"The feats of the ancient jugglers were many of them mere acts of deception. They were known to be such by those who performed them. And the same is true of many who practise the like things now. Their rappings and writings, and other strange performances, are secretly, artfully got up by themselves. I do not say that this is true in all cases; but in some cases weknowit is true; because the matter has been fully investigated, and public confession has been made. For example: A young woman, who had been instructed by the Rochester rappers, and practised the art with them for a time, afterwards renounced it, and exposed the delusion to the world. 'All who saw her and heard her,' says my informant, 'were entirely satisfied of the truth of her statements, and that she had revealed the actual method in which the deception was effected and the deluded were blinded. Another young woman in Providence, Almira Beazely, who was noted for her rappings and revelations, and who murdered her brother to accomplish one of her own predictions, confessed, on her trial, that she made the noises herself, and explained the manner in which they were produced. She also confessed to the removal of certain articles in the house which had strangely disappeared, and which she pretended had beentaken away by spirits. Drs. Lee and Flint, of Buffalo, assisted by two gentlemen by the name of Burr, have very thoroughly investigated the matter, and explained the manner in which the mysterious noises are made. Mr. Burr has himself made the rappings, and made them so loud as to be heard by a congregation of fifteen hundred people.
"These instances are sufficient to prove that the spiritual manifestations of our times, like those of ancient times, are in many instances a sheer deception—a vile trick, palmed off upon a wondering and credulous community, for the sake of money, or for other sinister and selfish ends. If there is any thing more than trick in these spiritual manifestations,—and I am inclined to think that, in some instances, there may be,—I should refer it, as in case of the ancient wizards, to the influence ofoccult natural causes—perhaps electricity, or animal magnetism, or something else, operating upon a nervous system of peculiar sensibility. I incline to this opinion for several reasons.
"In the first place, if the noises and other manifestations were really the work of spirits, why should they not be made through one person, as well as another? Why should not all mediums be alike? Whereas it is confessed that only persons of a peculiar nervous temperament are capable of becoming mediums.
"Again: if the disclosures which are made are really from the spirit world, it might be expected that they would, at least, beconsistent with themselves. Whereas it is well known that they vary endlessly. In numerous instances, they are directly self-contradictory. 'Some of the communications,' says one who had been a medium, 'were orthodox; others were infidel. Some would acknowledge the truth of the Bible; others would condemn it. Some would be in favor of virtue; others would encourage the grossest crimes.'
"Another man, who had been a noted medium, but who was beginning to get his eyes opened as to the character of the proceedings, told his audience one night, 'Now, any one present ask a series of questions, and I pledge myself that the answer shall be, every time, yes.' Some one in the company asked, 'Is John Thompson alive?' The answer was, 'Yes.' 'Is John Thompson dead?' 'Yes.' 'Does John Thompson live in Vermont?' 'Yes.' 'Does he live in Massachusetts?' 'Yes.' And so the spirits went on contradicting themselves times without number. After this, a like series of questions were answered in the negative, exhibiting the most glaring contradictions, just as the operator pleased.
"But this brings me to another reason for supposing that the answers are not from departed spirits, but rather from themind of the operator, or fromsome other mind in communication with his, under the influence of an electric or magnetic cause. It is an admitted fact that these answers coincide very generally with the opinions or wishes of the medium, or of some one present in consultation with him. I knew a very respectable man, who discovered that he was a medium, and who practised various experiments upon himself. Upon being asked what he thought of it, he replied, 'If the answers are from the spirits, they must bevery silly spirits; for they always answer just as I wish to have them.' Another medium informs us that he can obtain any answer he pleases, by fixing his mind strongly upon it at the time. Now, does this look as though the answer came from spirits? If the spirits of the dead spoke, they would be likely to speak out independently; to speak just whattheythought, and not what those thought with whom they were consulting.
"There is another circumstance to be noted in this connection. When the requisite preparation is made, there is no need of consulting the spirits at all, in order to secure answers. You may consult with the chairs or the table just as well. This experiment was tried, not long since, at Wilmington, Vermont. A Mr. Kellogg was the medium, and he had succeeded in consulting the spirits to the satisfaction of all concerned. At length he remarked that he was about to let the company into an important secret. 'We will interrogate thetable,' said he, 'and have nothing more to do with spirits.' He did so; and thetable talked and answered, just as the spirits had done before. At the same time the table was made to stand on one leg, and to move about, as is usual in such cases. This experiment demonstrated, to the satisfaction of all present, that the strange appearances could be produced just as well without the spirits as with them. 'The calling for spirits,' to use the language of my informant, 'is mere garnish and fog, by which the real agency in the case is concealed.'
"On the point now under consideration, viz., the possiblyelectriccharacter of these manifestations, I am happy to introduce the testimony of Dr. Samuel Taylor, a respectable physician of Petersham, Massachusetts, whose article on the subject may be found in a late number of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Dr. Taylor discovered accidentally that he was a medium, and he proceeded to make experiments upon himself. The manifestation, in his case, was not by rapping, but by writing—a much more convenient mode of communicating with the spirit world. On taking his pen, and holding himself in a peculiar attitude, and proposing mentally some question to the spirits, his pen would begin to oscillate in his fingers, and very soon would write out an answer; and this without any voluntary effort of his own. And what is particularly to be noticed is, the pen would always write an answer which accorded with his own opinion or wishes, that is, if he had any wish on the subject. For example: Dr. Taylor inquired of one of the spirits about the different forms of religion. 'I asked which was the best religion, at the same time fixing my mind sternly on the wordProtestant. My hand immediately wroteProtestant. In the same manner, andby direction of the same spirit, my hand wrote successively,Methodist,Unitarian, and I believe one or two others. While in this state,' Dr. Taylor says, 'I felt a sensation like that of a light galvanic current passing through me. Sometimes it appeared to be a steady thrill, and sometimes it was intermittent, resembling light shocks of electricity.'
"After numerous experiments, Dr. Taylor comes to the conclusion, that the strange phenomena of which he was the subject were not tricks of his own, neither did they come from the spirit world, but were the result of what he callsdetached vitalized electricity. When this conclusion had been formed in his own mind, it occurred to him that he would put it to the test of the spirits themselves. 'Accordingly I asked them,' says he, 'if this was the work of departed spirits. The answer was, "No." I asked if it was the work of the devil. Again the answer was, "No." I asked if it was the effect ofdetached vitalized electricity. The answer was, "Yes."' So the spiritsconfirmedthe conclusion to which the doctor had come, as they did, in fact, all his conclusions.
"We have the testimony of another medium, of the same import with that of Dr. Taylor. Mr. Benjamin F. Cooley, who had long been a believer and operator in the spiritual rappings, states that his mind is now entirely changed. This change was brought about in consequence of 'a deep and earnest study of the nature, power, and application of electricity, and of the susceptibility of the mind to electrical or psychological changes.' These things, he says, will produce the same mysterious and startling phenomena which have been produced throughout the country, and attributed to the operations of departed spirits. (Mr. Cooley has recently published a work entitled An Exposition of Spiritual Manifestations, to which we would refer the reader.)
