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Title: Psychomancy
Spirit-Rappings and Table-Tippings Exposed
Author: Charles G. Page
Release Date: April 11, 2020 [EBook #61807]
Language: English
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PSYCHOMANCY.
SPIRIT-RAPPINGS AND TABLE-TIPPINGS
EXPOSED.
BY
PROF. CHARLES G. PAGE, M. D., ETC.
NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 200 BROADWAY.
MDCCCLIII.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by D.
APPLETON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.
SPIRIT-RAPPINGS.
The wide-spread and alarming mania of _Spirit-rappings_ and
_table-tippings_ of the present day, is only a modification, or
new garb, of _devilish instrumentalities_, operating through human
machinations, which have infested society from time immemorial. We
start with this proposition, harsh as it may sound to some, and if we
should fail to sustain it by facts, reasoning, and common sense, to
the entire satisfaction of all, we still say to the unbelievers in our
doctrine, show us the proof to the contrary; and with a confidence
firm as our belief in Holy Writ, and the unfailing laws of God,
we challenge the exhibition to our senses of any performance with
spirit-rappings, or table-tippings, which cannot be explained upon
natural, and _well known_ natural laws. We will here premise, that
we do not attribute to Satan any direct agency in this matter other
than has always been ascribed to him in the crimes and misdeeds of man
from the fall down to this present time. That neither the "prince of
the power of the air," nor his imps (unless they be in human shape),
rap out intelligence by sounds, get under tables and tip them over,
swing them round, or perform any of these extraordinary feats, which
so many among us are determined to invest with supernatural character
and origin. Nor do we consider that the arch-enemy of man has brought
any _new power_ or _agency_ into operation to further his mischievous
designs. FAR FROM IT. _A new power?_ It would frustrate his schemes
in their very inception. _A new power?_ It is a lawful subject of
pursuit, to the very exhaustion of mental resources. _A new power?_
Its bare mention is an arousing signal to the devotees of science, and
upon the first scintillation of plausibility, the midnight lamp will
burn throughout Christendom, till its capabilities and subserviency
to man's actual wants are unfolded. No! the tempter knows his game
and tools, and perhaps his own limits, all too well to give to man a
new and legitimate object of research, and thus divert investigation
from hallucinating and mercenary sorceries to that which is lawful
and truthful. He works with his own and old tools, upon and through
that most successful instrumentality, over which, by long and dire
experience, he has acquired such mighty ascendency--the human soul.
This is his pliant tool, and here his stronghold. To those who
regard the Scriptural account of the devil's existence and agency as
allegorical, our argument, in its cardinal character and bearing, will
apply with the same force, for they have only to invest the mind of
man with all the force and attributes that the allegory gives to both
combined, and we address ourselves to them with the same interest and
hope of success as with those who believe the Scripture implicitly
to the letter. To all alike, the deep, untiring, unending wiles of
the human soul are familiar themes, and it matters but little to our
present purpose, whether these impious transactions proceed from the
main-spring of unaided, uninspired thought, or whether the unheeding
thought is impressed by supernal powers. There is in the mind a
strong and often morbid appetency for the supernatural and marvellous;
a proneness to inquire beyond what is actually revealed; and, worse
than this, a prurience of power, either real or specious, to exalt one
above his fellow mortals, and give the weight of Divine authority to
his words and acts. From this desire originates priestcraft, astrology
and sorcery, and in the former habitude of the mind lies the secret
of their success and perpetuation. It has been a real source of
distress to us, to see professing Christians, even among our immediate
friends, pushing their inquiries beyond the confines of realities into
the spirit-world, forgetting or misapprehending the injunctions of
Scripture forbidding us to look into such things, and unconscious of
the fact, that their well-meant invocations of spirits by the tipping
of tables and rappings, was, in every step and act of repetition,
lending encouragement to the mercenary and nefarious schemes of a
certain set of vile impostors, who originated the cheat, and were
continuing its practice for the sake of filthy lucre. To them, and
to all, we say Stop! ere this temerity be visited with the righteous
judgments of an offended Deity, who has pronounced, in his holy
oracles, in clear and unmistakable language, his malediction of sorcery
and witchcraft; has set the bounds of human inquiry where time stops
and eternity begins, and sealed up the future in impenetrable mystery;
who has refused to the yearning hearts of fond and bereaved parents
all knowledge of their dear departed, save the hopes and consolations
of the Scripture. What! shall the GREAT JUDGMENT be anticipated, and
the archives of eternal retribution be read by the _knocking of sticks
upon the floor_, or the upsetting of tables? Shall eternity be made
subordinate to time; the immortal to the mortal? Shall the silence of
the grave be disturbed by grovelling mountebanks, or its stern abodes
become vocal through these gross mediums of rappers and tippers?
IMPIOUS! IMPIOUS! We need not quote Scripture against this unholy
pursuit, for its anathemas are full and loud, and he who runs may read.
We know there are those who are innocently engaged in the _invocation
of spirits_, and who seem to take delight in holding converse with
their departed friends, as they suppose. We ask them to pause, and
consider well what they are doing! to look around, and see the
devastation of human intellect, the fearful swellings of the madhouse
rolls, the frightful deeds of blood and violence, and the stupendous
frauds, all begotten of this monster mania! Are these the fruits of
legitimate and holy deeds? Are these your consolations while at your
spiritual shrines? Do they not bear evidence in themselves of their
diabolical origin, and are they not warnings to you to beware, lest in
your attempts to enter beyond the veil into the "_Holy of Holies_," you
be struck down also? If these pests of society are beyond the reach of
earthly tribunals, will you countenance and encourage their career?
Shall we be met here with the assertion that there are religious
maniacs, that religious excitement makes madmen, and leads to deeds of
violence? We spurn the fallacy; and with proud defiance, armed with the
Rock of Ages, we hurl back the apology in the very teeth of the casuist
who made it, and, fearless of his replication, triumphantly assert that
the true religion of Jesus Christ, whose first fruits and very essence
is peace to the soul, NEVER DROVE ANY BODY MAD.
We profess a profound reverence for all that is holy, and from our
earliest recollection have been imbued with a deep dread of profanity
in any shape, and approached this mockery of high Heaven with some
reluctance, unwilling that our veneration should suffer so much
violence. But we felt justified, in the full assurance that this
thing was not of Heaven, but of men. For the sake of unravelling
this imposture and illusion, for this purpose _alone_, we have put
ourselves frequently in the attitude of dupes of these impostors,
and feigning for a time conviction and conversion, have led them on
till they were completely baffled in every attempt to perform their
tricks, and the spirits became powerless and silent as the mortal
tenements they once actuated. When we first sat down to a table with
a few well-meaning and particular family friends to conjure spirits,
we confess to a momentary feeling of horripilation, not from fear of
meeting a visitor from another world, but from the impression that the
very act was _heaven-daring_ and _profane_. But when we came to utter
the Rapper's Shibboleth, "_If there are any spirits present, will
they please to signify it by tipping the table?_" the thoughts of
sacrilege vanished, and were immediately supplanted by an irresistible
sense of the ridiculous, and the smile and the laugh rose above all
convictions of solemnity or irreverence. "Will the spirits please to
tip the table?" was again and again reiterated, but no table tipped
for us. Perhaps we are not "_mediums_," said one. "The spirits have
declared that I am a medium," said another; but that Great Exorcist,
_common sense_, was present and prevalent on this occasion; and the
spirits would not communicate, and the table would not tip, _certainly
not, of itself_. We introduced every variety of manipulation of
crossing hands, interlocking fingers, and, in spite of all, and the
most patient persistence, the table proved true to its lifeless
character, and the universal law that "_matter is inert, and cannot
move of itself_." What could have been the cause of this abortive
conjuration? Were the spirits present, and not disposed to gratify
a certain class of _dilettanti_ who were present? Were they jesting
and teazing, or in bad humor with our persons, our fixtures, or our
espionage? For we had heard from very respectable sources, of the
spirits jesting and taunting those present on such occasions. Or were
they far away on some errand of duty, or busy and monopolized for some
_special tippings_ elsewhere? This last idea seems to be precluded by
the fact that certain great spirits, such as Channing, Webster, Clay
and Calhoun, who figure so largely on these occasions, rap and tip in
different places at the same time. What mummery is all this to the
mind that believes in the omnipresence of the Great God himself, who
cannot look upon such practices but with abhorrence. Are you, Christian
man or woman, one whit better for these doings than that woman with
the familiar spirits, the Witch of Endor?[1] Are you not rather her
disciple? and is she not held up to you for an example and a warning?
Do you think that rappings and table-tippings give respectability to
witchcraft? Is reading the future and the invisible world by rappings
and tippings any better than the doings of yonder wretched crone, who
works out in her concealed abode the same problems by packs of cards
and mystical incantations? Are you not ministering encouragement to her
hagship, and pursuing her very vocation, though under another name?
Shall not this veritable beldame rise up in judgment, and plead in
justification of _fortune-telling_ the example of the Christian Church
in spirit-rapping and table-tipping? Perhaps you think that these
seeming wonders are fraught with more interest, novelty, and mystery,
than the magical demonstrations of old. Why, in very truth, they are
contemptibly insignificant when compared with the witcheries of old.
Read Upham's letters on the witchcraft of the New England Colonies, Sir
Walter Scott's demonology and witchcraft, and see how the rappings and
tippings dwindle before the performances of the witches of yore. After
reading these, study well Sir David Brewster's Natural Magic--a book
that should be in the hands of every one who takes interest in these
marvels of the day. There you will see how phenomena, at first sight
inexplicable, are solved by the touch-stones of science and common
sense. You will there find that sorcery was not to be stopped entirely
by the gibbet, the gallows or the stake, but that the light of reason
and science were most effectual in promoting its overthrow. Sir Walter
Scott says of the opposers of witchcraft in the seventeenth century,
that the "pursuers of exact science to its coy retreats were sure to be
the first to discover that the most remarkable phenomena in nature are
regulated by certain fixed laws, and cannot be rationally referred to
supernatural agency" (meaning, of course, supernatural interference),
"the sufficing cause to which superstition attributes all that is
beyond her own narrow power of explanation. Each advance in natural
knowledge teaches us, that it is the pleasure of the Creator to govern
the world by the laws which he has imposed, and which in our times are
not interrupted or suspended."
In all ages, the Church has attributed sorcery to the agency of the
devil. If this is his work, he certainly proceeds upon the same general
_modus operandi_ as ever. As one artifice wears out, or is exploded by
the power of science, he resorts to another; that is, he prompts new
tricks by his own unseen influences, upon the minds of those who become
his willing instruments. The most gross of all is spirit-rapping,
and next, the subtle delusions of mesmerism, and table-tippings. We
cannot stop here to discuss mesmerism, for whatever there may be in
it of lawful inquiry, surely the sending of clairvoyant spirits to
the portals of heaven or hell, to bring back descriptions of those
abodes and their inhabitants, is sorcery of the most impious character.
