INTUITIVE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS. (continued 2)

307. “I do not say enough, my dear sir, in pronouncing your work useful; I might have called it indispensable, had I foreseen the approaching invasion of that scourge which you so happily designate as a spiritual epidemic: a scourge whose sudden and universal propagation, in my opinion, notwithstanding its appearance of puerility, will constitute ONE OF THE GREATEST EVENTS OF OUR AGE. But how has it been both received and entertained?

308. “Commencing with your savans, it is impossible not to be alarmed by the obstinate incredulity which does not allow them to see what at the present time can be confirmed by anybody. Oculos habent et non vident.[9]

309. “Those individuals alarm me still more, who having given their attention, and of course seen, shake their heads as a sign of indifference and pity, as if the phenomenon exhibited was of a low character and beneath their notice. When they have descended to the foundation, they treat it with contempt.

310. “Then, finally, and very differently indeed, I feel myself frozen with terror by certain dispensers of truth, who, in their blindness, trifle without scruple with their most relentless enemies; so far have they forgotten their most serious teachings.

311. “I do not profess to be a prophet, sir, and do not know what the mercy or justice of God is preparing for us; but, like you, I tremble for the present, and hope for the future; for marvellous lessons are already presented to us in these passing phenomena.

312. “In fact, the justification of the church and of the faith are emanating from them: the definite condemnation of a fallen rationalism; and consequently, the approaching glorification of all the past in the true church, and even of that Middle Age, so calumniated, so ridiculed, and gratuitously endowed with so much darkness. The political events of these latter times have to justify that Middle Age, as respects good sense in the affairs of government; and behold these facts of a nature entirely foreign, coming to avenge its accusation of superstitious credulity. This reparation was necessary, and after all our own age has nothing to fear from it, for certainly it will not render injustice of any kind to the objective and useful progress of modern civilization.

313. “As for yourself, sir, you will enjoy the honour of having brought, by your luminous discussions, a large stone for the construction of this majestic edifice, and I rejoice in the encouragement I have given you. I need not enlarge on this subject, FOR SUCCESS HAS SPOKEN, and think I am sufficiently acquainted with you to know that you did not anticipate one so brilliant. You have known how to engage the attention of the learned, and people generally, by making your work attractive while it is instructive—a quality sufficiently rare to claim my congratulations. I will only add another word: had this work been confined to the notice of those phenomena whose advent we deplore, it would probably share their fate; but what will secure its perpetuity is your discussion of medical science which you put in apposition with your subject, and which will not long be able to resist the severe stricture of your logic. Therefore, be assured, it will be the learned, and especially physicians, that you will first convert to your doctrine. Philosophers will only surrender after them; but so far there is no doubt that you will have given rise to most serious reflections in all of them.

314. “I will not speak to you at present of two or three observations which I have made in reading your book, which we will discuss in private, and which only relate to some inaccuracy of doctrine, foreign, besides, to the principal subject of your work.

315. “Finally, my dear sir, I do not doubt that the God of truth will bless your labours. Continue them, for the subject is vast, and especially do not suffer yourself to be discouraged by the reasoning of light minds, ‘that in divulging all these things you favour their promulgation, when they had better be suppressed, &c. &c.’ A gross error! They might as well accuse the doctors of causing the cholera. And, beside, it is worthy of remark that all the cases of insanity lately developed in the midst of these exhibitions are due to thoughtless enthusiasm succeeding to an absolute state of doubt and disbelief. It could not well be otherwise; the prodigy which was doubted yesterday, and to-day is firmly established, will to-morrow be transformed into God. Truth alone is able to prevent and remedy such disastrous mishaps.

Receive, my dear sir, the assurance, &c., Le P. Ventura De Raulica, Former General of the Monks, Examiner of the Bishops and of the Roman clergy.”

Letter of Dr. Coze.

316. “Sir:—You do me the honour to ask my opinion of the book on the Spirits which you have just published. That opinion I have already expressed to our mutual friend, the good worthy doctor Paulin; and true it is, this book has made a strong impression on my mind, for I had arrived at similar conclusions from the examination of some magnetic phenomena and the moving of tables. I find in your book a chain of very remarkable facts—presented, too, with talent and clearness very unusual in this sort of writing. I see, beside, that science is brought back to the path which cannot mislead us to that of the sacred writings; there, as I think, are to be found the true philosophy and the true light.

317. “I do not fancy that my opinion can have any weight with the learned world. If, however, you think proper to make this public, I consent with all my heart in behalf of a truth which you so well defend, and THE SUCCESS OF WHICH APPEARS TO ME INFALLIBLE.

I have the honour to be, &c., R. Coze, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Strasbourg.”

Letter of M. F. De Saulcy.

318. “Sir:—You desire me to report to you my opinion in writing which I have formed as to the strange phenomena, to say the least of them, which have been conventionally called table turning and table talking. I am not the man to recoil from what I regard as a truth, whatever sarcasm may be reserved for such profession of faith, and therefore proceed to satisfy your inquiry.

319. “It is about eight or ten months since when the public of Paris was agitated by the late arrival of the fact from America and Germany; a fact which pure physics was not able to explain a priori. I did as many always do, and have no doubt done for a long time—received this account with the most determined incredulity, and, I confess, with ridicule. I considered its adepts as charlatans or as simpletons, and refused for a long time to bestow on it the least attention. I became tired of the war, however, and after hearing many affirm, to whom I could not apply these epithets, the reality of these facts, I determined to try for myself.

320. “My son and a friend were my two companions: we had the patience for forty-five minutes, seated at the table, to form what is called the chain, and were not a little surprised, I assure you, to see at the end of that time the table on which we were operating, and which was merely the parlour dinner-table, begin to move, and after some hesitation to contract a rotary movement, which, accelerating, soon became very rapid. We endeavoured by pressing to make it strike against the bar and arrest its motion, but could not succeed.

321. “After repeating the experiment two or three times, I sought to find some cause in physics for the movement, and battled the whole theory of Electro-Dynamics with the aid of an electroscope, compass, iron-filings, iron, &c. As I could not detect the least trace of electricity, I thought then of impulses due to the volition of the operators, and of which a sort of integration might cause the motion of the table. On that I stopped, and for several weeks did not give the smallest attention to a phenomenon which did not seem to merit any further notice.

322. “Finally was commenced the faculty of talking, and I assure you my incredulity was considerably greater than when its moving power was announced. I was sparing, however, in my epithets, for I soon found myself an investigator. I watched the rogues, as I suspected, for two hours, but left the room a full believer of its reality, without any further examination, confirmed too by all subsequent experiments. (1.)

323. “What could be said indeed of the fact witnessed together, that a crayon, which was fastened to the leg of a table, wrote legible words, while we were pressing it down with our hands?

324. “It was then, sir, that your book fell into my hands. I have read it with the most lively interest; have admired your erudition, and the courage necessary at our epoch to treat such a subject.

325. “I believe in the existence of facts which often volition is unable to produce, and over which I declare that volition sometimes appears to have a manifest influence. I believe in the intervention of intelligence DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN, and which puts in action means almost ridiculous.

326. “I believe that the Christian religion should not encourage the practice of these experiments. I believe there is danger in allowing them to become a habit, and at least we may lose the little reason which has been granted man by the Giver of all things. I believe, finally, that it is the duty of an honest man to dissuade others from occupying themselves with it, in preaching, by example, and not allowing it in the least to occupy himself.

327. “This is the end I have reached after some months’ experience; and, ask permission to close this letter, already too long, by repeating a very wise saying of a man of high intelligence: ‘Either these phenomena are, or are not real; if not, it is disgraceful to lose time with them; if they are, it is dangerous to invoke them and to make them a pastime.’

Please accept, &c., F. De Saulcy, Member of the Institute.”

Spiritualism in Paris.

[See New York Reformer, September, 1853.]

“We find the following article in the London Illustrated News of July 23; it is an extract from the News’ Paris correspondence:—

328. “‘An immense sensation was caused here, a few days since, by a revelation given on the authority of some of the most respected and influential members of the clergy, headed by the Archbishop of Paris, on the subject of table movements. The archbishop, being questioned as to his opinion of the legitimacy, in a religious point of view, of attempting to communicate with spirits through the medium of the tables, alleged that he had not sufficiently studied the question to reply definitively; that he imagined that the effects produced were wholly of the nature of physical science, and in that case harmless; but that, in order to form a judgment, he would attend a meeting composed of certain members of the clergy, at a place appointed to make the usual experiments.

