and then proceeded to inquire for his beloved spirit. Rap, rap,
indicated her presence, and he asked some several questions which were
answered to his satisfaction, the Fox mother repeating over and over
the alphabet, so fast that we could not follow to get the answer for
ourselves, but the rappers being in good _practice_, seemed to find
no difficulty in keeping pace. We saw in this individual, a degree
of infatuation rarely to be met with in intelligent _men of the
world_, and unmistakable evidence of entire mental hebetude upon this
particular subject. We, however, turned his fascination to a very good
account, as we shall presently show. We inquired if these rappings ever
occurred any where except immediately about the persons of these girls.
"Oh yes," was the mother's answer, "the sounds have been made in that
wardrobe, and upon the door," etc. We pressed hard to have the raps
from the wardrobe, but to our surprise and disappointment the girl got
into the wardrobe, leaving the door open, and so snugly was she encased
there in consequence of a partition in the wardrobe, that her dress was
largely in contact with three sides or walls of the little apartment.
Of course we did not expect any better or different performance from
that with which we had been entertained outside the wardrobe. "Will the
spirit rap here?" says the girl, and rap, rap, it came on the floor of
the wardrobe. She was then requested to have the rappings made upon the
sides and back of the wardrobe, which she did, taking a little extra
time to arrange herself for these performances. She then requested us
to put our ear to the top of the wardrobe and the rap would proceed
from that quarter. We were not to be entrapped by this trick, for we
knew full well the old and trite experiment of placing the ear upon one
end of a long stick when a sound is made upon the other end. In this
experiment the sound will always appear to be made near the ear. We
therefore kept our attention fixed upon the bottom or lower part of
the wardrobe, and while some present, misled by the artifice, supposed
the sound came from the upper part of the wardrobe, we observed that
the sound was produced where it was at first, down below, and that
it was not modified in the least, which certainly ought to have been
the case, if the sound had been made opposite to the person's ear.
The girl then called attention to several points in the upper part
of the wardrobe, and it appeared to the satisfaction of some present
that the sounds came from those points, while to us it was perfectly
evident that the sounds were not at all changed in direction or
character, and in reality proceeded from the old quarter. Our knowledge
of ventriloquism also fortified us against this trick. Ventriloquism
is a deception, the success of which depends upon a certain power
of modulating the voice, a correct ear for imitation of sounds, and
skill and judgment in selection of time, place and circumstances for
the performance. When persons present are not aware or apprised of
the attempt to deceive them, the ventriloquist is not obliged to be
very particular in his selection. But when his intention is announced
or anticipated, his art is exercised to direct the attention of his
auditors to the quarter from which he wishes the sound to appear to
come. If our readers will turn to Brewster's Natural Magic on this
subject, they will find many interesting tricks described on this
principle. Nothing is more easy than to deceive completely, by calling
the attention of persons present to sounds from a certain position or
direction, while in reality the sounds are made elsewhere and in a
remote quarter, provided the real origin of the sounds be concealed
from the sight. So it was in the case of the raps, with those whose
eyes and _expectations_ were fixed upon the top of the wardrobe. The
trick was poorly done however, for the sound did not undergo the proper
modification, and in fact it was out of the girl's power to modify it
to suit this case. For the origin of the raps, being concealed under
her dress, she could not divest it of its muffled character without
exposing her art. It is particularly worthy of note here, that for
these experiments in the wardrobe no particular spirit was invoked,
and the raps were continued as long as necessary for the gratification
of the bystanders, and were several times commenced without any
particular invocation on the part of the girl, she evidently forgetting
the dignity of the spirit in the excitement of the moment. This over,
it was desired to have the spirits knock at the door, but they could
not manifest without the girl's immediate presence, and accordingly,
she placed herself against the outside of the room door, which was
about two thirds open, she taking hold of the latch. We were about
to take position outside, in the passage, when she remarked that the
spirits would rap much better if we took hold of the door. This was
rather more necessary than cunning, and the rapper knew of course that
unless she or some one held the door, the knock upon it would move
the door on its hinges away from her. When she was fairly fixed with
her dress in contact with the door, the raps commenced upon the door.