"A part of what is done by those who claim to have familiar spirits, may be the result of unknownnatural causes. This is the most plausible and excusable view which can possibly be taken of these practices; and yet, even in this view, they are frightfully evil. The persons who alone are susceptible to the influence of these natural causes are generally those of a diseased or delicate nervous temperament; and the effect of experimenting upon their nervous system is usually to shatter it the more. They become excitable, fantastic, and often insane. Diseases are engendered, both of body and mind, which lead on to the most fearful consequences. But a short time ago, the papers gave an account of a man in Barre, Massachusetts, who had been much given to the rappings and other spiritual manifestations, who became, in consequence, a raving maniac, threatening the life of his family, and was committed to the Lunatic Asylum at Worcester. Other like instances are occurring frequently, from the same cause. Almira Beazely, the Providence rapper, who murdered her brother in fulfilment of one of her own predictions, was cleared on the ground of her insanity.
"But this is not the only evil of the practices in question, when viewed as the result of natural causes. For the truth is, that, in most cases, they arenot so viewedby those who engage in them.Theyregard them as the work of spirits. They are, therefore, deceived; and those who follow them are deceived. Both suppose they are receiving utterances from the other world, when nothing is uttered but vain fantasies from their own minds and hearts. Such a deception is, manifestly, a hurtful one. It is full of danger to all concerned. To mistake one's own fancies for divine revelation, and feel conscience-bound to obey them as such, is the very essence offanaticism. It is fanaticism in its most frightful form. Under the influence of such an impression, persons may be led to perpetrate the greatest cruelties, and the most horrid crimes, and vainly think that they are doing God service. The wretched man in Barre was led to attempt the life of his family, in obedience to a supposed revelation from the spirit world.
"The practices which have been considered are of heathen origin. They originated with the ancient heathen; they were spread over a greater part of the heathen world; and they continue to pervade and curse it to the present time. Among numerous heathen tribes at the present day, scarcely a calamity occurs—a death, a flood, a fit of sickness, or an instance of death—but some poor creature (and often more than one) is accused and put to death, as being the cause of it. 'The sick man is bewitched: who has bewitched him? His death (if he chance to die) has been brought about by evil spirits: who has sent the spirits upon him?' To get an answer to these questions, some old hag or conjurer is consulted; the cause of the mischief is quickly discovered, and an innocent person is put to death. Probably hundreds die every year after this manner, among the heathen,even in this nineteenth century! And the case would soon be no better among ourselves, if we were to go, extensively andconfidently, into the practice of consulting with familiar spirits. The spirits would unravel all mysteries for us; they would reveal all secrets; and not a man, woman, or child would long be safe from their malicious accusations.
"Something more than a year ago, the Lunatic Asylum in Maine took fire, and a portion of its inmates were smothered and consumed. And there are hundreds of persons now in the state, who affirm that the building was set on fire by the keepers, with a view to cover up and conceal their own wickedness. These personsknowit was so; they have not the shadow of a doubt on the subject. Why? Not that they have a particle of evidence to this effect from our world, but because the spirits have so informed them. Now, let these utterances become common, and be commonly received, and in three months' time those keepers might every one of them be dragged to the gallows, or the stake, while they were as innocent of the charge laid against them as a child unborn.
"I refer to this instance just to show the sin, the evil, the exceeding peril, of indulging in those practices which have been exposed. Let all those who read these things, then, beware of them and shun them. If any of us are capable of becomingmediums, as they are called, we had better not know it; or, if we know it, we had better refrain from all experiments. To tamper with such a power is to tamper with an already shattered nervous system, the only effect of which will be to shatter it the more.
"There is nothing more striking than the difference between those representations of the future world which are made known in the Bible, and which we know are true, and those which are put forth by the revealers of our own times. The former are solemn, exciting, impressive, some of them awfully so, others gloriously. While the latter, as Professor Stowe says, are 'so uniformly and monotonously silly, that we are compelled to think, if these are really the spirits of the dead, in dying they must have lost what little of common sense they ever possessed. If these are actual specimens of the spiritual world, then this world, hard and imperfect as it is, is altogether the most respectable part of God's creation.'
"In the Bible, we have frequent accounts of persons who were raised from the dead—who actually returned from the spirit world to this. But they returned uniformly with sealed lips. In not a single instance did they make any disclosures. But our modern revealers pursue a very different course. They practise no reserve. They go into the minutest particulars,—sometimes into the most disgusting details,—and publish, as one expresses it, 'a penny magazine of the spiritual world.'"
In the language of the Puritan Recorder, "The worst of the evil is the soul-hardening familiarity they produce with the most awful subjects ever offered for human contemplation. We know of nothing in human experience so fatally destructive of all that reverence for the spiritual, that awe of the unseen, that tender emotion, as well as solemn interest, which connect themselves with the idea of the other life. Who, that has a Christian heart, would not prefer the silence of the grave to the thought of the dear departed one in the midst of such imaginings, and such scenic associations as are usually connected with the performances of the spirit rappers? 'They are not dead, butsleep.' 'They enter intopeace,' says the prophet. And then the precious and consoling addition—'They sleep in Jesus;' meaning, beyond all doubt, a state of rest, of calmness, of security, of undisturbed and beatific vision—far removed from all resemblance to this bustling life—a state in all respects the opposite of that which fancy pictures as belonging to the scenes presented in the manifestations of spiritual rappings, and spiritual table liftings and all those spiritual pantomimes, which seem to be becoming more and more extravagant and grotesque in proportion to the infidel credulity with which they are received."
Should any think, by reading what we have offered upon this subject in the preceding pages, that we have imputed guilt and deception to mediums, who are believed to be, many of them, above such trickery, we would merely refer such to page 29 of the Reply of Veriphilos Credens to the communications supposed to have been written by Dr. Enoch Pond, professor in the Bangor Seminary, as published in the columns of the Puritan Recorder. The reviewer says, "To suppose that mediums could practise deception on men of shrewdness and caution implies a greater credulity than does a faith in the most startling of their performances." "There is not the slightest degree of evidence," says this writer, "that such a case has ever occurred;" and yet on the selfsame page he says, "There is no doubt that some mediums, when the sounds and motions have failed to come in the usual mysterious way, have counterfeited them by some sly motions of their feet and hands. I have seen such things done, in some instances!"
The same author says, page 63, "I have not attempted to justify any reliance on disclosures made to us in the way of rappings. I think italtogetherunsafe to do so, for the declaration has already come to us, from what purports to be the spirits themselves, thatall these manifestations are of a low order, and are produced by thelowest grade of spirits."
As to the plea that "spiritsmustmake the sounds," to account for theintelligencecommunicated, it being impossible for mere "electricityto originate facts," we reply by affirming that there is no intelligence given beyond a certain limit; i.e., the mind of some one or ones in connection, either present or absent, for it makes no difference. For available purposes, a person a thousand or ten thousand miles distant may yield all the amount of intelligence required in a given case. Distance is no obstacle whatever. Electricity counts neither time nor space. For instance, the transmission of electricity through a conducting substance is instantaneous. A wire, or other conductor, may have motion communicated to its whole length at the same moment, whatever that length may be; and it is stated that an electro-magnetic impulse may be transmitted at the rate of one hundred and eighty thousand miles in a second, thus outstripping the sun in its march!
