FROM SHADOW TO LIGHT.
More than thirty years after this sorrowful event, Margaret Fox Kane, in
reviewing the past, attributes to the evil of Spiritualism all the
ill-fortune which afterwards befell her.
For fourteen years she wore the weeds of mourning for his sake; but when
at last they were torn from her by a friendly, though unwise hand, she
drifted again, through the various phases of a worldly and dissipated
life, to that very vocation of dreary mercenary deceit which he had
predicted would be her lot. She was never happy afterwards, however, and
he who possesses any true sensibility must at least pity, quite as much as
he may condemn her unfortunate destiny, when he reads the sad avowals
which are made in this volume.
Mrs. Kane says at the present day:
"From the very first of our intimate acquaintance, Dr. Kane knew that the
'rappings' which I practiced were fraudulent. Of course, he was too
keen-sighted intellectually, too sensible, ever to have believed them
genuine for a single instant; and I simply obeyed the impulse of my candid
regard for him, when the knowledge of his devotion grew upon me, and
confided to him the whole secret of the fraud, together with my increasing
repugnance to the life I was leading. He hated it, he despised it, he
abhorred it, and he taught me from the beginning the same sentiment. We
had to combat with the sordid interest of others. Whatever good he
accomplished for me, was done against the set purpose of Leah.
"I do not exaggerate in any way when I say that I have feared that woman
all my life. Remember, she is twenty-three years older than I am. Her
influence over both myself and my sister Kate began when we were infants.
Katie, even to this day, acknowledges some sinister influence about her
sister Leah, even if she but chance to meet her in the street. It is a
mixture of terrorism and cajolery.
"For years I have had the shame of this vile thing before me. All my life,
it has made me miserable. It is a load which I now throw off with a free
heart and a great and thrilling sense of relief.
"You must know that it was a dark and hateful influence that kept me aloof
from Dr. Kane so long, when he declared his true love for me, over and
over again, and desired to rescue me from the evil by which I was
surrounded. I gave him my whole heart in return, though at that time I did
not know how deep and how tender was my love for him.
"It is this same baleful influence which has been the nightmare of my
existence. Every morning of my life on awaking, I have had this horrid
thought before me. And even in those younger days I would brood and brood
over it, and Dr. Kane would often say to me:
"'Maggie, I see the vampire is hovering over you still.'
"Our whole family was at that time under bondage, as it were, to Ann Leah
Brown. She ruled over us as with a rod of iron.
"All through this dreadful life--from the time when I first realized its
enormity--I protested against it. Dr. Kane, after our marriage, would
never permit me to allude to my old career--he wanted me to forget it. He
hated its publicity.
"But when I was poor after his death, I was driven back to it. I have told
my sister Leah over and again: 'Now that you are rich, why don't you save
your soul?' But she would only fly into a passion. The truth is that
nothing can excuse the work she has done. She entered upon it at the age
of judgment and experience, fully aware of its falsity and evil effect.
She knows that the world cannot forgive her, and I have no hope that she
will ever confess her sin, or offer an atonement for it.
"What can I add to the revelations of those letters? They are proofs of
the mutual knowledge of Dr. Kane and myself that the 'spiritual' rappings
were fraud, and nothing but fraud. And even if he had not been told of the
fact by myself, his opportunities of observation in our household were
unequaled by any granted to others, and his verdict would have been in any
case, therefore, almost as authoritative.
"What fools are they who still pretend to believe against all this
evidence!
"It would hardly seem necessary that I should denounce Spiritualism after
all that others have said against it.
"I have never in my life professed to be a spiritualist, and I have never
believed in Spiritualism, although I have seen it in all its phases, some
of which I am unable to produce myself.
"Even when I was compelled to go back to the 'rappings' for a livelihood,
and when I charged the most exorbitant fees, so that as few people as
possible might be deceived, I had on my cards an emphatic disclaimer of
any occult inspiration."
