INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS.
In no age, says a popular writer, has the world been destitute of those
who professed, by some instrumentality or other, to hold intercourse
with departed spirits. Neither has any age been without its reputed
spectres, ghosts, or apparitions. The high priest of the Buddhist and
Hindoo temples, in former times, when arrayed in the consecrated
garments for the festivals, wore a round knob, about the size of a
large pendent drop of a chandelier, suspended from his neck by a chain
of great value and of dazzling brilliancy. It was through the agency of
this crystal that he was supposed to hold communion with the spirit or
spirits to whom he and his followers accorded devotion and made
intercessions; and the glass, acting as did the famed oracle of Delphi,
gave orders and commands, and settled all great questions that might be
submitted to its spiritual master. The priest, although he might be a
pattern of purity, and the quintessence of all that was good, having,
however, the sin of being in years, and not able, perhaps, to hide from
the spirit inhabiting the crystal all the transactions of his youth,
could not hold a direct communication with it. To arrange this, a
certain number of boys, and sometimes, in some of the temples, young
damsels, were retained, who, having never mixed with the world, could
not be supposed to be in any way contaminated by its vices. These alone
were said to be capable of beholding the spirit when he chose to make
his appearance in the divining glass, and interpreting to and fro the
questions put and answers received. Although it was not every boy or
_seer_ to whom was permitted the gift of spiritual vision, yet in
latter times, when divining crystals multiplied, little ragged boys
would run after the passers in the streets, and offer to _see_ any
thing that might be required of them, for a trifling gift, even a cake
or sweetmeat. In Egypt, the divining glass is superseded by putting a
blot of thick black fluid into the palm of a boy's hand, and commanding
him to see various people and things; of which practice Lane, in his
Modern Egyptians, gives some curious disclosures.
Divining mirrors were not confined to the East. Dr. Dee was the first
English impostor who vaunted the possession of one of these priceless
treasures. He had for the _seer_ one Keily, an Irishman; and to this,
doubtless, was attributable the impression that prevailed among the
astrologers and amateur spirit hunters, that when the spirits
condescended to speak, they always gave speech with a very strong spice
of the brogue. This "beryl," as it is called, was preserved among the
Strawberry Hill curiosities, and fell under the hammer of George
Robbins at the memorable sale. It proved to be a globe of _cannel
coal_. In Aubrey's Miscellany there is an engraving of another
larger crystal, and there are with it many wonderful stories. Yet,
notwithstanding the magic capabilities of these mirrors, they went out
of fashion until the beginning of the year 1850.
This revival and its consequences are like a page out of a silly
romance. The story, if told by a disinterested historian, would require
authentication as belonging to 1850. We therefore turn, by way of
voucher, to a publication called Zadkiel's Almanac for 1851. At page
46, after referring to the existence of magic crystals at the present
day, the writer, says, "One of large size was a few years ago brought
over to England by a friend of Lady Blessington, after the sale of
whose effects, it recently fell into the hands of a friend of mine;
and, having tested its powers, I have resolved on giving my readers an
account of this wonderful mode of communicating with the spirits of the
dead. The crystal is spherical, and has been turned from a large mass
of pure rock crystal. I have been shown some few others, but, with the
exception of one shown me by Lord S., they are all much smaller. These
smaller ones are said to be consecrated to angels of the planets, and
are, therefore, far less powerful than Lady Blessington's crystal,
which, being consecrated to the Archangel of the Sun, Michael, may be
consulted during four hours each day, whereas the others can generally
be used only for a very brief space of time; nor can very potent
spirits be called into them, or made to render themselves visible. In
this larger crystal is given most important information of the actual
existence of the soul after death, and of the state in which it exists
and will exist until the judgment."
"The first intimation we received," says Dickens, in his Household
Words, "of the revival of this notable practice of divination, was
about six months ago, when we were casually informed that the son of a
distinguished officer of the royal navy was, at that time, frequently
engaged in developing, before a few privileged friends, the
extraordinary faculty of being able to hold intercourse with the world
of spirits. It was added that the revelations made through the medium
of this youth were of so wonderful a nature, and carried such
conviction to the minds of those who listened, that they were declared
to be the result of more than human power."
The conjurer was asked, on one occasion, to describe Lord Nelson. And,
accordingly, the spirit, with an accuracy that was quite astonishing,
considering that no portrait, bust, or statue of Nelson is known to
exist, gave a full, true, and particular account of England's hero,
describing him as a very thin man, in a cocked hat, with only one eye,
one arm, &c.; and the truth of the description was declared to be
something truly marvellous.
A demand was made that the spirit of a deceased brother of one of the
querists should be summoned to appear. Presently he said, "I see him;
he has curly hair, and stoops a good deal. I can't exactly see his
features, but I think he squints." This account of her late brother's
personal appearance, though not very flattering, satisfied the lady as
far as it went; but being, like Macbeth,--
"... bent to know,
By the worst means, the worst,"
she required further proof of his identity. There was a pause for a
minute or two, and then the spirit seer spoke again--"He has got a
scroll in his hand, which he unfolds; there is this inscription on it,
in _letters of fire_:--
'I AM TOM!'"
This sublime revelation was received with a degree of solemn awe, and
with suppressed throes of well-bred laughter.
Other cases not a whit less marvellous have been described by the
narrators, who could not be reasoned out of their absurdity, insisting
that there could be no deception in the matter, on account of the means
employed, and the evident sincerity of the _employés_! These means,
they said, required that the person who looked into the crystal should
be perfectly _pure_; that is to say, a child free from sin, and by no
means given to lying, and that the form of adjuration used was, "_In
nomine Domini_," &c.; Latin being, as is well known, the language which
spirits of all denominations are most accustomed to. When interrogated
after this fashion, the spirit, if evil, fled away howling; if good, it
came, when called, unless particularly engaged _in the sun_; for it
appears that it is to that planet almost all spirits go when their term
of purgatory is over. It seems that the spirits would sometimes get out
of breath, travelling so far, and talking so much; and they then had
recourse to the expedient of _letters of fire_, which seemed to be
_written_ in various ways in the crystal; sometimes on flags, which the
spirits hold up, but sometimes they are in _print_. In these letters of
fire, the querist was counselled something like the following: "Be
merry. Quarrel not. Keep your temper, and your children too. You are a
good man, but try to be better. I am wanted. Let me go."
We subjoin the following as specimens of conversations heard by large
parties of amazed, titled, and believing listeners: "Are you Pharaoh,
that was king of Egypt?" "Yes." "Where do you dwell now?" "In Jupiter."
"How long have you been there?" "About thirty years." "Where did you
dwell till then?" "In the atmosphere, and was undergoing punishment
till then." "Were you king of Egypt when Moses was there?" "Yes, _and
Aaron too_." "Did you build the pyramids?" "_Some._" "Were any built
before your time?" "Yes." "Do you know how long the first was built
before Christ?" "About three hundred years after Adam; it was built
then." "Do you mean that it was built before the flood?" "No, it was
not finished; the flood destroyed them." "What was the principal object
of them?" "To hold the kings of Egypt." "Were there kings of Egypt so
soon after the creation?" "Yes; that was the first country kings were
in." "Were you drowned in the Red Sea?" "_Yes._"
At one time Swedenborg volunteered to give information about Sir John
Franklin, when the following dialogue took place: "What is the best way
to communicate with him?" "By the natives; they speak to him
sometimes." "Will he be home next summer?" "No." "Why?" "Because he
cannot help himself; he is stopped by ice; but his heart does not fail
him; he wants to explore." "How will he do for provisions?" "He will
find _bears_, _dogs_, and _wolves_." "Will he find the passage?" "No;
there is a continent there." "But there is also a passage." "There is
one, but he will not find it." "What latitude does he lie in chiefly?"
"I do not know: _good by_." It appears strange that Swedenborg, who
knew so much, did not know this. But we learn in another place that
"spirits do not _well_ understand about latitude and longitude."