329. “‘The table being put in motion, one of the party demanded it in reply, by a certain number of raps, if there were a spirit present. The response was in the affirmative; and in answer to a second question, the spirit represented herself, by raps indicating certain letters of the alphabet, to be that of Sœur Francoise, deceased a week previously at the convent of -—-, Paris. The Abbe B-—- stated that he had confessed the Sœur Francoise, who had, in fact, died at the time and place named. General consternation, as may be supposed, ensued when the Abbe L-—-, rising, commanded the spirit in the name of the Saviour to appear.

330. “‘The report declares that the spirit hereupon actually became visible, and replied to a variety of questions put to it, but of what import we are not informed. On the above details we do not pretend to give either explanation or opinion.

331. “‘Such is the story as related by the members of the Seance, two of whom were so affected by the events related as to be some days seriously indisposed, one of them even confined to bed.

332. “‘Various narratives mention that, through the medium of the tables, communications are held with spirits of all nations. The spirits, happily, being excellent linguists, find no difficulty in expressing themselves in any language chosen by the questioner, and reveal the secrets of the prison-house with a frankness, not to say indiscretion, that would shock the more reserved ghost in Hamlet, in no way confirming his statement of the horrors of their temporary abode. Many of them describe in glowing terms the beauties and delights of their celestial abodes.’”

SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY.

The following contribution, under the preceding head, is translated by my much esteemed friend, Dr. Geib, from the work of De Mirville, whence the articles under the designation of Foreign Coroborative Evidence have been obtained through the same able translator:

333. “Toward the end of the year 1852 the epidemic had been imported into the North of Scotland by some American mediums; thence it got to London, where, according to the latest accounts, it must have reached, by the present time, a pretty extensive development. Seeing its progress in this way, we were led to say, If it ever reaches Germany, that whole country will be on fire.

334. “The religious gazette of Augsburg of June 18, 1853, contained an article from which we make some extracts:

335. “‘Again the world is presented with various marvellous appearances, which, coming from elevated sources, force themselves on public notice, and which, in every case, throw a very marked shadow on our own epoch of civilization. It may be appropriate to communicate some of those found in the Gazette Générale; and leaving reflection to the reader, we will give some of the most striking.

336. “‘The Morgan Blatt (Morning Sheet) announces among its novelties from Palatinat Rhénan, the phenomenon of a young girl not yet pubescent, who, they say, is able at will to command a rapping spectre, (Klopferle.) The spectre raps as often as the little girl orders him, being obedient in the extreme. What is remarkable is, that the spectres of the Old World, as well as the New, have a strong family likeness, being as much alike as two drops of water. And the Tribune of New York, printed in the German language, has lately contained various communications on this subject. But whence come these rapping spectres, and why make their appearance all at once?’

337. “The Gazette of Augsbourg then refers to several other facts of the same nature, which, at all times, have caused much embarrassment to the German authorities, either in giving rise to lengthy inquests, or in causing the condemnation of persons proved afterward to be entirely innocent; but as for those of the present time, it fully understands, proclaims, and demonstrates them to be of the American Affiliation.

338. “The Journal du Magnetisme of the 10th of March, 1853, had already furnished us with the reported account given in the course of last January to the tribunal of London, by the rapping spirit of the house of Sanger; the same phenomena, the same stupefaction, the same impossibility to discover the jugglers. However, the subject appeared to rest at this point in Germany, when, in the month of April, the first phenomenon of table moving reached Bremen, and then the Augsbourg Gazette insisted on its true origin.

339. “‘For eight days previous,’ it said, ‘our good town has been in an agitation difficult to describe; it is completely absorbed by a miracle which was not thought of before the arrival of the steamer from New York—the Washington. The new phenomenon is imported from America.’

340. “Now a certain Doctor André was the first to describe this first exhibition of table turning; therefore they called it his discovery. What a discovery!

341. “‘Having formed a chain,’ he says, ‘of seven or eight persons, the right little finger of each touching the left one of his neighbour, the table they surround will commence turning, and continue as long as the chain remains unbroken, and stop when an individual leaves it.’

342. “A general burst of pleasantry and incredulity first accompanied the revelation of the doctor. But soon experiment begins, and laughter gives place to a sort of dejection. Certain savans, professors of the University of Heidelberg, MM. Mittermouer and Zoepfl, M. Molh, brother of the member of the Institute, Eschenmajer, Ennemoser, and Kerner, attest the same facts; and Doctor Lœwe of Vienna undertakes to give the theory of it: ‘This theory consists, according to him, in the opposite polarity of the right and left sides of the human body; hence, having formed a chain of human beings, the contrary poles of which, viz. the right and left, touch each other, and this chain, exerting upon any body whatever a prolonged action, conveys to it an electric current, and converts it into a magnet, and thus polarization is established in that body; and in virtue of its tendency to magnetic orientation, the south pole of the table impressing it with a movement to the north, the latter commences a continued rotation, and turns on its axis as long as the indispensable conditions are continued.’

343. “Unfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with these indispensable conditions. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and Berlin, there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French press observed a uniform inexplicable silence!

344. “We ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold what began to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and hat turning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known when it appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of nature; and that tables never had any other destiny!

345. “Again we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by which we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables, which, nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of a vessel and a medium? However, silence becoming impossible, the French press has thought proper to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the Empire, Le Pays, happened to inform us that ‘from the Baltic to the banks of the Danube, all Germany was in a fever.’ It became then plainer and plainer that we were going to be infected, and from that time we hastened to prepare our batteries.

346. “It was high time, for about the end of April, the grand mysterious army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all the large cities of France—Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, &c.—the turning epidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and better to impress the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables, hats, seats, &c., for all these participated in the demonstration.

347. “At Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made a pastime for a soirée. Children were introduced into the circles, without considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with these mysterious amusements.

348. “It is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come near them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an electricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather?

349. “It is true, too, that M. Rouilly, maître de pension at Orleans, undertook to give an answer. In the Moniteur due Loiret, he informs us that ‘at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young man of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs, and that his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful manner, making as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able, he said, to utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated man; it was necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still felt some nervous trembling.’ M. Rouilly ended in saying ‘that he felt it his duty to report this fact for the benefit of those who may enter into these experiments without knowing their possible serious inconveniences.’ Little attention was paid to this, so much had fashion asserted empire, so much was this pleasure worth its cost.

350. “However, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed to ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the savans say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric appearances? will their philosophy allow them to seek independently of the fluids, which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of such a variety of effects? No; they well know, however, that in the sciences—medicine, for example—every investigation that stops short of phenomena, is of very secondary value; we may be satisfied, for want of better, but still we do not feel ourselves in possession of the truth; we still seek it. Why in this case should we do otherwise? These suppositions were just, but we say without hesitation our fantastic experimenters committed from the first an unpardonable fault, philosophically speaking; that is, not to have taken the least notice of those facts from America which were beginning to sound in their ears from all sides. When we are visited by the plague, yellow fever, or cholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied in Egypt, Spain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at the place of their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination. Well! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would have seen as clear as day that the Augsbourg Gazette was right in telling them that this animal magnetizing was received direct from America. But what shall we do? we take no pleasure in looking at what we do not want to see.

351. “However, this affiliation once well established, well understood, by thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have reached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited themselves in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in tables or behind partitions, we could have seen immediately what might be reserved for us for the future.

352. “But rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is too gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it only sees in this a waggish electricity, and will never consent to be persuaded that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths, or rather at the side of such enormities in physics.

353. “And then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then what becomes of the indispensable conditions of Dr. André? that is to say: ‘All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.’

354. “This morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a circle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the circle continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for the street, and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins to waltz, as if to bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics, what electricity! Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries disinherited! Behold the city of Valence, who laboured all in her power, who followed with angelic patience all the prescriptions of the new science; nothing could produce the phenomena. Is it that at Valence, perchance, the human species has no electricity? Mon Dieu! it has electricity, but it is not of that accidental and local kind, the real kind for the occasion, and which may be therefore denominated erratic; as the ancients called those gods that moved about from place to place.

