The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Spirit Land, by Samuel B. (Samuel
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Title: The Spirit Land
Author: Samuel B. (Samuel Bulfinch) Emmons
Release Date: July 17, 2013 [eBook #43237]
Language: English
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Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
[Illustration: THE SPIRIT LAND.]
THE SPIRIT LAND.
by
S. B. EMMONS.
Philadelphia:
John E. Potter and Company.
Nos. 614 and 617 Sansom Street.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
L. P. Crown & Co.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District
of Massachusetts
TO THE READER.
This volume is intended as an antidote to a species of errors that have
been rife in every age of the Christian church. Notwithstanding the
disclosures the Most High made of himself to his ancient people, they
were yet prone to turn aside from the worship of the true God, to
follow the lying spirits of the prophets of Baal, and other deceivers,
from the days of Moses till the destruction of Jerusalem. So, likewise,
under the Christian dispensation, there has been a succession of
Antichrists, until their name is _legion_, whose teachings have clouded
the understandings and blinded the moral perceptions of men, subverting
the faith of many whose mountains stood strong, and who had been
counted the chosen people of God.
The present is viewed as an age of _isms_. Men have run mad, and are
chasing phantoms. They are roaming round to find some fulcrum to
overturn the church and the Bible; they are imagining they are
receiving utterances from heaven, when nothing is uttered but the
vain fantasies of their own minds and hearts. It is the grossest
fanaticism--fanaticism in its most frightful form, leading its unhappy
victims, not unfrequently, to flagrant crimes, and to the most horrid
of all--that of self-destruction.
These pages are submitted to the public with the counsel of the wisest
and best of all ages, that, amid the wily arts of the adversary, we
should cling to the word of God, the Bible of our fathers, as the only
safe and infallible guide of faith and practice.
NOTE.
We would here give credit to the principal works from which valuable
and important matter has been selected for these pages: Whitman's
Popular Superstitions; Upham's Lectures upon Witchcraft; Christian
Freeman and Family Visitor; Abercrombie on the Intellectual Powers;
Influence of the Imagination upon the Nervous System, by Rev. Grant
Powers; Life of Adam Clarke; Hayward's Book of all Religions; Miller
on the Second Coming of Christ; Borrow's Gypsies of Spain; Stone on
False Prophets and Christs; Dickens's Household Words; Capron and
Barron on the Spirit Knockings; Dick on the Improvement of Society;
Revelations of A. J. Davis; The Great Harmonia; Rogers on Human and
Mundane Agents; Miss Crowe's Night Side of Nature; Spiritual
Telegraph, &c.
As the work embraces a mass of facts of an absorbing and intensely
interesting character, we trust that it will commend itself to an
enlightened and judicious public.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
PART FIRST.
INTRODUCTION.
THE OBJECT OF THIS WORK.
PAGE
Nursery tales of giants, dwarfs, ghosts, fairies, and witches.--
Their effect upon juvenile minds.--A belief in ghosts still
prevalent.--The excitability of the public mind.--Ghost reported
as having been seen in Waltham, Massachusetts. 17
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
Ignorance of correct reasoning.--Conclusions from particular
facts.--Water boiled by heat.--Signs.--Breaking a mirror.--Gene
ral conclusions from a few facts.--A victim to superstition in
New Hampshire.--How signs may be multiplied.--The design of
the Creator in endowing us with reason. 19
CHAPTER II.
INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY NOT UNDERSTOOD.
Ignorance of it the cause of many superstitions.--Lights seen in
marshy grounds, &c.--Supposed to be supernatural.--Causes of
these lights, and phenomena connected with them.--Shrinking and
swelling of pork in boiling.--Cause.--Supposed influence of the
moon in making soap, grafting trees, cutting timber, &c.--Lunar
influence in matters of wedlock.--Love not to be fed on
moonshine. 22
CHAPTER III.
IGNORANCE OF THE CAUSES OF DREAMS.
Fruitful source of superstitions.--Opinions of ancient divines.
--Dreams related in the Scriptures.--Their object.--Principles
of mental philosophy applied to modern dreams.--Examples of
singular dreams.--Dreams occasioned by sickness.--Fulfilment
of certain dreams.--Causes of the same.--Remarkable case of
a German student.--Case of a member of Congress.--Amusing
case concerning a passage of Scripture.--Necessity of a pure
conscience, and a careful attention to our stomachs. 24
CHAPTER IV.
EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Ignorance of it has given rise to many superstitions.--Experiments
of Mesmer and Deslon in Paris.--Singular developments.--Trials at
Dr. Franklin's house.--Children uninfluenced by mesmeric operations.
--Magnetizing a tree in Dr. Franklin's garden.--Experiments upon
two females.--Effect produced.--Experiment upon a female by Dr.
Sigault.--Practice among the Chinese.--Girl frightened to death by
a Gypsy.--Practice among the New Zealanders.--Killing others by
incantation.--Intercourse with departed spirits.--An account of
Perkins's metallic tractors.--Their supposed influence in various
diseases.--Suspicions concerning them.--Experiments with wooden
tractors.--Result of these experiments.--Statements of a modern
mesmerizer. 29
CHAPTER V.
IGNORANCE OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.
This ignorance a cause of many superstitions.--Case of a person
who slept in a bed room supposed to be haunted.--Skeleton seen by
moonlight.--Apparition seen by Dr. Gregory.--Case related by Dr.
Conolly.--Ship's crew frightened by an apparition.--Young lady
supposed to have been murdered by pirates.--Cases of impressions
connected with bodily disease.--Phantasms in febrile diseases.--A
farmer frightened to death by a light in the road.--A figure like
Death striking a lady in her side with a dart.--Illusion of sight
and hearing.--Case of a lady who saw her absent husband standing
by her side.--Countenance of a friend seen in a mirror.--Tunes
heard.--Inverted objects.--Visions of the world of spirits.--Case
of Baron Swedenborg.--Case of a lady in Boston, who saw her
deceased grandmother.--The phantom ship seen in New Haven.--The
science of optics.--Of nauscopy.--Cases of mirage. 38
CHAPTER VI.
IGNORANCE OF TRUE RELIGION.
God the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.--The natural world governed
by regular laws.--Sign of the howling of a dog under the window.--
Lucky and unlucky days.--Sir Matthew Hale's opinion.--Early laws of
Connecticut.--Superstition of sailors.--Timidity of Voltaire.--
Peace and happiness on all days.--How procured. 50
CHAPTER VII.
BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT.
A witch as regarded by our fathers.--Compact or agreement with the
devil.--Carried through the air on brooms and spits.--Anointing their
bodies with a magical ointment.--How to prepare the same.--Singular
ceremonies at the meetings of witches.--How they afflicted others.
--The bewitched pins shown to Grace Greenwood.--Mode of examining
and trying witches.--Witch catcher in England.--How he was arrested
and condemned.--Singular record on a church book in Scotland.--
Notice of the Salem witchcraft.--How such superstitions are to be
done away.--Witches and wizards of modern times. 53
CHAPTER VIII.
NECROMANCY AND FORTUNE TELLING.
Moll Pitcher, the queen of the race.--Her place of abode.--Company
that visited her.--Member of a church sent to consult her.--Casting
out evil spirits in Syria.--Account of Lady Hester Stanhope.--The
astrologer of Hopkinton, Massachusetts.--Chief characteristic of
fortune seekers.--Effects produced upon them. 58
CHAPTER IX.
FAIRIES, OR WANDERING SPIRITS, AND GYPSIES.
Description of fairies, habits, localities, &c.--Subterranean spirits
in Wales, called _Knockers_.--The _Brownies_ in Scotland.--A farmer
in Ireland who was tormented by fairies.--Method taken to appease
their anger.--Spenser's poem of the Fairy Queen.--Gypsies and their
employments.--Casting the evil eye.--Safeguard against it.--Charm of
the Bible and key.--Superstition called the _elf-shot_.--Practice of
poisoning animals, and the cure.--Superstitions concerning the
loadstone.--Translation of St. Luke into the Gypsy tongue.--
Singular notions of the Gypsies concerning it.--Condemned by the
royal edict at Madrid.--The Gypsy choirs at Moscow.--Anecdote of
Madame Catalini. 61
CHAPTER X.
OMENS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATION.
Books published upon these things.--Their injurious tendency.--A
sample of their contents.--Practice of boxers.--Whistling in a
storm at sea.--Setting hens on an _odd_ number of eggs.--Salutes
of an _odd_ number of guns.--Omen concerning the number _thirteen_.
--Methods of ascertaining who will be a future husband.--Crossing
of knives.--Click of insects.--Advent of comets. 76
CHAPTER XI.
MODERN MIRACLES.
They partake of superstition.--Instructions of the Savior concerning
them.--Object of Scripture miracles.--Modern miracles not satisfactory.
--Judge Howe's opinion concerning Christianity.--Times of miracles
ceased. 79
CHAPTER XII.
FALSE PROPHETS AND CHRISTS.
History of the prophet Matthias.--His career in Albany and New York.
--His deceptions upon conspicuous individuals.--His arrest for
alleged crimes.--Account of John of Leyden.--Sketch of Cochrane,
and his impositions. 81
CHAPTER XIII.
MORMON SUPERSTITION.
Account of the golden plates found by Joseph Smith.--Their
translation and publication in a volume.--Peculiar style of the
writings.--Attempt at imitation.--Mormon preachers speaking with
new tongues.--Increase of the doctrine, and why.--Mormon cities
not to be identified.--Strong indications of fabrication.--
Fluency and earnestness of their preachers.--Traits of the
Cochranites.--Effects produced upon their hearers.--An account
of the _real_ origin of the Mormon Bible, and its author.--Of
Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon prophet.--His early characteristics.
--Exposure of the indecent ceremonies at Nauvoo; as established
by Smith and others. 96
CHAPTER XIV.
MILLER DELUSION.
Prophecies of Mr. Miller.--His computation of time.--Management
to suit his own particular views.--Keeping the world standing
thirty years on a simple _if_.--Various blunders and mistakes.
--Confession of his errors.--False information respecting signs.
--Disappearance of stars.--Of the Aurora Borealis.--Shooting
stars.--Sun and moon turning to blood.--Darkness of the sun.--
Its cause.--Remarkable appearances in various ages of the world.
--Opinion concerning Halley's comet.--Ignorance of the constitution
of comets.--The comet of 1770.--Tests of signs that shall indicate
the end of time.--Scientific men stationed in various parts of the
earth.--No such changes as have been spoken of by the second
advent preachers, observed by them. 102
CHAPTER XV.
INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS.
Spirits, ghosts, and spectres seen in all ages.--Account of the
magic crystals, or divining glasses.--Seeing spirits in Egypt.--
Lady Blessington's crystal in England.--Spirit of Lord Nelson
described.--The Latin language commonly used by spirits.--An
account of spirits that live in the SUN.--Spirits conversing
with human beings.--Mode of communication by letters of fire,
or large printed _capitals_.--Interview with the spirit of
_Pharaoh_.--His present dwelling in the planet _Jupiter_.--
Information gleaned in conversation with him.--Swedenborg's
account of Sir John Franklin.--Describes his situation, blocked
up by _ice_.--Spirits do not understand about _latitude_ and
_longitude_.--Description of the spirit of Socrates, his dress,
&c.--Account of the emperor Alexander in the spirit world.--
Dickens's account of fashionable dupes in England.--The sciences
of astrology and magic.--Practices of high titled ladies in
London.--Account of famous conjurers, or fortune tellers.--
Account of the "rappers," or "knocking spirits."--Children
frightened by their noises.--Snapping of fingers, and clapping
of hands, imitated by the spirits.--Mrs. Fox asks questions of a
spirit.--Answers given by a succession of _raps_.--Account of a
ghost that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts.--Conversation with
the ghost by a gentleman.--Said he had been murdered, and told by
whom.--Tones of the ghost, (unearthly,) its mode of walking, &c.
--Great excitement on account of the ghost.--Mode of communication
with the _rapping_ spirits.--Tables and chairs moved, sounds heard,
&c.--Band of music, beating of the _bass drum_, and roar of artillery.
--Guitar played by unseen hands.--Ladies' hair taken down and
braided by spirits.--People touched by unseen hands.--How spirits
produce the sounds of _music_.--How they make the _rapping_ noises.
--Account of an interview with the spirit of Dr. Franklin.--
Sounds heard like trying the batteries in the telegraph office.--
Occupation of Franklin in the spirit world.--Getting up a line of
communication between the two worlds.--Dr. Franklin predicts great
changes in the nineteenth century.--Connection of _magnetism_ with
the _spiritual rappings_.--Clairvoyant interpreters between men
and spirits.--Spiritual postmasters, letter paper, and envelopes.
--Letters received from the spiritual worlds.--The _Spirit Journal_,
in Auburn, New York.--Its pages edited, controlled, and superintended
by _spirits_.--The _prophets_ and _apostles_ its conductors, acting
under the LORD SUPREME.--Blunders and errors of the rapping spirits.
--Ignorant spirits.--Mischief produced by them.--Swedenborg's account
of their stupidity.--How to distinguish the sounds made by an
ignorant or an intelligent spirit.--Wonderful precocity of infant
spirits.--Progression of spirits, both upwards and downwards.--
The spirit of Dr. Channing _deteriorated_ in the other world.--
Theological teachings of the rapping spirits.--Prophecy of
Swedenborg concerning the year 1852.--Noises of the _rappers_
indicative of the approach of his prediction.--Are to be considered
as _omens_ of a new advent.--Compared with the Miller prophecy of
1843.--Miracles, both of the rappers and the Millerites.--A sick
man and his bed taken up by spirits.--The body of a Mr. Gordon
taken up by spiritual hands.--Miracles wrought in favor of
_Millerism_.--Miracles wrought in favor of _witchcraft_.--
Millerites taken up by spiritual hands.--Strange noises made
by _spirits_ among the Adventists.--Houses shaken, mirrors
shattered to pieces, furniture broken.--Four women carried
through the air on a _pole_.--Testimony under oath respecting
it.--Account of a bewitched _ventriloquist_.--Witches in 1850.
--What the editor of a Boston journal says of them.--Witches,
ghosts, spooks, and hobgoblins, in all ages of the world.--
Account of a haunted house in Boston.--Every window illuminated
at midnight.--A young man frightened by the scene.--Singular
notion of the Greenlanders respecting the cause of thunder,
and of the Aurora Borealis.--Notion of the ancients concerning
the foundation of the earth.--Of the mathematician Kepler.--
Performance of Signor Blitz.--Effects produced by _ventriloquism_.
--Singular vibrations of the guitar.--Spirit rappings considered
as a new science.--Noises heard by the Wesley family, in 1716.
--Noises heard by Martin Luther.--Empty barrels and hogsheads
tumbling down stairs.--Information of past, present, and future
events.--The fortune tellers in comparison with the spirit rappers.
--Spirits unwilling or unable to spell their own names.--Spiritual
communications on the decline.--Contrast between the doings of
ancient and modern spirits.--Swedenborg's information concerning
the spirit of Melancthon.--A clairvoyant interview with Tom Paine.
--Account of an interview with Mr. Sunderland.--Dialogue with a
young lady.--Interview with a clairvoyant medium in Lowell.--Facts
respecting mesmeric operations.--People deceived by "sympathetic
spirits."--Judson J. Hutchinson made insane.--Exposure of the
deception practised upon him.--Davis's account of Benjamin
Franklin.--Dr. Phelps concerning the "spirit rappers."--Singular
developments at his house.--How tables, chairs, &c., are moved by
spirits.--Exhibitions of "chin music" in London.--Singular
transactions in England, as related by Dr. Thomas Dick.--Tricks
performed by Joe Collins of Oxford.--Spirits seen by the votaries
of St. Vitus, and the Shakers of later times. 118
CHAPTER XVI.
EVIL EFFECTS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
Great waste of time.--Ceremonies among the ancients.--Practices
in Catholic countries.--Injurious practices in Protestant
lands.--Dreams, visions, signs, tricks, omens, &c.--Great waste
of human life.--Account of the trial by _ordeal_.--Murder of
innocent persons.--Belief in dreams and forewarnings.--Modern
miracles, appearances of the dead, &c.--Unfavorable influence of
a belief in dreams.--The death watch, new moon, &c.--Predictions
of Nanny Scott.--Of the good Mrs. Taylor.--Marriages on a stormy
day.--Practice of wedded couples.--Moles on the wrong side of the
body.--Opening books, tricks, fortune telling.--Practice of a
lady in a clergyman's family.--Disadvantageous matrimonial
alliances.--Anticipation of dreadful calamities.--Practice of
Rev. John Wesley.--Temperaments of Melancthon and Luther.--Luck,
chance, fatality, &c.--Saul and the witch of Endor.--Conjurers
and impostors.--Injury done to the cause of medicine.--King's
touch in scrofula.--The _ninth_ son of a _ninth_ son.--The
_seventh_ son of a _seventh_ son.--Cure by the cold hands of
a malefactor.--Plaster on a pitchfork; polishing rusty nails.
--A female heart made into pills for consumption.--Heart taken
out of a female in Maine, and in Waltham, Massachusetts, and
made into pills.--Influence of the imagination.--Account of a
Mr. Austin, in Vermont.--His singular mode of healing the sick.
--Account of the celebrated _rain-water_ doctor.--Sketch of an
_astrological_ physician in New York.--Of Valentine Greataks
and Francisco Bagnone.--Momentary relief obtained, and why.--
Injury done to the cause of religion.--Account of the Pharisees,
compared to vipers and toads, and their numerous progeny.--How
we may know a Pharisee.--A young man catechized by our Savior.
--St. Paul once a Pharisee.--Proof.--Customs among the Catholics.
--Practices of many Protestants.--Mistaken views upon religion.
--Views concerning Satan.--Satan _versus_ Cotton Mather.--Professor
Stuart's views concerning the devil.--_Periodical_ revivals
of religion; the cause.--How to have a constant revival. 165
CHAPTER XVII.
BANISHMENT OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
How shall it be effected?--The proper use of our _reasoning
faculties_.--The exercise of our understandings.--Persevering
self-discipline.--Conduct towards believers in ghosts, signs,
&c.--Misconduct in families; trying tricks, &c.--How we should
employ our time.--Belief in an all-wise Providence, as Governor
and Controller of all events.--Importance of a correct education
of youth.--Nursery tales and marvellous stories.--Their baneful
influence.--Correct examples before children.--Superstitious
tales to be avoided.--Attention to the means of education.--
Immense value and importance of knowledge.--No lack of means
to educate the young.--Money foolishly wasted in various ways.
--Perseverance in laudable exertions.--The blessing of Heaven
to crown our labors. 185
PART SECOND.
MIRACLE IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Miracle performed by spirits in Springfield, Massachusetts.--Case
of biological deception.--Case of a "writing medium."--Effects
produced by pathetism.--Incident related by Miss Martineau.--
Travelling to other countries, and to other spheres.--Singular
feat by a boy of Dr. Phelps.--Wonderful case of a lady in New
Jersey.--Advice of Hon. Horace Greely.--Testimony of Rev. Dr.
Phelps. 191
PERSONS TRAINED BY A LECTURER ON MAGNETISM. 199
SCENE AT EAST BOSTON.
"Circle" at the house of Mr. Hoyt, at East Boston.--Effects of
vital electricity.--Imitating handwritings, writing poetry, music,
&c. 200
EXTRACT FROM THE PURITAN RECORDER.
Facts related by a gentleman of Maine.--Renunciation of a spirit
rapper.--Murder committed at the instigation of "spirits."--
Conflicting testimony concerning John Thompson.--Experiments
of Mr. Kellogg, the table lifter.--Discovery by Dr. Taylor,
the writing medium.--Renunciation of Mr. Cooley, of Springfield,
Massachusetts.--Attempt to murder a family in Barre, Massachusetts.
--Sacrifice of the innocent in heathen countries.--Great danger
in civilized communities.--Reports concerning the burning of
the Lunatic Asylum in Maine.--Testimony of Professor Stowe.--
Reply of Bingham to Professor Pond.--Singular confessions of the
reviewer.--Intelligence said to be communicated by "spirits."--
Vital electricity of embodied and disembodied spirits. 203
EXTRACT FROM THE HOME JOURNAL.
Star singers, concerts, parties, and lectures in the other
spheres.--Studies of French, Italian, geology, chemistry, drawing,
&c.--Semi-clergymen, outsiders, or come-outers. 215
FORETELLING FUTURE EVENTS.
Prediction concerning the ship Staffordshire.--General Pierce's
election foretold by Professor Anderson's glass bell.--False
predictions of the "spirits."--Error committed by Professor
Lester.--Suggestion of a lady to a sick friend.--Sentiments of
Alexander Pope. 218
VISIONS, MIRACLES, AND WONDERS.
Sights, sounds, signs, miracles, maps, drawings, hieroglyphics.
--Talking cow in Maine.--Her prophecy.--Proposition for _another_
"NEW CHURCH."--Predictions concerning all other churches.--
Opinions three hundred years ago.--Fate of Galileo. 220
CLAIRVOYANT PHYSICIANS.
Prescriptions from the dead.--Power of the imagination.--Wonderful
efficacy of brown bread pills.--Singular cure of palsy, by Sir
Humphrey Davy. 221
STYLE OF "SUPERNAL" COMPOSITIONS.
Fishbough's new work.--Fancy-captivating publications.--Refined
atheism.--Transcendental nonsense.--False communications relating
to patriots, statesmen, orators, and divines.--Mountebank scenes
of "psychology."--Testimony of A. J. Davis, upon the tricks of
the spirit demonstrators.--Concealments, misstatements, and
exaggerations. 223
MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA, WITH THEIR AGENTS OR CAUSES.
Thumping noises in New Jersey.--Door opened as if struck by a
mallet.--Great excitement.--Glass broken, &c.--Knockings heard in
New Hackensack.--Pile of lumber shaken; tables, chairs, stand,
and candlestick thrown about.--Bags of salt, tin ware, and
cooking utensils thrown in a heap.--An English officer haunted by
noises in the night.--Heavy marble top tables poising themselves
on two legs.--Brass door knockers bewitched.--Commotion among
crockery, tin ware, &c.--Firing a gun at noises in the walls.
--Tearing up floor to get at the noises.--Suit brought for
damages.--Bed of a sick girl raised.--Trembling of the house
walls.--Singular pranks in a factory.--Jerking of the frames,
and cylinder thrown at a distance.--Alarm and flight of the
operatives.--A chest with three men, and a man on a tub, taken
up by an invisible power.--A chair broken between two men's
hands.--An image seated on a stool, clad in white.--Visions of
beings like spirits.--Knockings on the walls, and noises in the
air.--A lady suspended by the tips of the fingers, as a magnet
suspends a piece of iron.--Electrical flashes from a lady's
body.--Knockings made to be heard at a distance.--Quotation from
a work by Rev. T. Hill, of Waltham.--Singular developments in New
York.--Freaks of a knob of a door bell.--Fiery flashes, and fiery
smacks, on kissing.--Blows in the mouth from a speaking tube.--
Account of two girls that could move tables without touching them.
--Effects of storms on raising tables.--Electrical circles in
Cincinnati.--Case of a lady in Strasburg.--Power of giving
electrical shocks to persons at a distance.--Singular effects
of the northern lights on a lady. 224
EXPERIMENTS IN BIOLOGY.
Chairs, tables, and persons moved.--Biological table-liftings in
East Boston.--"Mediums," as visible human operators.--Resolve of
the "rappers" at Poughkeepsie.--The unseen agent that moves
tables, beds, &c.--Dancing plates, knives and forks, &c. 264
FACULTY OF IMITATION.
Delivering speeches; imitating orators.--Case related by Walter
Scott.--Case of a man haunted by the devil.--Effects of wine and
heavy eating.--Voice heard by Judge Edmonds.--Lady in Providence
who writes music by "spirits."--Diagram of the spheres, by a lady
in a magnetic state. 268
UNSEEN LETTERS AND SIGNATURES.
Imitating unseen letters, signatures, and languages.--Suspicions
concerning Professor Bush.--Singular feat attributed to spirits.
--No difficulty in raising chairs or tables.--Spirits shown by
Egyptian boys.--Unbelief of practising "mediums."--School
children forbidden to move tables, &c. 273
A DANCING LIGHT.
Dancing light seen in Southboro', Massachusetts.--_Ignis
fatuus_ seen by Dr. Derham.--Corpusants seen by mariners.--
Dampier's account of them. 274
SAILORS' OMENS.
Sailors' omens and superstitions.--Devil's power in stirring up
winds.--Losing a cat overboard, a bucket, or a mop. 276
LOVE CHARMS.
Othello winning Desdemona by conjuration.--Execution of a young
lady for giving a love powder.--Her dying confession.--A charm or
an allay for love. 277
EFFECTS OF A BELIEF IN A GHOST.
Effects of a belief in the reality of ghosts.--Case at the
University at Cambridge.--A student frightened to death. 279
THE INVISIBLE LADY.
The invisible lady in Boston.--The invisible girl in London.--
Joice Heth, the India rubber woman.--Professor Grimes's
discovery among the "rappers."--Mrs. Culver respecting the
Rochester rappers. 280
SORCERERS IN THE EAST.
Persons killed by the enemy's fires.--Singular custom in Java. 281
SINGULAR METAMORPHOSES.
Men turned into tigers by eating a certain root, and turned back
again by eating another.--A tiger-man shot in the woods and
recognized, after having devoured some of his neighbors.--Account
of the wolf mania in Egypt and in Brittany.--A husband that lived
and died a wolf. 282
PERNICIOUS ERRORS RELATING TO HEALTH.
Astrology.--Vegetable oil of swallows, &c.--Cleanliness, diet,
&c.--Ablution.--Ventilation.--Food.--Quality of meats. 284
THE SPIRIT LAND.
INTRODUCTION.
The object of this treatise upon some of the various errors of the past
and present ages is to explain their nature--investigate their
origin--describe their injurious effects--and to offer and recommend
the necessary measures for their banishment. Most persons, even those
who have been well educated, can call to mind the avidity with which,
in their days of childhood, they listened to the nursery tales of
giants, dwarfs, ghosts, fairies, and witches. The effects of these
juvenile impressions are not easily effaced from the mind, and the
impressions themselves are but rarely, if ever, forgotten.
To doubt, in former times, the power of charms, and the veracity of
omens, and ghost stories, was deemed little less than atheism. The
terror caused by them imbittered the lives of persons of all ages. It
either served to shut them out of their own houses, or deterred them
from going abroad after it was dark. The room in which the head of a
family died was for a long time untenanted; particularly if he died
without a will, or was supposed to have entertained any peculiar
religious opinions. If any disconsolate maiden, or love-crossed
bachelor, became the instrument of their own death, the room where the
fatal deed was committed was rendered forever uninhabitable, and not
unfrequently nailed up. If a drunken farmer, returning from market,
fell from his horse, and by the fall broke his own neck, that spot,
ever after, was haunted and impassable. In truth, there was scarcely a
by-lane or cross-way but had its ghost, which appeared in the shape of
a headless cow or horse. Ghosts of a higher degree rode in coaches,
drawn by six headless horses, and driven by a headless coachman. As for
the churchyards, the legitimate habitations of spectres, clothed all in
white, the numbers who swarmed there equalled the living parishioners;
and to pass such a place in the night was more perilous than the
storming of Badajos.
Confuted and ridiculed as these opinions have been, in later days, the
seeds of them are still widely diffused, and at times attempt to spring
up in all their earlier excess. In the year 1832, crowds of men, women,
and children flocked to the village of Waltham, a few miles from
Boston, to see a ghost which was said to make its appearance towards
midnight, walking to and fro in a turf meadow, declaring itself, in
unearthly tones, to be the spirit of a murdered man, whose bones lay in
a mud hole near by. The excitement spread many miles around, and
hundreds from the city and neighboring towns hied to the spot, with
eyes agape, to behold the solemn visitor from the spirit world. And
such was the credulity inspired in the minds of the people, that a
clergyman in the vicinity declared from his pulpit, on the following
Sabbath, that the awful crime of murder had been revealed by the spirit
which had appeared in Waltham! Such is the _excitability_ of the
mind, and its tendency (notwithstanding the light that has been
scattered abroad) to give credence to all the vagaries and nonsense of
the darker ages.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
Ignorance of correct reasoning has undoubtedly given rise to many
superstitions. Inductive reasoning teaches us to infer general
conclusions from particular facts which have come under our
observation. This definition may be illustrated by an example. You know
that water boils on the application of a certain degree of heat. You
have seen this experiment tried many times without a single failure.
You therefore conclude that water will always boil on the application
of this degree of heat, although you have seen it applied but to a
small portion of the water in creation. Thus you draw this _general_
conclusion from the few _particular_ facts which you have witnessed.
But had you noticed several failures in the trial, your conclusions
would have been doubtful. And if the experiment had failed ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred, you would have adopted an opposite conclusion.
You would have said that the application of the specified degree of
heat would not boil water. In this way, logical reasoning leads to the
discovery of truth. Now, apply this principle of sound reasoning to the
whole mass of pretended _signs_. Let me select one to show you the
absurdity of believing in any. It is commonly reported that the
breaking of a looking glass betokens death to some member of the
family. This sign probably originated in the following manner: A death
happened to follow the breaking of a mirror. Some ignorant person
immediately concluded that the breaking of the glass was a sure sign of
death. The story soon spread among credulous people, and at length was
handed down from generation to generation as an established truth. But
you readily perceive the absurdity of forming this _general_ conclusion
from _one_ or a _few_ particular facts. We all know that death does not
follow the supposed sign oftener than once in a hundred times; and
therefore the breaking of the glass is almost a sure sign that no death
will immediately take place in the family. But as mirrors are always
breaking, and people are always dying, it is not strange that the
latter event should sometimes follow the former. It would be a miracle
if it did not. But the events have no connection whatever with each
other. The coincidence in any case is altogether accidental. We might
with the same reason affirm that the breaking of a teakettle is the
sign of death, or any thing else, as the breaking of a mirror. But the
truth is, there is no sign in the case. It first originated in
ignorance of correct reasoning, and has been perpetuated by the
credulous. It is but a short time ago that a girl in Exeter, N.H.,
broke a mirror. She believed that ill luck always followed such an
event and therefore became seriously affected in her mind. Finally, her
strength failed, and she died a victim to her superstition. Hence we
perceive the great importance of a just conception and well-informed
judgment upon such apparently trifling, yet oftentimes serious events,
in their effects upon social and individual happiness.
We have only to apply this principle of correct reasoning to every sign
in existence, to find them to be superstitious. We shall find, upon
investigation, that they are based upon no rational evidence, and
consequently are not entitled to our belief or confidence. If they
indicate any thing, it is something directly opposite to what is
generally supposed, for they do not come to pass more than once in a
hundred times, and therefore warrant a different conclusion. Not only
so. If you believe in the present pretended signs, you may make a
million more equally good. A man quarrels after drinking a glass of
wine; you may therefore say that taking a glass of wine is the sign of
a quarrel. A man draws a prize in a lottery; you may say therefore that
the purchase of a ticket is the sign of a fortune. A man dies after
supper; you may say therefore that eating supper is the sign of death.
In this you may multiply signs to infinity, and they will prove just as
true as any now in existence. But our Creator has endowed us with
understanding. He has given us reason to regulate our belief by
satisfactory evidence. And if we do this, we cannot believe in
_any_ of the pretended signs. We must conclude that they have all
originated in ignorance of correct reasoning, and are kept in
remembrance by those who will not use their intellectual powers as
their Maker designed.
CHAPTER II.
INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY NOT UNDERSTOOD.
Ignorance of inductive philosophy has given rise to many superstitions.
By the means of inductive philosophy, we are enabled to trace effects
to their true causes. For example: Lights have frequently been seen
dancing over marshy grounds, near tan-yards, and burying-places, and
along the sea shore. Credulous people have believed them to be the
spirits of the uneasy dead. This belief must be considered
superstitious, not having any foundation on rational evidence.
Philosophy teaches that these lights are occasioned by an inflammable
gas, which arises from decayed animal and vegetable substances, and
takes fire on coming in contact with atmospheric air. Thus we may trace
all effects to their true causes.
Many persons have supposed that pork killed in the increase of the moon
would swell in boiling, while that killed in her wane would shrink.
This opinion probably originated in the following manner: Some person
killed, at different periods of the moon, two hogs which had been born
and fattened together. That killed in her increase swelled in boiling;
while the other, killed in her wane, shrunk. He could conceive of no
way to account for the facts but on the supposition of lunar influence.
This conclusion was accordingly adopted, and at length became an
established truth. Yet there was no philosophy in forming this opinion
from a few such facts. More experiments should have been tried; and
they results would have shown that the real cause of the swelling and
shrinking existed in the constitution of the animals. It would have
been discovered that pork of fine and solid texture would commonly
swell, whenever killed; while that of loose and coarse grain would as
generally shrink. And the person would no more have thought of
attributing the difference in his pork to the moon than to the spirit
of Bonaparte.
Let this philosophic principle be applied to this whole class of
superstitions, and we shall arrive at similar results. There is the
supposed influence of the moon on making soap, grafting trees, cutting
timber, and also upon the fortunes of love-sick swains and maidens. The
latter are directed to go out in the evening and stand over the bars of
a gate, and, looking on the moon, repeat the following lines:--
"All hail to the moon! all hail to thee!
I pray thee, good moon, reveal to me,
This night, who my husband shall be."
They must then go directly to bed, and will dream of their future
husband. Upon trial of the experiment, they will probably be inclined
to consider it a dreamy notion altogether; for love is of too serious a
nature to be fed upon mere _moonshine_.
CHAPTER III.
IGNORANCE OF THE CAUSES OF DREAMS.
Ignorance of the causes of our dreams has given rise to many
superstitions. Ancient divines have told us that some of our dreams
proceed from ourselves, others from the Deity, and others again from
the devil. We know, to be sure, from experience, that dreams proceed
from ourselves in _some_, if not in all cases. We admit, however,
that God has spoken to some of his dependent creatures by dreams; for
we learn this from the Holy Scriptures. But such dreams were direct
revelations for the accomplishment of some divine purpose. The volume
of revelation was long since closed, and all that is essential to the
present and eternal happiness of mankind is plainly revealed. There is
therefore no necessity for any further communications from Heaven; and
the gospel does not authorize us to expect any. Dreams may sometimes
strike a conviction upon the mind, which our waking thoughts may fail
to do. And they may sometimes have the appearance of being fulfilled;
and yet there may be no necessity of supposing that God has made us the
special organ of divine communications. Our dreams, in such cases, may
be explained upon the principles of mental philosophy, without
resorting to the miraculous interposition of Deity for an explanation.
To say that the devil is the author of all our disagreeable dreams that
happen generally when we are in some trouble of body, mind, or estate,
is too absurd to believe. And it is specially unbecoming the followers
of Jesus to harbor an opinion so unbecoming in itself, so pernicious in
its consequences, and so derogatory to the supreme Ruler of the
universe. The true doctrine is, that our dreams originate from
ourselves. Some are influenced by our bodily sensations. A person with
a bottle of hot water at his feet dreams of ascending Ætna; and he
finds the heat of the ground almost insupportable. Another kicks the
bed clothes from his feet, and dreams of walking through snow banks,
even in the summer season. Some dreams are influenced by the state of
our stomach and bowels. The hungry prisoner dreams of well-furnished
tables and the pleasures of eating. The glutton dreams of a surfeit and
its attendant unpleasant sensations. Some dreams are influenced by our
dispositions. The person of amiable temper and cheerful spirits is
frequently refreshed with delightful scenes and visions of bliss; while
those of morose, gloomy, irritable, and melancholy habits are generally
harassed with those of a disagreeable and oppressive character. Some
dreams are influenced by the state of our health. Sickness is usually
productive of those of an unpleasant nature; while health secures those
of an opposite description. A gentleman, mentioned by Locke, was not
sensible of dreaming till he had a fever, at the age of twenty-six or
seven. Some dreams are influenced by our waking thoughts. The
mathematician solves difficult problems. The poet roves in Elysian
groves. The miser makes great bargains. The sensualist riots in the
haunts of dissipation. The criminal sees the dungeon or the gallows.
The awakened sinner beholds the flames of hell, or looks upon the
sceptre of pardon; and the Christian anticipates heavenly joy.
Strong mental emotions are sometimes embodied into a dream, which, by
some natural coincidence, is fulfilled. A murderer, mentioned by Mr.
Combe, dreamed of committing murder some years before the event took
place. A clergyman on a visit to the city of Edinburgh, from a distance
in the country, was sleeping at an inn, when he dreamed of seeing a
fire, and one of his children in the midst of it. He awoke with the
impression, and instantly started for home. When he arrived within
sight of his house, he found it on fire, and got there in time to
assist in saving one of his children, who, in the alarm and confusion,
had been left in a situation of danger. Without calling in question the
possibility of supernatural communications in such cases, this striking
occurrence may perhaps be accounted for on simple and natural
principles. Let us suppose that the gentleman had a servant who had
shown great carelessness in regard to fire, which had often given rise
in his mind to a strong apprehension that he might set fire to the
house. His anxiety might be increased by being from home, and the same
circumstances might make the servant still more careless. Let us
further suppose that the gentleman, before going to bed, had, in
addition to this anxiety, suddenly recollected that there was on that
day, in the neighborhood of his house, some fair or periodical merry
making, from which the servant was likely to return home in a state of
intoxication. It was most natural that these impressions should be
embodied into a dream of his house being on fire, and that the same
circumstances might lead to the dream being fulfilled.
The cause of a dream may sometimes be the cause of its fulfilment. A
clergyman dreamed of preaching a sermon on a particular subject. In a
few weeks, he delivered the discourse. His dream was therefore
fulfilled. But his waking thoughts caused the dream, for he had
meditated on this very subject; and they also caused its fulfilment,
for he proceeded to write and deliver the result of his meditations.
A belief in the supernatural origin of dreams sometimes leads to their
fulfilment. A person dreams of approaching sickness. His fears and his
imagination hasten on the calamity. A general, on the eve of battle,
dreamed of a defeat. His belief in dreams deprived him of courage, and,
of course, the enemy conquered. We have on record the case of a German
student, who dreamed that he was to die at a certain hour on the next
day. His friends found him in the morning making his will and arranging
his affairs. As the time drew near, he had every appearance of a person
near his end. Every argument was used to shake his belief in the
supernatural origin of his dream, but all to no effect. At last, the
physician contrived to place the hands of the clock beyond the
specified hour, and by this means saved the student's life. There are
instances on record where death has actually ensued in consequence of
such a belief. It has been produced by the wonderful power the mind
possesses over the body. And there can be no doubt that believers in
dreams often take the most direct means to hasten their fulfilment.
The apparent fulfilment of dreams is sometimes merely accidental. The
dream happens, and the event dreamed of soon follows; but the
coincidence is altogether fortuitous. A member of Congress informed a
friend that he frequently dreamed of the death of some one of his
children, while residing at Washington. The whole scene would appear
before him--the sickness, the death, and the burial; and this too
several times the same night, and on successive nights. His anxiety for
his family caused his dreams. Now, it would have been nothing strange
if a member of his family had died. But in this particular instance it
was not the case. In this way, however, we are always dreaming of our
absent relatives, and it would be singular if a death did not sometimes
occur at the time of the dream. So on all other subjects. One event may
follow the other, and yet the coincidence be perfectly accidental.
There are occasionally some amusing cases of this kind. A person
dreamed three times in one night that he must turn to the seventh verse
of the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes, and he would find important
instruction. He arose in the morning, and, referring to the specified
passage, found these words: "_In the multitude of dreams there are
divers vanities._"
Finally, the occasion of some dreams seems as yet inexplicable. But as
we can account for so large a portion of them, it is rational to
believe that the causes of the few mysterious ones will be hereafter
satisfactorily explained. We think we are safe in believing that all
our dreams are caused by some principle of our intellectual or animal
nature. Let us then pay no further regard to them than to aim by a pure
conscience before God, and a careful attention to our stomachs and
health, to have them refreshing and agreeable.
CHAPTER IV.
EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Ignorance of the influence of the imagination upon the nervous system
has given rise to many superstitions. We will give a few statements of
facts to establish and illustrate this position. Some time previous to
1784, a gentleman in Paris, by the name of Mesmer, professed to have
discovered a universal remedy for all diseases; and this remedy
consisted in being _magnetized_ under peculiar forms and circumstances.
M. Mesmer became so noted for his discovery, and he performed such
extraordinary cures, that, in 1784, the French king appointed a
committee, consisting of four physicians and five members of the Royal
Academy of Sciences, to investigate this matter. The committee, as soon
as they had examined the whole apparatus employed in magnetizing, and
taken cognizance of the manoeuvres of Mesmer, and his partner, Deslon,
proceeded to notice the symptoms of the patients while under the
influence of magnetism. These were various in different individuals.
Some were calm and tranquil, and felt nothing; others were affected
with coughing and spitting, with pains, heats, and perspirations; and
some were agitated and tortured with convulsions. These convulsions
were sometimes continued for three hours, accompanied with
expectoration of a viscid phlegm, ejected by violent efforts, and
sometimes streaked with blood. They had involuntary motions of the
limbs, of the whole body, and spasms of the throat. Their eyes wandered
in wild motions; they uttered piercing shrieks, wept, laughed, and
hiccoughed. The commissioners observed that the great majority of those
thus effected were females, and that these exhibitions did not begin
until they had been under the operation of magnetism one or two hours,
and that, when one became affected, the rest were soon seen in the same
situation. In order to give the magnetizer the fairest opportunity to
exhibit the power of his invention, and to give the most satisfactory
evidence to the public, the commissioners all submitted to be operated
upon themselves, and sat under the operation two hours and a half, but
without the least effect upon them, except the fatigue of sitting so
long in one position. They were magnetized three days in succession,
but without any sensible effect being produced. The magnetizing
instruments were then removed to Dr. Franklin's house, away from public
view, parade, and high expectation, and fourteen persons were then
magnetized, all of them invalids. Nine of them experienced nothing,
five appeared slightly affected, and the commissioners were surprised
to learn, in every instance, that the poor and ignorant alone were
affected. After this eight men and two women were magnetized, but
without the least effect. At length a female servant submitted to the
same operation, and she affirmed that she felt a heat in every part
where the magnetized finger was pointed at her; that she experienced a
pain in her head; and, during a continuation of the operation, she
became faint, and swooned. When she had fully recovered, they ordered
her eyes to be bandaged, and the operator was removed at a distance,
when they made her believe that she was still under the operation, and
the effects were the same, although no one operated, either near her or
at a distance. She could tell the very place where she was magnetized;
she felt the same heat in her back and loins, and the same pain in her
eyes and ears. At the end of one quarter of an hour, a sign was made
for her to be magnetized, but she felt nothing. On the following day, a
man and woman were magnetized in a similar manner, and the result was
the same. It was found that to direct the _imagination_ to the parts
where the sensations were to be felt, was all that was necessary to
produce these wonderful effects. But _children_, who had not arrived at
sufficient maturity of age to be excited by these imposing forms,
experienced nothing from the operation.
Mesmer and Deslon asserted that they could magnetize a tree, and every
person approaching the tree, in a given time, would be magnetized, and
either fall into a swoon or in convulsions, provided the magnetizer was
permitted to stand at a distance and direct his look and his cane
towards the tree. Accordingly, an apricot tree was selected in Dr.
Franklin's garden, at Vassy, for the experiment, and M. Deslon came and
magnetized the tree while the patient was retained in the house. The
patient was then brought out, with a bandage over his eyes, and
successively lead to four trees, which were not magnetized, and was
directed to embrace each tree two minutes, while M. Deslon, at a
distance, stood pointing his cane to the tree actually magnetized. At
the first tree, which was about twenty-seven feet from the magnetized
tree, the patient sweat profusely, coughed, expectorated, and said he
felt a pain in his head. At the second tree, now thirty feet from the
magnetized tree, he found himself giddy, attended with headache, as
before. At the third tree, his giddiness and headache were much
increased, and he said he believed he was approaching the magnetized
tree, although he was still twenty-eight feet from it. At length, when
brought to the fourth tree, _not magnetized_, and at the distance
of twenty-four feet from that which was, the young man fell down in a
state of perfect insensibility; his limbs became rigid, and he was
carried to a grass plot, where M. Deslon went to his assistance and
recovered him. And yet, in no instance had he approached within a less
distance than twenty-four feet of the magnetized tree.
A similar experiment was soon afterwards made on two poor females, at
Dr. Franklin's house. These women were separated from each other. Three
of the commissioners remained with one of them in one chamber, and two
of them with the other, in an adjoining chamber. The first had a
bandage over her eyes, and was then made to believe that M. Deslon came
in and commenced magnetizing her, although he never entered the room.
In three minutes the woman began to shiver. She felt, in succession, a
pain in her head, and a pricking in her hands. She became stiff, struck
her hands together, got up, stamped, &c., but nothing had been done to
her. The woman in the adjoining chamber was requested to take her seat
by the door, which was shut, with her sight at liberty. She was then
made to believe that M. Deslon would magnetize the door on the opposite
side, while the commissioners would wait to witness the result. She had
scarcely been seated a minute before she began to shiver. Her breathing
became hurried; she stretched out her arms behind her back, writhing
them strongly, and bending her body forwards; a general tremor of the
whole body came on. The chattering of the teeth was so loud as to be
heard out of the room; and she bit her hand so as to leave the marks of
her teeth in it; but M. Deslon was not near the door, nor in either
chamber, nor was either of the women touched, not even their pulse
examined. We perceive, then, that these effects were produced solely by
the imagination, and the above facts exhibit very satisfactorily the
power which the mind has over the body. The symptoms were not feigned,
but, in the peculiar state of mind of these persons, they were
involuntary and irresistible. They believed they should be effected in
this manner; the idea was formed in their imaginations, and the nerves
were acted upon precisely as though what they conceived was real, and
the muscular effects followed. And as the patients themselves could not
explain the causes of these effects, they very naturally attributed the
whole to magnetism. When the commissioners explained the matter,
magnetism ceased to produce these wonderful effects. The minds of
persons were enlightened upon the subject, and they no longer expected
to be influenced in this manner, and accordingly they were not.
Dr. Sigault, an eminent physician of Paris, professed to be an adept in
the art of Mesmer. Being at a great assembly one day, he caused it to
be announced that he could magnetize. The voice and serious air he
assumed had a very sensible effect upon a lady present, although she
endeavored at first to conceal the fact. But having carried his hand to
the region of the heart, he found it palpitating. She soon experienced
difficulty in respiration. The muscles of her face were affected with
convulsive twitches; her eyes rolled; she shortly fell down in a
fainting fit, vomited her dinner, and experienced incredible weakness
and languor. This seemed to corroborate the remarks of Burton, in his
_Anatomy of Melancholy_, where he says, "If, by some soothsayer,
wise man, fortune teller, or physician, men be told they shall have
such a disease, they will so seriously apprehend it that they will
instantly labor of it--a thing familiar in China, (saith Riccius, the
Jesuit.) If they be told they shall be sick on such a day, when that
day comes they will surely be sick, and will be so terribly affected
that sometimes they die upon it."