Some years ago said a distinguished poet, "Satan now, is wiser than
of yore;" doubtless he has advanced a few degrees in strategy, since
Pope's time, and as the light and power of science and wisdom increase,
so does he deepen his plots and shift his points of attack. Now we will
repeat here, that it is entirely immaterial to our purpose whether our
readers believe in the seen or unseen, direct or indirect influences
of the devil upon mind or matter, or in neither one nor the other. If
they do not believe that he "goes about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour," if they do not believe in the existence of such
a malignant being, they have only this alternative, that they must
find the devil's equivalent in the human heart, which though a less
palatable doctrine, will answer the design of this argument, which is
to show that these pretended wonders of knocks and table movements
are illusory, nefarious and mischievous, originating chiefly from
evil-minded persons, and perpetuated by the indifference of careless
observers, the connivance of others, and mainly by the fanaticism,
ignorance, and credulousness of a large class of persons found in every
community. These have been recognized in all ages as the principal
ingredients in sorcery, but there is yet another element which is doing
much to foster this crime, and although not a new feature, yet is quite
prevalent at this time, and less excusable than it was in the days of
Bacon and Napier. Sir Walter Scott, in one of his letters, has this
point in our discussion so strongly portrayed, that we take the liberty
of quoting him at some length, rejoicing in the opportunity of adding
his great wisdom and authority in these matters, to our own efforts.
Speaking of the causes which retarded the subversion of witchcraft
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, among learned men, he
says, "The learned and sensible Dr. Webster, for instance, writing
in the detection of the supposed witchcraft, assumes, as a string of
undeniable facts, opinions which our more experienced age would reject
as frivolous fancies; for example, the effects of healing by the
weapon-salve, the sympathetic powder, the curing of various diseases by
apprehensions, amulets, or by transplantation." All of which undoubted
wonders he accuses the age of desiring to throw on the devil's back--an
unnecessary load, certainly, since such things do not exist, and it
is therefore in vain to seek to account for them. It followed, that
while the opposers of the ordinary theory might have struck the deepest
blow at the witch hypothesis by an appeal to common sense, they were
themselves hampered by articles of philosophical belief, which, they
must have been sensible, contained nearly as deep draughts upon human
credulity as were made by the demonologists, against whose doctrine
they protested. This error had a doubly bad effect, both as degrading
the immediate department in which it occurred, and as affording a
protection for falsehood in other branches of science. The champions
who, in their own province, were obliged by the imperfect knowledge
of the times to admit much that was mystical and inexplicable; those
who opined, with Bacon, that warts could be cured by sympathy--who
thought, with Napier, that hidden treasure could be discovered by the
mathematics--who salved the weapon instead of the wound, and detected
murders as well as springs of water by the divining-rod, could not
consistently use, to confute the believers in witches, an argument
turning on the impossible or the incredible.
"Such were the obstacles arising from the vanity of philosophers and
the imperfection of their science, which suspended the strength of
their appeal to reason and common sense, against the condemning of
wretches to a cruel death, on account of crimes, which the nature of
things rendered in modern times impossible."
Thus learned men seeking to unravel mysteries, for want of sagacity and
full knowledge, may become the apologists of sorcery and witchcraft.
Bacon was obliged to be a philosopher for the whole enlightened
world; but, in our day, so vast has each branch of science become,
that any one of them would be full enough for a Bacon's grasp, and
philosophers hardly dare to venture outside of their own boundaries,
lest they become, or be considered _philosophists_. We hear men of
science abused because they take such obstinate, inexorable positions
against these "_fooleries_." This they are bound to do. Familiar
with the laws of nature, all real phenomena are alike marvellous to
their minds, and those which claim to be miraculous, supernatural,
and, _par excellence_, the MARVELLOUS, they repudiate summarily as
absurdities, knowing that if they cannot disabuse the popular mind,
they can prove their irrationality to their own entire satisfaction, at
least. Formerly fortune-tellers were sometimes styled Philomaths, but
we think that as fortune-telling has degenerated into such disrepute,
the name is unworthily applied, and we propose to transfer it to that
class of learned writers of the present day, who seek to trace these
tricks of raps and tips to the direct agency of the devil, or evil or
good spirits;--supposing these spirits to make the sounds or movements,
and to give the communications;--and to that class specially who
attribute these phenomena to electricity, magnetism, or to the action
of some power or fluid hitherto unknown; in short, to all, who look
upon these things as any thing else than impostures and illusions.
These are the philomaths of the present day, and while they thus stand
in the way of advancement in true knowledge, they are, in effect,
fostering error, superstition, and sorcery. We boast in our day of the
enlightenment of the masses, the spread of education and the diffusion
of knowledge; but for all this, necromancy is not dead nor stifled;
and is now like a baleful poison running rife through our land, upon
the most preposterous foundations and pretexts. Spirits, rapping upon
doors, floors, and tables, upsetting tables and swinging them about
the room? Spirits, do you say? Has a "spirit flesh and blood?" Has a
spirit _bones, muscles, fingers, heels, toes, and sticks_? DO SPIRITS
WEAR PETTICOATS _and long dresses_? A "_new fluid_," says another
philomath. A new fluid, forsooth? None other than that old fluid of
credulity or gullibity, if we may be allowed the latter term. An
"old fluid," says another. "Electricity or magnetism in some shape."
This is insufferable. Since the first discoveries in electricity and
magnetism, these agents have had to take the paternity of every rare
and inexplicable phenomenon. This is much more the case now than when
Sir Walter Scott wrote his letters on witchcraft, though he says that
the divining-rod, and other remarkable and misconceived phenomena, were
assigned to the agency of electricity and magnetism. At the present
times these subtle agents are the common _scape-goats_ for mesmeric,
electro-biological, psychological, and every other kind of phenomenon,
the cause of which eludes the senses, and the new-fangled farce of
"rappings and tippings" must fain take advantage of the same subterfuge
in order to make its way to popular credence. Unfortunately, in this
case an accurate knowledge of the laws of electricity is possessed
by comparatively few persons; and the electric fluid, or power of
magnetism, becomes a very clever instrument in the hands of charlatans
and empirics, through which to enforce upon the popular mind the
reality of their tricks and impostures. To one who has an adequate
knowledge of the laws of electricity and magnetism, it is more than
amusing to see with what pedantic gravity these latter philomaths
descant upon electricity and magnetism, contorting and butchering
their established laws all the while, to explain some vile juggle, or
unravel the psychomancy of rappers and tippers; and also to see with
what avidity their inflated arguments are gulped by gaping crowds, who
apparently are unwilling or unable to swallow a single _naked truth_.
It is often said that "men love to be deceived." This is true to some
extent, and it is sometimes the case that a quack will draw crowds
around him where a truly learned man could not get a foothold. The
truth however is mighty, and will prevail, and the power of learning
always has been, and will be felt, though it may be somewhat slow
to assert and maintain its supremacy. In verity, there is not one
property, condition, or law of electricity or magnetism, so far as they
have been established by experiment and science, that would explain
rappings and tippings without doing violence to philosophy. A few years
ago, a medical friend and brother came to our house late at night,
in considerable trepidation, and wished us to go and see a woman who
was bewitched in an extraordinary manner. At intervals she would be
seized with convulsions, and while the fit was on her she pulled pins
out of the hands, arms, and legs of bystanders, and tossing the pins
into her mouth, swallowed them. We remonstrated with him, but though
highly intelligent, and excelling in his profession, our friend the
Doctor would not give it up. He had seen it, believed it, but could not
account for it, and came to us specially to ascertain if "ELECTRICITY
had not something to do with it." Knowing that the witches of old had
a special fancy for pins, and fully prepared to see nothing more than
a dexterous feat of legerdemain, we consented to go, late as it was,
and as soon as the pretty little elf, who was lying upon a pallet upon
the floor, had become convulsed, and pulled a pin from our person, and
swallowed it, we discovered the _quomodò_, and the next day, with a
little practice, we were able to go into very fair convulsions, and
could draw out pins and swallow them as skilfully as the witch herself.
Our good friend, the doctor, had not even noticed that the convulsive
movements were all confined to the voluntary actions upon the muscles,
so engrossed was he with the idea of the supernatural character of
this performance. It is remarkable to notice how the scrutinizing
powers of the most astute, fail as soon as they entertain the remotest
idea of the supernatural in these cases. This girl was visited by
hundreds of respectable and intelligent persons in our community, and
notwithstanding a publication which was made exposing the trick, but
few were able to discover it for themselves, and the greater portion
believed it to be a genuine performance, and alms were freely given in
sympathy for her unfortunate condition. Our sympathies were enlisted
for those whom _she bewitched_, and we must give the _enchantress_
credit for more shrewdness than her customers, and we believe she
reaped quite a rich harvest for her skill in legerdemain. We cite this
case to show what violence is done to science to account for modern
sorceries. _Remember_, we are called on to decide if _electricity_
played any part in this extraordinary exhibition.
Many years ago a person of the name of Hannington came to Salem,
Massachusetts, then the place of our residence, to exhibit the
so-called _mysterious lady_. This lady had the power of naming and
describing various things which she could not see, declare names
written upon bits of paper handed to persons promiscuously in the
audience, and a variety of performances, which completely astounded her
visitors. Their programme announced that they had visited the principal
cities in this country and Europe, and that her extraordinary gift of
divination had baffled the ablest researches. We were invited to see
this great modern Pythoness, and specially for the purpose of judging
whether it was an _auricular_ illusion. In a word, whether it might
not be an extraordinary case of ventriloquism, for this seems to have
been the last resort for a solution of the problem, with those who
repudiated witchery. Electricity would not answer this time, and the
science of sound had to be mutilated for the occasion. Being ourselves
expert in the performance of ventriloquism, and familiar with the laws
of acoustics, it needed but a moment to decide that ventriloquism was
utterly inadequate to the solution of the puzzle, and before we left
the room we discerned the whole trick, disconcerted the performers very
essentially, and the next day published a full exposure, after which
the whereabouts of the _mysterious lady_ was a greater mystery than
her performances had been.
A few years since, an account was published throughout this country and
Europe, of a prodigy in the shape of an _electrical girl_ in Paris,
who was indued with an extraordinary power--_electrical_ of course--by
which, when she attempted to sit down in a chair, it was thrown from
her with great violence. This was one of the wonders of the day, and
after having deceived multitudes, and become an object of universal
interest and sympathy, she fell into the hands of a select committee
of the Academy of Sciences, with Arago at their head. Does any one
suppose that Arago ever entertained for a moment the idea of electrical
action in this connection? Not at all! Arago immediately set himself
to the examination of the girls heels, and soon found that she moved
the chairs by muscular effort. By long practice she had acquired such
skill and power of kicking, or thrusting the chair away from herself,
that it was always done without exhibiting any motion exterior to
her dress, or the slightest disturbance of her person. So much for
electricity or the "_new fluid_" in this case. This kicking girl was
styled the _Electrical girl_, or the _Electrical wonder_. Of course she
belonged to the _new fluid class_, for no one acquainted with the laws
of electricity, would have entertained a suspicion that electricity had
any thing to do with the phenomenon.
