The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-03-03

to quietness. But the waking hour must come W.
have yet faith in the future Of France. and confident
ly expect, when her sober and thoughtful maturity 4
come, to see her cramped energies expand under the
liberty Of free institutionsL-WO Trans.
spirifuaIiss Turning Evidence.
Among other very remarkable events which have
lately let in the light of day upon the iniquities OF the
spiritualistic scheme, is the conversion OF DIR. Ran
dolph, who for ten years was a believer. and a medi-
um. He has delivered a discourse, In New York,
which we find reported in some Of the papers OF that
city. He has become n Christian, and writing from
his present point of view, and with ten years of per-
sonal experience, he more than justifes every charge
we have made against Spiritualism. We give two
or three extracts from this remarkable exposure,
partly to show how real were the grounds OF our
denunciation of its wickedness and folly, and partly
as n warning, If warning is still needed to those who
are still disposed to look f~avorably upon its monstrous
pretensions:
L enter the arena, says he, rs the champion of COM
mon sense, against what in my soul L believe to be
the most tremendous enemy of God, morals and re-
ligion that ever found foothold on the earth,-the
most seductive, hence most dangerous form OF SEN
sualism that ever cursed a nation, age or people.
was a medium about eight years, during which
time l made three thousand speeches, and Travelled
over several different countries. proclaimIng the new
Gospel. / new regret that so much excellent breath
was wasted, and that my health of mind ana BODY
was well nigh ruined. 1 have only begun to regain
both since I totally abandoned it, and to day had
rather see the cholera in my house than bea Spiritual
medium For years | have lived alone for Spirltu-
alism and its cognates. Henceforth l have to combat
MANY of the identical doctrines that L once accepted as
heavenly truths, among which are Pantheism, the
n~on-immorta theory, ultra radical individual soVe-
~reignity, Atheism, and several other pernicious doc
trines.
ism
Five of nv friends destroyed themselves, and l
attempted it by direct Spiritual influences. Every
crime in the calendar has been committed by mortal
movers of viewless beings. Adultery, fornication,
suicides, assertions, unjust divorces, prostitution,
abortion, insanity, are not evil, 1 suppose! l charge
all these to this scientific Spiritualsm. 1t has also
broken up families, squandered fortunes, tempted and
destroyed the weak. 1t has bhnished peace from
happy families, separated husbands and wives, and
shattered the intellecis Of thousands. We hear much
of its good, but little is said concerning the black
catalogue on the other side, or Of mediums driven to
premature hell.
The following passage shows Mr.. Randolph's opin-
ion of some of the manifestation :"
When invisible musicians play pianos in dark
rooms, if the hands of the mediums be mittened and
held by others, and the music still goes on, the infer
ence is that they do not produce il otherwise. l
should be very skeptical concerning spiritual agency.
Writing upside down is an art readily obtained after
a few weeks private practice. Matches or n lump
of PHOSPHORUS make very good limitations Of spirit
lights. When spirits in a dark room blow horns and
talk through trumpets, if, unknown to the medium,
a little printers ink be rubbed on the mouth of the
instrument, n beautiful black circle will, when lights
are introduced, generally be found adjoining the
mediums labial appendages. A little practice ena-
bles almost any one to initiate the saving of wood, by
rubbing the side of the table leg with the sole of the
shoe. A spring feather, such as ado-n ladies heads,
can be easily made to pass for a ''spirit bird' in a
dark room. Ventriloquism is n capital agent in the
production of s.spirit voices" Dark circles are the
king humbugs of Spiritualism generally. Thus |
indicate the direction in which TO look for, and sug-
gest methods of detecting imposture.
The discourse concludes with the following striking
passage:
Let me briefly recapitulate my estimate of Panthe-
istic radical populate Harmonialism. 1t is goddess,
non religious, opposed to the Bible. all ecclesiastical
organizations. 1t is subversive of human dignity
and public morals, is destructive of all we hold most
dear and cherish most sacredly. 1t denies immor-
tally to untold thousands. 1t rohs us of faith in
Christ without giving us a substitute 1t robs us of
our refuge of religion, cultivates the intellect at the
expense of the heart. 1t is a masked monster-all
brain and no body. 1t gives US a philosophy, I'M
sound, and at best merely speculative, cold, cheer
less, selfish, and far-fetched, which gradually fastens
itself about the soul, devours the affections, and makes
n man a locomotive encyclopaedia without a heart.
1t addresses the intellect only, and, as God intended
us to feel as we'll as think, it proves itself anything
but the sine qua non. 1t is a bewitching thing-so
is a rattlesnake. At first the ~neophyte rejoices in his
new found freedom, as he falsely supposes it to be.
He becomes intoxicated with joy, for a while revels in
rainbow-tinted dreams of bliss; is led on step by step,
deeper and deeper into a may labyrinth of unintelli-
gible and ~proftless mysteries; emerges only to embark
MS SOUL 5 fortunes IN an exploring cApciitiou W IL
land of shadow; is wrecked on the rocks of doubt,
clings to a single plank; dreams on, and not until
the cold and chilling fogs CT mysticism have frozen
his very spirit, docs he rouse from his slumber, to
find himself on n rough chaotic sea, which, to him, is
shoreless, vast and dreary as the icy land of death.
He rests upon a single plank; around him roll and
roar the black waves of %in6delity; above him is a
lucid sky, but no God there to save He has no
chart, no pilot to guide MIN to the land. Reaction
begins, repentance does her work. Fortunate is that
soul whose reason is not hopelessly ruined, lost and
wrecked; fortunate is that soul that does not recog-
nize its authority as His God, or who, insane, desper-
ate, alone, heart-wrung and a-weary of the world,
does not rush madly to the suicides grave, and into
the awful presence of an insulted God, unanointed
and unknelled, with all its imperfections on its
devoted head But, thanks to our God, at the mo-
ment of deepest misery, His hand-maiden, Religion,
steps down from her rosy throne, and calls to his
trembling soul; he may hear if he will. She enters
the bark of safety; reaches the sinner ere the black
tide eugulphs his last and only hope, conveys him to
the shore of Truth, sets his feet upon the hrm rock OF
eternal ages; binds up his bleeding wounds, feeds him
with the bread of life; warns him in the sunshine of
righteousness; breathes into him the breath ola divine
existence, and numbers him with the sons of God !!
The will of man is his great prerogative; to all me-
diums | say, therefore, exert it Assert your man.
hood; resist the influence. Beat back this dark and
unknown power. l know that many of you, like
Macbeth.
aPuu in resolution and begin
To doubt the equivocations OF the hend
That lies like truth Fear not TIL Birnam wood
Shall come to Dunsinane,' and now n wood
Comes toward Dunsinane."
So with spirits and their specious promises. You
will be led on, step by step, on and on, and only stop
at-Ruin. Resist its dreadful magnetism, for your
very susceptibility proves you incompetent to deal
with IL with safety to yourself. Leave that to strong
er wills and holy men. There is only one chance in
billions that the unseen power may mean You final
good. The chances are that they are dreams, clad in
robes of light. Resist them, then, with all your
strength, relying on God for perfect salvation; never
forgetting that he helps those who help themselves.
Rely on Him. and
aBe these juggling hends no more believed,
That palter with US in a double sense;
That keep the word Of promise TO our ear,
And break 10 to our hope
Mr.. Randolph still believes that the manifestations
are not universally delusions or impostures- We are