A late English paper states that a young woman, named Winfield, who had
been on a visit to Derby, returned home to Radborn, taking a little dog
with her by a string. On arriving there, she informed her friends she
had seen a gypsy on the road, who told her, that if she led her dog by
the string into the house, she would soon be a corpse. Singular to
relate, the young woman expired on the following morning! It was
thought she died from the effect of imagination, aided by a debilitated
constitution.
A missionary among the New Zealanders says, "There is a class of people
in New Zealand, called by the natives _Areekee_, and whom we very
improperly call _Priests_. These men pretend to have intercourse with
departed spirits, by which they are able to kill, by incantation, any
person on whom their anger may fall. And it is a fact, that numbers
fall a prey to their confidence in the efficacy of the curses of these
men, and pine under the influence of despair, and die."
In less than fifteen years after the trial of the pretensions of Mesmer
and his coadjutors, in regard to magnetism, there was originated in
America, by a Mr. Perkins, a cause of delusion of precisely the same
nature. It prevailed in all the United States, in Great Britain,
Scotland, and Ireland, and to considerable extent on the continent of
Europe. Mr. Perkins prepared two small pieces of different kinds of
metal drew them to a point, and polished them. These _Metallic
Tractors_, as they were denominated, were said to have, in their joint
operation, great power over the electric fluid; and by moving these
points gently over the surface of an inflamed part, the heat was
extracted, the swelling subsided, and, in a short time, the patient was
relieved. After a while, thousands and tens of thousands were ready to
certify to the happy influence of these _Tractors_. Mr. Perkins went
to England and obtained the royal letters patent, for the purpose of
securing to him the advantages of his discovery; and it has been
asserted by the best authority, that he returned from England possessed
of ten thousand pounds sterling, which he received for the use of his
Tractors.
But Dr. Haggarth, an eminent physician and philosopher, recollecting
the development of animal magnetism at Paris, wrote to Dr. Falconer,
surgeon of the General Hospital at Bath, (England,) and stated his
suspicion concerning the Tractors; that their efficacy depended wholly
on the imagination of the patient; and recommended the experiment of
_wooden_ Tractors in the place of the _metallic_.
Accordingly, five persons were selected for the experiment, who were
laboring under chronic rheumatism in the ankle, knee, wrist, and hip.
Wooden Tractors were prepared and painted in such a manner that the
patients could not discover but that they were metal; and on the 7th of
January, 1799, these _wooden_ Tractors were employed for the first
time. All the patients except one, were relieved. Three were very much
benefited. One felt his knee warmer, and he could walk much better, as
he showed the medical gentlemen present. One was easier for nine hours,
till he went to bed, and then his pain returned. The next day, January
8th, the metallic Tractors were employed with the same effect as that
of the preceding day. This led to further experiments of a similar
kind, and they were continued, until the physicians became fully
satisfied that the wooden Tractors were of the same utility with the
metallic, provided the patients _supposed_ them metallic. Similar
experiments were soon after made at Edinburgh, and the result was the
same. A servant girl, afflicted with a most acute headache, which had
rendered her nights altogether restless for a fortnight, readily
submitted to be pointed at with these _wooden_ Tractors. The operator
moved them about her head, but did not touch her. In four minutes she
felt a chilliness in the head. In a minute or two more, she felt as
though cold water was running down her temples, and the pain was
diminished. In ten minutes more, she declared that the headache was
entirely gone; and the next day she returned to express her thanks to
her benefactors for the good sleep she enjoyed through the night. By
similar experiments, the intelligent citizens in America soon
ascertained the true cause of the deception, and when these facts came
to be developed, the Tractors lost all their influence on the human
system, and have since been spoken of only in derision.
Here, again, we behold the astonishing power of the imagination over
the human system, and witness the miracles that have been performed on
the ignorant and unsuspecting. Even in the _modern_ practice of the
mesmeric art, a great deal of the success depends upon this tendency of
the mind. A very respectable operator assures us, that he cannot
magnetize persons unless he can first impress them with the belief that
they are actually to become magnetized. They must have _faith_ in order
that the effect may be produced. A public lecturer may hang up his
watch before his auditors, and tell them to look upon that watch, and
they will become magnetized. Those who expect to be affected are thrown
into the magnetic state. Those who have little faith and expectation
are seldom, if ever, influenced by such experiments. We, however, do
not mean to avow a disbelief in the science of magnetism. On the
contrary, we look forward with much interest to its perfection,
unencumbered with the false pretensions of its zealous and mistaken
friends.
CHAPTER V.
IGNORANCE OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.
Ignorance of mental philosophy has given rise to many superstitions.
Many persons have believed in the real, visible appearance of ghosts,
spirits, or apparitions. Yet these things are clearly and
satisfactorily explained on the established principles of mental
philosophy. And from this source we learn that they exist alone in
the _mind_, in the same manner as do other ideas and images, except
in the instances recorded in Scripture. They are caused by some
misconception, mental operation, or bodily disorder. We will give a
few examples to substantiate this position.
Dr. Ferriar relates the case of a gentleman travelling in the Highlands
of Scotland, who was conducted to a bed room which was reported to be
haunted by the spirit of a man who had there committed suicide. In the
night, he awoke under the influence of a frightful dream, and found
himself sitting up in bed with a pistol grasped in his right hand. On
looking around the room, he now discovered, by the moonlight, a corpse,
dressed in a shroud, reared against the wall, close by the window, the
features of the body and every part of the funeral apparel being
distinctly perceived. On recovering from the first impulse of terror,
so far as to investigate the source of the phantom, it was found to be
produced by the moonbeams forming a long, bright image through the
broken window.
"Two esteemed friends of mine," says Dr. Abercrombie, "while travelling
in the Highlands, had occasion to sleep in separate beds, in one
apartment. One of them, having awoke in the night, saw, by the
moonlight, a skeleton hanging from the head of his friend's bed, every
part of it being perceived in the most distinct manner. He got up to
investigate the source of the appearance, and found it to be produced
by the moonbeams falling back upon the drapery of the bed, which had
been thrown back in some unusual manner, on account of the heat of the
weather. He returned to bed, and soon fell asleep. But having awoke
again some time after, the skeleton was so distinctly before him, that
he could not sleep without again getting up to trace the origin of the
phantom. Determined not to be disturbed a third time, he now brought
down the curtain to its usual state, and the skeleton appeared no
more."
Dr. Dewar relates the case of a lady who was quite blind, and who never
walked out without seeing a little old woman, with a crutch and a red
cloak, apparently walking before her. She had no illusion when within
doors. Dr. Gregory once took passage in a vessel to a neighboring
country, to visit a lady who was in an advanced stage of consumption.
On his return, he had taken a moderate dose of laudanum, with the view
of preventing seasickness, and was lying on a couch, in the cabin, when
the figure of a lady appeared before him in so distinct a manner, that
her actual presence could not have been more vivid. He was quite awake,
and fully sensible that it was a phantom produced by the opiate, in
connection with his intense mental feeling; but he was unable by any
effort to banish the vision.
A gentleman, mentioned by Dr. Conolly, when in great danger of being
wrecked in a boat, on the Eddystone rocks, said he actually saw his
family at the moment. In similar circumstances of great danger, others
have described the history of their past lives, being represented to
them in such a vivid manner, that, at a single glance, the whole was
before them, without the power of banishing the impression. We have
read the account of a whole ship's company being thrown into the utmost
consternation by the apparition of a cook, who had died a few days
before. He was distinctly seen walking ahead of the ship, with a
peculiar gait, by which he was distinguished when alive, from having
one leg shorter than the other. On steering the ship towards the
object, it was found to be a piece of floating wreck!
There is a story on record, of a piratical cruiser having captured a
Spanish vessel, during the seventeenth century, and brought her into
Marblehead harbor, which was then the site of a few humble dwellings.
The male inhabitants were all absent on their fishing voyages. The
pirates brought their prisoners ashore, carried them at the dead of
night into a solitary glen, and there murdered them. Among the captives
was an English female passenger. The women who belonged to the place
heard her dying outcries, as they rose through the midnight air, and
reverberated far and wide along the silent shores. She was heard to
exclaim, "O, mercy, mercy! Lord Jesus Christ, save me! save me!" Her
body was buried by the pirates on the spot. The same piercing voice is
believed to be heard at intervals, more or less often, almost every
year, in the stillness of a calm starlight, or clear moonlight night.
There is something, it is said, so wild, mysterious, and evidently
superhuman in the sound, as to strike a chill of dread into the hearts
of all who listen to it. A writer in the Marblehead Register, of April
3, 1830, declares that "there are not persons wanting at the present
day, persons of unimpeachable veracity and known respectability, who
still continue to believe the tradition, and to assert that they
themselves have been auditors of the sounds described, which they
declare were of such an unearthly nature as to preclude the idea of
imposition or deception." When "the silver moon holds her way," or when
the stars are glistening in the clear, cold sky, and the dark forms of
the moored vessels are at rest upon the sleeping bosom of the
harbor,--when no natural sound comes forth from the animate or
inanimate creation but the dull and melancholy note of the winding
shore, how often, at midnight, is the watcher startled from the
reveries of an excited imagination by the piteous, dismal, and terrific
screams of the unlaid _ghost_ of the murdered lady!
Erroneous impressions are often connected with some bodily disease,
more especially disease in the brain. Dr. Gregory mentions the case of
a gentleman liable to epileptic fits, in whom the paroxysm was
generally preceded by the appearance of an old woman in a red cloak,
who seemed to come up to him, and strike him on the head with her
crutch. At that instant he fell down in the fit. Another is mentioned
by Dr. Alderston, of a man who kept a dram shop, and who would often
see a soldier endeavoring to force himself into his house in a menacing
manner; and in rushing forward to prevent him, would find it a mere
phantom. This man was cured by bleeding and purgatives; and the source
of this vision was traced to a quarrel which he had had some time
before with a drunken soldier. In _delirium tremens_ such visions
are common, and assume a variety of forms.
Similar phantasms occur in various forms in febrile diseases. A lady
was attended by Dr. Abercrombie, having an affection of the chest. She
awoke her husband one night, at the commencement of her disorder, and
begged him to get up instantly, saying that she had distinctly seen a
man enter the apartment, pass the foot of her bed, and go into a closet
that entered from the opposite side of the room. She was quite awake,
and fully convinced of the reality of the appearance. But, upon
examining the closet, it was found to be a delusion, although it was
almost impossible to convince the lady it was not a reality.
A writer in the Christian Observer mentions a lady, who, during a
severe illness, repeatedly saw her father, who resided at the distance
of many hundred miles, come to her bedside, withdraw the curtain, and
talk to her in his usual voice and manner. A farmer, mentioned by the
same writer, on returning from market, was deeply affected by an
extraordinarily brilliant light, which he saw upon the road, and by an
appearance in the light, which he supposed to be our Savior. He was
greatly alarmed, and, spurring his horse, galloped home; remained
agitated during the evening; was seized with typhus fever, then
prevailing in the vicinity, and died in about ten days. It was
afterwards ascertained, that on the morning of the same day, before he
left home, he had complained of headache and languor; and there can be
no doubt, says this writer, that the spectral appearance was connected
with the commencement of the fever.
Analogous to this is the very striking case related by a physician, of
a relative of his, a lady about fifty. On returning home one evening
from a party, she went into a dark room to lay aside some part of her
dress, when she saw distinctly before her the figure of death, as a
skeleton, with his arm uplifted, and a dart in his hand. He instantly
aimed a blow at her with the dart, which seemed to strike her on the
left side. The same night she was seized with a fever, accompanied with
symptoms of inflammation in the left side, but recovered after a severe
illness.
We have read the account of a lady who had an illusion affecting both
her sight and hearing. She repeatedly heard her husband's voice calling
to her by name, as if from an adjoining room. On one occasion, she saw
his figure most distinctly, standing before the fire in the drawing
room, when he had left the house half an hour before. She went and sat
down within two feet of the figure, supposing it to be her husband, and
was greatly astonished that he did not answer her when she spoke to
him. The figure continued visible several minutes, then moved towards a
window at the farther end of the room, and there disappeared. On
another occasion, while adjusting her hair before a mirror, late at
night, she saw the countenance of a friend, dressed in a shroud,
reflected from the mirror, as if looking over her shoulder. This lady
had been for some time in bad health, being affected with a lung
complaint, and much nervous debility.
Another case of an illusion of hearing is reported of a clergyman, who
was accustomed to full living, and was suddenly seized with vomiting,
vertigo, and ringing in his ears, and continued in an alarming
condition for several days. During this time he heard tunes most
distinctly played, and in accurate succession. This patient had, at the
same time, a remarkable condition of vision, all objects appearing to
him inverted. This peculiarity continued about three days, and ceased
gradually; the objects by degrees changing their position, first to the
horizontal, and then to the erect.
Some profess to have visions or sights relative to the world of
spirits. This was the case with Swedenborg. He relates some of them in
the following language: "I dined very late at my lodgings at London,
and ate with great appetite, till, at the close of my repast, I
perceived a kind of mist about my eyes, and the floor of my chamber was
covered with hideous reptiles. They soon disappeared, the darkness was
dissipated, and I saw clearly, in the midst of a brilliant light, a man
seated in the corner of my chamber, who said to me, in a terrible
voice, _Eat not so much_. At these words, my sight became obscured;
afterwards it became clear by degrees, and I found myself alone. The
night following, the same man, radiant with light, appeared to me, and
said, I am God the Lord, Creator and Redeemer. I have chosen you to
unfold to men the internal and spiritual sense of the sacred writings,
and will dictate to you what you ought to write. At that time, I was
not terrified, and the light, although very brilliant, made no
unpleasant impression upon my eyes. The Lord was clothed in purple, and
the vision lasted a quarter of an hour. The same night, the eyes of my
internal man were opened, and fitted to see things in heaven, in the
world of spirits, and in hell; in which places I have found many
persons of my acquaintance, some of them long since dead, and others
lately deceased." In another place, he observes, "I have conversed with
apostles, departed popes, emperors, and kings; with the late reformers
of the church, Luther, Calvin, and Melancthon, and with others from
different countries." In conversing with Melancthon, he wished to know
his state in the spirit world, but Melancthon did not see fit to inform
him; "wherefore," says Swedenborg, "I was instructed by others
concerning his lot, viz., that he is sometimes in an excavated stone
chamber, and at other times in hell; and that when in the chamber, he
appears to be clothed in a bear's skin by reason of the cold; and that
on account of the filth in his chamber, he does not admit strangers
from the world, who are desirous of visiting him from the reputation of
his name."
The apparitions of Swedenborg were probably caused by his studies,
habits, and pursuits. They bear the marks of earthly origin, although
he firmly believed they were from heaven. Overloading his stomach at
late meals, no doubt, caused some of them. He was in the habit of
_eating too much_, as he himself admits. Hence his brain may have
been disturbed. We have all heard of the case of an elderly lady, who,
being ill, called upon her physician one day for advice. She told him,
among other things, that on the preceding night her sleep had been
disturbed--that she had seen her grandmother in her dreams. Being
interrogated whether she ate any thing the preceding evening, she told
the doctor she ate half a mince pie just before going to bed. "Well,
madam," said he, "if you had eaten the other half, you might have seen
your grandfather also."
The slightest examination of the accounts which remain of occurrences
that were deemed supernatural by our ancestors will satisfy any one, at
the present day, that they were brought about by causes entirely
_natural_, although unknown to them. We will close this part of
our investigation by relating the following circumstances, attested by
the Rev. James Pierpont, pastor of a church in New Haven:--
"In the year 1647, a new ship of about one hundred and fifty tons,
containing a valuable cargo, and several distinguished persons as
passengers, put to sea from New Haven in the month of January, bound to
England. The vessels that came over the ensuing spring brought no
tidings of her arrival in the mother country. The pious colonists were
earnest and instant in their prayers that intelligence might be
received of the missing vessel. In the course of the following June, a
great thunder storm arose out of the north-west; after which, (the
hemisphere being serene,) about an hour before sunset, a ship of like
dimensions of the aforesaid, with her canvas and colors abroad,
(although the wind was northerly,) appeared in the air, coming up from
the harbor's mouth, which lies southward from the town, seemingly with
her sails filled, under a fresh gale, holding her course north, and
continuing under observation, sailing against the wind, for the space
of half an hour. The phantom ship was borne along, until, to the
excited imaginations of the spectators, she seemed to have approached
so near that they could throw a stone into her. Her main topmast then
disappeared, then her mizzen topmast, then her masts were entirely
carried away, and finally her hull fell off, and vanished from sight,
leaving a dull and smoke-colored cloud, which soon dissolved, and the
whole atmosphere became clear. All affirmed that the airy vision was a
precise copy of the missing vessel, and that it was sent to announce
and describe her fate. They considered it the spectre of the lost ship,
and the Rev. Mr. Davenport declared in public 'that God had
condescended, for the quieting of their afflicted spirits, this
extraordinary account of his sovereign disposal of those for whom so
many fervent prayers were made continually.'"
The results of modern science enable us to explain the mysterious
appearance. It is probable that some Dutch vessel, proceeding slowly,
quietly, and unconsciously on her voyage from Amsterdam to the New
Netherlands, happened at the time to be passing through the Sound. At
the moment the apparition was seen in the sky, she was so near, that
her image was painted or delineated to the eyes of the observers, on
the clouds, by the laws of optics, now generally well known, before her
actual outlines could be discerned by them on the horizon. As the sun
sunk behind the western hills, and his rays were gradually withdrawn,
the visionary ship slowly disappeared, and the approach of the night,
while it dispelled the vapors from the atmosphere, effectually
concealed the vessel as she continued her course along the Sound.
The optical illusions that present themselves, on the sea shore, by
which distant objects are raised to view, the opposite islands and
capes made to loom up, lifted above the line of the apparent
circumference of the earth, and thrown into every variety of shape
which the imagination can conceive, are among the most beautiful
phenomena of nature, and they impress the mind with the idea of
enchantment and mystery, more perhaps than any others. But they have
received a complete solution from modern discovery.
It should be observed that the optical principles that explain these
phenomena have recently afforded a foundation for the science, or
rather the _art_, of _nauscopy_. There are persons, it is said, in some
places in the Isle of France, whose calling and profession it is to
ascertain and predict the approach of vessels by their reflection in
the atmosphere and on the clouds, long before they are visible to the
eye or through the glass.
Our vision is at all times liable to be disturbed by atmospheric
conditions. So long as the atmosphere between our person and the object
we are looking at is of the same density, we may be said to see in a
straight line to the object. But if, by any cause, a portion of that
atmosphere is rendered less or more dense, the line of vision is bent,
or refracted, from its course. A thorough comprehension of this truth
in science has banished a mass of superstition. It has been found that,
by means of powerful refraction, objects at great distances, and round
the back of a hill, or considerably beneath the horizon, are brought
into sight. In some countries this phenomenon is called _mirage_. The
following is one of the most interesting and best-authenticated cases
of the kind. In a voyage performed by Captain Scoresby, in 1822, he was
able to recognize his father's ship, when below the horizon, from the
inverted image of it which appeared in the air. "It was," says he, "so
well defined, that I could distinguish, by a telescope, every sail, the
general rig of the ship, and its particular character, insomuch that I
confidently pronounced it to be my father's ship, the Fame,--which it
afterwards proved to be--though on comparing notes with my father, I
found that our relative position, at the time, gave our distance from
one another very nearly thirty miles, being about seventeen miles
beyond the horizon, and some leagues beyond the limit of direct
vision!"
Dr. Vince, an English philosopher, was once looking through a telescope
at a ship which was so far off that he could only see the upper part of
the masts. The hull was entirely hidden by the bending of the water;
but, between himself and the ship, he saw two perfect images of it in
the air. These were of the same form and color as the real ship; but
one of them was turned completely upside down.
In the sandy plains of Egypt, the mirage is seen to great advantage.
These plains are often interrupted by small eminences, upon which the
inhabitants have built their villages in order to escape the
inundations of the Nile. In the morning and evening, objects are seen
in their natural form and position; but when the surface of the sandy
ground is heated by the sun, the land seems terminated, at a particular
distance, by a general inundation; the villages which are beyond it
appear like so many islands in a great lake; and an inverted image of a
village appears between the hills.
The Swedish sailors long searched for a supposed magic island, which,
from time to time, could be descried between the Island of Aland and
the coast of Upland. It proved to be a rock, the image of which was
presented in the air by mirage. At one time, the English saw, with
terror, the coast of Calais and Boulogne, in France, rising up on the
opposite side of the Channel, and apparently approaching their island.
But the most celebrated example of mirage is exhibited in the Straits
of Messina. The inhabitants of the Calabrian shore behold images of
palaces, embattled ramparts, houses, and ships, and all the varied
objects of towns and landscapes, in the air--being refracted images
from the Sicilian coast. This wonderful phenomenon is superstitiously
regarded by the common people as the work of fairies.
CHAPTER VI.
IGNORANCE OF TRUE RELIGION.
Ignorance of true religion has given rise to many prevailing
superstitions. The Savior has taught us that the Father of spirits
regulates the minutest events of this world, and that he alone is the
Supreme Ruler of the universe. Our experience and observation must
convince us that this infinite work is accomplished by regular laws,
and that Infinite Wisdom sees fit so to govern all events without the
intervention of miracles, or through the agency of any instrumentality
but his own. And by examination, we shall find that these truths are in
direct opposition to the general mass of popular superstitions.
There are many who believe in signs. They believe that the howling of a
dog under a window betokens death to some member of the family. But how
does the dog obtain this foreknowledge? Who sends him on this solemn
errand? If you say that his appearance at the house is accidental, then
you would have us trust to _chance_ for information upon this most
important subject. If you say that his knowledge of the approaching
event is intuitive, then you would have us believe that the irrational
brute knows more than his intelligent master. If you say that he is
instigated by some wicked spirit, then you would have us admit that an
enemy of mankind is more attentive to their welfare than God; for it
certainly betokens the greatest kindness to notify us of our near
dissolution. If you say the animal is sent by God, how will you explain
the fact that the sign so often fails? not actually taking place
oftener, at most, than once in a hundred times. Certainly we are not to
accuse the omniscient and merciful Jehovah either of ignorance
concerning future events, or of trifling with the feelings of his
dependent creatures. We must therefore consider the sign to be
altogether superstitious, and contrary to all rational evidence.
Some persons profess to believe in lucky and unlucky days. They say,
for instance, that Friday is an unlucky day. And why so? Does God part
with the reins of his government, and employ wicked spirits to torment
his creatures on this day? Does he make this day more unpropitious to
human affairs than others? Do facts go to show that more disasters
occur on this day than on any other? Paul instructs us that all days
are alike, and that God rules the universe with infinite wisdom and
benevolence. Then why should we account Friday to be an unlucky day?
Whence came such an opinion? From heathenism. The heathen were much
influenced by this superstition; and when converted to Christianity,
they incorporated this among some other absurdities into their
religious belief. Because our Savior was crucified on Friday, they
placed this at the head of their unlucky days. But why they did so, we
cannot conceive; for the death of Christ was absolutely necessary for
the deliverance of mankind from sin and death. And for this reason
alone, Friday was the most propitious day that ever dawned upon a dying
world. But the heathen converts did not consider this circumstance.
They pronounced Sunday, the day of his resurrection, to be the most
fortunate. Later Christians, in a certain sense, have thought
differently. Sir Matthew Hale has remarked, that he never knew any
undertaking to prosper that was commenced on the Sabbath. And the early
laws of Connecticut prohibited any vessel from either leaving a port,
or entering a port, or passing by a village on Sunday. But such
prohibitions are not agreeable to the notions of seamen, who, as a
class, are inclined to be somewhat superstitious. We frequently meet
with dissipated, unbelieving sailors, who could not be induced to put
to sea on Friday on any consideration; but who would rather labor seven
successive nights than not sail on the Sabbath. It is rather singular
that sceptics should be so afraid of the day of our Savior's
crucifixion, and so fond of that of his resurrection. Such
inconsistency, however, is not uncommon. Those who rail most at the
credulity of others are frequently the most superstitious. Those who
lay the greatest claims to bravery are, for the most part, the greatest
cowards. Voltaire could ridicule religion in fair weather, but the
moment a thunder cloud appeared, he was thrown into extreme
consternation, and must have a priest to pray during its continuance
for his preservation. If we would avoid the influence of this heathen
superstition, we must regard _actions_ rather than _days_. If our
engagements are _proper_, we have nothing to fear from the day on which
they are commenced. If we feel the evidence within that God is indeed
_our_ Father, we shall not be prevented, by any belief in lucky or
unlucky days, from doing our duty on every day, and enjoying peace and
happiness on all days.
CHAPTER VII.
BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT.
A witch was regarded by our fathers as a person who had made an actual,
deliberate, and formal contract with Satan, by which contract it was
agreed that the party should become his faithful subject, and do
whatever should be required in promoting his cause. And in
consideration of this allegiance and service, he, on his part, agreed
to exercise his supernatural powers in the person's behalf. It was
considered as a transfer of allegiance from God to the devil. The
agreement being concluded, Satan bestows some trifling sum of money to
bind the bargain; then, cutting or pricking a finger causes the
individual to sign his or her name, or make the mark of a cross, with
their own blood, on a piece of parchment. In addition to this
signature, in some places, the devil made the witches put one hand to
the crown of their head, and the other to the sole of the foot,
signifying they were entirely his. Before the devil quits his new
subject, he delivers to her or him an imp or familiar, and sometimes
two or three. They are of different shapes and forms, some resembling a
cat, others a mole, a miller fly, spider, or some other insect or
animal. These are to come at bidding, to do such mischief as the witch
may command, and, at stated times of the day, suck the blood of the
witch, through teats, on different parts of the body. Feeding,
suckling, or rewarding these imps was, by law, declared _felony_.
Sometimes a witch, in company with others of the fraternity, is carried
through the air on brooms or spits, to distant meetings or Sabbaths of
witches. But for this they must anoint themselves with a certain
magical ointment given them by the devil. Lord Bacon, in his
philosophical works, gives a recipe for the manufacture of an ointment
that enabled witches to fly in the air. It was composed of the fat of
children, digged out of their graves, and of the juices of smaltage,
cinquefoil, and wolfsbane, mixed with meal of fine wheat. After
greasing themselves with this preparation, the witches flew up chimney,
and repaired to the spot in some graveyard or dismal forest, where they
were to hold their meetings with the evil one. At these meetings they
have feasting and dancing, the devil himself sometimes condescending to
play on the great fiddle, pipe, or harp. When the meeting breaks up,
they all have the honor of kissing his majesty, who for that ceremony
usually assumes the form of a he goat.
Witches showed their spite by causing the object of it to waste away in
a long and painful disease, with a sensation of thorns stuck in the
flesh. Sometimes they caused their victims to swallow pins, old nails,
dirt, and trash of all sorts, invisibly conveyed to them by their imps.
Frequently they showed their hate by drying up the milk of cows, or by
killing oxen. For slight offences they would prevent butter from coming
in the churn, or beer from working. Grace Greenwood says, that, on a
visit to Salem in the fall of 1850, she "was shown a vial of the
veritable bewitched pins with which divers persons were sorely pricked
by the wicked spite of certain witches and wizards."
It was believed that Satan affixed his mark or seal to the bodies of
those in allegiance with him, and that the spot where this mark was
made became callous and dead. In examining a witch upon trial, they
would pierce the body with pins, and if any spot was found insensible
to the torture, it was looked upon as ocular demonstration of guilt.
Another method to detect a witch, was to weigh her against the church
Bible. If she was guilty, the Bible would preponderate. Another was by
making her say the Lord's prayer, which no one actually possessed could
do correctly. A witch could not weep but three tears, and that only out
of the left eye; and this was considered by many an decisive proof of
guilt. But swimming was the most infallible ordeal. They were stripped
naked, and bound the right thumb to the left toe, and the left thumb to
the right toe. Being thus prepared, they were thrown into a pond or
river. If guilty, they could not sink; for having, by their compact
with the devil, renounced the water of baptism, that element renounces
them, and refuses to receive them into its bosom.
In 1664, a man by the name of Matthew Hopkins, in England, was
permitted to explore the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Huntingdon,
with a commission to discover witches, receiving twenty shillings from
each town he visited. Many persons were pitched upon, and through his
means convicted. At length, some gentlemen, out of indignation at his
barbarity, tied him in the same manner he had bound others, thumbs and
toes together, in which state, putting him in the water, he swam!
Standing condemned on his own principles, the country was rescued from
the power of his malicious imposition.
The subsequent illustration of the condition of religion less than two
hundred years ago will excite a few humbling thoughts. In the parish
register of Glammis, Scotland, June, 1676, is recorded--"Nae preaching
here this Lord's day, the minister being at Gortachy, burning a witch."
Forty thousand persons, it is said, were put to death for witchcraft in
England during the seventeenth century, and a much greater number in
Scotland, in proportion to its population.
In 1692, the whole population of Salem and vicinity were under the
influence of a terrible delusion concerning witchcraft. By yielding to
the sway of their credulous fancies, allowing their passions to be
worked up to a tremendous pitch of excitement, and running into
excesses of folly and violence, they have left a dark stain upon their
memory, that will awaken a sense of shame, pity, and amazement in the
minds of their latest posterity. The principal causes that led to their
delusion, and to the proceedings connected with it, were, a proneness
to superstition, owing in a great degree to an ignorance of natural
science, too great a dependence upon the imagination, and the power of
sympathy. In contemplating the errors and sufferings which ignorance of
philosophy and science brought upon our fathers, we should be led to
appreciate more gratefully, and to improve with more faithfulness, our
own opportunities to acquire wisdom and knowledge. But we would not be
understood as saying, that mere intellectual cultivation is sufficient
to banish every superstition. No. For who were ever better educated
than the ancient Greeks and Romans? And yet, who were ever more
influenced by a belief in signs, omens, spectres, and witches? We
believe that, when the gospel, in its purity and simplicity, shall shed
its divine light abroad, and pervade the hearts of men, superstition,
in all its dark and hideous forms, will recede, and vanish from the
world.
In concluding our remarks under this head, we would add that, in a
dictionary before us, a witch is designated as a woman, and _wizard_ as
a man, that pretends to some power whereby he or she can foretell
future events, cure diseases, call up or drive away spirits. The art
itself is called _witchcraft_. If this is a correct definition, witches
and wizards are quite a numerous class of people in society at the
present day; for there are many among us who presume to practise these
things.
CHAPTER VIII.
NECROMANCY AND FORTUNE TELLING.
Although the belief in witchcraft has nearly passed away, the civilized
world is yet full of necromancers and fortune tellers. The mystic
science of "palmistry" is still practised by many a haggard and
muttering vagrant.
The most celebrated fortune teller, perhaps, that ever lived, resided
in Lynn, Mass. The character of "Moll Pitcher" is familiarly known in
all parts of the commercial world. She died in 1813. Her place of abode
was beneath the projecting and elevated summit of High Rock, in Lynn,
and commanded a view of the wild and indented coast of Marblehead, of
the extended and resounding beaches of Lynn and Chelsea, of Nahant
Rocks, of the vessels and islands, of Boston's beautiful bay, and of
its remote southern shore. She derived her mysterious gifts by
inheritance, her grandfather having practised them before, in
Marblehead. Sailors, merchants, and adventurers of every kind visited
her residence, and placed great confidence in her predictions. People
came from great distances to learn the fate of missing friends or
recover the possession of lost goods. The young, of both sexes,
impatient at the tardy pace of time, and burning with curiosity to
discern their future lot, especially as it regarded matters of wedlock,
availed themselves of every opportunity to visit her lowly dwelling,
and hear from her prophetic lips the revelations of these most tender
incidents and important events of their coming lives. She read the
future, and traced what, to mere mortal eyes, were the mysteries of the
present or the past, in the arrangement and aspect of the grounds or
settlings of a cup of tea or coffee. Her name has every where become
the generic title of fortune tellers, and occupies a conspicuous place
in the legends and ballads of popular superstition.
A man was suddenly missed by his friends from a certain town in this
commonwealth. The church immediately sent a member to consult the
far-famed fortune-telling Molly Pitcher. After making the necessary
inquiries, she intimated that the absent person had been murdered by a
family of negroes, and his body sunk in the deep waters behind their
dwelling. Upon this evidence, the accused were forthwith imprisoned,
and the pond raked in vain, from shore to shore. A few days previous to
the trial, the missing man returned to his friends, safe and sound;
thus proving that the fortune teller, instead of having received from
Satan certain information of distant and unknown events, actually
played off a piece of the grossest deception upon her credulous
visitors.
We are told by travellers that there is scarcely a village in Syria in
which there is not some one who has the credit of being able to cast
out evil spirits. About eight miles from the ancient Sidon, Lady Hester
Stanhope, the granddaughter of the immortal Chatham, and niece of the
equally immortal Pitt, recently lived in a style of Eastern splendor
and magnificence. She spent her time in gazing at the extended canopy
of heaven, as it shed its sparkling light upon the ancient hills and
sacred groves of Palestine--her soul absorbed in the fathomless
mysteries of her loved astrology, and holding fancied communion with
supernatural powers and spirits of the departed.
There recently died in Hopkinton, Mass., an individual by the name of
Sheffield, who had long followed the art of fortune telling by
astrology. He professed to unfold almost every secret, or mystery, even
to foretelling the precise day and hour any person would die. In case
of lost or stolen goods, it was only necessary to enclose a small fee
in a letter, containing also a statement of your name, age, and place
of residence, and forward the same by mail to his address. In two or
three weeks, the information you sought, as to the person who stole the
property, &c., would be forwarded to you, leaving you to judge of the
case for yourself. He did quite a business in his line, and made
something of a fortune out of a long-exploded science.
There are many who trust to the declarations of such persons, and are
often made unhappy thereby. In fact, it is doubtful if a more unhappy
class can be found than those who are in the habit of consulting
fortune tellers of any character. It is _discontent_, chiefly,
that leads them to pry into futurity. And after having had their
_fortunes told_, as it is termed, they are no better satisfied
than before; for the best of fortune tellers are famous for their
errors and mistakes, although it would be strange if they did not
blunder upon some facts in the whole routine of their business. But we
pity those who rely upon their prognostications. If told they will die
at such or such a time, or if they are to meet with some dreadful
accident, misfortune, or disappointment, their imaginations will lead
them to anticipate and dread the event, which will be the surest way to
produce its fulfilment. If a husband or wife is told that he or she
will marry again, it will lead them to be dissatisfied with the partner
with whom they are at present associated. And look at this subject as
we will, we shall find it productive of a vast amount of evil, and
therefore deserving of our entire disapprobation.
CHAPTER IX.
FAIRIES, OR WANDERING SPIRITS.
Fairies, says a certain author, are a sort of intermediate beings,
between men and women, having bodies, yet with the power of rendering
them _invisible_, and of passing through all sorts of enclosures. They
are remarkably small of stature, with fair complexions, whence they
derive their name, _fairies_. Both male and female are generally
clothed in green, and frequent mountains, the sunny side of hills,
groves, and green meadows, where they amuse themselves with dancing,
hand in hand, in a circle, by moonlight. The traces of their feet are
said to be visible, next morning, on the grass, and are commonly called
_fairy rings_, or _circles_.
Fairies have all the passions and wants of men, and are great lovers of
cleanliness and propriety; for the observance of which, they frequently
reward servants, by dropping money in their shoes. They likewise punish
sluts and slovens by pinching them black and blue. They often change
their weak and starveling elves, or children, for the more robust
offspring of men. But this can only be done before baptism; for which
reason it is still the custom, in the Highlands, to watch by the cradle
of infants till they are christened. The word _changeling_, now
applied to one almost an idiot, attests the current belief of these
superstitious mutations.
Some fairies dwell in mines, and in Wales nothing is more common than
these subterranean spirits, called _knockers_, who very good naturedly
point out where there is a rich vein of lead or silver. In Scotland
there was a sort of domestic fairies, from their sun-burnt complexions,
called _brownies_. These were extremely useful, performing all sorts of
domestic drudgery.
In the Life of Dr. Adam Clarke, we have the following account of a
circumstance that took place in the town of Freshford, county of
Kilkenny, Ireland, showing the superstition prevailing in that country
concerning the influence of these fairy beings: "A farmer built himself
a house of three apartments, the kitchen in the middle, and a room for
sleeping, &c., on either end. Some time after it was finished, a cow of
his died--then a horse; to these succeeded other smaller animals, and
last of all his _wife_ died. Full of alarm and distress, supposing
himself to be an object of _fairy indignation_, he went to the
_fairy man_, that is, one who pretends to know _fairy_ customs, haunts,
pathways, antipathies, caprices, benevolences, &c., and he asked his
advice and counsel on the subject of his losses. The wise man, after
having considered all things, and cast his eye upon the house, said,
'The fairies, in their night walks from _Knockshegowny_ Hill, in county
_Tipperary_, to the county of _Kilkenny_, were accustomed to pass over
the very spot where one of your rooms is now built; you have blocked up
their way, and they were very angry with you, and have slain your
cattle, and killed your wife, and, if not appeased, may yet do worse
harm to you.' The poor fellow, sadly alarmed, went, and with his own
hands, deliberately pulled down the timbers, demolished the walls, and
left not one stone upon another, but razed the very foundation, and
left the path of these capricious gentry as open and as clear as it was
before. How strong must have been this man's belief in the existence of
these demi-natural and semi-supernatural beings, to have induced him
thus to destroy the work of his own hands!"
In Spenser's epic poem, called the Fairy Queen, the imagination of the
reader is entertained with the characters of fairies, witches,
magicians, demons, and departed spirits. A kind of pleasing horror is
raised in the mind, and one is amused with the strangeness and novelty
of the persons who are represented in it; but to be affected by such
poetry requires an odd turn of thought, a peculiar cast of fancy, with
an imagination naturally fruitful and superstitious.
The Gypsies are a class of strolling beggars, cheats, and fortune
tellers. They have been quite numerous in all the older countries, and
are so still in some of them; but in the United States there are but
few, some one or two tribes in the west, and a small party of them in
New York state. They are probably called Gypsies from the ancient
Egyptians, who had the character of great cheats, whence the name might
afterwards pass proverbially into other languages, as it did into the
Greek and Latin; or else the ancient Egyptians being much versed in
astronomy, or rather astrology, the name was afterwards assumed by
these modern fortune tellers. In Latin they are called _Egyptii_; the
Italians called them _Cinari_, or _Cingani_; the Russians, _Zigani_;
the Turks and Persians, _Zingarri_; the Germans, _Ziguenor_; the
Spaniards, _Gitános_; the French, _Bohemians_, from the circumstance
that Bohemia was the first civilized country where they made their
appearance.
In most countries they live in the woods and forests; but in England,
where every inch of land is cultivated, the covered cart and little
tent are their houses, and they seldom remain more than three days in
the same place.
Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the province of the female Gypsy.
She affects to tell the future, and to prepare philters, by means of
which love can be awakened in any individual towards any particular
object; and such is the credulity of the human race, even in the most
enlightened countries, that the profits arising from these practices
are great. The following is a case in point: Two females, neighbors and
friends, were tried, some years since, for the murder of their
husbands. It appeared that they were in love for the same individual,
and had conjointly, at various times, paid sums of money to a Gypsy
woman to work charms to captivate his affections. Whatever little
effect the charms might produce, they were successful in their
principal object, for the person in question carried on for some time a
criminal intercourse with both. The matter came to the knowledge of the
husbands, who, taking means to break off this connection, were both
poisoned by their wives. Till the moment of conviction, these wretched
females betrayed neither emotion nor fear; but at this juncture their
consternation was indescribable. They afterwards confessed that the
Gypsy, who had visited them in prison, had promised to shield them from
conviction by means of her art. It is therefore not surprising that in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when a belief in sorcery was
supported by the laws of all Europe, these people were regarded as
practisers of sorcery, and punished as such, when, even in the
nineteenth, they still find people weak enough to place confidence in
their claims to supernatural power.
In telling fortunes, the first demand of the Gypsy, in England, is
invariably a sixpence, in order that she may cross her hands with
silver; and here the same promises are made, and as easily believed, as
in other countries, leading to the conclusion that mental illumination,
amongst the generality of mankind, has made no progress whatever; as we
observe in the nineteenth century the same gross credulity manifested
as in the seventeenth, and the inhabitants of one of the countries most
celebrated for the arts of civilization imposed upon by the same stale
tricks which served to deceive, two centuries before, in Spain, a
country whose name has long and justly been considered as synonymous
with every species of ignorance and barbarity.
In telling fortunes, promises are the only capital requisite, and the
whole art consists in properly adapting these promises to the age and
condition of the parties who seek for information. The Gitános are
clever enough in the accomplishment of this, and generally give perfect
satisfaction. Their practice lies chiefly amongst females, the portion
of the human race most given to curiosity and credulity. To the young
maidens they promise lovers, handsome invariably, and oftentimes rich;
to wives, children, and perhaps another husband; for their eyes are so
penetrating, that occasionally they will develop your most secret
thoughts and wishes; to the old, riches, and nothing but riches--for
they have sufficient knowledge of the human heart to be aware that
avarice is the last passion that becomes extinct within it. These
riches are to proceed either from the discovery of hidden treasure, or
from across the water. The Gitános, in the exercise of this practice,
find dupes almost as readily amongst the superior classes, as the
veriest dregs of the population.
They are also expert in chiromancy, which is the determining, from
certain lines upon the hand, the quality of the physical and
intellectual powers of the possessor, to which lines they give
particular and appropriate names, the principal of which is called the
"line of life." An ancient writer, in speaking of this art, says, "Such
chiromancy is not only reprobated by theologians, but by men of law and
physic, as a foolish, vain, scandalous, futile, superstitious practice,
smelling much of divinery and a pact with the devil."
The Gitános in the olden time appear to have not unfrequently been
subjected to punishment as sorceresses, and with great justice, as the
abominable trade which they have always driven in philters and
decoctions certainly entitled them to that appellation, and to the
pains and penalties reserved for those who practised what is generally
termed "witchcraft."
Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, connected with the exercise of
occult powers, there is one of a purely imaginary character, which if
they were ever punished for, they had assuredly but little right to
complain, as the chastisement they met with was fully merited by
practices equally malefic as the one imputed to them, provided that
were possible. _It was the casting the evil eye._
In the Gitáno language, casting the evil eye is called _zuerelar
nasula_, which simply means making sick, and which, according to the
common superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people,
especially children, who, from the tenderness of their constitution,
are supposed to be more easily blighted than those of a more mature
age. After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick, and die in a few
hours.
In Andalusia, a belief in the evil eye is very prevalent among the
lower orders. A stag's horn is considered a good safeguard, and on that
account, a small horn, tipped with silver, is frequently attached to
the children's necks, by means of a cord braided from the hair of a
black mare's tail. Should the evil glance be cast, it is imagined that
the horn receives it, and instantly snaps asunder. Such horns may be
purchased at the silversmiths' shops at Seville.
The Gypsies sell remedies for the evil eye, which consist of any drugs
which they happen to possess, or are acquainted with. They have been
known to offer to cure the glanders in a horse, (an incurable
disorder,) with the very same powders which they offer as a specific
for the evil eye.
The same superstition is current among all Oriental people, whether
Turks, Arabs, or Hindoos; but perhaps there is no nation in the world
with whom the belief is so firmly rooted as the Jews; it being a
subject treated of in all the old rabbinical writings, which induces
the conclusion that the superstition of the evil eye is of an antiquity
almost as remote as the origin of the Hebrew race.
The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but not in the false and
superstitious sense we have spoken of. Evil in the eye, which occurs in
Prov. xxiii. 5, 6, merely denotes niggardness and illiberality. The
Hebrew words are _ain ra_, and stand in contradistinction to _ain
toub_, or the benignant in eye, which denotes an inclination to bounty
and liberality.
The rabbins have said, "For one person who dies of sickness, there are
ten who die by the evil eye." And as the Jews, especially those of the
East, and of Barbary, place implicit confidence in all that the rabbins
have written, we can scarcely wonder if, at the present day, they dread
this visitation more than the cholera or the plague. "The leech," they
say, "can cure those disorders; but who is capable of curing the evil
eye?"
It is imagined that this blight is most easily inflicted when a person
is enjoying himself, with little or no care for the future, when he is
reclining in the sun before his door, or when he is full of health and
spirits, but principally when he is eating and drinking, on which
account the Jews and Moors are jealous of strangers when they are
taking their meals.
"I was acquainted," says a late writer, "with a very handsome Jewess,
of Fez; she had but one eye, but that one was particularly brilliant.
On asking her how she lost its fellow, she informed me that she was
once standing in the street, at nightfall, when she was a little girl;
a Moor, that was passing by, suddenly stopped, and said, 'Towac Ullah,
(blessed be God,) how beautiful are your eyes, my child!' Whereupon she
went into the house, but was presently seized with a dreadful pain in
the left eye, which continued during the night, and the next day the
pupil came out of the socket. She added, that she did not believe the
Moor had any intention of hurting her, as he gazed on her so kindly;
but that it was very thoughtless in him to utter words which are sure
to convey evil luck." It is said to be particularly dangerous to eat in
the presence of a woman; for the evil eye, if cast by a woman, is far
more fatal and difficult to cure than if cast by a man.
When any one falls sick of the evil eye, he must instantly call to his
assistance the man cunning in such cases. The man, on coming, takes
either a girdle or a handkerchief from off his own person, and ties a
knot at either end; then he measures three spans with his left hand,
and at the end of these three he fastens a knot, and folds it three
times round his head, pronouncing this _beraka_, or blessing: "_Ben
porat Josef, ben porat ali ain_," (Joseph is a fruitful bough, a
fruitful bough by a well;) he then recommences measuring the girdle or
handkerchief, and if he finds three spans and a half, instead of the
three which he formerly measured, he is enabled to tell the name of the
person who cast the evil eye, whether male or female.
The above very much resembles the charm of the Bible and key, by which
many persons in England still pretend to be able to discover the thief,
when an article is missed. A key is placed in a Bible, in the part
called Solomon's Song; the Bible and key are then fastened strongly
together, by means of a ribbon, which is wound round the Bible, and
passed several times through the handle of the key, which projects from
the top of the book. The diviner then causes the person robbed to name
the name of any person or persons whom he may suspect. The two parties,
the robbed and the diviner, then standing up, support the book between
them, the ends of the handle of the key resting on the tips of the fore
fingers of the right hand. The diviner then inquires of the Bible,
whether such a one committed the theft, and commences repeating the
sixth and seventh verses of the eighth chapter of the Song; and if the
Bible and key turn round in the mean time, the person named is
considered guilty. This charm has been, and still is, the source of
infinite mischief, innocent individuals having irretrievably lost their
character among their neighbors from recourse being had to the Bible
and key. The slightest motion of the finger, or rather of the nail,
will cause the key to revolve, so that the people named are quite at
the mercy of the diviner, who is generally a cheat, or professed
conjurer, and not unfrequently a Gypsy. In like manner, the Barbary
cunning man, by a slight contraction of his hand, measures three and a
half spans, where he first measured three, and then pretends to know
the person who has cast the evil eye, having, of course, first
ascertained the names of those with whom his patient has lately been in
company.