After this she turned her head and asked if the spirit would please to
rap in the passage, when she gave rather a feeble rap, which suited
the trick tolerably well and here the rapping ended for this visit.
The rap from the passage explained the purpose of keeping us in the
room, for if we had gone into the passage the trick would have failed
for us, as we should have been able from our position there, to refer
the sound to the right quarter viz., about the girl's feet. On the
second visit we were there with our former coadjutor and several other
gentlemen of eminence, and a lady of the highest respectability, strong
mind, and distinguished for her indomitable energy and perseverance.
Our quondam enthusiast we found there at his matins, in company with
several persons eminent in political life. One of them, a member of
Congress, had been endeavoring to get some spiritual communications,
but became so disgusted with the _bad guessing_ of the Fox girls, that
he left the room. The enthusiast, Mr. * * *, then invoked his favorite
spirit and proposed a question, the answer to which was spelled out by
the Fox mother as before, and he expressed himself perfectly satisfied
with the answer. We then took our turn. We put down upon paper the
names of three departed spirits, three diseases, and three places. In
pointing to these names with the pencil, we took good care to conceal
the pencil movement behind a book, and carefully guarded against any
emphatic movement which should betray our will to the practiced eyes
of the girls. The raps came for the wrong spirit, and rapped the wrong
disease, and place of death. We then made another effort. Three names
were selected, as follows, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun; Webster's was
the spirit we invoked, and they hit it right this time for the name,
but mark the sequel. The answer was that Webster died of CROUP! and
at Salem, Mass. Of course we did not indicate by any look or movement
that our inquiries had been answered correctly or incorrectly until
we had got through. Our scientific friend next made a trial, and his
answers were more ludicrous if possible then those we had obtained.
He attempted in several ways to get replies from the spirits, being
always careful to give no clue to his thoughts by outward signs, but
all to no purpose. The spirits, judging from the raps, were there in
abundance, but no intelligence, or correct answers could be had from
them. Next another friend of ours came to the trial. He had not been
accustomed to investigate such tricks, and very imprudently suffered
Mr. * * * to put the questions for him. The answers came in accordance
with the facts, that is the right spirit was designated by the raps,
and the manner of his death. Mr. * * * put the questions each in
different tone and shape, and the girls undoubtedly read him as they
had done before. Noticing this, we remarked to Mr. * * * that as he
had been so successful we would like to have him inquire for us, to
which he readily assented. We, however premised, that he must use
the same _intonation_ and _language_ in asking each question, which
he agreed to do, as far as he could. This we exacted, not because we
had any suspicion of collusion in this case, but as we explained it
at the time, because many persons would unwittingly by emphasis or
some significance indicate to the rappers, or any shrewd person, the
particular object he had in view. With these precautions, the question
was put to the rappers. We were to fix our thoughts upon a particular
spirit, the disease of which the person died, and the place where;
the name with two others was put down upon paper, the disease with
several others, and also the place of death with two others. Mr. * *
* propounded as follows: Will the spirit inform us of the spirit the
gentleman is thinking of? Rap, rap! Yes. Will it inform us correctly?
Rap, rap! Yes. Pointing to a name with a pencil, he asked, Is it
this? Rap! No. Is it this? Rap, rap! Yes. Pointing to the diseases
and places, with the same question each time; when the whole was gone
through with, Mr. * * * asked, Has the spirit informed us correctly?
Rap, rap! Yes. We were thinking of Webster's spirit, and the result
was this. The rappers hit it right as to the name, but they informed
us this time that Mr. Webster died of FUNGUS HÆMATODES, in Newark, New
Jersey.
This was too much for forbearance, but still we kept our purpose of
investigation in view, and again pleaded our own wickedness as the
probable cause of these failures. "Oh! no," said they, "it will happen
so sometimes." What a deeply disgusting spectacle! These girls and
their mother sitting there, with all gravity, and pretending to be the
"_mediums_" of communication with disembodied spirits, and dealing out
such nonsense as that just related.
The rappers were then sitting some distance from the table, and we
asked if the "Spirits would rap upon the table?" Rap! No. "Will the
spirit _please_ to rap upon the table?" Rap, rap, rap. "Not now." It
seems that three raps for the expression "Not now" was a part of the
spiritual stenography, as they had occasion to use this evasion quite
often to escape difficulties. "Will the spirit please to explain why it
will not rap upon the table?" Rap, rap, rap! "Not now." "When will it?"
