{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64160/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64160","id":"gutenberg_64160","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64160","summary":null,"tags":["Bible and spiritualism","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Science - Chemistry/Biochemistry","Spiritualism"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and\npunctuation remains unchanged.\n\nThere is no anchor for footnote 5 on page 35 (containing paras 122,123\nand 124), so the anchor has been placed at the end of para 122.\n\nVail has been corrected to veil throughout.\n\nThe footnotes are located at the end of the book.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, and superscripts thus y^{en}.\n\n\n\n\n                      EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION\n\n                                OF THE\n\n                        SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS,\n\n                             DEMONSTRATING\n\n             THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS AND THEIR COMMUNION\n                             WITH MORTALS.\n\n         DOCTRINE OF THE SPIRIT WORLD RESPECTING HEAVEN, HELL,\n                          MORALITY, AND GOD.\n\n                                 ALSO,\n\n          Influence of Scripture on the Morals of Christians.\n\n\n                                  BY\n\n                           ROBERT HARE, M.D.\n\n  EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,\n          GRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE   AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY,\n              ASSOCIATE OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, AND\n                 MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES.\n\n             _Verba animi proferre_, vitam impendere vero.\n\n            Denounce dark Error and bright Truth proclaim,\n          Though ghastly Death oppose, with threat\u2019ning aim.\n\n\n                               NEW YORK:\n                  PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, 342 BROADWAY.\n                                 1855.\n\n\n\n\n      Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1855, by\n\n                         MARGARET B. GOURLAY,\n\n   in the Clerk\u2019s Office of the District Court of the United States,\n               for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: PLATE I.]\n\n[PLATE I.\n\n_Engraving and description of the apparatus, which, being contrived\nfor the purpose of determining whether the manifestations attributed\nto spirits could be made without mortal aid, by deciding the question\naffirmatively, led to the author\u2019s conversion._\n\n(_a_) PLATE I. FIG. 1, is an engraving from a photograph of the\napparatus above alluded to. The disk _A_ is represented as supported\nupon a rod of iron forming the axis on which it turns. To the outer\nend of this rod, the index _B_ is affixed, so as to be stationary in\na vertical position; the upper termination situated just in front of\nthe letters. These are placed around the margin of the disk. The cord\n_C_ encircles the pulley situated about the centre of the disk, like\na hub to a carriage wheel. The ends of the cord are severally tied to\nweights, which, when the table is tilted, react against each other\nthrough the pulley; one being so large as to be immovable, the other so\nsmall as to be lifted. Of course a hook in the floor may be substituted\nfor the larger weight.\n\n\nPEASE\u2019S APPARATUS.\n\n(_b_) The relative position of the medium, and that of the screen\nintercepting her view of the disk, are too conspicuous to require\nparticularization.\n\nFIG. 2, represents Pease\u2019s disk, or dial apparatus, associated with\na vibrating lever and stand contrived by myself. The whole, thus\nmodified, has been named the Spiritoscope.\n\n(_c_) The apparatus thus designated consists of a box _F_, which is a\nminiature representation of a low, square, four sided house, with a\nsingle sloping roof, but without any floor closing it at the bottom.\n\n(_d_) On the outside of the part serving as the roof, the alphabetic\ndial is depicted. On the inner surface of the roof board, the spring,\npulley, and strings are attached, by which the index is made to\nrevolve, so as to point out any letter.\n\n(_e_) _G_ represents the vibrating lever upon which the medium\u2019s hands\nare placed. When test conditions are not requisite, her hands should be\nsituated so as that merely one-half may be on each side of the fulcrum\nwire, on which the lever turns. When test conditions are requisite,\nthe hands should be altogether on the portion of the board which is\nbetween the exterior end of the board and the fulcrum. When thus\nplaced, it is utterly impossible to move the lever so as to cause it to\nselect letters, or to control the selection, by any spirit who may be\nemploying them to make a communication.[1]\n\n(_f_) Not only are the letters of the alphabet printed equidistant, in\ndue order, on the margin of the disk or dial-face; there are likewise\nwords, the digits, and notes of music.\n\n(_g_) The words are as follows: _Yes_\u2014_Doubtful_\u2014_No_\u2014_Don\u2019t know_\u2014_I\nthink so_\u2014_A mistake_\u2014_I\u2019ll spell it over_\u2014_A message_\u2014_Done_\u2014_I\u2019ll\ncome again_\u2014_Good-bye_\u2014_I must leave_. These words are printed on\nequidistant radial lines, nearly dividing the area between them. The\ndigits are printed on radial lines intermediate between those on which\nthe words appear.\n\nFive concentric circular lines, dividing the margin into as many\nsmaller portions, as in music paper, serve for the inditing of musical\nnotes; respecting which the directions are given by Pease upon a\nprinted slip of paper pasted inside.\n\n(_h_) The index in this instrument is secured upon the outer end of\na pivot supporting a pulley of about \u00be of an inch in diameter. The\nspring consists of a coil of brass wire, of which one end is fastened\ninto the inside of the roof-board (_c_) of which the outside forms\nthe surface for the letters, &c., while the other end of the wire is\nprolonged beyond the coil to about 2\u00bd inches, and, by means of\na loop, has a string of catgut tied to it securely. This string is\nfastened to a perforation in the pivot. Another piece of the same kind\nof string is fastened to the circumference of the pulley. The pivot\nbeing turned so as to wind upon it the string proceeding from the\nspring, and thus constraining it so as to make it capable of effectual\nrecoil from the pulley, the latter may, with a little care, be made, as\nthe spring recoils, to wind about it another string duly attached to\nits circumference. The strings being thus wound, (one to the right, the\nother to the left,) when the string attached to the pulley is pulled\nfrom the outside of the box, it is unwound therefrom, and meanwhile\nwinds that attached to the spring upon the pivot. The reaction of the\nspring, when left to itself, reverses this process, producing the\nopposite revolution in the pulley. The index attached to the pivot of\ncourse turns in one direction or the other, as the pivot is actuated\nby the drawing out or retraction of the string which proceeds from\nit. This, at the outer end, is tied to a ring, which prevents it from\nreceding into the box.\n\n(_i_) It is surprising with what readiness a spirit, even when unused\nto the apparatus, will, by moving the lever, actuate the index, causing\nit to point to the letters, words, or figures distributed on the face\nof the disk, as above mentioned.\n\n(_j_) The apparatus of Pease above described, agreeably to the design\nof the maker, operates by means of a string extending from the brass\nring, in which the pulley string terminates externally, to a weight\nsituated upon the floor, so as to be taut when at rest. When this\narrangement is made, tilting of the table, by raising the end at\nwhich the box is situated, causes the weight to pull the string, and\nof course to induce the revolution of the pulley, its pivot, and\ncorresponding index. The restoration of the table to its usual position\nreverses the motion. Hence by these means the index may be moved\neither way, as requisite for the selection of the letters required for\ncommunicating.\n\n(_k_) The other figure in the same plate represents Pease\u2019s disk\napparatus, so arranged, as to be affixed to any table of moderate\ndimensions. The fulcrum on which the lever vibrates is so made as to be\naffixed to one of the table\u2019s edges by clamps, while the disk, situated\nin a vertical plane, is supported by a bar which has a clamp to secure\nit to the table, while to the disk it is fastened by being introduced\ninto square staples, made to receive it securely, in a mode resembling\nthat by which a square bolt is secured. Under the vibrating lever, a\nhollow wire is fastened by staples, so as to receive a solid wire,\nwhich can be made to slide farther in or out, and thus adjust itself to\nthe distance.]\n\n\n[Illustration: PLATE II.]\n\nPLATE II.\n\n _Description of the instrument by which spirits were enabled to move\n a table under the influence of mediumship, yet in no wise under the\n control of the medium employed, even clairvoyance being nullified._\n\n(_i_) The table is about six feet in length, and sixteen inches in\nwidth, so contrived as to separate into three parts for conveniency of\ncarriage.\n\n(_j_) The pair of legs under the right side are upon castors. Those\non the left side upon an axle, passing through perforations suitably\nmade for its reception. The axle consists of a rod of about \u00bd of\nan inch in thickness. The axle serves for two wheels of about six\ninches diameter, of which one is grooved. A disk, already described as\nappertaining to apparatus in a preceding page, is secured upon a pivot\naffixed to a strip of wood, which is made to slide between two other\nstrips attached to the frame of the table just under the top board. By\nthese means, the band embraces both the hub of the disk and the wheel;\nwhen this turns in consequence of the shoving of the table horizontally\nalong the floor, the disk turns with the wheel, and as much faster as\nthe circumference of the groove in the hub, is less than that of the\ngroove in the wheel.\n\n(_k_) The index is in this apparatus situated precisely as in that\ndescribed in Plate I.; and any mortal having due hold of the table,\nmay, by shoving it one way or the other, bring any letter under the\nindex, so as to spell out any desired word. But no person, sitting\nas the medium is in the engraving represented to sit, with the plate\non two balls, can actuate the disk so as to spell out words as above\nmentioned. Utterly incapacitated from moving the table, it were\nmanifestly impossible to actuate the disk, or to interfere with the\nmovements otherwise imparted.\n\n(_l_) In the employment of the apparatus (Plate I.) it has been\nsuggested that through clairvoyance the medium might see the letters,\ndespite of the screen, or might learn them from the mind of the\nobserver; but in this case the medium sees the letters without the aid\nof clairvoyancy; but this power does not account for the regulation of\nthe manifestations; since, even seeing the letters, they cannot control\nthe movements so as to give to the intuitive power thus exercised any\nefficacy.\n\n(_m_) On the surface of the table, on the right, may be seen a board\nupon castors. This was contrived as a substitute for the plate on\nballs. The castors, of course, perform the same office as the balls\nin allowing a solid material communication between the hands of the\nmedium and the table, without giving the power to induce or control\nthe movement. Evidently, though by any horizontal impulse the medium\nmight cause the castors to turn and the board to move in consequence,\nthe force necessary to effect this must fall short of that requisite to\nmove the table.\n\n(_n_) In point of fact, the board, when under the plate, balls, and\nhands of the medium, was often moved rapidly to and fro, without moving\nthe table. To move this under such conditions without moving the\nboard or tray, required a distinct spiritual process, of much greater\ndifficulty, and which some spirits were either _unwilling_ or _unable_\nto employ successfully.\n\nSee \u201cMediumship\u201d in this work. See also 164, 166.\n\n\n[Illustration: PLATE III.]\n\nPLATE III.\n\n(_o_) On the opposite page is a representation of an experiment, in\nwhich the medium was prevented from having any other communication with\nthe apparatus, actuated under his mediumship, excepting through water.\nYet under these circumstances the spring balance indicated the exertion\nof a force equal to 18 pounds.\n\n(_p_) A board is supported on a rod so as to make it serve as a\nfulcrum, as in a see-saw, excepting that the fulcrum is at the distance\nof only a foot from one end, while it is three feet from the other.\nThis end is supported by a spring-balance which indicates pounds and\nounces by a rotary index.\n\n(_q_) Upon the board, at about six inches from the fulcrum, there is\na hole into which the knob of an inverted glass vase, nine inches in\ndiameter, is inserted.\n\n(_r_) Upon two iron rods proceeding vertically from a board resting\non the floor, so as to have one on each side of the vase, a cage\nof wire, such as is used to defend food from flies, of about five\ninches diameter, is upheld [inverted] by the rod within the vase\nconcentrically, so as to leave between it and the sides of the vase an\ninterstice of an inch nearly, and an interval of an inch and a half\nbetween it and the bottom of the vase.\n\n(_s_) The vase being filled with water until within an inch of the\nbrim, the medium\u2019s hands were introduced into the cage and thus secured\nfrom touching the vase.\n\n(_t_) These arrangements being made, the spirits were invoked to\nshow their power, when repeatedly the spring-balance indicated an\naugmentation of weight equal to three pounds. The relative distances\nof the vase and balance from the fulcrum being as 6 to 36, the force\nexerted must have been 3 \u00d7 6 = 18 pounds; yet the medium did not appear\nto be subjected to any reaction, and declared that he experienced none.\n\n(_u_) It was on stating this result to the Association for the\nAdvancement of Science, that I met with much the same reception as the\nKing of Ava gave to the Dutch ambassador, who alleged water to be at\ntimes solidified in his country, by cold, so as to be walked upon.\n\n(_v_) The belief in spiritual agency was treated as a mental disease,\nwith which I, of course, had been infected; those who made this charge\nbeing perfectly unconscious that their education has associated morbid\nincredulity with bigoted and fanatical credence.\n\n\n[Illustration: PLATE IV.]\n\nPLATE IV.\n\n(_x_) The apparatus of which the opposite cuts afford a representation\nare spiritoscopes, under modifications to which I resorted subsequently\nto the contrivance in which Pease\u2019s dial is employed. For Pease\u2019s\n\u201cdial,\u201d disks are substituted, resembling those originally employed by\nme, as represented in Plates I. and II. These last mentioned, however,\nwere made to revolve under the index; while in Pease\u2019s apparatus the\nindex revolves, the disk remaining at rest. The advantage of having the\ndisk to revolve is, that the letter is always to be looked for, within\nthe same space; whereas in operating with the other the eye has to\nfollow the index through all its rapid movements.\n\n(_y_) The convenience and economy of casting the disks of iron was\ndeemed a sufficient motive for resorting to the rotation of the index;\nas when made of that metal the disk becomes too heavy to be rotated\nwith ease, first one way and then another.\n\n(_z_) In FIG. 1 the vibrating lever is resorted to, and the process is\nprecisely the same as that already described, in which Pease\u2019s dial is\nassociated with the same mechanism.\n\n(_aa_) The words on the dial faces in Figures 1 and 2 are somewhat\nabbreviated.[2]\n\n(_bb_) The rod _R_ slides in staples, so as to be made to extend\nfarther or nearer from the fulcrum. The legs on which the disk is\nsupported, which are a part of the casing, terminate below in a socket\nwhich fits upon a plug screwed into the base-board; upon this plug\nit may be fastened by the set screw (_s_). By sliding the rod (_r_)\ninward, the disk may be turned half round upon the plug, so as to place\nthe lettered surface out of the sight of the medium, whose power to\ninfluence the communications is thus nullified. This is one mode of\nattaining test conditions; in other words, those conditions which make\nit impossible that the communications received should be due to any\nmortal, (151 to 166,) unless, as gratuitously and erroneously, as I\nbelieve, alleged, the medium by clairvoyancy sees the letters.\n\n(_cc_) By another method test conditions are obtained which are not\nexposed to this evil.\n\n(_dd_) The method to which I allude has been explained in the\ndescription of Plate I. in reference to the spiritoscope formed with\nthe aid of a Pease\u2019s disk, paragraph (_e_). The process is the same\nin the employment of Fig. 1 Plate IV. under consideration. It may be\nbetter understood in this case, as the illustration of the lever board\n_L_ is more conspicuous. In the ordinary mode of operating without test\nconditions, the hand of the medium is so situated as to have nearly\nhalf of it beyond the fulcrum, marked by the line _F L_. When test\nconditions are imposed, the tips of the fingers only reach to that\nline, without going beyond it. Situated as last mentioned, the medium\nto whom they appertain cannot move the rod _R_, because it is already\nagainst the lower edge of the disk, which prevents it from moving\nupwards. In the opposite direction the medium can create no pressure,\nsince her efforts could only tend to lift her hand, _per se_, from the\ndisk. It is important that the reader should pay attention to this\nexposition, as the conditions thus made evident are often appealed to\nas one proof, among others, that my information and credentials are\nfrom the immortal worthies of the spirit world.\n\n(_ee_) FIG. 2 is analogous in its mode of operating, to the apparatus\nrepresented in Plate II. It is in the substitution of a small board\nfor a table that the principal difference consists.[3] The board\nrequires only to be large enough to allow the hands to rest upon it\nin front of the disk. The index is actuated by a horizontal motion to\nand fro, which, as in the apparatus, Plate II., causes the rotation\nof a supporting wheel, which by means of a band communicates rotation\nto a pulley supported behind the disk on the pivot to which the index\nis secured in front. The sliding pulley _P_ being fastened at a due\ndistance from the disk (_o_), is used to keep the band tight.\n\n(_ff_) This instrument is preferred by the spirits, and is easier for\na feeble medium to employ effectually. I cannot as yet avail myself of\nFig. 1; through Fig. 2 I have had some interesting tests.\n\n(_gg_) This form, then, is best for incipient mediumship.\n\n(_hh_) FIG. 2 may be employed under test conditions, by so situating\nit as that the dial shall be on the side opposite to that where the\nmedium sits; under these circumstances she cannot see the index or\nthe letters, and consequently cannot control the spelling of spirits,\nso as to give results from her own mind instead of theirs. This mode\nof testing does not preclude the subterfuge, so often resorted to, of\nclairvoyant power, enabling the medium to see through the cast-iron,\nor read the letters in the minds of the bystanders. This power I have\nnever witnessed; yet it is absurdly attributed to media who, as well as\nall their friends, are ignorant of the existence of any such power.\n\n(_ii_) Another mode of testing is that illustrated in Plate II., where\na plate upon two balls supports the hands of the medium, and forms\nthe only means of conducting communication between the medium and\napparatus. It may be easily conceived that instead of the hands being\nplaced upon the board, the plate and balls being interposed, the hands\nof the medium may be supported over the board of Fig. 2. as they are\nrepresented to be supported over the table in Fig. 1, Plate II.\n\nSee 167, 169, 172, 177, 196.\n\n(_kk_) FIG. 3, Plate IV., is a representation of an association of\nserrated strips of iron in a wooden frame, which sliding on the lever\nboard of Fig. 1, so as to have the saws just above the back of the hand\nof the medium, is found to increase the efficacy of the mediumship. It\nis only of importance to use it when test conditions are requisite,\nas explained already, Fig. 1, (_hh_). The rationale, so far as it can\nbe suggested, will be stated under the head of mediumship. It will\nbe perceived that the size of the frame is not in due proportion to\nthe lever board, being upon a larger scale. But this renders it more\nconspicuous, and the reader can easily conceive its size to be such as\nto allow the grooves in the wooden sides of the frame to receive the\nedges of the lever board _L_, and thus to be secured firmly thereupon.\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n PREFACE.\u2014Letter from J. F. Lanning, Esq.\u2014Spiritual communication,\n through the mediumship of Mr. Lanning, to the author\u2014Author\u2019s\n Reply\u2014Communication from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning,\n under test conditions, the credentials transmitted through Mr.\n Lanning\u2014Postscript by the author\u2014Supplemental Preface                 3\n\n INTRODUCTION.\u2014The evidence of the existence of a Deity, by the\n author\u2014Theological Axioms                                            17\n\n INTUITIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\u2014Narrative of the\n author\u2019s experimental investigation of Spiritualism\u2014Letter in reply to\n an inquiry respecting the Influence of Electricity in Table-Turning\u2014Of\n Manifestations founded on Movements without contact, or such contact\n as cannot be sufficient to cause the result\u2014Hymn chanted, and reply  35\n\n CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\u2014Evidence afforded\n by the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass.\u2014Evidence of Dr. Bell, of\n Somerville, near Boston\u2014His errors, arising from ignorance of facts,\n (110, 283, 864.)                                                     55\n\n FOREIGN CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF\n SPIRITS.\u2014Manifestations which occurred in France in   1851\u2014Letter\n from T. R. P. Ventura\u2014Letter of Dr. Coze\u2014Letter of M. F. De\n Saulcy\u2014Spiritualism in Paris\u2014Spiritual Manifestations in France and\n Germany\u2014Spiritualism in Great Britain\u2014Letter of Robert Owen, Esq.    66\n\n COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.\u2014Remarks introductory to my\n spirit father\u2019s communication\u2014My father\u2019s communication\u2014Communication\n from a spirit son of the author\u2014Additional communications from spirits\n who died while infants\u2014Communication from a very young spirit child to\n its parents                                                          85\n\n OF SPIRITUAL BIRTH.\u2014Narratives given by spirits of their translation\n to the spirit world\u2014Narrative of his spiritual birth, by W. W., a most\n benevolent spirit\u2014The spirit Maria\u2019s narrative\u2014My sister\u2019s account\n of her translation to the spirit world\u2014My brother\u2019s account of his\n spiritual birth, &c.                                                101\n\n CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS.\u2014Sixty-four queries addressed to a convocation\n of worthies from the spirit world; also their replies to the same,\n (through the mediumship of Mrs. Gourlay,) confirmed under conditions\n which no mortal could pervert                                       113\n\n EXPOSITION OF THE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD        119\n\n APOLOGY FOR MY CONVERSION.\u2014Reasons for my change of opinion, and\n belief in the existence and agency of spirits\u2014On the whereabout of\n heaven\u2014Correspondence with Mr. Holcomb, of Southwick, Massachusetts 125\n\n MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUALISM                                     136\n\n THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVEN AND\n HELL OF SCRIPTURE                                                   141\n\n INSTINCTIVE IMPRESSION AS TO HEAVEN BEING OVERHEAD.\u2014Discordance as to\n the whereabout of the scriptural heaven                             149\n\n \u201cTHE TRUE DOCTRINE.\u201d\u2014The Rev. H. Harbaugh\u2019s opinion respecting heaven\n 151\n\n OF MEDIUMSHIP                                                       159\n\n OF COUNTER-MEDIUMSHIP.\u2014On the influence of the ill-treatment of media\n on spiritual manifestations\u2014The author\u2019s discovery of his powers as a\n medium                                                              166\n\n ON PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS           168\n\n ALPHABETIC CONVERSE WITH SPIRITS.\u2014Modern process for alphabetic\n converse with spirits as new as that of electric telegraph          173\n\n INFLUENCE OF MUNDANE WEALTH IN THE WORLD TO COME.\u2014According to the\n spiritual code, riches elevate or degrade according to the morality\n displayed in their acquisition and employment                       176\n\n MRS. GOURLAY\u2019S NARRATIVE OF HER CONVERSION TO SPIRITUALISM          179\n\n PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF SPIRITUALISM.\u2014Illustration of the practical\n benefit of Spiritualism, in the happiness imparted by the conversion\n of an unbeliever to a belief in immortality\u2014Letter from a spirit\n daughter\u2014Correspondence with a spirit brother                       192\n\n MARRIAGE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.\u2014The hymeneal tie in the spirit world\n grows out of the necessity of the connubial union in the mundane\n sphere\u2014\u201cFree Love\u201d imputation refuted                              204\n\n INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE ON THE MORALS OF CHRISTIANS.\u2014The morality of\n Christendom being irreconcilable with the New Testament, cannot be its\n legitimate offspring\u2014Inspiration can have no higher authority than\n the human testimony on which its existence is arrogated\u2014Injurious\n influence of unreasonable restriction\u2014No one would believe that a\n capable farmer would make such a mistake as to sow garlic instead\n of wheat; yet God, while represented as having intended to sow\n Protestantism, is considered as having caused throughout Christendom\n a crop of Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian form, for more than\n a thousand years: those weeds still occupying more than half of the\n whole soil\u2014Letter of William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham\u2014Offer of\n guidance by a mundane spirit\u2014Improper use of the epithet Infidel\u2014On\n Atonement\u2014On the massacre at Sinope\u2014Opinions of God held by Sir Isaac\n Newton\u2014On God and his attributes, by Seneca\u2014On the better employment\n of the first day of the week\u2014Additional remarks respecting the\n observance of the Sabbath, so called\u2014If creatures be not so created\n as to love their neighbours as themselves, precepts can no more\n alter them in this respect than change the colour of their hair or\n the number of cubits in their stature\u2014Attacks upon the authenticity\n of Scripture cannot endanger the prevalent morality, which, while\n superior to that of the Old Testament, indicates a recklessness\n of the precepts of Christ, excepting so far as faith is upheld as\n a counterpoise for sin\u2014The doctrine of a peculiar belief being\n necessary to salvation, and a counterpoise for sin, a source of\n discord originally confined to Judea, expanded with Christianity and\n Islamism: verifying Christ\u2019s allegation, that he came \u201cas a sword, not\n as a messenger of peace\u201d\u2014Superior morality and far less questionable\n certainty of the communications from the spirit world\u2014Quotation from\n Mosheim\u2014Quotation from Gibbon\u2014For more than a thousand years, the\n Grecian or Roman Catholic clergy were the solo depositaries of the\n word of God, so called, and regulators of religious morals; yet,\n according to Bishop Hopkins, during that time, the clergy were for\n the most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of the\n community; whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the wicked\n clergy in general were unbelievers in the truth of the gospel\u2014If\n the morals of the modern clergy are better, it is neither from the\n barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, nor the ultra\n precepts of the gospel; being too much enlightened to be governed\n by either\u2014Summary made by Bishop Hopkins\u2014Any religion, like that of\n Moses, which does not make immortality a primary consideration, must\n be chiefly confined to worldly objects, and, of course, unworthy of\n consideration. People profess Christianity more from a desire to\n do right, than they do right in consequence of their professions\u2014A\n calumny against human nature to represent men as _wilfully_ ignorant\n of the true religion\u2014To appreciate the Jewish representation of\n the Deity, a reader should first form an idea of this planet and\n its inhabitants, comparatively with the hundred millions of solar\n systems, and the inconceivable extent of the space which encompasses\n them, and which falls within the domain of one common Deity\u2014Our\n actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, and the\n extent to which we are tempted extraneously\u2014On probation\u2014World least\n moral when the Christian church had most sway\u2014Honour and mercantile\n credit more trusted than religion. Virtue due more to the heart\n than to sectarianism. Bigotry acts like an evil spirit\u2014Progress of\n literature and science in Arabia, under the Mohammedan pontiffs,\n called caliphs                                                      206\n\n ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\u2014The\n opinions of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin on Table Turning and\n Mediums, (considered in relation to theology and physics,) examined\n by the Abbot Almignana, doctor of the common law, theologian,\n &c.\u2014Mechanical movements without contact, by Mr. Isaac Rehn,\n President of the Harmonial Society, Philadelphia\u2014Communication\n from J. M. Kennedy, Esq.\u2014Communication from Wm. West, Esq.\u2014Koons\u2019s\n Establishment\u2014Communications from Joseph Hazard, Esq.\u2014A visit to the\n Spiritualists of Ohio\u2014Letter from John Gage\u2014The home of the mediums,\n and the haunts of the spirits\u2014What they did, said, and wrote\u2014The\n house of the Spiritualists\u2014Presence of electricity\u2014The room where\n the spirits manifest their power\u2014The furniture and occupants\u2014The\n manifestations commence\u2014The spirits play on drums, harps, French\n horns, accordeons, and tamborines\u2014The manifestations continue, and\n the head spirit writes a communication\u2014The spirit\u2019s letter\u2014Concluding\n remarks\u2014An evening at Koons\u2019s spirit room, by Charles Partridge, Esq.,\n New York\u2014Experience of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge\u2014Letter from Mr. D. H.\n Hume\u2014Spiritualism in London\u2014Lord Brougham with the spirits\u2014Evidence\n afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson\u2014An exposition of views respecting\n the principal facts, causes, and peculiarities involved in spiritual\n manifestations; together with interesting phenomenal statements\n and communications, by Adin Ballou\u2014Testimony of the Hon. J. W.\n Edmonds\u2014Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison.\u2014Testimony of Mr. and\n Mrs. Newton\u2014Testimony of members of the New York circle\u2014Testimony\n of the Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston\u2014Manifestations at Stratford,\n Connecticut, in the house of the Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D.\u2014Remarkable\n exhibitions of power\u2014Singular occurrences\u2014Image-making\u2014Destruction\n of furniture\u2014Incendiary spirits\u2014The spirits identified\u2014Unhappy\n spirits, from the remembrance of wrong done in this world\u2014Wrong\n doing revealed\u2014Directions given for restoring ill-gotten\n gains\u2014Discontinuance of the manifestations\u2014Idea of the existence\n of a spiritual sun, and a vital spiritual oxygen, found to exist,\n independently, in the mind of a much-esteemed author                273\n\n OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT.\u2014Of matter\u2014Strictures on a speculation by\n Farraday respecting the nature of matter\u2014On Whewell\u2019s demonstration\n that all matter is heavy\u2014Additional remarks on the speculation of\n Farraday and Exley, above noticed\u2014Of mundane, ethereal, and ponderable\n matter, in their chemical relations\u2014Suggestions of Massotti,\n respecting the nature of matter\u2014On electro-polarity as the cause\n of electrical phenomena\u2014Of mind, as existing independently, and as\n distinguished from matter\u2014Of spirit independently, or as distinguished\n from mind and matter\u2014Of the soul, as distinguished from mind and\n matter\u2014On the odic, or odylic force                                 363\n\n RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAHAN.\u2014Proposition of Mr. Mahan\u2014Of the origin\n of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, according to the\n testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an obscure priest and\n a fanatical king\u2014Scriptural account of the finding of the Books of\n Moses by Hilkiah, the high-priest\u2014Account of the finding of the Books\n of Moses, by Josephus\u2014If the Pentateuch had been previously known\n to the Jews, it is incredible that it could have become obsolete\n and forgotten prior to the alleged discovery of it in the temple\n in the reign of Josiah\u2014Great importance attached to a belief in\n immortality by Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, as contrasted with\n the recklessness of Moses respecting the same belief\u2014The worship\n of a book, idolatry\u2014Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon _vs._ Mr.\n Mahan\u2014The worshippers of the golden calf more righteous than their\n assassins\u2014Just denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation\n of Moses, by noble-minded Israelites\u2014Remarkable observance of the\n golden rule by Moses, in his last advice to the Israelites\u2014Straining\n at spiritual gnats while swallowing scriptural camels\u2014The evidence\n which is insufficient to establish the iniquity of a sinner cannot be\n sufficient to establish the divine authority of a book\u2014Word of God, so\n called, or the golden rule inverted by God\u2019s alleged commands\u2014Pagan\n fearlessness of death\u2014Observations of Mr. Huc, a Christian priest,\n that it is their religion which makes Christians more fearful of death\n than the Chinese\u2014Mr. Huc\u2019s observations\u2014Conclusion of strictures on\n Mr. Mahan\u2019s religious errors                                        396\n\n CONCLUSION.\u2014The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of\n a belief in human immortality\u2014Injustice of representing disbelievers\n in the Bible as not having as good ground for belief in immortality as\n those who rest their belief on a work which, by its silence, tends to\n discountenance the hope of a future life\u2014Those who uphold the Bible\n against Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the only satisfactory\n evidence ever given to man of a future habitation in the spirit world\n                                                                     423\n\n\n  APPENDIX.\n\n LETTER TO THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY.\u2014Letter from Dr. Hare to the clergy\n of the Protestant Episcopal Church, offering to lay before them the\n new evidence of immortality. (Submitted to the late convention,\n Philadelphia, May 15, 1855.)                                        427\n\n A LETTER FROM DR. HARE.\u2014Addressed to the Association for the\n Advancement of Science, at their meeting, August 18, 1855\u2014Preliminary\n remarks                                                             430\n\n FARRADAY\u2019S SPECULATION.\u2014Speculation touching electric conduction and\n the nature of matter. By Farraday                                   432\n\n MOTIVES FOR REPUBLISHING MY MEMOIR ON ELECTRICAL THEORY             437\n\n ELECTRICAL THEORY.\u2014Objections to the theories severally of Franklin,\n Dufay, and Ampere, with an effort to explain electrical phenomena\n by statical or undulatory polarization\u2014Supposed grounds for a\n theory\u2014Proofs of the existence of an enormous quantity of imponderable\n matter in metals\u2014Electrical phenomena attributed to stationary\n or undulatory polarization\u2014On the perfect similitude between the\n polarity communicated to iron filings by a magnetized steel bar\n and a galvanized wire\u2014Process by which the ethereo-ponderable\n atoms within a galvanic circuit are polarized by the chemical\n reaction\u2014Difference between electro-ethereal and ethereo-ponderable\n polarization\u2014Competency of a wire to convey a galvanic discharge\n is as its sectional area, while statical discharges of frictional\n electricity, preferring the surface, are promoted by its extension.\n Yet in proportion as such discharges are heavy, the ability of a\n wire to convey them and its magnetic energy become more dependent\n on its sectional area, and less upon extent of surface\u2014Difference\n between frictional electricity and galvanic does not depend on the\n one being superior as to quantity, the other as to intensity; but on\n the different degrees in which the ethereo-ponderable atoms of the\n bodies affected are deranged from their natural state of neutralized\n polarity\u2014Of ethereo-ponderable deflagration\u2014Summary.                439\n\n\n[Illustration: Engraved at J. M. Butlers establishment, 84 Chestnut St.\nPhilad^a.\n\n_Rob^t Hare M D._\n\nEMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,\nGRADUATE OF YALE COLLEGE AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE OF THE\nSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE AND MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES.]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nAs prefatory to this volume, it may be expedient here to introduce the\ncredentials which I have lately received from the spirit world. With\nthe medium of their communication, Mr. Lanning, of this city, No. 124\nArch St., I have had but little intercourse, knowing him, however, by\nreport, as a good man and a zealous spiritualist. The communication\nwhich I owe to his mediumship, was utterly unexpected by me, never\nhaving, in any way, hinted to him, directly or indirectly, that it\nwould be desirable to receive such an indication of confidence and\napprobation.\n\nThe first and only knowledge which I had of this, to me, stirring\nappeal, is comprised in the following letter from Lanning. The\ndifference between the style of his own language, though very good\nfor its purpose, and that which he ascribes to the spirits, must\ncorroborate his allegation that this address did not originate in his\nbrain.\n\nOn submitting the address to my spirit father, he sanctioned the idea\nof its proceeding from spirits.\n\n  PHILADELPHIA, June 7, 1855.\n\n _Dear Sir_: I send you the following communication, and think it to be\n an emanation from the spirit life. I feel not a little reluctance in\n so doing, for it is seldom I can get any thing for others. How it may\n suit your mind, I do not know, nor do I wish to impose it upon you for\n any thing worthy your consideration. I would hesitate much to instruct\n one so much my senior, and whose name I esteem, were it not that I\n love a cause so near your heart; and I feel that my mind is only the\n channel through which I have every evidence, the unseen in the spirit\n life, at times give their thoughts to mortals. I have no idea from\n what spirit it came, but _know it did not originate in my own brain_.\n\n Very truly, yours,     J. F. LANNING.\n\n  TO DR. ROBERT HARE, PHILADELPHIA:\n\n _Prof. Robert Hare_\u2014Venerable and much-esteemed friend, it is an\n unwonted pleasure with us to number you as a leading mind in the ranks\n of this new and better gospel which is being given to the dwellers\n of earth. We see the many and perplexing difficulties which, to you,\n apparently hinder your progress in this path to light and love, and\n we sympathize with you in all your efforts to unfold your mind and to\n render it useful and happy.\n\n Could you see the great glory which is to be the issue of your\n labours in the new unfoldings of spiritual science, you would not\n despair of your mission, nor weary in your devotion to it. Let us\n ask you, If there is any earthly fame or consideration that could\n induce you to turn back again to the familiar paths in which a\n life of patient labour has been spent? If there is any earthly joy\n or brilliant attainment which you have ever enjoyed, worthy to be\n compared with the little you have realized since you commenced your\n investigations in this the most important pursuit of your life? Ask\n yourself how much happiness you have found in the contemplation of\n that fact which has been demonstrated, not only to your wishes, but\n to your senses, that the thinking mind _never dies_; that the grave,\n which is but the wardrobe of the cast-off garment of the spirit, has\n no power over the soul; that it lives _on_, lives _ever_, and must\n throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity continue to unfold its\n powers. Ask yourself, what is _earth_, what is _fame_, what is the\n endearment to your present life, when contrasted or compared with the\n assurance which you now have, that _there is no death_, no loss of\n your individuality, no _severing_ of the ties of friendship and love\n which shall not be renewed again in that fairer land, the home of the\n angels, whither you and all you love on earth are tending? Ponder\n then, our venerable friend, and ask your thirsting soul, if this\n knowledge is not worth more than the cost of diamonds to you? We, who\n have laid aside the crumbling casket which contained the priceless\n jewel that is never tarnished, know full well the value of this gem of\n knowledge which now sparkles on your vision just opened.\n\n There are many things which we would like to say to you, but the\n conditions and circumstances which control our operations render it\n impossible for us to present to your mind the light which it so much\n seeks. To answer the demands of your spirit is now impossible to us.\n Time and the unfoldings of your mind can only solve the questions you\n would propound. You are well aware that the growth of your present\n knowledge is but the effect of earnest inquiry, of patient toil, and\n deep study, and experiment after experiment in your searchings for\n truth. Such was the only way you reached the position which you now\n occupy in the science so dear to you. It came in no other way, it\n could come in no other. The child is subjected to the necessity of\n first learning the alphabet before it is prepared to spell, and must\n understand the meaning of words before it can comprehend the sentence\n it reads. So in this investigation. That which is apparently of\n little meaning must first be learned, the alphabet must be mastered,\n hard words pronounced, and all must be understood before there is a\n fittedness for progression. The wisest on earth, aye, the wisest in\n spirit life, are learners, students: none but God is perfectly wise;\n and it is no humiliation to any mind that it contains not all of\n wisdom. Let us say to you that if patient in your investigations, you\n shall in due time obtain that which you so earnestly seek. Could we\n work miracles, (a thing impossible,) they would astound rather than\n enlighten your mind. Could we withdraw the veil which separates the\n vision from the things you desire to see in our spheres of life, you\n have no data by which you could make plain to yourself or to the eyes\n of your fellow-man the sights you would behold.\n\n Go on in your searchings, our good friend: the end is not yet with\n you. Brilliant minds with brilliant thoughts are burning to give\n utterance to earth through you. You are a selected instrument of our\n own choosing, and we are watching and guiding in the path and to\n the goal you seek. You may not only \u201cspeak trumpet-tongued to the\n scientific world,\u201d but in _thunder-tones_ to those savans who think\n they are the masters of the keys of knowledge.\n\n\n_Author\u2019s Reply to the preceding Address._\n\n  PHILADELPHIA, June 15, 1855.\n\n  _To my spirit friends, to whom I owe the preceding address_:\n\n It is quite unnecessary for my angel friends to urge upon my heart, or\n upon my reason the nothingness of this world, in comparison with that\n of which a description has lately been given to me.\n\n So highly do I estimate the prospect thus awakened, that it seems\n almost _too_ good, _too_ desirable to be realized. There are so many\n painful ideas awakened in my mind respecting the lot of humanity, by\n the events of past and present times, that it is difficult to conceive\n that, at the short distance of little more than the eightieth part\n of the diameter of our globe, there should be such a contrast. But\n to _heighten_ my appreciation of the inestimable value of such an\n heirship is utterly uncalled for. If there be any drawback, it is\n the misery which pervades this mundane sphere. The sympathy which,\n on the one hand, ties you to this world, must, on the other, cause a\n participation in the sufferings which pervade all animated nature.\n While I am aware that sympathy, as above suggested, would prevent me\n from flying from a perception or contemplation of the wretchedness\n in question, it seems as if the heaven of Spiritualism were, in\n this phase, in some degree open to the objection to the heaven of\n Scripture, founded on its too great proximity to hell. Is not the\n spiritual heaven too near this sphere, and too much associated with it\n by its sympathy, not to suffer indirectly a portion of its miseries?\n\n If there were any thing I should deem to be requisite to render\n existence in the spirit world happier, it would be the power of\n removing the miseries of this lower world, _and especially those\n arising from Error_\u2014the most prolific source of evil. According to\n Addison\u2019s allegory, Death admitted the pretensions of Intemperance\n to be superior in destructiveness, to those of any of the numerous\n diseases which competed for the honour of the premiership in his\n cabinet; but might not Error have successfully competed with\n Intemperance?\u2014Error, the main cause of intemperance, of intolerant\n bigotry, and of war, which destroys both by the sword and by sickness\n which it induces?\n\n It is difficult for us to conceive that good, affectionate spirits\n are not unhappy at witnessing the distress which they cannot relieve.\n The prisoners at Sing Sing are said to undergo mental torture by the\n silence imposed upon them. Yet this is imposed upon spirits, when\n often a word would prevent fatal events.\n\n Nevertheless, Spiritualism, so far as it prevails, will make all\n better: in the first place, by removing error and sectarian discord,\n and, in the next place, by making nature the object of our study, and,\n indirectly, of our worship, as the work of the Being who created all.\n\n You need not any more strive to stimulate my estimation of the high\n office which you bestow on me as promulgator of the knowledge given me\n of the spheres, than to excite my appreciation of that knowledge. I\n would not relinquish my position for any temporal sovereignty. My love\n of truth, my desire for human happiness, would be sufficient for my\n pay in causing truth to triumph, as that, of course, would be a heaven\n to me in contemplating the misery obviated and the happiness induced.\n\n Doubtless, not to be fairly appreciated would be painful; while\n merited applause would be a high gratification; but, were that my\n primary motive, I should not deserve applause. All that I would desire\n would be, to have that share of honour to which I might be entitled\n in common with other colabourers in the cause of truth: to exist in\n the spheres on the same plane with the illustrious Washington and his\n coadjutors, and associated with my beloved relatives and friends,\n having access to the wise and good men of all ages and nations! That\n were a heaven indeed! To be worthy of and enjoy such a heaven, is\n the only selfish ambition with which I am actuated, so far as I know\n myself.\n\n  Your truly devoted servant and friend,           ROBERT HARE.\n\nHaving suggested to my spirit father that it would be expedient that\nsome names should be attached to the credentials with which the\npreceding address from the spirits seemed to endow me by appointment,\nhe induced several spirits of eminence to accompany him to Mrs.\nGourlay\u2019s this morning, (August 4, 1855.) This gave me an opportunity\nto read Lanning\u2019s letter, the address which I received through him as\nabove represented, and my reply. In return I received the subjoined\ncommunication.\n\n\n _Communication from an assembly of eminent spirits, sanctioning the\n credentials transmitted through the mediumship of Mr. Lanning._\n\n  AUGUST 4, 1855.\n\n _Respected Friend_: We cheerfully accompany your father to sanction\n the communication given through our medium, Mr. Lanning, to yourself.\n My friend, we have sought media in various localities through whom\n to accredit you as our minister to earth\u2019s inhabitants, but owing\n to unfavourable conditions, we have, in most instances, failed. We\n perceive with pleasure that your heart is fully imbued with the\n importance of your holy mission. It needs no fulsome flattery from\n us to incite you to action. A principle of right and truth pervades\n all your movements in this spiritual campaign. We truly style it\n a campaign, since you are battling fearlessly against Error, that\n hydra-headed monster who has slain his millions and tens of millions.\n We have looked forward to the publication of facts involved through\n your experimental investigations with interest. The communication\n above referred to was given by one who stood high in the estimation of\n the people of our great republic; but, for personal reasons, he wishes\n to withhold his name.\n\n Be it known to all who may read these credentials, that we sanction\n them, and authorize our names to be affixed thereunto.\n\n  GEO. WASHINGTON,\n  J. Q. ADAMS,\n  DR. CHALMERS,\n  OBERLIN,\n  W. E. CHANNING, and others.\n\n\n_Postscript by the author._\n\nIt is a well-known saying that there is \u201cbut one step between the\nsublime and the ridiculous.\u201d This idea was never verified more fully\nthan in the position I find myself now occupying, accordingly as those\nby whom that position is viewed may consider the manifestations which\nhave given rise to it in the light wherein they are now viewed by me,\n_or_ as they _were two years ago viewed_ by _myself_, and are _now\nseen_ by the great majority of my estimable contemporaries.\n\nI sincerely believe that I have communicated with the spirits of my\nparents, sister, brother, and dearest friends, and likewise with the\nspirits of the illustrious Washington and other worthies of the spirit\nworld; that I am by them commissioned, under their auspices, to teach\ntruth and to expose error. This admitted, I may be reasonably inspired\nwith the sentiment authorized in the preceding credentials, that I hold\nmy office to be greatly preferable to that of any mundane appointment,\nand for the reasons above given in those credentials. But how vast is\nthe difference between this estimate and that which _must ascribe_\nthese _impressions to hallucination!_ my _position being that of a\ndupe or fanatic_. Yet there can be no man of real integrity and good\nsense, unimpaired by educational bigotry, who will not respect sincere\ndevotion to the cause of piety, truth, and human welfare, here and\nhereafter, however displayed. Hence, although the foregoing prefatory\npages should have no other influence, they may operate to show my\nown deep conviction of the righteousness of my course, founded, as I\nbelieve it to have been, on the most precise, laborious, experimental\ninquiry, and built up under the guidance of my sainted father, as well\nas under the auspices of Washington and other worthy immortals.\n\nThose who shall give a careful perusal to the following work will find\nthat there has been some \u201cmethod in my madness;\u201d and that, if I am\na victim to an intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution did not\nyield at once to the miasma. But let not the reader too readily \u201clay\nthe flattering unction to his soul\u201d that \u2019tis my hallucination that is\nto be impugned, not his ignorance of facts and his educational errors.\n\n_The sanction of the spirits, as above given, was obtained under test\nconditions; so that it was utterly out of the power of any mortal to\npervert the result from being a pure emanation from the spirits whose\nnames are above given._\n\nIt ought to be understood that the sanction given by the spirits whose\nnames are attached to the preceding certificate, was obtained under\ntest conditions, as explained in paragraph bb., dd., in the description\nof Plate iv. Moreover, I placed my hand on the instrument illustrated\nby Fig. 2 in same plate, so as to question the spirits directly as to\nthe reliability of the affirmation, previously given to me, and the\nfidelity of the medium generally. In both cases the index moved so as\nto give an affirmative reply.\n\n\nSUPPLEMENTAL PREFACE.\n\n\n The most precise and laborious experiments which I have made in\n my investigation of Spiritualism, have been assailed by the most\n disparaging suggestions, as respects my capacity to avoid being the\n dupe of any medium employed. Had my conclusions been of the opposite\n kind, how much fulsome exaggeration had there been, founded on my\n experience as an investigator of science for more than half a century!\n And now, in a case when my own direct evidence is adduced, the most\n ridiculous surmises as to my probable oversight or indiscretion are\n suggested, as the means of escape from the only fair conclusion.\n\n Having despatched a spirit friend from Cape Island, at one o\u2019clock on\n the third of July, to request Mrs. Gourlay, in Philadelphia, to send\n her husband to the bank to make an inquiry, and to report the result\n to me at half-past 3 o\u2019clock, the report was made to me as desired.\n The subject was not mentioned until after my return to Philadelphia,\n when, being at the residence of Mrs. Gourlay, I inquired of her,\n whether she had received any message from me during my absence? In\n reply, it was stated that while a communication from her spirit mother\n was being made to her brother, who was present, my spirit messenger\n interrupted it to request her to send her husband to the bank to\n make the desired inquiry: that, in consequence, the application was\n made at the bank. The note-clerk recollected the application to him,\n but appeared to have considered it as too irregular to merit much\n attention. Hence the impression _received_ by the applicants, and\n communicated to me, was not correct. But as it did not accord with\n that existing in my memory, it could not have been learned from MY\n mind.\n\n Wishing to make this transaction a test, I was particularly careful to\n manage so that I might honourably insist upon it as a test; and, until\n I learned the fact from Mrs. Gourlay and from the note-clerk that the\n inquiry was made, it did not amount to a test manifestation. But,\n if I had been ever so indiscreet, would it not be absurd to imagine\n a conspiracy between any person at Cape Island with Dr. and Mrs.\n Gourlay, her brother, and the note-clerk at the bank, to deceive me on\n my return by concurrent falsehoods?\n\n I submit these facts to the public, as proving that there must have\n been an invisible, intelligent being with whom I communicated at Cape\n Island, who, bearing my message to this city, communicated it to Mrs.\n Gourlay, so as to induce the application at the bank. Otherwise, what\n imaginable cause could have produced the result, especially within the\n time occupied\u2014of two and a half hours?\n\n The existence of spirit agency being thus demonstrated, I am justified\n in solemnly calling on my contemporaries to give credence to the\n important information which I have received from spirits, respecting\n the destiny of the human soul after death. They may be assured that\n every other object of consideration sinks into insignificance in\n comparison with this information and the bearing it must have upon\n morals, religion and politics, whenever it can be known and be\n believed by society in general, as it is by me.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nAs introductory to this work, I shall make a few brief remarks on the\nfollowing topics:\u2014\n\nObjects of religion.\u2014Diversity of opinion as to the means by which they\nhave been attainable.\u2014Every sect, excepting one, would vote against any\none.\u2014Consequent sentiments of the Author as embodied in verse.\u2014Reasons\nfor his believing in the existence of a Deity.\u2014American priesthood\neminently honest and pious.\u2014If people who have obtained a belief in\nimmortality by _one route_ are better and happier therefor, why object\nthat others, by another route, should attain the same ends.\u2014The table,\nno less than our firesides, an object of interest.\u2014Inconsistency\nof those who make their Deity pass through all the stages of human\nexistence, from the embryo to maturity, in objecting to the transient\nemployment of tables.\u2014Use of the tables soon laid aside in the\nmanifestations to which the Author has resorted.\u2014Inconsistency of\naccusing Spiritualists of undue incredulity as to scriptural miracles,\nand of the opposite defect as respects spiritual manifestations.\u2014Of\ncertain savans who strain at spiritual gnats, yet swallow scriptural\ncamels.\u2014Miracles of Scripture, if they ever occurred, can never be\nrepeated; but the manifestations of Spiritualism will be repeated with\nan improved and a multifarious efficiency.\u2014Religion and positive or\ninductive science having, under the guidance of devotion and atheism,\nbeen made to travel in opposite directions, are by Spiritualism so\nassociated as to travel together in the same direction.\u2014The atheist\nComte would dissolve the union between theology and science.\u2014According\nto Comte, where true science begins, the domain of theology terminates,\nbeing only a creature of the imagination.\u2014According to Spiritualism, it\nis the domain of ignorance that is lessened, while theology, _founded_\non _knowledge_, grows with its growth, and strengthens with its\nstrength.\u2014An effort to refute the idea of Comte, that the phenomena of\nthe sidereal creation can be explained by gravitation; which, left to\nitself, would consolidate all the matter in the universe into an inert\nlump.\u2014Suggestions respecting the devil.\u2014Arguments founded on ignorance.\n\n1. On all sides I presume that it will be admitted that the great\nobjects of religion are as follows:\u2014\n\n2. To furnish the best evidence of the existence of a Supreme Deity,\nand of his attributes.\n\n3. To convey a correct idea of our duty toward that Deity and our\nfellow creatures.\n\n4. To impart that knowledge of a state of existence beyond the grave\nwhich will be _happier_ as we are more _virtuous in this life_, and\nmore miserable as we are more vicious; this knowledge affording the\nbest consolation amid temporal sufferings of the righteous, and the\nstrongest restraint upon the vicious indulgence of passion in the\nunrighteous.\n\n5. Finally, by these means, to promote morality and the happiness of\nman in this world, and prepare him for a blissful position in the world\nto come.\n\n6. It must result, from these premises, that whichever is most\ncompetent for the attainment of these all-important ends, will be the\nbest religion.\n\n7. The above-mentioned postulates being generally admitted, various\nrecorded traditions, pretended to have been derived from one or more\ndeities, have been advanced as best calculated to meet the requisitions\nin question. Each of the religious doctrines thus advanced is\ntenaciously defended by its appropriate priesthood. If the opinions\nof the majority of these advocates of their respective revelations be\ntaken as respects any creed excepting their own, it will be denounced\nas originating in error or fraud. The opinion being taken successively\nupon _any one_, by all but those to whom it appertains, each would be\ncondemned.\n\n8. It was under these impressions that the following verses were\nwritten, more than forty years ago. They have recently been published\nin a pamphlet on the better employment of the first day of the week.\n\nThey serve to show that my skepticism arose from my love of truth,\ninstead of that aversion from it, ascribed to skeptics by many\nwell-meaning bigots.\n\n    9. Oh, Truth! if man thy way could find,\n    Not doomed to stray with error blind,\n        How much more kind his fate!\n    But wayward still, he seeks his bane,\n    Nor can of foul delusion gain\n        A knowledge till too late.\n\n    By sad experience slowly shown,\n    Thy way at times though plainly known,\n        Too late repays his care;\n    While in thy garb dark Error leads,\n    With best intent, to evil deeds\n        The bigot to ensnare.\n\n    Is there a theme more highly fraught\n    With matter for our serious thought\n        Than this reflection sad,\n    That millions err in different ways,\n    Yet all their own impressions praise,\n        Deeming all others bad?\n\n    To man it seems no standard\u2019s given,\n    No scale of Truth hangs down from Heaven\n        Opinion to assay;\n    Yet called upon to act and think,\n    How are we then to shun the brink\n        O\u2019er which so many stray?\n\n10. How far I was a believer in God may be estimated from the following\nopinions, which have appeared in the pamphlet wherein the foregoing\nverses were published:\n\n\nOn the Evidence of the Existence of a Deity.\n\nBY THE AUTHOR.\n\n11. THE existence of the universe is not more evident than that of the\nreasoning power by which it is controlled. The evidence of profound\nand ingenious contrivance is more manifested the more we inquire. Yet\nthe universe, and the reason by which it has been contrived and is\nregulated, are not one. Neither is the reason the universe, nor is the\nuniverse the reason. This governing reason, therefore, wherever, or\nhowever it may exist, is the main attribute of the Deity, whom we can\nonly know and estimate by his works. And surely they are sufficiently\nsublime, beautiful, magnificent, and extensive to give the idea of a\nbeing who may be considered as infinite in comparison with man. Yet\nas the existence of evil displays either a deficiency of power, or a\ndeficiency of goodness, I adopt the idea of a deficiency of power in\npreference.\n\n12. \u201cIf,\u201d as Newton rationally infers, \u201cGod has no organs,\u201d the\nperson of man cannot be made after God\u2019s image, since the human image\nis mostly made up by the human organs. Man has feet to walk, arms to\nwork with, eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, a nose for smelling. It\nwere absurd to attribute such organs to God.\n\n13. It follows that while we have as much evidence of a Deity as\nwe have of our own, we are utterly incapable of forming any idea\nof his form, mode of existence, or his wondrous power. We are as\nsure of the immensity and ubiquity of his power as of the existence\nof the universe, with which he must at least be coextensive and in\nseparatelyassociated. That his power must have always existed, we are\nalso certain; since if nothing had ever prevailed, there never could\nhave been any thing: out of nothing, nothing can come.\n\n14. The universe, no less than the Deity, must be eternal, since if at\nany time, however remote, the Deity existed without a universe, there\nmust have been an infinite antecedent period during which the divine\npower must have been nullified for want of objects for its exercise. A\nDeity so situated would be as a king without a kingdom to govern.\n\n15. I am under the impression that mind is at least as essential to\nthe creation as matter. It seems to me inconceivable that the various\nelementary atoms of the chemist could come into existence, with their\nadaptation to produce the multiplicity of efficient combinations which\nthey are capable of forming, without having been modified by one mind.\nThe existence of adaptation, I think, proves the existence of mind. But\neven were these atoms to possess inherently the adaptation which they\nmanifest, of what possible utility could be the variegated consequences\nthereof, were there no minds to perceive, appreciate, or enjoy them.\nThe beauty of colour, the music of sound, the elegance of curves or\nangles, could have no existence were there no perception of them; since\nthose attributes are in a great measure attached to objects by mind.\nIndependently of mind, music is mere aerial vibration, colour mere\nsuperficial texture, or intestinal arrangement producing undulatory\nwaves variously polarized, which are the proximate causes, which\nwould be sterile, were there no mind to be actuated by them through\nappropriate organs.\n\n16. Could the universe exist without mind, would not its existence be\nnugatory?\n\n17. The following allegations seem to me no less true than the axioms\nof Euclid:\n\n18. No evil can endure which any being has both the power and desire to\nremove.\n\n19. Any result must ensue which any being has both power and desire to\naccomplish.\n\n20. No rational being will strive by trial to ascertain that which he\nknows as well before as after trial.\n\n21. If God be both omnipotent and omniscient, he can, of course, make\nhis creatures exactly to suit his will and fancy, and foresee how they\nwill fulfil the end for which they are created. Wherefore then subject\nthem to probation to discover traits which by the premises he must\nthoroughly foreknow.\n\n22. Is it not more consistent with divine goodness to infer that we are\nplaced in this life for progressive improvement, and that there is no\nevil which can be avoided consistently with his enormous, though not\nunlimited, power?\n\n23. Such an inference coincides with the communications recently\nreceived, from the spirits of departed friends, which it is the object\nof this publication to promulgate.\n\n24. Unfortunately, human opinion is very much influenced by passion and\nprejudice. Hence in questions respecting property, we often find honest\nmen differing as to what is just. So when any creed is associated with\nthe hope of enjoying by its tenure a _better_, if not _exclusive_,\npretension to eternal happiness and the favour of God, the sectarian\nby whom it may be held becomes honestly tenacious of its despotic\nsupremacy over all others.\n\n25. I have no doubt that a large portion of our American priesthood are\nsincere in the advocacy of the tenets respectively held by them. Among\nthem I have known some of the best of men, and I have generally found\nthem more tolerant of skepticism than the majority of their followers.\nIt has not, however, been unfrequently urged by clergymen as a ground\nof adherence to Christianity, that _without it_, there is no authentic\nevidence of a future state of existence. I have seen an argument from\nan able and respectable Christian writer, urging that there is no\nrefuge for the mass of mankind to be found in pure deism, unaccompanied\nby any specific evidence of a future state.\n\n26. Under these circumstances should Spiritualism afford such a refuge\nto those who are utterly dissatisfied with the evidence of the truth\nof scriptural revelation, it will certainly be a _blessing to them_;\nand those who have heretofore found this essential comfort in one way,\nought not to object should their neighbours find it in another way.\n\n27. An effort has been made to throw ridicule on spiritual\nmanifestations, on account of phenomena being effected by means of\ntables and other movable furniture; but it should be recollected that,\nwhen _movements were_ to be _effected_, resort to _movable_ bodies\nwas inevitable; and as generally the proximity of media, if not the\ncontact, was necessary to facilitate the movements, there was no body\nso accessible as tables. But these violent mechanical manifestations\nwere always merely to draw attention; just as a person will knock, or\neven kick, violently at a front door, until some one looks out of a\nwindow to communicate with him. The more violent manifestations ceased\nboth at Hydesville, at Rochester, and at Stratford in Connecticut, as\nsoon as the alphabetic mode of communicating was employed. I never have\nhad any to take place during my intercourse with my spirit-friends,\nunless as tests for unbelievers, when intellectual communications could\nnot be made. It is more than fifteen months since I have resorted\nto instruments which have nothing in common with tables. Of these\ninstruments, engravings and descriptions will be found in this work.\n\n28. But is it not a great error to consider our tables as less sacred\nthan our firesides? Could any appeal more thoroughly vibrate to the\nheart of civilized man than that of any invasion of his rights which\nshould render his fireside liable to intrusion? Hence, in the Latin\nmotto, \u201cPro aris et focis,\u201d the inviolability of the fireside is\nplaced side by side with freedom of conscience. But, with the passing\naway of winter, the interest in the fireside declines: \u2019tis changeable\nas the temperature of air. It loses all its force in the tropics; but,\nthroughout Christendom, the table still draws about it the inmates of\nevery human dwelling, at all seasons, and in every kind of weather.\nEven when not excited by hunger, we value the social meeting which\ntakes place around it.\n\n29. At tables, moreover, conferences are held, contracts and deeds\nsigned, and decrees, statute-laws, and ordinances are written.\nTreaties, also, are made at tables, on which not the fate of\nindividuals merely, but of nations, depends.\n\n30. Is the renown of the \u201cknights of the round table\u201d tarnished by\ntheir being only known in connection with the word in question? Is any\ndirector or trustee ashamed of being, with his colleagues, designated\nas a \u201cboard?\u201d\u2014a humble synonym for table.\n\n31. It was at a table the Declaration of Independence was signed; and\nin Trumbull\u2019s picture of its presentation to Congress a table is made\nto occupy a conspicuous position. Our tables should be at least as much\nobjects of our regard as the vicinity of our fireplace.\n\n32. The sarcasms founded on the use of the table in spiritual\nmanifestations proceed, inconsistently, from those persons who would\nbring their deity through all the stages of human life.\n\n33. The human body of Christ must have gone through all the stages\nfrom the embryo to maturity. It was worshipped in a manger, and lived\nthirty years in obscurity and inaction. Why all this delay, when the\nangel, armed with the power of God, might have addressed Herod, the\nRoman emperor, and every other potentate on earth in a single year? The\nAlmighty softening their hearts, as he hardened that of Pharaoh, the\nconversion of mankind had been the inevitable consequence.\n\n34. Alluding to his second advent, Christ used these words:\u2014\u201cThey\nshall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and\nglory.\u201d Mark xiii. 26. Wherefore did not his first coming take place in\nthis conspicuous, glorious, and unquestionable manner?\n\n35. It is often inquired, Wherefore were not these efforts to\ncommunicate with mankind at an earlier period of the world\u2019s duration?\nbut it may be demanded in return, Wherefore did not Christ come until\nthe earth had been peopled, even according to Scripture, about four\nthousand years?\n\n36. Why was not the use of the compass, of gunpowder, printing,\nthe steam-engine, steamboat, railway, telegraph, daguerreotyping,\nelectrotyping, contrived earlier in this terrestrial sphere? Let\northodoxy take the beam out of its own eye first.\n\n37. Had Christ taught these arts, they would not only have had a more\ngeneral influence during the era of their accomplishment, but have left\na durable and irrefragable proof of a towering mental superiority. As\nthey would have gone into use, there could have been no question as to\ntheir accomplishment; so that every intelligent being might have become\nintuitively cognizant of their wonderful results.\n\n38. The invention of gunpowder, the telegraph, and the mariner\u2019s\ncompass might have been the means of preventing the inroads of the\nGoths and Vandals, and, subsequently, the success of the Mohammedans;\nsince the Arabians would hardly have availed themselves of these\ninventions at the time the Mohammedan conquests were commenced.\n\n39. How important would have been the art of printing to the\npromulgation of a correct knowledge of the revelation which was the\nalleged object of Christ\u2019s mission!\n\n40. Of those who believe in revelation, it may be inquired, Why the\nHebrews were preferred, as the receivers of divine inspiration, to the\nmore civilized Greeks, Romans, Hindoos, or Chinese? If revelation was\nrequisite to one nation, was it not equally necessary to all?\n\n41. Wherefore, after Christ had undergone crucifixion in order to make\npeople Christians, should Mohammed have been allowed to massacre or\nenslave them for being Christians?\n\n42. There is even now great difficulty in effecting those\nintercommunications with spirits in this country of universal _legal_\ntolerance. I say _legal_, since there is, as Owen alleged, \u201c_too much\nChristian despotism of another kind_.\u201d\n\n43. Almost every editor is, more or less, a censor to the press, and a\npeon of popularity. The tendency is not to _repress_, but to _gratify_,\nand, of course, _promote_ existing bigotry. This bigotry and its\nSiamese brother, intolerance, have, in all countries and ages, been\nexercising a _mischievous_, though often a _well-intended_, vigilance,\nover any innovation of a nature to emancipate the human mind from\neducational error; and, whenever supported by temporal power, has\nresorted to persecution\u2014even to the use of the sword, of the rack, or\nthe fagot; and, in this country of boasted freedom and much-vaunted\nliberty of the press, shows its baleful power by defamation, or\nalleging disqualification for employment, wherever its influence can be\nexerted.\n\n44. A conspicuous printer in this city refused to print an edition of\nmy recent pamphlet, as he would allow nothing to go through his press\nwhich was against the Bible. This shows how far fanaticism will go,\neven at this advanced era of science and in this country of vaunted\nintellectual freedom.\n\n45. Two hundred years ago, Spiritualism would have been as much\npersecuted as witchcraft.\n\n46. In reprobation of unbelief in the scriptural proofs of immortality,\nit has been usual for self-complacent believers to urge that the \u201cwish\nwas father to the thought;\u201d that a sincere desire to perceive the truth\ncould not exist without conviction; but the opposite must have been\nthe prevailing weakness among unbelievers in Scripture who have become\nspiritualists, if they are now over-credulous in admitting the evidence\non which Spiritualism is founded.\n\n47. I declare solemnly, that I always was intensely anxious to know\nthe truth; that although, theoretically, I doubted the possibility\nof changing the course of things by prayer, yet I did often lift my\nthoughts up to God, imploring that some light might be given to me. Of\ncourse, as soon as the facts admitted of no other explanation than that\nmy father, sister, brother, and other spirit friends, had been engaged\nin efforts to convince me of their existence, and of that of the spirit\nworld, the most intense desire arose to verify the facts tending to\nsettle the all-important question, whether man is immortal.\n\n48. If the evidence of the truth of revelation were as adequate as\nrepresented by its votaries, my conscientious inability to believe in\nit would indicate an undue constitutional skepticism; whence I required\nmore proof than the great mass of Christians, in order to produce\ncredence. Yet, now having found the evidence of immortality in the case\nof Spiritualism satisfactory, it cannot be urged that my hesitation\nrespecting the evidence of revelation arose from any unwillingness\nto believe in a future state, or unreasonableness as to the evidence\nrequisite to justify belief. Manifestly, it would be inconsistent to\naccuse me of disbelieving in the one case from undue, hard-hearted\nincredulity, and yet, in the other, yielding from the opposite\ncharacteristics.\n\n49. Fundamentally, my reasons for not believing in revelation have\nbeen, that it violates certain axioms above stated, (18,) which have\nbeen as clear to my mind as those collated by Euclid.\n\n50. It may be shown that the existing system fails to give any\nevidence which can be _subjected to the intuition of each generation\nsuccessively_. It rests on the alleged intuition of human beings who\nexisted ages ago, and of whom we know nothing but what they say of\nthemselves through history or recorded tradition. It reposes entirely\non the testimony of propagandists, who were interested to give it\nimportance, or on partial human narrators or compilers. It has been\nerected on a species of hearsay evidence, inadmissible in courts of\njustice. This species of testimony in the case of Spiritualism is\ncontemptuously set aside. No one will believe in manifestations unless\nintuitively observed. Wherefore this _faith_ in _ancient_ witnesses,\nthis _skepticism of those of our own times_, even when they are known\nto be truthful?\n\n51. On my stating to a distinguished savan a fact which has been\nessentially verified since in more than a hundred instances, his\nreply was\u2014I would believe you as soon as any man in the world, yet I\ncannot believe what you mention. He suggested the idea of its being\nan epidemic, with which I was of course infected; nevertheless,\nthat savan, as a professing Christian, admitted facts vastly more\nincredible, depending on the alleged intuition of witnesses who lived\ntwo thousand years ago, nearly. This, doubtless, was the consequence of\neducational bigotry, which would have caused a belief in the miracles\nof any other religion in which he should have been brought up.\n\n52. Such persons strain at the gnats of Spiritualism, yet swallow the\ncamels of Scripture.\n\n53. In like manner an Eastern sovereign treated a Dutch ambassador as\nderanged, because he alleged that bodies of water, in his country, were\ncapable of solidification, so as to support people on the surface.\n\n54. But if this skepticism is shown with respect to observers of our\nday, how can it be expected that it should not be displayed toward\nobservers of antiquity?\n\n55. Spiritualism will in this respect have a great advantage, as it\nwill always be supported by the intuition of its actual votaries. It\nwill not rest on bygone miracles, never to be repeated, if they ever\noccurred, but will rest upon an intercourse with the spirit world which\nwill grow and improve with time.\n\n56. One of the pre-eminent blessings resulting from this new philosophy\nwill be its bringing religion within the scope of positive science.\nThis word positive is employed by the learned atheist Comte to\ndesignate science founded on observation and experiment. It will give\nthe quietus to the cold, cheerless view of our being\u2019s end and aim\npresented in his work.\n\n57. Professor Nichol endeavoured, in the following way, to comfort\nhis Christian auditors against the apparent incompatibility of the\nphenomena of the sidereal creation with the language of Scripture:\nHaving drawn two lines from the same point, making a right angle,\nthe learned lecturer said, _Suppose A sets out and pursues one of\nthese routes, B pursues the other, and both arrive at certain truths;\nalthough these results should not seem to have any thing to do with\neach other; yet_, said he, _if they be truths, they must come together\neventually; they cannot always travel away from each other_. But if any\nperson find that, agreeably to all his experience, the results thus\nattained, tend to greater and greater remoteness and inconsistency,\nthere would be little comfort found in the idea of a possible ultimate\napproximation.\n\n58. It is upon this actual fundamental discordancy between scriptural\nimpressions, and the truths ascertained by experimental and intuitive\ninvestigation, that Comte builds his inference that theology is to be\nentirely abandoned. But very different is the position of Spiritualism\nrelative to positive science. It starts from the same basis of\nintuition and induction from facts. It does not controvert any of the\nresults of positive science within the ponderable material creation,\nto which the results contemplated by Comte belong. It superadds new\nfacts respecting the spirit world, which had so entirely escaped the\nresearches of materialists, that they entertain the highest incredulity\nmerely upon negative grounds,\u2014merely because the facts in question have\nnot taken place within the experience of those who have investigated\nthe laws of ponderable matter and one or two imponderable principles\nassociated therewith.\n\n59. Such was the ground of my incredulity; which, however, vanished\nbefore intuitive demonstration.\n\n60. It is admitted by Comte that we know nothing of the sources or\ncauses of nature\u2019s laws; that their origination is so perfectly\ninscrutable, as to make it idle to take up time in any scrutiny for\nthat purpose. He treats the resort to the Deity as the cause, as a mere\nabstraction tending to comfort the human mind before it has become\nacquainted with true science, and doomed to be laid aside with the\nadvance of positive science.\n\n61. Of course his doctrine makes him avowedly a thorough ignoramus as\nto the _causes_ of laws, or the means by which they were established,\nand can have no other basis but the negative argument above stated,\nin objecting to the facts ascertained in relation to the spiritual\ncreation. Hence when the spirits allege that by their volition they can\nneutralize gravity, or _vis inerti\u00e6_,[4] there is nothing in positive\nscience to confute this. The inability of material beings to neutralize\ngravitation by their powers is no proof that spiritual beings cannot\neffect this change.\n\n62. Thus while allowing the atheist his material dominion, Spiritualism\nwill erect within and above the same space a dominion of an importance\nas much greater as eternity is to the average duration of human life,\nand as the boundless regions of the fixed stars are to the habitable\narea of this globe.\n\n63. But although Comte be a man of great learning, his fundamental\nopinions appear to be faulty, and his distribution of the operations of\nthe mind imaginary.\n\n64. In treating of gravitation as the _primary_ law, does he not commit\na blunder? Is not vis inerti\u00e6 above indispensable to gravitation, since\nit may be conceived to exist without gravitation, while gravitation\ncannot exist without vis inerti\u00e6?\n\n65. The power of a body A to draw B toward it can never exceed that\nwhich is necessary to put it into motion, which must be directly as its\nvis inerti\u00e6; and where the one is null, the other must be null.\n\n66. I cannot imagine how any philosopher so learned as Comte should not\nperceive the reduction of the phenomena of the universe to \u201cdifferent\naspects\u201d of the one faculty of gravitation to be utterly impossible.\nIn the first place, it has been shown that gravitation could not be\nthe basis of vis inerti\u00e6, without which it cannot exist; and in the\nnext place, gravitation has always, at any given point of time, its\npossible influence limited to the power of making a body move toward an\nappropriate centre of gravity, and afterward remain forever at rest,\nunless affected by some extraneous cause.\n\n67. It is alleged also that the phenomena of the universe are explained\nby gravitation. I here quote his own words:\n\n68. \u201c_Our business is\u2014seeing how vain is any research into what are\ncalled causes, whether first or final\u2014to pursue an accurate discovery\nof these laws, with a view to reducing them to the smallest possible\nnumber._\u201d\n\n69. How is it possible, I demand, to reduce the orbitual motion of\na planet to fewer causes than vis inerti\u00e6, motion, and gravitation?\nVis inerti\u00e6 and motion are necessary to momentum; and momentum thus\narising, acting in a tangential direction to that of gravitation, is\nindispensable to form, with the force of gravity, the resultant which\nconstitutes the orbitual curve.\n\n70. Yet from subsequent language in the same paragraph, the idea is\nsuggested of reducing planetary motions to one cause, gravitation! This\nwill be perceived from his language, subjoined as follows:\n\n71. \u201c_The best illustration of this is in the case of the doctrine\nof gravitation. We say that the general phenomena of the universe are\nexplained by it, because it connects, under one head, the whole immense\nvariety of astronomical facts, exhibiting the constant tendency of\natoms toward each other in direct proportion to their masses, and in\ninverse proportion to the squares of their distance._\u201d\n\n72. How can the revolution of a single planet about the sun be\nexplained without the centrifugal or tangential force due to momentum?\nWere not gravitation resisted by the projectile velocity constituted by\nmotion and vis inerti\u00e6, would not all the planets fall into their suns,\nrespectively?\n\n73. Are there not three essential elements in such orbitual\nmovements,\u2014vis inerti\u00e6, motion, and gravitation? Are not these as\nnecessary to an orbit as three sides are to a triangle? and is it not\nas great an error to suppose that such movements can continue by the\nagency of _one_ of them, as to make one right line serve to enclose a\nsuperficies?\n\n74. Between two philosophers, both equally learned with Comte, one may\nbe, like him, an atheist, the other, like Newton, a believer in God;\nand yet, as respects the whole range of positive science, would there\nbe any clashing? They would attribute every thing to the same _laws_,\nwhether these should be ascribed to a deity or not. The origin of the\nlaws recognised by both would, by one, be ascribed to an inscrutable\nGod; by the other, to inscrutability without a God.\n\n75. Because the movements of the heavenly bodies are ascribed to the\nthree elements above mentioned,\u2014an unknown source of projectile force,\nvis inerti\u00e6, by which that force is perpetuated, and gravitation, by\nwhich it is modified into elliptical, orbitual revolution, operating as\nlaws governing planetary movement,\u2014it does not make the astronomer who\nadopts this conception less of a theologian; it only makes him a more\nenlightened theologian. We ascribe _less_ to the _special_ interference\nof the Creator in proportion as our knowledge enables us to perceive\nresults attained by general laws. This, Comte conceives, causes theists\nto be less theological, and to lessen what he seems to view as the\ndomain which theology is allowed to have. But is it not more correct\nto assume that it is only the domain of ignorance which grows less,\nwhile that of theology becomes simpler and more correct, but not\nless extensive? It is not that less is ascribed to God, but that the\naggregate is more intelligently ascribed as the laws through which his\nagency is recognised are fewer.\n\n76. Newton assumed inertia, gravitation, and motion as the foundation\nof his philosophy; but attributed these fundamental properties, or\nstates of matter, to the will of that governing mind of which he held\nthe existence to be as evident as that of the matter governed. Comte\ndoes not consider that there is any positive proof of the existence\nof such a ruling mind, and does not, therefore, find it necessary to\nadmit the existence of a Deity. Thus, the states or properties above\nmentioned are, with Newton, proximate, with Comte, ultimate, causes.\nHence, when we arrive at the foundation of the Newtonian doctrine, we\ncannot go deeper without admitting the existence of a God. Without this\nadmission, we involve ourselves in the irremediable darkness of atheism.\n\n77. In this respect, I have always been a follower of Newton.\nEvidently, both the governing reason and the creation which it rules\nmust have existed from eternity; since, if nothing ever existed\nexclusively, it must have forever endured, and there never could have\nbeen any thing. So, if there ever had been no mind, there never could\nhave been any mind.\n\n78. The human mind, says Comte, by its nature employs, in its progress,\nthree methods of philosophizing,\u2014the theological, the metaphysical, and\nthe positive, differing essentially from each other, and even radically\nopposed. Hence, he assumes the _successive_ existence of three modes of\ncontemplating the aggregate phenomena of the universe, any one of which\nexcludes the others. The first, \u201c_is the point of departure of the\nhuman understanding; the third, its ultimate, fixed, definite state;\nthe second, merely a state of transition from the first to the third_.\u201d\n\n79. It seems to be assumed that the intellectual progress of the\nhuman mind must necessarily be through these three stages. Moreover,\nit is suggested that each individual, in reviewing the progression\nof his mind from childhood to mature age, will perceive that he was\na theologian in his childhood, a metaphysician in his youth, and a\nnatural philosopher in his manhood. If this did not come from a\ndistinguished philosopher, I should pronounce it ridiculous. If allowed\nto be so egotistical, I must say that I am not aware that I went\nthrough these stages in the different periods of my life.\n\n80. Studying metaphysical works as a part of my education, I took great\ninterest in the theory of moral sentiments, and published essays on\ntopics of that nature in the \u201cPortfolio;\u201d but previously, I wrote my\n\u201cMemoir on the Blowpipe.\u201d In 1810, my \u201cBrief View of the Policy and\nResources of the United States\u201d was published, in which it was first\ntruly advanced that credit is money.\n\n81. Subsequently, more than a hundred publications were made by me, for\nthe most part on chemistry and electricity, yet always intermingled\nwith political, moral, and financial essays.\n\n82. I am now, more than ever, a theologian; and my first publications\ntouching that subject date after the attainment of threescore and ten.\n\n83. But theology and religion were subjects always near to my heart;\nand were accompanied by the pain arising from the discordancy of my\nopinions with those entertained by much-loved relatives and friends.\n\n84. I do not understand how any man of common sense can conceive that\ntheological, metaphysical, or experimental science can be the separate\nobject of contemplation; or that the share that either may occupy at\nany age, to the exclusion of the others, will not depend on exterior\ncontingencies.\n\n85. I became a believer in God solely from my intuitive perception of\nthe existence of a governing reason. Of course, all things were to be\nascribed to that reason ultimately, but proximately to the very laws\nwhich this author considers as the object or basis of positive science.\n\n86. He holds that our inquiries should be bounded by the inscrutability\nof the well-ascertained physical properties and laws of matter.\nCoinciding, _practically_, with Comte until lately, I held that inquiry\nshould be bounded by the inscrutability of the Divine Lawgiver, to\nwhom these laws owed existence. But Spiritualism has opened an avenue\nto inquiry beyond the boundary thus practically admitted no less by\nmyself than by Comte. Other inscrutable laws and phenomena have to be\nrecognised within a region for the existence of which Comte, in denying\nspiritual agency, allows no room.\n\n87. Though, practically, this field of inquiry was shut out from me\nas well as from Comte, _theoretically_, it was not excluded by my\nphilosophy. Although in ascribing the universe to mind, the unity of\nits design and harmony of its phenomena led to the inference that\nit must be due to one supreme mind, there was still room for the\ncoexistence of any number of degrees of subordinate mental agency,\nbetween that supreme mind and man.\n\n88. Beside those antagonists to Spiritualism, who would set aside the\nevidence of persons living at the present time and who are known to\nbe truthful, by the evidence of others who lived some thousand years\nsince, spiritualists are assailed by such as admit their facts, but\nexplain them differently. Thus the Roman Catholic Church has admitted\nthe manifestations to indicate an invisible physical and rational power\nwhich cannot be attributed to human agency. But instead of ascribing\nthem to spirits, good or bad, of mortals who have passed the portal of\ndeath, they consider them the work of Old Nick.\n\n89. If this personage ever did influence the acts of any sect,\nmanifestly it must have been in those instances in which alleged\nreligious error has been made the ground for persecution, from the time\nof the extirpation and spoliation of the Midianites, Canaanites, and\nothers, down to that of the extirpation of the Albigenses, the auto\nda f\u00e9, inquisition, massacre of St. Bartholomew, fires of Smithfield,\nroasting of Servetus, and the persecution of the Quakers and witches.\n\n90. So far as the devil is only an imaginary embodiment of the evil\npassions of men, as conceived by many enlightened Christians, no doubt\nthose and many other analagous acts were due to the devil; but when the\nbenevolent language of the spirits respecting sinners is contrasted\nwith the cruel doctrine of the church in question, as well as by\nothers, it can hardly be conceived that this language comes from Satan,\nand that of the churches from the \u201cbenevolent\u201d Jesus Christ.\n\n91. The following verses, which have already appeared in my letter to\nthe Episcopal clergy, express the sentiments of the spirits\u2014every soul\nhaving the privilege of reforming, and rising proportionally to the\nimprovement thus obtained:\n\n92. However late, as holy angels teach,\n    Souls now in Hades, bliss in Heaven may reach.\n    All whose conduct has been mainly right,\n    With lightning speed may gain that blissful height;\n    While those who selfish, sensual ends pursue,\n    For ages may their vicious conduct rue,\n    Doom\u2019d in some low and loathsome plane to dwell,\n    Made through remorse and shame the sinner\u2019s hell;\n    Yet through contrition and a change of mind,\n    The means of rising may each sinner find.\n    The higher spirits their assistance give,\n    Teaching the contrite how for heaven to live.\n\n93. Let these lines be contrasted with those which are given in the\nwork on Heaven of the Rev. Dr. Harbaugh\u2014a most excellent orthodox\nclergyman of the German Reformed Church\u2014which are as follows:\n\n94. \u201cBut the wicked? alas! for him at that awful moment! Oh! my soul,\ncome not thou into the secret of his sorrows.\n\n    \u201cHow shocking must thy summons be, O death!\n    To him.\u2014\n    In that dread moment, how the frantic soul\n    Raves round the walls of her clay tenement;\n    Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help;\n    But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks\n    On all she\u2019s leaving, now no longer hers!\n    A little longer; yet a little longer;\n    Oh! might she stay to wash away her stains;\n    And fit her for her passage! Mournful sight!\n    Her very eyes weep blood, and every groan\n    She heaves is big with horror. But the foe,\n    Like a stanch murderer, steady to his purpose,\n    Pursues her close, through every lane of life,\n    Nor misses once the track; but presses on,\n    Till forced at last to the tremendous verge,\n    At once she sinks to everlasting ruin.\u201d\n\n95. But I conceive that the existence of a devil is irreconcilable\nwith all goodness and omnipotency; and that, were a devil created by\nGod, the Creator would be answerable for all the acts of the being\nso created. Evidently, the devil could be nothing else but what\nomnipotence should make him, and could do nothing but what prescience\nwould foresee. The acts of the devil would therefore be indirectly\nthose of his maker.\n\n96. I would inquire of those who rely on the Bible as the source of\ntheir opinions, how it happens that Moses makes no allusion to Satan as\nan agent in the events of which he is the narrator?\n\n97. Though Milton represents that malevolent being as taking the form\nof the serpent, Moses, far from sanctioning that idea, makes not only\nthe individual snake, but the whole genus forever amenable for the part\nperformed.\n\n98. In his description of hell, Josephus represents an archangel as the\njanitor, which is quite inconsistent with Satan\u2019s being the jailor. Is\nit conceivable that an archangel should be doorkeeper to the devil?\n\n99. Moreover, in stating the reasons why the doom of the rich man\n(broiling to eternity) was irremediable, no allusion is made to the\nsatanic despot whose inexorable malevolence would have had to be\ncounteracted.\n\n100. It would seem to be an axiom, that whenever any event does not\ntake place, it must be because there is no being who has at once the\n_power_ and the _wish_ to cause it to happen; and when any event does\nensue, there can exist no being having at once the _power_ and _wish_\nto prevent it from happening. Moreover, consistently, no agent can\nexist whose destruction is desired by another being, who, having the\nright, is competent by mere volition to destroy that agent.\n\n101. It follows, that if there actually does exist any being, such as\nis designated by the words _Devil_, _Satan_, _Beelzebub_, to treat\nhim as the _creature_ of God, would be inconsistent _either_ with the\nattribute of all goodness or of omnipotence.\n\n102. Can any act be more devilish than that of creating a devil? Would\nit not be blasphemous to ascribe to a beneficent Deity a measure so\ntruly diabolical? It has been said that the devil is a necessary agent\nin God\u2019s providence. How necessary, if God be omnipotent?\n\n103. Does not the necessity of employing a bad agent involve inability\nto create a good agent?\n\n104. The evils which exist in the creation may, to a great extent, be\nexplained by an inevitable limitation of power. Thus, probably, there\ncould be no virtue were there no vice; no pleasure, were there no pain.\nEcstasy might become painful by unlimited endurance.\n\n105. Without appetites and passions, an animal would be reduced to the\nstate of a vegetable, which lives without perception.\n\n106. The language held by certain sectarians on such subjects,\nseems to me often contradictory of the idea they strive to enforce.\nThus they represent that our sorrows and our pangs are intended for\nour amendment, or designed to prevent some greater evil _here_ or\n_hereafter_; but what can justify a painful remedy, if there be power\nto adopt one which, while equally efficacious, would be painless?\n\n107. God is, on one side, represented as the cause of all the\ncircumstances under which we exist; yet, on the other, is under the\nnecessity of afflicting us in order to remove or to remedy them! If\npossessing both ability and disposition to reform us without causing us\nto suffer, could suffering be inflicted consistently with all goodness?\n\n108. Of a most excellent Roman Catholic I inquired whether it was not\nheld by their church that a belief in their tenets was necessary to\nsalvation? The reply was in the affirmative. And yet, said I, of all\nwho do believe, only those can be saved who do their Master\u2019s will,\u2014who\nadd good works to an orthodox creed? The reply was again affirmative.\nOf all mankind, then, there is but a very small number, comparatively,\nwho are not, according to the creed in question, to go to hell? Again\nI received an affirmative reply. I would then (I rejoined) when I die,\nrather go into an eternal sleep, than awake in heaven to find so many\nof my fellow-creatures in endless misery, the mere knowledge of which\nwould make heaven itself a hell to a good-hearted angel.\n\n109. Another species of objection to the existence of spirits is, that\nalthough movements of bodies are admitted to take place without any\nperceptible or conceivable mortal agency, the existence of spirits as\nthe cause is to be disbelieved, because the observers have not been\nsuccessful in getting replies such as they think would have been given\nwere spirits the source.\n\n110. Thus a very distinguished physician, Dr. Bell, has alleged that\nnothing has in his investigations been communicated which was not\npreviously in the mind of one or more mortals present. This is one\nof the instances in which the assailant of Spiritualism founds his\nargument in his error. It is an argument which has no other basis than\ninaccurate information, because I am enabled to disprove the truth of\nthe conclusion on which the inference is founded.\n\n111. Nevertheless, I am not surprised that an inference should have\nbeen made, which holds good as respects certain spirits or media,\nthough not others. If a pack of cards be so cut that the card exposed\ncannot be seen by any mortal present, it may be found that although\ncertain spirits cannot describe the card, unless seen by some\nperson present, yet other spirits can describe the card under these\ncircumstances. Among my guardian spirits, there are two who have\nrepeatedly described the card exposed fortuitously by cutting a pack,\nas in the process for determining trumps in a game of whist.\n\n112. Since reading Dr. Bell\u2019s remarks, cards, taken indiscriminately\nfrom a pack, and laid down behind the medium and myself, the\ndenomination unseen by any mortal, have been named correctly by one of\nthe spirits alluded to, although, about the same time, another eminent\nspirit could not name cards when similarly employed.\n\n113. Agreeably to my experience in a multitude of cases, spirits have\nreported themselves who were wholly unexpected, and when others were\nexpected. When I was expecting my sister in Boston, my brother reported\nhimself. Lately, when expecting her, Cadwalader was spelt out, being\nthe name of an old friend, who forthwith gave me a test, proving his\nidentity. As this spirit had never visited my disk before, I had not\nthe smallest expectation of his coming.\n\n114. My spirit brother referred to a confidential conversation had with\nmy brother Powel, in which the former was alluded to, when nothing was\nfarther from my mind than that he had been present as an invisible\nlistener.\n\n115. I will now mention a fact of recent occurrence, which completely\nrefutes Dr. Bell\u2019s inference: Being at Cape May, one of my guardian\nspirits was with me frequently.\n\n116. On the 3d instant, at one o\u2019clock A. M., I requested the faithful\nbeing in question to go to my friend Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth\nstreet, Philadelphia, and request her to induce Dr. Gourlay to go to\nthe Philadelphia Bank to ascertain at what time a note would be due,\nand that I would sit at the instrument at half-past three o\u2019clock\nto receive the answer. Accordingly, at that time, my spirit friend\nmanifested herself, and gave me the result of the inquiry.\n\n117. On my return to the city, I learned from Mrs. Gourlay that my\nangelic messenger had interrupted a communication, which was taking\nplace through the spiritoscope, in order to communicate my message,\nand, in consequence, her husband and brother went to the bank, and\nmade the inquiry, of which the result was that communicated to me at\nhalf-past three o\u2019clock by my spirit friend.\n\n118. This differed from the impression which I had from memory, and\nwas not, of course, obtained from my mind. And it is evident that the\nmedium could not have known of my message until she was made to receive\nit.\n\n119. But independently of the inability to communicate ideas, not\npre-existing in the minds of mortals present, which has been so\nerroneously inferred to exist by Dr. Bell, let this eminent physician\nsuggest any conceivable explanation of the phenomena attested by him,\nexcepting that founded on the agency of spirits.\n\n120. And, independently of any other proof, the fact that one of my\nguardian spirits bore a message from me at Cape May to Mrs. Gourlay\nat Philadelphia, so as to induce her to do what was requested, is\nevidently, of itself, inexplicable under any other view than that of a\nspirit having officiated.\n\n121. To conclude, I hope that while Spiritualism will give a quietus\nto atheism, it will be found, agreeably to the facts and reasoning\npresented in this book, better sustained by evidence, and to answer\nthe great objects of religion, as above stated, vastly better than any\nother religious doctrine.\n\n\nTHEOLOGICAL AXIOMS.\n\nIs not the affirmative of any of these queries, as evidently true as\nany of the axioms of Euclid?\n\n    Did not that thought from heaven proceed,\n    According God\u2019s mercy to every creed,\n    Which however pagan, howe\u2019er untrue,\n    Is meant to give our Creator his due?\n    May not devotion to God be shown,\n    Whether through Christ or Mohammed known?\n    Whether men die in holy war,\n    Or kneel to be crushed by Juggernaut\u2019s car?\n    Mankind would God in error leave,\n    Yet penally for that error aggrieve.\n    Did God a special creed require,\n    Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?\n\n    Can a glaring evil endure\n    Despite of the power and will to cure?\n    Must not any event arrive\n    For which both will and power strive?\n    Will not any result obtain\n    Which power unites with will to gain?\n\n    If God can creatures make to suit his will,\n    Foresee, if they can, his design fulfil;\n    Wherefore to trial, those creatures expose,\n    Traits to discover, which he thus foreknows?\n\n\n[Illustration: _M. B. Gourlay_]\n\n\n\n\n                          INTUITIVE EVIDENCE\n\n                                OF THE\n\n                         EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\n\n\nNARRATIVE OF THE AUTHOR\u2019S EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SPIRITUALISM.\n\n122. THE first fruit of my attention to the phenomena of table\nturning, was the following letter. I trust I shall not be considered\nas self-complacent, when I allege it to be an exemplification of _wise\nignorance_, which is about equivalent to folly. The wisest man who\nspeaks in ignorance, speaks foolishly to the ears of those who perceive\nhis ignorance. The great mass of men of science appear in this light to\nspiritualists when they argue against Spiritualism. Men who are only\n_nominally_ Know Nothings have proved a formidable party in politics;\nunfortunately, Spiritualism has, in its most active opponents, _real_\nKnow Nothings, who will not admit any fact of a spiritual origin,\nunless such as they have been educated to believe. In that case, many\nhave powers of intellectual deglutition rivalling those of the anaconda\nin the physical way.[5]\n\n\n_Letter in reply to an Inquiry respecting the influence of Electricity\nin Table Turning._\n\n  PHILADELPHIA, July 27, 1853.\n\n 123. \u201c_Dear Sir_: I am of opinion that it is utterly impossible for\n six or eight, or any number of persons, seated around a table, to\n produce an electric current. Moreover, I am confident that if by any\n adequate means an electrical current were created, however forcible,\n it could not be productive of table turning. A dry wooden table is\n almost a non-conductor, but if forming a link necessary to complete a\n circuit between the sky and earth, it might possibly be shattered by\n a stroke of lightning; but if the power of all the galvanic apparatus\n ever made was to be collected in one current, there would be no power\n to _move_ or otherwise affect such a table.\n\n 124. \u201cFrictional electricity, such as produced by electric machines,\n must first be accumulated and then discharged, in order to produce any\n striking effect. It is in _transitu_ that its power is seen and felt.\n\n 125. \u201cInsulated conductors, whether inanimate, or in the form of\n animals, may be electrified by the most powerful means, without being\n injured or seriously incommoded. Before a spark of lightning passes,\n every object on the terrestrial surface, for a great distance around,\n is subjected to a portion of the requisite previous accumulation. Yet\n it is only those objects which are made the medium of discharge that\n are sensibly affected.\n\n 126. \u201cPowerful galvanic accumulation can only be produced by those\n appropriate arrangements which concentrate upon a comparatively small\n filament of particles their peculiar polarizing power; but nothing\n seems to me more inconsistent with experience than to suppose a table\n moved by any possible form or mode of galvanic reaction. It was\n ascertained by Gaziot that one of the most powerful galvanic batteries\n ever made could not give a spark _before_ contact to a conductor\n presented to it, at the smallest distance which could be made by a\n delicate micrometer. If there is any law which is pre-eminent for its\n invariability, it is, that _inanimate_ matter cannot, _per se_, change\n its state as respects motion or rest. Were this law liable to any\n variation, we should be proportionably liable to perish; since in that\n case the revolutions and rotations of our planet and its satellite\n might undergo perturbations by which the ocean might inundate the\n land, or the too great proximity or remoteness of the sun cause us to\n be scorched or frozen. If the globe did not carry the Pacific more\n steadily than the most competent person could carry a basin of water,\n we should be drowned by the overflow of the land. I recommend to\n your attention, and that of others interested in this hallucination,\n Faraday\u2019s observations and experiments, recently published in some of\n our respectable newspapers. I entirely concur in the conclusions of\n that distinguished experimental expounder of Nature\u2019s riddles.\n\n  ROBERT HARE.\u201d\n\n127. This publication drew forth the following remonstrance in the\nsubjoined letter, which does great credit to the correctness of the\nauthor\u2019s observation and sagacity. It contributed, together with a\npersonal invitation from Dr. Comstock to attend a circle, to induce the\ninvestigation upon which I entered immediately afterward.\n\n  SOUTHWICK, MASS., Nov. 17, 1853.\n\n 128. \u201c_Dear Sir_: I had the pleasure of a slight acquaintance with\n you, something less than twenty years ago, when I exhibited telescopes\n in Philadelphia. You will, I trust, excuse the liberty I take in\n writing to you now. I have seen your letter to the Philadelphia\n Inquirer upon table moving. I never believed it was caused by\n electricity or galvanism, but is it not as likely to be these, as\n muscular force? You agree with Professor Faraday that the table is\n moved by the hands that are on it. Now I know, as certainly as I\n can know any thing, that this is not true in general, if it is in\n any instance. There is as much evidence that tables sometimes move\n without any person near them, as that they sometimes move with hands\n on them. I cannot in this case doubt the evidence of my senses. I\n have seen tables move, and heard tunes beat on them, when no person\n was within several feet of them. This fact is proof positive that the\n force or power is not muscular.\n\n 129. \u201cIf any further evidence was necessary to set aside Professor\n Faraday\u2019s explanation, it is found in abundance in the great variety\n of other facts taking place through the country, such as musical\n instruments being played upon without any hands touching them, and a\n great variety of other heavy articles being moved without any visible\n cause. If tables never moved except when hands were on them, the case\n would be different; but as they do move, both with and without hands,\n it is plain that the true cause remains yet to be discovered.\n\n 130. \u201cI wish, sir, that you had leisure and opportunity to witness\n some other phases of this matter, which seem not yet to have fallen\n under your notice, and I think you would be satisfied that there is\n less \u2018hallucination\u2019 and \u2018self-deception\u2019 about it, than you have\n imagined. The intelligence connected with these movements has not been\n accounted for.\n\n 131. \u201cIf these things can be accounted for on scientific principles,\n would it not be a great acquisition to science, to discover what those\n principles are? If, however, science cannot discover them, the public\n are deeply interested in knowing the fact. It is certainly of great\n importance that these strange things that are taking place everywhere\n should be explained. It is affecting the churches seriously; whether\n for good or for evil is uncertain until the truth is known. No cause\n has yet been assigned that does not imply a greater absurdity than\n even to believe, as many do, that it is caused by spirits either good\n or bad, or both.\n\n 132. \u201cI have examined this matter for the last three years with as\n much carefulness as possible, and am not satisfied. If the force is\n not muscular, as it is certain that it is not, I wish science to try\n again.\n\n  \u201cYours, respectfully,          AMASA HOLCOMBE.\u201d\n\n\n133. It will be perceived that the letter alluded to by Mr. Holcombe,\nwritten in reply to some inquiries respecting my opinion of the cause\nof table turning, was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, in July,\n1853. This letter will show that I was at that time utterly incredulous\nof any cause of the phenomena excepting unconscious muscular action on\nthe part of the persons with whom the phenomena were associated. The\ninferences of Faraday, tending to the same conclusion, I thoroughly\nsanctioned.\n\n134. As no allusion to spirits as the cause had been made by this\nHerculean investigator in the letter which drew forth mine, they were\nnot contemplated in my view of the subject. Had I ever heard spiritual\nagency assigned as a cause, so great was my disbelief of any such\nagency, that it would have made no impression on my memory.\n\n135. Though present on several occasions when table turning was the\nsubject of discussion, it was not, within my hearing, attributed to\nspiritual agency. In common with almost all educated persons of the\nnineteenth century, I had been brought up deaf to any testimony which\nclaimed assistance from supernatural causes, such as ghosts, magic, or\nwitchcraft.\n\n136. Subsequently to my publication corroborating the inferences of\nFaraday, having, in obedience to solicitations already cited, consented\nto visit circles in which spiritual manifestations were alleged to\nbe made, I was conducted to a private house at which meetings for\nspiritual inquiry were occasionally held.\n\n137. Seated at a table with half a dozen persons, a hymn was sung with\nreligious zeal and solemnity. Soon afterward tappings were distinctly\nheard as if made beneath and against the table, which, from the perfect\nstillness of every one of the party, could not be attributed to any one\namong them. Apparently, the sounds were such as could only be made with\nsome hard instrument, or with the ends of fingers aided by the nails.\n\n138. I learned that simple queries were answered by means of these\nmanifestations; one tap being considered as equivalent to a negative;\ntwo, to doubtful; and three, to an affirmative. With the greatest\n_apparent sincerity_, questions were put and answers taken and\nrecorded, as if all concerned considered them as coming from a rational\nthough invisible agent.\n\n139. Subsequently, two media sat down at a small table, (drawer\nremoved,) which, upon careful examination, I found to present to my\ninspection nothing but the surface of a bare board, on the under side\nas well as upon the upper. Yet the taps were heard as before, seemingly\nagainst the table. Even assuming the people by whom I was surrounded,\nto be capable of deception, and the feat to be due to jugglery, it was\nstill inexplicable. But manifestly I was in a company of worthy people,\nwho were themselves under a deception if these sounds did not proceed\nfrom spiritual agency.\n\n140. On a subsequent occasion, at the same house, I heard similar\ntapping on a partition between two parlours. I opened the door between\nthe parlours, and passed to that adjoining the one in which I had been\nsitting. Nothing could be seen which could account for the sounds.\n\n141. The medium to whose presence these manifestations were due, then\nheld a flute against the panel of the door, and invited me to listen.\nOn putting my ear near to the flute, tapping was quite audible. On the\nensuing evening, I carried with me a sealed glass tube, a hollow tube\nof the same material, and a brass rod. These being successively held\nagainst the door panel, similarly to the holding of the flute, the\nrapping was again heard.[6]\n\n142. I have much reason to confide in the disinterestedness of the\nmedium through whose assistance these facts were observed. She would\nnot allow me even to make a present to her child; and her sitting\nfor me was deemed prejudicial to her comfort and health, so that by\nthe advice of her physician it was finally discontinued. Her parents\nbelieved the manifestations obtained through her influence to be caused\nby spirits.\n\n143. Sitting at another mansion, in company with an able lawyer, (an\nunbeliever in Spiritualism,) as well as an accomplished female medium\nand two other persons, sounds were heard like those above mentioned.\nThe lawyer alluded to, though from his profession accustomed to\ndistrust and to scrutinize evidence, admitted that he found it utterly\nimpossible to account for these sounds by any visible agency.\n\n144. In order to make my narrative of the evidence upon the subject\nof rapping continuous, I would state that during the evening of my\nfirst visit to the circle of spiritualists, as above mentioned, while\ngrasping with my utmost energy a table at which I was seated, two\nfemale media, by merely placing their hands upon the surface of the\ntable on the opposite side, caused it to move to and fro, in despite of\nmy utmost exertions.\n\n145. Visiting another circle under the influence of another medium,\nI found that _tilting_ a table was substituted for the sounds as a\nmeans of manifestation. As one rap signifies no, two, doubtful, and\nthree, affirmative, so is it with the motions, or tippings, as they are\nusually called.\n\n146. Passing the fingers over the letters upon an alphabetic\npasteboard, like those to assist children in learning their letters,\nwhen it comes over the required letter, its selection is indicated\neither by a tapping or tilting. By this process, when the medium\u2019s eyes\nwere directed to the ceiling, as independently observed by the legal\nfriend above mentioned, as well as myself, the following communication\nwas given:\n\n147. \u201c_Light is dawning on the mind of your friend; soon he will speak\ntrumpet-tongued to the scientific world, and add a new link to that\nchain of evidence on which our hope of man\u2019s salvation is founded._\u201d\n\n148. The lawyer declared that he was utterly unable to conceive how,\nby the human means apparently employed, such sentences could be\nelaborated. Legerdemain on the part of the person who took down the\nmanifestation was the only way to get rid of this evidence without\nresorting to the agency of some invisible intelligent being, who, by\noperating upon the tables, at once exercised physical force and mental\npower.\n\n149. But assigning the result to legerdemain was altogether opposed\nto my knowledge of his character. This gentleman, and the circle to\nwhich he belonged, spent about three hours, twice or thrice a week, in\ngetting communications through the alphabet, by the process to which\nthe lines above mentioned were due. This would not have taken place,\nhad _they_ not had implicit confidence, that the information thus\nobtained proceeded from spirits.\n\n150. Subsequently, I contrived an apparatus which, if spirits were\nactually concerned in the phenomena, would enable them to manifest\ntheir physical and intellectual power independently of control by any\nmedium. (See Engraving and description, Plate I.)\n\n151. Upon a pasteboard disk, more than a foot in diameter, the letters\ncut out from an alphabet card were nailed around the circumference, as\nmuch as possible deranged from the usual alphabetic order. About the\ncentre a small pulley was secured of two and a half inches diameter,\nfitting on an axletree, which passed through the legs of the table,\nabout six inches from the top. Two weights were provided\u2014one of about\neight pounds, the other about two pounds. These were attached one\nto each end of a cord wound about the pulley, and placed upon the\nfloor immediately under it. Upon the table a screen of sheet zinc was\nfastened, behind which the medium was to be seated, so that she could\nnot see the letters on the disk. A stationary vertical wire, attached\nto the axle, served for an index.\n\n152. On tilting the table, the cord would be unwound from the pulley\non the side of the larger weight, being wound up simultaneously to an\nequivalent extent on the side of the small weight, causing the pulley\nand disk to rotate about the axle. Restoring the table to its normal\nposition, the smaller weight being allowed to act unresisted upon the\ncord and pulley, the rotation would be reversed. Of course, any person\nactuating the table and seeing the letters, could cause the disk so to\nrotate as to bring any letter under the index; but should _the letters\nbe concealed from the operator_, no letter required could be brought\nunder the index at will.\n\n153. Hence it was so contrived that neither the medium seated at the\ntable behind the screen, nor any other person so seated, could, by\ntilting the table, bring any letter of the alphabet under the index,\nnor spell out any word requested.\n\n154. These arrangements being made, an accomplished lady, capable of\nserving in the required capacity, was so kind as to assist me by taking\nher seat behind the screen, while I took my seat in front of the disk.\n\n155. I then said, \u201cIf there be any spirit present, please to indicate\nthe affirmative by causing the letter Y to come under the index.\u201d\nForthwith this letter was brought under the index.\n\n156. \u201cWill the spirit do us the favour to give the initials of his\nname?\u201d The letters R H were successively brought under the index. \u201cMy\nhonoured father?\u201d said I. The letter Y was again brought under the\nindex.\n\n157. \u201cWill my father do me the favour to bring the letters under the\nindex successively in alphabetical order?\u201d Immediately the disk began\nto revolve so as to produce the desired result. After it had proceeded\nas far as the middle of the alphabet, I requested that \u201cthe name of\nWashington should be spelt out by the same process.\u201d This feat was\naccordingly performed, as well as others of a like nature.\n\n158. The company consisted of but few persons besides the medium, who\nnow urged that I could no longer refuse to come over to their belief.\nUnder these circumstances the following communication was made by the\nrevolving of the disk: \u201c_Oh, my son, listen to reason!_\u201d\n\n159. I urged that the experiment was of immense importance, if\nconsidered as proving a spirit to be present, and to have actuated the\napparatus; affording thus precise experimental proof of the immortality\nof the soul: that a matter of such moment should not be considered\nas conclusively decided until every possible additional means of\nverification should be employed.\n\n160. This led my companions to accuse me of extreme incredulity. The\nmedium said she \u201cshould not deem it worth while to sit for me again,\u201d\nand one of the gentlemen sat himself down by the fireside, declaring me\n\u201cto be insusceptible of conviction, and that he would now give me up.\u201d\n\n161. Nevertheless, the medium, relenting, gave me another sitting\nat her own dwelling a few days afterward; when I had improved the\napparatus by employing two stationary weights by which the cord\nactuating the pulley, as in the drill-bow process, was made to pull it\nround by a horizontal motion of the table supported on castors, instead\nof the tilting motion.\n\n162. The results confirmed those previously received, my father\nreporting himself again. He said that my mother and sister were with\nhim, but not my brother. I inquired \u201cif they were happy.\u201d The disk\nrevolved so as to bring the letter Y under the index, signifying the\naffirmation.\n\n163. On the following week, I took my apparatus to the house of a\nspiritualist, where a circle was to meet. The apparatus being duly\narranged, a lady whom I had never before noticed, and by whom my\napparatus was seen for the first time, sat down at my table behind the\nscreen. The spirit of an uncle who had left this life was invoked by\nthis medium. Her invocation being successful, the spirit spelt his name\nout in full; other names were spelt out at request.\n\n164. Although the requisite letters were ultimately found, there was\nevidently some difficulty, as if there was some groping for them with\nan imperfect light. This has been explained since by my father\u2019s\nspirit. He alleges that preferably the eyes of the medium would be\nemployed, but that, although with difficulty, he used mine as a\nsubstitute.\n\n165. But although, with a view to convince the skeptical, spirits will\noccasionally give manifestations when the vision or muscular control\nof the medium is nullified, it is more difficult for them to operate\nin this way; moreover, it is more difficult for some spirits than for\nothers.\n\n166. Those spirits by whom I obtained my test manifestations were\ninterested in my success. Others have refused to aid me in like manner.\nOne who has assisted me with much zeal, has communicated that he would\nwork my apparatus when arranged for a test; but, that as it caused much\nmore exertion, and, of course, retardation, he advised that the test\narrangement should not be interposed when it could be avoided.\n\n167.[7]The table, at this stage of my inquiry, was not more than thirty\ninches in length. I had improved the construction in the following way:\n\n168. Two of the legs were furnished with castors, through holes duly\nbored. Through perforations in the other two legs a rod was introduced,\nserving as an axle to two wheels of about five inches diameter. One\nof these wheels was grooved, so as to carry a band which extended\naround the pulley of the disk. Hence, pushing the table nine inches\nhorizontally by the necessary rotation of the supporting wheels, caused\nthe disk to make a complete revolution. It was while the table was of\nthe size above mentioned, that I first saw the violent action to which\nthey might be subjected without any corresponding or commensurate\nvisible cause. The hand of the medium being laid on the table at about\nhalf-way between the centre and the nearest edge, it moved as if it\nwere animated, jumping like a restive horse.\n\n169. Having my apparatus thus prepared, a medium sat at my table, the\nscreen intercepting her view of the disk. No manifestation took place\nthrough the disk, though other indications of the presence of spirits\nwere given. Hence, inducing the medium to sit at an ordinary table,\nI inquired if any change could be made which would enable them to\ncommunicate through my apparatus? The reply through the alphabetic card\nwas, \u201cLet the medium see the letters.\u201d At first it struck me that this\nwould make the experiment abortive, as it would remove the condition\nby which alone independency of interference by the medium was secured.\nHowever, it soon occurred that by means of a metallic plate, made quite\ntrue, and some brass balls, like billiard balls, with which I was\nprovided, I could neutralize the power of the medium to move the table,\nso that she could not influence the selection of the letters, though\npermitted to see them.\n\n170. Accordingly, as soon almost as the medium placed her hands on the\nplate resting on the ball, and without any other communication with\nthe table, the disk began to revolve in such a way as to bring the\nletters under the index in due alphabetic order. Afterward various\nnames were spelled, and communications were made. At subsequent\nsittings, the grandfather and brother of the medium manifested their\npresence successively by spelling their names on the disk. My father,\nby means of this apparatus, gave me the name of an uncle who was\nkilled by the Arabs nearly seventy years ago. In order that, without\nany possibility of contact with the legs, the medium might sit at the\ntable, the length was subsequently extended to six feet, being so made\nas to separate into three parts, for convenience in carrying from one\nplace to another. It is under this modification that it is represented\nin Plate 2 accompanied by a description, with the medium sitting as\nwhen employed in obtaining some of the manifestations herein mentioned.\nOn the left may be seen the wheels and axle. The front wheel may be\ndistinguished, with its groove securing the band which embraces it,\ntogether with the pulley on the disk.\n\n171. The disk represented in this figure differs from the one\nrepresented above, (employed in my first investigations,) in having the\nalphabet in the usual order. But they are so made as that one can be\nmade to replace the other, when requisite.\n\n172. On one side of the long table, Plate 2, a board or tray on castors\nis represented. This was used sometimes as a support for the hands of\nthe medium, by its being interposed between them and the table. On one\noccasion, where the hands of the medium were supported by the plate and\nball upon this tray, it was moved briskly to and fro upon the table,\nthe hands of the medium and the ball and plate accompanying the motion.\n\n173. On various subsequent occasions I have had this experiment of\nputting the hands of the medium on a plate and balls repeated, and\nwith the same result. The interposition of the plate and balls makes\nit much more difficult for spirits to move a table than when the hands\nare directly applied. In the latter case, the spirits actuate the\nhands primarily, and the table or apparatus secondarily; but when the\nhands are incapacitated from influencing the motion, the spirit has to\nassail the inanimate matter directly, assisted only by an emanation\nfrom the medium. In this attack upon ponderable matter, the spirits of\nthe second sphere are the most capable; but even with their assistance,\nthe condition of the medium must be very favourable to render success\npossible.\n\n174. I next resorted to an apparatus like the plaything called a\nsee-saw, excepting that the fulcrum, instead of being under the middle\nof the board, was situated at one-fourth of the whole length from one\nend. There was one foot on one side of the fulcrum, and three feet on\nthe other. The disk and its axle was transferred from the table, Plate\nI, near to the longer end of this seesaw-like apparatus. The cord\nattached to two weights was employed as above described, so that as\nthe disk was made to rise or fall with the vibration of the board by\nthe action of the cord, a revolution took place, bringing the letters\nsuccessively under the index, as already explained to have resulted\nfrom the movements of the table.\n\n175. The disk being situated edgewise to the medium, the letters could\nnot be seen. Under these circumstances, the hands of the medium were\nplaced upon the surface of the smaller portion of the board outside of\nthe fulcrum. The disk revolved to and fro, so as to bring the letters\nunder the index in due alphabetic order. Moreover, while this process\nwas under way, to render the result more unquestionable, I interposed\na screen between the disk, and the eyes of the medium, without causing\nany arrestation of the process.[8]\n\n176. Afterward upon the table supported on wheels or castors, and\nmoving the disk by a band, I used a tray on castors to support the hand\nof the medium.\n\n177. When the hands of the medium, or those of any other operator, were\nplaced upon this tray, it was impossible to move the table by means\nof it, because much less force would make it move on its castors than\nwould move the table. Sometimes the tray would be moved backward and\nforward with rapidity, the table remaining quite still. Yet, on urging\nthat the table should be moved, this desideratum would be conceded,\nand the tray would become stationary, relatively, to the table. On one\noccasion, when an intelligent spirit was manifesting, I interposed a\nbrass ball (Plate I.) and plate between the tray and the hands of the\nmedium, and then requested that the tray might be moved. My request was\nobeyed; the tray moved repeatedly about a foot to and fro, accompanied\nby the hand of the medium, the ball remaining at rest, relatively, to\nthe tray.\n\n178. Having my apparatus at the residence of the lady by whom it had\nbeen actuated in the third trial above mentioned, (172) this lady\nsitting at the table as a medium, my sister reported herself. As a test\nquestion, I inquired \u201cWhat was the name of a partner in business, of\nmy father, who, when he had left the city with the Americans during\nthe Revolutionary war, came out with the British, and took care of the\njoint property?\u201d The disk revolved successively to letters correctly\nindicating the name to be Warren. I then inquired the name of the\npartner of my English grandfather, who died in London more than seventy\nyears ago. The true name was given by the same process.\n\n179. The medium and all present were strangers to my family, and I had\nnever heard either name mentioned, except by my father. Even my younger\nbrother did not remember that of my father\u2019s partner.\n\n180. Subsequently, in the presence of a medium utterly unacquainted\nwith my family, to whom I was first introduced in December, 1853, and\nwho had only within two years previously removed to our city from\nMaine, I inquired of my father the name of an English cousin who had\nmarried an admiral. The name was spelled out. In like manner the maiden\nname of an English brother\u2019s wife was given\u2014an unusual name, Clargess.\n\n181. The principle of my apparatus for spiritual manifestations\nhas been employed on a smaller scale by Mr. Isaac T. Pease, of\nThompsonville, Connecticut, substituting the reaction of a spring for\nthat of a weight, and making the index revolve instead of the disk.\n(Plate I.)\n\n182. By the modification which I made for the employment of this\nsmaller instrument communication was greatly facilitated. I had\nsubsequently a copious interchange of ideas with my father, brother,\nand sister, and other friendly spirits. (See engraving and description,\nPlate I, Fig. 2.)\n\n183. At the house of a spiritualist who had been holding circles for\nmore than a year, I had confirmatory evidence of the intelligence by\nwhich spirit rapping is regulated. I was allowed to subject the table\nemployed to a strict scrutiny, removing the drawer to obtain a more\nthorough inspection. This table was nevertheless repeatedly agitated\nwith an energy which could not be ascribed to the hands placed quietly\nupon its surface by a circle of persons perfectly quiescent. Often at\nthis circle, and at others during the chanting of hymns, have I seen\na table thus situated keeping time by its vibratory movements with a\nsympathetic tremour.\n\n184. The spirit friend of a medium present, who called herself Amanda\nFord, used on request to make a sound like that of the hammering by\nblacksmiths, designated as \u201cten-pounds-ten.\u201d This sound would be\nshifted to that of sawing or sweeping. Doubtless, these manifestations\nmight be imitated by certain ventriloquists; but I had not the smallest\nreason to suspect ventriloquism, and Amanda gave me the following\nunquestionable proofs of her spiritual existence:\n\n185. Taking up the alphabetic card, and holding it up near my face,\nin a feeble light, with the back toward the medium, so as not to be\ninspected by any one else, I asked Amanda, as I should pass my fingers\nover the letters, to indicate those necessary for spelling out her\nname, by the usual manifestation. The name was in this way correctly\nspelt out.\n\n186. In the next place, at the same time and under the same\ncircumstances, I asked her then to spell the name of Washington.\nPassing my fingers over the letters of the alphabet, not regularly but\nzigzag, and stopping a short time at the letters adjoining the right\nones, that much-revered name was correctly spelt out, with one single\nerror, the omission of the G.\n\n187. Suspicion that the rapping or tapping could arise from any\nmechanism concealed in the table, was precluded when they were made\nunder my own tables, fitted up with my own hands.\n\n\n_Of manifestations founded on table movements without contact, or such\n        contact, as cannot be sufficient to cause the result._\n\n188. It was at the same mansion, where the above-mentioned\nmanifestations were observed, that I first saw a table continue in\nmotion when every person had withdrawn to about the distance of a foot;\nso that no one touched it; and while thus agitated on our host saying,\n\u201cMove the table toward Dr. Hare,\u201d it moved toward me and back again.\nAt the same premises, when between the hands of each of two media and\na small table a plate upon a brass ball was interposed, without any\nother communication with it, the table was violently overset, so as to\nhave its legs uppermost. Yet while thus upside down, it continued to\nvibrate, a single finger of a medium girl, about twelve years of age,\nbeing the sole means of human contact therewith. This I ascertained,\nwith the greatest care, by kneeling on the floor and causing the finger\nof the medium, by the tip of which alone her touch was effected, to be\nsituated between me and the light of a lamp.\n\n189. In the observations above stated, respecting the movements of\nthe table _when untouched_, I was aided by the presence of my friend\nJoseph Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, Rhode Island, who occupied a seat\nopposite to mine on the other side of the table; so that while he saw\nall clear on one side, I saw all clear on the other. In my narrative\nI have adverted to two recent instances in which severally, in the\npresence only of the medium and myself, the table moved, as I could\njudge, about eight inches, being at the same time untouched by either\nof us.\n\n190. Next in importance to the movements of tables which take place\nwithout any contact, are those in which the table rises under the\nhands of the medium laid gently upon it. On one occasion I saw a large\ncircular table, supported by three massive claws on castors, overset\nseveral times by the influence of three ladies, who were media. In\norder to have this experiment performed with as much precision as\ncircumstances would permit, I seated myself on one side of the table,\nso as to be equidistant from two of the three claws by which it was\nsupported. The intermediate medium, was directly opposite the third\nclaw, while the others stood one on each side of her. My relative\nposition was such, that as they were standing upright before me, I\ncould look at their persons partially below as well as above the table.\nThese arrangements having been made, the three media laid their hands\non the table a little beyond the margin, so that they could not apply\ntheir thumbs below the edge and thus assist the table to raise. Under\nthese circumstances I was enabled to watch the media above as well as\nbelow the table, by casting my eyes upward and downward alternately,\nthey being all on their feet, and standing upright. It was under these\nconditions, that the table, in three successive trials, came over\ntoward me and went back to its normal position.\n\n191. It did not slam down quickly, when on arriving at such a position,\nas to make it impossible for the ladies to resist its farther descent;\nbut descended gently, rising slowly in recovering its usual upright\nposition.\n\n192. I called one morning at the dwelling of a medium to whom allusion\nhas been made more than once in my narrative. I sat down at a table\nwith the medium, her father, and a gentleman who accompanied me. I\ninquired if any of my spirit friends were present; the table tilted\nnegatively. \u201cWill the spirit give its initials through the alphabetic\ncard?\u201d In reply the letters M C were indicated. My companion, whose\nattention had been withdrawn, on hearing the result, said: \u201cThey are\nthe initials of my daughter\u2019s name;\u201d exclaiming, \u201c_Maria, are you\nhere?_\u201d\n\n193. The table tilted in the affirmative, vivaciously, as if the\ndaughter\u2019s heart were in the movement.\n\n194. Maria proving to be a sprightly spirit, a lively conversation\nensued. I inquired if she could not work my apparatus; she answered\nthrough the card, \u201c_It is impossible for a spirit to work your\napparatus; I am very sorry._\u201d I replied that evidently it was not\nimpossible, since it had been actuated by spirits successfully several\ntimes. \u201cYou mean to say,\u201d I added, \u201cthat it is difficult.\u201d To this\nshe replied affirmatively by three tilts of the table.\n\n195. As through the influence of the medium, who sat at the table with\nus, communications had been received through my apparatus several\ntimes, the alphabet arranged from a state of disarrangement, and names\nspelt out by the revolution of the disk, it cannot be imagined that\nthe medium could have influenced the alphabetical communications in\nthis instance, since the medium, even if prone to deception, would have\nperceived it ridiculous to allege it impossible to work an apparatus\nwhich had on several occasions under her influence, proved the opposite\nto be true, in the presence of her father as well as myself.\n\n196. It has been already mentioned in the narrative (164.) that my\nspirit father, and spirit friend W. W., had alleged that they worked my\napparatus with great difficulty when under test conditions, from their\ngreat desire to make me a convert to Spiritualism. It was, therefore,\nquite consistent that a spirit, who had no such powerful motive, should\nhave preferred to find an apology for not actuating my apparatus,\nrather than to have studied, or sought for the means of surmounting the\nobstacles.\n\n197. As all the manifestations, observed on this occasion, were by the\ntilting or partial lifting of the table, I urged the spirit to aid me\nin obtaining a test that these manifestations came not from the medium,\nbut from herself, a spirit. I immediately procured from a basket\nwhich I had previously brought to the premises, a brass ball, turned\ntruly spherical, like a billiard ball, and a plate of zinc which had\nbeen ground quite true. I placed the ball on the table, the plate on\nthe ball, and the hands of the medium on the plate. She had no other\ncommunication with the table than that which was thus established.\nPressing on the ball when situated between perpendicular lines falling\ninside of all the legs of the table, would of course only press it\ndownward more firmly on its feet.\n\n198. Things being thus arranged, I solicited Maria to repeat the upward\njerks which she had employed in the communication which she had been\nmaking. Her father joined his solicitation to mine, pointing out that\nmy object was to obtain evidence, which would satisfy the scientific\nworld that such manifestations were due to the agency of spirits.\n\n199. After a little delay the table rose under the ball, the plate, and\nthe hands of the medium, with greater force than had been displayed in\nany of the foregoing movements.\n\n200. Subsequently, being in company with Maria\u2019s father, at the\ndwelling of a spiritualist, and sitting with a medium at the table\nsupporting an apparatus for alphabetical communications, the spirit\nof Maria, who seems to follow her worthy father with much filial\naffection, reported herself. I inquired whether she remembered our\nprevious meeting, and what means I resorted to as a test. She replied,\n\u201cYou used a plate and ball to support the hands of the medium, which I\nknocked away.\u201d\n\n201. While receiving communications from my spirit sister, the table\ntilting toward the medium, so as to cause the cord actuating the index,\nby being through a string tied to a weight on the floor, alternately to\nbe withdrawn and returned, consequently, winding off and on the pulley\nwhich turned the index, I suggested that the relative position of the\nmedium should be reversed, so that she should be on the same side with\nthe apparatus. By this change the table would have to rise under the\nhands of the medium. The proposed modification was successfully carried\nout.\n\n202. I asked my sister how a spirit could work an apparatus with the\nmedium\u2019s hands on the upper surface of the table; the reply was, that\nthe presence of the hands of the medium enabled the spirit to act in\nopposition to them.\n\n203. Under this head comes the experiment in which a board was\nsupported so as to turn on a fulcrum, one foot of the board being on\none side of the fulcrum, and three feet on the other, the longer end\nsuspended on a spring balance. When a medium, eleven years old, placed\nhis hands on the short end, that end rose while the other, of course,\nwent down; in some instances, showing an increase of downward pressure\non the balance, equivalent to seven pounds.\n\n204. This experiment was subsequently repeated at my laboratory, in the\npresence of John M. Kennedy, Esq. Having a basin of water on the board,\nthe boy\u2019s hands being merely immersed in the water, and not touching\nthe parietes of the containing vessel; the balance was affected as in\nthe experiment above described, although not to so great an extent.\n\n205. In one case, Mr. Kennedy satisfied himself, that the medium did\nnot touch the vessel, by placing his own hands below those of the\nmedium.\n\n206. My much-esteemed friend, Prof. Henry, having treated this result\nas incredible, I was induced to repeat it with the greatest precision\nand precaution, as represented in Plate 3. The board, as already\ndescribed, being about four feet in length, is supported by a rod as\na fulcrum at about one foot from one end, and, of course, three feet\nfrom the other; a glass vase, about nine inches in diameter and five\ninches in height, having a knob to hold it by when inverted, had this\nknob inserted in a hole made in the board, six inches nearly from\nthe fulcrum. Thus, the vase rested on the board, the mouth upward.\nA wire-gauze cage, such as is used to keep flies from sugar, was so\narranged by well-known means, as to slide up or down on two iron rods,\none on each side of the trestle supporting the fulcrum. By these\narrangements it was so adjusted as to descend into the vase until\nwithin an inch and a half of the bottom, while the inferiority of its\ndimensions prevented it from coming elsewhere within an inch of the\nparietes of the vase. Water was poured into the vase so as to rise into\nthe cage till within about an inch and a half of the brim.\n\n207. A well-known medium (Gordon) was induced to plunge his hands,\nclasped together, to the bottom of the cage, holding them perfectly\nstill. As soon as these conditions were attained, the apparatus being\nuntouched by any one excepting the medium as described, I invoked the\naid of my spirit friends. A downward force was repeatedly exerted upon\nthe end of the board appended to the balance equal to three pounds\u2019\nweight nearly.\n\n208. It will be perceived that in this manifestation, the medium\nhad no means of communication with the board, beside the water. It\nwas not until he became quite still, that the invocation was made.\nNevertheless, he did not appear to be subjected to any reacting force.\nYet, the distance of the hook of the balance from the fulcrum on which\nthe board turned, was six times as great as the cage in which the hands\nwere situated. Consequently, a force of 3 \u00d7 6 = 18 pounds must have\nbeen exerted. The board would probably have been depressed much more,\nbut that the water had been spilled by any farther inclination of the\nvase.\n\n209. This experiment has since been repeated again and again, but on a\nsmaller scale, when, not only the downward force was exercised, _but\nthe spelling of words was_ accomplished.\n\n210. On one occasion, when no result ensued, it appeared to arise from\nthe water being so cold as to chill the medium, because, on warming\nit up to a comfortable temperature, the desired manifestations were\nobtained.\n\n211. At the same time and place, after the manifestation by means\nof the spring balances above described (207) had been accomplished,\nI requested my spirit friends to repeat that which has been above\nmentioned, as performed by putting the hands of a medium upon a plate\nand ball supported by a tea-table. (199.)\n\n212. Accordingly, the attending medium being placed under exactly the\nsame circumstances and conditions, a similar violent tilting ensued.\n\n213. Dr. Child, together with the same medium and myself, placed our\nfinger ends all reciprocally in contact, and about a quarter of an inch\nabove a tea-table. After an interval of about two minutes, the table\nrose, and was tossed from the legs on one side to those on the other\nforcibly.\n\n214. During a visit to New York, I entered the apartment where one of\nthe Misses Fox was sitting. There were more than half a dozen persons\npresent. On my entrance, I inquired, \u201cDoes any one here recognise\nme, so as to know my name?\u201d No person answered that I was known. As\nsoon, however, as I inquired, my spirit sister announced herself, and\nindicated my name.\n\n215. During a visit made to Boston last autumn, on sitting with a\nmedium, my sister addressed me in the following way, by spelling the\nwords out upon the disk apparatus just described:\n\n    Brother beloved, of ardent soul,\n    Striving to reach a heavenly goal;\n    Wouldst thou attain the blissful height\n    Where wisdom purifies the sight;\n    Where God reveals to humblest gaze,\n    The bliss and beauty of his ways\n    Incline thine ear to angels bright,\n    Who radiant from the realms of light,\n    For ever hover near,\n    To offer thee, sweet words of cheer.\n\n216. Only the first couplet in these verses differs at all from\nthose which were given in the impromptu, the words having been too\nflattering for me, to have mentioned. Soon after being at the residence\nof a highly-esteemed friend, who is a medium, my spirit sister, who\nmanifests much love for this lady, reporting herself, I told her of\nthe change which I thus desired to have made. The reply was, \u201cI give\nyou full liberty to alter my verses; you know I never wrote two lines\nof poetry while in the flesh.\u201d Miss Ellis is no poetess, still less is\nMrs. P., the medium.\n\n217. After my lecture at the Melodeon, being at the residence of\nMrs. Hayden, an accomplished medium, I requested a repetition of the\nexperiment, of which I had given an account on that occasion, in which\nthe view of the disk was cut off from the medium, by the interposition\nof a screen; and Mrs. Hayden consenting, an arrangement was made so\nas to satisfy the bystanders, as well as myself, that the letters on\nthe disk could not be seen by her. Under these conditions the name of\nWashington was spelt out.\n\n218. I have had this test repeated under Gordon\u2019s mediumship, as well\nas that of others, several times. Afterward, Mrs. Hayden sitting aloof,\non making the index move successively to each letter, those required\nfor the name of Jefferson were selected in due order, by rapping at\nthe one in demand, as it came under the index.\n\n219. Through the influence of Mrs. Hayden, an uncommon test was\nafforded by my faithful spirit sister.\n\n220. My charming, intelligent friend, Mrs. Eustis, daughter of the\nlate Rev. Dr. W. E. Channing, though not a believer in Spiritualism,\nbecame desirous of seeing the manifestations so much relied upon by me.\nHaving accompanied me to the residence of Mrs. Hayden, Mrs. Eustis was\nsitting beside her, while through her influence my sister was making\na communication by means of the apparatus described. (Plate I, Fig.\n2.) When the process commenced, the hand of Mrs. Hayden was resting\non the lever in the usual position, but was subsequently lifted, so\nas to allow Mrs. Eustis, as well as myself, to see between it and the\nwooden surface, without creating any apparent abatement of the power of\nindicating the requisite letters. (Description of Plate I, par. _e_.)\n\n221. While the process still proceeded under these conditions, Mrs.\nEustis, having placed her hand upon the surface of the board lever,\nalleged that she felt it imparting motion to her hand.\n\n222. Dr. W. F. Channing has since informed me that Mrs. Eustis\u2019s\naccount of these manifestations, as given to him, coincide with those\ngiven to him by me.\n\n223. Sometime after this feat was performed through Mrs. Hayden, I\ninquired of my sister if she could not perform it through an excellent\nmedium under whose influence communications were making at the time of\nthis inquiry. It was replied that Mrs. Eustis being unconsciously to a\ncertain extent a medium herself, the power of Mrs. Hayden was augmented\nby her presence.\n\n224. But as respects the selection of letters without the assistance\nof the eyes of the medium, I have had many instances of this being\ndone, although the facility of its performance is various, not only\nwith different media and with different spirits, but likewise when\nthe spirit and medium are the same: it varies with the state of the\nmedium. I sat more than an hour with an accomplished medium, during\nan excessively hot evening, without receiving any communication; in\nconsequence, as I supposed, of the effect of the heat upon her organism.\n\n225. The interposition of water contained in a glass vase, upon the\nbroad part of the lever actuating the index, so that the hands of the\nmedium can touch nothing but the water, has an effect analogous to\nthe lifting of the hand as above described, since the only difference\nin the conditions is, that in the one case there is air, in the other\nwater, interposed.\n\n226. It has been stated that, by the interposition of water, the power\nof actuating the index was paralyzed; yet merely warming the water\nenabled the manifestation to proceed, so as to empower the spirit to\nspell such names as were called for. (210.)\n\n227. In one instance, I took a book from my pocket which the medium had\nnever seen, and opened it at a page where the heading \u201cPublisher\u2019s\nPreface\u201d was conspicuous, without allowing the medium to see any thing\nmore than the back of the book. Holding the page exposed to the disk,\nthe spirit spelt out \u201c_Publish_\u2014,\u201d and then seemed unable to proceed.\nMeanwhile, the medium called to her little son to be quiet; forthwith\nthe deficient letters, _ers_, were supplied, so as to finish the word\n\u201c_Publisher\u2019s_.\u201d\n\n228. The medium alleged that her mind was imbued with the idea that the\nword \u201cpublishing\u201d was coming forth, and with a view to aid the spirit,\nlent some muscular aid to the letters necessary to complete that word;\nbut attention to her child causing her mind to be withdrawn, the spirit\nimmediately selected the letters above indited. On the same occasion I\nopened the same book, keeping the back toward the medium, opposite to\nan engraving of Jefferson: immediately, Jefferson was spelt out.\n\n229. On my way to Boston, I visited Mrs. Ann Leah Brown, formerly Miss\nFox. At about eight in the morning, I found her under very unfavourable\ncircumstances: Mrs. Brown had been watching the previous night with a\nsick child. Nevertheless, considering me as an advocate of the cause of\ntruth, a short sitting was given to me, during which my faithful spirit\nsister manifested herself by comparatively loud knockings.\n\n230. Through this I learned that Mrs. Brown was not in condition\nto make it expedient to resort to her mediumship then, had not the\nnecessity of attending to her sick child formed a sufficient impediment.\n\n231. On my return from Boston, I called again on this interesting\nmedium, and then saw a table, situated at the distance of more than a\nfoot from her person, which was quiescent, make a movement to and fro\nof at least eight inches. Moreover, as I sat on the opposite side of an\nintervening table, I felt unexpectedly a slight touch against my leg as\nif by a human finger.\n\n232. During this visit, Mrs. Brown created much interest by giving a\nbrief account of the trials which herself and her sister had undergone,\nbeing on the one hand urged to give their services to the community,\nas the means of promoting truth, while on the other they were treated\nas impostors or jugglers. The impression left on my mind was extremely\nfavourable as respects Mrs. Brown\u2019s sincerity in her Spiritualism and\nin her goodness of heart.\n\n233. In consequence of her invitation, I attended a circle at her\nhouse a few days subsequently, when I saw, in addition to all the\nusual manifestations, the following for the first time: Under a table\naround which the party was seated, a sheet of paper was deposited on\nthe carpeted floor. A pencil was placed upon the paper; soon after, on\nexamination, I found my name scrawled thereon.\n\n234. Two small bells situated upon the floor beneath the table were\nrung, and subsequently it was found that one of them had been lifted\nand seated on the other.\n\n235. My spirit sister has since informed me that my name was written\nupon the paper by my spirit friend William Blodget.\n\n236. While at Boston, having read to a friend a communication from my\nfather through a writing medium, I placed it in one of my pockets,\nand proceeded to the Fountain Inn. When there, I felt for it without\nsuccess. Unexpectedly, I went to Salem by the cars, and returned the\nsame evening. On undressing myself the scroll was missing, and I\ninferred that it had been lost between the place where it had been read\nand the inn above named, where I felt for it unsuccessfully. On going\nnext morning to Mrs. Hayden\u2019s, and my spirit father reporting himself,\nI inquired whether he knew what had become of the scroll. It was\nanswered, that it had been left upon the seat in the car on my quitting\nit at Salem.\n\n237. Inquiring of the conductor, who was on duty in the car where it\nhad been left, he said that it had been found on the seat, was safe\nat Portland, and should be returned to me next day. This promise was\nrealized.\n\n238. On one occasion, sitting at the disk with Mrs. Hayden, a spirit\ngave his initials as C. H. Hare. Not recollecting any one of our\nrelations of that name precisely, I inquired if he were one of them.\nThe reply was affirmative. \u201cAre you a son of my cousin Charles Hare,\nof St. Johns, New Brunswick?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d was spelled out. This spirit then\ngave me the profession of his grandfather, also that of his father, and\nthe fact of the former having been blown into the water at Toulon, and\nof the latter having made a miraculous escape from Verdun, where he had\nbeen confined until his knowledge of French enabled him to escape by\npersonating in disguise an officer of the customs. Only one mistake was\nmade in referring to my English relatives, respecting an uncle\u2019s name.\nOther inquiries were correctly answered.\n\n239. Subsequently, the brother of this spirit made us a visit in\nPhiladelphia, and informed us that the mundane career of his brother\nCharles Henry, had been terminated by shipwreck some few years anterior\nto the visit made, as mentioned, to me.\n\n240. No one being present beside myself, and the medium ignorant of\nLatin, my father spelt out upon the disk the words he had pointed\nout to me in Virgil more than fifty-five years ago, as expressive of\nthe beating Entellus gave Dares, as described by Virgil\u2014\u201c_pulsatque\nversatque_;\u201d also the word which so much resembles the sound of\nhorses\u2019 hoofs trampling on the ground, \u201c_Quadrupedante_.\u201d\n\n241. A spirit of the name of Powel tendered his services, and undertook\nto spell Cato, but instead of that name, Blodget, my friend, occupied\nthe disk, and spelt his own name, and afterward Cato. On the same\noccasion Blodget spelt out and designated words without the medium\nseeing the alphabet.\n\n242. The employment of letters to express ideas neither existing in the\nmind of the medium nor in mine, cannot evidently be explained by any\npsychological subterfuge. The name Blodget being indicated by reference\nto the alphabet, instead of Cato, which was promised, precludes the\nidea that it was learned from the mind of any mortal present.\n\n243. It must be manifest that the greatest difficulty which I had to\novercome during the investigation of which the preceding pages give a\nhistory, arose from the necessity of making every observation under\nsuch circumstances as to show that I was not deceived by the media.\n\n244. But having latterly acquired the powers of a medium in a\nsufficient degree to interchange ideas with my spirit friends, I am\nno longer under the necessity of defending media from the charge of\nfalsehood and deception. It is now my own character only that can be in\nquestion.\n\n245. Upon this the occurrence of the manifestation to which I am about\nto allude rests. (Reference to this has been made in the Introduction\nto this work, 115.)\n\n246. The fact that my spirit sister undertook at one o\u2019clock, on the\n3rd of July, 1855, to convey from the Atlantic Hotel, Cape May Island,\na message to Mrs. Gourlay, No. 178 North Tenth street, Philadelphia,\nrequesting that she would induce Dr. Gourlay to go to the Philadelphia\nBank to ascertain the time when a note would be due, and report to me\nat half-past three o\u2019clock; that she did report at the appointed time;\nand that on my return to Philadelphia, Mrs. Gourlay alleged herself to\nhave received the message, and that her husband and brother went to the\nbank in consequence. With the idea received by the latter, my sister\u2019s\nreport coincided agreeably to his statement to me. All this proves\nthat a spirit must have officiated, as nothing else can explain the\ntransaction.\n\n247. The note clerk recollects the application, but does not appear to\nhave felt himself called upon to take the trouble to get the register,\nwhich was not in his hands at the time. Hence the impression received\nby the applicants was not correct, but corresponded with the report\nmade to me by my sister, which differed from the impression on my\nmemory, and of course, was not obtained from my mind.\n\n\n               HYMN CHANTED TO MY SISTER, AND HER REPLY.\n\n248. My sister having mentioned her name in the spheres, to be Queen of\nFlowers. I substituted this name translated into Latin in the Sicilian\nMariners\u2019 Hymn, replacing virgo by soror, the Latin for sister; seraph\nfor mater; bonissima for piissima; carissima for purissima; and cura\nfor ora. It then read as follows:\u2014\n\n248. Oh! bonissima, oh! carissima\n     Dulcis soror, amata\n     Florum regina\n     In c\u0153lo cognita\n     Cura, Cura, pro nobis\n     Cura, cura, pro nobis\n     Seraph amata intemerata\n     Cura, cura, pro nobis.\n\n249. As soon as this was chanted, the following reply was given through\nthe spiritoscope, at which I was sitting with Mrs. Gourlay as medium:\n\n250. \u201cDEAR BROTHER:\u2014I answer your prayer by saying I do watch over\nyou, and pray for your welfare. I am grateful for your remembrance, and\nshall strive to deserve it. O! brother, our cause is a common one, and\nwe feel the same interest in its promulgation. I am daily striving to\ndisseminate its truths, but can make little progress, having so much\nignorance to contend against. I know that the truths of progression,\nwith the help of a good and wise God, will ultimately prevail over all\nthe land; but when that happy time comes to earth, your freed spirit\nwill rove the endless fields of immortality with those loved friends\nwho have gone a little while before. Then will we revel in delights\nwhich, in comparison with earth\u2019s joys, are far more beautiful and\nsublime. I wish you could look with the eye of prescience, and see that\nglorious time, when all nations shall become as a band of brothers.\u201d\n\n\n          CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\n\n\n251. The evidence of the manifestations adduced in the foregoing\nnarrative does not rest upon myself only, since there have been persons\npresent when they were observed, and they have in my presence been\nrepeated essentially under various modifications, in many instances,\nnot specially alluded to.\n\n252. The evidence may be contemplated under various phases: First,\nthose in which rappings or other noises have been made, which could\nnot be traced to any mortal agency; secondly, those in which sounds\nwere so made as to indicate letters forming grammatical, well-spelt\nsentences, affording proof that they were under the guidance of some\nrational being; thirdly, those in which the nature of the communication\nhas been such as to prove that the being causing them must, agreeably\nto accompanying allegations, be some known acquaintance, friend, or\nrelative of the inquirer.\n\n253. Again, cases in which movements have been made of ponderable\nbodies, either without any human contact, or with such contact as could\nnot be productive of the resulting motion.\n\n254. Cases in which such movements of bodies have been of a nature to\nproduce intellectual communications, resembling those obtained as above\nmentioned by sounds.\n\n255. Although the apparatus by which these various proofs were\nattained, _with the greatest possible precaution and precision_,\nmodified them as to the manner; essentially all the evidence which I\nhave obtained, tending to the conclusions above mentioned, has likewise\nbeen substantially obtained by a great number of observers. Many who\nnever sought any spiritual communication, and have not been induced\nto enroll themselves as spiritualists, will nevertheless not only\naffirm the existence of the sounds and movements, but also admit their\ninscrutability.\n\n256. But we have now, in a matter-of-fact, business-like publication,\nby E. W. Capron, a record of the original manifestations at Hydesville\nand Rochester, in New York; where, as it is well known, they produced\nintense interest, excitement, and controversy; which gave rise to\nsuccessive town-meetings, and the appointment of committees by these\nmeetings for the purpose of ascertaining whether any other cause could\nbe discovered for the manifestations, except the spiritual beings who\nassumed them to be their doings. Some of the persons appointed to make\nthe investigation, were prepossessed with the belief that the phenomena\nwere due to some juggling contrivance. One alleged that he would\nthrow himself over the Genesee Falls, or prove the knockings due to\nhumbuggery. Another alleged that the media, aware of his prepossession,\nwould not for one hundred dollars have him on the committee; yet both\nthese persons being put on the committee, the latter came out in favour\nof the inscrutability of the noise; while the former neither accounted\nfor it, \u201c_nor threw himself over the falls_,\u201d as Mr. Capron pointedly\nalleges.\n\n257. Subsequently, in the city of New York, the mystery was subjected\nto the ordeal of a public investigation by a number of distinguished\ncitizens, whose reports confirmed those of the Rochester committees.\nFennimore Cooper was among those appointed on the New York committee,\nand was the means himself of obtaining an unequivocal test. His\nsister\u2019s death, which had resulted from being thrown from a horse, was\ncorrectly stated by her spirit in every particular, in reply to mental\ninquiries by him made.\n\n258. Again at Stratford, Connecticut, at a house of a minister of the\ngospel, manifestations were made fully as striking as those which had\noccurred at Hydesville and Rochester, so as to establish in the mind of\nthis estimable clergyman, and in those of many others acquainted with\nthe facts, a belief in spiritual agency. (1667)\n\n\n _Corroborative evidence by the Rev. Allen Putnam, of Roxbury, Mass._\n\n259. As affording support to the testimony which I have given, I\ndeem it expedient to cite that of the Rev. Allen Putnam, formerly a\nUnitarian clergyman and preacher in Augusta, Maine, having been in the\nlegislature of that State, and for some time editor of the New England\nFarmer. Mr. Putnam had the advantage of a theological and collegiate\neducation at Harvard. I heard an able and erudite lecture from this\nworthy spiritualist, at Boston last October.\n\n260. Mr. Putnam entered upon the investigation of the manifestations in\nJuly, 1852, nearly eighteen months before my investigation commenced.\nLike me, he began as an unbeliever, and was converted by communications\nreceived from the spirits of his wife and relatives, who had left this\nlife. In a company ignorant of the fact that he had married twice, his\nfirst wife had made herself known to him, so as to create a conviction\nof her identity.\n\n261. In the next place, his ancestors communicated with Mr. Putnam, so\nas to satisfy his mind that they were the beings they professed to be.\nI do not enter into the detail of the facts which created conviction in\nthe mind of this respectable observer; my object is to show that other\nminds have gone through the process which has influenced mine, in order\nthat sceptics may not \u201clay the flattering unction to their souls\u201d\nthat \u2019tis my _madness_ speaks in _favour_, not their _prejudices_\nthat speak _against_, the conclusions in which investigators of sound\nunderstanding have concurred.\n\n262. Mr. Putnam alleges: \u201cSome uncommon movements have occurred in my\npresence. I have seen a table moved without any visible power applied\nto it.\u201d\n\n263. The following narrative is taken from the pamphlet published by\nthe author in question. It is quite characteristic of the variety of\ncharacter found in the spheres. This juvenile spirit owed his education\nentirely to his schooling in the spirit world. It will be perceived\nthat he died while yet an infant. (Page 34, Paragraph 3.)\n\n264. \u201cEntering a medium\u2019s room one morning, I saw a gentlemanly,\nintelligent man, apparently about thirty, sitting at the table and\nputting questions. Soon a tiny rap was heard, and the name Natty was\nspelled out. \u2018Who are you?\u2019 said the man. \u2018I am your brother;\u2019 was the\nanswer. \u2018No,\u2019 said the man, \u2018I had no such brother.\u2019 \u2018You had,\u2019 said\nthe rapper. \u2018No,\u2019 said the man. \u2018Yes,\u2019 said the other. \u2018Well, let us\nsee,\u2019 added the man. \u2018How old were you, Natty, when you died?\u2019 \u2018Five\ndays,\u2019 was the answer. \u2018How long since you died?\u2019 \u2018Thirty-five years.\u2019\nThe gentleman here bit his lip in thought, and said\u2014\u2018I believe there\nwas an infant brother who died before I was born, but I thought they\ncalled him Oliver.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 was the response, \u2018they called him Natty,\nand I am he.\u2019 \u2018Natty,\u2019 said the man, \u2018how do you know that I am your\nbrother?\u2019 \u2018By love,\u2019 he answered. \u2018By love?\u2019 said the questioner; \u2018but\ndon\u2019t you love others as well as relatives?\u2019 Ans. \u2018We like others, and\nlove relatives!\u2019 \u2018What,\u2019 it was then asked\u2014\u2018what is the difference\nbetween love and like?\u2019 The word LOVE was immediately written in large\nletters, two or three inches long, and _like_ was traced under it in\n_very small_ letters. \u2018Natty,\u2019 continued the man, \u2018you are not my\nbrother, but are some one else, attempting to impose upon me.\u2019 \u2018I am\nyour brother,\u2019 was the earnest rejoinder. \u2018Then, will you tell me what\nsphere you are in?\u2019 \u2018The fourth,\u2019 he said. \u2018The fourth, ah? Now I\u2019ve\ncaught you\u2014for as you died in infancy, you was fitted for the seventh\nsphere when you left the earth.\u2019 \u2018I have been there;\u2019 was the response.\n\u2018Have been there, and yet are now in the fourth! how is that? are you\nmoving backward? coming down?\u2019 \u2018No, I am an adviser in the fourth.\u2019\n\u2018Adviser! what is that? a sort of superintendent?\u2019 \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Oh! you are\nin office, then?\u2019 \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Do you get any pay? We pay well for such\nthings here.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I get pay.\u2019 \u2018What pay?\u2019 \u2018The pleasure of seeing\nthose under me progress.\u2019\n\n265. \u201cI then said to the gentleman stranger, \u2018Sir, you have found your\n_match_, if not your brother. I think I would own the relationship;\u2019\nand in continuance I remarked, that this seemed to be a very bright,\ncheerful spirit; when there was written\u2014\u2018I am always laughing.\u2019\n\n266. \u201cMy next remark was\u2014\u2018Natty, I should like to make your\nacquaintance.\u2019 \u2018Hand out your card;\u2019 was the instant response. Finding\nno card in my pocket, I wrote, secretly, on a slip of paper\u2014\u2018Mr. Allen\nPutnam, Eustis St., Roxbury\u2019\u2014turned the paper over, placing the writing\ndown upon the table, kept my hand over the paper, and asked Natty to\nmake a copy. Instantly the medium\u2019s hand wrote\u2014Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox.\nThe writing on my paper had been seen by me alone, and I was looking\nfor a copy in full, but received only abbreviations, and those of\nevery word, Eustis being reduced to the letter U. This closed my first\ninterview with him.\n\n267. \u201cSome weeks afterward, when he was forgotten, the medium\u2019s hand\nwrote, \u2018Mr. A. P., U. St. Rox.\u2014I have used your card.\u2019 \u2018Natty,\u2019 said\nI, \u2018as you left the earth when very young, I would like to know how\nyou learned the English language.\u2019 He answered, \u2018My mother knew it,\nI think;\u2019 and asked, \u2018Will you let my mamma come?\u2019 \u2018Certainly, with\npleasure.\u2019 And the following was written:\n\n268. \u201c\u2018My friend, you must not be angry with my darling boy. It\nofttimes grieves me to have him, so pure, use such wild phrases. I am\nyour friend, as a soldier in the cause.         ELIZABETH Y-\u2014-.\u2019\n\n269. \u201cVery often this little bright spark comes out with something\nunexpected, amusing, or witty; but at all times he manifests a\nvery marked disposition to be obliging and kind. Once, when his\ncommunication seemed to be closed, I said, \u2018You are not going, Natty?\u2019\n\u2018Yes\u2014gone\u2014don\u2019t you see the dust fly?\u2019 \u2018Where,\u2019 I asked, \u2018do you pick\nup such phrases?\u2019 \u2018Hear \u2018um.\u2019\n\n270. \u201cOn another occasion he said, \u2018My friend, you must not put on a\nlong face when you come to talk with supposed ghosts. You must not\nbelieve all they tell you to. You must not go to the end of the world\nand jump off, because they tell you to.\u2019\n\n271. \u201cWhen once I said to him, \u2018How do you go to work, Natty, to use a\nmedium\u2019s hand?\u2019 He said, \u2018Why, you see, we just passes a chain of light\naround the wrist, and that sets it to shaking. The next operation is\nto make it write, of course. Sometimes the words are allowed to pass\nthrough the brains. We now have such a power over this medium, that we\ncan make her shake awfully.\u2019 \u2018Try my wrist, Natty,\u2019 said a lady who\nwas present. \u2018Dear, beloved aunty, I\u2019ve got a peck of love for you, but\nI can\u2019t make you trace my purified thoughts on the clean paper.\u2019\u201d\n\nFor those who endeavour to get rid of the evidence of respectable\nwitnesses, such as Mr. Putnam, by representing them as dupes, and the\nmedia as impostors, it may be well to quote the following passage from\nthe same publication: (Page 44.)\n\n272. \u201cWithin the last fourteen months I have seen twenty-two or three\ndifferent mediums\u2014all but four of them private ones\u2014taking no pecuniary\ncompensation; and more than half of them are our own citizens, several\nof whom are now present in this assembly. I have spent very many hours\nin their presence. Have seen them at their homes\u2014at my own home\u2014and in\nthe parlours of neighbours and friends. I have met and watched them\nin the broadest sunlight and at evening. Every desirable opportunity\nhas been furnished me for detecting machinery, jugglery, or imposture,\nand I have faithfully, but in vain, strove to find something mundane\na sufficient cause for all these wonders. That trick or humbug is\nsometimes attempted by pretenders to uncommon susceptibilities, no one\nwill have a wish to deny. But very many of the mediums, private ones,\nare as much above these things as are the very best persons among the\nwitnesses.