,^' td^ ^-'r v-f J«S^ ^4 ^^ ,3^ mp^ ■^.^^'t^ W.^f ■'^xo ^=^ M%: BfJ^gagna^BCT^ LIBRARY OF THE University of California. Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. Received October, 1894. ^Accessions No, S^S3 /J^ Class No. EDIJO. PSYCH. UBRARY A s THREE-FOLD TEST MODEM SPIRITUALISM. BY WILLIAM R. GORDON, D.D. "Teebl: Thon alt welglied in the balances, and nrt found wanting."— Dan. 5 : 27. ||b' NEW-YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER, 377 & 879 BROADWAY. 1856. h 13 FIO^Z ";^'., r ^s^^ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by WILLIAM E. GORDON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York. JOim A. GEAY'S '*^', FIRE-PROOP PRINTING OFFICE 16 and 18 Jacob Street, N. Y, ■* CONTENTS. PAGB Preface, . 5 Inteoduction, . . . . . • .7 CHAPTER I. HiSTOEY OF Modern Spiritualism, . . .19 CHAPTER n. The Fiest Test of Spieituaxism, ... 81 CHAPTER in. Paeallel Maot'estations among the Heathen, ,156 CHAPTER rV^. Demonologt, 174 CHAPTER V. The Second Test of Spieitualism, . . .188 IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE The Good and Evil of Spikitualism contrasted, 258 CHAPTER VH. The Third Test oe Spiritualism: the Bible, . 290 CHAPTER Vin. The Doctrines op Spiritualism subyersiye of Christianity, and Heathenish, . . .325 CHAPTER IX. War upon Christianity proclaimed, . . 345 CHAPTER X. Address to Recreant Christians, . . .375 CHAPTER XI. A Word to the Churches, 398 is^ P E E F A E. It may be thought by some, quite below the dignity of his char- acter and calling, for a Minister of the Gospel to waste his time by writing on the unworthy subject which this book professes to discuss. The author has no other apology to make but a differ- ence of opinion. He does not consider the subject beneath him, be- cause it has already attained results unusually great, for the period it has been before the world as a distinct individuality ; and for this reason, he hopes his time has not been wasted. Modern Spiritualism, whatever may be thought of its intrinsic merits, derives importance from considerations extraneous to these. It has enlisted in its service, men who have been honored with posts of influence and trust ; men who have as much to lose as others ; men of earnest purpose, who defend their position with tact, and display a mind made up in courage, worthy of any cause ; and men who write with force, and show an all-pervading earnestness at the cost of reputation : and they have succeeded in pushing their cause to the position of an influence that can not be met by the argument of contempt. The matter of its worth or worthlessness, does not alter the facts of its present power and increasing growth ; and as it is the solemn duty of the Gos- pel ministry, to influence the masses in favor of the cause they hold to be of vital interest to the souls of men, indifference to any thing interfering with their own success, is a sin of omission sur- charged with guilt. None understand this better than they. VI PEEFACE. We can not hope that such as have been led astray by this strange delusion, will be cured of their folly by their own dis- coveries ; and if they should, such discoveries would cost quite too much. It is better to prevent than to cure. We think, the reasons that prompted the composition of this book, will be fully understood when the courteous reader gets midway ; and with this intimation, we beg excuse for stopping here, and have good hope it will be granted; for long Prefaces are rightly judged to be, in most cases, quite too lengthy ; and when we may, it is best to secure the merit of being short. i^ - # m- INTRODUCTION His readers have a right to know, in the outset, whether the au- thor has any thing to offer more than others who have preceded him, on the side of the question he proposes to discuss in this volume. It will be seen that he claims to have furnished in his work a7nple materials to enable them to judge for themselves both as to the intrinsic merits of the subject before them, and his qualifications, so far as they relate to his plan of investiga- tion ; and also his opportunities for getting at the truth. Some eight months have now elapsed since the writer actively began to explore for himself this subject of Modern Spiritual- ism. Long before that time, his attention had been called to it in his ordinary intercourse with wondering mortals, who having heard and seen wonderful things, "doubted of them whereunto this would grow." The effect was not to lead him to ridicule, but rather to admire the courage of some of the leaders who have been long known as reputable men, and whose position and in- fluence honestly gained, entitle them to be heard. The assail- ant's imputation of some unhappy proclivities of mind, discov- ered in them by personal friends who were too delicate to mention it before ; the sudden recollections of certain impressions of oddi- ties that their embrace of Spiritualism brought up to the minds of their former intimate friends, and all that genteel tenderness of slander, had the tendency to awaken in him a disposition to credit them for sincerity, and for a moral heroism, that did not quail at VIU INTRODUCTION. the finger of scorn, in owning and defending a cause which they thought they had good reason to beheve the cause of truth. Hero- ism is not always pecuUar to the votaries of a good cause. Having heard of the additional demonstrative evidence of truth, corroborative of life and immortality brought to light in the Gos- pel, which they had received by an agency not seeming to square with the fitness of things, but which nevertheless had, for eight years past, baffled all efforts put forth to prove it a pure impos- ture of those engaged in its propagation, he considered it his duty to enter the list of sincere inquirers. Fully confirmed in the truth of Biblical inspiration, the proofs of which have been accumulating for ages, he did not conceive it an incredible thing, nor one unworthy of Heaven, that the key-stone in the arch of evidence should be furnished by angels, whose joy over penitent sinners would leap at the permission thus to awaken the dormant energies of men to the high theme of a glorious salvation. In this he saw nothing to contradict the Bible, for who is not familiar with the fact of spiritual intercourse between Heaven and earth in by-gone ages of which the Bible is a faithful record ? To this it has been the constant practice of Spiritualists to ap- peal, and the language which had met him, justified the belief that this movement, however hardly it might deal with sectarian- ism, was not by any means antagonistic to Christianity. He fell in with a Weekly, devoted to this cause, called the Cheistian Spiritualist, bearing a motto from the lips of Jesus, and dated December 22d, 1855, from which he dipt an extract from a ser- mon by a Rev. gentleman who had become a convert, with re- marks by the editor, who seemed to be right-minded respecting the Bible as the standard of appeal in the matter of religion. Here it is : " "We can do no better in this connection than to present an extract from a recent discourse upon tliis very subject, delivered in Brooklyn, by the Rev. Samuel Beswick, in which he clearly demonstrates fi-om the Bible the fact of spirit intercourse with man. He says : " ' "We will now cite the few Biblical demonstrations of the ministra- tions of spirits, and the immediate communications between the two worlds ; and all our cases will be purely Biblical, In the Psalms 34 : *?, we read : " The angel of the Lord encampeth about them and deliver- oth them;" and in the same book of Psalms we read: "Por he shall give his angel charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways." (90 : 2.) INTEODUCTION. IX "We can see how easily ttis could be accomplished, when we see that the soul is already a spiritually-organized form and inhabitant of the spirit-world, and can be as readily assisted and communicated with by a guardian-angel as the body of one man with that of another. The Apostle Paul, speaking of angelic spurits, says: "Are they not aZ? min- istering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heu*s of sal- vation?" In this passage we are expressly taught that assisting man- kind, or constant communication with mankind, is not only a standing employment or office of angelic spirits, but that it is the only authorized use or office. Of course this assistance would include every possible va- riety of modes. Their duty is assistance in some mode to those who are heirs of salvation. This is not spoken of as a special or isolated case, but the universal duty of all ; not the duty of one or a few, but the duty of all; it is the authorized duty of all, without exception, in some mode or other, according to requirements. It is the established law of the spirit-land; for Paul says, first : " Are they not all mmistering spir- its ?" And this expression admits of no exception. Then, secondly, he says, " sent forth to minister to those who are heu-s of salvation." And this expression of their being " sent forth to minister," shows it to be a duty imposed by the very law of Heaven on aU its inhabitants. True, it is only Paul who says that this is the law of Heaven, and that this is the duty of all Heaven's sons. But then Paul affirms he was caught up into the third or highest heaven, and had an opportunity of speaking from experience. His testimony is not, therefore, to be lightly esteemed, nor invalidated by a doubt. His own history in the Acts bears testimony of his having thus been constantly ministered to ; and in the same Acts, when speaking of Peter's guardian-spirit, we have the expression, "/if is his angel." But to take a rapid survey erf" such guardianship, would strikingly illustrate this universal duty on all Heaven's sons, as stated by Paul. In the vision of Jacob's ladder, an- gels are represented as constantly ascending and descending from heav- en to earth. Angels deUvered Lot from Sodom, Jacob from Esau, Dan- iel from the lions, his three companions from the furnace, Peter from Herod, and the nation of the Israelites successively from the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Assyrians. Thus they conducted — ^that is, did the duty of ministering to Paul ; they conducted Lot, Abraham, and the Israel- ites, in a season of great difficulty and danger, to places and circum- stances of safety and peace ; they conducted Gideon to the destruc- tion of the Mideanitcs ; Joseph and Mary to Egypt ; Philip to the Eu- nuch, and ComeUus to Peter, that they might impart a knowledge of the G-ospel. Thus they comforted Jacob, at the approach of Esauj Dan- iel, in his peculiar sorrows and dangers ; Zachariah, in the sufferings of his nation ; Joseph and Mary, in theh perplexities ; Christ, in his ago- ny ; the Apostles and their companions, after his resurrection ; Paul, immediately before his shipwreck ; and the Church universally, by the testimony and instruction given in the Book of Revelation by the Apos- tle John.' " "With these proofs of spirit intercourse, together with hundreds of ethers that might be quoted from Scripture, we can weU say with the author of the above extract, that it seems to us. from the Bible's tcach- 1* X INTRODUCTION. ing, that constant intercourse existed between tlie two worlds, in the early history of our race. It appears to have been the most universal of all convictions. The veil between them and the invisible world must have been slight indeed. It was no matter of dread or bewilder- ment to them, if, in the stillness of the sunset hour, stranger-feet drew near their dwelling, and the phenomena of both worlds became blend- ed into the vision ; forms, glorious with the majesty of holiness, entered beneath their roof to commune with them, and teach them, in their de- parting, that they had been with beings of another land. The very ab- sence of fear or wonder implies the original universality of such inter- course or opening of the spirit-sight. All the most ancient traditions are founded on an intercourse with the spirit-land; and the separation between the living and departed was held to have been marvellously shght." "But here the ' orthodox' skeptic may exclaim : 'True, I believe all this ; but what God permitted of old, he does not allow now.' To this we simply reply : God's laws are immutable. He never has, and we add, with all due reverence, he never can, change them ; for, could he, he would become a changeable and fickle being, and cease to be God. Now, as in the times of the Apostle Paul, the departed ' all are minis- tering spu*its;' and the modem proof of spirit ministrations is as strong and positive as any to be found within the pages of the Bible." " When the skeptic will present us with the first positive assertion found in the Bible, that the ministration of angels or spu-its was to cease with the exit in the body of the apostles of old ; when they will prove that the comforter promised by Jesus was only to be sent to his disci- ples, then in the flesh ; that the relation of what occurred on the day of Pentecost, and that the great light seen and the voice heard by Saul of Tarsus, are fables, then we wUl admit, not that we have any doubt of modern spirit intercourse, but that we question the truth of Scripture ; for, to prove this, we must ignore the Bible, and, as a consequence, the creeds and dogmas of a Christianity of eighteen hundred years' growth, must fall to the ground. "We could occupy every column of our paper in adducing further proof from the Bible of the truth of spirit intercourse, but we do not deem it necessary. But is it not a strange sight to see self-styled * Or- thodox Christians' most cordially unite, cheek by jowl, with those whom they denounce as ' Infidels,' 'Atheists,' and ' unbeUevers, in denying the truth of present spirit intercourse? Truly, the 'meek and holy Jesus' is woimded afresh and crucified anew in the house of his (pro- fessed) fi'iends. " Having, at least to our o^vn satisfaction, established from Scripture the fact of spirit intercourse, in times past, with man, we reserve imtil next week the proof, equally as positive and explicit, that we are now in communication with them — that ' Millions of unseen beings walk the air, Both when we wake and when we sleep.' " The author had also met \\ ith the statement of Gov. Tall- INTRODUCTION. XI madge, that the doctrines of the Bible were ratified to him by the testimony of spirits. Thus understanding the matter, and yielding to the importuni- ties and proffered pledges of success, given in the strongest terms, by men of science and accredited ability, who professed to have arrived at a sensible assurance in regard to the greatest possible in- terest to mankind, which all may have who seek, the writer deter- mined to investigate under their guidance, fully resolved to fol- low where truth might lead, though it might cost him a sacrifice. He commenced a perfect skeptic ; but now his skepticism is all gone. The investigation led to a conviction that the thousands of manifestations in this country and in Europe — a mere speci- men of which he has selected — are made by spirits. It is, so far as he can see, impossible to maintain a denial. The attempt has often been made, and as often failed. And let it be remembered that no man is entitled to pronounce upon the matter, unless he have in some way examined it to some extent. Dr. Coan of England, has truly said: "It is only by extensive familiarity with the existing literature of modern Spiritualism, that we can arrive at any correct idea of its true nature and extent ; and it is because the attention of observers in England has been so exclu- sively occupied with some of the more popular but least import- ant phenomena, that the information now prevalent is so inade- quate for the formation of sound and comprehensive conclu- sions." The same inadequate information has here also prevented, in thousands of instances, such conclusions as Dr. Coan mentions. This fact forcibly struck the writer before he met with the pam- phlet whence the above extract is made. He has seen at circles wonderful manifestations of physiognomy in persons to whom a little previous knowledge would have evidently been of some ser- vice. Hence he has ranged through a large portion of the " ex- isting literature," and given copious extracts upon which any man may make up his mind as to the nature of the whole. The theories of involuntary or unconscious muscular movement, — ^Electric, Mesmeric, Odylic— all alike prove inadequate to ex- plain the phenomena ; for none of them can originate the intelli- (jence that is unmistakably produced, unless intellect be common Xll INTEODUCTION. to matter and mind — a supposition not likely to receive admis* sion. We are therefore driven to the choice between material- ism and spiritual agency. While the writer declares for the latter, he as distinctly de- clares his belief that the spirits communicating, by no adequate proof, are shown to be the spirits of our departed friends ; because it is admitted that they may be personated, and often are personated by eml spirits ; neither is the proof adequate that they are good angels, because the same imposition is often detected, and the matter of their communications is manifestly too mawkish to sustain their pretensions. The whole movement, then, we accredit to a peculiar kind of angels, of whom our Sav- iour speaks. Our reasons are as follows : 1. Many deceptions, confessedly, are practised; and our spirit- ualists have not shown that they are able to prove those spirits, accepted as good, to be other than deceivers. 2. This theory abundantly accounts for all \hQ facts in the case, and the contrary can not be shown ; whereas all others sig- nally fail. 3. The absence of dignified discourse, of respectable originality of combination in the most common ideas, the contradictory and often absurd nature of the things communicated, and their ten- dency to confuse and confound the operations of the mind, are precisely such results as might be expected from an evil agency. 4. The denial of the grand leading doctrine of atonement for sin by the merits of Christ, upon which the Bible suspends hu- man salvation, is the very thing that, of all others, we might ex- pect from Satanic agency ; and this denial is persistently main- tained by those accepted as good spirits^ 5. We are told to " put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil." We are taught to be aware, lest we " fall into the condemnation of the Devil," lest we " fall into the snare of the Devil." We are ex- horted to " resist the Devil," who, " as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." And with greater precision we are told that for the purpose of deception, " Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light," and that in accordance with this his manifestation, antichrist shall deceive many in the latter day;-;. INTEODUCTION. XIU "We are admonished of the " depths of Satan." Now, when the wiles, the snares, the depths of Satan, who is of much experience, cunning, and power, are presented in Scripture as to be brought out " with all deceivableness" in the latter days; and when we consider what has been done and is now doing the world over by spiritualism and its manifestations, it is perfectly clear that nothing in this whole movement has been presented incompatible with these wiles, and these depths of the adversary of mankind. On the contrary, the sayings and doings of these spirits are exactly such as are in keeping with the prophetical declarations of Scripture. To accomplish their object, it would seem, they feel the necessity of the present simultaneous effort to bring the Bible into disrepute, to deny the essentials of salvation as presented therein ; and if they can succeed here, it will be worth all their pains and expenditure of crafty effort to counterfeit the true and the good. 6. The discoveries of the writer soon led him into the fact, that all the good spirits everywhere thus engaged, deny the existence of the Devil and his angels, and seem anxious to convince men that these are mere mythologic creatures, whose existence and agency, as presented in the Bible, are purely fictitious. Now, it is quite clear that this is just what a cunning devil would do ; for should he stick out his split foot, he could not very well explain such a "manifestation." On the subject of Spiritualism, a very prominent and well-con- ducted review, widely circulated among us, holds the following language: "We believe that all notice taken of these mediums, familiar spirits, and necromancers, such as implies anxiety to explain their movements, and to find the secret of them, and especially all attempts to give them the dignity of originating in and bringing to light a new power of nature, Odylic or otherwise, increase rather than abate the nuisance. These things thrive on notoriety and attention. But let them be utterly ab- jured on this plain ground, that if mere tricks of man, they are detesta- ble, and if too much for man, they are from Satan, and so stiU more de- testable ; they will not long survive this treatment, and the trade will soon come to an end." The writer of the above is evidently unacquainted with the subject. Modern spiritualism, be it remembered, does not present itself as a mere puzzle for the wise explorers of nature, but most XIV lifTKODUCTIOK. pertinaciously thrusts itself in our faces as a religious system, es- sentially catholic and Christian, holding forth din. additional revela- tion of unseen and hitherto undescribed worlds, having an im- mense advantage over all present forms of belief, and avowedly designed, by the declarations of leading spirits in and out of the body, to overthrow the Bible as the rule of faith and practice. It is an outspoken, antagonistic religion, claiming to be tlie Christ- ian, hostile to all the forms and sects of the day, and announcing itself as the destroyer of the outward Christian Church, and its own substitution as the true embodiment of a purified, reformed Christianity. The proof is given in the sequel. These extravagant pretenses will doubtless be laughed at by that very respectable and staid class of men who are represented by the writer just quoted. We hope we shall not forfeit whatever claims we may be supposed to have to similar virtues, by differing from them. Be it remembered, that the argument of contempt in the case of a far more contemptible cause, Mormonism, was thought would work wonders ; that it could not long survive this treat- ment, and that the trade would soon come to an end. What is the result ? Mormonism is at this hour one of the blackest, heaviest clouds resting upon owe political horizon. The reUgioits element at first predominated in this system ; hence the success of its im- postures. Had it been attacked and exposed in the outset, instead of being left to the stings of contempt; had the world been instructed as to its nature and operations by discussion, thousands of foreigners who have been left an easy prey to its plausible ad- vocates, emissaries, and missionaries, would have been made aware of its true character, and would never have left their homes in other countries, the victims of a delusion fi-om whose snares and wilderness-fastnesses they can not now escape. When Mohammedism arose, its absurdities were left for the most part to the argument of contempt. Its shrewd leader was many years in making a few converts, but we know what were the ultimate measures and success of the movement. The advantage of modern Spiritualism is in the crafty adapta- tions of asserted spiritual intercourse, to accomplish greater wonders. Accordingly it has in the short space of eight years rolled up a few millions of adherents, while its affinities and ODUCTION. XV tendencies will secure the sympathies of a vast number ignorant of its claims, and unprepared to withstand the argument of physical manifestations that no mortal can account for on any natural principles. Its inherent ability to deceive and con- sequently to ruin the ill-informed but sincere, is far greater than any delusion that ever attacked the weak side of human nature. Therefore we think the well-meant advice in the "Re- view" is given in ignorance of the capabilities of the thing spok- en against, without regard to sound experience, with a seemingly culpable indifference to the souls of men, and the movements of the enemy, and in direct opposition