"This evening, at such an hour," naming it. This last communication
was spelled out by the Fox mother, and a time was named at which it
would be impossible to get an opportunity to propound such a question,
as they held their spiritual levee in the evening to crowds. Moreover,
we had no desire to repeat the question to these tricksters, to
be shuffled, as we most certainly should have been, with the same
prevarication. On the occasion of our first visit, Mr. * * * said that
the spirits had rapped upon his foot, while sitting at a table. The
experiment was repeated by request, and very likely would have been
successful, if we had not fixed our eyes very intently upon his and
the rappers' feet. As it was, this feat was not performed. On the
second visit, we implored the spirits to rap upon our feet. "Not now,"
was the answer. It was evident that we were not receiving our money's
worth of spiritual manifestations according to the show-bill; but, as
every failure was our gain, we were not disposed to quarrel with the
rappers or the spirits. One of my scientific friends then asked if
they would not rap if they were suspended in a swing, or stood upon a
pillow? "Oh yes," was the reply, "we have done that; that has all been
tried." One of the Fox girls proposed to send upstairs for a pillow,
but it occurred to us that they _might_ rap while standing upon any
_common-sized pillow_, for the reason that their dresses would cover
and extend beyond the pillow, and thus give them an opportunity to get
their rapping instrument down upon the floor over the sides of the
pillow. We therefore proceeded immediately, while they were engaged in
some conversation, to make up a cushion upon the floor to suit our own
views. We gathered a number of cloaks, and laid them folded upon the
floor, so as to make a circular cushion of about three and a half feet
diameter, and so thick that we were persuaded no ordinary raps with
their instrument could be heard through the soft mass, or if any sound
should be produced it would be so modified as to betray its origin.
The Fox mother objected to this preparation; but the girls said, "We
know we can rap; the spirits will rap there, for they have always done
so." By way of an excuse for making this cushion, we remarked that one
of the coats was silk, and that we would ascertain if electricity had
any thing to do with it. The Fox mother said, "All that had been tried
before; and that the girls[5]could rap standing upon glass tumblers,
and that she knew it must be the spirits, for these manifestations
had been with them now for six years." We replied (to keep up our
argument), "You know that there are persons who think these sounds are
all due to some modification of electricity, and others who think that
electricity is the very essence of spirituality,[6] and we wish to see
in this case how far it may be concerned in the phenomena." There
was no resisting this, and we were allowed to proceed. The result was
exactly as we anticipated. While standing upon the cushion _they could
not rap at all_. The principal rapper saw her predicament, and took her
stand upon the cushion so that her dress was partly over the edge of
the cushion, but this we objected to, and requested her to stand upon
the centre of the cushion, upon the plea that if her dress touched the
floor, it would conduct away the electricity. A perfectly empirical
reason, of course; but they were none the wiser for that, and as soon
as every thing was arranged to our liking, she invoked the spirit to
rap. No rap came. Again and again the spirit was besought, but no
response was given. She then asked her sister to come and stand upon
the cushion with her, thinking, in her subtlety, that two of them would
occupy so much room as to give one, at least, a chance to have her
dress over the edge of the cushion. But this we were prepared for; and
gathered in the skirts of their dresses upon the cushion, upon the same
plea as before. The result was the same as with one. No raps. The fact
was, their arts were completely baffled, the spirits had fled, and the
experiment not only proved the falsity of the assertion that they could
rap standing on cushions, or when suspended in a swing, but afforded
the most conclusive evidence of the immediate and wilful agency of
these Fox girls in producing these sounds.