\n\n273. \u201cOne medium, an active, energetic business man, of more than sixty\nyears, has submitted himself to be used by me at any time, however\nsuddenly called upon, whether in his counting-room or in mine,\u2014whether\ncalled in his shirt sleeves from the woodpile, or coalbin, or dressed\nup and ready for company; and I have used him and watched him daily\nalmost, and that through several successive months. Many mediums have\nbeen watched for long periods, and under quite varied circumstances;\nand, though the power exerted through any of them is very far from\nbeing uniform, and though the mode of manifestation is in no two alike,\nyet I have seen no sign of its being anywhere applied by machinery; or\nof its being varied by any preparation or act of the mediums themselves.\n\n274. \u201cThey deny, one and all, young and old, educated and ignorant\nalike\u2014they all deny, and that, too, in the most private and friendly\ncircles, where all the thoughts flow out,\u2014they all deny that they\nexercise their wills at all in the production of these wonders. And I\ncannot rate that fairness very high which, in the face of such a fact,\nwill persist in saying that all of it is trick, imposture, humbug. More\nthan one hundred thousand witnesses have looked on, and yet are unable\nto prove to any extent the cheats alleged. More than five thousand\nmediums in this country unitedly and persistedly declare that they use\nno machinery and practice no trick.\u201d\n\n275. This charge is utterly futile when we see persons in affluence\nconverted by their own mediumship, as in the case of two of my most\nesteemed friends.\n\n276. My conversion was effected before I attended any public medium. To\nthe ladies by whom it was effected my requisitions could only have been\nonerous, had not the desire for truth to oblige me been a strong motive\nfor the pains which they were made to take.\n\n277. It does not seem sufficiently understood by those who object to\nSpiritualism, upon the ground of the inconsistency of the opinions\ngiven by spirits, that our next state of existence is one of\nprogression, and that we go there with all our imperfections, which are\nremoved more or less slowly.\n\n278. \u201cMany men, many minds,\u201d is an old adage: it is equally true as\nrespects the inhabitants of the spirit world, excepting that as their\nelevation in that world is higher, accordance in opinion is more\nprevalent. In the spirits of the fifth sphere, and those above that\nsphere, I find little diversity in important facts or doctrines.\n\n279. Allusion is made to this diversity in some communications from\nFranklin, to Mr. Putnam, which are as follows:\n\n280. \u201cThe mortals of earth expect truth from the spirit land; they\nthink that it is perfect, and that the angels are omnipotent. Oh, how\nfar do they wander in the darkness of their own minds! The spirit home\nis _progressive_, like unto this: the canting hypocrite passes into the\nheavens with the same thoughts; the simple babe too passes into this\nnew-born life with all its childlike innocence. Each one has to mount\nthe ladder of progression.\u201d\n\n281. \u201cThere are millions in the spirit world that know not of the\nexistence of this planet, even as the children of this earth know not\nof the starry world above. But on beholding angels descend to this\nhidden planet, they follow, and in wonderment behold a new world, and\nthat world inhabited. Then do they find whence they originated.\n\n282. \u201cAllusion has been made to the one-sided support given to\nSpiritualism on the part of those who admit many of the most important\nfacts, yet do not ascribe them to the spirits of the departed. These\nopponents were alleged to be of different features; one ascribing\nthem to Satan, the other disputing their spiritual origination,\nbecause agreeably to their _imperfect_ information, certain traits\nwere found to be deficient which should exist, were the intellectual\ncommunications due to the spirits of our departed fellow-creatures.\nThe idea of these spiritual manifestations owing their existence to\nSatan has already been noticed, (88,) but from the communications which\nwill be given in this work must appear still more untenable than they\nhave, as I trust, been proved to be. As one of the most respectable of\nthese, who deny the existence of spirits, the distinguished Dr. Bell,\nof Somerville, Massachusetts, has been noticed. (110.)\n\n283. \u201cIt is conceived that Dr. Bell\u2019s positive evidence in favour of\nphenomena which he has seen, gives so much more weight in favour of\nthe existence of spirits than his arguments on negative grounds, as to\nwhat he happens not to have seen or learned, that I will quote here\nhis account of the manifestations which he has described, after having\nobserved them with great circumspection:\n\n284. \u201cDr. Bell commenced (at a meeting of hospital directors) by\nexpressing his surprise that at the meeting, last year, of so large\na number of persons whose lives were spent in investigating the\nreciprocal influences of mind and body, scarcely a single member had\ngiven a moment\u2019s attention to a topic directly in their path, which,\nwhether regarded as merely an epidemic mental delusion, or as a new\npsychological science, was producing such momentous effects upon the\nworld. It was now said to number over two millions of believers, had\nan extended literature, a talented periodical press in many forms, and\nhad certainly taken fast hold on many minds of soberness and power. He\nwas well aware how easily it was turned to ridicule, and that there\nwere many who would be ready to ask, when they saw hospital directors\nseriously discussing the spiritual phenomena, _Quis custodiet ipsos\ncustodes?_\n\n285. \u201cBut if there was any class of men who had duties in this\ndirection, it was those of our specialty. Our reports contain the\nrecord of many cases of insanity said to be produced by it. It was\nimportant, whether true or false, or mixed, that its precise depth,\nlength, and nature should be studied out. As is well known, mystery\nalways loses its terrific character when boldly met and opened to the\nlight of noonday.\n\n286. \u201cDr. Bell remarked, that on his return home from our meeting at\nWashington, he had a peculiar wish to verify his previous observations\non what are technically known as the physical manifestations of this\nnew science. He could not pretend that he could doubt his repeated\npersonal observations, addressed to his sight, hearing, and touch, and\nseparated, as he believed, from any possibility of error or collusive\nfraud. Yet the offer, by Professor Henry, of a large sum to any\nperson who would make one of _his_ tables move _in_ the Smithsonian\nInstitution, and the obvious incredulity of many of the \u2018brethren,\u2019 had\ninduced the desire again to see some full and unequivocal experiment in\n_table-moving_.\n\n287. \u201cAn opportunity was not long wanting. On the occasion of the\nvisit of a well-known gentleman, long connected with the insane, and\nwho never had seen any of these phenomena at the asylum, Dr. Bell\ninvited him to go to a family where a medium of considerable power\nwas visiting. The family was one of the most respectable of the\nvicinage, the head of it being a gentleman intrusted with millions of\ndollars of other people\u2019s money, as the financial manager of a large\nbanking institution. He and his wife had for some years been perfectly\nconvinced of the spiritual character of these manifestations. The\nmedium was a young lady of eighteen or twenty, of very slight figure,\nweighing eighty or ninety pounds, and had discovered herself to be\na _medium_ while on a visit to these distant relatives. A family,\nfrom character and position, more entirely beyond the suspicion of\neven winking at any thing like fraud or irregularity, does not exist\nin the world. They were so fortunate as to find the medium at home,\nand the circle was made of the five persons mentioned. The ordinary\nmanifestations of raps, beating of musical tunes, and responses to\nmental and spoken questions, were very completely presented, as well\nas the movements of the table under the mere contact of fingers\u2019 ends.\nFinding that things appeared very favourable to a full exhibition\nof what he wished to see, as evinced by the very facile movements\nof the table under contact, Dr. Bell proposed trying the grand\n_experimentum crucis_ of the physical manifestations\u2014the movement\nof the table without any human contact, direct or indirect. He was\npermitted to arrange things to suit himself, and began by opening\nthe table more widely, and inserting two movable table-leaves, which\nincreased the length from about six to perhaps nine or ten feet. This,\nhe felt, also gave him an opportunity to see and upset all wires and\nmechanism concealed, or, at least, to answer positively as to their\nnon-existence. The table was a solid structure of black walnut, with\nsix carved legs, the whole of such a weight that when the castors were\nall in the right line of motion, he could just start it by the full\ngrasp of the thumb and fingers of both hands.\n\n288. \u201cThe persons stood on the _sides_ of the table, three and two, and\nback from its edge about eighteen inches. As Dr. Bell is some six feet\ntwo inches in height, he averred that he had no difficulty in seeing\n_between_ the table and the persons of all present. The hands were\nraised over it at about the same height, of a foot and a half.\n\n289. \u201cAt a request, the table commenced its motion, with moderate\nspeed, occasionally halting, and then gliding on a foot or two at once.\nIt seemed as if its motion would have been continuous, if the hands\nabove it had followed along _pari passu_. On reaching the folding-doors\ndividing off the two parlours, and which were open, it rose over an\niron rod on which the door-trucks traversed, and which projected half\nor three-quarters of an inch above the level of the carpet. It then\nentered the other parlour, and went its whole length until it came near\nthe pier glass at its end\u2014a centre-table having been pushed aside by\none of the party to allow its free course.\n\n290. \u201cAt request, for they during this time spoke as if to actual\nbeings, the motion was reversed, and it returned until it again reached\nthe iron rod. Here it stuck. The table hove, creaked, and struggled,\nbut all in vain; it could not surmount the obstacle. The medium was\nthen \u2018impressed by the spirits\u2019 to write, and seizing a pencil, hastily\nwrote that if the fore legs were lifted over the bar, they (_i. e._ the\nspirits) thought they could push the others over. This was done, and\nthe motion kept on. Once or twice Dr. Bell requested all to withdraw\na little farther from the table, \u2018to see how far the influence would\nextend.\u2019 It was found that whenever a much greater distance, say two\nfeet, was reached, the movement ceased, and a delay of three or four\nminutes occurred before it recommenced, giving the idea that, if broken\noff, a certain reaccumulation of force was needful to put it in motion\nagain. The table reached the upper end of the parlour, from which\nit had started, but was left some four feet from the medial line of\nthe room. Dr. Bell expressed the thanks of the company for the very\ncomplete exhibition with which they had been favoured, but remarked\nthat the obligation would be enhanced if the \u2018spirits\u2019 would move the\ntable about four feet at right angles, so that the chairs would come\nright for their late occupants. This was immediately done, and the\nperformance was deemed so perfectly full and satisfactory that nothing\nmore was asked at this session.\n\n291. \u201cDr. Bell was understood to say that this made some five or six\ntimes in which he had seen the table move without human contact, and\nall under circumstances apparently as free from suspicion as this\njust related. He also stated that the Rev. Mr. P., a clergyman of\nextraordinary sagacious perceptions and mechanical skill, took this\nsame medium to his own house, without previous thought, where she never\nbefore had been, and where his own table, in the presence of his own\nfamily alone, went through the fullest locomotion without human touch.\nDr. Bell mentioned that in his last experiment, that just narrated, the\nentire space moved through was over fifty feet.\n\n292. \u201cDr. Bell then passed to the topic of responses to mental and\nverbal questions, and gave several narratives of long conversations\nwith what purported to be the spirits of persons dead for twenty-five\nto forty years, in which every question he could devise relating to\ntheir domestic history, and to events in it known only to them and\nhim, had been truly answered. Some of the subjects put mentally\u2014_i.\ne._, without speaking or writing\u2014had half a dozen correct replies,\nforbidding, of course, completely, on any doctrine of chances, the\ncontingency of accident or coincidence, as such _mental_ questions,\n_per se_, negative the explanation of previous knowledge on the part of\nthe medium.\n\n293. \u201cA brief abstract of one of these will give a general idea of\ntheir character: Dr. Bell had frequently remarked to his \u2018spiritual\u2019\nfriends, that if any medium could reproduce the essential particulars\nof a final interview which had occurred between himself and a deceased\nbrother in 1826, he should be almost compelled to admit that it came\nfrom his spirit; because he was sure that he (Dr. Bell) never had\ncommunicated it to any living being. Hence, as it never had been known\nto but two persons, and was of so peculiar, well-marked a character, as\nnot to be capable of being confounded by generalities, he should hardly\nbe able otherwise to explain it. A few weeks afterward what purported\nto be the spirit of that brother narrated the essential particulars\nof that interview, the place where, down to the well-recollected\nfact _that he was adjusting the stirrups of his saddle_, preparatory\nto a distant journey, when it was held! Pretty early, however, in\nhis investigations, Dr. Bell began to find that, however correct his\nspiritual conferees were, in most of their responses, the moment a\nquestion was put involving a response the truth of which was unknown\nto him, uniform failure occurred. Sometimes, where he believed at the\ntime that his questions were truly answered, subsequent information had\nshown him that he had been mistaken. He had answers which he believed\nto be true, when the facts were decidedly otherwise.\n\n294. \u201cPursuing this train of inquiry, he found the \u2018spirits,\u2019 while\naverring that they could see him distinctly, \u2018face to face,\u2019 never\ncould read the signature to letters taken from an old file, and\nunfolded _without his having seen the writing_. Yet as soon as he had\ncast his eye upon the signature, without allowing any one else to\nsee it, it was promptly and correctly reproduced by the alphabetical\nrappings. And again, when he had made a previous arrangement with his\nfamily that they should do certain things every quarter of an hour at\nhome\u2014he, of course, not knowing what\u2014while he was to ask the \u2018spirit\u2019\nwhat was done at the instant, uniform failure occurred. He proved, too,\nthat the theory of the \u2018spiritualists\u2019 to meet such difficulties\u2014viz.,\nthat evil or trifling spirits interfered at _their_ end of the\ntelegraph\u2014was not tenable. For the responses just before and after\nthese gross failures had been eminently and wonderfully accurate, and\nthe \u2018spirits\u2019 not only declared that they saw with perfect clearness\nwhat was going on at his house, but denied that there had been any\ninterruption or interference.\n\n295. \u201cDr. Bell also gave examples where test questions, involving\nreplies _unknown_ to the interrogator, had been designedly intermixed\nwith those which were known. The result uniformly was, that the known\nresponses, however curious and far remote, were correctly reproduced;\nthe unknown were a set of perfectly wild and blundering errors, the\nresponses often being obviously formed out of the phraseology of the\nquestion, as a _stuck_ schoolboy guesses out a reply!\n\n296. \u201cThe result of the inquiries of Dr. Bell and his friends\u2014for\nseveral gentlemen of eminently fitting talents pursued the\ninvestigation with him\u2014was briefly this:\u2014_That what the questioner\nknows the spirits know; what the questioner does not know, the spirits\nare entirely ignorant of_. In other words, that there are really no\nsuperhuman agencies in the matter at all\u2014no connection with another\nstate of existence; but that it bears certain strong analogies to some\nof the experiences of _clairvoyance_, in that mysterious science of\nanimal magnetism, as it has been protruding and receding for the last\nhundred years. Dr. Bell thought there was some reason to believe that\nthe matter reproduced may come not only from the questioner, but if in\nthe mind of any one at the circle, that it might be evolved. He made\nsome observations upon the evidences of spirit existence, drawn from\nthe character of the matter communicated by the mediums in a state of\n_impression_, when, as it is believed, spirits express themselves\nthrough the human agent. Of course, the quality of such composition is\nmore or less a question of taste. Much of it is elevated, indicating\nhigh intellectual and moral capacities in the mind to which it owes\nits origin. Much more is absurd, puerile, and disgusting, infinitely\nbelow the grade of the human productions of the same persons from\nwhom it professedly comes. Yet the spiritual revelation has given us\nnothing of such extraordinary value or novelty as to stamp it, in the\njudgment of unprejudiced minds, as of supermundane production. Dr. Bell\nalluded to a treatise which had been put into his hands by an earnest\nspiritualist, purporting to be the work of Thomas Paine, the author\nof the Age of Reason, &c., which was thought would carry conviction\nto anybody, as it purported to be a full explanation of the formation\nand changes of this earth, by one who, from his _situs_, must know all\nabout it. The truth was, that the work was the production of some mind,\ncelestial or mundane, ignorant of the very first rudiments of chemical\nphilosophy, in which the most ridiculous blunders were made on every\npage in matters which are as demonstrable as mathematics, and where,\nof course, the answer cannot be made that the revelation was too high\nfor common readers. Nor does Dr. Bell believe, from his observations,\nthat the waters from this fountain ever reach a higher level than their\nsource. The most elevated specimen of the spiritual literature would\nno doubt be found in the communications from Swedenborg and Lord Bacon\nin Judge Edmond\u2019s and Dr. Dexter\u2019s first and second volumes. Yet,\nwhoever reads the very elegant and powerful preliminary treatise of\nthese gentlemen, which Dr. Bell thought would compare favourably with\nany writings of the kind ever published, would not be able to feel that\nSwedenborg and Lord Bacon, after their nearly one and more than two\ncenturies\u2019 residence, respectively, amid the culture and refined senses\nof the superior spheres, had more than equalled their unpretending\namanuenses still in the \u2018vale of tears.\u2019\n\n297. \u201cDr. Bell concluded by the expression of his full convictions\nthat, while the faith in spirits must be given up as being connected\nwith these facts, it was a topic, whether regarded as a physical\nnovelty or even as a delusion, cutting deeply into the very religious\nnatures of our people, which was worth our fullest examination. _There\nwere great, novel, interesting facts here._ They had not been treated\nfairly and respectfully, as they should have been. The effect was,\nthat the community, knowing that here were _facts_, if human senses\ncould be trusted at all, went away from those who should have thrown\nlight upon the mysteries, but who would or could not, to those who gave\nsome explanation, even if it was one which uprooted all previous forms\nof religious faith. He hoped that the members of this association,\nwho were as much required to examine this topic as any order of men,\nexcept, perhaps, the clergy, would not be afraid of looking it in the\nface from any apprehensions of ridicule or of degrading their dignity.\u201d\n\n298. After giving much evidence, showing that physical movements take\nplace without contact, and that communications were made to him which\ncould not have ensued without controlling reason, Dr. Bell finds that\nin certain instances which have come to his knowledge spirits could\nnot communicate information nor ideas which did not exist in his\nmind or that of some mortals present. Yet it appears that during a\nmanifestation which my learned friend witnessed, a request to lift the\nlegs of the table was given which did not occur to any mortal present.\n\n299. I have already given a brief reply to these objections of Dr.\nBell. Under this head I will only add my regret that my letter to\nthe Episcopal clergy, with a sketch of the information derived from\nmy spirit friends, had not fallen under Dr. Bell\u2019s notice before his\nconclusions were published. It will be seen that the information thus\nalluded to is irreconcilable with Dr. Bell\u2019s inferences. I shall,\nhowever, postpone this discussion until facts have been more fully\npresented to the reader. (866)\n\n\n                    FOREIGN CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE.\n\n _Some quotations from a work on Spiritual Philosophy, addressed to the\n Academy of Sciences at Paris, by James C. De Mirville._\u2014Third Edition.\n\n\n          _Manifestations which occurred in France, in 1851._\n\n300. There is a great resemblance between the manifestations which\nhave been described by Capron and others as having taken place at the\nmansion of the Rev. Dr. Phelps, at Stratford, Connecticut, and those\nwhich occurred in the Presbytery of Cideville in France, so as to be\nverified before a court. The facts in this last-mentioned case were\nverified by the testimony taken during a trial which grew out of the\ncircumstances. Some of the witnesses were persons distinguished by\ntheir high character and position in society. None had any interested\nmotives for stating them; but, on the contrary, had to meet the odium\nwhich falls upon all who tell truths conflicting with the prejudices of\nthe community within which they reside. Rochefoucault correctly urged\nthat it is more politic, to tell a probable lie than an improbable\ntruth.\n\n301. This impression I have seen to operate in making people backward\nto admit their belief in spiritual communication.\n\n302. It is remarkable that in the case at Cideville, signals as the\nmeans of intellectual communication were employed, independently of\ntheir employment made between two and three years before in New York.\nOf course, those who resorted to this expedient, might have heard\npreviously of the effort in the same way which had been successful in\nthis country The signs employed, however, differed. At Rochester _one\nrap_ was taken for _no_, _two_ for _doubtful_, _three_ for _yes_. At\nCideville _one rap_ was received for _yes_, and _two_ for _no_. At the\nformer place, the alphabet was directly referred to; at the latter,\nreference was made by figures indicating the place of the selected\nletter in the alphabetic card.\n\n303. Of this character is the admission of the Roman Church of\nthe spiritual origin of the manifestations; ascribed, however, to\n_diabolic_ agency. To this allusion has been already made; but I\nsubjoin some letters and expositions, translated from a French\nwork lately published on Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, and Spiritual\nManifestations.\n\n304. The following letters, taken from the work in question, will\nrequire no farther introduction.\n\n305. If the Roman clergy thus advance the inference that the\nmanifestations and intellectual communications come from spiritual\nagency, it will be easy for Spiritualism to show that it is vastly more\ndevoid of diabolic malevolence and inhumanity than the institutions\nsanctioned by that priesthood.\n\n\n                    _Letter from T. R. P. Ventura._\n\n306. \u201c_My Dear Sir_: When you came two years ago to consult me as to\nthe merit and propriety of your labours, I hesitated so much the less\nto encourage their publication, that having myself entertained the\nsame ideas for a long time, I had been several times on the point of\nproclaiming them from the sacred chair. I do not fear then to affirm\n\u2018that the publication of this important and serious work would be of\nincontestable usefulness, and tend strongly to enlighten opinion on a\nmass of curious facts, and thus prepare for the solution of high and\nimportant questions; for, I add, it is necessary that all the phases of\nthe subject should be first presented by the laity, in order that the\nchurch may thus be enabled to form their judgment with full knowledge\nof the case.\u2019\n\n307. \u201cI do not say enough, my dear sir, in pronouncing your work\n_useful_; I might have called it indispensable, had I foreseen the\napproaching invasion of that scourge which you so happily designate\nas a _spiritual_ epidemic: a scourge whose sudden and universal\npropagation, in my opinion, notwithstanding its appearance of\npuerility, will constitute ONE OF THE GREATEST EVENTS OF OUR AGE. But\nhow has it been both received and entertained?\n\n308. \u201cCommencing with your savans, it is impossible not to be alarmed\nby the obstinate incredulity which does not allow them to see what at\nthe present time can be confirmed by anybody. _Oculos habent et non\nvident._[9]\n\n309. \u201cThose individuals alarm me still more, who having given their\nattention, and of course seen, shake their heads as a sign of\nindifference and pity, as if the phenomenon exhibited was of a low\ncharacter and beneath their notice. When they have descended to the\nfoundation, they treat it with contempt.\n\n310. \u201cThen, finally, and very differently indeed, I feel myself frozen\nwith terror by certain dispensers of truth, who, in their blindness,\ntrifle without scruple with their most relentless enemies; so far have\nthey forgotten their most serious teachings.\n\n311. \u201cI do not profess to be a prophet, sir, and do not know what the\nmercy or justice of God is preparing for us; but, like you, I tremble\nfor the present, and hope for the future; for marvellous lessons are\nalready presented to us in these passing phenomena.\n\n312. \u201cIn fact, the justification of the church and of the faith are\nemanating from them: the definite condemnation of a fallen rationalism;\nand consequently, the approaching glorification of all the past in the\ntrue church, and even of that Middle Age, so calumniated, so ridiculed,\nand gratuitously endowed with so much darkness. The political events of\nthese latter times have to justify that Middle Age, as respects good\nsense in the affairs of government; and behold these facts of a nature\nentirely foreign, coming to avenge its accusation of superstitious\ncredulity. This reparation was necessary, and after all our own age has\nnothing to fear from it, for certainly it will not render injustice of\nany kind to the objective and useful progress of modern civilization.\n\n313. \u201cAs for yourself, sir, you will enjoy the honour of having\nbrought, by your luminous discussions, a large stone for the\nconstruction of this majestic edifice, and I rejoice in the\nencouragement I have given you. I need not enlarge on this subject, FOR\nSUCCESS HAS SPOKEN, and think I am sufficiently acquainted with you to\nknow that you did not anticipate one so brilliant. You have known how\nto engage the attention of the learned, and people generally, by making\nyour work attractive while it is instructive\u2014a quality sufficiently\nrare to claim my congratulations. I will only add another word: had\nthis work been confined to the notice of those phenomena whose advent\nwe deplore, it would probably share their fate; but what will secure\nits perpetuity is your discussion of medical science which you put in\napposition with your subject, and which will not long be able to resist\nthe severe stricture of your logic. Therefore, be assured, it will be\nthe learned, and especially physicians, that you will first convert\nto your doctrine. Philosophers will only surrender after them; but so\nfar there is no doubt that you will have given rise to most serious\nreflections in all of them.\n\n314. \u201cI will not speak to you at present of two or three observations\nwhich I have made in reading your book, which we will discuss _in\nprivate_, and which only relate to some inaccuracy of doctrine,\nforeign, besides, to the principal subject of your work.\n\n315. \u201cFinally, my dear sir, I do not doubt that the God of truth\nwill bless your labours. Continue them, for the subject is vast, and\nespecially do not suffer yourself to be discouraged by the reasoning\nof light minds, \u2018that in divulging all these things you favour\ntheir promulgation, when they had better be suppressed, &c. &c.\u2019 A\ngross error! They might as well accuse the doctors of causing the\ncholera. And, beside, it is worthy of remark that all the cases of\ninsanity lately developed in the midst of these exhibitions are due\nto thoughtless enthusiasm succeeding to an absolute state of doubt\nand disbelief. It could not well be otherwise; the prodigy which was\ndoubted yesterday, and to-day is firmly established, will to-morrow be\ntransformed into _God_. Truth alone is able to prevent and remedy such\ndisastrous mishaps.\n\n  Receive, my dear sir, the assurance, &c.,\n  LE P. VENTURA DE RAULICA,\n  _Former General of the Monks, Examiner of the Bishops and of the\n   Roman clergy_.\u201d\n\n\n                         _Letter of Dr. Coze._\n\n316. \u201c_Sir_:\u2014You do me the honour to ask my opinion of the book on _the\nSpirits_ which you have just published. That opinion I have already\nexpressed to our mutual friend, the good worthy doctor Paulin; and true\nit is, this book has made a strong impression on my mind, for I had\narrived at similar conclusions from the examination of some magnetic\nphenomena and _the moving of tables_. I find in your book a chain\nof very remarkable facts\u2014presented, too, with talent and clearness\nvery unusual in this sort of writing. I see, beside, that science is\nbrought back to the path which cannot mislead us to that of the sacred\nwritings; there, as I think, are to be found the true philosophy and\nthe true light.\n\n317. \u201cI do not fancy that my opinion can have any weight with the\nlearned world. If, however, you think proper to make this public,\nI consent with all my heart in behalf of a truth which you so well\ndefend, and THE SUCCESS OF WHICH APPEARS TO ME INFALLIBLE.\n\n  I have the honour to be, &c.,\n  R. COZE,\n  _Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Strasbourg_.\u201d\n\n\n                     _Letter of M. F. De Saulcy._\n\n318. \u201c_Sir_:\u2014You desire me to report to you my opinion in writing\nwhich I have formed as to the strange phenomena, to say the least of\nthem, which have been conventionally called _table turning_ and table\ntalking. I am not the man to recoil from what I regard as a truth,\nwhatever sarcasm may be reserved for such profession of faith, and\ntherefore proceed to satisfy your inquiry.\n\n319. \u201cIt is about eight or ten months since when the public of Paris\nwas agitated by the late arrival of the fact from America and Germany;\na fact which pure physics was not able to explain _a priori_. I did\nas many always do, and have no doubt done for a long time\u2014received\nthis account with the most determined incredulity, and, I confess,\nwith ridicule. I considered its adepts as charlatans or as simpletons,\nand refused for a long time to bestow on it the least attention. I\nbecame tired of the war, however, and after hearing many affirm, to\nwhom I could not apply these epithets, the reality of these facts, I\ndetermined to try for myself.\n\n320. \u201cMy son and a friend were my two companions: we had the patience\nfor forty-five minutes, seated at the table, to form what is called the\nchain, and were not a little surprised, I assure you, to see at the end\nof that time the table on which we were operating, and which was merely\nthe parlour dinner-table, begin to move, and after some hesitation\nto contract a rotary movement, which, accelerating, soon became very\nrapid. We endeavoured by pressing to make it strike against the bar and\narrest its motion, but could not succeed.\n\n321. \u201cAfter repeating the experiment two or three times, I sought to\nfind some cause in physics for the movement, and battled the whole\ntheory of Electro-Dynamics with the aid of an electroscope, compass,\niron-filings, iron, &c. As I could not detect the least trace of\nelectricity, I thought then of impulses due to the volition of the\noperators, and of which a sort of integration might cause the motion\nof the table. On that I stopped, and for several weeks did not give\nthe smallest attention to a phenomenon which did not seem to merit any\nfurther notice.\n\n322. \u201cFinally was commenced the faculty of _talking_, and I assure you\nmy incredulity was considerably greater than when its moving power was\nannounced. I was sparing, however, in my epithets, for I soon found\nmyself an investigator. I watched the rogues, as I suspected, for two\nhours, but left the room a full believer of its reality, without any\nfurther examination, confirmed too by all subsequent experiments. (1.)\n\n323. \u201cWhat could be said indeed of the fact witnessed together, that a\ncrayon, which was fastened to the leg of a table, wrote legible words,\nwhile we were pressing it down with our hands?\n\n324. \u201cIt was then, sir, that your book fell into my hands. I have read\nit with the most lively interest; have admired your erudition, and the\ncourage necessary at our epoch to treat such a subject.\n\n325. \u201cI believe in the existence of facts which often volition is\nunable to produce, and over which I declare that volition sometimes\nappears to have a manifest influence. I believe in the intervention of\nintelligence DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN, and which puts in action means\nalmost ridiculous.\n\n326. \u201cI believe that the Christian religion should not encourage the\npractice of these experiments. I believe there is danger in allowing\nthem to become a habit, and at least we may lose the little reason\nwhich has been granted man by the Giver of all things. I believe,\nfinally, that it is the duty of an honest man to dissuade others from\noccupying themselves with it, in preaching, by example, and not\nallowing it in the least to occupy himself.\n\n327. \u201cThis is the end I have reached after some months\u2019 experience;\nand, ask permission to close this letter, already too long, by\nrepeating a very wise saying of a man of high intelligence: \u2018Either\nthese phenomena are, or are not real; if not, it is disgraceful to lose\ntime with them; if they are, it is dangerous to invoke them and to make\nthem a pastime.\u2019\n\n  Please accept, &c.,\n  F. DE SAULCY,\n  _Member of the Institute_.\u201d\n\n\n                       _Spiritualism in Paris._\n\n               [See New York Reformer, September, 1853.]\n\n\u201cWe find the following article in the London Illustrated News of July\n23; it is an extract from the News\u2019 Paris correspondence:\u2014\n\n328. \u201c\u2018An immense sensation was caused here, a few days since, by a\nrevelation given on the authority of some of the most respected and\ninfluential members of the clergy, headed by the Archbishop of Paris,\non the subject of table movements. The archbishop, being questioned\nas to his opinion of the legitimacy, in a religious point of view,\nof attempting to communicate with spirits through the medium of the\ntables, alleged that he had not sufficiently studied the question to\nreply definitively; that he imagined that the effects produced were\nwholly of the nature of physical science, and in that case harmless;\nbut that, in order to form a judgment, he would attend a meeting\ncomposed of certain members of the clergy, at a place appointed to make\nthe usual experiments.\n\n329. \u201c\u2018The table being put in motion, one of the party demanded it in\nreply, by a certain number of raps, if there were a spirit present. The\nresponse was in the affirmative; and in answer to a second question,\nthe spirit represented herself, by raps indicating certain letters\nof the alphabet, to be that of _S\u0153ur Francoise_, deceased a week\npreviously at the convent of -\u2014-, Paris. The Abbe B-\u2014- stated that he\nhad confessed the _S\u0153ur Francoise_, who had, in fact, died at the time\nand place named. General consternation, as may be supposed, ensued when\nthe Abbe L-\u2014-, rising, commanded the spirit in the name of the Saviour\nto appear.\n\n330. \u201c\u2018The report declares that the spirit hereupon actually became\nvisible, and replied to a variety of questions put to it, but of what\nimport we are not informed. On the above details we do not pretend to\ngive either explanation or opinion.\n\n331. \u201c\u2018Such is the story as related by the members of the _Seance_,\ntwo of whom were so affected by the events related as to be some days\nseriously indisposed, one of them even confined to bed.\n\n332. \u201c\u2018Various narratives mention that, through the medium of the\ntables, communications are held with spirits of all nations. The\nspirits, happily, being excellent linguists, find no difficulty in\nexpressing themselves in any language chosen by the questioner, and\nreveal the secrets of the prison-house with a frankness, not to say\nindiscretion, that would shock the more reserved ghost in Hamlet, in no\nway confirming his statement of the horrors of their temporary abode.\nMany of them describe in glowing terms the beauties and delights of\ntheir celestial abodes.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n            SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY.\n\nTHE following contribution, under the preceding head, is translated by\nmy much esteemed friend, Dr. Geib, from the work of De Mirville, whence\nthe articles under the designation of FOREIGN COROBORATIVE EVIDENCE\nhave been obtained through the same able translator:\n\n333. \u201cToward the end of the year 1852 the epidemic had been imported\ninto the North of Scotland by some American mediums; thence it got to\nLondon, where, according to the latest accounts, it must have reached,\nby the present time, a pretty extensive development. Seeing its\nprogress in this way, we were led to say, If it ever reaches Germany,\nthat whole country will be on fire.\n\n334. \u201cThe religious gazette of Augsburg of June 18, 1853, contained an\narticle from which we make some extracts:\n\n335. \u201c\u2018Again the world is presented with various marvellous\nappearances, which, coming from elevated sources, force themselves on\npublic notice, and which, in every case, throw a very marked shadow on\nour own epoch of civilization. It may be appropriate to communicate\nsome of those found in the _Gazette G\u00e9n\u00e9rale_; and leaving reflection\nto the reader, we will give some of the most striking.\n\n336. \u201c\u2018_The Morgan Blatt_ (Morning Sheet) announces among its\nnovelties from Palatinat Rh\u00e9nan, the phenomenon of a young girl not\nyet pubescent, who, they say, is able at will to command a _rapping\nspectre_, (Klopferle.) The spectre raps as often as the little girl\norders him, being obedient in the extreme. What is remarkable is, that\nthe spectres of the Old World, as well as the New, have a _strong\nfamily likeness, being as much alike as two drops of water_. And\nthe Tribune of New York, printed in the German language, has lately\ncontained various communications on this subject. But whence come these\nrapping spectres, and why make their appearance all at once?\u2019\n\n337. \u201cThe Gazette of Augsbourg then refers to several other facts of\nthe same nature, which, at all times, have caused much embarrassment to\nthe German authorities, either in giving rise to lengthy inquests, or\nin causing the condemnation of persons proved afterward to be entirely\ninnocent; but as for those of the present time, it fully understands,\nproclaims, and demonstrates them to be of the _American Affiliation_.\n\n338. \u201cThe _Journal du Magnetisme_ of the 10th of March, 1853, had\nalready furnished us with the reported account given in the course\nof last January to the tribunal of London, by the _rapping spirit_\nof the house of Sanger; the same phenomena, the same stupefaction,\nthe same impossibility to discover the jugglers. However, the subject\nappeared to rest at this point in Germany, when, in the month of April,\nthe first phenomenon of _table moving_ reached Bremen, and then the\n_Augsbourg Gazette_ insisted on its true origin.\n\n339. \u201c\u2018For eight days previous,\u2019 it said, \u2018our good town has been in an\nagitation difficult to describe; it is completely absorbed by a miracle\nwhich was not thought of before the arrival of the steamer from New\nYork\u2014the Washington. The NEW PHENOMENON IS IMPORTED FROM AMERICA.\u2019\n\n340. \u201cNow a certain Doctor Andr\u00e9 was the first to describe this first\nexhibition of table turning; therefore they called it his _discovery_.\nWhat a discovery!\n\n341. \u201c\u2018Having formed a chain,\u2019 he says, \u2018of seven or eight persons, the\n_right_ little finger of each touching the _left_ one of his neighbour,\nthe table they surround will commence turning, and continue as long as\nthe chain remains unbroken, and stop when an individual leaves it.\u2019\n\n342. \u201cA general burst of pleasantry and incredulity first accompanied\nthe revelation of the doctor. But soon experiment begins, and laughter\ngives place to a sort of dejection. Certain savans, professors of the\nUniversity of Heidelberg, MM. Mittermouer and Zoepfl, M. Molh, brother\nof the member of the Institute, Eschenmajer, Ennemoser, and Kerner,\nattest the same facts; and Doctor L\u0153we of Vienna undertakes to give the\ntheory of it: \u2018This theory consists, according to him, in the opposite\npolarity of the right and left sides of the human body; hence, having\nformed a chain of human beings, the contrary poles of which, viz. the\nright and left, touch each other, and this chain, exerting upon any\nbody whatever a prolonged action, conveys to it an electric current,\nand converts it into a magnet, and thus polarization is established in\nthat body; and in virtue of its tendency to magnetic orientation, the\nsouth pole of the table impressing it with a movement to the north, the\nlatter commences a continued rotation, and turns on its axis as long as\nthe indispensable conditions are continued.\u2019\n\n343. \u201cUnfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with\nthese _indispensable conditions_. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and\nBerlin, there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French\npress observed a uniform inexplicable silence!\n\n344. \u201cWe ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold what\nbegan to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and hat\nturning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known when\nit appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of\nnature; and that tables never had any other destiny!\n\n345. \u201cAgain we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by\nwhich we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables,\nwhich, nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of a _vessel_\nand a medium? However, silence becoming impossible, the French press\nhas thought proper to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the\nEmpire, _Le Pays_, happened to inform us that \u2018from the Baltic to\nthe banks of the Danube, all Germany was in a fever.\u2019 It became then\nplainer and plainer that we were going to be infected, and from that\ntime we hastened to prepare our batteries.\n\n346. \u201cIt was high time, for about the end of April, the grand\nmysterious army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all\nthe large cities of France\u2014Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse,\n&c.\u2014the _turning_ epidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and\nbetter to impress the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables,\nhats, seats, &c., for all these participated in the demonstration.\n\n347. \u201cAt Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made\na pastime for a soir\u00e9e. Children were introduced into the circles,\nwithout considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with\nthese mysterious amusements.\n\n348. \u201cIt is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come\nnear them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an\nelectricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather?\n\n349. \u201cIt is true, too, that M. Rouilly, _ma\u00eetre de pension_ at Orleans,\nundertook to give an answer. In the _Moniteur due Loiret_, he informs\nus that \u2018at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young\nman of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs,\nand that his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful\nmanner, making as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able,\nhe said, to utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated\nman; it was necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still\nfelt some nervous trembling.\u2019 M. Rouilly ended in saying \u2018that he\nfelt it his duty to report this fact for the benefit of those who may\nenter into these experiments without knowing their possible serious\ninconveniences.\u2019 Little attention was paid to this, so much had fashion\nasserted empire, so much was this pleasure worth its cost.\n\n350. \u201cHowever, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed\nto ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the\nsavans say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric\nappearances? will their philosophy allow them to seek independently\nof the fluids, which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of\nsuch a variety of effects? No; they well know, however, that in the\nsciences\u2014medicine, for example\u2014every investigation that stops short\nof phenomena, is of very secondary value; we may be satisfied, for\nwant of better, but still we do not feel ourselves in possession of\nthe truth; we still seek it. Why in this case should we do otherwise?\nThese suppositions were just, but we say without hesitation our\nfantastic experimenters committed from the first an unpardonable fault,\nphilosophically speaking; that is, not to have taken the least notice\nof those facts from America which were beginning to sound in their ears\nfrom all sides. When we are visited by the plague, yellow fever, or\ncholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied in Egypt,\nSpain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at the place\nof their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination.\nWell! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would have seen\n_as clear as day_ that the _Augsbourg Gazette_ was right in telling\nthem that this _animal magnetizing_ was received direct from America.\nBut what shall we do? we take no pleasure _in looking_ at what we do\nnot want _to see_.\n\n351. \u201cHowever, this affiliation once well established, well understood,\nby thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have\nreached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited\nthemselves in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in\ntables or behind _partitions_, we could have seen immediately what\nmight be reserved for us for the future.\n\n352. \u201cBut rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is\ntoo gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it\nonly sees in this a _waggish_ electricity, and will never consent to be\npersuaded that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths,\nor rather at the side of such enormities in physics.\n\n353. \u201cAnd then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then\nwhat becomes of the _indispensable_ conditions of Dr. Andr\u00e9? that is to\nsay: \u2018All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.\u2019\n\n354. \u201cThis morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a\ncircle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the\ncircle continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for\nthe street, and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins\nto waltz, as if to bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics,\nwhat electricity! Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries\ndisinherited! Behold the city of Valence, who laboured all in her\npower, who followed with angelic patience all the prescriptions of\nthe new science; nothing could produce the phenomena. Is it that at\nValence, perchance, the human species has no electricity? Mon Dieu!\nit has electricity, but it is not of that accidental and local kind,\nthe real kind for the occasion, and which may be therefore denominated\n_erratic_; as the ancients called those gods that moved about from\nplace to place.\n\n355. \u201cNo, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with\nthe explanation of the _little fingers_, but soon perceives that these\nlittle fingers supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric\ntrough, and the chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also,\nthe chain was said to be very important; and the trough, magnet,\nsteel, glass pile all _necessary_ agents. Very well, what has now\nbecome of all these necessities? The magnetic effects exceed all those\nof that time, and notwithstanding they are not made any use of. Much\nmore! since the _passes_ have ceased to be the fashion, the phenomena\nhave doubled. In Germany, where people go to the bottom of things,\nthey have desired to look into the heart of it. Each master of the\nmagnet\u2014and they are pretty plenty there\u2014has constructed his own trough.\nThat of Walford consists of an _iron_ box, furnished with bottles, iron\nwire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser was made of _beech_ without\nbottles, and filled with water, which did not prevent the effects from\nbeing precisely the same in the two cases. Thus it was said: It is\nmagnetism alone which gives them this power, and they magnetized their\nbest. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to magnetize, and\nthe trough lost none of its power! \u2018Ah! ah!\u2019 they say, \u2018the trough is\nmagnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they put a stout\nman into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in excellent\nhealth. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity\nall the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited\nthemselves so brilliantly.\u2019\n\n356. \u201cThis is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of\nwhich M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect\nhe was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to\nbe caught by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics\nto be entirely innocent of all the effects they witnessed. But at the\nsame time they thought proper to refer to the _imagination_ these same\nprodigious effects, which no one could understand even after having\nseen them; and there was their great mistake; they were right as\nsavans, as philosophers inexcusable.\n\n357. \u201cMoreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed under\nthese circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. What\nprejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered many\nretreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, not\nonly to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these\nare about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will\nbe necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real\nas an _effect_, are not in fact real in their _cause_; that they lie\nwhen they wish the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they\nact by turns with and without a chain in a particular town, and not in\nsome other, &c.\n\n358. \u201cBut on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause,\nis almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent\nyourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits,\nhobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate!\nNot a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will\nforever be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory\nwhich was thought to have been gained centuries before.\n\n359. \u201cBeware, however, of the first _supernal intelligence_! for\nwe shall fall back on our ancient and primitive _criterion_, our\ninfallible _touchstone_.\n\n360. \u201cAll depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this\ntime; an imprudent question might lose all.\n\n361. \u201cAnd already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article\nwhich we find in the _Courier du Nord_? \u2018In another house the table,\nthey say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the\ndirection indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted\nthe hours, and told the age of the assistants,\u2019 &c.\n\n362. \u201cWhat means that other letter from Bordeaux, in the _Guyenne_? \u2018A\nhat submitted to _animal magnetism_ appeared _more intelligent_ even\nthan the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols, _the age_ of\npersons, the number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it\ntold the _amount_ of ladies and gentlemen together in the room,\u2019 &c.\n\n363. \u201cWhat follows is better still: see in the _Journal le Pays_, a\nletter of M., the Abb\u00e9 of Moigno, according to which it follows that\nMM. Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered\nthe tables to rest on _this_ leg and then on _the other_, and made them\nbeat time, &c.\n\n364. \u201cWe read in La Patrie\u2014\u2018_Explanation given by the savans_.\u2019 Ah!\nlet us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this\njournal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have\narrived: \u2018The table and hat turners _act mostly in good faith_, (quite\na concession,) but _they deceive themselves_; they think they cause the\nmotion of an inanimate object by an act of volition, or an effusion\nof magnetic fluid from their fingers; while it is by muscular action,\n_imperceptible_ to themselves, or others.\u2019 Ah! take notice! It is by\na vibratory movement coming from thousands of small nervous branches.\nAdd to this, lassitude, _humidity of the hands_, and you will have\nan explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, at least _sufficiently\nplausible_, of the phenomena which engage our attention. M. Chevreul\n(of the Institute) has _analyzed_ this physiological predisposition,\nand has _illustrated_ it by the fact familiar to the billiard player,\nwho having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his\nshoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions, _as if\nto impel it_, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c.\n\n365. \u201cIt is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase \u2018_as if to impel it_,\u2019\nfor had he been so unfortunate as to say, _and in fact he did impel\nit_, we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced.\nBut that lucky \u2018_as if_,\u2019 saves us from a very bad predicament; it\nbrings back to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say,\nthat in the relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time,\nhas all the muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in\nthe smallest degree, the direction of an object, not under its direct\naction. To the present time all the laws of physics have been based\non the grand primordial law, and the player of ten-pins is not more\nsuccessful from such efforts, than he of the billiard ball just named.\n\n366. \u201cHow changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy of\nSciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at\na distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle\u2014an experiment,\ntoo, which could _never_ be renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place\nof needles, all at once heavy tables are seen _waltzing about the\nroom, and obedient to the will_; and all this is easily explained! It\nis _quite plausible_! Yes, but this time, gentlemen Savans, we will\nnot allow you to distort the facts. Since the commencement of this\nvolume, we have done nothing but establish, on good evidence, all\nthose which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their fancy, after\nhaving absolutely denied them. But now the half of France rises with\nus to convict them, and to say to you: No, your _nervous branches_\nwill never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would\nrefer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our\nown questions, nor the _super-intelligence_ of those which probably\nto-morrow will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves.\n\n367. \u201cAttending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a\nman of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way\nto the weakest scholar who, _cue in hand_, might fairly undertake to\nanswer him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most\nhorribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its\nprinciples, loses, in our estimation, much of its authority.\n\n368. \u201c_La Revue Medicale_, cited by _La Patrie_ of May 20th, declares\nin its turn \u2018the explanation either by _imagination_ or _muscular\nvibrations_, as represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan,\n_entirely nullified_ by the fact of the simple change in the relations\nof the _little fingers_.\u2019\n\n369. \u201cAs for the Medical, they see in it _animal magnetism_, and\nexclaim: \u2018No one is able to foresee the application of which this\ndiscovery is susceptible. It is an entire world for explanation. Who\nknows if there is not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating\na whole generation!\u2019\n\n370. \u201cLucky Magnetism\u2014what a reparation you have a right to demand!\nwhat incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday\nso cruelly tore you to pieces! But _La Presse_ and _L\u2019Union Medicale_\nmay do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their\nword.\n\n371. \u201cA just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would not\nbelieve and you are not believed now! We read afresh in _La Patrie_ of\nMay 21st, the recital of \u2018tables promenading and upsetting _without\ncontact by pure efforts of volition_, or even by a simple magnetic\n_pass_\u2014a very _superfluous_ precaution of the experimenter.\u2019 Very\nsuperfluous, indeed! It could not have been better expressed.\n\n372. \u201cIn the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still\nmaintain that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture of _the two\nnervous atmospheres_? The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to\nuse the language of Reichenbach, must be very _sensitive_; and in this\nnew dance _without contact_\u2014what becomes of the explanation by muscular\nvibration, and especially by _the humidity of the hands_?\n\n373. \u201cWe have some very important communications, on the 23d of May,\nfrom M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chamb\u00e9ry,\nrespecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and\nestablishing the _perfect intelligence_ of the agent in question.\nM. Bonjean, however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform\nprocess. \u2018These responses,\u2019 he says, \u2018are not, and _cannot be but the\nreflection of the thoughts_ of the person who causes the phenomena, and\nthe movables _are only able to satisfy_ those questions whose answers\nare known, without ever being able to supply an answer that is not\nknown.\u2019\n\n374. \u201cThe idea that the furniture is unable to _give satisfaction_\nis charming! but up to this point it was not understood to be\n_super-intelligence_. Patience, however, for it is bound to happen!\n\n375. \u201cBesides, M. Bonjean does full justice to the _muscular movements_\nof M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of\nStrasbourg turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons\nmoved without _immediate contact_. Next, he passes from the physical\nto the moral question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very\nencouraging. \u2018Fathers and mothers,\u2019 he exclaims, \u2018if you do not desire\nto develope premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard\nthe peace of your wives, _be mistrustful of the magnetic chain_ in\ngeneral, and of the dancing of tables in particular.\u2019\n\n376. \u201cIt will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly\non mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under\nall this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented\nsin.\n\n377. \u201cIn a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most\ndistinguished engineers, to the Abb\u00e9 Moigno, who had very ably opposed\nthese experiments in _Le Pays_, M. Seguin says, \u2018When I reason\ndispassionately on the _real and very positive_ results which I have\nobtained, and seen obtained by others before my eyes, I think myself\nunder the control of an hallucination which causes me to see things\ndifferently to what they are, so much does my reason refuse to admit\nthem; but when I repeat my experiments, I find it impossible any longer\nto resist the force of evidence, when indeed it confounds and upsets\nall my opinions.\n\n378. \u201c\u2018_How can you_ expect me to accept your explanation, when a table\ntouched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, presses _against_ my\nhand and _against_ my legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost\nbreak itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could\nimpart to it a force equal to such efforts, and _especially when that\nperson_ is myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts as\nTHEY ARE, the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself,\nin whom you have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The\nexplanation will come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in\nthese phenomena of _turning tables_ there is something more than you\nsee\u2014a _physical reality_ outside of the imagination and of the faith of\nthose who appear to make them move.\u2019\n\n379. \u201cIt is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to\ndefend the _physical_ evidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a\nthousand times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us\nsee if M., the Abb\u00e9 Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his\nrevenge on another.\n\n380. \u201cReferring to a communication made to the academy by one M.\nVauquelin, about one of these _enchanted tables_, which in his hands\nwas able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the\nmost secret thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims in _Le Cosmos Revue\nEncyclop\u00e9dique des Sciences_: \u2018This time _it is too strong_; we find\nourselves definitively at the mercy of magic, and the moment has\ncome to proclaim it at Rome. Then there is neither magnetism nor\nelectricity; not even the influence of human volition on matter; but\nsupposing the fact to be certain\u2014WHICH IS HARD TO SWALLOW\u2014there must\nbe in it _the intervention of spirits_, or _magic_. Intelligence that\ncan refuse these deductions of common sense, would be DISORDERED\nintelligence, as useless to dispute with as _with fools_. If you have\nnot been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you affirm are\ntrue, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits and of\nmagic became the sorrowful but great realities.\u2019\n\n381. \u201cM. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers,\nwrites what follows in _La Gazette de France_:\u2014\u2018I will not insist on\nthis point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to\nme entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician,\nand, I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical\nimpulsion might be communicated. But the rotation only serves to\n_present_ other phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to\nrefer to any kind of muscular action.\n\n382. \u201c\u2018Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it\npromptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to\nyou the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an\nexactness, with a solemnity that fairly _frightened us_. \u201cStrike three\nblows; strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right\nfoot; with your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one\nfoot; remain up; prevent those on the side raised from returning the\ntable to the floor.\u201d After each command the table obeyed. It produced\nmovements that no complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have\ninduced; _for we should have afterward tried in vain to place it on\none foot, and keep it there by the pressure of the hands, resisting\nincontestably the efforts to press it down_.\n\n383. \u201c\u2018Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were\nobeyed as well as grown persons.\n\n384. \u201c\u2018Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be\naudible, but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the\ntable obeyed! _There was in no instance the least error._\n\n385. \u201c\u2018Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of his\nage, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind, _endeavouring\nin the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large_. I must\nown, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally\ndiminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two,\n_because_ my wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct\nnumber.\n\n386. \u201c\u2018Finally, having continued these experiments more than an hour,\nat which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, I\nfelt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise\nagain, _and turn over on my side, which it did_.\n\n  \u201c\u2018Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration,\n  A. DE GASPARIN.\u2019\n\n\n387. \u201cWe stop our citations here; for those who are not content\nwith the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from\nphilosophers, or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing,\ntoo, _in all parts of the world_, will not be better satisfied by any\nthing we could add. A day is coming, however, that will open every\nmouth. Then from all those parlours so reserved before\u2014from all those\ncabinets in which experiments had been conducted with _closed doors_,\nthe truth will burst forth in its full power. Then it will be known\nthat some of the most esteemed men of Paris, of the bench, pulpit,\nand men of letters, have both desired to see and have seen it; have\ndesired to know and have known it. It will be known that the evil\n_super-intelligence_ has been revealed to them, and that if they have\nbeen silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, it was\nonly an act of prudence to restrain public opinion.\n\n388. \u201cBut on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly\npredict: the facts of to-day _which it does admit_, proving to amount\nto nothing, and the _inadmissible_ facts being admitted, its faith will\nchange, and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs,\ntwo savants will not be able to look at each other any more without\nsmiling, and often enough to exclaim: \u2018It has been well said, my dear\ncolleague; it has always been foretold, that \u201cHE, WHO IS OUTSIDE OF\nPURE MATHEMATICS, PRONOUNCES THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, WANTS PRUDENCE.\u2019\u201d\n\n  ARAGO.\u201d\n\n\n                    SPIRITUALISM IN GREAT BRITAIN.\n\n              _Account of Mr. Robert Owen\u2019s Conversion._\n\n389. \u201cWhile in doubt upon this subject, I heard of the media in this\ncountry, and was casually introduced to Mrs. Hayden, an American\nmedium, without having any intention to ask a question respecting the\nspirits; my object being to purchase a book which Mrs. Hayden had for\nsale, written by a valued and most truthful friend of mine in America,\nAdin Ballou, who has written a plain, practical, common-sense history\nof this new revelation to the human race.\n\n390. \u201cWhile conversing with Mrs. Hayden, and while we were both\nstanding before the fire, and talking of our mutual friends, suddenly\nraps were heard on a table at some distance from us, no one being near\nto it. I was surprised, and as the raps continued and appeared to\nindicate a strong desire to attract attention, I asked what was the\nmeaning of the sounds? Mrs. Hayden said they were spirits anxious to\ncommunicate with some one, and she would inquire who they were. They\nreplied to her, by the alphabet. that they were friends of mine who\nwere desirous to communicate with me. Mrs. Hayden then gave me the\nalphabet and pencil, and I found, according to _their own_ statements,\nthat the spirits were those of my mother and father. I tested their\ntruth by various questions, and their answers, all correct, surprised\nme exceedingly. I have since had twelve s\u00e9ances, some of long\ncontinuance, and during which, with one exception, I have had prompt\nand true answers so far as the past and present, and very rational\nreplies as to the future; but these last have to be tested by time. The\nexception was my own afterward-discovered error.\u201d\n\n391. From the following quotation, it seems that Mr. Owen has not had\nany reason to diminish his faith in spiritualism. The manifestations,\nof which his account is subjoined, are eminently wonderful; yet they\nare not more so than those which are recorded as having been realized\nunder the influence of the same medium, in this country, or at Koons\u2019s\nEstablishment in Ohio:\u2014\n\n\n     _Letter of Robert Owen to the Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph._\n\n                                            SEVEN OAKS, April 23, 1855.\n\n392. \u201c_Dear Sir_:\u2014Just now, on my return from London, where, last\nnight, I had been giving a lecture to Mr. Ronge\u2019s party of foreigners\nand others on Education, I had the pleasure to receive your 2d Number\nof \u2018The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.\u2019 I have hastily glanced over it,\nand I feel much interest in your proceedings, and wish you all success\nin the good cause. I say good cause, for it is sure to lead to great\nultimate good, and especially will it destroy the many evils arising\nfrom sectarianism, and other causes of hatred and ruin between man and\nnations. I must tell you of what occurred to me last night, after my\nreturn from the lecture, about nine o\u2019clock.\n\n393. \u201cA Mr. Hume, a young Scotchman, who went to America to pursue his\nstudies as a medical student, four or five years ago, became a medium,\n(he is now about twenty years of age,) and soon became a very superior\none. He had engaged to accompany the Haydens and Miss Jay. He took\nhis passage and came, but the others, for some cause, postponed their\nvoyage, but may now be daily expected. They arrived on the 22d. I had\nheard on my arrival in London, from friends on whom I could depend,\nof the extraordinary results by his mediumship. I made arrangements\nto visit those friends and Mr. Hume when I finished my lecture, which\nI did, and found my two friends and Mr. Hume waiting my arrival. On\nbeing seated around a regular full-sized card table, there were raps\nimmediately, and because I do not hear very well, the raps increased\nuntil they became very loud, but I heard the first raps distinctly.\nMany spirits were present; some, relatives of my friends, and others,\nmy own relations. My wife and daughters, my son and brother, and also\nmy father and mother, with all of whom I have had frequent delightful\nintercourse through various mediums. My two friends present are\nhusband and wife; and the first new occurrence to me was, seeing the\nlady\u2019s silk apron untied by invisible means\u2014a somewhat complicated\noperation\u2014and taken from her and given to Mr. Hume, opposite to her.\nIt was then conveyed backward and forward, from one to another, and it\nsoon came to me. I held it with much force, but it was drawn from me\nwith greater force, for I was afraid damage would be done to it. Next a\nflower was taken from the table, conveyed away by invisible means, and\nbrought to me. The flower I kept for being so presented to me. Next I\nhad my handkerchief out; it was taken from my hands, and in an instant\nthrown from the opposite side of the table, not as it was taken, but\nmade into a large hat, which I also have as a curiosity. Then the\nspirits came and touched each of us. I was occasionally touched on one\nknee, then on the other, and afterward on both at once; and then one\nof them shook hands with me, and I most distinctly felt the fingers\nof them separately. An accordeon was then placed under the table, and\nsoon the spirit of the daughter of the family played most beautifully\nseveral tunes and pieces of music. I asked for one of my favourite\nScotch tunes, and it was immediately played. The instrument was then\nraised by invisible power, and given first to one, then to another; it\nwas thus brought to me. The table was then lifted from the floor; at\nfirst, about a foot, and immediately afterward, about three feet.\n\n394. \u201cAfter this the medium was put into a trance, during which he saw\nbeautiful visions of spirits, and one of them spake through him while\nin that state sentiments that went to the heart of each of us, giving\nus advice, invaluable in its import, and in language beautifully and\neloquently expressed, and calculated to make the deepest impression on\nour memories. While reason remains I shall never forget it; and it was\ngiven with many encouraging words, to pursue my course in the measures\nin which I am engaged; to endeavour to introduce the millennium, but\nalso stating the obstacles I should meet, and the great difficulties\nwhich were to be overcome.\n\n395. \u201cMuch more occurred, very interesting; but the post time expires,\nand I wish you to have this communication by this mail.\n\n      \u201cYours sincerely,                               ROBERT OWEN.\u201d\n\n396. I subjoin the following narrative of Mr. Rufus Elmer, of\nSpringfield, Massachusetts, concerning manifestations through Mr. Hume,\nas corroborating those described by Mr. Owen. Thus, on both sides of\nthe Atlantic, we have evidence of analogous striking results by the\nsame medium:\u2014\n\n\n                      _Mr. Hume at Springfield._\n\n397. \u201cRufus Elmer, Esq., of Springfield, informs us that Mr. Hume\nspent the nights of March 17th and 18th at his house. On the evening\nof the 17th, thirteen persons were present, when a series of most\nextraordinary demonstrations took place. First, two large tables\nstanding together, around which the company were sitting, were lifted\nfrom the floor, while all hands were resting upon their tops. Then an\naccordeon, held under the table in one of Mr. Hume\u2019s hands, (the other\nbeing on the table,) with the keys downward, was played in strong\ntones, three parts being maintained, and any tune performed that was\ncalled for\u2014even foreign music. The instrument was also played upon\nwhile held in the same manner by each person present,\u2014all hands except\nthe one holding the accordeon being upon the tables in sight. (These\nmanifestations were all made in a room well lighted by gas.) A bell,\nweighing over a pound, was passed about under the tables, put in the\nhands of each person, taken away again, passed rapidly from one end\nof the tables to the other, a distance of eight feet, knocking loudly\non the under side as it went; and, finally, the tables having been\nseparated a few inches, and a cloth spread over the aperture, the bell\nwas held up under the cloth, while the company were allowed to feel the\nhand which held it. Next, the bell was slid out on to one of the tables\nfrom beneath the covering, and the hand which grasped it was exposed to\nthe view of all the company\u2014the hands of each being at the same time\nin full view. To gratify one who sat at so great a distance as not to\nhave a clear view, it was communicated that if all others would for\na moment avert their eyes, so as not to concentrate their magnetism\nso powerfully upon the object, it could be more plainly manifested\nto this one alone. Acting upon this hint, each person was allowed to\nlook singly at the hand\u2014to the full satisfaction of all. One of those\npresent, mentally requested, unknown to all others, that the hand of\nher spirit-child might be exhibited to her; and, behold! a child\u2019s\nhand was presented, while no child in the body was in the room. One\nof the company was a coloured domestic in the family of Mr. E-\u2014-, and\nshe mentally requested that her mother, who had before purported to\ncommunicate to her, if present, would show her hand; when, lo! a black\nhand appeared! These are but specimens of what occurred during the\nevening.\u201d\n\n\n                 COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.\n\n\n      _Remarks Introductory to my Spirit Father\u2019s Communication._\n\n398. AGREEABLY to my spirit father\u2019s communication, the manifestations\nwhich of late have given birth to Spiritualism, have been the result\nof a deliberate effort, on the part of the inhabitants of the higher\nspheres, to break through the partition which has interfered with the\nattainment, by mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death.\nTo carry out this intention, a delegation of advanced spirits has been\nappointed. Referring to this statement, I inquired how it happened that\nlow spirits were allowed to interfere in the undertaking? The answer\nwas, that the spirits of the lower spheres being more competent to make\nmechanical movements and loud rappings, their assistance was requisite.\n\n399. Likewise, I inquired why it was deemed expedient to make these\nmanifestations, in the first instance, at Hydesville, near Rochester,\nthrough the spirit of a murdered man? The answer to this was, that\nthe spirit of a murdered man would excite more interest, and that a\nneighbourhood was chosen where spiritual agency would be more readily\ncredited than in more learned or fashionable and conspicuous circles,\nwhere the prejudice against supernatural agencies is extremely strong;\nbut that the manifestations had likewise been made at Stratford, in\nConnecticut, under other circumstances. Nor were these the only places.\nThey had been made elsewhere, without much success in awakening public\nattention.\n\n400. Thus, it appears that at the outset, the object was to draw\nattention, and in the next place to induce communications. It will\nappear from the account of the manifestations at Hydesville and\nStratford, that as soon as through an ingenious agreement upon signals\nrational intercommunication was established, the manifestations\nbecame changed in character. The mischievousness displayed, in the\nprimitive derangement of furniture, ceased. This was attributed to the\nreplacement of spirits of inferior grade, by their superiors.\n\n401. Thus this new and glorious light has come up amid dark clouds, as\nwe often see the thunder-gust the harbinger of a bright sky.\n\n402. But still there has been another source of temporary degradation,\nnot arising solely from the spirits, but from the inquirers also.\nThe great motive in the first instance for witnessing spiritual\nmanifestations was the love of the marvellous, or the desire to expose\nwhat was deemed jugglery. The mere movements of tables, without any\nreference to spiritual agency, was the great object of attention.\nThough I was present where table turning was discussed, if I ever\nheard the idea of spirits being the cause, it left no impression on my\nmemory, as has already been stated. (134.)\n\n403. But after alphabetical communication commenced, it was performed\nso slowly, that the replies were often brief, and made with a view to\nestablish identity of the spirits with the individual whom it professes\nto personate; or to test the existence of a spirit by the replies given\nto inquirers respecting facts which could not be known to the medium.\nAt the first recognition, the spirit would occupy the time mainly\nwith statements very natural and amiable, but not instructive beyond\nthe degree of confirmation thus afforded of the great fact of such\nintercourse being possible on the part of friends who have quitted this\nstage of existence.\n\n404. Communications through spelling and writing media very much fell\nshort of the expectations which the name assumed by the spirit would\nawaken.\n\n405. As soon as convinced that the phenomena were due to the shades\nof the dead, I looked with eagerness for some consistent information\nof their abodes, modes of existence, of the theological doctrines\nentertained by them, and the actual diversities of their situation\nconsequent to various degrees of moral and intellectual merit.\n\n406. It was with regret that I found in the published accounts, nothing\nsatisfactory, nothing precise, nothing connected. In no publication did\nI find any satisfactory statements of the location of the spirit world,\nor of its subdivision into spheres.\n\n407. Urging this deficiency of information upon those spirit friends\nwho seemed to have selected me as an instrument in promulgating the\ninvaluable truths of Spiritualism, I obtained information, as early\nas May, 1854, respecting the situation of the spiritual spheres, or\ncountry of spirits, relatively to the earth; but about the latter\npart of October my father commenced writing on the subject through a\nmedium of the other sex, but the ideas furnished were too much blended\nwith her own prepossessions, with which her mind was replete. Hence,\nalthough many pages had been written, they were rejected, and resort\nwas had to another medium\u2014Mrs. Gourlay. The result thus obtained\nwas afterwards read to the author, at the disk, so as to have every\nparagraph scrutinized.\n\n408. Under the following head will be found my father\u2019s communication.\n\n\n                _My Spirit Father\u2019s Communication._[10]\n\n409. My son, in communicating with you respecting the destiny of man,\nI shall endeavour, according to the extent of my capacity and highest\nperception of truth, to give you a view, as correct and definite as\npossible, of the all-important subject in question.\n\n410. The spirit world lies between sixty and one hundred and twenty\nmiles from the terrestrial surface; the whole intermediate space,\nincluding that immediately over the earth, the habitation of mortals,\nis divided into seven concentric regions called spheres. The region\nnext the earth, the primary scene of man\u2019s existence, is known as the\nfirst or rudimental sphere.\n\n411. The remaining six may be distinguished as the spiritual spheres.\n\n412. The six spiritual spheres are concentric zones, or circles, of\nexceedingly refined matter, encompassing the earth like belts or\ngirdles. The distance of each from the other is regulated by fixed laws.\n\n413. You will understand, then, they are not shapeless chimeras, or\nmere projections of the mind, but absolute entities, as much so indeed\nas the planets of the solar system or the globe on which you now\nreside. They have latitudes, longitudes, and atmospheres of peculiar\nvital air, whose soft and balmy undulating currents produce a most\npleasurable and invigorating effect. Their surfaces are diversified\nwith an immense variety of the most picturesque landscapes; with lofty\nmountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and the internal\ncorrespondence of all the higher phenomena of earth. The trees and\nshrubbery, crowned with exquisitely beautiful foliage and flowers of\nevery colour and variety, send forth their grateful emanations.\n\n414. The physical economy and arrangements of each sphere differs from\nthe other; new and striking scenes of grandeur being presented to us in\neach, increasing in beauty and sublimity as they ascend.\n\n415. Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a common axis,\nforming the same angle with the plane of the ecliptic, and move with\nit about the ponderable sun, they are not dependent on that body\nfor either light or heat, receiving not a perceptible ray from that\nponderable source; but receive those dispensations wholly from his\ninternal or spiritual correspondence, (a spiritual sun concentric with\nthe sun of your world,)\u2014from that great central luminary whose native\nbrightness and uninterrupted splendour baffle description.\n\n416. We have no divisions of time, therefore, into days, weeks, months,\nor years; nor alternations of season, caused by the earth\u2019s annual\nrevolution; those periods being observed with reference only to the\naffairs of earth.\n\n417. Although we, like you, are constantly progressing toward\nperfection, our ideas of time and the seasons differ widely from yours;\nwith you it is time\u2014with us, eternity. In the terrestrial sphere, a\nman\u2019s thoughts, being bounded by time and space, are limited; but with\nus they are extended in proportion as we get rid of those restrictions\nand our perceptions of truth become more accurate.\n\n418. As order is a primary object in the spheres, there are of course\nlaws for its preservation. Fundamentally, these proceed through his\nministering angels, from the Divine Lawgiver, who commands the angelic\nhosts of heaven and rules the inhabitants of earth; who employs myriads\nof ministering angels as the means of intercommunication between their\nSupreme Master and his creatures throughout the universe.\n\n419. So far as legislation, subordinate or supplementary to that of\nthe Supreme Legislator, is required, the government of the spheres is\nrepublican, exercising legislative, judicial, and executive powers.\nBut these functions are not embarrassed by the necessity of codes\nindited or printed, nor by that of physical coercion. The results of\nthese functions are realized in simultaneous and homogeneous opinions\nawakened in the minds of the ruling spirits, as truth takes hold of the\nminds of mathematicians, _pari passu_, as they read the same series\nof demonstrations. The conclusions in which the chief spirits thus\nunanimously concur, are by them impressed upon their constituents, who,\nthus impressed, are constitutionally unable to resist the sentiment\nwhich, like a magic spell, operates upon their sense of right, and\noverrules any rebellious passion.\n\n420. As, in the rudimental sphere, weighing, measurement, or\nmathematical calculation or demonstration, when performed by competent\npersons, are rarely disputed, so in the spheres, the decisions of\nthose whose authority is intuitively evident in moral or legal\nquestions, meet with acquiescence. It follows, therefore, that neither\nimprisonment nor fetters are requisite for the enforcement of moral or\nlegal restrictions.\n\n421. Moreover, it must be evident that in the spheres, wisdom,\nknowledge, rectitude, and conscientiousness are the real vicegerents of\nGod, the higher spirits acting as his media.\n\n422. We acknowledge no aristocracy but that of mind and merit. In our\ndiplomatic intercourse with our brothers of earth, when affairs of the\ngreatest importance are to be transacted, (the present dispensation,\nfor example,) we intrust them to a delegation of the most advanced\nspirits\u2014those who are best acquainted with the affairs of the celestial\ncountry and of that to which they are accredited.\n\n423. Our laws are meted out in the scale of exact justice, from\nwhose awards there is _no_ appeal. Punishments are but the natural\nconsequences of violated laws; being invariably commensurate with\noffences, and have reference as well to the reformation of the\noffender, as to the prevention of future crime.\n\n424. The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth,\nwhich being unbounded and free as air and light, can of course be\nappropriated by each and every member of society, according to his or\nher capacity of reception, the supply being always equal to the demand.\n\n425. Wealth consists, upon earth, of those objects of human luxury or\ntaste, which can only be acquired by means of labour and capital. Other\nthings being equal, the value is generally in proportion to the cost\nincurred in the production. But in the spheres, such objects existing\nin profusion, the supply is of course always equal to the demand,\nthough no less necessary than the air which you breathe; like it, they\nhave no marketable value; there is no one who has occasion to buy, all\nbeing abundantly supplied from a common inexhaustible stock.\n\n426. Hence it will appear that we have no occasion for gold or silver,\nwhich perisheth with the using, but the currency of _moral_ and\n_intellectual_ worth, coined in the mint of divine love, and assayed by\nthe standards of purity and truth. Our bank, whose charter is eternal,\nand whose notes are never subject to fluctuations, and always payable\non _demand_, is none other than the great bank of heaven, whose capital\nstock consists of an infinitude of love, mercy, and benevolence, of\nwhich our Heavenly Father is president and director, and in which his\nbeloved children, the whole human family, are shareholders.\n\n427. With regard to the social constitutions of the \u201cspheres,\u201d each is\ndivided into six circles, or societies, in which kindred and congenial\nspirits are united and subsist together, agreeably with the law of\naffinity.\n\n428. Although the members of each society unite as near as may be on\nthe same plan, agreeing in the most prominent moral and intellectual\nfeatures; yet it will be found, on careful analysis, that the varieties\nof character, in each society, are almost infinite; being as numerous\nas the persons who compose the circle.\n\n429. Each society has teachers from those above, and not unfrequently\nfrom the higher spheres, whose province it is to impart to us the\nknowledge acquired from their instructions and experience, in the\ndifferent departments of science, and which we in turn transmit to\nthose below. Thus, by receiving and giving knowledge our moral and\nintellectual faculties are expanded to higher conceptions and more\nexalted views of the great Creator, whose almighty power is no less\ndisplayed in the constitution of spirit worlds, than in that of the\ncountless resplendent orbs of space.\n\n430. We do not, as many persons in the rudimental state imagine,\nabandon the studies which we commenced on earth, which would\npresuppose the loss of our reasoning powers, and our consequent\ninferiority to yourselves; but on the contrary, we go on progressing\nin knowledge and wisdom, and shall progress throughout the boundless\nages of eternity. You being chained down to earth, by the law\nof gravitation, are comparatively limited in your resources for\ninformation; but we having arrived at a higher sphere of thought and\naction, and having a more extensive field of vision, can soar higher\nand farther into the wonderful workings of that mysterious Being, who,\nowing to the infinity of his perfections, must be forever in advance\nof us, his finite creatures, and to whom, of course, we can bear no\nrelative proportion.\n\n431. Our scientific researches and investigations are extended to all\nthat pertains to the phenomena of universal nature; to all the wonders\nof the heavens and the earth, and to whatever the mind of man is\ncapable of conceiving: all of which exercise our faculties, and form a\nconsiderable part of our enjoyments. The noble and sublime sciences of\nastronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, engage a considerable portion\nof our attention, and afford us an inexhaustible subject for study and\nreflection.\n\n432. Nevertheless, there are millions of spirits who are not yet\nsufficiently advanced to take any interest in those pursuits; for you\nwill bear in mind that the spheres are but so many departments of a\ngreat normal school, for the mental discipline and development of\nthe race, each of which is reached only by the spiral[11] stages of\nprogression,\u2014the earth being the first in the series, and the seventh\nsphere the last; being preparatory to an entrance into the supernal\nheaven. You will perceive, then, that we have an unlimited scope for\nthe prosecution of our studies, and that whatever knowledge you fail to\nacquire in the rudimental state, legitimate thereto, you will have to\nobtain, in some of the degrees of the spiritual spheres.\n\n433. We do not study those practical arts, which are so essential to\nthe earth life, such as mechanics, &c.; for we do not stand in need of\ntheir applications; our studies being wholly of a mental character, we\nattend to the fundamental principles only. All the more intellectual\nbranches of the arts and sciences are cultivated in a much more perfect\nmanner than that to which we have been accustomed upon earth. The\nmind being untrammelled by the gross material body, and having its\nintellectual energies and perceptions improved, we can by intuition,\nas it were, more clearly and rapidly perceive and understand the\nprinciples and truths on which the sciences are based. We can trace the\nvarious relations of each subject, so as to understand its connective\nimportance; a knowledge at which mortals arrive only by a long and\ntedious process.\n\n434. We are not, for good and wise ends, which in due time will be\nfully explained, permitted to reveal all our knowledge to those below\nus, as the consequences of such a procedure would be perilous to the\nhappiness of all, and subversive of order.\n\n435. In addition to our studies we have many other sources of\nintellectual, moral, and heartfelt enjoyment, from which we derive the\nmost ineffable pleasure: one of which is social reunions and convivial\nmeetings; a coming together of dear friends, brothers, sisters,\nchildren and parents; where the liveliest emotion and tenderest\naffections of our nature are excited, and the fondest and most\nendearing reminiscences are awakened; where spirit meets in unison with\nspirit, and heart beats responsive to heart.\n\n436. Yet individuals united by the ties of consanguinity are not always\nlinked together, even here, by the golden chain of love and benevolent\naffection, since it not unfrequently happens that there is much more\nharmony existing among those who are not members of the same family.\nNotwithstanding that persons who were intimately acquainted with each\nother in the natural world, and those who are akin, may be and often\nare separated, sometimes for long periods, still they do occasionally\nmeet together; those in the higher degrees and spheres passing to the\nlower, while those in the latter never ascend to the former till fully\nprepared for such a transition, agreeably to the fixed and unalterable\nlaws of progression. The periods of such separations vary according to\nthe relative gradations of intellectual and moral qualities in each.\n\n437. The peculiar connections and relations of parents and children,\nbrothers and sisters, and all the minor ties of consanguinity, must be\nforever maintained, although there may be an indefinite interruption to\nthe harmonious play of their affinities.\n\n438. As regards the institution of marriage, I would observe that on\nearth it is a civil contract, entered into by two persons, male and\nfemale, mutually or otherwise, as the case may be, for and during the\nterm of their natural lives, but which is legally annulled on the\ndemise of either party; so that whether or not it be renewed in the\nspiritual world, is determined by choice, not obligation.\n\n439. Celestial marriage, however, is quite a different affair: it is\nthe blending of two minds in one, resulting from an innate reciprocal\nlove in each; a conjunction of negative and positive principles,\nforming a true and indissoluble bond of spiritual union, which human\nlegislation cannot reach: a marriage which is born of God, and is\ntherefore eternal. It is often asked, \u201cWill all be married in heaven?\u201d\nI answer, Yes, most assuredly; it never was designed for man to be\nalone, either on earth or in heaven: each will seek and find their\ncounterpart.\n\n440. Each society has a municipal administration or moral code, subject\nto the divine government; submission to the will of God, and obedience\nto his laws, whether recognised in nature or revelation, forming the\nbasis of its constitution. With us philosophy and religion go hand in\nhand.\n\n441. Evil or misdirected spirits find their affinities in the second\nsphere, where the lowest and most undeveloped are associated together,\nand remain for indefinite periods, but with all the moral depravity\nand darkness with which they are enveloped, through the benign\ninfluence exerted over their perceptive and rational faculties, by\nhigher intelligences, each begins to feel, sooner or later, the low\nand degraded position he occupies; moreover, finding new means of\nprogress, and new sources of contemplation as well as delight, and his\ncapacity of making perpetual advancement in knowledge, his intellectual\nfaculties become gradually expanded, and his moral powers increased.\nHence the grovelling propensities of his nature yielding to the\ndictates of reason, his grosser passions subside, causing him to aspire\nto higher associations and circumstances, which in turn beget new\nwants, thoughts, and feelings.\n\n442. We have no sectarian or ecclesiastical feuds; no metaphysical\ndogmas; nor are we troubled with those insatiable cravings and\ninordinate ambitions, so often manifested by mortals; nor have we any\ntaxation for religion, the voluntary contributions of intellectual and\nmoral minds being its meet support.\n\n443. Our religious teachers belong to that class of persons who were\nnoted, during their probation on earth, for their philanthropy and\ndeeds of moral bravery; those who, regardless of the scoffs and sneers\nof the time-serving multitude, dared to promulgate and defend the\ndoctrines of \u201ccivil and religious liberty.\u201d These practical reformers\nand saviours of the race, instead of worrying their hearers, as is\nthe custom with many on earth, with horrible denunciations and awful\nthreats of eternal vengeance for their misdoing, admonish and exhort\nthem to higher and nobler aims and aspirations; to the study of Deity\nas manifested in his stupendous works.\n\n444. They urge upon them, too, the necessity of their co-operation\nin the reformation and advancement of their more degraded brethren,\nby instructing them in the divine principles of love, wisdom, and\nbenevolence. They instruct them in the soul-inspiring and elevating\ndoctrine of _universal_ and _eternal_ progression, and in the sublime\ntruth that _evil is not an indestructible and positive principle, but a\nnegative condition, a mere temporary circumstance of their existence_;\nand, furthermore, _that suffering for sin is not a revengeful and\nmalevolent infliction of God, but a necessary and invariable sequence\nof violated law_.\n\n445. They teach them also that, according to the divine moral economy,\nthere is no such thing as pardon for sins committed\u2014no immediate\nmercy\u2014no possible escape from the natural results of crime, no matter\nwhere or by whom committed; no healing of a diseased moral constitution\nby any outward appliances, or ceremonial absurdities; and finally,\nthat the only way whereby to escape sin and its consequences, is by\nprogressing above and beyond it.\n\n446. We derive much pleasure from the exercise of our talents in vocal\nand instrumental music, which far excels the noblest efforts of musical\ngenius on earth. When we convene to worship God in our temples, whose\nhalls and columns beam with inherent celestial light, our voices are\nblended together in songs of praise and adoration to the Almighty\nAuthor of our existence, from whom all blessings are derived.\n\n447. From what has been stated, it may be perceived that we are moral,\nintellectual, and sensitive creatures. Instead of being, as many of\nyou imagine, mere shadowy and unsubstantial entities, we are possessed\nof definite, tangible, and exquisitely symmetrical forms, with\nwell-rounded and graceful limbs, and yet so light and elastic that we\ncan glide through the atmosphere with almost electric speed. The forked\nlightnings may flash, and the thunders roll in awful reverberation\nalong the vault of heaven, and the rain descend in gushing torrents;\nnevertheless, by the mere act of volition, we may stand unharmed at\nyour side.\n\n448. We are, moreover, endowed with all the beauty, loveliness, and\nvivacity of youth, and are clothed in flowing vestments of effulgent\nnature suited to the particular degree of refinement of our bodies. Our\nraiment being composed of phosphorescent principles, we have the power\nof attracting and absorbing or reflecting the rays evolved, according\nas our condition is more or less developed. This accounts for our being\nseen, by clairvoyants, in different degrees of brightness, from a dusky\nhue to the most intensely brilliant light.\n\n449. The spiritual body is a perfect human form, originating in,\nand analogous to, the corporeal organization in its several parts,\nfunctions, and relations. The heart beats in rythmic pulsations, the\nlungs fulfil their office of respiration, and the brain generates\nits vitalized magnetic fluid, whose life-giving currents permeate\nevery portion of the spiritual organism. Man in the rudimental state\nis tripartite, consisting of soul, of spirit, and flesh; but in the\nspheres a duality, composed of soul and spirit. Having approached the\nportals of death, he disrobes himself of the exterior form as he would\nput away a worn-out garment. The gross and cumbrous physical machine,\nwhich was given for the purpose of developing his more beautiful and\nexcellent spiritual body, and of bringing him into more immediate\nrelationship with the outward world, can serve his purposes no longer.\n\n450. For your clearer understanding of the _modus operandi_ of our\nintercourse with man, you will remember that by our transition to\nthe world of spirits we part with the body only. We lose none of our\nintelligence by the transfer, but, on the contrary, become daily more\nand more developed in our knowledge of and power over the forces in\nnature; so that we are enabled to perform many feats to you, seemingly\nwonderful, and which really appear miraculous to the majority of those\nwho witness them.\n\n451. Having disposed of the external mechanism of flesh, we cannot come\ninto direct contact with physical matter, but we are able, through the\nsphere of the medium, when natural conditions are complied with, not\nonly to communicate our thoughts and wishes to our friends, but to move\nsolid, ponderable bodies. By spheres, I mean the particular mental or\nphysical state, or emanation by which all bodies, organic or inorganic,\nare immediately surrounded, and the particular electrical relations\nwhich they sustain to each other, causing repulsions and attractions in\nman and animals as well as in chemical reagents.\n\n452. When we wish to impress the mind of the medium, by the effort of\nour magic will, (provided always that he or she is in sympathy with\nor sustains a negative relation to the operator,) we can dispose and\narrange the magnetic currents of the brain so as to form or fashion\nthem into ideas of our own. We can also learn to read the thoughts\nof another\u2014conditions being favourable\u2014as readily as you can gain a\nknowledge of the characters or symbols of a language foreign to your\nown.\n\n453. Thoughts being motions of the mind, assume specific and definite\nforms, and when _distinct_ in the mind can be clearly perceived and\nunderstood by any spirit who is in sympathy with the mind in which they\nare generated.\n\n454. To influence, mechanically, the hand of a medium to write, we\ndirect currents of vitalized spiritual electricity on the particular\nmuscles which we desire to control. In order to produce the physical\nmanifestations, it is not by any means requisite that the medium should\nbe possessed of a good moral character or well-balanced mind, as an\nindividual of small mental calibre would answer our purpose equally\nwell; but an advanced spirit could not directly impress or control the\norgans of a mind with which he is not in affinity, and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\n455. We can instantly determine the sphere of a spirit, in or out of\nthe body, by the particular brilliancy and character of the light in\nwhich he is enveloped, as well as by the peculiar sensation which his\npresence creates.\n\n456. The raps are produced by _voluntary_ discharges of the vitalized\nspiritual electricity, above mentioned, from the spirit, coming in\ncontact with the animal electricity emanating from the medium. These\ndischarges we can direct at will to any particular locality, thereby\nproducing sounds or concussions.\n\n457. The question being often asked, \u201cHow do you move solid\nsubstances?\u201d I would partly answer it by asking, How does a magnet\nattract and raise from their resting-places certain bodies within\nwhose sphere it is brought? How does a man move his body and direct it\nwhithersoever it goeth? How does God, the almighty cause of all causes,\nmove and keep in perpetual motion the immense systems which revolve in\nspace, and maintain each in its due relative position? I answer, By the\nmagnetism of a _positive_ will.\n\n458. We, in common with you and all animals, possess an infinitesimal\nportion of this power, varying in degree in different classes and\nin different individuals. When you raise your arm, as in the act of\nlifting or moving a body, you direct by the force of your will-power\ngalvanic currents on the muscles required to perform the function. The\nmuscles acting as levers, through the stimulus of the subtle element,\nact and react on the more solid parts, the bones, and thus is the\nobject laid hold of and moved, and still you do not come into direct\ncontact with the object. Now, this is called a _very simple_ operation,\nand so it would appear, but who understands it? Although advanced\nspirits are much more conversant with the forces operating in nature\nthan the most intellectually developed man in the form, still they do\nnot, nor can they ever, as long as eternity rolls on, understand the\nhidden sphere of cause. The operation of the will it is impossible\nto understand. Now, as I have said, we are not possessed of physical\nbodies; still we can make the imponderable elements subserve our\npurposes by acting as bones, nerves, and muscles.\n\n459. Touching our peregrinations and voyages of discovery, about which\nso much has been said by spirits, as well as mortals, I will say\nthat it is a fallacy to suppose that every spirit can visit at will\nthe planets of the solar system, much less those of the more remote\nsystems, since I am certain that none but the residents of the seventh\nsphere, or the angels of the \u201cSupernal Heavens,\u201d have the power to do\nso; because each planet, being an inhabited globe, hath its concentric\nor spiritual spheres, through all of which in order to reach it a\nspirit must pass. It is obvious, therefore, according to the immutable\nlaw of progression, that the transit of a spirit to a distant planet\nwould require its adaptation to the highest sphere of that body.\n\n460. Having spoken of the angels of the \u201cSupernal Heavens,\u201d I will\nexplain what is meant by this designation. They are those pure and\ncomparatively exalted beings who, having advanced beyond the highest\nsphere of the planet to which they belonged, and attained a very high\nstate of moral and intellectual development, have been admitted into\nthat great and illimitable sphere of progression which lies outside\nof all other spheres, and in which the greatest conceivable degree\nof harmony reigns. It is composed of one grand harmonial society,\nwhose members are privileged to go wheresoever they will through the\nboundless empire of space. They are principally from the planets\nJupiter and Saturn, and hold a much more distinguished rank in the\nintellectual, moral, and social system than the inhabitants of earth.\nI have not learned that any spirit from our planet has yet reached the\nSupernal Heaven.\n\n461. It has been said that spirits hunger, thirst, and stand in need\nof repose. It is true that those states do pertain to spirit life\nagreeably to the law of spiritual correspondences. The grosser and more\nundeveloped the spirit, the closer is the analogy between it and the\nphysical states.\n\n462. Physical laws and substances are gross or externalized spiritual\nlaws and things. The more refined and developed the spirit, the less it\nrequires of gross aliment. Refined, intellectual, and moral beings are\nnourished and sustained by refined, intellectual, and moral nutriment.\nTheir food is derived from the \u201cTree of Knowledge,\u201d and they slake\ntheir thirst at the crystal streams which continually flow from the\ninexhaustible fountain of God\u2019s wisdom and love. The lowest undeveloped\nspirit lives on comparatively refined aliment to that on which mortals\nsubsist. It consists of the more refined elements of spiritual fruits\nand vegetables. The spirit\u2019s need of rest depends on its particular\ndegree of development, diminishing in proportion to its advancement\nfrom the material plane.\n\n463. Though the principles embodied in our teachings and philosophy\nmay be regarded, by the majority of mankind, as _strange_ and\nincomprehensible, they are, nevertheless, no more so than the\nprinciples of natural science would be to the unlettered mind. As the\nability to comprehend the principles on which the natural sciences are\nbased increases with the expansion of the intellectual faculties, in\nlike manner is the power of perceiving spiritual things and relations\nincreased by the development of the interior or spiritual faculties.\n\n464. As there are no words in the human language in which spiritual\nideas may be embodied so as to convey their literal and exact\nsignification, we are obliged ofttimes to have recourse to the use of\nanalogisms and metaphorical modes of expression. In our communion with\nyou we have to comply with the peculiar structure and rules of your\nlanguage; but the genius of our language is such that we can impart\nmore ideas to each other in a single word than you can possibly convey\nin a hundred.\n\n465. I have thus given you a general outline of the leading facts\nconnected with the destiny of the race. I have endeavoured to show you\nthat man is a progressive being, that he possesses a refined material\n(449) organization, which, going with him at death, serves as a medium\nthrough which he may communicate with the visible world. I will here\nadd that, under certain circumstances, this spiritual organization has\nthe power of reflecting the rays of light, so as to be rendered visible\nto the natural eye, as are certain gaseous bodies.\n\n466. I have attempted to show you, too, that the spirit on entering the\nspheres, being governed by its affinity, takes its position in that\ncircle for which it is morally and intellectually adapted; hence the\nfirst sphere is the abode of all the most degraded spirits, and that\ntheir advancement, however slow it may be, is nevertheless sure, since\n\u201conward and upward\u201d is the motto emblazoned on the spiritual banner.\n\n467. I have endeavoured to show you, also, that the spirit is a\n_finite_ being like man in the form, and, therefore, _fallible_, and\nthat as he advances in knowledge, he grasps more of truth and drops\nmore of error. I have attempted to show you that the spirit world is\na counterpart of the natural world, and that we, no less than you,\nare subject to surrounding conditions and circumstances. Spirits of\ncongenial minds and opinions are drawn toward each other and to you,\non the principle that \u201clike attracts like.\u201d In order to receive high\nmoral and intellectual communications, it is essentially necessary that\nthe medium and circle should be in affinity with each other, and with\nthe spirits who are capable of giving such communications.\n\n468. Besides the topics adverted to, I will briefly call your attention\nto a few of the most prominent among the beneficial results which\nwill flow from spiritual intercommunion. It will settle the important\nquestion, \u201c_If a man die, shall he live again?_\u201d It will reduce the\nfact of the immortality of the human spirit to a certainty, so that\nthe world\u2019s knowledge of the fact will not be the result of a _blind\nfaith_, but a positive philosophy. It will show the relation existing\nbetween mind and matter. It will make men thinking and rational beings.\nIt will establish a holy and most delightful intercourse between\nthe inhabitants of the terrestrial world and their departed spirit\nfriends. It will expand and liberalize the mind far beyond your present\nconceptions. It will fraternize and unite all the members of the\nhuman family in an everlasting bond of spiritual union and harmonial\nbrotherhood. It will establish the principles of love to God and your\nfellows. It will do away with sectarian bigotry. It will show that\nmany of the so-called religious teachings are but impositions on the\ncredulity of mankind, being founded on the grossest absurdities and\npalpable ignorance of the nature of things.\n\n469. It will give man higher and infinitely more exalted views of God,\nand bring him into closer communion with the Author of his being. It\nwill do away completely with the sting of death, and rob the grave of\nits terrors. It will teach the eternal progression of the soul, and\nshow that the time is fast approaching when the moral condition of the\nrace is to be vastly improved; when error is to be abolished, and truth\nis to take its place; when the glory of the Lord is to be revealed, and\nall flesh shall see it together! In fine, it will be a help to the soul\nin the hour of its adversity, and enable it to bear up under affliction\nwith noble and heroic fortitude; and when about to launch its barque on\nthe river of eternal life for the fair and beautiful land of promise,\nit will be its stay and sheet-anchor.\n\n                                  Your father,      ROBERT HARE.\n\n\n           _Communication from a Spirit Son of the Author._\n\nI have in the spirit world two sons, one of whom died, thirteen months\nold, in 1813; the other, five months old, in 1825. Both have been to\ncommunicate with me. I subjoin a letter received from the younger:\n\n470. \u201c_My Dear Father_:\u2014I made a very brief communication to you\nthrough the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort\nto control the human organism. It has been long known to me that\nspirits could manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always\nheld communion with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The\nlaw is as natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure\nforever. But so great has been, and still is, the superstition of the\nmasses, and to such an extent has man\u2019s mental vision been obscured by\nhis so-called spiritual teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few\ninstances, spirits have failed in their attempts to reveal themselves\nto the civilized portion of mankind. The conditions have, for the most\npart, been wanting, owing to the above causes, and which have grown\nout of man\u2019s false notions respecting his natural and true relation\nwith the unseen world. The less civilized of our Father\u2019s children,\nin regard to their communion with spirits, have been much more highly\nfavoured than their otherwise more fortunate brethren, since it has not\nbeen an uncommon circumstance for them to commune with their departed\nfriends.\n\n471. \u201cMany years, my dear parent, have elapsed since I entered the\nbright abode of the blest\u2014a very little child, yet a very happy one. My\nfirst and second birth rapidly succeeded each other; but so little did\nI know, from actual experience, of my rudimental condition, that I have\nnever realized the change. I have no memory of my earth-life, yet I\nknow from observation and reflection that I am to some extent the loser\nby my premature birth into the spiritual state. I have, it is true,\nmeasurably obtained since then that knowledge of exterior nature which\nI should have acquired in the flesh, on the globe which gave me birth,\nas an independent, individualized existence.\n\n472. \u201cMy life here has been a charmed one; enrapturing scenes of beauty\nbeing constantly presented to view, like the ever-varying landscapes\ndelineated on the canvas by a skilful artist. Now is seen a beautiful\nsilvery lake on whose translucent bosom floats the graceful swan,\nbending his pliant neck, as if proudly conscious of his surpassing\nbeauty; and anon, among the lilies of this lake, which appear like gems\nplaced on a virgin brow, shoots a tiny barque, freighted with angelic\nchildren. Then is presented a bolder view, of towering mountains and\nwide-extended plains, with the accompanying characteristics of hill and\ndell.\n\n473. \u201cIn answer to a question which would naturally suggest itself to\nyour mind, respecting the means by which I have become acquainted with\nthat knowledge of the external world which I should have gained in it,\nI would say it has been acquired by frequent visits to the earth. I\nhave been accustomed to accompany you, father, in your daily walks, and\nto study, through you and mother, those elementary lessons which are\nso essential to the full development of the spirit. Your son Theodore,\nthough nearly forgotten by you, has not been far distant. The time is\nfast approaching, and is near at hand, when man\u2019s spiritual nature and\ndestiny will be much more fully comprehended by the world. Then spirit\nmanifestations and spirit intercourse will be considered as natural as\nfor the sun to rise in the eastern heavens. Spirits highly elevated in\nlove and wisdom would not descend from their exalted position except\nto teach, for their attractions are upward, but their mission is to\ninstruct those below them, from which they derive much happiness.\nYou know, father, how much pleasure it gives you to impart knowledge\nto others. How much greater then is our enjoyment, whose minds are\nintensely more susceptible of real joys! Your spiritual mission on\nearth has just begun, and we are endeavouring to impress your mind with\nthe sacred importance of its fulfilment. Give unto others that we give\nunto you, and you shall receive abundantly. I occupy a place which\nhas not yet been opened to your perception. Prepare yourself, my dear\nfather, for its higher and more glorious unfoldings, by first gaining\nthat knowledge which pertains to the lower degrees, and you will\nthereby become elevated to the higher spiritual planes, and increase\nyour knowledge of things celestial, and greatly develop and enlarge\nyour sphere of usefulness.                         THEODORE.\u201d\n\n\n   _Additional Communications from Spirits who died while Infants._\n\n474. THE brother of a medium reported himself by spelling out his\nname in full\u2014Dewitt Matthias. He had departed this life at the age of\nthirteen months. I inquired if he had taught himself to spell. I was\ninstructed, was his answer.\n\n475. While I was in a state of extreme unbelief, Dewitt\u2019s mother\ntold me that her son, who died when aged only thirteen months,\nhad communicated with her; and said that his stature had grown\nwith his age, now sixteen years. This statement I mentioned as an\nexemplification of credulity, little thinking that this wonder would be\nrealized by the existence of my spirit children being made evident to\nme by such communications as that from Theodore, above given.\n\n476. The eldest child of my parents died an infant, yet my elder\nbrother, Charles, in his account of his spiritual birth, mentions that\nthis brother came as a full-grown spirit to greet his translation to\nthe spirit world.\n\n\n    _Communication from a very young Spirit child to its Parents._\n\n477. The following communications have been received from a spirit\nchild, as I understand, of about six years old. It will be perceived\nthat it was assisted by its grandmother. They have been handed to me by\nthe child\u2019s father, Mr. George Helmick, in whose sincerity I have great\nconfidence.\n\n478. The following message, says Mr. Helmick, came through the medium\nof Miss Irish, some eight months since, on an occasion when there were\nsome twelve or fifteen persons present, nearly all of whom were entire\nstrangers to me and my wife, who was also present. We had never seen\nMiss Irish before, and _we know_ that she had no knowledge of us in any\nrespect.\n\n479. The _fact_ that we had a child in the spirit world was _not_ known\nto _any_ present but myself and wife.\n\n480. \u201cFather, do you not, kind father, feel my soft and gentle touch\nupon your brow?[12] Can you not feel my presence, as grandmamma and I,\nwith care, enfold you in our embrace?\n\n\u201cMother, gentle, loving mother, do you not feel my angel kiss, as I\nimprint it upon your cheek?\n\n\u201cFather, mother, I left you before earth\u2019s errors had a chance to take\nroot within my young and tender mind.\n\n481. \u201cThen, loving parents, think of me as you do of a gentle\nmoonbeam, which struggles to bless earth with its presence but for a\nmoment, and then softly and sweetly returns to heaven again.\n\n                                                 \u201cSPIRIT CHILD.\u201d\n\n _For George Helmick._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following message was received through Mrs. Gourlay on the 27th of\nOctober last, by the aid of a disk and alphabet as arranged by Dr. Hare:\n\n482. \u201cDear and loving mother, grandma will help me to write to you.\n\n483. \u201cA calm and holy atmosphere pervades this little company, and\nlovely forms are surrounding each earth friend. O thou great God of\ngoodness! to thee our hearts are raised in thanksgiving for this\nprivilege of communion with our friends on earth. Gratitude should\nfill the hearts of all present. Little children are sporting in this\natmosphere of love like gentle moonbeams, kissing with a gentle touch\nthe brows of their loving parents.\n\n484. \u201cOh! why should you weep for those who have gone before? Rather\nmourn those who are debarred the joys of our celestial homes, where\nthe weary spirit finds rest from the toils of earth, where all is joy\nevermore.\n\n485. \u201cGentle mother, your little seraph-boy is not _dead_, but\n_liveth_. In his uncontaminated love, find comfort for the ills of life.\n\n486. \u201cDear father, it was my spirit hand which was placed on thy brow,\nwhich you just felt.\n\n487. \u201cI left earth pure. In this purity I come to my dear parents.\nAccept my love, and give me yours in return.\n\n                                               \u201cLITTLE WALTER.\u201d\n\n _Mrs. Helmick._\n\n\n   OF THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH,[13] CALLED DEATH, OF HUMAN BEINGS, CALLED\n                      MORTALS, ALTHOUGH IMMORTAL.\n\n\n                         _Of Spiritual Birth._\n\n488. Having obtained from several of my most valued spirit friends or\nrelatives, narratives of their translation from this sphere to the\nworld of spirits, it appears, from their concurrent testimony, that on\nthe death of the body, the soul finds itself soon afterward awaking\nfrom a profound sleep,\u2014but so much more like dreaming than being awake,\nas for a short time to create a doubt whether it be not dreaming.\nMeanwhile, bright shadowy forms become more and more distinguishable;\nand the body which it has left being perceived apart on its bed, or in\nwhatever position its death occurred, the conviction is induced that\nanother state of existence has been attained. As the forms, at first\nshadowy, become distinct, they are usually found to be those of the\nnearest or dearest previously departed friends. These meet the nascent\nspirit with every possible manifestation of affection, while the most\necstatic emotions are awakened.\n\n489. Forthwith the spirit is conducted to his celestial abode: of which\nthe elevation is greater as the morality of the individual concerned is\nhigher.\n\n\n _Narrative given by Spirits of their translation to the Spirit World,\n              the abode of human souls in a future state_\n\n490. The following narrative is from an excellent spirit\nphilanthropist, who, though a stranger to me in this world, introduced\nhimself to me at the session of a small circle, by the communication\nalleged to be intended for me, which has already been quoted. (147.)\n\n491. He has since reported himself as the author of those sentiments,\nand has held many conversations with me.[14]\n\n492. Subsequently to an address made by me at Franklin Hall, he\nexpressed himself as follows: \u201cDo not keep your light under a bushel.\nI was present and heard you speak last night. I wish you to say more\nabout your personal experience. That would weigh with the community at\nlarge.\u201d I excused my course by answering, that I wished my experience\nto be riper before submitting it to the community.\n\n\n_Narrative of his Spiritual Birth, by W. W-\u2014-, a most benevolent Spirit\n                         of the Fifth Sphere._\n\n493. \u201cDid you ever have a most delightful dream in which you saw your\nnear and dear friends about you, all seeming happy and contented with\ntheir condition? If you have, then you can form an imperfect idea\nof my state when I awoke to the reality of the change which opened\nupon my entranced sight on being ushered into the spheres. I had been\nlong sick, and was subject to periods of unconsciousness. Therefore I\ndid not soon perceive the change to be real. I felt almost too much\nhappiness for my spirit to bear.\n\n\u201cOn looking around, I perceived my mother, with outstretched arms,\nready to receive her welcome son to the mansion prepared for him.\n\n494. \u201cDid I still dream? I asked: no! it was a blessed reality;\nall pain had fled, and my spirit rejoiced in new health. I could\nhardly contain myself from expressing my gratitude to God in verbal\nejaculations. But I soon found that I had a much more delightful mode\nof expression. Each countenance beamed with love and intelligence, and\nthe spirits could interpret my thoughts as readily as mortals can read\na well-printed book.\n\n495. \u201cOne spirit, on whose countenance I could read volumes,\napproached, and taking me by the hand said, \u2018Welcome, dear brother, to\nthis sinless world, where your progression is sure; no obstacles shall\nimpede your footsteps; the conditions of time are removed; your feet\nshall fail not in the race of progress. Onward and Upward is our motto.\u2019\n\n496. \u201cWith willing heart I followed my guide. Every step taken led\nme up toward the great Source of light and truth. I never wearied\nin my journey. Bright and sparkling waters flowed at my feet, and\nliving flowers sprang up before me. Each new object gave me courage to\nproceed. Old familiar faces met my gaze at every footstep, and cherub\nforms flitted past me. Golden clouds rested over the scene, and all\nnature was refulgent with light and animation. Huge oaks tossed their\ngiant branches to the pure breezes of heaven, and lofty pines bowed\ntheir heads in love and adoration. The little birds sent forth their\nnotes of praise, while the air was laden with the perfume of flowers.\nBeing fond of the beauties of nature while on earth, I enjoyed this\nscene much.\n\n497. \u201cI was rejoiced to see so many of my friends present. Each vied\nwith the other to give me the most cordial welcome.\n\n498. \u201cI soon perceived that I was near my journey\u2019s end, for I had\nreached the fifth sphere of spiritual progression. My guide pointed out\nto my view the mansion which I was to occupy.\n\n499. \u201cI was told that I could return to earth, when I was so inclined.\nInclination often draws me thither. So long as a spirit has friends\non earth, he will visit them; but when they join him, he loses his\nattachment for the rudimental sphere, and seldom thereafter leaves his\ncelestial abode.\n\n500. \u201cMy habitation consists of suites of rooms, most beautifully\nornamented with paintings and statues and the most elegant productions\nof spirit art. _Each individual can have his dwelling to suit his own\nparticular taste or fancy. The more refined and elevated the spirit,\nthe more refined and beautiful is the house or home that he inhabits._\n\n501. \u201cThe occupations of the higher spirits are of a more intellectual\ncharacter than the highest on earth.\n\n502. \u201cOur spheres are types of yours; but we do not have to provide\nfor the casket which contains the spiritual jewel.\u201d\n\n\n                       SPIRITUAL BIRTH OF MARIA.\n\n\n503. IF the reader will turn to my narrative, 192 to 200, he will learn\nunder what circumstances I became acquainted with Maria, the being of\nwhose spiritual birth it will, in the next place, be my object to give\nher own account.\n\n504. My acquaintance with this truly angelic creature has awakened in\nme lively friendship and esteem. These sentiments have been induced\nby her devotion to her parents, her affectionate recollection of her\nchildren, and gracious demeanour to others.\n\n\n_The Spirit Maria\u2019s Narrative, as given through the Mediumship of Mrs.\n                            M. B. Gourlay._\n\n505. _Dear Father_: I promised to give you an account of my entrance\ninto, and life in the spheres. As I said to you on a former occasion,\nI felt like one just awaking from a deep sleep induced by the\ndeadening influence of an opiate. It was some time before I could\ncollect my scattered senses. On partially regaining my consciousness,\nI recollected having been sick, and the anxiety of my friends for\nmy restoration to health; and I wondered at the sudden change in my\nfeelings. Those racking pains I experienced had all fled, and I felt\na newness of life which was truly delightful. Indistinct and shadowy\nforms flitted before me. On closely inspecting them, I perceived that\nthey were my departed friends. It was then that I fully realized the\nchange in my condition. My first and greatest concern was for those who\nseemed so inconsolable at my loss, and for whom I still entertained the\nmost devoted love and affection. My vision becoming gradually clearer,\nI perceived, among the group, my brother William ready to receive me.\nHe was clothed in a garment of living light, and closely resembles you,\ndear father, in form and features. He addressed me in the following\nlanguage:\u2014\u201cWelcome, thrice welcome, my beloved sister, to the regions\nof immortality! I have been your guardian angel through life, and\nhave looked forward with pleasure to this happy reunion.\u201d I was now\ninformed by him that I must leave my treasures on earth. This gave me\nsome uneasiness, but being assured that I should visit them again, I\ncheerfully accompanied him in his upward flight.\n\n506. Surprise and delight pervaded my existence when I beheld those\nfriends bound to me by the ties of consanguinity ready to receive me\nand fold me to their hearts.\n\n507. Gliding swiftly upward, on gaining an elevation of some sixty\nmiles from the earth\u2019s surface, we passed into the second sphere;[15]\non entering which a tremor seized me. A moral darkness pervades the\natmosphere, which renders it gloomy and uncomfortable in the extreme.\nThe inhabitants are dark and dismal in their appearance, and are\ncontinually tortured with the pangs of a guilty conscience. Here\ndisorder and confusion reign supreme, each spirit vieing with the other\nin rendering discord more discordant. We passed on rapidly, leaving the\nsecond sphere and its undeveloped inhabitants behind.\n\n508. On approaching the third sphere, we were met by a company of\nangels from the seventh sphere, among whom I recognised my brothers\nwho died in infancy. They had attained the stature of men. I now felt\nthat law of affinity which binds us so closely together, drawing me\ntoward them, and I was enabled at once to single them out from the\nmultitude which accompanied them. With smiles they greeted me, saying,\n\u201cWelcome, dear sister; another link is added to the chain of love\nwhich binds us together. One by one they shall be removed from earth\ntill the chain is completed here.\u201d\n\n509. We next entered the third sphere, where comparative order reigns.\nThere I perceived many spirits intently listening to a teacher, whose\ntheme was the subject of progression.\n\n510. Anxiously desiring to reach my destiny, we quickly passed to the\nfourth sphere. How different the scene! every thing looked bright and\nbeautiful to my enraptured sight. It seemed like an enchanted land.\nThousands of flowers scented the air with their odoriferous perfume,\nand rapturous strains of music thrilled me with delight! We now\napproached a beautiful temple devoted to the science of the harmony\nof sounds. In it music in all its departments is taught. O, father,\ncould you hear the master spirits of song, who lived ages ago on\nearth, attuning their instruments to harmony, your senses would become\nentranced. Music, being conceived in heaven, is sent forth to earth\nto elevate man, and attract him to our great and beneficent Father. I\nperceived that the fourth sphere was to be my abiding-place for the\npresent.\n\n511. On my return to the second sphere, it looked somewhat different to\nme, for, having lost my fear, I could more closely inspect the place\nand its inhabitants. The country, as far as my vision could penetrate,\nseemed like a vast desert, without a green spot to relieve the eye.\nIts denizens are seen straggling here and there, with no fixed object\nin view. All are seeking to minister to their perverted tastes. Some\nare holding forth in loud tones, and painting in false and gaudy\ncolours the joy of their home; others, who occupied high stations on\nearth, hang their heads in confusion, and would fain hide themselves\nfrom view; but they are taunted with rude jests, and told that their\n\u201cpride of position will avail them nothing here.\u201d One heart-sickening\nfeature of this place is the absence of children. No purity can exist\nwhere such evils abound. \u201cThe loud laugh, which bespeaks the vacant\nmind,\u201d is heard pealing forth in derision, as the teachers from the\nhigher spheres approach the motley group. Some, in whom the work of\nregeneration has commenced, are seen ascending the spiral stairway of\nprogress which leads to the third sphere.\n\n512. The beauty of the third sphere far transcends that of earth. The\nscenery is endlessly diversified with spiritual objects, corresponding\nto things of your planet. Mountains and valleys, hills and dales,\nrivers and lakes, and trees and plants, lend their enchantment to the\nscene. The inhabitants of this sphere are anxious for instruction. The\nteachers from the higher degrees are listened to with profound respect\nand attention.\n\n513. I saw many persons whom I knew in the rudimental state. I met a\nspirit yesterday whom I have seen in your company before he left the\nform.[16] I felt attracted to him. On approaching him, he smilingly\nsaid, \u201cWhy do you take such an interest in me, fair being? I know you\nnot.\u201d \u201cTrue,\u201d I replied, \u201cbut I saw you in my father\u2019s company before\nyou left the earth, and was present once when my brother gave you a\ncommunication, which, by the way, you received with much incredulity;\ntherefore, I feel constrained to speak to you.\u201d He thanked me, saying,\n\u201cI never believed in the immortality of the soul; consequently, it was\nnot strange that I should doubt the spirits.\u201d \u201cYour skepticism,\u201d I\nreplied, \u201cwas honest; therefore you will rise much sooner in the scale\nof progression. A sincere unbelief is better than false professions.\u201d\nHere I left him, and followed a multitude who were just entering a\nmagnificent temple, where a teacher was to address them. This structure\nis immensely large and exquisitely symmetrical in its proportions.\nMany stately columns support its roof, each surmounted by a cap of\nchaste design. The material of this temple is similar in appearance\nto alabaster, but transparent. The seats are semicircular, forming an\namphitheatre, in the centre of which stood the speaker, Channing. With\nuplifted hands he invoked God\u2019s blessing on all mankind. With what\nbreathless attention all listened to the glowing words of eloquence\nwhich fell from his lips! This is the true worship of the soul. His\ntext was: \u201cThe light that is within you.\u201d He dwelt at some length on\nthe importance of self-elevation, as a means of progressing others.\nHe spoke of the moral bond of union which binds the race together.\n\u201cWhen one individual,\u201d said he, \u201cis degraded, all must suffer.\u201d His\ndiscourse abounded with clear and energetic thought.\n\n514. As we passed from this temple, I met my friend of yesterday.\nHe remarked that he had learned much from the speaker who had just\naddressed us. He said that his mind, before entering the spheres,\nhad been much troubled about the future, although light had begun to\ndawn on his mental horizon. \u201cHope,\u201d said he, \u201cwith her cheering\ncountenance, had almost deserted me, and the world appeared like a\ndreary wilderness. Sick and disheartened, I laid me down to recruit my\nexhausted energies. An unconscious period intervened, and then burst on\nmy enraptured vision the glorious morning of the resurrection in all\nits loveliness; and with it came a bright messenger of light to bear me\nonward and upward to the boundless regions of progressive wisdom, where\nmy untrammelled spirit can soar aloft to study the wondrous works of\nAlmighty God.\u201d\n\n515. In the fourth sphere the scenery is characterized by still more\nbeautiful landscapes: the grass appears of a greener green, and the\nflowers are more gorgeous in their hue, and the birds sing still more\nsweetly. Shall I lead you to this parterre? Here you perceive the lily\nwith its almond-shaped leaves, and stamens delicately tinted with the\nfaintest crimson; by its side is the blushing rose. Here you observe\nthe myrtle, the emblem of love, and the passion-flower, which speaks\nof a deathless passion. All have an interior language which spirits\nalone can fully comprehend. The trees here are somewhat different\nfrom those on earth. This is a strange-looking one. Its trunk is very\nstraight, and runs up to an immense height without branches; its top is\nsurmounted by tufts of beautiful spiral-shaped silvery leaves; by its\nside stands one of very different appearance, whose depending branches,\nlike the graceful willow, bend beneath their wealth of leaves, courting\none to repose beneath their grateful shade. Here, too, are sparkling\nstreams, murmuring cascades, and gushing fountains, and trees bending\nbeneath their load of golden fruit; and here are temples devoted to the\narts and sciences.\n\n516. Now, dear father, let not a school on earth rise up before\nyour imagination. Our schools and systems of instruction differ\nwidely from those in the rudimental sphere, inasmuch as they are far\nmore beautiful. We use neither books nor charts, but the spirit or\nsubstance of each subject is presented to the student, whose mind at\nonce perceives its internal meaning. In this way are solved the most\ndifficult problems.\n\n517. Let us enter this building devoted to the teachers from the\nseventh sphere. See the multitude thronging its portals. Before we\nenter, let us glance at its exterior. It is circular in form, and\nbeautiful in its architectural design. Its spiral columns are entwined\nwith the richest flowers, which yield a delicious fragrance. As you\nenter this temple, its fretted vaults resound with the soft harmonious\nsymphonies of spirit voices. In the midst of the group stands the\nteacher, Melancthon, who suffered in the cause of religious freedom.\nHis countenance is mild and angelic, but he still retains that fearless\nspirit which characterized him on earth.\n\n518. Here comes a band of beautiful children carrying wreaths of\nflowers in their hands. They are singing, and they lead by the hand a\nlovely child just escaped from earth. How happy it seems! It is quite\nunconscious of the change in its condition.\n\n519. Let us now wend our way to the fifth sphere. This state is in\na still greater degree heavenly. As far as the eye can reach are\nseen lovely villas, magnificent temples, forest-crowned hills, and\ngently undulating plains. Let us go up this avenue, shaded with lofty\nsycamores: this is the residence of H. K. White. How enchanting the\nspot! It is a low cottage embosomed in the midst of trees and flowers,\nwhich, by interlacing, form beautiful arbours with arched entrances.\nThe grounds about this dwelling are skilfully and tastefully laid\nout. The clematis and honeysuckle entwine their tendrils around the\ntrellis-work of the door. Let us enter. Statues of the most exquisite\nfinish fill the niches; couches and divans of various forms and\nsingular devices grace the rooms, and carpets of the softest texture\nand most brilliant dyes cover the floors. It is, indeed, the beau\nideal of a poet\u2019s home. In this sphere dwell Channing, Ballou, Murray,\nthe Wesleys, Byron, Burns, Moore, Shelley, Scott, and Hahnemann, the\nfounder of your school, who is still engaged in the investigation of\nscientific truths. I speak of those persons in particular, because\nI am personally acquainted with them, being attracted to them by a\ncongeniality of feeling.\n\n520. The sixth state or sphere far transcends the most gorgeous\npicture of oriental splendour. So lovely are the scenes presented to\nthe view there, that I cannot impress your mind with any thing like\na just conception of them. _I receive my ideas of the fifth, sixth,\nand seventh spheres from the spirits who dwell therein, having never\nvisited them in person._ What a magnificent panorama is there presented\nto the spirit\u2019s gaze! There are colossal temples, and \u201chouses not made\nwith hands, eternal in the heavens.\u201d As far as the vision can extend\nmay be seen cities and palaces, whose lofty domes sparkle like diamonds\nin the sunbeams of heaven; oceans and seas with which yours are mere\nlakes in comparison; placid lakes and noble rivers winding their\ninterminable way through valleys clothed with perpetual verdure.\n\n521. There are gardens there of inconceivable beauty, filled with the\nchoicest and most aromatic herbs and flowers, and birds with every\nconceivable variety of plumage. The parks are of great magnitude,\nand abound with the most beautiful animals. The swift antelope,\nthe wild gazelle, and the graceful deer are seen ranging over the\nflowery plains. There the lion and the lamb lie down together in\npeaceful innocence. There are congregated millions of spirits, who are\nassociated together like a harmonious and happy family. The vales are\nvocal with celestial melody, and the air is redolent with the perfume\nof flowers.\n\n522. How shall I describe to you the transcendent glory of the seventh\nsphere? Let us contemplate it. In it all the beauties and joys of\nthe lower degrees are combined, but in a much more refined and\nsublimated form. There dwell the spirits of the just made more perfect.\nInnumerable companies of children, which constitute the infant army of\nheaven, are singing in gladsome strains the love of Him who called them\ninto being, causing the atmosphere to resound with harmonious shouts\nof joy. There dwells Jesus of Nazareth, the great moral reformer, and\n\u201cJohn the beloved.\u201d There reside the apostles, prophets, and martyrs\nof olden time. There live Confucius, Seneca, Plato, Socrates, and\nSolon, with all the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome.\n\n523. That sphere is illumined by the refulgent beams of heaven\u2019s great\ncentral sun, in whose genial warmth and golden flood of living light\nspirits find life eternal.\n\n\n  _My Sister\u2019s account of her Spiritual Birth, or Translation to the\n                            Spirit World._\n\n524. _Dear brother_: The language of mortals is inadequate to convey\nto your mind a tenth part of the joy that I experienced when liberated\nfrom the physical body. You remember well the hour when the summons\ncame. You did not expect me to depart so soon. The mutual relationship\nwhich had existed between my body and spirit being dissolved, I found\nmyself still a living, thinking, and intelligent being, and in a world\nof tangible and eternal realities.\n\n525. When the last act in the drama of life was finished, and as soon\nas I had emerged from the pleasing reverie which succeeded the moment\nof dissolution, I found my room filled with bright visitants from\nthe world of spirits, and my ears were delighted with the sweetest\nmelodies. I now felt that the great secret was about to be disclosed,\nand I began to realize that I had indeed passed from death unto life.\n\n526. Dazzled by the exceeding brilliancy of the light which emanated\nfrom the pure beings who surrounded me, I began to distrust my senses,\nand looked about to assure myself that I was not in a dream or trance.\nI was soon startled from my musing by a gentle pull at my garment,\nand on turning round to discover the cause, I instantly recognised my\nbeloved father. Oh! imagine my feelings at that joyful moment; no words\ncan describe them. I now felt a strong desire to leave earth. Father\nperceiving this, placed his hand in mine, and said, \u201cMy daughter, the\nbattle is fought, the victory is won; follow me.\u201d He now led me forth\ninto open space. We were immediately encircled by a magnificent halo\nof light, and strains of heavenly music floated on the circumambient\nair. Here a scene of glory was revealed to me which human imagination\nis unable to conceive. As we penetrated the clear blue depths of ether,\nmyriads of angelic beings crossed our path, and many greeted me with\nwords of welcome.\n\n527. Having passed beyond earth\u2019s sphere, new and more glorious scenes\nburst upon my enraptured vision, and they increased in beauty at each\nsuccessive stage of our journey. I felt that a great change had taken\nplace in my condition, for the most intense sensations of pleasure\npervaded my soul. Father watched my emotions with deep interest, and\nwas delighted with the startling and happy effect produced on my mind.\nWe passed quickly through the different stages of our progress, till we\narrived at the fifth spiritual sphere, which is my present home. I am\noften with my friends on earth, and would gladly influence them, and\nprove my identity to them, if they would render themselves receptive to\nmy power.\n\n528. My present home, in point of beauty, far excels any scene ever\nwitnessed by mortal eye. The interior of nature is laid open to the\nspirit\u2019s perception, and the hidden treasures of earth are exposed\nto its view. When we desire to be with our friends on earth, we have\nonly to will it, and our desire is instantly gratified. We can visit\nthe spheres below, but not those above us until we are prepared for\nadmission into them by a gradual process of development.\n\n529. The first spiritual sphere is the abode of those spirits whose\ndesires are low and sensuous; they pursue those pleasures which are\nmost congenial to their unrefined and grovelling natures; but as their\nmoral faculties become strengthened, they lose their taste for debasing\npursuits, and rise in the scale of being. The brightness of the halo\nwhich envelopes the spirit is increased in proportion to its increase\nof moral and intellectual greatness.\n\n530. Dear Robert, I have looked forward with great pleasure to the time\nwhen I might be enabled to commune with you.\n\n531. All knowledge gained by mortals will be of advantage to them in\nthe spheres.\n\n532. Each individual in the spirit world is judged and suffers\naccording to the deeds done in the body. There is no possible escape\nfrom the legitimate consequences of evil actions. The book of God\u2019s\njudgment is the record made on the tablets of the mind, and it may be\nread by all. The hypocrite can remain hypocrite no longer, as he will\ninevitably appear in his true colours; and in this fact, in part, shall\nhis punishment consist.\n\n533. I would say a few words to you concerning the condition of\ninfants. The infant spirit ascends directly to the seventh sphere, and\nis given in charge of a guardian spirit, by whom it is cared for and\ninstructed in those things which most serve to develop its intellectual\npowers. It is permitted occasionally to visit its parents who may be in\nlower spheres, and to descend even to earth with its guardian angel,\nwho often communicates for it.\n\n534. Every individual, at death, is waited on by a congenial spirit,\nwho escorts him to his home in that sphere to which his merit entitles\nhim.\n\n535. The object of our present mission to the inhabitants of the earth\nis to convince millions of _doubting_ mortals of the fact of their\n_immortality_, and of the glorious destiny which awaits them beyond the\nlimits of the tomb.\n\n536. It is thought by many of our brothers in the flesh that we will\nimpart to them _all_ the knowledge that we possess respecting the\nmysteries of the spheres; but on this point let them be undeceived, for\nit is utterly impossible for them to comprehend all in their present\nrudimental state. Our chief object is to assure them, by unmistakable\nsigns, of the soul\u2019s immortality, and the conditions necessary to be\nobserved by them in order to obtain a happy future existence.\n\n537. Notwithstanding the truth of spirit manifestations and spirit\nteachings, there are many persons who will not readily perceive it;\ntheir minds are so much cramped and distorted by false teachings, that\nmany years shall have elapsed before there can be much improvement in\nthem; of such it hath been said, \u201cThey would not believe though one\nshould arise from the dead.\u201d\n\n538. My brother, I would say a word to you touching your duty in regard\nto the present dispensation. You occupy a prominent and important place\nin the dissemination of this most glorious gospel; your mind has ever\nbeen desirous of the truth; a uniform consistency of conduct has marked\nyour course through life: pursue, then, the even tenor of your way,\nand let love be the controlling principle of your motives and actions,\nand if reviled, revile not again, but bear all things nobly for the\ntruth\u2019s sake, and great will be your reward. I would say, moreover, let\nyour reason determine the value of our teachings. You are engrossed to\nsome extent by the cares and perplexities of earth life; therefore you\ncannot so fully realize the wondrous joys which await you in yonder\npeaceful heaven!\n\n539. My brother, when the lamp of your earthly existence shall begin to\nburn dimly, and the objects of earth recede from your view, your spirit\nfather and sister will be at hand to conduct you into the presence of\nthose loved friends who are bound to you by the ties of consanguinity\nand sympathy.                                           MARTHA.\n\n\n            _My Brother\u2019s account of his Spiritual Birth._\n\n540. _Dear brother Robert_: How long I remained in a state of\nunconsciousness, previous to my spiritual birth, is unknown to me;\nsuffice it to say, when the vital cord which bound me to the physical\nbody was parted, I experienced a full consciousness of my personality.\nI enjoyed perfect freedom from pain and sickness, and an unwonted\ndegree of strength and buoyancy of spirit; sensations of the most\nexalted character took possession of me, and a holy calm pervaded the\nsanctuary of my soul. It was not, however, until I saw my body lying\nupon the bed, that the true nature of my situation flashed across my\nmind. I shall never forget that moment of ecstatic bliss. I felt a\nsudden and indescribable consciousness of increased mental and physical\npower, and my body was most beautifully and symmetrically formed; in\nfact, I beheld myself a perfect and immortal man! I perceived, too,\nthat my step was lighter, freer, and more elastic than usual, and my\nwhole system was singularly rejuvenated. I knew that I was in eternity,\nyet I saw that I was upon the earth. As my mind became clear, and\nmy vision less obstructed, a radiant spirit, whom I had not before\nnoticed, addressed me in these words: \u201cBrother! welcome, welcome, to\nthe bright and joyous spirit land, to this blest habitation for the\nchildren of men, to this land of ceaseless progression.\u201d The spirit\nhaving spoken thus, beckoned me away.\n\n541. Having passed beyond the sphere of earth, we entered the regions\nof perpetual day, where the foot of mortal never trod; where the\nbrilliant flowers were never culled by mortal hands; where beautiful\nspirits, angelic beings, float in mid air, and sport beside the\nsparkling fountains; where harmonious voices mingle with the rich tones\nof golden harps, and silver flute-notes ascend to the arching heavens.\nOn our way thither we saw many companies of ministering angels passing\nto and fro on their respective missions. Some, who were assembled in\ngroups, talked earnestly together upon congenial subjects; while others\nblended their voices in anthems of praise, whose echoes were prolonged\nfar up through the realms of space to blend with still more glorious\nharmonies in spheres above. Those celestial beings, though beautiful\nbeyond the conception of finite man, were not of the highest order\nof angels. They belong to that class whose mission is to visit the\ndwellings of men, and to minister unto the bereaved and afflicted of\nearth; to tend the beds of the dying, and to whisper rest to the weary\nand hope to the desponding.\n\n542. My brother, I might speak to you of the past, but I prefer to\nopen the door of the bright and glorious future. Solon said that no\none should call himself happy before death; now, although I do not\nsanction this advice of the distinguished sage, I know that there is,\ncomparatively speaking, no happiness in the rudimentary state; no\npleasure equal to that which awaits the resurrected spirit in those\nbeautiful mansions where it shall forever bathe in the eternal sunlight\nof its Father\u2019s love. I cannot find words to describe to you the\nmagnificent creations of Him from whom all order, beauty, and harmony\nproceed.\n\n543. I am surrounded by every thing that can delight the eye, please\nthe ear, and gratify the taste. I have every facility for studying all\nthe principles in the vast universe of matter.\n\n544. In the higher spiritual states perfect peace and tranquillity\nreign: no strife mars the harmony of the celestial abodes.\n\n545. My mission is to instruct spirits in the lower circles, and to\nraise them from their degraded condition.\n\n546. Every spirit follows those pursuits that are most congenial to him.\n\n547. Every spirit has a sphere of utility, and finds his true position\non entering the spheres.\n\nBrother, the years of your external life are drawing to a close.\nWhen your initial term is finished, you will enter upon an unending\nseries of moral and intellectual developments; then you will be fully\ncompensated for all that you have endured in the cause of truth on\nearth. Your present life, remember, is but the prelude to ineffable\njoys in the world beyond the grave. Thank God, your barque is not\ndrifting rudderless and pilotless on the great ocean of time. No! she\nis well-manned and equipped, and pursues her direct course, fearing\nneither Scylla nor Charybdis.\n\nRobert, you have acted nobly and fearlessly in defending the great\ncause of humanity. We are watching your movements with great interest.\nContinue to devote your mental energies to the development of spiritual\nfacts, and we will aid you when conditions favour. Farewell.\n\n                                                          C. W. H.\n\n\n                        CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS.\n\n _Sixty-four Queries addressed to a Convocation of Worthies from the\n Spirit World; also, the Replies given by them, and confirmed under\n conditions which no mortal could pervert._\n\n\n548. Having received many pages of communication from my father,\nsister, brother, and certain other spirit friends, on the subject of\nthe spirit world, and having been urged by him and other inhabitants of\nthat world to publish the information thus communicated, I represented,\nat a time when this honoured being reported his presence, that I felt a\nreluctance at publishing solely on the authority of _my relations_; and\nrequested that certain distinguished spirits, who, as I had been told,\nhad attended one of my lectures at Boston, should sanction a synopsis\nof the facts which I had learned respecting the spirit world. (409 to\n547.)\n\n549. The propriety of my request being admitted, it was appointed that\non Monday, the 18th of February, 1855, at nine o\u2019clock, there should\nbe a convocation of some of the worthies in question at the dwelling\nof the excellent medium employed. Accordingly, soon after my arrival\nthere, at the appointed time, my father reported himself, and the\nfollowing names were spelt out as being present:\n\n  George Washington,\n  J. Q. Adams,\n  Wm. H. Harrison,\n  A. Jackson,\n  Henry Clay,\n  Benjamin Franklin,\n  W. E. Channing,\n  H. K. White,\n  Isaac Newton,\n  Byron,\n  Martha Washington,\n  Besides relatives and friends.\n\n550. The queries subjoined were then read successively, pausing, of\ncourse, for an answer to each in turn.\n\n551. The answers were given through an instrument analogous to that\nrepresented by Fig. 1, Plate 4, and described on the page opposite to\nthe plate.\n\n552. Finally, after all the queries had been answered agreeably to the\nusual conditions, a confirmation of the whole was given _under test\nconditions_, as explained in the page opposite Plate 4.\n\n553. Relying on these conditions as competent to secure the issue\nagainst the control of the medium or that of any other mortal, the\nquestion was put, \u201cHave all the answers been correctly communicated?\u201d\nIn reply, the index moved so as to point to the word \u201cYes,\u201d and the\nfollowing address was made at the same time:\n\n554. Friend, we have heard your questions, and severally affirm that we\nhave answered them as recorded by you.\n\n555. It is to be understood that all the subjoined inquiries were\nanswered simply in the affirmative, excepting where a qualified answer\nmade more words necessary than the word \u201cYes,\u201d by itself. The queries\nhaving been previously reduced to writing, the answers were written\ndown by me at once.\n\n556. (1.) Is it true that within a space lying between the earth\nand the lunar orbit there are seven concentric regions, denominated\nspheres, which may be called the country of spirits; that this country\nhas all the features of terrestrial scenery, but with a much greater\nbeauty, even in the third sphere, while the beauty of the other four\nspheres is greater in proportion as they are higher?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n557. (2.) Is it true that in those regions there are mountains, plains,\nrivers, lakes, brooks, rills, trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and every\nattribute of the most admired portions of this lower sphere?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n558. (3.) Is it true that, by the higher spirits, music, poetry, and\nall the sciences and fine arts, are highly and zealously cultivated,\nand that the pleasures of social intercourse are more highly enjoyed\nthan upon earth?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n559. (4.) Are the narratives of their translation to the spirit world,\nwhich I have received from my sister, brother, William Wiggins, and\nthe spirit Maria, to be relied on as coming from them, and as correct\nin their representations of the usual process of transference to the\nspiritual world after death?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n560. (5.) How many spheres are there, this world being the first in the\nseries?\n\n_Ans._ Seven.\n\n561. (6.) How many inhabited by spirits?\n\n_Ans._ Six.\n\n562. (7.) Are there subdivisions? if so, how many in each sphere?\n\n_Ans._ Six.\n\n563. (8.) Are the subdivisions equidistant?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n564. (9.) How are they designated?\n\n_Ans._ Either as circles or planes.\n\n565. (10.) Are they concentric with each other and with this globe?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n566. (11.) At what distance from the terrestrial surface does the lower\nboundary of the second sphere, or first spiritual abode, commence?\n\n_Ans._ Sixty miles.\n\n567. (12.) Are the atmospheres of the spheres more rare in proportion\nas they are more elevated?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n568. (13.) Do they increase in beauty as they are higher in the series?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n569. (14.) How are they illuminated?\n\n_Ans._ By a peculiar sun within the spiritual spheres.\n\n570. (15.) Is our sun visible in the spirit world?\n\n_Ans._ No.\n\n571. (16.) If lighted by a peculiar spiritual sun invisible in our\nmundane region, do the rays of that sun consist of undulations of an\nall-pervading ethereal fluid, analogous to that assumed to exist by the\nundulationists?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n572. (17.) Or do they depend upon the last-mentioned fluid for\nexistence?\n\n_Ans._ No.\n\n573. (18.) Are there not peculiar elementary principles appropriate,\nseverally, to the spiritual world, and likewise to the material world?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n574. (19.) Is it not an error to suppose that any of the ponderable\nelements recognised by chemistry can contribute to the organization of\nthe person of an imponderable spirit?\n\n_Ans._ Of course, not without a loss of ponderosity, which involves a\nloss of identity or a transformation.\n\n575. (20.) Is it not luminiferous matter which causes the effulgence\nof spirits, analogous in its effects to that of luminiferous insects,\nthough consisting of a spiritual material entirely different from those\nwhich enter into the luminiferous matter of insects?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n576. (21.) Are spirits in the lowest level of the second sphere\ndestitute of effulgence?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n577. (22.) Are they absolutely enveloped in a dark halo?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n578. (23.) Is reformation indicated first by diminished darkness, and\nsubsequently by augmented effulgence?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n579. (24.) Is the sphere of a spirit known by the relative brightness\nor darkness of his halo?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n580. (25.) Is the lower circle of the second sphere disagreeable as to\nits scenery?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n581. (26.) Is spirit Maria\u2019s description of the spheres correct? (505\nto 523.)\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n582. (27.) Does this feature lessen as the circles are higher?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n583. (28.) Do the last-mentioned circles present an aspect less\nagreeable than that of our sphere?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n584. (29.) At what point does the scenery become superior to any in our\nworld?\n\n_Ans._ In the third sphere.\n\n585. (30.) What designates the boundaries of the spheres, so as to make\nspirits perceive when they are passing through the partition between\none and another?\n\n_Ans._ Diversity of impression made upon the spirit.\n\n586. (31.) What confines a spirit to his proper level, so that none can\nmount above it into a sphere to which he does not belong?\n\n_Ans._ A moral specific gravity, in which the weight is inversely as\nthe merit, prevents the spirit from rising above his proper level.\n\n587. (32.) Are spirits of different densities rarer or more refined in\nconstitution as they are higher in rank?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n588. (33.) Has the most dense or most undeveloped spirit any weight? if\nnot, how are they denser than those who have progressed farther?\n\n_Ans._ They are in the spheres heavy as compared with other spirits,\nbut their weight would not influence a scale-beam in this mundane\nsphere.\n\n589. (34.) If the lowest have no weight, wherefore are they more\ncompetent to give physical manifestations by moving ponderable bodies?\n\n_Ans._ They do not act by weight, but all spirits, under favourable\nconditions and with certain means, possess, in a minute degree, a\nportion of that power possessed to an infinite extent by the Deity, of\nannulling gravitation and vis inerti\u00e6; and though they cannot exercise\nsuch powers without the aid of a medium, the medium is to them as an\nimplement in the hands of a human being.\n\n590. (35.) How are such movements produced consistently with the law\nthat action and reaction are equal and contrary?\n\n_Ans._ Gravity and vis inerti\u00e6 being neutralized, the physical law of\naction and reaction does not prevail against the spirit volition.\n\n591. (36.) Do spirits employ their limbs in effecting manifestations?\n\n_Ans._ Not necessarily.\n\n592. (37.) Have spirits a power of creating that which they desire?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n593. (38.) Like the genius of Aladdin\u2019s lamp, can spirits within their\nsphere create habitations at their bidding?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n594. (39.) Does this creative power exist in the spirits of each\nsphere, or is it denied, as I have been informed, to those of the\nsecond sphere?\n\n_Ans._ It is denied.\n\n595. (40.) Is this creative power more extensive as the sphere to which\nthe spirit belongs is more elevated?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n596. (41.) Are the spirits of the third sphere happy?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n597. (42.) Does happiness become greater as the rank of the spirit\nbecomes higher?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n598. (43.) Do spirits of infants go to the seventh sphere?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n599. (44.) Does an infant dying before noticing any thing go to that\nsphere?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n600. (45.) Does it require care analogous to that given to infants in\nthis world?\n\n_Ans._ It is carefully instructed.\n\n601. (46.) Do infant spirits come down and reside among kindred more\nor less, visiting, as it grows older, those mundane scenes which may\ncompensate it for its loss of opportunities by premature death?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n602. (47.) Does not the inability to communicate with its kindred cause\nit to be unhappy under these circumstances?\n\n_Ans._ It is not rendered unhappy, in consequence of the peculiar\nmanner in which such circumstances act upon the spirit mind.\n\n603. (48.) Do such spirits, as for instance, those going to the other\nworld while children, but having attained mature age, say forty,\nbecome companions for their parents and friends in the spheres who may\nhave died after their maturity, or is there a too great simplicity or\nchildishness?\n\n_Ans._ In purity and simplicity they are contented to live.\n\n604. (49.) Is the love of children, who have died very young, as great\nto their parents and relations who remain in this world as if they\ncontinued to live in their society?\n\n_Ans._ Greater.\n\n605. (50.) Is there a deference shown to spirits on the same plane\ncommensurate with their superiority in learning, science, and wisdom?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n606. (51.) The object of marriage in this world being manifestly\nthe perpetuation of the species, consistently with the preservation\nof refinement and the welfare of offspring, and there being no such\nmotive in the spiritual world, how can there be any motive for any such\nindissoluble ties?\n\n_Ans._ Between spirits joined by matrimony in the spheres there is a\ngreater blending of mutual self-love into one common sentiment than in\nany other friendship.\n\n607. (52.) Have spirits any fluid circulating through an arterial and\nvenous system, which is subjected to a respiratory process, analogous\nto that which our blood undergoes?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n608. (53.) As spirits are weightless, is not this fluid devoid of\nweight?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n609. (54.) Has it any colour?\n\n_Ans._ No.\n\n610. (55.) Does the gaseous or ethereal matter respired by spirits\npervade the mundane sphere?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n611. (56.) Do mortals breathe it as a means of sustenance to their\nspiritual organization while encased by this \u201cmortal coil?\u201d\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n612. (57.) Does it supply the nervous system?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n613. (58.) Is it communicated to inferior animals?\n\n_Ans._ Yes.\n\n614. (59.) Do fishes require atmospheric oxygen while swimming, (water\nconsisting of 8 parts in 9 of pure oxygen,) in order to get at the\nspiritual gas associated with the former?\n\n_Ans._ The spiritual gas imperceptibly accompanying atmospheric air is\nespecially necessary to fishes.\n\n615. (60.) Creed is alleged to be productive of no obstruction to\nascendency in the spiritual world.\n\n_Ans._ Belief, being an _involuntary_ act of the mind, has no merit or\nculpability attached to it, excepting so far as it is the consequence\nor is productive of prejudices; the advance of a spirit is retarded by\nthese defects.\n\n616. (61.) As in the spiritual world there is no necessity, desire,\nor passion which spirits can gratify by violence or fraud, on what is\nvirtue founded? Where there is no motive or power to do wrong, where is\nthe merit of doing right?\n\n_Ans._ In the spheres, vice is displayed by the endurance of bad\npassions; virtue is manifested by love, purity, and the aspiration for\nimprovement.\n\n617. (62.) As the diversities of human character are clearly the\nresults of organization and education, neither of which can be\ncontrolled by the human beings whose merit or demerit is the inevitable\nconsequence, how can there be any culpability? It is true that a man\ncan act as he wills; but is not his will the creature of his passions\nand reason jointly? If his passions be increased, will not reason be\nless capable of controlling them? and, _vice vers\u00e2_, if his passions be\nenfeebled or his reason strengthened, will not his passions have less\nsway? Does it not follow that while we must in self-defence resist or\nrestrain those who cannot govern themselves, should we not commiserate\nall who have the misfortune to be so badly constituted?\n\n_Ans._ We are no more able to answer that than you.\n\n618. (63.) When a being virtuously constituted is murdered by one of\nthe opposite character, who is most an object of commiseration? which\nis most favoured as a creature of God? Is not the difference between\nthese beings analogous to that between the dog and the wolf? Both\ncreatures of God\u2014one is to be extirpated, the other cherished, as an\ninevitable consequence of the laws of creation?\n\n_Ans._ The victim is most favoured.\n\n619. (64.) Has not the analogy between a wicked or a savage man, and\none who has the advantage of a good organization and education, a\nbetter exemplification in the case of a wild dog, and one brought up\nby a kind master, since the wild dog is reclaimable, may be reformed,\nand so may the bad or savage man. Hence, in the spheres, is not\npunishment or restraint made with a view to reformation rather than as\na retribution for inevitable defects?\n\n_Ans._ Correct.\n\n\n     EXPOSITION OF THE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.\n\n\n620. From the information conveyed by communications submitted in the\npreceding pages, as well as others, it appears that there are seven\nspheres recognised in the spirit world. The terrestrial abode forms the\nfirst or rudimental sphere.\n\n621. At the distance of about sixty miles from the terrestrial\nsurface, the spirit world commences. It consists of six bands or\nzones, designated as spheres, surrounding the earth, so as to have\none common centre with it and with each other. An idea of these rings\nmay be formed from that of the planet Saturn, excepting that they are\ncomparatively much nearer to their planet, and that they have their\nbroad surfaces parallel to the planet, and at right angles to the\necliptic, instead of being like Saturn\u2019s rings, so arranged that their\nsurfaces are parallel to the plane in which his ecliptic exists.\n\n622. Supposing the earth to be represented by a globe of thirteen and\na half inches in diameter, the lower surface of the lowest of the\nspiritual spheres, if represented in due proportion to the actual\ndistance from the earth, would be only one-tenth of an inch from the\nterrestrial surface. The bands observed over the regions in the planet\nJupiter which correspond with our tropical regions, agree very well\nin relative position with those which are assigned to our spiritual\nspheres. They are probably the spiritual spheres of that planet.\n\nIt having struck me as possible that these bands might be due to\nspiritual spheres appertaining to Jupiter, I inquired of the spirits;\ntheir reply was confirmatory.\n\n623. The objection naturally occurs that ours are invisible to us; yet\nwe know that light may be polarized in passing through transparent\nmasses so as to produce effects in one case which it does not in others\nwhen not so polarized. It would have to pass through the spheres of\nJupiter, and return through them again. This light, twice subjected\nto the ordeal of passing through the spirit world, when contrasted\nwith that which goes and returns without any such ordeal, may undergo\na change of a nature to produce an effect upon the eye, when, in the\nabsence of this contrast, no visual change should be perceptible.\n\n624. I am aware that it has been alleged that the bands do not appear\nalways to occupy the same boundaries, and at times appear separated\nor more unequally distributed than at others. This may be due in part\nto actual changes which the spiritual essence may undergo as to its\nrelative position, or optical delusions, if not deviations, resulting\nfrom the susceptibility of polarizing causes.\n\n625. Possibly some peculiarity in the reflecting surface of the planet\nmay be productive of such polarizing variations in the state of the\nlight as to cause a difference sufficient for detection.\n\n626. Alum, transparent to the rays of light, intercepts nearly the\nwhole of the rays of heat. Opaque black glass intercepts the rays of\nlight entirely, those of heat but partially.\n\n627. Rock salt, a substance analogous to alum, intercepts radiant heat\nonly to a very small extent.\n\n628. When the rays of the setting sun fall upon the glass of windows,\nwe see one portion reflected with great effulgence, yet another goes\nthrough the glass. The last-mentioned portion of the rays received on a\nsecond pane are reflected, while those which were reflected will pass\nthrough another pane without reflection.\n\n629. This may demonstrate that the conditions requisite to the\npermeability of media by rays is affected by diversities of intestinal\narrangements which are inscrutable to us.\n\n630. The interval between the lower boundaries of the first spiritual\nsphere and the second is estimated at thirty miles as a maximum, but\nthis interval is represented to be less, as the spheres between which\nit may exist are more elevated or remote from the terrestrial centre.\n\n631. Each sphere is divided into six \u201ccircles\u201d or plains. More\nproperly these may be described as concentric zones, occupying each\nabout one-sixth of the space comprised within the boundaries of the\nsphere. There being six subdivisions to each of the six spheres, in all\nthere must be thirty-six gradations.\n\n632. These boundaries are not marked by any visible partition, but\nspirits have in this respect a peculiar sense, which makes them feel\nwhen they are passing the boundaries of one sphere in order to get to\nthe next.\n\n633. This allegation of the existence of an invisible spirit world\nwithin the clear azure space intervening between the surface of this\nglobe and the lunar orbit may startle the reader; and yet this idea may\nhave been presented by Scripture to the same mind, without awakening\nskepticism. It was urged by a spirit friend\u2014Is it more wonderful that\nyou should find our habitations invisible, than that we are invisible?\n\n634. It is plain that between the lowest degrees of vice, ignorance,\nand folly, and the highest degrees of virtue, learning, and wisdom,\nthere are many gradations. When we are translated to the spheres,\nwe take a rank proportional to our merit, which seems to be there\nintuitively susceptible of estimation by the law above alluded to,\nof the grossness being greater as the character is more imperfect.\nBoth the spirits and spheres are represented as having a gradation\nin constitutional refinement, so that the sphere to which a spirit\nbelongs is intuitively manifest. Rank is determined by a sort of moral\nspecific gravity, in which merit is inversely as weight. Another\nmeans of distinction is a circumambient halo by which every spirit\nis accompanied, which passes from a darkness to effulgency as the\nspirit belongs to a higher plane. Even mortals are alleged to be\nsurrounded with a halo visible to spirits, although not to themselves.\nIntuitively, from the extent and nature of this halo, spirits perceive\nthe sphere to which any mundane being belongs. The effulgence of the\nhigher spirits is represented as splendid. As soon as emancipated from\ntheir corporeal tenement, spirits enter the spheres, and are entitled\nto a station higher in direct proportion to their morality, wisdom,\nknowledge, and intellectual refinement.