When the person who has cast the evil eye has been discovered, by means
of the magical process already described, the mother, or wife, or
sister of the sufferer walks forth, pronouncing the name of the latter
with a loud voice, and, making the best of her way to the house of the
person guilty, takes a little of the earth from before the door of his
or her sleeping apartment. Some of the saliva of the culprit is then
demanded, which must be given early in the morning, before breakfast;
then the mother, or the wife, or the sister goes to the oven, and takes
from thence seven burning coals, which are slaked in water from the
bath in which the women bathe. The four ingredients, earth, saliva,
coals, and water, are then mixed together in a dish, and the patient is
made to take three sips, and what remains is taken to a private place
and buried, the person who buries it making three paces backward,
exclaiming, "May the evil eye be buried beneath the earth." Many people
carry papers about with them, scrawled with hieroglyphics, which are
prepared by the hacumim, or sages, and sold. These papers, placed in a
little bag and hung about the person, are deemed infallible
preservatives from the "ain ara."
Like many other superstitions, the above may be founded on a physical
reality. In hot countries, where the sun and moon are particularly
dazzling, the belief in the evil eye is most prevalent. If we turn to
the Scripture, we shall probably come to the solution of the belief.
"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." Ps. cxxi.
5, 6. To those who loiter in the sunshine, before the king of day has
nearly reached his bourn in the west, the sun has an evil eye, and his
glance produces brain fevers; and to those who sleep uncovered, beneath
the smile of the moon, her glance is poisonous, producing insupportable
itching in the eye and not unfrequently total blindness: all the
charms, scrawls, and rabbinical antidotes have no power to avert these
effects.
The northern nations have a superstition which bears some resemblance
to the evil eye. They have no brilliant sun and moon to addle the brain
and poison the eye, but the gray north has its marshes, and fenny
ground, and fetid mists, which produce agues, low fevers, and moping
madness, and are as fatal to cattle as to man. Such disorders are
attributed to elves and fairies. This superstition still lingers in
some parts of England, under the name of _elf-shot_, whilst, throughout
the north, it is called _elle-skiod_, and _elle-vild_, (fairy wild.) It
is particularly prevalent amongst shepherds and cowherds, who, from
their manner of life, are most exposed to the effects of the so called
elf-shot.
The Gitános had a venomous preparation called _drao_, or _drow_, which
they were in the habit of flinging into the mangers of the cattle, for
the purpose of causing sickness and death. It was the province of the
women to compound the ingredients of this poison, which answered many
wicked purposes. The stalls and stables were visited secretly, and the
provender of the animals being poisoned, they at once fell sick;
speedily there appeared the Gitános, offering their services on the
condition of no cure no pay, and when these were accepted, the malady
was speedily removed. They used no medicines, or pretended not to, but
charms only, which consisted of small variegated beans, called, in
their language, _bobis_, coming from a Russian word signifying _beans_.
These beans they dropped into the mangers, though they doubtless
administered privately a real and efficacious remedy. By these means
they fostered the idea, already prevalent, that they were people
possessed of supernatural gifts and powers. By means of drao, they
likewise procured themselves food; poisoning swine, as their brethren
in England still do, and then feasting on the flesh, the poison only
affecting the head of the animal, which was abandoned as worthless;
witness one of their own songs:--
"By Gypsy drow the porker died;
I saw him stiff at evening tide;
But I saw him not when morning shone,
For the Gypsies ate him, flesh and bone."
By drao, also, they could avenge themselves on their enemies by
destroying their cattle, without incurring a shadow of suspicion.
Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is sweet to all unconverted
minds--to no one more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts of the world,
is, perhaps, the most revengeful of human beings.
But if the Gitános are addicted to any one superstition above others,
it is in respect to the _loadstone_, to which they attribute all kinds
of miraculous powers. They believe that he who is in possession of it
has nothing to fear from steel or lead, from fire or water, and that
death itself has no power over him. The Gypsy contrabandists are
particularly anxious to procure this stone, which they carry upon their
persons in their expeditions. They say, that in the event of their
being pursued by the revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will arise
and conceal them from the view of their enemies; the horse stealers say
much the same thing, and assert that they are uniformly successful when
they bear about them the precious stone. But it is said by them to
effect much more. It is extraordinary in exciting the amorous
propensities, and on this account it is in great request among the
Gypsy hags. All these women are procuresses, and find persons of both
sexes weak and wicked enough to make use of their pretended knowledge
in the composition of love draughts and decoctions.
In the Museum of Natural Curiosities at Madrid, there is a large piece
of loadstone, originally extracted from the American mines. There is
scarcely a Gitána in Madrid who is not acquainted with this
circumstance, and who does not long to obtain the stone, or a part of
it. Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of which, however,
have been unsuccessful.
A translation of the Gospel of St. Luke was printed in the Gypsy
language, at Madrid, in 1838. The chapters were read over and explained
to some of these strange people, by the late agent of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, in Spain. They said it was _lacho_, and _jucal_,
and _misto_, all of which words express approval of the quality of
a thing; and they purchased copies of the Gypsy Luke freely. The women
were particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to read; but
each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when engaged in
thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the light of a
charm, which would preserve them from all danger and mischance; some
even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was equally as
efficacious as the Bar Lachi, or loadstone, which they are generally so
eager to possess. Of this Gospel, five hundred copies were printed, the
greatest part of which were circulated among the Gypsies; but it was
speedily prohibited by a royal ordinance, which appeared in the Gazette
of Madrid, in August, 1838.
Before closing, under this head, we will remark that, although the
Gypsies in general are a kind of wandering outcasts, incapable of
appreciating the blessings of a settled and civilized life, yet among
the Gypsies of Moscow there are not a few who inhabit stately houses,
go abroad in elegant equipages, and are not a whit behind the higher
order of Russians in appearance, nor in mental acquirements. To the
female part of the Gypsy colony of Moscow is to be attributed the merit
of this partial rise from abjectness and degradation, having from time
immemorial so successfully cultivated the vocal art, that, though in
the midst of a nation by whom song is more cherished and cultivated,
and its principles better understood, than by any other of the
civilized globe, the Gypsy choirs of Moscow are, by the general voice
of the Russian public, admitted to be unrivalled in that most amiable
of all accomplishments. It is a fact, notorious in Russia, that the
celebrated Catalini was so enchanted with the voice of one of these
Gypsy songsters, who, after the former had displayed her noble Italian
talent before a splendid audience at Moscow, stepped forward, and with
an astonishing burst of almost angelic melody, so enraptured every ear,
that even applause forgot its duty, and the noble Catalini immediately
tore from her own shoulders a shawl of Cashmere, which had been
presented to her by the Father of Rome, and embracing the Gypsy,
insisted on her acceptance of the splendid gift, saying, that it had
been intended for the matchless songster which she now perceived she
herself was not.
CHAPTER X.
OMENS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATION.
Many books have been published, having a tendency to deceive the
credulous, who suffer themselves to be guided by any thing but reason
and experience. Hence the encouragement bestowed on works of
enchantment, dreams, omens, and fate. Mankind have always discovered a
propensity to peep behind the veil of futurity, and have been lavish of
money in consulting persons and books that make a pretension of
unravelling the decrees of Fate, which lie hidden in the labyrinths of
darkness. From these sources have arisen the following superstitions,
as a sample of the many that have disturbed the peace of individuals,
families, and sometimes of whole communities.
"A coal in the shape of a coffin, flying out of the fire to any
particular person, denotes his death is not far off. A collection of
tallow rising up against the wick of a candle is called a
winding-sheet, and deemed an omen of mortality. If, in eating, you miss
your mouth, and the food falls, it is very unlucky, and denotes
sickness. To dream you are dressed in black is an unlucky omen. Some
quarrel is about to happen between you and a friend or relative.
Sickness is about to attend your family. Death will deprive you of some
friend or relation. Lawsuits will perplex and harass you. If you
undertake a journey, it will be unsuccessful. If you are in love, it
denotes that your sweetheart is very unhappy, and that sickness will
attend her. If you are a farmer, your crops will fail, the murrain will
attack your cattle, and some dreadful accident will happen by the
overturning of one of your wagons. If you are in business, some one
will arrest you, and you will have great difficulty in settling the
matter. To dream of hen and chickens is the forerunner of ill luck.
Your sweetheart will betray you and marry another. If you go to law,
the case will be decided against you. If you go to sea, you will lose
your goods, and narrowly escape shipwreck. To dream of coals denotes
much affliction and trouble. If you are in love, your sweetheart will
prove false, and do every thing to injure you. To dream you see the
coals extinguished, and reduced to cinders, denotes the death of
yourself, or some near friend or relation. It also indicates great
losses, and forewarns you of beggary and a prison. To dream you are
married is ominous of death. It also denotes poverty, a prison, and
misfortunes. To dream of lying with your newly-married husband or wife
denotes danger and sudden misfortunes."
_Popular charms_ are equally absurd and nonsensical. For example, a
ring made of the hinge of a coffin is good for the cramp. A halter with
which a man has been hanged, if tied about the head, will cure the
headache. A drop of blood of a black cat cures convulsions in children.
If a tree of any kind be split, and weak, rickety, or ruptured children
are drawn through it, and afterwards the tree is bound together, so as
to make it unite--as the tree heals and grows together, so will the
child acquire strength. If in a family the youngest daughter be married
before her older sisters, they must all dance at her wedding without
shoes, to counteract their ill luck, and procure themselves husbands.
And to procure luck when a person goes out to transact business, you
must throw an old shoe after him. To spit on the first money received
for the price of goods sold on any day will procure luck. And that
boxers must spit in their hands before they set to, for luck's sake.
Seamen have a superstition that if they whistle in a storm, the storm
will be increased. And in time of a calm, they practise whistling to
_call the wind_, as they term it. Among farmers, in setting a hen, it
is deemed lucky to use an odd number of eggs. Among soldiers, salutes
with cannon must be of an odd number. A royal salute is thrice seven,
or twenty-one guns. Healths are drank odd. Yet the number _thirteen_ is
sometimes deemed ominous; it being supposed that when thirteen persons
meet in a room, one of them will die within the year. To know whether a
woman shall have the man she desires, it is directed to get two lemon
peels, and wear them all day, one in each pocket, and at night rub the
four posts of the bedstead with them. If she is to succeed, the person
will appear to her in her sleep, and present her with a couple of
lemons. If not, there is no room for hope. And again the fair ones are
directed to take a piece of wedding cake, draw it thrice through the
wedding ring, lay it under their pillow, and they will certainly dream
of their future husbands. A thousand other equally successful methods
have been proposed to solve the mysteries of future fortune; and yet
the magical stone, that will turn all our schemes into wished-for
realities, remains to be discovered. As time advances, and knowledge
pervades the abodes of darkness and ignorance, all this trumpery of
ghosts, witches, fairies, tricks, and omens will go down to the "tomb
of the Capulets." People will be able to pass through the churchyard,
sleep in an old house, though the wind whistle ever so shrill, without
encountering any supernatural visitations. They will become wise enough
to trace private and public calamities to other causes than the
crossing of knives, the click of an insect, or even the portentous
advent of a comet. Thanks to the illustrious names recorded in the
annals of science and letters, who have contributed towards so happy a
consummation.
CHAPTER XI.
MODERN MIRACLES.
There are some who profess to believe in modern miracles. But such
belief necessarily partakes of superstition. The Savior gave no
intimation that miracles should continue after the establishment of
Christianity. He promised to be with his apostles even unto the end of
that age. He declared that all who believed their instructions should
also have power to cast out devils, heal diseases, speak with new
tongues, and withstand any deadly thing. But his promise did not extend
beyond the immediate converts of the apostles. And we have no
satisfactory evidence that miracles were wrought by any but these;
while we have abundant testimony that our Savior's promise was
literally fulfilled. In fact, there was no necessity for miracles after
the establishment of Christianity. They were first wrought as so many
testimonies that Jesus was the sent of God; and at the same time, were
so many significant emblems of his designs, so many types and figures,
aptly representing the benefits to be conferred upon the human race.
But they were not designed to be perpetuated; for a history of divine
revelation was committed to writing, and translated into the prevailing
languages of the civilized world. If any could be so obstinate as not
to be convinced of its divine origin by the mass of evidence with which
it was accompanied, neither would they believe, though one should rise
from the dead.
Pretended modern miracles admit of an easy explanation on natural
principles. Diseases have been suddenly healed; but imagination
effected the cure. Visions, ghosts, and apparitions have been seen; but
they existed only in the minds of the observers, and were caused by
some mental or bodily operation. But nothing of this kind can be said
of the miracles of Christ. His cannot be accounted for on any natural
principles, but must have been caused by divine miraculous agency.
Modern miracles are not supported by satisfactory evidence. They have
been mostly wrought in secret. No witnesses can be produced but the
most interested. This was not the case with those of our Savior. They
were performed openly, and in the presence of friends and enemies. They
could not be deceptions; for the resurrection of a dead person could be
tested by the evidence of the senses. The remark of Judge Howe may be
appropriately introduced in this connection. He had thoroughly and
impartially studied the evidences of Christianity, and a firm belief in
its divine origin was the result. He observed that no jury could be
found that would give a verdict against Christianity, if the evidences
on both sides could be fairly presented before them, and they were
governed in forming their opinion by the common rules of belief. The
truth of this observation is confirmed by the fact, that candid
inquirers after truth have uniformly risen from an examination of the
evidences of Christianity believers in its divine origin. The same
cannot be said of modern miracles. No jury could be obtained of
disinterested persons, who would give a verdict in their favor.
Therefore we have no satisfactory evidence of their reality. Our safest
course is to admit the conclusion of eminent writers of all
denominations, namely, that miracles ceased with the first converts of
Christianity.
CHAPTER XII.
PRETENDED PROPHETS AND CHRISTS.
Many have professed a belief in the divine inspiration of some one of
the many false prophets or Christs that have appeared in different ages
of the church. In the year 1830, there was a man in this country,
calling himself Matthias, who declared that he was the very Christ, and
pretended that he had come to judge the world. And strange as it may
seem, he was attended by some individuals of quite respectable
standing, who worshipped him as God! He appeared in pontifical robes,
with his rule in his right hand, and his two-edged sword in the left.
Underneath a rich olive broadcloth cloak, lined and faced with silk and
velvet, he wore a brown frock coat, with several stars on each breast,
and a splendid golden star on his left breast. His belt was of white
cloth fastened by a golden clasp, surmounted by an eagle. He
occasionally put on a cocked hat, of black beaver, trimmed with green,
the rear angle being surmounted by the golden symbol of glory.
On being asked where his residence was, and what was his occupation, he
replied, "I am a traveller, and my legal residence is Zion Hill,
Westchester county, New York; I am a Jewish teacher and priest of the
Most High, saying and doing all that I do, under oath, by virtue of my
having subscribed to all the covenants that God hath made with man from
the beginning up to this time. I am chief high priest of the Jews of
the order of Melchizedec, being the last chosen of the twelve apostles,
and the first in the resurrection which is at the end of 2300 years
from the birth of Mahomet, which terminated in 1830, that being the
summit of the power of the false prophets. I am now denouncing judgment
on the Gentiles, and that judgment is to be executed in this age. All
the blood from Zacharias till the death of the last witness is required
of this generation. Before this generation passeth away, this judgment
shall be executed and declared. The hour of God's judgment is come."
Matthias commenced his public career in Albany; but not making many
converts there, he soon removed to the city of New York. Here he met
with but little success for some time; but it appears that in the
autumn of 1832, he had succeeded in ingratiating himself into the favor
of a number of individuals, among whom were three of the most wealthy
and respectable merchants of Pearl Street. He represented himself to
them to be the Spirit of Truth, which had disappeared from the earth at
the death of Matthias mentioned in the New Testament, and that the
spirit of Jesus Christ entered into that Matthias whom he now
represented, having risen again from the dead. This blasphemous
impostor pretended to possess the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, and that
he now, at his second appearance of the spirit, was the Father, and had
power to do all things, forgiving sins, and communicating the Holy
Ghost to such as believed on him. And what was most astonishing and
unparalleled, these men, who were before professors of the Christian
religion, were blind enough to believe and confide in all he imposed on
them.
So completely did he succeed in deluding these men, and in impressing
them with the belief that he was actually a high priest of the order of
the mysterious Melchizedec, upon a divine mission to establish the
kingdom of God upon the earth, that he obtained entire control over
them and their estates. "I know the end of all things," he would
assert, illustrating it by placing a piece of paper in a drawer,
leaving one end upon the outside, and saying, "You can see but one end
of the paper, and so the world sees; but I see the whole length of
it--I see the end."
Whenever he saw fit to call upon his dupes to contribute of their
substance for his support and the promotion of the kingdom he was about
to establish, he did so; and if they refused to provide him whatever
money he desired, he threatened to visit upon them (which he declared
he had the power to do) the wrath of the Almighty. But if they believed
in him and obeyed him in all things, he promised them that they should
be called into the kingdom, and he would forgive all their sins, and
they should enjoy eternal happiness. Impudent and blasphemous as such
language and pretensions truly were, the intended effect was produced,
and the prophet received new encouragement by the gratification of
pecuniary abundance. This object gained, he was enabled to adorn his
person with costly apparel, and to obtain other appurtenances and
furniture which he thought were necessary, that all things might
correspond to the nature and dignity of the office which he had
assumed.
In August, 1833, two of his friends and proselytes, Messrs. Pierson and
Folger, were residing at Sing Sing, Westchester county. Thither, about
that time, Matthias repaired, and took up his residence with Mr. Folger
and family. In a week or two, Matthias came to the conclusion that
their dwelling-place did not correspond with his character, and
accordingly suggested to Folger and Pierson that it was their duty to
hire, for his use, a house which he might consecrate wholly to himself.
In this he was accommodated, not only without any hesitation, but with
the acknowledgment that the request was reasonable. Soon after this, it
appeared to Matthias's mind, that his habitation should not be subject
to worldly interests or infidel intrusion; and he accordingly presumed
to require of his two obedient followers the purchase of a house to be
exclusively his own. With this request they agreed to comply. Before it
was accomplished, however, Matthias manifested some new attribute of
his character, and accompanied the revelation by an effort to make
Folger believe that the house in which he then resided at Sing Sing,
and had purchased some time previous for the use of himself and family,
was purchased at the instigation of the Spirit of Truth, for him,
Matthias--Folger having been the instrument under the influence of that
Spirit for that purpose! So complete was Matthias's control, that
Folger believed even this! And having resided with Messrs. Folger and
Pierson about two months, he took _this_ house, thus miraculously
purchased, into his own especial charge. Matthias then required these
gentlemen to give him an account of their property, and having obtained
this statement, which exhibited their easy circumstances, he required
both of them to enter into an agreement to support him, assuring them
they should receive the blessing of God by so doing. This agreement was
accordingly entered into, and Matthias enjoyed the full benefits of it
for several months, when Mr. Folger became bankrupt. His wants were
afterwards supplied by Pierson, until the death of Mr. P., which took
place under very suspicious circumstances. It seems that a short time
previous to this melancholy event, and while Mr. Pierson was yet in
health, Matthias prevailed upon him to assign him his whole estate. And
it seemed, by Matthias's account on his examination, that Messrs.
Folger, Pierson, and Mills frequently declared to him that they
believed him to be the _Father_, and that he was qualified to establish
God's kingdom on earth, and that Zion Hill, which was the place
miraculously purchased at Sing Sing, was transferred to him for that
purpose, together with horses, carriages, and furniture of a house in
Third Street, New York--that it was also agreed that the house and lot
in Third Street should be conveyed to him, and that Mr. Pierson
directed a deed to be made out accordingly, but died before it was
completed. He still considered the property as his own for the original
purpose, and considered it the beginning of the establishment of the
kingdom. It is certain that Mr. Pierson was suddenly taken sick, and it
was believed to be immediately after this contract was made. He fell
under the care of Matthias, who would neither allow his friends to
visit him, nor to call medical aid, declaring himself to "_have power
of life and death_." Mr. Pierson's body having been removed to New
Jersey for interment, a post mortem examination was held by four
respectable physicians, all of whom certified that they found in the
stomach a "_large quantity of an unwholesome and deadly substance_."
Matthias was therefore arrested with the charge of having poisoned Mr.
Pierson, on which he gave bail for appearance at court.
Soon after this, he went to the city of New York, and entering the
family of Mr. Folger, resided with them for several months; but the
mysterious death of Mr. Pierson, and the attending circumstances,
having shaken the confidence of Mr. Folger and his family, they began
to be conscious of their delusion, and resolved to abandon Matthias and
his principles. On announcing their determination to him, he resorted
to his old practice of threats and promises, and told them they must
not throw him destitute on the world; that, if they did so, the
blessing of God would depart from them, and sickness and perhaps death
would follow; but if they gave him money to support him, the blessing
of God should continue to them. Mr. Folger having become bankrupt,
Matthias perhaps was willing to leave him--not, however, without having
first insisted on a supply of money, which he obtained to the amount of
six hundred and thirty dollars, and immediately left the city. On the
morning of that day, Matthias partook of a very little breakfast, and
scarcely tasted of the coffee, alleging, as an excuse, that he was ill.
Immediately after breakfast, Mr. Folger, his wife, and children were
taken sick. Mr. Folger did not suspect the cause of their illness,
until after Matthias had left the city, when, upon examination, he
learned that the black woman who did the cooking for the family had
also abstained from the use of coffee that morning; and from other
circumstances he became confirmed that the woman was bribed by Matthias
to poison the family. The effort was unsuccessful, the poison producing
but a temporary effect. This nefarious transaction induced Mr. Folger
to procure the arrest of Matthias, firmly convinced, at this melancholy
stage, that he was a _base impostor_.
The third gentleman named as one of the dupes of Matthias became a
lunatic under the unfortunate delusion. But on a removal to the
country, and from the influence of the "prophet," he recovered, and
became convinced of his lamentable error.
In the sequel, it appeared that Matthias had received in the aggregate,
from these gentlemen, about ten thousand dollars in money, and
negotiable paper, which he appropriated in furnishing the establishment
at Zion Hill and in Third Street. And by whatever means he obtained
money, it is evident he used it for the wildest and most extravagant
purposes. His wardrobe was most bountifully supplied with new boots,
shoes, and pumps; linen shirts of the most exquisite fineness, the
wristbands fringed with delicate lace; silk stockings, handkerchiefs,
and gloves; coats embroidered with gold; merino morning dresses; and
two caps made of linen cambric, folded in the form of a mitre, richly
embroidered, one with the names of the twelve apostles written around
it, and "Jesus Matthias" adorning the front in prominent characters,
the other surrounded with the names of the twelve tribes, the front
like the other. With his two-edged sword (with gold chain and
mountings) he was to destroy the Gentiles, as Gideon did the
Midianites. With his six feet rule he was to measure the New Jerusalem,
"the gates thereof, and the walls thereof," and divide it into lots for
those who believed on him, and obeyed the Spirit of Truth, as it came
from him, the trumpet. With the golden key which he possessed, he was
to unlock the gates of paradise.
Somewhat versed in the rites and antiquities of the Jews, this impostor
united with a quick and active mind a considerable cunning, a fluent
speech, and a vast amount of persevering impudence, and endeavored to
impress his dogmas by assuming a sanctified and uncompromising air, and
by invariably fixing upon his victim his remarkably fierce and
penetrating eyes. He reasoned plausibly and ingeniously, and was
exceedingly subtle at evasion. Although he never could have obtained an
extensive and permanent influence, even if his knavery had not been
detected, since his schemes were too wild and incoherent, and his
demands too absurd to produce an effect that would endure beyond his
actual and immediate presence, yet that his blasphemous pretensions
should have gained any credence among intelligent minds is to be
greatly lamented. The whole history of these transactions will form a
dark page in the records of modern fanaticism, and will present an
enduring but melancholy evidence of the weakness of human nature.
As an excuse for the conduct of Matthias, or Matthews, which was his
real name, he was supposed by some to be laboring under monomania,
partly hereditary and partly superinduced by religious fanaticism and
frenzy. Still, he was not without "method in his madness;" and it seems
evident that, with a tinge of insanity, he was also much of a knave,
and probably a dupe in part to his own imposture. During his
confinement in jail, awaiting his trial for the alleged murder of Mr.
Pierson, Matthias issued a decree, commanding all the farmers to lay
aside their ploughs, declaring, "As I live, there shall be no more
sowing in the earth until I, the twelfth and last of the apostles, am
delivered out of the house of bondage." He also prophesied that if he
were convicted, White Plains should be destroyed by an earthquake, and
not an inhabitant be left to tell the tale of its destruction; and
strange to say, men were not found wanting who believed in his absurd
and blasphemous predictions. On trial, the physicians who had examined
the stomach of the deceased were led to suspect poison, but could not
say positively that poison had been administered; whereupon the
prisoner was discharged, on the ground that no evidence had been
produced to convict him either of murder or manslaughter. In the case
of his arrest at the instigation of Mr. Folger, that gentleman
afterwards wrote to the district attorney, requesting him to dismiss
the case, it not appearing to be an indictable one, and declaring, that
the day--"so far as passing himself for a _pure_ and _upright_
man--has passed, and there is no danger of his imposing upon any one
here or elsewhere." In a letter written by Mr. Folger, dated New York,
Nov. 8, 1834, and published in the Commercial Advertiser, Mr. Folger
says, "My object is now to rid myself of him and all connected with
him, with as little trouble as possible. Mr. Pierson, myself, and
family have been deeply, very deeply deluded, deceived, and imposed
upon; and I regret exceedingly that the former could not have been
spared to witness the deep deception. We are sensible of our error--we
repent it sincerely; and although we cannot expect to recover, at
present, the situation which we held in society previous to our
acquaintance with this vile creature, yet in time we shall be able to
show that we are enemies to him, and all who undertake to sustain him
in his wickedness and plans to destroy us."
For closeness of resemblance, in many striking features, to the case of
Matthias, was that of the Anabaptists of Munster, in Germany, which
excited the wonder of Europe during the early part of the seventeenth
century, and of which such strange accounts are to be found in the
histories of that epoch. The similarity between the principal of this
sect, known as John of Leyden, and Matthews, not only in doctrine, but
in worldly observance, in the passion for magnificence of apparel and
luxurious living, and in the rites and ceremonies exacted by each, is
so remarkable as almost to lead to the conclusion that the latter had
formed himself and his creed upon the model of his ancient prototype.
The number of deluded proselytes who blindly followed the dictates of
the Anabaptist leader was at one time so great, and their power so
formidable, that several princes of Germany united against them; and it
was not until after a vigorous siege, and an obstinate resistance, that
the city of Munster, of which the fanatics had obtained complete
possession, was taken and their power broken down.
This John of Leyden wore upon his head a triple crown of gold, richly
adorned with gems. Around his neck he wore, suspended by a golden
chain, an ornament of gold, representing the terrestrial globe, with a
cross, and two swords, one of gold, the other of silver, with the
inscription, "King of Righteousness over the whole world." He also
assumed the title of "the Father," and he required all his followers to
pledge themselves to do his will, and, if necessary, to suffer death at
his command, or in his defence and service. He enjoined and enforced a
community of goods, a surrender of all possessions, land, money, arms,
and merchandise to him, as the Father and Lord of all, to be employed
by him in the universal establishment of his kingdom; and he denounced
the vengeance of Heaven and eternal damnation on all such as refused to
believe in him and do his will. All churches and convents he commanded
to be destroyed, the priests denounced as children of darkness, and all
sovereigns he would put to death. He proclaimed the nullity of all
marriages, except such as were solemnized by himself or his own
prophets, but enjoined polygamy, himself setting the example. Each of
his principal followers had from six to eight wives, and both men and
women were compelled to marry. He taught that no man understood the
Scriptures but himself, or those whom he enlightened with his spirit,
and all the prophecies in the Old Testament, relating to the Savior, he
applied to himself, and proclaimed their fulfilment in the
establishment of his kingdom.
In our own country, the most surprising instance of imposture and
delusion, perhaps, that has occurred, was that of the Cochranites,
whose enormities in licentiousness made so much stir in Maine and New
Hampshire a few years since. Cochrane was an officer in the army,
thrown out of commission by the reduction of the military establishment
of the United States, after the conclusion of the last war with
England. Having become poor and penniless, he left Portland, and struck
off into the country, seeking his fortune, and caring not whither he
went. One day, as night drew on, he found himself near a farm house,
weary and hungry, and without a penny to purchase a mouthful of food or
the use of a pillow for the night. The thought struck him suddenly of
throwing himself upon the hospitality of the farmer, for the occasion,
in the character of a minister. Introducing himself as such to the
family, he was cordially received, and as the country was new and
destitute of clergymen, the good people forthwith despatched messengers
to the neighbors, that a minister had come among them, and invited them
in to attend a meeting. The impostor had not anticipated so speedy a
trial of his clerical character; but having assumed it, there was no
escape--he must act the part, for the time being, in the best way he
could. Being neither ignorant nor destitute of talents, he succeeded in
acquitting himself much better than he had anticipated, and gave so
much satisfaction to his audience as to induce him to persevere in the
imposture he had commenced. As he acquired skill and confidence by
practice in his new vocation, his popularity increased, and he soon
found it a profitable occupation. He was followed by multitudes, and it
was not long before he announced himself as some great one, and founded
a new sect of religionists. His command over the audiences which he
addressed is said to have been wonderful, and his influence over his
followers unbounded. It seemed as though he was enabled to hold the
victims of his impostures in a state of enchantment. A professor in an
eastern college having heard of the wonderful sway which Cochrane held
over his disciples, and of the impressions he made upon casual hearers,
determined one evening to go and witness his performances. While
present, although a very cool and grave personage, he said he felt some
strange, undefinable, mysterious influence creeping over him to such a
degree, that he was obliged actually to tear himself away, in
apprehension of the consequences. This gentleman, however, was a
believer in animal magnetism, and was therefore inclined to attribute
it to that cause. It was said that if the impostor did but touch the
hand or neck of a female, his power over her person and reason was
complete. Consequently it led to the most open and loathsome
sensuality. So atrocious was his conduct, that he seduced great numbers
of females, married and unmarried, under the pretext of raising up a
holy race of men. The peace of many families was broken up, and the
village kept an establishment like a seraglio--a disgusting and
melancholy commentary upon the weakness of human nature. His career,
however, was but of short duration.
A history of religious impostures would form a library of itself. The
human mind, in all ages and countries, and under all forms of
government and religion, seems to have been wonderfully susceptible of
delusion and imposition upon that subject, which, of all others, is the
most important for time and eternity. The court of Egypt was deluded by
the impostors who undertook to contend with Moses. And the chosen
people themselves, notwithstanding the direct disclosures which the
Most High had made of himself, in all their wonderful history, were
prone to turn aside from the worship of the true God, to follow the
lying spirits of the prophets of Baal and other deceivers, from the
days of Moses till the destruction of Jerusalem. So, likewise, under
the Christian dispensation, from the defection of Simon Magus to the
wild delirium of Edward Irving, there have been a succession of
Antichrists, until their name is legion--pretenders to divine missions,
the power of working miracles, the gift of tongues--perverting the
Scriptures, leading astray silly men and women--destroying the peace of
families, throwing communities into confusion, and firebrands into the
church--clouding the understandings, and blinding the moral perceptions
of men, and subverting the faith of these even whose mountains stood
strong, and who had been counted among the chosen people of God. "In
the last days," says the apostle Peter, "there shall come scoffers,
walking after their own lusts,"--"chiefly them which walk after the
flesh, in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government; presumptuous
are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities;
sporting themselves in their own deceivings, having eyes full of
adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; for
when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them
who live in error; while they promise them liberty, they themselves are
the servants of corruption." Jude also admonishes us "to remember that
they were foretold as mockers, who should be in the last time, who
should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate
themselves, sensual, not having the Spirit."
It is wonderful to observe with what precision these prophecies have
been fulfilled by the clouds of impostors who have appeared--"spoken
great swollen words of vanity," and fallen--since the inspired
sentences were uttered. And it may be regarded as one of the evidences
of the truth of inspiration, that, had the long array of apostates and
deceivers actually stood before the sacred penmen, at the time of their
writing, their characters all naked before them, the likenesses, from
the first Christian apostate to the sensual Mormons, could not have
been drawn with greater fidelity. The "TRUTH OF GOD," distinctly
set forth in the book of Revelation, is an infallible criterion
by which to test the true character of any religious opinion or
practice; nor can any radical or fundamental error long escape
detection, when subjected to this plain and unerring standard.
CHAPTER XIII.
MORMON SUPERSTITION.
A certain Joseph Smith, Jr., pretended, a few years ago, to have been
directed by the Spirit of God to dig, in a hill, in the township of
Manchester, Ontario county, New York, for a set of golden plates which
were there concealed, and upon which were inscribed sacred records by
the hands of Mormon. He obeyed the direction and found the plates. The
inscriptions upon them were in an unknown tongue. But, by the special
power of the Spirit, Smith was enabled to translate them. A volume
containing these writings was soon after published, constituting, in
the whole, fifteen books, purporting to have been written at different
times, and by the different authors whose names they respectively bear.
In these writings there seems to be a bungling attempt to imitate the
style of the sacred Scriptures. But the attempt is manifestly
unsuccessful. Nearly two thirds of the paragraphs are introduced with
the phrase, "And it came to pass." In endeavoring to preserve the
solemn style of the Scriptures, there is great disregard of grammatical
propriety. We read, "The Lord _sayeth_ unto me, and I _sayeth_ unto the
Lord." Perhaps a few extracts, selected at chance, will give the reader
a more correct idea of the general style of the book than any remarks
we might offer.
"And it came to pass that when they had _arriven_ in the borders of the
land of the Lamanites."
"And it came to pass that I Nephi did make _bellowses_ wherewith to
blow the fire."
"And it came to pass that Limhi and many of his people _was_ desirous
to be baptized."
The Mormon preachers claim for themselves and the members of their
church the power of working miracles, and of speaking with new tongues.
They jabber with some strange sounds, and call this the speaking with
tongues. They assert it as a fact, that among them the dead have been
raised, and the sick healed, as in the days of Christ and his apostles.
From these _facts_, as they call them, they draw the conclusion that
_they_ are the members of the true church of Christ. The doctrine
increases among men; and well it may, for there are circumstances in
the condition and views of those who embrace it which are calculated to
secure its success. In a large portion of the community there is a
great degree of ignorance in regard to the geography of the sacred
Scriptures, the manners and customs of the Jews, and the natural
history of the Bible. There are many who read their Bibles daily, and
with true devotional feelings, it may be, who have no idea that the
places mentioned in sacred history, like those mentioned in any other
history, can be traced on the map, can be found and visited at the
present day, although disguised under modern names. It makes no part of
their study of the Bible to ascertain where the places mentioned are to
be found, and what they are now called. They have no idea that the
allusions to manners and customs, found in the Bible, can be
understood, through an acquaintance with the practices and habits of
the people described; and, consequently, the study of Jewish manners
and customs makes no part of their preparation for understanding the
Scriptures. They have no idea that the allusion in Scripture to facts
in natural history can be verified by an acquaintance with that
science, and therefore they make no exertions to understand the natural
history of the Bible. They do not take up the Bible and read it with
the expectation of being able to understand it, in regard to these
particulars, as they would understand any other book. All such are
prepared, by their ignorance on these subjects, to become the dupes of
the Mormon delusion; or, at least, they are not prepared to withstand
this delusion. They open the Book of Mormon, claiming to be a kind of
appendix to the Bible. The paragraphs begin with the phrase, "And
behold it came to pass." They read of the cities of Zarahemla, Gid,
Mulek, Corianton, and a multitude of others. They read of prophets and
preachers, of faith, repentance, and obedience; and having been
accustomed, in reading the Scriptures, to take all such things just as
they are presented, without careful examination, they can see no reason
why all this is not as much entitled to belief as are the records of
the Old and New Testaments. But if, on the contrary, they were
acquainted with the geography and the natural history of the Bible, and
with the manners and customs of the nations there mentioned, and
especially if, in their reading of the Scriptures, they were accustomed
to examine carefully into these points, they would at once perceive the
utter impossibility of identifying the cities mentioned in the Book of
Mormon with any geographical traces which they can now make. They would
thus perceive the deception, and be put on their guard. And then, too,
upon further examination, they would discover that the manners and
customs of the people, the sentiments and disputes, are not such as
belong to the period of the world in which the people are represented
to have lived; that they take their coloring from modern customs, from
modern opinions and controversies; and, upon these discoveries, they
would be led to reject the whole as a fabrication.
Many are deceived in consequence of the fluency of the preachers in
warning sinners. They pray with fervor; the people are affected; and
the Spirit of God is declared to be present, owning and blessing the
work. But there is deception here. It is but a few years since the
Cochrane delusion, as it is called, prevailed in and around the village
of Saco, Maine. What gave that delusion so much success? It was because
Cochrane spoke with great fluency, warned sinners with great
earnestness, and poured forth his prayers with zealous fervor. The
people became affected; many were in tears; many sobbed aloud, cried
for mercy, and some became prostrate on the floor. "Surely," it was
remarked, "the doctrines advanced by Cochrane must be true, the
preaching of them being so signally owned and blessed of God." In this
way, men of sound judgment in other respects are carried away by false
views and appearances, and become the dupes of the most extravagant
sentiments and delusions. They become "zealously affected," but it is
not, as the apostle says, "in a good thing." A correct knowledge of the
sacred Scriptures, and of proper principles in regard to the study of
the Bible, with sound and rational views of the nature of religion, and
of the influences of the Holy Spirit, will serve to correct all such
tendencies to error and deception.
From the best account that has been published respecting the _origin_
of the Mormon Bible, it appears that it was written by an individual
named Solomon Spaulding, some twenty-five years ago; but without the
least intention, on the part of the author, of framing a system of
delusion for his fellow-men. This Spaulding was a native of Ashford, in
Connecticut, where he was distinguished, at an early age, for his
devotion to study, and for the superiority of his success over that of
his schoolmates. He received an academic education, and commenced the
study of law at Windham; but his mind inclining to religious subjects,
he abandoned the law, went to Dartmouth College, prepared himself for
the ministry, and was regularly ordained. For some reasons unknown he
soon abandoned that profession, and established himself as a merchant
at Cherry Valley, New York. Failing in trade, he removed to Conneaut,
in Ohio, where he built a forge; but again failed, and was reduced to
great poverty. While in this condition, he endeavored to turn his
education to account, by writing a book, the sale of which he hoped
would enable him to pay his debts and support his family. The subject
selected by him was one well suited to his religious education. It was
an historical novel, containing an account of the aborigines of
America, who were supposed by some to have descended from the ten
tribes of Israel. The work was entitled the "Manuscript Found," and the
history commenced with one Lehi, who lived in the reign of Zedekiah,
king of Judea, six hundred years before the Christian era. Lehi, being
warned of Heaven of the dreadful calamities that were impending over
Jerusalem, abandoned his possessions, and fled with his family to the
wilderness. After wandering for some time, they arrived at the Red Sea,
and embarked on board a vessel. In this, after floating about for a
long time, they reached America, and landed at the Isthmus of Darien.
From the different branches of this family were made to spring all the
Indian nations of this continent. From time to time they rose to high
degrees of civilization and refinement; but desolating wars among
themselves scattered and degraded them. The Manuscript was written in
the style of the Bible, the old English style of James the First. When
the work was ready for the press, Spaulding endeavored to obtain the
pecuniary assistance necessary for its publication, but his affairs
were in so low a condition that he could not succeed. He then removed
to Pittsburg, and afterwards to Amity, in Pennsylvania, where he died.
By some means or other, the Manuscript fell into the hands of Joseph
Smith, Jr., who afterwards published it under the name of the "Golden
Bible." Smith was the son of very poor and superstitious parents, and
was for a long time engaged in digging for Kidd's money, and other
feats of like description. Possessing considerable shrewdness, he
became somewhat skilled in feats of necromancy and juggling. He had the
address to collect about him a gang of idle and credulous young men,
whom he employed in digging for hidden treasures. It is pretended that,
in one of the excavations they made, the mysterious plates from which
the Golden Bible was copied were found. Such, briefly is the origin of
the Mormon faith--a humbug to which not a few, otherwise sensible men,
have pinned their hopes of happiness here and hereafter.
After the death of Joseph Smith, and shortly before the Mormons were
driven out from Illinois, many of the disciples of the great impostor
seceded and refused to acknowledge the leadership of the knowing twelve
who became his successors. Among them were a very pious Mormon named
McGhee Vanduzen, and his wife Maria. They soon gave to the world an
exposition of the shameful manoeuvres attendant upon Mormonism as a
religion; of the absurd and indecent ceremonies which the unprincipled
leaders of that wicked imposture enforced upon their infatuated
disciples. Smith, and his associate leaders at Nauvoo, evidently
established these ceremonies for the base purpose of enticing the more
beautiful females among his disciples to their ruin and disgrace. The
shameful character of the mysteries developed could lead to no other
conclusion.
Says the Boston Traveller, of April 21, 1852, "The rapid spread of
Mormonism is one of the mysteries of the age. A more barefaced
delusion, except that of the spiritual rappings, was never imposed on
the all-swallowing credulity of mankind. Yet it has gained adherents by
thousands in Europe as well as in the United States."
CHAPTER XIV.
MILLER DELUSION.
A man by the name of William Miller published a book in the year 1836,
in which he undertook to show that this earth would be destroyed in the
year 1843. His calculation, as to the transpiration of such an event
during the said year, is founded upon the prophecy of Daniel, that the
_sanctuary should be cleansed!_ in two thousand three hundred days. He
took the days to mean years, and began his reckoning from the going
forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem, mentioned in a
subsequent vision. Why did he not begin the reckoning from the date of
the vision itself? Because this would not answer Mr. Miller's turn. To
tell the people that the earth was to be burned up in 1747, would
produce little or no excitement. He must hit upon a time for the
beginning which would make the end yet future, in order to gratify his
love for the marvellous.
That Mr. Miller intended to manage his reckoning of time to suit his
own scheme, is obvious from his different computations of time, to
_make_ his interpretations of other prophecies comport with his
application of the two thousand three hundred days. Daniel says, "And
from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the
abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days." "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Taking the
thousand three hundred and thirty-five days to reach from the taking
away of the daily sacrifice, and setting up the abomination that maketh
desolate, to the resurrection, he subtracts the thousand three hundred
and thirty-five from it, and finds the remainder to be five hundred and
eight, which must, to suit his calculation, be the year of our Lord in
which the daily sacrifice should be taken away, &c. Then, to get at the
taking away of a daily sacrifice, and the setting up of an abomination
that maketh desolate, which should come any where in the neighborhood
of this date, he makes the taking away of the daily sacrifice to be the
doing away of the pagan worship in Rome, and the setting up the
abomination spoken of to be the commencement of the Papal authority.
This he sets at A.D. 508, without reference to fact, because his
reckoning of prophetic time brings it so. The truth is, that the pagan
character of Rome ceased soon after the conversion of the Emperor
Constantine to Christianity, which was about A.D. 313. This makes
about 195 years' difference in the age of the world, and brings it to
an end in 1648, over 200 years ago!
But let us examine a little farther. Having come, as we have shown, at
A.D. 508, which, having taken from the years of Christ's life 33,
leaves 475 from the death of Christ, he proceeds to add up: The 70
weeks, or 490 years, to the crucifixion of Christ, 490; from the
crucifixion of Christ to the taking away the daily sacrifice, 475. And
here are his time, times, and half, which he takes to be the duration
of the pagan reign, i.e., three years and a half, which, taking a day
for a year, makes 1260.
Here, then, he has his whole time, down to the end of his second or
Papal transgression of desolation, which he has all along held to be
the end of the world. But these several numbers added amount to but
2225, 75 short of the 2300, reckoning from the going forth of the
decree to rebuild Jerusalem. And what now shall be done? How shall the
75 years be made up to bring the end of the world to 1843? Why, he
succeeds in finding two different numbers in the 12th of Daniel, viz.,
1290 and 1335. And nothing is easier, when you have two different
numbers, to substract the less from the greater. This he does in the
present case, and finds the difference to be just 45. Well, what of
that? Why, he says this is the time which was to elapse between the
destruction of the great beast in his second or Papal character, and
the resurrection! He does not pretend that the vision mentions this,
but so he fixes it. He is like a country schoolmaster, who, not always
finding it easy to manage by rules, when a scholar would carry him a
sum which he could not work, he would look at the answer in the book,
and get the difference between that and his own, and then he would slip
in the ascertained difference, somewhere in the operation, to be added
or substracted, as the case might require, to bring the answer as he
wished it.
But although he succeeded in finding 45 years, he is still minus 30,
for it brings out the end in 1813. And how shall the other 30 years be
found? It must be gotten somehow, for who will believe it as it now
stands? Yet this extraordinary man meets with no difficulty in finding
the 30 years. In his parade of parts, of factors, to make up the great
whole, he sets down for the space between the putting down of the Pagan
power, to the setting up the same power, 30 years! And how he gets this
number there, no mortal can tell. Yes, he tells us himself.
Considering himself so great a prophet, he seems to think that his own
suppositions will certainly pass among others as good authority. He
therefore unblushingly tells us that he _supposes_ this 30 years. Hear
him, (page 96.) "Therefore, to reconcile these two statements, _we must
conclude_ there were 30 years from A.D. 508, when paganism ceased,
before the image beast, or Papal Rome, would begin her reign. _If_ this
is correct, then," &c.
Here, then, the foundation on which he keeps the world standing from
1813 to 1843, is a simple _if_. And to get in these supposititious
30 years, between the death of the pagan and the life of the Papal
beast, he involves himself in a maze of absurdity. He makes the taking
away of the daily sacrifice to be the putting an end to the Papal
beast, that did daily sacrifice to idol abominations. The little horn,
by whom the daily sacrifice was taken away, Mr. Miller takes to be the
Papal beast, or Catholic church. This beast takes away the daily
sacrifice, i.e., puts an end to the pagan beast, and yet does not
exist until 30 years after the pagan beast is dead. This is truly an
unheard of strait for a schemer to come to, to be obliged, in order to
bring out his reckoning, to get 30 years between the existence of two
beasts, one of which kills the other. The second beast slays the first,
and performs many wonderful works, 30 years before he has any
existence! No marvel that the man who could see into such mysteries
should imagine that he could see the end of the world in 1843!
Mr. Miller commits various other errors in his calculations and dates,
as, for instance, he states that pagan Rome commenced 148 years before
Christ, whereas Rome was founded by Romulus, as an independent
government, 752 years before Christ, being pagan from its beginning. He
dates the erection of the Papal authority at A.D. 538. By the Papal
power he means, of course,--not the Papal doctrine, for that existed
much earlier than 538,--but the establishment of the civil authority.
And this was not until about A.D. 750.