355. “No, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with the explanation of the little fingers, but soon perceives that these little fingers supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric trough, and the chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also, the chain was said to be very important; and the trough, magnet, steel, glass pile all necessary agents. Very well, what has now become of all these necessities? The magnetic effects exceed all those of that time, and notwithstanding they are not made any use of. Much more! since the passes have ceased to be the fashion, the phenomena have doubled. In Germany, where people go to the bottom of things, they have desired to look into the heart of it. Each master of the magnet—and they are pretty plenty there—has constructed his own trough. That of Walford consists of an iron box, furnished with bottles, iron wire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser was made of beech without bottles, and filled with water, which did not prevent the effects from being precisely the same in the two cases. Thus it was said: It is magnetism alone which gives them this power, and they magnetized their best. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to magnetize, and the trough lost none of its power! ‘Ah! ah!’ they say, ‘the trough is magnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they put a stout man into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in excellent health. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity all the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited themselves so brilliantly.’

356. “This is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of which M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect he was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to be caught by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics to be entirely innocent of all the effects they witnessed. But at the same time they thought proper to refer to the imagination these same prodigious effects, which no one could understand even after having seen them; and there was their great mistake; they were right as savans, as philosophers inexcusable.

357. “Moreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed under these circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. What prejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered many retreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, not only to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these are about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will be necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real as an effect, are not in fact real in their cause; that they lie when they wish the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they act by turns with and without a chain in a particular town, and not in some other, &c.

358. “But on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause, is almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent yourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits, hobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate! Not a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will forever be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory which was thought to have been gained centuries before.

359. “Beware, however, of the first supernal intelligence! for we shall fall back on our ancient and primitive criterion, our infallible touchstone.

360. “All depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this time; an imprudent question might lose all.

361. “And already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article which we find in the Courier du Nord? ‘In another house the table, they say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the direction indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted the hours, and told the age of the assistants,’ &c.

362. “What means that other letter from Bordeaux, in the Guyenne? ‘A hat submitted to animal magnetism appeared more intelligent even than the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols, the age of persons, the number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it told the amount of ladies and gentlemen together in the room,’ &c.

363. “What follows is better still: see in the Journal le Pays, a letter of M., the Abbé of Moigno, according to which it follows that MM. Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered the tables to rest on this leg and then on the other, and made them beat time, &c.

364. “We read in La Patrie—‘Explanation given by the savans.’ Ah! let us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this journal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have arrived: ‘The table and hat turners act mostly in good faith, (quite a concession,) but they deceive themselves; they think they cause the motion of an inanimate object by an act of volition, or an effusion of magnetic fluid from their fingers; while it is by muscular action, imperceptible to themselves, or others.’ Ah! take notice! It is by a vibratory movement coming from thousands of small nervous branches. Add to this, lassitude, humidity of the hands, and you will have an explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, at least sufficiently plausible, of the phenomena which engage our attention. M. Chevreul (of the Institute) has analyzed this physiological predisposition, and has illustrated it by the fact familiar to the billiard player, who having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his shoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions, as if to impel it, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c.

365. “It is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase ‘as if to impel it,’ for had he been so unfortunate as to say, and in fact he did impel it, we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced. But that lucky ‘as if,’ saves us from a very bad predicament; it brings back to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say, that in the relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time, has all the muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in the smallest degree, the direction of an object, not under its direct action. To the present time all the laws of physics have been based on the grand primordial law, and the player of ten-pins is not more successful from such efforts, than he of the billiard ball just named.

366. “How changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy of Sciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at a distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle—an experiment, too, which could never be renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place of needles, all at once heavy tables are seen waltzing about the room, and obedient to the will; and all this is easily explained! It is quite plausible! Yes, but this time, gentlemen Savans, we will not allow you to distort the facts. Since the commencement of this volume, we have done nothing but establish, on good evidence, all those which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their fancy, after having absolutely denied them. But now the half of France rises with us to convict them, and to say to you: No, your nervous branches will never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would refer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our own questions, nor the super-intelligence of those which probably to-morrow will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves.

367. “Attending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a man of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way to the weakest scholar who, cue in hand, might fairly undertake to answer him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most horribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its principles, loses, in our estimation, much of its authority.

368. “La Revue Medicale, cited by La Patrie of May 20th, declares in its turn ‘the explanation either by imagination or muscular vibrations, as represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan, entirely nullified by the fact of the simple change in the relations of the little fingers.’

369. “As for the Medical, they see in it animal magnetism, and exclaim: ‘No one is able to foresee the application of which this discovery is susceptible. It is an entire world for explanation. Who knows if there is not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating a whole generation!’

370. “Lucky Magnetism—what a reparation you have a right to demand! what incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday so cruelly tore you to pieces! But La Presse and L’Union Medicale may do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their word.

371. “A just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would not believe and you are not believed now! We read afresh in La Patrie of May 21st, the recital of ‘tables promenading and upsetting without contact by pure efforts of volition, or even by a simple magnetic pass—a very superfluous precaution of the experimenter.’ Very superfluous, indeed! It could not have been better expressed.

372. “In the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still maintain that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture of the two nervous atmospheres? The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to use the language of Reichenbach, must be very sensitive; and in this new dance without contact—what becomes of the explanation by muscular vibration, and especially by the humidity of the hands?

373. “We have some very important communications, on the 23d of May, from M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chambéry, respecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and establishing the perfect intelligence of the agent in question. M. Bonjean, however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform process. ‘These responses,’ he says, ‘are not, and cannot be but the reflection of the thoughts of the person who causes the phenomena, and the movables are only able to satisfy those questions whose answers are known, without ever being able to supply an answer that is not known.’

374. “The idea that the furniture is unable to give satisfaction is charming! but up to this point it was not understood to be super-intelligence. Patience, however, for it is bound to happen!

375. “Besides, M. Bonjean does full justice to the muscular movements of M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of Strasbourg turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons moved without immediate contact. Next, he passes from the physical to the moral question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very encouraging. ‘Fathers and mothers,’ he exclaims, ‘if you do not desire to develope premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard the peace of your wives, be mistrustful of the magnetic chain in general, and of the dancing of tables in particular.’

376. “It will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly on mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under all this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented sin.

377. “In a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most distinguished engineers, to the Abbé Moigno, who had very ably opposed these experiments in Le Pays, M. Seguin says, ‘When I reason dispassionately on the real and very positive results which I have obtained, and seen obtained by others before my eyes, I think myself under the control of an hallucination which causes me to see things differently to what they are, so much does my reason refuse to admit them; but when I repeat my experiments, I find it impossible any longer to resist the force of evidence, when indeed it confounds and upsets all my opinions.

378. “‘How can you expect me to accept your explanation, when a table touched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, presses against my hand and against my legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost break itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could impart to it a force equal to such efforts, and especially when that person is myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts as THEY ARE, the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself, in whom you have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The explanation will come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in these phenomena of turning tables there is something more than you see—a physical reality outside of the imagination and of the faith of those who appear to make them move.’

379. “It is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to defend the physical evidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a thousand times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us see if M., the Abbé Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his revenge on another.

380. “Referring to a communication made to the academy by one M. Vauquelin, about one of these enchanted tables, which in his hands was able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the most secret thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims in Le Cosmos Revue Encyclopédique des Sciences: ‘This time it is too strong; we find ourselves definitively at the mercy of magic, and the moment has come to proclaim it at Rome. Then there is neither magnetism nor electricity; not even the influence of human volition on matter; but supposing the fact to be certain—WHICH IS HARD TO SWALLOW—there must be in it the intervention of spirits, or magic. Intelligence that can refuse these deductions of common sense, would be DISORDERED intelligence, as useless to dispute with as with fools. If you have not been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you affirm are true, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits and of magic became the sorrowful but great realities.’

381. “M. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers, writes what follows in La Gazette de France:—‘I will not insist on this point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to me entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician, and, I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical impulsion might be communicated. But the rotation only serves to present other phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to refer to any kind of muscular action.

382. “‘Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it promptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to you the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an exactness, with a solemnity that fairly frightened us. “Strike three blows; strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right foot; with your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one foot; remain up; prevent those on the side raised from returning the table to the floor.” After each command the table obeyed. It produced movements that no complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have induced; for we should have afterward tried in vain to place it on one foot, and keep it there by the pressure of the hands, resisting incontestably the efforts to press it down.

