Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1850-03-11
s1rIoN TO TxaANMz. oaapIENeE
81 RAVEENA OHIO MoNDAl, MARCH H. 1850. ss ss

Fl II, 1850. @ q 49,. .s..
7 -F3 From the N. Y.Tribane.
Those Strange Noises at Rochester, &C
MIR GaEELEY:-Several articles have
lately appeared in the Tribune and other
Ipupers, relative to certain strange noises,
| '.rappings, supposed ia be. produced by
fspirits, andaheard .in.the houses Of different
families in Rochester, Auburn, and other
towns iE the western part OF this State =
L The Writer.ot this was informed of these
lphenonenas shortly after their eommence.
itpent3and subsequently,, tdiferent times,
1fof their gradual dey yglepment. 6 haveshad
Esnuch cores Ropdenes. On the subject, and
sssetl sEfd7 f6n} sod a,ila several respecta.
I bic and intelligent persons from Rochester !
who for2many months have been familiar
with the occurrences. | have just perused
a pamphlet written and published by E..
w. Capron and II. d. Barron Of Auburn.
! giving an apparently candid historical
statement of the phenomena from their
COMMENCEMENT TO the present time. z.
| Asthe affair is very remarkable, achat-
erer solution it may ultimately receive, |
will, with your permission, submit TO your
readers the following remarks respecting
some ofits peculiarities, and present some
principles and analogous cases which may
aiford light upon the subject.
! OF the actual occurrence of these srap-
pings" there seems to be no doubt, as per.
haps more than a thousand intelligent per
sons have, from first to last, been ear.wit-
nesses of tue fact Ii we deny the testi-
mony of these, then all human testimony
must henceforth go for nought The phe-
nomena have also resisted all attempts at
solution on the supposition Of their being
produced by any earthly cause, even when
the most severe and thorough investiga-
tions were instituted by intelligent and skep
teal persons.
The roppngs are made in response to
questions asked blythe hearers, and by q
peculiar mode of indicating The letters of
the alphabet, words and long sentences are
sometimes spelt out which give informa.
ton, said 10 be generally correct, and trans.
cending the previous knowledge of those
present. The agent of these rappings,
therefore. may be considered. as possessing
intelligence. ss ss,
By what agency, then, nre these rap
pings prodaceo? The agents indicate by
the process above described, that they are
the spirits OF The deparled-generaily the
friends OF those who are. present TO hear
them, but sometimes those who have been
out of the body fog long period Of time.
According 10 anything we know respect
ing the spiri;ual world and its laws.is there
any ;improbab bility in this? Reason teaches
lha, if the human spirit on enlering the
other world, preserves its identity as a
arhole, it must preserve the idsnty of the
different 'parts-affections aud Intellectual
principles, which compose the whole; that
it must, in other words, preserve its atfec-
tions for its friends, and for whatever gave
it real pleasure in this life. These rela.
tions, then, necessarily incline it occasion
ally TO act upon, or to. manifest itself to
those still in the body, so far as the laws OF
the spiritual world might permit. ..-.
Hence in all ages and nations, there has
been widely prevailing belief, in the in
fuence of spirits upon the affairs OF men,
and volumes might be filled with apparent
ly the best authenticated instances of spir-
its manifesling their presence 10 men in the
body, in various ways. Confucius taught
that the spirits of the departed returned fire.
quenty to the halls Of their ancestors
Zoroaster claimed to have intercourse with
beings of the other world The learned
are aware that Pythagoras and Plato
taught the doctrine Of guardian spirits; and
Socrates professed to be under the constant
guidance of such monitor. The ancient
Egyptians and Hebrews entertained essen
tally the same views respecting iAterposi
tions Of the inhabitants Of the spiritual
world, and the prophets Of the latter fire.
quently held intercourse with angels, who
were evidently only the spirits Of men man.
festing themselves in the capacity Of mes
sengers. Moses and Elias appeared TO Je-
sus and conversed with him, and were seen
only by the disciples who were in compa-
ny with the latter at the time; and one of
The prophets appeared as an angel to John,
and impaired to him the things revealed in
the Apocalypse .-(Rev. xxi. 8, o.
There is not syllable in the New Tes.
lament writings, to indicate that the oc-
casional interposilions of spirits in the af-
fairs of men, was to cease after the days OF
the Apostles, and the Christian Church con-
linued, without interruption, TO believe it
down to the days OF the Reformation.
The Catholics still believe in patron
saints, and invoke their aid. Swedenborg
professed 10 have held daily intercourse
with spirits and angels for The last 27 years
of his life, and of the truth of this profess
sion he certainly furnished many irrefuta.
Bile evidences; and many others, in modern
times, have given evidence that they enjoy
ed the same privilege. And it is only in
these latter days, characterized by very
sensuous mode Of philosophizing, that por.
ton of the Christian Church has asserted
that intercourse with spirits of The other
world ceased with the days Of the Apostles.
Thus do we see that the general voice of
tradition, as we'll as tho deduction of rea-
son, favors the idea of intercourse with the
spiritual world; and no theory Of the igno-
rance and superssitious of the masses will of
itself entirely account for the fact that this
opinion has been sustained so generally and
so long, among all nations OF the world.
That the belief must have been sustained by
the occasional occurrence of facts and
psychological experiences definite upon the
point is, in the writer's opinion, beyond