to the injunctions of the Gospel. We meet spiritualism therefore as a religious system and a sworn foe to the Church of Christ. The early champions of Christ battled heroically and success- fully against ancient mediums, familiar spirits, and necroman- cers; and shall we take the opposite course and allow the strongest elements of old paganism to be entrenched under our noses, behind the fair front of true Christianity ? Shall we sup- pose they will be annihilated by the potency of our contempt ? Who cares for contempt when he may thrive under its fancied inflictions ? Is not that a very strange argument for a " soldier of the cross" to take into his mouth, in the latter part of the above quotation ? If it be sound now, it would have been good against the Apostle Paul and his immortal coadjutors, respect- ing their attacks upon the strongholds of sin. Supineness upon the part of the lovers of the Church and of Avell-ordered society, is all that is needed to give advantage to an enemy. The writer thinks it impossible to magnify the evils that may grow out of the subject that has here engaged his atten- tion, and to which he solicits the attention of his readers. He looks at it as a system not yet fully organized, but soon to be developed, and worked with skill. Its tendencies and possible results demand and must receive attention. While he condemns it by evidence intrinsic and extrinsic to itself, he desires to say, that he does not deny the sincerity of the most of those engaged in its propagation ; but holds that Spiritualists are craftily deluded. The evidence is in the sequel. The spirits they rely upon teach, and they believe, that there are no such adversaries of mankind XVI INTRODUCTION. as those to whom the writer attributes this movement ; they try- to show it is the work of a heavenly agency. He applies his THREE-FOLD TEST, and has just that amount of assurance as enables him to stand up and say, that he has made out his case. He considers that SpirituaHsts are all sadly imposed upon, and they consequently impose upon others by such assurances as have been already mentioned, and which are never realized. He thinks it his duty to furnish material enough, in the extracts he has made from their original pages, to enable those who have not enjoyed, or will not avail themselves of his opportunities, calmly and intelligently to discuss this whole matter and present it in its true light. Of this our authors can not complain, because it is just what they ask; besides, none have sufifered so much abuse at their hands, as ministers of the Gospel, under the name of " priests," contemptuously bestowed ; who in various quarters are sneeringly challenged and maliciously mocked. These mani- festations^ we take to be confirmatory of our position. It can not therefore be a grievance, if plainness of speech be used. The subject demands it, and an earnest opponent, who really wishes to get at truth in a discusssion, will readily pardon what are popularly called " hard hits," when fairly given. As it is desirable that Christians should have at the smallest expense, a reliable " Dictionary of Quotations" — a copious vol- ume of " Elegant Extracts," upon which they may safely draw, whenever they come in contact with Spiritualists, this object has been kept in view, while at the same time the large amount of heterogeneous matter, or "brain-dribble" from spirits, furnish the basis for argument against themselves. The design of this book is to give a picture of Spiritualism, limned by its own artists. And it is not too much to expect that they who read it, if not already infatuated, will turn away with ineffable disgust from a system having nothing to relieve it from the merited execrations of God, angels, and men ; a system whose involutions have concealed manifold misery to unsuspecting thousands, and if there be any truth in the Bible, must ultimately unfold to its unhappy followers the bitterness of " progression" in banishment from God. INTEODUCTION. XVll The writer asks none to accept his opinion, but he does ask that his book be read, before that opinion be condemned. His opinion is, that spirituaHsm is all evil without any good worthy the name, and therefore it is the agency of the Demi; for noth- ing can come by chance, nor can God be the author of such a system. There are many besides spiritualists, who will probably sneer at this account of the matter. We shall find no fault, provided they read the sequel ; yet we can not help thinking, that they who are so utterly incredulous as to evil as well as good spiritual agency connected with this movement, show too much of the Sadducee, while their professed belief in Bible facts has a doubt- ful aspect in the light of their colloquial commentaries. Mere intellectual Christianity finds great difficulty in admitting an im- mediate direct spiritual agency upon the human soul, whether it be evil or good ; but we need not say this is not the Christianity of the Bible. Although the author was led into the investigation of this sub- ject from the facts of many having been drawn off from the Church by its fascinating influence, of several ministers of the Methodist Church having embraced it, of the serious way in which men of acknowledged ability treated it, of the bewildered state of mind produced in many well-disposed persons in and out of church communion, that he might be able, to some extent, to satisfy those who addressed him on " what he thought of it," yet he had no idea of being brought into the position he now occupies before the reader ; but when once in for it, the fascination of pursuit became powerful. And while he desires to say, it is not safe for any one to pursue the matter as long and as hard as he has done, and would persuade every one to keep aloof from it altogether, he does not regret the loss of money and time, and the trials of nerve to which he has been subjected, because he hopes it may result in good to others ; and in his own case, so fortify him in the belief of the truth, that he can say with a stronger emphasis than ever : " We are not ignorant of Satan's devices." (2 Cor. 2 : 11.) New-York, July 31s#, 1856. A THREE-FOLD TEST. CHAPTER I. " Eaise me a Spirit I Awake ye dead ! Out with ttie secret, death I"— Festtjs. HISTOET OF MODEEN SPIEITUALISM. A Materialist's Opinions — Debut of the Spirits — Statements of Mrs Fox, Mr. Duesler, and Mr. Fox — The first Medium — Spiritual Pulling and Haul- ing — Spirit-hands — Diabolism — Alarming Wonders — Floating in the Air — Wrestling with a Spirit — Spiritual Performances and Musical Wonders — Intelligence displayed — A Funny Spirit — Diabolical Conduct — An Earthquake — A rude Spirit — A Possession — Dr. Hare's Spirit-testing Ma- chine—An Estimate of the Subject. The subject of Modern Spiritualism wUl form a very remarkable chapter in tbe Book of the Chronicles of the nineteenth century. Its materials are now rapidly gath- ering in volumes large and small, in pamphlets and weekly papers, that will employ the skill and ingenuity of some future writer to set forth the new and strange combina- tions of fact and fiction, pecuhar to this movement, in well-adjusted paragraphs upon the reality, romance, and philosophy of modern history. We are quite too early for an attempt of this kind, were we disposed to make it ; for it is but a short time since the installment of this cause as a superior claimant 20 A THREE-FOLD TEST. for public attention and popular favor. Nothing can therefore be expected here beyond a succinct account of its origin and progress, for the sake of completeness to our work, and for the satisfaction of those of our readers who have been swayed more by contempt than by curiosity in regard to it. That this may be done in the most ac- ceptable manner, we deem it best to let our Spirituahsts speak for themselves, that we may be free from a charge which otherwise might be thought to lie against us on the score of incompetency. The quotations in this chapter, are mainly taken from a work called " Modem Spiritualism : its Facts and Fa- naticisms. ByE.W. Capron." Pp. 438. This work, among the early publications of Spiritualists, compiled jGrom a mass of facts upon which the system is built, reaching down to October, 1854, and containing the deductions and opinions of the author to some extent, is well put to- gether ; and is much prized by them as the best account, so far as it goes. Although the so-called spiritual demonstrations are but of yesterday, writers in defense of their extra-mundane origin, now begin to draw upon antiquity for a more re- putable character than mere modern " Knockings" can furnish to the "new dispensation." Hence the recent phenomena are considered as the renewed mutterings and intonations of an old volcano, long since thought to be burnt out ; but whose present activity reveals a great mistake under the reign of which many generations have unfortunately lived and died. Thus the aforesaid author begins his introduction : " In searching out the history of Spiritual Manifesta- tions, or occurrences analogous to what is now known as the modern manifestations, the discovery is at once made that they date back to a period so remote that the his- A MATERIALIST'S OPINION. 21 tory of no age or country is exempt from accomits of them. Histories dating back further than any thing known or recorded in the Bible, are proof of their being known at a period beyond the compilation or writing of that book ; while the book itself contains so many evi- dences of precisely similar occurrences, that the attentive reader can not resist the conviction that the occurrences were the same in fact, whatever the people of that age may have thought of them, or however exaggerated they made their importance in the record. By comparing the story of the Witch of Endor with any ordinary case of spirit-seeing clairvoyance of the present time, its wonder, mystery, and sacredness, beyond that sacredness that truth should always command, at once disappear. The spirit that passed before the face of Job, ' in thoughts of the visions of night, when deep sleep falleth upon man,' is no uncommon occurrence at the present day ; while the handwriting on the walls of Belshazzar's palace has its analogy in hundreds of instances of modern spiritual man- ifestations." After quoting a long narrative dra^vn up by Dr. Adam Clark, and pubUshed in the " Memoirs of the Wesley Family," containing many wonderful things terrifying to mortals, he assures us that "Precisely similar occurrences took place in Wines- burg, Germany, and other places, from the year 1825 to 1828, the authentic accounts of which are given in a work by Justinus Kerner, called ' The Seeress of Provorst.' " The ' Seeress' was a clairvoyant, and both saw and heard the spirits of various persons." In accounting for these phenomena, it will be seen that Mr. C. is a materialist^ believing that spirit is Matter, in its most refined state, in which it has the attribute of in- telligence ! Thus he writes, pp. 29-30 : " There must certainly exist some natural cause^ by which these sounds are made. By natural causes I do not mean that the cause is positively known to man at the present time, or that it is produced by machinery oi 22 A TnEEE-FOLD TEST. collusion ol any kind. I know this is not the case. But, as nothing can exist without a cause, and as the laws of nature are the most perfect of any thing we can have any conception of; and as nothing of which man or any other production of these laws can conceive or recognize can be superior or above these laws, (unless it be the source from whence they originated,) I speak of the laws which govern this communication between inferior and superior intelligences as perfectly NATUEAii. I ask to be pointed to nothing superior to this in the investigation of the subject. " Neither would I make the separation that some do between spirit and matter. I am convinced that no such separation exists. It is at the same time to assert that it is something and nothing. K it is not matter, it is noth- ing. It is the height of absurdity to assert that there is an absolute existence, and yet it is not matter — it is nothing, yet to be talked of, to, and about. That there exists matter too refined, subtile, and subHmated, for our vision in a normal state to observe, is undoubted ; and I have as httle doubt of there being intelligent beings who, beyond our vision, still have an influence upon us, and are entirely capable of communicating with us through sounds, impressions, and various other means. It is no more proof that they are not thus about us, because not seen, than that electricity, or the numerous animalculi© which we are constantly eating, drinking, and breathing, although un- seen, do not exist for the same reason. It may not be unprofitable to go into the examination of the connection between spirits and other matter, in this connection, in order that the reader's mind may be prepared for the de- velopment of facts which may look still more strange than those already related. " In regard to the rapping sounds, and other phenom- ena and their existence, there is no longer room for doubt. The tens of thousands of individuals who have heard them, and who have been in full possession of their senses, and not easily to be deceived, are abundant testimony on this point. " The connection between spirit and other matter, or be- tween the visible and invisible world of human beings, is at present little imderstood. I am of the opinion that DEBUT OF THE SPIRITS. 23 the connection is far more intimate than is generally be- lieved. Of this fact there is the most positive and con- vincing proof. Many may be so averse to receiving nevr truths, which set aside all their preconceived opinions, as to disregard the positive evidence of their senses. But most men are not willing to admit that they are so easily imposed upon, as many think, or pretend to think, they are themselves. " The highest form of organization of which we have any conception, and which probably is the highest^ is that which manifests intelligence. The forms of intelligence, or their manifestations, are various, defined by some as instinct and reason. It is useless to undertake the task of tracing them, through their different gradations, up to the highest developments of reason. There is in this, as in tracing the various forms of vegetable and animal life, a connection so intimate and perfect, that it is impossible to tell where the lower ends and the higher begins, so closely interwoven are the links of the great chain of which each is a part." The manifestations, said to be made by spirits, are abundant and various ; and our selections from this au- thor, will be mere samples of what are published in many volumes. We go on with our quotations : DEBUT OF THE SPIRITS. "The house at which the manifestations first com- menced, that have turned the eyes of the people of this generation to a more minute and careful investigation of spiritual phenomena than has characterized any preceding age, stands among a cluster of houses known by the name of Hydesville, in the town of Arcadia, county of Wayne, and State of New- York. It is a small framed building, one and a half stories high, and at the time of the occur- rences which have made it a matter of interest and curi- osity to so many thousands, bore unmistakable evidences of age ; and had been the humble shelter of many a family previous to that of Mr. Fox. "The family of Mr. Fox were well known in the 24 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. neighborhood where they resided. Mr. and Mrs. Fox were connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which they had for many years been exemplary members, and had sustained a character unimpeachable for truth and veracity. 'No one who knew them had the least sus- picion of their honesty or truthfulness. At the time these occurrences first took place in the family there were hving with the parents three daughters, the youngest about twelve years of age. " The following statements, condensed, will give the account of the first disturbances at the house of Sir. Fox, in their own language. "statement of MRS. MAEGARET FOX. ^" I am the wife of John D. Fox. We moved into this house on the 11th of December, 1847, and have resided here ever since. We first heard this noise about a fort- night ago. It sounded like some one knocking in the east bedroom, on the floor. Sometimes it sounded as if a chair moved on the floor ; we could hardly tell where it was. This was in the evening, just after we had gone to bed. The whole family slept in the room together, and all heard the noise. There were four of our lamily, and sometimes five. The first night we heard the rapping we all got up, lit a candle, and searched all over the house. The noise continued while we were hunting, and was heard near the same place all the time. It was not very loud, yet it produced a jar of the bedsteads and chairs, that could be felt by placing our hands on the chairs, or while we were in bed. It was a feeling of tremulous mo- tion, more than a sudden jar. It seemed if we could hear it jar while we were standing on the floor. It con- tinued this night until we went to sleep. I did not go to sleep until nearly twelve o'clock. The noise continued to be heard every night. On Friday night, March 31st, it was heard as usual, and we then, for the first time, called in the neighbors. Up to this time we had never heard it in the daytime, or, at least, we did not notice it at all during the day. '"On Friday night we concluded to go to bed early. MRS. fox's statement. 25 and not let it disturb us ; if it came we tliought we would not mind it, but try to get a good night's rest. My hus- band was here on all these occasions, heard the noise, and helped search. It was very early when we went to bed this night ; hardly dark. We went to bed early, because we had been broken so much of our rest that I was almost sick. " ' My husband had gone to bed when we first heard the noise this evening. I had just laid down when it commenced, as usual. I knew it from all other noises I had ever heard in the house. The girls, who slept in the other bed in the room, heard the noise, and tried to make a similar noise by snapping their fingers. The youngest girl is about twelve years old. She is the one who made her hand go. As fast as she made the noises with her hands or fingers, the sounds followed up in the room. It did not sound difierent at that time ; but it made the same number of raps the girl did. When she stopped the sounds would stop for a short time. The other girl, who is in her fifteenth year, then spoke, in sport, and said, "Now do just as I do. Count, one, two, three, four," etc., at the same time striking one hand in the other. The blows which she made were repeated, as before. It appeared to answer her by repeating every blow she made. She only did so once. She then began to be startled, and I said to the noise, " Count ten," and it made ten strokes or noises. Then I asked the ages of my difierent children successively, and it gave the num- ber of raps corresponding to the ages of each of my children. " ' I then asked if it was a human being miking the noise, and, if so, to manifest it by the same noise. There was no noise. I then asked if it was a spirit ? if it was, to manifest it by two sounds. I heard two sounds as soon as the words were spoken. I then asked if it was an injured spirit, and, if so, to give me the sound ; and I heard the rapping distinctly. I then asked if it was in- jured in this house, and the sounds were immediately made, distinctly ; if the jDcrson was living that injured it, and got the same answer. I then ascertained, by the same method, that its remains were buried under the 26 A THREE-FOLD TEST. dwelling, and how old it was. When I asked how many years old it was it raj^ped thirty-one times ; that it was a male ; that it had lel't a family of five children ; that it had two sons and three daughters, all living. I asked if it left a wife, and it rapped ; if its wife was then living, and there was no rapping ; if she was dead, and the rap- ping was distinctly heard ; how long she had been dead, and it rapped twice. " 'About this time I asked, " Will the noise continue if I call in some of the neighbors, that they may hear it too ?" It answered as usual, by rapping. My husband went and called Mrs. Redfield, our next-door neighbor. She is a very candid woman. The girls were then sitting up in bed, somewhat terrified, and cHnging to each other. I was as calm, I think, as I am now. Mrs. Redfield came immediately. This was about half-past seven o'clock. She came in thinking to joke and laugh at the children ; but when she came she saw that we were all amazed like, and that there was something in it. I then asked a few questions, and they were answered as before ; and she was satisfied that there was something strange about it. It told her age exactly. She would then call her husband, and he came, and the same questions were asked over again, and the answers were the same as before. It was then asked how long it had been injured, and the sound was repeated four times, at regular intervals, and then, after a short pause, once more ; the same being repeated every time the same question was asked. " ' Then Mr. Redfield called in Mr. Duesler and wife, and several others. A great many questions were asked over, and the same answers given as before. Mr. Duesler then called Mr. and Mrs. Hyde ; they came, and also Mr. and Mrs. Jewell. Mr. Duesler asked many questions, and got the answers. I then named over all the neighbors I could think of, and asked if any of them had injured it, and got no answer. Then Mr. Duesler asked it some questions, the same as I had, and got the same answ^ers, He asked if it was murdered, and it answered in the usual way ; if the murderer could be brought to justice, and there w^as no sound ; and then if he could be punished by law, and there was no rapping. He then asked, " If ^ MES. FOX'S STATEMENT. 27 this murderer can not be punished by law, manifest it by the noise ?" and the noise was repeated. In the same way Mr. Duesler ascertained that it was murdered m the bedroom about five years ago, and that the murder was committed by Mr. , on one Tuesday night, at twelve o'clock ; that it was murdered by having its throat ^ut with a butcher-knife ; that the body did not remain in the room next day, but was taken down cellar, and that it was not buried until the next night ; that it was not taken down through an outside door, but through the buttery, down the stairway ; that it was buried ten feet below the surface of the ground. It was then asked if money was the object of the murderer ; and the rapping commenced. IIow much money was obtained ? Was it one hundred dollars ? two hundred ? three hundred ? four hundred ? No noise. Five hundred ? The usual rapping was heard. We were all in the bedroom at the time. " ' Many called in that night who were out fishing in the creek, and they all heard the same noise. The same questions were frequently repeated as others came in, and the same answers were obtained. Some of them staid here all night. I and my family all left the house but my husband. I went to Mrs. Redfield's and staid all night ; my children staid at some of the other neighbors. My husband and Mr. Redfield staid in the house all night. " ' On the next day the house was filled to overflowing all day. This was on Saturday. There was no sound heard during the day; but in the evening the sound commenced again. Some said that there were three hundred people present at this time. They appointed a committee, and many questions were asked. I did not know much what was done that night, only by hearsay, as I went to Mr. Duesler's to stay all night. " ' On Sunday morning, the second of April, the noise commenced again, and was heard throughout the day by all who came there. On Saturday night they commenced digging the cellar, and dug until they came to water, and then gave it up. The noise was not heard on Sunday evening, nor during the night. Stephen B. Smith and m 28 A THREE-FOLD TEST. wife, and David S. Fox and wife, slept in the room this night. I have heard nothing since that time lintil yester- day. In the forenoon of yesterday there were several questions answered in the usual way by rapping. I have heard the noise several times to-day. " ' I am not a believer in haunted houses or superna- tural appearances. I am very sorry there has been so much excitement about it. It has been a great deal of trouble to us. It was our misfortune to live here at this time ; but I am willing and anxious that the truth should be known, and that a true statement should be made. I can not account for these noises ; all that I know is, that they have been heard repeatedly, as I have stated. I have heard this rapping again this (Tuesday) morning, April 4th. My children also heard it. " ' I certify that the above statement has been read to. me, and that the same is true ; and I am willing to make oath to it if necessary. (Signed) Maegaret Fox. "'April 11th, 1848.' " Mr. John D. Fox gives a certificate corroborating his wife's statement in every particular, and says : ' I do not know in what way to account for these noises, as being caused by natural means. We have searched in every nook and corner in and about the house, at difierent times, to ascertain, if possible, whether any thing or any body was secreted there that could make the noise ; and have never been able to find any thing that explained the mystery. It has caused us a great deal of trouble and anxiety. Hundreds have visited the house, so that it is impossible to attend to our daily occupations ; and I hope, whether it be natural or supernatural, the means will be found out soon." OF WILLIAM DUESLEE. " ' I live in this place. I moved from Cayuga county here last October. I five within a few rods of the house in which these noises have been heard. The first I heard any thing about them was one week ago last Friday even- ing, (31st day of March.) Mrs. Redfield came over to my house to get my wife to go over to Mr. Fox's. Mrs. ME. DUESLER'S STATEMENT. 