Jonnob/the-spiritualist-enriched huggingface dataset:
Reports of Meetings. [When reports of the speeches of spirits are printed in this Journal, non Spiritualists should understand that spirits out of the body are wise o foolish, truthful or untruthful, just the same as spirits in the body. More over, they are but individuals, so do not know everything. The statements of a spirit are but the assertions of an individual; but by comparing the state ments of many spirits, it may in time be possible to discover in what points they agree, and to sift out the unreliable communications. Many spirits cannot see each other, any more than we can see them, and as some of then are thus in different states of life, it does not follow that contradictory messages are therefore untruthful. Spirits are of different religions, conse sequently their teachings do not altogether agree; there is no more uniformity in the next world than in this one. It is the business of this journal to report facts, so we are in no way responsible for the religious, scientific, or any other teachings given by individual spirits.
THE SERVICES AT THE CAVENDISH ROOMS. SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE DEITY—THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL PROGRES SION—SPIRITUALISM AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS—THE RESULTS OI A DREAM—SPIRITUALISM AS DEFINED BY MR. PEEBLES. THE Sunday evening meetings of Spiritualists at the Cavendish Rooms, Mortimer-street, Langham-place, Regent street, will be continued regularly, and the services begin at seven o’clock Mr. J. M. PEEBLES, American Consul at Trebizond, lectured at the Cavendish Rooms on Sunday evening, Feb. 27th. He commenced—The inspired psalmist once said, “ Oh worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” It is not more in harmony with nature for water to seek its level, or the mystic needle to point to the North Pole, than for man to worship. Wherever man has been, he has left marks of his worship of God. The power to ask the question, “ What is God?” implies to some extent the power to answer it, and God is infinite life and truth, and gladness, and intelligence, and love, God has implanted in man a belief in a Superintending Existence, guiding all worlds; we do not comprehend him, we cannot even fathom ourselves. We can only grasp and digest what is inferior to ourselves. He supposed that God was not a personal being with a definite shape, but that God is in the universe, and just as much present to-day as in the days of the patriarchs. Directly you personalise God you localise Him; whatever you localise you limitise, and whatever you limitise is imperfect and may be destroyed. He could only say with Jesus, “ God is a spirit.” He thought that man was the ulti mate of the rest of the earthly creation, and that all the lower forms of life and matter are focalised in him, from the oyster to the monkey, upwards. He did not mean that man was made of the primates, but of the spiritual ultimates of the primates. There is reason to suppose that there is a portion of the spirit of God in every human being, and that this Divine portion never becomes impure ; it is only when this innermost purity tries to externalise itself through the spirit body and the material body, both of them containing and being surrounded with inharmonious conditions, that troubles, and sorrow, and suffering afflict the progressing mortal. The Lecturer next stated that the condition of man is one of endless progression. If they asked, “ Is God a progressive Being?” he would answer at once in the negative. But if God does not progress, and man does, will not man in the end reach Him, and be lost in Him? No; for the progression
nal torments, accept as a truth this teaching of the spirits the final restoration of all souls. Spiritualism does not say “believe my creed;” but “ feed my sheep.” Does not say “ worship in my church;” but “ wor ship as your own conscience dictates.” And, does not insist so much upon the saying, as the doing of prayers, that the heart’s best affections may be baptized into a love holy and heavenly. In fine, Spiritualism is that “other angel,” that the Revelator John saw “flying in the midst of heaven," and preaching the everlasting gospel of immortality—the gospel of “peace and good will to men." He loved the living gospel of Spiritualism, because it shows so much of the kindness and love of God. Pain is only an angel leading us back to nature and truth ; sickness purifies the physical organisation, and disappointments strengthen individuality of character. Even Jesus, it is said, was purified by suffering, and there is no eternal endless evil in the universe. He was so organised that he could not love a hateful object. Human love is a thing which comes out like the flowers, to drink in the dewdrops, and to rejoice in the sunlight of heaven. Human love is a great reforming power, and its binding influence was never more plainly shown than when William Penn made his treaty with the Indians, by the rolling river, under the old elm tree’s shade. Mr. PEEBLES then eloquently described Penn’s interview with the Indians, after which he spoke of the influence of woman, and he closed by speaking of the high moral influences of Spiritualism, and the happiness and power of the love of God. The hall was well filled, and the speaker was listened to with close attention throughout.