Socrates's appearance is described as follows: "A tall, middle-aged
man, rather bald, dressed with striped coarse trousers, very loose at
the top, and tight at the bottom; a kind of frock, open in the front,
and without sleeves. He is generally employed in singing praises, but
was not quite happy." Alexander the Great appeared on horseback, in
armor, the horse also in armor; deeply regrets killing Clitus, and all
the murders he perpetrated; amuses himself in fighting his battles over
again.
To give these things a sort of _éclat_ and popularity with the public,
Zadkiel sums up the whole in the following language: "In concluding
this account, I may remark that _numerous children_ have seen these
visions, some of them the sons and daughters of persons of high rank;
and that _several adults_ have also seen visions, one of them a lady of
title, and another a member of one of the highest families in England.
It will be seen that delicacy prevents my naming individuals; but I can
assure my readers that _above one hundred of the nobility_, and several
hundreds of other highly respectable ladies and gentlemen, have
examined this wonderful phenomenon, and have expressed the highest
gratification and astonishment."
Dickens declares it to be "the fashion, especially among people of
fashion, to point with pity to a tale of modern witchcraft, to an
advertisement of a child's caul, or to the _bona fide_ certificates of
cases from the takers of quack medicines, and to deplore the ignorance
of their inferiors. Delusions, however, of the grossest kind are not
confined to the illiterate. A cloud of dupes have ever floated about in
the higher regions of society; while it is quite a mistake to suppose
that the refinements and discoveries of the nineteenth century have
dispersed them. The reign of Queen Victoria, like that of Elizabeth and
Anne, has its Dr. Dees, and Lillys, and Partridges, who are as
successful as their precursors in gaining proselytes who can pay
handsomely. Damsels of high degree, fresh from boarding school, with
heads more full of sympathy for the heroes and heroines of fashionable
novels, and ideas more fixed upon love affairs than on any legitimate
studies, can easily find out, through mysteriously-worded
advertisements in the Sunday papers, or through the ready agency of
friends who have already become victims of the 'science' of astrology
and magic, the whereabouts of these awful and wonderful beings. There
are a number of styles and classes of them, all varying in appearance
and mode of operations. There are the old women, who, consoled by the
glories of their art, repine not at inhabiting comfortless garrets in
the purlieus of the New Cut, Lambeth; and hiding their vocation under
the mask of having stay laces or infallible corn plasters to sell,
receive more visitors from the fashionable cream of Belgravia than from
the dross of Bermondsey. Disguises are sometimes resorted to, and
parties of titled ladies have been known to meet, and put on the
habiliments of 'charwomen,' and to pass themselves off as dress-makers.
There is an old man, with unshaven beard and seldom-washed face, who
lives in more comfortable circumstances, with his son, in Southwark,
(the favored district of the conjurers,) who, to keep up appearances,
has 'Engineer' hugely engraved on a great brass plate over the door,
who casts nativities, and foretells events of the future, for three or
five shillings, as the appearance of the visitor will warrant him in
demanding; receives all his votaries sitting at a terribly littered
table of dirty paper, with a well-smoked clay pipe beside him. Passing
to a higher grade, the 'agent,' or arranger of matters, legal,
pecuniary, or domestic, only practises the black art for the love he
bears it, and to oblige his friends, but never refuses a few shillings'
fee, out of respect to the interests of the science. Nearly all his
customers are people of title."
We now come to speak of events in our own country which seem to be
somewhat akin to those which have so recently transpired in England. We
allude to what are familiarly termed "rappers," or "knocking spirits,"
from the _noises_ which they are said to make.
From a history of these _knockings_, as given in a pamphlet by Capron
and Barron, of Auburn, New York, we learn that they were first heard in
the family of Mr. Michael Weekman, in the town of Arcadia, Wayne
county. He resided in the house where the noises were heard about
eighteen months, and left it some time in the year 1847. He relates
that one evening, about bedtime, he heard a rapping on the outside
door, when he stepped to the door and opened it, but, to his surprise,
found no one there. He went back, and proceeded to undress, when, just
before getting into bed, he heard another rap at the door loud and
distinct. He stepped to the door quickly and opened it, but, as before,
found no one there. He stepped out, and looked around, supposing that
some one was imposing upon him. He could discover no one, and went back
into the house. After a short time he heard the rapping again; he
stepped (it being often repeated) and held on the latch, so that he
might ascertain if any one had taken that means to annoy him. The
rapping was repeated; the door was instantly opened, but no one was to
be seen. He could feel the jar of the door very plainly when the
rapping was heard. As he opened the door, he sprung out, and went
around the house, but no one was in sight. His family were fearful to
have him go out, lest some one intended to harm him. It always remained
a mystery to him; and finally, as the rapping did not at that time
continue, it passed from his mind, till some time afterwards, when, one
night, their little girl, then about eight years of age, was heard to
scream from fright, so that the family were all alarmed by her cries,
and went to her assistance. This was about midnight. She told them that
something like a hand had passed over her face and head; that she had
felt it on the bed and all over her, but did not feel alarmed until it
touched her face.
It seems that Mr. Weekman soon after moved away from the house, and
nothing more was heard of the rapping, or other manifestations, till it
was occupied by the family of Mr. John D. Fox, who have since become so
conspicuous with "the advent of spirits." In March, 1848, they, for the
first time, heard the "mysterious sounds," which seemed to be like a
slight knocking in one of the bed rooms on the floor. It was in the
evening, just after they had retired. At that time the whole family
occupied one room, and all distinctly heard the rapping. They arose,
and searched with a light, but were unable to find the cause of the
knocking. It continued that night until they all fell asleep, which was
not until nearly or quite midnight. From this time the noise continued
to be heard every night.
After having been disturbed and broken of their rest for several nights
in a vain attempt to discover from whence the sounds proceeded, they
resolved, on the evening of the 31st of March, that this night they
would not be disturbed by it, whatever it might be. But Mr. Fox had not
yet retired when the usual signs commenced. The girls, who occupied
another bed in the same room, heard the sounds, and endeavored to
imitate them by snapping their fingers. The attempt was made by the
youngest girl, then about twelve years old. When she made the noise
with her fingers, the sounds were repeated just as she made them. When
she stopped snapping her fingers, the sounds stopped for a short time.
One of the other girls then said, in _sport_, (for they were getting to
be more amused than alarmed,) "Now do what I do; count one, two, three,
four, five, six," &c., at the same time striking one hand in the other.
The same number of blows or sounds were repeated as in the former case.
Mrs. Fox then spoke, and said, "Count ten," and there were ten distinct
strokes or sounds. She then said, "Will you tell the age of Cathy?"
(one of her children;) and it was given by the same number of raps that
she was years of age. In like manner the age of her different children
was told correctly by this _unseen visitor_.
Mrs. Fox then asked, if it was a _human_ being that made the noise, to
manifest it by making the same noise. There was no answer to this
request. She then asked if it was a _spirit_, and if so to manifest it
by making two distinct sounds. Instantly she heard two raps, as she
desired. She then proceeded to know or inquire if it was an injured
spirit, and if so to answer in the same way, and the rapping was
repeated. In this way it answered her until she ascertained that it
purported to be the spirit of a man who was murdered in that house by a
person that had occupied it some years before; that he was a _pedler_,
and that he was murdered for his money. To the question _how old he
was_, there were _thirty-one_ distinct raps. By the same means it was
ascertained that he was a married man, and had left a wife and five
children; that his wife had been dead two years.
We might relate a little different manoeuvre in the case of the _ghost_
that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts, a few years since. A
superstitious old man, by the name of McClarren, a mechanic, purchased
a lot of turf that had been piled up in a meadow about half way between
his workshop and place of residence. Upon returning to his work from
supper, he used to take a basket with him, and fill it at the turf heap
on his return late in the evening. It was on one of these occasions
that the reputed ghost first appeared to him, and caused him some
alarm, when he dare not linger to reconnoitre this strange and
unexpected visitor. He resolved, however, to muster courage the next
evening to accost the figure, should it again appear to him.
