one of our acquaintance to take serious offence at\nthe most positive contradictions upon this subject,--a proof, to our\nmind, that there is a secret, deep-seated, smothered conviction against\nthe reality and genuineness of these manifestations. A curious element\nof our composition it is, that honest men find no little difficulty in\ndeceiving themselves, and take so little or no umbrage at being charged\nwith this kind of deception.\n\nImbued deeply ourselves with an ardent _penchant_ for novelties upon\nevery subject, and a determination to _ferret out_ the extraordinary\npretensions of this new wonder, we have taken occasion to inquire\nof persons, from all parts of the country, where these exhibitions\nhave been made, and we assure our readers that although the time may\nthus have been profitably spent, the inquiry became tedious even to\ndisgust. We heard substantially the same story from all; viz., that the\ntables tipped and moved about \"without visible agency,\" and yet, in\nalmost every case, upon close sifting and careful cross-examination,\nwe found that somebody had hands upon the table during the whole of\nits gambols. Surely the _devil has to do with table-tippings_, for\nwe have never seen honest-minded persons so unfair and oblique on\nany other subject before. Not that the fiend tips, kicks, or propels\nin any way the tables, but that he tips either the conscience or\nthe judgment to a deplorable extent to sustain the cheat. In every\ninquiry and investigation we have found gross and weak exaggeration,\nand have fully resolved that we will maintain, to the last extremity,\nthe position of unqualified, uncompromising denial and opposition, to\nthe _highest testimony of earth_, as to the verity of _table-tippings,\nspirit-rappings, or any kindred chicanery of miraculous or spiritual\npurport_. We were much gratified recently at the remark of an\nexperienced friend, that \"he would not believe these things, even if he\nsaw them with his own eyes.\" There was meaning in the remark. He would\nnot admit the testimony of others to such an anomaly, and he would not\ntrust or believe _himself_ if he should give way to the conviction that\nall of mathematical and mechanical science, all of religion and bible\nteaching, and all of common sense, was to be contravened and exploded\nby these new manifestations, promising endless perplexity, confusion,\ncrime, and insanity, and no good to any body. Our friends repeatedly\nsay to us, \"we don't see how these things can be, but we cannot\ndiscredit the opinion and testimony of Mr. A., Dr. B., Prof. C., Rev.\nMr. D., Judge E., Hon. Mr. F., &c.\" \"We think it hard to impugn such\ntestimony, and why should not their word in this matter go as far as\nyours?\" Our plain answer is this: if we tell you that black is white,\nand white is black, we do not expect our testimony to be regarded; and\nwe take the same privilege in repudiating all testimony, from whatever\nsource, of a similar character. It was a strong, though reverential,\nposition of St. Paul, that \"even an angel from heaven would be accursed\nif he preached any other doctrine than that which he, Paul, had\npreached,\" for he well knew that an angel from heaven could not preach\nany other.\n\nWith all reverence we say it, we feel a sort of inspiration upon the\nlaws of reaction, gravity, and friction, based upon the experience of\nevery moment of remembered life, that compels us to reject peremptorily\nthe testimony of our best friends, of the most distinguished and\ncredible persons, or of the most exalted intellects, when they tell us\nthat by the mere superposition of hands, or by the effort of the will,\na table moves off by itself, or lifts itself from the floor without\nvisible agency. There are several individuals in this place, ourselves\namong the number, who have agreed to give two thousand dollars to\nany person who will show to us such a feat performed by a table. We\nfeel entirely safe in the offer, and moreover think it prudent, in\ncase we should deposit the money, to deposit it in a Savings Bank\npaying interest, for otherwise the money might be lying idle for a\nwhole lifetime. We might hesitate, if there were the remotest chance\nof explaining such extraordinary appearances upon any principle of\nscience; but the fact is, these assertions contravene all science,\nand bear absurdity on their very front. We hear some say, gravity,\nelectricity, and magnetism cause bodies to move without visible\nagencies or connection. Yes! they _do_; they always _have_, and always\n_will_. But here, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred\nand fifty-three, we must be told, for the first time, that the human\nbody has analogous powers to magnets and thunder-clouds; and, more than\nthis, that no regular law of traction or attraction, propulsion or\nrepulsion, governs this marvellous, new, nervous, corporeal, carneous\npower, _odylic_ force, or what not, but that it is subject to all the\nanomalous, capricious and vicious directions and governance of _human_\nvolition.