Indeed, Mr. Miller is palpably wrong in nearly all his positions; and
the reason is, he is not looking for facts, but for reckonings to fill
out his own scheme. And even in this, too, he fails. On page 109 of his
Course of Lectures, first published in 1836, speaking of events to
happen in 1839, he holds the following language: "He that is filthy
will be filthy still. Mankind will, for a short season, give loose to
all the corrupt passions of the human heart. No laws, human or divine,
will be regarded; all authority will be trampled under foot; anarchy
will be the order of government, and confusion _fill the world with
horror and despair_. Murder, treason, and crime will be _common law_,
and division and disunion _the only bond of fellowship_. Christians
will be persecuted unto death, and dens and caves of the earth will be
their retreat. _All things_ which are not _eternal_ will be _shaken to
pieces_, that which cannot be shaken may remain. And this, if I am
right in my calculations, will begin _on or before_ A.D. 1839. 'And at
_that time_ (1839) thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book.' _Now_ is come salvation indeed. The
people of God are _now_ to be delivered from outward foes and inbred
lusts, from the corruptions of the grave and the vileness of the flesh.
Every one, the poor and despised child of God, will _then_ (in 1839) be
delivered when he makes up his jewels.'"
Mr. Miller, in finding that things did not take place as he prophesied,
put a note in the end of his book, on the last page, stating that he
had made a _mistake of one year_ in some of his computations, and hence
these things which he _supposed_ would take place in 1839, according to
the first computation, will not be realized until the year 1840! And
yet 1840 passed over our heads, and these things did not take place. On
page 296 of his Lectures, he says the sixth vial was poured out in
1822, when the Ottoman power began to be dried up. This he considered
to be a very important sign, indicating that we were on the very brink
of the _judgment day_. Here he introduces Rev. xvi. 12. "And the sixth
angel poured out his vial upon the great River Euphrates; and the
waters thereof were dried up, that the way of the kings of the earth
might be prepared." This preparation, Mr. M. says, is for the last
great battle, which will take place at the pouring out of the seventh
vial, in the year 1839 or 1840. "At the pouring out of the seventh
vial, a voice from the throne will pronounce the words, _It is done_.
The kingdoms of the earth and the governments of the world will be
carried away, and their places be known no more." But these kingdoms
still remain.
Mr. Miller's last assumption was, that Christ would come in the spring
of 1844, at the date corresponding with the ending of the Jewish year
for 43. Mr. M. says, in his preface to his book, "If I have erred in my
exposition of the prophecies, _the time, being so near at hand_, will
soon expose my folly." He had already seen the folly of some of his
computations, and he seemed to fear lest it might prove the same in the
final result also. And this he soon experienced, as may be seen by
reading his _confession_, made at the Tabernacle in Boston, on the
evening of May 28, 1844. He there stated that what he had preached and
published respecting the coming of the Lord in 1843 was done honestly;
(!) that he fully believed it; but that the time had now _passed_, and
he was _proved to be mistaken_; that when the time arrived and the
event did not take place, he felt bad--felt lonely--thought he should
never have any more to say in public; that he felt worse on the account
of others than he did for himself. He said there was an error somewhere
in his calculations, but he could not tell where. He had now no
definite time--he should wait God's time: it might come in a day, it
might not come in fifty years; he could not say exactly when; he was
waiting. Thus the whole affair exploded--came to nought; although much
evil in regard to Mr. Miller's prophecies may yet be experienced in the
community. Some will yet cling most obstinately to the system, and
still maintain that Christ may be expected every day, hour, or minute,
while others will fix upon some other date within a short period of
time. They will still refer us to certain signs in the starry heavens,
endeavoring to persuade the people to believe that the whole machinery
of nature is out of joint, and that this is a certain precursor to the
speedy dissolution of the world.
One of the second advent preachers gave the startling intelligence that
"_fifteen hundred_ stars had _recently_ faded from the vault of
heaven." But what are the facts? Not more than _thirteen_ stars are
recorded in the annals of astronomy as having been lost; and so far
from having faded _recently_, some of them disappeared many ages
since. It is not even certain that any stars have been blotted out.
There are nearly one hundred variable stars which have periods of
unusual brilliancy, and then gradually fade till nearly invisible, and
after a time revive again. The thirteen missing stars may be of this
description. These changes were observed many centuries ago. The bright
star which appeared suddenly, with unusual splendor and brilliancy, in
Cassiopeia, in 1572, is supposed to be the same star which suddenly
appeared in the same place, with great lustre, about the year 900, and
also about 600 years before, during the intervals of which it was
invisible.
The same preacher adduced the Aurora Borealis as another sign of the
last days. "Is it not remarkable," says he, "that no record of them
appears till _quite recently_?" But what are the facts? It was indeed
supposed by many, who had not investigated the subject, that the Aurora
was first seen in England in 1716; but on examination we find it spoken
of in 1560, in a scientific work, entitled A Description of Meteors,
published soon after the invention of printing, subsequent to which,
and before 1716, there are many accounts of the same phenomenon.
Many have supposed that nothing has ever before appeared, similar to
the remarkable _red Aurora_, which was witnessed on the evening of
January 25, 1837. Yet such spectacles have often been witnessed in the
northern parts of Sweden, Lapland, and Siberia, and in remote and
different periods. The Aurora is a great blessing in those high
northern latitudes, where the sun is absent for many weeks, furnishing
the inhabitants with a splendid light, in the midst of their dreary
winter nights. Gmelin describes the Aurora Borealis of those regions as
differing in color according to the states of the atmosphere,
"sometimes assuming the appearance of blood." He observes that "they
frequently begin with single bright pillars rising in the north, and
almost at the same time in the north-east, which, gradually increasing,
comprehend a large space in the heavens, rush about, with incredible
velocity, from place to place, and finally almost cover the whole sky
to the zenith, producing an appearance as if a vast tent was expanded
in the heavens, glittering with gold, rubies, and sapphire. A more
beautiful spectacle cannot be painted." These lights occasionally come
so far south as to illuminate the sky in our latitude. Sometimes they
have not appeared for many years. In 1716, these lights were seen in
England, though never witnessed before by the oldest inhabitants
living; and, as might be expected, they were alarmed, and actually
supposed the day of judgment had come. From Barber's History of New
England, we learn that the first appearance of the northern lights in
this country, after the period of its first settlement, was on December
11, 1719, "when they were remarkably bright; and, as people in general
had never heard of such a phenomenon, they were extremely alarmed with
the apprehension of the final judgment. All amusements, all business,
and even sleep was interrupted, for want of a little knowledge of
history." We were told by some of the advent preachers that meteors and
shooting stars, falling to the earth, were never seen until 1799. But
this is a great mistake. As early as the year 472, Theophanes relates,
"The sky appeared to be on fire, with the coruscations of flying
meteors." Virgil, in his book of Georgics, speaks as follows:--
"And oft, before tempestuous winds arise,
The seeming _stars fall headlong_ from the skies,
And, _shooting_ through the darkness, gild the night
With sweeping glories and _long trails of light_."
In 553, under the reign of Justinian, were seen showers of falling
stars in extraordinary numbers. In 763, under that of Constantine
Capronymus, the same spectacle was witnessed. In 1099, in the month of
November, it is said, in Vogel's Leipzig Chronicles, that there was
seen an unheard-of number of falling stars, burning torches, and fiery
darts in the sky. In 1464, on the 7th of November, the great meteoric
stone fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace. On the 8th of August, 1723,
numerous falling stars appeared in many parts of the heavens, like
fireflies.
But we are told of the sun and moon appearing like blood, and that this
sign of our Lord's second coming was never witnessed, since the
resurrection, till the year 1780. Yet this is likewise a mistake; for
in the Basle Chronicle of Urtisus, under the year 1566, mention is made
of the fact, that on the 28th and 29th of July, the sun and moon became
_blood red_; and on the 7th of August, this striking phenomenon was
again repeated. And, according to the Frankfort Chronicle of Lersner,
under the year 1575, on the 29th of July, a _remarkable redness of the
sun_ occurred.
It has been said that the _darkness_ of the sun, that occurred in
1780, was a sign given to portend the speedy destruction of the world.
Why was it not then witnessed simultaneously in all parts of the earth?
It was confined principally to New England and witnessed only by the
generation preceding the present. To be sure, thousands were appalled
by the event, and a feeling that the judgment day had actually come
rested upon many minds. But yet they were in a mistake. This darkness
commenced on the 19th of May, between the hours of 10 and 11 A.M., and
continued until the middle of the next night. Persons were unable to
read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or
watches, dine, or manage their business, without additional light.
Candles were lighted in their houses. The birds sang their evening
songs, disappeared, and became silent. The fowls retired to roost. The
cocks were crowing all around, as at break of day. Objects could be
distinguished but at a very little distance, and every thing bore the
appearance and gloom of night. The legislature of Connecticut was in
session at this time, in Hartford city. A very general opinion
prevailed that the judgment day was at hand. The House of
Representatives, being unable to transact business, adjourned. A
proposal to adjourn the council was under consideration. When the
opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, he answered, "I am against an
adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not.
If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose
to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be
brought."
A similar darkness has sometimes gathered over the city of London, in
consequence of a vast accumulation of smoke, so as to make it necessary
for passengers in the streets to use lighted torches at midday. In
1783, a great part of Europe was for weeks overspread with a haziness
of atmosphere which caused great consternation. The churches were
crowded with supplicants. The astronomer Lalande attempted to allay the
fright by endeavoring to account for the appearance, which he ascribed
to an uncommon exhalation of watery particles from the great rain of
the preceding year. But at last it was ascertained to be owing to
smoke, occasioned by the great eruption of the volcano Hecla, which
covered more than three thousand square miles with burning lava, in
some places to the depth of forty feet. Dr. Franklin was in Europe at
the time, and afterwards gave an account of the circumstances relating
to this uncommon eruption. In fact, immense issues of smoke, from fires
and volcanoes, have, from time immemorial, produced similar effects in
different countries.
We will subjoin a few remarkable appearances that have taken place in
the heavens, that the reader may at once perceive that in scarcely any
age of the world have its inhabitants been destitute of some _sign_,
that might, to the timid and uninformed, be considered as the
prognostication of some awful catastrophe about to happen.
In 1574, on the 15th of November, _large and terrific beams of fiery
light_ were seen during the night. And similar appearances are noted in
Vogel's Chronicles, as having occurred in November, 1637, and 1661. In
the old Breslau Collections, there is mention made of a large _moonlike
meteor_, which passed off with an explosion, on the 10th of November,
1721; and of a great _fire-flash_, or _flame-emitting comet_, on the
12th day. According to Vogel's Chronicles, there appeared on the 30th
November, 1663, _a large cross_, and other signs in the skies. On the
11th of August, 1561, there was seen, in the forenoon, _a very
remarkable red meteor_, emitting frequent _flashes of light_. In 1717,
_numerous meteors_ were seen at Fryeburg; and at Utchland, in August,
1715. On the 10th of August, 1717, _a large fire-ball_ was seen in
Lusace, Silesia, Poland, and Hungary. In the Frankfort Chronicle of
July 29, 1694, it is mentioned that _the heavens were full of fiery
flames!_ as also again on the 9th of August. On February 22, 1719, _a
large fire-ball_ was seen in several places. On the 22d, 1720, _an
immense red cross_ was seen at Novogorod and Kiew; and on the 19th,
1722, _a huge fire-ball_!
What would the Millerites think, if they should now see "an immense red
cross in the heavens," "a remarkable red meteor, emitting flashes of
light during the night," or "a blood-red appearance of the sun and
moon," and "showers of falling stars in extraordinary numbers"? These
things are as likely to happen at the present day as they were a
hundred years ago, and still the world remains as it has remained.
Just before the last return of Halley's comet, an article was published
in a religious paper in this state, going to show that the world would
probably be struck and set on fire by a comet, and that, most likely,
Halley's would be the one to do it, as it was coming much nearer the
earth than it had ever been before. The editor seemed to be ignorant
that the quantity of matter that enters into the constitution of a
comet is exceedingly small, and that the comet of 1770, which was quite
large and bright, passed through the midst of Jupiter's satellites
without deranging their motions in the least perceptible degree.
Comets, it is believed, consist of exceedingly rare vapor; indeed, so
much so, that some philosophers say that our thinnest clouds are dense
in comparison. And yet this exceedingly thin vapor was to dash the
world to atoms, or set it on fire, it was not fully determined which.
Whether comets, or any unusual appearances in the sky, are to be
considered as _signs_ prognosticating the final dissolution of all
things, as being near at hand, is for each to determine for himself.
And in forming a judgment upon the subject, we may surely be permitted
to exercise the common sense which God has given us. To lay this aside,
and judge only by _feeling_ or _fancy_, is to criminally reject a light
which we are _sure_ is from God, and follow one which _may_ prove an
_ignis fatuus_, and land us in the quagmire of infidelity. If the
Scripture signs are to receive a _literal_ fulfilment, we may
reasonably expect that they will conform to the four following tests:--
1. They will appear _near_ the event of which they are intended as the
harbinger; probably within the generation of those who will be living
at the end of the world.
2. They will be witnessed in all parts of the earth, because all are
alike interested.
3. They may _all_ be expected to appear, and not a single class of
phenomena without the other.
4. They will be such as will impress intelligent minds with their
strangeness and peculiarity.
The Aurora Borealis conforms not to any of these tests. It has been
seen for centuries, and is confined to the northern portions of the
globe; having rarely, if ever, been seen so far north as the thirtieth
degree of north latitude. And, as we have before remarked, the darkness
of 1780 was confined principally to New England. And from a careful
examination of all the accounts we have been able to collect of
meteoric showers of the last and present century, the whole of them
together have occupied a space on the globe less than one eighth of its
surface. The shower of 1799 was probably the most extensive. Its centre
was near the middle of the Atlantic; its edges touched the northern
parts of South America, the coast of Labrador and Greenland, and the
western shores of Europe and Africa. That of 1833 may be represented on
a six-inch globe by the space occupied by a dollar. Such magnificent
scenes are calculated to impress the mind with awe; yet it is
surprising that many intelligent persons should suppose them to be the
precursors of the final conflagration. If the simple but reasonable
tests we have given be correct, they are disarmed of their character as
ominous of the destruction of the world.
With regard to any changes in the order or succession of the heavenly
bodies, it is only necessary to observe, that hundreds of scientific
men, in Europe and America, have for many years been employed in
exploring the material heavens with the most powerful telescopes. Many
are employed, by the governments of Europe, in astronomical
observations, scattered over the earth, for the express purpose of
making new discoveries, if possible, and of furthering the interests of
science. No phenomenon escapes their notice; and should any thing
extraordinary occur, it would appear before the public, vouched by
names that would command universal credence. It may be unnecessary to
add, that no such changes in the planets and fixed stars, as have been
proclaimed to the world by some of the second advent preachers, have
been observed by learned astronomers and men of science.
CHAPTER XV.
INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS.
In no age, says a popular writer, has the world been destitute of those
who professed, by some instrumentality or other, to hold intercourse
with departed spirits. Neither has any age been without its reputed
spectres, ghosts, or apparitions. The high priest of the Buddhist and
Hindoo temples, in former times, when arrayed in the consecrated
garments for the festivals, wore a round knob, about the size of a
large pendent drop of a chandelier, suspended from his neck by a chain
of great value and of dazzling brilliancy. It was through the agency of
this crystal that he was supposed to hold communion with the spirit or
spirits to whom he and his followers accorded devotion and made
intercessions; and the glass, acting as did the famed oracle of Delphi,
gave orders and commands, and settled all great questions that might be
submitted to its spiritual master. The priest, although he might be a
pattern of purity, and the quintessence of all that was good, having,
however, the sin of being in years, and not able, perhaps, to hide from
the spirit inhabiting the crystal all the transactions of his youth,
could not hold a direct communication with it. To arrange this, a
certain number of boys, and sometimes, in some of the temples, young
damsels, were retained, who, having never mixed with the world, could
not be supposed to be in any way contaminated by its vices. These alone
were said to be capable of beholding the spirit when he chose to make
his appearance in the divining glass, and interpreting to and fro the
questions put and answers received. Although it was not every boy or
_seer_ to whom was permitted the gift of spiritual vision, yet in
latter times, when divining crystals multiplied, little ragged boys
would run after the passers in the streets, and offer to _see_ any
thing that might be required of them, for a trifling gift, even a cake
or sweetmeat. In Egypt, the divining glass is superseded by putting a
blot of thick black fluid into the palm of a boy's hand, and commanding
him to see various people and things; of which practice Lane, in his
Modern Egyptians, gives some curious disclosures.
Divining mirrors were not confined to the East. Dr. Dee was the first
English impostor who vaunted the possession of one of these priceless
treasures. He had for the _seer_ one Keily, an Irishman; and to this,
doubtless, was attributable the impression that prevailed among the
astrologers and amateur spirit hunters, that when the spirits
condescended to speak, they always gave speech with a very strong spice
of the brogue. This "beryl," as it is called, was preserved among the
Strawberry Hill curiosities, and fell under the hammer of George
Robbins at the memorable sale. It proved to be a globe of _cannel
coal_. In Aubrey's Miscellany there is an engraving of another
larger crystal, and there are with it many wonderful stories. Yet,
notwithstanding the magic capabilities of these mirrors, they went out
of fashion until the beginning of the year 1850.
This revival and its consequences are like a page out of a silly
romance. The story, if told by a disinterested historian, would require
authentication as belonging to 1850. We therefore turn, by way of
voucher, to a publication called Zadkiel's Almanac for 1851. At page
46, after referring to the existence of magic crystals at the present
day, the writer, says, "One of large size was a few years ago brought
over to England by a friend of Lady Blessington, after the sale of
whose effects, it recently fell into the hands of a friend of mine;
and, having tested its powers, I have resolved on giving my readers an
account of this wonderful mode of communicating with the spirits of the
dead. The crystal is spherical, and has been turned from a large mass
of pure rock crystal. I have been shown some few others, but, with the
exception of one shown me by Lord S., they are all much smaller. These
smaller ones are said to be consecrated to angels of the planets, and
are, therefore, far less powerful than Lady Blessington's crystal,
which, being consecrated to the Archangel of the Sun, Michael, may be
consulted during four hours each day, whereas the others can generally
be used only for a very brief space of time; nor can very potent
spirits be called into them, or made to render themselves visible. In
this larger crystal is given most important information of the actual
existence of the soul after death, and of the state in which it exists
and will exist until the judgment."
"The first intimation we received," says Dickens, in his Household
Words, "of the revival of this notable practice of divination, was
about six months ago, when we were casually informed that the son of a
distinguished officer of the royal navy was, at that time, frequently
engaged in developing, before a few privileged friends, the
extraordinary faculty of being able to hold intercourse with the world
of spirits. It was added that the revelations made through the medium
of this youth were of so wonderful a nature, and carried such
conviction to the minds of those who listened, that they were declared
to be the result of more than human power."
The conjurer was asked, on one occasion, to describe Lord Nelson. And,
accordingly, the spirit, with an accuracy that was quite astonishing,
considering that no portrait, bust, or statue of Nelson is known to
exist, gave a full, true, and particular account of England's hero,
describing him as a very thin man, in a cocked hat, with only one eye,
one arm, &c.; and the truth of the description was declared to be
something truly marvellous.
A demand was made that the spirit of a deceased brother of one of the
querists should be summoned to appear. Presently he said, "I see him;
he has curly hair, and stoops a good deal. I can't exactly see his
features, but I think he squints." This account of her late brother's
personal appearance, though not very flattering, satisfied the lady as
far as it went; but being, like Macbeth,--
"... bent to know,
By the worst means, the worst,"
she required further proof of his identity. There was a pause for a
minute or two, and then the spirit seer spoke again--"He has got a
scroll in his hand, which he unfolds; there is this inscription on it,
in _letters of fire_:--
'I AM TOM!'"
This sublime revelation was received with a degree of solemn awe, and
with suppressed throes of well-bred laughter.
Other cases not a whit less marvellous have been described by the
narrators, who could not be reasoned out of their absurdity, insisting
that there could be no deception in the matter, on account of the means
employed, and the evident sincerity of the _employés_! These means,
they said, required that the person who looked into the crystal should
be perfectly _pure_; that is to say, a child free from sin, and by no
means given to lying, and that the form of adjuration used was, "_In
nomine Domini_," &c.; Latin being, as is well known, the language which
spirits of all denominations are most accustomed to. When interrogated
after this fashion, the spirit, if evil, fled away howling; if good, it
came, when called, unless particularly engaged _in the sun_; for it
appears that it is to that planet almost all spirits go when their term
of purgatory is over. It seems that the spirits would sometimes get out
of breath, travelling so far, and talking so much; and they then had
recourse to the expedient of _letters of fire_, which seemed to be
_written_ in various ways in the crystal; sometimes on flags, which the
spirits hold up, but sometimes they are in _print_. In these letters of
fire, the querist was counselled something like the following: "Be
merry. Quarrel not. Keep your temper, and your children too. You are a
good man, but try to be better. I am wanted. Let me go."
We subjoin the following as specimens of conversations heard by large
parties of amazed, titled, and believing listeners: "Are you Pharaoh,
that was king of Egypt?" "Yes." "Where do you dwell now?" "In Jupiter."
"How long have you been there?" "About thirty years." "Where did you
dwell till then?" "In the atmosphere, and was undergoing punishment
till then." "Were you king of Egypt when Moses was there?" "Yes, _and
Aaron too_." "Did you build the pyramids?" "_Some._" "Were any built
before your time?" "Yes." "Do you know how long the first was built
before Christ?" "About three hundred years after Adam; it was built
then." "Do you mean that it was built before the flood?" "No, it was
not finished; the flood destroyed them." "What was the principal object
of them?" "To hold the kings of Egypt." "Were there kings of Egypt so
soon after the creation?" "Yes; that was the first country kings were
in." "Were you drowned in the Red Sea?" "_Yes._"
At one time Swedenborg volunteered to give information about Sir John
Franklin, when the following dialogue took place: "What is the best way
to communicate with him?" "By the natives; they speak to him
sometimes." "Will he be home next summer?" "No." "Why?" "Because he
cannot help himself; he is stopped by ice; but his heart does not fail
him; he wants to explore." "How will he do for provisions?" "He will
find _bears_, _dogs_, and _wolves_." "Will he find the passage?" "No;
there is a continent there." "But there is also a passage." "There is
one, but he will not find it." "What latitude does he lie in chiefly?"
"I do not know: _good by_." It appears strange that Swedenborg, who
knew so much, did not know this. But we learn in another place that
"spirits do not _well_ understand about latitude and longitude."
Socrates's appearance is described as follows: "A tall, middle-aged
man, rather bald, dressed with striped coarse trousers, very loose at
the top, and tight at the bottom; a kind of frock, open in the front,
and without sleeves. He is generally employed in singing praises, but
was not quite happy." Alexander the Great appeared on horseback, in
armor, the horse also in armor; deeply regrets killing Clitus, and all
the murders he perpetrated; amuses himself in fighting his battles over
again.
To give these things a sort of _éclat_ and popularity with the public,
Zadkiel sums up the whole in the following language: "In concluding
this account, I may remark that _numerous children_ have seen these
visions, some of them the sons and daughters of persons of high rank;
and that _several adults_ have also seen visions, one of them a lady of
title, and another a member of one of the highest families in England.
It will be seen that delicacy prevents my naming individuals; but I can
assure my readers that _above one hundred of the nobility_, and several
hundreds of other highly respectable ladies and gentlemen, have
examined this wonderful phenomenon, and have expressed the highest
gratification and astonishment."
Dickens declares it to be "the fashion, especially among people of
fashion, to point with pity to a tale of modern witchcraft, to an
advertisement of a child's caul, or to the _bona fide_ certificates of
cases from the takers of quack medicines, and to deplore the ignorance
of their inferiors. Delusions, however, of the grossest kind are not
confined to the illiterate. A cloud of dupes have ever floated about in
the higher regions of society; while it is quite a mistake to suppose
that the refinements and discoveries of the nineteenth century have
dispersed them. The reign of Queen Victoria, like that of Elizabeth and
Anne, has its Dr. Dees, and Lillys, and Partridges, who are as
successful as their precursors in gaining proselytes who can pay
handsomely. Damsels of high degree, fresh from boarding school, with
heads more full of sympathy for the heroes and heroines of fashionable
novels, and ideas more fixed upon love affairs than on any legitimate
studies, can easily find out, through mysteriously-worded
advertisements in the Sunday papers, or through the ready agency of
friends who have already become victims of the 'science' of astrology
and magic, the whereabouts of these awful and wonderful beings. There
are a number of styles and classes of them, all varying in appearance
and mode of operations. There are the old women, who, consoled by the
glories of their art, repine not at inhabiting comfortless garrets in
the purlieus of the New Cut, Lambeth; and hiding their vocation under
the mask of having stay laces or infallible corn plasters to sell,
receive more visitors from the fashionable cream of Belgravia than from
the dross of Bermondsey. Disguises are sometimes resorted to, and
parties of titled ladies have been known to meet, and put on the
habiliments of 'charwomen,' and to pass themselves off as dress-makers.
There is an old man, with unshaven beard and seldom-washed face, who
lives in more comfortable circumstances, with his son, in Southwark,
(the favored district of the conjurers,) who, to keep up appearances,
has 'Engineer' hugely engraved on a great brass plate over the door,
who casts nativities, and foretells events of the future, for three or
five shillings, as the appearance of the visitor will warrant him in
demanding; receives all his votaries sitting at a terribly littered
table of dirty paper, with a well-smoked clay pipe beside him. Passing
to a higher grade, the 'agent,' or arranger of matters, legal,
pecuniary, or domestic, only practises the black art for the love he
bears it, and to oblige his friends, but never refuses a few shillings'
fee, out of respect to the interests of the science. Nearly all his
customers are people of title."
We now come to speak of events in our own country which seem to be
somewhat akin to those which have so recently transpired in England. We
allude to what are familiarly termed "rappers," or "knocking spirits,"
from the _noises_ which they are said to make.
From a history of these _knockings_, as given in a pamphlet by Capron
and Barron, of Auburn, New York, we learn that they were first heard in
the family of Mr. Michael Weekman, in the town of Arcadia, Wayne
county. He resided in the house where the noises were heard about
eighteen months, and left it some time in the year 1847. He relates
that one evening, about bedtime, he heard a rapping on the outside
door, when he stepped to the door and opened it, but, to his surprise,
found no one there. He went back, and proceeded to undress, when, just
before getting into bed, he heard another rap at the door loud and
distinct. He stepped to the door quickly and opened it, but, as before,
found no one there. He stepped out, and looked around, supposing that
some one was imposing upon him. He could discover no one, and went back
into the house. After a short time he heard the rapping again; he
stepped (it being often repeated) and held on the latch, so that he
might ascertain if any one had taken that means to annoy him. The
rapping was repeated; the door was instantly opened, but no one was to
be seen. He could feel the jar of the door very plainly when the
rapping was heard. As he opened the door, he sprung out, and went
around the house, but no one was in sight. His family were fearful to
have him go out, lest some one intended to harm him. It always remained
a mystery to him; and finally, as the rapping did not at that time
continue, it passed from his mind, till some time afterwards, when, one
night, their little girl, then about eight years of age, was heard to
scream from fright, so that the family were all alarmed by her cries,
and went to her assistance. This was about midnight. She told them that
something like a hand had passed over her face and head; that she had
felt it on the bed and all over her, but did not feel alarmed until it
touched her face.
It seems that Mr. Weekman soon after moved away from the house, and
nothing more was heard of the rapping, or other manifestations, till it
was occupied by the family of Mr. John D. Fox, who have since become so
conspicuous with "the advent of spirits." In March, 1848, they, for the
first time, heard the "mysterious sounds," which seemed to be like a
slight knocking in one of the bed rooms on the floor. It was in the
evening, just after they had retired. At that time the whole family
occupied one room, and all distinctly heard the rapping. They arose,
and searched with a light, but were unable to find the cause of the
knocking. It continued that night until they all fell asleep, which was
not until nearly or quite midnight. From this time the noise continued
to be heard every night.
After having been disturbed and broken of their rest for several nights
in a vain attempt to discover from whence the sounds proceeded, they
resolved, on the evening of the 31st of March, that this night they
would not be disturbed by it, whatever it might be. But Mr. Fox had not
yet retired when the usual signs commenced. The girls, who occupied
another bed in the same room, heard the sounds, and endeavored to
imitate them by snapping their fingers. The attempt was made by the
youngest girl, then about twelve years old. When she made the noise
with her fingers, the sounds were repeated just as she made them. When
she stopped snapping her fingers, the sounds stopped for a short time.
One of the other girls then said, in _sport_, (for they were getting to
be more amused than alarmed,) "Now do what I do; count one, two, three,
four, five, six," &c., at the same time striking one hand in the other.
The same number of blows or sounds were repeated as in the former case.
Mrs. Fox then spoke, and said, "Count ten," and there were ten distinct
strokes or sounds. She then said, "Will you tell the age of Cathy?"
(one of her children;) and it was given by the same number of raps that
she was years of age. In like manner the age of her different children
was told correctly by this _unseen visitor_.
Mrs. Fox then asked, if it was a _human_ being that made the noise, to
manifest it by making the same noise. There was no answer to this
request. She then asked if it was a _spirit_, and if so to manifest it
by making two distinct sounds. Instantly she heard two raps, as she
desired. She then proceeded to know or inquire if it was an injured
spirit, and if so to answer in the same way, and the rapping was
repeated. In this way it answered her until she ascertained that it
purported to be the spirit of a man who was murdered in that house by a
person that had occupied it some years before; that he was a _pedler_,
and that he was murdered for his money. To the question _how old he
was_, there were _thirty-one_ distinct raps. By the same means it was
ascertained that he was a married man, and had left a wife and five
children; that his wife had been dead two years.
We might relate a little different manoeuvre in the case of the _ghost_
that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts, a few years since. A
superstitious old man, by the name of McClarren, a mechanic, purchased
a lot of turf that had been piled up in a meadow about half way between
his workshop and place of residence. Upon returning to his work from
supper, he used to take a basket with him, and fill it at the turf heap
on his return late in the evening. It was on one of these occasions
that the reputed ghost first appeared to him, and caused him some
alarm, when he dare not linger to reconnoitre this strange and
unexpected visitor. He resolved, however, to muster courage the next
evening to accost the figure, should it again appear to him.
Accordingly, he went with a large Bible open in his hands; and as the
ghost appeared, he followed it till it crossed a ditch, when he was
requested by the same to proceed no farther. Thus they stood, facing
each other, on either side of the ditch, when the following
conversation took place between them:--
_Ques._ By McClarren. "I demand of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
our once crucified God, whether you are mortal or immortal?"
_Ans._ "I am not mortal."
_Ques._ "What, then, are you?"
_Ans._ "I am the spirit of a murdered man."
_Ques._ "By whom were you murdered?"
_Ans._ "By ----, of Waltham."
_Ques._ "Where does your body lie?"
_Ans._ "In yonder pond, behind me."
It is supposed that this affair was got up in an innocent mood, merely
to test the strength of McClarren's faith in ghosts. But it caused a
wide-spread excitement; and some, who were thought to be concerned in
its projection, were prosecuted and brought before a justice for
examination, although nothing was proved. McClarren testified under
oath, that he believed it to be a real ghost; "_its tones_," he said,
"were so _unearthly_," "and when it moved its motion was not like that
in walking, but it glided along like a swan, or a boat in the water."
He was neither to be reasoned nor laughed out of it. He would believe
it to the day of his death. You might as well tell him he was not a
living being, as to tell him he had not seen a living ghost.
The advocates of the "influx from the world of spirits into our own"
claim in its behalf many astonishing miracles. Chairs, tables, and beds
are moved up or down, to and fro, &c. At Auburn, New York, on one
occasion, sounds on the wall, bureau, table, floor, and other places
were heard as loud as the striking with a hammer. The table was moved
about the room, and turned over and back. Two men in the company
undertook to hold a chair down, while, at their request, a spirit moved
it; and, notwithstanding they exerted all their strength, the chair
could not be held still by them--a proof that spirits are far more
strong and powerful than men. On another occasion, the sounds proper to
a carpenter's shop were heard, apparently proceeding from the wall and
table. Sawing, planing, and pounding with a mallet were imitated, it is
said, _to the life_. Some gentlemen were at the house of the Fox family
at one time, and were conducted into a _dark room_. They called for the
sounds to be made like a band of martial music. As they requested, the
sounds were produced; the playing of the instruments and the heavy
beating of the bass drum were perfectly imitated, together with the
sound of the roar of distant cannon. Shall we not gather from this,
that in the spirit world they have their bands of music and companies
of artillery, the same as in this world? We are also told of the spirit
or spirits playing on a guitar in a _dark_ room, the guitar being
taken from the hands of those who held it and put in tune, and played
while it passed around the room above their heads. On one occasion, as
it is said, it played an accompaniment, for nearly two hours, to some
persons engaged in singing, being very exact both in time and tune. On
one occasion, while several ladies were present, some of them requested
that the spirits would take their hair down. Accordingly it was done.
One of them had her hair taken down and done up in a twist, and one of
them had hers braided in four strands. Sometimes persons have felt a
hand passing over or touching their arms, head, or face, leaving a
feeling of electricity upon the part touched; and the hand that thus
touches them will, by request, instantly change from a natural warmth
to the coldness of ice.
In answer to the question, "Why do these spirits require a dark room to
play upon instruments of music, or to take hold of persons," they
answer by saying that "they assume a tangible form in order to do these
things, and we are not yet prepared for such a visitation."
To the inquiry how it is they make the rapping noises that generally
accompany their visits to this world, they answer, that "they are made
by the will of the spirits causing a concussion of the atmosphere, and
making the sounds appear in whatever place they please."
A Mrs. Draper, of Rochester, New York, had an interview with Dr.
Franklin, at one time, while she was in a magnetized state. She said he
appeared to be busily employed in establishing a line of communication
between the two worlds by means of these "rappings." On another
occasion, while in a clairvoyant state, at her own house, sounds were
heard in exact imitation of those heard in the telegraph office. These
sounds were so unusual, that Miss Margaretta Fox, who was present,
became alarmed, and said, "What does all this mean?" Mrs. Draper
replied, "_He is trying the batteries_." Soon there was a signal for
the alphabet, and the following communication was spelled out to the
company present. "Now I am ready, my friends. There will be great
changes in the nineteenth century. Things that now look dark and
mysterious to you, will be laid plain before your sight. Mysteries are
going to be revealed. The world will be enlightened. I sign my name,
Benjamin Franklin."
It seems that, in the early history of these rappings, they used to be
without any limitations as to whether persons were in a magnetized
state or not. The first we learn of magnetism being employed as a
_medium_ of communication is in the case of a daughter of Lyman
Granger, in Rochester, New York. For a long time, answers could be
obtained by any _two_ (why _two_?) of the family standing near each
other. And in the freedom of the answers, no preference seemed to be
manifested towards any particular members of the family. At length, one
of his daughters was placed under the influence of magnetism, and
became clairvoyant. From that time none of the family could get
communications unless the daughter who was magnetized was present. Why
the communications should leave all the family except the magnetized
daughter, after they once had free conversation without her, remains to
be explained. The whole business now seems to be pretty much, if not
wholly, monopolized by the clairvoyants. They seem to be employed as
agents, or mediums of correspondence, between the two worlds, acting as
interpreters between two classes of beings, or beings existing in two
different states, _natural_ and _spiritual_. They act as a kind of
_spiritual postmasters_ between the two countries. We find _spiritual
letter paper_, and _envelopes_ to enclose the same, advertised for
those who wish to avail themselves of an opportunity to write to their
deceased friends in the other spheres. Letters said to have been
written in the spirit world have been transmitted through the
established mediums to friends in this world, and have been published
in some of the papers devoted to these subjects. In the New York Daily
Tribune of February 28, 1851, we find the prospectus of a quarto
journal, to be published in Auburn, "to be dictated by spirits out of
the flesh, and by them edited, superintended, and controlled. Its
object is the disclosure of truth from Heaven, guiding mankind into
open vision of paradise, and open communication with redeemed spirits.
The circle of apostles and prophets are its conductors from the
interior, holding control over its columns, and permitting no article
to find place therein unless originated, dictated, or admitted by them:
they acting under direction of the Lord Supreme."
We hope the information coming through its columns will be more
reliable than the communications from some of the "rapping spirits." No
dependence whatever can be placed upon them. They are so blundering,
awkward, and uncertain, and even trickish and deceitful, that they
spoil all our notions of the dignify and purity--the _spirituality_, in
fact--of the spiritual world. The advocates of the manifestations
attribute the fault to _ignorant spirits_, who do not know whether the
matter they attempt to speak of be true or not. Swedenborg says, "There
are some spirits so ignorant that they do not know but they are the
ones called for, when another is meant. And the only way to detect
them, in speaking, is by the difference of sound--that made by
intelligent spirits being clear and lively, and that of the ignorant
being low and muffled, like the striking of the hand upon a carpet."
It is contended by the authors of the pamphlet from which we quote,
that these ignorant spirits will ultimately _progress_ to a state of
_intelligence_. But this idea of _progression_ seems to be at variance
with the observations of a writer in the Boston Post, who was
astonished at the wonderful precocity of little infants in the spirit
world. "I have known," says he, "the spirit of a child, only eighteen
months old when he died, and only three months in the second sphere,
show as much _intelligence_, and as perfect a command of our language,
as Dr. Channing himself seems to possess." On the other hand, when I
find that "the spirit of Dr. Channing cannot express an idea above the
rudimental conception of a mere child, I am forced to the conclusion
that his mental endowments must have greatly deteriorated since he left
us."
It is said that the theological teachings of these spirits generally
agree with those of Davis, Swedenborg, and others who have claimed to
receive their impressions from spirits. Accordingly, we find them using
the term _higher and lower spheres_, instead of _heaven and hell_.
Swedenborg prophesied that the year 1852 would be the one to decide the
fate of his church or his doctrines; and Capron and Barron tell us that
"the probabilities now seem to be that his general spiritual theory
will, not far from that time, be very generally received." We presume
that the "mysterious rappings" are considered by them as so many omens
of such an event. And we may reasonably conclude that they are as
_decisive_ tests, as _sure_ prognostications, as were the various
celestial signs of the coming of the end of the world in 1843. The
believers in the "harmonial philosophy" have their miracles in
attestation of their theory; and so of the Millerites. On Saturday
evening, January 18, 1851, we are told by La Roy Sunderland, that Mrs.
Cooper (clairvoyant medium) was taken to Cambridge, by Mr. Fernald and
a friend, for the purpose of visiting a gentleman who had been confined
by a spinal difficulty some ten years or more. The spirits gave
beautiful responses for his consolation, and in the sight of all
present, _the sick man and his bed_ were moved by spiritual hands
alone. The sick man and the "bed whereon he lay" were both moved by
attending angels, without any human power. And more recently, a Mr.
Gordon, it is said, has been taken up and his body moved some distance
entirely by spiritual hands. Were such miracles ever wrought in favor
of Millerism? Most assuredly, if we are to believe the Millerites
themselves; and even more in favor of witchcraft also. At a meeting of
the friends of Millerism, held in Waltham, in 1842, a lady was taken
from her seat by some unseen power, and carried up to the ceiling of
the room; and she afterwards declared that it was done without any
effort on her part. More recently, (1851,) another lady of the same
place testifies that she has, in a similar manner, been taken from her
seat in church and carried up above the tops of the pews. And at times,
at the advent meetings, strange noises have been heard, houses also
have been shaken, mirrors shattered to pieces, and furniture broken,
and all have been considered by the Adventists as so many auguries or
signs of the approaching dissolution of all things, to take place in
1843.
We have already made mention of the fact, in another place, that
bewitched persons used to be carried through the air, on brooms and
spits, to distant meetings, or Sabbaths, of witches. But we will now
give a case to the point.
On the 8th of September, 1692, Mary Osgood, wife of Captain Osgood, of
Andover, was taken before John Hawthorne, and other of their majesties'
justices, when she confessed that, about two years before, she was
carried through the air, in company with Deacon Fry's wife, Ebenezer
Baker's wife, and Goody Tyler, to Five Mile Pond, where she was
baptized by the devil, and that she was transported back again through
the air, in company with the forenamed persons, in the same manner as
she went, and _believes_ they were carried on a _pole_! She was asked
by one of the justices, how many persons were upon the pole; to which
she answered, As I said before, viz., four persons, and no more, but
whom she had named above.
Are not these cases to be relied upon as much as those related by Mr.
Sunderland? Could not _four_ respectable ladies tell whether they were
_actually_ carried through the air on a pole or _not_? _Could_ they be
deceived? Possibly, in the days of chloroform, or ether, it might have
been the case; but not at the period in which it actually occurred.
Some of the bewitched persons, as in the case of Elizabeth Knap, of
Groton, alarmed the people by their _ventriloqual_ powers, in imitating
sounds and languages. And it would be nothing strange if some of our
modern witches were in possession of the same talent. No wonder that
the editor of one of the Boston papers should have ventured the
opinion, that if some of these persons had lived two hundred years ago,
they would have been hanged for witchcraft.
It appears to us, that if we believe in all that is alleged of the
rapping spirits, and their manifestations, we must be prepared to
indorse all that has been published of witches and ghosts, spooks and
hobgoblins, in every age of the world, which, at present, we are not at
all inclined to do. We do not believe that any of the noises heard, or
any of the information given, has proceeded from beings out of the
normal state. We are rather inclined to adhere to the sentiment
contained in the old couplet:--
"Where men _believe_ in witches, witches are;
But where they don't believe, there are none there."
We once went to stay over night in a house said to be haunted, the
house being empty at the time, the family who had occupied it having
actually been frightened away by the noises they had heard. But,
strange to tell, we did not hear any _noises_, neither did we expect
to. There was a house in Green Street, Boston, formerly occupied by the
celebrated Dr. Conway, which, after his decease, was said to be
haunted. A young man of our acquaintance never passed that house late
at night but every window in it appeared to be illuminated. And
finally, he became so alarmed about it, that as soon as he approached
the vicinity of the house, he would commence running, and continue to
run till it was out of sight. We have frequently known him to cross the
ice on Charles River to avoid passing the house. And still, we often
passed the same house, at late hours of the night, without seeing any
thing unusual. And we know of no reason why, unless it was because we
did not believe in such things, which our friend actually did. _Faith_
alone made the difference.
One of the believers in the "spirit rappings" tells us that "_if_ these
things are emanations from the spirit world, we are bound to believe
them." True, _if_ they are; but this little conjunctive _if_ is a word
of very _doubtful_ meaning. We have already shown how Mr. Miller kept
the whole world standing thirty years on this same little _if_; and
then it did not end in 1843, as he supposed it would. We must,
therefore, be cautious how we depend upon a simple _if_.
But we are told that, as honest persons, we are bound to believe what
we cannot disprove by actual demonstration. But let us examine this for
a moment. The Greenlanders have an idea that thunder is caused by two
old women flapping seal skins in the moon. Now, who has ever been up in
the moon to ascertain whether it is so or not? Again, they say that the
Aurora Borealis is owing to the spirits of their fathers frisking at
football. Who can say it is not so? And yet _we_ reject such belief on
account of its apparent absurdity. Some of the ancients have told us
that the earth stands upon the back of a tortoise, or upon that of an
elephant; and yet, without investigation, a majority of mankind reject
the idea as being perfectly ridiculous. We might here remark, that no
less a scholar than the great mathematician Kepler attempted to prove
that the earth is a vast animal, and that the tides are occasioned by
the heavings of its prodigious lungs.
Many of the performances of jugglers and ventriloquists puzzle us, and
yet we do not believe there is any thing supernatural in them. Signor
Blitz once called upon the ladies in the hall where he was giving an
exhibition to pass him a handkerchief with their name stamped upon it,
and he would put it into a pistol and fire it off in their presence,
and it should be found in the steeple of a church some quarter of a
mile distant, and yet not a window or a door should be open on the
occasion. A committee of honest and respectable men were despatched
from the hall to the house of the church sexton, the keys procured,
with a lantern, when the belfry was ascended, the handkerchief found
hanging on the tongue of the bell, and returned to the lady, who
instantly recognized it as the identical handkerchief she passed into
the hands of the performer. Now, who could prove that the thing alleged
was not _actually_ done? and yet who will _believe_ that it was?
We have heard distant sounds of music, and other imitations of men,
birds, and animals, that deceived our sense of hearing, knowing that
they were produced by the power of ventriloquism. We have seen things
moved from place to place by _magnetic attraction_, and we do not think
it at all strange that so light an instrument as a guitar could be thus
attracted to different parts of a room by an _unseen power_, especially
in a _dark_ room, and its tones be imitated by a being as yet in the
_normal_ state. A guitar will give vibrations of its tones to the
concussions of the air, caused by the conversation of persons present;
and a stranger to the fact might possibly interpret these vibrations as
something quite mysterious, and suppose the instrument, as it stood
alone, to be touched by some spirit hand. When people's minds, or their
imaginations, get wrought up to a certain pitch, the most trifling
things are looked upon as wonderful phenomena. Every thing is _new_,
and _strange_, and _appalling_. We hear of the doings of the spirits at
Rochester, and other places, and which are called the "ushering in of a
_new science_." "We know of what we speak," says the pamphlet before
us, "we _know_ they are _facts, strange, new_, and to many
_wonderful_!" (See page 43.) And yet the authors introduce several
pages from a work by Dr. Adam Clarke to show that, as early as 1716,
the Wesley family were troubled by noises made by the "knocking
spirits," and that "the present manifestations have no claim to the
credit of originality." The cracking of hazel nuts upon Martin Luther's
bed posts, and the racket and rumbling upon his chamber stairs, as if
many empty barrels and hogs-heads had been tumbling down, claim still
greater antiquity, and belong to the same category or chapter of
wonderful events.
It is said to be impossible that any mere human being could inform
persons, with whom they never had any previous knowledge or
acquaintance, of the past, present, and future events of their
lives--whether they are married or single, the number of their children
living and dead, age, health, business, letters expected, the
whereabout of long-absent friends, &c. It is supposed that such
information must indeed emanate from the spirit world. Yet precisely
such things are and always have been told, more or less, by astrologers
and fortune tellers, without any pretensions to being in league with
spirits of the other worlds. We have said that fortune tellers do not
always tell correctly; but, as poor an opinion as we have of them, we
will venture to assert that they are full as correct, if not more so,
in the information they give, as the members of the Fox family, or any
of their contemporaries, of the alleged _spiritual_ manifestations.
Persons of sane mind, though ever so ignorant of arithmetic or
orthography, can tell at least how many children they have, and are
usually able to spell their own names; but one who has spent a good
deal of time in witnessing the performances of the _spirit rappers_,
says, "They seem to be unwilling or unable to answer purely test
questions, like that of answering their own names. I have never known
them to do this," says he, "though often solicited." He also speaks of
their great deficiency in mathematics, not being able to enumerate the
number of children they have on earth with any thing like accuracy. "I
am aware that such questions have sometimes been correctly answered,
and I have heard them so answered; but I have much more frequently
known them to refuse entirely, or to do it very awkwardly, or to fail
entirely in the attempt. Out of five numbers four were erroneously
selected as the right one. The fifth was right, of course. This goes to
show, at least, that spirits have greatly _deteriorated_, rather than
_improved_, while inhabiting the celestial spheres." But this is not
all. The facility of communication between the two classes of beings is
also on the decline. The time was when ghosts or spirits held free
conversation with those they visited, without calling in the aid of
clairvoyancy or electricity. Neither did they resort, like modern
spirits, to the slow and clumsy mode of communication, through the
letters of the alphabet. In spelling out a sentence by letters, one of
the ladies commences repeating the alphabet; and when the desired
letter is mentioned, a rap is heard. In this slow and tedious process,
long sentences are communicated. No wonder that the slowness of the
mode of communication should be considered as "perfectly appalling."
