Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 fl- 


 
 SIGHTS AND SOUNDS 
 
 [jrstejr jrf 
 
 COMPRISING AN 
 
 ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN "SPIRIT" 
 MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 HENRY SPICER, ESQ. 
 
 " There came in a wise man and a fool. The wise man heard, 
 investigated, and decided. The fool decided." 
 
 ANCIENT ORACLE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 THOMAS BOSWORTH, 215, REGENT STREET. 
 1853.
 
 LONDON : 
 G. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY - Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Former occurrence of similar phenomena in Germany England 
 The Mompessons In France The Wesley Family, &c. Knock- 
 a-big In America, in 1789 At Slawensick, Silesia At 
 Weinsberg Captain Molesworth Early American Traditions 
 The Shakers Mr. Dods Case at Newark Cahagnet's Ar- 
 canes Madlle. Clairon Remarkable circumstance in England 
 Angelique Cottin Reported manifestations at Pathhead, Hull, 
 &c. - 20 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 Commencement and progress of the manifestations Mr. Weekman 
 'The Fox family Their statements Discovery of the method of 
 communication Excitement produced Investigations Mrs. Fish 
 Public meetings at Rochester Rapid dissemination of the phe- 
 
 2000417
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 nomena Further investigations The Foxes at New York Pub- 
 lic and private inquiries Strong testimonials in favour of the 
 media Proceedings, &c. The Foxes impeached Mrs. Norman 
 Culver Failure of the accusation Continued progress of the 
 manifestations Mrs. Bushnell, the Cincinnati medium Investi- 
 gations New media Dr. Owens Professor Hill Dr. Silsbee, &c. 
 Popular opinions, &c. - -55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 MEDIA CONTINUED. 
 
 Stratford Connecticut Occurrences there Rev. Dr. Phelps Ex- 
 traordinary manifestations Physical demonstrations The Polter- 
 geist Excitement Investigations Imputations on the family 
 Refuted Letter of Dr. Phelps, &c. Judge Edmonds, his career, 
 conversion, &c. Wonderful manifestations The demonstration at 
 the house of Mr. Cheney, &c. - 101 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Communications purporting to proceed from the spirits of eminent de- 
 ceased Remarkable similarity of style Edgar Poe Macdonald 
 Clarke, the " Mad Poet " Robert Southey Percy Bysshe Shelley 
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge A rapid composition Prose commu- 
 nications Washington Jefferson Calvin Fenelon Private 
 messages The sentiment of freedom Spiritual autographs Spirit 
 linguists, &c. 133 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 Notice from the Pulpit Different views of the clergy Opinions 
 compared The Rev. C. B. Boynton and the Rev. J. P. Stuart. 
 
 166
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 THE PRESS. 
 
 Digressive A few words on the Press Vast increase Use and 
 abuse of the telegraph Cruel hoax Murder of the Prince- Presi- 
 dent His resuscitation General dissatisfaction Cordial footing 
 of the Press and Public Christmas convivialities Delicate dun- 
 ning Fugitive poems Serials Treatment of the manifestations 
 Squibs, &c. 187 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 First experience of the manifestations The knockings described 
 The circle Results A model believer Second experience Cir- 
 cle formed Lady physicians Music-loving spirits An unwilling 
 vocalist Mrs. L. Manifestations at last Distressing incident 
 Explanations Colonel Mark Fiske Great cry, and exceedingly 
 trifling amount of wool The Colonel's departure Pause Circle 
 described Author's communication with the unseen intelligences 
 Alarm Fraternal anxiety 'Mr. John Brown His cool reception 
 Persevering catechist Disappointment Explanations Table - 
 tippings Remarks, &c. 206 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Coaching Adventures in Palestine The Headless Major Shakers 
 Railing A wet evening Rouse's most unpleasant Point Mon- 
 treal One page of statistics Barnum Temperance Sleighing 
 Quebec Montmorenci Lorette, &c. Wolfe Back to the 
 States Kossuth at New York At Cincinnati Boston Sceptic 
 " Mutual Admiration Society," &c. 247
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 Present state of the subject 'Curious instances of alleged manifesta- 
 tions The Indian doctor New York Conferences Singular com- 
 munications made thereat Prophecies The spirits' testimony to 
 their truth German seers Margaretha Stoffell Singular passage 
 in Lactantius Les Previsions d'Orval The Jesuit priest The 
 Rev. Robert Fleming Moreau Interesting letter from a member 
 of the Shaker community Dr. Harriet Hunt Her protest Recent 
 authenticated phenomena, &c. Correspondence from Boston, 
 Baltimore, &c. Recent manifestations in England Mrs. Hayden, 
 &c. 306 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 Demolition of former hypotheses The subject resolved into three 
 heads, The mechanical theory Toe-ology. 376 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 Arguments and experiments favouring the theory of common electri- 
 city The Magnetoscope Arguments and illustrations in opposi- 
 tion to the former theory Vitalized animal electricity Dr. Du 
 Bois Reymond Theory of Dr. Richmond New proposed theory 
 Mr. Rogers, &c. The last guess, &c. - - 391 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 Belief in intercommunication with the unseen world Angelic sym-
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 pathies Dr. Harbaugh Ghosts of our time Circumstances com- 
 pared The ghost of Washington Remarkable recent and authen- 
 tic instances : in America ; Captain B. ; at Romford ; Bishop 
 Griswold ; near London ; at Bromley " Noble Eden," &c. Old 
 Nanny Mr. Warren Intelligence of the manifestations consi- 
 dered Views of churches Experiences of Mr. J. Sargent in 
 remoter districts Indian media Value of the physical phenomena 
 considered Mr. Coggeshall Power of spirit to act upon matter 
 The " nerve-spirit " Dr. Passavant Mr. Fishbough. - - 416 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 WHO CARES V - - -. 460
 
 SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: 
 
 THE 
 
 0f tju 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 IF one may judge from present indications, 
 before the following notes can be published, an 
 apology will have become due to many readers, 
 for deeming it necessary to explain the general 
 features of that singular subject to which they 
 principally refer. This explanation, however, is 
 capable of being so succinctly conveyed, as 
 scarcely to test the patience of the initiated too 
 severely. The mysterious noises, then, denomi- 
 nated " spirit-rappings," which commenced four 
 years since, in Rochester, U. S., and have since 
 spread over the entire length and breadth of the 
 Union these rappings, or, to use the fashionable
 
 2 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 phrase, "manifestations," embody communications 
 purporting to proceed from those who have passed 
 into another sphere of existence. These are con- 
 veyed, by the agency of the sounds, which are of a 
 very remarkable character, somewhat resembling 
 slight raps, or pecks, through a clairvoyant, or 
 peculiarly impressible person, easily susceptible of 
 magnetic influences, whose mere presence suffices 
 to secure rapping replies ; and who, as the connect- 
 ing link between the human querist and the sup- 
 posed spiritual respondent, is called the medium. 
 These media, though more frequently women, may 
 be of either sex. -The particular mode of question 
 and answer will be found fully detailed in the 
 body of the work. And it may be as well to 
 mention, once for all, that, wherever the terms 
 " spirit," " spirit-rappings," &c., are used, it is 
 rather for convenience, as being in accordance 
 with popular custom, than in adoption of any 
 theory relating to the subject at large. 
 
 The whole affair, it must be owned, appeared 
 to me, in common, probably, with all British 
 novices, in its early aspect, idle and puerile 
 enough ; and knowing pretty well the foibles of 
 that community, whose holiday tastes a Barnum 
 has contributed to form, it is not surprising that 
 the manifestations suggested ideas more intimately 
 connected with the realisation of dollars, than 
 the advancement of religious and philosophical
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 3 
 
 knowledge. At best, the thing seemed but a 
 scientific bubble awaiting puncture. Be that as 
 it may, the rappings, loud as they were, failed for 
 a considerable time to awaken any corresponding 
 echo in my bosom. I felt persuaded that, when- 
 ever the enigma should have fulfilled its allotted 
 duty, the necessary CEdipus would not be wanting. 
 In the mean time, however, manifestations mul- 
 tiplied. Media sprang up like mushrooms. Here 
 was a man a staid, intelligent citizen too, who 
 had learned from a "spirit" a secret he had 
 imagined confined to his own breast. Here 
 another no less grave and accredited who had 
 sat by, and witnessed the performance of an in- 
 tricate pas seul, by one of the heaviest dining- 
 tables in New York. Another, who had received 
 a revelation in reference to medical science, which 
 could not fail incalculably to benefit mankind. 
 Another, who had enjoyed a highly cheering and 
 satisfactory conversation with his departed grand- 
 mother, the details of which, however, he was 
 unable, for family reasons, to disclose. Now, a 
 matter which seems fraught with powerful interest 
 to the estimable and intelligent around, cannot 
 easily be put aside with scorn. It soon became 
 easy, next pleasant, to listen ; and not to con- 
 duct my friends through the gradations of belief, 
 commencing even from the most abandoned scep- 
 ticism and, inasmuch as it is easier, and con- 
 
 B 2
 
 4 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 siderably safer, to affirm what a mystery is not, 
 than what it is, let it suffice to say that I have 
 seen, heard, and learned enough, to force me irre- 
 sistibly even against my will to the conclusion 
 that the mystery in question has its origin in no 
 mechanical skill in no human intelligence, how- 
 ever shrewd and penetrative in no hitherto 
 recognized law of physics in no material organ- 
 ism whatsoever. 
 
 It is calculated that there are, at the present 
 moment, not less than thirty thousand recognised 
 media practising in various parts of the United 
 States. A friend, who writes under date of July 
 1 7th, assures me, that in the city of Philadelphia 
 alone, may be found no fewer than three hundred 
 " magnetic circles," holding regular meetings, and 
 receiving communications. And, let it be re- 
 marked, that the majority of the parties alluded 
 to are neither needy, illiterate, nor obscure, but 
 members of highly respectable families, enter- 
 taining no views of pecuniary profit, nor, as far as 
 can be seen, deriving any possible advantage from 
 the exhibitions in question. Another American 
 friend himself originally a most determined 
 sceptic whose interesting communication will be 
 found, in extenso, at a future page, writes : 
 
 " The most astonishing circumstance connected 
 with the whole subject, to my mind, is that so 
 large a number of persons seem to have adopted
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 the system into their most familiar daily expe- 
 rience ; and use it, with as little apparent idea of 
 its extraordinary character, as they do the post- 
 office or the telegraph ! I saw persons come in, 
 with an ordinary business countenance, ask their 
 question of the spirit summoned to the table, and 
 go off again, as well satisfied with their answer, 
 as though it were in words from the lips or hand 
 of their living partner in business." 
 
 " What," inquires another writer (a gentleman 
 well known in American literary circles) , " would 
 you say to seeing your friend lifted bodily into 
 the air standing on nothing for the space of 
 half a minute?' 1 '' (See future page.) "Or to 
 seeing the furniture moving about the room with- 
 out any visible application of force, and an old 
 demi-john taking a stroll through your premises, 
 as if the spirit it held were the devil indeed ? 
 And yet, credible, educated, reliable men and 
 women are testifying to such occurrences, under 
 circumstances which leave no room for trickery 
 or collusion. The witnesses are not from the 
 ignorant class, such as go to swell the ranks of 
 Mormonism, but are intelligent, sincere people, 
 who have no interest whatever in countenancing 
 delusion, or biasing the public mind in any 
 direction which they do not believe that of 
 truth." 
 
 Surely, when persons of high attainments and
 
 6 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 unblemished character, men who would neither 
 lend themselves to the propagation of known 
 falsehood, or the fostering of what might prove 
 delusion when these are found calmly advocat- 
 ing the astounding theories already broached on 
 the subject, or originating others scarcely less 
 extraordinary when to this is added the evidence 
 of one's own calm senses, it is surely not only 
 permissible to suspend decision, but almost in- 
 cumbent upon the lovers of truth to aid in such 
 inquiries as may trace out the mystery to its real 
 origin. The fact of a demonstration so widely 
 extended, a hoax (if such it be) on so tremendous 
 a scale, holding its ground in the teeth of the 
 most virulent opposition in defiance of ridicule, 
 abuse, pretended exposure, fallacious argument 
 every possible weapon which the armoury of 
 scepticism can supply, would really constitute a 
 claim to notice and investigation not to be passed 
 over, even were it not for the very extraordinary 
 and peculiar character of the theory to which the 
 public mind in America inclines. European 
 philosophy of the nineteenth century, fast as it 
 had conceived itself, may be wholly unprepared 
 for a stride so vast on the part of its transatlantic 
 brother; and other causes combine to limit the 
 chances of fair play to a question, the very locality 
 of whose birth will doubtless be regarded, by 
 some, as in itself a ground of suspicion.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 7 
 
 But, not to anticipate our own weaknesses of 
 judgment, nor to comment upon the respect clue 
 to the rough, sometimes mistaken, but always 
 sturdy beginnings of a land, where at least the 
 principle of progress is fully recognised, and 
 over which hovers the grandest future ever pre- 
 sented to mortal fancy, let it be simply observed 
 that this, the " new philosophy," if it be anything 
 at all, is a subject for the consideration, not of 
 cliques and classes, but of mankind ; a question 
 not of nations, but of worlds. And let us at least 
 hope that the foul spirit of ignorance and prejudice, 
 which put Galileo to the torture for a true dis- 
 covery, and, in a later age, nicknamed the first 
 American steam-boat " Fulton's Folly" is not to 
 be resuscitated in enlightened Britain. 
 
 Too truly, however, has it been remarked by 
 an able commentator on the new spiritual philo- 
 sophy, that there is, in the world, " pride of 
 position, pride of profession, and, most manifestly, 
 pride of being on the popular side." To one or 
 other of these may no doubt be attributed much 
 of the disfavour, not to say hostility, with which 
 every new doctrine, every new discovery, not in 
 harmony with the persuasion or expectation of 
 the multitude, is received. 
 
 "The philosophers of our schools do not," 
 writes Mrs. Crowe, "quarrel with a new metal, 
 or a new plant ; and even a new comet, or a new
 
 8 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 island, stands a fair chance of being well received ; 
 while phrenology and mesmerism testify that any 
 discovery tending to throw light on what most 
 deeply concerns us, namely, our own being, must 
 be prepared to encounter a storm of angry per- 
 secution. And one of the evils of this hasty and 
 precipitate opposition is, that the passions and 
 interests of opposers become involved in the 
 dispute ; instead of investigators, they become 
 partisans ; having declared against it in the out- 
 set, it is important to their petty interests that 
 the thing shall not be true, and they determine 
 it shall not be, if they can help it. Hence these 
 hasty, angry investigations of new facts, and the 
 triumph with which failures are recorded ; and 
 hence the wilful overlooking of the axiom, that a 
 thousand negations cannot overthrow the evidence 
 of one affirmative experiment." 
 
 Some years since, a miserable little object, in 
 the last degree disgusting and absurd, known by 
 the name of " General Tom Thumb," was ex- 
 hibited by its keeper to crowded assemblies of 
 the rank and fashion of London. I cannot recol- 
 lect that these fair and noble worshippers of 
 manhood in its most degraded form of burlesque, 
 of this wretched child-ape, were ever exposed 
 to especial persecution. Whether the aforesaid 
 ludicrous little monster grimaced upon his table, 
 or the nobler hippopotamus wallowed in his mud-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 bath the coronetted carriages came and went, 
 and the intense delight of their inmates, dis- 
 gracing none but themselves, elicited no marks 
 of public reprobation. Why is it that studies 
 like these attract enlightened millions, and that 
 the grand progressive march of philosophy passes 
 unheeded or contemned ? Is the voice of reason 
 only melodious when set to a popular tune ? nature 
 only interesting in her museum of monsters ? 
 
 Let me be allowed to state, in the plainest 
 terms I can command, that, so far from advocating 
 the spiritual origin of these phenomena, I have 
 been, for what I deemed sufficing reasons, its most 
 zealous opponent. When, however, theory after 
 theory of explanation crumbles away, leaving the 
 argument uncontroverted, the phenomenon intact, 
 the public faith augmenting, a question at last 
 arises, ought we to decline meeting these alleged 
 pretenders on their own ground that ground 
 we have ourselves already pronounced untenable ? 
 The subject has attained too vast a head to render 
 publicity a social harm, and no one will deny that 
 the greater the fraud, the more complete should be 
 the exposure the more general the condemnation. 
 
 Even while writing these lines, the "movement," 
 as it has been called, has extended hither, and 
 been met in precisely the same spirit which 
 dictated the earliest phase of opposition offered 
 to it in America, and which, as might have been 
 
 B 5
 
 10 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 foretold, subsequently tended rather to accelerate, 
 than arrest, its progress. 
 
 Let us avoid that error here. 
 
 One of the most able, earnest, and philan- 
 thropic serials of the day, has (for once, with 
 more zeal than foresight,) led the assault, by send- 
 ing two ambassadors, to wit, Messrs. Brown and 
 Thompson, (under which noms de plume, patro- 
 nymics no less familiar, yet more honored, are, 
 one may fancy, recognizable), to demolish the 
 pretensions of the first medium who has landed 
 on our shores. Had the well-intentioned writer 
 of the article to which I allude, first made himself 
 acquainted with the past history and present 
 position of the controversy, he would probably 
 not have confined his attacks to a mere rechauffe 
 of exploded arguments, refuted accusations, 
 and statements not easily reconcilable with 
 facts long notorious to all who have, within these 
 two years, visited any portion of the United 
 States. Unworthy are these worn-out weapons of 
 such hands. 
 
 Had Messrs. Brown and Thompson challenged 
 the subject where, in point of fact, it stands, we 
 should have missed Mrs. Culver altogether from 
 the discussion should have suffered no re-intro- 
 duction to the Cock-lane Ghost, should have 
 heard no syllable of the excitement among all 
 classes " dying out."
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 11 
 
 The result of Mrs. Culver's " disclosures " was 
 to impart enormous impulse to that which it was 
 intended to destroy. The moribund excitement 
 has increased day by day. For the Cock-lane 
 Ghost old and valued friend long embalmed 
 and buried among the nursery treasures of old, 
 now rudely dragged from its sanctuary, and com- 
 pelled to a species of duty for which its weak 
 constitution and simple habits render it wholly unfit 
 one word will suffice. No less a burden than 
 the united rappings of thirty thousand media has 
 been laid upon the shoulders of this ill-used 
 sprite ! The case was exceptional. Tests applied 
 in vain to the American ghost, fairly exorcised that 
 of Cock-lane. The sole feature of resemblance 
 is to be found in the fact that, to this day, the 
 precise origin of the sounds remains undiscovered ; 
 the parties implicated undergoing their penal sen- 
 tence, not as may be supposed for creating the 
 sounds, but for the infamous use to which they 
 turned them. The matter is far too ridiculous for 
 argument, and would not be worth even allusion, but 
 for the pertinacity with which this venerable case 
 is cast into the teeth of every one who but inclines 
 to test fairly the genuineness of these American 
 phenomena ! 
 
 Messrs. Brown and Thompson are not the first, 
 by many thousands, of able and intelligent men, 
 who, while entertaining strong and natural suspi-
 
 12 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 cions of the manifestations, have been wholly 
 unable to account for their accomplishment ; and 
 it certainly smacks of unfairness, that, when so 
 many Americans of both sexes, honourable in 
 position, eminent in science, and enjoying oppor- 
 tunities of rigid examination not yet accorded to 
 inquirers here, have pronounced the mystery inex- 
 plicable, Messrs. Brown and Thompson should 
 brand this American lady as an impostor, without 
 deigning anything in disproof of her assertion and 
 alleged belief, but that what they witnessed did 
 neither accord with, nor fulfil, their expectations. 
 The public, in our day, is not always prepared to 
 accept the ipse dixit of even its most favoured and 
 popular teacher, when unsupported by proof, and 
 opposed by a vast accumulated testimony. It is 
 surely not too much to expect to be informed of 
 the ground on which those who brand the medium 
 (Mrs. Hayden) as an impostor, arrive at a con- 
 clusion from which so many enlightened minds 
 dissent. Will they, without having recourse to 
 some already refuted hypothesis, even offer a plau- 
 sible explanation of the sounds ? 
 
 The lady in question, was, I believe, regarded, 
 in America, as a medium of less than average 
 power, i. e., though attended by the usual inex- 
 plicable noises, the proofs of intelligence wit- 
 nessed in her presence, were of less significance 
 than in the case of most of her sister media.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 Far from desiring to cast any reflection upon 
 this lady, and anxious only that the truth may 
 prevail, I am bound to acknowledge that there 
 has been too much reason to fear, that, in other 
 instances, the weakness of human nature has in- 
 duced the professed media to eke out partial 
 success by grafting false effects upon what may, 
 nevertheless, be genuine and true. The media 
 have, as will be seen, their own mode of explain- 
 ing discrepancies; but, unfortunately, the practice 
 I have mentioned, leads to the same unlucky re- 
 sults as those which sent Messrs. Brown and 
 Thompson forth from the " spirit " circle greater 
 sceptics than they went, and effaced from their 
 minds what really was deserving of inquiry. 
 
 Proof, therefore, and investigation, are what we 
 require. On what is needful for the vulgar and 
 illiterate mind, ever eagerly inclining towards 
 what is mysterious and unintelligible, one might 
 be content to rest the argument that these " spirits," 
 or by whatever title they may come among us, 
 have claims to be received and tested. Sneers 
 will not suffice. Evil was never yet checked by 
 simply ignoring its existence. Truth never yet 
 suffered by investigation. 
 
 If the present mystery come to us in a ques- 
 tionable shape, the more need to question and to 
 sift it the grandeur of its assumptions rather
 
 14 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 establishing a claim, than creating an obstacle, 
 to due investigation. 
 
 If it be proved false, the greater the obloquy, 
 the wider the warning, the deeper the shame. If 
 any portion be true, (and who dare limit the power 
 and realm of the Unseen ?) then should no instant 
 be lost, in testing the order, character, reliability, of 
 the intelligences so strangely developed among us, 
 
 Is this latter possibility so startling ? I remem- 
 ber reading, not long since, a wise, calm, and 
 thoughtful paper, writ by a scholarly hand, in a 
 journal not usually addicted to such disquisitions 
 the Morning Post 
 
 " The reason of man is not to be left idle, or 
 to pursue its course in a faltering manner, because 
 a supernatural influence rules over it; nor is 
 supernatural influence to be despised, neglected, 
 or disbelieved, because the great gift of reason is 
 bestowed on man. Reason is our guide to the 
 light, but it is not the light itself. It assists, but 
 it does not assure. 
 
 " Reason or judgment has its own domain, and 
 so has a belief, or at all events an acquiescence, 
 in the existence of agencies which the present 
 powers given to man cannot fathom. Nor does 
 it always happen (though it frequently does) that 
 the mind w r hich is keen and energetic in sifting 
 evidence, and in deriving therefrom legitimate
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 15 
 
 conclusions, is averse from acquiescence in that 
 which is beyond the reach of investigation. No 
 one did so much, by patient and clear research, 
 to expose the purely fabulous character of the 
 more ancient parts of what was called Roman 
 history, as Niebuhr did, yet no one more frankly 
 admits than he, the unfathomable mystery of the 
 old heathen oracles." 
 
 " Southey has written ' But for myself, many, 
 if not most, of those even who agree with me in 
 all essential points would be inclined to think me 
 superstitious, because I am not ashamed to avow 
 my persuasion that there are more things in 
 heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their 
 philosophy.' Such was the inner mind of the 
 man who spent a laborious life in studious 
 research and argumentative criticism. 
 
 " Wordsworth, who generally reasoned when he 
 wrote, and rose upon the wings of his muse to 
 the greatest height of philosophical declamation, 
 protests earnestly against the ' uninspired re- 
 search' which is content with formal inference 
 from outward things. In the * Excursion,' he 
 makes his sage exclaim 
 
 " ' Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge, 
 And daily lose what I desire to keep ; 
 Yet rather would I instantly decline 
 To the traditionary sympathies 
 Of a most rustic ignorance, and take
 
 16 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 A fearful apprehension from the owl 
 Or death-watch ; and as readily rejoice 
 If two auspicious magpies crossed my way ; 
 This rather would I do than see and hear 
 The repetitions wearisome of sense, 
 Where soul is dead, and feeling hath no place ; 
 Where knowledge, ill begun in cold remark 
 On outward things, with formal inference ends ; 
 Or, if the mind turn inward, 'tis perplexed 
 Lost in a gloom of uninspired research.' 
 
 " Lord Bacon declares that he would rather be 
 so superstitious as to believe in all the fables of 
 the Talmud, than believe in nothing but what his 
 senses discovered to him. Addison, with his ha- 
 bitual politeness, begs that they who cannot give 
 their credence to anything supernatural, will be so 
 good as to abstain from disturbing the faith of those 
 who can, by cavils and criticisms which he thought 
 savoured more of presumption than of good sense. 
 And Wordsworth, as we have just seen, would have 
 preferred the most rustic ignorance of those whom 
 owls affright with presages of misfortune, or mag- 
 pies elate with hope of lucky chances, to being 
 without belief of something beyond what mere 
 human powers can discover- 
 
 " Since every year's additional research dis- 
 covers something in creation that was not ob- 
 served before, and every artificial aid to our 
 senses shows us new existences before undreamt 
 of, may we not reasonably conclude that there
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 17 
 
 are existences which our present powers have not 
 discovered, and perhaps never will discover ? 
 
 " Some may say, however, that though there 
 may be much in the universe of which our powers 
 enable us to know nothing, yet there is nothing 
 which at all concerns us save that which w r e may 
 know by observation and study. But this is a 
 conclusion which reflection will not bear out. 
 There are many things which concern us very 
 much, of which we know nothing. The very prin- 
 ciple of life that which distinguishes us from a 
 piece of dead matter what know we of it ? No- 
 thing. Electricity concerns us much yet what 
 do we know of it ? Year by year we are learning 
 more of the management of it, and of the different 
 ways in which the mysterious force may be set in 
 action ; but what it is, whence it is, or how it does 
 what it does, so wonderfully, so beautifully, or so 
 awfully, we cannot in the least tell. 
 
 "There is, therefore, nothing contrary to ana- 
 logy in the admission that there may be influ- 
 ences, and even sentient beings, constantly in 
 action around us, that we know nothing of. The 
 more any man knows, the less will he be disposed 
 to place limits to creative power. Yet, for the 
 purposes of practical life, our business is cer- 
 tainly not with conjecture, but with knowledge ; 
 and we should study to use our reason with ac- 
 tivity and precision, while readily allowing that
 
 18 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 there is a realm above it, into which reason can- 
 not penetrate." 
 
 Fair inquiry is, therefore, all I claim, and this 
 it is the object of the following notes to promote, 
 not by the mere accumulation of strange facts, or 
 the parading of individual persuasions, but by 
 adducing sufficient evidence and argument to at- 
 tract, if it may be, the attention of intelligent and 
 scientific minds to circumstances which, so far as 
 they have gone, acknowledge no parallel in the 
 history of the world. 
 
 Such personal experiences as I have been able 
 to detail, slight as they are, included matters 
 wholly unexplainable by any known principles 
 of physics; and the communications of friends, 
 carefully selected and authenticated, embody cir- 
 cumstances calculated to startle the most apa- 
 thetic. 
 
 One caution is necessary. The reports that 
 have, from time to time, crept into our English 
 journals, assuming to be veritable narratives of 
 the proceedings of the " Spiritualists " in America 
 (such as the Worcester Convention, justly ridi- 
 culed in the Times), have nothing whatever to do 
 with the matter. The aptitude to degenerate into 
 fanaticism is, without question, the most distress- 
 ing feature of this new philosophy ; yet this only 
 quickens the desire to define its limits and cha- 
 racter. Meanwhile, let no unjust prejudices be
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 19 
 
 engendered by fantastic follies, which bear no 
 more resemblance to the real phenomena, than 
 do the vulgar antics of some Jack-pudding at a 
 country fair, to the glorious personations of a 
 Talma or a Rachel. 
 
 Let the determined sceptic comfort himself 
 with the remembrance, that if the exact pattern of 
 the tongs, wherewith St. Dunstan once took the 
 devil by the nose, be lost, ample means are left 
 to chain and to exorcise the spirit of evil that, in 
 our time, walks abroad. Only be it on all sides 
 remembered, too, in proceeding to the conside- 
 ration of a subject so peculiar, that the greatest 
 acquisitions of human knowledge have been won, 
 not grain by grain, but by swift and sudden 
 advances ; that the door already set ajar by mag- 
 netism, phrenology, mesmerism, &c., is capable of 
 being far more widely opened; and, not to insult 
 the understanding of the reader by questioning 
 his belief that the spirit-world is in us and about 
 us, that it is not for us to doubt that a channel 
 of communication may, in some period of the 
 world, be found ; far less to prescribe the time, 
 the mode, the extent, of the intercourse that 
 may follow. 
 
 All nature widens upward. Evermore 
 
 The simpler essence lower lies 
 More complex is more perfect owning more 
 
 Discourse more widely wise.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Former occurrence of similar phenomena in Germany England 
 The Mompessons In France The Wesley Family, &c. Knock- 
 a-big In America, in 1789 At Slawensick, Silesia At 
 Weinsberg Captain Molesworth Early American Traditions 
 The Shakers Mr. Dods Case at Newark Cahagnet's Ar- 
 canes Madlle. Clairon Remarkable circumstance in England 
 Angelique Cottin Reported manifestations at Pathhead, Hull, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 THAT phenomena possessing most of the. dis- 
 tinctive features the method of communication 
 not excepted of the " spirit-rappings," are by no 
 means of recent origin, many authentic records 
 in France, England, Germany, the United States, 
 &c., abundantly prove; the German Chronicles, 
 in particular, dating as far back as A.D. 1135. 
 How many curious histories of a similar kind, 
 belonging to a period when the means for the 
 transmission of knowledge were limited and im- 
 perfect, have mingled with the dust of ages, it is 
 impossible to estimate ; but, without appealing 
 to this vast, though shadowy fund of testimony, 
 enough is at our command to show that these
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 21 
 
 modern practitioners in the science of rapping 
 only follow a path and system worked out and 
 trodden for centuries. 
 
 In running hastily through a few of the cases 
 referred to, taking them as far as possible in order 
 of date, I profess to deal with circumstance, not 
 with cause, and to that extent must therefore tax 
 the indulgence of the intelligent, and, it may be, 
 sceptical reader. Old associations have endowed 
 many a quaint inscrutable mystery with a claim 
 to be heard. The fact is, however, that what is 
 now occurring promises to impart to many of 
 these ancient friends an aspect entirely new ! 
 
 Hence, let us, at all events, patiently wade 
 through that which may seem unworthy of the 
 enlightened judgments to which I must ultimately 
 appeal, " I doubt me," says Rabelais, " that 
 you do not thoroughly believe the truth of this 
 strange narration ! Though you believe it not, I 
 care not much ; but an honest man, and of good 
 judgment, believeth still what is told him, and 
 that which he finds written !" 
 
 Although, if this be true, " honest men " of our 
 day must possess very considerable powers of 
 deglutition, a candid spirit of inquiry cannot be 
 too strongly inculcated ; nor can we justly blame 
 the man who admits indifferent premises, for the 
 sake of securing the widest possible scope to the 
 argument he mistrusts.
 
 22 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 It has been observed that German traditions 
 refer the " spirit-rappings " to a period as remote 
 as the year 1135. 
 
 In the year 1620, sounds and mixed pheno- 
 mena of a similar character, were noticed at 
 Oppenheim. 
 
 The next instance recals an old acquaintance, 
 worthy Mr. Mompesson, who, in 1661, at his resi- 
 dence at Tedworth, in return, as was supposed, 
 for some indignity practised upon a vagrant drum- 
 mer, was for some time made the victim of a series 
 of similar startling visitations. The Rev. Joseph 
 Glanvil, chaplain to Charles II., in a work directed 
 against the Sadduceeism of the day, relates this 
 history with considerable minuteness of detail. 
 Mr. Glanvil was a gentleman of much learning 
 and ability, and (albeit his indulgent inclination 
 towards legends and traditions tending to the 
 glorification of wizards, &c., provoked the indig- 
 nation of old John Webster, who proclaimed that 
 his (Glanvil's) " Platonical Whimseys are as ab- 
 surd as any," and his narrations " as futilous and 
 ridiculous as any can be") his writings are at 
 least entitled to as much belief as was ever ac- 
 corded to productions of a similar nature. 
 
 The Mompesson story affirms, that shortly after 
 Mr. M. had dismissed the vagabond in question, 
 and confiscated his drum, the family were much 
 disturbed by noises knocking and drumming
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 23 
 
 in the night at the outside of the door. Mr. M. 
 went about the house with a brace of pistols in 
 his hand, but discovered nothing. When he got 
 back to his bed, there was thumping and drum- 
 ming on the top of the house, which continued a 
 good space, and then went off into the air. This 
 thumping and drumming was usually continued 
 five successive nights, and then it would intermit 
 three. After a month's disturbance without, it 
 came into the room where the drum lay, and con- 
 tinued five nights in seven. It continued in this 
 room for the space of three months. Its ap- 
 proach was indicated by a hurling in the air over 
 the house, and its going off was like the beat- 
 ing of a drum at the breaking up of a guard. 
 
 About this period, Mrs. Mompesson w r as con- 
 fined, and during her illness the noises politely 
 surceased ; nor were they renewed until the lady's 
 strength was re-established, when they recom- 
 menced louder than before. Scratchings, as if 
 with iron talons, were heard under the children's 
 beds ; the alarmed juveniles were tilted up, and, 
 if they quitted the chamber, followed from 
 one room to another. The drummer was, at 
 some period of the disturbances, apprehended, 
 and tried at Salisbury, on what act of parlia- 
 ment is not set forth. While in gaol, a man 
 came to see him. " What news ?" asked the pri- 
 soner. " None, that I knows on," probably re-
 
 24 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 plied the visitor, for the other continued, " Don't 
 you hear of the drumming at a gentleman's house 
 at Tedworth ?" " That I do, enough," was the 
 brisk reply. " 7," said the drummer, " have 
 plagued him, and he shall never be quiet till he 
 hath made me satisfaction for taking' away my 
 drum." 
 
 The " satisfaction" received by the luckless 
 drummer proved to be transportation for life ; 
 but he ultimately ." made shift to get back again," 
 and, as in those days such " quick returns" were 
 rather winked at by the authorities, and relished 
 as a good joke, the adventurer probably amused 
 himself at coffee-houses by relating his expe- 
 riences, and bragging of a certain " old fellow," 
 who was a friend of his, had " given him gallant 
 books," and was counted a wizard. 
 
 How much the prison scene may have had to 
 do with the occurrences at Mr. Mompesson's, it 
 is needless to inquire. Let us conclude the 
 history. 
 
 On the 5th Nov., 1661, there was a mighty 
 noise, and a servant observed two boards in the 
 children's room seeming to move. He bid the 
 spirit give him one of them; upon which the 
 board (nothing moving it that he saw) came 
 within a yard of him ; the man said, " Nay, let me 
 have it in my hand ;" upon which it was shoved 
 quite home to him, and so up and down, to and
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 25 
 
 fro, at least twenty times, till Mr. M. forbade his 
 servant to be on such familiarities. This was in 
 the day-time, and seen by a whole room-full of 
 people. 
 
 A minister and several neighbours came to the 
 house, when a bed-staff was flung at the former, 
 and hit him on the leg, but so favourably that a 
 sack of wool could not fall more softly, and it 
 stopped just where it lighted, without rolling or 
 moving from the place. 
 
 One of the most remarkable circumstances 
 related of the freaks of this demon, is that when 
 the noise was loudest, and came with the most 
 sudden and surprising evidence, no dog about the 
 house would look or move, though the knocking 
 was oft so boisterous that it was heard at a dis- 
 tance in the fields, and awakened the neighbours 
 in the village. 
 
 Once, when several gentlemen were present, 
 one of them said " If the drummer set thee to 
 work, give three knocks, and no more ;" which it 
 did very distinctly, and stopped. Then the 
 gentleman knocked, to see if it would answer 
 him as it was wont, but it did not. For further 
 trial and confirmation, he bid it, if it were the 
 drummer, to give five knocks, and no more, that 
 night. It did so, and left the house quiet all the 
 night after. 
 
 These persecutions were continued with scarcely
 
 26 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 any intermission for the space of two or three 
 years. 
 
 In 1706, St. Maur, near Paris, was the scene 
 of occurrences almost identical with the above. 
 
 The history of the extraordinary manifestations 
 in the Wesley family, iu 1715, at the parsonage- 
 house, Epworth, Lincolnshire, then in the occu- 
 pation of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, has employed 
 the pen of his celebrated son, the founder of 
 Methodism. It will be unnecessary to do more 
 than recur to those peculiar features of the case 
 which seem to bear affinity to the demonstrations 
 of our day. 
 
 It may be remembered that certain unaccount- 
 able noises, of various descriptions, had alarmed 
 the whole family, except its head, from whom 
 they had been carefully kept secret, lest he should 
 imbibe the belief, already arrived at by his family, 
 that the sounds, &c., foreboded his death. When, 
 however, it became no longer practicable to con- 
 ceal the increasing disturbances, the good man 
 seemed rather to incline to the idea that his 
 daughters' lovers could solve the mystery ; and 
 it was, consequently, rather a relief to the young 
 ladies when, one night, their sire was aroused 
 from his midnight slumbers by some loud, dis- 
 tinct raps, with a pause at every third stroke, 
 proceeding apparently from the adjoining room. 
 The astonished old gentleman rose, and made
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 27 
 
 active search for the cause of the alarm ; but, as 
 is well known, both then and thereafter, without 
 success. 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, relating the attempts of his 
 sister Mary to unravel the mystery, writes that, on 
 a certain night, she had requested her younger 
 sister to allow her to assume her usual office of 
 taking away her father's bed-room candle, avowing 
 her determination to find out the trick. " She ac- 
 cordingly took my sister Kitty's place, and had no 
 sooner taken away the candle than she heard a 
 noise below. She hastened down stairs to the 
 hall where the noise was ; but it was then in the 
 kitchen. She ran into the kitchen, where it was 
 drumming on the inside of the screen ; when she 
 went round, it was drumming on the outside, and 
 so always on the side opposite to her. Then 
 she heard a knocking at the back kitchen door. 
 She ran to it, unlocked it softly, and when the 
 knocking was repeated, suddenly opened it ; but 
 nothing was to be seen. As soon as she had 
 shut it, the knocking began again. She opened 
 it again, but could see nothing. When she went 
 to shut the door, it was violently thrust against 
 her. She let it fly open, but nothing appeared. 
 She went again to shut it, and it was again thrust 
 against her ; but she sat her knee and her shoulder 
 to the door, forced it to, and turned the key. 
 Then the knocking began again; but she let it 
 
 c 2
 
 28 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 go on, and went up to bed. However, from that 
 time, she was thoroughly convinced that there 
 was no imposture in the affair." 
 
 Upon another occasion, Mr. Samuel Wesley, 
 " at six in the evening, had family prayers as 
 usual. When he began the prayer for the king, a 
 knocking began all around the room ; and a thun- 
 dering knock attended the amen. The same was 
 heard from this time, every morning and evening, 
 
 while prayer for the king was repeated 
 
 I was also informed by Mr. Hoole, the vicar of 
 Haxey (an eminently pious and sensible man), 
 that my father sent for him and gave him an 
 account of what had happened, particularly the 
 knocking during family prayer. But the evening 
 he spent with him, he says, ' to my great satis- 
 faction we had no knocking at all during the 
 time of prayer ; but between nine and ten, a ser- 
 vant came in and said, ' Old Jeffrey is coming ;' 
 (that was the name of one that died in the house) 
 ' for I hear the signal.' This, they informed me, 
 was heard every night about a quaiter before ten. 
 It was toward the top of the house, on the outside, 
 at the north-east corner, resembling the loud 
 creaking of a saw, or rather that of a windmill, 
 when the body of it is turned about, in order to 
 shift the sails to the wind. We then heard a 
 knocking over our heads ; and Mr. Wesley, catch- 
 ing up a candle, said ' Come, sir, now you shall
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 29 
 
 hear for yourself.' We went upstairs; he with 
 much hope, and I (to say the truth) with much 
 fear. When we came into the nursery, it was 
 knocking in the next room ; when we were there, 
 it was knocking in the nursery. And then it 
 continued to knock, though we came in; par- 
 ticularly at the head of the bed (which was of 
 wood), in which Miss Hetty and two of her 
 younger sisters lay. He then went close to the 
 place, and said, sternly, ' Thou deaf and dumb 
 devil, why dost thou fright these children that 
 cannot answer for themselves ? Come to me in 
 my study, that am a man. Instantly it knocked 
 his knock (the particular knock which he always 
 used at the gate), as if it would shiver the board 
 in pieces; and we heard nothing more that night.' 
 
 " By this time all my sisters were so accus- 
 tomed to these noises, that they gave them little 
 disturbance. A gentle tapping at their bedhead 
 usually began between nine and ten at night; 
 they then commonly said to each other, ' Jeffrey 
 is coming ; it is time to go to sleep.' And if they 
 heard a noise in the day, and said to my youngest 
 sister, ' Hark, Kizzy, Jeffrey is knocking above,' 
 she would run up stairs and pursue it from room 
 to room, saying she desired no better diversion." 
 
 What is related, concerning actual appear- 
 ances, is not well confirmed, and indeed may
 
 30 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 have had its very natural origin in the excited 
 apprehensions of the inhabitants of the disturbed 
 dwelling. Yet this in no degree invalidates the 
 other portions of this well-known story, which rest 
 upon the concurrent testimony of many intelligent 
 witnesses. 
 
 In 1740 demonstrations of a similar character 
 occurred in a printing-house in England, which 
 created much sensation, not only among the 
 " devils " peculiar to the locality, but the whole 
 country round. 
 
 In 1772, circumstances marked with similar 
 features took place at Stockwell, England. 
 
 About 1782, a house at Dumfries, on the Nith, 
 was the scene of various extraordinary manifesta- 
 tions. The place was inhabited by a highly re- 
 spectable gentleman, a magistrate of Dumfries, 
 whose family were perpetually annoyed by knock- 
 ings and drummings in all parts of the house, as 
 though some powerful hand had been exercising 
 a heavy mallet on the partitions and floors. 
 Although these noises were so loud as to be dis- 
 tinctly heard by the labourers in the neighbouring 
 fields, no clue to their origin was ever discovered. 
 Tenant after tenant occupied the house, but the 
 invisible rapper contiued among the "fixtures," 
 and for many years the spot was popularly known 
 as " Knock-a-big's Close," from the name bestowed 
 upon the supposed spirit.
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 31 
 
 The New York Packet, a small commercial 
 paper, publishes in its issue of March 10th, 1789 
 (sixty-three years since), the following curious 
 communication : 
 
 " Fishkill, March 3rd, 1789. 
 
 SIR, Were I to relate the many extraor- 
 dinary, though not less true accounts I have heard 
 concerning that unfortunate girl, at New Hacken- 
 sack, your belief might perhaps be staggered, 
 and patience tired. I shall therefore only in- 
 form you of what I have been eye-witness to. 
 Last Sunday afternoon my wife and myself went 
 to Dr. Thorn's, and after sitting for some time, 
 we heard a knocking under the feet of a young 
 woman that lives in the family ; I asked the doctor 
 what occasioned the noise he could not tell, but 
 replied, that he, together with several others, had 
 examined the house, but were unable to dis- 
 cover the cause. I then took a candle, and 
 went with the girl to the cellar ; there the knock- 
 ing also continued; but as we were ascending 
 the stairs to return, I heard a prodigious rapping 
 on each side, which alarmed me very much. I 
 stood still some time, looking around with amaze- 
 ment, when I beheld some lumber which lay at 
 the head of the stairs shake considerably. About 
 eight or ten days after, we visited the girl again ; 
 the knocking still continued, but was much louder.
 
 32 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Our curiosity induced us to pay the third visit, 
 when the phenomena were still more alarming. I 
 then saw the chairs move ; a large dining-table 
 was thrown against me, and a small stand, on 
 which stood a candle, was tossed up and thrown 
 in my wife's lap ; after which we left the house 
 much surprised at what we had seen." 
 
 This, at all events, proves that the manifesta- 
 tions are no new thing. 
 
 Justinus Korner, author of the Seeress of Pre- 
 vorst, relates similar occurrences, which took 
 place in 1806, at Slawensick Castle, Silesia, and 
 in 1825 and 1828, at Weinsberg. The details of 
 the former case are given at great length in Mrs. 
 Crowe's able work, in the chapter referring to the 
 Poltergeist, or rattling-ghost, of the Germans; 
 but, inasmuch as the principal feature, i. e. the 
 power exercised by the invisible intelligence over 
 substances seems analogous to what is most 
 startling in the present manifestations it may be 
 worth while to recall the circumstances to the 
 reader's memory. 
 
 In the year 1806, the Councillor Hahn, in the 
 service of the Prince of Hohenlohe, was directed 
 by the latter to proceed to Slawensick, in Upper 
 Silesia, where he took up his abode in the castle, 
 having for companion an old acquaintance, Charles 
 Kern, a prisoner to the French, released on parole,
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 33 
 
 and, for attendants, the prince's two coachmen, 
 and his (Hahn's) own servant. On the third day 
 of their residence, the disturbances commenced 
 with a small shower of lime, proceeding appa- 
 rently from the ceiling, but leaving no. token of 
 its having originated from thence. On the fol- 
 lowing day, this disagreeable rain recommenced, 
 accompanied by the sound of heavy blows, some- 
 times below, sometimes above, their heads. Every 
 search and inquiry was instituted without success. 
 Shortly, thereafter, a third noise was added, like 
 the beating of a drum, and at night they heard 
 what seemed to be a person walking about the 
 room with slippers on, and striking a stick upon 
 the floor as he moved. Day after day the affair 
 became more complicated and mysterious. Various 
 articles in the room were thrown about; knives, 
 forks, brushes, caps, slippers, padlocks, funnel, 
 snuffers, soap everything, in short, that was 
 moveable, whilst lights darted from corner to 
 corner, and everything was in confusion ; at the 
 same time the lime fell, and the blows continued. 
 Upon this the two friends called up the servant, 
 Knittel, the castle watch, and whoever else was at 
 hand, to be witnesses of these mysterious opera- 
 tions. In the morning all was quiet, and gene- 
 rally continued so until about an hour after mid- 
 night. Frequently, before their eyes, the knives 
 and snuffers rose from the table, and fell after 
 
 c5
 
 34 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 some minutes to the ground, and so constant and 
 so varied were the annoyances, that they at length 
 resolved on a change of rooms. This, however, 
 proved useless; the noises continued as before, 
 and articles flew about the room, which they were 
 convinced had been left in other apartments. 
 Kern saw a figure in the mirror, interposing ap- 
 parently between the glass and himself, the eyes 
 of the figure moving and looking into his. It is 
 unnecessary to recount the means employed to 
 trace out these mysteries. Hahn and Kern, 
 assisted by two Bavarian officers, Captain Cornet, 
 and Lieutenant Magerle, and all the aid they 
 could assemble, were wholly unsuccessful in ob- 
 taining the slightest clue. 
 
 One evening, about eight o'clock, Hahn being 
 about to shave himself, the implements for the 
 purpose, which were lying on a pyramidal stand 
 in a corner of the room, flew at him, one after the 
 other the soap-box, the razor, the brush, and the 
 soap and fell at his feet, although he was stand- 
 ing several paces from the pyramid. In the 
 evening, in spite of all the drumming and fling- 
 ing, Hahn was determined to sleep ; but a heavy 
 blow on the wall, close to his bed, soon waked 
 him from his slumbers. A second time he went 
 to sleep, and was awakened by a sensation, as if 
 some person had dipped his finger in water, and 
 was sprinkling his face with it. He pretended to
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 35 
 
 sleep again, whilst he watched Kern and Knittel, 
 who were sitting at the table. The sensation of 
 sprinkling returned ; but he could find no water 
 on his face. 
 
 About this time, Hahn had occasion to make 
 a journey as far as Breslau; and, when he re- 
 turned, he heard the strangest story of all. In 
 order not to be alone in this mysterious chamber, 
 Kern had engaged Hahn's servant, a man of about 
 forty years of age, and of entire singleness of 
 character, to stay with him. One night, as Kern 
 lay in his bed, and this man was standing near 
 the glass door in conversation with him, to 
 his utter amazement he beheld a jug of beer, 
 which stood on a table in the room, at some dis- 
 tance from him, slowly lifted to a height of about 
 three feet, and the contents poured into a glass 
 that was standing there also, until the latter was 
 half full. The jug was then gently replaced, and 
 the glass lifted and emptied, as by some one 
 drinking, whilst John, the servant, exclaimed in 
 terrified surprise, 'Lord Jesus! it swallows!' 
 The glass was quietly replaced, and not a drop of 
 beer was to be found on the floor. Hahn was 
 about to require an oath of John, in confirmation 
 of this fact; but forbore, seeing how ready the 
 man was to take one, and satisfied of the truth of 
 the relation. 
 
 After some time the annoyances suddenly
 
 36 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 ceased, when Hahn wrote down the whole narra- 
 tive, adding these words : 
 
 "I have described these events exactly as I 
 heard and saw them. From beginning to end I 
 observed them with the most entire self-possession. 
 I had no fear, nor the slightest tendency to it ; 
 yet the whole thing remains to me perfectly inex- 
 plicable. Written the 19th November, 1808. 
 " AUGUSTUS HAHN, Councillor." 
 
 And an opinion having been expressed that 
 Hahn had been the dupe of some jugglery on the 
 part of his friend, or else that both parties might 
 have been in the habit of indulging in too deep 
 potations, Hahn, in a calm and convincing letter, 
 gave an ample refutation to both charges, conclud- 
 ing as follows : 
 
 "I am still as unable as ever to account for 
 those events, and I am content to submit to the 
 hasty remarks of the world, knowing that I have 
 only related the truth, and what many persons 
 now alive witnessed, as well as myself. 
 
 "COUNCILLOR HAHN. 
 
 " Ingelfingen, 24th August, 1828." 
 
 Mrs. Crowe simply adds, that on the subsequent 
 destruction of the castle by lightning, there was
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 37 
 
 found among the ruins the coffinless skeleton of 
 a man. His skull had been split, and a sword 
 lay by his side. Philosophy has suggested a dif- 
 ferent solution to what may be found in this latter 
 circumstance, viz. : that Kern was a very power- 
 ful magnetic medium, in which case the emanation 
 of nervo-electric fluid from his body, and, probably, 
 an electric condition of the atmosphere, might 
 account for many of the phenomena among the 
 rest, the actual absorption of the liquid, in basins, 
 jugs, &c., and the strange spectra with which these 
 occurrences seemed to be accompanied. 
 
 A house in Weinsberg, relates Dr. Richmond, 
 used as a wine-press, was, during the months of 
 December and February, infested by sounds like 
 those made by coopers, and these were audible to 
 the whole neighbourhood. Councillor Muff (re- 
 markable name!) observed that when these sounds 
 were loudest, the vintage was best ; and founding 
 his wine speculations on this conviction, made 
 his fortune ! (Sensible Muff ! He waived occult 
 reasonings, and contented himself with one solid 
 practical conclusion.) The fact, however, that 
 when the vintage was best, most noises occurred, 
 proves them to have been connected with the 
 electric state of the air, or with causes that favoured 
 vegetation. In 1830 and 1831, those noises were 
 little heard, and the vintage was poor. 
 
 In 1835 the house of Captain Molesworth, at
 
 38 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Trinity, a short distance from Edinburgh, was the 
 scene of a most extraordinary series of manifes- 
 tations, in all essential points analogous to those 
 now creating so deep an interest in the United 
 States. This case is likewise given in detail in 
 Mrs. Crowe's interesting work, and in it, as in die 
 other cases alluded to, the most rigid scrutiny 
 failed to detect the origin of the sounds in ques- 
 tion. . Other, not dissimilar, instances, might be 
 adduced from Mrs. Crowe's work, for so completely 
 has that lady swept up such scattered treasures of 
 the invisible world as have been vouchsafed to 
 this, that her research includes every description 
 of development, and leaves me no more difficult 
 duty than that of directing attention to such de- 
 monstrations as appear to have been most nearly 
 allied to the subject of these notes. 
 
 America has contributed liberally, and from 
 oldest ages, to the records of manifestations. The 
 Indians of the Rocky Mountains have traditions 
 of what may be called by the generic term 
 " knockings," which they believe to proceed from 
 a spirit, known as the " Great Bear," and to be 
 intended as warnings. 
 
 The singular sect of "Shakers," or "Shaking 
 Quakers," have for many years had among them 
 manifestations of a similar nature ; but, although ac- 
 knowledging a perfect familiarity with the subject, 
 I have been unable to obtain from them any direct
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 39 
 
 information as to the manner, object, or frequency 
 of the demonstrations to which they lay claim.* 
 
 The first regularly recorded American manifes- 
 tations commenced in the year 1834, at Canandai- 
 gua, New York, and recurred, in 1836, in various 
 parts of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The singular case of the family of Mr. Dods, 
 which occurred some few years since, is deserving 
 of a little more detail, being of a character more 
 closely resembling the circumstances dwelt upon 
 hereafter. It is stated that the witnesses, now 
 living, who have it in their power to attest the re- 
 markable circumstances, are numerous and most 
 respectable, individuals themselves in the highest 
 degree incredulous, and who repaired to the 
 theatre of operations, in order to detect, if possible, 
 the means by which they were effected. I shall 
 simply give the facts, as narrated, as briefly as 
 possible, and without comment. 
 
 Mr. Dods was a resident in the village of 
 Levant, Penobscot county, U. S. The first in- 
 timation that gentleman or his family received, 
 that he or they were to be made the subject of 
 any unusual manifestation, was conveyed in cer- 
 tain rappings, sometimes on the outside door 
 
 * After these lines were in type, intimation was received that 
 a letter from a member of the sect, comprising some interesting details 
 was on its way hither. This communication, should it arrive in time, 
 will be found in a future chapter.
 
 40 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 of his house, sometimes within on the walls 
 in the chambers his own apartment in fact, 
 in every part of his dwelling. Coming from the 
 village late one evening, he observed the school- 
 house brilliantly lighted, and forms of men and 
 women moving to and fro. As he drew near, the 
 lights were suddenly extinguished. Fancying, 
 however, that the scholars had assembled for a 
 dance, he crept silently to the door, and, opening 
 it suddenly, stepped within. All was darkness 
 and silence not a human being was to be found ! 
 On other occasions, noises like the rolling of a 
 heavy metal ball, were heard to reverberate from 
 one end of the attic to the other ; bedsteads were 
 lifted and turned round, tables moved across the 
 room, lights moved up and down the road before 
 the house, or assembled in an open space, and 
 then mingled in what suggested to the astonished 
 watchers the idea of some fantastic dance ! The 
 scene of these extraordinary phenomena was 
 visited by so many persons, that the clerk of the 
 county courts deemed it his duty to attend at the 
 spot, with his assistant, and endeavour to detect 
 and expose the trick. Mr. Dods was perfectly 
 willing to receive them, and permitted them to 
 select their own apartment, to which, about nine 
 o'clock in the evening, they accordingly withdrew. 
 They first fastened the door; secondly, secured the 
 windows ; they then searched the room, the closet,
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 41 
 
 and the bed ; they were confident that no human 
 being was in the room, or could get in without 
 their knowledge, equally certain that no machinery 
 existed in the room. Placing the candle on the 
 table, unextinguished, they went to bed. Soon 
 after they retired, they felt the bed clothes move ; 
 they immediately caught hold of the quilts and 
 braced themselves against the foot posts of the 
 bedstead; the clothes continued to move until 
 they relaxed their hold, when the quilts and sheet 
 hopped six feet from the bed on to the floor. The 
 candle was burning, but no visible power could 
 be detected. The bed was again searched, but 
 nothing was found. They replaced the clothes, 
 and once more got into bed. In a very few 
 moments, the feather bed started out from under 
 them, and fell on the floor, notwithstanding their 
 united exertions to retain it in its place. 
 
 The adventurers never succeeded in obtaining 
 the slightest clue to these disturbances. 
 
 The like fortune attended another inquirer a 
 relative of Mr. Dods. At length, a company of 
 gentlemen, from various parts of the country, 
 assembled at the house, in the hope of witnessing 
 the manifestations. Nor were they disappointed. 
 They were conversing freely on various topics, 
 when a noise was heard, like the rumbling of 
 distant thunder. It continued to increase in loud- 
 ness, drawing nearer and still nearer, and at last
 
 42 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 burst directly over the house, shaking the whole 
 structure to its very foundation. This took place 
 in winter, and the stars shone out clear and cold. 
 Soon after this thunder-peal, a noise was heard in 
 the attic like the trundling of iron balls on a loose 
 floor, and it continued for ten minutes, when the 
 company were startled by a heavy weight falling 
 apparently from the ceiling to the floor ; it imme- 
 diately commenced rolling about the room, would 
 glide under the chairs without touching them, jump 
 over the table, strike the four sides of the room, 
 bounding without touching the floor, and at last it 
 hopped upon a bed which stood in one corner of 
 the room, and moved from the head to the foot. 
 The clothes were distinctly seen to settle under it, 
 as if some heavy weight was pressing them down. 
 A gentleman in the room walked towards the bed, 
 with the seeming intention to take hold of, or ar- 
 rest its progress, but one of the company caught 
 hold of his arm, and said, " Do not touch it for 
 your life" It then dropped on the floor and 
 rolled out of the side of the house. During all 
 these phenomena, nothing could be seen. That 
 which made the noise was invisible. Mr. Dods 
 was in the room, and appeared as much alarmed 
 as any one of the gentlemen present. It would 
 appear, however, that the spirit was by no means 
 of a communicative disposition, since, after in- 
 dulging in very many similar manifestations, too
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 43 
 
 numerous to mention, it ultimately withdrew from 
 the house and neighbourhood, leaving all parties 
 in total ignorance as to its character and object. 
 
 Eighteen years since, in 1834, the Newark 
 Advertiser published a curious narrative of a 
 rapping-case, into the truth of which its agents 
 had previously inquired. It appeared that on a 
 certain night the family of a Mr. Joseph Barron, 
 living in the township of Woodbridge, about three 
 miles from Rahway, Newark county, were alarmed, 
 after they had retired, by a loud thumping against 
 the house. Mr. B.'s first impression was, that 
 some person was attempting to break in, but 
 further observation soon undeceived him. The 
 thumping, however, continued at short intervals, 
 until the family became so alarmed, that Mr. B. 
 called in some of his neighbours, who remained 
 up with the family until daylight, when the 
 thumping ceased. 
 
 The next evening, after nightfall, the noise 
 recommenced, when it was ascertained to be 
 mysteriously connected with the movements of a 
 servant girl in the family, a white girl, about 
 fourteen years of age. When passing a window 
 on the stairs, for example, a sudden jar, accom- 
 panied with an explosive sound, broke a pane of 
 glass ; the girl at the same moment being seized 
 with a violent spasm. This, of course, very much 
 alarmed her, and the physician (Dr. Drake) was
 
 44 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 sent for, came, and bled her. The bleeding, 
 however, produced no apparent effect ; the noise 
 still continued as before, at intervals, wherever 
 the girl went, each sound producing more or less 
 of a spasm; and the physician, with the family, 
 remained up during the night. At daylight the 
 thumping ceased again. On the third evening 
 the same thing was repeated, commencing a little 
 earlier than before, and so every evening. 
 
 The circumstance rapidly spread, and pro- 
 duced a vast excitement, the house being filled 
 and surrounded from morning till night. All 
 imaginable means were resorted to in order to 
 unravel the phenomenon. At one time the girl 
 would be removed from one apartment to another 
 without effect. Wherever she was placed, at 
 uncertain intervals, the sudden thumping noise 
 would be heard in the room. She was taken to 
 a neighbour's house; the same result followed. 
 When carried out of doors, however, no noise 
 was heard. Dr. Drake, who had been constant 
 in his attentions during the whole period, on one 
 occasion, in company with the agents of the paper, 
 made a variety of experiments with the girl, who 
 was placed in an upper room with some members 
 of the family. The noises then resembled those 
 which would be produced by a person violently 
 thumping the upper door with the head of an axe, 
 five or six times in succession, jarring the house,
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 45 
 
 ceasing a few minutes, and then resuming as 
 before. The girl appeared to be in perfect 
 health, cheerful, and free from everything like 
 the fear and apprehension she had on former 
 occasions exhibited. The noise, however, con- 
 tinued ; and in order to ascertain more satisfac- 
 torily that she was not herself the author of it, 
 she was placed on a chair upon a blanket, in the 
 centre of the room ; the chair being bandaged 
 with cloth, the girl's feet fastened on the front 
 round, and her hands confined together on her 
 lap. All these precautions produced no change, 
 the thumping continuing as before, though the 
 girl moved neither limb nor muscle. She was 
 then placed in the doorway of a closet, the door 
 being ajar. In less than a minute it flew open 
 as if violently struck with a mallet, accompanied 
 with precisely such a noise as would be produced 
 in such a case. 
 
 The explanation suggested at the time by 
 Dr. Drake, and others, was that the phenomena 
 were electrical ; and their opinion certainly 
 seemed to derive some confirmation from the 
 fact that, whenever any substance that happened 
 to be a non-conductor, as a pillow, was inter- 
 posed between the girl's person and the door, no 
 noise or effect whatever was discoverable. 
 
 The following interesting account, extracted
 
 46 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 from Cahagnet's " Arcanes de la vie future 
 devoilgs" is worth perusal : 
 
 " J'etais dans cette disposition (sceptical) a 
 1'age de dix huit ans lorsque, travaillant a ma 
 these sur la prescience divine, et le libre arbitre 
 humain, j'entendis frapper au dessus de ma 
 tete ; le bruit devint si fatiguant par sa monotone 
 continuite, que je montai dans la piece d'ou il 
 partait: il n'y avait personne. Je pensais que 
 c'etait un effet d'acoustique ; j'allais descendre, 
 lorsque le meme bruit se renouvela au dessus de 
 ma tete, dans un grenier : j'y montai. Per- 
 sonne encore. J'explorai le grenier et les cham- 
 bres au dessous : je me mis aux fenetres : aucune 
 cause physique au dedans, aucune bruit au dehors 
 qui put etre repercute. Je repris ma plume ; 
 mais a peine fusje assise, que les memes coups 
 reguliers se firent entendre, et aussitot une pensee 
 prit possession de mon esprit. Fritz est malade, 
 et il n'en reviendra pas ! Ce jeune homme etait 
 mon fiance, et il m'aimait avec une sincerite et 
 une tendresse infinie. Je courus rapporter a ma 
 mere ce qui venait de se passer, lui faire part de 
 mon intention et la prier de m'accompagner chez 
 les parents de Fritz, qui, en effet, etait au lit. H 
 me dit que depuis plusieurs heures, ses desirs 
 m'appelaient. Dix jours apres, il etait fort mal. 
 Ma mere alors etant souffrante, etma soeur tombait
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 47 
 
 presque chaque nuit dans d'horribles convulsions, 
 j'avais pris le parti pour veiller sur ces deux 
 objets de mes affections, de coucher avec la 
 premiere et de faire coucher 1'autre dans notre 
 chambre. La nuit du dixieme jour de la mala- 
 die de Fritz, une forte secousse fut donnee au 
 lit occupe par ma mere et moi. Pensant que 
 cette secousse avait ete imprimee par un coup de 
 pied de ma mere, je ne m'en occupais pas, mais 
 je mis doucement ma main sur sa jambe, et 
 je pus m'assurer, lorsqu' arriva la seconde se- 
 cousse, qu'elle ne provenait point de ma mere. 
 La troisierne fut si violente, que ma mere s'eveilla 
 en sursaut, me demandant ce que je faisais. 
 D'apres ma response, elle me dit ; ' Fritz meurt, 
 mon enfant ; il vient nous dire adieu.'' Je me 
 leve doucement, allume la bougie, et explore la 
 chambre etles chambres voisines ; puisje reprends 
 ma place. Alors, sur le pied du lit nous entendons 
 le bruit de deux poings qui tombent alternativement 
 sur le bois du lit, et cela avec regularite et con- 
 tiiiuite. Ma sosur, a son tour, s'eveilla en sursaut 
 s'ecriant, ' Mon Dieu ! quel bruit faitesvous done T 
 Je lui parle, j'essaye de la rassurer; peine in- 
 utile ; elle n'ose rester dans son lit. Ma mere 
 va prendre sa place, et elle vient occuper la 
 ruelle du lit. Les coups reguliers repassent par- 
 devant le cote que j'occupais ; les secousses faisai- 
 ent vaciller la bougie. Je me mets a lire a haute
 
 48 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 voix pour partager 1'attention de ma soeur, et le 
 bruit ne cesse qu'apres avoir dure plus de trois 
 heures. En effet, mon fiance etait mort ! De 
 ce jour tomba mon incredulite." F. LAMB, 17, 
 Rue Tiquetonne. 
 
 The remarkable case of the celebrated French 
 actress, Madlle. Clairon, related in the first num- 
 ber of Household Words, will be in the recollec- 
 tion of many readers, who will probably coincide 
 in the opinion that the elaborate effort at explana- 
 tion (on the hypothesis of a trick), appended to 
 the narrative, is far too greedy in assumptions to 
 cany the slightest conviction with it. 
 
 As a pendant to the foregoing, may be men- 
 tioned an extraordinary circumstance of our own 
 time. It is to be regretted that the absence of 
 permission to mention names (albeit the matter 
 has been frequently and openly mentioned in 
 many private circles) deprives it of that actual 
 seal of authenticity so desirable in matters of the 
 kind. The facts, which occurred about ten years 
 since, are, notwithstanding, incontrovertible. 
 
 A member of the College of Physicians, well 
 known in London, had occasion to visit Dorset- 
 shire, and, finding himself in the near neighbour- 
 hood of an old and valued friend, went to call on 
 him. He found him under the care of two medi- 
 cal practitioners, who appeared, at the moment, in 
 a high state of satisfaction, owing to the success
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 49 
 
 which, after a period of some anxiety, seemed 
 suddenly to have crowned the efforts of their skill. 
 The patient had completely lost all painful sensa- 
 tions, and, according to their opinion, mended ra- 
 pidly. The practised eye of their eminent brother 
 was not to be so deceived. From various symp- 
 toms which had escaped the notice of the others, 
 Doctor judged that the disease, thereto- 
 fore confined to the joints and limbs, had only 
 quitted its deadly grasp to fasten upon the vitals, 
 and his prognostications of an early and fatal 
 result were too sadly verified when, late on that 
 very night (the two country doctors having de- 
 parted) he was summoned from his bed to attend 
 the patient, who had suddenly become worse. 
 He was, in fact, already dying, and, about three 
 o'clock, expired. So completely were all in the 
 house (Doctor excepted) taken by sur- 
 prise, at this sudden close of the scene, that they 
 appeared as it were paralysed ; and the last me- 
 lancholy offices for the deceased had to be per- 
 formed by Doctor himself, and a lady, 
 
 Mrs. T., nearly connected with the family, who 
 had been on a visit to her sick relative. They 
 had just concluded, when a tremendous blow was 
 struck upon the wainscot, exactly at the head of 
 the bed. It was described by the two amazed 
 hearers, to be such as might be given by a power- 
 ful man, armed with a sledge-hammer, and using 
 
 D
 
 50 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 his whole strength ; the room, and even the house, 
 seeming to vibrate with the shock. One glance 
 of indignation at the supposed indecent outrage, 
 was exchanged, and then the Doctor ran into the 
 gallery to ascertain the doer ; but, though scarcely 
 an instant had elapsed, no one was visible. It is 
 right to state that the entire household consisted 
 of two or three old respectable servants and nurses, 
 all of whom had been w T armly attached to, and 
 anxious for, their master, and therefore most un- 
 likely to have been guilty of such a silly and 
 shameful insult to the solemn majesty of death. 
 Dr. , at all events, upon whom the circum- 
 stance made a strong impression, has frequently 
 declared his inability to account for it by any 
 natural and physical cause. 
 
 The report of the Commission of the Academy 
 of Sciences, at Paris, Feb. 16, 1846, records the 
 case of one Angelique Cottin, a girl of fourteen, 
 in whose presence sounds were heard, and move- 
 ments of articles of furniture, without visible 
 agency, noticed. The case, however, is reported 
 briefly and unsatisfactorily; and we are entitled 
 to inquire whether, had the circumstance occurred 
 at the present period, a closer investigation might 
 not have developed phenomena analogous to 
 those hereafter mentioned. 
 
 So lately as August, in the present year, a cir- 
 cumstance occurred in Scotland, which created
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 51 
 
 considerable excitement in its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, and ultimately compelled the parties 
 concerned to call into requisition the detective 
 powers of the police. The scene of operations is 
 described as a small farm-place, called Pleaston, 
 near Pathhead, East Lothian ; and it was here 
 that, during the past autumn, certain mysterious 
 knockings disturbed the peace of the quiet in- 
 mates, and led them to the belief that some intel- 
 ligence more than human pervaded their dwelling. 
 The rappings (the description of which accords 
 precisely with those now so common in America), 
 appeared to be attendant on the presence of a 
 child of the family, 'a girl of about eight. This 
 small specimen of a British " medium " is said to 
 be a child of rather remarkable aspect, with eyes 
 so wild and peculiar as to impart anything but a 
 pleasing expression to her infant features. Wher- 
 ever she went, rappings accompanied her, some- 
 times in the wall, sometimes in the furniture, &c. 
 If any person present struck the wall, &c., knocks 
 instantly replied. The sounds were frequently 
 heard after all the inmates and neighbours had 
 retired to rest. Hundreds of persons, attracted 
 by curiosity, visited the farm ; and, at length, Mr. 
 List, superintendent of the district, was appealed 
 to, in order to solve a problem that was growing 
 somewhat inconvenient. This gentleman, finding 
 that the raps, as has been mentioned, attended 
 
 D2
 
 52 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 the little girl, naturally argued that she must be, 
 in some mysterious manner, the cause of them, 
 and directed her removal to a neighbouring village, 
 after which the noises were heard no longer. How 
 the rappings were produced remains still a mys- 
 tery, for it is observable that the same difference 
 of opinion exists on the subject, which character- 
 ised every early instance of the kind in America. 
 The medical man who attended the family was 
 of opinion that the sounds were produced by the 
 child's " cracking some of her larger bones." 
 How long the learned practitioner conceived that 
 such a system of fracture might last, without ex- 
 hausting that of the patient, we need not inquire, 
 the fallacy of this osseous hypothesis having 
 been long since (as will be seen) so amply demon- 
 strated in other cases, as to render any discussion 
 of it, in this place, mere waste of words. 
 
 The superintendent, on his part, ignores the 
 bone-cracking, and considers that the noises were 
 produced by the girl (or her sister), striking the 
 boarding of the box-bed, in which she slept. 
 Here, again, our indefatigable friend of Cock- 
 Lane celebrity, must, it appears, have a finger in 
 the pie ! In short, therefore, the origin of these 
 Pathhead rappings remains as great a mystery as 
 ever ; and if they did, indeed, partake of the na- 
 ture of those in America, which seems highly 
 probable, the tranquillity of Pleaston farm, which
 
 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 53 
 
 followed immediately upon the child's removal, 
 only confirms the acknowledged rale, that the 
 manifestations cannot be obtained without the 
 presence of a medium. It is much to be regretted 
 that Mr. List, a most intelligent and experi- 
 enced man, should have suffered so fair an op- 
 portunity to escape ; that, so far from resting satis- 
 fied with some vague idea of board-scratching, or 
 of complicity with those around, and thereupon 
 causing the girl's removal, he did not rather suffer 
 her to remain where she was, and endeavour to 
 o btain some proof as to which of his various sus- 
 picions might be correct. "List, List, O List " 
 (as another ghost has said), you were wrong in 
 this ! So simple an experiment as removing her 
 from the box-bed, might have sufficed to establish, 
 or disprove, one theory ; but, by sending her away, 
 the chance of investigation is lost, the secret re- 
 mains in statu quo ; and if any conclusion what- 
 ever is to be drawn, it must unavoidably be one 
 favourable to the supposition that the girl was a 
 medium. 
 
 Another example of the absurd and injudicious 
 manner in which inquiries of this nature are 
 usually conducted, has been furnished, during the 
 present month (October), by the proceedings in a 
 case of " rapping " at Hull, reported in the daily 
 papers. The non-discovery of the mystery would 
 probably, in any case, have been the result. It is
 
 54 RECORDS OF ANALOGOUS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 at the same time pretty clear that policemen are 
 no profound philosophers, nor is it to that very 
 useful arm that the unravelment of such a ques- 
 tion is likely to be owing. A power greater than 
 that of the whole detective force combined, an 
 intelligence infinitely transcending the shrewd- 
 ness of that select body, has already revealed 
 its presence in matters similar to the foregoing, 
 and will, beyond question, extend its influence 
 until widely different machinery science, reason, 
 judgment, candour, shall be set in motion, to guage 
 the real value of this so-called philosophy its 
 good or ill to man.
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 Commencement and progress of the manifestations Mr. Weekman 
 The Fox family Their statements Discovery of the method of 
 communication Excitement produced Investigations Mrs. Fish 
 Public meetings at Rochester Rapid dissemination of the phe- 
 nomena Further investigations The Foxes at New York Pub- 
 lic and private inquiries Strong testimonials in favour of the 
 media Proceedings, &c. The Foxes impeached Mrs. Norman 
 Culver Failure of the accusation Continued progress of the 
 manifestations Mrs. Bushnell, the Cincinnati medium Investi- 
 gations New media Dr. Owens Professor Hill Dr. Silsbee, &c. 
 Popular opinions, &c. 
 
 ALTHOUGH enough evidence has been adduced 
 to demonstrate the probability that these pheno- 
 mena have not declared themselves in the United 
 States alone, it seems, nevertheless, to have been 
 reserved for the latter country to be the channel 
 through which the notice of society in general, 
 and the learned and philosophic in particular, 
 should be drawn to a subject which, in whatever 
 light it may be viewed, offers more than sufficient 
 phenomena of an unusual aspect, to protect the 
 investigator from any charge of easy faith, or 
 puerile curiosity.
 
 56 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 In the village of Hydesville, township of Arca- 
 dia, Wayne county, New York, stands a house 
 which, during a part of the years 1846-7, was in 
 the occupation of Mr. Michael Weekman. The 
 account given by this gentleman is that, late on a 
 certain evening, he heard a rapping on the street- 
 door, opened it, and saw no one. A few minutes 
 later, a second and louder rapping succeeded ; 
 again he opened the door, with the like result. 
 Thinking it might be some silly disturber of the 
 night's repose, in shutting the street-door, Mr. 
 Weekman, on this occasion, retained his hold of 
 the handle, and when the strange summons was 
 a third time repeated, flung open the door and 
 sprung out. No one was visible ! 
 
 Nothing of moment subsequently occurred 
 during Mr. Weekman's tenancy, and on the llth 
 of December, 1847, the house passed into the 
 occupation of Mr. John D. Fox (formerly of 
 Rochester) and his family. 
 
 It was late on a certain night, about the close 
 of March in the succeeding year, 1848, that the 
 disturbances, which afterwards became so fre- 
 quent, first commenced. The noise seemed to 
 proceed from one of the bed-rooms, and sounded 
 as though some one was knocking on the floor, 
 moving chairs, &c. Four or five members of the 
 family were at home, and they all got up to as- 
 certain the cause of the noise. Every part of the
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 57 
 
 house was searched, yet nothing could be dis- 
 covered. A perceptible jar was felt by putting 
 their hands on the bedsteads and chairs, or even 
 while standing on the floor. The noise was con- 
 tinued that night as long as any one was awake 
 in the house. The following evening they were 
 heard as before, and on the evening of the 21st of 
 March, the neighbours were called in for the first 
 time. 
 