We may be accused of being somewhat dogmatical in this treatise,
and perhaps we are so, while we have to deal with so many fanatics
and pragmatical philomaths. For the superstitious and ignorant, we
have some charity, but we confess that we have little or no patience
for those among educated men, who are wearers of the _amulets_ of
electricity, magnetism, or _new fluids_. They evince more pedantry
than penetration, and are inexcusable disseminators of sophistry
and error. They are exactly in the category of the believers in
perpetual motion, and, in fact, the ascription of such phenomena as
table-tippings to electricity, magnetism, or some new fluid, goes
a step beyond perpetual motion, if that is possible. Most of the
plodders after perpetual motion expect to get, by some new adjustment,
a machine that will barely move of itself without any great surplus
of power; but according to this new table-tipping philosophy, we
certainly should look for any amount of horse power, without any
consumption of material, and no other expense than that of keeping
a clever medium at hand. On the principle of touching a heavy table
_lightly_ (for the touch must be light according to rule), and thus
causing by incantations the table to tip, rise up, whirl about, etc.,
it would cost but little to move a church or a mountain, and mediums
should be in great demand for mechanical purposes, as being cheaper
and safer than steam engines. How strange it does appear, that these
pseudo-philosophers have entirely lost sight of the one great radical
principle of all dynamic science, viz., that action and reaction are
equal, and never have attached the least value to the fact, that when
persons put their hands _lightly_ upon tables, _their hands always
follow the motion of the table, whichever way the table moves_. It
certainly appeared to us a very _significant_ fact, when we first saw
the performance, and if considered in connection with electricity,
or the _new fluid_, is sufficiently anomalous to require a careful
analysis. But more of this anon, as we propose to examine the rappings
first. This imposture originated with two girls, by the name of Fox,
from Rochester, New-York, who are now, with their mother, travelling
through the country, and exhibiting their art for money. A few weeks
ago, the Fox-mother gave us an account of this wonderful development
of noises or rappings about the two daughters, and from her we learned
that the noises were kept up for a long time before they discovered
the cause. At first they were annoyed by them, but, _after a while_,
they became so familiar with the sounds, that they took but little
notice of them, until they discovered the mode of communicating with
their authors, and ascertained that the sounds were made by spirits
of the departed. According to her account, the spirits then rapped at
points remote from the girls, but it seems that the spiritual habit has
changed somewhat, for since the girls have been on exhibition,[2] the
spirits rap nowhere except directly _under the girls, and about their
feet_, or upon something with which their persons or dresses are in
contact. We had no desire to see these creatures, except to discover
the precise means by which they made the raps, and although fully
prepared to condemn them before we paid them a visit, we preferred not
to condemn them unseen, lest, on that ground, the clique of rappers
should have some advantage over our argument.
It amuses us greatly at times, when discussing these matters with our
friends, to be told that our "opinions are all made up beforehand,"
"that we are prejudiced," &c. We admit the charge, and say frankly
we _are_ prejudiced, and mean to prejudge any effort to make black
appear to be white, and white, black; and declare the pretensions of
these rappers and tippers to be as grossly absurd and silly, as any
monstrosity in the shape of a proposition, that ever emanated from a
crazy or evil designing brain. When we are told that a table is moved
by the mere effort of the will, that it moves about when it is not
touched, we deny the statement _flatly_ at once, and challenge the
reproduction of the miracle, and when we are told that spirits rap
upon tables, floors, doors, walls, or any thing else, we deny the
statement, and challenge the production of any kind of rap or sound
in these cases, which is not clearly traceable to human agency.
Perhaps it will be inferred that we either do or should take ground
against supernatural interference and miracles altogether, seeing
that we are prepared to condemn _à priori_, these manifestations,
claiming for themselves supernatural origin. We confess that one of
the greatest obstacles we have to encounter in the course of this
exposition, is the deep-rooted belief in the existence, at the present
day, of miraculous powers, agencies and deeds, and the readiness with
which many persons ascribe every thing which eludes their judgment or
senses, and especially whatever savors in the least of religion, to
superhuman agency. We do not mean to draw upon Holy Writ for arguments
in support of our decision, upon these _rappings_ and _tippings_, but
anticipating the reception we shall meet, with this class of persons,
we must advert briefly to the grounds of their belief and objection,
and at the same time define our own position. We here find ourselves
arrayed against learned divines of the present day, who, failing to
account for these strange doings upon the supposition of human agency,
resort to their belief in the superhuman, and consistently with
their professional calling, must evidently found their views upon
scripture. Failing to discern the "_finger of God_," they have come
to their last resort, "that these manifestations are the work of the
devil, or of evil spirits." Without claiming any depth in biblical
lore, we ask them where is the authority for any such conclusion in
the Bible? The Bible teaches plainly of the devil's agency, of his
operations upon the heart of man, and so far would such a construction
be justifiable, but no farther. There is not one instance recorded,
in which Satanic agency was recognizable by man as _immediate_. "By
their fruits ye shall know them," is a sufficient rule of judgment
for any deeds, pretensions, or manifestations whatsoever; and here
they should rest content, and instead of going beyond the record,
might safely administer the general caution, that these "lies are of
their father, the devil," without introducing the whole Pandemonium
into our houses, to overturn our tables and upset the laws of gravity
and mechanical philosophy. We believe that miracles were performed
of old, for holy purposes, and no other; that they were necessary to
enforce the truth of revelation; that the day of miracles has gone
by, and that they ceased when their necessity ceased. We have our own
mode of fixing that period, but the discussion would be too far from
our present purpose, and we have digressed too much already. We take
the ground that every witch, wizard, magician, astrologer, sorcerer,
necromancer, and fortune-teller, from the earliest, down to the present
time, has had no more power over matter, or the laws of nature, than
any other person, and that whoever lays claim to familiar spirits,
foresight, or any direct communication with the invisible world,
through raps and tips, is either witch, wizard, conjurer, or sorcerer
_de facto_.[3] The prime movers in all these marvels are _impostors_,
and their disciples, _dupes_. While the former are filling their
coffers at the expense of the latter, they must often indulge in secret
merriment at the credulity of their adherents; and particularly at the
grave discussions of the learned clergy and others upon electricity,
magnetism, the new fluid, the nervous fluid, or the devil's immediate
agency, as probable causes of these strange phenomena. Surely the
"children of this world are wiser than the children of light." The
juggler with his legerdemain far outstrips any thing that has ever been
accomplished by rappers and tippers, but then he tells you that he
performs by sleight of hand, and that unless your eyes are quicker than
his hands, you will be deceived. If certain of his performances were to
be introduced with some religious jargon and pretext, his success in
infatuating the mass of the people, would put the rappers and tippers
entirely in the shade, for the tricks of these latter are clumsy and
poorly done at the best. Mr. Anderson, the professed juggler, known
as the Wizard of the North, has, to his great credit, published
a series of communications, in which he boldly avers that these
rappers are all impostors, and has contrived a system of rapping and
spiritual communications, quite as successful as those of the original
fraternity. He has failed, however, to elucidate the whole subject,
from the fact that he has been contented with a mere imitation, which
the rappers will of course pronounce a counterfeit. Our first visit
to the rappers, was in company with a gentleman of high eminence in
science, of keen discernment, and very fruitful in expedients. We had
formed no particular plan of procedure, except that we had agreed to
feign belief in these performances, lest incredulity might prove an
obstacle to investigation, and keep the rappers too much on their
guard. Repudiating all idea of the supernatural, we were not liable
to any distraction on that account, and our attention was directed
entirely to the scrutiny of the performances, with reference to their
solution upon established principles of evidence and natural laws. If
the advocates of this new "spiritual philosophy" should object to this
prejudication, our answer is, that aside from our prior experience in
unravelling many such pretended wonders, we hold our position to be
entirely justifiable, on the ground of probabilities, and that hitherto
we have never known an instance in which so much of presumption was not
in such cases, legitimated in the conclusion of facts.
Be this as it may, we had resolved to follow up these rappings and
tippings to see whether they were impostures, delusions, or illusions,
one or all. After the mother of the Fox girls had given us an account
of the spiritual visitation of her daughters, they three took seats
at a large circular table, and we joined the circle sitting opposite
to them. We were directed to ask if there were any spirits present.
This done, BANG, BANG upon the table announced the presence of the
spirits. The table was evidently struck underneath by something _hard_,
_solid_, _material_, and so as to jar the table perceptibly to the hand
resting upon it. Our coadjutor feigned surprise and alarm, and stooped
to look under the table, when the raps immediately ceased. This he
repeated several times and each time the raps ceased. We asked again
if there were any spirits present, but no answer came while he had his
eyes below the level of the table top, but as soon as he sat up, the
raps upon the table commenced again. He however was so persevering
in his scrutiny about the table as to give us a good opportunity to
say--for mere effect--"Why do you look under there, you cannot _see_
a spirit?" The rappers finding themselves baffled in making their
demonstrations through the table, were forced to retreat from it, and
taking their seats a short distance from the table, the rappings
then commenced upon the floor immediately under the girls, or about
their feet. Both the girls were rappers, but one conspicuously so, she
rapping much louder than the other, and did most of the rapping for
the occasion. Both the girls wore long dresses sweeping the floor, but
the principal rapper ought to have been attended by a train bearer.
"Are there any spirits present?" was again asked, and the raps came
promptly and so thick and fast that the spirits seemed anxious to make
some communications, so we proceeded to this part of the ceremony.
The instructions being given to us how to proceed, we commenced by
asking several questions, but to these we received either no answers,
or incorrect ones. The programme was this: We were to write down three
names[4] of spirits, one of which was to be the name of the spirit
we intended to invoke. We were then to put down the names of three
diseases, one of which was to be the disease of which the person
had died. We were then to put down three places, one of which was to
be the place where the person died. We were then to point _seriatim_
to the names of the persons, and that when we pointed to the name
of the person intended, the spirit would signify his presence and
approbation, by two raps, which mean YES. Names of others, or those
not intended, would be answered by one rap, which meant NO. We made no
progress, however, and, although there was an abundance of rapping,
there was no communication, no intelligence, no confirmation to us, of
what we already knew (in the imperfection of human knowledge), and we
appealed with an air and tone of assumed _naïveté_ to the rappers to
know if perhaps our failures were not owing to our great wickedness?
"Oh, no!" said the Mother Fox, "it will happen so sometimes." Just
then a gentleman entered who, it appears, was a devotee of Rappism,
and a daily worshipper at the Fox shrine, for the purpose of holding
communication with the spirit of a departed wife. As we had failed,
entirely, to elicit even a respectable _guess_ in answer to our
inquiries of the spirits, and this gentleman had been more highly
favored, his visit was rather fortunate at this juncture, for it gave
us an opportunity to observe more closely than when our minds were
occupied with the manipulation of the _spiritual telegraph_.