383. “‘Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were obeyed as well as grown persons.

384. “‘Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be audible, but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the table obeyed! There was in no instance the least error.

385. “‘Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of his age, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind, endeavouring in the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large. I must own, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally diminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two, because my wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct number.

386. “‘Finally, having continued these experiments more than an hour, at which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, I felt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise again, and turn over on my side, which it did.

“‘Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration,

A. De Gasparin.’

387. “We stop our citations here; for those who are not content with the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from philosophers, or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing, too, in all parts of the world, will not be better satisfied by any thing we could add. A day is coming, however, that will open every mouth. Then from all those parlours so reserved before—from all those cabinets in which experiments had been conducted with closed doors, the truth will burst forth in its full power. Then it will be known that some of the most esteemed men of Paris, of the bench, pulpit, and men of letters, have both desired to see and have seen it; have desired to know and have known it. It will be known that the evil super-intelligence has been revealed to them, and that if they have been silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, it was only an act of prudence to restrain public opinion.

388. “But on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly predict: the facts of to-day which it does admit, proving to amount to nothing, and the inadmissible facts being admitted, its faith will change, and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs, two savants will not be able to look at each other any more without smiling, and often enough to exclaim: ‘It has been well said, my dear colleague; it has always been foretold, that “He, who is outside of pure mathematics, pronounces the word IMPOSSIBLE, WANTS PRUDENCE.’”

Arago.””

SPIRITUALISM IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Account of Mr. Robert Owen’s Conversion.

389. “While in doubt upon this subject, I heard of the media in this country, and was casually introduced to Mrs. Hayden, an American medium, without having any intention to ask a question respecting the spirits; my object being to purchase a book which Mrs. Hayden had for sale, written by a valued and most truthful friend of mine in America, Adin Ballou, who has written a plain, practical, common-sense history of this new revelation to the human race.

390. “While conversing with Mrs. Hayden, and while we were both standing before the fire, and talking of our mutual friends, suddenly raps were heard on a table at some distance from us, no one being near to it. I was surprised, and as the raps continued and appeared to indicate a strong desire to attract attention, I asked what was the meaning of the sounds? Mrs. Hayden said they were spirits anxious to communicate with some one, and she would inquire who they were. They replied to her, by the alphabet. that they were friends of mine who were desirous to communicate with me. Mrs. Hayden then gave me the alphabet and pencil, and I found, according to their own statements, that the spirits were those of my mother and father. I tested their truth by various questions, and their answers, all correct, surprised me exceedingly. I have since had twelve séances, some of long continuance, and during which, with one exception, I have had prompt and true answers so far as the past and present, and very rational replies as to the future; but these last have to be tested by time. The exception was my own afterward-discovered error.”

391. From the following quotation, it seems that Mr. Owen has not had any reason to diminish his faith in spiritualism. The manifestations, of which his account is subjoined, are eminently wonderful; yet they are not more so than those which are recorded as having been realized under the influence of the same medium, in this country, or at Koons’s Establishment in Ohio:—

Letter of Robert Owen to the Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.

Seven Oaks, April 23, 1855.

392. “Dear Sir:—Just now, on my return from London, where, last night, I had been giving a lecture to Mr. Ronge’s party of foreigners and others on Education, I had the pleasure to receive your 2d Number of ‘The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph.’ I have hastily glanced over it, and I feel much interest in your proceedings, and wish you all success in the good cause. I say good cause, for it is sure to lead to great ultimate good, and especially will it destroy the many evils arising from sectarianism, and other causes of hatred and ruin between man and nations. I must tell you of what occurred to me last night, after my return from the lecture, about nine o’clock.

393. “A Mr. Hume, a young Scotchman, who went to America to pursue his studies as a medical student, four or five years ago, became a medium, (he is now about twenty years of age,) and soon became a very superior one. He had engaged to accompany the Haydens and Miss Jay. He took his passage and came, but the others, for some cause, postponed their voyage, but may now be daily expected. They arrived on the 22d. I had heard on my arrival in London, from friends on whom I could depend, of the extraordinary results by his mediumship. I made arrangements to visit those friends and Mr. Hume when I finished my lecture, which I did, and found my two friends and Mr. Hume waiting my arrival. On being seated around a regular full-sized card table, there were raps immediately, and because I do not hear very well, the raps increased until they became very loud, but I heard the first raps distinctly. Many spirits were present; some, relatives of my friends, and others, my own relations. My wife and daughters, my son and brother, and also my father and mother, with all of whom I have had frequent delightful intercourse through various mediums. My two friends present are husband and wife; and the first new occurrence to me was, seeing the lady’s silk apron untied by invisible means—a somewhat complicated operation—and taken from her and given to Mr. Hume, opposite to her. It was then conveyed backward and forward, from one to another, and it soon came to me. I held it with much force, but it was drawn from me with greater force, for I was afraid damage would be done to it. Next a flower was taken from the table, conveyed away by invisible means, and brought to me. The flower I kept for being so presented to me. Next I had my handkerchief out; it was taken from my hands, and in an instant thrown from the opposite side of the table, not as it was taken, but made into a large hat, which I also have as a curiosity. Then the spirits came and touched each of us. I was occasionally touched on one knee, then on the other, and afterward on both at once; and then one of them shook hands with me, and I most distinctly felt the fingers of them separately. An accordeon was then placed under the table, and soon the spirit of the daughter of the family played most beautifully several tunes and pieces of music. I asked for one of my favourite Scotch tunes, and it was immediately played. The instrument was then raised by invisible power, and given first to one, then to another; it was thus brought to me. The table was then lifted from the floor; at first, about a foot, and immediately afterward, about three feet.

394. “After this the medium was put into a trance, during which he saw beautiful visions of spirits, and one of them spake through him while in that state sentiments that went to the heart of each of us, giving us advice, invaluable in its import, and in language beautifully and eloquently expressed, and calculated to make the deepest impression on our memories. While reason remains I shall never forget it; and it was given with many encouraging words, to pursue my course in the measures in which I am engaged; to endeavour to introduce the millennium, but also stating the obstacles I should meet, and the great difficulties which were to be overcome.

395. “Much more occurred, very interesting; but the post time expires, and I wish you to have this communication by this mail.

“Yours sincerely,Robert Owen.”

396. I subjoin the following narrative of Mr. Rufus Elmer, of Springfield, Massachusetts, concerning manifestations through Mr. Hume, as corroborating those described by Mr. Owen. Thus, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have evidence of analogous striking results by the same medium:—

Mr. Hume at Springfield.

397. “Rufus Elmer, Esq., of Springfield, informs us that Mr. Hume spent the nights of March 17th and 18th at his house. On the evening of the 17th, thirteen persons were present, when a series of most extraordinary demonstrations took place. First, two large tables standing together, around which the company were sitting, were lifted from the floor, while all hands were resting upon their tops. Then an accordeon, held under the table in one of Mr. Hume’s hands, (the other being on the table,) with the keys downward, was played in strong tones, three parts being maintained, and any tune performed that was called for—even foreign music. The instrument was also played upon while held in the same manner by each person present,—all hands except the one holding the accordeon being upon the tables in sight. (These manifestations were all made in a room well lighted by gas.) A bell, weighing over a pound, was passed about under the tables, put in the hands of each person, taken away again, passed rapidly from one end of the tables to the other, a distance of eight feet, knocking loudly on the under side as it went; and, finally, the tables having been separated a few inches, and a cloth spread over the aperture, the bell was held up under the cloth, while the company were allowed to feel the hand which held it. Next, the bell was slid out on to one of the tables from beneath the covering, and the hand which grasped it was exposed to the view of all the company—the hands of each being at the same time in full view. To gratify one who sat at so great a distance as not to have a clear view, it was communicated that if all others would for a moment avert their eyes, so as not to concentrate their magnetism so powerfully upon the object, it could be more plainly manifested to this one alone. Acting upon this hint, each person was allowed to look singly at the hand—to the full satisfaction of all. One of those present, mentally requested, unknown to all others, that the hand of her spirit-child might be exhibited to her; and, behold! a child’s hand was presented, while no child in the body was in the room. One of the company was a coloured domestic in the family of Mr. E-—-, and she mentally requested that her mother, who had before purported to communicate to her, if present, would show her hand; when, lo! a black hand appeared! These are but specimens of what occurred during the evening.”