\n\nWe have too much contempt for _odylic_ philosophy, or any such chimera\nor vagary, to stop and discuss it here. We have for twenty years, ever\nsince the revival of Slumbering Mesmerism, by Dr. Poyen, of Lowell,\nMass., made diligent inquiry and patient, persevering effort to obtain\nfrom among the great mass of mesmeric performances some evidence of a\nnew principle, new force, or any resolution of nervous or sensorial\nagency into physical power other than that of a mind upon its own\nbody, and have never yet seen the most faint indications of any such\nnervous power as these modern psychologists pretend to unfold to us.\nWhat! a nervous force that acts exterior to, and independent of,\nits own tenement and rightful fulcrum? that propels masses heavier\nthan the _body corporate_, without rending the latter in twain? Of\none thing we feel assured, that this new-fangled philosophy is a\npoisonous, though covert fang, secretly gnawing at the very root of\nChristian faith. It made a bold sally in that coarse proposition of\nMiss Martineau respecting our Saviour's miracles--too coarse indeed\nto meet with favor--and now assails, under a less offensive and more\nsophistical garb, of \"_odylic force_;\" seeking to explain a mystery\nof the Bible (always an _infidel effort_), and to bring miracles and\nGod's prerogatives within the scope and control of human reason and\naction. We ask any theologian who may incline to apply such tests to\nthe solution of miraculous performance, if he supposes that if the\nmountain had removed, and been cast into the sea, at the bidding of\nthe disciple (with faith as a grain of mustard-seed), that disciple\nwould have been the source of the propelling power, and felt fatigue,\ndepression, or reaction in proportion to the mass to be removed? If,\nwhen at the call of Joshua, the huge orb of earth stood still upon its\naxis, the vast momentum recoiled, through _odylic ether_, upon poor\nJoshua's brain? We can all accept the proposition of Archimedes \"_Give\nme a place whereon to stand, and I will move the world_;\" but who upon\nthe largest latitude of plastic, ductile OD, or any other principle or\npretext of mesmeric sophistry, would venture to arrest and propel the\nearth by the odylic, nervous, sensorial agency of one of its little\ncreatures, held to its centre by indomitable gravity. Perchance it may\nbe reasoned that from Joshua's cerebral fountain there issued a vast\nstream of odylic essence, or psychological fluid, whose mighty gushing\ninto space was equal to the momentum of huge earth, and reacting, like\nwater in the mill-wheel, caused the great sphere to stop. Oh! how\nhazardous, yea impious, is the attempt to _explain_ a miracle--God's\nprerogative, God's interposition in former times, though not above\nhuman _command_ upon the touchstones of prayer and faith, yet always\nand _forever_ above human _ken_. Our Saviour himself said, \"Of myself I\ncan do nothing,\" and his miracles were prefaced with prayer. GOD of the\nBible! while thy word stands, the wisdom of the wise and prudent shall\nnot prevail over the faith, simplicity and common-sense philosophy of\nthy \"Babes.\"\n\nIt is painful and humiliating to see the efforts of certain prominent\nmen publicly advocating the genuineness of these manifestations, and\nespecially so when we consider the character of the assertions and\narguments brought forward in support of their doctrines. One of the\nmost recent and striking is this. Mr. Calhoun's spirit on being\nconsulted through the Fox mediums as to the object of these spiritual\nmanifestations, replies, that they are \"instituted to prove to the\nunbelieving the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, and to propagate peace and\nharmony among men.