Thinking to redeem themselves from the inevitable verdict of this
trial, the principal rapper proposed to stand upon glass tumblers,
to see if the spirits would rap then, as they had done on former
occasions. She took her stand upon the tumblers. This elevated the
lower border of her dress above the floor, and it so happened that
one of our number was sufficiently far from her that he could have
seen her feet on the rapping instrument. She invoked the spirit. "Will
the spirit please to rap?" No rap. She then stooped a little, as if
addressing the spirit below. "Will the spirit please to rap now?" No
rap. She then stooped a little more, and by this time her dress was
fairly down upon the floor, so as to cover feet and tumblers. "Will
the spirit please to rap now?" Rap, rap. This was very adroitly done,
but the trick was clear to us. How strange it is, that she should have
been obliged to stoop, and to have invoked the spirit three times
before the answer came; and, moreover, that she should look down to the
floor for the spirit; and how passing strange it is that these modern
spirits should have such a fondness for _long dresses_ and _girls'
toes_. We then requested her to stand upon a chair, and rap. This she
did promptly, and the rap came at a bidding. The sound was different
from that produced upon the carpeted floor, and underwent just the
proper modification of a blow struck upon a hard, uncovered, wooden
seat. Here we stopped, having seen quite enough of this game of "_Fox_
and _Geese_." Before leaving the room, one of the rappers requested
our scientific friend not to publish them, and another stepped up to
the lady present, saying, "You do not think that I have any machinery
about me to make these sounds, do you?" We have it on the authority
of this lady, who seemed determined to leave nothing untried to lead
to the detection of this imposture, that she asked these rappers if
they would consent to a private examination of their persons, and that
they refused it positively, adding that if she had any doubt as to the
reality of these spiritual manifestations she would have satisfactory
revelations made to her in her bed-chamber five weeks from that time.
This prophetic intelligence they rapped out for the occasion according
to their own fancy and usual evasive duplicity in such cases. The five
weeks have passed, but the lady has, of course, received no spiritual
visitations as predicted.
Our readers are now ready to ask if we have discovered the machinery
or instrumentality by which these girls make the sounds. In answer,
we say that our investigation is conclusive that these sounds are
entirely at the control of these girls, and that we have placed them
in situations where they could not rap at all. And if, after all this,
we have invented several modes by which the rappings can be made as
successfully as by them, we think we have discovered enough. During
each of our two visits, we noticed, by very cautious and careful
inspection, one interesting and significant fact--that each rap was
attended with a slight movement of the person of the rapper, and
that a very distinct motion of the dress was visible about the right
hypogastric region. While watching this point the girl noticed us,
and immediately rose, went to the window, and dropped the curtain to
darken the room, which was on the north side of the building, and full
dark enough before. When she sat down she drew her shawl over this
part of her person. This was on the first visit. On the second visit,
we were soon discovered watching this movement again, and she rose and
procured a shawl with which she covered her person as before. We do not
pretend to decide that this movement had any direct connection with
the instrument by which she rapped upon the floor; if so, it was very
clumsy and awkward, for we have devised a mode of rapping that involves
no such motion, and which we will shortly explain. It may have been
that this movement was connected with the device for rapping upon the
table. We are of opinion that when they rapped upon the table, it was
upon the under side of the table-top and not about their feet. They
did not, and evidently could not, rap upon the table without sitting
closely up to the table. If this conjecture, as to the rap under the
table-top, is right, the movement we saw is easily accounted for. Be
it so, or be it not, we have invented a contrivance which raps upon
the under side of the table-top, and which involves precisely the
motion we discovered. It requires but little exercise of ingenuity to
contrive means of producing these sounds. It has been stated that a
relative of these girls has made a public statement under oath, that
they produce the raps with their toes, in a peculiar manner acquired
by long practice. The public papers tell us that electro-magnetism
has been employed to carry out this fraud. The snapping of the joints
has been resorted to by another; and indeed we can easily imagine
a variety of ways in which these sounds are, or may be produced.
The Fox girls rapped upon neither of these plans. The sound was
machine-like, and too loud for a sound that could be made by striking
the naked or unarmed toe upon the floor, and entirely too loud for,
and differing in character from, the snapping of the joints, and as to
electro-magnetism, it was entirely out of the question in this case.
