Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-05-05
From the Home Journal.
THIS SPIRIT RAPpERS =.

=.
marvel whether Pythia, Cassandra, or any 9TH
er prophecies of old, when she felt fancied her
self in communion withthe spiritualworld, and the
medium of impartlngits mysteries TO the temporal
appeard in tawdry inery, and fastened her audi
ence to close, that she might attend al"big party
to which she was engaged for The evening 3"
wonder, too if she made such plumbers as were in
tiicted on n friend of mine who accompanied me
in my visit to tina ueritable Depians Cles Renards
'nenes, )and whose grandmother, having bestowed
no less than dozen children upon the world, was
made to aver that she had died ut eighteen years of
age. One would imagine that if spirits condecend-
ed to answer correctly, and not be quite as often
mistaken in their replies as would beany good CUES
sr who could read, in the counteL ance OF the ap-
plicant or in the tone of voice in which the lues-
TOMS propounded, whether to return the afirma-
tive or negative knock, or TO shelter behind the
doubtful, wisely provided for cases where these in
| dications may fail. Truly, there is something
worse than preposterous in the familiarity with
which we presume to scale the heavens, and to
bring. from the unseen world, an interchange of
gossip with the visible. Theres-was something of
tragical effect that relieved the profanity of the
prete nders to this art of old aud the Witch of
Endor and the wierd sisters, in "Macbeth," seem
ed set apart for their unnatural office, and lifted
above, degraded below, the attributes of ordina-
ny humanity. But here, all was comic. We sat
| round table, att the head of which two Sinking
females were lolling in their easy chairs and our
selves, large company, with pencil and paper in
hand noting down answers profesedly delivered by
beings who have passed beyond the bourn of NOR
| tally, as unconcernedy as if we were making
| a memorandum of communication from fellow
creatures by our side 1t was nothing to remove the
barrier between the material and mmaterial worlds
| and to make those who have done with earth re-
turn again to pander to our curiosity, and 10 tell
secrets which have hitherto been supposed to rest
only in the knowledge of our God. ltwas sport to
anticipate that judgement morning which is 10 re
veal the destnes of proceeding and all generations
and to forestal the trump that is to proclaim their
doom pleasant pastime to send our idle question
into regions that "banned mortality" and call
from the grave dsembodied spirits TO minister to our
amusement, and give us an equivalent for our ad.
| mission fee, as we would expect it from the manae
ger of a raree. show, whose puppets are onlymo 70
apparent to the senses, though far less offensive te
the sensibilities, than the invisible agencies here
employed to encroach upon the province of the
| Most High. There is moral as well as actual ST.
mony sentiment as well as property in holy
| things 1t may be unsafe 10 violate barrier be-
| tween world and that W hich lies beyond, it
would be rash TO penetrate, even though He who
has said, "thus far shalt thou go, but no farther"
should remove the injunction and bare the secrets
OF iuturty to mortal apprehension. As yet, hows
ever, we have no reason 10 suppose the interdict
withdrawn, but in the assurance OF those no have
made a market OF its abtogaton, and whose oracles
may, p: rhaps, entail on themselves, and on their
votaries, reimbu far exceeding the now
exacted and received for their delivery.
CreduLd turbn smnus. We are a credulous race:
but are we not here taking leap beyond our mt
ural intimity? We are progressive, TOO (; but are
we not now progressing beyond the bounds of rea-
son and probability We smile at the decisions
of the maniac and the fanatic; but have these ev-
er Rugged belle! more at variance with philosophy
and the order of things, than that which is being
forced upon us bythose who are making their live
hood from our love of the marvellous, and spor-
ting with the dead that the living may be amused
where they are notdeeeiyed-madet 10 laugh, if they
be not converted.-Ay, 10 sport with the dead
the sacred dead i--thuse whom we have consigned
to the tomb with tears and lamentations, and now
recall in all the iueverence of promiscuous crowd
to crafty, not the ongings of affection, but the i'm
pertinence of curiosity; requiring them TO signify
by material action, their spiritual presence, as il
his inconsistency were not in itself sufficient to
disprove it, and TO indicate the practice of some
trick of leg:rdemain, not more surprising than the
avowed receptions of professional iugglers, though
infinitely more reprehensibe.
Alas for the living, when they can be made the
dupes ofsuch. manifestations Alas for the dead,
if they can be summoned, as players on the stage,
furnish amusement to the idle to alarm the tim
i'd TO impose on the credulous, and to fill the peck
cts of the des gning. Alas for religion when it
assumes such form this, for the prestige of its
sanctity is gone.
80 Yours truly, W. BIB.