Accordingly, he went with a large Bible open in his hands; and as the
ghost appeared, he followed it till it crossed a ditch, when he was
requested by the same to proceed no farther. Thus they stood, facing
each other, on either side of the ditch, when the following
conversation took place between them:--
_Ques._ By McClarren. "I demand of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
our once crucified God, whether you are mortal or immortal?"
_Ans._ "I am not mortal."
_Ques._ "What, then, are you?"
_Ans._ "I am the spirit of a murdered man."
_Ques._ "By whom were you murdered?"
_Ans._ "By ----, of Waltham."
_Ques._ "Where does your body lie?"
_Ans._ "In yonder pond, behind me."
It is supposed that this affair was got up in an innocent mood, merely
to test the strength of McClarren's faith in ghosts. But it caused a
wide-spread excitement; and some, who were thought to be concerned in
its projection, were prosecuted and brought before a justice for
examination, although nothing was proved. McClarren testified under
oath, that he believed it to be a real ghost; "_its tones_," he said,
"were so _unearthly_," "and when it moved its motion was not like that
in walking, but it glided along like a swan, or a boat in the water."
He was neither to be reasoned nor laughed out of it. He would believe
it to the day of his death. You might as well tell him he was not a
living being, as to tell him he had not seen a living ghost.
The advocates of the "influx from the world of spirits into our own"
claim in its behalf many astonishing miracles. Chairs, tables, and beds
are moved up or down, to and fro, &c. At Auburn, New York, on one
occasion, sounds on the wall, bureau, table, floor, and other places
were heard as loud as the striking with a hammer. The table was moved
about the room, and turned over and back. Two men in the company
undertook to hold a chair down, while, at their request, a spirit moved
it; and, notwithstanding they exerted all their strength, the chair
could not be held still by them--a proof that spirits are far more
strong and powerful than men. On another occasion, the sounds proper to
a carpenter's shop were heard, apparently proceeding from the wall and
table. Sawing, planing, and pounding with a mallet were imitated, it is
said, _to the life_. Some gentlemen were at the house of the Fox family
at one time, and were conducted into a _dark room_. They called for the
sounds to be made like a band of martial music. As they requested, the
sounds were produced; the playing of the instruments and the heavy
beating of the bass drum were perfectly imitated, together with the
sound of the roar of distant cannon. Shall we not gather from this,
that in the spirit world they have their bands of music and companies
of artillery, the same as in this world? We are also told of the spirit
or spirits playing on a guitar in a _dark_ room, the guitar being
taken from the hands of those who held it and put in tune, and played
while it passed around the room above their heads. On one occasion, as
it is said, it played an accompaniment, for nearly two hours, to some
persons engaged in singing, being very exact both in time and tune. On
one occasion, while several ladies were present, some of them requested
that the spirits would take their hair down. Accordingly it was done.
One of them had her hair taken down and done up in a twist, and one of
them had hers braided in four strands. Sometimes persons have felt a
hand passing over or touching their arms, head, or face, leaving a
feeling of electricity upon the part touched; and the hand that thus
touches them will, by request, instantly change from a natural warmth
to the coldness of ice.
In answer to the question, "Why do these spirits require a dark room to
play upon instruments of music, or to take hold of persons," they
answer by saying that "they assume a tangible form in order to do these
things, and we are not yet prepared for such a visitation."
To the inquiry how it is they make the rapping noises that generally
accompany their visits to this world, they answer, that "they are made
by the will of the spirits causing a concussion of the atmosphere, and
making the sounds appear in whatever place they please."
A Mrs. Draper, of Rochester, New York, had an interview with Dr.
Franklin, at one time, while she was in a magnetized state. She said he
appeared to be busily employed in establishing a line of communication
between the two worlds by means of these "rappings." On another
occasion, while in a clairvoyant state, at her own house, sounds were
heard in exact imitation of those heard in the telegraph office. These
sounds were so unusual, that Miss Margaretta Fox, who was present,
became alarmed, and said, "What does all this mean?" Mrs. Draper
replied, "_He is trying the batteries_." Soon there was a signal for
the alphabet, and the following communication was spelled out to the
company present. "Now I am ready, my friends. There will be great
changes in the nineteenth century. Things that now look dark and
mysterious to you, will be laid plain before your sight. Mysteries are
going to be revealed. The world will be enlightened. I sign my name,
Benjamin Franklin."
It seems that, in the early history of these rappings, they used to be
without any limitations as to whether persons were in a magnetized
state or not. The first we learn of magnetism being employed as a
_medium_ of communication is in the case of a daughter of Lyman
Granger, in Rochester, New York. For a long time, answers could be
obtained by any _two_ (why _two_?) of the family standing near each
other. And in the freedom of the answers, no preference seemed to be
manifested towards any particular members of the family. At length, one
of his daughters was placed under the influence of magnetism, and
became clairvoyant. From that time none of the family could get
communications unless the daughter who was magnetized was present. Why
the communications should leave all the family except the magnetized
daughter, after they once had free conversation without her, remains to
be explained. The whole business now seems to be pretty much, if not
wholly, monopolized by the clairvoyants. They seem to be employed as
agents, or mediums of correspondence, between the two worlds, acting as
interpreters between two classes of beings, or beings existing in two
different states, _natural_ and _spiritual_. They act as a kind of
_spiritual postmasters_ between the two countries. We find _spiritual
letter paper_, and _envelopes_ to enclose the same, advertised for
those who wish to avail themselves of an opportunity to write to their
deceased friends in the other spheres. Letters said to have been
written in the spirit world have been transmitted through the
established mediums to friends in this world, and have been published
in some of the papers devoted to these subjects. In the New York Daily
Tribune of February 28, 1851, we find the prospectus of a quarto
journal, to be published in Auburn, "to be dictated by spirits out of
the flesh, and by them edited, superintended, and controlled. Its
object is the disclosure of truth from Heaven, guiding mankind into
open vision of paradise, and open communication with redeemed spirits.
The circle of apostles and prophets are its conductors from the
interior, holding control over its columns, and permitting no article
to find place therein unless originated, dictated, or admitted by them:
they acting under direction of the Lord Supreme."
We hope the information coming through its columns will be more
reliable than the communications from some of the "rapping spirits." No
dependence whatever can be placed upon them. They are so blundering,
awkward, and uncertain, and even trickish and deceitful, that they
spoil all our notions of the dignify and purity--the _spirituality_, in
fact--of the spiritual world. The advocates of the manifestations
attribute the fault to _ignorant spirits_, who do not know whether the
matter they attempt to speak of be true or not. Swedenborg says, "There
are some spirits so ignorant that they do not know but they are the
ones called for, when another is meant. And the only way to detect
them, in speaking, is by the difference of sound--that made by
intelligent spirits being clear and lively, and that of the ignorant
being low and muffled, like the striking of the hand upon a carpet."
It is contended by the authors of the pamphlet from which we quote,
that these ignorant spirits will ultimately _progress_ to a state of
_intelligence_. But this idea of _progression_ seems to be at variance
with the observations of a writer in the Boston Post, who was
astonished at the wonderful precocity of little infants in the spirit
world. "I have known," says he, "the spirit of a child, only eighteen
months old when he died, and only three months in the second sphere,
show as much _intelligence_, and as perfect a command of our language,
as Dr. Channing himself seems to possess." On the other hand, when I
find that "the spirit of Dr. Channing cannot express an idea above the
rudimental conception of a mere child, I am forced to the conclusion
that his mental endowments must have greatly deteriorated since he left
us."
It is said that the theological teachings of these spirits generally
agree with those of Davis, Swedenborg, and others who have claimed to
receive their impressions from spirits. Accordingly, we find them using
the term _higher and lower spheres_, instead of _heaven and hell_.
Swedenborg prophesied that the year 1852 would be the one to decide the
fate of his church or his doctrines; and Capron and Barron tell us that
"the probabilities now seem to be that his general spiritual theory
will, not far from that time, be very generally received." We presume
that the "mysterious rappings" are considered by them as so many omens
of such an event. And we may reasonably conclude that they are as
_decisive_ tests, as _sure_ prognostications, as were the various
celestial signs of the coming of the end of the world in 1843. The
believers in the "harmonial philosophy" have their miracles in
attestation of their theory; and so of the Millerites. On Saturday
evening, January 18, 1851, we are told by La Roy Sunderland, that Mrs.