The Fox girls visit the houses of strangers and rap always with the
same ease every where. The raps are never remote from their persons but
always directly about their feet, unless it be when they are sitting
at the table, as we have before said, when the rap appears to be on the
under side of the table-top, although we would not undertake to decide
fully upon this latter point, as they would not allow us to choose our
position so as to judge of the true direction of the sound; for as soon
as my coadjutor looked under the table, the spirits decamped and we
had no rapping. There are certain circumstances, under which no ear,
however skilful and practised, can judge correctly of the position or
distance where certain sounds originate. Such a case is exemplified in
the common speaking tubes used in public houses and elsewhere. When you
place your ear near the tube, the voice appears to be uttered close to
the ear, though the person speaking may be at a great distance. The
Invisible Lady is another instance, for a full account of which, see
Brewster's work on Natural Magic. But the most remarkable illustration
of this case is exhibited in the following manner. If you take an iron
rod ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred feet in length and strike it
at one end, the blow is heard by a person having his ear close at
the other end precisely as if the blow was struck near his ear. This
illusion is more remarkable if the listener cannot hear the original
blow through the medium of the air. To make the whole experiment very
imposing, suppose an iron rod, three-fourths of an inch in diameter,
projecting three or four feet through the floor of a large hall, and
that this projecting part is a continuation of a rod passing beneath
the floor of the room, and concealed entirely from observation and
terminating out of doors, or in a distant apartment. Whenever a blow
is struck upon the remote and concealed end, the sound not being heard
except through the medium of the rod, appears to every person present,
precisely as if it issued from the projecting end within the hall. With
proper pre-concertion and ceremonial preparation, such a contrivance
as this would far exceed, in mysterious character, the shallow
trickery of these _feet-rappers_. From this experiment, which we have
tried with entire success with a rod only twenty feet in length, we
see how closely we must look to all the attendant circumstances and
possibilities of the case, before we can conclude strictly upon the
position of the origin of sounds, where their origin is out of sight.
We know that the rapping was always about their _heels_ when these
girls sat in chairs, stood upon the floor, or in chairs, or stood in
the wardrobe, or rapped upon the door. For this part of the performance
we had abundant opportunities for examination, and if these girls will
stand upon the floor and allow us to examine their feet, at the time
of the rapping, we defy them and their spirits to produce the rappings
without a full exposure. It is worthy of note that witches have always
been far more numerous than wizards. There are reasons for such
disparity in numbers, but this rapping business is particularly the
province of females. There are no male rappers unless it be of late,
since they have resorted to confederacy, or electrical or mechanical
tricks. There are no men-rappers who rap upon such an extensive scale
as the Fox girls. The latter are not confined to a certain table, a
certain room, or certain spots in a room, or a certain house. They
carry their "_Rattle-traps_" about with them, and go from house to
house, and their "_familiar spirits_" are very sociable, unceremonious,
and accommodating. If they will but adopt the Bloomer costume,
our word for it, the spirits would signify their disapprobation by
departing at once. Relying upon their sex they trust the courtesy of
their visitors as sufficient protection against the examination of even
their feet, and therefore they make bold to wear unusually long dresses
the better to conceal their movements and rapping apparatus. When the
girl stood upon tumblers, she did not venture to rap till, by gradual
stooping, she brought her dress down so as to cover her feet and touch
the floor. There are then special reasons why this kind of witchery
should be played off by females. _The Fox style of rapping_ CANNOT _be
performed by men, or in the male attire_. We do not attribute to woman
more or greater proneness, or power to deceive than to man; but when
woman undertakes to deceive, she is generally more successful. She
is less suspected, has fewer motives, runs greater risk, and incurs
greater loss in the event of disclosures, and with the blandishments
of person and sex, she silences opposition, smothers inquiry, defies
and escapes inspection, and lastly takes captive the head with the
heart. Possessed of greater susceptibilities and easily impressed; she
is more readily carried away by new and strange fascinations, and in
times of certain remarkable developements of sympathetic witchcrafts,
she is the first to be imposed upon and most apt to impose upon
herself. This characteristic is well illustrated in the case of the
_jerks_, a species of _witch mania_ which prevailed in this country
so extensively many years ago, in which women figured so largely.