 The following is an extract from Mrs. Fox's 
 statement, made soon after the occurrences nar- 
 rated took place : 
 
 " On Friday night, we concluded to go to bed 
 early, and not let it disturb us ; if it came, we 
 thought w T e would not mind it, but try and get a 
 good night's rest. My husband was here on all 
 these occasions, heard the noise, and helped 
 search. It was very early when we went to bed 
 011 this night, hardly dark. We went to bed so 
 early, because we had been deprived of so much 
 of our rest that I was almost sick. 
 
 " My husband had not gone to bed when we 
 first heard the noise on this evening. I had just 
 laid down. 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. As fast 
 
 D 5
 
 58 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 as she made the noise with her hands or fingers, 
 the sound was followed up in the room. It did 
 not sound different at that time, only it made the 
 same number of sounds that the girl did. When 
 she stopped, the sound itself stopped 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,' &c., striking 
 one hand in the other at the same time. The 
 blows which she made were repeated as before. It 
 appeared to answer her by repeating every blow 
 that she made. She only did so once. She then 
 began to be startled; and then I spoke, and said 
 to the noise, 'Count ten,' and then it made ten 
 strokes or noises. Then I asked the ages of my 
 different children successively, and it gave a num- 
 ber of raps, corresponding to the ages of my 
 children. 
 
 " I then asked if it was a human being that was 
 making the noise ? and if it was, to manifest it by 
 the same noise. There was no noise. I then 
 asked if it was a spirit? and if it was, to manifest 
 it by two sounds. I heard two sounds as soon as 
 the words were spoken. I then asked if an 
 injured spirit, to give me the sound. I then heard 
 the rapping distinctly. I inquired if it was in- 
 jured in tliis house ? it rapped. Was the in- 
 jurer living ? same answer. I further understood
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 59 
 
 that its remains were buried under the dwelling ; 
 that it was 31 years of age, a male, and had left 
 a family of five children, all living. Was the wife 
 living ? silence. Dead ? rapping. How long 
 since ? two raps.' " 
 
 Hence it appears that up to this time, sounds 
 were only made when either an affirmative reply 
 was intended, or numbers were designated. Sub- 
 sequently, however, a more general attention 
 having been awakened, and various means can- 
 vassed, with a view to improve the mode of com- 
 munication, a person present conceived the idea 
 of interrogating the sound-maker by means of 
 the alphabet. Accordingly, the spirit was asked 
 whether, if the alphabet were called over, it 
 would rap for the letters composing its name? 
 The reply was in the affirmative, and the name of 
 " Charles Rayn," was spelled out. 
 
 A series of Jive raps, in quick succession, 
 having been frequently noticed, it was ascertained, 
 by question and experiment, that this was a signal 
 for the alphabet. 
 
 Thus we arrive at the conclusion that, in this 
 spirit-language, an affirmative is conveyed by a 
 single rap (though, perhaps, emphasized by more), 
 a negative by silence. Five raps demand the 
 alphabet, and that may be called over, viva voce, 
 or else, in a printed form, laid upon a table, and 
 the finger, or a pencil, slowly passed along it;
 
 60 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 when, on arriving at the required letter, a rap is 
 heard ; the querist then recommences, until words 
 and sentences are spelled out, upon the accuracy 
 or intelligence displayed in which, depends, in a 
 great degree, the amount of faith popularly ac- 
 corded to these manifestations. 
 
 To proceed with the narrative of facts and evi- 
 dence. 
 
 It appears that a vast number of persons visited 
 Mrs. Fox's house, heard the noises, and received, 
 to a very varied assortment of questions, satis- 
 factory replies. In the course, however, of an 
 interrogatory, an answer was returned intimating 
 that a murder had been formerly committed in the 
 house, and that the body lay buried beneath the 
 cellar. In relation to this, the following state- 
 ment was made public : 
 
 "I went over again on Sunday, between one 
 and two o'clock, P.M. I went into the cellar with 
 several others, and had them all leave the house 
 over our heads; and then I asked, if there had 
 been a man buried in that cellar, to manifest it by 
 rapping, or any other noise or sign ? The moment ' 
 I asked the questions, 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 up, and examine the room, and see if he
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 61 
 
 could discover the cause of the noise. He came 
 back, and said he could discover nothing ; 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 then went up 
 stairs, and made a thorough search around the 
 rooms, but could find nothing. 
 
 " I then got a knife and a fork, and tried to 
 see if 1 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, 
 between the bed-room and the cellar no place 
 where anything could be secreted to make the 
 noise. When this noise was heard in the bed- 
 room, I could feel 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. 
 
 " 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 the 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 did or could have made them ;
 
 62 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 that I have spent considerable time since then in 
 order to satisfy myself as to the cause of it, but 
 cannot account for it on any other than superna- 
 tural ground. I inhabited the same house about 
 seven years ago, and at that time never heard any 
 noises of the kind in and about the premises. * * 
 " I never believed in haunted houses, or heard 
 or saw anything but what I could account for 
 before ; but this I cannot account for. 
 
 " (Signed) WM. DUESLER. 
 
 " April 12, 1848." 
 
 In a pamphlet, published at Canandaigua, in 
 1848, by E. E. Lewis, certificates corroborating 
 the foregoing statements are given, signed by the 
 following persons : 
 
 "John D. Fox, Walter Scotten, Elizabeth 
 Jewel, Lorren Tenney, James Bridger, Chauncey 
 P. Losey, Benjamin F. Clarke, Elizabeth Fox, 
 Vernelia Culver, William D. Storer, Marvin P. 
 Loser, David S. Fox, and Mary Redfield." 
 
 The high character and respectability of this 
 family did not, nevertheless, protect them from 
 certain unpleasant results of these manifestations. 
 Immense excitement was created in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and considerable prejudice, extending 
 even to threats of violence, existed against them. 
 
 At this period, a widowed daughter of Mrs. 
 Fox, a Mrs. Fish, hearing much of the strange
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 63 
 
 affair, paid a visit to her mother's house, and had 
 her curiosity completely gratified. Upon her re- 
 turn to her residence at Rochester, New York, a 
 part of the family accompanied her, among whom 
 was her youngest sister but one, Margaretta Fox, 
 aged fourteen. The sounds accompanied them. 
 Whether they had "packed the thing among the 
 beds," or what other and more correct theory 
 may ultimately prevail, time and philosophy must 
 determine. At all events, the arrival .of the mani- 
 festations at Rochester created, at once, so great a 
 sensation, that a public meeting was convened, 
 and two committees were successively chosen to 
 investigate the matter thoroughly. Of one of 
 these ex-Chancellor Frederick Whittlesea and 
 Dr. H. H. Longworthy were members. Both 
 bodies failed to arrive at any satisfactory solution 
 of the mystery. 
 
 In the meantime the demonstration rapidly 
 progressed. The mysterious sounds no longer 
 confined themselves to the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of these ladies. They were heard, among 
 other places, at the house of a wealthy resident at 
 Rochester, Mr. Granger, and this without the pre- 
 sence of either Mrs. Fish or her sister. 
 
 The third town in which the rappings were 
 noticed, was Auburn, New York. Catherine Fox, 
 the youngest daughter, aged about twelve, was 
 visiting at the latter place, and thither the sounds
 
 64 
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 attended her. Since that period, as is now known, 
 manifestations have occurred in places almost too 
 numerous to mention. It has been already stated 
 in the introduction to this curious subject, that the 
 city of Philadelphia alone supplies three hundred 
 " magnetic circles," that is to say, small assem- 
 blies, meeting periodically, to each of which be- 
 longs a recognised medium of its own. In other 
 large cities there are forty or fifty media to be 
 found, and it is calculated that at the present 
 period (September, 1852) there are in the whole 
 extent of the States no less a number than thirty 
 thousand! The following places have been the 
 scene of the most noted manifestations : 
 
 New York, 
 
 Boston, 
 
 Springfield (Mass.), 
 
 Providence, 
 
 New Haven (Conn.), 
 
 Rochester, 
 
 Cleveland, 
 
 Woonspcket, 
 
 Stratford, 
 
 Athol, 
 
 Sennat ( Cayuga County), 
 
 Warren (Penn.), 
 
 Syracuse, 
 
 Greece and Monroe County, 
 
 Cincinnati, 
 
 Buffalo, 
 
 Jefferson, 
 
 Troy, 
 
 Stoughton, 
 
 Keokuk (Iowa), 
 
 Morris, 
 
 Austinburgh, 
 
 St. Louis, 
 
 Auburn, 
 
 Manchester (N. H.), 
 
 Long Island, 
 
 Portsmouth (N. H.) 
 
 New Brighton, 
 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 
 We now arrive at November, 1849, when, at
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 65 
 
 Rochester, the sounds communicated to the parties 
 investigating as follows : 
 
 " You have all a duty to perform. We want 
 you to make this matter public." 
 
 The New York Weekly Tribune (edited by Mr. 
 Horace Greely), in its issue of December 8th, 
 1849, supplied a report of the public investiga- 
 tion which thereupon followed, through the me- 
 dium of a committee composed of Messrs. A. J. 
 Combs, Daniel Marsh, Nathaniel Clark, A. Jud- 
 son, and Edwin Jones, who declared 
 
 " That without the knowledge of the persons in 
 whose presence the manifestations are made, the 
 committee selected the hall of the Sons of Tem- 
 perance for investigation that the sound on the 
 floor near where the two ladies stood, was heard 
 as distinctly as at other places, and that part of 
 the committee heard the rapping on the wall be- 
 hind them that a number of questions were 
 asked, which were answered, not altogether right, 
 nor altogether wrong ; that in the afternoon they 
 went to the house of a private citizen, and, while 
 there, the sounds were heard on the outside (ap- 
 parently) of the front door, after they had entered, 
 and on the door of a closet. By placing the 
 hand upon the door, there was a sensible jar felt 
 when the rapping was heard. One of the com- 
 mittee placed one of his hands upon the feet of
 
 66 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 the ladies and the other on the floor, and though 
 the feet were not moved, there was a distinct jar 
 on the floor. On the pavement, and on the 
 ground, the same sound was heard a kind of 
 double rap, as a stroke and a rebound, were dis- 
 tinguishable. When the ladies were separated at 
 a distance, no sound w T as heard, but when a third 
 person was interposed between them, the sounds 
 were heard. The ladies seemed to give every 
 opportunity to the committee to investigate the 
 cause fully, and would submit to a thorough in- 
 vestigation by a committee of ladies, if desired. 
 They all agreed that the sounds were heard, but 
 they entirely failed to discover any means by 
 which it could be done" 
 
 Subsequently, another committee of responsible 
 men was appointed to investigate the "mystery." 
 This committee met at the rooms of Dr. Gates, 
 at the Rochester House, and appointed a com- 
 mittee of ladies, who took the young women into 
 a room, disrobed them, and examined their per- 
 sons and clothing, to be sure that there were no 
 fixtures about them that could produce the 
 sounds. 
 
 When satisfied on this and other points, the 
 committee of ladies gave the subjects of their exa- 
 mination the following certificate : 
 
 " When they were standing on pillows, with a
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 67 
 
 handkerchief tied round the bottom of their dresses, 
 tight to the ankles, we all heard the rappings on 
 the wall and floor distinctly. 
 
 " (Signed) MRS. STONE. 
 
 MRS. J. GATES. 
 
 MRS. M. P. LAURENCE." 
 
 Various other measures only served to show, 
 more conclusively, that if there were any decep- 
 tion, the subjects themselves were deceived ; that 
 they did not produce the sounds, and, if they did, 
 could not have answered a tithe of the questions 
 propounded. 
 
 The annexed curious and circumstantial detail, 
 from the hand of a respected clergyman of 
 Rochester, the Rev. C. Hammond, will at once 
 illustrate the manner in which these spiritual 
 seances were conducted, and the mystery in which 
 they were, and yet remain, enshrouded. 
 
 Mr. Hammond, on a first visit to the house 
 which was the principal scene of these manifesta- 
 tions, heard nothing beyond certain inexplicable 
 sounds, and went away as sceptical as he came. 
 His second visit was more successful. This was 
 his account : 
 
 " During the interval, I had prepared my mind 
 with certain questions, touching events unknown 
 to the family, and of a remote date. The sounds 
 told me my age precisely, though my appearance
 
 68 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 is such as to indicate a difference of eight or ten 
 years. The names of six of my nearest deceased 
 relatives were given me. I then inquired, ' Will 
 the spirit, who now makes these sounds, give me 
 its name ?' Five sounds directed rne to the alpha- 
 bet, which I repeated until the name of ' Charles ' 
 appeared, which answered to an infant child whom 
 we consigned to the grave in March, 1843. To 
 my inquiries, it gave me a true answer in regard 
 to the time it had been in the spirit-land, and also 
 the period since my eldest sister's death, which 
 \vas nearly eighteen years ; the latter fact not 
 being recollected then, I found true by dates on 
 my return home. Many other test questions were 
 correctly answered ; and yet, notwithstanding the 
 origin of these sounds seemed inexplicable, I was 
 inclined to impute them to mesmerism or clair- 
 voyance. 
 
 " On the third visit, I was selected from a half 
 dozen gentlemen, and directed by these sounds 
 to retire to another apartment, in company with 
 the three sisters and their aged mother. It was 
 about 8 o'clock in the evening. A lighted candle 
 was placed on a large table, and we seated our- 
 selves around it. I occupied one side of the table, 
 the mother and youngest daughter the right, and 
 two of the sisters the left, leaving the opposite side 
 of the table vacant. On taking our positions, the 
 sounds were heard, and continued to multiply and
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 69 
 
 become more violent, until every part of the room 
 trembled with their demonstrations. They were 
 unlike any I had heard before. Suddenly, as we 
 were all resting on the table, I felt the side next 
 to me move upward. I pressed upon it heavily, 
 but soon it passed out of the reach of us all, 
 full six feet from me, and at least four from the 
 nearest person to it. I saw distinctly its position ; 
 not a thread could have connected it with any of 
 the company without my notice, for I had come 
 to detect imposition, if it could be found. In 
 this position we remained until the question was 
 asked, ' Will the spirit move the table back where 
 it was before ?' when back it came, as though it 
 were carried on the head of some one, who had 
 not suited his position to a perfect equipoise, the 
 balance being sometimes in favour of one side 
 and then the other. But it regained its first po- 
 sition." 
 
 After minutely describing other experiments, 
 Mr. Hammond concludes with his " confession of 
 faith:" 
 
 "That any of the company could have per- 
 formed these things, under the circumstances in 
 which we were situated, would require a greater 
 stretch of credulity on my part, than it would to 
 believe it was the work of spirits. It could not, 
 by any possibility, have been done by them, nor 
 even attempted, without detection. And I may
 
 70 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 add that near the close of the demonstrations at 
 this visit, there was a vibration of the floor as 
 though several tons in weight had been uplifted 
 and suddenly fallen again upon it. This caused 
 everything in the room to shake most violently for 
 several minutes, when the force was withdrawn. 
 
 "I have also tested the intelligence of these 
 spirits in every way my ingenuity could invent. 
 On one occasion I wrote a word on a slip of 
 paper privately, placed it in my wallet, went there, 
 and the sounds through the alphabet, spelled that 
 word correctly as I had written it. That word was 
 ' Sibyl.' 
 
 " On the 20th of February, the two youngest 
 sisters made my family a visit. Here the sounds 
 were heard questions involving subjects wholly 
 unknown to them were answered a large heavy 
 dining-table was moved several times and on 
 expressing thanks at the table to the Giver of all 
 good, some six or eight sounds responded to every 
 sentence I uttered, by making loud and distinct 
 sounds in various parts of the room. 
 
 " C. HAMMOND. 
 
 "Bochester, Feb. 22, 1850." 
 
 Mrs. Fish and the Misses Fox now visited New 
 York city, whither, it is almost needless to say, 
 their fame had preceded them ; and there, as in 
 Rochester, every conceivable test was applied, in
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 71 
 
 a manner to satisfy the most sceptical. The ladies 
 were disrobed, and subjected to the most search- 
 ing investigation by a female committee chosen 
 for that purpose, who reported to their consti- 
 tuents that the sounds in question could not, by 
 any possibility, emanate from the parties them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Griswold, who had hitherto re- 
 mained wholly incredulous as to the alleged pre- 
 ternatural origin of the manifestations, now deter- 
 mined to investigate the facts of the case for him- 
 self; and with that view assembled a small party 
 at his house in Broadway. The circle was com- 
 posed of gentlemen of high character and intelli- 
 gence ; persons, who, probably without exception, 
 had no prepossession in favour of the principal 
 actors in the scene, and who even numbered among 
 them several avowed sceptics. 
 
 Among those present were the late Mr. J. Feni- 
 more Cooper, Mr. George Bancroft, the Rev. Dr. 
 Hawkes, Dr. J. W. Francis, Dr. Marcy, Mr. N. P. 
 Willis, Mr. Bryant, Mr. Bigelow, Mr. Richard 
 Kiinball, Mr. H. T. Tuckennan, and General 
 Lyman. 
 
 In order to prevent any suspicion as to the ar- 
 rangement of the room, the furniture, closets, &c., 
 the reunion was appointed, as has been mentioned, 
 at Dr. Griswold's own dwelling, which neither of 
 the ladies had ever entered before. A little past
 
 72 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 eight o'clock, Mrs. Fox and her three daughters, 
 accompanied by two gentlemen of Rochester, 
 made their appearance. For some time perhaps 
 half an hour no sounds were heard, and the 
 company began to exhibit obvious symptoms of 
 impatience. They were then requested to draw 
 nearer the table, which was in front of the ladies, 
 and form themselves into a compact circle. Soon 
 after, faint sounds began to be heard from under 
 the floor, around the table, and in different parts 
 of the room. They increased in loudness and 
 frequency, becoming clear and distinct, while no 
 one could deny their presence, nor trace them to 
 any visible cause. The question was now asked, 
 " Will the spirits converse with any one present ?" 
 No satisfactory answer was obtained, though there 
 was a general rumbling succession of sounds, the 
 purport of w r hich appeared to be ambiguous, to 
 those who professed to be most conversant with 
 the language. The question was then put more 
 definitely with regard to several gentlemen present. 
 After a good deal of coquetting, it was said that 
 replies would be given to any questions proposed 
 by Dr. Marcy. He inquired whether the spirit 
 with whom he wished to converse, was a relation 
 was a child and what w r as its age at the time of 
 its death. We understood Dr. Marcy to say that 
 the answers were correct, but nothing worthy of 
 special notice was elicited.
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 73 
 
 Mr. Henry T. Tuckerman was the next to pro- 
 pound inquiries, which, contrary to the usual 
 custom, he expressed audibly, so as to be heard 
 by the ladies and the whole company. Having 
 fixed in his mind the name of an individual, he 
 asked, " Did he live in New York ? " No answer. 
 " In Baltimore ? In Cambridge ? In Boston ? " 
 three distinct raps. Mr. T. continued, " Was he 
 a lawyer ? A merchant ? A physician ? A cler- 
 gyman ? " Knocks. " Was he an Episcopalian ? 
 A Presbyterian ? A Unitarian ? " going over the 
 names of the principal sects. No answer. At the 
 suggestion of a gentleman, Mr. T. asked, " Was 
 he a Christian ? " Knocks. Mr. T. then asked 
 the age of the person in a series of tens. " Was 
 he twenty years old at the time of his death ? Was 
 he thirty? Fifty? Sixty?" Knocks. "Has he 
 left a family?" Knocks. "Children?" Knocks. 
 " Five ? Three ? Two ? " Knocks. " Did he die 
 in Boston ? In Philadelphia ? In Albany ? In 
 Northampton ? Bennington ? " Knocks. " Did 
 he die of consumption ? Of fever ? Of cholera ? 
 Of old age?" Knocks. 
 
 The person in the querist's mind was the late 
 Rev. Dr. Channing, of Boston, who died, as stated, 
 at Bennington, (Vt.) while on a journey. It may 
 be remarked that, for the last years of his life, 
 Dr. Channing disclaimed all sectarian names, pre- 
 
 E
 
 74 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 ferring to be called only Christian ; and, though 
 under seventy, had nearly exhausted his physical 
 powers. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Hawkes was less successful in ob- 
 taining replies, and, after a short period, gave way 
 to Dr. J. W. Francis, who was welcomed with a 
 general roll of knockings, from the mysterious 
 agents, seeming to claim the privilege of old and 
 intimate acquaintance. With his proverbial ur- 
 banity, seating himself, as if at the bed-side of a 
 patient, Dr. F. asked, in terms of the most in- 
 sinuating blandness, whether the spirits present 
 would converse with any member of the company ? 
 Would they vouchsafe to speak to his illustrious 
 friend, the world-renowned author, Mr. Cooper ? 
 Would they converse with the great American 
 poet, Mr. Bryant ? To these flattering invitations 
 no reply was given. Would they speak to so 
 humble an individual as himself? Loud knocks. 
 Dr. F. then asked, fixing on a person, " Was he 
 an American ? Was he an Englishman ? Was 
 he a Scotchman ? " The knocks were loud and 
 unanimous. " Was he a merchant ? Was he a 
 lawyer? Was he an author?" Loud knocks. 
 " Was he a poet ? " Yes, in distinct knocks. 
 " Will you tell his name ? " Here the spirits called 
 for the alphabet, by sounds intelligible to the 
 ghost-seers. It then spelled out B-u-r when the
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 75 
 
 company indiscreetly, but spontaneously, inter- 
 rupted, by crying out " Robert Burns." This was 
 the true answer. 
 
 Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper was then requested to 
 enter into the supramundane sphere, and pro- 
 ceeded to interrogate the spirits, with the most 
 imperturbable self-possession and deliberation. 
 After several desultory questions, from which no 
 satisfactory answers were obtained, Mr. C. com- 
 menced a new series of inquiries. " Is the person 
 I inquire about a relative?" Yes, was at once 
 indicated by the knocks. "A near relative?" 
 Yes. "A man?" No answer. "A woman?" 
 Yes. "A daughter? A mother? A wife?" No 
 answer. "A sister?" Yes. Mr. C. then asked 
 the number of years since her death. To this an 
 answer was given in rapid and indistinct raps, 
 some counting 45, others 49, 54, &c. After con- 
 siderable parleying, as to the manner in which the 
 question should be answered, the consent of the 
 invisible interlocutor was given to knock the years 
 so slowly that they might be distinctly counted. 
 This was done. Knock knock knock for 
 what seemed over a minute, till the number 
 amounted to fifty, and was unanimously announced 
 by the company. Mr. C. now asked, " Did she 
 die of consumption," naming several diseases, to 
 which no answer was given. "Did she die by 
 
 E 2
 
 76 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 accident ? " Yes. " Was she killed by lightning ? 
 Was she shot ? Was she lost at sea ? Did she 
 fall from a carriage ? Was she thrown from a 
 horse ? " Yes. 
 
 Mr. Cooper did not pursue his inquiries any 
 further, and stated to the company that the an- 
 swers were correct, the person alluded to by him 
 being a sister, who, just fifty years ago the pre- 
 sent month, was killed by being thrown from a 
 horse. 
 
 The evening was now far advanced, and it was 
 not thought desirable to continue the colloquies 
 any further. At the suggestion of several gentle- 
 men, the ladies removed from the sofa, where they 
 had sat during the evening, and remained standing 
 in another part of the room. TJie knockings were 
 now heard on the doors at both ends of the room, 
 producing a vibration on the pannels which was 
 felt by every one who touched them. Different 
 gentlemen stood on the outside and the inside of 
 the door at the same time, when loud knockings 
 were heard on the side opposite to that where they 
 stood. The ladies were at such a distance from 
 the door in both cases, as to lend no countenance 
 to the idea that the sounds were produced by any 
 direct communication with them. They now went 
 into a parlour, under the room in which the party 
 was held, accompanied by several gentlemen, and 
 the sounds were then produced with great distinct-
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 77 
 
 ness, causing sensible vibrations in the sofa, and 
 apparently coming from a thick hearth-rug before 
 the fireplace, as well as from other quarters of the 
 room. 
 
 Such are the most important facts derived from 
 the statement of an eye-witness. Mr, Greely sub- 
 sequently published the following testimony, 
 signed with his initials : 
 
 "We vouch for the perfect honesty and good 
 faith of the Fox family. There we stop, awaiting 
 more evidence. That some influence, outside and 
 unconnected with the volition of the family, causes 
 these manifestations, we are confident. What 
 that is, we have yet to be assured." 
 
 And further : 
 
 " He must be well acquainted with the arcana 
 of the universe, who shall presume dogmatically 
 to decide that these 'manifestations' are natural 
 or supernatural. The ladies say that they are 
 informed that this is but the beginning of a new 
 era, or economy, in which spirits, clothed in flesh, 
 are to be more closely and palpably connected 
 with those which have put on immortality that 
 the * manifestations ' have already appeared in 
 many other families, and are destined to be dif- 
 fused and rendered clearer, until all who will, 
 may communicate freely and beneficially with 
 their friends who have ' shuffled off this mortal 
 coil.' Of all this we know nothing, and shall
 
 78 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 guess nothing. But, if we were simply to print 
 (which we shall not) the questions we asked, and 
 the answers we received, during a two hours' un- 
 interrupted conference with the 'Rappers,' we 
 should at once be accused of having done so 
 expressly to sustain the theory which regards 
 these ' manifestations ' as the utterances of de- 
 parted spirits." 
 
 Here, too, is the testimony of Mr. N. P. Willis, 
 in the Home Journal : 
 
 "The suggestions and 'outside' bearings of 
 this matter are many and curious. If these 
 knocking answers to questions are made (as many 
 insist) by electric detonations, and if disembodied 
 spirits are still moving, consciously, among us, 
 and have thus found an agent, at last, ELEC- 
 TRICITY, by which they can communicate with 
 the world they have left, it must soon, in the 
 progressive nature of things, ripen to an inter- 
 course between this and the spirit-world. * * * 
 
 " There seems an alphabet in this to learn, as 
 in other new fields of knowledge ; and, indeed 
 considering the confusion of ideas in the minds 
 of those who visit and try to talk off-hand, with 
 these newly discovered ' natives,' it is wonderful 
 that the 'Knockers' make themselves as well 
 understood as they already do. If Providence 
 designed to subject an intelligent power to our 
 service (in addition to the unintelligent miracle-
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 79 
 
 workers, steam and electricity, which have suc- 
 cessively been given us) the beginnings would, 
 by all precedent, be at least as imperfect and 
 dimly understood as these are." 
 
 It would be useless to multiply testimonies, and 
 adduce proofs of the candid and serious spirit in 
 which many wise and eminent persons did not 
 scruple, for an instant, to take up a subject com- 
 mended to their notice by features so extra- 
 ordinary. An account, however, by Mr. J. M. 
 Sterling, a highly respected gentleman, of Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, is, for certain reasons, worth recording. 
 
 Mr. Sterling commences by assuring us, that, 
 at the time of his witnessing this singular pheno- 
 menon, his senses were in healthy action, un- 
 clouded by prejudice, or by any physiological or 
 mental hallucination, such as might interfere with 
 a fair and candid inquiry into the facts, as they 
 really were. He then proceeds : 
 
 " I devoted two days to the investigation, and 
 witnessed the manifestations in three different 
 forms; and that which I am about to relate is, 
 and has been, an every-day occurrence for the 
 last eighteen months, in the presence of hundreds 
 of individuals from every part of the country. 
 Without expressing my own opinion on the sub- 
 ject, I would state that these manifestations are 
 deemed spiritual by the persons connected with 
 them; and, in speaking of them, I shall use their
 
 80 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 language. They uniformly address them as spirits, 
 or by the names by which they were known in 
 this sphere of being. 
 
 " It is usual, upon the arrival of a stranger, to 
 request him to be seated at a table, around which 
 are placed two or more of the family (consisting 
 of Mrs. Fox and her three daughters), when the 
 question is asked, 
 
 " ' Will the spirits converse with this gentleman ?' 
 
 " If the answer be affirmative, the rap is heard ; 
 if negative, there is silence. 
 
 " The conversation proceeded as follows : 
 
 " ' Will the spirits converse ? ' 
 
 "Rap. (Yes). 
 
 " I then inquired 
 
 " ' Have I guardian spirits present ? ' 
 
 "Rap. 
 
 "'How many?' 
 
 " Five raps (for the alphabet), and the names 
 of three deceased members of my family were 
 spelled out. 
 
 " ' At what age did William die ? ' 
 
 " Answered correctly. 
 
 " My wife's name was given, and various other 
 questions answered with accuracy; after which 
 the alphabet was demanded, and the word ' done ' 
 spelled. This, as I was told, signified that no 
 further communications could then be had. Upon 
 rising, I expressed a wish for a different test,
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 81 
 
 such as causing the table to move, whereupon 
 one of the ladies repeated my request. In a few 
 moments I was sensible of a tremulous motion of 
 the table, and it was moved, from one to two 
 feet, directly from me and against the girls, nearly 
 pushing them from their balance. I had two 
 subsequent opportunities of witnessing the mani- 
 festations, and received to numerous questions 
 the most accurate replies. I also heard the 
 rappings in answer to two of the young ladies, 
 while standing out of doors, in the day-time, 
 upon a brick pavement." 
 
 So far Mr. Sterling ; but so completely have 
 the phenomena witnessed by him been cast into 
 the shade by what has since occurred, that it 
 would have been scarcely worth while to detail 
 his experience, but for the circumstance of his tes- 
 timony being one of the earliest, of a reliable 
 kind, to which publication was given. 
 
 The circumstances to which he and the former 
 parties bear concurrent witness, had, at this 
 period, been at least eighteen months matter of 
 universal notoriety. Thousands of persons, of 
 all classes of the community, had been present 
 at their occurrence. In short, it had become just 
 as irrational to question the fact that a great and 
 inexplicable mystery existed, as to doubt the 
 reality of an American continent itself. 
 
 But the facts the/actfs, my friend. Surely, if 
 
 E 5
 
 82 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 my memory and the English Athenceum are to 
 be trusted the whole affair exploded or, to use 
 the Yankee vernacular, " caved in," a long time 
 ago, considerably before the " days when we went 
 gipsying," for, if I mistake not, it was in the 
 pleasant month of April, A.D. 1851, that an accom- 
 plice, one Mrs. Norman Culver, peached. 
 
 Sceptic, you are right. It is so. Room, then, 
 for the lady. Let us hear what she has to 
 impart. Probably, the grand arcanum itself the 
 heart of the spiritual mystery how the rappings 
 are made ? 
 
 Mrs. Norman Culver, a connexion by marriage 
 of the Fox family, in a sort of deposition, or 
 rather declaration, since it was not made upon 
 oath, dated April 17th, 1851, related as follows : 
 
 " Catherine wanted some one to help her [make 
 the rappings], and said that if I would become a 
 medium, she would explain it all to me. She 
 said that when my cousin consulted the spirits, I 
 must sit next to her, and touch her arm when the 
 right letter was called. I did so, and was able 
 to answer nearly all the questions correctly. After 
 I had helped her in this way a few times, she 
 revealed to me the secret. The raps are produced 
 with the toes. All the toes are used. After nearly 
 a week's practice, with Catherine showing me how, 
 I could produce them perfectly myself. At first 
 it was very hard work to do it. Catherine told
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 83 
 
 me to warm my feet, or put them in warm water, 
 and it would then be easier work to rap ; she said 
 that she sometimes had to warm her feet three or 
 four times in the course of an evening. I found 
 that heating my feet did enable me to rap a great 
 deal easier. 
 
 " Catherine told me how to manage to answer 
 the questions. She said it was generally easy 
 enough to answer right, if the one who asked the 
 questions called the alphabet. She said the 
 reason why they asked people to write down 
 several names on paper, and then point to them 
 till the spirit rapped at the right one, was to give 
 them a chance to watch the countenance and 
 motions of the person, and that in that way they 
 could nearly always guess right. She also ex- 
 plained how they held down and moved tables. 
 She told me that all I should have to do to make 
 the raps heard on the table, would be to put my 
 foot against the bottom of the table when I rapped, 
 and that when I wished to make the raps sound 
 distant on the wall, I must make them louder, 
 and direct my own eyes earnestly to the spot 
 where I wished them to be heard. She said if I 
 could put my foot against the bottom of the door, 
 the raps would be heard on the top of the door. 
 Catherine told me that when the committee held 
 their ankles in Rochester, the Dutch servant girl 
 rapped with her knuckles under the floor, from the
 
 84 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 cellar. The girl was instructed to rap whenever 
 she heard their voices calling the spirits. Cathe- 
 rine also showed me how they made the sounds 
 of sawing and planing boards. When I was at 
 Rochester, last January, Margaretta told me that 
 when people insisted on seeing her feet and toes, 
 she could produce a few raps with her knees and 
 ankles." 
 
 A most killing testimony, indeed. One would 
 hardly be willing to look beyond it, and would 
 rather dismiss the whole affair from his mind, with 
 wonder and compassion, as a thing strange and 
 attractive indeed in the eyes of men, but which 
 not being "of Goo^" has, like all its kindred, 
 come to nought. But, on the other hand, it is 
 incumbent upon us to weigh the testimony of our 
 fallible fellow-mortals, and not, by a too ready in- 
 clination towards that which bears the aspect of 
 truth rush headlong into the very error against 
 which we are trying to guard the abuse of honest 
 faith. 
 
 It will probably surprise you, dear Sceptic, to 
 learn that, in the teeth of these damaging dis- 
 closures, the Fox family should at this very day 
 be holding sittings in New York, at one dollar 
 admission, and be patronised by the elite of the 
 city, including several eminent judges and divines. 
 Is that so ? Indeed it is. A New York paper of 
 but a few weeks' date, announces as follows :
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 85 
 
 "MRS. FISH AND THE MISSES FOX. 
 
 " An error crept into our notice of these ladies, 
 as published in our last issue, concerning their 
 locality. Our readers will please observe that 
 they are at No. 78, West Twenty-sixth Street. 
 
 " Strangers can be entertained on Tuesday, Wed- 
 nesday and Friday afternoons, from 3 to 5 o'clock ; 
 also on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday even- 
 ings, from 8 to 10 o'clock." 
 
 The fact is, Mrs. Norman Culver's disclosures, 
 if not wholly discredited, at all events failed in 
 elucidating the mystery. 
 
 The evidence of an approver is, in all cases, 
 viewed with a very commendable jealousy, and it 
 is notorious that a very bitter feeling existed on 
 the part of Mrs. Culver towards the Fox family, 
 dating from a period long antecedent to her con- 
 nexion with them in the rapping affair. Now let 
 us glance through the lady's testimony, and see 
 what it is really worth. 
 
 Mrs. Norman Culver having been, by her own 
 admission, for two years, a sincere believer in the 
 preternatural character of the rappings, suddenly 
 begins to doubt. Resolved to satisfy these tardy 
 scruples, she takes immediate measures, not of the 
 most honourable nature, to insinuate herself into 
 5 the confidence of her young connexion, Catherine
 
 86 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 Fox, proposing to aid her in the rappings, or, at 
 least, in one especial instance, provided Catherine 
 would instruct her fully in the method of pro- 
 ducing the sounds. The latter (according to Mrs. 
 Culver), though perfectly cognisant of the un- 
 friendly feeling that existed between them, walked 
 at once into the trap, saying (asserts Mrs. Cal- 
 ver), "as Margaretta was absent, she needed 
 some one to assist her, and that if I would be- 
 come a medium, she would explain it all to me." 
 After which followed the supposed explanation. 
 
 Of Mrs. Culver's statement it may not be 
 amiss to observe that an old and experienced 
 member of the legal profession in Maine, re- 
 marked that, on perusing it, he was forced, irre- 
 sistibly, to the conclusion that it was a concocted 
 affair, and contained the elements for defeating 
 its own object. Independent of the mains 
 animus acknowledged to exist, and of the not 
 wholly unimportant circumstance that the affidavit, 
 as it was termed, was no affidavit at all let us 
 consider the discrepancy between Mrs. Culver's 
 statement and facts ascertained. For example, 
 she says 
 
 " Catherine told me that when the committee 
 held their ankles, at Rochester, the Dutch servant 
 girl rapped with her knuckles under the floor, 
 from the cellar." 
 
 Whereas, a person who was present at the said
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 87 
 
 inquiry (when their ankles were held), states 
 that no one of the meetings took place at the 
 house of the Fox family. That the family did 
 not know where they were to take place, till the 
 committee called for them. That they did not 
 occur twice in the same house or building. That 
 up to that time they had never had a Dutch or 
 other servant-girl in the house. And, finally, that 
 Catherine Fox was not in Rochester at any time 
 during the investigation, but in Auburn, seventy 
 miles distant. 
 
 Thus it is proved, that, if Miss Catherine Fox 
 ever made the statement attributed to her by Mrs. 
 Culver, the aforesaid Catherine must have asserted 
 what could not possibly have been true. 
 
 One of two things must have occurred : either 
 Mrs. Norman Culver must have fabricated her 
 singular impeachment, or Miss Catherine Fox her 
 confession. Which is the most probable ? It is 
 distressing to be compelled to arbitrate between 
 two ladies of station and character, on a simple 
 question of who has fibbed ? But some decision 
 must be arrived at, and I give it at once as mine, 
 that Mrs. Culver's statement was, in the main, 
 true ; Catherine's Fox's, on which it was founded, 
 in the main, false. And that the latter young 
 lady, mistrusting, as was most natural, her impor- 
 tunate connexion, and assured of nothing beyond 
 her hostility, threw out false lights with the view
 
 88 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 of misleading, and casting deserved ridicule upon 
 a treacherous enemy. 
 
 Up to the present date (September, 1852) the 
 Fox family have never discontinued their meet- 
 ings, which, in all parts of the States, have been 
 both numerously and respectably attended. In 
 July last, while they were at St. Louis, a party 
 assembled for the purpose of once more carefully 
 investigating the mystery, and published their re- 
 port in the Morning Signal, a St. Louis journal. 
 It stated that " there could be no collusion, nor 
 were any means perceptible whereby chicanery 
 could be practised without detection. A large 
 number of questions were written, and propounded 
 mentally. These were principally of a theolo- 
 gical, scientific, philosophical, and metaphysical 
 character; and were, one and all, replied to in a 
 manner perfectly satisfactory." 
 
 It was in the summer of 1850, that the " Queen 
 City" of the West Cincinnati first became the 
 scene of manifestations through recognised media. 
 
 Mrs. Bushnell, theretofore known as a clair- 
 voyante of remarkable power, and who had been 
 for some time in the practice of holding medical 
 examinations, and prescribing accordingly, while 
 in the clairvoyant state, visited Cincinnati in the 
 course of her professional tour. In a short time, 
 it became rumoured that this lady was a medium ; 
 and as the subject of "spirit rappings" was
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 89 
 
 already one of general interest in the city, it was 
 not long before the attention of scientific persons 
 was attracted towards the new arrival. It was 
 stated that Mrs. Bushnell had heard the knock- 
 ings for some time previous to her visit to the 
 Queen City, and had communicated with them at 
 Cleveland, Rochester, and other places. 
 
 Mr. Coggeshall, of Cincinnati, relates that, on 
 the 26th of September, 1850, he saw this lady at 
 the house of Professor J. M. Buchanan, the well- 
 known neurologist, editor of the Journal of Man, 
 a select party having been assembled to meet her. 
 On this occasion, Mrs. Bushnell, having been im- 
 pressed by the professor, made accurate phreno- 
 logical examinations of several gentlemen then 
 present, whom she had never before seen. She 
 described Dr. Buchanan's father, many years de- 
 ceased ; giving a perfectly correct and truly gra- 
 phic sketch of his appearance, manner, and ge- 
 neral character ; stating, at the same time, that he 
 was at that moment spiritually present with her. 
 She then, in answer to Mr. Coggeshall himself, 
 who inquired if he had lately lost a relative, de- 
 scribed that gentleman's brother his appearance, 
 character, &c. even to the slightest mental pecu- 
 liarities ; the object and direction of the journey 
 upon which he was then absent, his illness, and 
 death, the effects and mementos in his possession, 
 &c., &c. ; and all this, as was found, with the most 
 perfect accuracy.
 
 90 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 Mrs. Bushnell having, during this clairvoyant 
 investigation, announced that she was familiar 
 with the rappings, and had communicated with 
 unseen intelligences through these means, a strong 
 desire was expressed to witness the manifesta- 
 tions; and a meeting was arranged for the 14th 
 of October, at the house in which Mrs. Bushnell 
 happened to be boarding. The party assembled, 
 and the sounds were heard, but the only intel- 
 ligible communication received on this occasion 
 was to the following effect : 
 
 " Your battery is not strong enough." 
 This demonstration sufficed, however, to sti- 
 mulate public curiosity, and excite interest of 
 a more kindly nature in the minds of such as 
 were sufficiently advanced in the "faith" to believe 
 that a channel of communication was at length re- 
 opened with the world of spirits, and that tidings 
 might be received of many a beloved one whose 
 foot had threaded 
 
 Those dark gates, across the wild 
 That no man knows. 
 
 No wonder, therefore, that on the next occa- 
 sion, Wednesday evening, October 16th, a large 
 number of persons assembled at the appointed 
 place, eager for information upon themes so " rich 
 and strange." An immense number of interroga- 
 tions were proposed, and replied to by means of
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 91 
 
 the rappings, in a manner apparently transcend- 
 ing human knowledge ; but, owing to the private 
 character of the questions, the proceedings could 
 not be properly made the subject of a detailed re- 
 port. A more circumstantial account is given of 
 the meeting which took place the succeeding eve- 
 ning, the 17th, at which, among other parties, 
 there were present Dr. J. P. Gatchell, of the 
 Eclectic Medical College ; Mr. Anson Atwood, of 
 Troy, New York; Mr. Wattles, of Rural, Ohio; Dr. 
 William Owens, of the Eclectic Medical College ; 
 Mr. W. Ball, of Covington, Kentucky; Messrs. 
 Goodin, Norton, Coggeshall, and others, of Cin- 
 cinnati. 
 
 The alphabet was called over by one of the 
 gentlemen who understood the modus operandi, 
 and the persons in the circle took turns in putting 
 questions. Many of these interrogations, though 
 important enough to those interested, are scarcely 
 adapted for insertion. It may, therefore, be better 
 to afford a specimen of the dialogue, and add, 
 that, at the close of the sitting, the gentlemen 
 mentioned above all persons of known probity 
 and social reputation expressed themselves com- 
 pletely satisfied that the matter was one deserving 
 of the most anxious attention, and the most rigid 
 inquiry. 
 
 On its arriving at Mr. Goodin's turn to inter- 
 rogate, he inquired, in the usual manner
 
 92 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 " Is there a spirit present who will communicate 
 with me ?" 
 
 Rap (Yes.) 
 
 " Can I know what the spirit answers ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 The alphabet was called, and the " spirit " 
 announced itself as the child of the questioner, 
 and requested him to "be patient, and not to 
 fret;" which expression was understood to have 
 reference to the fact of Mr. Goodin's having 
 reflected upon himself for some supposed mis- 
 taken medical treatment of the deceased child. 
 
 After some further questions and replies of a 
 private character, it arrived at Mr. Wattle s's turn 
 to interrogate. He inquired 
 , "Is there a spirit present that will converse 
 with me ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Do I know the person ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Will you spell the name r" 
 
 Silence (No). 
 
 " Will you give the initials ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 The alphabet was called over, and "W. W." 
 was indicated. 
 
 " Is it my brother ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Do you intend that I should understand that 
 my brother is dead ?"
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 93 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Did he die in California ?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 "Near California?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Were you well cared for ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Of what disorder did you die ?" 
 
 The alphabet was called, and the word " diar 
 rhoea" spelled. 
 
 "When shall I hear of this in the usual 
 course ?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Within one year ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Six months ?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 A number of replies, wholly unintelligible ex- 
 cept to the querist for the time being, were re- 
 turned, the effect of which can only be judged 
 of by the answer of Mr. Ball to some one who 
 asked 
 
 " Is there any meaning to this ? " 
 
 "Meaning, indeed, to me!" 
 
 It is much to be lamented that the wish, how- 
 ever natural, for information upon private and 
 domestic subjects, was allowed to prevail at these 
 earlier meetings to such an extent as to leave 
 little room for tests which would have satisfied
 
 94 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 the general public, and at the same time pro- 
 tected the intelligent persons who conducted 
 the first investigations from the charge of easy 
 credulity. 
 
 Before the company dispersed, some one in- 
 quired if all the spirits present would "rap" on 
 the table ? In response, there was a great num- 
 ber of sounds made at the same moment upon the 
 table, some loud, some feeble, some sharp, and 
 some prolonged. 
 
 During Friday and Saturday of this week, most 
 of the persons who visited Mrs. Bushnell for 
 medical consultation, heard the mysterious sounds, 
 and on Saturday evening, the 19th, another party 
 assembled at the house of Mr. J. F. Taylor, a 
 gentleman of high respectability, and deeply in- 
 terested in scriptural investigation. Among the 
 persons present, were Major Gano, clerk of the 
 Supreme Court of Cincinnati; Dr. J. S. Garretson ; 
 Dr. William Owens, of the Eclectic Medical Col- 
 lege; Dr. Childs, of Walnut Hills; Mr. Wattles; 
 Dr. Wilson, Botanic Physician and many other 
 gentlemen ; together with a large number of the 
 gentler, but not less curious, sex. There were 
 three known clairvoyants in the company. 
 
 Mrs. Bushnell then commenced a lecture on 
 Spiritualism, during which sounds were heard 
 apparently under the floor, near the speaker. She 
 spoke of the rappings under the term of electrical
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 95 
 
 vibrations, and said, communications might be 
 had with the spirit-world, if a battery could be 
 formed. This was to be effected by the simple 
 process of sitting round a table, and, this arrange- 
 ment made, Mrs. Bushnell placed herself at the 
 head, when sounds were immediately and dis- 
 tinctly heard, under the floor, directly beneath 
 her. Presently the usual five raps demanded the 
 alphabet, and the name " Cornell," was spelled 
 out. 
 
 " Was it the spirit of Mr. Cornell that com- 
 municated ? " 
 
 Rap. 
 
 Mr. Cornell, a lawyer of some distinction in 
 Cincinnati, died of cholera, in the summer of 
 1849. He had, in his lifetime, been earnestly 
 and extensively engaged in clairvoyant investiga- 
 tions, and had publicly advocated the doctrine that 
 spiritual manifestations could be made through 
 clairvoyants. A few unimportant questions were 
 asked, when suddenly, a new description of mani- 
 festation startled the whole company the left 
 arm of a lady present was drawn back with great 
 force, as if it had been grasped between the 
 elbow and shoulder. Attempts were made to re- 
 lease the arm by magnetic passes, but without 
 effect. Inquiry was made 
 
 " Is it the spirit of Mr. Cornell that affects this 
 lady?"
 
 96 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Will the spirit release her ? " 
 
 No sound ; but, suddenly, the arm was thrown 
 forward, and the lady entirely relieved. It was 
 stated that this same lady had, during the day, 
 remarked, in reference to the manifestations, that 
 she would not believe in the spiritual origin of 
 the rappings unless through the medium of touch. 
 And this fact being communicated aloud to the 
 assembled party, several raps were heard, near 
 the lady, as though intended in corroboration. 
 
 The persons present satisfied themselves that 
 this manifestation was, at least, not the effect of 
 magnetism, as generally understood, because the 
 muscles of the arm were not contracted, the arm 
 being merely drawn, or pulled back, as described. 
 
 On the succeeding Monday and Tuesday even- 
 ings, manifestations took place at different houses 
 where Mrs. Bushnell visited; and, on "Wednes- 
 day, she again attended at the house of Professor 
 Buchanan, when communications were declared 
 to have been had with the father of the Professor, 
 many years deceased, and Dr. T. V. Morrow, a 
 few months deceased, formerly Dean of the Ec- 
 lectic Medical College. 
 
 The following report of another occurrence is 
 so far satisfactory, as it emanates from a source 
 heretofore wholly incredulous and disposed to 
 ridicule the affair.
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 97 
 
 " Mrs. Bushnell addressed Mrs. thus : 
 
 " ' You will go to sleep to night at eight o'clock, 
 and will see your sister's spirit; and you will 
 go to sleep also at eight o'clock on Monday 
 night next.' 
 
 " The lady was entirely sceptical on the matter, 
 and declared positively, at half-past seven o'clock 
 on Saturday evening, that she had no idea of 
 going to sleep ; but precisely at eight she received 
 a shock, and passed into a magnetic sleep. While 
 she was in this state, she wept freely, and shook 
 her head frequently, but would not converse. She 
 slept fifteen minutes, as Mrs. Bushnell said she 
 would ; and when she awoke, stated that she had 
 seen her sister and two gentlemen, and the reason 
 she wept was, because, when she endeavoured to 
 embrace her sister, she receded. On being asked 
 why she shook her head with such determination, 
 she replied, that the spirit wished her to be a 
 medium of communication by sounds, and she 
 refused. 
 
 " On last evening, at precisely eight o'clock, the 
 lady began to have the magnetic twitches, but so 
 sternly resisted the influence, that she did not go 
 to sleep for half an hour. She slept about fifteen 
 minutes, and when she awoke, said that she had 
 seen the spirits of her father and her sister, and 
 described the one that magnetised her, precisely 
 as Mrs. Bushnell describes the person whom she 
 
 F
 
 98 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 states she personated on two occasions. The lady 
 said she had given her consent to be again mag- 
 netised, and, probably, when she was the next 
 time under the influence, communications would 
 be made through her by means of sounds. 
 
 " These things are wonderful, and we are dis- 
 posed to inquire into them candidly." 
 
 On the 26th October, Mrs. Bushnell left Cin- 
 cinnati for the western part of New York, and, 
 during her absence, no rappings occurred by 
 which communications could be had. On her 
 return, however, early in the succeeding month, 
 the manifestations were resumed, and in the pre- 
 sence of Mr. James Goodin and Dr. Curtis of 
 the Botanical Medical College, sounds were heard, 
 and questions replied to, in the usual mysterious 
 manner. 
 
 One circumstance is worth recording. A young 
 lady of the assembled party inquired if any spirit 
 would communicate with her; distinct raps were 
 given, and the following communication made : 
 
 " / have done as I agreed" 
 
 Upon this, the young lady, greatly agitated, in- 
 formed those present, that she had been in Roches- 
 ter with her sister, when rapping manifestations 
 were being made in the family of Mrs. Fish. They 
 did not believe them to be spiritual manifesta- 
 tions; and when they parted, they mutually 
 agreed that whichever died first, should visit the
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 99 
 
 other in spirit, and make raps, if it were possible. 
 The sister went to Wisconsin, and died. She had 
 come to her sister in Ohio, in spirit, and fulfilled 
 the promise made in the flesh. 
 
 The manifestations were now no longer confined 
 to Mrs. Bushnell and her neighbourhood, but 
 rapidly spread over the city. One lady, a Miss 
 B., residing in Cutter Street, had frequently heard 
 them, but had never attempted to communicate, 
 and her family regarded the mysterious sounds as 
 forerunners of calainity. Another lady had heard 
 them repeatedly, before Mrs. Bushnell, the fa- 
 voured medium, visited Cincinnati. Two years 
 before, a Miss A. had heard them so frequently, 
 that the family became alarmed, and endeavoured, 
 by every means, to ascertain their cause, but with- 
 out effect. 
 
 Dr. William Owens, of the Eclectic Medical 
 College, had also heard the sounds, and had 
 received answers to mental questions from the 
 spirit of a deceased friend. 
 
 Professor B. C. Hill received, by means of raps, 
 what he considered to be a very important com- 
 'munication in reference to medical science. 
 
 Dr. Silsbee, a resident of Cincinnati, relates that 
 he was sitting, one afternoon, in his study, in com- 
 pany with his brother, when he heard the sounds 
 distinctly. He called his brother to the table at 
 which he was writing, when the sounds increased 
 
 F 2
 
 100 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 in loudness. He requested that, if it were of spi- 
 ritual origin, two raps might be given, This was 
 done so positively, that he felt the vibration. He 
 inquired if his brother was a medium, and was 
 answered affirmatively, but, after this, could obtain 
 no further replies. 
 
 The persons above alluded to are all of character 
 and station in and about Cincinnati. 
 
 Besides these instances, several persons, while 
 consulting Mrs. Bushnell for medical purposes, 
 held communications with the sounds ; and it ap- 
 pears that, on account of the ridicule thrown upon 
 such as were most intimately connected with the 
 rapping manifestations, and because the curiosity 
 they excited, brought so many persons to her 
 house; her practice was materially interfered 
 with. Mrs. Bushnell decided positively, in the 
 beginning of December, that she would, under no 
 circumstances, place herself in a " circle," for the 
 purpose of receiving manifestations ; and, with a 
 few exceptions of a private nature, adhered to 
 her resolution.
 
 101 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MEDIA CONTINUED. 
 
 Stratford Connecticut Occurrences there Eev. Dr. Phelps Ex- 
 traordinary manifestations Physical demonstrations The Polter- 
 geist Excitement Investigations Imputations on the family 
 Refuted Letter of Dr. Phelps, &c. Judge Edmonds, his career, 
 conversion, &c.< Wonderful manifestations The demonstration at 
 the house of Mr. Cheney, &c. 
 
 THE third of the more notorious manifestations, 
 to which it is necessary to direct attention, declared 
 itself in the town of Stratford, Connecticut, at the 
 residence of the Rev. Dr. Phelps, a gentleman 
 who held a situation of trust and honour in the 
 Presbyterian Church, and enjoyed the reputation 
 of being a most worthy, intelligent, and upright 
 man. 
 
 On Sunday, March 10th, 1850, Dr. Phelps and 
 his family, on their return from divine service, 
 were amazed to find the doors, which had been 
 carefully secured on leaving home, unlocked and 
 unbolted; some of them standing actually open. 
 On the knob of the front door, was hung a piece 
 of black crape. The doctor at first supposed it 
 had been the work of some idle and mischievous
 
 102 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 person ; but, upon further examination, came to 
 the conclusion, that it was something, at all 
 events, of a wholly different nature, and, in his 
 judgment, scarcely compatible with any degree of 
 human ingenuity. 
 
 Nothing appeared to have been abstracted from 
 the dwelling, although the furniture of the lower 
 rooms lay scattered in the .utmost confusion in 
 every direction. After hastily restoring some kind 
 of order, the family proceeded to the upper rooms, 
 in hopes of discovering some clue to the authors 
 of these strange doings. A most extraordinary 
 scene presented itself ! A number of figures, pro- 
 bably eight or ten, constructed with great skill by 
 means of various articles of wearing- apparel and 
 bed-room furniture, were found in the middle of 
 the room, in a kneeling attitude, each having before 
 it an open Bible ! After exhausting their wonder 
 and conjectures excited by this extraordinary 
 spectacle, the family closed up the " phantom- 
 chamber," as it was thenceforth called, leaving the 
 dumb kneeling circle as they were found ; and the 
 doctor himself took possession of the key. In 
 spite of this precaution, however, some strange 
 addition was daily made to the phantom group, 
 without a possibility of tracing the hand at work 
 in it. And of these latter figures, it may be stated, 
 that the extraordinary rapidity with which they 
 were constructed, renders the supposition of its
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 103 
 
 being done by any one, in or about the house, 
 wholly inadmissible ; the materials used for the 
 purpose having been seen in various parts of the 
 house within three minutes of the time they were 
 discovered wrought into a figure, with an accuracy 
 and grace which would have required an hour's 
 labour from a most artistic and tasteful hand. 
 
 Strange circumstances, of a different character, 
 now began to occur, and of these, the son of Dr. 
 Phelps, a boy about eleven, seemed to be the chief 
 object. On one occasion he was fairly lifted from 
 the ground, as though by a powerful man, and 
 borne partly across the room. At another time, 
 while preparing for church, the boy's boots and 
 cap were suddenly missing. Others were procured, 
 but before they could be put on, these also were 
 gone, and were, only after a long search, disco- 
 vered in different parts of the house. 
 
 One evening, as the family were quietly sitting 
 in the back parlour, with the door open leading 
 into the hall, a tremendous noise was heard, as if 
 some one had thrown or dropped a heavy body on 
 the back stairs ; and, upon examination, an inden- 
 tation of about three quarters of an inch was found 
 on one of the steps. No person could be found 
 that could be supposed to have done it. At one 
 time, after the family had retired to the sitting- 
 room after supper, and while the servant was 
 below in the kitchen, the table, with all its con-
 
 104 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 tents, was lifted three times from the floor and let 
 down with great force, so much so that the whole 
 house was jarred, and the dishes on the table were 
 heard to rattle, but none were found broken. 
 
 The accounts of what was daily transpiring at 
 Dr. Phelps's created, as may be supposed, an 
 immense excitement and curiosity, and in the 
 course of a few days the place was visited and 
 inspected by fifteen hundred persons. The utmost 
 facilities for investigation were afforded. Every 
 nook and corner of the house was explored. 
 Persons known as being the most incredulous on 
 the subject were invited to spend days and nights 
 in the family. One boy, to whom some slight 
 suspicion attached, was sent away, and every plan 
 ingenuity could devise was employed to detect 
 the cause. So confident was Dr. Phelps himself 
 that there was no trickery or deception in the case, 
 that he issued a sort of public challenge to the 
 effect that, if any one would visit the house and 
 perform similar movements, under similar circum- 
 stances, and yet escape instant detection, he would 
 present him with the house itself and all it contained. 
 
 A communication, vouched for by a well-known 
 and respectable citizen of Boston, Mass., states, 
 in reference to a report then recently promulgated, 
 that some member of the Phelps's family had con- 
 trived the " trick" as follows : 
 
 " I have been personally cognizant of many of
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 105 
 
 the mysterious phenomena that have occurred 
 at the house of Dr. Phelps. Dr. Phelps has 
 invited the most rigid scrutiny, and of the hun- 
 dreds of people who have visited them, not an 
 individual has found a single material fact to sub- 
 stantiate the charge of collusion. On the contrary, 
 I have myself witnessed those phenomena, both 
 alone and in company with others than the family, 
 more than an hundred times, and, in the great 
 majority of instances, under circumstances in 
 which it was absolutely impossible, from the nature 
 of the case, that it could have been done by any 
 member of the family, or by any visible agency 
 whatever. 
 
 " It is declared that, ' things instead of starting 
 before one's eyes, are merely found moved.' This 
 is false. I have myself seen things in motion 
 more than fifty times, and when no power was 
 visible, by which the motion could have been pro- 
 duced. And so in regard to breaking windows. 
 I have been present, and myself seen several panes 
 of glass in the ' very act ' of being broken, and 
 when I knew positively that no person in or about 
 the house, could have done it without instant de- 
 tection. 
 
 " The family one and all have invited the most 
 searching investigation. Their house has been 
 open, and their table has been free to hundreds, 
 who have been afforded the best possible means 
 
 F 5
 
 106 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 of solving the mystery ; but it remains a mystery 
 still. Those who have strictly examined, have 
 not been able to discover any facts that would in 
 ne least degree implicate the family, in any of 
 those events which are considered mysterious. 
 
 " There are scores of persons of the most respect- 
 able character, who are ready to make solemn 
 oath, that many of the strange phenomena which 
 have transpired at Dr. Phelps's house, have occur- 
 red under their own eyes, and under circumstances 
 in which trick, or collusion, or imposition, was 
 utterly impossible" 
 
 The notice of the all-observant American press 
 having been drawn to the subject, certain reflec- 
 tions upon Dr. Phelps, conveyed through the 
 letters of correspondents, induced the editor of 
 one of the most ably conducted and important 
 journals of Boston, to address a communication 
 to that gentleman luniself, in reply to which, and 
 not from having sought publicity for his explana- 
 tion, the Doctor wrote as follows his letter being 
 subsequently printed : 
 
 "Stratford, Nov. 2, 1850. 
 
 "A copy of your paper, containing an article 
 on the recent strange events at my house, came to 
 hand yesterday. 
 
 " I have not hitherto noticed any anonymous 
 publications on this painful subject, nor have I
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 107 
 
 published anything except what is signed with my 
 own name. In regard to your inquiries, I can 
 assure you that the whole affair still remains a 
 profound mystery. The troubles at my house 
 continued for at least seven months. During that 
 time, events which cannot be accounted for 
 occurred, to the number of two or three thousand. 
 Many of them, to be sure, were of such a nature 
 that they might have been done by human agency. 
 But, in multitudes of instances, they have taken 
 place in a way which rendered all trick or collu 
 sion utterly impossible. I have myself seen arti- 
 cles moved from one place to another; not, as 
 your correspondent says, 'found them moved.' 
 
 " I have seen things in motion more than a 
 thousand times, and, in most cases, when no visible 
 power existed by which the motion could have 
 been produced. I can produce scores of persons, 
 whose character for intelligence, piety, and com- 
 petence to judge in this matter, no one who knows 
 them will question, who will make solemn oath 
 that they have witnessed the same things. As to 
 the reality of the facts, they can be proved by 
 testimony a hundred-fold greater than is ordinarily 
 required in our courts of justice in cases of life 
 and death. 
 
 "At the time these troubles commenced, my 
 family consisted of my wife, two daughters, one 
 sixteen and the other six years of age, and two
 
 108 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 sons, one eleven and the other three, and one 
 domestic. The smallest child did, by accident, 
 somewhere about that time, break a pane of glass, 
 and the elder boy did once, it is said, throw a 
 poker on to the floor. But no one ever intimated 
 or dreamed of there being anything mysterious in 
 those things. There have been broken from my 
 windows seventy-one panes of glass ; more than 
 thirty of which I have seen break with my own 
 eyes. I have seen objects, such as brushes, tum- 
 blers, candlesticks, snuffers, &c., which, but a few 
 moments before I knew to be at rest, fly against 
 the glass, and dash it to pieces, when it was utterly 
 impossible, from the direction in which they 
 moved, that any visible power should have caused 
 their motion. 
 
 " The statement of your correspondent, that the 
 windows were never * seen to break,' nor the fur- 
 niture ' seen to move,' is wholly untrue ; and the 
 charge that these things were done by members of 
 my own family, a cruel and wicked slander. 
 
 " If I seem to be unduly earnest on this subject, 
 I trust that you and your readers will consider 
 that I have feelings as keenly alive to the honour 
 of my family as other men. I know them to be 
 innocent in this matter. Within the range of your 
 paper's circulation, I have friends, I have children, 
 and grandchildren, and brothers, and sisters, and 
 a circle, by no means limited, who are bound to
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 109 
 
 me, and I to them, by other ties. They have feel- 
 ings to be pained and lacerated by any aspersions 
 affecting the honour either of myself or my family ; 
 and I ask what right has your correspondent, or 
 any other man, thus wantonly to asperse the charac- 
 ter and assail the reputation of an innocent family ? 
 " I will not, and I need not characterise the 
 act, or the man, by the epithets they merit. 
 
 "ELIAKIM PHELPS." 
 
 In a foot-note, appended to this letter, the 
 editor stated that another letter had been received 
 from a responsible gentleman of Stratford, written 
 apparently without Dr. Phelps's knowledge, in 
 which the statements of the latter were supported 
 by the most earnest and explicit testimony. 
 
 In another letter, called forth by the fact of its 
 having been publicly declared that the mystery 
 was discovered, and had been traced to one of the 
 children, Dr. Phelps writes, " The statement, too, 
 which some of the papers have reiterated so often, 
 that ' the mystery was found out, ' is, I regret to 
 say, untrue. With the most thorough investiga- 
 tion which I have been able to bestow upon it, 
 aided by gentlemen of the best talents, intelli- 
 gence, and sound judgment, in this, and in many 
 neighbouring towns, the cause of these strange 
 phenomena remain yet undiscovered. 
 
 " About the middle of April, a gentleman, who
 
 110 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 was spending the night at my house, proposed to 
 try the method of interrogation which had been 
 adopted in Western New York, and, to our utter 
 amazement, a series of responses were returned, 
 from which the inference was irresistible that they 
 must have been produced by a being which pos- 
 sessed intelligence. I tried by all the methods I 
 I could devise, to find what the power was by 
 which the rapping was produced. I have heard 
 it hundreds of times, and have done my best to 
 ascertain the cause ; but as yet I have not suc- 
 ceeded. I have been often asked, if I believed it 
 was the work of spirits. I have as often replied, 
 that I did not know what it is. I have never seen 
 a spirit, and I do not know what a spirit could do 
 if it would, or what it would do if it could. The 
 facts, however, are of such a nature, and have 
 transpired under such circumstances, as to render 
 the idea of trick, or designed deception, wholly 
 inadmissible." 
 
 It is not usual with persons placed by station 
 or profession peculiarly in the eye of the world, 
 and thus presenting easy marks for criticism, to 
 lend themselves readily to the serious considera- 
 tion of an unpopular subject. Far less, when con- 
 vinced, to their own satisfaction, of its truth and 
 value, will they openly avow such an opinion. 
 The more credit, then, is due to the learned Judge 
 Edmonds, of Massachusetts, a man of unusual
 
 NOTED MEDIA. Ill 
 
 talent and unimpeachable integrity, who, from 
 having been in a state of complete scepticism in 
 respect to the whole affair, became, through stages 
 of careful investigation and discovery, first a 
 listener, then a believer, lastly, himself a medium, 
 and one of most wonderful power. 
 
 The Hon. John Worth Edmonds is the son of 
 General Edmonds (who served with distinction 
 during the War of Independence), and Lydia 
 Worth, the descendant of an old Devonshire 
 family, a quakeress. The Judge was born in 1799, 
 graduated in 1816, at Union College, Schnectady, 
 and then commenced the study of the law T with 
 George Morell, Esq., afterwards Chief Justice of 
 Michigan. Inheriting his father's military tastes, 
 he entered the militia at an early age, and, in 
 fifteen years, had risen to the command of his 
 regiment, which office he resigned on being, in 
 1828, appointed Recorder of Hudson. In 1831 
 he was elected to the State Senate, by an immense 
 majority of votes; and was thenceforth remark- 
 able for the industry and energy he brought to 
 bear upon the important duties that devolved 
 upon him. His senatorial and legislative career 
 was marked throughout with circumstances of 
 unusual interest, and, at the end of four years, 
 during the last of which he discharged the office 
 of President, he retired from the Senate, declining
 
 112 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 a re-election, which was tendered him in a district 
 where his party were greatly predominant. 
 
 After visiting, with a commission from General 
 Jackson, the Indian tribes on the borders of Lakes 
 Huron and Superior, he, in 1837, removed to 
 New York, and resuming the practice of the law, 
 found himself almost immediately in an extensive 
 and profitable business. Appointed, in 1843, an 
 Inspector of the State prison at Sing-Sing, then 
 in a most disgraceful state as regards its system 
 and management, the Judge has the merit of 
 having completely cleansed that Augean stable, 
 and introduced reforms so admirable, and so suc- 
 cessful in experiment, as to lead to their becom- 
 ing a portion of the governing principle in the 
 other State prisons and penitentiaries generally ; 
 one portion of the Judge's plan consisting of a 
 Prison Discipline Society, the object of which is, 
 not only the reform of prison-government, but of 
 the prisoners themselves, by aiding these unfor- 
 tunate persons, when discharged, to obtain an 
 honest livelihood. This admirable Society is, at 
 the present moment, in very successful operation. 
 
 In 1845, Mr. Edmonds was appointed Circuit 
 Judge of the first Judicial District; in 1847, a 
 Judge of the Supreme Court ; and in the routine 
 of official duties, has been successively Associate, 
 and presiding Judge of the most important dis-
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 113 
 
 trict of the State perhaps of the Union ; finally, 
 taking his seat for the current year in the Court 
 of Appeals. In his present position, the Judge's 
 quick perception, piercing investigation, and 
 prompt decision, appear to great advantage. In 
 his court, questions diversified as the affairs of 
 men, come in rapid succession under his notice, 
 while masses of affidavits, &c., statement and 
 counter- statement, which, to the uninitiated, would 
 seem to require years of toil in the investigation, 
 are evolved and discussed by the trained intel- 
 lects engaged, with an ease and rapidity hardly to 
 be believed. 
 
 The Judge's fearlessness and independence of 
 character, was curiously exemplified during some 
 important trials at Columbia County, in 1845. 
 The counsel engaged, it appears, manifested no 
 small amount of combativeness, and, at length, 
 carried their dispute so far as to come to blows in 
 open court ! The offenders were gentlemen of high 
 standing, and personal friends of the Judge, and 
 both at once apologised to the Court for the out- 
 break, notwithstanding which, the Judge, a la 
 Gascoigne, committed both to prison, and ad- 
 journed his Court, with the remark, " That it was 
 not his fault that the course of justice was thus 
 interrupted." The circumstance attracted much 
 attention throughout the Union, and was noticed 
 by European papers as " evidence of advancing 
 civilization in America."
 
 114 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 Judge Edmonds transacts a greateramount of 
 business than any jurist who has ever occupied 
 the Bench in the city of New York ; but though 
 his decisions are delivered with the greatest 
 promptness, they are masterly specimens, exhibit- 
 ing all the elegance and perspicuity of the most 
 elaborate legal judgments. 
 
 With this brief sketch of a very distinguished 
 man, we pass on to the circumstances which led 
 to his connexion with the manifestations, as 
 related in a quarterly review, published in New 
 York, under the management of Mr. S. B. Brittan. 
 
 It seems that, up to the early part of 1851, 
 Judge Edmonds had always entertained the con- 
 viction that intercourse with the spirits of the 
 departed was impossible; and possessing, un- 
 happily, no very definite notions of the future 
 life at all, was, as might be expected, as ready 
 as any one to scoff at the spiritual intercourse 
 now assumed to be established. 
 
 His first experience of the kind was in Decem- 
 ber, 1850, some few weeks subsequent to the 
 death of his wife, to whom he was warmly at- 
 tached, and by whose loss he had been deeply 
 affected. He was, at this time, residing alone ; 
 two of his daughters being married, and the third 
 at school. One night, when the servants had 
 retired to bed, he was reclining upon a sofa, 
 reading. Suddenly, he distinctly heard the voice
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 115 
 
 of his wife addressing a sentence to him. As he 
 himself described the incident, he started up as 
 if he had received a shot, and, gazing eagerly 
 around him, half expected that the speaker would 
 reveal herself to his eyes. His lamp was burn- 
 ing, and the fire blazed cheerfully in the grate. 
 Nothing unusual was visible, and, persuading 
 himself that it was a delusion, originating in grief 
 and want of rest, he presently lay down again. 
 Still, reason as he would, the impression that it 
 was a real voice continued and strengthened 
 daily ; while, like a true philosopher, he studied 
 and analysed the operations of his own mind, in 
 the hope of ascertaining why it was that the im- 
 pression was stronger than were the conclusions 
 of his reason. 
 
 In December, he removed into the city, hoping 
 to derive some benefit from change of scene and 
 occupation ; and it was in the ensuing month that 
 a lady, a friend of his late wife, invited him to her 
 house to witness the "spiritual manifestations," 
 stating that she had been impressed for several 
 days to do so, and during that time had felt the 
 continued presence of Mrs. Edmonds in a remark- 
 able manner the idea of her departed friend 
 mingling with every action and circumstance of 
 her daily life. The Judge, though without the 
 slightest faith, and with little curiosity in the 
 matter, accepted the invitation. The interview
 
 116 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 was brief, yet several things occurred which at 
 once rivetted his attention. He ascertained that 
 the sounds he heard were not, and could not be, 
 produced by the persons present. He saw, more- 
 over, that there was intelligence in them. In 
 short, his curiosity was fairly excited, and he 
 resolved to investigate the subject, and, if there 
 were imposture, to detect it. 
 
 T^ie worthy Judge, however, must have been 
 one of the hardest bargains ever made by the un- 
 seen intelligences a subject of the very toughest 
 kind ! He kept very full and careful records of 
 all he witnessed, a duty which his habits of re- 
 porting enabled him to fulfil with ease and accu- 
 racy; he compared the proceedings of different 
 days, in order to detect any lurking inconsisten- 
 cies or contradictions; he sought for different 
 media, thus precluding the possibility of concert 
 of action, and only "finally yielded his belief, 
 when no sane mind could withhold it longer." 
 
 The Judge had, it seems, commenced his inves- 
 tigations by demanding proofs proofs that the 
 matter was deserving of investigation at all ; and, 
 this tolerably high ground being conceded to him, 
 by certain mystifying phenomena, he went fur- 
 ther, and requested to be furnished with evidence 
 that the affair was altogether super-terrestrial, and 
 that those who professed to be his interlocutors 
 from the spirit-world were, really and truly, those
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 117 
 
 whom they pretended to be. " What proofs did 
 he require ? " The experienced lawyer was not 
 to be caught with so shallow a device. He han- 
 dled the case in a legal manner. It was not for 
 him to call witnesses to the good character of his 
 opponents, nor, by indicating the precise nature 
 of what would convince him most, suggest to them 
 the means of his own conversion ! Proofs he 
 must have, and good ones too, or they might be 
 off about their business, and seek out more credu- 
 lous subjects for their experiments in mechanico- 
 metaphysics. 
 
 Strange to say, so far from resisting this sturdy 
 scepticism, the more exigeant the Judge became, 
 the more the " other party " (we must use general 
 terms) conceded ; and he was promised, in plain 
 words, proofs that could not, and should not, fail 
 utterly to annihilate his slightest misgiving. It 
 was clear that he was, at any price, to be won. 
 Nevertheless, it appears that the Judge held gal- 
 lantly out, meeting, with the calm sense of a 
 really clever man, and the quick penetrative dis- 
 cernment of the practised lawyer such minor 
 appeals to his credulity, as were comprised in 
 rappings, table-tippings, &c., or in vague commu- 
 nications purporting to proceed from the extra- 
 mundane sphere. He certainly heard the sounds, 
 and saw the movements, and that, as in the case 
 of everybody else, without being able to refer
 
 118 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 them to any satisfactory origin. But the Judge 
 remembered the pledge he had received ; and, 
 knowing that the " spirits " were bound to prove 
 their whole case, wisely refused to accept any 
 instalment. He would receive it, in its entirety, 
 or not at all. These matters amounted to a mys- 
 tery, and nothing more. They were simply puz- 
 zling, and only retarded the march of the grand 
 eclaircissement he had been distinctly promised, 
 and which he now claimed. 
 
 "Qui s'arrete a chaque pierr 'c,ri 'arrive jamais" 
 thought the Judge ; and he would doubtless have 
 grown weary of results which perpetually fell 
 short of his high expectations, had not an 
 event at last occurred, which was destined to 
 work an entire change in his views and feelings, 
 and make him, as has been said, not only a be- 
 liever, but a participator, in the extraordinary 
 demonstrations now challenging the wonder of 
 the community. 
 
 On the 21st of May, in the present year, a 
 meeting, for the purpose of spiritual investigation, 
 took place at the house of Mr. Charles Partridge, 
 of New York, a gentleman who had devoted much 
 time and attention to such inquiries, and pro- 
 moted, as far as possible, every attempt then 
 making to arrive at a proper understanding of the 
 much-vexed subject in question. The account 
 of what transpired at the meeting referred to, is
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 119 
 
 taken from the elaborate report furnished by him- 
 self to the New York journals. 
 