Mrs. Kane at this point showed the following on the back of one of her
cards:
MRS. KANE DOES NOT CLAIM
ANY SPIRIT POWER; BUT PEOPLE
MUST JUDGE FOR THEMSELVES.
"My poor father and mother," she continued, "both knew before their death
that all that we had practised for so many years was a fraud and a
deception. Mother was greatly troubled about it, and she turned to the
church for comfort. She used to say to us:
"'Oh, my dear children, I do hope that you will get out of this sort of
life soon.'
"Peace be unto her!"
* * * * *
The evil effects of Spiritualism upon the moral and mental condition of
its followers is the deepest stain upon its history. The wrecks of
thousands of intellects are monuments to its heartless fraud and malign
influence.
Mrs. Kane has often said that if in her late years she had wholly
submitted herself to its foolish vagaries and its base temptations, she
would undoubtedly be now a raving maniac.
There are many who, if they would but speak truly, could declare that ruin
of conscience, brain and health, has resulted either from their willing
faith in flimsy illusions or their weak connivance in puerile deception.
I have touched but little upon the unclean side of Spiritualism. Thousands
upon thousands of virtuous men and women entertain its theory or hold to
its faith. But the manipulators of the supernatural machinery, the members
of the inner circle, the prestidigitateurs and clumsy magicians, who seek
to make simpletons of mankind, I now accuse of the grossest practices and
abominations, the loosest social ideas, the most utter absence of
principle that has been exhibited by any one set of people in the
nineteenth century.
They are wholly corrupt, and there is no good in them.
If Spiritualism in any form survives the blow now given it by Margaret and
Catherine Fox, who were its creators, it will only be because of the
veiled licentiousness introduced into it by those who have enlarged upon
its original plan.
This licentiousness, like the bruised serpent, will not down, but still
will lift its head, and lurk amid deepest shadows.
Spiritualism, however, cannot again deceive the world.
* * * * *
And it is written:
"The dead shall not return; nor any that go down into Hell!"
INDEX.
INDEX.
ABJURATION by Margaret Fox Kane of Spiritualism at the Academy of Music,
New York, 65, 74.
ADMISSIONS of Mrs. Leah Fox Fish regarding the results of the Buffalo
medical investigation, 140, 144.
AGASSIZ (Professor) investigates Spiritualism, 147.
ANTICS of the Fox Children at Hydesville near Rochester, 83, 87, 89, 96.
ATTRACTIONS of the younger Fox Sisters, 129.
AUDACITY (Imbecile) of spiritualistic imposters, 146.
--(Supreme) of fraud, 150.
AUTHORIZATION of the publication of this work by Margaret Fox Kane and
Catherine Fox Jencken, 7.
"BABY mediumship"
--How the trick was done with the child of Mrs. Catherine Fox Jencken,
160.
BELIEF in Spiritualism,
--Mrs. Kane never pretended to any, 167, 181, 236.
--John D. Fox never had any, 99.
"BOBBING" of apples on the floor in the Hydesville house, 84, 90, 95.
BOOMERANGS (Spiritualistic), 131.
BROWN (Mrs. Ann Leah Fox),
--Malignant opposition to Dr. Kane's efforts to detach her sister Maggie
from Spiritualism, 222, 232.
--Exulting in deception, 223.
--Maggie warned against her by Dr. Kane, 227.
--Sinister influence over her sisters, 232.
"BUFFALO Doctors"
--Their investigation of the "rappings," 131.
--Their correct theory, but wrong hypothesis, 131.
--How their investigation if further pursued, would have led to the
truth, 133.
"CHARLES Ceri"
--The "spirit of Mr. Seybert" mistakes the name of Mr. Sellers, of the
"Seybert Commission," 171.
CLAIMS of Spiritualism as set forth in petition to Congress, 1854, 151,
152.
COMMITTEES of tools and accomplices, 121.
CONDEMNATION of Spiritualism
--The substantial effect of the report of Harvard professors on the
tests in Boston, 1857, 149.
CONCERTED signals used in the early seances, 127.