SPIRIT-SEEING IN CRYSTALS. LAST Thursday night Mr. Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., F.A.S.L., gave a short lecture at 15, Southampton-row, Bloomsbury, W.C., on “Spirit-Seeing in Crystals." Mr. C. F. Varley, C.E., F.R.G.S., who chanced to be among the listeners, was unanimously invited to preside over the meeting. The PRESIDENT, in introducing the lecturer, briefly remarked that the question of crystal-seeing, which in his opinion was closely allied to the odic force of Reichenbach, often seen to issue from magnets, would probably give investigators the first insight into the connection between the spiritual and material forces, for there must be a connection somewhere. Mr. MACKENZIE said that his attention was first drawn to Spiritualism in 1853, by the perusal of the book written by Judge Edmonds and Dr. Dexter ; he was neccssarily somewhat startled by the contents of the book, and he and his friends tried to obtain the phenomena of table-moving and raps at home, but with such indifferent success that after a time they ceased their experiments. In 1856 he by accident met Mr. Hoekley, of Croydon, who had long been experimenting with crystals, and who placed all his notes at the disposal of the lecturer. From that time he (Mr. Mackenzie) closely followed up the subject, and made notes on the spot of all the facts witnessed, which notes now make a great many volumes of manuscript. The late Earl Stanhope gave much time to the investigation of crystal-seeing.* A crystal or mirror is placed before the eyes of the sensitive or medium, who first sees a dense cloud form in the mirror, followed by blackness ; after wards come flashes of fire or light, and then come visions of distant places, persons, or so-called spirits. He used the expres sion “so-called” because he had not entirely given up the idea that these might be subjective phenomena, and he did not want to bind himself or others by his remarks. Crystal-seeing is more or less known in many parts of the world; everybody has heard of Dr. Dee and his magic crystals, also how mirrors were used by the magicians of old. The spiritual communications he had recorded in the volumes before him contained such a web of truth and falsehood as his hearers would scarcely consider to be possible. He then read a minute description of the in terior of a laboratory of one of the ancient alchemists and magicians; among the instruments described by the eye-wit ness was one just the same as a particular form of the plan chette of the present day ; there was also a crystal vessel and a crystal ball with “perpetual fire” flashing inside. Some of the knowledge of the ancient magicians was possessed by the
* The untimely death of the late Earl Stanhope prevented the completion of his great reflecting telescope, six feet in diameter, and longer in focus than Lord Rosse's giant instrument. He was distinguished both as a scientific man and a statesman.—ED. + One “Benjamin Tochla,“ who died about the beginning of the seven teenth century, in Germany. The description of the laboratory is published in the Aurifontina Chymica, 1680.—ED.
CHARGES FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. 1. Advertisements of Public Companies, Half-a-guinea per sixth of a column, or every portion of sixth of a column. 2. General Advertisements, Five Shillings per twelfth of a column, or portion of twelfth of a column. Note.—Advertisements at the foregoing rates will be "displayed” so as to occupy the full space paid for, but advertisements at the following rates will be in closely set type. 3. General Advertisements, Half-a-crown per first five lines or portion of five lines, and Fourpence for every line in addition. 4. Situations Wanted, or Apartments to Let, One Shilling, per first four lines, or portion of four lines; Threepence for every line in addition. Ten words are allowed to the line, and six figures or initial letters count as one word. When five or more insertions of the same advertisemen are paid for, twenty per cent. reduction will be made in the above rates. The power is reserved of refusing to insert any advertise ment. Advertisements and remittances should be sent to the Publisher, Mr. E. W. ALLEN, Ave Maria-lane, St. Paul's Church-yard, London, E.C., or to Mr. J. BURNS, 15, Southampton-row, High Holborn, London, W. C.