 It seems that there were present about fifteen 
 to twenty persons, among whom may be men- 
 tioned the names of Judge Edmonds himself, Dr. 
 and Mrs. Gray, Mr. E. Fowler and his sister, 
 Mrs. Fox and her daughters, Messrs. Gordon, 
 Cooley, J. Partridge, &c., &c. Rappings were 
 heard, and a communication from the " spirits " 
 requested the company to play upon a piano in 
 the room. This was done, the raps beating ac- 
 curate time to the measure. Mr. Gordon, who 
 was a medium, was thrown into a magnetic sleep, 
 during which he gave utterance to some remarks 
 directed against the too ready yielding to sister- 
 superstitions with those which, in past ages, ob- 
 structed the advance of Gospel light, and the 
 pure influx of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 While this was proceeding, sounds were occa- 
 sionally heard on the door and sides of the apart- 
 ment, aloof from any person, as loud as could be 
 produced by a violent " pounding " with a man's 
 fist. The table at which Mr. Partridge was em- 
 ployed in taking notes, was several times moved 
 from its place ; and a chair, which stood outside 
 of the circle, and several feet distant from any 
 one present, was moved up to the circle, and 
 back again, placed on its side, &c., &c. 
 
 These, however, were the usual phenomena,
 
 1-20 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 and of such frequent occurrence, that they ex- 
 cited but little interest. In the present case they 
 proved to be but the prologue to demonstrations 
 of a most astounding character, and such as, I 
 am fully aware, will tax to the utmost the faith 
 of the uninitiated in the veracity of those upon 
 whose concurrent testimony these facts were sub- 
 sequently made public. 
 
 At the stage of the proceedings last alluded to, 
 it was proposed by some one to darken the room, 
 in order to try whether the lights or sparkles, 
 known frequently to accompany the manifesta- 
 tions in former instances, would be perceptible. 
 It was accordingly done, and the lights were ob- 
 served, at different times, and in different parts of 
 the room sometimes resembling phosphorescent 
 flames, sometimes forming luminous clouds moving 
 about, sometimes like glistening stars, crystals, or 
 diamonds. Physical demonstrations increased in 
 variety and force, and continued for three hours, 
 " during which," says Mr. Partridge, " the Judge 
 seemed to be in the possession of the spirits." 
 Many things occurred to him, which he mentioned 
 that he alone could be conscious of; though we 
 could perceive that something extraordinary was 
 going on with and around him. Many things, 
 however, also occurred, which all could witness. 
 
 The card-table before mentioned began to move 
 with violent force from one side of our circle
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 121 
 
 (which was large) to the other, rocking and rising 
 up and coming down, and finally the leaf was 
 shut up, the cover turned round to its place, the 
 table was gently turned upside down, and laid at 
 our feet. In this situation, myself and others took 
 hold of it, and ascertained its position ; and, after 
 a short interval, it was turned up, the leaf opened, 
 and the table placed as before. A chair, which 
 stood outside of our circle, and several feet from 
 any one, was suddenly moved up to the circle and 
 back, rocked, and finally, with great rapidity, con- 
 veyed from one end of the room to the other, 
 winding its way among the people who sat there 
 without touching them, and yet at times passing 
 with fearful rapidity within an inch or two of our 
 persons. 
 
 Some of the party, among whom was Judge 
 Edmonds, were requested to go into another 
 closet from that where Gordon was, where there 
 were a guitar, bass viol, and violin, each of which 
 was played upon, separately at first, and finally 
 all together, in marked time, which was beat out 
 by raps, sometimes upon the viols, floor, ceiling, 
 &c., the bow often touching the persons there. 
 
 Afterwards the bass viol and violin were raised 
 above their heads, and out of their reach (except 
 one end, which sometimes rested on their hand, 
 head, or shoulder, often changing), and in this 
 
 G
 
 122 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 position they were played and rapped upon as by 
 human fingers, and the time marked as before. 
 
 A dinner-bell on the shelf was raised up, and 
 rung over their heads; then taken out into the 
 parlour, and carried round the room, ringing over 
 the heads of fifteen or twenty persons, sitting in 
 the circle there, and then into the adjoining par- 
 lour (where there was no person), and carried 
 nearly its length and dropped on the floor some 
 fifteen or twenty feet from any human being. 
 Another small bell was taken off the shelf, rung, 
 and placed into and taken out of the hands of 
 several persons. A pocket-handkerchief was 
 taken from the Judge's pocket, and tied into 
 many knots, and put back again ; a table-brush 
 was taken from the shelf, and put into the hands 
 of several persons successively, and taken out 
 again, and their hair brushed with it." 
 
 From this period, the Judge became a regular 
 member of the magnetic circle, and at a meeting 
 somewhat subsequent to the above, it was an- 
 nounced to him that he would shortly be himself 
 a medium, and that too under circumstances 
 which would enable him to record and give to the 
 world such communications as he might receive. 
 This promise is understood to have been real- 
 ised. The Judge became clairvoyant, or, as he 
 expressed it, " found in his mind " certain scenes 
 or visions relating to the spiritual world, in all of
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 123 
 
 which scenes, actors, and incidents were as vividly 
 pictured, as though presented to his outward 
 senses. These occur as well by day as by night, 
 and only require that external objects be shut out 
 by closing the eyes. Certain of these visions or 
 "revelations" have been made public from time 
 to time, and are, as has been justly observed of 
 them, " eminently practical in their character, and 
 containing sentiments that cannot be unaccept- 
 able to the most pure and humble Christian. 
 The lessons they teach are those of love and kind- 
 ness, and address themselves to the calm, deli- 
 berate reason of man, asking from him no blind 
 faith, but a careful inquiry and a deliberate judg- 
 ment." 
 
 That the effect of the "manifestations" has, 
 in this instance, at least, been fraught with ad- 
 vantage, is proved by the change said to be worked 
 in the Judge's mind and manner. " From being 
 irascible and excitable at times, he has become 
 calm and moderate ; from being occasionally stern 
 and unyielding, he has become kind and gentle ; 
 from being a doubter as to the future, he has be- 
 come well grounded in the belief of man's im- 
 mortality, and his redemption through the mercy 
 of God; and he has found in spiritual inter- 
 course, not merely matter to gratify an idle curio- 
 sity, or responses to vain and frivolous inquiries, 
 but wisdom most profound, knowledge most in- 
 
 G 2
 
 124 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 teresting, and morality most pure and elevating, 
 as all may find who will seek with an earnest 
 desire for truth, and with minds open to its 
 reception. 
 
 " A single consideration will conclude this sketch. 
 The man who esteems it a privilege to respect his 
 conscience at the hazard of whatever personal in- 
 fluence he may have acquired in half a century, 
 who calmly follows, and with no vain regrets, his 
 deepest convictions of duty, and, moreover, with 
 a certain consciousness of all he has at stake, 
 justly claims the respect and admiration of men. 
 
 "For this, more than for all else, is Judge Ed- 
 monds deserving of honour ; nor is there aught 
 in the settled purpose of his mind, to indicate that 
 his course is determined by caprice or a momen- 
 tary excitement. His recent legal opinions ex- 
 hibit the method of his mind ; they are clear, con- 
 cise, and vigorous in statement, and denote a 
 healthy action of the faculties most essential to 
 the honourable discharge of his official duties." 
 
 Such is Judge Edmonds, one of the latest, and 
 certainly the most distinguished of those who 
 have not scorned to listen with candour to the 
 spiritual philosophy, and to yield to it the full 
 amount of belief their reason declares to be its 
 due. That he has been selected as the victim of 
 a delusion and imposture, none who have the 
 slightest idea of the training necessary for those
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 125 
 
 who attain the first rank in his astute profession, 
 will dare affirm. That, by a simulated faith, he 
 has any new honour to achieve, and not, rather, 
 everything so hardly gained to forfeit, no one who 
 has mixed with American society of the present 
 time will be likely to affirm. Many as are the 
 adherents of the doctrines we are discussing, the 
 confessions of faith are few. However the dis- 
 cussion of crude philosophies may divert a lei- 
 sure moment, it must not endanger the paramount 
 interests of the store and counting-house. It is 
 gossip, and nothing more. The editor will not 
 endanger his paper, the physician his practice, 
 the merchant his reputation for cold, calculating 
 shrewdness, by acknowledging that he can be- 
 lieve such marvels ! In fact, the spirit-mani- 
 festations, though reverenced in private, like a 
 monarch " in hiding," bears as much proportion 
 outwardly to the real market-business of life as 
 does the stick yonder respectable Kentuckian is 
 whittling, to the bargain he is attempting to drive. 
 
 The more honour, therefore, to Judge Edmonds. 
 
 To select any other individual examples from 
 the multitude of media since developed, would be 
 to detain us unnecessarily from the consideration 
 of such other points of interest as attach to the 
 general subject; and I would therefore only illus- 
 trate this portion of it, with the history of the 
 manifestation said to have occurred at the house
 
 126 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 of Mr. Ward Cheney ; the medium on this occa- 
 sion being a Mr. David or Daniel Hume, a 
 member of the New York Conference, and a 
 clairvoyant of extraordinary power. The narrative 
 cannot be more concisely conveyed than in the 
 words of the eye-witness ; and it remains only to 
 add that, however singular and incredible the 
 circumstances may appear whatever the ma- 
 chinery, be it material or otherwise, set in motion 
 to produce them the facts themselves are from 
 a source which I have every reason to believe 
 deserving of the most ample reliance. 
 
 " On the 8th, in company with three gentlemen, 
 I paid a visit to Ward Cheney, Esq., residing in 
 Manchester, at whose house a good medium, 
 Mr. Daniel D. Hume, was temporarily stopping. 
 After a formal introduction by one of our party 
 who was acquainted with Mr. C., we entered into 
 social and pleasant conversation, and a proposi- 
 tion was soon made by one of us to try our luck 
 in getting spiritual communications. A circle was 
 accordingly formed, with Mr. Hume as a member, 
 and the well-known vibrations on the table were 
 soon forthcoming, loud and distinct. One of my 
 friends had never seen anything of the kind, and 
 he accordingly looked under the table, to make 
 sure that no one touched it. Answers of a per- 
 sonal character were given very freely ; such as 
 tests of identity (the medium being a total stranger
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 127 
 
 to both parties), messages of a joyful import, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 "The medium was then (apparently) thrown 
 into a spiritually magnetic state, discovering great 
 rigidity of muscle and the ordinary phenomena of 
 the psycho-magnetic condition, including a mag- 
 netic locking of the jaws, in which an iron-like 
 hardness of the muscles was apparent. He then 
 spelt out (with his eyes closely bandaged) some 
 remarkable and interesting messages to one or 
 two of the company, the personal nature of which 
 precludes their publication, but which were de- 
 clared by those interested to be perfect tests. He 
 did this by pointing, with almost incredible rapidity 
 to the different letters of an alphabet arranged on 
 a 7-by-9 card, and thus spelling out the necessary 
 words. A rapid writer had difficulty in keeping 
 up with him, and when a word or a sentence was 
 partially finished, a suggestion from any of the 
 company as to what was intended to be spelt, 
 would, if correct, be answered by eager and vehe- 
 ment rappings in various parts of the table. 
 Among others (all remarkable) came a message 
 from two sailors lost at sea, relatives of one of 
 the company, a stranger to most of those present. 
 These spirits announced themselves, somewhat 
 unexpectedly, by canting over the solid and pon- 
 derous table, and rolling it in the manner of a 
 vessel in a violent tempest. Accompanying this
 
 128 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 demonstration, came a violent creaking, as of the 
 cables of a ship when strained in a gale ; then 
 came the loud sound of a prolonged wailing, 
 shrieking blast of wind, precisely such a noise as 
 the wind makes in the rigging of a ship in a storm 
 at sea ; and the creaking of the timbers and masts, 
 as the vessel surged to one side or the other, was 
 distinctly heard by all. Next came the regular, 
 sullen shocks of the waves as they struck the 
 bows of the doomed vessel. All this time the 
 table kept up the rocking motion. And now the 
 table was capsized on the floor ! All this was 
 done with no one touching the table, as a close 
 and constant scrutiny was kept up by two, at 
 least, of our party. These two sailors (whose 
 names and ages were given), it seems, lost their 
 lives by the capsizing of a vessel, as represented ; 
 although this fact, I have the best reasons for 
 knowing, was not previously known to the medium 
 or the company ! 
 
 "Demonstrations now increased in force and 
 number. The table was actually lifted up from 
 the floor, without the application of a human hand 
 or foot. A table, weighing (I should judge) 100 
 pounds, was lifted up a foot from the floor, the 
 legs touching nothing ! I jumped upon it, and 
 it came up again ! It then commenced rocking, 
 without, however, allowing me to slide off, although 
 it canted at least to an angle of 45. Finally, an
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 129 
 
 almost perpendicular inclination slid me off, and 
 another of the company tried it with the same 
 results. These things all happened in a room 
 which was light enough to allow of our seeing 
 under and over and all around the table, which 
 was touched by no one except the two persons 
 who, respectively, got upon it to keep it down. 
 
 " We went into a darkened room to see the 
 spiritual flashes of light said to have been vouch- 
 safed to some investigators. Instead of this, we 
 were greeted with tremendous rap-pings all about 
 us. Some of the blows on the walls, floor, and 
 tables, within three inches of myself, were astound- 
 ing. I could hardly produce such violent demon- 
 strations with my fist, though I were to strike with 
 all my might. The very walls shook. Answers 
 to questions were given by concussions of varying 
 force and intonation, according to the character 
 of the spirits communicating. A favourite little 
 daughter of one of the gentlemen present a 
 stranger from a remote state who had left the 
 earth in the fourth year of her age, announced her 
 presence by a thick pattering rain of eager and 
 joyful little raps; and in answer to an inward 
 request of her father, she laid her baby hand upon 
 his forehead ! This was a man who was not a 
 believer in these things ; he had never before seen 
 them; but he could not mistake the thrilling 
 feeling of that spirit touch. I also had a similar 
 
 G 5
 
 130 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 manifestation, in the character of which I am not 
 deceived. 
 
 " Suddenly, and without any expectation on the 
 part of the company, the medium, Mr. Hume, was 
 taken up in the air ! I had hold of his hand at 
 the time, and I felt of his feet ; they were lifted 
 a foot from the floor ! He palpitated from head 
 to foot with the contending emotions of joy and 
 fear which choked his utterance. Again and 
 again he was taken from the floor, and the third 
 time he was carried to the lofty ceiling of the 
 apartment, with which his hands and head came 
 in gentle contact. I felt the distance from the 
 soles of his boots to the floor, and it was nearly 
 three feet. Others touched his feet to satisfy 
 themselves. 
 
 " This statement can be substantiated, if neces- 
 sary." 
 
 Mr. Ward Cheney, at whose house these mani- 
 festations were witnessed, is, I believe, the brother 
 of the Boston artist of that name; and he has 
 since, if I am rightly informed, published a de- 
 tailed account of this and other scenes of a like 
 strange nature. I have not, however, seen this 
 document, and am indebted for further information 
 and corroborative testimony, as to the leading 
 feature of the case, chiefly to private sources; 
 from one of which, a lady resident in Boston, I 
 extract the following :
 
 NOTED MEDIA. 131 
 
 " I remember that, in your last letter, you 
 requested to be informed of the precise particulars 
 of the Cheney spirit- story. It was related to me 
 
 by , who also mentioned at the time 
 
 that Mr. Cheney's brother had published a full 
 account of it. If, on my return to Boston, I can 
 possibly procure this letter, I will send it to you 
 as being, no doubt, the most circumstantial narra- 
 tion. 
 
 "In the meantime, however, the facts are 
 these : 
 
 " A circle were in the habit of assembling at 
 Mr. Cheney's house, and had, on every occasion, 
 very wonderful manifestations. One evening, an 
 unanimous request was preferred, that the spirits 
 would afford the party there assembled some 
 irrefragable evidence of their actual presence. 
 To the utter amazement, as you may suppose, 
 of the entire circle prepared, as they doubtless 
 were, for something strange the medium was, 
 on the instant, lifted into the air, and there 
 suspended by invisible agency for a space of two 
 or three minutes, without touching anything or 
 anybody present /" 
 
 Should you, my dear Sceptic, or any of your 
 incredulous brotherhood, be disposed at once to 
 reject this story as a bold romance, all that can 
 be required of you is, that you suspend your final 
 judgment, until you have seen, in the following
 
 132 NOTED MEDIA. 
 
 pages, how, by the operation of recognised laws, 
 phenomena of a different kind, yet no less marked 
 and extraordinary, have been educed, and ac- 
 cepted as results not merely possible, but natural 
 and true.
 
 133 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Communications purporting to proceed from the spirits of eminent de- 
 ceased Remarkable similarity of style Edgar Poe Macdonald 
 Clarke, the " Mad Poet " Robert Southey Percy Bysshe Shelley 
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge A rapid composition Prose commu- 
 nications Washington Jefferson Calvin Fenelon Private 
 Messages The sentiment of freedom Spiritual autographs Spirit 
 linguists, &c. 
 
 A NEW feature was now to display itself; one 
 of a character sufficiently remarkable to awaken 
 sudden interest in the minds of many who had 
 theretofore stood aloof from the controversy, " non- 
 committal," as the American phrase has it, and 
 permitting the affair to work its own way towards 
 a defined position. 
 
 The writings of the deceased American poet, 
 Edgar A. Poe, have not, hitherto, attained any 
 great degree of European celebrity. His curious 
 poem, the " Raven," published in the Illustrated 
 London News, and since principally known, like 
 many other pieces of rare desert, by its numerous
 
 134 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 burlesque imitations, affords but an indifferent ex- 
 ample of his peculiar style of thought and diction. 
 Written with excessive care and labour, it must, after 
 all, be considered rather as an able and finished spe- 
 cimen of poetic mechanism, than as offering a fair 
 reflex of the writer's singular and most sensitive 
 mind. This is the more to be regretted, inasmuch 
 as the perusal of other poems, flowing more unre- 
 strainedly from this writer's fruitful but morbid 
 fancy, would have enabled the reader to judge 
 more accurately of the extraordinary vrauembla nee 
 suggested by the lines I am about to quote. 
 
 It was announced in a work, entitled the Spirit 
 Messenger, got up with the avowed object of 
 gathering all information of interest on the subject 
 of the manifestations, that a medium, Mrs. Lydia 
 Tenney, of Georgetown, Massachusetts, had, in a 
 magnetic circle recently assembled, communicated 
 the following " message " and poem, purporting to 
 be from the spirit of the deceased poet : 
 
 " Listen to me, and I will tell you of beautiful 
 things of thoughts both wild and tender both 
 soothing and tumultuous, which dwell .in a human 
 heart. A question which has moved the minds 
 of millions is, What is the end and aim of ima- 
 gination ? for what was it implanted in the 
 human organisation ? What was my own ? but a 
 vortex rushing within itself, upon whose brink I 
 could seem to stand and see what was being swal-
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 135 
 
 lowed and reproduced thorns, jagged rocks, 
 beautiful flowers all in the whirl of this ceaseless 
 current merged. 
 
 ' 0, the dark, the awful chasm ! 
 0, the fearful spirit spasm ! 
 Wrought by unresisted passion, 
 
 In my heart. 
 
 Fancies joyous, but alluring, 
 Love pure, but unenduring, 
 From time to time securing, 
 
 Each a part. 
 
 Then embraced by seraph bands 
 Drawn by tender, loving hands 
 From those treacherous, hateful sands 
 
 Of despair. 
 
 How my soul was waked to gladness, 
 And cast off the deadening sadness, 
 And the soul-devouring madness 
 
 Writhing there. 
 
 Then came dreams so soft and holy, 
 Over roses wandering slowly, 
 With sweet music stealing lowly 
 
 To my ear. 
 
 Hark ! I hear I hear her calling, 
 In tones no more of wailing, 
 But in dewy sweetness falling 
 
 ' Here up here !' 
 
 Thanks, great Heaven, I am stronger 
 Slave to earthly lusts no longer, 
 
 I am free. 
 
 0, this lightness 1 O, this brightness ! 
 0, this pure and heavenly whiteness, 
 
 Marl-ing thee /
 
 136 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Freed from earth and sin for ever 
 Death can us no more dissever, 
 Humbly thank great God together 
 Thou and we.' " 
 
 To those unable to judge of the wonderful man- 
 ner in which not only the style of the unfortunate 
 poet, but his peculiar idiosyncrasy, is reflected in 
 the above lines, this poem can only address itself 
 in one of two shapes, viz. as a proof that spiritual 
 manifestations have indeed affinity to something 
 more than incarnate intelligences, or as present- 
 ing the phenomenon of minds of extraordinary 
 power and genius lending themselves to a system 
 of fraud and collusion without parallel in the his- 
 tory of mankind. 
 
 Be this as it may, the publication of this sin- 
 gular production increased an hundred-fold the in- 
 terest already felt in the rappings, and, as a matter 
 of course, attracted much attention to the medium. 
 Mrs. Tenney's character and position were made 
 the subject of scrutiny, and proved to be alike 
 above reproach and beyond dispute many per- 
 sons resident in Georgetown (hitherto entirely 
 sceptical as to the alleged manifestations), de- 
 claring their confident belief that she was inca- 
 pable of deception in the matter. The lady her- 
 self repudiated all claim to poetic fire, positively 
 averring that she was unable to write a line, unin- 
 fluenced by another will than her own ; and that
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 137 
 
 her hand, in the act of writing, was entirely be- 
 yond her own control. 
 
 If the works of Edgar Poe are as yet little 
 known on this side the Atlantic, still less are those 
 of another unfortunate child of song Mr. Mac- 
 donald Clarke familiar to the reader. Poor 
 Clarke, known as the " Mad Poet," died, a year or 
 two since, in an asylum for the insane. The 
 following poem, communicated, like the former, 
 through Mrs. Tenney, embody, as I was informed 
 by Mr. Epes Sargent (no mean judge), the tone, 
 style, and manner of the alleged author, with the 
 same strange felicity as in the former case : 
 
 "MART O'SHANE. 
 
 Come listen to me while I sing unto thee 
 
 Of a cot in a flower-hedged lane. 
 Where near the deep sea, with a spirit as free, 
 
 Dwelt a maiden called Mary O'Shane 
 
 Brave Mary, my Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 ! my heart wanders back through the old beaten track, 
 
 Wept over so often in vain, 
 And the years roll away bringing back the last day 
 
 I parted from Mary O'Shane 
 
 Dear Mary, my Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 Through the long, idle days, I sang to her lays 
 
 From my own wild and wandering brain, 
 While lingering near, with a smile or a tear, 
 
 Listened my Mary O'Shane 
 
 Dear Mary, my Mary Mary O'Shane.
 
 138 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Drawn away one sweet night by the moon's gentle light, 
 
 My steps wandered down to the main, 
 Where the first wave that beat cast up at my feet 
 
 The form of my Mary O'Shane 
 
 My Mary, lost Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 Poor reason undone, forsook her frail throne, 
 
 And madness careered through my brain ; 
 My beacon-light gone, I wandered alone, 
 
 Wildly mourning my Mary O'Shane 
 
 My Mary, lost Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 The sun beaming now from the hill's smiling brow 
 
 Rests down on the flower-hedged lane ; 
 But no more can it rise on the soul-beaming eyes, 
 
 The eyes of sweet Mary O'Shane 
 
 Dear Mary, lost Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 While the wild booming sea brought over to me 
 
 Thoughts sharp with their torturing pain, 
 In each wave of the sea came wailing to me 
 
 The voice of my Mary O'Shane 
 
 Loved Mary, lost Mary Mary O'Shane. 
 
 Weary heart, wandering head, gladly sought their last bed, 
 
 Madly prayed for again and again ; 
 'Mong the Angels above I have found my lost love, 
 
 I have clasped sainted Mary O'Shane 
 
 Angel Mary, my Mary Mary O'Shane !" 
 
 Remarkable as are these communications, still 
 "the greatest is behind." Cavillers might object 
 that the muse of Robert Southey was unequal, at 
 least while in this state of being, to the produc- 
 tion of anything so beautiful and touching as the 
 following :
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 139 
 
 "POEM. 
 Dictated by the Spirit of Robert Southey, March 25, 1851. 
 
 Night overtook me ere my race was run, 
 
 And mind, which is the chariot of the soul, 
 Whose wheels revolve in radiance like the sun, 
 
 And utter glorious music, as they roll 
 
 To the eternal goal, 
 With sudden shock stood still. She heard the boom 
 
 Of thunders ; many cataracts seemed to pour 
 From the invisible mountains ; through the gloom 
 
 Flowed the great waters ; then I knew no more 
 But this, that thought was o'er. 
 
 As one, who, drowning, feels his anguish cease, 
 
 And clasps his doom, a pale but gentle bride, 
 And gives his soul to slumber and sweet peace, 
 
 Yet thrills when living shapes the waves divide, 
 
 And moveth with the tide ; 
 So sinking deep beneath the unknown sea 
 
 Of intellectual sleep, I rested there : 
 I knew I was not dead, though soon to be, 
 
 But still alive to love, to loving care, 
 To sunshine and to prayer. 
 
 And life and death and immortality 
 Each of my being held a separate part : 
 
 Life there, as sap within an o'erblown tree ; 
 Death there, as frost, with intermitting smart ; 
 But in the secret heart
 
 140 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 The sense of immortality, the breath 
 Of being, indestructible, the trust 
 
 In Christ, of final triumph over death, 
 And spiritual blossoming from dust, 
 
 And heaven with all the just. 
 
 The soul, like some sweet flower-bud yet unblown, 
 
 Lay tranced in beauty in its silent cell ; 
 The spirit slept, but dreamed of worlds unknown 
 
 As dreams the chrysalid within its shell, 
 Ere summer breathes its spell. 
 But slumber grew more deep till morning broke, 
 
 The Sabbath morning of the holy skies, 
 An angel touched my eyelids and I woke ; 
 
 A voice of tenderest love said, ' Spirit, rise ' 
 I lifted up mine eyes. 
 
 And lo, I was in Paradise. The beams 
 
 Of morning shone o'er landscapes green and gold, 
 O'er trees with star-like clusters, o'er the streams 
 
 Of crystal, and o'er many a tented fold. 
 
 A patriarch, as, of old, 
 Melchisedec might have approached a guest, 
 
 Drew near me, as in reverent awe I bent, 
 And bade me welcome to the land of rest, 
 
 And led me upward, wondering as I went, 
 Into his milk-white tent." 
 
 Slightly different from the foregoing, is a frag- 
 ment, for which we are indebted to the ghost of 
 Shelley! The poem is as unsubstantial as the 
 man ; but, considering that, under the circum-
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 141 
 
 stances, we are not reasonably entitled to expect 
 more than the " ghost of a poem " here it is, 
 commencing, at all events, with a sturdy axiom, 
 such as no man will be hardy enough to chal- 
 lenge : 
 
 " Man hath no power 
 
 To bind the spirit here. Immutable and pure 
 Are laws that move us in our Spirit-home. 
 We have no Word of God save holiest page 
 Of Nature's book, spread out in panoramic view. 
 Here I am blest " 
 
 And Sceptic, in whom I have more than once 
 been compelled to rebuke a slight tendency to 
 slang, remarks, sotto voce, that he will consent to 
 be "blest" also, if he believes that in any change 
 of sphere whatever, Shelley would be capable of 
 inditing such a line as the penultimate. But 
 worse is coming : 
 
 " My mind can sweep o'er all 
 Of Beauty, and drink in a freedom 
 That on earth I was denied. Earth's sons, 
 With souls of clay, would have despoiled me ; 
 They made me what I was they made me doubt; 
 But here, they have no power to mar my soul, 
 For to my 'lumined spirit is revealed 
 What once was dim and shadowy on earth. 
 Ah! Immortality, thy b liss and still 
 'Twos I who doubted thee! 
 
 Friend, listen why : 
 
 I saw the wrongs in Church and State, and I, too, 
 Saw a power to right them, and to make 
 An Eden's garden smiling here
 
 142 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 But others scorned, and wished not to right 
 Those wrongs I saw, for they were false, 
 
 Yet feigning to be true. 
 
 And when I thought of life, I said, 'tis dreams ; 
 And Death I said, is but a dreamless sleep ; 
 And man, so false to man, I ne'er can wish 
 Affinity to thee far better not to be; 
 And so I wished there was no after life. 
 
 ' PERCY BYSSHB SHELLBY." 
 
 The medium has, in this latter instance, thought 
 fit to conceal her name and residence, conscious, 
 probably, of some secret misgiving that the next 
 communication received from the quarter last 
 mentioned, might convey what in spirit parlance 
 would be equivalent to notice of action for defa- 
 mation of character. 
 
 Poor Coleridge fares little better. Could he 
 have foreseen to what imputations his muse was 
 to be exposed, he might have been less indifferent 
 to posthumous fame than his simple and beautiful 
 epitaph implies. 
 
 Listen to the following : 
 
 " There is no doubt that there exist such voices ; 
 
 Yet I would not call them 
 
 Voices of warning, that announce to us 
 
 Only the inevitable. As the sun, 
 
 Ere it be risen, sometimes paints its image 
 
 In the atmosphere ; so often do the spirits 
 
 Of great events stride on before the events ; 
 
 And in to-day already walks to-morrow. 
 
 COLERIDGE."
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 143 
 
 Some one having already noticed that " coming 
 events cast their shadows before," the spirit of 
 S. T. C. strikes out a new and bold idea, and the 
 image of to-morrow quietly " walking into " to-day, 
 ought to embalm this little poem for ever, in the 
 memories of all true lovers of genius and origi- 
 nality. 
 
 One other poetic communication, remarkable 
 chiefly for having been, as the report states, written 
 in fifteen minutes! The authorship is indefinite, 
 the piece having been dictated by " a guardian 
 spirit," the medium being a Mr. L., of the U. S. 
 navy. The report continues in these singular 
 words : 
 
 " On the 29th August, the invisible author is 
 stated to have appeared, and dictated as follows : 
 The same spirit wrote the title, ' Dawning ,' under- 
 scored the 'wrong of ages,' placed an asterisk by 
 the words, and wrote at the foot, ' Theology ;' 
 directing that it should be forwarded to the 
 Spiritual Telegraph (a weekly journal), and 
 signed * EBEN.' 
 
 'DAWNING. 
 
 ' It is midnight; and dark shadows wrap the earth in murky gloom, 
 And the silence is as death-like as the silence of the tomb ; 
 Not a zephyr's breath is stirring, e'en the owl has ceased his call, 
 And the darkness and the silence clothe the earth as with a pall. 
 In tliis hour of Nature's stillness, Thought roams free and uncon- 
 trolled ; 
 Now the body rules no longer, but the spirit's powers unfold.
 
 144 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Now the Future's sable curtain seems to roll away in night, 
 
 To reveal the coming ages to the spirit's eagle-sight, 
 
 Now we see the God of Mercy, stooping from his golden seat 
 
 To dispense his living justice to the Nations at his feet. 
 
 Lo ! the despots' iron sceptre crumbles in the eager hand, 
 
 And the monarch's throne stands vacant for the meanest of the land. 
 
 Bloated wealth with all his treasure is not worshipped as a god, 
 
 Not will conscious virtue tremble at the mammon-seeker's nod. 
 
 Lo ! the prison's massive portals, closed no more withjealous care, 
 
 Shut not out heaven's glorious sun-light from some lonely prisoner 
 
 there, 
 
 But the doors stand idly open, swinging in the summer gale ; 
 Those walls shall never echo back some weary captive's tale ; 
 The mighty Wrong of Ages, that has grown to giant size, 
 Fades away like winter frost-work when the sun illumes the skies : 
 And sin, that word ill-omened, blackens not the human soul, 
 Man's heart looks on and upward, with an Eden for its gaol. 
 Look up ! ye sons of sorrow, see ye not the coming light] 
 See ye not the golden glory that illumes the Eastern height ? 
 Lo ! the earth that hung in shadow sees the glory from afar 
 Of a mighty dawning FUTURE, of another Morning Star ! 
 
 EBEN.' " 
 
 Volumes might be filled with the prose commu- 
 nications purporting to proceed from the like su- 
 pernatural sources. It must be owned that the 
 great majority of these are of a very mediocre 
 character, and would rather induce an apprehen- 
 sion that the spirits of the illustrious and eminent 
 persons from whom these lucubrations emanate, 
 have rather deteriorated than improved, by their 
 translation to another sphere. 
 
 Readers must judge for themselves. Here are
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 145 
 
 abundant specimens. Where shall we begin ? 
 With George Washington, perhaps. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 Robert White Medium. 
 
 " O ye men of intelligence ! Be ye warned 
 that this doctrine of spiritual intercourse will 
 spread and overleap all opposition. Be patient, 
 examine, investigate try all things by the unfail- 
 ing laws of nature and reason. Be not easily 
 turned from your course let onward and upward 
 be your watchword all will be well if you perse- 
 vere. Have charity ; love your opposers ; forbear ; 
 seek to enlighten them. Oh ! be forgiving ; you 
 are progressing. All is not truth that is asserted, 
 but that which will stand the test of examination 
 alone. All will work together for your good. O 
 persevere in the investigation of this truth. I 
 would like to impress on the mind the necessity 
 of purity in life and thought. It would make man 
 happy and prepare him for the reception of these 
 heavenly truths. The mind will become pure and 
 cleansed of its prejudice and bigotry, and it will 
 begin to advance and be able to understand the 
 subject in all its fulness and beauty ; it will make 
 you wise, and advance you to occupy a higher 
 position in the spirit-world. You must not 
 expect to comprehend spiritualism in a moment, 
 
 H
 
 146 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 or iu a day, week, or year. As you progress, the 
 hidden beauties will be unfolded to the mind. 
 Exercise and pursue the subject with diligence. 
 Be pure and have holy and God-like views, and 
 in proportion, you will progress. 
 
 Signed, " WASHINGTON." 
 
 Communicated April 21, 1852. 
 
 JEFFERSON. 
 
 William Rogers Medium. 
 
 " I am pleased that I am permitted to express 
 my thoughts to those who remain on earth. I can 
 but render thanks to our Father, God, for the great 
 blessings he has conferred upon my beloved coun- 
 try. The anniversary of America's birth is now 
 being observed by millions of happy people, who 
 enjoy the greatest blessings of any earthly nation. 
 These blessings were won by a thorough and im- 
 partial investigation of the various theories of 
 government, one of which was carried out in prac- 
 tice by a class of men who were not afraid of 
 truth. In all of its affairs (the government) it is 
 as near the intended of God as its founders could, 
 at that time, adopt, and at the same time consoli- 
 date the States. But with all its blessings, it was 
 not perfect, nor is it yet, and probably never will 
 be. The Union as it is, is worth preserving, and 
 I pray my countrymen will not destroy it, for as
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 147 
 
 sure as they do, civil war and carnage will assu- 
 redly follow. Better permit one evil than to 
 destroy all that is good. From this fire of Liberty 
 the sparks of freedom are flying across the waters, 
 and have already kindled fires beyond the seas. 
 These will burn wherever the winds of thought 
 and education blow, until tyranny, bigotry, super- 
 stition, and all the curses which afflict man, are 
 consumed. 
 
 " THOMAS JEFFERSON." 
 
 4th July, 1851. 
 
 CALVIN. 
 
 (ON THE LAWS OF THE SPHERES.) 
 
 D. G. Green Medium. 
 
 " In regard to the question which I promised 
 to answer, I will state what I feel I can be clearly 
 and fully sustained in saying. The laws which 
 govern us in the spirit-land, in some respects, are 
 not dissimilar to those which govern men upon 
 earth. Yet we have greater facilities for acquiring 
 knowledge by far, than you who are yet in the 
 body. And so it is with those in the higher spheres 
 we can the more readily learn, the nearer we ap- 
 proach the goal to which we are all tending, the great 
 harmonial circle of God's more immediate pre- 
 sence. And although those who are in the lower 
 spheres can operate powerfully upon those on 
 earth, they cannot give as correct ideas in regard 
 
 H 2
 
 148 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 to the working of the great plans of our Father, as 
 those above them. When you fully realize that a 
 spirit can accomplish in one moment, by the mere 
 effort of the will, more than a mortal can do in a 
 number of days I mean, in regard to passing 
 from place to place you will not be astonished 
 to learn that we can as readily comprehend the 
 language as we can the thoughts of those with 
 whom we wish to converse. And as I have said, 
 we are, in a degree, subject to the same laws as 
 yourselves. Yet, instead of being obliged to study 
 for a long time to obtain a knowledge of any par- 
 ticular language, we are enabled to receive it as 
 by intuition. And it is just as easy for me, when 
 I wish to converse with one on earth, to impress 
 the thought upon his mind, in his own language, 
 although I never understood it when I was on 
 your earth, as I could in my native tongue. 
 
 "JOHN CALVIN." 
 
 FENELON. 
 
 Mrs, S. French Medium. 
 
 " Spirits would speak of the faith which they 
 would give unto you: 
 
 " Love first our God, with constant outpourings 
 of thankfulness for his boundless mercy; then, 
 love thy brother, and if he hate thee, love him still, 
 and let him not go without thy blessing.
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 149 
 
 " Ye may know that all nations shall be united, 
 even as one brotherhood ; that our work, though 
 mighty, nevertheless shall be complete. See you 
 not that our heavenly Father loveth all, even as 
 an earthly parent loveth his children ? He has 
 spread all things before you, saying : ' Come ye 
 and partake, for ye are my children.' 
 
 " Live in the light of that faith which we give 
 unto you, and that love of God within you ; and 
 that love shall be a faith unto you, which shall 
 glow brighter and brighter to a glorious reality. 
 For we know whereof we confirm you; that as 
 your love is for one another, even so is your love 
 for God. And, remember, I beseech you, that in 
 the life which the soul liveth, you are rewarded 
 according to the spirit of truth, love, faith, and 
 wisdom, which now dwelleth in you ; for as is 
 your true love and wisdom, even so shall be your 
 recompense. We will aid you, strengthen you, 
 and lead you, step by step, through the immeasur- 
 able fields of progressive wisdom to that fountain 
 from whence gusheth the waters of eternal life, 
 to that joy which hath no sorrow, to that eternity 
 which hath no bound. 
 
 " While on earth, I sought, and still seek with a 
 mightier than earthly power, to correct not the 
 outer but the inner man ; and your mission is to 
 aid us. Then work, not doubting ; for what we
 
 . 
 150 WRITTEN* MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 give unto you is good, and that which is good can 
 in no wise be evil. See that you live not by faith 
 alone, but by works also." 
 
 Out of the immense mass of communications 
 received from less eminent spirits, many curious 
 specimens might be selected. Certain of these, it 
 is distressing to remark, are less distinguished for 
 their orthography and grammatical construction, 
 than could be wished or expected. Many an illi- 
 terate phrase, or verbal common-place, might 
 startle even the fondest believers in the spirit- 
 theory, were it not considered probable that the 
 messages in question are joint productions of the 
 spirit and medium ; the former suggesting the idea 
 the latter the grammar ! 
 
 Here are a few specimens of what may be called 
 the private class of communications. 
 
 From a father in the spirit- world : 
 
 " My son, oh, my son, what can a spirit-father 
 say to interest you most ? I am with you to in- 
 spire your soul with hopes of a glorious future. 
 Then go on, my son, let hope bear you on the 
 tide of life that hath nearly attained its meridian, 
 and ere it begins to settle down, be thou prepared 
 for a high and holier seat in the kingdom of 
 heaven, where you may be joined in the happy 
 circles of those who have kept vigils over you."
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 151 
 
 From Lorenzo Dow, Methodist, who died in 
 1836, but could not, in his present state of being, 
 recollect the month : 
 
 
 By Miss Irish, Medium. 
 
 " Sweet is the joy of the holy, \vhose motto is 
 truth, who have the true meekness and are lowly, 
 who are never saucy, or use disrespect to their 
 superiors. Young man, from a sincere friend." 
 
 From the spirit of Elias Smith : 
 
 " My friends : a change will come, and you will 
 enjoy the fruits of your labours ; let hope inspire 
 your hearts, for the good time is soon coming. 
 Society is changing, and men are learning to 
 exercise charity. 
 
 " That power which now controls the spiritual 
 telegraphing from sphere to sphere, cannot fail to 
 convince man he is immortal, that he should place 
 dependence upon God, and not upon the creeds 
 of men. (Signed) " ELIAS SMITH." 
 
 " Upon what creeds ?" was shrewdly asked by 
 one of the circle. 
 
 The communication continued : 
 
 " We refer to such creeds as exclude and pro- 
 hibit that liberty of thought, or freedom of expres- 
 sion, which tends to reform society."
 
 152 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 A young lady received the following from a 
 sister, who told the time of her death, the 
 year and month, and spelled out her name, cor- 
 rectly : 
 
 " Loved friends, who still retain the forms of 
 earth, I am often near you, and would make you 
 sensible of the fact, if I could make you sensible 
 of my approach without giving you alarm. Angels 
 are ever your constant companions to guard and 
 influence and to invite your spirit onward and up- 
 ward to the land of harmony." 
 
 From a little girl who died in 1846, aged four 
 years : 
 
 " We are all sons of freedom, and we know 
 nothing but love and harmony with innocence and 
 virtue. We are clothed with the most lovely 
 garments. We have nothing to rest the eye upon 
 that is unpleasant. We are surrounded with the 
 most refreshing atmosphere. What else would 
 you like to hear from little Cis." 
 
 The reader, however, has probably had enough 
 of little Cis, or any other (to him) anonymous in- 
 terlocutors. Something of more extended signifi- 
 cance must close this chapter. 
 
 The visit, or as he preferred to call it, " mission " 
 of Kossuth to the United States, gave rise to one 
 of the most remarkable phenomena in the whole 
 history of the manifestations.
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 153 
 
 It must be observed, that, besides the many oral 
 and physical demonstrations afforded by the mag- 
 netic circles in New York, there had been obtained, 
 from time to time, mystical manuscripts, chiefly in 
 foreign and ancient languages ; or in the form of 
 autographs of eminent persons deceased. The 
 history of the operation is as follows : 
 
 At one of a series of meetings (hereafter more 
 particularly described), convened for the purpose 
 of " spiritual intercourse," at the residence of Mr. 
 Charles Partridge, New York, the subject of Kos- 
 suth's " mission" was referred to, and (whether from 
 a desire to know how far " material aid " might be 
 safely accorded, or from some idle curiosity as to 
 the missing crown of Hungary), pressed somewhat 
 eagerly upon the notice of the spirits. The latter, 
 however, cut all questioning short, by addressing 
 the medium, Mr. Edward P. Fowler, thus : 
 
 "Edward, place a paper on your table, and we 
 will write a sentiment on this matter, and sub- 
 scribe it with our names. You will then sign it 
 also." 
 
 The result reported was as follows : 
 
 In accordance with the above directions, Ed- 
 ward placed a paper on his table, in his sleeping 
 room, which was duly written upon in the course 
 of the night, and signed by forty -three spirits. 
 It was subsequently signed by the members of 
 the circle, but, owing to the omission of the his- 
 
 H 5
 
 154 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 tory, and the irregular mode of affixing the sig- 
 natures of the members, the spirits made the fol- 
 lowing communication at the succeeding regular 
 meeting : 
 
 " Burn that, and we will write upon another." 
 
 Accordingly, the first paper was destroyed, and 
 a parchment was procured and placed on Edward's 
 table, on his retiring for the night. On the morn- 
 ing of the 23rd of December, when the medium 
 rose, he found the sentiment, " PEACE, BUT NOT 
 WITHOUT FREEDOM," and the signatures inscribed 
 on the parchment. 
 
 At the meeting of the circle held on the 25th 
 of December, Dr. Hull asked the spirits whether 
 each spirit executed his or her own name, as they 
 occurred on the parchment, when the spirits an- 
 swered emphatically, " YES ! " 
 
 A certificate was then drawn up, and signed by 
 sixteen witnesses.* 
 
 * " We the undersigned, believing that these are the signatures of 
 the spirits themselves, and fully concurring in the sentiment ex- 
 pressed, hereunto affix our names this twenty -fifth day of December, 
 one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. 
 JOHN GRAY, EDWARD P. FOWLER, 
 
 JOHN F. GRAY, M.D. WILLIAM J. BANER, 
 
 S. T. FOWLER, Miss ALMIRA L. FOWLER, 
 
 F. F. GARY, MRS. S. A. PARTRIDGE, 
 
 MRS. CHARLOTTE F. WELLS, ALMON ROFF, 
 
 ROBERT T. SHANNON, WARD CHENEY, 
 
 DANIEL MINTHORH, DR. R. T. HALLOOK, 
 
 CHARLES PARTRIDGE, MRS. MARTHA H. F. BANER."
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 155 
 
 The doubt cast by Dr. Richmond, and other 
 opponents of the spirit-theory, upon the authenti- 
 city of this document, subsequently called forth 
 a more detailed account of its origin, which I 
 will shortly give from Mr. Brittan's statement : 
 
 STATEMENT CONCERNING THE MANUSCRIPTS, &C. 
 
 The authenticity of the SPIRIT-WRITINGS which 
 have been given to this circle,* through Edward 
 P. Fowler, as medium, having been called in 
 question by Dr. Richmond, the undersigned beg 
 leave to state that they have been in the habit of 
 attending circles with Mr. Fowler, for the investi- 
 gation of spiritual phenomena, for the last two 
 years, generally once, and sometimes twice, in a 
 week. During these sessions a great variety of 
 demonstrations of spiritual presence and power 
 have occurred, and numerous communications 
 have been given, some of which may be thus 
 briefly stated : 
 
 Persons at the circle have been unexpectedly 
 turned round with the chairs in which they were 
 sitting, and moved to and from the table ; chairs 
 
 * The NEW YORK CIRCLE was organised on the first of August, 
 1851, for the purpose of making careful observations concerning 
 modern spiritual phenomena. The circle was composed of the. fol- 
 lowing named persons : Judge Gray, Edward P. Fowler, Miss A. L. 
 Fowler, Dr. Gray and lady, Dr. Hull, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Part- 
 ridge, Dr. Warner, Dr. Hallock and lady, W. J. Baner and lady, 
 and Robert T. Shannon, who have been accustomed to hold frequent
 
 156 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 and sofas have suddenly started from their posi- 
 tions against the wall, and moved forward to the 
 centre of the room, when they were required in 
 the formation of the circle ; the persons in the 
 circle have each successively lifted his own side 
 of the table, and the invisible power has raised 
 the opposite side correspondingly ; occasionally 
 the spirits have raised the table entirely, and sus- 
 tained it in air, at a distance of from one to three 
 feet from the floor, so that all could satisfy them- 
 selves that no person in the flesh was touching it ; 
 lights of various colours have been produced in 
 dark rooms ; the table has often been rocked with 
 great violence, and suddenly and unexpectedly 
 to the whole company it has been instantly ar- 
 rested and held firm and immovable, with the 
 upper surface inclined to an angle of some forty - 
 five degrees, when the lamp, pencils, and other 
 objects on the table, would slide or roll to the 
 very edge, and there remain fixed as if rivetted to 
 the table ; a man has been suspended in, and 
 conveyed through, the air, in all a distance of 
 fifty feet or more. The communications have 
 been given in various ways, but chiefly in writ- 
 meetings up to the present time. It will not of course be inferred 
 that all of these parties have been present at every meeting of the 
 circle, or that they have, in all cases, witnessed precisely the same 
 phenomena. It should be observed, however, that Judge Edmonds, 
 Prof. George Bush, S. B. Brittan, Almond Roff, Samuel Fowler, D. 
 Minthorn, and others, have, on several occasions, participated by in- 
 vitation.
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 157 
 
 ings and by the rappings, after the ordinary al- 
 phabetical mode. 
 
 To establish the authenticity of the spirit- 
 writings through Mr. Fowler, the following speci- 
 fic statements seem to be required : At the close 
 of the session, held on the 17th of November, 
 1851, the spirits through the alphabet, and in 
 their usual manner said, " We wish to give you 
 a sentence for you to find out and remember ;" 
 when the following was communicated : " Debe- 
 mos amar a todo el mundo, aun a nuestros ene- 
 migos." No person present on that occasion un- 
 derstood a word of this language, but we were 
 subsequently informed that it was Spanish. 
 
 At the sitting on the 24th of November, 1851, 
 the spirits commenced with their signal for the 
 alphabet, and the following message was com- 
 municated to the circle : 
 
 " My dear friends, I am happy to announce 
 to you that the project which has engaged our 
 attention for some years, has at last been in part 
 accomplished. 
 
 " I am, 
 
 "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN." 
 
 Question. Do you refer to what took place with 
 Edward in the nights of Friday and Saturday 
 last ? 
 
 Answer. Yes. 
 
 Question. Was the writing in Hebrew, exe-
 
 158 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 cuted in Edward's presence, chosen by the spirits 
 as significant of a new spiritual era ? 
 
 The Spirit. Partially. 
 
 Here the colloquy was interrupted, and the 
 spirits charged the medium as follows, the alpha- 
 betical mode of communication being preserved : 
 "Edward, I wish you to get a book, and note 
 down very particularly what you have witnessed 
 and will yet see." 
 
 By Mr. Partridge. If I had been in the room, 
 could I have seen what Edward saw ? 
 
 The Spirit. Your sphere would not have ad- 
 mitted us to present ourselves even to Edward. 
 
 By some one. Who was the small man that 
 Edward saw in the room ? 
 
 Spirit. The small man was Hahnemann.* 
 
 On Thursday evening, December llth, 1851, 
 while specimens of writing in Hebrew and San- 
 scrit, executed by spirits in Edward's room a day 
 or two previous, were under examination, the sig- 
 nal for the alphabet was given, and the following 
 communication spelled : 
 
 "Edward, put that paper on your table, and 
 we will write a sentiment and subscribe our 
 names ; then you may sign it too." 
 
 * The occurrence here referred to was the visible appearance of 
 spirits as men in Edward's sleeping-room, during the nights of Friday 
 and Saturday. On the last mentioned night, a spirit wrote in He- 
 brew Daniel xii. 12, 13.
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 159 
 
 A paper was accordingly placed on the table, 
 and, on the following day, in the absence of Mr. 
 Fowler, the words, "PEACE, BUT NOT WITHOUT 
 FREEDOM," were written on the paper, together 
 with nearly all the autographs which were subse- 
 quently executed on parchment, an engraved y<r 
 simile of which was published in No. 9 of the 
 Spiritual Telegraph. 
 
 Subsequently, on two separate occasions, viz., 
 on the 18th and 22nd of December, remarks were 
 made relative to the paper, and the signing of it 
 by those of the circle who concurred in the senti- 
 ment it was supposed to teach. Some had signed 
 it already, but irregularly, and in such a manner 
 as to leave no room to record its history, which 
 was regretted by all. At length the spirits said, 
 
 "BURN THAT, AND WE WILL MAKE ANOTHER." 
 
 This direction was obeyed; the paper was de- 
 stroyed, and two sheets of parchment were pro- 
 cured and placed in a roll on Edward's table, 
 and during the night of Dec. 23rd, 1851, the 
 same sentiment, " Peace, but not without free- 
 dom," was again written, and fifty-six autographs 
 attached, including all, or nearly all, the names 
 on the first paper, with several others. 
 
 At the next meeting, which occurred on the 
 25th of December, the sentiment and signatures 
 being under consideration, the question arose as 
 to what was proper to be written as the history of
 
 160 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 the manuscript, when the following message was 
 received from the spirits : " Now agree upon what 
 should be written on the parchment." The spirits 
 then directed Dr. Gray, Dr. Hull, Mr. Baner, and 
 Mr. Partridge, to retire to another room and deter- 
 mine as to what should be written on the parchment. 
 Dr. Hull was then designated as the one to exe- 
 cute the writing, which was done accordingly. It 
 was then asked if the signatures were in each case 
 executed by the will of each spirit whose name 
 appears, or done by one operator for the whole ? 
 Answer : " Each for himself; by the aid of the 
 battery." 
 
 During the session on the 19th of January, 
 1852, the spirits signified their desire to make a 
 communication in Hebrew. Mr. Partridge asked 
 who should call the alphabet, and received for 
 answer, " The only one present who understands 
 it GEORGE BUSH." Professor Bush thereupon 
 proceeded to repeat the Hebrew alphabet, and a 
 communication in that language was received ! 
 
 Many additional facts might be given, to show 
 that spirits communicate in various languages 
 through E . P. Fowler, but the above will suffice 
 for the purposes of this statement. We cannot 
 allow the present occasion to pass without an ex- 
 pression of the entire confidence and unqualified 
 esteem with which Mr. Fowler is regarded by the 
 members of the New York Circle, and by those
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 161 
 
 who know him generally. We have had an inti- 
 mate personal acquaintance with him for two 
 years past some of us for a much longer period 
 and we have only known him as a high-minded 
 and honourable young man. From the beginning 
 he has steadily refused to accept the slightest 
 compensation for his time and services while em- 
 ployed in the capacity of medium. And we deem 
 it but an act of simple justice to Mr. F. to record 
 the fact, that, on all occasions we have found him 
 entirely unassuming in his deportment, and emi- 
 nently truthful in his life. 
 
 R. T. HALLOCK, M.D., 
 
 L. T. WARNER, M.D., 
 
 ALMIRA L. FOWLER, 
 
 A. G. HULL, M.D., 
 
 W. J. BANER, 
 
 MR. & MRS. CHARLES PARTRIDGE, 
 
 JOHN F. GRAY, M.D., 
 
 SAMUEL T. FOWLER. 
 
 A variety of other evidence is adduced, and 
 the result of the whole is to show, first, that the 
 spirits made no objection to the manner in which 
 their own names were executed, and only re- 
 quired a new copy on account of the irregular 
 mode of attestation by the witnesses ; secondly,
 
 162 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 that the rough and tremulous appearance of most 
 of the autographs was owing to the surface of the 
 parchment being extremely imperfect; thirdly, 
 that the writings consisted of communications in 
 various languages totally unknown to the medium, 
 Mr. Fowler ; and that the aforesaid autographs 
 (proved on examination to be perfect fac similes 
 of those of the living persons) were equally un- 
 known to that gentleman ; and, fourthly, that 
 forgery of the document, and its conveyance, 
 into the apartment of the medium, by any human 
 collusion, were alike impossible. 
 
 It is only fair to observe that this evidence, 
 though far too voluminous to transfer to these 
 pages, carried with it a very strong feeling of con- 
 viction of its having been at least honestly ad- 
 duced, and in a spirit of sincere belief in the 
 circumstances deposed to. 
 
 The testimony of the New York Circle may be 
 thus summed up : 
 
 1. An invisible agency has been operating in 
 the circle for two years past, producing a great 
 variety of manifestations of power and intelli- 
 gence raising, moving, arresting, holding, sus- 
 pending, and otherwise disturbing numerous pon- 
 derable objects and all in direct contravention 
 of the laws which govern the realm of material 
 nature.
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 163 
 
 2. The agency that does all this, has appeared 
 in the circle by the multiform exhibitions of its 
 mysterious presence from time to time, and by 
 means of the alphabet has made intelligent com- 
 munications in several different languages, the 
 import of which was not understood by the parties 
 present. 
 
 3. The same agency has, on numerous occa- 
 sions and in presence of many witnesses, asserted 
 its claim to the authorship of the written commu- 
 nications and autographs now under considera- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Brittan's statement of this singular case 
 concludes with several strong testimonials to the 
 character of Mr. Fowler, and the veracity of his 
 statements. 
 
 The first from Professor George Bush, dated 
 New York, March 27th, 1852, states that the 
 alleged spirit-communications in Hebrew, Arabic, 
 Sanscrit, Bengalee, Persian, French, Spanish, Ma- 
 lay, and Chinese, which had been submitted to 
 his (the Professor's) inspection were of a very 
 extraordinary character, and such as he could not 
 well convey by any verbal description. That Mr. 
 F. had no knowledge of the above languages, nor 
 was he likely to be acting in collusion with any 
 who had. The Professor declared himself satisfied ; 
 further, that Mr. Fowler could not have copied the 
 writings from printed works, relying upon internal
 
 164 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 evidence and a multitude of collateral circum- 
 stances for the correctness of this conclusion. 
 On one occasion, indeed, it happened that a He- 
 brew communication had been spelled out to the 
 Professor (through Mr. Fowler), in the presence 
 of a large circle, not one of whom, himself ex- 
 cepted, had any knowledge of that language. 
 
 A second testimony declares : 
 
 "I have been cognisant of the execution of 
 some of the said manuscripts, under circumstances 
 physically precluding the possibility of their 
 having been done by any human agency. 
 
 " With most of the languages written, I believe 
 Mr. Fowler to have been entirely unacquainted ; 
 and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, he 
 has no books in any other of the languages than 
 Greek, Latin, French, and German, with the ex- 
 ception of a small portion of the New Testament 
 in Syriac, which came into his possession subse- 
 quently to the production of these manuscripts. 
 "MARTHA H. BANER." 
 
 A third : 
 
 " I can in a few words reply to your questions 
 respecting Mr. E. P. Fowler. He has hitherto 
 sustained an unblemished reputation for honesty 
 and veracity, and enjoyed the confidence of all 
 acquainted with him. * * * I have evidence
 
 WRITTEN MANIFESTATIONS. 165 
 
 sufficient to my own mind, that he has had no 
 agency in the writing of the different languages 
 executed in his room, and purporting to be the 
 productions of spirits. 
 
 " Respectftilly yours, 
 " ALMIRA L. FOWLER. 
 
 "Philadelphia, Sept. 24, 1852." 
 
 Here the case rested.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 Notice from the Pulpit Different views of the clergy Opinions 
 compared The Rev. C. B. Boynton and the Rev. J. P. Stuart. 
 
 IN any matter seriously affecting the feelings of 
 the community at large, the pulpit is rarely alto- 
 gether silent, and surely with great advantage may 
 the preaching of abstract doctrines be suspended 
 for a moment, when the opportunity offers of 
 pressing home to the hearts of men the moral to 
 be drawn from every great public event, and 
 directing its application. It was not likely, there- 
 fore, that the much discussed manifestations should 
 be overlooked by the clergy, nor that they should 
 be insensible to the necessity of endeavouring to 
 impart some direction to the fermenting flood of 
 popular opinion, at this period fed by most con- 
 flicting currents. Some persons treated the entire 
 affair with the supremest scorn ; some with a sort 
 of patronising approbation, as a capital trick, com-
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 167 
 
 pletely worthy of the success it had achieved; 
 others denounced it as a dangerous delusion, and 
 all its abettors as knaves and villains; others, 
 again, inclined to the spirit-doctrine, but referred 
 the manifestations to the exclusive agency of evil 
 spirits, affirming, on scriptural authority, that 
 in " these latter days, there shall be signs, and 
 wonders, which should, if it were possible, de- 
 ceive the very elect." Happily for the interests 
 of knowledge, there are in all communities a can- 
 did few prepared to deal fairly by such new mat- 
 ters, and vindicate their claim to a calm and 
 honest investigation. 
 
 Various indirect allusions were made, from time 
 to time, by teachers of different sects, but these 
 in a tone so guarded as to exercise little influence, 
 until at length, by one orthodox pulpit, the matter 
 was fairly taken up and dwelt upon. 
 
 The Rev. C. B. Boynton, of the Vine Street 
 Congregational Church, on the evening of Sun- 
 day, Nov. 3, gave a lecture on Spiritualism, and 
 made especial reference to the new " manifesta- 
 tions," which he characterised literally as demon- 
 strations. He traced their progress through the 
 history of past ages, expressing an opinion that 
 the astrologers and magicians of old received their 
 power of magic and divination from evil spirits, 
 and that the influences of the present day have a 
 similar origin. 
 
 Legions of demons encompass, in his opinion,
 
 168 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 the atmosphere about us, and have the power to 
 make "manifestations" through man. They 
 might enter man and personify other spirits 
 spirits of friends deceased, or of prophets or 
 apostles. The Prince of Darkness had the power 
 of the air, and if a spirit should speak to him (Mr. 
 B.), representing itself as the ethereal essence 
 of his dearest departed friend, discrediting, in 
 any particular, the doctrines and prophecies of the 
 Bible, as now understood, he should believe it a 
 lying spirit, assuming shapes that did not belong 
 to it, for evil purposes. We must try the spirits 
 by the teaching of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 If, from the demonstration now being made, a 
 sect of Spiritualists should grow up that dis- 
 credited established theology, and that sect should 
 " increase and multiply," he should consider that 
 the period was commencing, which he conceived 
 to be foretold in the Bible, when the Prince of 
 Darkness shall for a time have dominion, and the 
 wicked shall triumph, prior to the winding up of 
 terrestrial affairs, when the saints shall prevail, 
 and Christ shall come in the clouds with his holy 
 angels to judge the world. 
 
 About the middle of December, Professor 
 Gatchell, of the Eclectic College, delivered two 
 
 lectures at the hall of the Institute, in the course of 
 
 * 
 
 which he gave a sketch of spiritual manifestations 
 in various ages of the world, and presented his 
 views upon their philosophy.
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 169 
 
 On Sunday evening, December 22nd, the Rev. 
 J. P. Stuart, of the New Jerusalem Society (Swe- 
 denborgian), announced a series of lectures on the 
 communications between men and spiritual beings 
 in another sphere. These lectures, though ne- 
 cessarily imbued with sectarian doctrines, con- 
 tained so much new and deeply interesting matter, 
 that, eschewing as far as possible the theological 
 portions, I am tempted to give a brief condensa- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Stuart commenced by dividing the commu- 
 nications which formed the subject of his ad- 
 dresses, into four heads, viz. : 
 
 1. Divine relating to the manifestations which 
 the Lord has made of himself to his crea- 
 tures. 
 
 2. Miraculous relating to the revelations 
 which prophets and apostles have made. 
 
 3. Magical and mesmeric relating to com- 
 munications which the practisers of these 
 arts have obtained with spirits, by means of 
 impressible subjects. 
 
 4. Electrical or galvanic relating to the com- 
 munication which seems to be effected with 
 spirits, by means of the interior forces of 
 nature. 
 
 Of this latter class are the mysterious rap- 
 pings. 
 
 " At the earliest period, angels and spirits ap- 
 
 i
 
 170 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 peared to men, and always excited fear and ap- 
 prehension. The presence of a spirit was a token 
 of evil voices speaking from the invisible world 
 visions of spiritual things filled the minds even 
 of good men with calamitous forebodings, while 
 the evil would be utterly overwhelmed. Belshaz- 
 zar, while drinking wine from the sacred vessels 
 brought from Jerusalem, with his wives and con- 
 cubines, and praising their gods, witnessed the 
 hand writing on the wall, and trembled. When 
 the Lord appeared to Adam in the garden, he was 
 afraid. The usual commencement of the message 
 of the angel of the Lord was, ( Fear not.' The 
 word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision 
 saying, ' Fear not, I am thy shield,' &c. The 
 angel of the Lord called to Hagar, and said unto 
 her, ' Fear not, for the Lord hath heard the voice 
 
 V 
 
 of the lad,' &c. The Lord appeared to Isaac, and 
 said, ' Fear not, for I am with thee,' &c. Moses 
 said, ' Fear not, for God has come nigh to prove 
 you,' &c. The angel of the Lord appeared to 
 Gideon, and said, * Peace be with thee, fear not, 
 thou shalt not die,' &c. Gabriel appeared to 
 Mary to make the annunciation, and said to her, 
 ' Fear not, for thou hast found favour with God,' 
 &c. Other passages from the New Testament 
 were quoted to prove the fact as announced, that 
 fear was common on the occasions of these com- 
 munications. John of Patmos, was so addressed :
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 171 
 
 'Fear not, I am the first and the last,' &c. Within 
 the last hundred years this fear has vanished ; the 
 visit of a spirit has now no terrors to any one ; it 
 disturbs neither men, women, nor children. All 
 this is well ; it shows at least that we are not 
 afraid. Whoever he is that speaks from the night 
 side of nature, we are not afraid of his voice. 
 Angel, spirit, or demon, let him speak ; we neither 
 hide our eyes, nor shudder at his presence. On 
 the contrary, we seek them out. We say, let 
 them give us proof of their presence; let us 
 hear their oracles. If they are divine, let us 
 worship and adore. If they are miraculous, let 
 us admire and wonder. If they are magical or 
 mesmeric, let us see them. If they are galvanic 
 or electrical, let us demonstrate them." 
 
 It will be unnecessary to follow Mr. Stuart 
 though his exposition of the Jirst form of com- 
 munication, in which he referred to Biblical tes- 
 timony in proof of his argument, that the power of 
 spirit over matter had been abundantly illustrated 
 in the days when the Lord of all things revealed 
 himself to man. 
 
 On the occasion of Mr. Stuart's second lecture, 
 in which he considered the second form of com- 
 munication, he said: 
 
 " In old times, times long ago gone by, it was 
 common for angels and spirits to speak to the 
 human race, and, by means of their messages, pro- 
 
 i 2
 
 172 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 phets and apostles had communications with the 
 spiritual world." 
 
 After referring to the writings of Swedenborg, 
 the lecturer continued : 
 
 " In the golden age, before the fall, the earth 
 was the mirror of heaven ; the objects here were 
 in harmony with the laws there ; hence the com- 
 munication of angels with the men of that day 
 was easy and complete. This condition of our 
 race passed away with the fall, and was utterly 
 removed at the flood as a general thing. With 
 Adam or the church called Adam the commu- 
 nication was open and manifest angels then 
 were made the instructors and conservators of the 
 human race, exerting their power in harmony 
 with the laws of the human mind. Men sought 
 the protection of heaven, and the angels, from 
 their love of doing good, were glad to render this 
 service to man. 
 
 " When the human race turned away from the 
 Lord, and relied on self, then the angels, finding 
 men no longer in harmony with their life, with- 
 drew from their presence. Hence the influx of 
 evils and falsenesses that devastated and over- 
 whelmed the golden age, and hence also the 
 rise of a new church with the men who were 
 called Noah and his posterity. In the decline 
 of this church, or dispensation, the Lord esta- 
 blished a covenant with Abraham, re-establish-
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 173 
 
 ing conjunction with heaven. The Abrahamic 
 dispensation is strangely marked by miraculous 
 communications with angels and spirits by means 
 of inspired prophets." 
 
 The lecturer then cited the visits of the angels 
 to Lot, in Sodom, who struck the people with 
 blindness, " and did many things which men 
 clothed in the material body could do, and vastly 
 more. The fact that they were angels, was no 
 hindrance to the exercise of their power among 
 men. A man may work Avith a sledge hammer 
 an angel with the essences of the same, the 
 galvanic and electrical attraction and repulsion ; 
 but which of these, even amongst men, is the more 
 formidable the hammer or the thunderbolt ? 
 
 " When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his 
 eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man 
 over against him, with a sword drawn in his hand. 
 And Joshua went unto him, and said, ' Art thou 
 for us, or for our adversaries ? ' &c. 
 
 " Another remarkable apparition of an angel was 
 during the pestilence sent upon Israel for the 
 vanity of David in numbering the people, &c. 
 
 " From the account given us in Daniel x. 5 18, 
 it is manifest that Daniel w r as reduced to a psy- 
 chological state, far removed from the normal 
 state, before he was made the subject of these 
 visions. The doctrine is, that where an angel or 
 spirit converses with a man, he is heard as plainly 
 as one man by another, but by himself only. The
 
 174 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 reason is, because the speech of the angel or spirit 
 first insinuates itself into the thinking faculties, 
 and by a secret passage strikes his organs of 
 hearing from within ; whereas the voice of one 
 man passes into the atmosphere, and strikes the 
 organs of hearing from without. Hence it comes 
 to pass that the speaking of an angel or spirit is 
 equally audible in many, inasmuch as the organ 
 is affected in a like manner." 
 
 Instances were then given from the New Tes- 
 tament the angel rolling away the stone from 
 the sepulchre, and speaking to the women, the 
 deliverance of the Apostles who had been cast 
 into prison by the High Priest also of Peter, 
 whom Herod had imprisoned. " By what means, 
 then, may angels exercise their power in this out- 
 ward world? Evidently their power, however 
 great, cannot flow down into ultimates without a 
 medium. Then what is this medium of action ? 
 How do spirits act here ?" 
 
 Mr. Stuart here advanced his own ideas on this 
 subject, rather to excite investigation, as sugges- 
 tive, rather than dogmatic. " It seems clear that an 
 angel or spirit may see and feel the outward world 
 by the transfer to himself of the sensation of one 
 in the natural world, provided the spiritual sight 
 and perceptions of that one are opened, but not 
 otherwise. But even when a spirit does perceive 
 the objects of this world, then how shall he get 
 hold of them and move them ? How can an
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 175 
 
 angel or spirit unbar a bolted door, or roll away 
 a stone ? 
 
 "In the transfer of mental impressions, the angel 
 may possess himself most fully of all that the man 
 has in his thought and in his memory. But 
 neither thought, memory, nor emotion, will enable 
 a man to lift a rock; then how \vill these enable 
 an angel to do it? There are two worlds, the 
 natural and the spiritual; angels and spirits are 
 in one, men in the other. The natural world is 
 the world of effects, the causes of which are in 
 the spiritual world are we not warranted in 
 going one step further, and declaring that the 
 essences of every object known here, and which 
 in this world are hid, and even as Locke says, 
 utterly unknown, that the essences are really the 
 forms which the same objects have in the spiritual 
 world? There is here, before us, a block of iron, 
 wood, or stone. This is an effect this is the 
 form of some essence. 
 
 " The cause of this effect, and the essence of 
 this form, are in the spiritual world. If this be 
 so, may we not go a step further, and declare that 
 the form this object assumes in the spiritual world, 
 is as cognizable there as the form which it assumes 
 is in this world, and that the angel or spirit whose 
 thought is directed to it, sees the one as easily as 
 we do the other ? Moreover, may not the angel 
 handle and hold the essence, and the cause of
 
 176 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 this real iron block, as readily and as familiarly 
 as we do the actual iron block here ? 
 
 " As, however, the ideas of times and spaces in 
 the spiritual world are not such as prevail in ours, 
 the inhabitants of the former can exercise no 
 power involving these ideas, unless the same 
 medium that furnishes the idea, supply the power 
 also. Therefore, although angels have power to 
 move rocks, &c. &c., still the very idea of doing 
 so cannot enter their minds, except by the per- 
 ception of times and spaces. These natural ideas 
 the angels or spirits may imbibe from man, while 
 at the same time they retain their power over the 
 essences and causes ; and by this means are 
 enabled to exert themselves among the objects 
 of this world as directly, and infinitely more 
 efficiently, than men." 
 
 Upon this ingenious hypothesis the arguments 
 in support of which I have been compelled greatly 
 to condense, but which were listened to with the 
 most eager interest Mr. Stuart founded his 
 second lecture. 
 
 The third lecture, embracing the third species 
 of communication, the magical and mesmeric, 
 was delivered on Sunday evening, January 5th. 
 
 Due allowance being made for sectarian views, 
 some of Mr. Stuart's remarks are well worthy of 
 consideration. 
 
 " Magic" remarked the lecturer, " is the generic
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 177 
 
 term.* Communications with spirits and demons 
 by witchcraft, soothsaying, sorcery, and magic, 
 have abounded more or less in all ages of the 
 world. Magic is the generic term. Magic is 
 essentially infernal. Mesmerism always takes 
 its quality from the intrinsic character of those 
 who are engaged in it. It is infernal, and com- 
 municates with demons, if the mesmerists are of 
 an evil genius ; but if the mesmerist is in a good 
 life if he acknowledges and loves the Lord and 
 exercises charity then the spirits that ' come 
 from the vasty deep' are of a similar character, 
 and their utterances will be mingled with the 
 leaven of truth. The same may be said of the 
 trance and the trancee. Heaven and its glories 
 are seen by some hell and its miseries by others, 
 while, to each, the appearances will, in the trance, 
 accord, in a great degree, with his anticipations 
 and his doctrines in regard to the future life. 
 
 " Upon the stage of the mesmerist, there are a 
 dozen persons under his control. A magical 
 spell destroys for the time the voluntary exercise 
 of their rationality and freedom. They are 
 swayed by the word or the will of the experi- 
 menter. A fantastic ship is seen in flames, the 
 crew is heard to cry out. By phantasy a storm 
 is made to arise before the enchained imagina- 
 tion, &c. They have no foundation in reality ; 
 * For spiritual communications. 
 
 I 5
 
 178 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 neither substance nor essence underlies the delu- 
 sive form ; and yet those who are impressed with 
 it are made to believe that it has the most sub- 
 stantial reality. The magical miracles in Egypt 
 may have been very similar to these phenomena ; 
 indeed, we are not able to see wherein they 
 differ. 
 
 " In a French work, the Chevalier Marsham 
 attempts to demonstrate that the school for magic 
 among the Egyptians is the most ancient ever 
 known in the world, and from thence it spread 
 among the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, the Greeks, 
 and Persians. St. Paul informs us, that Jannes 
 and Jambres, famous magicians in the time of 
 Pharaoh, resisted Moses. Pliny remarks that 
 anciently there was no science more renowned, 
 or more in honour, than that of magic : ' Summarn 
 literaruni claritatem, gloriamque ex ea scientia 
 antiquitus et pene semper petitum.' In the sacred 
 scriptures, the name Magi, or Magus, is never 
 used in a good sense, or signifying philosophers 
 who studied astronomy, except in one instance 
 the Magi who came to adore Jesus Christ at 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 "Everywhere else they condemn magic and 
 magicians. The prohibition in the Levitical law is 
 very pointed : 'Regard not them that have familial- 
 spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled 
 by them. I am the Lord thy God ; and the soul
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 171) 
 
 thatturneth after such as have familiar spirits and 
 after wizards, I will even set my face against that 
 soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 
 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' The testi- 
 mony of Scripture as to the reality and character 
 of rnagic is unequivocal and fall. 
 
 " Communications with spiritual realities by 
 means of clairvoyant subjects are of frequent 
 occurrence in our day, and indeed in our own 
 city. It is a principle that facts are neither 
 strengthened nor weakened by argument; facts 
 are simply facts. Let every one examine, and 
 then determine. In the temple where heroes and 
 gods were enshrined, the oracle was once heard 
 to utter >' There came here a wise man and a 
 fool. The wise man investigated first, and then 
 detennined the fool determined first, and never 
 investigated.' 
 
 " In this day, wisdom and folly are much the 
 same as then. It costs no labour to deny and 
 doubt it requires labour and perseverance to 
 investigate. 
 
 " One thing is to be borne in mind, viz., that 
 the oracles of clairvoyants must always partake, 
 to some extent, of the same fallacies that abound 
 in the persons making the experiments. Infalli- 
 bility is never to be ascribed to them. It belongs 
 only to the Lord." 
 
 The concluding lecture, on the fourth division
 
 180 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 of the subject, the electrical and galvanic, apply- 
 ing, as it did, to the mysterious manifestations at 
 that time agitating the public mind, was attended 
 by an immense auditory, many hundreds having 
 gone away unable to obtain entrance. Those 
 who had been fortunate enough to do so, listened 
 with the profoundest interest to the expositions 
 of the intelligent lecturer. 
 
 The subject of the evening was divided into 
 phenomena known as "mysterious knockings," 
 the intelligence displayed in these phenomena, 
 and the theories propounded for the solution of 
 the mystery. 
 
 " Admitting the facts, for they are indisputable, 
 still a variety of opinions will prevail as to the true 
 explanation of the facts. A rational explanation of 
 every fact and of every phenomenon is of vast im- 
 portance, for some men deny even a fact, when they 
 find it impossible to explain it in a rational light." 
 