CONSPICUOUS persons interested in the "Fox Sisters," 129.
CONTACT of person while producing the "raps," 90, 138.
CORRUPT practices in secret spiritualistic circles, 50, 64, 237.
COVENTRY (Dr. C. B.), one of the Buffalo investigators, 132.
CROOKVILLE, near Philadelphia--Maggie Fox goes to school there, 226.
DEAD (The) do not return, 37, 238.
DEATH of Dr. Kane, 37.
DERANGEMENT of mental faculties the cause of the prevalence of the
spiritualistic delusion, 154.
--Resulting from Spiritualism, 166.
DISGUST (Dr. Kane's) at spiritualistic circles, 225, 229.
--(Mrs. Kane's) at the baser spiritualistic practices, 29, 30.
DISS De Bar (Madam)
--Mrs. Kane's abhorrence of her, 29.
--Daniel Underhill pronounces her a fraud, 43.
EARLY sorcery the prototype of modern Spiritualism, 150.
EDUCATION (Defective) the cause of the prevalence of the spiritualistic
delusion, 154.
ELEVATION
--Failure of Mrs. Kane to produce "rappings" when standing upon a
lounge, a cushioned chair or a step-ladder, 195.
EXPOSURE, Poetic justice of the, 13.
--Mrs. Kane's first public intimation of intended, 29, 30.
--Details of Mrs. Kane's, 32, 35, 37, 65, 77.
--Of Spiritualism by the Guernillas, 199.
FEAR of the Fox Sisters of their sister, Leah, 232.
FISH (Ann Leah Fox) First to conceive the idea of profiting by the
"rappings," 102.
--Learns to "rap" from the little children, 103.
--Using the little girls, Maggie and Katie, for her purposes, 123.
--Challenges to the "Buffalo doctors," 139.
FISH (Lizzie)
--Protesting against her mother's hypocrisy and deception, 96, 128.
FLINT (Dr. Austin), one of the Buffalo investigators, 132.
FOOT (Movement of the) in producing "rappings," 38, 103, 143.
--Detected by a member of the "Seybert Commission," 194.
--"Rappings" not heard when held, but heard again when released, 143.
FORGED testimony, 91.
FOX (Catherine)
--First to discover that "raps" could be produced with the joints, 90.
FOX (David S.)
--First to suggest use of the alphabet in the so-called "spirit
messages," 115.
--Dupe or accomplice of Leah, 115.
FOX (John D.)
--Never a believer in Spiritualism, 99.
FOX (Mrs. Margaret)
--An honest fanatic, deceived by her children, 36, 93.
--Disabused at the last, 236.
FOX (Maggie)
--Her beauty at thirteen years, 210.
--Petty devilment in childhood, 83.
--Sent to school at Crookville, Pa., by Dr. Kane, 226.
--Protests all through her earlier life against "spiritualistic"
deception, 234.
FOX (Maria), 82.
FULCRUM, necessary for the limb in order to produce sound by the action
of the joints, 142.
FURNESS (Horace Howard), acting chairman of the "Seybert Commission"
--Letter to Mrs. Kane, 169.
--Explanation of her refusal to continue the seances with the
Commission, 204.
FRAUD.
--Dante's image of, 17.
--Origin of the, 81.
--Development of the, 105.
--Various forms of the, 201.
FRAUDULENT
--The "mediumship" of Mrs. Jencken's baby, "Ferdie," 160.
GARBLED testimony, 90, 94.
"GOD has not ordered it," 25, 37.
GOWNS (Long) put on the younger Fox girls on their first public
appearance, to conceal manner of producing "raps," 123.
GREELEY (Horace)
--Aids Katie, 19, 58, 129.
--Influence upon her life, 129.
GUERNILLAS (The)
--Exposure of Spiritualism, 199.
"HERALD" (The N. Y.), 25, 28, 29, 32, 39, 42, 46, 62.
HISTORY of the "rappings," 79.
HARVARD professors investigate Spiritualism, 147.