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.

Remarks Introductory to my Spirit Father’s Communication.

398. Agreeably to my spirit father’s communication, the manifestations which of late have given birth to Spiritualism, have been the result of a deliberate effort, on the part of the inhabitants of the higher spheres, to break through the partition which has interfered with the attainment, by mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death. To carry out this intention, a delegation of advanced spirits has been appointed. Referring to this statement, I inquired how it happened that low spirits were allowed to interfere in the undertaking? The answer was, that the spirits of the lower spheres being more competent to make mechanical movements and loud rappings, their assistance was requisite.

399. Likewise, I inquired why it was deemed expedient to make these manifestations, in the first instance, at Hydesville, near Rochester, through the spirit of a murdered man? The answer to this was, that the spirit of a murdered man would excite more interest, and that a neighbourhood was chosen where spiritual agency would be more readily credited than in more learned or fashionable and conspicuous circles, where the prejudice against supernatural agencies is extremely strong; but that the manifestations had likewise been made at Stratford, in Connecticut, under other circumstances. Nor were these the only places. They had been made elsewhere, without much success in awakening public attention.

400. Thus, it appears that at the outset, the object was to draw attention, and in the next place to induce communications. It will appear from the account of the manifestations at Hydesville and Stratford, that as soon as through an ingenious agreement upon signals rational intercommunication was established, the manifestations became changed in character. The mischievousness displayed, in the primitive derangement of furniture, ceased. This was attributed to the replacement of spirits of inferior grade, by their superiors.

401. Thus this new and glorious light has come up amid dark clouds, as we often see the thunder-gust the harbinger of a bright sky.

402. But still there has been another source of temporary degradation, not arising solely from the spirits, but from the inquirers also. The great motive in the first instance for witnessing spiritual manifestations was the love of the marvellous, or the desire to expose what was deemed jugglery. The mere movements of tables, without any reference to spiritual agency, was the great object of attention. Though I was present where table turning was discussed, if I ever heard the idea of spirits being the cause, it left no impression on my memory, as has already been stated. (134.)

403. But after alphabetical communication commenced, it was performed so slowly, that the replies were often brief, and made with a view to establish identity of the spirits with the individual whom it professes to personate; or to test the existence of a spirit by the replies given to inquirers respecting facts which could not be known to the medium. At the first recognition, the spirit would occupy the time mainly with statements very natural and amiable, but not instructive beyond the degree of confirmation thus afforded of the great fact of such intercourse being possible on the part of friends who have quitted this stage of existence.

404. Communications through spelling and writing media very much fell short of the expectations which the name assumed by the spirit would awaken.

405. As soon as convinced that the phenomena were due to the shades of the dead, I looked with eagerness for some consistent information of their abodes, modes of existence, of the theological doctrines entertained by them, and the actual diversities of their situation consequent to various degrees of moral and intellectual merit.

406. It was with regret that I found in the published accounts, nothing satisfactory, nothing precise, nothing connected. In no publication did I find any satisfactory statements of the location of the spirit world, or of its subdivision into spheres.

407. Urging this deficiency of information upon those spirit friends who seemed to have selected me as an instrument in promulgating the invaluable truths of Spiritualism, I obtained information, as early as May, 1854, respecting the situation of the spiritual spheres, or country of spirits, relatively to the earth; but about the latter part of October my father commenced writing on the subject through a medium of the other sex, but the ideas furnished were too much blended with her own prepossessions, with which her mind was replete. Hence, although many pages had been written, they were rejected, and resort was had to another medium—Mrs. Gourlay. The result thus obtained was afterwards read to the author, at the disk, so as to have every paragraph scrutinized.

408. Under the following head will be found my father’s communication.

My Spirit Father’s Communication.[10]

409. My son, in communicating with you respecting the destiny of man, I shall endeavour, according to the extent of my capacity and highest perception of truth, to give you a view, as correct and definite as possible, of the all-important subject in question.

410. The spirit world lies between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles from the terrestrial surface; the whole intermediate space, including that immediately over the earth, the habitation of mortals, is divided into seven concentric regions called spheres. The region next the earth, the primary scene of man’s existence, is known as the first or rudimental sphere.

411. The remaining six may be distinguished as the spiritual spheres.

412. The six spiritual spheres are concentric zones, or circles, of exceedingly refined matter, encompassing the earth like belts or girdles. The distance of each from the other is regulated by fixed laws.

413. You will understand, then, they are not shapeless chimeras, or mere projections of the mind, but absolute entities, as much so indeed as the planets of the solar system or the globe on which you now reside. They have latitudes, longitudes, and atmospheres of peculiar vital air, whose soft and balmy undulating currents produce a most pleasurable and invigorating effect. Their surfaces are diversified with an immense variety of the most picturesque landscapes; with lofty mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and the internal correspondence of all the higher phenomena of earth. The trees and shrubbery, crowned with exquisitely beautiful foliage and flowers of every colour and variety, send forth their grateful emanations.

414. The physical economy and arrangements of each sphere differs from the other; new and striking scenes of grandeur being presented to us in each, increasing in beauty and sublimity as they ascend.

415. Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a common axis, forming the same angle with the plane of the ecliptic, and move with it about the ponderable sun, they are not dependent on that body for either light or heat, receiving not a perceptible ray from that ponderable source; but receive those dispensations wholly from his internal or spiritual correspondence, (a spiritual sun concentric with the sun of your world,)—from that great central luminary whose native brightness and uninterrupted splendour baffle description.

416. We have no divisions of time, therefore, into days, weeks, months, or years; nor alternations of season, caused by the earth’s annual revolution; those periods being observed with reference only to the affairs of earth.

417. Although we, like you, are constantly progressing toward perfection, our ideas of time and the seasons differ widely from yours; with you it is time—with us, eternity. In the terrestrial sphere, a man’s thoughts, being bounded by time and space, are limited; but with us they are extended in proportion as we get rid of those restrictions and our perceptions of truth become more accurate.

418. As order is a primary object in the spheres, there are of course laws for its preservation. Fundamentally, these proceed through his ministering angels, from the Divine Lawgiver, who commands the angelic hosts of heaven and rules the inhabitants of earth; who employs myriads of ministering angels as the means of intercommunication between their Supreme Master and his creatures throughout the universe.

419. So far as legislation, subordinate or supplementary to that of the Supreme Legislator, is required, the government of the spheres is republican, exercising legislative, judicial, and executive powers. But these functions are not embarrassed by the necessity of codes indited or printed, nor by that of physical coercion. The results of these functions are realized in simultaneous and homogeneous opinions awakened in the minds of the ruling spirits, as truth takes hold of the minds of mathematicians, pari passu, as they read the same series of demonstrations. The conclusions in which the chief spirits thus unanimously concur, are by them impressed upon their constituents, who, thus impressed, are constitutionally unable to resist the sentiment which, like a magic spell, operates upon their sense of right, and overrules any rebellious passion.

420. As, in the rudimental sphere, weighing, measurement, or mathematical calculation or demonstration, when performed by competent persons, are rarely disputed, so in the spheres, the decisions of those whose authority is intuitively evident in moral or legal questions, meet with acquiescence. It follows, therefore, that neither imprisonment nor fetters are requisite for the enforcement of moral or legal restrictions.

421. Moreover, it must be evident that in the spheres, wisdom, knowledge, rectitude, and conscientiousness are the real vicegerents of God, the higher spirits acting as his media.

422. We acknowledge no aristocracy but that of mind and merit. In our diplomatic intercourse with our brothers of earth, when affairs of the greatest importance are to be transacted, (the present dispensation, for example,) we intrust them to a delegation of the most advanced spirits—those who are best acquainted with the affairs of the celestial country and of that to which they are accredited.

423. Our laws are meted out in the scale of exact justice, from whose awards there is no appeal. Punishments are but the natural consequences of violated laws; being invariably commensurate with offences, and have reference as well to the reformation of the offender, as to the prevention of future crime.

424. The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth, which being unbounded and free as air and light, can of course be appropriated by each and every member of society, according to his or her capacity of reception, the supply being always equal to the demand.