And then, too, the substance of these communications is too absurd and
ridiculous to be believed. We might here refer to the information given
by the prophet Swedenborg himself, in relation to the condition of the
pious Melancthon in the future state, that he was sometimes in an
excavated stone chamber, and at other times in hell; and when in the
chamber, he was covered with bear skins to protect him from the cold;
and that he refuses to see visitors from this world on account of the
filthiness of his apartment. This is about as probable and interesting
as the account given by a female clairvoyant in Cleveland, Ohio, who
says that she has (just) had an interview with Tom Paine, "who recants
his errors, and is at present stopping with General Washington and
Ethan Allen, at a hotel kept by John Bunyan."
We here introduce the following from one of the Boston papers:--
"_The 'Spiritual Rappings' exploded._--There is a good article under
this head, on the first page, to which we invite attention. The
writer is an accomplished scholar, an able physician, and one of the
first and best magnetizers in this country. He has investigated the
'rappings'--tested them theoretically and practically, and 'exploded'
them, if our readers have not already done so for themselves. His
communication is entitled to weight, and if circulated, as it should
be, among the credulous and unsuspecting, might save some from the
pitiful effects of a mischievous, absurd, and contemptible
superstitious delusion."
The article is as follows:--
"About the 16th of December last, I called on Mr. Sunderland, in good
faith, in order to hear and see manifestations from the spirit world.
He received me in a friendly manner, and, with a young lady who was
with me, seated me in the spirit room. We had to wait an hour or more,
and while seated we devoutly invoked the spirits. Finding them silent,
I put on them some of my most powerful mesmeric electric formula. They
persevered, however, in preserving profound silence.
"When, however, the medium, Mrs. Cooper, had arrived, and seven of us,
four gentlemen and three ladies, were seated round a square centre
table, the responses were made, and came freely. The young lady with
me, willing to believe, but wishing to know with absolute certainty,
before she assented to the truth of the proposition, that the rappings
were made by spirits, and not by the persons engaged in the business,
had seated herself about three feet from the table, so that she could
see under it. The following dialogue then ensued between Mrs. Cooper,
her adopted sister, and the young lady:--
"'Will you sit close to the table, miss?'
"'If they are spirits, they can rap just as well where I am. I am
willing to be convinced, and where I am I can hear perfectly well.'
"'The rule is, to sit close to the table.'
"'I will not disturb, but choose to sit where I am.'
"'If you will not comply with the regulation, you had better go into
the other room.'
"'I came to know, and I shall sit where I am.'
"She was inflexible, and the work proceeded. When my turn came, I could
put no test question, and was so told. I saw and felt that there was
collusion, and, ashamed of myself as being the dupe of supposed and
known imposition, after enduring the hour's sitting, I arose with the
full conviction that all was the effect of bones and muscles, and of
mesmeric action and reaction on the subjects themselves. While we were
examining a piano which was used on such occasions, and our backs were
turned towards the table, standing partly sidewise, I caught a glimpse
of Mrs. Cooper's foot in the very position and act of commencing a
spirit somerset on the table. She looked confused. I appeared not to
have fully recognized any thing wrong, thanked them for their father's
kindness and their attention, and left the domicil of the 'spiritual
philosopher' under a full, stern, and abiding conviction that _there_
was not the abiding place of invisible beings--that all was mechanical
which we heard, and all that any one had heard or seen was mechanical
or mesmeric.
"The second opportunity I had of testing the truth or falsity of these
spirit communications was in the city of Lowell. Every thing was
favorable as to place, time, and company. My eyes were every where, and
raps came seldom and solitary. The medium dropped from between his
fingers a small black pencil, about two inches long, with which I
believe he made the raps. After it fell, we heard no more. He looked
despairingly disappointed, soon went into a trance, arose, locked us
into the room, and when the hour had transpired, came out voluntarily.
"Invited by a friend who was anxious to convince me more fully, and
especially to convert the young lady who was with me at Mr.
Sunderland's, he called at my house with the medium, and was received
into my office. The young lady requested that we should stand around
the table, and no one touch it. We did so. On the first response, she
exclaimed, indignantly, addressing the medium, 'That, sir, was from
your foot; I heard it distinctly!' He looked guilty, and his eyes
flashed with anger. He asked the spirits if it was not 'nonsense,' and
received the response from the foot, 'yes,' and left, evidently highly
incensed.
"I determined to give one more trial to the spirits. In this latter
case, there were the three raps, clear and strong, and the answers
highly satisfactory, as far as they went. But the difficulty was, that
the spirits were capricious, and would respond only to just such as
they saw fit; and the medium was pretty well acquainted with me. The
perfect regularity of the knocks, and the sound, convinced me that, in
this instance, it was purely mechanical. I endeavored to get the secret
from the medium, and the answer was, 'If I should tell you, you would
be as wise as myself.' She evidently knew how it was done.
"I will now state a few facts, and conclude. 1. Wood is an excellent
conductor of sounds. A small worm, called at the south a sawyer, and
sought for angling, can be heard three yards, as it gnaws between the
wood and bark of a fallen pine; and the slightest scratch of a pin, on
the end of an isolated mast, sixty feet long, can be heard distinctly.
"2. In mesmeric operations, we well know that individuals _can be
made to hear and see things that never occurred or existed_, and yet
the subjects remain unconscious that they have been made the
_subjects of mesmeric hallucination_!
"3. Persons highly observant and susceptible can, by their eye and
feeling, when they put themselves into a semi-abnormal condition, tell,
in many instances nine times out of ten, who is and who is not a
believer, _and what is in the mind of the inquirer_.
"4. Mediums are invariably of this character.
"5. In matters of faith, friendship, love, or the spirit world, many
are willing to be deceived; and when they fall into the hands of the
shrewd and designing, who can appear the impersonation of truth,
virtue, honesty, and even piety itself, they are emphatically
_humbugged_, and give their money and their testimony to confirm
the fraud.
"Lastly. Many are so sincere and honest in their intentions, that it is
not in their hearts to believe that some of our most respectable men,
even clergymen, would lend their names to sustain any thing but what
they had believed and tested as a reality, and therefore themselves
believe.
"Now, Mr. Editor, from all that I have seen and know of these spiritual
communications, as 'rappings,' and from all these facts, I am free to
declare, that I believe them an arrant humbug, and one, too, of the
most pernicious tendency. They can all be traced to a human agency, as
either mechanical or mesmeric, alone or combined; and I will give my
right hand to any medium whose operation and device I cannot fully
discover, trace, and demonstrate, as deducible from either the one or
both of these sources, _and from no other_."
A correspondent of the Boston Traveller, in a communication dated New
York, January 22, 1852, says, "I look upon the delusion as I do upon a
contagious disease. It is a moral epidemic. Any man of peculiar
diathesis may be its victim. It spreads by sympathy and by moral
infection. Men of standing and intellect gravely and seriously affirm
that they have seen a man rise and float about the room like a feather,
till some unbelieving wretch approaches and breaks the spell, when the
aerial swimmer falls suddenly to the floor. Franklin, Washington, and
all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, have visited them,
and these departed worthies sanction any doctrine which the uninitiated
may happen to entertain before consulting them." A. J. Davis says,
"There is a class of spirits who dwell in divine love more than in
divine wisdom, and who are easily influenced to _feel_ precisely what
the majority of those who consult them _feel_ and think, and under
peculiar circumstances will say _precisely_ what the questioning minds
of the circle may _ardently_ and _positively_ desire. Affectionate
spirits--those dwelling in the _love circles_--are readily influenced
to approve the desires of the hearts of those with whom they commune on
earth; as in our homes, the infant, by virtue of its cries and positive
entreaties, captivates the affectionate, and perhaps intelligent,
mother, who, consequently, forthwith coincides with her child's
desires, submitting her judgment to its powerful appeals. Thus it is,
through the power of sympathy, spirits of the other world gratify all
our thoughts and desires." This is the _opinion_ of Mr. Davis, which
may pass for what it is worth. We never indorse his spiritual notions.
To give an idea of the conduct exhibited at the circles, or meetings,
of the "harmonials," we submit the following from the Springfield
Republican of January, 1852:--
"When we entered the hall, the meeting had not commenced, and all
parties were engaged in a lively chat. Soon there was a spontaneous
coming to order, and the ladies formed a circle around a table. The
gentlemen then formed a larger circle, entirely surrounding the ladies.
A good hymn was given out and sung. During the singing, we noticed one
lady growing excessively pale and cadaverous. Then her hands began to
twitch, and she commenced pounding upon the table. Directly opposite
her, a young woman was undergoing the process of being magnetized by
the spirits, while she, as we were informed, was resisting them. Her
hands were drawn under the table by sudden and powerful jerks, and
every muscle in her body seemed to be agitated with the most powerful
commotion, as if she were acted upon in every part by shocks of
electricity. This continued for ten or fifteen minutes, until she was,
at last, in a state apparently resembling the magnetic sleep.
"Another lady, with a fine eye and an intellectual cast of countenance,
was then moved to write, which she did, while her eyes stared and
rolled as if in a state of frenzy, and every muscle seemed strained to
its utmost tension. She wrote absolutely furiously, but no one but the
spirits could read it, and it was passed over to another medium, who
announced it a message of such utter unimportance that we have
forgotten it. A brawny blacksmith was among the mediums, but he did
nothing but pound on the table, and write the word 'sing.' The famous
medium Gordon was there, too, and he went through various
contortions--got down upon his knees, stood upon his seat, and
stretched up his arms and fingers, trembling all the while, as if in
the highest state of nervous excitement. Once he was twitched bodily
under the table, uttering a scream as he went. At times, the different
mediums would rise, spread their arms, slap the table, and throw their
hands into motions almost inconceivably rapid.
"One of the mediums, a young woman, arose by the dictation and powerful
urging of the spirits, and delivered a rambling sermon. It abounded in
quotations from the Bible and the doctrines of Universalism.
"But it was when the singing was in progress that the spirits and the
mediums were in the highest ecstasy. Then the latter would pound, and
throw their arms around, and point upwards, in the most fantastic
manner possible. And thus, with singing, and pounding, and reading the
Bible, and writing, and preaching, the evening passed away; and while
Old Hundred was being sung, the spirits gave their good night to the
circle.
"We can give but a faint idea of this scene. It is one we shall never
forget, and we only wish that the respectable men we saw there, the men
of age and experience, the young men and young women, could understand
the pity with which a man without the circle of their sympathy regarded
them. With the light of reason within them, with minds not untaught by
education, and with the full and perfect revelation of God's will in
their very hands, it was indeed most pitiable to see them swallowing
these fantastic mummeries, and mingling them, in all their wild,
furious, and unmeaning features, with the worship of Him who manifests
himself in the 'still small voice.'
"Of the sincerity of the majority of those present we have no doubt;
but that there are rank impostors in this town, who are leading astray
the credulous, we have as little doubt. The most that we saw on
Saturday night was mesmerism, and the rest a very transparent attempt
at deception. At any rate, if it was any thing else, we should
attribute it to any thing but good spirits. Were we a devil, and should
we wish to see how foolish we could make people appear, we should
choose this way. O men and women, do have done with such outrageous
nonsense."
Some have been most grossly deceived, and even made insane, by being
made to believe that they were magnetized by spirits. This was the case
with one of the celebrated Hutchinson singers--Judson J. Hutchinson.
Mr. Sunderland, in the fourth number of the Spiritual Philosopher,
observes as follows: "We shall hear of communications from 'prophets,'
'apostles,' 'kings,' and 'statesmen,' and of divers 'revelations,' said
to be made by them. We shall hear of human beings said to be magnetized
by spirits. But the _good_ and the _true_ will know and understand how
easy it is for some to become 'magnetized' by their own _ideas_, and to
take for 'revelations' _the fancies of their own brains_. The notion
about mortals being magnetized by spirits is a mistake, an _error_; and
it was this error which was the principal cause of all the real
difficulty in the case of Judson J. Hutchinson. Mr. H. was made to
believe that he was in company with his deceased brother, and that his
own deceased children came and sat upon his knees, and put their arms
about his neck. When he found himself sinking into an _abnormal state_,
he was told to believe that it was _the spirits_, and that there was
nothing _human_ about it. This, of course, Mr. H. was ready to believe.
He had heard of others being magnetized by spirits, and they were
happy, very happy. And as this seemed to promise him _approximation_ to
the spirit world, for which he was earnestly longing, he readily gave
himself entirely to that idea." The operator, Mr. Hazard, of Rochester,
New York, suggested that Mr. Hutchinson should ask the spirits to move
his (Mr. H.'s) hand to the top of his own head, that then he (Mr. H.)
might know it was they. "But the operator should have known," says Mr.
Sunderland, "that his _suggesting_ it to the mind of Mr. Hutchinson, in
the manner he did, or, if Mr. Hutchinson's own mind was _directed_ to
the movement of his own hand, _that_ was sufficient to cause his hand
to move, _even if there had been no spirits in existence_. And so, when
Mr. H. went to Cleveland, the difficulty was increased by a repetition
of the cause. He fell into the same state again, of course, when
similar _associations_ brought it up before his mind; and there he was
again told by a clairvoyant lady, that she 'saw the spirits' (his
brother Benjamin and Swedenborg) operating upon him. The effect was, to
render him _insane_." His brother Jesse says, that "the shock was too
great for Judson, on account of his bodily weakness, and that his
feeble nature was too fine strung to bear up against the severe
attacks, and it was with great difficulty he was brought back to
Milford, New Hampshire." While in this state, Mr. Sunderland was sent
for, and staid with him three days and three nights, to render him
assistance. Mr. S. says, "He was unfortunate in being told that he was
magnetized by spirits, and still more so, perhaps, in the treatment he
met with from some _uncongenial spirits_ in Syracuse and in Worcester."
From this, as well as from some other unfortunate cases, persons are
admonished to be careful to refrain from visiting such impostors.
Some have been told that St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Luke, and Timothy,
were present, and answered questions put to them; but Mr. Davis and
Mr. Sunderland declare it to be false. Mr. Davis says, "This point
I have been led to investigate carefully; and at no one of the
_circles_ referred to do I discover, upon the most critical interior
retrospection, a _single_ communication from the veritable St. Paul,
nor from any one of his glorious compeers."
So of Benjamin Franklin, who, it is said, has never condescended to
converse but a very few times with earthly beings, though his name is
often quoted in connection with clairvoyancy. The reason he is said to
assign to Mr. Davis is, that he cannot "prevent the almost exact human
imitations of his vibrations; and that they produce so much confusion
and contradiction, that, he thinks it best to wait until some further
improvement can be made in the mode of communication between the two
worlds." Yet how many are told that they have been put in communication
with Franklin!
Mr. Sunderland says, "We need the same conditions, or guaranties, for
believing _spirits_, that we do for believing _human_ testimony."
Speaking of those clairvoyants who are supposed to be exalted into
the spirit sphere, so as to see and converse with spirits, he says,
"Whether they do, really, see the spirits, whom they think they do,
must be determined by other things besides their own testimony. We are
not obliged to take their own mere _ipse dixit_ upon this, any more
than upon any other subject." And as yet, as has been remarked by Dr.
Phelps, _there is no proof that what purports to be a revelation from
spirits is the work of spirits at all_. Mr. Sunderland, for all we can
see, is liable to be in an error, as well as others; and all the
evidence he gives us that he has had interviews and holds conversations
with spirits is that of his own testimony alone. And so of Mr. Davis.
We have said that no dependence whatever can be placed upon the rapping
spirits. Dr. Phelps, of Stratford, Connecticut, once heard a very loud
rapping under the table while at his breakfast. "I asked if it was my
sister. The answer was, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said I, 'if you are the spirit
of my sister, you can tell me how many children you have in this
world.' So the spirit commenced counting, and counted up to
twenty-five, when I pronounced it a _lying_ spirit. I asked it,
'Are you unhappy?' It answered, 'Yes.' 'Can I do you any good?' 'Yes.'
'How?' The spirit then called for the alphabet, and spelled out, 'Give
me a glass of fresh gin.' 'What will you do with it,' said I. '_Put
it to my mouth._' I asked, 'Where is your mouth?' No answer."
Letters, and lines written upon scraps of paper, have, it is said, been
sent from the other world. The following was dropped from the ceiling
of Mrs. Phelps's parlor when she and others were present.
"Sir,--Sir Sambo's compliments, and begs the ladies to accept as a
token of his esteem." Other papers have been similarly written upon,
and signed "Sam Slick," "The Devil," "Beelzebub," "Lorenzo Dow," &c.
On the 15th of March, 1850, a large turnip was thrown against Dr.
Phelps's parlor window, having several characters carved out upon it,
somewhat resembling the Chinese characters. A _fac-simile_ of them
may be found in Davis's explanation of Modern Mysteries, page 55.
Some may receive such things as emanations from the spirit world; but
to us they seem too simple and puerile to be considered as having any
thing to do with the higher spheres.
Dr. Phelps, who has been witness to every species of manoeuvre of the
alleged spirit rappers, says that he has become fully satisfied that no
reliance whatever is to be placed on their communications, either as a
source of valuable information, or as a means of acquiring truth. "I am
satisfied," says he, "that their communications are _wholly worthless_.
They are often contradictory, often prove false, frequently trifling
and nonsensical, and more in character with what might be expected of a
company of loafers on a spree than from spirits returned from a world
of retribution to 'tell the secrets of their prison house.'"
With regard to moving tables, chairs, beds, &c., Mr. Davis says that,
"at a circle of friends in Bridgeport, Connecticut, there was a large
congregation of spirits, who, from a distance of eighty miles, or
thirty above the atmosphere of our earth, directed a mighty column of
vital electricity and magnetism, which column or current, penetrating
all intermediate substances, and by a process of infiltration, entered
the fine particles of matter which composed the table, and raised it,
several successive times, three or four feet from the floor!" This we
are to receive upon his authority, or upon the testimony of those who
may say they saw the table moved. But if the operator can _make things
appear_ that _never occurred or existed_, and can _imagine_ a thing,
and have that _imagination transferred to others_, then what evidence
have we that _spirits_ are concerned in the transaction? Just none
at all. A while ago, we heard of an Italian, at the Massachusetts
Hospital, who could raise tables from the floor without touching them;
and the art of so doing, he said, he learned in Italy. And how are we
to account for the Millerites and others being so raised, as they
believed? Are they not as much to be credited as those who profess a
belief in the miracles of the "harmonial philosophers"? For ourselves,
we are satisfied that such things, for the most part, are but a
delusion, whether they are alleged to take place among those supposed
to be bewitched, the Adventists, or the harmonials.
As to the _rapping noises_, we are inclined to think they may have
something to do with the knee and toe joints, and that the two
performers usually sit together, in order the better to alternate with,
and _spell_ or relieve each other. Upon a fair trial, it certainly has
been proved that the noises cannot be produced when the joints are
grasped firmly by another. But it may be doubted by some whether the
joints can be made to produce the distinct rappings that are sometimes
heard. We think they can. A few years ago, a boy in London gave
exhibitions of what was termed "_chin music_." It was done by striking
the fists upon the lower jaw. By this practice he was able to produce
quite loud and distinct sounds, and play a variety of tunes, to the
amusement of the public. The sounds were made by the finger joints, it
was supposed; and perhaps the jaw bone may have contributed its share
in the performance. The sounds given by the "rapping spirits" are by no
means so remarkable as many suppose. They are often quite indistinct,
and nearly inaudible. Unless a person was possessed of a large share of
credulity, he would never consider them as the responses of an
intelligent spirit. This is the decided conviction of hundreds who have
witnessed their performances in various parts of the country. Yet many
have been, and others will be, deceived. And, doubtless, many tender
and sensitive minds may be made insane by the wicked trifling of these
unprincipled impostors. Certainly we have not the least desire to set
at nought any thing of a _truly serious_ character. Yet we are
constrained to believe that the things of which we have spoken are too
ridiculous and nonsensical, if not actually _sinful_, to be entitled to
the least favor from the public. The learned Thomas Dick, in his Essay
on the Improvement of Society, gives an account of far more singular
and wonderful _phenomena_ produced by _mechanical_ agency, than any
that has as yet been attributed to the agency of _spirits_, as affirmed
by A. J. Davis, or La Roy Sunderland. And we here subjoin the facts of
the case, for the benefit of the public:--
"Soon after the murder of King Charles I., a commission was appointed
to survey the king's house at Woodstock, with the manor, park, and
other demesnes belonging to that manor. One _Collins_, under a feigned
name, hired himself as secretary to the commissioners, who, upon the
13th October, 1649, met, and took up their residence in the king's own
rooms. His majesty's bed chamber they made their kitchen, the council
hall their pantry, and the presence chamber was the place where they
met for the despatch of business. Things being thus prepared, they met
on the 16th for business; and in the midst of their first debate, there
entered a large _black dog_ (as they thought,) which made a dreadful
howling, overturned two or three of their chairs, and then crept under
a bed and vanished. This gave them the greater surprise, as the doors
were kept constantly locked, so that no real dog could get in or out.
The next day their surprise was increased, when, sitting at dinner in a
lower room, they heard plainly the noise of persons walking over their
heads, though they well knew the doors were all locked, and there could
be nobody there. Presently after, they heard, also, all the wood of the
King's Oak brought by parcels from the dining room, and thrown with
great violence into the presence chamber, as also all the chairs,
stools, tables, and other furniture forcibly hurled about the room;
their papers, containing the minutes of their transactions, were torn,
and the ink glass broken. When all this noise had ceased, Giles Sharp,
their secretary, proposed first to enter into these rooms; and in
presence of the commissioners, from whom he received the key, he opened
the doors, and found the wood spread about the room, the chairs tossed
about and broken, the papers torn, but not the least track of any human
creature, nor the least reason to suspect one, as the doors were all
fast, and the keys in the custody of the commissioners. It was
therefore unanimously agreed that the power that did this mischief must
have entered at the key-hole. The night following, Sharp, with two of
the commissioners' servants, as they were in bed in the same room,
which room was contiguous to that where the commissioners lay, had
their beds' feet lifted up so much higher than their heads, that they
expected to have their necks broken, and then they were let fall at
once with so much violence as shook the whole house, and more than ever
terrified the commissioners. On the night of the 19th, as they were all
in bed in the same room, for greater safety, and lights burning by
them, the candles in an instant went out, with a sulphurous smell; and
that moment many trenchers of wood were hurled about the room, which
next morning were found to be the same their honors had eaten out of
the day before, which were all removed from the pantry, though not a
lock was found opened in the whole house. The next night they fared
still worse; the candles went out, as before; the curtains of their
honors' beds were rattled to and fro with great violence; they received
many cruel blows and bruises by eight great pewter dishes and a number
of wooden trenchers being thrown on their beds, which, being heaved
off, were heard rolling about the room, though in the morning none of
these were to be seen.
"The next night the keeper of the king's house and his dog lay in the
commissioners' room, and then they had no disturbance. But on the night
of the 22d, though the dog lay in the room as before, yet the candles
went out, a number of brickbats fell from the chimney into the room,
the dog howled piteously, their bed clothes were all stripped off, and
their terror increased. On the 24th, they thought all the wood of the
King's Oak was violently thrown down by their bedsides; they counted
sixty-four billets that fell, and some hit and shook the beds in which
they lay; but in the morning none was found there, nor had the door
been opened where the billet wood was kept. The next night the candles
were put out, the curtains rattled, and a dreadful crack, like thunder,
was heard; and one of the servants, running in haste, thinking his
master was killed, found three dozen of trenchers laid smoothly under
the quilt by him. But all this was nothing to what succeeded
afterwards. The 29th, about midnight, the candles went out; something
walked majestically through the room, and opened and shut the windows;
great stones were thrown violently into the room, some of which fell on
the beds, others on the floor; and at about a quarter after one, a
noise was heard as of forty cannon discharged together, and again
repeated at about eight minutes' intervals. This alarmed and raised all
the neighborhood, who, coming into their honors' room, gathered up the
great stones, fourscore in number, and laid them by in the corner of a
field, where they were afterwards to be seen. This noise, like the
discharge of cannon, was heard for several miles round. During these
noises, the commissioners and their servants gave one another over for
lost, and cried out for help; and Giles Sharp, snatching up a sword,
had well nigh killed one of their honors, mistaking him for the spirit,
as he came in his shirt from his own room to theirs. While they were
together, the noise was continued, and part of the tiling of the house
was stripped off, and all the windows of an upper room were taken away
with it. On the 30th, at midnight, something walked into the chamber,
treading like a bear; it walked many times about, then threw the
warming pan violently on the floor; at the same time, a large quantity
of broken glass, accompanied with great stones and horse bones, came
pouring into the room with uncommon force. On the 1st of November, the
most dreadful scene of all ensued. Candles in every part of the room
were lighted up, and a great fire made; at midnight, the candles all
yet burning, a noise like the bursting of a cannon was heard in the
room, and the burning billets were tossed about by it even into their
honors' beds, who called Giles and his companions to their relief,
otherwise the house had been burned to the ground; about an hour after,
the candles went out as usual, the crack as of many cannon was heard,
and many pailfuls of green stinking water were thrown upon their
honors' beds; great stones were also thrown in as before, the bed
curtains and bedsteads torn and broken, the windows shattered, and the
whole neighborhood alarmed with the most dreadful noises; nay, the very
rabbit stealers, that were abroad that night in the warren, were so
terrified, that they fled for fear, and left their ferrets behind them.
One of their honors this night spoke, and, _in the name of God, asked
what it was, and why it disturbed them so_. No answer was given to
this; but the noise ceased for a while, when the spirit came again; and
as they all agreed, _brought with it seven devils worse than itself_.
One of the servants now lighted a large candle, and set it in the
doorway between the two chambers, to see what passed; and as he watched
it, he plainly saw a hoof striking the candle and candlestick into the
middle of the room, and afterwards, making three scrapes over the
snuff, scraped it out. Upon this the same person was so bold as to
draw a sword; but he had scarcely got it out, when he felt another
invisible hand holding it too, and pulling it from him, and at length,
prevailing, struck him so violently on the head with the pommel, that
he fell down for dead with the blow. At this instant was heard another
burst, like the discharge of the broadside of a ship of war, and at the
interval of a minute or two between each, no less than nineteen such
discharges. These shook the house so violently that they expected every
moment it would fall upon their heads. The neighbors, being all
alarmed, flocked to the house in great numbers, and all joined in
prayer and psalm singing; during which the noise continued in the other
rooms, and the discharge of cannons was heard as from without, though
no visible agent was seen to discharge them. But what was the most
alarming of all, and put an end to their proceedings effectually,
happened the next day, as they were all at dinner, when a paper, in
which they had signed a mutual agreement to reserve a part of the
premises out of the general survey, and afterwards to share it equally
among themselves, (which paper they had hid for the present under the
earth, in a pot in one corner of the room, and in which an orange tree
grew,) was consumed in a wonderful manner by the earth's taking fire,
with which the pot was filled, and burning violently with a blue flame
and an intolerable stench, so that they were all driven out of the
house, to which they could never be again prevailed upon to return."
This story has been somewhat abridged from the Encyclopædia Britannica,
where it is quoted from Dr. Plot's History of Oxfordshire, in which
these extraordinary occurrences are ascribed to satanic influence.
At the time they happened, they were viewed as the effects of
_supernatural powers_; and even Dr. Plot seems disposed to ascribe them
to this cause. "Though many tricks," says the doctor, "have often been
played in affairs of this kind, yet many of the things above related
are not reconcilable with juggling; such as the loud noises beyond the
powers of man to make without such instruments as were not there; the
tearing and breaking the beds; the throwing about the fire; the hoof
treading out the candle; and the striving for the sword; and the blow
the man received from the pommel of it." It was at length ascertained,
however, that this wonderful contrivance was all the invention of the
memorable Joseph Collins, of Oxford, otherwise called _Funny Joe_, who,
having hired himself as secretary under the name of _Giles Sharp_, by
knowing the private traps belonging to the house, and by the help of
_pulvis fulminans_, and other chemical preparations, and letting his
fellow-servants into the scheme, carried on the deceit without
discovery, to the very last.
The occurrences which are said to have taken place at the house of the
Rev. Dr. Phelps, in Stratford, Connecticut, are not to be compared in
their marvellousness to those we have quoted from Dr. Dick, and which
things were the results of the _ingenuity of Joe Collins_. Therefore,
when we hear of such like occurrences in our day, there will be no
necessity for us to attribute them to any supernatural influence,
either good or bad; for it is a well-received maxim, that "_what man
has done man can do_." To suppose that the merciful _Father_ of
_spirits_ would harass and frighten mankind by haunting their houses
with strange noises and rappings, ghosts and hobgoblins, and spirits of
the uneasy dead, would be derogatory to his paternal character. And
who, for a moment, could believe that he would torment little children
in this way, when our Savior took them in his arms, and blessed them,
and said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven"? No, we must attribute
such things to any other source than as proceeding from the throne of
God.
Up to the present time it may be that many will profess to the world
that they have actually seen the spirits of the departed. Yet this is
no new profession, for the votaries of St. Vitus, and the
spiritually-minded Shakers of later times, have declared to us that
they have seen their departed friends and acquaintances. But even Mr.
Davis is led to consider a large majority of these cases to be the
results of cerebral agitation. "I can truthfully affirm," says he,
"that the objects, localities, scenery, and personages, seen by those
laboring under monomania, delirium tremens, &c., are of the same class
of mental delusion, and are absolutely nothing more than the
unconscious elaborations of the surcharged brain."
CHAPTER XVI.
EVIL EFFECTS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
The following are some of the evils that result from a belief in
popular superstitions:--
1. They have caused a great waste of time. Look at the practice of
heathen nations. Their religious ceremonies are altogether
superstitious. All the time devoted to false gods must be considered as
wasted. Take a survey, too, of Catholic countries. During the dark
ages, their priests were engaged in nonsensical disputes. Treatise
after treatise was composed on such subjects as the following: How many
angels can stand on the point of a needle? Have spirits any navels? Is
the Virgin Mary the mother of God? and a thousand others equally
senseless and unprofitable. In their monasteries, multitudes passed
their days in repeating unintelligible prayers, poring over the legends
of their saints, cutting figures in paper, and tormenting their bodies
for the good of their souls. Turn our attention to Protestant lands,
and here we find, also, that many a folio has been written on foolish
and unintelligible subjects; that many a day has been occupied in
trying and burning witches and heretics; that many a pharasaic custom
has been scrupulously observed, and many an absurd opinion advanced and
defended. Even in our own times, many hours are occupied in discoursing
about dreams and visions, signs and tricks, spectres and apparitions;
in consulting charms and lots, and fortune tellers; in prying into
future events and occurrences; in borrowing trouble on account of some
supposed unfavorable omen; or in various other practices equally vain
and superstitious. Now, all this is wrong. Time is given for no such
purposes. We have but a short period allotted to us to remain in this
world, and a great work to accomplish. Let us then be always engaged in
something useful and virtuous.
2. Popular superstitions have caused a great waste of human life. Cast
your eye over the page of history. You there notice an account of the
trial by ordeal. The accused person was required either to hold red-hot
iron balls in his naked hands, or to walk over red-hot plates of iron
with bare feet. If he escaped unburned, he was considered innocent; but
if he was scorched, sentence of death was pronounced. Or he was
compelled either to thrust his arm into a caldron of boiling water, or
be thrown into a deep pond. If he was either unscalded or drowned, his
innocence was proved; but if he was scalded or could swim, the sentence
of condemnation was passed. In neither case could life be saved, except
by the interposition of a miracle; and this was not expected on such
occasions. And through this superstition, thousands perished in the
most cruel and unrighteous manner. A distinguished writer computes that
more than one hundred thousand persons, of all ages, have suffered
death for witchcraft alone. Only think! one hundred thousand persons
murdered for a crime of which no human person was ever guilty!
There are others who bring upon themselves sickness, and even death, by
their belief in signs, dreams, and forewarnings. But as the gospel
sheds abroad its divine light, these things are found to recede, and to
give place to more rational views of divine wisdom and goodness, in the
control and arrangement of events having a relation to our being and
happiness. The author of the Family Encyclopædia says, that "the
superstitious notions of ghosts, spirits, &c., are rapidly declining;
and notwithstanding all the solemn tales which have been propagated,
there is no reason to believe that any real spirits or celestial agents
have held intercourse with man since the establishment of
Christianity;" and that "the history of modern miracles, appearances of
the dead, &c., will be always found, when thoroughly examined, merely
the phantoms of a disordered imagination."
3. Popular superstitions have caused great and unnecessary misery. We
need not refer to history for an illustration of this assertion. We
have sufficient examples around us. Look into society, and we shall
find one class who pay particular attention to all signs and dreams. If
any thing unfavorable is indicated, their feelings are greatly
depressed; and if the contrary, they are as much elated. If a little
insect, called the death watch, knocks for its mate on the wall,
sleepless nights are sure to follow. If they notice the new moon over
the wrong shoulder, their comfort is destroyed for a whole month. Nanny
Scott, the old washerwoman, is sure that another death will happen in
the family this year, because, when her sister-in-law was taken out to
be buried, somebody shut the door before the corpse was under ground,
and so shut death into the house. And her neighbor, the good Mrs.
Taylor, suffers the baby to scratch and disfigure its face, because it
is said to be unlucky to cut the nails of a child under a year old.
Another neighbor has seen a single raven fly over the house, or heard a
cricket chirping upon the hearth, and is greatly alarmed, because such
things are said to be a sign of death to some member of the family
within the year. And thus many are found who are silly enough to
imbitter their own lives and the lives of others by such foolish
superstitions.
There may be noticed another class, whose belief in the supernatural
origin of signs, omens, and warnings leads them to adopt measures for
their speedy fulfilment. Many a wedded couple seem to think they must
quarrel because it happened to storm on the day they were married; and
when some dispute arises between them, they fall to fighting, to prove,
if possible, the truth of the prediction. And for all this interruption
of domestic harmony, they blame, not their own tempers and passions,
but the decrees of fate. Many a person has concluded he must live in
poverty all his days, because a few moles have appeared on the wrong
side of his body. And hence he neglects all industry and economy, and
dissipates his time, his privileges, and his talents.
We may notice a third class, who give themselves to tricks, fortune
telling, and opening books, to discover the events of futurity. Their
spirits vary with the supposed indications of good or evil occurrences.
"A lady, who moved in the first circles, was once visiting in a
clergyman's family of my acquaintance," says the late Rev. Bernard
Whitman, "and it was her regular morning custom to toss up a little box
of pins, and make her happiness for the day depend upon their
accidental variation in falling. If they came down more heads than
points, she was cheerful and happy; but if more points than heads, she
was gloomy and wretched. It seemed she valued her comfort, worth at
least a brass pin." Many a worthy Christian has not only been deprived
of his happiness, but betrayed into wild, extravagant, and even sinful
acts, by attempting to follow the suggestion of the passage which first
meets his eye on opening the Bible. Many a poor wight has formed a
disadvantageous matrimonial alliance, because some old hag has
described black eyes and rosy cheeks as the characteristics of his
future bride.
We may notice, moreover, a fourth class, who are forever anticipating
some dreadful calamity. Let any fool solemnly proclaim that war,
famine, or pestilence is approaching, and they will give more heed to
it than to that holy word which assures us that our heavenly Father
will never leave nor forsake us. All uncommon appearances in the
heavens they look upon as indications of the threatened judgments of an
angry God. Even the beautiful Aurora Borealis, which spans the blue
concave above us, was so interpreted. To permit such fears to disturb
and destroy our happiness is a sin against Heaven. Our heavenly Father
created us for enjoyment. He has furnished us with capacities and means
of felicity. He has even commanded us to rejoice in the Lord always. He
has given us a religion to effect this desirable object. It is as much
a part of this religion to be always cheerful, contented, and happy, as
to be always temperate, just, and virtuous. And if people would take
one tenth part of the pains to make themselves happy that they do to
render themselves miserable, there would be ten times the present
amount of happiness. "By the grace of God," says the Rev. John Wesley,
"I never fret. I repine at nothing; I am discontented at nothing. And
to have persons at my ear fretting and murmuring at every thing is like
tearing the flesh from off my bones. I see God sitting upon his throne,
and ruling all things well." A companion of Mr. Wesley says that he
never saw him low-spirited in his life, nor could he endure to be with
an unhappy, melancholic person. "Every believer," he often remarked,
"should enjoy life." "I dare no more fret," said he, "than curse or
swear." Would that all Christians were as cheerful and consistent as
Mr. Wesley. There would be less of dark and dismal forebodings; less of
distrust, and more of solid peace and comfort, in the soul. It seems
that Melancthon was somewhat of a melancholic turn of mind, and, when
gloomy and dejected, would call upon Luther, and relate to him his
troubles and afflictions. Luther, being of a more lively and hopeful
turn, after listening to him a short time, would jump upon his feet,
and say, "Come, come, let us sing the forty-sixth psalm;" and when they
had sung that, all was peaceful and happy again.
As to what is commonly termed good or ill luck, we may be assured that
they have no other existence but in the imagination. Luck means chance;
but every thing, great and small, is under the wise and gracious
direction of God. Nothing can happen without his permission, and he
permits nothing but what, in his wonderful plans, he designs to work
for our good. We are kept in ignorance of the particular events that
are to befall us, in order to keep alive within us an abiding sense of
our dependence on God, and a constant obedience to the directions of
his word, by which alone we can be prepared to meet the dispensations
of his providence. The Bible tells us quite enough of futurity to teach
us to prepare for it, as far as it rests with us to prepare. And it is
both vain and wicked to endeavor to obtain any further information from
any other source, or for any one to pretend that they possess it. Had
it been necessary for our good that we should know every thing
beforehand, the information would have been given us in the Bible, or
it would have been left so that we could have gathered it from general
instruction and observation, as is the case with every kind of
knowledge that is essential to our present as well as everlasting good.
It certainly would not have been left to creaking doors, croaking
ravens, or ill-made tallow candles. Neither would God reveal to weak
and wicked men or women the designs of his providence, which no human
wisdom is able to foresee. To consult these false oracles is not only
foolish, but sinful. It is foolish, because they themselves are as
ignorant as those whom they pretend to teach; and it is sinful, because
it is prying into that futurity which God, in mercy, as well as in
wisdom, hides from man. God indeed orders all things; but when you have
a mind to do a foolish thing, do not fancy that you are _fated_ to
do it; this is tempting Providence, not trusting God. It is charging
him with folly. Prudence is his gift, and you obey him better when you
make use of prudence, under the direction of prayer, than when you
heedlessly rash into ruin, and think you are only submitting to your
fate. Fancy never that you are compelled to undo yourself, or to rush
upon your own destruction, in compliance with any supposed fatality.
Believe never that God conceals his will from a sober Christian, who
obeys his laws, and reveals it to a vagabond, who goes from place to
place, breaking the laws both of God and man. King Saul never consulted
the witch until he left off serving God. The Bible will direct us best.
Conjurers are impostors; and there are no days unlucky but those we
make so by our vanity, folly, and sin.
4. Popular superstitions have greatly injured the cause of medicine.
That superstition which leads people to believe in the efficacy of
charms is very injurious. We will enumerate a few cases by way of
example. The scrofula, for instance, is frequently called the _king's
evil_. It received this name because it was generally believed that
the touch of a king would cure the disorder. For centuries this belief
was so prevalent, that any one who should call it in question would
have been considered no less than an infidel, and an enemy to his king
and country. And so great was the demand for the king's touch, from
invalids, that one day in seven was set apart for the king to bestow
healing mercies on his subjects. Vast numbers flocked to him, from
Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and many parts of the continent. An exact
register was kept of the number of persons who came to Charles the
Second for relief, from 1660 to 1664, and they amounted to twenty-three
thousand six hundred and one. From May, 1667, to 1684, the number of
persons touched amounted to sixty-eight thousand five hundred and six.
Total, ninety-two thousand one hundred and seven. The practice was
begun in the year 1051, and continued until the reign of the present
royal family, who were possessed of too much sense to encourage such an
idle superstition. But notwithstanding this belief and practice were
abandoned by the royal family, yet, with some individuals, a belief
still prevails that certain persons are endowed with healing power.
In 1807, a farmer in Devonshire, England, who was the ninth son of a
ninth son, officiated in the cure of the king's evil, and multitudes
believed that they received healing from his touch. In this country, a
_seventh_ son of a seventh son has officiated in similar cases, and
performed incredible cures, as we are told by those who think they have
received signal blessings through his instrumentality.
Not many years since, the cold hands of a convict, who had terminated
his life on the gallows, in Liverpool, were drawn over several wens a
number of times to effect a cure. A person in one of our western states
ran a pitchfork into his hand, and he applied a plaster to the cold
iron as well as to the fresh wound. When people run a nail into their
foot, they frequently save and polish the rusty iron to facilitate the
recovery. Some time since, in the State of Maine, the body of a female
was taken from the grave, her heart taken out, dried, and pulverized,
and given to another member of the family, as a specific against the
consumption. And the same thing has more recently been done in the town
of Waltham, Massachusetts. The heart was reduced to a powder, and made
into pills, but they did not cure the patient; while the person who
took up the remains from the grave, and removed the heart, came very
near losing his life, from the putrefactive state of the corpse at the
time.
We could relate many other cases, equally foolish and disgusting. All
such things should be classed under the general name of charms, and be
looked upon as relics of the grossest superstitions. Why not as well
have the touch of a slave as a king? Why not as well apply your plaster
to a tree as to a pitchfork? Why not as well drink the heart of a lamb
as a woman? You may say that God has determined certain cures shall
follow certain applications. No such determination is published in his
word, and no such conclusions can be inferred from facts. You may
pretend that a special miracle is wrought in such cases. But this is
incredible; for the object is not compatible with the miraculous
interposition of Deity. And the few cures which are reputed to have
taken place can be satisfactorily accounted for, on the influence of
the imagination, and other natural causes. So that such a belief is not
only superstitious, but calculated to lead people to neglect the proper
means of recovery, and thus injure themselves and the medical
profession.
In the years 1808, '9, and '10, a Mr. Austin of Colchester, Vermont,
gave out that he was a gifted person in the art of healing; and if the
patient would describe to him, by word of mouth, or by letter, the true
symptoms of his malady, he would receive healing at his word, if indeed
his disease was curable. In a very little time the obscure retreat of
Austin was thronged with invalids, coming from almost every section of
the country; and Colchester was scarcely less in favor than Ballston or
Saratoga. The mail carriers groaned under the burden of maladies
described. Bar rooms at public inns, on roads leading to Colchester,
were decorated with letters directed to the "Prophet of Colchester;"
and vagrants were found travelling over the country, collecting of
invalids their evil symptoms, to be truly and faithfully delivered to
the prophet in a given time, at the moderate price of fifty cents per
letter. We were soon referred to cases wherein the most inveterate
deafness was removed; the blind saw; dropsies and consumptions, in the
last stages of them, were cured; and the patient, it is said, in many
instances, would tell the day and the hour when their letters were
received by the prophet, although they might be some hundred miles
distant from the deliverer, because, at such an hour, they began to
mend. The prophet, however, did not long enjoy his far-famed celebrity.
His house, after a while, was deserted of invalids. The people
discovered their folly, and permitted him to sink into his former
merited obscurity. It was just the same with the celebrated
_rain-water_ doctor, as he was called, who established himself at
one time in Providence, and at another time in the vicinity of Boston.
Many of those now living can recollect the accounts of marvellous
cures, and the flocking of invalids of all descriptions to his temple
of health. But the community at length discovered the imposition of his
practice, and left him to the undisturbed enjoyment of his rain water
and his gruel.
The most recent case of medical imposition practised upon the public,
that has come to our knowledge, is that of a practitioner in New York
city, who, by receiving a letter from sick or diseased persons, giving
the year, day, and hour of their birth, immediately forwards them a
package of medicine suited to their case. It seems to be a matter of
astonishment to many how he arrives at a knowledge of their state of
health, so as to be able to adapt his remedies to their several
conditions. But it is probably done on the principles of astrology--by
finding the planet under which the patient is born, the diseases
appertaining to that planet, and the _plants_ belonging to the same,
which are supposed to have a special effect upon the relative
_planetary_ diseases. Culpepper, in his English Herbal, if we mistake
not, arranges or classifies all plants and diseases in this way, and
contends that astrology is the only true key to medical science.
Fortune telling is practised upon a similar plan, through the agency of
_astrology_. But the whole is a deception, entirely unworthy the age in
which we live. The fortune teller may hit upon an incident which is
correct, once in a while, and it would be strange if he did not. And
the _astrological physician_ may prescribe some little tonic, or
stimulant, that will raise the drooping spirits for a time, and
actually lead the hopeful patient to believe that he or she is fast
recovering from their long-afflictive maladies. But the sequel too
often teaches them the lesson of their sad mistake.
The history of Valentine Greataks, the son of an Irish gentleman, who
lived in the time of Cromwell, is very similar to what we have related
of the prophet of Colchester. And about the same time, Francisco
Bagnone, a Capuchin friar, was famous in Italy, having a gift of
healing, principally by his hands only. Multitudes of sick people
attended him wherever he went, to obtain healing mercy. And here,
perhaps, we may find the true principle on which all the impositions of
Popery have been maintained for centuries gone by. It cannot be a
matter of surprise that, if men, of more information than they, can be
made to believe that they are delivered from disease by experiments of
magnetism, tractors, or the mere touch of the hand, these should
believe that they are healed by visiting the tombs of saints; by
standing before their statues; being touched by nails from their
coffins, rings from their fingers, or by the bones of the fingers
themselves.
We are by no means authorized to say that none of these persons were
relieved of pains and diseases by seeking relief in this way. So great
is the influence of the imagination on the nervous, vascular, and
muscular systems, as has already been shown, that it would be no more
than probable that obstructions, causing pain and sickness, should in
some instances be removed, and lay a foundation for recovery. And,
moreover, that in a still greater number of instances the power of the
imagination on the origin of the nerves within the brain should
counteract the motion to the brain by disease acting upon the
extremities of the nerves; and thus the patient for a season might
experience relief from pain, and even feel pleasure, as was the case
with an artist upon the Pont Royal, mentioned by Dr. Sigault, and in
the gambols of the rheumatic patient, as mentioned by Dr. Haygarth. But
in all these cases, experiment and illustration, like those of the
commissioners at Paris, and like that of Dr. Haygarth in England, would
disclose the real ground of these effects. The patients would no longer
attribute them to a supernatural influence. They would learn why, in
most cases, the relief supposed to be obtained was only momentary, and
why all those gifted persons, both in Europe and America, have had no
more than an ephemeral celebrity, and, in most instances, lived to see
themselves neglected, and their pretensions become the subjects of just
satire and reproof.
5. Popular superstitions have greatly injured the cause of religion.
That superstition which allows any substitute for personal holiness is
very pernicious. The Pharisees considered themselves holy, because they
were the descendants of faithful Abraham. They fasted twice a week;
paid tithes of all they possessed; made long prayers in public places;
and were strict observers of all sacred days and religious ceremonies.