 Mr. Stuart now examined the reality of the 
 knockings, and came to the conclusion that the 
 evidence is abundantly sufficient to establish their 
 reality. The intelligence displayed in these phe- 
 nomena indicates the presence of mind of no 
 common order. He instanced the answer of the 
 alleged spirit of Dr. Channing, as to the mode of 
 the spirit-rapping, viz. : " The sounds are, to a 
 certain extent, produced by the control which in- 
 visible spiritual beings have over the electrical
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 181 
 
 medium of the nervous system. The spirits, by 
 an effort of the will, make these sounds, and dis- 
 turb the imponderable agents which pervade the 
 objects and the localities where the sounds are 
 heard." There is mind of some order and degree 
 necessary in order to give forth this response. 
 
 The most interesting part of Mr. Stuart's lec- 
 ture was on the third division, viz., the theories 
 which are advanced to explain these mysterious 
 manifestations. He mentioned two. 
 
 "The first teaches that the facts themselves are, 
 in reality, only appearances wrought on the minds 
 of those who see these things. It is claimed that, 
 by a species of phantasy, the things mentioned 
 only seem to take place the table seems to move, 
 the chairs to rattle, the blinds to open and shut, 
 &c., and really these are the mere phantoms of 
 the imagination, for no changes whatever take 
 place in the outward world. 
 
 " This theory is the more plausible from the fact 
 that many appearances in the outward world are 
 really only%ppearances. These are the mesmeric 
 or biological experiments which we often see. It 
 would seem that almost any appearance is induced 
 that the experimenter may please. The subjects 
 under his sway see and hear a thousand things 
 that have no reality in them. The cold wind 
 blows, and they shiver as if in a winter storm, in the 
 heat of summer, and vice versa. They are made
 
 182 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 to imagine the presence of serpents, and wild 
 beasts, and similar objects. Now it is supposed 
 that mischievous spirits, by means of their magical 
 operations on the minds of the people there, pro- 
 duce these fantastic images on the interior senso- 
 rium, and move the brain and the external senses 
 so as to give, in all respects, the same external 
 appearances as though the external events were 
 actual. But while some of the phenomena admit 
 of this explanation, others do not ; so the theory 
 is insufficient, of which illustrations were given. 
 
 " The second theory is, that the volitions of these 
 spiritual agents flow down actually into the ulti- 
 mate plane of existence by means of the internal 
 forces the imponderable and invisible elements 
 of nature. On every side we find strange min- 
 gling of extremes. Flowing into crude inanimate 
 forms of matter that the foot treads upon, there 
 are impalpable powers, imponderable agents, in- 
 visible substances. The spiritual world pours 
 down its living powers into the forms of earth. 
 Permeating every particle of matter, there are 
 living forces along the enduring lines of which, 
 the thoughts, volitions, and powers of spirits may 
 glide and operate without contradiction or impe- 
 diment. 
 
 " In the language of another, all power has its 
 origin in mind. In the production of physical 
 effects, mind acts through organic instruments or
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 183 
 
 by direct power over imponderable agents. The 
 power of the human mind to produce electrical 
 disturbances beyond the limits of its own organic 
 medium, and beyond the sphere of organic exist- 
 ence, is beautifully evinced in the result of an 
 experiment recently performed in Paris and 
 Berlin, and reported to the French Academy of 
 Sciences orilVtay 21, 1849. By this experiment, 
 deviations of the needle of a sensitive galvano- 
 meter are produced by volition. The oscillations 
 of the needle vary from 30 to 50, according to 
 the poAver. All gross substances are pervaded by 
 refined and invisible media. Heavy bodies move 
 whenever the imponderable fluids pervading them 
 are set in motion and disturbed. Thus science 
 seems to show the mind of a man, while he has 
 a sort of direct contact with the imponderable 
 fluids that pervade all nature, and thus he may 
 exercise some remote control over the kingdoms 
 of matter. In this earth, the laws of nature 
 are fixed and uniform, as a general fact; and, so 
 thinking, we consider a law as having great power 
 in it ; whereas the laws of nature are only modes 
 of manifestation ; there is no power in the law, 
 the law flows forth from the pow r er, and what we 
 see as the law for example, the law of gravita- 
 tion is only a mode in which power acts. What, 
 then, is the power ? and where is the seat of that 
 power ?
 
 184 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 " In the last analysis of every power, we arrive 
 at Deity, but the mediums are innumerable 
 through which Divine power flows ; we call them 
 the laws of nature and being; in every instance 
 they are, in their inmost activities, spiritual beings 
 in the human form. The law of gravitation and the 
 law of cohesive attraction, and all other laws, rest 
 back in the spiritual world, so that, really, the 
 living forces of every natural law is found in the 
 life of spirits and spiritual being." 
 
 At the conclusion of this most interesting ad- 
 dress, it was announced that Mr. Stuart would 
 deliver a Supplementary Lecture, on the cha- 
 racter of the supposed spirits, through whose 
 agency the present manifestions were being made. 
 Accordingly, on the evening of January 19th, 
 another crowded auditory assembled. On this 
 occasion, Mr. Stuart's remarks were, in substance, 
 as follows : 
 
 " It is supposed by many that whatever is dis- 
 closed by spirits who are in the other life, must be 
 true ; that spirits, good or evil, alike know the truth, 
 and are disposed to speak it ; that none are igno- 
 rant, none believe in lies ; while all are capable 
 of instructing the very wisest of the sons of men. 
 In consequence of this erroneous belief in the 
 wisdom, and even the infallibility, of spirits, great 
 interest is felt in what they utter. People who 
 regard not the wisdom of Solomon, or Socrates,
 
 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 185 
 
 or Confucius, are quite obedient to any voice 
 speaking from the spiritual world. There are 
 those who will turn away from the sacred pages 
 of the Holy Word, wherein are the arcana of 
 the Divine wisdom of the Lord, to listen to mes- 
 sages that are reeled from the spiritual telegraph, 
 whether the utterances are given from an angel, 
 a spirit, or a devil." 
 
 The lecturer said, however, that he was glad 
 these things had taken place, for he would con- 
 fide in Divine Providence. " We might see for 
 ourselves that we are gaining a most glorious 
 result in the demonstrations of the spiritual 
 world that are given to men of every class ; for 
 whether declarations of men who have passed 
 into the other life are true or false, w r eighty or 
 worthless, wise or nonsensical, one thing is gained 
 by them. Henceforth the world shall know that 
 death is neither a temporary nor an eternal sleep ; 
 but, \vhen stripped of his mortal coil, 
 
 ' A man's a man for a' that.' 
 
 From henceforth it shall be known that the sphere 
 of immortal life is contiguous to the sphere of 
 mortal life, and that millions of spiritual beings, 
 unseen and unknown, 
 
 ' Throng the air and tread the earth.' 
 
 He had seen much of clairvoyant communications
 
 186 NOTICE OF THE PULPIT. 
 
 with the spirit-world, and had heard much of 
 similar communications by means of rappings, 
 and his deliberate conclusion was, that we may 
 trust the spirit who gives utterances from within 
 the veil, as far as we can see him ; as far as we 
 know the truth of what he utters from other 
 sources ; as far as we can confirm his testimony 
 from other evidence, but no farther. We shall 
 do well," concluded the lecturer, " never to sur- 
 render either our rationality of thought, or free- 
 dom of action, to the fantastic delusions that may 
 be poured upon us from the spirit-world. Angels 
 and spirits who speak to us, by permission of the 
 Lord, never speak of anything that deprives man 
 of the freedom of reason ; and they never teach, 
 for the Lord alone teaches man, through the 
 medium of his Word."
 
 187 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE PRESS. 
 
 Digressive A few words on the Press Vast increase Use and 
 abuse of the telegraph Cruel hoax Murder of the Prince- Presi- 
 dent His resuscitation General dissatisfaction Cordial footing 
 of the Press and Public Christmas convivialities Delicate dun- 
 ning Fugitive poems Serials Treatment of the manifestations 
 Squibs, &c. 
 
 IT may easily be imagined that so excellent an 
 occasion for sneer and satire was " improved" to 
 the utmost degree of perfection, by the vigilant 
 American press. A word or two on the subject 
 of that vast organ may not be altogether irrele- 
 vant here. 
 
 Any attempt to classify the myriad of Heralds, 
 Tribunes, Travellers, Couriers, Inquirers, Infor- 
 mants, Telegraphs, Democrats, Atlases, Republics, 
 Picayunes, Bees, &c., &c., varying in price from 
 one to three cents, would be perfectly futile. It 
 was stated in an able lecture delivered at Toronto, 
 in April last, by the Rev. Mr. Lillie, that the 
 number of newspapers published in the United 
 States, was, according to Davis's "Half Century,"
 
 188 THE PRESS. 
 
 In 1800 . . .200 
 1810 ... 359 
 
 1830 . . . 1000 
 1840 . . . 1400 
 1850 . . 1600 
 
 and a recent calculation places the number in the 
 present year, at the surprising number of 2,800 ! 
 It is hardly necessary to remark that (setting aside 
 those leading prints whose power, energy, and 
 zealous patriotism, need neither description nor 
 eulogy) , no trifling portion of this mass of diurnal 
 literature, may be fairly classed under the familiar 
 title of " balderdash." A penny journal, relying for 
 its support upon a circle of some three hundred and 
 fifty unpunctual subscribers, can hardly be expected 
 to provide first-rate talent, or widely-gathered in- 
 formation. Much amusement, however, may be 
 culled from the pages of almost any American 
 print; a species of coarse and rather colloquial 
 wit being the predominant characteristic of the 
 smaller fry. In most of these, a dozen lines dis- 
 miss the foreign intelligence ; a column or so, the 
 local ; a few railway-smashes ; half-a-dozen fires ; 
 the daily explosion of some racing steamer on the 
 Western waters, fill up the greater portion of what 
 remains ; the " balance " being made up of feuil- 
 leton and personality. 
 
 The inconceivable rapidity with which news is 
 disseminated, through the medium of this mass of
 
 THE PRESS. 189 
 
 print, baffles calculation. The powers of its 
 never-ceasing agent, the electrical telegraph, are 
 taxed to the utmost, and frequently with the most 
 happy consequence. In England, where no two 
 points of intercourse can well be more than a few 
 hours of railway-travel asunder, no true idea can 
 be formed of the value and importance of this 
 wonderful contrivance. One instance, which fell 
 under my own notice, will illustrate its worth ; as 
 a second may prove to what vile purpose man will 
 turn the greatest instrument of good. 
 
 During my stay in Boston a serious accident 
 occurred, which seemed to create an unusual de- 
 gree of interest and sympathy. The celebrated 
 
 American actress and authoress, Mrs. M , 
 
 was riding with her sister through the town, when 
 her horse suddenly reared, fell with, and rolled 
 upon her, inflicting some severe injuries. This 
 happened late one evening, but so zealously did 
 the local agents of the press perform their ac- 
 customed duty, that the very next morning pro- 
 duced messages of eager inquiry from the nume- 
 rous family connections and friends of the sufferer, 
 many of whom resided several hundred miles 
 distant. 
 
 An instance of the wilful misuse of this great 
 engine, most disgraceful to such of the press as 
 had not scrupled to connect themselves with it, 
 was the notorious hoax played off in February
 
 190 THE FRESS. 
 
 of the present year, having reference to the alleged 
 assassination of the Prince-President. A tele- 
 graphic despatch, in the usual form, announced 
 the arrival of an English steamer at Halifax, 
 bringing intelligence of the murder, details of 
 which were given, even to a stirring description 
 of the fierce death-struggle between the Prince and 
 his assassin, and the last disturbed moments of the 
 unfortunate victim; the subsequent demeanour of 
 the murderer, the state of Paris, &c., forming the 
 subject of further observations. Every journal but 
 one, in Boston, published the news as authentic ; 
 and, if certain of the cautious suspended their 
 belief, at all events, the effects upon the money- 
 market and commercial transactions generally 
 were very severely felt, all business being, for a 
 time, absolutely at a stand. It will scarcely be 
 credited that the newspapers in question subse- 
 quently not only acknowledged the hoax, but 
 justified it ! It appeared that the majority of the 
 Boston press had entered into an association to di- 
 vide the expenses of the telegraphic intelligence. 
 Two journals, finding the charge too onerous, had 
 seceded from the engagement, but as these still 
 contrived, by some means, to partake of the early 
 intelligence, it w r as agreed to punish them by 
 means of the hoax aforesaid; thus, for the grati- 
 fication of a silly spite, disregarding the effect 
 upon the general public, and, no doubt, inflicting
 
 THE PRESS. 191 
 
 upon many engaged in business, a very serious 
 injury. 
 
 But let us hastily sketch a feature or two dis- 
 tinctive of the class of journal to which I have 
 more particularly alluded. 
 
 How upon earth the editors of the 2,800 
 Citizens, Inquirers, &c., contrive to eat all the 
 Christmas dinners to which it seems the fashion 
 to bid them, it is difficult to conceive, inasmuch 
 as almost every number, about that festive period, 
 contains some such announcement as follows : 
 
 "The editor will accept the invitation of Mr. 
 Peter Spraunce to a Christmas dinner." 
 
 Will he ? How extremely obliging ! Either the 
 editorial "we," is really, as it implies, a noun of 
 multitude, or else the labours of the pen and scis- 
 sors are extremely appetising, for, in a paragraph 
 published the very next morning in the same 
 paper, we read, 
 
 " The editor will assuredly occupy the seat re- 
 served for him at the board of Colonel Pillicock, 
 on Christmas Day." 
 
 There is a haughty condescension about the 
 following, which, while it must make the intending 
 host fully sensible of the honour conferred upon 
 him, nobly vindicates the dignity of the press : 
 
 " We acknowledge the receipt of a note of invi- 
 tation from Mr. and Mrs. M : , of H House, 
 
 to partake of a Christmas dinner. Turn up two 
 chairs for ws."
 
 192 THE PRESS. 
 
 Another, apparently less popular, editor, with, 
 so to speak, a sort of melancholy giggle, observes, 
 
 " We have kept ourselves disengaged, hoping, 
 
 nay, expecting, a card from Mr. P. T , but 
 
 the post is so uncertain." 
 
 How would this convivial system work in 
 England ? Conceive the illimitable Times, the 
 polished Post (accompanied, perhaps, by the 
 Signora Post), the trenchant Examiner, seating 
 themselves at the Christmas board, and partaking, 
 like mere mortals, of beef and pudding ! Occa- 
 sionally, it becomes imperative to remind sub- 
 scribers that debts should be liquidated in other 
 guise than through the medium of turkeys and 
 squash-pies : 
 
 " Subscribers to the C. will take notice that on 
 receipt of the paper, enveloped in a bhie cover, 
 they will have been three months in arrear." 
 
 A more delicate way of conveying a request to 
 pay up, of imparting to the defaulter a hue some- 
 what similar to that of the threatened cover, could 
 hardly be devised ; and it might be imitated with 
 advantage on our own side of the Atlantic. It is 
 even susceptible of improvement. Various shades 
 of blue, increasing in intensity, might be em- 
 ployed to indicate the march of indebtedness. 
 Thus, your grocer, rising superior to vulgar modes 
 of dunning, might enfold his little account in 
 envelopes coloured as follows :
 
 THE PRESS. 193 
 
 Pale blue . . Six months due. 
 
 Azure . . Twelve do. do. 
 
 Prussian . . Two years. 
 
 Indigo . . Time immemorial. 
 
 | We resort to 
 Blue-black . . \. 
 
 I legal measures. 
 
 Here is a touching little piece, worthy of the 
 tame poet kept in Mr. Moses 1 back parlour : 
 
 THE BEREAVED MOTHER. 
 
 She wept within her lonely room, 
 
 And murmured " Never more 
 Can I behold my darling's face 
 
 As it appeared before 
 Death's Angel closed her little eyes, 
 And gave her spirit to the skies." 
 
 The husband whispered " Mother wife 
 
 Behold her likeness now ! " 
 She looked and saw the daughter's face 
 
 The very lip and brow ; 
 Before her death, had Whitehurst won 
 Those lovely features from the sun. 
 
 At his celebrated Daguerrian Gallery, No. 349, Broadway, corner 
 of Leonard Street. 
 
 Carelessness of diction sometimes occasions 
 remarkable portraitures. A Virginia paper an- 
 nounces 
 
 " Run away, hired man John ; nose turned up 
 Jive feet two inches" 
 Supercilious enough ! 
 
 K
 
 194 THE PRESS. 
 
 Turning to that interesting corner wherein are 
 chronicled the leading events in the great human 
 family, we find the union of Miss Priscilla Peters 
 with Mr. Ephraiin Rutkins, celebrated in the fol- 
 lowing epithalamic : 
 
 " May peace and joy descend upon this happy pair, 
 And, all of life, may each the other share." 
 
 Amen, with all our hearts, to the first line ; 
 but why these unfortunates are to pass their 
 entire domestic existence in dining upon each 
 other, is a matter the poet alone can explain ! 
 
 Glancing at the obituary, we find the record of 
 children's deaths sad and solemn enough in their 
 simple announcement made burlesque, by such 
 strains as these : 
 
 " On the 8th inst., at D , &c., &c. 
 
 Although we take our leaves of thee in the papers, 
 We shan't so soon forget thine innocent capers." 
 
 The feuilleton and versicular department of 
 these journals no less than those of the minor 
 serials are somewhat above the standard that 
 might be expected, from the admission to their co- 
 lumns of such things as the above ; yet even these 
 are much below the usual range of periodical litera- 
 ture in England, and would scarcely find favour with 
 the most indulgent editor. Whether the following 
 specimen of that school, yclept the "Rosa-Ma- 
 tilda," first saw the light in newspaper or maga-
 
 THE PRESS. 195 
 
 zine, I am not, at this remote period, in a con- 
 dition to affirm. Perhaps I am not wrong in 
 referring it to the former, my impression being 
 that you, my dear Sceptic, read it, in your melli- 
 fluous tones, from one of many publications with 
 which you sought to beguile the passage of the 
 Alleghanies. I give it as a fair specimen of the 
 average of such contributions, appending, as far 
 as I remember them, your murmured comments. 
 The poem was entitled (though the word never 
 occurs in the poem), "!F," and must have been 
 written to the air of the celebrated jig "O my 
 kitten, my kitten ! " 
 
 "IF. 
 
 O were I a billow a billow, 
 
 And thou my shore should be, 
 I'd gather my measure of ocean-treasure, 
 And dance myself to thee. 
 
 I'd leave the winds aside, 
 And lead the lagging tide; 
 Resting never, and dancing ever, 
 To fling my life on thee ! " 
 
 Here are vigorous resolutions, indeed, for a 
 billow of the softer sex ! After collecting the 
 stated allowance "her measure" of sea- weed, 
 periwinkles, and other forms ofjetsom emdjlotsom, 
 ignoring the winds, her natural parents, as far too 
 slow for her lively generation, and wholly inde- 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE PRESS. 
 
 pendent of the tide, she is prepared to fulfil the 
 pleasing nursery-office of "dancing herself" to- 
 wards her betrothed, for the sole purpose of fling- 
 ing away her life ; a sacrifice hardly to be expected 
 from a nymph so gay and saltatory. 
 
 " 0, were I a lily a lily, 
 
 And thou my charmed bee, 
 I'd lure thee, and love thee, and close above thee, 
 And ne'er would set thee free. 
 
 The wrathful sun might pale, 
 The scolding winds might rail ; 
 So, dying together, my leaves should wither, 
 O'er thee, my love, o'er thee." 
 
 Rough usage, by George! for a lover were 
 he bee or biped ! At all events, the charmed 
 insect would be most unpleasantly disenchanted, 
 when, in spite of the change of complexion on 
 the part of the justly indignant sun, and the more 
 active personal interference of certain shrewish 
 winds, he finds himself hopelessly enveloped in 
 the leaves of a lily in an advanced state of decom- 
 position. One chance is left him, however : no 
 lily of my acquaintance unless it be of the tiger- 
 species is big enough to accommodate a bee ! 
 
 "0, were I a willow a willow, 
 
 And thou my breeze should be, 
 Still closer creeping, each small leaf steeping, 
 
 Till all were filled with thee.
 
 THE PRESS. 197 
 
 Or rise in wrathful gale, 
 And roam through all the vale ; 
 I'd fling adoring, my arms imploring, 
 And bow, oh storm ! to thee." 
 
 Ah ! that's better. Far be it from any man of 
 sense to disturb, with captious objections, a state 
 of feeling at once so creditable to the amiable 
 writer, and so calculated to secure the harmony of 
 domestic life. May all young ladies "about to 
 marry" be equally disposed to adapt themselves 
 to the changing phases of the superior mind ! 
 
 " 0, were I a roselet a roselet, 
 And thou my sun should be, 
 I'd gather the sweetness of June's completeness, 
 In one red kiss for thee. 
 
 My heart would stand a-swoon, 
 For pure excess of June ; 
 Till, flushed with fulness, athirst for coolness, 
 It burst at last to thee ! " 
 
 A startling nay, a bewildering proposition ; 
 and, emanating as it does from so diminutive a 
 source a "roselet" a mere roselet (rose-bud 
 is vulgar) one that might well induce the reci- 
 pient to pause for a moment, and weigh the re- 
 sponsibilities. Assuming, for argument's sake, 
 that the sweetness of June's completeness could, 
 by hydraulic pressure, or any other gigantic power, 
 be condensed into the proposed sanguine salute,
 
 198 THE PRESS. 
 
 it becomes a question whether any mortal mouth, 
 save Gargantua's, is capacious enough to accept 
 it ! Granting this, a consideration of a still more 
 painful character suggests itself : 
 
 " My heart would stand a-swoon." 
 
 How, under these circumstances, the lady hoped 
 to preserve the perpendicular, is a mystery I do 
 not pretend to solve. "Sink a swoon" would 
 have sounded more appropriate. But stop ! pos- 
 sibly we have altogether mistaken the signification. 
 " Stand " has many meanings. If the sturdy 
 peasant, after his daily labour, will " stand" a pipe 
 or pot of beer with his neighbour, why should not 
 a lady, on occasions of peculiar interest, " stand " 
 a swoon or so ? 
 
 " For pure excess of June." 
 
 Had it been excess of " October," this line 
 would admit of no dispute ; but June is not, to 
 my knowledge, sacred to any particular descrip- 
 tion of beer. Excess, however, in all things, is 
 objectionable, and coupled as it is, in the next 
 line, with 
 
 " Flushed with fulness " 
 
 vividly suggests the idea of some corpulent civic 
 dignitary, issuing from a turtle feast, panting, 
 wearied, and, 
 
 " athirst for coolness "
 
 THE PRESS. 199 
 
 wildly demanding iced soda-water. 
 
 " It burst at last to thee !" 
 
 in which case all I have to say is stand clear ! * 
 Now, considering that lucubrations of so mild a 
 
 * A painful but imperative duty compels me to dwell for a moment 
 upon a circumstance at once affecting our national literature, 
 and calculated to impeach the moral character of a deceased gentle- 
 man (a weak but worthy man) with whom almost every member of 
 this and the last generation, must have enjoyed some degree of inti- 
 macy. I allude to Mr. Robert, or, as he was familiarly designated, 
 " Auld Bob in" Gray. Hitherto it has been the universal impression 
 that, in spite of the misalliance, the domestic relations of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gray were peaceful and happy ; that the latter fulfilled her de- 
 termination "a gude wife to be," and the former was "sae kind," as 
 to leave nothing to be desired on that head. But no such thing. 
 
 Our transatlantic friends have learned from private sources, that, 
 shortly subsequent to the ill assorted marriage, Mr. G. became 
 extremely indisposed. 
 
 " He gaed intil his bed " 
 
 And we shall be better prepared for the absence of any marked 
 amendment, when we find, with regret, that 
 
 " nae physic wad he take." 
 
 Be that as it may his American biographers proceed to state, that 
 the friends of both parties were shortly summoned to the invalid's 
 chamber, to hear a communication of grave importance. Among them 
 came " Jamie," who, by a remarkable coincidence, happened, at that 
 critical period, to be on a visit to his aunt (Mrs. Harris), in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood, and is represented in an engraving comme- 
 morative of the painful scene, standing, with a most hypocritical as- 
 sumption of grief, at the bed-side of his successful rival. 
 
 All being assembled, Mr. Gray, (so it is affirmed), pointed to his 
 lady, and confessed 
 
 " It's sair to tell 
 To force her to be mine, I stealed her cow mysel,"
 
 200 THE PRESS. 
 
 quality, fair specimens of their class, are deemed 
 by editors sufficient to satisfy the literary yearn- 
 ings of their subscribers, it is no great wonder 
 that their columns should be readily open to com- 
 munications upon a subject so new and promising 
 as the spiritual manifestations one, moreover, 
 that opened at once an illimitable field for the in- 
 dulgence of joke, prejudice, and personality. Ac- 
 cordingly, the whole weight of the press lent itself 
 readily to the subject ; almost every newspaper, 
 either in the character of friend or foe, doing 
 something towards its propagation. By degrees, 
 journals of a higher class permitted themselves to 
 be drawn into the controversy, and soon the press, 
 fully awakened, absolutely teemed with notices 
 and contributions on the subject in dispute. 
 
 These were, for the most part, condemnatory of 
 
 The audience probably exhibited some polite incredulity, for Mr. 
 Gray proceeded to explain, that lie 
 
 " Looed and sought to win her," &c. 
 
 In short, that this unlimited "loo " had betrayed him into deviations 
 from the path of honour, wholly incompatible with the existing state 
 of the law. 
 
 " what cared I for Crummie ] I thought of nought but thee; 
 
 I thought it was the cow stood 'twixt my love and me." 
 Thought it was the cow ? Thought it was a fig's end ! The whole 
 story, I do not hesitate to say, is of the most apocryphal, the most 
 suspicious kind. The charge of cattle-lifting is utterly irreconcilable 
 with the man's age, habits, and character. 
 
 " Stealed her cow himsel !" 
 / don't believe it I
 
 THE PRESS. 201 
 
 the affair, and all connected with it some writers 
 denouncing it as a cheat and swindle, others 
 taking higher ground, and attacking the so-called 
 spiritual thesis, as dangerous and inimical to reli- 
 gion and manners. While, from the livelier class 
 of publications, the shafts of wit showered, thick 
 and fast, upon the luckless supporters of the 
 manifestations all these eager scribes, overlook- 
 ing, in their enthusiasm, the fact that abiise and 
 ridicule, vain alliance ! must alike fail to disprove 
 the existence of the manifestations, or to disclose 
 their origin. 
 
 An example or two of the jocose style of attack, 
 may be amusing. The Georgia Chronicle loq. : 
 
 " Spiritual Knockings Scientifically Explained. 
 Of the laborious and difficult process by 
 which the scientific correspondent of the Cincin- 
 nati Commercial arrived at the following conclu- 
 sions, we can say nothing; but the precision, 
 elegance, and lucidity of the explanation must 
 make itself obvious to the 'meanest capacity.' In 
 allusion to the tappings, this profound philosopher 
 beautifully observes : 
 
 "'The only true and legitimate manner of 
 accounting for the taps is the physiological defect 
 of the membraneous system. The obtuseness of 
 the abdominal indicator causes the cartilaginous 
 compressor to coagulate into the diaphragm, and 
 
 K 5
 
 202 THE PRESS. 
 
 depresses the duodenum into the flandango. Now, 
 if the taps were caused by the vogation of the 
 electricity from the extremities, the tympanum 
 Avould also dissolve into spiritual sinctum, and the 
 olfactory ossificator would ferment, and become 
 identical with the pigmentum. Now, this is not 
 the case ; in order to produce the taps, the spiri- 
 tual rotundum must be elevated down to the spi- 
 ritual spero. But, as I said before, the inferior 
 ligaments must not subtend over the digitorum 
 sufficiently to disorganize the stercicletum.' 
 
 " A friend of ours, who graduated with ' distin- 
 guished honours ' at one of the Northern Univer- 
 sities, says that he must dissent in toto from the 
 idea that the ' depression of the duodenum into 
 the flandango' could, by any possibility, cause 
 the ' olfactory ossificator to ferment, and become 
 identical with the pigmentum.' He says the thing 
 cannot be done ; and after quoting several learned 
 authorities on the subject, winds up his argument 
 by the remark, that : 
 
 " ' The vibratory motion communicated to the 
 tunica albugenia by the parturition of the alveola 
 process, effectually disintegrates the pericardiac 
 influences of the epigastrium, and produces a com- 
 pound corpuscular movement of the lymphatic 
 glands ; which abnormal and diagnostical state of 
 the nervous system deteriorates a preponderance 
 of the- lacteal fluid to the posterior portion of the
 
 THE PRESS. 203 
 
 cerebellum, and predisposes the patient to preter- 
 natural distension of the auricular membraneous 
 orifice ; in which case, the rappings become pain- 
 fully and distinctly audible.' 
 
 " Now, whether this is or is not so, we will not 
 undertake to say, but will leave the whole matter 
 in the hands of the learned savans, in the full con- 
 fidence that little can be added to the above 
 triumphant and incontrovertible exposition." 
 
 Another opponent of a more poetic turn, finds 
 vent for his virtuous indignation in Hudibrastic 
 rhyme. From the American : 
 
 " THE SENTIMENTS OF ISRAEL OF OLD, ON THE 
 SPIRITUAL KNOCKINGS. 
 
 O ! full of all subtilty and mischief ! who turn aside from the sim- 
 plicity of the apostles, and follow after sorcerers, diviners, and sooth- 
 sayers ! Look out for the tower of Siloam. 
 
 When knockers knock and snappers snap, 
 And spirits all begin to rap, 
 'Tis then that Christians should begin 
 To do away this nauseous sin : 
 ' For then a child may understand, 
 The De'il has business on his hand ;' 
 The Bible is the only guide 
 By which poor mortals can abide. 
 Arouse ! and real hope will glimmer, 
 In spite of every knocking trimmer, 
 Who dares not come out to the light, 
 For fear his raps will come in sight ; 
 Who in wet weather cannot rap, 
 Because the table will not snap.
 
 204 THE PRESS. 
 
 Wake ! common sense, give them a flogging, 
 And send them from this city jogging 
 Drive all these rappings from our State, 
 And put their rappings out of date, 
 Lest they should creep into our houses, 
 And lead away some silly spouses. 
 Go on then, knockers, knock away, 
 Until your spirits leave your clay ; 
 Then, should they light amongst the blest, 
 Tour souls might crave a little rest, 
 But, if your doctrine here is true, 
 In heaven there'll be no rest for you, 
 When knockers call, you must come back, 
 To knock on boards of hackmitack. 
 I now to knockers bid adieu j 
 But, should you for more knowledge sue, 
 Then I will state, if 'tis your pleasure, 
 
 The more at large, when more at leisure." 
 ***** 
 
 In the communication of another wit, poetry 
 and punning unite their forces, to the utter discom- 
 fiture of the spirits : 
 
 " Thus at the feet of Socrates 
 
 In rop-tures we may sit, 
 While list'ning to advice from Paul, 
 
 Or Sheridan's rare wit. 
 
 And stores of wisdom we may glean 
 
 From Newton, Franklin, Locke, 
 While Washington and Robespierre 
 
 Await their turn to ' knock.' 
 
 Who'd have believ'd this wond'rous tale 
 
 A century ago 1 
 And yet sound reasoning will convince 
 
 That it can but be so.
 
 THE PRESS. 205 
 
 After one dies tis plain comes nox, 
 
 This we have always known, 
 Although the ' medium ' and the mode 
 
 The past few months have shown. 
 
 The midnight fears we oft have felt, 
 
 Despite all bars and locks, 
 
 Prove that if ' spirits ' ever come 
 
 To mortals, 'tis by nox." 
 
 Ohe ! jam satis. 
 
 True, my dear Sceptic. Back to the spirits 
 themselves.
 
 206 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 First experience of the manifestations The knock ings described 
 The circle Results A model believer Second experience Cir- 
 cle formed Lady physicians Music-loving spirits An unwilling 
 vocalist Mrs. L. Manifestations at last Distressing incident 
 Explanations Colonel Mark Fiske Great cry, and exceedingly 
 trifling amount of wool The Colonel's departure Pause Circle 
 described Author's communication with the unseen intelligences 
 Alarm Fraternal anxiety Mr. John Browne His cool reception 
 Persevering catechist Disappointment Explanations Table- 
 tippings Remarks, &c. 
 
 IT was on my return from a visit to Canada, in 
 March of the present year, that I first took advan- 
 tage of an opportunity of making the personal 
 acquaintance of these tricksy spirits, and, although 
 the experiences which followed may be both small 
 in substance and scanty in detail, it may be as 
 well, for the sake of preserving the order of date, 
 to introduce them here, only premising that, at the 
 period mentioned, I was rather inspired by motives 
 of curiosity as to the modus operandi, than any 
 interest in the subject itself, or confidence in the 
 good faith of its promoters.
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 207 
 
 There was no difficulty in discovering a re- 
 spectable medium, several, then practising in Bos- 
 ton, having cards for distribution, in this form : 
 
 "Mr. and Mrs. B , Street. Spiritual 
 
 conversazioni and manifestations.'''' 
 
 It seemed more satisfactoiy that the meeting 
 should take place elsewhere than at the medium's 
 home ; it was, therefore, arranged that the latter, 
 a Mrs. H , a lady of much respectability, mar- 
 ried, and resident in Boston, should, accompanied 
 by her husband, attend and take the chair at a 
 " magnetic circle," to be formed at the house of 
 a friend of my own. 
 
 Long and familiar intercourse with the marvels 
 wrought by that weird brotherhood, Messrs. Robin, 
 Jacobs, Houdin, Anderson, &c., had prepared me 
 to expect without anxiety, and witness without 
 emotion, many things apparently inscrutable to 
 the unmechanic mind, and, if I remember rightly, 
 the predominant impression on mine, as I pro- 
 ceeded to the spiritual rendezvous, was one of re- 
 gret at having been induced, by the fancy of the 
 moment, to countenance a deception so absurd as 
 that which I expected to witness. The reflection, 
 however, came rather late, and one thing only is 
 certain, that no one ever yet entered a "magnetic 
 circle " in a less indulgent mood ; with less will 
 that the spirits, or their earthly representatives, 
 should prove correspondent to command ; a more
 
 208 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 intense desire that the wires, and other portions 
 of the machinery, should be out of order ; and the 
 whole thing eventuate in something supremely 
 ridiculous. How far these amiable expectations 
 were realised, we shall presently see. 
 
 I found the party, with the exception of the 
 medium and her lord, already assembled. It con- 
 sisted of only six or eight persons, all of whom I 
 knew, and knew, beside, that they were all, ex- 
 cepting one, of various degrees of scepticism. 
 In a few minutes the expected parties made their 
 
 appearance. Mrs. H was a tall, and rather 
 
 handsome woman, with a small fine head, and 
 intelligent eye. With regard to expression, if I 
 might be permitted to apply to a lady's counte- 
 nance such a term as "wide awake," it would, 
 perhaps, best convey my opinion. About her 
 partner, there appeared nothing remarkable, ex- 
 cept, indeed, that he wore cleaner linen and nails 
 than is customary with the middle classes of his 
 earnest and practical countrymen. He, however, 
 clothed himself with a sudden and unexpected 
 interest, by informing the circle, in a tone of 
 solemn regret, that he himself had been a medium^ 
 although, since January twelvemonth, he had been 
 unable to obtain any manifestations, tabooed, in 
 short, by his disembodied friends. For this phe- 
 nomenon he would not pretend to account. It 
 was strange, he might add annoying, but it was
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 209 
 
 no matter. A well-bred murmur of condolence 
 having passed round, followed by a sort of random 
 hope from some one, bearing reference to that 
 indistinct epoch known as " better times," it was 
 proposed to form the circle, and go to business. 
 Previously, however, we were urgently requested 
 to examine the table. This was done, and the 
 object in question was unanimously pronounced 
 to be a simple dining-table, of the sexipede 
 species, without drawers, of course, and capable 
 of accommodating with ease, twelve individuals of 
 ordinary breadth. It was innocent alike of castors 
 and of oil, and was in complexion, dull, unhealthy, 
 and cadaverous. 
 
 Around this table, then, we now arranged our- 
 selves, and having thus already performed what, 
 according to mathematicians, is an impossibility, 
 i. e. " squared the circle," the proceedings com- 
 menced with a long pause, during which the 
 faintly interesting crackle of a corset, whose fair 
 wearer was evidently in a condition of consider- 
 able alarm, was the only sound audible. 
 
 Hark ! a tap ! 
 
 Was it ? 
 
 No. 
 
 Everybody glanced interrogatively at the me- 
 dium. Medium gravely inclined her head, as who 
 should say 
 
 " Of course, my good friends. What else did 
 you expect say ?"
 
 210 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 Another tap ! Nearer. No mistake about it 
 now. Three rapid taps. Five ! The spirits are 
 here. (That corset will give way.) Hark ! 
 
 These now celebrated sounds be their origin 
 what it may are certainly of a novel and most 
 peculiar character. Nothing that bears the 
 slightest affinity to them as mere sounds has 
 ever yet visited my ears. It is stated, and I had 
 afterwards opportunities of observing, that the 
 rappings are not always of a precisely similar 
 -kind, the media declaring that they can distin- 
 guish the spirits by the variations of sound (as a 
 resident in London recognises a visitor by his 
 knock) ; but the prevailing rap is of one especial 
 kind, and can be, perhaps, described in no better 
 way than by requesting the reader to fancy a bird, 
 say, a pheasant of considerable power of bill, con- 
 fined in a strong wooden box, and pecking vigor- 
 ously to get out. The working of the needles of 
 the electric telegraph will, perhaps, supply the 
 next approximate sound. These raps appear to 
 possess no particular location. On and under the 
 tables, by the walls, the fire-place, behind the 
 stove, without the window, far or near, loud or 
 low, the singular phenomenon puzzles and evades 
 one the very ignis fatuus of acoustics. Though 
 styled raps, and approaching nearest, as I have 
 said, to pecks, they are, in point of fact, neither 
 raps, taps, knocks, pecks, nor any other recognised 
 species of percussion. "Detonation" would
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 211 
 
 assuredly be the corrector name. One gentle- 
 man, writing on the subject, but without advo- 
 cating either side of the question, has happily 
 tenned them pulsations a word fully justified by 
 the circumstance that, however soft and seemingly 
 remote the sounds may be, by placing one's fingers 
 on the table, a jar which seems to vibrate through- 
 out the whole frame of that piece of furniture, is 
 plainly perceptible. The idea of some electric 
 influence is perpetually recurring to one's mind ; 
 and, although, on the present occasion, nothing 
 transpired to favour that opinion, I am well 
 assured that, on others, phenomena have been wit- 
 nessed sufficiently indicatory of the presence of 
 that subtle and powerful agent. 
 
 The following interesting diagram will best ex- 
 plain the relative position of the parties forming 
 the magnetic circle : 
 
 Mrs. M.- 
 
 =, 
 
 Miss H. (hostess) 
 
 The Author. 
 (1st position.) 
 
 = 
 
 Mrs. W. 
 
 Mr. C. G. T. 
 
 = 
 
 Mrs. C. G. T. 
 
 Medium's husband 
 
 II 11 
 
 Mrs. L. 
 
 Author. Mr. W. 
 (2nd position.)
 
 212 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 The raps having now become both numerous 
 and distinct, the medium opened the conversation 
 by asking, in a slow clear tone, and as if address- 
 ing something enshrined in the table : 
 
 " Is our circle properly formed ?" 
 
 Dead silence. 
 
 " Do you wish any alteration ?" 
 
 Rap (Yes). 
 
 " Is this right ? M pointing to Mrs. M. 
 
 Rap (very loud). 
 
 " Is this ?" indicating myself. 
 
 Silence, which (contrary to earthly etiquette) 
 implies a negative. 
 
 " This" it appears, had, in his desire to be near 
 the fountain-head, unduly exalted himself, and 
 had to withdraw, covered with blushes, to the 
 lower end of the board, Mr. W. proceeding to the 
 top, vice author, degraded. Certain other changes, 
 however, disproved any idea of personality, and 
 the only circumstance worthy of notice was, that 
 the relative position of the medium and her hus- 
 band continued unaltered that is to say, they 
 were separated by nearly the length of the table, 
 several of the party occupying the intermediate 
 space. 
 
 The conversation was then resumed. 
 
 " Are you satisfied ? " 
 
 Many raps, from different directions, as in the 
 affirmative.
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 213 
 
 " Are the spirits numerous ? " 
 Rap. 
 
 " May we expect many communications ?" 
 Rap. 
 
 One of the circle then took up the dialogue. 
 " What spirit, whom I knew in the flesh, is pre- 
 sent?" 
 
 Five raps for the alphabet. This had been 
 placed ready on the table, and, as the querist 
 passed her pencil slowly along the line of letters, 
 each, as it was needed, was indicated by a clear, 
 distinct rap. The word thus spelled out was very 
 short, "Ida;" and was the name of a sister of 
 the querist, many years deceased. 
 
 The invisible respondent was then called upon 
 to describe the personal appearance of the de- 
 parted (herself), and did so, sketching a rapid 
 portrait of a very beautiful blonde long golden 
 ringlets, bright complexion, blue eyes, &c., &c. 
 " Height ?" asked the querist. 
 " Tliree feet two inches" was the prompt 
 reply. 
 
 The circle stared a segment of it even smiled 
 for this sudden condensation of so many charms 
 into the dimensions of a pocket Venus, scarcely 
 harmonised with the image we had all silently 
 conceived. But the questioner retained her gra- 
 vity, and explained that her sister, Ida, whose ap- 
 pearance had, it appears, been described with the
 
 214 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 utmost accuracy, died, while in Europe, at the age 
 of eight. 
 
 Questions were then propounded by various 
 parties, but as they had reference, in general, to 
 local or family matters, it was not easy to test the 
 accuracy or intelligence of the replies ; and I only 
 remember that the questioners frequently evinced 
 considerable surprise. So far, however, nothing 
 of what occurred had carried with it the slightest 
 conviction of any preternatural agency, the sounds 
 themselves constituting by far the most remark- 
 able portion of the exhibition. These, it must be 
 owned, were puzzling in the extreme. How, and 
 by whom, were they engendered? If by the 
 medium (who sat perfectly composed, with her 
 hands visible), it was singular that, however dis- 
 tant from her the questioner might be, however 
 rapidly the alphabet was run over (and, let it be 
 added, the characters were of a size to be all but 
 indistinguishable across the table), the raps never 
 failed to indicate, with the greatest promptitude 
 and precision, the required letter. If it be thought 
 that the medium's husband lent his assistance, it 
 is noticeable that, during some portion of the 
 time, he, at the request of one of the circle, placed 
 himself apart, in a position in which it was mani- 
 festly impossible for him to see either wife or 
 alphabet. 
 
 During the questioning, I had been reflecting
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 215 
 
 in what manner to put to some satisfactory test 
 the assumed preternatural intelligence of our 
 spiritual visitors. And now, my dear Sceptic, 
 in consideration of the perfect candour with 
 which I have endeavoured to place before you, 
 my friend, and the readers generally, both failure 
 and success, both manifest absurdity and ap- 
 parent wisdom, in reference to these same mani- 
 festations, let me hope the little I have now 
 to relate may be accepted in its fullest sense, 
 with the understanding that you yourself could 
 not have been more completely on your guard, 
 more anxiously suspicious, than was I, nor 
 could the most zealous member of Sir Richard 
 Mayne's " detectives " be inspired with a greater 
 anxiety to unravel the woof of an ingenious fraud. 
 Suffer me, Sceptic, to draw your especial attention 
 to this, because, slight and simple as was the ex- 
 periment, I date from its result the altered feeling 
 with which I thenceforth regarded these pheno- 
 mena, and the destruction (as far as my own opi- 
 nion went) of the first of those three theories 
 hereafter propounded, viz., that the solution of 
 the rapping mystery must be sought for among the 
 wonders of mechanic art. In short, as another 
 apostate has wTitten, " De ce jour, tomba mon 
 incredulite" 
 
 I recollected that I had in my pocket a packet 
 of letters, eight or ten in number, most of them
 
 216 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 from Europe, and not of very recent date. They 
 were secured with an Indian-rubber band. From 
 these, without looking at them, I selected two of 
 the smaller, the size and form of which had no 
 effect in refreshing my remembrance as to the 
 writers. On its coming to my turn to converse 
 with the " powers invisible," I asked, as usual, 
 
 " Will any spirit communicate with me ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " On any subject ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Will you tell me the names of the writers of 
 any two letters I have here ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 Accordingly I placed the two letters on the 
 table, the addresses downwards, and the seals re- 
 moved, covering them besides with my hand, in 
 such a manner as to conceal them entirely. With 
 the other hand, I passed the pencil over the alpha- 
 bet, and the raps spelled out 
 
 "GEORGE HOLLAND." 
 
 Having no correspondent of the latter name (the 
 former, I believe, proved to be correct), I passed, 
 without comment, to the second letter, with every 
 expectation of a similar result. The name now 
 spelled out was that of a gentleman from whom, 
 in the course of our acquaintance, I have certainly 
 not received more than three letters, and these at
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 217 
 
 distant and irregular intervals. I turned the letter 
 up. It was as the raps had indicated ! 
 
 Now, granting that all present were cognisant of 
 my acquaintance with the person in question, how 
 could they possibly divine what I myself did not 
 know ? First, that I had the letter with me ; and 
 secondly, that I had selected it from eight or ten 
 others ? If this be guessing, it is of a nature too com- 
 plicated for my comprehension. Granting nothing, 
 here \\erefour things to be decided correctly : the 
 acquaintance, the correspondence, the possession 
 of the letter, and its selection, two of which points 
 were unknown to myself. Thus, the assumption that 
 my mind might have been placed en rapport with 
 that of the medium, w r ould have been insufficient 
 to produce this result. And the failure of the 
 first reply only serves to make the mystery more 
 mysterious, without neutralising the extraordinary 
 success of the second. 
 
 It is too much the fashion among cursory in- 
 quirers to overlook the importance of what is 
 done, in the failure of what is not. This is not 
 fair. If you place twenty sealed letters on the 
 table, with a different line written in each, and 
 the " spirits," after failing in the first nineteen, 
 read the twentieth, surely the wonder, in respect 
 to that success, is as great, the mode of compass- 
 ing it as unaccountable, as though nineteen failures 
 had not preceded it.
 
 218 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 It was next proposed that proof should be 
 afforded of the power possessed by the spirits to 
 move substances; and they were requested to 
 exercise it upon the table. Every one drew a 
 little apart, in such a manner that none of the 
 sitters' legs should approach it, and, so far as 
 could be observed, this condition was most ho- 
 nourably fulfilled. In a moment or two, the table, 
 like Birnani Wood, " began to move ;" and if my 
 astonishment and discomfiture did not equal that 
 of the deluded thane, it was because petticoats are 
 redundant, and it was impossible not to feel how 
 completely it was at the discretion of any zealous 
 little foot to assist the spirits in their performance 
 of this manoeuvre. 
 
 Some one having expressed a wish that the 
 medium might be put into the magnetic sleep, 
 and become clairvoyante, her husband made the 
 necessary passes, and in ten minutes the lady was 
 conversing, eagerly and rapidly, with such of the 
 party as appeared to place most confidence in her 
 communications. Tiiis portion of the ceremony 
 I take to be simple humbug, originating either 
 in self-delusion or in wilful fraud. There was 
 something absolutely painful, in witnessing the 
 intense, the breathless interest, with which one 
 listener hung upon every syllable that dropped 
 from the lips of the " clairvoyante," as though that 
 ingenious lady had been some Delphian priestess,
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 219 
 
 interpreting the fateful and infallible oracles 
 of old. Upon every feature of the hearer's face 
 (surely one of the sweetest nature ever moulded), 
 there was w r ritten in the most legible characters, 1 
 believe. Her almost agony of anxiety lest the 
 slightest noise or interruption should snap the fine 
 thread which seemed to connect her, for the 
 moment, with the invisible world, and stay the 
 current of intelligence she was deriving thence 
 the changing expressions that perpetually flitted 
 over her countenance like rays and shadows on a 
 summer down, as each communication pained or 
 pleased, made the appearance of the young neo- 
 phyte one of the most painfully interesting pic- 
 tures my memory can recall. 
 
 would that Titian's pencil had been mine ! 
 Then should that smile be lastingly divine ! 
 
 The circumstance altogether was to be remem- 
 bered as a remarkable example of refined, exalted 
 intellect, bewildered in its own longings for light, 
 and led captive in darkness, at the mere caprice 
 of a far inferior will. 
 
 A rapid journey through a portion of the States 
 interrupted these spiritual researches. Although 
 it was impossible to visit town or city, in any di- 
 rection, without the matter being brought to one's 
 notice, the difficulty of obtaining that personal 
 knowledge of the parties which would give some 
 
 L 2
 
 220 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 authenticity to the proceedings, prevented any in- 
 dulgence of my curiosity until my return to Bos- 
 ton, where I had hopes of making the acquaint- 
 ance of a very remarkable medium, of higher 
 station than common, her husband holding an im- 
 portant municipal office, in addition to his eminent 
 position in the mercantile world. In this, how- 
 ever, I was disappointed. The husband, dread- 
 ing some ill effects upon the lady's nervous sys- 
 tem, had positively refused to permit her to appear 
 in a magnetic circle. Respecting this lady, the 
 most extraordinary tales of any I had yet heard 
 were circulated, and related to me by friends of 
 my own, who had been eye-witnesses of the oc- 
 currences referred to. This, however, is apart 
 from the purpose. I have merely to speak of the 
 few notabilia that chanced to come under my im- 
 mediate observation. 
 
 Much had been said, lately, of a certain medium, 
 
 in the locality of L Street, East Boston, at 
 
 whose residence magnetic circles were formed 
 daily, and were attended by great numbers of in- 
 quirers. To L Street, East Boston, one 
 
 sunny noontide, in the flowery season of May, I 
 therefore repaired, in company with a trusty and 
 not over trustful friend, who, albeit, like myself, 
 in the transition state of belief, had witnessed 
 enough in the other three-quarters of the globe, 
 not to receive, with a child-like faith, everything
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 221 
 
 that was proffered for his acceptance in the in- 
 ventive fourth. 
 
 It had been arranged that three or four other 
 parties, whom we knew, should attend the present 
 meeting. One of these was an eminent medical 
 practitioner of Boston. Another, a gentleman 
 connected with American literature, whose name, 
 could I give it, would be recognised as belonging 
 not to transatlantic fame alone. Another was the 
 son of an old and distinguished member of Con- 
 gress, all persons not only of high character, but 
 practised intellect. On reaching the house, we 
 found our friends already arrived, and, after 
 another addition or two to the party, the circle 
 was formed around the dining-table in an inner 
 parlour. The medium was an interesting looking 
 damsel of about eighteen, and appeared to be 
 under the chaperonage of an elderly lady of staid 
 demeanour and snuffy habits, who sat, consider- 
 ably apart, in a rocking-chair, and took no osten- 
 sible share in the proceedings. Sixteen persons, 
 the medium included, formed the circle. 
 
 The table was extremely massive, somewhat 
 swollen and gouty about the limbs, but, as usual, 
 devoid of drawers or any other places of conceal- 
 ment, and appearing altogether as stolid and 
 innocent a piece of household stuff as can well 
 be imagined. Excepting the parties before men-
 
 222 
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 tioned, and two ladies, with whom I had a slight 
 acquaintance, our co-members of the cirque mag- 
 netique were strangers. 
 
 May it be mentioned, quite parenthetically, and 
 as having nothing whatever to do with the subject 
 on hand, that one of the ladies aforesaid, wrote 
 herself "M.D." (having, indeed, regularly gra- 
 duated at a medical college), enjoyed a consider- 
 able practice at Boston, and was commonly 
 addressed as dare I mention it? Dr. Harriet 
 Hunt. That able and fearless vindicator of the 
 rights of woman will, I am convinced, pardon this 
 sly mode of proclaiming that I have the pleasure 
 of her acquaintance. 
 
 At a later period of my visit to Boston, I had 
 the pleasure, moreover, of numbering a Doctor 
 
 Helen C , among my acquaintance. It recalls 
 
 a pleasant picture to my mind. Alas! that it 
 should be but a dissolving view ! This last disci- 
 ple of Hippocrates was a remarkably pretty girl. 
 I have her card (stolen) in my desk. Embossed 
 and shiny here it lies ! 
 
 MISS HELEN C. . . . M.D. 
 
 Bulflnch Place. 
 Receives calls 
 
 From 12 to 5, P.M.
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 223 
 
 Who would not eagerly respond to such a 
 challenge ? Wlio would regard a rheumatism, who 
 a quinsy, if endorsed with the qualification to call 
 in Bulfinch Place, any time from 12 to 5 p. m. ? 
 But, alas ! long, perhaps, ere this, some youthful 
 valetudinarian, with prsecordial disorganization, 
 which refuses to yield to any skill but Helen's, 
 has appeared in Bulfinch Place, and piped to a 
 tune which has rendered imperative an alteration 
 in the embossed and shiny card ; now a mere me- 
 morial of what is not. Oh, Helen ! if ! We 
 
 will proceed. 
 
 We had been seated some minutes, and no 
 sounds had yet denoted the presence of our dis- 
 tinguished visitors. Everybody sat perfectly 
 mute, and staring at the table in a manner that 
 would have sufficed to put any less seasoned 
 piece of mahogany fairly out of countenance. The 
 sun was shining splendidly through the wide- 
 open windows, and, as one glanced round the 
 circle, and beheld fifteen individuals of mature 
 age and tolerable education children of the won- 
 drous age all seated like waxen figures around 
 a table, on which the only article visible was, as 
 though in gentle satire, the renowned child's alpha- 
 bet, recording the chequered career of a certain 
 " A-pple pie ;" there began to rise inclinations 
 very much at variance with the interests of the
 
 224 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 magnetic circle, and the nature of the manifesta- 
 tions we were taught to expect. 
 
 The medium at length inclined her head, as 
 though saying grace, and inquired if the spirits 
 intended to be present. 
 
 No reply. 
 
 Another pause succeeded; and the pretty 
 medium, as if to beguile the moments until 
 something of greater interest should occur, com- 
 menced a narration of her first intercourse with 
 the spirits. How that, years before, certain light 
 taps at the head of her bed, apprised her that she 
 was thenceforth to be a favoured recipient, of spi- 
 ritual communications. How that she was first 
 astonished, then alarmed, then interested, then 
 delighted. How that, when alone, she received 
 communications almost at pleasure. And how, 
 having grown thus familiar with her impalpable 
 visitants, she, with true American sagacity, 
 directed that excellent understanding to useful 
 practical purposes, by making them perform those 
 duties commonly assigned to an alarm-clock or 
 memorandum-book. As, for example, if she 
 wished to awake at, say Jive o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, she had only to 
 
 Rap! 
 
 " Who is it ?" 
 
 No reply. 
 
 " What do you wish ?"
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 225 
 
 Alphabet. 
 
 The medium herself directed the pencil. All, 
 however, could see and hear that the word spelled 
 out was " SING." 
 
 " Does any lady or gentleman sing ?" inquired 
 the medium, looking anxiously round. 
 
 Nobody answered ; but I observed the eyes of 
 several of the party at once directed towards a 
 little nervous man, who merely fidgetted, and 
 looked as if he wished he had left his voice at 
 home. 
 
 Alphabet again ; and the peremptory spirits 
 repeated, " SING." 
 
 Indignant glances were now freely levelled at 
 the little man, as though to imply that he alone 
 constituted the real barrier between two worlds, 
 and that, under the peculiar circumstances, the 
 feelings of the material portion were not to be 
 toyed with ; in fact, that he ought to be ashamed 
 of himself. A song. 
 
 The little man, who seemed fully conscious of 
 his growing unpopularity, cleared his throat with 
 a " hem " of despair. 
 
 " What will the gentleman favour us with ?" 
 softly said the medium. 
 
 The little man simpered. " He knew but one 
 melody ; it was very a in short it might seem 
 a a eogh " 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 L 5
 
 226 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 " Ole D Dan TT Tucker " hesitated the 
 vocalist. 
 
 " I fear that will not do, sir," said the pretty 
 medium, with a slight smile. "It should be 
 something of a nature to harmonise with the 
 objects of our meeting; something more in cha- 
 racter with those with whom we wish especially 
 to communicate." 
 
 The little man had probably formed no precise 
 idea as to who and what these parties were, for 
 he grinned nervously, and made no reply. 
 
 "Perhaps," suggested a gentleman, bowing 
 across the table towards the un-medical lady of 
 my acquaintance, " perhaps, Mrs. L ." 
 
 Now Mrs. L , a scion, I believe, of a good 
 
 but impoverished French family, had recently an- 
 nounced her intention of giving public recitations, 
 an undertaking for which her deep but melodious 
 voice, commanding presence, and, what was of 
 yet greater importance, fine poetic appreciation, 
 were no mean qualifications. The gentleman, it 
 appeared, intended to suggest that, as no song 
 was forthcoming, a speech might possibly serve ; 
 and this idea, though borrowed, one would imagine, 
 from meetings of a more convivial character, was 
 apparently received with approbation. 
 
 " If Mrs. L would recite say * The Ship 
 
 on Fire?'" 
 
 Mrs. L gracefully, but emphatically, de- 
 clined.
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 227 
 
 What was to be done ? Time was passing ; 
 the sounds had ceased ; perhaps, after all, we 
 might have no manifestations, and all because 
 nobody would sing ! That little man is a humbug ! 
 How comes he here at all ? who asked him ? has 
 he paid ? return his money by subscription, and 
 
 request him to retire to ! Hush ! the medium 
 
 herself will sing. 
 
 And sing she did, very sweetly and pleasingly 
 (Ada was her name ; she is since married), ac- 
 companying herself on a piano which stood in 
 the front room. 
 
 She played a soft and doleful air ; 
 She sang an old and moving story ; 
 An old rude song, 
 
 embodying some reference (I forget the precise 
 nature), to the spirit- sphere. This portion of the 
 entertainment was one we could have greatly 
 wished to prolong, and the strain was, as the opera 
 critics say, loudly " re-demanded." A few verses, 
 however, had sufficed to establish an harmonious 
 understanding with the spirits, for numerous plau- 
 sive raps succeeded the song, and as the medium 
 resumed her seat at the table, looks of congratu- 
 lation were exchanged among us, as though the 
 most desirable results might now be confidently 
 expected. The bard of " Dan Tucker" recovered 
 his composure. A gentleman w r ho wore earrings, 
 and exhibited indubitable evidences of a philo-
 
 228 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 sophic disregard for soap, took from his coat- 
 pocket a long paper, bearing very much the as- 
 pect of a tailor's bill of considerable standing, 
 and smoothed it carefully out before him ; it was 
 a half-sheet of foolscap, doubled down length- 
 ways. Meanwhile, the sounds recurred at in- 
 tervals. 
 
 " Are many spirits present ?" asked the medium. 
 
 Numerous faint raps replied. 
 
 "Are they the same who were present at the 
 last meeting?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Will they come to-day ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Why are they not here now ?" 
 
 "Engaged elsewhere" was the succinct and 
 reasonable, but vague reply. 
 
 " Will you go and bring them ?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Will you please be so kind as go and bring 
 them?" 
 
 (The polite style of address generally answers 
 better than the brusque] e.g. : 
 
 Rap! 
 
 "When?" 
 
 " In ten minutes." 
 
 At this early stage of the conversation, a dis- 
 tressing interruption occurred. A strange lady, 
 who was seated next to me on the right, and ap-
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 229 
 
 peared to be under the charge of the gentleman 
 in earrings, burst into a violent flood of tears, 
 sobbing convulsively, as though in the bitterest 
 grief. As it seemed impossible to administer any 
 greater consolation than what might be derived 
 from a glass of cold water, this was duly " ex 1 - 
 hibited," and the man in earrings, who, from his 
 indifference, was probably her husband, wound 
 up the cure by saying, in a sepulchral tone, 
 
 " Compose yourself ! " 
 
 The patient did so, with a degree of alacrity 
 that engendered a passing feeling of surprise that 
 she had not done it before, and then proceeded 
 to apologise, in a sort of desultory speech, for the 
 disturbance she had created. 
 
 " Her nerves," she remarked, " was never so 
 strong as could be wished. Ladies and gents 
 would be so good as remember the peculiar nature 
 of this sittings. We wasn't " (with a glance at the 
 author) " all of steel. She had lately had the 
 misfort'n to lose her godmother. Tea was not 
 injurious if took in moderation, which," continued 
 the poor lady, with a touching confidence that 
 acted as a timely check on any little disposition 
 to smile conjured up by the elliptical form of her 
 address, " which I've never been in such a solemn 
 sityouation before." 
 
 In spite of a poke in the side from my left-
 
 230 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 hand neighbour (who ought to have known bet- 
 ter), as the unfortunate relative pronoun declared 
 itself, I natter myself I preserved a demeanour 
 not ill adapted to the exigences of the scene, and, 
 in a moment or two, business was recommenced 
 by the medium addressing some unimportant 
 question to her spiritual allies. This was re- 
 sponded to in a manner new to me. The cha- 
 racter of the rappings suddenly changed; the 
 strokes increased immensely in tone and volume, 
 and now, instead of resembling pecks, sounded 
 as though some one struck the table with his 
 knuckles, drumming a sort of military quick-step. 
 Those of the party most familiarised with such 
 assemblies, listened without evincing any surprise ; 
 and the medium quietly remarked, 
 
 " Ah, the colonel ! There's no mistaking his 
 rap. He always comes marching." 
 
 " What colonel ?" asked somebody. 
 
 " Colonel Fiske. Now we shall get answers 
 enough !" said the medium, laughing archly. 
 
 And, as the lively march continued, the whole 
 circle brightened with eager expectation. Alas, 
 for the vanity of human hopes ! The cartridge 
 proved blank. The colonel, despite the pompous 
 and flourishing manner of his approach that 
 colonel, from whose dashing gallantry and frank 
 military bearing, so much was evidently expected,
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 231 
 
 broke down at the very first onset ! Baffled by a 
 question that a mere terrestrial schoolboy could 
 have answered so complete was the colonel's 
 defeat, that, like a lion whose spring has failed, 
 he grew sulky, and at once succumbed ; nay, on 
 being reasoned with, fairly turned, and fled ; nor 
 could the united arguments of the medium and 
 the individual who had been his interlocutor, 
 prevail to stay him. Though it cannot be truly 
 affirmed of the colonel that he decamped alto- 
 gether without beat of drum, still, as in the case 
 of his brother-campaigner, " Captain Sword," 
 
 The sound of his drums grew less and less, 
 Walking like carelessness off from distress ; 
 
 and, as far as I know, this Parolles of the 
 invisible world has been heard of no more. Nay, 
 I am wrong ; he did (and on this same occasion) 
 essay one feeble effort to retrieve his laurels. At 
 a later period of the " sittings," a Mend- spirit 
 announced that the colonel was " at hand " 
 (probably in the eligible position so much affected 
 by Mr. Chevy Slyme, i. e., " round the corner ") 
 a declaration which the discomfited officer ven- 
 tured to corroborate by a slight hysterical drum- 
 ming. But the ruse failed. The prestige of his 
 name had departed. The disposition to cut the 
 colonel was so unmistakable, that the mortified 
 shade finally withdrew. And let his terrestrial
 
 232 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 prototypes whereof there be many take warning 
 by his fate.* 
 
 This unexpected result of the colonel's visit 
 seemed to throw a sort of gloom over the entire 
 circle. The number and perseverance of the 
 knockings, however, re-assured us, and our spirits 
 rallied considerably when, in answer to a question 
 
 from Mrs. L , in her fine deep tones, which 
 
 seemed to thrill the very table to which they were 
 addressed 
 
 " Have / a friend in the spirit-land ?" 
 
 There came a chorus of raps that bore powerful 
 testimony to the social esteem in which the amiable 
 speaker had been held. These children of the mist, 
 however, it must be admitted, were more remark- 
 able for their multitude than their intellectual 
 gifts, the replies, in every instance, smacking of the 
 vague and indistinct, and, in their provoking 
 generalisation, reminding one irresistibly of those 
 clever companions for the winter evenings of our 
 juvenile days, the " conversation cards." 
 
 It w r as, I think, about this stage of the pro- 
 ceedings that a slight misapprehension was the 
 cause, though for a moment only, of no trifling 
 amount of consternation. The medium, with 
 a smile, and such an expression as is usually 
 
 * It appears, however, from the letter of a correspondent (quoted 
 hereafter), that I had, after all, under-estimated the colonel's 
 audacity.
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 233 
 
 legible on the countenance of one who is about 
 to communicate gratifying news, suddenly ad- 
 dressed a quiet female member of the circle as 
 follows : 
 
 " I believe, madam, that you will very shortly 
 become a m ." 
 
 The party addressed uttered a slight shriek, and 
 became suffused with most becoming blushes, while 
 Dr. Harriet Hunt, with a gentle professional cough, 
 seemed to intimate that her services were ever 
 at the command of her suffering sisters. The 
 medium, however, somewhat shocked at the sensa- 
 tion created by her unfinished speech, hastened 
 to quiet all alarms by announcing that the lady 
 in question would shortly be developed as a 
 medium only ! 
 
 The extremely mild character of the proceedings 
 hitherto afforded abundant leisure for observing 
 their effect upon the various members of the circle. 
 To begin on the right. The hysterical lady and 
 her lord (he with the earrings and the tailor's 
 bill) were evidently of a faith so mellow as to 
 border on the imbecile. They listened to the 
 fade and pointless communications of the spirits 
 with an indulgent belief that, doubtless, worked 
 out for itself three-fourths of every tableau sug- 
 gested by the latter, shaping it to their own 
 complete satisfaction. The next individual, less 
 forward in the faith, and apparently somewhat
 
 234 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 dissatisfied with the diluted style of response, was 
 yet willing to hold on, in the hope of shortly 
 arriving at something to which his common sense 
 
 could grapple. Next him sat Dr. C , a 
 
 gentleman whose high attainments form a sufficient 
 guarantee that the spiritual philosophy he has so 
 sedulously studied, and to the reality of which his 
 opinions incline, is, at all events, not undeserving 
 the notice of the wise. By the side of her con- 
 frere of the faculty, sat my friend Dr. Hunt, 
 regarding whose real persuasions I am not in a 
 position to record my decided opinion only 
 remarking that circles, whether magnetic or other- 
 wise whether their object were manifestations or 
 muffins, theology or tea, always appeared to find 
 in her a cheerful and able promoter. A slum- 
 berous-looking person, who seemed incapable of 
 any emotion whatever, occur what might, filled up 
 that side of the table. On the other, were Mrs. 
 
 L , the little man that didn't sing " Dan 
 
 Tucker," two other persons (strangers), and my 
 friends. Of the latter I shall only say that one 
 of them, whom I knew to have been a sceptic in 
 the matter, but now, at all events, an anxious 
 seeker for truth, afforded in his whole demeanour 
 a favourable example of the spirit in which every 
 attempt at inquiry into a subject of pretensions 
 so illimitable, has claim to be conducted. 
 
 One or two of the party having waived their
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 235 
 
 right to converse with the denizens of the invisible 
 world, it became my turn to take the parole. 
 Accordingly, though without much expectation of 
 a satisfactory reply, I inquired, 
 
 " Is there any spirit present to whom I am 
 known ?" 
 
 Rap. 
 
 " Who is it ?" 
 
 The alphabet was demanded, and we pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 "B R O" 
 
 "BROTHER !" said some one, so hastily and 
 emphatically, that it really made me start, and 
 feel, for the hundredth part of a second, that I 
 should like just to be assured, by the earliest 
 possible steamer, that my brother still enjoyed the 
 same ruddy health I had the satisfaction of seeing 
 in his familiar face at parting. 
 
 The next letter, however, dissipated every 
 shadow of misgiving. My friend proved to be a 
 gentleman, recognised, while " this machine was 
 to him," as Mr. Brown MR. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 Brown ! The name is not unfamiliar, nor, to 
 say the truth, hath it a peculiarly patrician echo. 
 " The Browns," in the opinion of a late poet 
 
 The browns were for the clowns ; 
 As the blacks were for the quacks ; 
 And the yellows for the jealous ; 
 And the scarlets for
 
 236 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 No matter whom. Poets, like punsters, will 
 occasionally go considerable lengths. 
 
 " Had I," inquired the medium, " ever been per- 
 sonally acquainted Avith a gentleman answering to 
 the name of Brown ?" 
 
 " About fifty," I should say. 
 
 " Could I identify my friend ?" 
 
 "I could not. M 
 
 " Was one of them christened ' John ?' " 
 
 " That was not impossible. The names had been 
 noticed in connexion." 
 
 " But was I not intimate with one particular 
 Brown ?" 
 
 " I was not. In fact, the great majority of my 
 Brown acquaintance, though of much respecta- 
 bility, and most admirable character as citizens, 
 were (I believe with two exceptions) engaged in 
 mercantile pursuits of a retail character in 
 English, tradesmen ; in America, gentlemen who 
 permit themselves to preside over the interests 
 of a ' store.' " 
 
 " But the two exceptions ? Surely one ' 
 
 " One of these was a parish schoolmaster, known, 
 from his haughty bearing among the ragged 
 urchins, as * Cocky' Brown. The other was the 
 clerk of an adjoining parish, who, for the latter 
 years of his parochial career, had been universally 
 accosted as 'Bull' Brown, from his having, by 
 misadventure, announced during Divine sen-ice,
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 237 
 
 instead of a vestry meeting, a reward of three 
 guineas for the recovery of farmer Grierson's 
 brindled bull. I had no cause for the supposition 
 that either Cocky or Bull Brown had any especial 
 desire to communicate with me ; and, indeed, such 
 an idea w r ould partake too much of the nature of 
 the ' Cock-and-Buir to render it worth while to 
 speculate on the subject for a moment. 
 
 "But now, really and truly, was there no possi- 
 bility of discovering which Brown it could be who 
 was, all this time, patiently awaiting his identi- 
 fication ?" 
 
 " Really and truly, I know of none yet, stay ; 
 one other Bro\vn there was, who rises in my 
 remembrance superior to his fellows. Yet, again, 
 'tis not likely eh ? No." 
 
 " Of course ! of course ! Pray tell it ! Who 
 was he ?" 
 
 " Well, in point of fact, a bootmaker ! (you smile !) 
 but, withal, of a very singular, excitable, I might 
 almost add, poetical, temperament. Why, by the 
 way, should not bootmakers be poets ? It is a 
 thoughtful, sedate, and sedentary profession. The 
 imagination enjoys perpetual freedom. It " 
 
 " Precisely," said some one across the table, 
 with a satisfied nod. " Minds constituted as you, 
 sir, have described, are, of all others, most readily 
 susceptible of extraordinary influences ; and I 
 must beg ladies and gentlemen to listen to this,
 
 238 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 as it illustrates most forcibly my own theory on 
 this subject. You were remarking, sir " 
 
 " Oh, nothing. Simply that the idea which 
 seemed to possess poor Brown, to the latest hour 
 of his existence, viz., that he invariably had a 
 * heavy sum to make up ' on the succeeding 
 Tuesday, affords one of the most remarkable 
 instances on record of an over-active imagination. 
 These hallucinations, at once interesting to the 
 physiologist and embarrassing to the customer, 
 are not, however, so unc " 
 
 " I beg your pardon," interrupted another of 
 the party, "but perhaps, after all, the simplest 
 course might be to interrogate this per , I mean 
 shade, himself." 
 
 This was unanimously agreed to; and Mrs. 
 
 L , acting as a sort of oral deputation, waited 
 
 upon Mr. John Brown, through the table, with a 
 short, explanatory, and semi-complimentary ad- 
 dress. 
 
 There was no reply ! 
 
 The frigid reception had done its work. Brown 
 was gone. And no wonder ! 
 
 The hysterical lady, whose sobbing had sub- 
 sided into a periodical sniff, though more fami- 
 liarised with her extraordinary situation, was 
 scarcely yet sufficiently serene to open a conver- 
 sation on her own account. She therefore passed 
 on the alphabet to her jewelled lord, who, again
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 239 
 
 smoothing out his immense paper on the table, 
 commenced, as usual, by asking if any spirit 
 would communicate with him. 
 
 " Yes ; his mother." 
 
 Thereupon he commenced, (very much in the 
 tone of an Old Bailey counsel bullying a timid 
 witness with the connivance of the bench, or as 
 Mr. Toulmin Smith probably might the dying 
 Madame Von Beck, had she not expired in the 
 ante-room), a furious cross-examination of his 
 parent, his 
 
 " Now, mother, answer this " 
 sounding very much like, 
 
 " Now, I tell you what, madam, you'd better 
 mind what you're about ! Your ideas of truth were 
 not always particularly clear; but if, in deference 
 to your years and garrulity, we permitted some 
 degree of licence here, it's no use dodging now, 
 and especially with me, who know your little 
 weakness. So, speak up, and be careful, will ye ?" 
 
 It has been mentioned that the paper in this 
 gentleman's hand, was doubled down lengthways. 
 It now appeared that, in order the better to test 
 the spiritual intelligences, certain questions (some 
 forty or fifty), had been numbered 1, 2, 3, &c., and 
 turned down, the column of numerals being alone 
 visible, even to the questioner, who simply wrote 
 the answer, as he received it, against the corre- 
 sponding number, and did not refer to the ques-
 
 240 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 tion to which it applied, until the whole were 
 answered. The plan itself was certainly well 
 devised, and the object sincere. 
 
 " Now, mother ! what is the answer to No. 1 ?" 
 
 Rap. (Yes.) 
 
 To No 2 ?" 
 
 Silence. (No.) 
 
 "No. 3?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " No. 4 ?" 
 
 Rap, &c., &c. 
 
 The list being concluded, the questioner turned 
 up his brief, with an air of importance such as 
 befitted one charged with promulgating the 
 decrees of fate, cleared his throat, pulled up his 
 collar, and began : 
 
 "No. 1. Ques. Where was I born?" 
 
 Am. "Yes." 
 
 " No. 2. Ques. In what county was Benjamin 
 Franklin raised ?" 
 
 Ans. "No." 
 
 " No. 3. Ques. Of what disorder was my great 
 uncle, Colonel Silas Buffam, five years ill ?" 
 
 Ans. "No." 
 
 " No. 4. Ques. In what month did Peter (you 
 know who I mean), quit for the diggings ?" 
 
 Ans. "Yes." 
 
 These truly oracular replies were received with 
 mingled astonishment and mirth. It is needless
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 241 
 
 to pursue the list further. Not one of the answers 
 chanced to fit ; the questions, whether by accident 
 or design, having been so framed as to preclude 
 the possibility of their being replied to either with 
 a simple affirmative or negative. On being called 
 upon to account for this phenomenon, the medium 
 declared that, in certain cases, a spirit had been 
 known to decline returning any other answer than 
 " yes " or " no." If that be so, it is obviously im- 
 possible to appreciate too highly the perseverance 
 and politeness of a spirit who would thus devote 
 itself to a series of replies, not only totally inap- 
 plicable, but calculated to bring considerable dis- 
 credit on its own intelligence. 
 
 With a few table-tippings, to which, it must be 
 confessed, I paid a very lax attention, the pro- 
 ceedings terminated. The magnetic circle then 
 resolved itself into its natural elements, and, with 
 a smile (and half a dollar per head) to the pretty 
 medium, the party withdrew, variously impressed 
 with what they had witnessed. 
 
 And what, my dear friend Sceptic, for whose 
 especial benefit I have, incautiously, yet not un- 
 conscientiously, narrated this remarkable meeting, 
 what is your impression of the matter ? But why in- 
 quire ? The key-note is already struck humbug ! 
 
 Humbug, indeed, sir ! sheer, unmitigated hum- 
 bug, from beginning to end. Ridiculous, and 
 what is worse, because insulting, shallow humbug, 
 
 M
 
 242 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 literally, " perilous stuff," which must be looked 
 to quickly, or those charged with the moral sewer- 
 age of the community will be likely to incur a very 
 serious responsibility. 
 