29 Redfield appeared to be very much agitated. My wife wanted I should go with them, and I accordingly went. "When she told us what she wanted us to go over there for, I laughed at her, and ridiculed the idea that there was any thing mysterious in it. I told her it was all non- sense, and that it could easily be accounted for. This >^as about nine o'clock in the evening. There were some twelve or fourteen persons there when I got there. Some were so frightened that they did not want to go into the room. I went into the room and sat down on the bed. Mr. Fox asked questions, and I heard the rapping, which they had spoken of, distinctly. I felt the bedstead jar when the sound was produced. " ' Mrs. Fox then asked if it would answer my ques- tions if I asked any, and if so, rap. It then rapped three times. I then asked if it was an injured spirit, and it rapped. I asked if it had come to hurt any one who was present, and it did not rap. I then reversed this question, and it rapped. I asked if I or my father had injured it, (as we had formerly Hved in the house ;) there was no noise. Upon asking the negative of these questions, the rapping was heard. I then asked if Mr. (naming a person who had formerly lived in the house) had injured it, and if so to manifest it by rapping ; and it made three knocks louder than common, and at the same time the bedstead jarred more than it had done before. I then inquired if it was murdered for money, and the knocking was heard. I then requested it to rap when I mentioned the sum of money for which it was murdered. I then asked if it was one hundred, two, or three, or four, and when I came to five hundred the rapping was heard. All in the room said they heard it distmctly. I then asked the question if it was five hundred dollars, and the rap- ping was heard. " ' After this, I went over and got Artemas W. Hyde to come over. He came over. I then asked over nearly the same questions as before, and got the same answers. Mr. Redfield went after David Jewell and wife, and Mrs. Hyde also came. After they came in, I asked the same questions over again, and got the same answers. " ' Then I asked the question how it was murdered. I 30 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. asked if it was murdered by being struck on the head, and there was no rap. I then reversed the question, and the rapping was heard. Then I asked if it was stabbed in the side, and there was no answer ; upon asking the negative of this, the rapping was heard. It usually rapped three times in answer to my questions. I then asked if it had its throat cut, and it rapped as usual. Then, if it was with a butcher-knife, and the rapping was heard. In the same way it was ascertained that it was asleep at the time, but was awakened when the knife en- tered the throat ; that it struggled and made some resist- ance and noise. Then I asked if there was any one in the house at the time but him, and it did not rap ; then, if they two were alone, and the rapping was heard. I then asked if Lucretia Pulver worked there at the time, and it answered by rapping ; if she and Mrs. were gone away that night, and the rapping was renewed. " ' There was rapping heard only when we asked ques- tions. I asked if any one in Hydesville knew of the murder, except , and it rapped. Then I asked about a number of persons, if they knew it, and there was no rap until I came to Mrs. , and then the rapping was heard ; then, if any one but and wife knew it, and I got no rap ; then, if they were all that knew of the mur- der, and I got the rap. I asked if the body was put in the cellar, and it rapped. I then asked if it was buried in the different parts of the cellar, and to all my questions there was no rapping until I asked if it was near the cen- tre, and the rapping was heard. " ' Charles Redfield then went down cellar with a can- dle. I told him to place himself in different parts of the cellar ; and, as he did so, I asked the question, if the per- son was over the place where it was' buried, and I got no answer imtU he got over a certain place in the cellar, when it rapped. He then stepped one side, and when I asked the question, there was no noise. This was re- peated several times ; and we found that, whenever we stood over this one place, the rapping was heard, and whenever he moved away from that place there was no answer to my questions. Mr. Redfield said he could hear the noise himself. I then asked which way it was carried MR. DUESLER'S STATEMENT. SI down cellar ; if round through the outside door, and there was no rapping ; then, if it was down through the but- tery, by the inside stairway, and the rapping was heard. I then asked it to raj) my age — the' number of years of my age. It rapped thirty times. This is my age, and I do4iot think any one about here knew my age except myself and family. I then told it to rap my wife's age, and it rapped thirty times, which is her exact age ; seve- ral of us counted it at the time. I then asked it to rap A. W. Hyde's age, and it rapped thirty-two, which he says is his age ; he was there at the time, and counted it with the rest of us. Then Mrs. A. W. Hyde's age, and it rapped thirty-one, which she said was her age ; she was also there at the time. I then continued to ask it to rap the age of different persons (naming them) in the room, and it did so correctly, as they all said. " ' I then asked the number of children in the different families in the neighborhood, and it told them correctly in the usual way by rapping. Also the number of deaths that had taken place in the families, and it told correctly. I then asked it to rap its own age, and it rapped thirty- one times distinctly. I then asked it if it left a family, and it rapped. I asked it to rap the number of children left, and it rapped five times ; then the number of girls, and it rapped three ; then the number of boys, and it rapped twice. Before this, I had asked if it was a man, and it answered by rapping it was ; if it was a peddler, and it rapped. " ' I then asked in regard to the time it was murdered, and in the usual way, by asking the different days of the week, and the different hours of the day ; that it was murdered on a Tuesday night, about twelve o'clock. The rapping was heard only when this particular time was mentioned. When it was asked if it was murdered on a Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday night, etc., there was no rapping. I asked if it carried any trunk, and it rapped that it did. Then how many, and it rapped once. In the same way we ascertained that it had goods in the trunk, and that took them when he murdered him ; and that he had a pack of goods besides. " ' I asked if its wife was living, and it did not rap ; if 32 A THREE-FOLD TEST. she was dead, and it rapped. I then asked it to rap the number of years the wife had been dead, and it rapped twice. In the same „way I ascertained that its children were now living, — ^that they lived in this State ; and, after asking if in such and such county (naming over the dif- ferent counties,) at last, when I asked if they lived in Or- leans county, the rapping was heard, and at no other time. This was tried over several times, and the result was always the same. I then tried to ascertain the first letters of its name by calling over the different letters of the alphabet. I commenced with A, and asked if that was the initial of its first name ; there was no rapping. When I came to C, the rapping was heard, and at no other letter in the alphabet. I then asked, in the same way, in regard to the initials of its surname ; and when I asked if it was R, the rapping commenced. We then tried all the other letters, but could get no answer by the usual rapping. I then asked if we could find out the whole name by reading over all the letters of the alpha- bet, and there was no rapping. I then reversed the ques- tion, and the rapping was heard. * * * * There were a good many more questions asked on that night, by my- self and others, which I do not now remember. They were all answered readily in the same way. I staid in the house until about twelve o'clock, and then came home. Mr. Redfield and Mr. Fox staid in the house that night. "'Saturday night I went over again, about seven o'clock. The house was full of people when I got there. They said it had been rapping some time. I went into the room. It was rapping in answer to questions Avhen I went in. I went to asking questions, and asked over some of the same ones that I did the night before, and it answered me the same as it did then. I also asked dif- ferent questions, and it answered them. Some of those in the room wanted me to go out, and let some one else ask the questions. I did so, and came home. There were as many as three hundred people in and around the house at thi^ time, I should think. Hiram Soverhill Esq., and Volney Brown, asked it questions while I was there, and it rapped in answer to them. 1 MB. dueslek's statement. 33 " ' I went over again on Sunday, between one and two o'clock, P. M. I went into the cellar with several others, and4iad them all leave the house over our heads; and then I asked if there had been a man buried in the cellar, to manifest it by rapping, or any other noise or sign. The moment I asked the question, there was a sound like the falling of a stick, about a foot long, and half an inch through, on the floor in the bedroom over our heads. It did not seem to bound at all ; there was but one sound. I then told Stephen Smith to go right up and examine the room, and see if he could discover the cause of the noise. He came back, and said he could discover noth- ing — that there was no one in the room or in that part of the house. I then asked two more questions, and it rapped in the usual way. We all went up stairs and made a thorough search, but could find nothing. " ' I then got a knife and fork, and tried to see if I could make the same noise by dropping them; but I could not. This was all I heard on Sunday. There is only one floor, or partition, or thickness, between the bedroom and the cellar ; no place where any thing could be secreted to make the noise. When this noise was heard in the bedroom, I could hear a slight tremulous motion or jar. " ' There was some digging in the cellar on Saturday night. They dug until they came to water, and then gave it up. The question had been previously asked whether it was right that they should dig on that night, and there was no rapping. Then, whether it was wrong, and the rapping was heard. Whether they should dig on Sunday; no rapping. On Monday; rapping com- menced again. However, some insisted on digging at this time, and dug accordingly ; but without success. "'On Monday night, I heard this noise again, and asked the same questions I did before, and got the same answers. This is the last time I have heard any rapping. I can in no way account for this singular noise which I and others have heard. It is a mystery to me which I am wholly unable to solve. I am willing to testify under oath that I did not make the noises or rapping which I and others heard ; that I do not know of any person who 2* 34 A THREE-FOLD TEST. did or could have made them ; that I have spent consi- derable time, since then, in order to satisfy myself as to the cause of it, but can not account for it on any other ground than that it is supernatural. I lived in the same house about seven years ago, and at that time never heard any noises of the kind in and about the premises. I have understood from Johnson and others, who have lived there before moved there, that there were no such sounds heard there while they occupied the house. I never believed in haunted houses, or heard or saw any thing but what I could account for before ; but this I can not account for. *' (Signed) ' Wm. Dueslee.' "'April 19, 1848.'" Some ten other witnesses are given to corroborate the aforesaid facts, and " Mr. David S. Fox gives a state- ment confirming the others heretofore recorded, and says, furthermore, that ' There is no place about the house in which any person could be secreted so as to produce these sounds. There is only one floor between this bed- room and the cellar. * * * I was here (at the house) on Monday, the 3d of April, and we commenced digging again in the cellar, and bailing out the water ; but we found it impossible to make much headway. On Tuesday evening they began digging again. I got a pump, and we took up the floor, and put it into the hole, and began to pump and bail out the water at the same time. We could not lower the water much, and had to give it up. The water is now in the hole, although it is lowering gradually.' "Such is the testimony — ^unimpeachable and conclu- sive — of the first occurrences at Hydesville. The wit- nesses estabhsh, beyond the possibility of a doubt, the presence of some unseen and intelligent agency in pro- ducing these sounds. But this was not the only kind of evidence by which the invisible presence was to be proved. As the family and their friends became more familiar with the mysterious visitants, and could converse without alarm, other manifestations began to be made, exhibiting, in a more astonishing manner, the command MR. FOX'S STATEMENT. 35 of the communicators over the elements, by which was created at will any sound that might be desired. Thus, the intelligence claiming to be the spirit of the murdered man would produce a sound like the death-struggle, the gurgling in the throat, etc., of a man whose throat was cut ; then the sound of dragging a lifeless body across the room, down the stairs, the feet striking on each step ; then a sound as if shovelling dirt in the cellar, the nailing of boards, and the filling up of the hastily-made grave — all sounding as perfectly natural as if you had stood in the grave-yard, and heard the clods descend upon the last resting-place of the body of a friend. I have myself heard the same, and it was hard, indeed, to convince one's self that it was not a reality instead of a mere represen- tation. Another sound was produced like that of pour- ing a quantity of clotted blood from a pail on to the floor. This sound would come suddenly, when the family, or some portion of it, sat in a room, not thinking of the manifestations ; and the first thought would be that some one had poured down a whole pailful of something, that would fall like so much blood, or, as the family expressed it, ' lobbered milk.' " THE FIRST MEDIUM. " It was some time before the spirits exhibited any pre- ference for any one of the family, or seemed to require the presence of one more than the other, in order to pro- duce the various sounds and movements. At length they discovered that Catharine, the youngest girl, seemed to be required in order to obtain the communications. She was then in the twelfth year of her age. This was the first discovery of mediumship in that family. Indeed, it is the first case of acknowledged mediumship for sounds, so far as I am able to discover, that the world has been made acquainted with. There have been those who were undoubted mediums, and were attended by similar demon- strations ; but they have not been characterized by the intelligence that has uniformly attended this family. The exhibition of intelligence heretofore has been only in rare cases, and for a short time, to disappear and remain a m it ' .* M A THKEE-FOLD TEST. wonder to the recipients of the strange visitations. But here they have remained to explain themselves, and si- lence for ever all doubts in regard to the power of unseen intelligences to communicate with the inhabitants of this visible world." " There are many circumstances going to make up a case of circumstantial proof that there was, at some time, a murder committed in the house. To this effect, so far as spiritual manifestations are concerned, is the testimony of Miss and Mrs. Pulver. There is, aside from this, enough to establish very reasonable suspicions in regard to the transactions of a certain family who formerly occupied the house. " In addition to this, it is a fact not generally known, that, in the summer of 1848, Henry Bush and Lyman Gran- ger, of Rochester, and David S. Fox, and others, of Ar- cadia, recommenced digging in the cellar of the house ; and, after digging about five feet, came to a plank, through wliich they bored with an auger, which, on boring through, (the auger being loose in the handle,) fell through, out of sight. On digging further they found several human teeth, and a few bones, and some hair, which evidently came from a human head, although no connected bones or skull were found. They also found a quantity of char- coal at the same depth. This shows, most incontestably, that the ground, at some time, had been disturbed, and these things deposited. This, taken with the evidence of the family, on whom suspicion fell, having sundry articles, in a very mysterious w^ay, about the time the murder was said to have been committed, is enough, at least, to give a shade of circumstantial evidence in favor of the truth of the allegation of the spirit in regard to the murder." Rochester, N. Y., is the next place, where, our histor- ian informs us, the Spirits displayed their power. spiritual pulling and hauling. " Notwithstanding the facts were concealed from the public, it is worthy to be noted that, during the early part of the manifestations at Rojhcyter, many demonstrations PULLING AND HAULING. 37 were made which looked like a disposition to create dis- turbance, without any other apparent object than mischief. Mr. Calvin R. Brown, before spoken of, was not, at first, particularly friendly to the spirits, and they seemed to re- ciprocate the feeling by constantly annoying him. The spirits would come to his bed, lift it up, shake it, seize his bed-clothes and carry them away, or whip him with them. At times he would seize the clothes, as they were going off, determined to dispute the right of possession with the spirits. He would brace himself and pull with all his might ; and, when exerting himself to the utmost, the spirit would mischievously let go suddenly, and Mr. Brown, of course, would be thrown over backwards. Sometimes Mr. Brown would suddenly let go, under like circumstances, and the clothes would fly to the other side of the room. At times a sheet would come up to his bed, as if held up by a person, and then drop down. " One night the spirits came to his bed with a cane, and commenced striking tremendous blows on the wall at the head of his bed, just missing his head and face. He seiz- ed the cane, and got possession of it. Soon they came Avith a broom-handle, to which was attached the worn-out stump of the broom. With this they commenced strik- ing, as before, until he seized that also. With these two sticks he made a kind of fender for his face, by placing one end of them on his head-board and the other on his breast. Then the spirit came with a strip of lath, and commenced beating the sticks directly over his face. He finally took the stick away and kept all of them where he could keep his hand upon them. The next salutation was an old iron candle-stick, thrown violently, and just graz- ing his upper lip so as to break the skin. At intervals, during all the time they were whipping him with the sticks, they would spell out, " Kneel down and ask our forgive- ness." He had nothing to ask such favors for, and told them he would not do it if they strung him up between the heavens and earth. They would then renew hostili- ties. After cutting his lip all was silent, as though they felt that they had gone too far, or made a mistake. They never told him to ask forgiveness again. After a short time they began to throw balls of carpet-rags, from a bas- 38 ^ A TUEEE-FOLD TEST. ket in the room, some dozen or more of which hit him every one on the forehead, in precisely the same spot. Some sixty in all were thrown. Many were the kinds of disturbance that Mr. Brown was subjected to before he became fully convinced that they were caused by spirits." " About this time very powerful physical manifestations commenced in the family of Deacon Hale, of Greece, a town adjoining the city of Rochester. In this case the spirits evinced a remarkable degree of physical power, such as moving heavy stoves and other articles of furni- ture. " The vibratory sounds were also produced in the family of Rev. A. H. Jarvis, a Methodist clergyman, residing in Rochester, soon after their commencement with the Fox family. Substantially the same phenomena were observed in the other cases. Many very beautiful communications were given, containing in themselves overwhelming testi- mony of spiritual power and foresight. " The following letter from that gentlemen to the author will give a strong case of telegraphing, at a very early period of the modern manifestations : " ' There are many facts which have come under m^ observation equally convincing of the intelUgence and uti- lity of the communications from these unseen agents, who, I now believe, are continually about us, and more perfect- ly acquainted with all our ways, and even our thoughts, than we are with each other. But the fact, in reference to my friend Pickard, is what you desire. He was at my house on Friday afternoon, April 6th, 1849. None of the Fox family were present. While at the tea-table we had free communications on different subjects. Pickard was requested to ask questions. He desired to know who it was that would answer questions. The answer was, ' I am your mother, Mary Pickard.' Her name or the fact of her death was not known to any of us. The next Mon- day evening he (Pickard) was at Mr. G — 's and tarried there over night. He there received a communication, purporting to be from his mother, saying, ' Your child is dead.' He came immediately to my place, and said he SPIRIT-HANDS. ,||, 39 should take the stage for home, (Lockport, sixty miles dis- tant.) He left in the stage at 8 or 9 A.M. At 12 M. I returned to my house, my wife meeting me with a tele- graph envelope. I broke the seal and read mentally, first, as follows : " 'Rochester, April 10, 1849. " ' By telegraph from Lockport to Rev. A. H. Jarvis, No. 4 West street. Tell Mr. Pickard — if you can find him — his childL died this morning. Answer R. Mallory.' " ' I then read it to my wife, and said " This is one of the best and most convincing evidences of the intelligence of those invisible agents ;" and then I added " God's tele- graph has outdone Morse's altogether." Yours truly, " ' A. H. Jarvis. " 'To E. W. Capron, Auburn.' » The next place mentioned, where these manifestations took place, is Auburn, N. Y. We can not specify what they were, beyond the assurance of Mr. 0. that they " were various and astonishing," and " have scarcely been