A large number of intelligent individuals, who, for a year or two past, have instituted a series of experiments upon this matter of "intelligence," have found that in no case has information been imparted beyond what existed in their own minds or that of some kindred or friend. Finding this to be the case, they have wisely come to the conclusion that spirits have never originated a solitary idea; that is,disembodied spirits; and as to the spirit within a man, in his corporeal state, why cannot it command as much influence over vital electricity as in its disembodied existence? Since both parties claim to perform by the same agent, and both claim this agent to be that ofvital electricity, we have also come to the same conclusion, with a host of others, that the "calling for spirits is mere garnish and fog, by which the real agency in the case is concealed."
"A considerable heap of books, pamphlets, and periodicals, some against, but most of them for, the 'spiritual phenomena,' has been accumulating upon our table, and now looms up large before us, demanding notice. That departed spirits have any thing to do with them is an explanation that we have never been able to accept for one moment. We should as soon think of asserting that an apple, rolling suddenly at our feet, must necessarily have fallen out of heaven, because we could not see the tree it had blown from. To bring such an astounding theory to explain such trivial phenomena is like sending a frigate to pick up a champagne bottle that might be floating down the bay.
"By some of the works before us we are informed, among many other things, that in the other world every man has his name upon his front door; that Swedenborg is a great man, delivers lectures, andhas a street named after him; that in heaven parties, concerts, andconverzationesare frequent; that at some of the concerts, star singers of great celebrity perform, attracting inconceivable multitudes of spirits to hear them; that children take lessons in French and Italian every morning; that the space allotted to some of the spirits is as large as New York; that the 'seventh sphere' (the highest heaven) is about five thousand miles from the earth; that the beds are of roses, and when the spirits recline upon them, the birds sing joyfully around, and mingle their music with the perfume of the flowers; that the celestials (not the Chinese) wear white robes, edged with pink; that a man generally attends his own funeral; that spirits, on their arrival in heaven, are set to studying geology, chemistry, and other dull subjects, which they soon begin to like, and say their daily lessons with an excellent grace; that parchment is in extensive use; that spirits are allowed to visit 'earth' once a day only, and have the privilege of staying one hour; that they have books, rings, newspapers, robin redbreasts, fruit, lakes, streams, diamonds, and drawing masters in the next world. 'Dora's dress,' says one of the revelations, 'was of blue satin, with a white sash; half sleeves, full; a pink velvet ribbon round her throat, fastened by a cameo. Her hair was in curls each side of her face, and fastened in a knot behind.' Dora, be it observed, is a departedspirit.
"If it could be shown that all these things were really revealed, as they are said to be, we should still think them unworthy of notice. The greater part of the 'supernal theology' is utterly frivolous; and whether frivolous or not, it bears very plainly the impress of the medium's own mind, or of the unknown desires of those by whom he is surrounded. If we were called upon to minister to a mind diseased, or to find pabulum for a soul hungering after moral excellence, we should as soon think of offering a copy of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments as a book of the 'supernal theology.' For the practical guidance of life, there is more help in any two maxims of the Sermon on the Mount, than in the whole literature of supernaturalism.
"The manifestation mania would have died away long since but for one unfortunate circumstance. We have in our land a large number of men who may be termed semi-clergymen, or, as they are frequently called, 'outsiders,' or 'come-outers.' These are they who, either because they know too much or because they know too little, or from superfluity of naughtiness or redundancy of virtue, find it difficult to obtain a 'settlement.' These are the men who foster delusions; who, because they cannot find a way toservethe public, are reduced topreyupon it. They embrace the new light—whatever it may be—with a degree of sincerity, and commit themselves to it; then they push it, stimulate it, make a business of it, and live by it. O the multitude of spiritual delusions that in every age of the world have originated and derived their strength solely from the fact that the bodily necessities of certain individuals depended upon their perpetuity! That, at this moment, there are men most diligently engaged in the new spiritual line, for the purpose of securing by it a reprieve from starvation, (or work,) is a fact which we do not merely believe, butknow."
Many devices have been resorted to in order to foretell the events of the future. Some pretend to do it by cards; some by the settlings of a tea or coffee cup; some by astrology; some by tables of letters and figures; some by the lines of the hand; and some by spirits of the dead. Strenuous advocates of these various modes are found, who recount the wonderful predictions that have taken place. Some spirit hunter recently prognosticated that the ship Staffordshire (reported to be lost) would arrive safe at San Francisco on a certain day, as she did. Professor Anderson had a glass bell at the Melodeon, in Boston, in September, 1852, that answered questions pertaining to future events. In deciding upon who would be the next president, it gave six distinct taps for Pierce—the number agreed upon if he was to be the successful competitor. This was done without any aid from spirits. We very much doubt whether Robach or Lester would refuse a challenge from A. J. Davis himself, to test their respective claims to correct predictions. Yet we do not believe that any reliance can be placed upon the prophecies of either party. Events may sometimes transpire in accordance with their predictions; and it would be strange if they did not, as they are always predicting, and events are ever occurring. But they never think of naming the multiplicity of failures that take place. Not long since, the spirits said that a distant friend would never live to reach home; but he soon after arrived, safe and well. Mr. Lester told a young man of Woburn that in two years he would marry a certain young lady; but in two months he was a corpse. Hundreds of such failures are constantly occurring, but are kept out of sight. If generally known, they would spoil the trade. We are surprised that men professing to high attainments, as A. J. Davis and some of his coadjutors, should fall back and plant themselves upon such stale trash. Some two years since, while lying apparently near our end, a lady suggested to us that, if we desired, she would consult Mr. Lester upon the probability of our recovery. We declined the offer, choosing to leave all with the Sovereign Disposer of events, believing that he would permit nothing to take place but what would be for our best good, and that of all concerned.
"Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,All but the page prescribed—theirpresent state;From brutes what men, from men what angels know;Or who could suffer being here below?The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food,And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood.O, blindness to the future! kindly given,That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven.Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;Wait the great teacher death, and God adore!What future bliss he gives not thee to know,But givesthat hopeto be thyblessing now."—Pope.
"Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,All but the page prescribed—theirpresent state;From brutes what men, from men what angels know;Or who could suffer being here below?The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food,And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood.O, blindness to the future! kindly given,That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven.Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;Wait the great teacher death, and God adore!What future bliss he gives not thee to know,But givesthat hopeto be thyblessing now."—Pope.
"Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,
All but the page prescribed—theirpresent state;
From brutes what men, from men what angels know;
Or who could suffer being here below?
The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?
Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food,
And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood.
O, blindness to the future! kindly given,
That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven.
Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher death, and God adore!
What future bliss he gives not thee to know,
But givesthat hopeto be thyblessing now."—Pope.
The writings of the spirit rappers abound with accounts of sights, sounds, visions, and wonders. We are forcibly reminded of a similar display in the writings of the Adventists, previous to the predicted end of the world in 1843—an overwhelming array of facts, calculations, signs, visions, wonders, miracles, maps, pictures, drawings, and hieroglyphics, all going to show, in the most positive manner, that in that year the world would be annihilated. And still it remains; and the works containing the omens and facts to substantiate the prediction are called to share the fate of a Farmer's Almanac quite out of date. Some few still hold on to a semblance of the theory, like him who, in the spring of 1851, declared that a talking cow, somewhere in Maine, had prophesied that the world would be burned up the following June. How lamentable to view the numbers of men and women who have given heed to such things, when assured that the day and the hour is not known even by the Son himself. (Matt. xxiv. 36.) Many of these persons were once active in the church, and exerted an influence for good; but by remaining in their present position, their influence in the cause of Christ is palsied, and their, talents buried in the earth. And yet we have propounded to us another "New Church," which, according to the predictions of its adherents, is destined to destroy all other churches, as itwas to be, according to the predictions of Miller, Fitch, Himes, and others.