\n\n635. The first spiritual sphere, or the second in the whole series, is\nas large as all the other five above it. This is the hell or Hades of\nthe spirit world, where all sensual, malevolent, selfish beings reside.\nThe next sphere above this, or the third in the whole series, is the\nhabitation of all well-meaning persons, however bigoted, fanatical, or\nignorant. Here they are tolerably happy.\n\n636. In proportion as spirits improve in purity, benevolence, and\nwisdom, they ascend. They may ascend as love-spirits, in consequence\nof the two first-mentioned attributes; but cannot go up on account of\nwisdom alone. A knave, however wise, cannot advance in the spheres.\nThere are, in fact, two modes of ascent\u2014love, so called, and love and\nwisdom united. Those who go up in love are called _love_-spirits; those\nwho unite both qualifications are called wisdom-spirits. A feminine\nspirit, who had been remarkable for her disinterested devotion to her\nrelatives and friends, ascended almost forthwith to the fifth sphere.\nMy friend W. W. had an ascent equally rapid to the same sphere. Yet\nanother spirit, who was fully as free from vice as either of those\nabove alluded to, took many years to ascend in _wisdom_ to the\nfifth sphere, not being satisfied to rise unless accompanied by the\nattributes of wisdom, as well as love. Spirit B. alleged that because\nhe was a free-thinker he went up more quickly than another spirit, A.\nA., being questioned, admitted that B. had got on more speedily, in\nconsequence of superior liberality.\n\n637. Washington is in the seventh sphere.\n\n638. In the spheres, diversity of creed has no influence, excepting so\nfar as its adoption indicates badness of heart and narrowness of mind,\nand has been of a nature to injure the moral and intellectual character.\n\n639. Degradation ensues as an inevitable consequence of vice, and as\nthe means of reform, _not as vindictive punishment_. God is represented\nas all love, and is never named without the most zealous devotion.\nSpirits in any sphere can descend into any sphere below that to which\nthey belong, but cannot ascend above this sphere. They are surrounded\nby a halo, which is brighter in proportion as their sphere is higher.\nThey have an intuitive power of judging of each other and of mortals.\nAttachments originating in this life are strengthened, while hatred\npasses away. The spirits in the upper spheres have \u201c_ineffable_\u201d\nhappiness. The sufferings of those below are negative, rather than\npositive. They are made to feel shame at a degradation which is\nrendered intuitively evident to themselves and all other spirits. But\nall are capable of improvement, so as to have elevation and happiness\nwithin their reach sooner or later. The higher spirits are always ready\nto assist sinners by kind admonition. (92.)\n\n640. My brother alleges himself to hold the office of a teacher. By\nteachers, spirits fresh from this world, called the \u201crudimental\nsphere,\u201d are examined to determine their rank.\n\n641. Spirits are carried along with our globe by their moral affections\nand affinity, which upon them acts as gravitation upon material bodies.\nThey are just where they wish themselves to be, as they move in\nobedience to their moral impulses or aspirations, not having a gross,\nmaterial body to carry along with them.\n\n642. Spirits of the higher spheres control more or less those below\nthem in station, who are sent by them to impress mortals virtuously.\nSpirits are not allowed to interpose directly, so as to alter the\ncourse of events upon earth. They are not allowed to aid in any\nmeasure to obtain wealth.\n\n643. Blessed spirits are endowed with a power competent to the\ngratification of every rational want. They enjoy, as I am authorized\nto say by the convocation of spirits to whom allusion has been made, a\npower like that ascribed to the genius of Aladdin\u2019s lamp. (593.)\n\n644. There is nothing of the nature of marketable property in the\nspirit world, since every inhabitant above the second sphere, or Hades,\nhas as much as he wants, and needs no more to purchase the requisites\nfor his enjoyment or subsistence, than we need to buy air to breathe.\n\n645. It ought also to be explained that after spirits reach the\nhighest plain or circle of the seventh sphere, they are represented as\nbeing entitled to enter the supernal heaven, taking place among the\nministering angels of the Deity.\n\n646. Whether the connubial tie endures or not, is optional. Hence\nthose who have not found their matrimonial connection a source of\nhappiness in this world, are at liberty to seek a new hymeneal union\nin the spirit world. Where there have been a plurality of husbands or\nwives, those unite who find themselves happy in doing so. But, as if\nto indemnify mortals for the crosses in marriage or in love, or for\nthe dreariness of mundane celibacy, all are destined in the spheres to\nfind a counterpart with whom they may be happy, there being peculiarly\nardent pleasurable emotions attached to the connubial union in the\nspheres which mortals cannot understand.\n\n647. Infants grow as they would have done upon earth, nearly. They are\nnursed and educated, and on account of their higher purity have, in\nthis point of view, as much elevation as their relatives who attain\ngreat worldly pre-eminence.\n\n648. The alleged motives for our existence in this rudimental sphere,\nis the necessity of contrast to enable us to appreciate the immunity\nfrom suffering of the higher spheres. Infants in this respect are at a\ndisadvantage; but being unable to appreciate their deficiency, do not\ngrieve therefor. \u201cWhere ignorance is bliss, \u2018twere folly to be wise.\u201d\n\n649. Allusion has already been made to the condition of those who have\ndeparted from this world during infancy, or prior to maturity. A letter\nfrom one of my sons who died when five months old has been introduced\ninto this work, (470.) The change which ensues on spiritual birth, has\nbeen described. (488.)\n\n650. Among the most wonderful facts narrated by my spirit father,\nand sanctioned by the convocation of spirits, is the existence of a\nspiritual sun concentric with ours, and yet emitting independent rays\nfor the spirit world, not for our world; while the rays of our sun do\nnot reach the world above mentioned.\n\n651. Further, the fact that spirits respire a vital fluid inscrutable\nto our chemists, although it coexists everywhere with oxygen, and\nfurnishes our spirits, while encased in the flesh, with an appropriate\nspiritual nourishment.\n\n652. Thus is there another world, existing concentrically and in some\ndegree associated with ours, which is of infinitely greater importance\nto our enduring existence than that wherein we now abide.\n\n653. After I had written the preceding exposition of the knowledge\nimparted to me of the spirit world, I solicited an intercommunion\nwith Washington, to submit the summary for his sanction. Accordingly,\nhe was ushered into my presence by a reliable spirit, and my\nexposition, and the pages contrasting the heaven of Spiritualism with\nthat of Scripture, were read, and received his sanction under _test\nconditions_. (See Plate 4.)\n\n654. In this, my first interview, I premised that I wished to let\nhim know that I had always been one of his most devoted political\nadvocates, having always styled myself a _Washington_ Federalist, and\nthat I had as early as 1812 embodied my sentiments in some verses. He\nsaid he was aware that such verses were written by me, but would wish\nme to repeat them. I obeyed his request. They are as follows:\n\n655.\n    Hail glorious day, which gave Washington birth,\n      To Columbia and liberty dear,\n    When a guardian angel descended on earth\n      To shed blessings o\u2019er many a year.\n\n    Though heroes and statesmen, by glory enshrined,\n      May be seen in the temple of fame,\n    No hero or statesman unblemished we find,\n      Unless under Washington\u2019s name.\n\n    Wealth, titles, and power, were by him ever spurn\u2019d,\n      Of heroes too often the aim;\n    From a king or his favours indignant he turn\u2019d,\n      Only feeling his country\u2019s high claim.\n\n    To this ever true, in her trouble\u2019s dark night,\n      Intent on her welfare alone,\n    Against her proud tyrants, he urged the dread fight,\n      Till lie forced them her freedom to own.\n\n    Next in France a strange demon uplifted its head,\n      All the nations of earth to bewray,\n    And into its snares would Columbia have led,\n      Had not Washington warn\u2019d her to stay.\n\n    Best and wisest of men! when counsell\u2019d by thee,\n      Could thy people their treasure withhold?\n    When ruled by another, then could they agree\n      To lavish their millions untold?\n\n    By Genet insulted, by slander aggrieved,\n      If thy wrongs unrevenged could remain,\n    For denouncing the men whom false he believed,\n      By a mob could thy Lingan be slain?\n\n    Can the voice of the country for whom he had bled,\n      E\u2019er sanction a murder so base,\n    Or the tear-drops of millions, piously shed,\n      The deep stain from our annals efface?\n\n656. As soon as the last words in the preceding verses were recited, I\nwas thrilled by the following effusion:\n\n657. _My Friend_: How my heart swells with grateful emotion, at hearing\nthat beautiful effusion from your lips! Yes, my friend, I strove while\non earth, to carry out the impressions which were made on my mind\nby superior intelligences, and if I failed, my countrymen will bear\ntestimony.\n\n658. Your noble father is a friend of mine, and I feel a love for you\ncommensurate with his worth. He is foremost in the ranks of spiritual\nintelligences, and ready to act when duty calls.\n\n659. My friend, I sympathize with you in your arduous undertaking; but\nlet me assure you that your reward will be greater than the suffering\nyou have endured. Yes, most nobly you have fought against error; and\nyou will yet place the banner of freedom high upon the battlement of\ntruth. Farewell, noble scion of a noble man!\n\n                                                GEO. WASHINGTON.\n\n\n                      APOLOGY FOR MY CONVERSION.\n\n\n   _Apology for my change of opinion and belief in the existence and\n                          agency of Spirits._\n\n660. I do not conceive that in my change of opinion I have been\ninvolved in any inconsistency of principle. It always appeared to me\nthat in explaining the planetary movements, after arriving at the\nNewtonian boundary made by momentum and gravitation, there could be\nno alternative between appealing to the spiritual power of God, or\nresorting to atheism. An appeal to the power of God has always been\nmy choice; nevertheless holding that wondrous power to be of a nature\nwholly unintelligible to finite man. (57 to 87.)\n\n661. Confining the range of my philosophy to the laws of motion,\nmagnificently illustrated by the innumerable solar systems, but no less\noperative in every minute mechanical movement, I hold that I could\nonly come to the same conclusion as Faraday, that if tables _when\nassociated with human beings_ moved, it must in some way be due to\nthose beings, since, agreeably to all experience of the laws of matter\nin the _material_ world, inanimate bodies cannot originate motion.\nBut as when the planetary motions are considered, any hypothesis\nfails which does not account for the rationality of the result, and\ntherefore involves the agency not only of a powerful but a rational\ncause; so the manifestations of Spiritualism, involving both reason\nand power, might consistently justify me in looking for agents endowed\nwith the reason and power manifested by the phenomena. This power being\n_invisible_ and _imponderable_, and at the same time _rational_, there\nwas no alternative but to consider it as _spiritual_, no less than that\nto which planetary motion is due. In its potentiality the power thus\nmanifested might be extremely minute as compared with the potentiality\nof the Creator; still it had to be of the same spiritual nature.\n\n662. It has not appeared unreasonable to infer that the soul in\nassuming the spirit form should acquire a power of which material\nbeings are destitute, and of which they can only conceive an idea from\nits necessity to the operations of God. Parting with its material\nattributes, were the soul not to acquire others, even if it could\nexist, it would be perfectly helpless. Hence, in becoming an immaterial\nspirit, it must acquire powers indispensable and appropriate to that\nstate of existence.\n\n663. Since we know that the animal frame for the most part after death,\non the exposure to the air, warmth, and moisture, returns to the\natmosphere whence it is mainly derived, it follows that on undergoing\nthat awful change the soul must take the spirit form, unless it perish\nwith its material tenement. So far, then, all who believe in the\nimmortality of the soul, must concur with spiritualists that on dying\nwe become spirits.\n\n664. It will then be admitted by all who believe in the immortality\nof the soul that, as for every mortal that dies a spirit is born,\ninnumerable spirits must exist. Is it not then reasonable to consider\nthem as agents in producing phenomena which can only be ascribed to\ninvisible, imponderable, rational, and affectionate beings, especially\nwhen they themselves sanction this inference by word and deed?\n\n665. Were a tyrant to enclose a human being while alive within a\ncast-iron vessel, the aperture through which the introduction should\nbe made being closed by a stopple soldered in air-tight, all the\nponderable elements of the corporeal body would be retained; but can\nany one who believes the soul to survive the body, think that it would\nremain included in that vessel so long as it should endure? Cast-iron\ncoats itself with a carbonated peroxide, vulgarly called rust, and then\nundergoes no farther change; so that the corporeal elements might be\nretained to an infinite time. But could the soul be thus imprisoned,\nperhaps to eternity? Could the tyranny of a man thus imprison an\nimmortal soul? Does it not follow that the soul would not be confined\nby the air-tight and apparently impenetrable metallic vessel?\n\n\n                      _Invisibility of the Soul._\n\n666. The invisibility of the soul in leaving the body, must be\nadmitted, since, however the dying may be surrounded by their friends\nand nurses, and vigilantly guarded after death by watches, as customary\nwith many, the soul is not seen to leave the body. It must, therefore,\nbe invisible, and capable of permeating cast-iron or any other\nmaterial within which, while alive, an immortal being might be enclosed\nair-tight.\n\n\n                    _On the Whereabout of Heaven._\n\n667. The qualities of invisibility and penetrative power being\nnecessarily conceded to the soul, is it unreasonable to extend this\nattribute to its habitation in the skies: to the country of spirits?\n\n668. In communicating with a friendly spirit, I adverted to the\ndifficulty of inducing people to conceive that in the clear azure space\nexisting between the earth and moon, there should be scenery like ours,\nwith plains, hills, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, seas, and every\nvariety of edifice in greater perfection than upon earth. \u201cYou do not\nsee us,\u201d said my friend; \u201cthen why should you wonder at not seeing our\nworld?\u201d\n\n669. It is quite evident that no such obstacle stood in the way of\nbelief in the existence of heaven among the Jews, as it is constantly\nreferred to as being above; Noah\u2019s deluge came through the windows of\nheaven; and this idea has been sustained in the language of Christ, as\nwell as of the Hebrew prophets.\n\n670. Elijah is represented as having visibly ascended to heaven. That\nthe vicinity and invisibility of heaven are not at war with Scripture,\nis alleged in a recent work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh of the German\nReformed Church, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He quotes approvingly a\npassage in a work, entitled \u201cPhysicial Theory of Another Life,\u201d by\nTaylor, which I subjoin:\n\n671. Taylor suggests\u2014\u201cThat within the space occupied by the visible\nand ponderable universe, and on all sides of us, there is existing and\nmoving another element, fraught with another species of life, corporeal\nindeed, and various in its orders, but not open to the cogn\u00edzance of\nthose who are confined to the conditions of animal organization, not to\nbe seen nor heard, nor to be felt by man.\u201d \u201cOur present conjecture,\u201d\nremarks the author in another place, \u201creaches to the extent of\nsupposing that within the space encircled by the sidereal revolutions,\nthere exists and moves a second universe, not less real than the one\nwe are at present conversant with: a universe elaborate in structure,\nand replete with life; life agitated with momentous interests, and\nperhaps by frivolous interests; a universe conscious perhaps of the\nmaterial spheres, or unconscious of them, and firmly believing (as we\ndo) _itself_ to be the only reality. Our planets in their sweep do not\nperforate the structure of this invisible creation; our suns do not\nscorch its plains: for the two collateral systems are not connected by\nany active affinities.\u201d\n\n672. This would bring \u201cthe things which are not seen,\u201d indeed, near to\nand around us. To enter the other world would not be so much a removal\nin space, as just to be made loose from, or to become insensible to,\nthe conditions of this life. Death will be only the destruction or\ndisappearance of human and earthly affinities, and directly we shall\nbe surrounded by affinities adapted to our new state of existence, and\nshall find for ourselves a congenial home in and around our present\nhabitation.\n\n673. Much is argued in favour of this theory. It is said in no place to\ninterfere with Scripture, but rather to be countenanced by incidental\nhints and allusions. It is said to be made highly probable by the\nknown truths of physical science. An unseen world, in all respects\nmaterial, inhabited by corporeal beings, it is said, is possible. There\nare material elements which are not cognizable to any of our senses\nexcept by a round of research and experiment, and then only in their\nremote effects, as, for instance, electricity. The atmosphere also, and\nlight, are material, and yet so subtle as almost entirely to evade our\nunassisted observation; and may there not be still others as yet to us\nunknown? We are related to, and become acquainted with, the external\nworld by the medium of the five senses; but who will say that there\nare not other senses hidden in possibility in our nature which may by\nmeans of other affinities communicate with a world far more refined in\nits constitution, with which we cannot now come in contact? Science\nhas discovered living animalcul\u00e6 in the solidest substances; the air\nwe breathe and the water we drink are the homes of myriads of beings,\nand though unseen by the naked eye, these elements are swarming with\nminiature life! It seems to be God\u2019s motto, \u201c_Multum in parvo_\u201d\u2014life in\nlife, world in world, universe in universe! With these known facts in\nscience before us, may we not, it is asked, consider the above theory\nprobable?\n\n674. It is further supposed that this invisible world around us is\nthe after stage of the present life; and as it is a stage of being in\nall respects superior to this, it may be that its inhabitants have a\nknowledge of us, though we have not of them, just as we are acquainted\nwith grades of animalcule life beneath us, when it can hardly be\nsupposed that they know any thing of our existence. Hence, too, in some\nexceptive cases it may be possible for them to break through the veil\nof separation, and appear in various ways unto men on the platform of\nhuman life. Then we are indeed \u201csurrounded by a cloud of witnesses,\u201d\nwho stand around, or bend over us, and look with deep interest upon\nthe struggle of life, and when they see it unequal in the case of the\nsaints, they break through in their ardour, and become ministering\nspirits to those who are heirs of eternal life.\n\n675. It is also supposed that these beings in the world unseen may\nhave capacities to communicate with the remotest inhabitants of God\u2019s\nuniverse. The facilities of communication may be so great in these\nethereal climes, that space is annihilated, and the different hosts of\nintelligences in the wide universe may commune with each other and God\nas one family in their \u201cFather\u2019s house.\u201d\n\n676. There is a surprising degree of coincidence between the\nspeculations comprised in this quotation, and the accounts which I have\nreceived respecting the spirit world from some of those occupying an\nelevated grade therein. It has been observed above that if the soul\nbe immortal, it cannot be imagined to remain in the grave, since the\ngreater part of the human organization in hot weather escapes through\nputrefaction, as vapour or gas. Hence the endurance of the soul after\ndeath involves spiritual existence. We must, therefore, on dying, take\nan invisible spiritual form.\n\n677. Believers in revelation stare incredulously when mention is made\nof a _spirit_, as if its existence were an impossibility; yet it\nhas been shown, that according to orthodoxy, death extricating the\nsoul from the body, it must forthwith commence its spiritual life.\nThe existence of spirits being thus established, that they should\ncommunicate with us would be more probable than that they should not,\nexcepting that it has not been heretofore generally known to take\nplace. But spirits allege that the manifestations which have been\ntaking place for some years have been the result of efforts especially\nmade by a delegation of philanthropic spirits, to break through the\npartition which has so long prevented the communication to mortals of a\ncorrect knowledge of the existence of the human soul after death, and\nthe requisites to the attainment of celestial happiness.\n\n678. The accomplishment of this object is a step in the progressive\nadvancement and the means of improvement possessed by the celestial\nworld, analogous to the invention of printing or of the telegraph in\nthe mundane sphere.\n\n679. The management is intrusted to advanced spirits acquainted with\nthe affairs of both worlds. Agreeably to Scripture, heaven is _above_,\nover our heads; to prevent the Tower of Babel from reaching it, a\nconfusion of tongues was ordained. The second commandment speaks of\nheaven _above_ and earth beneath. Christ \u201cdescended into hell,\u201d\naccording to the apostles\u2019 creed; of course, hell is below. \u201cWhosoever\ncalls his brother a fool, is in danger of hell-fire.\u201d That hell and\nfire should be thus associated is therefore consistent with the\nobservations of geologists, who infer that the interior of the earth\nconsists of ignited matter of which volcanoes are the safety-tubes,\nhowever inconsistent with reason to suppose immortal souls to be\nbroiling therein.\n\n680. But enlightened Christians do not, I believe, locate hell within\nthis earth, nor call in fire to aid in their conceptions of it.\nEvidently, the more rational idea of the future abode of souls is that\nof its being above every point on the earth\u2019s surface, and equidistant\ntherefrom. This would involve that of a space concentric with the\nearth, and which falls in with the idea of that comprising the spheres\nof Spiritualism.\n\n681. If we leave this earth, in order to imagine any location beyond\nthe range of astronomical bodies, it would place the locality at a\ndistance, according to Herschel, requiring nineteen hundred thousand\nyears for souls to travel, moving with the velocity of light, two\nhundred thousand miles in a second. In one of my lectures, in 1842, I\nsuggested that heaven might be situated at that central space about\nwhich all the constellations of the universe have been supposed to\nrevolve.\n\n682. But if we infer a general place of reception for souls, then in\nthat celestial emporium every soul from all the myriads of planets,\nof all the solar systems in the universe, must congregate. Far more\nrational does it not seem that our heaven should be associated with our\nown planet, in the welfare, the past history, and future prospects of\nwhich the souls who were born upon it, must take pre-eminent interest?\n\n683. The separation of any heaven into spheres seems inevitable, since\nthe association of spirits according to their virtue and intellectual\nacquirements and capacity seems indispensable to harmony and happiness.\nThus the more virtuous, wise, and cultivated spirits are, the higher\ntheir spheres of existence.\n\n684. Let any person contemplate the information respecting the spirit\nworld given in the preceding pages, in the communications from my\nspirit relations and others, and then say whether, in receiving them as\ntrue, any believer in immortality, as vaguely portrayed in the gospel,\nwill not make a beneficial exchange.\n\n685. How can any person become a spiritualist without forthwith finding\nan irresistible impulse to conduct himself in this world, so as to\nacquire eminence in the next? For what are we all working? is it not\nfor happiness, \u201cour being\u2019s end and aim,\u201d the difference being only\nin the mode by which it is sought? By some it is through the good of\nothers as well as of themselves; yet too many seek it without regard\nto that portion of their fellow-creatures whom they may deem it their\ninterest to oppress, deceive, cheat, or rob.\n\n686. But even these will perceive how much better it will be to pursue\nthe opposite course, since every wrong done by them here, will have to\nbe expiated by a proportionate penance in the spirit world.\n\n687. By every good action resulting from the wish to do as we would be\ndone by, we advance a step higher in that heavenly stairway by which we\nmay ultimately reach the supernal heaven, and become ministering angels\nof God.\n\n688. But even during our ascending progression, we shall pass through\na succession of stages wherein every intellectual, social, and amiable\npropensity of our nature will be gratified.\n\n689. In justice to myself, and to give more weight to the inferences\ndrawn from my laborious investigations, I will subjoin the\ncorrespondence between Mr. Holcomb and myself, which succeeded the\nreceipt of the letter which has been introduced in the commencement\nof my narrative, (128.) So far as my judgment goes, there never was a\nletter written of which the facts or inferences are more correct; yet\nit appears that so late as the 8th of February I was still a doubter.\nThe tenor of the correspondence will show that if I was conquered, I\ndid not yield the ground undisputed, and was vanquished only by facts\nand reasons which, when understood or admitted, must produce in others\nthe conviction which they created in me. If I was the victim of an\nintellectual epidemic, my mental constitution did not yield at once to\nthe miasma. It took some three months to include me among its victims.\n\n\n                                    PHILADELPHIA, January 14, 1854.\n\n690. _Dear Sir_:\u2014Your letter of the 17th of November met my eye as I\nwas this morning looking over a file of letters. I am led to write,\ntherefore, that in consequence of your suggestion, and those of others,\nI have been giving my attention to the phenomena to which you alluded.\nWhen I come to any conclusion, I will write again.\n\n691. I still concur with Faraday, and have seen nothing to make me\nbelieve in the spiritual manifestations. Yet I am not surprised that\nthe latter should be believed in by those who have that belief, as\nthere are phenomena which I cannot explain yet, any more than many\nwhich I have seen resulting from jugglery. The converts are, however,\nsuch worthy persons, that I cannot bring myself to suspect them of\ndeception. I think you must be mistaken as respects a table moving when\nleft to itself entirely. The circumstances for producing this phenomena\nhave been repeatedly made favourable by the mediums in my presence, but\nexcepting in one instance, when it was within reach of the feet, no\nmotion ensued.\n\n692. It would, indeed, be a glorious mercy if God would give us some\nevidence, which should settle the religious opinions of mankind.\n\n                                                      ROBERT HARE.\n\n\n                                    SOUTHWICK, Mass., Feb. 3d, 1854.\n\n693. _Dear Sir_: I wish, however, to say something in regard to the\nsubject-matter of your letter. You say you are not surprised at the\nbelief of many in Spiritualism, as there are phenomena which you cannot\nexplain. You also say that you think I must be mistaken \u201c_as respects\na table moving when left to itself entirely_.\u201d I do not think a table\nwould move if left to itself entirely, since matter cannot put itself\ninto motion. The great question is, What is the power that makes the\ntable move? You think it is muscular, and I am certain that it is\nsomething else. When I am looking at the sun in a clear sky, I know\nthat it shines. No argument would have any influence to make me doubt\nthe evidence of my senses. There has, no doubt, been a great deal of\njugglery in the world, but shall I doubt the evidence of my senses\non that account? How shall we prove any thing in a court of justice,\nif the evidence of our senses is not to be relied upon? While I am\nlooking at a table, it moves, and I have the same evidence that no\nbody touches it, that I have that it moves. I see the table tilt up,\nand poise itself on two of its four legs, and then on the other two,\nand finally it wholly rises from the floor, and seems to float in the\nair without any visible support whatever; all this time there are no\npersons within six feet of it. In a letter of N. P. Talmadge, published\nin the Tribune of May 27th last, he gives an account of his seeing\ntables move when nothing visible touched them. I mention _him_, because\nI suppose his character and standing would be likely to have weight\nwith you. It would, however, be very easy to mention a very great many\ncases, proved by testimony that would be conclusive in any court of\njustice. I supposed that it was too late in the day to doubt facts of\nthis character, as they are taking place in numerous places in this\ncountry and also in Europe. I suppose this is the reason why Faraday\u2019s\nexplanation has availed so little to check Spiritualism in England or\nFrance.\n\n694. I believe Henry Gordon resides now in Philadelphia. I have no\ndoubt you can see such things for yourself in his presence by attending\na few times. Our judge of probate, who lives a few miles from me, told\nme a few days ago that a young lady of his acquaintance put her hands\nupon a table and it moved. He then took hold of the table to prevent\nthe motion, but he had not strength to do it. The table would slide on\nthe floor, notwithstanding his utmost efforts to prevent it. Now it is\nperfectly idle to say that the young lady _unconsciously_ exerted such\na power. The judge ridicules the idea of its being caused by spirits.\nHe says that it is electricity. You are too well acquainted with the\nlaws of electricity to believe that under such circumstances it can\nproduce any such feats. I know of a case, in Springfield City, in which\nfour respectable merchants, with whom I am acquainted, testify that a\nlarge table, with two of them on it, moved around the room. In that\ninstance the medium\u2019s hands were on the table. But who can believe that\nsuch a force could be exerted without the movers being conscious of it.\nThere are cases enough of the same description to fill a volume.\n\n695. There is another phase of this matter that is worthy of attention,\nand that is the intelligence connected with it. You mention cases\nwhere the answers were not correct. Thousands of such cases might be\nfurnished. In the presence of some of the mediums, almost all the\nanswers will be false; while in the presence of others, it will be very\nrare that a wrong answer is given. Some of the answers being wrong\ndoes not prove that there is no intelligence connected with it. In\nthe presence of a good medium, a question asked mentally is answered\nas readily and as correctly as when asked vocally. I do not depend on\nthe testimony of others for this. I have found it to be true in my own\nexperience. In the presence of some mediums, mental questions are not\nanswered. The foregoing are facts that are well settled if evidence can\nsettle any thing. To say that we are dupes and fools, decides nothing.\nI suppose that I can examine a matter as carefully and intricately as\nmost men, and I know I am not deceived about the facts. But the cause\nis quite another matter.\n\n696. I suppose you are acquainted with the various and conflicting\nexplanations that have been given. They all appear to my mind perfectly\nabsurd and incredible, and no two of them agree. Rev. Dr. Beecher was\nappointed by his association to examine and report. He did so, and\ndecides that the communications are from the spirits of the dead, but\nfrom the evil or unblest portion of them. If it is from spirits, there\nis as much evidence that some of them are good, as that others are evil.\n\n697. I must close. I did not expect an answer, but was glad to hear\nfrom you, and if you make any important discovery, I should be glad\nto hear from you again; I am not settled in my mind respecting the\ncause of these strange phenomena. I agree with you heartily in your\nlast remark in your letter, that \u201cit would indeed be a glorious mercy\nif God would give us some evidence which should settle the religious\nopinions of mankind.\u201d\n\n                           Yours, very respectfully,\n                                                 AMASA HOLCOMB.\n\n\n  _In reply to the preceding, so much of a letter from the Author as\n                       relates to Spiritualism._\n\n                                      PHILADELPHIA, February 8, 1854.\n\n698. You believe fully that tables move without contact, because you\nhave _seen them move_; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them\nmove without human contact, although I have been at several circles.\n\n699. You have been much more lucky than I have been as to the\nmanifestations, whether mechanical or mental.\n\n700. I shall lose no opportunity of making further observations. I\nhave no clue to find Gordon. You ought to give me his address, and\ncommunicate all you know respecting him.\n\n                                                          ROBT. HARE.\n\n\n                                         SOUTHWICK, February 20, 1854.\n\n701. _Dear Sir_: Your letter of February 8th is before me. You did not\nsay whether you believed in the soul\u2019s immortality or not! This is the\nmost important of all questions to me, and how is it to be settled? If\nthe Bible is not to be depended upon, and we have no communications\nfrom the spirit world, what evidence have we of our immortality? I have\nbeen greatly afflicted with doubts upon this subject. It has exceeded\nall other afflictions that I have met with. You will of course see at\nonce how desirous I am that these apparent communications should prove\nto be in _reality_ from the spirit world, as that would settle the\nquestion. I seize upon every thing that seems to have a bearing upon\nthe question of immortality, and I confess that I have strong hopes\nthat Spiritualism, as it is termed, will settle this question. If it be\ntrue that there is physical force and intelligence, neither of which\nproceed from the medium, how is it to be explained? You doubt these\ntwo, but I am as well assured of them as I can be of any thing.\n\n702. If spirits communicate, it is certain that some of them deceive.\nIt would appear that there are all sorts of characters, the same as\nthere are in this world. If you should become satisfied of the two\nfacts that I mentioned, I should like to have you and other men of\nscience try your skill at explanation.\n\n703. I will relate what took place at the first sitting that I ever\nattended. It was in Boston, and I went as a perfect stranger. Before\nthe sitting commenced, and but few had collected, a strolling musician\ncame along and commenced playing at the door, and every tune played\nat the door was beaten or rapped on the table. The medium was in the\nroom; I saw her walk up to the table and lay her hand on it, and then\nwalk away, but it made no difference with the raps on the table; they\ncontinued, without any person near it, as long as the tunes were played\nat the door. When it came my turn to question, I asked, Are any of my\nrelatives present? _Ans._ Yes. Will you rap at each letter of your\nname, if the alphabet is called over. _Ans._ Yes! The alphabet was\ncalled, and there was a rap at A, one at L, one at F, one at R, one\nat E, and one at D,\u2014Alfred: a son that died at the age of twenty-two\nyears. Among a great many questions, I asked, How many years since you\ndied. Is it twelve? Is it eleven? Is it ten? Is it nine? Is it eight?\nIs it seven? There was a rap at seven, but I asked, Is it six? and\ninstantly there were rapped........; the seventh was fainter. I said,\nHe probably means that it is six and a piece, when instantly they were\nrepeated ........; the last the faintest. The raps were equidistant,\nlike the ticking of a clock, and about as loud. I supposed at the time\nthat it was _less_ than seven. After the sitting was over, and we were\npreparing to leave, I said, It is possible that we may have mistaken\nthe time since my son\u2019s death? There was instantly a loud rap on the\ntable. I then asked, Did you mean seven? and there was instantly an\naffirmative. I inquired for the odd months, and the answer was four.\nWhen I got home, I found the true time was seven years, four months,\nand two days. These last raps were when no person was within _six feet_\nof the table. I confess myself unable to explain the foregoing without\nadmitting that it was my son who responded. If you could have such an\nopportunity, and inquire for some dear friend whom you loved in life, I\nthink you would witness what would interest you.\n\n704. I mention the foregoing as a specimen. I have received a great\nmany communications purporting to be both from my son and a daughter,\nwho died at the age of eighteen, quite as remarkable as the above. Now,\nadmitting the two facts of physical force and intelligence, I don\u2019t\nknow even then that spirits are the agents; but it seems probable,\nbecause I doubt whether any other explanation can be given, that\nwill appear at all reasonable. It is very evident that there is an\nintelligence that governs the world; but if that intelligence has\ngiven us no revelation excepting what is in nature, then it appears\nto me that every thing that can give us any knowledge of what we are\nto be hereafter, is valuable beyond all price. Uncertainty upon this\nmatter is painful, but then we know so little about the Deity, that I\nthink there is great uncertainty in our views of what he does, either\nto prevent or bring to pass the good and evil that we see around us.\nYours, very respectfully,\n                                                      AMASA HOLCOMB.\n\n\n _Some parts of a letter to Mr. Holcomb, in reply to the parts of his\n                   letter relating to Spiritualism._\n\n                                     PHILADELPHIA, February 24, 1854.\n\n705. _Dear Sir_: There is a great resemblance in your sentiments,\nas described in your letter of the 20th, (just received,) and those\nwhich I entertain, excepting that while I am very desirous\u2014I may say\nextremely desirous\u2014to learn something which may prove another state of\nexistence, I am not unhappy at my not being able to find out the truth.\nIf I have less hopes, I have also less fears, than those who have\nheaven and hell both to encounter. I do not envy those who are placed\nin the situation of depending upon the estimate which may be formed of\nthem hereafter, whether they are to be placed among the \u201c_sheep_\u201d or\n\u201c_the goats_.\u201d\n\n706. It is true that the gospel holds out the idea on one hand that\nintense belief, called faith, will wash away sin; but on the other,\nit is said, that \u201che who knoweth his Master\u2019s will, yet doeth it\nnot,\u201d shall be beaten with many stripes, while he who is ignorant of\nthat will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with few. Under these\ncircumstances, who can escape flagellation? Who is it that does the\nwill of God, as enumerated by Christ? Who loves his neighbour as\nhimself? Who presents a second cheek on receiving a blow on one? Who\ngives his coat, when his cloak has been taken? Who returns good for\nevil? Who acts as if it were as hard for a rich man to go to heaven as\nfor a camel to get through the eye of a needle?\n\n707. Unless our missionaries can make better Christians abroad than\nthey leave at home, it were inhuman to add to the number, who are to be\npre-eminently punished for their neglect of their Master\u2019s will, while\nfully apprized of it. In many cases a pagan will be better off than his\nnominally Christian instructor, although he should not prove a convert\nto Christianity.\n\n708. My sentiments are much like those which Socrates expressed. _I\nhope for a future world, and therein to have a happier existence._ All\nthose reasons which have been advanced by wise and good men in favour\nof such futurity, operate upon my mind as upon theirs; but if there be\nno such a state of future existence, I shall _never wake up to feel my\ndisappointment_. It _will only be a prolongation of a state of oblivion\nanalogous to that which we enter upon transiently, every night_.\n\n709. The incentives which have acted upon you, act also upon me, and\nI have seen some of the manifestations on which you rely; but not so\nsatisfactorily. The answers which I have received have not been worthy\nof the other world.\n\n710. A message from my own father, amounted to this: \u201c_Oh, my son,\nlisten to reason_;\u201d and there it ended. Several similar nugatory\nsentences have been manifested through the alphabet.\n\n711. I have, however, constructed an instrument to put the question of\nindependency of intelligence to the test. It works independently of any\ncontrol of the medium, as the letters, which must be seen to bring them\ncorrectly under the index, are concealed by a screen. (Plate I.)\n\n712. The sentence above quoted was communicated in this way.\n\n713. I am about, by this contrivance, to test the manifestations\nfarther.\n\n                                                           ROBERT HARE.\n\n\n                   MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUALISM.\n\n\n714. Among the best precepts afforded by the gospel is that of laying\nup treasure in heaven, in preference to seeking to become rich in\nthis world. To pursue the last-mentioned course has been alleged to\ndisqualify us more or less for entering heaven. Certainly, however,\nhonest exertion for the acquisition of wealth is the corner-stone of\nhuman prosperity, and money seems in most instances necessary to the\neffectual exercise of that fellow-feeling in the cultivation of which\nhuman virtue pre-eminently consists. (See Influence of Mundane wealth\non Celestial Happiness.)\n\n715. How can a man display charity, hospitality, or contribute his\n_means_ and _time_ to objects of philanthropy, unless he beforehand lay\nup wealth? How could the Samaritan have assisted the traveller who had\nbeen maltreated by thieves, had he not taken care to have something\nbeforehand, not only for himself, but for the needy? But still the\nprecept, Lay up treasure for thyself in heaven, is precisely the course\nwhich Spiritualism indicates. Precepts may lead, but examples will\ndraw. Those who have gone before us to eternal life, furnish us not\nonly precepts, but examples also. They furnish exemplifications of\nthe consequences of their conduct, if followed. With few exceptions,\nmy intercourse has been with those only, who did lay up treasure in\nheaven, by doing on earth as they would have others to do unto them.\nOf the spirits with whom I have communicated, only two alleged or\nindicated that they were unhappy. Of these, I was informed, one bore an\nill character upon earth.\n\n716. Another, after having suggested to his inquiring brother\nsome measures relating to his surviving wife\u2019s temporal concerns,\nspontaneously added the following words: \u201cI am not _hapey_.\u201d The\ninquiry being made for the cause of his misery, the resulting reply\nwas, \u201cI did not do _rite_ when I was in this world.\u201d\n\n717. Another admitted that he was drowned, in consequence of getting\ndead drunk. On being asked if he were happy, he answered, \u201cDamned\nhappy.\u201d In reply to an inquiry whether he was sorry to have quitted\nthis life, he replied in the affirmative.\n\n718. Having evidently been a seaman, who had sailed under an officer\nwho was present, he had preserved the usual fondness of sailors for\ntobacco and grog. This propensity he could not avoid displaying,\nnotwithstanding his having passed death\u2019s dread portal, and the obvious\ninutility of expressing to mortals his craving for those pernicious\nstimulants.\n\n719. Thus it appears that in the spirit world one means of retribution\nfor the indulgence of bad propensities in this life, is subjugation to\ntheir ungratified cravings.\n\n720. Of course, the more of these a spirit carries with him, the\ngreater is his misery; while the more he founds his happiness on\nthe indulgence of good propensities, the greater his power and\nopportunities of enjoyment.\n\n721. As an illustration of the manner in which happiness may arise from\nthe indulgence of good propensities, one of the enjoyments of a spirit\nof the fifth sphere is, as I am informed, in looking after children of\nrelatives and friends, who have not as yet followed them to the spirit\nworld.\n\n722. Believing in the existence of a spirit world, where there are\nthirty-six grades of existence, corresponding to degrees of purity\nand intellectual acquirement,\u2014purity alone giving exaltation merely,\nwhile cultivation of mind secures breadth of consideration,\u2014we have,\nin the first place, to adhere strictly to truth, honesty, justice,\nbenevolence, and doing as we would be done by, to reach a sphere higher\nin proportion as we are more successful. Yet, among those on the same\nplane, superiority in mental attributes gives precedence.\n\n723. Nothing is better known than \u201cwhile precepts may lead, examples\ndraw,\u201d and that subjection to bad examples, even when checked by good\nprecepts, is generally irresistible by the young. But when there are\nno precepts to check, but, on the contrary, ill counsel as well as\nbad example, few human beings, however well constituted organically,\ncould resist the tendency of such educational evil. Let bad hereditary\npropensities be superadded, and what can ensue but a climax of\nwickedness? Manifestly, however, all this is independent of any choice\non the part of the victim. A high degree of virtue may consistently\nbe inferred to result if all these conditions be inverted, and good\nprecepts, good examples, co-operative in improving a mind of the\nopposite kind, one which owes to its progenitors goodness of heart and\nhigh intellectual capacity.\n\n724. Much stress is laid upon free-will, but is will ever free from\nthe joint control of reason and passion? What is will, if it be not\nthe resultant of the conflict or co-operation of these? It may be\na question whether, without passions, a man would act at all; but\ncertainly he would act like an idiot or baby, so far as his will should\nbe entirely independent of his reason.\n\n725. It must be conceded, then, that the prodigious diversity between\nvirtue and vice is the consequence of contingencies, which are no more\nunder the control of the individual affected than the colour of his\nhair or the number of cubits in his stature.\n\n726. The great features of the spiritual religion are, as I understand\nthem, as follows:\u2014Its foundation is laid in the belief of an all-good\nDeity, whose power is manifested to us by the immensity, profundity,\nsublimity, ingenuity, and adaptation of the means to the ends in the\ncreation ascribed to the co-operation, if not origination, of his mind.\nThe Bible of the spiritualist is the book of nature\u2014the only one which\nby inward and outward evidence can be ascribed to divine authorship.\n\n727. In this book we read, as matters of fact, that there is an\ninfinite series of gradation in the rank of animals, as well as variety\nin their dispositions and propensities. This may be seen, from the\nhalf-animal, half-vegetable known as the polypus, up to man, there\nbeing gradations not only of genera, but of species and varieties.\nThus amid men there are various races, rising one above the other\nin development, from the Bushman, Hottentot, or lowest Negro, up to\nthe most highly-developed race of white men. But when we have passed\nthrough the gradation of the races, we have to enter upon that of\nindividuals, who in the same race are by diversity of organization or\neducation, or of both, made extremely different as to intellectual,\nmoral, and scientific pre-eminence.\n\n728. It is difficult for human reason to reconcile with impartiality\nthis immense diversity in the lot of the creatures of God; but that\nsuch is the law of nature is self-evident: it is an intuitive truth. To\nreconcile it with the all-goodness of God, we must suppose a limitation\nof power, and that it has been beyond his power to put created beings\nmore nearly upon a level. But, as Seneca observes, all have received\nmore than they had a claim for. Some may think that the parable of the\nhiring of labourers for a vineyard, conveys an idea like that of the\nRoman sage.\n\n729. These considerations being premised, it would seem that punishment\nin the spirit world is only the carrying out of the same system,\nexcepting that while the deficiencies or vices which have arisen in\nthis world become a punishment in the next, they also operate as\nthe means of improvement, or, to use the language of that world, of\n\u201c_progression_.\u201d It may be inferred that as in this world the power\nof the Deity, although commensurate with the all but infinite universe\nin which we exist, was so restricted by conditions as to induce that\nenormous diversity of position in the scale of animation which has\nbeen presented to view. Yet in the world to come these defects and\nvices are liable to be remedied; and, though they react upon their\nvictim, it is with a view to his own ultimate benefit. There is not\na malevolent devil to seize the poor miscreant, and, like the savage\nIndian, torture him with a fiend-like pleasure. He is regarded with\ncompassion, and as soon as contrition is induced, treated with sympathy\nby the higher spirits, and assisted by counsel and enlightened by\ninstruction. Unable any longer to indulge his bad propensities, the\ndesire of rising to a higher level becomes a passion. Intellectual and\nsocial pleasures begin to be enjoyed. So long as he remains under the\ninfluence of his mundane appetites, he has to consort with spirits\nwho are similarly actuated; they read each other\u2019s mind, and thus are\nmade acquainted with the deformity of their own. They eventually thus\nbecome instrumental in reciprocal correction. So soon as an aspiration\nfor a better state is awakened, they rise to the next plane or circle\nabove that in which they may have been existing; the only difficulty\nis in taking the first step. Progression grows with its growth, and\nstrengthens with its strength, so that all beings may sooner or\nlater attain to the highest sphere in the spirit world. It should be\nunderstood that there is no pardon for existing sin. Pardon can only\nexist as a consequence of reform, and in proportion thereto. (92.)\n\n730. An assailant of Spiritualism, who not long since lectured at\nSansom Street Hall, founded one of his charges on the commiseration\nfelt by good angels for sinners, agreeably to Spiritualism. But from\nthe examination above given respecting the origin of the difference\nbetween the virtuous and vicious, does it not appear that the fate of\nthe latter is quite as hard as can be reconciled with justice, even\nunder the more benign institution of Spiritualism? According to this,\nthere exist in the spirit world six spheres, each subdivided into six\ncircles or planes, forming together a succession of grades in which the\nsoul finds its place according to moral and intellectual merit. The\nfirst of the spheres is throughout comparatively hideous in its aspect\nand disgusting in its inhabitants, who are designated by a dark halo\nin lieu of the effulgence which distinguishes spirits of the rest of\nthe spheres. Moreover, this distinguishing effulgence, as well as the\nbeauty of the spirit world, augments with the grade of the being whom\nit envelops, thus making a series of ranks in society founded on real\nnobility of head and heart. When it is considered that this immense\ndiversity ensues mainly from contingency in organization, education,\nand greater or less exposure to trial, it must be clear that the\ndifference made between the good and the bad by Spiritualism does not\nfall short of the degree which human reason can reconcile with justice.\n\n731. The assailant of Spiritualism to whom allusion was made,\nwhile admitting the truth of the evidence given of communication\nwith spirits, explained it by reference to Satan. It is remarkably\ninconsistent with this idea that this evidence is of a nature to\nabrogate the existence, and of course the sovereignty, of that\nimaginary arch-fiend. Again, it can hardly be conceived that the\ngreater commiseration for sinners should come from a malevolent devil,\nand the urging for everlasting and cruel torture from a sincere\ndisciple of the benevolent Jesus Christ. But how much, then, must it\nshock one who embraces these views, that in addition to the misfortune\nof being badly organized, badly educated, and badly tempted, the being\nsubjected to these disadvantages is to be exposed eternally to misery,\ntypified, if not realized, by broiling on burning brimstone! I am\naware that doing away with the more horrible attributes of hell will\nbe alleged to be subversive of one of the restraints upon criminality;\nbut, in the first place, it is evident that a man who is restrained\nfrom crime solely by the fear of punishment is only a more prudent\nvillain than one who is not restrained by that selfish apprehension.\nWhen a man is deterred from crime only by prudence, hope of reward, or\nfear of punishment, he ought not to have a higher grade in heaven than\nthe perpetrator of the crime.\n\n732. But, agreeably to experience, of all restraints upon crime, none\nare more efficacious than the fear of degradation. The lawyer who will\ndo the bidding of a caucus (or of a powerful demagogue in the executive\noffice) in order to get a judicial appointment, when securely seated\ntherein, will not give a charge which will degrade him in the eyes of\nthe legal profession, and consequently in that of society, as well as\nin his own estimation. The dishonest gambler, who neglects to pay his\ntradesman\u2019s bill, will not fail to pay his gambling debts. The debtor\nwho will take every advantage in getting a high price for his goods,\nand who will put off any other payment as long as possible, fails not\nto pay his note at a bank. Sovereign states, who pay no other claims,\ntake every means to meet the interest on their funded obligations.\n\u201cFailure\u201d in the one case, in the mercantile adaptation, involves\nthe loss of reputation for good financial faith, abroad as well as at\nhome; but the just complaints of domestic claimants, not heard upon\nthe exchange, are unheeded. The great object, in many cases, is not\nto leave the crime \u201cundone, but to keep it unknown.\u201d The corrupt,\nselfish politician, who would promote war in order to give himself an\nopportunity of emolument or official pre-eminence, when facing the\nenemy in the field of battle will _nominally_ die for that country\nwhose interests he has sacrificed. But not from the alleged motive will\nhe die, but either to avoid being degraded as a coward, or for the hope\nof popularity which may help him to office.\n\n733. In the spirit world, all are seen through and justly estimated,\nso that degradation and vice, or elevation and virtue, are inevitably\nassociated by spiritual intuition. Yet there is, in my opinion, far\nmore satisfactory proof of the truth of Spiritualism than of any other\ncreed involving immortality; while, so far as adopted, it must tend\nto do away with priestcraft, sectarian malevolence, and religious\nintolerance. Man will go to the spirits of his ancestors for his\nreligion, not to a fanatical, bigoted, or interested priest. Should\nspirits actually exist, as supposed, and convey the same religious\nknowledge all over the world, all men will agree that virtue is to be\nthe means of salvation, not bigotry, under the name of faith.\n\n734. It is conceived that Spiritualism has all the desirable attributes\nof religion, as stated in the second page of the introduction of this\nwork. It sanctions the idea of the existence of one Supreme Being,\nwho is represented as all love to his creatures; while his powers\nare made known to us by the sublimity, profundity, magnificence, and\ninconceivable extent of the creation which he rules. It does not\nrepresent him as selfishly creating us for the purpose of worshipping\nhim, as capable of jealousy or implacable wrath for the result of\nerrors which his alleged omnipotence could by a _fiat_ correct. On\nthe contrary, we have been created to be happy sooner or later; evil\nexisting not through design, but in consequence of conditions which\nhe cannot control or cure unless through the operation of general\nprinciples.\n\n735. With a view to mutual happiness, reciprocal beneficence is\nenjoined. We are required to obey the precepts of acting toward others\nas we would have them act toward us.\n\n736. This innate law is appealed to instinctively by any child who\nis oppressed by another larger than itself, and was consecrated by\nConfucius six hundred years before its judicious sanction by Christ.\n\n737. Spiritualism has the merit pre-eminently not only of furnishing\na knowledge of immortality beyond the grave, but a precise knowledge\nof the spirit world in lieu of the silence of the Pentateuch and the\nvagueness and inconsistency of the gospel. An effort to establish the\ntruth of these allegations will be made under the next head.\n\n\nTHE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVEN AND HELL\n                             OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n\n738. On the first spiritual manifestations occurring, the great object\nof the mass of observers was to see the physical effects. In the\nnext place, intellectual communications were sought, but these being\nobtained by a tedious process, it was deemed sufficiently interesting\nif a few sentences could be made out, or even one. It was, moreover,\na great object with inquirers to ascertain by the interchange of\nlanguage, whether the spirit of a relation or friend were really\npresent, as alleged by the supposed spirit. Hence, the communications\nwere very deficient as respects any information of the spirit world.\nIt is not surprising, therefore, that prejudicial unbelievers should\nhave taken up the idea that there is nothing inviting in the heaven\nof Spiritualism. I hope that, agreeably to the communications from the\nspirit world recorded in the preceding pages, there is enough to create\nan ardent desire to become a dweller therein.\n\n739. But is it not unreasonable for a person to disdain a state of\nexistence which is by the spirits themselves described as \u201cineffably\u201d\nhappy? Alluding to the progression, which is to carry spirits\neventually among the ministering angels of God, I observed to my spirit\nfriend, Dr. W. E. Channing, that I did not consider him in heaven yet.\n\u201cWere you situated as I am,\u201d said he, \u201cyou would not say that!\u201d But\nlet us see how far the ideas of heaven, as warranted in Scripture, are\ncomparable with those which have been communicated by spirits.\n\n740. In a work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh, of the German Reformed\nChurch of Lancaster, Pa., a great effort is made to collect all the\nhints respecting heaven which have been given in the Old and New\nTestaments. This learned divine quotes the following paragraph from\nDr. Chalmers: \u201cThe common imagination,\u201d says Dr. Chalmers, \u201cthat we\nhave a paradise on the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial\nregion, where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended\nupon nothing\u2014where all the warm and sensible accompaniments which give\nsuch an expression of strength, and life, and colouring to our present\nhabitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element; that is,\nmeagre and imperceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals\nhere below; where every vestige of materialism is done away, and\nnothing left but unearthly scenes, that have no power of allurement,\nand certain unearthly ecstasies, with which it is felt impossible to\nsympathize.\u201d\n\n741. After reading and believing the representations of heaven given by\nthe immortal inhabitants of the spirit world, who can avoid turning in\ndisgust from the portrait thus cited by Dr. Chalmers?\n\n742. The most favourable idea of heaven given in Scripture seems to\nbe that which identifies it with Paradise; in other words, a most\nbeautiful garden. But who would conceive an _eternal_ residence in one\ngarden, however superlative its attractions, as desirable? The idea\nof the spheres assumes a succession of gardens, with every pleasure,\nevery joy of which the human heart and intellect are capable; and\nbeyond those gardens the whole universe is open to us, and an ultimate\nministration as angels under our Heavenly Father.\n\n743. The portraiture cited by Chalmers is not approved of by the\nRev. Mr. Harbaugh, but in order to confute it he does not resort to\nany better picture given in the Bible, but to reasoning. This shows\nthat, learned as he is, and idolatrous as he appears in worshipping\nthe Bible as an adequate fountain of light, he cannot get from the\nobject of this idolatry any passage tending to prove the inconsistency\nof the idea quoted from Chalmers with Scripture. Were there not the\ngreatest poverty of instruction on this all-important subject, the\nideas alleged to exist as above mentioned, upon the high authority\nof Dr. Chalmers, could never have had sufficient currency to merit\nnotice. It may be assumed that no Christians can conceive themselves\nto be better entitled to the joys of heaven than the twelve apostles\nof Christ. In order to show how far any expectations of a bliss higher\nthan that afforded by Spiritualism could have been entertained by those\ndisciples consistently with Scripture, I deem it in point to refer the\nlanguage held to them by their Divine Master. I subjoin a few lines\nfrom Dr. Harbaugh, wherein he quotes the query put to that Master, by\nthe _twelve_, and the consequent reply. Nothing can be farther from my\nidea of a happy state than the benefaction promised to them. The query\nand reply are subjoined, in order to enable the reader to judge of\nboth:\u2014_Behold, we have left all and followed thee: what shall we have\ntherefor?_ The Saviour answered the above query when made by Peter, as\nfollows:\u2014_When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory,\nye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of\nIsrael._ Here is a direct answer by Christ to an inquiry respecting\nthe nature of the reward which his disciples were to have for their\nmerits as his faithful devotees. They are to be made severally worldly\ndignitaries; each is to sit on a throne, judging a tribe of Israel.\nThat is, they are to have worldly pre-eminence, accompanied, of course,\nby all the vexations attendant on such stations, as well as the\nuncertainty and limitation arising from liability to death and disease.\nHow weak and worldly-minded must his disciples have been, could such\na prospect be alluring to them! I ask for any sectarian to say in\ncandour, whether a governorship over one of the wealthiest States, the\npresidency, or any sovereignty in Christendom, would be deemed a heaven\nin comparison with that eternity of ineffable happiness enjoyed by the\nimmortal spirits of the higher spheres? Yet Mr. Harbaugh, with the\nsimplicity of blind faith, quotes this without perceiving how meagre is\nthe gospel evidence thus afforded of the joys awaiting the faithful as\na reward for their good conduct in this life.\n\n744. The following remarks, made by Mr. Harbaugh, demonstrate how\npartial sectarians are in reading Scripture: \u201c_What shall we have\ntherefor? This is a question that frequently arises in the Christian\u2019s\nmind, as he endeavours to cheer his ofttimes drooping spirits with\na look toward the recompense of reward. What shall we have? We have\nleft all for thee, and by following thee we have confessed that we\nare pilgrims and strangers upon earth. In this world we shall have\ntribulation; but thou didst overcome the world; what shall those have\nwho overcame with thee?_\u201d Harbaugh remarks: \u201c_Here then is curiosity\nwhich the Saviour himself approves, because he satisfies it. The same\npious curiosity still manifests itself in the minds of God\u2019s people in\ntheir holiest hours, and shall there be nothing revealed to satisfy\nthem? Yes, God will approve of such inquiries, and will grant the\ninfluence of that Spirit, who leads unto all truth to all those who\nsearch the Scripture for an answer._\u201d Drawing an eloquent picture of\nthe aspirations of the soul for some realization of the vague ideas of\nthe rewards of the faithful in a future state of existence, he exults\nthat this _curiosity_, as he calls it, should be sanctioned by Christ,\n\u201cwho approves this curiosity because he satisfies it.\u201d How does he\nsatisfy it? Is it by holding up the hope of a judgeship for each? It\nseems it was not then foreseen that instead of performing the part of\nthe Jewish Messiah, with which he thus identified himself, that of\ngathering together the _chosen_ people of God, he was to put forth\nopinions which were to scatter them through the world. \u201cWo unto you,\nChorazin,\u201d &c., for the heinous offence of not admitting him to be\nboth the Messiah and the Son of God. The promise of the judgeships was\nquite consistent with the former character, and strengthens the idea\nthat he never pretended to any higher mission. With this the promise\nin question is consistent, but is wholly irreconcilable with his\ndivinity, which would make these judgeships worse than giving a stone\nfor bread or a serpent for a fish. In order to have bestowed these\njudgeships, the Roman empire must have been subverted. It seems that if\n(as stated by the worthy Mr. Harbaugh) _the curiosity of the disciples\nwas truly and correctly satisfied_, that this satisfaction was the sum\ntotal of the heaven with which they were remunerated; since not the\nslightest hint is given that they were, like the penitent thief, to\nbe with their object of devotion in paradise. It would seem, on the\nwhole, that the rewards of the thief and the beggar Lazarus were of a\nmore heavenly nature than those promised to the apostles, even had the\nlatter been susceptible of realization, instead of being irreconcilable\nwith the doom which awaited the Hebrews, and consequently a mere _vox\net pr\u00e6terea nihil_. But while, in lieu of an eternal progressive\nhappiness, Christ holds up the transient, precarious, and limited\nsupremacy from which a truly pious and wise man would turn in disgust,\nwhen hell is to be represented, we have eternal torments typified\nby fire, and weeping and gnashing of teeth in _utter darkness_, in\ndespite of this fire. The situation which Christ, the Son of God, was\nto have, was to bear manifestly a relation to that of his disciples.\nHis situation would be somewhat analogous to that of Washington, when\nhe was in the presidential chair, and the thirteen States were governed\nby as many of his faithful followers in the Revolutionary War. Yet\nWashington did not find his chair worth retaining longer than the good\nof the country made it important to remain. I am confident that neither\nwould that great man leave his position in the seventh sphere for the\npresidency, nor any spirit among those who held the gubernatorial\ndignity, as suggested, find a governorship now a motive for leaving\ntheir bright abodes in the celestial world.\n\n745. Dr. Harbaugh sanctions the idea that the revolutions of all\nthe constellations with which telescopic examination has made us\nacquainted, may take place about a central sun, bearing the relation\nto other suns analogous to that which God has been represented to\nhave to the other potentates; whence the title of \u201cKing of kings.\u201d\nThe existence, then, of a _sun_ of _suns_ is suggested, about which\nthe constellations formed by inferior bodies of the same kind revolve.\nIt would seem, then, that a more fitted allotment had been made if,\nenthroned by his Father\u2019s side on that sun of suns, he had allotted\nto each of his disciples a constellation, than have assigned to them\nmiserable transitory judgeships in Judea: a speck of territory, in this\nspeck of a globe, which in a field of vision embracing the universe,\nwould be imperceptible.\n\n746. There being in Scripture so much more stress laid upon the\ntorments of hell than the joys of heaven, is probably the reason why\nthe horror of death is so great among Christians in general. Their\npractice in this respect is to speak of death as a great calamity.\nHere and there may be found a believer who is thoroughly convinced\nthat the efficacy of his peculiar tenets, combined with the absence of\ncriminality, and the redeeming influence of repentance, will insure\nhim a passage to heaven; but the predominant language is to represent\nthe death of any large number of human beings as a great calamity.\nThose who are exposed to danger pray most earnestly to be saved, and\ntheir death is always treated as a cause for deep regret by surviving\nfriends. Hence the weeping, the grief, and the mourning called for by\ncustom,\u2014the relations and connections wearing black for months. Hence\nthe dark hearse, the black pall, and bitter lamentation over the grave;\nwhich shows that it is not realized that death is only a glorious\nspiritual birth! I am confident that spiritualists will soon abandon\na custom which must on their part be inconsistent; since they must\nlook on death as no more a bereavement, than a residence in a foreign\ncountry, the means of communication being within reach, and a happy\nreunion foreseen.\n\n747. When on board of a steamer under way at night, the possibility of\nher going down occurring to my mind, I felt cheered by the idea that\nI should not go down with her, but soar to the spirit world with my\nimmortal friends, who would flock to meet my apotheosis. (Page 101.)\n\n748. It has been urged that a most substantial idea of heaven, given\nin the old Bible, is that of a restoration to Paradise, of which the\ndescription gives the idea of an exquisite, beautiful garden; but\nSpiritualism gives the idea of garden above garden, improving in beauty\nwith their elevation. Then there are thirty-six gradations in all, and\nin the five happy spheres thirty; so that there is excitement arising\nfrom well-rewarded emulation as a source of interest. Into the idea of\nheaven, as suggested in Scripture, intellectual ability and improvement\nform no part and give no superiority; whence the tendency of the more\nstrict constructionists to turn a cold shoulder to every acquirement\nwhich is not coupled with scriptural knowledge. Neither the Athen\u00e6um,\nnor any library, is to be accessible on Sunday. If the time devoted\nat meetings and at church were given to the study of the real book\nof God, how much more learned would be those who thus employ their\nSundays! It is held that the lowest and most ignorant person who is\neducated to believe implicitly the tenets of a sect, when he would by\nthe same process as easily be made to believe any other tenets, is\nin heaven to be as high as the most enlightened as well as virtuous\nman, who has the only merit which can be attached to belief in a high\ndegree\u2014that of ardent desire for truth, and taking the pains to form an\nopinion for himself. Nay, the ignorant bigot is to be higher in heaven,\nif the free-thinker alluded to, should not agree with the ghostly\nadviser, of the devoted sectarian with whom he is compared.\n\n749. The idea of living in the finest garden which imagination can\nconceive, without the enjoyments and progression which my father\u2019s\ncommunication attributes to the spheres, would beget tedium rather\nthan the ineffable happiness which my spirit friends profess to enjoy.\nBut while one of the Jewish ideas of heaven in its best form, is thus\ndeficient, the description given by the learned Josephus of hell is\nhorrible in the extreme, that of heaven being disgusting. I give it as\nI find it quoted by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh:\n\n750. \u201cNow as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and\nunrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a\nplace in the world not regularly finished, a subterraneous region,\nwherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance\nin this region there must be perpetual darkness. This region is\nallotted as a place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed\nas guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishment,\nagreeably to every one\u2019s behaviour and manners.\n\n751. \u201cIn this region there is a certain place set apart as a lake of\nunquenchable fire, whereinto, we suppose, no one hath hitherto been\ncast, but it is prepared for a day aforedetermined by God, in which\none righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when\nthe unjust, and those that have been disobedient to God, and have\ngiven honour to such idols as have been the vain operations of the\nhands of men as to God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting\npunishment, as having been the causes of defilement; while the just\nshall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are now\nindeed confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the just\nare confined. For there is one descent in this region, at whose gate,\nwe believe, there stands an archangel, with a host; which gate, when\nthose pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed\nover souls, they do not go the same way, but the just are guided to\nthe right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed\nover that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt\nfrom the beginning of the world, not constrained by necessity, but\never enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoicing\nin the expectation of those new enjoyments which will be peculiar\nto every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have\nhere; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing\ncold, nor any briers there; but the countenances of the fathers and\nthe just, which they see always, smile upon them while they wait for\nthe rest, and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this\nregion. This place we call the bosom of Abraham. But as to the unjust,\nthey are dragged by force to the left hand, by the angels allotted\nfor punishment, no longer going with a good will, but as prisoners\ndriven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them\nto reproach them, and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to\nthrust them still downward. Now these angels that are set over these\nsouls drag them into the neighbourhood of hell itself; who, when they\nare hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand\nclear of the hot vapour itself; but when they have a near view of this\nspectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they\nare struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in\neffect punished thereby; not only so, but when they see the place (or\nchoir) of the fathers and of the just, even thereby are they punished,\nfor a chaos deep and large is fixed between them, insomuch that a just\nman that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can any one\nthat is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.\u201d\n\n752. So much for Josephus. Mr. Harbaugh subjoins as follows: \u201cThis\nextract is exceedingly interesting. It shows to what extent of\ndistinctness the Jewish ideas of the future state had attained. The\ndreamlike underworld is here considerably illuminated. The righteous\nand the wicked are separated, and already share the first fruits of\ntheir eternal reward. The righteous are surrounded with intimations\nand shadowy promises of better things to come, in the expectation of\nwhich they are already happy; the wicked are surrounded with tokens and\nforebodings of more fearful ill, much of which they already suffer in\nawful expectation.\n\n753. \u201cThrough this picture,\u201d says our good parson, \u201cwe see in faint\nbut terrible glimmerings, in the distance, the region of eternal fire,\nwhich awaits the wicked when the judgment-day shall remove them from\nHades; on the other hand, we see also the dawning of an eternal day\nfor the just, the rest and eternal new life which is to succeed this\nregion. This kingdom of the dead, beyond which the thoughts of men\nin the early ages did not wander, is considered only as a place of\ndetention for judgment, while the idea of a final state, both for the\nrighteous and the wicked, is believed to exist beyond it.\u201d\n\n754. How can any person sincerely pretend that those who rely on a\nhappy idea of our immortal life are indebted for it to the source\nfrom which this Hebrew Pharisee derived the impressions given in the\npreceding quotation? Yet the Pharisees were the only conspicuous\nHebrew sect who believed in heaven. The Sadducees did not believe in\nimmortality.\n\n755. The history of Lazarus and the rich man, (says Harbaugh, page\n168,) \u201cplainly teaches that both the righteous and the wicked on death\npass into a fixed and eternal abode, where no change is possible;\u201d\nand he further states (pp. 169-70) that \u201cthe misery of the wicked\ncommences immediately after death, and before the resurrection, and\ntheir condition is unchangeably fixed.\u201d According to St. Luke, (chapter\nxvi.) in the page alluded to above by Harbaugh, we are informed that\nthe wicked, while in the torture of hell-fire, are within the view of\nthe righteous, (verse 23.) The righteous are near enough to converse\nwith those in torment, and yet there is an impassable barrier between\nthem. The rich man is not tortured for his sins, but simply because\nhe had \u201c_enjoyed good things_.\u201d Yet Abraham, who turned his son and\nson\u2019s mother out in the wilderness to starve, and twice exposed his\nwife to prostitution, is represented as enjoying the reward due to the\nrighteous.\n\n756. How little sincere, heartfelt belief there can be in the words\nof Christ, may be estimated from the fact that scarcely any Christian\nbut seeks for the good things of this life, instead of qualifying\nthemselves for heaven by undergoing the rewarded privations of a\nLazarus.\n\n757. It is utterly unintelligible to my mind why repentance and\nreformation should not avail after, as well as before death, as it is\nrepresented to be in the spirit world.\n\n758. There is a coincidence between these representations of Josephus\nand those of the gospel, so far as that both represent the righteous as\nwitnessing the torments of the wicked. Would not such a situation make\nheaven a hell to good-hearted angels?\n\n759. According to Matthew, (chapter xxv. 24,) the blessed, after\nthe day of judgment, are to _inherit the kingdom prepared from the\nfoundation of the world_. Of the joys that kingdom would afford there\nis no description. But, as usual, hell is made sufficiently horrible,\n(chapter xxv. 41,)\u2014\u201cDepart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,\nprepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d\n\n760. In this respect, if in no other, there is an immense superiority\nin the conceptions of futurity given by my immortal advisers, in\ncomparison with those attributed as above to Christ.\n\n761. It has been urged that human conduct is so much dependent on\norganization, education, temptation, and example, neither of which are\nwithin the option of any soul, that the orthodox doctrine respecting\nsin is manifestly wrong. But admitting the culpability which that\ndoctrine imputes, it has been shown that the gradations of sinfulness\nbetween the extremes of vice and virtue are innumerable. Suppose for\neach gradation a strand in a ladder, like that of which Jacob dreamed,\nand human souls supported severally at elevations commensurate with\ntheir respective pretensions. This adjustment being made, suppose a\nplane at any level to divide the vertical row into two portions, all\nbelow the plane being considered as goats, all above the plane as\nsheep. Evidently, between the soul just above, and that just below the\nplane, there would be only a shade of difference; yet the one would\nhave to go to hell, the other to heaven, eternally.\n\n762. According to Spiritualism, on entering the spirit world each soul\nfinds its just level by a sort of moral specific gravity, in which\nmerit is inversely as weight. Every soul, moreover, has the privilege\nof reforming, and rising proportionally to the improvement thus\nobtained.\n\n763. One of the most agreeable conceptions attending our future\nexistence in the spheres, is that of being restored to the appearance\nof youth; the decrepitude and wrinkles of age, of disease, mutilation,\ndeformity, ugliness, are all avoided in the spiritual body. The insane\nare restored to reason, the idiot gradually improved in mind.\n\n\nDISCORDANCE AS TO THE WHEREABOUT OF THE SCRIPTURAL HEAVEN.\u2014INSTINCTIVE\n                IMPRESSION AS TO HEAVEN BEING OVERHEAD.\n\n\n764. There is no small degree of contradiction in Scripture respecting\nthe locality of heaven. In addressing the thief, paradise is identified\nwith heaven by Christ. \u201c_St. Paul is alleged to have been taken up\ninto paradise_,\u201d says Harbaugh; yet, according to the map accompanying\nthe work of Josephus, Paradise is represented as being upon the river\nTigris, near the Persian Gulf. The idea given of the abode of Adam\nand Eve, in Genesis, conveys the impression that it was a terrestrial\nlocality.\n\n765. In the Decalogue the abbreviation of life is threatened as the\npunishment for not honouring parents, and God is alleged to have\nheld out the promised land to Moses, instead of comforting him by a\nclairvoyant view of a place of blissful enjoyment in some celestial\nregion.\n\n766. Elijah was carried up to heaven in the sight of Elisha. The\ncommandment makes heaven above, the earth beneath. Christ was seen\nascending by his disciples, and according to the apostles\u2019 creed, after\ndescending into hell, he arose on the third day and ascended into\nheaven. Yet Josephus consigns both heaven and hell to a subterranean\nregion, like the Elysian Fields and Erebus of the heathen, but places\nthem on each side of a lake of everlasting fire. This representation is\nsanctioned in the allusion by Christ to Dives, Lazarus, and Abraham;\nthe former, broiling to eternity, requests that Lazarus should get a\nlittle water to cool the tip of his tongue. This Abraham declares to be\n_impossible_. Hence it appears the parties were so near as to converse\nwith each other, and for those who were blest to witness the sufferings\nof the damned. Thus, according to Christ as well as Josephus, heaven\nand hell are in immediate proximity, and both must be in the infernal\nregions.\n\n767. The actual effects of the old Bible were to produce either\n_unbelievers_ in _immortality_, like the Sadducees, or _immoral\nbelievers_, like the Pharisees, whom Christ especially denounces as\n_vipers_, and _internally corrupt, like whited sepulchres holding dead\nmen\u2019s bones_.\n\n768. Christ never singles out the Sadducees for denunciation, but\nspeaks of the Pharisees particularly as hypocritical and corrupt. But\nin what did their hypocrisy consist, if it was not in that insincerity\nof their professions as respects belief in futurity which was shown by\ntheir worldliness.\n\n769. Thus the evidence of the existence of a future state was such as\nto produce avowed unbelievers, or professed believers whose morality\nwas so deficient as to create an expression that they were corrupt\nhypocrites, as odious as vipers.\n\n770. It is not the feebleness of the impressions respecting the\nexistence of another world, where happiness is proportional to good\nconduct, that renders the existing system so inoperative in preventing\nthose vices which it especially interdicts; as, for instance,\ncombativeness, cupidity, and revengefulness; so that the course usually\npursued by professed Christians, does not merely amount to a neglect\nof Christ\u2019s precepts, but renders an adherence to them disreputable?\nNothing is more degrading throughout Christendom than poverty or tame\nsubmission to blows. The last excuse Christians in general will make\nfor any omission or deficiency is their poverty.\n\n771. If they really believed that they would broil to eternity, like\nthe rich man, merely for seeking the good things of this life, would\nthe attainment of those good things be made the great object of their\nexistence?\n\n772. Notwithstanding the representations of Josephus, sanctioned, as\nabove shown, by Christ, of the subterranean localization of Elysium,\nthere seems, nevertheless, an instinctive propensity to assume that\nheaven is overhead. Clergymen all look upward when they address God,\nand the Thespian artists universally follow their example. Whenever\nheaven is referred to, it is customary, I believe, for all devout\npersons to turn their eyes in the same direction.\n\n773. But if heaven be above, what does this term _above_ mean? It\npractically designates a vertical direction relatively to this globe\nat any point over which a speaker who uses the word may stand.\nConsequently, it indicates a space overhead, having everywhere the same\nrelative position to the terrestrial surface; in other words, a region\nconcentric with that surface, like that within which the clouds float.\nThis floating takes place rarely at a less distance than two, or more\nthan six, miles.\n\n774. The spiritual spheres are estimated, as already mentioned, as\nbeing between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles from the earth\u2019s\nsurface. They are, therefore, analogous in position to the region\nof the clouds, though at a much greater distance and vastly more\ncapacious.\n\n775. According to Christianity, there is no immortality for animals\nbelow the grade of humanity; but according to Spiritualism, animals\nthat are favourites of man in this world are his companions in the\nnext. Much stress is laid on the singing of birds in the account\ngiven of the spheres. There is a line of demarcation below which the\nprivilege of an existence after death is not enjoyed. Respecting that\nboundary my information is at present incomplete.\n\n776. In order to do justice to the excellent and learned clergyman to\nwhom I have so often referred, I will annex the whole of those pages in\nwhich he conceives himself to give the \u201c_true doctrine_\u201d respecting\nheaven. However unsatisfactory it may be to me, I hope it will be found\ninteresting to those who, like the author, look only to the Bible for\ninformation respecting their existence beyond the grave.\n\n\n                         \u201cTHE TRUE DOCTRINE\u201d\n\n _Respecting Heaven, according to the Rev. H. Harbaugh, Pastor of the\n           First German Reformed Church, Lancaster, Penna._\n\n\n    \u201cOne gentle sigh their fetter breaks;\n      We scarce can say, \u2018They\u2019re gone!\u2019\n    Before the willing spirit takes\n      Her mansion near the throne.\u201d\n\n777. \u201cThe different theories by which the souls of saints are supposed\nto be detained from entering heaven immediately at death, have now been\nexhibited. They have led us a long and dreary chase. The groundlessness\nof these theories has been, in part, shown in connection with a\nstatement of them. They will, however, be more completely overthrown\nby a statement of the true doctrine, and by the arguments that may be\nadduced in its support. Various arguments that, in passing along, were\noffered against these false views, will also substantiate the true\ndoctrine; thus the same implements that have been used to tear down the\nold building may be employed to erect the new. If, therefore, any thing\nshould be presented in this section, among other things, which may\nseem to have been presented before, it must be remembered that though\nthey are the same tools, they are now used to do a different kind of\nexecution.\n\n778. \u201cWe consider the true doctrine of God\u2019s word on this subject to be\nthis: The saints do immediately, at death, enter that place which is\ncalled heaven, where the body of the Saviour now is, where the divine\nmanifestations are most clearly and gloriously made, where angels have\ntheir proper home, and where all the heirs of Christ shall finally and\nforevermore be assembled.\n\n779. \u201cThat the saints pass immediately at death into heaven, is taught\nin the symbols in some of the most pious and learned denominations in\nthe church. We grant that this does not prove it absolutely true; but\nit has much weight, as showing how the Scripture on this subject was\nunderstood by many pious and learned men who had the same interest\nin and motives for the truth as we have, and were, we may therefore\nsuppose, just as sincerely anxious to be led into the truth as we can\npossibly be. The conclusions, therefore, to which they have come, and\nwhich have been adopted by their numerous successors for centuries, are\nvaluable. Beside furnishing us with the testimony of so much learning\nand piety, it serves to show that this is no new idea, and that it is\nnot the faith of a few, but is the testimony of the church.\n\n780. \u201cThe first symbolical testimony we produce is the Heidelberg\nCatechism, published first in 1563. This symbol has been the embodiment\nof the reformed faith for more than three centuries. Its influence\nhas been very extensively respected and felt. It has, since its\npublication, been translated and read in at least fourteen different\nlanguages; and it is said that _half a million editions_ of it have\nbeen published in Germany alone. In this country it is received as a\nsymbolic book, both in the Dutch Reformed and in the German Reformed\nchurches. In the fifty-seventh question it is asked, What comfort is\nafforded to us by the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; and the\nanswer is: \u2018That not only my soul after this life _shall be immediately\ntaken up to Christ its head_; but also, that my body, being raised by\nthe power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and be made like\nunto the glorious body of Christ.\u2019 Here the doctrine is plainly taught,\nand has been responded to with a joyful amen by millions during three\nhundred years.\n\n781. \u201cThe next is from the Shorter Catechism, received as a symbolic\nbook in the different branches of the Presbyterian communion. It is\nin answer to the thirty-seventh question: \u2018What benefits do believers\nreceive from Christ at death? The souls of believers are at their death\nmade perfect in holiness, _and do immediately pass into glory_; and\ntheir bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves\ntill the resurrection.\u2019 In the eighty-sixth question of the Larger\nCatechism this same doctrine is taught in more words. The following\nquotation is from the Westminster Confession of Faith: \u2018The bodies\nof men, after death, return to dust and see corruption; but their\nsouls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having an immortal substance,\n_immediately_ return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous,\nbeing _then_ made perfect in holiness, _are received into the highest\nheavens_, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting\nfor the full redemption of their bodies.\u2019 The declaration that they\nare \u2018_then_ made perfect in holiness,\u2019 is no doubt directly aimed\nagainst the idea of a process of purgatorial or medicinal preparation,\nmentioned in a previous section. The declaration that they are then\n\u2018received into the _highest heavens_,\u2019 is intended to stand in\nopposition to the idea of a middle abode in all its forms.\n\n782. \u201cThe book of \u2018Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal\nChurch\u2019 is silent on this subject; but, so far as I have been able\nto learn, the proper Protestant doctrine on this subject is held in\nthat large communion. Their views of the nature of justification and\nsanctification would admit of no other to be consistently believed\namong them. It is believed that this is also the prevailing sentiment\namong Baptists, and other Congregationalists.\n\n783. \u201cWhat is here presented from symbols as the united faith of so\nmany learned and pious men living in different ages, and in different\nparts of the world, is also founded on holy Scripture. By no wresting\nand violence has the church, in the general stream of its theological\nviews, been turned aside from this faith. It is vain that men hope to\nannul, by means of violent and unnatural interpretations, the plain\ndeclarations of Scripture, to serve a theory.\n\n    \u2018Truth, crush\u2019d to earth, will rise again,\n    The eternal years of God are hers.\u2019\n\n784. \u201cThe Saviour said to the penitent thief on the cross\u2014\u2018To-day shalt\nthou be with me in paradise.\u2019 Now the question arises, Where and what\nis that paradise in which the Saviour promised the dying penitent that\nhe should be with him that day? This can be seen by referring to other\npassages in the Scriptures where the word paradise is used, and where\nits sense cannot be mistaken. This can be seen by reference to 2 Cor.\nxii. There it is said that Paul was caught up into paradise; and in the\nsame passage the place into which he was taken is called the _third\nheaven_\u2014the highest and holiest place in the universe. In Rev. ii. 7\nwe are told that the tree of life stands in the midst of the paradise\nof God; and in Rev. xxii. 2, we are told that that same tree of life\nstands by the side of the river which flows from the throne of God and\nthe Lamb. From this it is evident that paradise is the heaven where God\ndwells and the Lamb. Is then the middle abode, Hades, the kingdom of\nshades, the peculiar abode of God and the Lamb?\n\n785. \u201cThe objection that the Saviour himself did not go to heaven\nthat day, but was for forty days afterward on the earth, and that\ntherefore he could not be with the penitent thief in paradise, has no\nforce. During the three days that intervened between his death and\nresurrection, he could as well be in heaven as in Hades. Indeed, it is\nevident that he was in heaven during those three days, from what he\nsays to his disciples shortly before his death: \u2018A little while, and\nye shall not see me; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me,\n_because I go to the Father_.\u2019 Moreover, his tarrying on the earth and\nappearing among his disciples does not conflict with the idea that he\nwas also in paradise. When he was yet in the flesh on earth, he could\nsay: \u2018And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but that he came down from\nheaven, even the Son of man which _is in heaven_.\u2019 In the same way\nthat he was in heaven at that time, he may have been in heaven with the\npenitent thief during the forty days between his death and ascension.\n\n786. \u201cThe history of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.) plainly\nteaches that both the righteous and the wicked, at death, pass into\na _fixed_ and eternal abode, where no change is possible. No comment\non the passage is necessary. This portion of Scripture has a thousand\ntimes been tortured out of its meaning by errorists of various kinds,\nand as often has its testimony fallen back into the church\u2019s healthful\nstream of sound views. As a sheep, carried away from the fold, returns\nwhen set free, so this passage always comes back again; for the voice\nof a stranger it heareth not, nor followeth!\n\n787. \u201cIn the Revelation, John, in his vision, saw the souls of departed\nmartyrs and saints \u2018in heaven,\u2019 \u2018under the altar,\u2019 \u2018before the throne\nof God,\u2019 &c., and in the company of each other, of God, of Christ, and\nof angels, in the central and highest heavens, and in that place where\nthe saints go no more out forever. Let it be remembered, also, that all\nthis is _before the resurrection_; and if the following passages are\ncarefully considered, they will leave no doubt on any candid mind that\nthe saints are, immediately after death, admitted into heaven. To quote\nthem all would be too tedious; a reference to them is sufficient: Rev.\nv. 6-14; vi. 9-12; vii. 9-17; xiv. 1-6; xiv. 12, 13.\n\n788. \u201cFor further proof still the reader is referred to Acts vii. 59; 2\nCor. v. 1-9; Phil. i. 21-24; 2 Tim. iv. 6-9; Eph. iii. 15. In this last\npassage, the whole family of Christ is represented to be at two places,\nin heaven and on earth; but according to the other theory, there ought\nalso to be some in Hades, or the third place.\n\n789. \u201cIt may also be remarked that the misery of the wicked commences,\naccording to the Scripture, immediately after death, and before the\nresurrection, and that their condition is unchangeably fixed. This is\nevident from Luke xvi.; and also from that passage in Jude where he\nsays that those who had died impenitent in the destruction of Sodom\nand Gomorrah were, at the time he wrote, \u2018suffering the vengeance of\neternal fire.\u2019 In like manner it is said of the righteous at death,\nthat they are blessed \u2018from henceforth;\u2019 and of those who were clothed\nin white robes, having come up through great tribulation, it is said,\n\u2018therefore _are_ they before the throne of God.\u2019\n\n790. \u201cThese passages are plain, and it would, in all probability, never\nhave been attempted to make them mean any thing different from their\nplain sense, were it not for some difficulties, which, it is thought,\nstood in the way of the doctrine that the souls of the saints pass\nimmediately at death into heaven. Let us look at these, and see whether\nthey are not fancied difficulties, which one glance at the truth ought\nto remove:\n\n791. (1.) \u201cIt is said that the soul, in a state of separation from\nthe body, cannot be in the same state, nor properly in the same\nplace, as it will be after the resurrection; and as heaven is to be\nthe eternal abode of the saints after the resurrection, it cannot be a\nproper abode for them before. This objection has, however, no force.\nThere is, for instance, in this world, a great difference between a\nperson in childhood and old age, yea, before he is born and after, or\nbetween his sleeping and waking state; and yet he is in all these in\nthe same world, in the same place, and is the same person. The state\nand condition of the Saviour differs widely from that of any saint or\nangel, and yet both are in heaven. So angels and human spirits differ,\nand yet both are in one company and in one place. So in heaven the\ncondition of the saints before and after the resurrection may differ\nmuch, and yet they may be, in both cases, in the same place.\n\n792. \u201c(2.) The saints cannot enter heaven, it is said, before they\nare judged; and as the day of judgment is represented to be after the\nresurrection, the saints cannot enter heaven until after that, and\nconsequently not immediately at death. We may, however, consider, as\nis generally done, that the day of judgment is only a public and final\nconsummation of the decision of man\u2019s destiny. Although God can, and\nno doubt, does, for himself, judge and decide for each one when he\ndies, yet it seems necessary for the glorious praise of his justice and\nrighteousness that all other intelligences should see the propriety of\nhis decision. This is necessary, that every mouth may be stopped; and\nin order to do this he has appointed a day in the which he will judge\nthe world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained.\n\n793. \u201c(3.) It is also said that the condition of many is represented\nin that day to be undecided. Thus many are said to be disappointed;\ncoming to be judged, they find that their expectations of heaven are\nvain, and they say, \u2018Have we not prophesied, cast out devils, and\ndone many wonderful works in Thy name?\u2019 Now it is said that if these\npersons had been in a fixed state before, they could not have been in\ndoubt on this matter. The force of this objection is only apparent.\nThe representations of the judgment are after the manner of men, and\nconsequently our conceptions of it must be more or less according to\nwhat we are accustomed to see on earth. The Saviour is warning his\nhearers not to delay preparation for death; and, in order to impress\nhis solemn exhortation, tells them that many will find themselves\ndisappointed in their expectations in reference to the final decision\nof their judge, and that their hopes of heaven, being built on the\nsand, will fail at last. It does no more exclusively refer to that day\nthan the many warnings to prepare to meet the Son of Man refer to the\ntime of his second coming. He is always coming, and to prepare for\ndeath is to prepare to meet him. So to find ourselves deceived at the\nday of death is the same as to find ourselves deceived at the day of\njudgment.\n\n794. \u201c(4.) Again, it is said that in some cases the full effects and\nconsequences of persons\u2019 actions are not fully worked out when persons\ndie. Thus, for instance, it is known that the labours and writings of\nmany infidels, who are long since dead, are still working for evil;\nand on the other hand, the labours and writings of many good men are\nstill working out good. These consequences must, in a certain sense,\ncome into the consideration of their punishment or reward. Hence it is\nthought their destiny cannot immediately be decided. But to this it may\nbe replied that God, who judges, knows how these consequences will work\nthemselves out, and is able, therefore, to give a just judgment as well\nat the day of death as at the end of the world. At the last day, when\nall consequences have run out their history, it will be proper that\nthey should be exhibited in a solemn public judgment, that all may see\nfor themselves that all his ways are just and right. Besides, there is\nnothing unreasonable or unscriptural in the belief that the happiness\nof the righteous in heaven, and the misery of the lost in hell, will\nincrease in exact proportion as the consequences of their actions on\nthe earth are developing themselves, until the day of judgment, when\nthe cup will be full, and then the full draught of happiness or misery\nwill be taken finally and forever! Oh, what a moment will that be!\n\n795. \u201cSome additional considerations will serve more completely still\nto answer these and other objections, and reconcile the serious and\nthoughtful mind to the idea that the souls of the saints are in heaven\nbefore the resurrection of the body.\n\n796. \u201cWe shall only gain proper ideas in reference to this interesting\nsubject when we have corrected our ideas of heaven, for many of them\nare evidently wrong. We are inclined to think of heaven as affording\nto the saints a fixed or stereotyped condition, without attaching to\nit the idea of degrees and progression. When we maintain that the\nsaints pass immediately at death into heaven, we do not mean that they\nenter then upon their final condition, or into their highest state\nof perfection, but only that they enter into that _place_ which is\ntheir final abode. When, for instance, a child is born into the world,\nit is in the world; but it is limited in its observations, actions,\nideas, capacities, and enjoyments, and yet all these are in their\nstate perfect; all its faculties occupy their place symmetrically,\nand we have in the child a uniform but not a perfect being. Analogous\nto this may be the primary stage of our future celestial history.\nThe child is in the world before it is born and during its infantile\nyears, but how different is it, and how different is the world to it,\nfrom what it will be when all its faculties are ripe! So in heaven.\nThe child before self-consciousness appears to enjoy an indistinct and\nfloating life, but happy too; so may it be with our future condition\nbefore the resurrection of the body. The condition of the disembodied\nspirit will, no doubt, be somewhat isolated and lonely, (in a pleasant\nsense,) its happiness being derived much, though not entirely, from\nthe flow of its own harmonious existence, and not from its connection\nwith things external. Its future connection with its body will arrest\nits floating condition, and connect it again more consciously with\nlocality and materiality. Thus it will become more capable of social\nrelations and joys; just as the child emerging from its floating state\nin infancy has its social powers developed by being furnished with\nself-consciousness and speech, by which it learns intelligently to\nseparate and distinguish itself from the general mass of being, which\nmakes its enjoyments higher in their nature and more acute and sensible\nin their quality.\n\n797. \u201cPerhaps the state of the saints previous to the resurrection\nof the body, and in the first stage of their future being, may be\nanalogous to (but of course higher than) a state of ordinary sleep,\nwith active, pleasant dreaming. In dreams, the spirit acts and enjoys,\nunconscious of the body; and may we not suppose that the spirit after\ndeath may, to a certain extent, act and enjoy without the body? Perhaps\nit may in this state pass profitably and pleasantly through the first\nstages of its future history. It may, so to say, become habituated to\neternal things, and develop its spiritual capacities to such a degree\nas to be prepared, at the time of the resurrection, to enter upon a\nmore tangible and positive state of existence. It may thus, also,\nbecome acquainted with purely spiritual beings, and with the modes of\npurely spiritual existence. This will be useful, because the saints\nafter the resurrection will be required to hold communion with things\nmaterial and immaterial. While the saint is in this world, in the\nbody, he becomes conversant with material things, and habituated to\nthem; now, in the other world, in a disembodied state, previous to the\nresurrection, he will become conversant with and habituated to purely\nspiritual existence, so that after the resurrection, when soul and body\nare again united, he will be able to hold converse and communion with\neither material or immaterial existences at pleasure.\n\n798. \u201cTo this it may be objected that while those who lived in the\nearly ages of the world would have a long time to remain in this state\nof celestial pupilage, those who live in later ages would have less,\nand those in the last days scarcely any.\n\n799. \u201cThis objection, so far from militating against this idea, most\nbeautifully illustrates and confirms it. Thus the souls of men are more\ndeveloped in spiritual things now, and will be still more in future,\nthan they were in the earlier ages of the world. Those who lived in\nthe morning of the world had very limited and indistinct ideas of\ndivine and eternal things. Their views of a future world, especially,\nwere exceedingly misty and obscure. As the church advanced, life and\nimmortality were more and more brought to light. Revelation passed from\ntypes, shadows, and ceremonies, into brighter and clearer realities;\nand spiritual conceptions gained a firmer and more distinct hold upon\nthe consciousness of men. The new dispensation was an advance upon\nthe old, as under the old the age of prophecy had been upon the\nlaw, and the law upon the simple twilight of the patriarchal age. In\nwhat a different light those who lived after the new dispensation\ndawned, stood from those under the Old Testament, is clear from what\nthe Saviour says\u2014\u2018Among those that are born of women, there is not a\ngreater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the\nkingdom of God\u2019 (in the new dispensation) \u2018is greater than he.\u2019\n\n800. \u201cAt the present day, clearer views are enjoyed than were enjoyed\nin the early history of the Christian church. Let any one read the\nhistory of the patristic controversies, and he will see how the most\nlearned stumbled among propositions in search of truth which are now\nclearly comprehended by intelligent Sabbath-school children. And so\nit will go on into the future. Spiritual ideas which are as giants\nto us, and the nature and relations of which we do not see, will be\napprehended by our successors at once. Thus, under the tuition of the\nSpirit, revelation will show itself progressive, and new things, as\nwell as old, in reference to the spiritual world, will be constantly\nand successively brought out of the treasure of God\u2019s word, of which\nthe divine Spirit is the commentator. How, you ask, does all this apply\nto the subject in hand? Thus the earlier a saint lived in this world,\nthe longer time for this heavenly pupilage he will have in the next\nbefore the resurrection, and he needs more; the later he lived in this\nworld, the less will he have in the other before the resurrection, and\nhe needs less. Thus those who enjoy in this world superior advantages\non account of living under the clearer dispensation of divine truth\nin the last ages of the church, shall not have any advantage over\nthose who had less on account of living in the first ages, since those\nwho had less will have longer time in the future world before the\nresurrection.\n\n801. \u201cWith this idea in view, the passage in 1 Thess. iv. 15 becomes\nbeautifully intelligible: \u2018For this we say unto you by the word of the\nLord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,\nshall not prevent\u2019 (that is, shall not go before, anticipate, or have\nany advantage over) \u2018those which are asleep; the dead in Christ shall\nRISE first: _then_\u2019 (when they have risen) \u2018we which are alive and\nremain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet\nthe Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord.\u2019 Those\nwho shall live in the last moment, having had their spirits fully\nenlightened and prepared for a future existence in the brightness of\nthe latter-day glory before death, shall not \u2018sleep\u2019 at all, for there\nwill be no necessity for it; but \u2018shall all be changed in a moment, in\nthe twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.\u2019 \u2018The dead shall be raised\nincorruptible,\u2019 having been prepared for their incorruptible body, but\n\u2018we shall be changed.\u2019 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.\n\n802. \u201cThis theory may be seen in the same way to illustrate itself\nconsistently when applied to those who are lost. Those who live last\nin the world, when superior light is around them, sin against greater\nlight than those who lived earlier, and are therefore sooner prepared\nto have their doleful station fixed finally in hell, in the union of\nsoul and body.\n\n803. \u201cThe doctrine we present in reference to the condition of the\nspirits of the saints in heaven, differs from the idea of a middle\nstate, in a third place, in several important particulars. It excludes\nthe idea of a middle place entirely, and of course all idea of\nprobation, which is generally attached to it in some form or other. The\nstate of the spirit in heaven, though imperfect, being the celestial\nchildhood of the spirit, is nevertheless final, and not probationary.\nOur enjoyments there will be in exact proportion to our capacity; and\nas fast as our spirits are unfolded, will our joys increase.\n\n    \u2018The more our spirits are enlarged on earth,\n    The deeper draughts they shall receive of heaven.\u2019\n\n804. \u201cWhat an interesting moment to the spirit will be the moment after\ndeath! What scenes will open up before it! The friends will stand\nweeping over the now tenantless body, but the spirit is\u2014oh!\n\n    \u2018My thoughts pursue it where it flies,\n    And trace its wondrous way!\u2019\n\n805. \u201cThe Christian need have no unpleasant anxiety about what scenes\nwill open to him, for he knows that the glory which will then break\nupon his astonished spirit will exceed his keenest anticipations.\u201d\n\n\n                            OF MEDIUMSHIP.\n\n\n806. The facts which I have noticed in relation to mediumship, are\ncertainly among the most inexplicable in nature.\n\n807. There are two modes in which spiritual manifestations are made\nthrough the influence or sub-agency of media. In the one mode, they\nemploy the tongue to speak, the fingers to write, or hands to actuate\ntables or instruments for communication; in the other, they act upon\nponderable matter _directly_, through a halo or aura appertaining\nto media; so that although the muscular power may be incapacitated\nfor aiding them, they will cause a body to move, or produce raps\nintelligibly so as to select letters conveying their ideas,\nuninfluenced by those of the medium.\n\n808. Even where they act through the muscular frame of the media, their\nvision may be intercepted by a screen, so that they cannot influence\nthe selection of the letters requisite to a communication. (Plate I.)\n\n809. Rappings or tappings are made at the distance of many feet from\nthe medium, and ponderable bodies, such as bells, are moved or made to\nundergo the motion requisite to being rang.\n\n810. It will be perceived that my spirit father, in reply to the\nqueries put in relation to this mystery, asks, \u201c_How do you move your\nlimbs\u2014carry the body wheresoever it goeth? how does God cause the\nmovements of astronomical orbs?_\u201d (457.)\n\n811. Evidently some instrument must intervene between the divine will\nand the bodies actuated thereby, and in humble imitation between the\nhuman will and the limbs. Upon the viscera our will has no influence.\nThe heart moves without the exercise of volition.\n\n812. As there is an ethereal medium by means of which light moves\nthrough space from the remotest visible fixed star to the eye, at\nthe rate of two hundred thousand miles per second; as through an\naffection of the same ether frictional electricity moves, according\nto Wheatstone\u2019s estimate, with a velocity exceeding that of light,\u2014so\nmay we not infer that the instrument of Divine will acts with still\ngreater velocity, and that in making man in this respect after his own\nimage, so far as necessary to an available existence, gives him one\ndegree of power over the same element while in the mortal state, and\nanother higher degree of power in the spiritual state. But if there\nbe an element through which a spirit within his _mortal_ frame is\ncapable of actuating that frame, may not this element of actuation be\nsusceptible of becoming an instrument to the will of another spirit in\nthe _immortal state_?\n\n813. The aura of a medium which thus enables an immortal spirit to do\nwithin its scope things which it cannot do otherwise, appears to vary\nwith the human being resorted to; so that only a few are so endowed\nwith this aura as to be competent as media. Moreover, in those who are\nso constituted as to be competent instruments of spiritual actuation,\nthis competency is various. There is a gradation of competency, by\nwhich the nature of the instrumentality varies from that which empowers\nviolent loud knocking and the moving of ponderable bodies without\nactual contact, to the grade which confers power to make intellectual\ncommunications of the higher order without that of audible knocking.\nFurther, the power to employ these grades of mediumship varies as the\nsphere of the spirit varies.\n\n814. It has been stated that mortals have each a halo perceptible to\nspirits, by which they are enabled to determine the sphere to which any\nindividual will go on passing death\u2019s portal. Spirits cannot approach\neffectively a medium of a sphere much above, or below that to which\nthey belong.\n\n815. As media, in proportion as they are more capable of serving for\nthe higher intellectual communication, are less capable of serving for\nmechanical demonstration, and as they are more capable of the latter\nare less competent for the former, spirits likewise have a higher or\nlower capacity to employ media. It has been mentioned that having\nmade a test apparatus, my spirit sister alleged that it could not be\nactuated by her without assistance of spirits from a lower sphere.\nI inquired whether she could not meet me again, accompanied by the\nrequisite aid. The reply was in the affirmative, and accordingly she\nmet me at an appointed hour, and my apparatus was actuated effectually\nunder test conditions. (Plate 4, _dd_, _ii_, _kk_.)\n\n816. After I had read over an exposition of my information respecting\nthe spirit world to the spirit of the illustrious Washington, I\nrequested him to give me a confirmation while the medium should be\nunder test conditions. (Plate 4, _kk_.) I placed the hand of the medium\nupon the board lever of the instrument, of which a representation has\nbeen given, (Plate I, Plate 4,) so as to be on the outer side of the\nfulcrum, and requested him to attest the reliability of the medium\nduring the previous intercommunion. In reply it was alleged not to\nbe within his power to give me that test; I urged that this test had\nbeen given in his presence. \u201c_We had an employee, then_,\u201d was his\nrejoinder. Fortunately I had contrived a test instrument requiring\nless of the mechanical power, so that by means of it he was enabled to\nperfect the evidence by bringing the index to the affirmative, under\nconditions which put it out of the power of the medium to produce that\nresult. (See Plate 4 and description.)\n\n817. These facts make the subject of mediumship a most complicated\nmystery; but the creation teems with mystery, so that inscrutability\ncannot be a ground for disbelief of any thing. The only cases wherein\nthere is absolute incredibility, are those in which the definition of\nthe premises contradicts those of the inferences or conclusions.\n\n818. It is evident from the creative power which the spirits aver\nthemselves to possess, that they exercise faculties which they do not\nunderstand. Their explanation of the mysteries of mediumship only\nsubstitutes one mystery for another.\n\n819. If we undertake to generalize, it must come pretty near what I\nhave said above, that spirits are endowed, as my spirit father alleges,\nwith a \u201c_magic will_,\u201d capable of producing, as they allege, wonderful\nresults within their own world, (452;) nevertheless that this will does\nnot act by itself directly on mundane bodies. An intermedium is found\nin the halo or aura within or without certain human organizations.\nThe halos thus existing are not all similarly endowed; some having\none, some another capability. Some are better for one object, some\nfor another object. Again, the will-power varies as the sphere of the\nspirits is higher or lower, so that the medium suited for one is not\nsuited for another.\n\n820. Thus the means by which they are capable of communicating\nis various, and moreover precarious, according to the health and\nequanimity of the mortal being under whose halo they may strive to act.\n\n821. Evidently, the ponderable elements recognised by mundane chemists\ncannot contribute to any of the bodies of the spirit world, since\ntheir gravity must disqualify them for use in a world where every\nthing is, in comparison with them, weightless. Accordingly, one of the\nqueries put by me to the convocation of spirits (574) was, whether\nany of our elements, being ponderable, could act as such in the\nimponderable spiritual creation. The reply was, Not without undergoing\na transformation. This would be equivalent to annihilating them first,\nand recreating them afterward, when the process of creating alone\nwould be sufficient. But manifestly it is of no importance, whether\ntheir adaptation to the spirit world be the result of creation or of\ntransformation.\n\n822. Concerned in the processes of mediumship, it is manifest that\nthere is none of that kind of electricity or magnetism of which the\nlaws and phenomena have been the subject of Faraday\u2019s researches,\nand which are treated of in books, under the heads of frictional or\nmechanical electricity, galvanism, or electro-magnetism.\n\n823. Frictional electricity, such as produced usually by the\nfriction of glass in an electrical machine, or of aqueous globules\ngenerated by steam escaping from a boiler, is always to be detected\nby electrometers, or the spark given to a conducting body when in\ncommunication with the earth; the human knuckle, for instance. When not\nsufficiently accumulated to produce these evidences of its presence, it\nmust be in a very feeble state of excitement. But even in the highest\naccumulation by human means, as in the discharge of a powerfully\ncharged Leyden battery, it only acts for a time inconceivably brief,\nand does not move ponderable masses as they are moved in the instance\nof spiritual manifestation. It is only _in transitu_, that frictional\nelectricity displays much power, and then its path is extremely narrow,\nand the duration of its influence inconceivably minute. According to\nWheatstone\u2019s experiments and calculations, it would go round the earth\nin the tenth part of a second.\n\n824. How infinitely small, then, the period required to go from\none side of a room to another! Besides, there are neither means of\ngenerating such electricity, nor of securing that insulation which must\nbe an indispensable precursor of accumulation.\n\n825. Galvanic or voltaic electricity does not act at a distance so\nas to produce any recognised effects, except in the case of magnetic\nmetals, or in the state of transition produced by an electric\ndischarge. In these phenomena the potent effects are attainable only\nby means of perfect insulated conductors, as we see in the telegraphic\napparatus. No reaction with imperfect conducting bodies competent\nto toss them to and fro, or up and down, can be accomplished. The\ndecomposing influence, called electrolytic, is only exhibited at\ninsensible distances, within a filament of the matter affected.\n\n826. It has appeared to me a great error on the part of spirits, as\nwell as mortals, that they should make efforts to explain the phenomena\nof the spirit world by the ponderable or imponderable agents of the\ntemporal world. The fact that the rays of our sun do not affect\nthe spirit world, and that there is for that region an appropriate\nluminary whose rays we do not perceive, (415) must demonstrate that the\nimponderable element to which they owe their peculiar light differs\nfrom the ethereal fluid which, according to the undulatory theory, is\nthe means of producing light in the terrestrial creation.\n\n827. In one of the replies made by the convocation, (571,) the idea was\nsanctioned of the effulgence of the spirit being due to an appropriate\nethereal fluid, analogous to that above alluded to. But it has, I\nthink, been shown by me, that as light is due to the _undulations_ of\n_our_ ether, so electricity is due to _waves_ of _polarization_. But\nif undulations produce light in the ether of the spiritual universe\nas well as in ours, why may not polarization produce in the ether of\nthe spirit world an electricity analagous to ours? Thus, although\nin spiritual manifestations our electricity takes no part, their\nelectricity may be the means by which their will is transmitted\neffectually in the phenomena which it controls.\n\n828. The words _magnetism_ and _magnetic_ are used in this world in\ntwo different senses. In one, it signifies the magnetism of magnets\nor electromagnets; in the other, the animal magnetism of which the\nexistence was suggested by Mesmer, and which is commonly called\nMesmerism.\n\n829. This mesmerical magnetism seems to be dependent rather on\nproperties which we have as immortals, encased in a corporeal clothing,\nthan as mortals owing our mental faculties to that frame. If it be\nthe spiritual portion of our organization which is operative in\nclairvoyancy, spiritual electricity may be the intermedium both of that\nfaculty and of mesmeric influence.\n\n830. All spirits are clairvoyant more or less, and where this faculty\nis exercised, it seems to be due to an unusual ascendancy of the\nspiritual powers over the corporeal, so that clairvoyants possess some\nof the faculties which every spirit, after _shuffling off the mortal\ncoil_, must possess to a greater or less extent.\n\n831. In striving to make a test apparatus by which the communication\nshould be uninfluenced by the muscular power of the medium, through\nwhich alone her will could modify the ideas communicated, an\ninteresting fact was ascertained. The nullifying of the power of\nmuscular control, which it is the object of this contrivance to\naccomplish, is obtained unexceptionally by means of two balls and a\nplate, as already illustrated, (Plate 2,) or by placing the hands of\nthe medium exterior to the fulcrum of the lever-board, as described\nin the instance of testing the communication received from the\nconvocation. But these methods requiring that the conditions should\nbe favourable, both, as respects the spirit communicating and the\nmedium, are liable to fail. It struck me that the distance between the\nhands and the surface of the table or tray to be moved, by lessening\nthe influence of the medium on the table or tray, lessened the power\nof actuation. My efforts were therefore directed to contrive to have\nthe hand of the medium near the surface to be moved, without the\npossibility of contact.\n\n832. With this view I placed a board for receiving the hands of the\nmedium upon delicate rollers, so that no horizontal movement would\naffect the base board supporting the rollers and actuating the index.\nTo give greater efficacy to the aura, a plate of glass was supported\nin a wooden frame or sash by means of four screw rods fixed upright\non the base board, each furnished with two screw nuts. The screw rods\npassed through four suitable holes, so as to have one nut beneath, the\nother above, the sash. Thus situated, by adjusting the nuts, the sash\ncould be regulated to any horizontal level, so as to be near the upper\nsurfaces of the hands without any contact therewith.\n\n833. On trying this arrangement, it was found as difficult for a spirit\nto actuate it as if the glazed sash had not been employed.\n\n834. Under these circumstances, I had the glass plate or pane slit\nlengthwise into two equal strips. These being restored to the position\npreviously occupied in the sash, I interposed between their edges a\npiece of sheet-tin, with teeth cut in one of its edges, (Plate 4,\n_kk_,) so as to make it look like a long narrow saw, such as are used\nby sawyers in frames. With the aid of a leaden joint, (such as is used\nby glaziers to join glass panes,) to which the saw was soldered, the\nteeth of this projected about the eighth of an inch below the glass,\nso as to be near the upper surface of any hand, resting on the sliding\nboard.\n\n835. It was with no small degree of satisfaction that I found the\napparatus now sufficiently susceptible of actuation by my spirit\nfriends.\n\n836. From this result it would seem that the saw-shaped metallic\nconductor, operated precisely as it would have acted had it been\nnecessary to impart to the pane those means of electric discharge of\nwhich, as at first used, it was deficient.\n\n837. As soon as I had introduced the serrated conductor, my spirit\nfather corroborated the impression that it promoted the influence of\nthe medium.\n\n838. This was the first instance in which I have discovered any analogy\nbetween the laws governing the communication of the medium of the\nspirit will-power, and those obeyed by electrical phenomena.\n\n839. An account is given in my narrative of an experiment in which\na board, suspended at one end from a spring-balance, was made to\ndescend with a force of three pounds, through the instrumentality of\na medium who had no connection with the board, excepting water which\nwas interposed. Hence, as the hook screwed into the board, by which\nit was secured to the hook of the balance, was six times as far from\nthe fulcrum as the hands of the medium, the force exerted by the\nofficiating spirit was equal to 3 \u00d7 6 = 18 pounds. (See Plate 3, and\ndescription.) Nevertheless, no upward reaction was perceptible to me,\nnor was any experienced by the medium, Henry Gordon, as he declared.\n\n840. In the case of the boy (Plate 3,) a downward action of seven\npounds was observed, which, multiplied by the difference of distance,\namounted to 7 \u00d7 6 = 42 pounds, and yet the boy was not perceptibly\nimpelled in the opposite direction. Nor, when through the same juvenile\nmediumship, the whole of the apparatus was thrown upon the floor, did\nthe boy appear to be impelled in the opposite direction. Nor was there\nany reaction when the apparatus was thrown down. Now, agreeably to\nthe laws of nature, as established by human experience, in all cases\nof motion or momentum, there must be an equal force exercised in the\nopposite direction by the _vis inerti\u00e6_ of some other matter endowed\nwith that attribute. Hence Archimedes said, \u201cGive me but where to\nstand, and I will move the world.\u201d A point of support, a place of\nresistance, however, was held to be indispensable.\n\n841. The only explanation of which I can conceive is, that spirits,\nby volition, can deprive bodies of _vis inerti\u00e6_, and move bodies, as\nthey do themselves, by their will. But the necessity of the presence\nof a medium to the display of this power, granting its existence, is a\nmystery.\n\n842. That the spirit should, by its \u201cmagic\u201d will-power, take\npossession of the frame of a human being, so as to make use of\nits brain and nervous system, depriving its appropriate owner of\ncontrol, is a wonderful fact sufficiently difficult to believe,\nyet, nevertheless, intelligible. The aura which surrounds a medium\nmust be imponderable. No volition of the medium can, through its\ninstrumentality, move ponderable bodies, nor cause raps or consequent\nvibrations in the wooden boards. Hence, the presence of a medium\nimparts power to spirits which the medium does not possess.\n\n843. The aura on the one side, and the spirit on the other, are inert\nunless associated. Thus the volition of the spirit gives activity to\nan effluvium, by itself, so devoid of efficacy that it wholly escapes\nthe perception of the possessor or the observation of his mundane\ncompanions. It has been already alleged, that the usual reference to\nmundane electricity must be wholly unsatisfactory to all acquainted\nwith the phenomena and laws associated under that name; since no such\nmovements have ever been produced by such electrical means, nor is it\nconsistent with those mundane electrical laws, nor the facts which\nelectricians have noticed, that such movements should be produced.\nThose movements which have been produced by electricity have never\nbeen effected without surfaces oppositely charged, nor, of course,\nwithout the means of charging them. Neither are there associated with\nthe spiritual manifestations means at hand of creating nor of holding\ncharges either much more minute than those which display perceptible\nforce or cause audible sound.\n\n844. Electro-magnetic phenomena require the use of powerful galvanic\nbatteries or magnetic metals. Galvanic series, of the most powerful\nkind, do not act at the minutest distance without contact.\n\n845. Even lightning could not move a table backward and forward, though\nit might shatter it into pieces, if duly interposed in a circuit.\n\n846. Electrical sparks produce _snapping_ sounds in the air, not\n_knockings_ or _rappings_ upon sonorous solids.\n\n\n     ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE ILL-TREATMENT OF MEDIA, ON SPIRITUAL\n                MANIFESTATIONS.\u2014OF COUNTER-MEDIUMSHIP.\n\n\n847. Allusion has been above made to the unfavourable influence upon\nmanifestations of the demeanour and incredulity of the investigator,\ndisplayed in suspicious, cold, scrutinizing looks, such as would be\nmerited only by a cheat or pickpocket. All this has a deteriorating\ninfluence upon mediumship, and likewise repels the spirits. While\ncommunicating through a medium, a near blood relative, much beloved\nby the communicating spirit while in this world, coming into the\ncircle, an immediate departure of the spirit was the consequence.\nIt was subsequently alleged in explanation that there existed a\nrepulsiveness between him and the spirit, founded on the idea that his\nopinions were under the influence of worldly considerations, whence a\npredetermination to disbelieve, as far as possible, by an unfavourable\nview of the evidence.\n\n848. An incredulity liable to be overcome by the reason by which it\nhas been created does not form a bar; but where an impregnable bigotry\nhas been introduced merely by education, so that the person under its\ninfluence would have been a Catholic, Calvinist, Unitarian, Jew, or\nMohammedan by a change of parentage, cannot usually be changed by any\nevidence or argument. Spirits will not spend their time subjecting\ntheir manifestations to such impregnable bigotry, or to predetermined\nmalevolence.\n\n849. On this account such persons find it hard to obtain the\nmanifestations which they seek with ill-will to Spiritualism, and a\npredisposition to ridicule and pervert it.\n\n850. Besides this difficulty, there is no doubt a constitutional state,\nthe inverse of that which creates a medium. The atmosphere of persons\nso constituted, neutralizes that of those who are endowed with that of\nmediumship.\n\n851. It were impossible for any one to be more incredulous than I\nwas when I commenced my investigations; but in the first place, my\nrecorded religious impressions, founded on more than a half century\nof intense reflection, in no respect conflicted with the belief which\nSpiritualism required. As I said to a clergyman, I wish I knew as well\nwhat I ought to believe, as I can perceive what I ought not to believe.\nI was ardently desirous that the existence of a future state should be\nestablished in a way to conform to positive science, so that they might\nstart together. This was perceived by my spirit friends, and that they\nhad only to give me sufficient evidence of the existence of spirits\nand their world, to make me lay down in the cause my comparatively\nworthless mortal life, could I be more useful to truth in dying than in\nliving.\n\n852. My father and sister, brother and friend Blodget, were therefore\nnot deterred by my sneers or denunciations. Moreover, I was never\npredisposed to suspect any medium of treachery, and therefore never\ndisgusted them by the display of any such impressions. To the aid\nof these truly angelic spirits who were nearly allied with me, came\nanother angel, (whom I will designate by his initials W. W.,) who,\nfrom philanthropic motives, seems to have selected me to serve in this\ninvaluable dispensation. Hence, his first annunciation of my destined\ncourse, in language which so far, however it may imply an overestimate\nof my capacity to serve, shows the more the partiality with which it\nseems to have been estimated by him. (47.)\n\n\n          _The Author\u2019s Discovery of his powers as a Medium._\n\n853. It occurred to me to try how far the interposition of my hand\nwould interfere with the powers of the medium to whom I resorted. To my\nsurprise, it seemed very little to impair the actuation of the index by\nthe officiating spirit. It next occurred to me to ascertain how far a\ndiminution of contact, between the hand of the medium and mine, would\nimpair the power exercised under these conditions. In pursuance of my\nrequest, the contact was diminished by successively lifting the fingers\nof the medium and the rest of the hand from mine, until only one finger\nwas left. Finally, this finger was removed, and yet the power of\nactuation still continued to exist, though enfeebled. The officiating\nspirit, my friend W. W., now was made a party to this investigation,\nbeing requested to estimate the effects as well as myself.\n\n854. I requested the medium to pick up a pair of scissors which lay on\nthe table, and, while holding the blades between the finger and thumb,\nto lay the rings upon the back of my hand. An increase of power was\nmanifested to my observation and that of W. W.\n\n855. At a subsequent sitting, having made due preparation, a strip of\nsheet tin about two inches wide, and about fifteen inches in length,\nbeing applied to the back of my hand while resting on the base board of\nthe spiritoscope, (Plate 4, Fig. 2,) the medium held it successively\nat various distances. Under these circumstances, the facilitation was\ngreater as the distance between her hand and mine was diminished.\n\n856. A plate of glass of about four inches square, interposed between\nthe palm of the hand of the medium and the back of mine, interrupted\nthe power entirely; but neither cork nor a metallic plate of a similar\nsize much reduced the power.\n\n857. The frame (Fig. 3, Plate 4) being _in situ_, as described,\nparagraph _kk_ of the description, under these circumstances the\nremoval of the serrated strips diminished the power more and more as\nremoved.\n\n858. Thus it appears that there is a mesmeric electricity, or spiritual\nelectricity, which may be considered as appropriate to the spirit world\nas their vital air is; but which like that air, may influence our\nspiritual bodies while in their mundane tenement. It may, as well as\nthe vital air of the spirit world, belong in common to the inhabitants\nof that world and to us as spirits, being a polarizing affection of\nthe spiritual ethereal medium, of which the undulations constitute the\npeculiar rays of their spiritual sun.\n\n859. That this spiritual or mesmeric electricity should be auxiliary to\nthe efficacy of the magic will-power, of spirits, is of course one of\nthose mysteries which, like that of gravitation, may be ascertained to\nprevail, and yet be to spirits as well as mortals inexplicable.\n\n860. We live in a wonder-working universe, which becomes more and more\nwonderful as we learn more of it, instead of being brought more within\nour comprehension. When we compare what we know with the knowledge of\nsavages, it may appear a mountain of learning and science; but this\nvery learning and science only makes us see still more how great is our\nignorance!\n\n\n      ON PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS.\n\n\n861. This, for the third time, brings under discussion the report of\nDr. Bell, of Somerville, near Boston, on spiritual manifestations.\n\n862. It is not in reference to this distinguished physician in his\nindividual capacity that I name him thus often, but in reference to the\nhypothesis which his allegations must oblige him to sustain, and of\nwhich he may be considered a most respectable advocate. Dr. Bell not\nonly admits, but confirms by his own testimony, the important fact of\nthe movement of heavy bodies without contact. His experience, in this\nrespect, is more striking than mine, since he has not only seen this\nphenomena take place repeatedly, but on one occasion, as before stated,\nsaw tables move _fifty_ feet, intelligently obedient to his directions.\nHe also admits the reception of such communications from pretended\nspirits, as spiritualists would consider as coming from real spirits.\nYet on the negative ground, that _agreeably to his experience, nothing\nwas found to be communicable_ but what pre-existed in the mind of some\nmortal present, he infers that the ideas received are not derived from\nspirits, but from the minds of those mortals who are parties to the\nprocess.\n\n863. Of course our distinguished friend thus involves himself in the\ntask of explaining not only the intellectual, but also the mechanical\nmovements, by the mental agency of the media who participate in the\nconditions under which the manifestations occur.\n\n864. I have already adduced manifestations irreconcilable with the\nassumption on which the whole of Dr. Bell\u2019s inference is built, (111\nto 288.) But were his observations verified, in order to make them\njustify the abnegation of spirits, it should be shown that any spirit\ncould tell him _any_ thing which must be known to him, whether known\nto the spirits or not. Remembering all the facts communicated to\nhim by his spirit brother, it should be shown that any other spirit\ncould narrate them as well as his spirit brother. Any inquiry made of\n_any_ spirit, _of which the answer is known to the inquirer_, should\nbe told on request as well as any other; but it will be found that\nanswers are given only to those of which the spirit knows the answers\nindependently, through his own memory. Under favourable circumstances\nmental questions are answered; but often, when mental questions cannot\nbe answered, those put verbally are replied to. I have detected spirit\nimpostors, by their inability to tell the name of my sister in the\nspheres.\n\n865. I postponed the discussion on this question until I should have\nsubmitted to the reader the communications which I had received. I\ntrust that these are of a nature to show that they could not have\noriginated in my mind, nor in those of the media through whom they were\nobtained.\n\n866. Whatever want of ability may be shown, by Dr. Bell, to exist in\nthe communications alleged to come from Paine, Swedenborg, and Bacon,\nor from spirits personating those distinguished men, it cannot do\naway the valuable information which I have obtained from my spirit\nfather and others, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits. It has been\nshown that in a few pages of that communication, there is vastly more\nknowledge of our happy prospects in the future world, than all that can\nbe found in the Scriptures.\n\n867. Dr. Bell will not, I am sure, suspect me of any want of\ntruthfulness, and will hardly flatter the media and myself with an\nunconscious origination of ideas, which had never before occurred to\neither.\n\n868. If he finds that in the case of Swedenborg and Bacon the spirits\nare below their medial instruments in capacity, he will find that in\nthe instance of my spirit friends this estimate must be inverted.\n\n869. My experience does not tend to establish that there is less\nfolly or more wisdom in the inhabitants of the spirit world than in\nthis. I concur with Dr. Bell in the opinion that the work to which he\nalludes, attributed to the spirit of Paine, merits all the denunciation\nwhich he bestows on it. I concur that it must be the work of a mind,\nwhether celestial or mundane, ignorant of the rudiments of chemical\nphilosophy. But if such a work coming from a mortal would not disprove\nthe author\u2019s claim to be a mortal human being, wherefore then should a\nfoolish book coming from a foolish, ignorant spirit, personating Paine,\ndisprove the author to be a spirit? It only shows that low, ignorant,\nfoolish spirits personate the spirits of eminent authors; but does that\ndisprove the existence of spirits? Does madness or idiocy annihilate\nthe victim of these afflictions? But in all cases where communications\nare obtained through speaking or writing media, the minds of the media\nare liable, unconsciously, to pervert or repress the sentiments of the\nspirits, and therefore are not trusted by me, unless corroborated by\ncommunications through the alphabet.\n\n870. By their existence in the spheres, it seems to me that spirits\nimprove as to their talents, not as to their reasoning powers. They\nhave a superior knowledge to that which we possess of their own world,\nbut not of our sciences, as far as I have had means of judging. Having\nno great objects to effect, they have no great incentive to thought or\ncontrivance. It is by learning, more than by invention, that they rise\nin the spheres.\n\n871. These inferences are not, however, admitted by the spirits. They\nallege that as their medial instruments improve, they will give me\nreason to change my opinion. They assume to go deeper and farther into\nthe nature of things than mortals.\n\n872. To me it seems that their happiness is due in part to\nself-felicitation and seeing every thing under a rosy hue. They often\nadvert to the superior height upon which they stand, without showing\nthat they see more in consequence.\n\n873. So far as I can judge, in some branches of knowledge, the spirits\nwill improve by discussion with mortals. They will be cured of some of\ntheir \u201csky scraping!\u201d\n\n874. They seem to be mainly improved by their reciprocal intercourse.\nThus honest bigots of all sects, find when they get together that in\npoint of fact none of their records are true!\n\n875. It is by getting rid of error, more than acquiring knowledge, that\nthey rise in reciprocal estimation.\n\n876. Very soon after my father began to communicate with me, nearly\nfourteen months ago, he said\u2014\u201cWe know little more in religion than\nyou.\u201d\n\n877. They all agree that good works are solely of importance, creeds\nonly being good or bad as they induce good or bad deeds.\n\n878. A good man cannot accept a creed which sanctions wickedness; that,\nfor instance, which authorizes, under certain sophistical pretences,\nspoliation, massacre, rape, fraud, &c. Whenever any man brings himself\nto believe that his God ever authorized such crimes, or patronized\nthose who were guilty of them, he becomes more or less immoral. Dr.\nBerg truly alleged that \u201c_a devotee is assimilated to the God whom he\nworships_.\u201d\n\n879. To assist me, as it were, in exposing the errors of those who\nwith Dr. Bell admit, for the most part, the facts of Spiritualism, yet\nascribe the whole to the minds of mortals acting as media or inquirers,\nan advocate of that side of the question gives this explanation of the\nfact of my having sent a message to Mrs. Gourlay by my spirit sister:\n\n880. He alleged it as a fact, that if two snails be placed in\nproximity, and afterward apart to a considerable distance, that the\ncontact of one, will affect the other perceptibly.\n\n881. That Mrs. Gourlay and myself being frequently in each other\u2019s\nsociety, it followed that if at the distance of about a hundred\nmiles I wished her to induce Dr. Gourlay to apply at the bank, Mrs.\nGourlay, although at the time engaged in receiving a most interesting\ncommunication from her mother for her brother, had so much more\nsnail-like sympathy, with me at Cape Island, than with the ideas she\nbelieved to proceed from her mother, that she would interrupt the one\nforthwith, to attend to the other at that particularly inconvenient\ntime! Meanwhile, the phenomenon of the index of my disk being moved\nindependently of any effort of mine, so that I can make oath that no\nmortal moved it, is not taken into view. Surely if by such means a\nmessage respecting a pecuniary affair could awaken sympathy, there are\nmany messages which it would be of immensely more importance to convey,\nthan that which I sent in the instance in question.\n\n882. But how comes it that neither I nor any other of her friends can\nsend messages to Mrs. Gourlay while in the same city with her? Must\nher friends go to Cape Island for the purpose? Will this erudite and\ningenious psychologist inform me by what means I may bring about this\nobject, which, on business account, would be more convenient than\nsending notes by penny post?\n\n883. Am I to go through the same process of sitting down at my\nspiritoscope? Will this learned assailant of Spiritualism inform me why\nI must do this, and must wait till the index moves? Wherefore should it\nmove after a quarter of an hour\u2019s invocation, when it will not move at\nfirst?\n\n884. Again, I wish the circumstance I am about to mention to be\nexplained by psychology: I was sitting in my solitary third-story\nroom at Cape Island, invoking my sister as usual, when to my surprise\nI saw Cadwallader spelt out on my disk. \u201cMy old friend, General\nCadwallader?\u201d said I. \u201cYes.\u201d A communication ensued of much interest.\nBut before concluding, I requested him, as a test, to give me the\nname of a person whom I met in an affair of honour more than fifty\nyears ago, when he (General Cadwallader) was my second. The name was\nforthwith given, by the pointing out on the disk the letters requisite\nto spell it.\n\n885. Now as the spirit of General Cadwallader, during more than fifteen\nmonths that other friends had sought to communicate with me, had never\nmade me a visit, why should his name have been spelt out when I had not\nthe remotest hope of his coming, and was expecting another spirit, the\nonly one who had been with me at the Cape?\n\n886. Further, the breakfast bell having rung, I said, \u201cGeneral, will\nyou come again after breakfast?\u201d I understood him to consent to this\ninvitation. Accordingly, when afterward I reseated myself in _statu\nquo_, I looked for the General, but, lo! Martha, my sister\u2019s name, was\nspelt out!\n\n887. I challenge this psychologist to put his hypothesis on paper, in\norder that I may psychologize him into a more consistent assumption of\npremises and conclusions.\n\n888. Let him show his hand by reducing his sophistry, as I\nconscientiously consider it, to black and white. He may learn the\ndifference between talent and judgment. I am aware that he shows a vast\ndeal more of the _appropriate_ ability of his profession in defending\nthe view he has espoused, than I could hope to exert. It is only in the\nstrength of truth that I feel strong. \u201cThrice is he armed that hath\nhis quarrel just.\u201d\n\n889. It is of no small importance that this learned and subtle\npsychologist, should explain how my spiritoscope, or any other\ninstrumental means of alphabetic indication, becomes necessary to\neffect the psychologization of a medium at a great distance, so as to\nconvey to her mind the ideas which it is an object to impart. Why is\nit necessary that the index over a disk at Cape May, should revolve to\nthe letters requisite to spell a message, in order that the index of\nanother disk in Philadelphia, should revolve at a _subsequent_ time?\nHow does the mechanism in one place, acquire a power from the remote\nactuation of another? Will it be pretended that they are affected\nanalogously to the sympathetic snails; whence, having kept each other\u2019s\ncompany, this miracle ensued? But even this is not true, since they\nwere not kept together, if ever they were in each other\u2019s company.\n\n890. Could any process be divined by which an instrument for supposed\nalphabetic communication with spirits, could be applied to transmit\nsuch messages as that for which I employed mine, according to this\npsychological hypothesis, it would be superior to the existing\ntelegraphic process, since the ocean could be no barrier to messages\nwhich, although dependent on snail-like sympathy, would have nothing in\nit of the proverbial creeping attribute of the animal in question.\n\n891. The following manifestations are of a nature, as it seems to me,\nto invalidate Dr. Bell\u2019s notion that the communications received from\nthe spirit are acquired from the minds of the bystanders:\n\n892. Calling on Miss Ellis, it was found that her time was so\npre-engaged, that she could not, as she said, sit for me till the\nday but one succeeding. My spirit sister manifested her desire to\ncommunicate, and conveyed the idea that Miss Ellis could give an hour\nnamed next day, if she would examine her list. This examination being\nmade, the suggestion was verified.\n\n893. Here was an idea not obtained from the mind of any person present.\nIt could not exist in the minds of those who, like my friend and\nmyself, had not seen the list, nor could it have been in Miss Ellis\u2019s\nmind, as in that case she would not have had to consult the list, in\norder to determine the truth of the suggestion.\n\n894. In this visit, Dr. W. F. Channing, who was my companion, said\nthat possibly he had better not accompany me. It was left to my spirit\nsister to decide. No instrument being ready, as the quickest mode\nof communication, the medium was made to take up her pen, and began\nforthwith to make figures upon a sheet of paper. When the operation\nterminated, nothing but figures were seen to have been written. The\nmedium said she did not know what to make of it. But _under_ the\nletters it was written, \u201cSelect, from the alphabet, the letters\ncorresponding, and you have my answer.\u201d This being done, the following\nsentence was obtained: \u201c_My dear brother, come alone._\u201d\n\n895. It cannot be reasonably imagined that either Miss Ellis, my\nfriend, or myself suggested this reply, as my friend and myself\nregretted the result, and it was not the interest of Miss Ellis to\nlessen the circle. But none of us had the ability to have perceived the\nnumbers indicating the relative position of letters in the alphabetic\nrow, so as to have selected them correctly. It would take some time to\nassociate the letters with the numbers duly, and an unusual strength of\nmemory to recollect them.\n\n\n MODERN PROCESS FOR ALPHABETIC CONVERSE WITH SPIRITS, AS NEW TO MAN AS\nTHE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.\n\n\n896. In his instructive work on Spiritualism, the idea is advanced by\nCapron, that the species of modern spirit communication, of which his\nbook mainly treats, dates back to a period of history so early that no\nage or country is exempt from accounts of them.\n\n897. To me it seems that I have never read any thing in history\nin which intellectual communication was established by sounds or\nmechanical movements with invisible beings. Sight has almost always\nbeen the sense most appealed to in evidence of the appearance of\nghosts. In the instance of the Witch of Endor, Samuel is made to come\nfrom his grave, not like one of our happy spirits from his beautiful\nabode in the spirit world:\u2014\n\n\u201cThen said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said,\nBring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a\nloud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived\nme? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for\nwhat sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending\nout of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she\nsaid, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul\nperceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the\nground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou\ndisquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed;\nfor the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,\nand answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore\nI have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall\ndo. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the\nLord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord\nhath done to him as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom\nout of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:\nBecause thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his\nfierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto\nthee this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee\ninto the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons\nbe with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the\nhand of the Philistines.\u201d 1 Sam. xxviii. 11-19.\n\n898. It is represented in this quotation, that the ghost of Samuel came\nand conversed with Saul; that he \u201c_ascendeth out of the earth; an old\nman cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle_.\u201d Where is there any\nthing in common between this representation and the process by which\nI communicate with my familiar spirits,\u2014not coming up from the grave,\nor the disgusting heaven of Josephus, but from their magical abodes in\nthe skies! I challenge any one to adduce the idea, as having ever been\nexpressed, that any one had found any mode of conversing with spirits\nresembling in its operation that which we now have discovered. This\nseems to be as new to the spirits as to us, being as much a novelty as\nthe electric telegraph. The very limited degree in which it has been\nrecently accomplished has been attained with very great difficulty. It\nappears that efforts were made to establish this intercourse in England\nat the mansion of the celebrated Wesley, without any beneficial result.\nIf ever this art had been discovered, certainly it would not have been\nlost. Even the idea of rapping or knocking _independently of mortal\nagency_, had the fact ever been established, could not have been held\nso incredible as it was, almost universally, when it took place at\nHydesville, or in Great Britain, as above mentioned.\n\n899. The learned Dr. Priestley, utterly incredulous that the rappings\nat Wesley\u2019s could be ascribed to any supermundane agency, attributes\nit to some trick on the part of servants, assisted by neighbours. It\nappears that in general the most scientific and well-read persons are\nthe most backward in ascribing such phenomena to invisible spirits. If,\ntherefore, during past ages such inscrutable noises and movements of\nbodies had occurred, resembling those recently noticed, still no such\nuse had been made of them as we now behold. Such manifestations being\nonce so far demonstrated as to induce people of sound mind to unite in\nreferring them to the immortal spirits of departed friends, is a fact\nof such awful, thrilling interest, that it never could have become\nobsolete; especially as the same state of things which permitted it\nonce to be successfully witnessed, would have led to its reiteration.\nNeither the spirits nor mortals had laid it aside, any more than the\ntelegraph or the railways will be disused, after experiencing the\nadvantages of those inventions.\n\n900. Is there not as much reason for the lateness of this discovery,\nas for that of any of those inventions by which modern times are\ndistinguished from ancient? Even now, with what difficulty has it been\naccomplished to the degree to which it has arrived. After eighteen\nmonths of laborious investigation, I find myself surrounded by\ninveterate skeptics among my own family friends and most of my comrades\nin science.\n\n901. There is scarcely a country besides this in which I should escape\nlegal penalties or tyrannical restraint, in expressing the opinions\nwhich I most devoutly entertain, and am impelled irresistibly to\nexpress; and, although in this country, free from legal penalties,\nthere is scarcely an orthodox female tongue belonging to some of the\nbest of the sex (in all other respects amiable) which will not devote\nitself universally in the service of bigotry and intolerance.\n\n902. But beside the arguments thus founded, there is another, resting\non the fact that had there been any intellectual communication with\nthe spirit world, there could not have been such an ignorance of the\nreligious doctrines which there prevail. There is in that world no\ndiversity as respects the existence and unity of God; nor as to the\nunimportance of those creeds which have caused in this world so much\nmischief, by the consequent animosity, persecutions, and warfare. The\nsuperior efficacy of good works over creeds is by the _higher_ spirits\ninvariably insisted upon.\n\n903. Then, agreeably to the same authority, the idea of an omnipotent,\nomniscient, and prescient God being under the necessity of subjecting\nthings to trial, is considered as involving a contradiction; the\npremises being irreconcilable with the conclusion. There is not an\nelevated spirit that will not answer in the affirmative, every query\nproposed in the verses inserted, (page 34.)\n\n904. There is but one sentiment as respects the question between\nprobation and progression, and that is in favour of the latter.\n\u201cOnward and upward is the motto on our spiritual banner.\u201d Such is the\nlanguage held, and repeated over and over again. It would not take a\nquarter of an hour for a spirit to pour information into the ear of\na mortal which, if credited, would put an end to all honest discord\nrespecting religion, and induce that mortal thenceforth to look to the\nspirit world as his ultimate destination. The language of the paragraph\nin the address through Lanning, would go home to every human mortal\nhaving reason to comprehend it, so that whatever they might pursue in\nthis world would be with an ultimate view to ascendancy in the other.\n(See Preface.)\n\n905. Bigotry, fanaticism, selfish sectarianism, the want of media and\nbold, enlightened investigators, seem to have formed impenetrable\nobstacles to the promulgation of a knowledge of the greatest importance\nto human prosperity, morals, and future happiness. No doubt that so\nmuch evil should arise merely from want of a knowledge so near at\nhand, is one of the facts which human reason finds it most difficult\nto reconcile with the power and goodness of the Almighty Ruler of the\nuniverse; but that is a difficulty which exists in case any one creed\nbe assumed as true; since none has been heretofore so communicated as\nto be within the reach of mankind in general. Meanwhile the error has\noriginated in various sects, that they have been especially favoured\nby God, so that they alone of all his creatures have had true light let\nin upon them.\n\n906. Happily, from the mode in which the light of Spiritualism has\nbeen received by its present votaries, it may be gradually extended to\nall their fellow-creatures; and meanwhile those who enjoy this light\ndo not assume that their fellow-creatures who are in this respect\nless fortunate, are on that account to be censured, denounced, and\npersecuted as far as the power to persecute goes. Spiritualists believe\nthe wonderful manifestations on which their creed rests, to have far\nmore testimony in its favour than any other before accredited; and\nthat the manifestations relied on being more recent, and observed by\nmultitudes of eye-witnesses, known by their neighbours to be truthful,\nhave, as _mere hearsay proof_, an immense superiority over the recorded\ntradition of an obscure, illiterate, superstitious age and country. But\nthen the same privilege which has been enjoyed by one set of observers\nbelongs to any succeeding number, and no less to succeeding ages than\nto this. It is not assumed that any special inspiration appertains to\nany existing being, as an instrument of promoting truth, that will\nnot inure to others. No particular exclusive capacity for miracles is\nclaimed for this age; on the contrary, the belief is that in this, as\nin other things, there will be improvement and progression, and that\nposterity will learn directly from the same high angelic source whence\nwe learn.\n\n907. The more the moral code of Spiritualism is contrasted with that\nwhich has heretofore prevailed, the better we shall be pleased. We\nchallenge the strongest, the most learned of those who adhere to that\ndispensation, to meet us _ore rotundo seu currente calamo_. Confident\nin the strength of truth and the feebleness of error, the writer of\nthese lines fears not any competitor who makes error his client.\n\n\n           INFLUENCE OF MUNDANE WEALTH IN THE WORLD TO COME.\n\n _According to the Spiritual Code, riches elevate or degrade according\n     to the virtue displayed in their acquisition and employment._\n\n\n908. The great object of the more prudent and calculating portion of\nmankind, is to provide for that old age which they all hope to attain,\nor, if it be not reached, to provide the means for themselves or\nfamilies which may insure a comfortable if not luxurious support, in\ncase sickness or mutilation should deprive them of the power of making\nmoney, or competency to earn wages.\n\n909. But how precarious and fleeting are any such worldly advantages,\nwhen compared with those of an eternal home, where every thing\ndesirable may be had without causing a drop of sweat to fall from the\nbrow! Let the description of the higher spheres be compared with any\nearthly paradise, which, besides inferiority in every attribute which\ncan render it attractive, is open to all the ills of mental and bodily\nsuffering to which flesh is heir. If there be any objection to the\nconsequences of a due appreciation of the bliss which we may expect\nin the spirit world, it would seem to be founded on its tendency so\nto enfeeble our interest in this world, as to deter the human efforts\non which this sphere is, under God\u2019s laws, mainly dependent for\nimprovement. But then, as a matter of principle, in order to merit\nelevation in the spirit world, exertion may be induced in this; and\nexertion _thus_ originating, can never be perverted to the perpetuation\nof those wrongs now so often forming the steps to human aggrandizement.\nThe subjugation, the pillage, and extirpation of mankind, will never be\ninduced by considerations founded on the desire to accumulate treasure\nin heaven.\n\n910. There is hardly in respect to any subject, more error than in the\nestimate made of persons who strive to acquire wealth. The question\nlies not in the zeal with which it may be sought, but in the object\nfor which it is desired. Although the maxim that the end justifies the\nmeans, be immoral when extended so far as to palliate any dereliction\nof the cardinal virtues, does it not hold good so long as the means\nemployed are consistent with these virtues? Is it not charitable\nhonestly to seek the pecuniary means of being charitable? Is it not\nliberal to seek the means wherewith to be liberal? Hospitable, to seek\nthe means to support hospitality? Is it not the duty of each man to\npromote the welfare of his wife and children, by seeking the means\nwherewith to house, clothe, and feed them, and, moreover, to educate\nthem intellectually as well as morally? Since, when destitute of\neducation, a man is little above a brute, surely it must be meritorious\nto seek the means of educational improvement, both for ourselves and\nfor those by whom we are surrounded; but more especially for those who\nare so dependent on us, that it can only through us be attained.\n\n911. That part of the Lord\u2019s prayer which deprecates temptation, is\nperhaps of pre-eminent importance; since where there is one man who\ngoes through the world honestly by resisting temptation, there are\nhundreds who preserve their honesty by avoiding temptation: by so\nproviding pecuniary means in due time, as not to be placed between the\nalternative of starving, begging, cheating, or stealing.\n\n912. In our republic it will be found that while the acquisition of\nwealth enables one individual to raise his family by educational\nsuperiority, the offspring of another, by the loss of fortune, sink\ninto the mass of illiterate labourers; so that there is a perpetual\nundulation by the educational influence of money. Though public schools\nmay extend the advantages of education to the poor, yet _want_ drives\nthe educated youth to loathsome drudgery, made more painful by the\nenlargement of his views resulting from education.\n\n913. To the consequence of hereditary noblemen hereditary wealth is\nessential, having vastly more influence than titles. In those countries\nwhere titles exist without associated wealth, they have scarcely any\nweight. However incompetent money may be to give importance to an\n_uneducated_ commoner, a cotton-spinner, by educating his son and\ngiving him his fortune, may prepare him to sway an empire; when, had\nhis father been a pauper, the premier might have lived among those so\neloquently described by Shakspeare\u2019s Henry the Fourth, as upon \u201cuneasy\npallets stretching them.\u201d How different from those perfumed chambers\nand canopies of costly state, to which this spinner\u2019s boy was actually\nenabled to climb through the education and position resulting from\npaternal affluence!\n\n914. Civilization elevates those who have the advantages of education,\nand who are either professionally employed in intellectual pursuits, or\nhave leisure to cultivate science and literature from taste. But the\nsame division of human labour and enterprise which gives intellectual\npursuits to a few as a profession, gives to the mass occupations\ninconsistent with the cultivation of their intellectual powers. Those\nwho are engaged in the humblest species of industry, living from\nhand to mouth, have little or no time to spare from that which their\nnecessities imperatively require; and the bodily fatigue incurred\nduring working hours, makes repose from all exertion the primary object.\n\n915. But the situation of the poor, ignorant, and uneducated labourer\nin civilized society, is rendered worse than that of an equally\nignorant and uneducated barbarian, by contrast with _his_ educated\nneighbours. The lowest savage has as much scholastic education as\nhis chief, while the civilized labourer may be in the rear of an\neducated child of five years of age. Thus the _absolute_ evil is made\n_relatively_ still greater. When any man reflects on these facts, can\nhe be otherwise than anxious for those means which are necessary to put\nhis offspring upon a par in learning with those of others in the same\ncommunity?\n\n916. Early in life, it is manifest to every one who does not enjoy\npecuniary affluence, that any species of indulgence which he may desire\nrequires money for its attainment. Even the command of leisure for any\nenjoyment requires money, since, if obliged to work to earn his bread,\na man may not have leisure for any other object.\n\n917. Among the most rational motives for the pursuit of wealth is the\nlove of independence. \u201cThy spirit, Independence, let me share\u2014lord of\nthe lion heart and eagle eye!\u201d In this sentiment every noble soul must\nparticipate. How many have had, like the apothecary in Shakspeare\u2019s\ntragedy, to allow their poverty to rule, instead of honest will! How\nmany have been induced to \u201c_earn their daily bread by their daily\nshame_!\u201d\n\n918. Prudent, thoughtful, honest men, who do not choose to live\nhouseless, without clothes, nor upon the sweat of other men\u2019s brows,\nturn from the paths of amusement, of sensual enjoyment, from the love\nof literature or science, or from the observation and investigation\nof nature\u2019s beauties and miracles, in order to get, _through wealth_,\nthe power, and honest right to indulge. But while pursuing this great\nobject, in the first instance only as the means of attaining other\nobjects, good or bad, they grow old in the chase; their passions\nburn out, while avarice originates as it were from their ashes, not,\nph\u0153nix-like, to replace _one_ parental being, but a horrid monster,\nhaving nothing in common with a plurality of progenitors, but the\nselfish, ardent love of money, unmitigated by any redeeming aspiration.\nA being so actuated\u2014or, in other words, _a miser_\u2014would certainly find\nit as difficult to reach a higher sphere in the spirit world, as it\nwere for a camel to get through the needle\u2019s eye.\n\n919. As swine accumulate fat to bequeath to those to whom they leave\ntheir carcasses, so the avaricious accumulate wealth, to hoard until it\ncan no longer be retained. They die with an immense amount of negative\nsin; since all their omissions to do good, which is within their power,\nis carried to their debit in the spirit world. Their poverty in the\nspirit world will be proportioned to their ill-used wealth in this\ntemporal abode.\n\n920. When this is well brought home to mankind, there will be less\navarice, and fewer of those crimes which arise from selfish cupidity,\nor ambition.\n\n\n                       MRS. GOURLAY\u2019S NARRATIVE.\n\n\n921. The following is a narrative of the circumstances which led to\nthe conversion to a belief in Spiritualism, of my esteemed friend,\nMrs. M. B. Gourlay, through _whose_ high attributes as an intellectual\nmedium, I am in a great measure indebted for _my_ conversion. I do most\ndevoutly believe that the information received from my spirit father,\nthrough her mediumship, would, if duly credited, be of more value to\ntrue religion and morality, than the forty millions of dollars annually\nexpended upon the Church of England.\n\n\n                                            PHILADELPHIA, May 20, 1855.\n_To Professor Robert Hare_:\n\n922. _My Dear Sir_: Pursuant to your request, I have the pleasure to\npresent you the following particulars of my experience and observation\nin relation to the phenomena of spiritual intercourse,\u2014phenomena\nwhich engage, at the present time, the serious and profound attention\nof thousands of intelligent minds; manifestations that are rapidly\nand steadily spreading their influence over the entire continent,\nand carrying with them the evidence of their spiritual origin, while\nimpressing receptive minds with the truth of their sacred importance to\nan extent unexampled in the history of any other movement.\n\n923. My attention was attracted to the phenomena in question, about\nfive years since, by reading sundry reports in the New York Tribune, of\ncertain mysterious sounds which had occurred in the city of Rochester,\nand purported to have been made by the spirits of the departed.\n\n924. I regarded the subject at first with great distrust, supposing it\na mere imposition on the credulity of the public, and considered it\nentirely unworthy of serious thought.\n\n925. Finding, however, that it was eliciting considerable notice, and\nknowing that _facts are sometimes stranger than fiction_, I deemed it\nconsonant with reason to suspend my judgment till more conversant with\nthe facts.\n\n926. Having been admonished by a much-loved, intelligent, and, I would\nadd, _practical_ Christian mother to worship at the altar of truth,\nwhile exercising my reason on all subjects presented to my mind, I was,\nas might be presumed, nearly, if not entirely, free from the shackles\nof bigotry, superstition, and dogmatism, and was thus prepared, so\nfar at least as these barriers to mental and moral progression are\nconcerned, to investigate any subject within the range of my capacity.\n\n927. Hearing of the spread of the manifestations, and their actual\noccurrence in the city of Bangor, Maine, where I then resided, I\nresolved, with the first favourable opportunity, to investigate the\nmatter for myself.\n\n928. Not many days had elapsed after forming this resolution, before\nI met an intimate friend, an exemplary and respected member of the\nMethodist Episcopal denomination, who informed me that she was\ninterested in spiritual manifestations, and desired to investigate\nthem. But alas! she was bound by the galling fetters of sectarian and\npriestly bondage, and dared not move in such an investigation. Her\npastor had said that the \u201c_arch deceiver_,\u201d the veritable _Satan_,\nwas the prime instigator in this _scheme_, and, moreover, that to\nparticipate in a movement so diabolical in its character would render\nher liable not only to loss of membership in the church, but expose her\nto divine wrath in this world, as well as endless torment in the world\nto come.\n\n929. I believed such an intolerant and persecuting spirit, to be\ndiametrically opposed to every principle of true Christianity, and\nrepugnant to the claims of reason; and deprecating any doctrine,\northodox though called, that would thus stifle free thought and\ninquiry, and consign to eternal misery the children of our heavenly\nFather, even however depraved, I advised my friend to exercise her\nreason, with which she was by nature endowed, and regardless of the\nsneers of a time-serving multitude, or the anathemas of the church, to\nobey the injunction of the apostle\u2014\u201cProve all things\u2014_hold fast that\nwhich is good_.\u201d\n\n930. She consented; and a few days subsequent to this interview,\nshe extended to me an invitation to attend a spiritual circle to be\nconvened at the house of a highly respectable family, members of the\nUnitarian Church, and much esteemed by a large circle of friends for\ntheir many virtues.\n\n931. The invitation was gladly accepted, and the ensuing evening found\nus seated at a table in the domicile of our worthy friends, Mr. and\nMrs. T-\u2014-, with some six or eight intelligent persons of both sexes.\n\n932. Having, agreeably to request, placed our hands on the table, we\nsilently raised our thoughts in solemn and sincere aspirations to the\ngreat Father of spirits, and desired to be brought into more harmonious\nrelation with the spirits of our dear departed friends, and hoping that\nthese might thereby be better able to manifest themselves to their\nfriends still in the earthly habiliments of humanity.\n\n933. We had not remained long in this position, before we heard\ndistinct sounds like the falling of drops of water on the table.\nImagine our surprise and inexpressible delight, when first aroused to\na vital consciousness of the presence of celestial visitants in our\nmidst! I shall never forget the glorious expression of pleasure which\nillumined the countenances of that little band of seekers for truth,\nnor the electric thrill of joy which I experienced on this happy\noccasion.