Cooper (clairvoyant medium) was taken to Cambridge, by Mr. Fernald and
a friend, for the purpose of visiting a gentleman who had been confined
by a spinal difficulty some ten years or more. The spirits gave
beautiful responses for his consolation, and in the sight of all
present, _the sick man and his bed_ were moved by spiritual hands
alone. The sick man and the "bed whereon he lay" were both moved by
attending angels, without any human power. And more recently, a Mr.
Gordon, it is said, has been taken up and his body moved some distance
entirely by spiritual hands. Were such miracles ever wrought in favor
of Millerism? Most assuredly, if we are to believe the Millerites
themselves; and even more in favor of witchcraft also. At a meeting of
the friends of Millerism, held in Waltham, in 1842, a lady was taken
from her seat by some unseen power, and carried up to the ceiling of
the room; and she afterwards declared that it was done without any
effort on her part. More recently, (1851,) another lady of the same
place testifies that she has, in a similar manner, been taken from her
seat in church and carried up above the tops of the pews. And at times,
at the advent meetings, strange noises have been heard, houses also
have been shaken, mirrors shattered to pieces, and furniture broken,
and all have been considered by the Adventists as so many auguries or
signs of the approaching dissolution of all things, to take place in
1843.
We have already made mention of the fact, in another place, that
bewitched persons used to be carried through the air, on brooms and
spits, to distant meetings, or Sabbaths, of witches. But we will now
give a case to the point.
On the 8th of September, 1692, Mary Osgood, wife of Captain Osgood, of
Andover, was taken before John Hawthorne, and other of their majesties'
justices, when she confessed that, about two years before, she was
carried through the air, in company with Deacon Fry's wife, Ebenezer
Baker's wife, and Goody Tyler, to Five Mile Pond, where she was
baptized by the devil, and that she was transported back again through
the air, in company with the forenamed persons, in the same manner as
she went, and _believes_ they were carried on a _pole_! She was asked
by one of the justices, how many persons were upon the pole; to which
she answered, As I said before, viz., four persons, and no more, but
whom she had named above.
Are not these cases to be relied upon as much as those related by Mr.
Sunderland? Could not _four_ respectable ladies tell whether they were
_actually_ carried through the air on a pole or _not_? _Could_ they be
deceived? Possibly, in the days of chloroform, or ether, it might have
been the case; but not at the period in which it actually occurred.
Some of the bewitched persons, as in the case of Elizabeth Knap, of
Groton, alarmed the people by their _ventriloqual_ powers, in imitating
sounds and languages. And it would be nothing strange if some of our
modern witches were in possession of the same talent. No wonder that
the editor of one of the Boston papers should have ventured the
opinion, that if some of these persons had lived two hundred years ago,
they would have been hanged for witchcraft.
It appears to us, that if we believe in all that is alleged of the
rapping spirits, and their manifestations, we must be prepared to
indorse all that has been published of witches and ghosts, spooks and
hobgoblins, in every age of the world, which, at present, we are not at
all inclined to do. We do not believe that any of the noises heard, or
any of the information given, has proceeded from beings out of the
normal state. We are rather inclined to adhere to the sentiment
contained in the old couplet:--
"Where men _believe_ in witches, witches are;
But where they don't believe, there are none there."
We once went to stay over night in a house said to be haunted, the
house being empty at the time, the family who had occupied it having
actually been frightened away by the noises they had heard. But,
strange to tell, we did not hear any _noises_, neither did we expect
to. There was a house in Green Street, Boston, formerly occupied by the
celebrated Dr. Conway, which, after his decease, was said to be
haunted. A young man of our acquaintance never passed that house late
at night but every window in it appeared to be illuminated. And
finally, he became so alarmed about it, that as soon as he approached
the vicinity of the house, he would commence running, and continue to
run till it was out of sight. We have frequently known him to cross the
ice on Charles River to avoid passing the house. And still, we often
passed the same house, at late hours of the night, without seeing any
thing unusual. And we know of no reason why, unless it was because we
did not believe in such things, which our friend actually did. _Faith_
alone made the difference.
One of the believers in the "spirit rappings" tells us that "_if_ these
things are emanations from the spirit world, we are bound to believe
them." True, _if_ they are; but this little conjunctive _if_ is a word
of very _doubtful_ meaning. We have already shown how Mr. Miller kept
the whole world standing thirty years on this same little _if_; and
then it did not end in 1843, as he supposed it would. We must,
therefore, be cautious how we depend upon a simple _if_.
But we are told that, as honest persons, we are bound to believe what
we cannot disprove by actual demonstration. But let us examine this for
a moment. The Greenlanders have an idea that thunder is caused by two
old women flapping seal skins in the moon. Now, who has ever been up in
the moon to ascertain whether it is so or not? Again, they say that the
Aurora Borealis is owing to the spirits of their fathers frisking at
football. Who can say it is not so? And yet _we_ reject such belief on
account of its apparent absurdity. Some of the ancients have told us
that the earth stands upon the back of a tortoise, or upon that of an
elephant; and yet, without investigation, a majority of mankind reject
the idea as being perfectly ridiculous. We might here remark, that no
less a scholar than the great mathematician Kepler attempted to prove
that the earth is a vast animal, and that the tides are occasioned by
the heavings of its prodigious lungs.
Many of the performances of jugglers and ventriloquists puzzle us, and
yet we do not believe there is any thing supernatural in them. Signor
Blitz once called upon the ladies in the hall where he was giving an
exhibition to pass him a handkerchief with their name stamped upon it,
and he would put it into a pistol and fire it off in their presence,
and it should be found in the steeple of a church some quarter of a
mile distant, and yet not a window or a door should be open on the
occasion. A committee of honest and respectable men were despatched
from the hall to the house of the church sexton, the keys procured,
with a lantern, when the belfry was ascended, the handkerchief found
hanging on the tongue of the bell, and returned to the lady, who
instantly recognized it as the identical handkerchief she passed into
the hands of the performer. Now, who could prove that the thing alleged
was not _actually_ done? and yet who will _believe_ that it was?
We have heard distant sounds of music, and other imitations of men,
birds, and animals, that deceived our sense of hearing, knowing that
they were produced by the power of ventriloquism. We have seen things
moved from place to place by _magnetic attraction_, and we do not think
it at all strange that so light an instrument as a guitar could be thus
attracted to different parts of a room by an _unseen power_, especially
in a _dark_ room, and its tones be imitated by a being as yet in the
_normal_ state. A guitar will give vibrations of its tones to the
concussions of the air, caused by the conversation of persons present;
and a stranger to the fact might possibly interpret these vibrations as
something quite mysterious, and suppose the instrument, as it stood
alone, to be touched by some spirit hand. When people's minds, or their
imaginations, get wrought up to a certain pitch, the most trifling
things are looked upon as wonderful phenomena. Every thing is _new_,
and _strange_, and _appalling_. We hear of the doings of the spirits at
Rochester, and other places, and which are called the "ushering in of a
_new science_." "We know of what we speak," says the pamphlet before
us, "we _know_ they are _facts, strange, new_, and to many
_wonderful_!" (See page 43.) And yet the authors introduce several
pages from a work by Dr. Adam Clarke to show that, as early as 1716,
the Wesley family were troubled by noises made by the "knocking
spirits," and that "the present manifestations have no claim to the
credit of originality." The cracking of hazel nuts upon Martin Luther's
bed posts, and the racket and rumbling upon his chamber stairs, as if
many empty barrels and hogs-heads had been tumbling down, claim still
greater antiquity, and belong to the same category or chapter of
wonderful events.