In conclusion upon these things, we would add, that it has been our belief from the first, that there is nothing supernatural in the so-calledspiritual manifestations. They all bear the marks ofearthlyorigin. The public not knowing how to explain them, the first rappings were attributed to the "spirits;" and the idea having been set afloat, it has been adopted without investigation, being the easiest way of accounting for it.
To the common mind, three hundred years ago, it was plain and easy, that the world wasflat, and rested on something—on theback of Atlas, and he stood on atortoise, and the tortoise again onsomething; and the fact that nobody could tell what, was not allowed to stumble any one; it rested on afoundation, and that was enough for any one to know or believe. Motion, space, attraction, and repulsion were not understood, and Galileo came near losing his life, and did lose his personal liberty and character, for intelligence. When the world is as fully instructed in certain principles connected with our existence as it is in the laws of the physical universe, the "rappings," we think, will cease to be a wonder.
Persons in a clairvoyant state, by being put in connection with a diseased person, feel, by sympathy, the pain and disease of the patient. But to be qualified to describe the locality of the disease, or be able to tell what organ or part is affected, the practitioner must first have studied anatomy and physiology. The more perfect they are in these branches, the more accurately can they describe the seat of the disease. Their remedies are mostly botanical, and are generally safe in their operation. Theregular"clairvoyant physician," so to speak, does not pretend to be in league with "spirits;" but therearethose who profess that their prescriptions come from the other world—from those who, though dead, restnotfrom their labors. Notwithstanding the extreme simplicity of their remedies, such as any common nurse would advise, yet such is the profound sanctity and mystery thrown around them by anunseen spirit, that some profess to have received "wonderful healing mercies." Tobelievethat a medicine (however simple) is prescribed by aspiritfrom above, is enough to perform a cure in any case. Imagination alone is equal to the task. A very eminent allopathic physician informs us that he often rolls up brown bread pills, which, in certain cases, perform unmistakable cures. In fact, history is full of recoveries wrought out by aid of the imagination. We will subjoin a case by way of illustration.
"Sir Humphrey Davy, on one occasion in early life, was assisting Dr. Beddoes in his experiments on the inhalation of nitrous oxide. Dr. Beddoes having inferred that this agent must be a specific for palsy, a patient was selected for trial, and placed under the care of Davy. Previously to administering the gas, Davy inserted a small thermometer under the tongue of the patient, to ascertain the temperature. The paralytic man, wholly ignorant of the process to which he was to submit, but deeply impressed by Dr. Beddoes with the certainty of its success, no sooner felt the thermometer between his teeth, than he concluded the talisman was in operation, and in a burst of enthusiasm declared that he had already experienced the effects of its benign influence throughout his whole body. The opportunity was too tempting to be lost. Davy did nothing more, but desired his patient to return on the following day. The same ceremony was repeated, the same result followed; and atthe end of a fortnight he was dismissed wholly cured; no remedy of any kind, except the thermometer, having ever been used."
In the "supernal" productions we are presented with a pedantic display of high-sounding words and phrases. To use the language of inspiration, "they speak great swelling words of vanity." A work has recently been announced with this imposing title: "MacrocosmandMicrocosm," containing, among other things, "The Potential Media," "The Diastole and Systole of Nature." A writer in the Spiritual Telegraph, of October 9, says, "There are very many fancy-captivating, and depravity-flattering publications—some of them filled with indications, the most specious and subtle, of a refinedatheism. And I have seen a copy or two of a certain 'Journal,' ostensibly advocating the great truths (?) of spiritual manifestations, but containing some articles in which there was a congregation of wordssuperlatively unmeaning and transcendentally ridiculous." The same writer says, "I do not believe one half the communications which are said to come from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Wesley, and a host of other great names. What affinity can these spirits have with many of the thoughtless, light, and trifling circles, formed to pass off an hour, and perhaps ending with foolish mountebank scenes of psychology, falsely so called?"
Davis, in his Great Harmonia, page 206, exposes a class of "mercenary practitioners, who claim extraordinary or supernatural powers for their subjects,who give public and vulgar exhibitions, who employ chicanery and ignorant plans, who trifle with and play fantastic tricks with their subjects." He speaks of a class of "doctrinal practitioners, who prevert and misinterpret principles and results; who labor to make the phenomena subservient to, and illustrative of, the theological dogmas; who receive, modify, or reject, as a sectarian education and prejudice may sanction; who conceal, misstate, and magnify disclosures." Enough, in all conscience, to condemn the whole farce.
A work has recently been issued in Boston, by E. C. Rogers, containing an exposition of mysterious agents, and dynamic laws, or science of moving powers. It is a very valuable work, and, with his consent, we shall take the liberty of introducing some of the principal facts adduced; and at the same time would advise every inquirer to purchase the work for himself, which he will never have cause to regret.
On page 22, the author says, "Light and heat have always been known as agents by the common sensation of their more palpable phenomena. But electricity and magnetism were not known until their phenomena were specially observed. Many of the facts of these agents, before the latter had become known, were referred to spiritual agencies. It is the tendency of ignorance, in every age, to do the same thing. Reason demands an agent adequate to the production of every phenomenon. If she has not been furnished with sufficient data by which to arrive at a correct conclusion, imagination, influenced by a blind marvellousness, will refer the phenomena to some supernatural cause. Hence the early superstitions about chemical operations, the appearance of comets, eclipses, meteors, the 'bog lights,' and a thousand other phenomena. But as the agencies of nature have become known, and their laws and conditions of action discovered, the domination of superstition has given place to the triumph of reason and the reign of truth."
"Reason determines that, for every phenomenon, there is an agent; but never, without sufficient data, does she determine what that agent is. The imagination often assumes this prerogative, and gives conclusions withoutfacts, or furnishes the false data from which the logical faculty draws false principles. We mention these things to show how easy it is to be deceived, by our imaginations, with regard to the causes of outward phenomena, and that the only legitimate and trustworthy process in arriving at a solution of the mysteries of nature is, to furnish the reason withfacts, and exclude the influence of imagination. A blind precipitation of faith is also a fatal influence to all correct reasoning; for it rouses the action of the imagination, and long before the reason can possibly give a correct deduction, credulity and imagination have conjured one up; and this will be the more insisted upon as the only correct conclusion, as it is the least possessed of the real truth and the action of reason. Hence it is that those persons who are most ignorant of the principles of nature are the more positive and precipitate in their decisions upon any question of mystery. Theyknowthat there is no natural explanation, and the man is a fool whoattemptsto find one." (Page 34.)
The first case we shall quote from the above work occurred in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and was published at the time in the Newark Daily Advertiser. The phenomena made their appearance in the family of Mr. J. Barron, consisting, for the most part, of unusual sounds accompanying a servant girl.
"The first sounds were those of aloud thumping, apparently against the side of the house, which commenced one evening, when the family had retired, and continued at short intervals until daylight, when it ceased.