425. Wealth consists, upon earth, of those objects of human luxury or taste, which can only be acquired by means of labour and capital. Other things being equal, the value is generally in proportion to the cost incurred in the production. But in the spheres, such objects existing in profusion, the supply is of course always equal to the demand, though no less necessary than the air which you breathe; like it, they have no marketable value; there is no one who has occasion to buy, all being abundantly supplied from a common inexhaustible stock.

426. Hence it will appear that we have no occasion for gold or silver, which perisheth with the using, but the currency of moral and intellectual worth, coined in the mint of divine love, and assayed by the standards of purity and truth. Our bank, whose charter is eternal, and whose notes are never subject to fluctuations, and always payable on demand, is none other than the great bank of heaven, whose capital stock consists of an infinitude of love, mercy, and benevolence, of which our Heavenly Father is president and director, and in which his beloved children, the whole human family, are shareholders.

427. With regard to the social constitutions of the “spheres,” each is divided into six circles, or societies, in which kindred and congenial spirits are united and subsist together, agreeably with the law of affinity.

428. Although the members of each society unite as near as may be on the same plan, agreeing in the most prominent moral and intellectual features; yet it will be found, on careful analysis, that the varieties of character, in each society, are almost infinite; being as numerous as the persons who compose the circle.

429. Each society has teachers from those above, and not unfrequently from the higher spheres, whose province it is to impart to us the knowledge acquired from their instructions and experience, in the different departments of science, and which we in turn transmit to those below. Thus, by receiving and giving knowledge our moral and intellectual faculties are expanded to higher conceptions and more exalted views of the great Creator, whose almighty power is no less displayed in the constitution of spirit worlds, than in that of the countless resplendent orbs of space.

430. We do not, as many persons in the rudimental state imagine, abandon the studies which we commenced on earth, which would presuppose the loss of our reasoning powers, and our consequent inferiority to yourselves; but on the contrary, we go on progressing in knowledge and wisdom, and shall progress throughout the boundless ages of eternity. You being chained down to earth, by the law of gravitation, are comparatively limited in your resources for information; but we having arrived at a higher sphere of thought and action, and having a more extensive field of vision, can soar higher and farther into the wonderful workings of that mysterious Being, who, owing to the infinity of his perfections, must be forever in advance of us, his finite creatures, and to whom, of course, we can bear no relative proportion.

431. Our scientific researches and investigations are extended to all that pertains to the phenomena of universal nature; to all the wonders of the heavens and the earth, and to whatever the mind of man is capable of conceiving: all of which exercise our faculties, and form a considerable part of our enjoyments. The noble and sublime sciences of astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, engage a considerable portion of our attention, and afford us an inexhaustible subject for study and reflection.

432. Nevertheless, there are millions of spirits who are not yet sufficiently advanced to take any interest in those pursuits; for you will bear in mind that the spheres are but so many departments of a great normal school, for the mental discipline and development of the race, each of which is reached only by the spiral[11] stages of progression,—the earth being the first in the series, and the seventh sphere the last; being preparatory to an entrance into the supernal heaven. You will perceive, then, that we have an unlimited scope for the prosecution of our studies, and that whatever knowledge you fail to acquire in the rudimental state, legitimate thereto, you will have to obtain, in some of the degrees of the spiritual spheres.

433. We do not study those practical arts, which are so essential to the earth life, such as mechanics, &c.; for we do not stand in need of their applications; our studies being wholly of a mental character, we attend to the fundamental principles only. All the more intellectual branches of the arts and sciences are cultivated in a much more perfect manner than that to which we have been accustomed upon earth. The mind being untrammelled by the gross material body, and having its intellectual energies and perceptions improved, we can by intuition, as it were, more clearly and rapidly perceive and understand the principles and truths on which the sciences are based. We can trace the various relations of each subject, so as to understand its connective importance; a knowledge at which mortals arrive only by a long and tedious process.

434. We are not, for good and wise ends, which in due time will be fully explained, permitted to reveal all our knowledge to those below us, as the consequences of such a procedure would be perilous to the happiness of all, and subversive of order.

435. In addition to our studies we have many other sources of intellectual, moral, and heartfelt enjoyment, from which we derive the most ineffable pleasure: one of which is social reunions and convivial meetings; a coming together of dear friends, brothers, sisters, children and parents; where the liveliest emotion and tenderest affections of our nature are excited, and the fondest and most endearing reminiscences are awakened; where spirit meets in unison with spirit, and heart beats responsive to heart.

436. Yet individuals united by the ties of consanguinity are not always linked together, even here, by the golden chain of love and benevolent affection, since it not unfrequently happens that there is much more harmony existing among those who are not members of the same family. Notwithstanding that persons who were intimately acquainted with each other in the natural world, and those who are akin, may be and often are separated, sometimes for long periods, still they do occasionally meet together; those in the higher degrees and spheres passing to the lower, while those in the latter never ascend to the former till fully prepared for such a transition, agreeably to the fixed and unalterable laws of progression. The periods of such separations vary according to the relative gradations of intellectual and moral qualities in each.

437. The peculiar connections and relations of parents and children, brothers and sisters, and all the minor ties of consanguinity, must be forever maintained, although there may be an indefinite interruption to the harmonious play of their affinities.

438. As regards the institution of marriage, I would observe that on earth it is a civil contract, entered into by two persons, male and female, mutually or otherwise, as the case may be, for and during the term of their natural lives, but which is legally annulled on the demise of either party; so that whether or not it be renewed in the spiritual world, is determined by choice, not obligation.

439. Celestial marriage, however, is quite a different affair: it is the blending of two minds in one, resulting from an innate reciprocal love in each; a conjunction of negative and positive principles, forming a true and indissoluble bond of spiritual union, which human legislation cannot reach: a marriage which is born of God, and is therefore eternal. It is often asked, “Will all be married in heaven?” I answer, Yes, most assuredly; it never was designed for man to be alone, either on earth or in heaven: each will seek and find their counterpart.

440. Each society has a municipal administration or moral code, subject to the divine government; submission to the will of God, and obedience to his laws, whether recognised in nature or revelation, forming the basis of its constitution. With us philosophy and religion go hand in hand.

441. Evil or misdirected spirits find their affinities in the second sphere, where the lowest and most undeveloped are associated together, and remain for indefinite periods, but with all the moral depravity and darkness with which they are enveloped, through the benign influence exerted over their perceptive and rational faculties, by higher intelligences, each begins to feel, sooner or later, the low and degraded position he occupies; moreover, finding new means of progress, and new sources of contemplation as well as delight, and his capacity of making perpetual advancement in knowledge, his intellectual faculties become gradually expanded, and his moral powers increased. Hence the grovelling propensities of his nature yielding to the dictates of reason, his grosser passions subside, causing him to aspire to higher associations and circumstances, which in turn beget new wants, thoughts, and feelings.

442. We have no sectarian or ecclesiastical feuds; no metaphysical dogmas; nor are we troubled with those insatiable cravings and inordinate ambitions, so often manifested by mortals; nor have we any taxation for religion, the voluntary contributions of intellectual and moral minds being its meet support.

443. Our religious teachers belong to that class of persons who were noted, during their probation on earth, for their philanthropy and deeds of moral bravery; those who, regardless of the scoffs and sneers of the time-serving multitude, dared to promulgate and defend the doctrines of “civil and religious liberty.” These practical reformers and saviours of the race, instead of worrying their hearers, as is the custom with many on earth, with horrible denunciations and awful threats of eternal vengeance for their misdoing, admonish and exhort them to higher and nobler aims and aspirations; to the study of Deity as manifested in his stupendous works.

444. They urge upon them, too, the necessity of their co-operation in the reformation and advancement of their more degraded brethren, by instructing them in the divine principles of love, wisdom, and benevolence. They instruct them in the soul-inspiring and elevating doctrine of universal and eternal progression, and in the sublime truth that evil is not an indestructible and positive principle, but a negative condition, a mere temporary circumstance of their existence; and, furthermore, that suffering for sin is not a revengeful and malevolent infliction of God, but a necessary and invariable sequence of violated law.

445. They teach them also that, according to the divine moral economy, there is no such thing as pardon for sins committed—no immediate mercy—no possible escape from the natural results of crime, no matter where or by whom committed; no healing of a diseased moral constitution by any outward appliances, or ceremonial absurdities; and finally, that the only way whereby to escape sin and its consequences, is by progressing above and beyond it.