It is said to be impossible that any mere human being could inform
persons, with whom they never had any previous knowledge or
acquaintance, of the past, present, and future events of their
lives--whether they are married or single, the number of their children
living and dead, age, health, business, letters expected, the
whereabout of long-absent friends, &c. It is supposed that such
information must indeed emanate from the spirit world. Yet precisely
such things are and always have been told, more or less, by astrologers
and fortune tellers, without any pretensions to being in league with
spirits of the other worlds. We have said that fortune tellers do not
always tell correctly; but, as poor an opinion as we have of them, we
will venture to assert that they are full as correct, if not more so,
in the information they give, as the members of the Fox family, or any
of their contemporaries, of the alleged _spiritual_ manifestations.
Persons of sane mind, though ever so ignorant of arithmetic or
orthography, can tell at least how many children they have, and are
usually able to spell their own names; but one who has spent a good
deal of time in witnessing the performances of the _spirit rappers_,
says, "They seem to be unwilling or unable to answer purely test
questions, like that of answering their own names. I have never known
them to do this," says he, "though often solicited." He also speaks of
their great deficiency in mathematics, not being able to enumerate the
number of children they have on earth with any thing like accuracy. "I
am aware that such questions have sometimes been correctly answered,
and I have heard them so answered; but I have much more frequently
known them to refuse entirely, or to do it very awkwardly, or to fail
entirely in the attempt. Out of five numbers four were erroneously
selected as the right one. The fifth was right, of course. This goes to
show, at least, that spirits have greatly _deteriorated_, rather than
_improved_, while inhabiting the celestial spheres." But this is not
all. The facility of communication between the two classes of beings is
also on the decline. The time was when ghosts or spirits held free
conversation with those they visited, without calling in the aid of
clairvoyancy or electricity. Neither did they resort, like modern
spirits, to the slow and clumsy mode of communication, through the
letters of the alphabet. In spelling out a sentence by letters, one of
the ladies commences repeating the alphabet; and when the desired
letter is mentioned, a rap is heard. In this slow and tedious process,
long sentences are communicated. No wonder that the slowness of the
mode of communication should be considered as "perfectly appalling."
And then, too, the substance of these communications is too absurd and
ridiculous to be believed. We might here refer to the information given
by the prophet Swedenborg himself, in relation to the condition of the
pious Melancthon in the future state, that he was sometimes in an
excavated stone chamber, and at other times in hell; and when in the
chamber, he was covered with bear skins to protect him from the cold;
and that he refuses to see visitors from this world on account of the
filthiness of his apartment. This is about as probable and interesting
as the account given by a female clairvoyant in Cleveland, Ohio, who
says that she has (just) had an interview with Tom Paine, "who recants
his errors, and is at present stopping with General Washington and
Ethan Allen, at a hotel kept by John Bunyan."
We here introduce the following from one of the Boston papers:--
"_The 'Spiritual Rappings' exploded._--There is a good article under
this head, on the first page, to which we invite attention. The
writer is an accomplished scholar, an able physician, and one of the
first and best magnetizers in this country. He has investigated the
'rappings'--tested them theoretically and practically, and 'exploded'
them, if our readers have not already done so for themselves. His
communication is entitled to weight, and if circulated, as it should
be, among the credulous and unsuspecting, might save some from the
pitiful effects of a mischievous, absurd, and contemptible
superstitious delusion."
The article is as follows:--
"About the 16th of December last, I called on Mr. Sunderland, in good
faith, in order to hear and see manifestations from the spirit world.
He received me in a friendly manner, and, with a young lady who was
with me, seated me in the spirit room. We had to wait an hour or more,
and while seated we devoutly invoked the spirits. Finding them silent,
I put on them some of my most powerful mesmeric electric formula. They
persevered, however, in preserving profound silence.
"When, however, the medium, Mrs. Cooper, had arrived, and seven of us,
four gentlemen and three ladies, were seated round a square centre
table, the responses were made, and came freely. The young lady with
me, willing to believe, but wishing to know with absolute certainty,
before she assented to the truth of the proposition, that the rappings
were made by spirits, and not by the persons engaged in the business,
had seated herself about three feet from the table, so that she could
see under it. The following dialogue then ensued between Mrs. Cooper,
her adopted sister, and the young lady:--
"'Will you sit close to the table, miss?'
"'If they are spirits, they can rap just as well where I am. I am
willing to be convinced, and where I am I can hear perfectly well.'
"'The rule is, to sit close to the table.'
"'I will not disturb, but choose to sit where I am.'
"'If you will not comply with the regulation, you had better go into
the other room.'
"'I came to know, and I shall sit where I am.'
"She was inflexible, and the work proceeded. When my turn came, I could
put no test question, and was so told. I saw and felt that there was
collusion, and, ashamed of myself as being the dupe of supposed and
known imposition, after enduring the hour's sitting, I arose with the
full conviction that all was the effect of bones and muscles, and of
mesmeric action and reaction on the subjects themselves. While we were
examining a piano which was used on such occasions, and our backs were
turned towards the table, standing partly sidewise, I caught a glimpse
of Mrs. Cooper's foot in the very position and act of commencing a
spirit somerset on the table. She looked confused. I appeared not to
have fully recognized any thing wrong, thanked them for their father's
kindness and their attention, and left the domicil of the 'spiritual
philosopher' under a full, stern, and abiding conviction that _there_
was not the abiding place of invisible beings--that all was mechanical
which we heard, and all that any one had heard or seen was mechanical
or mesmeric.
"The second opportunity I had of testing the truth or falsity of these
spirit communications was in the city of Lowell. Every thing was
favorable as to place, time, and company. My eyes were every where, and
raps came seldom and solitary. The medium dropped from between his
fingers a small black pencil, about two inches long, with which I
believe he made the raps. After it fell, we heard no more. He looked
despairingly disappointed, soon went into a trance, arose, locked us
into the room, and when the hour had transpired, came out voluntarily.
"Invited by a friend who was anxious to convince me more fully, and
especially to convert the young lady who was with me at Mr.
Sunderland's, he called at my house with the medium, and was received
into my office. The young lady requested that we should stand around
the table, and no one touch it. We did so. On the first response, she
exclaimed, indignantly, addressing the medium, 'That, sir, was from
your foot; I heard it distinctly!' He looked guilty, and his eyes
flashed with anger. He asked the spirits if it was not 'nonsense,' and
received the response from the foot, 'yes,' and left, evidently highly
incensed.
"I determined to give one more trial to the spirits. In this latter
case, there were the three raps, clear and strong, and the answers
highly satisfactory, as far as they went. But the difficulty was, that
the spirits were capricious, and would respond only to just such as
they saw fit; and the medium was pretty well acquainted with me. The
perfect regularity of the knocks, and the sound, convinced me that, in
this instance, it was purely mechanical. I endeavored to get the secret
from the medium, and the answer was, 'If I should tell you, you would
be as wise as myself.' She evidently knew how it was done.
"I will now state a few facts, and conclude. 1. Wood is an excellent
conductor of sounds. A small worm, called at the south a sawyer, and
sought for angling, can be heard three yards, as it gnaws between the
wood and bark of a fallen pine; and the slightest scratch of a pin, on
the end of an isolated mast, sixty feet long, can be heard distinctly.
"2. In mesmeric operations, we well know that individuals _can be
made to hear and see things that never occurred or existed_, and yet
the subjects remain unconscious that they have been made the
_subjects of mesmeric hallucination_!
"3. Persons highly observant and susceptible can, by their eye and
feeling, when they put themselves into a semi-abnormal condition, tell,
in many instances nine times out of ten, who is and who is not a
believer, _and what is in the mind of the inquirer_.
"4. Mediums are invariably of this character.
"5. In matters of faith, friendship, love, or the spirit world, many
are willing to be deceived; and when they fall into the hands of the
shrewd and designing, who can appear the impersonation of truth,
virtue, honesty, and even piety itself, they are emphatically
_humbugged_, and give their money and their testimony to confirm
the fraud.
"Lastly. Many are so sincere and honest in their intentions, that it is
not in their hearts to believe that some of our most respectable men,
even clergymen, would lend their names to sustain any thing but what
they had believed and tested as a reality, and therefore themselves
believe.