HUMBUG (Spiritualism a,) according to Mrs. Kate Fox Jencken, 57.
HYDESVILLE, N. Y.
--When mysterious sounds were first heard in John D. Fox's house, 81.
--Digging in the creek, 95.
--Bones of a horse found, 118.
--Digging in the cellar, 117.
--Alleged finding of human bones, unconfirmed by any evidence, 117.
--House said to be haunted--an afterthought, 101.
--The "spirits" when asked tentatively say a murder was committed in the
house and mention the name of the murderer, 119.
HYPOCRISY of professional spiritualists, 165.
--Dr. Kane characterizes, 214, 215.
INQUISITIVENESS as to spiritualistic methods prevents the "spirits" from
acting, 146.
INSULATION
--Experiments with Mrs. Kane while standing on glass tumblers, 185.
--The results negative, 188.
--Partial success when placed near a sideboard and wall, 189, 192.
INVESTIGATION
--First farcical. 122, 124.
--By the "Buffalo doctors," 131, 134.
--By "Buffalo doctors" again, 131.
--By "Seybert Commission," 170.
--By Harvard professors and others, 147.
JENCKEN (Mrs. Catherine Fox) denounces Spiritualism, 62, 64.
JOINTS of the fingers.
--Children try to imitate sounds with them, 87.
JOINT of the knee used in the production of "raps," 133.
JOINTS of the toes used in producing the famous "rappings" of the Fox
sisters, 139, 145.
JUGGLERY
--Spiritualists attribute it to "mediumship," 198.
--Confess that "spiritualistic" effects are produced in the same way,
199.
--Older and more skillful than Spiritualism so-called, 150, 154.
KANE (Dr. Elisha Kent)
--First meeting with Maggie Fox, 209.
--Influence upon her life, 129.
--Effect of his death on her career, 230, 231.
--Character of his interest in her, 213.
--Gloomy foresight, 213.
--Efforts to save her from a life of fraud, &c., 129, 228.
--Characterizes the deceit and hypocrisy of "mediumship," 214, 215, 216,
228.
--Never believed in a single pretense of Spiritualism, 217, 232.
--Knew from their first acquaintance that the "rappings" were
fraudulent, 232.
--Repeatedly exacts her promise not to have anything more to do with
Spiritualism, 223, 226.
--Solicitude lest she return to the practice of Spiritualism, 228.
--Fear lest the source of the "rappings" be discovered, 226.
--Places her at school, 226.
--Engagement broken off and renewed, 227.
--Secret marriage with her, 229.
--Death at Havana, 229.
KNEES
--Seized by investigators to detect movement while "rappings" being
produced, 143.
--When so seized, sounds arrested, and when released, renewed, 143.
LEE (Dr. Charles A.), one of the Buffalo investigators, 132.
LETTER of Mrs. Kane first publicly denouncing Spiritualism, 30.
LICENTIOUSNESS under the cloak of Spiritualism, 237, 238.
"MEDIUMS" (Well-known)
--How they received the expose, 45, 46.
"MEDIUMSHIP"
--Mrs. Kane driven back to it, 37.
MESSAGES (Written)
--How produced by Mrs. Kane, 172, 196.
MESSAGES ("Spirit")
--Internal evidence sufficient to prove their falsity, 162.
MERCENARY campaign
--Begins in Rochester, 121, 126.
--Tour of principal cities, 212, 222.
MOVEMENT of knees of "medium" noted by Dr. Lee while "raps" were heard,
143.
ORIGIN of the fraud, 81, 83, 87, 92.
PERSECUTION of Mrs. Catherine Fox Jencken and her children by
spiritualistic enemies, 60.
PROPHECY of Dr. Kane concerning the future of Maggie Fox, 213.
PROMISES of Maggie Fox to Dr. Kane never to "rap" any more, 223, 226.
PRESIDENT Pierce's wife and Maggie Fox, 223.
PROFESSION of spiritualistic belief
--Mrs. Kane expressly disclaims it, 181, 234.