\"[10] Hear it, all Christendom, believers, readers\nand hearers of the WORD! The great conflict and triumph of the Gospel\nis to be crowned by the deductions of these new FOX THEOLOGISTS,\nor, rather, as a more legitimate inference, the Word of God is to\nbe superseded and must now give place to the higher manifestations\nof Rochester spirit-rappings and table-tippings. It is no less than\na denial of the sufficiency of revelation for the very purpose for\nwhich it was intended, and denying this it denies the whole. All other\nreasons, arguments, developments, experiments, doubts, suspicions\nand manifestations aside, this rapping and tipping theology has now\ntaken a decided and hostile stand against the BIBLE, and as such it\nmust be treated. Hear it, and mark it well! The Bible is discarded\nas plainly and fully as if it had been uttered in so many words. In\nvain does Holy Writ every where teach of the immortality of the soul,\nin vain are its maledictions against sorcery and witchcraft, in vain\ndoes it pronounce \"Anathema Maranatha\" against additions to its divine\npretensions, in vain its precept \"that no prophecy of Scripture is of\nprivate interpretation,\" in vain does it declare that an unbeliever\n\"would not believe though one rose from the dead,\"[11] in vain have\nbeen the Bible societies, missionary and all the mighty efforts to\nspread Christianity, ALL is to be blotted out before the new light of\n\"_Rochester knockings_\" and Fox legerdemain. But why should we indulge\nin appeals, tirades, irony, or satire, knowing all the while that we\nhave positive demonstrations yet to present of the utter fallacy of\ntable-tippings; proofs irrefragible of the mundane, mortal, corporeal,\nphysical, muscular character of table-tippings? We have our reasons.\nIf we are to encounter fools and fanatics, witches and wizards,\ndevils and dupes, we must assail in every vulnerable quarter, for\neven demonstrations of fact are sure to be denied upon some impudent\npretext, and in such cases facts are not all-puissant weapons, and\nrequire an auxiliary guard. With the candid and the wavering, however,\nour demonstrations will be appreciated, and we trust conclusive.\nReverting to the first case of table-tipping that came under our\nnotice, having heard much of the extraordinary performances we went\nin company with a scientific friend to see for ourselves. The medium\nwas a sprightly young girl, whose reputation for sincerity might have\nbeen her dearest treasure. The wonderful feats of this medium were\nrecounted to us, and we longed for the verification. After a brief\nconversation, she with another young lady, (about half medium) placed\nhands upon a small table, our friend joining the circle. Their hands\nwere so placed, that the right hand of one concealed the left hand of\nthe other. After a while, the table began to move. This was natural,\ncertainly, for we noticed that this medium was working very hard\nwith her concealed hand to move it. Perhaps her mother saw this, for\nshe rose from her seat and said, \"You are not tricking, now?\" \"No,\nindeed, mother, I'm not tricking; see how lightly I _press_!\" What a\ncomment was all this upon the recital just made by her mother to us of\nthe astonishing feats of moving heavy dining-tables, tearing up the\ncarpets, moving pianofortes, &c.! Our friend beginning to suspect the\nvoluntary character of this motion of the table, made a counter effort\nwith his fingers (better concealed than that of the medium for the\nreason that he was possessed of far greater strength), and the table\nstopped moving. But this was not all. We detected upon the countenance\nof the medium an expression of disappointment, and further, a more\npalpable striving to move the table, in consequence of this resistance,\nwhich she seemed not to suspect. All this seems too farcical to relate,\nand yet the _superhuman_ performances of this very medium had been\ndescribed to us by eye-witnesses of the highest respectability as\nmarvellous, and astounding in the extreme, and our principal informant\nwas a gentleman well known for his astuteness, had some years back\npublished an excellent work upon mathematics, and was as well qualified\nas the average of learned men to observe and decide upon such matters.\nHis testimony was confirmed by several others, all witnesses of the\nhighest respectability, and what was it all worth? and what is all\nother testimony worth upon this _aerial vaulting_ of tables? Perhaps we\nare mistaken as to the effort made by this medium to move the table.