Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1850-06-22
The Spirits in New York.

The Spirits in New York.
The Rochester ladies, in whose presence
the mysterious rappings have been so often
heard, arc now on visit to New York City.
The Tribune gives a long account ofa meet
ing held at the house of Rev. DIR. Griswold to
test the reality of the manifestations A large
number of distinguished gentlemen were
present, among whom were J. Fcnimore
Cooper, the Novelist-George Bancroft the
Historan-Bryant, the Poet-N. p Willis,
DIR. J. w. Francis and others. The sounds,
after some delay, were heard with great dis
tinctness, and DIR. Marcy, ii. T. Tuckerman,
Rev. DIR. Hawks, Fenimore Cooper, and DIR.
Francis, severally put searching test qucs-
tons to the supposed spirit, which, with some
slight exceptions, were answered correctly.
Mr.. Tuckermnn having fixed in his mind the
name of deceased individual, (keeping the
name of course n secret in his own breast, J
asked aloud what was his profession, his age
at time of death, at what place he died, &c.
| The man TO whom the questions referred
was Rev. DIR. Claiming, and the answers
were quite satisfactory. His residence was
truly said to be Boston; the spirit, instead of
| calling him a Unitarian, answered that he
wos a Christian. This is Il little curious, as
| il is well known that the Doctor in the last
years of his life disclaimed all scctarian
names. The place of his death was correct
ly given, viz, bennington, VT. The qucs-
! tons in relation to his age were put thus -
Was he 20 30s 40? so? G0?' When the
number last specified was reached, the spirit
gave an affirmative in the usual way. DIR.
Charming was more than 60, though less
than 20 years old at the time of his death.
DIR. Francis fixed in his mind the name Of
: Ia.nagaI ,rI,u,J,ol and rifaai ilor
questions, which were correctly answered,
and the name of the individual spelt by the
alphabet, viz Robert Burns.
Il Cooper, the Novelist, then tried n similar
experiment, which we give in the words OF
The Tribune: Is the person inquire about
relativey Yes, was at once indicated by
the knocks. A near relative? Yes. A man
No answer. A woman? Yes A daugh-
ter !? A mother? A wife? No answer. A
sister? Yes. Mr.. G. then asked the number
of years since her death. TO this the answer
was given in rapid and indistinct raps, some
counting 45, others 40, 81, sc. After con-
siderable parleying, as TO the manner in
which the question should be answered, the
consent of the invisible interlOcutor was CIV
en- to knock the years so slowly that they
might be distinctly counted. This was done
-knock-knock-fo what seemed
over a minute, till the number amounted to
fifty, and was unanimously announced by the
} company. Mr.. G. now asked, Did she die o
onsumptiUn-naming several diseases, &c
! which no answer was given. Did she die
by accident? Yes. Was she killed by light
ming? Was she shot? Was she lost at sea
Did she fall from a carriage? Was she
, thrown from horse? Yes.
MIR. Cooper did not pursue his inquiries
! any further, and stated to the company thai
, the answers were correct, tho person alluded
! TO by him being sister, who, just fifty years
ago the present month, was killed by being
thrown from q horse.
In order to prevent any suspicious as &c
the arrangements of the furniture, closets
! &C., the interview was held in room which
!, neither of the ladies ever before entered.
After the above experiments, says The Tri
! bune, at the suggestion of several gentlemen
: tho ladies removed from the sofa, where they
: had sat during the evening, and remained
standing in another part of the room. The
!, knockngs were now heard on the doors, a
: both ends of the room, producing vibration
;. on the panels which was felt by every one
:, who touched them. Different gentlemen
Q stood on the outside and the inside of TIN
\ door at the same time, when loud knocking
! were heard at the side opposite to that wher'
n IHc WtlC Ut ouNu u hio
- lance from the door in both cases, as to LENT
n no countenance to the idea that the sound
: were produced by any direct communica
ton with them. They now went into par
lor, under the room in which the party wa
held, accompanied by several gentlemen, AM
N the sounds were then produced with grea
2, distincmess, causing sensible vibrations d
4 the sofa, and apparently coming from the
y, hearth-rug before the fireplace, as well a
o. from other quarters Of the room.
II The reporter REV. George Ripley adds
o Such are the most important facts Wine
% we can recall of the manifestations OF I'll
!, evening We believe we have stated theI
y without any coloring whatever, as they al
j peared to every one present; but with regar
n TO their origin or their nature, we are
n much in the dark as any of our readers LII
L manners and bearing of the ladies are sue
% as to create prepossession in their iavor'-
II They have no theories to offer IN eXplan
te ton of the acts of their mysterious atten'
ants, and apparently have no control oil the
incomings or outgoings.
:. TIE WOMEN OF FRANcE.-Those in Il