Mr. * * * commenced at once with an account of his previous interviews
and then proceeded to inquire for his beloved spirit. Rap, rap,
indicated her presence, and he asked some several questions which were
answered to his satisfaction, the Fox mother repeating over and over
the alphabet, so fast that we could not follow to get the answer for
ourselves, but the rappers being in good _practice_, seemed to find
no difficulty in keeping pace. We saw in this individual, a degree
of infatuation rarely to be met with in intelligent _men of the
world_, and unmistakable evidence of entire mental hebetude upon this
particular subject. We, however, turned his fascination to a very good
account, as we shall presently show. We inquired if these rappings ever
occurred any where except immediately about the persons of these girls.
"Oh yes," was the mother's answer, "the sounds have been made in that
wardrobe, and upon the door," etc. We pressed hard to have the raps
from the wardrobe, but to our surprise and disappointment the girl got
into the wardrobe, leaving the door open, and so snugly was she encased
there in consequence of a partition in the wardrobe, that her dress was
largely in contact with three sides or walls of the little apartment.
Of course we did not expect any better or different performance from
that with which we had been entertained outside the wardrobe. "Will the
spirit rap here?" says the girl, and rap, rap, it came on the floor of
the wardrobe. She was then requested to have the rappings made upon the
sides and back of the wardrobe, which she did, taking a little extra
time to arrange herself for these performances. She then requested us
to put our ear to the top of the wardrobe and the rap would proceed
from that quarter. We were not to be entrapped by this trick, for we
knew full well the old and trite experiment of placing the ear upon one
end of a long stick when a sound is made upon the other end. In this
experiment the sound will always appear to be made near the ear. We
therefore kept our attention fixed upon the bottom or lower part of
the wardrobe, and while some present, misled by the artifice, supposed
the sound came from the upper part of the wardrobe, we observed that
the sound was produced where it was at first, down below, and that
it was not modified in the least, which certainly ought to have been
the case, if the sound had been made opposite to the person's ear.
The girl then called attention to several points in the upper part
of the wardrobe, and it appeared to the satisfaction of some present
that the sounds came from those points, while to us it was perfectly
evident that the sounds were not at all changed in direction or
character, and in reality proceeded from the old quarter. Our knowledge
of ventriloquism also fortified us against this trick. Ventriloquism
is a deception, the success of which depends upon a certain power
of modulating the voice, a correct ear for imitation of sounds, and
skill and judgment in selection of time, place and circumstances for
the performance. When persons present are not aware or apprised of
the attempt to deceive them, the ventriloquist is not obliged to be
very particular in his selection. But when his intention is announced
or anticipated, his art is exercised to direct the attention of his
auditors to the quarter from which he wishes the sound to appear to
come. If our readers will turn to Brewster's Natural Magic on this
subject, they will find many interesting tricks described on this
principle. Nothing is more easy than to deceive completely, by calling
the attention of persons present to sounds from a certain position or
direction, while in reality the sounds are made elsewhere and in a
remote quarter, provided the real origin of the sounds be concealed
from the sight. So it was in the case of the raps, with those whose
eyes and _expectations_ were fixed upon the top of the wardrobe. The
trick was poorly done however, for the sound did not undergo the proper
modification, and in fact it was out of the girl's power to modify it
to suit this case. For the origin of the raps, being concealed under
her dress, she could not divest it of its muffled character without
exposing her art. It is particularly worthy of note here, that for
these experiments in the wardrobe no particular spirit was invoked,
and the raps were continued as long as necessary for the gratification
of the bystanders, and were several times commenced without any
particular invocation on the part of the girl, she evidently forgetting
the dignity of the spirit in the excitement of the moment. This over,
it was desired to have the spirits knock at the door, but they could
not manifest without the girl's immediate presence, and accordingly,
she placed herself against the outside of the room door, which was
about two thirds open, she taking hold of the latch. We were about
to take position outside, in the passage, when she remarked that the
spirits would rap much better if we took hold of the door. This was
rather more necessary than cunning, and the rapper knew of course that
unless she or some one held the door, the knock upon it would move
the door on its hinges away from her. When she was fairly fixed with
her dress in contact with the door, the raps commenced upon the door.
After this she turned her head and asked if the spirit would please to
rap in the passage, when she gave rather a feeble rap, which suited
the trick tolerably well and here the rapping ended for this visit.
The rap from the passage explained the purpose of keeping us in the
room, for if we had gone into the passage the trick would have failed
for us, as we should have been able from our position there, to refer
the sound to the right quarter viz., about the girl's feet. On the
second visit we were there with our former coadjutor and several other
gentlemen of eminence, and a lady of the highest respectability, strong
mind, and distinguished for her indomitable energy and perseverance.
Our quondam enthusiast we found there at his matins, in company with
several persons eminent in political life. One of them, a member of
Congress, had been endeavoring to get some spiritual communications,
but became so disgusted with the _bad guessing_ of the Fox girls, that
he left the room. The enthusiast, Mr. * * *, then invoked his favorite
spirit and proposed a question, the answer to which was spelled out by
the Fox mother as before, and he expressed himself perfectly satisfied
with the answer. We then took our turn. We put down upon paper the
names of three departed spirits, three diseases, and three places. In
pointing to these names with the pencil, we took good care to conceal
the pencil movement behind a book, and carefully guarded against any
emphatic movement which should betray our will to the practiced eyes
of the girls. The raps came for the wrong spirit, and rapped the wrong
disease, and place of death. We then made another effort. Three names
were selected, as follows, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun; Webster's was
the spirit we invoked, and they hit it right this time for the name,
but mark the sequel. The answer was that Webster died of CROUP! and
at Salem, Mass. Of course we did not indicate by any look or movement
that our inquiries had been answered correctly or incorrectly until
we had got through. Our scientific friend next made a trial, and his
answers were more ludicrous if possible then those we had obtained.
He attempted in several ways to get replies from the spirits, being
always careful to give no clue to his thoughts by outward signs, but
all to no purpose. The spirits, judging from the raps, were there in
abundance, but no intelligence, or correct answers could be had from
them. Next another friend of ours came to the trial. He had not been
accustomed to investigate such tricks, and very imprudently suffered
Mr. * * * to put the questions for him. The answers came in accordance
with the facts, that is the right spirit was designated by the raps,
and the manner of his death. Mr. * * * put the questions each in
different tone and shape, and the girls undoubtedly read him as they
had done before. Noticing this, we remarked to Mr. * * * that as he
had been so successful we would like to have him inquire for us, to
which he readily assented. We, however premised, that he must use
the same _intonation_ and _language_ in asking each question, which
he agreed to do, as far as he could. This we exacted, not because we
had any suspicion of collusion in this case, but as we explained it
at the time, because many persons would unwittingly by emphasis or
some significance indicate to the rappers, or any shrewd person, the
particular object he had in view. With these precautions, the question
was put to the rappers. We were to fix our thoughts upon a particular
spirit, the disease of which the person died, and the place where;
the name with two others was put down upon paper, the disease with
several others, and also the place of death with two others. Mr. * *
* propounded as follows: Will the spirit inform us of the spirit the
gentleman is thinking of? Rap, rap! Yes. Will it inform us correctly?
Rap, rap! Yes. Pointing to a name with a pencil, he asked, Is it
this? Rap! No. Is it this? Rap, rap! Yes. Pointing to the diseases
and places, with the same question each time; when the whole was gone
through with, Mr. * * * asked, Has the spirit informed us correctly?
Rap, rap! Yes. We were thinking of Webster's spirit, and the result
was this. The rappers hit it right as to the name, but they informed
us this time that Mr. Webster died of FUNGUS HÆMATODES, in Newark, New
Jersey.
This was too much for forbearance, but still we kept our purpose of
investigation in view, and again pleaded our own wickedness as the
probable cause of these failures. "Oh! no," said they, "it will happen
so sometimes." What a deeply disgusting spectacle! These girls and
their mother sitting there, with all gravity, and pretending to be the
"_mediums_" of communication with disembodied spirits, and dealing out
such nonsense as that just related.
The rappers were then sitting some distance from the table, and we
asked if the "Spirits would rap upon the table?" Rap! No. "Will the
spirit _please_ to rap upon the table?" Rap, rap, rap. "Not now." It
seems that three raps for the expression "Not now" was a part of the
spiritual stenography, as they had occasion to use this evasion quite
often to escape difficulties. "Will the spirit please to explain why it
will not rap upon the table?" Rap, rap, rap! "Not now." "When will it?"
"This evening, at such an hour," naming it. This last communication
was spelled out by the Fox mother, and a time was named at which it
would be impossible to get an opportunity to propound such a question,
as they held their spiritual levee in the evening to crowds. Moreover,
we had no desire to repeat the question to these tricksters, to
be shuffled, as we most certainly should have been, with the same
prevarication. On the occasion of our first visit, Mr. * * * said that
the spirits had rapped upon his foot, while sitting at a table. The
experiment was repeated by request, and very likely would have been
successful, if we had not fixed our eyes very intently upon his and
the rappers' feet. As it was, this feat was not performed. On the
second visit, we implored the spirits to rap upon our feet. "Not now,"
was the answer. It was evident that we were not receiving our money's
worth of spiritual manifestations according to the show-bill; but, as
every failure was our gain, we were not disposed to quarrel with the
rappers or the spirits. One of my scientific friends then asked if
they would not rap if they were suspended in a swing, or stood upon a
pillow? "Oh yes," was the reply, "we have done that; that has all been
tried." One of the Fox girls proposed to send upstairs for a pillow,
but it occurred to us that they _might_ rap while standing upon any
_common-sized pillow_, for the reason that their dresses would cover
and extend beyond the pillow, and thus give them an opportunity to get
their rapping instrument down upon the floor over the sides of the
pillow. We therefore proceeded immediately, while they were engaged in
some conversation, to make up a cushion upon the floor to suit our own
views. We gathered a number of cloaks, and laid them folded upon the
floor, so as to make a circular cushion of about three and a half feet
diameter, and so thick that we were persuaded no ordinary raps with
their instrument could be heard through the soft mass, or if any sound
should be produced it would be so modified as to betray its origin.
The Fox mother objected to this preparation; but the girls said, "We
know we can rap; the spirits will rap there, for they have always done
so." By way of an excuse for making this cushion, we remarked that one
of the coats was silk, and that we would ascertain if electricity had
any thing to do with it. The Fox mother said, "All that had been tried
before; and that the girls[5]could rap standing upon glass tumblers,
and that she knew it must be the spirits, for these manifestations
had been with them now for six years." We replied (to keep up our
argument), "You know that there are persons who think these sounds are
all due to some modification of electricity, and others who think that
electricity is the very essence of spirituality,[6] and we wish to see
in this case how far it may be concerned in the phenomena." There
was no resisting this, and we were allowed to proceed. The result was
exactly as we anticipated. While standing upon the cushion _they could
not rap at all_. The principal rapper saw her predicament, and took her
stand upon the cushion so that her dress was partly over the edge of
the cushion, but this we objected to, and requested her to stand upon
the centre of the cushion, upon the plea that if her dress touched the
floor, it would conduct away the electricity. A perfectly empirical
reason, of course; but they were none the wiser for that, and as soon
as every thing was arranged to our liking, she invoked the spirit to
rap. No rap came. Again and again the spirit was besought, but no
response was given. She then asked her sister to come and stand upon
the cushion with her, thinking, in her subtlety, that two of them would
occupy so much room as to give one, at least, a chance to have her
dress over the edge of the cushion. But this we were prepared for; and
gathered in the skirts of their dresses upon the cushion, upon the same
plea as before. The result was the same as with one. No raps. The fact
was, their arts were completely baffled, the spirits had fled, and the
experiment not only proved the falsity of the assertion that they could
rap standing on cushions, or when suspended in a swing, but afforded
the most conclusive evidence of the immediate and wilful agency of
these Fox girls in producing these sounds.