\n\n934. The sounds continued to respond to our inquiries; three expressing\nthe affirmative, and one the negative. It was suggested by a member of\nthe circle to use the alphabet as a means of communication; and that\non passing a pencil slowly over the card, the spirits would indicate,\nby the sounds, the letters required to convey their thoughts. In this\nmanner we received many convincing evidences of spirit intercourse;\nsuch as getting the names of our spirit friends, the particular\nlocalities of their birth and death, and the precise time of their\ndeparture from this world, with many other proofs of their presence and\nidentity.\n\n935. We were soon informed by the communicating intelligence that a\nmuch more rapid mode of communication would now be established between\nus. On inquiring its nature, it was spelt out\u2014Let Welthea (referring\nto my friend) take the pen, and we will write through her hand.[17] To\nall of us this was a new and unexpected revelation. My friend, being\nvery timid and retiring in her nature, was evidently confused by this\nannouncement. At our very earnest solicitation, however, she lifted\nthe pen from the table. Her hand was now seized by an invisible and\nintelligent power, and being in a normal state, several beautiful\nstanzas,[18] touching her mission in this glorious cause, resulted\nfrom this first and, to all of us, astounding performance.\n\n936. This, to us, was a new phase of the manifestations, and to myself\nand friend was very wonderful, since, I am certain, she had never\nthought of becoming a medium for spiritual intercommunion.\n\n937. Soon after writing the stanzas alluded to, her hand was again\ninfluenced to write a communication to a gentleman present. He was a\nstranger to my friend, now regarded as a medium, and the communication\nwas from the spirit of a sister who had passed from earth about thirty\nyears before, the name, in full, of the spirit being appended.\n\n938. After receiving instructions from the spirits, in regard to the\nmanner of conducting our circle, we adjourned to the time appointed for\nour next meeting.\n\n939. On the succeeding day I visited my friend at her residence, and\nreceived many additional evidences of the presence and identity of\nspirits. My father, mother, and sister, and many other loved spirit\nfriends with whom the medium had no acquaintance, and whose names even\nwere not known to her, communicated, and reminded me of many incidents\nof their life on earth of which my friend was wholly ignorant, and some\nof them I had myself almost forgotten.\n\n940. At subsequent and frequent interviews with this lady, I received\nmany indubitable proofs of the presence and guardianship of angels; of\nwhich the following is an example:\n\n941. Some weeks after our first interview, and while discussing the\nordinary topics of the day, her hand was influenced to write these\nsentences:\n\n942. \u201c_My dear M_: You will be surprised and pleased to learn that\nan old schoolmate is present; one that you never, while on earth,\nanticipated hearing from again. Many years have fled since our last\nmeeting. I have come from the realms of the unseen, to renew the\nacquaintance with you begun in childhood, and to advise you in relation\nto your spiritual development. You are destined to become a good\n_impressional_ medium for spiritual truth. Follow the directions which\nwe from time to time shall give you, and you will progress rapidly,\nand be greatly profited thereby. Elevate your mind to the source of\nlight and truth, and seek to be saved from every thing that might\nhinder your spiritual advancement. Devote a portion of each day to the\ndevelopment of your spirit, and investigate the principles which govern\nthe physical and spiritual departments of the universe. You are living\nin the light of an advanced age, and are surrounded by many advantages.\nImprove the privileges that you enjoy, for the benefit of yourself and\nothers.                                                LYDIA MANLY.\u201d\n\n943. The communication being finished, my friend handed it to me,\nsaying, \u201cI am not acquainted with this name.\u201d I said, on glancing\nat the signature, that I never knew any one of the name of Hanly. It\nwas immediately written, \u201cLet Margaret look again, and she will find\nthat she is mistaken in the name; it is _Manly_, not _Hanly_.\u201d Imagine\nmy astonishment on recognising the name of a schoolmate whom I had\nnot seen, heard, nor thought of, for many years. This was to me, and\nmight be to any one, a full and satisfactory confirmation of spiritual\ncommunion.\n\n944. On a subsequent occasion, it was written, through my friend, by\nmy spirit sister, \u201cDo you want instruction? I will talk to you of\nfriendship this time. Let the basis of your friendship be esteem,\nand by all means seek to have this sure foundation. Friendship is a\nsource of the greatest pleasure, and when begun in a right manner,\nends not on earth, but continues to increase with unabated interest\nthroughout eternity. Yours has thus far been characterized by firmness\nand sincerity. Oh! if you knew with what interest I look upon you, my\ndear sisters, watching the progress of your affections, and seeking a\nclose intimacy with your spirits, it would awaken in both of your minds\na lively interest for heavenly objects, and incite you to the pursuit\nof solid happiness. Friendship should begin in time to continue in\neternity. Oh! could I convey to you the worth of time when viewed in\nthis light!\n\n945. \u201cI am watching your silent communings. The lofty aspirations\nof your souls are not of an earthly nature. Your minds are being\nenlightened and seeking communion with God. Be encouraged, my dear\nsisters; we shall all be united in love. Be well grounded in the\nspiritual faith, and let your motto be\u2014_Onward in the divine life._\n                                                           MARY.\u201d\n\n946. Again, it was written, \u201cSing with the spirit! Sister, let thy\nheart make tuneful melody with an angel choir who now surround you!\nSing a song to immortality; how the dear departed, clothed in robes of\nvictory, now stand on heavenly hills, enwrapt in glorious visions of\nthe Great Eternal, bowing before the throne! Sing, \u2018Death, where is thy\nsting? oh! grave, where is thy victory?\u2019\n\n947. \u201cWhile here you meet, guardian angels are in attendance. Here is\na gray-haired sire, a mother, and a sweet-lipped babe. All have come,\nwith noiseless wing, to listen to thee. Precious moments! Improve them\nin converse sweet of heaven, and blessings, richer far than earthly\ntreasures, we will pour upon you.\u201d\n\n948. The reminiscences of the hours devoted with my friend to the\ninvestigation of this sublime subject are among the happiest of my\nlife. They serve to awaken the purest, holiest, and most affectionate\nsentiments and sympathies of my nature, and thereby lead me into closer\ncommunion with the loved ones who have gone before me.\n\n949. But in reference to my family, I was for a season destined to be\nalone in my happy belief. It is true, my husband did not reject the\nsubject, but thought the phenomena in question might be accounted for\nby a reference to the principles of mental science. I requested him to\nsolve the mystery. He attempted it, but failed. His explanation, like\nall others adverse to the spiritual theory, was an explanation in which\n_nothing is explained_.\n\n950. About three months after these occurrences, a lady informed my\nhusband that one of her daughters, about fifteen years of age, was\na medium for the rappings. The young lady being present, declined\nthe appellation as a term of reproach. Perceiving her discomfort, he\nrequested to know what she thought of these manifestations. Her reply\nwas, that they claimed a spiritual origin, but, in her opinion, they\nwere due to \u201c_electricity, or something of that sort_.\u201d\n\n951. Hearing the raps on the young lady\u2019s chair, and on various other\narticles of furniture in the room, he requested her to put her hands\non the table. This being done, the sounds were made on the table so\nloud and distinct, that they might have been heard in an adjoining\napartment. Inquiring of the spirits if they would communicate with him\nby the alphabet, he was answered in the affirmative by three raps.\n\n952. Having taken a seat at some distance from the table, and placed\nhimself in such a position that no one could see the letters but\nhimself, he proceeded to take down those indicated by the sounds as he\npassed a pencil slowly over the alphabet.\n\n953. The sounds having at length ceased to respond, he tried to read\nthe communication, but found it impossible to do so until he had first\narranged what was written into words and sentences. This having been\naccomplished, he read, to his utter amazement, as follows: \u201cMy dear\nson, your parent rejoices in this opportunity to communicate with you.\nLet me advise you to investigate this most important subject; it will\nbenefit you in time and eternity.       Your spirit father,    W. G.\u201d\n\n954. On reading this communication, my husband said he felt \u201criveted\nto the spot;\u201d that he had realized the presence of a long-lost parent,\nand that language failed to convey his feelings. It is perhaps needless\nto say that he was from that moment a believer in the truth of\nSpiritualism.\n\n955. Months rolled on, and we continued to receive and enjoy the\ndelightful intercourse of our spirit friends. One day, while engaged\nin sewing, the needle dropped suddenly from my fingers. At the same\ninstant I experienced a sensation in my right hand and arm analogous\nto a slight electric shock. My husband, seeing me start, inquired the\ncause. Perceiving the temperature of my hand diminished, he became\nsomewhat alarmed, and commenced rubbing it. In a few moments we heard\nsounds on the workstand at which I was seated. I inquired if the\nspirits wished to communicate, which was responded to by three raps.\nTaking the card and passing a pencil over it, the following words were\ngiven:\n\n956. \u201cMy child, be not afraid! we are trying to develope you as a\nwriting medium.\u201d I experienced the next day a similar feeling in the\nsame arm, and was influenced to write the following impressive words:\n\n957. \u201c_My dear Child_: Your mother would impart to you a few thoughts\nrelative to an event which is generally regarded with unspeakable\nhorror. I mean the dissolution of the material body. Death should\npresent no terror to the mind, since it is but a transition of the\nspirit to a more exalted and perfected state of being; a disunion\nof the imperishable and eternal principles of the soul and spirit\nfrom their temporary home in the physical form. It is but the door\nat whose threshhold the spirit lays aside its worn-out garment, to\nappear clothed in its much more beautiful habiliments in the spiritual\nrealm\u2014the entrance to \u201ca house not made with hands, eternal in the\nheavens.\u201d\n\n958. \u201cTo the mind that views this change in the condition of the\nspirit in its true light, it will appear a necessary preliminary step\nin the development of the immortal germ to a higher and much more\nglorious existence. With the gross earthly body, the spirit could not\ninhabit the celestial spheres, nor rove the elysian fields of eternal\nprogression. You have a rosebud in your keeping, which must expand\nto an immortal flower in heaven. Earth has given it birth, but its\nvitality is feeble. It needs transplanting into a more genial soil in\nthe garden of our Father and our God, where it will ultimately unfold\nits fair and beautiful proportions. In other words, your little infant,\nEmily, will soon join me; for I perceive that disease is deep seated in\nher system\u2014a disease that no remedy can reach. Be prepared, then, my\ndear child, for the change which is soon to take place. Prepare for the\nmessenger Death! Be calm, be firm!     Your mother,          LYDIA.\u201d\n\n959. This was a manifestation to me of a spirit mother\u2019s love and\nwatchful care. She foresaw that the inevitable event was at hand. She\nperceived that our darling child was incurably diseased. Although I\ntrembled at the thought of parting with my treasure, still I was much\ncalmer and more resigned in consequence of this parental warning, when\nthe dread summons came.\n\n960. Three weeks passed, and still there was no apparent change in our\nlittle one from her usual seemingly healthy condition. My husband had\nbusiness which called him to Philadelphia. At his urgent request I\naccompanied him. We left our little ones in charge of a female friend\nand a faithful nurse, intending to be absent about two weeks. Ten\ndays subsequent to the time of our departure from home, I received\na strong impression to return, and that my presence would soon be\nrequired there. My husband objected, on the ground that his business\nwas unfinished. I proposed returning alone, but he was unwilling, and\nwe started for home the next morning. We found our children all well.\nI was joked about my _spiritual_ impression, and was told it was the\nresult of imagination. On the day succeeding our return, however, our\ndear child was taken sick, and after an illness of three days her\nenfranchised spirit passed from earth to heaven.\n\n961. Notwithstanding the ridicule heaped, at that time, by its opposers\nupon the believers in Spiritualism, and the affected contempt in which\nthe votaries of this much-abused doctrine were then held, we pursued\nthe investigation of the subject, and became daily more imbued with\na sense of the truth and harmony of its divine teachings. We had the\npleasure of seeing many persons, who had once denounced it as an idle\ndream, as a humbug, and a delusion, now converted to a full faith in\nits glorious realities. A change came over the spirit of their dream,\nand they are now blessed in the enjoyment of the richest feast for mind\nand soul ever bestowed by a munificent God upon his grateful children.\nAnd many do not hesitate to proclaim the fact to the world; for, thank\nheaven, the days of the Inquisition are numbered, and a brighter and\nmore glorious day is dawning on benighted humanity.\n\n962. The following extracts from a letter of my brother, Dr. North,\nof Waterville, Maine, in reply to my husband, may serve to show the\nmind of one of the skeptics referred to, in regard to the subject of\nSpiritualism, both before and after investigation. As they may not be\nuninteresting to your readers, I give them to you, as follows:\n\n963. \u201c_Dear Doctor_:\u2014Your letter of the 17th instant is before me,\nand its _remarkable_ contents noticed. Had a great man or men, for\ninstance, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, or Millard Fillmore, advised a\nfriend to a certain course, if I thought that course improper, I should\nhave felt at liberty to dissent from him or them; but when the adviser\nis the _spirit of my departed mother, or the soul of your departed\nbrother_, I cannot dissent, or give an opinion that would conflict with\nthem. It seems to me, dear doctor, that you cannot have better advisers\nunless you call the spirit of Gabriel to your assistance, and you can\ndo no less than consult the dictates of the rappers.\n\n964. \u201cTo be serious, I am surprised at your easy conversion to\nSpiritualism. I had supposed you spirit-proof, the greatest skeptic\nin the land; but I find you are completely _taken in and done for_!\nI do not place the least reliance on your superhuman communications,\nand would advise you to look upon them as phenomena of Mesmerism or\nmind-reading. The medium is in a mesmeric state, and consequently\nis capable of reading the thoughts of the inquirer, and answering\nquestions correctly. The sounds are easily accounted for. The subject\nis _alarmed_ and _superstitious_, and therefore easily imposed upon.\nThe creaking of a boot is often taken by such persons in this state of\nmind as a spiritual rap. Do not be imposed upon by such superstition,\nbut choose rather to be guided by good sound sense.\n\n965. \u201cYou might consult the spirit of Lorenzo Dow. He was a good old\nsoul, and one that always safely advised his friends.\n\n966. \u201cGive my love to Martin Luther, and William Penn, and the\nWandering Jew. If you should hear any thing of M. B-\u2014-, you may let me\nknow. He died three or four years since in my debt.\u201d\n\n967. The subjoined was received some time after the foregoing from the\nsame hand, but was dictated, it seems, by a _more elevated spirit_:\n\n968. \u201cIn relation to Spiritualism, I am deeply convinced of its\ntruthfulness. God grant that the grand and glorious realities which it\nreveals may so influence me that my progress in goodness and holiness\nwill never end! Do I believe in it? Yes! yes! It is my daily hope and\nhappiness; the bread of life; and it will be my consolation in death. I\nhave read much, but have seen little of the manifestations. I should be\nvery happy to spend a fortnight with you and meet your circle.\n\n969. \u201cMy wife is reading and approximating toward belief. We have read\nthe following works:\u2014Davis\u2019s Harmonia; Davis\u2019s Present Age and Inner\nLife; Edmonds\u2019s and Dexter\u2019s work on Spiritualism; Beecher\u2019s Report,\nand Brittan\u2019s Reply to the same; Stilling\u2019s Pneumatology; Riechenbach\u2019s\nDynamics; Cahagnet\u2019s Celestial Telegraph, and the Spiritual Telegraph,\nweekly. I am so deeply interested in spiritual literature that other\nreading is insipid to me. I am rejoiced that people in the higher walks\nof life are engaged in the subject. It will give popularity to it,\nand the weak and fearful souls will be encouraged and strengthened in\nwell-doing.\u201d The following was addressed to me last February:\n\n970. \u201c_My Dear Sister_: You say it is _too late_ to wish us a happy\nNew Year. It is never too late to wish our friends happiness, and\nstrive to make them happy. This is a new year indeed; a new era to be\nmade memorable through time and eternity; one in which the spirits\nof our friends are striving for our happiness. Then let us not only\nmake each other happy, but by purifying our thoughts and conversation,\nstrive to progress in this rudimental world, so that when we find\nourselves disrobed of these bodies, and in the sphere of eternal\nprogression, we may be with and make the spirits of our friends\nhappy. This is a glorious happy new year. The old ark of theology and\nsuperstition is passing away. The life-blood of the popular theology is\ndrying up. The lens of the spiritual philosophy is concentrating upon\nit the powerful and burning rays of truth. Already a dense and fetid\nsmoke is issuing from its decaying portals. Its priests and votaries\nalready are crying, Fire! fire! God grant, that from its ashes no\nph\u0153nix may arise to propagate anew its senseless dogmas. Then will this\nbe a happy year for all mankind.\u201d On a subsequent occasion he writes\u2014\n\n971. \u201cThe spiritual doctrine is gaining ground here. Many of our\ninfluential citizens are believers. Some that were _infidels_ have\nbecome hopeful Christians. Public opinion is softening, and it is not\nnow esteemed a disgrace, as it was some time since, to believe. The\nacquisition of such men as Professor Hare, Edmonds, Talmadge, Chase,\nSimmons, Dexter, and Brittan to our ranks, has given respectability to\nit, and wrought a revolution in opinion.\u201d\n\n972. Thus much I have said respecting my spiritual experience\nanterior to leaving Maine. Concerning my experience since then, much\nmore might be said, but as you are already familiar with the most\nof it, it remains for me to present you with a few of the best and\nmost unequivocal demonstrations of spiritual communion that I have\nwitnessed, but which have not come under your personal observation.\nAmong which the following touching incidents cannot fail to interest\nthose whose hearts and minds are not closed by the iron bars of\nprejudice and superstition:\n\n973. While spending the evening of January the 21st, 1854, at the house\nof a friend, it was proposed by the lady and her husband that we should\nform a circle. We had not been long seated at the table when three\nladies, two of whom I had never seen, favoured us with their company,\nand took their seats at some distance from the circle. They had been in\nthe room but two or three minutes, when the following was given through\nthe table:\n\n974. \u201cMy dear mother! In love I meet you this evening. Oh, mother, why\ndo you mourn my death? I have just begun to live. Grieve not for me!\n\n975. \u201cI wish my husband to investigate Spiritualism. I will communicate\nto him.\n\n976. \u201cWhy should you erect a monumental slab to my memory? Let me live\nin the hearts of friends.                                SARAH NORTH.\u201d\n\n977. When the gentleman who took down the communication read it, I was\nsurprised at hearing the name of North, that being my maiden name. As\nthere was no Sarah in our family, I asked the spirits, Who is Sarah\nNorth? Before they had time to reply, one of the ladies referred to\n(Mrs. Wightman) approached the table in tears. She said, \u201cThat is from\nmy daughter Sarah. I have been engaged to-day in the solemn duty of\nselecting a tombstone to her memory.\u201d\n\n978. On Nov. 25th, 1854, I sat by appointment with Mrs. Wightman for\nspirit intercourse. Mrs. W. put the question, \u201cIs Elizabeth Adams\npresent?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWill she communicate?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cMy dear aunt,\u201d was\nimmediately spelt out. Interrupting the communication at that point,\nI asked Mrs. W. if Elizabeth Adams was her niece. No, she replied; it\nmust be a mistake. Thinking it probable that there was something wrong\nin the conditions, I removed my hand for a few moments. On replacing\nit, to our surprise, the words, \u201cMy dear aunt,\u201d were repeated.\n\u201cWell!\u201d we exclaimed, simultaneously, \u201cthat is strange. Let us see\nwhat may come;\u201d and we received the following:\n\n979. \u201c_My dear Aunt_: This is the first time that I have communicated.\nWhen I left the rudimental sphere, I was so young I did not know what\nit meant to die; I now know. It was the beginning of life! I will come\nagain soon and talk with you.       Your niece,\n                                                     ALMIRA BARNES.\u201d\n\n980. It was some moments before Mrs. W. could recall to mind the\nfact that her sister had lost a child, of the above name, about\ntwenty-three years since, aged three months. Here is intelligence so\nclearly independent of our minds, that it is, in my opinion, entirely\nfatal to the theory of \u201c_mental reflection_\u201d so often adduced by the\nunbelievers in Spiritualism. At the close of this communication the\nfollowing was received:\n\n981. \u201c_Dear Mother_: I am happy to have this opportunity to send you\na kind message. Although I am often with you, I cannot speak to you\nthrough your own mediumship. Oh mother! what delight it would give me\ncould I make myself visible to you. What would you say if you should\nsee me sitting in the chair I so long occupied when an invalid? I often\nsit in that chair, but you cannot yet see me. Have you not heard me rap\nto you? I have tried in various ways to make myself manifest. I think\nyou had better go South this winter. I think father\u2019s health would be\nbetter there. I will visit you, if you go. The climate where you now\nlive is too bracing for father\u2019s lungs. When the warm weather returns,\nyou can bid farewell to the sunny South and seek your Northern home. I\nwish I could speak to you through your own dear hand, but that I cannot\nyet do.\n\n982. \u201c_Dear mother_, you will become a medium; then we shall have good\ntimes. Good-by, blessed mother! I look forward to a happy reunion with\nall your loved ones here.                           ELIZABETH ADAMS.\u201d\n\n983. The above, as may be seen, was from the spirit that Mrs. W. called\nfor, and the communication was designed for the spirit\u2019s mother, who\nlived in the State of New York. The message was subsequently forwarded\nto her address. E. A., Mrs. Wightman, informed me, died after a\nlingering illness of consumption. She occupied the arm-chair alluded to\nduring the greater part of her sickness, and she promised her mother\nshe would come back and sit in it after her death, if she could. Her\nstep-father, whose indisposition she refers to, is affected with a\nchronic disease of the lungs. The loved ones are Elizabeth\u2019s brothers\nand sisters, all of whom, five or six, are in the spirit world. These\nfacts were unknown to me at the time.\n\n984. Last January, my friend Mrs. Wightman brought two ladies to\nwitness, for the first time, some of the phenomena of our beautiful\nphilosophy. Their names were suppressed, to be disclosed by the\ncommunications that might come from their spirit friends, in order\nto strengthen the evidences of spiritual intercourse. My hand being\napplied to the disk, the index spelled out the following:\n\n985. \u201c_Dear Mother_: I am not dead, but living in the love sphere of my\nFather in heaven. When you laid my little body in the ground, it caused\nyou many tears. Kind friends wept. I see one here who was a faithful\nfriend to you in that hour of anguish. Cherish her, for she was a\nfriend in need. Oh! mother, I wish you to believe that your little\nchild is indeed with you. I can come to earth when I wish to see you\nand father. It only causes me to feel a little sad that you and father\ncannot see me.                                              F. H. W.\u201d\n\n986. One of the ladies rose from her seat and accepted the\ncommunication as from her darling boy, who had been put in his grave\ntwo years before. The name was all right: \u201cFranklin Henry Wilcox.\u201d The\nfriend referred to was Mrs. Wightman, who had been a true friend in the\ntrying hour of a mother\u2019s sorrow, and had performed the solemn duty of\npreparing her dear child for the depository of his earthly remains, and\nto pour balm on the heart of a bereaved and stricken mother.\n\n987. About two months since, two of the professors of the Female\nMedical College of Pennsylvania, one of whom, Dr. Harvey, is favourably\nknown to you, called to see me in relation to the subject of\nSpiritualism. I had never seen either of these gentlemen. After a few\nminutes\u2019 conversation on the topic in question, Dr. H. observed\u2014\u201cWe\nshould like, madam, if you will be kind enough to favour us with a\nsitting, to communicate with our spirit friends.\u201d Complying with the\ndoctor\u2019s request, I placed my hand on the disk, and the subjoined was\nrapidly communicated:\n\n988. \u201cMy brothers in the glorious profession of medicine! I greet you\nthis afternoon with unabated affection and respect. It seems like a\ndream that I have passed from your midst; but passing away is written\non all things of a perishable nature. Not so with the spirit, which is\nan emanation from God.\n\n989. \u201cMy earthly career is closed, and a brighter one is now in view.\nOh, the inexpressible delight which fills my soul when I behold the\nwondrous works of Omnipotence! Here I can pursue, untrammelled, those\nsubjects which were so delightful to me when an inhabitant of the\nmundane sphere. Oh! that I had prepared my mind in some measure, by\nproper investigation, for this transcendent world of living beauties!\nbut the love of my profession filled my mind, to the exclusion of the\nmore important one of spiritual progression. I would that I could\nconverse with my beloved wife, that I might console her for her early\nloss! Tell her that I am happy; this will speak volumes.    JOHNSON.\u201d\n\n990. The foregoing was accepted by the doctors, as coming from their\ncolleague, the late Dr. Johnson; and they said that he was the spirit\nthey had wished to hear from.\n\n991. The same spirit has since communicated with Dr. H. and has given\nhim abundant evidence of his identity.\n\n992. Many more incidents in my experience, giving proof of the truth of\nspirit intercourse, might be adduced; but as time and space admonish me\nto bring my narrative to a close, I reserve them for a future period.\n\n993. I have thus, my dear friend, given you a very hasty and imperfect\nsketch of my experience in Spiritualism, and my development as a\nmedium. Little need here be said to prove, to reflecting minds, the\nvalue of this heaven-descended philosophy. It is a theme that all may\nstudy with pleasure and profit, when so disposed.\n\n994. Whatever may be thought of modern Spiritualism, and however\nopposed it may be to many of the preconceived notions and opinions\nof mankind, it is certain that there is nothing in its fundamental\ndoctrines and teachings, which may not be reconciled with the laws of\nGod, so far as these are known to man.\n\n995. It matters not, I should think, whether this movement is\nsanctioned or not by a former revelation, as that would neither add\nto nor detract from its intrinsic merit. Spiritualism is endeared to\nthe heart of thousands by its fond associations, and mementoes of\nlove and affection from those dear friends who have passed from their\nsight, though still united to them by kindred ties. It has gone on\nin triumph, overspreading every State in our glorious republic, and,\npassing over the broad sea, has reached the shores of other lands,\nbinding together the brotherhood of man in the sacred bonds of love,\nand dispelling the discordant elements of strife and sectism which have\nhung over the world, and like a dark pall, imparted their sombre hue\nto the minds of men. Progress is its name, and love its mission. It\nhas no affinity with vice. It makes no war with right, but inculcates\nthe highest standard of morality. It is noiselessly accomplishing its\ndivine mission. Many a widow\u2019s heart is made to leap with joy by its\nbenign influence, and many an orphan feels its silent ministration.\nMany a prodigal son has been reclaimed at the brink of ruin by the\nvoice of a spirit mother! It is not only a few individuals who are to\nreceive the blessings which flow from this new dispensation\u2014the masses\nare to be benefited. It inculcates principles which will strengthen\nthe foundations of society, promote harmony in the social system, and\nultimately unite all mankind under its broad standard of peace. That\nSpiritualism is rapidly extending its bounds, and gaining hundreds\nof thousands of converts, admits not of a doubt; and that it has the\nelements within it to elevate, reform, and redeem the race, it were\nfolly, nay, madness, to deny.\n\n996. Eighteen months have scarcely elapsed, my dear friend, since\nour first acquaintance, and you are aware of the circumstances which\nafforded me this highly-esteemed pleasure. The event, I am happy to\nsay, has proved an era in my own life that I shall always revert to\nwith pleasurable and heartfelt emotion; for its results have not only\nproved a blessing and solace to you, but a source of much joy and\nhappiness to myself. Though you have encountered much opposition,\nand even abuse, from the ignorant and illiterate as well as from the\nprofessed votaries of science, in defending the cause of spiritual\nphilosophy, you have fearlessly and faithfully battled against error,\nand planted your standard on the high pinnacle of truth. And as David\nof old, with the smooth stones of Kedron, slew the Gathean giant, and\nwas met with songs of triumph and dances of joy by the daughters of\nIsrael; so you, armed with the panoply of truth, have gone forth with\nthe weapons of philosophy and reason to prostrate the hydra-headed\nmonster; and will, I trust, receive in your turn the acknowledgments\nand love of your grateful friends.\n\n    997. \u201cThere is a nobler strife than clashing spears,\n    A nobler peril than the battle-field;\n    \u2018Tis when, with trust in God, worn as a shield,\n    \u2018Midst universal hisses, scoffs, and sneers,\n    The man of truth with brow serene appears\n    And stands forth singly, for the right appealed\n    To the Eternal Umpire; nor will yield\n    One backward step, from policy or fears.\n    The savage, bandit, nay, the brute, is steeled\n    \u2018Gainst bristling danger\u2014e\u2019en the worm uprears\n    Beneath the foot his tiny sting, to crave\n    A venomed vengeance; but immortal years\n    Are full of glory for the Christ-like brave,\n    Who dare to suffer wrong, that they from wrong may save.\u201d\n\n                 Very truly yours,\n                                             MARGARET B. GOURLAY.\n\n\n     ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF SPIRITUALISM, IN THE\n HAPPINESS IMPARTED BY THE CONVERSION OF AN UNBELIEVER TO A BELIEF IN\n                             IMMORTALITY.\n\n\n998. Certainly, in one conclusion all zealous religious sectarians\nwill coincide. I allude to that which makes belief in a future state\nof existence of the highest importance to the happiness of reasoning\nmortals.\n\n999. Those who, for faith in immortality, have been satisfied to rely\non the creed which they may have chanced to derive from their ancestors\nthrough education, and have consequently felt the comfort of a belief\nin immortality thence arising, may readily conceive of the benefit\nwhich must ensue to those of their fellow-creatures upon whom such a\ncreed has not been impressed, but who are quite sensible of the immense\nvalue of any facts tending to create such a belief in life to come.\nIt is to be lamented, however, that persons who have this impression\ncontingently from a peculiar education, are irritated at having\nanalogous impressions created in a different way.\n\n1000. But in obedience to any dissatisfaction thus arising, to assail\nthose who may acquire a knowledge of futurity by a new route, is\nmanifestly inconsistent with the golden rule. As an exemplification\nof the benefit which the new evidences of another and a better world\nmay produce in the minds of those who are not satisfied with that of\nrevelation, I will subjoin the account of his conversion indited by one\nof my esteemed friends, Doctor W. Geib, who preceded me in spiritual\ninvestigation, and has longer enjoyed the influence which Spiritualism\nexercises over its votaries.\n\n1001. The author was a member of the circle under whose auspices my\nexperimental tests were for the most part applied, and was present on\nthe very occasion when _my own apparatus, which had been contrived to\ndisprove spiritual agency_, demonstrated its existence.\n\n1002. \u201cThe verdure and warblings of fifty springs had elevated the\nsouls of the writer of the present sketch in wonder, admiration, and\ngratitude, to the great Omnipotent Father of the Universe, without\nopening to his longing view a world beyond the grave.\n\n1003. \u201cThere was pain in the thought, that scenes so enchanting,\nfeelings so susceptible to their charms, a mind constituted to\nappreciate their miraculous wonders and pervading fascinations, and to\ndo homage to the great Intelligence which gave them existence, should\nin a few short years be destined, like the foliage of the forest, to\ndeath and decay.\n\n1004. \u201cStill, to his mind there was arrogance in the thought that man\ncould ever be the recipient of joys beyond those provided for him in\ncommon with all animal creation; and he chased from his mind the sombre\nthought of death, as a dreaded incubus upon life and the enemy of his\nfew remaining joys.\n\n1005. \u201cBut how changed the scene! Death, once so disturbing to\nhis peace, so discordant with the moral attributes of his nature,\nwhich \u2018puzzles the will,\u2019 and leads the mind to seek in wonder and\ndiscouragement the motive for human life, is now but a \u2018consummation\ndevoutly to be wished,\u2019 when this race of earthly life shall have\nbeen duly run; when we may have filled the measure of our destined\nusefulness, and secured by our moral affinities a joyful reception in\nthe spheres above.\n\n1006. \u201cAnd why this change in thought and feeling? How are the horrors\nof the grave, the dread of dissolution into the primordial elements of\ncreation, exchanged for the blissful assurance of immortal life for\nthe soul of man, in all its associate identity, after it shall have\ndeparted from its earthly tenement of flesh?\n\n1007. \u201cThe answer to this all-absorbing question, which sheds light\ninto the gloomy recesses of the skeptic\u2019s mind, and gives joy to his\ndespairing heart\u2014which supplied evidence where none had been sought,\nconviction where it had been sought in vain, and imparts to the\naccepted hope and faith of the professional believer, the confirmation\nof a demonstrated fact\u2014is to be found in the irrefutable evidence of\n_Spiritual Philosophy_.\n\n1008. \u201cHow invaluable is this dispensation of an Almighty Providence,\nwhich has made his despairing creature, a believer in the immortality\nof the soul of man; has cleared from his mental vision the clouds\nof doubt and disbelief, and has opened to his rejoicing mind the\nirrefragable evidence of a future life beyond the grave!\n\n    1009 \u2018Hail now on earth the glorious day,\n    When infidels have learnt to pray;\n    When heaven\u2019s laws by reason blessed,\n    Are all with fondest love confessed!\n\n    When man in bliss can look above,\n    And see a God in all his love;\n    Can own with joy the mighty King,\n    And loud his hallelujahs sing.\n\n    Throw back the gates, ye heavenly band,\n    To loved ones show the spirit land;\n    Hang out the beacon lights to see\n    A home _for all_, the bond and free.\n\n    And now the dreams of former days\n    Behold in those celestial ways;\n    Where sorrow\u2019s eye is never seen,\n    Where love and hope are ever green.\u2019\u2014W. G.\n\n1010. \u201cThe exhibition of so-called spiritual agency in New York City by\nthe Misses Fox and their mother, was the first incident that claimed\nmy notice, and excited my laughter and ridicule, in this apparent new\nphase in the science of legerdemain.\n\n1011. Blitz and his wonders crossed my mental vision, and seemed\noutdone by the results of this feminine exhibition, in which the\nspirits of another world were invoked, and aided in the performance.\n\n1012. This happened when psychology had been developed to a wondering\nworld, as the climax of magnetic phenomena in the wonderful attributes\nof man, and was regarded by myself among many as the culmination of\nhuman research in the science of animal life.\n\n1013. Meeting an intelligent friend who had bestowed much pains in the\ninvestigation of this department of science, and inquiring of him as\nto the progress of magnetism, I was answered, that something much more\nwonderful than magnetism engaged his attention and occupied his mind at\nthat time.\n\n1014. Asking what the subject might be, and being asked in return, if I\nhad not heard of the wonders of Spiritualism, a painful impression was\nmade on my mind and feelings that, where all had been regarded as sound\nand straight, there must be some latent obliquity of thought; that my\nfriend, as the Spaniards say, was a little _tonto_, or that he was\nlikely soon to become so, was quite apparent.\n\n1015. However, my strictest scrutiny could detect no decline of his\nintelligent and ingenuous mind, and his well-digested remarks addressed\nto my incredulous ears, gave proof enough that this might be another\ndemand for the investigation of science, and a step forward in the\nprogressive development of nature\u2019s laws.\n\n1016. Being the leading member of a circle that held its meetings at\nhis house, and kindly acquiescing in my request to be present and\nwitness the phenomena, I found myself shortly afterward seated at a\ntable, on a Sabbath evening, with about twenty ladies and gentlemen,\nwhose every appearance was fatal to my preconceived prejudices against\nthe understanding of those with whom I expected to be associated.\n\n1017. It was evidently a meeting for religious devotion. Sacred\nsongs took the lead, and my own voice, as if impelled by a foreign\ninfluence, was raised for the first time by the impulse of feeling to\nparticipation in this vocal prayer of gratitude and praise, sung to the\ngreat, almighty Founder of the universe.\n\n1018. Indeed it would be well for the cause of spiritual philosophy if\nall exhibitions of its wonderful and sacred phenomena were made under\ncircumstances calculated to impress the mind with the greatness and\ndignity of its source. To feel protected from the nefarious cupidity of\nthe world is an important first step for the successful investigation\nof a subject so sacred in its character, and so absorbing, in\ncontemplating the prospective existence of man.\n\n1019. Seeing my associates place their hands flat on the table, I\nfollowed their example, and was soon made sensible of the reason, by\nfeeling what was recognised as electric concussion, made by spirits to\ndenote their presence.\n\n1020. And ever will my mind recur with delight and gratitude to the\ninfluence on my moral nature of this mission of love and salvation to\nan invulnerable heart! It flashed like electricity across the mind; the\nclouds of skepticism were ruptured, and shed a grateful and refreshing\nshower of hopeful joy on the feverish doubts of an unbelieving soul.\nThis beginning led to progressive investigation, and that, as is\nuniformly the case, to a confirmed conviction of _the communion of\nspirits with their friends on earth_.\n\n1021. Hearing much of physical demonstrations, but having witnessed\nonly the concussions, vulgarly called the raps, the question was put to\nmy friend, the gentleman already referred to, if a demonstration could\nbe had to gratify my curiosity, and strengthen my assurance, when the\nfollowing dialogue occurred:\n\n1022. \u2018Will the spirits be so obliging as to make a physical\ndemonstration?\u2019 Answered by three raps on the table, which were\nresponded to by an affirmative expression from the whole circle. My\nseat was at the side of the medium, a married lady of considerably more\nthan ordinary weight. _Question._ Will the spirits move Mrs. D. in her\nchair? _Ans._ Yes.\n\n1023. As this demonstration was intended for my special benefit, and\nour invisible friends were fully committed for its performance, my\nattention was riveted on the lady who was to be the subject of it.\n\u2018Madam, will you please put your feet on the spar of the chair?\u2019 This\nbeing fully accomplished\u2014\u2018and your hands in your lap,\u2019 was added.\nAs her hands dropped, _the lady left my side_, passed about two feet\nbackward, and immediately returned to her former position at the table.\n\n1024. My astonishment was naturally raised to the highest pitch,\ndemanding of Dr. P., who sat on her opposite side, if I could believe\nmy own eyes, and that Mrs. D. had really been moved from my side.\n\u2018Oh, certainly,\u2019 he replied; \u2018that is nothing. I have seen far more\nwonderful manifestations than that.\u2019\n\n1025. The idea of collusion was too ridiculous to be entertained for a\nmoment; every consideration condemned it. The carpet on which the chair\nstood on its slender legs, with at least one hundred and fifty pounds\nadded to its gravity, must have been extensively injured had the chair\nremained in contact with it. But not even a sound was audible, and my\nmind was left to contemplate _an invisible power that had effected the\nmovement of a ponderous body in mid air_.\n\n1026. Showing the interest of my own dear invisible guardian friends,\nit was spelt out by the card, the primitive mode of communication at\nthat time, that I should change my seat to the side of the medium; and\nit was only after this change had been made that my mind was impressed\nto ask for a demonstration.\n\n1027. By this demonstration of supernal agency I was delighted,\nhumbled, and convinced. As the octogenarian Robert Owen, of London,\nproclaimed to the world in a published letter, in relating his own\ncase, I became a convert to _spiritual life_ and _intercourse_ by the\nforce of this evidence, because I should have considered any man a\nfool, who, with a mind free from the curse of a bigoted education, and\nwhose thoughts and feelings were not mortgaged to the world, could\nreject such palpable and convincing proof, and entertain a different\nconclusion.\n\n1028. Being subsequently in the city of New York, I visited the public\ncircles of Mrs. C., a medium for automatic writing and the sounds.\nBeing requested, as the rest had been, but without response, to ask if\nany of my spirit friends were present, my interrogation was answered by\nthree distinct raps on the table. \u2018Now ask who it is; a father, mother,\nand so on;\u2019 and I was informed it was a son. \u2018Is your sister with you?\u2019\n\u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Will you spell her name?\u2019 \u2018Yes;\u2019 and it was correctly given.\n\u2018Is her little son with her?\u2019 \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Will you spell his name?\u2019 \u2018Yes;\u2019\nand a name of seventeen letters was correctly spelt out by the card,\nthe letters being indicated, when pointed to, by three raps.\n\n1029. My spirit son also informed me when he had died and of what\ndisease. I asked if they were happy. It will be observed that my\nson\u2019s name had not been mentioned, reserving it for a test. Three\nraps had replied in the affirmative to my question, when the medium\nspasmodically seized a pencil, extended a sheet of paper toward me,\nand wrote upside down, so that I might read it as written: \u2018We are\nlooking forward for you to join us, when we shall be more so;\u2019 and\nto my perfect delight and astonishment, signed my son\u2019s name to the\ncommunication, asking whether the name was correct.\n\n1030. On a subsequent occasion, when a large and respectable company\nwas present, I remarked to Mrs. C. that she had reported the fact that\nforeign languages had been written by her hand. \u2018All kinds of language;\nbut I don\u2019t know any thing about them,\u2019 was the reply. \u2018If you have\nno objection, I should like to get a communication from my son, in a\nforeign language.\u2019 \u2018Oh, not the least; if he knew it in this world, he\nwill know it in the next.\u2019 \u2018My son, will you give me a communication in\na foreign language?\u2019 Answer, three raps. The company were all intent on\nthis striking and convincing test of spiritual intercourse. In French?\nno; one rap. In Spanish? three raps. The medium\u2019s hand, as before,\nseized the pencil, and wrote upside down a communication to me _in\ncorrect Spanish_, though we all accepted her declaration, that she was\nnot acquainted with one word of the Spanish language.\n\n1031. As it is said of our beneficent almighty Father, that when two\nor three are gathered together in his name, he is with them, so it is\nwith the spirits of our dear departed relatives and friends. When a\nfew congenial, harmonious spirits of earth are associated in virtuous\nlove, and their affinity for their supermundane spirit friends is\nstrong enough to draw them here, they come on missions of friendship,\nand pour happiness into our hearts, provided the presence of a medium,\npossessing the required conditions, affords them an opportunity.\n\n1032. It has been my good fortune to be a member of such an\nassociation, called a spirit circle; and the communications which have\ncome to me from my dear departed children, and others who are dear to\nme, filled with love and interest for my welfare in the world, have\ngiven a value to life which it never had before, supplying a stimulus\nto the heart and mind which has guarded them from the influence of\nsurrounding excitements, and strewed that path with many sweets which\nwas too apt, with less humility and resignation, to be regarded with\ndoubt and pursued with remorse.\n\n1033. Let it not be said that spiritual philosophy imparts no benefit\nto man. It need not be asked if opening heaven to the mind of the\nskeptic is not a boon: it is too manifest an axiom to be made a\nquestion. Is it no advantage to mankind to know that this life is a\nprelude to one in the skies? no incentive to virtue to be taught that\nthe beginning of our spirit life will correspond with the termination\nof our mundane existence, and that our position there will be governed\nby our affinities here? Operating on spiritual, as gravity does on\nphysical, matter, and giving to crime a weight which holds the criminal\nback in the career of immortal happiness; and that this must be first\ndisposed of by the redeeming laws of nature before the soul can begin\nits progressive flight to spheres of celestial bliss.\n\n1034. At one of those family harmonious associations at which spirits\nare wont to come, I received a first communication from a much-loved\ndaughter, whose devoted affection in this world caused her untimely\ndeath to leave a large blank in my happiness, till spiritual philosophy\ngave to my mind the assurance of her exalted bliss and unaltered love.\n\n1035. To hear, as it were, the voice of one who had been resolved,\nagreeably to my belief, into the primitive elements of her physical\nnature, proclaiming her existence and transcendent happiness in scenes\nof surpassing beauty and fascination, was well calculated to soften the\nheart, however hard before, and make it for the future a more ready\nrecipient of happy impressions; to open the floodgates of feeling,\nwaken up the latent sympathies of our nature, and make us participants\nof those fountains of joy, which flow from the blessings of pure\nreligion.\n\n\n                   _Letter from a Spirit Daughter._\n\n1036. \u201c\u2018_Father Dear_: I will give you some idea of my beautiful home.\nThink of all the flowers ever seen on earth blended in one, all the\nheavenly strains of music blended in one strain, all beauty combined,\nand you will have a slight conception of the heavenly kingdom.\n\n1037. Poets have sung of heavenly joys, but fancy cannot paint, nor\nartist sketch, the wondrous beauties of the spirit home. Darling\nfather, how glad I am to see you have begun to live for heaven! I shall\nbe one to welcome you when life\u2019s journey is over. Oh, mother dear,\nwill you, for the love you bear to us, listen to the voice of your\nchildren? We will give you all the proof you ask.            MARIA.\u201d\n\n1038. This was all got by pointing to the letters on a card, and\ntaken down by a third person. All in such a manner as to preclude the\npossibility of the least participation of any one in its production.\n\n1039. A beautiful and much-loved son, who left this world at three\nyears of age, came to me, at the end of twenty-seven years, from\nthe seventh supernal sphere, with words of love, consolation, and\nadvice. Such events, to a believer in the spiritual doctrine, are well\ncalculated to arouse the strongest energies of the soul and inspire the\nbest feelings of the heart!\n\n1040. The regular progress of maturity of the spirit, uninterrupted by\nthe grave, is made evident to our astonished minds by an event like\nthis. We are also admonished by the same source that decline is not an\nattribute of spirit life; that old age recedes, and infancy advances,\nto the same point of maturity, with entire immunity from all physical\ninfirmity.\n\n1041. On last Christmas-day, being convalescent from a rather doubtful\nillness, and musing alone on the wonders and blessings of spiritual\nintercourse, I was induced to write the following letter to my\nmuch-loved spirit daughter, from whom had come the preceding and many\nother communications:\n\n1042. \u2018_Dear angel Child_: The untiring affinity of your cherished\nlove, which, unobstructed by time and space, makes you so often the\ncompanion of my mind and heart, and the dear partner of my thoughts\nand feelings, would seem to render the present object of addressing a\nletter to you and your dear brothers in heaven a superfluous task.\n\n1043. But, my dear Maria, my ever dear and cherished child, with\nmy growing faith in the blessed reality of spiritual existence, I\nam becoming daily more anxious to preserve the history of my happy\nexperience, and also my correspondence with my beloved relations of\nthis world, who have preceded me in the progressive destiny of the\nhuman race. Beside which, my beloved daughter, it will assimilate,\nrevive, and perpetuate that mundane correspondence, the dear mementoes\nof which had their beginning seventeen summers since in your sick\nchamber on the banks of the Hudson, while an ambitious and youthful\nvotary of Minerva, and ended on the Alabama, ever sacred to my memory,\nwith the termination of your worldly career, a wife and a mother.\n\n1044. The considerations which engage my mind and elicit my solicitude,\nin this contemplated correspondence with my spirit relatives and\nfriends, are the mode of conducting it, that may make them acquainted\nwith its contents, the fear of transcending the limits of propriety\nin the subject-matter of my letters, and my solicitude to make all my\nthoughts, feelings, and acts as conformable to the high behests of\nspirit life as may be within the reach of my weak and earthly nature.\n\n1045. The communications I have received from you and your dear\nbrothers, and from your Uncle John and Aunt Rebecca, are a perpetual\nsource of happiness to my mind, and nothing, while I am in this world,\ncan reflect so much joy on my heart as the continued correspondence of\nall the loved ones who have gone before me.\n\n1046. Your angel visits, and those of my dear William, during my recent\nbodily affliction, have exercised that joyful influence on my heart and\nmind so essential in diseases of a dangerous nature and of doubtful\ntermination.\n\n1047. The assurance which you and your dear brother have given me, that\nmy sickness has had the happy effect to spiritualize my mental and\nphysical nature, has been already made manifest to my grateful mind by\nstrengthened resolution for the future, and a more exalted sense of the\ndemands of that true spiritual philosophy which felicitates our life in\nthis, and secures for us a desirable position in the spheres above.\n\n1048. Flowing from my warm aspirations for the increased happiness of\nmy fellow-creatures in this mundane sphere, by the dissemination and\ngrowth of the spiritual doctrine, I cherish a wish that this letter may\nbe made to subserve that divine object, by exhibiting to the world an\nirrefutable test of spiritual intercourse.\n\n1049. For this purpose, my dear angel child, in your next interview\nthrough our much-respected medium, allow me to request the favour of\nyou to make my letter so far the subject of your communication, as may\nexhibit the reality of your spiritual existence, intelligence, and\nclairvoyance, and your continued correspondence of heart and mind with\nyour happy father.\n\n\u201c_Christmas_, 1854.\n\n1050. Shortly after writing this letter, at the circle of which I am a\nmember, the following communication was spelled out on the spiritoscope\nor disc.\n\n1051. \u2018_Darling Father_: I wish to say something to you about William\u2019s\ncommunication. He has impressed you since you were sick more than\nmyself. You are rapidly developing as an impressional medium.\n\n1052. \u2018We have been constantly with you. Having wished to give a\ncommunication the evening our friend (a lady who is a very superior\nmedium) was with you and mother, but the mode was too tedious. It\nwas an era in mother\u2019s life. Her opposition tends in some measure to\nrepulse us; not that we love her less, but our loving natures must meet\nreciprocal tenderness.\n\n1053. \u2018Love begets love in the heavenly spheres, as well as on earth.\nI cannot say more at present, but I think William will speak more at\nlength about the letter.                                    MARIA.\u2019\n\n1054. \u2018What letter?\u2019 \u2018Father knows,\u2019 was the reply. The next\ncommunication for me on the same evening was the following:\n\n1055. \u2018Father, I wish you to read the letter which you have in your\npocket-book before you go home; it will dispel all doubts in your mind\nrelative to its spiritual origin.                            W. G.\u2019\n\n1056. On the next evening, finding myself incidentally one of a happy\nmeeting of spiritual friends, the following came for me through the\nspiritoscope from my brother, referring to my letter:\n\n1057. \u2018_Brother William_: We are still with and around you. During your\nsickness it was the province of Maria to watch you daily. Other friends\nwere near; among these were father and mother, with your sons Jacob,\nWilliam, and Henry, Rebecca, and many others bound to you by the ties\nof consanguinity. On Christmas-day we held a levee in your room. If you\ncould have seen us, I think it might have disturbed your placidity, but\nyou sat as composed as if you were entirely alone. I think if you will\nrecall the circumstances, you will confess that a power foreign to your\nown was exerting an influence to give forth spiritual monitions.\n\n1058. \u2018I am anxious that Maria should make a communication _in regard\nto the letter_, and she will do so when an opportunity offers.\u2019\n\n1059. On the next meeting of our circle, the following beautiful letter\nwas put in my hand by our intelligent and highly-developed medium, Mrs.\nGourlay, written by her under spiritual impression:\n\n1060. \u2018_Dear Father_: I mentioned to you briefly at the circle that\nbrother William impressed you to write the letter which you addressed\nto me on Christmas-day. I perceive with pleasure that my friend Mrs.\nG. is now sufficiently under my control to answer your affectionate\nepistle. The proposed correspondence between us affords me much\npleasure, and causes me to feel as if I were really to live over\nagain the days of my earthly existence, when I was blessed with the\noft-repeated manifestations of your parental love and affection. I\nflatter myself, my dear father, that this revival of loving association\nwill tend much to your happiness as well as mine. I will be a friendly\nstar to guide you in your course over the troubled sea of life, that\nyou may not become submerged in its surging billows, but arrive safely\nat the haven of eternal joy and felicity. I will lift your soul by\ndegrees to the source of love and wisdom, and cause you to feel\nsensations of pleasure such as you have never before experienced. You\nhave a mind which delights in the beauties of nature and art. Let me\ntell you, then, that no scene of earthly grandeur which you have ever\nwitnessed, nor the sublimest flight of fancy of the wildest enthusiast\nin the cause of Spiritualism, can compare with the beauties and joys of\nthe spirit home.\n\n1061. \u2018I regret that the members of my loved family are so much blinded\nby prejudice, as to debar themselves the holy privilege of spiritual\nintercourse\u2014a communion which would serve to connect them indissolubly\nwith us, and teach them of a world beyond death and the grave. Oh!\nfather, how my heart rejoices that I can come to you with cheering\nwords, and pour into your willing ear the tidings of the gospel of\npeace, which will prove a balm of consolation to your drooping spirit!\nThe ordinary trials of life are but as dew on the eagle\u2019s wing, when\nthe proud bird soars aloft to court the rays of the rising sun. Father,\nI have already presented you with a view of the beautiful realities of\nmy spirit home. The picture I have drawn is no ideal one, but a real\nand substantial scene of enduring pleasures. Now let me ask, How will\nyour joys compare with ours? Oh! that the minds of my darling children\nmight become imbued with an understanding of this most holy religion,\nfor I am conscious that it would add largely to their present and\nfuture bliss!\n\n1062. Dear father, I perceive the emotions of your inmost heart, and if\nthe love of a devoted child can in any wise conduce to your happiness,\nit is most freely thine. Oh! that dear mother could feel as you do, how\nhappy her declining years on earth might become! When she is disposed\nto listen to the voices of her spirit children, it will be our pleasure\nto come to her \u201cwith glad tidings of great joy.\u201d Wishing you both, my\ndear parents, all the happiness which earth can afford, I subscribe\nmyself your ever loving daughter.                           MARIA.\u2019\u201d\n\n1063. The following letter was placed in a sealed envelope, addressed\nand handed to Mrs. Gourlay for an impressional reply. A few days\nafterward the answer to it, here annexed, was handed to me by my\nesteemed friend, the lady named, with the original letter still in the\nsealed envelope as it had been handed to her. This has to be regarded\nas a beautiful specimen of psychometric mediumship.\n\n                                         PHILADELPHIA, March 23, 1855.\n\n1064. _My dear Brother John_: Your communication last evening at\nour circle of \u201cprogress\u201d afforded me much gratification, as you\nare doubtless aware from your pervading perception. I regret that\ncircumstances do not allow of a more frequent intercourse with my\nbeloved friends of the spirit land. It is also my ardent desire to hold\ncommunion with all my spirit relatives, and would wish with you, my\ndear brother, to bring about this delightful consummation.\n\n1065. Your injunction of cheerfulness, as an efficient means of\nsecuring a healthful equilibrium of the vital organism, I can fully\nappreciate, and shall endeavour to profit by your welcome brotherly\nand excellent advice, as far as circumstances will permit. It is true,\nmy dear John, that a longer sojourn here harmonizes with my desire to\neffect some objects, the accomplishment of which would probably add to\nmy happiness here, and my claim for congenial association. The object\nto which I allude is the amelioration of the condition of the poor and\nwretched of my fellow-creatures, making them through my agency the\nrecipients of some active benevolence.\n\n1066. I have imbibed the opinion that the only acceptable offering\nat the throne of the great God, is the actual performance of those\nduties which are incumbent on us as individuals and social beings;\nbeginning with the establishment of our own personal physical and moral\ncharacter, and those of our own household and immediate social circle\nof relatives and friends; and then, to the accomplishment of this,\nto cultivate the sentiment of benevolence in aiding to promote the\nindividual welfare of mankind in the use of what talent and other means\nmay have fallen to our lot. I am prone, in my relations with the great\nOmnipotent Ruler of the universe, to apply the time-honoured maxim,\n\u201cActions speak louder than words.\u201d\n\n1067. Your invitation, my dear brother, to increase my intercourse with\nmy spirit friends, finds in my heart and mind a very ready compliance.\nYou propose a daily appropriation of time to this object. If you will\ndo me the favour to appoint the time most agreeable to them and most\ndesirable for myself, it shall be, to the fullest extent of my power,\nsacredly devoted to a duty and pleasure that are nearest to my heart.\n\n1068. I feel the assurance that the good earth-character and\nintelligence of my spirit family, and the extent of our mutual love\nand affinity, afford me a more than ordinary opportunity for receiving\ninformation of that bright world which has become a delightful\nprospective inheritance to me and to thousands of doubting, fearful,\nand despairing minds.\n\n1069. Your inspiring cheerfulness, my dear John, has already verified\nyour sensible prognostic of the great influence on disease of a\ncheerful mind. I have learnt to entertain a high opinion of the bright\nintelligence and clairvoyance of the more elevated denizens of the\nspirit world; and shall always, therefore, regard any advice that\nmay be offered me for the better government of my body and soul as a\nwelcome and precious offering from those I love. I will close for the\npresent with the assurance of my unaltered affection.       WILLIAM.\n\n1070. _My dear Brother_: With heartfelt love and affection I respond\nto your letter in reply to a message which I delivered through the\ninstrumentality of our devoted friend, Mrs. Gourlay. During our happy\ninterchange of thought, it will be my endeavour to suggest such ideas\nto your mind as may serve to elevate it and develope its capabilities.\nTo the mind that is ignorant and prejudiced, this mode of communion\nwith the invisible world may seem to be a direct violation and\ninfringement of nature\u2019s laws; but it is, on the contrary, not only\nnatural, but perfectly legitimate to the age in which you now live.\nIt is not a new revelation, but simply the discovery of hidden truths\npeculiarly adapted to the present advanced state of the race. It is\nold material in a new form. The material and spiritual elements are\ncontributing, as _never before_, to the elevation and happiness of\nmankind, and already is established a spiritual telegraph on which I am\nat this moment successfully operating\u2014sending a message of love to you,\nmy brother.\n\n1071. You say my words of cheer have wrought a change for the better\nin your system. This is a result which naturally follows a strict\nadherence to my prescription\u2014cheerfulness.\n\n1072. You desire to know what time would be most advisable for you to\nsit for spiritual communion. I would say, early in the morning, before\nthe mind becomes taxed with the cares of the day, make a record of your\nimpressions.\n\n1073. You observe that it gives you great pleasure to receive messages\nfrom those in the spirit world who are bound to you by the ties of\nrelationship. Let me assure you, my dear brother, that the feeling is\nmutual; and while time lasts with you, it will be our endeavour to\ngladden your heart with tokens of our increasing and untiring love.\nYour cup of happiness shall be filled to the brim, if it depends on us.\n\n1074. Brother, may you meet with friends true and kind; may the labours\nof the cheerful morn render each day a happier one to you; and when\nnight steals upon a slumbering world, may you close your outward eyes\nin peace with all mankind! Keep the mind\u2019s sunshine bright! You have a\nsoul to feel for others\u2019 woes, and this is the true stamp of divinity.\n                                                               JOHN.\n\n\n                   MARRIAGE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.\n\n  _The Hymeneal Tie in the Spirit World grows out of the necessity of\n  the Connubial Union in the Mundane Sphere. \u201cFree love\u201d imputation\n                             refuted._[19]\n\n\n1075. Some peculiar views respecting marriage, which are not consistent\nwith the ideas of female delicacy and chastity heretofore entertained,\nhave been designated by the name of \u201c_Free Love_,\u201d and have been\ncommented on as proceeding from the spirit world. I am happy to say\nthat, agreeably to the impressions which I have derived from my spirit\nfriends, any doctrine, having a tendency of the kind thus described,\nwould be at least as much censured in the spirit world as in this. As\nthe best mode of removing this groundless imputation on Spiritualism, I\nwill state the impressions which I entertain on the subject of marriage.\n\n1076. Among the sources of happiness in the spirit world much insisted\non is that resulting from a combined union of those really created for\neach other. The marriage contracted in this world, loses its binding\npower in the spirit world, yet may endure if mutually desired. If a\nhusband has had several wives, or a wife several husbands, the tie\nendures only between the most congenial pair.[20]\n\n1077. Sexual association is the means throughout nature by which\nthe perpetuation of species is effected. But that this association\nmay exist among human beings without degradation, it is manifestly\nnecessary that it should not be indiscriminate. Not only delicacy,\nmodesty, and the cultivation of congenial affection, but likewise the\ninterests of offspring, require that the parents and children should\nform one family. The welfare of children, their equal duty to both\nparents, and natural affections between the parents and their children,\nmust make a separation painful to all parties, however affection may\nhave declined between the husband and wife, on the part of either or\nboth.\n\n1078. Hence, in the mundane sphere, the perpetuation of the human\nrace consistently with decorum, and the welfare of offspring, and\nthe happiness of the parties, especially the mother and wife, seems\nto be the great object of matrimony. In the spheres it is difficult\nto perceive how any motives of equally high importance can exist. It\nmust be that connubial union in the spirit world rather grows out of\nmarriage in this world, in order to fill up the void in the heart which\nmight otherwise arise from our mundane habits. It would seem as if it\nwere a benevolent indemnification for celibacy, or for the miseries so\noften resulting from the connubial state in this world, consequent,\nlike the sufferings of child-bearing, to the perpetuation of mankind.\n\n1079. It seems to me an error to suppose that the terrestrial marriage\ncan be a secondary object with God, when the important part which it\nperforms is taken into view.\n\n1080. Incapacity to maintain a family often renders it impossible for\nthose who would marry to come together, and worldly motives induce\nmarriages, even when disgust or indifference may exist on the part of\none, if not on that of both the parties.\n\n1081. It seems, moreover, even where marriage actually results from the\npassion of love, that it is more or less the consequence of a species\nof hallucination, through which lovers deck an object with all that\nthey would wish to exist in the way of merit, and feel toward them an\naffection proportionate to their own capacity to love, rather than of\nthe degree of power in the object, reasonably to excite such intense\npartiality. It is thus that the love of the mother to the child she\nbelieves to be her own, will be powerful in proportion to her own\ncapacity for maternal love, rather than of the child to excite love;\nsince though it be a monster, and not _really her own child_, but\n_fraudulently substituted_ therefor, it will cause no diminution of her\nmaternal devotion.\n\n1082. It is the impression on the mind that determines the object to\nwhich the passion is directed; the character of the being actuated by\nthe passion, which determines its strength.\n\n1083. But where to all those qualifications which would create\nfriendship between persons of the same sex, the peculiar emotions\nwhich take place between those of different sexes are superadded,\nthose who come together in this world under the hymeneal tie, may find\nit something more than a mere civil contract, and not terminated by\ndeath. Moreover, independently of the original passion, there arises an\naffection which is justly distinguished as conjugal, and which differs\nfrom the other in this highly important particular, that it is founded\non a thorough reciprocal knowledge, instead of that ignorance which too\noften accompanies attachments produced by the arrows of the blind god,\nas Cupid is sometimes designated with figurative consistency.\n\n1084. Having always supposed that independently of the emotions\npeculiar to the sexes, there could only be friendship between a man and\nwoman like that which would exist between a brother and sister, I am at\na loss to understand what it can be which, in the spiritual state of\nexistence, can induce indissoluble marriage.\n\n1085. On submitting the suggestions comprised in the preceding\nstatement to the spirit to whom I owe much information, herein quoted,\nand to the spirit of a most intimate male friend, by both it was\nalleged that peculiar emotions were attendant on sexual affection in\nthe spheres, as well as on earth, so far as consistent with the absence\nof that which exists in common with brutes.\n\n\n     THE MORALITY OF CHRISTENDOM BEING IRRECONCILABLE WITH THE NEW\n            TESTAMENT, CANNOT BE ITS LEGITIMATE OFFSPRING.\n\n\n_Inspiration can have no higher authority, than the human testimony on\n                  which its existence is arrogated._\n\n1086. Is it not a mistake to suppose that any doctrine gains any\nvalidity by claiming inspiration as its source, when there is nothing\nbut human testimony to advance in support of that claim? For if in the\ninstance of Spiritualism, human testimony is deemed to be unavailable,\nhow comes it to avail when adduced in support of this arrogant claim of\ninspiration? As well might a man expect to cure the defect of a marshy\nfoundation by substituting columns of iron for wooden posts, or that,\nwhile resting on wood, the support could be made firmer by introducing\niron into the superstructure.\n\n1087. As the introduction of the iron would diminish the competency\nof the foundation in proportion to the augmentation of weight, so the\nclaim to inspiration lessens the competency of the testimony upon which\nit is advanced, proportionally as the incredibility is increased.\n\n1088. But as respects the ancient witnesses, their own statements make\nthem out unworthy of confidence. Facts or circumstances are stated\nwhich are manifestly blasphemous, inconsistent, and absurd, if not\nimpossible. Thus a want of veracity or of discretion being demonstrated\nin some points, is sufficient to destroy validity in all.\n\n1089. Revelation assumes God to be omnipotent, omniscient, prescient,\nand all good, yet represents him as under the necessity of subjecting\nhis creatures to probation, to find out what, by the premises, he must\nforesee. It represents him while wishing his creatures to know him and\nhis attributes, as _not teaching_ them that which he wishes them to\nlearn, yet punishing them and their posterity for ignorance arising\nfrom his own omission.\n\n1090. It does not suffice to allege that the Old Testament taught God\u2019s\nwill to the Jews; since it is to me incredible that our Heavenly Father\nwould give instruction of vital importance to a few of his children,\nleaving all the rest uninstructed, and yet afflict them for this\nresult. But, admitting this possible, it appears that the instruction\ngiven the Jews in the book of Moses failed in those particulars, which\nare of paramount importance.\n\n1091. In the Bible, God is represented as susceptible of _jealousy_, of\n_wrath_, of authorizing the butchery of three thousand Israelites for\nworshipping a golden calf; sanctioning the massacre of the whole nation\nof the Midianites, with the reservation of the virgins for violation\nby the bloody murderers of their kindred; the outrageous deception and\nfraud on the part of Jacob; swindling the Egyptians by borrowing their\nornaments with intention of purloining them; hardening the heart of\nPharaoh, yet afflicting his subjects for the obduracy thus produced;\ninstructing Saul to surprise and massacre the Amalekites, even to each\n\u201c_suckling babe_\u201d, for a wrong done by their ancestors some hundred\nyears before, as authorizing the hewing down with a sword the regal\nprisoner Agag in cold blood,[21] and sanctioning the destruction of\nwhole pagan communities by David.[22]\n\n1092. The following is the account given of this favourite of Jehovah:\n\u201cAnd David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand\nof Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily\nescape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me,\nto seek me any more in any coast of Israel; so shall I escape out of\nhis hand. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men\nthat were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And\nDavid dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his\nhousehold, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess,\nand Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal\u2019s wife. And it was told Saul that\nDavid was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. And David\nsaid unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them\ngive me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there:\nfor why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? Then\nAchish gave him Ziglag that day: wherefore Ziglag pertaineth unto the\nkings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the\ncountry of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And David\nand his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and\nthe Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the\nland, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David\nsmote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the\nsheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel,\nand returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, Whither have ye\nmade a road to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and\nagainst the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the\nKenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings\nto Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and\nso will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the\nPhilistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people\nIsrael utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.\u201d\n\n1093. Here is massacre, spoliation, base lying to Achish, his truly\nnoble-hearted friend, whom he deceives into a belief that he had made\nthe people of Israel abhor him, when it was his intention to become\nking of Judea, and of course the enemy of his too-confiding protector,\nwhenever an opportunity offered.\n\n1094. Praise be to God that he has sent us a new way to religious\nlight, not associated with this _detestable_ immorality!\n\n1095. Jehovah is made to arrest the sun, in order that Joshua may\nslaughter his flying foes. He is described as authorizing the Jews\nto extirpate their neighbours and seize their territory. I do most\nconscientiously declare that the portrait of Jehovah by the Bible\nappears to me more suitable for Satan than for our heavenly Father,\nwho is represented by the spirits as perfectly impartial and equally\nloving to all his creatures.\n\n1096. The example set in the Bible of slandering and persecuting those\nwho did not believe in its doctrines, has ever been followed out by\nscriptural devotees, who would presumptuously represent that it is only\nfrom the Scriptures, which _they_ recognise as the word of God, that a\ncorrect knowledge of the divine attributes can be obtained. But this is\nthe converse of the truth. As described by Seneca, the Roman Sage, the\nGod of the ancient theist was to the Jehovah of the Bible as Hyperion\nto Satyr. (See Seneca\u2019s opinions of God, 1224)\n\n1097. It appears to me a striking proof how far men can be demented by\neducational bigotry, that it should be supposed that their omnipotent\nGod can require human missionaries\u2019 aid to promulgate or carry out his\nwill.\n\n    Did God a special creed require,\n    Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?\n\n1098. The _Old Testament does not impart a knowledge of immortality,\nwithout which religion were worthless. The notions derived from the\ngospel are vague, disgusting, inaccurate, and difficult to believe._\nThe Pentateuch did not give the Jews an idea of immortality, nor were\nthose Jews distinguished for morality, who from other sources than\nthe Pentateuch embraced a belief in immortality. It has already been\npointed out that the most enlightened sect among the children of\nIsrael, the Sadducees, did not believe in a future state, while the\nPharisees, who professed to believe therein, appear to have been so\nimmoral as to be pre-eminently the objects of Christ\u2019s denunciation.\n\n1099. As respects the precepts of Christ, those on which he laid most\nstress are not only neglected, but grossly violated, by the opposite\ncourse being sanctioned by the overruling sentiment of society. Nothing\nwould subject a man to more contempt in Christendom than a tame\nsubmission to blows, or being so poor as to wear patched or ragged\nclothes. There are few, if any, in Christendom, who would not rather\nhave any deficiency in attire attributed to accident or taste, than to\npoverty.\n\n1100. I have shown that the idea which the Pharisees entertained of\nheaven, as portrayed by Josephus, representing the wicked like the rich\nman within sight of the good, would be a hell to a good-hearted angel.\nThis representation is sanctioned by Christ in his story of the rich\nman and Lazarus. The only reward promised to his apostles was worldly\npreeminence in the form of judgeships. Hence it were hardly reasonable\nfor those who are subordinate in merit to the disciples to expect\nany better remuneration. Hell is as absurdly as horridly typified by\neternal exposure to interminable fire.\n\n1101. Thus neither among the Jews, nor among Christians, has the Bible\nfurnished any adequate account of a future state, nor has it been\nproductive of higher morality; since the only morality which does\nexist, _is coupled not only with the neglect, but with the violation\nof those precepts which the gospel inculcates_.\n\n1102. Diogenes took a lantern to see if he could find an honest man\nin Greece. Were any one to employ a lime-light, he would not in\nChristendom find a Christian who carries out in practice the precepts\nof his divine Master. If those who know their Master\u2019s will, yet do it\nnot, are to be beaten with many stripes, while the ignorant pagan is to\nbear but few, were it not better to be a pagan than such a Christian\nas those are, for the most part, who exist in Christendom? Unless our\nmissionaries can make better Christians, is it not inhumane to add to\nthe number?\n\n1103. On calling on a bigoted, self-styled disciple of Christ to show\nme anyone who put the precepts of Christ into practice, the reply was,\n\u201c_We rely on his merits._\u201d \u201cThat is _all_ you do,\u201d said I. \u201cIn\ncommon with others of your tenets, you make the blood of Christ a fund\non which every sinner may draw in proportion as he has confidence in\nits detersive influence.\u201d\n\n1104. I am supported in some of the views above presented, by a\ncommunication from a believer in revelation, under the signature of\n_Bosanquet_, to the Baltimore Church Times, for June 15, 1848. I will\nquote a portion of this communication, which is as follows:\n\n 1105. \u201cBut the want of faith is more open and direct than this, and\n it is the more obvious and pointed upon religious subjects. The Bible\n is boldly and practically denied in every particular. No class or\n body of men believe and obey it, and strange as it may seem, it is by\n no nation, or people, or churches, or sects of men, less implicitly\n believed and followed than by those very people and sections of the\n church who talk so much about it. There are no persons less obedient\n to the plain sense and mandates of the written word of God, than those\n who most speak of and uphold it as the sole authority and standard,\n and reject all assistance from the history of the church and what\n is spoken against as tradition. Every class of persons reject some\n portion or other of the sacred Scriptures. If you talk to some of\n temporal honour and rewards, and the observance of a day of rest,\n and the patriarchs, they will say, Oh! that is the Old Testament,\n and is abrogated. If you speak to others of good works, they will\n say, Oh! that is only in the Gospels, and the Epistles carry us much\n beyond that, and are superior to it. Unitarians, again, receive a\n Bible of their own; that is, just so many passages are excluded as\n will suit their own belief and purpose. Others, of numerous sects,\n dwell each upon some half dozen chapters, or passages, or phrases, or\n words of Scripture, of the Epistles especially, and dwell upon them\n idolatrously and devotedly, to the exclusion of all the rest, so far\n as the authority of Scripture is concerned, from belief and practice.\n\n 1106. This is even in the religious world\u2014the thinking and reasoning\n world. Let us now turn our observation to the world itself; to the\n working and practical.\n\n 1107. The Bible is denied in every particular. Men do not believe that\n we are really to be Christians; that we are to imitate our Lord. They\n do not believe that the world could possibly go on if all men were to\n act upon pure Christian motives, and up to a perfect Christian rule:\n if they were to forgive and forget injuries; if they were not to\n resent an affront; if they were to give to people because they asked\n them: if they were to lend money without looking for interest; if we\n were all to give up luxuries, and style, and costly furniture and\n equipage; if we, our cattle and servants, were strictly to observe the\n day of rest. How many are there among us who believe that \u2018the tree\n of knowledge\u2019 is not an absolute good? or that we ought to receive\n the gospel with the simplicity of little children. Who believes that\n we ought to honour our father and mother, and our sovereign? Who is\n there that acts up to the precept that we ought not to judge others in\n their character? How many are there who appear to believe that it is\n not right to be anxious about the future; that riches are not a good\n thing; that the entrance into heaven is easier to the poor man; that\n we ought to return a tenth to God; that we would bring a blessing to\n give freely and largely to the poor; that children are a blessing and\n a gift from the Lord, and that the man is happy who has his quiver\n full of them? It is evident that in all these points the Bible is\n disbelieved and is practically denied, and does not control or guide\n us in our habits and principles of life and society.\n\n 1108. Still less do we believe that the public measures, the laws,\n and government of the state, and the intercourse with other\n nations, ought to be, or can be, carried on and conducted upon\n Christian principles. What number or classes of persons believe that\n righteousness exalteth a nation? that we are punished according to the\n national sins of the people, and for the sins of the rulers? and that\n if wicked and irreligious men preside over our councils, we shall as\n a nation suffer the penalties of it? or that the conscience of the\n government is the conscience of the people, and that our rulers are\n bound to take the first care for the pure religion and morals of the\n country; and that, if they do so, their righteousness will bring down\n a blessing upon the nation?\n\n 1109. To come again to more direct practice, and to our own habits of\n life. Who is there who thinks _first_ what is right, and according\n to the pattern of Christ, and after the will of God, in what he is\n about to do, and not what is wise and expedient? Who seeks first the\n kingdom of God, and God\u2019s rule of righteousness, and trusts that all\n temporal good consequences will follow upon it? Who is there who\n thinks and abides _only_ by the rule of what is right and commanded?\n We may almost answer in the words of Scripture, \u2018There is none\n righteous, no, not one!\u2019 Who believes in and trusts to the assistance\n and suggestions of the Spirit in his designs and undertakings, and\n believes, and acts, and writes, and thinks, as believing that the most\n useful and important and influential suggestions of our thoughts and\n invention come to our mind by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, more\n than by our own cleverness, and exertion, and memory, and prays for\n divine help upon commencing every task, or writing, or undertaking\n accordingly? Who forbears strictly and endeavours to expel at once\n all thought and every suggestion of the mind in worldly matters on\n a Sunday, with confidence and faith that the same and more useful\n thought will be supplied on the succeeding week-days, and that the\n unqualified dedication and sanctification of the Lord\u2019s day will make\n the labour of the six days more effectual and fruitful than would be\n that of the seven? Who would believe now that a sabbatical year would\n not necessarily be impracticable and ruinous, or that a populous\n country could exist under such a rule, or that it would not produce a\n debasing and demoralizing idleness?\u201d\n\n1110. Let not the reader infer that these admissions come from a\nfree-thinker. The following remarks will prove the writer one of the\n_faithful_, in the sense in which this epithet argues a mind chained\ndown by abject enthralment, to put any constructions on facts but that\nwhich is subversive of educational prejudice: \u201c_All the evils of which\nthe existence is admitted are due to our narrowing down our reception\nof truths and facts to the limits of reason\u2014of our own more or less\nshallow individual reason._\u201d\n\n1111. Now to me it seems that the nominal profession of a faith in\nfacts which are absurd and contradictory, and professed reverence\nfor precepts which are as utterly impracticable as unwise in the\nabstract, induces this monstrous incompatibility of the actual morality\nof Christendom with the professions of Christians and doctrines of\nChristianity.\n\n1112. Our submission to scriptural authority is not to be governed\nby our own reason, but by that of persons who lived many ages ago,\noriginally assumed to be inspired by God, upon human testimony; which\nin the case of Spiritualism, or any other than the one in point, is\ntreated as mere chaff.\n\n1113. It strikes me, from the considerations presented under the head\nof Mundane Wealth, that the precepts of Christ were fundamentally\nerroneous, so far as they discredit and discourage efforts for the\nhonest acquisition of wealth. (908.)\n\n1114. God has given the fowls of the air feathers as a natural\nclothing, and thus any effort to procure clothing on their part is\nrendered unnecessary; he has not given them hands nor intellectual\ningenuity to _spin_ and _weave_. On the other side, with little\nexception, man is naturally devoid of clothing, and requires clothes\nto protect him from the scorching solar rays or freezing blasts of\nwinter, but _has_ been furnished with the _hands_ and the _ingenuity_\nto _spin_ and _weave_. Under these circumstances, was it reasonable\nto allege that man should be governed by the example of the feathered\ncreation? Was it reasonable to infer that there should be no spinning\nor weaving by men, because there neither was nor could be any performed\nby fowls?\n\n1115. Again, the lily, like all other vegetables, not only comes into\nexistence naked, but remains so, since it neither can nor will clothe\nitself, and would perish if by any artificial clothing it were shut\nout from the influence of the solar rays, and from the absorption of\ncarbonic acid, which furnishes the vegetable creation with the carbon\nrequisite for the fibres essential to stability. Hence the allegation\nthat Solomon in all his glory was not _clothed_ like the lily, is\nirreconcilable with the nature and actual state of this beautiful\nflower, which is destitute of clothing by nature, and which would\nperish if it were clothed. The skin of vegetable leaves, to a certain\nextent, performs for them what mouths do for animals. How unreasonable,\nthen, to argue from one to the other, that man should imitate the\nvegetable; or to compare a plant, naturally and of necessity naked,\nwith a king gorgeously clothed?\n\n1116. The degrading a rich man, whether honest or not, to the level\nof a felon or murderer, as respects accessibility to heaven, and of\ncourse favour in the sight of God, is so erroneous, that there never\nwas a precept which was less respected in practice, by the votaries of\nits author. As I have heretofore remarked, the conduct of Christians\nis not merely negative in respect to this precept\u2014they do not merely\nneglect it; their course is the _converse_ of any obedience to its\ndictates. Yet _professed_ Christians while violating their divine\nMaster\u2019s behests in a way which makes their performance the inverse of\nthe results which their professions involve, for the most part treat\nany person who does not profess devotion for Christ\u2019s doctrines, as\nactually more culpable than themselves, and more liable to retribution\nafter death. This is about as just as for a man, who after marrying\na woman and calling her his wife, should act the inverse of the\nobligations imposed by the connubial contract, and then consider an\nindividual who had never entered into any obligation with her of any\nkind, as guilty of sinful neglect in not acknowledging as a wife, one\nwhom he never married. The question is, who treats the woman most ill,\nhe who acknowledges but neglects, or he who does not display a hymeneal\ndevotion which he never led her to expect?\n\n1117. Again, the precept to return good for evil, would, if acted\nup to, encourage evil. Were a man to submit quietly to be robbed,\nwhipped, and cheated, he would encourage robbing, flagellation, and\nfraud. Far wiser is the precept of Confucius, \u201cReturn good for good;\nfor evil, justice.\u201d The impracticable precept of Christ is so far from\nbeing carried out by professing Christians, that in their conduct to\nthe aborigines of Africa, India, and America, they have always been\naggressive, always rewarding the hospitality of the natives with fraud\nand violence, and their conduct toward each other is the inverse of the\nultra precept of Christ\u2014\u201cReturn good for evil.\u201d They not unfrequently\nreturn evil for good.\n\n1118. There is, as I think, nothing more injurious than the habitual\nviolation of acknowledged professions. If the violator be aware of\nhis inconsistency, it involves the incessant perpetration of manifest\nwickedness; and if his mind be so cramped by education that he commits\nsuch violations unconsciously, it must degrade the all-important power\nof distinguishing good from evil. Thus, in the garb of truth,\n\n    Dark error leads\n    With best intent\n    To evil deeds,\n    The bigot to ensnare.\n\n1119. It is this nominal devotion to the doctrines of Christ, with\na demeanour diametrically in teeth of them, which causes that\nanti-Christian morality which Bosanquet portrays.\n\n1120. But I am conscientiously of opinion that the respect paid\nto Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, &c., by which one five\nhundred-millionth of the blood of Abraham is made an honour to Jesus\nChrist, is among the reasons of the low state of morality among those\nwho consider the Bible as the Word of God, and are thus led to view\nwith indulgence, prostitution, murder, massacre, rape, cheating, and\nfraud. Agreeably to the opinion of a champion of Christianity, already\nquoted, \u201cThe worshipper is assimilated to the imaginary deity whom he\nworships.\u201d\n\n1121. With the exchange of two words for two other words, the\nverses which Pope ascribes to Eloisa, might well be uttered by\nmany self-called Christians, who in defending the gospel from any\nconscientious attack, hesitate not at any intemperance of language, and\nyet think that the marriage _ceremony_ is all that is called for.\n\n1122. \u201cAh! wretch, believed the spouse of God in vain,\n       Confessed within the slave of love and man.\u201d\n\n1123. Although the substitution of the words _wealth_ and _power_\nfor love and man would spoil the rhythm, it would not lessen the\napplicability to the great mass of those who call themselves\nChristians, while not only neglecting, but positively violating the\nprecepts of Him by whose blood they still hope, by a due degree of\n_faith_, to wash away their transgressions.\n\n1124. The universe, as it is presented to my mind, induces a belief\nthat it must have a presiding deity of commensurate power. As there\nare millions of suns, each having its planets; as the space which\nit occupies appears to us little short of infinity; as it must have\nendured from eternity, and must endure eternally,\u2014the power and glory\nof this presiding deity must be commensurate with his realm, as to\nextent and magnificence. Yet evil exists; which can only exist from\nchoice on his part, or because it cannot be avoided. There must be\na want of will or power to prevent or remove evil. Such is the God\nwhich my reason obliges me to acknowledge. Where impressions are the\noffspring of reason, they cannot destroy their parent. But those who\nowe their opinions of their deity to tradition, have a deity which, not\nhaving originated from reason, may always be made the means of setting\nits dictates aside.\n\n1125. The bigot\u2019s god is a dangerous idol, although he be not\nrepresented by an image; and no less dangerous is any book which owes\nauthority to hereditary, intolerant dictation and servile devotion.\n\n1126. The fear of public opinion, or a desire to do what is _deemed_\nright among men, seems to be the principal motive for religious\nprofessions and church-going in the great mass of society. The\nprevailing morality being, as already noticed, not only neglectful\nof Christ\u2019s precepts, but absolutely the inverse of them\u2014not only\n_permitting_, but _calling_ for a course diametrically opposite, as\nrespects the acquisition of wealth and submission to wrongs\u2014shows that\nit is not generally founded on a desire to cultivate the good will of\nChrist, but to square with sectarian opinion. I hold that one cause of\nthis is, that the conviction of a future state, in which happiness is\nin proportion to our deportment here, is not so deep as that which I\nnow have. Under the conviction which I have, nothing could tempt me to\nact in such way as to produce a retrograde influence on my pretensions\nas a spirit.\n\n1127. It seems to me, as urged by me before, that no one believing the\nlanguage of Abraham, as narrated and sanctioned by Christ, to have come\nauthenticated direct from the Son of God, and consequently expecting it\nto be verified, would render himself liable to the punishment of Dives\nfor the sake of enjoying the _good things_ of this world.\n\n1128. The idea that souls are to remain in the grave till the \u201c_last\nday_,\u201d the procrastination of that day and geological knowledge being\ninconsistent with the belief that any such day will arrive, makes the\nsinner less fearful, the good less hopeful, and diminishes the number\nof those who are actually, in their worldly conduct, influenced by\ntheir hopes or fear of future rewards or punishments.\n\n1129. The expectation of washing away sin through the merit of a\nbigoted belief in Christ, co-operating with the vague, contradictory,\nand irrational idea of heaven and hell recorded in Scripture, seems to\nbe the reason why Christians act so inconsistently with the precepts of\nHim whom they professedly adore.\n\n1130. Nothing can be more inconsistent with the religion inculcated by\nmy spirit friends, than the idea of atonement for sin by faith in any\nreligion, true or false.\n\n1131. Had there ever been any available light let in from the spirit\nworld, this error had been denounced, and having been thus stamped\nas erroneous from on high, could not have acquired or retained its\nmischievous hold of so many millions of human beings, by substituting\nblind faith for genuine virtue.\n\n\n          _Injurious Influence of unreasonable Restriction._\n\n1132. Another reason why, throughout Christendom, the vices most\ndeprecated by Christ are those pre-eminently prevalent, is that his\nprecepts were absolutely impracticable, unless explained away in the\nstyle of Lord Peter in the \u201c_Tale of a Tub_.\u201d\n\n1133. Some of the excellent Society of Friends may, as respects war,\nhave been obedient to the precepts of Christ, and probably in other\nrespects deviate from them less than most other sects; but as to\nwealth their course is the inverse of giving away their money. They\nare rationally among the most active and successful in the honest\nacquisition of money. In this they would act morally, excepting the\nviolation of their recognised obligation to obey the precepts of Christ.\n\n1134. Does not experience show that nothing is more injurious to morals\nthan unreasonable restraint? This has been seen in the profligacy of\nthe children of puritanical sectarians. To disobey an unreasonable\nrestriction always appears comparatively a trivial offence. Going to\na play, in the opinion of the mass of the world, is not sinful; but\nfor a minor to go to a play in disobedience of parental authority,\nby stealth, deception, or lying, becomes sinful delinquency, and\nintroduces a habit which may lead to crime as wicked as that of the\nconduct of Jacob to Esau. Lying and deceiving for venial purposes will\nsoon induce the habit. The restriction from eating pork or drinking\nwine has no doubt induced much deception and falsehood among the\nfollowers of Mohammed, and thus made a crime where none would have\nexisted. In like manner, the putting a rich man on a footing with a\nfelon, as respects access to heaven, forbidding the resistance to blows\nor spoliation, makes almost every professed Christian practically\nunfaithful to his professions, and of course an infidel of the worst\nkind. More or less of this infidelity is involved in various ways, as\nabove admitted by \u201cBosanquet.\u201d\n\n1135. If the history of Christianity, so called, be reviewed, it will\nbe found that the deviations from the precepts of Christ during the\npresent age are quite venial, compared with those which took place\nduring the thousand years or more in which Romanism had the ascendency.\n\n1136. A painful picture of the morals of the clergy during that period\nmay be found in a recent work by Bishop Hopkins of Vermont. It would\nseem as if the crimes and indecency displayed during the Middle Ages,\nexceed even those of Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and David, and Samuel, the\ncruel, despotic pope of Judea. The deposition of Saul for not killing\nAgag, and his hewing his royal prisoner down with a sword in cold\nblood, may have been looked to as a justification of pontifical cruelty\nand despotism.\n\n _No one would believe that a capable farmer would make such a mistake\n as to sow garlic instead of wheat. Yet God, while represented as\n having intended to sow Protestantism, is considered as having caused,\n throughout Christendom, a crop of Catholicism, in the Roman or Grecian\n form, for more than a thousand years; those weeds still occupying more\n than half of the whole soil._\n\n1137. The immense importance attached by mankind to correct religious\nimpressions is demonstrated, in the first place, by the enormous\nexpenditure throughout this world in sustaining those who are conceived\nby their constituents to be the true expounders of religion;[23] and,\nin the second place, by the blood and treasure which have been expended\neither in missions or in wars, for the extension or defence of the\nimpressions believed by various sectarians to be the most accordant\nwith truth.\n\n1138. Yet it must be plain that in no case has there been any higher\nevidence than that of an _alleged_ human communication, direct or\nindirect, with some recognised deity, if not the true God. If the will\nof God has ever been revealed, the number who have actually pretended\nto an interview with him, or with any immortal subordinate spirit\nare very few. The Old Testament depends upon the testimony of Moses\nand a few Hebrew prophets, whose inspiration rests upon their own\nallegations, respecting themselves or each other.\n\n1139. As regards the basis of Christianity, there are two\nirreconcilable opinions: one held by the Protestants, the other by the\nRoman Catholics; since although there is a great diversity of opinion\nbetween Protestants, there is between all Protestants and Papists\nthis difference: The latter relying on their own church as the sole\ndepository of all the evidence of Christianity, do not allow any direct\nrecourse to Scripture for a rule of faith. The former reject the claims\nof the church of Rome, and resort to the gospel for their rule of\nfaith.[24]\n\n1140. But wherefore should such implicit confidence be placed in\nlanguage alleged to have been held by Moses or any other ancient\nauthor? or should they be credited, even when they allege God to have\nused such words as these, \u201c_Let me wax hot in my wrath that I may\nconsume them._\u201d The motive for this imputation against God, was that\nMoses might take credit for _moderation_ in slaughtering only three\nthousand of God\u2019s chosen people in one day, for worshipping a golden\ncalf, made by his own brother, afterward made high-priest. Thus the\nringleader, being the brother of Moses, was loaded with honours, while\nthose whom he led astray were to be massacred in cold blood. Yet it\nis on such witnesses as this blood-thirsty, blasphemous bigot, that\northodoxy relies for assuming the Pentateuch to be the word of God,\ncensuring, if not persecuting, all who do not concur with it.\n\n1141. The intercourse with the angel Gabriel rests upon the evidence\nof Mary alone, who was interested immensely to make her child a god,\ninstead of being her illegitimate offspring. Of the dream of Joseph\nthere can be no witness besides himself. But would a dream be now\nadmitted as testimony in any court of justice.\n\n1142. The diversity of opinion existing between Romanists and\nProtestants, are briefly exhibited in the subjoined quotations from the\ncontroversy between Archbishop Hughes and the Rev. Mr. Breckinridge.\nThey have already been cited by me in a pamphlet on the better\nemployment of the first day of the week. Here are the opinions of two\nmen highly qualified to judge. In one, we have an eminent champion of\nRomanism; in the other, a no less able champion of Calvinism. To the\nlatter belongs the distinction of having persecuted the Quakers and\nwitches, and of having roasted Servetus; to the former, putting some\nhundreds of thousands to death or torture by the sword, the rack, or\nthe fagot.\n\n1143. Agreeing with each of the parties that the other is in the wrong,\nI, of course, assume that they are both in error. Taken together, they\nmay be considered as proving that there is no evidence in favour of\nChristianity, which I have not the authority of eminent Christians for\nrejecting. In the 29th page of the controversy between himself and\nBreckinridge, Bishop Hughes speaks as follows:\n\n1144. \u201cMy fourth argument was, that the Protestant rule of faith\nactually undermines the authority of the Scriptures, by extinguishing\nthe proofs of their _authenticity_ and _inspiration_, and consequently\nterminates in moral suicide. Just imagine to yourself an ordinary will\nor testament, written but twenty years ago, purporting to be the last\nwill and testament of a wealthy deceased relative, and designating\nyou as _heir_, but without either signature or probate, and ask\nyourself what it would be worth? Could such a document establish its\nown authenticity? And yet this is precisely the situation to which\nthe Protestant rule of faith reduced the Scriptures, by which, and\n_by which alone_, their authenticity could have been established. St.\nAugustine, of whom Presbyterians are sometimes wont to speak with\nrespect, declared that it was the testimony of the church which moved\nhim to believe in the Scriptures. But _now_ the order of belief is\n\u2018reformed.\u2019 Men pick up (pardon the phrase) the sacred volume, as they\nfind it floating on the sea of two thousand years, and by one great\nbut _gratuitous_ act of belief, which flings all intermediate church\nauthority and tradition to the winds, they say \u2018the Bible is the Bible,\nand we are its interpreters, every man for himself.'\u201d\n\n1145. It seems not to have occurred to the right reverend champion of\nthe Catholic creed, that it is not more true that a testament without\nwitnesses is of no validity, than it is true that the testimony of\nwitnesses claiming under the will, cannot be admitted. A document\nwritten after the death of the testator would not be considered in\na court of justice as entitled to the name of a testament. But were\npersons to write a will after a man\u2019s death, and bring it forward,\nclaiming under it supremacy, would their claim produce any result\nbeside derision?\n\n1146. The distinguished prelate justly treats the gospel as resting on\nthe traditionary evidence of the church; since, as he truly urges, the\nchurch existed before the gospel, having been instituted at the time\nwhen his instructions were given to the apostles by Christ.\n\n1147. But how much value is to be attached to the testimony of the\nchurch, may be learned from the following opinion of the learned\nclergyman to whom I have alluded as the other party in the controversy,\n(pages 35, 36:)\n\n1148. \u201c_The unwarrantable liberties of your church with the word of God\nshow her fallible to a deplorable degree._\n\n1149. _Your rule, if observed, requires implicit faith in the decretals\nand interpretations of fallible men, which is subversive of the very\nnature and end of religion in the soul._ Faith supposes knowledge,\nconviction on evidence, and trust in God, founded on a belief of\ndivine truth; but your rule requires unconditional submission to the\ndicta of the church in the lump. The \u2018_Carbonaria fides_,\u2019 or faith\nof the collier, is the very faith required. It is as follows: When\nasked, \u2018What do you believe?\u2019 he answered, \u2018I believe what the church\nbelieves.\u2019 \u2018What does the church believe?\u2019 _Ans._ \u2018What I believe.\u2019\n\u2018Then what do you and the church together believe?\u2019 _Ans._ \u2018We both\nbelieve the same thing.\u2019 This is the grand catholicon for believing\nevery thing, without knowing any thing. In this soil grew the maxim\nthat \u2018ignorance is the mother of devotion.\u2019 It is believing by proxy,\nor rather not believing at all, in the true sense. Here is the secret\nof the unity of your church.\u201d\n\n1150. To conclude, I agree with the right reverend able and learned\narchbishop, that Christianity has no witnesses but those disciples\nof Christ whom he calls the church; but I also concur with his able,\nlearned, and reverend opponent, that the said church is neither\ncompetent as a witness, nor reliable as a foundation for Christianity.\n\n1151. Breckinridge does not perceive that the gospel on which he\nrelies, and the recorded traditions which ascribe that work to\ninspiration, have no better foundation than the testimony of _fallible_\nmen.\n\n1152. Manifestly, however, the authority of the church of Rome cannot\nbe overset without oversetting the authenticity of the Christian\nreligion.\n\n1153. Could any one believe that an experienced farmer would sow a\nfield with garlic when intending to have a crop of wheat? Would not\nthe conclusion be that if a field upon his farm were occupied by that\nobjectionable weed, it must have been the spontaneous production of\nthe soil, not of a mistake so gross on his part? Yet our prescient God\nis represented as so much inferior in foresight to an ordinary farmer,\nthat while the religious soil of Christendom was for ages occupied with\ncrops of Catholicism, in the Grecian or Roman modification, the seed of\nProtestantism was sown by God through his son and vicegerent, Christ,\nintending to have the soil occupied by Protestantism. Manifestly,\neither it was intended that Catholicism should prevail, as above\ndescribed, or an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God did not\npreside over the seeding.\n\n1154. Yet notwithstanding this diversity as to the true import of\nChristianity between the most distinguished Christian sectarians,\neach sect conceives itself justified in propagating its own peculiar\nopinions among ignorant pagans. The principle being thus sanctioned,\nthat those who _believe_ themselves to have become acquainted with\nreligious truth, are justified in propagating a knowledge of it,\nwherefore should not that privilege be exercised by a spiritualist as\nwell as a Christian?\n\n1155. Humility is one of the virtues inculcated by Christ; but if\nhis disciples assume to themselves a peculiar capacity to know what\nis true, and an exclusive right to teach what they thus assume to be\ntruth, there will be no humility in their practice, however it may be\nblazoned among their professions.\n\n1156. The view which I have presented in the preceding pages is\ncorroborated by a personage of no less authority than William Pitt,\nafterward the Earl of Chatham, and prime minister of England. His\nopinions, alleged to have been originally published in the London\nJournal for 1733, are as follows:\n\n\n                       _Letter of William Pitt._\n\n \u201c_Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to\nvisit the Fatherless and Widows in their afflictions, and to keep one\u2019s\n                   self unspotted from the World._\u201d\n\n1157. \u201c_Gentlemen_: Whoever takes a view of the world, will find,\nthat what the greatest part of mankind have agreed to call religion,\nhas been only some outward exercise esteemed sufficient to work a\nreconciliation with God. It has moved them to build temples, flay\nvictims, offer up sacrifices, to fast and feast, to petition and\nthank, to laugh and cry, to sing and sigh by turns; but it has not\nyet been found sufficient to induce them to break off an amour, to\nmake a restitution of ill-gotten wealth, or to bring the passions\nand appetites to a reasonable subjection. Differ as much as they\nmay in opinion concerning what they ought to believe, or after what\nmanner they are to serve God, as they call it, yet they all agree in\ngratifying their appetites. The same passions reign eternally in all\ncountries and in all ages, Jew and Mohammedan, the Christian and the\nPagan, the Tartar and the Indian, all kinds of men who differ in almost\nevery thing else, universally agree with regard to their passions.\nIf there be any difference among them, it is this; that the more\nsuperstitious, the more vicious they always are, and the more they\nbelieve, the less they practise. This is a melancholy consideration\nto a good mind; it is a truth, and certainly above all things, worth\nour while to inquire into. We will, therefore, probe the wound, and\nsearch to the bottom; we will lay the axe to the root of the tree, and\nshow you the true reason why men go on in sinning and repenting, and\nsinning again through the whole course of their lives; and the reason\nis, because they have been taught, most wickedly taught, that religion\nand virtue are two things absolutely distinct; that the deficiency\nof the one might be supplied by the sufficiency of the other; and\nthat what you want in virtue, you must make up in religion. But this\nreligion, so dishonourable to God, and so pernicious to men, is worse\nthan Atheism, for Atheism, though it takes away one great motive to\nsupport virtue in distress, yet it furnishes no man with arguments to\nbe vicious; but superstition, or what the world means by religion, is\nthe greatest possible encouragement to vice, by setting up something\nas religion which shall atone and commute for the want of virtue. This\nis establishing iniquity by a law, the highest law; by authority, the\nhighest authority; that of God himself. We complain of the vices of the\nworld, and of the wickedness of men, without searching into the true\ncause. It is not because they are wicked by nature, for that is both\nfalse and impious, but because to serve the purposes of their pretended\nsoul-savers, they have been carefully taught that they are wicked by\nnature, and cannot help continuing so. It would have been impossible\nfor men to have been both religious and vicious, had religion been made\nto consist wherein alone it does consist; and had they been always\ntaught that true religion is the practice of virtue in obedience to the\nwill of God, who presides over all things, and will finally make every\nman happy who does his duty.\n\n1158. This single opinion in religion, that all things are so well\nmade by the Deity, that virtue is its own reward, and that happiness\nwill ever arise from acting according to the reason of things, or that\nGod, ever wise and good, will provide some extraordinary happiness for\nthose who suffer for virtue\u2019s sake, is enough to support a man under\nall difficulties, to keep him steady to his duty, and to enable him\nto stand as firm as a rock, amid all the charms of applause, profit,\nand honour. But this religion of reason, which all men are capable\nof, has been neglected and condemned, and another set up, the natural\nconsequences of which have puzzled men\u2019s understandings, and debauched\ntheir morals, more than all the lewd poets and atheistical philosophers\nthat ever infested the world; for instead of being taught that religion\nconsists in action, or obedience to the eternal moral law of God, we\nhave been most gravely and venerably told that it consists in the\nbelief of certain opinions which we could form no idea of, or which\nwere contrary to the clear perceptions of our minds, or which had no\ntendency to make us either wiser or better, or, which is much worse,\nhad a manifest tendency to make us wicked and immoral. And this belief,\nthis impious belief, arising from imposition on one side, and from want\nof examination on the other, has been called by the sacred name of\nreligion, whereas real and genuine religion consists in knowledge and\nobedience. We know there is a God, and know his will, which is, that we\nshould do all the good we can; and we are assured from his perfections,\nthat we shall find our own good in so doing.\n\n1159. And what would we have more? are we, after such inquiry, and in\nan age full of liberty, children still? and cannot we be quiet unless\nwe have holy romances, sacred fables, and traditionary tales to amuse\nus in an idle hour, and to give rest to our souls, when our follies and\nvices will not suffer us to rest?\n\n1160. You have been taught, indeed, that right belief, or orthodoxy,\nwill, like charity, cover a multitude of sins; but be not deceived;\nbelief of, or mere assent to the truth of propositions upon evidence,\nis not a virtue, nor unbelief a vice; faith is not a voluntary act,\ndoes not depend upon the will; every man must believe or disbelieve,\nwhether he will or not, according as the evidence appears to him. If,\ntherefore, men, however dignified or distinguished, command us to\nbelieve, they are guilty of the highest folly and absurdity, because\nit is out of our power; but if they command us to believe, and annex\nrewards to belief, and severe penalties to unbelief, then they are most\nwicked and immoral, because they annex rewards and punishments to what\nis involuntary, and, therefore, neither rewardable nor punishable.\nIt appears, then, very plainly unreasonable and unjust to command\nus to believe any doctrine, good or bad, wise or unwise; but, when\nmen command us to believe opinions which have no tendency to promote\nvirtue, but which are allowed to commute or atone for the want of it,\nthen they are arrived at the utmost pitch of impiety, then is their\niniquity full; then have they finished the misery, and completed\nthe destruction of poor mortal man; by betraying the interest of\nvirtue, they have undermined and sapped the foundation of all human\nhappiness; and how treacherously and dreadfully have they betrayed it!\nA gift, well applied, the chattering of some unintelligible sounds\ncalled creeds; an unfeigned assent and consent to whatever the church\nenjoins, religious worship and consecrated feasts; repenting on a\ndeath-bed; pardons rightly sued out; and absolution authoritatively\ngiven, have done more toward making and continuing men vicious, than\nall the natural passions and infidelity put together. For infidelity\ncan only take away the supernatural rewards of virtue; but these\nsuperstitious opinions and practices have not only turned the scene,\nand made men lose sight of the natural rewards of it, but have induced\nthem to think, that were there no hereafter, vice would be preferable\nto virtue, and that they increase in happiness as they increase in\nwickedness; and this they have been taught in several religious\ndiscourses and sermons, delivered by men whose authority was never\ndoubted, particularly by a late Rev. prelate, I mean Bishop Atterbury,\nin his sermon on these words: \u2018If in this life only be hope, then we\nare of all men the most miserable,\u2019 where vice and faith ride most\nlovingly and triumphantly together. But these doctrines of the natural\nexcellency of vice, the efficacy of a right belief, the dignity of\natonements and propitiations have, beside depriving us of the native\nbeauty and charms of honesty, and thus cruelly stabbing virtue to the\nheart, raised and diffused among men a certain unnatural passion,\nwhich we shall call a religious hatred\u2014a hatred constant, deep-rooted,\nand immortal. All other passions rise and fall, die and revive again;\nbut this of religious and pious hatred rises and grows every day\nstronger upon the mind as we grow more religious, because we hate for\nGod\u2019s sake, and for the sake of those poor souls, too, who have the\nmisfortune not to believe as we do; and can we in so good a cause hate\ntoo much? the more thoroughly we hate the better we are; and the more\nmischief we do to the bodies and states of these infidels and heretics,\nthe more do we show our love to God. This is religious zeal, and this\nhas been called divinity; but remember, the only true divinity is\nhumanity.                                                 W. PITT.\u201d\n\n\n               _Offer of Guidance by a Mundane Spirit._\n\n1161. The Rev. Allen Putnam, whose narrative of his conversion to\nSpiritualism, has been submitted, gave a very sensible and interesting\nlecture on this new doctrine, at the Melodeon, in Boston, last October.\nOne of his remarks struck me as being very well warranted by my own\nobservation and experience. He said that we are wont to express\nindignation at the absurd, cruel, and unnatural Chinese custom of\ncramping the female foot; but to him it appeared that in Christendom\na much worse practice existed, that of cramping the minds of females\nby bringing them up zealous sectarians, their opinions, in general,\nbeing determined by their parentage. Thus Miss A. is a Romanist; Miss\nB. an Episcopalian; Miss C. a Calvinist; Miss D. a Methodist; Miss E. a\nJewess; all most excellent creatures in any other respect excepting the\neffects of educational sectarianism, which had been interchanged, had\ntheir parentage been commuted. (259.)\n\n1162. One of the blessings of Spiritualism, according to my view,\nis, that this cramped state of the mind, which attaches importance\nto various phases of analogous educational error, will be removed by\nreceiving their opinions from the same source. But it seems that one\nof the most amiable and interesting among those angelic devotees, has\nbeen actuated by the same anxiety for my salvation from hell, that I\nhave felt for her emancipation from the educational ligatures imposed\nupon her otherwise excellent understanding. The following letter is the\nfruit of her zeal in my favour:\n\n                                                       August 1, 1855.\n\n1163. _My dear Sir_: You have too much kindness yourself, not to\nreceive in kindness what is so intended; and you have too much\npoliteness not to grant as much as you ask of a friend. I, therefore,\nwith all confidence, send you the enclosed letter, written by one\nof the first intellects in the country. Now, if when you send your\npamphlets and the papers you wish me to read, you will state that you\nhave read this letter, (_with_ the _care_ you wish me to read yours,)\nnot to refute but to comprehend the mind of the writer, I will do the\nsame. But, as what I send to you requires higher power than any power\nin _created_ man, I will continue to pray to this higher power, this\nCreator of all things, that you may so read under his blessing and\nguidance, (before whom you and the very world upon which you tread, are\nbut a molecule or mite,) that _you_, I say, may find that salvation for\nyour immortal soul, which you seem so much to desire. If you believe\nthat your father and sister exist, and consequently, that you _have_\na soul that cannot die, you must feel a deep anxiety with us all for\nthe future welfare of this soul, and will not treat with indifference\nthe attempt to offer you that which is a complete satisfaction to your\nfriend!\n\n1164. I would avoid argument, as two persons at opposite points\ncan never see the objects in the same light; but I send simply the\nChristian\u2019s plan of salvation, to which I only ask you to attend as\ncarefully as I attended to the statement of your theory. When I return\nto New York permanently, I will inform you. As I am anxious to retain\nthese papers, and life is uncertain, please so arrange them that they\nmay easily be found, should any thing happen.\u201d\n\n1165. The following lines, which are subjoined in the title page of my\npamphlet, addressed to the Episcopal clergy, would have forewarned any\nbut an enthusiast, that there was an outwork to be conquered before any\nimpression could be made:\n\n1166. If God can creatures make to suit his will,\n      Foresee, if they can, his design fulfill,\n      Wherefore those creatures to trial expose,\n      Traits to find out, which he thus foreknows?\n\n1167. Persons who should differ about axioms could never agree in\nmathematical demonstrations, nor is it possible for A and B to agree in\ntheology, when A assumes what to B appears to comprise a contradiction\nwithin its premises and conclusions. Having for years held the opinion\nconveyed in the above lines, to be self-evident truth, it is of course\nuseless to debate with those who take an opposite view, especially\njust at this time, when I believe that opinion to be sanctioned by my\nspirit friends. This opinion was urged in my letter to the Episcopal\nclergy; yet this kind adviser has not seen, or has not taken pains to\nunderstand, its all-important bearing.\n\n1168. The letter of this charming woman commences with begging the\nquestion. It is assumed that the arguments of her clerical friend\n_require for comprehension a higher power than any power created in\nman_. But this to me appears fanatical presumption, just as much as\nit would be in any other sectarian. The excellent authoress of the\nepistle puts herself in a class of females whom it has been my object\nto emancipate from the restraint imposed upon their minds, no less\ncramping than that to which the feet of Chinese ladies are subjected.\n\n1169. It must be evident, that unless there was a successful precursory\neffort by facts and reasoning, to make me believe that what appears\nto me _below_ good sense, is actually above it, her inference that\ndiscussion would be useless is quite evident. But this amounts to an\nadmission that the opinions which it is her object to impart, are not\nfounded in reason.\n\n1170. Her clerical friend falls into the same error, as will appear\nfrom the following quotation. The last postulate in the world which\nhe could induce me to admit, would be that any thing which owes its\nexistence entirely to barbarous, wicked, ignorant, covetous, and\nblood-thirsty men, can be God\u2019s word, and, therefore, paramount to\nhuman reason.\n\n1171. How would he enable an idiot to believe in the Bible, or in any\nthing? Is not our capacity to believe correctly, greater as our reason\nis better by nature? It is only through his own intellectual faculties\nthat he has received his opinions and can defend them. It is through my\nreason that my head and heart repel the Old Testament as, for the most\npart, the work of a set of unprincipled bigots, comprising allegations\nwhich the present state of astronomy and geology demonstrate to be\nfallacious, and which, independently of that cramping of the intellect\nby education, which it is my ardent desire to remove, would be\ndenounced replete with indecency, immorality, and misrepresentation of\nGod.\n\n1172. It is striking that this kind lady, in referring to my sister and\nother spirit friends, should suppose that I would slight the _direct\nheartfelt evidence received from them_, in obedience to _impressions\nfelt by her in common with every other devotee to any religion\nwhatever_. They could, with just as much consistency, appeal to their\ntenets, and assume their \u201cKoran,\u201d their \u201cShasters,\u201d or \u201cZendavesta\u201d\nto be above my reason.\n\n1173. But the whole tenor of this application shows that the\nauthoress expects to set aside the results of nearly twenty months\u2019\ninvestigation, creating in me a firm devout conviction that I have a\ncorrect knowledge of the spirit world, received through my relatives,\nfriends, and high spirits, in deference to those of a set of people\nof whom I know nothing but ill. May God do that for her which she\nhas so benevolently implored for me, and remove from her brain the\ninfluence of educational narrowness. I would utter the same aspiration\nfor the divine whom she has brought in as her advocate, who I\nhope as _sincerely_ believes what he alleges, as I believe in the\ncommunications of my guardian spirits.\n\n1174. But this superior intellect, it will be shown, falls into one of\nthe most inexcusable errors, into which a tyro in reasoning can fall,\nthat of founding his arguments on premises which are emphatically\ndenied by the other party\u2014a gross begging of the question, that the\nBible is the word of God, and paramount to human reason.\n\n1175. In a subsequent part of this letter, Hume\u2019s excellent rule is\nset aside: that we must weigh the probability of the evidence against\nthe improbability of the miracle. Rochefoucault alleges, \u2018Tis better\nto tell a probable lie, than an extremely improbable truth. By what\nevidence can any record be proved true, when it is vastly more probable\nit should be false, than the facts recorded by it should be true.\n\n1176. Manifestly, there are but these two ways in which any record can\ncommand credence: either there must be external evidence sufficient to\nweigh against the improbability of the facts which it has recorded;\nor those facts must be of a nature to create belief from their\nprobability, from what is called internal evidence. As to external\nevidence, clearly any amount of that, may be adduced without creating a\nbelief in spiritual manifestations. Human evidence is wholly inadequate\nto prove any thing which sectarianism does not wish to admit.\nConsidering the external evidence of Scripture as vastly inferior to\nthat on which Spiritualism is founded, and the miracles recorded, and\nthe doctrines taught, as carrying no evidence of their truth, but the\ncontrary, I do not understand upon what reasonable ground they are to\nbe identified with the word of God.\n\n1177. This fascinating lady supposes that she gave ear to my exposition\nof my views; but I am under the impression that she is quite deaf\nto any thing that does not concur with her fanatical impressions,\notherwise she would never have looked upon me as one to be converted\nfrom the opinions which I entertain by the reasoning of her clerical\nfriend, beginning with a begging of the question: assuming that\nrevelation is God\u2019s word, in order to prove it to be God\u2019s word.\n\n1178. So the Bible is true because of the miracles which it records;\nand these are true because the Bible records them!\n\n1179. If she can so confine her mind as to become master of the\npyramid of facts which I have raised in favour of Spiritualism, she\nwill perceive that all other evidence of immortality sinks into\ninsignificance as compared with it. Now all this may be nominally\nabrogated by denying the truth of it. But if I do not rely on my own\nsenses, is it likely I shall rely on those of other persons, in whom I\nhave no more confidence than her clerical adviser and herself have in\nMohammed and his disciples.\n\n1180. I subjoin a portion of the letter of the clerical champion,\nwhose reasoning this interesting devotee deems so conclusive. I have\ngone over the whole of it, and have ascertained that by substituting\nAllah for God, Mohammed for Christ, Prophet for Redeemer, Mediator\nfor Saviour, it has a qualification which would be deemed a merit\nelsewhere, if not in Christendom: it would serve just as well to uphold\nthe religion of Mohammed, as that of Christ.\n\n1181. The letter is so long that it would occupy too many pages to\ngive the whole; but I will give a portion, sufficient to show how the\nreasoning, on which many sectarians rely, may be just as good for any\nother creed, founded on an arrogation of premises, as that for which\nthey contend.\n\n1182. \u201cAllah forbid that I should depreciate the value of reason in\nany of its offices. Reason is Allah\u2019s gift to man, and must be used as\nAllah designs. But so is the Koran Allah\u2019s gift to man, and must be\nused as Allah designs. Two gifts from the same perfect being cannot\nconflict with each other. The Koran in its teachings and revealings may\ngo beyond or rise above the comprehension of our reason, because reason\nin man is a finite and imperfect gift, while the Koran from Allah\nopens the mind of an infinite and perfect being. But the Koran does\nnot and cannot in any thing contradict reason, because Allah does not\nand cannot contradict himself. Unless, therefore, you are prepared to\nsay that the Koran is _not_ Allah\u2019s gift to man\u2014if you are a believer\nin its true divine inspiration\u2014you must see and admit that when the\nKoran, as Allah\u2019s mouth, reveals any thing which _our_ reason cannot\nas yet comprehend, because beyond or above, though not against, that\nreason, then _Faith_ must submissively receive the revelation addressed\nto it, and _Reason_ stop her speculation and shut her mouth at the\nlimit which Allah has set. Reason has to do with the _evidences_ which\nshow the Koran _to be_ Allah\u2019s gift; with the grammatical and intended\n_sense_ of what Allah taught and revealed in the Koran, and with the\n_use_ of what in the Koran is clear to the comprehension of man. But\nhere Reason\u2019s province ends. When the Koran goes beyond or rises above\nthis point, _Reason must_ pause and adore, and Faith must go forward\nand receive. I do not hold, as you intimate, that the right exercise\nof reason \u2018is impious,\u2019 or that Reason is to be _discarded_ and Faith\n_substituted_, if by this be implied any thing _incompatible_ between\nthe proper offices of Reason and Faith; but I mean that _our_ finite\nreason is to _stop_ at the limit assigned her by her _author_, and let\n_Faith_ as a _higher_ power go forward and receive what Allah teaches\nor reveals to her acceptance. Faith can now receive more than Reason\ncan as yet comprehend. She _does_ so in the province of _nature_; she\nmust do so in the province of _revelation_. This cannot be denied\nwithout taking at once the ground of the infidel\u2014a ground from which, I\ndoubt not, you would shrink back as from the border of an open pit of\ndestruction.\n\n1183. I am thus brought to your remark, that \u2018The Mohammedan system,\nas generally received, is not difficult to understand.\u2019 If this be\nstrictly true, it must be because that system, \u2018as generally received,\u2019\nis not the _true_ system; for, in this sense, or as _truly_ and\n_rightly_ received, the Mohammedan system contains various things\nwhich it is difficult to understand, if by understanding be meant\n_comprehending_. We may, indeed, _understand_ that a fact or a truth\n_exists_ or is _revealed_, while that fact or that truth _itself_ is,\nfor the present, utterly beyond or above our _comprehension_. And this\nis precisely the case with the Mohammedan system _rightly_ viewed. It\ncontains various facts and truths which _our_ reason cannot yet fathom.\nNatural reason loves to _separate_ and set aside these great and high\nthings from the Koran as _non-essentials_, and then to busy itself with\nthose parts of the Koran which are level with its own height; pleased\nwith the dream that it has grasped _enough_, has grasped _all_ that can\nbe of any real value. Believe me when reason does this, for one who has\nthe Koran in his hands, she plays at a perilous game.\n\n1184. The main position which I have thus far taken is, however,\nvirtually conceded in another part of your letter. Alluding to\nwhat I had urged as to the importance of acknowledging Mohammed as\nyour mediator, and relying on his mediation only for justification\nas all-sufficient, reconciling all difficulties, and removing all\nembarrassment from the consideration of the union of justice and\nmercy in the deity, you say: \u2018But _does_ it remove all embarrassment?\nIs not Allah himself the author of the plan of salvation? Was not\nMohammed himself Allah, and also his vicegerent?\u2019 The _impossibility_\nof answering these questions satisfactorily to the plainest reason,\nteaches me to recoil from the impiety of inquiring _how_ my Maker will\nsave me or reconcile his own attributes? I know full well that the\ngreat mass of human minds are totally incapable of considering such\na subject with any approximation to a solution of it, and therefore\ndo I feel that the eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does\nnot depend on such theological questions. Here you directly admit the\ninability of reason in most minds satisfactorily to comprehend some of\nthe great and high points of the Mohammedan system, and the consequent\nimpiety of her _attempting_ such a comprehension. You might as well\nexplicitly admit her inability for this comprehension in _all_ minds;\nfor _no_ mind in its present state can by _reason alone_ grasp all that\nAllah has revealed in the Koran. These great and high things are not\nproposed to reason _alone_, but to reason so far as their _evidence_ is\nconcerned, and to _faith_ so far as their substance is to be received.\nReason may satisfy herself that they _are_ revealed. _Faith alone_ can\ntake in the substance which they contain. When they _are_ proposed to\nit, faith _must_ receive them, or salvation cannot come, whether the\nreason of the individual addressed be the \u2018plainest\u2019 or otherwise.\n\n1185. Your _argument_ in the above extract does not satisfy me so well\nas your _admission_. From the inability of the great mass of minds\nsatisfactorily to comprehend the high mysteries of the Koran, you infer\nthat the \u2018eternal salvation or condemnation of mankind does not depend\non such theological questions.\u2019 Certainly, the salvation of mankind in\nthe mass does not depend on these or any other theological questions;\nif by this be meant depending on the ability to _comprehend_ such\nquestions, because the points involved in these questions, so far as\nthey are mysteries, are proposed not to _reason_ as _comprehending_,\nbut to _faith_ as _receiving_. But do you mean to be understood as\nsaying, that when the Koran is put into any man\u2019s hand, and when Allah\nthrough the Koran opens to that man his _revealed_ way of salvation,\nthe individual thus approached may accept what is level with his\n_reason_, but reject what is proposed to his _faith_ and _above_ his\nreason, and that yet notwithstanding such rejection he may reasonably\nhope to be saved? If so, I ask you by what right you argue thus? Who\nis Allah, and what is man? When he tells you the way in which he will\nsave you, not the mass of mankind or the heathen to whom the Koran has\nnever come, but _you yourself_, what right have you to say that _your_\nsalvation does not depend on your faith\u2019s reception of those very\nthings which are above your reason\u2019s comprehension? How do you know\nbut that the whole efficacy of the plan _proposed to you_, depends on\nyour receiving the great facts and truths propounded to your _faith_?\n\u2018Faith _itself_, I admit,\u2019 you may contend, \u2018does not save any man; it\nis the Mediator that saves.\u2019 But you have no right to say, or think,\nor hope that he will or can save _you_ with the Koran in your hand,\nin any other way than that which in the Koran he proposes to your\n_faith_. And if when he demands your _faith_ in what surpasses your\nreason, you withhold that faith, and plead the sufficiency of what he\nhas incidentally made level with your _reason_, do you not thereby\nshow that you have not the spirit which he requires, and that you are\nyet none of his? In the Koran he has not only revealed to you his\nmission and sanctification, but also proposed to you his mediation as a\npropitiation for your sin; and he has told you that \u2018you must be _born\nagain_,\u2019 not only of water, but also \u2018of the spirit;\u2019 that except you\nbe converted and become as a \u2018little child, you shall not enter into\nthe kingdom of heaven;\u2019 and that \u2018he that _believeth_ and is baptized\nshall be saved, but he that _believeth not_ shall be _damned_:\u2019\n\u2018_believeth_\u2019 not a _part_ only, but the _whole_ of the Koran then\nintrusted to its Ulemas. Here he explicitly demands your faith in the\nwhole Koran. But suppose it had been otherwise, suppose he had simply\nopened to you _a_ way by which he could _certainly_ save _you_, without\nsaying any thing about _faith_, as the one great and necessary receiver\nof the facts and truths involved in that way; I ask, would not a\nrejection of a _part_ of those involved facts and truths be equivalent\nto a rejection of the whole? Would it not display the same spirit as a\nrejection of the whole? Would it not show that you were not walking in\n_his_ way, but in some _other_ which you supposed _might possibly_ be\nfound? Nay, would it not show that in your heart you had no confidence\nin him as a mediator; that you even rebelled against his right to\nprescribe to you the terms on which he would save you?\u201d\n\n1186. To conclude, with respect to this guardian angel of my soul, to\nwhom this digression owes its existence; it may comfort her to know\nthat I conceive myself so securely protected and guided already, and\nso sure of the result of that guidance and protection, that I would\nadvise her, in my turn, to consider well whether she ought not to pray\nto God to give her a little more light respecting her own destiny,\nthan is afforded by the book which is vaunted as being above reason,\nand as being the word of God. Does she conceive the subterranean cave\nwith the \u201c_lake of unquenchable fire_,\u201d in which Dives is roasting\nin sight of the blessed, to be so satisfactory as to be unwilling to\nhear of a preferable abode in the azure sky? Does she aspire to some\nofficial position commensurate with that of the judgships which Christ\npromised his disciples? If it is to procure me a place in the heaven\ndescribed in Scripture, I beg leave to decline, being pre-engaged; and\ntherefore give her an invitation to meet me hereafter in the glorious\nabode to which I confidently aspire, and where I shall feel myself\nespecially called upon to render her my assistance to rise from the\ninferior though happy sphere to which, with her present opinions, she\nis destined.\n\n1187. I would recommend to her, and to others in the same predicament,\nthe perusal of the influence of the conversion to Spiritualism on my\nfriends, as presented in this volume. I would also recommend her to\nstudy the comparison made between the heaven and hell of Scripture and\nthat of Spiritualism, as herein presented.\n\n1188. I hope my would-be mundane guide to salvation will find in the\nverse and prose addressed to me by one more nearly allied (215, 250,\n538) a sufficient apology for declining her kindly-tendered guidance,\nespecially as the path through which she would lead me is known to this\nexcellent relative, who has frequently passed and repassed it during\nher residence of more than two years in the spirit world, while to my\nmundane friend it is as yet unknown, and, as I believe, misapprehended.\nBut although my mind has not been converted to her view of the service\ntendered, my heart will never cease to be gratefully inclined toward\none who, while actually in want of guidance herself, thought so much of\nthe supposed deficiency from which it is imagined I suffer.\n\n\n_Improper use of the epithet Infidel, as used in the parodied quotation\n                     from the Clergyman\u2019s Letter._\n\n1189. If a man cannot be guilty of infidelity to another man\u2019s wife,\nhow can he be guilty of infidelity to another man\u2019s religion? The\nMohammedan wrongfully calls the Christian \u201cinfidel,\u201d because he does\nnot believe in Mohammed; and as wrongfully is the epithet retorted,\nbecause the Mohammedan does not believe in Christ. The epithet can only\nbe truly applicable to those who, while professing a religion, do not\nact up to their professions. In this sense, Christendom, so called,\nteems with infidels to Christianity.\n\n\n                            _On Atonement._\n\n1190. Since my spirit sister\u2019s translation to the spheres, she has\nrisen from the fifth to the sixth sphere. It has been alleged by her\nthat her ascent was retarded by her belief in the atonement. I subjoin\nsome reasoning on that subject:\n\n1191. As respects free-will, Dr. Johnson shrewdly said that all\npractice is in its favour, all theory against it; but whatever view\nmay be taken on this subject, no one can deny that _so far as it is\npossible for sin to be avoided_, it must be within the power of God\nto make men virtuous. The fact that they are not sinless, must arise\neither from his not wishing to make them more virtuous, or from his\ninability to make them so. That he does not make them free from sin\nimplies either a want of will or a want of power.\n\n1192. But whatever may in this respect be true, his omniscience must\nhave enabled him to perceive the result beforehand, and of course it\nis inconceivable that he would, consistently with his goodness, have\ncreated them, foreknowing that they would be so wicked as to deserve\neternal punishment.\n\n1193. All this it was in his power to obviate by not creating men, or\nby making their temptations less, or their power of resistance greater.\nBut foreseeing their wickedness, and imposing fetters on his omnipotent\npower, so as to render _a certain amount of suffering inevitable_, he\nis said to have determined that a portion of the godhead should expiate\nin the flesh, by the pains of crucifixion, the punishment due to the\nsinful creatures which he has been supposed to have wilfully created,\nforeseeing this result.\n\n1194. But in order to make men better, instead of using that almighty\npower with which he is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh,\nto soften the human heart and enlighten the human mind universally,\nhe is made to resort to a method which, however cruel and manifestly\nunjust in making an innocent being suffer for the guilty, has proved\nutterly inefficient, since only a small minority of mankind profess\nChristianity, and of that minority only an imperceptible portion,\nif any, comply with its requisitions, as before observed; hence the\ngreater part are liable \u201c_to be beaten with many stripes_,\u201d while\nthose to whom the mission of Christ has been unknown are to \u201c_be\nbeaten with but few stripes_.\u201d\n\n1195. Human lawgivers may enact constitutions which result in practical\nfailure, because they do not foresee the issue. Such failures are\nascribed to their deficiency in practical wisdom. But the failure of\nmeasures for the production of any result proving it unwise, must\ndemonstrate that it did not originate with an all-wise author; in other\nwords, with the Almighty.\n\n1196. It is manifestly absurd to ascribe to that Being any measures\nwhich have failed to effect the ends for which they have been\nspecially devised. Knowing that Mohammed would have more followers\nthan Christ, that the largest portion of mankind would remain pagans,\nthat even in Christendom the Christian religion would be a source of\nbloody contention and theological hatred, making scarcely any real\nChristians,\u2014how could it originate with a wise and prescient Deity?\n\n1197. \u201cBy their fruits ye shall know them?\u201d It being premised that God\nis omniscient, all-wise, and omnipotent, can any fruit proceed from\nthat high source which has not proved to answer well the purpose for\nwhich it was intended?\n\n1198. The actual morality of Christendom being the inverse of that\nexcessive and impracticable restraint, which Christ enjoined as the\nobject of his mission, must prove that his doctrine could not have\noriginated with a being by whom its failure must have been foreseen.\n\n1199. Arguments such as I have used are met often by referring to\nthe evils, to which all animated nature is subjected, in the way\nof misery, mutilation, disease, or death. But when the government\nof the universe is attributed to general laws, it may be inferred\nthat evil results from a want of power to render those laws free\nfrom bad consequences. Nothing but such limitation of power, or an\nindisposition to prevent those evils, can account for their occurrence.\nBut this is widely different from assuming, in the first place, with\nself-called orthodoxy, that God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-wise,\nand all-good, and then representing him as resorting to measures for\nthe accomplishment of his ends which are utterly inefficacious. This\nis accusing the Almighty of acting like an idiot. Can any thing be\nmore preposterous, than that an all-wise, all-good, all-powerful, and\nall-foreseeing Deity should require the services of human missionaries\nto carry out his will? Would he not at least require that such\nmessengers of his word should first agree as to what that word ought\nto be? A pagan might remain during his whole life a pagan, should\nhe, before adopting any creed, require that professed Christians, in\ngeneral, should agree as to the tenets which he should espouse.\n\n1200. Agreeably to the attributes assigned to the Deity by orthodoxy,\nthe state of things which exists in the universe cannot be otherwise\nthan as God wishes it to be, to the falling of a sparrow; so that any\nchange sought by man, beyond the immediate sphere of his necessities,\nmust be an officious interference with God\u2019s providence.\n\n1201. Yet if a man be considered as an instrument in attaining certain\nbeneficent ends, without which those ends could not be accomplished,\nthen human exertion is reasonable, in whatever way it can be productive\nof good.\n\n1202. How can any being who contemplates the wonderful power displayed\nin the creation, hesitate to perceive that if the divine Architect\ndesired that all men should coincide in their modes of worship, he\nwould have furnished them sufficient evidence of his will, and disposed\ntheir minds to receive the desired impression?\n\n1203. Nevertheless, his measures are represented as the inverse of\nthese. It is represented that a creed which he wished all men to\nembrace was promulgated in an obscure part of an obscure country,\nunder the yoke of heathen despotism, in a language unknown to any\nother people. It was so promulgated that the great majority of mankind\nwere entirely out of the reach of its influence, and have remained\nso for nearly two thousand years. Moreover, those who have been made\nacquainted with Christianity are unable to agree in what it consists.\n\n1204. As I have already urged, if we were to judge of the extention of\nChristianity by the number of Christians who do not in practice violate\nthe precepts of Christ, it might be a question whether the name of\nChristendom is applicable to any part of the world.\n\n\n  _On the massacre at Sinope, as a probable consequence of Religious\n                     Fanaticism and Intolerance._\n\n1205. As in consideration of the idolatry of the Amalekites the\nIsraelites were, according to the Bible, authorized to extirpate that\nnation, for a wrong done to Israel some hundred years before, may not\nthe Russians imagine themselves justified for the massacre of Sinope?\n(1 Sam. xv.)\n\n1206. The Turks have done vastly more harm to the Greek Christians,\nwhen, with fire and sword, they subdued the Greek empire, and obliged\neach man to pay annually for wearing his head, than the tribe of Amalek\ndid to the Hebrews. In the one case there does not appear to have\nbeen for centuries any repetition of the wrong; but in the other the\nwrongs were reiterated, and of an enduring nature. It is true that the\nMohammedan sovereigns were in Turkey more tolerant of their Christian\nsubjects than Christian sovereigns were of Mohammedans; or even of\nthe Albigenses, Lollards, Wicliffites, Lutherans, or Calvinists. The\nTurks never introduced an inquisitorial tribunal to burn or torture\nunbelievers. On this account they may think themselves less open to\nthe charge of cruel intolerance than some of the self-called disciples\nof Christ; and no doubt the discordancy between the conduct of those\ndisciples and the precepts of their teacher, may have contributed to\ntheir contemptuous opinions of those whom they improperly call infidels\nto Mohammed, not perceiving that people who have not professed a\nreligion, can no more be infidels thereto than one man can be guilty\nof infidelity to another man\u2019s wife. This argument, however, would be\nanswered by the fact that Christians call Mohammedans infidels, not in\nconsequence of any violation of _their_ faith in Mohammed, but because\nthey have never had any faith in Christ.\n\n1207. Such skeptical Mohammedans as Lady Mary Wortley Montague made\nmention of in her letters from Constantinople, will no doubt consider\nthe term infidel applicable only to such as break their professed\nfaith, whatever it may be.\n\n1208. Agreeably to this definition, every fighting or wealth-seeking\nChristian is an infidel to the religion which he professes; every\nMohammedan who indulges in wine is an infidel.\n\n1209. The religion taught by Mohammed, like that of Moses, authorized\nthe most cruel wars, the extermination of nations for erroneous\nbelief, while the religion of Christ directs us to love our neighbours\nas ourselves; to return good for evil; to give our coat when our cloak\nis taken; to submit passively to blows, and that the possession of\nwealth interferes with access to heaven. Christianity is, moreover,\nunfavourable to polygamy or concubinage.\n\n1210. It follows that the precepts of Jesus call for restraint upon\nthe predominant passions of human nature, while those of Mohammed,\nin justifying warfare, excessive indulgence in women, and in the\nspoliation and massacre of unbelievers, coincide with the most\npredominating propensities of human nature. It is, therefore, far\neasier to be faithful to the precepts of Mohammed than those of Christ.\n\n1211. Nevertheless, as both Christ and Mohammed treated the Old\nTestament as authentic, it is to be feared that the Turks and Russians\nmay look to it for justification of their intolerant cruelty.\n\n1212. None of the ancient Pagans were as hostile to the Hebrews, as\nthe disciples of Mohammed have been to the Greek Christians. But not\neven the Mohammedans have been so intolerant to those whom they call\ninfidels, as Christian sectarians have been, to such persons as they\nhave dogmatically adjudged to be heretics.\n\n1213. It should be well considered whether any authority dependent on\nhuman records can justify the inference that God, anywhere, or in any\nage, ever authorized such cruelty as that exhibited at Sinope.\n\n1214. Whenever men adopt the idea entertained by the Jews and\nMohammedans, and certain sects of Christians, that a peculiar creed is\nnecessary to salvation, it is deemed humane to inflict any temporal\nevil in order to eradicate any other belief which will subject souls to\neternal punishment. When to the Catholics in the reign of Queen Mary\nit was urged that burning heretics alive would not change their creed,\nthe reply was, that although the victims should not be converted, the\nsouls of their progeny would be saved from damnation by the extirpation\nof the heresy with the heretics. Admitting the premises, the conclusion\nwas correct, and the auto-da-f\u00e9 and the tortures of the inquisition\nwere even more excusable than a painful chirurgical operation, when it\npreserves the temporal life of the patient.\n\n1215. If the Czar is of opinion, that for every Christian who may\nreplace a Turk, a soul will be saved from damnation, he may conceive\nhimself as well authorized to extirpate the Turks, as were Moses and\nJoshua to extirpate any heathen nation.\n\n1216. Moreover, by some Christians, Jesus is considered as having\nsanctioned the retention of that characteristic of the Hebrew\nportraiture of Jehovah, which makes it right to exterminate unbelievers\nin the orthodox creed. This must be a source of discord wherever it is\nrecognised, as it induces persecution from conscientious regard to the\nsalvation of the victims upon whom it acts, while in them it naturally\ncreates bitter resentment instead of gratitude.\n\n1217. Having submitted the representations of Jehovah, given in the Old\nTestament, I will subjoin those of the great modern philosopher Newton,\nand those of Seneca, one of the most distinguished sages of antiquity.\nThe reader may, from these data, judge how far piety or morality would\nsuffer, were that ancient record to give way to the direct evidence of\nSpiritualism.\n\n\n _Opinions of God held by Sir Isaac Newton.\u2014Enfield\u2019s Philosophy, Page\n                                 638._\n\n1218. \u201cGod has no need of organs; he being everywhere present to the\nthings themselves.\n\n1219. \u201cIt appears from phenomena, that there is a being incorporeal,\nliving, intelligent, omnipresent, who, in infinite space, as it were\nin his sensory, sees the things themselves, intimately and thoroughly\nperceives them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence\nto himself.\n\n1220. \u201cThis most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets\ncould only arise from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and\npowerful being; and if the fixed stars be centres of similar systems,\nthese, being all formed by like wisdom, must be subject to the dominion\nof one; especially since the light of the fixed stars is of the same\nnature with the light of the sun; and all systems mutually give and\nreceive light.\n\n1221. \u201cGod governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as\nthe Lord of the universe. The Supreme Deity is an eternal, infinite,\nand absolutely perfect being, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his\nduration extends from eternity to eternity, and his presence from\ninfinity to infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things\nwhich exist, or can be known. He is not eternity or infinity; but\neternal and infinite; he is not duration or space; but he endures and\nis present; he endures forever and is present everywhere. Since every\nportion of space is always, and every indivisible moment of duration\nis everywhere, certainly the Maker and Lord of all things cannot be\n_never_ or _nowhere_. God is omnipresent, not virtually only, but\nsubstantially; for power cannot subsist without substance. In him all\nthings are contained and move, but without reciprocal affection. God is\nnot affected by the motion of bodies, nor do bodies suffer resistance\nfrom the omnipresence of God.\n\n1222. \u201cIt is universally allowed that God exists necessarily; and\nby the same necessity he exists always and everywhere. Whence he is\nthroughout similar, all eye, all ear, all brain, all arm, all power\nof perceiving, understanding, and acting; but in a manner not at all\nhuman, not at all corporeal; in a manner to us altogether unknown. As\na blind man has no idea of colours, so we have no idea of the manner\nin which the most wise God perceives and understands all things. He is\nentirely without body, and bodily form, and therefore can neither be\nseen, nor heard, nor touched; nor ought he to be worshipped under any\ncorporeal representation. We have ideas of his attributes, but what\nthe _substance_ of _any_ thing is, we are wholly ignorant. We see only\nthe figures and colours of bodies; we hear only sounds; we touch only\nexternal superficies; we smell only odours; we taste only savours; of\ntheir internal substance we have no knowledge by any sense, or by any\nreflex act of the mind; much less have we any idea of the substance of\nGod. We know him only by his properties and attributes, by the most\nwise and excellent structure of things, and by final causes; and we\nreverence and worship him on account of his dominion. A God without\ndominion, providence, and design, is nothing else but fate and nature.\u201d\n\n1223. The language above quoted does not involve the idea that Newton\nowed his idea of God to the Bible, or that he considered him as having\nany person, much less that he consisted of three persons. He makes\nno allusion to Christ or to the Scriptures. His opinions are quite\nreconcilable with Theism, but incompatible with the existence of the\nTrinity.\n\n\n                _On God and his Attributes, by Seneca._\n\n1224. \u201cGreat respect is due to universal opinion. We consider common\nassent an evidence of truth. That there are Gods, we are convinced,\namong other proofs, from the fact that the belief in their existence is\nnatural to man. No nation has been found so brutal as to be entirely\nwithout religion.\n\n1225. \u201cWe begin to know God from his works. What is God? All that you\nsee, and all that you do not see. In what does the nature of God and\nman differ? The best part of man is his mind; in God there is nothing\nbut mind. He is pure spirit. Many names are applicable to him. Do you\ncall him Fate? You do not err. He it is upon whom every thing depends.\nThe cause of causes. Do you call him Providence? You are right. It is\nby his appointment that this world is so arranged that it performs\nwithout confusion the part assigned to it. Do you call him Nature? You\ndo not sin. It is he from whom all things are produced.\n\n1226. \u201cYou may properly apply to God any name expressive of celestial\npower. All his benefits may give rise to distinctive appellations. Thus\nhe is called Father, Hercules, Mercury, &c. Father, because he is truly\nthe Father of all; Hercules, because he is omnipotent; Mercury, because\nhe is pure Reason, the principle of science, of order, and of harmony.\n\n1227. \u201cJustice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, are all names of _one_\nGod, expressive of his various attributes, and are qualities of the one\nmind; _whichever of them you love, you love God_. Known unto God are\nall his works.\n\n1228. \u201cWhatever is to happen is present with him. What to us is sudden\nand unexpected, has by him been foreseen and _provided_ for.\n\n1229. \u201cA wise man does not change his opinion, how much less God! As\na river does not flow back, or stop in its course, _so the order of\nnature is governed by fixed laws, which are nothing less than divine\ndecrees_.\n\n1230. \u201cWho is so wretched, so neglected, who born to so cruel a\ndestiny, as not to have received any benefits from the gods? Look\nat those who complain of their lot, you will find that they are not\ndeprived of all comforts. Is the gift of life nothing? Are there\nno objects pleasant to the eye, to the ear, or to the mind? God\u2019s\nkindness does not only supply us with what is necessary to existence,\nhe provides also for our pleasure. Witness the variety of fruits,\ndiffering in flavour; the many healthful vegetables, so great a variety\nof food for different seasons of the year, some produced from the earth\nwithout culture, _even for the idle_; animals of all kinds abounding\nin the earth, the sea, and the air, as if all things in nature were\ntributary to our enjoyment. Consider the rivers flowing gracefully\nthrough the fields which they fertilize; others, whose deep beds in\ntheir vast and navigable courses, afford the means of a profitable\ncommerce, or by overflowing their banks during the drought and heat of\nsummer, water the parched earth and cause it to bring forth abundantly.\nYou deny that you have received any favours, and yet are unwilling to\npart with what you possess. There are some philosophers who do not\nappreciate the divine gifts. They complain that we are not endowed with\nperfect health, incorruptible virtue, and foreknowledge. They scarcely\nrefrain from impudently despising nature, that she has made us less\nthan gods. How much better would it be to return thanks to the gods\nfor the many benefits we have received, and for placing us in this\nbeautiful world, and subjecting it to our rule, as their vicegerents.\n\n1231. \u201cThe Deity has thought of us from the beginning; and this world\nhas been so arranged as to make his care of us manifest. We admit\nour obligation to love our parents, as those from whom we derive\nour existence. They were, however, certainly not the authors of our\nexistence, but were utterly ignorant of the mysteries of nature.\n\n1232. \u201cThat we are indebted for our existence to an _intelligent\ncause_, is evident from the provisions made for our support long before\nour birth.\n\n1233. \u201cThe strong instinct of a mother, making her willing to endure\nany privation for the helpless stranger; the sacred fountain which,\nat the moment it is wanted, flows from the mother\u2019s breast; the air\nadapted to the lungs, the light to the eye: what more shall I say?\u2014_a\npresent God is revealed!_\n\n1234. \u201cOur kind Father begins to bestow benefits on us before we\nare capable of perceiving our obligations to him, and continues them\neven when we are ungrateful. Some accuse him of forgetting them; some\nof injuring them; others believe him to be regardless of his works;\nnevertheless, like a good parent, who _smiles_ at the follies of his\nchildren, God does not cease _to confer his benefits on those who deny\nhis existence, but with an equal eye regards all nations, and uses\nhis power only to bless_. He sprinkles the earth with soft showers; he\nmoves the sea by his breath; tempers the severity of winter and the\nheat of summer, and is _placable to the errors of imperfect mortals_.\u201d\n\n\n       _On the Better Employment of the First Day of the Week._\n\n1235. The subjoined essay, as above designated, was written nearly\nten years ago, before the author had any hope that any knowledge of a\nfuture state would be mercifully afforded through himself, as well as\nmany others, which would supply the only deficiency in the elements\nrequisite to the proposed innovation. Fortunately the doctrines, since\ntaught by the spirits, entirely corroborate the suggestions of this\nessay; so that Spiritualism, natural religion, and literature, may\nhereafter go hand in hand on Sunday.\n\n1236. This now gloomy day, may, through the happy united\ninstrumentality suggested, become a day of real intellectual\nimprovement, as well as of every species of variety of innocent\nrecreation. Yet every species of selfish sensual pleasure will be\navoided and condemned by every conscientious believer in spiritual\nmanifestations.\n\n1237. It is suggested that persons opposed to sabbatarianism,\ninconsistent with the early and long-continued practice of\nChristianity, and with the freedom of conscience guaranteed by\nthe Constitution of the United States, should unite to render\nSunday (erroneously called the Sabbath) a day of moral, literary,\nand scientific instruction, for those who, dissatisfied with the\nsectarianism of the existing places of worship, pass the day without\nedifying occupation.\n\n1238. The object of this association would be to contemplate the Deity,\nagreeably to the opinions entertained by the first and one of the best\nof philosophers, Sir Isaac Newton; the sentiments of morality comprised\nin the precepts ascribed to Confucius, as well as to Christ, \u201cDo unto\nothers as you would have them do unto you.\u201d\n\n1239. As respects the object of devotion, the idea of the Deity\nentertained by Newton, and this sentiment of Pope\u2019s universal prayer,\nmight be adopted:\n\n1240.  \u201cFather of all, in every age,\n          In every clime adored,\n        By saint, by savage, and by sage,\n          Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.\u201d\n\n1241. As regards ceremonial, that sanctioned by Christ, agreeably to\nwhich the brief appeal of the humble, contrite publican, was deemed\npreferable to that of the self-complacent, multiloquent, pompous\nPharisee.\n\n1242. The opinions of the Deity given by Newton, are quoted to show\nthat there is nothing therein to justify intolerant sectarianism, nor\nto indicate the distinguished author to have been indebted for them to\nRevelation.\n\n1243. As favouring toleration, the sentiments expressed by Seneca, the\nRoman sage, should be cherished. The sentiments of this sage prove that\namong the heathens a more pious idea of God existed than that given by\nthe Bible, which represents him as jealous, and as punishing not only\nthe individual, but his posterity, for an involuntary ignorance, which\nby a mere fiat, omnipotency could correct.\n\n1244. God is quite tolerant, according to Seneca, as respects any\nmisapprehension of his pretensions, while, according to Moses, he is\nextremely intolerant.\n\n1245. Instead of teaching people to dislike and disesteem those who may\ndiffer from them, as to the designation, form, or name under which the\nDeity is to be worshipped, it should be held that no person of sound\nmind would waste his time and his energies in worshipping that which\nhe does not conscientiously believe to be entitled to adoration, any\nmore than a man will _knowingly_ pay a debt to or court the favour of\none to whom he owes nothing, and from whom he cannot expect any thing\nin return. It might be argued as reasonably, that a person in paying by\n_mistake_ a forged draft, is less honest than in paying one which is\ngenuine, as that a virtuous pagan is to have less favour with God than\nany other man, however orthodox his creed. (See Theological Axioms,\npage 34.)\n\n1246. Were a lessee to pay a forged order for rent due to his landlord,\nwould the latter strive to punish him for the mistake, especially if so\nwealthy as not to feel the want of the money? But what would be said\nof the landlord who, knowing that his lessee had received an erroneous\nimpression as to the owner of his tenement, should allow him to pay\nyear after year without any effort to prevent him from being cheated?\nWould not this deprive him of moral if not of legal claim to the rent?\nGod is represented as omniscient, and consequently as cognizant of the\nmisapprehension which leads the pagan to kneel before his idol, and yet\nwithout either influencing his mind, or placing before him any evidence\nof his error, punishing him for his mistake.\n\n1247. It should, moreover, be an object to prove the greatness and\ngoodness of God, by making men acquainted with the wondrous miracles\nof that universe of which a nook has been assigned to the inhabitants\nof this planet, which, in comparison with the totality, is as minute\nas any grain of sand which contributes to form our terrestrial globe\nis to the whole mass of which it constitutes a part\u2014so insignificant.\nIt should be an object to show how that \u201c_honesty is the best\npolicy_,\u201d\u2014the bad never being happy.\n\n1248. Those well-educated sectarians of different creeds should be held\nwanting in humility, who severally considered themselves free from\nthat error in belief to which they deem all other men liable. It is\nconceived, also, that individuals are answerable for their opinions to\nGod only, and that for one man to condemn another for not thinking as\nhe himself thinks, is to violate the precept, \u201cjudge not, lest ye be\njudged,\u201d and the golden rule of acting toward other men as you would\nhave them act toward you.\n\n1249. Since our missions are all intended to induce pagans and others\nto think freely as respects the tenets in which they have been\neducated, how can it be otherwise than proper for every person to think\nwithout fear of denunciation upon the tenets of his ancestry. Are we\nto deny ourselves the liberty of thought, which we claim for all who\ndiffer from us as to their creeds?\n\n1250. A sectarian who is a Christian only as to _observances_, and is\ntherefore really a _practical_ infidel, accuses a man of infidelity who\nis _practically_ a Christian, so far as Christianity and virtue are\nassociated, because that man does not arrive at his morality by the\nroute which his denunciator points out, but never follows to any good\npurpose.\n\n1251. While missionaries, who _ought_ to know all that can be learned,\n_do not agree among themselves_, wherefore do they attempt to instruct\nthe ignorant? How is the unlettered pagan to judge between the\nCatholic, Calvinist, Unitarian, or Deist?\n\n\n   _Additional Remarks respecting the Observance of the Sabbath, so\n                               called._\n\n1252. It is believed that a great majority of the people of the\nUnited States, while favourable to the observance of Sunday as a day\nof worship, of innocent recreation, and of moral and intellectual\nimprovement, are adverse to the legal enforcement of restrictions\nintroduced into Christianity by puritanism. They do not consider the\n_first_ day of the week as liable to the commandment given to the Jews\nfor the observance of _the seventh_ day; still less that the _innocent\nrecreation allowed to the Jews under that commandment_ is to be denied\nto Christians on that day of rest. The commandment _forbids work_, but\ndoes not _prohibit recreation_. That it was thus viewed by the Hebrews,\nis asserted upon the authority of a learned Jew.\n\n1253. It is conceived that the enforcement of any observance on\nsectarian ground, is inconsistent with the freedom of conscience\nguaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.\n\n1254. If God intended the Sabbath to be kept so strictly, wherefore is\nit not kept holy by him? why do not the rivers stop flowing, vegetables\ngrowing, and the wind stop blowing on the day selected for the Sabbath,\nespecially if a sparrow does not fall without his cognizance.\n\n1255. _Precepts may lead, but example will draw._ Aware of this, is it\nconceivable that God would enjoin man to keep any day holy, and yet\nfail to keep it holy himself? Regulating the blowing of the winds, as\nwell as the _falling of sparrows_, when creating a storm, would he not\nbe responsible for forcing the breach of the Sabbath upon the mariner?\n\n1256. Ought the farmer to lose his crops in order to avoid working\non Sunday? The Romans took advantage of the Hebrew Sabbath to make\ntheir advances upon Jerusalem, the tenets of the Jews restricting them\nfrom resistance; yet there was no divine interference to shield this\nchosen people against the heathen conqueror, or to assist them in the\nobservance of the commandment.\n\n1257. The plea on which the commandment was founded is manifestly\ngroundless\u2014_that an omnipotent God could be so weary as to require\nrest_. But it has been suggested by enlightened Christians, that the\nsix days were periods of immense duration, and of course the seventh\nday being like the rest could not be a day of twenty-four hours, like\nthe Jewish Sabbath so called, but, on the contrary, an era comprising\nmany ages.\n\n\n _If Creatures be not so created as to love their Neighbours as\n themselves, precepts can no more alter them in this respect, than\n change the Colour of their Hair, or the Number of Cubits in their\n Stature._\n\n1258. In the spheres, agreeably to the communication received from\nspirits, great importance is attached to the friendship, the affection,\nand the ardent love, which may subsist between congenial minds or\nsouls; they seem to recognise love as something which cannot be felt\nby all to all; so that while benevolence, charity, and sympathy may be\nsentiments entertained to mankind generally, there are other sentiments\nwhich require concentration, in order to have any efficacy. Of this\nnature are parental, filial, and conjugal affection, as well as other\nintimate friendships.\n\n1259. Sympathy between the parent and child, between husband and wife,\nand likewise occasionally between brothers and sisters, or such friends\nas Pylades and Orestes, may be so strong as to induce the risk, if not\nthe loss of life, but this sympathy cannot be self-induced. Where,\nfrom principle, a person may determine to make the sacrifice, not from\nimpulse, he cannot endow himself with the sensitiveness which would\nmake him feel for the sufferer as for himself. A being may admire such\na sentiment, and have an ambition to be so actuated, but that would\nnot create the sensibility to which its existence is due. It has been\nalleged that Napoleon\u2019s mother said of him, as I remember to have read\nsomewhere: \u201cHe wished to have a good heart.\u201d The most that can be\ndone is to act as if we did love, and consequently sympathize, so as\nto feel the pains and privations of another as if they were our own.\nBut it were inconsistent to entertain a love so powerful and peculiar,\nand not give our time, thought, services, or attention to the object of\nour affection. It were inconsistent so to love and keep at a distance,\nand behave toward the object as if we were indifferent. But were the\nsentiment to be felt universally, or even generally, there would be\nsuch a cutting up of our time, service, or attention, that, as respects\nany individual in particular, it would be nugatory, and might as well\nnot exist. There would likewise be such a multiplicity and perplexity\nof yearnings that it would distract the heart, perhaps place it in a\nless happy condition than if it were devoid of any affection whatever.\n\n1260. Although temporal life may at times be sacrificed by one being\nto save that of another, it is manifestly because the being who makes\nthe sacrifice is constituted so nobly as to endure less pain under\nthe circumstances in question in making than avoiding self-immolation.\nBut can any one who has not been so organized and educated as to make\nsuch a sacrifice, be sufficiently changed by preaching, or monition, to\nundergo self-immolation to save a fellow-creature?\n\n1261. Is it reasonable to order, direct, or advise people to love,\nespecially on the part of any one who by his acknowledged omnipotency\ncould so constitute them as to sympathize to any required extent? I\nadmit, that it may be consistent to urge them to act toward others, as\nfar as possible, as if they were _loved_.[25]\n\n1262. Should not the great object of cultivation be sympathy and\nbenevolence, which are general in their nature? We may deeply\nsympathize with a sufferer, even with a brute, whom we do not love.