Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1853-04-16
FOR the Southern SIN,
Spiritual Rappihg llumSuy,.

Spiritual Rappihg HumBug,
This miserable piece of decept;oo -. ~
found its way into this section of COME ..'ash
taken root in our city. A respectable citi,o and
place, not pretending, we believe, to be .n,. @e
so called, introduced it here few dav,
merely for the purpose, we imagine. Of
US; and, strange to say, many of our ,v;so.- 'us
who make no Pretensions to a knowledgs. n -
sciences-men who claim no ability, and a1,s @e
no taste even for philosophical investigation N'
hence are easily led away by what thew ..u aug
evidences of their senses, have, at one tssT
Jumped head and ears into its monstrouo w
slons' and absurd exhibitions. What startl;a.
commentary upon the intellectual powe,.- IS
sagacity, shrewdness and common sense ~ -
Pretendedly highly accomplished southern asDn.
men What folly what weakness-mad, 80,
Some persons give themselves no trouble xb.,,.s
about the acquisition of true KNOWLEDGE -.
dream away their days, weeks and years. i. -.
of somnambulic round of the same sports ss,.
ingly incapable of being aroused, except BY som.
Juggling mesmerizer, psychologist or spiritual ran.
per making bis appearance in the communitv
when they instantly become deeply interested and
anxious enquiries after the truth of the as;ouDa.
ing discovery In all such cases, every it'll.
piece of trickery, eaked out by dint of perseve,.
ing assumption and impudent charlatanry, and pre.
sented before their already prepossessed minds and
sightseeing eyes, is at set down as the bigb
est evidence of its solid certainty And if any
one should entertain doubt about the honesty
and sincerity of those engaged in exhibiting bs
wonderful phenomina, or ask a reasonable exnls.
nation of the indubitable facts evolved; he is de-
nounced as being dull of comprehension, and in
capable of keeping up with the progress of the
age! There are many persons in this community
and throughout the country, who have often no.
ured in these marvellous exhibitions-haye had
many long and fierce conflicts, verbal and written
in defence of their truth, and high importance to
the world. And yet, We would ask, what has
come of it what has become of all the startling
facts, Juror and fuss, produced by mesmerism
throughout the country few years ago? Where
are the Psychological and Biological wonder-mon-
gers We need not ask where are their dupes-
they are here and everywhere. But alas the
former have passed away, and the latter are not
one whit wiser than before And now, new era,
along with the succeeding new moon, has dawned
upon us, and the old quidnuncS are once more
aroused and exceedingly active. Flesh and blood
were made the butt, in the astounding exhibition
of mesmerism, psychology, DC, but scood seems
TO be the most suitable go-between, in holding
converse with the spiritual world! And 10! the
tipping up, and jigling about of tables, by the
laying on of hands, amounting in our opinion to
downright common sense sacriTege, set in motion
at the bidding of Tom, Dick or Harry. calling on
tie spirits Of dead people, is at once regarded as
nfallble evidence Of the presence of the latter,
and their disposition to communicate with the form
er! 0 Temporal O morest Such transparent
nnmbpg is too ridiculous for serious refutation.
1t would be quite easy to show, that no scisnti6-
'al principle or philosophical truth, was ever, Of
IAN be discovered by mysterious agencies. The
highway of knowledge, lies in the open feld Of
nature. Nor are we to rely upon appearances in
nature, or juggery, which are generally set down
as facts, IN seeking after truth Nearly all the
apparent facts in nature, in all ages of the world
lave been found to be false. For thousands of
,ears, men believed that the earth was vast in
erminable plaae-that the sun rose and set-lhat
he sky was. an aGamantine concave vault for
uch, to their sense of sight, were the facts. In
ii cases of rational enquiry if the facts observed
10 not lead us directly towards their antecedent
cause or principle, we may justly conclude that
hey are false. Facts are but the finger boards on
he road to knowledge, and unless they lead on to
he end. and all agree in relation and tendency,
hey are not to be trusted. 1t seems to be but lit
lie understood among men, that what are called
acts, are as often false as true-which is unques-
ionably true, Ratiocipation, by the highly culti-
rated mind, in eonnexion with well organized
brain, is the only means by which abstruse sub
eets can be investigated. And he who merely OBJ
serves and relies upon facts of any kind, but is m
capable of reasoning correctly even on common
place subjects would do well to let electrical, and
~ other potent agencies. and mysterious infuen-,
,es alone. If really desire to learn truth, let
is make ourselves acquainted with the subjects OF
Immediately around US, rather than toll
n the humiliating and pro6tless qusgmire Of hum
bug mysteries. 500 asssa -eau5a PHILO.
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s2ast II. S. EOOte.
This worthy has commenced canvassinO the State