"Now, Mr. Editor, from all that I have seen and know of these spiritual
communications, as 'rappings,' and from all these facts, I am free to
declare, that I believe them an arrant humbug, and one, too, of the
most pernicious tendency. They can all be traced to a human agency, as
either mechanical or mesmeric, alone or combined; and I will give my
right hand to any medium whose operation and device I cannot fully
discover, trace, and demonstrate, as deducible from either the one or
both of these sources, _and from no other_."
A correspondent of the Boston Traveller, in a communication dated New
York, January 22, 1852, says, "I look upon the delusion as I do upon a
contagious disease. It is a moral epidemic. Any man of peculiar
diathesis may be its victim. It spreads by sympathy and by moral
infection. Men of standing and intellect gravely and seriously affirm
that they have seen a man rise and float about the room like a feather,
till some unbelieving wretch approaches and breaks the spell, when the
aerial swimmer falls suddenly to the floor. Franklin, Washington, and
all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, have visited them,
and these departed worthies sanction any doctrine which the uninitiated
may happen to entertain before consulting them." A. J. Davis says,
"There is a class of spirits who dwell in divine love more than in
divine wisdom, and who are easily influenced to _feel_ precisely what
the majority of those who consult them _feel_ and think, and under
peculiar circumstances will say _precisely_ what the questioning minds
of the circle may _ardently_ and _positively_ desire. Affectionate
spirits--those dwelling in the _love circles_--are readily influenced
to approve the desires of the hearts of those with whom they commune on
earth; as in our homes, the infant, by virtue of its cries and positive
entreaties, captivates the affectionate, and perhaps intelligent,
mother, who, consequently, forthwith coincides with her child's
desires, submitting her judgment to its powerful appeals. Thus it is,
through the power of sympathy, spirits of the other world gratify all
our thoughts and desires." This is the _opinion_ of Mr. Davis, which
may pass for what it is worth. We never indorse his spiritual notions.
To give an idea of the conduct exhibited at the circles, or meetings,
of the "harmonials," we submit the following from the Springfield
Republican of January, 1852:--
"When we entered the hall, the meeting had not commenced, and all
parties were engaged in a lively chat. Soon there was a spontaneous
coming to order, and the ladies formed a circle around a table. The
gentlemen then formed a larger circle, entirely surrounding the ladies.
A good hymn was given out and sung. During the singing, we noticed one
lady growing excessively pale and cadaverous. Then her hands began to
twitch, and she commenced pounding upon the table. Directly opposite
her, a young woman was undergoing the process of being magnetized by
the spirits, while she, as we were informed, was resisting them. Her
hands were drawn under the table by sudden and powerful jerks, and
every muscle in her body seemed to be agitated with the most powerful
commotion, as if she were acted upon in every part by shocks of
electricity. This continued for ten or fifteen minutes, until she was,
at last, in a state apparently resembling the magnetic sleep.
"Another lady, with a fine eye and an intellectual cast of countenance,
was then moved to write, which she did, while her eyes stared and
rolled as if in a state of frenzy, and every muscle seemed strained to
its utmost tension. She wrote absolutely furiously, but no one but the
spirits could read it, and it was passed over to another medium, who
announced it a message of such utter unimportance that we have
forgotten it. A brawny blacksmith was among the mediums, but he did
nothing but pound on the table, and write the word 'sing.' The famous
medium Gordon was there, too, and he went through various
contortions--got down upon his knees, stood upon his seat, and
stretched up his arms and fingers, trembling all the while, as if in
the highest state of nervous excitement. Once he was twitched bodily
under the table, uttering a scream as he went. At times, the different
mediums would rise, spread their arms, slap the table, and throw their
hands into motions almost inconceivably rapid.
"One of the mediums, a young woman, arose by the dictation and powerful
urging of the spirits, and delivered a rambling sermon. It abounded in
quotations from the Bible and the doctrines of Universalism.
"But it was when the singing was in progress that the spirits and the
mediums were in the highest ecstasy. Then the latter would pound, and
throw their arms around, and point upwards, in the most fantastic
manner possible. And thus, with singing, and pounding, and reading the
Bible, and writing, and preaching, the evening passed away; and while
Old Hundred was being sung, the spirits gave their good night to the
circle.
"We can give but a faint idea of this scene. It is one we shall never
forget, and we only wish that the respectable men we saw there, the men
of age and experience, the young men and young women, could understand
the pity with which a man without the circle of their sympathy regarded
them. With the light of reason within them, with minds not untaught by
education, and with the full and perfect revelation of God's will in
their very hands, it was indeed most pitiable to see them swallowing
these fantastic mummeries, and mingling them, in all their wild,
furious, and unmeaning features, with the worship of Him who manifests
himself in the 'still small voice.'
"Of the sincerity of the majority of those present we have no doubt;
but that there are rank impostors in this town, who are leading astray
the credulous, we have as little doubt. The most that we saw on
Saturday night was mesmerism, and the rest a very transparent attempt
at deception. At any rate, if it was any thing else, we should
attribute it to any thing but good spirits. Were we a devil, and should
we wish to see how foolish we could make people appear, we should
choose this way. O men and women, do have done with such outrageous
nonsense."
Some have been most grossly deceived, and even made insane, by being
made to believe that they were magnetized by spirits. This was the case
with one of the celebrated Hutchinson singers--Judson J. Hutchinson.
Mr. Sunderland, in the fourth number of the Spiritual Philosopher,
observes as follows: "We shall hear of communications from 'prophets,'
'apostles,' 'kings,' and 'statesmen,' and of divers 'revelations,' said
to be made by them. We shall hear of human beings said to be magnetized
by spirits. But the _good_ and the _true_ will know and understand how
easy it is for some to become 'magnetized' by their own _ideas_, and to
take for 'revelations' _the fancies of their own brains_. The notion
about mortals being magnetized by spirits is a mistake, an _error_; and
it was this error which was the principal cause of all the real
difficulty in the case of Judson J. Hutchinson. Mr. H. was made to
believe that he was in company with his deceased brother, and that his
own deceased children came and sat upon his knees, and put their arms
about his neck. When he found himself sinking into an _abnormal state_,
he was told to believe that it was _the spirits_, and that there was
nothing _human_ about it. This, of course, Mr. H. was ready to believe.
He had heard of others being magnetized by spirits, and they were
happy, very happy. And as this seemed to promise him _approximation_ to
the spirit world, for which he was earnestly longing, he readily gave
himself entirely to that idea." The operator, Mr. Hazard, of Rochester,
New York, suggested that Mr. Hutchinson should ask the spirits to move
his (Mr. H.'s) hand to the top of his own head, that then he (Mr. H.)
might know it was they. "But the operator should have known," says Mr.
Sunderland, "that his _suggesting_ it to the mind of Mr. Hutchinson, in
the manner he did, or, if Mr. Hutchinson's own mind was _directed_ to
the movement of his own hand, _that_ was sufficient to cause his hand
to move, _even if there had been no spirits in existence_. And so, when
Mr. H. went to Cleveland, the difficulty was increased by a repetition
of the cause. He fell into the same state again, of course, when
similar _associations_ brought it up before his mind; and there he was
again told by a clairvoyant lady, that she 'saw the spirits' (his
brother Benjamin and Swedenborg) operating upon him. The effect was, to
render him _insane_." His brother Jesse says, that "the shock was too
great for Judson, on account of his bodily weakness, and that his
feeble nature was too fine strung to bear up against the severe
attacks, and it was with great difficulty he was brought back to
Milford, New Hampshire." While in this state, Mr. Sunderland was sent
for, and staid with him three days and three nights, to render him
assistance. Mr. S. says, "He was unfortunate in being told that he was
magnetized by spirits, and still more so, perhaps, in the treatment he
met with from some _uncongenial spirits_ in Syracuse and in Worcester."
From this, as well as from some other unfortunate cases, persons are
admonished to be careful to refrain from visiting such impostors.