 Take breath, my friend. Compose yourself. 
 Agreed. There is humbug. 
 
 And yet you devote many a serious page (who 
 the deuce will read it, I wonder !) to circumstan- 
 tial narrative, and earnest commendation to the 
 notice of reasonable men of these psha ! you 
 own it humbug. Come to supper. 
 
 Humbug, but not, as you say, " unmitigated." I 
 esteem it perfectly possible, within the limits of 
 fair argument, and in too painful accordance with 
 human nature, that what has degenerated into 
 folly and falsehood, had, nevertheless, its origin 
 in truth. 
 
 Regarding what you have been describing as 
 " truth," how can you justify that levity of tone, 
 so un suited to 
 
 A spiritual atmosphere? Simply because no 
 one circumstance of the meeting suggested the 
 faintest approach towards a suspicion, far less 
 a consciousness, of any spiritual presence whatso- 
 ever. An overwhelming sense of the ludicrous 
 accompanied every stage of this remarkable 
 seance, and even impaired the interest attaching 
 to the inexplicable sounds themselves. Why 
 should not these, the basis of the mystery, at
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 243 
 
 least, be genuine? The extraordinary failures 
 really awaken almost as much curiosity as the 
 success. Those who intend to make jugglery and 
 deception their trade, generally perfect their tricks 
 before inviting public scrutiny, or, should one of 
 them fail, means are provided to cover the defeat. 
 Here, not the slightest attempt is ever made to 
 conceal or account for discrepancies. The media 
 uniformly declare that the occasional confusion, 
 the discordant and conflicting statements, are as 
 puzzling and utterly unaccountable to tliem as to 
 others. And of this, many persons of high intel- 
 ligence and the coolest judgment, who were 
 originally sceptical in regard to the whole matter, 
 have, after rigid scrutiny, declared themselves 
 fully satisfied. 
 
 But, to take the strongest anti-medial position, 
 let us assume that acute and practised observa- 
 tion, and a generally shrewd intelligence, have 
 supplied the means for furthering this deception, 
 and turning it to profit, how far does that extend ? 
 Powers and gifts, so grand and godlike in their 
 development, as to show almost like emanations 
 from diviner spheres, and to command at once the 
 instinctive reverence of mankind, have been pros- 
 tituted to the basest and most earthly ends. Yet 
 they are no less powers and gifts than before their 
 fatal misdirection turned what might have been 
 glory, into a snare. 
 
 M 2
 
 244 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 No doubt, many media have not scrupled to 
 avail themselves of these unexplained phenomena, 
 by grafting upon them a system of deceit calcu- 
 lated, as they suppose, to heighten the impression 
 made by these manifestations, and to increase the 
 profits attending them. Still, this will not ex- 
 plain the mystery. It is there unmoved. But, 
 as a general rule, the fact is different. The media 
 are sincere and trustworthy, and (as in the cases 
 mentioned hereafter, as noted by Mr. J. Sargent in 
 his recent travels among the Indians in Iowa), are 
 as ignorant as ourselves in regard to the manner 
 in which the sounds are produced. Nor do all the 
 media themselves coincide in their leanings to- 
 ward the supernatural. Among others, Mr. 
 Cooley, of Springfield, a medium of celebrity, 
 declares his belief that the phenomena are purely 
 human and natural, though attributable to agencies 
 hitherto undetected by science. 
 
 In short, to condemn sweepingly the whole 
 body of persons to whose presence these pheno- 
 mena seem appurtenant, as impostors or dupes, is 
 idle and absurd. They may, indeed, be alike 
 mistaken in attributing the cause to spiritual 
 agency, and in accepting the communications as 
 entitled to credit ; but of the genuine existence of 
 the phenomena there can no longer be the re- 
 motest question. Nor should the mind of the 
 educated reader be wholly unprepared for such
 
 RATHER PERSONAL. 245 
 
 an impression. The cases of Angelique Cottin 
 and of Madlle. Clairon, with others mentioned in 
 the first chapter, cannot all have passed unnoticed, 
 and my attention has been drawn to a fact worthy 
 of remark, viz., the extraordinary analogy between 
 those mysterious occurrences which, in the days 
 of witchcraft, established upon oath, puzzled the 
 brains and warped the judgment of our fathers, 
 and the phenomena now in progress of develop- 
 ment in America. Sounds and movements of 
 material substances were among the commonest 
 of the facts recorded. That the unfortunate vic- 
 tims of the unphilosophic judges and juries of the 
 time, frequently courted their own destruction by 
 a strange misuse of gifts they could not com- 
 prehend, is probable enough. Still, as has been 
 said, the phenomenon is there. A diamond, 
 whether picked from a dust-bin, or plucked from 
 a diadem, is of equal intrinsic value, nor can the 
 use to which it may be turned, or the association 
 in which it may be found, detract one single carat, 
 in the judgment of the skilful lapidary, from its 
 market worth. 
 
 So with regard to these manifestations. The 
 admitted failures, the ludicrous, evasive, inconse- 
 quential character of the entire proceedings, are 
 insufficient, of themselves, to disprove either the 
 preternatural or philosophic origin claimed for the 
 phenomena. Above all, the solution of the mys-
 
 246 RATHER PERSONAL. 
 
 tery must be sought elsewhere than in the pur- 
 poses to which it may be rendered subservient. 
 
 Meanwhile, dear Sceptic, and my friends in ge- 
 neral, suspend your judgment; and remember 
 only that when the aforesaid " spiritual philo- 
 sophy," with its kindred mesmerism, clairvoyance, 
 electro-biology, are taken from the hands of the 
 mere charlatan, and delivered over to the careful 
 analysis of the candid, truthful, disinterested, and 
 philosophic inquirer, then, and then only, may 
 you have leave to smile ; for then we may expect 
 the mingled mass of natural and spiritual pheno- 
 mena now bewildering us, to yield up from its 
 confused elements the true philosophy of the 
 human mind, even as the noble science of che- 
 mistry was evolved from the alchymy of old.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Coaching Adventures in Palestine The Headless Major Shakers 
 Railing A wet evening Rouse's most unpleasant Point Mon- 
 treal One page of statistics Barnum Temperance Sleighing 
 Quebec Montmorenci Lorette, &c. Wolfe Back to the 
 States Kossuth at New York At Cincinnati Boston Sceptic 
 " Mutual Admiration Society," &c. 
 
 ANY attempt to disguise the fact that the style 
 of this treatise borders slightly on the desultory, 
 were useless affectation. Conceding to it that 
 characteristic, two courses are open, viz., to plead, 
 in palliation, that the notes on which I had in- 
 tended principally to rely for recollection of certain 
 matters, both natural and spiritual, have fallen into 
 inextricable confusion ; or, to leave it at once to the 
 candour and penetration of the reader to supply 
 the connecting link always discernible to my o\vn 
 mind. You, my dear Sceptic, who have paid your 
 money, have that indubitable privilege of taking 
 your choice, I would be the last to dispute. 
 
 Meanwhile, you will at least recognise some
 
 248 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 features of relationship with our subject, in the 
 tale of the Headless Major. 
 
 It will be admitted, perhaps reluctantly, that 
 the process of "falling asleep" is by no means 
 that precipitate descent implied in the phrase. 
 We glide, through the same infinitesimal degrees, 
 into the realms of sleep, and though, no doubt, 
 the celerity of that process may be greatly in- 
 fluenced by the conditions of the mind and body, 
 there always remains a certain track of debateable 
 land to be struggled through, like a conquered, 
 but not pacified, country, of which the reason still 
 reigns nominal sovereign ; and this transition state, 
 if prolonged, as is frequently the case, by any un- 
 usual mental excitement or outward interruptions, 
 is one of the strangest and most analogous to the 
 unhealthy, of any to which the sane mind is liable. 
 To have a perfect recollection of time, place, and 
 circumstance, and yet to admit among the latter 
 one thing which is manifestly impossible, and rea- 
 son quietly upon it, as though simply unusual, 
 seems rather the result of faculties disordered, 
 than merely dulled by approaching sleep, whose 
 influence, like that of a deepening twilight, w T ould 
 naturally envelope all things alike. The circum- 
 stance, nevertheless, is far too common to be 
 worth classing among mental phenomena; is 
 chiefly noticeable, because in it may be discovered, 
 no doubt, the germ of many a ghostly tale, and
 
 DISCURSIVE. 240 
 
 bears affinity to the subject of these notes, only 
 inasmuch as frequent witnessing and considera- 
 tion of the rapping phenomena, at this period 
 nearly new to me, probably induced that tem- 
 porary excitement of mind which resulted in a 
 sufficiently absurd hallucination of the nature re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 Whatever may be the summer aspect of Ohio, 
 the scenery of that state during the months of 
 snow, is wild and weird enough. Endless woods 
 of beech and pine, bleak hills, dismal hollows, 
 lonely, snow-suffocated huts, and straggling, life- 
 less villages, form the cheerful characteristics of 
 that po*tion of the province to which the town- 
 creating railroad has not yet penetrated. Possi- 
 bly the toiling through a country like this, at a 
 dark, tempestuous season, might have contributed 
 in some degree to engender that peculiar condi- 
 tion of mind to which I have alluded ; and which 
 in the sudden, unhealthy impulse imparted to the 
 imagination, probably bore some resemblance to 
 that which is said to characterise persons whose 
 lives are passed in lone and remote districts of the 
 earth. 
 
 While staying at Cincinnati, a telegraphic 
 missive announced to me that a lady, under whose 
 protection I had hoped to return northward, would 
 meet me at Xenia, a place some sixty miles dis- 
 tant. "Protection," I am fully aware, my dear 
 
 M 5
 
 250 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Sceptic, appears a singular term, thus applied. It is, 
 notwithstanding, apt and well-chosen, and is, more- 
 over, so easy of application, as to be almost con- 
 vertible with its very opposite. For example, at 
 the present moment, it means "recent legisla- 
 tion," or " Free Trade." Visit the States, how- 
 ever, yourself, and then dispute my use of it if you 
 can. Any gentleman travelling in that countiy 
 on his own purely individual " hook," is, without 
 reference to aspect, manner, or means, received 
 with that sovereign contempt so characteristic of 
 the sovereign people, and so indicative of the 
 vested rights of citizenship; is housed and fed 
 very much as though his appearance at ain hotel 
 at all were an intrusion which might certainly be 
 winked at, but scarcely forgiven ; and, surrounded 
 with reception-rooms blazing with velvet and 
 gold, is condemned to pass his evenings in a 
 frowzy " tap," unless to its fragrant atmosphere 
 and refined society he prefers his own bed-room. 
 Under the wing of a lady, sanctified by her 
 gracious presence, the scene is wholly changed 
 the guest acknowledged, 
 
 Man, the hermit, pined, till woman smiled ! 
 
 Landlords now smile also, nay, shake hands with 
 you (they often do that he of the New York 
 Hotel grasped my hand with something almost 
 like emotion, and of his four hundred bedrooms
 
 DISCURSIVE. 251 
 
 assigned me the worst!) dining and drawing- 
 rooms fly open, music, books, pictures, &c., are 
 at your command, you have but to ring, and, 
 without a murmur, the waiter comes ! Many 
 things, my dear Sceptic, are comfortable in tra- 
 velling through the United States of America 
 three are essential clogs, patience, and a lady. 
 Persons who are fastidious may add to these a 
 waterproof garment, approximating as nearly as 
 possible to the colour of tobacco juice ; an in- 
 genious statistician having affirmed, as the result of 
 minute and laborious calculations, that one thou- 
 sand tons of the liquid I have mentioned, are 
 annually squirted over the face of American crea- 
 tion, while twenty tons of ivory are expended 
 every seven years in preparing the same for dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 For Xenia, accordingly, I started, and, it being 
 on a railway line, arrived there in about three 
 hours. But haste was useless ; my telegraphic 
 correspondent, who was on her way from St. 
 Louis to Philadelphia, and had, as I afterwards 
 found, already travelled twelve successive days 
 and nights, had not been heard of, nor could she 
 and her suite arrive, except by travelling twelve 
 miles on foot, until the next morning. So, after 
 a slight ramble in the snow, I ascended to a 
 chamber, and, having selected one of its nine 
 beds, under a distinct covenant that no attempt
 
 252 DISCURSIV* 
 
 should be made to occupy the other eight, I re- 
 tired to rest at the primitive hour of nine. Did 
 anybody ever go to bed at nine ? The sensation 
 is singular. 
 
 The rosy morn, and my no less roseate friend, 
 arrived together. She was already escorted by 
 two cavaliers, one of whom, Major R. (editor, 
 pig-dealer, and officer of the militia), was des- 
 tined to be the subject of the extraordinary mis- 
 adventure hereinafter described. Our homeward 
 journey recommenced under very agreeable aus- 
 pices, and continued pleasantly until our arrival 
 at the railway terminus, a straggling village 
 called Salem, built as though the houses had been 
 thrown in a promiscuous heap, by Titans, or had 
 quarrelled, turned half round, and were looking 
 askance at each other over their shoulders. Here, 
 however, the horrors of the " middle passage " 
 began. Nineteen miles of deep snow lay between 
 us and the next railway station Palestine. All 
 ordinary means of conveyance had been eagerly 
 caught up by a previous batch of pilgrims, and, 
 with the exception of wheelbarrows and an ox- 
 cart, no available vehicle was to be found. A 
 foraging party was sent out, however, and pre- 
 sently returned in great spirits, with a captive 
 coach-proprietor, who, though distinctly pre-en- 
 gaged, on being remonstrated with, and shown a 
 two-dollar bill, consented to discover that he had
 
 DISCURSIVE. 253 
 
 misunderstood the bargain, and considered himself 
 at liberty. So far well, but on being introduced 
 to my friend's baggage, consisting of twenty-two 
 boxes, and weighing in all about two tons, the 
 unfortunate man turned pale, and showed such 
 imminent symptoms of "jibbing," as to render it 
 necessary to recruit his system with an additional 
 dollar. An hour later, amidst the tears, protesta- 
 tions, and maledictions of the disappointed lessees 
 of the vehicle, we started for Palestine. 
 
 It was now three o'clock, and it was considered 
 possible, accidents apart, that we might perform 
 the journey by ten, that is, after the modest rate 
 of two miles and a half an hour. The sanguine 
 suggested nine o'clock, the experienced demurred 
 altogether, and declined to be definite. 
 
 Jolt rumble tilt dip large hillock sud- 
 den hole ah h ! we're over ! No ! breathe 
 again ; all right ! Jolt rumble here we do go ! 
 hold on ! saved again ! Jolt rumble, &c., and, 
 at last halt ! 
 
 " What's this place ?" 
 
 " Colombiana." 
 
 "How far?" 
 
 " Half way." 
 
 " What's o'clock ? " 
 
 " Seven." 
 
 The driver gets down, and drags open the 
 door.
 
 254 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 "Well, you fellows" (remember, English 
 Mends, two of the party were women, one, accus- 
 tomed to the refinements of society, the other, 
 her fastidious English maid) "Well, you fel- 
 lows, do any of you want supper ? I'm going to 
 stop here, I am, to feed my hosses." 
 
 Glad to ease their cramped limbs, the fellows 
 (fair and otherwise), agreed, nem. con., to face 
 the horrors of a Colornbiana supper-table, and de- 
 scended with as much alacrity as the total absence 
 of steps permitted. Seated in an intensely hot par- 
 lour, redolent of smoke, tobacco-juice, and frying 
 sausages, we persuaded ourselves we were hungry, 
 and were really glad when a whitey-brown girl 
 dashed open the door, announced " supper " with 
 a nervous shriek, and instantly took to her heels, 
 as though to escape the human torrent she evi- 
 dently believed would follow. The banquet 
 would not have satisfied Lucullus. A coach-load, 
 at least, of earlier "fellows" had preceded us, 
 and, like a cloud of locusts, devoured all that was 
 green, that is, fresh, in Colombiana. The com- 
 pany (for some twenty strangers joined us) were, 
 to a man, eating with their knives and employing 
 the same individual instrument to carve the dishes 
 before them. An extremely dirty and scantily 
 attired infant, having no seat, the mistress of the 
 house lifted from a shelf an enormous loaf, upon 
 which the child was perched, and amused itself
 
 DISCURSIVE. 255 
 
 by kicking its dangling heels into the sides ! The 
 whole thing was so disgusting, that we gladly re- 
 sumed our seats in the vehicle, and tumbled on 
 towards our destination ; reaching .that desired 
 spot at half-past ten. Palestine ! 
 
 And what is Palestine ? This nobly named 
 city, my dear Sceptic, stands at the corner of a 
 wood, near an embryo railroad station, and con- 
 sists of five small tenements, and a pig-hutch ! 
 Inn there is none, but the lady of one of the 
 aforesaid tenements condescends to receive and 
 entertain the wearied traveller, and, should there 
 be many pilgrims, passes on the surplus to her 
 next neighbour a canny Scot, who sells worsted- 
 stockings, candles, and, in cholera season, plums. 
 Chilled and cramped to death, we descended 
 at the former house, and demanded beds. Not one 
 was to be had, but we might sit round the fire, if 
 we liked. Much obliged. If we could but get 
 twelve miles further, all would be well. Would 
 the coachman put to, and proceed ? No. But 
 there was a cart in the yard, the miller had a pair 
 of horses, and the canny Scot an old coach-har- 
 ness. It was put to our fair friend whether we 
 should bivouac by the fire, or proceed through the 
 cold dark night ? 
 
 " Push on," said the heroine, still unconquered. 
 But push on we could not ; the farmer refused his 
 cart, the miller his horses; and, as it became
 
 256 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 clearly evident that nothing could be gained by 
 " pushing on," inasmuch as, by taking the train 
 next morning, \ve should arrive in much the same 
 time as though \ve started now by the road, it 
 was decided to remain at Palestine, and throw 
 ourselves upon the hospitality of the Scot, to 
 whose domicile we accordingly proceeded in a 
 body. 
 
 Mr. Sandy Macpherson had retired to his 
 couch, and the iiihospitalities of the house were 
 being performed by a lady of shrill voice and 
 savage aspect, who demanded our pleasure, as 
 though we had demanded her purse. Pleasure! 
 the phrase is absurd, but, in fact, we require beds. 
 Can't have none ; there an't but two rooms, and 
 two gents has bespoke the biggest. The gents 
 were appealed to, and at first demurred, but, 
 being shown the lady, instantly succumbed, and 
 made over the bigger room to her and her attend- 
 ant, contenting themselves with the lesser. The 
 
 Major, Mr. N , and I, established ourselves in 
 
 the parlour, around a fire which, immense as it was, 
 made small impression upon the bitter cold with 
 which that freezing apartment was impregnated. 
 The wind blew through it like water through a 
 sieve ! With the assistance of cloaks, umbrellas, 
 blankets, &c., we erected wigwams in the most 
 eligible corners; hung curtains over the doors, 
 and kept up a conflagration rather than a fire.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 257 
 
 But all would not do; the frost was victor. At 
 
 length, Mr. N , with considerable architectural 
 
 skill, built himself a regular mansion with six 
 chairs and half at able ; thatched it completely 
 with every flat thing he could discover ; crept in 
 at one end, and, taking advantage of a lull in the 
 tempest that swept through the room, stopped up 
 the entrance 1 
 
 Major R mixed himself up, in some inex- 
 plicable manner, with two feather beds; and I 
 threw the cape of my Canadian cloak over my 
 head, and sat scowling at the " ineffectual fire." 
 
 A snore from the thatched house : acknow- 
 ledged by the feather beds ! Happy innocents ! 
 they sleep. I, too, am conscious of a sort of 
 as it were but I know where I am! Oh, per- 
 fectly ! Rendsburg ! Schleswig Holstein ! " sea- 
 surrounded." There are my two military friends, 
 gallant but smoke saturated, whose barrack-room 
 I share, and who have promised that I shall, on 
 the morrow, see the reverses of Idstedt avenged. 
 Will the Danes fight ? Hark ! is that a trumpet ? 
 No, it is only the wailing wind ; and here I am, 
 wide awake, not, as erst, in warlike Rendsburg, 
 but in peaceful Palestine. Let me try, by cate- 
 chistic process, whether I am awake. Where 
 am I ? In Palestine. What is Palestine ? Re- 
 mote village of the United States. What State ? 
 Don't remember. Season ? Depth of winter.
 
 258 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Object? Nothing particular. Companions? Major 
 
 R , Mr. N . Upstairs ? Charming 
 
 American, vigilant maid. All perfectly satisfac- 
 tory. Now let us look round and see what is to 
 be seen. Eh ? what ? By George ! you don't 
 mean that ? Well, if this is not the most extra- 
 ordinary circumstance ! I must make a note of 
 this. 
 
 And what, my dear Sceptic, do you suppose it 
 was ? The feather bed, which formed the (if I 
 may so express myself) upper crust of the major, 
 had rolled off, and the gallant officer lay, with 
 his whole manly figure exposed to view, but 
 headless. I give you my honour that, though 
 awake, I was under the full impression that the 
 head was missing. And it is illustrative of the 
 singular transition state of which I have spoken, 
 that a circumstance, which at any other time would 
 have struck me with horror and amazement, only 
 now awakened a sort of cordial interest. The 
 major reclined upon his remaining feather bed in 
 a half-sitting posture, but, as has been mentioned, 
 headless ! His high shirt-collars stood sharp up, 
 with alarming distinctness, but nothing between 
 them ! The body was in its shirt-sleeves, and 
 was well defined upon a large dark-green umbrella, 
 which formed the back-ground of the picture. The 
 strange part of the story is that, while I was per- 
 fectly conscious of everything around me even
 
 DISCURSIVE. 259 
 
 noticed a snoring from the thatched house I yet 
 fully believed that the major had lost his head, 
 and only wondered what the deuce had become of 
 it ! A gentleman in one of Dickens's stories is 
 perpetually offering to devour that organ, but 
 never explained the manner in which he proposed 
 to accomplish the exploit. 
 
 " He finds that cap did no good," I reflected, 
 " and no doubt took off his head to keep it warm. 
 But where has he put it ? Probably under his 
 arm, like a gibus hat. No, he hasn't ; it won't 
 squeeze. Rolled away, perhaps ? Certain I am 
 he had it on when he lay down, yet I don't see it 
 on the floor ! How odd, now, if he should have 
 mislaid it ! By Jove ! he'll miss it in the 
 morning. No matter; it's no business of mine 
 to look after people's heads. There's a smell of 
 burning ! If it should be toasting at the fire, it 
 would be only civil to turn it for him ! No, it's 
 not that ; it's my fur cloak, with a coal upon it. 
 There's a slight elevation at the foot of the feather 
 bed ; of course it's there keeping warm ah" 
 I slept. 
 
 At least, I fancy I did ; for I remember playing 
 at chess with my cousin Cecilia, and was in the act 
 of giving her check-mate with a bishop habited like 
 Dr. Pusey (whose body kept opening, and display- 
 ing a Roman Catholic oratory, stuffed with flowers 
 and lamps), when, with a slight shiver, I found
 
 260 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 myself in Palestine. There was a shrill echo 
 
 St. Peter's bird did call. 
 
 And well he might, poor frozen fowl ! for the 
 intense cold of that room of Palestine will our 
 pilgrim party long remember. " In that Jerusalem 
 did Harry (very nearly) die ;" for the zephyrs 
 which circulated through the apartment, blowing, 
 like their Homeric ancestors, from every quarter 
 at once, appeared to have selected my head as a 
 common centre or rendezvous, and occasioned a 
 severe rheumatic headache, which lasted two 
 days. 
 
 The major, however, had recovered his head. 
 The thatched house, like an egg under the influence 
 of the hydro-incubator, broke, and delivered up 
 its tenant, three-parts fledged ; and it remains for 
 you, my dear Sceptic, to explain, in your forth- 
 coming work on Somnolism and Psychology, how 
 it was that I, fully awake, as I again declare, to 
 every other impression, should have permitted 
 myself, for full twenty minutes of calm reflection, 
 to believe, not only in the major's temporary 
 decapitation, but to yield a tacit consent to such 
 an act, as being, under the circumstances, both 
 natural and expedient ! 
 
 It was remarked in the first chapter that mani- 
 festations analogous to those now attracting so 
 much notice, have been for many years recognised
 
 DISCURSIVE. 261 
 
 among the sect of Shakers ; but, although that fact 
 is generally admitted, I have been unable to trace 
 the particular details, the number or method of the 
 communications, or the degree of faith accorded 
 to them when obtained. A friend, who very 
 recently paid a visit to one of the Shaker haunts, 
 gives a curious account of these singular people : 
 
 " We drove over, one day, to Lebanon, a village 
 in N. Y., owned by the Shakers, or " Shaking 
 Quakers." It is the head-quarters of the sect, 
 and the burial-place of Ann Lee, its founder. 
 
 " They exhibit the most singular specimen of 
 fanaticism it has ever been my lot to witness. 
 They are Fourrierists, or rather Communists, with 
 a religious principle grafted on, or, more properly, 
 as the basis of, the communism and practising 
 celibacy. Their dogma is that the Messiah is 
 male and female, Ann Lee being the female pro- 
 totype ; and that, should all persons preserve 
 celibacy, the continuation of the species would be 
 effected by Divine dispensation, as with our first 
 parents. Their possessions are immense, they 
 being the best agriculturists in that part of the 
 Union ; besides manufacturing among themselves 
 all that they need for food and raiment. Their 
 internal government, vested in certain elders, is 
 the most complete system of spiritual despotism 
 that can be conceived. Their religious services, 
 which I witnessed as long as I could endure the
 
 262 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 scene, consisted in singing hymns to very extra- 
 ordinary tunes, and then dancing. 
 
 "Imagine four hundred women, dressed like 
 corpses, and wearing the old-fashioned high-heeled 
 shoes, on one side of an immense hall, and as 
 many men, in their shirt-sleeves, on the other, 
 moving backwards and forwards to a monotonous 
 droning kept up by some dozen elders ! They 
 beat the dancing dervishes hollow ! It struck 
 me as curious that, although the women have 
 abundance of out-door exercise, and live in the 
 purest air, I could not detect the slightest colour 
 in the cheeks of one of them, though ranging from 
 the age of ten to that of seventy. The absence 
 of all inducement to continue this unnatural mode 
 of life is the most remarkable feature. Mormonism 
 is supported by appeals to the sensual principle 
 to the desire of worldly advancement, &c. ; and 
 few organizations, however singular, but acknow- 
 ledge some encouraging principle. Here, and 
 here only, there is none." 
 
 It would seem that colder climates are less 
 favourable to the development of the spirit-mani- 
 festations. At all events, the further I travelled 
 northward, the less frequent did they become ; and, 
 if I remember rightly, Albany was the last place 
 of note, on the route to Canada, at which they 
 came under my notice. Here, indeed, there were 
 rumours of a medium of such extraordinary
 
 DISCURSIVE. 263 
 
 power (a lady of the highest respectability), 
 that I was induced to remain for one day longer 
 than I had intended, in the hope of obtaining 
 an introduction to her, and thus forming some 
 definite opinion on the subject. The time I 
 could spare, however, proved insufficient for the 
 purpose. 
 
 And now, my dear Sceptic, you can either 
 disport yourself for a few days longer at the noble 
 city of Albany where sleighing is excellent, and 
 Mrs. Warner is performing at the Museum or 
 accompany me a little further on the way to 
 Quebec. 
 
 " To Quebec ? And why ? There are clearly 
 no more spirits in this direction." 
 
 I am not so certain of that ; nay, I will almost 
 undertake to promise something of interest on the 
 subject of spirits generally. 
 
 " I hate railway travelling in America. That 
 
 chewing and " 
 
 Nonsense ! Come. 
 
 We went; and, as ill luck would have it, were 
 in for as damp an evening as I think I ever 
 remember. No sooner had we entered the carriage 
 than expectoration commenced with vigour, and 
 the dripping well of Knaresborough presently 
 became a mere jest in comparison. In a short 
 time, Sceptic's voice broke out in a tone of im- 
 patient remonstrance
 
 264 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 " I say ! I beg your pardon but really hang 
 it, now !" 
 
 " Wai, I know I spits free. Guess I ken do it 
 without touching you, though. Thar, now !" 
 (Example afforded.) 
 
 Growl from Sceptic. 
 
 " Why, 'twarn't nothing say ?" 
 
 " No, I don't say it touched ; but why do it at 
 all ?" 
 
 " Wai, I expect, when you go down west, you'll 
 get over them prejudices. You'll have to. Yes, 
 sir." 
 
 Perhaps it is superfluous to mention that our 
 friends " down west" are in the habit of empha- 
 sizing the " sir," and even augmenting that 
 emphasis by adding a syllable " sir-ree." The 
 latter form, however, must as yet be regarded as 
 mere slang ; at least, I remember the introduction 
 of it into a burlesque of Hamlet, at Boston, pro- 
 voked considerable laughter : 
 
 Bernardo. Qui vive f 
 
 Francisco. Qui vive yourself ! Hold answer me 
 
 Is that my friend, Bernardo 1 
 Bernardo. Yes, sir-ree. 
 
 It is due to my friend to say that he did not 
 complain without some reason. He was unhappily 
 placed. Each carriage, on an American railway, 
 contains seats for some fifty persons, arranged 
 like the free seats down a narrow church-aisle ;
 
 DISCURSIVE. 265 
 
 and I observed that the gentleman who sat directly 
 in the rear of my friend, having, by his persevering 
 expectoral exertions, so completely flooded the 
 floor as to inconvenience himself, had lifted his 
 long legs from the ground, and quietly placed them 
 on the back of the bench before him, one on each 
 side of Sceptic's head ; thus placing him in a sort 
 of cleft stick ! 
 
 I shall not soon forget the horror and surprise 
 of the latter's countenance, as the huge damp boots 
 almost took the curl out of his " educated whisker." 
 Fortunately, this journey, a la fourchette, was not 
 of long duration. 
 
 Such, and a thousand such incidents are inse- 
 parable from American railway travelling ; and, 
 however familiar one may become with these 
 desagremens, the marked amelioration in manners 
 which takes place as soon as the Canadian frontier 
 is passed, must be welcomed by the least fastidious 
 traveller. 
 
 " Rouse's Point," where one's baggage is " vi- 
 sited" by the simple process of giving a kick 
 a-piece to the smaller articles, and rattling the 
 locks of the bigger, and now what time do we 
 start for Montreal ? 
 
 " Guess you don't start this day," 
 
 " The deuce ! And why ?" 
 
 " Cars stuck in the snow." 
 
 So here, in this largest, coldest, and dreariest 
 
 N
 
 266 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 of hotels, we must sleep, instead of getting com- 
 fortably on to Montreal (only thirty miles) to 
 dinner ; having, moreover, to tum out, in all 
 probability, about six A.M. to-morrow, in total 
 darkness. 
 
 " What time do the cars leave in the morning ?" 
 
 " Five o'clock !" 
 
 Pleasant ! delightful ! What a hateful place is 
 this ! It grows momently less endurable crammed 
 with the detenus of three blocked-up trains. The 
 landlord is busily engaged in " rooming off," as 
 he calls it, his particular friends ; and what sort of 
 
 accommodation we shall get Hang Rouse ! and 
 
 confound his " point !" What a pitiful vanity 
 what a ridiculously paltry feeling of self- exaltation 
 must have suggested that name ! What did the 
 person mean ? Why be particularly proud of his 
 " point ?" The selection was not so vastly judicious, 
 if you come to that ! The winter aspect of Lake 
 Champlain does by no means vividly suggest ideas 
 of Paradise. 
 
 And, after all, who was Rouse ? When we 
 quitted England there was a fashionable street- 
 saying, apparently of universal application 
 " Brayvo Rous!" As the immediate object of 
 these laudations (who would seem to be perpetually 
 indulging in popular clap-traps) is equally doubt- 
 ful, perhaps some of those literary beagles, who 
 correspond with " Notes and Queries," will hunt
 
 DISCURSIVE. 267 
 
 down the respective Rouses, and make them the 
 subject of a brief communication. 
 
 We take a light refection of strips of gutta- 
 percha, (jocosely termed in the carte "beef-steak,") 
 and retire to bed, Sceptic in a small apartment, 
 I in a kind of saloon big enough to accommodate 
 a squadron of Life Guards, cold as Wellington 
 Sound. The huge stove at one end is only now 
 getting slightly warm, and, it being too cold to 
 think of waiting till the frost has melted out of the 
 logs, and left them susceptible of fire, I toss 
 everything movable upon the great cold bed, and 
 creep under the mountain so prepared. But it is 
 impossible to cover one's head, and upon that the 
 frost fixes with spiteful tenacity. Never did I ever 
 feel anything approaching to the coldness of that 
 night. One's veiy eyes ached. Thank goodness ! 
 no getting up for six hours at least six hours 
 Eh! 
 
 " Four o'clock !" growls the surly black porter, 
 who has never been known to go to bed, bursting 
 open the door, and tumbling over a chair. 
 
 " What's the weather ?" 
 
 " Snows." 
 
 " Can I have some hot water ?" (It need 
 hardly be observed that every liquid thing, even 
 to the hair-oil, is a cake of ice.) 
 
 The man simply growls, lights a sputtering 
 
 N 2
 
 268 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 candle, and withdraws, never, as I truly suspected, 
 to return. What a wretched light ! The deuce 
 (or the frost) is in the candle! If it goes out, I 
 am lost. I know there is no bell. Matches I 
 have none. As to going out into that corridor, 
 and shouting for assistance, I'll do no such thing. 
 The candle languishes revives .... shall I get 
 up ? I may save it yet. No, let it take its chance. 
 I resolve on this. The fate of that candle is as yet 
 uncertain ; it, or the frost, may still prevail. If the 
 former, I will rise, dress, and travel. If the latter, 
 I will turn round and go to sleep. The cars are 
 at liberty to start. 
 
 The strife that ensued was really by no means 
 uninteresting. It was like watching a tournament, 
 in the event of which one had, like Rebecca, a 
 direct personal interest. At length the gallant 
 " dip " gave forth a triumphant flare, of which, 
 taking it for a presage of victory, I took advan- 
 tage, to ascertain the locality of the more striking 
 and essential portions of my wardrobe. The pre- 
 caution was useless ! With a sickly sputter, the 
 defeated wick wavered, succumbed, expired ! 
 Darkness ! 
 
 Five hours later, I wake and descend to break- 
 fast. Sceptic is dawdling over his cold coffee, 
 with an injured expression on his countenance. 
 
 " Well, my dear fellow, how did you sleep ?"
 
 DISCURSIVE. t>69 
 
 " Vilely. So cold ! The brutes made me get 
 up at five o'clock. Swore the cars were going at 
 six and " 
 
 " What ! are they not gone ?" 
 
 " Didn't you know it ? No, they don't leave till 
 half-past-ten. There's a drift on the line !" 
 
 My poor friend ! his indignation was justifi- 
 able, the circumstance he mentioned having, it ap- 
 peared, been perfectly well known to the house 
 authorities the previous night. 
 
 At half-past ten, then, we step, as the conductors 
 call it, " aboard," and, five miles on, come to a sud- 
 den halt. A train approaching on our line ! It 
 stops, and both, with needless courtesy, back com- 
 pletely out of sight of each other. After waiting 
 an hour in a siding, and no appearance of our 
 friend, a boy stumps forward through the snow to 
 reconnoitre. Another hour, and he returns, ac- 
 companied by three impatient passengers. The 
 train has backed into a siding, and a, drift, and 
 wants assistance from our engine. It is despatched, 
 and fifty stout fellows besides, armed with huge 
 shovels, whom it appears the contractor had en- 
 gaged and brought with us, in anticipation of some 
 such casualty. 
 
 Another tedious hour to be whiled away. Sit 
 still we must, for, outside, the snow is everywhere 
 above our knees. What is to be done ? A mild
 
 270 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 old gentleman in a corner suggests " riddles," and, 
 being smiled upon, leads off with 
 
 "As I was going to St. Ives " 
 
 " Thank you. We know. Heavens and earth ! 
 Is the wit of this young country thriving upon our 
 oldest conundrums ?" 
 
 A gentleman volunteers a song. By all means. 
 Will it annoy the company ? On the contrary 
 delighted. 
 
 The intention, however, considerably trans- 
 cended the execution. It was indeed, to speak 
 frankly, 
 
 " music 
 
 Enough to make Mozart the Jew, sick." 
 
 The air was of the Ethiop school of composi- 
 tion, with a chorus, in which all were required to 
 join 
 
 " carry me back to old Virginney, 
 To o-o-old Vir-gin-ney I" 
 
 and really, so far as vocal interests in the North 
 were concerned, it seemed a matter of perfect 
 indifference how soon the minstrel's request were 
 complied with. 
 
 We subsequently executed what was unques- 
 tionably intended for the " Mistletoe Bough" but 
 as nobody knew the precise words, and few the 
 melody, the effect was rather singular, than har- 
 monious. " Young Luwle," as he was called,
 
 DISCURSIVE. 271 
 
 seemed to be perpetually coming in where he was 
 not wanted, and ended by hanging himself " in 
 the castle hall," in lieu of the mistletoe. Slight 
 allusion was also made to an " old oak-log," which 
 induced a suspicion that somebody was surrepti- 
 tiously warbling the burlesque of this celebrated 
 ditty. Just as we were concluding the chorus, 
 
 " ! the mistletoe bough ! 
 ! the mistletoe bow wow wough !" 
 
 the engine happily returned. We proceeded, 
 crossed the noble river in sleighs, and here we are 
 in Montreal. 
 
 A fine, growing city, is it not, Sceptic ? Frenchi- 
 fied in feature, doubtless, but changing daily for 
 the better. Conflagrations, those costly improvers, 
 will work wonders for Montreal. Whether the 
 French portion of the population will or will not, 
 hereafter, prove a benefit to the city, is a doubtful 
 question. On the one hand, they are as a body, 
 easy, indolent, averse, or at least indifferent, to 
 progress ; a circumstance the more striking, con- 
 sidering who are their southern neighbours, and 
 how contagious is the principle of "go-ahead." 
 On the other hand, they are peaceful, loyal, 
 heartily \vell affected to British rule, and in the 
 event (happily, most improbable) of any troubles 
 arising with their republican neighbours, would, in 
 all probability, show themselves their country's 
 most reliable defenders.
 
 272 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 But, albeit, I have used the term " averse to 
 progress," dream not, my dear Sceptic, that the 
 Canadas, as a country, \a.gfar behind their rush- 
 ing rival. It may be the fashion in the States to 
 decry their progress, and to institute comparisons 
 most unfavourable to the latter, in all those points 
 which are the strongest tests of national advance- 
 ment. Let us see. It wants ten minutes to dinner, 
 and though, on my word, I did not intend to give 
 you a dish of statistics, I cannot help showing, 
 with the able assistance of the Rev. Mr. Lillie, 
 how in the three important items, population, 
 property assessment, and education, we can ven- 
 ture to try conclusions with the States. 
 
 According to the American Almanac, the free 
 population of the United States was, in 1806, 
 5,305,925; in 1851,20,250,000. 
 
 The population of Upper Canada, according to 
 the Board of Registration and Statistics, amounted 
 in 1811, to only 77,000. The return for 1850 is 
 791,000. Lower Canada has risen during the 
 same period, from 423,630, to 791,000, a precisely 
 similar number. 
 
 Compare the rate of increase. 
 
 The population of the States is, in 1850, hardly 
 four times what it was at the beginning of the 
 century, while that of Upper Canada has increased 
 tenfold since 1810 !
 
 DISCURSIVE. 273 
 
 The assessed value of property in Canada 
 was, 
 
 s. d. 
 
 In 1825 2,256,874 7 8 
 
 1835 . 3,880,994 13 6 
 
 1845 7,778,917 9 6 
 
 1847 8,567,001 1 
 
 Of these returns it is to be observed that they 
 show only the relative increase of value ; and not, 
 except about the earliest'period, its true amount. 
 
 Shall we compare cities? Toronto against 
 New England's noble capital, Boston. Boston 
 contained, 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 In 1790 ....... 18,038 
 
 1810 . . . . . . . 33,250 
 
 1820 43,298 
 
 1830 61,391 
 
 1840 93,000 
 
 1850 135,000 
 
 (World's Progress, 212,694.) 
 
 Thus, its population of 1850 is eight times, or 
 nearly, that of 1790 : Toronto being in 1850 over 
 six times what it was eighteen years before, to wit, 
 in 1832 ; more than 75 times what it was 49 years 
 before, or in 1801. The recent census makes the 
 increase, between 1842 and 1852, 100 per cent. 
 
 New York, the emporium of the New World, 
 a city that for its age, will, we suppose, vie with 
 any on earth numbered, 
 
 N 5
 
 274 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 In 1790 33,131 
 
 1810 ..'.... 96,373 
 
 1830 202,548 
 
 1840 312,710 
 
 1850 517,000 
 
 (World's Progress, 444,701.) 
 
 Its increase thus stands, as compared with 
 Toronto, 16 times in 60 years against 75 in 49. 
 
 In education, one of the first interests of a com- 
 munity, a progress highly satisfactory is being 
 made, as the following particulars derived from 
 the Chief Superintendent, the Rev. Dr. Ryerson's, 
 very valuable Report for 1850, demonstrate. 
 
 The grand total in attendance on educational 
 institutions was, in 1842,65,978; in 1846, 101,912; 
 and in 1850, 159,678. 
 
 The following particulars are derived from the 
 American Almanac for 1851 : 
 
 In Ohio, with a population over two and three- 
 fourths ours, there were in 1848, 5,062 schools 
 with 94,436 pupils, sustained at a cost of 224,801 
 dollars, 44 cents, or 56,200/. 7s. 3d. ; of which 
 1 49,205 dollars, 44 cents, were from public funds, 
 and 75,596 dollars from other sources. (P. 277.) 
 
 Illinois had, in 1848, 2,317 schools, with an at- 
 tendance of 51,447 pupils, supported partly by 
 the proceeds of a school fund and partly by tax. 
 
 With a population a fourth over ours, Illinois
 
 DISCURSIVE. 275 
 
 had, in 1848, 271 fewer schools than we had in 
 1 846, with only about half our number of pupils ; 
 about one-third our number of pupils in 1850, 
 with 742 fewer schools. 
 
 Ohio had, in 1848, with a population two and 
 three-fourths ours, about double our number of 
 schools, with 7,476 less than our number of pupils 
 in 1846; considerably under two thirds our num- 
 ber in 1850. The amount paid for their support 
 came short of ours, in 1846, by 11,706/. Us. lO^d. 
 
 The number of schools in the State of New 
 York in 1849, was 13,971 a little more than four 
 and one-half ours for 1850, with a population 
 about four and one-twenty-secondth. Of pupils 
 in attendance, the number was 778,339 ; exceed- 
 ing ours, according to population, in a proportion 
 somewhere near four and one-fifth to four and one- 
 twenty-secondth. On the support of these schools 
 the sum expended was 1,1 15,153 dollars, 62 cents, 
 or 275,788/. 7s. 7|e?., under three and one-fifth 
 ours. For our population then, we have in 1850 
 spent a considerably larger sum on common 
 schools, than did the State of New York in 1849. 
 
 Letusto dinner. Hays' House. The board is laid 
 for twelve, all of whom are forthcoming but one. 
 "Where is he?" "Won't he come?" "How 
 annoying! I came on purpose," &c., were the 
 remarks passing round. Disappointment was de- 
 picted upon every face. Who can it be? The Go-
 
 276 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 vernor-General travelling incog. The folding doors 
 fly open, as though one leaf might not admit the 
 dignity about to enter, and, lo! a gentleman of 
 middle age, frank and pleasant mien, frizzled hair, 
 and stout person. Surely, I have seen that face 
 before, though perhaps in dreams. It is, it must 
 be, Barnum ! 
 
 And very agreeable did he prove. He was not 
 above his business. He spoke of his various 
 successes with such an easy candour as Napoleon 
 might have evinced in chatting with Gourgaud at 
 St. Helena, on the subject of Jena, or Friedland, 
 or the more pacific triumphs of Schoeiibrunn. 
 
 He ran through his whole list, during dinner, 
 without the slightest reserve, or desire to mislead 
 our youthful and inquiring minds. He was Bar- 
 num, and he knew it. E. g. : 
 
 " His mermaid, he admitted, was a 'sell.' That 
 freak of nature was, in fact, a simple box, and an 
 intelligent boy." 
 
 " But it dived and remained under water 
 several minutes ?" 
 
 " It did. And without inconvenience. Valves. 
 At the bottom of the cistern, existed a mechanism 
 so constructed as to supply the gasping Nereid 
 with the necessary air. So eager, however, became 
 the interest of the populace, so sharp their 
 curiosity and umbrellas; so numerous the prying 
 pokes bestowed upon the ribs of the amphibious
 
 DISCURSIVE. 277 
 
 creature by the canes, and even sword-sticks, of 
 visitors, that, to prevent a possible homicide, the 
 original vital principle of the mermaid was 
 removed, and a cat substituted !" 
 
 " The living skeleton ?" 
 
 " Was a genuine bag of bones !" 
 
 " Woolly horse ?" 
 
 " What it seemed." 
 
 " Horse with the snake in his eye ?" 
 
 " Eye, false ; snake, a lively leech !" 
 
 The hero of a hundred shows further informed 
 us that there was probably no instance of lusus 
 naturae in the States, that had not, at one time or 
 other, been submitted to his critical judgment. 
 Monsters of every description were in the habit of 
 leaving cards, almost daily, and placing themselves 
 and their varied peculiarities at his disposal. Only 
 yesterday, a gentleman had waited upon him with 
 an inquiry, whether he happened to be in want of 
 a "man-fish?" The curiosity in question was 
 introduced, and proved to be a youth afflicted 
 with some cutaneous disorder, which imparted a 
 scaly appearance to the skin. This piscine 
 phenomenon, though, no doubt, possessing much 
 interest in the eye of medical science, Mr. B., as 
 prudently as politely, declined. 
 
 Barnum is a child of temperance, and, since 
 last in Scotland, where the fascinations of whisky- 
 toddy (and, probably the effect of evil example),
 
 278 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 proved too much for his constancy, had never 
 tasted wine or spirits. The Maine liquor law had 
 now recently been passed, forbidding the retail of 
 any intoxicating liquors, and Massachusetts was 
 about to pass a similar enactment. Mr. B. consi- 
 dered the opportunity a good one for spreading 
 his opinions on the subject, and resolved to give 
 Montreal the benefit of them. Hence, accompa- 
 nied by his Circus, and Tom Thumb (now a well 
 worn, middle aged man), his present visit. 
 
 Whether you, my dear Sceptic, considered a 
 lecture on " spirits," a sufficient redemption of my 
 pledge to you at Albany, I cannot say. At all 
 events, you accompanied me with the most amiable 
 alacrity to the scene of action, the Hall Bonse- 
 cours, and even assisted my notes of the dis- 
 course. 
 
 Mr. Barnum mounted the rostrum : 
 " He felt gratified that he was able to throw in 
 his mite into the cause of temperance. He hoped 
 the respectable audience before him were in- 
 terested in the cause it was their duty to be so. 
 We all felt personally interested to have the 
 murderer arrested, and if half a dozen of our 
 citizens were murdered, it would create a great 
 excitement (cheers) why not so in the tem- 
 perance cause ? Most people seemed to think it 
 was a matter of no personal interest to them. 
 (Murmurs.) He did not know how many such
 
 DISCURSIVE. 279 
 
 personages were before him; probably the ma- 
 jority came to hear him from motives of curiosity, 
 or to see the man who engaged Jenny Lind, to say 
 nothing of the * woolly horse,' * the mermaid,' &c. 
 If so, he (Mr. Barnum) was just the man to cater 
 to their curiosity. That was his business. And 
 now, having gratified their curiosity, he hoped they 
 would reciprocate by listening to what he had to 
 say in favour of temperance and the Maine law. 
 He feared, however, he would be found dull, but 
 felt confident that every one had an interest in 
 the abolition of intoxicating liquors and the rum 
 traffic. He would make a proposition, which was, 
 that there was not a lady or gentleman present, 
 who could place his or her hand on their hearts 
 and say that they did not or had not suffered, in 
 consequence of the use of intoxicating liquors. 
 (Dubious murmurs.) 
 
 " No one could rise and deny the proposition 
 that intemperance was an universal evil. Every 
 one was interested to put it down, for no one could 
 say absolutely that he would never die a drunk- 
 ard chances were against any one who would 
 not altogether abstain. It was the best class of 
 men that suffered most, and were most likely to 
 fall. The most benevolent, the most social, and 
 the most talented in the community, were gene- 
 rally the victims of alcohol.* Of course, there 
 * Hitherto, both Sceptic and myself had been impressed with
 
 280 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 were exceptions to this rule, as with others, but 
 was not the remark common, ' What a clever man 
 is Mr. So-and-So ! He is the best natured man 
 in the community what a pity he drinks ? ' He 
 felt assured that intemperance was most created 
 by the love of society and friendly habits. Man 
 does not like liquor naturally, no more than he 
 does tobacco, and many other such acquired tastes. 
 He was not acquainted with the statistics of Mon- 
 treal, but in the United States, on examination, 
 it was proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that 150 
 millions of dollars were annually expended in in- 
 
 the idea that active mental labour rendered temperate habits a ne- 
 cessity. On the contrary, it appears that there is something in such 
 exertions, especially in a legislative career, rather calculated to lead 
 to intemperance and dissipation. But Mr. Barnum's opinion is cor- 
 roborated. 
 
 Says the Richmond Whig, "As a general rule, most of those 
 who spend a few winters in Congress, if they escape becoming sots, 
 and are not ruined at the gaming-table, acquire habits which render 
 them discontented with, and disqualify them for, the dull pursuits of 
 ordinary life. More commonly, they become regular topers and in- 
 veterate gamesters. It is not a rare occurrence to find pious elders at 
 home the frequent attendants of the tippling shops and gaming-tables 
 of Washington. 
 
 " The effects of this kind of life are not confined to Washington, 
 though there they may be more conspicuous than elsewhere. They are 
 more or less visible in every legislative assemblage. Even on the 
 contracted theatre of Richmond, within our own time, we have seen 
 those who were called promising men, fall victims to the seductions of 
 city life." 
 
 We did not know before how completely the interests of a great 
 country may be swayed by its alcohol.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 281 
 
 toxicating liquors, a sum of money, which, if 
 placed at interest, for thirty years, would purchase 
 every acre of real estate in the United States. 
 He would engage, however, to enter into bonds 
 with the mayor of this city, that if he was allowed 
 one-half, for twenty-five years, of the amount of 
 money laid out here in intoxicating liquors, he 
 would agree to pay all the taxes provide teachers 
 for as many schools as the people wished dis- 
 charge also all public expenses, and then make 
 more money than he did on Jenny Lind. 
 
 " Now what effect or equivalent have we got 
 for this expense ? None whatever. The truth is, 
 we give a peculiar privilege to the rum-seller. 
 The baker, shoemaker, and every other trader 
 rendered you an equivalent for your money, and 
 they made something for society by their industry ; 
 but what did the rum-seller manufacture ? Why 
 this, he made drunkards, criminals, paupers, 
 and jail victims; and you had to pay the ex- 
 penses of arresting them, and supporting them. 
 Did any man gain health by drinking? did he 
 succeed in business by this tippling ? did ever 
 any man who commenced business with fair pro- 
 spects not go down hill by intoxicating liquors ? 
 If he (Mr. Barnum) found a man who succeeded 
 in life, and was a tippler, he would exhibit him at 
 once in his museum. He would be the greatest 
 curiosity he had ever exhibited.
 
 282 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 " Some were very fond of saying that the doc- 
 tor recommended liquor to them, and such people 
 appeared almost to love the doctor, arid often they 
 became their own doctors. One would think that 
 all they wanted was a large drug shop to provide 
 them and their families with all the necessaries of 
 life. Why not, if they intended to give a splendid 
 dinner, send for ipecacuanha, senna, and rhubarb, 
 and finish with a desert of Brandreth's pills, be- 
 cause the Dr. recommended such drugs ? He 
 would say that God never made intoxicating 
 drinks ; it was man who distilled it from grape, 
 barley, &c. ; this poison, alcohol, a poison which 
 always affected the lungs, heart, brain, and de- 
 stroyed all the membranes. The effect upon the 
 system was well known. When he was in Ireland, 
 he observed that the very children, in some of the 
 lowest families, liked the taste of strong liquor, 
 because they had imbibed it with their mother's 
 milk, and thereby acquired a taste for it. 
 
 " He had shown that every legitimate or proper 
 calling was of some benefit to the community; 
 and that the rum-seller was the only man who pro- 
 duced no benefit to society. He knew there were 
 many engaged in this traffic, respectable men, but 
 they did not consider die evil influence of the 
 traffic. They would say, ' Oh ! I never sell to 
 drunkards ; ' but they did ten times worse, they 
 commenced to make drunkards, and then handed
 
 DISCURSIVE. 283 
 
 them over to the lower grog-shops to finish and 
 complete them. My friends, I would not like to 
 say hard things of any class of men, but what 
 was the difference between the rum-seller and the 
 highway robber ? It was this : the one placed the 
 pistol to the breast of his victim, and said, ' Your 
 money or your life,' and the other gave the glass, 
 and said, ' Your money and your life,' was it not 
 so ? 
 
 " Liquor could not be sold under the Maine 
 law, except for medical and mechanical purposes. 
 
 " The good effects of the Main law were in- 
 controvertibly proved by facts. There were, on 
 an average, from fifteen to twenty drunkards ar- 
 rested nightly, under the influence of rum, before 
 the law was passed ; now, ten days would often 
 elapse before a single person was apprehended, 
 and the last report stated that the watch-house 
 was now used to keep all the liquor seized. They 
 thus seized the liquor, instead of the drunkard ; 
 this was certainly a great improvement. In old 
 times they locked up the walking demi-John with 
 the liquor, now they lock up the liquor and let 
 the man go free. Of course there was a great 
 cry raised about the destruction of property, this 
 emptying the liquors into the ditches ; but was it 
 not better to empty out the liquor into the gutters 
 than allow both men and liquor to be emptied 
 therein ? Were not dogs property ? yet you
 
 284 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 will not permit them to run about, at certain times, 
 unmuzzled. Why ? Because they may become 
 mad, and the lives of your families would be jeo- 
 pardised. Had not the people then just as good 
 a right to destroy the rum which made men mad ? 
 So it was with gunpowder ; it was especially taken 
 care of, and put out of the city. Should one of his 
 large tigers break loose into your streets, would 
 men hesitate one moment to shoot it down, in 
 order to preserve the lives of hundreds ? Yes, and 
 he (Mr. Barnum) would be immediately arrested for 
 having such an animal not properly secured; but 
 the rum-seller, who is slaying his victims, must be 
 protected, and enjoy peculiar privileges. He con- 
 cluded with the hope that the cause of tem- 
 perance and the Maine law would soon triumph 
 everywhere, to the great praise and glory of 
 God." 
 
 Immense applause follows the descent of the 
 talented lecturer from his rostrum, and the crowded 
 and thirsty assemblage rapidly disperses in the 
 direction of the nearest and most popular "taps," 
 there to drink, in flowing cups, success to tem- 
 perance. Frequent allusion to pleasant beve- 
 rages had made us all so dry, that I was not sur- 
 prised when you, my dear Sceptic, the most ab- 
 stemious of men, confessed to me, sotto voce, that 
 you never felt so much inclined for a stiff tumbler 
 of brandy-and- water in your life !
 
 DISCURSIVE. 285 
 
 Two days are enough, in this season, at Mon- 
 treal. On to Quebec. Two hundred miles 
 sleighing. 
 
 Rolled in furs ears, fingers, and toes well 
 covered we are packed into a tandem sleigh, the 
 driver standing in front, and off we go at the rate 
 of ten miles an hour, over a road totally inde- 
 pendent of the usual tracks, and only indicated 
 by small trees and poles fixed in the snow. 
 
 Over woods, high rocks, and mountains. 
 Over hills and misty fountains, 
 
 I am sure we flew. Whether over 
 
 steeples, towers, and turrets 
 
 seemed, at least, doubtful ; for I perfectly recollect 
 being repeatedly flung sleigh, boxes, Sceptic, 
 and all into the air, by some pointed thing re- 
 sembling a church vane, and cleaving the atmo- 
 sphere, as in a fairy car, for a space of some 
 yards before we again descended upon our com- 
 mon mother. Why we always happened to do 
 so, right side uppermost, I could never clearly 
 ascertain. It was probably the result of certain 
 extraordinary gymnastics performed by the driver, 
 who, before and during these aerial excursions, 
 repeatedly flung himself in and out of the sleigh, 
 clinging, as the mounted Indians do in flying, by 
 foot and hand. 
 
 Sleep at Trois-Rivieres, half way, and next
 
 286 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 evening, at six, are rushing into Quebec. Sword's 
 Hotel. 
 
 In the morning, Sceptic, who has grown ex- 
 tremely metaphysical of late, and has evidently 
 been secretly brooding over my promise to show 
 him a few Canadian " spirits," moots the question 
 of a medium. " One," adds Sceptic, technically 
 (a good sign for proselytism), " one of more than 
 average power." 
 
 " We will ; ask Sword, or stay, suppose while I 
 finish this letter, you go and explain our wishes." 
 
 Mr. Sword is at his post. To him, Sceptic. 
 
 " Pray, sir, have you a medium in the hotel ?" 
 
 " Certainly, sir ; several. Hot or cold ?" in- 
 quires the ever-ready Sword. 
 
 Sceptic, slightly puzzled, explains that the 
 precise temperature is a matter of little moment 
 so the "power" be good. 
 
 Mr. Sword affirms, with just pride, that any one 
 of his can be filled at boiling heat, in the space of 
 one minute and a half ! 
 
 Sceptic remembers that the Delphian priestesses 
 of old were wrought up to the proper amount of 
 ecstatic furor by being seated on a tripod, under 
 which something was seething ; but, not consider- 
 ing the process of filling a medium with boiling 
 water sufficiently analogous, discards the idea, 
 and explains to the astounded Sword, at consi- 
 derable length, the doctrine of manifestations.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 287 
 
 In vain, however. Benighted Quebec clearly 
 knows nothing at all about the matter. " Rap- 
 pings," indeed, are rife ; but they are chiefly in- 
 cidental to outer doors, and are such as indicate 
 the advent of youthful " spirits," still clothed in 
 what the poet, indeed, rudely calls the " muddy 
 vesture of decay ;" but which I, and those who 
 have seen French-Canadian beauty in all the 
 freshness of that transparent clime, must acknow- 
 ledge to be a very fair and pleasant garment, en- 
 tirely free from " mud " or any other soil what- 
 soever. 
 
 It is evident we must resign ourselves to fate, 
 and be content with such consolation as may be 
 derived from merely mortal society ; the ball, the 
 dinner, the concert, the charade; last, not least, 
 the banquet or conversazione at the residence of 
 the amiable and most popular Governor-General, 
 whose continued presence gives life and impulse 
 to all that is agreeable in the fine city. 
 
 But, since this is not a book of adventure, or of 
 accident, since, moreover, three British tourists 
 have, within these few months, ransacked the 
 treasures of the States and Canada, and imparted 
 their experiences to the British public, why should 
 we dwell on these things ? Why dilate upon the 
 grand features of city and country, cathedral or 
 citadel ? Or upon the exhilarating sleigh-flight, 
 with some merry friend, who beguiled the way with
 
 288 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 brief biographies and piquant anecdotes of indi- 
 viduals whom you did not know from Adam, but 
 with one and all of whom you were thereafter to 
 be upon the most intimate footing of friendship ? 
 Or upon the gay dinners at the hospitable mess of 
 
 the , whereat the feast of intellect was not 
 
 wanting, inasmuch as, at dessert, we read a play 
 of Shakspeare's, which went admirably, until six 
 of the characters, including Hero and Beatrice, 
 fell asleep, with their extinct cigars still between 
 their lips, and the prompter finished the play by 
 himself ! Or upon the beautiful falls of Mont- 
 morenci, with their winter mountain of emerald, 
 created by the frozen spray, sometimes growing 
 to the height of a hundred and twenty feet, and 
 even then not reaching to the waist of the gigantic 
 fall ; whither I was fortunate enough to proceed 
 in society most calculated to add pleasure to that 
 lovely scene. Or upon the excursion, with the 
 Sleigh Club, to Carouge, whither, once a-week, 
 the beauty and fashion of Quebec galloped, as 
 though Quebec had been taken by assault, and 
 nothing but their horses' heels could save them. 
 Where, once arrived, the President of the day 
 recited (poor soul !) a poem of his own compo- 
 sition, satirising the events of the last meeting, 
 and indulging in the most personal reflections, on 
 its President, his particular friend ; in doing which 
 the gallant officer evinced considerably more un-
 
 DISCURSIVE. 289 
 
 easiness and trepidation than he would have shown 
 in walking up to the mouth of a French battery ; 
 where, after dancing, eating, and drinking, we 
 galloped home, rather faster than we came, usually 
 leaving, on an average, six, out of the thirty 
 sleighs, in the snow-drifts and ditches. Or upon 
 fair Indian Lorette, old haunt of the warlike 
 Hurons, once our bitter enemies, now a quiet, 
 peaceable people, Christians, and sworn disciples 
 of Father Mathew. Abler pens have described 
 the beautiful broken river, with its falls and rapids ; 
 the pretty, quaint village, and the magnificent 
 woods that girdle round, and half conceal the 
 quiet little community from the bustling world 
 beyond. What pity that one small dark spot 
 must ever intrude, one melancholy thought ever 
 mingle in the contemplation of scenes at once 
 remote and beautiful ! The probability that this 
 particular sense of pleasure will never know re- 
 newal ; the certainty, that, should we in these days 
 of easy locomotion, ever revisit such pleasant 
 scenes, it will be to view their unchanged love- 
 liness with altered, world-worn eyes; and who 
 knows with what accordant taste and feelings ? 
 these suffice to account for both spot and shadow, 
 and make us agree with the poet, who ranks, as 
 the last and worst of his forebodings, that 
 
 From our hearts the sense of beauty may, 
 Ev'n like these bodily gifts, have passed away. 
 
 O
 
 290 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 The more gratitude is due then, to the kind 
 friends who imparted to this brief visit so many 
 agreeable features; pleasant memories, such as, 
 happily, no changed feelings can affect. Very 
 delightful is Quebec, with its cheerful semi- 
 French habit and manner ; and greatly has it 
 profited by the continued residence there of the 
 able head of the Government ; to whose firmness 
 and conduct, in times which demanded not a 
 little of that courage, both moral and physical, of 
 which none possess a greater share, is, perhaps, 
 owing in a great measure the preservation of this 
 noble appanage to the British crown. Always per- 
 sonally, and now also politically, popular, the 
 noble lord's prestige has extended into the States, 
 where (I believe, during the fetes at Boston, to 
 which he had been invited, and which were marked 
 by the most cordial and gratifying feelings on 
 both sides), his frank yet dignified demeanour so 
 captivated his American entertainers, as to induce 
 one (slightly elevated) gentleman to assure him of 
 his election to the Presidency, could he be pre- 
 vailed upon to come forward frankly " on the 
 democratic ticket !" The noble lord's allegiance 
 remained unshaken. Still, as the beautiful Duchess 
 of Devonshire is said to have valued the coarse 
 compliment of the dustman, who requested leave to 
 light his pipe at her eyes, above the insipid mur- 
 murs of the drawing-room, so his Excellency
 
 DISCURSIVE. 291 
 
 might recognise in the speech of the warm-hearted 
 American the most magnificent prospect the ima- 
 gination of the latter, at least, could conceive. 
 
 But Sceptic is impatient. Back to the States 
 and spirits ; one visit first one that no English- 
 man is privileged to omit. Along the Grande 
 Allee, towards Cap Rouge, to the plains of Abra- 
 ham, the left of the battle-field, the death-scene 
 of Wolfe. 
 
 "HERE DIED WOLFE VICTORIOUS" 
 is the terse inscription, marking the spot which 
 added this magnificent page to the military annals 
 of Britain. Not Sidney, nor Bayard, present a 
 more glorious version of the soldier's glorious 
 death ; nor easily can the brief, immortal story be 
 too often told. But Bancroft, its latest and best 
 narrator, has left neither room nor need for pre- 
 sent record ; and purely selfish must be the in- 
 terest with which we gaze upon the scene of his 
 triumph, whose memory was first consecrated to 
 our juvenile reverence through the medium of a 
 ludicrous old song ! Think what we will, these 
 humble nursery melodists are the enduring lau- 
 reates of mankind. Many and many a paean of 
 victory by finished bards, has been chanted and 
 forgotten, w T hile the " Malbrouk," and the " Bold 
 General Wolfe," fire the youthful fancy, and direct 
 its impulses powerfully as ever. 
 
 In gratitude to the nameless poet whose strain 
 
 o 2
 
 292 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 has already nearly lived its century, let us endea- 
 vour, for one generation more, to preserve it from 
 that oblivion which can never be the lot of him it 
 celebrates. Except that this lyric exhibits cer- 
 tain slight evidences of having emanated from a 
 military pen, no theory respecting its authorship 
 has ever, to my knowledge, been attempted. 
 Adaptable to various tunes, it has usually been 
 found to go most kindly to that known as the 
 " Five Pound Note," played in extremely slow 
 time. 
 
 GENERAL WOLFE. 
 A.E. 1759. 
 
 i. 
 
 Bold General Wolfe unto his men did say, 
 
 " Come on, my lads, and follow me, 
 And climb the rocks that are so high, 
 
 All for the honour of our king and coun-te-ry. 
 
 " The Frenchmen are upon the mountains high, 
 While we, poor lads, in the valleys lie ; 
 I see them fall like the motes in the sun, 
 Through smoke and fire, 
 Through smoke and fi-i-i-ire, 
 Through smoke and fire from our English gun /" * 
 
 * The remarkable accuracy of the poet is evinced in the fact that 
 one single 6-pounder gun comprised the whole of the artillery used 
 by the English in the action.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 293 
 
 The very first volley they gave to us 
 Wounded our General in his left breast ; 
 Yonder he sits (for he cannot stand) ; 
 " Fight on so boldly, 
 Fight on so boldly, 
 For while I've breath I will give command ! 
 
 " Here's fifty guineas, all in bright gold, 
 Take it and part it, for my blood runs cold ; 
 Take it and part it," General Wolfe did say, 
 " You lads of honour, 
 You lads of honour, 
 You lads that scorn for to run away. 
 
 V. 
 
 " When to Old En-gen-land you do return, 
 Tell all my friends that I am dead and gone ; 
 And tell my aged old mother dear 
 To grieve not for me, 
 To grieve not for me, 
 Since I died the death that I had a wish to share." 
 
 Once more in Boston. And now, my dear 
 Sceptic, improve your opportunities among the 
 spirits as rapidly as possible. Two excellent 
 media, at least, are at hand Misses Kezia 
 Schoonmaker, and Ada Hoyt (Ada for choice) ; 
 and while you transport yourself to an unknown 
 sphere, " ourself will mingle with society " in this. 
 In plain terms, I have business in New York, and 
 will, in a page or two, "rejoin you here.
 
 294 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 With such an understanding, we parted, and I 
 alighted in New York, in the midst of an indi- 
 scribable tumult. 
 
 KOSSUTH had arrived ! That bewitching dema- 
 gogue was absolutely safe in American waters ! 
 and, although denounced by his compagnon de 
 voyage, Madlle. Lola Montes, as a " humbug," 
 was entitled to all such sympathies as America 
 could afford to the man who had "bothered" an 
 emperor. New York, in the handsomest manner, 
 and at a moment's notice, went mad. Bills, flags, 
 illuminations, bands, transparencies ; one hundred 
 thousand citizens ; two hundred and thirty-five 
 regular troops, fully armed and accoutred ; huge 
 brigades of firemen ; Barnum, ever foremost, 
 exhibiting a gigantic cartoon representing the 
 young Sultan of Turkey as a patriarch of fabulous 
 age, and with a beard three feet in length, standing 
 over prostrate Hungary, and spitting Russia and 
 Austria upon a half-hoop, typifying a scimitar ! 
 
 Thirty thousand Kossuth hats were sold in one 
 morning ; and brother Jonathan certainly fulfilled 
 for once, to the letter, his oft-repeated national 
 threat of " sticking a feather in his cap." How it 
 became him is another question. 
 
 Kossuth came, spoke, and (at first) conquered. 
 What eloquence ! And what a mien of melan- 
 choly beauty ! Clad in an elegant pardessus, or 
 basquine (is that the word ?) of blue velvet, which
 
 DISCURSIVE. 295 
 
 seemed to belong rather to the wardrobe of his 
 lady (if we may believe that ungallant GOrgei, she 
 not unfrequently, in a metaphorical sense, borrows 
 in return), and girded with his trusty sword, 
 Kossuth handled his tropes in a manner that would 
 have discomfited Mark Antony himself ; and must, 
 at any rate, have caused the head of the house 
 of Hapsburg to tremble in his yellow boots, as 
 the wide waves of the Atlantic reverberated the 
 sound. 
 
 And then his inexhaustible local knowledge ! 
 his perfect intimacy with the very smallest hero ! 
 Could it be otherwise than gratifying, for example, 
 to the inhabitants of Pilwaukie, to learn that their 
 celebrated townsman, Jabez Bobson, had been 
 chosen by the noble Hungarian, from his earliest 
 youth, as example and guide ? 
 
 But talent, like success, is sometimes a snare. 
 The orator, in the full glow of the excitement he 
 had evoked, was only preparing the way to failure - 
 He did not perceive that the impression he had 
 created was artificial and transitory a tribute due 
 to unquestioned ability, and eminent agitative 
 power, rather than to the intrinsic worth of the 
 cause he affected to plead. In his case, at all 
 events, vaulting ambition justified the poet's 
 warning, and fell very considerably " on the other." 
 He did not convince, but dazzle ; and, in their 
 minds, men refused to accept Louis Kossuth either
 
 296 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 as the representative of Hungary's wrongs, or the 
 hope of her future. 
 
 On his side, our champion of liberty accepted 
 the ovations of a monster-loving populace as the 
 deliberate verdict of a nation ; assailed the govern- 
 ment which would have interpreted to him that 
 voice aright ; challenged the doctrines of Wash- 
 ington ; was rude and captious in regard to Henry 
 Clay ; affronted magistrates ; bullied corpora- 
 tions ; and, with two words, alienated the sym- 
 pathies of an entire people. And what were 
 these ? Material aid. Thenceforth the huge 
 pockets of the velvet pardessus opened with more 
 frequency than the lips of its wearer. With what 
 success, need not be recapitulated, for it certainly 
 is far beyond the scope of these notes to trace the 
 " Beggar's Progress, " or comment upon the 
 extreme celerity with which sagacious Jonathan 
 let fall this exceedingly " hot potato " the moment 
 its increasing caloric affected his fingers. The 
 single circumstance of the hero's visit to Cincin- 
 nati will illustrate the whole. 
 
 He arrived at that fine city, the " Queen of the 
 West," at a time when the attention of her occi- 
 dental majesty had been warmly attracted, in the 
 intervals of business, by that which forms the 
 subject of these notes the spirit-manifestations. 
 Nor are the two themes so widely disconnected 
 as the impatient reader may at present surmise.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 297 
 
 I am indebted to a lady-resident of Cincinnati 
 for the precise circumstances of this portentous 
 event : 
 
 Kossuth's own account of his many invitations 
 hither is curious and graphic enough. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, to the last deputation, 
 or committee, which met him in Columbus, some 
 few miles from the Queen City, " I do not at all 
 understand. I come to Cincinnati as fast as your 
 railroads will carry me, yet everywhere I meet 
 somebody asking me to come to the Queen City. 
 When I reached New York, I met a committee, 
 the chairman of which invited me to come to your 
 city, and gave me a dollar, with some sentiments 
 worthy of your Washington (which, when I die, 
 will be found engraved upon my heart) ; and I 
 told him it was my warmest hope to come to 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 " I go a little further, and another committee 
 waits upon me, and says, ' Come to Cincinnati? 
 At Pittsburg, I receive twenty-six letters, all 
 saying, ' / invite you to Cincinnati? At Cleve- 
 land, some gentlemen wait on me to escort me to 
 Cincinnati. At Columbus, these honourable gen- 
 tlemen invite me again. Gentlemen, the sympathy 
 of Cincinnati for my bleeding country pours balm 
 into my wounded heart. And I AM COMING ; but 
 why do you invite me so often ?" 
 
 Poor fellow ! he did not understand that, where 
 
 o 5
 
 298 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 the people are sovereigns, every club of young 
 men that wished to bring itself into notice every 
 private citizen who wanted an excuse to shake 
 hands with him every demagogue or office- 
 seeker who intended to run for the next city 
 election took leave to invite him on his own 
 account. 
 
 Well, the great day arrived, and the streets 
 through which the procession was to pass, were 
 crowded early in the afternoon. Four, five o'clock 
 struck, and no hero. The streets grew dark, and 
 the people tired. At last the sound of cannon 
 announced him, and he rode past in the direction 
 of the Buraet House. He came out into the 
 balcony. 
 
 " Gentlemen ! I cannot speak to you 
 
 " Lights ! lights !" shouted the crowd. " Let's 
 see him !" And the arrival of the lights elicited 
 a shout that promised a hundred thousand dollars 
 at least. 
 
 Next came the banquet, the tickets for which 
 had been sold, for weeks, at five dollars a piece ; 
 but Kossuth declined appearing : he would not 
 be shown for money ! It was in vain to say that 
 such arrangements were customary ; that the 
 money was not paid to see him, but to defray the 
 expenses of the dinner. The patriot was not to 
 be caught. 
 
 " Let them go without the dinner, and give the
 
 DISCURSIVE. 299 
 
 five dollars to Hungary," was the uncompromising 
 answer. 
 
 But the hotel-keeper had expended two thousand 
 dollars in preparation ; so the banquet must go 
 on. Still no compliance ; so, by a patriotic dodge, 
 the banquet was given to Washington, and Kossuth 
 invited to attend. " He was only too happy to 
 do honour to the memory of the immortal Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 But how was the world to hear him speak ? 
 Another dodge was necessary. Tickets were sold 
 to the amount of one thousand dollars, and then 
 he was waited upon, and told that a Hungarian 
 Association had been formed, and wished to 
 present him with a thousand dollars. He was 
 then led off in triumph to give audience to the 
 imaginary body in question. The assembly was 
 as brilliant as Cincinnati could show ; but the 
 orator seemed unprepared, and only uttered a few 
 words. His English was so bad, that, in hunting 
 for his words, he forgot his ideas. He felt the 
 warmest interest in their Association would 
 advise monthly meetings, &c. After which, the 
 meeting separated, never to come together again 
 for Hungary ! 
 
 Then came the great mass-meeting, when twenty 
 thousand people assembled to shout, and chew, 
 and sway about like the waves of the sea, while 
 Kossuth vainly attempted to make himself heard.
 
 300 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 and, after reading a few sentences, put his speech 
 in his pocket. Next, the ladies took him in hand, 
 under the same plea of an association, which they, 
 at least, were honest enough to keep up. Warned 
 by experience, the orator had his speech prepared : 
 it was heard with vast applause ; after which 
 Madame Kossuth was loudly called for, and lifted 
 on a table by her husband, to be looked at. While 
 she was waving her handkerchief, and shaking her 
 funny little black cap, Kossuth was smuggled out 
 to meet the clergy in another room, who gave him 
 their blessing. 
 
