Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1850-03-11

as we'll as III other times, IS 1tsail pfoba..
bic that spirits would ever manifest their
presence in such IN apparently sawkwar
and 'uncoulh way, astby making ihs voices
heard in Rochester and nsighboring plac
ees. Il answer yes, proviged they cannot
make their presence sntRciently manifest
in any; o,barway;; or rprosided those receive
ing the communicated are not prepared
for moro open or direct manifestation,
without The dangerfof injury, or Of being
too much shocked by fear. And here
would remark that hundreds Of weli-attested
cases are on record OF apparently spiritual
manifestations Of precisely this nature,
thou uglf, pefhsti's, il. no other case have the
aaanleslataans tsken:so Systematic form.
or been SO widely extended.
Piles Of sach phenomena, let the render Pc
ruse Jung Stilling's "Fheory Of Peumath
.o!ogy," "Kcrner's Seress Of Pteyost,"
Mrs. Groves ''Night side Of Nature" or
many other works of a similar charactep.
But how many thousand cases Of this kind
have occurred which. have never met with
a recorder, and which, through fear or rid
icule, have never been told, except under
the seal of secrecy. ass -'t
The "Seress of Prevost' was in q sort Of
magnetic (i. e. semi-spritualized;; stale dur.
ing most OF the time for about seven years,
during which, upon the evidence Of unmis-
takeable facts ii is affirmed by DIR. Kerner
and many Others, she had almost daily Wis
itations from The spiritual world. She af
firtned that il was much more easy for
spirits to make their presence sensible by
rapping Or making other noises than it was
10 make themselves visible. Those rap
pings were familiar to all her attendants,
and to soma besides herself the sense of
vision was also addressed. s.e. -..fs.g
Blu. how is it possible for disembodIed
spirits to make the sounds said to be heard
at Rochester! | answer, we do not abso-
Iutely know, but the following facts will
enable US clearly to conceive now it may
BE- and possibly is. Spirits still connected
with, but owing 10 some abnormal condi-
ton, capable oil acting in measurable inds-
.pendencs ofthe body, have sometimes been
able to attract and act upon the refined IN.
gradients of the atmosphere, and especially
upon the electric element. The writer is
acquainted with man who is subjec. to
many remarkable psychological experien-'
ces, and who is, or was Two ears ago, able,
by the mere effort Of his will, to fill his Lair
SO full Of electricity, tina, by passing L
cemb through it, it would appear 10 be al.
most in n continuous ilame, emitting
sparks and Sigh, hat distiHstiy pereep,ihle
shocks when the knuckle OF another person
was presented. Ga diverting his mind
from the object the electricity would, in
half minute, all lssppear, so that not a
single spark could be genefuted, however
violent the friction. Then, on assuming
the previous mental condition again, tho
electricity would gradually appear, until
his hair was charged as before. The wri-
ter saw the experiment repeated several
times, and under circumstances which ex-
cuded all possibility Of mistake. There
the room, or in the house, and the nan
was standing or walking about on wolen
carpet. Ele explained in vngue terms how
he did it, it was altogether by psychology
cal process, of which any one in perfect
ly normal condition would be incapable.
DR.. Emmericb, professor of theology,
at Strasburgh, had sister who, having
been injured by fright, fell into state OF
somnambulistn, accompanied by a high de-
gree of lucidity, Tor claryoyance) and her
body became SO surcharged with electricity
that she sometimes impaired strong shocks
to those standing near her, although, the
latter frequently did not touch her. 'Pre-
fessor Emmerieh mentioned also that she
sent him smart shock one day when she
was several rooms off. He started up and
rushed into her chamber where she was in
bed; and as she saw him she said laughing,
"Ah, you felt it, did you?" Mademoiselle
Emmerich's illness terminated in dealf.."
1t is well known that the gymnotus cleo
tricus naturally possesses power analo.
gous to this, by which, witho ut contact or
even very close proximity, it stunts its
prey by an electric stroke, seeming 10 d.
rect the latter with precision, by its aoiN
To say, priori, and even against the in-
dicaton oil positive facts, that tho human
spirit, IN certain abnormal conditions Of the
body, may not have similar power, is
certainly to assume THAI which is unwar-
rantable. -f.e-s iz.
If, then, the human spirit, when but par.
tially liberated from the body, as in GER
tain abnormal states, can in this manner
control the electricity, of the atmosphere,
in how much greater degree may not the
electricity, ard through that the atmos-
phsre itself, and even the powers Of gran.
tation, be controlled by spirit entirely
out of the body? And may not spirit in
this way, by the actions of bis ao'A, pro-
duce the shocks or conclusions in the at.
mosphere, improperly called .'ra7pings," "
which are heard at Rochester and else.
where, and by which ineligible commu-
nications are received? In this way, sub
stantialls, the '.Seress Of Prevorst," and,
it is said, also the invisible communicators
at Rochester, explain these apparently pre-
ternatural sounds.
After all, the main question is not wheth-
er these phenomena, as produced by sp'r'ts
or other invisible or ultra-mundance mflu-
encss, are possible, or probable, or in ac-
cordance with any received theological
doctrines, but whether they are FACTS
LIE, not priori hypothesis on this subject
be suffered for moment 10 prevail against
facts at least until more is known than
is now generally knoHn, respecting. the
laws governing spiritual exislences. More
over, if there is any conceivable theory on
which the phenomena in question may be
entirely explained as owing 10 merely