"The next evening it commenced at nightfall, when it was ascertained to be mysteriously connected with the movements of a servant girl in the family—a white girl, about fourteen years of age. While passing a window, on the stairs, for example, asudden jar, accompanied with anexplosive sound, broke a pane of glass, the girl at the same time being seized with a violent spasm. This, of course, very much alarmed her; and the physician, Dr. Drake, was sent for, who came and bled her. The bleeding, however, produced no apparent effect. The noise still continued, as before, at intervals, wherever the girl went, each sound producing more or less of a spasm; and the physician, with all the family, remained up during the night. At daylight thethumpingceased again. In the evening the same thing was repeated, commencing a little earlier than before; and so every evening since, continuing each night until morning, and commencing each night a little earlier than before, until yesterday, when the thumping began about twelve o'clock at noon. The circumstances were soon generally spread through the neighborhood, and produced so much excitement that the house was filled, and surrounded from sunrise to sunset, for nearly a week. Every imaginable means were resorted to, in order to unravel the phenomenon. At one time the girl would be removed from one apartment to another, but without effect. Wherever she was placed, at certain intervals, the thumping would be heard in the room. She was taken to a neighboring house. The same result followed. When carried out of doors, however, no noise was heard. Dr. Drake, who was constant in his attendance during the whole period, occasionally aided by other scientific observers, was with us last evening for two hours, when we were politely allowed a variety of experiments with the girl, in addition to those heretofore tried, to satisfy ourselves that there is no imposition in the case, and, if possible, to discover the secret agent of the mystery. The girl was in an upper room, with a part of the family, when we reached the house. The noise then resembled that which would be produced by a person violently thumping the upper floor with the head of an axe, five or six times in succession, jarring the house, ceasing a few minutes, and then resuming as before. We were soon introduced into the apartment, and permitted to observe for ourselves. The girl appeared to be in perfect health, cheerful, and free from the spasms felt at first, and entirely relieved from every thing like the fear or apprehension which she manifested for some days. The invisible noise, however, continued to occur as before, though somewhat diminished in frequency, while we were in the room. In order to ascertain more satisfactorily that she did not produce it voluntarily, among other experiments we placed her on a chair on a blanket in the centre of the room, bandaged the chair with a cloth, fastening her feet on the front round, and confining her hands together on her lap. No change, however, was produced. The thumping continued as before, excepting that it was not quite so loud. The noise resembled that which would be produced by stamping on the floor with a heavy heel; yet she did not move a limb or muscle, that we could discover. She remained in this position long enough to satisfy all in the room that the girl exercised, voluntarily, no sort of agency in producing the noise. It was observed that the noise became greater the farther she was removed from any other person. We placed her in the doorway of a closet in the room, the door being ajar, to allow her to stand in the passage. In less than one minute the door flew open, as if violently struck with a mallet, accompanied with precisely such a noise as such a thump would produce. This was repeated several times, with the same effect. In short, in whatever position she was placed, whether in or out of the room, similar results, varied a little perhaps by circumstances, were produced. There is certainly no deception in the case. The noise was heard at least one hundred yards from the house."
"In this case, no suspicions were entertained by the investigators that there was any supernatural or spiritual power manifested, as there was no manifestations of intelligence. They were purely physical phenomena."
The next case we shall notice we copy from the Spiritual Telegraph of July 3, 1852, taken from an old New York paper, dated March 10, 1789. The extract is as follows:—
"Sir: Were I to relate the many extraordinary, though not less true accounts I have heard concerning that unfortunate girl at New Hackensack, your belief might perhaps be staggered and patience tired. I shall therefore only inform you of what I have been an eye-witness to. Last Sunday afternoon my wife and myself went to Dr. Thorn's, and after sitting for some time, we heard a knocking under the feet of a young woman that lives in the family; I asked the doctor what occasioned the noise: he could not tell, but replied, that he, together with several others, had examined the house, but were unable to discover the cause. I then took a candle and went with the girl into the cellar: there the knocking also continued; but as we were ascending the stairs to return, I heard aprodigious rappingon each side, which alarmed me very much. I stood still some time, looking around with amazement, when I beheld some lumber, which lay at the head of the stairs, shake considerably. About eight or ten days after, we visited the girl again: the knocking was again heard, but much louder than before. Our curiosity induced us to pay the third visit, when the phenomena were still more alarming.I then saw the chairs move; a large dining table was thrown against me, and a small stand, on which stood a candle, was tossed up and thrown into my wife's lap; after which we left the house, much surprised at what we had seen."
"Catharine Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature, mentions several well-authenticated cases of this character, and other writers have noticed the same phenomena. A case is given on the 410th page of Miss Crowe's work—that of a young officer in the English army, who, wherever he went, whether in camp or at home, or among strangers, was liable to be tormented with thesenoises at night. Although they gave no particular marks of intelligence, yet they were regarded by his relatives with an abundance of superstition. They considered him "haunted."
"When these sounds commenced, he would sit up in bed, and express his anger in strong execrations. If a cage bird was in his room, it was certain to be found dead in the morning; or if he kept a dog in the apartment, it would make away from him as soon as released, and never come near him again."
"The phenomena in Dr. Phelps's case, already mentioned in this volume, consisted in the moving of articles of furniture in a manner that could not be accounted for. Knives, forks, spoons, nails, blocks of wood, &c., were thrown in different directions about the house, when there appeared no visible power by which the motion could have been produced. A writer in the New Haven Journal and Courier testifies, that while he was present, "the contents of the pantry were emptied into the kitchen, and bags of salt, tin ware, and heavy cooking utensils were thrown in a promiscuous heap upon the floor, with a loud and startling noise. Loaves of delicious cake were scattered about the house. The large knocker of the outside door would thunder its fearful tones through the loud-resounding hall, chairs would deliberately move across the room, heavy marble-top tables would poise themselves upon two legs, and then fall with their contents to the floor—no person being within six feet of them."
"On the 1st of October, 1850, Mrs. Phelps and her two children left home for Pennsylvania: with this the phenomena ceased. The doctor remained at his house five weeks after, without disturbance. It was ascertained that these and other manifestations were less frequent and feebler when but one of the children was in the house; and that they were more frequent in connection with the lad, (one of the above children,) eleven years of age.
These children had frequently been mesmerized into the trance state by their father; and one of them was subject to spontaneous trance, and at one time was found in the barn in a cataleptic state. Since the return of the doctor's family, in the spring of 1851, he has kept the two children separate, the boy being away, lest his presence would occasion a recurrence of the same phenomena. Simultaneous with the phenomena, the boy would frequently start while asleep in bed.
Analogous to the above are the wonderful occurrences which took place at Stockwell, England, in January, 1772, as related in the work entitled Night Side of Nature, page 370. We shall only give the most important particulars of the case, leaving the reader to consult the work itself."
"On Monday, January 6, 1772, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, as Mrs. Golding (the hostess) was in the parlor, she heard the china and glasses in the kitchen tumble down and break; her maid came to her, and told her the stone plates were falling from the shelf; Mrs. Golding went into the kitchen, and saw them broken. Presently after, a row of plates from the next shelf fell down likewise, while she was there, and nobody near them: this astonished her much, and while she was thinking about it, other things in different places began to tumble about, some of them breaking, attended with violent noises all over the house; a clock tumbled down, and the case broke." The destruction increased with the wonder and terror of Mrs. Golding. Wherever she went, accompanied by the servant girl, this dreadful waste of property followed.
Mrs. Golding, in her terror, fled to a neighbor's, where she immediately fainted. A surgeon was called, and she was bled. The blood, which had hardly congested, was seen all at once to spring out of the basin upon the floor, and presently after, the basin burst to pieces, and a bottle of rum, that stood by it, broke at the same time.
