New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-29

Dnbliclv forward and consulted my brothers fash /
ion Of the Spirits. The spirit Of his mother was
announced. He asked. Are you living or dead
Nv brother replied liring,' and the Doctor de-
clared that it was correct. He and his lady both
declared to me the next day that it was very
strange my brother could have known that tac5 or
should have guessed Il, as ne Is nlHsei ao.-1 N~
advanced IN years
hnosber Gentleman Mr.. Homau desired ny
hrotber IN ran the name of a dear friend he nad
lost. and whom he then had IN MS mind. Inc
nsme.of Mary was replied and he not only &C.
clared II was correct at the time, but two days
altergsrd be re confirmed It. Now none o- Iless
cases were mere effects Of the imagination tley
wee 70 say the least rs fair tests as any OF me
cases OF YOUR c0rresn 0ndent; that IS they were ID
the same me OF wonder and nay stery.
Now allow me 20 say word q tne amount %.
evidence which is found In the article OF your cor
resroudart la the tirst place Won admit that IT
il quite possible he may be deceived. Then 90
YOU not perceive that, il be possbiy may be oe-
ceved in the facts be states, bis evidence i o l-
lie avail in so vast and terrible question as TINS
which proposes to set the whole experience OF en-.
liebteued mankmdNat defiance IN the regions vi
both Religion and Philosophy Then allow me
10 ask, respectfully how you can De 50 sure
"Tbat he is intentionally deceiviDg IS n9t posi-
bic How, above all, is the pnotc, Wnicn mas
On eternal stake in this question. 20 be sure Oh
thisl By the rules OF evidence Wllcn mos. DC re-
garded In a question OF pretended miracles, can
see that vour correspondent's facts amount %
nothing. To believe In such things as miracles
we must either see for ourselves, or We must
know that those who pretend 10 see coald not
be deceived and would not deceive as, or the
miraculous deeds must be oil common fame
ard observation. If we give our faith 10 pre-
tended new miracles on any less positive
and certain evidence than this we are al
afoat on q wide and heaving sea OF uncertainty,
where every hope Of Religion and Humanity IS
drifting at the mercy OF every species oil charia'
tsnism and mposture. And then allow me 20
suggest that what are popularity and loosely call
ed facts" are q very treacherous and unreliaO.e
kind OF evidence after at. Livery KIND OF rem
eious cbnrlatanism since the world began has
quoted plenty of "facts for itself. or henelm
Digby who WAS no anonymous writer Tor tue pa
pers, but a man of great learning and oil an e!e-
waited social position declared that he had dIscOv-
cred Dotr9lr Of svmDothy, which was of untail-
ing virtue in the cure of all wounds, by simply
rubbing the powder on the sword or implement
which had inflicted the gashes, and this he claim
ed was certain and sudden cure, even though
the powdered sword was a thousand miles IRON
the potion at the time. And Sir Kenelm gave
list of several hundred facts Of such cures, and
the good King James, the Prince Of Wales, the
Duke Of Buckingham, and many other very nota.
bic personnges, bore testimony to the facts.
How long was it that O strange tdsctHO relgned IN
Illyria,, where many families possessed the pow
er of DESTROYING trees, flowers and children, b.
simply passing them The learned Greeks used
to invoke the Fate Of Nemesis against this fasci-
no, and Ovid, Horace and Pliny give a strong
enough testimony to the "tGcts." The world Is
full enough Of facts which have proved simply
the most outrageous lies all along from the begin
ming until now. When | was a student of the
law, we had a rule which said DENY the facts
and challenge proof We have right 10 do this
in the case of the Knockings. And the facts
of my brothers rappings are equally as wonder
full as any of the facts OF the pretended me-
diums' Whatever may be said to the contrary,
| know this is fact, so far as my experience has
gone, and suppose / have seen the best Of the
RappDgs in this country. c. CHAUNcEY BURR.
Remarks.
Mr.. Burr has said a great many things
above for which he has no warrant. Among
these is his cool assumption that ne have
characterized the alleged Spiritual Man
ifestations" as miracles new Miracles
&c. We have said nothing of the sort.
Even if they are conceded to be ultra
mundane in their origin, (andwe have only
avowed our belief that they are not inten-
tionally deceptive) it would still remain
improved that they are at all Miraculous
They might even emanate from spiritual
existences, yet not from the departed
friends of the interrogators whom they
personate and, were they the conceded
work Of those friends, they would still be
very far short Of miraculous. The Bible
repeatedly narTates utterances from the
Spirit World, some of them from those
who once lived as men on earth. When
Mr.. Burr, therefore, speaks of these al
legged Spiritual Manifestations as "set-
ting the whole experience of enlightened
mankind at defiance in the regions Of both
Religion and Philosophy" he speaks with
out warrant, and virtually assumes Saddu
ceeism as the eternal and obvious truth,
and that any demonstration of spiritual ex
istence outside of and after the death of
the body, is contrary to nature and univer-
sal experience, and only provable by the
most overwhelming, undeniable evidence.
We view this whole matter differently.
We know too little of Nature to decide
oracularly that an occurrence IS miracu-
lous, or even unnatural, merely because it
has no parallel within our knowledge. We
do not know that even the visible appear
ance of departed human being would be
at all miraculous, though none ever appear
ed to us nor to any of our friends. In short,
we think Mr.. Burr has thrown himself in
to the popular current. without observing or
much considering whittier it tends.
Ed. Tribune.
RappIngs and Great Toes.