\nBenevolence should we not also cultivate, by endeavouring habitually to\ntake the most favourable view of those around us which our observation\nand reason can permit? Does it not argue a want of discrimination to\ntreat love as a sentiment, to be entertained toward all other mortals\nby mere volition? Is it reasonable that Christ, or any other teacher,\nassuming to be missionaries of the Creator, should enjoin us to\nlove, when the capacity for that sentiment manifestly varies through\norganization and education, derived from that Creator by various human\nbeings, as much nearly, as the opposite propensities of the wolf\nand dog? Behold the difference between the elephant and rhinoceros:\nthe former capable of a canine fidelity and affection, the latter\nirretrievably hostile; and again between a wild elephant and one tamed\nby education.\n\n1263. Were his organization and education dependent on himself, it\nmight be reasonable to say to a human being, Love your neighbour as\nyourself, love your enemies; but how can that Deity who determines\nman\u2019s race and his parentage, and of course whether he be a savage\nor a civilized man, whether a Thug or a _real_ Christian, if such a\nthing can be,\u2014how can that Deity require a being to do that which is\nirreconcilable with his passions, opinions, and habits, derived from\nnature and education, as well as the examples set by those around him?\n\n1264. The inutility of precepts in controlling human passions, may be\nseen in the history of Christendom, in which, as already urged, the\nmorals and conduct of mankind, with very few exceptions, have been\ndiametrically opposite to that of their divine Master, so called.\nWho have been more aggressive than the great majority of professed\nChristians? Who have been more actuated by cupidity? Yet these votaries\nhave been, for the most part, vociferous in their professions of\ndevotedness to Christ, making him the Son of God as well as their\nteacher, and too often cruelly maltreating those who have denied his\ndivinity.\n\n1265. Both on the part of the ancient Jews, or on that of modern\nChristians, religion has been made an excuse or a plea for despoiling\nunbelievers of their patrimony. In the contention respecting the right\nto Oregon, the great question, on which judgment was to turn, was,\nwhich of all of the Christian potentates claiming it, was the first to\nlay his longing eyes upon the object of contention? It has been shown\nthat the massacre of whole nations involved no criminality, provided\nthey were pagans. David put to the sword the pagan communities, man,\nwoman, and child, during which time Jehovah was with him. The pagans\nbeing mere vermin in the estimation of the Jewish deity, the wrongs\ndone to them were not cited as among David\u2019s misdoings. No Nathan\ncame to call him to account for his flagitious conduct to them, or to\nAchish, (1 Sam. xxvii. 8 to 12.)\n\n1266. In his correspondence with the British minister, respecting\nterritorial rights granted to the English by the Mosquito king, Mr.\nClayton urged that the aborigines never had been admitted to have\nany rights to their own lands, which could interfere with Christian\nclaimants.\n\n\n _Attacks upon the authenticity of Scripture cannot endanger the\n prevalent morality, which, while it is superior to that of the Old\n Testament, indicates a recklessness of the precepts of Christ,\n excepting so far as they make faith a counterpoise for sin._\n\n1267. In the preceding pages, I have endeavoured to show that the\nexisting morality of Christendom does not owe its existence to\nChristianity. My object has been to do away the apprehension that\nthis morality would be deprived of its foundation were Spiritualism\nor any other innovation to be accredited which would be inconsistent\nwith revelation. But I hope I have shown that whatever merit may be\npossessed by the existing state of morals, it cannot be ascribed to\nany influence exercised by those precepts of Christ which are not only\nneglected, but acted in diametric opposition to.\n\n1268. Another cause of alarm has been that it would weaken that belief\nin a future state of rewards and punishments which is so essential to\nencourage virtue and repress vice. But it has been pointed out that\nthe authority of Moses is against the existence of a future state, not\nmerely negatively, but positively, so far as any authority is given to\nhim as inspired by God. For what stronger argument need there be that\nthere is no state of existence beyond the grave, than the fact that\nthe being who of all mankind solely had immediate converse with the\nDeity, should not have learned from him the all-important fact? If, as\nnow held generally among Christians, an unbeliever in a future state\nis culpable in the sight of God, as well as theirs, and disqualified\nfrom testifying in courts of justice, can it be conceived that God\nwould have failed to communicate a knowledge of immortal existence to\nhis favourite lawgiver; or how could that lawgiver have been so devoid\nof that desire for immortality as to have been satisfied to remain\nignorant?\n\n1269. Materialists who have become converts to Spiritualism, all\nrepresent themselves as having entertained a great anxiety to believe\nin immortality prior to the blessed, cherished truth having been made\nevident to their thirsting souls.\n\n1270. Converts from Materialism to Spiritualism, who have shown\nmuch zeal in the investigation of the subject, and eagerness in\nbelieving in immortality as soon as evidence was obtained, were, by\ncertain sectarians, doomed to hell for their heresy. Yet this Hebrew\nmaterialist, who made no use of his transcendent opportunities of\nacquiring correct knowledge of futurity from the Deity, is made an\nobject of veneration, and the book which he wrote, while devoid of this\npre-eminently important information, is worshipped as an idol.\n\n1271. His allegations that God authorized the Israelites to _borrow_\nin order to _purloin_, or that he authorized the murder of the people\nmisled by Aaron to worship the golden calf, are manifestly as false\nas blasphemous. Then why imagine that mankind can suffer by the\nsubstitution of a belief in a future state associated with the purest\nprinciples of morality, for the books of Moses, which sanction crimes\nand discredit immortality?\n\n1272. As respects any subsequent alleged inspirations to which\nPharisees, the papists of Judea, owed their _professed_ belief in a\nfuture state, in the first place, we have the authority of Christ\nfor viewing them as hypocrites: externally, like whited sepulchres,\ninternally, as no less corrupt than dead men\u2019s bones. Of course there\nis reason, on this account, to doubt whether they acquired a sincere\nbelief in a future state from any part of Scripture. But evidently it\ndid not make them moral. Their immorality, on the contrary, was made\nmore hideous by the cloak of false religion. Nothing is more detestable\nthan to see religion in men\u2019s mouths, with cupidity and unprincipled\nambition at their hearts. Yet this much may be said for the Pharisees,\nthat they had not _professed_ themselves _Christians_, and thus subject\nto those precepts of Jesus which place the acquisition of wealth on\na level with felony as respects the accessibility to heaven. The\nPharisees of Christendom, even those who assumed to be exclusively the\ndepositories of revelation and sole expounders of God\u2019s word, have been\n_absolutely_ as wicked as the Pharisees, and _relatively_ more wicked\nby the monstrous discordancy of their course with their professed\ndevotion to the ultra precepts of the alleged Son of their God.\n\n1273. It has been shown, moreover, that although Christ occasionally\nreferred to hell, yet he gave inconsistent views of it, (738, 764.) At\none time it is fire, into which any one is to be doomed for alleging\nhis brother a fool, whether this allegation be true or not; at another,\nit is utter _darkness_, with weeping and gnashing of teeth; and of\ncourse there could be no fire. Then the disgusting description given by\nJosephus is sanctioned, agreeably to which, like the Elysium and Erebus\nof the heathen, both hell and heaven are subterranean localities, but\nseparated by a lake of unquenchable fire, across which Abraham and\nDives converse. At another time, heaven is above; he ascends to heaven\nin sight of his apostles, yet the penitent thief is to be with him in\nparadise, which, agreeably to Genesis and Josephus, is upon the earth\non the river Tigris, near the Persian Gulf. But wherever the Elysium\nand Erebus of the gospel may be, all souls, according to it, are to\nremain in their graves till the \u201c_last_ day,\u201d and then, like Samuel,\nbeing called up from their tombs, are to be sorted into two squadrons,\nof which one is to go to an _undescribed_ heaven, the other to the\n\u201chell fire prepared for the devil and his angels from the beginning of\nthe world.\u201d The injustice which would follow from a judgment of this\nkind, by which two souls differing from each other only by a shade\nwould meet a fate so different that one would have to go to heaven,\nthe other to hell to remain eternally, is so manifest, that, like the\nultraism of the same record, it loses its effect altogether upon people\nin general.\n\n1274. It must be clear that the great mass of professed Christians\nare very little restrained by their fears of such an eternity of\npunishment. Had Christ any specific knowledge of the kingdom of heaven\nto which he occasionally alluded, wherefore did he not convey that\nknowledge to his disciples? But they seem to have learned no more from\nJesus than Moses did from Jehovah, and hence their querulous inquiry as\nto what would be their reward. But the promise of judgeships, (743 to\n745,) of worldly preeminence, was a satire upon them. It argues that\nhe considered them as worldly-minded. Had he known the world to be\nlooked upon by the apostles as beneath consideration in comparison with\nimmortal life, he would hardly have insulted them by the offer. But\ntheir tone has a great deal too much of the Swiss in it. Had they been\nso very dull, or Christ so reserved, that the idea was not conveyed to\nthem that in acting the part of pious, virtuous men, they would have\nthe reward promised to the righteous in the other world.\n\n1275. Thank God, no spiritualist who reads with attention the\ncommunications given in this work, will ever inquire as to the extent\nof selfish reward which he is to enjoy! He would be impressed by his\ngeneral knowledge with the idea that the less any being is actuated\nby selfish aspiration, the greater his capacity for happiness and his\npretensions to the means of felicity.\n\n\n _The Doctrine of a peculiar Belief being necessary to Salvation,\n and a counterpoise for Sin, a source of discord originally confined\n to Judea, expanded with Christianity and Islamism; verifying\n Christ\u2019s allegation, that he came \u201cas a Sword, not as a Messenger of\n Peace.\u201d\u2014Superior Morality, and far more unquestionable Certainty of\n the Communications from the Spirit World._\n\n1276. It were in vain, I think, to find in the apple of discord, in\nthe mischiefs let loose from Pandora\u2019s box, or any other figurative\nexemplification, any idea adequate to convey my conception of the\nmischief done to the world by introducing the dogma, that belief could\nbe the means of salvation; so that if God had so constituted or so\nsituated a people, that they could not believe what was communicated to\nthem by certain itinerant preachers, it should be worse for them in the\nday of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah; two cities which God had\ndestroyed because he had not so organized them, and circumstanced them,\nas to make them as virtuous as he, subsequently to their creation,\ndesired.\n\n1277. Christ fully justified this opinion, when he alleged himself\nto have come as a _sword, not as a messenger of peace_, and to set\nfather and son, mother and daughter, &c., at variance with each other,\nmaking the people of a man\u2019s own household his foes. It may be said\nthat he identified himself with piety and rectitude; so that it was\nfor the virtue of which he, as the Son or missionary of God, was the\nrepresentative, that he plead; but this pious devotion has much more of\nself in it than people imagine. They identify God or Christ with the\nwelfare of their souls and bodies. It is through the hope of benefit to\nthese that they take such a deep interest in God.\n\n1278. But is it not strange that the Christian religion should be\ntreated as a harbinger of peace and harmony, when, with its entrance\ninto the world, came the intolerance, before confined to Judea, and\nwhen by its founder it is represented as a sword, to sever the dearest\nties by introducing the poisoning idea that belief could be a virtue or\na sin? It seems to have been the cause of a peculiar animosity which\nhas always accompanied its progress, if not its endurance, and which\nset the example to Mohammed of attaching the same fanatical idea to\nanother basis, comporting with his individual aggrandizement, at the\nexpense of much human misery.\n\n1279. The language of Christ held to his apostles, showing that he\nconsidered them as thirsting for temporal honours, and his aspiration\nfor the _throne_ of his _glory_, situated, of course, in the same\nmundane region, may warrant the surmise that his views did not differ\nfrom those of Mohammed as to the ultimate object, however much he may\nhave found it necessary, under the Roman despotism, to fight with the\ntongue instead of the sword.\n\n1280. But how can this sentiment be justified in which he makes\ndevotion to himself irreconcilable with the holy ties between the\nchild and his parents, or the parents and their children? The God of\nSpiritualism would view parental and filial love as the truest piety.\nHe asks only that love. He has not constituted us to have that sort of\nlove for him. Had he wished it, he would have made us so, as to be thus\nactuated.\n\n1281. \u201cHe that believeth in me shall have eternal life.\u201d \u201cThy faith\nhath made thee whole.\u201d These allegations produced a change in the\nworld at large. That bigotry and animosity which led the Jews to\nconsider that all who did not agree with them in creed, were objects\nof spoliation, massacre, rape, enslavement, were now extended to other\nparts of the world.\n\n1282. No doubt the success of this exclusive notion, on the part of\nChrist, led to its adoption by Mohammed, and thus some hundred millions\nhave been actuated by this mischievous impression, which is now at work\non the Russian territory. It has been already suggested that this idea\nalways begets persecution to the extent of the power to exercise it.\nWhile seeing the horrid consequences of this error in the persecution\nof the French Calvinists, Calvin could not avoid the diabolic impulse\nin the instance of Servetus. It cannot be necessary to recall to our\nreaders the many bloody persecutions and religious wars which have\ndisgraced Christendom far more than any other part of the globe, nor\nto allude to the tyranny reciprocally employed by any sect having\ncomplete ascendancy. Yet with these consequences before the mind\u2014the\nfacts which I have adduced to prove that the morality of Christendom\nis not due to Scripture\u2014the tocsin is sounded wherever any effort is\nmade to get rid of the crimes and indecencies of the Old Testament, or\nthe error of making bigoted belief, under the name of faith, a primary\nconsideration on the part of the New Testament. People are taught that\nevery thing good is due to Scripture; that thence alone can we get any\ncorrect notions of morality, any knowledge of a future state. The idea\nis entertained that Christianity made a great change for the better as\nsoon as it prevailed, and that without it we should sink into a state\nof demoralization.\n\n1283. Consistently with my experience of the effect of a confident\nbelief in a future state of existence on my own mind, as already\nsuggested, I was always under the impression, prior to my conversion,\nthat those who believed in a future state must be happier; and if\nthat belief were not associated with mischievous error, that it\nshould not be assailed. The idea that what I considered as bigotry,\nshould be a counterpoise for sin, I did consider a mischievous error,\ntending to substitute devotion for good works, and as I saw, too,\nmade nations selfish. The love of hoarding was very commonly coupled\nwith this selfishness, which operated at once to produce efforts to\nlay up treasure on earth by close dealing, and in heaven by strict\nsectarianism, bigotry, and intolerance. But, nevertheless, I was\nrestrained from any effort to cure these errors, from the conviction\nthat religion, unaccompanied by the expectation of a future state, can\nnever take hold of the human heart.\n\n1284. In a dialogue between the spirit of Wm. Penn and that of Thos.\nPaine, the former points out this error: \u201cYou strove to take from\nyour readers one of their greatest comforts under the afflictions of\nmortal life.\u201d _Foreseeing this_ would have prevented me from writing\nthe Age of Reason. Any set of skeptics who should only coincide in\ndisbelieving, could never adhere together nor make many converts. The\nprospect of future life must be promised confidently, or there would be\nfew proselytes.\n\n1285. But the spiritual manifestations, and the intellectual, the\nheartfelt intercommunion with my relatives, friends, and the immortal,\ngreat, and good Washington, now enable me to assert that there is not,\nnor can be upon any record of the past, any evidence so complete,\nas that presented to my senses, concurrently with a multitude of\nobservers. I now, therefore, feel myself warranted to speak out what my\nreason justifies and my conscience dictates; and have not hesitated to\nexpress the opinions which are spread out upon the pages immediately\npreceding that which contains this exposition.\n\n1286. With a view to show how much more happy was the state of\nreciprocal sectarian feeling in the world before this idea of making\nbelief an object of vital importance, I will quote here, first a\npassage from Mosheim\u2019s Ecclesiastical History, vol. i., and will\nsubjoin some pages from \u201cGibbon\u2019s Decline and Fall of the Roman\nEmpire;\u201d following these up with quotations from Bishop Hopkins, of\nVermont:\n\n\n                       _Quotation from Mosheim._\n\n1287. \u201cEach nation suffered its neighbours to follow their own method\nof worship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and\nceremonies, and discovered no displeasure at their diversity of\nsentiments in religious matters. They all looked upon the world as one\ngreat empire, divided into various provinces, over every one of which a\ncertain order of divinities presided, and that, therefore, none could\nbehold with contempt the gods of other nations, or force strangers to\npay homage to theirs.\n\n1288. \u201cThe Romans exercised this toleration in the amplest manner.\nAs the sources from which all men\u2019s ideas are derived are the same,\nnamely, from their senses, there being no other inlet to the mind\nbut thereby, there is nothing wonderful in the general prevalence of\na sameness of the ideas of human beings in all regions and all ages\nof the world. The affections of fear, grief, pain, hope, pleasure,\ngratitude, &c., are as common to man as his nature as a man, and could\nnot fail to produce a corresponding similarity in the objects of his\nsuperstitious veneration. To have nothing in common with the already\nestablished notions of mankind, to bear no features of resemblance to\ntheir hallucinations and follies, to be nothing like them, to be to\nnothing so unlike, should be the essential predications and _necessary_\ncredentials of the \u2018wisdom which is from above.\u2019\n\n1289. \u201cIt has, however, been alleged by learned men, with convincing\narguments of probability, \u2018that the principal deities of all the\nGentile nations resembled each other extremely, in their essential\ncharacters; and if so, their receiving the same names could not\nintroduce much confusion into mythology, since they were probably\nderived from one common source. If the _Thor_ of the ancient Celts\nwas the same in dignity, character, and attributes with the _Jupiter_\nof the Greeks and Romans, where was the impropriety of giving him the\nsame name? _Dies Jovis_ is still the Latin form for our Thor\u2019s day.\nWhen the Greeks found in other countries deities that resembled their\nown, they persuaded the worshippers of those foreign gods that their\ndeities were the same that were honoured in Greece, and were, indeed,\nthemselves convinced that this was the case. In consequence of this,\nthe Greeks gave the names of their gods to those of other nations, and\nthe Romans in this followed their example. Hence we find the names of\nJupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, &c. frequently mentioned in the more\nrecent monuments and inscriptions which have been found among the Gauls\nand Germans, though the ancient inhabitants of those countries had\nworshipped no gods under such denominations.\u201d\n\n\n                       _Quotation from Gibbon._\n\n1290. \u201cThe policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it\nconcerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the\nenlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their\nsubjects. The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman\nworld were all considered by the people as equally true; by the\nphilosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally\nuseful. And thus toleration produced, not only mutual indulgence, but\neven religious concord.\n\n1291. \u201cThe superstition of the people was not imbittered by any\nmixture of theological rancour; nor was it confined by the chains of\nany speculative system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached\nto his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different\nreligions of the earth. Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or\nan omen, a singular disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually\ndisposed him to multiply the articles of his belief, and to enlarge\nthe list of his protectors. The thin texture of the pagan mythology\nwas interwoven with various, but not discordant, materials. As soon as\nit was allowed that sages and heroes, who had lived, or who had died,\nfor the benefit of their country, were exalted to a state of power and\nimmortality, it was universally confessed that they deserved, if not\nthe adoration, at least the reverence, of all mankind. The deities of\na thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in peace, their\nlocal and respected influence; nor could the Roman, who deprecated the\nwrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering\nto the beneficent genius of the Nile. The visible powers of nature,\nthe planets, and the elements, were the same throughout the universe\nThe invisible governors of the moral world were inevitably cast in a\nsimilar mould of fiction and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice,\nacquired its divine representative; every art and profession its\npatron, whose attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were\nuniformly derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. A\nrepublic of gods of such opposite tempers and interests required, in\nevery system, the moderating hand of a supreme magistrate, who, by the\nprogress of knowledge and flattery, was gradually invested with the\nsublime perfections of an Eternal Parent, and an omnipotent Monarch.\nSuch was the mild spirit of antiquity, that the nations were less\nattentive to the difference than to the resemblance of their religious\nworship. The Greek, the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before\ntheir respective altars, easily persuaded themselves that under various\nnames, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same deities. The\nelegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful and almost regular form to\nthe polytheism of the ancient world.\n\n1292. \u201cThe philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature\nof man rather than from that of God. They meditated, however, on the\nDivine Nature as a very curious and important speculation, and in\nthe profound inquiry they displayed the strength and weakness of the\nhuman understanding. Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics\nand the Platonists endeavoured to reconcile the jarring interests of\nreason and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of the\nexistence and perfections of the first cause, but as it was impossible\nfor them to conceive the creation of matter, the workmen in the Stoic\nphilosophy was not sufficiently distinguished from the work, while, on\nthe contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his disciples resembled\nan idea rather than a substance. The opinions of the Academics and\nEpicureans were of a less religious cast; but while the modest science\nof the former induced them to doubt, the positive ignorance of the\nlatter urged them to deny the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The\nspirit of inquiry, prompted by emulation and supported by freedom, has\ndivided the public teachers of philosophy into a variety of contending\nsects; but the ingenuous youth who, from every part, resorted to\nAthens and the other seats of learning in the Roman empire, were alike\ninstructed in every school to reject and to despise the religion\nof the multitude. How, indeed, was it possible that a philosopher\nshould accept, as divine truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the\nincoherent traditions of antiquity, or that he should adore as gods\nthose imperfect beings whom he must have despised as men! Against such\nunworthy adversaries Cicero condescended to employ the arms of reason\nand eloquence, but the satire of Lucian was a much more adequate as\nwell as more efficacious weapon. We may be well assured that a writer\nconversant with the world would never have ventured to expose the\ngods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already been the\nobjects of secret contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of\nsociety.\n\n1293. \u201cNotwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed\nin the age of the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and\nthe credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In their\nwritings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity asserted the\nindependent dignity of reason, but they resigned their actions to\nthe commands of law and of custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and\nindulgence, the various errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised\nthe ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of\nthe gods, and sometimes condescending to act a part on the theatre of\nsuperstition, they concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the\nsacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined to\nwrangle about their respective modes of faith or of worship. It was\nindifferent to them what shape the folly of the multitude might choose\nto assume; and they approached with the same inward contempt, and the\nsame external reverence, the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, or the\nCapitoline Jupiter.\n\n1294. \u201cIt is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of\npersecution could induce itself into the Roman councils. The\nmagistrates could not be actuated by a blind though honest bigotry,\nsince the magistrates were themselves philosophers, and the schools\nof Athens had given laws to the senate. They could not be impelled\nby ambition or avarice, as the temporal and ecclesiastical powers\nwere united in the same hands. The pontiffs were chosen among the\nmost illustrious of the senators, and the office of Supreme Pontiff\nwas constantly exercised by the emperors themselves. They knew and\nvalued the advantages of religion, as it is connected with civil\ngovernment. They encouraged the public festivals which humanize the\nmanners of the people. They managed the arts of divination, as a\nconvenient instrument of policy, and they respected as the firmest\nbond of society the useful persuasion that, either in this or a future\nlife, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by the avenging\ngods? But while they acknowledged the general advantages of religion,\nthey were convinced that the various modes of worship contributed\nalike to the same salutary purposes, and that, in every country, the\nform of superstition which had received the sanction of time and\nexperience was the best adapted to the climate and to its inhabitants.\nAvarice and taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations\nof the elegant statues of their gods and the rich ornaments of their\ntemples, but in the exercise of the religion which they derived from\ntheir ancestors, they uniformly experienced the indulgence, and even\nprotection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of Gaul seems, and\nindeed only seems, an exception to this universal toleration. Under the\nspecious pretext of abolishing human sacrifices, the Emperors Tiberius\nand Claudius suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids; but the\npriests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in peaceful\nobscurity till the final destruction of paganism.\n\n1295. \u201cRome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled\nwith subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all\nintroduced and enjoyed the favourite superstitions of their native\ncountry. Every city in the empire was justified in maintaining the\npurity of its ancient ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the\ncommon privilege, sometimes interposed to check this inundation of\nforeign rites. The Egyptian superstition, of all the most contemptible\nand abject, was frequently prohibited; the temples of Serapis and Isis\ndemolished, and their worshippers banished from Rome and Italy. But\nthe zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of\npolicy. The exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the temples\nwere restored with increasing splendour, and Isis and Serapis at length\nassumed their place among the Roman deities. Nor was this indulgence\na departure from the old maxims of government. In the purest ages of\nthe commonwealth, Cybele and \u00c6sculapius had been invited by solemn\nembassies, and it was customary to tempt the protectors of besieged\ncities by the promise of more distinguished honours than they possessed\nin their native country. Rome gradually became the common temple of her\nsubjects, and the freedom of the city was bestowed on all the gods of\nmankind.\u201d\n\n\n _For more than a thousand years the Grecian or Roman Catholic Clergy\n were the sole depositories of the word of God, so called, and\n Regulators of Religious morals; yet during that time the Clergy were\n for the most part pre-eminent in vice, as compared with the rest of\n the community; whence it is inferred that, like Pope Boniface, the\n wicked Clergy in general were really unbelievers in the truth of the\n Gospel. If the morals of the modern Clergy are better, it is neither\n from the barbarous example furnished them in the Old Testament, nor\n the ultra precepts of the Gospel; being too much enlightened to be\n governed in practice by either._\n\n 1296. \u201cORIGEN complains of the neglect and inattention of his day,\n through the increase of worldliness. Cyprian about the same time\n mourns over the progress of degeneracy, and Eusebius, toward the close\n of the third century, laments the corruption of the primitive morality\n in strong terms of censure.\n\n 1297. \u201cBut yet superstition was rapidly advancing, and the complaints\n of priestly corruption and general licentiousness were on the\n increase. The election of Pope Damasus was the occasion of a public\n riot, in which his partisans besieged the church where the friends\n of the other candidate were assembled, broke down the doors, and\n uncovered the roof; and in the shameful battle that ensued, one\n hundred and thirty-seven persons were slain, of both sexes. The\n splendour of the Roman bishops had grown so rapidly, that the heathen\n historian Ammianus Marcellinus pronounced the episcopal style of\n living to be superior to that of a king. Toward the close of the\n fourth century, Chrysostom defended the new system of monkery, on the\n ground that Christians had become so corrupt, especially in the large\n cities. Jerome before him had bitterly complained of the prevailing\n degeneracy, and became a monk in order to escape from it. St.\n Augustine lamented that many Christians in his day (about A. D. 389)\n were superstitious, that they adored the sepulchres and pictures of\n the saints, and ate and drank to excess at funerals, under the excuse\n that it was an act of religion.\n\n 1298. \u201cThe fifth century was not likely to improve the state of the\n church, but on the contrary it witnessed a rapid deterioration. The\n testimony of Salvian is set forth by Fleury, proving that among the\n Roman Christians there was much heathen idolatry remaining; that\n the greater part were only Christians in name, and worse than the\n barbarians in life and conversation.\n\n 1299. In the sixth century, toward the close, we see Pope Gregory the\n Great attributing all the public calamities to the ambition of the\n bishops, who concealed the teeth of wolves under the face of sheep.\n\n 1300. \u201cThe seventh century. We begin to see the fruits of clerical\n celibacy in the rule established by the council of Toledo, that the\n illegitimate children of the clergy, from the bishop down to the\n sub-deacon, should be slaves in the church where their fathers served.\n It is to be presumed that this canon was intended to discourage\n and amend the incontinence of the clergy, but the adoption of such\n an extraordinary law proves plainly the prevalence of the evil. So\n general had the worldliness of the clergy become, that in the latter\n part of this century the most eminent bishops of France took great\n part in political matters, and in time of war marched at the head of\n their troops, like the lay barons.\n\n 1301. \u201cOne of the most important events of the eighth century was the\n forgery of the Decretals, by which all the primitive bishops of Rome,\n from Clement to Sylvester, were made to utter the most extravagant\n doctrines concerning the power of the pope, the supremacy of Rome, and\n the authority to judge the other bishops, while the pope himself could\n be judged by none. Yet such was the ignorance of the times, that this\n forgery was successful throughout the whole Latin Church, and remained\n unquestioned for eight hundred years together. Another strong proof of\n this prevailing ignorance is found in the course of the bishops at the\n second council of Nice, where pretended miracles performed by images\n were cited from false documents without any suspicion of mistake.\n\n 1302. \u201cThe parliament of Worms presented to the emperor a request from\n all the people that the bishops should no longer go out at the head of\n their troops, but should stay in their dioceses and assist the army\n by their prayers; and Charlemagne willingly granted the petition.\n But it is remarkable that this application came not from the clergy,\n but from the laity; and it was so little regarded afterward, that\n we shall find some warlike bishops even among the popes themselves.\n This same emperor endeavoured with great zeal to purify the morals\n of the clergy; and his reproofs of their worldliness, their avarice,\n and their prostitution of sacred things for the sake of gain, are\n remarkable monuments of his own good sense and of the corruption\n which infested the church in the ninth century. After his death,\n which occurred in A. D. 814, some churches invoked him as a saint,\n notwithstanding he had four wives and five concubines.\n\n 1303. \u201cThe year 844 was signalized by the introduction of false relics\n at Dijon in France, by which, nevertheless, several remarkable cures\n were supposed to have been effected, until the fraud was discovered;\n but the proceedings show that such impostures were common. In A. D.\n 850 a poor presbyter named Gotheschalk, who had adopted high views\n on predestination, was not only deposed from the priesthood, but\n afterward publicly whipped, as an incorrigible heretic, and cast into\n prison, where he died after eighteen years\u2019 confinement. Yet his\n doctrine was defended by other bishops of high reputation, and his\n punishment was denounced as cruel and unjust.\n\n 1304. \u201cIn A. D. 864, a violent outrage took place at Rome, in which\n Gonthier, the Archbishop of Cologne, protesting against the judgment\n of Pope Nicholas, told his brother Hildwin, who was a priest, to\n place his protestation on the tomb of Saint Peter: that is, upon the\n altar of the church. Accordingly, Hildwin entered into the church\n with several followers, all armed, and as the keepers opposed him,\n he repulsed them with blows, and killed one of them upon the spot.\n He then accomplished his purpose, and retreated sword in hand. The\n anecdote is only of importance as a proof of the spirit of the age.\n The first instance of a partial interdict occurs in A. D. 871.\n The ordeals of boiling water, cold water, and red-hot iron were\n employed in this age, to determine questions of justice under the\n auspices of the priests; and even kings employed them, with all\n faith and confidence. The Duke of Naples had formed an alliance\n with the Saracens, which the pope disproved; and as he refused to\n break it on the order of the pontiff, he was excommunicated. The\n Bishop Athanasius, who was the duke\u2019s own brother, took him and put\n out his eyes, sent him as prisoner to Rome, and caused himself to\n be proclaimed Duke of Naples in his place. The pope approved this\n conduct highly, and praised the bishop for loving God more than his\n brother, and putting out the right eye which had offended, according\n to Scripture. This pontiff was John VIII., and the time was A. D. 877.\n\n\n    _Reasons for not proceeding farther with Quotation of Details._\n\n1305. It would occupy too much space, and make too wide a digression,\nwere I to proceed in quoting the details of the evidence showing the\nstate of morals in Christendom during the Middle Ages to have been much\nbelow that which the heathen displayed during the period immediately\nsucceeding the advent of Christ, according to Mosheim and Gibbon. But\nalthough the reader should not be enabled to form an opinion directly,\nby a perusal of the details, fortunately I am enabled to submit that of\nthe right reverend prelate by whom they have been compiled.\n\n1306. The fact deserves attention, that for more than a thousand\nyears, of all the upper classes of society the Christian clergy were\npre-eminently wicked, frequent complaints having been made against\nthem by the laity, notwithstanding the cruel persecution to which\ncomplainants were liable. The popes were generally as prominent in\nwickedness as high in official distinction. The summing up of Bishop\nHopkins, which I subjoin, fully confirms the impression which I have\nendeavoured to convey:\n\n1307. \u201cI have now gone over the history of your church, with the\nsingle aim of proving, from your own records, the rise, progress, and\nterrible extent of its corruption, up to the close of the sixteenth\ncentury. Here we see that for a period of seven centuries together\nthere had been a constant outcry for reformation; that the popes and\npriesthood were the objects of continual complaint on the part of\nthe laity; that by their own acknowledgment, although the church was\nnever destitute of true Christians, yet holiness was the exception,\nand iniquity the rule, since the great body of the clergy were steeped\nin licentiousness, avarice, simony, cruelty, violence, falsehood, and\nblood; that the University of Paris, one of your most famous nurseries\nof theological education, was infested with an infidel philosophy, and\nwith habits of libertine sacrilege; that the boasts of absolute atheism\nwere heard from the lips of pontiffs and cardinals; that the reliance\nof your church was in the terrors of the inquisition, in the rack, the\ndungeon, and the stake; that war, and treachery, and assassination,\nwere patronized in the service of religion; that bishops, and\ncardinals, and popes, were ready to lead their troops to battle; that\nthere were constant revolts and rebellions against the tyranny of the\npriestly power; that there were many schisms in the papal kingdom, in\nwhich two or three pretenders to infallibility cursed each other at the\nsame time, in the name of God and his apostles; and that every effort\nto banish these horrible iniquities proved utterly abortive, until the\nsuccess of the Protestant reformation compelled them to respect public\nopinion, by fear for their very being if they continued to brave it any\nlonger.\u201d\n\n1308. It is believed that there was no such wickedness among the\npagan priesthood as to have become a cause of complaint, although\nfar less power existed to silence accusation. Throughout Christendom\neven monarchs were made to suffer severely for their remonstrances\nagainst papal tyranny, and had to make concessions after having been\nill-treated. By way of exemplifying his disrespect for those precepts\nof Christ which enjoin humility, meekness, and poorness of spirit as\nthe means of reaching heaven, Pope Celestin kicked the crown from\nthe head of the emperor, Henry VII., as this potentate knelt before\nhim. Could any sane man have done this while believing that Christ\u2019s\nallegations were to be verified, agreeably to which the \u201c_poor in\nspirit_\u201d are to have heaven, the meek to inherit the earth? (See\nHopkins.)\n\n1309. According to Taylor\u2019s Diegesis, Constantine inquired of Sopater,\nthe pagan priest, if he could absolve him from his sins, among which\nwas that of scalding one of his wives to death, and executing unjustly\none of his sons. Sopater informed him that it went beyond his power to\nobtain pardon for such sins. The Christian priests having agreed to\nprocure the desired absolution, is supposed to have been one of the\nprincipal motives which induced Constantine to embrace Christianity.\nYet it was under this wicked despot that the Council of Nice was held,\nwhich decided in favour of the divinity of Christ.\n\n1310. It is difficult to imagine that persons who actually believed\nin a future state of rewards and punishments, and who of course must\nhave been impressed with the comparative insignificance of any worldly\nenjoyments, would, for any earthly objects, have acted so much in\na way to doom their souls to perpetual torture. It may therefore\nbe inferred that the clerical papists who acted so wickedly were\nreligious hypocrites, like the Jewish Pharisees. I am strongly under\nthe impression that the imperfection of the proof of the truth of\nScriptures, in the first place, and the inadequate and disgusting\nrepresentations respecting the future world which they present, has\nalways been productive of secret unbelief, and consequent recklessness\nrespecting the dictates of religion or morality.\n\n1311. Of the manner in which the clergy of the present day reason\nthemselves into a belief, and expect to induce others to concur with\nthem, the parodied quotation from the clerical Goliah of my _would-be\nguide to heaven_ is an exemplification. It is only by _frowning down\nobjections_, or _begging the question_, that they can get on. (1182.)\n\n1312. Said one among the most amiable of my clerical friends to me,\nwhen I adverted to the improbability that the Deity of this almost\ninfinite universe would select a few human animalcules in Judea as\nhis especial favourites: \u201cDr. Hare, you must not expect me to sit by\npatiently, and see the pillars of my profession assailed.\u201d I am sorry,\nsaid I, if I have said any thing to give you pain. \u201cHow would you like\nthe pillars of your science to be attacked?\u201d I would defend them, not\nendeavour to silence the assailant! But all criticisms which lead to\nthe cure of errors only benefit a science founded on truth.\n\n1313. The skepticism produced by reading the Bible is alleged, by\nArchbishop Hughes, as the motive of his church for forbidding the\nreading of it to the faithful. It was the reading of the Bible, when a\nminor, which led to my unbelief in its authenticity. Bible societies\nmay, without intending it, do much to prepare the reasoning portion\nof mankind for the adoption of a more moral, consistent, and rational\ngospel.\n\n1314. That one pope at least was a materialist, the following quotation\nfrom Bishop Hopkins\u2019s work will prove.\n\n 1315. \u201cThe year 1308 was marked by the resolution of Pope Clement V.\n to take up his residence at Avignon. Two years afterward, he appointed\n three cardinals to examine the witnesses against the former pope,\n Boniface VIII., and Cardinal Cajetan; and the testimony taken on the\n occasion proved them both to have been downright atheists. It was in\n substance as follows:\n\n 1316. \u201cNicholas, a priest and canon of the cathedral, &c., on oath,\n said, that being at Naples, under the pontificate of Celestin V., viz.\n A. D. 1274, in the house of Marin Sichinulfe, where Cardinal Benedict\n Cajetan dwelt, he entered the chamber of the cardinal in the suite of\n the Bishop of Fricenti, and found there a clerk disputing with him,\n in presence of several persons, upon the questions, which was the\n best law or religion, that of the Christians, of the Jews, or of the\n Saracens? and who those were that best observed their own? Then the\n cardinal said, What are all these religions? They are the inventions\n of men. We need not put ourselves to any trouble, except for this\n world, since there is no other life but the present. He said also, on\n the same occasion, that this world has had no beginning, and would not\n have an end. Nicholas, Abbot of St. Benedict, &c., deposed to the same\n fact, adding that the Cardinal Cajetan had said that the bread was not\n changed in the sacrament of the altar, and that it was false that it\n was the body of Jesus Christ; that there is no resurrection; that the\n soul dies with the body; that this was his opinion and that of all\n men of letters, but that the simple and ignorant thought otherwise.\n The witness being asked if the cardinal did not thus speak jestingly,\n replied that he said these things seriously and in good faith.\n\n 1317. \u201cManfred, a lay citizen of Lucca, said, that in the year 1300,\n before Christmas, being in the chamber of Pope Boniface, in presence\n of the ambassadors of Florence, of Boulogne, and of Lucca, and many\n other persons, a man, who appeared to be the Pope\u2019s chaplain, told\n his holiness of the death of a certain knight who had been a wicked\n man, and therefore it was necessary to pray for him, that Jesus Christ\n might have pity on his soul. Upon which Boniface treated him as if he\n were a fool; and after having spoken injuriously of Jesus Christ, he\n added: This knight has already received all the good and evil he can\n have, and there is no other life than this, nor any other paradise\n or hell than what is in this world. The witness testified to another\n discourse of Boniface, which modesty does not allow of our reporting;\n and another witness recited a story about him still more impious than\n the foregoing.\n\n 1318. \u201c\u2018What remains of this information,\u2019 says Fleury, \u2018comprehends\n the depositions of thirteen witnesses, all to a similar effect.\n Another information which appeared the following year contained the\n evidence of twenty-three witnesses to the same facts, with others\n equally scandalous. But as the affair was never brought to judgment,\n it is superfluous to enter into any further details.\u2019\n\n 1319. \u201cNow here is a very extraordinary and powerful evidence to prove\n that at least one pope, and he a very distinguished one, Boniface\n VIII., and one cardinal, of high reputation, were not only infidels\n themselves, but claimed to be of the same class with \u2018_all men of\n letters_.\u2019 That the testimony was satisfactory seems incontrovertible;\n because the witnesses were thirty-six in number, unimpeached in\n character, and thought sufficient by Philip the Fair, King of France,\n and all his leading nobility. He proposed that Boniface should be\n arraigned, though dead, for heresy, and that his bones should be\n disinterred and burned, according to the modern fashion established by\n the Roman Church. It may seem strange, however, that even if Boniface\n and Cajetan had held such sentiments, they should have been so foolish\n as to utter them in the presence of so many. To this two answers\n may be given. First, that the influence of the philosophy which we\n have already noted in the University of Paris was so prevalent, that\n the clergy and the upper ranks of the laity were generally infected\n with it, and religion was looked upon, by nearly all, as a thing of\n policy, necessary to keep the vulgar in order, but only professed\n by the higher classes, as it was in heathen Rome, \u2018for the sake of\n appearances.\u2019 Unhappily, there are many proofs too strong to be\n doubted that this infidel philosophy was rife among the priesthood;\n and perhaps there is no other way of accounting for the manifest fact\n that the church, like the state, was governed for so many ages by the\n machinery of force and fear, as if there was no inward conscience to\n appeal to, except among a few pious souls, here and there\u2014enough to\n perpetuate the church, according to the promise of Christ, but not\n enough to affect the general sentiment.\u201d\n\n\n _Any religion, like that of Moses, which does not make Immortality a\n  primary consideration, must be chiefly confined to worldly objects,\n         and of course unworthy of consideration or respect._\n\n1320. While the silence of the Pentateuch respecting immortality throws\nthe authority of the \u201cword of God,\u201d so called, against the endowment\nof the human soul with that all-important attribute, the language of\nthe decalogue is inconsistent with the unity of the divine power. The\nwords, \u201c_Thou shalt have no other gods before me_,\u201d implies that there\nwere other gods who might be acknowledged; since if there were none\nother, the proper words would be\u2014Thou _canst_ have no other God but me,\nor\u2014There _is no other God_ but me.\n\n1321. Again, when Jehovah alleges himself to be jealous, of whom could\nhe be jealous, if there was no other God to excite the sentiment of\njealousy? Can any one conceive God to be jealous of an idol, when\nhe must perceive that whatever worship may be bestowed on idols, is\nactually intended for the true God? (1245, 1246.) Could Adam have been\njealous when there was no other man in existence to be jealous of?\n\n1322. In the Introduction the ends to be answered by religion were\nstated, (page 18.) Several of the foregoing pages have been designed\nto show that Scripture does not fulfil these objects, being almost\nsilent as respects immortality, using doubtful language respecting the\nunity of the divine power. Moreover, Jehovah is described as wrathful,\njealous, and vindictive; as sanctioning the massacre, spoliation, and\nextirpation of neighbouring nations.[26] The fruits of the religion of\nMoses were two sects, of whom one did not believe in a future state of\nrewards and punishments; the other, although professing such a belief,\n(according to the barbarous idea of Josephus,) were not as moral as\nthe unbelievers, (750, 1098.) Moreover, as respects the New Testament,\nthe precepts on which it laid the most stress, those against pecuniary\ncupidity and resistance of wrong, have been not only neglected, but\nacted upon inversely; so that rapacity and aggression have been the\npredominant features of the conduct of Christians, unworthily so\ncalled, toward each other, but especially toward those who have been\nof a different religious belief. In one trait, however, the words of\nChrist, already cited, have been fully carried out: \u201cI come as a\nsword.\u201d[27]\n\n1323. It may be seen from the passages quoted, that prior to the\npromulgation of Christianity, people of various religious sects were\nwilling to live in harmony; but that after its promulgation there was\nmuch discord, and that those who should have been especially influenced\nby Christianity (the priesthood) were the foremost in vice!\n\n1324. It is conceived that either on the one side the evidence of\nChristianity could not have gone home to the soul of those who so\ngrossly violated its monitions, or that the rewards held out by it had\nnot been presented under an aspect sufficiently inviting to counteract\nthe fleeting allurements of this temporal world. It is conceived that\nScripture is from beginning to end, from the Pentateuch to the Gospel\nof John, too worldly, as first exhibited in the promise of _lands_\nto the Jews, and lastly of _judgeships_ to the apostles. The Old\nTestament, of necessity, can treat of nothing but worldliness, since\nthere is throughout scarcely any reference to heaven; and some of the\nPsalms would accord better with the curses of a devil, than with the\nprayers of a sincere Christian. The cix. Psalm contains this language:\n\n 1325. \u201cWhen he shall be judged, let him be condemned; and let his\n prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his\n office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let\n his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their\n bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch\n all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there\n be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour\n his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the\n generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity\n of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of\n his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually,\n that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that\n he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy\n man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing,\n so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it\n be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his\n garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil unto\n his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and\n for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the\n reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil\n against my soul.\u201d\n\n1326. Under these circumstances, wherefore should there be any alarm\nfor the consequences of replacing belief in Scripture by belief in\nSpiritualism, if the evidence of this be, as we think, vastly more\nreliable, and the morality far more consistent with that followed in\npractice by great and good men of ancient and modern times.\n\n1327. Moreover, the basis of probation, upon which the morality of\nScripture is built, is manifestly a _castle in the air_, since it\ninvolves this contradiction, that an omnipotent, omniscient, and\nprescient Deity, who can make his creatures what he wishes them to be,\nand must know what they are, has to resort to trial to learn that which\nhe knows before the process is undertaken, as well as he can possibly\nafter its accomplishment. This demonstration alone overturns the whole\nprobationary superstructure existing in the minds of sectarians.\n\n1328. Meanwhile, the communications which I have submitted involve the\nidea of progression, and convey infinitely more knowledge of futurity\nthan the Old and New Testaments taken together.\n\n\n_People profess Christianity more from a desire to do right, than they\n            do right in consequence of their professions._\n\n1329. I am aware how much it is a part of the existing system of\neducation to imbue a confident faith in whatever tenets may be taught,\nand how little it is possible, in consequence, to have any arguments\nfairly considered which bear against the educational impressions. It\nmay be seen in the instance of the interesting lady to whom I owe the\nkind letter, (1163,) how much more anxious such persons are to teach\nthan to listen. She had, as she supposed, listened to an exposition\nof my views, of which the foundation had already been described in\na published letter, with an effort to compare the heaven and hell\nof Scripture with those of Spiritualism; yet in all confidence of\nvictory, this excellent creature brings me a letter written by one\nwhom she considers to have a first-rate intellect, and who begins by\nassuming what I most emphatically deny, and of which the argument is\njust as good for Mohammedanism as for Christianity, provided the Koran\nbe assumed as the word of God in lieu of the Bible, and Mohammed as\nthe vicegerent of God instead of Christ. This may be considered as\nthe argument of an eminent Episcopalian in favour of the truth of\nChristianity, while in those cited from Hughes and Breckinridge we\nhave the arguments of an eminent Romanist on one side, and an eminent\nCalvinist on the other. The one objects to the basis of \u201c_fallible_\u201d\nmen as the rule of faith; the other, to any inference derived from\na gospel by \u201c_fallible_\u201d men. Breckinridge does not recollect that\nthere is nothing more fallible than the traditions, compilations, and\ntranslations of fallible men, nor how skeptical all those who sustain\nthe truth of Scripture on this evidence, are of any other evidence of\nthe same kind which conflicts with Scripture.\n\n1330. If the reader will look at the letters of Amasa Holcomb and my\nreplies, (690,) he will see an exemplification of the difficulty in\nwhich many were placed, who had no other evidence of a future state\nbeside that afforded by Scripture. Let him apply to the human evidence\nof antiquity no less skepticism than is now applied to the human\nevidence of Spiritualists, and then estimate the weight of testimony in\nfavour of the Scriptures. Let him fairly consider the internal evidence\nagainst Scripture, as briefly sketched in this work or elsewhere, and\nthen say whether he can conscientiously condemn Mr. Holcomb or myself\nfor conscientiously disbelieving Scripture.\n\n1331. Let it be considered whether belief in Christianity is not at\nthe present time a consequence of morality, rather than its cause;\nwhether it is not, with ninety-nine in a hundred, the consequence of\nearly impressions, which have associated the Christian religion and\nmorals inseparably on the conscience; without, however, inducing in\nany one of the individuals thus influenced any idea that the precepts\nof Christ are to be carried out in practice. It would be manifestly\npreposterous to look for this where the clergy, who were the teachers,\ndid not practically obey the precepts, but went ahead in the race of\niniquity, whichever way the current might lead, and almost everywhere\nas desirous of wealth, and power, and worldly distinction as other men.\nThe imperfection of the evidence of scriptural truth, on which the\nbelief in it rests, or that false moral sense derived from education,\nwhich makes the person affected just as tenacious of one creed as\nof another, whether it be Judaic, Christian, or Mohammedan, causes\nthe faith thus arising to yield whenever the moral sense is impaired\non which it rests. Not being supported by reason, as soon as the\neducational conscientiousness on which it was founded is blunted, any\nfaith built upon it forms no barrier. The individual perceives that\nhis opinions were not formed by himself, but imparted, and would have\nbeen different, had he been born of different parents. Thus faith rests\nupon morality, not morality upon faith; and when morality goes, faith\nceases to be a barrier. But meanwhile those who abandon morality,\nfind in their educational impressions one which is a salvo to them,\nhowever sinful. They find that Christ died for those who believe in his\ndivinity or in his divine mission, and of course, that by closing their\nears and eyes to all evidence or argument impeaching Christianity, and\ncontinuing to cherish the early impressions made by their teachers,\nthey may be redeemed from future punishment; whereas, as Dr. Berg\nalleged in his debate with Barker, \u201c_A sinner cannot be saved out of\nChrist_.\u201d\n\n1332. But one consequence of this interested, bigoted belief is, that\nanimosity which, it was foretold by Christ, would cause such horrible\ndiscord, and would make his advent equivalent to a severing of all\nthe dearest ties between relatives and friends, the superior and his\nsubordinates. As at this time any idea of a religion would be scouted\nwith indignation which should not make a future state of rewards and\npunishments the primary object, it is inconceivable to me wherefore the\nOld Testament should be an object of veneration to those whose thoughts\nare _heavenward_. How could there be any thing but worldliness where\nnothing but the things of the world were objects of desire\u2014no heaven\nbeyond.\n\n1333. From what has been urged, is it not manifest that, in the first\nplace, it is of great importance that the evidence of a future state\nshould be placed on a firmer footing than on recorded and translated\ntraditions, or on the decretals of a most profligate priesthood?\nWould it not be one of the greatest imaginable blessings that those\nwho have not the consolation of believing in immortality, should have\nthat consolation, and those who already believe in a future state of\nexistence, should have a better knowledge of that state, than that\ngiven by Josephus, sanctioned by Christ, even as collated by the pious\nand learned clergyman, Dr. Harbaugh? (750.)\n\n1334. If Christ had nothing but the vicinity of the fire prepared for\nthe devil and his angels, agreeably to Josephus, and his story of Dives\nand Lazarus, or imaginary worldly appointments, or lying in the grave\ntill the _last day_,\u2014if these are all the grounds that Christians have\nhad to build upon as respects future happiness, is it to be wondered\nat that the priesthood of the Middle Ages, who best knew the defect of\ngospel evidence, how little they themselves were to be trusted, and how\nillusory was the promise made to the apostles of judgeships, (743,)\nshould, of all others in society, be the least restrained by fear of\nfuture punishment?\n\n\n  _It is a calumny against human nature to represent men as wilfully\n                    ignorant of the true religion._\n\n1335. A prevalent calumny against human nature has been, that men\nremain wilfully reckless as respects religious truth; or that they\nremain in error designedly, and not because they mistake it for truth.\nBut it is notorious, that as respects the laws of man, those who make\nit their business to violate them take great care to make themselves\nacquainted with the laws which it is their object to break. None but\nan idiot would expect the law to be less severe in proportion as he\nshould keep himself ignorant of its provisions. No banditti in the\nRussian empire would expect the less to go to Siberia because they\nshould deny the reigning czar to be the sovereign. They would not\nexpect to escape his power by enthroning a _pretended_ czar, and paying\nhim honour. Such conduct would be too absurd, even for fools to pursue;\nyet it is upon such erroneous views that three thousand Israelites were\nsurprised and assassinated for worshipping the golden calf; and that\neminent clergymen do not consider it as blasphemy against the paternal\nGod, described by Seneca (1224) to represent him as sanctioning this\nhorrible butchery.[28]\n\n1336. The truth is, the selfishness of the worst men makes it quite as\nmuch an object with them, as with good men, to know to what punishments\nthey may become liable, or what advantages they will be entitled to\nhereafter. Self-interest makes every man anxious to know that which\ndeeply affects his future existence. Is there any one who would not\nwish to learn whether his soul is to rot in the coffin with its fleshy\ninteguments, or to have another and eternal existence, happy or\nwretched according to his deportment in this world?[29]\n\n1337. Those who really wish to serve the cause of true religion,\nand human welfare here and hereafter, should not expect that harsh\nwords or measures will promote these objects. If, from want of due\nconsideration, they uphold that which is repulsive to the human heart\nand understanding, and turn a deaf ear to facts and reasoning, which\nwould produce a more beneficial issue, they will really be amenable to\nthe blame which they so unjustly lavish upon those whom they calumniate\nas \u201c_Infidels_,\u201d while they themselves are really infidels to their\nprofessed principles. The Bible itself made me an unbeliever in its\nauthenticity, and makes unbelievers of many who read it attentively and\nfearlessly, after their reason is matured.\n\n1338. Nothing could serve the cause of true religion and true morality\nmore than a belief in a future state of reward and punishment, without\nhaving that book made an appendage to the instruction.\n\n\n _To appreciate the Jewish representation of the Deity, a reader should\n first form an idea of this planet and its inhabitants, comparatively\n with the hundred millions of solar systems, and the inconceivable\n extent of the space which encompasses them, which fall within the\n domain of one common Deity._\n\n1339. In order to form an idea of the Deity, we must consider the\nextent of the universe over which he rules, and the magnificence and\nmultiplicity of the bodies which it comprises. Alpha Centauri, a star\nof the Centaur, a constellation in the southern hemisphere, is the\nnearest of the fixed stars; it nevertheless is nearly twenty thousand\nmillion of miles from the earth. Light, flying at the rate of two\nhundred thousand miles in a second, to come from that star, would take\nthree years and three months to reach the earth.\n\n1340. A star in the constellation of the Swan, known as \u201c61 Cygni,\u201d is\nanother among the few whose distance is sufficiently small to allow it\nto be measured. This is nearly three times as far as Alpha Centauri;\nso that it would take light nine years to come from \u201c61 Cygni\u201d to the\nearth. This star appears single to the naked eye, but, seen through a\ntelescope, appears like two stars, which according to Mitchell, are six\nthousand millions of miles apart.\n\n1341. But the stars which enter into the nebula of Orion are so\nremote, that light, to come from one of them, would require ninety-two\nthousand years. Suppose an imaginary right line to be extended from a\nstar in Orion so as to pass through the centre of this planet, and to\nreach a star on the other side as remote as that first mentioned; of\ncourse, the distance being doubled, it would require light twice the\ntime to perceive it, or one hundred and eighty-four thousand years.\nSuppose a spherical space of which that line forms a diameter, or we\nmay suppose a larger sphere, including all the nebula visible by the\nRosse telescope. It is estimated that there are in all not less than\none hundred millions of stars visible with the aid of that magnificent\ninstrument, each of which is a sun with its planets; so that we have\nreason to suppose that there are an hundred millions of solar systems.\nSome of the suns are, like Sirius, estimated to give sixty-three times\nas much light as our sun emits. Our planet is to Jupiter as one to\ntwelve hundred; to Saturn, as one to one thousand; to the sun, as\none to one million four hundred thousand. It is hardly to be seen by\nthe naked eye from Jupiter, and would be invisible to any human eye\nsituated upon any planet more remote than Jupiter. To the whole of the\nsidereal creation, it is as a globule of water in the ocean, and the\ninhabitants are as animalcules in that globule.\n\n1342. Having thus prepared his mind with a proper conception of\nthe vastness of the attributes of the Deity, and the degree of the\ncomparative importance of the human race in the divine mind, as it\nsurveys the whole creation, let the reader take up the book of Genesis,\nand compare the impressions which that alleged word of God would convey\nwith those which the preceding facts and considerations would induce.\nIt may be expedient that the reader, while under the sublime impression\nof the majesty and magnificence of the Deity, as displayed in his\nworks, should consider what evidence there is of any entity having\nthe relation to him of a female; and if it be irrational to suppose\na commensurate being of the other sex, let the reader consider how\nthis Supreme Deity could have a son? The existence of a son requiring\nboth a father and mother, it may be well to think how a male without\na female god could have a son. He may take into view the opinions\nof Newton, that God cannot be presumed to have organs. Doubtless it\nwill be perceived that this all-pervading, magnificent being cannot\nrequire eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a tongue to speak,\nor a mouth to eat, legs with which to walk, or arms with which to\nstrike. Of course he will not consider him as having a person made of\nthose organs, as in the instance of his creature, man. He will agree\nwith Newton, that it were absurd to ascribe even one person to God,\nand would be still more so to ascribe three persons. Again, if three\npersons be essential to God, he being eternal, the three persons must\nbe eternal, and of course neither can bear the relation of a son to the\nother; nor can the _coeval_ Holy Ghost proceed from two of the trio,\nforming the third person, who, by the premises, existed _before_ he\ncame into his _subsequent_ existence, as alleged by the contradictory\nconclusion. If the individuals composing the Godhead have any distinct\nwill or reason, the admission of the trinity amounts to polytheism;\nand if they have not severally independent natures and reason, then\nthe association of the idea of three persons is useless. Is it not\nidolatrous thus to associate with the Deity effete masses of spiritual\nmatter, under the name of _persons_, and worship the imaginary\nmonster thus created as the true God? Still more, is it not monstrous\nto represent that those who cannot adore this imaginary idol, are\n_wilfully_ incredulous?\n\n1343. I have said that the account of the creation, given in the\nPentateuch, is inconsistent with geological facts. Much sophistry has\nbeen employed to escape from this truth. Thus eminent geologists have\nstriven to reconcile the alleged creation of the world in six days,\nto mean actually six eras, each of immense duration; yet Scripture\nrepresenting that the day succeeding those so employed, should be kept\nholy as a Sabbath, and this being viewed in the Decalogue as a period\nof twenty-four hours, precludes the assignment of any longer duration\nto each of the six days, actually occupied by the Creator in performing\nhis great work.\n\n1344. To enable the reader to judge how far the facts ascertained\nby geological investigation, can be reconciled with the scriptural\naccount, I shall here quote them, as stated by Professor Hitchcock, in\nhis work entitled \u201cReligion of Geology,\u201d page 19. It should be known\nto the reader that this author is among those who assume the Bible to\nbe the word of God upon the same grounds as the clergyman, (1182.)\n\n1345. \u201cUnder these circumstances, all that I can do, is to state\ndefinitely what I apprehend to be the established principles of the\nscience that have a bearing upon religious truth, and refer my hearers\nto standard works on the subject for the proof that they are true. If\nany will not take the trouble to examine the proofs, I trust they will\nhave candour and impartiality enough not to deny my positions.\n\n1346. \u201cThe first important conclusion to which every careful observer\nwill come is, that the rocks of all sorts which compose the present\ncrust of the globe, so far as it has been explored, at least to the\ndepth of several miles, appear to have been the result of second\ncauses; that is, they are now in a different state from that in which\nthey were originally created.\n\n1347. \u201cIt is, indeed, a favourite idea with some, that all the rocks\nand their contents were created, just as we now meet them, in a moment\nof time; that the supposed remains of animals and plants, which many\nof them contain, and which occur in all states, from an animal or\nplant little changed, to a complete conversion into stone, were never\nreal animals and plants, but only resemblances; and that the marks of\nfusion and of the wearing of water, exhibited by the rocks, are not\nto be taken as evidences that they have undergone such processes, but\nonly that it has pleased God to give them that appearance; and that, in\nfact, it was as easy for God to create them just as they now are as in\nany other form.\n\n1348. \u201cIt is a presumption against such a supposition, that no men, who\nhave carefully examined rocks and organic remains, are its advocates.\nNot that they doubt the power of God to produce such effects, but\nthey deny the probability that he has exerted it in this manner; for\nthroughout nature, wherever they have an opportunity to witness her\noperations, they find that when substances appear to have undergone\nchanges, by means of secondary agencies, they have in fact undergone\nthem; and, therefore, the whole analogy of nature goes to prove that\nthe rocks have experienced great changes since their deposition. If\nrocks are an exception to the rest of nature,\u2014that is, if they are the\neffect of miraculous agency,\u2014there is no proof of it; and to admit it\nwithout proof is to destroy all grounds of analogical reasoning in\nnatural operations; in other words, it is to remove the entire basis of\nreasoning in physical science. Every reasonable man, therefore, who has\nexamined rocks, will admit that they have undergone important changes\nsince their original formation.\n\n1349. \u201cIn the second place, the same general laws appear to have always\nprevailed on the globe, and to have controlled the changes which have\ntaken place upon and within it. We come to no spot, in the history of\nthe rocks, in which a system different from that which now prevails\nappears to have existed. Great peculiarities in the structure of\nanimals and plants do indeed occur, as well as changes on a scale of\nmagnitude unknown at present; but this was only a wise adaptation to\npeculiar circumstances, and not an infringement of the general laws.\n\n1350. \u201cIn the third place, the geological changes which the earth has\nundergone, and is now undergoing, appear to have been the result of the\nsame agencies\u2014viz. heat and water.\n\n1351. \u201cFourthly. It is demonstrated that the present continents of the\nglobe, with perhaps the exception of some of their highest mountains,\nhave for a long period constituted the bottom of the ocean, and have\nbeen subsequently either elevated into their present position, or the\nwaters have been drained off from their surface. This is probably the\nmost important principle in geology; and though regarded with much\nskepticism by many, it is as satisfactorily proved as any principle of\nphysical science not resting on mathematical demonstration.\n\n1352. \u201cFifthly. The internal parts of the earth are found to possess\na very high temperature; nor can it be doubted that at least oceans\nof melted matter exist beneath the crust, and perhaps even all the\ndeep-seated interior is in a state of fusion.\n\n1353. \u201cSixthly. The fossiliferous rocks, or such as contain animals\nand plants, are not less than six or seven miles in perpendicular\nthickness, and are composed of hundreds of alternating layers of\ndifferent kinds, all of which appear to have been deposited, just as\nrocks are now forming, at the bottom of lakes and seas; and hence their\ndeposition must have occupied an immense period of time. Even if we\nadmit that this deposition went on in particular places much faster\nthan at present, a variety of facts forbid the supposition that this\nwas the general mode of their formation.\n\n1354. \u201cSeventhly. The remains of animals and plants found in the earth\nare not mingled confusedly together, but are found arranged, for the\nmost part, in as much order as the drawers of a well-regulated cabinet.\nIn general, they appear to have lived and died on or near the spots\nwhere they are now found; and as countless millions of these remains\nare often found piled together, so as to form almost entire mountains,\nthe periods requisite for their formation must have been immensely\nlong, as was taught in the preceding proposition.\n\n1355. \u201cEighthly. Still further confirmation of the same important\nprinciple is found in the well-established fact, that there have been\nupon the globe, previous to the existing races, not less than five\ndistinct periods of organized existence; that is, five great groups of\nanimals and plants, so completely independent that no species whatever\nis found in more than one of them, have lived and successively passed\naway before the creation of the races that now occupy the surface.\nOther standard writers make the number of these periods of existence\nas many as twelve. Comparative anatomy testifies that so unlike in\nstructure were these different groups, that they could not have\ncoexisted in the same climate and other external circumstances.\n\n1356. \u201cNinthly. In the earliest times in which animals and plants\nlived, the climate over the whole globe appears to have been as warm\nas, or even warmer than, it is now between the tropics. And the slow\nchange from warmer to colder appears to have been the chief cause of\nthe successive destruction of the different races; and new ones were\ncreated, better adapted to the altered condition of the globe; and\nyet each group seems to have occupied the globe through a period of\ngreat length; so that we have here another evidence of the vast cycles\nof duration that must have rolled away even since the earth became a\nhabitable globe.\n\n1357. \u201cTenthly. There is no small reason to suppose that the globe\nunderwent numerous changes previous to the time when animals were\nplaced upon it; that, in fact, the time was when the whole matter of\nthe earth was in a melted state, and not improbably also even in a\ngaseous state. These points, indeed, are not as well established as the\nothers that have been mentioned; but, if admitted, they give to the\nglobe an incalculable antiquity.\n\n1358. \u201cEleventhly. It appears that the present condition of the earth\u2019s\ncrust and surface was of comparatively recent commencement; otherwise\nthe steep flanks of mountains would have ceased to crumble down, and\nwide oceans would have been filled with alluvial deposits.\n\n1359. \u201cTwelfthly. Among the thirty thousand species of animals and\nplants found in the rocks,[30] very few living species have been\ndetected; and even these few occur in the most recent rocks, while\nin the secondary group, not less than six miles thick, not a single\nspecies now on the globe has been discovered. Hence the present races\ndid not exist till after those in the secondary rocks had died. No\nhuman remains have been found below those alluvial deposits which are\nnow forming by rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Hence geology infers that\nman was one of the latest animals that was placed on the globe.\n\n1360. \u201cThirteenthly. The surface of the earth has undergone an enormous\namount of erosion by the action of the ocean, the rivers, and the\natmosphere. The ocean has worn away the solid rock, in some parts of\nthe world, not less than ten thousand feet in depth, and rivers have\ncut channels through the hardest strata, hundreds of feet deep and\nseveral miles long; both of which effects demand periods inconceivably\nlong.\n\n1361. \u201cFourteenthly. At a comparatively recent date, northern and\nsouthern regions have been swept over and worn down by the joint action\nof ice and water, the force in general having been directed toward the\nequator. This is called the _drift_ period.\n\n1362. \u201cFifteenthly. Since the drift period, the ocean has stood some\nthousands of feet above its present level in many countries.\n\n1363. \u201cSixteenthly. There is evidence, in regard to some parts of\nthe world, that the continents are now experiencing slow vertical\nmovements\u2014some places sinking, and others rising. And hence a\npresumption is derived that, in early times, such changes may have been\noften repeated, and on a great scale.\n\n1364. \u201cSeventeenthly. Every successive change of importance on the\nearth\u2019s surface appears to have been an improvement of its condition,\nadapting it to beings of a higher organization, and to man at last, the\nmost perfect of all.\n\n1365. \u201cFinally. The present races of animals and plants on the globe\nare for the most part disposed in groups, occupying particular\ndistricts, beyond whose limits the species peculiar to those provinces\nusually droop and die. The same is true, to some extent, as to the\nanimals and plants found in the rocks; though the much greater\nuniformity of climate that prevailed in early times permitted organized\nbeings to take a much wider range than at present; so that the\nzoological and botanical districts were then probably much wider. But\nthe general conclusion, in respect to living and extinct animals is,\nthat there must have been several centres of creation, from which they\nemigrated as far as their natures would allow them to range.\n\n1366. \u201cIt would be easy to state more principles of geology of\nconsiderable importance; but I have now named the principal ones that\nbear upon the subject of religion. A brief statement of the leading\ntruths of theology, whether natural or revealed, which these principles\naffect, and on which they cast light, will give an idea of the subjects\nwhich I propose to discuss in these lectures.\n\n1367. \u201cThe first point relates to the age of the world. For while it\nhas been the usual interpretation of the Mosaic account that the world\nwas brought into existence nearly at the same time with man and the\nother existing animals, geology throws back its creation to a period\nindefinitely but immeasurably remote. The question is, not whether\nman has existed on the globe longer than the common interpretation\nof Genesis requires,\u2014for here geology and the Bible speak the same\nlanguage,\u2014but whether the globe itself did not exist long before his\ncreation; that is, long before the six days\u2019 work, so definitely\ndescribed in the Mosaic account? In other words, is not this a case\nin which the discoveries of science enable us more accurately to\nunderstand the Scriptures?\n\n1368. \u201cThe introduction of death into the world, and the specific\ncharacter of that death described in Scripture as the consequence of\nsin, are the next points where geology touches the subject of religion.\nHere, too, the general interpretation of Scripture is at variance with\nthe facts of geology, which distinctly testify to the occurrence of\ndeath among animals long before the existence of man. Shall geology\nhere, also, be permitted to modify our exposition of the Bible?\n\n1369. \u201cThe subject of deluges, and especially that of Noah, will next\nclaim our attention. For though it is now generally agreed that geology\ncannot detect traces of such a deluge as the Scriptures describe, yet\nupon some other bearings of that subject it does cast light; and so\nremarkable is the history of opinions concerning the Noachian deluge,\nthat it could not on that account alone be properly passed in silence.\u201d\n\n\n_Our actions dependent, under God, on organization, education, and the\n             extent to which we are tempted extraneously._\n\n1370. \u201cAre not the hairs of your head all numbered?\u2014Which of you by\ntaking thought can add one cubit to his stature?\u201d Luke xii. 7, 25.\n\n1371. May it not be consistently inquired, who, without God\u2019s\nassistance, can make his passions less ardent? his counteracting reason\nor conscientiousness more competent to restrain them? Who, prior to\nhis sublunary existence, had the option, whether he should be born\na Jew, a Gentile, or a Christian; whether in the Roman, Grecian,\nEpiscopalian, or dissenting churches; whether his progenitors should\nbe Chinese, Hindoos, Europeans, negroes, or savages? Who has, through\nhis own previous choice, been brought up, on the one hand, by ignorant\nand vicious, or on the other, by virtuous and well-educated, parents?\nCan any soul be alleged to be responsible for entering the body of\nan infant begotten by idolaters, and thus subjected to the curse of\nthe commandment? Or can a soul be deemed to have any merit because\nit came into the world as the progeny of parents orthodox in their\nown estimation, and happy in the belief that while myriads are to\nsuffer to eternity in another world, for errors or crimes arising from\ncauses beyond their control, a few are to be made eternally happy,\nnotwithstanding their admitted sinfulness, by virtue of a bigoted\nconfidence in the pre-eminent ability of their parents, their priests,\nor of themselves to learn tenets of which the great majority of mankind\nare ignorant? Humility in profession is associated with a towering and\noverbearing presumption in practice toward all who differ with them in\ncreed: hence an effort to instruct others at the expense of millions\nspent in missions, while they have no better evidence of the accuracy\nof their own knowledge than a fallible human conviction.\n\n1372. If two persons, A. and B., were organized exactly alike, educated\nprecisely in the same way, and subjected to the same temptations\nor incentives, would they not act alike? Would not their acting\ndifferently prove that they were not alike in all respects?\n\n1373. It may be said that they are free agents, being endowed with\nfree-will; but if they be perfectly alike and similarly situated,\n(agreeably to the premises,) their free-will must be perfectly similar;\nand if not, let it be allowed to be, through God\u2019s will, perfectly\nsimilar. Is it in their power to alter the nature of their will, any\nmore than \u201c_the colour of their hair_.\u201d\n\n1374. If any other being act differently from these, does it not\nfollow that he is differently organized, educated, or situated from\nthem; and that the diversity in one or all of these respects must be\nproportionable to the degree in which his actions and morals differ\nfrom those of A. and B.\n\n1375. But it may be inquired, where is the merit of virtue, or the\ndemerit of vice, if they be the consequences of causes over which we\nhave no control? The reply is, that virtue is an endowment due to the\nwill of Deity, just as the difference between the different races of\nmankind and the various genera of animals, or between individuals of\nthe same species, must be due to that volition. An analogous idea of\nthe necessity of God\u2019s help to virtue is insisted upon by some of our\nmost respectable and numerous Christian sects. It places virtue in man,\nso far as it may exist, upon the same basis as in God. It has always\nbeen held by all Christians that God can do no wrong; that vice is\ninconsistent with his nature. The more, then, a man is by nature and\neducation incapable of being vicious, the greater his natural aptitude\nfor virtue, the more he approaches its most perfect exemplification.\n\n1376. But how can the punishment of the wicked be justified under\nthis view of their case? I answer, that it can only be justified in\nself-defence, for the reformation of the offender, or to prevent the\nrepetition of injury where no other means can be employed, just as\nkilling wild beasts, noxious insects, or our enemies in warfare is\njustified.\n\n1377. Punishment, unless with a view to prevention or reformation,\nseems to me diabolic. It seems irreconcilable with the injunction to\nreturn good for evil, that the Deity from whom it proceeds should\nreturn evil for evil, _in excess_; that he should, for finite and\ntransient sins, award eternal punishment.\n\n1378. The inference that omniscience and omnipotence could create\nmyriads of beings, foreseeing that they must be subjected to extreme\nmisery for an unlimited time, is irreconcilable with all goodness\nand omniscience. But it may be demanded, does not the fear of future\npunishment make mankind more virtuous? The man who avoids a felony\nsolely through fear of future punishment is not the less wicked; he is\nonly a more prudent, or a more cowardly villain. That piety to God and\nphilanthropy are virtues, is most evident; but then these incentives\nmust be disinterested. If Abraham could believe that shedding his\nson\u2019s blood upon the altar would gratify the Deity, in order to make\nit a pious or virtuous act, it should have been unaccompanied by any\nexpectation of benefit to himself. He must have had a conception of\nthe Deity fully as bad as that of any heathen, to suppose that the\nsacrifice would be agreeable to him.\n\n1379. There is, moreover, much reason to infer that a man who could\npass his wife as his sister, and send her to a palace in order to\ngain influence with a king, did not lose sight of himself when he\ncontemplated killing his son to propitiate the King of kings. But no\nhuman testimony should induce us to credit such imputations against\nJehovah. Nothing is more probable than that priests should invent this\nabsurd fable, and nothing more improbable than that an omniscient\nGod, who could read Abraham\u2019s inmost thoughts, should have found it\nnecessary to ask such a barbarous sacrifice, in order to determine the\nextent and sincerity of that devotion of which he must have already\nknown the precise limits.\n\n\n                            _On Probation._\n\n1380. I have already made objections to the idea that we can be placed\nin this world for the purpose of probation. I will here make use of\nadditional arguments in support of those objections. Spiritualism\nassumes that we are placed here for progression. It has, in this\naspect, a self-evident ascendency over the scriptural doctrine.\n\n1381. A finite being has need to subject his works to trial, in order\nto learn whether they have the requisite perfection; but how can an\nomnipotent and omniscient Deity be under any necessity of _trying_ his\nworks? In the first place, they must be precisely what he has designed;\nin the next place, foreseeing the result of any experiment he may make,\nhe has no motive for the trial. Thus, before placing Adam and Eve in\nParadise, God must have known that Adam would be incompetent to resist\nhis wife, his wife the serpent, and that the apple would be eaten.\nHow useless then was the experiment! How can it be reconciled with\nomniscience and omnipotence? The crime would not have taken place had\nGod made woman less inquisitive; her husband strong enough morally to\nresist temptation and his wife\u2019s seductive influence; or had not the\nserpent or Satan, under the form of this reptile, been allowed to tempt\nEve. And yet in consequence of that act, not only the soul of the first\nman, but that of all his posterity, are considered by orthodoxy as\nhaving fallen, as being doomed to eternal punishment, unless by being\nmorally regenerated, principally by a blind belief in the allegation of\ncertain priests, who do not agree among themselves as to what we are to\nbelieve.\n\n1382. But what had souls unborn to do with the acts of Adam and Eve?\nIs it conceivable that the soul of the child is begotten by the souls\nof its parents, or to be inferred that it is a spiritual being,\ncreated by God for the body, which the progenitors beget in their\ncorporeal capacity? (See Seneca\u2019s opinion, 1230.) How could a dumb\nsnake, belonging to the class of reptiles, very low comparatively in\nintellectual capacity, acquire power of speech and reason without a\nspecial miracle on the part of God, either _directly_ or _indirectly_\nthrough Satan, acting with the cognizance of his divine master. This\nreptile, previously created without feet, because the devil merely\nassumed his form, is doomed as a _punishment_ to crawl on his belly, in\nthe only way in which he could move consistently with his organization,\nindependently of the sentence!!! Would it be any greater punishment to\ncause snakes to creep on their bellies than quadrupeds to go on their\nfeet? Since none of the genera of serpents are endowed with reason or\nspeech, how could they be responsible for the acts of an animal which,\nbeing endowed with those attributes, would not belong to their order?\nIt must have been a peculiar reptile, in the form of a snake, created\nfor the special purpose of tempting Eve. If, with Milton, it be assumed\nthat it was Satan, in the form of a serpent, who tempted her? how could\nserpents be responsible for the crime?\n\n\n_World least moral when the Christian church had most sway.\u2014Honour and\n mercantile credit more trusted than religion.\u2014Virtue due more to the\n    heart than to sectarianism.\u2014Bigotry acts like an evil spirit._\n\n1383. It will be perceived, that when the church had the world most\ncompletely under its sway, there was the least morality; but as the\narts and sciences grew up, in despite of religious intolerance,\nmorality improved. Thus a system has been established, which while\nviolating, more especially the most emphatic monitions of Christ, tends\nto enforce those rules of conduct which are necessary to the welfare\nof society. But an auxiliary principle\u2014honour\u2014has come into operation,\nwhich often restrains those who are not influenced by religion, nor by\npure morality. Honour, like the fear of hell, may make a man act more\nnobly, or more honestly, without improving his religious principles or\nhis heart. Hence the saying, \u201c_Honour among thieves_,\u201d and likewise\namong unprincipled gamblers.\n\n1384. Mercantile honour, under the name of mercantile credit, is\nanother important substitute for real heartfelt integrity. The ill\nconsequences of a loss of worldly consideration, or of those advantages\nwhich result from the ability to _borrow_, or to _postpone_ payment\nwith consent of the creditor, is a motive for punctual payment, when\na debt equally due, in honesty, would be neglected. This goes much\nfarther as an element of the prevailing morality in securing punctual\npayment, than religion.\n\n1385. That religion has actually very little to do with mercantile\nmorals, must be evident, _since it is never, on change, an object of\ninquiry_. When men are about to trust large sums, they do not inquire\nhow often the other party goes to church, nor to what church he goes.\nIt has never been my lot to know any one whom I thought better for\nhis religion. I have known many whom I thought better through native\ngoodness of heart than they would have been if left to the influence of\ntheir bigoted opinions alone. I heard a clergyman, distinguished for\nhis amiability and liberality in social intercourse, speak from the\npulpit of infidelity as \u201cthe work of the devil.\u201d\n\n1386. There are allegations of this kind made from the pulpit which\nto me appear to be absolutely calumnious, though those who make them\ndo not conceive themselves to be calumniators. It is, in truth, their\nfalse religion which speaks; they are possessed as if by an evil\nspirit, yet the goodness of their hearts prevents them from realizing\nany such calumnies in their personal intercourse with society. Dr. Berg\nsaid it was not _he_ (Dr. Berg) that spoke when he used ill language to\nBarker, but the Bible. There is a want of Christian moderation in the\nlanguage of Christ, and John the Baptist, and in some of the Psalms,\nwhich seems inconsistent with Christ\u2019s precepts. John, addressing the\nPharisees as \u201cvipers fleeing from the wrath to come,\u201d representing\nthem as poisonous reptiles, and God as _enraged_ against them. The\nlanguage of Christ respecting some of the same sect, to which allusion\nhas been made, is even more abusive.\n\n1387. But among the calumnies to which I have alluded, are those which\nrepresent the human heart as innately wicked, and only to be corrected\nby religious regeneration. All the souls created since Adam ate the\napple, must be born anew, thus drawing a marked distinction between\nthose who have gone through this second birth, and such as myself, who\nhave not undergone this recuperative process. But what man of common\nsense draws a line between those who are thought to have been born over\nagain, and those who have not? The great majority of those who call\nthemselves Christians, do not put any more trust in one who has gone\nthrough this second birth, than in one who is not deemed to have been\nthus regenerated.\n\n\n  _Progress of Literature and Science in Arabia under the Mohammedan\n                      Pontiffs, called Caliphs._\n\n1388. While the science and literature of the Roman Empire sank\nunder the influence of the Christian pontiff (pope) into ignorance,\nsuperstition, and vice, the Arabians, under the influence of their\nMohammedan pontiffs, (caliphs,) arose from barbarism to a comparatively\nsuperior state of intellectual acquirement, as the following\nquotation, from \u201cGibbon\u2019s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,\u201d will\nshow:\n\n 1389. \u201cAfter their civil and domestic wars, the subjects of the\n Abbassides, awakening from this mental lethargy, found leisure and\n felt curiosity for the acquisition of profane science. This spirit was\n first encouraged by the Caliph Almansor, who, besides his knowledge\n of the Mohammedan law, had applied himself with success to the study\n of astronomy, but when the sceptre devolved to Almamon, the seventh\n of the Abbassides, he completed the designs of his grandfather,\n and invited the muses from their ancient seats. His ambassadors at\n Constantinople, his agents in Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, collected the\n volumes of Grecian science: at his command they were translated by\n the most skilful interpreters into the Arabic language; his subjects\n were exhorted assiduously to peruse these instructive writings; and\n the successor of Mohammed assisted with pleasure and modesty at the\n assemblies and disputations of the learned. \u2018He was not ignorant,\u2019\n says Abulpharagius, \u2018that _they_ are the elect of God, his best and\n most useful servants, whose lives are devoted to the improvement of\n their rational faculties. The mean ambition of the Chinese or the Turk\n may glory in the industry of their hands, or the indulgence of their\n brutal appetites. Yet these dexterous artists must view, with hopeless\n emulation, the hexagons and pyramids of the cells of a bee-hive: these\n fortitudinous heroes are awed by the superior fierceness of the lions\n and tigers; and in their amorous enjoyments, they are much inferior to\n the vigour of the grossest and most sordid quadrupeds. The teachers\n of wisdom are the true luminaries and legislators of a world, which,\n without their aid, would again sink in ignorance and barbarism.\u2019 The\n zeal and curiosity of Almamon were imitated by succeeding princes\n of the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa and the\n Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the\n commanders of the faithful: the same royal prerogative was claimed by\n their independent emirs of the provinces; and their emulation diffused\n the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bochara to Fez\n and Cordova. The vizir of a sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred\n thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad,\n which he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars.\n The fruits of instruction were communicated, perhaps at different\n times, to six thousand disciples of every degree, from the son of the\n noble to that of the mechanic: a sufficient allowance was provided for\n the indigent scholars; and the merit or industry of the professors was\n repaid with adequate stipends. In every city the productions of Arabic\n literature were copied and collected by the curiosity of the studious\n and the vanity of the rich. A private doctor refused the invitation\n of the sultan of Bochara, because the carriage of his books would\n have required four hundred camels. The royal library of the Fatimites\n consisted of one hundred thousand manuscripts, elegantly transcribed\n and splendidly bound, which were lent, without jealousy or avarice,\n to the students of Cairo. Yet this collection must appear moderate,\n if we can believe that the Ommiades of Spain had formed a library of\n six hundred thousand volumes, forty-four of which were employed in\n the mere catalogue. Their capital, Cordova, with the adjacent towns\n of Malaga, Almeria, and Murcia, had given birth to more than three\n hundred writers, and above seventy public libraries were opened in\n the cities of the Andalusian kingdom. The age of Arabian learning\n continued about five hundred years, till the great eruption of the\n Moguls, and was coeval with the darkest and most slothful period\n of European annals; but since the sun of science has arisen in the\n West, it should seem that the Oriental studies have languished and\n declined.\u201d\n\n1390. I here close my remarks upon the Influence of Scripture on the\nMorals of Christians. They have proceeded from a desire to promulgate\nwhat I deem to be truth, and to expose the errors by which I conceive\nit to be environed. It is inconsistent with my nature to state less\nthan the truth when treating on any subject. I shall be sorry for any\npain which I may give to those whose hearts are so associated with\ntheir opinions, that whatever conflicts with the one is painful to\nthe other; yet I wish any persons so wounded to reflect how little\ndenunciation has been spared, not only as respects opinions, but as\nrespects motives, where \u201c_infidels_,\u201d unjustly so called, have been\nheld up to view. I have not assailed the _motives_ of any one; even as\nrespects _opinions_, I have withheld or modified sarcasms which, as I\nthink, might have been justly employed, or used without modification.\n\n\n    ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.\n\n\n1391. Subsequently to the printing of the articles under the head\nof Corroborative Evidence, a pamphlet was received from which the\nsubjoined pages are translated, by my friend, Dr. Geib. It serves to\nshow the impression made by spirit manifestations in another part of\nChristendom, upon one who belongs to the church.\n\n\n  _The Opinions of MM. de Mirville and Gasparin, on Table Turning and\nMediums, (considered in relation to theology and physics) examined, by\n    the Abbot Almignana, Doctor of the Canon Law, Theologian, &c._\n\n\n                            _Introduction._\n\n1392. \u201cMesmerism, table turning, and mediumship being phenomena which,\nin my estimation, demand serious investigation before pronouncing\njudgment on them, as soon as this became known to me, as an ocular\nwitness, far from judging of them, _ex abrupto_, as so many have done\nunder the same circumstances, I confined myself to make numerous\nexperiments, with the hope that they might in time furnish me with\nsome very useful facts, in searching for the cause of these wonderful\nphenomena.\n\n1393. \u201cBeing in possession of some of these facts, I thought the\npresent an opportune time for their publication, when two _savans_ of\nthe elite, such as the Marquis de Mirville and the Count de Gasparin,\nare engaged in a scientific contest on this subject.\n\n1394. \u201cI consider the present moment the more opportune, that the\nfacts furnished by my investigation, being at variance with certain\nleading points in the doctrines contained in the _Pneumatology_ of M.\nde Mirville, and the _Supernatural in General_ of M. de Gasparin, may\ninduce those writers to give a new complexion to their doctrines, by\ntaking counsel from my facts. These, shedding a new light on the triple\nphenomena, would powerfully aid in the solution of a problem which, up\nto the present time, does not appear to have been solved in a manner as\nclear and positive, as the interests of truth, science, and religion\ndemand. Such has been and is now my belief, as well as that of many\nothers whom I thought proper to consult before undertaking the task in\nwhich I have engaged.\n\n1395. \u201cSimple as my language is, it will be seen to have issued\nfrom the pen of a man who boldly seeks the truth, and is not to be\narrested in his course by any worldly interests. Persuaded that in\nview of my position, my readers will grant me the indulgence which in\na similar case I could not refuse them, I will proceed to the main\nquestion without further preliminaries. I divide my monograph into two\nparts; facts opposed to the Pneumatology of M. de Mirville, and the\nSupernatural in General of M. de Gasparin.\n\n\n                             _First Part._\n\n1396. \u201cTable turning and mediumship are nothing more, in the opinion\nof M. de Mirville, than the work of the devil! I give an abstract of\nhis doctrine as found in his Pneumatology. \u2018In the letter,\u2019 he says,\n\u2018which I had the honour to address to the _Societe Mesmerisme_ of\nParis on the non-intervention of the devil in therapeutic mesmerism,\ndated Sept. 20, 1847, and published in numbers 54, 56, and 57 of the\nJournal of _Magnetism_, I established the existence of the devil, with\nthe attributes given him in the Scriptures, as well as the power he\npossesses, with divine permission, to act morally and physically on\nmankind, as set forth in the same holy books.\u2019\n\n1397. \u201cIn view of what I have just said, I cannot be mistaken by M. de\nMirville with respect to demonology. But while admitting the existence\nof a devil, and his power over man, I cannot agree with the opinion\nof M. de Mirville in his _Pneumatology_, which admits the direct\nintervention of the devil in table turning and table talking, as well\nas in the powers of mediums; a view of the subject which I hold to be\nat variance with the teachings of the Catholic Church on the possessed,\nand the manner of deliverance therefrom, the evil spirit, which I\nproceed to explain.\n\n1398. \u201cIt is an axiom as old as the world\u2014in proportion as the cause\nis removed the effect ceases; _sublata causa tollitur effectus_. The\ntruth of this maxim, in reference also to diabolical possessions,\nis found to be explicitly proved in the Holy Scriptures. A mute is\npresented to Christ to be cured: _oblatus est ei mutus_. The Divine\nMaster, knowing that dumbness is caused by the devil, hastens to remove\nthe cause, by chasing the evil spirit from the body of the possessed,\nwhich being done, the mute spoke in the midst of the people ravished\nwith admiration. \u2018And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And\nit came to pass when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the\npeople wondered.\u2019 St. Luke xi. 14.\n\n1399. \u201cThere was at Philippi, in Macedonia, a girl who, being possessed\nof the evil spirit, had the gift of divination to such an extent,\nthat people came from all parts to consult her, much to the benefit\nof her masters. St. Paul having chased the demon from the body of the\npossessed, she lost the gift of divination; which exasperating her\nmasters, they dragged St. Paul before a magistrate like a malefactor.\n(Acts xv.) Admitting these principles, it follows that if the devil\nintervenes directly in tables and mediums, as Christ drove him from\nthe mute, and St. Paul from the girl of Philippi, then, _a fortiori_,\nshould clairvoyants lose their lucidity, tables be made to stand still,\nand mediums be deprived the power of tracing a line however short;\n_sublata causa tollitur effectus_. The cause being removed, the effect\nmust cease.\n\n1400. \u201cOur next object is to refer to the means for removing the evil\nspirit wherever found; and consulting the Catholic ritual affords us\nthis knowledge. In fact, agreeably to these teachings, demons are\ndriven off by the sacred names of God and Jesus, by prayer, the sign of\nthe cross, by holy water, and exorcisms; and these means being known, I\nam going to report the effect of these means on clairvoyant subjects,\ntables, and mediums.\n\n1403. \u201cHaving witnessed some extraordinary phenomena, and desiring\nto assure myself as to the presence of a diabolical agency in these\nmanifestations, as I had been persuaded to believe\u2014profiting by the\nopportunity offered by some mediums magnetized by others, and not by\nmyself\u2014I was induced to pray to invoke the sacred names of God and\nJesus, to make the sign of the cross on the subjects, and went so far\nas to sprinkle them with holy water, with the design of driving out the\ndevil, should he have taken possession of them. However, as not one of\nthese mediums lost, in my presence, the smallest part of their powers,\nI was led to infer that the devil had nothing to do with the phenomena.\n\n1404. \u201cThe following fact should attract the attention of all observers\nholding the orthodox faith: A youth of thirteen, put to sleep by his\nmother, at my house, gave proof of the greatest clairvoyance, even\nso far as to be in communion with supermundane beings. Alarmed, as I\nacknowledge I was, at what passed under my eyes, and suspecting, as I\ndid, that the devil might be the agent of those phenomena, I took my\ncrucifix, and presenting it to the clairvoyant, conjured him in the\nholy name of Jesus. But in place of repelling it, as I expected, he\nseized the cross in the most affectionate manner, and, smiling, pressed\nit to his lips; as much to the edification of his mother as of myself.\nShould M. de Mirville desire the address of the parties, he can have it.\n\n1405. \u201cThe means thus employed by me to discover if the evil spirit\nactuated mesmeric subjects, have been employed also by other persons\nwith the same view, and with similar results. Should M. de Mirville\ndesire to know some of these persons, I will be happy to facilitate\nthe acquaintance. As to exorcism, it is known by the biography of the\ncelebrated clairvoyant Prudence, that although exorcised on several\noccasions, the exorcisms failed to deprive him, in the smallest degree,\nof his great clairvoyance. To the facts which I have just reported in\nsupport of the non-intervention of the devil, some new facts of another\nkind will be adjoined, which in some measure confirm the first.\n\n1406. \u201cOne of the models of sacred eloquence, the R. P. Lacordaire,\nspeaking of mesmerism in 1846, far from qualifying it as _satanical_,\nas M. de Mirville has done, proclaimed from the pulpit of truth, in\nthe church of _Notre Dame_ of Paris, that this phenomenon belonged to\nthe order of prophecy, and that it was a provision of the divinity to\nhumble the pride of materialism. This language, descended from the\nsummit of the sacred tribune, is known to have received the public\napprobation of Mgr. Affre, the centre of Catholicism of the diocese of\nParis, who, addressing the faithful, said to them: \u2018My brothers, it is\nGod who speaks with the mouth of the illustrious Dominican.\u2019\n\n1407. A very pious female, abandoned by her medical adviser, being in a\nstate of despair, was magnetized by one of her parents, and fell into\nthe most complete trance. In one of her first sleeps, she said she saw\na person who, according to the description she gave of him, appeared to\nbe the clairvoyant\u2019s great-grandfather, deceased several years before\nthe birth of his grand-daughter. The latter was cured by the advice\nreceived during her trance condition from the said great-grandfather.\nThis fact appeared to me so grave in its nature, and so interesting to\nscience and religion, that I thought proper to publish it in number\nnineteen of the _Magnetisme Spiritualiste_, with an appeal to all those\nwho, by their knowledge, might be able to explain this phenomenon.\n\n1408. Among those to whom our appeal was made, figured the theologians,\nto whom, in speaking of the person who appeared to the clairvoyant,\nI said: \u2018Should this not be considered the devil, who, assuming a\nfantastic personation, took that of the great-grandfather of M. R.,\nand appearing thus to him, cured him of a disease which he himself had\noriginated?\u2019\n\n1409. Some copies of the number of the journal in question were sent\nto the sovereign pontiff, through his apostolic nuncio at Paris, to\nMgr. the archbishop of Paris, to the faculty of theology at Sorbonne,\nto RR. PP. Jesuits of the _Rue des Postes_, to R. P. Lacordaire, and\nto the Calvinistic Consistory of Paris, begging them to enlighten me\non a fact of such grave importance. But to the present time, a period\nof three years, not one of these great personages has informed me that\nthe phenomenon to which I invited their attention is the work of the\ndevil, which proves that, in their opinion, the evil one is a stranger\nto this phenomenon; for otherwise they would not have failed to answer\nmy inquiry, if only from interest for religion, or through charity to\nmyself. Should M. de Mirville desire to know the clairvoyant I refer\nto, he can be conducted to his domicile.\n\n1410. Mgr. Sibour, on mesmerism, and _La Grandeur_, if interrogated,\nwill tell you that the thoughts expressed by clairvoyants are only\nreflections from their magnetizers, without saying a single word to you\nabout the devil. But we have said enough on clairvoyants, and will pass\nto the tables.\n\n1411. I have made a great many experiments in table-turning and\ntable-talking with pious laymen and with ecclesiastics, men of prayer\nand serious habits, and even with a venerable bishop, and always in a\nvery serious manner; desiring to know, for the sake of religion and\nour souls, if the devil is in reality the agent who conveys movement\nand language to the tables. Besides exorcism, we have employed all the\nmeans taught and prescribed in the Catholic Church to drive out the\ndevil, and we have never obtained any results; for neither prayer, nor\nthe sacred names of God and Jesus, nor the sign of the cross made on\nthe tables, nor the crucifix, nor the chapelet, (the beads,) nor the\nGospels, nor the image of Christ placed on the tables, nor holy water,\ncould stop their turnings, knockings, and replying to our questions.\nBut far from it, and much to our astonishment, we have seen the table\nturn over before the image of Christ crucified. I will say no more. In\nthe experiments made with the bishop just named, and the person with\nwhom I was boarding, it was the venerable bishop himself that made the\nsign of the cross on a stand, without in the least retarding the motion\nof that small piece of furniture. Monseigneur then asked the stand if\nit loved the cross, and it replying in the affirmative, it was with\nsurprise that Monseigneur saw the stand turn over before his _croix\npastorale_, and speak to him in orthodox language of a future life.\n\n1412. If, according to all the facts which I have just reported, it\nbe necessary to reason agreeably to M. de Mirville, behold what that\nreasoning must be. The teachings of the Catholic ritual give to prayer,\nto the sacred names of God and Jesus, to the sign of the cross, to\nthe holy water, and the exorcisms, the virtue of driving the devil\n(_le d\u00e9mon_) out of the possessed. Now, as neither prayer, the sacred\nnames, the sign of the cross, &c. are able to drive the spirit out of\nmediums, nor out of tables, which, according to M. de Mirville, are\nalso victims, then the Catholic Instructor, which assigns these means\nfor removing evil spirits, must be in error. Then the Scripture, the\nSS. PP., and the Church, authorities on which the Catholic teachings\nare based on the subject of possessions, and the manner of delivering\nthe possessed of the evil spirit, (_les d\u00e9mons_,) are in error.[31] And\nwhat true Catholic dare entertain this language? It is then to avoid\ngetting into so unfortunate a position, that I have thought proper to\nreject the opinion of M. de Mirville on the manifestations of spirits.\nI shall be told that if the prescribed means sometimes fail, it is from\nwant of faith on the part of those who employ them. This is my reply to\nthat objection. The peasants do not possess a large quantity of faith,\nand, notwithstanding, Origen says the name of God, pronounced even by a\npeasant, chases the demons.\u2014_Origines contra celsum._\n\n1413. There are a great many people, and among them figure some\npious ecclesiastics and laymen, who quite frequently partake of the\nsacrament, who have experimented with me, who have prayed with me,\nhave invoked with me the sacred names of God and Jesus, &c.; is\nit then credible that among these persons, not one should be found\npossessing a portion of faith equal to that of a peasant, which is\nable, according to Origen, to drive out the devil in the name of God? I\nam unable to believe it. What! the venerable bishop, who experimented\nwith me during four years, had sacrificed himself in propagating the\nfaith in distant lands, should he not have as much faith as a peasant,\nin order to be able to remove an evil spirit in the name of God? This\nwould be to insult the sacred labour of propagating the faith in the\nperson of one of its most distinguished apostles.\n\n1414. But this is not enough; notice how St. John teaches us to know if\na spirit is of God or not. \u2018My well beloved, this is how to know that\na spirit is of God: all spirits who confess that Jesus Christ has come\nin the flesh, are of God, and those who do not confess that he is come\nin the flesh, are not of God.\u2019 (1 John ix.) Instructed by St. John in\nthe manner of knowing the spirits of God, to assure myself further on\nthe nature of spirits or occult forces, exhibited in the movement and\nlanguage of tables, I have used the method indicated by St. John. It\nwas with this view that, my little table being in motion, I addressed\nto it the following questions: Do you confess that Jesus Christ is come\nin the flesh? Yes, it replied. The same question, repeated several\ntimes, produced uniformly the same answer. Having this experiment alone\nat my house, I was desirous of seeing whether the same results would be\nobtained in company. With this design I went to the houses of persons\nacquainted with these phenomena, and begged a gentleman, a medium, to\nplace his hands with mine on a stand. The movement of the stand being\nfelt, the same question was answered in the same manner. And after this\nexperience can I conscientiously believe in the intervention of the\ndevil in the turning and speaking of the tables, without regarding the\ntestimony of St. John as erroneous; and should I regard it as such? It\nis for M. de Mirville to answer.\n\n1415. But I do not stop here. It is said in the ritual of Paris\nand others, in the chapter of the possessed, as follows: _Signa\nenergumenorum sunt. Ignota lingua liogni idque, maxima serie verborum\nqu\u00e6 previderi non potuerunt velita loquentem intelligere distantia, et\noculta patefacere et vires supra etatis su\u00e6 naturam ostendere._ Very\nwell, if demons, as the ritual says, speak all languages, even those\nunknown, after the great number of experiments which I have made, I\nam prepared to declare that tables do not speak all languages, even\nthe known ones, nor do they understand them. Let some one who does\nnot understand Greek, addressing a question to the table in French,\nrequest it to reply in Greek, and we will see if the table does it. Let\na stranger give to an inquirer at the table a question in a language\nunknown to him, limiting himself to merely reading it, and we will see\nif the table respond; I defy all the tables in the world to do it. If\nM. de Mirville desires to make these experiments with me, I am entirely\nat his service.\n\n1416. I have endeavoured to discover if tables have the faculty which,\naccording to the ritual, is possessed by the devil (_les d\u00e9mons_) to\npenetrate the hidden and the future, and I have found in this direction\nmore error than truth. As to the superior physical force which,\naccording to the ritual, is possessed by the devil, (_les d\u00e9mons_,)\nthere is not a single turning table in the world, whose movement cannot\nbe arrested or retarded by enveloping the hands of the experimenters in\nsilk; which proves that the tables have not a power _supra naturam_,\nand that of course it could not be the devil who furnishes the\nmomentum. But what gives more force to the reasons on which I rest,\nfor not referring the motive-power to an evil spirit, is this: that\nhaving made them separately known to four prelates of the church of\nFrance, three of whom are conspicuous in the religious investigation\nof these phenomena, begging a due examination and report if my opinion\nis in error, that I may retract and write against the tables, not one\nof these prelates has pronounced me wrong, nor in the least blamed my\nexposition of facts. And in case it may become necessary to establish\nthis fact, I retain the letters of these prelates. Let us now pass to\nthe consideration of the mediums.[32]\n\n1417. Hearing that there were persons whose hands, without their will,\nwere made to write some very extraordinary things, and that these\npersons were called \u2018mediums,\u2019 one day, in order to assure myself\nof the fact, I took a crayon in my hand, and placing it on paper,\nconcentrated myself as much as possible. But a few minutes had passed,\nwhen I felt my hand controlled without my will, and saw it trace some\nlines, letters, and words. This experiment being repeated often\nwith the same success, I have therefore become a medium, though of a\nsecondary degree.\n\n1418. Desiring to know whether, in this phenomenon, there might not be\nsome diabolical agency, in order to satisfy my mind on that subject, I\nasked of the occult power, or the spirit that controlled my hand, if\nit was the devil; being answered in the negative, I requested to have\nproof of it. Scarcely were those words uttered, when my hand, moving\nwith energy, drew a large cross. Seeing this, I put the same questions\nabout J. C. that were put at my table, and the answers, being written,\nwere the same; from which I concluded that the agency in the writing of\nmediums is the same as in moving the tables, which, in my opinion, is\nnot that of the devil, as already said. However, in order to confirm\nmy assurance of the non-intervention of the devil in the phenomena of\nmediums, I desired to add another experiment, which follows:\n\n1419. As the devil speaks all languages, according to the ritual, even\nthose unknown, to see whether the occult power or spirit which caused\nme to write possessed this satanic attribute, which, being so, would\nprove the intervention of the devil in the performance of mediums, I\nasked the invisible agent if it would cause the Lord\u2019s prayer to be\nwritten in several languages, and was answered in the affirmative.\nYielding my hand with a pen to the motive power, the _Pater_ was\nwritten in two ways, which the same power, also by writing, said was\nin Valaque and in Russian. Then requesting the same to be written in\nFrench, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, it was immediately done; when\nrequesting it to be written in English and German, was answered it\ncould not be done. Why not? I inquired. Because you neither speak nor\nwrite those two languages, which is necessary.\n\n1420. In what languages then, I asked, are you able to make me write?\nIn the languages which I spoke on earth, as the Valaque and Russian,\nand those which you speak. The _Pater_, thus written, I had the honour\nto present it personally to Monseigneur the Archbishop of Paris, by\nhis request. Having mentioned this, I was advised to request my spirit\nfriend to write something in Valaque, and have it submitted to some one\nacquainted with that language, in order to determine the fact of its\nbeing so; which proposal I willingly accepted.\n\n1421. But, returned to my house, the idea occurred to me to make an\nexperiment to control my familiar spirit myself. I wrote on a piece of\npaper a phrase in French, and took a separate copy of it on another\npiece of paper. I read this phrase to my spirit, and requested him\nto render it in Valaque. The spirit, having made some lines, told me\nby writing that the translation was already made. I requested him to\ndo the same with it in Spanish, Italian, and Latin, and it was done.\nRequesting him further to write the same in English, he replied it\ncould not be done, as I did not speak that language. Allowing a few\nminutes to pass, I took the copy of the phrase, and requested the\nspirit to do the same with it that he had done with the original. The\nspirit having caused me to write, as he professed, the same phrase in\nthe same languages as he had caused me to write it in previously, I\nhastened to compare the two translations; but what was my surprise when\nfinding the Spanish, Italian, and Latin translations of the copy like\nthose of the original; I found the Valaque translation of the original\nand that of the copy not at all alike!\n\n1422. \u201cConvinced, then, that my spirit did not understand the\n_Valaque_, which proved to me, according to the ritual, that it was not\na devil, (_un d\u00e9mon_,) but that notwithstanding he had deceived me, I\ngave him a severe reprimand, treating him as an infamous cheat, and\ndriving him from my presence. At this juncture, my hand was caused to\ntremble excessively, which terminated by writing in large characters:\n\u2018I am the devil, and you are a bad preacher that seeks to find out\nthe secrets of God!\u2019 Very well, I said; your proclamation in large\nletters that you are the devil, is no reason why I should believe it.\nThe devil, according to the ritual, speaks all languages, and you\ndo not speak the Valaque nor English, and therefore you are not the\ndevil. If I am a bad preacher, that does not concern you. It is God\nwho will judge me, and I submit to his holy will. Could I see you as\nI feel you, I would fix you well; but as it is, I decline any further\ncorrespondence with you.\n\n1423. \u201cScarcely had I expressed these words, when my hand, being\ninfluenced, wrote as follows: \u2018Pardon! pardon! I am not the devil. If\nI said so, it was to frighten you, because you continued to plague\nme with your questions; but I see you are a man that fears nothing.\nYou are not a bad preacher, but a great thinker. Continue then to\nexperiment with me, and I will always tell you the truth!\u2019\n\n1424. \u201cVery well, I pardon you, and request you to say, without\ndeceiving me, what languages you do speak? \u2018I speak no other languages\nthan those which you speak, and if I did otherwise, it was for\namusement.\u2019 Then what are the languages which the spirits speak? \u2018Those\nof the communing person, and no others.\u2019[33] And this ended the meeting.\n\n1425. \u201cWishing still to test what had been said to me by my spirit, I\nwent to the house of a writing medium, like myself, and begged him to\ntry some experiments in writing. In the midst of our experiments, I\nwrote the following words on a small piece of paper in Spanish: _Como\nt\u00e9 llamos?_ and without making their signification known to the medium\nin French, requested him to read them to the spirit friend. This was\ndone, but the spirit was silent. The medium, however, insisting on\nan answer, was impressed by the spirit to write the word _malheur_,\n(misfortune.) The reply not agreeing with the question, I told the\nmedium to say to his spirit that he had badly replied. Then the spirit\nmade the medium write as follows: \u2018If I have not complied with your\nrequest, it is because I do not understand that language.\u2019\n\n1426. As the medium did not understand what had been read to the\nspirit, which in French would mean, _Comment vous appelez-vous?_ (What\nis your name?) I perceived that if the spirit did not reply to the\nSpanish, it was because the medium neither spoke nor understood that\ntongue; which agreed with what my spirit had told me. Then I requested\nthe medium to ask his spirit to make me write. On the affirmative\nresponse of the spirit, I took the pen, and addressing the same\nquestion to him: _Como te llamos?_ he replied in Spanish\u2014_Benito_.\nAnswer me in French\u2014_Benoit_. In Latin\u2014_Benedictus_.\n\n1427. This experiment confirming what my spirit had told me, that\nthe spirits could produce only the language of those with whom they\ncommuned, was a new proof for me of the non-intervention of the devil;\nseeing, according to the ritual, that he is master of all languages,\nand that mediums only write those they understand, and have previously\nlearnt.[34] If M. de Mirville desires to make some such experiments\nwith me, it will afford me great pleasure to do so.\n\n1428. _Nota bene_: What merits particular regard in the information\nreceived from my spirit friend as to the language used by spirits in\ncommuning with men is, that the same was said one hundred and five\nyears since by the ecstatic Swedenborg. See No. 236 of his Treatise on\nHeaven and Hell, by Le Boys des Guays.\n\n1429. This will suffice for the present for M. de Mirville. It remains\nfor him to explain the facts we have reported, and to reconcile them\nwith his _Pneumatology_: in expectation I proceed to notice the\n_Supernatural in General_ of M. de Gasparin.\u201d\n\n\n                            _Second Part._\n\n1430. \u201cAll the prodigies of the mesmeric subjects of clairvoyants, the\nsorcery, haunting spirits, apparitions, visions, &c., owe their origin,\naccording to M. de Gasparin, to nervous excitement, fluidic action,\nand sometimes are hallucinations. As I do not design here to make a\ncritical analysis of M. de Gasparin\u2019s work, not considering myself\ncapable, and leaving this honour to those who are in some scientific\nline, I design merely occupying myself with some facts which refer\npersonally to me, and which appear to me to oppose some points in the\ndoctrine of M. de Gasparin in his table-turning, or _Supernatural in\nGeneral_, as already noticed in the introduction to the monograph, and\nI commence with the subject of ecstasy.\n\n1431. \u201cSpeaking of ecstatics, M. de Gasparin explains himself as\nfollows: \u2018As to their intellectual faculties, they are capable in those\ncases of prodigious development. The ecstatics declare themselves that\nthey have two souls; that a voice foreign to their own causes them to\nspeak; that they suddenly receive ideas entirely unknown to them, and\nterms of expression entirely strange to them. It happens even that the\npeasant accustomed to _patois_, speaks French, and that illiterate\nmen express themselves in Latin. Now, have we something here that is\n_supernatural_? Certainly not; it is a physiological state, or often\nthe treasures of reminiscence, which the subject possessed, though in\nfact not aware of it. The peasant may have known how to speak French;\nshe may not have known it, and still it may all have been engraved\non the deep recesses of the memory, where nothing is ever really\neffaced. Exalted or sick, she finds herself in possession of the French\nlanguage. A merchant, who has scarcely passed the first classes,\nand who never knew Latin, finds himself the possessor of the Latin\nlanguage, and embarrasses his doctor, whom he addresses in that tongue.\u2019\n\n1432. \u201cAccording to this ecstatic theory of M. de Gasparin, it follows\nthat the ideas expressed by the subjects, and which were unknown to\nthem in their normal state, are nothing more than reminiscences. I\nadmit, with M. de Gasparin, that reminiscence is only the return of the\nsoul to the recollection of a thing or an idea, which, though engraven\non the memory, was forgotten. This return, however, does not happen\nwithout some remarks, which, from the recollection of some ideas or\nincidents, conduct the mind to the recollection of what was forgotten.\n\n1433. \u201cI am a medium: according to the received opinion, a medium is\na waking magnetic subject. Now, every magnetic subject is in a degree\necstatic; therefore I, being a medium, am ecstatic. Well, I being\necstatic, take a pencil, and concentrating myself in that state,\nrequest the occult power that moves my hand without my volition to\ncause it to write, if it is possible, something on the creation. The\nlast word is scarcely pronounced when my hand proceeds to write,\nwithout interruption, something true or false, on the creation, which\nsurprises me.\n\n1434. \u201cThis interview terminates, and desiring to know if these ideas\non the creation come from reminiscences, I seek to discover if they\ncould have been engraven on my memory, either from reading or hearing\nthem related. With this view I commenced by reading religious and\nphilosophic books that would be likely to discuss the question, but\ncould find nothing like what I had written. I consulted the public\nlibraries, and they contained nothing on the creation similar to what\nmy hand had communicated. Not a professor, philosopher, naturalist,\nphysiologist, theologian, or historian, with whom I had ever had any\nintercourse, could recollect any thing of the kind.\n\n1435. \u201cAfter this, I reason as follows: having examined all the\nmeans by which what was written by my hand on the creation could\nhave been impressed on my memory, nothing appears to warrant that\nbelief; therefore, these notions on the creation cannot be regarded as\nreminiscences.\n\n1436. \u201cBut it is not enough, we have said, that in reminiscence, are\nnecessary, which, by the recollection of an object, idea, or notion,\nwe are led to the further recollection of something forgotten. That\nthis should take place, some time is required, however little it may\nbe. However, in the case related, not a moment was required, and this\nbreaks up the required process, in order to respond to the theory of M.\nde Gasparin.\n\n1437. \u201cNow, if these ideas on the creation are not reminiscences\u2014if\nthey do not emanate from the devil, who, agreeably to our author, is an\nentire stranger to these phenomena\u2014if it is not the soul of a deceased\nperson that controlled my hand, as M. de Gasparin, being a Protestant,\ndoes not believe in returning spirits nor in communion with the dead,\nwho then caused to be written by my hand such strange things, without\nmy knowledge or assistance? And I beg M. de Gasparin to be so good as\nto explain this phenomenon, which appears to be in opposition with his\ntheory on the prodigies of ecstatic subjects. Should M. de Gasparin\ndesire to see what I have written, he can be gratified. But what will\nhe say, when having requested my spirit to reply in writing on some\nsubject familiar to my mind, he is unable to do it, or replies contrary\nto my thoughts and convictions? Can this be called reminiscence? I pass\nnow to consider mesmerism.\n\n1438. \u201cIn speaking on this subject, the _Supernatural_ of M. de\nGasparin says, \u2018The clairvoyance of mesmerism appears in general\nto have only the character of an echo. Its wonders are those of\nreminiscence or perception of images and thoughts, which occupy the\nintelligence of the person with whom the clairvoyant is in rapport.\nThis appears to be the balance-sheet of animal magnetism, and it has\nchanged but little since its origin.\u2019 (Tome ii. page 311.)\n\n1439. \u201cAccording to what M. de Gasparin has just told us, it follows,\nthat when a clairvoyant tells us in his sleep that he sees the spirit\nof a deceased person, and gives us an exact description of his person,\nwe are not to regard it as the deceased person that the clairvoyant\nsees, but his image impressed on the memory of that clairvoyant from\nacquaintance with the defunct when living, or in the memory of the\nconsulting visitor in rapport; so that the clairvoyant, in these\napparitions of the dead, is governed only by reminiscence or the\nreflection of images or of thoughts. Now, having allowed M. de Gasparin\nto speak, I desire in my turn to speak also.\n\n1440. \u201cIn January, 1848, a work was published, entitled _Les Arcanes\nde la Vie Future R\u00e9vel\u00e9e_: The Arcana of a Future Life Revealed. My\nattention being attracted by the title of this work, it was procured,\nand proved to be nothing but a collection of the apparitions of\ndeceased persons to clairvoyants.\n\n1441. \u201cOn so delicate a question, I thought it best to consult the\nScriptures, to see whether the appearance of the dead to the living\nwas admitted by the sacred volumes. I opened, then, the Bible, and\nthe first passage that met my eye was the chap. xxvii. of the first\nbook of Kings, where it said that Samuel had appeared to the witch\nof Endor, and that, by the intermediation of the latter, the prophet\nspoke to Samuel; an apparition on which were sketched those reported\nby M. Cahagnet in his _Arcana_. I saw afterward in the second book of\nMaccabees, the high-priest Onias and the prophet Jeremiah appearing\nto Judas Maccabeus. I see in St. Matthew, chap. xvii., the apparition\nof Moses and Elias to Peter, John, and James on the Tabor. Finally, I\nread, in chap. xxviii. of the said St. Matthew, that at the death of\nour Saviour Jesus Christ, many of the dead appeared to a great number\nof the inhabitants of Jerusalem.\n\n1442. \u201cConvinced by the holy volume of the possibility, or rather of\nthe reality, of the apparition of the dead to the living, I put to\nmyself this question: Can these apparitions of the dead to the living\nwhich, according to the Bible, took place in former times, be permitted\nto occur at the present time? In order to resolve that question, I\ndesired again to consult the Bible, and found the Holy Spirit, in\nEcclesiastes, holding the following language: \u2018_What has been, is what\nshall be; and what has been done, is what shall be done again._\u2019\n\n1443. \u201cThen, I said to myself, the appearance of the dead to the living\nhas taken place, according to the Bible; therefore, agreeably to the\nsame sacred volume, what has existed at one time may exist at another.\nTherefore, there is no reason for rejecting the doctrine of communion\nof spirits, God willing, at the present time.\n\n1444. \u201cBut it is to be found out whether the apparitions reported in\nthe _Arcana_ were realities, or were only illusions, so called. The\nsolution of this problem belongs to me. And with this view I found\nmyself at the house of the author of the _Arcana_, where a very\nserious discussion took place between him and myself on his work,\nwhich ended with the apparition of my brother Joseph, the third one\nthat figures in the second volume of the _Arcana_. In fact, I called\nfor the apparition of my late brother, and scarcely had a few minutes\npassed when the clairvoyant, Adile, told me she saw a gentleman, and\nby the description she gave of the stature, costume, character, the\ncause and place of the death of the person appearing, I could not avoid\nrecognising in the said person that of my brother Joseph.\n\n1445. \u201cThis apparition had such an effect on me, as to keep me awake\nthe whole night, seeking to explain the phenomenon. But becoming\nfatigued with researches, I thought, as a magnetizer, to be able to\nexplain these apparitions by the same means as M. de Gasparin pretends\nto explain them at the present time. I said to myself that clairvoyants\nsaw the image of things impressed on the memory of the persons with\nwhom they were in rapport; the image of my late brother being engraved\non my memory, it was enough for M. Cahagnet to put me, by an act of his\nwill, in rapport with his clairvoyant, for the latter to have seen the\nimage of my brother on the tablets of my memory.\n\n1446. \u201cWith this impression, I wrote to M. Cahagnet, saying to\nhim, that in spite of my assurance yesterday of the reality of the\napparition of my brother, my knowledge of magnetism had caused\nme to-day to think otherwise, and that further evidence would be\nnecessary to convince me of its reality. M. Cahagnet having complied,\ntwo spirits were evoked; one of my aforesaid brother Joseph, and the\nother of Antoinette Carr\u00e9, the sister of my domestic; apparitions\nreported in the second volume of the _Arcana_, and the description\ngiven by the clairvoyant could not have been more correct. But as I\nstill entertained the idea that these images could not be traced by\nthe clairvoyant in my mind, this meeting produced no results. Curious,\nhowever, to know whether other clairvoyants possessed the same faculty\nas the clairvoyant of M. Cahagnet in regard to these apparitions, in\nthe sense I understand them, I begged M. Lecocq, clockmaker of the\nnavy, living at Argenteuil, to try some experiments with his sister, a\nvery lucid clairvoyant.\n\n1447. \u201cFive apparitions appeared, of whom three were unknown to him\nor his clairvoyant, knowing only their names; and their identity was\ndetermined by the assistance of other persons present who had known\nthem, as reported from two sources, the letter written me by M. Lecocq,\nwhich M. de Gasparin can see, and the report made by the former to M.\nCahagnet, which was published in the second volume of the _Arcana_,\npage 244. In view of this fact, and others of the same nature come\nto my knowledge, my opinion as to the derivation of appearances and\nthoughts from the mind of communicants through the clairvoyant begins\nto be modified. However, to be entirely convinced of the reality of\nthese apparitions, I should require similar facts to be presented to my\nown eyes.\n\n1448. \u201cAnimated by these sentiments, I requested a person in whom\nI reposed entire confidence, to give me the name of a defunct,\nentirely unknown to me, and that of Joseph Moral was given. The young\nclairvoyant of thirteen years, whom I named at the beginning of this\nmonograph, being one day put to sleep by his mother at my house,\nI used the opportunity to request the subject to invoke the spirit\nof Joseph Moral. Scarcely had two minutes elapsed, when the young\nclairvoyant announced the presence of a person, whom she described.\nHaving never seen the said Joseph Moral, and therefore not able to say\nany thing about him, I was limited to writing down a faithful account\nof him as given by the clairvoyant.\n\n1449. \u201cThe meeting ended, I sought the person who had furnished the\nname, and reading the description, and much surprised to find it\ncorrect, she said to me, \u2018How, sir, were you able to give such an exact\ndescription of M. Joseph Moral, whom you never knew and have never\nseen?\u2019\n\n1450. \u201cThis fact was for me a positive conviction that clairvoyants,\nin their communion with the dead, do not simply see the image of the\ndeceased in the memory of the consulting party, but that they see\nthe veritable _souls_ of the departed, as the witch of Endor saw the\nsoul of Samuel, according to our creed, called the Holy Spirit of the\nEcclesiastic. And should M. de Gasparin desire to know the person who\ngave me the name of M. Joseph Moral, it will give me pleasure to wait\non him to her house.\n\n1451. \u201cHere is another fact like the preceding, but still more\ninteresting. M. de Sarrio, of Alicant, in Spain, a cavalier of Malta,\ngave to my brother Joseph, of whom I have already spoken, fifteen\nthousand francs, to be distributed among the poor; for which sum my\nbrother aforesaid gave a receipt to the benevolent donor. At the death\nof M. de Sarrio, his brother, the Marquis of Algolfa, becoming his\nheir, found this receipt among the papers of the deceased. At the death\nof my brother, the Marquis desiring to know if all the amount had been\ndisbursed, addressed my sister, who became his heir, on the subject.\nBut my sister, being unacquainted with his affairs, not having lived\nwith him, submitted to the marquis the schedule of the deceased; which,\nshowing only the distribution of half the amount, the other half was\nclaimed by the marquis, and finally made the subject of a lawsuit.\n\n1452. \u201cMy sister, much aggrieved, made me a party to her troubles, in a\nletter from Alicant. Discomforted by what had happened to my sister, I\nvisited my young clairvoyant and demanded the presence of my brother,\nwho, as she had said, had several times been with her. He was reported\npresent, and I questioned him in relation to the money received from\nM. de Sarrio, reproaching him in regard to the reversion of the said\nbalance, and the pain he had caused my sister.\n\n1453. \u201cMy brother, astounded at my language, said, that he owed nothing\nto anybody; and as to the amount referred to, he had given it to Father\nMario before dying, to be distributed to the poor; to prove which it\nwould be necessary to call Father Mario. Scarcely had my brother said\nthis, when the clairvoyant said she saw a man with my brother, and from\nthe description she gave of him, I thought I recognised a Capuchin\nfriar, who, interrogated by my brother, confirmed what he had said.\n\n1454. \u201cHaving never heard the name of Father Mario, as I had left\nAlicant thirty years before, I requested some particulars of his\ncountry and family, and was told he belonged to St. Vincent du Respect,\none league from Alicant, &c., and I put the following questions to my\nsister, by letter: Was your brother Joseph visited in his sickness by a\npriest named Father Mario, having a sister at St. Vincent du Respect?\nand do you know if this Father Mario is dead? Following is the answer:\n\n1455. \u201c\u2018As to Father Mario, he left this country several years since,\nand it is not known if he is in France or America. He did not visit\nour brother in his last sickness, because he had left some years\nbefore. He has two sisters, one was in Algeria, and the other went\nwith him.\u2019 The letters written by me to my sister on this subject, and\nher replies, with other details, were published in the third volume\nof the _Arcana_. The originals are at the disposal of M. de Gasparin,\nand I would desire to ask that gentleman one question: Whether the\napparition of Father Mario, as established by the letters of my sister,\nconfirming the existence of Father Mario, is not a positive fact,\nand not an hallucination? Whether, as this monk had never been seen\nnor known by me, his image could possibly have been perceived by the\nclairvoyant through any impression made upon my mind? Of course, it\ncould not have been the devil who personated Father Mario, if M. de\nGasparin _correctly_ repudiates the intervention of Satan in spiritual\nmanifestations.\n\n1456. \u201cCan M. de Gasparin explain to me the appearance of Father Mario\nconsistently with his _Psychological hypothesis in General_. These\nare the facts which I have at present to oppose to the _Psychological\nRationale_ of M. de Gasparin. At a future time I shall be prepared to\nsay more to him as well as to M. de Mirville, both on mesmerism and\ntable-turning, as well as in regard to mediums.\n\n1457. \u201cIf the marquis and count do not respond to my call, their\nsilence will do great injury to the cause of truth, science, and\nreligion. It is, then, in order not to act against interests so sacred,\nthat I take pleasure in hoping that these gentlemen will comply with my\nwishes.\u201d\n\n\n_Mechanical Movements without Contact. By Mr. Isaac Rhen, President of\n              the Harmonial Society of Philadelphia._[35]\n\n1458. Among the most distinguished and eloquent advocates of\nSpiritualism in Philadelphia, is Mr. Isaac Rehn, President of the\nHarmonial Society. It is said that a good countenance is a constant\nletter of recommendation. The truth of this adage is conspicuously\nrealized in the instance of this sensible and agreeable spiritualist.\nThere is an air of good feeling and sincerity in Mr. Rehn\u2019s tones and\nexpression, which would cause him to be viewed as a reliable witness\nbefore any honest and intelligent jury.\n\n1459. The fact of mechanical movements being induced _without muscular\ncontact, direct_ or _indirect_, is one of the phenomena which scarcely\nany one will believe without intuitive proof. It will be seen that\non the third of February, 1854, after I had been engaged in the\ninvestigation of spiritual manifestations for more than two months, I\nwas still so incredulous as to employ this language to Mr. Holcomb:\n\u201cYou believe fully that tables move without contact, because you have\nseen them thus moved; I am skeptical, because I have not seen them move\nwithout human contact, although I have been at several circles.\u201d\n\n1460. But one of the forms of this phenomenon, which has excited the\nmost wonder and incredulity, is that of the carrying of Mr. Henry\nGordon, a medium, through the air without the contact of any mundane\nbody. Mr. Rehn having been among the witnesses of this fact, I\nrequested him to give me a statement of it, as well as of others of\na similar kind. Subjoined is a letter, written in consequence of my\nrequest:\n\n                                      PHILADELPHIA, August 1, 1855.\nPROFESSOR ROBERT HARE:\n\n1461. _Dear Sir_: In obedience to your invitation, I will proceed to\nmake a brief statement of the more prominent facts supporting the\nhypothesis, that the spirits of those who once dwelt with us do still\nhold intercourse with mortals.\n\n1462. During the early part of the year 1850, some friends of mine,\nin whom I had full confidence, stated to me the result of several\nintercommunions had with these mysterious agents, by which I was led\nto a determination to test the matter for myself; and, accordingly, on\nthe fifth day of July, in company with a friend, I visited New York,\nthat being the only accessible point known to us at which to gain the\nobject of our visit. The Fox family, consisting of Mrs. Fox, Mrs.\nFish, (afterward Mrs. Brown,) Catherine and Margaret Fox were then at\nBarnum\u2019s Hotel, giving to the public opportunities to test the reality\nor imposture of the so-called spiritual phenomena. We called at the\nrooms of the family, and obtained a sitting during the afternoon of\nthe same day. A dozen or more persons were present at the sitting, the\nresult of which was the conviction that the sounds were not a deception\non the part of the mediums, but the result of some occult force and\nintelligence, independent of the ladies themselves.\n\n1463. Without entering into any detail of the incidents of the visit\nabove referred to, or speculations upon the general subject under\nconsideration, I propose to cite incidents in my own experience, which\ngo to establish the truth of spiritual intercourse.\n\n1464. Shortly after the commencement of the sounds in the first\ncircle instituted in this city, and of which I was, from the first,\na member, demonstrations in the form of movements of tables, chairs,\nand other articles commenced. Many times they were very violent, but\nin most instances it was necessary that the hands of the company, and\nespecially those of the medium, should be upon the table. During the\nsession of a circle, however, held in the afternoon\u2014and of course in\ndaylight\u2014these movements became unusually violent. Two card-tables,\naround which the company sat, having been drawn to the centre of the\nfloor, were thrown backward and forward with great force. After moving\nthus for some minutes, one of the tables started toward some two or\nthree of the company, and pressed heavily against them, causing them to\nrecede until they had reached the wall; the table would then retreat\nto the centre of the floor, and, as it were, charge some two or three\nmore, whom in like manner it would press back. Thus it continued\nretreating and attacking, until the entire company were seated around\nat the sides of the room.\n\n1465. Having thus cleared the floor in the central part of the\nroom, the table rose deliberately at the side next to myself, and\nso continued until it had turned some distance beyond the point of\nequilibrium, with the evident design of performing a revolution.\n\n1466. These and other manifestations were at the time so wonderful\nand strange to that part of the company present which had never\nbefore met in a circle, as to cause great terror. One lady became so\nmuch alarmed during the performance of the spirits with the table as\nabove described, that she screamed aloud, which interfering with the\nrequisite conditions for success, the table fell heavily upon the\nfloor, breaking off the top.\n\n1467. During the rising of the table on the side toward myself, I\nreached my hand and pressed upon it, with the view of seeing what force\nwas employed in raising it. Upon removing my hand, it would spring up\nas if it were suspended from the ceiling by an elastic cord.\n\n1468. At the time this phenomenon was occurring, a friend of mine, Mr.\nJ. A. Cutting, of Boston, Massachusetts, being seated by my side, found\nhimself moved, as though some one had drawn the chair on which he was\nsitting. He then placed his feet upon the front round of the chair,\nso as to entirely insulate himself from the floor, and while in this\nposition he was raised from the floor, chair and all. This gentleman\nwas quite large and stout, weighing, I should think, not less than one\nhundred and seventy pounds.\n\n1469. I would here state particularly and emphatically, that at the\ntime of these most violent movements of the table, _no hands were upon\nthem, nor was there any physical contact with the objects moved_.\n\n1470. At the same session, a tumbler and pitcher being upon a washstand\nin a corner of the room, some five feet distant from any person\npresent, suddenly a crash was heard in the direction in which those\narticles were situated. Upon examination, the tumbler was found to be\nbroken into several hundred pieces, and what is still more strange, the\npieces were not scattered around, but occupied a spot which did not\nexceed eight or ten inches in diameter! It seemed as if the tumbler\nhad _collapsed_; even the bottom, thick as it was, was broken into\nmany pieces. These facts occurred at the house of Mr. George D. Henck,\ndentist, in Arch street, who, with the other persons present on that\noccasion, will at any time corroborate these statements.\n\n1671. On another occasion, at the house of Mr. J. Thompson, of this\ncity, during a sitting, I requested, among other things, that the\nspirits would move the table without physical contact. Mrs. Thompson,\nMrs. R-\u2014-, and myself, the only persons in the room, drew back from the\ntable, and it was then moved some six or eight inches. In addition to\nthis, it moved from various points, and objects were retained on the\ntable, when under ordinary circumstances, from the inclination of the\ntable, they must have fallen off.\n\n1472. At a sitting at my own residence, some two years since, some very\nstrange phenomena occurred. At the close of the session, a young man,\nof slender frame and constitution, (Mr. H. C. Gordon,) had his hand\nthrown violently upon the centre of a large dining-table, weighing not\nless than eighty or ninety pounds. Some of the company were requested\nto raise Mr. Gordon\u2019s hand from the table. This, after much effort, was\naccomplished, and, strange to relate, the table accompanied the hand\nuntil it was entirely isolated from the floor. This was a result which\nI would have doubted, had it not come under my own personal observation.\n\n1473. About the same time, a company of persons, whose names, as far as\nI can recollect, I shall mention, were seated around two tables, joined\ntogether, in order to furnish room sufficient to seat the party. The\nhouse in which I then lived had two parlours, with folding doors. The\ntwo tables referred to occupied the entire length of the front parlour,\nleaving barely room enough for the chairs at the front end of the\nroom; the other end of the table extended quite to the folding doors,\nleaving, of course, no passage on either end. It so happened that I\nwas seated at that end of the table projecting into the doorway. The\nmedium, Mr. Gordon, was seated about midway of the tables, on the left,\nthe other seats being occupied by the rest of the company.\n\n1474. After a variety of manifestations had occurred, the medium was\nraised from his seat by an invisible power, and, after some apparent\nresistance on his part, was carried through the doorway between the\nparlours, directly over my head, and his head being bumped along the\nceiling, he passed to the farther end of the back room, in which there\nwas no one beside himself.\n\n1475. Although all the individuals present had not equally good\nopportunity of ascertaining the facts in this case, the room having\nbeen somewhat darkened, still his transit over the end of the table at\nwhich I was seated, and the utter impossibility of the medium passing\nout in other way than over our heads, his continued conversation while\nthus suspended, and his position, as indicated by the sound, with other\nfacts in the case, leave no reasonable doubt of the performance of the\nfeat.\n\n1476. There were present on the occasion alluded to, the following\npersons, viz.: Aaron Comfort, George D. Henck, Rebecca Thomas, Naomi\nThomas, Marianne Thomas, Esther Henck, Mrs. Rehn, J. S. Mintzer, M. D.,\nand many others.                             Respectfully, I. REHN.\n\n1477. The truth of the elevation and carriage of this medium aloft, by\ninvisible agency, from one part of a room to another, does not depend\non the testimony of one set of observers; several other respectable\neye-witnesses have alleged the occurrence of a similar manifestation in\ntheir presence.\n\n\n_Communication from J. M. Kennedy, Esq._\n\n1478. One of our most zealous and eloquent spiritualists, is my\nfriend, J. M. Kennedy. He has done me the favour, out of many striking\nmanifestations observed by him, to communicate two, which are among the\nmost demonstrative of a physical power and mental intelligence, and\nwhich cannot be ascribed to mortal agency. That in which the magnetic\nneedle was moved by his request, without physical contact, is, as I\nconceive, pre-eminently interesting.\n\n                                          PHILADELPHIA, August, 1855.\n  \u201cPROFESSOR HARE:\n\n1479. \u201c_Sir_: You ask me to state some facts I have witnessed, which\ntended to convince my mind that the varied phenomena, occurring among\nus, are truly ascribable to the direct action of disembodied spirits. I\nwill state two matters, remarking, however, that I have had other and\ndifferent forms of evidence equally satisfactory to me.\n\n1480. \u201cAbout two years since, I was invited to meet a private circle\nto witness physical manifestations. I met them at the house of a\nnear neighbour, whose lady is a medium. There were about ten persons\npresent. The circle being seated, the movement of the table and tipping\nin answer to questions occurred. I now asked for a communication with\nmyself, which was assented to. I then inquired if the spirits would\nmove the table, despite of my power to hold it still, the company to\nwithdraw from the table, excepting the medium and myself. The answer\nwas, \u2018_We will!_\u2019 The company all arose, and removed their chairs; I\nstood up and took hold of the table, exercising my best judgment as to\nthe use of my strength in the pending contest. The medium having placed\nher hand on the table, I promptly announced, _\u2018I am ready_.\u2019 At once,\nthe movement of the table commenced, despite of my efforts to prevent\nit, and having slightly pushed me backward, it began to draw me in the\nopposite direction. It moved entirely across the room, dragging me\nalong with it, my feet sliding on the carpet. I resisted the motion of\nthe table with all the power I could command, and no visible being but\nmyself had any contact with it, excepting the medium, whose hand (not\n_hands_) was on the top of the table.\n\n1481. \u201cI then said, \u2018If I sit on the table, will you throw me off?\u2019\n_Answer._ Yes. I at once sat on it, and the medium placing her hand as\nbefore, I said, \u2018_I am ready_,\u2019 and almost instantaneously the table\nwas turned over on its side, of course, throwing me off. All this\noccurred at a private house; the room was light enough to read small\nprint, and there was entire freedom to search for trick, machinery, &c.\nThere was to me evidence of an intelligent, invisible power, giving us\nthe tests we suggested and asked for, to prove its presence and power.\n\n1482. \u201cOn another occasion, there were present, at the dwelling of\nanother friend of mine, my friend and his lady, also a lad learning\nbusiness with him, and myself, the apprentice lad being the medium. We\nsat in the parlour in the afternoon, windows open, room well lighted.\n\n1483. \u201cAmong other manifestations which occurred was this: I placed on\nthe centre of the large dining-table a glass tumbler, on which I placed\na compass, the needle being one foot in length. On the periphery of the\ncompass, the alphabet, as well as the various points, was painted, and\nat each letter there was a small metallic pin permanently fixed. After\nchanging the compass freely, to see if the needle worked free and true,\nI left it so placed that the needle pointed due north, according to the\npoints marked therefor. We then removed our chairs from the table some\ndistance, no one being in contact with it. My friend was on the east,\nhis lady on the south, the medium on the west, and myself on the north\nside of the table. I then requested that the spirits would move the\ncompass needle to such points as we might designate; and naming north,\nsouth, east, west, north-east, south-west, &c., perhaps, in all, nearly\ntwenty different points, I saw the needle promptly and quickly moved\nto each point, as and when designated by me, and there held steadily\nfor a brief time; and on each occasion, after having been thus held,\nI saw it fly back to the north point. I also requested that they (the\nspirits) would spell _John_ by moving the needle to the letters, and I\nsaw the needle promptly moved to the several letters required to spell\nthe name, stopping at each, tipping and touching the small pin opposite\nthe letter, and then immediately returning to its position due north.\n\n1484. \u201cThis manifestation I was compelled to regard as clearly proving\nthe action of an invisible, intelligent power, present with us, and\npurporting to be a disembodied spirit once known among us as a man.\nThere was here also perfect freedom to search for trick, machinery,\n&c.; and all these suggested explanations occurred as clearly to my\nmind as to men generally, and were duly cared for by me; for I was then\nan investigator of the truth of spirit manifestations, and did not\nwish to be _humbugged_. These cases, however, are but a sample of the\nchain of testimony that has satisfied my mind fully on this question.\n                                                    JOHN M. KENNEDY.\u201d\n\n\n                  _Communication from Wm. West, Esq._\n\n1485. As respects the communication which follows, I have only to say\nthat I consider the author as quite reliable, both as to his capacity\nto observe accurately, and his disposition to exert that capacity\nfaithfully. I believe him to have one of those minds which, like the\nscale-beam, allows every thing _pro_ or _con_ to have its due weight.\n\n                                    \u201cPHILADELPHIA, September 6, 1855.\n\u201cPROFESSOR R. HARE:\n\n1486. \u201c_Dear Sir_: At our last interview you wished a few facts from my\nexperience.\n\n1487. \u201cAbout three years since I lectured in this city against the\n_spiritual_ agency of \u2018the modern manifestations,\u2019 and advocated a\nnerve aura, obedient to the will. At that time I had the power to stop\nthe physical movements. Subsequently, the agents in these phenomena\nrefused to obey me. I have since been informed by the spirits, that\nthey permitted me to control them for a time, in order ultimately to\nconvince me by depriving me of said power.\n\n1488. \u201cHaving read your statement of the message transmitted by you,\nthrough your spirit sister, from Cape May, in July last, to this city,\nI have thought that an account of a similar despatch from myself,\nthrough my spirit wife, to a circle in this city, might be acceptable.\n\n1489. \u201cOn the evening of June 22, 1853, while sitting at the table\nat Mrs. Long\u2019s, (a writing medium, living at No. 9 Thompson St., New\nYork), my deceased wife purported to be communicating with me. At that\ntime I had been appointed, by the spirits, dictator to a circle, which\nconvened every Wednesday evening at the residence of H. C. Gordon,\n103 North Fifth St., Philadelphia. I inquired of my wife if she could\nconvey a message to the circle then assembled in Philadelphia. She\nanswered, \u2018_I will try_.\u2019 I then requested her to take my respects\nto the circle, and inform them that I was succeeding admirably in\nmy investigation, and becoming stronger in the glorious truth of\nspirit intercommunion. In the course of seventeen minutes, the spirit\nagain announced her presence, and informed us she had delivered the\nmessage. On the next Wednesday evening, I was present at the circle\nin Philadelphia, and was informed by all the members present that my\ncommunication had been duly received. Another spirit, I was informed,\nhad been communicating, when an interruption occurred, and my wife gave\nher name, and, in substance, the communication, through the hand of Mr.\nGordon.\n\n1490. \u201cThere were present about twelve persons of high respectability,\namong whom were Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Mr. and Mrs. Laird, Mr. Aaron\nComfort, Mr. William Knapp, &c.\n\n1491. \u201cAt Mrs. Long\u2019s there were three or four persons present, among\nthem, I think, Mr. Ira Davis.\n\n1492. \u201cI am not a medium, therefore the objection of _medium sympathy_\nis out of place.                      Yours, &c.            W. WEST.\n\n                               \u201cGeorge St., 4th house west of Broad.\u201d\n\n\n                       _Koons\u2019s Establishment._\n\n1493. Among the wonders of Spiritualism, none have excited so much\nastonishment as the manifestations which have occurred at the\nestablishment of Mr. Koons, in Athens county, Ohio. The phenomena\nare so extraordinary, as to be difficult to be believed, even by\nSpiritualists; and yet there is far more evidence of their truth than\nof any of the miracles recorded in Scripture. In no instance has any\nof these been attested in due form by known spectators, and admitting\nthat, in this respect, there is no deficiency, they were not of a\nnature to be repeated before a succession of observers. Those at\nKoons\u2019s have been repeated, and are still being repeated. I first heard\nthat there was such an establishment from my spirit brother, at least\nfifteen months ago. My spirit friends confirm the truth of the account\nreceived, and sanction the idea that there is something in the locality\nwhich favours mediumship. I subjoin the narratives of several visitors\nto the establishment in question:\n\n\n               _Communication from Joseph Hazard, Esq._\n\n1494. Joseph Hazard, Esq., of Narragansett, R. I., is very well known\nin Philadelphia, as well as in the vicinity of his residence. Mr.\nHazard accompanied me, in some of my investigating visits, to spiritual\ncircles, and was present, as I have mentioned, (139,) on the occasion\nwhen I first saw a table move without contact. There is no doubt but\nthat he is a truthful witness. If he has overrated what he heard or\nsaw, it must be from the enthusiasm with which he was inspired.\n\n                                      ATHENS CO., _Ohio_, May 4, 1855.\n\n1495. _My Dear Sir_: I have been here these three days, witnessing the\nwonderful spirit manifestations of which we have heard so much. Allow\nme to assure you that the published account of them is no more to the\nreality than shadow is to substance. No pen can describe, and if it\ncould, I believe no mind could believe that had not witnessed them. The\nspirits talk audibly through a trumpet, not with good articulation,\nbut as if the process were mechanical. On the accordeon, however, the\nlanguage is exquisitely articulated, being some beautiful air or catch,\naccording to the number of words; the harmony being perfect, and every\nnote forming a part or whole word. They frequently move overhead, next\nthe ceiling, with a rapidity of motion inconceivably astounding,\nblowing a trumpet with deafening blasts at times, or beating a\ntamborine or some other instrument.\n\n1496. One of the exhibitions represents a spirit hand during this\ncircuit, beating a tamborine, there being a piece of sand-paper with\nphosphorus on it, which they use for illuminating the hand. I saw them\nbegin the work and complete it. The hand was small and delicate, and\nflew all over the room with something like the rapidity of light on a\nbroken surface of water, frequently snapping the fingers, and stopping\noften near to myself and others, that we might see it to full advantage.\n\n1497. Another hand, which I could not see, touched me, but I took hold\nof it. It seemed as if covered with buckskin.\n\n1498. The spirits are now contriving a plan to exhibit in the light.\nThey say that light destroys the conditions necessary by their present\nsystem, even that evolved by the phosphorus rendering the operation\nvery difficult.\n\n1499. It appears evident that spirits to be seen with material eyes are\nobliged to materialize themselves, or else spiritualize our vision; and\nthese things have been done repeatedly.\n\n1500. I have not yet seen them write. I have heard them talk and play\non many instruments by the hour. There is a base and tenor drum on\nwhich they perform with such violence, that it is almost deafening at\ntimes, and the whole house resounds till it shakes throughout. Some of\nthe music is seraphic, especially when they speak with the harmonicon,\nwhen it is more unearthly in its character than I should have been able\nto imagine.\n\n1501. The spirit houses are distinct buildings of one room, dark\nas Erebus, and rather lonesome places, in this wilderness. I have,\nnevertheless, obtained permission to sleep on the floor each night in\none: and during two of those nights I have been favoured with faint\nmusic on the drums. Last night, from the moment I extinguished the\nlight, drumming was continued throughout the night, accompanied by a\nfew notes on the violin.\n\n1502. The spirit said last night, \u201cI can\u2019t play a bit,\u201d but,\nnevertheless, he played some things delightfully. This was a new\nperformer, who had sent word he would perform this night, and that he\nwas a German.\n\n1503. One spirit attempted to sing through the trumpet, but could not\nmake music; after each failure he would stop a minute, and then, very\ngood-naturedly, say, \u201cI will try again.\u201d This he did several times,\nwhen he added \u201cWhat shall I do for you, if I can\u2019t sing?\u201d He at length\ntook up an accordeon, and succeeded better on that; but I presume did\nnot suit himself, as he would exclaim every once in a while, \u201cOh,\ndear!\u201d very despondingly.\n\n1504. The effort the spirits make to manifest themselves is very\ngreat, evidently, and the amiability of their demeanour here is\nstriking. However, I cannot tell you but a small portion of what I\nhave seen, but believing you would be interested in this sketch, I\nhave hastily made it, and hope you will excuse the rudeness of it. If\nI could not witness again what I have seen during the last seventy-two\nhours, I would not part with the consciousness of it for the whole\nState of Ohio.\n                        I am very sincerely your friend,\n                                                  JOS. P. HAZARD.\nTo PROF. ROBT. HARE, Philada.\n\n\n                 A VISIT TO THE SPIRITUALISTS OF OHIO.\n\n\n _Letter from John Gage.\u2014The Home of the Mediums and the Haunts of the\n               Spirits.\u2014What they did, said, and wrote._\n\n\n               LOCALITY OF JONATHAN KOONS.\u2014A HILLY LAND.\n\n1505. The house of Mr. Koons is in Milford, Athens county, Ohio,\ntwenty-five miles south-west of McConnelsville, forty-two miles from\nLancaster, and sixty-seven miles from Columbus.\n\n1506. Persons going from the West can go to Lancaster, which is the\nnearest point by railroad, thence down the Hocking River by stage,\nwhich runs daily to Chauncey, thence on foot two miles to Koons. From\nthe North persons would take the stage at Columbus, thence to Lancaster\nby the lines above described. From the East there are steamboats to\nMcConnelsville, on the Muskingum, both from Zanesville and Marietta,\nbut from these private carriages must be got; distance as above,\ntwenty-five miles, but the miles bear no correspondence to the hours,\nfor on every route they think they do well if they accomplish two and\na half miles an hour. No man ever travelled over so hilly a country\nanywhere else, and when you finally get into Koons\u2019s vicinity, you find\nthe essence of hills personified; there is no such thing as a level\nspot large enough to put a house on.\n\n\n        THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITUALIST.\u2014PRESENCE OF ELECTRICITY.\n\n1507. Koons\u2019s house is located on the south-east angle of a sharp\nridge, some few rods below the edge of the ledge, and where, when the\nnative trees occupied the ground, the lightning was wont to make frolic\namong them; and where it still likes to sport. The stove-pipe above the\nspirit room was burst off, and a number of times during the sitting of\nthe mediums, the electric sparks were seen to play over the wires of\nthe spirit table.\n\n\n           THE ROOM WHERE THE SPIRITS MANIFEST THEIR POWER.\n\n1508. The spirit room is built of logs, as well as the house in which\nMr. Koons resides; it is situated at the end of his dwelling-house, and\nsix feet from it. It is twelve by sixteen feet square, and seven feet\nhigh inside; there is a tight floor, and the ceiling above is of rough\nboards, laid close edge to edge; in the garret above, there is less\nthan three feet clear room to the peak of the roof, and up here are\nstowed old shoes and other old trumpery. There is a door in the front,\nnear the centre of the building, and a small window on each side of it,\nand one window in the back side; the windows have each close shutters\noutside to exclude the light. Across the back end of the room are three\nrough board shelves. Two feet in front of these, stands the spirit\ntable, three feet wide and six feet long. In front of this, and setting\nagainst it, is a common fall-leaf table, about three and a half feet\nsquare, which extends to within one foot of the stove; and across the\nback end of the room are two rough benches for spectators to sit upon,\nand the front one comes within one foot of the stove. Then, on each end\nof the table is room for three or four chairs, all of which fills the\nroom so full that there is no room to get around. Mr. Koons\u2019s seat is\nat the left of the table, where he sits and plays the fiddle. Nahum,\nhis son, sits on the left of the table; he is a lad eighteen years old,\nand the principal medium; and his mother sits next to him.\n\n\n                     THE FURNITURE AND OCCUPANTS.\n\n1509. The spirit table has a frame or rack standing on it, and extended\nfrom one end to the other; this rack sustains a tenor drum at one\nend and a brass drum at the other, attached to it by means of wires;\nthere are wires also passing in various directions about the rack, and\nsustaining some small bells, some images of birds cut out of copper\nplate, &c.; there are two fiddles, a guitar, banjo, accordeon, French\nharp, tin horn, tea bell, triangle, and tamborine, either hanging up or\non the tables. The room will hold eighteen or twenty persons besides\nthe mediums, and when filled, as it usually is, there is no room to\npass around or between the people and the table or stove.\n\n1510. Some phosphorus is always placed on the table between wet sheets\nof paper, for the exhibition of the hand.\n\n\n THE MANIFESTATIONS COMMENCE.\u2014THE SPIRITS PLAY ON DRUMS, HARPS, FRENCH\n                  HORNS, ACCORDEONS, AND TAMBORINES.\n\n                                          KOONS\u2019S ROOM, June 19, 1855.\n1511. Between eight and nine o\u2019clock, Mr. Koons and his son Nahum went\ninto the room and closed the doors and shutters, for the purpose, they\nsaid, of inquiring of King, the presiding spirit, whether he would\nattend that evening, and what time he would commence; this they always\ndo, and they were told to get ready in twenty minutes. We went into\nthe room. Mr. Koons took his seat with his fiddle and tuned it; I took\nmy seat by his side, and my wife next to me, our chairs setting close\nto each other, and the chairs and benches in the room were all filled.\nThe window-shutters and doors were now closed, and Mr. Koons put out\nthe light, and immediately there came a startling blow upon the table\nthat made the room jar, and almost brought me to my feet. \u201cWell,\nKing,\u201d said Mr. Koons, \u201cyou are here,\u201d and commenced playing a lively\ntune. As soon as Koons began to play the fiddle, the bass and tenor\ndrums began to play with such power and energy as to frighten me; the\nwhole house was on a jar and vibrating in perfect time with the music;\nand I know no mortal hands had hold of the drumsticks, and for the\ntime the thought was irresistible and constant that spirits controlled\nthem. After two or three tunes on the drums, the tamborine was taken\nup and beat with such violence, that I expected every moment it would\nbe dashed to pieces, at the same time it was making rapid circles in\nthe room and dashing from one place to another, and occasionally thrust\nalmost in my face, so that I was afraid it would hit me. Then the\nFrench harp would be played, and then the drums, harp, and accordeon\naltogether; then a strange kind of unearthly noise would sing in\nconcert with the music. Interspersed between the tunes upon the harp\nwas talking through the horn, the horn frequently passing through the\nroom, over and around us at the same time.\n\n\nTHE MANIFESTATIONS CONTINUE, AND THE HEAD SPIRIT WRITES A COMMUNICATION.\n\n1512. At one time there was talking around the room, so as to disturb\nthose that were anxious to hear every thing, when suddenly there came\na shriek that was truly terrific; such a sound as Milton might suppose\nwould be made by an imp of the infernal regions. The horn then said:\n\u201cKeep silent.