Mrs. Golding went to a second neighbor's, as the articles she had conveyed to the first were being destroyed. And while the maid remained at the first neighbor's, Mrs. Golding was not disturbed; but when putting up what few things remained unbroken of her mistress's in a back apartment, a jar of pickles, that stood upon a table, turned upside down, and other things were broken to pieces.
Meantime the disturbances had ceased at Mrs. Golding's house, and but little occurred at the neighbors', while Mrs. Golding and her servant remained apart. But as soon as they came into each other's company, the disturbance would begin again.
About five o'clock on Tuesday morning, Mrs. Golding went to the chamber of her niece, and desired her to get up, as the noises and destruction were so great she could continue in the house no longer: at this time, all the tables, chairs, drawers, &c., were tumbling about. In consequence of this resolution, Mrs. Golding and her maid went over the way to Richard Fowler's. The maid returned to Mrs. Pain's, to help this lady dress her children. At this time all was quiet. They then repaired to Fowler's, and then began the same scenes as had happened at the other places. It must be remarked that all was quiet here as well as elsewhere, till the maid returned.
When they reached Mr. Fowler's, he began to light a fire in his back room. When done, he put the candlestick upon the table in the fore room. This apartment Mrs. Golding and her maid had just passed through. This candlestick, and another with a tin lamp in it, that stood by it, were dashed together, and fell to the ground. A lantern, with which Mrs. Golding had been lighted across the road, sprang from a hook to the ground. A basket of coals tumbled over, and the coals rolled about the room.
Mrs. Golding and her servant now returned home, when similar scenes were repeated. Mr. Pain then desired Mrs. Golding to send her maid for his wife to come to them. When she was gone all was quiet. When she returned she was immediately discharged, and no disturbances happened afterwards."
"The account gives us the following particulars, namely: that the phenomena always depended upon the presence of the servant maid, and that they always occurred with the greatest energy when the mistress was in the company of the maid; also that, when the maid passed through a room alone, there would be little or no disturbance of its contents, but if she was soon after followed by Mrs. Golding, various articles would begin to play the most singular pranks. Very often one article would be attracted by another, or they would fly towards each other, and striking together, fall upon the floor as if both had been charged with some physical agent which made them act like opposite poles. Then, also, they would flyfromone another, as byrepulsiveforces. Every thing which Mrs. Golding had touched seems to have been in some way affected, so that afterwards, on the approach of the maid, it would be broken to atoms, sometimes, even, without her touch. The blood of Mrs. Golding was highly susceptible under the same circumstances, and the bowl in which it was contained and the glass ware standing by it burst to pieces."
"In the year 1835, a suit was brought before the sheriff of Edinburgh, Scotland, for the recovery of damages suffered in a certain house owned by a Mr. Webster. Captain Molesworth was the defendant at the trial." (See Night Side of Nature, page 400.) The following facts were developed: Mr. Molesworth had seriously damaged the house both as to substance and reputation.
First.By sundry holes which he cut in the walls, tearing up the floors, &c., to discover the cause of certain noises which tormented himself and family.
Second.By the bad name he had given the house, stating that it was haunted. Witnesses for the defendant were sheriff's officers, justices of the peace, and officers of the regiment quartered near; all of whom had been at the said house sundry times to aid Captain Molesworth detect the invisible cause of so much disturbance.
The disturbance consisted in certain noises, such as knockings, pounding, scratching sounds, rustlings in different parts of a particular room; sometimes, however, in other parts of the house. Certain boards of the floor would seem to be at times infected with the noises; then certain points in the walls, at which Mr. Molesworth would point his gun, or cut into with an axe, all to no purpose.
The bed on which a young girl, aged thirteen years, had been confined by disease, would very often be raised above the floor, as if a sudden force was applied beneath it, which would greatly alarm her and the whole family, and cause the greatest perplexity. The concussions which were often produced on the walls would cause them visibly to tremble. The force that produced these results was soon discovered to be in some strange way connected with this invalid, and wherever the young invalid was moved this force accompanied her."
"It is plainly exhibited, in the cases just given, that no characteristics of spiritual agency are exhibited, but those, on the contrary, of a mere physical power, associated with the organism of certain persons. "We have not," says Mr. Rogers, "the least possible evidence that any spirit, demoniacal or angelic, had any hand in performing the wild antics among crockery and furniture which we have seen performed in the accounts given. For it is admitted that a spiritual agent is an intelligent agent. Its characteristics are those of intelligence, as every one admits. Wherever, therefore, these characteristics are wanting in a class of phenomena, it is blindly absurd, greatly superstitious, even to draw the inference that they are spiritual phenomena. But what shall be said when it is asserted as a veritable certainty, and the crowd is made to stretch their throats and swallow the absurdity without a moment's examination?" "Is it possible we are to be driven to the conclusion that the ground of faith in spirituality is identical with that of ignorance, superstition, fanaticism, bigotry?"
We shall now proceed to give the case of Angelique Cottin, as reported in the Night Side of Nature, and in theCourrier des Etats Unis, and the investigations of the case as reported by M. Arago, before the Paris Academy of Sciences, 16th of February, 1846.
"Angelique Cottin was a native of La Perriere, aged fourteen, when, on the 15th of January, 1846, at eight o'clock in the evening, while weaving silk gloves at an oaken frame, in company with other girls, the frame began to jerk, and they could not by any efforts keep it steady. It seemed as if it were alive; and becoming alarmed, they called in the neighbors, who would not believe them, but desired them to sit down and go on with their work. Being timid, they went one by one, and the frame remained still till Angelique approached, when it recommenced its movements, while she was also attracted by the frame. Thinking she was bewitched or possessed, her parents took her to the presbytery, that the spirit might be exorcised, or cast out. The curate, being a sensible man, objected, but set himself to work to observe the phenomenon, and being satisfied of the facts of the case, he bade them take her to a physician.
"Meanwhile, the intensity of the influence, whatever it was, augmented; not only articles made of oak, but all sorts of things, were acted upon by it, and reacted upon her, while persons who were near her, even without contact, frequently feltelectricshocks. The effects, which were diminished when she was on a carpet or a waxed cloth, were most remarkable when shewas on the bare earth. They sometimes entirely ceased for three days, and then recommenced. Metals were not affected. Any thing touching her apron or dress would fly off, although a person held it; and Monsieur Herbert, while seated on a heavy tub or trough, was raised up with it. In short, the only place she could repose on was a stone covered with cork. They also kept her still by isolating her. When she was fatigued the effects diminished. A needle, suspended horizontally, oscillated rapidly with the motion of her arm, without contact; or remained fixed while deviating from the magnetic direction. Great numbers of enlightened medical and scientific men witnessed these phenomena, and investigated them with every precaution to prevent imposition. She was often hurt by the violent involuntary movements she was thrown into, and was evidently afflicted by chorea, or St. Vitus's dance."—Night Side of Nature, page 382.