 The remainder of Kossuth's time in the Queen 
 City was passed in private committees, small 
 deputations, schools, &c. ; five, ten, or twenty 
 dollars, being the usual amount of the subscrip- 
 tions ; till, in despair and disgust, he appointed 
 a grand meeting of all the associations, that he 
 might receive their subscriptions and bid them 
 farewell. But where were the associations ? They 
 had never existed, save in name. The committee 
 of management advertised that any, wishing to 
 become members of association, might obtain 
 certificates to that effect by calling and paying. 
 The morning of the meeting arrived. Not a soul 
 had come forward. The intangible associations 
 were decidedly out of favour. The committee, in 
 despair, distributed tickets gratis, and collected 
 about twelve hundred people in a building capable
 
 DISCURSIVE. 301 
 
 of holding ten thousand. Kossuth made his 
 farewell speech, and came home, a wiser man than 
 he went. 
 
 The next meeting between him and the com- 
 mittee was not of the friendliest. At any rate, he 
 who, a fortnight before, was welcomed to the city 
 by the population, en masse, went to the Louisville 
 boat unattended save by a few stragglers ; and 
 leaving his hotel-bill, of six thousand dollars, to 
 the care of the corporation. 
 
 It is distressing to add that the aforesaid " little 
 account" remains yet unliquidated. It probably 
 awaits the regeneration of Hungary. 
 
 From Cincinnati to Boston, a thousand miles 
 or so, at a jump. Where is my friend ? At the 
 Revere. Sceptic meets me with a serious joy. 
 After the first greetings, I inquire, 
 
 " Well, my dear fellow, what news from Hades ?" 
 
 " A little less levity, sir, would better suit this 
 subject." 
 
 " Eh ! What the deuce " 
 
 " Not at all ; at least, that is not clear." 
 
 One thing, nevertheless, is, viz., that my friend's 
 bearing in regard to the spirit-question is changed. 
 He was a grub ; he is a chrysalis. Either Queen 
 Mab, or Dr. Harriet Hunt, has " been with him," 
 and made him pliant and teachable as any child ! 
 
 " Que sais-je ?" said Montaigne, discontentedly. 
 
 " Je ne sais rien" says Sceptic, in utter despair.
 
 302 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 In a few days, he will be prepared to discuss 
 the spirit-controversy in that frank, dispassionate 
 tone so indicative of the true philosopher. Mean- 
 while we will glance round, and bid farewell to, 
 the good city of Boston. If, three or four centuries 
 since, the Paxton of the day had submitted to 
 public judgment the plan of the future city, it 
 would have been pronounced simply impossible ; 
 not, indeed, for its extent, but for the almost 
 superhuman ingenuity which would be required 
 in the construction of so complicated a labyrinth. 
 By little and little, however, the city has been 
 " done ;" the generations of workmen (guided by 
 the sacred instinct of home) finding their way to 
 their respective domiciles without much difficulty ; 
 and, even at this day, the stranger, thanks to 
 Tremont Street and the evening star, may fre- 
 quently regain his hotel in safety. 
 
 In this, notwithstanding, most pleasant city, 
 Sceptic and myself enact the part of flaneur for 
 some days with considerable success. Rising 
 early, we but why describe a Boston day ? why 
 dilate upon its agreeable society and excellent 
 dinners its morning lounge in drawing-room or 
 studio its evening opera or conversazione ? One 
 only qualification were we conscious of, that every 
 soul but ourselves wore on his countenance a look 
 of business. It is always annoying to think that, 
 in so vast a hive, we are the sole representatives
 
 DISCURSIVE. 303 
 
 of droneship. Let us to some colossal book store 
 (favourite resorts, about this breathing-time of 
 day), and there affect the literary. Here is T.'s. 
 
 " Well, Mr. T., anything new ?" 
 
 Why does Mr. T. smile ? The question was 
 surely pertinent. He cannot possibly have 
 divined, as yet, that we are not Dickens and 
 Thackeray, or Milnes and Macaulay, themselves. 
 
 The question has recalled to Mr. T.'s mind a 
 circumstance, which, new to us, may probably be 
 so to our English readers. With it we will con- 
 clude. 
 
 Among the literary circles of , there is 
 
 (said to be) one especial clique, the members 
 whereof, Deeply, and not unjustly, impressed with 
 each other's merits, neglect no fair opportunity of 
 eulogising each other's works, publishing each 
 other's jokes, and quoting each other's opinions. 
 Hence the brotherhood in question hath been long 
 popularly known as the " Mutual Admiration 
 Society." The habits of the Association (one not 
 without its parallel on our shores) have occa- 
 sionally, however, been productive of quaint and 
 singular results, of which the following, thrown 
 into a semi-dramatic form, may serve as a speci- 
 men: 
 
 Scene. Mr. T.'s, the eminent bookseller. 
 
 Epoch. Immediately after the publication of 
 In Memoriam.
 
 304 DISCURSIVE. 
 
 Mr. T. at his desk. To him, Professor L., calm, 
 philosophic, gentlemanly. 
 
 "Well, Mr. T., any news in the world of 
 letters ? " 
 
 " I presume, sir, you have already seen that ? " 
 pushing over a copy of In Memoriam. 
 
 " Indeed I have." 
 
 " I should like to know your opinion ?" 
 
 " You shall have it, T. Tennyson, sir, has done 
 that for friendship, which Petrarch did for love. 
 Good morning." 
 
 Exit Professor, and, in ten minutes, enter H., 
 another member of the Mutual Admiration Society. 
 H. was quick, vivacious, flippant. 
 
 " How do, T. ? What news ? What's this ? 
 eh ah Tennyson !" 
 
 " May I ask you what you think of that work, 
 Mr. H. ?" 
 
 " Tell you in ten words. Tennyson's done for 
 friendship what Petrarch did for love. By-bye !" 
 
 An hour later, enter P., slow, staid, and thought- 
 ful. 
 
 "You have, I perceive, Mr. T., given us an 
 edition of In Memoriam" 
 
 " I have, sir ; and I wish very much to know 
 what opinion you have formed of that work." 
 
 "I have perused it, sir, with singular interest; 
 yet, at the same time, with a mingled feeling, one 
 that I have taken considerable pains to analyse.
 
 DISCURSIVE. 305 
 
 I will confess to you, T., that this was no easy 
 task ; but, after careful and repeated reading, and, 
 let me add, reflections of no ordinary depth, I 
 have been at length brought irresistibly to a certain 
 conclusion. I think it is a satisfactory one. I 
 think it is a sound one. I think, moreover, that 
 it is susceptible of happy expression, in these 
 terms, Tennyson has done that for fr " 
 
 Mr. T. burst into an irrepressible fit of laughter, 
 and before he had recovered himself sufficiently 
 to explain, P., who had at once divined that he 
 had been forestalled in his criticism, quietly took 
 his departure. 
 
 This little circumstance, a real fact, unluckily 
 got into one of the B journals, which, an- 
 nouncing, at the same time the marriage of the 
 laureate, wound up the matter by observing that 
 " our readers will perceive that Tennyson, in addi- 
 tion to all that he has done for friendship, has 
 done more, for love, than ever Petrarch did." 
 
 But, really, we are digressing.
 
 306 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 Present state of the subject Curious instances of alleged manifesta- 
 tions The Indian doctor New York Conferences Singular com- 
 munications made thereat Prophecies The spirits' testimony to 
 their truth German seers Margaretha Stoffell Singular passage 
 in Lactantius Les Previsions d'Orval The Jesuit priest The 
 Rev. Robert Fleming Moreau Interesting letter from a member 
 of the Shaker community Dr. Harriet Hunt Her protest Recent 
 authenticated phenomena, &c. Correspondence from Boston, 
 Baltimore, &c. Recent manifestations in England Mrs. Hayden, 
 &c. 
 
 IT has been seen that the march of the rapping 
 mystery, unchecked by opposition either open or 
 covert, never for an instant stayed its progress, but, 
 on the contrary, advanced in an increasing ratio, 
 until every town of importance in the Union pos- 
 sessed not only its medium (one or more), but its 
 regular circle or assembly of spirit-seekers, which, 
 meeting at fixed intervals, communicated to other 
 circles, and especially to a weekly meeting, or 
 "Conference," established in New York itself, 
 whatever circumstances of interest from time to 
 time transpired. By these means, and through
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS 307 
 
 the instrumentality of the press, many extraordi- 
 nary narratives (revelations, as they were called), 
 were given to the public, arid if they did not, in 
 every instance, obtain credit, at all events com- 
 pelled a curious attention, awakened as much by 
 the life-like particularity of their details, as the 
 unexpected corroboration afforded them by suc- 
 ceeding events. Many of these, complete in every 
 feature as the elaborated fictions of De Foe, have 
 already become almost matter of history in the 
 States in which they respectively occurred, and 
 whatever maybe the result of the spirit movement, 
 will be remembered by the present, and passed 
 down to future generations, in company with those 
 celebrated traditions to which we also have once 
 yielded our implicit credence, and a helping 
 hand. 
 
 Scarcely a week elapsed, without some circum- 
 stance like the following attracting notice; but 
 pursuing the plan hitherto observed, of selecting 
 an illustration or two of the most authentic cha- 
 racter, and passing to the narration of facts of a 
 different kind, the annexed examples will suffice. 
 
 Mr. D. J. Mandell, in a letter to Mr. Brittan, 
 communicated and vouched for the fact, that, in 
 the middle of July last, a letter had been received 
 in the neighbourhood, from a gentleman in Iowa, 
 in answer to a communication, announcing to him 
 the death of a beloved brother, resident in Ohio.
 
 308 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 This was the earliest intimation of his loss that 
 had emanated from any earthly source, but, with 
 reference to spiritual information previously 
 given, he writes in the letter in question : 
 
 " About a fortnight since, as we were convers- 
 ing with what professed to be spirits, the chair 
 began to move rapidly. We asked the agent to 
 write its name through a medium present. She 
 took the pen, and it wrote ' Lysander H. Knight ' 
 (the deceased brother's name), and said he had 
 been dead several weeks. But I could not con- 
 sider it a truth till I received your letter contain- 
 ing the sad tidings." 
 
 Mr. Mandell added another circumstance, of 
 his own experience, which, in combination with 
 the former, had, at all events, satisfied him of the 
 action of a superhuman intelligence. 
 
 In Winchester, N. H., last spring, a lady died 
 suddenly, of the measles. Just previous to her 
 death, she had presented a little token of remem- 
 brance to a female friend who was about removing 
 to Greenfield, Mass. Not long after, the friend 
 thought she would take advantage of an opportu- 
 nity to send the Winchester lady some little gift 
 in return for her's ; but it rained, and she could 
 not conveniently go abroad to purchase it. She 
 therefore delayed it for the time being. That very 
 day was written out to her by the hand of a me- 
 dium : " It was well you did not send it, for I was
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 309 
 
 dead and gone before it could have reached 
 me." 
 
 Few of these histories, however, excited greater 
 interest, or obtained more satisfactory authentica- 
 tion, than that of the " Indian doctor." Confused 
 and garbled statements having appeared from 
 time to time, in reference to this really curious 
 story, it may be as well to give it here, disen- 
 tangled from those of a not dissimilar nature with 
 which it had become mixed up, and do so in the 
 words of one generally allowed by the investiga- 
 tors to be a reliable source, a gentleman resident 
 in the county referred to : 
 
 " Morrow County, Ohio, 
 June 28th, 1852. 
 
 " DEAR SIR. In compliance with your request 
 I will give you a correct, though very brief ac- 
 count, of some of the most material circumstances 
 connected with the recent efforts to find the body 
 of a certain Indian doctor, whose sudden and mys- 
 terious disappearance from his place of boarding 
 in this county, in the fall of 1849, gave rise to sus- 
 picions that he had been murdered. 
 
 " Some time in the early part of last February, one 
 of the citizens of the neighbourhood where the miss- 
 ing doctor had boarded, was witnessing the spirit- 
 rappings, as the phenomenon is termed, and made 
 some inquiries relative to the doctor's disappear-
 
 310 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 ance, when he was informed that he had been 
 murdered, and was buried on the premises where 
 he had boarded, in a field, on the south side of 
 the road. Other persons made similar inqui- 
 ries of the spirits through other media, and 
 received the same information in relation to 
 the matter. This aroused the latent suspicions 
 of the community, which had been slumbering 
 for more than two years, and was followed by a 
 general uprising of the people, with a determina- 
 tion to find the remains of the doctor if pos- 
 sible. A large number of persons assembled and 
 proceeded to make examinations; but, instead of 
 searching on the south side of the road, as indi- 
 cated by the spirits, they examined several old 
 wells on the north side, thinking it more probable, 
 if a murder had been committed, that the body 
 had been deposited in one of them. Nothing, how- 
 ever was discovered. 
 
 " After this, other media, who had never before 
 heard of the Indian doctor or of the suspicion of 
 the murder, and residing some six miles from the 
 place of the suspected crime, were impressed to 
 go to that neighbourhood, and there say that the 
 remains of the doctor were still in a well or exca- 
 vation, about six feet deep, on the premises where 
 search had been made, covered with stumps, logs, 
 sticks, and earth. This statement was corrobo- 
 rated by three or four clairvoyant media who
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 311 
 
 stated, while in that condition, that they saw the 
 bones as above described, each agreeing with the 
 others, although some of them were entirely igno- 
 rant of the statements of the others. Some of the 
 media stated, while in the clairvoyant condition, 
 that they saw all the circumstances of the killing, 
 the persons perpetrating the deed, the weapons 
 used, the number of blows struck, and the process 
 of burying the body ; and two of them actually 
 recognised the man whom they saw, while clair- 
 voyant, committing the deed when they after- 
 wards met him in company with a number of 
 others, although they had never before seen him, 
 except in the interior condition. 
 
 " Subsequently to this, examinations were made 
 on the south side of the road, and some excava- 
 tions made as near the place described by the 
 media as could be determined in the absence 
 of landmarks sufficient to decide its precise lo- 
 cality; but without making any discoveries. It 
 is worthy of remark that the most decided opposi- 
 tion was made to each and every attempt to in- 
 vestigate the matter, by menaces and exhibition of 
 fire-arms, and even personal violence. 
 
 " Soon after the examination on the south side 
 of the road had been made, one of the media, 
 while in the interior condition, said that an exca- 
 vation had been made very near where the dead 
 body was deposited, and that by digging a little
 
 312 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 in a certain direction at the bottom, some of the 
 covering would be found which would lead to a 
 discovery of the body. No further search, how- 
 ever, was afterwards made. 
 
 " Not long after the last attempt at digging, a 
 medium who had previously had few, if any, im- 
 pressions in regard to this matter, was impressed 
 to say, while in a family circle, at about eleven 
 o'clock on a stormy, sleety night, that the remains 
 of the Indian doctor were then being taken up, 
 and that certain persons whom she named, were 
 engaged in digging in the hole or pit made by 
 those who made the last search. The medium, 
 together with the family, sat up until one o'clock 
 in the morning, during which time she reported 
 the progress they were making; that they had 
 dug under at one side and at the bottom of the 
 hole ; she reported when they reached the bones ; 
 when they got them out, and deposited them in a 
 box, which was placed in the chamber of a house. 
 
 "At a period subsequent to this, the same me- 
 dium was again impressed to say that the remains 
 of the doctor were removed a distance of five or 
 six miles, and placed in a hole dug under the side 
 of a large tree, which had been blown down near 
 the margin of a small swamp, surrounded by trees 
 and underbrush, and that they were then and 
 there engaged in burning them up. 
 
 " A week or two after this, she was again im-
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 313 
 
 pressed to say that if some persons would accom- 
 pany her, she would be directed by the spirits to 
 the spot where the remains had been burned. 
 They accordingly proceeded with her, as she was 
 led, a distance of about two and a half miles, and 
 actually found the swamp and tree, as she had 
 described, and, under the side of the tree, a hole 
 that had been recently dug, in which were ashes 
 and a quantity of thoroughly burnt bone !" 
 
 A specimen of the mode in which the New 
 York " Conferences " were conducted and re- 
 ported, may be properly introduced here. They 
 were, it appears, commenced in the spring of the 
 present year, assembled weekly or bi-weekly, for 
 the purpose of making reports and receiving com- 
 munications (not of a spiritual or clairvoyant 
 character), and were attended generally by from 
 sixty to seventy persons, including such of the 
 leading advocates of the spirit-doctrine as enter- 
 tained no aversion to the publication of their 
 names. These, however, were comparatively few. 
 Swayed rather by commercial, than conscientious, 
 scruples, all true-bred members of mercantile 
 circles held aloof, and, however deeply inte- 
 rested in the proceedings of the Conference, gave 
 only their tacit countenance, or second-hand 
 support. 
 
 The following report is taken from the columns of
 
 314 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 the principal organ of the Spiritualists, a cleverly- 
 conducted serial, called the Spiritual Telegraph : 
 
 "NEW YORK CONFERENCE. 
 
 "INVESTIGATION OF SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA. 
 
 [WEEKLY KEPORT.] 
 
 " Friday Evening, June 18, 1852. 
 
 " Present : Chas. Partridge and wife, Wm. Wood 
 and wife, L. R. Case and wife, S. K. De La 
 Vergne and wife, Jno. A. Buffum and wife (Lynn. 
 Mass.), Wm. Fishbough, Dr. R. T. Hallock and 
 wife, Mr. T. Cromwell and wife, T. Kipp Tomp- 
 luns, J. N. Stebbins, D. H. Jacques, Melancton 
 B. Ackerman, J. Rehn (Phila'), Dr. Jas. Darrah 
 (Phila'), Martin Langdon, E. D. E. Greene, W. 
 H. Dannat, Wm. B. Tilton, Chas. H. Jackson 
 (157, Grand-st, N. Y.), J. T. S. Smith, Joseph 
 T. White, Dr. H. E. Schoonmaker, Dr. C. Barnes 
 (N. H.), H. C. Billings, Dr. C. Knapp, J. B. 
 King, and twenty-five others. 
 
 "Mr. Rehn, of Philadelphia, gave an account of 
 the condition of spiritualism in that city. They 
 have no physical manifestations, no sounds even, 
 at the present time. Their intercourse is through 
 writing and other media. No physical demon- 
 strations or tests are sought for, though tests of a 
 very remarkable character often occur in com- 
 munications.
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS, 315 
 
 " The subject, there, is in a transition state be- 
 tween scepticism and faith. At first it was looked 
 upon as chimerical, but the public mind is begin- 
 ning to look at the matter in a more serious light. 
 The request of the spirits is, that we should 
 proceed to practise the principles taught. They 
 tell us it is not only our duty to utter the truth, 
 but to live it. That those great principles, justice, 
 mercy, forgiveness and truth, may become in- 
 carnate, so that, like the meal under the influence 
 of the leaven, the whole mass of humanity may 
 be elevated. There are probably one hundred 
 media in different degrees of development in 
 Philadelphia.* 
 
 " Dr. Darrah, of Philadelphia, said the manifes- 
 tations commenced at his house in December 
 last. At that time he resided in Bucks Co., Pa. 
 His wife, much to her surprise, had a long and 
 interesting communication. He had not enough 
 of faith at the time to excite inquiry. Subse- 
 quent facts have wrought a great change in his 
 mind. He removed to Philadelphia some two 
 months afterwards, where a medical medium (the 
 daughter of Peter Osborne) came under his 
 notice. She is intelligent and sensitive; is 
 literally under spiritual medical tuition, and has 
 given the most undoubted proofs of the fact. As 
 a test, he presented to her a boy whom he knew 
 
 * A later account fixes the number at three hundred. 
 
 P2
 
 316 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 to have an organic disease of the heart. After 
 being impressed, she called for a piece of paper 
 on which she sketched a diagram of the heart, &c., 
 with great accuracy and precision, and then 
 pointed out the existing difficulty in one of the 
 ventricles, with all the care and composure of a 
 professor of anatomy. Several neuralgic patients, 
 who had been introduced to her by himself and 
 another physician, had been relieved at once. 
 They would come hobbling into her presence, and 
 go away walking like other persons. Several 
 other instances of medical cure and relief were 
 detailed. 
 
 " Mr. Buffum, of Lynn, Mass., also related cases 
 of the spiritual treatment of disease through 
 media, occurring in Lynn and Boston, and ad- 
 jacent places. They have talking and writing 
 media. One of them talks in an unknown lan- 
 guage, and another translates, and writes it in 
 good phonographic characters, though she has 
 no knowledge of the art. 
 
 " Dr. Hallock related a case of physical mani- 
 festations which took place on the Friday evening 
 previous, at the house of Mr. Partridge, after the 
 conference had adjourned. Mr. D. D. Hume was 
 the medium, and the circle consisted of Mr. Par- 
 tridge, wife and daughter, Wm. Taylor and wife, 
 S. B. Brittan, and himself. On the table around 
 which we were seated, were loose papers, a lead 
 pencil, two candles, and a glass of water. The
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 317 
 
 table was used by the spirits in responding to 
 our questions, and the first peculiarity we ob- 
 served was, that, however violently the table was 
 moved, everything on it retained its position. 
 When we had duly observed this, the table, which 
 was mahogany, and perfectly smooth, was elevated 
 to an angle of about 30, and held there, with 
 everything remaining on it as before. It was 
 truly interesting to see a lead pencil retaining a 
 position of perfect rest, on a polished surface 
 inclined at such an angle. It remained as if 
 glued to the table, and so of everything else on it. 
 The table was repeatedly made to resume its 
 ordinary position, and then its inclination as 
 before, as if to fasten upon us the conviction 
 that what we saw was no deception of the senses, 
 but a veritable manifestation of spirit presence 
 and of spirit power. They were then requested 
 to elevate the table to the same angle as before, 
 and to detach the pencil, retaining everything 
 else in their stationary positions. This was com- 
 plied with. The table was elevated, the pencil 
 rolled off, and everything else remained. They 
 were then asked to repeat the experiment, retain- 
 ing the pencil and everything else upon the table 
 stationary, except the glass tumbler, and to let 
 that slide off. This was also assented to, with 
 the like result. All the articles retained their 
 positions but the tumbler, which slid off, and was
 
 318 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 caught in the hands of one of the party, as it fell 
 from the lower edge of the table. Then the table, 
 after being restored to the natural position, was 
 i moved strongly to and from the medium, and to 
 and from different individuals in the circle, as 
 they would request. After this had been repeated 
 several times, and while a corner of the table was 
 inclined into his lap, Mr. Taylor asked if the 
 spirits would lift it clear of the floor while in that 
 position. Assent was signified, and the table, 
 after much apparent effort, though probably only 
 apparent, was lifted clear off the floor as requested. 
 Dr. H. said he was led to the conclusion that the 
 effort was only apparent, because, while W T C were 
 watching it closely, with a light upon the floor, so 
 as to see the slightest motion, the table in the 
 meantime resting upon one castor on the floor and 
 one corner of the leaf in Mr. Taylor's lap, was 
 raised perhaps about one inch, after having been 
 literally tumbled about the circle, sometimes upon 
 one castor and sometimes upon two, the leaf rest- 
 ing first in one person's lap and then in another. 
 But when the foot of the table was finally raised 
 as described, he, to make sure that they were not 
 mistaken in the fact, got down upon the floor to 
 observe more closely. While looking, the foot of 
 the table, instead of being raised a doubtful inch 
 or so, was thrown up, clear of the floor, six or 
 eight inches, as if all former attempts had been
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 319 
 
 mere playful efforts. We then asked if they 
 could move the table with a man on it. They 
 replied, " Yes, with two men on it." Mr. Par- 
 tridge and myself then seated ourselves, back to 
 back, upon the table. Our combined weight is 
 a little over 350 pounds ; but, notwithstanding, 
 the table was moved as easily as when nothing 
 but the candlesticks, &c., were upon it. We were 
 rocked backwards and forwards, to and from the 
 medium the table was tipped from the medium, 
 and held stationary in that position, with us upon 
 it ; and, finally, we remarked playfully, ' When 
 you get tired of rocking us, throw us off.' It was 
 done the table was tipped strongly and rapidly 
 from the medium, and we were thrown on the 
 floor. 
 
 "Dr. H. said he had detailed these facts mi- 
 nutely, because they were a perfect refutation of 
 Dr. Richmond's admired theory of an electrical 
 vacuum, which causes, according to the learned 
 doctor, all bodies to fall, or be attracted towards 
 the medium. Mr. Partridge and himself were 
 certainly bodies, and we were thrown directly 
 through the doctor's theory, and in an opposite 
 direction. We fell lightly, however, and that 
 tissue of profundity was the only thing damaged 
 during the entire sitting. The whole array of 
 opposing theorists is powerless before these facts, 
 occurring as they did in a well-lighted room, and
 
 820 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 a lighted candle on the floor under the table. 
 Some solemn sceptic may call them trifling. But 
 are they trifling those palpable manifestations 
 of invisible intelligence and power ? If so, what 
 would be serious ? What intelligence below man 
 could thus answer to the intelligence within man, 
 comply with our wishes and grant our requests? 
 
 " The simple movements of that table were to us 
 the reception of a telegraphic despatch, compared 
 with which all earthly messages, however valuable, 
 sink into insignificance. 
 
 " Many other very interesting facts were stated 
 by different individuals with a request that they 
 should not be reported, in deference to the wishes 
 of the parties concerned. 
 
 "Adjourned. 
 
 "R T. HALLOCK, Secretary. 
 
 " Friday, August 27, 1852. 
 
 " Present : Mr. Charles Partridge and lady, Miss 
 C. Fox, Julia Taylor, W. W. Woodruff, Hon. J. 
 W. Edmonds, Benj. Ellis, Paul Hammond, Geo. 
 Freeman, M. Perkins, O. Johnson, H. E. Schoon- 
 maker, W. P. Taylor, T. O. Cutter, Sarah Martin, 
 O. H. Wellington, John Sutton (Peoria, 111.), 
 Mrs. C. A. Paul, do., Dr. John F. Gray, A. C. 
 Hoffman, John T. S. Smith, R T. Hallock, and 
 ten others. 
 
 " Judge Edmonds read a very interesting cor-
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 321 
 
 respondence which took place between an in- 
 quirer residing in a distant State and himself, on 
 the subject of spiritual facts. His correspondent 
 had been sceptical as to immortality, but his 
 replies had produced a happy change of opinion 
 upon that point. 
 
 "Dr. Hallock stated that a Mr. Rouse had called 
 on him during the day, informing him that he was 
 a rapping medium, and that the spirit of his 
 mother had communicated through him, and had 
 prescribed for his sister, who had been out of 
 health for some time. The mode of treatment 
 advised is botanic, and directions for preparing 
 and administering the medicine are given through 
 the raps. In one case an external application 
 was directed by the spirit, and the identical page 
 in a botanic treatise on medicine was pointed out, 
 where a recipe for its preparation was to be 
 found. 
 
 " Mr. Partridge read the following note, from a 
 lady, acknowledging the fulfilment of a commu- 
 nication made to her by the spirits, nearly a year 
 prior to its accomplishment : 
 
 "'MRS. PARTRIDGE, About eleven months ago 
 I was at your house, at a circle. Mr. Fowler was 
 the medium. It was communicated to me that 
 during the next session of Congress (meaning the 
 one now in session) my son would get an ap- 
 
 p 5
 
 322 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 pointment in the United States navy. During 
 last week he received an appointment in the navy. 
 You will excuse the liberty I have taken in ad- 
 dressing a stranger, but I wanted to inform you 
 that spirits do sometimes foretell future events ; 
 perhaps you remember the time, if not, your hus- 
 band will. 
 
 " ' M. C. B.' 
 
 " Mr. Ellis supposed that much of alleged spi- 
 ritual foresight belonged to the sphere of clair- 
 voyance. 
 
 " Dr. Hallock said, the remark of Mr. Ellis had 
 prompted him to offer a few observations on that 
 point. To his mind, clairvoyance is neither more 
 nor less than spiritual seeing. It is in itself a 
 spiritual manifestation. It is emphatically a 
 phase of spiritualism, and instead of offering a 
 satisfactory solution of the varied facts of spiritual 
 manifestations, spiritualism includes the only 
 rational explanation of it. Clairvoyance is the 
 spirit looking out of its earthly organization in- 
 dependently of its external senses. It shows how 
 superior to those senses the spirit can be ; for, in 
 its far reaching flights of vision, it leaves its body in 
 utter unconsciousness of its whereabout, and sees, 
 and knows, and reasons, while the organs of the 
 external senses are steeped in forgetfulness. It 
 is a manifestation of the spirit in its rudimental 
 state, essaying its mighty powers, and giving
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 323 
 
 earnest of the still higher sweep of its adole- 
 scence. 
 
 "Mr. Ellis said he was under the impression that 
 clairvoyants had not revealed any spiritual facts, 
 prior to Mr. Davis' revelations, nor had they, to 
 his knowledge, spoken of seeing spirits. 
 
 "Dr. Wellington related a case which occurred, 
 under his observation, in New Hampshire, in 
 1842, going to show that Mr. Ellis was mistaken 
 in his impression on that point. He also read a 
 letter, in answer to one from Professor Gregory, 
 of Edinburgh, inquiring into the facts alleged to 
 be transpiring in America, which answer contained 
 many things showing that clairvoyants had given 
 ample proof of their consciousness of the pre- 
 sence of spirits. 
 
 "Dr. Hallock said he had often heard them 
 speak on that subject prior to any intimation of 
 the kind by Davis. He had heard them speak in 
 raptures of seeing the beautiful angels who hovered 
 about the couch of the dying, waiting to conduct 
 the departing spirit to heaven. In one case a 
 pious woman, a member of the Baptist church, 
 became clairvoyant, in the course of medical 
 treatment, and when in that state, if not watched 
 with the greatest care, would pass into a rigid, 
 trance-like condition, wholly beyond his control 
 for a time. The first time this occurred, he asked 
 what it meant, and where she had been ? (feeling
 
 324 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 rather impatient and much exhausted from a half 
 hour's active exercise of his will to get her back 
 to the ordinary place of clairvoyance). She an- 
 swered, 'I have been talking with my mother.' 
 'Where is your mother?' 'She is in heaven.' 
 ' Have you been there ?' ' Yes ; to be sure, and 
 I did not want to come away either.' Being at 
 that time wholly sceptical as to the possibility of 
 such a fact, and doubtful of the existence of 
 spirits, either in or out of the body, he ascribed 
 the whole thing to her religious prejudices re- 
 flecting their shadows upon her mental state ; and 
 endeavoured to repress all such flights of the 
 imagination, as he supposed them to be. Still 
 they recurred several times, always with the same 
 rigidity of muscle, the same difficulty of restoring 
 her, and the same averment as to where she had 
 been and what she had been doing. It gave him 
 great annoyance at the time, as well as much 
 physical exertion. Subsequent experience has 
 convinced him that what she said was literally 
 true. 
 
 "Dr. Gray said that, some years since, while 
 conversing with a clairvoyant, she said ' Stop ! there 
 is another person present a lady. She is one to 
 whom you have been very kind.' He objected to 
 conversing on that subject. ' But,' she said, * I 
 will describe her to you.' She did so, and the 
 description was perfect. The person described
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 325 
 
 had been a patient of his, who had died some two 
 years before, and was never known to the clair- 
 voyant. She remarked, ' She has been with you 
 before ; she comes when she sees you inculcating 
 a useful truth.' He was very much surprised at 
 the time, but is satisfied it was a clear case of 
 spiritual sight. He thinks clairvoyants have often 
 seen departed spirits but have generally kept it to 
 themselves, in consequence of the ignorance and 
 prejudice so often manifested by our own con- 
 ceited wisdom. 
 " Adjourned. 
 
 "R. T. HALLOCK, Secretary." 
 
 Such was the nature of the communications 
 made at these assemblies of the "faithful," and 
 they might be multiplied by hundreds, nay, by 
 thousands, were it not more satisfactory to pass 
 on to other testimony and opinions less open to 
 the charge of partiality. On occasions like the 
 above, when every one was expected to come pro- 
 vided with some new and encouraging develop- 
 ment of the infant philosophy, it were almost t vain 
 to expect literal accuracy of narration, or to rely 
 upon a sufficiently searching pre-examination of 
 the circumstances adduced. 
 
 But before quitting the New York Conferences, 
 one subject connected with them is well w r orth 
 attention. I believe I am correct in stating that
 
 326 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 it was through the medium of one of these meet- 
 ings that general notice was first attracted to the 
 remarkable prophecy of Margaretha Stoffell. 
 
 Mr. Horace Dresser, a talented member of the 
 New York circle, on one occasion brought the 
 subject of this and other prophecies more pro- 
 minently before them, and as it appeared that 
 the " spirits " inclined to bear testimony to their 
 truth, engaged to furnish such further extracts 
 from the works in question as were of interest and 
 importance, pointing out, as he did so, the verifi- 
 cations already accomplished. 
 
 Whatever additional weight may be given to 
 these prophecies by the spirits' witness, they are 
 sufficiently singular in themselves to merit atten- 
 tion, and to insert here at greater length than is 
 given in the lecture of Mr. Dresser, who possibly 
 had not all his materials at hand. 
 
 The fact that the point of time towards which 
 these various auguries converge is the present, 
 and their principal object France, imparts to the 
 subject its chief feature of interest. 
 
 Professor Gregory prefaced an interesting 
 paper on German popular prophecies, in Black- 
 wood, with the remark, that, although prophetic 
 traditions have no doubt arisen from that species 
 of " prophecy " which succeeds the event, it ap- 
 pears evident that genuine prophecies have like- 
 wise appeared, and become traditions before the
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 327 
 
 events took place ; and he instances the Sibyl- 
 line books, which there can be but little doubt 
 contained actual prophecies of the future fate of 
 Rome. 
 
 Germany, assuredly, is by no means behind- 
 hand with her seers. The professor mentions, 
 among the rest, Joseph Von Gorres, who died in 
 January, 1848, before the last French revolution, 
 and, on his deathbed, lamented the misfortunes 
 about to come on Poland, described Hungary as 
 appearing to him one huge field of carnage, and 
 wept over the approaching downfall of the Euro- 
 pean monarchies. The events of February and 
 March, 1848, the insurrection in Posen, the de- 
 vastations committed by the Prussians in sup- 
 pressing it, and the war in Hungary, would appear 
 to be the events to which he referred. 
 
 There was, moreover, Jaspers, the Westphalian 
 shepherd, a simple-minded, pious man. In 1830, 
 soon after which he died, he publicly predicted as 
 follows : " A great road will be carried through 
 our country, from west to east, through the forests 
 of Bodelschwing. On this, carriages will run 
 ivithout horses, and cause a dreadful noise." 
 
 These words, as well as others, referring to 
 other events, have, much to the surprise of the 
 natives, been fulfilled The railway from Co- 
 logne to Minden has, since his death, been 
 carried through the very district he mentioned
 
 328 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 in 1830, before the first English railway had been 
 opened. 
 
 Jaspers' prophecies refer to dates still future. 
 When asked as to the future of Prussia, he main- 
 tained an obstinate silence, saying only that King 
 Frederick- William IV. would be the last." 
 
 A man named Pottgiesser, in Dortmund, long 
 since dead, drew up a genealogical tree of the royal 
 house, in which he says of the present king to 
 whom he gives no successor " He disappears." 
 
 "The German empire," said Jaspers, "shall 
 choose a peasant for emperor. He shall govern 
 Germany a year and a day." 
 
 The regency of the Archduke John (who married 
 a Styrian peasant, and adopted the costume and 
 manners of the class) lasted but one year. 
 
 Anton, the "youth of Elsen," Hermann Kap- 
 plemann, &c., contribute curious prophecies, 
 which, in touching on the fate of nations and 
 communities, remarkably corroborate each other. 
 But let us to the more recent seer, Margaretha 
 Stoffell. 
 
 The history of the book speaks for itself, and 
 if, as there is every reason to believe, that history, 
 as supplied by the translator, Mr. Elias Schneider, 
 is correct, the remarkable verification of the first 
 part of these predictions it professes to embody, is 
 deserving attention. 
 
 The pamphlet, written in German, was entitled
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 329 
 
 " Nine Years of the Future," and several copies of 
 it were in the hands of a number of persons in 
 Pottsville before the revolution of 1848 broke out 
 in France. No importance was attached to this 
 prediction at the time, and the pamphlet was 
 thrown aside as unworthy of notice. 
 
 " It was made," says M. Schneider, " on Christ- 
 mas, in 1847, by Margaretha Stoffell, of Ehren- 
 thiel, in the Tyrol. The whole is to be fulfilled be- 
 tween 1847 and 1856. It was reduced to writing 
 by Edward Brann, physician of the royal imperial 
 Austrian Court of Justice. Its publication was, 
 however, suppressed in Austria, but circulated in 
 Switzerland, where it was read by Dr. Huber's 
 lady, who now lives in this place. Afterward it 
 was published in Philadelphia, by L. A. Wollen- 
 weber, who informs me, in answer to a letter ad- 
 dressed to him, that he received a copy of the 
 pamphlet from Germany in the month of February, 
 1848. This gentleman's evidence, and that of 
 several persons in Pottsville, who declare that they 
 read it before the French revolution was heard of 
 here, is ample proof that the prediction was made 
 just at the very time when all men thought that 
 the thrones of Europe were most strongly fortified, 
 and when no revolution was thought of. 
 
 " PROPHECY. 
 "The year 1847 is past a year which pro-
 
 330 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 duced many a tear, and in which many a fountain 
 of tears was also dried up, and many an unbe- 
 lieving heart was taught to look up to Him who 
 turneth the hearts of men as the rivers of the 
 earth. 
 
 " The barns have been filled, the casks are full 
 of sweet wine, and the heart of man rejoiceth; 
 but repent, for the night cometh when no man 
 can work. 
 
 "Soon the cholera will rage in Europe, and 
 more destructively than ever. And there will be 
 no want of signs in the heavens at this time, call- 
 ing, as the Holy Scriptures declare, men to re- 
 pentance. 
 
 " Great changes will take place up to the com- 
 mencement of the year 1850, and many a mortal 
 will be swept away through war and pestilence, 
 even when he leasts expects it. 
 
 " A great revolution will break out in France. 
 The king and his family will be driven out of their 
 country, and a war will commence against the 
 nobles and the wealthy; their palaces will be 
 burned, and their wealth will be sufficient to pro- 
 tect them no more. Many capitalists will leave 
 France, where an attempt will be made to destroy 
 the power of money, by declaring all usury abo- 
 lished. The Jews shall also suffer much at this 
 time, and the wealthiest one among them will be- 
 come a victim of the enraged multitude. There
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 331 
 
 will arise a governing power of the working 
 class ; but, after a short continuance it will, how- 
 ever, disappear, and in the midst of war with fo- 
 reign powers. Then a conservative party will 
 reach the summit of power in the country, under 
 whose direction France will again recover, but 
 only after bloody confusion. From thenceforth 
 there will be no kings in France, but a certain 
 Prince will, at this time, make yet another attempt 
 to erect for himself a throne ; he shall, however, 
 atone bitterly for his foolish undertaking, and will 
 lose his life thereby. 
 
 " Belgium will unite itself with France, and, in 
 other respects, will share the same fate with it. 
 
 " Spain and Portugal will be rent and distracted 
 by bloody civil wars ; one party will succeed 
 another in the government, and each one will act 
 more violently than the preceding. Then a man, 
 gifted with intellectual powers, such as are but 
 very rarely bestowed upon one person, will come 
 suddenly upon the arena of life, and give again 
 unto these distracted people the blessings of 
 peace ; the parties will compose themselves, the 
 names of Portugal and Spain will disappear, and 
 the States, united under the name of " Pyrenean 
 Republic," will become great and powerful both 
 on land and sea. 
 
 " In Great Britain the distress of the working 
 classes will increase continually more and more.
 
 332 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 Great Britain, the world-mistress of commerce, 
 will receive a shock from which she will never 
 recover. Her great possessions in America and 
 Asia will declare themselves independent; her 
 fleets will be annihilated in a great sea-fight, and 
 after many vicissitudes, foreign wars, and domestic 
 revolutions, she will again become tranquil, but 
 will not be any more powerful than other nations. 
 Royalty will be abolished later, however, than in 
 the other European States. 
 
 " In the midst of all these storms and revo- 
 lutions, Switzerland will rejoice in an undisturbed 
 rest. She will increase powerfully under a new 
 constitution ; and, after a short political agitation, 
 commerce and industry will develope themselves 
 within her more than ever. 
 
 " A great revolution of affairs will also occur in 
 Italy. An unusual storm will pass over the land, 
 before which the Austrians will disappear like 
 chaff. Then the different States of Italy will 
 unite themselves into one great nation, and Rome 
 will become the capital of the Italian Republic ; 
 for here, also, princes will exist no more. 
 
 " At this time, the Christian religion will have 
 to contend much against atheists ; men will pro- 
 nounce it a worn-out thing, and faith in a divine 
 Saviour will decay as it were. Finally, however, 
 a new defender of God's honour will appear, and 
 the worldly power of the Pope will be destroyed
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 333 
 
 for ever, and the really Christian Church rise in 
 influence and power. 
 
 " Gennany will be the scene of the most fearful 
 events. A destructive war will rage from one end 
 of the land to the other, until, at length, the 
 triumph of being inhabitants of a free German 
 Fatherland will be secured to the long oppressed 
 people of Germany. Nations living far in Asia 
 will be called forth by a German monarch to 
 assist him, and then a great slaughter will com- 
 mence, in which neither women nor children, 
 young nor old, will be spared. Other nations 
 from the West and South will then rise up, and 
 draw near to fight these barbarous hordes ; and, 
 in a terrible battle on the banks of a large stream, 
 the Asiatic multitude will be vanquished, and only 
 a few of them escape entire destruction. A large 
 German city, like unto the once mighty Babylon, 
 will be burnt to the ground ; upon the place where 
 it stood, men will scatter salt, and no living being 
 will live there any more. Poland will rise again, 
 and its growth will be more formidable than that 
 of any other nation. The Vistula, stained with 
 the blood of Poland's oppressors, will flow for 
 many days like a stream of blood towards the 
 Baltic, and cast over its banks dead bodies enough 
 to fatten all the ravens of the world during a space 
 of one hundred years.
 
 334 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 " Similar events will occur in Hungary, where 
 the bondman will avenge himself terribly upon 
 his oppressor. A person of humble birth will 
 arise and cry out aloud, saying, ' Woe unto him 
 who is against me, for in my hands I carry the 
 sword of justice.' 
 
 " The kings of Denmark, Sweden and Norway 
 will lay down their crowns voluntarily, and thus 
 guard their lands against the storms which will 
 visit all the rest of Europe at that time. These 
 kindred nations will unite themselves into one 
 brotherhood, without any acts of violence, under 
 the title of Scandinavian Republic ; they will assist 
 in hastening the overthrow of the Russian em- 
 peror. For about this time all nations will rise 
 up against the Czar of Russia. Thousands and 
 thousands of combatants will advance toward the 
 North, where the Czar will have brought together 
 his Asiatic hordes for the purpose of once more 
 inundating Europe. Upon a plain, from whose 
 centre the eye can see no limit to it, these com- 
 batants will rush upon one another, and their 
 bloody slaughter will continue for the space of 
 eight days, when the nations of Europe will, at 
 last, come off victorious. It will be the greatest 
 battle ever fought, and also the last, for then the 
 kingdom of God will commence upon the earth. 
 But the kingdom of God is the kingdom of love
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 335 
 
 and justice, and in the name of both these virtues, 
 all nations of the earth will bind themselves in 
 one brotherhood." 
 
 Whatever may be thought of the foreshadowings 
 of this German Scherinn, the following passage 
 from Lactantius, "De VitaBeata," lib. vii. c. 16, has 
 a no less remarkable bearing upon the events of 
 our time. The translation of Mr. D. C. Sturges 
 runs thus ; but as he did not give the original, I 
 will do so, in order that the classic reader may 
 judge for himself: 
 
 "Then will be sowed the seeds of civil dis- 
 cords, nor will there be any rest or pause of 
 wasteful and ruinous wars, while the soldiery, kept 
 together in immense standing armies, the kings 
 will crush and lay waste at their will, until at length 
 there will rise up against them a most puissant 
 military chieftain, of low birth, who will have 
 acceded to him a fellowship with other sovereigns 
 of the earth. This man will harass the civilised 
 world with an insupportable despotism; he will 
 confound and commix all things spiritual and 
 temporal. He will be for ever restlessly turning 
 over new schemes in his imagination, in order 
 that he may fix the imperial crown over all in 
 his own name and possessions. He will change 
 the former laws; he will sanction a code of his 
 own; he will contaminate, pillage, lay waste, and
 
 336. LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 massacre. At length, when he has succeeded in the 
 change of names and titles, and in the transfer of 
 the seat of empire, there will follow a perturbation 
 of the human race ; and then there will be for 
 awhile an era of horror and abomination, during 
 which no man will enjoy his life in quietness!" 
 
 ORIGINAL. 
 
 " Quomodo autem id futurum sit, ne quis incre- 
 dibile arbitratur, ostendam. 
 
 "In primis multiplicabitur regnum, et summa 
 rerum potestas per plurimos dissipata et concisa 
 minuetur. Tune discordiae civiles in perpetuum 
 serentur; nee ulla requies bellis exitialibus erit, 
 donee reges decem pariter existant, qui orbem 
 terrae, non ad regendum, sed ad consumendum 
 partiantur. Hi exercitibus in immensum auctis, 
 et agrorum cultibus destitutis, quod est principium 
 eversionis et cladis, disperdent omnia, et com- 
 minuent, et vorabunt. 
 
 "Tumrepente adversus eos hostis potentissimus 
 ab extremis finibus plagae septentrionalis orietur, 
 qui tribus ex eo numero deletis, qui tune Asiam 
 obtinabunt, assumeter in societatem a caeteris, ac 
 princeps omnium constituetur. Hie insustentabili 
 dominatione vexabit orbem; divina et humana 
 miscebit; infanda dictu et execrabilia molietur; 
 nova consilia in pectore suo volutabit, ut pro- 
 prium sibi constituat imperium, leges commutet,
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 337 
 
 et suas sanciat ; contaminabit, diripiet, spoliabit, 
 occidet. 
 
 " Denique immutato nomine, atque imperil sede 
 translata, confusio ac perturbatio humani generis 
 consequeiitur. Turn vero detestabile atque abomi- 
 nandum tempus existet, quo nulli hominum sit 
 vita jucunda." 
 
 That curious work, Les Previsions d* Orval, or 
 Certain Previsions revealed by God to a Solitary, 
 for the consolation of the Children of God, made its 
 appearance in the year 1544, and was by tradition 
 ascribed to Philip Olivarius, a monk of the Abbey 
 of Orval, in the diocese of Treves, on the frontiers 
 of Luxembourg. In Cahagnet's work, The Ce- 
 lestial Telegraph, a curious report is given of a 
 conversation purporting to have taken place be- 
 tween the author, Cahagnet, and a M. Mallet, or 
 rather the spirit of the latter, he being deceased, 
 and his answers being expressed through a clair- 
 voyant medium. This M. Mallet had, it appears, 
 in his lifetime, become extremely interested in the 
 Orval Previsions, and to this subject Cahagnet 
 led the conversation. 
 
 " The Orval predictions, as they are termed, in 
 which you had so great faith when on earth, that 
 you even had them reprinted in 1840, what do 
 you think of them now ? Do you still believe in 
 them ?" 
 
 Q
 
 338 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Can you foresee whether the events, of which 
 they make mention, will come to pass ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but those predictions are exaggerated." 
 
 " Those concerning the destruction of Paris, 
 will they take place ? " 
 
 "Yes ; but not to so great an extent as is pre- 
 dicted." 
 
 " When will that happen ?" 
 
 " I cannot answer your question." 
 
 " By what scourge will it happen ? Fire or 
 war?" 
 
 " By a revolution." * * * 
 
 " What government will reign then ? " 
 
 " It is then that it will be said, ' Come, young 
 prince? as the prediction says." 
 
 " Do you know whether the son of Louis XVI. 
 is dead?" 
 
 " No, he is not dead." 
 
 " Do you know him ? Is the Baron of Riche- 
 mont this son ?" 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Do you think that it is the people alone that 
 will cause all the disorders predicted ?" 
 
 " The people and the foreigner." 
 
 " For my personal safety, I should like to know 
 when this will happen." 
 
 "The events preceding such catastrophe will 
 be a sufficient warning."
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 339 
 
 tf Will the banishment of the priests take 
 place ?" 
 
 " The priests will escape from France." 
 
 " The end of the world, announced in eighteen 
 years, will it take place ?" 
 
 " You will not then be on earth ; wherefore 
 trouble yourself about it?" 
 
 " So you look upon these prophecies as 
 true ?" 
 
 " Yes, in the main, but not in the exaggera- 
 tion. There will be mischief enough without 
 making more of it." 
 
 Mr. Dresser has remarked that Cahagnet con- 
 ceals, under asterisks, part of Mallet's communi- 
 cations, relative to the time and circumstances of 
 the fulfilment of the predictions. This he might 
 have done either for his own safety or the public 
 good. At all events, so much of it as has seen 
 the light, corroborates, in the main, what the So- 
 litary declared shall come to pass. 
 
 THE ORVAL PREVISIONS. 
 
 The following is believed to have relation to 
 Napoleon Bonaparte : 
 
 " At that time a young man come from beyond 
 the sea into the country of Celtic Gaul, shows 
 himself strong in counsel. But the mighty, to 
 whom he gives umbrage, will send him to combat 
 
 Q 2
 
 340 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 in the land of captivity. Victory' will bring him 
 back. The sons of Brutus will be confounded at 
 his approach, for he will overpower them and 
 take the name of emperor. Many high and mighty 
 kings will be sorely afraid, for the eagle will carry 
 off many sceptres and crowns. Men on foot and 
 horse, carrying blood-stained eagles, and as 
 numerous as gnats in the air, will run with him 
 throughout Europe, which will be filled with con- 
 sternation and carnage ; for he will be so power- 
 ful, that God shall be thought to combat on his 
 side. The Church of God, in great desolation, 
 will be somewhat comforted, for she shall see her 
 temples opened again to her lost sheep, and God 
 praised. 
 
 " But all is over ; the moons are passed. The 
 old man of Sion cries to God from his afflicted 
 heart ; and, behold ! the mighty one is blinded 
 for his crimes. He leaves the great city with an 
 army so mighty, that none ever was seen to be 
 compared to it. But no warrior will be able to 
 withstand the power of the heavens ; and, behold ! 
 the third part, and again the third part, of his 
 army has perished by the cold of the Almighty. 
 Two lustres have passed since the age of desola- 
 tion; the widows and the orphans have cried 
 aloud to the Lord, and, behold ! God is no longer 
 deaf. The mighty, that have been humbled, take 
 courage, and combine to overthrow the man of
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 341 
 
 power. Behold, the ancient blood of centuries is 
 with them, and resumes its place and its abode in 
 the great city ; the great man returns humbled to 
 the country beyond the sea from which he came. 
 God alone is great ! The eleventh moon has not 
 yet shone, and the bloody scourge of the Lord 
 returns to the great city ; the ancient blood quits 
 it. God alone is great! He loves his people, 
 and has blood in abhorrence ; the fifth moon has 
 shone upon many warriors from the East. Gaul 
 is covered with men, and with machined of war ; 
 all is finished with the man of the sea." 
 
 The following is said to designate the Bourbon 
 dynasty and its rule, to and including the reign of 
 Louis Philippe, during eighteen years : 
 
 " Behold again returned the ancient blood of 
 the Cap ! God ordains peace, that his holy name 
 be blessed. Therefore shall great peace reign 
 throughout Celtic Gaul. The white flower is 
 greatly in honour, and the temples of the Lord 
 resound with many holy canticles. But the sons 
 of Brutus view with anger the white flower, and 
 obtain a powerful edict, and God in consequence is 
 angry on account of the elect, and because the holy 
 day is much profaned ; nevertheless God will await 
 a return to Him during eighteen times twelve moons. 
 God alone is great ! He purifies his people by 
 many tribulations; but an end will also come 
 upon the wicked. At this time a great conspiracy
 
 342 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 against the white flower moves in the dark, by the 
 designs of an accursed band ; and the poor old 
 blood of the Cap leaves the great city, and the 
 sons of Brutus increase mightily." 
 
 The following is said by some to mean no other 
 person than the Emperor of France, Louis Napo- 
 leon, and to relate to his times : 
 
 " Hark ! how the servants of the Lord cry aloud 
 to Him ! The arrows of the Lord are steeped in 
 his wrath for the hearts of the wicked. Woe to 
 Celtic G&ul ! The cock will efface the white 
 flower ; and a powerful one will call himself king 
 of the people. There will be great commotion 
 among men, for the crown will be placed by the 
 hands of workmen who have combated in the 
 great city. God alone is great ! The reign of 
 the wicked will wax more powerful ; but let them 
 hasten, for, behold ! the opinions of the men of 
 Celtic Gaul are in collision, and confusion is in all 
 minds. 
 
 "The king of the people will be seen very 
 weak ; many of the wicked will be against him ; 
 but he was ill-seated; and, behold ! God hurls 
 him down. Howl, ye sons of Brutus ! Call unto 
 you the beasts that are about to devour you. 
 Great God ! what a noise of arms ! A full num- 
 ber of moons is not yet completed, and, behold ! 
 many warriors are coming !" 
 
 Does not the following indicate Henry V., the
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 343 
 
 last bud of the white flower, or lily of the Bour- 
 bons ? Is he not the " Young Prince " spoken 
 of below, and is not England intended by the 
 " lion ?" this country having a lion among its 
 national insignia, and its arms being surmounted 
 with the figure of that animal : 
 
 " It is done ! The mountain of the Lord hath 
 cried in its affliction unto God. The sons of 
 Judah have cried unto God from the land of the 
 foreigner ; and, behold ! God is no longer deaf. 
 What fire accompanies his arrows ! Ten times 
 six moons, and yet again six times ten moons 
 have fed his wrath. Woe to the great city ! 
 Behold the kings armed by the Lord! But 
 already hath fire levelled thee with the earth. 
 Yet the faithful shall not perish. God hath heard 
 their prayer. The place of crime is purified by 
 fire. The waters of the great stream have rolled 
 on toward the sea all crimsoned with blood. 
 Gaul, as it were dismembered, is about to reunite. 
 God loves peace. Come, young prince, quit the 
 isle of captivity. Listen ! from the lion to the 
 white flower ! come !" 
 
 The following concludes the words of the Seer 
 of Orval : 
 
 " What is foreseen, that God wills. The ancient 
 blood of centuries will again terminate long strug- 
 gles. A sole pastor will be seen in Celtic Gaul. 
 The man made powerful by God will be firmly
 
 344 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 seated. Peace will be established by many wise 
 laws. So sage and prudent will be the offspring 
 of the Cap, that God will be thought to be with 
 him. Thanks to the Father of mercies, the holy 
 Sion chants again in her temples to the glory of 
 one Lord Almighty. Many lost sheep come to 
 drink at the living spring. Three kings and 
 princes throw off the mantle of heresy, and open 
 their eyes to the faith of the Lord. At that time 
 two-third parts of a great people of the sea will 
 return to the true faith. God is yet blessed during 
 fourteen times six moons, and six times thirteen 
 moons. But God is wearied of bestowing his 
 mercies ; and yet, for the faithful's sake, He will 
 prolong peace during ten times twelve moons. 
 God alone is great ! The good is passed away. 
 The saints shall suffer. The Man of Sin shall 
 be born of two races. The white flower becomes 
 obscured during ten times six moons, and six 
 times twenty moons. Then it shall disappear to 
 be seen no more. Much evil, and little good, will 
 there be in those days. Many cities shall perish 
 by fire. Israel then returns entirely to Christ the 
 Lord. The accursed and the faithful shall be 
 separated into two distinct portions. But all is 
 over. The third part of Gaul, and again a third 
 part and a half, will be without faith. The same 
 will be among other nations. And, behold ! six 
 times three moons, and four times five moons
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 345 
 
 and there is a general falling off, and the end of 
 time has begun. After a number, not complete, 
 of moons, God will combat in the persons of His 
 two just ones. The Man of Sin shall carry off the 
 victory. But all is over! The mighty God has 
 placed before my comprehension a wall of fire. 
 I can see no more. May He be blessed ever- 
 more. Amen." 
 
 The second prophecy to which the attention of 
 the Spiritual Conference was drawn by Mr. Dresser, 
 was attributed to a priest of the Jesuits, who died 
 at Bordeaux, towards the close of the last century. 
 It seems to have been considered that the greater 
 part of the following extract had reference to the re- 
 volution of 1793. The application, however, is by 
 no means clear, and many regard it as a distinct 
 allusion to events now actually impending. 
 
 THE JESUIT PRIEST'S PROPHECY. 
 
 " Then shall come disturbances in France ; a 
 name hateful to the country shall be placed upon 
 the throne. It will not be until after that event 
 that the counter-revolution shall take place. It 
 will be done by strangers. But two parties will 
 first be formed in France, who will carry on a 
 war of extermination. One party will be much 
 more numerous than the other, but the weaker 
 shall prevail. Blood will flow in the great towns, 
 
 Q5
 
 346 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 and the convulsions shall be such that men might 
 think the last day to be at hand. But the wicked 
 will not prevail, and in this dire catastrophe shall 
 perish of them a great multitude. They will have 
 hoped to have utterly destroyed the Church ; but 
 for this they will not have had time, for the fear- 
 ful crisis shall be of short duration. There will 
 be a movement, when it will be supposed that all 
 is lost ; but still all shall be saved. The faithful 
 shall not perish ; such signs will be given them as 
 shall induce them to fly the city. During this 
 convulsion, which will extend to other lands, and 
 not be for France alone, Paris shall be so utterly 
 destroyed, that when, twenty years afterwards, 
 fathers shall walk with their children, and the 
 children shall ask, ' Why is that desolate spot ? ' 
 they shall answer, * My children, here once stood 
 a great city, which God destroyed for its crimes.' 
 After this fearful convulsion, all will return to 
 order, and the counter-revolution shall be made. 
 Then shall the triumph of the Church be such 
 that nothing like it shall be ever seen again, for 
 it will be the last triumph of the Church on 
 earth. 
 
 " These events shall be known to be at hand, 
 by the sign that England shall begin to suffer 
 throes of pain, even as it is known that the sum- 
 mer is nigh when the fig-tree puts forth its leaves. 
 England shall experience a revolution, which will
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 347 
 
 be of sufficient duration to give unhappy France 
 time to breathe. Then it shall be by the assist- 
 ance of France that England shall be fully re- 
 stored to peace." 
 
 Why not, by way of postscript add the terse 
 prophecy of Montesquieu : 
 
 " La France se perdra par ses gens de guerre" 
 
 The prophecies of the Rev. Robert Fleming, 
 Scotch divine, in his Discourse concerning the 
 Rise and Fall of Papacy, have attracted too much 
 attention to make it necessary to dwell much upon 
 them here. The work in question was published, 
 as will be remembered, in 1701. A new edition 
 has recently been published in the States by 
 the American Protestant Society. 
 
 Among these seers, the destinies of vast America 
 seem to occupy a place wholly inadequate to their 
 importance. Let us conclude the subject of pro- 
 phecy with the "prevision" of one who, though 
 not " among the prophets," has achieved a cele- 
 brated name General Moreau. A gentleman, 
 Mr. O., whose acquaintance was a source of much 
 gratification to me, in New York, informed me 
 that, in the year 1812, he chanced to meet the re- 
 nowned general, then returning from a complete 
 tour of the States, and travelled in his company 
 for two days. During this period they had much 
 conversation, Mr. O. questioning with the eager-
 
 348 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 ness of an active and inquiring, but youthful, 
 mind, and Moreau as frankly propounding his 
 ideas and anticipations. 
 
 Much of this interesting discourse had naturally 
 passed from my friend's memory, but one remark, 
 as taking the form of prophecy, made a more than 
 usually profound impression. 
 
 " Will the country flourish as a republic ?" asked 
 the younger politician. 
 
 " Not permanently," replied Moreau, with em- 
 phasis. " As a growing country it may, but when 
 it has arrived at a population of from fifty to an 
 hundred millions, a change is all but inevitable. 
 This vast increase of the population must com- 
 prise that for which we have no politer name than 
 ' canaille.' This said ' canaille ' is the rude but 
 only material of which standing armies are formed. 
 The material being thus on hand, the need of a 
 standing army is not so long a step as may now 
 appear to you. Questions may arise among your- 
 selves foreign relations become complicated 
 your augmented importance justifies a change of 
 attitude towards powerful, perhaps encroaching, 
 neighbours. A standing army is decreed. This, 
 in its turn, creates ambitious leaders ; nay, is, in 
 itself, so great an organ of strength, that the 
 temptation to grasp, seems almost to create the 
 genius to wield it. Death, thenceforth, to the true 
 republican principle. Monarchy, the mere embo-
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 349 
 
 diment of a power to which the national will has 
 already yielded, is the inevitable result." 
 
 " And within what period can one prognosticate 
 so vast a population to be assembled in these 
 States ?" 
 
 " Within fifty years," said Moreau. 
 
 Although it wants ten years of that period, and 
 the increase of population has exceeded Moreau's 
 or any man's calculation, no standing army hath 
 yet been decreed in the States. But then, as 
 Lord E . . . , to whom the anecdote was men- 
 tioned, remarked, "He forgot annexation!" 
 
 In a note appended to page 39, it was men- 
 tioned that a letter from a member of the com- 
 munity of Shakers was on its way hither. It has 
 fortunately arrived in time, and needs no apology 
 for insertion here : 
 
 "Shirley Village, October 21st, 1852. 
 
 "ESTEEMED FRIEND, 
 
 " I cheerfully embrace the earliest opportunity 
 to comply with your request in furnishing you 
 with the information required. To be definite, 
 then, demonstrations called spirit-rappings were 
 not known to us until we learned of them by the 
 newspapers. But the impression that we have 
 been familiar with them can be easily accounted 
 for, by the fact that our community have been in- 
 terested in them from their commencement, and,
 
 350 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 through that means, a knowledge has been diffused 
 abroad, that spiritual manifestations of a higher 
 order have long since been enjoyed by us. 
 
 "Our church being built on revelation it is 
 but reasonable to suppose that inspiration, va- 
 riously manifested, will always be to us a fruitful 
 source of joy and peace, a foretaste of the joys of 
 heaven. Yet, although the founders of this com- 
 munity were greatly gifted in this respect, in so 
 much that the world of spirits was as clear to 
 their view as this mundane sphere, yet there have 
 been seasons (there was one in the days of my 
 childhood and youth) when Zion seemed to lan- 
 guish for her wonted sustenance. 
 
 "But in the year 1837, a work of this kind 
 
 commenced at W , N. Y., and thence 
 
 spread through every branch of our community, 
 which was marvellous and powerful beyond any- 
 thing ever known on earth before. At least so it 
 was esteemed by those who were the subjects of 
 the heart-searching power which accompanied it. 
 The manner of its manifestation was so various 
 that a description would be difficult, yet all con- 
 tributed to confirm the reality of the presence and 
 influence of the spirits of the departed. 
 
 " You have heard me, I think, relate some par- 
 ticulars respecting my cousin, M. L. H., whose 
 testimony is in the Sacred Roll. She deceased 
 in the year '44, bearing witness with her latest
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 351 
 
 breath to the presence of angels and departed 
 spirits. Her last effort was to communicate their 
 will to us. She used to say to me that the spirit 
 world, its inhabitants and scenery, seemed more 
 real to her than the things of earth, and this with- 
 out her being carried away in spirit, as was more 
 frequently the case with media, or, as we have 
 termed them, instruments for the spirits. 
 
 " Some, without having their spiritual sight at 
 all developed, have been inspired to speak or 
 write for the spirits, with a power and eloquence 
 evidently superhuman. With some, all the spi- 
 ritual senses were developed, so that the delight- 
 ful scenery, angelic music, delicious fruits, and 
 fragrant flowers of heaven, were all enjoyed by 
 them. Indeed, the number is not large of those 
 who have enjoyed no manifestation of this kind, 
 and I may say there are none who are faithful 
 that have not felt a sensible inspiration from the 
 Spirit land. 
 
 " These things were, by Divine injunction, kept 
 as secret as possible within our community until 
 the year 1843, when the Sacred Roll was published 
 to the world by the command of Him who gave 
 it, and subsequently the Divine Book of Holy 
 Wisdom, which you have in your possession, has 
 been given to the world by the same authority. 
 
 " During this late manifestation, as it is termed 
 by us, it has frequently been predicted that a
 
 352 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 similar work would go out into the world, while it 
 should measurably cease with us. Of course we 
 were much interested in the rapping demonstra- 
 tions, and although it had not been revealed to us 
 in what manner it would commence and proceed, 
 yet we at once recognised the hand of the Lord 
 in it, and could readily perceive that to operate 
 upon inanimate matter was better calculated to 
 arrest the attention of the masses than any other 
 demonstrations spirits could make ; but we rejoice 
 to see that manifestations more interior and ele- 
 vating are in progress. 
 
 "We shall look for much error, hypocrisy, 
 and delusion in this work, having learned by ex- 
 perience that every effort by the power of Good 
 to reclaim man from darkness and degradation is 
 sure to be met with antagonism by the power of 
 Darkness, which claims a place in the heart of 
 every unregenerate son and daughter of Adam. 
 Hence false Christs and false prophets may be 
 expected. But the Lord has begun his great and 
 strange work, blessed be his holy Name ! 
 
 "I would add, concerning the rappings, that 
 we have had enough of it with us to test its reality, 
 but we do not feel that this is for us to any great 
 extent. We have had our portion, with which 
 we are satisfied; a power which enables us to 
 conquer the man of sin within our own hearts, 
 and a light by which the way is made so clear to
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 353 
 
 us, that 'the wayfaring man, though a fool, need 
 not eiT therein.' Yet we are deeply interested in 
 every movement which has a tendency to pull 
 down the strongholds of error and delusion, for 
 we are confident that this must be done ere man- 
 kind can be prepared to build on that foundation 
 that cannot be shaken. 
 
 " We know that this is but the dawn of day, but 
 ' as the lightning (or ' bright shining,' as it might 
 with propriety have been translated) cometh out 
 of the east, and shineth even unto the west, even so 
 shall the coming of the Son of man be.' Slow, 
 yet sure, in enlightening the dark and polluted 
 earth, even as the hand of the Lord hath ever 
 wrought. 
 
 " I have said enough to answer your request, 
 and more than I meant to say ; but you know it is 
 hard for me to restrain my pen wiien writing on 
 this subject. 
 
 " I would remark that the testimony of my 
 cousin, mentioned in this letter, is in the second 
 volume of the Sacred Roll, which has not been 
 sent to England. It was not complete at the time 
 required for sending the first volume. And as 
 the government of England, like that of all other 
 nations to which it was sent, has neglected to 
 obey the requirement of the Lord, in giving it 
 publicity, it has not been deemed necessary to 
 send the other volume. Nevertheless, should
 
 354 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 your correspondent desire to obtain that or any of 
 our publications, we would send them to him. 
 Perhaps he could obtain one of the copies sent to 
 the government of England. We should like to 
 know what notice has been taken of them. But, 
 perhaps, his interest is confined to the rapping 
 demonstrations, and, if so, this will suffice. 
 
 " Please accept the love of your friends here, 
 all as one, as I am in haste, and, by all means, 
 that of your true friend, 
 
 "ROXALANA L. GROSVENOR." 
 
 For the above characteristic communication, I 
 am indebted to my kind friend (hereinbefore re- 
 ferred to) Dr. Harriet K. Hunt, the indefatigable 
 vindicator of the rights of women. Gratitude 
 compels me to add a few words on the subject I 
 conceive to be at this moment nearest that lady's 
 heart. 
 
 It will be remembered that, some two months 
 since, The Times, in one of the longest leading 
 articles in the memory of its most " constant 
 reader," made copious extracts from a report of 
 the Woman's Rights Convention, holden at Syra- 
 cuse, U. S., and poked a considerable amount of 
 fun at the abettors thereof, a large portion falling 
 to the personal share of my friend. The details 
 given in The Times are stated, I know not how 
 truly, to be replete with inaccuracies, and, at all
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 355 
 
 
 
 events, to lend an aspect to the proceedings in 
 question far more grotesque and undignified than 
 they really deserved. Hence, Dr. Harriet has 
 deemed it fit, in justice to herself, and to those 
 associated with her in the " movement," to embody 
 her views in a brief " protest," addressed to the 
 treasurer and assessors of Boston, a copy of which, 
 on the last occasion of paying her taxes, she 
 presented (with the money) to the astonished 
 "publican." 
 
 As the tone of this document is both calm and 
 reasonable, and its exposition forcible and clear ; 
 as, moreover, my friend has proffered me the 
 strongest guarantee that in urging the " GREAT 
 WOMAN MOVEMENT," it is the emancipation of 
 her sex, not the subjugation of my own that is 
 the point at issue, I think I may venture to ap- 
 pend her very noticeable remarks. 
 
 " TO FREDERICK U. TRACY, TREASURER, AND THE 
 ASSESSORS AND OTHER AUTHORITIES OF THE 
 CITY OF BOSTON, AND THE CITIZENS GENE- 
 RALLY. 
 
 " Harriet K. Hunt, physician, a native and per- 
 manent resident of the city of Boston, and for 
 many years a tax-payer therein, in making pay- 
 ment of her taxes for the coming year, begs leave 
 to protest against the injustice and inequality of 
 levying taxes upon women, and at the same time
 
 356 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 refusing them any voice or vote in the imposition 
 and expenditure of the same. The only classes of 
 male persons required to pay taxes, and not at the 
 same time allowed the privilege of voting, are aliens 
 and minors. The objection in the case of aliens is 
 their supposed want of interest in our institutions 
 and knowledge of them. The objection in the case 
 of minors is the want of sufficient understanding. 
 These objections certainly cannot apply to women, 
 natives of the city, all whose property and inter- 
 est is here, and who have accumulated, by their 
 own sagacity and industry, the very property on 
 which they are taxed. But this is not all; the 
 alien, by going through the forms of naturalization, 
 the minor, on coming of age, obtain the right of 
 voting, and so long as they continue to pay a mere 
 poll-tax of a dollar and a half, they may continue 
 to exercise it, though so ignorant as not to be able 
 to sign their names, or read the very votes they 
 put into the ballot-boxes. Even drunkards, felons, 
 idiots, or lunatics, if men, may still enjoy that 
 right of voting, to which no woman, however 
 large the amount of taxes she pays, however re- 
 spectable her character, or useful her life, can 
 ever attain. Wherein, your remonstrant would in- 
 quire, is the justice, equality, or wisdom of this ? 
 That the rights and interests of the female part of 
 the community are sometimes forgotten or disre- 
 garded, in consequence of their deprivation of
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 357 
 
 political rights, is strikingly evinced, as appears 
 to your remonstrant, in the organization and ad- 
 ministration of the city public schools. Though 
 there are open, in this State and neighbourhood, 
 a great multitude of colleges and professional 
 schools, for the education of boys and young men, 
 yet the city has very properly provided two High 
 Schools of its own, one Latin, the other English, 
 at which the male graduates of the Grammar 
 Schools may pursue their education still farther 
 at the public expense. And why is not a like 
 provision made for the girls ? Why is the public 
 provision for their education stopped short, just 
 as they have attained the age best fitted for pro- 
 gress, and the preliminary knowledge necessary to 
 facilitate it, thus giving the advantage of superior 
 culture to sex, not to mind ? The fact that our 
 colleges and professional schools are closed 
 against females, of which your remonstrant has 
 had personal and painful experience, having been 
 in the year 1847, after twelve years of medical 
 practice in Boston, refused permission to attend 
 the lectures of Harvard Medical College, that 
 fact would seem to furnish an additional reason 
 why the city should provide, at its own expense, 
 those means of superior education which, by 
 supplying our girls with occupation and objects of 
 interest, would not only save them from lives of 
 frivolity and emptiness, but which might open the
 
 358 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 way to many useful and lucrative pursuits, and so 
 raise them above that degrading dependence, so 
 fruitful a source of female misery. 
 
 " Reserving a more full exposition of the subject 
 to future occasions, your remonstrant, in paying 
 her tax for the current year, begs leave to protest 
 against the injustice and inequalities above pointed 
 out. 
 
 " This is respectfully submitted, 
 
 " HARRIET K. HUNT. 
 
 " Green Street, Boston, October 18, 1852." 
 
 Return we to the branch of the subject we were 
 considering, i. e. the more recent manifestations. 
 
 The narrative following is given in the words 
 of a party who had been one of the bitterest 
 enemies of the spirit doctrine, and had omitted 
 no opportunity of holding it up to ridicule. In 
 a commendable spirit of candour, he gave equal 
 publicity to his altered views, and announced that 
 the phenomena which had so deeply impressed 
 him, had been likewise witnessed by gentlemen 
 in whom there was every reason to place implicit 
 confidence, and w r hom the community would 
 readily acquit of any disposition to deceive. He 
 alluded to two eminent members of the bar, men 
 of deep sagacity and clear judgment. 
 
 " No one was present at this interview except 
 the gentlemen named, Mr. Cooper, Mrs. Cooper,
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 359 
 
 and her young child. The cloth was removed 
 from the table. The company then seated them- 
 selves around the table, so far removed therefrom 
 as to preclude the possibility of its being moved 
 by any one of the company unobserved by the 
 rest. When commanded to move, the table would 
 move in the direction required, a distance of six, 
 and in some instances, of twelve inches. One of 
 the gentlemen then desired mentally that it should 
 be thrown over, and it was promptly done. All 
 these things were done with no human power ope- 
 rating upon the table. The gentlemen then took a 
 book, and placing it under the table, requested the 
 spirits to write therein. The leaves in the book soon 
 began to rustle ; soon after, the pencil was thrown 
 upon the floor, and then the book was violently 
 pulled from the hands of the party holding it. 
 One of the gentlemen, in whose hands the book 
 was torn and written in, declares upon his veracity 
 that he knows it was done by some agency in- 
 visible to human sight. When the party was at a 
 distance from the table, in answer to a request 
 that some manifestation might be made which 
 should be entirely satisfactory, the table was 
 thrown over with so great violence as to break 
 the rim thereof in several places. That the phe- 
 nomena detailed above were actually witnessed, it 
 were the extremest folly to deny. The testimony
 
 360 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 establishing their genuineness can in no manner 
 be shaken." 
 
 The attention of every person in the slightest 
 degree interested in the matter, is now earnestly 
 called to a very recent communication from a 
 gentleman of high literary attainments in the 
 United States. Press and mercantile connexions, 
 as usual, render it unadvisable that his name (far 
 from unknown in literary circles here), should be 
 given at length. And so long at least as such 
 subjects of discussion are liable to be tainted with 
 that personality which is the besetting sin of 
 American journalism, this reason must be allowed 
 its full force. 
 