446. We derive much pleasure from the exercise of our talents in vocal and instrumental music, which far excels the noblest efforts of musical genius on earth. When we convene to worship God in our temples, whose halls and columns beam with inherent celestial light, our voices are blended together in songs of praise and adoration to the Almighty Author of our existence, from whom all blessings are derived.

447. From what has been stated, it may be perceived that we are moral, intellectual, and sensitive creatures. Instead of being, as many of you imagine, mere shadowy and unsubstantial entities, we are possessed of definite, tangible, and exquisitely symmetrical forms, with well-rounded and graceful limbs, and yet so light and elastic that we can glide through the atmosphere with almost electric speed. The forked lightnings may flash, and the thunders roll in awful reverberation along the vault of heaven, and the rain descend in gushing torrents; nevertheless, by the mere act of volition, we may stand unharmed at your side.

448. We are, moreover, endowed with all the beauty, loveliness, and vivacity of youth, and are clothed in flowing vestments of effulgent nature suited to the particular degree of refinement of our bodies. Our raiment being composed of phosphorescent principles, we have the power of attracting and absorbing or reflecting the rays evolved, according as our condition is more or less developed. This accounts for our being seen, by clairvoyants, in different degrees of brightness, from a dusky hue to the most intensely brilliant light.

449. The spiritual body is a perfect human form, originating in, and analogous to, the corporeal organization in its several parts, functions, and relations. The heart beats in rythmic pulsations, the lungs fulfil their office of respiration, and the brain generates its vitalized magnetic fluid, whose life-giving currents permeate every portion of the spiritual organism. Man in the rudimental state is tripartite, consisting of soul, of spirit, and flesh; but in the spheres a duality, composed of soul and spirit. Having approached the portals of death, he disrobes himself of the exterior form as he would put away a worn-out garment. The gross and cumbrous physical machine, which was given for the purpose of developing his more beautiful and excellent spiritual body, and of bringing him into more immediate relationship with the outward world, can serve his purposes no longer.

450. For your clearer understanding of the modus operandi of our intercourse with man, you will remember that by our transition to the world of spirits we part with the body only. We lose none of our intelligence by the transfer, but, on the contrary, become daily more and more developed in our knowledge of and power over the forces in nature; so that we are enabled to perform many feats to you, seemingly wonderful, and which really appear miraculous to the majority of those who witness them.

451. Having disposed of the external mechanism of flesh, we cannot come into direct contact with physical matter, but we are able, through the sphere of the medium, when natural conditions are complied with, not only to communicate our thoughts and wishes to our friends, but to move solid, ponderable bodies. By spheres, I mean the particular mental or physical state, or emanation by which all bodies, organic or inorganic, are immediately surrounded, and the particular electrical relations which they sustain to each other, causing repulsions and attractions in man and animals as well as in chemical reagents.

452. When we wish to impress the mind of the medium, by the effort of our magic will, (provided always that he or she is in sympathy with or sustains a negative relation to the operator,) we can dispose and arrange the magnetic currents of the brain so as to form or fashion them into ideas of our own. We can also learn to read the thoughts of another—conditions being favourable—as readily as you can gain a knowledge of the characters or symbols of a language foreign to your own.

453. Thoughts being motions of the mind, assume specific and definite forms, and when distinct in the mind can be clearly perceived and understood by any spirit who is in sympathy with the mind in which they are generated.

454. To influence, mechanically, the hand of a medium to write, we direct currents of vitalized spiritual electricity on the particular muscles which we desire to control. In order to produce the physical manifestations, it is not by any means requisite that the medium should be possessed of a good moral character or well-balanced mind, as an individual of small mental calibre would answer our purpose equally well; but an advanced spirit could not directly impress or control the organs of a mind with which he is not in affinity, and vice versâ.

455. We can instantly determine the sphere of a spirit, in or out of the body, by the particular brilliancy and character of the light in which he is enveloped, as well as by the peculiar sensation which his presence creates.

456. The raps are produced by voluntary discharges of the vitalized spiritual electricity, above mentioned, from the spirit, coming in contact with the animal electricity emanating from the medium. These discharges we can direct at will to any particular locality, thereby producing sounds or concussions.

457. The question being often asked, “How do you move solid substances?” I would partly answer it by asking, How does a magnet attract and raise from their resting-places certain bodies within whose sphere it is brought? How does a man move his body and direct it whithersoever it goeth? How does God, the almighty cause of all causes, move and keep in perpetual motion the immense systems which revolve in space, and maintain each in its due relative position? I answer, By the magnetism of a positive will.

458. We, in common with you and all animals, possess an infinitesimal portion of this power, varying in degree in different classes and in different individuals. When you raise your arm, as in the act of lifting or moving a body, you direct by the force of your will-power galvanic currents on the muscles required to perform the function. The muscles acting as levers, through the stimulus of the subtle element, act and react on the more solid parts, the bones, and thus is the object laid hold of and moved, and still you do not come into direct contact with the object. Now, this is called a very simple operation, and so it would appear, but who understands it? Although advanced spirits are much more conversant with the forces operating in nature than the most intellectually developed man in the form, still they do not, nor can they ever, as long as eternity rolls on, understand the hidden sphere of cause. The operation of the will it is impossible to understand. Now, as I have said, we are not possessed of physical bodies; still we can make the imponderable elements subserve our purposes by acting as bones, nerves, and muscles.

459. Touching our peregrinations and voyages of discovery, about which so much has been said by spirits, as well as mortals, I will say that it is a fallacy to suppose that every spirit can visit at will the planets of the solar system, much less those of the more remote systems, since I am certain that none but the residents of the seventh sphere, or the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” have the power to do so; because each planet, being an inhabited globe, hath its concentric or spiritual spheres, through all of which in order to reach it a spirit must pass. It is obvious, therefore, according to the immutable law of progression, that the transit of a spirit to a distant planet would require its adaptation to the highest sphere of that body.

460. Having spoken of the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” I will explain what is meant by this designation. They are those pure and comparatively exalted beings who, having advanced beyond the highest sphere of the planet to which they belonged, and attained a very high state of moral and intellectual development, have been admitted into that great and illimitable sphere of progression which lies outside of all other spheres, and in which the greatest conceivable degree of harmony reigns. It is composed of one grand harmonial society, whose members are privileged to go wheresoever they will through the boundless empire of space. They are principally from the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and hold a much more distinguished rank in the intellectual, moral, and social system than the inhabitants of earth. I have not learned that any spirit from our planet has yet reached the Supernal Heaven.

461. It has been said that spirits hunger, thirst, and stand in need of repose. It is true that those states do pertain to spirit life agreeably to the law of spiritual correspondences. The grosser and more undeveloped the spirit, the closer is the analogy between it and the physical states.

462. Physical laws and substances are gross or externalized spiritual laws and things. The more refined and developed the spirit, the less it requires of gross aliment. Refined, intellectual, and moral beings are nourished and sustained by refined, intellectual, and moral nutriment. Their food is derived from the “Tree of Knowledge,” and they slake their thirst at the crystal streams which continually flow from the inexhaustible fountain of God’s wisdom and love. The lowest undeveloped spirit lives on comparatively refined aliment to that on which mortals subsist. It consists of the more refined elements of spiritual fruits and vegetables. The spirit’s need of rest depends on its particular degree of development, diminishing in proportion to its advancement from the material plane.

463. Though the principles embodied in our teachings and philosophy may be regarded, by the majority of mankind, as strange and incomprehensible, they are, nevertheless, no more so than the principles of natural science would be to the unlettered mind. As the ability to comprehend the principles on which the natural sciences are based increases with the expansion of the intellectual faculties, in like manner is the power of perceiving spiritual things and relations increased by the development of the interior or spiritual faculties.

464. As there are no words in the human language in which spiritual ideas may be embodied so as to convey their literal and exact signification, we are obliged ofttimes to have recourse to the use of analogisms and metaphorical modes of expression. In our communion with you we have to comply with the peculiar structure and rules of your language; but the genius of our language is such that we can impart more ideas to each other in a single word than you can possibly convey in a hundred.

465. I have thus given you a general outline of the leading facts connected with the destiny of the race. I have endeavoured to show you that man is a progressive being, that he possesses a refined material (449) organization, which, going with him at death, serves as a medium through which he may communicate with the visible world. I will here add that, under certain circumstances, this spiritual organization has the power of reflecting the rays of light, so as to be rendered visible to the natural eye, as are certain gaseous bodies.