At the same time, they neglected the weightier matters of the
law--justice, mercy, faithfulness; devoured widows' houses; were proud,
bigoted, and self-righteous.
Some people think they lived only in the times of the apostles. "But we
should recollect," says the Rev. George Whitefield, "that vipers and
toads have the most eggs, and most numerous progeny. If you were to
look at the eggs of a toad through a microscope, you would be surprised
at the innumerable multitude; and the Pharisees are an increasing
generation of vipers, which hatch and spread all over the world. If
you would know a Pharisee, he is one who pretends to endeavor, and
talks about keeping the law of God, and does not know its spirituality.
There are some of them very great men, in their own estimation, and
frequently make the greatest figure in the church. One of them, a
gentleman's son, because he had not broken the letter of the law,
thought he was right and without sin. "O," says he, "if I have nothing
to do but to keep the commandments, I am safe. I have honored my father
and mother; I never stole; what need he to steal who has so good an
estate? I never committed adultery." No, no! he loved his character
too well for that: but our Lord opens to him the law--_This one thing
thou lackest; go, sell all thou hast, and give to the poor_: he loved
his money more than his God; Christ brought him back to the first
commandment, though he catechized him first in the fifth. So Paul was a
Pharisee. He says, '_I was alive without the law, once; I was, touching
the law, blameless_." How can that be? Can a man be without the law,
and yet, touching the law, be blameless? Says he, "I was without the
law; that is, I was not brought to see its spirituality. I thought
myself a very good man." No man could say of Paul, Black is his eye.
"But," says he, "when God brought the commandment with power upon my
soul, then I saw my specks, and beheld my lack of true righteousness."
Some Roman Catholics perform tedious pilgrimages; lacerate their own
bodies; abstain from meats on certain days; and some have paid the pope
or priests for the pardon of their sins, or purchased indulgences for
the commission of wickedness. Some Protestants, too, attend punctually
upon all religious meetings, subscribe liberally to the charities of
the day, observe all gospel ordinances, and profess great attachment to
the cause of Christ; and yet are fretful, unkind, and disobliging in
their families; censorious in their conversation; uncharitable in their
judgment; grasping in their dealings, and unhappy in their
dispositions. Some have thought that, because Christ died for the sins
of the whole world they could commit sin with impunity; or, if they
were elected, they could do what they pleased, and be sure of heaven at
last. But all these things have no foundation in reason, experience, or
revelation, and may therefore be considered superstitious. A belief in
them is exceedingly injurious to the cause of piety and holiness,
because it leads to the neglect of the one thing needful--a uniformly
sober, righteous, and godly life. God will certainly render unto every
man according to his deeds. Be he Pharisee or Sadducee, Catholic or
Protestant, elect or non-elect, he can escape the punishment of no sin
but by repentance and reformation. And no sin is ever removed, no
virtue is ever given, by miracle. Our iniquities must be forsaken, and
our goodness acquired, by our own exertions, aided by the promised
influence of the Holy Spirit. And, until we have accomplished these
ends, we cannot rationally expect pure and permanent happiness.
There have been opinions respecting the devil, tinctured somewhat with
superstition, that have contributed to bring reproach upon the
Scriptures, which were supposed to teach the existence of just such a
being as many believed him to be. Martin Luther, in speaking of his
confinement in the castle of Wartburg, says, "The people brought me,
among other things, some hazel nuts, which I put into a box, and
sometimes I used to crack and eat of them. In the night time, my
gentleman, the devil, came and got the nuts out of the box, and cracked
them against one of the bed posts, making a very great noise and
rumbling about my bed; but I regarded him nothing at all: when
afterwards I began to slumber, then he kept such a racket and rumbling
upon the chamber stairs, as if many empty barrels and hogsheads had
been tumbling down."
Dr. Cotton Mather, in the time of New England witchcraft, took home one
of the possessed damsels, to learn the ways and works of Satan. When
the doctor called the family to prayers, she would whistle, and sing,
and yell, to drown his voice, would strike at him with her fist, and
try to kick him. But her hand or foot would always recoil when within
an inch or two of his body; thus giving the idea that there was a sort
of invisible coat of mail, of heavenly temper, and proof against the
assaults of the devil, around his sacred person. She seemed to be
greatly displeased at the thought of his making public the doings of
her master, the evil one; and when he attempted to write a sermon
against him, she would disturb and interrupt him all manner of ways.
For instance, she once knocked at his study door, and said that there
was somebody down stairs that would be glad to see him; he dropped his
pen, and went down: upon entering the room he found no one there but
his own family. He afterwards undertook to chide her for having told a
falsehood. She denied that she told a falsehood. "Did not you say that
there was somebody down stairs that would be glad to see me?" "Well,"
she replied, with great pertness, "is not Mrs. Mather always glad to
see you?" She even went much further than this in persecuting the good
man while he was writing his sermon: she threw large books at his head.
But he struggled manfully at these buffetings of Satan, as he
considered them to be, finished the sermon, related all these and other
kindred circumstances in it, preached and published it. Richard Baxter
wrote the preface to an edition printed in London, in which he declares
that "he who will not be convinced, by the evidence Dr. Mather
presents, that the child was bewitched, must be a very obdurate
Sadducee."
A few years since, a house in Maine was said to be haunted. The
building and furniture were shaken, dreadful noises were heard, dismal
sights were seen, and heavy blows were received. The occupant of the
house had lately left a Calvinistic theological seminary. He afterwards
became a settled Universalist preacher. "A neighboring family informed
me," says the late Bernard Whitman, "that he now considered it the
Spirit of God, haunting him to forsake Calvinism, and proclaim
universal salvation." His explanation, though satisfactory to himself,
may not be equally so to our readers.
The devil should never be made a packhorse for our sins, nor should our
thoughts be turned from within, causing us to neglect a watch upon our
own lusts and passions, in looking for the assaults of some outward
tempter. The effect sometimes produced upon the minds of children has a
very unfavorable influence. A pious mother, not finding it convenient
to attend her little son to rest, told him to omit his prayers for one
night. "Mother," said the child, "will the devil forgive me if I
neglect my prayers?"
"What shall we say," says the late Professor Stuart, "of the excessive
use that has been made of the passages that speak of his influence and
dominion? Because, in reference to the wide-spread influence of Satan,
he is called the 'prince of this world,' and even the 'god of this
world,' are we _literally_ to interpret passages of this nature, and
thus in a clandestine manner introduce effectually the old dualism of
Zoroaster and the Persians? This, indeed, has often, very often, been
substantially done; done, I acknowledge, for the most part without any
direct intention of such a nature. Still there is an impression, wide
spread among the lower classes of people, even in our own country, that
Satan is a kind of omnipotent being; and he is often represented as the
successful, or rather the invincible, rival of the great Redeemer.
"Yet the New Testament is full enough of instruction relative to this
subject to correct any erroneous views in relation to it, if it be duly
examined. I need only appeal to the large class of passages which
represent Satan as a conquered enemy; as 'falling like lightning from
heaven;' as being reduced to a state of impotence in respect to that
deadly power which he exercises, (Heb. ii. 14;) and all the evil
principalities, and powers, and magistrates (1 Cor. xv. 24, Eph. vi.
12, Col. ii. 15) as being subdued, or to be subdued and utterly
discomfited, by Christ; for 'the prince of this world is cast out,'
(John xii. 31;) 'the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy
the works of the devil,' (1 John iii. 8;) and Christians are every
where spoken of as being liberated from his dominion and power, (1 John
v. 18-44.) When the apostle, therefore, calls Satan 'the god of this
world,' and the Savior calls him 'the prince of this world,' it is the
world of the wicked which is meant; for such is the usual idiom of the
Scriptures. And as to the power of Satan over the wicked, it is every
where presented in the New Testament as something that will wholly
cease after a time, and the reign of the Prince of Peace become
universal.
"How deeply these considerations intrench upon the long-practised
methods of exhibiting Satan as omnipotent and omnipresent every
thinking mind will easily perceive. Especially has the Romish church
erred here beyond all bounds of reason or moderation. According to
the doctrines which they sedulously inculcate, Satan has not only
irresistible power over the world of the wicked, but, next to such a
power, even over Christians. Nothing but exorcisms, and holy chrisms,
and lustrations with holy water, and incantations, and the like, can
keep off evil spirits, or disarm them of their fatal power. And as the
consummation and chief end of all the doctrine, nothing short of the
interposition of the priesthood can secure any one against destruction,
either in this world or the next--an interposition, however, which is
not _freely given_, as the Savior commanded the disciples to impart the
blessings of the gospel, but to be purchased at whatever price the
church may fix upon it."--_Bibliotheca Sacra_, February, 1843.
Language sometimes used in times of excitement is prejudicial to the
cause of religion. It is sometimes said that the Almighty is visiting
such a town; that he is coming this way; that he has taken up his abode
in a certain village; that he will remain but a few days; that he has
been driven away by unbelievers, and that he cannot be expected again
for some months or years. Now, it should be remembered that God is
every where present, and that his spirit is always striving within the
soul; and its voice is drowned only by the strife and tumult of our own
discordant passions. The Spirit is ever ready to assist us, whenever we
resolve to use our own efforts in hearty coöperation. And if revivals
of religion seem to be of a _periodical_ nature, it is because our own
zeal or engagedness is too fitful. The church can enjoy a constant
season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, only let its
members be ever active, ever diligent, ever devoted and persevering.
God works not by miracle, but through the agency of common means or
efforts. We must not, therefore, defer attention to the duties of
religion, in expectation of some special interposition of Heaven. We
should remember that a sober, righteous, and godly life is the best
evidence of true conversion; and that we are called upon _to work out
our own salvation_ with fear and trembling, God himself having
vouchsafed to work within us both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.
CHAPTER XVII.
BANISHMENT OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
Seeing the evils of popular superstitions, what course shall we adopt
for their banishment? Or, in other words, how shall we best lend a
helping hand to hasten the downfall of ignorance, error, and sin?
1. We must deliver ourselves from their domination; for we are all more
or less under their influence. When any of the common signs of good or
evil fortune appear before us, our thoughts involuntarily recur to the
thing supposed to be signified. Sometimes a momentary shudder is
communicated to the whole system; unpleasant sensations are often
excited; and frequently a depression of spirits is produced. And how
can we free ourselves from this thraldom? By the exercise of our
reason. A proper use of our reasoning faculties will enable us to
accomplish this undertaking. We must endeavor to convince ourselves
that all these things are the offspring of ignorance; that they have no
foundation in reason, philosophy, or religion; and that they are
exceedingly pernicious in their consequences. When fully persuaded of
these truths, we must strive to make our feelings coincide with the
dictates of our understandings. And this we can effect by persevering
self-discipline. Such exertions, with the blessing of Heaven, will
eventually deliver us from the inconvenience, vexation, and slavery of
popular superstitions. And as such a consummation is most ardently to
be desired, we must enter upon the duty with a zeal and earnestness
commensurate with its importance.
2. We must also assist our fellow-men in the performance of this great
and good work. When we meet with those who believe in ghosts, in signs,
enchantments, and divination, we must try to persuade them that no
dependence whatever can be placed on any of these vanities--that they
are all fictions, absurdities, and abominations. And perhaps, in some
cases, if we cannot produce conviction by sober sense and sound
argument, we may be justified in resorting to ridicule.
It is a lamentable consideration that so much time should be criminally
wasted in many families in explaining tricks, relating and expounding
dreams, telling fortunes, and in detailing stories of haunted houses,
hobgoblins, and spirits of the supposed uneasy dead. In this way, the
evil is cherished, and transmitted from generation to generation. But
if we can succeed in giving an opposite direction to conversation; if
we can induce people to reason upon these things, and inquire into
their origin, causes, and effects, and investigate the evidence on
which they are imagined to rest, and adopt rational conclusions, we
shall be usefully employed. A course like this would eventually lead to
the banishment of popular superstitions, with their baneful effects
upon our peace and happiness; especially if we labor to impress upon
the minds of others the existence of an all-wise Providence, that
controls and governs all things for the highest good of all, calling
upon us to place our trust in Him, without whose notice not even a
sparrow falleth to the ground.
3. We must likewise attend to the early education of our children. It
is during infancy and childhood that our heads are filled with "nursery
tales" and marvellous stories. They are told us by those to whose care
we are early intrusted, either to frighten us into obedience, to
gratify our thirst for the new and wonderful, or to while away a
tedious evening. They sink into our confiding hearts, and leave
impressions the most pernicious and the most lasting. Could a child be
educated without any knowledge of such things, he would never be
troubled with their baneful influence. Our duty is therefore plain. In
taking the principal care of our children at home, we should not permit
them to learn any such things from our own lips; and we should evince,
too, by our daily conduct, that they exert no influence on our own
feelings, character, or happiness. In intrusting our offspring in early
life to the care of other persons, we must charge them, as faithful
guardians of the young, to conceal every thing of the kind from their
knowledge. And after our children become of sufficient age to associate
with others, we must caution them to avoid believing or relating any
superstitious tales as they would shun known falsehoods. By persevering
in this course, we shall save them from the degrading influence of
popular superstitions.
4. We must, moreover, endeavor to increase the means of public
education. We generally find that the most enlightened are the most
free from superstition; and it therefore follows that a high degree of
mental cultivation will effect a general deliverance. And how shall
this great object be accomplished? We must reason with them upon the
immense value and importance of knowledge. We must show them, by an
appeal to facts, that all our civil, social, domestic, and religious
blessings depend on the intelligence and virtue of the people. But
perhaps many will complain of the scarcity of money and the want of
means. If so, we must also show them, by an appeal to incontrovertible
facts, that more money is annually wasted, in all our towns, in
extravagant living, dress, furniture, and equipage; squandered in
shows, amusements, balls, and parties; in gaming, dissipation, public
parades, and intoxicating liquors, than is expended for the
instruction of the rising generation. No, there is not a lack of
funds. Where there is a will there is also a way. The value and
importance of the subject is not generally understood; or, if
understood, is not properly appreciated. Almost every thing else seems
of more consequence than learning and wisdom. Yet this will never
answer. The world is growing wiser. Those who will not employ the
requisite means must rest contented with comparative ignorance. Let
_us_ not be of this unworthy number. If we feel the importance of the
change in these respects, let us persevere in our laudable exertions,
leaving no objections unanswered, no measures untried, until we
succeed in giving our children a high degree of education. And if the
Father of spirits shall see fit to prolong our lives to witness the
results, we shall look upon the almost universal banishment of popular
superstitions.
5. Finally, we must labor for the diffusion of pure and undefiled
religion, adhering alone to the teachings of Jesus. We shall then
believe in one perfect, all-pervading Spirit, who regulates all the
events of this world which are above our control, and that all his
various dispensations originate in perfect wisdom and goodness. We
shall believe that we have no worse enemies than our own sinful lusts
and passions, and that power is given us through faith to conquer
these, even in this state of existence. We shall believe that it is as
much our duty to be always happy as it is to be always honest and
virtuous. We shall have the assurance that our heavenly Father has
commissioned no fate nor chance, spectres nor devils, to torment us.
And if we live up to this belief, we shall secure a large share of
temporal enjoyment, and be prepared for the increased and increasing
felicity of the spiritual world. If we produce this state of faith and
practice in ourselves and in those around us, we shall have done much
for the banishment of popular superstitions and the downfall of
ignorance, error, and sin.
PART SECOND.
MIRACLE IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Four gentlemen in Springfield, not long since, publicly attested to a
"miracle," performed, as they believed, by spirits, at a "circle" where
they were present. It consisted in moving a table, and a number of
chairs in the room, and in shocks, resembling distant thunder, or
cannon at a distance, causing the persons and the chairs and tables to
tremble in such a manner that the effects were both seen and felt, the
room being well lighted at the time, and an opportunity afforded for
the closest inspection, so that the company unitedly declare that
_they know they were not imposed upon nor deceived_.
Now, there is nothing very remarkable in this affair, for all might
have been done by the medium himself, by first pathetizing the persons
present, as it might be done without their knowledge, and while in
that state could be made to see and hear any thing imagined by the
operator. We are assured, by one who knows, that it is impossible for
those who are fit subjects to be present at a circle without being
more or less under the mesmeric influence. And, in such cases, they
can be _willed_ to remember or forget what they have seen or heard. We
do not consider such persons as competent witnesses in such a case as
they have testified to. It may all have been induced, or it may all
have been real. And if real, there was no need to refer it to the
agency of spirits, since such things have been done without spirits,
as in the case of Joe Collins, or others which we shall refer to, in
this part of our volume. But here we may be told, that a thousand
dollars has been offered to any one who will prove that such things
are produced by any other power than that of _spirits_. But the same
sum has been offered to any one who will prove that _spirits_ move
tables, chairs, and the like, or that _spirits_ produce the noises and
other manifestations ascribed to them.
We have heard the case of a person who went to a medium and wished to
know if he could be put in communication with his father, who had died
several years before. He was answered in the affirmative. But the
inquirer desired, as proof that it would actually be the spirit of his
father that would be introduced to him, that a pencil and paper should
be laid upon a table, and that the spirit of the father should come and
write his own name upon the paper, the son feeling assured that, if
this were done, he should at once recognize both the name and the
writing. Accordingly, the spirit in question came, and did as was
desired, and the son declared it to be the real name and handwriting of
his father. Now, the philosophy of the case is this: The inquirer was
first pathetized, although ignorant of the fact at the time--a thing
very common, though not generally understood. Thus the medium became
acquainted with the name of the father as it existed in the mind of the
son; but did the pencil actually write the name upon the paper? No. It
was only made to _appear_ so to the mind of the inquirer. As to the
handwriting, the inquirer's mind was directed to a piece of paper, and
to look at the writing. Of course, he saw his father's name, and the
handwriting, for he could see nothing else for the time being, his
mind being impressed with that one idea or object, and closed to every
thing else. It was in fact, to him, his father's name and chirography,
and no one's else. It could not be otherwise while his mind was under
the control of the operator.
We have been told of a lady, who, in a magnetized state, sits at a
table and writes down information that is imparted to her, as is said,
from the world of spirits. Her hand and pen glide over the paper with
astonishing speed and velocity, far more rapid than the most expert
penman in a normal state. And what astonishes many is, that she cannot
stop writing when she wishes to, and sometimes becomes so exceedingly
fatigued as to beg of the spirit or spirits to grant her a little
repose from the wearisome task. But the whole matter is easily
accounted for, without referring it to the supposed agency of spirits.
The lady's arm is first paralyzed--deprived of motion by the will of
the medium or operator, so that her own mind or will has not the least
control over it. She thus becomes a mere machine, under the will and
control of another, whose will directs the movements of the arm and
pen, and dictates what is written in answer to inquiries made of things
appertaining to the spirit world, just as Miss Martineau declares, in
her letters on magnetism, that "the volitions of the mesmerist may
actuate the movements of the patient's limbs, and suggest the material
of his ideas." Many singular effects are produced upon the minds and
feelings of subjects in a sleep-waking state, by Professor Williams,
Dr. Cutter, and others, such as being made drunk with water, eating
cayenne as sugar, exercising complete control over their mental as well
as physical condition.
We have been assured by a pathetist, who is a thorough adept in the
profession, that he _can_ and often _has_ put persons in communication
_apparently_ with a deceased father, mother, brother, sister, or
friend. The individual is first _pathetized_ (another name for
mesmerism) by him in a wakeful state, though unconscious, it may be,
that he is under such an influence. His mind being in the possession
and under the control of the operator, a person is now either actually
or mentally (for it makes no difference) presented before him, and he
is told of the fact, and asked, _Do you not see your father?_ The idea
of _father_ is so presented to the mind, through the organ of _form_,
that the organ can take cognizance of none other than the father. The
_person_, if an actual person is employed for the occasion, is then
shifted or changed for another person; yet the subject perceives no
difference, even if changed successively for a dozen others; it is all
the same; it is _father_, and no one else, through the whole
exhibition. The father speaks, the son recognizes his voice, and they
converse together. The subject can be willed to hear any sound, as
that of music, artillery, thunder, and the like, though no sounds
whatever are in reality made. A niece of ours was operated on in this
way, and she was told to look abroad and behold the majestic waves of
the ocean, the pageantry of a military procession; and she saw and was
delighted with the scenes that were _willed_ to pass before her.
Apples were oranges to her, and she sucked their juice with a
delightful zest. An apple paring held before her was a beautiful bird,
then a squirrel, a rabbit, or whatever the operator _willed_ it to
become. The mind of the operator and the subject, in such cases,
become as one, and they then hear, see, taste, and feel the same thing
at the same moment. Miss Martineau says that, while in a mesmeric
state, she saw "things out of other worlds--not the things themselves,
but _impressions_ of them." "They come," says she, "from my brain. The
influence does not separate soul and body, but it sets the body at
rest, while it exalts and elevates the thinking powers."
"A striking incident," says Miss M., "occurred in one of my earliest
walks after recovery from a protracted illness. My mesmerist and I had
reached a headland nearly half a mile from home, and were resting
there, when she proposed to mesmerize me a little--partly to refresh me
for our return, and partly to see if any effect would be produced in a
new place, and while a fresh breeze was blowing. She merely laid her
hand upon my forehead, and in a minute or two the usual appearances
came, assuming a strange air of novelty from the scene in which I was.
After the blurring of the outlines, which made all objects more dim
than the dull gray day had already made them, the phosphoric lights
appeared, glorifying every rock and headland, the horizon, and all the
vessels in sight. One of the dirtiest and meanest of the steam tugs in
the port was passing at the time, and it was all dressed in heavenly
radiance--the last object that my imagination would select as an
element of a vision. Then, and often before and since, did it occur to
me, that if I had been a pious and very ignorant Catholic, I could not
have escaped the persuasion that I had seen heavenly visions. Every
glorified object before my eyes would have been a revelation; and my
mesmerist, with the white halo around her head, and the illumined
profile, would have been a saint or an angel."
We know not whether, in this instance, the mesmerist _willed_ her
subject to behold things as she did, yet as to the general truth _that
the will of the operator can produce in the subject mesmerized those
states of mind and body which he wills him or her to experience_,
there is abundant evidence. O. S. Fowler, editor of the Phrenological
Journal, says he "can bear ample testimony to the fact, as he has
seen, experienced, and _induced_ similar states by the thousand." And
many others testify to the same effect.
Persons can be made to travel to other countries, and even to other
spheres, and come back and tell what they have seen. And as persons
vary in the talent of description and observation, in the normal
state, so do they vary in a semi-abnormal condition. Some are found
to be _better travellers_, and will see more than others, and in
spiritual things will differ in their descriptions as they differ in
religious creeds and sentiments. Thus a Swedenborg, or a Fishbough,
sees a hell in the future state, where sinners suffer the penalty of
their earthly sins; while an Ambler, or a Davis, discovers that all
men are alike joyful and happy. Mr. Davis has seen fit to caution
the public not to believe too quickly or too fully the things
excitable persons relate; "because some minds are naturally inclined
to exaggerate or enlarge upon every thing which they may feel, see,
or hear." The _state_ alluded to is merely _induced_. It is not
real.
Persons are frequently made to do what they believe is done by others,
as in the case of a son of Dr. Phelps, of Stratford, Connecticut. The
boy, on one occasion, was found (with a rope passed under his arms)
suspended to the limb of a tree, having been taken, as was supposed,
from his bed in the evening by spirits, and thus treated by them. The
boy declared that when it was done, he "screamed at the top of his
voice;" but it was ascertained that he made no noise at all, for if he
had, the domestics, who were in the kitchen when he passed through it,
must have heard him, which they did not. We have the testimony of A. J.
Davis, himself, that the boy "really supposed that he had called aloud;
and so far from having been tied to the tree _by spirits, he had been
made unconsciously instrumental in tying himself to the tree_!" "I
have heard," says Mr. Davis, "instances of mischief cited, as occurring
in Dr. Phelps's house, in evidence of _satanic agency_, which I now
discover to have been caused or accomplished by one of the children in
sport, sometimes by electrical discharges and magnetic attractions,
and sometimes by the almost unpardonable mischievousness of persons
unknown to the family. The wanton destruction of property alleged to
have taken place on this gentleman's premises is referable, in most
cases, to emanations of vital electricity, seeking its equilibrium in
the atmosphere. In this manner window panes were broken and furniture
injured. In Woodbridge, New York, some few years ago, a young lady
was affected with a disease which gave rise to similar phenomena.
Mysterious sounds were heard in her presence; window panes were
frequently broken in her vicinity; and, in like manner, door panels
were burst out, sometimes falling _towards_ her, sometimes _from_ her,
and quick, concussive, and very loud sounds were heard under her feet
as she ascended a flight of stairs. Ultimately, the mysterious
phenomena frightened her into an illness which cured the malady."
"People cannot be too cautious how they receive the doings of those who
profess to be in connection with spirits of the other spheres; and to
those who wish to inquire into the matter, we would say, Go and hear,
but try to keep your wits about you, and not swallow bodily either the
preachers or their strange affirmations."--_Horace Greely._
"Under an impression that whatever is communicated by a spirit must, of
course, be true, many persons are receiving these communications as the
truth of God--as a new revelation from the spirit world. But if these
communications are from spirits, we have no proof that they are good
spirits. The presumption is, that they are bad spirits--lying spirits.
At my house they often accused each other of lying--contradicted at one
time what they affirmed at another; inflicted injury upon property in
the most wanton manner; and have given conclusive evidence throughout
that the discipline of hell, which they profess to have experienced
for several years, has not been wholly effectual in improving their
characters, and qualifying them for the 'higher spheres' for which
many suppose that the discipline after death is a preparation."--_Dr.
Phelps._
"Many of the doings of the rapping spirits are too nonsensical and
absurd to be believed. They spoil all our notions of the dignity, the
_spirituality_, of the spiritual world. That a messenger should come
from the spirit land to tell an old woman that her black cat did eat
another old woman's white rabbit, is not in accordance with the ideas
most people have of the doings and missions of beings in the enjoyment
of an immortal state."--_Puritan Recorder._
PERSONS TRAINED BY A LECTURER.
We have been informed, by a certain mesmerizer, that a distinguished
lecturer upon magnetism frequently trains persons to enact certain
parts in his public exhibitions. He first puts them under mesmeric
influence, and while in that state they are instructed to say certain
things, or to perform certain acts, which he wishes to exhibit at some
subsequent lecture. To this they severally agree, and thus a regular
programme, or series of performances, is made out. They are then
brought out of the mesmeric state, having been previously willed by the
operator to forget all that has passed while in that state. At the next
meeting appointed, these persons are present, and are again put into
the same state as before, when they immediately perceive, and are ready
to perform, the several parts assigned to them. In fact, they are so
completely under the will and control of the lecturer, that they
_must_ do or say _what he wills them to do or say_, and they cannot
help it, neither can they have the least recollection of what has
transpired, after being restored to the normal state.
SCENE AT EAST BOSTON.
We were present at a "circle," at the house of a _medium_ in East
Boston, on the 30th of April, 1852. Instead of that decorum and
seriousness that might be expected while holding intercourse with
departed spirits, we were surprised at the levity and sport indulged
on the occasion. The spirits were laughed at, and scolded, because
they made so many blunders in spelling out names, and were urged and
coaxed to do better. A lady, who had buried a friend, was told that
the name of the deceased was _Hannah_. But she informed the medium
that it was a _brother_ she had buried, and that she had never lost a
_sister_. But the medium said it made no difference, as the spirits
often gave the name of a sister for a brother, and sometimes a cousin
for either, as they were all in the family connection, and all such
dwelt together in the Love Circles.
In spelling out the name of any deceased friend, you are presented with
a card containing the alphabet, and are required to commence with the
letter A, and go through the alphabet some one, two, or three times,
touching each letter with a pencil as you pass over it. On touching
some particular letter, a rap is given, indicating that it is the first
letter of the name of your departed friend. And so of the other letters
comprising the name. The spirits often made mistakes in rapping at the
wrong letter, and were required to try again till they got the spelling
right. We were very particular to observe that the spirit was sure to
rap whenever the inquirer stopped or hesitated in passing over any
letter. Five or six would be eagerly watching the movement of your
hand, and the least possible hesitation upon any one letter was sure to
be accompanied with simultaneous raps. And as the inquirer was
frequently cautioned to proceed slow, it was natural enough to hesitate
on those letters comprising the name as it was spelled in their own
mind. In this way the alphabet became an interpreter to the supposed
spirits.
We requested that some demonstrations should be given in the art of
table lifting, but were told that the gentleman through whose agency
the feat is performed was not present this evening. We inquired if it
was necessary that any particular gentleman should be present that
tables or chairs might be raised, and were told it was, and that the
gentleman in question seemed to carry a large amount of electricity in
a circle about his person.
We have been informed by another person, who says he has, and often
does, raise tables and other articles, by request of others, that he
does it by controlling the vital electricity of individuals present
at the time. He says he "_steals_" their vital electricity, and
appropriates it to his own use, although those from whom he thus takes
it are not conscious of the fact. The more persons there are in the
room, the larger the amount of electricity obtained, and the greater
the effects produced by it. There is nothing as yet performed by those
alleged to be in connection with spirits but what he can successfully
imitate, such as producing effects upon persons at a distance,
imitating the handwriting of absent or deceased persons unknown to him
causing persons to write music, poetry, &c., who, in a normal state,
are incapable of doing either, as well as many other exploits, at the
option or desire of those who are present; inquirers, oftentimes,
in such cases, becoming the operators, transferring their own
impressions, ideas, sentiments, and knowledge to the acting medium,
and yet entirely ignorant of the fact, and astonished at the results
produced. The gentleman referred to discards the agency of spirits in
these transactions, and declares that the whole is done by the power
of his own will in using and controlling the amount of electricity
present at the time; thus proving that the mind or spirit in the body
has as much power and control over electricity as the mind or spirit
has _out_ of, or separate from, the body. And he is of the opinion
that if scientific men would investigate the powers of electricity,
and the laws by which it is controlled, they would no more think of
attributing the phenomena of the times to the agency of _spirits_,
than to the Pope of Rome. Many engaged in producing these phenomena
are themselves ignorant of the power or means by which they are
produced, and therefore attribute them to _spiritual_ agency, which
is, in fact, transferring the whole matter to a point beyond human
investigation, where no mortal being can possibly explore.
Some seem to think that these modern developments must be the work of
spirits, because, amid all the opposition arraigned against them, they
still continue to progress, and are becoming more and more wonderful
every day. Yet the same argument is as conclusive and convincing in
favor of Mormonism, and other foolish and wicked extravagances, as it
is in favor of the alleged spiritual manifestations. But while
hundreds, and perhaps thousands, are marvelling at the strangeness of
these developments, we find that several who have been engaged in them
for months or years, and believed them to be emanations from the spirit
world, now declare their convictions to the contrary, as will be seen
by the following account from the pen of a distinguished writer,
Professor Pond, of Maine.
EXTRACT FROM THE PURITAN RECORDER.
"The feats of the ancient jugglers were many of them mere acts of
deception. They were known to be such by those who performed them. And
the same is true of many who practise the like things now. Their
rappings and writings, and other strange performances, are secretly,
artfully got up by themselves. I do not say that this is true in all
cases; but in some cases we _know_ it is true; because the matter
has been fully investigated, and public confession has been made. For
example: A young woman, who had been instructed by the Rochester
rappers, and practised the art with them for a time, afterwards
renounced it, and exposed the delusion to the world. 'All who saw her
and heard her,' says my informant, 'were entirely satisfied of the
truth of her statements, and that she had revealed the actual method in
which the deception was effected and the deluded were blinded. Another
young woman in Providence, Almira Beazely, who was noted for her
rappings and revelations, and who murdered her brother to accomplish
one of her own predictions, confessed, on her trial, that she made the
noises herself, and explained the manner in which they were produced.
She also confessed to the removal of certain articles in the house
which had strangely disappeared, and which she pretended had been
_taken away by spirits_. Drs. Lee and Flint, of Buffalo, assisted
by two gentlemen by the name of Burr, have very thoroughly investigated
the matter, and explained the manner in which the mysterious noises are
made. Mr. Burr has himself made the rappings, and made them so loud as
to be heard by a congregation of fifteen hundred people.
"These instances are sufficient to prove that the spiritual
manifestations of our times, like those of ancient times, are in many
instances a sheer deception--a vile trick, palmed off upon a wondering
and credulous community, for the sake of money, or for other sinister
and selfish ends. If there is any thing more than trick in these
spiritual manifestations,--and I am inclined to think that, in some
instances, there may be,--I should refer it, as in case of the ancient
wizards, to the influence of _occult natural causes_--perhaps
electricity, or animal magnetism, or something else, operating upon a
nervous system of peculiar sensibility. I incline to this opinion for
several reasons.
"In the first place, if the noises and other manifestations were really
the work of spirits, why should they not be made through one person, as
well as another? Why should not all mediums be alike? Whereas it is
confessed that only persons of a peculiar nervous temperament are
capable of becoming mediums.
"Again: if the disclosures which are made are really from the spirit
world, it might be expected that they would, at least, be _consistent
with themselves_. Whereas it is well known that they vary endlessly.
In numerous instances, they are directly self-contradictory. 'Some of
the communications,' says one who had been a medium, 'were orthodox;
others were infidel. Some would acknowledge the truth of the Bible;
others would condemn it. Some would be in favor of virtue; others would
encourage the grossest crimes.'
"Another man, who had been a noted medium, but who was beginning to get
his eyes opened as to the character of the proceedings, told his
audience one night, 'Now, any one present ask a series of questions,
and I pledge myself that the answer shall be, every time, yes.' Some
one in the company asked, 'Is John Thompson alive?' The answer was,
'Yes.' 'Is John Thompson dead?' 'Yes.' 'Does John Thompson live in
Vermont?' 'Yes.' 'Does he live in Massachusetts?' 'Yes.' And so the
spirits went on contradicting themselves times without number. After
this, a like series of questions were answered in the negative,
exhibiting the most glaring contradictions, just as the operator
pleased.
"But this brings me to another reason for supposing that the answers
are not from departed spirits, but rather from the _mind of the
operator_, or from _some other mind in communication with his_, under
the influence of an electric or magnetic cause. It is an admitted fact
that these answers coincide very generally with the opinions or wishes
of the medium, or of some one present in consultation with him. I knew
a very respectable man, who discovered that he was a medium, and who
practised various experiments upon himself. Upon being asked what he
thought of it, he replied, 'If the answers are from the spirits, they
must be _very silly spirits_; for they always answer just as I wish to
have them.' Another medium informs us that he can obtain any answer he
pleases, by fixing his mind strongly upon it at the time. Now, does
this look as though the answer came from spirits? If the spirits of
the dead spoke, they would be likely to speak out independently; to
speak just what _they_ thought, and not what those thought with whom
they were consulting.
"There is another circumstance to be noted in this connection. When the
requisite preparation is made, there is no need of consulting the
spirits at all, in order to secure answers. You may consult with the
chairs or the table just as well. This experiment was tried, not long
since, at Wilmington, Vermont. A Mr. Kellogg was the medium, and he had
succeeded in consulting the spirits to the satisfaction of all
concerned. At length he remarked that he was about to let the company
into an important secret. 'We will interrogate the _table_,' said
he, 'and have nothing more to do with spirits.' He did so; and the
_table talked and answered, just as the spirits had done before_.
At the same time the table was made to stand on one leg, and to move
about, as is usual in such cases. This experiment demonstrated, to the
satisfaction of all present, that the strange appearances could be
produced just as well without the spirits as with them. 'The calling
for spirits,' to use the language of my informant, 'is mere garnish and
fog, by which the real agency in the case is concealed.'
"On the point now under consideration, viz., the possibly _electric_
character of these manifestations, I am happy to introduce the
testimony of Dr. Samuel Taylor, a respectable physician of Petersham,
Massachusetts, whose article on the subject may be found in a late
number of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Dr. Taylor
discovered accidentally that he was a medium, and he proceeded to make
experiments upon himself. The manifestation, in his case, was not by
rapping, but by writing--a much more convenient mode of communicating
with the spirit world. On taking his pen, and holding himself in a
peculiar attitude, and proposing mentally some question to the
spirits, his pen would begin to oscillate in his fingers, and very
soon would write out an answer; and this without any voluntary effort
of his own. And what is particularly to be noticed is, the pen would
always write an answer which accorded with his own opinion or wishes,
that is, if he had any wish on the subject. For example: Dr. Taylor
inquired of one of the spirits about the different forms of religion.
'I asked which was the best religion, at the same time fixing my mind
sternly on the word _Protestant_. My hand immediately wrote
_Protestant_. In the same manner, and _by direction of the same
spirit_, my hand wrote successively, _Methodist_, _Unitarian_, and I
believe one or two others. While in this state,' Dr. Taylor says, '_I
felt a sensation like that of a light galvanic current passing through
me_. Sometimes it appeared to be a steady thrill, and sometimes it was
intermittent, resembling light shocks of electricity.'
"After numerous experiments, Dr. Taylor comes to the conclusion, that
the strange phenomena of which he was the subject were not tricks of
his own, neither did they come from the spirit world, but were the
result of what he calls _detached vitalized electricity_. When this
conclusion had been formed in his own mind, it occurred to him that he
would put it to the test of the spirits themselves. 'Accordingly I
asked them,' says he, 'if this was the work of departed spirits. The
answer was, "No." I asked if it was the work of the devil. Again the
answer was, "No." I asked if it was the effect of _detached vitalized
electricity_. The answer was, "Yes."' So the spirits _confirmed_ the
conclusion to which the doctor had come, as they did, in fact, all his
conclusions.
"We have the testimony of another medium, of the same import with that
of Dr. Taylor. Mr. Benjamin F. Cooley, who had long been a believer and
operator in the spiritual rappings, states that his mind is now
entirely changed. This change was brought about in consequence of 'a
deep and earnest study of the nature, power, and application of
electricity, and of the susceptibility of the mind to electrical or
psychological changes.' These things, he says, will produce the same
mysterious and startling phenomena which have been produced throughout
the country, and attributed to the operations of departed spirits. (Mr.
Cooley has recently published a work entitled An Exposition of
Spiritual Manifestations, to which we would refer the reader.)
"A part of what is done by those who claim to have familiar spirits,
may be the result of unknown _natural causes_. This is the most
plausible and excusable view which can possibly be taken of these
practices; and yet, even in this view, they are frightfully evil. The
persons who alone are susceptible to the influence of these natural
causes are generally those of a diseased or delicate nervous
temperament; and the effect of experimenting upon their nervous system
is usually to shatter it the more. They become excitable, fantastic,
and often insane. Diseases are engendered, both of body and mind, which
lead on to the most fearful consequences. But a short time ago, the
papers gave an account of a man in Barre, Massachusetts, who had been
much given to the rappings and other spiritual manifestations, who
became, in consequence, a raving maniac, threatening the life of his
family, and was committed to the Lunatic Asylum at Worcester. Other
like instances are occurring frequently, from the same cause. Almira
Beazely, the Providence rapper, who murdered her brother in fulfilment
of one of her own predictions, was cleared on the ground of her
insanity.
"But this is not the only evil of the practices in question, when
viewed as the result of natural causes. For the truth is, that, in
most cases, they are _not so viewed_ by those who engage in them.
_They_ regard them as the work of spirits. They are, therefore,
deceived; and those who follow them are deceived. Both suppose they
are receiving utterances from the other world, when nothing is uttered
but vain fantasies from their own minds and hearts. Such a deception
is, manifestly, a hurtful one. It is full of danger to all concerned.
To mistake one's own fancies for divine revelation, and feel
conscience-bound to obey them as such, is the very essence of
_fanaticism_. It is fanaticism in its most frightful form. Under the
influence of such an impression, persons may be led to perpetrate the
greatest cruelties, and the most horrid crimes, and vainly think that
they are doing God service. The wretched man in Barre was led to
attempt the life of his family, in obedience to a supposed revelation
from the spirit world.
"The practices which have been considered are of heathen origin. They
originated with the ancient heathen; they were spread over a greater
part of the heathen world; and they continue to pervade and curse it to
the present time. Among numerous heathen tribes at the present day,
scarcely a calamity occurs--a death, a flood, a fit of sickness, or an
instance of death--but some poor creature (and often more than one) is
accused and put to death, as being the cause of it. 'The sick man is
bewitched: who has bewitched him? His death (if he chance to die) has
been brought about by evil spirits: who has sent the spirits upon him?'
To get an answer to these questions, some old hag or conjurer is
consulted; the cause of the mischief is quickly discovered, and an
innocent person is put to death. Probably hundreds die every year after
this manner, among the heathen, _even in this nineteenth century_!
And the case would soon be no better among ourselves, if we were to go,
extensively and _confidently_, into the practice of consulting with
familiar spirits. The spirits would unravel all mysteries for us; they
would reveal all secrets; and not a man, woman, or child would long be
safe from their malicious accusations.
"Something more than a year ago, the Lunatic Asylum in Maine took fire,
and a portion of its inmates were smothered and consumed. And there are
hundreds of persons now in the state, who affirm that the building was
set on fire by the keepers, with a view to cover up and conceal their
own wickedness. These persons _know_ it was so; they have not the
shadow of a doubt on the subject. Why? Not that they have a particle of
evidence to this effect from our world, but because the spirits have so
informed them. Now, let these utterances become common, and be commonly
received, and in three months' time those keepers might every one of
them be dragged to the gallows, or the stake, while they were as
innocent of the charge laid against them as a child unborn.
"I refer to this instance just to show the sin, the evil, the exceeding
peril, of indulging in those practices which have been exposed. Let all
those who read these things, then, beware of them and shun them. If any
of us are capable of becoming _mediums_, as they are called, we had
better not know it; or, if we know it, we had better refrain from all
experiments. To tamper with such a power is to tamper with an already
shattered nervous system, the only effect of which will be to shatter
it the more.
"There is nothing more striking than the difference between those
representations of the future world which are made known in the Bible,
and which we know are true, and those which are put forth by the
revealers of our own times. The former are solemn, exciting,
impressive, some of them awfully so, others gloriously. While the
latter, as Professor Stowe says, are 'so uniformly and monotonously
silly, that we are compelled to think, if these are really the spirits
of the dead, in dying they must have lost what little of common sense
they ever possessed. If these are actual specimens of the spiritual
world, then this world, hard and imperfect as it is, is altogether the
most respectable part of God's creation.'
"In the Bible, we have frequent accounts of persons who were raised
from the dead--who actually returned from the spirit world to this. But
they returned uniformly with sealed lips. In not a single instance did
they make any disclosures. But our modern revealers pursue a very
different course. They practise no reserve. They go into the minutest
particulars,--sometimes into the most disgusting details,--and publish,
as one expresses it, 'a penny magazine of the spiritual world.'"
In the language of the Puritan Recorder, "The worst of the evil is the
soul-hardening familiarity they produce with the most awful subjects
ever offered for human contemplation. We know of nothing in human
experience so fatally destructive of all that reverence for the
spiritual, that awe of the unseen, that tender emotion, as well as
solemn interest, which connect themselves with the idea of the other
life. Who, that has a Christian heart, would not prefer the silence of
the grave to the thought of the dear departed one in the midst of such
imaginings, and such scenic associations as are usually connected with
the performances of the spirit rappers? 'They are not dead, but
_sleep_.' 'They enter into _peace_,' says the prophet. And then the
precious and consoling addition--'They sleep in Jesus;' meaning,
beyond all doubt, a state of rest, of calmness, of security, of
undisturbed and beatific vision--far removed from all resemblance to
this bustling life--a state in all respects the opposite of that
which fancy pictures as belonging to the scenes presented in the
manifestations of spiritual rappings, and spiritual table liftings and
all those spiritual pantomimes, which seem to be becoming more and
more extravagant and grotesque in proportion to the infidel credulity
with which they are received."
Should any think, by reading what we have offered upon this subject in
the preceding pages, that we have imputed guilt and deception to
mediums, who are believed to be, many of them, above such trickery, we
would merely refer such to page 29 of the Reply of Veriphilos Credens
to the communications supposed to have been written by Dr. Enoch Pond,
professor in the Bangor Seminary, as published in the columns of the
Puritan Recorder. The reviewer says, "To suppose that mediums could
practise deception on men of shrewdness and caution implies a greater
credulity than does a faith in the most startling of their
performances." "There is not the slightest degree of evidence," says
this writer, "that such a case has ever occurred;" and yet on the
selfsame page he says, "_There is no doubt that some mediums, when
the sounds and motions have failed to come in the usual mysterious way,
have counterfeited them by some sly motions of their feet and hands. I
have seen such things done, in some instances!_"
The same author says, page 63, "I have not attempted to justify any
reliance on disclosures made to us in the way of rappings. I think it
_altogether_ unsafe to do so, for the declaration has already come
to us, from what purports to be the spirits themselves, that _all
these manifestations are of a low order_, and are produced by the
_lowest grade of spirits_."
As to the plea that "spirits _must_ make the sounds," to account for
the _intelligence_ communicated, it being impossible for mere
"_electricity_ to originate facts," we reply by affirming that there is
no intelligence given beyond a certain limit; i.e., the mind of some
one or ones in connection, either present or absent, for it makes no
difference. For available purposes, a person a thousand or ten thousand
miles distant may yield all the amount of intelligence required in a
given case. Distance is no obstacle whatever. Electricity counts
neither time nor space. For instance, the transmission of electricity
through a conducting substance is instantaneous. A wire, or other
conductor, may have motion communicated to its whole length at the
same moment, whatever that length may be; and it is stated that an
electro-magnetic impulse may be transmitted at the rate of one hundred
and eighty thousand miles in a second, thus outstripping the sun in its
march!
A large number of intelligent individuals, who, for a year or two
past, have instituted a series of experiments upon this matter of
"intelligence," have found that in no case has information been
imparted beyond what existed in their own minds or that of some kindred
or friend. Finding this to be the case, they have wisely come to the
conclusion that spirits have never originated a solitary idea; that is,
_disembodied spirits_; and as to the spirit within a man, in his
corporeal state, why cannot it command as much influence over vital
electricity as in its disembodied existence? Since both parties claim
to perform by the same agent, and both claim this agent to be that of
_vital electricity_, we have also come to the same conclusion, with
a host of others, that the "calling for spirits is mere garnish and
fog, by which the real agency in the case is concealed."
EXTRACT FROM THE HOME JOURNAL.
"A considerable heap of books, pamphlets, and periodicals, some
against, but most of them for, the 'spiritual phenomena,' has been
accumulating upon our table, and now looms up large before us,
demanding notice. That departed spirits have any thing to do with them
is an explanation that we have never been able to accept for one
moment. We should as soon think of asserting that an apple, rolling
suddenly at our feet, must necessarily have fallen out of heaven,
because we could not see the tree it had blown from. To bring such an
astounding theory to explain such trivial phenomena is like sending a
frigate to pick up a champagne bottle that might be floating down the
bay.
