New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-01-18
NETWORK TRIBUNE.
THAT ROCHESTER KNOCKING.
Explanation and History Of the nysieri""-
Communion with opiriis,' &c.


Revelations. BY Andrew Jackson DAVIS was
pqoGshed. We saw lii to give our readers igI. and
l.cia Summary Of It's contents with Whatever light
beside we were able to shed On the subject l.
did no. occur to rs that we thereby commended rs
general views, much less endorsed the absolute
verify q al IL claims and inculcst!ous Beloved,
bol,eoe no, every spirit, stands In our Bible very
closely connected with the injunction, FRY the
spirits whether they are Of God, and we do not
zee how any are To try that Of which they stub
tornly roiisc to baye any knowledge The subject
Of human intercourse with or reception Of i1iosn
alton from tic spiritual world Is one Of the very
deepest interest to every Intelligent mind, and is
naturally the theme Of iunumcrabe frauds and i'm
pos;ures But not Of these alone unless History
be fable and the Sacred Record especially n
tssue Of fables, there have been real and rncmen-
tous communications from the unseen world as
well as many more knaysh pretenceS to 1t or be-
vllGerne halluciuatons respecting t. Whether
tie assumptions Of spiritual agency d, any case Of
uoy.terious or marvellous occurrence src true o.
false il question Of the highest moment to "a
tonal beings; and. even though Il be conceded
that nine hundred and ninety nine OF every thou
SAM pretences to spiritual communication were
ard ere cheats or iugglos, il is stu wise and
rational to investigate any new clam that may be
PRESENTED with disposition 10 judge dispassion-
sisy aud canddly. A very small por ceniage Of
.och mineral as is alleged to be found here viii pay
Car working tho hardest veins Of rock. and we can.
not see how any one but Atheist or confirmed
ssdducee can fail to be interested IN such explor
atoms
Inquiry. Interrogation we therefore commend d
crsdulous swallowing down Of whatever purpors
70 be- dictated from The Land Of Souls is quite Az
other affair. We DO not hesitate to say that 10
theory OF COLLISION or juggle OF vcnrl.oquism or hal
lgcinatIon suihces 10 account to our mod for the
conclusions. sounds or 'koockings which have been
heard bv hundreds Of the most respectable and 80
date citizens Of Western New York We have 10
faith in and hardly patience with the cool assunp
,on that fraud or ialsehood must be at the bottom
a any phenomenon which ou knowledge OF Ma
,ure does not suffice to prove IN conformity with
ber laws but we are very far from believing m the
verify Of whatever may be uttered as from dis
embodied spirit. because we cannot account by
s.certaned natural laws for such u,terance In
vestrston first, csndor always implicit faith Is OF
,ow growth. and not to be accorded except after
very careful aud thorough SCRUTINY
one Other caution seems required. Let as a.
.1me that there really Is something IN thus knock
ng-that It is the product not OF imPosture aud col
asion nor of mental illusion but OF some lnfience
whereof our established mundane philosophy has
not vet taken cognizance- It stall remains IN
proved that no iuegle has been supernduced upon
the verify originally maniiestcd-in other words
there is great difference between admitting that
there has been some mysterious phenomena eyinced.
and that al which purportcd to be such was really
wha, it assumed to be Analogy would teach US
that SHADOW is n consequence OF hght-that feal
voices from the spiritual world have at al times
been mimcked and rarodled by charatans and lug
clen Of the order OF Simon Msgus and APoiionius OF
Tyann Establish the reality Of supernatural
manifestation or Of popular belief that 1t Is
such. and at once Graft aud Greed begin 70 study
how they can turn 1t TO their private advantage
whether by taking advantage of the manifestation
itselfo by counterieitng it Surprising the verify
Of such manifestation established, aud some schcm
or thereupon undertakes to acquire money or con
sequence or no,oriety by means thereof. we may
readily presume that the influence, whatever 1t may
be. would refuse to be subseryient TO such ends,
and the schemcr mus, resort 10 trick or sleght oil
hsal to achieve his purpose. Thus the establish
moot OF ventnble intimstlons from the unsecn world
would by no means prove that all which claim kin
dred herewith are vorties, would the detection
n dozen countereits prove that no real manifesto
taus had preceded and melted thom
Add now TO the alleged Revelations, or what
ever they NAV be called, ut Rochester, Auburn. and
the vicinity of the former We have read atten'
lively the new pamphlet Explanation and History
Of the MYSTERIOUS Communion with Spirits. compre-
bending the Rise and Progress of the Mysterious
Noses in Western New York. generally received
as Spiritual Communications, just issued at Ao-
bum New York and nr sale by Fowlcrs W ellis
1871 Nassaust Our readers have had a succinct
history Of the orcin and character OF these noises,
as developed in several public exhibitions at Ko-
chester under the direction OF number OF TIC most
eminea, and reliable citizens most /. not aHoi whom
were utterly ncyedulous when they commenced
The investigation. but who publicly stated nj the
ehse that Acy could 10, account tor these noises by
any laws of nature or OF roSuery known to mankind.
We shall lot now repeat the statements then gwen
through our columns but extract from the pamphlet
before Us some further developments indicating m
ti,gesce on the part Of the cause of these NOISES
In speaking OF the Rochester investigation the
pamphlet page 50 says;
Ono member II the hrsi committee ssled dat he ssked
Ae euesoon Who is gAsi wishes 70 communicate wi
msF The answer was, Your wife Val tAA lie eNs9eN
ne answer ard gave The pessoas present 10 Understand aa
Ae had = wife. t. use has own expression WAe
10 gave bic public report he 5ror beaf, deI'S Hewoad
set Sul thai there any truth IN u ann he reported N
Dc eVenngthen he sisted eorrectyae Ald o'i =" SVs
100 bcfeve"
Collision or previous knowledge IS by no means
impossible IN this case. but the next one resve 10
6 w who Mas mys,crousy directed not 10 50 70
Michigan as he had intended. but to Rochester 70
tpply at certain strange place a; certain hour,
ND he would have n situation provided Cox hm
lat week this was Thursday and sctaally dtG
ave situation gwen HIM at 5 on Saturday even
a.. By a man whom he hsd never seen TIL he sp-
l6ed 10 hum and who did 10, imagine on Thursday
"a, he should want nybody on saturday "of
scn at al-these aveTments form very s11uie
'sse which ought 20 have been un'mpes'osoY
satheaticatsd This procuring situations Tor men
anesd from strangers who never heard OF them
II