 "Gloucester, Mass., July 18th, 1852. 
 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 * * * * 
 
 "With regard to the rapping phenomena, I can 
 only say they continue to excite the wonder and 
 speculation of inquirers, philosophical and un- 
 philosophical. There is no abatement as yet in 
 the frequency and extraordinary character of the 
 manifestations, although a person who has the 
 candour to say he has heard and seen such and 
 such things, is still distrusted by the public as a 
 visionary or a dupe. * * * I am inclined to 
 refer these phenomena to the same group with
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 361 
 
 those which puzzled the English public some 
 years since, at the Rev. Edward Irving's chapel. 
 I think also that they will be eventually admitted 
 by physiological science, together with many of 
 the facts in witchcraft, supposed now to be ex- 
 ploded, but which are as well attested as any his- 
 torical facts of their age, and which were fully 
 credited by grave and intelligent men. Here is 
 something that appeals directly to the material 
 senses, requiring no stimulus of the imagination, 
 no abandonment of one's coolest judgment, to 
 see, hear, and feel. It is now upwards of two 
 years, that I have been personally familiar with 
 these phenomena, missing few opportunities that 
 I have had of seeing them. I have witnessed 
 them under various circumstances, and in the 
 presence of various media, seven or eight in all. 
 All these are females, but some of the best media 
 have been males. My interest has been confined 
 to the purely physical phenomena, to the peculiar 
 'rappings,' and other sounds, the violent and 
 extraordinary movements, the tippings of tables, 
 &c. The tests of spiritual presence, apart from 
 these material manifestations, so inexplicable and 
 singular, have always been to me unsatisfactory ; 
 not that they were not at times very extraordinary, 
 but because I had, many years since, repeatedly 
 been familiar with phenomena in mesmerism and 
 clairvoyance of the same kind. The questioning 
 
 K
 
 362 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 and examining of the supposed spirits have 
 always been to me exceedingly tedious ; and know- 
 ing the inconsistencies, absurdities, and palpable 
 delusions, which the uncharitable might call auda- 
 cious falsehoods, which, side by side with many 
 extraordinary revelations or hits, were in the 
 habit of being uttered on these occasions, I have 
 made no account of them whatever, although they 
 doubtless have their weight in a philosophical 
 consideration of the subject. But when I have 
 seen tables moving about, or balanced on two 
 legs, and keeping most perfect time to music, 
 when I have felt the most unmistakable vibra- 
 tions, pulsations I might call them, in the wood ; 
 have heard loud, various, and inexplicable noises, 
 and have seen, felt, and heard these things under 
 circumstances when, with every wish to detect 
 imposture, with (originally) a strong aversion to 
 the establishment of the phenomena, when I and 
 accompanying friends have witnessed these things 
 under circumstances which precluded the belief 
 in imposture, or trick, or mechanical apparatus, or 
 concealed magnets, when I have the testimony 
 of thousands of trustworthy and unprejudiced 
 persons from all parts of the country, attesting to 
 phenomena precisely similar, I am compelled to 
 the conclusion that it cannot be said of them, 
 ' there is nothing in them.' Our scientific peo- 
 ple ignore the subject, because they cannot pre-
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 363 
 
 scribe conditions. For instance, one says 'Let 
 me put a needle wider a bell-glass, and if your 
 medium can cause it to vibrate, without moving 
 the table, I will believe.' 
 
 " What if he were to say to a nervous patient, 
 ' I don't believe that you feel so and so, because 
 you don't feel so now, when I am by, and holding 
 your hand.' It strikes me that the test is not a 
 final one ; and I do not see why I should disbe- 
 lieve I have seen a table move, because I do not 
 see a needle do the same. 
 
 * * # * 
 
 "S." 
 
 The next communication of still more recent 
 date is from the hand of a gentleman of Balti- 
 more, who, at the time of the writer's visit to Bos- 
 ton, was staying at the latter place, and apparently 
 paying no further attention to the " rappings " 
 than such as one might consider due to an inge- 
 nious hoax. It will be seen that his opinions 
 notlightly formed nor lightly changed have never- 
 theless undergone considerable modification. 
 
 " Baltimore, Maryland, Aug. 10. 
 
 " MY DEAR S., 
 
 " The position of affairs with respect to the 
 manifestations, remains unaltered by any new 
 developments, since your departure from Ame- 
 
 R 2
 
 364 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 rica; but the number of telegraph lines to the 
 other world, or media, are multiplying in all di- 
 rections with a rapidity truly wonderful ; and, to 
 many, somewhat alarming. I find, by an item in 
 this morning's paper, that a convention of * Spi- 
 ritualists ' has been held at Boston, and resolved 
 into a permanent organisation. 
 
 " This really curious subject, as you rightly 
 term it, is cutting a wide swathe through the esta- 
 blished common-sense experiences of our people, 
 and leaving behind it insanities and hallucinations 
 of a most distressing character ; not unfrequently 
 productive of results of far top grave a nature to 
 be referred to a cause so shallow as mere charla- 
 tanism, or trickery of designing persons. 
 
 " My own experience is limited to three visits 
 to a house in East Boston; the medium, Miss 
 Ada Hoyt (not, I believe, the same you visited), 
 when the phenomena exhibited were merely those 
 common to all such performances, namely, tap- 
 pings, spelling out sentences, either in answer to 
 questions, or in voluntary communications, an- 
 swered by the signs of yes and no, and movements 
 of the table. / am satisfied that they are phe- 
 nomena ; that they are not produced or controlled 
 by any agency on the hither side of nature. I am 
 more inclined to call them su 5-natural, than super- 
 natural ; but certainly they lie out of the jurisdic- 
 tion of an established code of physical laws. The
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 365 
 
 tappings or knockings, were not produced by any 
 material substance striking against the table. This 
 we demonstrated by laying the ear close upon the 
 table, under which circumstances the sound was 
 no greater, (rather more dull), than when listened 
 to from above the table. On the other hand, a 
 very faint tap with the finger-nail, scarcely audi- 
 ble to a person beside me, was heard, much aug- 
 mented in sound, by an ear laid against the table 
 at the other end. At one time the tappings ap- 
 peared to cover the entire under-surface of the 
 table, as though all of us had been drumming with 
 our finger-nails at the same time. The table was 
 lifted from the floor ', and moved aside, while four 
 
 of us (Dr. C . . . ., the two Messrs. O , and 
 
 myself) were grasping it firmly, and pressing it 
 directly downwards. We held communications 
 with the unseen intelligences, but I am sorry to 
 say their contributions to our desire for knowledge 
 were of no substantial value. Indeed, with a few 
 slightly indicated exceptions, the set we had fallen 
 in with seemed to have little respectability to com- 
 mend them. They were, in truth, a shabby crew. 
 They would lie, and the truth was not in them. 
 They would seldom have the decency to confess 
 their ignorance of any subject on which they were 
 questioned, but answered generally very promptly. 
 Occasionally we detected one passing himself off 
 for another whose name he had assumed. The
 
 366 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 most entertaining of the party was one ' Colonel 
 Mark Fiske ' (so he announced himself) , of Derry, 
 New Hampshire, who resigned his commission in 
 the State militia, and his country farm, some twelve 
 years ago, and departed for ' the other side.' 
 His individuality was really brought out with a 
 wonderful distinctness in the conversations we 
 kept up with him; his conduct was remarkably 
 and consistently characteristic throughout. He 
 would drum upon the table to music whistled, 
 sung, or played upon the piano. On one occa- 
 sion he asked me for a song, by beating its pecu- 
 liar measure upon the table, so that it was in- 
 stantly recognised by several at once." 
 
 Another correspondent (I believe I may ven- 
 ture to name my friend, Dr. Coale, of Boston) , 
 writing an account of this manifestation, in igno- 
 rance that I had received one from another source, 
 observes : 
 
 " Another thing worthy of note was the loud- 
 ness of the raps given by a spirit who calls him- 
 self ' Colonel Mark Fiske.' These were as loud, 
 if not louder, than I would like to give with my 
 knuckles on a table. They jarred the whole table, 
 making the leaf fly up ! They were also dis- 
 tinctly (so much so as to leave no doubt of the 
 fact) made on different parts of the table, some- 
 times before me, sometimes another of the com- 
 pany, as requested. Once, a mere gentle tapping
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 367 
 
 was heard, and the medium spelled out the mes- 
 sage privately ; then, colouring deeply, remarked 
 to her mother, that it was ' William.' .... 
 
 " The movement of the table was, however, very 
 remarkable. Three of my friends present, all 
 able-bodied men, and of good weight, tried to hold 
 the table down, while I also did my utmost to 
 keep it firm. It was, however, raised from the 
 ground, and swayed to and fro, the medium re- 
 remaining perfectly passive, and laughing at our 
 ineffectual efforts to resist the movement." 
 My former correspondent continues : 
 " Perhaps the most unlocked for and startling 
 communication, made to me directly and spon- 
 taneously, was the name of a gentleman, Dr. , 
 
 of , who, four years ago, was one of a party 
 
 with whom I passed a day in the harbour, fishing. 
 I was particularly charmed with him, and during 
 the sail back to the city, we sat on the deck toge- 
 ther in the stern of the yacht for an hour or two, 
 in very entertaining conversation. I never saw 
 him before or since. He was a young physician 
 of remarkable talents, and son of a wealthy resi- 
 dent of . A few months subsequent to our 
 
 meeting, while suffering from mental derange- 
 ment, induced by private troubles, he drowned 
 himself in the harbour, going out alone, in a small 
 boat, for the purpose. His name was most un- 
 expectedly spelt to me (the spirit having an-
 
 368 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 nounced himself as a friend of mine), but his 
 communications went no further than the state- 
 ment that we had last met in Boston, in the month 
 of June, and parted at eight o'clock. The month 
 and the hour differed from my recollection at the 
 moment, but I afterwards ascertained them to be 
 correct. I made a number of experiments with 
 singular results. I wrote the initials of several 
 persons deceased on a small piece of paper, and 
 turned it face downward upon the table, not com- 
 municating the fact to any one present. The 
 names were accurately spelt to me, and personal 
 peculiarities were mentioned. These, and a num- 
 ber of other experiments, were made to ascertain 
 the source whence the rappers procured their in- 
 formation. My decided opinion is, that much of 
 it is directly filched from the questioner. I de- 
 tected my friend Colonel Fiske even picking my 
 pocket (metaphorically or spiritually speak- 
 ing) of information, and rapping it back to me 
 through the table, to make it appear that he was 
 more familiar with me and my surroundings than 
 I knew to be the case. Many of their answers 
 appear to be given upon a perception of what is 
 articulated in the external mind of the questioner 
 what the questioner ' says to himself,' as the 
 phrase is. I have witnessed this kind of sympathy 
 (in private and interesting experiments in mesme- 
 rism) between the mesmeriser and the subject;
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 369 
 
 and this suggested the scrutiny which convinced 
 me that these spirits are brought by your own act, 
 so nearly into a consociation with you, as to be 
 enabled to copy from that external region of the 
 mind, what you ' say to yourself.' 
 
 " For example, I will give you an instance in 
 in which my friend, the Colonel, manifestly to my 
 mind, followed the course of my own mental per- 
 ceptions. I noticed that when he asked what I 
 already knew, the answer came more promptly 
 than when such was not the case. In these ques- 
 tions, I expected the answers, in fact, designed 
 the questions to draw certain ones only. The 
 Colonel spelt my names correctly, using an initial 
 only for the middle one. I then asked him for 
 that middle name, 'as that was my military name.' 
 He spelled it promptly. ' You have known some 
 of that name before?' Yes. 'Where? In this 
 country?' No. 'England?' No. 'Scotland?' 
 Yes. (Scotland being what I anticipated from the 
 first.) ' Perhaps you know the name of the old 
 estate in Scotland from which we came ? " Yes. 
 ' Will you name it ? ' The name I wanted was 
 Auchentorlie, a word which I do not remember to 
 have heard from the lips of any but my own house- 
 hold here certainly known to none of those pre- 
 sent except my brother, my uncle, and myself. 
 Now, I commonly pronounce this name as though 
 the first syllable were spelt with a k instead of the 
 
 R5
 
 370 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 h, not caring to strive after the Gaelic guttural, ch. 
 So the Colonel began " A, u, c, k, e, n, t. When 
 the k appeared, I noticed the coincidence with my 
 own pronunciation, but also noticed it as an error, 
 and was speculating thereon while the spelling of 
 the word was progressing, but the Colonel pulled 
 up at t, and announced a mistake. I questioned 
 upon each of the letters backwards, and the k was 
 declared wrong and an h substituted ; and then 
 the remainder of the word 'orlie' was cor- 
 rectly added. I made many of these experiments 
 in company with three scientific gentlemen two 
 of them gross misbelievers. That we were com- 
 municating with an intelligence not embodied in 
 flesh, we did not doubt. As to the worth of the 
 communications received, we were equally agreed. 
 Some three or four hours, in all, were filled with 
 incidents of the same sort as those I have de- 
 scribed, and which, I presume, do not differ from 
 what you have already heard, and perhaps wit- 
 nessed. The most astounding circumstance con- 
 nected with the whole subject, to my mind, is that 
 so large a number of persons seem to have adopted 
 the matter into their most familiar daily expe- 
 riences ; and use it with as little apparent idea of 
 its extraordinary character, as they do the post- 
 office or the telegraph. 
 
 " It is curious, or rather fearful, to see to what 
 extent the fallacies prevail, that every communi-
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 371 
 
 cation made from the other world by supernatural 
 means, must be true ; and that a man, because he 
 has stripped off his carcase and gone into that 
 world, has immediately entered upon the posses- 
 sion of all knowledge ' Let him that is unjust be 
 unjust still, and let him that is filthy be filthy still.' 
 It is a fruitful theme for reflection, too, to observe 
 how barren is the theology of the day of any means 
 to give its believers a rational solution and mas- 
 tery of these phenomena; or, even if the subject 
 is to be treated as humbug, to give them the power 
 to maintain their freedom against it. I saw the 
 nerves of men shaken by it, who were very brave 
 in face of anything that stands upon earth. To 
 me, the spirits we conversed with seemed real 
 individuals, but, as I said before, with few excep- 
 tions, of a low and insignificant character. I must 
 confess that I felt that I had them at an advan- 
 tage ; that I possessed a more clear, extended, and 
 rational understanding of things 'on the other 
 side ' than any of them did, thanks to an instruc- 
 tor whom I fell in with some years ago. 
 
 " I hope, but scarce expect, that you will find 
 here something material to add to the information 
 you already possess on this subject ; and &c. 
 
 " G." 
 
 Dr. Coale, after describing, in a letter dated 
 August 29th, several curious rapping incidents, 
 writes
 
 372 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 " Another remarkable manifestation I saw was 
 at a private house the medium not exhibiting for 
 money. There the table tipped and rocked, the 
 medium, two women, and a girl, just touching it 
 with the tips of their fingers. Sometimes only 
 one touched it, sometimes all three. My brother- 
 in-law tried to restrain the motion of the table, 
 but was dragged half round the room, though 
 exerting himself to a degree which caused his 
 arm to ache severely, even on the following day. 
 
 " The most striking circumstance occurred as 
 we were about to separate. We were standing in 
 promiscuous groups about the room, only the me- 
 dium being near the table, and she was engaged 
 in conversation, so that her attention was not 
 drawn to the table at all. A gentleman asked for 
 a message for his wife, who was present. The 
 table tipped so as to spell out * Be faithful, and 
 do your duty.' " 
 
 This seems conclusively to remove all suspi- 
 cion that the table was moved (either consciously 
 or the reverse) at the will of the medium. These 
 are the facts of the case. Now, what is the theory ? 
 I have been told by the spirits that / was a me- 
 dium, but as yet I have had no demonstrations of 
 that fact ! I am frequently asked, Can spirits be 
 engaged in works like these ? I reply with the 
 anecdote, related, I believe, of Erskine. Arguing 
 for the hypothesis that cats were in possession of
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 873 
 
 souls, his opponent thought he had driven him 
 into a corner by describing a soul, and asking 
 him solemnly whether, in his heart, he believed 
 that a cat could possess such a thing ? " No," said 
 Erskine, " Cat body, cat soul" 
 
 So with these spirits. Does death of necessity 
 change the complete identity of both body and 
 soul ? If not, one can readily conceive of some 
 noisy, gossiping, busybody, some practical jester, 
 amusing himself by such frivolities as tipping 
 chairs and tables, drumming, &c. There is no 
 reason that he should know any more of the spirit- 
 land les arcanes celestes than a sailor who 
 has been at Marseilles should know of France. 
 
 " The theory of wilful imposture must, at all 
 events, be thrown aside. Media are now numbered 
 by thousands, and, among these, are numerous 
 persons of both sexes whose station and charac- 
 ter alone seem to preclude the possibility of im- 
 position. Such is Judge Edmonds, of whom you 
 have heard." 
 
 With a few words respecting the manifestations 
 in England, I will conclude this chapter. Mrs. 
 Hayden, a medium of no great celebrity, whom 
 I met in the States, (and who is mentioned in the 
 introductory chapter as having been made the sub- 
 ject of a somewhat scurrilous article in the House- 
 hold Words), arrived in England three months 
 since. I have before me a list of fourteen houses
 
 374 LATEST INCIDENTS. 
 
 of the first distinction, at which she has attended 
 by invitation ; meeting, at each, a circle of from 
 ten to fifteen persons, chiefly from the ranks 
 of fashion and nobility, the Guards and Turf 
 Club supplying a liberal quota, and the savans 
 being in a decided minority. With circles thus 
 constituted, wherein no other harmony than that 
 of a disposition to jest could possibly be found, it 
 is not surprising that (apart from the ever-puzzling 
 sounds) the results obtained were few and uncon- 
 vincing. The gentlemen deputed from House- 
 hold Words to collect materials for a funny article, 
 appear indeed to have fulfilled their duty with the 
 happiest success. Regarded, however, as an in- 
 quisitorial visit, in protection of an innocent pub- 
 lic it must be viewed as an equally signal failure. 
 Grinning faces, the buffoonery of assumed names, 
 exchange of gestures, proposal of absurd ques- 
 tions, &c., are the most certain means of retard- 
 ing that discovery which silence, harmony, and a 
 determination to give full scope to the theory, 
 might possibly enable us to make. 
 
 Even, however, under the disadvantages alluded 
 to, some singular results have not unfrequently 
 been obtained. A circumstance, for example, 
 occurred in a circle assembled at the house of a 
 lady, not far from Park Lane, to the correctness of 
 which, as stated below by one of the party present, 
 I can myself bear personal testimony.
 
 LATEST INCIDENTS. 375 
 
 " Until I received an invitation to join the circle 
 in Street, a few hours only before it as- 
 sembled, I had never heard of the ' manifestations,' 
 nor did I then clearly understand what I was to 
 witness. However, believing that some jugglery 
 was to be practised, I placed in my pocket a 
 curious autograph letter of considerable date. 
 During the sitting, I took the letter out, still rolled 
 up scroll-wise, the outside blank, and placed it on 
 the table, no one present but myself cognisant of 
 its nature, and none being suffered to examine it. 
 The ' spirits ' having undertaken to name the wri- 
 ter, a gentleman present, a stranger to me, took 
 the alphabet, and the rappings spelled out, without 
 hesitation, ' KING WILLIAM.' It was an autograph 
 letter of William the Third. 
 
 "E. DEST. CROIX." 
 
 The course and result of the experiment were 
 precisely as this gentleman has stated.
 
 CHAPTER, XL 
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 Demolition of former hypotheses The subject resolved into three 
 heads The mechanical theory Toe-ology. 
 
 LONG, my dear Sceptic, before we have arrived 
 at this present paragraph, it has become evident 
 to your enlightened mind that the shout of 
 "humbug" is altogether inadequate, of its barren 
 self, to stem the current of belief now setting in, 
 and bearing with it the wise, the eminent, the 
 scientific, the sincere. It has grown incumbent 
 upon you to inform these parties on what autho- 
 rity, public or private, you use that very plastic 
 and general term. 
 
 It is not in the scope of human evidence to add 
 one atom of real weight to the accumulated proof 
 that these phenomena do exist, and that, up to the 
 present moment, no mortal agency has been de- 
 tectable in their production. No nor has even 
 a plausible explanation been offered. It were a 
 waste of time and words to recall even the kernels
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 377 
 
 of these defunct hypotheses. But here are a few 
 shells : 
 
 Mesmerism, or magnetism. Why, my good 
 friend, these are of similar genus, and although 
 it be good police-policy to set a thief to catch 
 one it is scarcely permissible to explain one 
 " humbug " by another. 
 
 Clairvoyance. You have ever been sceptical, 
 on that head also. But let us see. Though clair- 
 voyance may establish rapport between two 
 minds, it can scarcely do so between a mind 
 and a table. It can neither rap, nor move a chair, 
 nor exercise any other physical power whatsoever. 
 
 Ventriloquism. A very random shot, indeed. 
 This art, a curious and very difficult one, result- 
 ing as it does from a carefully-studied computa- 
 tion of distance and effect in the science of 
 sound, possesses no such capabilities as are here 
 required. Voices, indeed, may be simulated, and, 
 as was done by the celebrated Thiemet at Paris, 
 and by others, an occasional imitative tap, or 
 other faint sound, be produced; but, even sup- 
 posing that so many thousand persons had ac- 
 quired the secret of this rare art, still the most 
 finished performance of Thiemet and the rest, 
 would lack the tone and volume, the electric 
 vibrations, and multitudinous location, which 
 characterise the rappings, while this explanation 
 leaves the physical phenomena unaccounted for 
 as before.
 
 378 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the possibility of 
 the phenomena having their origin in the meeting 
 of persons "having positive and negative rela- 
 tions." This theory, I confess, to be beyond my 
 comprehension; but allowing it the scope to 
 which it seems to lay claim, surely, in that case, 
 these manifestations would be, in all societies, of 
 daily and hourly recurrence. 
 
 Long familiarity with the wonders of modern 
 witchcraft has taught us to think with respect of 
 the noble science of mechanics, and with admira- 
 tion of the legerdemain which turns it to such 
 excellent advantage. But the dullest spectator 
 of these dark dealings knows that he is looking 
 upon purchaseable magic, spells producible by 
 any cunning craftsman, and dexterity, combined. 
 The " mysterious lady " was no doubt a wonder, 
 but whether the secret of her supernatural know- 
 ledge of "what fish you like best for dinner," 
 was based in clairvoyance, or in a clever system of 
 mnemonics, the rapport, or complicity, was an 
 admitted fact. 
 
 In the case of the rappings, complicity, and the 
 use of mechanism, have been alike proved to be 
 manifestly impossible, the most rigid search of 
 place and person having removed the latter ob- 
 jection, and the presence of a medium alone in 
 a strange circle, the former. 
 
 You ask me, however, my dear Sceptic, what I
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 379 
 
 have to say to the explicit declaration made by 
 certain members of the faculty, that these sounds 
 are producible by cracking or snapping the joints 
 of the human body. In the rapping case at 
 Pathhead, mentioned in the first chapter, the 
 medical gentleman is understood to have described 
 the process as "cracking some of the larger 
 bones ;" but as the difficulty of cracking one's own 
 back -bone, sternum, or tibia, at pleasure would 
 induce a suspicion of some error in the report, we 
 will turn rather to the physicians of Buffalo, who 
 proved by experiment that these sounds can be 
 produced by a slipping of the knee-joint. 
 
 Passing over the circumstance that your own 
 witness, my dear Sceptic, Mrs. Norman Culver, 
 referred them exclusively to the exercise of the 
 toes, as in the renowned ghost case of Cock-lane 
 memory, let us hear the faculty : 
 
 Dr. Charles Lee affirmed that sounds precisely 
 similar in character and degree to those produced 
 by the Fox family can be made by a partial dis- 
 location of the bones. This consists, he observes, 
 in the movement of the tibia outward, partly occa- 
 sioned, it would seem, by pressure in the foot 
 (there being great relaxation of the ligaments about 
 the knee-joint), but chiefly by the action of the 
 muscles of the leg below the knee. 
 
 A lady, a Mrs. P., came forward, and on her 
 the doctor proceeded to illustrate his argument.
 
 380 
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 Placing his hand on the side of the joint, he stated 
 that he felt the bone, at the instant at which the 
 double rap is heard, slipping out laterally, and as 
 suddenly slipping back again, although, he added, 
 by an effort of the will, it can be made to glide 
 back noiselessly, so that only one rap is heard. 
 
 The accompanying cuts will aid the reader, not 
 well versed in anatomy, in comprehending the 
 doctor's theory, referring the production of sound 
 to the organs and mechanism of this portion of 
 the frame :
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 381 
 
 The upper bone is the femur, or thigh bone, 
 the largest bone in the body. The rounded 
 head, at the upper extremity, attached by what is 
 called the neck, to the shaft of the bone, forming 
 with the latter an obtuse angle, enters into the 
 hip joint. The lower extremity enters into the 
 knee joint. This extremity is expanded so as to 
 form two lateral projections, which are called 
 condyls. The outer condyl (Fig. 2) is the broadest 
 and most prominent. The inner condyl (Fig. 1) 
 extends lower than the outer. Between the two 
 condyls there is a depression, or fossa. 
 
 The two bones of the leg are represented in the 
 other figure. One of these bones only enters into 
 the knee joint. This bone is called the tibia. 
 The upper extremity of the tibia is large, and ex- 
 panded on either side, forming what are termed 
 the two tuber osities. The upper surfaces of both 
 tuberosities are smooth, for the purpose of articu- 
 lating with the condyls of the femur. Fig. 1 in- 
 dicates the upper surface of the outer tuberosity, 
 which is fitted to the external condyl of the femur 
 (No. 2). Fig. 2. indicates the upper surface of 
 the other tuberosity which receives the inner con- 
 dyl of the femur (No. 1). Between the two tube- 
 rosities of the tibia is a projecting ridge of bone, 
 the spinous process, which, when the bones are in 
 contact, enters the corresponding depression, or 
 fossa, between the two condyls of the femur.
 
 382 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 In the living body, the articulating surfaces of 
 the condyls are covered with a layer of cartilage, 
 a yielding, elastic substance, commonly called 
 gristle. The articulating surfaces of the tibia are 
 also covered with the same substance, which is 
 thicker at the sides of the surface, thus forming an 
 excavation for the reception of the condyls. The 
 surfaces of the two bones thus in contact are in- 
 vested with a firm, smooth membrane, which is 
 kept moist by a little ropy fluid, to facilitate 
 motion, and prevent injury from friction. 
 
 From the formation of this joint, in so far as 
 the bones are concerned, it would naturally occur 
 to the observer that dislocations should be of fre- 
 quent occurrence. The bony conformation of the 
 joint is not such as to afford much security against 
 displacement. This, however, is provided against 
 by the patella or knee-pan in front, and by nume- 
 rous strong ligaments passing from one bone to 
 the other in different directions, and surrounding 
 the joint on every side. By this arrangement the 
 joint is, in fact, rendered the strongest in the body, 
 dislocations being extremely rare. 
 
 The protection of this joint being thus chiefly 
 due to the ligaments, it is obvious that, in propor- 
 tion as the latter may be defective, or elongated 
 in some persons, the extremities of the bones are 
 susceptible of more or less displacement from 
 their proper positions. The ridge of bone be-
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 383 
 
 tween the two articulating surfaces of the tibia 
 must be removed from its situation between the 
 condyls, and rest upon the outer condyl (Fig. 2) . 
 This movement is accompanied by a loud noise, 
 and the return of the bone to its place is attended 
 by another equally loud sound. 
 
 The confonnation of the knee suitable for rap- 
 ping is admitted to be somewhat rare. But this 
 singular power of dislocation and replacement is 
 not, it seems, confined to the knee-joint. It is 
 equally referable to the ankles and the toes. 
 First, as regard the former : rappings at the ankle 
 joint may be produced, and are explained, thus, 
 A muscle, called the peroneus longus, arises from 
 the upper part of the leg, just below the knee, and 
 terminates in a long round tendon, or sinew, or 
 chord, which passes through a groove in the 
 back part of the bony protuberance constituting 
 the outer ankle (melleolus externus). The ten- 
 don then arches forward, passes under the foot, 
 and is attached to the middle of the sole. In 
 most persons this tendon is firmly fixed in the 
 groove by ligaments, but in those who are able to 
 rap by means of this agent, it is not closely con- 
 fijied, but may be moved forward for the space of 
 an inch or more, by contraction of the muscle 
 with which it is connected, and the contraction of 
 this muscle may be produced by an exertion of 
 the will acting exclusively on it. The quick and
 
 384 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 forcible movement of the tendon over the outer 
 ankle bone causes a sound, and a second sound 
 occurs when the tendon returns to its place. The 
 proximate cause of the sounds is essentially the 
 same as when they are produced in the joints. 
 As in the latter case, the extent to which the 
 movement may be effected, the facility and force 
 with which it is done, and the corresponding 
 loudness of the sounds, will depend not a little on 
 practice. 
 
 It is stated that the medical experience of the 
 day has borne witness to more than one instance 
 of this power ; but the interest which seems ever 
 to have attached itself to these individual cases, 
 would rather constitute an argument against the 
 theory, that the thirty or forty thousand persons 
 now " rapping " produce the sounds in this wise. 
 
 In order to produce all the evidence possible, let 
 us call forward Mr. Chauncey Burr. This gentle- 
 man, a public lecturer of much ability, assisted by 
 his brother, Mr. Heman Burr, delivered a series of 
 lectures in New York, and after treating a variety 
 of philosophical and scientific subjects, proceeded, 
 in accordance with a previous announcement, to 
 expound (expose, you would say, my friend) the 
 whole system of the "Rochester rappings." This 
 he did on the principle to which I have adverted ; 
 and concluded by imitating, in his own person, the 
 mysterious sounds, so that they were distinctly
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 385 
 
 audible to the whole assemblage of a thousand or 
 fifteen hundred persons then present. Besides 
 this, a gentleman who, under the name of Shad- 
 rach Barnes, published some curious illustrations 
 of the practical working of the rapping science, 
 proved that he himself possessed the power of 
 rapping with the toes, and could reproduce some 
 of the phenomena of sound exhibited by the Fox 
 family. 
 
 Indifference to the realisation of dollars is not 
 a striking feature of transatlantic society, and, of 
 course, the " discoverers," Messrs. Burr and 
 Barnes, applied for and divided the reward that 
 had been so frequently offered in the following 
 advertisement : 
 
 " 1,000 DOLLARS REWARD. 
 
 "I hereby offer the sum of One Thousand 
 Dollars to the person who will satisfactorily ex- 
 plain the phenomena of the so-called ' Spiritual 
 Manifestations,' without reference to their being 
 made, as they purport to be, by departed spirits. 
 
 " I am induced to make the above offer, from 
 having seen various articles in the newspapers, in 
 relation to the so-called ' Spirit Rappings,' in 
 which many hard names are used, denouncing 
 those who believe in them. 
 
 " Believing, as I do, that it is much more easy 
 to cry 'humbug,' than it is to explain these 
 
 s
 
 386 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 things, the above reward is offered in good faith, 
 and will be promptly paid. 
 
 "DANIEL DAVIS, 
 " Magnetic Instrument Maker, 
 " 428, Washington Street. 
 
 "Feb. 16." 
 
 They did nothing of the kind. The truth is, that 
 their explanation, though ingenious enough, was 
 far from sufficiently complete in all its details, to 
 satify the candid inquirer. That Mr. Burr, and 
 probably Mr. Shadrach Barnes, did produce cer- 
 tain cracks or snaps from their knees, ankles, and 
 toes, there is no sort of question. -Much, how- 
 ever, depends upon the character of these sounds. 
 Fingers may be snapped and cracked with the 
 greatest ease. I myself had a sister, one of whose 
 juvenile amusements it was to put her fingers and 
 thumbs out of joint, and replace them with a click 
 (I believe she retains the accomplishment), to the 
 great derangement of my nervous system. No 
 doubt, there are persons who, like Mr. Newman 
 Noggs, enjoy this gift of dislocation and replace- 
 ment. 
 
 The difficulty, in fact, rests here. Sounds, so 
 produced, are peculiar, generic, and not to be 
 mistaken. Their apparent location cannot, as in 
 the case of ventriloquism, be altered at pleasure. 
 An ear- witness declared that the sounds produced
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 387 
 
 by Mr. Burr were so far from being identical with 
 the spirit-rappings, as to force the hearers to the 
 conclusion that they could not be produced by the 
 same means. As easily, indeed, might the notes 
 of the flute and the trumpet be referred to the 
 same instrument. There was a peculiar roll and 
 ring in the mysterious sounds, which Mr. Burr 
 admitted that he was unable to produce, though 
 averring that he would do so thereafter. 
 
 It is true that Mr. Burr dissented from this doc- 
 trine, and argued stoutly for similarity of " snap" 
 considering that there were at least jive circum- 
 stances which vary the volume and tone of the 
 sounds, although they were, in all the media, pro- 
 duced in the same way : 
 
 1. The size and strength of the toe. 
 
 2. The tightness of the shoe. 
 
 3. The thickness and dryness of the sole. 
 
 4. The moisture or dryness of the foot. 
 
 5. The substance on which the rapper stands 
 or sits. 
 
 But he forgets that in cases where the feet of 
 the medium were bound up, or held, the rappings 
 continued as before. And the absence of those 
 electrical vibrations which have been proved to 
 accompany the "spirit rappings," also weighs 
 heavily against Mr. Burr's theory. 
 
 We arrive, then, at the conclusion, that, if Mr. 
 Burr's sounds are produced by the toe-joints, then 
 
 s2
 
 388 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 must the original rappings be accounted for some 
 other way. 
 
 Eminent surgeons have declared that any such 
 use, or rather misuse, of one's joints, would very 
 soon destroy them. But there are further objec- 
 tions to this knee-hypothesis, viz., the knocking 
 out of facts that knee-joints could never reveal ; 
 the beating of the notes of music so correctly that 
 the nicest musical ear could detect no variance ; 
 the turning over of tables, a species of knocking 
 that knee-joints could hardly accomplish, which 
 has been performed with the medium held fast, 
 hands and feet; the uncertainty of obtaining re- 
 sponses to questions, which, if humbug were me- 
 ditated, w r ould never occur till the joints gave 
 out ; these are things that need explaining. We 
 have seen and heard these phenomena so strong, 
 that the knee and tocology fail to convince us of 
 their fallacy. It were better to accept the spiritual 
 theory, as inconsistent and irrational as its op- 
 ponents declare it, than this disjointed humbug 
 about knee-pans and great toes ! The argument 
 is too confined. Serious consideration makes it 
 dumb. The knee, as was observed by a Boston 
 wag, becomes a ne-gation, and the toe-ology fails 
 in io-to! 
 
 Hold, however, for a moment. Fair play for 
 Mr. Burr, no less than for his intended victims. 
 Did he do nothing more to convince his audience
 
 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 389 
 
 that the whole was a delusion and a snare ? Yes ; 
 to be sure. He demonstrated the mode of reply- 
 ing to questions mentally asked by parties pre- 
 sent. A young man being singled out from the 
 company, Mr. Bun* first asked the usual question, 
 " Are any spirits present ?" and was answered by 
 three distinct raps, signifying an affirmative. He 
 then requested the young man to think of some 
 deceased friend with whom he desired to com- 
 municate, and, calling for the alphabet, rapped 
 out letters composing the name MARY. 
 
 This the young man declared was correct ! 
 
 And thus (rejoins Sceptic, with a slight superior 
 smile) you have, barring a certain admitted differ- 
 ence in the nature of the sounds, the whole phe- 
 nomenon of the Rochester knockings reproduced. 
 
 Exactly, my dear friend, with this slight ad- 
 dendum, that this interesting young gentleman, 
 the beloved of "Mary," whose name Mr. Burr 
 affected not to know, confessed, shortly after, to 
 the editor of a Providence paper, or his corres- 
 pondent, that the Burrs knew his name, and that 
 he had been engaged expressly for the purpose 
 of practising the deception ! 
 
 And if you will permit me to anticipate a little, 
 I will put in a "certificate" in reference to 
 another medium, a Mrs. Tambin, which may tend 
 still further to satisfy your scruples on the subject 
 of the toe-ology :
 
 390 MECHANICAL, OR BY COLLUSION. 
 
 " Syracuse, N. Y., Monday, Feb. 3rd, 1851. 
 
 " I hereby certify that I was present at the 
 house of Mr. G. B. Bennet, in Auburn, N. Y., on 
 the 16th day of February, 1850, for the purpose 
 of investigating the 'rapping,' and the pheno- 
 mena connected therewith; that Mrs. Sarah A. 
 Tambin was the medium; that I was in doubt 
 about the source of the sounds ; that I magnetised 
 the medium, Mrs. T., placed her feet on a 
 chair, paralysed her limbs, so that she could not 
 move, or make any effort to do so, without my ob- 
 serving it, even if they had not been paralysed ; 
 that I then heard the sounds, loud and distinct, 
 on a table at least twelve feet from the medium or 
 any other person, on the wall near the table, on 
 the chair in which I sat, producing an evident jar 
 on the back of the chair in which the medium, 
 Mrs. T., sat, and in other places about the room, 
 and I know that she could not have made them 
 by any movement of her body or joints, FOR SHE 
 
 COULD NOT MOVE. 
 
 (Signed) " HEZEKIAH JOSLYN, M.D. 
 
 "Subscribed and sworn before me, this Feb. 
 3rd, 1851." 
 
 Having thus dealt, at perhaps more than suffi- 
 cient length, with the only portion of this branch 
 of the subject worth notice, we proceed to, at least, 
 a more plausible theory.
 
 .391 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 Arguments and experiments favouring the theory of common elec- 
 tricity The Magnetoscope Arguments and illustrations in oppo- 
 sition to the former theory Vitalized animal electricity Dr. Du 
 Bois Reymond Theory of Dr. Richmond New proposed theory 
 Mr. Rogers, &c. The last guess, &c. 
 
 THE failure of every attempt to account for 
 the phenomena, by tracing them to mechanical 
 contrivance, having forced investigation into new 
 channels, none offered itself so readily as that all- 
 powerful, and hitherto little comprehended agent 
 electricity. This bright idea, once started, re- 
 ceived abundant confirmation, and as it is clearly 
 difficult to define the properties, or set bounds to 
 the power of what is confessedly not understood, 
 the ground now occupied seemed tenable enough. 
 
 Perhaps the consciousness that should this new 
 explanation fail, they might be irresistibly borne 
 into the ranks of the spirit-theorists, might have 
 led some persons to stretch their electric " proofs" 
 unwarrantably far. It must be admitted, never-
 
 392 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 theless, that very many circumstances combined 
 to give colour to the present hypothesis. 
 
 " When, for instance," says Mr. Fishbough, 
 " the sounds proceed from a door, they always, to 
 the superficial observer, appear to be made by a 
 rapping upon the opposite side of it. If, how- 
 ever, a person placed himself on that side, he on 
 his part would hear the sounds from the side on 
 which the first person stood. This fact of the 
 apparent opposition of the sounds was noticed in 
 the phenomena so well-known to have occurred 
 in the house of the father of John Wesley. 
 
 " But a more critical examination has disclosed 
 to me the fact that the sounds proceed from neither 
 side of the resonant substance, but from within 
 it, and that they consist of a concussion among 
 the particles of the substance in which they occur, 
 slightly resembling an explosion. The fact is 
 distinctly perceptible when the ear is placed near 
 where the sounds are made, and when these are 
 compared with those produced by a rap of the 
 knuckles. The sounds are characterised by a 
 kind of vibrating, sepulchral rumble, and not by 
 that hard exterior crack which is produced by 
 striking the substance from which they proceed. 
 They are not, therefore, produced by a 'rapping' 
 or a ' knocking,' and cannot be exactly imitated 
 by that process. I speak now of the sounds 
 which occur in ordinary manifestations, and in
 
 ELECTRICAL. 393 
 
 answering questions, &c. There are sometimes, 
 however, sounds produced evidently by concus- 
 sion mainly upon the surface of the resounding 
 substance; but these occur but rarely. I have 
 heard them on two different occasions, on both of 
 which they were as loud as if the blow had been 
 struck with a heavy muffled mallet." 
 
 In the chapter in which I have mentioned my 
 own personal experiences, the knockings said to 
 have been made by the gallant Colonel Fiske 
 were given as loudly and distinctly as though 
 some one had walked up to the table and struck 
 it repeatedly with his fist, as one might do to en- 
 force silence. 
 
 (A recent correspondent writes, " I have heard 
 these inexplicable sounds imitate the tattoo of a 
 drum, in the most perfect manner, though not 
 loud." (In the case of the noises, &c., at Slawen- 
 sick, mentioned in the first chapter, the distant 
 beating of a drum was a favorite variety of the 
 disturbances.) 
 
 " Others have heard the sounds so loud as to 
 be startling in the extreme. Many other imita- 
 tions, such as the sound of a cooper's mallet, &c., 
 I have heard, and these imitations were executed 
 with surprising accuracy." 
 
 It is worth while to collect the evidence of 
 persons, each a stranger to the other, and that 
 other's views. 
 
 s 5
 
 394 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 Says Mr. Fishbough, " This interior concussion 
 of particles, so to speak, which occurs in the ordi- 
 nary sounds, can be attributed to no other cause 
 than the permeation and action of some subtle 
 essence analogous to electricity. It is accordingly 
 another important fact, that persons of delicate 
 nerves can generally feel abundant evidence of 
 the action of such an essence, while the pheno- 
 mena in question are occurring. If, for instance, 
 the points of the fingers are placed near where the 
 sounds are produced, a slight tingle will be felt 
 in the fingers, hands, and arms of the susceptible, 
 precisely resembling a slight shock from a gal- 
 vanic battery." 
 
 Another, a friend of my own, writes, " I have 
 frequently felt an electrical sensation in the wood ;" 
 and, in another communication, he mentions the 
 peculiar sensation experienced by applying the 
 tips of the fingers, however slightly, to the sur- 
 face of the table. 
 
 Another remarks that often, " just before the 
 rappings commence, a crackling, hissing sound is 
 distinguishable, precisely like the escape of elec- 
 tricity from the prime conductor, or from an over- 
 charged Leyden jar." 
 
 I was, myself, as I have mentioned, impressed 
 with the idea of the presence of electricity. But 
 let us rather hear the scientific : 
 
 A physician, of Buffalo, in speaking of the elec-
 
 ELECTRICAL. 395 
 
 trical theory, mentions the fact of a gentleman of 
 Main Street, well-known in the community, having 
 the power to generate sufficient electricity in his 
 own person, to produce rappings, when laying his 
 arm upon the table ; but if he leans his head 
 back against the wall, the rappings suddenly 
 cease, the wall probably affording a better con- 
 ductor. 
 
 Mr. Fishbough was acquainted with a person 
 subject to remarkable psychological experiences, 
 who was able, by a mere effort of will, to fill his 
 hair so full of electricity, that, on passing a comb 
 through it, it would appear to be almost in a con- 
 tinuous flame, emitting sparks, and slight but per- 
 ceptible shocks, when the knuckle of another 
 
 person was presented He explained 
 
 in vague terms how he did it, but it was altogether 
 by a psychological process, of which any one in 
 a normal condition would be incapable. 
 
 A similar case is stated to have attracted much 
 attention in one of the German cities, last winter, 
 the report of which, in announcing what it de- 
 scribes as a new phenomenon, affirms that a lady, 
 on the evening of the 25th of January, became so 
 highly charged with electricity, as to give out 
 vivid electrical sparks from the end of each finger, 
 to the face of each of the company present. 
 " She was constantly charged, and giving off elec- 
 trical sparks to every conductor she approached.
 
 396 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 This was extremely vexatious, as she could not 
 touch the stove or any other metallic substance, 
 without first giving off an electrical spark, with the 
 consequent twinge. 
 
 "The state most favourable to this phenomenon, 
 was an atmosphere of about 8 Fahrenheit, mode- 
 rate exercise, and social enjoyment. It disap- 
 peared in an atmosphere approaching zero, and 
 under the debilitating effect of fear." 
 
 When seated by the stove, reading, with her 
 feet upon the fender, this highly charged lady 
 emitted sparks at the rate of three or four a 
 minute ; while, under the most favourable cir- 
 cumstances, a spark that could be seen, heard, 
 and felt, passed every second ! She could charge 
 others in the same way, when insulated, who 
 could, in their turn, as it seemed, give off their 
 supplementary sparks to others. No change of 
 dress altered the phenomenon ; cotton or woollen 
 producing the same effects as silk. The lady was 
 about thirty years of age, and in rather delicate 
 health, having suffered for two years from severe 
 neuralgic affections. 
 
 It would, in short, appear that the singular 
 phenomenon which so alarmed poor Casca, was 
 by no means the "portentous thing" he consi- 
 dered it: 
 
 " A common slave (you know him well by sight), 
 Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
 
 ELECTRICAL. 397 
 
 Like twenty torches joined; and yet his hand 
 Not sensible of fire remained unscorched !" 
 
 The emission of electric sparks from the hair, 
 however, as well as from a silk handkerchief, or a 
 cat's back, are common phenomena enough ; the 
 only interesting feature being, as mentioned in 
 the former of these two cases, the production of 
 the fluid at will, and the question it suggests, how- 
 far the power of doing so has been partaken by 
 the Misses Fox, and the media generally. 
 
 In an investigation which took place in April 
 last, with a view to the elucidation of this especial 
 question, it was found that a family of three per- 
 sons could, by the combined forces of the elec- 
 tricity generated in their several systems, so charge 
 a stand, or light work-table, as to cause it to shake, 
 and, by commanding (i. e. willing], even to move 
 slightly along the floor. It was, moreoyer, ascer- 
 tained that these parties, and probably not they 
 alone, but almost any family circle, might place 
 their hands on the table, and, in a few minutes, 
 the electricity would operate upon their hands 
 and arms exactly as it would by holding the balls 
 of a galvanic battery, and would similarly affect 
 the system. 
 
 The Buffalo physician before-mentioned/noticed 
 at a meeting of investigation, among other things 
 favourable to the electrical hypothesis, that, in 
 placing his foot under the dress of one of the Fox
 
 398 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 media, he could feel electrical concussions as dis- 
 tinctly "as though a succession of snow-balls 
 were let fall upon his boot." 
 
 That although the Foxes could produce sounds 
 upon the door at the distance of ten or twenty 
 feet, yet the nearer they approached the more dis- 
 tinct and rapid the knocks became. And when 
 they put a hand upon the door, or even touched it 
 slightly with the end of one finger, the door was 
 often made to shake as though struck with a 
 hammer. 
 
 That articles of wood, paper, or metal, were 
 thrown about in the wildest confusion, while those 
 composed of cloth were not touched at all. He 
 likewise observed that a large bell, placed under 
 the table, during the sitting, in jumping up against 
 the table, invariably struck exactly opposite a 
 metal candlestick, which was standing on the 
 table. If the candlestick was moved, the bell fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Dr. Richmond, of Jefferson, Ohio, remarks : 
 " Every medium that I have ever questioned, and 
 they have been numerous, say they feel in the 
 wrists and arms, during rapping and writing, elec- 
 tric currents, or numbness and slight shocks re- 
 sembling electric shocks. In some this fact is 
 marked, the arm being numb and painful to the 
 shoulder. One medium, a physician, can produce 
 this numbness by his will at any time. Numb-
 
 ELECTRICAL. 399 
 
 ness or shocks are periodical, coming on when 
 sitting in a circle." 
 
 In Woodbridge, New Jersey, some years since, 
 a young lady was affected with a disease which 
 gave rise to similar phenomena. Sounds were 
 heard in her presence,* window-panes were 
 broken, door panels were burst in or out, and 
 quick, concussive sounds were heard under her 
 feet as she ascended stairs. 
 
 The reasons for ascribing certain of the strange 
 manifestations in the family of the Rev. Dr. 
 Phelps (supra) to the effect of animal electricity 
 have been already noticed. 
 
 Such are a few out of very many apparently 
 substantial reasons put forth, for referring these 
 phenomena to an electric origin, and if it be con- 
 sidered a counter-argument, that, if this be so, the 
 media, one and all, bei'ng aware of the fact, must 
 lend themselves to a wilful deceit, in ascribing the 
 sounds to any other source, it should be remem- 
 bered that such knowledge is by no means a ne- 
 cessary feature ; but in the same manner as the 
 human system is affected by invisible agents, such 
 as atmospherical changes, noxious vapours, &c., 
 and as the mind, though stimulated by the sphere of 
 unseen life and thought, cannot always perceive 
 the spiritual presence, or recognise agencies, in 
 
 * See again the case of Angelique Cottin, half "burked," as it 
 undoubtedly was, by the Commission of the Academy of Sciences.
 
 400 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 the existing mental state, so the body is alike in- 
 sensible to the presence of those agents which act 
 upon and change its physiological condition. 
 
 I cannot possibly better illustrate this view 
 of the case than by quoting the words of Dr. 
 Samuel Taylor, e. g. 
 
 " The human system, under some circumstances, 
 seems capable of eliminating, what I will term for 
 my present purpose, a detached vital electricity^ 
 such as is not brought into action in the common 
 operations of life, which, by concentrating in the 
 hand, gives it (I will not say volitions inde- 
 pendent of the sensorium, but) the ability to per- 
 form acts in which the consciousness of the per- 
 formance of such action is not returned to the 
 common sensorium. Better to illustrate my 
 meaning, I will say, in the common act of writing 
 a letter to a friend, the mind wills and the hand 
 obeys its dictates. But the term l mind ' is only 
 a name for that certain something which passes 
 in continuous current from the brain to the hand, 
 and makes it write. 
 
 " But in this case, a reflex current (if I may so 
 express it) is continuously running back to the 
 brain, to convey to it the consciousness of the 
 performance of the act by the hand. In the case 
 of the so-called spiritual writings, although the 
 act may really have originated in the individual's 
 own brain, and a current passed to the hand, die-
 
 ELECTRICAL. 401 
 
 tating the performance of certain acts or motions, 
 yet no current returns to convey an idea of the 
 performance of such acts by the hand. The cur- 
 rent may be supposed to pass off from the person. 
 Reasoning from the above facts, it would seem to 
 be the case, that what I have been pleased to 
 term (for explanation) the detached vital electri- 
 city of one individual, will operate on the phy- 
 sical system of another." 
 
 That electricity may be generated in the body, 
 and magnetic currents evolved therefrom, is no 
 new doctrine to the majority of English readers. 
 
 In Dr. Leger's admirable defence of the "mag- 
 netoscope," embodying an essay " on the mag- 
 netoid characteristics of elementary principles, 
 and their relations to the organisation of man," 
 the power of the electric current, influenced by 
 the will, to move substances, is clearly and con- 
 vincingly proved. The experiment mentioned, I 
 believe, in Dr. Herbert Mayo's Chamber Magic, 
 in which a gold ring suspended from the finger 
 by a fine silken thread, and allowed to hang an 
 inch or two above a piece of silver, acquires self- 
 movement, is well known, and dates, as Dr. Leger 
 remarks, as far back as 1652, when it was quoted, 
 as an example of false magic, in a book entitled, 
 Les bigarrures du Seigneur des Accords. 
 
 In order to test this and analogous experiments, 
 the " magnetoscope " was invented by a scientific
 
 402 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 gentleman of Brighton, Mr. J. O. N. Rutter. 
 This beautiful instrument, though it did not fail 
 to provoke that ridicule which, as a sort of fool's 
 tribute, is accorded to most attempts, the charac- 
 ter and objects of which are of an unusual kind, 
 soon secured the attention of scientific persons, 
 and very curious results rewarded the ingenuity of 
 the discoverer. Magnetoid currents were pro- 
 duced, and the pendulum (or substitute for the 
 aforesaid ring) moved or stopped by their agency, 
 influenced, as it was afterwards discovered by Dr. 
 Madden, by the will of the operator. After much 
 inquiry, and numerous experiments, it seems, 
 however, to have been agreed that the construc- 
 tion of the instrument was not such as to place 
 the impossibility of some muscular influence 
 being imparted to the pendulum, beyond all 
 doubt. To effect this desideratum, Dr. Leger 
 modified the instrument, in a certain manner, 
 taking, for the basis of his alterations, Mr. Rut- 
 ter's discovery that dead animal matter does not 
 transmit the magnetic current which moves the 
 pendulum, and even stops the latter when moving. 
 From a brass rod, which emerged from that point 
 in the instrument on which the operator places 
 his finger, he caused to project two levers of equal 
 length, extending in contrary directions, and each 
 holding a thread of equal length, with a pendulum 
 of equal weight. One of these levers was of
 
 ELECTRICAL. 403 
 
 brass, the other of dead animal matter quill, 
 whalebone, or ivory. The result was that, on the 
 finger being placed on the immovable disc from 
 which the brass rod proceeds, the pendulum 
 attached to the brass lever acquired a violent 
 movement, while the other remained perfectly 
 still. 
 
 Dr. Leger, in an interesting treatise on this 
 subject, enumerates the conditions to be observed 
 in relation to the use of his beautiful instrument, 
 viz., the operator may be sitting or standing, have 
 the left hand free, the legs not crossed, &c. Early 
 in the morning, or too soon after eating, are un- 
 favourable times ; using snuff, smoking or chew- 
 ing tobacco conditions of failure; after which 
 he addresses himself to the most important fea- 
 ture, and that which is most applicable to our 
 present purpose the exercise of the will, which 
 must act as in the practice of mesmerising 
 mentally. 
 
 "This condition of the will is the most im- 
 portant, and, at the same time, the most difficult 
 point to obtain, or to explain. It consists of a 
 peculiar state of the nervous power, which the in- 
 strument acquires the property of obeying. 
 
 " After several trials, repeated with perseverance, 
 the pendulum will assume the normal rotation ; 
 the extent of the motion will increase subsequently, 
 and reach a certain degree, without further pro-
 
 404 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 gress. As soon as that degree is ascertained, con- 
 sider it as par ; that is to say, as the measure of 
 your own power over the instrument. 
 
 " When the middle finger of the right hand has 
 produced its full manifestation, try to reverse the 
 rotation, by using the forefinger of the same hand ; 
 adopt the same precautions, the same spirit of 
 perseverance, and watch always the indications 
 of the tell-tale or witness pendulum, in order to 
 ascertain that in your anxiety you have not, even 
 unconsciously, resorted to muscular action to 
 quicken the results. You will, after a period 
 more or less protracted, obtain the desired suc- 
 cess, and ultimately the phenomena will require 
 much less time for their full development. 
 
 " Nothing can demonstrate more positively than 
 the magnetoscope does, how the will of man is in 
 itself a natural force, possessing actual influence 
 over inert matter. The central pendulum of the 
 instrument, under the influence of will alone, 
 powerfully exerted, and without any mechanical 
 impulse besides mere and slight contact, will move 
 in any direction you please, without the tell-tale 
 pendulum being affected, and consequently with- 
 out any muscular action being resorted to.* 
 
 * In a recent interview with Dr. Leger, I had the gratification of 
 witnessing the perfect manner in which this instrument is found 
 to vindicate the once ridiculed truths of phrenology ; a subject, 
 however, so distinct from that of which we are treating, that I can
 
 ELECTRICAL. 405 
 
 Let us turn to the other side of the question 
 the non-electrical. It will be found that, in spite 
 
 only refer to it marginally, and in a manner too superficial for its 
 merits. 
 
 It will be remembered that phrenologists recognize, in the brain, 
 thirty-six distinct organs. The pendulum of the magnetoscope has 
 seven distinct motions, viz. : 
 
 Eliptical (or oval) motion, normal rotation, inverse rotation, and 
 the four different oscillations N. and S., E. and W., N.E. and S. W., 
 and S.W. and N.W. 
 
 To every organ in the head, is found to belong one of these seven 
 motions of the pendulum, and that one only. So undeviating is this 
 law, that Dr. Leger has been enabled to furnish, in his book, a printed 
 list of the peculiar motion appurtenant to each organ. In phrenologi- 
 cal examinations with the magnetoscope, the operator places his right 
 middle finger, as usual, on the immovable disc ; his left upon the 
 organ to be examined. The pendulum instantly begins to move in 
 the direction found to belong to that organ ; and the degree of motion 
 to which it ultimately attains (measured by a number of concentric 
 circles drawn on a card below it, and numbered), furnishes the amount 
 of development to which the organ in question has reached. Thus, in 
 a quarter of an hour, by means of this most uncourtier-like machine, 
 with whose fidelity it is absolutely beyond the power of man to tam- 
 per, you, my friend, may glean a few hints which, properly acted 
 upon, may prove not unserviceable hereafter. 
 
 It is obviously impossible to limit the important uses to which the 
 magnetoscope may be turned. In cases of lunacy, the true state of 
 the brain, and the mental tendencies, are clearly discoverable. Simu- 
 lated madness is detected on the instant. Dr. Leger has made re- 
 peated visits to prisons, lunatic-asylums, &c, and tested the powers 
 of the instrument with startling success. In one of the former, out 
 of one hundred prisoners submitted to his examination, he is un- 
 derstood to have fixed, in ninety cases, upon the peculiar character 
 of crime attaching to each individual.
 
 406 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 of the peculiarities already noticed as being in- 
 dicative of the presence of this agent, various ex- 
 periments, made by close and careful observers, 
 seem to show the reverse. 
 
 Among other tests, Mr. Fishbough, while with 
 the Misses Fox, placed a delicately-poised mag- 
 netic needle directly over a point on a table, where 
 the sounds were being made, and moved it about 
 into various relative positions, without the slightest 
 deflection being perceptible. The young ladies 
 were then requested to place the points of their 
 fingers to the needle, while the sounds continued ; 
 but still the needle exhibited neither attraction 
 nor repulsion. 
 
 The sounds were then requested to be made on 
 the floor, near the feet of the media. The invi- 
 sible agency complied, and while the sounds pro- 
 ceeded, the needle was ; held in various positions 
 near the ladies' feet. Still no deflection. 
 
 Mr. F. then took a small and very light ball, 
 made of a conducting substance, and suspended 
 by a silken thread, and caused the young ladies to 
 approach the points of their fingers thereto, during 
 the progress of the sounds. Had there been the 
 slightest derangement of the electric equilibrium 
 between the ball and the systems of the media, 
 the ball would have been instantly attracted to 
 their fingers and as instantly repelled. But no 
 such phenomena occurred.
 
 ELECTRICAL. 407 
 
 And, to test the question whether the media 
 did, or did not, generate the electricity in them- 
 selves, they were twice, in Mr. F.'s presence, 
 placed upon insulated stools, when the sounds 
 were heard, as usual, and on thejloor. 
 
 Thus, these and numerous other physical tests, 
 have utterly failed to elicit any evidence whatever 
 of the presence of electric action; while other 
 reasons combine to fortify this view of the subject. 
 
 The theory of sound, according to Newton, is 
 as follows : namely, that the particles of air being 
 struck by some substance, are propelled forward 
 until they meet with sufficient force to drive them 
 backward slightly, when the first moving power 
 again propels them onward, which causes a move- 
 ment in the particles of atmosphere all around, 
 until finally the nerves of the ear are reached, and 
 the idea of sound is conveyed to the mind. 
 
 Of the two antagonistic forces, electricity and 
 atmospheric air, every one knows that the lat- 
 ter is the denser, weighing about one grain to 
 three cubic inches, while the former is without 
 perceptible weight. Electricity is, in fact, com- 
 puted to be seven hundred thousand times finer 
 than air. It is therefore very reasonably ques- 
 tioned how this subtle agent, so much rarer than 
 air, can so condense the latter, as to reach the 
 auditory nerves, and produce in the mind the sen- 
 sation of sound ?
 
 408 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 Will extreme force produce this effect, a large 
 amount of electricity being launched with extreme 
 velocity against the opposing atmosphere ? No ; 
 for inert matter opposed to a body in motion, if 
 permeable by that body, remains unmoved ; and 
 thus electricity, rushing against the atmosphere 
 with great rapidity, penetrates and expands the 
 latter only more quickly than if proceeding with 
 less force; thus affording less opportunity for 
 those processes mentioned in Newton's theory to 
 be essential to the birth of sound, and instead of 
 aiding in producing these rappings, having a pre- 
 cisely contrary effect. 
 
 Thus much, then, for the claims of common 
 electricity. 
 
 A word respecting that species to which modern 
 philosophy has applied the term of " vitalized " 
 electricity. 
 
 A work published some years since, by Dr. du 
 Bois Reymond, member of the Academy of 
 Sciences, Berlin, and certain experiments which 
 followed, drew considerable attention to the con- 
 nexion ascertained to exist between the phenomena 
 of vitality and those of electricity. New discoveries 
 and new experiments have delayed the completion 
 of an extended work on these interesting sub- 
 jects. As yet, therefore, practical deductions, far 
 less practical applications of the results that 
 may be reached, cannot fairly be anticipated.
 
 ELECTRICAL. 409 
 
 I will merely use the words of an able com- 
 mentator. 
 
 " In all the operations of vitality, we have mani- 
 festations of physical force ; and as we find that, 
 in our examination of the phenomena of change 
 in organic matter, each form of force tends to 
 the development of another, thus chemical action 
 effects those disturbances which are sensible to us, 
 in the form of heat and electricity ; and thus, in 
 like manner, may develope chemical action, or 
 mechanical power ; so life by its mysterious exci- 
 tation produces disturbances which result in ren- 
 dering sensible electricity, and those subtle agents 
 which interpenetrate all matter." 
 
 The power and effect of the magnetoid currents 
 are exhibited by the magnetoscope. The mode 
 and degree in which these are vitalized, or ren- 
 dered subject to the influence of the will, must be 
 dependent upon innumerable conditions ; and, at 
 least in the present stage of discovery, cannot be 
 made amenable to any code of philosophic laws. 
 
 The brain and its connexion with the spinal 
 chord, the nerves of sensation and volition, are, 
 as the reader knows, double ; in the words of Dr. 
 Richmond, a double magnetic battery, the right lobe 
 supplying the left side of the body with life and 
 motion, and mce versa. It is understood that from 
 the brain is generated that fine fluid which con- 
 stitutes some of the modifications of electricity, 
 
 T
 
 410 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 and is that on which mesmerizers and biologists 
 operate. 
 
 Dr. Snell claims to have demonstrated that 
 muscular action, and all sensation, seeing, feel- 
 ing, &c., are voltaic, or produced by the move- 
 ments of electricity in the system, over the nerves. 
 
 According to Dr. Richmond, the rapping phe- 
 nomena are the result of a diseased magnetic 
 condition of the brain of the media. It is both 
 endemic and epidemic, and follows the law of all 
 contagions ; and he remarks that the moral, phy- 
 sical, and mental symptoms which accompany 
 its various conditions, are found in somnambu- 
 lism, magnetic sleep, &c. The Doctor had op- 
 portunities of examining many media, resident in 
 and about Jefferson, Ohio, most of whom he de- 
 scribes as " young persons, of a nervous, impres- 
 sible temperament; honest, and unconscious of 
 any agency in producing the phenomena, collu- 
 sion being wholly out of the question. These 
 media belonged, generally, to the best families in 
 the vicinity." 
 
 Dr. Richmond, whose remarks and researches 
 on this difficult subject, are worthy of the closest 
 and most respectful attention, concludes an inter- 
 esting essay, with a brief resume of the ground 
 over which his arguments had travelled. 
 
 " All mesmerizers, and many physiologists, 
 assert that all animal bodies generate a nervo-
 
 ELECTRICAL. 411 
 
 electric [fluid; all media are highly magnetic, 
 and go into all known mesmeric states. This 
 fluid is controlled by mind, and acts most readily 
 on good conductors, and but little on non-con- 
 ductors. This fluid being lighter than air, when 
 thrown off, it permits the air to act upon matter as 
 in vacuum. In other cases it evidently moves 
 articles by attraction and repulsion. The absence 
 of light aids its effects. Sound is air put in mo- 
 tion. Light is the electric atmosphere put in mo- 
 tion. When the sun or moon or candle-light is 
 withdrawn, it is at rest ; the mind can then ema- 
 nate these currents into space with greater force. 
 But the sunlight puts in motion this ether, and acts 
 counter to the currents from the mind, just as the 
 Northern Lights stopped the telegraph. These 
 strong electric emanations put in motion such 
 strong electric currents as to destroy the vibra- 
 tion along the wires. Light or electricity in mo- 
 tion is the greatest of all physical forces. Force 
 is matter in motion, and electric matter only moves 
 on the law of equilibrium, or when moved by 
 mind. Intelligence can take hold of it, as found 
 in our bodies. Mind is self-moving force. The 
 mesmeric state, or a diseased nervous condition, 
 developes this state of our brain and nerves, and 
 the mind, freed from the gross body, acts with 
 greater power; its seeing is clearer. All in- 
 tense, long- continued excitement, political, reli- 
 
 T 2
 
 412 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 gious, or mental, will induce this state of mind. 
 I pronounce it a diseased condition, and all ' spirit 
 manifestations' to be the work of spirits in the 
 body. " B. W. RICHMOND, M. D." 
 
 Admitting that this last theory, if fully estab- 
 lished, may account satisfactorily for most of the 
 physical phenomena, still the presence of a sin- 
 gular intelligence apparently transcending that of 
 any human mind, remains to be explained. This, 
 however, resting as it does, upon evidence quoted 
 by the advocates of the spiritual theory, will come 
 more properly under the head of the latter. 
 
 While these notes have been in course of pre- 
 paration, yet another theory has been added to 
 the many already broached on this subject. It 
 was contained in what seemed to be intended as 
 a serial work, and is published in Boston, by a 
 writer of the name of Rogers. A friend supplies 
 me with a sketch of this last born hypothesis. 
 
 In the preface, the writer describes his work 
 as the result of anxious inquiry into these mys- 
 terious phenomena, from the earliest ages as- 
 sociated with human-kind, but which have either 
 been insufficiently investigated, or turned to evil 
 purpose ; and challenges, for this field of study, 
 the same spirit of patient inquiry, the same calm 
 exercise of intellectual power, that is freely devoted 
 to the interests of chemistry, astronomy, &c.
 
 ELECTRICAL. 413 
 
 He then quotes certain cases in which, as he 
 states, phenomena bearing a perfect analogy to 
 rapping demonstrations in sound and movement 
 have been exhibited, and announces his theory 
 of explanation, as follows : 
 
 " That, under peculiar conditions, the human 
 organisation gives forth a physical power, which, 
 without visible instruments, lifts heavy bodies, at- 
 tracts or repels them according to a law of pola- 
 rity, overturns them, and produces the pheno- 
 mena of sound." 
 
 He believes in the existence of a medium, or 
 agent, distinct from electricity and magnetism, 
 though perhaps bearing some affinity to these, 
 through which the phenomena in question are 
 produced ; and adopts the name given by Baron 
 Reichenbach to the medium, of (supposed ana- 
 logous) phenomena, that is, Odyle. Reichen- 
 bach asserts that this medium "is formed, or 
 manifested vividly, in a number of cases in which 
 magnetism never gives evidence of its presence ; 
 in many chemical processes, in vitality, in crys- 
 tals, in friction, in the spectra of sun, moon, and 
 candle-light ; in polarized light ; and in the amor- 
 phous material world in general." 
 
 I have not the means of entering more minutely 
 into Mr. Rogers's development of his views. It 
 would appear, however, that he follows pretty 
 closely the opinions of Reichenbach, and recog-
 
 414 ELECTRICAL. 
 
 nizes in the experiments made by the latter, an 
 analogy with the present rapping and moving 
 phenomena, which, as my informant has suggested, 
 can hardly be acknowledged to exist. In truth, 
 this new agent assumes a shape nearly as puzzling 
 as that which it proposes to explain. It is not 
 electricity ; it is not magnetism. It is equally re- 
 mote from the nerve-spirit of the German philo- 
 sophers (elsewhere dwelt upon) and has so much 
 the air of an " occasional " theory, hastily built 
 up to meet the exigences of the time, without 
 much regard to its foundation, that I must decline 
 giving it any serious attention, more especially as 
 the credentials offered by the author, in the shape 
 of experiments, &c., by no means fortify his case. 
 
 Lastly, it has been boldly asserted (and the opi- 
 nion has found not a few partizans), that the me- 
 dium is nothing more than an unconscious clair- 
 voyante, or magnetic subject. That the sounds are 
 produced by her will from the electric atmosphere 
 encircling her. That she possesses an inner con- 
 sciousness of what is passing in the minds of those 
 who form the circle, and those at a distance with 
 whom their wishes place her in communication ; 
 and that her extraordinary answers are given, 
 by means of her clairvoyance, unknown to her- 
 self. 
 
 This "explanation" seems to be beset with as 
 many difficulties as the foregoing, a contradic-
 
 ELECTRICAL. 415 
 
 tion or two superadded. The " unconscious clair- 
 voyante " is nevertheless to have a " conscious- 
 ness," and, although in total ignorance of all mat- 
 ters connected with her extraordinary answers, is 
 to possess an intimate knowledge of the same ! 
 The sounds are referable to the exercise of her 
 will, yet it would appear that she is to exert no 
 volition whatsoever ! 
 
 In truth, a lady in this very peculiar and super- 
 latively abnormal state, must evidently " know so 
 little of her own mind," that it, perhaps, might 
 be safer to proceed at once to the consideration 
 of the last hypothesis.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 Belief in intercommunication with the unseen world Angelic sym- 
 pathies Dr. Harbaugh Ghosts of our time Circumstances com- 
 pared The ghost of Washington Remarkable recent and au- 
 thentic instances : in America ; Captain B. ; at Romford ; Bishop 
 Griswold ; near London; at Bromley "Noble Eden," &c. Old 
 Nanny Mr. Warren Intelligence of the manifestations consi- 
 sidered Views of churches Experiences of Mr. J. Sargent, in re- 
 moter districts Indian media Value of the physical phenomena 
 considered Mr. Coggeshall Power of spirit to act upon matter 
 The " nerve-spirit " Dr. Passavant Mr. Fishbough. 
 
 THE total failure of every ordinary means of 
 accounting for the manifestations, forces us, at 
 length, bongre malgre, to grapple with the third 
 the last, and most popular theory. 
 
 It renders the approach to the consideration of 
 such vast assumptions somewhat easier, when it 
 is remembered that the recent developments, 
 though new in detail, are old in principle, and 
 that the discussion of theories so little in harmony 
 with the views of the existing generation, would 
 be a more delicate as well as more unenviable
 
 SPIRITUAL. 417 
 
 duty, were we not armed with testimony such as 
 no man can refute, to prove that manifestations 
 of like origin have been known to all time. 
 
 Sacred records declare, in terms whose force 
 remains undiminished by the various rendering to 
 which they have been subjected, that the inter- 
 ference of spirits with the affairs of mortality, was 
 common; and was indeed made the subject of 
 divine enactments. " To deny the probability of 
 witchcraft and sorcery," says Blackstone (Comni. 
 b. iv. c. 4, . 6), "is at once flatly to contradict 
 the revealed word of God, in various passages 
 both of the Old and New Testament; and the 
 thing itself is a truth to which every nation of the 
 world hath in its time borne testimony, either 
 seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory laws, 
 which at least supposes the possibility of com- 
 merce with evil spirits." 
 
 Down to the latest period referred to in the in- 
 spired writings, these communications appear to 
 have been of frequent occurrence ; and the church 
 signified and sealed its belief in such intercourse, 
 by the ordination of exorcists. That the notice 
 of Scripture seems to have been especially directed 
 to the doings of evil spirits, and such as evoke 
 them, might give colour to the persuasion that 
 such alone are accustomed to exert an influence 
 over the minds of men, did not the caution to try 
 the spirits, &c., believe not every spirit, &c., coun- 
 
 T 5
 
 418 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 tenance a contrary opinion, by implying that some 
 are worthy of belief. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Harbaugh, in his interesting 
 work, the Sainted Dead, remarks that it is evident 
 from the language of our Lord, that angelic com- 
 munications and sympathies, so abundant in the 
 Jewish dispensation, were not intended to cease 
 at the introduction of the Gospel dispensation, but 
 rather that they should continue more free and 
 frequent than before. 
 
 " Why come not spirits from the realms of glory, 
 
 To visit earth as in the days of old 
 The times of ancient writ and sacred story ? 
 
 Is heaven more distant? or has earth grown cold? 
 
 To Bethlehem's air was their last anthem given, 
 When other stars before the One grew dim ] 
 
 Was their last presence known in Peter's prison ] 
 Or where exulting martyrs raised their hymn V 
 
 A beautiful but needless question. "Where 
 are they? We see them not," is the faithless 
 cry of such as have no eyes to discern spiritual 
 things no faith, which is the evidence of things 
 not seen. The outward, after all, is but the shell, 
 the inward, the reality. The gross manifesta- 
 tions of angelic beings under the old dispensa- 
 tion like that dispensation itself, were destined 
 to pass away, to give place to such as shall never 
 pass away the spiritual. 
 
 The persuasion that the spirits of the departed
 
 SPIRITUAL. 419 
 
 occasionally revisit the scene of their earthly 
 existence, is too general, and too deeply seated 
 in men's minds, to render it necessary to dwell 
 at any length upon that branch of the subject. 
 Those who repudiate the subject, as unworthy of 
 the consideration of rational minds, have either 
 not read, not reflected, or else are incapable of 
 grappling with a theme so complicated and so 
 profound. The favourite dogma of these easy- 
 going philosophers, however, viz., that " ghosts " 
 have but two sources coincidence and the ima- 
 gination stands somewhat in our way, and must 
 be swept aside.* Two or three instances, of the 
 
 * Although, perhaps, a little out of place, it may be as well to 
 mention here, by way of concession to the sceptics aforesaid, a proof 
 how easily a good ghost-story may be made a better, as exemplified in 
 the apparition of George Washington to Professor Longfellow, related 
 in Miss Mitford's charming Recollections, a story which, owing to 
 the celebrity of the parties concerned, really bade fair to acquire a 
 sort of national importance. 
 
 On the occasion of one of the visits I had the pleasure of making to 
 the amiable and accomplished poet, at his curious old mansion, once 
 inhabited by Washington, I ascertained the real version to have been as 
 follows : On a certain evening, while entertaining a party at dinner, 
 the alarm was given of a fire at a short distance from the house, and 
 all immediately issued forth upon the lawn in front, which was 
 bounded on one side by a shrubbery. The fire proved to be in the 
 rear of the mansion, and it was while those assembled were watching 
 certain singular effects occasioned by the lurid glare thrown upon the 
 trees, by the body of concealed fire, that a figure on horseback, look- 
 ing something like that renowned petrifaction II Commendatore 
 rode quickly from the covert, paused for a moment, and then as
 
 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 present day, will suffice for this, and they shall be 
 of the briefest in our collection. 
 
 Two gentlemen, intimate friends, had gone out 
 to California, met with considerable success, and 
 were returning home in the same vessel. One 
 day (both being in perfect health), one addressed 
 the other in a puzzled tone, saying 
 
 " I really can scarcely account for it, but I have 
 a persuasion I cannot overcome, that I ought to 
 transfer to your care this gold I have with me. If 
 not, I shall lose it." 
 
 The other agreed. Three days afterwards, the 
 former fell ill and died, and upon his friend de- 
 volved the unwelcome office of reporting the 
 catastrophe to his relations, and more especially 
 the widow, whom he thought to find in eager ex- 
 pectation of her husband's return. To his astonish- 
 ment, the lady appeared melancholy and care- 
 worn, and on his attempting to break the tidings, 
 by telling her that her husband was ill in Cali- 
 fornia, she only shook her head and wept.' 
 
 " He is dead" she said ; " I will tell you the 
 very day and hour on which hfe died." And she 
 named them. 
 
 hastily retreated, before any daring Giovanni of the party had time 
 to accost him. Some one. jocularly suggested that it might be the 
 ghost of the illustrious Washington, revisiting his ancient dwelling, 
 and to this hour it remains an open question, whether it was in effect 
 that hero, or some inebriated citizen anxious to obtain a sight of the 
 conflagration and unaware at first of his trespass.
 
 SPIRITUAL. 421 
 
 It seemed that on that day and hour, she had, 
 while sitting at a window, seen her husband come 
 slowly across the street, and approach the door. 
 Supposing he had really arrived, she flew to re- 
 ceive and welcome him ; but no trace of him could 
 be found. Impressed with an indefinable dread, 
 she noted down the time of the strange appear- 
 ance, and it was found to coincide exactly with 
 the moment of his decease. 
 