"The French paper mentions the circumstance that while Angelique was at work in the factory, "the cylinder she was turning was suddenly thrown a considerable distance without any visible cause; that this was repeated several times; that all the young girls in the factory fled, and ran to the curate to have him exorcise the young girl, believing she had a devil." After the priest had consigned her to the physician's care, the physician, with the father and mother, brought Angelique to Paris. M. Arago received her, and took her to the observatory, and in the presence of MM. Laugier and Goujon made the following observations, which were reported to the Paris Academy of Sciences:—
"First.It is the left side of the body which appears to acquire this sometimes attractive, but more frequently repulsive, property. A sheet of paper, a pen, or any other light body, being placed upon a table, if the young girl approaches her left hand, even before she touches it, the object is driven to a distance as by a gust of wind. The table itself is overthrown the moment it is touched by her hand, or even by a thread which she may hold in it.
"Second.This causes instantaneously a strong commotion in her side, which draws her towards the table; but it is in the region of the pelvis that this singular repulsive force appears to concentrate itself.
"Third.As had been observed the first day, if she attempted to sit, the seat was thrown far from her, with such force that any other person occupying it was carried away with it.
"Fourth.One day a chest upon which three men were seated was moved in the same manner. Another day, although the chair was held by two very strong men, it was broken between their hands.
"Fifth.These phenomena are not produced in a continued manner. They manifest themselves in a greater or less degree, and from time to time during the day; but they show themselves in their intensity in the evening, from seven to nine o'clock.
"Sixth.Then the girl is obliged to continue standing, and is in great agitation.
"Seventh.She can touch no object without breaking it or throwing it upon the ground.
"Eighth.All the articles of furniture which her garments touch are displaced and overthrown.
"Ninth.At that moment many persons have felt, by coming in contact with her, a true electrical shock.
"Tenth.During the entire duration of the paroxysms, the left side of the body is warmer than the right side.
"Eleventh.It is affected by jerks, unusual movements, and a kind of trembling which seems to communicate itself to the hand which touches it.
"Twelfth.This young person presents, moreover, a peculiar sensibility to the action of the magnet. When she approaches the north pole of the magnet she feels a violent shock, while the south pole produces no effect; so that if the experimenter changes the poles, but without her knowledge, she always discovers it by the difference of sensations which she experiences.
"Thirteenth.The general health of Angelique is very good. The extraordinary movements, however, and the paroxysms observed every evening, resemble what one observes in some nervous maladies."
"The great fact demonstrated in this case," says E. C. Rogers, "is, that, underpeculiar conditions, the human organism gives forth a physical power which,without visible instruments, lifts heavy bodies, attracts or repels them according to a law of polarity, overturns them, and produces the phenomena of sound. So far as the mere movement of objects, even of great weight, in connection with certain persons, is concerned, whether in the phenomena of the so called 'spiritual manifestations,' or out of them, the immediate agent is a physical one, and is identical throughout. None but the most ignorant can deny this." For a further delineation of the facts in this case, and deductions therefrom, we refer the reader to the work of Mr. Rogers, on the Dynamic Laws and Relations of Man.
"The next case we shall refer to is that of Frederica Hauffe, of the town of Prevorst, in the mountainous parts of Germany. It was found that in her hands, at a very early age, the hazel wand pointed out metals and water. It was also found that, in certain localities, the influences from the earth had a very powerful effect upon her susceptible nerves. It was frequently observed by the one she often accompanied in his walks through solitary places, that though she was skipping ever so gayly by his side, at certain spots a kind of seriousness and shuddering came over her, which for a long time he could not comprehend. He also observed that she experienced the same sensations in churchyards, and in churches where there were graves; and that, in such churches, she never could remain below, but was obliged to repair to the galleries. Superstition, it is true, has always claimed such facts as parts of her ghostly superstructure; but they are too material for this.
Frederica was almost constantly in a magnetic state, and in this condition frequently communicated what was taking place at a distance, and was aware of producing sounds in space, and some ways off; but this being found to materially injure her, the habit was abandoned. She had a very high degree of susceptibility to mundane influences, and the effect was, that mineral loads and subterranean currents acted through her upon a simple stick held in her hand.
At one time she was attacked with nervous fever, which continued fourteen days with great violence. This was followed byseven years ofMAGNETIC LIFE, interrupted only by very short and merely apparent intervals. After the fever, she was attacked with spasms in the breast, which continued three days. On the second day, a peasant's wife came from the village, and seating herself beside her, said, "She needs no physicians; they cannot help her;" and laid her hands on her forehead. Immediately she was seized with the most direful spasms, and her forehead was as cold as if she was dead. During the whole night she cried deliriously that the woman had exercised a demoniacal influence upon her; and whenever the woman returned she was always attacked with spasms. On the third day they sent for a physician; and being then in a magnetic condition, she cried to him when he entered, although she had never seen him, "If you are a physician, you must help me!" He, well understanding her malady, laid his hands on her head; and it was remarked that, as long as he remained in the room, she saw and heard him alone, and was insensible to the presence of all other persons. The same kind of exclusive attachment has been seen in cases of persons who have fallen under the peculiar influence of the magnet or a crystal, thus showing the relation of mundane agencies to the psychological nerve centres, as well as to the nerve centres in the spine, and among the viscera.
After her physician had laid his hands on her she became calm, and slept for some hours. Some internal remedies and a bath were prescribed for her; but the spasms returned in the night, and for eighteen weeks she was attacked by them from twice to five or six times a day. All the remedies prescribed proving inefficacious, recourse was had to "magnetic passes," which, for a time, relieved the spasms. It was amid such sufferings and such influences that, in the month of February, 1823, after extreme tortures, she gave birth to her first child. This event was followed, for some time, by additional ills. The following is a somewhat curious circumstance, and goes to show the influence which one organization will have upon another, when a certain relation is established between them. It is this: The woman who, on a former occasion, had exerted so unhappy an influence upon the mother, produced precisely the same effects upon the child. Her contact with it threw it into spasms, and the convulsions became periodical until its death.
About a year after the birth of her child, being laughed at for her superstition, she was thrown into a state of rigid spasm, and became as cold and stiff as a corpse. For a long time no respiration was visible. She lay as in a dream. In this peculiar condition she spoke for three days entirely in verse and at another, she saw, for the same period, nothing but a ball of fire, that ran through her whole body as if on thin bright threads. And then, for three days, she felt as if water was falling upon her head, drop by drop; and it was at this time that she saw her own image. She saw it clad in white, seated on a stool, whilst she was lying in bed. She contemplated the vision for some time, and would have cried out, but could not; at length she made herself heard, and her husband entering, it disappeared. Her susceptibility was now so great that sheheard and felt what happened at a distance, and was so sensible to external agencies,that the nails in the walls affected her, which obliged her friends to remove them. The least light had a powerful influence upon her nervous system, and could not be endured.
She was now induced to take a medicine which made her more calm, but threw her into a deeper trance. Still she could not endure the sunlight. She was taken in a darkened carriage to her home on the mountains. "Here she existed," says her physician, "only through the nervous emanation of others, and it became necessary that some one should always hold her hand; and if the person was weak, it increased her debility. The physician prescribed magnetic passes and medicines, but she fell into a magnetic sleep,and then prescribed for herself. Her greatest suffering arose from the sensation of having a stone in her head. It seemed as if her brain was compressed, and at every breath she drew, the motion pained her. At this time a large magnet was applied to her forehead; immediately her head and face were turned round, and her mouth distorted as by a stroke of palsy. On the 28th of December she gave birth to her second child, which was followed, as before, by a long and severe illness. She continued constantly in a magnetic state. Persons of various tempers now became her magnetizers. The effects of these different nervous temperaments upon hers were very serious. It brought her into special relation to so many persons, that, evenat a distance, they affected her, visions of whom would appear to her like visions of spirits. This, moveover, brought her into a deeper magnetic condition, and rendered her moredependent on the nervous energy of others. Another physician was employed from a distance. He gave her an amulet to wear, composed of certain substances, and a small magnet, all arranged together. Occasionally this amulet, untouched by any one, would run about her head, breast, and bed covering, like a live thing."