\nLet us see! We placed a sheet of paper on the table under her hand, and\nas soon as the table was desired to move, behold the sheet of paper\nmoved over the table-top, while the table stood still. Here is the\ndemonstration of this fallacy, and although in such a shape that it\nmay be cavilled at, yet it is, however, the elementary key, and to us\nall-sufficient in itself. We will, however, develope it in such form\nas to be beyond all cavil. We witnessed, after this, many abortive\nattempts by mediums and others to move tables, and some other attempts\nthat began to succeed, till we applied our mechanical tests, when the\nnew fluid, electricity, magnetism, nervous power, odylic force, all\nresolved themselves into muscular action, and the tables never moved\nunless clearly pushed. As to tables moving in _any way_ without being\ntouched, we repeat that it has never been done, and challenge proof to\nthe contrary.\n\n[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]\n\nWe have traced up many such exaggerations, and invariably found the\nstory to be that the mediums were not moving it, but _merely_ had their\nhands \"_lightly_\" upon it. After we had baffled the tippings by the\nsheet of paper, we were on another occasion told, that paper was a\nnon-conductor of electricity, and that if this agent had any thing to\ndo with it, the paper might intercept the action. Willing to indulge\nthe whim we substituted for the paper the instrument represented in\nFig. 1, well known as the parallel ruler. It is simply a flat ruler\n(_a_), furnished with four rollers (_b_) (_b_), upon which it rests.\nThe slightest pressing forward of the fingers upon the ruler (_a_)\ncauses it to glide easily forward upon the table. Of course the\nresult was the same as with the paper. Upon invoking the spirits, or\nexerting the will, the ruler moved upon the table, while the table\nstood fast. If, then, the _paper_ moved, and the _ruler_ moved, ought\nwe not to infer that the friction between the fingers and the paper or\nthe fingers and the ruler was greater than the friction between the\npaper and the table or the ruler and the table? Certainly. It must be\nremembered here that the rule of tipping is, to press or touch _very\nlightly_ with the fingers. Ought we not to infer that the paper and the\nruler were pushed by the hand, since the hands followed them in their\nmotion? Certainly, upon the common doctrine of touch and go; but these\nnew philosophers will not allow us even this inference, and maintain\nthat the odylic power moves both hand and paper. A most versatile,\nvicarious agent or power is this OD. Well, odd as it is odd, we have\ngiven the tippers full swing, and we now administer their _quietus_.\nFig. 2 is an illustration of our mode of annihilating odylic power and\na positive cure for the _malady of spiritual medium_. Let the bodies\nof the tippers or mediums be fastened or restrained from motion in any\nway back or forth, and then let their arms be stretched straight out,\nas shown in the figure, and their hands locked, superposed, or placed\nin any way they please upon the table. Sitting with the breast closely\nagainst the back of the chair is a convenient way of restraining the\nforward motion. Now let them invoke the spirits, exert the will, let\nthem cry out and howl, Belial won't come, the table won't move, for\nall the mediums of earth, and passive matter holds true to her law of\ninertia. If the table should be moved towards them, it will be seen\nthat if the arms be kept straight, the hands keeping their position,\nwill appear to move over the table. We take some credit to ourselves\nfor this discovery, and we have been much surprised that men of\nscience, men of mechanical minds who have witnessed table-tippings have\nnever thought to apply some rule or test of mechanics to solve this\nmystery.