Some have been told that St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Luke, and Timothy,
were present, and answered questions put to them; but Mr. Davis and
Mr. Sunderland declare it to be false. Mr. Davis says, "This point
I have been led to investigate carefully; and at no one of the
_circles_ referred to do I discover, upon the most critical interior
retrospection, a _single_ communication from the veritable St. Paul,
nor from any one of his glorious compeers."
So of Benjamin Franklin, who, it is said, has never condescended to
converse but a very few times with earthly beings, though his name is
often quoted in connection with clairvoyancy. The reason he is said to
assign to Mr. Davis is, that he cannot "prevent the almost exact human
imitations of his vibrations; and that they produce so much confusion
and contradiction, that, he thinks it best to wait until some further
improvement can be made in the mode of communication between the two
worlds." Yet how many are told that they have been put in communication
with Franklin!
Mr. Sunderland says, "We need the same conditions, or guaranties, for
believing _spirits_, that we do for believing _human_ testimony."
Speaking of those clairvoyants who are supposed to be exalted into
the spirit sphere, so as to see and converse with spirits, he says,
"Whether they do, really, see the spirits, whom they think they do,
must be determined by other things besides their own testimony. We are
not obliged to take their own mere _ipse dixit_ upon this, any more
than upon any other subject." And as yet, as has been remarked by Dr.
Phelps, _there is no proof that what purports to be a revelation from
spirits is the work of spirits at all_. Mr. Sunderland, for all we can
see, is liable to be in an error, as well as others; and all the
evidence he gives us that he has had interviews and holds conversations
with spirits is that of his own testimony alone. And so of Mr. Davis.
We have said that no dependence whatever can be placed upon the rapping
spirits. Dr. Phelps, of Stratford, Connecticut, once heard a very loud
rapping under the table while at his breakfast. "I asked if it was my
sister. The answer was, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said I, 'if you are the spirit
of my sister, you can tell me how many children you have in this
world.' So the spirit commenced counting, and counted up to
twenty-five, when I pronounced it a _lying_ spirit. I asked it,
'Are you unhappy?' It answered, 'Yes.' 'Can I do you any good?' 'Yes.'
'How?' The spirit then called for the alphabet, and spelled out, 'Give
me a glass of fresh gin.' 'What will you do with it,' said I. '_Put
it to my mouth._' I asked, 'Where is your mouth?' No answer."
Letters, and lines written upon scraps of paper, have, it is said, been
sent from the other world. The following was dropped from the ceiling
of Mrs. Phelps's parlor when she and others were present.
"Sir,--Sir Sambo's compliments, and begs the ladies to accept as a
token of his esteem." Other papers have been similarly written upon,
and signed "Sam Slick," "The Devil," "Beelzebub," "Lorenzo Dow," &c.
On the 15th of March, 1850, a large turnip was thrown against Dr.
Phelps's parlor window, having several characters carved out upon it,
somewhat resembling the Chinese characters. A _fac-simile_ of them
may be found in Davis's explanation of Modern Mysteries, page 55.
Some may receive such things as emanations from the spirit world; but
to us they seem too simple and puerile to be considered as having any
thing to do with the higher spheres.
Dr. Phelps, who has been witness to every species of manoeuvre of the
alleged spirit rappers, says that he has become fully satisfied that no
reliance whatever is to be placed on their communications, either as a
source of valuable information, or as a means of acquiring truth. "I am
satisfied," says he, "that their communications are _wholly worthless_.
They are often contradictory, often prove false, frequently trifling
and nonsensical, and more in character with what might be expected of a
company of loafers on a spree than from spirits returned from a world
of retribution to 'tell the secrets of their prison house.'"
With regard to moving tables, chairs, beds, &c., Mr. Davis says that,
"at a circle of friends in Bridgeport, Connecticut, there was a large
congregation of spirits, who, from a distance of eighty miles, or
thirty above the atmosphere of our earth, directed a mighty column of
vital electricity and magnetism, which column or current, penetrating
all intermediate substances, and by a process of infiltration, entered
the fine particles of matter which composed the table, and raised it,
several successive times, three or four feet from the floor!" This we
are to receive upon his authority, or upon the testimony of those who
may say they saw the table moved. But if the operator can _make things
appear_ that _never occurred or existed_, and can _imagine_ a thing,
and have that _imagination transferred to others_, then what evidence
have we that _spirits_ are concerned in the transaction? Just none
at all. A while ago, we heard of an Italian, at the Massachusetts
Hospital, who could raise tables from the floor without touching them;
and the art of so doing, he said, he learned in Italy. And how are we
to account for the Millerites and others being so raised, as they
believed? Are they not as much to be credited as those who profess a
belief in the miracles of the "harmonial philosophers"? For ourselves,
we are satisfied that such things, for the most part, are but a
delusion, whether they are alleged to take place among those supposed
to be bewitched, the Adventists, or the harmonials.
As to the _rapping noises_, we are inclined to think they may have
something to do with the knee and toe joints, and that the two
performers usually sit together, in order the better to alternate with,
and _spell_ or relieve each other. Upon a fair trial, it certainly has
been proved that the noises cannot be produced when the joints are
grasped firmly by another. But it may be doubted by some whether the
joints can be made to produce the distinct rappings that are sometimes
heard. We think they can. A few years ago, a boy in London gave
exhibitions of what was termed "_chin music_." It was done by striking
the fists upon the lower jaw. By this practice he was able to produce
quite loud and distinct sounds, and play a variety of tunes, to the
amusement of the public. The sounds were made by the finger joints, it
was supposed; and perhaps the jaw bone may have contributed its share
in the performance. The sounds given by the "rapping spirits" are by no
means so remarkable as many suppose. They are often quite indistinct,
and nearly inaudible. Unless a person was possessed of a large share of
credulity, he would never consider them as the responses of an
intelligent spirit. This is the decided conviction of hundreds who have
witnessed their performances in various parts of the country. Yet many
have been, and others will be, deceived. And, doubtless, many tender
and sensitive minds may be made insane by the wicked trifling of these
unprincipled impostors. Certainly we have not the least desire to set
at nought any thing of a _truly serious_ character. Yet we are
constrained to believe that the things of which we have spoken are too
ridiculous and nonsensical, if not actually _sinful_, to be entitled to
the least favor from the public. The learned Thomas Dick, in his Essay
on the Improvement of Society, gives an account of far more singular
and wonderful _phenomena_ produced by _mechanical_ agency, than any
that has as yet been attributed to the agency of _spirits_, as affirmed
by A. J. Davis, or La Roy Sunderland. And we here subjoin the facts of
the case, for the benefit of the public:--
"Soon after the murder of King Charles I., a commission was appointed
to survey the king's house at Woodstock, with the manor, park, and
other demesnes belonging to that manor. One _Collins_, under a feigned
name, hired himself as secretary to the commissioners, who, upon the
13th October, 1649, met, and took up their residence in the king's own
rooms. His majesty's bed chamber they made their kitchen, the council
hall their pantry, and the presence chamber was the place where they
met for the despatch of business. Things being thus prepared, they met
on the 16th for business; and in the midst of their first debate, there
entered a large _black dog_ (as they thought,) which made a dreadful
howling, overturned two or three of their chairs, and then crept under
a bed and vanished. This gave them the greater surprise, as the doors
were kept constantly locked, so that no real dog could get in or out.