"By some of the works before us we are informed, among many other
things, that in the other world every man has his name upon his front
door; that Swedenborg is a great man, delivers lectures, and _has a
street named after him_; that in heaven parties, concerts, and
_converzationes_ are frequent; that at some of the concerts, star
singers of great celebrity perform, attracting inconceivable multitudes
of spirits to hear them; that children take lessons in French and
Italian every morning; that the space allotted to some of the spirits
is as large as New York; that the 'seventh sphere' (the highest heaven)
is about five thousand miles from the earth; that the beds are of
roses, and when the spirits recline upon them, the birds sing joyfully
around, and mingle their music with the perfume of the flowers; that
the celestials (not the Chinese) wear white robes, edged with pink;
that a man generally attends his own funeral; that spirits, on their
arrival in heaven, are set to studying geology, chemistry, and other
dull subjects, which they soon begin to like, and say their daily
lessons with an excellent grace; that parchment is in extensive use;
that spirits are allowed to visit 'earth' once a day only, and have the
privilege of staying one hour; that they have books, rings, newspapers,
robin redbreasts, fruit, lakes, streams, diamonds, and drawing masters
in the next world. 'Dora's dress,' says one of the revelations, 'was of
blue satin, with a white sash; half sleeves, full; a pink velvet ribbon
round her throat, fastened by a cameo. Her hair was in curls each side
of her face, and fastened in a knot behind.' Dora, be it observed, is a
departed _spirit_.
"If it could be shown that all these things were really revealed, as
they are said to be, we should still think them unworthy of notice. The
greater part of the 'supernal theology' is utterly frivolous; and
whether frivolous or not, it bears very plainly the impress of the
medium's own mind, or of the unknown desires of those by whom he is
surrounded. If we were called upon to minister to a mind diseased, or
to find pabulum for a soul hungering after moral excellence, we should
as soon think of offering a copy of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
as a book of the 'supernal theology.' For the practical guidance of
life, there is more help in any two maxims of the Sermon on the Mount,
than in the whole literature of supernaturalism.
"The manifestation mania would have died away long since but for one
unfortunate circumstance. We have in our land a large number of men who
may be termed semi-clergymen, or, as they are frequently called,
'outsiders,' or 'come-outers.' These are they who, either because they
know too much or because they know too little, or from superfluity of
naughtiness or redundancy of virtue, find it difficult to obtain a
'settlement.' These are the men who foster delusions; who, because they
cannot find a way to _serve_ the public, are reduced to _prey_ upon it.
They embrace the new light--whatever it may be--with a degree of
sincerity, and commit themselves to it; then they push it, stimulate
it, make a business of it, and live by it. O the multitude of spiritual
delusions that in every age of the world have originated and derived
their strength solely from the fact that the bodily necessities of
certain individuals depended upon their perpetuity! That, at this
moment, there are men most diligently engaged in the new spiritual
line, for the purpose of securing by it a reprieve from starvation, (or
work,) is a fact which we do not merely believe, but _know_."
FORETELLING FUTURE EVENTS.
Many devices have been resorted to in order to foretell the events of
the future. Some pretend to do it by cards; some by the settlings of a
tea or coffee cup; some by astrology; some by tables of letters and
figures; some by the lines of the hand; and some by spirits of the
dead. Strenuous advocates of these various modes are found, who recount
the wonderful predictions that have taken place. Some spirit hunter
recently prognosticated that the ship Staffordshire (reported to be
lost) would arrive safe at San Francisco on a certain day, as she did.
Professor Anderson had a glass bell at the Melodeon, in Boston, in
September, 1852, that answered questions pertaining to future events.
In deciding upon who would be the next president, it gave six distinct
taps for Pierce--the number agreed upon if he was to be the successful
competitor. This was done without any aid from spirits. We very much
doubt whether Robach or Lester would refuse a challenge from A. J.
Davis himself, to test their respective claims to correct predictions.
Yet we do not believe that any reliance can be placed upon the
prophecies of either party. Events may sometimes transpire in
accordance with their predictions; and it would be strange if they did
not, as they are always predicting, and events are ever occurring. But
they never think of naming the multiplicity of failures that take
place. Not long since, the spirits said that a distant friend would
never live to reach home; but he soon after arrived, safe and well. Mr.
Lester told a young man of Woburn that in two years he would marry a
certain young lady; but in two months he was a corpse. Hundreds of such
failures are constantly occurring, but are kept out of sight. If
generally known, they would spoil the trade. We are surprised that men
professing to high attainments, as A. J. Davis and some of his
coadjutors, should fall back and plant themselves upon such stale
trash. Some two years since, while lying apparently near our end, a
lady suggested to us that, if we desired, she would consult Mr. Lester
upon the probability of our recovery. We declined the offer, choosing
to leave all with the Sovereign Disposer of events, believing that he
would permit nothing to take place but what would be for our best good,
and that of all concerned.
"Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,
All but the page prescribed--their _present state_;
From brutes what men, from men what angels know;
Or who could suffer being here below?
The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?
Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food,
And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood.
O, blindness to the future! kindly given,
That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven.
_Hope humbly then_; with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher death, and God adore!
What future bliss he gives not thee to know,
But gives _that hope_ to be thy _blessing now_."--POPE.
VISIONS, MIRACLES, AND WONDERS.
The writings of the spirit rappers abound with accounts of sights,
sounds, visions, and wonders. We are forcibly reminded of a similar
display in the writings of the Adventists, previous to the predicted
end of the world in 1843--an overwhelming array of facts, calculations,
signs, visions, wonders, miracles, maps, pictures, drawings, and
hieroglyphics, all going to show, in the most positive manner, that in
that year the world would be annihilated. And still it remains; and the
works containing the omens and facts to substantiate the prediction are
called to share the fate of a Farmer's Almanac quite out of date. Some
few still hold on to a semblance of the theory, like him who, in the
spring of 1851, declared that a talking cow, somewhere in Maine, had
prophesied that the world would be burned up the following June. How
lamentable to view the numbers of men and women who have given heed to
such things, when assured that the day and the hour is not known even
by the Son himself. (Matt. xxiv. 36.) Many of these persons were once
active in the church, and exerted an influence for good; but by
remaining in their present position, their influence in the cause of
Christ is palsied, and their, talents buried in the earth. And yet we
have propounded to us another "NEW CHURCH," which, according to the
predictions of its adherents, is destined to destroy all other
churches, as it _was to be_, according to the predictions of Miller,
Fitch, Himes, and others.
In conclusion upon these things, we would add, that it has been our
belief from the first, that there is nothing supernatural in the
so-called _spiritual manifestations_. They all bear the marks of
_earthly_ origin. The public not knowing how to explain them, the
first rappings were attributed to the "spirits;" and the idea having
been set afloat, it has been adopted without investigation, being the
easiest way of accounting for it.
To the common mind, three hundred years ago, it was plain and easy,
that the world was _flat_, and rested on something--on the _back
of Atlas_, and he stood on a _tortoise_, and the tortoise again
on _something_; and the fact that nobody could tell what, was not
allowed to stumble any one; it rested on a _foundation_, and that
was enough for any one to know or believe. Motion, space, attraction,
and repulsion were not understood, and Galileo came near losing his
life, and did lose his personal liberty and character, for
intelligence. When the world is as fully instructed in certain
principles connected with our existence as it is in the laws of the
physical universe, the "rappings," we think, will cease to be a wonder.
CLAIRVOYANT PHYSICIANS.
Persons in a clairvoyant state, by being put in connection with a
diseased person, feel, by sympathy, the pain and disease of the
patient. But to be qualified to describe the locality of the disease,
or be able to tell what organ or part is affected, the practitioner
must first have studied anatomy and physiology. The more perfect they
are in these branches, the more accurately can they describe the seat
of the disease. Their remedies are mostly botanical, and are generally
safe in their operation. The _regular_ "clairvoyant physician," so to
speak, does not pretend to be in league with "spirits;" but there _are_
those who profess that their prescriptions come from the other
world--from those who, though dead, rest _not_ from their labors.
Notwithstanding the extreme simplicity of their remedies, such as any
common nurse would advise, yet such is the profound sanctity and
mystery thrown around them by an _unseen spirit_, that some profess to
have received "wonderful healing mercies." To _believe_ that a medicine
(however simple) is prescribed by a _spirit_ from above, is enough to
perform a cure in any case. Imagination alone is equal to the task. A
very eminent allopathic physician informs us that he often rolls up
brown bread pills, which, in certain cases, perform unmistakable cures.
In fact, history is full of recoveries wrought out by aid of the
imagination. We will subjoin a case by way of illustration.
"Sir Humphrey Davy, on one occasion in early life, was assisting Dr.
Beddoes in his experiments on the inhalation of nitrous oxide. Dr.
Beddoes having inferred that this agent must be a specific for palsy, a
patient was selected for trial, and placed under the care of Davy.
Previously to administering the gas, Davy inserted a small thermometer
under the tongue of the patient, to ascertain the temperature. The
paralytic man, wholly ignorant of the process to which he was to
submit, but deeply impressed by Dr. Beddoes with the certainty of its
success, no sooner felt the thermometer between his teeth, than he
concluded the talisman was in operation, and in a burst of enthusiasm
declared that he had already experienced the effects of its benign
influence throughout his whole body. The opportunity was too tempting
to be lost. Davy did nothing more, but desired his patient to return on
the following day. The same ceremony was repeated, the same result
followed; and at _the end of a fortnight he was dismissed wholly
cured_; no remedy of any kind, except the thermometer, having ever
been used."
STYLE OF "SUPERNAL" COMPOSITIONS.
In the "supernal" productions we are presented with a pedantic
display of high-sounding words and phrases. To use the language
of inspiration, "they speak great swelling words of vanity." A
work has recently been announced with this imposing title:
"MACROCOSM and MICROCOSM," containing, among other things, "_The
Potential Media_," "_The Diastole and Systole of Nature_." A writer
in the Spiritual Telegraph, of October 9, says, "There are very many
fancy-captivating, and depravity-flattering publications--some of
them filled with indications, the most specious and subtle, of a
refined _atheism_. And I have seen a copy or two of a certain 'Journal,'
ostensibly advocating the great truths (?) of spiritual manifestations,
but containing some articles in which there was a congregation of words
_superlatively unmeaning and transcendentally ridiculous_." The same
writer says, "I do not believe one half the communications which are
said to come from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Clay,
John C. Calhoun, John Wesley, and a host of other great names. What
affinity can these spirits have with many of the thoughtless, light,
and trifling circles, formed to pass off an hour, and perhaps ending
with foolish mountebank scenes of psychology, falsely so called?"
Davis, in his Great Harmonia, page 206, exposes a class of "mercenary
practitioners, who claim extraordinary or supernatural powers for their
subjects, _who give public and vulgar exhibitions, who employ chicanery
and ignorant plans, who trifle with and play fantastic tricks with
their subjects_." He speaks of a class of "doctrinal practitioners, who
prevert and misinterpret principles and results; who labor to make the
phenomena subservient to, and illustrative of, the theological dogmas;
who receive, modify, or reject, as a sectarian education and prejudice
may sanction; who conceal, misstate, and magnify disclosures." Enough,
in all conscience, to condemn the whole farce.
MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA, WITH THEIR AGENTS OR CAUSES.
A work has recently been issued in Boston, by E. C. Rogers, containing
an exposition of mysterious agents, and dynamic laws, or science of
moving powers. It is a very valuable work, and, with his consent, we
shall take the liberty of introducing some of the principal facts
adduced; and at the same time would advise every inquirer to purchase
the work for himself, which he will never have cause to regret.
On page 22, the author says, "Light and heat have always been known as
agents by the common sensation of their more palpable phenomena. But
electricity and magnetism were not known until their phenomena were
specially observed. Many of the facts of these agents, before the
latter had become known, were referred to spiritual agencies. It is the
tendency of ignorance, in every age, to do the same thing. Reason
demands an agent adequate to the production of every phenomenon. If she
has not been furnished with sufficient data by which to arrive at a
correct conclusion, imagination, influenced by a blind marvellousness,
will refer the phenomena to some supernatural cause. Hence the early
superstitions about chemical operations, the appearance of comets,
eclipses, meteors, the 'bog lights,' and a thousand other phenomena.
But as the agencies of nature have become known, and their laws and
conditions of action discovered, the domination of superstition has
given place to the triumph of reason and the reign of truth."
"Reason determines that, for every phenomenon, there is an agent; but
never, without sufficient data, does she determine what that agent is.
The imagination often assumes this prerogative, and gives conclusions
without _facts_, or furnishes the false data from which the logical
faculty draws false principles. We mention these things to show how
easy it is to be deceived, by our imaginations, with regard to the
causes of outward phenomena, and that the only legitimate and
trustworthy process in arriving at a solution of the mysteries of
nature is, to furnish the reason with _facts_, and exclude the
influence of imagination. A blind precipitation of faith is also a
fatal influence to all correct reasoning; for it rouses the action of
the imagination, and long before the reason can possibly give a correct
deduction, credulity and imagination have conjured one up; and this
will be the more insisted upon as the only correct conclusion, as it is
the least possessed of the real truth and the action of reason. Hence
it is that those persons who are most ignorant of the principles of
nature are the more positive and precipitate in their decisions upon
any question of mystery. They _know_ that there is no natural
explanation, and the man is a fool who _attempts_ to find one." (Page
34.)
The first case we shall quote from the above work occurred in
Woodbridge, New Jersey, and was published at the time in the Newark
Daily Advertiser. The phenomena made their appearance in the family of
Mr. J. Barron, consisting, for the most part, of unusual sounds
accompanying a servant girl.
"The first sounds were those of a _loud thumping_, apparently
against the side of the house, which commenced one evening, when the
family had retired, and continued at short intervals until daylight,
when it ceased.
"The next evening it commenced at nightfall, when it was ascertained to
be mysteriously connected with the movements of a servant girl in the
family--a white girl, about fourteen years of age. While passing a
window, on the stairs, for example, a _sudden jar_, accompanied with an
_explosive sound, broke a pane of glass_, the girl at the same time
being seized with a violent spasm. This, of course, very much alarmed
her; and the physician, Dr. Drake, was sent for, who came and bled her.
The bleeding, however, produced no apparent effect. The noise still
continued, as before, at intervals, wherever the girl went, each sound
producing more or less of a spasm; and the physician, with all the
family, remained up during the night. At daylight the _thumping_ ceased
again. In the evening the same thing was repeated, commencing a little
earlier than before; and so every evening since, continuing each night
until morning, and commencing each night a little earlier than before,
until yesterday, when the thumping began about twelve o'clock at noon.
The circumstances were soon generally spread through the neighborhood,
and produced so much excitement that the house was filled, and
surrounded from sunrise to sunset, for nearly a week. Every imaginable
means were resorted to, in order to unravel the phenomenon. At one time
the girl would be removed from one apartment to another, but without
effect. Wherever she was placed, at certain intervals, the thumping
would be heard in the room. She was taken to a neighboring house. The
same result followed. When carried out of doors, however, no noise was
heard. Dr. Drake, who was constant in his attendance during the whole
period, occasionally aided by other scientific observers, was with us
last evening for two hours, when we were politely allowed a variety of
experiments with the girl, in addition to those heretofore tried, to
satisfy ourselves that there is no imposition in the case, and, if
possible, to discover the secret agent of the mystery. The girl was in
an upper room, with a part of the family, when we reached the house.
The noise then resembled that which would be produced by a person
violently thumping the upper floor with the head of an axe, five or six
times in succession, jarring the house, ceasing a few minutes, and then
resuming as before. We were soon introduced into the apartment, and
permitted to observe for ourselves. The girl appeared to be in perfect
health, cheerful, and free from the spasms felt at first, and entirely
relieved from every thing like the fear or apprehension which she
manifested for some days. The invisible noise, however, continued to
occur as before, though somewhat diminished in frequency, while we were
in the room. In order to ascertain more satisfactorily that she did not
produce it voluntarily, among other experiments we placed her on a
chair on a blanket in the centre of the room, bandaged the chair with a
cloth, fastening her feet on the front round, and confining her hands
together on her lap. No change, however, was produced. The thumping
continued as before, excepting that it was not quite so loud. The noise
resembled that which would be produced by stamping on the floor with a
heavy heel; yet she did not move a limb or muscle, that we could
discover. She remained in this position long enough to satisfy all in
the room that the girl exercised, voluntarily, no sort of agency in
producing the noise. It was observed that the noise became greater the
farther she was removed from any other person. We placed her in the
doorway of a closet in the room, the door being ajar, to allow her to
stand in the passage. In less than one minute the door flew open, as if
violently struck with a mallet, accompanied with precisely such a noise
as such a thump would produce. This was repeated several times, with
the same effect. In short, in whatever position she was placed, whether
in or out of the room, similar results, varied a little perhaps by
circumstances, were produced. There is certainly no deception in the
case. The noise was heard at least one hundred yards from the house."
"In this case, no suspicions were entertained by the investigators that
there was any supernatural or spiritual power manifested, as there was
no manifestations of intelligence. They were purely physical
phenomena."
The next case we shall notice we copy from the Spiritual Telegraph of
July 3, 1852, taken from an old New York paper, dated March 10, 1789.
The extract is as follows:--
"Sir: Were I to relate the many extraordinary, though not less true
accounts I have heard concerning that unfortunate girl at New
Hackensack, your belief might perhaps be staggered and patience tired.
I shall therefore only inform you of what I have been an eye-witness
to. Last Sunday afternoon my wife and myself went to Dr. Thorn's, and
after sitting for some time, we heard a knocking under the feet of a
young woman that lives in the family; I asked the doctor what
occasioned the noise: he could not tell, but replied, that he, together
with several others, had examined the house, but were unable to
discover the cause. I then took a candle and went with the girl into
the cellar: there the knocking also continued; but as we were ascending
the stairs to return, I heard a _prodigious rapping_ on each side,
which alarmed me very much. I stood still some time, looking around
with amazement, when I beheld some lumber, which lay at the head of the
stairs, shake considerably. About eight or ten days after, we visited
the girl again: the knocking was again heard, but much louder than
before. Our curiosity induced us to pay the third visit, when the
phenomena were still more alarming. _I then saw the chairs move; a
large dining table was thrown against me, and a small stand, on which
stood a candle, was tossed up and thrown into my wife's lap_; after
which we left the house, much surprised at what we had seen."
"Catharine Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature, mentions several
well-authenticated cases of this character, and other writers have
noticed the same phenomena. A case is given on the 410th page of Miss
Crowe's work--that of a young officer in the English army, who,
wherever he went, whether in camp or at home, or among strangers, was
liable to be tormented with these _noises at night_. Although they
gave no particular marks of intelligence, yet they were regarded by his
relatives with an abundance of superstition. They considered him
"haunted."
"When these sounds commenced, he would sit up in bed, and express his
anger in strong execrations. If a cage bird was in his room, it was
certain to be found dead in the morning; or if he kept a dog in the
apartment, it would make away from him as soon as released, and never
come near him again."
"The phenomena in Dr. Phelps's case, already mentioned in this volume,
consisted in the moving of articles of furniture in a manner that could
not be accounted for. Knives, forks, spoons, nails, blocks of wood,
&c., were thrown in different directions about the house, when there
appeared no visible power by which the motion could have been produced.
A writer in the New Haven Journal and Courier testifies, that while he
was present, "the contents of the pantry were emptied into the kitchen,
and bags of salt, tin ware, and heavy cooking utensils were thrown in a
promiscuous heap upon the floor, with a loud and startling noise.
Loaves of delicious cake were scattered about the house. The large
knocker of the outside door would thunder its fearful tones through the
loud-resounding hall, chairs would deliberately move across the room,
heavy marble-top tables would poise themselves upon two legs, and then
fall with their contents to the floor--no person being within six feet
of them."
"On the 1st of October, 1850, Mrs. Phelps and her two children left
home for Pennsylvania: with this the phenomena ceased. The doctor
remained at his house five weeks after, without disturbance. It was
ascertained that these and other manifestations were less frequent and
feebler when but one of the children was in the house; and that they
were more frequent in connection with the lad, (one of the above
children,) eleven years of age.
These children had frequently been mesmerized into the trance state by
their father; and one of them was subject to spontaneous trance, and at
one time was found in the barn in a cataleptic state. Since the return
of the doctor's family, in the spring of 1851, he has kept the two
children separate, the boy being away, lest his presence would occasion
a recurrence of the same phenomena. Simultaneous with the phenomena,
the boy would frequently start while asleep in bed.
Analogous to the above are the wonderful occurrences which took place
at Stockwell, England, in January, 1772, as related in the work
entitled Night Side of Nature, page 370. We shall only give the most
important particulars of the case, leaving the reader to consult the
work itself."
"On Monday, January 6, 1772, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, as Mrs.
Golding (the hostess) was in the parlor, she heard the china and
glasses in the kitchen tumble down and break; her maid came to her, and
told her the stone plates were falling from the shelf; Mrs. Golding
went into the kitchen, and saw them broken. Presently after, a row of
plates from the next shelf fell down likewise, while she was there, and
nobody near them: this astonished her much, and while she was thinking
about it, other things in different places began to tumble about, some
of them breaking, attended with violent noises all over the house; a
clock tumbled down, and the case broke." The destruction increased with
the wonder and terror of Mrs. Golding. Wherever she went, accompanied
by the servant girl, this dreadful waste of property followed.
Mrs. Golding, in her terror, fled to a neighbor's, where she
immediately fainted. A surgeon was called, and she was bled. The blood,
which had hardly congested, was seen all at once to spring out of the
basin upon the floor, and presently after, the basin burst to pieces,
and a bottle of rum, that stood by it, broke at the same time.
Mrs. Golding went to a second neighbor's, as the articles she had
conveyed to the first were being destroyed. And while the maid remained
at the first neighbor's, Mrs. Golding was not disturbed; but when
putting up what few things remained unbroken of her mistress's in a
back apartment, a jar of pickles, that stood upon a table, turned
upside down, and other things were broken to pieces.
Meantime the disturbances had ceased at Mrs. Golding's house, and but
little occurred at the neighbors', while Mrs. Golding and her servant
remained apart. But as soon as they came into each other's company, the
disturbance would begin again.
About five o'clock on Tuesday morning, Mrs. Golding went to the chamber
of her niece, and desired her to get up, as the noises and destruction
were so great she could continue in the house no longer: at this time,
all the tables, chairs, drawers, &c., were tumbling about. In
consequence of this resolution, Mrs. Golding and her maid went over the
way to Richard Fowler's. The maid returned to Mrs. Pain's, to help this
lady dress her children. At this time all was quiet. They then repaired
to Fowler's, and then began the same scenes as had happened at the
other places. It must be remarked that all was quiet here as well as
elsewhere, till the maid returned.
When they reached Mr. Fowler's, he began to light a fire in his back
room. When done, he put the candlestick upon the table in the fore
room. This apartment Mrs. Golding and her maid had just passed through.
This candlestick, and another with a tin lamp in it, that stood by it,
were dashed together, and fell to the ground. A lantern, with which
Mrs. Golding had been lighted across the road, sprang from a hook to
the ground. A basket of coals tumbled over, and the coals rolled about
the room.
Mrs. Golding and her servant now returned home, when similar scenes
were repeated. Mr. Pain then desired Mrs. Golding to send her maid for
his wife to come to them. When she was gone all was quiet. When she
returned she was immediately discharged, and no disturbances happened
afterwards."
"The account gives us the following particulars, namely: that the
phenomena always depended upon the presence of the servant maid, and
that they always occurred with the greatest energy when the mistress
was in the company of the maid; also that, when the maid passed through
a room alone, there would be little or no disturbance of its contents,
but if she was soon after followed by Mrs. Golding, various articles
would begin to play the most singular pranks. Very often one article
would be attracted by another, or they would fly towards each other,
and striking together, fall upon the floor as if both had been charged
with some physical agent which made them act like opposite poles. Then,
also, they would fly _from_ one another, as by _repulsive_ forces.
Every thing which Mrs. Golding had touched seems to have been in some
way affected, so that afterwards, on the approach of the maid, it would
be broken to atoms, sometimes, even, without her touch. The blood of
Mrs. Golding was highly susceptible under the same circumstances, and
the bowl in which it was contained and the glass ware standing by it
burst to pieces."
"In the year 1835, a suit was brought before the sheriff of Edinburgh,
Scotland, for the recovery of damages suffered in a certain house owned
by a Mr. Webster. Captain Molesworth was the defendant at the trial."
(See Night Side of Nature, page 400.) The following facts were
developed: Mr. Molesworth had seriously damaged the house both as to
substance and reputation.
_First._ By sundry holes which he cut in the walls, tearing up the
floors, &c., to discover the cause of certain noises which tormented
himself and family.
_Second._ By the bad name he had given the house, stating that it
was haunted. Witnesses for the defendant were sheriff's officers,
justices of the peace, and officers of the regiment quartered near; all
of whom had been at the said house sundry times to aid Captain
Molesworth detect the invisible cause of so much disturbance.
The disturbance consisted in certain noises, such as knockings,
pounding, scratching sounds, rustlings in different parts of a
particular room; sometimes, however, in other parts of the house.
Certain boards of the floor would seem to be at times infected with the
noises; then certain points in the walls, at which Mr. Molesworth would
point his gun, or cut into with an axe, all to no purpose.
The bed on which a young girl, aged thirteen years, had been confined
by disease, would very often be raised above the floor, as if a sudden
force was applied beneath it, which would greatly alarm her and the
whole family, and cause the greatest perplexity. The concussions which
were often produced on the walls would cause them visibly to tremble.
The force that produced these results was soon discovered to be in some
strange way connected with this invalid, and wherever the young invalid
was moved this force accompanied her."
"It is plainly exhibited, in the cases just given, that no
characteristics of spiritual agency are exhibited, but those, on the
contrary, of a mere physical power, associated with the organism of
certain persons. "We have not," says Mr. Rogers, "the least possible
evidence that any spirit, demoniacal or angelic, had any hand in
performing the wild antics among crockery and furniture which we have
seen performed in the accounts given. For it is admitted that a
spiritual agent is an intelligent agent. Its characteristics are those
of intelligence, as every one admits. Wherever, therefore, these
characteristics are wanting in a class of phenomena, it is blindly
absurd, greatly superstitious, even to draw the inference that they are
spiritual phenomena. But what shall be said when it is asserted as a
veritable certainty, and the crowd is made to stretch their throats and
swallow the absurdity without a moment's examination?" "Is it possible
we are to be driven to the conclusion that the ground of faith in
spirituality is identical with that of ignorance, superstition,
fanaticism, bigotry?"
We shall now proceed to give the case of Angelique Cottin, as reported
in the Night Side of Nature, and in the _Courrier des Etats Unis_,
and the investigations of the case as reported by M. Arago, before the
Paris Academy of Sciences, 16th of February, 1846.
"Angelique Cottin was a native of La Perriere, aged fourteen, when, on
the 15th of January, 1846, at eight o'clock in the evening, while
weaving silk gloves at an oaken frame, in company with other girls, the
frame began to jerk, and they could not by any efforts keep it steady.
It seemed as if it were alive; and becoming alarmed, they called in the
neighbors, who would not believe them, but desired them to sit down and
go on with their work. Being timid, they went one by one, and the frame
remained still till Angelique approached, when it recommenced its
movements, while she was also attracted by the frame. Thinking she was
bewitched or possessed, her parents took her to the presbytery, that
the spirit might be exorcised, or cast out. The curate, being a
sensible man, objected, but set himself to work to observe the
phenomenon, and being satisfied of the facts of the case, he bade them
take her to a physician.
"Meanwhile, the intensity of the influence, whatever it was, augmented;
not only articles made of oak, but all sorts of things, were acted upon
by it, and reacted upon her, while persons who were near her, even
without contact, frequently felt _electric_ shocks. The effects, which
were diminished when she was on a carpet or a waxed cloth, were most
remarkable when she _was on the bare earth_. They sometimes entirely
ceased for three days, and then recommenced. Metals were not affected.
Any thing touching her apron or dress would fly off, although a person
held it; and Monsieur Herbert, while seated on a heavy tub or trough,
was raised up with it. In short, the only place she could repose on was
a stone covered with cork. They also kept her still by isolating her.
When she was fatigued the effects diminished. A needle, suspended
horizontally, oscillated rapidly with the motion of her arm, without
contact; or remained fixed while deviating from the magnetic direction.
Great numbers of enlightened medical and scientific men witnessed these
phenomena, and investigated them with every precaution to prevent
imposition. She was often hurt by the violent involuntary movements she
was thrown into, and was evidently afflicted by chorea, or St. Vitus's
dance."--_Night Side of Nature_, page 382.
"The French paper mentions the circumstance that while Angelique was at
work in the factory, "the cylinder she was turning was suddenly thrown
a considerable distance without any visible cause; that this was
repeated several times; that all the young girls in the factory fled,
and ran to the curate to have him exorcise the young girl, believing
she had a devil." After the priest had consigned her to the physician's
care, the physician, with the father and mother, brought Angelique to
Paris. M. Arago received her, and took her to the observatory, and in
the presence of MM. Laugier and Goujon made the following observations,
which were reported to the Paris Academy of Sciences:--
"_First._ It is the left side of the body which appears to acquire
this sometimes attractive, but more frequently repulsive, property. A
sheet of paper, a pen, or any other light body, being placed upon a
table, if the young girl approaches her left hand, even before she
touches it, the object is driven to a distance as by a gust of wind.
The table itself is overthrown the moment it is touched by her hand, or
even by a thread which she may hold in it.
"_Second._ This causes instantaneously a strong commotion in her side,
which draws her towards the table; but it is in the region of the
pelvis that this singular repulsive force appears to concentrate
itself.
"_Third._ As had been observed the first day, if she attempted to sit,
the seat was thrown far from her, with such force that any other person
occupying it was carried away with it.
"_Fourth._ One day a chest upon which three men were seated was moved
in the same manner. Another day, although the chair was held by two
very strong men, it was broken between their hands.
"_Fifth._ These phenomena are not produced in a continued manner. They
manifest themselves in a greater or less degree, and from time to time
during the day; but they show themselves in their intensity in the
evening, from seven to nine o'clock.
"_Sixth._ Then the girl is obliged to continue standing, and is in
great agitation.
"_Seventh._ She can touch no object without breaking it or throwing it
upon the ground.
"_Eighth._ All the articles of furniture which her garments touch are
displaced and overthrown.
"_Ninth._ At that moment many persons have felt, by coming in contact
with her, a true electrical shock.
"_Tenth._ During the entire duration of the paroxysms, the left side of
the body is warmer than the right side.
"_Eleventh._ It is affected by jerks, unusual movements, and a kind of
trembling which seems to communicate itself to the hand which touches
it.
"_Twelfth._ This young person presents, moreover, a peculiar
sensibility to the action of the magnet. When she approaches the north
pole of the magnet she feels a violent shock, while the south pole
produces no effect; so that if the experimenter changes the poles, but
without her knowledge, she always discovers it by the difference of
sensations which she experiences.
"_Thirteenth._ The general health of Angelique is very good. The
extraordinary movements, however, and the paroxysms observed every
evening, resemble what one observes in some nervous maladies."
"The great fact demonstrated in this case," says E. C. Rogers, "is,
that, under _peculiar conditions_, the human organism gives forth
a physical power which, _without visible instruments_, lifts heavy
bodies, attracts or repels them according to a law of polarity,
overturns them, and produces the phenomena of sound. So far as the mere
movement of objects, even of great weight, in connection with certain
persons, is concerned, whether in the phenomena of the so called
'spiritual manifestations,' or out of them, the immediate agent is a
physical one, and is identical throughout. None but the most ignorant
can deny this." For a further delineation of the facts in this case,
and deductions therefrom, we refer the reader to the work of Mr.
Rogers, on the Dynamic Laws and Relations of Man.
"The next case we shall refer to is that of Frederica Hauffe, of the
town of Prevorst, in the mountainous parts of Germany. It was found
that in her hands, at a very early age, the hazel wand pointed out
metals and water. It was also found that, in certain localities, the
influences from the earth had a very powerful effect upon her
susceptible nerves. It was frequently observed by the one she often
accompanied in his walks through solitary places, that though she was
skipping ever so gayly by his side, at certain spots a kind of
seriousness and shuddering came over her, which for a long time he
could not comprehend. He also observed that she experienced the same
sensations in churchyards, and in churches where there were graves; and
that, in such churches, she never could remain below, but was obliged
to repair to the galleries. Superstition, it is true, has always
claimed such facts as parts of her ghostly superstructure; but they are
too material for this.
Frederica was almost constantly in a magnetic state, and in this
condition frequently communicated what was taking place at a distance,
and was aware of producing sounds in space, and some ways off; but this
being found to materially injure her, the habit was abandoned. She had
a very high degree of susceptibility to mundane influences, and the
effect was, that mineral loads and subterranean currents acted through
her upon a simple stick held in her hand.
At one time she was attacked with nervous fever, which continued
fourteen days with great violence. This was followed by _seven years
of_ MAGNETIC LIFE, interrupted only by very short and merely apparent
intervals. After the fever, she was attacked with spasms in the breast,
which continued three days. On the second day, a peasant's wife came
from the village, and seating herself beside her, said, "She needs no
physicians; they cannot help her;" and laid her hands on her forehead.
Immediately she was seized with the most direful spasms, and her
forehead was as cold as if she was dead. During the whole night she
cried deliriously that the woman had exercised a demoniacal influence
upon her; and whenever the woman returned she was always attacked with
spasms. On the third day they sent for a physician; and being then in a
magnetic condition, she cried to him when he entered, although she had
never seen him, "If you are a physician, you must help me!" He, well
understanding her malady, laid his hands on her head; and it was
remarked that, as long as he remained in the room, she saw and heard
him alone, and was insensible to the presence of all other persons. The
same kind of exclusive attachment has been seen in cases of persons who
have fallen under the peculiar influence of the magnet or a crystal,
thus showing the relation of mundane agencies to the psychological
nerve centres, as well as to the nerve centres in the spine, and among
the viscera.
After her physician had laid his hands on her she became calm, and
slept for some hours. Some internal remedies and a bath were prescribed
for her; but the spasms returned in the night, and for eighteen weeks
she was attacked by them from twice to five or six times a day. All the
remedies prescribed proving inefficacious, recourse was had to
"magnetic passes," which, for a time, relieved the spasms. It was amid
such sufferings and such influences that, in the month of February,
1823, after extreme tortures, she gave birth to her first child. This
event was followed, for some time, by additional ills. The following is
a somewhat curious circumstance, and goes to show the influence which
one organization will have upon another, when a certain relation is
established between them. It is this: The woman who, on a former
occasion, had exerted so unhappy an influence upon the mother, produced
precisely the same effects upon the child. Her contact with it threw it
into spasms, and the convulsions became periodical until its death.
About a year after the birth of her child, being laughed at for her
superstition, she was thrown into a state of rigid spasm, and became as
cold and stiff as a corpse. For a long time no respiration was visible.
She lay as in a dream. In this peculiar condition she spoke for three
days entirely in verse and at another, she saw, for the same period,
nothing but a ball of fire, that ran through her whole body as if on
thin bright threads. And then, for three days, she felt as if water was
falling upon her head, drop by drop; and it was at this time that she
saw her own image. She saw it clad in white, seated on a stool, whilst
she was lying in bed. She contemplated the vision for some time, and
would have cried out, but could not; at length she made herself heard,
and her husband entering, it disappeared. Her susceptibility was now so
great that she _heard and felt what happened at a distance_, and
was so sensible to external agencies, _that the nails in the walls
affected her_, which obliged her friends to remove them. The least
light had a powerful influence upon her nervous system, and could not
be endured.
She was now induced to take a medicine which made her more calm, but
threw her into a deeper trance. Still she could not endure the
sunlight. She was taken in a darkened carriage to her home on the
mountains. "Here she existed," says her physician, "only through the
nervous emanation of others, and it became necessary that some one
should always hold her hand; and if the person was weak, it increased
her debility. The physician prescribed magnetic passes and medicines,
but she fell into a magnetic sleep, _and then prescribed for herself_.
Her greatest suffering arose from the sensation of having a stone in
her head. It seemed as if her brain was compressed, and at every breath
she drew, the motion pained her. At this time a large magnet was
applied to her forehead; immediately her head and face were turned
round, and her mouth distorted as by a stroke of palsy. On the 28th of
December she gave birth to her second child, which was followed, as
before, by a long and severe illness. She continued constantly in a
magnetic state. Persons of various tempers now became her magnetizers.
The effects of these different nervous temperaments upon hers were very
serious. It brought her into special relation to so many persons, that,
even _at a distance, they affected her, visions of whom would appear to
her like visions of spirits_. This, moveover, brought her into a deeper
magnetic condition, and rendered her more _dependent on the nervous
energy of others_. Another physician was employed from a distance. He
gave her an amulet to wear, composed of certain substances, and a small
magnet, all arranged together. Occasionally this amulet, untouched by
any one, would run about her head, breast, and bed covering, like a
live thing."
"It has already been remarked, that, in the earlier stage of her
magnetic state, she was aware of _making sounds at a distance_.
This she repeatedly performed, so that her friends at a distance, as
they lay in bed, _heard distinctly the sounds_. This fact being
communicated to her physician, Dr. Kerner, he, by actual experiment and
observation, confirmed it. This was not performed by her will, which
was inactive in her somnambulic or cataleptic state, as well as her
consciousness. Every nerve centre was in a most intimate _rapport_
or relation with the mundane agencies, especially that which acts in
conjunction with the nervous force, and holds every animal in a certain
connection with every thing out of the organism.
The father of this unfortunate woman inhabited a house which formed a
part of an old cathedral, where, it had been reported by former
tenants, _strange sights had been seen, and strange sounds heard_. It
was in this house, at the time of her somnambulic state, already spoken
of, that there were heard _unusual knockings on the walls, noises in
the air_, and other sounds, which, as Dr. Kerner remarks, "can be
testified to by more than twenty credible witnesses." _There was a
trampling up and down stairs by day and by night to be heard, but no
one to be seen, as well as knockings on the walls and in the cellars;
but, however suddenly a person flew to the place to try to detect
whence the noise proceeded, they could see nothing. If they went
outside, the knocking was immediately heard inside, and vice versa._
The noises at length became so perplexing, that her father declared
that he could live in the house no longer. They were not only audible
to every body in the house, but to the passengers in the street, who
stopped to listen to them as they passed. Whenever there was playing on
the piano, and singing, sounds would commence on the walls."
We have not room to mention all the facts in her case; but will add a
few of the most remarkable. "She was very susceptible to _electrical
influences_, and, what is almost incredible, _she had a preternatural
feeling_ or _consciousness of human writing_. Various minerals seemed
to have a specific effect, when brought in contact with her. _Glass and
rock crystal_ had a powerful effect in waking her from the somnambulic
state, or in exciting the force within her organism. This fact, and
others of this character in abundance, point to the peculiar tendency
of this force, in some cases of disease, to act outwardly from the
nerve centres upon glass ware, window glass, &c. "We have known a
child, eight years old," says Mr. Rogers, "who seldom, at one period,
took hold of a glass dish without its soon bursting to pieces." In the
case of Frederica, a rock crystal, placed on the pit of her stomach,
and allowed to remain there for some time, would produce a deep state
of catalepsy. She was affected in the same manner by silicious sand and
gravel, or even by standing some time near a glass window. If she
chanced to seat herself on a sandstone beach, she was apt to become
cataleptic; and once, having been for some time missed, she was at
length found at the top of the house, seated on a heap of sand, so
rigid, that she was unable to move away from it. Whenever she was
placed in a bath by her medical attendants, it was with a great deal of
labor they could immerse her body beneath the surface. Her specific
gravity seemed to be more like cork, or a bladder of air, than that of
muscle, nerve, and bone. Something seemed to pervade her body, or to
act upon it, so entirely opposite to the centripetal action of the
earth, as to counteract this law of force in the most marked manner.
This fact suggested to Dr. Kerner a curious experiment, which resulted
in the development of another important phenomenon. He had concluded,
that as all these phenomena had taken place more or less in conjunction
with those usually termed _magnetic_ or _mesmeric_, there might be some
relation of the forces in both, or indeed they might be identical. To
test this matter, he at one time placed his fingers against hers, when
he found at once there existed a mutual attraction, as between two
magnets; and now, by extending his hand upward, _he raised her clear
from the ground; thus she was suspended, as a magnet suspends a piece
of iron_, or _another magnet, simply by a polar force_. This was
repeated several times, and afterwards his wife did quite the same
thing."
"We have already spoken of the action which the sun's light had upon
her in producing physical effects. Among others it was observed that
the different colored rays produced each a specific effect. The light
of the moon, also, when she looked at it, produced coldness and
shivering, with melancholy." The effects of these agents on the human
organism are clearly explained, in the numbers of an astronomical
paper, by Mr. Chapman, of Philadelphia.
"On touching Frederica with a finger, during an electrical state of the
atmosphere, she saw small flashes, which ascended to the ceiling; from
men these were colorless, from women blue; and she perceived emanations
of the same kind, and of the same variation of color, from people's
eyes."
Concerning the power possessed in the nerve centres of this woman, to
produce sounds at a distance, Dr. Kerner remarks as follows: "As I had
been told by her parents, before her father's death, that, at the
period of her early magnetic state, she was able to make herself heard
by her friends, as they lay in bed at night, in the same village, in
other houses, by a knocking,--as is said of the dead,--I asked her, in
her sleep, whether she was able to do so now, and at what distance. She
answered that she could sometimes do it. Soon after this, as we were
going to bed, (my children and servants being already asleep,) we heard
a knocking, as if in the air over our heads; There were six knocks, at
intervals of half a minute. It was a hollow, yet clear sound, soft, but
distinct. We were certain there was no one near us, nor over us, from
whom it could proceed; and our house stands by itself. On the following
evening, when she was asleep, (we had mentioned the knocking to nobody
whatever,) she asked me whether she should soon knock to us again;
which, as she said it was hurtful to her, I declined." And yet, not
long after this, Kerner relates the following, as having taken place at
his house: "On the morning of the 23d of March, 1837, at one o'clock, I
suddenly awoke, and heard seven knocks, one after another, at short
intervals, seeming to proceed from the middle of my chamber: my wife
was awakened also; and we could not compare this knocking to any
ordinary sound. Mrs. Hauffe lived several houses distant from us."
"On the 30th of the same month, Rev. Mr. Hermann came into _rapport_ or
special relation with Mrs. H., through the medium of psychological
sympathy, as well as through the physical influence. Previous to this
he had not been troubled with strange sounds at his house, but after
that period he was awakened every night, at a particular hour, by a
knocking in his room,--sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the
walls,--which his wife heard as well as himself. In a great part of her
magnetic state, Mrs. H. was under a strong state of religious feeling,
and was often engaged in prayer. Rev. Mr. Hermann sympathized with her
in this, and with the commencement of the rapping in his room, he
experienced an involuntary disposition to pray." (See Mr. Rogers's
work, where many such cases are given.)
In elucidation of the effect of glass, sand, gravel, &c., upon her
organism, we will state an additional fact, as related by her
physician: "On the 21st of April, Dr. K. was at the house of Mrs. H.
The window being open, he saw a quantity of gravel come in the window,
which he not only saw, as he says, 'but picked it up!' To be certain
that no one threw it in, he immediately looked out. On comparing it, he
found it to be such gravel as lay in the front of the house."
"Now, let the phenomena we have related be put side by side with those
which occurred at the house of Rufus Elmer, in Springfield,
Massachusetts, on the 5th of April, 1852, as witnessed by Professor
Wells, of Cambridge, and others, and alleged to be the work of spirits.
_First._ The table was moved in every possible direction, and with
great force, when no cause of motion could be perceived.
_Second._ The table was forced against each one present so powerfully
as to move them from their positions, together with the chairs they
occupied, in all several feet.
_Third._ Mr. Wells and Mr. Edwards took hold of the table in such a
manner as to exert their strength to the best advantage, but found the
invisible power, exercised in the opposite direction, to be quite equal
to their utmost efforts.
_Fourth_. In two instances, at least, while the hands of all the
members of the circle were placed on the top of the table, and while no
visible power was employed to raise the table, or otherwise to move it
from its position, it was seen to rise clear of the floor, and to float
in the atmosphere for several seconds, as if sustained by a denser
medium than the air.
_Fifth._ Mr. Wells was rocked to and fro with great violence, and
at length it poised itself on two legs, and remained in this position
for some thirty seconds, when no other person was in contact with the
table.
_Sixth._ Three persons, Messrs. Wells, Bliss, and Edwards, assumed
positions on the table at the same time, and while thus seated, the
table was moved in various directions.
_Seventh._ Occasionally we were made conscious of the occurrence
of a powerful shock, which produced a vibratory motion of the floor of
the apartment. It seemed like the motion occasioned by distant thunder,
or the firing of ordnance far away, causing the tables, chairs, and
other inanimate objects, and all of us, to tremble in such a manner
that the effect was both seen and felt.
In conclusion, it was observed that D. D. Hume, the medium, frequently
urged the company to hold his feet and hands. The room was well
lighted, and a lamp was placed on and under the table, and every
possible opportunity afforded for the closest inspection. They were
therefore positive that there was no deception in the case. The
conclusion was, _that it must be the work of spirits_--a singular
conclusion, indeed, for men of such standing and acquirements. It might
all have been accomplished, _biologically_; but admitting the whole
to be literally and substantially true, they fall far short of
well-attested phenomena, where it was not so much as _conjectured_ even
to be _at all supernatural_."
The fact is incontrovertibly evident, that physical agents, subtile and
unseen, are every where at work. "Force shows itself," as the elegant
Somerville remarks, in his Connection of the Physical Sciences, "in
every thing that exists in the heavens or on the earth." There is a
physical power which not only binds satellites to their planet, and
planets with suns, and sun with sun throughout the wide extent of
creation, which is the cause of the disturbances, as well as the order
of nature, but it physically binds man to man, and man to nature. And
as every tremor it excites in one planet is immediately transmitted to
the farthest limits of the system, in oscillations, which correspond in
their periods with the cause producing them, like sympathetic notes in
music, or vibrations from the deep tones of an organ, so every
vibration, thus excited, is transmissible to the delicate centres of
every organic being, provided the repulsive agent of those beings is
changed in its relative condition so as to admit its influx. (See
Geometry and Faith, by Rev. T. Hill, of Waltham.)
"It is well known to every chemist, that wherever there is chemical
action going on, there is a constant evolution of some force. Now, that
there is a constant chemical action taking place is certain, and the
sources of this action are very numerous. Among others, we have that of
water, (often holding in solution saline ingredients, thus increasing
its action upon metallic substances,) which, percolating through the
surface, acts upon all those surfaces whose materials have a strong
chemical affinity for the oxygen or hydrogen of the water.
Wherever there is a mineral load the development of force is in some
instances very great. For instance, Mr. R. W. Fox was able, by
connecting two lodes with copper wires, and conducting the latter to
the surface of the earth, and immersing them in a cell which contained
a solution of sulphate of copper, to obtain an electrotype copy of an
engraved copperplate.
Thus "the earth itself may be made a _battery_," as Robert Hunt says.