excelled." SPIRIT-HANDS. " I (and all who have taken pains to get at the facts oi all these demonstrations) have frequently had a hand laid on my arms, shoulders, or head, when no person would or could do it, having all their hands held by each other. These demonstrations, Hke the others, generally leave a feeling of electricity where they touch. The hand feels much like one of a person who is in a magnetic sleep, be- ing colder (generally) than the hand of persons in a nor- mal state, and having a moisture like a cold perspiration upon it. There is not, usually, any feeling like that of a hard hand, or one made up with the usual amount of bones in it. It is generally soft and smooth, although, at our request, it will change both its temperature and texture. It will in one instant feel as cool as ice and as warm as a common hand of flesh. "So perfectly natural is the touch, when an arm is taken ♦ 40 ifc A THREE-FOLD TEST. hold of by this invisible hand, or it touches in any other way, that, although you hold every hand in the room, you can hardly believe it to be other than some of them. But the proof is positive and the witnesses are numerous. Then, too, just request a change from natural warmth to the coldness of ice, and you feel the change without the hand being removed. It is past the art of man thus to change the temperature of his body." DIABOLISM. " Among the varieties of manifestations, purporting to be spiritual in this locahty, there were often indications of pure diabolism ;* one of the most remarkable instances of which was as follows : In the spring of 1849, an indi- vidual by the name of Baham was hung at Auburn for the murder of a peddler named Adler. He was clearly prov- ed guilty of the crime, but persisted to the last in assert- ing his innocence. During the last days of his earthly ex- istence he manifested a very wicked spirit, cursing all who were instrumental in demonstrating his guilt — of whom was one of his brothers who was connected with him in the criminal affair ; and finally upon the scaffold, his last words were qualified by an oath. At the time of his exe- cution, a seeing medium — a young lady — was rendered clairvoyant, that she might witness the operation, and, if possible, observe the separation of body and spirit, and the manifestation of the latter. The medium claimed to have witnessed the execution ; and described the occur- rences from stage to stage, until the final scene when the drop fell, which was so revolting and terrible in its ap- pearance, that she fainted. From this time what purport- ed to be the spirit of the executed man very often com- municated through her. On these occasions the spirit ut- tered passionate maledictions against those whom he con- sidered his enemies — declaring repeatedly that he would have revenge and that he would ere long take the life of some of the Auburn people, all of whom he considered res- ponsible in a degree for his unpleasant removal to the world of spirits. Thus matters went on, the spirit continually *Mr. C. does not believe in the existence of the Devil and his angels. DIABOLISM. W^^ evincing the most fiendish and vindictive feelings, until in April, 1850, when he gained an opportunity of wreaking, to a considerable extent, his vengeance. The medium, above spoken of, one afternoon used much freedom with this spi- rit, and received many manifestations from him by the vio- lent movements of her arms. At length the spirit acquired so much control over her person that she was unable to guide her own movements, or to repel him ; and he continued, for a long time, to strike her arms back against her chair, un- til both arms from the elbows upward were bruised black, and ultimately almost into a pumice. This operation finally was superseded by others of a more serious nature, in propor- tion as the spirit gained increased control over her organ- ism. After various persecutions and tortures inflicted by the spirit upon the medium, he finally commenced strang- ling her, or at least so operated upon her as to produce the same effects that would be produced by a rope drawn tightly around her neck — declaring, at the same time, that he would strangle her to death. His declarations were made through her mediumship and that of others who were present ; and it was asserted by other spirits through other mediums who were in attendance, that Ba- ham was fully determined, if possible, to carry his threat into execution and that it was not m their power, with the attending conditions, to prevent him, because he had previously secured so much possession of her person. The strangulation increased until the subject was unable to speak, or even to breathe without the utmost difficulty — making severe exertions, such as throwing up her hands, struggling, and uttering a pecuHarly distressing noise in her efforts at inspiration. This state of the case continued for about thirty-six hours ; during which time the house was thronged by visitors and friends, and every attempt possible was made to deliver her from her situation. Se- veral strong and skillful magnetizers used their utmost exertions to dispossess her of the influence, whatever it might be, but did not at all succeed; physicians were called, both of the skeptical and the believing in spiritual matters, none of whom could aid her, or discover evidence of any bodily disease. In the mean time the body w^as suffering the severest agony, being entirely speechless, 42 ^ A THEEE-FOLD TEST. and her limbs and whole body were violently moved con- trary to her own will and strenuous exertions ; and fears were continually entertained that her breathing would be entirely prevented, and death ensue. " But now we come to the mode of her deliverance, which will introduce a manifestation of a decidedly oppo- site spiritual nature. As has been remarked, all the means which could be suggested by physicians, spiritual and anti-spiritual, friends and spectators of equally diverse opinions, the efforts of magnetizers and the various kmds of medicines which were administered — all and each pro- duced no perceptible effect. But the manner of her relief was this : After she had been tortured for about a day and a half, another medium was sent to the house by spi- ritual direction. This medium, also a young lady, was a clairvoyant, rapping and writing medium ; and upon her arrival a spirit, purporting to be that of the Apostle Paul, threw her into the clairvoyant state, and caused her to take hold of the hands of the afflicted person ; when with- in the space of five minutes she was entirely relieved of the pernicious influence. And after keeping both mediums in the clairvoyant condition for a few minutes longer — during Avhich time they were exceedingly happy, that which claimed to be the spirit of Paul brought them both into their normal states, perfectly well. And thus ended ^v^hat was considered by many intelligent witnesses to be a case of pure diabolism." ALAEMING WONDEKS. The next place our Author mentions, is Stratford, Conn., where the most alarming wonders took place in the house of Bev. MiaUm Phdps^ D. D. He goes on to say : " While these strange occurrences were taking place at Rochester and Auburn, and the press and people were busy in trying to account for them on strictly mundane principles, making all manner of insinuations against the character and motives of those who even dared to inves- tigate for themselves, some manifestations took place at Stratford, Conn., which attracted attention to that quar- ter, as well on account of the character and standing of ALAEMING WONDERS. ^ 43 the gentleman at whose house they occurred, as the very strange, boisterous, and violent character of the manifes- tations. I have been allowed to examine all the records kept of the occurrences by Dr. Phelps, and shall be able therefore, to present the history with more minuteness and accuracy than has ever before appeared. " The first disturbances took place on the tenth day of March, 1850, at the house of Rev. Eliakim Phelps, D.D. The house had been occupied by him from the 22d of February, 1848. It is a large and genteel country man- sion, separated from the street by a fence forty-five feet in front of the house ; which is thirty-two feet in front, and, including the piazza, seventy feet deep, with a hall thirteen feet wide, running through the whole depth of the building. Adjoining, and opening from this hall are two parlors and a dining-room. On the second floor are five sleeping-rooms, and on the third floor two. The kitchen is in the basement. The house was built about the year 1829 or '30 by a Captain Dondall, who for seve- ral years commanded a vessel in the China trade, and who died in the bay of Canton within two or three years after his family had taken up their residence in the house. The property then passed into the hands of another sea- captain, by the name of Purcell, who, with his family, occupied it for several years. Capt. Purcell dying sud- denly in New- York, the family removed, and the house was occupied by an Episcopal clergyman for a school a year or more, and afterwards by a Mr. , also as a school for boys. " None of the families who had thus far occupied the house had ever been disturbed, or witnessed any thing aside from ordinary events. At the death of Capt. Pur- cell it became the property of the two daughters, of whom Dr. Phelps purchased it during the month of No- vember, 1 847. For two years previous to this it had been unoccupied. Dr. Phelps and family commenced their residence therein on the 22d of February, 1 848. Nothing occurred to excite the attention of the family out of the ordinary course of events until the tenth of March, 1850 ; and, as before stated, nothing can be learned of any strange or unusual events occurring there previous to 44 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. that time. It will be observed by the dates given that Dr. Phelps had occupied the house more than two years, had found it an agreeable and quiet place of residence — having never himself or any member of the family been disturbed or alarmed by unusual occurrences. On the tenth of March, as above stated, it being the Sabbath, Dr. Phelps and family, consisting of Mrs. Phelps, two daughters and two sons, the eldest a daughter aged six- teen, a son of twelve years, and a second daughter of six years, children of Mrs. Phelps by a former marriage, and another son of Dr. Phelps by the present marriage, not then three years old, all attended church ; and an Irish servant-girl, who had been employed in the family some six months, and had shown herself to be honest and trust- worthy, had gone on that day to Bridgeport, to attend the Catholic Church. On leaving the house in the morn- ing it appears that the Doctor had secured the chamber- doors, and put the keys in his pocket ; those which could be were locked inside and the keys left in them. The only door by which the chambers could be entered was locked, and the key taken by Dr. Phelps. He also locked the front-door inside, left the key in the lock, and, pass- ing out at the back-door, locked that and placed the key in his pocket. On returning from church at noon the front-door was found standing open ; the chamber-doors, which were left fastened, were now open ; and in the nursery the furniture was thrown about in disorder; chairs on the bed, and thrown down upon the floor ; the shovel, tongs and poker, with other things, were in unusual positions and places, every thing showing unmistakable signs of the work of some rude hand making mischief in their absence. Upon discovering the disorder here Dr. Phelps passed into other rooms on the same floor, but could see no other evidence of intrusion. The first sup- position was, very naturally, that some person or persons had entered and robbed the house. Search was immedi- ately made in the closets where silver plate, spoons, forks, etc., were kept. All were found safe and undisturbed. A gold watch, left in an exposed place, remained there as left. The impression still remained that burglars had been in ; and, on examination of the windows, one was ALARMING WONDERS. 45 found that could be raised from the outside, and though there was no evidence of entrance having been made there, no doubt existed that this was the place of access. Thinking they might return during the afternoon. Dr. Phelps remained at home, the other members of the fa- mily going again to church. Being left alone the Doctor armed himself, and, selecting a secluded position, awaited the return of the burglars. There was no disturbance during the afternoon ; no sound of footfall ; all remained quiet. On the return of the family, after the service, usually closing at three o'clock, several other articles were found out of place, but not in a way to make it certain that they were not moved in the morning. Articles of kitchen furniture were changed about. A tea-kettle, which had been used at dinner-time, was found hidden behind some boxes in the cellar. The bread, sugar-bowl, eggs, and numerous other things kept in the kitchen, were found where they did not belong, and where they had evidently been placed in some way which the family could not account for. Upon enteiing the middle cham- ber, occupied as a sleeping-room, a sheet was found spread over the bed outside the counterpane, and beneath which was a night-gown and chemise laid out with the arms folded across the breast, with stockings placed in a position to represent, as it seemed, a corpse, disposed as is usual before placing it in the coffin. On the wall were written characters resembling those said by certain clair- voyants to belong to a sj)iritual language, but which none of the family were able to decipher. Whether they had any significance, or how they came there, was alike an unanswerable question by the family ; they had not ob- served them before. Occurrences ceased for that day and night, yet no one thinking of any mystery in the matter, they imputed it to roguish boys, or others, who had effected entrance with false keys, for mischief, rather than for robbery, and that the culprits would soon be de- tected. The next morning, March 11th, when the family went up stairs, after breakfast, the middle chamber had again been visited, exhibiting much the same scene of disorder presented the previous day. A sheet was spread out upon the floor, the wash-stand laid upon its back upon 46 A THREE-FOLD TEST. the. sheet, a candle-stick set upon the stand, the wash- bowl placed upon one side, and the pitcher on the other. The night-gown and chemise, used on the previous occa- sion to represent a dead body, were found one in the bowl, the other in the pitcher. It appears that these articles of clothing were not then in use ; they had been placed in a trunk which stood in a closet adjoining that room. They were replaced iq the trunk when removed from the bed the day before. As they were conversing in relation to the disposition of the things as above stated, Mrs. Phelps looked under the bed, and discovered arti- cles there, partially concealed by the bed, resembling those in question. They were taken out and pronounced to be the same. Dr. Phelps had not before examined them, but then took them, noted the name and number on each, as they were marked, folded, and placed them again in the trunk, remarking that he would put them where they would stay ; did not lock the trunk, not hav- ing a key, but locked the closet and placed the key about his own person ; then requesting the family to all leave the room first, which they did, the Doctor, following, locked the door of the room, and kept the key. Having observed that Mrs. Phelps seemed a little troubled as to the mystery, he thought to convince her that there was no mystery in the matter, and, having secured the closet and room, he descended to the rooms below, following them all. After the lapse of some fiifteen minutes, some person spoke to the Doctor, upon which he went up to the chambers. At the head of the stairs, out in the hall, he found the same articles which he had left as before stated. He examined them, and was positive they were the same. He went to the door ; found it locked ; entered by applying the key from his pocket ; went to the closet ; found it locked ; took the key from his pocket ; opened the door ; looked in the trunk ; and the articles were gone ! Dr. Phelps states that he was confident there was no decep- tion in the case, and that he then, for the first, felt that there was a mystery about the affair. He had neve.r be- lieved in the appearing of ghosts, or departed spirits, warnings, or any thing of that nature, and, at the age of three-score, had never seen or heard any thing connected ^ ALARMING WONDEES. ^ 47 with that class of phenomena. The evidence upon which such superstitions, as he termed them, rest, he had never examined, and while he had no proof positive that they were impossible, and never did occur, he had no evidence to found a belief upon that they ever had. His idea of spiritual manifestations seems to have been that most, if not all, followed by a strict scrutiny, might be accounted for on natural or known principles, or some physical means, which would disrobe them of the mysterious alto- gether. But it was not to rest here. On the same day (March 11th) the moving and throwing of furniture com- menced. An umbrella, standing at the end of the hall, leaped, without visible assistance, a distance, of at least, twenty-five feet. Dr. Phelps saw the movement, and knows there was no perceptible agency by which the motion was produced. A bucket, standing at the head of the stairs, was thrown into the entry below. Smaller articles, such as nails, forks, knives, spoons, bits of tin, iron and keys, were thrown from difierent directions about the house. He says : ' There were times when they came from such directions that they might have been thrown by some person in the house' — at least, that may be admitted — but in very many cases the motion and point of starting were such as to preclude all possibility of deception on the part of persons in the rooms. Dur- ing the afternoon Dr. and Mrs. Phelps had occasion to go to Bridgeport ; a distance of some three miles. During their absence the shovel and tongs, standing in the dining- room, were thrown violently down the basement-stairs ; a piece of mourning-crape fastened to the knocker of the back-door, and the mirrors in the front chambers covered mth sheets and table-cloths, as is the custom in some parts of the country while a person lies dead in the house. The crape on the door Dr. Phelps did not see, but the covering on the mirrors he removed with his own hands. The position of the mirrors in one room was such that the coverings could not, without great difficulty, have been placed there by any person about the house. Vari- ous articles were said to have been thrown about the room — the phenomena continuing in his absence about |he same as when he was present in the fore part of the 48 A THREE-FOLD TEST. ' day. Soon after sundoTVTi all was again qniet, and so con- tinued through the night. The next morning (March 1 2th) soon after the family- were up, the same phenomena began again ; knives, forks, spoons, blocks of wood, nails, etc., etc., were thrown from different directions, and with increased frequency, attend- ed by still stranger circumstances, and those of a still more mysterious character. Mrs. Phelps expressed some alarm, and a wish that some of the neighbors might be called in. Dr. Phelps called on a retired clergyman of Stratford, a man of extensive information, much expe- rience and sound judgment, who was universally admitted to be capable of rendering correct judgment and good advice in such a case. He requested him to call and spend an hour at the house, to which he cheerfully con- sented. Dr. P. told him that his family had been a little excited by some occurrences in the house, but did not state any of the details of the matter, but desired that he would sit mth them for a short time and witness for himself. He remained all day, but was, at first, firmly of the opinion that the occurrences were produced, in some way, through the agency of the girl, or some other per- son about the house, and his main attention was directed to the girl in the kitchen, or the children, in the expecta- tion that he should detect them in doing it. " The door leading from the parlors to the kitchen was, by his request, locked, and all communication between it and the other parts of the house cut off; still, the throw- ing of articles went on as before. The children were sent out of the room, and the doors locked ; but this made no difference. He staid through most of the day on Thursday, and returned soon after breakfast next morning, and remained most of the time for nearly three weeks. He became satisfied, before the close of the second day, that neither the girl in the kitchen nor the children had any agency in producing the strange move- ments. During the day (March 12th) some of the neigh- bors were in the house, and small blocks of wood were seen to fall in different places in their presence ; but only one person noticed them in a way to excite inquiry, and that person was requested not to mention what she had seen. ALAKMING WONDEKS. 49 On Wednesday, March 13th, the manifestations com- menced early in the morning, in the middle chamber, the room in which two children slept, and began while they were both asleep. A book, standing in tlie library, ten or twelve feet from the bed, leaped from the shelf into the middle of the room. The blower, which was in the grate, leaped out on the floor, a distance of at least six feet, the noise of which first awakened the children. At the breakfast-table several articles were thrown ; among them a large potato, which had been sent from Pennsyl- vania, and laid up in a closet in the east-chamber, fell on the table directly by the side of Dr. P.'s plate, in a man- ner that no person could have done it without instant de- tection. The Doctor's curiosity was much excited, and he watched, with all the scrutiny he was capable, every person in the room. He took up the potato and let it fall from difierent heights, in order to determine how far it must have fallen to have made the concussion that it did ; and it was adjudged by all that the dis- tance could not have been more than twelve or fifteen inches. " Rev. Mr. came in soon after breakfast, and re- mained during the day. Several Bibles were opened at difierent passages, which seemed to be selected Avith a great deal of care, and indicated either by placing small pieces of paper on them or turning down a leaf. These things first occurred in the middle chamber where the library stood. While the family were at dinner similar things were done in the parlor adjoining the dining-room. Two Bibles and an Episcopal prayer-book were opened at difierent passages, chairs turned forward on the fioor, two solar lamps placed on the fioor, a hat and man's cap put one on each ; nearly every thing in the room had been moved, and in so short a time, that it seems wholly inadmissible that any person about the house could have done it ; besides, the whole household were in the dining- room, all seated at the table, except the servant, and she Avas employed waiting on the table. In the afternoon the demonstrations were confined to the middle parlor. Dr. and Mrs. Phelps, and Mr. , and a part of the time the eldest daughter, being present ; 8 k 50 A THREE-FOLD TEST. in the absence of the daughter the doors were locked, and the three first named only were present. " The throwing of various things occupied the after- noon. The articles thrown were picked up and placed upon the mantle, and between the hours of one and four o'clock, the number amounted to forty-six ; among which were nails, bits of tin, iron, keys, and small blocks, all of which were gathered from different parts of the house ; most of them from closets on the second floor, and the chambers. At one time, while Mr. M was standing near the centre of the room, a padlock, which was known to have been in the closet of the middle chamber, fell at his feet. He took it in his hand, letting it fall from differ- ent heights, to discover the probable distance it must have fallen to produce the concussion. After various trials it was judged to have fallen not more than two or two and a half feet. As Dr. P. was sitting, perhaps ten feet fi'om the piano-fOrte, he saw a small toy-mouse, which was on the piano, arise as if tossed, and, describing a parabola as it came, fall at his side, so near that he took it from the floor mthout leaving his chair. This he speaks of seeing as distinctly as he ever saw any thing, the whole being perfectly in his view. He also saw, in the same way, among other things, a nail, cotton-spool and key, arise from behind the sofa, which stood diagon- ally across the corner of the room. He arose, went to the sofa, looking behind and under it, but could discover nothing which might give impulse to the articles. While examining the carpet about the sofa to find if any other things were there, without success, as his eyes were di- rected to one spot, there arose from that very point a jiiece of cheese-rind, perhaps eight inches from the floor ; when he saw it first, it arose four or five feet, passed over the sofa, and fell on the floor. He is positive it was not there when he was looking at the carpet, and knows there were no visible means of its moving. " Mr. M suggested, as he was about to leave on Wednesday night, that if the strange phenomena should return, he would like to have some other persons called in. Early the next morning, Thursday the 14th, the manifestations commenced about as they had on the pre- & ALAEMING WONDEES. 