New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-13
More Criticism on " Spirits"


To he Editor ef The Tribune:
Excuse me from noticing your correspondent w
st length His fiippant personalities, logged into
wholly impersonal discussion, while they dc
small credit to TIE influence of his ghostly faml
lars. prove him at the same time too deficient in
logical culture 10 make a controversy with him at
al profitable.
But with Your permission | should very wei
Ike 10 add word to what have already said on
the subject Of torments Of conscience induced by
ebostly i;testation alleged substantially, in my
former paper, that ali remorse of conscience on
account of sin arose from the tampering of ghosts,
and that so great a power in this direction In
hered in them, from their ability to explore the
memory. as often TO drive weak minded persons
mad. By weak. minded persons, mean per-
sons who, like myself have been educated
in sheerly erroneous views OF individual re-
spoDsibility. After my religious life dawned,
my day was turned into hideous and unre-
lieved night, by these ghostly visitations.
not merely repented myself as one OF my theolo
gice teachers deemed it incumbent on me, OF
Adam transgression, but every dirty transaction
had been engaged in from my youth up no mat
ter bow insignificant sOever, crept forth from Its
oblivious slime to paralyse my soul with threats
OF Gods judgment. So patry an incident OF my
youth as the throwing snow balls, and that Infect
ualy too at younger brother In order to prevent
his following me at play had power, recollect,
to keep me awake all night believing my pillow
with tears, and beseeching God TO grant me for
giveness. By dint of interchangeable prayer and
other ritual observance, managed indeedto stave
off actual despair from the beginning and Juster
views of the divine character obtained from the
Newt Testament, gradually illuminated my very
dense understanding, and gave me comparative
peace. But had no satisfactory glimpse OF the
source Of all the damnable iuggery had under
gone till 1 learned from Swedenborg that it pro.
ceeds from certain ghostly busy bodies intent
upon reducing the human mind to their sublec.
ton, and awaiting themselves for this purpose OF
every sensuous and fallacious idea we entertain
of God, and of every disagreeabe memory we
retain of our own conduct.
/ call this information satisfactory, because
it accorded with my own observation. The suter-
ing / underwent confessed itself an intiictlon, an
imposition l writhed under 1t as you have seen
beast writhe under burden too heavy for him
to lift, yet not quite heavy enough TO crush him
out of life. For could not accept the imputation
borne in upon me, that l was really chargeaole
with the guilt of any of these remembered 1niqui
ties. l. Of course, did not deny an external or In
strumeAtal connection with them did not deny
that my hand had incurred defement, but with
my total heart and mind resisted any closer aihl'
iation. In reference, for example, to the trivial
incident above specified, even while weeping
scalding tears over its remembrance, could not
but be conscious of present tenderness toward
the imaginary sufferer, cordial and so prOfuse
as totally TO acQuit my inner or vital set OF any
completely in the premises. Hence l became
convinced that the fact was as Swedenborg al
legged, and that l had been all along nourishing,
by means of certain falsities in my intellect,
brood of ghOstly ioafers who had at astver near
Nv turned me oVt of house and home.
IL is not uncommon m hear the can't which W.
repeats that the world would be better Oh II men
had little more of the suffering in question.
have no objection, Mr. Editor, to every man un-
derstanding the evil Of his doings. On the con-
trary, wish that every one might learly discern
his habtual iniquties, because until this discern
mept takes place we shall not be in haste to put
away our niquities from u.s. But we shall never
be able truly to confess them with the heart so
lone as zee 6elere ourselves the source Of the-so
long as we believe in our individual Responsible
ty for them. The first step toward my acknow.
lodging the evil of my doings, in my perception OF
it's being q foreign Influx or Importation. Ii
view it as indigenous, of course cannot deem 1t
evil, for you would not have the same soil which
brings forth the fruit condemn it also, would you
No man is wiser than himself. How, therefore,
can you expect any one to acknowledge an eVh
in his conduct, unless you tactly attribute TO him
an inward or essential superiority to that EVIL III
the evil come strictly from himself or within II 1t
do not proceed merely from defective culture, but
grow out Of the very substance of his lndlvlduah-
ty, then you simply insult him by asking him to
repent it or turn away from it. Would you ask
crab apple stock to produce peaches, or BRAN
bic bush to bring forth grapes Why then stultity
yourself by expecting the peaceable fruits Oh
righteousness from those whom at the same time
YOU teach to regard themselves as the sources OIL
their sin
do not read that John the Baptist, who was
reckoned a pattern revvslist, taught peO-
pie to get UP a spiritual hdget or begin fumbng
with their own insdes, by way OF qualifylnS them
selves for the acknowledgment OF the coming d.
vine man. / read that he simply told each man
to repent him OF, forsake, the evils incident 10
his vocation the manifest patent evils which
all men recognized and sufferedfrom, and so stand
prepared 10 do the will of the coming teacher
The attempt to iasten the authorship or response
bility of these offences upon the individual soul,
and to establish the subject metaphysical prop.
erty in them, he left to the bloodhound sagaclty OF
our modern theologians. II may be very grand
and lofty in these periunctory gentlemen to DIS
course upon the depth OF human depravity, aud so
forth. but have no hesitation in saying, Mr.. Edl'
tor, that the man who would really aggravate the
self condemnation Of another, or intensity instead
of moderate his conviction of personal dehlement,
no matter on what pretext soever OF oenevoience'
is either himself grossly inexperienced In this
horrid category of suffering, or else may boast
heart harder than the neither milestone. de may
have had what he calls troubles OF conscience, but
they have simply been got up for an occasion, got
up with view to his passing muster with his Sect
or Boosting an orthodox religious experience An
immense deal Of this spiritual dilettantiSm exlsts
in the world. The mere outside foppery we see
in Broadway is as the fragrance Of fresh hay In
comparison with it. H. j.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED State
Washington, Friday, January 10, lS5l.-T. N. Van
nvka Fec of Tennessee was admitted an At