To Correspondents All letters should be brief and to the point, as the amount of space available for correspondence is at present small. Communications intended for the Editor should be by letter only, addressed to the care of the Publisher, Mr. E. W. ALLEN, Ave Maria-lane, St. Paul's Church-yard, London E.C. Until the Spiritual movement in England, together with this journal, have both grown considerably, time cannot be spared for personal interviews on subjects connected with the literary worh of THE SPIRITUALIST, but all letters will meet with careful consideration. THE SPIRITUALIST is a periodical intended to give great freedom of expression to all the different shades of opinion to be found among Spiritualists. There will therefore be very little uniformity in the ideas promulgated in this journal, more especially in the correspondence columns. Under these circumstances every reader will find occasionally somethine in THE SPIRITUALIST which he or she does not like, but the right of reply remains. This freedom of thought given to others, the Editor claims for himself, and those who do not like the contents of leading articles, can write against them in the correspondence columns. This plan is thought better than that of reducing the contents of the journal to a pale weak mediocrity, by inserting only those contributions which please everybody The preceding remarks are not intended to imply that those who have crotchets which the cannot get printed anywhere else, can find an outlet for them here, for none but those letters which are considered worth publication will be inserted. Notices of Public Meetings in connection with Spiritualism should be sent to the office several days in advance.
To Subscribers. The first twelve numbers of THE SPIRITUALIST will be forwarded regularly by penny post to subscribers, who remit four shillings in payment, to Mr. E. W. ALLEN, Publisher Ave Maria-lane, St. Paul's-churchyard, E.C. No notice will be taken of orders received unaccompanied by a remit tance. “THE SPIRITUALIST” IS PUBLISHED ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF EVERY MONTH; THE OTHER JOURNALS DEVOTED TO SPIRITUALISM ARE PUBLISHED ON THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH. THERE IS THEREFORE A FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLY OF NEWS
THe SPIRITUALIST TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1870. THE PHENOMENAL PHASE OF SPIRITUALISM. MANY Americans who visit this country have remarked that Spiritualism here is as yet in its phenomenal phase only, and that Great Britain is now in exactly the same position with regard to Spiritualism as America was fifteen years ago. Admitting that we are fifteen years be hind the Americans in Spiritualism, as well as in some other movements which are essential to national happi ness, there are very good reasons for thoroughly investi gating spiritual phenomena, before attaching much credit or discredit to the alleged teachings of Spiritualism. If telegraphic instruments, instead of being machines, had each the faculty of colouring and altering the messages they transmit, it is evident that we ought to know what amount of error is introduced by each machine, and what machines transmit messages with most accuracy, Until this is done we should not be justified in attri buting to the sender of the message all the ideas con tained in the message as delivered to us. In the early stages of mediumship, very much of the thoughts of the medium are often mixed up with the communica tions, though the names, and dates, and localities, unknown to the medium, and given in the messages, as well as many other facts, prove the presence of a com municating intelligence, other than that of the medium. Hence it is a wise course to thoroughly investigate the
lower phenomena of Spiritualism before attaching implicit credence to messages coming even from truth ful spirits. The messages from spirits given publicly through Mr. Morse, for instance, are by some sceptical outsiders, who have never tested physical manifesta tions, assumed to be impostures, whilst a few very cre dulous Spiritnalists consider them to be absolutely true. Investigation, however, has proved that the majority if not all, of the original messages are truthful, but that errors get into a portion of them because of the diffi culty of transmitting them through the organisation of the medium. When any medium has intensely biassed opinions upon one particular subject, whether it be politics, sectarianism, teetotalism, or any other  "ism," communications through him on those subjects are very likely to be coloured. A strict Buddhist, for instance, not being open to receive truth in all directions, may refuse to hold communication with any spirits who do not believe in Buddha and his teachings. Such a medium may be surrounded by good spirits, who, to some extent, humour him in his views, and try to gradually enlarge the narrow mind of the warped instrument they use ; or he may be surrounded by the undeveloped spirits of Buddhists who have just left the world; or again, there is the alternative that he may be surrounded by low and idle spirits, who amuse themsclves by hoaxing him. Until we understand more about the amount of error likely to be introduced into messages passing through any given mediumistic instru ment, we need not haste to quit the investigation of the phenomenal phase of Spiritualism, and in the mean time should accept all the communications with a reasonable amount of caution.