51 vious day. Soon after breakfast a sheet was found spread upon the floor, several Bibles were opened at different places, the candlesticks in a row, the highest in the mid- dle, and covered with a sheet ; other articles changed about the room, without any seeming design, more than to attract attention. Mr. M proposed that notes be dispatched to Rev. Mr. W , Congregational minister, and Mr. Plant, a lawyer of high standing and respectabi- lity, which was according done. It was at this time that they first began to hear rappings and heavy poundings. A loud sound, like some person striking the floor with some heavy substance, was heard, generally in the middle chamber. This was usually done when no one was in the chamber, and on any one entering all was stiU. In one instance a chair was seen to rise from the floor and beat down again, five or six times, with a violence which caused the house to tremble so as to be felt in all the adjoining apartments. A large plated candlestick, standing on the mantle, was moved by some unseen power to the floor, and then rose up and down, beating the floor, until the candlestick was broken. This was the first article that m was damaged about the house. Several times, during the day, loud noises, like some one pounding with an axe, ..^, or some heavy substance, on the floor, were heard in different parts of the house, and several times the loud poundings terminated with a frightful scream ; it was not a cry of distress, or any thing that could be easily imitated, seeming like something between the cry of a cat and the bleating of a calf, but louder than either. These sounds occurred, in aU, probably twenty times whUe the mani- festations were going on. Sometimes the screams seem- ed to be in the third story, sometimes in the front-hall ^ chamber, several times out in the yard, and occasionally "^ in other places. There was, at no time, any audible ex- pression of words. The sounds consisted of poundings, knockings, and screamings. On this day the first images were found, which will be spoken of more fully here- after. " In the evening of this day, just after some young ladies had called, Dr. P.'s daughter returned to the par- lor, it being between nine and ten o'clock. After seeing # 52 A THREE-FOLD TEST. the young ladies to tlie door, an iron stand, in whicli stood the fire-shovel, tongs and poker, leaped from the hearth, where it stood, into the middle of the floor, and rose up and beat the floor with a force that made a jar that could be felt, and the sound heard, in any part of the house. This was seen only by the daughter, but Dr. P. and wife heard the noise. The daughter ran through the dining-room to get up stairs, and, as she passed, a large table was standing, with the other furniture, ar- ranged for breakfast the next morning. The table was three feet nine inches wide, and five feet three inches long, made of sohd mahogany ; and when she entered the room it rose up and beat five or six times against the floor with a force which made the house jar. The noise was heard by many persons in the house. Mrs. P. was alarmed, and screamed out : ' Oh ! take me from this place !' This happened between nine and ten o'clock P.M. Pre- vious to this time, all manifestations had ceased by sun- down, or a httle after. " Soon after daylight on Friday, March 15th, movements similar to those on previous days commenced. Henry, a lad then eleven and a half years of age, attended the academy, and nothing had, thus far, ever occurred to connect these strange phenomena with his presence. Dr. P. had never heard or thought of particular persons being ' mediums.' But on this day the remarkable occurrences seemed to be connected more or less with this boy. His cap was torn on his head, so as to be entirely destroyed. Another one which he put on was taken in the same way. First a small hole opened in the crown; this gradually extended, and in a short time it was torn into many pieces. On another cap characters were made, apparently with chalk. They resembled those sometimes made by persons in the higher mesmeric state, describing them as charac- ters of a spiritual language. " Five or six of these characters were, at one time, made on the boy's cap. Others, supposed to constitute a sentence, were written on a red pocket-handkerchief; others on his pantaloons and coat, and on the inside of his sack-coat. Copies of these characters were taken ■\vith great care, and were preserved till September fol- ALAEMING WONDEES. 63 lowing, when tliey were mysteriously destroyed. From this time it became evident that some of the phenomena had some kind of connection with this boy. " An umbrella, w^hich he was carrying, was, in a mys- terious manner, torn in several pieces. His pantaloons were torn from the bottom upwards, as high as the knee, and sometimes higher, and were literally torn to ribbons, an inch or more wide. This occurred several times under the immediate inspection of Rev. Mr. M., which seems to fix the fact that, in those instances at least, no power visi- ble did it. Thus it continued for several weeks, clothing to the amount of twenty dollars being destroyed. At one time, while he was riding in a carriage with Dr. P., his cap on his head was torn in a mysterious manner, and his pants torn from the waistband to the bottom, in a way that no human power could have done. Dr. P. heard them torn, but could see nothing doing it, and knows the boy could not have done it himself. It was on this day, March 15th, that images, dressed in articles of clothing, were again seen; only two or three appeared on that day. The most extraordinary occurrences of this kind took place on Saturday, the 16th. Soon after breakfast two or three images appeared in the middle chamber ; soon again another, followed by others still, numbering in all eleven or twelve. They were formed of articles of cloth- ing, found about the house, stuffed to resemble the human figure. A lady's dress would be stuffed in some cases with a muff; again with a pillow, and sometimes with other dresses ; a bonnet and shoes were aptly placed to complete the figure. These, on this occasion, all but one, represented females in the attitude of devotion, some having Bibles or prayer-books placed before them. One, formed of Mrs. P.'s dress, so much resembled the real, that the Httle boy, scarce three years old, coming into the room with his sister, older, whispered: 'Be still, ma is saying prayers.' "A portable writing-desk, usually standing on the secretary in the room, was taken and placed upon the floor, a towel spread over it, and the image of a cliUd kneeling beside it. A Yankee clock was taken from the mantle in the nursery, and placed upon the floor in the 64 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. middle of the room, a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that the clock was still going when dis- covered in its new place, though it stopped some time after. It does not appear that any of these images were seen in the process of construction, or that the cloth- ing, which was gathered from different localities, was seen in the act of moving. When persons entered the room every thing was stiJl, the clothing about the floor, which, upon going again within a few minutes, were found wrought into forms. The marked rapidity of their construction, and the life-hke appearance of them, seems to have been truly wonderful. During this day several others than members of the family were present. In several instances, when the rooms were closed and the doors guarded, so that no person could enter, the images were constructed. To one reading or hstening to the relation of these facts, the mischief and cunning evinced will seem amusing as well as most wonderful; but to the family who bore the annoyance and witnessed the terrifying demonstrations, it was a serious and trying affair. " The reader wiU keep in mind that this was on Satur- day of the first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were still believing that they must be pro- duced by some one in the house : every member of the feimily therefore was subjected to the most rigid scrutiny, which makes it morally certain that no member of the household could have had any agency in the matter with- out being at once detected. Besides the neatness and dispatch with which they were formed, the natural appear- ance of most of them must have required taste and skill beyond the conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M. remained there throughout the day, Mr. W., Governor Plant, and Captain S., a part of the day. Dur- ing the day and evening various things were thrown in different parts of the house. A brick-bat, which lay on the stairs leading to the third story, was thrown violently down stairs, passing very near the head of the eldest daughter as she was descending the stairs. A fire-shovel was also thrown near her, which she first saw high above her in a position to fall upon her head. She was several m ALARMING \rONDEES. 55 times constrained to cry out from fear, so much as to cause apprehension on her account. " [I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute account of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has now grown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having her name mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon was tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tight as to cause a serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room when it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on account of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ materially in their nature from the occurrences herein related.] "The hiding of hats, caps, clothing, etc., seems at this time to have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was seen to go up stairs — not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly by unseen hands. For several days Dr. P. was forced to keep his hat under lock and key to prevent its disappearance, if left out as usual. Coats, hats, and canes of gentlemen, who were strangers in the house, were spirited away; the only object seeming to be the gratification of mischievous desires, with the exception of a few instances. They were found sometimes in the chimney, under the bed, and in the bottom of trunks. The design seemed to be to detain the owners to witness further demonstrations. Two gentlemen from an adjoin- ing town called, one of whom had expressed an earnest desire to witness the phenomena; but having passed several hours, and seen nothing, they were about to leave, when the person who expressed the wish found himself minus a hat. A thorough searching followed, but no hat could be found, consequently the gentleman decided to remain until the next day. During the evening and night, phenomena transpired sufficient to gratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like results, after- wards occurred. " On the nineteenth and twentieth, little occurred to cause alarm. Some of the family heard loud and fright- ful screams in an adjacent out-house, which must have been torturing to the feehngs, much more so than the 56 A THREE-FOLD TEST. silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the house. Reports had now got abroad, and some excitement was being produced, as is always the case in country- towns, where each person knows their neighbor's private business quite as well, and sometimes better, than those most interested. And in a matter of this kind all efforts to prevent publicity would prove unavailing. Curiosity and staring wonder would overstep all bounds of pro- priety and respect for the private rights and feelings of the family, forgetting that it is no slight thing for the harmony and quiet of a household to be invaded, each member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured scrutiny, or careless reproach. On this subject I can speak from experience, having myself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibihtyit is a trial indeed. In this case. Dr. P. adopted the rule of giving aU who called an oppor- tunity to investigate for themselves, and to this rule he adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation must have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered outside, a stranger, who came un- introduced by letter or otherwise, asked to spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons. " On Friday and Saturday, March 23d and 24th, the disturbances increased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams were heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset and dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought himself suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and supposed that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He was very much frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family, and remain in a state of great nervous excitement for two or three hours, and the effects did not wholly wear off for more than a week. At times he was in such a state as to require two men to hold him. For several days after this, he spent a portion of his time with one of the neigh- bors during the day ; but the disturbances continued the same at the house, although he appeared to be more or less the medium as long as the phenomena continued. At one time he was thrown into a cistern of water ; at another he was tied up and suspended from a tree, and ALARMING WONDEKS. 5 '7 several times was thrown into a state of apparent sensi- bility, in which he would remain from ten to fifteen minutes, and for which no human cause could be assigned. " Somewhere about the 20th or 22d of March, Dr. P.'s attention was called to a pamphlet (Capron and Barron's) giving a history of the " mysterious noises" at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who had read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances in the manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to questions. To this the Doctor objected, for reasons known to himself, but which may readily be ima- gined by those knowing his position in life, and his gen- eral opinions of such phenomena. " On the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the third of April Harry also left. I^o manifestations took place while both were away. Harry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks ; but the very day that Harry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power than ever. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious characters was dropped near the front-door. These characters were in- terpreted by a clairvoyant* to read as follows : * Fear not when he returns ; all danger is o'er. We come, we disturbed thj house ; but shall no more. Believe us not evil or good till we prove Our speech to humanity, our language of love.' " This was supposed to indicate that no further disturb- ance would be made ; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was found in the boy's hat in these words ; ' The good ones say that all is done, But the wicked ones say it has just begun.' "The 'wicked ones,' in this case, seemed to come nearer the truth than the ' good ones,"* for, on the after- noon of the eighth of April, the breaking of glass com- menced for the first time by the breaking of a pane in a mysterious manner. In the evening of the same day * Andrew Jackson Davis. 3* 68 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. another was broken during family prayers, some of the pieces falling inside and some outside. There were no indications of any thing being thrown against it. From this time forward for several weeks glass was broken almost daily, until the whole number of panes broken amounted to seventy-one in the house and out-buildmgs. Most of them were broken by something being thrown against them ; among the articles were a brush, a shoe, a poker, a fire-shovel, a candlestick, a pair of snufiers, books, and numerous other things ; occasionally a stone or piece of brick, thrown from the outside. " Dr. P. thinks it would have been possible, but not probable, that, in some of these cases, they might have been broken by human agency, but he was an eye-witness in some twenty or thirty cases, and knows that they could not have been so done. He saw a brush, which he knew to have been on a certain shelf but a moment before, and no person near the shelf, fly to the window, break out a glass, and fall down between the shutter and sash, where he knew, from the position, that no one could have thrown it. He saw a tumbler, which was standing on a bureau, rise from its place, fly to the window, and dash out the only pane remaining whole in the window, when no person was within twenty feet of it, and the only persons in the room were himself and Harry, the latter standing by the Doctor's side in the doorway of the room — a position in which it was utterly impossible for him to have done it without detection. " The mysterious visitors, whoever they were, seemed at times to be actuated by a spirit of sheer mischief in the destruction of property, particularly glass and crockery. Even the glass in the carriage-top was broken out. Pitch- ers of water were, on two or three occasions, poured into the beds, and the pitchers and other vessels thrown about the room and broken. The damage to furniture during the whole time was nearly two hundred dollars. Some- times there was a cessation of ' hostihties' for two or three days: but they would then return with additional \do- lence ; in fact they increased gradually in violence from the beginning to the middle of April. On the evening of that day, and during the night, they were more violent ALARMING WONDERS. 69 and destructive than ever before. On the night of the thirteenth of April, loud pounding and beating, as with some hard substance, were frequent in the room adjoin- ing that in with Dr. P. slept ; so loud and continued were they, that at one o'clock no person in the house had been able to sleep. Soon after, a small drawer was taken from a dressing-table, and beaten so violently against the bed- stead as to break it into fragments, some of which were thro^vn against the windows, breakmg two panes of glass. The knockings were now transferred to Mrs. P.'s room. She was pinched, pricked with pins, and otherwise annoy- ed in a manner beyond explanation, ' on any known laws of matter or mind.' Mr. W. 0. was staying in the house that night. He went to the room by request, and propo- sed to interrogate them, as they were then doing at Ro- chester and other places in Western New- York. Being left to act his pleasure, he queried, and was replied to as follows: 'Who are you? If a spirit, knock.' Imme- diately there were heard on the head of the bed distinct loiocks. Question. — ' Are you a good or bad spirit ? If good, knock.' To this there was no answering sound. ' If a bad spirit, knock.' At once the same sounds as be- fore were heard. Question. — ' Will you spell your name if the alphabet is called?' Answer. — Knock. It was done ; and a name was spelled out, and a communication made of a most extraordinary character, detailing the particulars of a transaction in which a portion of the family were said to have been defrauded out of a large property. As this whole communication relates to a matter which may yet come before the tribunals of our country for ad- judication, I am expressly prohibited from making any extracts from this part of the journal. I regret this more, as the facts in this case form one of the most wonderful and unaccountable cases on record. " The family concluded that, after these important dis- closures were made, the disturbances would cease ; but they were doomed to be disappointed. The following night no communications were made, but the throwing of articles and breaking of windows, crockery, etc., were renewed with greater violence than before. Four or five panes of glass were broken in one room in the space of 60 A THREE-FOLD TEST. half an hour. While the family were together in the east chamber, a small sauce-dish, with an iron handle, rose from the floor, under the wash-stand, and beat against the bed- stead with such violence as to break the handle ofi", and was then thrown back from whence it started. It beat seven or eight times against the bedstead, producing a noise that could easily be heard twenty rods. A round of a chair was beaten against the bedstead, in the same manner, when there was no person within seven or eight feet of it. A lamp that was on the mantel leaped into the middle of the floor, and was extinguished. Being left thus suddenly in the dark, produced no little agitation, and Mrs. Phelps proposed that they should take the child- ren and go into the street, rather than stay in the house that night. In a few minutes two gentlemen, who had appointed to spend the night with them, arrived, and the more violent of the manifestations ceased. About this time. Dr. P.'s attention was called to the fact that the demonstrations were much more violent in the presence of some persons than of others. While some were present they would cease entirely, and commence as soon as they left with great vehemence. On the I7th the communications were renewed, and from that time they had frequent communications, mainly respecting the property afiair. At one time they asked how they should know that this was really from the spirit it purported to be, and requested his signature ; when in less than four minutes a smaU piece of paper having on it an exact fac simile of his handwriting was seen sticking to the wall — ^the writing apparently done with a pencil. Dr. Phelps still preserves the original paper with the name inked over. It was stuck to the wall by being made damp." We shall abridge the rest of this marvellous relation for want of room. Inquiries have satisfied us that it is a true relation of facts as they occurred ; be it owing to spirits in "the form" or out. " Among the spirits who communicated were two, who professed to be in a state of happiness, and three in a ^m"^^ AI-.AEMING WONDEKS. 