Thinking to redeem themselves from the inevitable verdict of this
trial, the principal rapper proposed to stand upon glass tumblers,
to see if the spirits would rap then, as they had done on former
occasions. She took her stand upon the tumblers. This elevated the
lower border of her dress above the floor, and it so happened that
one of our number was sufficiently far from her that he could have
seen her feet on the rapping instrument. She invoked the spirit. "Will
the spirit please to rap?" No rap. She then stooped a little, as if
addressing the spirit below. "Will the spirit please to rap now?" No
rap. She then stooped a little more, and by this time her dress was
fairly down upon the floor, so as to cover feet and tumblers. "Will
the spirit please to rap now?" Rap, rap. This was very adroitly done,
but the trick was clear to us. How strange it is, that she should have
been obliged to stoop, and to have invoked the spirit three times
before the answer came; and, moreover, that she should look down to the
floor for the spirit; and how passing strange it is that these modern
spirits should have such a fondness for _long dresses_ and _girls'
toes_. We then requested her to stand upon a chair, and rap. This she
did promptly, and the rap came at a bidding. The sound was different
from that produced upon the carpeted floor, and underwent just the
proper modification of a blow struck upon a hard, uncovered, wooden
seat. Here we stopped, having seen quite enough of this game of "_Fox_
and _Geese_." Before leaving the room, one of the rappers requested
our scientific friend not to publish them, and another stepped up to
the lady present, saying, "You do not think that I have any machinery
about me to make these sounds, do you?" We have it on the authority
of this lady, who seemed determined to leave nothing untried to lead
to the detection of this imposture, that she asked these rappers if
they would consent to a private examination of their persons, and that
they refused it positively, adding that if she had any doubt as to the
reality of these spiritual manifestations she would have satisfactory
revelations made to her in her bed-chamber five weeks from that time.
This prophetic intelligence they rapped out for the occasion according
to their own fancy and usual evasive duplicity in such cases. The five
weeks have passed, but the lady has, of course, received no spiritual
visitations as predicted.
Our readers are now ready to ask if we have discovered the machinery
or instrumentality by which these girls make the sounds. In answer,
we say that our investigation is conclusive that these sounds are
entirely at the control of these girls, and that we have placed them
in situations where they could not rap at all. And if, after all this,
we have invented several modes by which the rappings can be made as
successfully as by them, we think we have discovered enough. During
each of our two visits, we noticed, by very cautious and careful
inspection, one interesting and significant fact--that each rap was
attended with a slight movement of the person of the rapper, and
that a very distinct motion of the dress was visible about the right
hypogastric region. While watching this point the girl noticed us,
and immediately rose, went to the window, and dropped the curtain to
darken the room, which was on the north side of the building, and full
dark enough before. When she sat down she drew her shawl over this
part of her person. This was on the first visit. On the second visit,
we were soon discovered watching this movement again, and she rose and
procured a shawl with which she covered her person as before. We do not
pretend to decide that this movement had any direct connection with
the instrument by which she rapped upon the floor; if so, it was very
clumsy and awkward, for we have devised a mode of rapping that involves
no such motion, and which we will shortly explain. It may have been
that this movement was connected with the device for rapping upon the
table. We are of opinion that when they rapped upon the table, it was
upon the under side of the table-top and not about their feet. They
did not, and evidently could not, rap upon the table without sitting
closely up to the table. If this conjecture, as to the rap under the
table-top, is right, the movement we saw is easily accounted for. Be
it so, or be it not, we have invented a contrivance which raps upon
the under side of the table-top, and which involves precisely the
motion we discovered. It requires but little exercise of ingenuity to
contrive means of producing these sounds. It has been stated that a
relative of these girls has made a public statement under oath, that
they produce the raps with their toes, in a peculiar manner acquired
by long practice. The public papers tell us that electro-magnetism
has been employed to carry out this fraud. The snapping of the joints
has been resorted to by another; and indeed we can easily imagine
a variety of ways in which these sounds are, or may be produced.
The Fox girls rapped upon neither of these plans. The sound was
machine-like, and too loud for a sound that could be made by striking
the naked or unarmed toe upon the floor, and entirely too loud for,
and differing in character from, the snapping of the joints, and as to
electro-magnetism, it was entirely out of the question in this case.
The Fox girls visit the houses of strangers and rap always with the
same ease every where. The raps are never remote from their persons but
always directly about their feet, unless it be when they are sitting
at the table, as we have before said, when the rap appears to be on the
under side of the table-top, although we would not undertake to decide
fully upon this latter point, as they would not allow us to choose our
position so as to judge of the true direction of the sound; for as soon
as my coadjutor looked under the table, the spirits decamped and we
had no rapping. There are certain circumstances, under which no ear,
however skilful and practised, can judge correctly of the position or
distance where certain sounds originate. Such a case is exemplified in
the common speaking tubes used in public houses and elsewhere. When you
place your ear near the tube, the voice appears to be uttered close to
the ear, though the person speaking may be at a great distance. The
Invisible Lady is another instance, for a full account of which, see
Brewster's work on Natural Magic. But the most remarkable illustration
of this case is exhibited in the following manner. If you take an iron
rod ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred feet in length and strike it
at one end, the blow is heard by a person having his ear close at
the other end precisely as if the blow was struck near his ear. This
illusion is more remarkable if the listener cannot hear the original
blow through the medium of the air. To make the whole experiment very
imposing, suppose an iron rod, three-fourths of an inch in diameter,
projecting three or four feet through the floor of a large hall, and
that this projecting part is a continuation of a rod passing beneath
the floor of the room, and concealed entirely from observation and
terminating out of doors, or in a distant apartment. Whenever a blow
is struck upon the remote and concealed end, the sound not being heard
except through the medium of the rod, appears to every person present,
precisely as if it issued from the projecting end within the hall. With
proper pre-concertion and ceremonial preparation, such a contrivance
as this would far exceed, in mysterious character, the shallow
trickery of these _feet-rappers_. From this experiment, which we have
tried with entire success with a rod only twenty feet in length, we
see how closely we must look to all the attendant circumstances and
possibilities of the case, before we can conclude strictly upon the
position of the origin of sounds, where their origin is out of sight.
We know that the rapping was always about their _heels_ when these
girls sat in chairs, stood upon the floor, or in chairs, or stood in
the wardrobe, or rapped upon the door. For this part of the performance
we had abundant opportunities for examination, and if these girls will
stand upon the floor and allow us to examine their feet, at the time
of the rapping, we defy them and their spirits to produce the rappings
without a full exposure. It is worthy of note that witches have always
been far more numerous than wizards. There are reasons for such
disparity in numbers, but this rapping business is particularly the
province of females. There are no male rappers unless it be of late,
since they have resorted to confederacy, or electrical or mechanical
tricks. There are no men-rappers who rap upon such an extensive scale
as the Fox girls. The latter are not confined to a certain table, a
certain room, or certain spots in a room, or a certain house. They
carry their "_Rattle-traps_" about with them, and go from house to
house, and their "_familiar spirits_" are very sociable, unceremonious,
and accommodating. If they will but adopt the Bloomer costume,
our word for it, the spirits would signify their disapprobation by
departing at once. Relying upon their sex they trust the courtesy of
their visitors as sufficient protection against the examination of even
their feet, and therefore they make bold to wear unusually long dresses
the better to conceal their movements and rapping apparatus. When the
girl stood upon tumblers, she did not venture to rap till, by gradual
stooping, she brought her dress down so as to cover her feet and touch
the floor. There are then special reasons why this kind of witchery
should be played off by females. _The Fox style of rapping_ CANNOT _be
performed by men, or in the male attire_. We do not attribute to woman
more or greater proneness, or power to deceive than to man; but when
woman undertakes to deceive, she is generally more successful. She
is less suspected, has fewer motives, runs greater risk, and incurs
greater loss in the event of disclosures, and with the blandishments
of person and sex, she silences opposition, smothers inquiry, defies
and escapes inspection, and lastly takes captive the head with the
heart. Possessed of greater susceptibilities and easily impressed; she
is more readily carried away by new and strange fascinations, and in
times of certain remarkable developements of sympathetic witchcrafts,
she is the first to be imposed upon and most apt to impose upon
herself. This characteristic is well illustrated in the case of the
_jerks_, a species of _witch mania_ which prevailed in this country
so extensively many years ago, in which women figured so largely.
Sympathetic action is potential with both sexes, but especially with
women does it overpower sense, reason and volition, giving rise to
temporary insanity. We are however uncharitable enough to believe that,
in many cases, upon these occasions the surrendry of the judgment
and bewilderment of the imagination is not altogether involuntary,
and that the whole operation of _being bewitched_ might be arrested
at a certain stage of its progress by an effort to resist, except
perhaps in conditions of extreme hysteria and nervous prostration,
or irritability. We have seen a young lady of the very highest
respectability at a _table-tipping_, tugging away at the table to make
it move, and all the while endeavoring to conceal her exertions, and
declaring, when interrogated, that she did "not make the slightest
effort." Can it be that she had become so infatuated as to forget
that she was, or to persuade herself that she was not, deceiving,
and yet all the while to be so assiduous and adroit in accomplishing
her object? Charity says yes. Well! after all, there is something
in the feat of deceiving and blinding reverend and grave Senators,
Judges and Priests, well calculated to whet the pride, stimulate the
cunning, and foster the love of power in a young Miss, especially when
her arts are practised upon some doings not embraced in the criminal
code nor amenable to law. There are probably--paradoxical as it may
seem--cases of honest deception. The desire to accomplish something
great, something exceeding the common course of familiar phenomena,
may be so strong as to beget an entire perversion of all truthfulness,
a self sanctioning of error, artfulness, and imposture, oblivion of
conscience, an enthusiastic profession of faith and spirited advocacy
of the new developments, a bending of every thing to conceal the fraud,
and withal a remarkable preservation of the appearance of sincerity,
and an air of ingenuousness so well put on as to appear natural, which
go very far to inveigle those who may witness the performances.