Sympathetic action is potential with both sexes, but especially with
women does it overpower sense, reason and volition, giving rise to
temporary insanity. We are however uncharitable enough to believe that,
in many cases, upon these occasions the surrendry of the judgment
and bewilderment of the imagination is not altogether involuntary,
and that the whole operation of _being bewitched_ might be arrested
at a certain stage of its progress by an effort to resist, except
perhaps in conditions of extreme hysteria and nervous prostration,
or irritability. We have seen a young lady of the very highest
respectability at a _table-tipping_, tugging away at the table to make
it move, and all the while endeavoring to conceal her exertions, and
declaring, when interrogated, that she did "not make the slightest
effort." Can it be that she had become so infatuated as to forget
that she was, or to persuade herself that she was not, deceiving,
and yet all the while to be so assiduous and adroit in accomplishing
her object? Charity says yes. Well! after all, there is something
in the feat of deceiving and blinding reverend and grave Senators,
Judges and Priests, well calculated to whet the pride, stimulate the
cunning, and foster the love of power in a young Miss, especially when
her arts are practised upon some doings not embraced in the criminal
code nor amenable to law. There are probably--paradoxical as it may
seem--cases of honest deception. The desire to accomplish something
great, something exceeding the common course of familiar phenomena,
may be so strong as to beget an entire perversion of all truthfulness,
a self sanctioning of error, artfulness, and imposture, oblivion of
conscience, an enthusiastic profession of faith and spirited advocacy
of the new developments, a bending of every thing to conceal the fraud,
and withal a remarkable preservation of the appearance of sincerity,
and an air of ingenuousness so well put on as to appear natural, which
go very far to inveigle those who may witness the performances.
Of the modes we have devised of producing rappings we will not explain
more than one, that being sufficient to effect rapping sounds without
disturbance of the person. We have contrived a great many, and although
we have not seen the particular mode employed by the Fox girls, yet
we can rap just as well. A piece of soft metal such as lead, shaped
like a _chain shot_ or _dumb-bell_, tied to the great toe may be made
to pound upon the floor, the door, the bottom of a wardrobe, or any
surface or thing which may be under or about the feet, with forcible
demonstrations. If any person will make the effort to move the toe up
and down while the sole of the foot rests firmly upon the floor, it
will be found that a considerable motion may be effected, and of course
a _rapping_, without a disturbance of the person. A little practice
will make perfect. In order to walk about without the rattling of the
rapping piece, it is necessary to tie to one end of it an elastic
cord, a piece of vulcanized rubber answering very well, and fasten
this around the waist. A slight stooping or sitting down will leave
the instrument free to work. If you have thin shoes or slippers on, it
may be affixed outside of the slippers, or you can have it attached to
the toe, and make the slipper large enough to slip over the whole and
slip it off, when rappings are called for. One other element and we are
all equipped for spiritual rappings; petticoats or long dresses are
indispensable to complete the invention. Whatever be the contrivance
adopted to rap upon the floor, the whole must be concealed within the
sanctuary of _skirts_ beyond the invasion of the curious or rude. We
have other more perfect, better concealed rapping instruments than the
one just described,[7] but not quite so simple or easy of application.
Moreover the one described gives the double rap, (a peculiarity of
the Fox contrivance.) These girls managed their instrument adroitly,
and deserve some little credit for their ingenuity in contriving and
operating an instrument so successfully as to baffle the scrutiny
of thousands of their visitors. They walk freely about with their
instruments, though a lady remarked to us that they both walked very
awkwardly. With local preparations "_mysterious_" rappings may be
produced in a variety of ways, but these girls, the _prototypes_ of
all rappers, neither employed or needed any aid from electro-magnetic
motions, acoustic science, or confederacy to practise their arts,
they used more ingenious and simple means. It is possible to make a
rapping electro-magnetic movement, battery and all, small enough to be
carried under the dress, but like the telegraph, it must be controlled
by volition and muscular action of the operator, and where is the
advantage of this over a mechanical instrument that raps directly?
There is no necessity for wonderment or the taxation of ingenuity on
account of these rapping sounds so long as you are excluded from a
personal examination of the rappers. We wish very much that the civil
authorities would pounce upon these rappers in the "_very act_" (_for
obtaining money upon false pretences_)--(or some other plea) and make
a forcible disclosure of their trappings. We believe that this can and
should be done, and that such a proceeding would meet the full sanction
of law and justice; that universal public opinion would sustain it,
and we have no doubt of the nature and effect of the _denouement_.
If it had already been done, we should have been spared the labor of
this treatise at least, and we need not advert to the vast amount of
suffering and vice that would have been forestalled.