The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-01-02 00:00:00

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Corasponorar.

SPIRITUALISM-A SIIAM OR A REALITY?

To the Editor.
Sir,—lf you can find room in your wiper, perhaps
you would inaert tho followitut, which I hove cut
of " The Spiritualist " for to-day, INA...gather
It may helo to correct soulo erroneoul ideas hell (in
c,lnnntn with many who only know one oi,le f the
11w:timid by your correspondent, who signs himself
• literetittlou-‘'

F. THELMA!). I,ndun.
A CLEHGTMANO 'K. SLADE MEDITNAHIP.

11. Albany-dftet, Renent'. Pork. London, N.W.
1 wember 13th, 1%7n.
. . . . . .

Dear Dr. Slade,l-I an, not at all fond of writing
letters, but after *bat haa happened this morning I can-
not help very earnestly and very gratefully thanking you
for what you so kindly showed me. A. a clergyman,
from the very bottom of my heart I believe the
tibenmitena I saw with you are /soot ak and genuine. and
I can much limns easily accuse myself of wickedness and
trickery than even thinking you in relation to them
guilty of frau., and ;guile.
I came to you snore or less expecting to learn the news
paper avmunts I hail read, had some trifle of unconscious
exaggeration in them, but, judging from my own case, I
found ituderstatmuent rather than overstatement. You
were in full daylight, lmth your hands and your feet were
were distinctly visible, either in whole or tisart, and in
the latter case such large licortions of them and of what
you held were SO clearly seen, that it was totally
impossibly for the remaining unseen portions to produce
the results that happenesL The slate you used was my own,
with both my .orn and its own natural marks upon it, and
besidees it never left my presence. The writing could not
, have been produced by your fingers All my botanical
eyes—well accustomed to minute oltservation--could cot
I detect with abundant facility for on doing the least
Motion of tendon or any other motion in your wrist, or
the parts of your han,t, either which must necessarily
hay, PhOWOO what was going on had the unseen part,
attempted to conjure. The sentences written were
suggested in :duly by lug own remarks; they -am o with-
out delay and without ins Possibilitl of you either seeing
or feeling the side of the ante on which they were
written.

I add nothing about the touching. bell-ringing, or
utusic, but all that Lapp:Tied was perfectly sati,factory
to me, especially that strongly felt indescribahle Bowe-
thinv,, that made me at once feel that you were, notwith-
standing all that has been said, not a rogue and a
vagabond, but an honourable anil tratliful man.
I dt, not know how to thank you enough, 'out am sure
lam gratefully and sincerely yours,
W. W. NgwnotaM.

th, Kilit.

Sir,—My letter of date Ikeember 11th, although
anything but music in F. G. Theoleild's ear, bas hot
been without its use. It has drawn from him an
admission which goes far not only ti ilbes.se .4 his
complaints about lily set ere treatment of Spiritualism,
lint of Spiritualism itself. On the only side on which
be admits it is too often preeented to the publie lie
says it, iS 'repulsive." Is not this a complete
vindication of my repuiliathin of it as simply a
degrading imposture :mil absurdity ? I aid not
expect so complete a sindication of my language from
your corresjsinilent, but there it is ; and whatever
hostility be may have awakened in the unini6 of
ordinary " mediums," he has clearly discarded them
a, little else than conjurors and .leeeivers. His
words mean this or they mean nothing, and I'. (1.
The, amid must be left to settle lit. ilifferemas with
the Spiritualistic fraternity as he best can. Th.t they
will be thankful ti him for the polite and tasteful
--nissieutistions he lei, load° iii them, ~ of ),
e, "life hill:m.ls clean of them in someev hat
attempt Li. ' ••••• 11.6 to =ay • but that they will
dirty water. is tea noLliuniship than they
cutest his right to any higher .. •‘‘
isnsess. lel .
rea'Onable
of rcli-iou which in the eyes a ,
,
1111114 invest his assumptions with
deeper tton,
we may is isitively assume, mediuniship, whethcr of
the Slade or Timobal.l type, must stand or fan
twith-tailain • it C. the. interests
together; and if the elle is to lie deeme rep sive, not
leas is the other. We put both Whether, and
label them as equally delusite and deceptive. usPr.
d ul
Slade or any ”ther public medium is tittle else that
' a conjurer, it will be difficult for F. G. Theobahl tochew that he is anything better. But when he puts
forth his claims to be regarded as a religions
Instructor by his mediunnihip it will be still more
easy to dispose ef his Claims without troubling our-
selves very particularly to characterise them. F. G.
Theoliald may think that we have already sufficiently
deccribed his pretensions, and therefore we shall not
tuther trocl,l3 Lim by telliny him in plain English
what we think ol him end od hi, claims. bit one
thing is quite clear, if God has given to man a
revelation, as we know He has, and if we use it to
learn all that God has seen fit to tell LW about the
future, it is clear enough that F. G. Theobald's
pretensions are either a gross delusion or a flagrant
imposition. If revelation is complete, Spiritualism
is unnecesuary and monstrous; if on the other
hand Spiritualism is true, there can be no such thing
as an adequate revelation. Between which are we
likely to decide—revelation or Spiritualism ? And is
it mit nuiee quite clear that these higher pretensions
of Thebald have as little to sustain them as the
ordinary mediuio:. which he himself repudiates ; and
what is our course but equally to repuiliate him and to
tell him that his claim., to be rearded as the ground
of religion or the ground of humanity, age au worthy
of credence as the tricks of a common conjurer, ho
for selfish and fraudulent ends simply trades on the
weakness and credulity of the public.
I am. &c.,
Dorchester, I)ecember,3oth, 1676.

ICblt)t4.

Chnstraes was geld by the Que4u at Windsor Slouday
for the first time since the illness of the Prince id Wale.
Thomeseds are unable to tithe
.Cocoa because the
varieties r.orninonly sold are mixed with Lima, under
he plea of rendering them soluble ; while really making
them thick, heavy, and iatligestible. This my be many
detected, for if Cocoa thickena in the cep it wpm Ms
addition of starch. CADBURYS Cocoa Essence Ii mannina
it is therefore three times the strength of thane Comes,
and a refreshing Beverage like Tea or Colon