\u201d\n\n1513. Koons talked some time with the voice in the horn and harp; then\nasked him to write a communication for me. We then heard the rattling\nof paper, and the phosphorus began to show itself, was taken up in a\nhand, showed the hand. It then got a pencil, took some paper, and laid\nit on a table close before me, and wrote on it, making the same sound\nthat a pencil always makes in rapid writing; then made some flourishes\non the paper below the writing, threw down the pencil, handed the paper\ninto my hand, and threw the phosphorus on the floor in front of Mr.\nKoons, who took it up and handed it to the hand again; it then threw\nit in the corner of the room, and said, \u201cGood-night,\u201d when Mr. Koons\nlighted a candle. I examined the paper that the hand had given me, and\nfound it was my paper, which I had placed on the table, with a private\nmark on it. There were four lines written on it in a good legible hand,\nand following the ruled lines on the paper as follows:\n\n1514. \u201cWell, friend, we return our regards to you for the interest you\nhave manifested in our presence and performance; we now take our leave.\nFarewell.                                                      KING.\u201d\n\n                                        AT KOONS\u2019S, Thursday, June 21.\n1515. We have much more of a performance than usual, and one highly\nsatisfactory. Among other things, after they had finished playing a\ntune, Mr. Schenick, who sat next to me, and who plays the violin very\nwell, said, \u201cKing, won\u2019t you hand me the other fiddle?\u201d It was taken\nup and handed to him over my head, thumbing the strings as it passed.\n\u201cYes,\u201d it said, \u201cI will give you the fiddle; you do not want the bow,\nI suppose.\u201d \u201cOh, yes,\u201d said Schenick, \u201cI want the bow, too.\u201d The horn\nsaid, \u201cCan\u2019t you get along without it?\u201d Schenick answered, \u201cI can\u2019t\nplay very well with my fingers.\u201d Then the bow was handed to him, the\nhorn named a tune, and both fiddles began to play, accompanied by the\ndrums and the accordeon, and a number of voices sang, something like\nhuman voices.\n\n1516. Then the tamborine was played with much spirit, and passed\nrapidly around the room. At the same time it made stops in front of a\nperson, touched them gently on the shoulder, head, or somewhere else,\nplaying all the while; then passed to another, and so on. It passed\nme, and dropped into my wife\u2019s lap. It then flew over Van Sickle\u2019s\nhead, made a great flourish, lit on it, and began to press down; and\nVan says, \u201cBear down; I can hold you up.\u201d He then said there was the\nweight of a large man put on his head; it also passed to a number of\nothers, and pressed down on their heads. Mr. Koons then asked him to\nlay the tamborine on my head, which it did immediately, bearing down, I\nshould think, with a weight of twenty pounds: I raised up my hand and\ntook hold of it, when it started up, and I held on as fast as I dared\nfor fear of breaking the Tamborine; it then passed around and came\nto my wife, and pressed gently against her head. This, she said, she\nmentally requested it to do, as she did not want it to bear down hard\non her.\n\n1517. Mr. Koons then said, \u201cKing, it is very warm here; won\u2019t you\ntake Mrs. Gage\u2019s fan and fan us?\u201d But before he had finished speaking,\nthe tamborine began to fly around the room like lightning, breathing\na strong current of wind, and fanning all in the house. Then the\nphosphorus was taken up and darted around the room like flakes of\nlightning, and a hand began to develop. We talked with the voice while\nthis process was going on, and tried to urge our spirit friends to\nwrite a communication for us. When the hand was formed, it passed\naround the room and shook hands or touched the hands of many of us. It\ntook hold of my hand, and then of my wife\u2019s. We both felt the shape of\na hand distinctly. It then got some paper and a pencil, and laying the\npaper on the table, right in front of us, began to write with great\nrapidity; covered one side of the sheet; turned it over again, wrote\nfive lines, signed it, filled the rest of the page with flourishes,\nfolded it, and placed it in my wife\u2019s hand. It then flew around the\nroom, darting from the table up to the ceiling, there making three or\nfour distinct knocks, and darting down and up, repeating the knocks\na number of times in succession; it then passed all around the room,\nstopping and showing the hand to all that wanted to see it. It then\ncommenced darting around the room again, and snapping its fingers as\nloud as a man could do. It then threw the phosphorus in the back corner\nof the room, said \u201cGood night,\u201d and was gone. Mr. Koons then lighted\nthe candle, and my wife read the paper which was given her by the\nspirit hand, as follows:\n\n\n                         THE SPIRIT\u2019S LETTER.\n\n1518. _To the Friends of this Circle_: After various inquiries made at\nthis circle, we deem it highly necessary to reply by stated reasons,\nwhy our presiding spirit declines to give the names of the spirits\npresent during our performances at this room:\n\n1519. 1st. Let the inquirer conceive himself entering a congregated\npromiscuous assembly of persons, who are all anxiously awaiting his\napproach under the discharge of some important and general mission,\nin behalf of those in attendance. On entering the assembly, he looks\naround upon his anxious inquirers, and sees them attended with their\nrespective safeguards, such as he never saw before. In the discharge of\nhis official duty, however, he is necessitated to exclude himself from\nthe direct view and intercourse of the safeguards, so as to be brought\ninto a nearer relation to the corresponding parties. The interlocution\naccordingly takes place, when each one in turn begins to interrogate\nthe speaker in his excluded position, on subjects relating to their\nexcluded guard, of which the speaker knows but little or nothing,\nexcept the cognition of their presence on his arrival; and in order to\nacquaint himself with the circumstances and matters inquired after, so\nas to answer correctly, the speaker has to disencumber himself at every\ninquiry, and not only so, but would also fail to perform his _devolved_\nduty by submitting himself to the scrutiny and criticism of the\ncorresponding parties. Which, then, of the two requirements would be of\nthe most consequence\u2014to discommode the general interest of the assembly\nand that of his own official duty, or to omit the latter and attend to\nthe discharge of a more important and higher duty, by which the peace\nand consoling riches would be augmented to the fulness of their cup?\n\n1520. Now, this is the position our presiding spirit occupies. When\nhimself and band enter the room, he recognises, many bright guardian\nspirits interspersed among the promiscuous assembly, of whom he has\nno knowledge. And in the discharge of their manifesting performances,\nthey necessarily must assume physical incumbrances, which shuts them\nfrom a direct view of the attending spirits; and as many questions that\nare led in relation to them so often, the corresponding spirit has\nto disrobe himself so as to give a correct relation, to say nothing\nof the possibility of receiving and conveying wrong impressions from\nspirits who do not regard the truth.\n\n1521. Given by Second King, at the council of the presiding band.\n\n\n                      THE ABOVE IS CERTIFIED TO.\n\n1522. After this communication had been read, a certificate, setting\nforth the above facts was drawn up and signed by all those present, as\nfollows:\n\n1523. _Audience present._\u2014Portia Gage, Gage\u2019s Lake, Ill.; John Gage,\nGage\u2019s Lake, Lake county, Ill.; Solomon Bordon, Millfield, Athens\ncounty, Ohio; Thomas Morris and wife, Hyram Schenick, Selah Van Sickle,\nDelaware, Ohio.\n\n1524. _Mediums present._\u2014Jonathan Koons, Abigail T. Koons, Nahum W.\nKoons.\n\n\n                          CONCLUDING REMARKS.\n\n1525. When a person comes here and sees the rooms, and finds them open\nall day for the children to run in and out of, and for visitors to\nexamine, and sees there are no juggler\u2019s tools about, and no place to\nkeep them; the mediums and all engaged are of that artless stamp, and\nin their whole appearance, bearing, and conduct, so marked with honesty\nand sincerity of purpose, that the idea of their being imposters, or\nof their psychologizing their auditors, is simply ridiculous. That\nthe music is not imaginary, is proved in another way, if further\nproof is necessary; it can be heard as well outside as inside of the\nhouses, and is frequently heard by the neighbours for miles around.\nThere is no question about the manifestations, and about their having\nall that superhuman or unaccountable character that the most sanguine\nwriters have given them. They rather seem to be over-cautious about\nexaggerating any thing, and consequently fall far short of conveying\nan adequate idea of the phenomena. Therefore, all we have to do is to\naccount for these existing facts, for the facts cannot be controverted.\nThe intelligence displayed is sometimes of a high order, and they\nalways claim to be spirits of men or women who have left the earthly\nform, and passed to that undiscovered country from whose bourne it has\nbeen said no travellers return. But of this every one can judge for\nthemselves, though it is difficult to imagine what they can be, if they\nare not spirits.                                             JOHN GAGE.\n\n\n  _An Evening at Koon\u2019s Spirit Room. By Charles Partridge, Esq., New\n                                York._\n\n1526. Sunday evening, 27th May last, I walked some three miles through\na wood over a very poor road, in the direction of what is called\nthe spirit rooms of Jonathan Koons. I noticed at the foot of a hill\nseveral carriages by the roadside, and horses tied to the fence and\ntrees; and on reaching the place, I observed from thirty to fifty men\nsitting on stones, logs, and fences around a dilapidated log-cabin.\nThe men looked respectable, and their deportment and conversation\nbore the impress of a religious meeting. I inquired who lived there,\nand was informed that Jonathan Koons lived in that house, (pointing\nto the cabin,) and _that_ (pointing to a small one near by) is the\nspirits\u2019 room. I inquired what spirits lived there, and was told that\nit was the room where people go in to talk with their spirit friends\nwho have gone out of their earthly tabernacle. On inquiry as to what\nthis gathering was for, I was informed that these people had come to\ntalk with their spirit friends and to witness spirit manifestations.\nI was informed that I might go in\u2014that everybody was free to enter\nand examine the room, and to attend the circle. I selected a good\n\u201csoft\u201d stone, and sat me down, a perfect stranger, with the other\ndisciples. I scrutinized the people closely, and listened to their\nconversation without joining in it. I overheard one say that Mr. Koons\nwas in his house. In the course of half an hour a man came out, whom\nseveral persons addressed as Mr. Koons; he glanced his eyes over the\ncongregation; presently, two men drove up, who, as I subsequently\nlearned, came from Amesville, some ten miles distant; they were entire\nstrangers to me and I to them; they looked around, spoke with some\npersons, and then with Mr. Koons, asking whom he had there, &c., and\nfinally asked him who I was, pointing me out to Mr. Koons. Mr. Koons\nobserved that he had not learned my name, that I had just come; but\nhe was impressed by spirits to say, \u201cHis name is Charles Partridge,\nof New York.\u201d Soon after, one of these men approached me, and asked\nif I was Mr. Partridge, from New York. I answered in the affirmative.\n\u201cCharles Partridge?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cthe spirits told Mr.\nKoons who you were.\u201d I had not overheard their conversation, but such\nwas the result of one of my tests as to the spirit origin of these\nmanifestations.\n\n1527. Mr. Koons and one of his children (a medium) went into the\nspirit room alone, as is their custom before forming the public\ncircle, to receive such instruction from the presiding spirit (King)\nas he might wish to communicate. There are often more persons present\ndesiring to obtain admittance than the room will hold. In such cases\nthe spirit directs Mr. Koons to especially invite those in who have\ncome the longest distance, and such as cannot remain there for another\nopportunity, usually calling the names of the parties, and leaving out\nthe neighbours and those who can make it convenient to be present on\nsubsequent occasions. At one of these preliminary interviews, I was\ninvited in by Mr. Koons. Immediately on closing the doors, the spirit\ntook up the trumpet, (described in my last communication,) and spoke\nthrough it audibly and distinctly, saying, \u201cGood evening, friends!\u201d\nto which we responded in like manner. The spirit then addressed me by\nname, and observed, in substance, that although they were strangers\nto me, I was not a stranger to them: they had been cognizant of my\nthoughts, desires, and efforts in behalf of Spiritualism from the\ntime my attention was first called to the subject. They spoke in very\nflattering terms of myself and others, who had been bold to testify to\nthe spiritual manifestations witnessed in the early times, and during\nthe severer trials and opposition. They had watched the TELEGRAPH with\nanxious solicitude, and with eminent satisfaction. They closed in a\nfervent benediction and consecration to further and greater good and\nuses. After which this spirit (King) said to Mr. Koons, that they could\nnot hold a public circle that evening, as he was elsewhere engaged.\nMr. Koons expressed much regret at this announcement, and said he felt\nmuch embarrassed and mortified, because several persons were there\nwho had come a long way; some from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia,\nCanada, and other distant places. The spirit said he was sorry, but\nhe had engaged to attend a circle elsewhere, (naming the place a long\ndistance away,) and he must be there in fifteen minutes. Mr. Koons\nwould not be satisfied with any excuses, but insisted that he (King)\nhad agreed to preside over his circle, and meet the company who came\nthere; and rather than be made the instrument of apology to others for\nthe disappointment in the performances, he would abandon it altogether,\netc. King said, \u201cWait a few moments, and I will go and see if\narrangements can be made.\u201d He thereupon laid down the trumpet, and to\nall appearances left us, and we could get no further replies for four\nor five minutes, when the trumpet was again taken up, and King spoke\nthrough it, saying he had arranged the matter by deputizing a portion\nof his band to fill his engagement, and they would therefore hold a\ncircle in that place, commencing the performance in fifteen minutes,\nbut perhaps they would not be able to make so good music, or have the\nfull complement of the manifestations. Thus ended this preliminary\ninterview, which sufficiently indicates the character of all similar\nones.\n\n1528. I attended three public circles in the spirit house of Mr. Koons,\nand three in the spirit house of Mr. John Tippie; they are situated\nabout three miles apart; the rooms and manifestations are very similar,\nalthough the electrical tables, so called, differ somewhat in their\nconstruction; the presiding spirits are of the same name, King; they\nclaim to be father and son. These rooms will seat about twenty-five\nor thirty persons each, and are usually full. Many times, while I was\nthere, more persons desired to go in than the house would hold, and\nsome of them had to remain outside. They could hear the music and\nthe spirits\u2019 conversation just as well, and they only had to forego\nbeing touched by spirits and seeing them. The music is heard, under\nfavourable circumstances, at the distance of one mile, or as far as\nany band of martial music can be heard. After the circle is formed,\nthe door and windows are shut, the light is usually extinguished, and\nalmost instantaneously, a tremendous blow by the large drumstick is\nstruck on the table, when immediately the bass and tenor drums are\nbeaten rapidly, like calling the roll on the muster-field, waking a\nthousand echoes. The rapid and tremulous blows on these drums are\nreally frightful to many persons. This beating of the drums is\ncontinued five minutes or more, and when ended, King usually takes up\nthe trumpet and salutes us with \u201cGood evening, friends,\u201d or something\nlike it, and often asks what particular manifestations are desired.\nIf none are specially asked for, King often asks Mr. Koons to play on\nthe violin, the spirit band playing at the same time on the drums,\ntriangle, tamborine, harp, accordeon, harmonica, etc. etc.; upon these\nthe spirits perform scientifically, in very quick and perfect time.\nThey commence upon each instrument at one instant, and in full blast,\nand stop suddenly after sounding the full note, showing that they have\nsome more perfect method than we have of notifying each performer of\nthe instant to start and stop. After the introductory piece on the\ninstruments, the spirits often sing. I heard them sing. The spirits\nspoke to us, requesting us to remain perfectly silent. Presently, we\nheard human voices singing, apparently in the distance, so as to be\nscarcely distinguishable; the sounds gradually increased, each part\nrelatively, until it appeared as if a full choir of human voices were\nin our small room, singing most exquisitely. I think I never heard such\nperfect harmony; each part was performed with strict attention to its\nrelative degree of sound or force. There was none of that flopping,\nfloundering, ranting, and shrieking which constitutes the staple of\nwhat is latterly called music; _harmony_, rather than _noise_, seemed\nto constitute the spirits\u2019 song. So captivating was it, that the\nheartstrings seemed to relax or to increase their tension, to accord\nwith the heavenly harmony. It seems to me that no person could sit\nin that sanctuary without feeling the song of \u201cGlory to God in the\nhighest, peace on earth, and good-will to man,\u201d spontaneously rising\nin the bosom, and finding expression on the lip. I don\u2019t know that the\nspirits attempted to utter words with their song; if they did, they\nsucceeded in this particular no better than modern singers. But it was\nhardly necessary for the spirits to articulate, for every strain and\nmodulation seemed pregnant with holy sentiments, and language could\nscarcely signify more. After this vocal performance, several pieces of\nquick music were performed by the spirits on the several instruments.\nThey play faster than mortals usually do, and in most perfect time\nthroughout. If any instrument gets out of chord, they tune it; they\ntuned the violin in my presence, and did it rapidly and skilfully.\n\n1529. Spirits reconstruct their physical bodies, or portions of them,\nfrom similar elements, apparently, as those which constitute our mortal\nbodies. Spirits\u2019 hands and arms were reorganized in our presence, on\nseveral of these occasions; and that we might see the more distinctly,\nthey sometimes wet their hands with a weak solution of phosphorus,\n(which Mr. Koons prepared some time previous by their request,) which\nemits a light, so that their hands can be almost as distinctly seen in\na dark room as they could be if the room were light. At one of these\ncircles which I attended, there were three hands which had been covered\nwith this solution of phosphorus, and we all saw them passing swiftly\naround the room, over our heads, carrying the instruments, and playing\nupon the violin, accordeon, triangle, harmonica, and tamborine, and\nall keeping perfect time. These instruments were moved so swiftly and\nnear the faces of the audience,\u2014our own among them,\u2014that we felt the\ncool atmospheric current as distinctly as we do that produced by a\nfan. Several of the company in different parts of the room remarked\nthat they not only felt this disturbance of the air, but heard it,\nand distinctly saw the hand and instrument pass close to their faces.\nSeveral of us requested the spirits to place these instruments in our\nhands, or touch us on our heads or other parts of our bodies; and in\nmost cases it was instantly done. I held up my hands, and requested the\nspirits to beat time with the tamborine on my hands. They did so, and\ngave me more than I asked for, by striking my knees, hands, and head\nin a similar manner. I have seen the tamborine players in the minstrel\nbands of New York; I have seen the best performers in the country; but\nthey cannot perform equal to these spirits. The perfect time and the\nrapidity with which they beat are truly surprising.\n\n1530. Spirit hands with phosphorus upon them passed around the room,\nopening and shutting, and exhibiting them in various ways and positions\nwhich no mortal hand could assume or occupy\u2014demonstrating them to\nbe veritable spirit hands, physically organized. The phosphorescent\nillumination from these hands was so distinct, that it occurred to\nme I could see to read by it; and I took a pamphlet from my pocket,\nand asked the spirit to place the hand over it, that I might see if I\ncould read by the light. The spirit did so, when I at once perceived\nthat I held the pamphlet wrong end up. I turned it, and could read.\nThe members of the circle remarked that they could see very plainly\nmy hands, face, and the pamphlet I held, and as distinctly could see\nthe spirit\u2019s hand and a portion of the arm. I then put out my hands,\nand asked the spirits to shake hands with me; they did so almost\ninstantly. I then asked them to let me examine their hands, and they\nplaced them in mine, and I looked at them and felt them until I was\nentirely satisfied. Others asked the same favour, and it was readily\ngranted them. These spirit hands appeared to be reorganized from the\nsame elements that our hands are; and, except that they had a kind of\ntremulous motion, and some of them being cold and death-like, we could\nnot by our senses distinguish them from hands of persons living in the\nform.\n\n1531. This spirit hand took a pen, and we all distinctly saw it write\non paper which was lying on the table; the writing was executed much\nmore rapidly than I ever saw mortal hand perform; the paper was then\nhanded to me by the spirit, and I still retain it in my possession. At\nthe close of the session the spirit of King, as is his custom, took up\nthe trumpet and gave us a short lecture through it\u2014speaking audibly\nand distinctly, presenting the benefits to be derived, both in time\nand eternity, from intercourse with spirits, and exhorting us to be\ndiscreet and bold in speech, diligent in our investigations, faithful\nto the responsibilities which these privileges impose, charitable\ntoward those who are in ignorance and error, tempering our zeal with\nwisdom; and finally closing with a benediction.\n\n1532. I am aware that these facts so much transcend the ordinary\nexperience of mortals, that few persons can accept them as true on any\namount of human testimony. I obtained the addresses of the following\nnamed persons, and hope they will excuse me for the liberty I take\nin referring to them in this connection, for the confirmation of\nmy statements. They were present at some or all the circles which\nI attended, when these manifestations occurred: R. I. Butterfield,\nCleveland, Ohio; William D. Young, Covington, Ind.; George and David\nBrier, Rainsville, Ind.; David Edger and daughter, Mercer co., Pa.; S.\nVan Sickle, Delaware, O.; S. T. Dean, Andrew Ogg, and Geo. Walker and\nson, Amesville, O.; Azel Johnson, Millfield, O.; W. S. Watkins, New\nYork; Thomas Morris and wife, Dover, O.; Dr. Geo. Carpenter, Athens,\nO.; Thomas White, Mount Pleasant, O. Many other persons were present,\nwhose names I did not learn.                     CHARLES PARTRIDGE.\n\n\n               _Experience of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge._\n\n1533. The following communication from Governor Tallmadge to Mrs.\nSarah H. Whitman, of Providence, R. I., has been in print for some\ntime, and came out early, when Spiritualism had made too little\nimpression to be duly appreciated. I for one, at the period of its\nfirst publication, could not realize it. But the public are now better\nprepared, and it may be repeated with advantage. Besides, this work\nis made for the uninformed and incredulous, rather than for those who\nhave been heretofore converted, and who are familiar with the earliest\nmanifestations.\n\n                                 BALTIMORE, _Tuesday, April 12, 1853_.\n1534. _Dear Madam_: I seize a few leisure moments, while detained here\na short time on business, to give you a more extended account of the\n\u201cPhysical Manifestations\u201d to which I alluded in a former letter. In\nthis account, I shall confine myself to those which purport to come\nfrom the spirit of John C. Calhoun.\n\n1535. I have received numerous communications from him, from the\ncommencement of my investigation of this subject down to the present\ntime. Those communications have been received through rapping\nmediums, writing mediums, and speaking mediums. They are of the most\nextraordinary character. In style and sentiment, they would do honour\nto him in his best days on earth.\n\n1536. After the arrival of the Misses Fox in Washington City, in\nFebruary last, I called on them by appointment, and, at once, received\na communication from Calhoun. I then wrote down and propounded\n_mentally_ the following question:\n\n1537. \u201cCan you _do_ any thing (meaning physical manifestations) to\nconfirm me in the truth of these revelations, and to remove from my\nmind the least shadow of unbelief?\u201d To which I received the following\nanswer:\n\n1538. \u201cI will give you a communication on Monday, at half-past seven\no\u2019clock. Do not fail to be here. I will then give you an explanation.\n                                                   \u201cJOHN C. CALHOUN.\u201d\n\n1539. It is proper here to remark, that all the communications referred\nto in this letter, were made by Calhoun after a call for the alphabet,\nand were rapped out, letter by letter, and taken down by me in the\nusual way. They were made in the presence of the Misses Fox and their\nmother. I called on Monday at the hour appointed, and received the\nfollowing communication:\n\n1540. \u201cMy friend, the question is often put to you, \u2018What good can\nresult from these manifestations?\u2019 I will answer it. It is to draw\nmankind together in harmony, and convince skeptics of the immortality\nof the soul.                                      JOHN C. CALHOUN.\u201d\n\n1541. This reminds me that, in 1850, at Bridgeport, in the presence of\nother mediums, among many questions put and answers received, were the\nfollowing, the answer purporting to come from W. E. Channing:\n\n1542. _Q._ What do spirits propose to accomplish by these new\nmanifestations? _A._ To unite mankind, and to convince skeptical minds\nof the immortality of the soul.\n\n1543. The coincidence in sentiment of the answer of J. C. Calhoun\nand W. E. Channing, in regard to the object of these manifestations,\nis remarkable, and worthy of particular notice. The concurrence of\ntwo such great minds, whether in or out of the body, on a subject so\nengrossing, cannot fail to command the attention of every admirer of\nexalted intellect and moral purity.\n\n1544. During the above communication of Calhoun, the table moved\noccasionally, perhaps a foot, first one way and then the other. After\nthe communication closed, we all moved back from the table, from two to\nfour feet, _so that no one touched the table_. Suddenly the table moved\nfrom the position it occupied some three or four feet, rested a few\nmoments, and then moved back to its original position. Then it again\nmoved as far the other way, and returned to the place it started from.\nOne side of the table was then raised, and stood for a few moments at\nan angle of about thirty-five degrees, and then again rested on the\nfloor as usual.\n\n1545. The table was a large, heavy, round table, at which ten or a\ndozen persons might be seated at dinner. _During all these movements\nno person touched the table, nor was any one near it._ After seeing it\nraised in the manner above mentioned, I had the curiosity to test its\nweight by raising it myself. I accordingly took my seat by it, placed\nmy hands under the leaf, and exerted as much force as I was capable of\nin that sitting posture, and could not raise it a particle from the\nfloor. I then stood up in the best possible position to exert the\ngreatest force, took hold of the leaf, and still could not raise it\nwith all the strength I could apply. I then requested the three ladies\nto take hold around the table, and try altogether to lift it. We lifted\nupon it until the leaf and top began to crack, and did not raise it\na particle. We then desisted, fearing we should break the table. I\nthen said, \u201cWill the spirits permit me to raise the table?\u201d I took\nhold alone and raised it without difficulty. After this, the following\nconversation ensued:\n\n1546. _Q._ Can you raise the table entirely from the floor? _A._ Yes.\n\n1547. _Q._ Will you raise me with it? _A._ Yes. Get me the square table.\n\n1548. The square table was of cherry, with four legs\u2014a large-sized\ntea-table. It was brought out and substituted for the round one, the\nleaves being raised. I took my seat on the centre; the three ladies sat\nat the sides and end, their hands and arms resting upon it. This, of\ncourse, added to the weight to be raised\u2014namely, my own weight and the\nweight of the table. Two legs of the table were then raised about six\ninches from the floor, and then the other two were raised to a level of\nthe first, _so that the whole table was suspended in the air about six\ninches above the floor_. While thus seated on it, I could feel a gentle\nvibratory motion, as if floating in the atmosphere. After being thus\nsuspended in the air for a few moments, the table was gently let down\nagain to the floor!\n\n1549. Some pretend to say, that these physical manifestations are made\nby electricity! I should like to know by what laws of electricity\nknown to us, a table is at one time riveted, as it were, to the floor,\nagainst all the force that could be exerted to raise it; and at another\ntime raised entirely from the floor, with more than two hundred pounds\nweight upon it?\n\n1550. At a subsequent meeting, Calhoun directed me to bring three bells\nand a guitar. I brought them accordingly. The bells were of different\nsizes\u2014the largest like a small-sized dinner-bell. He directed a drawer\nto be put under the square table. I put under a bureau-drawer, bottom\nside up. He directed the bells to be placed on the drawer. The three\nladies and myself were seated at the table with our hands and arms\nresting on it. The bells commenced ringing in a sort of chime. Numerous\nraps were made, as if beating time to a march. The bells continued to\nring and to chime in with the beating of time. The time of the march\nwas slow and solemn. It was beautiful and perfect. The most fastidious\near could not detect any discrepancy in it.\n\n1551. The raps then ceased, and the bells rang violently for several\nminutes. A bell was then pressed on my foot, my ankle, and my\nknee. This was at different times repeated. Knocks were made _most\nvehemently_ against the underside of the table, so that a large tin\ncandlestick was, by every blow, raised completely from the table by the\nconcussion.\n\n1552. I afterward examined the underside of the table, (which, it will\nbe recollected, was of cherry,) and found _indentations_ in the wood,\nmade by the end of the handle of the bell, which was tipped with brass.\nCould electricity make those violent knocks with the handle of the\nbell, causing indentations and raising the candlestick from the table\nat every blow? Or was it done by the same invisible power that riveted\nthe table to the floor and again raised it, with all the weight upon\nit, entirely above the floor?\n\n1553. Here the ringing of the bells ceased, and then I felt sensibly\nand distinctly the impression of a hand on my foot, ankle, and knee.\nThese manifestations were several times repeated.\n\n1554. I was then directed to put the guitar on the drawer. We were\nall seated as before, with our hands and arms resting on the table.\nThe guitar was touched softly and gently, and gave forth sweet and\ndelicious sounds, like the accompaniment to a beautiful and exquisite\npiece of music. It then played a sort of symphony, in much louder and\nbolder tones. And, as it played, these harmonious sounds becoming soft,\nand sweet, and low, began to recede, and grew fainter and fainter,\ntill they died away on the ear in the distance. Then they returned and\ngrew louder and nearer, till they were heard again in full and gushing\nvolume, as when they commenced. I am utterly incapable of giving any\nadequate idea of the beauty and harmony of this music. I have heard the\nguitar touched by the most delicate and scientific hands, and heard\nfrom it, under such guidance, the most splendid performances. But\nnever did I hear any thing that fastened upon the very soul like these\nprophetic strains drawn out by an invisible hand from the spirit-world.\nWhile listening to it, I was ready to exclaim, in the language of the\nBard of Avon\u2014\n\n1555. \u201cThat strain again; it had a dying fall;\n       Oh, it came o\u2019er my ear like the sweet south\n       That breathes upon a bank of violets,\n       Stealing and giving odour.\u201d\n\n1556. After the music had ceased, the following communication was\nreceived:\n\n1557. \u201cThis is my hand that touches you and the guitar.\n                                                   JOHN C. CALHOUN.\u201d\n\n1558. At another time, the following physical manifestation was made\nin the presence of General Hamilton, General Waddy Thompson, of South\nCarolina, and myself:\n\n1559. We were directed to place the Bible on a drawer under the table.\nI placed it there, completely closed. It was a small pocket Bible, with\nvery fine print. Numerous raps were then heard, beating time to \u201cHail\nColumbia,\u201d which had been called for. Soon the sounds began to recede,\nand grew fainter and fainter, till, like the music of the guitar, they\ndied away in the distance. The alphabet was then called for, and it\nwas spelled out, \u201cLook.\u201d I looked on the drawer and found the Bible\nopen. I took it up and carefully kept it open at the place as I found\nit. On bringing it to the light, I found it open at St. John\u2019s Gospel,\nchapter ii. being on the left side, and chapter iii. being on the right\nside. I said, \u201cDo you wish us to look at chapter ii.?\u201d _A._ \u201cNo.\u201d\n\u201cDo you wish us to look at chapter iii.?\u201d _A._ \u201cYes.\u201d And it was\nthen said, \u201cRead.\u201d I commenced reading the chapter, and significant\nand emphatic raps were given at many verses; and at verses 8, 11, 19,\n34, _most vehement_ raps were given. By looking at these verses, you\nwill appreciate the significancy and intelligence of this emphatic\ndemonstration. This manifestation purported to come from Calhoun, who\nhad previously invited us three gentlemen to be present at a particular\nhour.\n\n1560. In reflecting on the preceding manifestations, one cannot but\nmarvel at the power by which they are made, and the _intelligence_\nby which that power is directed. And it would seem impossible for\none to doubt the source of that intelligence. If, however, doubt\nshould still remain on the mind of any one acquainted with similar\nmanifestations, that doubt must be entirely dispelled by the account of\nthe manifestation which follows:\n\n1561. I was present, by Calhoun\u2019s appointment, with the Misses Fox and\ntheir mother. We were seated at the table as heretofore, our hands\nand arms resting upon it. I was directed to put paper and pencil on\nthe drawer. I placed several sheets of unruled letter-paper, together\nwith a wood pencil, on it. I soon heard the sound of the pencil on the\npaper. It was then rapped out, \u201cGet the pencil and sharpen it.\u201d I\nlooked under the table, but did not see the pencil. At length I found\nit lying diagonally from me, three or four feet from the table. The\nlead was broken off within the wood. I sharpened it, and again put it\non the drawer. Again I heard the sound of the pencil on the paper.\nOn being directed to look at the paper, I discovered pencil marks on\neach side of the outer sheet, but no writing. Then was received the\nfollowing communication:\n\n1562. \u201cThe power is not enough to write a sentence. This will show you\nthat I _can_ write. If you meet on Friday, precisely at seven, I will\nwrite a short sentence.                             JOHN C. CALHOUN.\u201d\n\n1563. We met, pursuant to appointment, took our seats at the table,\nour hands and arms resting on it as usual. I placed the paper with my\nsilver-cased pencil on the drawer, and said:\n\n1564. \u201cMy friend, I wish the sentence to be in your own handwriting,\nso that your friends will recognise it.\u201d He replied, \u201cYou will know\nthe writing.\u201d He then said, \u201cHave your minds on the spirit of John C.\nCalhoun.\u201d\n\n1565. I soon heard a rapid movement of the pencil on the paper, and a\nrustling of the paper, together with a movement of the drawer. I was\nthen directed to look under the drawer. I looked, and found my pencil\noutside of the drawer, near my feet, but found no paper on the drawer\nwhere I placed it. On raising up the drawer, I discovered the paper\nall under it. The sheets were a little deranged, and on examining, I\nfound on the outside sheet these words: \u201c_I\u2019m with you still_.\u201d\n\n1566. I afterward showed the \u201csentence\u201d to General James Hamilton,\nformer Governor of South Carolina, General Waddy Thompson, former\nMinister to Mexico, General Robert B. Campbell, late Consul at Havana,\ntogether with other intimate friends of Calhoun, and also to one of his\nsons, all of whom are as well acquainted with his handwriting as their\nown; and they all pronounced it to be a perfect _fac simile_ of the\nhandwriting of JOHN C. CALHOUN.\n\n1567. General Hamilton stated a fact, in connection with this writing,\nof great significance. He says that Calhoun was in the habit of writing\n\u201cI\u2019m,\u201d for \u201cI am,\u201d and that he has numerous letters from him where\nthe abbreviation is thus used.\n\n1568. Mrs. General Macomb has stated the same fact to me. She says\nthat her husband, the late General Macomb, has shown to her Calhoun\u2019s\nletters to him, where this abbreviation \u201cI\u2019m\u201d was used for \u201cI am,\u201d\nand spoke of it as a peculiarity of Calhoun.\n\n1569. How significant, then, does this fact become! We have not only\nthe most unequivocal testimony to the handwriting itself, but, lest\nany skeptic should suggest the possibility of an imitation or a\ncounterfeit, this abbreviation, peculiar to himself, and known only\nto his most intimate friends, and which no imitator or counterfeiter\ncould know, is introduced by way of putting such a suggestion to flight\nforever.\n\n1570. This \u201csentence\u201d is perfectly characteristic of Calhoun. It\ncontains his terseness of style, and his condensation of thought.\nIt is a text from which volumes might be written. It proves\u20141. The\nimmortality of the soul; 2. The power of spirits to revisit the earth;\n3. Their ability to communicate with relatives and friends; and, 4. The\nidentity of the spirit to all eternity.\n\n1571. How one\u2019s soul expands with these sublime connections! How\nresistless is this testimony of their truth! How surprising that men\ncan doubt, when this flood of living light is poured upon them by\nspirits who, in the language of Webster, \u201crevel in the glory of the\neternal light of God.\u201d\n                             Very truly yours,   N. P. TALLMADGE.\n\n  MRS. SARAH HELEN WHITMAN, Providence, R. I.\n\n\n         _Letter from Mr. D. H. Hume.\u2014Spiritualism in London._\n\n1572. The author of the letter which comes under this head has already\nbeen introduced to the readers of this work, in giving an account of\nthe manifestations observed through his mediumship, (393.)\n\n                            EALING VILLA, NEAR LONDON, July 26, 1855.\n1573. * * * In London I found but a limited number, comparatively\nspeaking, who possess any intelligent or rational idea of the\nspiritual philosophy. The subject has not made any great advance here;\nbut those who are investigating include in their number some of the\nbest minds of England. The first call I received was from Sir Charles\nE. Ischam, who has proved a most excellent friend to me. A day or two\nafter this I received an invitation from Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton to\nvisit him at his country-seat at Knebworth. I accepted his invitation,\nand had an interesting and delightful visit.\n\n1574. I was deeply interested in Sir Edward, who is, by birth,\neducation, and mind, a most superior person. His love of the beautiful,\nin nature and art, but especially in nature, is manifested at every\npart of his wide domain. Knebworth was originally built by a follower\nof the Conqueror, and was, in the year of the Armada, occupied by Queen\nElizabeth. The state-room contains the bed upon which her majesty\nslept. It has rich velvet hangings\u2014the same which shaded the slumbers\nof Queen Bess. The room of the extensive library contains the oak table\nat which Cromwell, Pym & Co. sat while planning the rebellion. * * * We\nhad some manifestations at our _seances_ almost as good as those we had\nat -\u2014- \u2018s in your place. The spirits showed their presence in the same\npalpable way, by presenting tangible hands, shaking hands, &c., and Sir\nEdward \u201cacknowledges the corn,\u201d to use a Yankee vulgarism. He is much\ninterested in the subject, and has bestowed no small share of thought\nupon the matter.\n\n1575. I have also had the pleasure of being presented to the\nMarchioness of H-\u2014-s, Baroness G-\u2014-y R-\u2014-n. She is a highly\nintellectual and altogether charming lady, who possesses much native\nrefinement and a fearless desire to learn and follow the TRUTH. I\nmet, too, the Earl of E-\u2014-e and the Marquis of C-\u2014-e, at one of our\ncircles a few evenings since. A most kind friend I also found in the\nVicomte de St. Amirro, Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires from Brazil, who has given\nme valuable letters to France. I am to meet him and his lady (both\ninvestigators) the coming autumn at the Neapolitan court.\n\n1576. I enclose a paragraph from one of the London journals, giving a\nsketch of an interview I had with Lord Brougham and Sir David Brewster.\nThe latter, as you are well aware, wrote that article in the _Edinburgh\nReview_, some months ago, in which he argued against the existence of\nspirit agency in the production of the manifestations, and in which\nhe denounced the whole matter, in the bitterest terms, as a delusion\nand an imposition. His article has been eagerly and widely quoted\nby the opponents of Spiritualism on both sides of the Atlantic, and\nits statements are doubtless believed by those who are incapable of\nappreciating or comprehending the truths which they assail.\n\n1577. Sir David, however, has for once met with a \u201c_stumper_,\u201d for\nhe has seen and felt such manifestations of his spirit friends as\nto completely upset his philosophy. He frankly confessed that he\nis \u201csorely puzzled\u201d at what he has witnessed, and Lord Brougham\nacknowledges himself to be thoroughly nonplussed. Both of these noted\nmen brought the whole force of their keen discernment to bear upon the\nsolution of the phenomena; but the presence of substantial, actual\nhands, and the demonstrative strength of the spirits who thus clothed\nthemselves for the time and moved material objects about the room,\nproved to be too much of a question for them to master.\n\n1578. Time will not allow me to mention the various interesting\nsittings I have had, nor the many distinguished personages who have\nbeen in our circles during my short stay in London. I am at present\nenjoying the quiet of an English country home. The gentleman with whom\nI am stopping (Mr. Rymer) is one of the most distinguished solicitors\nin London. He has been a _materialist_, or disbeliever in a future\nstate, all his life previous to witnessing these demonstrations of\nspirit existence. He is now a believer (or rather a _knower_) of the\nfuture life. The manifestations, so often scoffed at by professing\nChristians, have done for him, as they have for upward of twenty-five\nthousand infidels and atheists in America, what no power of the pulpit\nor doctrine of evangelical religion could ever have effected.\n\n1579. Is not this one fact alone a sufficient reply to the oft-repeated\nquestion of \u201cWhat good does it all do?\u201d There is many a broad-loving\nsoul that, failing in the effort to narrow itself down to the limits\nof a dogmatical creed, has ended in infidelity or blank atheism; but\nthe number of these is becoming steadily less by the influence of the\nspirit manifestations, which are to them what the placing of the hand\nin the spear-wound was to Thomas. Mr. R., since his conversion, has\ngiven a lecture on the subject, and will give another.\n\n1580. One thing I will not omit. Mrs. Trollope, whom Americans will be\napt to remember, came, with her son, from Florence to London for the\nexpress purpose of seeing the manifestations. They were accordingly\ninvited to spend a few days with me at my village home; and, I must\nsay, I was agreeably disappointed in her. My previous ideas of her had\nnot been such as to prepossess me in her favour, but I have become an\nadmirer of her private character. She has none of the stiffness of\nthe author about her, nor any of the \u201cblue-stocking.\u201d She enjoys the\nrealities of existence more fully than any one I have ever met in a\ncircle.\n\n1581. The _seance_ with her was one of strange interest. Her son\nwas an unbeliever, and his mother was very desirous that he should\nbe \u201cbrought to a knowledge of the truth.\u201d When at length the light\n_did_ beam upon his soul, and the chords of his spirit vibrated in\nunison with the celestial harmonies that ushered in the birth of faith\nthrough the shadows of his old unbelief, the result was too much for\nhis stoicism, and the tears of holy joy coursed down his manly cheeks.\n_Her_ joy was too great for utterance, and her rapturous emotions\nseemingly too great to be endured. It was an impressive scene, and an\noccasion of deep interest. There are many such in the life of a spirit\nmedium.\n\n1582. In a few weeks I leave England for the Continent, in company with\nmy friend, Mr. Rymer. We intend to reach Rome in November, where we\npurpose to spend a few months, if his holiness will let us. You shall\nhear from me again.\n                               Yours truly,                D. H. HUME.\n\nThe following is the article referred to as having appeared in the\nLondon Journal:\n\n\n                   _Lord Brougham with the Spirits._\n\n1583. \u201cA circumstance which has excited the most extraordinary\nsensation among the privileged few who have been admitted within the\nsphere of its operations, has taken place at Ealing, a village on the\nUxbridge road. A young gentleman, named Hume, a native of Scotland, but\nwho has resided for many years in America, is now on a visit at the\nhouse of Mr. Rymer, a highly respectable solicitor. Mr. Hume is what\nthe Americans term a \u2018medium,\u2019 and through his instrumentality some\nextraordinary and, if true, miraculous, occurrences have taken place.\n\n1584. \u201cThe spirits of deceased persons have been heard and felt in Mr.\nRymer\u2019s house, and a variety of circumstances have taken place, which\nthe persons who were present affirm could not have been produced except\nby supernatural agency. One of the spirits is supposed to be that of a\nson of Mr. Rymer, a little boy about eleven or twelve years of age, who\nhas been induced to write to his parents under the cover of the table,\nand the writing is, to all appearances, precisely similar to that of\nthe child when alive. Mr. Rymer, who is thoroughly convinced of the\n_bon\u00e2 fides_ of the affair, has invited several persons to witness the\nmanifestations, and among them the Rev. Mr. Lambert, the incumbent, who\nhas become a devout believer in the existence of these communicative\nspirits.\n\n1585. \u201cSome rumours of the spirit manifestations having reached Lord\nBrougham, the medium had an interview with the noble and learned lord\nin the presence of Sir David Brewster, when several unaccountable\nrevelations were made, and even Lord Brougham has confessed himself\namazed and sorely bothered to comprehend the description of agency by\nwhich an accordeon is forced into his hands and made to play, or his\nwatch taken out of his pocket and found in the hands of some other\npersons in the room; for such are among the vagaries performed by the\nEaling spirits. The house of Mr. Rymer is, of course, besieged by\npersons anxious to witness the manifestations, and scarcely a night\npasses that some scoffer is not converted into a true believer in the\nmystery of spiritual manifestations.\u201d\n\n\n            _Evidence afforded by the Rev. J. B. Ferguson._\n\n1586. The following is the summary of the result of the investigation\nof spiritual manifestations by the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of the Baptist\nChurch, Nashville, Tennessee.\n\n1587. His sentiments are of a nature to need no recommendation, as\nthey appeal to the head and the heart. He is one of the advocates of\nSpiritualism of whom we have reason to be proud. It is from his work,\nentitled \u201cA Record of Communications from the Spirit Spheres,\u201d that\nthis summary is quoted:\n\n1588. \u201cYou will now allow me to sum up briefly the phenomena I have\nwitnessed since my investigations began:\n\n1589. \u201cFirst. I have seen tables and other furniture moved, with and\nwithout hands; heard distinct and sometimes loud raps on the ceiling,\nfloor, and furniture of various rooms, which were changed from one\nlocality to another, as doubts arose as to any unobserved causes, to\nwhich we would have attributed them but for the transition; have heard\nthem upon my person, clothing, pillow, pulpit, and still have them in\nalmost every serious hour of thought and meditation, and have them near\nme as I write; and I find this experience to be that of hundreds who,\nwith me and others, believers and skeptics, have witnessed or realized\nall I here state to be true.\n\n1590. \u201cSecond. I have heard, in the presence of scores, whose names\nare at any man\u2019s command who may desire them for an honest reference,\nnative Americans, who never spoke a word of German, discourse for\nhours in that tongue, in prose and poetry, in the presence of native\nGermans, who pronounced their addresses pure specimens of the power of\ntheir language. I see, daily, lengthy essays and books written under\nwhat claims to be spirit intelligence, above, far above, the capacity\nand culture of the instruments through whom they are written. There is\nscarcely a day in which I do not receive such communications; and if a\nday passes without it, it is my neglect, not that of the intelligence,\nthat seems ever ready to speak when a proper medium can be secured.\nAt home and abroad, in the houses of strangers and acquaintances,\nsuch mediums have described the age, appearance, time of death, and\nthe peculiarities of character of the deceased relatives of persons\npresent, and where they could have had no acquaintance with them, and,\nin many instances, could not have known of their existence or death. I\nhave had meetings of mediums who knew nothing of each other occur at my\nhouse and elsewhere, without their knowledge, and to which they were\nbrought from a distance of miles, and which seemed as inexplicable to\nthem as to me, until after some effect for their benefit was secured\nby their meeting, and explained by their spirit monitors. To prove the\nidentity of spirit intelligences, communicating to me through others,\nthey have detailed private conversations held with me during their\nearth life; referred to incidents and events of which the mediums\ncould have known nothing; described, accurately, occurrences taking\nplace at a distance of hundreds of miles; answered questions that had\nbeen written in my private records for future investigation, months\nafter they had passed from my active memory; stated the state of my\ninvestigations of various subjects, with the folly or wisdom, as they\nregarded it, of my difficulties; leaving me, on the whole, no choice\nas to whether I would regard them as what they claimed to be, save\nthat of honest conviction or the most shameless hypocrisy. Allow me to\nsay, therefore, that there is no event of history, no fact in mental\nphilosophy, no conclusions in logical dialectics, more fully and\nforcibly established, in my convictions, than the following:\n\n1591. \u201cI BELIEVE, I KNOW, THAT I HAVE HELD, AND NOW FREQUENTLY HOLD,\nCOMMUNION, INTELLIGIBLE AND IMPROVING, WITH KINDRED AND ELEVATED\nSPIRITS, WHO HAVE PASSED FROM FLESHLY SIGHT.\n\n1592. \u201cYou will not be surprised, therefore, at my willingness to risk\nreputation, the dearest ties of friendship, and prospects of earthly\ngain and honour, if need be, in the avowal and propagation of this\nfaith, and the results to which it must inevitably lead. God knows,\nand every intimate friend on earth knows, that I would hesitate, long\nand seriously, to avow a faith that was doubtful in my own mind, or\nof doubtful influence for good in my dim foresight, where so much\nis apparently at stake. I think I may safely appeal to my past life\nas proof that the dearest personal and earthly considerations have\noften been sacrificed, where it was thought my action would affect\nthe interests or happiness of others. Know, then, that it is from the\nmaturest consideration of duty, and the obligation that every man owes\nto truth and right, and especially when truth and right are ridiculed\nand denounced, that I detail to you these results of a long experience\nand the most serious and solemn investigations of my life. Willingly, I\ncannot find it in my heart to disappoint a friend or injure an enemy.\nAnd with such friends as in the providence of God have surrounded\nme, who have proved themselves true and enduring when every form of\nbigotry and animosity were aroused against my position, reputation, and\ninfluence,\u2014with all this pressure of enmity and friendship upon me, you\nmust know, and all will hereafter know, that nothing but loyalty to\nconviction and a desire to preserve privileges I have learned to esteem\nabove what men call life or death, could induce me to lay these facts\nbefore the world.\n\n1593. \u201cIf it be asked what good we expect to effect by the statement\nof these facts, we answer, the spread of truth upon the dearest,\npurest, and holiest relations of man, and the breaking away of the\nclouds that gather around the mind of man in view of death and\nfuturity, the darkness of which can nowhere be more distinctly\nfelt than in the asking of such a question. The purity, angelic\nloveliness, and divine holiness that such a faith, if firmly based,\nmust secure, inspires the loyal soul as with heavenly beatitudes in the\ncontemplation. Its power to restrain and reform; to soften the hard\nheart of evil indulgence; to expose the still harder heart of bigotry\nand religious denunciation; to moisten the eye of criminal effrontery,\nwhich the hypocrisies of the world have made stern and fixed; to bring\nthe strong man of selfish apathy, as a child once more in company with\nhis brother-children, at the feet of maternal or sisterly tenderness,\nwhose earthly bodies have long since been entombed; to keep down the\nunnatural separations of families beneath the manly wisdom and fatherly\naffection of one who claims all as his, and still needing his care; to\nturn the scoff of godless ribaldry into loving faith, and the shame of\npulpit curses pronounced upon _human_ brethren and by _human_ beings,\nof eternal doom, into blessings of eternal help; to make all, yes all,\nrealize an inner religion, which worships at the altar of eternal truth\nand unchangeable love. With such aims and prospects before us, to ask\nwhat is the good of general, tangible spirit intercourse, is to ask the\ngood of immortality, of heaven, and of God.\u201d\n\n\n _An Exposition of views respecting the principal facts, causes, and\n peculiarities involved in Spiritual Manifestations; together with\n interesting phenomenal statements and communications. By_ ADIN BALLOU.\n\n1594. The preceding is the title of a work by the Rev. Adin Ballou,\nof Hopedale, Massachusetts. It is among those which give what appears\nto me available, well-considered facts and opinions respecting\nSpiritualism. Mr. Ballou judiciously, as I think, disposes the spirit\nmanifestations under the following heads:\n\n1595. \u201cI. Those in which all the important demonstrations were most\nevidently caused by departed spirits. II. Those in which some of the\nimportant demonstrations were probably caused or greatly affected by\nundeparted spirits. III. Those in which the demonstrations were of a\nheterogeneous, incongruous, or derogatory character.\n\n1596. \u201cThe following is a statement of Mr. Ballou\u2019s experience taken\nfrom the work in question:\n\n1597. \u201cIn this chapter I shall conclude what I have to say under my\nfirst general head, by referring to a few particulars connected with\ncases within my personal knowledge, and then stating the principal\npoints of doctrine taught by the spirits.\n\n1598. \u201cI will not go into minute narration or description, but simply\nmention the more important phenomena I have witnessed. I have heard\nmultiform sounds in the presence of spirit media, purporting to be made\nby departed spirits; some like the tickings of a small watch, others\nlike the clicking of a common clock, others like the loud knocking of\na labouring man on the door of his neighbour with his knuckles, others\nlike the scratching of a hard finger-nail on a board, others like the\ncreaking of a door or window, &c. &c. I have heard the time and metre\nof tunes beaten out with the utmost accuracy, and by several rappers in\nunison\u2014not only while the tune was being played or sung, but afterward,\nwithout accompaniment. And I am as certain that these sounds were not\nmade by any conscious mortal agency, as I am of the best-authenticated\nfacts in the common transactions of life.\n\n1599. \u201cI have seen tables and light stands of various size moved about\nin the most astonishing manner, by what purported to be the same\ninvisible agency, with only the gentle and passive resting of the hands\nor finger-ends of the medium on one of their edges; also, many distinct\nmovings of such objects, by request, _without_ the touch of the medium\nat all. I have sat and conversed by the hour together with the authors\nof these sounds and motions, by means of signals first agreed on;\nasking questions and obtaining answers\u2014receiving communications spelled\nout by the alphabet\u2014discussing propositions sometimes made by them to\nme, and _vice vers\u00e2_; all by a slow process, indeed, but with every\npossible demonstration of intelligence, though not without incidental\nmisapprehensions and mistakes. I have witnessed the asking of mental\nquestions by inquirers, who received as prompt and correct answers as\nwhen the questions were asked audibly to the cognition of the medium.\n\n1600. \u201cI have known these invisibles, by request, to write their names\nwith a common plumbago pencil on a clean sheet of paper\u2014half a dozen of\nthem, each in a different hand. To make sure of this, as an absolute\nfact, the medium was required to lay her left hand, back downward, in\nthe hollow of a veracious person\u2019s hand, both open; when a piece of\npasteboard paper was laid on her hand, a well-examined blank sheet of\nwriting-paper placed thereon, and a lead pencil on top of _that_; in\nwhich position (the medium\u2019s right hand being held up to view,) both\nthe hands, with these fixtures resting on them, were placed under the\nleaf of the table, as insisted on by the _writers_. After a minute or\ntwo, at a given signal by the spirits that they had _done_, the paper\nwas exhibited with various names written thereon, as above affirmed.\nThis was repeatedly tested with the same results, under circumstances\nputting all suspicion of fraud and jugglery entirely at rest.\n\n1601. \u201cI have requested what purported to be the spirit of a friend,\nmany years deceased, to go to a particular place, several miles\ndistant from that of the _sitting_, and to bring me back intelligence\nrespecting the then health and doings of a certain relative well known\nto the parties. In three minutes of time the intelligence was obtained,\nnumerous particulars given, some of them rather improbable, but every\none exactly confirmed the next day by personal inquiries made for that\npurpose.\n\n1602. \u201cI have been requested by the invisibles to speak on a particular\nsubject, at a given time and place, with the assurance that responses\nshould be made on the occasion, by knockings, approving the truths\nuttered; all which was strikingly verified. Once, at a most unexpected\ninterview, when nothing of the kind had been previously thought of by\nany person present, a spirit, so purporting, who had several times\nevinced much interest in my public labours, spelled out:\u2014\u2018Have you\nselected your subjects of discourse for the next Sunday?\u2019 Only _one_ of\nthem, I answered. Would my _spirit friend_ like to suggest a text for\nthe other part of the day? \u2018Yes.\u2019 What is it? I inquired. He spelled\nout the word \u2018The,\u2019 and ceased. Wondering at his silence, the signal of\nanother spirit was given. The new-comer communicated by _movings_ of\nthe table, not by _raps_, like the other. He said that our friend, the\n_rapper_, had been suddenly summoned away for a few moments, but would\ncertainly return soon. He _did_ return within fifteen minutes, resumed\nhis communication just where he left it, and spelled out\u2014\u2018_The second\nchapter of first Corinthians, the twelfth and thirteenth verses._\u2019\nNo man in the room had the least recollection of the words referred\nto. So the Bible was called for, when the text proved to be the\nfollowing:\u2014\u2018_Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the\nspirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are given\nto us of God. Which things we also speak, not in the words which man\u2019s\nwisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual\nthings with spiritual._\u2019 Struck with the sublimity, purity, richness,\nand force of the passage, I answered that I accepted it thankfully,\nas a very appropriate text for the occasion referred to, and would\nendeavour to illustrate its great truths as well as I might be able.\nMy _spirit friend_ expressed great pleasure by sounds rapidly made on\nthe table, and announced that he and several other sympathizing spirits\nshould be present to hear the discourse, and, if the _medium_ should\nalso be there, would manifest their approbation of the good things\nuttered. All this was verified in a remarkable manner.\n\n1603. \u201cI have seen a medium gently magnetized and thrown into a trance\nin one minute, by the imperceptible influence of the spirits, in\naccordance with their own original proposition, reluctantly acceded to\nby the medium and her friends; during which sometimes she had visions\nof the spirit world, and at others became entirely non-cognizant of\nevery thing transpiring in either world. In the latter case, the\nspirits, as previously promised, made use of her organs of speech,\nunconsciously to herself, and thus answered numerous questions, instead\nof responding by the rappings. That these trances were not superinduced\nby mortal agency, and were not _feigned_, but _real_, I am as certain\nas I can be of any thing not absolutely beyond the possibility of\nmistake.\n\n1604. \u201cI might proceed much further in the particularization of\nmanifestations coming under my personal observation, but will not make\nmyself tedious. Suffice it to say, that I have witnessed enough with\nmy own eyes and ears to prepare me for the belief of the still more\nincredible manifestations reported from a thousand places in our\ncountry and the world. I will merely add, that I have received many\nexcellent communications from these invisible friends, and scarcely a\nsingle one of a light, frivolous, or low character; though I know that\nin this respect my experience has been unlike that of some others.\nI can say in truth, speaking for myself alone, that my whole moral\nnature has been purified and elevated by the influences which have\nflowed in upon me during the investigation of this subject. Others, I\nam sure, can say the same. There are those, no doubt, who have abused\nthe whole thing\u2014befooling themselves and others in a lamentable manner.\nWhat is there in the wide world that has wholly escaped abuse and\nperversion? Reason, inspired and crowned with the wisdom from above,\nis indispensable to the avoidance of these evils. Until a much larger\nportion of mankind than at present attain to the development of their\nhigher faculties, we must expect the abuse and perversion, to a greater\nor less extent, of every thing in nature. \u2018But wisdom is justified of\nall her children.\u2019\u201d\n\n1605. The following statement of A. H. Jarvis, a Methodist clergyman,\nof Rochester, New York, is copied from Mr. Ballou\u2019s work. It is one\nof those manifestations in which the information conveyed cannot be\nconceived to have pre-existed in the mind of the person by whom it was\nreceived:\n\n1606. \u201cThere are many facts which have come under my observation,\nequally convincing of the intelligence and utility of the\ncommunications from these unseen agents, who, I now believe, are\ncontinually about us, and more perfectly acquainted with all our\nways, and even our thoughts, than we are with each other. But the\nfact in reference to my friend Pickard is what you desire. He was at\nmy house on Friday afternoon, April 6, 1849. None of the Fox family\nwere present. While at the tea-table, we had free communications on\ndifferent subjects. Pickard was requested to ask questions. He desired\nto know who it was that would answer questions. The answer was\u2014\u2018I\nam your mother, MARY PICKARD.\u2019 Her name, or the fact of her death,\nwas not known to any of us. The next Monday evening he (Pickard) was\nat Mr. G-\u2014-\u2019s, and tarried there over night. He there received a\ncommunication, purporting to be from his mother, saying, \u2018Your child\nis dead.\u2019 He came immediately to my place, and said he should take the\nstage for home, (Lockport, sixty miles distant.) He left in the stage\nat 8 or 9, A. M. At 12, M., I returned to my house, my wife meeting me\nwith a telegraph envelope. I broke the seal and read mentally, first:\n\n                                          \u201c\u2018ROCHESTER, April 10, 1849.\n\n1607. \u201c\u2018By telegraph from Lockport\u2014the Rev. A. H. Jarvis, No. 4 West St.\n\n1608. \u201c\u2018Tell Mr. Pickard, if you can find him, his child died this\nmorning.\u2014Answer.                                         R. MALLORY.\u2019\n\n1609. \u201cI then read it to my wife, and said, \u2018This is one of the best\nand most convincing evidences of the intelligence of those invisible\nagents;\u2019 and then I added, \u2018God\u2019s telegraph has outdone Morse\u2019s,\naltogether.\u2019\n                                 \u201cYours, truly,      A. H. JARVIS.\u2019\n\n\u201cTo E. W. CAPRON, _Auburn_.\u201d\n\n1610. The subjoined opinions of the spirits, taken from the volume\nabove mentioned, differ but immaterially from those which I have\nreceived; proving that information respecting scriptural morals, when\nproperly sought, will be consistently obtained:\n\n1611. \u201c1. There is one and but one God, an infinite Spirit and the\nFather of spirits. He loves all, and eternally seeks their good by all\nwise and fitting means.\n\n1612. \u201c2. All human beings are spirits as to their absolute internal\nconstitution, and soon after death emerge into distinct conscious\nspiritual identities, having bodies, forms, and peculiarities as\nobviously cognizable to each other, and as distinguishable from each\nother, as here in the flesh.\n\n1613. \u201c3. All human beings possess certain mental and moral qualities,\npartly constitutional, partly circumstantial, and partly self-wrought,\nwhich determine for the time being each individual\u2019s real spiritual\ncharacter and relative nearness to, or distance from, the divine\nstandard of perfection. So that each one is in a certain sphere, and\nin some circle or degree of that sphere, as to his spirit, _always_,\nwhether existing in the fleshly body or after his dissolution. And if\na person is spiritually in a certain sphere at death, in that sphere\nhe finds himself the moment he resumes his consciousness in the spirit\nworld, associated with kindred spirits.\n\n1614. \u201c4. There are seven spirit spheres, or circles,[36] inferior\nto the heavenly or celestial spheres, and each sphere or circle has\nseveral degrees. Man is a being by nature capable of progress, subject\nto certain fundamental spiritual and moral laws. In conformity to these\nlaws, he may now progress from lower to higher spheres; _i. e._ he may\ndraw nearer and nearer to God; or, what is the same thing, nearer as a\nspirit to the divine standard of perfection. But without conformity to\nthese laws, he cannot progress, but obscures and debases himself. Death\ndoes not change man\u2019s real character, nor his proper spirit sphere, nor\nhis capability to make progress, nor the laws of progress. No man is\nin a morally worse state, all things considered, by reason of passing\ninto the spirit world. The _worst_ even are, if any way affected,\nin a better state there than in the flesh. They whose spirit sphere\nwas purer, find themselves proportionally blessed. Many remain very\nlong in the lower spheres, where, though enabled to enjoy existence\nin the degree possible at such a distance from the divine focus of\nblessedness, they are \u2018spirits in prison,\u2019 and wretched in comparison\nwith those in the paradisaical spheres. Their existence is a blessing\nto them even while thus _low_, and there is no such place or state as\na HELL of unmitigated, hopeless misery. Meantime, God, angels, and all\nthe higher spirits, are for ever seeking the elevation of the inferior\nspirits, by all just, wise, and appropriate means. And no one, however\nlow and sluggish of progress, will finally fail to be attracted upward,\nobediently to the divine laws, from one degree to another, and from one\nsphere to another, till he reach the heavenly mansion\u2014even though it\ntake an age of eternities to complete his destiny.\n\n1615. \u201c5. Spirits in the higher of the seven spheres are employed in\nthree general exercises. 1. In religious aspirations, meditations,\nworship\u2014in striving after a more perfect knowledge of and communication\nwith God\u2014whom they cannot see there any more than here, as a personal\nbeing, but only in spirit by faith and intuition. 2. In study,\nself-examination, contemplations of truth, and acquainting themselves\nwith all useful knowledge attainable by them. 3. In ministering to\nstruggling spirits on earth and in the lower spheres\u2014endeavouring\nto elevate and bless them; thus cultivating love to God, wisdom\nwithin themselves, and ever-active benevolence to their inferiors in\ncondition. Spirits in any circle can descend into all the circles below\ntheir own, but cannot, except by special permission, ascend into a\nhigher sphere, until qualified by spiritual progress.\n\n1616. \u201c6. Mankind are by nature one family of brothers and sisters,\nthe offspring of a common Father in heaven, whom they ought to love\nwith all their heart, and each other as themselves. The good of each is\nreally the good of all, and that of all the good of each. Therefore, no\none can injure another without injuring himself in the end. All kinds\nof tyranny and oppression are utterly sinful. So all war, violence,\nrevenge, and vindictive punishment. So all intemperance, debauchery,\nand sexual pollution. So all falsehood, covetousness, fraud, extortion,\nand pecuniary taking of advantage. So all pride and domineering of\nsuperiors over inferiors. So all religious bigotry, thrusting down,\npersecution, and sectarian bitterness. So every thing contrary to\npersonal holiness, to the piety which loves God supremely, and man as a\nbrother, whether friend or foe. These reliable spirits are everywhere\nreformers, regenerators of the world, individually and socially. They\nare for the reconciliation of all things\u2014for universal harmony\u2014on the\ngreat principles of truth, purity, justice, love, and wisdom. And they\nall predict a better future for the human race here on earth, as well\nas in the future state.\n\n1617. \u201c7. It is the imperative duty of every human being to exercise\nhis own powers, faculties, reason, and judgment, with modesty,\nhumility, and firmness, and not to be overawed, borne down, or led away\ncaptive, by any assuming spirit in or out of the flesh. Every one is\naccountable for himself, and ought both to judge and act for himself,\nwith supreme reverence for God and his moral perfections, according to\nhis own highest convictions of truth and duty. Thus he should examine\nthe Bible and all books. Thus all human governments, authorities,\npowers, constitutions, laws, customs, and usages, in church and state.\nThus try all spirits, and their communications\u2014all pretended prophets,\nphilosophers, and teachers\u2014all professions and assumptions whatsoever.\nNo one should imperiously dictate, or cower down before another. But\ntruth, rectitude, reason, and the suasion of wisdom, should alone sway\nthe minds of moral agents.\n\n1618. \u201cSuch is a fair digest and summary of the principal doctrines\nput forth in ninety-nine one hundredths of the communications of\nreliable spirits throughout the country. I have stated them in my own\nlanguage, as I have understood them. It will be seen that they differ\nin some respects from every sectarian view of theology, religion, and\nmorality now popular in the world.\u201d\n\n\n                 _The Hon. J. W. Edmonds\u2019s Testimony._\n\n1619. To those who have not seen the original statement of the\nbenevolent and distinguished Judge Edmonds, respecting his conversion,\nthe subjoined account, taken from the introduction to his work on\n\u201cSpiritualism,\u201d may prove interesting.\n\n1620. \u201cIt was in January, 1851, that my attention was first called\nto the subject of \u2018spiritual intercourse.\u2019 I had, in the course of\nmy life, read and heard from the pulpit so many contradictory and\nconflicting doctrines on the subject (of man\u2019s future existence) that I\nhardly knew what to believe.\n\n1621. \u201cFor about four months I devoted at least two evenings in a\nweek, and sometimes more, to witnessing the phenomenon in all its\nphases. I kept careful records of all I witnessed, and, from time to\ntime, compared them with each other, to detect inconsistencies and\ncontradictions. I read all I could lay my hands upon, on the subject,\nand especially all the professed \u2018exposures of the humbug.\u2019 In fine,\nI availed myself of every opportunity that was afforded thoroughly to\nsift the matter to the bottom. I was all this time an unbeliever. At\nlength the evidence came, and with such force that no sane man could\nwithhold his faith.\n\n1622. \u201cTo detail what I witnessed for those four months, and recorded,\nwould fill, at least, one hundred and thirty closely-written pages. I\nwill, however, mention a few things, which will give a general idea of\nthat which characterized interviews now numbering several hundred. Most\nof them have occurred in the presence of others. I have preserved their\nnames in my records. * * * * * These considerations grow out of this\nfact:\n\n1623. \u201cFirst. That I have thus very many witnesses whom I can invoke to\nestablish the truth of my statements.\n\n1624. \u201cSecond. That if I have been deluded, and have not seen and heard\nwhat I think I have, my delusion has been shared by many as shrewd, as\nintelligent, as honest, and as enlightened people as are to be found\nanywhere among us.\n\n1625. \u201cMy attention was first drawn to the intercourse by the rappings,\nthen the most common, but now the most inconsiderable, mode of\ncommuning. Of course I was on the look-out for deception, and at first\nrelied upon my senses, and the conclusions which my reason might draw\nfrom their evidence. * * *\n\n1626. \u201cAfter depending upon my senses as to these various phases of\nthe phenomenon, I invoked the aid of science, and, with the assistance\nof an accomplished electrician and his machinery, and of eight or ten\nintelligent, educated, and shrewd persons, examined the matter. We\npursued our inquiries many days, and established, to our satisfaction,\ntwo things: first, that the sounds were not produced by the agency\nof any person present or near us; and, secondly, that they were not\nforthcoming at our will and pleasure. In the mean time, another feature\nattracted my attention, and that was \u2018physical manifestations,\u2019 as they\nare termed. Thus, I have known a pine table, with four legs, lifted\nup bodily from the floor, in the centre of a circle of six or eight\npersons, turned upside down, and laid upon its top at our feet, then\nlifted up over our heads, and put leaning against the back of the sofa\non which we sat. * * * * I have seen a mahogany centre-table, having\nonly a centre leg, and with a lamp burning upon it, lifted from the\nfloor, at least a foot, in spite of the efforts of those present, and\nshaken backward and forward, as one would shake a goblet in his hand. *\n* * *\n\n1627. \u201cI have known a dinner-bell, taken from a shelf in a closet,\nrung over the heads of four or five persons in that closet, then rung\naround the room over the heads of twelve or fifteen persons in the back\nparlour, and then borne through the folding-doors to the farther end of\nthe front parlour, and then dropped on the floor.\n\n1628. \u201cI have known persons pulled about, with a force which it was\nimpossible for them to resist; and once, when all my strength was\nadded, in vain, to that of one thus affected.\n\n1629. \u201cI have known a mahogany chair thrown on its side, and moved\nswiftly back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room\nwhere there were, at least, a dozen people sitting. Yet no one was\ntouched, and it was repeatedly stopped within a few inches of me, when\nit was coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken\nmy legs.\n\n1630. \u201cThis is not a tithe, nay, not an hundredth part, of what I\nhave seen, of the same character. At the same time, I have heard from\nothers, whose testimony would be credited in any human transaction,\nand which I could not permit myself to disregard, accounts of still\nmore extraordinary transactions; for I have been by no means so much\nfavoured in this respect as some.\n\n1631. \u201cIntelligence was a remarkable feature of the phenomenon. Thus,\nI have frequently known mental questions answered\u2014that is, questions\nmerely framed in the mind of the interrogator, and not revealed by him\nor known to others. Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down\nalone in my room, and carefully prepared a series of questions to be\npropounded; and I have been surprised to find my questions answered,\nand in the precise order in which I wrote them, without my even taking\nmy memorandum out of my pocket, and when I knew that no person present\nknew that I had prepared questions, much less what they were.\n\n1632. \u201cMy most secret thoughts\u2014those which I never uttered to mortal\nman or woman\u2014have been freely spoken, as if I had uttered them.\n\n1633. \u201cI have known Latin, French, and Spanish words spelled out\nthrough the rappings; and I have heard mediums, who knew no language\nbut their own, speak in those languages, and in Italian, German, and\nGreek, and in other languages unknown to me, but which were represented\nto be Arabic, Chinese, and Indian, and all done with the ease and\nrapidity of a native.\n\n1634. \u201cI have seen a person who knew nothing of music, except a little\nthat he had learned at a country singing-school, go to the piano and\nplay in perfect keeping, as to time and concord, the several parts of\nan overture to an opera.\n\n1635. \u201cWhen I was absent last winter, in Central America, my friends\nin town heard of my whereabouts, and of the state of my health, seven\ntimes; and, on my return, by comparing their information with the\nentries in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct.\n\n1636. \u201cI went into the investigation, originally thinking it a\ndeception, and intending to make public my exposure of it. Having,\nfrom my researches, come to a different conclusion, I feel that the\nobligation to make known the result is just as strong. Therefore it is,\nmainly, that I give the result to the world.         \u201cJ. W. EDMONDS.\u201d\n\n\n                 _Testimony of Henry Lloyd Garrison._\n\n1637. Mr. Garrison is spoken of as a man of unimpeachable veracity and\nindependent mind. His testimony will have weight with one class of\ninquirers, if not with another. The following is from the \u201cLiberator\u201d\nof March 3, 1854.\n\n1638. \u201cWe are often privately asked, what we think of the \u2018Spiritual\nManifestations,\u2019 so called, and whether we have had any opportunities\nto investigate them.\n\n1639. \u201cWhen we first heard of the \u2018Rochester knockings,\u2019 we supposed\n(not personally knowing the persons implicated) that there might be\nsome collusion in that particular case, or, if not, that the phenomena\nwould ere long elicit a satisfactory solution, independent of all\nspiritual agency. As the manifestations have spread from house to\nhouse, from city to city, from one part of the country to the other,\nacross the Atlantic into Europe, till now the civilized world is\ncompelled to acknowledge their reality, however diverse in accounting\nfor them\u2014as these manifestations continue to increase in variety and\npower, so that all suspicion of trick or imposture becomes simply\nabsurd and preposterous\u2014and as every attempt to find a solution for\nthem in some physical theory relating to electricity, the odic force,\nclairvoyance, and the like, has thus far proved abortive\u2014it becomes\nevery intelligent mind to enter into an investigation of them with\ncandour and fairness, as opportunity may offer, and to bear such\ntestimony in regard to them as the facts may warrant, no matter what\nridicule it may excite on the part of the uninformed or skeptical.\n\n1640. \u201cAs for ourselves, most assuredly we have been in no haste to\njump to a conclusion in regard to phenomena so universally diffused,\nand of so extraordinary a character. For the last three years, we have\nkept pace with nearly all that has been published on the subject; and\nwe have witnessed, at various times, many surprising \u2018manifestations;\u2019\nand our conviction is, that they cannot be accounted for on any other\ntheory than that of spiritual agency. This theory, however, is not\nunattended with discrepancies, difficulties, and trials. It is certain\nthat, if it be true, there are many deceptive spirits, and that the\napostolic injunction to \u2018believe not every spirit,\u2019 but to try them in\nevery possible way, is specially to be regarded, or the consequences\nmay prove very disastrous.\n\n1641. \u201cWe might write a pretty long essay on what we have seen and\nheard, touching this matter; but this we reserve for some other\noccasion. We shall now merely describe some of the phenomena which we\nwitnessed in New York during our recent visit to that city.\n\n1642. \u201cThe medium in this instance was Mrs. Brown, formerly Mrs.\nFish, of Rochester. The circle was composed of six gentlemen and four\nladies. The table was of ample dimensions, so as to accommodate the\nparty without inconvenience. We sat around it in the usual manner, (the\nhands of each individual resting upon the table,) and engaged in social\nchit-chat. While waiting for some demonstrations from the invisible\nworld, we had our right foot patted as by a human hand, and the right\nleg of our pantaloons strongly pulled, by some unseen agency. This was\ndone repeatedly, though we said nothing at the time; but, thinking\nit might be possible that the foot of some one of the company might\nundesignedly be in contact with our own, we cautiously felt around to\nascertain if this were the case, but there was nothing tangible; and\nthe moment we put our foot down, the same familiar tappings and jerks\nfollowed. Still, we made no disclosure. Raps were then distinctly\nheard, and the alphabet was called for. Letter by letter, it was\nrapped out that the medium must put her feet in the custody of one\nof the party, and then we were told to wait for demonstrations. This\nwas evidently done to convince every one present that the medium had\nnothing to do with the phenomena, by way of fraud or collusion; and,\nduring the entire sitting, (a protracted one,) before any remarkable\nfeat was performed, the medium was invariably ordered to take such a\nposition as to render it clearly impossible for her to be privy to\nit. The presence of several spirits was indicated during the evening,\nand satisfactory tests were made; but the most communicative and\nefficient one purported to be that of \u2018Jesse Hutchinson.\u2019 It was he\nwho had been playing bo-peep with us under the table; and, now that\nthe medium was secured, to the satisfaction of all present, he renewed\nhis salutations, not only to us personally, but to nearly every one\nof the circle. The ladies had their dresses, and the gentlemen their\npantaloons, pulled, and their feet patted, in the most emphatic manner.\nHeavy raps were now made on the floor; and, on being requested to that\neffect, \u2018Jesse\u2019 beat a march\u2014it seemed to us Washington\u2019s march\u2014in\nadmirable time, and in the most spirited manner; no drummer could have\ndone it more skilfully. He was then asked to beat time, while the\ncompany joined in singing several tunes\u2014\u2018The Old Granite State,\u2019 among\nothers\u2014which he did to perfection. He then spelt out the following\ncommunications by the alphabet: \u2018I am most happy, dear friends, to be\nable to give you such tangible evidence of my presence. The good time\nhas truly come. The gates of the New Jerusalem are open, and the good\nspirits, made more pure by the change of spheres, are knocking at the\ndoor of your souls.\u2019\n\n1643. \u201cIsaac T. Hopper now indicated his presence to his daughter, who\nwas at the table, and made some physical demonstrations. His message,\nas rapped out, was as follows: \u2018I am truly happy to echo back joy and\ngladness from my happy home. Truth is bearing its way on gloriously,\nand the subject of Spiritualism will work miracles in the cause of\nreform. My friends, the rock of prejudice begins to yield to the hammer\nof truth; and, now, with the aid of good spirits, you can blast it\nwithout the use of powder.\u2019 And he subsequently added, \u2018I want you to\nsee that spirits have power to move matter.\u2019\n\n1644. \u201cIt was next rapped out, \u2018Put the bell under the table.\u2019 We,\naccordingly, took the bell, (an ordinary table-bell,) and put it\ndown at our feet. In a few moments, it was smartly rung by an unseen\npower, and then fell to the floor. This was done again and again\u2014the\nbell making the circuit of the table, and ringing so loudly that the\nservant-girl, in an adjacent room, supposing she was needed, came in to\ninquire what was wanted.\n\n1645. \u201cNext, a cane with a hooked handle was laid on the carpet, under\nthe table. Immediately, it struck the table violently, and rubbed\nalong the under surface its entire length. It then fell to the floor,\nand traversed over and under the feet of several of the party, like\na living snake\u2014in one or two instances the foot being involuntarily\nlifted to enable it to pass under. Its movements were exceedingly\ncurious. At one time, we caught hold of the handle as it protruded\nitself by our side, and endeavoured to pull it from under the table;\nbut the resistance was as strong as though another hand was grasping it\nat the opposite end.\n\n1646. \u201cWe were now directed to put several things under the table,\nobserve how they were placed, and wait for results. When told to look,\nwe found that a penknife was missing, nor could it be discovered by the\nmost careful search. On again resuming our seats, we were told to take\nanother look; and, behold! there was the penknife, precisely where it\nhad been originally placed!\n\n1647. \u201cNext, we were directed to lay some writing-paper, with a pencil\nupon it, under the table. This was done; and, in a few moments, on\nbeing told to look, we found the word \u2018Jesse\u2019 written upon it in\na scrawling hand, as though made with great difficulty. The same\nexperiment was again made, and \u2018Isaac T. H.\u2019 (Hopper) was written very\nlegibly, and in a different hand. A third time this was done, and \u2018Mary\nJane\u2019 was recorded,\u2014the name of a young lady who had been communicating\nwith a gentleman present. The first two autographs we have in our\npossession.\n\n1648. \u201cWe now made two requests of \u2018Jesse,\u2019 to convince us yet more\nstrongly of his presence. The first was, to press our right foot firmly\nto the floor, and to make loud raps directly under it. This was quickly\ndone, the foot being grasped as by a mortal hand, and vibrating to the\nraps thus strangely made. The second was, if possible, to take us by\nthe right hand with his own, so as to make the touch palpable beyond\na doubt. Keeping the hand carefully in custody between our knees as\nwe sat\u2014the hands of all the company, including those of the medium,\nbeing on the table\u2014we, in a few moments, had it patted, first on one\nside, then on the other, briskly and repeatedly, as if by another hand,\nhaving a negative feeling, as though there was no warmth in it, but\nnatural in every other respect. For the general gratification, the same\nthing was done to others of the party.\n\n1649. \u201cHow shall demonstrations like these be accounted for, except on\nthe hypothesis of spirit-agency? If we cannot positively affirm that\nIsaac T. Hopper and Jesse Hutchinson were present on that occasion, we\nare, at least, prepared to declare, as our own conviction, as well as\nthat of the entire company, we believe, that invisible spirits, not\nof this mundane sphere, performed the phenomena we have thus briefly\nnarrated to our readers.\u201d\n\n\n                  _Testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Newton._\n\n1650. The following is extracted from a highly interesting letter,\nentitled, \u201cThe Ministry of Angels Realized,\u201d addressed by Mr. and Mrs.\nNewton to the Edward\u2019s Congregational Church, Boston, of which they\nwere members. Mr. Newton is editor of the \u201cNew England Spiritualist,\u201d\nand sustains a reputation for high moral and intellectual attainment.\n\n1651. \u201cThe results, however, of this first investigation, at the time,\nwere (for reasons not then apparent, but which have since been made\nplain to us) far from satisfactory. Though we witnessed some striking\nevidences of invisible intelligent agency, there was nothing by which\nthis agency could be possibly identified; and the conclusion seemed\nmost in accordance with our previous opinions, that, if any agency\nbeyond that of human beings was concerned, it was that of evil and\nseducing spirits. Some months subsequently to this, we were led to\nattempt the investigation under circumstances more favourable to\narriving at a satisfactory conclusion. * * * The results of this\ninterview were of the most surprising, yea, astounding character. An\nintelligence, claiming to be that of a venerated parent, who had long\nsince passed within the veil, manifested its presence, and addressed\nto one of us a communication glowing with parental affection, and\nbreathing the very spirit of the upper realm. This was accompanied by\nthe statement of a number of facts, pertaining to his earthly life,\nnone of which, we were fully satisfied, could have been known to any\nperson, bodily present, except the inquirer, and some of them unknown\neven to him. Although the investigation had been approached with minds\non the alert and perceptions sharpened to detect collusion, imposture,\ndeception, or diabolism, in any of its forms, no trace of them could\nbe perceived; all was conducted with evident frankness and candour, on\nthe part of those concerned; and no solution of the mystery was then\narrived at, and no adequate one has since been offered, which does not\nrecognise the agency of intelligent beings. A trumpet-blast from the\nclouds could scarcely have been more startling to our prejudices and\nunbelief than was that message from the hidden world. * * * As may be\nwell supposed, the interest awakened by this occurrence was sufficient\nto lead to a further investigation. But a truth so novel and startling\ncould not at once be received, however demonstrative and convincing\nthe evidence on which it rested. Nor was it until evidence had\naccumulated upon evidence, and proof become piled upon proof\u2014not until\nmanifestations of the most marvellous character had been repeatedly\nwitnessed, under a great variety of circumstances, and notwithstanding\nthe application of every conceivable test\u2014that we could consent to\nacknowledge, even to ourselves, a belief in the agency of spiritual\nbeings. That belief, however, in spite of prejudice and skepticism, in\nspite of the general cry of \u201chumbug\u201d and \u201cimposture,\u201d in spite of\nall attempts of scientific men to explain the marvels on the basis of\nmaterialism, (which explanations we found in every case to be wholly\ninadequate to account for what we witnessed,) that belief became at\nlength forced upon our minds by irresistible evidence.\n\n1652. \u201cBut the question still pressed upon us, who were these invisible\nbeings? and what their character and designs? They claimed to be the\nspirits of departed human beings. Some of them insisted that they\nwere our relatives and friends, and they furnished most startling\nand inexplicable proofs of their identity. They professed to be thus\nmanifesting themselves to our outward senses, for the purest and\nholiest of purposes. * * *\n\n1653. \u201cThe most favourable of opportunities were offered us for making\ninvestigation, and they were carefully and prayerfully improved.\n\n1654. \u201cFor several months did we continue to apply to what was\ntranspiring under our notice, through the mediumship of others, the\nkeenest powers of observation, and the highest exercise of moral\nperception, which have been granted us; ever seeking light and aid from\nHim who has said, \u2018Ask, and ye shall receive.\u2019\n\n1655. \u201cAt length, these intelligences from another sphere began to\nmanifest themselves to us in a manner most unlooked-for and diverse\nfrom any thing we had elsewhere witnessed, in the quietness and\nseclusion of our own home, and without the intervention of any other\nperson. From small and gentle beginnings, they have gone forward,\nas we were able to bear the increasing light, to give greater, and\nhigher, and clearer proofs of the reality of their presence, their\nidentity, and their heavenly mission; until, through a period of six or\nseven months, we have been permitted, as we believe, the almost daily\nenjoyment of the sweetest and most intimate communion with the spirits\nof \u2018just ones made perfect above.\u2019\n                                                    \u201cA. E. NEWTON,\n                                                     S. J. NEWTON.\u201d\n\n\n            _Testimony of Members of the New York Circle._\n\n1656. The following is a statement of facts by Mrs. Charles Partridge,\ntaken from the minutes of the New York circle, attested by several\nhighly respectable and credible persons, among whom is my personal\nfriend, Doctor Gray.\n\n1657. \u201cPersons at the circle have been unexpectedly turned round in the\nchairs in which they were sitting, and moved to and from the table.\nChairs and sofas have suddenly started from their positions against\nthe wall, and moved forward to the centre of the room, when they were\nrequired in the formation of the circle. The persons in the circle have\neach successively lifted his own side of the table, and the invisible\npower has raised the opposite side correspondingly. Occasionally the\nspirits have raised the table entirely, and sustained it in air, at\na distance of from one to three feet from the floor, so that all\ncould satisfy themselves that no person in the flesh was touching it.\nLights of various colours have been produced in dark rooms. A man\nhas been suspended in, and conveyed through, the air, a distance of\nfifty feet, or more. The communications have been given in various\nways, but chiefly in writing, and by the rappings through the ordinary\nalphabetical mode.\n\n1658. \u201cAt the close of the session held on the 17th of November, 1851,\nthe spirits, through the alphabet, and in their usual manner, said, \u2018We\nwish to give you a sentence for you to find out and remember;\u2019 when\nthe following was communicated: \u2018_Debemos amar \u00e1 todo el mundo aun \u00e1\nnuestros enemigos._\u2019 No person present on that occasion understood a\nword of this language, but we were subsequently informed that it was\nSpanish.\n\n1659. \u201cDuring the session on the 19th of January, 1852, the spirits\nsignified their desire to make a communication in Hebrew. Mr.\nPartridge asked who should call the alphabet, and received for answer,\n\u2018The only person present who understands it\u2014George Bush.\u2019 Professor\nBush thereupon proceeded to repeat the Hebrew alphabet, and a\ncommunication in that language was received.\n\n1660. \u201cMany additional facts might be given to show that spirits\ncommunicate in various languages through E. P. Fowler; but the above\nwill suffice for the purposes of this statement.\n\n1661. \u201cWe cannot allow the present occasion to pass, without an\nexpression of the entire confidence and unqualified esteem with which\nMr. Fowler is regarded by the members of the New York circle, and\nby those who know him generally. We have had an intimate personal\nacquaintance with him for two years past\u2014some of us for a much longer\nperiod\u2014and we have only known him as a high-minded and honourable\nyoung man. From the beginning, he has steadily refused to accept the\nslightest compensation for his time and services while employed in the\ncapacity of a medium; and we deem it but an act of simple justice to\nMr. F. to record the fact that, on all occasions, we have found him\nentirely unassuming in his deportment, and eminently truthful in his\nlife.\n\n  \u201cR. T. HALLOCK, M. D.,\n  J. T. WARNER, M. D.,\n  ALMIRA L. FOWLER,\n  A. G. HULL, M. D.,\n  W. J. BANER,\n  JOHN F. GRAY, M. D.,\n  SAMUEL T. FOWLER,\n  MR. & MRS. CHARLES PARTRIDGE.\u201d\n\n\n            _Testimony of the Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston._\n\n1662. \u201cThis is to certify that, during a long investigation of the\nmodern phenomena which are now attracting attention in our own country\nand in the old, I have repeatedly seen my own table, in my own room,\nto which I know there is no nice machinery affixed for purposes of\ndeception, without any contact whatever of earthly kind, raised,\ntipped, moved about the room, as if a strong man was there at work.\nAlso, a piano-forte played upon in the same way, without mortal\ncontact, producing most beautiful music\u2014an ocean piece, in which a\nstorm was represented succeeded by a calm. These phenomena occurred in\nthe presence of several other individuals of both sexes, all of whom\nsaw, and all of whom are ready to testify. I have also received from\na medium, who never saw me before, and knew nothing of my family, the\nfact of my father\u2019s death, his name, and a perfect _fac-simile_ of his\nhandwriting; and this when I was not expecting such handwriting, and\ncould not have possibly imitated it, without a copy, in the labour of\nthree months.                                        D. F. GODDARD.\u201d\n\n1663. As this work may be read by many who have not perused any other\nbook on the subject of which it treats, I hope that those who take it\nup, having a knowledge of the most important spirit manifestations\nheretofore published, will excuse my quoting them here. My object is to\nfurnish the readers of this volume a reasonably, comprehensive view of\nSpiritualism, without the necessity of their referring to works which\nmay not be easily accessible.\n\n1664. To the cool Yankee sagacity of Mrs. Fox and her daughters, the\nworld is indebted for the happy result that these manifestations did\nnot, like those which preceded them in other parts of the world,\nend in a mere inexplicable mystery, and erroneous inferences as to\ntheir origin. I allude here to the well-known fact, that similar\nmanifestations were made in the early part of the last century, in\nEpworth, England, at the mansion of the celebrated clergyman, Wesley,\nand that one of his daughters was endowed with the attributes of a\nmedium for many years, without the art of alphabetic communication\nhaving been suggested.\n\n1665. I might here republish the history of the famous \u201c_rappings_ and\n_knockings_\u201d at Hydesville and Rochester, in the State of New York; but\nas regards evidence, they amount to about the same thing, only not so\nconcentrated, as those demonstrations which occurred at the residence\nof the Rev. Dr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut. The doctor, who is a\nCongregationalist, and one of the most worthy men in the world, became\na convert to Spiritualism in consequence of these manifestations, an\naccount of which is subjoined. I quote it from the excellent work of\nE. W. Capron, Esq., entitled, \u201cModern Spiritualism, its Facts and\nFanaticisms.\u201d\n\n1666. I omit quoting the history of the abortive effort made by the\nspirits to communicate with the Wesleys, but refer the reader to the\naccount published in a work entitled, \u201cMemoirs of the Wesley Family,\u201d\nby Adam Clark, LL.D., second edition, 1846; or to the work of Mr.\nCapron, already specified.\n\n\n _Manifestations at Stratford, Conn., in the House of Rev.\n Eliakim Phelps, D.D.\u2014Remarkable Exhibitions of Power.\u2014Singular\n Occurrences.\u2014Image-making.\u2014Destruction of Furniture.\u2014Incendiary\n Spirits.\u2014The Spirits identified.\u2014Unhappy Spirits, from the remembrance\n of wrong done in this World.\u2014Wrong-doing revealed.\u2014Directions given\n for restoring ill-gotten Gains.\u2014Discontinuance of the Manifestations._\n\n1667. \u201cWhile these strange occurrences were taking place at Rochester\nand Auburn, and the press and people were busy in trying to account\nfor them on strictly mundane principles, making all manner of\ninsinuations against the character and motives of those who even dared\nto investigate for themselves, some manifestations took place at\nStratford, Conn., which attracted attention to that quarter, as well on\naccount of the character and standing of the gentleman at whose house\nthey occurred, as the very strange, boisterous, and violent character\nof the manifestations. I have been allowed to examine all the records\nkept of the occurrences by Dr. Phelps, and shall be able, therefore,\nto present the history with more minuteness and accuracy than has ever\nbefore appeared.\n\n1668. \u201cThe first disturbances took place on the tenth day of March,\n1850, at the house of Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D. The house had been\noccupied by him from the 22d of February, 1848. It is a large and\ngenteel country mansion, separated from the street by a fence\nforty-five feet in front of the house; which is thirty-two feet in\nfront, and, including the piazza, seventy feet deep, with a hall\nthirteen feet wide, running through the whole depth of the building.\nAdjoining, and opening from this hall, are two parlours and a\ndining-room. On the second floor are five sleeping-rooms, and on the\nthird floor two. The kitchen is in the basement. The house was built\nabout the year 1829 or \u201830 by a Captain Dondall, who for several years\ncommanded a vessel in the China trade, and who died in the Bay of\nCanton within two or three years after his family had taken up their\nresidence in the house. The property then passed into the hands of\nanother sea-captain, by the name of Purcell, who, with his family,\noccupied it for several years. Captain Purcell dying suddenly in New\nYork, the family removed, and the house was occupied by an Episcopal\nclergyman for a school a year or more, and afterward by a Mr-\u2014-, also\nas a school for boys.\n\n1669. \u201cNone of the families who had thus far occupied the house had\never been disturbed, or witnessed any thing aside from ordinary\nevents. At the death of Captain Purcell it became the property of the\ntwo daughters, of whom Dr. Phelps purchased it during the month of\nNovember, 1847. For two years previous to this it had been unoccupied.\nDr. Phelps and family commenced their residence therein on the 22d of\nFebruary, 1848. Nothing occurred to excite the attention of the family\nout of the ordinary course of events until the 10th of March, 1850;\nand, as before stated, nothing can be learned of any strange or unusual\nevents occurring there previous to that time. It will be observed by\nthe dates given that Dr. Phelps had occupied the house more than two\nyears, had found it an agreeable and quiet place of residence\u2014having\nnever himself or any member of the family been disturbed or alarmed\nby unusual occurrences. On the 10th of March, as above stated, it\nbeing the Sabbath, Dr. Phelps and family, consisting of Mrs. Phelps,\ntwo daughters, and two sons, the eldest a daughter aged sixteen, a\nson of twelve years, and a second daughter of six years, children of\nMrs. Phelps by a former marriage, and another son of Dr. Phelps by the\npresent marriage, not then three years old, all attended church; and\nan Irish servant girl, who had been employed in the family some six\nmonths, and had shown herself to be honest and trustworthy, had gone\non that day to Bridgeport, to attend the Catholic church. On leaving\nthe house in the morning, it appears that the doctor had secured the\nchamber doors, and put the keys in his pocket; those which could be\nwere locked inside and the keys left in them. The only door by which\nthe chambers could be entered was locked, and the key taken by Dr.\nPhelps. He also locked the front door inside, left the key in the\nlock, and, passing out at the back door, locked that, and placed the\nkey in his pocket. On returning from church at noon, the front door\nwas found standing open; the chamber doors, which were left fastened,\nwere now open; and in the nursery the furniture was thrown about in\ndisorder; chairs on the bed, and thrown down upon the floor; the\nshovel, tongs, and poker, with other things, were in unusual positions\nand places, every thing showing unmistakable signs of the work of\nsome rude hand making mischief in their absence. Upon discovering the\ndisorder here, Dr. Phelps passed into other rooms on the same floor,\nbut could see no further evidence of intrusion. The first supposition\nwas, very naturally, that some person or persons had entered and\nrobbed the house. Search was immediately made in the closets where\nsilver plate, spoons, forks, etc., were kept. All were found safe and\nundisturbed. A gold watch, left in an exposed place, remained there as\nleft. The impression still remained that burglars had been in; and, on\nexamination of the windows, one was found that could be raised from the\noutside, and though there was no evidence of entrance having been made\nthere, no doubt existed that this was the place of access. Thinking\nthey might return during the afternoon, Dr. Phelps remained at home,\nthe other members of the family going again to church. Being left\nalone, the doctor armed himself, and, selecting a secluded position,\nawaited the return of the burglars. There was no disturbance during\nthe afternoon; no sound of footfall; all remained quiet. On the return\nof the family, after the service, usually closing at three o\u2019clock,\nseveral other articles were found out of place, but not in a way to\nmake it certain that they were not moved in the morning. Articles of\nkitchen furniture were changed about. A teakettle, which had been used\nat dinner-time, was found hidden behind some boxes in the cellar. The\nbread, sugar-bowl, eggs, and numerous other things kept in the kitchen,\nwere found where they did not belong, and where they had evidently\nbeen placed in some way which the family could not account for. Upon\nentering the middle chamber, occupied as a sleeping-room, a sheet was\nfound spread over the bed outside the counterpane, and beneath which\nwas a nightgown and _chemise_ laid out with the arms folded across\nthe breast, with stockings placed in a position to represent, as it\nseemed, a corpse disposed as is usual before placing it in the coffin.\nOn the wall were written characters resembling those said by certain\nclairvoyants to belong to a spiritual language, but which none of the\nfamily were able to decipher. Whether they had any significance, or\nhow they came there, was alike an unanswerable question by the family;\nthey had not observed them before. Occurrences ceased for that day and\nnight, yet, no one thinking of any mystery in the matter, they imputed\nit to roguish boys, or others, who had effected entrance with false\nkeys, for mischief rather than for robbery, and that the culprits would\nsoon be detected. The next morning, March 11th, when the family went\nup stairs, after breakfast, the middle chamber had again been visited,\nexhibiting much the same scene of disorder presented the previous day.\nA sheet was spread out upon the floor, the washstand laid upon its back\nupon the sheet, a candlestick set upon the stand, the washbowl placed\nupon one side, and the pitcher on the other. The nightgown and chemise,\nused on the previous occasion to represent a dead body, were found one\nin the bowl, the other in the pitcher. It appears that these articles\nof clothing were not then in use; they had been placed in a trunk which\nstood in a closet adjoining that room. They were replaced in the trunk\nwhen removed from the bed the day before. As they were conversing\nin relation to the disposition of the things as above stated, Mrs.\nPhelps looked under the bed, and discovered articles there, partially\nconcealed by the bed, resembling those in question. They were taken\nout and pronounced to be the same. Dr. Phelps had not before examined\nthem, but then took them, noted the name and number on each, as they\nwere marked, folded and placed them again in the trunk, remarking that\nhe would put them where they would stay; did not lock the trunk, not\nhaving a key, but locked the closet and placed the key about his own\nperson; then requesting the family to all leave the room first, which\nthey did, the doctor, following, locked the door of the room, and kept\nthe key. Having observed that Mrs. Phelps seemed a little troubled as\nto the mystery, he thought to convince her that there was no mystery in\nthe matter, and, having secured the closet and room, he descended to\nthe rooms below, following them all. After the lapse of some fifteen\nminutes, some person spoke to the doctor, upon which he went up to the\nchambers. At the head of the stairs, out in the hall, he found the same\narticles which he had left as before stated. He examined them, and was\n_positive they were the same_. He went to the door, found it locked,\nentered by applying the key from his pocket, went to the closet, found\nit locked, took the key from his pocket, opened the door, looked in\nthe trunk, and the articles were gone! Dr. Phelps states that he was\nconfident there was no deception in the case, and that he then, for the\nfirst, felt that there was a mystery about the affair. He had never\nbelieved in the appearing of ghosts or departed spirits, warnings, or\nany thing of that nature, and, at the age of threescore, had never\nseen or heard any thing connected with that class of phenomena. The\nevidence upon which such superstitions, as he termed them, rest, he\nhad never examined, and, while he had no proof positive that they were\nimpossible, and never did occur, he had no evidence to found a belief\nupon that they ever had. His idea of spiritual manifestations seems to\nhave been that most, if not all, followed by a strict scrutiny, might\nbe accounted for on natural or known principles, or some physical\nmeans, which would disrobe them of the mysterious altogether. But it\nwas not to rest here. On the same day (March 11th) the moving and\nthrowing of furniture commenced. An umbrella, standing at the end of\nthe hall, leaped, without visible assistance, a distance of at least\ntwenty-five feet. Dr. Phelps saw the movement, and knows there was no\nperceptible agency by which the motion was produced. A bucket, standing\nat the head of the stairs, was thrown into the entry below. Smaller\narticles, such as nails, forks, knives, spoons, bits of tin, iron, and\nkeys, were thrown from different directions about the house. He says,\n\u2018There were times when they came from such directions that they _might_\nhave been thrown by some person in the house\u2019\u2014at least, that may be\nadmitted; but in very many cases the motion and point of starting\nwere such as to preclude all possibility of deception on the part of\npersons in the rooms. During the afternoon, Dr. and Mrs. Phelps had\noccasion to go to Bridgeport, a distance of some three miles. During\ntheir absence the shovel and tongs, standing in the dining-room, were\nthrown violently down the basement stairs; a piece of mourning-crape\nfastened to the knocker of the back door, and the mirrors in the front\nchambers covered with sheets and tablecloths, as is the custom in some\nparts of the country while a person lies dead in the house. The crape\non the door Dr. Phelps did not see, but the covering on the mirrors he\nremoved with his own hands. The position of the mirrors in one room\nwas such that the coverings could not, without great difficulty, have\nbeen placed there by any person about the house. Various articles were\nsaid to have been thrown about the room\u2014the phenomena continuing in his\nabsence about the same as when he was present in the fore part of the\nday. Soon after sundown all was again quiet, and so continued through\nthe night.\n\n1670. \u201cThe next morning, (March 12th,) soon after the family were\nup, the same phenomena began again; knives, forks, spoons, blocks of\nwood, nails, etc. etc. were thrown from different directions, and with\nincreased frequency, attended by still stranger circumstances, and\nthose of a still more mysterious character. Mrs. Phelps expressed some\nalarm, and a wish that some of the neighbours might be called in. Dr.\nPhelps called on a retired clergyman of Stratford, a man of extensive\ninformation, much experience, and sound judgment, who was universally\nadmitted to be capable of rendering correct judgment and good advice in\nsuch a case. He requested him to call and spend an hour at the house,\nto which he cheerfully consented. Dr. P. told him that his family had\nbeen a little excited by some occurrences in the house, but did not\nstate any of the details of the matter, but desired that he would sit\nwith them for a short time and witness for himself. He remained all\nday, but was, at first, firmly of the opinion that the occurrences were\nproduced, in some way, through the agency of the girl, or some other\nperson about the house, and his main attention was directed to the girl\nin the kitchen, or the children, in the expectation that he should\ndetect them in doing it.\n\n1671. \u201cThe door leading from the parlours to the kitchen was, by his\nrequest, locked, and all communication between it and the other parts\nof the house cut off; still, the throwing of articles went on as\nbefore. The children were sent out of the room, and the doors locked;\nbut this made no difference. He stayed through most of the day on\nThursday, and returned soon after breakfast next morning, and remained\nmost of the time for nearly three weeks. He became satisfied, before\nthe close of the second day, that neither the girl in the kitchen nor\nthe children had any agency in producing the strange movements. During\nthe day (March 12th) some of the neighbours were in the house, and\nsmall blocks of wood were seen to fall in different places in their\npresence; but only one person noticed them in a way to excite inquiry,\nand that person was requested not to mention what she had seen.\n\n1672. \u201cOn Wednesday, March 13th, the manifestations commenced early\nin the morning, in the middle chamber, the room in which two children\nslept, and began while they were both asleep. A book, standing in\nthe library, ten or twelve feet from the bed, leaped from the shelf\ninto the middle of the room. The blower, which was in the grate,\nleaped out on the floor, a distance of at least six feet, the noise\nof which first awakened the children. At the breakfast-table several\narticles were thrown; among them a large potato, which had been sent\nfrom Pennsylvania, and laid up in a closet in the east chamber, fell\non the table directly by the side of Dr. P.'s plate, in a manner that\nno person could have done it without instant detection. The doctor\u2019s\ncuriosity was much excited, and he watched, with all the scrutiny he\nwas capable, every person in the room. He took up the potato and let it\nfall from different heights, in order to determine how far it must have\nfallen to have made the concussion that it did; and it was adjudged by\nall that the distance could not have been more than twelve or fifteen\ninches.\n\n1673. \u201cRev. Mr.\u2014\u2014 came in soon after breakfast, and remained during the\nday. Several Bibles were opened at different passages, which seemed to\nbe selected with a great deal of care, and indicated either by placing\nsmall pieces of paper on them or turning down a leaf. These things\nfirst occurred in the middle chamber, where the library stood. While\nthe family were at dinner similar things were done in the parlour\nadjoining the dining-room. Two Bibles and an Episcopal prayer-book\nwere opened at different passages, chairs turned forward on the floor,\ntwo solar lamps placed on the floor, a hat and man\u2019s cap put one on\neach; nearly every thing in the room had been moved, and in so _short\na time_, that it seems wholly inadmissible that any person about the\nhouse could have done it; beside, the whole household were in the\ndining-room, all seated at the table, except the servant, and she was\nemployed waiting on the table.\n\n1674. \u201cIn the afternoon the demonstrations were confined to the middle\nparlour; Dr. and Mrs. Phelps, and Mr.\u2014\u2014, and, a part of the time, the\neldest daughter, being present; in the absence of the daughter the\ndoors were locked, and the three first named only were present.\n\n1675. \u201cThe throwing of various things occupied the afternoon. The\narticles thrown were picked up and placed upon the mantel, and between\nthe hours of one and four o\u2019clock, the number amounted to forty-six;\namong which were nails, bits of tin, iron, keys, and small blocks, all\nof which were gathered from different parts of the house; most of them\nfrom closets on the second floor and the chambers. At one time, while\nMr. M-\u2014- was standing near the centre of the room, a padlock, which was\nknown to have been in the closet of the middle chamber, fell at his\nfeet. He took it in his hand, letting it fall from different heights,\nto discover the probable distance it must have fallen to produce the\nconcussion. After various trials it was judged to have fallen not more\nthan two or two and a half feet. As Dr. P. was sitting, perhaps ten\nfeet from the piano-forte, he saw a small toy-mouse, which was on the\npiano, arise as if tossed, and, describing a parabola as it came, fall\nat his side, so near that he took it from the floor without leaving\nhis chair. This he speaks of seeing as distinctly as he ever saw any\nthing, the whole being perfectly in his view. He also saw, in the\nsame way, among other things, a nail, cotton-spool, and key, arise\nfrom behind the sofa, which stood diagonally across the corner of the\nroom. He arose, went to the sofa, looking behind and under it, but\ncould discover nothing which might give impulse to the articles. While\nexamining the carpet about the sofa to find if any other things were\nthere, without success, as his eyes were directed to one spot, there\narose from that very point a piece of cheese-rind, perhaps eight inches\nfrom the floor; when he saw it first it arose four or five feet, passed\nover the sofa, and fell on the floor. He is positive it was not there\nwhen he was looking at the carpet, and knows there were no visible\nmeans of its moving.\n\n1676. \u201cMr. M-\u2014- suggested, as he was about to leave on Wednesday night,\nthat if the strange phenomena should return, he would like to have\nsome other persons called in. Early the next morning, Thursday, the\n14th, the manifestations commenced about as they had on the previous\nday. Soon after breakfast a sheet was found spread upon the floor,\nseveral Bibles were opened at different places, the candlesticks, in\na row, the highest in the middle, and covered with a sheet; other\narticles changed about the room, without any seeming design, more\nthan to attract attention. Mr. M-\u2014- proposed that notes be despatched\nto Rev. Mr. W-\u2014-, Congregational minister, and Mr. Plant, a lawyer\nof high standing and respectability, which was accordingly done. It\nwas at this time that they first began to hear rappings and heavy\npoundings. A loud sound, like some person striking the floor with some\nheavy substance, was heard, generally in the middle chamber. This was\nusually done when no one was in the chamber, and on any one entering\nall was still. In one instance a chair was seen to rise from the floor\nand beat down again, five or six times, with a violence which caused\nthe house to tremble so as to be felt in all the adjoining apartments.\nA large plated candlestick, standing on the mantel, was moved by some\nunseen power to the floor, and then rose up and down, beating the\nfloor, until the candlestick was broken. This was the first article\nthat was damaged about the house. Several times during the day loud\nnoises, like some one pounding with an axe or some heavy substance on\nthe floor, were heard in different parts of the house, and several\ntimes the loud poundings terminated with a frightful scream; it was not\na cry of distress, or any thing that could be easily imitated, seeming\nlike something between the cry of a cat and the bleating of a calf,\nbut louder than either. These sounds occurred in all probably twenty\ntimes while the manifestations were going on. Sometimes the screams\nseemed to be in the third story, sometimes in the front-hall chamber,\nseveral times out in the yard, and occasionally in other places. There\nwas at no time any audible expression of words. The sounds consisted of\npoundings, knockings, and screamings. On this day the first images were\nfound, which will be spoken of more fully hereafter.\n\n1677. \u201cIn the evening of this day, just after some young ladies had\ncalled, Dr. P.\u2018s daughter returned to the parlour, it being between\nnine and ten o\u2019clock. After seeing the young ladies to the door, an\niron stand, in which stood the fire-shovel, tongs, and poker, leaped\nfrom the hearth, where it stood, into the middle of the floor, and rose\nup and beat the floor with a force that made a jar that could be felt,\nand the sound heard, in any part of the house. This was seen only by\nthe daughter, but Dr. P. and wife heard the noise. The daughter ran\nthrough the dining-room to get up stairs, and, as she passed, a large\ntable was standing, with the other furniture, arranged for breakfast\nthe next morning. The table was three feet nine inches wide, and five\nfeet three inches long, made of solid mahogany; and when she entered\nthe room it rose up and beat five or six times against the floor with\na force which made the house jar. The noise was heard by many persons\nin the house. Mrs. P. was alarmed, and screamed out, \u2018Oh, take me from\nthis place!\u2019 This happened between nine and ten o\u2019clock, P. M. Previous\nto this time all manifestations had ceased by sundown, or a little\nafter.\n\n1678. \u201cSoon after daylight on Friday, March 15th, movements similar to\nthose on previous days commenced. Henry, a lad then eleven and a half\nyears of age, attended the academy, and nothing had, thus far, ever\noccurred to connect these strange phenomena with his presence. Dr. P.\nhad never heard or thought of particular persons being \u2018mediums.\u2019 But\non this day the remarkable occurrences seemed to be connected more or\nless with this boy. His cap was torn on his head, so as to be entirely\ndestroyed. Another one which he put on was taken in the same way. First\na small hole opened in the crown; this gradually extended, and in a\nshort time it was torn into many pieces. On another cap characters\nwere made, apparently with chalk. They resembled those sometimes made\nby persons in the higher mesmeric state, describing them as characters\nof a spiritual language. Five or six of these characters were, at\none time, made on the boy\u2019s cap. Others, supposed to constitute a\nsentence, were written on a red pocket-handkerchief; others on his\npantaloons and coat, and on the _inside_ of his sack-coat. Copies of\nthese characters were taken with great care, and were preserved till\nSeptember following, when they were mysteriously destroyed. From this\ntime it became evident that some of the phenomena had some kind of\nconnection with this boy.\n\n1679. \u201cAn umbrella which he was carrying was, in a mysterious manner,\ntorn in several pieces. His pantaloons were torn from the bottom\nupward, as high as the knee, and sometimes higher, and were literally\ntorn to ribbons, an inch or more wide. This occurred several times\nunder the immediate inspection of Rev. Mr. M., which seems to fix\nthe fact that, in those instances at least, no power visible did it.\nThus it continued for several weeks, clothing to the amount of twenty\ndollars being destroyed. At one time, while he was riding in a carriage\nwith Dr. P., his cap on his head was torn in a mysterious manner, and\nhis pants torn from the waistband to the bottom, in a way that no human\npower could have done. Dr. P. heard them torn, but could see nothing\ndoing it, and knows the boy could not have done it himself. It was on\nthis day, March 15th, that images, dressed in articles of clothing,\nwere again seen; only two or three appeared on that day. The most\nextraordinary occurrences of this kind took place on Saturday, the\n16th. Soon after breakfast two or three images appeared in the middle\nchamber; soon again another, followed by others still, numbering in\nall eleven or twelve. They were formed of articles of clothing, found\nabout the house, stuffed to resemble the human figure. A lady\u2019s dress\nwould be stuffed in some cases with a muff; again with a pillow, and\nsometimes with other dresses; a bonnet and shoes were aptly placed to\ncomplete the figure. These, on this occasion, all but one, represented\nfemales in the attitude of devotion, some having Bibles or prayer-books\nplaced before them. One, formed of Mrs. P.\u2018s dress, so much resembled\nthe real, that the little boy, scarce three years old, coming into\nthe room with his sister, older, whispered, \u2018Be still, ma is saying\nprayers.\u2019\n\n1680. \u201cA portable writing-desk, usually standing on the secretary in\nthe room, was taken and placed upon the floor, a towel spread over\nit, and the image of a child kneeling beside it. A Yankee clock was\ntaken from the mantel in the nursery and placed upon the floor in the\nmiddle room, a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that\nthe clock was still going when discovered in its new place, though it\nstopped some time after. It does not appear that any of these images\nwere seen in the process of construction, or that the clothing, which\nwas gathered from different localities, was seen in the act of moving.\nWhen persons entered the room every thing was still, the clothing about\nthe floor, which, upon going in again within a few minutes, were found\nwrought into forms. The marked rapidity of their construction, and the\nlifelike appearance of them, seems to have been truly wonderful. During\nthis day several others than members of the family were present. In\nseveral instances, when the rooms were closed and the doors guarded, so\nthat no person could enter, the images were constructed. To one reading\nor listening to the relation of these facts, the mischief and cunning\nevinced will seem amusing as well as most wonderful; but to the family,\nwho bore the annoyance and witnessed the terrifying demonstrations, it\nwas a serious and trying affair.\n\n1681. \u201cThe reader will keep in mind that this was on Saturday of\nthe first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were\nstill believing that they must be produced by some one in the house;\nevery member of the family therefore was subjected to the most rigid\nscrutiny, which makes it morally certain that no member of the\nhousehold could have had any agency in the matter without being at once\ndetected. Beside the neatness and despatch with which they were formed,\nthe natural appearance of most of them must have required taste and\nskill beyond the conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M.\nremained there throughout the day, Mr. W., Governor Plant, and Captain\nS., a part of the day. During the day and evening various things\nwere thrown in different parts of the house. A brick-bat, which lay\non the stairs leading to the third story, was thrown violently down\nstairs, passing very near the head of the eldest daughter as she was\ndescending the stairs. A fire-shovel was also thrown near her, which\nshe first saw high above her in a position to fall upon her head. She\nwas several times constrained to cry out from fear, so much as to cause\napprehension on her account.\n\n1682. \u201c[I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute\naccount of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has now\ngrown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having her\nname mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon\nwas tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tight as to cause\na serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room\nwhen it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on\naccount of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ\nmaterially in their nature from the occurrences herein related.]\n\n1683. \u201cThe hiding of hats, caps, clothing, &c., seems at this time\nto have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was\nseen to go up stairs\u2014not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly\nby unseen hands. For several days Dr. P. was forced to keep his hat\nunder lock and key to prevent its disappearance, if left out as usual.\nCoats, hats, and canes of gentlemen, who were strangers in the house,\nwere spirited away; the only object seeming to be the gratification\nof mischievous desires, with the exception of a few instances. They\nwere found sometimes in the chimney, under the bed, and in the bottom\nof trunks. The design seemed to be to detain the owners to witness\nfurther demonstrations. Two gentlemen from an adjoining town called,\none of whom had expressed an earnest desire to witness the phenomena;\nbut having passed several hours, and seeing nothing, they were about\nto leave, when the person who expressed the wish found himself minus\na hat. A thorough searching followed, but no hat could be found;\nconsequently, the gentleman decided to remain until the next day.\nDuring the evening and night, phenomena transpired sufficient to\ngratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like results,\nafterward occurred.\n\n1684. \u201cOn the nineteenth and twentieth, little occurred to cause alarm.\nSome of the family heard loud and frightful screams in an adjacent\nouthouse, which must have been torturing to the feelings, much more\nso than the silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the\nhouse. Reports had now got abroad, and some excitement was being\nproduced, as is always the case in country towns, where each person\nknows their neighbour\u2019s private business quite as well, and sometimes\nbetter, than those most interested. And in a matter of this kind all\nefforts to prevent publicity would prove unavailing. Curiosity and\nstaring wonder would overstep all bounds of propriety and respect for\nthe private rights and feelings of the family, forgetting that it is no\nslight thing for the harmony and quiet of a household to be invaded,\neach member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured scrutiny, or\ncareless reproach. On this subject I can speak from experience, having\nmyself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibility it is a\ntrial indeed. In this case, Dr. P. adopted the rule of giving all who\ncalled an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and to this rule\nhe adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation\nmust have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered\noutside, a stranger, who came unintroduced by letter or otherwise,\nasked to spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons.\n\n1685. \u201cOn Friday and Saturday, March 23d and 24th, the disturbances\nincreased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams\nwere heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset\nand dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought\nhimself suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and\nsupposed that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He\nwas very much frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family,\nand remained in a state of great nervous excitement for two or three\nhours, and the effects did not wholly wear off for more than a week.\nAt times he was in such a state as to require two men to hold him. For\nseveral days after this, he spent a portion of his time with one of the\nneighbours during the day; but the disturbances continued the same at\nthe house, although he appeared to be more or less the medium as long\nas the phenomena continued. At one time he was thrown into a cistern of\nwater; at another he was tied up and suspended from a tree, and several\ntimes was thrown into a state of apparent insensibility, in which he\nwould remain from ten to fifteen minutes, and for which no human cause\ncould be assigned.\n\n1686. \u201cSomewhere about the 20th or 22d of March, Dr. P.\u2018s attention\nwas called to a pamphlet, (Capron and Barron\u2019s,) giving a history of\nthe \u2018mysterious noises\u2019 at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who\nhad read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances\nin the manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to\nquestions. To this the doctor objected, for reasons known to himself,\nbut which may readily be imagined by those knowing his position in\nlife, and his general opinions of such phenomena.\n\n1687. \u201cOn the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the 3d of April\nHarry also left. No manifestations took place while both were away.\nHarry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks; but the very day that\nHarry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power than\never. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious\ncharacters was dropped near the front door. These characters were\ninterpreted by a clairvoyant[37] to read as follows:\n\n  1688. \u2018Fear not when he returns; all danger is o\u2019er.\n          We came, we disturbed thy house; but shall no more.\n          Believe us not evil or good, till we prove\n          Our speech to humanity, our language of love.\u2019\n\n1689. This was supposed to indicate that no further disturbance would\nbe made; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was\nfound in the boy\u2019s hat, in these words:\n\n  1690. \u2018The good ones say that all is done,\n         But the wicked ones say it has just begun.\u2019\n\n1691. The \u2018wicked ones,\u2019 in this case, seemed to come nearer the truth\nthan the \u2018good ones;\u2019 for, on the afternoon of the eighth of April,\nthe breaking of glass commenced for the first time, by the breaking of\na pane in a mysterious manner. In the evening of the same day another\nwas broken during family prayers, some of the pieces falling inside\nand some outside. There were no indications of any thing being thrown\nagainst it.\n\n1692. From this time forward for several weeks glass was broken almost\ndaily, until the whole number of panes broken amounted to _seventy-one_\nin the house and out-buildings. Most of them were broken by something\nbeing thrown against them; among the articles were a brush, a shoe, a\npoker, a fire-shovel, a candlestick, a pair of snuffers, books, and\nnumerous other things; occasionally a stone or piece of brick, thrown\nfrom the outside.\n\n1693. Dr. P. thinks it would have been possible, but not probable,\nthat, in some of these cases, they might have been broken by human\nagency; but he was an eye-witness in some twenty or thirty cases, and\nknows that they could not have been so done. He saw a brush, which he\nknew to have been on a certain shelf but a moment before, and no person\nnear the shelf, fly to the window, break out a glass, and fall down\nbetween the shutter and sash, where he knew from the position that no\none could have thrown it. He saw a tumbler, which was standing on a\nbureau, rise from its place, fly to the window, and dash out the only\npane remaining whole in the window, when no person was within twenty\nfeet of it, and the only persons in the room were himself and Harry,\nthe latter standing by the doctor\u2019s side in the doorway of the room\u2014a\nposition in which it was utterly impossible for him to have done it\nwithout detection.\n\n1694. The mysterious visitors, whoever they were, seemed at times to be\nactuated by a spirit of sheer mischief in the destruction of property,\nparticularly glass and crockery. Even the glass in the carriage-top\nwas broken out. Pitchers of water were, on two or three occasions,\npoured into the beds, and the pitchers and other vessels thrown about\nthe room and broken. The damage to furniture during the whole time\nwas nearly two hundred dollars. Sometimes there was a cessation of\n\u2018hostilities\u2019 for two or three days; but they would then return with\nadditional violence; in fact, they increased gradually in violence\nfrom the beginning to the middle of April. On the evening of that day,\nand during the night, they were more violent and destructive than ever\nbefore. On the night of the 13th of April, loud pounding and beating,\nas with some hard substance, were frequent in the room adjoining that\nin which Dr. P. slept; so loud and continued were they, that at one\no\u2019clock no person in the house had been able to sleep. Soon after, a\nsmall drawer was taken from a dressing-table, and beaten so violently\nagainst the bedstead as to break it into fragments, some of which were\nthrown against the windows, breaking two panes of glass. The knockings\nwere now transferred to Mrs. P.\u2018s room. She was pinched, pricked with\npins, and otherwise annoyed in a manner beyond explanation \u2018on any\nknown laws of matter or mind.\u2019 Mr. W. C. was staying in the house that\nnight. He went to the room by request, and proposed to interrogate\nthem, as they were then doing at Rochester and other places in Western\nNew York. Being left to act his pleasure, he queried, and was replied\nto as follows: \u2018Who are you? If a spirit, knock.\u2019 Immediately there\nwere heard on the head of the bed distinct knocks. _Q._\u2014\u2018Are you a good\nor bad spirit? If good, knock.\u2019 To this there was no answering sound.\n\u2018If a bad spirit, knock.\u2019 At once the same sounds as before were heard.\n_Q._\u2014\u2018Will you spell your name if the alphabet is called?\u2019 _A._\u2014Knock.\nIt was done; and a name was spelled out, and a communication made\nof a most extraordinary character, detailing the particulars of a\ntransaction in which a portion of the family were said to have been\ndefrauded out of a large property. As this whole communication relates\nto a matter which may yet come before the tribunals of our country for\nadjudication, I am expressly prohibited from making any extracts from\nthis part of the journal. I regret this more, as the facts in this case\nform one of the most wonderful and unaccountable cases on record.\n\n1695. The family concluded that, after these important disclosures\nwere made, the disturbances would cease; but they were doomed to be\ndisappointed. The following night no communications were made, but the\nthrowing of articles and breaking of windows, crockery, etc., were\nrenewed with greater violence than before. Four or five panes of glass\nwere broken in one room in the space of half an hour. While the family\nwere together in the east chamber, a small sauce-dish, with an iron\nhandle, rose from the floor, under the washstand, and beat against\nthe bedstead with such violence as to break the handle off, and was\nthen thrown back from whence it started. It beat seven or eight times\nagainst the bedstead, producing a noise that could easily be heard\ntwenty rods. A round of a chair was beaten against the bedstead in the\nsame manner, when there was no person within seven or eight feet of\nit. A lamp that was on the mantel leaped into the middle of the floor,\nand was extinguished. Being left thus suddenly in the dark produced no\nlittle agitation, and Mrs. Phelps proposed that they should take the\nchildren and go into the street, rather than stay in the house that\nnight. In a few minutes two gentlemen, who had appointed to spend the\nnight with them, arrived, and the more violent of the manifestations\nceased.\n\n1696. About this time, Dr. P.\u2018s attention was called to the fact that\nthe demonstrations were much more violent in the presence of some\npersons than of others. While some were present they would cease\nentirely, and commence as soon as they left, with great vehemence.\n\n1697. On the 17th the communications were renewed, and from that time\nthey had frequent communications, mainly respecting the property\naffair. At one time they asked how they should know that this was\nreally from the spirit it purported to be, and requested his signature;\nwhen in less than four minutes a small piece of paper, having on it an\nexact fac-simile of his handwriting, was seen sticking to the wall\u2014the\nwriting apparently done with a pencil. Dr. Phelps still preserves the\noriginal paper, with the name inked over. It was stuck to the wall by\nbeing made damp.\n\n1698. It was now discovered that, in order to get the rapping, the\npresence of Henry was necessary. At one time a request was made by the\nrapping to send him to New York, and a threat that all the windows in\nthe house would be broken, if they did not, was made; but in a few\nminutes after, a small piece of paper was seen to fall, apparently from\nthe ceiling, and on it written, \u2018Send him not to New York\u2014evil will\nbefall him.\u2019 It was evident that there were two or more contending\nagencies engaged in the manifestations. It was not easy to define\nor imagine what their objects were. At times, when one was making a\ncommunication, the other would rap, seemingly to make confusion. At\nother times, when a communication was being made by alphabet, a paper\nwould be dropped down, and on it written, \u2018It is all a lie; don\u2019t\nbelieve what he says.\u201d Sometimes language the most profane, and\noccasionally, but rarely, obscene, would be written out in this way.\nInquiry was made as to how these contradictory communications were\nto be accounted for, and the answer was that an opposing spirit was\nattempting to defeat the object of the first; that this spirit was\nnow one of his tormentors; that both were in a state of misery, and\nhis suffering would be mitigated if the object of the first could be\naccomplished, although he would never go to a state of happiness.\n\n1699. \u201cAmong the spirits who communicated were two who professed to\nbe in a state of happiness, and three in a state of misery. One of\nthe good spirits claimed to be a sister of him who made the first\ncommunication; she communicated frequently, and constantly manifested\nherself in the morning and evening devotions of the family, and always\ngave two distinct knocks at the utterance of \u2018Amen.\u2019 Upon inquiry as\nto the meaning of these two knocks, the answer was given that it was a\nresponse, after the manner of the Episcopal service, signifying that\nshe joined in the devotions.\n\n1700. Much that was communicated after the first few days was of\na trifling and childish character; some, more like what would be\nreceived from street rowdies than any thing else. To the question why\nthey destroyed property, they replied, \u2018For fun.\u2019 It was asked of the\nopposing spirit what could be done to afford him relief; he answered\nthat \u2018The best thing they could do would be to give him a piece of\npie.\u2019 Sometimes letters would come, purporting to be from ministers of\nPhiladelphia, giving accounts of conversions in their congregations\nand additions to their churches. These were addressed to the doctor,\nand indicated a knowledge of things in Philadelphia to an astonishing\ndegree. Some of the letters were addressed to Mrs. Phelps, signed, or\nrather purporting to be signed, by departed spirits of persons who\nhad lived in Philadelphia, and all, or nearly all, who had lived in\na single square, and were the acquaintances of Mrs. Phelps, during a\nresidence in that city, in the time of her former marriage. Sentimental\nnotes were also addressed to the daughter. These letters and billets\nwere frequent, amounting in all to nearly one hundred, and were all\nwritten in one hand, though purporting to come from different persons.\nThe fact was at one time referred to, and an explanation desired, to\nwhich the following was given: \u2018We do not write with the hand\u2014do not\ntouch the pencil; we write with the will.\u2019 At one time a paper was\nthrown down to Mrs. Phelps, while in the parlour with a number of\nladies, having written on it, with a pencil, as follows:\n\n1701. \u2018SIR: Sir Sambo\u2019s compliments, and begs the laddyes to accept as\na token of esteem.\u2019\n\n1702. A lady in the family of Dr. Phelps had, in a humorous way,\nrequested the spirits to write her a letter that she might send to\na friend in Philadelphia. The spirit complied with the request by\nsending down the following:\n\n1703. \u2018DEAR MARY: I have just time to write and tell you I am well.\nGive my love to Miss K. and her uncle. Also to Mrs. and Mr. D. Also to\nSarah. Good-bye.                                         H. P. DEVIL.\u2019\n\n1704. The initials of the lady\u2019s name who asked for the letter were H.\nP.\n\n1705. Papers were also thrown down, signed \u2018Beelzebub\u2019 and \u2018Sam Slick.\u2019\nSometimes names of persons whom the family had known in Philadelphia,\nbut who had been dead several years, were signed to these papers.\n\n1706. The following was in pencil, and seems to be written in the same\nhand as the other. It was superscribed \u2018E. Phelps:\u2019\n\n1707. \u2018If you promise not to write what I told you, I will not throw\nany thing all this week.\u2019\n\n1708. On the 28th of July, 1850, two singular letters were thrown\ndown, addressed to Dr. Phelps. They were both in one handwriting,\nbut were signed by two different orthodox clergymen of Philadelphia.\nTheir interest in religious movements, and their acquaintance with the\nphraseology of \u2018revival\u2019 correspondence, are seen at a glance. \u2018St.\nPeter\u2019s,\u2019 in the second letter, is a Puseyite church.\n\n 1709. \u2018DEAR BROTHER: The Lord is dealing bountifully with his chosen\n people. Brother Barnes admitted to the church forty-nine last Sunday,\n and Brother Parker thirty-four to-day. Brother Converse has had the\n cholera, and Brother Fairchild has grown so fleshy as scarcely to\n be recognised. Our friend Mr. Tarr has buried his wife. She died of\n consumption. E. Tarr is married. Brother Mahu, being suddenly inspired\n last Sunday, spoke so eloquently and so loud, and used such majestic\n action, as to be quite done up for a while. He broke a blood-vessel.\n Old Tiers has gone crazy, and is shut up in a mad-house, or, rather,\n a hospital. The H-\u2014-s have gone into the country to spend some time.\n That\u2019s all the news.\n                     \u2018Your faithful brother in Christ,\n\n                                                          \u2018R. A.\u2019\n\n1710. \u2018DEAR BROTHER: The millennium truly is coming. The day of the\nLord is at hand. We are adding countless numbers to the altar of the\nLord. Brother A-\u2014- became inspired last Sunday to such a degree,\nthat his soul took its flight to the regions above, and has not yet\nreturned. The Catholic churches, St. Joseph\u2019s and St. Mary\u2019s, were\nburned down; St. Peter\u2019s, also\u2014I believe that is a Catholic church.\nBrother Mahu was preaching from the text, \u2018Resist the devil,\u2019 &c., when\nhe was suddenly overturned by an invisible power, which frightened him\nso that his hair turned white in five minutes.\n\n1711. \u2018Brother Barnes, to render his church more attractive, is\ngoing to have opera-singing and dancing every Sunday afternoon. Mrs.\nAlexander Tower, old Mr. Tiers, Brother Fairchild, and Mrs. Somerville\nare going to dance. I think they will find it a very lucrative\nemployment. Jane and Martha still progress in Hebrew.\n                       \u2018Your affectionate brother,            M. R.\u2019\n\n1712. On Sunday, April 27th, 1851, on returning from church, the family\nfound strange characters written on the last leaf of a writing-book,\nlying on the hall floor, although it was known to be in the nursery\nprevious to their going away. None of the family had any knowledge of\nhow the book got into the hall.[38]\n\n1713. H. C. Gordon, a clairvoyant, interpreted the characters as\nfollows: The first line, 95th Psalm, 2d verse; second line, 3d and 6th\nverse; and the third line, the 10th verse.\n\n1714. Certain characters were found on the wall in the east chamber, on\nSunday morning, May 4th, 1851. They were made with a candle on the wall\nnear the south window.\n\n1715. These were translated to be, \u2018Spirits of a higher order desire to\ncommunicate with you soon.\u2019\n\n1716. Spirit-writing, without visible human agency, has never been\na common mode of communicating, although it was among the early\noccurrences at Hydesville, Rochester, and Auburn.[39]\n\n1717. Sometimes these missives were enclosed in a book, and thrown down\nstairs or into the room; sometimes wrapped about a key or nail, or\nany thing that would give a momentum, and thrown into the room. Often\nthey were seen to fall from above; this occurring frequently when the\ndoors were closed, and it was not possible for any visible agent to\nhave been the cause. Writing would appear on the wall at times, made,\nas it appeared, with a pencil. On one occasion, Dr. Phelps was writing\nat his desk, and, turning his back for a few moments, without leaving\nhis chair, turned again to his paper, where he found written in large\nletters, \u2018Very nice paper and very nice ink for the devil.\u2019 The ink was\nnot yet dry, the desk was not two feet from him as he sat, and he was\nentirely alone in the room.\n\n1718. About the first of May, Dr. Phelps, of Boston, brother of the\nRev. Doctor, and Prof. Phelps, of Andover, a son of the Rev. Doctor,\nwent to Stratford to \u2018expose the humbug,\u2019 and with a full belief that\nit was a trick of evil-minded persons, and that they should be able\nto detect and expose it without trouble; and they were disappointed,\nas hundreds have been under like circumstances. On Tuesday evening\na loud rap was heard on the back door, seeming to be made by the\nknocker, loud enough to be heard twenty rods distant. The servant\nwent to the door, but no person was there. After the lapse of five or\neight minutes, the rap was repeated. It was then supposed that some\none had done it mischievously; but, on looking about, no person was\ndiscovered. It was in the shades of evening, but not dark enough to\nprevent any person being seen, who might have done it, as easily as\nat mid-day. The knocking came the third time, when Dr. Phelps\u2014the\nvisitor\u2014placed himself in the hall, perhaps four feet from the door,\nand the Professor, of Andover, took a position on the steps without,\neach having full view of the door. The same loud raps were repeated\non the door between them. The knocker did not move, nor could the eye\ndetect any cause for what met the ear. The noise was heard throughout\nthe house, and both the gentlemen were positive that no visible agent\nwas employed to produce it. About bed-time, a loud pounding was heard\non the chamber-door. The gentlemen, each with a candle in hand, stood\non either side of the door, as the pounding, as though done with a\nheavy boot, was continued. The noise appeared to each to be on the side\nof the door opposite to him. On the following morning, as Dr. Phelps,\nof Stratford, was standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the\nthird story, a noise as loud and much resembling the report of a pistol\noccurred apparently close to his ear. These boisterous sounds occurred\nat intervals during a great part of the time that the disturbance was\ncontinued. Sometimes for weeks they would not be heard; and again for\ndays they were heard every day.\n\n1719. It would seem, from various occurrences, that the agents of\nthese sounds, whoever they were, must have been human beings, or, at\nleast, possessed of all the leading characteristics of humanity. They\nwere evidently influenced by kindness or unkindness, by respect and\nconfidence, as persons generally are in this life. Some instances\nillustrating this are given. One morning, during the breakfast hour,\nthey would push the table suddenly, raise up one side and shake it in\nsuch a manner as to spill the coffee, and otherwise occasion serious\ninconvenience. A person at the table spoke to them in a tone of\nauthority, commanding them to desist; but the act was at once repeated.\nAgain they were commanded to cease, but increased violence followed\nthis command. This was five or six times repeated, and the shaking\nwas each time renewed. At length another person at the table said, \u2018I\nrequest you kindly to cease this annoyance, and allow us to take our\nbreakfast quietly,\u2019 and they ceased at once, without a repetition. It\nwas found, from this time, that kindness had about the same effect\nupon them that it produces upon mankind at large. A lady, the wife of\na clergyman, spent a few weeks in the family during the summer, who\nreceived many communications from them, would often, when the scissors,\nthimble, or things of that kind, were mislaid, say, \u2018I will thank the\nspirits to return my thimble, scissors,\u2019 or whatever was missing,\nand the article named would drop at her side, or in her lap, within\na minute. Things of this kind occurred very many times in the course\nof the time that these phenomena were continued. If a key or knife,\nor any thing of the kind, was mislaid, and any person was looking for\nit, frequently it would be thrown to them as though their wants were\nanticipated. Dr. Phelps was once with Harry in the stable, when the\ncurrycomb could not be found, and he asked Harry where it was, to which\nHarry replied that he did not know. At that moment, the doctor saw\nit rise, as if thrown, from a point ten feet distant from them, and,\ndescribing a parabola, fall within a short distance of the spot where\nthey both were standing.\n\n1720. About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps and Harry were riding to\nHuntington, a distance of seven miles. When they had proceeded about\none mile on the way, a stone, about the size of a hen\u2019s egg, was thrown\ninto the carriage, and lodged on Dr. Phelps\u2019s hat. Soon another and\nanother were thrown in. The carriage was a covered one, and the back\ncurtain was down, and there was no way a stone could have been thrown\nin by ordinary means. At one house where they stopped, the moment the\nfront door was opened, two stones were thrown, one of which entered the\ndoor as it stood partly open, and the other hit one of the lights of\nglass, and broke it. Harry was standing on the door-steps at the time,\nand there was no one in the street who could have thrown them. Two\nstones were also thrown against another house where they stopped of an\nerrand. Sixteen stones were thrown into the carriage on the doctor\u2019s\nreturn, and, including those thrown against the two houses, twenty, in\ndriving three or four hours.\n\n1721. As it was now apparent that these strange things were in some way\nconnected with Harry as a medium, it was thought best to separate him\nfrom the family. Accordingly board was obtained for him in a family\nsome two miles distant. One day, when he came home, he told his mother,\nin great secrecy, that on the night previous he had been awakened from\nhis sleep by some person dressed in white, whom he saw standing by his\nbedside. He was frightened, and was about to scream, when the person\nspoke and said, \u2018Be not afraid, my son; I am your father;\u2019 and then\nplaced in the boy\u2019s hand a silver watch, and told him to wear it for\nhis sake. The boy affirms that he had the watch in his hand; that it\nwas not a dream; and that he was entirely awake; and that his father\ntold him to tell no one of it but his mother and Dr. P. His mother told\nhim it was nothing but a dream, and turned it off as a light affair.\n\n1722. It seems that a valuable silver watch had been left the boy by\nhis father, which was not in use, but had been kept locked up in a\ndrawer of a dressing-table, to which he (Harry) had no access. A member\nof the family, having occasion to look into the drawer, saw the watch,\nand knows it was there, and that the drawer was locked, and the key\ngiven to Mrs. P. A few minutes after the conversation with his mother\nabout the apparition and the watch, the night previous, he came in\nfrom the yard with the watch in his hand! He said his father had again\nappeared to him, and put the watch into his hand again, and said, \u2018Wear\nthis for my sake.\u2019 He brought the watch into the house, and showed it\nto his mother, and said that his father said, \u2018Tell your mother to look\nat the second-hand.\u2019 The hand was off, and lay on the face of the watch\nunder the crystal. A credible person will make oath, if called upon,\nthat she saw the watch in the drawer, where it was usually kept, not\nmore than six or eight minutes before, and that she locked the drawer\nand gave the key to Mrs. Phelps. The key had been in possession of no\nother person, and Harry had not been in the room during the time. The\nwatch was taken to Dr. P., and he tried to replace the second-hand,\nbut could not succeed. He closed it, leaving the hand loose on the\nface, and passed it back to Harry, saying that he must take it to the\nwatch-maker. When he took it in his hand, he exclaimed, \u2018Why, it\u2019s\non!\u2019 They looked, and it was on and going. In a few minutes it was off\nagain, and was put on a second time, all within a minute or two. The\ndoctor affirms that it was not out of his sight a moment; that he knows\nthe watch was not opened, and that no visible power was employed in\ndoing it.\n\n1723. On one occasion the piano-forte was played while it is known that\nno person was in the room; and, at another time, it was turned around,\nthe front toward the wall, and so far removed from the side of the room\nas to allow the player room to sit next to the wall; the stool was also\nappropriately placed.\n\n1724. On several occasions, about this time, certain members of the\nfamily saw, or thought they did, visible appearances. Dr. P. did not\ngive entire credit to these statements; not but what he had full\nconfidence in the honesty of the family, but the excited state in\nwhich some of them had been for a long time led him to think that they\nmight imagine they saw what had no existence in fact. Toward the last\nof May, it was signified that one of the spirits who had communicated\nwould appear visibly\u2014first to the daughter, then to Mrs. P., and then\nto the doctor himself. They asked in what manner he would appear, and\nthe answer was, \u2018In a sheet.\u2019 Between ten and eleven o\u2019clock the same\nnight, soon after the family had retired, Anna, who occupied the east\nbedroom, the door between her room and that where the doctor and his\nwife slept being open, and a lamp burning on a stand so placed as to\nlight both rooms, called to her mother, and said, \u2018There it is, in a\nsheet.\u2019 Dr. P. asked where; when she said it was in the door between\nthe two rooms, coming from the room the doctor occupied, but the doctor\nsaw nothing. The daughter was frightened, and covered up her head,\nand in a few minutes looked up and saw nothing. He was represented as\nmoving slowly from one room to the other.\n\n1725. In about two minutes Mrs. Phelps exclaimed, \u2018There it is!\u2019 and\ndrew the clothes over her head. Both the daughter and mother saw it at\nthis time, but still the doctor saw nothing, although in as favourable\na position as either of the others.\n\n1726. After two or three minutes had elapsed, the doctor also saw it.\nIt appeared to him to move slowly from the hall chamber into his,\nand turn and move slowly back. It had the appearance of a very tall\nperson with a sheet thrown around it; he saw only the sheet. In about\none minute, something was thrown on to the bed, which proved to be a\nsheet which had been taken from the wardrobe in the hall. Dr. Phelps\ndeclares that he was not frightened in the least, and could not have\nbeen mistaken in the appearance. Some two or three weeks subsequent\nto this a similar appearance was seen, and Dr. P. sprang out of bed,\ndetermined to seize hold of it if possible. It came part way into his\nroom, and then moved slowly back. The daughter affirmed that the doctor\nwas within two or three feet of it when it disappeared, and a sheet\ndropped into a chair. These were the only instances in which the doctor\nsaw any thing himself. Others of the family saw persons in a mysterious\nway several times.\n\n1727. At one time, while Anna was in the dining-room, and a cousin of\nhers and some of the children in the front yard, her attention was\narrested by some one entering the front parlour. She went in, and saw\nthree gentlemen\u2014two of them sitting on the sofa, and one on a chair by\nthe table\u2014all having their hats on, and drawn down over their eyes more\nthan usual; the one by the table had his feet upon the table, and was\nreading a paper. She was surprised that neither of them rose up, or\nlooked at her, as she entered the room; and when she was within five or\nsix feet of the one nearest her, he leaned over on one side and fell,\nchair and all, on the floor, and instantly all disappeared! She was\nfrightened, and ran to her cousin, who was near the front door. She\ncame in, but no persons were there, neither could they have entered\nwithout her seeing them. The chair was thrown down, but no person near\nwho could have done it.\n\n1728. A few other instances occurred in which appearances were supposed\nto have been seen; but the circumstances were not of a character\nto put the matter beyond a doubt, therefore no record was kept of\nthem. About the middle of May, Dr. Phelps spent some time with the\nFox family in New York. He soon decided that the manifestations were\nessentially the same as those at his house, with a few points of\ndifference. With them property was not destroyed, and they were not\npainfully annoyed. The sounds were different, it being with them a\ndouble or rolling sound, and at his house a single knock. They could\ncall upon and receive answers from different spirits, or what claimed\nto be different ones. This could be done at his house. During the\nmonths of June and July the same general occurrences continued at\nStratford. Sometimes for two or three days there would seem to be an\nentire cessation of \u2018hostilities.\u2019 Then they would commence again with\nredoubled force. People from all parts of the country were visiting\nthe house, to whom every facility was afforded to search into the\ncause. Newspaper discussions were going on, casting the most unjust and\npainful reflections, subjecting the family to suffering little short of\nmartyrdom, while numberless other persons had as good an opportunity of\nexplaining the matter as the persecuted family. In this affliction I\ncan sympathize somewhat with Dr. Phelps and family. In the first days\nof these phenomena in Western New York, all persons who were involved\nwith or interested in them were looked upon and treated at once as void\nof all common feeling or sensibility, both privately and publicly;\ntheir names passed about, coupled with opprobrious epithets; their\nhouses were entered without ceremony, and even in the face of direct\nrequest to the contrary; their right to quiet and repose invaded, their\nhouses often being crowded with visitors, prompted by idle curiosity\nand a malicious desire to torture, beyond the midnight hour; still\ninsisting to remain, and adding insult to injury by declaring in your\nears that it was an arrant cheat\u2014a grand humbug\u2014being carried on; and\nall for\u2014what? And at the same time those whose ill-fortune it then\nseemed to be to have an identity with it were weeping and praying for\nthe scourge to be removed from them; for scourge it seemed, indeed,\nunder such circumstances.\n\n1729. Dr. and Mrs. Phelps concluded, in August, as the demonstrations\nwere then less frequent, on taking a short journey of three weeks.\nThe disturbances were still more annoying in their absence than\nbefore; and it was decided as best to close the house for the winter,\nand remain away. Accordingly, on the 11th of September, Harry left\nfor Pennsylvania, and it was arranged that the other members of the\nfamily should follow within three weeks. It seems that, although the\nmanifestations were connected more intimately with Harry, his presence\nwas not all-important, as they did not cease altogether when he\nleft; but communications were still made, though with less force and\nviolence. The knockings were not as loud, and the communications less\nfree or frequent. At one time a note was thrown into the room, while\nDr. P. was writing at the desk, which contained the following: \u201cHow\nsoon do the family expect to go to Pennsylvania? I wish to make some\narrangements before they go. Please answer in writing.\u2019 The doctor\nreplied as desired, as follows: \u2018About the first of October,\u2019 and\nplaced the paper in a position where he had before put writings of the\nkind, and heard nothing further.\n\n1730. Two or three days after this, a communication was given by use of\nthe alphabet, saying that Root, a gentleman who had been in the house,\nhad destroyed the doctor\u2019s book. He inquired \u2018What book?\u2019 and was\nanswered \u2018The big book.\u2019 Yet he did not know what book was designated,\nand repeated the question, and received the answer, \u2018The big book\nin the secretary.\u2019 Still it was not understood. Again was spelled,\n\u2018Look and see!\u2019 Dr. Phelps had in the secretary two blank books;\nin the larger one he had written a full account of the mysterious\nmanifestations, in the form of a diary, and, having noted them as they\noccurred from day to day, they were recorded with more minuteness\nthan could afterward be done. Upon looking, it was discovered that\nevery page that had been written upon was torn from the book and gone.\nAfter a long search, the fragments of the leaves were found in the\nvault. Copies of the characters which the doctor had carefully taken,\nand felt anxious to preserve, were every scrap gone. There were, in\na dressing-table drawer in the chamber, a great number of the notes\nsent. These were set on fire with a match and burned in the drawer.\nThe fire was discovered by the smoke, but not until the papers were\nso far charred as to injure them beyond preservation. A few of these\nwritings only are retained, which were in other places. The last of the\nannoyances was on the 25th of September, and was that of throwing ink\nupon the daughter\u2019s dress. She was standing on the piazza, near the\nfront door; the window of the front chamber was open, from which was\nthrown a small bottle of ink. The ink went over her dress in a way to\nentirely unfit it for further use. There was no person in the chamber\nwho would have done such a thing for mischief; and, indeed, no person\nin the house who would have been guilty of it.\n\n1731. The young lady was just setting out for a visit at New Haven,\nfrom which she was anticipating much pleasure, and I cannot conceive of\nany feeling, short of sheer malevolence, that would prompt such an act.\n\n1732. On the second day of October, the family, with the exception of\nDr. Phelps and the cook, left Stratford to go to Pennsylvania. During\ntheir absence all demonstrations ceased, with what may be termed one\nexception. A letter, addressed by Dr. Phelps to Mrs. Phelps, contained,\nwhen it reached her, some of the spirit-writing in pencil, saying that\n\u2018her husband was sick and wished her to return if she expected to see\nhim alive.\u2019 He was then in good health; but the next week was sick and\nconfined to his bed two or three days. There may or may not have been\nsome connection between the two occurrences. It was the design of Dr.\nPhelps to separate the family for a time, in order, if possible, to get\nrid of the annoyance; and for the five weeks he remained at Stratford,\nafter the family had left, no disturbances took place. Harry stayed\nin Bucks county (Pa.) all winter, and the other members of the family\nlived in Philadelphia.\n\n1733. In the month of March the family returned to Stratford. The house\nhad been closed and under the charge of a neighbour, and no sign of\nany disturbance was visible, as every article of furniture was found\njust as they left it. About the fourth or fifth day after their return\nslight rapping was heard as they sat at the tea-table. They affected\nnot to notice it, and the next day it was repeated more distinctly, but\nno response was made. Soon after, certain characters were found about\nthe house, which were known, from the circumstances, to be of recent\norigin. Two or three days after, distinct communications were made by\na spirit purporting to be Dr. Phelps\u2019s daughter, who died at the age\nof twelve years. On being questioned, this spirit could not give any\nevidence of identity.\n\n1734. About the first of May several communications of a trifling\ncharacter were given. On one occasion the doctor asked if they would be\ntroubled any more as they had been, when they answered by rapping the\nfollowing:\n\n  1735. \u2018Be not afraid that they will trouble you more,\n         Though we have not quitted Connecticut shore.\u2019\n\n1736. At another time certain characters were given, which were\ninterpreted by the rapping as follows: \u2018Evil one has gone, and better\none has come.\u2019 No communications were made after the early part of\nMay, but some things occurred indicating their presence and desire for\nmischief.\n\n1737. At one time, on cutting a loaf of bread, there were found in it\nnails, pen-holders, small sticks, and tin, under circumstances which\nshowed that they must have been placed there after it was put on the\ntable and before the family were ready for tea. At one time Harry\u2019s\nhat was hid away, and then his cap, and then another hat. He took his\nbrother\u2019s cap to use, and that was also taken away. On the evening\nof the 18th of July they set fire to some papers in the doctor\u2019s\nsecretary, and some twenty papers and letters were burned before they\nwere discovered. Fire was set at the same time to the papers in both\nthe closets, under the stairs in the hall. They were discovered by the\nsmoke. Two or three days after this, when some friends who had visited\nthem were about to leave, their bonnets and some other articles could\nnot be found, although search was made in every part of the house,\nuntil the train by which they were to go to New York had passed. They\nwere at last found, locked into an enclosed washstand, in a way that\nmade it morally certain that they could not have been placed there by\nhuman hands.\n\n1738. On the 29th of July Harry left to spend some time at New Lebanon,\nN. Y., and during his absence no manifestations were noticed, although\nthey were constantly on the look-out for something of the kind. Anna\nand her mother left for Philadelphia on the 25th of September, and\nthey had been so long exempt from annoyances that they hoped they had\nceased altogether. But Harry had the manifestations at New Lebanon, and\nthere was first operated on, by invisible agency, to produce a magnetic\nsleep, into which he passed with a sudden shock. He had never been\nmagnetized before, although frequent attempts had been made to do so.\nIn this state he evinced all the phenomena common to good clairvoyance.\nOn his return to Stratford, on the 9th of October, the sounds\naccompanied him almost constantly; but they seemed less inclined to\nmischief than formerly, because, as they said, \u2018Harry had passed to a\nhigher state, where the low and ignorant spirits could not communicate\nwith him.\u2019\n\n1739. On several occasions characters of a unique description were\nmade. Some were written early in April, 1851, which Harry interpreted\nto read: \u2018We are to take our leave of you soon.\u2019\n\n1740. Some were traced out with chalk on the piazza of the house, on\nthe 31st of March, 1850.\n\n1741. These Harry interpreted to mean: \u2018_You may expect good spirits to\ncome by-and-by_.\u2019 The same characters had been said, by A. J. Davis,\nto read: \u2018_Our society desires through various mediums to impart\nthoughts_.\u2019 The spirit that seemed to be most prominent in all these\ncommunications claimed to be Harry\u2019s father, and sometimes a sister\nof Dr. Phelps, who died about three years previous to this; also a\nchild of Dr. Phelps, who died more than twenty-two years before. The\ncommunications seemed generally to come from the boy\u2019s father. On\nthe 12th of October he passed into a mesmeric state, and wrote some\ncharacters, which he translated as follows:\n\n1742. \u2018_My dear children_: I love you, and try to do every thing that\nwill do you good. Obey dear Mr. Phelps in every thing, for he knows\nwhat is right and what is wrong. This is the advice of your spirit\nfather.\u2019\n\n1743. On the same paper were written others, which, being translated,\nread: \u2018You were troubled once with evil spirits, but now they are no\nmore. They have bid adieu, and good spirits have come and are with you\nall the time.\u2019\n\n1744. Again occur others, which read: \u2018You must not fear, brother, that\nyou will be troubled with evil spirits any more. No, brother, no more.\n                                            Your spirit sister, BLISS.\u2019\n\n1745. The person here supposed to communicate is a sister of Dr.\nPhelps, a widow, who left the earth-sphere in 1848, and by whom several\nof the previous communications are said to have been made. Other\ncharacters, of the same general formation, were made at the same time,\nbut were not then translated.\n\n1746. On the evening of the 12th, Dr. Phelps, Harry, and two younger\nchildren, were seated at a table; responses were frequently given by\nraps under the table. Dr. Phelps inquired if it would accommodate\nthem at all to have some substance to rap with; to which they replied\naffirmatively. He threw down a table-knife; the raps seemed immediately\nto be made by striking the knife against the table-leaf, and soon it\nwas tossed up on to the table. A small tea-bell was then placed under\nthe table; it was rung several times, and tossed on to the table as\nthe knife had been. It was again put down, and returned as before;\nthe same being repeated several times in succession. The light was\nthen extinguished, and the candle put under the table with a match-box\ncontaining matches, and the spirits requested to light it. They\ndistinctly heard the match drawn upon the bottom of the box, which\nwas prepared with sand-paper for that use. All saw the light, but the\nfirst match went out. Again the scratching of the match was heard;\nit ignited, the candle lighted, and was placed upon the table! The\nexperiment was repeated several times, with the same result; every\nprecaution being taken to prevent collusion in the matter.