Of the modes we have devised of producing rappings we will not explain
more than one, that being sufficient to effect rapping sounds without
disturbance of the person. We have contrived a great many, and although
we have not seen the particular mode employed by the Fox girls, yet
we can rap just as well. A piece of soft metal such as lead, shaped
like a _chain shot_ or _dumb-bell_, tied to the great toe may be made
to pound upon the floor, the door, the bottom of a wardrobe, or any
surface or thing which may be under or about the feet, with forcible
demonstrations. If any person will make the effort to move the toe up
and down while the sole of the foot rests firmly upon the floor, it
will be found that a considerable motion may be effected, and of course
a _rapping_, without a disturbance of the person. A little practice
will make perfect. In order to walk about without the rattling of the
rapping piece, it is necessary to tie to one end of it an elastic
cord, a piece of vulcanized rubber answering very well, and fasten
this around the waist. A slight stooping or sitting down will leave
the instrument free to work. If you have thin shoes or slippers on, it
may be affixed outside of the slippers, or you can have it attached to
the toe, and make the slipper large enough to slip over the whole and
slip it off, when rappings are called for. One other element and we are
all equipped for spiritual rappings; petticoats or long dresses are
indispensable to complete the invention. Whatever be the contrivance
adopted to rap upon the floor, the whole must be concealed within the
sanctuary of _skirts_ beyond the invasion of the curious or rude. We
have other more perfect, better concealed rapping instruments than the
one just described,[7] but not quite so simple or easy of application.
Moreover the one described gives the double rap, (a peculiarity of
the Fox contrivance.) These girls managed their instrument adroitly,
and deserve some little credit for their ingenuity in contriving and
operating an instrument so successfully as to baffle the scrutiny
of thousands of their visitors. They walk freely about with their
instruments, though a lady remarked to us that they both walked very
awkwardly. With local preparations "_mysterious_" rappings may be
produced in a variety of ways, but these girls, the _prototypes_ of
all rappers, neither employed or needed any aid from electro-magnetic
motions, acoustic science, or confederacy to practise their arts,
they used more ingenious and simple means. It is possible to make a
rapping electro-magnetic movement, battery and all, small enough to be
carried under the dress, but like the telegraph, it must be controlled
by volition and muscular action of the operator, and where is the
advantage of this over a mechanical instrument that raps directly?
There is no necessity for wonderment or the taxation of ingenuity on
account of these rapping sounds so long as you are excluded from a
personal examination of the rappers. We wish very much that the civil
authorities would pounce upon these rappers in the "_very act_" (_for
obtaining money upon false pretences_)--(or some other plea) and make
a forcible disclosure of their trappings. We believe that this can and
should be done, and that such a proceeding would meet the full sanction
of law and justice; that universal public opinion would sustain it,
and we have no doubt of the nature and effect of the _denouement_.
If it had already been done, we should have been spared the labor of
this treatise at least, and we need not advert to the vast amount of
suffering and vice that would have been forestalled.
Seeing then, that we can _rap_, yes, and give the double rap, how shall
we account for the extraordinary prophecies, messages, coincidences
and communications in accordance with facts? We wish this had been
the only difficulty to surmount, for it perplexes much less than
the _feminine security_ of these rappers against the inspection
of their actual _quomodò_. We can most safely presume that if by
search warrant, stratagem, or _vi et armis_, the rapping instrument
of these Fox girls had been exposed to the public, there would not
have been one doubt about the nature and origin of the _spiritual
communications_, nor the question ever asked, how it happened that
these communications were so wonderfully true to fact. Brains, books,
good and bad spirits, devils and all would not have been needed for
this discussion. Indeed where is the necessity at all, of dragging out
human weakness, credulity, and duplicity to solve the psychological
part of this fraud and forgery, if we can rap as well as the Fox girls
(the great guns of rappism), and on the strength of our rappings tell
_more truth_ and _fewer lies_ than their spirits, what need have we
of metaphysical disquisitions on the handwriting found in a drawer
or any where else, resembling Mr. Calhoun's, John Smith's, or any
other of the great departed?[8] So far as our experience went, the
Fox girls made few, very few good hits, and perpetrated a vast amount
of most intolerable nonsense and contradiction; enough of itself,
even if the rappings had been made outside the pale of their _queenly
robes_ one inch, two feet, above their heads, in the aerial centre
of the room, disconnected with every tangible and visible thing, to
have turned any sensible man on his heel instanter, with contempt and
disgust. But for the sake of those who are duped or perplexed by these
communications, we must spend a little breath to enlighten them. When
a man _suspects_ supernatural agency or interference in physical,
really visible, sensible, or tangible demonstrations, he is ready to
believe any thing communicated at the time, and when he comes to the
full belief in divine interposition, his faith is perfected. Where,
by long practice, preparation and skill, tricks are performed with
a view to imposition, it requires the highest degree of coolness,
calmness, and self-possession, to resist the impression of the
superhuman, and however well fortified we may be in these respects, it
is hardly to be expected that we should be able to discover the real
nature of the performance without some experience and practice on our
side. The instant the idea of the superhuman gets possession of the
mind all fitness for investigation and power of analysis begins to
vanish, and credulity swells to its utmost capacity. The most glaring
inconsistencies and absurdities are not discerned and are swallowed
whole, and so deep is the blindness and so extraordinary in its
character, that we have seen a convert made to _spiritual rappism_
upon the strength of one single coincidence selected from among a
great mass of disgusting mummery and perversion of truth. Not one of
the discrepancies, were of any importance with him; one lucky hit
of the rappers and the whole performance, errors, raps and all were
invested with supernatural power. Now, how does it happen, that the
believer in such cases does not notice the incongruities and failures,
or does not appear to notice them. This is somewhat of a psychological
phenomenon, but might as well be explained on the ground of unfairness,
as any other; unfairness is as often the beginning and accompaniment
of _infatuation_, as a mental incapacity for more than one idea. A
shrewd person can, at any time, take a promiscuous company, and with
the imposture of rapping, or any other trick, calculated to divert
the attention, and a mode of spelling out communications similar to
that adopted by the Fox girls, make out as many or more wonderful and
seemingly supernatural communications as they, certainly not more of
error and absurdity. We were once riding in a stage-coach, with a
gentleman, who, after a long journey, laid a wager with another that he
would tell the occupation of every person in the coach. To the surprise
of all he won the wager. A lady present, apparently much hurt, asked
how he knew she was a "housekeeper." The reply was, Because I saw you
frequently putting your hands to your belt--for the keys. Many of our
shrewd itinerant phrenologists, after the parade of measuring and
fumbling one's head, and a few master-key questions, will portray the
life and character with a wonderful degree of accuracy. Our stage-coach
pythonist had, during the journey, watched the motions, complexion,
conversation, expression of countenance, appearance of the hands, the
dress,--in fine, ever little circumstance of habit or person, and it so
happened judged rightly in each case. It is so with the phrenologist,
who draws his information mostly from similar sources.[9] It is so
with the rappers; they observe carefully, have experience with persons
of all classes, and generally, unless molested by some skeptic, have
every thing in their own way. Their visitors, especially the dupes,
betray more to these rappers than their own skill can eliminate, and
it is surely to be expected that they should hit right sometimes. Upon
mere hap-hazard conjecture, this might happen occasionally, but with
all the arts and aids of preparation, credulity, and fanaticism, they
become as successful as the oracles of Delos and Lesbos.
Before concluding the subject of rappings we remark briefly that a
SPIRIT that cannot or will not tell the truth on all occasions, is
wholly unworthy our credence or respect; and believing, as we do, that
miracles are God's prerogative and all miraculous power is withheld
from evil spirits as militating with the plan of Revelation, we needed
no further investigation for our own satisfaction, than to know that
a very large part of their pretended communications were grossly
erroneous; but we have held it to be important for the sake of others
that the whole subject should be examined. The fever has somewhat
abated of late, but unless boldly and vigorously assailed it will
reappear under some new pretension with exacerbations more virulent
than ever.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This witch of Endor it seems was the only woman with a _familiar
spirit_ that had escaped death under the royal edict of Saul, and how
successfully she bewitched or juggled Saul our readers all know. We
refer them one and all to the 19th Chap. Leviticus, 31st verse--ED.
[2] In Washington.
[3] The Bible teaches of witches and wizards with familiar spirits,
and that they were to be put to death; of magicians, astrologers,
sorcerers, soothsayers, and false prophets; but the only account of a
miraculous performance by the devil, is that of his first great and
momentous fraud upon our race in the garden of Eden, and this is by
some considered as allegorical. Through that act he got possession of
the human heart, and he needs now no external manifestations to further
his intrigues.
Pharaoh's magicians were able, by their arts, to imitate to a certain
extent only, the miracles of Moses and Aaron. They turned their rods
into serpents, the river into blood, and caused frogs to come out of
their hiding-places, but when it came to the conversion of the small
dust into lice, their magic was baffled, and "then the magicians said
unto Pharaoh _This is the finger of God_."
The raising of Samuel's spirit, and his prophecy of the result of
the battle, was a professional trick of the witch of Endor, and no
more remarkable than many of the doings related of the rappers and
tippers, and of mesmerizers who send clairvoyants to explore the
UNKNOWN WORLD. Considering all the circumstances, we think that many
hits, or conjectures of false prophets, or fortune-tellers of the
present day, have been quite as successful, and even more wonderful,
than this feat of the witch of Endor. We know that some Commentators
regard the raising of Samuel's ghost, and the prophecy of the result
of the battle, as the work of God, and not of the witch herself, or
her master; and to such a conclusion they seem to be forced, if they
admit any thing superhuman about it, for it would not answer to accord
so much power to a witch, accursed of the law. How such an explanation
can be reconciled with Divine attributes and teachings, we are at loss
to conceive. The account tells us that Saul had sought the Lord in
vain. The Lord had refused to communicate with him. Shall it be said
then that the Almighty is capable of trifling? (for this seems to be
the alternative.) That he made known his will through a witch; and
that, in Saul's (the Lord's anointed) last extremity, the Lord forced
him to believe a lie or an accursed witch? Is not this the inference,
the inevitable conclusion? How readily all difficulty vanishes by
expounding this transaction upon the very same principles that we apply
to spirit-rapping, viz.: that it was a juggle, and like all witchcraft
of whatsoever kind, was of human immediate instrumentality. To affirm
of such performances that they are inexplicable, and amazing, is no
argument in favor of their superhuman character. They are not more
wonderful or difficult of explanation, than hundreds of tricks which
we see, and of which we read every day, as performed by jugglers.
To the great mass of mankind these latter are equally puzzling, and
would undoubtedly pass for miracles, were it not for the fact that
they are _professedly_ tricks. We believe in the all-pervading,
all-controlling, all-sustaining power of God, in Divine interposition,
special Providences, and the efficacy of prayer, as taught in the
Scriptures, after our own interpretation. _We believe that miracles are
God's prerogative, and believing thus, we conclude that the working
of miracles by the devil, or evil spirits, would furnish an excuse
for man's unbelief or infidelity._ Most earnestly, therefore, do we
deprecate the advancement of any theory (for it can be but _theory_ at
the best), which attributes these and kindred delusions, to the direct
agency of the devil, or evil spirits. Such teachings are mischievous in
their tendency, and militate with the true interests of Christianity,
just as far and as long as they have no better foundation than theory,
speculation, or conjecture, and are wanting in proof positive,
invincible and overwhelming, of their correctness.--C.G.P., Ed.