"RAPS"
--Failure to "throw" them to different parts of a room, 184.
--Always heard near the spot where "medium" is stationed, 136, 172, 173.
--Effort of the will in producing them apparent, 136.
--Muscular contractions their possible cause, 137.
--Not produced while "mediums" in constrained position, 142.
--Not produced while feet of "mediums" are prevented from touching
sonorous substances, 185.
--Vibrations in foot of Mrs. Kane, felt by Mr. Sellers of the "Seybert
Commission," 194.
--Their physiological origin, 202, 203.
REPENTANCE
--Mrs. Catherine Fox Jencken, 58, 59.
--Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, 233.
REPORTS on investigations of "rappings," 134, 141, 149, 173.
ROCHESTER
--Outlandish doings told by Mrs. Underhill, 106, 113.
--Mrs. Kane gives the true explanation of them, 112.
--First public appearances of the Fox Sisters, 121.
SENATE ridicules Spiritualism in debate, 159.
SLADE (Henry) admits that certain magicians produce their effects in the
same way that he does, 199.
SEYBERT (Henry)
--Crazed by Spiritualism, 166.
--Mrs. Kane enters the "Spiritual Mansion," 164.
--She draws the line at the Apostles and the Angel Gabriel, 166.
--His legacy for the investigation of Spiritualism, 167.
--His "spirit" mistakes the identity of a member of the "Seybert
Commission" and calls him by a queer name, 171.
--Though he knew no Latin in the flesh, his "spirit" is made to write
Latin, 197.
"SEYBERT Commission" (The)
--Its origin and labors, 167.
--Experiments with Mrs. Kane, 169.
--Its conclusions regarding the "rappings," 168, 201.
--On other phases of Spiritualism, 201.
SPIRITUALISM
--Mrs. Catherine Fox Jencken says it is the greatest curse the world has
ever known, 56.
SUPERSTITION
--Traditions in the Fox family about queer happenings, 119.
UNDERHILL (Ann Leah)
--Her narrative proven false, 38.
--Sinister influence over her younger sisters, 233.
VERDICT (The unalterable), 201.
VIBRATION of articles when "medium's" body is in contact with them while
producing raps, 138, 145.
WARNINGS of Dr. Kane to Maggie and Katie Fox against a life of
deception, 216, 219, 222, 225, 228, 229.
--Against intercourse with her sister, Leah, 227.
FINIS.
Footnotes:
[1] Dr. Kane and Horace Greeley.
[2] It was erroneously stated that the boys were immediately sent back to
Europe.
[3] "The Seybert Commission on Spiritualism," J. B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia, 1887. The author is under obligations to the publishers of
this volume, for material which he has taken from it.
[4] The author of "The Love-Life of Dr. Kane;" published by Carleton,
1865, New York.
[5] This form of expression was here used because the author of "The
Love-Life," while not a believer in Spiritualism, did not wish to imply in
a work that had Mrs. Kane's personal sanction, the slightest doubt of the
sincerity of her professions or of her claims as a "medium."
[6] Leah.
[7] General Waddy Thompson.
[8] Ex-Governor Tallmadge.
[9] Katie, as well as her sister, had promised to abjure the "spirits,"
and she had also said that she would go to live with Maggie on the
latter's marriage with Dr. Kane.
[10] The wife of the President of the United States.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
The following misprints have been corrected:
"seances" standardized to "seances" (page 45)
"intrument" corrected to "instrument" (page 62)
"arnold In" corrected to "Arnold in" (page 67)
"prepetrating" corrected to "perpetrating" (page 75)
"affimative" corrected to "affirmative" (page 94)
"siezing" corrected to "seizing" (page 143)
"significent" corrected to "significant" (page 144)
"herditary" corrected to "hereditary" (page 160)
"seances" standardized to "seances" (page 170)
"seance" standardized to "seance" (page 174)
"Spirititualism" corrected to "Spiritualism" (page 217)
Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and
hyphenation have been retained from the original.