61 state of misery. One of the good spirits claimed to be a sister of him'^who made the first communication; she commmiicated frequently, and constantly manifested her- self in the morning and evening devotions of the family, and always gave two distinct knocks at the utterance of ' Amen.' Upon inquiry as to the meaning of these two knocks, the answer was given that it was a response, after the manner of the EjDiscopal service, signifying that she joined in the devotions. " Much that was communicated after the first few days was of a trifling and childish character ; some, more like what would be received from street-rowdies than any thing else. To the question why they destroyed pro- perty, they replied, ' For fun.' It was asked of the op- posing spii'it what could be done to afibrd him relief; he answered that ' The best thing they could do would be to give him a piece of iDie.' Sometimes letters would come, purj)orting to be from ministers of Philadelphia, giving accounts of conversions in their congregations and additions to their churches. These were addressed to the Dr., and indicated a knowledge of things in Philadel- phia to an astonishing degree. Some of the letters were addressed to Mrs. Phelps, signed, or rather purporting to to be signed, by departed spirits of persons who had lived in Philadelphia, and all, or nearly all, who had lived in a single square, and were the acquaintances of Mrs. Phelps, during a residence in that city, in the time of her former marriage. Sentimental notes were also addressed to the daughter. These letters and billets were frequent, amounting in all to nearly one hundred, and were all writ- ten in one hand, though purporting to come from difier- ent persons. The fact was at one time referred to, and an explanation desired, to which the following was given : ' We do not write with the hand — do not touch the pen- cil ; we write with the will.' At one time a paper ^ was thrown down to Mrs. Phelps, while in the parlor with a number of ladies, having written on it, with a pencil, as follows : " ' SiK : Sir Sambo's compliments, and begs the laddyes to accept as a token of esteem.' " A lady in the family of Dr. Phelps had, in a humor- m 62 A THKEE-FOLD TEST. ous way, requested the spirits to wiite her a letter that she might send to a friend in Philadelphia. The spirit complied with the request by sending down the fol- lowing : " ' Dear Mary : I have just time to write and tell you I am well. Give my love to Miss K. and her uncle. Also to Mrs. and Mr. D. Also to Sarah. Good by. '' ' H. P. Devil.' " The initials of the lady's name, who asked for the letter, were H. P. " Papers were also thrown down, signed ' Beelzebub,' and ' Sam Slick.' Sometimes names of persons, whom the family had known in Philadelphia, but who had been dead several years, were signed to these papers. " The following was in pencil, and seems to be w^ritten in the same hand as the other. It was superscribed, " E. Phelps" : " ' If you promise not to write that I told you, I wiU not throAV any thing all this week.' " On the 28th of July, 1850, two singular letters were thrown down, addressed to Dr. Phelps. They were both in one hand-writing, but were signed by two different orthodox clergymen of Philadelphia. Their interest in religious movements, and their acquaintance with the phraseology of 'revival' correspondence, are seen at a glance. ' St. Peter's,' in the second letter, is a Puseyite church. "'Dear Brother: The Lord is deaUng bountifully with his chosen people. Brother Barnes admitted to the church forty-nine last Sunday, and Brother Parker thirty- four to-day. Brother Converse has had the cholera, and Brother Fau'child has grown so fleshy as scarcely to be recognized. Our friend Mr. Tarr has buried his wife. She died of consumption. E. Tarr is married. Brother Mahu, being suddenly inspired last Sunday, spoke so elo- quently and so loud, and used such majestic action, as to be quite done up for a while. He broke a blood-vessel. Old Tiers has gone crazy, and is shut up in a mad-house, or rather a hospital. The H s have gone into the country to spend some time. That's all the news. " ' Your faithful brother in Christ, "'K. A.' ALARMING WONDERS. 63 "*Dear Brother: The milleimium truly is coming. The day of the Lord is at hand. We are adding count- less numbers to the altar of the Lord. Brother A became inspired last Sunday, to such a degree, that his soul took its flight to the regions above, and has not yet returned. The Cathohc churches, St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, were burned down ; St. Peter's, also — I beheve that is a Catholic church. Brother Mahu was preaching from the text, ' Resist the devil,' etc., when he was sud- denly overturned by an iuvisible power, which frightened him so that his hair turned white in five minutes. " ' Brother Barnes, to render his church more attractive, is going to have opera-singing and dancing, every Sun- day P.M. Mrs. Alexander Tower, old Mr. Tiers, Brother Fairchild, and Mrs. Somerville, are going to dance. I think they will find it a very lucrative employment. Jane and Martha still progress in Hebrew. " ' Your affectionate brother, "'M. R.' " On one occasion, Dr. Phelps was writing at his desk, and, turning his back for a few moments, without leaving his chair, turned again to his paper, where he found wiit- ten in large letters: 'Very nice paper and very nice ink for the devil.' The ink was not yet dry, the desk was not two feet from him as he sat, and he was entirely alone in the room. " On a subsequent occasion a chair was placed upon the table by invisible power, and the two children, Harry and Hannah, raised up and placed upon it ; they could neither of them tell how it was done. The sensation was tha,t of some person placing a hand under them and raising them up. Many of these things occurred when the room was darkened, as has been the case in numerous other places, and for which explanations have been recorded, as given by the spirits. On the evening of the 20tli of October, the light being put out of the room, the bell was placed under the table, with a request that it should be rung, and placed in the Doctor's hand. He was sitting by the table with both his hands lying on his lap open, with the palms upward. The bell rang several times with some violence, and then was placed in his left hand. This 64 A THREE-rOLD TEST. was repeated four or five times in succession. Dr. P. sat beyond the reach of any one, and the room was suffi- ciently light for him to have detected any movement on the part of persons present. He requested them to let liim feel the hand that placed the bell in his. Very soon a hand came in contact with his, took hold of his fingers, shaking his hand, passed slowly over the back of his hand, then over the palm again, took hold of his fingers, and he felt what he is sure to have been a human hand. He de- scribes it as being cold and moist, which accords with my own experience repeatedly, and that of my friends. They then took hold of his foot, shook it with much force, loosened the string, took ofi" the shoe, and placed it upon the table before him. At his request the shoe was re- placed, the heel adjusted, and the strings drawn up, but not tied." The manifestations in the City of New-Yoek have been very abundant. The fbllowing is a sample given by Mr. C. FLOATTN^G IN" THE AIR ! " At some of the sittings of this circle, Mr. Henry C. Gordon, a medium, was taken up bodily, and conveyed about the room, without any visible power to support him. Sometimes his head and hands came in contact with the ceiling of the room, and he would float about the room in the air for several minutes. At the house of Dr. Gray, in Lafayette Place, he was thus carried through difierent apartments for a distance of more than sixty feet. This is attested by many credible witnesses, among whom are Dr. Gray and Mr. Partridge." In BosTOi^, Providence, Trot, Buffalo, and almost every city and large town in the JSTorthern States, more or less of similar phenomena have occurred, and still occur ; and these are attested by thousands of witnesses, it is said ; and no investigator has been able to support a denial of the astounding wonders. For instance, such facts as the following by scores can be collected with names, places, and dates appended. A WRESTLING SPIEIT. 65 " WRESTLING WITH A SPIEIT. " Several friends had come together to witness the strange power that seemed to be at work at the house of Brother J. A. While the rapping was going on, one of the com- pany denounced the whole thing, said he did not believe it was spirits ; or if it was, they could not rap and move tables, etc. And he defied and dared the spirits, saying he could throw down or whip any spirit. The Doctor then inquired of the spmt that was rapping at the time if he could wrestle ; he said he could. The spirit was then asked if he was willing to wrestle and show fight with that gentleman ; he said he was. The brave man then told the spirit to follow him out into the yard, and started, all the circle rising from the table, when it commenced mov- ing towards the man, rose from the floor and hit him se- veral hard blows before he reached the door, which has- tened his steps ; and, as he passed out, the table, or rath- er stand, was thrown at him, only missing him a little, striking the door-facing about midway, denting and scar- ring the facing, bursting off the top of the stand, break- ing the legs, splitting the upright post, leaving indenta- tions as though bullets and shot had been fired into it, the medium not touching it, only following close after, and out into the yard, where the spirit-fighter had arrived mi- hurt. " But now commenced a new struggle : he began strik- ing, jumping as though he was contending with flesh and blood, manifesting all the signs of determined bravery, and to fight it out to the last. He was several times thrown hard on the ground, then struggled and regained his feet, and down he would come again. This mode of testing the invisibles continued until the spirit's adversary was sorely wounded, and worried out of breath and phy- sical strength. He finally regained his foothold, and made a hasty retreat into the house up a flight of stairs, taking to himself a private room, closing the door after him, ' declaring that he never wanted to fight spirits any more, and that if they would let him alone he would let them alone.' " Furdy, (Ohio,) June 19th, 1853. " S. T>, Pace." — Tdegrapli Papers, vol. 2, p. 72. 66 A THREE-FOLD TEST. The following is taken from the '-^Ghristian spiritual- ist;' of Dec. 29th, 1855. "spiritual performers and musical wonders. " Gov. N. p. Tallmadge not long since, in a communi- cation to the National Intellige7icei% testified to the fol- lowing facts. Comment is unnecessary, since similar ex- hibitions of spirit-skill and power have been manifested in various parts of the country, and testified to by men and women of undoubted intelligence and veracity. " If, however, things go on at this rate, Pres. Mahan will need to wi'ite another book, to oppose the modern mysteries of the '• Odylic forced for that power seems to be ' playing such strange ' and knowing timcs^ that his theology and philosophy "will sufier alike, if he does not make the efibrt to save them. "The Governor says : 'Inmy introduction to the "Heal- ing of the Nations" I state the following case : In June, 1853, after my return from New- York, where I had mt- nessed many manifestations, I called on a writing medium in my neighborhood. A communication came through her to me, directing me to form a circle in my own family, and that a medium would be developed that would be all I could desire. I asked who it would be ? It was ans- wered a daughter. I asked which daughter, as I have four daughters. It was answered Emily. I was then di- rected, when a circle should be formed at my house, to put Emily at the piano. I asked : ' Will you teach her to play ?' It was answered : ' You will see.' EmUy is my youngest daughter, and at that time about thirteen years of age. It is here proper to remark that she never knew X note in music, and never 'played a tune on the piano in her life. The reason is this : The country was entirely new when we moved here, and there was no opportunity at that time for instruction in music. She was instructed in other branches of education at home by myself, or some other member of the family. I soon formed a circle in my own family, as directed. Emily took paper and pencil. Soon her hand was moved to draw straight lines across the l^aper till she made what is termed a staff in music. She then wrote notes upon it ; then made all the different signs MUSICAL WONDERS. 67 in music, about all which she knew nothing. She then threw down her pencil, and began to strike the table as if striking the keys of the piano. This reminded me that I had been di- rected to place her at the piano. I proposed it to her, and though naturally diffident, she at once complied, and took her seat with all the composure and confidence of an experienced performer. She struck the keys boldly, and played " Beethoven's Grand Waltz" in a style that would do credit to one well advanced in music. She then play- ed many famihar airs, such as " Sweet Home," " Bonnie Doon," "Last Rose of Summer," "Hail to the Chief," "Old Folks at Home," " Lilly Dale," etc. She then played an air entirely new, and sang it with words improvised or impressed for the occasion. New and beautiful airs con- tinued to be sung and played by her, the poetry and sen- timent being given as before. She was also soon deve- loped as a writing medium, and I have received many beautiful communications through her, and of the purest religious sentiment. " ' I now add the following as cognate to the above : On one occasion I saw a young lady entranced, and in that state, with her eyes closed, played on the piano from one to two hours, without intermission, in the most su- perb style. All the pieces played purported to be compos- ed by spirits, and were never heard or played before. Amongst others was a " dirge," which, to my ear, surpass- ed any music of the kind I ever heard ; and the music and style of playing it were equal to what we understand of the most eminent performers and composers. She also play- ed a " battle piece," never heard before. Nothing of the kind could surpass it. There was the approaches, the at- tack, the charge of cavalry, and parts representing the peculiarities of the French, Enghsh, Irish, Scotch, etc. The Scotch brigade came up under the music of the bag- pipes ; and it would seem impossible to give such a per- fect imitation of the bagpipes on the piano. Afterw^ards came the burial of the dead, the slow and solemn music to the grave, the perfect resemblance of the beating of the muffled drum directly under the feet of the medium, the volleys of musketry, the booming of cannon at inter- vals in the distance, and the quick and Hvely air on the 68 A THREE-FOLD TEST. return. The eyes of the medium were closed during the whole performance. The style of playing and the finger- ing of the instrument were entirely different^ and the ar- tistic skill far surpassed her playing in her normal state. In truth, except under this influence, she had not the phy- sical ability to play such a length of time without inter- mission. She purported to be influenced by some of the *' old masters." The style of the music was changed from time to time, as if some new performer had just appeared. During the performance, the piano at intervals, and for fifteen or twenty minutes in succession, would beat time to the music by raising the two front feet from the floor, and still striking the floor so gently as not to disturb the music in the least. The piano was so large and ponde- rous that a strong man could scarcely raise the front feet from the floor. " ' On another occasion, while four of us, the medium being one, were sitting round the parlor-fire, the piano on the opposite side of a large room was played with no human being near it. The performance was of the most splendid character. I have often heard Strakosch and De Meyer, and say, without hesitation, that in style and execution they never surpassed it. The piano was then closed by the spirits. The same music was repeated, with this difference only — that it was not so loud on ac- count of the piano being closed. The piano was then opened by the same power, and played by striking the strings on the inside instead of the keys. Oh ! what a wonderful thing is this " odyhc force," that supersedes mind in making intelligence.' " A friend of the writer was favored in the midst of his own family, with a performance of this kind. A table that had been set into a tortuous motion, by the medium- ship of little children, danced in common, triple, or com- pound time, to the music of a piano ; varying its motions according to the changes in the time. Certainly in this and the foregoing instances, the operations of mind and matter were combined in a marvellous way. THE INTELLIGENCE DISPLAYED. 69 We have confined ourselves to the mention of physical manifestations, but these are not held to be the highest evidence of the fact that spirits do communicate with mortals. The intelligence that is conveyed through them, must come from hitellect^ and as in every instance it comes with avowed independence of the media, and often with confounding power to the persons addressed, it is claimed that the proof of the recently-developed spiritual inter- course between the living and their departed friends, is as complete as any rational man can ask. We give an instance of this intelligence taken from the author afore- said, pp. 284-287. THE INTELLIGENCE DISPLAYED. " One of the most remarkable cases is thus recorded by Mr. Elisha Waters, of Troy. He made the statement as follows in the Spiritual Tdegraph : " ' Wateeford, N". Y., March 21th, 1853. " ' Me. Beittan : Deae Sie : At a circle held in this village on the 5th of this month, there were some " man- ifestations''' which bear so directly on the dispute in re- gard to the cause of the strange phenomena now so pre- valent, that a brief account may not be uninteresting to your readers. " ' Several mediums, in various stages of development, were present, and a great variety of manifestations were made, mainly in the form of '"'• possession."*^ In the course of the evening, Mr. John Prosser, a gentleman residing in Waterford, and subject to this possession in its most thorough form, was under the control of a spirit that an- nounced that no one in the room ever knew or heard of him, but that he was drawn to the circle by strong at- traction. He said he was over a hundred years old when he left the form ; was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and had frequently seen Washington, of whom he spoke with great reverence. He told us, as the result of his long experience, to do our oAvn thinking, and to read the 10 A THREE-FOLD TEST. great Book of Nature for our guidance ; but that we should not '-^fighV the Church or the clergy, for their struggles would injure themselves more than others, and only help forward their approaching and long fore-writ- ten doom. He added, that the truth of spiritualism would now shine out without any aid from iconoclastic zeal. I should, perhaps, to do justice, say that he spoke of the Church as having accomplished a work, and as about to die a natural death after its great mission had been fulfilled. " ' I will give his closing remarks verbatim et literatim. ' lN"ow, this is every word true I'm telling ye. I'll tell ye, so that if you've a mind to take a little pains, you can find out that this is jest exactly as I tell it ye. I lived at Point Pleasant, New- Jersey, and if you want to know, you jest ask if old Uncle John Chamberlain didn't speak the truth.' " ' He stopped speaking, and the usual signs of a change of possession followed, when some one remarked that it was a pity he had not given more particulars, as it would have been, under the circumstances, so thorough a test. It soon became evident that Mr. Prosser's grandfather (who is, in a sense, his " guardian") had possession. He turned his face good-humoredly around the circle, and remarked, that, as he saw many were anxious to hear more from the *' old man," he would come back for a lit- tle while. After a short interval of quiet, Mr. Prosser's whole manner changed to that which he had while the former speaker had possession, and these were his words : ' My friends, I did not expect to speak with you again, but I want to give you this as a test. I died on Friday, the 15th day of January, 1847, and I was the father of eleven children. Now, if you've a mind to take a little pains, you will find this is all jest as I tell it ye. I don't talk as you do, but if you hke to hear an old man, I will come again. Good by : I must go.' " ' It would be impossible to give an adequate notion SURPRISING INTELLIGENCE. 1l of the plain, unvarnished truthfuhiess which shone out through every word and gesture of his discourse. Other " manifestations," of a siimlar character, followed, and the circle broke up. " ' On the following evening, a circle was held at another house, but few of the members of the former circle bemg present, with some other persons. Mr. Prosser was the only medium present. Old Uncle John Chamberlain made his appearance again, and repeated the statistical part of his communication, when it was found that the scribe had written Pleasant Pointy instead of Point Pleasant. " 'After finding out that there was such a post-office in New-Jersey as the latter, and that the 15th of January did fall on Friday in the year 1847, we wrote to the post- master, and were informed that the " old man" was strictly correct in his account of himself We send you extracts from the letters received, which will suffice to show the remarkable fidelity of the spirit's statements to the facts of his personal history. ' We, the undersigned, were present at the first circle mentioned above, and think the account of it correct. We also affirm that we had never, to the best of our re- collection, known or heard aught of John Chamberlain, or any of the facts connected with his hfe or death ; nor did we know that there was such a place as Point Pleas ant in New-Jersey. John Prosser, E. Waters, Sarah S. Prosser, N. F. White, Juliet E. Perkins, Mrs. N. D. Ross, A. A. Thurber, N. D. Ross, Letty a. Boyce, J. H. Rainey, Albert Kendrick, Mrs. J. H. Rainey.' " ' LETTER TO THE POSTMASTER OF POINT PLEASANT. ' Troy, February 23d:, 1853. ^ ' Dear Sir : Will you be kind enough to inform me if there has died in your town, within a few years, an aged man by the name of Chamberlam ? If so, please give me the particulars of the time of his death, age, etc. ; A THREE-FOLD TEST. also, give me the name of one of the family with whom I can correspond.* ' Very truly yours, E. Waters.' " ' THE ANSWER. 'Point Pleasant, ^th day^ March^ 1853. ' E. Waters : Friend : I received thy letter, dated 28th ult., requesting some information of John Chamber- lain. With pleasure I will give thee a correct account, for I have known him well for fifty years, and lived a neighbor to him. He deceased January 15th, 1847, aged one hundred and four years. He had seven children that lived to be married ; three of them have deceased and left children. He has four daughters living at this time ; three of them are neighbors to me ; the oldest daughter is a widow, seventy-eight years old ; three have husbands ; one of them lives twenty miles from me. As they have very httle learning, they request thee to cor- respond with me. With pleasure I will give thee every information that lays in my power. Very truly thine, ' Thomas Cook. ' P. S. — He was a Revolutionary soldier ; served in the war, and drew a small pension. T. C' " "A FUNNY SPIRIT. "St. Louis, February, 1856. "After the accident at the Gasconade bridge last ISTovember, some of us were much interested in seeking communications with the departed, some thirty in number, and the most of whom were personally known to us. Among others, one night, we were pleased with the an- nouncement that the spirit of Thomas Grey desired to be questioned. Grey was an old citizen, a very worthy man, * ' Friend Brittan : After receiving the accompanying answer, I wrote again, making inquiry respecting the number of children he had, and received in reply that he had eleven ; that two died in mfancy, and that the remaining nine lived to be of ago. Truly yours." m A FUNNY SPlllIT. 73 a self-educated mechanic, and fond of his joke and social glass, although not intemperate at any time. The party consisted of Hamilton Wade, Charles Levy, myselt; and Miss Sarah J. Irish, the medium. " To those who are not familiar with the manifestations as given through her, I will state that she calls the alpha- bet to the raps, with such rapidity^ that very few can keep up with her in taking them down; and that it is useless for the fastest of us to try to put them into words until afterward, when, by spacing, it reads correctly. "Quest. 1. Do you have clothing there? He replied : 'As to clothing, Charley, we have that for a desire; friends clothe us till we understand the laws of particles suffi- ciently to clothe ourselves.' " 2. Do you have animals in the spirit-world ? ' I have not seen any animal hut myself since I left St. Louis.' " 3. Have you a shadow-land there, or something ans- wering to Purgatory? 