The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-09-06

whom such statements are made and the ex-
periments tried. Some he has himself wit
nessed others are too well attested to allow of
doubts. But he claims that there is no spirit
ual supernatural agency in any or ali of these
things. He afirms that they are the result in
part of the mesmeric power, and the transfer
of the inquirer's thoughts by the mesmeric
sympathy to the medium, and in part of the
new force called by Reichenbach land by him
claimed to have been demonstrated) the Odylic
force = something distinct from, and yet in
some respects similar to, magnetism and cleo
tricity. He takes his stand on the ground that
the effecttare no61ing batmundane ones; that
the pretended revelation Ne only wrought out
in the mind of the medij M, under the influence
of his questioner; and that in every case where
there has been test, such as, if met, might
have proved real spiritual agency, there has
been an utter failure. He cites numerous facts
of such trials, and, for aught we can see, allow
ing his fact& tablshed his position. He
says the etfecg u i'm the cases where the
spirits are challenger prevent them, by those
who discredit their influence, as much as where
they are invoked by those who give their be-
lief; that the same pretended spirit can be
made to contradict himself, back and forth,
most absurdly and yetsmore-that in numer-
Gus cases, spirits are said to have been sum-
moned, given full accounts of their death, &C.,
while the supposed persons were actually liv-
ing or serer had an existence. All these
things, end many more like them, the author
claims, warrants him to say there is no such
real spiritual existence. The knowledge al
ready in the mind of the querist is only reflect
ed back to him by the medium; and he can so
control the revelation as to make it the most
contradictory or absurd, if he chooses to do it.
The volume is written with much care; it is
cool and deliberate in its reasoning; the state
ments wear the air of candid investigation /;
names are given, and facts, with dates, &c. ;
all evidently proceeds from mind that has
reflected much on the subject, and we should
say, also, from one who has felt that there are
difficulties in it, but who, after patient invest-
CATION, has reached a conclusion satisfactory to
himself and to others to whom he has commu-
nicated his thoughts. 1t is worth reading, and
probably the best and clearest exposition Of the
false pretensions of spiritualism yet given to
the public. What answer will be made to it
we know not, but whoever essays the task must
meet President Mahan with an equal array of
reasoning; for such book cannot be set aside
by mere denial loud assertion, or vituperation.
The first part is devoted to the exposure of the
noted Andrew Jackson Davis, who is proved to
be ignorant, and something worse-uttsrly I'M
worthy of regard as to his pretensions to sci
ence, and still more so as to his candor or love
of truth. President Mahan backs up his state
ments by some curious facts about this infdel
prophet, who claims for his own revelations an
authority which he denies to that of his God.
The wonder to us has always been, how any
man of common sense could have the patience
to read through such tissue of absurdities as
his Great Harmonic, except for some such
purpose as that of President Mahan; and he,
we suspect, if he did it, found it no easy task
Another portion of his work is q powerful
demonstration of the claim of the Bible to be q
revelation of God. The only unpleasant thing
about this, to our mind is its seeming admis-
sion of the necessity of defending Gods Book,
as opposed by the wild vagaries of spiritualists.
1t looks too much like admitting for the mo-
ment the possibility of any resemblance be-
tween them. But the argument is perfectly
conclusive and, perhaps, even as Moses was
willing to let the rod of Gods power lie down
beside those of Jaunes and Jambres, the Egyp-
tan magicians, so President Mahan felt as to
the Word Of God, in relation to these pretended
revelations, especially as the true Word utterly
condemns the false.
Our authors work is seasonable, and we
wish it may exert the influence he designed to
secure in writing it but many are much slower
to believe truth than error, if this latter wear
the guise of the strange and wonderful. S.