\n\n1747. On a subsequent occasion a chair was placed upon the table by\ninvisible power, and the two children, Harry and Hannah, raised up and\nplaced upon it; they could neither of them tell how it was done. The\nsensation was that of some person placing a hand under them and raising\nthem up. Many of these things occurred when the room was darkened, as\nhas been the case in numerous other places, and for which explanations\nhave been recorded, as given by the spirits. On the evening of the 20th\nof October, the light being put out of the room, the bell was placed\nunder the table, with a request that it should be rung, and placed in\nthe doctor\u2019s hand. He was sitting by the table with both his hands\nlying on his lap open, with the palms upward. The bell rung several\ntimes with some violence, and then was placed in his left hand. This\nwas repeated four or five times in succession. Dr. P. sat beyond the\nreach of any one, and the room was sufficiently light for him to have\ndetected any movement on the part of persons present. He requested them\nto let him feel the hand that placed the bell in his. Very soon a hand\ncame in contact with his, took hold of his fingers, shaking his hand,\npassed slowly over the back of his hand, then over the palm again, took\nhold of his fingers, and he felt what he is sure to have been a human\nhand. He describes it as being cold and moist, which accords with my\nown experience repeatedly, and that of my friends. They then took hold\nof his foot, shook it with much force, loosened the string, took off\nthe shoe, and placed it upon the table before him. At his request the\nshoe was replaced, the heel adjusted, and the strings drawn up, but not\ntied.\n\n1748. On a subsequent occasion a large-sized tea-bell was rung under\nthe table, then rose up, passed round the room, ringing violently all\nthe way, and fell upon the table. The candle was in the closet, but the\nroom was sufficiently light to make it certain that no person left the\ntable to convey it. It was manifest that from the time Harry returned\nfrom New Lebanon the manifestations began gradually to subside. They\nwere less frequent and less marked. It was arranged that he should\naccompany the family to Philadelphia, and go to a boarding-school at a\ntown about twenty miles distant from the city. At different times he\nhad been told that if he went there he would again be annoyed by bad\nspirits. The question was many times put, \u2018Will you annoy him again\nif he goes to the school?\u2019 _A._\u2014\u2018We will not, but others will.\u2019\u2014\u2018What\nothers?\u2019 _A._\u2014\u2018Those who were with him last summer.\u2019\u2014\u2018Will they disturb\nhim if he stays here and goes to the academy in Stratford?\u2019\u2014\u2018No. They\nwill not disturb him while he is with you.\u2019\u2014\u2018What will they do if he\ngoes to Pennsylvania?\u2019 _A._\u2014\u2018They will tear his clothes, destroy his\nbooks, and break his windows.\u2019\u2014\u2018Can you not control those bad spirits,\nand prevent their doing him any injury?\u2019\u2014\u2018No.\u2019\u2014\u2018Will you do all you\ncan?\u2019\u2014\u2018Yes.\u2019 At another time Dr. Phelps inquired if they would not\nleave him, as his mother was so much opposed to the whole thing.\n\u2018Will you not, to oblige her, leave him, that he may be a medium no\nlonger?\u2019 said the doctor. The reply was, \u2018If we leave him, evil spirits\nwill get possession of him again.\u2019 These communications were made\nby what purported to be the boy\u2019s father. For two weeks previous to\ngoing to Philadelphia the manifestations had almost wholly subsided;\nperhaps only occurred when requested; and notwithstanding the repeated\ndeclarations that when he should leave for the school in Pennsylvania,\nthe bad spirits would come in and make him trouble, it was determined\nto try the experiment, and on the 11th of November the family set out\nfor Philadelphia, where they were to spend the winter, while Harry was\nto go to school. He remained with the family in Philadelphia about a\nweek, where a few communications were given to Dr. Phelps in private.\nThe spirits said they would begin to annoy the boy on the cars, on\nhis way to the school, would pinch him and tear his clothes, so that,\nwhen he got there, they would be found torn, and that the troubles\nwould follow him in the school as long as he stayed there. Dr. Phelps,\nunder all the circumstances, thought it best not to send him; but on\nconsultation it was decided to have him go, and on the 19th of November\nhe started for the school. Dr. P. went a mile or two with him, put him\nunder the care of the conductor, and told him to report on his return\nif any thing worthy of notice occurred on the way. In two days the\ndoctor was sent for to come and take him away. He said that soon after\nhis father left him on the cars, he was pinched, pricked with pins,\nand annoyed in various other ways, until he reached his destination;\nthat, on his arrival there, he found that his pantaloons were torn in\nfront, between the waistband and the knees, in two places, several\ninches in length. He changed them for another pair which were new and\nmade of very substantial material, and these were torn down in front\nat least half a yard in length, before the doctor arrived there. The\nknockings had attended him in school and other places; his books were\ntorn and damaged to the amount of two dollars, which the doctor paid.\nThe family where he was had become alarmed, and would not keep him, and\nhe was taken away. The boy stated that on one of the evenings, while he\nwas there, he was walking in the street, when his cap was mysteriously\ntaken from his head and thrown upon the sidewalk. As he stooped to pick\nit up he saw the flash of a gun at some distance, and a bullet passed\nover his back and struck a board fence near him. He was afterward\ninformed by the rapping that, had he not stooped down, he would have\nbeen killed, and that his friendly spirit took this means to preserve\nhim.\n\n1749. Dr. P. now concluded to return with Harry to Stratford, and was\ntold that the bad spirits would have no control over him there. The\nfamily in which they resided in Philadelphia had become alarmed at the\nstrange occurrences, and finally they again returned to Stratford.\nFrom that time the disturbances began to subside, and by the 15th of\nDecember, 1851, they had ceased altogether. The family remained at\nStratford till the spring of 1852, when they returned to their former\nresidence in the city. The house at Stratford is occupied by another\nfamily, but no disturbances have ever occurred with the family which\nnow occupy the house, and none with Dr. P.\u2018s family since the above\ndate.\n\n1750. Thus ends one of the most remarkable histories in the whole\ncourse of modern spiritual manifestations. The authority on which\nit comes to the world is indisputable, and the characters of all\nconcerned are beyond suspicion. It will be observed that generally the\ndemonstrations, as in case of Mr. Calvin R. Brown, in the Fox family,\nwere less boisterous after the family consented to hold communication\nwith them. It seemed to be the desire of a spirit to communicate and\nset right a matter which was making him unhappy. This accomplished, the\ndemonstrations ceased.\n\n1751. From the foregoing narrative it will be seen that these phenomena\ndo not attach to places, as some have supposed. It makes the fact\nequally clear that they do attach to persons, and that without certain\nmedia they cannot, to any extent, take place. If there is such a thing\nas \u2018haunted houses,\u2019 they must belong to another class of phenomena, or\na very different phase of the same, than those always depending on the\npresence of particular persons.\n\n1752. Another fact seems also to be proved by the above narration,\nnamely, that persons may be powerful mediums at one time and afterward\nlose the power, for neither of the media of Dr. Phelps\u2019s family in\nStratford have had any proof of mediumship for years.\u201d\n\n\n   _Idea of the existence of a spiritual sun, and a vital spiritual\n  oxygen, found to exist independently in the mind of a much esteemed\n                               author._\n\n1753. The most wonderful and important of all the facts communicated to\nme by my spirit father, and subsequently sanctioned by a convocation\nof spirits, were the following: 1. That there is a special spirit\nsun, concentric with our sun, which illuminates the spirit world,\nwithout perceptibly affecting our visual organs. 2. That there is a\npeculiar vital gas which spirits breathe, although inscrutable to our\nsenses or chemical tests, which we respire in our spiritual capacity.\nThese facts I have considered as among those, which it was impossible\ncould have been learned from the minds of Mrs. Gourlay or myself, as\nthey were certainly new to both of us, and difficult to realize when\ncommunicated. My attention has been recently directed by a friend to an\nessay in a work entitled \u201cRambles and Reveries of a Student,\u201d wherein\nI find (page 11) the ideas in question to have been awakened in the\nauthor without the smallest interchange of ideas with Mrs. Gourlay or\nmyself. I have been under the impression that his leaning would have\nbeen unfavourable to Spiritualism. The language employed is as follows:\n\n1754. I hold it as a truth, that a divine atmosphere surrounds our\nearth\u2014an aroma emitted from the world of spirits, in which dwell the\ngreat truths and secrets of the universe\u2014a great world that pours down\nriches upon us, as the sun pours down heat; and as without the sun this\nworld would be but a formless wilderness, so, without this spirit sun,\nwould it be barren of thought or beauty.\n\n1755. Above us and around us exists a spiritual atmosphere, more subtle\nthan the natural one. As the latter is the supporter of physical life,\nso the former is of psychal. We absorb the delicate magnetic aromata\nfrom all substances, through the medium of the air, as well as the\ncomparatively coarse oxygen; so all of our soul-life comes from this\nspirit atmosphere\u2014all thought, all feeling, all appreciation of truth\nand beauty.\n\n1756. Man is the apex of earth-creation, and the basis of all heavenly\nlife\u2014the foundation of all spiritual existence. Standing thus in\na middle plane as the highest thing of earth, and the lowest of\nheaven, he holds magnetic relationship to both; the earth not only\nsupplying the physical requirements of his being, such as food,\ndrink, and air, but he absorbs impalpable nourishment from all his\nsurroundings: the aroma from flowers, and trees, and fruit, as well\nas the magnetic emanations from people; intuitively appreciating\nharmonious influences\u2014feeling an instinctive repulsion when under those\nthat are inharmonious. This antagonism, or horror, we call antipathy;\nand biography abounds with strange stories of its individual action.\nWhenever antipathy is experienced, it is a proof that something exists\nin the peculiar magnetic sphere which has no affinity with the other\nsphere.\n\n1757. An animal is but a highly organized combination of the mechanical\nand chemical forces of the earth, returning to the earth when death\nensues: the only good resulting from its life is, that gross matter has\nbeen changed into a little higher condition by the combination.\n\n1758. Man, regarded as the animal, possesses nothing after his death\nbut the spiritual attributes he has received, corresponding to the\nphysical things he sought in his earthly life; if that was low and\nsensual, his spiritual condition will be the same; for the spirit land\nis as much a spiritual condition as it is a place.\n\n1759. As man\u2019s external form grows from appropriating substance from\nthe earth, so are thoughts and sentiments, and all things relating to\nthe soul, appropriated from the spirit world. Take the earth from man,\nand he ceases to exist as a physical being; take the spirit world from\nhim, and he ceases to exist as an immortal soul.\n\n1760. All physical things have corresponding truths in the\nspiritual world, and a man is truly harmonious when he receives the\ncorresponding essence or quality with the material thing\u2014not as a\nmere symbolization, but as an actuality, as real to the soul as its\ncorresponding earthly truth is to the body. As a petty illustration, we\nwill say that where an apple is eaten, a harmonious man receives not\nonly the nutriment contained in the fruit, but he also receives its\nspiritual correspondence, so as to be doubly nourished by it.\n\n1761. \u201cMen having a stronger magnetic relationship to the spirit\nworld, are easily exhausted, for they do not receive strength enough\nfrom the earth sphere to keep soul and body in harmony.\n\n1762. Persons _en rapport_ with the earth are the labourers and tillers\nof the ground, living only in the lowest plane of mental life.\n\n1763. The truly harmonious men receive equally the spiritual and\nphysical elements: they are electrical conductors, whose attracting\npoints bend downward as well as upward, dispensing, equally, thought\nand strength to their less harmonious fellows, with but little\nexhaustion.\n\n1764. Men originate nothing: they have merely different degrees of\nreceptivity; are merely more or less in magnetic relationship with\nthe higher world. A principle, or truth, is not your truth, or my\ntruth, but God\u2019s truth; as much as a drop of water in the ocean, or a\nsand-grain in the great desert; as little a personal possession as the\ncloud above your head. If we look at it abstractly, we perceive the\nabsurdity of all quarrels in relation to originality of ideas\u2014water\nrefreshes the thirsty traveller, whether drunk from his own cup or the\ncup of another; and if we can incorporate a new truth into our lives,\nit is unimportant whether we receive it directly or indirectly from the\ngreat fountain.\n\n1765. The intellectual struggle of the student is but an education of\nthe soul, training it to become susceptible to higher influences\u2014an\nattempt to enter into unalloyed magnetic relationship with the spirit\nworld.\n\n1766. Prayer is a simple and natural method of becoming _en rapport_\nwith higher beings and a higher world: yet no thinker ever believed\nthat prayer would move the Divine Being to alter His eternal plans.\nAs He is the fountain of all Love and all Wisdom, His designs must be\nwithout flaw\u2014must be for eternal good: yet prayer is one of the most\nholy, beautiful, and useful of things; it is the earnest asking of\nthe soul for comfort\u2014whatever the words may be\u2014and by the exaltation\nof feeling, we rise up from the earth-life into the higher spiritual\nplanes, and become harmonized by the indwelling harmonies of those\nspheres. Prayer is aspiration. Prayer is the desire to embrace the\nInfinite. The form of prayer is unimportant; its power lies in the\nindwelling desire of good. Men should not have forms and times of\nprayer, but their whole lives should be long, unending acts of prayer.\u201d\n\n1767. It seems that the light of Spiritualism had begun to dawn in the\nmind of the author of the preceding passage. His language respecting\nprayer is in strict conformity with the doctrine of Spiritualism.\n\n1768. As the author, to whom reference is thus made, was on terms of\ngreat mutual friendship with my late sister, as well as with myself,\nI have consulted her spirit as to the origin of the impressions which\nhad been thus indited by our common friend. It appears from her reply\nto my inquiry, that these ideas were communicated to him by my spirit\nfather, and that his conversion to Spiritualism had commenced prior to\nhis decease, which took place about two years ago.\n\n\n                     OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT.\n\n\n                             _Of Matter._\n\n1769. It is a fact, that as we study more deeply the nature of matter,\nwe find that we know the less about it. The crude impressions by which\nit makes us sensible of its presence are, of course, intuitively\nreceived, and are reiterated incessantly. Hence, the mass of mankind do\nnot imagine that there can be any mystery respecting that ponderable\nmatter which influences the scale-beam. The existence of any other\nmatter, people generally are slow to admit. The electric fluid and\ncaloric, the supposed causes of electricity and heat, were rarely\nbelieved in, out of the scientific world, but _ponderable_ matter is\nthe last thing of which any person would imagine himself ignorant. Yet\nwe find that some of the most experienced investigators of nature, have\nnot made up their minds as to what ponderable matter is.\n\n1770. According to Newton, matter consists of hard, impenetrable\nparticles, endowed with _vis inerti\u00e6_, gravitation, and chemical\nattraction for other particles; _vis inerti\u00e6_ being that force by\nwhich a body, if in motion, requires a certain degree of force to\narrest or retard it, or to put it into motion if at rest. Gravitation\ncauses all masses to attract each other reciprocally, with a force\nexactly proportioned to their _vis inerti\u00e6_; so that these forces are\nreciprocally measures of each other. It is usual to make gravitation\nits own measure, by estimating it to be as the weight of the mass;\nwhile weight is only the reciprocal attraction of gravitation between\nthe body tried, and the earth. (64.)\n\n1771. These properties being conceded as belonging to matter, and the\nmeasure of its quantity, the next question is, of what does massive\nmatter consist? As to the ratio of weight to bulk, which is designated\nas \u201c_specific gravity_,\u201d we see an immense disparity between solids.\nPotassium, for instance, weighs three-fourths of its bulk of water,\nwhile platinum weighs twenty-one times its bulk in that fluid. The\ndensity of gaseous hydrogen is to that of platina not more than 1 to\n25,000, and yet it may be rarified to the one-hundredth part of its\nnormal spissitude, while apparently filling the same space. Thus the\nsame space may be filled successively by different portions of matter,\nyet the quantity of matter in the space, in the first case, may be\nto the quantity contained in the second, as 2,500,000 to 1. Newton\u2019s\ndefinition of material particles was as follows:\n\n1772. \u201cIt seems probable to me that God, in the beginning, formed\nmatter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of\nsuch sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in\nsuch proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he\nformed them; and that those primitive particles, being solids, are\nincomparably harder than any porous bodies compounded of them; even so\nvery hard as never to wear or break in pieces; no mundane power being\nable to divide what God himself intended to be indivisible.\u201d\n\n1773. Boscovitch, observing that all that was essential to material\natoms was attraction and repulsion, the latter being the substitute\nof Newton\u2019s impenetrability, suggested an hypothesis which dispensed\nwith the atom, and assumed only the forces of attraction and repulsion;\nalternating, as it appears to me, in a way more original than\nwarrantable. This idea of atoms has been modified by an accomplished\nmathematician, Exley, of Bristol, England. I quote here Exley\u2019s view:\n\n1774. \u201cThe reader has only to allow that each atom of matter consists\nof an indefinitely extensive sphere of attraction, resting on a very\nsmall concentric sphere of repulsion, the force being everywhere, from\nthe centre, inversely as the square of the distance, repulsive near the\ncentre, and then attractive. Now that part which regards the attraction\nhas already obtained the consent of all the followers of _Newton_;\nand much more than the other part, which respects repulsion, has been\nalready received in the principles of our present philosophy.\n\n1775. It may be here asked\u2014Are we absolutely to exclude solid atoms?\nI confess I can find no use for them. It is true, Sir Isaac Newton\nthought that the atoms of matter consisted of minute solids.\n\n1776. But this hypothesis, however convenient and consonant with\nour prejudices, is not absolutely necessary to the explanation of\nnatural phenomena; for, it may be conceived, according to the theory\nof Boscovitch, that matter consists not of solid particles, but of\nmere mathematical centres, of forces attractive and repulsive, whose\nrelations to space were ordained, and whose actions are regulated and\nmaintained by the Creator of the universe. Both hypotheses, however,\nagree in one great principle, viz.: that the properties of bodies\ndepend upon forces emanating from immovable points (whether substantial\nor not is of little importance) of their masses.\n\n1777. The atoms of matter constituted as in the theory now proposed\npossess all the individuality, indivisibility, and indestructibility,\nwhich the learned and illustrious _Newton_ ascribes to his small\nsolids, and they answer all the ends he has mentioned; the central\npoints, indeed, will be utterly impenetrable by each other, since\nthe repulsion there is infinite; and if at those centres we suppose\nsmall solids to be placed, they can answer no farther end than is\naccomplished by this immensely great repulsive force; for from what\nwe know of matter, we must suppose them to be indefinitely small, if\nwe introduce such solids; and hence they will occupy the place where\nthe repulsion is infinitely great; such solids would be found only an\nobstacle, and an incumbrance to the free actions of matter; since,\nhowever small we imagine them to be, their magnitude will be infinite\nif compared with a mathematical point, the centre of an atom, which is\ndevoid altogether of magnitude. It may be added, that if any reader\nwish to retain these solids at the centres of the atoms, it will not\nmaterially affect the conclusions, provided he allow us to have them as\nsmall as we please; and so much, if he intend to philosophize, he must\ngrant, whatever course he may determine to pursue.\u201d\n\n1778. These efforts to define matter derive interest from the following\nattempt of Farraday to sustain a view inconsistent with that of Newton,\nby practical illustration:\n\n\n  _Strictures on a Speculation by Farraday, respecting the Nature of\n                               Matter._\n\n1779. This sagacious investigator adverts to the fact, that after\neach atom in a mass of metallic potassium has combined with an atom\nof oxygen and an atom of water, forming thus a hydrated oxide\u2014caustic\npotash\u2014the resulting aggregate occupies much less space than its\nmetallic ingredient previously occupied; so that, taking equal bulks\nof the hydrate and of potassium, there will be in the metal only 430\nmetallic atoms, while in the hydrate there will be 700 such atoms.\nYet in the latter, besides the 700 metallic atoms, there will be an\nequal number of aqueous and oxygenous atoms, in all 2800 ponderable\natoms. It follows, that if the atoms of potassium are to be considered\nas minute impenetrable particles, kept at certain distances by an\nequilibrium of forces, there must be, in a mass of potassium, vastly\nmore space than matter. Moreover, it is the space alone that can be\ncontinuous. The non-contiguous material atoms cannot form a continuous\nmass. Consequently, the well-known power of potassium to conduct\nelectricity must be a quality of the continuous empty space which it\ncomprises, not of the discontinuous particles of matter with which\nthat space is regularly interspersed. It is in the next place urged,\nthat while, agreeably to these considerations, space is shown to be\na conductor, there are considerations equally tending to prove it to\nbe a non-conductor, since in certain non-conducting bodies, such as\nresins, there must be nearly as much vacant space as in potassium.\nHence the supposition that atoms are minute impenetrable particles,\ninvolves the necessity of considering empty space as a conductor in\nmetals, and as a non-conductor in resins, and of course in sulphur\nand other electrics. This is considered as a _reductio ad absurdum_.\nTo avoid this contradiction, Farraday supposes that atoms are not\nminute impenetrable bodies, but, existing throughout the whole space\nin which their properties are observed, may penetrate each other.\nConsistently, although the atoms of potassium pervade the whole space\nwhich they apparently occupy, the entrance into that space of an\nequivalent number of atoms of oxygen and water, in consequence of\nsome reciprocal reaction, causes a contraction in the boundaries by\nwhich the combination thus formed is enclosed. This is an original and\ninteresting view of this subject, well worthy of the contemplation of\nchemical philosophers.\n\n1780. But, upon these premises, Farraday has ventured on some\ninferences which, upon various accounts, appear to me unwarrantable.\nI agree that \u201c_a_\u201d representing a particle of matter, and \u201c_m_\u201d\nrepresenting its properties, it is only with \u201c_m_\u201d that we have any\nacquaintance, the existence of \u201c_a_\u201d resting merely on an inference.\nHeretofore I have often appealed to this fact, in order to show that\nthe evidence of imponderable, no less than of ponderable matter, is\nprecisely the existence of properties which can only be accounted\nfor by inferring the existence of an appropriate matter to which\nthose properties appertain. Yet I cannot concur in the idea that,\nbecause it is only with \u201c_m_\u201d that we are acquainted, the existence\nof \u201c_a_\u201d must not be inevitably inferred, so that bodies are to be\nconsidered as constituted of their materialized powers. I use the word\n\u201cmaterialized,\u201d because it is fully admitted by Farraday, that by\ndispensing with an impenetrable atom \u201c_a_\u201d we do not get rid of the\nidea of matter, but have to imagine each atom as existing throughout\nthe whole sphere of its force, instead of being condensed about the\ncentre. This seems to follow from the following language:\n\n1781. \u201c_The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem\nto involve necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or\nat least the space to which gravitation extends, including the sun and\nits system; for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a\ncertain force, and it is this force which constitutes matter._\u201d\n\n1782. Literally, this paragraph seems to convey the impression, that,\nagreeably to this new idea of matter, the sun and his planets are not\ndistinct bodies, but consist of certain material powers reciprocally\npenetrating each other, and pervading a space larger than that\ncomprised within the orbit of Neptune. We do not live upon, but within,\nthe matter of which the earth is constituted, or rather within a\nmixture of all the solar and planetary matter belonging to our solar\nsystem. I cannot conceive that the sagacious author seriously intended\nto sanction any notion involving these consequences. I shall assume,\ntherefore, that, excepting the case of gravitation, his new idea of\nmatter was intended to be restricted to those powers which display\nthemselves within masses at insensible distances, and shall proceed\nto state the objections which seem to exist against the new idea as\nassociated with those powers.\n\n1783. Evidently the arguments of Farraday against the existence, in\npotassium and other masses of matter, of impenetrable atoms endowed\nwith cohesion, chemical affinity, momentum, and gravitation, rest\nupon the inference that in metals there is nothing to perform the\npart of an electrical conductor besides continuous empty space. This\nillustrious philosopher has heretofore appeared to be disinclined\nto admit the existence of _any_ matter devoid of ponderability! The\nmain object of certain letters which I addressed to him was to prove\nthat the phenomena of induction could not, as he had represented, be\nan \u201c_action_\u201d of ponderable atoms, but, on the contrary, must be\nconsidered as an _affection_ of them consequent to the intervention\nof an imponderable matter, without which the phenomena of electricity\nwould be inexplicable. This repugnance to the admission of an\nimponderable electrical cause, has been the more remarkable, as\nhis researches have not only proved the existence of prodigious\nelectrical power in metals, but likewise that it is evolved during\nchemico-electric reaction, in equivalent proportion to the quantity of\nponderable matter decomposed or combined.\n\n1784. According to his researches, a grain of water, by electrolytic\nreaction with four grains of zinc, evolves as much electricity as would\ncharge fifteen millions of square feet of coated glass when supplied\nby a plate machine of fifty inches in diameter. But in addition to the\nproofs of the existence of electrical powers in metals thus furnished,\nit is demonstrated that this power must be inseparably associated with\nmetals, by the well-known fact that in the electro-magnetic machine\u2014an\napparatus which we owe to his genius, and the mechanical ingenuity\nof Pixii and Saxton\u2014a coil of wire, being subjected to the inductive\ninfluence of a magnet, is capable of furnishing, within the circuit\nwhich it forms, all the phenomena of an electrical current, whether of\nignition, shock, or electrolysis.\n\n1785. The existence in metals of an enormous calorific power must be\nevident from the heat evolved by mere hammering. It is well known that\nby a skilful application of the hammer, a piece of iron, between it and\na cold anvil, may be ignited. To what other cause than their inherent\ncalorific power can the ignition of metals by the discharge of a Leyden\nbattery be ascribed?\n\n1786. It follows, that the existence of an immense calorific and\nelectrical power is undeniable. The materiality of these powers, or of\ntheir cause, is all that has been questionable. But, according to the\nspeculations of Farraday, all the powers of matter are material; not\nonly the calorific and electrical powers are thus to be considered,\nbut likewise the powers of cohesion, chemical affinity, inertia, and\ngravitation, while _of all these material powers only the latter can be\nponderable_!\n\n1787. Thus, a disinclination on the part of this distinguished\ninvestigator to admit the existence of one or two imponderable\nprinciples, has led him into speculations involving the existence of a\nmuch greater number. But if, while the rest of the properties of the\nmetal are represented by Newtonian atoms, the calorific and electrical\npowers be both material and imponderable, and of these such enormous\nquantities exist in potassium, as well as in zinc and all other metals,\nso much of the reasoning in question as is founded on the vacuity of\nthe space between the metallic atoms is groundless.\n\n1788. Although the space occupied by the hydrated oxide of potassium\ncomprises 2800 ponderable atoms, while that occupied by an equal\nmass of the metal comprises only 430, there may be in the latter\nproportionally as much more of the material, though imponderable,\npowers of heat and electricity, as there is less of matter endowed with\nponderability.\n\n1789. Thus, while assuming the existence of fewer imponderable causes\nthan the celebrated author of the speculation has himself proposed,\nwe explain the conducting power of metals, without being under the\nnecessity of attributing to void space the property of electrical\nconduction. Moreover, I consider it quite consistent to suppose that\nthe presence of the ethereal basis of electricity is indispensable to\nelectrical conduction, and that diversities in this faculty are due\nto the proportion of that material power present, and the mode of its\nassociation with other matter. The immense superiority of metals will\nbe explained, by referring it to their being peculiarly replete with\nthe ethereal basis of heat and electricity.\n\n1790. Hence Farraday\u2019s suggestions respecting the _materiality_ of what\nhas heretofore been designated as the _properties_ of bodies, furnish\nthe means of refuting his arguments against the existence of ponderable\nimpenetrable atoms as the basis of cohesion, chemical affinity,\nmomentum, and gravitation.\n\n1791. But I will, in the next place, prove that his suggestions not\nonly furnish an answer to his objections to the views in this respect\nheretofore entertained, but are likewise pregnant with consequences\ndirectly inconsistent with the view of the subject which he has\nrecently presented.\n\n1792. I have said that of all the powers which are, according to\nFarraday\u2019s speculations, to be deemed material, gravitation can alone\nbe ponderable; since, according to his speculations, gravitation,\nin common with every power heretofore attributed to impenetrable\nparticles, must be a matter independently pervading the space\nthroughout which it is perceived. This being the consequence, by what\ntie is gravitation, or, in other words, weight\u2014indissolubly attached\nto the rest? It cannot be pretended that either of the powers is the\nproperty of any other. Each of them is an _m_, and cannot play the\npart of an _a_, not only because an _m_, an effect, cannot be an\n_a_, its cause, but because, according to the premises, no _a_ can\nexist. Nor can it be advanced that they are the same power, since\nchemical affinity and cohesion act only at insensible distances, while\ngravitation acts at any and every distance, with forces inversely as\ntheir squares; and, moreover, the power of chemical affinity is not\ncommensurate with that of gravitation. One part, by weight, of hydrogen\nhas a greater affinity, universally, for any other element than two\nhundred parts of gold. By what means then are cohesion, chemical\naffinity, and gravitation inseparably associated in all the ponderable\nelements of matter? Is it not fatal to the validity of the highly\ningenious and interesting deductions of Farraday, that they are thus\nshown to be utterly incompetent to explain the inseparable association\nof cohesion, chemical affinity, and inertia with gravitation, while\nthe existence of a vacuity between Newtonian atoms, mainly relied upon\nas the basis of an argument against their existence, is shown to be\ninconsistent both with the ingenious speculation which has called forth\nthese remarks, and those Herculean \u201cresearches\u201d which must perpetuate\nhis fame? (See Appendix for Farraday\u2019s Speculations on Electric\nConduction and the Nature of Matter.)\n\n\n        _On Whewell\u2019s demonstration that all matter is heavy._\n\n1793. While the speculations of Farraday, isolate gravitation, as\nthe only matter endowed with weight, and treat all other matters as\nweightless, those of another eminent philosopher, Whewell, would tend\nto prove that _all_ matter is heavy.\n\n1794. This subject may be interesting now, when we are anxious to\nunderstand well the nature of matter, which Comte would represent\nas the _basis of mind_, and when it becomes a point of departure in\nforming ideas of spirit and mind, as they must be contemplated by\nSpiritualism. I therefore subjoin a critique upon the allegation that\nall matter can be heavy, and on the relation between _vis inerti\u00e6_ and\n_gravitation_.\n\n1795. One consideration seems to be usually overlooked in contemplating\nthese forces. It is forgotten that _inertia_ is the property of one\nbody, while gravitation requires two for its existence. If there were\nonly one body in nature, it might move on, in obedience to its _vis\ninerti\u00e6_, for any length of time; but, during an isolated existence,\ncould neither attract nor be attracted. Whewell\u2019s theorem, in his own\nlanguage, is as follows:\n\n 1796. \u201cWe see,\u201d alleges Whewell, \u201cthat the propositions that\n all bodies are heavy, and that inertia is proportional to weight,\n necessarily follow from those fundamental ideas which we unavoidably\n employ in all attempts to reason concerning the mechanical relations\n of bodies.\u201d (See Demonstration that all Matter is heavy, by the Rev.\n William Whewell, B.D. Silliman\u2019s Journal, vol. 42, page 265.)\n\nTo PROFESSOR WHEWELL:\n1797. DEAR SIR: I thank you for your kind attention in sending me a\ncopy of your pamphlet, entitled a \u201c_Demonstration that all Matter is\nheavy_,\u201d comprising a communication made to the Cambridge Philosophical\nSociety.\n\n1798. I conceive that to demonstrate that all matter is heavy, is, in\nother words, to prove that all matter is endowed with attraction of\ngravitation, or that general property which, when it causes bodies to\ntend toward the centre of the earth, is called weight. Hence to assert\nthat all matter is heavy, is no more than to say, that attraction of\ngravitation exists between all or any masses of matter.\n\n1799. You say, \u201cit may be urged that we have no difficulty in\nconceiving of matter which is not heavy.\u201d I have no hesitation in\nasserting that there should be no difficulty in entertaining such a\nconception; since I cannot understand why any two masses may not be as\nreadily conceived to _repel_, as to _attract_ each other, or _neither\nto attract nor to repel_. Is it not easier to imagine two remote masses\nindifferent to each other, than that they act upon each other? Is any\nthing more difficult to understand than that a body can act where it is\nnot?\n\n1800. It is also mentioned by you, that it may be urged \u201c_that inertia\nand weight are two separate properties of matter_.\u201d Now I will not\nonly urge, but also, with all due deference, will undertake to show,\nthat the existence of inertia may as well be proven, and its quantity\nestimated, by means of repulsion as by means of attraction.\n\n1801. Suppose two bodies, A and B, to be endowed with reciprocal\nattraction, or, in other words, to gravitate toward each other. Being\nplaced at a distance, and then allowed to approach, if, after any given\ntime, it were found that they had moved severally any ascertained\ndistances, evidently their relative inertias would be considered as\ninversely as those distances.\n\n1802. In the next place, let us suppose two bodies, X and Y, endowed\nwith the opposite force of reciprocal repulsion, to be placed in\nproximity, and then allowed to fly apart. The distances run through by\nthem severally, being, at any given time, determined, might not their\nrespective inertias be taken to be inversely as those distances; so\nthat the question would be as well ascertained in this case as in that\nabove stated, in which gravitation should be resorted to as the test?\n\n1803. It seems to me that this question is sufficiently answered in the\naffirmative, in your second paragraph, page 7, (p. 269,) in which you\nallege, that \u201c_one body has twice as much inertia as another, if, when\nthe same force acts upon it for the same time, it acquires but half the\nvelocity. This is the fundamental conception of inertia._\u201d\n\n1804. In the third paragraph, fourth page, (p. 261,) you say, \u201c_that\nthe quantity of matter is measured by those sensible properties of\nmatter which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction, and division,\nas the matter is added, subtracted, or divided, the quantity of\nmatter cannot be known in any other way; but this mode of measuring\nthe quantity of matter, in order to be true at all, must be true\nuniversally_.\u201d\n\n1805. Also your fourth paragraph, fifth page, (p. 268,) concludes with\nthis allegation: \u201c_And thus we have proved, that if there be any kind\nof matter which is not heavy, the weight can no longer avail us, in any\ncase, to any extent, as the measure of the quantity of matter._\u201d\n\n1806. In reply to these allegations, let me inquire, Cannot a matter\nexist of which the sensible properties do not admit of being measured\nby human means? Because some kinds of matter can be measured by \u201cthose\nsensible qualities which undergo quantitative addition, subtraction,\nand division,\u201d does it follow that there may not be matter which is\nincapable of being thus measured? And wherefore would the method of\nobtaining philosophical truth be \u201cfutile\u201d in the one case, because\ninapplicable in the other? Because the inertias of A and B have been\ndiscovered, by means of their gravitation, does it follow that the\ninertias of X and Y cannot be discovered by their self-repellent\npower? Why should the inapplicability of gravitation in the one case\nrender its employment futile in the other?\n\n1807. It is self-evident, that matter without weight cannot be\nestimated by weighing, but I deny that on that account such weightless\nmatter may not be otherwise estimated. The inertias of A and B cannot\nbe better measured by gravitation than those of X and Y by repulsion,\nas already shown.\n\n1808. You seem to infer, in paragraph second, page sixth, (p. 268,)\nthat we should be equally destitute of the means of measuring matter\naccurately, \u201c_were any kind of matter heavy indeed, but not so heavy,\nin proportion to its quantity of matter, as other kinds_.\u201d\n\n1809. If, in the case of all matter, weight be admitted to be the only\nmeasure of quantity, it were inconsistent to suppose any given quantity\nof matter, of any one kind, to have less weight than an equal quantity\nof another kind; but upon what other than a conventional basis is it to\nbe assumed that there is more matter in a cubic inch of platinum than\nin a cubic inch of tin? in a cubic inch of mercury than in a cubic inch\nof iron? Judging by the chemical efficacy of the masses, although the\nweight of mercury is to that of iron as 13.6 is to 8, there are more\nequivalents of the latter than the former in any given bulk, since by\nweight twenty-eight parts of iron are equivalent to two hundred and two\nparts of mercury.\n\n1810. Weight is one of the properties of certain kinds of matter,\nand has been advantageously resorted to, in preference to any other\nproperty, in estimating the quantity of the matter to which it\nappertains. Nevertheless, measurement by bulk is found expedient or\nnecessary in many cases. But may we not appeal to any general property\nwhich admits of being measured or estimated? Farraday has inferred that\nthe quantity of electricity is as the quantity of gas which it evolves.\nLight has been considered as proportional in quantity to the surface\nwhich it illuminates with a given intensity at a certain distance.\nThe quantity of caloric has been held to be directly as the weight of\nwater which it will render aeriform; and has also been estimated by the\ndegree of its expansive or thermometric influence. What scale-beam is\nmore delicate than the thermoscope of Melloni?\n\n1811. In the last paragraph but one, seventh page, (p. 270,) you\nsuggest, that \u201c_perhaps some persons might conceive that the identity\nof weight and inertia is obvious at once, for both are merely\nresistance to motion; inertia, resistance to all motion, or change of\nmotion; weight, resistance to motion upward_.\u201d\n\n1812. I am surprised that you should think the opinion of any person\nworthy of attention, who should entertain so narrow a view of weight,\nas antagonist of momentum, as that above quoted, \u201c_that it is a\nresistance to motion upward_.\u201d Agreeably to the definition given at the\ncommencement of the letter, weight, in its usual practical sense, is\nonly one case of the general force which causes all ponderable masses\nof matter to gravitate toward each other, and which is of course liable\nto resist any conflicting motion, whatever may be the direction. When,\nin the form of solar attraction, it overcomes that inertia of the\nplanets which would otherwise cause them to leave their orbits, does\ngravitation \u201c_resist motion upward_?\u201d\n\n1813. In the next paragraph you allege, that \u201c_there is a difference\nin these two kinds of resistance to motion. Inertia is instantaneous,\nweight is continuous, resistance._\u201d\n\n1814. It is to this allegation I object, that as you have defined\ninertia to be \u201c_resistance to motion, or to change of motion_,\u201d it\nfollows that it can be instantaneous only where the impulse which it\nresists is instantaneous. It cannot be less continuous than the force\nby which it is overcome.\n\n1815. Gravity has been considered as acting upon falling bodies by an\ninfinity of impulses, each producing an adequate acceleration; but to\nevery such accelerating impulse, producing of course a \u201c_change of\nmotion_,\u201d will there not be a commensurate resistance from inertia? and\nthe impulses and resistances being both infinite, will not one be as\ncontinuous as the other?\n\n1816. I have already adverted to inertia as the continuous antagonist\nof solar attraction in the case of revolving planets.\n\n1817. Agreeably to Mossotti, the creation consists of two kinds of\nmatter, of which the homogeneous particles are mutually repellent,\nthe heterogeneous mutually attractive. Consistently with this\nhypothesis, _per se_, any matter must be imponderable; being endowed\nwith a property the very opposite of attraction of gravitation. This\nlast-mentioned property exists between masses consisting of both kinds\nof particles, so far as the attraction between the heterogeneous atoms\npredominates over the repulsion between those which are homogeneous.\nIt would follow from these premises, that all matter is ponderable or\notherwise, accordingly as it may be situated.\n\n1818. Can the ether by which, according to the undulatory theory, light\nis transmitted, consist of ponderable matter? Were it so, would it\nnot be attracted about the planets with forces proportioned to their\nweight, respectively? and becoming of unequal density, would not the\ndiversity in its density, thus arising, affect its undulations, as the\ntransmission of sound is influenced by any variations in the density of\nthe aeriform fluid by which it is propagated?\n                     With esteem, I am yours truly,\n                                                 ROBERT HARE\n\n(See appendix for Whewell\u2019s Essay.)\n\n\n _Additional Remarks on the Speculations of Farraday and Exley, above\n                               noticed._\n\n1819. Is it possible for a mere centre to be endowed with a force?\nor reasonable that language should not make a distinction between\nsomething and nothing, between cause and effect, between matter and the\nproperties of matter? _m_ being the properties, and _a_ the Newtonian\natom, of which they have been considered as the attributes, I cannot\nconcur in the reasoning which infers that where we can only perceive\nphenomena, we are to dispense with the idea of _causation_, because\nthat causation is not directly perceptible. It seems to me, from the\nmeaning of the words, that no cause can exist without some effect, nor\ncan any effect exist without a cause. Language founded on the existence\nof ideas cannot be disused. Can there be any reason for considering any\nthing as endowed with existence which gives no evidence of existence?\nWe distinguish between the thing which causes and the effect which it\nproduces. The cause evidently has a centrality; the effect, though it\nindicates by the direction in which it arrives, the centre whence it\nproceeds, is remote from that centre. The existence of this centrality\nseems to be recognised in the suggestion that atoms are centres of\nforces. This implies that the source or cause is at the centre in each\natom, and, of course, the phenomenon, being more or less remote from\nthe centre, cannot be the source or cause, and hence has been treated\nas an effect or property.\n\n1820. The suggestion that the office of atoms may be performed by\ncentres of forces, in fact, assigns to a _mere centre_ the part now\nperformed by a Newtonian atom. But it must be evident that the centre\nis that point within any rotating mass, which does not turn therewith;\nand which, where neither of the opposite motions resulting from\nrotation take place, can neither have length nor breadth. This reduces\nthe idea of a centre to a common definition with a mathematical point;\nwhich is nihility in the extreme. An absolutely void space may be\nidentified with nihility, and a mathematical point is a portion of that\nspace, without length, breadth, or thickness. To endow centres with\nforces is to disregard the axiom, \u201cOut of nothing nothing can come.\u201d\nMoreover, wherefore should there be a force at _certain_ mathematical\npoints, and yet others be destitute of the same attribute? Manifestly,\nif some _mathematical_ points are deficient of powers with which others\nare endowed, there must be something associated with one, which is not\nassociated with the other. This justifies the Newtonian idea, that the\nforce, though proceeding from the centre, is, like the terrestrial\nattraction of gravitation, the resultant of the complicated attraction\nof the whole of a body surrounding the centre. But the centrality\nof the force does not seem to accord with the idea of the inferred\ndiffusion of properties. In the instance of gravitation it does not\naccount for those attributes by which this globe acts as a solid mass\nwithin its material superficies, and yet, according to the Farradian\ndefinition, reaches beyond the moon!\n\n1821. But the idea of that polarity, of which Farraday has done so\nmuch to establish the existence in all matter, in one form or another,\nseems to involve that, to constitute atoms, there must be two centres\nof _analogous_, but _opposite_, forces in each: whence it ensues that\ncrystals shoot in prisms or spicul\u00e6, as water is seen to shoot in\nfreezing; and through which salts, as deposited by the evaporation of\nthe solvent from a solution of them, are seen to travel over the sides\nof the vessel; and upon which property the phenomena of electricity and\nmagnetism appear to be dependent. How is this to be reconciled with\nthis notion of each atom existing in a diffusible penetrable state\nthroughout the space in which its properties prevail? Since these\nopposite polarities are energetic in their reciprocal polar attraction,\nwhat keeps them together, yet prevents them from so uniting as to\nproduce neutralization?\n\n1822. Mr. Exley\u2019s ideas, if admitted, leave no alternative but either\nto place a Newtonian atom within each of his concentric spheres, or\nto assume that nothing can have properties, or that effects can exist\nwithout causes. What is to cause a force at any mathematical point\nmore than at any other? How, in case of a moving body, are the forces\nto appear successively to proceed from various centres, if there be\nnothing in which it is inherent, which moves and carries its forces\nor properties wheresoever it goes? Does not this suggestion that\natoms are centres of their forces, by making the cart draw itself,\nforce the effect to be its own cause? It is quite consistent with the\nNewtonian definition, that the resultant of the action of every part\nof a mass should comport as if it proceeded from a common centre,\nas does terrestrial gravitation; and of course, whether we have the\nNewtonian idea or that of Boscovitch, Farraday, or Exley, we have\nforces proceeding from centres. The great difference is that agreeably\nto the one these forces emanate from nothing; agreeably to the other,\nfrom something. I used to define matter to my pupils as that which has\nproperties. In the mind, is not force distinguished from some moving\npower which gives it rise? Is not this distinction inevitable? and were\nthe word force employed to designate the moving power which exercises\nforce, would it not confound ideas, without altering the actual state\nof the case? Would it not impoverish language, without improving\nscience?\n\n\n    _Of Mundane, Ethereal, and Ponderable Matter, in their Chemical\n                              relations._\n\n1823. The bodies which occupy the attention of a chemist are found in\none of three states\u2014those of solidity, fluidity, and elasticity. Ice,\nliquid water, and steam exemplify these different states. The fact is\nthus illustrated, that the same chemical compound, consisting of oxygen\nand hydrogen, may exist in either state, according to the temperature\nto which it may be subjected.\n\n1824. Experience justifies the surmise, that scarcely any body in\nnature is utterly insusceptible of these three states, provided it were\nheated or refrigerated with an unlimited power.\n\n1825. Beside the property of gravitation, of which the energy is\ninversely as the square of the distance, however great, (as when it\nenables the two suns, apparently forming but one\u2014the double star,\n61 Cygni (1340)\u2014at the distance of six thousand millions of miles,\nto attract each other so as to revolve about their common centre\nof gravity,) atoms are endowed with a force called attraction of\naggregation, which operates only at insensible distances, so that when\nbrought into due proximity they unite and form a coherent mass. Again,\nthey are endowed, as already mentioned, with chemical affinity, which\nvaries with the kind of particles in which it exists as a property;\nbeing the characteristic by which they are distinguished one from the\nother.\n\n1826. According to the doctrine which chemists have heretofore\nsuggested for the existence of matter in the elastic or gaseous\nstate, each aerial or gaseous atom was conceived to be enveloped in\nan atmosphere of fluid called caloric, resembling the ether in the\nself-repellent power of its constituent particles. This atmosphere has\nbeen assumed to impart to atoms which it envelopes its own inherent\npower of reciprocal repulsion, like that which those of the ether have.\nBut Dalton showed that there was no repulsion between gaseous atoms\nwhen _heterogeneous_. Two or more such gases, hydrogen and nitrogen,\nfor instance, being comprised in the same cavity, there would be no\nrepulsion between the atoms of hydrogen and those of nitrogen, but\nonly between those of the same gas. This has been held to be equally\ntrue, however many gases might be mingled, or whatever vapours might be\nsuperadded.\n\n1827. The idea is thus refuted, which ascribes the repulsive power to\nthe same elastic fluid, since in that case the diversity of the gaseous\natoms could not so affect the repulsive influence as to nullify it\nbetween heterogeneous atoms, while sustaining this repulsion, where the\natoms should be alike.\n\n1828. Moreover, as the rays of light have been found to be mere\nundulations in the ether; the rays of heat, being perfectly analogous\nin their attributes, must also be due to ethereal undulations. But\nvaporization may be affected by radiant heat, and gases owe their\naeriform state to the same cause as vapor or steam; yet transient\nundulations evidently cannot form a permanent combination, so as to\nconfer the durable elasticity of a permanent gas.\n\n1829. It appears, then, that neither the doctrine of caloric, nor the\nundulatory doctrine, as it is received, will explain the creation of\npermanent gas. Under these circumstances a modification of the existing\nopinions is called for. It has, for some years, occurred to me, that\nthe Newtonian doctrine of radiation might be associated with that of\nundulation.\n\n1830. The fact that radiant heat could be collected by a mirror so\nas to raise the temperature of bodies placed in the focus, and that\nthis process could take place in vacuo, as ascertained by Sir Humphrey\nDavy, had been adduced as unquestionable evidence of the materiality\nof caloric, the supposed fluid cause of heat. But as the cold\nproceeding from a snowball or any cold body could be collected by the\nsame process, it was urged by some chemists that the evidence of the\nmateriality of the cause of cold must also be admitted. Prevost met\nthis argument by suggesting that no body in nature is absolutely cold.\nEvery body, however refrigerated, is not so cold as to be incapable\nof greater refrigeration. Hence all bodies being absolutely above the\nzero of nature, are throwing off rays to each other, and where there\nis equality of temperature, they do not cause any change in their\nrelative temperatures. The rays thrown off by A are compensated by\nthose which it receives from B, and _vice versa_. But if A throws off\nto B more than B reciprocates, the temperature of A must fall until an\nequilibrium is attained. Thus, A being the mirror and B the snowball,\nthe mirror is refrigerated, and causes a greater radiation from any\nbody situated about its focus. This explanation was generally received,\nbut to me, the following rationale, which I advanced, appeared\npreferable:\n\n1831. I assumed caloric to exist throughout the sublunary creation,\nas the luminiferous ether is assumed to be diffused throughout all\nspace by the undulationists; the diffusion arising from the reciprocal\nrepulsion of its particles being similar to that which had been\nsupposed to cause the diffusion of caloric. There is the greatest\nanalogy between this diffusion and that which is known to exist in the\ncase of gases. The process is the same, whether the gas be dense like\nchlorine, or thirty-six times as rare, as in the instance of hydrogen,\nand in the luminiferous ether resembles the process by which hydrogen\nis rarified, or might be rendered more rare, were the pressure of the\natmosphere removed.\n\n1832. It is known that in any gas or gaseous mixture like that which\nwe breathe, if a deficit of pressure be caused in any spot, the\ngaseous particles will quickly move toward it, in order to restore\nthe equilibrium of pressure, and that if, on the other hand, any\naugmentation of pressure be produced at any spot, the gas will move\noutward to restore the equilibrium.\n\n1833. The particles being symmetrically arranged in lines, a row of\nparticles may be conceived to lie between every two remote points. If\nwe suppose any number of points in the focal body, and a corresponding\nnumber in the surface of the mirror, it may be conceived that the\nintervening ethereal or calorific particles will move in rows one way\nor the other, as the pressure in the focal space may become greater or\nless. Thus an effect is brought about, equivalent to that which the\nNewtonian idea of radiation involves; lines of particles proceed from\nthe hotter points to the colder ones.\n\n1834. The arrangement of the particles of caloric, which was\noriginally, in my view, confined to the sublunary creation, appears of\nnecessity to belong to the luminiferous ether, required by the theory\nascribing light to undulations, though the last-mentioned medium must\nbe endowed with ubiquity as above stated, so as to abound in every part\nof space through which light reaches the eye.\n\n1835. The undulatory hypothesis supposes that a wave-like motion being\nimparted to a row of particles, by a luminous point in the surface of\nthe luminous body, is transmitted, like the sound producing waves in\nthe air, to the other end of the row.\n\n1836. This undulatory progression has been roughly illustrated by the\ntransitory serpentine movements which may be made in a cord, stretched\nlike a clothes-line between the tops of posts.\n\n1837. In order to make this illustration elucidate the conception which\nI advance, we have only to suppose that the cord, instead of being\nattached to the post, should be drawn rapidly over pulleys, and, while\nthus actuated, be subjected to a cause of undulatory vibration. It\nmay be conceived that, by this process, the ethereal particles, while\nperforming all which the undulatory theory requires, might at the same\ntime perform all required by that of emission and material calorific\nradiation. Directed upon a vaporizable liquid, the undulations might\nperform the part of sensible heat; the ethereal particles, successively\ncombining, might furnish the latent heat requisite to the constitution\nof vapour.\n\n1838. Agreeably to Newton, the seven colours of the spectrum are due to\nas many different kinds of radiant particles of various refrangibility,\nor susceptibility of being bent from the rectilinear path when passed\nthrough the same refracting medium.[40]\n\n1839. According to the undulatory theory, the colours are caused by\ndiversities in the undulations producing them. Retaining this feature,\nthe last-mentioned hypothesis, as modified by myself, appears to\nbe competent to explain the phenomena of light as well as those of\nvaporization, produced by calorific radiation, since not only is any\nvaporizing liquid subjected to the transient effect of the undulations,\nbut also may combine with the ethereal particles as they come into\ncontact with it.\n\n1840. Thus modified, the rationale of the rainbow, or prismatic\nspectrum, would not be that the colours indicate as many varieties\nof original radiant particles, but that they are to be explained\nagreeably to the undulatory hypothesis, which ascribes them to as many\nvarieties in the undulations, just as the notes in music are ascribed\nto diversities of vibration.\n\n1841. The ether, under this view, performs the part heretofore\nassigned to latent heat, by combining with solids so as to render them\nsusceptible of expansion, and of electrical conduction by being liable\nto the polarization which constitutes electricity.\n\n1842. Sensible heat, according to this aspect, is due to the vibrations\nof the ethereal fluid, which is sustained by the sun, by ignition\nin the interior of the earth, and by chemical reaction, including\ncombustion and respiration.\n\n1843. The correctness of the inference, that conductors owe their\nconductive power to ethereal matter entering into their composition,\nhas been insisted upon in my strictures on Farraday\u2019s speculation in\nsome of the preceding pages. The facts admitted by this distinguished\ninvestigator of nature\u2019s laws, gave to me a basis on which to rest an\nargument in favour of the existence of an imponderable cause of heat\nand electricity in metals, which seems to me unanswerable.\n\n1844. Agreeably to the hypothesis respecting which the preceding\npreparatory suggestions have been made, gasification is not due to a\nrepulsive atmosphere of ethereal matter, severally appropriated to\neach ponderable constituent atom, but to an attraction for every such\natom exercised by the ethereal fluid, such as water exercises toward\nsugar, quick-lime, salt, or any soluble substance. The ether attracts\nthe particles of certain solids, and is of course reacted upon by them.\nThe particles thus attracted naturally distribute themselves throughout\nit, at symmetrical distances. Hence the law of Pettit and Dulong is\nverified, which, at least, holds good with all gasifiable atoms, that\ntheir capacity is inversely as their atomic weight.\n\n1845. The atomic weights of hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine\nbeing severally 1, 14, 36, when associated with equal volumes of\nthe _imponderable_ ether, they will have still the same weight.\nEqual volumes will weigh the same as the atoms with which they are\nassociated; and the capacity for heat, being directly as the volumes,\nwill be inversely as the weights, the calculation being the same,\nwhether ether or caloric be the imponderable principle to which they\nowe their gasification. By concurring with those chemists, who estimate\nthe atoms of oxygen at 16, instead of 8, this gas will come into the\nsame calculation.\n\n1846. When heterogeneous gases are confined within the same cavity,\nthat they should not react with each other is no more wonderful,\nthan that the same mass of water may at the same time hold different\nsubstances in solution, which may add to its hydrostatic pressure\nthough they have no reciprocal reaction.\n\n1847. Sensible heat appears to be due to vibrations in the ether, kept\nup by the solar rays or central ignition within this globe. By the\nheat thus acquired the self-repellent power of the ether is augmented.\nWhen by refrigeration this source of repulsion is diminished beyond\na certain limit, the atoms of certain vaporizable particles, such\nas those of steam and other condensible vapours, are approximated\nsufficiently to attract each other, and consequently coalesce and are\ncondensed.\n\n1848. It follows that light is due to _undulation_, sensible heat\nto _vibration_, and electricity to the _polarization_ caused in the\nethereal medium, while either in a free, or in a combined state. Thus\nthis luminiferous ether performs the part heretofore attributed to\nlatent heat or caloric in one state; in another state, that of sensible\nheat.\n\n\n      _Suggestions of Massotti, respecting the Nature of Matter._\n\n1849. Massotti has suggested that all bodies consist of two kinds of\nultimate particles; that any two or more particles of one kind are\nrepulsive of each other, while any two or more of different kinds are\nreciprocally attractive. Hence atoms are formed, consisting of one atom\nof one kind and one of the other kind. Of course, were the opposite\nforces exercised by the heterogeneous and homogeneous equal, the\nresulting atoms would be neither attractive nor repulsive; but assuming\nthe attractive power to have the ascendency, the hypothesis would\naccount for the property of gravitation.\n\n1850. Let the suggestions of Massotti be modified, so far as that\nthe extremities of each particle, whether of one or the other kind,\nare to be considered as endowed with opposite polarities, like those\nof the magnetic needle, as already suggested in the case of matter\nin general. Then in one relative position of the extremities they\nmay be reciprocally repulsive, in the other reciprocally attractive;\nlikewise one of the kinds of matter, like the light-producing ether\nof the undulationists, may pervade the universe, and be condensed in\na peculiarly great quantity within perfect conductors: all this being\npremised, it may be conceived how the waves of opposite polarization,\nwhich proceed from oppositely electrified, or in other words,\noppositely polarized bodies, cause the matter through which they pass\nto be decomposed or explosively rent.\n\n1851. As elsewhere stated, in large bodies of water, waves are the\neffect of transference of motion successively from one part of the mass\nto the other; the rolling of the wave causing nothing to pass but the\nmotion, and of course, the momentum is invariably consequent to motion.\nThe waves by which sound is transmitted, are analogous; nothing being\ntransferred excepting a vibration of the air, capable of affecting the\ntympanum of the ear with the impression requisite to create in the\nsensorium the idea of sound.\n\n1852. Any affection of matter, capable of existing in successive parts\nof a material body, so that while the body is stationary, the affection\npasses from one part of the mass to others, may be considered as a wave\nof that affection, as reasonably as the affection called momentum is\nconsidered as producing a wave in water, when passing through it, as\nabove described. It is in this way that I consider that the term wave\nof polarization may be applied to an affection of matter consisting\nof an abnormal position of the poles of the constituent particles,\nsuccessively induced in rows of atoms, so as to proceed from one part\nof the series to the other.\n\n1853. And as two sets of waves, of which the hollows of one should\ncorrespond with the elevations of the others, would, by being\nassociated, produce an even surface and equalization of the momentum\nin the aqueous liquid, so, in opposite polarities, there might be\nreciprocal neutralization by the coming together of the polarities.\n\n\n      _On Electro-polarity as the Cause of Electrical Phenomena._\n\n1854. Agreeably to the view which I take of the present state of\nour electrical knowledge, the phenomena designated under the name\nof electricity are due entirely to a process which I designate as\npolarization, and the consequences thereof. Those attractions and\nrepulsions which have been found to exist between particles of matter,\ninstead of being an endowment of the whole mass of each particle, seem\nconfined, as already suggested, to particular terminations or spots,\nas we see this property on a larger scale in the loadstone or natural\nmagnet. In the body long known under this appellation, the attractive\npower which it exercises is displayed usually at two distinct portions\nof its superficies, which are called poles. When a piece of steel\nwire is duly rubbed by either of these poles, it acquires a similar\nattractive polarity, which always appears at the extremities. When\nformed into an appropriate shape and freely suspended, such a wire\nmagnet constitutes the compass needle, having the wonderful and\nall-important faculty of arranging itself within a meridian plane,\nso as to be always nearly north and south; the same pole invariably\npointing in the same direction. The poles are named from the quarter to\nwhich they point, one being called the north pole of the needle, the\nother the south pole. This involves that the north pole of the earth\nitself has nominally south polarity; the south pole, north polarity.\n\n1855. When two suspended compass needles are sufficiently approximated,\nit will be seen that between the poles which point in the same\ndirection, there is repulsion; between those which point in different\ndirections, attraction. When the dissimilar poles are brought into\ncontact, they adhere; and if left cohering, will continue attached for\nany length of time; and while in that state of coherence, the magnetic\npower of the poles thus touching, being neutralized, disappears.[41]\n\n1856. If two needles be laid parallel, an interval between them,\nthe extremities being made to communicate by applying two wires of\nsuitable dimensions, also parallel to each other, the magnetic power\nwill be neutralized.\n\n1857. It is inferred that analogous phenomena take place in the\nparticles of masses or surfaces which are endowed with chemical\naffinity or even cohesive attraction.\n\n1858. It is to the existence of the power by which these effects\nare caused, at opposite terminations, that bodies, in congealing or\nfreezing from the state of liquidity, shoot into prismatic, oblong,\nregular forms, called crystals. This is illustrated in the formation of\nice, which is seen to shoot into such prismatic crystals.\n\n1859. When a pane of glass is so situated as to have the focus of a\nsolar microscope thrown upon any spot, so that the glass thus affected\nmay be between the eye of an observer and the microscope, any small\ncrystals formed are greatly magnified. Hence if the focal space be\nmoistened with a solution of certain salts, the solvent evaporating,\ncrystallization ensues, and is seen to form appropriate figures for\neach salt employed. It is owing to this property that when certain\nsolutions of various substances are evaporated, the soluble solid, as\nit is deposited from the solvent, arranges itself longitudinally; one\natom attaching itself to the pole of another, until it creeps over the\nsides of the vessel in great quantity. The appearance of arborescence\nin certain minerals is thus accounted for. When an amalgam of mercury\nwith silver is hung by a platina wire within a bottle of a solution\nof silver in nitric acid, there is formed a beautiful branching of\nsilver filaments. These are longer, though more slowly formed, as the\nsolution is more dilute. In very dilute solutions I have seen prisms of\nsilver of more than an inch in length, so delicate, that but for the\nbrilliancy of the surface they could not have been detected by the eye.\n\n1860. Farraday distinguished two kinds of polarity\u2014ferro-magnetic\nand dia-magnetic. That above described as taking place between steel\nmagnets is designated as ferro-magnetic. Dia-magnetic particles under\nmagnetic influence take position at right angles to that which would\nensue from ferro-magnetism.\n\n1861. This explanation being premised to enable the student to\ncomprehend what is meant by polarity, I will proceed to explain\nelectric phenomena, according to the theory which I hold.\n\n1862. It is expected that the preceding discussions have prepared the\nreader to conceive that the atoms of all ponderable matter are endowed\nwith two analogous but opposite polar powers, which we term polarity.\nThat in any two atoms the dissimilar polar powers tend to make them\nunite, the similar powers having the opposite tendency. That in any\ninert mass the opposite powers or polarities are in contact, and thus\nreciprocally neutralized.\n\n1863. It will be also understood that the ethereal fluid which pervades\nthe universe as the means of illumination is assumed to consist in\nlike manner of atoms or particles which are endowed with polarity, so\nthat when the opposite poles are in proximity, there is neutralization:\nrepulsion, and disturbance, when similar poles are approximated. This\nbeing premised, the allegation may be intelligible, that when bodies\nare electrified, the poles of the component atoms or particles are\nconceived to be deranged from their natural position of reciprocal\nneutralization, so that they react with exterior bodies, disturbing the\npoles of their constituent particles, and thus electrifying them by\ninduction.\n\n1864. This abnormal state of disturbance, is conceived to be produced\non glass or resin, or any electric, when duly subjected to friction.\n\n1865. Thus when in an electric machine a vitreous surface is rubbed by\na leather cushion, the particles both of the leather and glass surfaces\nare deranged from their natural state of reciprocal neutralization,\nand present their poles in an active state, and the glass surface,\nmoving through the ethereal medium, (812) polarizes it as it passes,\nthe ether resuming its normal state till the ethereal atmosphere over\nthe conductor is reached. To that it imparts durable polarity; the\nmetallic superficies of the conductor taking the opposite state, so\nthat the charge is retained until the glass goes to and returns from\nthe cushion, with a farther supply of polarity.\n\n1866. The charges of polarization received by the plates at each\nsucceeding revolution of the plate or cylinder, is divided with the\nethereal atmosphere over the conductor, and this process is reiterated\ntill the frictional power has accomplished its maximum effect. Then\nthe conductor is said to be charged positively, according to the\ntheory of one fluid, and vitreously, according to that of Dufay, or\nthe theory of two fluids. Meanwhile, if the cushion communicates duly\nwith an insulated conductor, a process perfectly analogous to that\njust described has been charging that conductor, _pari passu_, with\nthe one first mentioned. By these means we have two excited or charged\nconductors.\n\n1867. If, before charging these conquerors, two scalps of hair be\nseverally situated on them, it will be perceived that, as the charging\nproceeds, the hairs on each of the scalps rise, and endeavour to keep\naway from each other. But, meanwhile, the whole of the hair on either\nis attracted by that on the other conductor. Moreover, on touching both\nconductors with any metallic rod, simultaneously, the whole of the\nexcitement disappears, and the hairs assume their normal position.\n\n1868. In producing this discharge, iron is not more effective than\nany other metal. It is, in fact, known to be less competent for this\nspecies of conduction, than copper, silver, or gold.\n\n1869. When the conductors are excited they have a powerful effect upon\ngold leaves, suspended as in the electrometer.\n\n1870. The state of the conductors, when excited, as described here, is\nsaid to be _static_. Such a state of excitement is distinguished as a\n_statical_ charge of electricity.\n\n1871. In the next place, if we procure a horse-shoe magnet, lay it\non a table, cover it with a sheet of paper, and then sift over it\niron filings, we shall see the shape of the magnet delineated upon\nthe paper, by the filings arranging themselves above its corners in\npreference. But as the sifting proceeds, the filings will be seen\nto extend themselves in filaments, so as very much to resemble the\nelectrified hair above described. A tuft of the ferruginous filaments\nwill be formed upon each pole of the magnet, each filament avoiding\nits neighbours, as far as possible. But while each filament, in either\ntuft, avoids every other in its appropriate tuft, the whole of the\nfilaments in one, are attracted by those in the other. Thus, the\ncharges of polarity which cause each similarly polarized filament to\navoid those in the same state, induce those polarized by one of the\npoles of the magnet, to attract such as are polarized by the other pole\nof the magnet.\n\n1872. Here is, so far, a great analogy between the phenomena of the\npolarization of filings and the polarization of the hair, above\ndescribed. But then there is this difference: excepting iron, cobalt,\nand nickel, there is no metal which can, by contact with the poles of a\nmagnet, neutralize the polarity by which the iron filings are affected;\nand even these metals produce this result by a process, the inverse\nof that by which charges of statical electricity are neutralized. In\nfact, the magnetic metal, far from acting as a discharger, acts as\na keeper; and a piece of iron, of a suitable shape, applied to the\nterminations of a horse-shoe magnet, prevents the gradual diminution of\nthe magnetism, which otherwise ensues. Hence the name keeper is applied\nto it, as well as armature, derived from the French.\n\n1873. It will be perceived that, in a steel magnet, the charges are\nsustained at the terminations of a conductor, which, as estimated by\nCavendish, conducts electricity with a velocity two hundred thousand\ntimes as great as water.\n\n1874. The charge of the conductor of the machine is superficial, a gilt\nglobe of glass holding as good a charge as a solid globe of metal;\nand, moreover, in this superficial charge, the ether and the air\nparticipate, undergoing a polar affection, analogous to that of the\nfilings exposed to the influence of the magnet.\n\n1875. On the other hand, in the use of the steel magnet, the charge is\ninternal, and, other things being equal, increases with the quantity\nof iron charged; neither the air nor the ether participate in this\nmagnetic charge. There is no mode in which the charges of the poles\nof a magnet can be made to pass from one to the other, through any\ninterposed conducting mass.\n\n1876. The retention of the charge seems to be dependent upon a state\nof the particles in which they are capable of being deranged from\ntheir normal position with a certain degree of extraneous influence,\nand can only resume their natural relative position by a contrary\napplication of a similar agent. Although steel differs from iron only\nin containing, as an ingredient, one-fiftieth of carbon, this gives it\nthe highly valuable property of hardening, when suddenly refrigerated;\na result which may be accounted for by supposing that, in consequence\nof the sudden exposure to a powerful conducting medium, there is a\nsort of a jerk by which the particles loose from their midst an undue\nportion of their ethereal constituents, and cannot recover their normal\narrangement after the refrigeration. When this effect is reached to\na maximum, the steel is so brittle as sometimes to fly into two or\nmore pieces when left to itself. When soft iron is subjected to the\nmagnetizing process, it exchanges one polarity for the other with such\nspeed, that, in some electro-magnetic instruments, this reversal is\neffected more than one hundred times in a second; but precisely in\nproportion as the magnetism is readily received, it is more readily\nlost. On the other side, when hardened to a maximum, steel can scarcely\nbe magnetized at all. Thus, to have a permanent magnet, we must employ\nthe metal in a state of induration between the extremes. These facts\ntend to corroborate the inference that magnetism is dependent on the\nrelative position of the ferruginous particles. It is presumed that the\nferruginous particles of which the filings consist indicate, by their\ndirection, as seen externally, the direction in which the constituent\nparticles of the magnet are situated beneath the metallic surface.[42]\n\n1877. If to a wire, connecting the poles of a galvanic battery, iron\nfilings are applied, each ferruginous particle becomes a little magnet,\nand displays exactly the same disposition to unite in filaments as\nhas been represented to take place when they are exposed upon a sheet\nof paper, to the influence of a magnet supporting it. But while this\naffection is thus identical with that induced by the steel magnet, it\ndiffers therefrom, in its being as transient as the galvanic discharges\nto which it owes its existence. These, at the lowest estimate, are\nsufficiently rapid to go round the globe in two seconds; whence it\nmay be conceived that the time taken to percur a few inches of wire\nmust be almost infinitely brief. Hence, although the filings continue\nin a state of magnetization so long as the action of the battery is\nsustained, and the wire kept in due contact with the poles of the\nbattery, it is only by a rapid reiteration of discharges, that this\nresult is effected.\n\n1878. As the relative position of the particles composing the steel\nmagnet has been inferred to be indicated by that of the movable filings\nwhich they influence, we may suppose the position of the particles\ncomposing the wire, to be indicated by that which the filings take by\nwhich it is encircled. These are situated always as if forming tangents\nto the circumference of the wire, and hence it may be perceived that\nthe metallic particles, forming the wire, have been shifted from their\nnormal position, parallel to the axis, so as to take that tangential\ndirection which the magnetization evinces.\n\n1879. On one end of the wire being in communication with one pole of\na voltaic series, on touching the other pole of the series with the\nother end of the wire, filaments of the particles previously situated\nparallel to the axis, are jerked out of the normal position with\nan inconceivable quickness, the discharge, however, not affecting\nsuccessive parts of the length absolutely at once, but successively; so\nthat there is a time required for the process, however inconceivably\nminute it may appear to us. The effect upon the filaments of filings,\nat the different ends of the wire, are perfectly simultaneous, and the\neffect analogous, but different in this respect, that the positive\npoles are presented externally at one end, the negative at the other,\nso that, when the polarizing affections meet at an intermediate point\nwithin the wire, neutrality ensues.\n\n1880. Thus it will be perceived that no current passes through the\nwire, any more than the water which is seen to form a wave, on one side\nof a lake, passes with the wave which is seen apparently to proceed\nto the other side. Notoriously, in this case, nothing passes but the\nmomentum, which is successively imparted to successive portions of the\nintervening water; so, in the galvanic discharge, successive portions\nof the intervening wire are affected by the original disturbing jerks,\nof which the power passes from each portion to that next beyond it,\njust as the momentum in the case of the aqueous wave.\n\n1881. Upon these considerations I hold myself as warranted in calling\nthe affections of the wire, as described, _waves_ of polarization, not\nthat the affection of the wire has the smallest similitude to that\nwith which water produces waves, but that, in both cases, there is a\nsuccessive communication of a property. It is well known that there\nis this analogy in the two cases; in either, opposite waves, on due\nmeeting, produce reciprocal neutrality.\n\n1882. The neutralization of the electro-polarity induced upon the\ncharged conductors (1867) by touching both at the same time by a\nconducting rod, is effected in some degree analogously to the process\nin the voltaic discharge; since waves of opposite polarization are\nproduced at each extremity, and, rushing toward an intermediate point,\nare neutralized by meeting. But the polarization in the case of the\nconductors, as has been stated, (1874,) is superficial, and extends not\nonly to the surfaces of the conductors, but likewise to the surrounding\nether and air, and does not affect the ponderable atoms of the wire\nunless the charge be too great to pass in this superficial manner. In\nthat case, being condensed upon the wire to a state of great intensity,\nit causes a polarization of the atoms composing it, similar to that of\nthe voltaic discharge, though less durable.\n\n1883. From the preceding exposition it follows that the conduction\nand insulation of that species of electricity which is excited by an\nelectrical machine or other frictional processes, exists upon the\nsuperficies of insulated masses, or that of the circumambient particles\nof the air or ether. This frictional electricity likewise passes\npreferably over the surfaces of conductors, so that the moistened\nsurface of glass, or other non-conductors, conveys it with enormous\nfacility. It is notorious, that when the air is moist, electrical\nmachines are paralyzed. But this cannot be in consequence of the moist\nair acting as a conductor. Agreeably to some experiments which I made,\na fog from hot water does not act as a conductor. Evidently, were a fog\nor a cloud a conductor, the air and moisture forming a thunder cloud\ncould not be electrified, so as to give the discharges which constitute\nlightning.\n\n1884. It is well known that a tube will carry more lightning than a\nrod, of which the sectional area should comprise the same quantity of\nmetal. Yet, when the wire is too small to carry a charge outside, it\nis acted upon intestinally and may be explosively deflagrated. But\nwhile the existence of a film of moisture upon the glass legs of an\nelectrical machine, may paralyze its power, to a powerful galvanic\nbattery moisture is well known to be essential.\n\n1885. If the poles of a powerful voltaic series, while highly charged,\nwere severally to have a conducting communication with the conductors\nof an electrical machine, it would discharge them so rapidly, that\nthe most active working would not enable them to give a spark; yet at\nthe poles of the same series there might be charges accumulated which\nwould, in effecting chemical decomposition, heating, deflagrating wire,\nor inducing magnetism, be immensely superior to that created by a\nmachine.\n\n1886. Farraday\u2019s reasoning and observations, founded on the idea\nthat the only difference between galvanic and frictional electricity\nwas that between quantity and intensity, led him to take up the idea\nthat a grain of water with an equivalent of zinc would evolve as much\nelectricity as sixteen millions of square feet of coated glass, charged\nby a powerful machine of fifty inches in diameter. I am surprised that\nFarraday did not consider his premises erroneous, when he found them\ninvolving such startling conclusions.\n\n1887. The source of this startling inference was, I think, as follows:\nFarraday entertained the opinion, that the only difference between\nvoltaic and frictional electricity was that of quantity and intensity.\nHe went so far as to intimate that this opinion would be entertained\nthe more confidently as the electrician forming his decision should\nbe better acquainted with the subject. I advanced what appeared to me\nunanswerable objections to this conclusion, but such as were not deemed\nby him worthy of reply. Unduly confident in his postulate, Farraday\nfirst ascertained the greatest effect which could be produced by a\ncertain number of turns of a powerful machine, with a fifty inch plate,\nin causing a deviation of the galvanometric needle, and then, comparing\nthe quantity of zinc and water required to produce the same effect\nthrough galvanic action, by a rule-of-three statement the result above\nmentioned was obtained. In my view the error arose from overlooking\nthe fact that in the one case the whole discharge was exercised in\npolarizing the ponderable matter, while in the other only a portion of\nthe discharge was thus employed, being only a secondary effect of the\npolarization of the circumambient medium. Only that portion of the\ncharge which was forced into an association with the ponderable matter,\nhad any effect on the galvanometric needle.\n\n1888. According to Gaziot\u2019s experiments, a Grove\u2019s battery of 320\npairs would not give a spark before contact at any distance, although\nfrictional machines, proportionally powerful, have given sparks at\ntwenty inches.\n\n1889. Thus the laws of conduction and insulation, as respects the\ntwo kinds of electricity in question, are different; the waves of\npolarization are in the case of the galvanic circuit confined to\nabsolute contact with conducting ponderable matter. It cannot pass\nthrough the electrical medium or the air by the disruptive process.\nWhen once a passage has been made for it, it may pass convectively,\ncarrying with it the polarizable matter, as may be seen in the arch\nformed between the poles of a powerful voltaic series after contact.\n\n1890. This arch cannot be formed between two metallic points, because\nnone but those of a most fixed and infusible nature can support the\nheat produced. It is only between charcoal points that it can be\ncreated, because no other competent conductor is infusible at the\ntemperature of its volatilization. It is in fact only by the process in\nquestion, that charcoal can be volatilized _per se_. It may be inferred\nthat as those waves of electro-polarity which require the presence of\nponderable as well as ethereal matter cannot pass over an interval\nwithout the assistance of ponderable matter such as is supplied by the\ncoal. On contact with each other, the points completing the circuit\nare subjected to an intensity of the polarizing power which causes the\ncarbon of the points, in the state of vapour, to become associated\nwith the ethereal waves, and thus produces the flaming arch, which\ndistinguishes the scene of reciprocal neutralization.\n\n\n_Of Mind, as existing independently, and as distinguished from Matter._\n\n1891. Three ideas must coexist in every rational being; nihility, mind,\nand matter. We can, of course, conceive of a perfectly void space,\nand likewise of a mathematical point, which designates a position not\nan entity. Yet, position cannot be determined without surrounding\nentities, between which this point exists, without having claim to any\nportion of those entities, whether there be only one actual material\nsurface, or where several are cornered together. Of such points we have\nalready treated, as forming at the immovable centre of a rotating mass,\nso that a centre is, of course, one state of the existence of such a\npoint.\n\n1892. After the considerations already presented, it will be seen that\nthere is great difficulty in conceiving of the existence of an atom of\nmatter endowed with polarity, and of course with two centres of two\nanalogous, but opposite and irreconcilable forces. And we must consider\nthat there are more than fifty such heterogeneous elementary atoms,\nall endowed with various degrees of affinity, so as that two may unite\nenergetically to the exclusion of a third. This is designated as a\ncase of decomposition, and may be exemplified by the process in which\nwater is explosively decomposed by potassium, with which the oxygen of\nthe water unites to the exclusion of hydrogen. When we see that from\nseven parts, by weight, of charcoal, and about nine parts of water,\nsugar ensues; that the sweetness with which this sugar is endowed, is\nthe result of a difference between this substance and starch, in the\nproportion of the watery elements: starch consisting of less water than\nsugar, with the same amount of charcoal; when we learn that twelve\nparts, by weight, of charcoal, fourteen parts of nitrogen, and one of\nhydrogen, constitute the deadly prussic acid; and when, in fact, we\ndiscover that the atoms of matter which compose our flesh are capable\nof entering into as many active chemical combinations as the beads of\na kaleidoscope can be productive of figures, then it will be manifest\nthat the phenomena characterizing what we call matter, as well as the\npowers of that matter, are such as to prove our utter incapacity to\ncomprehend the powers and properties of material atoms, and that we\nmust not object to any wonder that nature may produce, because it is\nbeyond our comprehension.[43]\n\n1893. The belief in the powers displayed by matter does not then result\nfrom their being explicable, but from their being evident, just as\nthe elaboration of the chick from the egg demonstrates the fact that\nthe yolk and the white have been converted into a chicken without our\nbeing enabled to comprehend the process by which it has been effected.\nSuch being the imperfection of our knowledge respecting the intricate\nnature of matter and its reactions, it seems to me inconsistent that\nthere should have been such backwardness to believe in the independent\nexistence of mind, of which the phenomena and properties are quite as\nevident as those of matter, the mode of existence and operation in\neither case being inscrutable.\n\n1894. The great distinction between mind and matter is the presence\nof will on the one side, and the absence of it upon the other. _Vis\ninerti\u00e6_ is the antipodes of will; and if gravitation have any\nassociation with will, it will be that of the Creator; but in the inert\nmass actuated, it serves only to add to the evidence of incapability of\nself-actuation.\n\n1895. Passion and reason, the parents of will, are properties as\nmanifest as those which, surrounding a centre, give to it that idea of\na central force which indicates the presence of material atoms, though\nit does not constitute them, as I have urged.\n\n1896. The existence of _vis inerti\u00e6_, gravitation, and chemical\naffinity, is not more evident as properties of ponderable matter than\nreason and passion and consequent will are of mind; nor is will less\nevidently the offspring of reason and passion, than momentum is of _vis\ninerti\u00e6_ and gravitation. The existence of these attributes of mind is\nas evident as is the existence of those of ponderable matter, and the\nincomprehensibility of their origin or mode of operation should no more\nbe an obstacle to belief in the former case than in the latter.\n\n1897. Nothing is more thoroughly fundamental and essential in the\ndoctrine inculcated by revelation than the omnipotency of the will of\nGod. According to Scripture, the whole heaven and earth, and all that\nis in them, sprung into existence in consequence of the fiat of the\nDeity, whose will, under the designation of \u201coverruling providence,\u201d\nis alleged to regulate every thing, even to the fall of a sparrow,\nor the advent of a pestilence. It follows that the suggestions which\nI have made respecting the powers of mind are perfectly orthodox,\nso far as the mind of the Creator is concerned; and as, according\nto orthodoxy, man is made after God\u2019s own image, however humble and\nminute may be the being so made, his mind, so far as it exists, must\nbe, within the sphere allotted to it, existing upon an analogous\nfooting to that of its author. The idea of all things coming from the\ncreative power of God as the first cause, involves the existence of\nthe divine-will power, of the first cause; and consequently, beings\nendowed with an analogous will, must, so far as they have any available\nexistence, be endowed with will-power, of which the potentiality may be\nmore extensive in spirits than in mortals.\n\n1898. It is because there is no other imaginable power which can be\nproductive of the rationality of the universal creation, that forms the\ngreat argument for assuming the will of a reasoning Deity to be the\ncause of causes. Vain were it to appeal to any irrational force under\nthe name of odylic, or any other, to explain the divine attributes\non which this argument reposes. In like manner, the assailants of\nSpiritualism cannot find any nominal force, whether new or old, which\ncan explain the rationality of the results which I have submitted to\nthe public in this book, as coming from the minds of my spirit friends.\n\n\n _Of Spirit independently, or as distinguished from Mind and Matter._\n\n1899. It has been alleged above, that three ideas must exist in the\nconception of every rational being; nihility, mind, matter.\n\n1900. Mind is distinct from matter in its usual acceptation; but it\nalso differs from nihility. There are some attributes common to mind\nand matter; since they cannot be considered as nothing, they must both\nbe something. Therefore, the word thing applies to either, and thing\nis sometimes received as synonymous with matter. But between these two\nkinds of things, mind and matter, we have an intermediate thing called\nspirit, which is sometimes confounded with mind. In its original sense,\nthis word merely denoted a thin or refined matter, such as air, wind,\nbreath. In chemistry, it has been applied to every thing obtained by\ndistillation, as, for instance, spirit of wine, spirit of salt, spirit\nof nitre, of vitriol, spirit of turpentine.[44]\n\n1901. Hence, by analogy, when the mind of a mortal, after death, was\nseen, or supposed to be seen, in a shadowy form called a ghost or\nshade, it was conceived to be the spirit or essence of the mortal body\nwhich it had inhabited. It was the body which the mind took or kept for\nits integuments after abandoning its perishable mundane _casket_, as\nthe spirits are wont to call the carnal body.\n\n1902. It is difficult for us mortals to conceive of mind without such a\nspiritual body. Yet, agreeably to information from my spirit friends,\nthe substances of which the bodies, the country, and habitations of\nspirits are constituted, seem to have the attributes of materiality\nno less than the substances of which the bodies, the territory, and\nthe habitations of mortals are constituted. Their spiritual substances\nperform for them the same offices as our material substances do\nfor ours, yet it is expedient to distinguish them by different\nappellations, and those cited here have been sanctioned by custom at\nleast as far as the time of St. Paul, or when these words in Genesis\nwere first used: \u201cThe spirit of God moved on the surface of the water.\u201d\n\n1903. Hence, the words materialism and materialist have been made\nsynonymous with unbelief or unbeliever in a future state of _spiritual_\nexistence.\n\n1904. Spirit has also been confounded with mind or soul, or so\nassociated that we speak of the spirit of a friend, when intending to\nconvey the idea of soul or mind.\n\n1905. The soul seems to be understood as the basis both of the\npassions and the reason, uniting both the power of thinking and\nreasoning with those of loving and hating, of benevolence and\nmalevolence, so that even the soul of Jehovah has been represented in\nScripture as being actuated by jealousy, wrath, and vindictiveness.\n\n1906. According to information from the spirit world, spirit is\nviewed as the clothing of the soul, and is not constant in its\ncharacteristics; but, on the contrary, varies with the plane which it\noccupies, so that its density is inversely as the rank attained. It is\non this account that the inferior spirits cannot rise above the level\nto which they rightfully belong.\n\n1907. The impression is conveyed that there is a state to be attained\nin the spiritual heaven, wherein the tenuity of the integuments of the\nsoul are still more refined.\n\n1908. According to the speculation in which I indulged in a previous\npage, a centre cannot differ from the nihility involved by the\nconception of a mathematical point, without a circumambient something,\nto which the difference is due, and, however difficult to conceive in\nwhat way the attributes of a human soul are associated about the centre\nwhence their influence proceeds, this difficulty, having been shown to\nexist no less in the case of ponderable atoms, would be an objection to\nthe existence of matter as much as of mind.\n\n\n         _Of the Soul, as distinguished from Mind and Matter._\n\n1909. The word mind is much used as synonymous with intellect or\nunderstanding, though it seems to me we consider it as more or less\nassociated with the passions which actuate it. The word soul, on the\nother hand, involves the association of every thing which distinguishes\na being capable of passion, and competent to reason, from a corpse.\nIt is remarkable that, as spirits become more pure and intellectual,\nthey should be alleged to become more refined in their spiritual\ninteguments, thus removing further from the mundane state, and becoming\nless capable of giving those manifestations in which violent movements\nare witnessed.\n\n\n                   _On the Odic, or Odylic, Force._\n\n1910. There never was perhaps a more eloquent exhibition of that which\nhas been designated as _ratiocinatio verbosa_, than in the appeals made\nto the odic force as the means of explaining spiritual manifestations.\nIt may be inferred, from the speculation into which I entered, when\ntreating of mediumship, (806,) that there is a spiritual light and\nspiritual electricity, which performs for spirits in the spiritual\nworld what our electricity and light does for us in this world. It\nwas pointed out that the term magnetism had been applied to mesmeric\nphenomena rather in consequence of an analogy between them and those\nof electro-magnetism, than from any identity. To this spiritual\nelectricity, mortals, in their spiritual organism, which coexists with\nthe mortal body, during mundane life, are liable; being unconsciously\nunder its influence.\n\n1911. The phenomena of mundane light being ascribed to the undulations\nof an ethereal fluid pervading the visible universe, (1831,) and\nelectricity being ascribed to the polarization of the same fluid,\nso the spirits ascribe _their electricity_ and _their light_ to the\nundulation and polarization of an analogous ethereal fluid. It is to\nthis ethereal fluid of the spiritual world, that the phenomena called\nodic belong, as I conceive. We may speak of that ether as the odic\nfluid, and we may designate the light and electricity which it produces\nas odic light, and odic electricity.\n\n1912. But the use of the term force, as applied either to the ether\nappropriate to this mundane sphere, or to that which belongs more\nespecially to the spirit world, seems to me erroneous. Imponderable\nfluids may be instrumental to forces, but, _per se_, cannot have force.\nNo imponderable material fluid can _per se_ have any force, unless\nthat of the reciprocal repulsion of particles, which causes their\nequable diffusion and resistance to condensation. Electricity has less\nforce in proportion as it is more isolated. In vacuo it passes more\ndiffusely and with less noise in proportion as the vacuum is more\nperfect. The violence of electrical phenomena is always dependent upon\nthe reaction of the ponderable masses upon or between which it acts.\nIn proportion as the matter on which it operates is more favourable\nto its condensation therein, or thereupon, the more violent is the\ndeflagration or explosion which results. But in all the phenomena\nwhich have hitherto been recognised as the objects of strict physical\nexamination, _vis inerti\u00e6_ has been indispensable to the exhibition\nof force. \u201cGive me but where to stand, and I will move the world,\u201d\nwas the exclamation of Archimedes; but the conviction thus expressed,\nof the necessity of a resisting basis, is universally recognised. In\nother words, there can be no action without reaction, whether chemical,\nmechanical, or muscular force be applied. Of course, it is preposterous\nto speak of an _isolated_ imponderable physical fluid, as possessing\nforce _per se_. When left to itself it would remain inert, like any\nother inanimate matter. Clearly, isolated action on the part of such a\nfluid cannot be shown in any case whatever.\n\n1913. Reichenbach alleged the substance or principle to which the name\nodic has been given to be visible, but he did not adduce any instance\nof its acting as a moving power so as to justify its being designated\nas the odic force.\n\n1914. It is, however, unnecessary that those who admit the existence of\nan invisible ethereal medium through which, _without muscular contact_,\nor agency, effects are produced by will, should concur in their\nopinions respecting the nature of that imponderable principle. The\nquestion between those agreeing in the preceding principles, is whether\nit is to the will of mortals or to the will of disembodied spirits\nthat such manifestations are to be attributed. I should think that no\nperson who shall have read the communications which I have introduced\ninto this work, as coming from my spirit friends, can ascribe those\ncommunications to the medium and myself. They must either suppose\nthat there is a wilful manufacture of the wonderful and interesting\ninformation therein contained, setting aside the test conditions,\nthrough which they are sanctioned, as unreliable; or they must ascribe\na wonderful fertility to the minds of the media and myself, through\nwhom they have been obtained.\n\n1915. So far from the ideas being obtained from my mind, which proceed\nfrom my spirit father, that he and I cannot come to one opinion on some\npoints after much discussion. My father and sister have, by reiterated\ncommunication, as well established a conviction on my mind of their\nbeing that which they allege themselves to be, as if a correspondence\nhad been carried on with them for the same space of time, say eighteen\nmonths, while they should be residing in another part of the country.\n\n1916. But the whole superstructure built up by the most confident\namong the recent assailants of Spiritualism, Mahan, rests on the error\nalready exposed in the case of its commission by Dr. Bell.\n\n1917. It is assumed that spirits can never tell any ideas which do\nnot exist in the minds of some persons present. Who was present when\nmy spirit messenger conveyed to Mrs. Gourlay the request to send her\nhusband to bank to inquire when a note would be due? Again, when cards\nwere selected without the denomination having been seen by any mortal\npresent, how could the denomination of the cards be spelt out upon the\nalphabetic disk?\n\n1918. In his work, Mr. Mahan assumes that the odic force is identical\nwith that which is the immediate cause of the spirit manifestations.\nAgreeably to the considerations above presented, no imponderable\nmaterial principle, such as the ether of the undulation theory is\nsupposed to be, can be a force. The only part which it can perform is\nthat of being a medium of force. The fluid of electricity was never\nassumed to be a moving power, neither according to the Franklinian\nhypothesis of one fluid, nor that of two fluids, according to Dufay.\nWithout chemical or mechanical disturbance, they would be as still as\nthe water in a pond during a perfect calm.\n\n1919. There is evidently, however, in nature, an imponderable cause of\nmotion, and of other changes, more complicate than simple motion, and,\nI believe, only one such cause, and that is mind. No one who attributes\nthe creation to the mind of the Creator, but must admit that the mind\nof the Creator and Ruler of the universe is the moving power of the\nuniverse. It must also be admitted that the mind of man, as a moving\npower, is very minute in comparison with that of its Author, or Source,\nbut still resembling it so far as it reasons, and obeys the dictates of\nthat reason, and causes matter to move in consequence of its designs,\ndesires, wishes, or emotions.\n\n1920. But if this will of the Creator exists, it must have some medium\nthrough which it reaches the objects which it influences, just as the\nether of the undulationist is necessary to the transmission of light.\nIt is through this medium that gravitation exists as one of the effects\nof divine will, since, although it appears to be a property of matter,\nit is inferred to be no less the effect of an habitual exercise of\nvolition, than the erect posture preserved in man, by analogous means,\nunconsciously; whence, in him, it ceases with sleep. The human will,\nwithin its comparatively minute, humble sphere of action, must require\nalso a medium analogous to that through which God acts; otherwise,\nhow does a thought so quickly move the toe? While encompassed by its\nperishable tenement, there is a certain extent of this will-power\nenjoyed through the laws of God; but on casting off this envelope, the\nspirit, to be qualified for its new state of existence, becomes endowed\nwith more extensive power of the nature in question.\n\n1921. This power of the will exists and is displayed in the mesmeric\nphenomena, where the will of one individual dominates over the limbs of\nanother. The power of the will of an individual over his own muscles,\nnot only in the usual movement, but in producing a rigidity of the\nmuscles of the arm or thigh, is of course notorious. But it appears\nthat there are some persons morbidly susceptible of this rigidity,\nor at least preternaturally liable to it. Again, others have a will\nwhich is, in some degree, preternatural; hence, when such persons are\nin proximity, the one can actuate the muscles of the other, and even\nmodify the impressions on the brain.\n\n1922. Spirits, as above stated, appear to be endowed with this\nwill-power to an extent proportioned to their necessities. Hence it was\nsubstantiated by my spirit father in the first instance, and by the\nconvocation of spirits in the second, that they, like the genius of\nAladdin\u2019s lamp, can create, in their own world, the objects of rational\ndesire or fancy by a _fiat_, but their will-power cannot directly move\nmundane bodies. In order to effect this, they must avail themselves of\nthe coarser medium of the human will-power, in which case they act, as\none mortal may act upon the will-power of another in proximity. The\nwill-power aura of human beings and of spirits seems to emanate from\ntheir organism respectively, and, no doubt, connects duly with that of\nGod. Hence, there is thus, that association of the divine will, with\nall animated beings, which is suggested by the popular theology. The\nwill, and the aura through which it acts, varying with the organism\nwith which it is associated, it requires a certain coincidence in the\nattributes of a spirit and a mortal, to enable the former to use the\naura of the latter to produce any manifestation of its will or ideas.\nBut so far as this coincidence exists, the power is enjoyed. That such\ncoincidences have arisen, I conceive must be evident from the careful\nconsideration of the facts which I have recorded in this work.\n\n1923. The question is put by the Rev. Mr. Mahan, why the odic force,\nexisting in nature, may not be productive of the results ascribed\nto disembodied spirits? He overlooks the fact that no inanimate\nimponderable principle can be, _per se_, a moving power; that inanimate\nmatter does not move itself. Then, as I understand, agreeably to\nanother phase, he inquires why may it not become an instrument to the\nminds of the mortals concerned?\n\n1924. In the first place, there are facts within my experience which\ncannot be explained by any possible exertion of any mundane mind,\nwere those concerned to concur in striving to accomplish the result.\nThus, how would it be possible for Mrs. Gourlay and myself to have\nbrought about the result of which an account has been given in the\nsupplemental preface of this work, and upon which remarks have been\nmade in other pages? It is utterly impossible that, by any imaginable\nprocess, Mrs. Gourlay, having no previous hint, could have become the\ninstrument of my volition at the distance of nearly a hundred miles\nfrom Philadelphia, and when, at the time, she was intently engaged in\nreceiving, as she alleges, a communication from her spirit mother to\nher brother, who was her visitor from his abode in Maine.\n\n1925. Again, it cannot be imagined that things would be communicated\nby my spirit father and others, of which I was ignorant when they\nwere made. The same may be said of Mrs. Gourlay, as she knew nothing\nof the facts communicated to her, for me. Then, when the narrative of\nthose facts was read over to the spirit, there were often things to\nbe explained and views to be justified, in opposition to my previous\nimpressions. Conversing frequently with Mrs. Gourlay, I know that she\nhad none of the important impressions respecting the spheres, which\nwere conveyed through her for my edification.\n\n\n                    RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAHAN.\n\n\n                      _Proposition of Mr. Mahan._\n\n1926. \u201cEvidence that the Scriptures are given by inspiration of\nthe Spirit of God, as contrasted with the evidence, that the spirit\nmanifestations are from the spirits of men.\u201d\n\n1927. The Rev. Mr. Mahan, not satisfied with endeavouring to refute\nSpiritualism directly, devotes some pages of his work to the object of\nbearing it down by the weight of Scriptural superiority, both as to the\nevidence, and its moral tendencies. This renders the expediency of the\nstrictures which I have made, or may make, on the other side of the\nquestion, unquestionable.\n\n1928. There are several truths, which I deem to be axiomatic, which\nare irreconcilable with the truth of Revelation, (18 to 20.) Merely\nto state them is to refute Mr. Mahan\u2019s allegation above cited. With\nreaders who will not admit the axioms to which allusion is made, I must\nagree to differ. (See page 34.)\n\n1929. In the first place, I have represented it as a contradiction to\nallege that an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God can subject\nany thing to probation, (1380.)\n\n1930. In the next place, I hold that an _omnipotent_ God cannot wish\nmen to have any religion, without that object being effected.\n\n  Will not any event arrive\n  For which both will and power strive?\n  Must not any result obtain\n  Which power unites with will to gain?\n\n1931. I answer these queries in the affirmative, and of course consider\nthe theology of Revelation as involved in a contradiction, so far as it\nrepresents an _omnipotent and prescient_ God _as wishing any creed to\nbe adopted which has not been adopted_.\n\n1932. As a corollary to these axioms, it results that God never has\nperformed any miracle for the purpose of conveying a knowledge of\nthe true religion; simply because all that have been alleged to have\ncome from God have only produced religious discord. Of course God,\nforeseeing the failure of those miracles, would not have resorted to\nthem.\n\n  Did God a special creed require,\n  Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?\n\n1933. This I answer affirmatively. The truth of the affirmative is as\nclear to my mind as any of Euclid\u2019s axioms.\n\n1934. Another conclusion I consider as inevitable: that no document can\nbe substantiated by the facts of which it furnishes the sole evidence.\n\n1935. In this predicament I place the Bible, the Koran, the Shaster, or\nVeda, and the Zendavesta, or any religious record of antiquity.\n\n1936. Manifestly, a record made by man can have no higher authority\nthan that of the men whose testimony it records, and those by whom it\nwas recorded.\n\n\n    _Of the origin of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists,\n    according to the testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an\n                 obscure priest and a fanatical king._\n\n1937. If we are to judge of the Jewish priesthood by the example\nafforded by Samuel, we have no more reason to trust a Hebrew pontiff\nthan a Romish pope, (1091.) Bishop Hopkins has sufficiently shown how\nfar priests are to be trusted, (1296.) What would be said of any book,\nalleged to be due to Divine inspiration, if it had, agreeably to its\nown authority, an origin no more reliable than the allegation of a\npriest that it had been found in a temple or church, there being no\nother evidence of its not having been forged by the priest, or his\naccomplices, than his own allegation? What better evidence would there\nbe of the sacred origin of such a document, than there is of the Book\nof Mormon\u2014the Bible brought forward by Joe Smith? Yet the following\nquotation will show that there was no Bible in use in Judea in the\nreign of Josiah, 350 years after the reign of David, and just before\nthe Babylonian captivity; and that, in consequence, idolatry had to a\ngreat extent superseded the true worship.\n\n1938. Under these circumstances, the high priest alleged a copy of the\nBible to be found, and sent it by a scribe to the king. This monarch\nhad lived in such ignorance of the existence of this holy code, that he\nwas thrown into a state of such deep penitence for the sinful omissions\narising from his ignorance, as to rend his clothes by way of expressing\nhis sorrow. Moreover, orders were forthwith given to have the abuses\nabated, which had been introduced solely through ignorance.\n\n1939. I view this evidence of the highest importance at this time,\nwhen such men as Mahan, and the anonymous author of the parodied\nletter, (1182,) are appealing to the Bible as the inspired word of\nGod, and thus making God sanction a catalogue of atrocious crimes\nand indecencies, and when this imposture is to sit as an incubus\non those truly moral impressions which the blessed spirits of the\nimmortal Washington and other worthies, as well as my honoured father,\nwould communicate for the amelioration of the religion and morals\nof mankind. I repeat, that I consider it of immense importance that\nattention should be called to the questionable foundation on which\nthese pretensions to inspiration are erected. I shall, therefore, not\nonly quote a portion of these pretended _words of God_, but also that\npart of a chapter in the Book of Josephus which narrates the same\nall-important occurrence more fully and satisfactorily, though giving\nthe same evidence essentially.\n\n\n _Scriptural Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses by Hilkiah,\n           the High Priest._\u20142 Chron. xxxiv.; 2 Kings xxii.\n\n 1940. \u201cAnd when they brought out the money that was brought into the\n house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the\n Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the\n scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.\n And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the\n book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All\n that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered\n together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have\n delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the\n workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the\n priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And\n it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law, that he\n rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son\n of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and\n Asaiah a servant of the king\u2019s, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for\n me, and for them that are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning\n the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the\n Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept\n the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.\n And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the\n prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,\n keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:)\n and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus\n saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,\n Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and\n upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written\n in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: because\n they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that\n they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands;\n therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not\n be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of\n the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel\n concerning the words which thou hast heard; because thy heart was\n tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest\n his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof,\n and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep\n before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. Behold, I will\n gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave\n in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring\n upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought\n the king word again. Then the king sent and gathered together all the\n elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of\n the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,\n and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small:\n and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant\n that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his\n place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord,\n and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes,\n with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the\n covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were\n present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants\n of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their\n fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the\n countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that\n were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And\n all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of\n their fathers.\u201d\n\n\n     _Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses, by Josephus._\n\n 1941. \u201cThe repairs of the temple being completed, and all expenses\n defrayed, Hilkiah, in conformity to the king\u2019s orders, took out the\n money for the purpose of converting it into vessels for the use of the\n temple; and, upon removing the gold, happened to discover the sacred\n books of Moses. This he took out and gave to Shaphan, the king\u2019s\n secretary, to peruse, who, upon reading them over, went to the king,\n accompanied by Hilkiah, who told him that he had executed all his\n commands relative to the reparation of the temple, and at the same\n time presented the book to him in great form, assuring him what it\n was, and where they had found it.\n\n 1942. \u201cThe king ordered Shaphan to read a part of the contents, which\n being done, he rent his robes, in dread of the heavy curses denounced\n against a wicked generation. In the height of his affliction, he\n desired the secretary, with Hilkiah, and several priests who were\n present, to go to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, a man\n of eminence, and unite their endeavours to prevail upon her to make\n intercession with God for pardon toward himself and his subjects. He\n told them there was great reason to apprehend that the vengeance of\n Heaven would fall upon the present generation as a punishment for\n the iniquity of their progenitors, and particularly their neglect\n and contempt of the laws of Moses; and that, without obtaining a\n reconciliation, they should be dispersed over the face of the earth,\n and terminate their lives in misery.\n\n 1943. \u201cHilkiah, with those who were appointed to accompany him,\n immediately repaired to the prophetess, and having related the cause\n of the king\u2019s affliction, and his earnest desire of her intercession\n with Heaven in behalf of him and his subjects, she bade them return\n him this answer: That the sentence already pronounced was not to\n be recalled on any supplication or intercession whatever. That the\n people were to be banished from their own country, and punished for\n their disobedience with the loss of all human comforts. That the\n judgment was irrevocable, for their obstinately persisting in their\n superstitious and idolatrous practices, notwithstanding so many\n warnings to a timely repentance, and the menacing predictions of the\n prophets, if they persevered in their abominations.\n\n 1944. \u201cThis unchangeable decree was to show, by the event, that there\n is a just and overruling Disposer of all things, and the predictions\n which he delivered by the means of the prophets will be infallibly\n verified, as the certain indications of his whole will respecting\n mankind. The prophetess added, \u2018Tell the king, however, that, in\n consideration of his own pious and virtuous example, the judgment\n shall be averted from the people during his days; but that the day of\n his death shall be the eve of their final destruction.\u2019\n\n 1945. \u201cAs soon as Josiah received this message from the prophetess,\n he immediately despatched messengers to the several cities within his\n dominions, commanding all the priests and Levites, and men of all\n ages and conditions, to repair with the utmost speed to Jerusalem.\n These orders being obeyed, and the people assembled, the king went\n to the temple, where, in the hearing of the whole multitude, he\n caused the laws of God, as contained in the books of Moses, to be\n distinctly read; after which he bound himself and the people, with\n their universal consent, by a most solemn oath, strictly to observe\n every article contained in the sacred books, respecting the laws\n and religion established by Moses. This solemn oath was followed by\n prayers and oblations for the divine blessing and protection.\n\n 1946. \u201cThe king strictly enjoined the high priest to take a particular\n account of the plate and vessel in the temple, and to cast out so\n many of them as they should find to have been dedicated by any of his\n ancestors to idolatrous services. Those that were found were reduced\n to dust, and in that state thrown into the air. All the priests were\n likewise put to death, that were not of the flock of Aaron.\n\n 1947. \u201cHaving effected this reformation in Jerusalem, Josiah made a\n progress throughout his whole dominions, where he destroyed all the\n relics of Jeroboam\u2019s superstition and idolatry, and burnt the bones of\n false prophets, upon the very altar which that impious king had set\n up. Of this we have taken notice before, as well as the intervention\n of the prophet, with a prediction in the hearing of the multitude,\n at the time when Jeroboam was offering sacrifice, \u2018That one of the\n race of David, Josiah by name, was to do this.\u2019 The prediction was\n verified, by the event, three hundred and fifty-one years after it was\n foretold.\n\n 1948. \u201cSo ardent was the zeal of Josiah for extending the great work\n of reformation, that he went in person to several of the Israelites\n who had escaped the Assyrian bondage, in order to dissuade them from\n continuing in superstition, and prevail with them to embrace the pure\n religion of their forefathers, according to the long established\n custom of their country. Nor did he rest here, but caused the towns\n and villages to be searched for the discovery of any remains of\n idolatrous practices that might lie concealed. The very figures of\n the horses over the porch of the temple, which their forefathers had\n dedicated to the sun, and all the monuments to which the people had\n ascribed divine honour, were, by his special order, taken away and\n destroyed.\n\n 1949. \u201cHaving thus purged the whole nation from idolatry, and fully\n restored the true worship of the one only and true God, he called an\n assembly of the people at Jerusalem, for the purpose of celebrating\n the passover, the time for that festival being near at hand. On this\n occasion the king gave out of his own store, for paschal sacrifices,\n thirty goats, a thousand lambs, and three thousand oxen. The heads\n of the priests presented to the others of the sacerdotal order two\n thousand six hundred lambs, and the chief of the Levites gave to\n their tribes five thousand lambs, and five hundred oxen. A solemn\n sacrifice was made of these victims, according to the precepts of\n Moses, and the ceremony was performed under the direction of the\n priests. From the time of the prophet Samuel to that day, there had\n never been a festival celebrated with equal solemnity; for this had\n the allowed preference, because the whole was conducted in strict\n conformity to the very letter of the laws, and the precise mode of\n their forefathers. Josiah, after the accomplishment of a work of such\n moment and importance to the nation in general, enjoyed his government\n in honour, peace, and plenty, till he closed his life.\u201d\u2014Book 10, page\n 153.\n\n\n    _If the Pentateuch had been previously known to the Jews, it is\n incredible that it could have become_ obsolete _and_ forgotten _prior\nto the alleged discovery of it in the Temple, in the reign of Josiah_.\n\n1950. After the Pentateuch had been viewed as the word of God, made\nknown to a people as their peculiar inheritance, lifting them, in their\nown estimation, above the rest of mankind, as God\u2019s chosen people, this\ncode being the sole authority for their _bloody_ and _rapacious_ course\ntoward their neighbours, is it credible that such a document, had it\never existed, could have become both obsolete and forgotten?[45] Yet\nwe have no alternative but to admit this absurdity, or to conclude\nthat the Bible has no better authority than the Book of Mormon; the one\nbeing no more than the other the work of a designing priesthood and\nwould-be rulers.\n\n1951. What credit would be given to any work having no better authority\nfor divine origin than that of the allegation that some pope had\nfound it in a cathedral or in the Vatican, and had sent it to some\nmonarchical bigot as the mislaid testament of the Almighty, given by\ninspiration through some ancient predecessor of his holiness?\n\n1952. It may be difficult to conceive that Hilkiah and his associates,\nin writing a book, as proceeding by inspiration from Jehovah, could\nhave fabricated any facts so derogatory to an immaculate Deity as\nthose mentioned under the authority of Moses. How impious must have\nbeen their conceptions, to represent him as authorizing them to borrow\ntrinkets of the Egyptians, in order to purloin them; the sanctioning\nthe cold-blooded murder of three thousand people for religious error;\nthe slaughtering of whole nations, even to their suckling babes, as\nin the case of the Midianites, Canaanites, and Amalekites, with the\nsetting aside virgins for the fate from which the Roman Virginius\nrelieved his daughter by his dagger! It is difficult to conceive\nthat an idea, so derogatory of God, could have been entertained by\nhis _chosen_ people. Yet, on the other hand, inasmuch as they _were\nwritten_, there must have been some mind so impious as to have\noriginated them; and it may be a less wonder that such fabricators\nshould have existed in a cruel and barbarous age of the world, than\nthat, in the present age of superior morality and civilization, they\nshould find endorsers in the professed ministers of the Being whom they\nhave thus misrepresented.\n\n 1953. Mr. Mahan alleges: \u201cEvery reader will agree with us in the\n assumption that the incorruptible God has never performed and never\n will perform a miracle in attestation of that which is unreal or\n untrue. A religion really and truly attested by divine miracles must\n therefore be admitted to be true.\u201d\n\n1954. To this very admissible _truism_, I add that an omnipotent\nand _prescient_ God could not have any occasion to perform miracles\nin attestation of any thing, since, by the premises, his will must\nbe carried out without miracles. That any thing should, even for an\ninstant, be contrary to his will, is inconsistent with his foresight\nand omnipotency. It would be a miracle _that any thing counter to his\nwill should exist_.\n\n1955. The next postulate of Mr. Mahan is: \u201c_No religion attested as\ntrue by divine miracles can be false._\u201d\n\n1956. Was this proposition ever impugned? No one would resist the\nunquestionable dictates of God, however conveyed, whether by miracles\nor any other means. The question is not whether a religion _attested by\ndivine miracles should be accredited, but whether there were ever any\nmiracles, attesting any religion, performed; and if so, what religion\nhas the peculiar merit of having been thus attested?_ Millions, who\nbelieve in other religions, deride those miracles of revelation which\nMr. Mahan would adduce; and Protestants do not admit many which the\nRomish Church sanctions. For one, I deny that any miracle has ever been\nperformed with the view of attesting any religion whatever. No miracle\ncould be necessary to attest the will of Omnipotence any more than to\nenable a man to wave his hand. But, admitting that it ever has been\nnecessary, no miracle has ever been resorted to for the purpose in\nquestion, since none has answered the desired end. This would not have\nbeen the case had miracles been resorted to by _prescient_ omnipotence.\n\n1957. A miracle, as defined by this author, on page 345 of his work,\nis an event \u201c_whose existence and characteristics can be accounted\nfor but by a reference to the direct and immediate interposition of\ncreative power, as their exclusive cause_.\u201d\n\n1958. I reassert that, where omnipotence and prescience are concerned,\nsuch interposition could, in no case, be requisite. The miracle would\nbe, that there could be any thing so contrary to omnipotent will as to\nrequire any miraculous interference to set it right!\n\n1959. Instead of assuming, with orthodoxy, that our heavenly Father\nis _quite_ omnipotent, spirits hold that his powers are only such as\nthis magnificent and almost infinite universe involves; consequently,\nthere is no necessity on their part to admit that every thing must be\nexactly as God wishes it to be. They are not obliged to consider him as\nallowing mischievous ignorance, sin, and misery to exist, while by a\n_fiat_ he could correct them; and still less are they involved in the\nnecessity of supposing that, while able to make every thing _perfect_,\nhe, from choice, makes them imperfect, and yet has had to resort to\ndrowning his creatures by a great flood, and subjecting whole nations\nto degrading captivity; authorizing one nation to massacre another,\neven to each suckling babe, for wrongs done centuries before.\n\n1960. By Spiritualism, the Deity is represented as operating by general\nlaws, from which, consistently with his attributes, he cannot deviate,\nhaving to perform no miracle to attain his ends; and that through these\nlaws he is incessantly acting for the good of mankind; and the whole\nuniverse is progressing under his benign controlling influence.\n\n1961. Thus we have the two systems, that of progression last mentioned,\nand that of probation above objected to; which last, being in diametric\nopposition to an axiomatic truth, is, on this account alone, manifestly\nabsurd.\n\n1962. But, admitting that miracles could, without inconsistency, be\nsupposed to be resorted to by prescient omnipotence, in order to\nproduce or prevent some consequence of a general law, in the making or\ncarrying out of which an all-wise and all-powerful being inconsistently\ndisplays a want of wisdom and foresight, it must be perfectly clear\nthat a prescient being would resort to such miracles as would produce\nthe desired effect; not such as would be only partially seen or\nbelieved, and would become a new source of discord. Omnipotence could\ncertainly devise miracles which could be seen and be believed in by all\nmen; and which would so impress their minds, as to make them believe in\nwhat they should hear and see. By a single fiat, God, if as omnipotent\nas represented in Scripture, could make all his people of one mind. He\nwould not send them a \u201c_sword to separate father from child, mother\nfrom daughter, mother-in-law from daughter-in-law_,\u201d and to make\n_the subordinates of each household rise in rebellion against their\nmaster_. A prescient God would not perform miracles of such doubtful\ncharacter as, for want of evidence, to oblige one of the miracle-makers\nto enforce a belief in them by treacherous and cruel assassination,\nas did Moses. God would require no evidence of his miracles but such\nas could be recorded in the minds of believers. He would not have the\nrecords of his will so situated, as to be liable to be confounded with\nthe fabrications of priestcraft. If devils were to be cast out, he\nwould not have drowned a herd of swine, merely to give those immortal\nmiscreants a ducking.\n\n1963. So far are the miracles narrated in the gospel from commanding my\ncredence, that the account of them proves to me, that the Evangelists\nwere men without discretion, in recording any thing so absurd and\n_incredible_, and so _useless_ to the _main object_, of giving a\n_knowledge of God_, and of the _means of reaching a future happy state_.\n\n1964. How absurd to represent God as performing miracles remotely\nand indirectly bearing upon his object, instead of exercising his\nomnipotent power universally, effectually, and at once!\n\n1965. If God were to adopt any miraculous means to make his will known,\nthey would not be such as would fail in attaining their end. None but\nan idiot would resort to measures foreknown to be incompetent to the\nobject for which they should be devised. As no miracles that have\nbeen alleged to have been performed have been productive of general\nconviction of the truth of the creed which they have been alleged to\nsupport, it follows that they could not have had a divine origin. A\nprescient God would not have resorted to incompetent miracles.\n\n1966. This reverend author is likewise of opinion that nothing but\nmiracles can be appealed to as evidence of the divine origin of\nChristianity or of any other religion.\n\n1967. When miracles are appealed to by different sects, in support of\ntheir conflicting pretensions, it must result that, if religion is to\nbe founded only on miracles, that religion only can be recognised as\ntrue whose miracles are so pre-eminently evident as to abrogate all\nothers that conflict with it. But it is notorious that the miracles\nbrought forward by each sect are denied, if not ridiculed, by others.\nAppealing to miracles is, in fact, appealing to the human evidence\non which they depend. In like manner, any religion which rests on\nassumed inspiration, rests, in fact, on the evidence proving that the\ninspiration claimed ever took place.\n\n1968. But are we to believe in all miracles which have been alleged\nby men to have happened? Are we to believe any book to be inspired,\nbecause men, who contradict each other, alleged it to be inspired?\nand if several books are alleged to be inspired, how are we to choose\nbetween them? Is a man\u2019s choice of these books to be governed by his\neducation? If brought up in Turkey, is he to believe that the Koran is\nthe word of God; if in Christendom, the gospel? If all who surround\nhim were to treat it as impious to doubt that _a book_ is the word\nof God, is he to submit to this dictation, or is he to exercise his\nown judgment, and examine whether the Bible of the Christian, and the\nmiracles on which it rests, are not more likely to be true than the\nKoran and the miracles on which it rests? But if, after having examined\nboth of these works, he finds that the miracles on which they rest are,\nin both cases, entirely dependent on human testimony, and that this\ntestimony is disputed on one side by the Mohammedans, and on the other\nby the Christians, and that each party only admits such miracles to be\ntrue as harmonize with his own religion; that miracles told by profane\nwriters rather tend to discredit than to corroborate the occurrences\nwith which they are associated,\u2014will not the inference naturally arise\nthat the belief in miracles is the result of religion, not religion the\nresult of belief in miracles?\n\n1969. An analogous result may be perceived in relation to any\nextraordinary manifestation in Spiritualism. Scarcely any one will\nbelieve that the spirit hand (1513) has been seen and felt at Koons\u2019s\nestablishment in Ohio, unless previously a convert to Spiritualism.\nThus he does not become a spiritualist by reading the account of that\nmanifestation, but believes the manifestation because he has been\nconverted to Spiritualism. Did the truth of that manifestation rest\nupon the evidence of only one set of eye-witnesses, even spiritualists\nhad not believed in it. As miracles have ever been alleged to have been\nseen only by very few persons, and have never been of a nature to be\nseen by a succession of observers, I cannot conceive why any man, in\nany age or time, could be reasonably expected to display a credulity,\nthe inverse of that now exhibited, as respects this spiritual\nmanifestation. Scarcely any person, without being an eye-witness of\nthe fact, has been brought to believe that tables move without human\ncontact. By recurrence, the reader may perceive that in my letter of\nFebruary 3, 1854, I use this language in my letter to Mr. Holcomb: _You\nbelieve that tables move without contact, because you have seen them\nso moved; I am skeptical, because I have never seen them moved without\ncontact, though I have been at several circles_, (698.)\n\n1970. When I stated to my friend, Professor Henry, the experiment\nillustrated by plate 3, with the utmost precision, made twice on\ntwo different evenings, he said: \u201cI would believe you as soon as\nany man in the world, but I cannot believe that.\u201d Yet the result\nof that experiment was nothing more than the fact of bodies moving\nwhen uninfluenced by any apparent mortal agency, accompanied by\na demonstration of a governing reason; a result which has been\nestablished again and again by myself with the greatest precision,\nand by many other investigators. Evidently, if this had never been\nrepeated, it would have been treated as a mental hallucination on my\npart by my comrades in science and all the rest of the community.\n\n1971. Such is the difficulty of inducing credence, in enlightened\nminds, of any thing which is inconsistent with those laws of nature\nwith which they have become familiar. Clearly, in the present advanced\nstate of the human mind, no miracles would be believed on hearsay\ntestimony.\n\n1972. It seems as if facts, incredible at first view, are always\nbelieved when they are confirmed by being seen by independent and\ndisinterested and intelligent observers sufficiently often, and under\nsuch modifications, as to make all such observers believe in them. We\nare willing to believe in a mysterious fact as _one_ of a _genus_, but\nnot when isolated. If I may judge by the incredulity with which my\nobservations in Spiritualism have been met by those who had previously\nconsidered me reliable, I should deem it utterly impossible among\nintelligent, well-educated people of the present day to induce a belief\nin an isolated miracle; and, as respects ignorant, bigoted sectarians,\nthe difficulty to obtain credence would be at least as great.\n\n1973. Were our heavenly Father now to cause miracles to be performed as\nwonderful and as isolated as those mentioned in Scripture, as no one\nwould know any thing of them direct from God, excepting those by whom\nthey might be witnessed, it would only cause the narrators of them to\nbe ridiculed, as those spiritualists were ridiculed who first asserted\ntheir belief in spiritual manifestations. In order, therefore, that\nmiracles should be believed in by an enlightened community, belief\nwould have to be instilled by education or supported by reiterated\nobservation, since, in enlightened communities, no miracles would be\nbelieved in but those which should come within these conditions.\n\n1974. There is not a single miracle mentioned in the gospel which\ntends to throw light upon the alleged object of Christ\u2019s mission.\nThe object of their performance was mainly to prove his supernatural\npower to those who should believe in them, and thus to cause him to\nbe accredited as a missionary from God. So far from their ever having\nhad an effect of this kind on my mind, gospel miracles tended only to\ndestroy my confidence in the veracity or discretion of their narrators,\nupon the same principle that spiritualists have lost weight with their\nintelligent friends by mentioning manifestations which were considered\nby these as incredible.\n\n1975. I can foresee a great triumph for spiritualists, sooner or\nlater, in the world to come, if not in this; but this result will\nnot flow from the conversion of their skeptical friends to a belief\nin the manifestations which may have been viewed by the narrators,\nas described. The conversion of skeptics will arise from their own\nobservation, with the concurrent testimony of many reliable witnesses,\nall tending to the verification of analogous phenomena.\n\n1976. The miracles of Scripture never have had nor never can have this\nspecies of corroboration, and of course will make but little progress\namong people educated under conflicting impressions. In this age of\nbigotry in favour of all educational mysteries and extreme skepticism\nas to innovations, the last thing which could obtain credence would\nbe miracles of the nature of those which Mr. Mahan assumes to be the\n_only_ foundation for religious belief.\n\n1977. It has already been urged that Moses was, _by his own account_,\na worldly man, who, as I conceive, was guilty of a misrepresentation\nin alleging that the Creator of the hundred millions of solar systems\ncomprised in this universe (1342) made him and his people especially\nthe object of a partiality, authorizing them to plunder and extirpate\nall the neighbouring people: moreover, that Moses was worldly-minded\nin the _extreme_, and so intent upon acquiring lands in this world, as\nto neglect his opportunities, if he had any, of learning from Jehovah,\nin frequent alleged intercourse with him, any information respecting\nthe immortality of the soul, (1091, 1098, 1271.) My attention has been\nrecently turned to the 24th chapter of Exodus. It is there mentioned\nthat Moses, with more than seventy elders of Israel, went up the mount,\nand there had an interview with the God of Israel, when \u201c_they saw\nGod_.\u201d It is then stated that \u201c_The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,\nSpeak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. And\nthis is the offering which you shall take of them, gold, silver, and\nbrass, and blue and purple, fine linen, and goats\u2019 hair_,\u201d &c.[46]\n\n1978. There are then two or three chapters occupied with the\nspecification of the various valuable articles of gold, and precious\nwood, and stones, required by an _omnipotent God to furnish a\ntabernacle_. Such is the misuse made by this pretended missionary of\nGod, of the opportunity of learning that _which is above all price_.\nHow many thousands of human beings have been willing to lay down\ntheir lives for religious truth!\u2014and yet this pretended favourite of\nJehovah, by his own account, spent his time in getting baubles, making\nthe Almighty his agent. It may be that the whole is a fable, and that\nthe account originated in the time of Hilkiah, when the Pentateuch was\nacknowledged to have been found accidentally. But if Moses and the\nelders really ascended the mount, and represented themselves as seeing\nGod, and receiving those directions, evidently they were all a set of\nimpostors, who resorted to this mode of obtaining furniture for the\ntabernacle.\n\n\n  _Great Importance attached to a Belief in Immortality by Cyrus the\n  Great, King of Persia, as contrasted with the recklessness of Moses\n                     respecting the same Belief._\n\n1979. Among the errors propagated industriously by fanatical\nsectarians, is that of representing the Old and New Testament as of\ninestimable importance, as the only source of our knowledge of a\nfuture state of existence, of which heathen writers are mentioned as\ndeficient. In refutation of the calumny thus promulgated, I deem it\nexpedient to quote the following sentiments ascribed by Xenophon to\nCyrus, King of Persia, in _addressing his children_:\n\n 1980. \u201cThink not, my dearest children, that when I depart from you,\n I shall be no more: remember that my soul, even while I lived among\n you, was invisible; yet by my actions you were sensible it existed in\n this body. Believe it, therefore, existing still, though it still be\n unseen. How quickly would the honours of illustrious men perish after\n death, if their souls performed nothing to preserve their fame! For\n my part, I could never think that the soul, which, while in a mortal\n body, lives, when departed from it, dies; or that its consciousness is\n lost when it is discharged out of an unconscious habitation; on the\n contrary, it most truly exists when it is freed from all corporeal\n alliance.\u201d\n\n1981. Let this be compared with the inexcusable inattention of Moses,\ntaking his own narrative to be true, in communicating with God about\nevery thing else, almost, excepting that which concerns immortal life.\nIf the despicable criminality of Abraham in putting his wife at the\npleasure of two heathen kings successively, and _their repugnance_\nto have violated his connubial rights, be taken as a fit test of\ncomparative morality, if these sentiments of King Cyrus be compared\nwith those of the Jewish lawgiver as respects immortality, the chosen\npeople of God were much below some neighbouring heathens both in\nmorality and religion.\n\n1982. This inference will be fortified by comparing the portraiture of\nthe Deity as given by Moses (1140) and Samuel, (1091,) with that given\nby Seneca, (1224.)\n\n\n                  _The Worship of a Book, Idolatry._\n\n1983. Much has been said in Scripture and by its votaries against\nidolatry, but I do most seriously consider the Old Testament as a more\npernicious idol than any image or statue can be in the nature of things.\n\n1984. An image or statue does not speak; it suggests nothing cruel,\nunjust, or indecent to the worshipper; neither do any of the objects\nusually treated as idols. It must evidently be an error to accuse\nidolaters of contemplating the inert image to which they kneel, as\ntheir God. They must see that it neither does nor can do any thing.\nThey must perceive that, fixed in one place, the image cannot have\nthat ubiquity or efficacy, essential to divine power. It follows that\nthe object of adoration must be an invisible power associated with the\nidol, which may occupy the image only when invoked. In every temple\ndevoted to Jupiter there might be a statue of Jupiter, and yet it\nwas never held that there was more than one Jupiter. From the verses\nsubjoined, from Pope\u2019s translation of the Iliad, it appears that Homer\ngave to Jupiter a supremacy which made the other deities bear to him no\nhigher relation than that which the archangels do to God, according to\nChristianity:\n\n  1985. \u201cLet down our golden everlasting chain,\n        Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and main;\n        Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth,\n        To drag by this the Thunderer down to earth.\n        Ye strive in vain. If I but lift this hand,\n        I heave the heavens, the ocean, and the land;\n        For such I reign, unbounded and above,\n        And such are men and gods compared to Jove.\u201d\n\n1986. But when a book is made the word of God, which patronizes men as\nbelonging to a _chosen_ seed who are guilty of cruelty, robbery, fraud,\nmassacre in cold blood, it becomes a more active and mischievous idol\nthan any dumb beast, image, or statue can be. An idolater worships a\nsilent idol as the representative of God. The idol cannot say, \u201c_I am\na jealous God: I wax hot in my wrath_.\u201d\n\n1987. Mr. Mahan urges, that the sufferings undergone by martyrs to\nChristianity is evidence of its truth, whereas, it seems to me that\nit only proves the conviction of the parties, which, if displayed\nby a dervise or a fakir, would be called bigotry. But if suffering\nin a cause is evidence in its favour, there have been sufferers on\nthe other side, as well as on that which this author has undertaken\nto uphold. It is but fair, if those who suffer for one side should\nhave their suffering held up as proof of their conscientiousness, the\nsame conscientiousness should be conceded to those who have suffered\nfor the other. The author of the pages I am about to quote, the Rev.\nRobert Taylor, was, for want of a better answer to his publication,\ncondemned to Oakam Jail, in England, for one year. It was there he\nwrote his Diagesis, copies of which may be had of Mr. Curtis, No. 34\nArch street, as well as other books which may assist readers to form an\nopinion for themselves. I shall quote some pages from this work, which,\nbeing studied after reading Mahan\u2019s arrogant allegations, will make\ngood the old saying, that \u201cOne story is good until another is told.\u201d\n\n 1988. \u201cThe ordinary notion, that the four gospels were written by the\n persons whose names they bear, and that they have descended to us\n from original autographs of Matthew and John, immediate disciples,\n and of Mark and Luke, contemporaries and companions, of Christ, in\n like manner as the writings of still more early poets and historians\n have descended to us from the pens of the authors to whom they are\n attributed, is altogether untenable. It has been entirely surrendered\n by the most able and ingenuous Christian writers, and will no longer\n be maintained by any but those whose zeal outruns their knowledge,\n and whose recklessness and temerity of assertion can serve only to\n dishonour and betray the cause they so injudiciously seek to defend.\n\n 1989. \u201cThe surrender of a position which the world has for ages been\n led to consider impregnable, by the admission of all that the early\n objection of the learned Christian Bishop, FAUSTUS the Manichean,\n implied, when he pressed Augustine with that bold challenge which\n Augustine was not able to answer, that,[47] \u2018It was certain that the\n New Testament was not written by Christ himself, nor by his apostles,\n but a long while after them, by some unknown persons, who, lest they\n should not be credited when they wrote of affairs they were little\n acquainted with, affixed to their works the names of apostles, or\n of such as were supposed to have been their companions, asserting\n that what they had written themselves was written ACCORDING TO those\n persons to whom they ascribed it.\u2019\n\n 1990. \u201cThis admission has not been held to be fatal to the claims of\n divine revelation, nor was it held to be so even by the learned Father\n himself who so strenuously insisted on it, since he declares his own\n unshaken faith in Christ\u2019s _mystical_ crucifixion, notwithstanding.\n\n 1991. \u201cAdroitly handled as the passage has been by the ingenuity of\n theologians, it has been made rather to subserve the cause of the\n evidences of the Christian religion than to injure it. Since, though\n it be admitted that the Christian world has \u2018_all along been under\n a delusion_\u2019 in this respect, and has held these writings to be of\n higher authority than they really are; yet the writings themselves and\n their authors are innocent of having contributed to that delusion,\n and never bore _on_ them, nor _in_ them, any challenge to so high\n authority as the mistaken piety of Christians has ascribed to them,\n but did all along profess no more than to have been written, as\n Faustus testifies, not BY, but ACCORDING to, Matthew, Mark, Luke,\n and John; and by persons of whom indeed it is not known who or what\n they were, nor was it of any consequence that it should be, after the\n general acquiescence of the church had established the sufficient\n correctness of the compilations they had made.\n\n 1992. \u201cAnd here the _longo post tempore_ (_the great while after_)\n is a favourable presumption of the sufficient opportunity that all\n persons[48] had, of knowing and being satisfied that the gospels\n which the church received were indeed all that they purported to be;\n that is, faithful narrations of the life and doctrines of Christ\n _according_ to what could be collected from the verbal accounts which\n his apostles had given, or by tradition been supposed to have given,\n and, as such, \u2018_worthy of all acceptation_.\u2019\n\n 1993. \u201cThe objection of Faustus becomes from its own nature the most\n indubitable and inexceptionable evidence, carrying us up to the very\n early age, the fourth century, in which he wrote, with a demonstration\n that the gospels were then universally known and received under the\n precise designation, and none other, than that with which they have\n come down to us, even as the gospels, respectively, _according_ to\n Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.\n\n 1994. \u201cOf course there can be no occasion to pursue the inquiry into\n the authenticity of the Christian Scriptures lower down than the\n fourth century.\n\n 1995. \u201c1. _Though_, in that age, there was no established canon or\n authoritative declaration that such and none other than those which\n have come down to us were the books which contained the Christian rule\n of faith.\n\n 1996. \u201c2. And though \u2018no manuscript of these writings now in existence\n is prior to the sixth century, and various readings which, as appears\n from the quotations of the Fathers, were in the text of the Greek\n Testament are to be found in none of the manuscripts which are at\n present remaining.\u2019\u2014_Michaelis_, vol. ii. p. 160.\n\n 1997. \u201c3. And though many passages which are now found in these\n Scriptures were not contained in any ancient copies whatever.\n\n 1998. \u201c4. And though \u2018in our common editions of the Greek Testament\n are MANY readings which exist not in a single manuscript, but are\n founded on MERE CONJECTURE.\u2019 \u2014_Marsh\u2019s Michaelis_, vol. ii. p. 496.\n\n 1999. \u201c5. And though \u2018it is notorious, that the orthodox charge the\n heretics with corrupting the text, and that the heretics recriminate\n upon the orthodox.\u2019\u2014_Unitarian New Version_, p. 121.\n\n 2000. \u201c6. And though \u2018it is an undoubted fact that the heretics were\n in the right in many points of criticism where the Fathers accused\n them of wilful corruption.\u2019\u2014_Bp. Marsh_, vol. ii. p. 362.\n\n 2001. \u201c7. And though \u2018it is notorious that forged writings under the\n names of the apostles were in circulation almost from the apostolic\n age.\u2019\u2014See 2 Thess. ii. 2, _quoted in Unitarian New Version_.[49]\n\n 2002. \u201c8. And though, \u2018not long after Christ\u2019s ascension into heaven,\n several histories of his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and\n fabulous wonders, were composed by persons whose intentions, perhaps,\n were not bad, but whose writings discovered the greatest superstition\n and ignorance.\u2019\u2014_Mosheim_, vol. i. p. 109.\n\n 2003. \u201c9. And though, says the great Scaliger, \u2018They put into their\n Scriptures whatever they thought would serve their purpose.\u2019[50]\n\n 2004. \u201c10. And though, \u2018notwithstanding those twelve known infallible\n and faithful judges of controversy, (the twelve apostles,) there\n were as many and as _damnable_ heresies crept in, even in the\n apostolic age, as in any other age, perhaps, during the same space of\n time.\u2019\u2014_Reeve\u2019s Preliminary Discourse to the Commonitory of Vincentius\n Lirinensis_, p. 190.\n\n 2005. \u201c11. And though there were in the manuscripts of the New\n Testament, at the time of editing the last printed copies of the\n Greek text, upward of ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND various\n readings.\u201d\u2014_Unitarian New Version_, p. 22.\n\n 2006. \u201c12. And though \u2018the confusion unavoidable in these versions\n (the ancient Latin, from which all our European versions are derived)\n had arisen to such a height, that St. Jerome, in his Preface to the\n Gospels, complains that no one copy resembled another.\u2019\u2014_Michaelis_,\n vol. ii. p. 119.\n\n 2007. \u201c13. And though the Gospels fatally contradict each other; that\n is, in several important particulars, they do so to such an extent\n as no ingenuity of supposition has yet been able to reconcile: after\n Marsh, Michaelis, and the most learned critics, have stuck, and owned\n the conquest.\n\n 2008. \u201c14. And though the difference of character between the\n three first Gospels and that ascribed to St. John is so flagrantly\n egregious, that the most learned Christian divines and profoundest\n scholars have frankly avowed that the Jesus Christ of St. John is a\n wholly different character from the Jesus Christ of Matthew, Mark, and\n Luke; and that their account and his should both be true is flatly\n impossible.[51]\n\n 2009. \u201c15. And though such was the idolatrous adulation paid to the\n authority of Origen, that emendations of the text which were but\n suggested by him were taken in as part of the New Testament; though he\n himself acknowledged that they were supported by the authority of no\n manuscript whatever.\u2014_Marsh, in loco._\n\n 2010. \u201c16. And though, even so late as the period of the Reformation,\n we have whole passages which have been thrust into the text, and\n thrust out, just as it served the turn which the Protestant tricksters\n had to serve.\n\n 2011. \u201c17. And though we have on record the most indubitable\n historical evidence of a general censure and correction of the Gospels\n having been made at Constantinople, in the year 506, by order of the\n Emperor Anastasius.[52]\n\n 2012. \u201c18. And though we have like unquestionable historical evidence\n of measureless and inappreciable alterations of the same having been\n made by our own Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the avowed\n purpose of _accommodating them to the faith of the orthodox_.\u201d[53]\n\n\n          _Evidence of Josephus and Gibbon_ vs. _Mr. Mahan_.\n\n2013. The silence of Josephus respecting Christ induced some Christians\nto concoct the pious fraud of interpolating in his history a notice of\nthe career and crucifixion of Christ, but subsequent Christian writers\nhave detected and exposed the interpolation; so that the history\nalluded to, written soon after Christ\u2019s death by the distinguished\nHebrew, contains no notice of those events; and, from the following\npassage in Gibbon, it appears that it did not awaken much attention\namong the Romans. Yet Mahan, assuming the opposite to be true, urges\nit as evidence of the evangelical account, that the phenomena drew\nuniversal attention.\n\n 2014. \u201cHow shall we excuse,\u201d says Gibbon, \u201cthe supine inattention\n of the pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were\n presented by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to\n their senses? This miraculous event, which ought to have excited the\n wonder, the curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without\n notice in an age of science and history. It happened during the\n lifetime of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have experienced\n the immediate effects or received the earliest intelligence of the\n prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded\n all the great phenomena of nature\u2014earthquakes, meteors, comets, and\n eclipses\u2014which his indefatigable curiosity could collect; both one and\n the other have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to which the\n mortal eye has been witness since the creation of the globe.\u201d (Gibbon,\n vol. ii. chap. xv. p. 379.)\n\n\n     _The Worshippers of the Golden Calf more righteous than their\n                              Assassins._\n\n2015. The example is set in the Old Testament of attributing the worst\nmotives to every one who does not concur with the accusers in religious\nopinions. I conscientiously believe that the Israelites who made the\ngolden calf were at least as righteous in their worship as those who\ntreacherously and cruelly massacred them in obedience to an order\nstrangely represented as sanctioned by Jehovah: \u201c_Put every man his\nsword by his side, and go in and out of the camp, and slay every man\nhis brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; and\nthe children of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there\nfell of the people on that day about three thousand men._\u201d\n\n2016. Obviously, the only way in which those who, with Mr. Mahan,\ncan find any pretence for ascribing this horrible sanguinary order\nto the inspiration of God, is by treating idolatry as so wicked as\nto be punished, not only in the immediate transgressor, but in his\noffspring to the third and fourth generation. Is it not a fairer way\nof viewing this affair to infer that Moses and his partisans were\ncovetous, unprincipled men, who did not hesitate at _swindling_,\n_lying_, _massacre_, or any measures requisite to give him and them\nascendency? Was there ever a greater analogy between the measures of\nany two evil-doers than those of Mohammed and Moses, both professing\ncommunion with God, which we now know could not have taken place, and\nboth pleading his commands to exercise the most horrible intolerance at\nhome, as well as cruel rapacity abroad?\n\n2017. Mohammed appears to have been more successful than Moses in\nconvincing his followers of his mission. There seems to have been a\ngreat distrust of Moses, which he artfully always ascribes to the\nimpiety of the unbelievers; like all other religious impostors,\nidentifying his word with that of God. Nothing but his inability to\nconvince the skeptics of the divine origin of his mission could have\ninduced them to worship idols in opposition to his remonstrance; and\nthe fact that Aaron assisted them in casting the golden calf, can\nonly be explained by his participation in the heresy. Does not this\nalleged conduct on the part of Aaron render the whole affair so absurd\nas to throw doubt over the whole history? Moses, while killing the\nmalcontents, could hardly avoid punishing their ringleader. Moreover,\nhow could one who would assist in idolatrous worship, be fit to hold\nthe office of high-priest, into which he was soon afterward installed\nwith great pomp?\n\n2018. It is perfectly clear, to my mind, that a pagan who sincerely\nworships any thing as his God, really worships God. He stands in the\nsame relation to his God that a debtor stands to his real creditor when\npaying a forged draft.\n\n2019. Wicked priests have raised a cry against idolaters, as the real\nthief strives, by calling after some innocent person within view, to\ndivert the hue and cry from himself. As an exemplification of this\nspecies of wickedness, I quote here a speech made to the Emperor\nConstantius by Julius Firmicius Maternus, (Taylor\u2019s Diagesis, page 144:)\n\n 2020. (Addressing the Emperor Constantius.) \u201cTake away, take away,\n in perfect security,\u201d exclaims this self-called Christian priest, \u201cO\n most holy emperor, take away all the ornaments of their temples. Let\n the fire of the mint or the flames of the mines melt down their gods.\n Seize upon all their wealthy endowments, and turn them to your own use\n and property. And, O most sacred emperor, it is absolutely necessary\n for you to revenge and punish this evil. You are commanded by the\n law of the Most High God to persecute all sorts of idolatry with the\n utmost severity; hear and commend to your own sacred understanding\n what God himself commands. He commands you not to spare your son\n or your brother; he bids you plunge the avenging knife even into\n the heart of your wife that sleeps in your bosom; to persecute your\n dearest friend with a sublime severity; and to arm your whole people\n against these sacrilegious pagans, and tear them limb from limb. Yea,\n even whole cities, if you should find this guilt in them, must be cut\n off. O most holy emperor, God promises you the rewards of his mercy,\n upon condition of your thus acting. Do, therefore, what he commands,\n complete what he prescribes.\u201d\n\n2021. It should be recollected that this diabolical address was made\nto the Christian son and successor of Constantine. Can there be a more\nshocking picture of the mischievous consequences of the example and\ndoctrines of Moses as respects idolaters? Certainly, Constantius was\nnot any better for his Christianity, when he could listen, without\nindignation, to such wicked suggestions!\n\n2022. It is alleged that in the city of Thessalonica the Emperor\nTheodosius put to death all the pagans that breathed, in obedience to\nChristianized Mosaic intolerance, which in modern times was carried out\nin the massacre of St. Bartholomew\u2019s day, and the Inquisition. Such\nwere the effects of the propagation of Christianity, with the appendage\nof the Pentateuch to the swordlike attributes with which Christ endowed\nhimself: \u201cThink not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not\nto send peace, but a sword!\u201d Matt. x. 34.\n\n2023. Shakspeare truly makes one of his characters say that whosoever\ntakes away the good name of another commits a more wicked theft than\none who takes a purse. But in this portrait of the effect of calumny\nthere is one important feature omitted, which is sometimes the most\ninjurious: I allude to the pain of mind created by a false accusation.\nIf, as I have before urged, it be wrong to hurt the flesh by a blow, is\nit not wrong to hurt the soul by calumny? The sting of the fangs of the\nviper, no less than the paw of the lion, may give a mortal infliction;\nbut no less painful may be the effect of a false human tongue. Is it\nnot as great a wrong to wound a man\u2019s soul as his flesh? Yet there\nnever has been any hesitation on the part of sectarians to express any\npainful opinion as to heretics or idolaters. The word _infidel_, so\nmuch more deserved by themselves for their violation of the precepts\nthey profess, is used as a matter of course, and, coupling with an\nerror in worship a heinous sinfulness, the idolater is always in the\nwrong. But reasonably, upon the grounds which have been advanced in the\npreceding portion of this work, (1245,) idolatry may be an imputation\nagainst the intellectual pretension, but not against the integrity, of\nthe worshipper; and for one I consider the propensity to the worship\nof idols displayed throughout the whole of the Jewish history, and\neven by Solomon the \u201c_Wise_,\u201d as a strong proof that there never was\nsufficient evidence presented to the Jews of the divine origin of the\nbooks of Moses, or any others represented as conveying God\u2019s holy word.\n\n2024. It is not doing as we would be done by to accuse any worshipper\nof bad motives, for the reasons which I have above given; and when it\nis considered how unwilling people are to part with their property,\nthe fact that the Israelites gave their gold ornaments to enable Aaron\nto cast a golden calf, shows that they sincerely believed that their\nworship would be acceptable to some deity who had the best claim to\ntheir acknowledgment. If they mistook the object, it must have been\nan error of the understanding, which it would have been evidently\nmore reasonable to have corrected by reasoning and evidence, than by\npunishment.\n\n2025. While such eminent men as Mahan, and the learned Goliah of my\nmundane guardian spirit, will hold up this, to my mind, barbarous and\npreposterous Pentateuch as the word of God, I am obliged to meet them\nupon the ground thus stated; but there are other highly respectable\nclergymen, who concur in questioning that the Pentateuch existed\nuntil after the return of the Jews from their captivity; and there is\nevidence, agreeably to the quotations I have made, that this alleged\nwork of divine inspiration, or _word of God_, as stated in the Second\nBook of Chronicles, and 22d chapter of the Second Book of Kings, has\nno better foundation than the word of the priest Hilkiah and his\naccomplices.\n\n2026. The Rev. Mr. Norton, in a laborious investigation, shows that,\naccording to internal evidence, almost all the important facts\nstated in Genesis and Exodus are inconsistent with each other or the\ncircumstances under which they are alleged to have happened.\n\n2027. Mr. Mahan conceives that the willingness of the believers in the\ngospel to sacrifice their lives in testimony of the sincerity of their\nconviction proves the truth of revelation. Wherefore, then, does not\ntheir exposure to the slaughtering sword of the partisans of Moses\nprove the sincerity of the Israelites in their worship of their idol?\nNo wise knave would do any thing so absurd. History shows that many of\nthose who have been most willing to make sacrifices for their belief\nhave been great fanatics. Their willingness to suffer only proves the\nintensity of their belief, not the truth of the miracles which they\nbelieve.\n\n2028. Having first assumed, contrary to the fact, that the mission\nof Christ was generally accredited in the contemporaneous pagan\ncommunities, Mr. Mahan claims this to be evidence of the facts stated\nby the evangelists.\n\n2029. But if the belief in a mission by contemporaries is evidence in\nits favour, is not the disbelief of contemporaries evidence on the\nother side? Is not the fact that Moses could only expel idolatry from\nthe Hebrews by the sword, a proof that he was unable to convince them\nby any adequate evidence of his claims to inspiration?\n\n2030. This surmise, respecting the inadequacy of the facts and\nreasoning which Moses had to advance in favour of his pretensions\nas a missionary of Jehovah, appears to be fully justified in the\nhistory given by Josephus. From the following language, which this\ndistinguished Jewish historian alleges to have been held by one of the\nIsraelites, it is evident that Moses was then viewed as no better than\nMohammed or any of the usurping popes of Christendom. While Protestants\nsanction such religious despots as Moses and Samuel, they ought not to\ncomplain of the papal despots of Christendom, (note to 1091.)\n\n\n_Just denunciation of the religious imposture and usurpation of Moses,\n                   by noble-minded Israelites._[54]\n\n 2031. \u201cCorah, an Hebrew of great wealth and influence, and famous for\n his eloquence, becoming jealous of the dignity to which Moses had\n attained, raised a clamour against him among the Levites who were of\n the same tribe, by suggesting to them, in an occasional harangue,\n \u2018That it redounded to their dishonour thus tamely to suffer Moses,\n under pretence of the divine command, to retain unlimited authority,\n vest the priesthood in his brother Aaron without their suffrages,\n and bestow places of honour and profit at pleasure.\u2019 He added, \u2018that\n these measures were the more oppressive and grievous as founded on\n the arts of sophistry and insinuation; that those who are conscious\n of deserving posts of dignity endeavour to obtain them not by force,\n but mild persuasion; that it was the interest of a state to check\n the ambition of such aspiring individuals, before they acquired an\n influence that might prove destructive.\u2019 He demanded by what authority\n Moses had conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons, enforcing\n his own title as superior to theirs, both by descent and property.\u201d\n\n2032. In consequence of this, Moses addresses the following prayer,\nwhich certainly is as remote from the sentiments which the precepts of\nChrist would call for, as any which can be imagined:\n\n 2033. \u201cTestify thy wonted kindness to the Hebrews by inflicting\n condign punishment on Dathan and Abiram, for suggesting that thy\n purposes are opposed by my arts. Visit these detractors from thy glory\n with exemplary vengeance. Let the earth on which they tread swallow\n them up, _with their families_ and substance, to the manifestation of\n thy power, and as an example to posterity not to think unworthily of\n the Majesty of heaven.\u201d\n\n2034. Mr. Mahan urges that those who sacrificed their lives for a cause\nmust have had good reason for their course. What are we, then, to think\nof Zimri the Hebrew, who used the following language to Moses, and\nwas, as well as those who concurred with him in opinion, murdered in\nconsequence, not after trial, but by Lynch law, as will appear from the\nsequel?[55]\n\n 2035. \u201c\u2018Moses, you are at liberty to contend for the use and\n observance of your own laws, which have obtained a sanction and\n authority by long custom alone, or you would have been brought to\n merited disgrace and punishment, and found, to your cost, that the\n Hebrews were not to be deluded by your arts. I will never subject\n myself to your tyrannical decrees, assured that, under a pretext of\n regard to religion and law, you seek to enslave us, and establish a\n supreme authority over us, by denying us those liberties to which\n all free-born men have an undoubted right. Was there a more grievous\n oppression during the whole course of an Egyptian bondage than\n the power you usurped of punishing every man by laws of your own\n formation? You particularly deserve punishment for abrogating and\n annulling those customs, laws, and privileges which are authorized\n and established by the common consent of nations, and preferring\n the suggestions of your fancy to rules so generally followed and\n rationally founded. Conscious that I have done nothing wrong, I now\n frankly declare, in this assembly, that I have married a strange\n woman. This I confess with an honest boldness, and would do the same\n in the face of the world. I also worship the gods whom thou hast\n forbidden to be worshipped, as I do not hold myself bound to submit\n to your arbitrary sway either in matters of law or religion, but\n must assert the liberty of investigating the truth for myself, and\n directing my own personal concerns.\u2019\n\n 2036. \u201cZimri, in this speech, delivered the general sentiment of the\n whole faction, while the multitude silently waited the issue of his\n presumptuous conduct, for they apprehended much confusion would ensue.\u201d\n\n2037. But one of Moses\u2019s partisans did not allow this noble asserter\nof the rights of human nature to survive this bold stand long, as will\nappear from the rest of the narrative, which thus proceeds:\n\n 2038. \u201cHis contumacy and flagrantly insolent behaviour to Moses\n raised the resentment of one Phineas to the highest degree. He was a\n youth eminent for the dignity of his family, his singular prowess, and\n his personal virtues. Eleazar the high-priest being his father, he\n was nearly allied to the great lawgiver. Sensible that to suffer such\n indignity to pass with impunity would bring both the religion and the\n laws of the Hebrews into contempt, he determined to make an example of\n the ringleader of the faction, as his exalted rank would cause that\n example to have a greater influence on the minds of the people. His\n resolution being equal to his zeal, he repaired, without delay, to the\n tent of Zimri, and at one stroke slew both him and Cobi his wife. This\n resolute act excited an emulation among those of his contemporaries\n who still maintained a regard for the honour of their country, to\n avenge themselves on those who had done it violation; inasmuch that\n they fell most furiously upon the faction, and put great numbers of\n them to the sword.