[12]\n\n[Illustration: _Fig. 2._]\n\nThe very first thing to arrest our attention in table-tipping was\nthe fact that the hands (no matter how lightly they pressed) moved\nalways with the table back and forth; and this suggested at once our\nmechanical tests. How strange it is that any mortal in possession of\nhis senses, should move a table, and not know it! And yet it is so, it\nhas been so, but, we trust, it will be so no more. If any medium or\ntipper can gainsay this demonstration, we should be glad to hear from\nhim, and would like to employ him, at a high salary, as a mechanical\nagent, to overcome for us, in a multitude of ways, the operations of\ngravity and friction. The traders and merchants generally must have a\ncare of these tippers; for, in buying and selling, they can tip the\nscales with more ease than tables. We have, however, no doubts as to\nthe results, if any one will try these experiments fairly. It will be\na cause of chagrin to some of those honest-minded tippers, who have\nall along been believing that the spirits tipped the table, and that\nthey were in reality holding communion with their departed friends. If\nwe prove the table-tipping to be the result of a muscular movement, we\nneed not dwell upon the psychological phenomena of the extraordinary\ncoincidences, messages, &c. They are all referable to that peculiar\ncondition of mind, INFATUATION, under which judgment is suspended,\nmemory quickened, sensitiveness exalted, imagination predominant, and\ninvoluntary actions induced.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn concluding this work, we remark that our investigations have\nfastened error, mercenary motives, imposture, and illusion upon\nthose doings, so far as they have come under our observation. Our\nopportunities have been of the best kind as respects the rappings,\nfor they were with the Fox girls, who were the leaders in this\nwhole business of rappings and tippings; and, suffice it to say, we\neffectually prevented their rapping.\n\nWhen error and falsehood are driven from one subterfuge they soon find\nanother; and as the _surveillance_ of truth and science approaches\ntheir hiding places, they resort to more covert retreats; and these\ngirls may hereafter contrive some new mode of rapping not explicable\nupon our theory, but it is enough for us to know that it will be still\na trick. We have had as wonderful performances related to us as have\never been heard of elsewhere; but, upon close sifting; they have all\nproved to be within the pale of human conception. Doubtless all these\ntricks will assume different shapes from day to day and place to place,\nand the performances in England, France, and Germany, may all differ\nfrom ours and from each other. The tricks _must improve_, in order\nto sustain their pecuniary value, or bolster reputation; and however\nsuccessful and impenetrable they may become, they are none the less\ntricks, and have one common origin.\n\nIf any one deems that he hath a spirit, or any new power beyond\njugglery, let him come, and we will welcome him with a close\nexamination; and if we are baffled, and cannot make our position good,\nhe shall have the reward we have specified in a previous part of this\nwork. Those who make these tricks their profession have the advantage\nof long practice, preparation, and confederacy; but let them come and\nclaim the prize, if they will and can.\n\nWe have recently heard of some refined tricks at table-tipping, in\nwhich other preparations were made than the mere superposition of\nhands. Although we had rather see them than hear of them, we have only\nto say to those who may see them (or think they see them), Divest\nyourselves of all idea of the supernatural, or any new fluid, or new\nlaw, or property whatever, and, regarding the performance either as\na trick or case of illusion, scrutinize sharply every movement and\ncircumstance in connection, and you will find that either the table\ndoes not move, or, if it does move, you will see what actuates it.\nRemember! there are controlling and controllable agents that _can_\nraise a table from the floor; but the action of the will, or the mere\nsuperposition of hands, NEVER!\n\n\nTHE END.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[10] A recent conspicuous writer, in giving an account of this great\ncommunication from the great spirit of Mr. Calhoun, says, its spiritual\ncharacter was confirmed by the rising of the table from the floor, and\nother wonderful signs.--C. G. P., ED.\n\n[11] The actual reappearance of dead Dives, _in propria persona_, was\ndeclared by the Almighty as inadequate to convince unbelieving Jews;\nbut it seems that for Gentiles the presence of the spirit without the\nbody is all-sufficient.--ED.\n\n[12] These experiments were made in February and March, 1853, and,\nsince the above was written, we are pleased to find that Faraday has\ntaken the matter in hand, and pursued a course of investigation similar\nto our own.","title":"Psychomancy: Spirit-Rappings and Table-Tippings Exposed","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":18657}