[4] We were thus given to understand that spirits retain their earthly
names, and answer to them. It occurred to us, therefore, that if we put
down the name of John Smith we should be sure of a response.--C. G. P.,
Ed.
[5] The expression was very common with them that "_they could rap_, or
_had rapped_." Rather careless, certainly!
[6] We, of course, had no more thought of electrical agency here than
in the rap of an auctioneer's hammer.--C.G.P., ED.
[7] We have made excellent rappings with this instrument, and
accompanied them with very wonderful communications.--ED.
[8] Whatever respect we may have for the memory of the great, we feel
at liberty to banter their spirits if we catch them in bad company, and
at base tricks.--ED.
[9] We believe in the fundamental doctrines of phrenology, but have no
faith whatever in this common empirical trade of delineating character
promiscuously by the contour of the head alone.--ED.
TABLE-TIPPINGS.
This fallacy demands our most rigid scrutiny, and none the less of
severe reprobation, from the fact that it is engaged in, to a great
extent, by respectable and intelligent persons. The business of
Spiritual Rappings is a sheer and miserable imposture, and as the
performers are obliged to invent and manage the machinery, or whatever
instrumentality produces the sounds, there is no possibility of their
deceiving themselves. The table-tipping is rather a case of delusion,
or self-imposition, though there are occasionally actors in this
performance who betray insincerity, and some whose actions give the
_lie direct_ to their professions. How it happened that TABLES were
selected for the demonstrations of departed spirits, or the operations
of the "_new fluid_," is beyond our wisdom to explain. Why should not
the pump-handle work _sua sponte_, the cradle rock itself, or the coach
start off without horses, as well as tables jump about the room at the
mere imposition of hands, or the behest of those wonderful personages
entitled _mediums_? Is there any thing in the shape, material, purpose,
or history of a table that it should become, _par excellence_, the
connecting link between the natural and the spiritual world? or that
it should be the great reservoir of electricity, magnetism, "_new
fluid_," "_od_," or what not? Perhaps _legs_ are indispensable to
this new species of dancing and jumping. But, as in many of the best
_authenticated_ cases, the table moves along the floor with a gradual,
slow, and dignified motion, without jumping, and more especially as
many of the tables are upon castors, we see no reason why wheels
should not be better than legs, and why coaches will not do as well,
or better, than tables--for the rolling friction is much less than
the sliding friction, and carriages could be made very light for this
particular purpose. These tipping magicians are not very fruitful in
expedients or they would have attempted long ago the speculation of a
_new line of spiritual coaches on common roads, propelled by mediums_.
But to the point. One of the first table-tippings that came under our
notice was one which had become quite celebrated, and of which we had
heard a great deal before we came to witness it. We were informed,
by persons of high intelligence, who had been eye-witnesses, and
participated in the experiments, that when several persons joined hands
around this table, in connection with the medium, the table began to
move about the room with force, celerity, and apparent life. That
forcible resistance could not stop it, and that the performers were
hardly able to keep up with its motion. That, on the same occasion,
heavy bodies were lifted from the floor by the mere superposition
of hands, without grasping; in other words, that by laying the hand
upon a heavy article, and raising the hand, the dead weight _lifted
itself_ from the floor, and followed the motion of the hand. Our
informants were men of high standing, of high endowments and general
intelligence, men of veracity, and men whose opinions were worth much
in legal questions and matters of state. Oh! what a discovery and
development was here. ADIEU YE LEVERS, SCREWS, WEDGES; PULLEYS, SCREW
AND LEVER-JACKS, CRANES AND BOOM-DERRICKS, STEAM, GAS, AND EVERY
KIND OF ENGINE, HORSE AND ALL OTHER POWERS, FIRE, AIR, AND WATER,
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM, CHEMICAL, MECHANICAL, AND ALL SUBSERVIENT
AGENCIES, ONE AND ALL, ADIEU! Mind has subverted the laws of matter;
all philosophy is merged in spirituality, and volition has become the
all-potent, all-sufficient, all-pervading power; the crazy and pitiable
seekers after perpetual motion are become the master spirits of the
age, and gravity and friction have given way to two new controlling
principles, levity and non-resistance. Suffice it to say, we laughed at
our informants, and gave them a flat contradiction, "that they had not
seen what they related." It is well worthy of remark here, that we have
never yet known any one of our acquaintance to take serious offence at
the most positive contradictions upon this subject,--a proof, to our
mind, that there is a secret, deep-seated, smothered conviction against
the reality and genuineness of these manifestations. A curious element
of our composition it is, that honest men find no little difficulty in
deceiving themselves, and take so little or no umbrage at being charged
with this kind of deception.
Imbued deeply ourselves with an ardent _penchant_ for novelties upon
every subject, and a determination to _ferret out_ the extraordinary
pretensions of this new wonder, we have taken occasion to inquire
of persons, from all parts of the country, where these exhibitions
have been made, and we assure our readers that although the time may
thus have been profitably spent, the inquiry became tedious even to
disgust. We heard substantially the same story from all; viz., that the
tables tipped and moved about "without visible agency," and yet, in
almost every case, upon close sifting and careful cross-examination,
we found that somebody had hands upon the table during the whole of
its gambols. Surely the _devil has to do with table-tippings_, for
we have never seen honest-minded persons so unfair and oblique on
any other subject before. Not that the fiend tips, kicks, or propels
in any way the tables, but that he tips either the conscience or
the judgment to a deplorable extent to sustain the cheat. In every
inquiry and investigation we have found gross and weak exaggeration,
and have fully resolved that we will maintain, to the last extremity,
the position of unqualified, uncompromising denial and opposition, to
the _highest testimony of earth_, as to the verity of _table-tippings,
spirit-rappings, or any kindred chicanery of miraculous or spiritual
purport_. We were much gratified recently at the remark of an
experienced friend, that "he would not believe these things, even if he
saw them with his own eyes." There was meaning in the remark. He would
not admit the testimony of others to such an anomaly, and he would not
trust or believe _himself_ if he should give way to the conviction that
all of mathematical and mechanical science, all of religion and bible
teaching, and all of common sense, was to be contravened and exploded
by these new manifestations, promising endless perplexity, confusion,
crime, and insanity, and no good to any body. Our friends repeatedly
say to us, "we don't see how these things can be, but we cannot
discredit the opinion and testimony of Mr. A., Dr. B., Prof. C., Rev.
Mr. D., Judge E., Hon. Mr. F., &c." "We think it hard to impugn such
testimony, and why should not their word in this matter go as far as
yours?" Our plain answer is this: if we tell you that black is white,
and white is black, we do not expect our testimony to be regarded; and
we take the same privilege in repudiating all testimony, from whatever
source, of a similar character. It was a strong, though reverential,
position of St. Paul, that "even an angel from heaven would be accursed
if he preached any other doctrine than that which he, Paul, had
preached," for he well knew that an angel from heaven could not preach
any other.
With all reverence we say it, we feel a sort of inspiration upon the
laws of reaction, gravity, and friction, based upon the experience of
every moment of remembered life, that compels us to reject peremptorily
the testimony of our best friends, of the most distinguished and
credible persons, or of the most exalted intellects, when they tell us
that by the mere superposition of hands, or by the effort of the will,
a table moves off by itself, or lifts itself from the floor without
visible agency. There are several individuals in this place, ourselves
among the number, who have agreed to give two thousand dollars to
any person who will show to us such a feat performed by a table. We
feel entirely safe in the offer, and moreover think it prudent, in
case we should deposit the money, to deposit it in a Savings Bank
paying interest, for otherwise the money might be lying idle for a
whole lifetime. We might hesitate, if there were the remotest chance
of explaining such extraordinary appearances upon any principle of
science; but the fact is, these assertions contravene all science,
and bear absurdity on their very front. We hear some say, gravity,
electricity, and magnetism cause bodies to move without visible
agencies or connection. Yes! they _do_; they always _have_, and always
_will_. But here, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three, we must be told, for the first time, that the human
body has analogous powers to magnets and thunder-clouds; and, more than
this, that no regular law of traction or attraction, propulsion or
repulsion, governs this marvellous, new, nervous, corporeal, carneous
power, _odylic_ force, or what not, but that it is subject to all the
anomalous, capricious and vicious directions and governance of _human_
volition.
We have too much contempt for _odylic_ philosophy, or any such chimera
or vagary, to stop and discuss it here. We have for twenty years, ever
since the revival of Slumbering Mesmerism, by Dr. Poyen, of Lowell,
Mass., made diligent inquiry and patient, persevering effort to obtain
from among the great mass of mesmeric performances some evidence of a
new principle, new force, or any resolution of nervous or sensorial
agency into physical power other than that of a mind upon its own
body, and have never yet seen the most faint indications of any such
nervous power as these modern psychologists pretend to unfold to us.
What! a nervous force that acts exterior to, and independent of,
its own tenement and rightful fulcrum? that propels masses heavier
than the _body corporate_, without rending the latter in twain? Of
one thing we feel assured, that this new-fangled philosophy is a
poisonous, though covert fang, secretly gnawing at the very root of
Christian faith. It made a bold sally in that coarse proposition of
Miss Martineau respecting our Saviour's miracles--too coarse indeed
to meet with favor--and now assails, under a less offensive and more
sophistical garb, of "_odylic force_;" seeking to explain a mystery
of the Bible (always an _infidel effort_), and to bring miracles and
God's prerogatives within the scope and control of human reason and
action. We ask any theologian who may incline to apply such tests to
the solution of miraculous performance, if he supposes that if the
mountain had removed, and been cast into the sea, at the bidding of
the disciple (with faith as a grain of mustard-seed), that disciple
would have been the source of the propelling power, and felt fatigue,
depression, or reaction in proportion to the mass to be removed? If,
when at the call of Joshua, the huge orb of earth stood still upon its
axis, the vast momentum recoiled, through _odylic ether_, upon poor
Joshua's brain? We can all accept the proposition of Archimedes "_Give
me a place whereon to stand, and I will move the world_;" but who upon
the largest latitude of plastic, ductile OD, or any other principle or
pretext of mesmeric sophistry, would venture to arrest and propel the
earth by the odylic, nervous, sensorial agency of one of its little
creatures, held to its centre by indomitable gravity. Perchance it may
be reasoned that from Joshua's cerebral fountain there issued a vast
stream of odylic essence, or psychological fluid, whose mighty gushing
into space was equal to the momentum of huge earth, and reacting, like
water in the mill-wheel, caused the great sphere to stop. Oh! how
hazardous, yea impious, is the attempt to _explain_ a miracle--God's
prerogative, God's interposition in former times, though not above
human _command_ upon the touchstones of prayer and faith, yet always
and _forever_ above human _ken_. Our Saviour himself said, "Of myself I
can do nothing," and his miracles were prefaced with prayer. GOD of the
Bible! while thy word stands, the wisdom of the wise and prudent shall
not prevail over the faith, simplicity and common-sense philosophy of
thy "Babes."
