Daily national Democrat., 1858-09-22
SnIrifuaI DIcU,c

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nual picnic celebration Their last one was
held on the llth day of August About four
hundred and fifty persons, male and female,
went over to the landing at Pleasant Valley,
New Jersey opposite Manhattanville, and
thence to beautiful grove under q bluff.
which is prominent landmark in that region
Alter enjoying themselves for sometime with
eating, drinking, talking, promenading, ct
eettrd, medium--a lady of about forty years
ofage-was seized with fit of "the intiu-
cnce" and commenced a discourse in the
usual style. She was interrupted, however,
by some one who desired to form a circle
somewhere else. The circle was formed, in
the other place. accordingly, which consisted
of two hundred persons, nd the proceedings
went on. The medium, first mentioned, then
offered n prayer in the trance state. We
copy the balance of the proceedings from a
report in the New YorxDaily Tribune:
She was followed by Mr.. Benning, an
eX-minister of the Methodist Church, who
drew a comparison between spiritualism
and the application of steam aud electricity
to purposes of locomotion and communica-
tion. Coming down TO the Atlantic cable,
lie stated that the spirit of his father in law
/ ia ship captain when living, and decidedly a
meteorological Solomon, according to the
! speakers representations had from day to
day stated to select circle of belle, ers, the
actual progress of the enterprize--the failure
of the first attempt and the success of the
second-that these facts were told and re-
corded as they were announced and that
when the news came, in each case the state
meGts were confirmed He stated that there
had been a jubilee in the spirit world, grow
ing out of of the success of the Atlantic Tele-
graph, the spirits regarding it as great
prophecy of the future, as, if we could con
meet continents by material telegraph, it
necessarily followed $50 tie speaker thought)
that heaven and earth could be connected
by spiritual telegraph. The speaker des
canted upon the superior advantages he had
possessed for communicating with spirits
growing out of the fact that he had had
start of most Spiritualists by about fifty
years-his first experience having occurred
when he was boy. He then gave an ac-
count of a spirit from the planet Leverrier,
with whom he had had several communica
tions. 1t seems that the spirit, in stroling
about the Universe, happened to stumble
upon the EARTH and being of an inquiring
turn Of mind, he visited the circle two or
three times and on the occasion of his last
visit the extra mundane spirit gave "a de-
scripton of his own observations in passing
through the amplitude of Gods dominions-
particularly the situation and the climate.
and the inhabitants-the longevity and of
tn angels connected with the various plan
cts of the uniyerse--all of which, according
to the speaker, was contained in "fve or six
sheets of paper lie was grieved that there
were so many side issues attached to Spirit
ualssm. He was honest in saying that if
Spirtualism had been the advocate of truth,
its professed friends would have strangled it
long ago, by attachiNg Free Love, Abolition
ism and other isms to it. Spiritualism had
been made the scape.goat of all these things
They did not belong to Spiritualism, or if
they did, he was not Spiritualist. He want
ed Spiritualsm to stand 10y itself.
Mrs French, a medium, followed in a
speech, in which she contended that spirit
ualism did stand upon its own basis; that it
necessarily contained within itself all the
elements Of an integral reform which must
result in the moral, social and material, as
well as the spiritual, elevation of the human
race. Its tendency was to liberalize and har
monize our minds.
A Dr. Fellows followed His remarks
turned upon spiritual philosophy, with a ten
dency to gravitate toward the Atlantic cable,
where they at last brought up.
The medium in black, Mrs. Barnes, found
the same subject a fruitful theme for inspira-
ton, in a brief discourse, which she delivered
with strong effort at dramatic effect.
A lady medium gave publicity to the fol-
lowing bit of inspiration. a gentleman pre-
sent suggested that the inspiring spirit was
Jenny Twitcher:
"Well, what of it? Let them worship the
devil as long as they want; they have wor
shipped him supremeiy; let them have their
fill, and when they are done they viii be sat
isfed know"
Another medium exhibited unmistakable
symptoms in various facial twitchings and
muscular contortions of approaching inspira-
ton in an acute form. The fat gentleman
came to her rescue, and intercepted her be-
fore she had reached the land of spirits
German medium next spoke in very bad
English
This concluded the proceedings in the cir
Gle.
The o'clock boat from New York arrived
with more than a hundred spiritualsts.-
Among whom were Mr. Charles Partridge of
the Spiritual Telegraph, Henry G. Wright,
and several trance speakers.
After some charming vocalism by the lady
already mentioned (who is the soprano of
Dodworth's Hall Choir Henry c. Wright
made an address to the people of a rather
discursye character. lie finally took up the
subject of love, and gave his views in favor
of the copiugal relation between the sexes.
lie was followed by Mr.. VIM. Robson of
England, who gave brief exposition of the
Swedenborgian idea of love.
After brief addresses by John +. Coles and
Charles Partridge the meeting rose, danced
a while in the open air, and went home well
satisfied.