\u201d\n\n2039. Where is the true-hearted son of Columbia who would not have been\namong those who fell with Zimri, for the right of choosing his wife and\nhis religion according to his own judgment?\n\n\n_Remarkable observance of the Golden Rule by Moses, in his last advice\n                        to the Israelites._[56]\n\n 2040. \u201c\u2018Wherefore, to avoid this danger of apostasy from the worship\n of the God of your fathers, suffer not any of your enemies to live\n after you have conquered them; but esteem it highly conducive to\n your interest to destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live,\n you become infected by their manners, and thereby corrupt your own\n institutions. I do further exhort you to overthrow their altars,\n temples, groves, and indeed to exterminate their nations with fire and\n sword. By these means alone the permanency of your happy constitution\n can be secured to you.\u2019\u201d\n\n2041. Let these sentiments of Moses be compared with those of the great\nCyrus, in which he justly adverts to the immortality of the soul. Moses\nwas always worldly, and, as respects the lives of neighbouring pagans,\nso called, displayed no better morality than Thuggism on a great scale.\n\n\n  _Straining at Spiritual Gnats, while swallowing Scriptural Camels._\n\n2042. The question is put, Wherefore can spirits cause tappings on\nor tilting of tables, only when a medium is present? To those who\nbelieve in the Old Testament as the word of God, it may be in point to\ninquire, Wherefore the mere elevation of the hands of Moses, on a hill\nremote from the field of battle, enabled the Israelites to overcome\ntheir enemies, when the opposite result ensued when the hands of the\nveracious prophet were lowered, as agreeably to verses 11 and 12,\nchapter xvii. of Exodus?\n\n 2043. \u201cAnd it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel\n prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But\n Moses\u2019s hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him,\n and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one\n on the one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were\n steady until the going down of the sun.\u201d\n\n2044. It follows from the verses in question that the skill, strength,\nor courage of every Jewish combatant varied with the elevation or\ndepression of the arms of Moses above or below a mean horizontal plane.\n\n2045. Surely, the peculiar influences thus exercised by the author of\nthe Pentateuch is at least as incredible as that by which the presence\nof a medium enables spirits to move ponderable bodies, when otherwise\nthey could not move them. The influence ascribed to Moses is alleged to\nhave been witnessed only on one occasion, whereas that attributed to\nmedia has been seen in a multiplicity of instances by living witnesses\nof good character, who will attest to the facts, as well as the media\nthemselves.\n\n2046. But, independently of the incredibility of this Mosaic miracle\nas an isolated fact discordant with the laws of nature and human\nexperience, is it not incredible on account of its inconsistency with\nthe just and humane idea of God which the truly pious entertain,\nthat he should give this assistance to the Jews in their unchristian\nwarfare? This reasoning is at least as applicable to the alleged\narrestation of the sun, (involving that of the rotary motion of the\nearth,) in order that Joshua might make a further slaughter of the\nvanquished Canaanites. For this slaughter the prominent excuse seems\nto have been that Moses, wishing to possess the territory of the\nCanaanites, professed to have the authority of God for extirpating them\nas idolaters, agreeably to the following language, which is represented\nby Mr. Mahan and others as the word of God, (Deut. viii. 16, 20, 22:)\n\n 2047. \u201cAnd thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God\n shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither\n shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.\n Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until\n they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. And\n the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and\n little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the\n field increase upon thee.\u201d\n\n\n  _The Evidence which is insufficient to establish the Iniquity of a\n  Sinner cannot be sufficient to establish the Divine Authority of a\n                                Book._\n\n 2048. \u201cOne witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity\n or any sin: at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall\n the matter be established,\u201d (Deut. xix. 15.)\n\n2049. Agreeably to the preceding quotation from Scripture, one witness\nis not sufficient to convict a man of any iniquity. Two witnesses,\nat least, are necessary to establish guilt. But if a single witness\nbe insufficient to establish the iniquity of a man, how is it to be\nestablished, on the evidence of the priest Hilkiah alone, that the\nmanuscript, which, as he represented, he had found in the temple, was\nthe inspired code of Moses, or, as Mahan and others would have it, the\nword of God?\n\n2050. Should the righteousness of a religious code be established by\nevidence insufficient to establish the iniquity of an individual?\n_A fortiori_, when, by proving the righteousness of a code, a whole\ngeneration was to be convicted of iniquity, was the evidence of one\nindividual sufficient, especially when the iniquity thus to be adjudged\nwas to draw down the unquenchable wrath of God, agreeably to Huldah the\nprophetess?\n\n\n_Word of God, impiously so called, or the Golden Rule inverted by God\u2019s\n                          alleged Commands._\n\n 2051. \u201cWhen thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then\n proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of\n peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that\n is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall\n serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make\n war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy\n God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male\n thereof with the edge of the sword: but the women, and the little\n ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil\n thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself: and thou shalt eat the spoil of\n thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou\n do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are\n not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people\n which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt\n save alive nothing that breatheth: but thou shalt utterly destroy\n them, namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the\n Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath\n commanded thee,\u201d (Deut. xx. 10-17.)\n\n\n                     PAGAN FEARLESSNESS OF DEATH.\n\n\n  _Opinion of Mr. Huc, a Christian Priest, that it is their religion\nwhich makes Christians more fearful of death than the Chinese_, (746.)\n\n2052. PARSON BERG and Bishop McIlvaine unjustly represent the doctrines\nof futurity, held by Christians, as causing those who believe in\neternal punishment\u2014in the horrible hell described by Josephus, and\nsanctioned by the gospel, with the precarious notions of heaven\nderived from the same authority\u2014to have less fear of death than\ndeists, by them called _infidels_. But I have known many deists die,\nand certainly I have never seen any believer in Christianity meet\ndeath with more firmness than those who did not believe. Some of the\nlast-mentioned class have died of painful complaints with the most\nadmirable equanimity. But to illustrate the injustice of these reverend\ngentlemen in their undue assumption of the superior fearlessness of\ndeath of those persons who believe in the gospel over those who do not\nso believe, I will here quote a passage from the travels of a Christian\nmissionary, which describes the equanimity with which the Chinese meet\ndeath. From the work of the French missionary, Mr. Huc, it will be seen\nthat _death_ is contemplated with far less fearful apprehension in\nChina than in Christendom.\n\n\n _Observations of the Missionary, Mr. Huc, to whom reference has just\n                              been made._\n\n 2053. \u201cIn no other country than China, perhaps, could men be heard\n exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin. People (in\n Christendom) are most shy of mentioning the lugubrious objects\n destined to contain the mortal remains of a relation or friend; and\n when death does enter the house, the coffin is got in in secresy and\n silence, in order to spare the feelings of the mourning family. But\n it is quite otherwise in China; there a coffin is simply an article\n of the first necessity to the dead, and of luxury and fancy to the\n living. In the great towns you see them displayed in the shops with\n all sorts of tasteful decorations, painted, and varnished, and\n polished, and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers, and give\n them the fancy to buy themselves one.\n\n 2054. \u201cPeople in easy circumstances, who have money to spare for\n their pleasures, scarcely ever fail to provide themselves beforehand\n with a coffin to suit their own taste, and which they consider\n becoming; and, until the moment arrives for lying down in it, it is\n kept in the house; not as an article of immediate necessity, but as\n one that cannot fail to be consoling and pleasant to the eye in a\n nicely-furnished apartment.\n\n 2055. \u201cFor well-brought up children, it is a favourite method of\n expressing the fervour of their filial piety toward the authors of\n their being, a sweet and tender consolation for the heart of a son,\n to be able to purchase a beautiful coffin for an aged father or\n mother, and come in state to present the gift at the moment when they\n least expect such an agreeable surprise. If one is not sufficiently\n favoured by fortune to be able to afford the purchase of a coffin in\n advance, care is always taken before \u2018_saluting the world_,\u2019 as the\n Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfaction of\n casting a glance at his last abode; and if he is surrounded by at all\n affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin and place\n it by the side of his bed.\n\n 2056. \u201cIn the country, this is not always so easy, for coffins are\n not kept quite ready, and, besides, peasants have not such luxurious\n habits as townspeople. The only way, then, is to send for the\n carpenter of the place, who takes the measure of the sick person, not\n forgetting to observe to him that it must be made a little longer than\n would seem necessary, because one always stretches out a little when\n dead. A bargain is then made concerning the length and breadth, and\n especially the cost; wood is brought, and the workmen set about their\n task in the yard, close to the chamber of the dying person, who is\n entertained with the music of the saw and the other tools, while death\n is at work with him, preparing him to occupy the snug abode when it is\n ready.\n\n 2057. \u201cAll this is done with the most perfect coolness, and without\n the slightest emotion, real or affected. We have ourselves witnessed\n such scenes more than once, and it has always been one of the things\n that most surprised us in the manners of this extraordinary country.\n A short time after our arrival in the mission of the north, we were\n walking one day in the country with a Chinese seminarist, who had the\n patience to reply to all our long and tedious questions about the\n men and things of the Celestial Empire. While we were keeping up the\n dialogue as well as we could, in a mixture of Latin and Chinese, using\n a word of one or the other as we found occasion, we saw coming toward\n us a rather numerous crowd, who advanced in an orderly manner along a\n narrow path. It might have been called a procession.\n\n 2058. \u201cOur first impulse was to turn aside, and get into some safe\n corner behind a large hill; for, not having as yet much experience\n in the manners and customs of the Chinese, we had some hesitation in\n producing ourselves, for fear of being recognised and thrown into\n prison; possibly even condemned and strangled. The crowd had now come\n up with us, and we stood aside to let it pass. It was composed of a\n great number of villagers, who looked at us with smiling faces, and\n had the appearance of being uncommonly pleased. After them came a\n litter, on which was borne an empty coffin, and then another litter,\n upon which lay extended a dying man, wrapped in blankets. His face was\n haggard and livid, and his expiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin\n that preceded him. When every one had passed, we hastened to ask the\n meaning of this strange procession. \u2018It is some sick man,\u2019 said the\n seminarist, \u2018who has been taken ill in a neighbouring village, and\n whom they are bringing home to his family. The Chinese do not like to\n die away from their own house.\u2019 \u2018That is very natural; but what is\n the coffin for?\u2019 \u2018For the sick man, who probably has not many days to\n live. They seem to have made every thing ready for his funeral.\u2019 I\n remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen. \u2018That, they\n mean to use for the mourning.\u2019\n\n 2059. \u201cThese words threw us in the most profound astonishment, and we\n saw then that we had come into a new world\u2014into the midst of a people\n whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans.\n These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral of a still\n living friend and relation\u2014this coffin placed purposely under the\n eyes of the dying man, doubtless with the purpose of doing what was\n agreeable to him; all this plunged us into a strange reverie, and the\n walk was continued in silence. The astonishing calmness with which the\n Chinese see the approach of death does not fail when the last moment\n arrives. They expire with the most incomparable tranquillity, without\n any of the emotions, the agitations, the agonies that usually render\n the moment of death so terrific.\u201d\n\n2060. It is remarkable that Mr. Huc cites an \u201c_entire want of\nreligious feeling, as among the causes of this indifference to\ndeath_.\u201d[57] But it may be inquired whether that can be a proper kind\nof religious feeling which interferes with equanimity at the prospect\nof our spiritual birth. I can easily believe Mr. Huc to be correct, if\nhis entire want of religious feeling means the absence of all fear of\nan eternal broiling, like that of Dives.\n\n2061. It is the absence of that _sort_ of religion which this\n_sectarian would teach_; that which consigns the great majority of\nmankind to perpetual misery on account of their disbelief in Romanism.\n\n2062. Widely different is the effect of the religion I have espoused.\nIt has made a prodigious change in my feelings. I look forward to death\nwith hope, rather than fear. (See page 32 (108) of this work for the\ndifferent effect of Romanism on my mind.)\n\n\n      _Conclusion of Strictures on Mr. Mahan\u2019s Religious Errors._\n\n2063. It will be observed that under the general head of Mr. Mahan\u2019s\nerrors, I have treated of not only those which he has advocated, but\nsuch as he sanctions by his general endorsement of Scripture. However,\nI here take my leave of Mr. Mahan and his errors.\n\n\n\n\n                              CONCLUSION.\n\n\n2064. In a work by the English bishop Warburton, is to be found the\nfollowing allegation:\n\n \u201cThe doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments is not to\n be found in, nor did it make part of, the Mosaic dispensation.\u201d\n\n\n _The Pentateuch inconsistently represented as the basis of belief\n in human immortality, as will appear by the prefixed quotation, as\n well as the inability of any of its devotees to point out any part\n which conflicts with the right reverend author\u2019s opinion, above\n mentioned.\u2014Injustice of representing disbelievers in the Bible as not\n having as good grounds for belief in immortality as those who rest\n their belief on a work which, by its silence, tends to discountenance\n the hope of a future life.\u2014Those who uphold the Bible against\n Spiritualism, the real antagonists of the only satisfactory evidence\n ever given to man of a future habitation in the spirit world._\n\n2065. Religious people all very justly insist on the immense importance\nof a belief in a future state of existence, in which we are to enjoy a\ndegree of happiness in proportion to our good conduct in this life, or\nof misery in proportion as we do evil.\n\n2066. Throughout Christendom I believe such a belief is necessary to\nrender a person competent as a witness, or to hold any office. As it\nis assumed generally by Christians that there is no other proof of\nimmortality than that alleged to be afforded by Scripture, unbelievers\nin Scripture are assumed to be unbelievers in a future state, and\nthe most unfavourable insinuations are made respecting such persons,\n(1310.) Bishop McIlvaine, in his \u201cEvidences,\u201d has _charitably_\nrepresented that, as a class, such men are peculiarly vicious, and in\ntheir domestic relations immoral; _not recollecting how far Christian\nprelates have been found wanting in the present, as well as in past\ntimes_. But notwithstanding that the disbelief in a future state is\nheld to be so universally pernicious in its influence, self-called\northodox Christians deem it impious not to bow before the Bible as\nthe holy word of God, or to be wanting in respect for his inspired\nmissionary, Moses. But admitting that the books found by Hilkiah (1940)\nwere written, under divine inspiration, by Moses, how does it happen\nthat those books and their author stand in such high estimation,\n_when they actually give no evidence of immortality, but rather tend\nto prove that God, in communicating his will to Moses, thought it\nmore important to give to the Jews directions for the decoration of a\ntabernacle, than to impart to them the invaluable knowledge of their\neternal existence? Moreover, God is represented as holding in especial\nfavour, those who did not think it of as much importance to inquire\ninto the truth of immortality, as to obtain decorations for pharisaical\nworship._ Why is Moses, _a materialist_, to be venerated, who so\ngrossly trifled with his opportunities? There is either a flagitious\nmisrepresentation, or he, of all men, had the best opportunity of\nlearning this _all-important_ truth; and therefore, dying ignorant of\nit, is proportionally more culpable. Wherefore is the uncandid and\nunfounded pretence resorted to, that attacking the Old Testament is\nattacking the basis of the hope of heaven, when, on the contrary, that\nrecord has really the opposite tendency\u2014that of enfeebling the evidence\nof immortality?\n\n2067. We see the _heathen_ Cyrus, on his death-bed, (1980,) striving\nto impress upon his children a belief in immortality, while Moses,\ndying a worldly-minded, blood-thirsty materialist, employs his last\nmoments in giving _inhuman_ directions for the _merciless massacre_ of\nevery conquered pagan. Yet, while Bishop McIlvaine, as respects his\ncontemporaries, represents materialism as irreconcilable with virtue,\nMoses is to be venerated and the books attributed to his authorship\nidolatrously worshipped as the word of God! But if the advocacy of any\nthing which tends to lessen the hope of immortality be culpable, is\nit not culpable, against the truths of Spiritualism to hold up a book\nwhich authorizes disbelief in immortality, and that, too, upon such\nquestionable authority as an obscure priest and fanatical and barbarous\nautocrat? (1937.) As respects the gospel, it has, I hope, been shown\nthat, with all the exertions of the good parson Harbaugh to exhibit\nthe heaven of Scripture in its most favorable aspect, (777 to 805,)\nSpiritualism has immensely the advantage in the description given of\nthe spirit world, (409 to 469,) sanctioned by the replies given to my\nqueries under test conditions, (552).\n\n2068. Another ground of pre-eminence is the perfect immunity from any\nassociation with such a priesthood as that described by the Right Rev.\nBishop Hopkins. Media, replacing the priests, will owe their office to\nnature, not to any aristocracy, monarch, or theocrat, (1307).\n\n2069. Private disinterested Media will always outnumber and control any\nof the same class who may attempt to acquire unfair ascendancy, even\nif, in the nature of the case, it were possible that such a wrong could\nbe contemplated.\n\n2070. I trust I have shown that the actual morals of Christendom are\nirreconcilable with the precepts of the gospel, which denounce wealth\nand enjoin submission to wrong, these morals being also inconsistent\nwith the materialism of the books of Moses. Under these circumstances,\nlet the reader turn to the evidence which has converted me from a\nprepossessed skeptic to a devout believer in spiritual communication.\nLet that glorious portraiture of the spirit-world be considered which\nhas been opened to the view of mortals through the high spirits who\nhave accredited me as one of their servants. I will not go over the\nevidence, nor recapitulate the arguments which I have already so fully\nurged upon the attention of my readers. I implore them to read with\ncandour, and think earnestly of the facts and reasoning submitted in\nthis volume.\n\n\n             _P. S.\u2014Explanation respecting Jesus Christ._\n\n My spirit sister alleges that Christ never uttered the language\n recorded as his, and upon which I have commented. This being admitted,\n I wish that nothing which I have said may be considered as bearing\n personally on a Being who is so much the object of devotion with\n many of my dearest connections, relations, and friends. I wish that\n it should be considered that it is only upon the doctrines imputed\n to Christ, that I have intended to animadvert, not on Jesus himself.\n Surely I am justified as treating that language as coming from Jesus\n Christ, which is ascribed to him in the only history of his teachings\n which has come down to us, and which, under the name of the holy\n canonical gospel, is considered by more than three-fourths of all the\n Christians in existence as inspired by God!\n\n\n\n\n                               APPENDIX.\n\n\nUnder this head I place some articles which could not be embodied\nin this work; but which it may nevertheless be expedient to place\nwithin the reach of certain readers. Among the articles referred to\nis the theory of electricity, which I first published in 1848, and\nwhich has been approved by the spirit of Franklin, and, in obedience\nto his advice, inserted in this volume. Unfortunately, there are but\nfew persons sufficiently acquainted with the phenomena which form its\nbasis, and the technical language employed by professed electricians,\nto find it agreeable to study the subject in question; but they may\nqualify themselves to do so by studying the elementary works on this\nbranch of science.\n\n\n                    LETTER TO THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY.\n\nAlthough the subjoined letter has been published in various channels,\nas well as in a separate pamphlet, I deem it proper to record it in\nthis work, as, otherwise, many who may see the one might not see the\nother. It will be perceived that the substance of my second letter has\nbeen already incorporated in the preceding pages, (714 to 776.) Of\ncourse it is to the first letter that I now allude, and which I intend\nto record here.\n\n _Letter from Dr. Hare to the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal\n Church, offering to lay before them the New Evidence of Immortality._\n (_Submitted to the late Convention, Philadelphia, May 15, 1855._)\n\n REVEREND AND DEAR SIRS: Having, from my youth, been on friendly terms\n with the clergy of the Episcopal Church, within the pale of which I\n was born and christened; having, in fact, had among the clergy of that\n church some excellent friends and relatives,\u2014it has been a source of\n regret that I have not been able to see doctrines deeply affecting\n the happiness of mankind in the same light. I am, however, fully\n sensible of the kindness and courtesy with which I have been treated\n by clergymen in general, and especially by those of the church above\n designated. I have always been under the belief that in no part of the\n globe, nor at any period of human history, has a priesthood existed\n as moral, as sincere, and truly pious as those of my country; and\n among that priesthood, I believe, none have stood higher in these\n qualifications than such as are of the Episcopal Church.\n\n It is happy for me that of late I have, in one respect, found myself\n more in accordance with the Christian clergy: I allude here to the\n awakening of perfect confidence in the immortality of the soul.\n There was on this subject, heretofore, this difference between my\n sentiments and those of my clerical friends, that while I hoped for\n a future state, I was no less skeptical respecting the evidence of\n witnesses who lived some thousand years ago than of those who have,\n in modern times, alleged themselves to have witnessed supernatural\n manifestations. I required in the former case, no less than in the\n latter, intuitive proof; or the consistent testimony of independent\n observers having sufficient sense, knowledge, and integrity to make\n reliable witnesses.\n\n Happily, in the case of Spiritualism, both of these tests have been\n afforded to me, so that I now believe in a future state no less firmly\n than the orthodox Christian.\n\n Like St. Paul, in the case of Christianity, I entered upon the\n investigation of Spiritualism with a view to refutation; but the very\n instruments which I contrived to accomplish that object produced the\n opposite effect.\n\n If human testimony is not to be taken when advanced by contemporaries\n known to be conscientious, truthful, and well informed, how is it to\n be relied on with respect to those of whom we know nothing available\n beside what their own writings mention?\n\n I am prepared to submit a communication respecting the spirit world\n from my father, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits, whose\n approbation was manifested by means which no mortal could pervert.\n\n The practical influence on my mind has been to make me far more\n happy, to remove all fear of death, and to render me more watchful as\n to my deportment in life. I know that my sainted parents, and other\n relatives and friends, my children who died in infancy, are around me,\n witnessing every act and exercising a limited power over my safety and\n my health.\n\n Mourning for the dead now seems to be groundless, and at all events\n can be indulged only upon selfish considerations. But who would grieve\n deeply at a transient separation, even for years, from friends made\n happier by the change, when sure of a happy reunion ultimately?\n\n No evidence of any important truth in science can be shown to be more\n unexceptionable than that which I have received of this glorious fact,\n that heaven is really \u201cat hand,\u201d and that our relatives, friends, and\n acquaintances who are worthy of happiness, while describing themselves\n as ineffably happy, are still progressing to higher felicity; and\n while hovering aloft in our midst, are taking interest in our welfare\n with an augmented zeal or affection, so that, by these means, they may\n be a solace to us, in despite of death.\n\n As the reverend clergy of the Episcopal Church are about to meet in\n Philadelphia, I deem it my duty to afford them an opportunity of\n hearing the evidence on which I rely; and which, with _due effort_,\n they can have subjected to their own intuition.\n\n Should the clergy deem it expedient to listen to my exposition, I\n shall be ready to answer any queries which may be made.\n\n I am aware that there may be considerations which may justify the\n clergy in declining to hear me. I have never, in my own case, deemed\n it wise to seek abstract right at the expense of practical evil. I\n would not urge persons in certain official stations to become converts\n to Spiritualism, lest it should, by consequent unpopularity, interfere\n with their usefulness, as in the case of Judge Edmonds; and a like\n objection must arise as to the conversion of clergymen, so far as\n to bring their convictions in competition with their professional\n vocation. Orthodox Christians are generally educated to believe not\n only that the revelation on which they rely is true, but that no\n other can be justifiable. Hence they are evidently displeased that\n spiritualists should allege themselves to have come by other means\n to that belief in immortality which is admitted on all sides to be\n the greatest comfort under the afflictions to which temporal life is\n liable.\n\n There is, moreover, this discordancy in doctrine: Agreeably to\n Scripture, man is placed here for probation, and is liable to\n be _eternally_ punished if he prove delinquent. According to\n Spiritualism, man is placed here for progression, and when he goes to\n the next world, still will have the opportunity to progress, however\n wicked he may be when he departs this life.\n\n It is conceived by spiritualists that if, as the orthodox allege,\n God be omnipotent, he can make his creatures to suit his will; if he\n be omniscient, he must know what they are when made; and if he be\n prescient, he can foresee what they will be, and consequently cannot\n have the smallest conceivable motive for exposing them to probation.\n\n I foresee that it may not be deemed expedient to take any notice of\n this letter; but whatever may be the result in this way, does not\n interfere with the propriety of my putting it in your power to avail\n yourselves of my offer; since I have a sanction from a higher source,\n the spirit of the immortal Washington, the proofs of whose communion\n with me I am prepared to submit to any respectable inquirers.\n\n I am aware that this language would, a few years ago, have made\n me attach the idea of insanity to the author; but this cannot,\n nevertheless, in the slightest degree, be deducible from it now, from\n the notorious fact that the same monomania is never entertained by any\n two persons, and in _my hallucination_, if it _be such_, there are a\n multitude of participators. That is to say, there are a multitude of\n persons of every grade who believe that they have communicated with\n their spirit friends, as I have with mine; and who, like me, have\n believed themselves to have held communion with the spirits of some of\n the most distinguished men who have departed this life. A faith in the\n miracles of the New Testament may as well be adduced as insanity as\n belief in spiritual manifestations under these circumstances.\n\n The fact that manifestations have been made and truthfully described\n has been admitted by the Catholic Church, but are ascribed to Satanic\n agency.\n\n Let the doctrines of Spiritualism, and those of the church in\n question, be compared, in order to determine which owes most to Satan.\n\n The existence of a devil being admitted, was there ever a more fertile\n source of diabolical intolerance than the idea that a peculiar belief\n being necessary to save men\u2019s souls from hell fire, any temporal evil\n to which mortals might be subjected to coerce belief, would be as\n justifiable as the forcible extirpation of an incipient cancer from\n the body of a child unwilling to submit to the operation? If ever\n there was a devil\u2019s agency, it may be seen in the auto-da-f\u00e9, the\n Inquisition, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew\u2019s day.\n\n Of the same devilish character was the execution of Servetus by\n Calvin, or the persecution of the Quakers and witches by the Puritans.\n\n  Respectfully, your well-wisher,        ROBERT HARE.\n\n\n                        A LETTER FROM DR. HARE.\n\n_Addressed to the President of the Association for the Advancement of\nScience, at their meeting, August 18, 1855._\n\n\n                         PRELIMINARY REMARKS.\n\nHaving addressed the subjoined letter to the American Association for\nthe Advancement of Science, the standing committee resolved that the\nsubject did not fall sufficiently within the objects of the Association\nto allow even of its being read to the meeting. In the instance of my\nletter to the Episcopal clergy, it was stated that its acknowledgment\nby them was not expected; and after this impression was verified, I\nadmitted that, in their not replying, the interest of the church was\nbest consulted. In the present case I admit that the harmony of the\nAssociation was perhaps best consulted in not recognising that the\nobjects of the Association involved the duty of allowing certain facts\nto be stated before it, which are at war with the received doctrines of\nscience, no less than with those of revelation.\n\nDuring the Dark Ages, the so-called word of God (but really the words\nof ignorant propagandists) had taken such hold of the proper domain of\nscience, that it was heresy to assert the rotundity of this planet,\nor that the sun did not revolve about it diurnally. But at this time\nscience has established itself upon the domain claimed for religious\ntruth, so that between the positive science of the atheist Comte and\nthe dogmatic opinions of the orthodox savan, there is no room for the\ngerm of Spiritualism to shoot up.\n\nIt seems to me that, in due courtesy and liberality, the standing\ncommittee might have had my letter read to the meeting, and have let\nthe members judge whether it should be acknowledged. But I place it\non record in this volume, and leave the propriety of their having\nneglected to acknowledge it to be estimated hereafter in this world, as\nit has already been in the world of spirits, as respects its influence\non the estimation of the parties.\n\nI am aware, however, that every man in society is more or less a\n_peon_, and that there is no small analogy between the situation of\nmany holding worldly pre-eminence and that of the poor apothecary\nof Shakspeare. Conscience and reason are ever under the control of\nexpediency. Those who live in society must be governed by the hearts\nand heads of others as well as their own: unless they are quite sure\nthat the cause of truth will suffer by their silence, they should not\nspeak to give others umbrage. I always considered it my duty not to do\nany thing which would injure the institution of which I was a member\nfor nearly thirty years. Doubtless, the sachems of the Association did\nwhat they thought best, as probably I should have done, had I been\nsituated as they were, and holding their opinions.\n\nIn the letter as actually sent to the Association, I introduced the\narguments founded on Dr. Bell\u2019s observations, (111, 287, 864,) also the\nfacts and reasoning submitted in the Supplemental Preface. I shall, of\ncourse, leave the reader to recur to those passages, and introduce here\nonly the other portions of my letter:\n\n TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE:\n\n _Dear Sir_: Being engaged in putting a work to press, I am sorry to\n be unable to be present at the meeting of the Association on the 15th\n inst.\n\n When I was at the last meeting, I stated an experiment made with the\n greatest care and precision, which proved the existence of a power\n independent of any possible or conceivable mortal agency; and I had\n on that occasion an opportunity of experiencing the fate of the Dutch\n ambassador who first made the king of Ava acquainted with the fact\n that bodies of water can be frozen so as to enable people to walk on\n a solidified aqueous surface. It was a disease of the mind in either\n case.\n\n But let no one apply to his soul the self-complacent unction that\n it was my hallucination, not bigoted ignorance, that originated\n that diagnosis. Since that time, the fact of movements being made\n intelligibly, without any perceptible or assignable mortal aid,\n has been verified hundreds of times by others; while under my own\n intuition it has been reiterated many times, the experiment which I\n adduced having been repeated with every imaginable precaution and\n instructive variation. * * * * *\n\n About two years have elapsed, since I erroneously sanctioned\n Farraday\u2019s explanation of the manifestations, in ascribing them to\n involuntary muscular action. This arose from my being, no less than\n that philosopher, so utterly incredulous and intolerant of any idea of\n spiritual agency in any of the phenomena of nature, excepting those\n which I ascribed to God, that I did not take the possible agency of\n spirits into view; but having been obliged to admit the facts conceded\n by Dr. Bell, (287,) and having received interesting and intellectual\n communications of which he has not been informed, I cannot, with\n him, stop half-way: nor could he, were he to have the interesting\n communications with his spirit friends which I have had with mine.\n\n There has been a time when religion repressed science; and it\n would seem that at the present era science is to revenge itself by\n repressing religious truth, by sanctioning indirectly the alleged\n manifestations of antiquity, while deriding those of the present\n time; believing on miracles told by no one knows who, yet denying the\n allegations of eye-witnesses known to be truthful; while straining at\n spiritual gnats, swallowing scriptural camels.\n\n  With high esteem, your well-wisher,\n  ROBERT HARE.\n\n\n                        FARRADAY\u2019S SPECULATION.\n\n\n_Speculation touching Electric Conduction and the nature of Matter. By\nFarraday._\n\nHaving expressed my objections to Farraday\u2019s inferences respecting\nmatter, &c., I feel that justice requires that I should submit the\narticle which drew forth my strictures. At this time, when electricity\nand matter are scrutinized with a view to understand the analogous, but\ndifferent, entities of the spirit world, the ideas of an experimental\ninvestigator so eminently successful, must be of interest to readers:\n\n Light and electricity are two great and searching investigators of\n the molecular structure of bodies, and it was, while considering\n the probable nature of conduction and insulation in bodies not\n decomposable by the electricity to which they were subject, and the\n relation of electricity to space contemplated as void of that which,\n by the anatomist, is called matter, that considerations, something\n like those which follow, were presented to my mind.\n\n If the view of the constitution of matter, already referred to, be\n assumed to be correct, and I may be allowed to speak of the particles\n of matter and of the space between them (in water, or in the vapour\n of water, for instance) as two different things, then space must be\n taken as the only continuous part, for the particles are considered as\n separated by space from each other. Space will permeate all masses of\n matter in every direction like a net, except that, in place of meshes,\n it will form cells, isolating each atom from its neighbours, and\n itself only being continuous.\n\n Then take the case of a piece of shellac, a non-conductor, and it\n would appear at once, from such a view of its constitution, that\n space is an insulator, for if it were a conductor, the shellac could\n not insulate, whatever might be the relation as to conducting power\n of its material atoms; the space would be like a fine metallic web\n penetrating it in every direction, just as we may imagine of a heap\n of siliceous sand having all its pores filled with water, or as we\n may consider of a stick of black wax, which, though it contains an\n infinity of particles of conducting charcoal diffused through every\n part of it, cannot conduct, because a non-conducting body (a resin)\n intervenes and separates them one from another like the supposed space\n in the lac.\n\n Next take the case of a metal, platinum or potassium, constituted,\n according to the atomic theory, in the same manner. The metal is a\n conductor; but how can this be, except space be a conductor, for it\n is the only continuous part of the metal, and the atoms not only do\n not touch, (by the theory,) but, as we shall see presently, must be\n assumed to be a considerable way apart. Space, therefore, must be a\n conductor, or else the metals could not conduct, but would be in the\n situation of the black sealing-wax referred to a little while ago.\n\n But if space be a conductor, how then can shellac, sulphur, &c.\n insulate? for space permeates them in every direction. Or, if space be\n an insulator, how can a metal or other similar body conduct?\n\n It would seem, therefore, that in accepting the ordinary atomic\n theory, space may be proved to be a non-conductor in non-conducting\n bodies, and a conductor in conducting bodies; but the reasoning\n ends in this, a subversion of that theory altogether, for if space\n be an insulator, it cannot exist in conducting bodies, and if it be\n a conductor, it cannot exist in insulating bodies. Any ground of\n reasoning which tends to such conclusions must in itself be false.\n\n In connection with such conclusions, we may consider shortly what\n are the probabilities that present themselves to the mind, if the\n extension of the atomic theory which chemists have imagined be applied\n in conjunction with the conducting powers of metals. If the specific\n gravity of the metals be divided by the atomic numbers, it gives\n us the number of atoms, upon the hypothesis, in equal bulks of the\n metals. In the following table the first column of figures expresses\n nearly the numbers of atoms in, and the second column of figures the\n conducting power of, equal volumes of the metals named:\n\n  Atoms.                Conducting power.\n   1\u00b700      gold             6\u00b700\n   1\u00b700      silver           4\u00b766\n   1\u00b712      lead             0\u00b752\n   1\u00b730      tin              1\u00b700\n   2\u00b720      platinum         1\u00b704\n   2\u00b727      zinc             1\u00b780\n   2\u00b787      copper           6\u00b733\n   2\u00b790      iron             1\u00b700\n\n So here iron, which contains the greatest number of atoms in a given\n bulk, is the worst conductor excepting one. Gold, which contains the\n fewest, is nearly the best conductor; not that these conditions are in\n inverse proportions, for copper, which contains nearly as many atoms\n as iron, conducts better still than gold, and with above six times the\n power of iron. Lead, which contains more atoms than gold, has only\n about one-twelfth of its conducting power; lead, which is much heavier\n than tin and much lighter than platina, has only half the conducting\n power of either of these metals. And all this happens among substances\n which we are bound to consider at present as elementary or simple.\n Whichever way we consider the particles of matter and the space\n between them, and examine the assumed constitution of matter by this\n table, the results are full of perplexity.\n\n Now let us take the case of potassium, a compact metallic substance\n with excellent conducting powers\u2014its oxide or hydrate a non-conductor;\n it will supply us with some facts having very important bearings on\n the assumed atomic construction of matter.\n\n When potassium is oxidized, an atom of it combines with an atom of\n oxygen to form an atom of potassa, and an atom of potassa combines\n with an atom of water, consisting of two atoms of oxygen and hydrogen,\n to form an atom of hydrate of potassa, so that an atom of hydrate\n of potassa contains four elementary atoms. The specific gravity of\n potassium is 0\u00b7865, and its atomic weight 40\u00b7; the specific gravity\n of cast hydrate of potassa, in such a state of purity as I could\n obtain it, I found to be nearly 2; its atomic weight, 57. From these,\n which may be taken as facts, the following strange conclusions flow:\n A piece of potassium contains less potassium than an equal piece of\n the potash formed by it and oxygen. We may cast into potassium oxygen,\n atom for atom, and then again both oxygen and hydrogen in a twofold\n number of atoms, and with all these additions the matter shall become\n less and less, until it is not two-thirds of its original volume. If\n a given bulk of potassium contains 45 atoms, the same bulk of hydrate\n of potassa contains 70 atoms nearly _of the metal potassium_, and,\n besides that, 210 atoms more of oxygen and hydrogen. In dealing with\n assumptions, I must assume a little more for the sake of making any\n kind of statement; let me therefore assume that in the hydrate of\n potassa the atoms are all of one size and nearly touching each other,\n and that in a cubic inch of that substance there are 2800 elementary\n atoms of potassium, oxygen, and hydrogen; take 2100 atoms of oxygen\n and hydrogen, and the 700 atoms of potassium remaining will swell\n into more than a cubic inch and a half; and if we diminish the number\n until only those containable in a cubic inch remain, we shall have\n 430, or thereabout. So a space which can contain 2800 atoms, and\n among them 700 of potassium itself, is found to be entirely filled by\n 430 atoms of potassium, as they exist in the ordinary state of that\n metal. Surely, then, under the suppositions of the atomic theory, the\n atoms of potassium must be very far apart in the metal, _i. e._ there\n must be much more of space than of matter in that body; yet it is an\n excellent conductor; and so space must be a conductor, but then what\n becomes of shellac, sulphur, and all the insulators? for space must\n also, by the theory, exist in them.\n\n Again, the volume which will contain 430 atoms of potassium, and\n nothing else while in the state of metal, will, when that potassium\n is converted into nitre, contain very nearly the same number of atoms\n of potassium, _i. e._ 416, and also then seven times as many, or 2912\n atoms, of nitrogen and oxygen beside. In carbonate of potassa, the\n space which will contain only the 430 atoms of potassium as metal,\n being entirely filled by it, will, after the conversion, contain\n 256 atoms more of potassium, making 686 atoms of that metal, and in\n addition 2744 atoms of oxygen and carbon.\n\n These and similar considerations might be extended through compounds\n of sodium and other bodies, with results equally striking, and indeed\n more so, when the relations of one substance, as oxygen and sulphur,\n with different bodies are brought into comparison.\n\n I am not ignorant that the mind is most powerfully drawn by the\n phenomena of crystallization, chemistry, and physics generally to the\n acknowledgment of centres of force. I feel myself constrained, for the\n present, hypothetically to admit them, and cannot do without them; but\n I feel great difficulty in the conception of atoms of matter which in\n solids, fluids, and vapours are supposed to be more or less apart from\n each other, with intervening space not occupied by atoms, and perceive\n great contradictions in the conclusions which flow from such a view.\n\n If we must assume at all, as indeed in a branch of knowledge like\n the present we can hardly help it, then the safest course appears to\n be to assume as little as possible; and in that respect the atoms of\n Boscovich appear to me to have a great advantage over the more usual\n notion. His atoms, if I understand aright, are mere centres of forces\n or powers, not particles of matter in which the powers themselves\n reside. If in the ordinary view of atoms, we call the particle of\n matter away from the powers _a_, and the system of powers or forces in\n and around it _m_, then in Boscovich\u2019s theory _a_ disappears, and is\n a mere mathematical point, while in the usual notion it is a little,\n unchangeable, impenetrable piece of matter, and _m_ is an atmosphere\n of force grouped around it.\n\n In many of the hypothetical uses made of atoms, as in crystallography,\n chemistry, magnetism, &c., this difference in the assumption makes\n little or no alteration in the results; but in other cases, as of\n electric conductors, the nature of light, the manner in which bodies\n combine to produce compounds, the effect of forces, as heat or\n electricity, upon matter, the difference will be very great.\n\n Thus, referring back to potassium, in which as a metal the atoms must,\n as we have seen, be, according to the usual view, very far apart\n from each other, how can we for a moment imagine that its conducting\n property belongs to it any otherwise than as a consequence of the\n properties of the space, or, as I have called it above, the _m_?\n So also its other properties in regard to light, or magnetism, or\n solidity, or hardness, or specific gravity, must belong to it, in\n consequence of the properties or forces of the _m_, not those of the\n _a_, which, without the forces, is conceived of as having no powers.\n But then, surely, the _m_ is the _matter_ of the potassium, for\n where is there the least ground (except in a gratuitous assumption)\n for imagining a difference in kind between the nature of that space\n midway between the centres of two contiguous atoms, and any other spot\n between these centres? A difference in degree or even in the nature\n of the power consistent with the laws of continuity I can admit, but\n the difference between a supposed little hard particle and the powers\n around it, I cannot imagine.\n\n To my mind, therefore, the _a_ or nucleus vanishes, and the substance\n consist of the powers or _m_; and indeed what notion can we form\n of the nucleus independent of its powers? All our perception and\n knowledge of the atom, and even our fancy, is limited to ideas of its\n powers; what thought remains on which to hang the imagination of an\n _a_ independent of the acknowledged forces? As mind just entering on\n the subject may consider it difficult to think of the powers of matter\n independent of a separate something to be called _the matter_, but it\n is certainly far more difficult, and indeed impossible to think of or\n imagine that _matter_ independent of the powers. Now, the powers we\n know and recognise in every phenomena of the creation, the abstract\n matter in one; why, then, assume the existence of that of which we\n are ignorant, which we cannot conceive, and for which there is no\n philosophical necessity?\n\n Before concluding these speculations, I will refer to a few of the\n important differences between the assumption of atoms consisting\n merely of centres of force like those of Boscovich, and that other\n assumption of molecules of something specially material, having powers\n attached in and around them.\n\n With the latter atoms a mass of matter consists of atoms and\n intervening space; with the former atoms matter is everywhere present,\n and there is no intervening space unoccupied by it. In gases the atoms\n touch each other just as truly as in solids. In this respect the atoms\n of water touch each other, whether that substance be in the form of\n ice, water, or steam; no mere intervening space is present. Doubtless,\n the centres of force vary in their distance one from another, but\n that which is truly the matter of one atom touches the matter of its\n neighbours.\n\n Hence matter will be _continuous_ throughout, and in considering\n we have not to suppose a distinction between its atoms and any\n intervening space. The powers around the centres give these centres\n the properties of atoms of matter; and these powers again, when many\n centres by their conjoint forces are grouped into a mass, give to\n every part of that mass the properties of matter. In such a view\n all the contradiction resulting from the consideration of electric\n insulation and conduction disappears.\n\n The atoms may be conceived of as highly _elastic_, instead of\n being supposed excessively hard and unalterable in form; the mere\n compression of a bladder of air between the hands can alter their size\n a little, and the experiments of Cagniard la Tour carry on this change\n in size until the difference in bulk at one time and another may be\n made several hundred times. Such is also the case when a solid or a\n fluid body is converted into vapour.\n\n With regard also to the _shape_ of the atoms, and, according to the\n ordinary assumption, its definite and unalterable character, another\n view must now be taken of it. An atom by itself might be conceived\n of as spherical or spheroidal, or where many were touching in all\n directions, the form might be thought of as a dodecahedron, for\n any one would be surrounded by and bear against twelve others, on\n different sides. But if an atom be conceived to be a centre of power,\n that which is ordinarily referred to under the term _shape_, would\n now be referred to the disposition and relative intensity of the\n forces. The power arranged in and around a centre might be uniform in\n arrangement and intensity in every direction outward from that centre,\n and then a section of equal intensity of force through the radii would\n be a sphere; or the law of decrease of force from the centre outward\n might vary in different directions, and then the section of equal\n intensity might be an oblate or oblong spheroid, or have other forms;\n or the forces might be disposed so as to make the atom polar; or they\n might circulate around it equatorially or otherwise, after the manner\n of imagined magnetic atoms. In fact, nothing can be supposed of the\n disposition of forces in or about a solid nucleus of matter, which\n cannot be equally conceived with respect to a centre.\n\n In the view of matter now sustained as the lesser assumption, matter\n and the atoms of matter would be mutually penetrable. As regards\n the mutual penetrability of matter, one would think that the facts\n respecting potassium and its compounds, already described, would\n be enough to prove that point to a mind which accepts a fact for a\n fact, and is not obstructed in its judgment by preconceived notions.\n With respect to the mutual penetrability of the atoms, it seems to\n me to present in many points of view a more beautiful, yet equally\n probable and philosophic, idea of the constitution of bodies than the\n other hypotheses, especially in the case of chemical combination.\n If we suppose an atom of oxygen and an atom of potassium about to\n combine and produce potash, the hypothesis of solid, unchangeable,\n impenetrable atoms places these two particles side by side in a\n position easily, because mechanically, imagined, and not unfrequently\n represented; but if these two atoms be centres of power, they will\n mutually penetrate to the very centres, thus forming one atom or\n molecule, with powers either uniformly around it or arranged as the\n resultant of the powers of the two constituent atoms; and the manner\n in which two or many centres of force may in this way combine, and\n afterward, under the dominion of stronger forces, separate, may in\n some degree be illustrated by the beautiful case of the conjunction\n of two sea waves of different velocities into one, their perfect\n union for a time, and final separation into the constituent waves,\n considered, I think, at the meeting of the British Association at\n Liverpool. It does not, of course, follow from this view that the\n centres shall always coincide; that will depend upon the relative\n disposition of the powers of each atom.\n\n The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem to\n involve necessarily the conclusion that matter fills all space, or,\n at least, all space to which gravitation extends, (including the sun\n and its system,) for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on\n a certain force, and it is this force which constitutes the matter.\n In that view matter is not merely mutually penetrable, but each\n atom extends, so to say, throughout the whole of the solar system,\n yet always retaining its own centre of force. This, at first sight,\n seems to fall in very harmoniously with Massotti\u2019s mathematical\n investigations and reference of the phenomena of electricity,\n cohesion, gravitation, &c. to one force in matter, and also again with\n the old adage \u201cmatter cannot act where it is not.\u201d But it is no part\n of my intention to enter into such considerations as these, or what\n the bearings of this hypothesis would be on the theory of light and\n the supposed ether. My desire has been rather to bring certain facts\n from electrical conduction and chemical combination to bear strongly\n upon our views regarding the nature of atoms and matter, and so to\n assist in distinguishing in natural philosophy our real knowledge\u2014_i.\n e._ the knowledge of facts and laws\u2014from that, which, though it has\n the form of knowledge, may, from its including so much that is mere\n assumption, be the very reverse.\n\nIt is to be regretted that the memoir of the Rev. Mr. Whewell could not\nbe quoted, being long and obscure. His opinions, it is conceived, have\nbeen stated fairly, (1796.)\n\n\n      _Motives for republishing my Memoirs on Electrical Theory._\n\nThe principal motive, without which the other motives would not have\nprevailed, is, that having had an interview with the spirit of Franklin\nexpressly to have his advice, it was given decidedly in favour of\npublication.\n\nThere is no door in the temple of science which is so easy of access as\nthat which leads to the department of electricity. The illustrations\nusually given at a popular lecture may, at the same time, amuse an\ninfant, instruct a student, and yet perplex a profound philosopher.\nAs associated with the phenomena of thunder and lightning, at one\ntime attributed to the bolt of omnipotent Jove, no consequences of\nscientific research are so awful and sublime: coupled with the magnetic\nelectric telegraph, no other result so miraculous. While _vis inerti\u00e6_\nwould keep all nature in _statu quo_, whether at rest, or like our\nplanet in motion with a velocity fifty times as great as that of a\ncannon ball: while gravitation tends like the clock weight to produce a\ndefinite action and, _per se_, never to act again: electricity, with a\nprotean diversity of power, appears to be the great instrument of all\nthose changes by which the quiescent influence of the properties above\nmentioned, is modified in the mundane sphere of chemistry and of life.\n\nEvery tyro is aware of the wonderful property imparted to electrics by\nfriction\u2014to the tourmaline by heat; and that the same process, on a\nlarge scale, will produce sparks, ignition, combustion, deflagration,\nand destroy animal life by an instantaneous shock. It is notorious that\nthese wonderful powers may all be imparted to a naked pane of glass,\nwhile the charge thus imparted is really only two opposite and equal\naffections, capable of neutralizing each other by due communication.\nKnown also is it, that properties, to a certain extent similar, may be\nfound in a pile of pairs of heterogeneous metals, with the additional\npower of electrolysis, or, in other words, of resolving chemical\ncompounds into their ingredients, (1376.) It is well known that, by\nthese means, water, long and almost religiously considered as one of\nthe four elements of the universe, can be decomposed into two kinds of\nair; that the earths and alkalies have been resolved into metals and\noxygen; and that there is scarcely any chemical compound consisting\nof two elements, which may not, when in aqueous solution or in fusion\nby heat, be directly or indirectly decomposed by electrolysis, as\nexplained in the note to page 384.\n\nThese multifarious feats of electricity have caused it to be\ncontemplated as the source of every thing mysterious in nature. It is\nnot surprising, therefore, that those who, through the accessibility of\nelectricity, had become partially acquainted with electrical phenomena,\nshould view it as the source of spiritual manifestations; while those\nwho have a more extensive knowledge of the nature and extent of\nelectrical jurisdiction should perceive at once that the phenomena in\nquestion do not fall within its sphere.\n\nAfter the discovery, by Oersted, of the previously unsuspected reaction\nbetween galvanized wire and a magnetic needle, those who had resorted\nto either one or two fluids to explain electrical phenomena, found\nthemselves completely at fault. Yet the language originated by Franklin\nhas been still employed conventionally. This, though not misleading\nadepts, introduces confusion in the minds of those who have merely\nreached the ante-chamber of the electrical department.\n\nUnder these circumstances, I deem it expedient to republish the\nexposition of electrical theory which I first laid before the\nscientific world in 1848.\n\nI hope that those who endeavour to refer spiritual manifestations or\nanimal magnetism to electricity, in any of its modifications, will\nstudy this exposition of my views.\n\nThough, as already stated, there appears to be, for the spirit world,\nappropriate elements, distinct from those of this mundane world,\nthere is, nevertheless, a correspondence. We mortals can best prepare\nourselves to understand the elements of that world by understanding our\nown. From an idea of _our_ light and _our_ vital air, we may by analogy\nconceive of theirs as a preliminary to any further knowledge.\n\nThe following theory has been submitted to the spirit of Franklin, who\nfully approved of it, and fully admitted the validity of the reasons\nassigned by me for substituting this new exposition of electricity for\nthat which goes under his celebrated name.\n\n\n _Objections to the Theories severally of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere,\n with an effort to explain Electrical Phenomena, by Statical or\n Undulatory Polarization.[58] By Robert Hare, M.D., Emeritus Professor\n of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania._\n\n1. It appears, from the experiments of Wheatstone, that the discharge\nof a Leyden jar, by means of a copper wire, takes place within a time\nso small, that were the transfer of a fluid from the positive to the\nnegative surface requisite for its accomplishment, a current having\na velocity exceeding two hundred thousand miles in a second would be\nnecessary.\n\n2. The only causes for the velocity of an electric current, according\nto Franklin, are the repulsion between the particles of the electric\nfluid of which it has been assumed to consist, and the attraction\nbetween those particles and other matter. These forces are alleged to\nconcur in distributing the supposed fluid throughout space, whether\notherwise void, or partially occupied by conducting solids or fluids.\nHence, when between two or more spaces, surfaces, or conducting\nmasses, there is an unequal distribution of the electric fluid, the\nequilibrium is restored whenever a communication is opened by means\nof a sufficiently conducting medium. Agreeably to this view of the\nsubject, there seems to be a resemblance between the supposed effort of\nthe electrical fluid to attain a state of equable diffusion, and that\nwhich would exist in the case of a gas confined in adjoining receivers,\nso as to be more dense within one than within the other; for, however\nthe subtilty of the supposed electric fluid may exceed that of any gas,\nthere seems to be an analogy as respects the processes of diffusion\nwhich must prevail. But on opening a communication between cavities in\nwhich any aeriform fluid exists, in different degrees of condensation,\nthe density must lessen in one cavity and augment in the other, with a\nrapidity which must diminish gradually, and become evanescent with the\ndifference of pressure by which it is induced. Far from taking place in\nan analogous manner, electrical discharges are effected with an extreme\nsuddenness, the whole of the redundancy being discharged at once,\nin a mode more like the flight of a bullet, projected with infinite\nvelocity, than that of a jet gradually varying in celerity from a\nmaximum to a minimum.\n\n3. So far, in fact, is an electrical discharge from displaying the\nfeatures which belong to the reaction of a condensed elastic fluid,\nthat agreeably to the observations of our distinguished countryman\nHenry, the result is more like the vibrations of a spring, which, in\nstriving to regain its normal position, goes beyond it. The first\ndischarge between the surfaces of a Leyden jar is not productive of a\nperfect equilibrium. The transfer of different polarities goes beyond\nthe point of reciprocal neutralization, producing a state, to a small\nextent, the opposite of that at first existing; and hence a refluent\ndischarge ensues, opposite in direction to the primary one. But even\nthis does not produce an equilibrium, so that a third effort is made.\nThese alternate discharges were detected by means of the magnetism\nimparted to needles exposed in coils of copper wire.[59]\n\n4. Supposing one or more rows of electrical particles, forming such a\nfilament of electricity as must occupy the space within a wire of great\nlength, to be made the medium of discharge to a Leyden jar; agreeably\nto the hypothesis of one fluid, the electrical filament must be\nattracted at one end of the wire and repelled at the other, as soon as\nits terminations are brought into due communication with the coatings\nof the jar. Yet the influence of the oppositely-charged surfaces of the\njar cannot be conceived to extend to those portions of the electricity\nwhich are remote from the points of contact, until they be reached\nby a succession of vibrations. Hence, it is inconceivable that every\nparticle in the filament of electric matter can be made at the same\ntime to move, so as to constitute a current having the necessary\nvelocity and volume to transfer, instantaneously, the electricity\nrequisite to constitute a charge. Even the transmission of the\nimpulses, in such an infinitesimal of time, seems to be inconceivable.\n\n5. In reply to these objections, it has been urged by the Franklinians\nthat a conductor being replete with electricity, as soon as this fluid\nshould be removed at one end, it ought to move at the other. This might\nbe true of a fluid if incompressible, but could not hold good were it\nelastic. A bell wire moves at both ends when pulled only at one; but\nthis would not ensue were a cord of gum-elastic substituted for the\nwire.\n\n6. But if the flow of one fluid, with the enormous velocity inferred,\nbe difficult to conceive, still more must it be incomprehensible that\ntwo fluids can rush with similar celerity, from each surface of the\njar, in opposite directions, through the narrow channel afforded by a\nwire; especially as they are alleged to exercise an intense affinity;\nso that it is only by a series of decompositions and recompositions\nthat they can pass each other.\n\n7. That agreeably to the theory of Dufay, equivalent portions of the\nresinous and vitreous fluids must exchange places during an electrical\ndischarge, will appear evident from the following considerations: One\nsurface being redundant with vitreous and deficient commensurately of\nresinous electricity, and the other redundant with the resinous and\ndeficient of the vitreous fluid, it is inevitable that, to restore the\nequilibrium, there must be a simultaneous transfer of each redundancy\nto the surfaces wherein there is a deficiency of it to be supplied. If,\nafter decomposing a large portion of the neutral compound previously\nexisting on the surface of the jar, and transferring the ingredients\nseverally in opposite directions, so as to cause each to exist in\nexcess upon the surface assigned to it, should the redundancies, thus\noriginated, be neutralized by meeting in the discharging rod, neither\nsurface could recover its quota of the electrical ingredient of which\nit must have been deprived agreeably to the premises.\n\n8. This calls to mind the fact that no evidence has been adduced of the\nexistence of any _tertium quid_, arising from the union of the supposed\nelectricities, founded on any property displayed by their resulting\ncombination in the neutral state. It must, if it exist, constitute an\nanomalous matter, destitute of all properties, and of the existence of\nwhich we have no evidence, besides that founded on the appearance and\ndisappearance of its alleged ingredients.\n\n9. But however plausibly the discharges consequent to making a\nconducting communication from one electrified mass or surface to\nanother mass or surface in an opposite state, may be ascribed to\naccumulations either of one or of two fluids, neither, according to\none theory nor the other, is it possible to account satisfactorily\nfor the stationary magnetism with which steel may be endowed, nor the\ntransitory magnetism, or power of dynamic induction, acquired by wires\ntransmitting galvanic discharges.\n\n10. For the most plausible effort which has been made for the purpose\nof reconciling the phenomena of electro-magnetism with the theory of\ntwo fluids, or with that of one fluid so far as these theories are\nconvertible, we are indebted to Ampere.\n\n11. According to the hypothesis advanced by this eminent philosopher,\nthe difference between a magnetized and an electrified body is not\nattributable to any diversity in the imponderable matter to which\ntheir properties are respectively due, but to a difference in the\nactual state or distribution of that matter. Statical polarity is\nthe consequence of the unequal distribution of the two electric\nfluids whose existence he assumes; while magnetical polarity is the\nconsequence merely of the motion of those fluids, which, in magnets,\nare supposed to gyrate in opposite directions about each particle of\nthe mass. These gyrations are conceived to take place only in planes at\nright angles to the axis of the magnet; so that, in a straight magnet,\nthe planes of the orbits must be parallel to each other.[60]\n\n12. The aggregate effect of all the minute vortices of the electrical\nfluids, in any one plane, bounded by the lateral surfaces of the\nmagnet, is equivalent externally to one vortex, since, in either\ncase, every electric particle on that surface will so move as to\ndescribe tangents to a circle drawn about the axis of the magnet. When\nthe electrical vortices of the pole of one magnet conflict in their\ndirection with those of another, as when similar magnetic poles are\napproximated, repulsion ensues; but if the vortices are coincident in\ndirection, as when dissimilar poles are near, attraction takes place.\nWhen a current through a galvanized wire[61] concurs in direction with\nthe magnetic vortices, as above described, attraction ensues; repulsion\nresulting when it does not so concur. Hence, the magnet, if movable,\nwill strive to assume a position in which its electrical currents\nwill not conflict with those of the wire on one side more than on the\nother; also the wire, if movable, will strive so to arrange itself so\nas to produce the same result, which can arrive only when the needle\nis at right angles to the wire, and its sides consequently equidistant\ntherefrom.\n\n13. Electric currents will produce magnetic vortices, and,\nreciprocally, magnetic vortices will produce electric currents. Hence\nthe magnetism imparted to iron by galvanic spirals, and the Farradian\ncurrents produced by magnetized iron within spirals not galvanized.\n\n14. Ampere\u2019s theory has, in a high degree, the usual fault of\nsubstituting one mystery for another; but, on the other hand, it has,\nin an equally high extent, the only merit to which any theory can make\nan indisputable claim: I mean that of associating facts so as to make\nthem more easy to comprehend and to remember, enabling us, by analogy,\nto foresee results, and thus affording a clue in our investigations.\nEvidently, the author of this theory was guided by it in his highly\ninteresting and instructive contrivances; and Professor Henry ascribes\nhis success in improving the electro-magnet to the theoretic clue which\nhe had received from Ampere.\n\n15. Nevertheless, the postulates on which this Amperean hypothesis\nis founded appear to me unreasonable. They require us to concede\nthat about every atom of a permanent magnet a process is going on\nanalogous to that generally admitted to exist in a galvanic circuit,\nwhere two fluids pass each other in a common channel by a series\nof decompositions and recompositions, (7.) In the galvanic circuit\nthis process is sustained by chemical reaction; but without any\ncoenduring cause, how is it to be sustained permanently in a magnet?\nIs it reasonable to assume that the heterogeneous constituents of an\nimaginary _tertium quid_ are perpetually separating only to reunite?\n(8.)[62]\n\n16. In cases of complex affinity, where four particles, A B C D are\nunited into two compounds A B, C D, it is easy to conceive that, in\nobedience to a stronger affinity, A shall combine with C, and B with\nD: but, without any extraneous agency, wherefore, in any one compound,\nshould a particle A quit a particle B, in order to unite with another\nparticle of the same kind; or wherefore should any one B quit one A, in\norder to combine with another A?\n\n17. That such a process should take place in consequence of the\ninductive agency of a similar process already established in a magnet\nor galvanized wire were difficult to believe; but it would seem utterly\nincredible that the most _transient_ influence of such induction should\nbe productive of such permanent electrolytic gyration as has been above\nspecified. Moreover, it is inconceivable that the particles of any\nmatter should, as required by this hypothesis, _merely by being put\ninto motion_, acquire a power of reciprocal repulsion or attraction of\nwhich it were otherwise destitute.\n\n18. The vortices being assumed to take place about each atom, cannot\nseverally occupy an area of greater diameter than can exist between the\ncentres of any two atoms. Of course, the gyratory force exercised about\nthe surface of a magnet by the aggregate movements of the vortices\ncannot extend beyond the surface more than half the diameter of one\nof the minute areas of gyration alluded to. Wherefore, then, do these\ngyrations, when similar in direction, from their concurrence approach\neach other; when dissimilar in direction, from contrariety move away,\neven when situated comparatively at a great distance?\n\n19. I should consider Ampere\u2019s theory as more reasonable were it\nfounded upon the existence of one fluid; since, in that case, vortices\nmight be imagined without the necessity of supposing an endless and\nunaccountable separation and reunion of two sets of particles; not only\ndevoid of any property capable of sustaining their alleged opposite\ngyrations, but actually endowed with an intense reciprocal attraction\nwhich must render such gyrations impossible. But even if grounded on\nthe idea of one fluid, this celebrated hypothesis does not seem to\nme to account for the phenomena which it was intended to explain.\nIf distinct portions of any fluid do not attract or repel each other\nwhen at rest, wherefore should they either attract or repel each other\nwhen in motion? Evidently mere motion can generate neither attraction\nnor repulsion. Bodies projected horizontally gravitate with the same\nintensity, and consequently, in any given time, fall to the earth\nthrough the same perpendicular distance, whether moving with the\ncelerity of a cannon ball, or undergoing no impulse excepting those\narising from their own unresisted weights.\n\n20. The objections which are thus shown to be applicable in the case\nof liquids, of which the neighbouring particles are destitute of the\nreaction requisite to produce the phenomena requiring explanation,\nmust operate with still greater force where ethereal fluids are in\nquestion, of which the properties are positively irreconcilable with\nthe phenomena. According both to Franklin and Dufay, bodies, when\nsimilarly electrified, should repel each other; yet in point of fact,\ncollateral wires, when subjected to similar voltaic discharges, and of\ncourse similarly electrified, become reciprocally attractive, while\nsuch wires, when dissimilarly electrified by currents which are not\nanalogous, become reciprocally repulsive.\n\n21. Agreeably to Ampere, an iron bar, situated within a coil of wire\nsubjected to a galvanic current, is magnetized, because the current in\nthe wire is productive of an electrical whirlpool about every particle\nof the metal. When the iron is soft, the magnetism, and of course\nthe gyrations of which its magnetism consists by the premises, cease\nfor the most part as soon as the circuit through the coil is broken;\nbut when the iron is in the more rigid state of hardened steel, the\ngyrations continue for any length of time after the exciting cause has\nceased.\n\n22. This theory does not explain wherefore the hardening of the\nsteel should cause the gyration to be more difficult to induce, yet\nmore lasting when its induction is effected. Evidently the metallic\nparticles must take some part in the process; since it is dependent for\nits existence and endurance upon their nature and their state. Yet no\nfunction is assigned to these particles. In fact, it is inconceivable\neither that they can participate in, or contribute to, the supposed\ngyration.\n\n23. The electrical fluid in an iron bar cannot form a vortex about\neach particle, all the vortices turning in one direction, without a\nconflict between those which are contiguous. In order not to conflict\nwith each other, the alternate vortices would have to turn in different\ndirections, like interlocking cog-wheels in machinery. But in that\ncase, if magnetism be due to currents, the magneto-inductive influence\nof one set would neutralize that of the other. Again, how can a\ncurrent, excited by a battery in one circuitous conductor, cause, by\ndynamic induction, a current in the _opposite direction_, through\nanother conductor parallel to the first, but insulated therefrom? How\ncan a current of quantity in a ribbon coil[63] give rise to one of\nintensity in a coil of fine wire, rushing of course with a velocity\ncommensurate with the intensity thus imparted?\n\n24. From the preceding considerations, and others which will be\nstated, it follows that it has been erroneously inferred that the only\ndifference between galvanic and frictional electricity is dependent on\nquantity and intensity. It must be evident that there is a diversity in\nthe nature of these affections of matter, sufficient to create a line\nof demarcation between them.\n\n25. Having stated my objections to the electrical theories heretofore\nadvanced, it may be proper that I should suggest any hypothetical\nviews which may appear to me of a character to amend or to supersede\nthose to which I have objected. But however I may have been emboldened\nto point out defects which have appeared to me to be inherent in the\ntheories heretofore accredited, I am far from presuming to devise any\nsubstitute which will be unobjectionable. I am fully aware that there\nis an obscurity as respects the nature and mutual influence of chemical\naffinity, heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and vitality, which\nscience can only to a minute extent dispel.\n\n26. The hypothesis which I now deem preferable is so much indebted\nto the researches and suggestions of Farraday and others, that, were\nit true, I could claim for myself but a small share of the merit of\nits origination. That sagacious electrician employs the following\nlanguage: \u201c_In the long-continued course of experimental inquiry, in\nwhich I have been engaged, this general result has pressed upon me\nconstantly\u2014namely, the necessity of admitting two forces or directions\nof force, combined with the impossibility of separating these two\nforces or electricities from each other._\u201d (_Experimental Researches_,\n1163.)[64]\n\n27. Subsequently, (1244,) after citing another proof of the\ninseparability of the two electric forces, he alleges _it to be_\n\u201c_another argument in favour of the view that induction and its\nconcomitant phenomena depend upon_ a polarity of the particles of\nmatter!\u201d\n\n\n                   _Supposed grounds for a Theory._\n\n28. The grounds upon which I venture to advance a theory are as follows:\n\nThe existence of two heterogeneous polar forces acting in opposite\ndirections, and necessarily connate and coexistent; yet capable of\nreciprocal neutralization, agreeably to the authority of Farraday\nand others: the polarity of matter in general, as displayed during\nthe crystallization and vegetation of salts: also as made evident\nby Farraday\u2019s late researches, and the experiments and observations\nof Hunt: the very small proportion of the space in solids, as in\nthe instance of potassium and other metals, which are apparently\noccupied by the ponderable atoms; while, agreeably to the researches\nand speculations of Farraday, (rightly interpreted,) the residual\nspace must be replete with imponderable matter: the experiments\nand inferences of Davy and others, tending to sanction the idea\nthat an imponderable ethereal fluid must pervade the creation: the\nperfect identity of the polarizing effects, transiently created in\na wire by subjection to a galvanic discharge, with those produced\nby the permanent polarizing power of a steel magnet: the utter\nheterogeneousness of the powers of galvanic and frictional electricity,\nas respects ability to produce sparks before contact, and likewise of\nthe polarities which they respectively produce: and superficiality\nof electricity proper during discharge as well as when existing upon\ninsulated surfaces, as demonstrated by atmospheric electricity when\nconveyed by telegraphic wires, agreeably to Henry; the sounds observed\nseverally by Page, Henry, and Mairran, as being consequent to making\nand breaking a galvanic circuit through a conductor, or magnetizing or\ndemagnetizing by means of surrounding galvanized coils.\n\n\n_Proofs of the existence of an enormous quantity of Imponderable Matter\n                              in Metals._\n\n29. It has been most sagaciously pointed out by Farraday that four\nhundred and thirty atoms, which form a cube of potassium in the\nmetallic state, must occupy nearly six times as much space as the same\nnumber of similar atoms fill, when existing in a cube of hydrated oxide\nof potassium of the same size; which, beside seven hundred metallic\natoms, must hold seven hundred atoms of hydrogen and fourteen hundred\nof oxygen\u2014in all two thousand eight hundred atoms; whence it follows\nthat, in the metallic cube, there must be _room_ for six times as many\natoms as it actually holds.\n\n30. With all due deference, I am of opinion that this distinguished\nphilosopher has not been consistent in assuming that, agreeably to the\nNewtonian idea of ponderable atoms, the space in potassium not replete\nwith metal must be vacant; since, according to facts established by\nhis researches, or resulting therefrom, an enormous quantity both of\nthe causes of heat and of electricity exists in metals. Moreover,\nagreeably to his recent speculations, those causes must consist of\nmaterial, independent, imponderable matter, occupying the whole of the\nspace in which their efficacy is perceptible. To the evolution of the\nimponderable matter thus associated, the incandescence of a globule\nof potassium on contact with water, may be ascribed, since it is the\nconsequence of the displacement of such matter by the elements of\nwater, which, in replacing it, converts the metal into the hydrated\noxide called caustic potash.\n\n31. The existence both of the causes of electricity and heat in metals\nis likewise confirmed by the fact that the inductive influence of a\nmagnet is sufficient to cause all the phenomena of heat, electrolysis,\nand magnetism, as exemplified by the magneto-electric machine. The\nexistence of the cause of heat in metals is also evident from the\nignition of an iron rod when hammered, or the deflagration of wire by\nthe discharge of a Leyden battery.\n\n32. The superiority of metals as electrical conductors may be the\nconsequence of the pre-eminent abundance of imponderable matter\nentering into their composition, as above alluded to in the case of\npotassium.\n\n33. Graham, in his Elements, treating of electricity, alleges that the\n\u201cgreat discoveries of Farraday have completely altered the aspect of\nthis department of science, and suggests that all electrical phenomena\nwhatever involve the presence of matter.\u201d Unless the distinguished\nauthor from whom this quotation is made intended to restrict the\nmeaning of the word matter to ponderable matter, there was no novelty\nin the idea that electrical phenomena involve the presence of matter,\nsince the hypotheses of Franklin and Dufay assume the existence of\none or more imponderable material fluids. But, on the other hand,\nif the meaning of the word _matter_ is only to comprise that which\nis ponderable, the allegation is inconsistent with the authority\ncited. According to the researches of Farraday, there is an enormous\nelectrical power in metals, and, according to his speculations, such\npowers must be considered as imponderable material principles,\npervading the space within which they prevail, independently of\nany ponderable atom acting as a basis for material properties; the\nexistence of such atoms being represented as questionable.\n\n\n    _Electrical Phenomena attributed to Stationary, or Undulatory,\n                            Polarization._\n\n34. It having been shown that in electrical discharges there cannot\nreasonably be any transfer of matter, so as to justify the idea\nof their being effected either by one current or by two currents,\nthe only alternative seems to be that the phenomena are due to a\nprogressive affection of the conducting medium, analogous in its mode\nof propagation to waves, as in the case of liquids, or the a\u00ebrial or\nethereal undulations to which sound and light are ascribed. (1, 2, 3,\n&c.)\n\n35. The idea intended to be conveyed by the word wave, as applied in\ncommon to the undulatory affections above mentioned, and that which\nis conceived to be the cause of the phenomena usually ascribed to one\nor more electrical currents, requires only that there should be a\nstate of matter, which, while it may be utterly different from either\nof those which constitute the waves of water, light, or sound, may,\nnevertheless, like either, pass successively from one portion of a mass\nto another.\n\n36. The affection thus designated may be reasonably distinguished from\nother waves, as a _wave of polarization_, since the wire acts, so long\nas subjected to the reiterated discharges of a voltaic series, as if it\nwere converted into innumerable small magnets, situated like tangents\nto radii proceeding from its axis.\n\n37. But if a polarizable medium be requisite to electrical discharges,\nsince they pass through a space when devoid of _ponderable_ matter,\nthere must be some _imponderable_ medium through which they can be\neffected. Hence we have reason to infer that there is an imponderable\nexisting throughout all space, as well as within conductors, which is\nmore or less the medium of the opposite waves essential to electric\ndischarges. Quoting his own language, Davy\u2019s experiments led him to\nconsider \u201cthat space, (meaning void space,) where there is not an\nappreciable quantity of this matter, (meaning ponderable matter,) is\ncapable of exhibiting electrical phenomena:\u201d also that such phenomena\n\u201care produced by a highly subtile fluid or fluids.\u201d Moreover, that\n\u201cit may be assumed, as in the hypothesis of Hooke, Euler, and\nHuyghens, that an ethereal matter susceptible of electrical affections\nfills all space.\u201d\n\n38. Agreeably to the suggestions above made, all ponderable matter\nwhich is liable to be electrified _internally_ by electrical\ndischarges, may be considered as consisting of atoms composed of\nimponderable ethereo-electric particles in a state of combination\nwith ponderable particles, analogous to that which has been supposed\nto exist between such particles and caloric when causing expansion,\nliquidity, or the a\u00ebriform state. Atoms, so constituted of ethereal\nand ponderable particles, may be designated as ethereo-ponderable\natoms.[65]\n\n39. A quiescent charge of frictional electricity, only affecting the\nsuperficies of any ponderable mass with which it may be associated,\nand having no influence upon the component ethereo-ponderable atoms\nseverally, is not to be ascribed to redundancies or deficiencies of\nthe ethereal matter, but to different states of polarization produced\nin different sets of the particles of such matter existing about the\nelectrifiable bodies.[66] During the action of an electrical machine,\nthese particles are polarized by the opposite polarities transiently\ninduced in the surfaces subjected to friction; one set of particles\ngoing with the electric, the other remaining with the rubber.\n\n40. The particles thus oppositely polarized, severally divide their\nappropriate polarities with other ethereal matter surrounding\nthe conductors, and this, when insulated, is retained until a\nfurther polarization results from the same process. Thus are the\nethereo-electric atmospheres respectively surrounding the positive and\nnegative conductors oppositely polarized, and consequently charged\nto the degree which the machine is competent to induce. Under these\ncircumstances, if a conducting rod be made to form between them a\ncommunication, by touching each conductor with one of its ends, the\npolarities of the ethereo-electric atmospheres by which they are\nseverally surrounded propagate themselves, by a wave-like process,\nover and more or less through the rod, according to its nature and\ndimensions, so as to meet intermediately, and thus produce reciprocal\nneutralization.\n\n41. When the oppositely polarizing waves, generated by friction, as\nabove described, are by means of a conducting communication transmitted\nto the surface of a coated pane, the two different portions of the\nelectro-ether there existing are severally polarized in opposite ways,\none being endowed with the properties usually called vitreous, or\npositive, the other with those usually called resinous, or negative. In\nfact, the two polarized atmospheres thus created, may be conveniently\ndesignated as the \u201c_two electricities_,\u201d and alluded to in the\nlanguage heretofore employed in treating of phenomena, agreeably to the\nhypothesis which assumes the existence of heterogeneous fluids instead\nof heterogeneous polarities.\n\n42. Of course it will follow, that the oppositely polarized ethereal\natmospheres thus produced, one on each surface of the electric which\nkeeps them apart, must exercise toward each other an attraction\nperfectly analogous to that which has been supposed to be exercised\nby the imaginary heterogeneous electric fluids of Dufay. The\nelectro-ether[67] being elastic, a condensation over each of the\ncharged surfaces, proportionable to the attractive force must ensue;\nwhile over the surface of an electrified conductor, the similarly\npolarized atoms, not being attracted by those in an oppositely\npolarized atmosphere beneath the surface, tend, by their reciprocally\nrepulsive reagency, to exist further apart than in a neutral state.\nHence, the electro-ether, as it exists over the surface of an\ninsulated conductor, is rendered rarer, while, as existing over the\nsurfaces of charged panes or Leyden jars, it must be in a state of\ncondensation.[68] And, consequently, while the space perceptibly\nelectrified by the charge of a conductor, for equal areas and charging\npower, is much more extensive than the space in which the charge of a\ncoated pane is perceptible, the striking distance being likewise much\ngreater; yet upon any body, successively subjected to a discharge from\neach, the effect will be more potent when produced by means of the pane.\n\n\n_Ignition, Electrolysis, and Magnetism, Secondary Effects of Frictional\nDischarges; or, in other words, of Polarizing Electro-ethereal Waves._\n\n43. In proportion as a wire is small in comparison with the charge\nwhich it may be made the means of neutralizing, the conducting power\nseems to be more dependent on the sectional area,[69] and less upon the\nextent of surface. The reciprocal repulsion of the similarly polarized\nethereal particles must tend always to make them seek the surface, but\nat the same time their attraction for the ethereo-ponderable particles\ncomposing the wire has the opposite effect, and tends to derange\nthese from their normal polar state of quiescence. Commensurate with\nthe extent in which this state is subverted, is the resulting heat,\nelectrolytic power, and electro-magnetic influence. The phenomena\nlast mentioned are, however, secondary effects consequent to the\nparticipation of the ethereo-ponderable matter in the undulations\nresulting from the statical discharge.\n\n44. Such effects, making allowance for the extreme minuteness of the\ntime occupied by the process, are probably, in all cases, proportional\nto the degree in which the ponderable matter is effected, up to the\npoint at which it is dissipated by deflagration; but the duration of\na statical discharge being almost infinitely minute for any length of\ncoil which can conveniently be subjected thereto, the electro-magnetic\nand other effects of a statical discharge are not commensurate with the\nintensity of the affection of the wire.\n\n45. There is, in fact, this additional reason for the diversity between\nthe electro-magnetic power of a statical discharge, as compared with\nthat of the voltaic series: any wire which is of sufficient length and\ntenuity to display the maximum power of deflagration by the former,\ncannot serve for the same purpose in the case of the latter. Moreover,\nthe form of a helix closely wound, so that the coatings may touch,\nwhich is that most favourable for the reiteration of the magnetic\ninfluence of the circuit upon an iron rod, cannot be adopted in the\ncase of statical discharges of high intensity, since the proximity of\nthe circumvolutions would enable the ethereal waves, notwithstanding\nthe interposition of cotton or silk, to cross superficially from\none to the other, parallel to the axis of the included iron, instead\nof pursuing the circuitous channel afforded by the helix with the\nintensity requisite to the polarization of the ponderable atoms.\n\n\n  _The extreme Diversity, as respects striking Distance, between the\n  direct Effects of Frictional Electricity and those directly arising\n                       from Galvanic Reaction._\n\n46. The intensity of the excitement produced by different electrical\nmachines is estimated to be as the relative lengths of the sparks which\nproceed from their prime conductors respectively. Admitting that the\nrelative intensity were merely as the length of the spark, not as the\nsquare of that length, still there would be an infinite difference\nbetween the intensity of a voltaic series and that of electrical\nmachines, if measured by this test. Large electrical machines, like\nthat at the Polytechnic Institution, London, give sparks at twenty\ninches and more; while, agreeably to Gassiott\u2019s experiments, a Groves\u2019s\nbattery of 320 pairs, in full power, would not, before contact, give\na spark at _any distance, however minute_. It follows, that, as\nrespects the species of intensity which is indicated by length of\nsparks, or striking distance, the difference between the electricity\nof the most powerful voltaic series and electrical machines is not to\nbe represented by any degree of _disparity_; it proves that galvanism\nproper and electricity proper are heterogeneous.\n\n47. It should be recollected that the intensity of galvanic action in\na series of 320 pairs, excepting the loss from conduction, would be to\nthat of one pair as 320 to 1.[70] Of course, the striking distance of\na battery of one pair would be 320 times less than nothing: 320 below\nzero.\n\n48. We may infer that the undulatory polarization of ethereo-ponderable\nmatter is the primary, direct, and characteristic effect of galvanic\nexcitement, in its more energetic modifications. Yet, that by peculiar\ncare in securing insulation, as in the water batteries of Cross and\nGassiott, ethereal undulations may be produced, with the consequent\naccumulation of ethereal polarity requisite to give sparks before\ncontact, agreeably to the experiments of those ingenious philosophers.\n\n49. Hence it may be presumed that, during intense ethereo-ponderable\npolarization, superficial ethereal waves may always be a secondary\neffect, although the conducting power of the reagents, requisite to\nthe constitution of powerful galvanic batteries, is inconsistent with\nthat accumulation of ethereal polarity which constitutes a statical\nspark-giving charge.\n\n50. As all the members forming a voltaic series have to be discharged\nin one circuit, the energy of the effort to discharge, and the velocity\nof the consequent undulations must be, _c\u00e6teris paribus_, as the number\nof members which co-operate to produce the discharge. Of course the\nmore active the ethereo-ponderable waves, the greater must be their\nefficacy in producing ethereal waves of polarization, as a secondary\neffect, agreeably to the suggestions above made, (49, 36.)\n\n51. Hence, in a battery consisting of one galvanic pair excited\nby reagents of great chemical energy and conducting power, the\nelectro-magnetic effects are pre-eminent; while De Luc\u2019s electric\ncolumns, consisting of several thousands of minute pairs, feeble as to\ntheir chemical and conducting efficacy, are pre-eminent for statical\nspark-giving power, (48.) This seems to be quite consistent; since, on\nthe one hand, the waves of polarization must be larger and slower as\nthe pairs are bigger and fewer; and, on the other hand, smaller and\nmore active as the pairs are more minute and more numerous.\n\n_On the perfect similitude between the Polarity communicated to Iron\nFilings by a Magnetized Steel Bar and a Galvanized Wire._\n\n52. If by a sieve, or any other means, iron filings be duly strewed\nover a paper, resting on a bar magnet, they will all become magnets, so\nas to arrange themselves in rows like the links of a chain. Each of the\nlittle magnets thus created will, at its outermost end, have a polarity\nsimilar to that of the pole (of the magnet) with which it may be\naffiliated. Of course the resulting ferruginous rows formed severally\nby the two different poles of the bar will have polarities as opposite\nas those of the said poles.\n\n53. In an analogous mode, if two wires be made the media of a galvanic\ndischarge, iron filings, under their influence, will receive a magnetic\npolarity, arranging themselves about each wire like so many tangents to\nas many radii proceeding from its axis: those magnetized by one wire\nreacting with such as are magnetized by the other.\n\n54. The affections of the ferruginous particles during the continuance\nof the current so called are precisely like those of the same particles\nwhen under the influence of the bar magnet. The great discordancy is in\nthe fact that the influence of the magnet is permanent, while that of\nthe wire is indebted for existence to a series of oppositely polarizing\nbut transient impulses which proceed toward the middle of the circuit\nfrom each side, so as to produce reciprocal neutralization by meeting\nmidway.\n\n55. The effect upon the filings, as originally pointed out by Oersted,\nis precisely such as would arise were the ponderable matter of the\nwire, resolved by each impulse into innumerable little magnets,\nsituated so as to form tangents to as many radii proceeding from the\naxis of the wire.\n\n56. Independently of the filings, the wires react with each other as if\ntheir constitution, during subjection to the discharge, were such as\nabove supposed. When the discharges through them concur in direction,\nthey attract, because the left side of one is next the right side of\nthe other, bringing the opposite poles of their little magnets into\nproximity; but when the discharge is made in opposite directions, the\ntwo right or the two left sides will be in proximity, and will, by the\nconsequent approximation of the similar poles of the little magnets, be\nproductive of repulsion.\n\n57. From these last-mentioned facts and considerations, it must\nbe evident that, assuming that there is in a galvanized wire a\nderangement of the poles of the constituent ethereo-ponderable\nparticles analogous to that permanently existing in magnetized steel,\ninvolves no contradiction, no absurdity, nor any thing but what is\nconsistent with the researches and inferences of Davy, Farraday, and\nother eminent investigators of the phenomena of nature.\n\n\n   _Process by which the Ethereo-ponderable Atoms within a Galvanic\n           Circuit are polarized by the Chemical Reaction._\n\n58. In order that an ethereo-ponderable particle of oxygen in any\naqueous solution shall unite with an ethereo-ponderable particle\nof zinc in a galvanic pair, there must be a partial revolution of\nthe whole row of ethereo-ponderable zinc atoms, with which the atom\nassailed is catenated by the attractions between dissimilar poles; and\nlikewise there must be a series of decompositions and recompositions\nbetween every atom of water existing in the circuit, an atom of\nhydrogen being eliminated at one end, an atom of oxygen at the other.\nThe impulse must extend through the negative plate to the conductor,\nby which it communicates with the zinc or electro-positive plate. When\nthe circuit is open, the power of combination exercised by the zinc\nand oxygen is inadequate to produce this movement in the whole chain\nof atoms, liquid and metallic; but as it is indifferent whether any\ntwo atoms are united with each other, or with any other atoms of the\nsame kind, the chemical force easily causes them to exchange partners,\nas it were, when the whole are made to form a circuitous row in due\ncontiguity.[71]\n\n59. As we know that, during their union with oxygen, metals give out\nan enormous quantity of heat and electricity, it is reasonable to\nsuppose that whenever an atom of oxygen and an atom of zinc jump into\nunion with each other, a wave is induced in the ethereo-ponderable\nmatter, and that this wave is sustained by the decompositions and\nrecompositions, by means of which an atom of hydrogen is evolved at\nthe negative plate, and probably enabled to assume the aeriform state.\nThere must, at the same time, be a communication of wave polarity by\ncontact of the negative plate with the connecting wire, by which the\npositive wave in the wire is induced. Although the inherent polarities\nof the atoms are not, agreeably to this view, the moving power in\ngalvanism, yet they facilitate, and in some cases induce, the exercise\nof that power, by enabling it to act at a distance, when otherwise it\nmight be inefficient.\n\n60. This, I conceive, is shown in the effect of platina sponge, upon\na mixture of the gaseous elements of water; also in Groves\u2019s _gas_\nbattery, by means of which hydrogen and oxygen gas severally react\nwith water in syphons, so as to cause each other to condense, without\nany communication beside that through the platina, and an electrolytic\ndecomposition and recomposition extending from one of the aqueous\nsurfaces in contact with one of the gases, to the other surface in\ncontact with the other gas.\n\n\n      _Difference between Electro-ethereal and Ethereo-ponderable\n                            Polarization._\n\n61. There are two species of electro-polarity which come under the head\nof statical electricity. One of these Farraday illustrates by supposing\nthree bodies, A, B, and C, in proximity, but not in contact, when A,\nbeing electrified, electrifies B, and B electrifies C by induction.\nThis, Farraday calls an _action_ of the particles of the bodies\nconcerned, whereas, by his own premises, it appears to me to be merely\na superficial affection of the masses or of a circumambient ethereal\nmatter. This species of polarization, to which the insulating power\nof air is necessary, affects the superficies of a body only, being\ndisplayed as well by a gilt globe of glass as a solid globe of metal.\nNo sensible change appears to be produced in the ponderable conducting\nsuperficies by this inductive superficial electrification of masses;\nand of course no magnetism.\n\n62. When a small image, of which the scalp has been abundantly\nfurnished with long hair, is electrified, the hairy filaments extend\nthemselves and move apart, as if actuated by a repulsive power: also,\nwhen iron filings are so managed as to obey the influence of the\npoles of a powerful magnet, (51,) they arrange themselves in a manner\nresembling that of the electrified hair. There is, moreover, this\nadditional analogy, that there is an attraction between two portions of\nhair differently electrified, like that which arises between filings\ndifferently magnetized. Yet the properties of the electrified hair\nand magnetized filings are, in some respects, utterly dissimilar. A\nconducting communication between differently electrified portions of\nhair would entirely neutralize the respective electrical states; so\nthat all the electrical phenomena displayed by them would cease. Yet\nsuch a communication made between the poles, exciting the filings,\nby any non-magnetic conductor, does not in the slightest degree\nlessen their polar affections and consequent power of reciprocal\ninfluence. Upon the electrified hair, the proximity or the contact\nof a steel magnet has no more effect than would result under like\ncircumstances from any other metallic mass similarly employed; but\nby the approximation, and still more, the contact of such a magnet,\nthe affection of the filings may be enhanced, lessened, or nullified,\naccording to the mode of its employment. In the case of the hair the\naffection is superficial, and the requisite charging power must be in\nproportion to the extent of surface. In the case of the magnetized\nferruginous particles, it is the mass which is affected, and, _c\u00e6teris\nparibus_, the more metal, the greater the capacity for magnetic\npower. In the instance of the electrified hair, as in every other of\nfrictional excitement, the electrical power resides in imponderable\nethereo-electric atmospheres which adhere superficially to the masses,\nbeing liable to be unequally distributed upon them in opposite states\nof polarity, consequent to a superficial polarization of the exciting\nor excited ponderable masses; but in the instance of bodies permanently\nmagnetic, or those rendered transiently magnetic by galvanic influence,\nthe ethereo-electric matter and the ponderable atoms are inferred to be\nin a state of combination, forming ethereo-ponderable atoms, so that\nboth may become parties to the movements and affections of which the\npositive and negative waves consist.\n\n63. Thus an explanation is afforded of the hitherto mysterious\ndiversity of the powers of a gold-leaf electroscope and galvanoscopes,\nalthough both are to a miraculous degree sensitive\u2014the latter to the\nmost feeble galvanic discharge, the former to the slightest statical\nexcitement; yet neither is in the most minute degree affected by the\npolarization which affects the other.\n\n64. The charge which may exist in a coated pane affords another\nexemplification of statical or electro-ethereal polarity. In this case,\naccording to Farraday, the particles of glass are thrown into a state\nof electro-polarity, and are, in fact, partially affected as if they\nbelonged to a conductor; so that insulators and conductors differ only\nin the possession in a high degree by the one of a susceptibility of\nwhich the other is possessed to an extent barely perceptible. The facts\nseem to me only to show that either an insulator or conductor may be\nboth affected by the same polarizing force, the transmission of which\nthe one facilitates, the other prevents. I am under the impression\nthat it is only by the disruptive process that electricity passes\nthrough glass; of course involving a fracture. It gets through a pane\nor jar, not by aid of the vitreous particles, but in despite of their\nopposing coherence. The glass in such cases is not liable to be fused,\ndeflagrated, or dissipated, as conductors are. It is forced out of the\nway of the electrical waves, being incapable of becoming a party to\nthem. Discharges will take place through a vacuity, rather than through\nthe thinnest leaf of mica. But if, as Farraday has alleged, from within\na glass flask hermetically sealed, an electrical charge has been found\nto escape, after a long time, it proves only that glass is not a\nperfect insulator, _not that perfect insulation and perfect conduction\nare different extremes of the same property_. On the contrary, the one\nis founded upon a constitution competent to the propagation within it\nof the electro-polarizing waves, with miraculous facility, while the\nother is founded either on an absolute incapacity, or comparatively an\ninfinitely small ability to be the medium of their conveyance. The one\nextremely retards, the other excessively expedites, its passage through\na space otherwise void.[72]\n\n\n _Competency of a Wire to convey a Galvanic Discharge is as its\n sectional area, while statical discharges of frictional electricity,\n preferring the surface, are promoted by its extension. Yet in\n proportion as such discharges are heavy, the ability of a wire to\n convey them and its magnetic energy become more dependent on its\n sectional area, and less upon extent of surface._\n\n65. Reference has been made to two modes of electrical conduction,\nin one of which the efficacy is as the surface; in the other, as the\narea of a section of the conductor. Although glass be substantially a\nnon-conductor, the power of the surface of glass when moistened or gilt\nto discharge statical electricity is enormous. It has been generally\nconsidered that, as a protection against lightning, the same weight of\nmetal employed as a pipe would be more efficacious than in the usual\nsolid form of a lightning rod: yet this law does not hold good with\nrespect to galvanic discharges, which are not expedited by a mere\nextension of conducting surface. Independently of the augmentation\nof conducting power, consequent to radiation and contact with the\nair, the cooling influence of which, according to Davy, promotes\ngalvano-electric conduction, a metallic ribbon does not convey a\ngalvanic discharge better than a wire of similar weight and length.[73]\n\n66. Agreeably to the considerations above stated, the sectional area\nof a conductor remaining the same, in proportion as any _statical_\naccumulation which it may discharge is greater, the effects are less\nsuperficial; and the ethereo-ponderable atoms are affected more\nanalogously to those exposed to galvanic discharges. It is in this\nway that the discharge of a Leyden jar imparts magnetic polarization.\nThus, on the one hand, the electro-ethereal matter being polarized\nand greatly condensed, combines with and communicates polarization,\nand consequently magnetism, to ethereo-ponderable bodies; while, on\nthe other hand, these, when polarized by galvanic reaction, and thus\nrendered magnetic, communicate polarity to the electro-ether. Hence,\nstatical electricity, when produced by galvanism, and magnetism, when\nproduced by statical electricity, are secondary effects.\n\n67. Where a wire is of such dimensions, in proportion to the charge,\nas to be heated, ignited, or dispersed by statical electricity,\nthere seems to be a transitory concentration of the electric power,\nwhich transforms the nature of the reaction, and an internal\nwave of electro-ponderable polarization, similar to those of\ngalvano-electricity, is the consequence.\n\n68. As above observed, (31,) the current produced by the\nmagneto-electric machine has all the attributes of the galvano-electric\ncurrent; yet this is altogether a secondary effect of the changes of\npolarity in a keeper, acting upon a wire solely by dynamic induction.\nBut if, by mere external influence, the machine above mentioned can\nproduce within a circuit a current such as above described, is it\nunreasonable to suppose that the common machine, when it acts upon\na circuit, may put into activity the matter existing therein, so as\nto produce waves of polarization, having the power of those usually\nascribed to a galvano-electrical current?\n\n69. It has been shown that both reason and the researches and\nsuggestions of Farraday warrant the inference that ponderable atoms,\nin solids and liquids, may be considered as swimming in an enormous\nquantity of condensed imponderable matter, in which all the particles,\nwhether ponderable or imponderable, are, in their natural state, held\nin a certain relative position due to the reciprocal attraction of\ntheir dissimilar poles. A galvano-electrified body differs from one in\nits ordinary state, in having the relative position of the poles of\nits ethereo-ponderable atoms so changed, that their inherent opposite\npolarities not being productive of reciprocal neutralization, a\nreaction with external bodies ensues.\n\n70. In statical excitement the affection is superficial as respects\nthe ponderable bodies concerned, while in dynamic excitement the\npolarities of the whole mass are deranged oppositely at opposite ends\nof the electrified mass; so that the oppositely disturbing impulses,\nproceeding from the poles of the disturbing apparatus, neutralize\neach other intermediately. Supposing the ponderable as well as the\nimponderable matter in a perfect conductor to be susceptible of the\npolar arrangement, of which an electrified state is thus represented to\nconsist, non-conductors to be insusceptible of such polar derangement;\nimperfect conductors may have a constitution intermediate between\nmetals and electrics.\n\n71. When an electrical discharge is made through any space devoid\nof air or other matter, it must then find its way solely by the\npolarization of the rare imponderable matter existing therein; and\nconsequently its corruscations should be proportionably more diffuse,\nwhich is actually found to be true; but when gaseous ethereo-ponderable\natoms intervene, as in wire, they enable competent waves to exist\nwithin a narrower channel and to attain a greater intensity.\n\n72. I consider all bodies as insulators which cause discharges through\nthem to be more difficult than through a vacuum, and which, by their\ninterposition within a circuit, can prevent that propagation of\nthe oppositely polarizing undulations which would otherwise ensue.\nThis furnishes a good mean of discrimination between insulators and\nconductors, the criterion being that a discharge ensues more readily as\nthere is more of the one and less of the other in the way: that the one\nleads the waves where they would not go, the other impedes their going\nwhere they would proceed. Both in the case of disruptive discharge\nthrough air, producing a spark, or of a deflagrating discharge through\nwire, causing its explosion, there is a dispersion of intervening\nponderable particles; and yet there is this manifest discordancy, that\nin one case the undulatory process of transfer is assisted, in the\nother resisted. The waves follow the metallic filament with intense\nattraction, while they strive to get out of the way of those formed\nby the aeriform matter, as if repelled. Hence the term disruptive,\nfrom _dirumpo_, to break through, was happily employed by Farraday to\ndesignate spark discharges.\n\n73. The zigzag form of the disruptive spark shows that there is a\ntendency in the aeriform particles to turn the waves out of that\nstraight course, which, if unresisted or facilitated, they would\nnaturally pursue. On the one hand, the aerial filaments being\nunsuitable for the conveyance of the electric waves, these are forced\nby them out of the normal path\u2014first in one direction, then in another;\nwhile, on the other hand, the finest metallic filament furnishes\na channel for the electric waves, so favourable that this channel\nis pursued, although the consequent polarization of the conducting\nparticles be so intense as to make them fly asunder with explosive\nviolence. Even when a bell-wire has been dissipated by lightning, it\nhas been found to facilitate and determine the path of the discharge.\n\n74. The various forms of the electric spark, resulting from varying the\ngas through which it may be made to pass, agreeably to the researches\nof Farraday, is explained by the supposition that the peculiarities\nof the spark is partially the consequence of the polarizability of\nthe gaseous atoms through which the discharge is made, and varies,\naccordingly, in its appearance.\n\n\n _Difference between Frictional Electricity and Galvanic does\n not depend on the one being superior as to Quantity, the other\n as to Intensity; but on the different Degrees in which the\n Ethereo-ponderable Atoms of the Bodies affected are deranged from\n their natural state of Neutralized Polarity._\n\n75. I infer that all magneto-polar charges are attended by an affection\nof ponderable particles; and that the reason why the most intense\nstatical charge does not affect a galvanometer is, that it is only\nwhen appositely excited bodies are neutralized by the interposition of\na conductor as during a discharge, that ethereo-ponderable particles\nare sufficiently polarized to enable them to act upon others in their\nvicinity, so as to produce a polar affection the opposite of their\nown. (54.58.) In this way dynamic induction is consistently explained,\nby supposing that the waves of polarization, in passing along one\nconductor, produce, _pari passu_, the opposite polarization in the\nproximate part of any neighbouring conductor suitably constituted,\nsituated and arranged to allow it to form a part of a circuit.\n\n76. It is only during the state of the incessant generation and\ndestruction of what has been called the two electricities, that the\ncircuit, which is the channel for the passage of the polarizing waves,\nis endowed with electro-magnetic powers. It was, no doubt, in obedience\nto a perception of this fact, that Oersted ascribed the magnetism of\na galvanized wire to a conflict of the electricities. Undoubtedly,\nthat state of a conductor in which, by being a part of an electrical\ncircuit, it becomes enabled to display electro-magnetic powers, is so\nfar a conflict of the two electricities, as the affections of matter,\nwhich are denominated electrical, consist of two opposite polar\nforces, proceeding, agreeably to the language of Farraday, in opposite\ndirections from each side of the source, and conflicting with each\nother, so as to be productive of reciprocal annihilation.\n\n77. That a corpuscular change in conductors is concomitant with their\nsubjection to, or emancipation from, a galvanic current, is proved by\nan experiment of Henry\u2019s, which he afforded me an opportunity on one\noccasion of witnessing. I allude to the fact that sound is produced\nwhenever the circuit is suddenly made or suddenly ruptured. By I. P.\nMarrian it has been observed that a similar result takes place during\nthe magnetization or demagnetization of iron rods, by the alternate\nestablishment or arrestation of galvanic discharges through wires\ncoiled about them so as to convert each into an electro-magnet. Mr.\nMarrian represents the sound as resembling that produced by striking a\nrod upon one of its ends.[74][75] Sounds from this source were observed\nby Dr. Page in 1838. See Silliman\u2019s Journal for that year, vol. xxxiii.\n\n78. Thus it appears that there is an analogy between the state of\nmatter which involves permanent magnetism, and that which constitutes\na galvanic current, so far as this, that either by one or the other,\nduring either its access or cessation, an affection of the ponderable\nparticles concerned ensues, sufficient to produce sound.\n\n79. Simultaneously with the production of sounds, as above stated,\nby the opening or closing of the galvanic circuit through a metallic\nrod or the coils of an electro-magnet, secondary waves are induced,\ncalled secondary currents. It seems reasonable to ascribe these waves\nto the same shifting of the poles, which produces the sonorific\nundulations.[76]\n\n80. Within the bodies of animals and vegetables, the electro-ether\nmay be supposed to exist as an atmosphere surrounding the\nethereo-ponderable atoms of which their organs are constituted, so as\nto occupy all the space which is not replete with such atoms. Hence a\ndischarge of frictional electricity may indirectly polarize the whole\nanimal frame, by producing ethereo-ponderable polarization in the\nconstituent atoms of the fibres of the nerves and muscles. Probably\nthis polarization is produced more immediately in the ponderable solids\nby a discharge from a voltaic series or a wire subjected to electro-or\nmagneto-dynamic induction. In the latter instances the shock is\nreiterated so rapidly as to appear more enduring, while in the former\nit is more startling and producible at an infinitely greater distance.\n\n81. Agreeably to Farraday\u2019s researches, (1485 to 1543,) there is\nreason to suppose that in frictional spark discharges, the consequent\nshock, light, and other peculiarities are in part owing to waves of\nethereo-ponderable polarization, indirectly produced in the intervening\ngaseous matter.\n\n\n                 _Of Ethereo-ponderable Deflagration._\n\n82. It is well known that between two pieces of charcoal severally\nattached, one to the negative, the other to the positive, pole of a\nnumerous and well-excited voltaic series, an arch of flame may be\nproduced by moving them apart after contact. This phenomenon evidently\ndepends upon the volatilization of the ponderable matter concerned;\nsince it cannot be produced before the carbon has been volatilized\nby contact, nor by any body besides charcoal, this being the only\nconductor which is sufficiently infusible, and yet duly volatilizable.\nMetals, similarly treated, fuse at the point of contact and cohere.\nOn separation, after touching, a single spark ensues, which, without\nrepetition of contact, cannot be reproduced. Hence, it may be inferred\nthat the carbonaceous vapour is indispensable to this process, as\na medium for the ethereo-ponderable polarizing waves, being soon\nconsumed by the surrounding atmospheric oxygen. The excrescence upon\nthe negative charcoal, observed by Silliman, together with the opposite\nappearance on the positive charcoal, may be owing to the lesser\naffinity for oxygen on the negative side.[78]\n\n83. There may be some resemblance imagined between this luminous\ndischarge between the poles, and that which has already been designated\nas disruptive; but this flaming arch discharge does not break through\nthe air; it only usurps its place gradually, and then sustains this\nusurpation. It differs from the other as to its cause, so far as\ngalvanic reaction differs from friction; moreover, it requires a\nvolatilizable, as well as a polarizable ponderable conducting substance\nto enable its appropriate undulations to meet at a mean distance from\nthe solid polar terminations whence they respectively proceed.\n\n84. The most appropriate designation of the phenomenon under\nconsideration is that of ethereo-ponderable undulatory deflagration.\nUnder this head we may not only place the flaming arch, but likewise\nthe active ignition and dissipation of fine wire or leaf metal, or when\nattached to one pole, and made barely to touch the other.\n\n85. In one of Farraday\u2019s experiments, a circuit was completed by\nsubjecting platina points, severally proceeding from the poles of\na voltaic series, while very near to each other, to the flame of\na spirit lamp. This was ascribed by him to the rarefaction of the\nair, but ought, as I think, to be attributed to the polarizable\nethereo-ponderable matter of the flame, performing the same office as\nthe volatilized carbon in the flaming arch, between charcoal points, to\nwhich reference has been made.\n\n\n                              _Summary._\n\nFrom the facts and reasoning which have been above stated, it is\npresumed that the following deductions may be considered as highly\nprobable, if not altogether susceptible of demonstration:\n\nThe theories of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere are irreconcilable with\nthe premises on which they are founded, and with facts on all sides\nadmitted.\n\nA charge of frictional electricity, or that species of electric\nexcitement which is produced by friction, is not due to any\naccumulation, nor to any deficiency either of one or of two fluids,\nbut to the opposite polarities induced in imponderable ethereal\nmatter existing throughout space however otherwise void, and likewise\ncondensed more or less within ponderable bodies, so as to enter into\ncombination with their particles, forming atoms which may be designated\nas ethereo-ponderable.\n\nFrictional charges of electricity seek the surfaces of bodies to which\nthey may be imparted, without sensibly affecting the ethereo-ponderable\nmatter of which they consist.\n\nWhen surfaces thus oppositely charged, or, in other words, having\nabout them oppositely polarized ethereal atmospheres, are made to\ncommunicate, no current takes place, nor any transfer of the polarized\nmatter: yet any conductor, touching both atmospheres, furnishes\na channel through which the opposite polarities are reciprocally\nneutralized by being communicated wave-like to an intermediate point.\n\nGalvano-electric discharges are likewise effected by waves of opposite\npolarization, without any flow of matter meriting to be called a\ncurrent.\n\nBut such waves are not propagated superficially through the purely\nethereal medium; they occur in masses formed both of the ethereal\nand ponderable matter. If the generation of frictional electricity,\nsufficient to influence the gold-leaf electrometer, indicate that there\nare some purely ethereal waves caused by the galvano-electric reaction,\nsuch waves arise from the inductive influence of those created in the\nethereo-ponderable matter.\n\nWhen the intensity of a frictional discharge is increased beyond a\ncertain point, the wire remaining the same, its powers become enfeebled\nor destroyed by ignition, and ultimately deflagration: if the diameter\nof the wire be increased, the surface, proportionally augmented,\nenables more of the ethereal waves to pass superficially, producing\nproportionally less ethereo-ponderable undulation.\n\nMagnetism, when stationary, as in magnetic needles and other permanent\nmagnets, appears to be owing to an enduring polarization of the\nethereo-ponderable atoms, like that transiently produced by a galvanic\ndischarge.\n\nThe magnetism transiently exhibited by a galvanized wire, is due to\noppositely polarizing impulses, severally proceeding wave-like to an\nintermediate part of the circuit where reciprocal neutralization ensues.\n\nWhen magnetism is produced by a frictional discharge operating upon a\nconducting wire, it must be deemed a secondary effect, arising from the\npolarizing influence of the ethereal waves upon the ethereo-ponderable\natoms of the wire.\n\nSuch waves pass superficially in preference; but when the wire\nis comparatively small, the reaction between the waves and the\nethereo-ponderable atoms becomes sufficiently powerful to polarize\nthem, and thus render them competent, for an extremely minute period\nof time, to produce all the affections of a galvano-electric current,\nwhether of ignition, of electrolysis, or magnetization. Thus, as the\nethereo-ponderable waves produce such as are purely ethereal, so purely\nethereal waves may produce such as are ethereo-ponderable.\n\nThe polarization of hair upon electrified scalps is supposed to be due\nto a superficial association with the surrounding polarized ethereal\natoms, while that of iron filings, by a magnet or galvanized wire, is\nconceived to arise from the influence of polarized ethereo-ponderable\natoms, consisting of ethereal and ponderable matter in a state of\ncombination.\n\nFarradian discharges are as truly the effects of ethereo-ponderable\npolarization as those from an electrified conductor, or coated surfaces\nof glass are due to static ethereal polarization, (39, 40, 41.)[79]\n\n                               THE END.\n\n\n                        PRINTED AND STEREOTYPED\n                           BY HOLMAN & GRAY\n\n\n\n\nINVOCATION OF SPIRITS.[80]\n\n      Spirits on high, or far or near,\n      Who happen our humble chanting to hear,\n      Our circle with your presence bless;\n      Our souls with pious emotions impress.\n    Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast;\n    Death waits for his due, and life may be past.\n\n      In mercy teach us truth to know,\n      And, passing death\u2019s portal, whither we go;\n      Of your abodes the wonders teach,\n      And how to deserve that haven to reach.\n    Come, spirits, come! our sand runs fast;\n    Death\u2019s portal may yawn, and life may be past.\n\n      Say how far in the azure sky\n      The magical homes of immortals lie:[81]\n      Tell us how angels draw their breath\u2014\n      That breathing beyond the power of death.[82]\n    Say, spirits, say I our sand runs fast;\n    Death\u2019s warrant may come, and life may be past.\n\n      The bliss portray which the good enjoy,\n      The pain and remorse which the bad annoy,\n      The sun which sheds on earth no rays,\n      Yet glorious light in heaven displays![83]\n    Haste and portray\u2019 our sand runs fast;\n    Death\u2019s mandate may come, and life may be past.\n\n\n_Query to the High Spirits._\n\n    Throughout the azure realms of space\n      Do blessed spirits cheerly fly\n    To orbs too far for thoughts to reach,\n      Or Ross\u2019 reflector to descry?\n    Or bide they near their natal orb,\n      To mingle with their mundane friends,\n    Striving their minds to impress with truth\n      Which to their future welfare tends?\n\n\n_Reply of the Spirits._\n\n    \u2018Tis not to orbs vastly remote\n      That earth-born spirits wend their flight;\n    About their own planet to rove\n      Will ever be their great delight.\n    Attached by love in lieu of weight,\n      Throughout its vast orbit they move,\n    Ever striving with lively zeal\n      The fate of mortals to improve.[84]\n\n\nPORTUGUESE HYMN SPIRITUALIZED.\n\n    Adeste fideles l\u00e6ti triumphantes,\n    Venite, venite in circulum\n    Ortam videte c\u0153li cognoscentiam.\n    Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,\n    Venite adoremus Dominum.\n\n    Ecce in nostro tempore qu\u00e6 nata\n    Veritati tibi sit gloria\n    Patris \u00e6terni verbum clarefactum.\n    Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,\n    Venite adoremus Dominum.\n\n    Valde exultat chorus angelorum\n    Resonant aul\u00e6 celestium\n    Gloria in excelsis Deo.\n    Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,\n    Venite adoremus Dominum.\n\n\n_Translation of Portuguese Hymn, as altered._\n\n    Come hither, ye faithful, joyfully triumphing;\n    Come, come into a circle;\n    Behold, a knowledge of heaven is born to us.\n    Come let us adore, come let us adore our God.\n\n    O truth, to you who art just born to us,\n    Let there be glory rendered,\n    The word of God being made evident.\n    Come let us adore, &c.\n\n    Greatly does the chorus of angels exult,\n    Causing the temples of heaven to resound:\n    Glory be to God on high.\n    Come let us adore, &c.\n\n\n\n\n                        NEW AND VALUABLE BOOKS\n\n                           JUST PUBLISHED BY\n\n                        PARTRIDGE AND BRITTAN,\n\n                        300 Broadway, New York.\n\n\nBrittan and Richmond\u2019s Discussion.\n\n Four hundred pages, octavo. This work contains twenty-four letters\n from each of the parties above named, embodying a great number\n of facts and arguments, _pro_ and _con_, designed to illustrate\n the Spiritual Phenomena of all ages, but especially the modern\n Manifestations. To insure a wide circulation, the work is offered at\n the low price of $1.\n\n\nThe Present Age and the Inner Life;\n\n Being a Sequel to Spiritual Intercourse. By A. J. Davis. This is an\n elegant book of near 300 pages octavo, illustrated. Price $1, postage\n 23 cents.\n\n\nDiscourses from the Spirit-World,\n\n Dictated by Stephen Olin, through Rev. R. P. Wilson, Writing Medium.\n To do good is the Golden Rule of the Universe. This is an interesting\n volume of some 200 pages. Price 63 cents.\n\n\nThe Spiritual Telegraph, Vol. I.\n\n A few copies complete, bound in a substantial manner\u2014contains the\n fullest record of the facts, etc., of the Spiritual movement that has\n yet been published. 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Price\n 15 cents; postage 2 cents.\n\n\nThe Harmonial Man:\n\n Or, Thoughts for the Age. By Andrew Jackson Davis. Price 30 cents;\n postage cents.\n\n\nBiography of Mrs. Semantha Mettler,\n\n And an account of the Wonderful Cures performed by her. By Francis\n H. Green, Harmonial Association, publishers. Price, paper 25 cents;\n muslin, 38 cents; postage, 6 cents.\n\n\n  PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, Publishers,\n  No. 300 Broadway, New York.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] See subsequent investigation on Media; also Plate IV. and\ndescription.\n\n[2] These disks cost at the foundry about 37\u00bd cents a piece. One may\nbe used as a pattern by which to cast others.\n\n[3] There is also this difference, that in Fig. 2 the board is\nsupported by only three wheels, so as to have one in front under the\nhands of the medium, by which sufficient pressure is secured to make\nits rotation certain. But as the position thus given does not fall into\nthe plane of the pulley at the back of the disk, the wheel in question\nis supported upon an axle which is secured in staples or holes, and\ncarries a pulley just at the position where it is coincident with the\nplane aforesaid. The wheel is visible in front.\n\n[4] _Vis inerti\u00e6_, or force of inertness, is the force by which\na body, when at rest, resists being put into motion, or, when in\nmotion, resists arrestation. The force, in this latter case, is called\nmomentum, being directly as the weight multiplied by the velocity.\nThus, two pounds, moving at the rate of one foot per second, exercise\nexactly the same momentum as one pound moving at the rate of two feet\nper second.\n\nThe force of a spring, or of explosive compounds, cannot be called\nmomentum; neither velocity nor weight enter into its constitution;\nthough, when transferred to a projectile, it produces momentum\nproportional to the force with which it acts, the weight moved, and\nvelocity imparted.\n\nMuscular force does not come within the definition of momentum,\nalthough it produces this property in a hammer, proportionably to\nits weight and the resulting velocity. Nor is the force of gravity\nmomentum, though momentum be generated by it in falling bodies.\n\n[5] It is suggested that these words may be misapprehended. I use them\nin the sense given by Johnson: \u201c_Sight of any thing, commonly mental\nview_.\u201d\n\nI understand that evidence to be intuitive which is obtained by the\nsimultaneous action of the mind and the sight, and, of course, of any\nother of the senses. Intuitive is derived from the Latin word _intuo_,\nto look upon. \u201c_Intuere c\u0153lum_,\u201d according to Cicero, means to look at\nthe sky.\n\n[6] I have since been assured by my spirit friends, that there was no\ndeception on the part of the medium here alluded to. It has since been\nalleged by them that it was my own father who made the raps on the\nsmall table above mentioned, when I sat at it between the two media.\nIt was my spirit friend, William Blodget, who rapped when the flute,\ntubes, and rod were held against the door, or when the rapping appeared\nto be made against the partition between the parlours.\n\n[7] Excepting the difference of the table represented in length, the\napparatus here described does not differ from that represented in Plate\n2, which is accompanied by a description.\n\n[8] It may be expedient to state that the disk was counterpoised by a\nweight at the smaller end of the board. This weight was suspended from\na hook at one end of a rod, which was so fastened by staples, as to\nhave the distance of the hook from the fulcrum adjusted so as to make\nthe weight counterpoise the disk exactly.\n\nThis experiment may be understood by looking at Plate 3. The board\nemployed is there represented, associated with a wire-gauze cage and\nspring balance. Let all these be removed in the mind\u2019s eye. Suppose\nthe large disk represented in the Plate I to be affixed with its axle\nto the board, near where the hook is represented as attached to the\nbalance. Suppose a counter-weight at the other end of the board to\nbalance the disk, so as to keep the board level when left to itself.\nNow, the cord and weights being applied, as in the experiment with\ntable, (154,) on the medium placing her hands on the small end, the\nresults above described ensued.\n\n[9] Though gifted with vision, they are, nevertheless, blind.\n\n[10] My father was a member of the convention by which the original\nconstitution of the State of Pennsylvania was made. Subsequently,\nhe served in the legislature, and held the office of Speaker of the\nSenate. His name must be associated with many of the laws of his time.\nDuring leisure he used to amuse himself with the Latin poets and\nhistorians, as well as with those of Great Britain and of France. The\nHistorical Society of Pennsylvania have lately published a journal\nwhich he wrote of a tour, made in 1775, through New York to Canada and\nNiagara Falls.\n\n[11] Is understood in the spheres as synonymous with gradual.\n\n[12] I had remarked to the company during the evening that I felt a\nspirit touching my forehead. I had often before that time felt a gentle\ntouch upon my forehead or brow, as if touched by a feather, but I did\nnot know its cause, and this was the first intimation.\n\n[13] _Apotheosis_ from _apo_, among, and _theos_, god, having been used\nto signify translation to a place among gods, might not _apo-angelosis_\nbe used to signify translation to a place among angels, from _apo_,\namong, and _angelos_, an angel?\n\n[14]\n\n  \u201c_Praise undeserved is satire in disguise._\u201d\n\nThis being manifestly true, it follows that whatever applause may be\nbestowed upon an author by his spiritual advisers, as he may consider\nthem, will be so inverted in the mind\u2019s eye of an unbeliever as to\nhave all the efficacy of satire. Under these circumstances I should be\nterribly satirized were I here to give the whole of a communication\nmade by this benevolent philanthropic spirit, of which the following\nis a part. Were I to give his sentiments in full, it would be rather\nfrom the motive of showing how vivacious is the interest taken in the\nprogress of Spiritualism by certain worthies of the spirit world, and\nto give another exemplification of the ardour of the spirit mind after\nemerging from its mundane tenement. But the main motive for publishing\nso much of the communication in question as subjoined, is the\nconfirmation thus afforded of the account previously given by my angel\nsister, of the attendance of high spirits upon my lectures at Boston.\n\nThis account was also confirmed by independent communications from two\nother sources. Opecancanough, the Indian chief, was present, as he gave\nme to understand, and without knowing the names, described some of the\nparties who were present.\n\n\n_Part of a Letter from Mrs. Gourlay to the Author._\n\n  PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 1854.\n\n\u201c_My Dear Sir_: Having finished reading your letter, I felt a very\npowerful influence indicating the presence of spirits. Accordingly,\nseating myself at the instrument, [Plate I. Fig. 2,] the following\ncommunication was rapidly given:\n\n\u201c\u2018My dear sister, say to our beloved friend and brother that I was\npresent at his lectures in Boston, and was much pleased to hear him\nspeak so nobly and fearlessly in the holy cause of _Spiritualism_. * *\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\u201c\u2018There was a great assemblage of elevated spirits convened at our\nfriend\u2019s lectures in Boston. Among those whom I particularly recognised\nwere B. Franklin, W. E. Channing, J. Q. Adams, H. Kirk White, Byron,\nBurns, Moore, Dr. Physick, Dr. Rush, Dr. Chalmers, and a host of\nothers. His chief supporters were his father and mother, his loving\nsister Martha and brother Charles, and his friend Blodgett, Walter\nGourlay, and myself.\n\n  W. W.\u2019\n\n\u201cMy dear friend: The above is the communication which I received,\n_verbatim_, and which you will please accept for what it is worth. I\nbelieve it came from the source whence it purports to have emanated. I\nquestioned W. W. regarding the nature of the marks of approbation. His\nreply was, \u2018We rapped several times.\u2019\n\n[15] First spiritual sphere.\n\n[16] This spirit, I have ascertained, was the late Mr. McIlhenny,\ntreasurer to the Athen\u00e6um, who died in August, 1854. I took the more\ninterest in this as he was my classmate, and was present at some of\nthe investigations which led to my conversion. I took leave of him one\nevening in July, 1854, after a walk in Walnut street. He then appeared\nto be nearly a convert to Spiritualism, though he did not deem it\nprudent to acknowledge his opinions publicly. His remarks coincided\nwith those ascribed to him by the truly angelic Maria. Within the last\nmonth Maria brought him to communicate with me.\n\n[17] To meet the curiosity of the reader, it may be well to say\nthat communications by the pen are either _impressional_\u2014that is,\nresulting from the volition of the writer, aided in the matter by the\ninfluence of a spirit\u2014or they are _automatic_; that is, produced by the\nmechanical action of the spirits on the hand of the medium, entirely\nindependent of the medium\u2019s volition.\n\n[18] I would state, on the authority of this lady and her relatives,\nmany of whom were opposed to Spiritualism, that this was the first\ntime that she had ever produced a poetical effusion; though it has\nnot been an uncommon circumstance for her, since then, when under\nspiritual influence, to write page after page of extremely beautiful\nand excellent composition, both in prose and verse, far surpassing in\nelegance of language her natural powers of thought and fancy.\n\n[19] This article should have been inserted earlier, but was mislaid.\n\n[20] The fact that my father, my brother, my nephew, and my friend\nGeneral Cadwalader, are each residing with their mundane wives, proves\nthat in this world a hymeneal torch may be lighted, which may not be\nextinguished by death.\n\n[21] I quote here the language of Samuel, the wicked pope of Judea, to\nSaul, respecting the destruction of the tribe of Amalek: \u201cThus saith\nthe Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he\nlaid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and\nsmite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them\nnot; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep,\ncamel and ass. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and\nutterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul\nand the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen,\nand of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would\nnot utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse,\nthat they destroyed utterly.\u201d\n\nOne would think here was butchery enough to satisfy a devil, but it\ndoes not satisfy the God of the Bible. Saul is deposed for giving\nquarter to Agag, and not carrying his revenge so far as to destroy\nthe flocks and herds as well as the captive king, of whom the\nblood-thirsty, blasphemous pontiff becomes himself the cold-blooded\nexecutioner, hewing Agag to death _before the Lord_. Dr. Berg alleges\nthat men are assimilated to the god whom they worship. What ought then\nto be the effect of worshipping the God thus described in the Bible?\n\nHow does this comport with the extravagant precepts of Christ,\nagreeably to which we are to return good for evil?\n\nThere cannot in the history of any pagan country be found an instance\nmore glaring, of the unjustifiable perpetuation of revenge, than this\nputting a whole people to the sword for a wrong done by their ancestors\nsome hundred years before.\n\nIf examples draw us, while precepts do no more than lead, according to\nthe proverb, what influence are such examples of the morality of the\nBible likely to produce in those who are taught to view it as the word\nof God?\n\n_From the pernicious influence of such religious errors may the noble\nspirits of our progenitors relieve us and our offspring!_\n\n[22] Shakspeare\u2019s king, in the tragedy of Hamlet, is made to express\nthis correct sentiment in the midst of his villainy: \u201cPray I cannot,\nbe my inclination sharp as \u2018twill.\u201d Why? because he still retained the\nobjects for which he sinned. But though David had exposed Uriah to be\nkilled to obtain his wife, he retained her in despite of his professed\npenitence.\n\nYet of this man Jehovah is represented as saying, \u201cI took thee from\nthe sheepcote, from following sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over\nmy people Israel, and I have been with thee wheresoever thou hast\nwalked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have\nmade thee a name of the great men that are in earth.\u201d\n\nThus God is represented as the constant companion, and, of course,\naccomplice of his butchering, robbery, and treachery: just the part\nwhich would belong to Satan, were such an evil being to exist. He is\ncalled to account for the murder of Uriah, but the pagans whom he\nrobbed and massacred were only vermin in the estimation of the Jewish\nJehovah.\n\n[23] In Great Britain, nearly forty millions of dollars per annum.\n\n[24] Perhaps, however, the high-church Episcopalians occupy middle\nground.\n\n[25] God is made out to be a strange bungler. Though omnipotent, he\ndoes not make his creatures as he wishes them to be; and although\nomniscient, has to subject them to trial to discover what they are.\nHe does not inform them of that which he wishes them to believe, but\npunishes them and their children to the third and fourth generation\nfor his own omission. For no other reason than his having afforded to\na particular nation more knowledge of his will than he had afforded to\nothers, he gives them a right to extirpate their neighbours and take\npossession of their lands.\n\n[26] \u201cI will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people\nto whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their\nbacks unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive\nout the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. I\nwill not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land\nbecome desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By\nlittle and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be\nincreased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy bounds from the Red\nSea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the\nriver: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand;\nand thou shalt drive them out before thee.\u201d\n\n[27] \u201cThink not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not\nto send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance\nagainst his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the\ndaughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.\u201d \u201cSuppose ye that I am come\nto give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from\nhenceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against\ntwo, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the\nson, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter,\nand the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her\ndaughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.\u201c\n\n[28] The fact that so many of the Israelites, assisted and of\ncourse countenanced by Aaron, the brother of Moses, afterward made\nhigh-priest, were thus induced to worship an idol, shows that they\nwere pious but ignorant. It has elsewhere been urged that any one that\nworships, _means_ to _worship right_ as much as a person who _pays_\na _debt_ means to _pay_ the _right creditor_. It argues against the\nsufficiency of the facts and reasoning by which Moses supported his\npretensions to inspiration, that he had to resort to his sword in order\nto prevent his people from worshipping idols. That they were sincere,\nmust be evident from their relinquishing their golden trinkets for the\npurpose of furnishing materials for the calf.\n\n[29] It must be admitted that Moses does not seem to have cared whether\nhis soul perished or not, provided he could get enough territory on\nthis side of the grave, by pleading God\u2019s sanction, and the skilful use\nof the sword. He seems to have valued the favour of Jehovah only for\nworldly objects. Had it been otherwise, in lieu of so much stress being\nlaid upon the \u201c_promised land_,\u201d it had been more wisely rested on the\nhope of heaven. Had Moses obtained a knowledge of the spirit world, the\nSadducees had not been materialists, nor the Pharisees worldly-minded,\ncorrupt hypocrites, as alleged by Christ.\n\n[30] \u201cTwo or three years since Professor Bronn described twenty-six\nthousand six hundred and seventy-eight species; and, upon an average,\none thousand species are discovered every year. M. Alcide D\u2019Orbigny,\nin 1850, stated the number of mollusks and radiated animals alone at\nseventeen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven species.\u201d\n\n[31] [The use of the word \u201cdemons\u201d in the text would seem to make it\nvery uncertain that the Catholic school entertains the doctrine of\nan individual, personal devil. When used in the plural, as it often\nis, it cannot mean _the_ devil, yet both singular and plural, the\nword \u201cdemon\u201d seems to convey the same idea. Scripture commentators\nmake the word demon to signify a spirit, whether good or bad. But our\nauthor does not seem to have yet become very thoroughly grounded in the\ndoctrine of the communion of angels with man; which will certainly be\nfound to be the only tangible doctrine.\u2014TRANSLATOR.]\n\n[32] [Having reached this stage of our author\u2019s remarks, his translator\nbegs leave to submit them to a transient review. It is evident that his\ninvestigations in the physical demonstrations, relating to spiritual\nphilosophy, fall very short of the intelligence of the present time.\nHe seems to be a total stranger to that flood of truth and love that\nhas for years been pouring its blessings on the hearts and minds of\ntens of thousands of delighted and grateful recipients in the Western\nhemisphere, and by the very means that appear to have been fully in his\npower of reaching that heavenly boon, but which were all exhausted to\nconvince the world that the devil has nothing to do with it.\n\nThis is certainly a point gained on Catholic ground, and had our friend\nsupplied some argument equally conclusive for theologians of the\nopposing school, he would probably save them the sin of making out of\nthe devil, by imputation, a veritable saint.\n\nThe question will naturally arise with his readers, If the power and\nintelligence do not emanate from the devil, from whom or what do they\nemanate? But on this subject, from some reason that can only be guessed\nat, our author, the abbot, is so far silent. The confirmed theory\nof spirit intercourse, when the vehicle is mechanical or automatic,\nmakes the character and intelligence of the communication depend on\nthe communicating spirit, subject to apparent irregularities. But\nour author, in his hurry perhaps to prove his favourite postulate of\nexcluding the devil, makes them depend on the one, as he says, who\n\u201cconsults the table.\u201d If he speaks Greek, then the table talks Greek,\nand ditto for all other languages, &c. But certainly the marquis would\ncorner him here. He says, also, that the motive power is intercepted by\na non-conductor, as silk round the hands. Although this may be true to\nsome extent with feeble mediums, still the fact that tables often move\nwithout contact with any one, must nullify the abbot\u2019s theory, whatever\nit may be.]\n\n[33] [This is probably correct, when the medium writes impressionally;\nbut exactly the reverse is true when the writing is automatic, or\nmechanically controlled by the spirit.\u2014TRANSLATOR.]\n\n[34] Our author seems to confound his _dramatis person\u00e6_: he first\nsays it is the language of the communicant, and afterward the language\nof the medium which the spirit understands. But the simple theory is,\naccording to the experience of the Western hemisphere, that what is\ncommunicated depends on the intelligence of the communicating agent,\nwhich is the spirit. That spirits, it is true, possess the clairvoyant\nfaculty, and can read our thoughts, but those thoughts must be clothed\nin a language they understand.\u2014TRANSLATOR. [I am under the impression\nthat the power of the spirit to construe our thoughts, varies with the\nspirit and medium, and with the same medium under different conditions\nas to health and tranquillity of mind. No invariable rule can, in my\nopinion, be said to exist as to the powers of spirits to learn our\nthoughts, whether we speak one language or another.\u2014DR. HARE.]]\n\n\n[35] This communication, as well as those immediately preceding and\nfollowing it, would have been inserted under the head of Corroborative\nEvidence, page 55, &c., had they been received in time.\n\n[36] [According to my spirit friends, this earth forms one of them, the\nfirst; so that there are six spirit spheres.]\n\n[37] Andrew Jackson Davis.\n\n[38] Wood-cuts of the characters alluded to in this and the succeeding\nparagraphs, may be seen in Mr. Capron\u2019s book.\n\n[39] \u201cMr. Sunderland, in his \u2018Book of Human Nature,\u2019 p. 280, says this\nwas the first of the spirit writing, but Mr. Capron alleges that he\nwas acquainted with cases of this kind long before the disturbances at\nStratford.\u201d\n\n[40] Latterly, Sir David Brewster has conceived that only three\nelementary species of light are requisite, according to the theory of\nemission, to perform all the offices which Newton ascribed to seven.\n\n[41] It should be understood, that when two magnetic needles are\nassociated by the contact of dissimilar poles, the extreme poles do not\nlose their magnetism, although it will be more feeble than when the\nneedles are independently situated.\n\n[42] _Explanation of the Galvanic Pile, Battery, or Series._\u2014When\npieces of zinc and silver are so placed in the mouth as to have their\nsurfaces separated by the tongue, their extremities extending beyond\nit externally, on allowing the latter to touch each other, a metallic\ntaste is perceived by the person whose tongue is subjected to the\nprocess thus described. It has been ascertained that at the same time\na minute portion of the zinc is oxydized at the expense of the water\nwhich exists in the saliva.\n\nSuppose a pile of plates of zinc and silver, or copper, alternating,\nto be separated into couples by the interposition of moistened cloth;\neach plate will on one side touch its partner, on the other side the\nmoistened cloth. Every couple of zinc and copper separated by the\ncloth are situated as the pair above described, when separated by the\ntongue, and are equally capable of giving a discharge which would be\nsensible to the taste, under those circumstances. The plates which are\nin metallic contact have no such disposition to discharge, because\nthere is no moisture to act upon them, and no diversity of electrical\nstate can be excited on account of their great conducting power, which\nwould neutralize any such excitement as soon as it could be created.\nThe surfaces separated by the cloth cannot discharge to each other,\nbecause there is no conductor extending from one to the other. But\nas the whole pile is a conductor of electricity, to discharge every\npair entering into its constituency it is only necessary to touch each\nend simultaneously with a good conductor\u2014a wire, for instance. The\nwhole series will then be discharged at once, and the energy of the\ndischarge is proportional to the number to be thus discharged. There\nis an uncertainty and obscurity as to the precise _rationale_ of the\neffect thus obtained. There is as much difference about this as there\nis about the nature of matter. It will not be expedient, therefore,\nin presenting a popular view, to enter upon that intricate question,\nand will be enough to state the laws and facts which are admitted\ngenerally by men of science. It is universally admitted that, if each\nof the terminal plates, in such a pile or series, have a platina wire\nsoldered or otherwise well connected with it, the other ends of the\nwires extending into some water, this liquid will be decomposed, and\na similar decomposition may, directly or indirectly, be effected of\nvarious substances held in solution by water, as well as substances\nliquified by heat. Moreover, when the same wire is made to form the\nmeans of discharge by extending from one terminal plate to the other,\nit acquires the property of attracting iron filings, and, so long as\nthe discharge through it is sustained, will cause the compass needle\nto arrange itself always at right angles to the wire. Under these\ncircumstances, according to the Franklinian theory, a current of\nelectricity passes from the positive to the negative pole; according to\nthe theory of Dufay, a fluid proceeding from each pole, they combine\nin the wire. According to the view above given, two opposite waves of\npolarization pass, by which the metallic atoms or particles are shifted\nfrom their natural position, so as to act externally, as already stated.\n\nIt is not, I believe, known to whom the world is indebted for the\nfundamental observation in galvanism, made, as has been mentioned,\nby the assistance of the tongue and plates of silver and zinc.\nSubsequently, Galvani, probably without any reference to this\nphenomenon, ascertained some other consequences of the reaction of\nthe elementary pair; but to Volta we owe the pile or series above\ndescribed. In whatever form voltaic series may have been subsequently\nconstructed, the main principles are the same, the reaction of chemical\nagents so arranged in succession as to be productive of that intensity\nof discharge, and powers of decomposition, to which allusion has been\nmade.\n\nThese have latterly been called electrolytic; and decomposition, by the\nvoltaic series, has been called electrolysis, by Farraday\u2014a beautiful,\nwell-conceived, and expressive word. (See Essay on Electrical Theory,\nin the Appendix.)\n\n[43] It were absurd to draw any conclusion from this, that\nincomprehensibility is a reason for believing the miracles ascribed to\nMohammed or any other religious impostor. That we cannot understand how\na result is accomplished is no reason for disbelieving it in opposition\nto the evidence of our senses; but, at the same time, it forms no\nreason for believing, of itself, but is rather a clog upon belief, when\nintuitively awakened.\n\n[44] In this last sense it is used as synonymous with essence. By\nchemists, latterly, spirit of turpentine is called oil of turpentine.\nAll the volatile oils obtained by delicate distillation, usually with\nwater, like oil of turpentine, are called essential oils or essences.\n\nAs respects the employment of language to express ideas when a new\nview is originated, there is a choice of evils; we are placed between\nScylla and Charybdis. There is no alternative but to use an old word in\na sense more or less new, or to coin a new one. In either case there\nis a manifest disadvantage; and the question arises, shall we teach\na new meaning for an old word, or present to those to whom we would\nconvey our ideas a new idea with a new word to designate it? The word\nmatter, it will be found, has, in Webster\u2019s dictionary, ten meanings\nassigned to it. Though in some of its acceptations it may be considered\nas applicable to every thing that exists, so as to qualify space so\nfar as to distinguish it from nihility. Nevertheless, it has been used\nas distinguishing those substances which are neither spiritual nor\nmental. The antagonism of spirit and matter in the words, \u201cThere is\na spiritual body and a material body,\u201d is not warranted in chemistry,\nsince the distillate or spirit evolved by distillation is a material\nbody, however it may be more volatile or of less density than the\n_caput mortuum_ left in the alembic or retort.\n\n[45] It is a remarkable fact that, although in later times the Jews\nhave been so frequently named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does\nnot appear to have been customary during the time which intervened\nbetween the supposed era of Moses and that of the finding of the\nPentateuch in the temple.\n\nThis serves to show that the Pentateuch is a fabrication of the\npriesthood and King Josiah.\n\n[46] The following trash is thus made to be specified by the God\nof the universe:\u2014gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, goats\u2019 hair,\nred rams\u2019-skins, badger skins, shittim-wood, oil for light, oil for\nanointing, spices, sweet incense, onyx-stones, shew-bread, candlesticks\nwith six branches, almond-shaped bowls with a knop and a flower, knop\nand branches of beaten gold, seven lamps, large dishes, curtains of\nfine linen, spoons, cherubims of gold. Eight columns, nearly one\nhundred verses, are taken up with this mummery, expressly directed by\nJehovah himself.\n\nNow, let the use Moses made of his opportunities be compared with that\nwhich I have made of those afforded me by the spirits, and then judge\nbetween Spiritualism and self-called orthodoxy.\n\n[47] \u201cNec ab ipso scriptum constat, nec ab ejus apostolis sed longo\npost tempore a quibusdam incerti nominis viris, qui ne sibi non\nhaberetur fides scribentibus qu\u00e6 nescirent, partim apostolorum,\npartim eorum que apostolos secuti viderentur nomina scriptorum suorum\nfrontibus indiderunt, asseverantes SECUNDUM cos, se scripsisse qu\u00e6\nscripserunt.\u2014_Quoted by Lardner_, vol. 2, p. 221.\n\n[48] \u201cBy _all persons_, understanding strictly all _parsons_, for the\ncommon people were _nobody_, and never at any time had any voice,\njudgment, or option in the business of religion, but always believed\nthat which their godfathers and godmothers did promise and vow that\nthey should believe. God or devil, and any Scriptures their masters\npleased, were always all one to them.\n\n[49] \u201c\u2018_Almost from the apostolic age!_\u2019 Why, the text itself, if it\nprove any thing, proves that such forged writings were in existence\nabsolutely IN the apostolic age, and among the apostles themselves.\n\n[50] \u201cOmnia qu\u00e6 Christianismo conducere putabant bibliis suis\ninterseruerunt.\u2014_Tindalio citante._\n\n[51] \u201cSi forte accidisset, ut Johannis Evangelium per octodecim secula\npriora prosus ignotum jacuisset, et nostris demum temporibus, in\nmodium productum esset omnes haud dubie uno ore confiterentur Jesum a\nJohanne descriptum longe alium esse ac illium Matth\u00e6i, Marci, et Luc\u00e6,\nnec utramque descriptionem simul veram esse posse.\u2014_Carol. Theoph.\nBretschneider Probab, Lipsi\u00e6_, 1820.\n\n[52] \u201cHere it is. \u2018Messala V. C. consule, Constantinopoli, jubente\nAnastasia Imperatore, sancta evangelia, tanquam ab idiotis evangelistis\ncomposita, reprehenduntur et emendantur.\u2019\u2014_Victor Tununensis, Cave\u2019s\nHistoria Literaria_, vol. i. p. 415\u2014i. e., \u2018_The illustrious Messala\nbeing Consul, by the command of the Emperor Anastasias, the holy\nGospels, as having been written by idiot evangelists, are censured and\ncorrected._\u2019\u2014Victor, Bishop of Tunis in Africa.\n\n[53] \u201cSee Beausobre, quoted in the Manifesto of the Christian Society;\nand this and the preceding extract vindicated, in the author\u2019s\nSyntagma, against the vituperations of the evangelical Dr. John Pye\nSmith, _in locis_.\u201d\n\n[54] Josephus, book iv. chap. ii. page 49.\n\n[55] Ibid. book iv. chap. vi. page 53.\n\n[56] Josephus, book iv. chap. viii. page 55.\n\n[57] See vol. ii. page 42, Huc\u2019s Travels.\n\n[58] According to Farraday\u2019s researches and general experience, we have\nreason to believe that all particles of matter are endowed with one or\nthe other of two species of polarity. This word polarity conveys the\nidea that two terminations in each particle are respectively endowed\nwith forces which are analogous, but contrary in their nature; so\nthat of any two homogeneous particles, the similar poles repel each\nother, while the dissimilar attract; likewise, when freely suspended,\nthey take a certain position relatively to each other, and on due\nproximity, the opposite polar forces, counteracting each other, appear\nto be extinct. When deranged from this natural state of reciprocal\nneutralization, their liberated poles react with the particles of\nadjacent bodies, or those in the surrounding medium. Under these\ncircumstances, any body which may be constituted of the particles thus\nreacting is said to be polarized, or in a state of polarization.\n\nStatical implies stationary; undulatory, wave-like.\n\n[59] Communicated to the American Philosophical Society.\n\n[60] The words gyration, vortex, and whirl are considered as\nsynonymous, and used indifferently to avoid monotony.\n\n[61] I consider a wire as galvanized, when it is made the medium of the\ndischarge from a galvanic battery.\n\n[62] In some electro-magnetic apparatus, the polarity of an\nelectro-magnet is reversed more than 100 times in a second.\n\n[63] See Silliman\u2019s Journal, vol. xxxviii. p. 215, 1840.\n\n[64] This seems to have been entirely overlooked in his suggestions\nrespecting the nature of material atoms. It appears to me that the\ncharacteristics thus insisted upon are incompatible with the idea that\neach property is of itself a diffusible matter, and that in such atoms\ntwo polarities can exist inseparable from each other.\n\n[65] Pouillet suggests that when the passage of a ray of light through\nglass, is influenced by a powerful magnet, agreeably to the experiments\nof Farraday, \u201cconsistently with the undulatory theory of light, it\nis the ether of the body submitted to the experiment, which would be\nmodified by the magnetism, and that it would be very difficult to\nrecognise whether it is modified without any participation of the\nponderable matter with which it is so intimately connected.\u201d Thus\nthe existence of matter, composed of ethereal as well as ponderable\nparticles, is sustained by all the evidence which has been brought to\nuphold the undulatory theory of light.\u2014_L. & E. Phil. Mag._ &c., for\n1846, vol. xxviii., page 335.\n\n[66] The word statical has been used to designate phenomena which are\nthe effects of electricity when at rest, as when accumulated upon\nconductors or the surfaces of panes or jars. Phenomena which are\nsupposed to arise from electricity in motion (forming a current) are\ndesignated as dynamic. Thus, when charging one side of a pane produces\nthe opposite state in the other, the effect upon the latter is ascribed\nto _statical_ induction; but when a discharge of electricity through\none wire, causes a current in another, forming an adjacent circuit, the\nresult is ascribed to _dynamic_ induction. This method of designation\nis employed whether the alleged current be owing to electricity\ngenerated by friction, as in the case of a machine, or generated by\nchemical reaction, as in the case of a galvanic battery. A good word\nis wanting to distinguish electricity, when produced by friction,\nfrom electricity produced by galvano-chemical reaction: for want of a\nbetter, I will resort to that employed by Noad, (_frictional_,) which\nhas the advantage of being self-explanatory.\n\n[67] As the word ether is used in various senses, the syllables\n\u201c_electro_\u201d being prefixed, serve to designate that which is intended.\n\n[68] See my communication on \u201c_Free Electricity_,\u201d in Silliman\u2019s\nAmerican Journal of Science, vol. iii., New Series, number for May,\n1847.\n\n[69] The sectional area of a conductor is the area of the superficies\nwhich would be exposed by cutting it through at right angles to its\naxis.\n\n[70] According to Colomb\u2019s experiments, electrical attraction and\nrepulsion are inversely as the squares of the distances: ought not the\ninductive power of statical charges which is produced by those forces,\nand which precedes and determines the length of the resulting spark, to\nobey the same law?\n\nIf this calculation be correct, the intensity must be as the squares of\nthe striking distances, as indicated by sparks.\n\nIt may be urged that the striking distances, as measured by the length\nof the sparks, is in the compound ratio of the quantity and intensity.\nAs to the quantity, however, galvanic sources have always been treated\nas pre-eminent in efficacy, so that on that side there could be no\ndisparity. Moreover, I have found, that in galvanic apparatus of only\none, or even of two pairs, as in the calorimotors, the intensity\nlessened as the surfaces were enlarged. By a pair of fifty square feet\nof zinc surface, a white heat could not be produced in a wire of any\nsize, however small. The calorific power of such apparatus can only be\nmade evident by the production of a comparatively very low temperature,\nin a comparatively very large mass.\n\n[71] Suppose a number of boys and girls, associated as partners for a\ndance, to stand up in a row, severally united, and distinguished into\ncouples by those joining hands; the sexes being regularly alternating,\nso that no two of the same sex should be hand in hand. Under these\nconditions no effort to take a boy from one end of the row, or a\ngirl from the other end, could be effected with the consent of the\ncouples concerned, both partners in which would thus be deprived of\nthe power of joining in the dance. But should it be understood that\nonly an exchange of partners was all that should be intended, and,\nconsistently, a boy from one end and a girl from the other end of the\nrow, taken simultaneously and allowed to form a couple, forthwith, the\nrest merely shifting their hands from one neighbour to another, there\nwould no longer be the same motive for resistance and the required\nexchange might be cheerfully accomplished.\n\n[72] By a void I mean a Torrecellian vacuum. The omnipresence of the\nelectro-ether must render the existence of a perfect void impossible.\n\n[73] It is well known that Wollaston effected the decomposition of\nwater by the aid of a powerful electrical machine. Having enclosed\nplatina wires within glass tubes, these were fused so as to cover the\nends. The glass was afterward so far removed, by grinding, as to expose\nminute metallic points to the liquid. Under these circumstances, the\nelectricity conveyed by the wires, being prevented from proceeding\nover them superficially, was obliged to make its way through the\nethereo-ponderable matter of which metals consist. Instead of proving\nthe identity of galvanism with frictional electricity, this experiment\nshows that in one characteristic, at least, there is a discordancy.\nAt the same time it may indicate that ethereal may give rise to\nethereo-ponderable undulations.\n\n[74] Agreeably to experiments of Farraday, the particles of a glass\nprism may be as influenced by an electro-magnet as to affect the\npassage of polarized light.\n\n[75] L. and E. Phil. Mag. and Jour., vol. xlv. p. 383, 1844.\n\n[76] These phenomena excite more interest in consequence of the\nemployment, for medical purposes, of an apparatus originally contrived\nby Callan, but since ingeniously modified by our countryman, Dr.\nPage, into a form which has been designated as the electrotome. A\ncoil of coarse copper wire, covered with cotton, like bonnet wire, is\nwound about a wooden cylinder. Around the coil thus formed, a coil of\nfine copper wire similarly covered is wound, leaving the extremities\naccessible. One end of the coarse coil communicating constantly with\none pole of a galvanic battery, the other end is left free; so that\nby scraping with it the teeth of a rasp attached to the other pole,\na rapid closing and opening of the circuit may be effected. Under\nthese circumstances, an observer, holding the ends of the fine coil,\nreceives shocks more or less severe, according to the construction of\nthe battery, the energy of the agents employed to excite it, or the\ntotal weight and relative dimensions of the coils as to length and\nsectional area. Agreeably to the received doctrine, the shocks thus\nproduced are owing to secondary currents caused by dynamic induction.\nAgreeably to the hypothesis which I have advanced, the atoms of the\ncoarse wire, polarized by waves proceeding from the poles of the\nbattery, induce a corresponding polarization of the atoms of the fine\nwire; the aggregate polarity imparted being as the number of atoms\nin the former to the number of atoms in the latter: or (to use an\nequivalent ratio) as the weight of the coarse, to the weight of the\nfine wire. But as on breaking the circuit through the coarse wire, the\nethereo-ponderable atoms in both wires resume their neutral positions,\nwhile this requires each circuit to be run through within the same\nminute interval, the velocities of their respective waves will be\ninversely as their sectional areas and directly as their lengths: in\nother words, the velocity in the fine wire will be as much greater\nas the channel which it affords is narrower and longer. The cylinder\nincluded within the coils as above stated being removed, a cylindrical\nspace is vacated. If into the cavity thus made iron rods, like knitting\nneedles, be introduced, one after the other, while the apparatus is in\noperation, the shocks increase in severity as the number augments; so\nthat from being supportable they may be rendered intolerable. The shock\ntakes place without the presence of iron, but is much increased by its\nassistance.[77]\n\nThese facts appear to me to justify a surmise that the\nethereo-ponderable atoms of iron, in becoming magnetized and\ndemagnetized, co-operate with the ethereo-ponderable atoms of the\ncopper coils in the induction of secondary undulations. It is conceived\nthat these may be owing to the intestinal change attended by sound,\nas above stated, (73;) this being caused by a sudden approximation of\nthe poles of the atoms, previously moved apart by the influence of the\ngalvanized coil. But if this sudden coming together of the previously\nseparated poles of atoms within a magnetized cylinder of iron, can\ncontribute to the energy of secondary waves, it is consistent to infer\nthat these waves owe their origin to an analogous approximation of\nthe separated poles of the cupreous atoms, forming the finer coil, in\nwhich the secondary undulations may be created without the presence of\niron. Of course, this reasoning will apply to all cases in which the\nphenomena hitherto attributed to Farradian currents are the result of\ndynamic induction.\n\nThus it appears that the polarization of magnets, and that created\nand sustained when a galvanized coil or helix acts upon another in\nproximity, have the same relation to galvanic discharges that the\ncharges upon insulated surfaces have to their appropriate discharges.\nThe permanent magnetism of steel seems to have some analogy with the\ncharge upon a coated pane, while we may consider as analogous with\nthe charges upon insulated conductors, already adverted to, (61, 62,)\nthat state of the ethereo-ponderable particles, (38,) of a wire helix,\nwhich _state_, resulting from the influence of an included magnet,\nor neighbouring galvanized coil, and being discharged on a change of\nrelative position, or breach of the galvanizing circuit, is productive\nof spark, shock, ignition, or electrolysis, as exemplified by Callan\u2019s\ncoil, Page\u2019s electrotome, or the magneto-electric machine.\n\n[77] Agreeably to the usual construction, the cylinder about which the\ninner coarse wire coil is wound is originally of iron, so that there is\nas much of this metal contained as it can hold. Various contrivances\nare resorted to for the closing and opening of the circuit, which are\nmore ingenious and convenient than scraping a rasp, as above described.\n\n[78] American Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 121, 1826.\n\n[79] It is well known that if a rod of iron be included in a coil\nof coated copper wire, on making the coil the medium of a voltaic\ndischarge, the wire is magnetized. Agreeably to a communication from\nJoule, in the L. & E. Phil. Mag. & Jour. for Feb,, 1847, the bar is at\nthe same time lengthened, without any augmentation of bulk, so that its\nother dimensions must be lessened in proportion to the elongation.\n\nAll these facts tend to prove that a change in the relative position\nof the constituent ethereo-ponderable atoms of iron accompanies its\nmagnetization, either as an immediate cause or as a collateral effect.\n\n[80] To the tune of Moore\u2019s \u201cCanadian Boat Song.\u201d\n\n[81] See paragraph 410.\n\n[82] See paragraph 449.\n\n[83] See paragraph 415.\n\n[84] Tune \u201cYe Banks and Braes o\u2019 Bonnie Doon.\u201d","title":"Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations: Demonstrating the existence of spirits and their communion with mortals. Doctrine of the spirit world respecting heaven, hell, morality, and God. Also, the influence of Scripture on the morals of Christians.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":238050}