'I do not know what you are talking about. We have lights and shades, sunshine and shadows, in number enuff to satisfy any body. If that is what you want to know, there you have it.' " 4. Is there any difference between the body that you possess and of those spirits that have died a natural death ? ' I see many like me, and many onlike me. Of the two I like my own appearance best ; it is most airtheriaV " 5. Were you not surprised, on your entrance into the spirit-world, at its naturalness? 'No; I never was upset or astonished at any thing. It is the strange kind of heaven they have put me in, that I am most astonished at.' "6. How do you get along without your regular glass ? ' I am astonished at the wonderful manner I get along without weting my whistle, and not geting dry in the least on account of it.' " At this point Mr. Wade addressed him, and desired to know if he could not assemble there thirty persons to- gether, and unite in a communication that should convince the citizens of St. Louis of the reality of spiritual inter- course, by containing such a volume of tests as should confound skepticism ? He rapped out : ' All very fine to talk about, Mr. What-is-your-name, and I should be very m. 74 A TIIREE-FOLD TEST. glad to accomidate you, but your fdler-citizens would believe that it came from us about as much as from a hen's-foot marrow-bone. Good night.' "This last was a beautiful test to the close observer. Grey did not while on earth, know Mr. Wade, while he knew Levy and myself, and the medium hnew him letter tha7i either of us — and it was mathematically absurd that she should spell out ' Mr. What-is-your-name,' when she knew him so well. It was satisfactory to us, at least, of his identity. "A. Miltenbeeger." — Telegraph March Is^, 1856. DIABOLICAL CONDUCT. "March 3, 1851. — Locke, the English philosopher, gave the 4th chapter of James, Vth, 11th, and 17th verses : '7. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 11. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law : but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 17. Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' " After the reading of these verses was finished, he spell- ed: 'I want you to practise these teachings.' In an- swer to a question what the word devil meant in the 7th verse, he spelled, ' Resist evil.' " Evil, which the spirits have been warning us against for several days past, seems fairly to have broken loose in our very midst, though not exactly in our circle. At a house in the neighborhood, where a medium resides, (the medium spoken of heretofore in this work,) manifes- tations have for some days been going on similar to those enacted at the house of Rev. Mr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut, at a more early period of Spiritualism. Chairs, stove, furniture, and other ponderous things, are thrown about the house ; bed-clothes stripped from the beds where people of the house are sleeping; books thrown frequently from the table to the floor ; missiles thrown at the heads of people ; the medium's clothes torn from her AN EARTHQUAKE. 75 body while wearing them ; tables moved and lifted from the floor, with people standing on them, etc., etc. — and all done without contact with any person or visible agency. Hundreds of people have been there to witness these things, and will testify to the truth of it. The medium is a young married woman, very ignorant, and reputation not good. She says she is frequently pinched violently on her arms when no person is near her, and shows the marks left, as if made with the thumb and finger of a hand. For nearly half the time, for three or four days, she has been in the most frightful fits, produced by fear, and it is thought that she can not long survive in this condition." — {SpiritualJieasoner, pp. 58, 59.) AN E^ABTHQUAKE. "Maech 19. — ^Locke came and spelled: 'To cultivate ax even temper is the first step towards heaven.' This was no doubt intended for some of our circle. While all were sitting in silence, some of the most wonderful spirit mani- festations we had ever witnessed were made. The whole house seemed to shake and rock to and fro, as if by an earthquake. The windows rattled, and the medium's head and upper part of his body appeared to be enveloped in the flames of an electric fire. He was much agitated, and trembled violently. In a few minutes all was again still, and Locke came and told us the manifestation was made by a spirit of high elevation and exceeding power. He then then told us that Hght was spreading in Warsaw, in Poland, more than in any other place where he was now communicating in Europe. We asked if the spirit of liberty and a desire for a restoration of their govern- ment were prevailing there. He spelled: 'The spirit of Christ is spreading there.' " — (Idem, PP« ^1? ^2.) A Rude Spirit. "Jan. 26. — -While conversing with the medium this evening, in a room apart from where the rest of the com- pany were assembled, a small stone struck with some force against the stove-pipe and fell upon the floor, pro- bably to attract our attention ; then the stove (which 76 A THREE-FOLD TEST. would weigh at least one hundred and fifty pounds) made a sudden movement, which jarred the room ; the front part moved around several inches. As we were some distance from the stove, neither of us touching it, we were a Uttle startled, and asked if this was a spirit manifestation. "^. By rapping, ' Yes.' ^ " Asked if we remained passive, any other manifesta- tion would be made. "^. * Yes ;' and inunediately we heard a loud report resembling the discharge of a pistol, which seemed to proceed from under the stove. We then heard rapping upon the floor, and we knew the sounds to be those made by Locke. We asked him if he would tell what spirit it was made the above-named manifestations. He answered, *Yes;' and spelled, 'Paul.' We told him we had been taught that the apostles, or spirits of elevat- ed spheres, never made demonstrations of this kind. He repeated the signal for the alphabet, and spelled ' Jones,' making the name 'Paul Jones.' We had interrupted him before he had finished spelling the name in fiill. Ho said Jones was not a bad spmt. We found the pebble- stone, which was thrown against the stove-pipe, lying upon the carpet, and preserved it. "It was a cold night, the doors and windows all closed. How the stone could be got into the room, is a mystery. Physical manifestations with us were of rare occurrence, which is the reason of describing this so minutely. We have, however, frequently heard tunes beat upon the table, loud and correctly ; seen lights moving about the room, etc., etc., but this is the first time we had witnessed a manifestation of this kind." (Idem, pp. 109, 110.) A Possession". " June 6. — Mr. Gardner is again with us on a visit, and a new order of manifestations is given through him. His spiritual sight is opened under the influence of spirits, and he sees the communication to be given in large golden letters on a groundwork or curtain which appears to be unrolled before him. A foreshadowing of this manifesta- A POSSESSION. 77 tion was given him on the 23d of February, 1851. (See page 50.) In being prepared for the peculiar state in which these communications are given, he becomes in a measure paralyzed ; his breathing at first is labored and difficult; his eyes glassy and unnaturally bi-illiant. As soon as the spirit has sufficient control, he commences re- peating the words as they are presented to his vision, in a slow, distinct, and impressive manner. If he struggles against the influence when he feels it coming upon him, and endeavors to remain silent, the spirits will notify those present by the rappings (which he can not control) of their desire to communicate in this way, and he is much agitated and disturbed until he calmly submits and resigns himself passively to this powerful yet harmless in- fluence. The singular changes and appearance produced upon the medium during this phenomenon at first were rather startling to all of us, but we were soon quieted, and our attention wholly absorbed by the words which proceeded from his lips. The first communication re- ceived through him by this method, is already inserted in the introduction to this work, but we think it also en- titled to another insertion here, under the date of its occurrence, as follows : " These manifestations are yet in their dawn, and all the evil loves of men, and all the powers of hell are arrayed against the truth, yet the omnipotent Lord Jesus Christ is in them, and their progress, however slow, is sure. Bigotry may cavil, skepticism may sneer, prejudice may turn away her face in scorn, the serpent may be permitted to rear aloft its hideous crest and bruise the spirit of men for a time and times and a half times, but the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head ; as sure as the Lord God liveth and reigneth, so sure will these manifestations go on for ever. The sun could as soon be staid by the puny hand of man, as could these manifestations by any mortal power. They may be opposed and ridiculed, for so it has ever been with truth, but they can not be crushed. Their march is onward for ever, conquering and to conquer, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of God and his Christ, and he reign for ever and ever. " John Locke." 78 A THREE-FOLD TEST. In obtaining the above communication, the medium was only permitted to see each word or sentence as fast as it was written down ; so it was impossible any error should occur. As soon as it was finished he returned to the normal state, with a slight shock, similar to that pro- duced by holding the wires of a mildly-charged electrical machine." (Idem^ pp. 153-155.) It has been said that all the intelligence manifested in the operations of spirits, is owing to clairvoyayice^ or to fraud upon the part of the media. With regard to the first allegation, it is denied by the media themselves ; but if this power really exists, it may account for a great por- tion of it, while in many instances the matter communicat- ed, needs no other reference than the mind of the medium to satisfy us of its origin ; yet we have seen accounts appa- rently well authenticated, where clairvoyance did not afford a satisfactory solution. With regard to the charge of frauds that appears to be fuUy exploded by ingenious contrivances made by Prof Hare of Philadelphia, to prevent the possibility of deception by the media. One of these is an oblong table, ■with casters under the pair of legs upon the right, and an axle with a small wheel at each end under the pan* upon the left, one of them being grooved. A disk, having the alphabet arranged upon it, as the figures upon the dial of a clock, is vertically fixed to revolve upon a spindle through its centre fastened to the frame of the table. A band connects the aforesaid grooved wheel with a groov- ed hub on the spindle behind the disk ; an index, like that of a clock is fixed upon the end of the spindle ; so that when the table moves to the right or left, this disk revolves to bring the letters in succession under the index. Upon the opposite side of the table, and behind the disk, the medium takes her seat ; and her hands are placed, THE SPIKITOSCOPE. 79 not upon the table, but upon a plate of zinc wMch rests upon two balls perfectly round and within a few inches of each other on the table. It will be seen that thus sit- uated, no mortal could possibly move the smallest table, much' less one of six feet by sixteen inches. Yet through a medium thus situated, Professor Hare says he obtained intelligent communications spelled out, when she could neither see the letters nor move the table. If such be the true fact, then this is apparently satisfactory, and it reduces us to a choice between two opinions. Either Prof. Hare, with thousands of others are insane, and are all parties to a preconcerted fraud, notwithstanding they are scattered all over our country and Europe ; or bodies are moved with a physical force and by an intelligent agent which can only be explained by admittmg the claim of spirit- presence and power. Our limits forbid other accounts, many of which are be- fore us, stating how, when, and where spirits have given " unmistakable" tests of their presence and identity, rap- ping out, or spelling out, through the media, long and short paragraphs of intelligence ; all of which are present- ed as infallible proof of spirit-communion in which mor- tals are made sensible of their immortality, and the bereaved and sorrowful comforted by the presence and soothing influence of departed friends, whose happiness is augmented by ministering to their spiritual necessities. We have quoted largely, that the nature of the facts relied on, may be fully understood by that portion of our readers who have felt no inclination to know what is the nature, progress, or practical operation of the newest " humbug of the day." The great element of strength in this movement profess- es to come from the spirit-world. It augments its num- bers daily. Every effort hitherto made, to prove these 80 A THREE-FOLD TEST. ' manifestations to be from some other source than spirits, has shared the fate of most all other attempts at proving a negative. These efforts have every where been made, and hitherto Tiave everywhere failed to trace the pheno- mena to mundane causes. It is therefore a subject not to be treated with levity, for whether it be as to its claims, a system oftruth or falsehood, the interests are incalculable, involving the everlasting welfare or the woe of millions. Nothing can exceed the positiveness of assurance that every adherent manifests, and the earnestness of spirit that pervades the various works written by the propagan- dists of this novel cause. There is entire truth in the fol- lowing paragraph of Rev. C. Beecher, in his " Review of Spiritual Manifestations," p. 58. " Whoever, ignorant of the publications of the move- ment, imagines that these claims are not forcibly wielded, with ingenuity, candor, popular adaptation, and success, is egregiously mistaken. The movement is rapidly ad- vancing, and becoming one of the signs of the times." THE FIRST TEST. 81 CHAPTER n. "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good !"— Paul. THE FIRST TEST OP SPIRITUALISM. Census of Spiritualism— A Challenge— Assurances given— The Author's Earnestness — The Mental Test improved— First Sitting, Poor Encourage- ment—Second Sitting, no Satisfaction— Third Sitting, written Commu- nication—Mendacity—Fourth Sitting, Spirits fail — Fifth Sitting, a Pos- session-Sixth Sitting, Communication connected — A bad Failure — Seventh Sitting, a worse Failure— Eighth Sitting, " Dark Circle" — Ninth Sitting, no Satisfaction— Spiritual Library gathered— Tenth Sit- ting, the worst Failure— A Conclusion— A good Test— Personating De- mons—Eleventh Sitting, Showers of Kaps — Good Test — Communica- tions—Twelfth Sitting—" Spiritoscope" -test— Thirteenth Sitting, an im- portant Fact — Fourteenth Sitting, Eeputation of Spiritoscope damaged — Fifteenth Sitting, Tests, etc. We have now given a chapter of facts, which might easily be enlarged to the size of this volume, to show what is the ground-work of this wonderful modem move- ment. Whether the reader reject or accept them, in whole or in part, does not alter the fact of their influence throughout this and other communities, and hence, whether true or false, it is essential that they be under- stood in the outset of all intelligent research. To condemn without investigation matter submitted to us by men of acknowledged sense and ability, is as ridiculous as to hold a man guilty upon mere imputation, until he prove himself innocent. 4* 82 A THKEE-FOLD TEST. A host of "well-authenticated facts, like those in the first chapter, that have fallen upon the sober senses of thousands of witnesses, prejudiced in the outset of their investigations, competent to sit on any jury in the land as judges of facts, and whose testimony in the matter before us, is just as good as if given under oath, compelled the writer to investigate for himself, not because he could doubt the superabundance of evidence already given, but because he had a good opportunity, and his Profession, as he conceived, demanded it. Who are these witnesses ? Here is the answer given some two years ago. " Though these modem * spirit-manifestations ' com- menced but five years since, and, at first, only attracted the attention of two httle girls by some sHght tappings in their presence, there are now from twenty to thirty modes of manifestation, some of them of the most as- tounding character. " It has been stated that there are a hundred thousand mediums, and two and a half millions of believers,* in this country alone, to say nothing of the many thousands in Europe. "The attention of the British Parliament has been called to it ; the French Academy of Science has long been considermg it ; and a memorial, signed by thirteen thousand persons, has been presented to the Congress of the United States, asking for a special committee to con- sider the subject. " There are in the United States some twenty newspa- pers and periodicals principally devoted to it, and up- wards of one hundred difierent pubHcations on the sub- sect. ^ " It numbers among its advocates many men of the highest standing and talent, in every profession and * The number now is claimed to be some 4,000,000 1 as I have been informed by an inteUigent Spiritualist, who is a regular physician and an educated gentleman. But great allowance must be made to the love of the maveUous. A CHALLENGE. 83 sphere. Doctors, lawyers, clergymen, a Protestant bishop, professors, and a reverend president of a college, foreign ambassadors and ex-members of the national senate. " The rapid progress of belief in the reality of the phe- nomena does not depend so much upon the testimony of others, however reliable, as upon the personal observation and experience which probably every believer has had. Thousands of living witnesses testify, on the very day of their occurrence, that they have seen, felt, and heard the phenomena, and are compelled to believe in their reality, spite of their obstinate prejudices against them. " There is no question about the authenticity of the testimony, the character and competency of those who testify, or the time and place. The names of all the parties, and all the circumstances of the events, are given, and the witnesses are now before you, ready to be questioned." — New Test, Miracles, pp. 10,11. The names of men in high places, connecting them- selves with this movement, may be mentioned ; but it is proper at the same time to present the evidence of their sincerity and supposed strong position. The following is extracted from an "Address of the Society for the Diffusion of Spiritual Knowledge, to the citizens of the United States :" written some two or three years ago ; and headed by the name of Gov. Tallmadge. " We CHALLENGE you as men — as earnest men, as men desiring the good of your fellows — to come forth and meet us in the fight, expose our errors, draw the shroud away, and enable the world to see us as we are. We challenge you to come and do that thing. " We believe that spirituality is a heaven-born truth. We profess to know that angels from heaven — that the spirits of good men progressing towards perfection have come here upon the earth we stand on, and talked with us face to face, and uttered words to us bearing the im- press of their divine origin. We sincerely believe this. We are respectable men ; we do not believe ourselves to 84 A THKEE-FOLD TEST. be insane. We ask you to come and meet us, and discuss the question with us ; to examine these facts which we allege, and to prove, if you are able, either that these facts never did occur, or that their origin is other than that which it purports to be." The names, claims, and positions of the gentlemen signing this address, will save any man from ridicule who accepts their challenge^ which we do ; and warrant any man to make earnest, persevering inquiry upon this sub- ject, without incurring the censure of the wise and good. A further protection is found in the fearless examples and avowed opinions of clergymen, who have watched this movement with increasing interest ; such as the fol- lowing: " Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Clark, one of the ablest clergy- men of Hartford, Ct., concludes a letter as follows : ' I am aware that to ascribe so much importance to such a sub- ject as this, will lead those who know nothing about it to suspect the soundness of one's judgment, and it will be said that our wisest course is to let it alone ; it is one of the humbugs of the day, and will soon die itself' It may be so, but the indications do not point that way at present. Men of the highest scientific reputation acknow- ledge themselves to be perplexed ; judges of our high- est courts and of the widest experience, are personally identified with these phenomena ; clergymen are question- ed by their parishioners ; the most important principles of our religion are called in question. MeanwhUe, is it right for the clergy, who profess to be the teachers of the peo- ple, to remain sUent, when they believe that souls com- mitted to their charge are being lured to destruction ?' " — Answers to Seventeen Objections^ p. 6. In the same little work, we are informed that — " at a sit- ting of several clergymen for the purpose of investigating this subject, the following communication was received," (from spirits :) THE author's motive. 