466. I have attempted to show you, too, that the spirit on entering the spheres, being governed by its affinity, takes its position in that circle for which it is morally and intellectually adapted; hence the first sphere is the abode of all the most degraded spirits, and that their advancement, however slow it may be, is nevertheless sure, since “onward and upward” is the motto emblazoned on the spiritual banner.

467. I have endeavoured to show you, also, that the spirit is a finite being like man in the form, and, therefore, fallible, and that as he advances in knowledge, he grasps more of truth and drops more of error. I have attempted to show you that the spirit world is a counterpart of the natural world, and that we, no less than you, are subject to surrounding conditions and circumstances. Spirits of congenial minds and opinions are drawn toward each other and to you, on the principle that “like attracts like.” In order to receive high moral and intellectual communications, it is essentially necessary that the medium and circle should be in affinity with each other, and with the spirits who are capable of giving such communications.

468. Besides the topics adverted to, I will briefly call your attention to a few of the most prominent among the beneficial results which will flow from spiritual intercommunion. It will settle the important question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” It will reduce the fact of the immortality of the human spirit to a certainty, so that the world’s knowledge of the fact will not be the result of a blind faith, but a positive philosophy. It will show the relation existing between mind and matter. It will make men thinking and rational beings. It will establish a holy and most delightful intercourse between the inhabitants of the terrestrial world and their departed spirit friends. It will expand and liberalize the mind far beyond your present conceptions. It will fraternize and unite all the members of the human family in an everlasting bond of spiritual union and harmonial brotherhood. It will establish the principles of love to God and your fellows. It will do away with sectarian bigotry. It will show that many of the so-called religious teachings are but impositions on the credulity of mankind, being founded on the grossest absurdities and palpable ignorance of the nature of things.

469. It will give man higher and infinitely more exalted views of God, and bring him into closer communion with the Author of his being. It will do away completely with the sting of death, and rob the grave of its terrors. It will teach the eternal progression of the soul, and show that the time is fast approaching when the moral condition of the race is to be vastly improved; when error is to be abolished, and truth is to take its place; when the glory of the Lord is to be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together! In fine, it will be a help to the soul in the hour of its adversity, and enable it to bear up under affliction with noble and heroic fortitude; and when about to launch its barque on the river of eternal life for the fair and beautiful land of promise, it will be its stay and sheet-anchor.

Your father, Robert Hare.

Communication from a Spirit Son of the Author.

I have in the spirit world two sons, one of whom died, thirteen months old, in 1813; the other, five months old, in 1825. Both have been to communicate with me. I subjoin a letter received from the younger:

470. “My Dear Father:—I made a very brief communication to you through the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort to control the human organism. It has been long known to me that spirits could manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always held communion with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The law is as natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure forever. But so great has been, and still is, the superstition of the masses, and to such an extent has man’s mental vision been obscured by his so-called spiritual teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few instances, spirits have failed in their attempts to reveal themselves to the civilized portion of mankind. The conditions have, for the most part, been wanting, owing to the above causes, and which have grown out of man’s false notions respecting his natural and true relation with the unseen world. The less civilized of our Father’s children, in regard to their communion with spirits, have been much more highly favoured than their otherwise more fortunate brethren, since it has not been an uncommon circumstance for them to commune with their departed friends.

471. “Many years, my dear parent, have elapsed since I entered the bright abode of the blest—a very little child, yet a very happy one. My first and second birth rapidly succeeded each other; but so little did I know, from actual experience, of my rudimental condition, that I have never realized the change. I have no memory of my earth-life, yet I know from observation and reflection that I am to some extent the loser by my premature birth into the spiritual state. I have, it is true, measurably obtained since then that knowledge of exterior nature which I should have acquired in the flesh, on the globe which gave me birth, as an independent, individualized existence.

472. “My life here has been a charmed one; enrapturing scenes of beauty being constantly presented to view, like the ever-varying landscapes delineated on the canvas by a skilful artist. Now is seen a beautiful silvery lake on whose translucent bosom floats the graceful swan, bending his pliant neck, as if proudly conscious of his surpassing beauty; and anon, among the lilies of this lake, which appear like gems placed on a virgin brow, shoots a tiny barque, freighted with angelic children. Then is presented a bolder view, of towering mountains and wide-extended plains, with the accompanying characteristics of hill and dell.

473. “In answer to a question which would naturally suggest itself to your mind, respecting the means by which I have become acquainted with that knowledge of the external world which I should have gained in it, I would say it has been acquired by frequent visits to the earth. I have been accustomed to accompany you, father, in your daily walks, and to study, through you and mother, those elementary lessons which are so essential to the full development of the spirit. Your son Theodore, though nearly forgotten by you, has not been far distant. The time is fast approaching, and is near at hand, when man’s spiritual nature and destiny will be much more fully comprehended by the world. Then spirit manifestations and spirit intercourse will be considered as natural as for the sun to rise in the eastern heavens. Spirits highly elevated in love and wisdom would not descend from their exalted position except to teach, for their attractions are upward, but their mission is to instruct those below them, from which they derive much happiness. You know, father, how much pleasure it gives you to impart knowledge to others. How much greater then is our enjoyment, whose minds are intensely more susceptible of real joys! Your spiritual mission on earth has just begun, and we are endeavouring to impress your mind with the sacred importance of its fulfilment. Give unto others that we give unto you, and you shall receive abundantly. I occupy a place which has not yet been opened to your perception. Prepare yourself, my dear father, for its higher and more glorious unfoldings, by first gaining that knowledge which pertains to the lower degrees, and you will thereby become elevated to the higher spiritual planes, and increase your knowledge of things celestial, and greatly develop and enlarge your sphere of usefulness.

Theodore.”

Additional Communications from Spirits who died while Infants.

474. The brother of a medium reported himself by spelling out his name in full—Dewitt Matthias. He had departed this life at the age of thirteen months. I inquired if he had taught himself to spell. I was instructed, was his answer.

475. While I was in a state of extreme unbelief, Dewitt’s mother told me that her son, who died when aged only thirteen months, had communicated with her; and said that his stature had grown with his age, now sixteen years. This statement I mentioned as an exemplification of credulity, little thinking that this wonder would be realized by the existence of my spirit children being made evident to me by such communications as that from Theodore, above given.

476. The eldest child of my parents died an infant, yet my elder brother, Charles, in his account of his spiritual birth, mentions that this brother came as a full-grown spirit to greet his translation to the spirit world.

Communication from a very young Spirit child to its Parents.

477. The following communications have been received from a spirit child, as I understand, of about six years old. It will be perceived that it was assisted by its grandmother. They have been handed to me by the child’s father, Mr. George Helmick, in whose sincerity I have great confidence.

478. The following message, says Mr. Helmick, came through the medium of Miss Irish, some eight months since, on an occasion when there were some twelve or fifteen persons present, nearly all of whom were entire strangers to me and my wife, who was also present. We had never seen Miss Irish before, and we know that she had no knowledge of us in any respect.

479. The fact that we had a child in the spirit world was not known to any present but myself and wife.

480. “Father, do you not, kind father, feel my soft and gentle touch upon your brow?[12] Can you not feel my presence, as grandmamma and I, with care, enfold you in our embrace?

“Mother, gentle, loving mother, do you not feel my angel kiss, as I imprint it upon your cheek?

“Father, mother, I left you before earth’s errors had a chance to take root within my young and tender mind.

481. “Then, loving parents, think of me as you do of a gentle moonbeam, which struggles to bless earth with its presence but for a moment, and then softly and sweetly returns to heaven again.

“Spirit Child.”

For George Helmick.

The following message was received through Mrs. Gourlay on the 27th of October last, by the aid of a disk and alphabet as arranged by Dr. Hare:

482. “Dear and loving mother, grandma will help me to write to you.

483. “A calm and holy atmosphere pervades this little company, and lovely forms are surrounding each earth friend. O thou great God of goodness! to thee our hearts are raised in thanksgiving for this privilege of communion with our friends on earth. Gratitude should fill the hearts of all present. Little children are sporting in this atmosphere of love like gentle moonbeams, kissing with a gentle touch the brows of their loving parents.