It is painful and humiliating to see the efforts of certain prominent
men publicly advocating the genuineness of these manifestations, and
especially so when we consider the character of the assertions and
arguments brought forward in support of their doctrines. One of the
most recent and striking is this. Mr. Calhoun's spirit on being
consulted through the Fox mediums as to the object of these spiritual
manifestations, replies, that they are "instituted to prove to the
unbelieving the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, and to propagate peace and
harmony among men."[10] Hear it, all Christendom, believers, readers
and hearers of the WORD! The great conflict and triumph of the Gospel
is to be crowned by the deductions of these new FOX THEOLOGISTS,
or, rather, as a more legitimate inference, the Word of God is to
be superseded and must now give place to the higher manifestations
of Rochester spirit-rappings and table-tippings. It is no less than
a denial of the sufficiency of revelation for the very purpose for
which it was intended, and denying this it denies the whole. All other
reasons, arguments, developments, experiments, doubts, suspicions
and manifestations aside, this rapping and tipping theology has now
taken a decided and hostile stand against the BIBLE, and as such it
must be treated. Hear it, and mark it well! The Bible is discarded
as plainly and fully as if it had been uttered in so many words. In
vain does Holy Writ every where teach of the immortality of the soul,
in vain are its maledictions against sorcery and witchcraft, in vain
does it pronounce "Anathema Maranatha" against additions to its divine
pretensions, in vain its precept "that no prophecy of Scripture is of
private interpretation," in vain does it declare that an unbeliever
"would not believe though one rose from the dead,"[11] in vain have
been the Bible societies, missionary and all the mighty efforts to
spread Christianity, ALL is to be blotted out before the new light of
"_Rochester knockings_" and Fox legerdemain. But why should we indulge
in appeals, tirades, irony, or satire, knowing all the while that we
have positive demonstrations yet to present of the utter fallacy of
table-tippings; proofs irrefragible of the mundane, mortal, corporeal,
physical, muscular character of table-tippings? We have our reasons.
If we are to encounter fools and fanatics, witches and wizards,
devils and dupes, we must assail in every vulnerable quarter, for
even demonstrations of fact are sure to be denied upon some impudent
pretext, and in such cases facts are not all-puissant weapons, and
require an auxiliary guard. With the candid and the wavering, however,
our demonstrations will be appreciated, and we trust conclusive.
Reverting to the first case of table-tipping that came under our
notice, having heard much of the extraordinary performances we went
in company with a scientific friend to see for ourselves. The medium
was a sprightly young girl, whose reputation for sincerity might have
been her dearest treasure. The wonderful feats of this medium were
recounted to us, and we longed for the verification. After a brief
conversation, she with another young lady, (about half medium) placed
hands upon a small table, our friend joining the circle. Their hands
were so placed, that the right hand of one concealed the left hand of
the other. After a while, the table began to move. This was natural,
certainly, for we noticed that this medium was working very hard
with her concealed hand to move it. Perhaps her mother saw this, for
she rose from her seat and said, "You are not tricking, now?" "No,
indeed, mother, I'm not tricking; see how lightly I _press_!" What a
comment was all this upon the recital just made by her mother to us of
the astonishing feats of moving heavy dining-tables, tearing up the
carpets, moving pianofortes, &c.! Our friend beginning to suspect the
voluntary character of this motion of the table, made a counter effort
with his fingers (better concealed than that of the medium for the
reason that he was possessed of far greater strength), and the table
stopped moving. But this was not all. We detected upon the countenance
of the medium an expression of disappointment, and further, a more
palpable striving to move the table, in consequence of this resistance,
which she seemed not to suspect. All this seems too farcical to relate,
and yet the _superhuman_ performances of this very medium had been
described to us by eye-witnesses of the highest respectability as
marvellous, and astounding in the extreme, and our principal informant
was a gentleman well known for his astuteness, had some years back
published an excellent work upon mathematics, and was as well qualified
as the average of learned men to observe and decide upon such matters.
His testimony was confirmed by several others, all witnesses of the
highest respectability, and what was it all worth? and what is all
other testimony worth upon this _aerial vaulting_ of tables? Perhaps we
are mistaken as to the effort made by this medium to move the table.
Let us see! We placed a sheet of paper on the table under her hand, and
as soon as the table was desired to move, behold the sheet of paper
moved over the table-top, while the table stood still. Here is the
demonstration of this fallacy, and although in such a shape that it
may be cavilled at, yet it is, however, the elementary key, and to us
all-sufficient in itself. We will, however, develope it in such form
as to be beyond all cavil. We witnessed, after this, many abortive
attempts by mediums and others to move tables, and some other attempts
that began to succeed, till we applied our mechanical tests, when the
new fluid, electricity, magnetism, nervous power, odylic force, all
resolved themselves into muscular action, and the tables never moved
unless clearly pushed. As to tables moving in _any way_ without being
touched, we repeat that it has never been done, and challenge proof to
the contrary.
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]
We have traced up many such exaggerations, and invariably found the
story to be that the mediums were not moving it, but _merely_ had their
hands "_lightly_" upon it. After we had baffled the tippings by the
sheet of paper, we were on another occasion told, that paper was a
non-conductor of electricity, and that if this agent had any thing to
do with it, the paper might intercept the action. Willing to indulge
the whim we substituted for the paper the instrument represented in
Fig. 1, well known as the parallel ruler. It is simply a flat ruler
(_a_), furnished with four rollers (_b_) (_b_), upon which it rests.
The slightest pressing forward of the fingers upon the ruler (_a_)
causes it to glide easily forward upon the table. Of course the
result was the same as with the paper. Upon invoking the spirits, or
exerting the will, the ruler moved upon the table, while the table
stood fast. If, then, the _paper_ moved, and the _ruler_ moved, ought
we not to infer that the friction between the fingers and the paper or
the fingers and the ruler was greater than the friction between the
paper and the table or the ruler and the table? Certainly. It must be
remembered here that the rule of tipping is, to press or touch _very
lightly_ with the fingers. Ought we not to infer that the paper and the
ruler were pushed by the hand, since the hands followed them in their
motion? Certainly, upon the common doctrine of touch and go; but these
new philosophers will not allow us even this inference, and maintain
that the odylic power moves both hand and paper. A most versatile,
vicarious agent or power is this OD. Well, odd as it is odd, we have
given the tippers full swing, and we now administer their _quietus_.
Fig. 2 is an illustration of our mode of annihilating odylic power and
a positive cure for the _malady of spiritual medium_. Let the bodies
of the tippers or mediums be fastened or restrained from motion in any
way back or forth, and then let their arms be stretched straight out,
as shown in the figure, and their hands locked, superposed, or placed
in any way they please upon the table. Sitting with the breast closely
against the back of the chair is a convenient way of restraining the
forward motion. Now let them invoke the spirits, exert the will, let
them cry out and howl, Belial won't come, the table won't move, for
all the mediums of earth, and passive matter holds true to her law of
inertia. If the table should be moved towards them, it will be seen
that if the arms be kept straight, the hands keeping their position,
will appear to move over the table. We take some credit to ourselves
for this discovery, and we have been much surprised that men of
science, men of mechanical minds who have witnessed table-tippings have
never thought to apply some rule or test of mechanics to solve this
mystery.[12]
[Illustration: _Fig. 2._]
The very first thing to arrest our attention in table-tipping was
the fact that the hands (no matter how lightly they pressed) moved
always with the table back and forth; and this suggested at once our
mechanical tests. How strange it is that any mortal in possession of
his senses, should move a table, and not know it! And yet it is so, it
has been so, but, we trust, it will be so no more. If any medium or
tipper can gainsay this demonstration, we should be glad to hear from
him, and would like to employ him, at a high salary, as a mechanical
agent, to overcome for us, in a multitude of ways, the operations of
gravity and friction. The traders and merchants generally must have a
care of these tippers; for, in buying and selling, they can tip the
scales with more ease than tables. We have, however, no doubts as to
the results, if any one will try these experiments fairly. It will be
a cause of chagrin to some of those honest-minded tippers, who have
all along been believing that the spirits tipped the table, and that
they were in reality holding communion with their departed friends. If
we prove the table-tipping to be the result of a muscular movement, we
need not dwell upon the psychological phenomena of the extraordinary
coincidences, messages, &c. They are all referable to that peculiar
condition of mind, INFATUATION, under which judgment is suspended,
memory quickened, sensitiveness exalted, imagination predominant, and
involuntary actions induced.
* * * * *
In concluding this work, we remark that our investigations have
fastened error, mercenary motives, imposture, and illusion upon
those doings, so far as they have come under our observation. Our
opportunities have been of the best kind as respects the rappings,
for they were with the Fox girls, who were the leaders in this
whole business of rappings and tippings; and, suffice it to say, we
effectually prevented their rapping.
When error and falsehood are driven from one subterfuge they soon find
another; and as the _surveillance_ of truth and science approaches
their hiding places, they resort to more covert retreats; and these
girls may hereafter contrive some new mode of rapping not explicable
upon our theory, but it is enough for us to know that it will be still
a trick. We have had as wonderful performances related to us as have
ever been heard of elsewhere; but, upon close sifting; they have all
proved to be within the pale of human conception. Doubtless all these
tricks will assume different shapes from day to day and place to place,
and the performances in England, France, and Germany, may all differ
from ours and from each other. The tricks _must improve_, in order
to sustain their pecuniary value, or bolster reputation; and however
successful and impenetrable they may become, they are none the less
tricks, and have one common origin.
If any one deems that he hath a spirit, or any new power beyond
jugglery, let him come, and we will welcome him with a close
examination; and if we are baffled, and cannot make our position good,
he shall have the reward we have specified in a previous part of this
work. Those who make these tricks their profession have the advantage
of long practice, preparation, and confederacy; but let them come and
claim the prize, if they will and can.
We have recently heard of some refined tricks at table-tipping, in
which other preparations were made than the mere superposition of
hands. Although we had rather see them than hear of them, we have only
to say to those who may see them (or think they see them), Divest
yourselves of all idea of the supernatural, or any new fluid, or new
law, or property whatever, and, regarding the performance either as
a trick or case of illusion, scrutinize sharply every movement and
circumstance in connection, and you will find that either the table
does not move, or, if it does move, you will see what actuates it.
Remember! there are controlling and controllable agents that _can_
raise a table from the floor; but the action of the will, or the mere
superposition of hands, NEVER!
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] A recent conspicuous writer, in giving an account of this great
communication from the great spirit of Mr. Calhoun, says, its spiritual
character was confirmed by the rising of the table from the floor, and
other wonderful signs.--C. G. P., ED.
[11] The actual reappearance of dead Dives, _in propria persona_, was
declared by the Almighty as inadequate to convince unbelieving Jews;
but it seems that for Gentiles the presence of the spirit without the
body is all-sufficient.--ED.
[12] These experiments were made in February and March, 1853, and,
since the above was written, we are pleased to find that Faraday has
taken the matter in hand, and pursued a course of investigation similar
to our own.
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