Poetry. OURS IT chanced on a beautiful summer night, When the moon was young, when the stars were bright, And the blossom slept in the tender light, And dreamed of the zephyr’s sighs, That a wondrous spell in our home was wrought, Of hopes and fears and bewildering thought, By a fairy flower that an angel brought, From the gardens of paradise. The south wind fluttered its perfumed wings, And essayed the song that the bulbul sings; And the flrefly sparkled in mystic rings, Like lamps at a fairy ball; The young leaves whispering sweet and low, In a tongue that only Dryads know, Made love to the waves that danced below, To the chant of the waterfall. The cloud-ships lay in the far-off west, With their masts and spars and sails at rest, Or floated along in an idle quest, Of some bright Elysian Isle; And fairy gondolas here and there, Moved down the streams of the upper air, And moved their prows to the shadow stair, Of some Gothic palace-pile. So the hours of that summer-night were told, The starlight faded from river and wold, And morning, in garments of purple and gold, Awakened the slceping earth; But the cherub form with its face so fair, Crowned with a glory of golden hair  Like the morning and sunshine gleaming there  The Universe. Stili nestled beside our hearth.
spirits could for a special mighty purpose cause the immacu late conception of a human being. Verily, this is straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. J. G. GERRAXS, Surgeon, &c. 7a, Wyndham-place, Bryanston-square P.S.—I could say much more on the above subject, but fear occupying too much of your space. I will by your permission recur to it on a future occasion. SIR,—I am very mueh pleased with Mr. Pearce’s letter printed in your last issue, especially with his want of reve renee for Tertullian. Who on earth was Tertullian, that his opinions should bind mine? The man is dead and buried; I cannot become personally acquainted with him or his friends or know much that is reliable about this antiquated indi vidual. The evidence of one or two respeetable intelligent men, living now—in civilised times—in London, is worth more than the evidenee of a hundred dead and buried worthies who lived when the world was only half-way out of its state of primitive savagery, and whose sayings have come down to us through the hands of priestly and political mountebanks History, books, and the press, have almost always as yet been under the thumbs of the powers that be, and it is only within the last forty years that absolutely reliable history, giving all sides of disputed subjects, has risen into being. Let those Englishmen who worship antiquity carry their precepts into practice, paint their bodies as their forefathers, the ancient Britons, did, divest themselves of superfluous clothing, and make beastly savages of themselves generally. Modern civili sation would then pronounce its verdict upon the worshippers of tradition, barbarism, superstition, and antiquity, by lodging, them in the nearest police-station. A. P Mareh 12th, 1870.