The next day their surprise was increased, when, sitting at dinner in a
lower room, they heard plainly the noise of persons walking over their
heads, though they well knew the doors were all locked, and there could
be nobody there. Presently after, they heard, also, all the wood of the
King's Oak brought by parcels from the dining room, and thrown with
great violence into the presence chamber, as also all the chairs,
stools, tables, and other furniture forcibly hurled about the room;
their papers, containing the minutes of their transactions, were torn,
and the ink glass broken. When all this noise had ceased, Giles Sharp,
their secretary, proposed first to enter into these rooms; and in
presence of the commissioners, from whom he received the key, he opened
the doors, and found the wood spread about the room, the chairs tossed
about and broken, the papers torn, but not the least track of any human
creature, nor the least reason to suspect one, as the doors were all
fast, and the keys in the custody of the commissioners. It was
therefore unanimously agreed that the power that did this mischief must
have entered at the key-hole. The night following, Sharp, with two of
the commissioners' servants, as they were in bed in the same room,
which room was contiguous to that where the commissioners lay, had
their beds' feet lifted up so much higher than their heads, that they
expected to have their necks broken, and then they were let fall at
once with so much violence as shook the whole house, and more than ever
terrified the commissioners. On the night of the 19th, as they were all
in bed in the same room, for greater safety, and lights burning by
them, the candles in an instant went out, with a sulphurous smell; and
that moment many trenchers of wood were hurled about the room, which
next morning were found to be the same their honors had eaten out of
the day before, which were all removed from the pantry, though not a
lock was found opened in the whole house. The next night they fared
still worse; the candles went out, as before; the curtains of their
honors' beds were rattled to and fro with great violence; they received
many cruel blows and bruises by eight great pewter dishes and a number
of wooden trenchers being thrown on their beds, which, being heaved
off, were heard rolling about the room, though in the morning none of
these were to be seen.
"The next night the keeper of the king's house and his dog lay in the
commissioners' room, and then they had no disturbance. But on the night
of the 22d, though the dog lay in the room as before, yet the candles
went out, a number of brickbats fell from the chimney into the room,
the dog howled piteously, their bed clothes were all stripped off, and
their terror increased. On the 24th, they thought all the wood of the
King's Oak was violently thrown down by their bedsides; they counted
sixty-four billets that fell, and some hit and shook the beds in which
they lay; but in the morning none was found there, nor had the door
been opened where the billet wood was kept. The next night the candles
were put out, the curtains rattled, and a dreadful crack, like thunder,
was heard; and one of the servants, running in haste, thinking his
master was killed, found three dozen of trenchers laid smoothly under
the quilt by him. But all this was nothing to what succeeded
afterwards. The 29th, about midnight, the candles went out; something
walked majestically through the room, and opened and shut the windows;
great stones were thrown violently into the room, some of which fell on
the beds, others on the floor; and at about a quarter after one, a
noise was heard as of forty cannon discharged together, and again
repeated at about eight minutes' intervals. This alarmed and raised all
the neighborhood, who, coming into their honors' room, gathered up the
great stones, fourscore in number, and laid them by in the corner of a
field, where they were afterwards to be seen. This noise, like the
discharge of cannon, was heard for several miles round. During these
noises, the commissioners and their servants gave one another over for
lost, and cried out for help; and Giles Sharp, snatching up a sword,
had well nigh killed one of their honors, mistaking him for the spirit,
as he came in his shirt from his own room to theirs. While they were
together, the noise was continued, and part of the tiling of the house
was stripped off, and all the windows of an upper room were taken away
with it. On the 30th, at midnight, something walked into the chamber,
treading like a bear; it walked many times about, then threw the
warming pan violently on the floor; at the same time, a large quantity
of broken glass, accompanied with great stones and horse bones, came
pouring into the room with uncommon force. On the 1st of November, the
most dreadful scene of all ensued. Candles in every part of the room
were lighted up, and a great fire made; at midnight, the candles all
yet burning, a noise like the bursting of a cannon was heard in the
room, and the burning billets were tossed about by it even into their
honors' beds, who called Giles and his companions to their relief,
otherwise the house had been burned to the ground; about an hour after,
the candles went out as usual, the crack as of many cannon was heard,
and many pailfuls of green stinking water were thrown upon their
honors' beds; great stones were also thrown in as before, the bed
curtains and bedsteads torn and broken, the windows shattered, and the
whole neighborhood alarmed with the most dreadful noises; nay, the very
rabbit stealers, that were abroad that night in the warren, were so
terrified, that they fled for fear, and left their ferrets behind them.
One of their honors this night spoke, and, _in the name of God, asked
what it was, and why it disturbed them so_. No answer was given to
this; but the noise ceased for a while, when the spirit came again; and
as they all agreed, _brought with it seven devils worse than itself_.
One of the servants now lighted a large candle, and set it in the
doorway between the two chambers, to see what passed; and as he watched
it, he plainly saw a hoof striking the candle and candlestick into the
middle of the room, and afterwards, making three scrapes over the
snuff, scraped it out. Upon this the same person was so bold as to
draw a sword; but he had scarcely got it out, when he felt another
invisible hand holding it too, and pulling it from him, and at length,
prevailing, struck him so violently on the head with the pommel, that
he fell down for dead with the blow. At this instant was heard another
burst, like the discharge of the broadside of a ship of war, and at the
interval of a minute or two between each, no less than nineteen such
discharges. These shook the house so violently that they expected every
moment it would fall upon their heads. The neighbors, being all
alarmed, flocked to the house in great numbers, and all joined in
prayer and psalm singing; during which the noise continued in the other
rooms, and the discharge of cannons was heard as from without, though
no visible agent was seen to discharge them. But what was the most
alarming of all, and put an end to their proceedings effectually,
happened the next day, as they were all at dinner, when a paper, in
which they had signed a mutual agreement to reserve a part of the
premises out of the general survey, and afterwards to share it equally
among themselves, (which paper they had hid for the present under the
earth, in a pot in one corner of the room, and in which an orange tree
grew,) was consumed in a wonderful manner by the earth's taking fire,
with which the pot was filled, and burning violently with a blue flame
and an intolerable stench, so that they were all driven out of the
house, to which they could never be again prevailed upon to return."
This story has been somewhat abridged from the Encyclopædia Britannica,
where it is quoted from Dr. Plot's History of Oxfordshire, in which
these extraordinary occurrences are ascribed to satanic influence.
At the time they happened, they were viewed as the effects of
_supernatural powers_; and even Dr. Plot seems disposed to ascribe them
to this cause. "Though many tricks," says the doctor, "have often been
played in affairs of this kind, yet many of the things above related
are not reconcilable with juggling; such as the loud noises beyond the
powers of man to make without such instruments as were not there; the
tearing and breaking the beds; the throwing about the fire; the hoof
treading out the candle; and the striving for the sword; and the blow
the man received from the pommel of it." It was at length ascertained,
however, that this wonderful contrivance was all the invention of the
memorable Joseph Collins, of Oxford, otherwise called _Funny Joe_, who,
having hired himself as secretary under the name of _Giles Sharp_, by
knowing the private traps belonging to the house, and by the help of
_pulvis fulminans_, and other chemical preparations, and letting his
fellow-servants into the scheme, carried on the deceit without
discovery, to the very last.
The occurrences which are said to have taken place at the house of the
Rev. Dr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut, are not to be compared in
their marvellousness to those we have quoted from Dr. Dick, and which
things were the results of the _ingenuity of Joe Collins_. Therefore,
when we hear of such like occurrences in our day, there will be no
necessity for us to attribute them to any supernatural influence,
either good or bad; for it is a well-received maxim, that "_what man
has done man can do_." To suppose that the merciful _Father_ of
_spirits_ would harass and frighten mankind by haunting their houses
with strange noises and rappings, ghosts and hobgoblins, and spirits of
the uneasy dead, would be derogatory to his paternal character. And
who, for a moment, could believe that he would torment little children
in this way, when our Savior took them in his arms, and blessed them,
and said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven"? No, we must attribute
such things to any other source than as proceeding from the throne of
God.
Up to the present time it may be that many will profess to the world
that they have actually seen the spirits of the departed. Yet this is
no new profession, for the votaries of St. Vitus, and the
spiritually-minded Shakers of later times, have declared to us that
they have seen their departed friends and acquaintances. But even Mr.
Davis is led to consider a large majority of these cases to be the
results of cerebral agitation. "I can truthfully affirm," says he,
"that the objects, localities, scenery, and personages, seen by those
laboring under monomania, delirium tremens, &c., are of the same class
of mental delusion, and are absolutely nothing more than the
unconscious elaborations of the surcharged brain."