"It has already been remarked, that, in the earlier stage of her magnetic state, she was aware ofmaking sounds at a distance. This she repeatedly performed, so that her friends at a distance, as they lay in bed,heard distinctly the sounds. This fact being communicated to her physician, Dr. Kerner, he, by actual experiment and observation, confirmed it. This was not performed by her will, which was inactive in her somnambulic or cataleptic state, as well as her consciousness. Every nerve centre was in a most intimaterapportor relation with the mundane agencies, especially that which acts in conjunction with the nervous force, and holds every animal in a certain connection with every thing out of the organism.
The father of this unfortunate woman inhabited a house which formed a part of an old cathedral, where, it had been reported by former tenants,strange sights had been seen, and strange sounds heard. It was in this house, at the time of her somnambulic state, already spoken of, that there were heardunusual knockings on the walls, noises in the air, and other sounds, which, as Dr. Kerner remarks, "can be testified to by more than twenty credible witnesses."There was a trampling up and down stairs by day and by night to be heard, but no one to be seen, as well as knockings on the walls and in the cellars; but, however suddenly a person flew to the place to try to detect whence the noise proceeded, they could see nothing. If they went outside, the knocking was immediately heard inside, and vice versa.The noises at length became so perplexing, that her father declared that he could live in the house no longer. They were not only audible to every body in the house, but to the passengers in the street, who stopped to listen to them as they passed. Whenever there was playing on the piano, and singing, sounds would commence on the walls."
We have not room to mention all the facts in her case; but will add a few of the most remarkable. "She was very susceptible toelectrical influences, and, what is almost incredible,she had a preternatural feelingorconsciousness of human writing. Various minerals seemed to have a specific effect, when brought in contact with her.Glass and rock crystalhad a powerful effect in waking her from the somnambulic state, or in exciting the force within her organism. This fact, and others of this character in abundance, point to the peculiar tendency of this force, in some cases of disease, to act outwardly from the nerve centres upon glass ware, window glass, &c. "We have known a child, eight years old," says Mr. Rogers, "who seldom, at one period, took hold of a glass dish without its soon bursting to pieces." In the case of Frederica, a rock crystal, placed on the pit of her stomach, and allowed to remain there for some time, would produce a deep state of catalepsy. She was affected in the same manner by silicious sand and gravel, or even by standing some time near a glass window. If she chanced to seat herself on a sandstone beach, she was apt to become cataleptic; and once, having been for some time missed, she was at length found at the top of the house, seated on a heap of sand, so rigid, that she was unable to move away from it. Whenever she was placed in a bath by her medical attendants, it was with a great deal of labor they could immerse her body beneath the surface. Her specific gravity seemed to be more like cork, or a bladder of air, than that of muscle, nerve, and bone. Something seemed to pervade her body, or to act upon it, so entirely opposite to the centripetal action of the earth, as to counteract this law of force in the most marked manner. This fact suggested to Dr. Kerner a curious experiment, which resulted in the development of another important phenomenon. He had concluded, that as all these phenomena had taken place more or less in conjunction with those usually termedmagneticormesmeric, there might be some relation of the forces in both, or indeed they might be identical. To test this matter, he at one time placed his fingers against hers, when he found at once there existed a mutual attraction, as between two magnets; and now, by extending his hand upward,he raised her clear from the ground; thus she was suspended, as a magnet suspends a piece of iron, oranother magnet, simply by a polar force. This was repeated several times, and afterwards his wife did quite the same thing."
"We have already spoken of the action which the sun's light had upon her in producing physical effects. Among others it was observed that the different colored rays produced each a specific effect. The light of the moon, also, when she looked at it, produced coldness and shivering, with melancholy." The effects of these agents on the human organism are clearly explained, in the numbers of an astronomical paper, by Mr. Chapman, of Philadelphia.
"On touching Frederica with a finger, during an electrical state of the atmosphere, she saw small flashes, which ascended to the ceiling; from men these were colorless, from women blue; and she perceived emanations of the same kind, and of the same variation of color, from people's eyes."
Concerning the power possessed in the nerve centres of this woman, to produce sounds at a distance, Dr. Kerner remarks as follows: "As I had been told by her parents, before her father's death, that, at the period of her early magnetic state, she was able to make herself heard by her friends, as they lay in bed at night, in the same village, in other houses, by a knocking,—as is said of the dead,—I asked her, in her sleep, whether she was able to do so now, and at what distance. She answered that she could sometimes do it. Soon after this, as we were going to bed, (my children and servants being already asleep,) we heard a knocking, as if in the air over our heads; There were six knocks, at intervals of half a minute. It was a hollow, yet clear sound, soft, but distinct. We were certain there was no one near us, nor over us, from whom it could proceed; and our house stands by itself. On the following evening, when she was asleep, (we had mentioned the knocking to nobody whatever,) she asked me whether she should soon knock to us again; which, as she said it was hurtful to her, I declined." And yet, not long after this, Kerner relates the following, as having taken place at his house: "On the morning of the 23d of March, 1837, at one o'clock, I suddenly awoke, and heard seven knocks, one after another, at short intervals, seeming to proceed from the middle of my chamber: my wife was awakened also; and we could not compare this knocking to any ordinary sound. Mrs. Hauffe lived several houses distant from us."
"On the 30th of the same month, Rev. Mr. Hermann came intorapportor special relation with Mrs. H., through the medium of psychological sympathy, as well as through the physical influence. Previous to this he had not been troubled with strange sounds at his house, but after that period he was awakened every night, at a particular hour, by a knocking in his room,—sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the walls,—which his wife heard as well as himself. In a great part of her magnetic state, Mrs. H. was under a strong state of religious feeling, and was often engaged in prayer. Rev. Mr. Hermann sympathized with her in this, and with the commencement of the rapping in his room, he experienced an involuntary disposition to pray." (See Mr. Rogers's work, where many such cases are given.)
In elucidation of the effect of glass, sand, gravel, &c., upon her organism, we will state an additional fact, as related by her physician: "On the 21st of April, Dr. K. was at the house of Mrs. H. The window being open, he saw a quantity of gravel come in the window, which he not only saw, as he says, 'but picked it up!' To be certain that no one threw it in, he immediately looked out. On comparing it, he found it to be such gravel as lay in the front of the house."
"Now, let the phenomena we have related be put side by side with those which occurred at the house of Rufus Elmer, in Springfield, Massachusetts, on the 5th of April, 1852, as witnessed by Professor Wells, of Cambridge, and others, and alleged to be the work of spirits.
First.The table was moved in every possible direction, and with great force, when no cause of motion could be perceived.
Second.The table was forced against each one present so powerfully as to move them from their positions, together with the chairs they occupied, in all several feet.
Third.Mr. Wells and Mr. Edwards took hold of the table in such a manner as to exert their strength to the best advantage, but found the invisible power, exercised in the opposite direction, to be quite equal to their utmost efforts.