Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-06-18
no THE EDITORS.

GENTLEMEN am glad to had that you are not
afraid of losing Jour regulations for sanity by adj
hitting the numbug" Spaitualism into your
columns. Will you be so brave as to grant a short
audience to his bugship introduced by myself? Ny
object in introducing him is not to particularly en-
lighter the public with reference to his anatomy and
physiology, bur to show 10 those having him under
their especial direction my precise position upon one
or two points presented heretofore. | copy para
graph from a communication of mine published
! some months ago in the Baltimore Clipper:
/ The points upon which wish to define my position,
! gentlemen, TO Willis, Bancroft, Francis, Draper,
Hawks, &C. are embraced in these two sentences
guess that these spirits (stil in the flesh employ
electricity for their medium of communication |
guess that this electricity is identical with that used
in the production of the g Paine gas-light."
Electricity is the principle that rules the desti-
MES of worlds, in the minds of very many individuals
living in this bright and glorious age-indivduals,
too who are learned and who claim to be thoughtful
No less eminent an astronomer than Sir John Her
sche has preached the idea that the human brain
species of galvanic battery, generating thought,
which may be conducted, like electricity, through
Unreasonable lengths of space in immeasurably
short periods Of time 1t is prevalent opinion among
medical that animal life is nothing than
electricity circulating through the through wires
of copper. Richard Adams Locke author of the cele-
brated moon hoax, got up few years since book
magnetism the primu mobile Of the universe In short
it is this aame Electricity which is brought forward
all occasions, by persons wonderfully wise in their
estimation, explanation of whatever is unexpaina
BILE to them Now, desire it to be understood distinctly
that the sprte whose minstratons | have invoked is
of this shadow without the substancenone Of this
nothing in the guisc of epey thing On the contrary, my
electricity electricity in fact-subec to the laws of
electricity, and made manifest only through regular
physical process. 1t must have battery of kind to
generate it, and there must be something holding the Office
of wires connected with the battery to convey it to the
points where it acts This battery may be any apparatus
by which the electrical of matter disurbedthe
animal organism Paines heces filled with water
well the zinc and copper machine and its wires may
be any substance having its atoms formed and ar
ranged TO receive among them the ethereal
coming from the battery Then the spirits who superin
tend the Rochester Rappings have, according my
guess battery of description concealed within
without the occupied by the "medium," with
ductors leading to the table, chair bell guitar what
else that is set in motion In guessing that this cleo
trcty this which makes the kitchen furniture change
is identical with that used in the production of the
9 Paine gas-ght,'' that the two electrices
Of kind, for think there may be many kinds
of electricity there kinds of matter whose decom
position is capable of evolving it, but that they parts
of the discovery electricity made by the literati
and men Of science.
employ above the term electricity simply for the
sake of name, because think Of conveying in the
of it. any definite idea of the agent supposed This
as different from the electricity of Gavan animal e
human thought is from that from any other OF
the imponderable physical agents. | may indicate my
idea by giving two notes of my own, addressed two
three years SINCE the one John Neal Esq., Portland
Maine, the other to Professor John William Draper of
New York City University:
To Mr.. Neal: 1t appears by your Bubbles that you
only partial convert to mesmerism You believe
that persons be affected that they what is
in the mind before the Imagination of the operators
butdo give credence the revelations of cldpoyaR
too of opinion that the declarations of almost all
subjects are mere reflections of the thoughts of those in
communication with them; still the evidence is sufficient
TO convince that there is found and then real
eairvoyant. Then by what means is il that he sees
There is parcled matter and there is ether unpar-
tcled unchemca, primordial, elastic These two fill
the universal space The upon the other and
of sound OF eivvtrioit, ,nasnaiisra
tion animal life, and animal thought produced
Thus action among certain of the particles composing
the IA burning body is conducted upon the ether in
tervening to the earth; where among similar particles
whether those Of glass lens, of water Of air,
Of the eye it manifess itself light sight An
action among other Of the particles differing from
the hght-producing in FORM in size, in both,
conducted in the way, will manifest itself here
heat sensation Of feeling among similar particles,
whether Of Of the metals of the animal body
And thus with regard TO the other mponderabe agents.
called Well you direct your eyes towards the in
clear day You behold him in his brightness. mist
passes between him and you. He Is dimmed somewhat
still there is light from him which reaches you and you
distinguish his form. dense cloud passes his
face that his form is lost TO you yet his light i'm
presses your vision You close your eyelds in addition
and there is darkness before you but not the darkness
ofnght; the suns light penetrates the triple VEIL and
vibrates still upon the retna So there would be rion
though the whole intervening space filed up with
black cats with the shadow of death. There would
be still some channels left open particles arranged
for the communication Of light Now, 1t is not mposs
bic for TO conceive that by exataton Of your
visual organs you might be made perceive the
hgure OF the through such obstruction the last
mentioned. And believe, with very little difficulty
that you might do the with other hindance than
that OF the mist the dense cloud and the substance Of
your eyelids so very ready admit that suIcct
With his sense Of sight exalted by mesmerism and with
his attention guided in certain direction by the will Of
the operator and describe what events trans
pirlng IN that direction although these events with
out the range Of his ordinary vision and although the
operator may not have precise knowledge of them So
also can conceive and will maintain that by similar
process the subject may describe correctly
which are not bdnspgng, but which are past In this
case, assume that the impressions-all impressions
which his mind is fitted to receve-are made upon his
mind al nc ranptriHg, and that these called up
recocons by the operators directing his attention TO
those points, so to speak, where they stamped the
office OF the operator being nothing other than lead him
into the territory the scenery Of which is to be de-
scribed"
To Professor Draper: w. Baiae can tor,card his otn
hand prihng w telegraph know how much reliance
exactly TO place upon the newspaper reports this effect
know not but that these reports false entirely Still
il is not difficult for conceive them TO be true And
4 all a. NnT.