"We know," he repeats, "that, through the superficial strata of the
earth, electric currents circulate freely, whether they are composed of
clay, sand, or any mixture of these with decomposed organic matter;
indeed, that with any substance in a moist state, electric currents
suffer no interruption." The electricity of mineral veins has attracted
the attention of some of the first philosophers of Europe, and has led
to some highly-interesting experiments with regard to the action of
this important agent in the formation, disposition, and direction of
rocks and mineral veins. M. Becqueral and others have made use of these
currents successfully in imitating Nature in her processes of making
crystals and other mineral formations."
"It is not, however, necessary to suppose that the agent of which we
are treating particularly requires a chemical action to develop it, or
the action of the electric force. Experiments have proved that it is
developed in every form of material action--that even the substances of
the earth, without sensible alteration, exert this force. To this agent
the sensitive nerve centres are extremely susceptible. The celebrated
Ritter, of Germany, devoted much time to an investigation of this
subject, and, in 1809, published Supplementary Treatises upon it,
together with Amoretti's celebrated work on the same subject--Physical
and Historical Inquiries into Rhabdomancy, &c., in Germany. (See Dr.
Ashburner's Translation of Rheinbach, first American edition;
Redfield.) Schubert, in his work on Natural History, says, "It seems
clear, from many observations, that the whole mineral (and much of the
vegetable) kingdom _has a profound and mysterious relation with the
organism of man_." "_This_ relation," says Rogers, "is that of
matter with matter connected by an imponderable agent." "The phenomena
which betray this, as a fact of nature, have been observable from the
earliest ages. It is certain, however, that local causes often give
developments to such strange phenomena, _that it requires all the
science that can be mustered to keep back the tide of superstition
which will be thus aroused in the breasts of those unacquainted with
the action of these agents_."
Some will ask the question, "If these things be true, why have we not
heard of them before?" We confess that we know of no other possible
reason than that such inquiries are not "_posted up_," as they should
be, in matters of history and science. But, before closing this part of
our subject, we propose to relate a few more incidents, by way of
illustration.
"In the year 1849-50, certain highly-respectable houses in the city of
New York seem to have been all at once unaccountably beset with a
strange power, which seized upon particular parts, and would not allow
any one, not even the members of the families, to touch those seemingly
consecrated things. Whenever this was attempted, a loud, sharp sound
would be instantly given, accompanied with a sharp and spiteful flash
of light, as if the agent was determined to protect that which it had
seized upon. But this was not all; it would smartly shock the intruder
with a blow, as if with an unseen fist, or the like. It even seized
upon the members of these families at times, and would--so to
speak--make them apparently strike one another, in an unseen manner,
simultaneously. It was often the case that a stranger could not call at
the door without being instantly struck on the wrist or elbow, on
touching the knob of the door bell; and he would see, at the same
instant, an angry flash of light, as if from some demon's eye. The
ladies were not allowed to kiss each other without each receiving, on
the approach of their lips, a fiery smack, as from a spirit's lips. The
dear little ones of these families were prevented from giving their
mothers the parting salutation on retiring for the night."
"There _seemed_ to be a great deal of cunning shown by this agency. If
the lady of the house did not think to pay all due deference to its
rules, when she wished to give orders to the servants below through the
metallic speaking tube, she was sure to receive an unseen blow in the
mouth, almost sufficient to stagger her: at the same instant she would
see the flash of what might have been taken for a 'fiery,' if not for
an 'evil eye.'"
"Professor Loomis visited these dwellings, (see Annual of Scientific
Discovery, 1851, page 129,) and observed these phenomena. He perceived
the flash whenever the hand was brought near to the knob of the door,
also to the gilded frame of a mirror, the gas pipes, or any metallic
body, especially when this body communicated freely with the earth. "In
one house," says this scientific gentleman, in his description before
the American Scientific Association, at New Haven, "in one house, which
I have had the opportunity to examine, a child, in taking hold of the
knob of a door, received so severe a shock that it ran off in great
fright. In passing from one parlor to the other, if the lady of the
house chanced to step upon the brass plate which served as a slide for
the folding doors, she received an unpleasant shock in the foot. When
she touched her finger to the chandelier, there appeared a brilliant
spark, and a snap." After a careful examination of several cases of
this kind, Professor Loomis came to the conclusion "that the
electricity is created (excited) by the friction of the shoes of the
inmates upon the carpets of the house." "If the professor is correct in
his conjecture, it would follow that every house," says Mr. Rogers,
"with similar carpets, should become electrized, and exhibit similar
phenomena, in which case we should have observed their appearance at a
much earlier period, and the occurrence would have been presented much
more frequently and extensively. Yet the phenomena is every whit
electrical; hence we are led by them to see, that when local
circumstances are favorable, an agent may be developed in our midst,
which may play the most singular pranks, which, it is more than
probable, may be attributed to _supernatural_, and even to SPIRITUAL
_powers_, if the witnesses should be ignorant of those characteristics
which identify them with a well-known agent. Had the characteristics in
the above been contrary to those of any known agent, although the
phenomena had been entirely physical, how many would have leaped to the
conclusion, without a moment's thought or investigation, that the force
was a power of the invisible spirit world? With regard to the phenomena
of the present day, reason has been entirely set aside; hence the
precipitate conclusion concerning them, even by many who lay great
claim to its use and application to all other subjects. We have been
truly astonished at the course of such persons."
"We shall now present a few cases that bear a closer analogy to
electricity, perhaps, than those we have been considering. The first we
shall speak of is that of the two Smyrna girls, who visited France in
1839, and exhibited what was called _their electrical powers, in
moving tables without contact_. The account was published in the
Boston Weekly Magazine, of December 28, 1839. The two girls landed at
Marseilles, about the first of November, 1839. In hopes of realizing a
splendid fortune, they intended to exhibit themselves in France, and
other parts of the continent. Immediately on their arrival, several
persons, including several men of science and professors, visited them,
and ascertained the following phenomena:--
_First._ "The girls stationed themselves, facing each other, at the
ends of a large _table_, keeping at a distance from it of one or two
feet, according to their electrical dispositions.
_Second._ "When a few minutes had elapsed, a _crackling_, like that of
electric fluid spreading over gilt paper, was heard, when,--
_Third._ "The table received a strong shake, which always made it
_advance from_ the ELDER to the younger sister.
_Fourth._ "A _key_, _nails_, or any piece of _iron_ placed on the table
_instantaneously stopped_ the phenomena.
_Fifth._ "When the iron was adapted to the _under part_ of the table,
it produced no effect upon the experiment.
_Sixth._ "Saving this singularity, the facts observed constantly
followed the known laws of electricity, whether glass insulators were
used, or whether one of the girls wore silk garments. In the latter
case, the electric properties of both were neutralized." Such was the
state of matters for some days after the arrival of the young Greeks;
but,--
_Seventh._ "The temperature having become cooled, and the atmosphere
having loaded itself with _humidity_, all perceptible electric
virtue seemed to have deserted them. One may conceive the melancholy of
these girls," the writer continues, "and the disappointment of the two
Greeks, their relations, who came with them to share their anticipated
wealth."
"In this case we have the "manifestation" of a force greatly analogous
to that often witnessed at the present day. In one important respect it
acted differently from electricity, in that it was broken by simply
laying a _key_ or a small piece of _iron_ on the object the agent had
acted upon, &c. "It must be admitted, however," says Mr. Rogers, "that
the fact of the influence of glass insulators and the silk dress,
causing a cessation of the phenomena, shows that the agent that acted
upon the table was, in some way, a form of electricity, though greatly
varying, in its laws of action, from that usually known to science. We
have," says Mr. R., "some curious facts relating to this _modified
agent_, to present from Matucci and others," (in the second number of
our work.)
"From the effects of the humidity of the atmosphere, some may conclude
that the agent must have been _electricity_, inasmuch as the same state
of the atmosphere produces a like effect upon the action of friction
electricity. Let us allow this, and turn to precisely the same
phenomenon, as it has been manifested in the cases of numerous
'mediums' for the so-called '_spiritual manifestations_.'"
"We will not state it upon our authority alone, but also upon that of a
large number of intelligent believers in the spiritual origin of these
phenomena, that the electrical condition of the atmosphere enters into
the circumstances of their evolution; that in a humid state of the
weather it is not only difficult, in many instances, but sometimes it
is absolutely impossible, to obtain them under such a condition." We
know that many of the less informed "mediums" attribute these failures
to the _capriciousness of the spirits_, and frequently scold them
soundly for their misdemeanors, though at other times they seem to pity
them because they get so weary and fatigued in answering so many
inquiries, and being so long "_on duty_."
"It was thought by some who witnessed the case of Angelique Cottin,
that the agent which acted so powerfully from her organism,
overthrowing tables, twisting chairs out of stout men's hands, raising
a man in a heavy tub, was electricity. C. Crowe says it did cause the
deviation of the magnetic needle; but M. Arago, who knows more about
this abused agent than a nation of theorizers, could not detect the
least signs of it by the nicest tests. And yet it would give the person
who touched her or her dress a powerful shock, as if it _were_
electricity. Still, it may be the same agent that is ground out of
plate glass, that propagates news from city to city on iron wires, and
that thunders in the material heavens."
"It has been supposed that because, in many instances, 'mediums' have
given shocks like those given by electrized bodies, the two agents must
be identical. Not long since, a young lady, about sixteen years of age,
Miss Harriett Bebee, was placed in a magnetic state, in company with
Mrs. Tamlin, both being of a clairvoyant character. The sounds were
heard while they were in that state. Every time these occurred a very
sensible jar, like an electric shock, was experienced by Miss Bebee. In
answer to a question, she stated that at each sound she felt as if
there was electricity passing over her. Several of the persons, in
whose presence these sounds are heard, always receive a slight shock,
so that there is a slight jar, which has sometimes been so plain as to
lead persons, ignorant of the facts and the phenomenon, to accuse them
of making it themselves." Says a writer upon this subject, "This
feeling of electricity seems to pervade nearly every thing connected
with these phenomena. When the rapping is heard, the peculiar jar is
felt, differing from the jar produced by a blow; and in various other
ways we are reminded of the use of this subtile agent. We often see, in
a dark room, bright electric flashes on the wall and other places."
The same writer observes, "Persons sometimes feel a sensation of
electricity passing over their limbs when they stand in the vicinity of
those who get the sounds most freely, although the particular persons
who seem to be the mediums feel no sensation at all. In one or two
instances we have seen a perceptible shock, as if caused by a galvanic
battery, especially when the persons were under the influence of
magnetism."
"In a work published in Cincinnati, by "William T. Coggshall, the
author says, "We have felt positive electrical influences from
clairvoyants. At the present time," he continues, "what is termed
'electrical circles' are being formed every week in Cincinnati, for the
benefit of persons whose systems require additional electrical power.
We have seen several women so powerfully electrized in these circles,
that the same effects were produced upon them which would have been had
they been isolated in connection with a galvanic battery." So it has
been seen that, on touching Angelique Cottin, a person would receive a
"true electric shock." This kind of shock was experienced by Campeti
and Bleton, in passing over mineral veins and subterraneous streams, as
mentioned by Dr. Ashburner. "Many somnambulic persons," says C. Crowe,
"are capable of giving an electric shock; and I have met with one
person, not somnambulic, who informed me that he has frequently been
able to do it by an effort of the will."
"When an iron plate was brought near to one of Reichenbach's patients,
and a crystal brought in contact with it, the effect upon it was like
an electric shock, which even ascended from the elbow to the shoulder."
Many other cases might be cited to the same purpose. The magnet and
iron have a specific action upon the nervous system; and the same agent
acts also from crystals, vegetable substances, and the human hand, nay,
from the earth itself." The second number of Mr. Rogers's work contains
some interesting facts of this character.
"Vitality," says Dr. W. E. Channing, in his Notes on Electricity, "is
dependent on physical conditions, and performs its functions by the
agency of physical forces." The Rev. Thomas Hill, in his Fragmentary
Supplement to the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, observes that "all bodies
are moved through the agency of other bodies, and we see nowhere a
motion which is not dependent upon _physical causes_, that is, which is
not produced by _physical agents_. Our will employs, unconsciously, the
aid of nerve and muscle; the supreme will employs, with wise designs,
the intervention of the laws of _impulse_, _attraction_, and
_repulsion_." "When, in the course of ages, the comparative easy
problems of astronomy were solved, problems of more difficulty were
brought to view. Phenomena which were not _obvious_, not _pictured
alphabet_, but the _fine print of creation_, _electrical_, _optical_,
and _chemical phenomena_, led men into more _hidden_ knowledge."
"The agents employed by the animal organization," says Dr. Channing,
"are principles found UNIVERSALLY IN NATURE, and, in addition to these,
a force which is peculiar to living structures--the special agent of
vitality." "Now, it might reasonably be expected, that if electricity,
among other agents found "universally in nature," is also associated
with the agent of the animal economy, it might, under favorable
conditions, exhibit its characteristic phenomena. These conditions
would, of course, be owing to a variation of the organism from its
normal standard. The following case, given by Dr. Ennemoser, of
Germany, exhibits some of these characteristics:--
The case was that of a young woman, sister of a professor at Strasburg.
Immediately on a sudden fright, she was seized with a nervous malady,
which continued for a long period, and finally terminated in her death.
Among the remarkable symptoms in her case were the following:--
_First._ Those of _somnambulism_, with more or less lucidity.
_Second._ Her body became so highly charged with electricity that
it was necessary to conduct it away by a regular process of conduction.
_Third._ Her body would impart powerful shocks to those who came
in contact, and even when they did not touch her.
_Fourth._ She controlled its action so as to give her brother (the
professor) a "smart shock when he was several rooms off." (The account
states, that when the professor received the shock, "he started up and
rushed into her chamber, where she was in bed; and as soon as she saw
him, she said, laughing, 'Ah, you felt it, did you?'")
_Fifth._ She was subject, also, to spasms and paroxysms of rigor
and trembling.
Some of the phenomena, in this case, resemble those we see exhibited by
the electric fish. The case is an important one in considering the
command which the nerve centres possess over the general agents
associated with them."
We shall now present another singular case, which occurred in this
country, in the month of January, 1839, an account of which was given
in Silliman's Journal, by a correspondent:--
_First._ That "on the evening of January 28, 1839, during a somewhat
extraordinary display of the northern lights, a respectable lady became
so highly charged with electricity, as to give out vivid electrical
sparks from the end of each finger, to the face of each of the company
present."
_Second._ That this did not cease with the heavenly phenomena, but
continued several months, during which time she was constantly charged
and giving off electrical sparks to every conductor she approached.
This was extremely vexatious, as she could not touch the stove, or any
metallic utensil, without giving off an electrical spark, with the
consequent twinge.
_Third._ That "the state most favorable to _this phenomena_ was an
atmosphere of about eighty degrees Fahrenheit, moderate exercise, and
social enjoyment. It disappeared in an atmosphere approaching zero, and
under the debilitating effects of fear."
_Fourth._ That, "when seated by the stove, reading, with her feet upon
the fender, she gave sparks at the rate of three or four a minute; and
under the most favorable circumstances, a spark that could be seen,
heard, or felt, passed every moment."
_Fifth._ That "she could charge others in the same way, when insulated,
who could then give sparks to others."
_Sixth._ "To make it satisfactory that her dress did not produce it, it
was changed to cotton, and woollen, without altering the phenomenon.
The lady is about thirty, of sedentary pursuits, and delicate state of
health, having, for two years previously, suffered from acute
rheumatism and neuralgic affections."
For further investigation into the cause of singular phenomena evolved
from secret agents, and the true philosophy of biology, magnetism,
trance, &c., we would again refer to the numbers of a work by Mr.
Rogers, now in process of publication. His principles and deductions
challenge successful contradiction.
EXPERIMENTS IN BIOLOGY.
Biology, so called, is one peculiar feature, or form, of mesmerism.
"These experiments," says Dr. Richmond, "attracted much attention some
three years since, in Ohio, and other places, and such was the intense
excitement of the public mind that, in some places, parents and the
public were obliged to interfere and stop children from biologizing
each other." It was found that not only muscular motion, but the
exercise of the senses, could be destroyed by the will of the operator.
Taste was obliterated, or changed, memory destroyed, and any picture
presented to the mind of the subject would be seen. Tell him he saw
snakes, and he would become frightened, and rush with violence over the
seats and benches. Tell him he was sleigh riding, and he would
instantly seize the reins, and drive the horses with great glee. Tell
him he was a witch--an old woman in rags--and he would own the
character, and confess all the crimes with which you had charged him.
Tell him he was a gay young lady, and another subject was about to
court him, and a love scene would commence. Tell him he was cold, and
he would shiver, his teeth chatter; he would stamp, and thresh his
hands to keep them warm. Tell him it was summer--very hot, and he would
begin fanning himself, fling off his coat, and, unless prevented, would
divest himself of all garments tell him that a tree of fruit was before
him, and he would begin to fill his pockets. Sweep the room before him,
and open the sky, and say that the river of life and a white throne
were before him, that the judgment was set, and instantly he would
assume the attitude of devotion; he would gaze with burning eye and
rapt delight into the scene of glory. Take him to a lake side, tell him
a child was drowning in the water, and he would wade in, take it in his
arms, and lay it carefully down, and weep over it in deep pity. Bring
before him the lightning's flash, the thunder's roll, or proclaim a God
in grandeur, and a world on fire, and, as once actually took place in
Covington, Kentucky, a dozen subjects fell in intense fright: some on
to the floor, some on benches, others sought to fly, and all declared
to the audience that a shower of fire seemed to be around them. Any
image the operator sees fit to plant in the subject's mind is readily
done; any passion readily assumed; reverence, revenge, vanity, love,
hate, fear, mirth, joy, grief, or ecstasy, are all _imitated_ at his
bidding, and safely dispersed and reproduced with the rapidity of
thought, changing in an instant both the actions and motions of the
subject. Tell the person he is suffocating in water, and he _will_
suffocate, unless you prevent him. Tell him he is struck on the head,
and he falls, as if stricken down with a hammer. No doubt a subject
might be killed by a mental impression--by saying to him he was shot
through the heart, or was struggling in water. This is the opinion
of all operators in the art. The subject at the time is, to all
appearance, in a perfectly _normal state_; his mental, moral, and
physical powers seem unchanged, and he thinks at the time he can resist
your power over him; he but gives you his eye, and you lead him captive
by mental impressions. The only perceptible variation from the normal
state is, that the _eye_, in most subjects, is clear and glassy, the
same eye that is observed in some maniacs, and in consumptive
patients--clear, sharp, and fearful to look at. The hidden fires of the
soul seem to burn through it, with intense force. I have watched it for
months, and years, in consumptives, under the wasting of vitality; and
the eye kindles and sparkles with more intensity as they near their
end. All impressible subjects have this eye, to a greater or less
extent; all consumptives have it, as well as those who in early life
are inclined to consumption.
The facts and incidents under the effects of biology are truly singular
and wonderful; and yet the advocates of the "spirit mania" admit there
is nothing supernatural in them. For aught we can see, the phenomena
put forth by the "rappers" differ not materially from the biologic
developments. They seem to be identical with each other.
I know it is affirmed that the developments of electro-biology do not
cover the whole ground in dispute, inasmuch as _men and women only_ are
found to yield to its impressions, while _chairs, tables_, and other
inanimate objects remain unimpressed. But if chairs and tables are not
moved by one form of magnetism, they are by another, as we have
abundantly shown. And any one with half an eye cannot but see that it
would require less effort to move a table, or other inanimate object,
than living, intelligent beings, capable of exerting their will in
opposition to the effort. Dr. Richmond says he has "seen an operator
draw a dozen persons from their seats, by the magnetic force of his
hand, at the distance of many feet. The first move of the hand would
bring the head forward, then the body, and by adding his voice, 'You
will stand up,' they would, _while resisting with the will, in spite of
themselves_, stand up, and follow his hand around the room." If
biologists have not usually exerted their power upon inanimate things,
it has probably been because they did not deem it of sufficient
importance. We have seen, however, a biologist raise a table to the
ceiling of a room, kindly permitting it to stick there a while, to the
no small amusement of the spectators! And it can be done again. By the
way, we would inquire what biologist is it that has sometimes lent his
aid in the raising of tables, at a "circle" in East Boston, himself an
unbeliever in "_spirit table-liftings_?"
The editor of the Spiritual Telegraph says, that "in the biological
experiments there is a _visible human operator_," but, "in the
spiritual manifestations, no human operator can be found, or
demonstrated to exist." But, pray, what is the "medium," in these
manifestations, but _a visible human operator_? Sometimes it takes
three or four persons to produce a single demonstration. And sometimes
they cannot muster _force_ enough to do this, especially if the weather
be rainy. And this is probably the reason why the rappers at
Poughkeepsie have resolved not to admit unbelievers, nor at any time
more than two or three new-comers, at a "circle," making, with the
believers, ten or twelve in all--successful results never being
guarantied to those invited to attend.
Mr. Brittan himself asserts that it is "the same power that moves the
_human medium_ that also moves the _wooden table_," &c. Here we have a
_human medium_ that is _moved to do something_, and _wooden tables_,
also; and if we can discover the secret agent in the one case, we shall
likewise in the other, for there is a perfect sameness or coincidence
in their operations. It is the same _unseen_ power, in both cases,
moving chairs, tables, tubs, troughs, bedsteads, and piles of lumber,
besides other gross, ponderable bodies--cutting up an infinite variety
of pranks to the _consternation_ of some, and the _amusement_ of
others, as A. J. Davis says of the dancing plates, knives and forks,
shovel, tongs, and poker, moved by "electrical discharges and magnetic
attractions," or emanations of vital electricity seeking its
equilibrium in the atmosphere.
FACULTY OF IMITATION.
The faculty of imitating signatures, of writing music, poetry,
specimens of foreign tongues, &c., is no more strange than imitating
the voice and gestures of those we never heard nor saw. Persons of
scarcely any education or talents, while under biological influence,
have been made to imitate the voice of Webster, Everett, Fillmore, and
others, delivering off-hand speeches of most impassioned diction and
eloquence; while, in their _normal_ state, they could scarcely frame a
paragraph in the king's English, much more deliver a formal address,
embellished with a profusion of metaphors, tropes, and figures,
accompanied with the finished attitudes and movements of a Choate, a
Sumner, or a Banks! These mesmeric imitations refer also to mechanical
and artistic power, and every talent that characterizes us as
intelligent beings. Some assert that mediums are in a _perfectly normal
state_ during the exhibitions of the "spirit" phenomena; and yet, to
the practical mesmerizer, nothing is plainer than that they are most
absolutely mesmeric persons.
The power of _imitation_ among mediums is various, but distinct. Some
draw _maps_, purporting to come from a deceased schoolmate. Others draw
_likenesses_; others speak in voices imitating the dead--but they can
imitate the living just as well; others hear sounds--the voice of a
wife, or child, or friend. Walter Scott relates the case of an English
gentleman who was ill, and was told by his physician that he had lived
in London too long, and _lived too fast_; and advised him to retire to
the country and ruralize. One of his troubles was, that a set of
_green_ dressed dancers would enter his drawing room, go through their
evolutions, and retire. He knew it was an illusion, but could not
resist the annoyance, or the impressions made on him. He returned to
his country seat, and, in a few weeks, got rid of his visitors. He
concluded to remain out of town, and sent to London for the furniture
of his old parlor, to be placed in his country house; but when it came,
and was arranged in the room, the _corps de ballet_, dressed in
_green_, all rushed into the room, _exclaiming_, "Here we are all
again!" He had associated in his mind the furniture and the dancing
apparitions, and when it returned, they came with it, and, as he
thought, _spoke with voices_. We recollect of reading in a medical
paper, published in Boston, an account of a man who believed his house
to be haunted by the devil, in consequence of which he resolved to
vacate it and remove into the country. His goods were packed into a
wagon, and he was just upon the point of starting with his load, when
to his surprise he heard a voice, seemingly among the goods, crying
out, "We are all going together." "If that is the case," said the man,
"I will unload again; for if I am _to have_ the devil's company, it may
as well be in one place as another."
The excessive use of wine will induce a state of the brain, in which
the person thinks he hears voices and sees spirits; but on close
examination it will be found that it is the work of the abnormal
powers, developed in the brain by stimulating agents or intense
thinking. It will be recollected that Swedenborg, after eating a late,
heavy supper, heard a voice crying out to him in terrible accents, "Eat
not so much." (See chap. 5.) Such phenomena may unravel the voice Judge
Edwards heard. His long-continued meditation on death, with night,
solitude, loneliness, and grief, had so impressed him that he thought
he heard a sound in exact imitation of the voice of his wife. In the
case related by Scott, hearing was not only affected, but the organ of
color was involved in the hallucination, and the _green figures_
were as plain before him as real persons. This is always one of the
phenomena of ghost-seeing that the seer associates with the spectre,
namely, _form_ and _color_, _voice_ and _action_.
The cases of imitation referred to, and others of the same class, are
the results of the _imitative mechanic power_ of the individual,
brought out by the abnormal magnetic state existing at the time. For
instance, if the individual has time and tune--the faculty of music
within lying undeveloped--it may be brought out, and made to act, by
the effects of magnetism. Last winter we listened to a lecture
delivered in Newark, New Jersey, by the Rev. Mr. Harris, from New York
city. He stated that there was a lady in Providence, who, by the agency
of spirits, produced musical compositions equal to the productions of
the best masters, as Haydn, Beethoven, and others, and that a volume of
these pieces were soon to be issued from the press. And although the
said work has not been heard of as yet, still we doubt not that a
person in a magnetic state might write very good music, even if totally
ignorant of its rules, as this young lady was said to be.
Phrenologists often tell persons that they would make excellent
tailors, dressmakers, poets, painters, musicians, &c.--persons who
never attempted to operate in these callings. "All they need," it is
said, "is an opportunity for the development of their powers." Now,
magnetism tends to develop or rouse these _dormant_ faculties into
action. It also gives a far-reaching, a far-seeing grasp and perception
of things, as in the case of Miss Martineau, who, be it remembered, was
too intelligent to attribute such effects to the agency of spirits.
A marked case of the increase of the _imitative power_ of persons
in the magnetic condition, is found in the case of Frederica Hauffe. In
one of her magnetic moods she informed Dr. Kerner that she would make a
diagram of the spheres. "The sun sphere," as she called it, is very
complex; but "she spun out the complicated web with unerring
precision," and a pair of compasses given her to facilitate her labor
only embarrassed her. It is made up of circles within circles, and
sections and points, amounting to thousands, related and connected; and
yet the "whole was executed," says Dr. K., "in an incredible short
space of time." An engraving was made of this sphere, and a year after
she was shown the engraving, and said it was not correct; a point on
one of the lines was wanting. On referring to the original, they found
she was right. This diagram contained many curious things, and in some
parts related to the highest departments of mathematics. This
_faculty_ she only possessed in the magnetic state, being wholly
incompetent to the task when not clairvoyant. No living artist can
execute that diagram with a pen, with a fac-simile before him, with the
rapidity with which that ignorant, unlettered child of nature did it.
"I have, in many cases," says Dr. Richmond, "witnessed this imitative
power of mediums with the pen, dashing off figures and images with a
rashness and rapidity almost inconceivable." As far as we can see,
there is no more proof of the agency of spirits in one case than in the
other; and we are sure no such claim was ever set up in the case of
Mrs. Hauffe, though living in a less enlightened region, perhaps, than
these United States. We might multiply cases of this kind, but space
will not permit.
UNSEEN LETTERS AND SIGNATURES.
The operator in biology or magnetism often lays hold of the inquiring
spectator, and uses him or her to imitate unseen letters, signatures,
and sentences, in foreign languages. And no doubt but what Professor
Bush has been made unconsciously instrumental in executing a few
specimens of languages, his eyes wide open, it may be, all the while.
It can be no more strange than that the son of Dr. Phelps should have
been made unconsciously instrumental in tying himself to the limb of a
tree in his father's yard, _supposing_ it to have been done by
_spirits_. (See the version of the affair by A. J. Davis.)
A biological mesmerist assures us that he finds no difficulty in
raising beds, chairs, and tables; and in the case of Mr. Kellogg it is
shown that such things are easily done without any aid from
_spirits_. In the case of Dr. Taylor, the writing medium, it is
shown, by the testimony of the spirits themselves, if their word is to
be relied on, that the phenomena in his case were not done by spirits,
but were the results of vital electricity. Such things are getting to
be so common that we may expect soon to see the time when little ragged
boys even (like those in Egypt, who went through the streets offering
to show the spirit of any deceased friend for a penny or a piece of
cake) will offer to lift tables, or imitate handwritings, at a penny a
sight. We know of several "mediums," now engaged in these things, who
confess they do not understand by what power it is they raise tables,
or write sentences, &c., yet they do not believe it to be done by the
agency of disembodied spirits. In many schools, the children have been
forbidden by their teachers to indulge in these foolish practices. This
power may be electricity, in some of its forms, or some other agent
that has some relation or affinity to it, as in the cases related by
Mr. Rogers.
A DANCING LIGHT.
A few years since the inhabitants of Southboro', Massachusetts, were
excited and alarmed at the appearance of a _light_, about the size of a
star, which for several successive nights was seen moving over a spot
of land in the westerly part of the town. Upon examining the premises
by daylight, it was found that a quantity of bones that had been buried
in the earth had been thrown upon the surface by the roots of a tree,
the trunk of which had recently been prostrated by a gale of wind. By
many, these bones were supposed to belong to some human being, who, it
was conjectured, had been murdered, and buried beneath the spot. And
the light seen hovering near was considered indicative of such an
event. But if the reader will turn to the second chapter of this work,
he will learn that these _dancing lights_, so called, arise from an
inflammable gas, evolved from decayed animal and vegetable substances,
which take fire on coming in contact with atmospheric air. This _ignis
fatuus_, _Jack-with-a-lantern_, or _Will-with-a-wisp_ appearance is
generally seen in dark nights, over boggy and marshy ground, and
generally in motion, at the height of five or six feet, skipping from
place to place, and frequently changing in magnitude and form. On some
occasions, it is observed to be suddenly extinguished, and then to
reappear at a distance from its former position. Those persons who have
endeavored to examine it closely have found that it moves away from
them with a velocity proportioned to that of their advance--a
circumstance which has had no small influence on the fears of the
ignorant and superstitious. Dr. Denham once saw an _ignis fatuus_ in a
boggy place, between two rocky hills, in a dark and calm night. He
approached by degrees within two or three yards of it, and thereby had
an opportunity of viewing it to the best advantage. It kept skipping
about a dead thistle, till a slight motion of the air--occasioned, as
he supposed, by his near approach--caused it to jump to another place;
and as he advanced it kept flying before him. He observed it to be a
uniform body of light, and concluded it must consist of _ignited
vapor_. These appearances are common on the plains of Boulogne, in
Italy, where they sometimes flit before the traveller on the road,
saving him the expense of a torch on dark nights. Sometimes they spread
very wide, and then contract themselves; and sometimes they float like
waves, and appear to drop sparks of fire. They shine more strongly in
rainy than in dry weather.
An appearance of the same kind is sometimes met with at sea, during
gales of wind, and, of course, has become connected with many
superstitious notions of sailors, who call it a _corpusant_. There
are sometimes two together, and these are named Castor and Pollux. The
following is a description of one, given by the voyager Dampier: "After
four o'clock the thunder and the rain abated, and then we saw a
corpusant, at our maintopmast head. This sight rejoiced our men
exceedingly, for the height of the storm is commonly over when the
corpusant is seen aloft; but when they are seen lying on the deck, it
is generally accounted a bad sign. A corpusant is a certain small,
glittering light; when it appears, as this did, on the very top of a
mainmast, or at a yardarm, it is like a star; but when it appears on
the deck, it resembles a great glowworm. I have been told that when the
Spanish or Portuguese see them they go to prayers, and bless themselves
for the happy sight. I have heard some ignorant seamen discoursing how
they have seen them creep, or, as they say, travel about, in the
scuppers, telling many dismal stories that happened at such times; but
I did never see any one stir out of the place where it was first fixed,
except on deck, where every sea washeth it about. Neither did I ever
see any but when we had rain as well as wind, and, therefore, do
believe it is some jelly."
The origin and nature of the lights above described have not yet been
satisfactorily explained. More accurate observations than have been
made are required to furnish the basis of a correct theory respecting
them.
SAILORS' OMENS.
Sailors, usually the boldest men alive, are yet not unfrequently the
very abject slaves of superstitious fear. Nothing is more common than
to hear them talk of noises, flashes, shadows, echoes, and other
visible appearances, nightly seen and heard upon the waters. Andrews,
in his Anecdotes, says, "Superstition and profaneness, those extremes
of human conduct, are too often found united in the sailor; and the man
who dreads the stormy effects of drowning a cat, of whistling a contra
dance while he leans over the gunwale, will, too often, wantonly defy
his Creator by the most daring execrations and licentious behavior."
Dr. Pegge says that "sailors have a strange opinion of the devil's
power and agency in stirring up winds, which notion seems to have been
handed down from Zoroaster, who imagined that there was an evil spirit,
called _Vato_, that could excite violent storms of wind." To lose a cat
overboard, or to drown one, or to lose a bucket or a mop, is, at the
present day, a very unlucky omen with common sailors.
LOVE CHARMS.
Theocritus and Virgil both introduce women into their pastorals, using
charms and incantations to recover the affections of their sweethearts.
Shakspeare represents Othello as accused of winning Desdemona "by
conjuration and mighty magic."
"Thou hast practised on her with foul charms;
Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals
That waken motion.
She is abused, stolen from me, and corrupted,
By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks."
In Gay's Shepherd's Week, these are represented as country practices:--
"Straight to the 'pothecary's shop I went,
And in love powders all my money spent.
Behap what will, next Sunday after prayers,
When to the alehouse Lubberkin repairs,
These golden flies into his mug I'll throw,
And soon the swain with fervent love shall glow."
In Love Melancholy, by Dr. Ferrand, it is said, "We have sometimes
among us our silly wenches, some that, out of a foolish curiosity they
have, must needs be putting in practice some of those feats that they
have received by tradition from their mother perhaps, or nurse; and so,
not thinking forsooth to do any harm, as they hope to paganize it to
their own damnation. For it is most certain that _botanomancy_, which
is done by the noise, or crackling, that box or bay leaves make when
they are crushed between one's hands, or cast into the fire, was of old
in use among the pagans, who were wont to bruise poppy flowers betwixt
their hands, by this means thinking to know their loves." Speaking of
the ancient love charms, characters, amulets, or such like periapses,
Dr. F. says, "They are such as no Christian physician ought to use,
notwithstanding that the common people do to this day too
superstitiously believe and put in practice many of these paganish
devices."
Miss Blandy, who was executed many years ago for poisoning her father,
persisted in affirming that she thought the powder given her by her
villanous lover, Cranston, to administer to him, was a "love powder,"
which was to conciliate her father's affection to her lover. She met
her death with this asseveration; and her dying request, to be buried
close to her father, seems a corroborating proof, that though she was
certainly the cause of his premature death, yet she was not, in the
blackest sense of the word, his wilful murderer.
We quote the following lines from Herrick's Hesperides:--
A CHARM OR AN ALLAY FOR LOVE.
"If so be a toad be laid
In a sheepskin newly flayed,
And that tied to a man, 'twill sever
Him and his affections ever"
EFFECTS OF A BELIEF IN A GHOST.
Whenever a real ghost appears,--by which we mean some man or woman
dressed up to frighten another,--if the supernatural character of the
apparition has been for a moment believed, the effects on the spectator
have always been injurious--sometimes producing convulsions, idiocy,
madness, or even instantaneous death. The celebrated Allston, the
painter, when in England, related the following incident to his friend
Coleridge, the poet: "It was, I think," said he, "in the University of
Cambridge, near Boston, that a certain youth took it into his wise head
to convert a Tom Paine-ish companion of his by appearing as a ghost
before him. He accordingly dressed himself up in the usual way, having
previously extracted the ball from the pistol which always lay near the
head of his friend's bed. Upon first awakening, and seeing the
apparition, the youth that was to be frightened very coolly looked his
companion, the ghost, in the face, and said, 'I know you; this is a
good joke; but you see I am not frightened. Now you may vanish.' The
ghost stood still. 'Come,' said the youth, 'that is enough. I shall get
angry; away!' Still the ghost moved not. 'By heavens!' ejaculated the
young man, 'if you do not, in three minutes, go away, I'll shoot you.'
He waited the time, deliberately levelled his pistol, fired, and with a
scream at the immovability of the figure, became convulsed, and soon
afterwards died. The very instant he believed it to be a ghost, his
human nature fell before it."
THE INVISIBLE LADY.
In the year 1804, an invisible lady and acoustic temple were exhibited
in Boston, as an "Extraordinary Aerial Phenomenon." Its body was made
of glass It gave answers to questions asked by visitors. In London, a
few years ago, there was shown an apparatus consisting of a four-footed
stand, and several trumpet-mouthed tubes, from any one of which
spectators received ready answers to questions. The answers were said
to come from the "invisible girl;" but the true explanation of the
puzzle was, that a secret tube, in the legs of the apparatus,
communicated the sounds to a girl in a neighboring apartment. Probably
something similar was arranged in the glass body exhibited in Boston;
and if we mistake not, during the sojourn of Joice Heth, of more recent
notoriety, at the Albany Museum, a shrewd Albanian, after a minute and
diligent examination, made the wonderful discovery that the old lady,
or _nurse of Washington_, was composed of _India rubber_, and was made
to breathe, speak, cry, sing, &c., by the aid of _ventriloquism_!
In a case of spirit rappings, Professor Grimes discovered that the
party had contrived to have some levers concealed beneath the floor,
and by means of certain little pegs coming through where the rappers
sat, connecting with the levers, all nicely poised on a balance, they
placed their feet upon them, and produced the raps at pleasure. And in
the case of the Rochester rappers, when their ankles were firmly held
by the committee of investigation, it is said a servant girl rapped
with her knuckles under the floor. Mrs. Culver, who had been instructed
by the Fox family, and had practised with them a while, afterwards
renounced the craft, and exposed this among other deceptions to the
world. "The girl," she says, "was instructed to rap whenever she heard
their voices calling for spirits."
SORCERERS IN THE EAST.
The operations of the men sorcerers in India are quite scientific. They
set about their work in a business-like manner, and in sight of the
house of their intended victim the mystic caldron begins to boil and
bubble. The victim, however, is not to be terrified out of his senses.
What are his enemy's fires and incantations to him? He takes no notice,
and continues to live on as though there was not a sorcerer in the
world. But that _smoke_: it meets his eye the first object every
morning. That ruddy glare: it is the last thing he sees at night. That
measured but inarticulate sound: it is never out of his ear. His
thoughts dwell on the mystical business. He is preoccupied, even in
company. He wonders what they are putting into the pot, and if it has
any connection with the spasm that has just shot through him. He
becomes nervous; he feels sick; he cannot sleep from thinking; he
cannot eat for that horrid broth that bubbles forever in his mind. He
gets worse and worse, and dies! But this empire of the imagination is
beaten in Java, where it is supposed that a housebreaker, by throwing a
handful of earth upon the beds of the inmates, completely incapacitates
them from moving to save their property. The man who is to be robbed,
on feeling the earth fall upon him, lies as motionless as if bound hand
and foot. He is under a spell, which he feels unable to break.
SINGULAR METAMORPHOSES.
In the East, men are believed to be frequently metamorphosed--sometimes
voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily--into tigers. The voluntary
transformation is effected merely by eating a certain root, whereupon
the person is instantly changed into a tiger; and when tired of this
character, he has only to eat another, when, as quick as thought, he
subsides from a tiger into a man. But sometimes mistakes happen. An
individual of an inquiring disposition once felt a strong curiosity to
know the sensations attendant on transformation; but, being a prudent
man, he set about the transformation with all necessary precaution.
Having provided himself with
"the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner,"
he gave one also to his wife, desiring her to stand by and watch the
event, and as soon as she saw him fairly turned into a tiger, to thrust
it into his mouth. She promised, but her nerves were not equal to the
performance. As soon as she saw her husband fixed in his new form, she
took to flight, carrying in her hand, in the confusion of her mind, the
root that would have restored him to her faithful arms. And so it
befell that the poor tiger-man was obliged to take to the woods, and
for many a day he dined on his old neighbors of the village, but was at
last shot, and _recognized_!
In this superstition will be seen the prototype of the wolf mania of
mediæval Europe. In Brittany, men betook themselves to the forests in
the shape of wolves, out of a morbid passion for the amusement of
howling and ravening; but if they left in some secure place the clothes
they had thrown off to prepare for the metamorphosis, they had but to
reassume them to regain their natural forms. But sometimes a
catastrophe, like that above related, took place: the wife discovered
the hidden clothes, and carrying them home, in the innocent carefulness
of her heart, the poor husband lived and died a _wolf_!
PERNICIOUS ERRORS RELATING TO HEALTH.
In a former part of this volume, we have spoken of several impositions
upon the credulity of the public, in matters appertaining to health.
The astrologists have told us that "some plants are only to be plucked
at the rising of the _dogstar_, when neither sun nor moon shine, while
others are to be cut with a golden knife, when the moon is just six
days old." To some particular plants "a string must be fastened, a
hungry dog tied thereto, who, being allured by the smell of roasted
flesh set before him, may pluck it up by the roots." At one time, the
vegetable oil of swallows was considered a potent remedy. It was
prepared "by compounding twenty different herbs with _twenty live
swallows_, well beaten together in a mortar." Another medicine was
prepared from _the raspings of a human skull_; another from the _moss,
growing on the head of a thief_, who had been gibbeted and left to hang
in the air. In addition to these, we have had "_the powder of a mummy;
the liver of frogs; the blood of weasels; an ointment made of sucking
whelps; the marrow of a stag; and the thigh bone of an ox_." And we
have numerous modern nostrums scarcely better than these, by which the
gullible public are often sorely victimized.
There are many opinions among the people, which prove highly
deleterious in being carried into practice. For instance, that we must
"stuff a cold to cure it," when the reverse of the case is the only
safe mode of procedure. In a cold, the lungs are already loaded and
congested with accumulations of muco-purulent matter, which is
increased by taking large quantities of food.
Erroneous views, in regard to cleanliness, often lead to great
mischief. There is a notion with some that dirt is really healthy,
especially for children. This idea probably originated from the fact,
that those children who are allowed to play in the dirt are often more
healthy than those who are confined in the nursery or parlor. But it
should be remembered that it is not _dirt_ which promotes their
health, but active exercise in the open air. This more than compensates
for the injury sustained by the dirt. There is, however, something
deceitful, after all, in the ruddy appearance of these children, who,
like some four-footed animals, are allowed to wallow in mire and dirt;
for they actually suffer more, not only from chronic, but from acute
diseases, than children whose parents are in better circumstances. The
pores of the skin, as we have shown in the Family Physician, published
by us a few years since, cannot be closed with filth for any length of
time, and the subject remain uninjured. It is true, some years may pass
away before the bad effects appear; but in after life, scrofula,
rheumatism, jaundice, and even consumption, often arise after the cause
which first gave rise to them is forgotten, if indeed it were ever
suspected. It is our candid opinion, that a larger part of the deaths
that occur among children by typhoid, scarlet fever, and other baleful
diseases, is owing to some defect in management, as to diet, air,
dress, or exercise, which we will briefly show in this connection.
There are some, in adult life, who abstain wholly from external
ablutions, and never think of washing their bodies from one year to
another. Now, such persons must be considered, to say the least, to be
of an uncleanly habit; and such a habit is not only unfavorable to
health, but to morality. Mr. Wesley reckons cleanliness to be second
only to godliness. We venture to affirm that he who is most guilty of
personal neglect will generally be found the most ignorant and vicious.
I am well acquainted with a whole family who neglect their persons
_from principle_. They are a sort of _new lights_ in religious things,
and hold that the true Christian should "slight the hovel, as beneath
his care." But there is a want of intelligence, and even of common
refinement, in the family, that certainly does not, and _cannot_, add
much to their own happiness or comfort, aside from the fact that it
greatly annoys their neighbors.
We do not pretend to say but that there are some great and good persons
who are slovenly in their general appearance; but these are only
exceptions to a general rule. On the contrary, common observation
teaches us that it is a distinguishing mark of low-bred rowdyism, and
of vicious and intemperate habits, to see young men dressed in the most
loose and careless manner. A person of refinement and cultivation would
feel ashamed to appear in such a manner before the public gaze.
Neglect of proper ventilation leads to incomparable mischief. There are
many persons who live through the day in closely confined and
excessively heated apartments, and also sleep in small contracted bed
rooms, without the least opportunity for a current of fresh air. Who
can wonder that they rise in the morning with wearied limbs, languid
and listless, with a furred tongue, parched mouth, and headache? They
are continually subjected to inhaling, over and over, the poison, the
miasma, of their own bodies, which cannot but result, in the end, to
the great detriment of health. We are perfectly astonished, oftentimes,
to see to what an extent such a thing is carried. Take this, in
connection with eating improper and badly-cooked food, fat meats,
gravies, and pastries, the want of suitable protection against
atmospheric changes, and active exercise in the open air, and who can
marvel at the prevalence of deadly fevers, consumption, or cholera
even? It is only a matter of surprise that there are not ten deaths
where there is now one.
Look at the quality of the meats purchased for use. It is now a common
practice with farmers (in order to save the milk) to sell their calves
for market as soon as born; and people eagerly purchase this immatured
meat because afforded at a low price. Then look at the enormous
quantities of _pork_ consumed. Go past the sausage factories, in
the cities of Jersey, and you behold it heaped in piles, ready for the
work of the hundreds of "choppers," driven by steam. Then look into the
groceries, see the array of pound sausage meat, and cheese heads, so
called. A grocer in Newark city informed us, last winter, that sausage
meat and buckwheat cakes formed three quarters of the aliment of the
citizens. And in Paterson, New Jersey, in the hottest of the season,
calves were lying upon the pavements, ready to be slaughtered, and
almost as momentarily devoured, as occasion demanded. Even the poor
fowls, their legs swollen with inflammation from the cords with which
they were bound, and half famished for water and food, and fevered by
fright and exposure, were readily purchased by men and women, to
satisfy the cravings of a perverted appetite. When we behold such
practices, we cannot think it strange that mortality should be so rife
as it is at times, especially when the atmosphere is in a condition to
affect the body in a predisposed state, favorable to the development of
diseases, such as that of small-pox, cholera, fever and ague, scarlet
and typhoid, (i.e., decomposing fever,) which is the concentration of
all others. The food we eat may convey the disease within, and unless
the state of our system is healthy and harmonious, the resisting power
will not be equal to the force and action of the external elements, and
consequently we shall become a prey to the contagion, whatever type or
form it assumes. We are somewhat inclined to think that A. J. Davis
(who is a physician by profession) is correct, when he says, "The
atmosphere has had the cholera, more or less, for thirty years, and
will continue to have it until there occurs a geological change in many
portions of the earth; and from the atmosphere the disease has been,
and is, communicated epidemically to the predisposed potato plant, and
also to the human system." A late English writer remarks, that "certain
diseases prevail at the approach of the equinoxes."
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
printed. Unmatched double quotation marks occur in numerous places,
particularly near the end of the text. No attempt was made to open
or close these quotations unless the location of the missing
double quotation mark was apparent.
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