This is a mistake, because readers do not care for a continual supply of the opinions of one person, however good they may be, and the newspaper ought to contain reports of what is now taking place in connection with Spiritualism in Melbourne. There is plenty of internal evidence that The Glowworm is not under the control of a practical journalist, and we fear that its life is almost certain to be a short one, unless a considerable change be made in description and arrangement of the matter it publishes. However, failure in a good cause is better than success in a bad one. The second number only of The Glowworm has reached us, and no statement is made in it whether it is pub lished weekly or monthly, but probably it is intended to be a monthly journal. The Food Journal. Published Mouthly. London, J. M. Johnson and Sons, March 1, 1870. Tais is is a new and valuable periodical, since it gives attention to food and its adulterations, and has several medical and other gentlemen of ability among the con  tributors to its pages. Butter is now very largely adu -l terated with various kinds of grease, and with silicate of potash. Vast quantities of tea, made of dirty leaves which have been previously used, and in some cases have begun to putrefy, are regularly imported from China. A journal is greatly needed which will work hard to keep such unpleasant impurities from entering the human body. Among the articles in the number of the Food Journal now under notice, is one by Dr. J. Muter, from which it appears that among the many substances used to adulterate coffee are chicory roasted roots, peas, and acorns, also saw-dust, lupin seeds, oak bark, and baked horse’s liver. The raspings of loaves and stale sea biscuits are very much used to adulterate coffee. The journal also contains a good ar  ticle by Mr. E. Fournier, on the disadvantages of a potato diet. Potatoes do not contain all the ingredients neces sary to support life, but potatoes and ground bones, or potatoes and milk, make very nutritious diet. It is a principle in political economy, “ the cheaper the food the lower the wages of the population," therefore it is to the money interest of capitalists that the bulk of the people shall be supplied with cheap rather than pure food. The practical effects of the working of this prin ciple may well be investigated by the Food Journal.
MRS. EVERITTS MEDIUMSHIP. Some of the remarkable Spiritual manifestations, which so often take place through the mediumship of Mrs. T. Everitt, of 26, Penton-street, Pentonville, have, from time to time, been published in the periodicals devoted to Spiritualism, so it is thought that the follow  ing brief account of the development of her powers as a medium will be of interest. The particulars are furnished by Mr. Everitt. About thirteen or fourteen years ago, Mrs. Everitt left London for a few days on a visit to Mr. G. W. Bitten, of Saffron Walden, Essex; and in his house first saw what was then calied “ table-turning. At first she sat at a distance from the table, and refused to go near it; but afterwards, being pressed by her friends. she joined the circle ; the table continued to move, and she could see, by the hands of the members of the circle, that the power moving the table came from below it, and not from their hands on the top. On the following Sunday some very heavy “ thumps” came upon the floor of the room, while Mr. Bitten was read ing a sermon ; he then looked up, and said to his niece "If you are not quiet, I shall discontinue reading." She replied, “ It's not me, uncle." The noises grew louder, and he accused her a second time. The thumps then became so violent, that Mrs. Bitten said that it was “ the devil,” upon which tremendous blows were heard upon the floor, so that they were all frightened. and left the room. Mr. Bitten went down and searched the cellar beneath the room, but could find nothing to account for the violent blows. Mrs. West, a friend of Mrs. Everitt’s, witnessed these things also, and, on their return to London, they tried to get some “table-turning” at home, in Mr. Everitt’s present house. Tiltings of the table were obtained; the name of Mr. Everitt’s mother was spelt out, and she answered test questions so as to fully prove her identity; in fact, documents had to be examined after wards to ascertain the accuracy of some of the state ments she made. Other sittings took place, and it was soon noticed that the manifestations only took place while Mrs. Everitt was present ; she was very nervous about it, and would not believe that these things took place through her mediumship. About three months after her return from Saffron Walden, the spirits gave her the following message: - " You have often wondered how we were ablo to produce that noise which you heard at Mr. Bitten’s; we were able to produce it through Mrs. Everitt—she is a rapping medium. Mrs. West is a tilting medium." From that time she be lieved that the manifestations came through hermedium ship.* During the first three months after her return
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A. G. (Glasgow).—Kept over again for want of space T. N. C. (Jamaica).—A parcel has been sent as desired. B. S. N. (Melbourne).—The first ripples of the waves of Spiritual ism have spread nearly all over Wales, but practical acquaintance with the phenomena is at present confined chiefly to Merthyr Hirwain, and Llanelly. A. B. (Stoke Newington).—The publication of your letter would only start an angry and endless theological dispute. Shall be glad to hear from you on another subject. Remittances intended for the publisher, should not be enclosed to the editor. On appli tion at the publishing office the amount will be returned.