 Now, did it so happen that this coincidence of 
 time prevailed in every similar case, the field of 
 explanation might be narrowed down, and even 
 fairly compressed into the one single theory of a 
 sixth sense, that species of spiritual telegraph, by 
 means of which the spirit, at the moment of its 
 release, is enabled to communicate with those 
 with whom the bonds of relationship or affection 
 have placed it en rapport. This intermediate 
 agency is fully discussed by Dr. Passavant, and 
 is probably identical with the nervo- electric fluid, 
 whose powers and properties will be more di- 
 rectly noticed at the close of this chapter ; I will, 
 therefore, only here remark that it is described by 
 Dr. Passavant as a nervous ether, which in cases 
 of somnambulism, trance, or the approach of 
 death, when it may become less closely united 
 with its material conductors, the nerves, is capa- 
 ble of being detached, and of acting upon objects 
 at a distance. The doctor illustrates his theory
 
 422 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 by instancing the case of a gymnotus electricus, 
 kept alive at Stockholm for four months, which, 
 when hungry, could destroy fish at a distance 
 without contact. The gymnotus, assuredly, whe- 
 ther moribund or otherwise, does possess this 
 power, and that the human spirit, in certain ab- 
 normal conditions as when but partially liberated 
 from the body may exercise a similar control 
 over the electric element, is no unwarrantable 
 assumption. 
 
 Now let us see how far our next example con- 
 firms this view. The hero of the'tale is yet living, 
 and as he has not unfrequently alluded, in general 
 society, to the circumstance in question, I trust I 
 am guilty of no breach of confidence or propriety 
 in using it for the illustration of an argument. 
 
 On the night that followed one of the actions in 
 
 the Peninsula, Captain B of the Highland 
 
 regiment, retired to his tent in a state of much 
 anxiety as to the fate of a cousin, an officer in the 
 same corps, who, from an early period of the con- 
 flict, had been missing. None had seen him fall, 
 or a prisoner, and his well known character for- 
 bade the slightest surmise derogatory to his 
 honour. Some strange ingredient in the feeling 
 of uneasiness which haunted him, prevented 
 Captain B.'s enjoying the rest he so much needed, 
 and at length, rising from his couch, he walked 
 forth into the air. A fine broad moonlight greeted
 
 SPIRITUAL. 423 
 
 him, and, pacing slowly to and fro, he was still 
 following up the thread of conjecture as to the 
 fate of his missing relative, when an object 
 moving in the distance attracted his attention. 
 Regarding it with the habitual watchfulness of 
 one pretty well habituated to outpost duty, he soon 
 recognised a British officer, and as he drew nearer, 
 the uniform of his own regiment, conspicuous, it 
 may be mentioned, by the broad white cross-belt 
 at that time worn. Hardly doubting that it was 
 his relative, B. sprang joyfully forward to wel- 
 come him. TRe other, without quickening his 
 pace, continued to advance, and at length dis- 
 tinctly showed the features of the lost man. They 
 wore, however, a pale and troubled expression, 
 and the young officer walked with a peculiar gait, 
 as though weak or wounded. 
 
 A greater surprise awaited B., who had now 
 closely confronted his friend. The middle por- 
 tion of his white belt, just above the region of the 
 heart, had been perforated by a shot, apparently 
 fired at so short a distance as to singe the object 
 stricken. Captain B. distinctly noticed the jagged 
 edges of the belt and garments, burned and 
 blackened by the discharge. Hardly had he ob- 
 served this, when the figure began to recede before 
 him. He followed, but the outlines grew rapidly 
 indistinct, and he stood alone on the open heath ! 
 
 On the following morning, a fatigue party, in
 
 424 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 search of wounded, brought in the body of the 
 unfortunate officer, which had been found in a 
 hollow of the field, nearly concealed by some 
 copse. He had been shot through the left breast, 
 precisely in the manner exhibited by the appari- 
 tion, and his death must have been almost in- 
 stantaneous. 
 
 Thus we find that the condition of Dr. Passa- 
 vant's theory, which requires coincidence of time, 
 was not, as in the former instance, complied with. 
 Some other mode of explanation must be sought. 
 Imagination ! True, Captain B. was anxious for 
 the life- perhaps more than life the honour, of 
 his dear friend, and we need not dwell upon the 
 cases in which eager and excited contemplation 
 has made fools of the senses, and even, though 
 perhaps unconsciously, supplied the very details 
 which have afterwards proved to be correct. 
 
 In the year 1809, the fourth troop of the th 
 
 dragoons was quartered at Romford. The mess 
 
 comprised Captain T s, Lieutenants S. and 
 
 Mac N., and Mr. C. 
 
 On the evening of the 12th of August, these 
 four gentlemen had been dining together in a de- 
 tached building, used merely as a mess-house. 
 All attendance had been dispensed with after the 
 removal of the cloth, and not a soul, except an 
 elderly female, who officiated as cook, remained in 
 the house.
 
 SPIRITUAL. 425 
 
 A warm discussion between the three young 
 officers was suddenly interrupted by a loud shriek 
 from below, which being repeated, the disputants 
 rose and hurried down to ascertain the cause of 
 the alarm. The cook was discovered kneeling on 
 the floor, her apron clutched over her head, as 
 though to shut out some fearful sight; and she 
 was in violent hysterics. 
 
 On regaining some composure, she informed 
 them that she had been alarmed by seeing Captain 
 
 T s pass slowly through the kitchen, and 
 
 enter a kind of pantry, used as a receptacle for 
 pans and dishes, and from which there was no 
 other egress. Supposing, from his wan look and 
 perturbed air, that he was ill, and might in his 
 confusion have mistaken his way to the outer 
 door, she had followed him, and to her horror 
 and surprise, found the little apartment empty. 
 
 Looking round incredulously on each other, 
 the young men for the first time became aware 
 
 that T s had not accompanied them, and one 
 
 of them, hastily returning to the dining-room, 
 found the unfortunate officer still seated in the 
 same position in which he had appeared to be lis- 
 tening to their conversation dead! 
 
 This curious tale was widely circulated at the 
 time, and more than one of the party are still 
 living to authenticate the facts as stated. It may 
 be added, that one of the young men was so much
 
 426 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 impressed by the extraordinary nature of the cir- 
 cumstance, that he immediately quitted the army, 
 and subsequently entered the church. 
 
 Here we have coincidence, indeed, of time, but 
 absence of the required rapport ; for it would be 
 simply absurd to argue that any such connexion, 
 or " polarity," as it is called, could have subsisted 
 
 between poor Captain T s and the ancient 
 
 cook-maid ! With as little reason can it be 
 urged that an anxious and excited imagination 
 
 had conjured up the phantom, Captain T 's 
 
 state of health, manner, appearance, &c., having 
 been up to the very moment of his death such as 
 to afford no ground for apprehension on the part 
 of his friends. 
 
 The following anecdote possesses no other dis- 
 tinctive feature than such as may be observed in 
 the unusual circumstance of the seer concealing 
 from all the world, during his life-time, an event 
 of that character which most who consider them- 
 selves to have been similarly visited, find satisfac- 
 tion in discussing. Perhaps, circumstances con- 
 sidered, no tale of the kind has ever carried with 
 it a more profound impression of self-possessed 
 judgment and simple truth. 
 
 On the death of a late American prelate, the 
 pious and beloved Bishop Griswold, there was 
 found among his books and papers, a diary, in 
 which for many years it had evidently been his
 
 SPIRITUAL. 427 
 
 custom to note down the leading occurrences of 
 his pastoral and private life. Among these entries 
 appeared one, in substance, if I remember right, 
 as follows : 
 
 " May 2nd. While seated this forenoon in my 
 study, I saw the appearance of my son George 
 now absent in the West Indies enter and ap- 
 proach my table, then presently turn and leave 
 the room. I followed a part of the way down 
 stairs, but suddenly lost sight of him. I cannot 
 account for this." 
 
 No further mention was made of the circum- 
 stance in the diary, nor was the bishop known to 
 have ever alluded to it, in conversation with his 
 friends, but under a subsequent date appeared 
 
 " May 23rd. This day's mail brought me tidings 
 of the death of my dear son George, on the 2nd 
 instant, of yellow fever." 
 
 About five years since, an occurrence took place 
 in a rural locality, though within ten or twelve 
 miles of the metropolis, which came more imme- 
 diately under my own observation. 
 
 A large landed proprietor of the neighbourhood 
 
 of H , had, for his head gamekeeper, a man 
 
 named Hunt, a big, powerful fellow, who had 
 served in the army, and was rather noted in the 
 village for his daring, reckless character, evinced, 
 probably, in the petty wars of a preserve pecu- 
 liarly exposed to the forays of the modern moss-
 
 428 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 troopers of London. Village scandal whispered 
 that Mr. Hunt and his lady lived not always on 
 the happiest terms ; that the gentleman's habits 
 were to use a gentle term indomestic, his 
 affections flighty, his attentions discursive a 
 certain rustic belle of the neighbourhood being, 
 moreover, confidently pointed at as the principal 
 cause of those family dissensions which were 
 hurrying Mrs. Hunt to a premature grave. How- 
 ever that may be, it did so happen that the poor 
 woman became very ill, and, after a short interval, 
 expired. 
 
 That rigid system of economy which, according 
 to Hamlet, pervaded his royal mother's household, 
 prevailed likewise in that of Mr. Hunt, for in two 
 days after his wife's decease, he and his inamorata 
 were made one. 
 
 They had been married about a month, when, 
 one night, after retiring to rest, an eager tapping 
 was heard outside the lattice. Imagining it was 
 some traveller who had missed the road, the lady 
 rose, went to the window, opened it, and dropped, 
 with a loud shriek, upon the floor. 
 
 " What now, girl ? What's the matter ? " 
 growled her husband. 
 
 " Your wife ! your wife !" shrieked the girl, 
 wringing her hands, and pointing, as if fascinated, 
 to the open window. " There you see her there ! 
 there !"
 
 SPIRITUAL. 429 
 
 "Nonsense, you fool," said her affable lord. 
 " Go, look again, or shut the window." 
 
 But the woman persisted, and although (being, 
 as the neighbours afterwards assured us, a 
 " plucky wench"), she soon recovered some com- 
 posure, nothing could induce her to close the 
 window, or to return to bed. At last, with a 
 muttered oath, the man got reluctantly up, ap- 
 proached the window, and staggered back in 
 strong convulsions ! He had, as he often after- 
 wards solemnly averred, beheld his deceased wife 
 standing within a foot of the lattice, in the dress 
 she always wore, and gazing full in his face ! So 
 utterly was the man's courage prostrated and his 
 faculties bewildered, by what he had seen, that he 
 was for hours like one suddenly struck with 
 frenzy. The scene was described as striking and 
 terrible in the extreme, to those to whom Hunt's 
 daring hardihood of character was familiar. He 
 sat in a chair, his gigantic frame quivering with a 
 sort of agony of horror, wringing his hands, and 
 crying out 
 
 " My wife my wife ! she is come back to 
 punish me for my sins. What shall I do ? what 
 shall I do ?" &c. 
 
 Nor could the presence and reasonings of the 
 neighbours, who had been summoned by the 
 alarmed woman, prevail, for many hours, to re- 
 assure him. In the mean time, the former had en-
 
 430 SPIKITUAL. 
 
 tirely recovered her courage, and repeated, in a 
 perfectly calm and collected manner, her full per- 
 suasion that it was indeed the spirit of her prede- 
 cessor that they had seen. About six weeks after 
 the occurrence, Hunt was thrown from his horse, 
 which, by trampling on his face and head, injured 
 him so severely as to endanger his life a mishap 
 of which the apparition was considered the har- 
 binger. The story is likely to be a village legend 
 for many years to come ; and at the risk of a smile 
 from my friend Sceptic, I may venture to add 
 that, during a shooting excursion in the neigh- 
 bourhood, I took the trouble to walk some dis- 
 tance to the cottage in question, in order on the 
 excellent principle of cooking the fish where you 
 catch it to listen to the story of the ghost, stand- 
 ing on that precise flower-bed in the little front 
 garden, where that unsubstantial existence had re- 
 vealed itself. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to direct attention to the 
 differing features by which this circumstance, if 
 credited, would render nugatory either of the 
 proposed modes of explanation. It is curious, at 
 all events, to remark, as we proceed, how, in no 
 individual instance, the three essentialities of coin- 
 cidence of time, intense rapport, and probable 
 excitement of the imagination, combine. 
 
 One fine morning, a very few years since a 
 party of three ladies sat working, and (it is not
 
 SPIRITUAL. 431 
 
 impossible) chatting in the large bow- window 
 of a mansion near Bromley, in Kent. A wide 
 carriage-drive, unsheltered by trees, and looking, 
 in the July sunshine, exceedingly hot and yellow 
 swept up to the front. Along this, one of the 
 party who chanced to look up, saw advancing, at 
 a wearied pace, a gentleman resident in the neigh- 
 bourhood, with whom all the three owned a slight 
 acquaintance. He came slowly on, passing close 
 to the window, in full view of the ladies, who 
 made movements of recognition, but received no 
 corresponding acknowledgment. As he was known 
 to be near-sighted, this, of course, seemed of little 
 import, and, supposing he had gone to a side- 
 entrance, through a conservatory, the ladies sat 
 working and talking, in expectation of his entrance. 
 Ten minutes, however, elapsed and the lady of 
 the mansion, having heard nothing of her visitor, 
 
 then rang the bell, and inquired for Mr. . 
 
 No one had seen him. Fancying he might be 
 walking in the grounds, the lady desired that 
 search might be made for him, and resumed her 
 occupation, not without some little comment with 
 her friends on the oddity of the circumstance. 
 
 Presently, the bell of the village church half 
 a mile distant was heard booming through the 
 still air in the melancholy cadence that speaks of 
 anotherunit stricken from the great sum of humanity; 
 and, a moment or two later, a servant, entering,
 
 432 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 informed her mistress that she must have been 
 
 mistaken in regard to Mr. , he having expired 
 
 that morning, after an illness of a few hours. 
 
 This anecdote is perfectly authentic ; and, phi- 
 losophically considered, exhibits two points worth 
 notice the absurdity of attempting to account for 
 appearances of this nature, by attributing them to 
 freaks of the imagination, inasmuch as it is be- 
 yond belief that any three minds could, at one 
 and the same time, be influenced in a manner so 
 unusual, or have attained to the same extreme 
 degree of receptivity; secondly, it presents the 
 anomaly of a spirit revealing itself to parties with 
 none of whom could anything like an adequate 
 rapport have been established. 
 
 It is thus that the solution of these questions 
 perpetually evades us, almost, as it sometimes 
 appears, at the moment of attaining it and thus, 
 as the greatest of English poetesses writes 
 
 " God keeps his holy mysteries 
 Just on the outside of man's dream." 
 
 A curious instance of what, in Scotland, would 
 have been termed second-sight, occurred some 
 years since in one of the midland counties ; and 
 as it was attested upon oath, and seemed more- 
 over to receive corroboration from bystanders 
 is worth rescuing from oblivion. A market-gar- 
 dener, named Eden " Noble " Eden, as he was
 
 SPIRITUAL. 433 
 
 termed, from his fine presence and lofty stature 
 was murdered at noonday by blows from a ham- 
 mer such as is used for breaking stones. The 
 brutal deed was committed in the fields at a con- 
 siderable distance from Eden's dwelling, where 
 his wife was, at the moment of the murder, en- 
 gaged in ironing at a dresser in the kitchen a 
 friend standing by. 
 
 Suddenly the poor woman started, turned ghastly 
 pale, and sat down. Presently, recovering, she 
 stated that she had seen Robert (her husband) 
 run rapidly past the window, pursued by another 
 man, with averted face, who brandished a stone- 
 hammer over his head as if threatening to strike. 
 The idea that it was anything but what it proved, 
 a spectral illusion, never seems to have en- 
 tered her mind ; and so strong was her impression 
 of some evil having happened to her husband, that 
 immediate search was made for him and his 
 body discovered in a field, the murderous weapon 
 still lying beside him. The circumstance of the 
 vision though of course excluded from the evi- 
 dence at the trial of the murderer, was deposed 
 to, on oath, at the inquest and may still be in 
 the recollection of the reader. 
 
 A well authenticated narrative, called to mind 
 by the spiritual movement, will probably be new 
 to the reader and, if not useful as illustrating 
 an argument, is, at least, terse and De Foe-like 
 
 u
 
 434 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 enough in its tone, to repay perusal. The tale was 
 communicated to the Rev. John Summerfield, by 
 the Rev. Richard Watson, author of Theological 
 Institutes. Of the Mr. Mills mentioned in the 
 narrative, Mr. Watson speaks, as an intimate per- 
 sonal acquaintance of his own a minister of the 
 Methodist Church in England and a man of the 
 highest moral worth and integrity. 
 
 On the circuit in which Mr. Mills preached 
 when in England, there lived a Mr. and Mrs. 
 James, at whose house he was accustomed fre- 
 quently to lodge. Visiting America for a few 
 months, on his return to his accustomed resort, 
 Mr. Mills was shocked to learn that a recent 
 epidemic had carried off several victims from the 
 neighbourhood, and among them both his hospi- 
 table friends. With the orphan children who 
 were still residing in the altered home, he how- 
 ever took up his abode ; and, on the night of his 
 arrival, retired to rest in his usual apartment but 
 in a restless and excited state of mind, such as 
 he had never before experienced. 
 
 He had lain for some time, weary indeed, but 
 utterly unable to close his eyes, when, to his 
 astonishment, he heard a loud whispering in the 
 adjoining chamber, once tenanted by his deceased 
 friends, but now, as he knew, unoccupied. He 
 rose and looked into the room. No one was to 
 be seen. Fancying he might have been mistaken,
 
 SPIRITUAL. 435 
 
 he lay down again, and endeavoured anew to 
 compose himself to rest. This, however, was 
 more difficult than ever, for the circumstance had 
 recalled to his memory, with strange and sudden 
 force, a singular rumour which had been glanced 
 at by the person, who, meeting him in the village, 
 had first apprised him of the death of his friends. 
 This was, that both Mr. James and his wife had 
 been seen more than once since their death ! 
 
 While meditating on this rumour, the whisper- 
 ing was suddenly renewed; and, again, though 
 with some slight trepidation, he rose and ex- 
 amined the chamber. Nothing, however, was 
 visible. A third time he arose, from the same 
 cause and with the same result after which he 
 fell asleep, and heard no more. 
 
 Now there resided not far from the village, a 
 poor, good old woman, known far and near by the 
 familiar name of " Nanny." To her, on account 
 of her age and excellent character, the preachers, 
 on their circuits, generally resorted ; and to her, 
 at three o'clock the hour of dinner on the day 
 after his adventure before related went Mr. Mills. 
 A frugal repast was set before the reverend gen- 
 tleman, but Nanny herself declined eating, and 
 declared that she preferred attending upon her 
 guest. 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Mills ate, and Nanny watched 
 
 u2
 
 436 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 him, until his usual meal was finished and grace 
 said. Then she began : 
 
 " Mr. Mills, I have a request to make to you." 
 
 " Well, Nanny," replied the reverend Mr. Mills, 
 " what is it ?" 
 
 " Why," said she, " that you preach my funeral 
 sermon on the next Sabbath." 
 
 "Nanny!" exclaimed Mr. Mills, looking at 
 her in astonishment, for the good old woman 
 appeared to be in perfect health ; " have you 
 lost your senses ?" 
 
 " O no, sir," replied Nanny, " I know perfectly 
 well what I am saying. At three o'clock in the 
 afternoon on Friday, I shall die." 
 
 " Nanny !" 
 
 " And though," continued the old lady calmly, 
 " you will be some miles from this place, I yet 
 want you to comply with my request ; and, if you 
 have ever known anything good of me that may 
 be serviceable to others, you can tell it." 
 
 " But," said Mr. Mills, " before I promise to 
 comply with your wishes, I should be gratified if 
 you would inform me how you know that you will 
 die on Friday, this being Tuesday ?" 
 
 " Then, sir, I will tell you. You probably know 
 that reports have been in circulation, that James 
 and his wife have been seen, in different places, 
 by various people, since their death ?"
 
 SPIRITUAL. 437 
 
 "True," replied the reverend Mr. Mills, "but 
 indeed I regarded it as no more than idle gossip." 
 
 "But, sir," rejoined old Nanny, "/ saw them 
 both !" 
 
 " You saw them ?" 
 
 " Indeed I did." 
 
 " When, my good old friend ?" 
 
 " This morning, sir, while engaged in sweeping 
 my entry, I happened to glance along the road, 
 and then saw two persons approaching, who seemed 
 so strongly to resemble James and his wife, that 
 I instantly stopped my work, and gazed steadily 
 at them. They never slackened their pace, but 
 came close up to me ; and then, though indeed I 
 knew it before, it proved to be, in good truth, 
 James and his wife." 
 
 " Why, Nanny, were you not afraid ?" 
 
 " Afraid, sir ! Of what ? No, indeed, I was 
 not afraid. I knew them both too well in this 
 world. They were kind, good people, here ; and 
 I was quite certain they had not become bad since 
 they quitted us." 
 
 " Well, Nanny, what passed ?" 
 
 " Well, sir, as I was saying, they came close 
 up to me and I said, ' Mr. James, is that you ?' 
 And he said, ' Yes, Nanny, it is me. You are 
 not deceived and this is my wife.' And I said, 
 ' James, are you happy ?' And he replied, ' I am, 
 and so is my wife ; and our happiness exceeds
 
 438 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 anything we ever conceived of in this world.' 
 ' But,' said I, ' Mr. James, if you are so happy, 
 why have you returned ?' To which he replied, 
 ' Strange as it may appear to you, there is still a 
 mysterious union subsisting between us and our 
 friends in this world. Nanny, you know that I 
 and my wife died suddenly, in consequence of 
 which it has been supposed that I left no WILL ; 
 and in order to prevent some uneasiness which is 
 likely to arise among the children respecting my 
 property, we were permitted to return to this 
 world to inform some person that I did make a 
 will, and where it may be found. We went,' he 
 continued, ' last night, to our former mansion, 
 to inform Mr. Mills respecting the will, but he 
 was frightened, and we could not communicate 
 with him. We now, therefore, request you to in- 
 form him, as he will dine with you to-day and 
 we knew you would feel no alarm.' ' No, James, 
 I replied, ' I am not alarmed, for I am vastly glad 
 to see you, especially since you are happy.' ' The 
 will,' he then said, ' is in a private drawer ' (des- 
 cribing it, and the mode of opening it), 'and the 
 executors reside in the neighbourhood. Request 
 Mr. Mills to return to the house, find the will, 
 arrange with the executors, and settle the family 
 affairs satisfactorily. And,' concluded he, ' we are 
 permitted to inform you, Nanny, that on Fridaynext, 
 at three o'clock, you will die and be with us.' "
 
 SPIRITUAL. 439 
 
 " What did you say in reply ?" 
 
 "I said, 'O James, I am vastly glad to hear 
 such tidings. I would it were Friday now !' l Well, 
 said he, * be ready : for the messenger will cer- 
 tainly call for you at that hour? And I re- 
 plied, ' Don't fear, James by the grace of God I 
 will be ready.' So they left me." 
 
 Mr. Mills listened to this account with no small 
 astonishment, and immediately returned to Mr. 
 James's house. Without the least difficulty, he 
 discovered the drawer and the will, and fulfilled 
 in every particular the directions he had received. 
 On the succeeding Friday, old Nanny died, and 
 Mr. Mills informed Mr. Watson that he preached 
 her funeral sermon on the Sabbath that followed. 
 
 The Rev. R. Watson expressed his full belief 
 in this singular narrative. 
 
 To return, however, to argument. We have, 
 perhaps, already dwelt too long on circumstances 
 whose character at least is peculiar; but it was 
 desirable to show how little such occurrences 
 seem amenable to fixed laws ; and how, as if to 
 perplex man's judgment, every successive in- 
 stance either presents some novel feature de- 
 stroys some accepted theory or leaves some 
 condition unfulfilled. Delay it as we may, the 
 conclusion to which we shall inevitably be driven 
 is similar to that at which the assailants of the 
 spirit- theory have already arrived that an in-
 
 440 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 telligence independent of, and wholly separate 
 from, our own is revealed. And, since the voice 
 of revelation, and the general consent of mankind 
 at large, have been accepted as evidence in favour 
 of those momentous truths the existence of a 
 God, and the immortality of the soul why should 
 not the very same evidence be allowed some 
 weight in regard to the doctrine of the return and 
 earthly manifestation of spirits ? 
 
 " Why," asks the martyr-philosopher, in Mr. 
 Warren's Diary of a Physician, " Why should 
 not that Omnipotent Being, who formed both the 
 body and the soul, and willed them to exist 
 unitedly, cause, also, the one to exist separately 
 from the other, either by endowing it with new 
 properties for that especial end, or by enabling it 
 to exercise, in its disembodied state, powers which 
 continued latent during its connexion with the 
 body?" 
 
 Influenced, probably, by these, or similar con- 
 siderations, or unwilling to incur the danger of 
 appearing to define the limits of Almighty power, 
 the opponents of the theory now adopted the 
 wiser course of arraigning the presumed intel- 
 ligences on the ground of their own demerits ; 
 and the attack commenced, much in the same 
 manner as one might file a bill in Chancery by 
 taxing the responding spirits (granting them to 
 be what they profess) with evincing a want of
 
 SPIRITUAL. 441 
 
 intelligence wholly incompatible with a more ex- 
 alted state of being; in fact, that the responses 
 were uniformly frivolous, useless, and uninterest- 
 ing. 
 
 This clearly threw upon the defendant spirits 
 the necessity of either acknowledging the lowness 
 of their order, or adducing contrary proof. Now, 
 as has been fairly shown in former portions of 
 this work, follies have been repeatedly committed 
 by parties professing to be under the guidance of, 
 and in constant communication with, the invisible 
 world. It is, however, equally undeniable by all 
 who have in the slightest degree acquainted them- 
 selves with the facts that the great majority 
 of the alleged communications, through media, 
 have been of a character very far remote from the 
 suggestions of folly, the dreamings of lunacy, or 
 the dark sophistry and delusions of diabolism. 
 
 In refutation of the charge of frivolity, the 
 following extract from a conversation first made 
 public in December 1850, may suffice, premising 
 that it is but as an example of one out of many 
 thousand of a similar description. The respond- 
 ent, in this case, purported to be the spirit of a 
 Mr. C., a gentleman of high repute for intelligence, 
 energy, and philanthropy : 
 
 " QUESTION. Mr. C., had the human race a 
 conscious existence before we came upon earth ? 
 
 u 5
 
 442 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 " ANSWER. Soul-matter had an existence, but 
 not a conscious existence. 
 
 " Q. Are there any spirits which exert an evil 
 or malignant influence on human actions and con- 
 ditions ? 
 
 " A. Yes ; but not because they desire to do so, 
 but because of their inferior or gross organization. 
 
 " Q. Are there any human spirits which have 
 passed from earth, which are not in a state of pro- 
 gress or improvement ? 
 
 " A. No ; but some progress slowly, having a 
 very gross organization to begin with. * * * 
 
 " Q. Are there any spirits in a state of misery 
 or pain, so as to feel their existence a burden ? 
 
 " A. There are some who have mental suffering, 
 because they did not improve (or misused) their 
 advantages while on earth. 
 
 " Q. Are there any who despair of ever attain- 
 ing the condition of the blest ? 
 
 " A. They may at times, but not lastingly. 
 
 " Q. Does the state in which Mr. C. now is, 
 seem more immediately under the Divine govern- 
 ment than our condition ? 
 
 " A. Its inhabitants see more clearly, as they 
 have progressed farther. 
 
 " Q. Are there any in that state who disbelieve 
 the existence of the Deity ? 
 
 " A. They do not disbelieve it, but some do not 
 comprehend it.
 
 SPIRITUAL. 443 
 
 " Q. Then the Deity is not visible in that 
 sphere ? 
 
 " A. He is nowhere visible. We receive im- 
 pressions from Him, but do not see Him. 
 
 " Q. Is this new ability on our part to commu- 
 nicate with the spirit-world a consequence of 
 any change or improvement in the human family ? 
 
 " A. Yes : the human race have become more 
 refined and susceptible (to impression from the 
 spirit-world) than formerly. 
 
 " Q. Do children, who die in conscious infancy, 
 live in the future state ? 
 
 " A. The moment an infant has been ushered 
 into the world, an individuality has been formed, 
 which continues to exist, providing the physical 
 constitution was perfected not otherwise." 
 
 Upon another occasion, the following dialogue 
 took place : 
 
 " Q. What is the spiritual condition of persons 
 who die insane ? 
 
 " A. Insanity is produced by an unfortunate 
 material organization, or diseases of the body. 
 When the spirit leaves the body, these material 
 causes are removed, and the spirit is free. 
 
 " Q. Do spirits ever become so perfect as to 
 loose their connexion with this earth ? 
 
 " A. Do people ever grow so old as to forget 
 their youth f 
 
 " Q. Do spirits retain a tangible form ?
 
 444 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 " A. They do. Their identity is never lost. 
 They appear a kind of sublimated essence ; can 
 move themselves by will, and receive impressions 
 from one another by undulations of the atmosphere, 
 in the same manner as sound is conveyed here. 
 
 " Q. Is there such a thing as marrying in an- 
 other sphere ? 
 
 " A. There is such a thing as mat 'ng, which is 
 a very different thing from marrying. Every 
 spirit has its mate a congenial spirit and if not 
 properly mated here, will be there." 
 
 Consolation, at all events, for disturbed domestic 
 relations. Sceptic, hold your tongue " Curious 
 fool, be still." Whatever may be your private 
 opinion of the doctrine and ideas put forth in 
 these and the like responses, the latter are, at 
 least, not wanting in intelligence, are not frivo- 
 lous, nor devoid of a certain sort of interest. 
 
 Sectarian eh though ? and, by the way, did 
 not Emanuel Swedenborg affirm that in this very 
 present year, 1852 if ever his religion would 
 prevail ? . . . . It may have been so stated. I 
 believe it to be all nonsense. But, at all events, 
 persons of all churches and creeds have lent them- 
 selves to this " movement." One of the most re- 
 markable media, in answer to a question " which 
 religion was the true one ?" answered " None 
 are perfect; but the Roman Catholic Church is 
 nearest to the truth."
 
 SPIRITUAL. 445 
 
 A testimony received by the latter Church in a 
 most ungracious spirit, inasmuch as her teachers 
 have, with much anxiety, warned their hearers 
 against yielding any sort of credence to the new 
 manifestations. 
 
 And a friend, dating July, in the present 
 year, writes that the clergy of the " New Church " 
 have, as a body, discouraged the spiritual philoso- 
 phy, not so much as questioning its origin, as 
 distrusting the character of the spirits concerned. 
 And further, I do not mind telling you, my dear 
 Sceptic, that there are people (like ourselves, no 
 Swedenborgians), who, while carefully eschewing 
 any adherence to his cumbrous and obscure -sys- 
 tem of theology, taken as a whole, yet firmly be- 
 lieve that many of his hitherto contemned doc- 
 trines, in relation to the nature, form, and organ- 
 ism of the human soul, the immediate connexion 
 of heaven with earth, and the realization of spiri- 
 tual communication, will shortly obtain a more 
 general recognition. 
 
 I will now, Sceptic, direct your attention to a 
 very remarkable circumstance, communicated to 
 me on the authority of a gentleman of high in- 
 telligence and considerable habits of observation, 
 who has lately returned from a tour of several 
 months in Iowa, Mr. James Sargent, brother of 
 Mr. Epes Sargent, the well-known litterateur, of 
 Boston.
 
 446 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 Mr. Sargent's route lay principally through 
 tracts of country most remote from the influences 
 of civilization. He was, for a portion of the time, 
 surrounded, almost exclusively, by an Indian 
 population in a state but little removed from bar- 
 barism. It need hardly be added, that no vestige 
 of literature (even to the establishment of a dis- 
 trict post for the benefit of travellers), had ever 
 penetrated to these wilds. No means for the dis- 
 semination of information and opinion existed. 
 Yet Mr. Sargent found that the rappings, and all 
 the other spiritual manifestations, were of com- 
 mon occurrence. 
 
 It was not by any means unusual, on entering 
 a log-cabin, to find the good, simple people seated 
 round the rude table, upon which raps were being 
 made, and replying, in the usual mode, to ques- 
 tions put by the auditory. There were to be 
 found, moreover, both writing and talking (clair- 
 voyant) media, and these in considerable num- 
 bers. 
 
 The villagers, themselves, appeared to be in 
 total ignorance of the nature and character of the 
 phenomena ; only replying, when questioned, that 
 they " did not understand it"-" didn't know but 
 what it might be the devil," &c. 
 
 These sylvan rappings first occurred, it appears, 
 when a number of people were sitting together in 
 conversation, and created no small consternation.
 
 SPIRITUAL. 447 
 
 Soon, tables and chairs were moved, tipped over, 
 and lifted, and many other Puck-like gambols 
 performed. The idea that these wonders originated 
 in some superhuman intelligence, seems to have oc- 
 curred to these unsophisticated beings naturally, 
 and without any kind of prompting or suggestion 
 from persons already acquainted with the demon- 
 strations ; and, having arrived at this conclusion, 
 and ascertained that the rappings could reply, 
 they no longer hesitated to enter into conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 One woman informed Mr. Sargent that "the 
 spirits would tell lies for she had found them 
 out in falsehood and she did'nt want to have 
 anything to do with them." 
 
 Thus we find that, in spots and corners of the 
 earth as much wanting in facilities for trickery 
 and collusion as destitute of objects for the prac- 
 tice of such the mystery which has puzzled civi- 
 lization, with which science has shyly coquetted, 
 and for whose destruction church, press, and pub- 
 lic have railed, ridiculed, argued, and jested in 
 vain is calmly flourishing, invested with the like 
 inscrutable properties as on its first manifestation. 
 And where was that ? At Hydesville ? or among 
 the rude ancestors of these very people, as men- 
 tioned at the beginning of this book ? 
 
 To recapitulate instances in which the working 
 of some independent intelligence has been evinced,
 
 448 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 would be simply wearisome to the reader. Proofs 
 that, to use the words of my correspondent, G., 
 these phenomena " are not produced or controlled 
 by any agency on the hither side of nature" have 
 been adduced in sufficient numbers to awaken the 
 interest, or at least secure the attention, of all 
 who do not purposely close their ears, or steel 
 their reason, against the matter in dispute ; and 
 to those who do, I have not the remotest inten- 
 tion of appealing. 
 
 But, my dear Sceptic, I am fully aware that 
 your doubts are by no means dissipated. We 
 " accepted service " on behalf of the spirits, in re- 
 gard to the species of "writ" you served upon 
 them, and are prepared to show cause at your 
 pleasure. 
 
 The charge of puerility and dulness in the re- 
 sponses has been disposed of, but there yet re- 
 mains another branch of the same objection, upon 
 which very great stress has been laid. 
 
 You allude to the more mechanical tricks, the 
 tumblings and tippings of chairs and tables. 
 Surely, some more refined, more poetical, and 
 spiritual mode of manifestation would be in better 
 keeping with these ethereal existences? And, 
 granting all cui bono ? Who wants a table 
 tipped ? 
 
 It might be answered, that if the ethereal ex- 
 istences did no more than tip or turn over a chair
 
 SPIRITUAL. 449 
 
 or table, but did it in such a manner as to con- 
 vince us that it is done by spiritual power alone, 
 even then, they will accomplish a great and mag- 
 nificent work no less than demonstrating, cor- 
 roborating rather, the truth of a second existence. 
 " Such, indeed," writes some one, " would be a 
 greater work than any since Christ ; and to me 
 their whole design appears to be this, and nothing 
 more. And can this be regarded as of no mo- 
 ment, when we remember how many there are in 
 the condition of the man who said he most sin- 
 cerely believed [in an existence after death, but 
 would give the world to know it ? " 
 
 One recognizes much significance in the say- 
 ing of Montesquieu " Independamment des idees 
 revettes, les ides mgtaphysiques me donnent une 
 tres-forte esperance de mon bonheur eternel, a la- 
 quelleje ne voudrais pas renoncer." 
 
 But, after all, this lays open before us a field 
 of argument into which I am unwilling, and per- 
 haps in a work of this superficial and didactic 
 character, scarcely entitled, to enter involving, as 
 it does, a direct inquiry into the nature and mis- 
 sion of these invisible speakers themselves. A 
 few words, however, are necessary. The fact is 
 notorious, and it is therefore almost superfluous 
 to begin by stating that, up to the present time, 
 the spirit- communications have been couched in 
 a tone of the deepest reverence to the Almighty
 
 450 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 Cause, and of good-will to mankind. The senti- 
 ments they have inculcated appear to be such as, 
 humanly speaking, can scarcely fail to promote 
 both the temporal and eternal welfare of him who 
 frankly adopts and sedulously follows their be- 
 nign prompting. Nor does my own experience 
 recall one single individual instance in which a 
 contrary course has been pursued in which any 
 lurking suggestion of evil against God or man 
 can be detected under any mask whatsoever. 
 
 Granted, however, that this is not sufficient ; we 
 all know that the devil can quote Scripture, and 
 have high authority for believing that he can even 
 be " transformed into an angel of light." Are we 
 right then (say some of our friends, driven at 
 length to the spirit-theory) in accepting even 
 these seeming faithful sayings at the hands of 
 doubtful beings ? Such testimony cannot, at all 
 events, be needful to us, since " if they hear not 
 Moses and the prophets, neither will they be per- 
 suaded though one rose from the dead." 
 
 This, I am aware, is a favourite text with the 
 objectors above-mentioned ; and all that can be 
 said in reply is, that deeper consideration than 
 they probably have given it, seems due to a text 
 which, taken literally, would infer that the entire 
 New Testament was superfluous and vain. 
 
 Again, it is argued that He who refused to 
 accept the testimony of devils, though true, may
 
 SPIRITUAL. 451 
 
 still be averse to the establishment of the truths 
 of His word in any other manner than that already 
 authorised and commanded to mankind. For 
 that reason, also, we are bound to be cautious in 
 receiving at the hands of these intelligences even 
 affirmation of the holiest truths. To descend to 
 human teaching, how writes, on this vexed ques- 
 tion, the able and popular Hawthorne ? 
 
 " Alas, my countrymen, methinks we have 
 fallen on an evil age ! If these phenomena have 
 not humbug at the bottom, so much the worse for 
 us. What can they indicate, in a spiritual way, 
 except that the soul of man is descending to a 
 lower point than it has ever reached while incar- 
 nate ? We are pursuing a downward course in 
 the eternal march, and thus bring ourselves into 
 the same range with beings whom death in re- 
 quital of their gross and evil lives has degraded 
 below humanity ! To hold intercourse with spirits 
 of this order, we must stoop and grovel in some 
 element more vile than earthly dust. These gob- 
 lins, if they exist at all, are but the shadows of 
 past mortality, outcasts, mere refuse stuff, ad- 
 judged unworthy of the eternal world, and, on the 
 most favourable supposition, dwindling gradually 
 into nothingness. The less we have to say to 
 them the better, lest we share their fate." Blithe- 
 dale Romance, vol. ii. p. 181.
 
 452 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 There what do you deduce from that ? ask the 
 triumphant cavillers. 
 
 First, my excellent friends, that it is no small 
 thing to find such a pen as you have quoted 
 acknowledging belief in that spiritual thesis 
 against the which you strove so earnestly. In the 
 next place, he who designs to convince on any 
 matter of conscience or philosophy, must do it 
 by argument rather than by declamation. Here, 
 unhappily, the former ingredient is omitted. In 
 the last place, since you know not by what pro- 
 cess of reasoning or of evidence this gentleman 
 arrived at his conclusion respecting the unrelia- 
 bility of the spirits, it may not be out of place to 
 remind you of certain counsel which suggests the 
 examination, for yourselves, of every commu- 
 nication claiming to be of inspired or spiritual 
 origin (1 John iv. 2) ; in the words of Burkitt, 
 " examine their doctrine by the rule of the word 
 of God, and try from whom they come, whether 
 from the Spirit of God, or from Satan." 
 
 We recur to the apparent value of the physical 
 manifestations, in regard to which it is only just 
 to remark that the sarcasm so freely levelled 
 against the mere mode of operation, is wholly 
 misplaced. A great end consecrates the most in- 
 significant operation. Let it be, with all reve- 
 rence, observed that there are signs, tests, com-
 
 SPIRITUAL. 453 
 
 munications, &c., recorded in Holy Writ (see, for 
 example, Judges vii. 6, xii. 6), which, weighed by 
 their outward seeming, may appear to the unre- 
 flective mind undignified to the last degree. Nay, 
 there are not wanting things even in the doctrines 
 and ceremonies of the Christian religion itself, 
 that to unsanctified imaginations seem ridiculous 
 and uncouth ; yet who that has a realising faith 
 in that religion would, for such a reason, repu- 
 diate it? 
 
 Should it seem improbable that this mode of 
 communication with another sphere of being 
 should have originated in actions so seemingly 
 insignificant, let us before deciding pause a mo- 
 ment, scan the sources of the mightest discoveries, 
 and see if in them an analogy may not be fur- 
 nished, close enough to diminish greatly what 
 may be considered the puerile character of the 
 mode by which evidences of intelligence were 
 first discovered in these rappings. " It is not 
 difficult," says an American writer, " to imagine 
 that a mind in contemplating the omnipotence of 
 that power which holds with a stronger than iron 
 grasp, planet to sun, and system to system, should 
 feel its sublime reflections somewhat depressed, if 
 told for the first time that the mighty law of gra- 
 vitation had its discovery in the insignificant cir- 
 cumstance of an apple being seen to fall to the 
 ground."
 
 454 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 Assuredly, it would not be for us to prescribe 
 modes of operation, nor pretend to fathom the 
 cause of such a form of development, in the case 
 of a system of which we as yet know nothing. 
 By their fruits we shall know them, not by the 
 first green leaf. There is, in all things, an alpha- 
 bet to learn. Mr. Coggeshall aptly reminds us, that 
 in the first rudiments of a child's education, we 
 do not give him explanations of astronomy, geo- 
 logy, painting, elocution ; nor, in communication 
 with the mass of tender mind, in some Sabbath 
 school, do we address the infant audience on 
 questions of national importance. 
 
 The materials and manner of printing, the 
 power of steam, the properties and use of the 
 electric telegraph, all these existed centuries 
 before Gottenburg, Watt, and Morse, called them 
 into action ; and, as a corollary, argue the spirit-ad- 
 vocates, with some ingenuity, that the possibility 
 of communication with the world of spirits was 
 not recognised long before the Hydesville mani- 
 festations, was not because such sounds had not 
 previously been made, but because no one was so 
 impressed by them as to follow out their indica- 
 tions. 
 
 A further objection is at hand. Granting that 
 these movements are the work of spirits, how is 
 it managed ? How can spirit come in contact with 
 matter, and act upon it, as body upon body ?
 
 SPIRITUAL. 455 
 
 The reply is, that such immediate contact does 
 not, of necessity, take place. The universe itself 
 is material ; God moves it with no visible hand. 
 Our Lord wrought physical miracles, using no ma- 
 terial agent. An angel caused the stone to roll 
 away from the sepulchre. A prison-gate opened to 
 another, untouched " of his own accord." The 
 Rev. Dr. Harbaugh, in his already quoted work, 
 refers to the mistaken notion that angels cannot 
 communicate with our spirits in any other way 
 than by presenting themselves visibly, tangibly, or 
 audibly, to our several senses, and points to the 
 philosophic consideration that there may be even 
 material media, whereof none of our five senses 
 are cognisant, which yet might constitute an ele- 
 ment in which spiritual being might commune 
 with spiritual. This element is that nervo-elec- 
 tric fluid discussed by Dr. Passavant. A fine 
 electric fluid pervades all nature. It is almost 
 spiritual, and if this imponderable agent may 
 form the medium of communication, it is thus that 
 the spirit of man does not act directly upon his 
 grosser parts his physical nature ; for, first, the 
 electric fluid inspires the nerves the nerves act 
 upon the muscles, the muscles upon the bones, 
 and thus the arm and hand come in contact with 
 substances, and move them. Who shall say that 
 the concentration of this sixth element may not be 
 brought to bear upon material substances, so as to
 
 456 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 produce sound and motion ?* (for it is in such a field 
 of explanation that, according to Dr. Passavant, 
 must be sought the solution of those curious "coin- 
 dences " so frequently recorded, of pictures fall- 
 ing, clocks and watches stopping, at the instant of 
 a death) ; that the exercise of will-power on the 
 part of the surrounding intelligences those sen- 
 tient beings which, as Milton expresses it, in 
 millions 
 
 " Walk the earth 
 Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep," 
 
 cannot so disturb and influence the electric me- 
 
 * A remarkable illustration of this presumed power has just oc- 
 curred. 
 
 Mrs. Lauriston (the name is slightly altered), a lady residing in 
 London, has a sister living at Southampton. One afternoon, as the 
 latter sat at work in her room, three slight knocks were heard at 
 the door. " Come in," said the lady. No one entered ; but the 
 knock being repeated, she rose and opened the door. No one was 
 visible. 
 
 Without being able to trace the precise combination of ideas, the 
 thought of her sister then, as she knew, suffering from illness 
 suggested itself to her mind in so vivid a manner as to induce her 
 instantly to communicate with her friends in London. She received 
 for answer, that at a moment precisely corresponding with that of the 
 alarm, Mrs. Lauriston's disorder had attained a crisis. A sort of trance 
 then supervened ; on recovering from which, the invalid stated that, 
 impressed with an eager desire to see her sister before she died, 
 she had dreamed that she went to Southampton, and knocked at her 
 room-door that, on the second summons, her sister appeared ; but 
 that inability to accost her had occasioned an uneasiness which re- 
 called her to herself.
 
 SPIRITUAL. 457 
 
 dium, as at least to originate those concussions, 
 vibrations, or pulsations (as they have been vari- 
 ously called), now attracting notice, and thus 
 produce sound ? 
 
 These views, at all events, seem to be partaken 
 by one who has carefully examined the subject, 
 and with his more ample explanation I am 
 tempted to conclude. 
 
 "It is admitted by physiologists in general," 
 says Mr. Fishbough, "that the nervous system of 
 man is pervaded by a subtle fluid or essence, 
 which, being the medium of the will, is the direct 
 instrument of muscular contraction, and conse- 
 quently of all human mechanical action upon 
 things in the outer world. It is generally ad- 
 mitted that the interior living principle of man, 
 considered as an independent and conscious en- 
 tity, survives the dissolution of its bodily en- 
 casement. If we consider this as a substantial 
 organic something, and not a mere intangible 
 ideality, much of the difficulty which stands 
 in the way of a true conception of the case be- 
 fore us will vanish. This interior living prin- 
 ciple, then, consists of all the nervous and phy- 
 sical essences which now pervade and animate 
 the body, and constitute the real man. At the 
 death of the body, this interior principle is libe- 
 rated in its organic form, and constitutes the per- 
 sonal structure of whatw r e understand as a spirit." 
 
 x
 
 458 SPIRITUAL. 
 
 This is described by the seeress of Prevorst 
 and others, as the nerve-spirit. 
 
 Mr. F. then goes on to remind us of a doctrine 
 which, though essentially Swedenborgian, has 
 been treated with respect by philosophers, and 
 received some apparent confirmation through ex- 
 periment, viz., " that the human body, in common 
 with all other bodies, animate and inanimate, is 
 surrounded and pervaded by a refined aura, or 
 what may be termed a magnetic essence or sphere, 
 and which is perfectly characteristic of its own 
 distinctive nature. In man this magnetic sphere 
 not only serves to connect him interiorly with his 
 fellow-man, and, as in most cases, with a greater 
 or less number of spirits of the higher world, but 
 also with the ultimate essences of all surrounding 
 objects of the outer world, with the exterior forms 
 of which he is connected through the senses." 
 
 And his theory is, that the magnetic nature of a 
 person may, under some peculiar conditions, be 
 so related to the general sphere of the spiritual 
 world, as that spirits may with facility come in 
 connexion or magnetic rapport with him; and 
 act, through his magnetic sphere, upon all phy- 
 sical objects within that sphere, producing almost 
 any kind of sound or motion. 
 
 " And," concludes Mr. F., " in the supposition 
 that these phenomena are produced through the 
 medium of the nervous fluid (or ' nerve-spirit ') in-
 
 SPIRITUAL. 459 
 
 stead of the electric fluid, we have a rational 
 solution of the apparently electric sensations de- 
 scribed above as experienced by the susceptible 
 while the sounds are being made. For as the 
 nervous fluid in our own system is the medium of all 
 normal muscular contraction, so this same species 
 of imponderable essence, supplied from & foreign 
 source, and made suddenly to permeate any of our 
 muscular tissues, would give rise to similar contrac- 
 tions, which, being involuntary, would necessarily 
 resemble the slight shocks of electricity. In the 
 presence and under the volitions of spiritual 
 beings, it may, of course, be supposed that this 
 essence, in an active state, would be abundantly 
 supplied." 
 
 x 2
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WHO CARES ? 
 
 IN the previous pages I have endeavoured, my 
 dear Sceptic, to deserve your confidence, by set- 
 ting before you the subject of our discussion in 
 every possible aspect, favourable or otherwise, and 
 although your objections have sometimes placed 
 me in the position of seeming to advocate doc- 
 trines of which you were inclined somewhat too 
 hastily to dispose, I have, in point of fact, as on 
 reflection you will admit, done nothing of the 
 kind. 
 
 By a pleasant fiction of English law (believed 
 in implicitly by everybody but the individual most 
 intimately concerned), the judge is always " coun- 
 sel" for the accused. Fortunately the latter has 
 but little confidence in that forensic jeu cT esprit ; 
 and, though his feelings may suffer a little more 
 during that process of sentencing by his judicial
 
 WHO CARES ? 461 
 
 " counsel," which usually winds up the ceremony, 
 he, at least, expects no more than, in these days, 
 he is certain to receive -fair play. And this is 
 the sum of all that, in the matter before us, I have 
 endeavoured to secure. That which appeared, in 
 my judgment, deserving of contempt, I have 
 treated in a corresponding tone ; that which was 
 simply suspicious, with caution ; that which, in 
 its present aspect, seems worthy of respect, with 
 candour. 
 
 Let us see what has been proved. 
 
 First. That manifestations of an extraordinary 
 character are rife in the United States, and are 
 becoming familiar in England. 
 
 Secondly. That demonstrations of a similar 
 kind have been known almost from time imme- 
 morial, in civilised and barbarous countries alike ; 
 their true origin, as in the present instance, never 
 having been ascertained. 
 
 Tliirdly. That the American manifestations 
 have been closely watched, carefully investigated, 
 and submitted to every conceivable test, by persons 
 eminently qualified to conduct such inquiries, and 
 whose characters entitle them to the fullest credit. 
 These have decided : 
 
 Fourthly. That the phenomena present fea- 
 tures which render the theory of the employment 
 of mechanic art wholly inadmissible. 
 
 Fifthly. That the recognised laws of electricity
 
 462 WHO CARES ? 
 
 are utterly insufficient to account for and the 
 properties of that agent inapplicable to the re- 
 sults obtained. 
 
 Lastly. That the theories of animal electricity, 
 magnetoid currents, nerve-spirit, &c., will not 
 suffice to explain the whole phenomena, while 
 unconnected with some independent intelligence ; 
 though where that intelligence is to be sought, and 
 how explained, there is no satisfactory evidence 
 to prove. 
 
 At these conclusions so many enlightened and 
 liberal minds have already arrived, that we recognise 
 the last and most remarkable feature of the whole 
 strange history, in the fact of the question being 
 permitted to halt and remain stationary, exactly 
 at the point where profound and anxious interest 
 for the first time really attaches to it ! This is 
 the more noticeable, inasmuch as it certainly is 
 not characteristic of our brethren of the Western 
 world to stop short in the prosecution of any in- 
 quiry which seems to promise unusual results. 
 So, however, it is ; and, deprived of all right to 
 question any longer the actual occurrence of 
 these wonders persons who have been hitherto 
 most active in inquiry, and rigid in scrutiny, seem 
 to have either plunged headlong into the most 
 extended visions of the " Spiritualists," or, pausing 
 in the hope of some new evidence " turning up," 
 abandoned investigation to curious and shallow
 
 WHO CARES ? 
 
 minds, alike incapable of gleaning new light, or 
 appreciating what they already possess. 
 
 Of this latter class, a talented countryman of 
 their own, disposed in a humorous sketch : 
 
 " Our sham philosophers investigate the subject 
 on this wise. They summon a spirit, the spirit, 
 we will suppose, of a grandmother. 
 
 " ' Of what did my grandmother die ?' asks the 
 inquirer. 
 
 " ' She was blown up in a steamer,' replies the 
 spirit. 
 
 " ' No, sir,' says the inquirer, ' the old lady is 
 still alive and hearty.' 
 
 " And, therefore, the whole concern is voted an 
 imposture." 
 
 No doubt, with such philosophers, the matter is 
 so regarded. The man had prepared a test his 
 grandmother Aui avia, aut nulla ! It mattered 
 not how much else of new and strange was there ; 
 rappings, odic lights, electric sensations, were 
 nothing to him. Ho stood there for his grand- 
 mother. The Shylock of the rappers, he would 
 not depart without that venerable bond. If they 
 denied him, fie upon their lesser wonders ! 
 
 " There is no force in the decrees of" 
 
 rappers. In fine, it is, as everybody knows, a natu- 
 ral characteristic of superficial minds to give undue 
 prominence to that which appeals most intelligibly
 
 464 WHO CARES? 
 
 to their perceptive faculties, and regard with 
 stupid indifference marvels as great, but more 
 refined. Thus, in old time, the Jewish populace 
 would have dictated the miracles that should have 
 power to convince them. And thus, in our own 
 time, when miracles have ceased among the 
 vulgar, the pugilist is a hero the philosopher, a 
 fool. 
 
 But, the proceedings, perhaps, it should rather 
 be said the short-comings, of the other class of 
 inquirers, are infinitely more extraordinary. 
 
 A wonder, whatever its agency, has no doubt 
 been wrought in the land. Considered, for the 
 last time, in the light of an undiscovered hoax, 
 its marvellous ingenuity, and the incomparable 
 fidelity with which a secret, that must be known 
 to many thousands, among the neediest and most 
 parchaseable of the community has been pre- 
 served raise it beyond dispute to the dignity 
 of what it has been styled a wonder. In spite of 
 the hostility and denunciation of the greater por- 
 tion of the press the warning tone of the clergy 
 the ridicule and insouciance of the non-reflec- 
 tive portion of society, the subject has gradually 
 won its way through all opposition ; and, up to the 
 present instant, added thousands, almost daily, to 
 the number of those who deem it worthy of zealous 
 inquiry. The misfortune is, that these parties go 
 no further in the course reason dictates, than a
 
 WHO CARES? 465 
 
 certain special point, arrived at which, they either, 
 as has been observed, subside into apathy, or 
 rush into the wildest absurdities. So long as the 
 snapping of joints, the use of concealed magnets, 
 the possibility of mechanical art, the laws and 
 properties of common electricity, &c., were in 
 discussion, they were eager and inquisitive enough. 
 They were learned and disputatious ; they broached 
 impossible theories, and, in short, to use the ex- 
 pression of honest Fluellen, " uttered as prave 
 'ords at the bridge as you shall see in a summer's 
 day." They plunged into argument, and, keeping 
 the ground well under them, ducked and dived, 
 and of course came up again all right, as sound 
 as ever. But, alas ! no sooner are those comfort- 
 able corks, toe-ology, and the like, cut from their 
 hold, than our eager friends, seized with an unac- 
 countable fit of the shivers, creep trembling to 
 the bank, and are heard of no more. 
 
 Ought we, however, to blame those who, having 
 fairly exhausted all natural modes of explanation, 
 evince reluctance to prosecute researches into 
 such unwonted precincts as those which seem 
 now alone left to them ? Who would not pause 
 for an instant on the border of that pathless and 
 illimitable ocean on which the poverty of human 
 reason threatened to force these inquirers ? Happy 
 they, who, like him who was once " driven up 
 
 x5
 
 466 WHO CARES? 
 
 and down in Adria," past mortal aid, learn in 
 time to embark no trust in perishable helps, nor 
 presume to impose barriers of their own building 
 to the approaches of God to man. It is not, 
 therefore, to the caution of these parties that we 
 would hold up a scornful finger, but to the selfish 
 disregard of the consequences of their desertion, 
 to others; because, having, with all their might, 
 cheered on the less gifted multitude in chase of 
 this wonder, and slipped quickly aside as the 
 path grew slippery they make no effort to avert 
 the evils likely to result from the indiscriminating 
 pursuit they themselves originated forgetting 
 that all who urge a popular movement, of what- 
 ever nature, whether they abandon it or not, must 
 be held responsible for its due direction. 
 
 The language in which these seceders justify 
 their course, is so extremely concise, that it makes 
 a convenient heading to this chapter "Who 
 cares ?" It was, we believe, the New York Times, 
 a journal of considerable eminence, that in giving 
 publication to a certain tirade compounded, in 
 about equal degrees, of ignorance, impudence, and 
 vulgarity, made use of the above expression but, 
 after all, did no more than express the sentiments 
 of the party referred to. Against such a tone, 
 incredible as it is, when we consider the circum- 
 stances, and the age, in which it is assumed, it is
 
 WHO CARES ? 467 
 
 the duty of every honest, right-thinking person, 
 be he British or American, to enter his most em- 
 phatic protest. 
 
 " Suppose these rappings are the work of 
 spirits who cares ?" 
 
 There is something so profound in the philoso- 
 phy, so lofty in "the sentiment, so refined in the 
 expression of this brief sentence, that it is worth 
 preserving as a striking instance of what would be 
 termed by phrenologists, editorial " concentra- 
 tiveness." 
 
 " Suppose these rappings are the work of 
 spirits who cares ?" 
 
 Who cares if the spirit of some beloved friend 
 does, indeed, " take the vacant chair beside him ? " 
 Who cares if the angel-watchers we have reason 
 to believe walk among us, are permitted to reveal 
 their presence and their power ? Who cares if the 
 powers of evil are let loose against us, to mock 
 and to mislead ? Why, after fighting, inch by inch, 
 against that " supposition " with an obstinacy and 
 acharnement that seemed to imply that it was any- 
 thing rather than an indifferent matter, does our 
 philosopher, forced to its adoption, suddenly find 
 it of no consequence at all ? " Who cares ?" 
 
 Really, now, we might fancy this reckless, rol- 
 licking gentleman was referring, easily, to some 
 disputed scruple in the weight of a fat hog ! or 
 replying to some discreet tapster who warned him
 
 468 WHO CARES ? 
 
 that another gin-sling might possibly be produc- 
 tive of some domestic difference. " What odds 
 does it make ?" What ODDS ? Probably the slang 
 of the betting-ring, unscrupulous as it is, has 
 never been more remarkably employed. In the 
 computation of the " odds " in question, no better 
 assistance can be offered than is comprised in the 
 words of an American gentleman, in reference to 
 the manifestations : 
 
 " To every mind that has kept itself so free 
 from absorption in worldly pursuits, that it can 
 cultivate a rational interest in the inquiry Where 
 are the dead 1 } this maligned topic cannot be 
 without its claims to can did investigation. Surely 
 the great problem which has pressed so heavily 
 upon so many noble minds through all ages, is 
 not, in this, to be regarded with a callous, or what 
 is worse, audacious indifference. 
 
 " That these developments accord rather with 
 the instincts of the vulgar through all time, than 
 with the theories of the learned at the present day, 
 is no good reason that we should turn with super- 
 cilious scorn from inquiry. Look at the writers 
 of two or three centuries ago at Baxter, Henry 
 Moore, and many others ; and observe how much 
 of their argument in favour of the immortality of 
 the soul, was founded on phenomena precisely 
 similar to those now exciting our astonishment 
 phenomena which modern science proudly ignores ;
 
 WHO CARES ? 469 
 
 but which nevertheless occur, as surely as the earth 
 goes round the sun, in spite of the adverse opinion 
 of the men of the church in Galileo's time." 
 
 Such is the language of an enlightened exposi- 
 tor of honest convictions, and it would be infinitely 
 more to the credit of those whose calling places 
 them, for the time, in the position of " custodes 
 morum" of the people, did they adopt a similar 
 tone ; or at least refrain from insulting the better 
 feelings of their readers by ribaldry, or affected 
 indifference to a subject which is clearly not sus- 
 ceptible of such a view. 
 
 " Who cares ? " asks the newspaper scribe. 
 
 No class nor character in the vast human family 
 but might contribute something towards the satis- 
 faction of this gentleman's curiosity. The thought- 
 less, unreflective mind will care ; for here for the first 
 time stretches directly across his heedless path, 
 something which, appealing at once to the lowest 
 and the highest standard of intellect, awakens in- 
 terest and baffles comprehension. He, for one, 
 will not willingly leave behind him, unexamined, 
 so strange a thing. 
 
 That the man of science cares, is evidenced 
 abundantly, in the multitude of shapes in which, 
 through lectures or the press, the matter has been 
 brought before the general public. 
 
 Philosopher and theologian care, because they 
 may recognise, in this, the opening of another
 
 470 WHO CARES ? 
 
 door towards the inner sanctuary wherein all 
 knowledge resides. The atheist, in spite of him- 
 self, must care ; because, even in the faint uncer- 
 tain light thus furnished, his gloomy dreams must 
 dissolve and perish. That worst enemy of the age, 
 materialism, will possibly care, because the ground 
 on which its professors have built a temple to their 
 own pride and glory, will crumble from beneath 
 them. It will discover that the ultima Thule of 
 human knowledge has not yet been reached ; 
 that there may be yet more vouchsafed to the 
 humble investigator, than is dreamed of in the 
 proud philosophy of unbelief; that the forces 
 which may be weighed, handled, and measured, 
 are not the only ones that circulate through this 
 life-brimming universe. 
 
 If the excision from the human garden of this 
 foul weed, materialism, this, in the words of Sir 
 Humphry Davy, " cold, heavy, dull, and insup- 
 portable doctrine, necessarily tending to atheism," 
 be the ultimate result of this new philosophy, 
 motley, chaotic, nay, repulsive as its elements 
 may yet appear, how great a boon to humanity 
 will be from thence evolved ! 
 
 " It is time," says Dr. Leger, in a passage 
 worthy of deep attention, written in total ignorance 
 of the " spiritual" phenomena, " that a philosophy, 
 worthy of such a name, should find, in the condi- 
 tions of the actual existence of principles, the
 
 WHO CARES ? 471 
 
 natural and undeniable basis of the truths that re- 
 ligious revelation prescribes as duties. It is fully 
 time that our legislators, enlightened on the true 
 constitution, not only of primary elements, but of 
 man himself, would look into nature for the model 
 of a charter, the importance of which should not 
 consist in the fugitive interests of the present mo- 
 ment, and could ground upon the indestructible 
 laws of universal harmony the wisdom of those 
 which are to govern society. 
 
 " That period will arrive only when physicists 
 and chemists will cease to consider as 'essential 
 properties of matter' that which is only the mani- 
 festation of l immaterial principles] to which it 
 merely gives palpability. Then, and only then, 
 truth will banish from the realm of science ' abso- 
 lute materialism ;' that is not to be admitted there 
 more plausibly than in religion ; and f matter,' re- 
 duced at last to its real worth, will descend from 
 a throne which it has but too long occupied. 
 
 " Materialists avail themselves of the proposi- 
 tion : * nothing can be made out of nothing J as 
 being an incontrovertible truth. But let us under- 
 stand each other. 
 
 " Accoi'ding to you materialists, 'matter" 1 is 
 everything, 'immateriality' 1 nothing. According 
 to us, ' matter ' is not everything, and ' immate- 
 riality,' for being imponderable, is, nevertheless, 
 something. According to you, God cannot exist,
 
 472 WHO CARES ? 
 
 on account of being ' immaterial? According to 
 us, God does exist, although ' immaterial? Ac- 
 cording to you, there is no ''power'' but in 'mat- 
 ter? According to us, there is no ' matter ' with- 
 out a primary 'power' necessarily out, and distinct 
 from it. 
 
 " In your fallacious, uncertain, and inconsistent 
 doctrine, you misplace the principle of activity 
 * power ,' to enclose it, of your own private autho- 
 rity, in brute matter, and you reduce it to the 
 limited proportions of the latter. Then, again, 
 granting that ( matter" 1 is passive and blind in its 
 nature, you, nevertheless, endue it with a kind of 
 spirituality, with a powerful something, to which 
 you give the names of. 1 physical forces? ( chemical 
 affinities] and ' essential properties? 
 
 " According to our doctrine, the absolutely in- 
 controvertible truth is : that, in nature, nothing 
 is really 'powerful ' but that which does not need 
 a foreign impulse to cause, continue, or suspend 
 motion ; and that which is consequently entirely 
 free, and possesses consciousness of its liberty." 
 
 If the politician will " care," depends upon whe- 
 ther the ultimate effect upon the public mind will 
 be to elevate or brutalise that plastic mass, and 
 which of these results is most in accordance with 
 his own or his party's peculiar views. But there 
 is one variety yet of the world's citizenship, for- 
 tunately not yet extinct no, nor even rare, the
 
 WHO CARES ? 473 
 
 true philanthropist who would not view with the 
 indifference prescribed by the New York Times, 
 the abject submission of his fellow-men to decrees 
 and revelations acknowledged to be of superna- 
 tural origin, but whose reliability is unascertained. 
 
 Fashionable writers would have us believe that 
 in the age in which we have the honour to flourish, 
 attention is not easily enchained, nor belief lightly 
 won. This is the pert self-sufficiency most strongly 
 characteristic of the aforesaid age, than which any- 
 thing more insanely credulous, more completely de- 
 voted to miracle-rnongering of the most unlimited 
 description, it is difficult to conceive. The wonders 
 of art and science have evoked a spirit of reliance 
 upon scarce comprehended things, which, if aban- 
 doned entirely to its own impulses, may lead to 
 the most dangerous and fatal consequences. And 
 who will be responsible for them ? Surely 
 those whose province it pre-eminently is to com- 
 plete the work of discovery and analysis, the scat- 
 tered elements of which may be as baneful, as 
 the entire body, studied, explained, and subjected 
 to the control of reason, may be conducive to 
 man's temporal and eternal good. 
 
 These manifestations supply us with a some- 
 what alarming proof of the extreme imperturba- 
 bility with which science, immersed in its own 
 peculiar speculations, w r ould see mischief running 
 riot in the world, without an effort to arrest, or
 
 474 WHO CARES ? 
 
 even discourage its fatal course, beyond what may 
 be conveyed in a sneer or a supercilious smile. 
 
 So long as this attitude of indifference is pre- 
 served, so long, and so long only, are the spirit- 
 manifestations really fraught with danger. 
 
 Let us, by way of example, trace the history of 
 a convert to the spirit-theory. 
 
 Mr. B., a sincere, but not strong-minded man, 
 hears rumours of some renowned medium. He 
 attends a circle. Strange things occur. Inex- 
 plicable sounds are heard. A bell rings of its 
 own accord. The name of a correspondent, whose 
 letter is in his pocket, known only to himself, is 
 spelled out. A table, a chair, a cradle, move 
 without the application of visible force, &c., 
 Mr. B. walks away, in a state of bewilderment. 
 On the following day, he waits first upon the 
 clergyman, next the physician, of the precinct, 
 and requests them to furnish him with a theory of 
 explanation. The counsellors smile; the doctor, 
 indeed, laughs loudly, and both tell him that all 
 is legerdemain, and assure him that Signor Blitz, 
 or any other practised sorcerer of our day, can 
 execute still more astounding feats. Mr. B., after 
 further and more rigid investigation, is neverthe- 
 less convinced that the phenomena he has wit- 
 nessed are genuine ; and that the media are as 
 ignorant as himself of the mode of their produc- 
 tion.
 
 WHO CARES ? 475 
 
 Now both the clergy and the faculty having 
 clearly decided in ignorance and error, the 
 bewildered B. is driven perforce to accept that 
 solution of the difficulty to which the mani- 
 festations themselves have, from the first, ad- 
 hered, viz., that they are spiritual. Once to 
 accept this version, is to increase hourly in the 
 faith ; and short is the space before he re- 
 poses implicit confidence in the revelations ac- 
 corded to him. He no longer dreams of testing 
 the spirits of questioning their reliability. He 
 is, in effect, wrought up to a pitch of mental 
 excitement ; the next forward step from which is 
 to the lunatic's cell, that melancholy bourn to 
 which there is too much reason to apprehend 
 these spirit-doubtings have conducted more than 
 one victim already. 
 
 Now, had the phenomena received from the out- 
 set a calm and patient attention, a close, philo- 
 sophical consideration, such calamities never 
 could have occurred. Had science condescended 
 to investigate, before pronouncing its arrogant 
 decree that these phenomena should be spiritually 
 impossible, no room would be left to the un- 
 learned for cavil. Can we wonder that reason- 
 able beings will not be commanded without 
 knowing ivliy to regard in the light of a silly 
 humbug, unexplained signs, communications in 
 accordance with the admitted dogmas of natural
 
 476 WHO CARES ? 
 
 and revealed religion, and proof upon proof of an 
 insight and intelligence, apparently transcending 
 humanity ? 
 
 Tt is the laches of science, and almost that alone, 
 which has driven men to the supernatural, for a 
 solution which it is yet possible may be under our 
 very noses. 
 
 How then is the evil to be averted ? Not, 
 surely, by pretended ignorance of what is pass- 
 ing for the silence and neglect of the learned 
 and educated classes will not prevent those 
 less favoured from resorting to what is, of all 
 things, best calculated to awaken their interest. 
 Not by legislative interference for though our 
 law (like the absurd enactment of the Code Na- 
 poleon) may possibly, by a strained interpretation, 
 be so far exercised as to prevent these manifesta- 
 tions being turned to pecuniary profit it can in 
 no degree restrain their practice and dissemina- 
 tion in private. Not by ridicule, for to many 
 who remember how frequently derision has been 
 the portion of what is true and holy this would 
 be rather a commendation to favour and sym- 
 pathy. Not by open invective, for that is fo- 
 reign to the taste and temper of the age. 
 
 Inquiry and demonstration are the sole instru- 
 ments whereby the safety of the uneducated, the 
 credulous, and the superstitious, is to be secured ; 
 a fact so prononce, that the only wonder is how
 
 WHO CARES ? 477 
 
 the subject could have escaped receiving, long 
 since, the justice its grave attendant evils de- 
 served. 
 
 In America, where the principle of progress is 
 not only more fully recognised than with us, but 
 actually, as it were, wrought into the very springs 
 of action, it is hardly to be expected that science, 
 in its eager course, would pause to keep in view 
 those minute details which contribute to the per- 
 fection of wisdom's work ; and which are, in the 
 case to which we are referring, peculiarly essen- 
 tial to consider. America is in its fatigue-dress, 
 laboring, not with basket-work, nor or-molu, at 
 the huge foundations of a state, destined so far 
 as human foresight can extend to be, in no dis- 
 tant generation, the citadel and heart of the world. 
 Grandeur of conception, and extent of operation, 
 become at last, in the eyes of a nation thus, as 
 one man, employed features vital and essential 
 to every new scheme or discovery, be its nature 
 what it may. Now and then, no one will deny, 
 they fling us a block or two of raw material, 
 hewn as it were from some giant quarry, which, in 
 our calm and ordered workshops, resolves itself 
 into a marble statue, whose every vein breathes 
 life. May not even this be one ? They cannot, 
 or have neglected to, clothe it with any recognis- 
 able form earthly or celestial. A shapeless mass 
 it is, as handed hither. The greater need,
 
 478 WHO CARES ? 
 
 therefore, for the application of such tests as may 
 henceforth enable men either to despise the idol, 
 or worship the God; either unite in condemna- 
 tion of an impious artifice, or in recognition of a 
 new example of the power, the love, and the wis- 
 dom of Him who created all things, visible and 
 invisible. 
 
 In the mean time, however, there are a sort of 
 folk on this side of the green Atlantic, to whom it 
 may be as well to dedicate the few concluding 
 lines of this extended treatise. I allude to the 
 " fashionable," not the scientific, despisers of the 
 American manifestations ; those who, were it not 
 a trifle mauvais ton to patronise anything Ame- 
 rican, would adopt the tone, and perhaps the ex- 
 pression, of our friend the New York Times 
 " Who cares ? " &c. Such are they, who, lost in 
 admiration of Miss Martineau's masculine grasp 
 of mind, readily forgive her atheism, who, weep- 
 ing over the touching immorality of IM Dame aux 
 Camellias, gloating on Candide, or the seductive 
 page of Sue, raise their long white fingers in holy 
 horror at the bare idea of the rapping- spirits of 
 America. Among such elegant hypocrites, the 
 bitterest, if not the most dangerous, enemies of 
 religious truth have ever been found. The same 
 selfish spirit which induces, for example, my 
 noble neighbour, the lady Disdain, to order out 
 her horses and servants each Sunday morning, and
 
 WHO CARES ? 479 
 
 keep three souls from God's temple, rather than 
 move her own elegant person one hundred yards 
 thither; that same spirit which prompts another 
 accomplished person, under the influence of a 
 temporary attack of Uncle Tom-dom, to dic- 
 tate virtues and charities to women of another 
 land, which she refrains from practising among 
 the unhappy crowds that parade the streets, 
 and occasionally perish upon door-steps, in her 
 own ; this contemptible and pharisaic spirit 
 finds its readiest vent in disdain of what it can- 
 not comprehend. They "cannot understand" 
 how any person of decent education (yourself, 
 perhaps, Sceptic, or me), can listen, &c. Most 
 true. They cannot. No one has taxed them 
 with evincing the very slightest impatience un- 
 der those easy panniers, ignorance and mental 
 sloth. Why then indignant? It is rather we 
 who should complain for these maundering and 
 querulous lamentations interrupt if they cannot 
 arrest, the search for truth. The fool is welcome 
 to the play-ground, only so long as his senseless 
 bawlings do not disturb the student within; nor 
 must our accomplished friends conceive that, 
 albeit their Italian accent is unexceptionable, and 
 that the mysteries of tambour and crochet are no 
 mysteries to them they have absolutely ex- 
 hausted the springs of science and of art ; and 
 that no well-bred individual of either sex can
 
 480 WHO CARES ? 
 
 possibly desire to set foot in advance of them. 
 - Of dearer interest to the true philanthropist, is 
 one untaught mind, than legions of these finished 
 beings whose capacious intellect expands itself 
 in immortal stanzas in the Book of Beauty ; whose 
 charity smiles sweetly in a pink bonnet, at the 
 fancy-fair; whose moral and religious acquire- 
 ments are founded on the secure basis of French 
 philosophy ; and whose entire nature is so ex- 
 quisitely polished and beautified, that (as in the 
 case of some "restored" Claude or Poussin in 
 the National Gallery), there becomes visible a 
 little more of the inner self than is for their 
 respect or praise. 
 
 But 
 
 I know, my dear Sceptic. I have done. I 
 thank you for your society and attention ; and 
 rejoice to think that we part if not absolutely 
 ^ coincident in opinion yet learning to respect 
 each other's persuasion. Like Glaucus and Ty- 
 dides, we war no more with each other. 
 
 Enough Bostonians to thy tongue shall yield 
 In the rich harvest of that ample field 
 Enough of Englishmen, my pen shall bore 
 But Sceptic and myself dispute no more. 
 
 Shade of Homer ! forgive me I do but revenge 
 on thine interpreter his injuries to thee ! 
 
 THE END.
 
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