85 " ' Brethren have you not seen the need of a tangible mani- festation to convince the skeptical man of his immortahty ? How many have refused to enter the portals of a church, who would not refuse (prompted by curiosity) to investi- gate these rappings ! Then rejoice that God in his great mercy and loving-kindness has permitted ministering angels to knock at the door of the skeptic's heart, to awaken him to sensibility.' " The fact that persons who have read about these won- derful manifestations were made more liable to be taken with them, from his inability to give a satisfactory answer, determined the writer to seek from the best sources, for all necessary information, both for his own sake, and for the sake of others. He determined to go to fountain-head, and taking the advice of spiritualistic authors, to pursue an independent investigation, prepared to follow wherever truth might lead. Judge Edmonds says, respecting the communications given by spirits : " Their character has been such as to warrant me in saying I have been struck with their beau- ty — their sublimity at times — and the imiformly elevated tone of morals which they teach. They are eminently practical in their character, and not a sentiment is to be found that would be unacceptable to the most pure and humble Christian. The lessons which they teach are those of love and kindness, and are addressed to the calm and deliberate reason of man, asking from him no blind faith, but a careful inquiry and a dehberate judg- ment." {Spiritualism, vol. i., p. 64.) This is beyond question staking intellect, judgment, re- putation, and all that a sane man values, upon the truth of the matters spoken of; and that too by a man who, from his position, one would think, was well aware of the fact, he had a good deal to lose. More than this he says : " We may say not merely that ' we believe,' but that 86 .A TIIKEE-FOLD TEST. ' we know,' and what is most interesting is, that the evidence is within every man's reach. He has but to knock, and it will be opened to him — he has but to ask, and he may receive. No man lives but he may, if he pleases, evidence most sa- tisfactory, that the friends whom he has laid in the grave, do yet Hve and can commune with him." — " I know I can not be mistaken. Whether I am or not, the means are fortunately at hand to determine. I repeat, they are within every man's reach." {Spiritualism, vol ii., p. 49.) Nothing could be more satisfactory to one conscious of a powerful desire to know the truth on this subject. The public character and strong assurance of the Judge made us quite certain of important discoveries and results ; and to test the truth of these statements, to which we felt cJiaUenged, and despising that spirit that does not dare to wander be- yond the orbit of narrowness in which it had been accus- tomed to move, the writer sought and found certain media in the pay of the aforesaid Society for the Conversion of Skeptics ; and also other approved media with whom he might have protracted sittings. The FIRST TEST, therefore, of Modern Spiritualism, will be found in his own experience. He wishes it distinctly un- derstood, that all the foregoing considerations and a deeply-felt sense of responsibility arising from his position in life, not only awakened high interest, but also great caution, in the prosecution of his inquiries. Bound to in- vestigate whatever concerned the danger or the prosper- ity of the Church, he did not feel himself at liberty to de- cline this subject, because he is satisfied that within the last two years more has been gained to Spiritualism from the Church, than has been gained to the Church from the world. Whatever clergymen and other Christians may thmk of it, he is quite sure they can not afford much longer to remain indifferent to its success, nor to treat it with contempt. The writer could not satisfy himself to THE MiJNTAL TEST. 87 remain unable to answer the inquiries of others, who ad- dressed him on the subject. He looked upon the cry of "humbug" and "delusion" as very unfair and unwise. The question — " What do yOu think of it ?" and his ac- knowledged inability to answer in a satisfactory way that question^ have laid the minds of church-members more directly open to acquiescence in the asserted truth of SpirituaUsm under the pressure of physical manifesta- tions occurring before their eyes, of offered tests apparently well sustained, and of arguments applied at the same time. Minds thus overtaken and overcome may have been weak, may not have been well settled in the general principles of the Scriptures ; but that is only an additional argument for personal investigation upon the part of the clergyman, that he may be able to guide such persons in their in- quiries — for inquiries they will make. Only on a few occasions has the writer resorted to a circle ; and was disatisfied. He preferred to be closeted alone with the medium, to prevent all accidents arising from disturbance of equanimity of mind, and from circum- stantial inability to concentrate it upon questions proposed to Spirits ; besides, he wanted all the time to himself. With a few exceptions, he proposed his questionsMEWiAUSY^ as dii-ected ; and in almost every case received an answer by raps on the table, or by the table rearing up on two legs, and making the raps with the other two upon the floor. This latter method is more satisfactory, because the table is raised up against the hands and forearms of the medium resting upon it. The asking of questions mentally is regarded and recom- mended as the best test^ because the medium can not have a chance by any hocus-pocus to dictate the answers, un- less he or she be a clairvoyant ; ia that case (if clairvoy- ancy be true) the medium might see your mind concen- 88 A TUBEE-FOLD TEST. trating upon your question, and thus render the precau- tion useless. At all events it is the best test. Having however observed, that most all questions naturally fall into a form requiring an affirmative answer, the writer thought it would be an improvement upon this test, to ask mentally each question twice in opposite forms, so that truthful answers would always be the first affirmative, and the other negative. This method has been generally pursued, having an obvious advantage ; and in the end proved quite satisfactory. The reader will have to rely, in this matter, on the writer's veracity ; should that be questioned, it will then be time enough to strengthen his word in the best way he can. It is proper to say that all his questions were prepared be- fore going to the Medium, in every case except one, and also that he had to compensate the persons whose time he absorbed, which is no matter of complaint, except on the ground of exorbitant charges — a circumstance that tends to damage the cause, since people, especially after the reception of the communication, feel very much as tliough they had not received a quid pro quo, by a hun- dred per cent. This, however, did not interfere at all with the conscience of the writer, because he started with a full intent to pay for his schooling. The object of the author, in the following examination, was to ascertain whether the strong assurances of Judge Edmonds and his co-laborers in the cause of spirituahsm, might be verified in his own experience, according to the confident language in which they are clothed. For this purpose he meant if possible, to get at the truth on the following points : 1 . Are the rappings and tippings produced by some ex- traneous cause, with which the Media are simply associat- ed as instruments ? 2. Is that cause to be accredited with any degree oiin- FIRST SITTING. 89 telligence manifested through them, and which it is seemingly irrational to ascribe to the minds of the Me- dia? 3. Whether the doctrines of spiritualism will be verified by the application of the mental test to this asserted in- telligent agency, inthe way the author proposes to use it ? It will be remembered the author is not writing merely for learned men, but for those who are unlearned and un- stable, and are liable to be taken by strange things, and made to believe whatever those things may be said to confirm, simply because they can not explain, and have no general principles to fall back upon for reUef. With regard to ihe first point, it may as well be said here, that the answer must be given in the affirmative. Repeated trials of the most satisfectory kind, enable us to pronounce with entire confidence. We have heard of and seen attempts made to imitate these things by those who professed to " do the tricks^'* but they have all failed. Respecting the other points, we defer remarks until the reader has gone over the ground with us. FIRST smiNG. Dec. 10th, 1855. I called at the office of the Spiritual Telegraph to inquire for a well-developed and duly-ac- creited Medium. I was fortunate in finding one there — a Miss G. who, I was told by a gentleman present, was a capital one. At once I made an appointment with her for a sitting eleven days ahead. The result was a most disgust- ing exhibition of evident imposture, kept up for an hour ; and my resolution to pursue the subject weU nigh gave way. But as I had commenced with the intention of be- coming qualified to answer the question — "What is spuituaUsm ?"— and as I had seen Judge Edmonds's cau- 90 A THREE-FOLD TEST. tions against imposition, as well as his assurances of suc- cess to all who would consent to investigate, I determin- ed not to be hasty. SECOND SITTING. Dec. 19th. Attended a circle at which presided a rap- ping medinm in the pay of the Society for the conversion of Skeptics. When my turn came, I asked mentally the following questions : " Is there a spirit present to communicate with me ?" '' Yes." " Are you the spirit of my Mother P'' " Yes." (My mother is living,) " WUl you spell your natne ?" Here the Medium direct- ed me to write out several names, including that of my mother, and then pointing to each, ask whether it were the name of the spirit present. My mother's name is Elizabeth. Besides that, I put down Betsie^ and while several others were replied to in the negative, these names in my questions were both claimed by the spirit. My time was up, and I had to give way for another skeptic. Of course this sitting was as unsatisfactory as the former. THIED sitting. At 2 o'clock on the same day, I went to another me- dium, said to be employed by the Society ; and having chosen an hour for myself, I had as much time as I want- ed. I was much pleased with Mr. C, who seemed a con- scientious believer, and was disposed to help me all he could. Having told him I was an inquirer, and had read enough on the subject to excite my desire to thoroughly sift the claims of spirituaHsm, he replied that "there was THIRD SITTING. 91 not much use in reading : the surest way was personal examination.''^ We proceeded to business. Mr. C. is a tij^ping medium, lie has before him a small table, say two and a half feet by ten inches surface, the legs of which run up to a very narrow frame, so that there was nothing that could con- ceal. The palms of his hands and his fore-arms rested upon it, and the table reared up on two legs, raising his arms with it, and with the other two, made the raps upon the floor. Sometimes this was done so rapidly and heav- ily as to jar the arms of the medium. This " manifesta- tion" was certainly more satisfactory than the knocking, because I saw it was physically impossible that the medium could produce this action in the table, which was against the natural weight of the arms lyuig passively upon it. I sat on the other side and placed my hand upon the table, to ascertain if possible how the motion was made. There was nothing under the table ; there were no con- trivances in the floor, for I had previously lifted it, looked under it, and saw that it had a very narrow frame, and was very Hght. I am sure that the motion could not be produced by the medium in a normal state, unless he has the power to conteract gravitation ; and I am equally sure he has not that power. By his direction, I took small slips of paper and wrote on them the names of relationship, certain spirits sustain- ed to me, such Father^ Aunt, Cousin. Folding each so as to conceal the writing, I laid them upon the table, 23oint- ing to each in turn, and asking: "Whether the spirit bearing to me that relation, was present ?" Two tips said, " No," Three tips, " Yes." When the finger touched the right one, the table tipped rapidly twice, making a loud noise each time. The paper thus selected I took up, and the others were thrown unopened in the fire. Having 92 A TIIEEE-FOLD TEST. examined, I found the word "Father," but did not reveal it. By the medium's direction, I then wrote the names of the aforesaid relatives, on other slips of paper, folding them as before ; and while in the act of writing a cousin's name, the medium was seized with a trembling, and said the spirit was going to write, and with great spasmodic action of the hand and arm, the following communication was made. " I am happy to meet you here, my son ; and find your mind in a condition for me to approach you. Spirits do communicate, and when conditions are favorable, can re- ply to questions. I am here with your aunt and cousin Jane. Your Father, Robert." The only mistake here was in putting " Jane" at the end of the line, instead of after the word " aunt ;" but this is hardly worth mention. The medium did not know me or mine : he had not seen or heard any of the names I wrote, and therefore I was somewhat startled with the promptness and correctness of the signature, for my father's name was i2(?5er^ / I had told. the medium that I came with a list of questions, and proceeded, with his approval of my method, to ask them mentally as follows : Q. Will the spirit answer these questions, I have writ- ten ? A. Yes ; three tips. Q. Is Spiritualism a deception ? A. Yes. Q. Is Spiritualism true ? A. Yes. Q. Is Edmonds deceived? A, No. Q. Is not Edmonds deceived ? A. Yes. Q. Is Hare deceived ? A. No. Q. Is not Hare deceived ? A. Yes. Q. Is Tallmadge deceived ? A. Yes. Q. Is Tallmadge not deceived. A, No. (Faintly.) THIRD SITTING. 93 Q. Is the plenary inspiration of the Bible trueP A. Yes. Q. Is the plenary inspiration of the Bible false P A. Yes. Q. Is spiritualism of coordinate authority with the Bible ? A. Yes. Q. Is spiritualism of an importance such as the Bible ? A. Yes. {Emphatic.) Q. Is the Devil a fabulous being? A. Yes. Q. Is the Devil a real being ? A, Yes. Q. Is Christ God and Man ? A, Yes. §. Is there any such being as Christ ? A. (Indefinite.) Q. Can any one be saved but by Christ? A, Yes. Q. Is man a progressive being ? ^. Yes. Q. Is man a stationary/ being ? ^. Yes. Q. Is Polytheism true ? A, No. §. "Was Moses a Mormon ? u4. Yes. Q. Is not your communication an attempt at imposi- tion? A. Yes. Q. Is the medium before me an impostor ? A» Yes. §. Have I a brother ? ^. Yes. (Untrue.) Q, Have I a sister ? ^. Yes. (Untrue.) Q. A wife? A. Yes. Q. Have I a child ? u4. Yes. (Untrue.) §. Are you a lying spirit ? A. Yes. §. Are you a good spirit ? A. 'No. Q. Can I rely on your truthfulness ? A. Yes. g. Will you speU my name ? No answer. Here I asked the question aloud, and the medium directed me to write several names, and my own among them, which I had not announced. I did so, secretly. I had just begun to write the last initial of my name, when the raps came, and the medium said, " You are writing it now," which was a fact. 94 A THEEE-FOLD TEST. It will be seen that of thirty-one questions, ov^jfive were answered in the negative, four of these being contra- dictions to four others affirmatively put, besides seven other contradictions, making, in all, twelve lies told by this spirit, who had written me a communication as a test of the truth of his identity! My father was a truthful man when on earth, and bore as good a character as any other mortal then extant. Now, if this were the spirit of my father, it is evident he has progressed backwards^ and become a gross liar, which can not be true according to spirituahsm. If he were not my father, but a deceiving spirit, then the best test named by Judge Edmonds has failed. FOURTH SITTING. Dec. 20th. I visited the circle of the other medium. Miss F., employed by the Society. There was no male present but myself, in a company of some thirty-five. Having obtained a seat at the table first, I began my mental questions, but all failed. Several questions hke the following were put : Q. Will the spirit present communicate with me? A, Yes. Q. Are you the spirit of my mother ? A, Yes. (She is ahve.) Q. Is the whole Bible infallibly true f A. Yes. q. Is the whole Bible infaUibly/aZse ? A. Yes. My time was up, and I left. It is perfectly evident that the whole of the above is a deception. Let it be remem. bered that this medium is employed, at a salary, for the conviction and conversion of skeptics, by means of this circle ; that Judge Edmonds assures us that any indivi- dual can, if he will, by these means, arrive at a reasonable amount of evidence for the truth of spiritualism ; that he is allowed to ask any questions, mentally or orally, with FIFTH SITTING. 95 the assurance of enjoying a test that will convince a rea- sonable man, provided it be done in sincerity. Now, wiU any spiritualist say that I had any reason, thus far, to accredit these statements ? After the fourth trial, made in all sincerity, but of course in a state of absolute skepticism, would I not have been justified in rejecting the whole thing as an imposture ? Thus I reasoned, but I had determined not to be hasty. FIFTH SITTING. Dec. 22d. I visited Mr. T. S. P., who has been a seer and a healing-medium for the last eighteen months. He said that in his native place, in Massachusetts, he had been a member of an Orthodox Congregational Church for some twelve years before he became a medium; that he was surprised at what he saw when this event took place ; and having given an account of his progression in the mat- ter of spirit-seeing, he said he was utterly unable to explain the facts in his own experience. He affirmed that he actu- ally saw spirits in the human form, attendant upon the steps of passengers in the street, in broad day-light, at will. He described them as human shapes, apparently of com- pressed Ught, denser than the surrounding hght, and wearing a sort of gossamer-like flowing robe ; or as adum- brated, and more attenuated than the surrounding medium. He further said he knew them to be spirits, because some of them had told him so, and he reahzed a sort of whispered colloquial talk, as it were, in the inte- rior of his brain, conveying to him new ideas and impres- sions, such as he never before had. He also affirmed that he then saw a spirit standing by my side, (it was about 4 o'clock P.M.,) and he described it as compressed light, in a human form, as well defined as my own, but a little shorter in stature, having its hand upon my head. He A THREE-FOLD TEST, asked me if I did not feel as though something was in my hair. I did not. This spirit now moved his hand upon my forehead, then stood off a Httle, looking at me, and then taking hold of my arm ! This gentleman is entranced, and possessed by the spirit of an Irishman, whom he called his "guardian angel." This spirit is a very pure-minded, accommo- dating, and useful companion. He was known, when in " the form," by the name of Patrick, and was dismissed some years ago from this earthly sphere, by a railroad accident. In the spirit-world he is a Porter ; not like your Irish porters of earth with hand-carts, but a carrier of messages from spirits in the higher spheres to indivi- duals in the flesh, made known through the medium. His chief business is, through him, to ferret out, and de- scribe, and prescribe for aU diseases " which flesh is heir to." When he enters his medium, the latter is unconscious, and his vocal organs are used by the spirit as though they were his own, twisting them to the capabilities of the " rich Irish brogue," and with rapid utterance, using the tones, cadences, inflections, and expressions peculiar to a " far-down" Paddy, to the imitation of which, the me- dium says he is incompetent, in his normal state. Having told him I had come for investigation, and would like to have a talk with Pat, he said he knew very little about it, but was willing to give me all the infor- mation he could, and that Pat would take possession of him soon, and then would talk with me. The temperament of this medium I take to be nervotcs- sanguine, having an animated, prepossessing countenance, plump and fair. We were conversing upon the matter, when lo ! he was cut off short, by an apparently involun- tary shudder and jerk, which quickly passed over his whole frame. The eyes were closed, having the lids permanently FIFTH SITTING. 97 and tightly fastened down, like those of a blind man, while the brows would knit, and work the up-and-down motions usual in an animated talk. The whole countenance strangely assumed the Irishest expression imaginable; and sure enough, drawing up his chair, Pat began : Fat. " Well, me frui', I would hke to have a bit of a conversation wid ye." I replied : " I am happy to see you, Patrick. We poor mortals know but Uttle, while you in the other world are far in advance of us ; and I have come here to be enlightened on the subject of spir- itualism, and should be grateful for any information I might obtain." Pat. " Troth, me frin', an' I'll see an' do fwhat I can ; but dther's somethin' dth' matther wid ye down dthere^'' (pointing towards my loins.) "Well, what is it?" Pat. " I can't somehow jist make out fwhat it's, but I see dthere^ jist forenint me fingher, somethin' not right." (I had then a dull pain in the region of the kidneys.) " I see two leetle childher about ye, an' I dthink they are brodther an' sisther till ye." " Oh ! no, Pat, I never had either." Pat. "N'o? Well, I can't make out who dthey belong tiU." " Can you tell me any thing about my father, now in the spirit-world ?" Pat. " Ko, dade I don't know anny thing about him, but I'll away an' fine him out, an' I'll see about dth' childher too." He then gave the medium a shake and a twitch, and was off. The latter, rubbing his eyes, assumed his natu- ral expression and voice, solemnly assuring me he knew nothing of what had passed. I could not resist the im- pression that he was playing a hoax, and yet all appear- 98 A THREE-FOLD TEST. ances were against that supposition ; especially the pecu- liarity of the eye's being like that of a dead man's, with the lid glued to the ball, and not in the least partaking of the motion of the animated brow. After talking awhile about this strange phenomenon, the spirit came back, and like a man jumping into a boat, caused a great commotion, as in the first instance. Now the same altered countenance, Irish as ever, was again before me ; and with an exulting shake of the head, decidedly Irish and awkward, thus he began : J*at, " Bedad, I foun' him — yeer fadther !" " Well, can you describe him ?" JPai. " Yis ; he is a leetle tallher and sthouther nor you ; I mane bigger-Uke about dth' shouldhers, an' a leetle sthoop'd, but not very sthout about dth' body." (This was true.) " He diedt a long time ago here in dth' citty, away down dthat way," (pointing south. This was also true.) " Whin yeer fadther was in dth' form, I dthink he did somethin' or anodther about d'th ships." (This was, for a considerable time, remotely true.) I foun' out about dth' childher, too, for dthey had diedt in a neighborin' house, of croup, afore him, an' he was burridt near dthim ; an' dthis is dth' rason fwhy I saw dthim about yees. In dth' spsret-worldt dthey have grow'd up now." " Can you tell me in what sphere my father is, and what was his name ?" JF*at. " He is in dth' fift shphere. In dth' speret-worldt dthey have not dth' same names, as in dthis. Yeer fadther's name there is dth' Counshellor, becaas, his buish- ness is to instruck dth' sperets dthat are below him." " Is there really a Devil in the next world ?" JPat. " No, nor is dthere anny hell, or lake burnin' wid fire an' brimshtone, as is said upon airth." " Well, what becomes of the wicked ?" M FIFTH SITTING. 99 Fat. " Och ! dthey go into the lowest ehphere, fwhere dthey will progriss, afther a while." " But do they not suffer for their sins ?" Pat. " Yis, in some sich way as dthis — for inchthance ; if one man murdhers anodther, whin he comes to quit dth' form, he must look for dth' speret of dth' murdher'd man, an' ask his pardon; for he will be onaisy in his con- science. AH dth' hell dthere is, is in conscience. An' dth' sowl is not held responshible for deeds committed by dth' passionate animal speret." " Is there such a being as Jesus Christ ?" Pat. " Yis, he was the greatest madegium dthat ever lived, but was nothin' more dthan a mere man." " Does it make any difference then what a man's reli- gion is ?" Pat. " Hoot,' dth' divil a bit : if he lives a dacent moral life, its all dthat's required from him. For inchthance, if a mudther hash dtifferent kinds of nutch — some of dthem pa- nutch, some waal-nutch, some chesh-nutch, an' so on ; ye see dth' mudther distributes dthem alike among dth' childher ; an' they crack dthim an' find a good kernel in aich, an' dthrow all the shells away. So wid dth' dtifferent religions. In aich, dthere ish a good kernel." " When you were in the form, Patrick, what was your religion ?" Pat, " Och ! but I was of dth' worst of thim — ^I was a Roman Cattholic, an' I assure ye, be me fwortd, I have niver seen dth' Virgin Mary since I've been in dth' speret- worldt. !N"o, indade, I have not." While musing for a moment, Pat took advantage of my silence; and giving the medium another shake, he left for his own place : and so did I. The reader can compare this with an instance of the same sort already given. He is at liberty to think that 100 A THREE-FOLD TEST. I was victimized. I can not here give the details that would show otherwise, because it would take up too much room. I do not think I can be easily duped, though I make no pretensions to special shrewdness. Hitherto I have been incHned to think that the Demo- niacs of the New Testament, were not cases of actual pos- sessions ; because, though the word demon as used among the ancients meant any kind of spirit, and never the devil^ it was popularly understood to be the spirit of a dead person. My difficulty was, as to the irrationality of the belief, that under any circumstances, either a foreign spirit or the spirit of my deceased neighbor, might come and take possession of my body, use my senses, and de- prive my soul, nolens volens, of its exclusive right con- ferred by my Maker. But this medium's experience puts a different face upon the matter. His explanation is, that his own spirit is willing to accommodate, and retires with- in itself, and becomes unconscious, yielding the use of its bodily organs to the stranger for his purposes. And it would appear, that on the principle of " honor among thieves," Pat steals the faith of his patient, while the me- dium pockets his money for medical advice : and this is his pay for the spirit's accommodation ! If this may be so, then my foregoing argument against real possessions, is badly maimed. At all events, I give it up for the present. But, at the same time I do not believe that Pat was the soul of an Irishman, notwith- stan